Chapter 142 (Patreon)

Chen Haoran picked a random direction and hoped for the best. He didn’t really have the means to orient himself in the secret realm. The Trial Pyramid didn’t have any useful information in that regard. Where was he? How big was the secret realm? Was it a circle? Was he going toward the center? These were all very important questions that he had very few answers to, which was quickly becoming a running theme in his life. At the very least, he could guess the secret realm shouldn’t be too big. Assuming Pan Gong had been correct that it was a place where promising cultivators came to train and compete, then it couldn’t be too big. The Trial Pyramids were added evidence, that they required defeating another trialist to receive a reward quickly and actively became a visible beacon to everyone around would be pretty moot if it took the contestants days to arrive.

Chen Haoran’s thoughts froze.

…How did Li Mou know how the Trial Pyramid worked? Not only know how it worked but the specific ways one could receive a reward.

Did he discover it himself? No, impossible. It was too short a time for him to have hit multiple pyramids before meeting Chen Haoran. He wasn’t lying either because the pyramid worked exactly how he said it would. So how did he know? Chen Haoran’s best guess was that he was informed by the Garrison, but if their information was so specific that they knew about the inside of the Trial, how could they have gotten the means to enter it so wrong?

Chen Haoran sighed. “I’m going to need to find another Garrison soldier.”

————————

Knife tree. Knife tree. Knife tree. Knife— oh, fruit. Seeing the spiky fruit was such a breakup in the usual monotony of the jungle that Chen Haoran stopped to observe it. It reminded him a bit of a durian—

The fruit fell.

Chen Haoran erected a shield of liquid qi just in time to block the immediate explosion as the fruit hit the ground. What he couldn’t block, however, was the most godawful smell of rotting meat. He gagged as the scent easily penetrated his liquid qi and flew into his nose and mouth. As soon as it entered his throat and lungs, the putrid smell liquefied and began dissolving his flesh and organs. Phelps hissed and erupted with blue liquid qi. Chen Haoran let his useless shield fall and allowed Phelps’s to cover them. Immediately their surroundings became better smelling as Phelps filtered out the foul odor. Chen Haoran hacked a cough as his qi went to work to neutralize the poison gas. He massaged his throat, and, after a few moments, swished around his tongue and spat out a glob of sickly yellow spit that started smoking as soon as it hit the dirt.

Chen Haoran wiped his mouth with a look of disgust. “What the hell.” He reached back to rub Phelps’s head. “Good work, bud, that stuff was rank.”

Phelps squealed and ducked his head when Chen Haoran tried to pat him. As soon as Chen Haoran shook his head and tried taking his hand back, however, Phelps did a complete 180 and stuffed his head into Chen Haoran’s palm.

“Needy little shit,” Chen Haoran said with a chuckle.

A pillar of silver light bloomed in the distance.

“Well, not quite what I’m looking for, but I’ll take it. C’mon, Phelps.”

Chen Haoran raced through the jungle, using less than half the qi he’d have used to achieve similar speed before eating the Banquet Peach. Before long, the Trial Pyramid came into view, yet again identical to the previous Trial Pyramid. Whatever civilization built this place wasn’t really interested in spicing up their venues, it seemed. Perhaps their decoration budget was spent on the death trees.

Like with Li Mou before Chen Haoran arrived just as the cultivator who activated the pyramid exited it. To his disappointment however, she wasn’t wearing the Garrison’s red uniform. Just a random Liquid Meridian cultivator then, and judging by the lack of bone decorations on her, she wasn’t even a native.

Chen Haoran sighed. Oh well. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d have the answers she wanted. “Excuse me, miss. I’m looking for my friends.”

The woman didn’t speak. Instead, black mist gathered around her feet, and she swept down the pyramid like a phantom. Black lightning danced between her fingers and transformed them into claws. Chen Haoran sighed again and, when she slashed her claws down, flexed his qi and punched her back up the pyramid. The woman spun wildly through the air like a ragdoll, clipping the stone stairs and disappearing into the altar building.

