Chapter 193: Immortal Palace Appeared
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Why did this happen?
After several attempts, Junior Leopard made a great deal of progress in utilizing the Three Realms Division. At the same time, he found a problem. Though his skeleton strength surpassed the standards of the Bone-Forging Realm, his body strength remained in the Bone-Forging Realm. Thereafter during his later practices, he purposefully enhanced practices on his skin and flesh. He now practiced Moon-evil Painted Skin Punching Skill much more often than Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist to strengthen his skin and flesh.
However, as he further practiced, strengthening his skin and flesh significantly, the nature of his Internal Qi also changed.
Under the influence of Mysterious Fire, his Internal Qi of Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire had totally bled into one. In addition, it was continually condensed by Bright Moon Deifying Technique. Thus in terms of quality, his Internal Qi was more translucent than that of ordinary experts of the Bone-Forging Realm and even stronger than that of experts above Level Seven.
However, a surprise came along with that. After fighting with Dragon Granny, his skeleton was hurt. Surprisingly, when he healed himself with Bone-Forging Pills and Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist, they not only cured him of internal injuries but also strengthened his skeleton to a higher level.
At first, he was quite happy with it. But now he found that the strengthening of his skeleton was gradually impacting his Internal Qi. When the strength of his skin and flesh matched with his skeleton strength through his madly practice, the impaction was much stronger. The strengthening of his body also impacted the nature of his Internal Qi. In recent days, when applying his Internal Qi, to his surprise, he found that his Internal Qi was also flashing with a golden light like his skeleton.
This was astounding to him.
The nature of Internal Qi was determined by two aspects: one was your own body constitution, and the other was the mental cultivation method of your Internal Qi. For most people, the first aspect could be completely neglected because the influence of the body constitution on practicing Internal Qi would gradually show up only when their cultivation reached Level Seven. Most people in the martial arts world had no chance to experience this influence at all.
Though Junior Leopard’s cultivation was merely at Level Four, yet his two External Elixirs had already reached Level Six. However, he still could not feel any influence from his body constitution on his Internal Qi.
His Internal Qi cultivation method was another decisive factor in the nature of his Internal Qi. He was a special case. The nature of his Internal Qi was also influenced by Mysterious Fire and the Bright Moon Deifying Technique. Therefore, his Internal Qi of Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire greatly surpassed that of other people who had practiced the same cultivation methods, both in quality and power.
But for Junior Leopard, that was enough. He never thought that his Internal Qi would be influenced by his body constitution when his cultivation was only at Level Four. Although the influence was very little now, he believed that in the future the influence would grow. Therefore, now he was sure that it must be good for him.
The biggest difference between Level Seven and Level Six was the condensed degrees and properties of their Internal Qi. When one’s cultivation reached Level Seven or higher, their Internal Qi would be influenced by their body constitution, which would result in various properties.
Junior Leopard did not know about the others, but he clearly sensed the property of Dragon Granny’s Internal Qi when he fought with her before. As Dragon Granny reached only Level Seven by lucky coincidence, her Internal Qi had started to generate its own property that was far from mature. It also could not be applied to real combat. Otherwise, it would have been extremely hard for Junior Leopard to fight against her with only his body.
The property now appeared when his Internal Qi cultivation was only at Level Four, which surprised him, but he gradually calmed down after pondering about it for a while.
The fact that his Internal Qi generated property was surprising, but it happened for a good reason.
His Internal Qi had been condensed to an extreme degree, which was not weaker than the Level Seven experts’. After he was healed last time, his skeleton strength had reached the Tendon-Changing Realm. With these two factors, his Internal Qi would naturally generate property.
“I don’t know what property my Internal Qi is. Though it feels good, there are so many things that seem good but are actually useless.” A hidden trace of worry arose in Junior Leopard’s heart but soon vanished. The final property was decided by one’s own body constitution. Like one’s appearance, it was inherently given and could not be changed.
Since it could not be changed, he did not need to worry about it, but should just allow nature to take its course.
The golden light hidden in his Internal Qi could only be seen by his abnormal eyes when his Internal Qi was transformed in his body. Besides himself, nobody could find out that his Internal Qi had already formed its own property, not even experts at Level Nine, like Wang She.
