Chapter 494: Take the Money, Eliminate the Disaster

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Baka initially benefited from promotion in the secret realm, breaking through to become a second-tier demon. However, due to an accidental entry into the mysterious city, he suffered direct damage to his essence and fell back to the first-tier of demons.

If it weren’t for Chen Fei finding him in the end, the remaining essence of Baka would have been completely consumed, leading to his ultimate demise.

It has been several years since Baka was awakened by the spirit liquid, especially after reaching the Boundless Sea, where Chen Fei used high-quality spirit stones to help Baka recover.

It’s worth noting that only cultivators above the Combined Aperture Tempering realm would use high-quality spirit stones, making Chen Fei’s investment quite substantial, but the results were excellent.

Baka’s damaged essence finally recovered, and his strength returned to the level of a second-tier demon, with some improvements.

Back when he was in the secret realm, Baka could already expedite the maturation of ordinary medicinal herbs, increasing their age. After reaching the second-tier demon level, this ability continued to advance, allowing Baka to expedite the maturation of spirit materials as well.

This ability was truly transformative.

Ordinary medicinal herbs were easily obtainable, and even though their value increased with age, there was still a limit.

However, when it came to spirit materials, the value of a single piece could be equivalent to dozens of ordinary medicinal herbs.

However, compared to ordinary medicinal herbs, ripening spirit materials was much more difficult.

Even for the most ordinary spirit materials, Baka had to spend an extremely long time to increase their age. He couldn’t expedite them like ordinary medicinal herbs, where it happened in large quantities at once.

However, Baka’s current strength was only at the early stage of the second-tier, equivalent to the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm for martial artists.

If Baka’s talent were to be compared to humans, it would be considered extraordinary. As his strength continued to grow in the future, his ability to expedite the maturation of spirit materials would undoubtedly improve as well.

It might only reach a plateau when he reaches the limit of his talent.

The Third Grade Secret Realm, even the lower-grade ones, had an extremely rich source of energy since it was primarily used for the cultivation of spirit materials.

Baka’s strength would continue to improve within it, and the difficulty of ripening spirit materials would also decrease significantly.

As Chen Fei contemplated Baka’s situation, Qin Haishan and the others had already flown over. They exchanged glances, all wearing smiles on their faces.

Conquering the Third Grade Secret Realm was a major accomplishment, and it brought joy to some and disappointment to others.

Chen Fei and his group were elated, and several sects were celebrating as well. On the other hand, Mo Shiyi wore a gloomy expression.

“Let’s go!”

Mo Shiyi looked at Qin Haishan and the others, let out a sigh, and then turned to fly in the southwest direction, with Miao Wanhong and the others following behind.

After a while, Mo Shiyi and his group arrived in a courtyard and landed their figures.

Throughout the journey, all five of them remained extremely silent. Losing the Third Grade Secret Realm in such a way filled them with deep frustration.

However, this matter had now become a certainty, and there was no way to change it.

Knowing that the outcome couldn’t be altered made their moods even worse. Over the course of a century, how many spirit materials could a Third Grade Secret Realm produce?

These spirit materials could be continuously harvested as long as they were properly cared for, providing a steady stream of benefits to their sects and factions.

There was no need to take any risks, and just thinking about it was enticing.

But now, all of this had nothing to do with their five sects.

“What happened back then?”

In the courtyard, after a moment of silence, Mo Shiyi looked up at Miao Wanhong. The turning point of the flag-snatching battle began when the Flame Flag in Miao Wanhong’s hands was taken away.

Before that, even though they hadn’t found Qin Haishan and the others, they were still in a favorable position overall.

However, when Miao Wanhong was eliminated, the Flame Flag changed hands, and everything started to spiral out of control, ultimately resulting in a complete defeat in the flag-snatching battle.

Upon hearing Mo Shiyi’s question, the others also turned their attention to Miao Wanhong.

From Miao Wanhong’s warning message to his eventual elimination, the time elapsed too quickly. It happened so fast that the others couldn’t react in time, and it was too late to change the course of events.

“It’s Chen Fei. His strength is far beyond what the information suggested, and I couldn’t stop him!”

Miao Wanhong understood the gravity of his responsibility in this matter and didn’t hold anything back, recounting all the details of what had happened.

Listening to Miao Wanhong’s account, Mo Shiyi and the others furrowed their brows. Only Hu Yanwu, who was nearby, nodded in agreement.

In a situation where they had faced Chen Fei, they understood that feeling, especially the chilling and overwhelming aura in the end. Even waiting for just a moment longer made them worry that they might never come out.

“That’s how it went down, and I had no way to deal with it at the time,” Miao Wanhong said helplessly.

“I encountered the same Chen Fei, and the situation was almost identical to Brother Miao’s,” Hu Yanwu added, still shaken.

“Chen Fei’s strength is just too formidable, and our abilities were no match for him.”

Mo Shiyi furrowed his brow but remained silent.

Miao Wanhong and Hu Yanwu, both of whom had spent more than thirty years in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, were eliminated by someone who had barely surpassed the Combined Aperture Tempering realm for less than a year.

Knowing this fact, they couldn’t lie, and Mo Shiyi couldn’t help but wonder if the two of them were trying to shift responsibility away from themselves.

Chen Fei wasn’t a disciple from one of the major sects, and small sects like his rarely had any valuable martial arts legacies after hundreds of years.

