Nine Astra Skies

Great Emperor Mingwu was holding a teacup when he heard what Ye Chen said. His hand paused as he looked at Ye Chen. "You don't have to do this. With your talent, you'll achieve amazing results in five or six years. You don't have to risk your life in the Exclusion Zone now." Ye Chen's words had truly surprised Great Emperor Mingwu. Many people would only think of avoiding such a situation but why was Ye Chen stepping up instead?

"It's too argumentative to say that the rise and fall of the nation is the concern of every citizen. Just say that it's the sake of the Ye Clan. I have some grudges with the Nanman Kingdom." Ye Chen thought about how his father and he had been continuously ambushed by the Nanman Kingdom and knew that he had been targeted by them. There would be a battle with the Nanman Kingdom. In that case, Ye Chen would start it from the Exclusion Zone!

Great Emperor Mingwu's gaze rested on Ye Chen's face for a moment. He nodded and said solemnly, "If we can come back alive this time, I'll be in your debt."

"That's not necessary. I'm sure we'll win the war in the Exclusion Zone. There's no need to feel indebted to me," Ye Chen said coolly.

"You're sure we'll win?" Great Emperor Mingwu glanced at Ye Chen and raised his eyebrows. "The Nanman Kingdom has as many masters as there are clouds in the sky. Every time the Exclusion Zone opens, they'll dispatch several Heavenly Venerable Rank combatants." Even Great Emperor Mingwu steeled himself with the possibility of dying. Where did Ye Chen's confidence come from? He suddenly recalled the news of two Heavenly Venerable Ones who died in Emerald Cloud Mountain. At that time, Ye Chen also happened to be there. Could it be that Ye Chen was hiding his strength? The young man before his eyes was more difficult to see through.

"Your Majesty will know when the time comes." Ye Chen smiled. If Great Emperor Mingwu knew that Nie Qingyun and a Heavenly Adept Rank Celestial Beast would also take part in the war, what would he think? Ye Chen had prepared to let Nie Qingyun and the Eclipsing Firebird go as well. At that time, there would be no problems even if he did not act personally. He would have to inform Nie Qingyun and the others first and let them come before the Exclusion Zone opened.

"I received some news before that two Nanman Kingdom masters, the level of Heavenly Venerable Rank, died in Emerald Cloud Mountain…" Great Emperor Mingwu took a sip of tea and looked at Ye Chen. He had guessed that it was Ye Chen before but he was not sure. After all, it was two Heavenly Venerable Rank combatants! Did Ye Chen have such strength?

"Oh? Did such a thing happen? I wasn't aware," Ye Chen replied casually with a straight face and a calm pulse.

Seeing Ye Chen's reaction, Great Emperor Mingwu was sure that this matter was most likely related to Ye Chen. However, since Ye Chen refused to say, he could not ask either. If Ye Chen had hidden strength that could deal with two Heavenly Venerable Rank combatants, there would be assurance in going into the Exclusion Zone this time. Great Emperor Mingwu's hanging heart was finally put down.

They chatted for a while.

"I heard that in half a month, the Tiandu Chamber of Commerce will be holding an auction in Jadeite City. Is Ye Chen interested in going?" Great Emperor Mingwu asked.

"Jadeite City? Where is it?" Ye Chen asked in surprise.

"You haven't heard of Jadeite City before?" Great Emperor Mingwu was shocked.

"I haven't." Ye Chen shook his head.

"Jadeite City is located east of the Nanman Kingdom and is located quite far away from the Xiwu Empire Imperial City. Even with the fastest speed, it'll take more than ten days to get there. Jadeite City doesn't belong to any country but they're controlled by several of the most famous Chamber of Commerce in the Great Eastern Continent. The Tiandu Chamber of Commerce is one of them. This auction is held every six months and rich and powerful families, and even the royal family from more than ten countries will attend. There, you can buy extremely precious pills, spirit artifacts, rare items, and you can also hand things over to them for auction. If you want to go to the Exclusion Zone, it's a good choice to gather some financial resources to buy one or two Tier Three or even Tier Four or Five spirit treasures. I heard that Master Apothecary Xuanyi will be attending the auction too. He might not have had the time to tell you," Great Emperor Mingwu said.

"I see." Ye Chen nodded. He did not expect there to be a place like Jadeite City. He asked Great Emperor Mingwu, "Will people from the Nanman Kingdom go too?"

"Definitely but Jadeite City is different from other places. No matter what country they're from, if anyone kills in Jadeite City, their arrest will be wanted by several major Chamber of Commerce. Don't underestimate the Chamber of Commerce. They have extremely strong financial resources and their subordinates have many masters in their ranks. It'll be easy for them to destroy a country," Great Emperor Mingwu said.

Ye Chen did not think that the Chamber of Commerce would be such tough forces. These things were novel for Ye Chen. He checked the armguard space. His wealth could be considered rich but there were only a few practical spirit artifacts. It would be a good idea to go to Jadeite City. If he could buy some useful spirit artifacts, he would be safer in the Exclusion Zone.

"In that case, I'll go have a look." Ye Chen nodded. He very much wanted to see exactly what kind of place Jadeite City was.

