Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
Page 915Chapter 915: Big Dipper Banner
The girl with the family name Liu still felt dissatisfied. She said, “We are all disciples of the Cyclic Astral Palace. He definitely will not dare to do anything to us. Senior Brother, you are clearly just being timid and seeking excuses.”
“You fool! This fellow does not even give any face to a Martial Emperor. Would he be afraid of our Big Dipper Palace? Ignorant! If you want to go and find First Senior Brother, you can go by yourself.”
Ye Qing could not be bothered to say more. He turned around and left the stunned girl, as well as the other disciples, behind.
The others did not leave immediately. They had lost their Astral Banners. It would take a long time for them to refine one from scratch again, so they still hoped that their First Senior Brother could help them snatch their banners back.
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Xiao Chen was rather interested in the Big Dipper Banner. Actually, the Greenwood Banner—a Magic Treasure—was akin to an Astral Banner as well. It refined the Astral Energy of the Greenwood Star and exhibited the power of greenwood to trap the enemy.
He looked for a quiet place, then carefully flipped through the secret manual containing the Big Dipper Palace’s refining method of the Big Dipper Banner. The procedure was not complicated, but the resources required were somewhat flabbergasting.
Refining one star on the Big Dipper Banner required three hundred and sixty-five Astral Cores to be refined into an Astral Pearl. After that, one needed to supplement it with fifty kilograms of Black Patterned Gold before one could successfully refine one star.
Even if Xiao Chen used only Inferior Grade Astral Cores, he estimated that it would still cost more than three hundred thousand Black Astral Coins—which in Astral Coins would be over thirty million Astral Coins. Adding in fifty kilograms of Black Patterned Gold would bring the total to about six hundred thousand Black Astral Coins.
This figure still did not include the resources needed for the banner itself and the banner’s pole. Altogether, the price would be sky-high.
If Xiao Chen wanted to make a better Astral Pearl, the resources needed would increase severalfold. He would have to add in divine material.
In summary, the more ingredients used, the better the quality of the Astral Pearl.
All the Astral Flags that Xiao Chen collected, including Ye Qing’s, were refined using Astral Pearls made from Inferior Grade Astral Cores.
A top-level Big Dipper Banner used several tons of Underworld Black Copper and Black Patterned Gold. The Astral Pearls would be made from Peak Grade Astral Cores. There would be ninety-nine different divine materials, each one weighing at least half a ton.
With such a banner, the Big Dipper that the seven stars formed emitted a golden light. The starlight could compete with the sun and the moon. With one wave of the banner, the seven stars could crush the moon, turn mountains and rivers into ashes, flip rivers and the sea, making one invincible.
However, even the Big Dipper Palace’s Palace Lord did not have such a Big Dipper Banner. The only one in existence had been refined into a formation diagram by the Cyclic Astral Palace’s Palace Lord.
From the secret manual that Ye Qing handed over, and some miscellaneous scribbles on it, Xiao Chen understood that the Big Dipper Palace was only a branch of the Cyclic Astral Palace, similar to the branch of a sect. Furthermore, it ranked the last among the branches.
Aside from the Big Dipper Palace, there were another twenty-three branches, each of which had their own Astral Banner. Among these, the Rosette Star Banner had the most stars needing refining—a total of thirty-six.
Due to the onerous resource requirements, the Sun Palace and the Moon Palace generally followed a system of a single line of succession. Normally, they would take in only one disciple per generation.
That was not the most horrifying thing—which was that the Cyclic Astral Palace had a Cyclic Astral Palace Diagram. This Cyclic Astral Palace Diagram contained the constellations of all twenty-four Astral Palaces. All the Astral Pearls used were refined from Peak Grade Astral Cores and supplemented by ninety-nine types of divine materials.
How many stars were twenty-four constellations? How much resources would be required? Just thinking about this gave Xiao Chen a headache.
