Translator: CinderTL
Inside the jade box lay a hundred-year-old Nine Deaths Grass, a letter, and a Communication Jade Slip.
The letter informed Chi Qi that Song Wen possessed a Nine Deaths Grass with over six hundred years of medicinal age.
The hundred-year-old Nine Deaths Grass was merely a token of good faith to gain Chi Qi's trust.
Song Wen intended to use the Nine Deaths Grass to trade for a Teleportation Array token from Chi Qi.
Furthermore, Shu Sheng had once mentioned that Chi Qi held a grudge against Jiang Lanruo. Shu Sheng's request to obtain the Nine Deaths Grass was specifically aimed at targeting her.
Song Wen hoped to use this opportunity to enlist Chi Qi's help in seeking revenge against Jiang Lanruo.
He dared to secretly plot against Jiang Yushan, but he wouldn't dare to directly harm Jiang Lanruo. The disparity in their strength was too vast to be overcome by mere tricks. In the face of absolute power, all schemes and conspiracies were mere illusions.
After bidding farewell to Chi Zuo, Song Wen left Shangchu City and retreated to a small mountain a hundred miles outside the city.
Not long after, he received a message from Chi Qi.
I am Chi Qi. Young friend Yun Xu, how did you know I was searching for the Nine Deaths Grass?
Song Wen replied, Senior, I am a friend of Shu Sheng's. He mentioned this matter to me.
Chi Qi questioned, "Do you know Kong Jin? He's been dead for over a decade. How did you learn of this?"
Song Wen's voice turned surprised. "What! Fellow Daoist Kong Jin is dead?"
Chi Qi asked, "If you were his friend, why didn't you know he had perished?"
"After Kong Jin offended the Jiang Family and was forced to become an outsider member of their clan, I never saw him again. We only contacted each other a few times through Communication Jade Slips. Later, the jade slips stopped working, and I assumed he was in closed-door cultivation. I never imagined... he had actually fallen. Alas..." Song Wen's voice carried a hint of sorrow and loneliness.
Chi Qi said, "I'll take your word for it for now. But why didn't you deliver the Nine Deaths Grass to me in person? Were you afraid the Chi Family would forcibly seize your treasure?"
Song Wen replied, "Senior, you jest. The Chi Family, as the overlords of the Qianchang Wilderness, would never stoop to such a base act. I simply wasn't sure if Senior truly needed the Nine Deaths Grass and hesitated to disturb you without certainty."
Chi Qi said, "I am indeed seeking Nine Deaths Grass that is over five hundred years old. You claim to have a six-hundred-year-old specimen. Name your price."
Song Wen said, "Junior requests a Teleportation Array token."
"A Teleportation Array token? You're quite ambitious," Chi Qi replied. "If this were auctioned on the black market, it would spark a bloody battle among mid-sized forces and Divine Transformation Realm rogue cultivators in the Qianchang Wilderness."
Chi Qi continued through the Communication Jade Slip, "However, while Teleportation Array tokens are precious, they're nothing to the Chi Family. Bring the Nine Deaths Grass to the Chi Family's city gate, and someone will trade with you."
"Thank you, Senior. I'll set out immediately," Song Wen replied, his voice barely concealing his excitement.
Song Wen put away the Communication Jade Slip, his eyes sharp.
During his conversation with Chi Qi, he hadn't detected any malice.
Of course, that didn't guarantee Chi Qi had no ulterior motives.
Human hearts were fickle, especially when dealing with a Void Refinement Stage cultivator.
Song Wen raised his hand and summoned a cosmic transformation incarnation puppet.
He handed the puppet a Storage Ring and then vanished into the forest.
A moment later, the puppet smiled faintly and also departed.
Outside the Chi Family's city gates.
Chi Zuo, who had been waiting eagerly for the puppet's arrival, noticed nothing amiss. A smile spread across his face as he stepped forward to greet it.
"Senior Yun Xu, you've come."
The puppet nodded and handed him a storage pouch. Inside were ten high-grade spirit stones.
"Young Chi Zuo, thank you for your trouble."
Chi Zuo accepted the storage pouch without hesitation. He gestured towards an old man standing several dozen yards behind him.
"Senior, please follow me. Ancestor Chi Qi specifically instructed Elder Chi Tianhai to handle the transaction with you."
The two approached the old man. After a brief introduction by Chi Zuo, he stepped aside.
Chi Tianhai, a cultivator at the late divine transformation stage, sized up Song Wen for a moment before speaking.
"Fellow Daoist, please present the Nine Deaths Grass. I must first verify its authenticity."
A jade box suddenly appeared in the puppet's hand, which it offered to Chi Tianhai.
Chi Tianhai took the jade box, opened it, and examined its contents. "The Spirit Grass is genuine," he declared.
As soon as he spoke, the jade box vanished. In its place, a token appeared in his hand.
The token was a four-finger-sized, grayish-green disc. One side bore the character 'Chi,' while the other displayed a precise date, approximately two years from now.
"In two years, the Chi Family's Teleportation Array will open. Fellow Daoist may use this token to ride the array. However, I must remind you that this token is only valid for this one opening. If you miss the time, it will be considered an abandonment, and the token will become invalid, unable to be used again." Chi Tianhai said.
The puppet accepted the token and replied, "Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist. I will certainly keep it in mind."
"Farewell." Chi Tianhai turned and walked into the city toward the Chi Family's residence without further ado.
The puppet didn't linger either, taking off into the sky and flying straight out of Shangchu City. It landed several hundred miles outside the city at the foot of a small mountain and entered a hidden cave.
Three days later.
In an inexpensive cultivator inn in Shangchu City, Song Wen had transformed into the appearance of a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"It seems I was overthinking things. The Chi Family doesn't seem to be up to any tricks," he murmured to himself.
After settling his bill, he took to the sky on his sword, heading out of the city.
Song Wen passed by the small mountain where the puppet was hiding but didn't stop, continuing his sword flight as if nothing was amiss.
After flying nearly two thousand miles, he descended into a large river.
Reaching the muddy bottom, Song Wen suppressed his aura completely.
Relying on his extraordinary ability to manipulate his qi at will, Song Wen's aura vanished completely, leaving him as still and silent as a stone in a river.
The two-thousand-mile distance was the limit of his Divine Sense extension, achieved through the Shadow King Gu.
Simultaneously, within a mountain cave, the puppet, resembling an ancient monk in deep meditation, suddenly opened its eyes.
The Storage Ring in its hand flashed with a green light.
The puppet's form then vanished mysteriously, leaving only the Storage Ring to clatter onto the rocky ground with a tinkling sound.
A sesame-seed-sized Gu worm emerged from a crack in the rock.
Clutching the Storage Ring in its jaws, the Gu worm fluttered its wings and flew out of the cave, navigating through the dense forest.
Eventually, the Fourth-Tier Shadow King Gu arrived at the riverbank, but over a thousand miles upstream from Song Wen.
It plunged into the river, drifting downstream with the current before burrowing into the muddy riverbed and finally reaching Song Wen.
Song Wen took the Storage Ring and retrieved the teleportation token.
After confirming again that the Chi Family hadn't tampered with it, he put the token away.
"Based on the Chi Family's current attitude, they likely harbor no ill intentions toward me. In two years, I should be able to use their Teleportation Array to leave the Qianchang Wilderness," Song Wen thought to himself.
(End of the Chapter)
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