A bit disappointing. Hopefully, this wouldn’t happen again.

——————————

“Hello, sir. Have you seen these Qi Realms—”

“The treasure is mine! Thousand Pound Sword!”

————————

“Pardon me, but I’ve lost my friends. Would you happen to know—”

“Meet them in hell! Death Point Strike!”

——————

“Have at thee!”

“Wait! Wait! Before you attack, I’m looking for two Qi Realms.”

“Oh? What a coincidence. I met two Qi Realms looking for a Liquid Meridian too.”

“Really?”

“Dog-Beating Staff!”

—————————

Received Hundred-Fold: 40-thousand-year-old Blood Nut Seeds

Received Hundred-Fold: Five High-Grade Spirit Stones

Received Hundred-Fold: Two Top-Grade Spirit Stones

Chen Haoran sighed. He’d gotten some nice rewards from the Trial Pyramids that had been promptly fed to Phelps. Unfortunately, the answers he was looking for were in far shorter supply. None of the cultivators he’d met and beaten up were Garrison soldiers. The only thing of note that he learned was that the trial rewards were randomized. Nothing about the strength of the trialists involved seemed to affect the rewards in any way.

Chen Haoran looked at the red-faced Eight-Layer Liquid Meridian he was holding by the collar of his robes. He was an elderly-looking man who could have been anywhere from 80 to 120 years old, given cultivation life extension nonsense. His white beard was stained with blood from his split lip and one eye was very visibly swollen. It was an exaggerated reaction considering swelling that bad typically took hours to form, but then again, Chen Haoran had punched him hard enough to cave in a normal man’s skull, so it wasn’t really the weirdest thing about this situation. The man’s metal staff lay twisted and bent beneath him after his sneak attack failed. Despite his Eight-Layer cultivation base, it was only Mortal-Rank quality making him by far the weakest cultivator Chen Haoran had fought in the secret realm so far. Just one punch had been enough to convince the man to stop all resistance.

Chen Haoran shook him. “The Dog-Beating part of that technique wasn’t literal, was it? Because I’m going to have to punch you harder if it was.”

The old man quickly shook his head, his beard swinging with the motion. “I swear it is not so, Young Hero. I, Qi Dong, have never beaten a dog in my life. On my family’s honor, I haven’t.”

Chen Haoran squinted. Qi? Something about that name was familiar, and as Chen Haoran gazed at the old man’s features, he felt a striking sense of deja vu. “Are you related to the Qi Family of Reservoir Town?”

Qi Dong woodenly smiled. “This foolish old man is embarrassed enough to be the Qi Family’s leader.”

Chen Haoran raised an eyebrow. “You’re the Patriarch? That tracks, I guess. You should teach your kid not to be an ass.”

Ugly recognition dawned on Qi Dong’s face. “Ah. To think I would accidentally insult the great benefactor who taught my son a lesson. Do not worry, Young Hero, I’ll make sure to beat some sense into that brat when I return.”

“Well, I don’t think child abuse is the answer either, but you do you man,” Chen Haoran said. “Anyway, just remember what I said. If you find who I’m looking for, then I’ll make it worth your while.”

Qi Dong rapidly nodded. “Of course, of course. I won’t allow my eyes to blink the entire trial until I set eyes on them.”

“There’s no need to go that far,” Chen Haoran said.

“As you wish, Young Hero,” Qi Dong said. “May I be let down now? I need to take my antidote pill soon.”

Chen Haoran snorted. “Yeah, let’s get you on your way before you get the courage to use that knife in your sleeve.”

Qi Dong paled. “I would never dare, Young Hero! That knife is there so I can disembowel myself for disrespecting you!”

“Whatever you say.” Chen Haoran winded his arm back and held Qi Dong above his head. “Be grateful I’m not a thief, and let you keep your storage bag.”

