Chapter 1747: Return to Black Tortoise
"Childe Zhufeng!" Su Xiaoman's excited voice came from the other end. "I've found a lead for the Black Water Stone on your list!"
"Really? That's fast!" Chen Xiaobei was delighted.
"You call this quick?" Su Xiaoman said. "It's been nine days since we parted. If I couldn't even find a single lead, then I would have been wasting my time in Black Tortoise."
"Right... It's been nine days huh!" Chen Xiaobei thought back. Because the Divine Dragon Ruin was located in such a remote area, there was no portal on the little asteroid.
It took them a full seven days to arrive at their destination with the spacecraft, and including the two days before and after, that made a total of nine days.
"Tell me about what you found." Chen Xiaobei said.
"In ten days, there will be a black-market auction in Black Tortoise! There will be a Black Water Stone at the auction! I've confirmed the news, but you have to prepare quite a large sum of Spiritual Stones. Earth-God items certainly don't come cheap!"
"That's not going to be a problem at all! I will get there in ten days!" Chen Xiaobei exclaimed excitedly.
The Prime of Tongtian had predicted that Chen Xiaobei's friends would help him find the things on the list. He sure was right about that.
Getting the Black Water Stone would leave him with one more material from the list to upgrade his Netherspirit Battlescouter.
Once the upgrade was complete, Chen Xiaobei could choose a Heavenly Path Reward, and then use his Ambergris to increase his combat power
Chen Xiaobei was thrilled at that thought.
After he hung up, Chen Xiaobei took out his interstellar spacecraft.
The last time, with Ling Qingfeng navigating the spacecraft, Chen Xiaobei had time to cultivate for seven days and seven nights.
This time, although Ling Qingfeng was not around, Chen Xiaobei had just the solution for this problem.
Out came the long-unused No.8 Luban.
This Spiritual Instrument was the latest model of a robot made by Master Luban himself. It could transfer everything it was seeing to its master's head.
Chen Xiaobei set the flight course before seating No. 8 Luban at the pilot's seat.
Hence, without untoward incidents, he should be able to make it back to the planet with the portal in seven days before continuing to Black Tortoise.
If anything did happen during the journey, Chen Xiaobei would be informed through No. 8 Luban and could immediately stop cultivating to solve the problem.
With everything prepped and ready, the spacecraft took off.
Chen Xiaobei retreated to the lounge. Not wasting every minute and every second, he began to cultivate at once.
His consented three-months period with Lady Nuwo was getting shorter and shorter. Even before using the Ambergris, Chen Xiaobei would still need a rather long period of time to cultivate before he could reach the peak of Ethereal Cultivation. He would need every second.
...
The rest of the seven days went smoothly without incident.
The spacecraft landed on the planet on autopilot.
Chen Xiaobei had cultivated for a good seven days and seven nights.
There were twenty-four hours a day. This meant that Chen Xiaobei had been cultivating for a total of 168 hours.
Chen Xiaobei exhaled a puff of white breath. He opened his eyes and checked his cultivation.
Ding!
[Cultivation: Middle-phase of Ethereal Cultivation; Lifespan: 2,570 years; Health: 240,600; Combat power: 220,600]
"Just like last time, an increase of 168 cultivation for 168 hours! I'm 109,400 away from 330,000 combat power, the peak of Ethereal Cultivation! Another step closer!" Chen Xiaobei stretched his body. "I have 52 days left until the deadline! I must be able to complete all the tasks in time so that I can find out where Little Fox is! I'll get the Black Water Stone after three days, then I'll make my way back to Saint Duke Starfield for the third and last round of the betrothal competition! If it's a competition of wealth, I can probably pass. Hehe!"
Chen Xiaobei was immediately energized at the thought.
He quickly alighted the spacecraft.
After seven days of traveling, Chen Xiaobei arrived at one of the Divine Dragon Starfield's many planets.
He just needed to go through the portal on this planet to get to Black Tortoise's capital city.
"Childe Zhufeng!" Su Xiaoman had been waiting for him at the portal in the capital city. Upon seeing him approach, the lass sprinted towards him.
"Didn't I say that you don't have to come and usher me?" Chen Xiaobei greeted her with a warm smile.
"You are my savior and idol! Why shouldn't I come?" Su Xiaoman twinkled; her gorgeous face a sight for sore eyes.
"Since when did I earn another fan?" Chen Xiaobei grinned.
"Since the moment you subdued the Giant Barbaric Tiger!" Su Xiaoman said admiringly. "I'm not the only one, by the way! Everyone in our Divine Tiger Faction sees you as their idol! If you come back with me, you'll know just how they feel about you!"
"I better not..." Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "I've come three days early so that I can prepare for the auction. I have to get the Black Water Stone by whatever means possible!"
"I know you're in a rush! Otherwise, I would've brought the others with me!" Su Xiaoman beamed. "I've already planned the three days for you. We'll have to get to Mount Yellow Wind to earn ourselves some Spiritual Stones!"
"We don't need to. I already have enough Spiritual Stones!" Chen Xiaobei informed her.
"Don't be so cocksure! The black-market auction is a melting pot with lots of back-alley magnates there. In the market, a Three-star Earth-God item is about 100 million Spiritual Stones. If the price is marked up, and you don't have enough Spiritual Stones, you will regret it!"
Chen Xiaobei shrugged in response.
Even if his current wealth could not be rivaled to the filthy rich of Black Tortoise, he was at least in the upper-middle level. Unless he met a brainless neurotic who going to force the price up exorbitantly, it should be no problem at all for Chen Xiaobei to get the Black Water Stone.
"I'll take your silence as agreement!" Su Xiaoman urged. "Let's hurry. It will take us one day to get to Mount Yellow Wind! I've already found a way for you to earn more Spiritual Stones. The sooner we get there, the better it'll be for you!"
"Alright! Let's go!" Chen Xiaobei nodded. Even if he was not short on Spiritual Stones, he had no reason to turn down an opportunity to earn even more. No one would ever complain about having too much money!
...
As Su Xiaoman had said, it was a one-day journey.
It was not because they were slow, but because Black Tortoise was simply too big.
The area of Black Tortoise's capital city alone was the size of a large planet. The entire Black Tortoise continent itself was 30,000 times the size of planet Neptune!
Su Xiaoman took the task of flying the spacecraft, while Chen Xiaobei cultivated for another day.
Finally, on the afternoon of the second day, Chen Xiabei and Su Xiaoman arrived at the legendary Mount Yellow Wind black market.