Chapter 88

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Chapter 88: Celestial City

Xu Fan spent three months fully understanding the sun and moon runes. The rest of his time was spent crafting a precious artifact called Hope, the time chamber.

This time chamber, which took Xu Fan countless brain cells to create, made him feel a bit hopeless the moment he poured his spiritual energy into it.

Based on the rune formations he designed, the flow of time inside the time chamber was twice as fast as outside. This meant he could reach the Foundation Establishment Stage in just over 60 years.

But he missed one crucial detail: the time law is the supreme law of the world. To power a time-based artifact, you also need the energy of the time law.

So, for the next few months, Xu Fan searched through countless texts and found a workaround: using time-space sand as a medium to run the time chamber.

According to his calculations, one pound of time-space sand could keep the time chamber running for five years.

“Well, it’s now a pay-to-win situation.”

“One hundred twenty million spirit stones isn’t too much… yeah, right!” Xu Fan calculated his assets. He had about 27 million spirit stones, with 20 million being a recent windfall; the rest were savings.

The spirit stones weren’t the main issue. The real problem was that time-space sand could only be mined in the Extreme Void Domain, making it somewhat easier to buy in the central continent.

But time-space sand was in high demand in the central continent, and without the right connections, it was nearly impossible to get.

“Sigh, the financially free version of me is about to go broke again, all for the sake of advancement.”

“That version of me who once treated spirit stones like dirt is gone forever.”

Xu Fan sighed. He had originally planned to wait quietly for his natural breakthrough, but after his eldest and second disciples reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, he realized his mindset wasn’t as calm as he thought.

He could handle his disciples being one stage ahead, but any more than that, and he’d be outmatched.

“In a few decades, when the eldest and second reach Golden Core, and the third and fourth hit Foundation Establishment, if I’m still stuck in the Qi Training Stage…”

Xu Fan imagined that scenario and quickly shook his head to erase it.

“When Pang Fu gets back, I’ll have him help me buy some time-space sand.”

“I’ll also check with those big trading companies; maybe they’ve got some in stock,” Xu Fan said.

“Of course, whenever you want to move forward, there’s always something in the way.”

The next day, Xu Fan went to the treasure vault to clear out all the useless items.

“Hmm, a bunch of unused artifacts and precious artifacts.”

With a wave of his hand, Xu Fan stored them all in his space.

“Full sets of spirit pills for the Qi Training Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage—might as well sell them; they’re not doing me any good sitting here.”

“A pile of naturally formed exotic treasures; I’ll keep these; they might come in handy later.”

“Oh, a collection of fifth-grade precious artifacts.” Xu Fan paused as he looked at the special shelf.

“Ah, I remember! These are from Yuexian’s finds in the secret realm. I’ll sell these too.” Xu Fan continued collecting.

“A bunch of Artifact-level spirit ores; I’ll keep them to craft into artifacts later,” Xu Fan said, setting down his storage bag.

Then his eyes landed on a pile of silver, sand-like material.

“This… this is time-space sand!” Xu Fan said, hardly believing his eyes.

The people around me are like little lucky stars; whatever I need, they seem to have it.

Xu Fan weighed the small pile of time-space sand, estimating it to be about eight ounces, enough to keep the time chamber running for four years.

At dinner that evening, only Xu Gang and Xu Yuexian, the sibling pair, were present.

As for the other two, Li Xingci had been dragged home by Wang Xiangchi to mediate a family dispute, as his father had sent word that he wasn’t doing well.

“Yuexian, did you leave a small jar of time-space sand in the treasure vault?” Xu Fan asked, concerned that his naive disciple might not realize the value of such items.

“Yes, I didn’t feel safe carrying it around, so I thought I’d just take a bit whenever I needed it. Who knows, maybe I’ll stumble upon a broken small world someday, and then I’d really strike it rich!” Xu Yuexian replied, daydreaming about the day she could revive a small world using the time-space sand.

“I also want you to help me craft a time artifact. Combined with the time-space sand, it would be unstoppable.”

“No problem, those are minor issues. When I get back, I’ll refine your sniper cannon again and make a batch of time-attribute precious artifact bullets for you,” Xu Fan said, smiling at his little lucky star.

“Thank you, Master.”

“Master, next month I’ll be traveling with the Floating Sky Ship, and it’ll probably take about six months,” Xu Gang said. He was currently a key trainee in Jia Hall and was occasionally assigned beneficial tasks.

“Oh, that’s great! Your master would love to go there too, but I’d have to trade favors to get in,” Xu Fan joked, then formed a strange hand gesture with one hand, closed his eyes, and began to divine the fortune of Xu Gang’s upcoming journey.

He drew the Heavenly Auspicious Hexagram, a sign of great opportunity.

“Go ahead; there shouldn’t be any major issues on this trip,” Xu Fan said. It was his habit to perform a divination whenever his disciples embarked on long journeys, mostly for Xu Yuexian.

“Mm,” Xu Gang nodded. He knew well how accurate his master’s divination techniques were; if Xu Fan said something was going to happen, it usually did—just like Uncle Wang’s endless romantic escapades.

A day later, a prepared Xu Fan stepped out of the teleportation formation in Celestial City. This was the main fairy city of Xiangzhou, home to over ten million cultivators.

As for why there were so many cultivators here, Xu Fan looked up and saw a waterfall of spiritual liquid cascading down from the Ninth Heaven; this was the most spiritually abundant place in all of Xiangzhou.

Even an ordinary person who learned a basic technique could reach at least the twelfth level of Qi Refinement.

Above the Ninth Heaven, there was a gathering spiritual celestial tool left by a grand master of artifact crafting who had ascended from Xiangzhou, known as the Nine Heavens Galaxy.

It was anchored in the void above Celestial City, and no matter what methods the Great Ascension Masters tried, they couldn’t remove it.

Xu Fan’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at the galaxy stretching across the sky, connecting to a mysterious space beyond.

“A celestial tool? I’ll claim it when I reach the Core Formation stage.”

With that, Xu Fan stepped out of the teleportation center and walked through the streets of Celestial City.

“Now this is a true fairy city,” Xu Fan remarked, admiring the six giant peaks surrounding the waterfall of spiritual liquid.

Just then, a young man riding a long-feathered giant bird descended gracefully in front of Xu Fan.

“Senior, are you heading to the Trading Zone? Just tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll find you the best deal,” the young man said to Xu Fan. Among those who stepped out of the teleportation formation and looked around, about eighty percent were headed to the Trading Zone.

“Just take me to Wanzhou Pavilion,” Xu Fan replied, tossing ten spirit stones to the young man.

The giant bird wore a sign around its neck that read “Ten spirit stones for the whole city.”

“Senior, please mount the Great Feather Bird.”

The young man gently tapped the giant bird’s forehead, lowering its body just enough for Xu Fan to swing his leg over and sit down.

As Xu Fan glanced at the five seats neatly lined up behind the young man, he was reminded of taxis from his past life, surprised that there were also five seats here.

“Little brother, what if six people want to sit together?”

“Then it’ll cost two extra spirit stones.”

The young man’s smile was bright and cheerful.