Even for disciples from large sects, after breaking through for just a year, their strength would still be stabilizing, and it would take several years, or even a decade or more, for their true power to fully emerge.

However, the current situation was different. It was precisely a disciple from a small sect who had barely surpassed the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, yet he managed to eliminate Miao Wanhong and Hu Yanwu, and the circumstances indicated that he possessed an almost overwhelming level of power.

They had assumed that in this flag-snatching battle, the least of their concerns would be Chen Fei, but it turned out that he was the one who ultimately changed the entire situation.

In the courtyard, the five of them fell into silence once again.

They had understood the sequence of events and identified the reasons for their failure. Trying to assign blame at this point wasn’t practical. After all, they were allies, not in a hierarchical relationship.

Mo Shiyi indeed had the strongest strength among them, but he had no authority to punish anyone.

“Breaking through in just one year and already displaying this level of power,” Mo Shiyi took a deep breath, gradually calming his demeanor.

However, the coldness in his eyes continued to deepen as he looked at Miao Wanhong and the others. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “What do you think would be the result if he were to continue cultivating for another hundred years?”

Miao Wanhong and the others were momentarily stunned when they heard Mo Shiyi’s question. Then, they quickly realized that Chen Fei was currently only in his early thirties.

If he continued to cultivate for another hundred years, he would still be just over a hundred and thirty years old. At that age, even in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, he would still be considered in his prime.

The lifespan of a Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivator was around three hundred years, but those with special means could live well into their three hundred and thirties, which was not uncommon.

Given Chen Fei’s displayed talents, what level of cultivation could he achieve with another hundred years of practice?

Without exaggerating, just reaching the second stage of Combined Aperture Tempering realm, the peak of early Combined Aperture Tempering realm, would make him stronger than everyone present.

Of course, Mo Shiyi and the others might also break through to the middle stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. However, it was hard to deny that Chen Fei’s chances of reaching the middle stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm in that time were not low.

In fact, one could argue that achieving the second stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm within a hundred years was underestimating him.

Indeed, referring to the second stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm was clearly underestimating Chen Fei and his potential.

If Chen Fei’s cultivation reached the middle stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, what role would this Third Grade Secret Realm have for them in the future? And considering Chen Fei’s youth, for the next few hundred years, this secret realm would have nothing to do with them.

This maritime region only has one Third Grade Secret Realm!

Thinking of this possibility, the expressions of Miao Wanhong and the others turned dark.

“It seems like you all have already realized that as long as that Chen Fei is in this region, the Third Grade Secret Realm here will have nothing to do with our factions,” Mo Shiyi said coldly.

“Mo Brother, what are you trying to say?” Hu Yanwu looked at Mo Shiyi.

“What I want to say, you should already have guessed,” Mo Shiyi replied.

Mo Shiyi looked up at the distant sky and said with a firm tone, “The path of martial arts has always had a ‘kill or be killed’ outcome. For hundreds of years, our sects couldn’t gain access to the secret realm, and I don’t want that to happen anymore!”

“Are you suggesting we contact the Death Shadow Sect?” Miao Wanhong asked in a low voice.

Mo Shiyi’s intentions were clear. As long as Chen Fei remained in this maritime region, with his talent and age advantage, the Third Grade Secret Realm would remain unattainable for hundreds of years.

To prevent this from happening, the best solution was to eliminate the source of the problem.

As long as Chen Fei was gone, the competition for the Third Grade Secret Realm a hundred years from now would still be uncertain, rather than the current predetermined outcome.

The Death Shadow Sect, more of an assassination organization than a sect, followed the motto: “Take the money, eliminate the disaster.”

Organizations like the Death Shadow Sect existed in every place, whether it was the territory of Immortal Cloud City in the past or the larger Boundless Sea today.

Where there were people, there were disputes, and where there were disputes, there were clandestine solutions in the shadows. Organizations like the Death Shadow Sect naturally emerged to fulfill such needs.

“We’re not in a position to take action ourselves, so we have no choice but to contact the Death Shadow Sect,” Mo Shiyi said in a deep voice.

“Assassinating someone in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm comes at a considerable cost,” Meng Heng expressed some reluctance.

Meng Heng had recently broken through to the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, and similar to Chen Fei, his sect wasn’t large, and the resources available to him were limited.

Meng Heng had taken a gamble to break through when he was about to reach the limit of his Combined Aperture Tempering realm lifespan, and he miraculously succeeded.

He had thought that this opportunity would allow him to claim the Third Grade Secret Realm for himself and his sect, securing resources for the next hundred years. But now that they hadn’t captured the Third Grade Secret Realm, they had to spend extra money to hire an assassin.

Around the Thousand Feathers Alliance, there were many assassin organizations, and the Death Shadow Sect was one of the most well-known due to its high mission success rate. However, correspondingly, it charged high fees for its services.

“Sometimes, you have to give up something to gain something. We’ll share the costs, and it won’t be too burdensome for our five factions,” Mo Shiyi explained.

Meng Heng hesitated for a moment but then nodded. Mo Shiyi looked at the other three, and after exchanging glances, they all agreed to the plan.

Soon, within the Death Shadow Sect, a new mission appeared: assassinate Chen Fei of the Primordial Sword Sect in Sea Peak City..