Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 62

Volume 7 Chapter 62: Azure Crystal Treasure House (Part 2)

Before going to Clear Heart Hall, Xu Qingfan took Niu Wenxing and Xu Hui to explore the Seven Islands, and then they arrived at Clear Heart Hall, sitting down according to their ranks.

Even inside Clear Heart Hall, the surprise in Niu Wenxing and Xu Hui’s eyes was still visible.

For Xu Hui, he saw that within the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, there were many skilled individuals. Setting aside the Outer Seven Camps, the Tianxin Camp in the Inner Three Camps managed various detailed affairs. Whether it was about fighting or not, only the Tian Left and Tian Right Camps could be easily defeated by Xu Hui alone, but when they joined forces, they gave Xu Hui a feeling of being unbeatable. Thinking about how the Tianzuo Camp easily killed five advanced heavenly level demon beasts made his heart tighten. As for the elders and protectors, even though they were not as strong as Xu Hui, they could still bring him a lot of trouble. What shocked Xu Hui the most was that, whether in the Outer Seven Camps or Inner Three Camps, every cultivator had a calm expression, clearly experienced in battles. Over the past six months, the ten camps, based on Xu Qingfan’s arrangements, had taken turns deep into the East Sea to fight against the East Sea Demon Monster, and their demeanor had changed greatly from the timid looks of the past.

For Niu Wenxing, what surprised him the most was the way everyone in the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands worked diligently in their roles, whether refining weapons or pills, handling materials, ensuring safety, or training in meditation. This was a sign that the organization had fully formed and matured. There was leadership, responsibility, and division of labor; such an organization could gather the greatest power in the shortest time.

Next, Xu Qingfan discussed with the elders and protectors of the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, where the elders reported to Xu Qingfan about the situation of the islands over the past six months, and Xu Qingfan talked about the next steps for Rainbow Spirit Island.

During this time, there was no concealment of Niu Wenxing and Xu Hui’s feelings. Naturally, Xu Qingfan and the others were not afraid that Niu Wenxing and Xu Hui would share these discussions with others. Once they arrived at the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, leaving became nearly impossible.

Listening to Xu Qingfan’s discussion with everyone, Niu Wenxing’s eyes showed even more surprise.

Reflecting on his first meeting with Xu Qingfan until now, Niu Wenxing realized that his impression of Xu Qingfan had changed over and over.

At first, Niu Wenxing only saw Xu Qingfan as a very high-level cultivator who used his strength to force Niu Wenxing to leave Feng Qingtian and follow him, which seemed domineering. In Niu Wenxing’s view, such a powerful and overbearing cultivator was not terrifying; with his cleverness, he could easily make this cultivator act on Feng Qingtian’s behalf without realizing it.

But next, Niu Wenxing found many qualities in Xu Qingfan during their interactions. For example, Xu Qingfan did not only rely on strength to overpower others; he was very smart and knew how to use people’s feelings. The way he acted dominant in front of Feng Qingtian and even Xu Hui was, in Xu Qingfan’s view, just the simplest and most effective way to deal with them.

Then, Niu Wenxing discovered that Xu Qingfan was good at being patient and was very clever; his likes and dislikes were not as openly shown as Feng Qingtian’s. He responded to others’ opinions of him with a smile. After seeing this side of Xu Qingfan, Niu Wenxing was hesitant to use him for his own purposes, because although Niu Wenxing was clever, he did not have deep insights. So, in Niu Wenxing’s view, a person like Xu Qingfan, who had depth, was the hardest to deal with, as you could not see through their thoughts and intentions.

Now, in Niu Wenxing’s eyes, he noticed Xu Qingfan’s most important quality: he was good at observing situations and fully understood what he needed to do. Everything he did was planned solely for his own goals, without any other intentions or distractions.

In Niu Wenxing’s view, most people in this world do not truly understand their own thoughts and goals. They may start wanting to become stronger but unknowingly turn into someone who wants to dominate. They may love someone, but later only think about possessing that person entirely.

When people confuse their own goals like this, they can only use a fraction of their potential, while the rest gets wasted on other matters, which not only reduces efficiency greatly but can also cause problems.

Therefore, in Niu Wenxing’s view, a person who is powerful, patient, clever, good at observing situations, and clearly knows their own goals is the most difficult to handle.

Just as Niu Wenxing was thinking about how to deal with Xu Qingfan, a phrase suddenly caught his attention.

"Well, it seems that over the years, my Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands has gotten back on track. I no longer have any worries; it is time to start my plan. The first step is the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’!"

After everything had been explained and discussed, Xu Qingfan sat in his chair for a moment, deep in thought, before he slowly spoke.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, everyone in Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands was startled. They sat up straight, their eyes fixed on Xu Qingfan, and the previously relaxed atmosphere suddenly became very serious.

As elders or guardians of Jiuhua, they had known for years that Xu Qingfan wanted to return to Shenzhou Continent and had been planning something all this time. But this was the first time Xu Qingfan revealed his plan to everyone, even if it was just a small part of it.

Seeing that his words captured everyone’s attention, Xu Qingfan looked around, his eyes showing both desire and hesitation. He spoke softly to the crowd, "This time, I will bring Taoist Friend Liu Ziqing and Taoist Friend Wang Zegang with me to the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’. However, even though I will go there, the goal of this first step is to eliminate the Zhong family, and even to weaken some of the Shura Clan’s power."

Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s casual words, everyone trembled. They knew that once Xu Qingfan returned to Shenzhou Continent, he would take extraordinary action, but they never expected that Xu Qingfan not only wanted to destroy the Zhong family, one of the three major forces, but also to strike against the strongest of the three, the Shura Clan!

Xu Qingfan seemed not to notice the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. He turned to Chou, who was standing behind him, and said, "Chou, given your situation, the things in the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ will be of no use to you. This time, you should act with the others."

"Yes."

Chou respectfully lowered his head in response.

Dongfang Qingling frowned and asked, "Senior Brother Xu, isn’t this first step too big? Although the Zhong family has lost two Mahayana Stage masters, Hong and Zhong Ling, their ancestor is still alive. As long as the Zhong family’s ancestor is there, the Zhong family cannot be destroyed. That ancestor’s strength is really too powerful; it’s almost impossible to eliminate the Zhong family’s ancestor."

Xu Qingfan smiled lightly and said, "That is why I want to carry out this plan on the day the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ opens. Once it opens, all masters above the Mahayana Stage will gather, including the Zhong family’s ancestor. At that time, if the Zhong family’s ancestor is not present, it will be much easier to eliminate the other members of the Zhong family."

Bai Qingfu frowned and asked, "Do you mean for us to deal with the other members of the Zhong family? With Dark Crow and Chou’s help, it wouldn’t be too hard to defeat the other members, but then there’s the ancestor of the Zhong family…"

Xu Qingfan smiled slightly and said, "I already mentioned that the ancestor of the Zhong family will go to the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House.’ He will be my responsibility to handle, and you don’t need to worry about it. However, the remaining members of the Zhong family should not all be destroyed."

"Why is that?"

Bai Qingfu was a little surprised and asked.

"As I said, although the main goal is to deal with the Zhong family, we should also give the Shura Clan some trouble early on."

While speaking, Xu Qingfan seemed to remember something and turned to Niu Wenxing, asking, "Over the years, Junior Martial Brother Feng Qingtian has been providing Shura Clan bodies to the Zhong family, right?"

Niu Wenxing narrowed his eyes and asked, "How did you know, Senior?"

Xu Qingfan replied with a smile, "The reason the Zhong family is strong is that they grow stronger with each battle. While others become weaker the more they lose, the Zhong family grows stronger the more they defeat others. The Zhong family can turn the bodies of humans, cultivators, demon beasts, and ordinary beasts into their own fighting power. Over the years, they have collected countless bodies. How strong has the Zhong family become? No one knows. But doesn’t the Zhong family have ambitions? Why haven’t they expanded their power with such strength over the years? It’s because the Zhong family has not yet mastered the method to turn Shura Clan bodies into zombies. The Shura Clan specializes in body cultivation. Once their bodies are turned into corpses, the strength of the Zhong family will increase dramatically. They would have the power to compete with the Shura Clan, and in the end, it’s possible the Zhong family could win. Wouldn’t the Zhong family want to study Shura Clan bodies? The bodies of those Shura Clan warriors in the Southern Wasteland are useless to Junior Brother Feng. What will Junior Brother Feng do with them? They can only be given to the Zhong family."

A complex look flashed in Niu Wenxing’s eyes as he clasped his hands and said, "You are wise, Senior."

Xu Qingfan sighed and said, "This is why I must destroy the Zhong family now; if we don’t eliminate the Zhong family now, we won’t be able to do it later."

"Senior Brother Xu, what do you mean…?"

Dongfang Qingling asked with confusion.

Xu Qingfan said calmly, "Why hasn’t the Shura Clan fought the Zhong family over the years? I see three reasons: first, because the ancestor of the Zhong family is too powerful, and the Shura Clan wants to focus on defeating the Human Alliance first; second, the Zhong family does not have any direct conflict of interest with the Shura Clan, and they have never provoked the Shura Clan, they stay very well-behaved; third, for all these years, they have been stuck in You State and have never entered the Shura Clan’s territory."

After a pause, a slight smile appeared on Xu Qingfan’s face as he continued, "Your goal is not to destroy the entire Zhong family, but to kill the direct descendants of the Zhong family, making those undead lose control. The undead are naturally afraid of the Dark Crow, and being chased by the Dark Crow will force them into the Shura Clan’s territory. The Shura Clan is naturally combative; if the undead invade their territory, it will surely cause a great battle. I suppose over the past forty years, the Zhong family has made some progress in creating undead from the Shura Clan’s corpses, right?"

Liu Ziqing happily chimed in, "At that time, if the Zhong family invades the Shura Clan’s territory and also creates many undead from the Shura Clan’s bodies, the three main reasons that kept the Zhong family and the Shura Clan from clashing will drop to one. And if the ancestor of the Zhong family is injured at the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ and becomes weaker… I think the Shura Clan will not let this great opportunity pass by."

Hearing Xu Qingfan and Liu Ziqing’s words, everyone realized the situation.

Just then, Dongfang Quan hesitated for a moment and finally gathered the courage to ask, "Island Master… for these days, we’ve been talking about the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House,’ but what exactly is the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’? Why are we sure that the ancestor of the Zhong family will go there?"

As he spoke, Dongfang Quan looked nervously at Xu Qingfan.

"Let me answer this question."

Just then, a voice came, and everyone turned to look. It was Wang Zegang, finally emerging, riding on clouds.