As he said that, Zhou Weiqing had already shoved the handful of about a dozen or so Heavenly Cores into Ma Qun’s hands. He then reached into his bosom once more, grabbing out handful after handful… only after he had brought out about a hundred or so did he finally stop.
Ma Qun and Crow were not too familiar with Heavenly Cores, and they only felt like these Heavenly Cores were rather pretty. However, Shangguan Fei’er, mounted on her horse at the side, was totally stunned.
All the Heavenly Cores that Zhou Weiqing had taken out were at least from Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts, with some even from Heavenly King Stage Heavenly Beasts. More so, there were actually two huge ones that looked to be from Heavenly Beasts even stronger than that!
Each of these were considered priceless treasures! Since when had Zhou Weiqing become so rich? More importantly, amongst those Heavenly Cores, there were some which were their targets in entering the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens.
“Wait, don’t rush off yet.” Shangguan Fei’er quickly stepped forward, quickly picking out the few Heavenly King Stage and higher Heavenly Cores.
“What are you doing?” Zhou Weiqing asked her curiously, and she glared at him exasperatedly, saying: “Are you trying to kill them? Do you know what is the worth of these Heavenly Cores? Those he has are already more than enough, at the very least several dozen million or even more than a hundred million gold coins. If they actually tried to sell the ones I took, that would be tantamount to suicide. Don’t you know an innocent man can get into trouble just by having too much wealth? Anyway, where did you get so many Heavenly Cores?”
Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh heh, do you still need to ask? Of course it’s from my teacher… ahh it feels so good to have a teacher! Hahaha, well you all can benefit from that relation too.”
Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Ma Qun quickly kept the Heavenly Cores, an expression of ‘I might as well take this’ on his face. He looked so fine with his large majestic stature, even larger and honest looking than Zhou Weiqing, but that sly cunning in his heart was no less as well. Crow rolled her eyes at him for that, but she did not protest.
In truth, what Zhou Weiqing had said was indeed true… it was just too great a feeling to have a teacher! Although he already had two other teachers, Mu En and Huyan Aobo, these two other teachers were not Heavenly Jewel Masters, and what they taught him had nothing to do with his Heavenly Jewel Master cultivation.
Ever since Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Jewels had Awakened, it could be said that almost every step of his cultivation was from his own fumblings and experimentations. The Immortal Deity Technique, Consolidating Equipment, Skill Storing, even down to the usage of Skills, or the Demonic Change State or Devour Skills, all of that had been slowly built up after time, fumbling trial and error and also built up over countless actual combat and life and death situations, improving all this while in his formative years. However, he had never gone through an actual system of learning; in this, he could not compare to any of those members of Great Saint Lands.
Zhou Weiqing’s talent was undoubtedly outstanding, richly endowed in so many ways. Yet, it was this same unbelievable talent that also hid so many of his flaws and deficiencies. For a self-learning Heavenly Jewel Master to stumble his way along by himself without any legacies or learnings, to actually develop his own style, one could just imagine how difficult that would be! Although Zhou Weiqing had not manifested any problems up til now, but just like what Long Shiya had explained previously, as his cultivation level would grow, they would ultimately start plaguing him. Having seventy two Skills was at a point that that no ordinary Heavenly Jewel Masters could imagine, and if Zhou Weiqing really tried focusing on all of them, he would never be able to reach the ultimate stage of Heavenly Jewel Masters in his lifetime.
However, it was all different now with the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya as his teacher. A man who had already gone through all the fumbling stage and had formed his own style. A hundred years of sheer talent, painstaking labour and thought had given him the achievement he held today, and he was truly a man who knew how tough it was for a self-training Heavenly Jewel Master and the many twisted paths they might have to walk. Furthermore, just like Zhou Weiqing, he had six Attributes, and also the Legendary Set of the same lineage from the Legacy of Strength. Without a doubt, he was the best person in the entire world to teach Zhou Weiqing! Although he had not actually started teaching and guiding Zhou Weiqing, there was no question that once this officially started, it would have major benefits to the young Jewel Master.
In the faint glow, Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Ma Qun, Crow, you two be careful. Just like what Fei’er said, do not reveal your wealth too easily. Every time when you sell these Heavenly Cores, don’t sell too many at once or at the same place, just a few should be fine. As for the rest, you can give them to your elders for them to use, and also to give them some confidence. I don’t need to say anything else, I believe that you both will be able to persuade your tribesmen, and I will be waiting for you here. If you two do not return, I will not leave here, so no matter what, even if you aren’t able to come back, do send me a letter.”
Ma Qun laughed heartily, thumping his own chest confidently as he said: “Of course we will be back, I still want to continue learning from Big Bro Lin, and to continue on the path of my Assembly Set Shield. This is either make or break for us, even on a worse case scenario, Crow and I can elope and come look for you. Alright, let’s go.” After saying that, he turned his horse around, and both he and Crow headed towards the other direction. Both of them had the army rank plaque that Zhou Weiqing had given them, and it would not be a problem passing the lines. After all, it was a plaque from the Legion Commander Shen Ji, what possible problems could there be?
Shangguan Fei’er watched them leave, then she grabbed onto Zhou Weiqing’s arms, saying ferociously: “Little Fatty, come on, let me see what did you get from your teacher. No wonder you didn’t want to go to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens anymore. Don’t tell me you already have enough Heavenly Core materials?”
