Chapter 296 - Illusory Paradise (III)
Chapter 296: Illusory Paradise (III)
Han Qian hesitantly replied, “It’s certainly a great chance, but this kid really leaves me restless. Since he dared to go against a Moon Demon at the eighth step, and considering some demons are coming along this time, I’m a bit worried. ”
Ling Xiao responded with some surprise, “It looks like what you said is true, then these two kids are really the future successors of your two Temples! But that’s no wonder, seeing that this kid Haochen broke through to the sixth step before even being twenty years old. And he has the spirit of a knight, truly a rare genius!”
Han Qian asked with a concerned look, “Old Ling, you guys from the Priest Temple have the best understanding of the Illusory Paradise. Just tell me one thing in detail. How dangerous is it in the end?”
Ling Xiao smiled in response, “Then, tell me the truth as well: why would those two children be the sole successors of your Temples? Talent is one thing, but designating sole successors is too dangerous from your two Temples. There has to be some other reason. If they are to mature successfully, even at the fastest possible rate, it will still take at least a dozen years. And Demon Hunt Squads’ missions are in no way devoid of dangers.”
Han Qian and Ying Suifeng looked at each other face to face, and Ying Suifeng finally spoke, “Okay then. Since we are all old brothers that risked our lives side by side, and you are in addition the auxiliary chief of the Priest Temple, there should be no harm in telling you the truth.”
Han Qian waved his hand, wrapping the five of them in a Holy Mantle before telling Long Haochen, “Tell him how old you are this year.”
Long Haochen replied, “This junior is fifteen since this year. Cai’er is going to be fifteen soon as well.”
Even though Ling Xiao was one of the few Saints of his generation, he still couldn’t help but open his mouth wide, “Fifteen years old? You broke through to the sixth step merely at the age of fifteen? Heavens! If you didn’t make use of any secret methods, how high is your innate level of internal spiritual energy?” The Six Great Temples had some secret methods for those excessively eager to advance, but those would make their later cultivation a lot harder.
Han Qian replied, “So you asked the essential question. Haochen’s innate level of internal spiritual energy is 97, and Cai’er’s is 100. Scion of Light and Saint Daughter of Samsara, ever heard of those terms before?”
Bang.?Ling Xiao hit his fist against his forehead, immediately waving his hand at Han Qian and Ying Suifeng, “Let me think for a bit, I feel a bit confused. So this Scion of Light’s innate level of internal spiritual energy is 97? And could it be that this Saint Daughter of Samsara successfully inherited the previous Scion of Samsara’s legacy?”
Han Qian and Ying Suifeng nodded simultaneously.
Ling Xiao rapidly came back to his senses, staring at Long Haochen before giving a look to Cai’er. His eyes resembled those of the big bad wolf watching some lambs. Especially when he looked at Long Haochen, his eyes seemed to be filled with envy.
“Old Han…”
Ling Xiao’s sentence was immediately interrupted by Han Qian, “Don’t say it, so as to avoid damaging our relationship. You know it cannot be done.”
Ling Xiao furiously replied, “I haven’t said anything yet! So how could you know?”
Han Qian let out a snort, “Let alone you, even if Elder Ling were to ask that, I couldn’t possibly accept. No one from the Knight Temple could possibly accept it. I told you everything you wanted to know, so let’s quickly get to the subject of the Illusory Paradise. You should know about the importance of the Scion of Light and the Saint Daughter of Samsara to the Alliance. When they grow up, they will one day be the ones who will permit us to start a real counterattack against demonkind.”
Ling Xiao touched his own chest with a hand, taking another deep breath before gradually dissipating the envy in his look directed at Long Haochen. All the severity that was on his face the first time he dealt with Long Haochen immediately disappeared completely. After composing himself, he declared with a smile, “Haochen! I heard that you are a Guardian Knight. Do you have some interest in the vocation of healer?”
Han Qian was really angry, “Ling Xiao, if you old guy keep going on like this, I’ll complain to Elder Ling about…”
Ling Xiao swept a glance in his direction, “Go then! Let’s see whether my old father will pay attention to you. I’ll just say this: Haochen, whenever you wish to renounce the path of a knight, come to our Priest Temple. I’m now leading it, and can ensure you that the position of auxiliary chief of the Priest Temple will be yours. I can even guarantee you that within ten years after you’ll break through to the ninth step, I will immediately make you the chief of the Temple. Crowd effect healing of Saints at the ninth step can save hundreds and thousands of people, you know! What’s good about being a knight?”
Han Qian’s words were completely inefficient in making him renounce. This was the Scion of Light! It was a kind of supreme talent that had never appeared before in the whole Alliance.
Han Qian suddenly fell silent, watching the show from the side.
Long Haochen replied apologetically, “I’m sorry, elder Ling, I cannot agree to that. I can only be a knight…”
Veins appeared on Ling Xiao’s forehead, and he shouted in a loud voice, “Fifteen years! I can enable you to break through to the ninth step within a period of fifteen years! I’ll tell my old father to use the great technique of Ethereal Irrigation on you, helping you to speed up your spiritual energy’s cultivation. And I’ll provide at least three types of top-notch spiritual stoves for priests. Fifteen years later, you will just be thirty. And the Priest Temple will help you with all its strength to fight for the position of chief of the Temple Alliance, how about it?”
