Zhang Fei - The Abandoned Son
Chapter 755: Meet Cheng Gaoji
"Are you two sure this won't bring trouble for us?" Shang Tinglong, who was receiving treatment from his wife, asked the others.
"Do you think there's anything we can do to fight that kid?" Shang Chenguang asked back with a shake of his head. "You couldn't even do anything when he beat you up earlier, and neither of us could see his movements. Moreover, that kid clearly has a deep grudge against our patriarch, and we have long wanted to be free from his control. Therefore, I think this is the best solution for us, at least for now."
"Why does that kid hate Shang Huaqiang so much?" Ran Keqing asked them.
Shang Chenguang first thought back to everything, starting from his meeting with Zhang Fei a few months ago to their meeting just now. "Back then, I thought he was a demon fox, but the one we met just now was clearly a human. I don't know how he could disguise himself so perfectly as a demon, but I am confident in my observation. He is probably a cultivator from the Sky Jade Realm, and the events of a few months ago undoubtedly affected some of his close people, so he hates our patriarch so much."
"How could he move between realms and create a portal with his cultivation still at the 6-Star Earth Realm?" Shang Tinglong asked in confusion. "Additionally, his movements earlier were too instantaneous, as if he was teleporting."
"That kid's previous movement technique is the same teleportation ability as that of the heavenly fox race, as well as his ability to move realms and create portals." Shang Tinglong frowned at Shang Chenguang's answer. "Back then, he told me that his father was a heavenly fox, and his mother was a demon fox. At first, I didn't believe him, but I once met a member of the heavenly fox race, and that kid managed to convince me after he used his teleportation. Because of that, I decided to take him with us to the Wasteland Realm, but I didn't expect that he had arranged everything so neatly, and I foolishly fell into his trap."
"Could it be that he used an artifact to hide his beast and demon aura?"
"That's possible." Shang Chenguang answered Ran Keqing with a nod. "If he were an ordinary human, he wouldn't be able to resist the demon aura in this realm with his low cultivation. Even senior cultivators like us need protective artifacts to protect ourselves from this demon aura, or else it will gradually turn us into demons."
"Contact my wife, Chenguang." The three of them turned to Shang Chongyun. "I just remembered that Qianying sent our eldest daughter to the Wasteland Realm specifically to control that kid a few months ago, but Yumei fell to him instead. I'm sure my wife already knows a lot about him, so you can contact her and ask her the truth, especially his true identity."
"All right." Shang Chenguang immediately contacted Murong Qianying using an interspatial communication device and asked her about many things. However, she doesn't know about Zhang Fei's true identity yet, so her information is not much different from his guess. "According to your wife, that kid is indeed a heavenly fox and a demon fox, and he used an artifact to disguise himself as a human. She said that he has a close relationship with the demons of this realm, and he already knows about our plan to come here, but she doesn't know anything about his relationship with people from the Sky Jade Realm. Your wife also said that he is Hun Di's newest disciple, so we shouldn't look for trouble with him, and we should build a good relationship with him instead."
"Are you serious about that?" The three people screamed in shock after learning that Zhang Fei was the soul emperor's newest disciple.
Shang Chenguang nodded. "Qianying knew that he was Hun Di's disciple when she brought Murong Zheyun and Murong Ning to the Wasteland Realm. The soul emperor brought the two kids along with the others, including Shang Yaolin and Shang Guangming, to the Blossom Heaven Realm to challenge the Sun Tower."
"The Sun Tower? What kind of tower is that?"
"Qianying didn't explain in detail about the Sun Tower, and she only told me that there are many challenges in it to improve ourselves, so they are training there now." Shang Chenguang then told them something else. "Shang Huaqiang has taken over our clan, and he has merged our members into other branches, so we have no place to return to now. Meanwhile, Qianying had already moved the Murong Clan near the Hong Clan before that happened, so they should be safe now."
The three people's expressions became gloomy after hearing that. "What about Xiaojuan? Has he returned to our realm?"
"Xiaojuan returned a long time ago, but he then went to the Blossom Heaven Realm to catch up with Shang Yaolin, and Ai Weiren followed him there." Ran Keqing was relieved to hear that, but the next piece of information shocked them. "Xi Hongyan has successfully subdued the other clans, and the Xi Clan is the sole ruler of the western region. The Huo and Niu clans are still undisturbed in the eastern region, but the clans in the northern region are divided in two. Some of them joined the Hong Clan, and some others joined Shang Huaqiang. Currently, only the Ren and Jin clans have not yet chosen which side to side with, but they will decide soon."
