Talisman Emperor

Chapter 1742 – Natural Spirit Foundation

100,000 divine crystals wasn’t a small amount.

However, Chen Xi didn’t even give it a thought before refusing, and this was slightly sudden to Lie Yuncong and the others.

Moreover, when they saw Senior White’s expression that carried deep meaning, it caused their hearts to tremble involuntarily, and they had a faint feeling of terror.

These two fellows... wouldn’t have arouse malicious intent and intend to take a share of this Chaotic Lightning Fire Copper, right?

When they thought up to here, all of their gazes carried a wisp of vigilance. The cultivation world was a world of mutual suspicion and deception where malicious intents arose at the sight of wealth, and incidents of killing to seize treasures occur too frequently. Under such circumstances, they had no choice but to be vigilant.

A figure like Chen Xi naturally saw through their thoughts with a single glance, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and smile as he said, “All of you don’t have to be so nervous. Even though my wealth is limited, I don’t need a mere 100,000 divine crystals.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and said, “I have other urgent matters to attend to. Farewell everyone.”

“Haha! All of you little fellows are really too inexperienced. You even started suspecting us. That’s quite bad.” Senior White laughed with ridicule.

Lie Yuncong had an embarrassed expression on his face. Only now did he realized that he’d mistakenly taken an upstanding person to be a despicable villain.

He hurriedly spoke out to stop Chen Xi from leaving. “Fellow Daoist Chen Xun, wait a moment.”

Chen Xi said, “There’s no need for that. One must always be on guard against others. All of you did nothing wrong.”

At this moment, all the demon cultivators felt extremely embarrassed, and they were slightly at a loss for what to do.

Actually, they were too inexperienced. If it was any other experienced figures, those people would absolutely not make such an inexperienced display. At the very least, those people wouldn’t reveal all their emotions on their faces like these demon cultivators had and allow others to see through their thoughts with extreme ease.

“Fellow Daoist, I beg you, please wait a short moment longer.” Lie Yuncong had a guilty expression. As he spoke, he instructed the other demon cultivators. “Everyone, please withdraw your treasures to see if these two Fellow Daoists need anything. It can be considered as a show of your kindly feelings. We can’t make these two Fellow Daoists help us for nothing.”

He’d already determined that Chen Xi really was a figure that didn’t lack divine crystals.

When Lie Yuncong spoke in this way, it aroused Chen Xi’s interest, and he didn’t leave right away.

Lie Yuncong and the others immediately withdrew some precious treasures. All of them were treasures of high value that they’d gathered, and they came in all sorts of shapes and possessed various profound effects.

Of course, they couldn’t be said to be very valuable.

“Fellow Daoist, please take a look and feel free to take anything you take a liking to. Please don’t hold back. Our actions from before were already slightly bad, so this can be considered as compensation for the guilt we feel.” Lie Yuncong spoke in a serious tone.

Chen Xi swept them with his gaze and roughly discerned that there were no divine materials amongst them that he required, so he couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment. He was about to casually take a treasure so that Lie Yuncong and the others wouldn’t feel uneasy because of what had happened.

However, right at this moment, Senior White suddenly spoke. He pointed at a treasure that was in the shape of a leaf, around the size of an infant’s palm, and completely verdant. He said, “What’s this thing?”

“This is a Divine Jadecloud Leaf. If it’s kept on the body while meditating and cultivating, it’s capable of providing the profound effect of calming the heart and dispelling inner demons.” Gu Meilin from the Dancing Flower Race hurriedly opened her mouth and explained. “If Fellow Daoist like it, then you might as well take it.”

Senior White said with a smile, “This thing isn’t bad. Your ancestor, I, will take it.”

As he spoke, he took it with a swipe of his claw.

Chen Xi couldn’t help but shoot a glance at Senior White when he saw this, and then he cupped his fists at Lie Yuncong and the other demon cultivators. “Alright, we should bid our farewells now.”

