Heavenly Jewel Change

Zhou Weiqing readily agreed and said: “No problem, we’ll hand everything over as soon as we are paid. However, the horses, bows and shields we will be keeping. Apologies, Regiment Commander Shen Bu, as you know, we are severely lacking food here, and my brothers have already eaten those horses. They have also taken the shields and bows to play, so I can’t return those. As you know, these ruffians don’t listen much to orders… but at least the heavy armour should be no problem.”

Shen Bu’s eye muscles twitched noticeably. Facing that innocent smile of Zhou Weiqing’s, she truly felt like giving him one tight slap and beat him to death. However, could she really do something like that? Of course not!

That day, after they all left, Shen Ji had not told the others what happened, but he would not hide it from his junior little sister. That Shangguan Fei’er was from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace was definitely a shock to them. Although Shen Ji had some status and power in the army, he was nothing compared to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. As such, they naturally thought that both Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er were from the same place, otherwise with their age, how could their cultivation level be so high and power so great?

As soon as they thought about the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, they naturally thought that the two were here on secret missions, and they would have to endure and tolerate them no matter what. Shen Ji had warned her severely not to disturb the Ruffian Battalion any longer, and if Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er had any requests, to aid them without hesitation.

For the Heaven’s Expanse Palace members to appear here, it was definitely a major issue. Shen Ji had reported it to their godfather / master, and had gotten the order to blackout the news, and let no one else learn of this.

After all, the five Great Saint Lands… or more accurately, the four Great Saint Lands with the exception of the Heavenly Demon Sect, had previously had an agreement that none of them would interfere in ordinary wars, as that would bring the entire continent into a major war that could destroy everyone’s lives. At this point, since the Heaven’s Expanse Palace members had come here secretly, if the Heavenly Snow Mountain learned about this and took action, it could escalate into a major problem! As such, no matter what, they had to hide this secret as best they could, otherwise this might not end well.

“Alright, how much do you want.” Shen Bu said solemnly.

Zhou Weiqing said with an embarrassed look on his face: “So sorry that Regiment Commander Shen Bu has to go through all this expense. You have already come all the way here personally, I would be embarrassed to ask for too much. Thirty thousand gold pieces, three hundred gold coins per set of heavy cavalry armour is cheap right? That is definitely a reasonable price.”

Three hundred gold coins per set of heavy cavalry armour was indeed cheap, but the problem was, that was originally her Regiment’s armour! Having to pay for it again, Shen Bu’s feelings were indeed extremely vexed.

However, she could only endure it, taking out thirty thousand gold coins, handing it to Zhou Weiqing, who immediately gave the order and had his men bring out the hundred heavy cavalry armour. They had already prepared the armour, as he had expected that Shen Bu was here to send them the gold.

As for the thirty thousand gold coins, as he had promised, he did not keep any, dividing it to the Peerless Battalion soldiers who had snatched the armour originally.

Shen Bu did not want to spend anymore time here, and now that her business was over, she quickly said: “Battalion Commander Zhou, I’ll take my leave then. Legion Commander Shen Ji asked me to pass the message to you that if you have any requirements, you can look for me directly.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “That would be so embarrassing! However, since Legion Commander Shen Ji has already said that, if I am too courteous, that will not be giving him face. Could I get two hundred thousand arrows and two thousand longbows as well as some food supplies? As you know, my brothers often go hungry.”

Shen Bu had just mounted her warhorse, and she almost fell down when she heard that. Whipping her head around angrily, she glared at Zhou Weiqing as she exclaimed: “Why don’t you say you want a thousand two hundred heavy cavalry armour instead?! You only have that many people, why do you want two thousand longbows?!”

Zhou Weiqing said with an aggrieved look: “I’m just afraid of any wear and tear. As for heavy cavalry armour, I do not need any, those are just too heavy, not suitable for us. If you really want to give me that, I’ll rather have that in gold coins.”

Shen Bu quickly left. Facing such a shameless person, she felt if she stayed any longer, she would be enraged until she vomited blood.

However, to Zhou Weiqing’s immense surprise, within two days, the two thousand longbows and two hundred thousand arrows really arrived along with a round of supplies, including new tents, blankets, army uniforms, food etc. Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but marvel to himself about how much face the Heaven’s Expanse Palace had. Hmm, with this ‘tiger skin’1, could he possibly command a Regiment without any complaints from them?

Of course, he was just daydreaming about that, he would not try such a thing. Firstly, he had to get by Shangguan Fei’er about that first, and secondly, the Northern Army command were not fools, such a massive movement of troops was not something that could be done so easily.

…

It seemed like the blink of an eye, and almost half a month passed since they had arrived at the Peerless Battalion. After these days of training and working, the emotions of these Peerless Battalion soldiers had been roused, no longer the bored and torpid semblance they had been last time. As for how much they had actually learned from the training, Zhou Weiqing was not too worried. After all, training was a process, a progressive thing. However, he had a very important question to ask Shangguan Fei’er, but these few days she had been hiding from him, causing him to be rather vexed.