"I didn't expect the situation to change so quickly in two months, but there's nothing we can do since we're far away in this realm now." Shang Chongyun then used his senses to find a suitable place for them. "There aren't many demons in the western area, so we should stay there for the time being. However, I'm uncertain about how to report to Shang Huaqiang, particularly regarding the teleportation device."
"I think we should stall for time, or else Shang Huaqiang will immediately send other people to this realm. Moreover, the situation in the Red Sun Realm is unstable with all the changes happening there, so I'm sure he won't have time to think about anything else." Ran Keqing then looked towards the west. "There's a big city in the northwest, and it seems quite busy. We should stay not far from there, and we can look for daily necessities there."
"All right." Shang Chongyun immediately flew their flying artifact in that direction.
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Zhang Fei was already in front of the fallen moon cave with Feng Jinqiu. The ice phoenix immediately melted the ice before leading him inside, where she locked up the frozen Cheng Gaoji. "What do you want from this guy?"
"This." Zhang Fei showed the teleportation device. "Shang Huaqiang got it from Cheng Gaoji, and I snatched it from his subordinates. I thought about using it, but only the creator can change the coordinates, so I want you to temporarily free him."
"I see." After they arrived at the end of the cave, Feng Jinqiu immediately released Cheng Gaoji from her ice prison, but she only melted the ice covering his upper body.
"What do you want from me?" Cheng Gaoji asked with a furious expression.
"I don't need anything from you, but he needs your help." Cheng Gaoji turned to Zhang Fei and frowned, especially after he noticed his cultivation level. Feng Jinqiu immediately spoke again. "For your information, he is a close friend of my princess, and he is also the soul emperor's newest disciple."
"Huh?" Cheng Gaoji looked incredulous after hearing Hun Di take a cultivator with strength in the ten mortal realms as his disciple, but Zhang Fei immediately showed him the soul emperor's badge, proving that he was indeed his disciple.
Zhang Fei then took out the teleportation device and handed it to Cheng Gaoji. "I want you to change the destination coordinates of this device."
"Did you get this from Shang Huaqiang?" Cheng Gaoji asked as he accepted the device. "I remember for sure that I gave it to him when he visited me last time."
Zhang Fei nodded at him. "Shang Huaqiang gave it to some of his subordinates to invade this realm from the Netherworld Realm, but I snatched it from them, and I want to use it for my own interests."
'Tch! That Shang Huaqiang bastard! He already had trouble with the phoenix race, but he was still looking for trouble with Hun Di's disciple. If I had known that earlier, I would never have helped him, and I wouldn't be in a situation like this now.' Cheng Gaoji then spoke to Zhang Fei. "It's not difficult to change the destination coordinates, but I can only change it to the realm I know."
"The phoenix realm." Cheng Gaoji and Feng Jinqiu looked at Zhang Fei in shock. "My big sister can only perfect herself by going there, so I want to connect my current realm with the phoenix realm, which will make it easier for me to bring her there."
"Unfortunately, this device cannot connect the lower realms with the upper realms; not even Gong Ren can do it."
Zhang Fei shook his head. "My current realm is not in the lower realms but the middle realms, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"It can be done as long as your origin realm is in the middle realms." Cheng Gaoji immediately started working on changing the destination coordinates of the teleportation device.
Feng Jinqiu then asked. "Do you really want to take Zhang Yue to the phoenix realm this soon? Her cultivation is still at the 1-Star Earth Realm, and her experience is still too shallow, so she is not ready to undergo those tests."
"Naturally, I understand that, so I won't be bringing my big sister there anytime soon." Zhang Fei then touched Feng Jinqiu's forehead and shared Zhang Yue's activities in the Netherworld realm, which surprised the ice phoenix. "She has been training there since two weeks ago, and her determination to become strong is getting stronger. She is no longer hesitant to kill, and she has killed hundreds of demons or demon beasts in the past two weeks. If she continues to train like that, I'm sure that she will be ready to undergo those ice phoenix tests much earlier than your original estimate."
Feng Jinqiu nodded in agreement. "Apparently, your decision to display your true killing intent to Zhang Yue bore fruit, and it spurred her spirit to become strong. If she could be ready earlier to undergo those tests, it would be even better for her, and she could help you to deal with your strongest enemies. However, I don't know whether she will pass those tests or not, and no one can help her, including me, so the final result depends on her own."
"My big sister is not stupid, and I believe she will pass those tests."
