Chapter 45: Enemy At the Gate

Once Chen Fan had finished creating the Dharma Artifact required for the Spirit Gathering Array. He moved into the Villa on the mountain.

Although Chen Fan had already visited here once, he only walked around the perimeter of the building. Once he got inside, he was stunned by the lavish decorations. Many pieces of furniture inside the building were imported from overseas. The refrigerator alone would cost well over tens of thousands of yuan. Chen Fan cleaned the place up a bit and started to focus on his task at hand.

He set the five Spirit Gathering Plates in the five chosen corners of the house.

And then, he walked to the center of the hall and initiated the Dharma Art to link his energy with the five plates.

Suddenly, he stomped the floor and shouted, "Start!"

Five rays of emerald light lanced up from five corners, each measuring half dozen meters long. Once the five rays converge above the roof, they started to spread out until they formed a green umbrella covering the entire building.

Chen Fan closed his eyes as he felt the power of the Spirit Gathering Array.

Although Chen Fan didn't turn on the air conditioner, the temperature inside the villa dropped drastically. As the Spirit Qi was attracted to the house by the Spirit Gathering Array, it formed white mist around and inside the house. Chen Fen could feel the Spirit Qi gather around him and was contained safely inside the green umbrella.

"That's what I am talking about. It's at least three times more efficient than the Spirit Gathering Array in my Jade Marrow talisman due to its scale."

Chen Fan opened his eyes and was very pleased with the results.

The outcome had exceeded his expectations as it couldn't have been better. It occurred to him that the cause of the success was not only the size of the Dharma Array but also the fact that the density of the Spirit Qi this far in the mountain was much greater than that at the foothill.

"Once I finish the Misty Mountain Array and connect the Spirit Qi of the mountain with that of the lake, this place is really going to turn in to a Spirit Land!"

The thought filled Chen Fan's heart with anticipation.

However, not just any place with abundant Spirit Qi could be called a Spirit Land. What made a Spirit Land was the so-called "Spirit Qi Mist."

Such a mist would only form when the air was saturated with Spirit Qi. No longer able to dissolve into the air, these Spirit Qi would seep out from the air and form mist. On occasions where the concentration of mist was high enough, it would come even from Spirit Dew. Once collected and used by the cultivator, these Spirit Dew could help prolong the user's life. Its effect was even better than that of using Spirit Stones since it practically had no side effects.

The highest form of the Spirit Qi was called the "Crystallized Spirit Qi" or "Spirit Stones." Nearly all natural Spirit Lands that were capable of producing the Spirit Stones were occupied by one of the major Cultivation Sects.

And that was only the case for normal grade Spirit Lands. In the sacred ground such as the Spirit Land of the True Martial Immortal Sect, the cultivator could directly absorb Spirit Qi from the realm of the immortals. Therefore, the effect and level of the Spirit Qi in those areas was much more powerful than that of a normal Spirit Land.

Chen Fan was quite content with Spirit Qi Mist considering the lack of Spirit Qi on Earth. He didn't expect to ever see liquified or crystallized Spirit Qi.

He sat down cross-legged inside the villa and tested the Dharma Array; satisfied, he stood up and stopped the Dharma Array.

Since the Spirit Gathering Plate was not made out of Jade Marrow, it would eventually break after a period of use just like that Eight-Trigrams-Plate did.

Chen Fan walked out of the villa and started down the path that led to the foothills.

It was early in the evening, and many wealthy families were having their after-supper-walk on the mountain path. Seeing a young boy descending from the mountain top, confusion was written all over their faces. They knew there was only one villa at the mountain top, could that be this kid's home?

When Chen Fan was halfway to the end of the path, he heard someone calling his name. "Chen Fan?"

Chen Fan turned to the side and saw Jiang Churan and her family of three were staring at him with astonishment.

"Why are you here?"

Jiang Churan asked as he looked over Chen Fan's shoulder to where the boy was coming from.

She knew that the path led only to the mountaintop where the mysterious villa was located. She was halfway to the mountain top, and right at the threshold of that Villa owner's private property. This was where most people's daily evening walk ended as well, since from here forward would be the private property of the villa's owner.

"Auntie Tang, Uncle Jiang, and Ra-Ran, nice to see you all." Chen Fan greeted them with a warm smile.

Auntie Tang must have sensed something between him and Jiang Churan, and therefore she had stopped inviting him over for supper. Nonetheless, she had never stopped talking to him over the phone, asking how he was doing nearly every other day. Chen Fan was very appreciative of her care and attention.

After a while, Chen Fan answered, "I live up there."

"You live in Villa Number One?" Jiang Churan was taken aback, and she asked incredulously.

"Yes." Chen Fan nodded.

Jiang Haishan burst out laughing.

