Free Web NovelChapter 2126: Chapter 2163: A Madman
After Xu Jianqiang and Xu Xingying returned, Ding Fan resumed his training in Jingshan Castle. However, after just three days, emissaries from Xian Kong Island, Blood Demon Island, and another island returned, seeking Ding Fan to apologize and inquire about his health, representing the island masters to express their condolences.
This time, Ding Fan truly had no interest in meeting them and directly refused. If he were to spend every day meeting people, he wouldn’t have any time left for cultivation. He informed the Second Elder and Wu Qingxia that in the future, such matters should be handled by them, and they should deal with them at their discretion without having to consult him further. The Second Elder was naturally delighted to hear this and promptly agreed. freewēbnoveℓ.com
The emissary had no choice but to offer thirty thousand Black Obsidian to the Second Elder, hoping he would speak favorably of them. The Second Elder pretended to accept them and subtly assured him that he would find a way to communicate with Ding Fan, encouraging him not to hold a grudge against the three islands for assisting the Tie Family’s martial artists. The emissary thanked him profusely before leaving, allowing the island masters to feel a bit more at ease.
The Skeleton Sect’s medicine fields were extensively cultivated, and they planted Crimson Flame Bodhi in large quantities, planting over ten thousand plants in one go. Just the large animals, such as Blood Oxen, were purchased in excess of a thousand heads at once.
Their constructed Blood Pool was also tremendously large, capable of holding enough fresh blood to be used for over ten days at a time, meaning Ding Fan would only need to visit the pool once every ten days, saving him a lot of hassle.
Ten days later, Daozhen Commercial City delivered the Tigertooth Apes Wu Qingxia had previously purchased. These are beings with a realm comparable to Third Level servants in the Divine Realm, and once they arrived on Skull Island, they immediately engaged in the island’s guard duties. With this, Skull Island became secure enough to handle two or three Third Level Divine Realm experts.
In the past days, individuals have come sporadically to join Skull Island. Generally, their realms aren’t high, nor are their numbers substantial. However, the Second Elder and others were delighted. The Skeleton Sect is in dire need of people, lacking manpower to grow strong is merely a dream. Although some might be undercover agents sent by other forces, given the current manpower shortage, they couldn’t afford to be picky and accepted everyone first, intending to check later. Anyway, these people wouldn’t be assigned to crucial locations.
The Second Elder specifically assigned these individuals to miscellaneous tasks, such as outer island patrols, errands as scout cavalry, digging pits to build traps, and other heavy labor, preventing them from gathering any secrets about the island.
Ten days later, the first batch of Crimson Flame Bodhi matured on Skull Island. If nothing unexpected occurs, there could be as many as five thousand, according to the price initially agreed with Madam Yan, which would be worth fifteen thousand Black Obsidian if exchanged for Crimson Flame Bodhi.
The Second Elder personally accompanied Wu Qingxia to Daozhen Island; they left excited but returned dejected. It turned out the Daozhen Trade Firm had lowered the price to twenty-five Black Obsidian per Crimson Flame Bodhi, resulting in a loss of twenty-five thousand Black Obsidian. Naturally, they couldn’t feel happy about this.
Wu Qingxia inquired about the reason, and Steward He explained that there were simply too many Crimson Flame Bodhi from the Skeleton Sect, whereas Daozhen Trade Firm’s market was limited. They never conducted business with outsiders, so an overabundance of Crimson Flame Bodhi would lead to unsold stock and losses.
Steward He even set a limit, restricting the Skeleton Sect to send no more than fifteen thousand Crimson Flame Bodhi per month. They could not absorb more than this due to a lack of larger market.
Nonetheless, Steward He gave assurances that the price would not drop further, stating that twenty Black Obsidian was the absolute lowest. If the price were to drop again, the Skeleton Sect would no longer be bound by the prior agreement and could sell Crimson Flame Bodhi to other trading firms instead.
Regarding Daozhen Trade Firm’s sudden attitude shift, Ding Fan couldn’t understand it either. After pondering, he suspected it might be related to Crimson Flame, considering Daozhen Trade Firm is a Herr Family enterprise, and Crimson Flame had once embarrassed the Herr Family, leading them to treat the Skeleton Sect coldly.
Even if unclear, twenty-five per Crimson Flame Bodhi is still quite satisfactory. Initially, the best Crimson Flame Bodhi from the Tie Family couldn’t fetch this price. If it continues like this for years, the Skeleton Sect’s wealth will become astonishingly immense.
Currently, everything seems to be progressing positively. The Skeleton Sect provided Ding Fan with countless Yuan Multiplying Pills, meaning he never has to worry about cultivation resources. Even ignoring future supplies, his current stock is sufficient for a while, and at this rate, he could achieve the Divine Realm Second Level Peak State in a matter of months.
Ding Fan’s cultivation speed is indeed quite rapid, thanks to the abundant resources provided by the Skeleton Sect. To elevate Ding Fan’s realm, they supplied him with countless Yuan Multiplying Pills, a privilege no ordinary martial artist would enjoy.
Despite Wu Qingxia being the Wu Family’s young lady, during her time at Great Python Mountain, even when her father, the Great Elder, was alive, she couldn’t possibly use unlimited cultivation resources.
Ding Fan’s cultivation speed is impressive, much faster than typical martial artists, shocking many. Wu Qingxia and the Second Elder are well aware of this, attributing it to Ding Fan’s extraordinary cleverness and dedication. On matters of cultivation, Ding Fan is always very focused; since he doesn’t discuss them, others also wouldn’t dare to ask.