After circulating the Qi, he exhaled slightly. His Internal Qi was gathered into his Dantian and hid in his bones, and his complexion returned to normal.
“Jiang Xiao, Zhu Ba, come in!”
After the words were finished, the door opened. Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba walked in and said, “Commander!”
“You two have stood there for a while. What’s the matter?”
“Shopkeeper Ding of Southern Bay Warehouse wants to meet Your Excellency. He asks Zhu Ba and me for help,” answered Jiang Xiao.
“Southern Bay Warehouse?” A trace of a cold smile flashed over Junior Leopard’s face, and his gaze turned to Zhu Ba. “Zhu Ba, how much money did you get this time?”
“Hehe, Your Excellency. Not much! Not much!” Zhu Ba gave a hollow laugh. After such a long time, he had become familiar with Junior Leopard and was not that reserved. “The money is at the door. How could I refuse it?”
“Yeah. How can you refuse it? Just wait till you are killed by money!” Junior Leopard scolded him with a smile. “I won’t see him!”
“Won’t see him?” Zhu Ba went blank, and his expression became one of embarrassment. “Your Excellency, you see, I have already accepted the money, you…”
“It’s settled. I won’t see him. I know why he comes!” Junior Leopard waved his hands slightly, as if he was dispersing flies. “Zhu Ba, I’ve told you so many times. You’d better do this thing naturally. It must be that you only spited them so they came to me. Is that right?”
“We brothers only dare to spite them, Your Excellency!” Zhu Ba smiled bitterly. “Without your permission, we dare not to spite others!”
“So, you mean it’s my mistake?!” Junior Leopard’s face was changed and he scolded.
“No, no, no…!” Zhu Ba immediately waved his hands and said, “I mean that we brothers have become better-behaved. We don’t dare to act recklessly like before.”
“I’m not asking you to act recklessly. I’m saying you should use your brain!” Junior Leopard was quite speechless, “Excellency Jiang, he has no brain, so he acts recklessly. But why do you also kick up a row with him?”
“It’s because they also ask me for help,” Jiang Xiao answered with a bitter smile. “There is a supervisor in Southern Bay Warehouse who is a relative of my wife. He went to my home to badger me for a long time last night. I had no choice but to accept!”
“Then you tell me, what should I do now?”
“If you don’t want to see him, then just don’t see him. It’s not a big deal!” Jiang Xiao said. “He is only a shopkeeper of a Warehouse. But your Excellency, I’m afraid we should be cautious about other things. Something strange is happening in Jianghu.”
“Yeah, I know.” Junior Leopard nodded, “I don’t care what’s happening in Jianghu, but we should pay close attention to what’s happening in Jiang City!”
“That’s for sure!” Jiang Xiao nodded. “Since Your Excellency doesn’t want to see him, I’ll go and send him away to save your trouble!”
“OK. Go ahead!” Jiang Xiao then turned to leave. Zhu Ba shrunk his head and wanted to follow Jiang Xiao, but he was stopped by Junior Leopard.
“Zhu Ba, did I allow you to leave?”
“I don’t dare!” Zhu Ba hurriedly said.
“I heard that you have become a celebrity in Prunus Tower lately.” Junior Leopard smiled coldly. Once he got money and time, Zhu Ba would linger in those red-light districts in Jiang City. He even fought with others there several times. Recently, under the guidance of Junior Leopard, he cultivated diligently, so he made great progress. Therefore, he continually won the fighting, which improved his reputation a lot. And it finally came to Junior Leopard’s attention.
“Eh, that… Hehe, Your Excellency. Don’t believe those words. It’s total nonsense. I’m quite well-behaved recently!”
“Well-behaved? You’ve never been to Prunus Tower?” Junior Leopard smiled.
“I did go there. Of course I did!” Speaking of this, Zhu Ba became somewhat embarrassed. “Your Excellency, I go to Prunus Tower not for playing with women. In fact, I have a lover there so I often go there.”
“I also heard that. Her name is… Yuzhu, right?”
