Chapter 1030: Chapter 1030: Kunlun Sets the Pace (Second Update)

Kunlun’s team arriving this time was led by Yu Baiyi.

Kunlun has a well-known reputation among the Daoist Sects, but their recent development has been… just so-so.

They are known as the “Kunlun Three Elegants,” but in fact, they are just three juniors who have recently entered the Qi Refinement Realm.

After Kou Heiyi died, the available Qi Refinement cultivators dwindled to two, as Shen Qingyi was “hired” by Luohua.

Thus, aside from Yu Baiyi, Kunlun didn’t really have anyone impressive to show.

After Yu Baiyi arrived, he didn’t even enter Luohua Manor, citing his fear of the officialdom aura inside the manor.

But whether that is true is hard to say–Feng Jun tends to think that Kunlun is worried about ruining Yu Baiyi.

Of course, Elder Yu is currently residing in Luohua Manor, which many people are aware of by now, even the top officials from Funiu Province have sent people to inquire about him, though Elder Yu is here on a private matter for recuperation, and it’s acceptable not to meet with him.

However, Yu Zhiyuan made an appearance and sat down with the two top officials, fulfilling the proper courtesy.

Otherwise, just by saying “not showing enough respect to Elder Yu,” those two couldn’t bear such an accusation–not out of disrespect to leadership, but out of a lack of awe for the system.

From this, it is evident how necessary it was for Feng Jun to sternly protect Elder Yu’s security. Without doing so, too many people would have tried to come in.

After discussing other matters, back to the main topic, Yu Baiyi did not enter Luohua, thus it was Shen Qingyi who went out and retrieved the damaged Magic Artifacts.

Among the three damaged Magic Artifacts, there was one that Kunlun was determined to take back–a Ascension Mirror, which can assess ordinary people’s aptitude to see if they are suitable for cultivation.

Kunlun is very haughty, but when nurturing disciples, they focus mainly on talent and effort rather than family background.

This “talent-first” approach has brought forth generations of prodigies and an abundance of exceptional talents.

The Ascension Mirror was damaged four hundred years ago, and Kunlun has been hoping day and night to repair this Magic Artifact.

Therefore, Kunlun specified that if this broken artifact cannot be repaired, that’s fine, but if it can be, they will not hand it over to Luohua.

The other two artifacts are a Soul Capturing Bead and an Ice Silk Robe, both relatively common Magic Artifacts.

Of course, Kunlun values the Soul Capturing Bead more and hopes that Luohua will choose the Ice Silk Robe.

But Feng Jun stated, “I want to see them before deciding.”

Actually, he also favors choosing the Ice Silk Robe, since the Ascension Mirror is not very useful to him — he already has “people nearby;” why would he need it?

Regarding the Soul Capturing Bead, it is indeed quite useful, but his Divine Sense is concentrated, and as a Magic Artifact, it only causes significant damage to Qi Refinement cultivators, with those in the higher realms hardly affected.

So at first glance, the Ice Silk Robe does seem more appropriate. Zhang Caixin is of Water Attribute talent, and when she advances to the Qi Refinement stage in the future, having such a defensive Magic Artifact robe would indeed be beneficial.

However, the next moment, Feng Jun thought of a problem: it seems like Shen Qingyi… knows that Xiao Caixin is of Innate Pure Water?

That could be problematic. Leaving aside Zhang Caixin’s appearance and focusing solely on her talent, she is worth Feng Jun heavily leaning resources towards.

Feng Jun thought about it and a cold smile appeared on his lips: Everyone says the people of Kunlun are arrogant, but they are very attentive to details.

He has realized this Ice Silk Robe was specifically chosen by Kunlun for Zhang Caixin, with no concerns that Luohua would not select it.

Feng Jun indeed wanted to choose this Ice Silk Robe, but he still had to consider one thing: how would the people of Luohua defend against the Soul Capturing Bead thrown out by Kunlun?

Considering this issue now seems meaningless, after all, the Soul Capturing Bead couldn’t do anything to him, and as long as he is in Luohua, Kunlun wouldn’t dare make a reckless move.

However, that’s not the point he’s considering. He wants to ensure that Luohua can maintain sufficient deterrence for its long-term development, even without him taking action.

But once Kunlun obtains the Soul Capturing Bead, if he doesn’t take action, even if Zhang Caixin advances to the Qi Refinement Realm, the deterrence might be very limited–Luohua Manor surely can’t always rely on him to take the lead?

Of course, he is confident that Zhang Caixin can advance to a higher realm–if nothing unexpected happens. But he has no idea when that will happen. In the meantime, does that mean Luohua must remain passive?

After pondering for a long time, he turned to Shen Qingyi, “Since you have already chosen the Ascension Mirror, I’m more interested in the Soul Capturing Bead.”

Shen Qingyi, having a bad temper but not one to lie, blinked and spoke with doubt, “I think the Ice Silk Robe… is quite useful, isn’t Zhang Caixin about to advance to the Qi Refinement Realm?”

“I don’t like the Ice Silk Robe,” Feng Jun spoke blandly, “The disciples of Luohua should be brave and progressive. We emphasize offense, as you might have heard, offense is the best defense… Luohua doesn’t have cultivators who only know how to take hits!”

Shen Qingyi remained silent, troubled that the advice she had provided to the sect deviated, causing her some disquiet.