Zhou Weiqing grabbed the Spatial Sack from his bosom airily, pushing it at Shangguan Fei’er and said: “Look for yourself.”
Shangguan Fei’er looked curiously at the Spatial Sack before circulating her Heavenly Energy within to have a look. As soon as she did so, she was so shocked that she almost dropped the Spatial Sack.
Lin TianAo stood at the other side of Zhou Weiqing, silent but smiling. With his stable confident nature, he would always keep his own place as Zhou Weiqing’s Follower, despite their close relations. Zhou Weiqing had removed the Blood Rites – Seal of Darkness, but in his heart, that Seal would never be removed.
“This… this… … Little Fatty, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor gave this all to you…?!” Shangguan Fei’er stuttered, totally losing her composure.
Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Yes, of course! If I had any of these of my own, would I bother planning to go to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens with you at that time?”
“Generous… so generous… I have never seen or heard of such a generous teacher. Weiqing, this time you are just too lucky! I can’t even begin to count how many Heavenly Cores there are with a look, with mounds and hills of them… Did your teacher rob the Heavenly Snow Mountain treasure troves? If you sell all these Heavenly Cores, you would get an astronomical sum of money… I don’t think I could estimate their value.”
Zhou Weiqing sighed lightly and said: “My teacher said that he would not help me do anything, and would only guide and teach me. His intention is that I accomplish everything by myself, and only by doing so can I grow well in the grindstone of life. However, although he said that, he has already helped me just too much. This Spatial Sack of Heavenly Cores alone has solved many of our problems. Anyway, I’ll pass you this to hold on for usage when we’re back at the Peerless Battalion. I will just need to take out a few to concentrate on cultivating what my teacher has taught me, and that will be my focus for now. You can take what is needed from the Spatial Sack to brew the medicine and help my Peerless Battalion brothers Awaken their Personal Power Jewels.”
“Our Peerless Battalion is not going the route of numbers, but the path of absolute elites. Only true elites who have been bathed in the fires of war will be truly forged into a powerhouse, to constantly survive on the battlefield. If Ma Qun and Crow return successfully with their tribe, and with the Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors and our own Peerless Battalion archers, this is already an impressive army covering all grounds. With just these few thousand men, I am confident in shaking the Bai Da Empire.”
As he spoke up to that point, a cold light flashed in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes. Although they had not traveled to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens as planned, his confidence had already increased drastically. After all, he was no longer alone, and he now had the beginnings of his own group.
Very quickly, the three had returned to the Peerless Battalion. Just as he mentioned in his earlier plan, Zhou Weiqing took a small portion of Heavenly Cores and passed the others to Shangguan Fei’er. Besides those required for the medicine for Awakening Personal Power Jewels, she passed some of the less useful Heavenly Cores to Lin TianAo as a backup source of funds. If the Peerless Battalion had any unexpected need for a large sum of money, those could be used to garner the funds. After all, such high level Heavenly Cores were extremely expensive, no matter which Empire they were sold in.
…
One month later.
Heaven’s Expanse Palace.
“Ridiculous! How could Fei’er just run off with Zhou Weiqing. No wonder we couldn’t find that girl anywhere.” Shangguan Tianyue said angrily.
Shangguan Tianyang had already went back into closed door cultivation, and currently Shangguan Tianyue was in charge of the entire Heaven’s Expanse Palace.
Zhan LingTian knelt down respectfully on one knee in front of Shangguan Tianyue, but his expression was like a dried up well, with nary a ripple as he remained calm and impassive.
He had taken an entire month before returning to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and that was clearly far beyond what was necessary. In truth, he had done so on purpose. It was clear that he was in no rush to get back, or perhaps it could be said that he was doing it on purpose to buy time for Shangguan Fei’er.
Zhan Lingtian’s thinking was direct, he wanted to create more opportunities for Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er, for their relationship to grow even closer. In that way, with Zhou Weiqing mixed up with both Shangguan Bing’er and Shangguan Fei’er, he would not have a chance with his own Xue’er.
Towards Zhou Weiqing, after this trip together across the northern border, Zhan LingTian had a much greater understanding towards him. Although he was not particularly handsome, he had a strange charisma about him that could draw everyone around him to him. Especially when they were all facing Han Tianyou and Zhou Weiqing managed to use his calm judgement and his glib tongue to talk them out of a dead corner, and eventually even becoming the disciple of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor… All of that just combined to make him so much more mature, more powerful. Zhan LingTian could foresee that in the entire young generation across the whole lands, Zhou Weiqing would definitely be his greatest competitor, perhaps even someone that he could not compare to.
Although he no longer had any direct ill will towards Zhou Weiqing, he still did not want to give him a chance to interact with Shangguan Xue’er. After all, what if Shangguan Xue’er was like her two sisters and actually gained feelings for Zhou Weiqing after interacting with him? What would he do then?
Back in the present, Shangguan Tianyue’s expression was cloudy, almost sullen. In the shifting glow of the surrounding light, he was pacing around. This time, Shangguan Tianyang had entered close door cultivation once more in an attempt to break through the Heavenly God Tier. Although the chances of success were not high, there always existed that slim hope they clung on to.
Towards Zhou Weiqing, Shangguan Tianyue truly did not know what to think of the young man. However, his vision was much further than Zhan LingTian, and he had actually been waiting for all this time to seize a chance to bring Zhou Weiqing into the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.