Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1178 - 1178 0684 Emperor Wu Seeks Assistance_2

Chapter 1178: Chapter 0684: Emperor Wu Seeks Assistance_2 Chapter 1178: Chapter 0684: Emperor Wu Seeks Assistance_2 Standing beside Emperor Jianwu, the other princes felt both envious and regretful as they watched Qi Tian take out the flying sword once used by a Nascent Soul Master. They greatly desired to possess such a sword; even if they couldn’t use it themselves, it would make a fine display. Besides, once they advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage in the future, wouldn’t they be able to directly own a suitable flying sword? However, in front of Qi Tian, they dared not voice their desire to claim the sword for themselves. Like Emperor Jianwu, they simply made a realistic assessment and, upon realizing that they lacked the ability to wield it, chose to remain silent.

Qi Tian truly didn’t have many impressive items in his possession. The flying swords left by Master Ming Ren were unusable by Emperor Jianwu and the others, leaving Qi Tian with little of value to aid in enhancing their strength.

After some thought, Emperor Jianwu summoned the Liuli Sand from his Spirit Beast Bracelet. Then, pointing at Emperor Jianwu, Qi Tian said to the Liuli Sand, “I am giving you a mission. In the upcoming period, you are to aid him, follow his command, and quickly complete the initial reconnaissance of the tomb.”

The Liuli Sand glanced at Emperor Jianwu. There was no significant change in the surrounding grains of yellow sand, but Emperor Jianwu couldn’t help but feel slighted. He was eager to let the Liuli Sand know he was no weakling. However, remembering how, not long ago, Qi Tian had slain Old Pan, Zhou Ping, and Ma Deru with the aid of the Liuli Sand, Emperor Jianwu wisely kept his mouth shut.

Qi Tian spoke again, “I am now entrusting you with the use of the Liuli Sand to assist you in the initial tomb reconnaissance. Don’t mess this up. Also, remember this: use the Liuli Sand sparingly. It is potent but costs a lot to employ, and it’s difficult to replenish its energy once depleted. It wasn’t easy for me to acquire this treasure, so don’t exhaust it.”

Emperor Jianwu quickly nodded, solemnly assuring Qi Tian, “Please rest assured, Master Qi. I will take good care of the Liuli Sand and avoid any unnecessary consumption.”

Qi Tian observed, “I will hold you to your promise. Well, that’s about all the help I can provide. If I were to give any more, I’d have nothing left. You should take what I’ve given and organize a team to explore the tomb. I must focus on my recovery. Also, dispatch some people to repair the Defensive Array around the Saint’s Tomb as soon as possible. Be wary of aerial attacks, and don’t repeat past mistakes. Remember to reduce the defensive perimeter and increase its intensity. If the defenses can be easily breached, we might as well not bother at all.”

Just then, someone brought the body of Zhou Ping back for Qi Tian to handle. Qi Tian took the artifacts above the Half-step Nascent Soul level from Zhou Ping’s body and handed them to Emperor Jianwu, pocketing the rest.

Following that, Qi Tian strode into the tomb passage to continue his recovery. The battle with the ghostly faces on the tomb’s doors had greatly exhausted him, and he had only just managed to recover when the fight with Old Pan, Zhou Ping, and Ma Deru forced him to expend the regained physical strength and True Essence, causing another deficit. He had no choice but to recover once more.

The recovery process went smoothly. A few hours later, Qi Tian felt fully replenished, returning to his peak condition. He could even faintly sense that his cultivation realm had grown further. Although he had not yet broken through to the fourth level of the Gold Core Stage, he counted it as a small gain.

Qi Tian did not rush to end his cultivation. Since Emperor Jianwu and the others did not disturb him and everything was going smoothly without his intervention, he could use this leisure time to seek further increases in his strength.

First, Qi Tian took stock of the various cultivation resources he possessed. Having just executed Old Pan and the others had substantially fattened his purse. Qi Tian didn’t bother to take out and count each cultivation resource they had contributed; instead, he used the sensing function of the Heavenly Dao Engine to thoroughly scan the Storage Bags and other items belonging to Old Pan and his group.

The scan results showed that Pan and his team indeed possessed numerous valuable items, some of which were extremely high in value, including elixirs, spirit stones, and many others of high quality, all of which were rather costly. However, the idea of utilizing them to help Qi Tian substantially increase his strength in a short period was simply impossible.

Despite Pan and his team all being cultivators of the Gold Core Stage Eighth Level, strictly speaking, their status within Wanjie Commerce was not considered high. Although it couldn’t be said that they were merely doing menial tasks, they were ultimately subordinates of Manager Chen, and whatever they did, they had to act according to Manager Chen’s wishes. Manager Chen would not allow them to possess treasures that could greatly enhance their strength.

Since these new spoils of war were not to be relied upon, Qi Tian had to think of another method. He reviewed all the items stored in the storage room and the spare materials warehouse and eventually, his gaze fell upon a pile of fragments.

These fragments were the result of the faces on the tomb door being sliced by Qi Tian’s flying sword, and it had taken him a great deal of effort to drag them into the storage room piece by piece, only then had he managed to defeat the faces.

Qi Tian could feel that, though extremely fragmented, each piece of the ghastly faces’ heads still contained vitality, which meant that they were not yet dead. In addition, each fragment contained an immensely vast and pure energy, far more potent in both quality and quantity than those grains released by the colored glaze sand.

Upon seeing these head fragments, Qi Tian suddenly had an idea. If he could subdue this ghost face, wouldn’t he gain a Nascent Soul Stage ally? Such a move would be revolutionary in enhancing his strength, allowing his overall combat power to jump directly from the Gold Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage. If he were to face a beginner in the Nascent Soul Stage, he would have a fighting chance.

Thinking of such a possibility, Qi Tian decided to give it a try. Of course, Qi Tian didn’t act rashly, for he was to confront a being with the strength of the Nascent Soul Stage and he wished to persuade it. Without making thorough preparations, a hasty action could lead to more than just failure. There was a substantial risk that he might suffer a backlash from the ghost face, which could potentially be fatal to him and others involved.

Qi Tian first made some necessary arrangements and then took out the flying sword that had once sliced the ghost face into fragments; this gave him additional confidence.

After these preparations, Qi Tian started to ponder how to subdue the ghost face. It wasn’t something to be taken lightly; meticulous planning and the selection of proper methods were essential, without any room for the slightest error, as the consequences would be too severe for him to bear.

Qi Tian began to closely observe the pile of fragments once more, and after his observation, he found that these ghost face fragments were restless, constantly trying to reconvene. If not for the Transporting Whirlwind firmly holding them down, the fragments might have already regathered, possibly resulting in the rebirth of the ghost face.

Facing a single ghost face and attempting to subdue it, no matter how Qi Tian thought about it, it seemed impossible. After all, the gap in strength between him and the ghost face was simply too great. Even though his trusted flying sword had defeated the ghost face once, such a defeat was not enough to make the ghost face genuinely submit to him. Attempting to persuade the ghost face to pledge loyalty to him on the merit of this one victory was definitely not going to be a pleasant try.