“Yes, it’s Yuzhu!” Speaking of Yuzhu, Zhu Ba nodded repeatedly. “I had planned to buy her freedom, but I don’t have enough money, so…”
“You want to buy her freedom?!” Junior Leopard was surprised this time. He thought Zhu Ba went there just to play with women, but it turned out that he had been played by women!
“Yes. I want to buy her freedom!” Zhu Ba lowered his head.
“How much money do you need?”
“About… 300 or 400 taels of silver!” Hearing Junior Leopard’s question, Zhu Ba’s eyes suddenly lit up and he stared at Junior Leopard in amazement.
“What are you thinking? Are you expecting me to give you money so you can buy your lover’s freedom?” Junior Leopard was so angry that he almost kicked him.
“It’s all my fault, my fault!”
“Well. Don’t make a fool of yourself here. Isn’t there a person outside begging you for something? Haven’t you ever thought about squeezing anything out of him?”
“Him? Shopkeeper Ding?” Zhu Ba seemed perplexed at first, and soon he became happy. “Your Excellency means…”
“Get out!”
Zhu Ba stopped asking questions and hurriedly ran out with a satisfied smile.
“What an asshole!”
Junior Leopard could do nothing to him but helplessly scold him.
“You are actually quite considerate to your followers!”
After scolding Zhu Ba, Junior Leopard prepared to go out. At this moment, he suddenly heard a quiet sigh. He stopped and a trace of fear arose in his eyes. He turned his head and saw a man in black standing behind him silently. He had no idea about when the man had come in.
“Who are you?!” Junior Leopard felt the man’s figure was somewhat familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen the man.
“What? You don’t remember me? But I remember you.” The man had a sallow complexion, and a mouthful of yellow teeth showed up when he grinned. His appearance was very ordinary. However, a strength which made Junior Leopard feel frightened was hidden under this ordinary appearance.
“Have we met before?” Junior Leopard asked slightly. Although his feelings told him that he had seen the man before, he was not sure about that and could not remember, either.
“Four years ago. Ningzhou City. At that time, you were still a little boy—a fearless boy. Do you remember?”
The man’s words reminded Junior Leopard of that memory.
Yeah, it was this man. It was the first time he followed Xu Yong to be in Jianghu. They planned to go to the Wen Family in Ningzhou City as the Wen Family had one Tianluo Dark Gold. However, before they had stayed there for one night, a man in black intruded into the Wen Family and robbed the Tianluo Dark Gold. Thus, they could only leave with disappointment. And this guy standing before him was actually that man!
The figure was the same. The only difference was at that time the man wore a strange robe and a weird mask while now the man was in an ordinary green robe without any mask.
This was a Level-Seven expert!
Junior Leopard stepped back one step with his heart flashing a trace of fear. He made an alert stance, and his Internal Qi began to circulate.
“Don’t be so nervous. I’m not your enemy!” The man smiled. “Wang She sent me here to find you.”
“Wang She?” Junior Leopard’s expression changed a little, and he looked at the man curiously. He could not believe that the man had any relationship with Wang She.
However, before he asked any questions, the man said, “Wang She said that you have extraordinary strength and you are able to fight with a Level-Seven expert. I didn’t believe that at first and planned to test you in fighting. But you killed the old woman from the Meng Family that day. It proved your strength. So, I come here today!”
“You said Wang She sent you here. Do you think I will believe that?” Junior Leopard smiled coldly.
“Yeah, if I were you, I wouldn’t believe it either. But Wang She wanted me tell you that when you killed that bear at home you did a good job!”
Junior Leopard’s gaze fixed for a moment, and a chilly spirit exuded from his body but vanished soon after.
The bear I killed at home?
Of course he remembered that. At that time, he was at a crucial time of life and death and his Fiery Eyes awakened. Wang She saw the whole process, and he was the only person that knew that.
Only Wang She understood what it meant to kill the bear.
However, since Wang She only wanted the man to say I did a great job in killing the bear, it meant that this man only knew that I killed a bear and didn’t know that my Fiery Eyes awakened.
Thinking of this, he set his mind at ease.
“Well, I see. Chief Wang is really a thoughtful man. I am wondering why Chief Wang sent you here?”
“Wang She has been in trouble recently. He suggested that you replace him before he comes back.” Seeing that Junior Leopard believed his words, the man did not question further but said darkly, “It seems that your fellowship is very deep. No wonder he advises you to replace him.”