With all those new tents and bedding, it was much more comfortable to live in now, and Zhou Weiqing sat on his chair comfortably, his eyes closed. All of a sudden, the tent flap lifted and Shangguan Fei’er entered from outside.

With a quick step in, Shangguan Fei’er stopped right there and said: “Why are you looking for me?”

Ever since they had come back from the previous round, she had been in a fluster. After calming down from the high of emotions, when she thought back about it, no matter how she thought about it, her being together with Zhou Weiqing was definitely not proper. Just going past the rest of her family alone would be a huge problem, and more so, she did not want to become enemies with her sister. That was why she had been so focused on the close combat fight with the ruffian soldiers these few days, as the Heaven’s Expanse Palace Little Demon Girl, she was used to shifting her flustered emotions into violence, alas for the poor trainees.

Zhou Weiqing stood up and walked towards Shangguan Fei’er, with an expression on his face that made him look like an aggrieved little kid.

“What are you doing?” A hint of worried flurry appeared in Shangguan Fei’er’s eyes.

Zhou Weiqing stopped about two yards from him, saying: “You’ve been avoiding me this past few days, right?”

“No!” Shangguan Fei’er turned her head, refusing to look at him.

Zhou Weiqing took a deep breath and said: “Alright, let’s get down to proper business.”

Shangguan Fei’er looked at him subconsciously. Originally, she thought he would stick to her and insist, but he did not do so. She was surprised to see that Zhou Weiqing’s expression was calm, expressionless, but yet such an expression caused her heart to feel a flavorless ache.

Zhou Weiqing said: “Fei’er, these few days you have seen for yourself. Amongst our Peerless Battalion soldiers, besides the over three hundred Physical and Elemental Jewel Masters, the rest of them might have some Heavenly Energy cultivation level, but mostly only at the second stage. However, their age is already past that of sixteen. My question is… does the Heaven’s Expanse Palace have any secret arts that can allow them to Awaken their Personal Power Jewels as well?”

Shangguan Fei’er started, forcefully stabilizing her previously uneasy feeling, and she nodded, saying: “Yes, there is.”

“Really?” It was Zhou Weiqing’s turn to be surprised.

Shangguan Fei’er said: “After the age of sixteen, the reason why people are unable to Awaken their Personal Power Jewels is because it has passed the time of their greatest growth and time for their bloodlines. If they want to Awaken it beyond that time, it will require the assistance of some treasured medicines, as well as the external assistance of Heavenly Energy to push through their meridians. As long as they break through the Third or Fourth stage of Heavenly Energy with that aid, they have the chance to become a Physical, Elemental or maybe even Heavenly Jewel Master.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Can we use that secret arts on our people? I believe the key would be some training technique?”

Shangguan Fei’er shook her head and said: “No, the key is actually the treasured medicines. En… in order to Awaken their Personal Power Jewels, the medicines are the most important. It requires several precious treasured materials together, but the important thing is it will not have any side effects, and more so has a good effect on future cultivation. Telling you this is not a problem, all our Heaven’s Expanse Palace disciples use this at a young age when we first start cultivating. Otherwise, how can our cultivation level raise so quickly? This sort of secret arts is not uncommon amongst the five Great Saint Lands, just that we do not spread it outside easily. Furthermore, such precious treasures are not so easily found.”

“Would the Heavenly Jewel Island have those for sale?”

Shangguan Fei’er nodded her head and said: “Hmph, yes, but the price would be too expensive, you won’t be able to afford it.”

“You have at least eight hundred men who need this medicine to Awaken their Personal Jewels. If you spend money to buy that, not just you, even an Empire like the Fei Li Empire would not be able to afford it.”

Sometimes, when there was hope, and that hope was dashed, that was the most painful thing. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Seeing Zhou Weiqing furrow his brow, Shangguan Fei’er said: “Actually, it’s not totally impossible. These materials might not be easily found elsewhere, but it is definitely available in the WanShou Empire. That is because only the WanShou Empire has that many Heavenly Beasts. The materials I mentioned are all various Heavenly Cores of different Heavenly Beasts.”

“Ohh?”

Shangguan Fei’er continued: “A total of Five Heavenly Cores from different type of Heavenly Beasts, ground into dust and mixed together in a proper alchemical procedure. After which, it is mixed with a type of Heavenly Beast blood, then it will be complete.”

Zhou Weiqing’s interest was greatly sparked, and he said: “Which five Heavenly Beasts? Oh right, and which Heavenly Beast blood?”

Shangguan Fei’er said: “Amongst the five Heavenly Beasts, there are three which are relatively easier to find, all Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts, not too powerful, and can be found even the northern borders. However, the other two are extremely rare, and they are also very powerful. When fully grown, they are at least at the Heavenly King Stage. If we meet an adult one, we will not be able to deal with them. Especially one of them, a Life Attribute Heavenly Beast, the totem of one of the three great tribes of the WanShou Empire, the Heavenly Life Tree Tribe. The Heavenly Beast blood that is required to mix the materials belongs to it as well.”