Chapter 116: Second House Master
"Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal! " Zhen Shaoke replied, "This is a type of crystal that grows below the icy terrane. Strictly speaking, it is not considered an ice crystal as it is in fact something that can only grow with ice crystals surrounding it."
"Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal? What is it used for?" This was the first time Mo Wuji heard of such a thing.
Zhen Shaoke said with some admiration, "Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal is actually worth way more than the Flower of True Gods and it is very rare to collect. The many uses for it include being able to wake the sleeping soul as well restoring the broken soul. Even though it is not considered to be able to revive the dead, there isn't much difference from it. Even experts who have lost their mind and way in the cultivation world can recover immediately with this crystal. Therefore, as soon as such an item appear even in small amount, it will result in many experts fighting over it."
Mo Wuji felt a little heavy-hearted as such an item must be really tough to get his hands on. Even if he entered the Five Elements Desolate Domain, it would still not be easy for him to find the Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal.
"Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal does not exist within the areas owned by the five big empires. It only appears in the Five Elements Desolate Domain. Rumours were that when the Five Elements Desolate Domain opened up three years ago, someone found a piece of it. Nobody knew where the piece or the person who found it went. I've heard that the person who found it disappeared without a trace," Mo Wuji knew the meaning behind Zhen Shaoke's words. He was trying to imply how dangerous it would be to even possess a Immeasurable Soul-forging Crystal.
Just as Mo Wuji was about to inquire further, the ship's body trembled.
Zhen Shaoke smiled as he stood up, "We have arrived at the periphery of the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill competition venue. Wuji, please bring your people and follow me."
Mo Wuji descended the flying ship and the spacious venue caught his eye. There were many people all around the square and numerous tall buildings by the side. These buildings should only be built recently because it seemed very new.
There were all sorts of sects, commercial buildings and row upon rows of restaurants. Mo Wuji would have thought that he entered a brand new cultivation city if he had no idea this was built from a wilderness.
Nine Moons Pill House were neither regarded very highly not too lowly.
Nine Moons Pill House continued business as usual here and there were still quite a few customers.There was a huge door beside the building which held Nine Moons Pill House.
Mo Wuji brought the rest to follow behind Zhen Shaoke into the huge door. They entered a pretty big courtyard which held over 10 houses.
A middle-aged man hurried over to welcome Zhen Shaoke as he approached, "Lord Shaoke..."
Zhen Shaoke nodded as head and pointed to Mo Wuji and his friends, "Steward Bu, these are my good friends. Please prepare three houses..."
"Shaoke, you should not be doing this in the future anymore. The houses here are already so cramped up yet you casually brought a group of people here and asked for three houses. You should not be messing around even if you are the Young House Master of the Nine Moons Pill House," a cold voice interrupted Zhen Shaoke's words.
Mo Wuji noticed a woman with red phoenix eyes walking over mightily.
Zhen Shaoke gave a slight smile as he bowed and said, "Greetings Second House Master."
The red phoenix eyed woman looked friendlier when she felt Zhen Shaoke's politeness, "Shaoke, you are no longer a kid. You do know the importance of the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition yet you only arrived today. Normally I couldn't be bothered when you make friends with dubious people however, you actually brought these people back to Nine Moons Pill House to occupy the houses? Don't you think this is a little too ridiculous?"
Mo Wuji sighed in his heart and as it did not seem like this master Shaoke would always have the final say in matters here at Nine Moons Pill House. There were still the Old and Second House Master above him. Who knows if there is a third master too? Old master should most likely be Zhen Shaoke's father. Seeing how mighty this Second House Master was acting, Mo Wuji doubted that his stay here would be peaceful.
Zhen Shaoke's expression changed as he added seriousness in his tone, "Second House Master, whoever I befriend with is my own problem. Even my family members should not intervene so please mind your hurtful words."
Second House Master grunted and was about to continue speaking when they heard an impatient voice, "Big brother, why have you only arrived today? How was it? Did you find the person you were looking for?"
A muscular black-faced man carrying a hammer on his back appeared.
Seeing this muscular man, Zhen Shaoke revealed yet another smile and then turning to Mo Wuji and said, "Wuji, this is my younger brother Zhen Shaoru. Shaoru, this is Pill Master Mo and I invited him to represent us in the Five Elements Desolate Domain," Mo Wuji thought to himself : These two brothers are way too different in terms of their looks and mettle.
Second House Master said bluntly, "The people representing Nine Moons Pill House at the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition were already decided long ago and we are not planning to include anymore. Shaoke, now is the crucial period for the competition therefore, I do hope that you can bring your friends to stay at some other hotel so as to not affect our pill refiners' final preparations for the competition."
Before Zhen Shaoke could speak, Zhen Shaoru's eyes widened and gave the Second House Master a glare, "Woman what do you mean by that? Please explain yourself."
Zhen Shaoke hurried to hold Zhen Shaoru back and then said to Second House Master, " Second House Master, in any case, I am still the Young House Master of Nine Moons Pill House. Am I not even qualified to recommend a pill refiner to participate in the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition?"