When this formation diagram was opened, starlight would cover the land. It could turn day into night, manipulating space-time. It could even refine a living Martial Emperor; it was a peak Emperor Grade Secret Treasure.
Xiao Chen was flabbergasted. Fortunately, the ones he had run into were from the Big Dipper Palace. If they had been disciples of the other palaces, he might not have won so easily.
Initially, he had not cared about the First Senior Brother of these Big Dipper Palace disciples. However, he had heard that female disciple say that her First Senior Brother had already completely refined the Big Dipper Banner.
This was a person to pay attention to. There was an enormous difference between a complete Big Dipper and an incomplete Big Dipper.
The thing that was even more problematic was the Heroes’ Convention. Xiao Chen had not expected Di Wuque to act so expeditiously. The news of the Heroes’ Convention had already reached the Heavenly Starry Ocean.
Recruiting the Big Dipper Palace’s top disciple was probably just a start. If the entire Cyclic Astral Palace supported Di Wuque, then he would have gained a foothold in the Heavenly Starry Ocean.
Xiao Chen stopped thinking about all these and looked at Ye Qing’s Big Dipper Banner. Then, something struck him.
He did not lack Black Patterned Gold. Back when he was on Dragon Wood Star, Huangpu Feng had given him a large amount of Black Patterned Gold. He also had some Inferior Grade Astral Cores remaining.
If he melted down the other Astral Banners and used the resources he had on hand, he should be able to complete Ye Qing’s Big Dipper Banner.
Xiao Chen previously thought that no matter what, he was still considered wealthy. However, now that he looked at these Secret Treasures of the Astral Palaces, he realized that he was actually broke.
“I’m too poor. I can’t even refine a Medial Grade Big Dipper Banner.”
After muttering to himself for a while, Xiao Chen spat out the Dragon Phoenix Cauldron and killed the half-dead evil Demon clone. Then, he took out the Golden Crow Egg. After that, he threw in all the Astral Banners, aside from Ye Qing’s, into it.
With a ‘whoosh,’ the Lunar True Flame in Xiao Chen’s left eye flew out and entered the cauldron. Then, he started to melt down these Secret Treasures.
Melting them down was not difficult. All he needed to do was put in enough flame to slowly roast them. After a long time, he completely melted down the four Astral Banners. The Astral Cores, Black Patterned Gold, and other resources were all separated and arranged neatly.
After this, Xiao Chen read through the secret manual for refining the Big Dipper Banner once again. Now, he felt very confident. After it was dark, he started to place Inferior Grade Astral Cores into the cauldron to refine an Astral Pearl.
He looked up at the sky and observed Alioth for a full hour before he finally began.
The refinement of the first Astral Pearl was time-consuming. Xiao Chen worked hard from dusk to dawn before he finished.
A palm-sized Astral Pearl floated above his palm. Heaving a sigh of relief, he took out the Big Dipper Banner and placed this Astral Pearl into it. Immediately, a resplendent star appeared on the floating banner.
However, compared to the other four stars, this star clearly appeared much dimmer, likely due to the lack of accumulation of Astral Energy.
With the experience from refining Alioth, the refinement of the final two stars—Mizar and Alkaid—went much more smoothly. Inferior Grade Astral Pearls did not have too high a requirement for the timing of adding materials or fire control.
Thus, Xiao Chen managed to refine the stars in a convenient fashion. The disciples of the Big Dipper Palace did not have a cauldron or a flame of the same level as the Dragon Phoenix Cauldron and Lunar True Flame. When they wanted to refine Astral Pearls, they had to pay Black Astral Coins to the elders at their Equipment Forging Pavilion to get them to help with the refinement.
After Xiao Chen inserted the last two Astral Pearls, he instantly felt an earthshaking change in the Big Dipper Banner.
The seven stars officially constituted the complete Big Dipper. The Astral Energy formed a major cycle flowing with light.
When Xiao Chen unfurled the Big Dipper Banner, it fluttered, and starlight flickered. The seven resplendent stars absorbed the Astral Energy of the Big Dipper continuously.
