Chapter 1134: Nothing Lasts Forever (I)

Luo Chen had indeed been careless. Over the past month, most of his attention had been consumed by developing Ghosts and Gods Scatter, along with the many other matters weighing on his mind. In the process, he had overlooked the fact that Black King was carrying more than a million parasitic dragonworms on him!

Yu Ziyou's repeated warnings about Zhang Jingqing's low cultivation on Sun Moon Island had only made this easier to miss. Eventually, Luo Chen had focused entirely on protecting her, confident that his mana and origin energy would be enough to shield her from the pressure. It had never occurred to him to consider the beasts living inside Black King. More importantly, Black King had also not said a word about them!

In any case, it had already happened. Black King had exhausted a tremendous amount of origin energy protecting himself, and shielding more than a million dragonworms at the same time was simply beyond him. Under the immense pressure, nearly all of them had been crushed, and their blood and mangled bodies churned inside him until he could no longer contain them. Hence, the gruesome scene before them. By now, the underground palace stank like a slaughterhouse.

After hearing Luo Chen's explanation, Fu Chaosheng rubbed his forehead. He had failed to consider the problem as well. Archaic beasts often carried parasitic beasts, but who could have imagined that Black King carried more than a million of them? Worse still, they were dragonworms. Even though most had only been first or second tier, a population of that size would have been worth well over a billion spirit stones!

Wintermount and Lu Qiuzhen were equally stunned. They had traveled with Luo Chen for half a year without realizing that he had been carrying an entire demonic beast population with him. The wealth represented by those alone exceeded the fortunes of many seasoned Sages. Now that almost all of them were dead, however, the two somehow felt a little less overwhelmed by the depth of Luo Chen's pockets.

Fu Chaosheng waved the matter aside. "Don't worry about it. Everyone made it here safely, and that's what matters. I'll have my people clean up the palace and pay the sect for any damage."

He made it sound easy, but the pain on his face was difficult to miss.

At first, Luo Chen did not understand why. Then the Dao Sect cultivators stationed on Star Island hurried into the palace to inspect the teleportation formation, and he finally realized that Black King's unregistered passengers had caused far more than a bloody mess.

Transporting so many living beasts had placed a huge burden on the teleportation formation. The supreme-grade spirit stones kept in reserve under the palace had been drained dry, and even Star Island's fourth-tier spirit vein had suffered a severe loss of spirit energy. It would take time for the island to recover, and until then, the teleportation formation could no longer operate normally.

The Fu family would have to compensate the sect for all of it, and judging by Fu Chaosheng's expression, the bill would be anything but small.

***

On Star Island, the four Sages were checking the condition of their clansmen and disciples to make sure none had sustained severe injuries. Luo Chen did the same for Zhang Jingqing as he swept his divine consciousness through her body. Soon, he revealed a relieved expression. With his mana and origin energy shielding her during the teleportation, she had escaped with nothing worse than some damage to her internal organs.

Such injuries were easy enough for Luo Chen to treat. After converting the nature of his mana, he cast Spring Wind Rain Transformation and Five Elements Organ Realignment several times. Zhang Jingqing's pale face slowly regained color, and before long, a healthy flush returned to her face.

"Thank you, Sage!"

As soon as she felt better, however, her attention shifted to Black King, who lay listlessly across Luo Chen's shoulder.

Luo Chen noticed her concern and reassured her. "Go find Heavenjade for now. Black King will be fine."

Zhang Jingqing obediently left. Once she was gone, Black King spoke in a weak voice. "Master... I messed up."

Luo Chen shook his head in disbelief. "You really overestimated yourself. Protecting her took me quite a bit of effort, yet you tried to shield a million dragonworms by yourself? You're lucky you didn't get yourself killed."

"I thought they'd be safe inside my body. My physique should have taken most of the pressure, and I even used my origin energy to protect them. I really thought they could endure it. I didn't expect..." His voice sank. "I've caused you a huge loss, Master."

Faced with Black King's apology, Luo Chen remained calm. This trip had indeed cost him dearly. A million dragonworms were worth a fortune, and he had planned to bring them back to the Eastern Wilderness to help restore the Luo Tian Sect. Now, almost all of them had died during the teleportation.

Fortunately, the swarm had not been completely wiped out. Black King had absorbed a large quantity of dragonworm blood in the past and had long developed a natural affinity with them, almost treating them as his own offspring. In that moment of crisis, he had exhausted himself protecting several thousand second-tier dragonworms. As long as those remained, the swarm could eventually be rebuilt. Most importantly, Black King himself had not suffered any serious harm.

