The Sacred Ruins

Yellow Ox sternly warned Chu Feng not to lose the item as it possessed significant origins. It might even be an inheritance containing ancient fist techniques or breathing patterns.

Chu Feng was pleasantly surprised. Since such ancient fist techniques or breathing patterns were carved onto jade, this was, no doubt, a mythical tome.

Yellow Ox had suspected that it was a rare treasure, seemingly related to the inheritance of a certain tribe in his memories. He was ready to take action and hurry over to Shuntian.

Chu Feng didn’t inquire further since the circumstances weren’t so favorable. He promptly put away his communicator in order to avoid being suspected by Qi Honglin.

Qi Honglin treated Chu Feng as his equal despite his age. He very naturally addressed the latter as little brother and didn’t seem at all uncomfortable about it.

"I can’t see anything special about this item. It appears to be just a piece of ancient jade," Chu Feng commented.

He then laughed amiably and inquired if the Pre-Qin Research Institute had other rare items that needed "appraising".

Qi Honglin was momentarily dumbfounded; he had used the same words when he was gifting the items. It appeared that Chu Feng’s "appraising" had a deeper meaning to it. He had left a path out for himself, but this seemingly genteel person was like a lion opening its gigantic maw.

"Little Brother Chu, this piece of jade possesses great origins and can be considered a rare treasure. Despite failing to tap into its profundities, we feel that it is quite extraordinary. We’re gifting it to you in order to consolidate our friendship." Qi Honglin was the very picture of sincerity.

Chu Feng remained unmoved—these old fogeys with corporate backgrounds look extremely amiable on the surface but were cruel and decisive when it was time to attack.

At the moment, he held the advantage of strength. The Pre-Qin research institute would’ve skinned him alive otherwise.

Now that Chu Feng had opened his bloody maw, there was no way he would pull back just like that. He planned to extort them thoroughly.

"You claim this stone to be some sort of mythical tome, but, who knows? I can neither see through it or grasp its profundities. It’s of no worth to me."

"Since that’s the case, please return the jade tome to me. I’ll prepare a different antique for little brother," Qi Honglin sighed.

Chu Feng inwardly cursed. This old bastard was intentionally making things difficult for him, knowing that he wouldn’t return the jade tome.

"I’ll let bygones be bygones if you find a few more items on the same level as this piece of jade," Chu Feng stated.

The Pre-Qin Research Institute had always been debating true history and engaging in archeology, digging up artifacts from underground and researching legends. They should have a fair amount of interesting items.

It could even be said that no other major power could compare to this corporation with respect to the amount of hoarded ancient relics.

Qi Honglin smiled. "You won’t find more than a couple of these of legendary tomes even if you search throughout the world, to speak nothing of a mere Pre-Qin Research Institute."

"Then it’s settled. Give me five of them!" Chu Feng spoke.

Qi Honglin was taken by surprise. He felt a vague pain in his stomach—he had just said that there weren’t more than a couple of these things in the whole world and yet this brat was demanding so many the moment he opened his mouth.

"I don’t have them!" He denied; there was no way he could gift them in this manner.

"Elder Qi, you just said there were a few pieces. Stop hiding them." Chu Feng refused to back down on his demands.

Qi Honglin shook his head and repeatedly explained that the Pre-Qin Research Institute was only parting with such a precious treasure in order to sow some good karma and that they didn’t have anymore of them.

"I almost died in the hands of the marine race experts this time. Elder Qi, don’t you find it rather lacking that my compensation consists only of a chopstick-like spear and a lousy rock?" Chu Feng complained.

Qi Honglin shot a sidelong glance at Chu Feng. This brat’s skin is super thick! He even dares to claim he almost died in the hands of the marine race? It was obviously the marine race being eaten! And how could he use size to measure the silver war spear’s value? This is a treasure comparable to the legendary flying knife—a weapon many corporate powers would fight over.

The two haggled back and forth for quite a while. Qi Honglin finally told Chu Feng that, he did indeed know the location of the second jade piece, but he would only disclose this information if Chu Feng could unravel the mysteries of this first piece.

Chu Feng revealed an odd expression. He had always suspected that the other party’s denial wasn’t too resolute. As expected, he eventually started revealing some clues and even wanted to use the former to unravel the treasure’s mysteries.

But how can the Pre-Qin Research Institute be so sure that Chu Feng would cooperate with them after unlocking the mysteries of the jade.

Why is this old man so confident? Chu Feng felt rather suspicious.

"Little Brother Chu, I came here with the utmost sincerity and even gifted you the ancient jade tome. Come to the Pre-Qin Research Institute after you unravel the mysteries within and perhaps we might be able to look for the second jade tome together." Qi Honglin’s smile receded as he informed Chu Feng.

He repeatedly expressed that his desire was for a win-win situation but this caused Chu Feng to frown slightly. He suddenly remembered many things.

"I heard that your Pre-Qin Research Institute had taken a famed mountain. If you let me come up and cultivate for a while, we can discuss further cooperation. I won’t take long—half a month should be enough." In the end, Chu Feng added another condition.

He wanted to "borrow the bird to lay eggs", hoping that he could, perhaps, use the soil on the famed mountain to grow the seed in the stone box.

