Nine Astra Skies

"Little Brat Ye Chen, you better not use your Astral Body. Bi Lin will recognize you if you use your Astral Body," Master Lion said.

Ye Chen smiled faintly. "Master Lion, you don't have to worry. I won't release my Astral Body even if I meet a strong foe. The Emperor Ming's Belt can summon Arcane Beasts. If need be, I can just summon the Immortal Dark Phoenix!" The Immortal Dark Phoenix was beginner Daemon King Rank, nearly rivaling the gold-armored soldier.

Master Lion nodded slightly. Ye Chen was constantly finding new tools to deal with enemies so he would not have to resort to using his Astral Body. He glanced at Ye Chen and found himself slightly looking forward to seeing just how far Ye Chen could progress.

"Master Lion, I'll leave the Soul Pearl in the Heavenly Astra Seal," Ye Chen said. He was not going to leave behind any clues to help Bi Lin figure out his identity. He then invoked his Astral Body and exited the Heavenly Astra Seal.

The area around the seventh floor entrance of the Soul Pagoda was extremely crowded. Various factions had their camps set up in the area. There were also many independent cultivators. Mystique Adept Rank Flying mystical beasts and Celestial Beasts occasionally glided past the skies above and a great number of Mystique Adept Rank mystical beasts and Celestial Beasts also roamed freely on the ground below.

In the Soul Pagoda, Mystique Adept Rank mystical beasts and Celestial Beasts were just mere fodder. For that reason, Ye Chen did not bring the Golden Sun Condor with him into the Soul Pagoda but instead, left it outside.

Shortly after Ye Chen went outside, he felt a wave of Psyche energy extending toward his direction.

The Psyche energy belonged to Bi Lin. Her Psyche energy was inspecting all humans, mystical beasts, and Celestial Beasts here.

Several thousand meters away, Bi Lin's Psyche locked onto Ye Chen's. She frowned a little. Each time a new person showed up in this area, she would inspect them with her Psyche.

Even though he felt Bi Lin's energy on him, Ye Chen continued walking without a change of expression. He was feeling slightly nervous. If Bi Lin recognized him, he would not be able to snap out of Bi Lin's control again.

"No." Bi Lin who was residing in her tent shook her head. The energy she felt was completely different from Ye Chen's energy.

Ye Chen kept his composure and continued walking several hundred meters ahead. He heaved a sigh of relief when he felt Bi Lin's Psyche leaving him as he was not detected after using Daylight Thief.

Right after Bi Lin's Psyche had left him, Ye Chen felt somebody's attention fixed on to him.

It was Cang Lu. The old man Cang Lu glanced over this direction as well for some reason.

Under the effect of the Daylight Thief Technique, Ye Chen could not be detected even with the use of Psyche. There was no way he was going to be simply recognized by sight!

Unsurprisingly, Cang Lu turned away after a moment.

Ye Chen continued heading toward the location with the pitch tents. They had set up a large bazaar.

"The Spirit Council guarantees that we'll provide spirit artifacts in exchange for your Tianyuan ancient coins. In addition, if anybody here possesses twilight gold ancient coins, you may exchange them for spirit artifacts up to Tier Six or Seven at the Spirit Council!" a top Godly Venerable Rank middle-aged fighter announced. He was clad in shiny artifacts all over. Each spirit artifact he had was at least Tier Seven, Eight or even higher. Exactly what you would come to expect from a man of the Spirit Council. "Also, if you have any other treasures on you, you're welcome to sell them to our Spirit Council. Prices are negotiable."

Following the middle-aged man's announcement, a large crowd began to discuss among themselves.

"This man is the elder of the Spirit Council, his name is Feng Ming. I heard that the treasures he has on him are all specially crafted by the Spirit Council using secret techniques. Even though his cultivation base is just top Godly Venerable Rank, regular first grade Boundless Stage fighters are no match for him due to the treasures he equips!"

"The Spirit Council is far more reputable than the other factions. In the past, they had countless clients purchasing from them and they have maintained a good reputation for some time."

"I have plenty of Tianyuan ancient coins here. My guess is they are planning to collect them in masses and refine them into spirit artifacts."

The conversation between two Godly Venerable Rank fighters was overheard by Ye Chen.

Feng Ming, who was standing nearby continued, "According to the estimation of the elders of the Spirit Council, the Soul Pagoda will be closing in six days. In six days, the Spirit Council will be making a grand opening! If any esteemed guests would like to trade with the Spirit Council, you can find branches of the Spirit Council in the city of each large empire. There will be specialists of the Spirit Council receiving you to discuss with you."

Upon hearing Feng Ming's announcement, the crowd instantly exploded.

"The Spirit Council is making a grand opening!"

"The Spirit Council has probably been staying silent for close to a thousand years by now. Apart from a few selected individuals, nobody else was able to get in contact with the Spirit Council."

"This is going to be very troublesome for the merchants. How are they supposed to compete against the fabled Spirit Council?"

Each of the large factions was extremely powerful but in terms of wealth, the Spirit Council was miles ahead of the other factions. The Spirit Council had recruited the most renowned group of blacksmiths in the entire Great Eastern Continent. Each spirit artifact they produced was worth an entire city's weight in gold.

In this instance of the Soul Pagoda opening, many kinds of treasures were unearthed. Even though the Spirit Council did not manage to get their hands on as much treasure as powerful presences like the Tribunal Council and Thunder Beast, they had their method to obtain even more treasures than their competitors!

"It's not just the Spirit Council, the other factions probably can't resist anymore!"