"Get some rest," Luo Chen said. "I'm going to speak with Fu Chaosheng."

Black King gave a weak acknowledgement and crawled dejectedly into Luo Chen's sleeve.

After asking Fu Hongzhang where Fu Chaosheng had gone, Luo Chen made his way over and found him speaking with several cultivators dressed in the black-and-white robes of the Dao Sect. Naturally, he did not interrupt and waited until their discussion ended.

Some time later, Fu Chaosheng walked over with a thoroughly dispirited expression. When he noticed Luo Chen waiting for him, he opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something but eventually kept it to himself.

Understanding his predicament, Luo Chen asked directly, "They're asking for a lot?"

Since the matter was already out in the open, there was no need to beat around the bush. Fu Chaosheng sighed. "More than I expected. I thought ten or twenty million spirit stones would be enough to settle things, but they want thirty million. If I refuse, they'll report the matter to the sect."

Only thirty million?

Luo Chen was taken aback at first, but after thinking it through, he realized it was indeed a massive sum. Certainly, he himself possessed assets worth hundreds of millions, but those millions had not been earned through business dealings. Instead, they had all come from killing people and seizing their treasures! Even back when he had managed multiple businesses, his total savings had never exceeded thirty million. And despite how wealthy he was now, a substantial portion of that consisted of top-grade and supreme-grade spirit stones that he would never casually spend as ordinary currency.

For Fu Chaosheng, thirty million was an even heavier burden. He might appear wealthy, but he had an entire family to support, and Fu Qinglan's Nascent Soul cultivation alone required a tremendous investment of resources. Paying such a large sum all at once would hurt him badly.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Chen said, "I'll pay for it."

Fu Chaosheng was stunned. Even though he knew Luo Chen was quite wealthy, he had not expected him to be so forthright. "That doesn't seem right. I was the one who invited you here, after all..."

"There's nothing wrong with it. We're partners, but this has nothing to do with our agreement. It's my responsibility, so I won't make you bear the cost for me."

Fu Chaosheng nodded at first, then quickly caught the meaning behind those words. Luo Chen did not want to owe him anything beyond the terms of their partnership. By the same token, he was making it clear that Fu Chaosheng should not expect favors from him beyond what they had already agreed upon.

After considering it for a moment, Fu Chaosheng said, "How about this? You pay half, and I'll cover the rest. Do not reject it. I also bear some responsibility for failing to remind you properly. Besides, when my people come to clean up the underground palace, the dragonworm blood can still be recovered and reused to offset part of the loss."

Luo Chen gave him a surprised look but did not press the matter. Splitting the cost was probably for the best. It kept things fair without either of them owing the other too much.

As they prepared to leave Star Island, Fu Chaosheng glanced back toward the bloodstained underground palace and sighed. "Haiyaah... We've only just returned to the Central Continent, and already there's been bloodshed. That is not a very auspicious start."

***

After leaving Star Island and entering the Central Continent proper, Luo Chen soon realized why this region was superior to the other four territories.

The difference was most obvious in the natural spirit energy. Even the uninhabited wilderness they passed through contained spirit energy of first-tier concentration, while towns and other populated areas easily reached the second tier. More astonishingly, after only half a day aboard the Fu family's flying boat, Luo Chen had already detected more than a dozen third-tier spirit veins below.

He had once gone to great lengths to obtain a spirit vein of that quality, even taking part in the Frontier War for the chance to obtain one. Yet here, third-tier spirit veins appeared one after another along an ordinary travel route. If even third-tier spirit veins were this common, then fourth-tier ones could hardly be rare!

Wintermount and Lu Qiuzhen were no less amazed. All Five Territories belonged to the same world, yet the gap between the Central Continent and the other four almost defied belief.

As they traveled farther inland, Luo Chen noticed another striking difference. Wherever his divine consciousness swept, he found large numbers of Initiates and Adepts. Yet unlike cultivators elsewhere, who often regarded strangers with caution, the people here mingled relatively peacefully even when they clearly belonged to different families. The underlying reason was not hard to guess.

In the Eastern Wilderness, sects divided the cultivation world among themselves. The Northern Sea was even more fragmented, with countless immortal islands and a big population of rogue cultivators. The Central Continent, however, followed an entirely different order. Cultivation families were everywhere, but all of them were under one single sect.

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