“Replace him? Replace what?” Junior Leopard was shocked and he did not understand the man’s meaning. Wang She indeed came to see him before he went to Northern Yuan. But, he did not mention this that time!
Thinking of this, Junior Leopard said, “I don’t quite understand what Your Excellency means. Chief Wang didn’t mention this when he left here!”
“Of course he didn’t mention it, because at that time he didn’t know he would have a mission. I believe that he didn’t expect that the mission would come to him so soon.” The man smiled.
“Mission?” Junior Leopard was curious and asked, “Your Excellency is from Tian Long Taoism?”
“I have nothing to do with Tian Long Taoism!” the man answered and he looked at Junior Leopard with a look of interest. “You needn’t fish for information about me. Since Wang She decided to let you replace him, then I will certainly tell you everything as much as I possibly can!”
“I don’t understand!” Junior Leopard said, but he had his own speculation already. Wang She was the Chief of Tian Long Taoism. Even if he did have some mission, the mission should be relevant to Tian Long Taoism. But this man said he had nothing to do with Tian Long Taoism. Thinking of the man’s mysterious clothing that year when he robbed the Tianluo Dark Gold, Junior Leopard was shocked in his heart. “Did Wang She secretly join in some terrorist organization?”
“Fine, little friend. Don’t think too much. Just follow me!”
Junior Leopard said, “Wait!”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“Not exactly!” Junior Leopard shook his head and said. “I have nothing to say about Chief Wang wanting me to replace him temporarily. But I am wondering if I can refuse the mission that you’ve just mentioned!”
“Of course you can. But if I were you, I wouldn’t refuse it!” the man said with a smile.
“I also believe that Chief Wang won’t do something bad to me,” Junior Leopard said, and he seemed somewhat embarrassed. “But you also know that I’m the Navy Commander in Jiang City. I have much business to deal with. Even if I go with you, I need to hand over the business first. Could you tell me how long this mission will take?”
“One month at least, or half a year at most. You’re right, you should hand over your business,” the man said, glancing at Junior Leopard, “I will wait for you in Jiang City. After you handle your business, you can come and find me at Pengcheng Lodge in Jiang City.”
“Okay!” Junior Leopard nodded and said. The man flashed his body, went out through the window, and disappeared in several flashes and falls.
Junior Leopard saw the man off, and gradually, his complexion sank, scolding Wang She in his heart.
If you want to die or make trouble, then just go. Why do you involve me in this matter?
You’re even letting me replace your position. Who knows what kind of organization you joined? If you joined a terrorist organization which fights against the whole world, you are definitely killing me.
Thinking of the weird clothing of the man that day in Ningzhou City, Junior Leopard knew that the organization Wang She joined was probably not a good one.
However, he thought of the members.
Although Junior Leopard only knew two of them, one was a Level-Nine expert and the other was a Level-Seven expert. This showed that this organization should not be weak. In fact, concerning Wang She’s character, it was impossible for him to join an ordinary organization.
“It seems that Wang She has planned to involve me in this from the very beginning. But he hadn’t gotten a chance to until now. This time he wants to carry out his plan when he is in trouble. That really is a good idea,” Junior Leopard thought this over in his heart. “But now, it seems that I have no choice but to follow his intentions.”
Indeed, Junior Leopard had no choice.
He had no idea how to get rid of the whole thing that Wang She had arranged for him.
“Forget it. Take one step at a time. I’d like to see what Wang She is plotting!”
He thought this over with anger in his heart.
The next day, he gathered his followers in the Navy of Jiang City together, including Wang Cheng and Jiang Xiao, and handed everything over to them with the reason of closed door training once again. In fact, everything in the Navy had been dealt with by them the entire time. All Junior Leopard needed to do was to tell them that he would not show up in River Heart Island during the next half a year. No matter what happened, they were permitted to decide by themselves without informing him, the Commander of the Navy of Jiang City. Of course, if there was something that they could not resolve, they should not be anxious and just wait for him to come back to deal with it.