Lie Yuncong and the others wanted to ask Chen Xi and Senior White to stay, but Chen Xi smiled and refused them.

...

After they walked out of the restaurant and arrived on the bustling streets, Chen Xi finally asked. “Senior White, was that really a Divine Jadecloud Leaf?”

Senior White had been restraining himself for a very long time now, and he couldn’t help but laugh complacently at this moment. “How could that silly little girl know the origins of this treasure?”

As he finished speaking, he was actually excited to the point of roaring with laughter, and his insane appearance caused many nearby cultivators to point and talk about him.

Chen Xi hurriedly sped up and frowned as he said, “Exactly what is it that it made you so happy?”

He clearly remembered that Senior White wasn’t so happy even when Senior White saw the Chaotic Lightning Fire Copper. Could it be that this treasure if even greater than the Chaotic Lightning Fire Copper?

Senior White took a deep breath and glanced at the surroundings before he spoke sneakily in a very soft voice. “You’re right, this treasure is much more formidable than the Chaotic Lightning Fire Copper!”

As he spoke, he explained the origins of this treasure.

It turned out that the leaf shaped treasure was actually called a Natural Spirit Foundation, and it was a natural treasure that was born from the Chaos.

It was the first time Chen Xi had heard this name, and he couldn’t help but speak with wonder. “Exactly what effects does it have?”

Senior White was extremely complacent at this moment, yet his expression froze when he heard this, and then he revealed a thoroughly distressed expression. “Chen Xi! Oh! Chen Xi! Could it be that you haven’t even heard of a Natural Spirit Foundation? Your knowledge really is limited!”

He paused for a moment and spoke swiftly via voice transmission. “You ought to be clearly aware that Natural Spirit Treasures are supreme divine weapons that’re born from within the Chaos, right?”

Chen Xi’s heart jerked as he nodded.

Senior White said with excitement. “This treasure is even rarer than a Natural Spirit Treasure. It’s a treasure capable of nurturing an Artificial Spirit Treasure into a true Natural Spirit Treasure!”

What!? Chen Xi almost cried out involuntarily. If this is true, then isn’t it too unbelievable? Would anyone dare believe that such a miraculous treasure actually exists in the world?

It was common knowledge that every single Natural Spirit Treasure was born from within the Chaos, and every single one that’s obtained by someone equals to one less Natural Spirit Treasure left for others. It was utterly impossible to refine Natural Spirit Treasures with the ability of cultivators, so they were extremely rare and precious.

However, this Natural Spirit Foundation was actually able to nurture Artificial Spirit Treasures into Natural Spirit Treasure, so it was obvious how miraculous this treasure was.

“Hehehe! What do you think? If it wasn’t for your ancestor, I, would you be able to encounter such a supreme fortuitous encounter?” Senior White laughed complacently, and he was very proud. “Don’t you have a Talisman Armament? It just so happens that you can seize this opportunity to nurture it with this Natural Spirit Foundation. In the future... you’ll have another Natural Spirit Treasure!”

Chen Xi was unable to calm down as well. This gain was so great that it was beyond his imagination. He’d never imagined that merely a short encounter with a group of demon cultivators would allow him to obtain such a miraculous treasure.

After a long time passed, Chen Xi recovered his calm and said. “This won’t do. The gains we received were too great. I have to compensate them with something. Otherwise, I’ll feel uncomfortable in my heart and never be able to rest in peace. It’ll affect my cultivation.”

As he spoke, he turned around and went back along the path he took earlier.

“You really intend to do that?” Senior White seemed as if he was looking at an idiot.

“Since I started cultivating until now, I’ve always sought to stay true to my heart. If I have to allow guilt to reside in my heart, then there’s no point in possessing that Natural Spirit Foundation!” Chen Xi’s expression became calm while his gaze was firm. When he made this decision, his heart felt clear while his cultivation in Heart Energy actually showed faint signs of improvement.

This caused him to be even more persistent towards this thought. No matter if it was right or wrong, it was sufficient so long as he stayed true to his heart.