The Big Dipper constellation in the night sky sent down seven pillars of starlight.
Xiao Chen tested out the might of the Big Dipper Banner. With a casual wave, the Astral Banner flapped loudly. Powerful Astral Energy surged out. Everywhere it passed, glittering starlight crashed around, sounding just like unending, ear-splitting thunder.
“Ka!”
Xiao Chen spun the Astral Banner around and stabbed it into the ground. Surging Astral Energy flooded out, and a crack immediately formed, extending for a kilometer in the blink of an eye. The ground appeared to have split into two.
He gaped slightly at this sight, feeling somewhat incredulous. After completing the constellation, the might of the Big Dipper Banner was actually so horrifying.
Furthermore, he had not cultivated the Big Dipper Art. If he used the hand seals of the Big Dipper Art in combination with this complete Big Dipper Banner, it would be even more powerful.
Feeling very joyful, Xiao Chen happily played with this Astral Banner in the sky. The seven stars came out and materialized the scene of a starry night sky.
As he held the Big Dipper Banner and walked in the sky, it looked like he was walking on the Milky Way. When he swung the banner lightly while using the power of the constellation, the entire space shook intensely.
“Good! Good! Good! With this Big Dipper Banner and the two Magic Treasures—the Five Element Medallion and the Greenwood Banner—I do not need to fear anyone at the King conferring ceremony.”
The King conferring ceremony would soon take place. He would obtain the title of Azure Dragon King, officially taking on the status of the Azure Emperor’s descendant and the responsibility of rebuilding the Dragon’s Gate.
After traversing the Yellow Soil Demonic Garden, Xiao Chen traveled swiftly. Leaving only dust in his wake, he arrived at a small city in the Primal Chaos Domain.
After half a month of hurried travel, Xiao Chen felt tired. He sought the largest inn in the city and happily took a bath. Then, he ordered a table full of delicacies to satisfy himself.
“There is fresh big news. The Martial God Palace is delaying the White Robed King Xiao Chen’s King conferring ceremony!”
Xiao Chen had just sat down and finished a cup of wine when he heard news about himself. Furthermore, it was such shocking news.
“Damn! Is that true? Didn’t they say that they would hold the King conferring ceremony soon?”
“It is definitely true. The three Holy Masters of the Martial God Palace personally passed the edict. How could it be false? The news has spread throughout the entire Tianwu Domain.”
“They’re unlikely to cancel it, right? This is a very big matter.”
“It hasn’t reached the extent of cancellation. However, the title is a little problematic. I heard that the three Holy Masters do not intend to give Xiao Chen the title of Azure Dragon King. This title is too sensitive.”
“Isn’t it White Robed King?”
“White Robed King your head! That is something spread by that asshole Qi Wuxue. Anyone with a bit of age knows that the Azure Emperor’s title was Azure Dragon King. As the Azure Emperor’s descendant, he is sure to inherit this title.”
When Xiao Chen heard this, he frowned slightly. The title Azure Dragon King held great significance to him. If not for this title, he would not bother with having a King title.
In the future, when he advanced to Sovereign Martial Emperor, he could confer a Kingship on himself and take the title Azure Dragon King. That was something that would definitely happen.
Xiao Chen had rushed back with great urgency, forgoing plenty of things for lack of time, only to hear this news. He started drinking to drown his sorrows, feeling a little conflicted.
“Haha! Our dear White Robed King, why are you drinking so sadly alone? Let the few of us old folks accompany you in your final drink.”
Xiao Chen looked up. A white-robed old man sat across him. This person had an elegant air about himself but was looking at him with heavy murderous intent. Two other old men sat on either side of that old man, both harboring malicious intents as well.
The Heaven and Earth Sect inner sect elders who left that strand of fate in Xiao Chen’s body had finally come to seek him.
Xiao Chen set down his wine cup and smiled coldly. “Where did these dogs and cats come from? How could such people be worthy of drinking with me?”