Ying Suifeng unhappily cut in, “Enough, old Ling! There’s no use. Just ask him who his father is before asking further. In fact, we shouldn’t be the ones to tell you.”
Ling Xiao was startled, eagerly asking Long Haochen, “Your father is?”
Long Haochen replied, “My father’s name is Long Xingyu.”
Ling Xiao was totally shaken, his face becoming clearly pale, slapping his own forehead with force this time, “It looks as if I should know when to let go of something. If ‘she’ was by my side, maybe our kid would also have this kind of formidable talent.”
Han Qian snorted coldly, “If you look for her with this sort of attitude, I can guarantee that you will die in a very ugly way.”
Ling Xiao gave a restrained look, returning once again to his serious attitude, “Treat it as though I hadn’t said anything. All right, let’s get back to proper business.”
“I suggest to let these two kids enter the Illusory Paradise. For demons to come and attack us with an army of a million, not sparing anything to break our defenses, its importance is evident.”
“The Illusory Paradise is a miraculous place, located in a forest sixty kilometers to the north of the Southern Mountain’s City, in a place we call Illusory Shrine. Reportedly, the Illusory Shrine is the palace of a goddess in the human world, which has absorbed the essence of Heaven and Earth. The Illusory Shrine will open once every hundred years, and those who can enter it will have great opportunities, but also run into dangers coexisting with them.”
Arriving at this point, Ling Xiao came to a stop, looking at Long Haochen and Cai’er, “This chance is especially important to young people like you, because the Illusory Paradise produces the most valuable treasures on earth, which are the spiritual stoves.”
Long Haochen had been holding Cai’er’s hand all along, writing words on Cai’er’s palm. As soon as the subject of spiritual stoves was discussed, Long Haochen and Cai’er were immediately shocked.
It can be said that to raise one’s strength beyond the ordinary limits, Spiritual Stoves were of utter importance. A place that could produce spiritual stoves could simply be called the holy land.
Long Haochen couldn’t help but ask at the time Ling Xiao paused in his speech, “Grandfather Ling, then how many spiritual stoves will be produced in the Illusory Paradise every time?”
Ling Xiao replied, “It differs every time, but their total number never exceeds twenty. Every type will appear only once, and the stronger a spiritual stove is, the harder the corresponding test will be. The major point when you enter is that you cannot be greedy. Otherwise, even if you pass the tests, you will suffer an unavoidable death.”
Han Qian appeared to be puzzled, “What are you speaking about? Why would one die after passing the test?”
A humble smile appeared on Ling Xiao’s face, “The reason why my old father consented to let demons enter, was that he had an assurance. We have enough experience to ensure that the demons will fail to achieve their ambitions there. Old Han, let me ask you, if you were to see a dozen spiritual stoves before your eyes, what would you do?”
Han Qian replied without hesitation, “Naturally, I would collect all those that can be collected.”
Ling Xiao replied, “Right. Actually, the spiritual stoves in the Illusory Palace can be collected conveniently as one wishes. You can take as many as you want. The tests will happen only afterwards. And that’s to say, if you have collected a huge amount of spiritual stoves, you will be tested accordingly. The difficulty of the tests will be based on the number of spiritual stoves you will have picked, and it increases several folds every time. This doesn’t make it only a simple test, but something even more terrible. Avaricious people are bound to suffer a tragic end.” Looking at them, he continued.
“The two items my old father gave you are Illusory Gems, which have been produced in the Illusory Paradise. With those things, in case you run into a danger you are totally unable to contend against, you can chose to immediately come back. The shrine will be bound to protect our people, thus, I suggest you to have a try inside. Although you probably already possess some spiritual stoves, the ones produced in the Illusory Paradise are of the best quality. And furthermore, some spiritual stoves that are completely unknown to us will also appear. But the most important point lies in what I said before: in the same way that their tests are terrible, these Spiritual Stoves are the great opportunity that lies in the Illusory Paradise.”
At this point, he revealed a cold look, “As for the people from the demon side, out of ten that enter, having one or two survivors would already be a good luck for them.”
The negotiations between the Southern Mountain’s City and the demon side progressed fast, and after a few series of talks, both sides reached an agreement. As for the gains the humans obtained from the demons during those negotiations, they were only known to the higher-ups, but it could definitely not be something negligible. After the last victory of the city’s defense, the damage was extremely severe for both sides.
As for Long Haochen, he didn’t feel concerned about the sort of talks the Temple Alliance and the demon side had. He also didn’t need to know about the number of places allocated to enter the Illusory Shrine. All he knew was that Cai’er and he had a place to enter, and that was enough for him.
During the next three days, Long Haochen was busy visiting his comrades and their acquainted Demon Hunt Squads. Overwhelmed by the visits of military representatives, he visibly obtained a total acknowledgement from the army. His 50,000 contribution points reward naturally followed.
But in Long Haochen’s heart, something was even more important than this. After learning about the concrete details pertaining to the Illusory Paradise, he immediately made a bold decision. The treasures inside the Illusory Paradise were after all Spiritual Stoves! Who wouldn’t wish to possess some? Accordingly to his original plan, Long Haochen expressed to Han Qian his desire to train in seclusion along with his comrades, until the time the Illusory Shrine would open.