King of Creation-Chapter 704 - 695: Busy Much?

Ye Zhen had anticipated that after cleansing the stronghold of Zhu Ling at Qingshui Pier, he should obtain a considerable quantity of Spirit Crystals.

This considerable amount, Ye Zhen had a mental estimate of, which was around three to four hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals. The throughput of Qingshui Pier was vast, but after all, Zhu Zhong was just a butler, and the Spirit Crystals he handled had to be turned over after a period, so he wouldn’t retain too many Spirit Crystals in hand.

However, when Ye Zhen inspected the two storage rings he had searched from Zhu Zhong’s body, the mountainous pile of Spirit Crystals inside left him stunned.

Within one High Grade Storage Ring, it was actually filled to the brim, stuffed entirely with Low Grade Spirit Crystals.

A High Grade Storage Ring a hundred meters in length, width, and height had a space as big as a small hill, and now it was entirely filled with Spirit Crystals. Regardless of value, the sight was overwhelmingly shocking.

Even with the vast expanse of his Divine Sense, Ye Zhen took nearly 15 minutes to count the number of Spirit Crystals inside that storage ring.

A hundred and twenty million!

A total of a hundred and twenty million Low Grade Spirit Crystals.

In terms of quantity, it was only slightly less than the Low Grade Spirit Crystals Ye Zhen had seized from Yang Zhengxi. In terms of value, it amounted to over one million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals. This had already surpassed Ye Zhen’s previous psychological expectations, not to mention the other storage ring on Zhu Zhong’s person.

The other storage ring contained considerably fewer Spirit Crystals, only over five hundred thousand pieces, but they were all the higher quality Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.

As for the few hundred High Grade Spirit Crystals privately owned by Zhu Zhong, along with some Pills for cultivation and the like, their value was directly ignored by Ye Zhen.

Just from Zhu Zhong alone, Ye Zhen obtained more than one and a half million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.

So the question arises, where did Zhu Zhong get so many Spirit Crystals?

Ye Zhen found the answer on the delivery orders inside Zhu Zhong’s storage ring. The normal income belonging to Qingshui Pier was only about two hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, while the other one million three hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals were all proceeds from goods.

Qingshui Pier dealt with various businesses like guarantees, mortgages, and lending. The extra one million three hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals were all guarantee Spirit Crystals handed over by various merchants, and within Zhu Zhong’s storage ring, there were also dozens of mortgage and loan Talisman Letters worth a million Spirit Crystals each.

This alone significantly increased Ye Zhen’s income, and his wallet, which had been deflated since last year, was finally bulging again.

As for the harvest from the other five trusted followers of Zhu Ling that Ye Zhen had slain, it wasn’t all that great. Like Hou Ba, Ful Lang, and Yu Xian, these five people’s storage rings could be described as belonging to beggars.

This likely had to do with their status. Most of them were Martial Slaves taken in by Zhu Ling in his early years. Zhu Ling spent a vast amount of Spirit Crystals to train them back then, and most of the wealth they earned now also went to Zhu Ling.

Therefore, including Hou Ba, Ful Lang, Yu Xian, and the five individuals Ye Zhen had killed last night, the total wealth contributed by these eight people to Ye Zhen did not even exceed nine hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.

However, including the gains from Lul Xiao’s storage ring, the wealth of these ten individuals could barely reach one million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.

It’s worth mentioning Yub Daqian. Although he was a Seventh Stage Vein Forging Realm Martial Artist, he was also impoverished, possessing only over three hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, though he did not lack life-preserving Spirit Talismans and Pills.

However, this should be normal. In most cases, the wealth carried by Martial Artists isn’t that abundant, as the expenses during their cultivation are too great.

Aside from Zhu Zhong of Qingshui Pier, each person’s contribution in Spirit Crystals wasn’t much, but when added together from everyone, the number became substantial.

All in all, Ye Zhen’s gains from this one venture out were indeed considerable, amounting to a whopping total of over two million eight hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals. A single trip was equivalent to several years of earnings for others.

And this was without calculating the value of the additional ten Gen Earth Spirit Pearls. The unique refining function of the Mirage Dragon Pearl allowed Ye Zhen to remove various negative energies from the Demon Cores with even more ease than veteran Alchemists.

By the normal market price, one Heavenly Level Middle Grade Gen Earth Spirit Pearl, once refined, was worth over three hundred thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, and they were of the sort that had value but no market.

With that accounted for, Ye Zhen’s gains from this trip were massive. Additionally, no amount of Spirit Crystals could compare with a genuine Divine Skill like Earth Escape.

Of course, gains are proportionate to risks, and if it were someone else, not to mention the gains, it would be questionable whether they could even return alive.

Qinghe Martial City, where Qingshui Pier was located, was not too far from Qinglan Martial City, a distance of six thousand miles. Still, Ye Zhen took a full two hours of flight to arrive.

The Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten was injured and unsuitable for riding, so Ye Zhen’s long-distance flying speed wasn’t all that impressive. Generally, Ye Zhen had no need to use the Geomagnetic Field to accelerate himself.

Returning to the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, the first order of business, naturally, was to report on his mission.

Ye Zhen’s trip to the Black Beard Mountain in search of Gen Earth Spirit Pearls was only as an accompaniment. Initially, there was no need to report, but since Hou Ba, Ful Lang, and Yu Xian, who he had accompanied, had all perished in battle, Ye Zhen had to proactively explain. Otherwise, when Zhu Ling inquired later, he would be at a significant disadvantage.

