Chapter 114: Uproar in the Chu Royal City

"This..."

When Yun Lu saw the small metal ball in the youth's hand transform into the small sword, she had been dumbfounded.

In the blink of an eye, seeing the small sword vanish, she was stunned once more and only came to her senses when the small sword had reverted to a small metal ball and returned to the youth's hand.

At the same time, she heard a swoosh.

She looked around and noticed that a large swathe of bamboo in the forest had all been cut, and moreover the cut was clean and was obviously made by a sharp instrument.

"Big Brother, this... did you do this?"

Yun Lu stared blankly at the youth, shock and disbelief on her face.

"More accurately, we did this."

Zhou Donghuang indicated the small metal ball in his hand and replied with a slight smile.

"It?"

Yun Lu looked wide-eyed at the small metal ball. "Big Brother, was I seeing things just now? I think... think... I saw it suddenly transform into a sword.

"You were not seeing things; it really did transform into a sword just now."

Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile. "Xiao Lu, this small metal ball is a sword sphere, and by right, it should not appear in a backwater like the country of Yunyang... and I have no idea where the ancestors of the Yun family obtained this sword sphere from.

"Sword sphere?"

Yun Lu's expression indicated that she was at a loss.

"I'll explain on the way back." Zhou Donghuang told Yun Lu and grabbed her as he leaped onto Big Gold's back. He noticed immediately that Big Gold had not reacted at all, as though he were daydreaming.

"Big Gold, let's go," Zhou Donghuang prompted Big Gold impatiently in demon speech, who acknowledged abruptly before he spread his wings and took flight.

However, as he flew off, his sharp eyes were full of terror.

Earlier, when the small metal ball in the youth's hand had transformed into a small sword and shot out, he had been frightened.

After witnessing the small sword's speed and destructive power, he realized: If the youth had directed the sword at him, he would be dead!

"Youth, that thing just now... what is it? Why does it feel so fearsome?"

At last, Big Gold could not resist questioning the youth. "In that moment just now... I felt that I could not resist it. Even if I flew up over a hundred meters into the air, if that sword could track me, I don't think that I could block it."

Zhou Donghuang smiled casually. "Unless its target is a Connate stage adept or demon, and unless that adept has some special defensive technique or the demon has an exceptionally strong defense, they would be killed in a single attack."

"That fearsome?"

"Big Gold exhaled a cold breath, and his feathers went taut. "What on earth is it?"

"A sword sphere."

Zhou Donghuang explained to the little girl in his arms using human speech as he explained to Big Gold, "Sword spheres are something that only adepts of the Primal Core stage and above can produce because it requires the Samadhi fire forged from the essential core and a special type of metal. The sword sphere contains many complicated scenarios... usually, the sword sphere is in the form of a metal sphere, and only when a particular scenario is activated will it transform into a sword.

"And if the sword sphere is activated and transforms into a sword, the more qi is transferred into it, the stronger it will be, and the amount of power it can utilize will be greater."

...

"Wow! Big Brother, you really know a lot!"

Yun Lu lifted her little head and looked at the youth worshipfully.

"Xiao Lu, for now, leaving this sword sphere with you will not be useful... why don't I hold on to it for now and keep it safe for you?" Zhou Donghuang asked as he stroked the girl's head with a gentle smile.

The sword sphere belonged to the girl, and if she resolutely wanted it back, he would not insist even though his heart said otherwise.

Since he had not yet attained the Primal Core stage, the sword sphere was still of some use to him. Once he attained the Primal Core stage, the sword sphere would be no more than scrap metal to him.

At that point, he would be able to produce as many sword spheres as he wanted.

Of course, he would first need to obtain the special metal required to manufacture the sword sphere. Otherwise, he would not be able to manufacture it even if he had the ability.

"Big Brother, I originally wanted to give it to you."

The girl giggle. "At first, I was worried that it would be useless even to you, but now that I know how useful it is, I'm very happy."

"This sword sphere is not merely just useful to me; it is a great advantage."

Zhou Donghuang looked at the girl with an indulgent smile.

Now, with the sword sphere, it was just as though he had hacked a game back on Earth.

Of course, the sword sphere could not be used indiscriminately.

After all, every use of the sword sphere required a great expenditure of qi. If he only transferred a small amount of qi to the sword sphere, it would not be very effective.

At Big Gold's speed, Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu were able to return to the Chu royal city in only two days, and they arrived at the back courtyard of apartment number three at Chuxiu Inn.

When they arrived at Chuxiu Inn, it was already late into the night, and it was pitch black in the back courtyard.

"Young Master, Big Brother."