After some deliberation, Qi Hongli felt that it was fine as long as they harvested all the important divine fruits beforehand. He agreed to Chu Feng’s condition.

Finally, the topic of their discussion shifted back to the marine race. According to Qi Honglin, the mainland was bound to see chaos in the near future as the marine race intends to expand ashore.

This piece of information was obtained from the marine race by his grandson Qi Sheng. It appeared that the situation might be even more dire than they had expected.

While the two were in discussion, a small mountain was moving through the depths of the Eastern Sea. It was moving at a fast pace, kicking up winds and torrential waves along its path, stirring up the tranquil ocean.

Upon closer inspection, it was, in fact, a gigantic sea turtle. The several hundred meters long beast was like a small island. Huge snowy waves rolled about as it made its way through the water, truly a terrifying sight to behold.

It finally arrived at the shore of the Eastern Sea. A group of people were seen traversing the sky above the sea turtle. These powerful individuals flew hundreds of meters and landed on the shore.

The leader among them was a lady. She possessed sleek, waist-length hair as blue as the oceans; small translucent "protrusions" were visible within her hair as it danced in the wind.

This lady was the very picture of purity; her beauty could topple cities. She tore through the skies, covering thousands of meters and was still advancing. She had soon left her entourage in the dust.

Her beauty was somewhat ephemeral. Her robes and skirt fluttered in the wind like a descending angel as she flew through the skies.

She landed only after flying a fair distance. Her eyes sparkled as she observed the vast mainland. She murmured, "The Ancestral Court of Taoism, the ancestral lands of Buddhism, the Pilgrimage Grounds and Kunlun... it’s time to choose."

Her voice was gentle but her followers were all full of reverence for her. They were prepared to fight for the famed mountains under her leadership!

At the same time, there stood a man within the Southern Seas. Tall and straight, he possessed sparkling wheat-colored skin and his long hair was spread out behind him. He rushed forward at full speed, riding upon waves that were tens of meters tall.

He was capable of commanding the ocean and its waves, urging the tides to carry him towards the distant shore.

The man was possessed a strong build and a single horn protruded through his long black hair. His sparkling eyes added to his handsome demeanour. He laughed loudly, "Since this is my first time going ashore, I’ll have to climb the best of famed mountains; Mount Longhu and the Thunderous Temple are both good choices!"

In truth, the depths of the ocean were far from peaceful. There had been a number of mystical incidents, and gigantic monsters had been spotted in several places. Some places had even produced certain "marine deities".

There was a certain area within the ocean where the waves had parted amidst thunderous rumbles, and from within it shot a silver flying saucer. This terrifying work of advanced technology flew straight towards the mainland.

Shuntian, the Proterozoic Assembly.

Qi Honglin stood up and accompanied Chu Feng outside. He was amiable and kind as always, walking along side and chatting with the latter. Before parting, he reminded again that the Pre-Qin Research Institute was extremely willing to work together with Chu Feng if the latter wished to conquer a famed mountain.

As he left, Chu Feng pondered along the way—he sensed that the Pre-Qin Research Institute was not as simple as it seemed.

He arrived back home and began to study the piece of Jade. He tried hundreds of different methods and tried probing with powerful spiritual energy but to no avail.

He felt a moment of hesitancy—could this item be fake?

However, the flood dragon image within gave him an odd sensation. It was a sort of innate perception that told him that this stone was indeed extraordinary.

Yellow Ox arrived three days later upon a passenger jet. He had hurried over non-stop and was full of urgency.

The black yak had also come, clad in the same outfit with swept back hair, sunglasses and a cigar in his mouth. He looked exactly like a local gangster and attracted a fair amount of attention.

Were it not for Yellow Ox’s beautiful appearance dispersing some of the black yak’s ruffian aura, the people were certain to take the long way around them.

"Zhou Yitian that bastard should still be in Shuntian, right? This time, I must beat him to a pulp! I’m going to beat him until even his mom doesn’t recognize him!" the black yak grumbled. Being framed as having a secret love for the White Snake, he couldn’t let go of his anger.

Finally, they arrived outside of the Hollow Jade Temple. The great black yak’s appearance almost caused the temple staff to raise the alarm.

Both his appearance and manner of speech didn’t help with first impressions.

After receiving Yellow Ox’s call, Chu Feng rushed out and welcomed them inside. However, he dared not bring them into his own home for fear of the black yak blabbering.

The moment the yak saw Lu Tong, he slapped the old man’s back, shouting brotherly greetings. The latter could only grimace in pain and grind his teeth.

If the black yak were to go to his house and address Wang Jing as sister-in-law, Chu Feng would feel really uncomfortable. There were few things one wouldn’t expect this chap to do.

Yellow Ox couldn’t wait at all. The moment he stepped into the Hollow Jade Temple, his eyes were already glowing, silently urging Chu Feng to bring out the Jade he had recently received.

"Ah, this is good stuff!" Yellow Ox rubbed the piece of jade and immediately gave his evaluation.

According to him, this piece of jade was suitable for recording inheritances. His eyes shot out threads of golden light and focused upon the flood dragon image within the jade.

Finally, Yellow Ox loudly exclaimed, "Just as I thought! We might be able to collect the ‘Paragon Technique’!"