"I hope so." Feng Jinqiu replied with a soft sigh. "Truthfully, there were several humans with the ice phoenix bloodline who underwent the tests before her. Regrettably, none of them succeeded in passing the tests, resulting in their freezing deaths in the Frozen Lotus Basin.
Zhang Fei frowned upon hearing that, but he was confident that Zhang Yue would be able to pass those tests, and he would help her with other ways to pass them.
Sometime later, Cheng Gaoji had finished changing the destination coordinates of the teleportation device and returned it to Zhang Fei, and he did not forget to explain to him how to activate it. "Hey! How about you guys free me from this place?"
"Hmm?" Both Zhang Fei and Feng Jinqiu glared at Cheng Gaoji.
Cheng Gaoji let out a soft sigh. "Shang Huaqiang didn't tell me that he had a problem with you two, and I helped him because he told me about the relics left behind by the ten-tailed fox in this realm. I admit I was too greedy, and I wanted to get some of them."
"Those relics were in this realm before, but Tian Baitian and Tian Baixing have long taken them, so your coming here was in vain." Zhang Fei then thought for a while. "I have no problem releasing you, but you must be willing to be my subordinate and be loyal to me, or else you can freeze here for the rest of your life."
Cheng Gaoji was shocked by the conditions Zhang Fei gave him. After all, he was more senior and stronger than him, and his status in the upper realms as one of the artifact crafters was not small, but he actually asked him to be his subordinate.
"Has my master ever accepted a disciple as young as me in the past?" Zhang Fei asked confidently. "I may be much younger and weaker than you now, but you should be aware that my master would never accept me if I didn't have special qualifications. The road ahead of me is still long, and I still have a lot of time to develop myself. One day in the future, I will not only surpass you, but I will also surpass my master and the Nameless One. At that time, I will stand at the peak of mortal cultivation, and I will be the strongest in the upper realms."
"Hahaha." Cheng Gaoji laughed upon hearing that. "What makes you so confident that you can surpass those two monsters? Your path is indeed still long ahead, and you have many opportunities to surpass them. However, the world of cultivation has never been easy, and it is not easy to surpass them, let alone stand at the peak of mortal cultivation."
"I won't talk too much because you will think that I am bragging, and I will prove it to everyone in the future." Zhang Fei then gave a bottle of his basic pills to Cheng Gaoji. "Besides being a soul cultivator, I am a grandmaster rank alchemist, and I concoct these pills myself."
"Oh?" Cheng Gaoji was momentarily surprised by that, especially since a 20-year-old grandmaster-ranked alchemist was really unusual. His expression turned serious once he saw the grade of Zhang Fei's pills. "Did you really concoct these pills?"
Zhang Fei shrugged. "It's up to you whether you want to believe it or not, but it's the truth. If you are willing to become my subordinate, I will give you these pills, and I will also give you some other pills that are even more useful."
'Should I accept his offer? He is Hun Di's disciple, and he is also a talented alchemist. Moreover, he has a close relationship with the phoenix race, and not many cultivators can do so. It would be a shame if I were to lower myself and become his subordinate, but I can gain a lot of benefits by accepting his offer.' After thinking about it seriously, Cheng Gaoji immediately gave his answer. "All right, I accept your offer to become your subordinate."
"Release your soul."
"Hmm?"
"I need a guarantee that you will never betray me, and my soul mark is that guarantee."
'This kid is too careful, huh?' Cheng Gaoji immediately released his soul and allowed Zhang Fei to imprint his soul mark on him.
After everything was done, Feng Jinqiu immediately melted all the ice from Cheng Gaoji's body.
"I'll take him to my realm now." Zhang Fei immediately took Cheng Gaoji to the Nine Stars Realm, and Feng Jinqiu returned to the Blazing Phoenix Sect.
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"Hey, Kid! Isn't your ability just now the heavenly fox race's?" Zhang Fei did not answer Cheng Gaoji's question and brought him to Duan Zhao's residence directly.
Duan Zhao and his disciple were shocked by Cheng Gaoji's presence, especially since his cultivation was too high for them. 'This kid! He repeatedly brought strong cultivators from the upper realms to this realm!'
However, the old man was confused by the presence of Zhang Fei [5] at that place. "Oh? How come there are two of you? Moreover, both of you are real, and I have never seen such a thing before."
"This guy is my clone, and he learned blacksmithing under Senior Duan's guidance." Zhang Fei then spoke to Duan Zhao. "Senior, Cheng Gaoji is one of the most skilled artifact crafters in the upper realms, and I brought him here to help you create my new weapon."
- To Be Continued -
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