“Young Hero!?” Qi Dong croaked.

“The punch was for the sneak attack,” Chen Haoran explained. “This is for lying.” Chen Haoran flexed his qi, and his arm cracked like a catapult’s release as he pitched Qi Dong out of the pyramid and clear into the jungle. Phelps squealed in glee and clapped his claws together.

Chen Haoran rubbed his head. “Thank you.”

He covered Phelps’s eyes as the rune circle around the altar flashed behind them before dimming. Floating above the altar, ensconced in a cocoon of silver light, was a three-foot-long stalk of golden bamboo. When Chen Haoran grabbed it and dissipated the protective light, he was surprised by how heavy it was—far more than what he’d expected from bamboo. Its golden coloring had a distinctly metal sheen to it. Static buzzed through his hands as he held it, and when Chen Haoran flicked the stalk with his finger, it rang like a bell.

“Interesting,” Chen Haoran said, voicing his thoughts aloud for his audience of one. He passed the bamboo over to Phelps. “What do you think, bud?”

Phelps grasped the bamboo with greedy claws, fumbling for a moment with the weight and size given his awkwardness with his newfound strength. Soon enough though Phelps had the bamboo in a comfortable hold and started gnawing on it. Sparks flashed where his teeth scraped against the stalk, but not a mark could be seen despite Phelps’s Liquid Meridian cultivation. It looks like he’d gotten quite the good thing from the Trial this time.

“Okay, bud, hand it back, I’ll hold it for you till you can actually bite into it.” Chen Haoran reached to take the bamboo back and paused.

Received Hundred-Fold: Ninthgold Sword Bamboo

“Never mind. That’s helpful. But do you think it’s a toy or food?”

If it were the former, then Chen Haoran’s options would open up significantly. As he watched Phelps futilely chew on the Sword Bamboo the silver light pillar above them crashed back into the pyramid. Right as it did, another pillar lit up the sky not far away.

“Fifth times the charm, I guess,” Chen Haoran said. He looked at Phelps, who was contentedly gnawing and hesitated. Maybe it would be okay to put the stalk in his storage bag. He wasn’t taking it from Phelps, just holding it for him. On the other hand, he didn’t really want to play around with his power on the off chance Phelps got moody if he took the bamboo, and the Gifting Power responded to that. He couldn’t very well let Phelps keep holding the bamboo on his back, however.

In the end, Chen Haoran compromised and tucked Phelps into his arm like a football, positioning the bamboo such that it was like a lance, albeit one that extended backward instead of in front of him. Package secured, Chen Haoran sped off once again to the next Trial Pyramid. If he were lucky, he’d finally find some Garrison soldiers. If he were super lucky, he’d find out where Xie Jin and Bao Si were. If he were even luckier, then he’d find both and get the Trial Reward on top of it too. Thoughts abuzz with hope, he flooded a bit more qi to his limbs and accelerated to top speed, crashing through the jungle in a straight line, ignoring knife leaves and bomb fruits. He dug in his heels and skidded his way into the pyramid clearing, smashing directly through a tree and turning it to kindling.

Two red-robed Garrison Liquid Meridians standing at the base of the pyramid immediately swerved to face him. One Third-Layer with a peach tree medallion carved from bone hanging at his waist. The other a Sixth-Layer.

“Finally.” Chen Haoran thought. He placed Phelps down and left him to his business, and approached the soldiers with a spring in his step. “Hello! I come in peace, and I hope you do too because I’m not above beating you up to get the answers I want.”

The soldiers frowned, but before Chen Haoran could get any closer, a booming laugh from the top of the pyramid stopped him dead in his tracks.

“I’ve been party to many bold statements before, many of them said directly to me even. But this is the first time I’ve seen someone openly threaten my soldiers in my presence.”

Pan Gong emerged from the altar-building and crossed his arms. “Friend Lan. If you want to exchange beatings for knowledge, then you may as well come up here. We’ll see how far your coin stretches.”