"Big brother is right. We two brothers are definitely going to stay here and what will a woman like you do to us?" Zhen Shaoru stomped his foot before shouting.
This sentence of his made it sound like as though the Second House Master did not allow the two brothers to stay here.
The Second House Master replied, "I did not say so. It is not entirely impossible if Young House Master really insist on letting the people you brought over to participate in the pill competition. However, the competition to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain itself was already difficult and the placings are already so little..."
Zhen Shaoke had a clear thought process as well as great EQ therefore, he knew what the Second House Master was implying. He knew that the Second House Master wanted to use this incident to remove the two brothers' placings into the Five Elements Desolate Domain. He said coldly, "Since this is the case, we will do as you please. I invited Pill Master Mo to represent Nine Moons Pill House to participate in the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition and whether or not he makes the cut, we brothers will not use the Pill House's placings to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain."
Finishing, Zhen Shaoke did not bother about the Second House Master anymore and turned to Mo Wuji with a smile, "Wuji, whether or not we have a chance to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain is all dependent on you now."
Mo Wuji took a step forward and said, "Thank you Zhen Shao for your trust. If I were to win the placings, who decides who gets to go with myself?"
"You would be naturally be the one deciding," Zhen Shaoru replied.
Mo Wuji wanted to hear this sentence as he needed the Second House Master to hear this. He could feel that there were some tensions between the Second House Master and Young House Master.
"Let's go, we shall go back to rest now. Steward Bu, please prepare a few clean houses immediately," Zhen Shaoke did not bother about the Second House Master as he gave his orders to the steward. He said this sentence with a little bit of aggression such that if the Second House Master still chose to object, he will definitely burst out in anger.
"Yes, Young House Master," Steward Bu saw that the Second House Master did not object and therefore acknowledged immediately, turned and went to prepare the houses.
Steward Bu got things done very swiftly as within a few minutes, Mo Wuji and the rest were allocated their own houses. Mo Wuji would be living alone, Yan'Er and Xiong Xiuzhu staying together while Tao Ao and Fei Bingzhu in another house.
Mo Wuji finally managed to settle down as Zhen Shaoke entered his room again.
"Wuji, there isn't really a refiner like you who still brings around his own refining equipment," Zhen Shaoke noticed the refining equipment placed by the side by Tao Ao the moment he entered the room.
Mo Wuji laughed, ignored his comments about the refining equipment and then asked, "Zhen Shao, why is the Second House Master so against you?"
Zhen Shaoke wiped the smile off his face and said grudgingly, "Nine Moons Pill House has three House Masters. My father is the Old Master. 10 years ago, my father advanced into the first stage of the Heaven Realm and then never appeared again. During the early years, Second House Master was still fine until recently when she found out that my father probably failed to advance successfully, her attitude changed. If not for the group of elders who constantly support us brothers, we would not have been able to gain a foothold here at Nine Moons Pill House. In recent years, Second House Master found out that I've been able to further develop my strength hence, choosing to continue picking on me again.
This proved that I am not close with any of the pill refiners who will be representing Nine Moons Pill House in the competition. In fact, they are all Tier 3 pill refiners. Even without this incident, I doubt we will have the chance to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain after the competition ended."
"What about Third House Master?" Mo Wuji asked inquisitively as he realised how Zhen Shaoke desperate he was to find Mo Wuji for help.
Zhen Shaoke shook his head, "Third House Master is only focused on concocting pills and could not be bothered about anything else. This trip to the Five Elements Desolate Domain, if I can find a precious spiritual herb, there is a high chance I can let my brother enter the Heaven Seeking Palace. Once he entered the Heaven Seeking Palace, we would have one brother on the inside and one brother on the outside and it would be very difficult for Second House Master to pick on me again."
Indeed, every family had their own problems. Mo Wuji did not talk about this topic anymore as he asked, "Zhen Shao, do you know which station was this Heaven Seeking Palace located at?"
The moment this sentence came out, Zhen Shaoke knew what Mo Wuji was intending to do as he hurried to say, "Wuji, you must not keep harbouring the thoughts of meeting Granny Linglong. The Heaven Seeking Palace is not a place anybody could enter. If you were to anger the Heaven Seeking Palace, even if you have 100 lives, it will not be enough to compensate."
"No, I have to at least try to make it there. If I don't try, I will always have regrets," Mo Wuji said with a lot of determination, "But not now. After the pill competition because if I were to win the placings, I will definitely be emboldened."
Mo Wuji knew clearly that courage alone would not lead to success. If he were to win the placings in the Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition, it would at least mean he would have been qualified enough to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain. Only if he possessed the qualification to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain then would he be eligible to find Granny Linglong.
After hearing that Mo Wuji would only go after the competition itself, Zhen Shaoke heaved a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to reply Mo Wuji, Zhen Shaoru barged in and said, "Wuji, let me bring you to a fun place. I am sure you will like it."
"Where?" Mo Wuji looked curiously at Zhen Shaoru as he thought that this fella was a born socializer as he only just met him and had not even had a conversation with him. Regardless, he treated Mo Wuji like an old friend, bringing him around to fun places.