Inside the Sun and Moon Divine Sect’s Inner Affairs Hall, Zhu Ling was reviewing one Jade Talisman after another, branding his Divine Soul Seal on each after reviewing it.

Starting from the first quarter of the Hour of Chen each morning, Zhu Ling would concentrate on dealing with an hour’s worth of public affairs. Usually, this one hour of handling public affairs was his most enjoyable time because it was a display of his power.

But for the past month, Zhu Ling’s temper had grown increasingly irritable.

So much time had passed, yet there were no reports back from the hunting squad he had meticulously calculated and dispatched against Ye Zhen. There was no response to the Talisman Letters he sent. In fact, it had been forty-six days of lost contact.

The hunting squad must have met with trouble—that was a judgement anyone could make.

But exactly what had happened was driving Zhu Ling to extreme anxiety.

Not only did he care about Ye Zhen’s life or death, he also cared about the situation of the hunting squad. This time, in order to deal with Ye Zhen, he had dispatched his most elite hunting squad from underneath his hand.

Hou Ba and the other two were his trump cards, serving for several decades with rare failures.

"Someone come, has there been any news from those who went to Black Beard Mountain to investigate?" Amidst his impatience, Zhu Ling shouted for an update.

His hunting squad, although part of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, was his to command. However, because Ye Zhen’s life or death was in question, he dared not send his own trusted people to investigate. He could only assign others to the task, and their efficiency and response left him exceedingly irritated.

"Return to the Hall Master, someone has come back!"

"Came back?" Zhu Ling, who was reviewing a talisman letter, suddenly paused and looked pleased as he asked, "Came back? Where is the person? Bring them...

Zhu Ling’s words came to an abrupt halt. Raising his head in urgency, he saw Ye Zhen’s somewhat smiling expression.

In an instant, countless thoughts raced through Zhu Ling’s mind, but his heart kept sinking.

Only Ye Zhen had returned, which already implied many things.

"Hall Master Ye... You’re back. Was your journey successful? Oh right, what about the members of the hunting squad? Why haven’t they come back to report?" As he spoke, Zhu Ling slowly sat back down in his chair.

"Hall Master Zhu, that is exactly what I need to report to you! We ran into bad luck and stumbled upon the lair of the Shadowless Mountain Penetrating Beast. Inside, there were twelve Shadowless Mountain Penetrating Beasts, and a Shadowless Mountain Penetrating Beast King. Hou Ba and the others, they all fell inside!" Ye Zhen said gravely.

"Oh?"

Zhu Ling first looked shocked, then his eyes narrowed into slits, "So you mean to say the mission failed?"

"No, we got the Gen Earth Spirit Pearl," Ye Zhen’s reply once again surprised Zhu Ling.

"Hm?"

Zhu Ling’s expression suddenly turned fierce, and he stood up abruptly from his seat. "Something about this is fishy. The hunting squad has been entirely wiped out, yet you, Hall Master Ye, return unscathed and even with the Gen Earth Spirit Pearl in hand. You must clarify the details of this matter!"

"Clarify? What do you mean, Hall Master Zhu?"

"The lair of twelve Shadowless Mountain Penetrating Beasts with the hunting squad wiped out, yet you, Hall Master Ye, return without a scratch. That is strange enough, and you even managed to obtain the Gen Earth Spirit Pearl? freewebnøvel.com

In such a bizarre situation, it may be necessary for me, as the hall master, to involve the Punishment Hall!" Zhu Ling quickly came to a decision.

"What’s so strange about that! The three from the hunting squad, Hou Ba, desperately protected me, which allowed me to escape. If it weren’t for their protection, I could never have made it back alive!" Ye Zhen’s face was filled with sorrow.

"You..."

Zhu Ling’s expression turned much harsher, because, in his view, Ye Zhen was openly declaring war on him.

Zhu Ling was very clear that the hunting squad members would never have desperately protected Ye Zhen. Not to mention that they had orders to seize an opportunity to kill Ye Zhen, even without those orders, there was no chance they would have protected him.

This was something Zhu Ling knew all too well.

For Ye Zhen to speak like this now, there was only one possibility, Ye Zhen was lying and challenging him, and possibly, Ye Zhen could already be the mastermind behind it all.

This revelation shocked Zhu Ling immensely. However, now was not the time to be shocked or to ponder how Ye Zhen had managed it but to figure out how to deal with Ye Zhen.

"Hou Ba’s three were willing to risk their lives to protect you? I cannot comprehend why they would do such a thing. You’re lying!" Zhu Ling roared.

"What does it have to do with you?" Ye Zhen spoke with a hint of derision at the corner of his mouth, "I came here just to inform you of the outcome of this matter, and that’s all!" Having said that, Ye Zhen turned to leave the Inner Affairs Hall.

"Ye Zhen, my Inner Affairs Hall might not be able to handle you, but the Punishment Hall sure can. Humph, I will personally report this matter to the Punishment Hall!" Zhu Ling shouted angrily.

At this, Ye Zhen just laughed it off, "You’d need to have the time for that, but I reckon you, Hall Master Zhu, are about to get very busy!"

"Busy?"

Zhu Ling shook his head in confusion and then quickly moved into action. This matter, he intended to escalate. At the very least, he hoped to tarnish Ye Zhen’s image in front of Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong, allowing him to gradually take his revenge on Ye Zhen.

Just as Zhu Ling stepped out of the Inner Affairs Hall, a streak of talisman light descended from the sky.

The moment he finished reading the talisman letter, Zhu Ling’s vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)