After a while, she finally spoke, “The Ice Silk Robe is very beautiful, it suits Zhang Caixin well since she is so pretty…”

Feng Jun waved his hand dismissively, suddenly remembering something, “About these items… I must emphasize, you gave me three damaged Magic Artifacts, if I manage to repair one and return it, that’s enough. That is to say… I can keep the other two.”

Shen Qingyi was astonished, “Ah, wasn’t it that you would repair all three and keep one for yourself?”

“If you understand it that way, then we can’t discuss this further,” Feng Jun spread his hands, “These Kunlun fellows really know how to set the pace, huh? Are they taking advantage of my bad memory? If I gave you three broken TVs and you returned two functional ones… would you agree?”

Thinking it over, Shen Qingyi felt that the demand was indeed a bit too much. Although she was not too concerned about worldly affairs, she was still somewhat aware of the general situation, “So we can only take back the Ascension Mirror?”

“I’m not short of Magic Artifacts, you can also take back the Ice Silk Robe,” answered Feng Jun indifferently, “However… there’s a matter of cost.”

Regarding the Ice Silk Robe… well, he hoped to keep it since it could effectively protect Zhang Caixin, but ultimately, he wished Luohua Manor could acquire more offensive-type Magic Artifacts.

The Earth Realm was in the age of declining magical arts, and offensive-type Magic Artifacts were limited. He was willing to gather as many as possible, which would aid in his control over this realm.

As for defensive-type Magic Artifacts, they really didn’t matter much to him–he had plenty of Spirit Stones, and could simply buy them elsewhere if needed.

The key was to prevent the Earth Realm from possessing too many offensive-type Magic Artifacts, which could pose a potential threat to Luohua.

This was similar to how he wouldn’t give Dong Zenghong too many Spirit Stones at once; for him, the stability of Luohua’s foundation was priority.

Indeed, he was a bit frustrated; initially, he had asked for three broken Magic Artifacts, to repair and return one to Kunlun, but somehow the rhythm was led by Kunlun without his realization, thankfully he noticed it in time.

Of course, there was a reason for the oversight. He intended to repair many more broken Magic Artifacts there, proving his capabilities.

Regardless, this was still not a big issue. He had no intention of picking up leftovers in the Earth Realm any longer. His collection of broken Magic Artifacts, somewhat akin to the situation with Leng Qionghua of Pine Cypress Peak, was because he wanted to witness more Magic Artifacts to gain inspiration.

However, Shen Qingyi felt uncertain about this negotiation, so she contacted someone from Kunlun again.

The people from Kunlun were clear-headed, responding quite reasonably, stating that indeed they only wanted the Ascension Mirror, and Feng Jun could keep the other two artifacts.

However, if Feng Jun was willing to return the Ice Silk Robe, they would be able to pay a certain reward.

But the reward was not Spirit Stones–the sect really didn’t have many left, but they had gathered some information about the Overseas Youzi Association.

Feng Jun thought about it and said such information might be worthwhile, depending on whether the information was worth the price.

Speaking of the people from Kunlun, they really were extraordinary; they had their fair share of criticisms, but their potential energy was also quite surprising–they had managed to locate quite a few members of the Overseas Youzi Association.

Surprisingly, these members were not residing in Huaxia, but overseas, predominantly in Treasure Island, Ni Hong, and Southeast Asia. To be able to gather such information was indeed surprising.

Feng Jun couldn’t help but wonder if Kunlun had been engaging in cultural exports for a considerable time already, only that this Daoist Sect had always been hidden, hence their developed forces were also in a concealed state.

Shen Qingyi mentioned that Kunlun could provide a list and information of about thirty individuals outside Huaxia.

After pondering, Feng Jun responded, “Whether these Magic Artifacts can be repaired is still uncertain… can you give me the list first?”

Shen Qingyi also trusted him, not just because of Feng Jun’s good reputation in the past, but she had an intuition: deep down, Feng Jun really didn’t care about the Magic Artifacts or Magical Treasures they held.

So she made another trip out of the sect gate and soon returned, bringing back the information.

Feng Jun opened the information and couldn’t help but laugh, “Well, then, this gift is indeed worth a Magic Artifact.”

Not to mention anything else, just seeing the name and information of “Tempura Yong” made him feel much better.

In fact, regarding the handling of the Rimu Factory in Magic City, he still felt slightly unwilling–the day was too rushed, and the matter was not handled perfectly. Moreover, Tempura Yong was in Ni Hong, and he had not been able to punish him, which was somewhat regrettable.

If this person never crossed paths with him again, perhaps he would gradually forget, but if there was a chance to deal with this fellow who set up a grand formation to use the living souls of Huaxia as blood offerings to the Shiki, he would feel relieved.

Cultivation cultivates the original heart, and being able to feel relieved was what mattered; some Spirit Stones counted for little–at the transcendent stage, he already needed to be wary of inner demons and pursue thorough understanding of his thoughts; otherwise, he couldn’t progress far.

Hearing this, Shen Qingyi also felt a sense of relaxation and couldn’t help but ask, “So, the Ice Silk Robe… can it be repaired?”

Actually, from her heart, she liked the Ice Silk Robe. As a sword body, her defense was usually weak, and clothing-type Magic Artifacts were much less common compared to combat-type ones in Kunlun and similar damaged Magic Artifacts were rare.

}],

Not to mention the Ice Silk Robe, which looked very beautiful when worn. Despite Shen Qingyi’s cold sword heart, she was still a female cultivator at the end of the day, and it was impossible for her not to appreciate beauty.

“Whether it can be repaired or not…” Feng Jun pondered for a moment, “Wait for a while, you will receive a reply soon.”