Hearing that Junior Leopard was about to start another closed door training, the followers had different reactions. Wang Cheng, Wang Datong, and Yuan Long were quite glad to hear that. Although Junior Leopard almost never interfered with them before, they could not do things freely because of the supervisor. In Junior Leopard’s previous life, he always wished his leader to be away on official business, so that he could freely do whatever he wanted.
Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba, who usually got the most advantages from Junior Leopard, were somewhat loath to part with him.
“Your Excellency, you’ve just finished one closed door training. Why do you begin another?”
“I’m a genius. I often get insights and need closed door training. Can’t I?” Junior Leopard said impatiently.
“But… Your Excellency, I am just preparing to buy Yuzhu’s freedom and marry her. If you are not here, how can I do this?” Zhu Ba asked.
“You really want to buy your lover’s freedom from Prunus Tower?” Junior Leopard went blank for a minute, looking Zhu Ba up and down. “It seems that you have cheated Shopkeeper Ding badly yesterday!”
“Hehe!” Zhu Ba laughed, his hand touching his head. “Your Excellency, you see, could you wait for a few days?”
“No. I have to commit to closed-door training while my feeling still exists. Or when the feeling disappears, it would be useless even if I keep training till my death!” Junior Leopard shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. You just marry her. Don’t miss the lucky day. I’m too busy now, and I haven’t the mood to prepare a present for you. But don’t worry, when I finish the closed-door training, I will give you a big one.”
“Then, thanks a lot, Your Excellency!” Once Zhu Ba heard Junior Leopard would give him a big present, he immediately laughed.
“You’re happy now?” Junior Leopard scolded him with a smile. “You asshole. You are waiting for my present in your heart, aren’t you?”
“Of course not!” Zhu Ba denied that in a laugh, but the happy expression on his face totally sold out his true thoughts.
…
…
At night, in room No.2 of the West Yard in Pengcheng Lodge in Jiang City, two figures rushed out from the room, and disappeared into the boundless night. One was Junior Leopard, and the other was the mysterious man.
Junior Leopard followed the man. Even though he had already fully used his body movement, he still fell behind farther and farther. After running for dozens of miles, Junior Leopard stared at the man’s back which now had almost become a black dot. He suddenly stopped, and did not use his Lightness Skill. Instead, he walked at a normal person’s speed. While walking, he shouted, “Why are you running so fast? For reincarnation?”
The black dot in front of him suddenly staggered and nearly toppled over.
The rapid figure also stopped.
“Boy, hurry up! My patience is limited!”
“It’s not me who doesn’t want to be fast, but you’re a Level-Seven expert, while I’m only a Level-Four rookie. How can I run at your speed?” Learning the man’s manner, Junior Leopard complained. His voice was condensed into one thread and transformed far away.
“You have External Elixir!” The man said rudely, “Boy, don’t think about keeping your strength in front of me. I’m not malicious toward you!”
“What though I have External Elixir? My cultivation is still at Level Six. How do you expect me to keep up with your speed?” Junior Leopard breathed heavily, his face full of anger.
“Hehe, sure enough. It’s just like what Wang She had told me. Although you’re young, you’re much steadier than your peers. Unlike other boys, you are not eager to win. This is your biggest advantage, but also your biggest shortcoming. It’s a pity that your cultivation is strong but you lack the morale that you deserve!”
“Morale isn’t food. Why do I need morale?” Junior Leopard seemed to be somewhat impatient. He walked slowly toward the front of the man, looking carefully up and down at him, and said, “Senior, can we discuss one thing?”
“What?!”
“Tell me the destination that we are heading for now, and we’ll go there separately, okay? I know you’re in a hurry. You can go there first with your unique Lightness Skill. And I’ll wait here till the next morning. I will find a market to buy a horse, good or bad, so that I can arrive there at the fastest speed. What do you think that?”
“What if I don’t agree?!”
“You don’t agree? Why? Senior, it’s useless to force me like this. I really can’t run fast. Besides, nowadays, why do we apply Lightness Skills instead of riding a horse?” Junior Leopard said and sat on a roadside stone, showing a firm appearance of not going.
The man smiled and said, “It’s not far away. Hold on for a little longer, we are almost there. There is a foothold nearby belonging to our Immortal Palace.”
“Immortal Palace?!”