Two months later, the Exclusion Zone would open. Since he had decided to go to Jadeite City, Great Emperor Mingwu prepared to gather the rare treasures in the royal treasury and sell some off. When the next auction opened, he had to buy a Tier Four and above spirit treasure. It would be best if it were Tier Five!

Ye Chen naturally also had some thoughts of his own but it was not urgent now. He would wait till he reached Jadeite City.

After chatting for a while, Great Emperor Mingwu suggested, "Why don't we go fishing at Lake Nekros?"

Hearing Great Emperor Mingwu's words, Ye Chen immediately understood what Great Emperor Mingwu was planning. Ye Chen's fishing skills were first-class. No matter how many fish Ye Chen had caught, he would give a portion to Great Emperor Mingwu. If they fished at Lake Nekros for several days, their harvest would be amazing. Furthermore, the fish and such could also be sold in Jadeite City in exchange for useful spirit artifacts.

"Alright." Ye Chen nodded.

They soon set out for Lake Nekros.

Donglin County, Lianyun Mountains, deep in the valley.

This place was still as quiet as it used to be. With the constant operation of the Chi-amassing Formation, the Celestial Chi here grew stronger than before. Just one breath was enough to let people feel refreshed.

The entrance to the valley was built with thick fortifications by the Ye Clan. There were a dozen fire-thunder crossbows placed in the direction of the entrance to the valley. The fire-thunder crossbows were made by skilled craftsmen of the Central Empire and were extremely powerful. They had frightening destructive power even toward Tenth Level and Earthly Venerable Rank combatants. The fire-thunder crossbows were made of rare materials. These materials alone could be sold for hundreds of Chi Deposition Pills and that was excluding the labor and transportation costs.

These fire-thunder crossbows were brought in by the Vermillion Spirit Condor and the Raven Hawk. On the day the fire-thunder crossbows were installed, the entire clan had watched from the side. Seeing the majestic and awe-inspiring fire-thunder crossbows, the clansmen felt greatly moved. In the past, could they have bought a crossbow that was worth hundreds of Chi Deposition Pills? That was utterly impossible, much less several tens of crossbows! However, since the Ye Clan had established a stable trading relationship with the Tiandu Chamber of Commerce, the Ye Clan had increased their revenue. Even Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhantian, and the others were stupefied but the income continued to enter in a steady stream.

Now, if one talked to Ye Zhantian about clan expenditure, Ye Zhantian would dismissively say, "Thousands of Chi Deposition Pills? Chump change!"

To the Ye Clan, Chi Deposition Pills were already a common commodity that they could eat at any time. Earth Quintessence Pills were not considered rare items anymore either. They also had Heavenly Quintessence Pills and every clansman had eaten a Marrow Absolution Pill before. Many clansmen ate the Soul-amassing Pill that Ye Chen sent, and a few had even eaten the Purple-gold Divine Pill. As for the weapons and equipment, all Seventh and Eighth Level clansmen had at least one Tier One spirit artifact. Ninth Level ones might even have a Tier Two spirit artifact, and several important members of the clan even had Tier Three spirit artifacts.

When Ye Xuan returned to the clan, she looked at everything in front of her and was stunned. Was this still the Ye Clan from before? She could not believe her eyes.

In addition to the entrance of the valley, the living environment in the valley had also been greatly improved, and the clansmen had already built tiles and brick houses. At present, cultivators strived to reach higher levels. As for ordinary clansmen, after they had completed the day's work, they focused on making offspring. The Ye Clan needed more clansmen and to spread more branches, strengthening the clan to pass on to the future generations.

Next to the Soul-amassing Formation, Ye Zhantian, Ye Changxuan, and the others were cultivating.

"I wonder when Little Chen will come back," Ye Changxuan said. Ever since he had cultivated the Thunder Emperor Technique, he shot up to peak Tenth Level and reached the edge of advancing to Earthly Venerable Rank. "Recently, I've been getting a strange feeling when cultivating. Even with my eyes closed, I can see the scenery within a hundred meters around me clearly. It's amazing."

"Sixth Uncle also has that feeling? I thought I was the only one who felt this way." Ye Zhantian paused. His cultivation was similar to Ye Changxuan's. It was on the brink of advancing to Earthly Venerable Rank.

"It seems like this is the special characteristic of the Thunder Emperor Technique," Ye Changxuan said. The more he cultivated, the more he felt that the Thunder Emperor Technique was profound and mysterious. The senior who had created this technique was definitely a legendary figure with miraculous powers.

What Ye Changxuan and Ye Zhantian did not know was that the Thunder Emperor Technique was completely different from ordinary cultivation methods. When cultivated, it could refine their soul. In addition, the Soul-amassing Pills they had eaten before also strengthened their Psyches. However, they were different from Ye Chen and did not cultivate nine types of cultivation systems, and did not have the assistance of the Flying Dagger Celestial Chi. The cultivation of the Psyches was also not as high as Ye Chen's to the point where their Astral Body could detach from the body. Only their perception of the surroundings became more acute and clear.

"Jadeite City is about to hold an auction. The Tiandu Chamber of Commerce has already sent an invitation. Sixth Uncle, should we go?" Ye Zhantian asked. Like Ye Chen, it was also the first time he had heard of a place like Jadeite City. Before, they did not even have the qualifications to know.