“Then what do you intend to compensate them with? You have to realize that the value of this Natural Spirit Foundation is even greater than a Natural Spirit Treasure.” Senior asked this via voice transmission, so they didn’t have to worry about being overheard.

Chen Xi’s footsteps paused for a moment, and he briefly fell silent before he said, “Is a seventh-grade Ancestral Dao Root enough?”

Senior White was stunned, and then his expression suddenly became complicated. He stared at Chen Xi for a long time before revealing a rare moment where he restrained his bad habits and sighed with emotion. “Xuan... really didn’t choose the wrong person.”

When he spoke up to here, he seemed to be slightly sad and said, “There are too many peerlessly intelligent people in the world, and there are too many fellows that are adept at resorting to trickery or currying favor with others for their own personal gain. But in the end, their Dao Hearts were shrouded by all sorts of temptation and greed, causing them to be unable to step onto the ultimate path in the end.

“You’re right. Compared to these external treasures, the persistence of your own mental state is the most important. When you step foot onto the peak of the Grand Dao one day, you’ll notice that all matters and all treasures in this world can’t compare to true freedom!

“This is the state of remaining aloof from worldly possessions and acting according to the heart while remaining within one’s boundaries!”

Chen Xi was stunned. He’d never imagined that Senior White would actually speak such words because of his decision.

He silently repeated Senior White’s words in his heart, and he deeply agreed.

...

Actually, Chen Xi had quite a good impression of Lie Yuncong and the other demon cultivators.

Even though they were inexperienced, they still had a sense of embarrassment, sense of right and wrong, and they knew how to acknowledge a favor and seek to repay it. They were much better that those ruthless, coldblooded, and malicious cultivators.

“Eh, Fellow Daoist Chen Xun, why have you returned?” Outside the restaurant, Lie Yuncong and the others couldn’t help but be surprised when they saw Chen Xi and Senior White return after leaving just now.

“All of you’re leaving?” Chen Xi glanced at them.

“Yes, we gave it some thought, and we felt we’re extremely satisfied with our gains this time. So, we intend to return to in advance.” Lie Yuncong nodded.

“Take this jade box. My kind intentions reside within it. It wouldn’t be too late to open this box after all of you leave Spiritsail City so as to avoid others catching sight of it.” Chen Xi passed the jade box over in a casual manner, and then he instructed seriously. “All of you must be careful on your way. It’s best to directly return to your clans. After all, the treasures in your possessions are too precious, so it’s best to be careful.”

Lie Yuncong and the others were slightly stunned. They were utterly unable to figure out why Chen Xi’s attitude had changed to greatly and became so good to them.

However, even though they didn’t understand it, they were still very touched by it. It was precisely out of consideration for their safety that they’d decided to leave in advance.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Chen Xun.” Lie Yuncong and the others cupped their fists.

“Go on.” Chen Xi smiled before turning around and leaving, and he swiftly vanished in the boundless sea of people.

“This Fellow Daoist Chen Xi really isn’t a bad person. If we’re reunited with him in the future, I must invite him to my Flame Qilin Clan. I believe my Ancestors and the others would definitely be very welcoming of him.” Lie Yuncong couldn’t help but sigh with emotion as he watched Chen Xi leave.

The other demon cultivators nodded successively as well.

They didn’t stay here any longer, and they turned around and left.

It wasn’t long before they’d flown out of Spiritsail City and arrived in the starry sky.

“Eh!” Lie Yuncong was unable to restrain himself in the end, and he’d found a secluded star before he opened up the jade box that Chen Xi had give him. He instantly seemed like he’d been struck by lightning when he saw its contents, and he was stunned on the spot.

The other demon cultivators couldn’t help but come over curiously when they saw this. In the next moment, their bodies stiffened as well, and they revealed expressions of disbelief.

It was actually a seventh-grade Ancestral Dao Root!

For a time, all of them were stunned on the spot, and they were unable to calm themselves for a very long time.