As Ye Chen walked around the bazaar, he noticed a lot of people using the Tianyuan ancient coins to trade. It was extremely easy to find something valuable in exchange for Tianyuan ancient coins. Goods such as Tier Five to Six spirit artifacts, medicinal pills of Tier Seven, Eight, even Nine, and also rare materials were traded for the coins. Nobody conducted trade of items like Cosmic Stones, Purple Demon Armor, Tier Eight to Nine spirit artifacts, secret technique jade slips, and other similar treasures. These items could easily cost up to several hundred thousand Tianyuan ancient coins.

Up till now, even the super families had not managed to collect so many Tianyuan ancient coins.

The only thing more valuable than the Tianyuan ancient coins was probably the twilight gold coins. Each twilight coin could be exchanged for above ten thousand Tianyuan ancient coins, but there were very few people trading for them.

Each large faction was still waiting for the fighters from their headquarters would arrive in one or two days. They were not in a hurry to go onto the seventh floor before their main forces got here.

"I heard that the Godly Venerable Rank and Daemon King Rank masters of Thunder Cliff, Silver Moon Valley, Leo King's Palace, Wolven Kingdom, and House of Storms are recruiting more fighters. They are making preparations to enter the seventh floor. You have to be at least Mystique Rank to join them!"

"I heard that apart from the Cosmic Stones in the center of the seventh floor, someone also found components for Tier Nine Purple Demon Armor and the Tier Nine Scorching Skies Sword!"

"Which ones are the stronger factions now?"

"It's probably Thunder Cliff and the Wolven Kingdom. Both have above seven or eight Daemon King Rank and Godly Venerable Rank fighters. The Silver Moon Valley and Leo King's Palace are ranked slightly below them as they have four to five fighters of the same tier. As for Mystique Rank fighters, they have hundreds, if not, thousands of them."

"I'm planning to join Thunder Cliff. What about you, Brother?"

"I'm planning to go to the Wolven Kingdom!"

Ye Chen listened to their conversation as he walked around. He began to gain a better understanding of the current situation. Super factions like the Tribunal Council and Thunder Beasts had temporarily paused their expeditions to the seventh floor while they waited for their fighters from their headquarters. Instead, it was the factions that were a level below them such as the Daemon King Kingdoms, super sects, and the royal tribes that began sending men into the seventh floor.

All of them did not dare to enter the central section of the seventh floor and only explored around the edges. All the treasures of the seventh floor were going to be claimed by the powerful fighters once they arrived. Therefore, they decided to explore the seventh floor now while they still had a chance to get their hands on the treasures.

Ye Chen looked into the distance. He saw five camps set up in a vast space. Each camp was packed with thousands of people. They were rubbing their palms together, lying in wait for their turn to enter the seventh floor of the Soul Pagoda.

There were more people constantly streaming in. The five camps constantly grow stronger.

The Daemon King Venerable Rank and Godly Venerable Rank fighters who showed up were prime targets for recruiting.

Enter the seventh floor of the Soul Pagoda or get out of here now?

What was the situation on the seventh floor now, anyway?

As Ye Chen was still contemplating, the Illusory Pearl he had hidden on his chest pocket began to hum and had white rays radiating from it. Ye Chen looked down at the Illusory Pearl, was it Little Tanuki trying to send him a message?

Ye Chen looked into the distance. He noticed what seemed like several tanuki Celestial Beasts in the Leo King's Palace's camp.

Were Little Tanuki's fellow clansmen in there as well?

Little Tanuki had remained in the Illusory Pearl. Ye Chen suspected that Little Tanuki sustained some injury and could not come out yet. If the clansmen of Little Tanuki were really in the Leo King's Palace's camp, he had to help Little Tanuki find them!

Ye Chen would decide after he had investigated!

Ye Chen headed toward the Leo King's Palace's camp.

Right then, five tall and bulky men headed toward Ye Chen's direction. Their appearances were different from common people. These men had canine-like ears and sharp teeth poking out from their mouths. They were like wolves.

These men belonged to the Wolven Kingdom and they are Mystique Adept Rank!

"Hey, boy, you want to join Leo King's Palace?" one of the men with dusk black hair looked down at Ye Chen and asked. His name was Su Mang. He was an external affairs liaison of the Wolven Kingdom, in charge of recruiting men to the Wolven Kingdom. Ye Chen was heading toward the Leo King's Palace's camp. The Wolven Kingdom and Leo King's Palace had always been sworn enemies. These men got in Ye Chen's way and spoke aggressively.

"What is your cultivation base?" another gray-haired man asked. He crossed his arms and looked at Ye Chen disdainfully. His eyes had a threatening bloodthirsty glow in them.

"It's none of your business," Ye Chen glanced at them and answered coldly. He was not a big fan of the Wolven kingdom. They were the prime suspect for the murder of Little Tanuki's clansmen. Previously in Ye Clan Valley, the Ye Clan was going to face the same catastrophe if not for Master Lion's help.

"Boy, do you want to die?" Suo Mang roared angrily. "Do you know who we are?" As far as Suo Mang was concerned, Ye Chen was just a no-name independent cultivator who had disrespected the name of the Wolven Kingdom.

"Boy, I'll give you two choices here. You either join the Wolven Kingdom or die!" the gray-haired one whose name was Suo Lang warned as he held back Suo Mang who was about to pounce. Ye Chen was trying to join Leo King's Palace so he was asking for it!

"I have no interest in the Wolven Kingdom. Now get out of my way before you make me angry!" Ye Chen glanced at them coldly. He did not take any one of them seriously.

"Insolent little brat! Die!" Suo Mang barked coldly. He could not believe that a mere independent cultivator like Ye Chen dared to challenge the Wolven Kingdom. He angrily approached Ye Chen.

All five large men of the Wolven Kingdom bore their fangs and began to surround Ye Chen.