Ding Fan didn’t realize that his cultivation speed was very fast. In his view, everyone’s cultivation speed was similar, and he wouldn’t think about whether others were cultivating fast or slow. He never thought about these things. He trained day and night, tirelessly, just hoping to reach the Fifth Level of the Divine Realm as soon as possible. That way, he would have the power to go to Tongzhou. Besides wanting to rescue Xia Mengqing, he also wanted to see to what extent the Sirius Clan in the Central Continent had grown powerful, to the point that even a formidable figure like Crimson Flame would be willing to become a servant to the Sirius Elder.
Currently, Skull Island is very stable. For the Skeleton Sect, the days of poverty have passed, and now they have plenty of Black Obsidian. The Second Elder and Fourth Elder had nothing further to say, even those elders who were later promoted received endless resources.
The Skeleton Sect’s former Martial Artists and elders are also desperately cultivating, and the experts at the Second Level Elementary Stage and Mid Stage of the Divine Realm are all striving to break into the Second Level Peak of the Divine Realm. Meanwhile, the Second Elder and Fourth Elder are preparing to challenge the Third Level Elementary Stage of the Divine Realm.
Apart from these people, the Martial Artists among the original residents of Skull Island were also given many Medicine Pills to assist them in elevating their Realm, to provide them with enough combat power for self-defense. Now, in the Skeleton Sect’s seven-thousand-man army, there are already seven to eight hundred Martial Artists at the Divine Realm First Level Elementary Stage.
The Second Elder intends to utilize the resources at hand to promote one thousand Martial Artists within the seven thousand to the First Level of the Divine Realm. Within these one thousand Divine Realm First Level Martial Artists, he further plans to refine over a hundred into Second Level Martial Artists. With these Martial Artists, the Skeleton Sect’s strength will reach unprecedented levels, exceeding even its most powerful past.
Half a month later, the previously quiet Skull Island became abuzz again, astonishing everyone. This was because someone had arrived on the island—a Martial Artist coming to seek asylum with the Skeleton Sect. Given the Skeleton Sect’s current reputation, it’s not surprising for someone to seek asylum. However, it was astonishing that the Martial Artist was a Divine Realm Third Level expert, especially one at the Divine Realm Third Level Peak, which was indeed frightening.
Recently, due to Crimson Flame’s influence, many Martial Artists came to Skull Island seeking refuge, including some experts. However, a Divine Realm Third Level Peak expert seeking refuge was somewhat unimaginable. At this moment, everyone in the Skeleton Sect felt anxious and fearful.
The Divine Realm Third Level Peak expert seeking asylum was an Elder, leaving the Skeleton Sect in a delicate situation. This old man’s strength was astonishing. If he chose to make a move, there would be no match for him on Skull Island; he alone could destroy the entire island.
Wu Qingxia felt that Ding Fan should handle this matter, as the Elder came to seek asylum with Ding Fan. She sent someone to inform Ding Fan. Upon receiving the news, Ding Fan immediately brought his Tigertooth Ape, which he kept as protection, down from Jingshan Castle, and hurriedly arrived at the Skeleton Sect’s headquarters, where he saw the Divine Realm Third Level Peak expert who had come to seek asylum.
This was an extremely old man, seemingly shrunken with age, with a head full of white hair and white eyebrows and mustache. Despite his unremarkable appearance, he exuded an air of presumptuousness, appearing to look down on everyone.
"What’s the matter? Is the Island Master coming out to meet me or not? I, Old Sou, have come all the way here to seek asylum. How is it I can’t even see anyone and am left waiting like a fool? Are you taking me in or not? Tell your Island Master that if I’m not made a Great Elder, I’ll turn around and leave, and no one can stop me."
The old man sat in the hall, grumbling with an air of arrogance, looking as if he might leave at any moment. Ding Fan took a glance but did not immediately go in. Seeing him arrive, Wu Qingxia quickly came out. When Ding Fan saw her come out, he asked, "So, how is it? Have you checked this person’s background?"
"Checked, Elder Wu Ren investigated a bit. This person is called Mu Gaosou, considered a well-known figure in the Tianmu Sea, who reached the Divine Realm Third Level Peak a hundred years ago and hasn’t improved since. Elder Wu Ren says he is sincere about seeking asylum, but in his opinion, it’s better not to take in Mu Gaosou!"
"Why? If he’s sincere, why can’t we take him in?"
Ding Fan found it strange. Isn’t the Skeleton Sect currently lacking experts? Why wouldn’t they want him?
"Brother Ding, you don’t know. This Mu Gaosou reached this Realm over a hundred years ago. In the past year alone, he has joined nearly fifty powers, but ultimately, these powers did not dare keep him, and they pleaded and sent him away because this person is a lunatic. To improve his Realm, he has attempted to advance to Divine Realm Fourth Level almost once a year for nearly a hundred years, trying nearly a hundred times but still remains at the Divine Realm Third Level Peak without success."
"Nearly a hundred attempts?"
Ding Fan was speechless. He understood why Wu Qingxia said not to accept him. He had heard before that for a Divine Realm Third Level Peak Martial Artist to advance to the Divine Realm Fourth Level, a massive amount of resources was needed, worth nearly four million Black Obsidian.
This Mu Gaosou would attempt to advance once a year, which means preparing nearly four million Black Obsidian for him each year. Forget a Second Grade Power; even a Second Grade Sect could not afford him. While Fourth Grade Families might be able to afford him, they have no shortage of Divine Realm Fourth Level experts and wouldn’t bother with Mu Gaosou, who’s a money pit, unless they had Black Obsidian to burn.