"The villa number one was the first villa built in this development, and it was a gift from the richest man in Chu Zhou City: Sheng Ronghua, to the founder of the Fang Sheng International Group: Mr. Wei."

He gave Chen Fan a look of disdain as he spoke.

"So are you telling me that you are Mr. Wei's family?"

"He gave this villa to me." Chen Fan said lightly. Without wasting any more time on Jiang Haishan, he looked toward Auntie Tang and said.

"Auntie Tang, thank you for looking after me ever since I arrived here. Can I invite you to visit my new home?"

Auntie Tang hesitated as her eyes met Chen Fan's candid gaze.

Reason told her that Chen Fan had to be lying. Why would The Third Lord of Wei give a high school kid a mansion that was worth over tens of millions?

However, the sincere look on Chen Fan's face tugged at her heart. She didn't want to hurt the boy's self-esteem, especially when her daughter was present.

So thinking, she forced a smile and then said, "I am still very full from my supper, maybe next time?

"Why don't you have an evening stroll with Ran-Ran. You two youngsters must have a lot of talk about. Your Uncle Jiang and I will excuse ourselves."

After she said that, she started down the path, dragging Jiang Haishan behind.

Jiang Haishan managed to blurt out a few more words before he was dragged away, "The kids nowadays are all pretty little liars!

"Don't you think that you can have my daughter using just lies!"

"Shut your trap; let's go!" Auntie Tang flung back at her husband.

It wasn't until her parents had disappeared, Jiang Churan turned toward Chen Fan and asked.

"Why are you here?"

"Did you come here for me?"

Chen Fan paused a second and then said with a smile, "I really do live in Villa Number One.

"I can prove it to you; just come with me."

Jiang Churan's pulled a taut face as soon as she heard Chen Fan's words.

"Chen Fan, we are alone now, why are you still lying to me?

"I know you are a friend of Wei Ziqin, but so what?

"I hope you realize that a real princess like Wei Ziqin would never have a true friendship with ordinary people like you and me. Your friendship with her was built on her pity for you."

Even as she spoke, her eyes seemed to have lost focus.

She was stunned by the turn of events at the Hidden Dragon Villa. However, when she got home and gave the incident more thought, she realized that she had overestimated Chen Fan. However, powerful Wei Ziqin was, Chen Fan was just her friend, a poor friend while at it.

Most rich people would have one or two poor friends at some point in their lives.

However, those friendships were often short-lived. Sooner or later, the rich and powerful would get tired of helping the poor.

After the auction, Jiang Churan had gone to the Coco bar again to see if anything had changed with Chen Fan. She was disappointed. Chen Fan was still doing the hard work a labor would.

Impatience flash across Chen Fan's face, and then he said, "I have told you the truth. I own this mansion now. It has nothing to do with Wei Ziqin."

Slightly frustrated, Chen Fan turned around and started down the path, leaving the girl all by herself.

She could not believe that Chen Fan had left her hanging for the second time. Anger rose inside of her, and she shouted at the arrogant boy:

"Chen Fan, you can't rely on Wei Ziqin forever!"

Although Jiang Churan looked disappointed, many other feelings clashed together in her heart.

She didn't believe Chen Fan's claim, but deep down, she wished that he had told her the truth.

And then, she was mad at herself for being riled up by Chen Fan, and she asked herself why did she care about him so much?

Meanwhile, unknown to Chen Fan, there was a ship cruising toward Tian He City a few thousand miles away from China.

"Lord Hu, we are only ten miles away from the coast; we need to anchor down right now before we hit the rocks."

"I will lower a boat and ferry you across to the cost."

The captain spoke to a middle-aged man fearfully.

The middle-aged man stood upright with his hands linked behind him. Despite the swelling waves that rocked the ship, he stood still steadily without a word.

Everyone in the captain was staring at him like he was a freak.

He had been standing like this for 24 hours and didn't move a muscle.

"No need for the boat."

The middle-aged man finally broke the silence.

His eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the gloomy sea and see the coastline ten miles away.

"Lower the anchor; I will go there myself."

Everyone was shocked by what they heard.

They were still a dozen miles away from the coastline; how could he reach the shore by himself? Without the knowledge of the sea, hidden rocks would surely destroy his boat.

Even as the captain was going to speak up, he watched as the middle-aged man hopped over the rail and jumped into the rolling sea.

"Lord Hu!"

Everyone's hearts were caught in their throats. They leaned over the rail and looked down, and what they saw would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

They saw the middle-aged man run on the broken surface of the sea as if it was solid ground. He darted toward the coast with incredible speed, trailing behind a line of gleaming back-waves.

The captain collapsed to the deck; trembling uncontrollably, but he still managed to say a few words: "Is he... the Dragon Lord of the sea?"