Little Gold had been sprawled lazily in the back courtyard as he napped but stood up hurriedly upon seeing that his young master and big brother had returned.

Golden-crowned eagles had extremely acute night vision, and even without any light, Little Gold was able to see clearly.

After Zhou Donghuang had left with Yun Lu, Big Gold looked at Little Gold as he told him about the sword sphere, leaving him shivering with fear.

"In other words... with Young Master's current ability, if he activates that sword sphere with all his ability, even an ordinary Connate stage adept or demon would probably not be able to escape him?"

Little Gold's eyes began to glitter as he recovered from his fear and remembered that the owner of the sword sphere was his young master and not someone else.

"You idiot, don't you find it strange why Young Master not only recognizes something like that but even knows how to activate it?" Big Gold asked in exasperation.

"Oh, right, that is a little strange."

It took Big Gold's reminder to bring Little Gold back to his senses. "Moreover, the qi-gathering elixir that Young Master has is also far more effective than the qi-gathering elixir that we took before."

"The best qi-gathering elixir that we have ever taken could only increase the sensitivity to qi by a hundred percent... but what he gave us could increase the sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent," Little Gold said.

"These two days, I have a very strong premonition... if we follow him, perhaps the Connate stage is not the limit for us in this lifetime."

"Big Brother, you mean... by following Young Master, we could hope to attain the legendary Primal Core stage and become Primal Core demons?"

Little Gold sucked in a cold breath.

...

After Zhou Donghuang returned with Yun Lu, they went to find Fu and found out that Fu had taken over the adjacent apartment number two for Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng to stay in.

He had moved in together with them too.

"Young Master, I have already allocated this room here for Madam... and the biggest master bedroom in the middle of apartment number two is reserved for you," Fu said. "As for Young Mistress, she can stay with Madam or in the room that Young Mistress Ren was previously staying in."

"Oh, well done."

Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction.

"Xiao Lu, Mother is surely already asleep, stay in this room tonight... tomorrow, Big Brother will come look for you and Mother tomorrow," Zhou Donghuang said, smiling at Yun Lu as he indicated the room that the young mistress of the Ren family Ren Jiapei had previously slept in.

"Mm."

Yun Lu nodded in understanding and waited until Zhou Donghuang and Fu had walked out of the main entrance of the apartment before she returned to her room and shut the door.

"Young Master."

As they entered the adjacent apartment number two, Fu looked at Zhou Donghuang with a slight frown. "I heard about the incident with the Fan family of Tianxiu City from Brother Freezing Wind. That Fan family is related to the Chu royal family, and moreover, the first wife of the king of the Chu royal family, the consort, is the elder sister of the current patriarch of the Fan family Fan Cheng.

"Now that Fan Cheng is dead and the Fan family is wiped out... it will only be a few more days at most before the news reaches the Chu royal city and the Chu royal family. When that happens, it will only take a simple check by the Chu royal family for them to find out that the two golden-crowned eagles were the culprits. And many people saw the two golden-crowned eagles land in the Tang family mansion and leave with you several days ago.

"This Chuxiu Inn is, after all, a business belonging to the Chu royal family... would we be putting ourselves in harm's way by continuing to stay here?"

Fu stopped there, dread in his eyes. "That day, when I left the Tang family mansion, the patriarch of the Tang family Tang Liunian reminded me... the Chu royal family has a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, so that I could warn you in turn so you could exercise caution."

Obviously, Tang Liunian had already expected that Zhou Donghuang would antagonize the Chu royal family by offending the Fan family.

"A Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering?"

Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.

It did not matter that he had the sword sphere now. Without the sword sphere, he would not have been afraid even if the Chu royal family had a Great Consummation adept.

His current level of practice was already approaching Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, and with his maximum muscular strength, he could exert more strength than most Great Consummation adepts of the Qi-Gathering.

Together with the all the first-grade techniques from his memories and the qi-increasing elixir formulated from the gall bladder of the grizzly bear, there was no one his equal in the country of Yunyang below the Connate stage.

"Fu understands."

Seeing the confident smile on his young master's face, an expression of realization came over Fu's face, and the dread in his eyes vanished. He was calm once more.

Seeing his young master in this state, he knew: His young master was not afraid of the Chu royal family.

Because of this, he had nothing to be worried about.

...

Three days later, the news that the Fan family of Tianxiu City had been wiped out finally reached the Chu royal city and spread through to every corner of the Chu royal city.

There was an uproar in the Chu royal city.

"The Fan family of Tianxiu City has been wiped out?"

"My God! Who did it? Don't the culprits know about the connections the Fan family has to the Chu royal family?"