SPMT : Chapter 175

“Senior Chen, your grandson has heaven’s protection and will be fine,” Dong Chengyang, the ancestor of Qingyun Immortal Sect, said somewhat helplessly.

After Chen Xu disappeared, Chen Lifeng first fought with people from Yingui Sect, then fought with people from Tianshen Sect, and then came to Qingyun Immortal Sect.

“That bastard Xiao Jingting – if he wanted to leave, he should have left by himself. Why did he have to take Xiaoxu with him?” Chen Lifeng said with a face full of dissatisfaction.

Dong Chengyang smiled bitterly and said, “Given the circumstances at the time, Xiao Jingting taking your grandson was for his own good.”

Chen Lifeng snorted coldly and said, “Sounds nice.” Ever since Chen Xu had contact with Xiao Jingting’s family, he as grandfather had to step aside in Chen Xu’s heart. That Xiao Xiaodong had somehow bewitched his grandson, making him obey every word.

Chen Lifeng narrowed his eyes. Xiao Jingting had taken Soul Refining Water from the secret realm, and his grandson should know something about it. Even if he didn’t know, he should have guessed something. Yet when his grandson returned, he never mentioned it at all.

“How much do you really know about Xiao Jingting?” Chen Lifeng said.

“I’m ashamed to say I really don’t know much more than you do,” Dong Chengyang said somewhat awkwardly.

After hearing that Xiao Jingting killed Old Monster Chihuo, Dong Chengyang was truly shocked. When Dong Chengyang inquired among the sect’s Golden Core cultivators, surprisingly few people were familiar with this person.

After investigating, Dong Chengyang learned this person was Xiao Xiaofan’s father. A few years after Xiao Xiaofan entered the sect, Xiao Jingting brought his whole family to find them and did odd jobs in the sect’s spirit medicine garden. Among the sect’s higher-ups, except for Qiu Yun, others had little contact with him. Only to enter the secret realm did Xiao Jingting become a sect member.

“How many spiritual roots does Xiao Jingting have?” Chen Lifeng asked.

“Three spiritual roots,” Dong Chengyang said without hesitation.

After Xiao Jingting entered the sect, they had tested his aptitude. Dong Chengyang originally didn’t know, but after Xiao Jingting became “famous,” Dong Chengyang specifically checked and found out.

In fact, Chen Lifeng wasn’t the only one recently inquiring about Xiao Jingting’s situation.

“Three spiritual roots.” Chen Lifeng remembered Chen Xu mentioning that Xiao Xiaodong’s parents had given birth to Xiao Xiaodong early. Calculating, Xiao Jingting was at most thirty. Reaching Golden Core at thirty – this progress was acceptable for single spiritual root genius cultivators, but somewhat strange for someone with three spiritual roots.

Xiaoxu’s Xiling pill was given by Xiao Xiaodong. Chen Lifeng didn’t believe Xiao Xiaodong would sacrifice himself for others. More likely, the other party had found quite a few Xiling pills and happened to have extras, so gave one to his grandson.

Chen Lifeng sighed lightly and said, “Forget it. Children and grandchildren have their own fortune.” Chen Lifeng felt that after experiencing the mine incident, his grandson had become very different and quite opinionated.

“With the righteous and demonic paths fighting in Yunzhou, it’s good for your grandson to train elsewhere,” Dong Chengyang said.

Chen Lifeng sighed worriedly and said, “These people are all just Foundation Establishment. Going to other places, who knows if they can establish themselves.”

“With eagles protecting them, young eagles can never grow up. Senior Chen should let go. Perhaps your grandson will return someday and give you a surprise!” Dong Chengyang consoled.

Chen Lifeng snorted coldly and said, “Finally came out of the secret realm, and now he’s run off again. That teleportation array leads to who knows where.” If Xiao Jingting was smart, he shouldn’t return in the short term. If Xiao Jingting didn’t return, his grandson couldn’t return either.

……

Wushuang Sect.

“Did you hear? Chen Xu followed Xiao Jingting’s family and left Yunzhou via teleportation array. No one knows where they went.”

“I heard Xiao Jingting was the one who killed many Yingui Sect people in the secret realm and stole Tianshen Sect’s supreme treasure.”

“After Xiao Jingting came out of the secret realm, he advanced to Golden Core and killed the famous Chihuo Laozu. Qingyun Immortal Sect has such a fierce character, but we never heard of him before.”

“Someone who could father a genius like Xiao Xiaofan – it’s not strange for the father to be extraordinary.”

Qiao Xiang listened to several senior brothers’ conversation, feeling stifled.

Qiao Xiang had encountered Chen Xu several times in the secret realm. Qiao Xiang never took Xiao Jingting and the others around Chen Xu seriously, only considering them lackeys following behind Chen Xu. Now hearing about Xiao Jingting’s “great achievements,” Qiao Xiang suddenly felt like his world was collapsing.

Luo Yuting lowered her head, thinking: No wonder Chen Xu could always escape unharmed in the secret realm. He was benefiting from Xiao Jingting’s protection. Chen Xu must have known early on that Xiao Jingting was powerful, so he unhesitatingly abandoned the people his grandfather found for him.

“Senior Brother Qiao, have you seen Xiao Jingting? Is this person particularly powerful?” a cultivator asked.

Qiao Xiang rolled his eyes and said, “I didn’t see him being powerful, only saw him being cowardly.” No matter how Qiao Xiang recalled, he felt Xiao Jingting was just a submissive lackey. Qiao Xiang very much doubted whether Tianshen Sect and Yingui Sect had made a mistake. How could someone like Xiao Jingting have any appearance of an expert?

“Looks like this guy Xiao Jingting hid very deeply!”

“Xiao Jingting probably won’t return in the short term,” Qiao Xiang said.

Luo Yuting nodded and said, “Right! People from Yingui Sect and Tianshen Sect are all looking for him. If he dares appear, he’ll definitely be skinned alive.”

……

On this side of the teleportation array.

Lei Xuan looked at Xiao Jingting, wanting to speak several times but stopping.

Xiao Jingting looked at Lei Xuan and curled his lips, saying, “Say whatever you want to say.”

Lei Xuan rubbed his hands and said, “Uncle Xiao, that red-haired monster said you obtained Soul Refining Water. Did you really get Soul Refining Water?”

Xiao Jingting took out several jars of Soul Refining Water and said to everyone, “Take these and divide them among yourselves.”

Chen Xu had long guessed something after being in contact with Xiao Jingting’s group for so long, but seeing Xiao Jingting actually produce Soul Refining Water, he was still very surprised.

Lei Xuan’s eyes widened, his mouth agape. “Uncle Xiao, you’re too amazing! I didn’t expect the biggest winner of this secret realm trial was actually you! Uncle Xiao, you really know how to make a fortune quietly.”

Xiao Jingting rolled his eyes and said somewhat dejectedly, “Don’t talk nonsense. Your Uncle Xiao is poor. Getting rich is still far off.”

Lei Xuan looked at Xiao Jingting consolingly and said, “Uncle Xiao, don’t be discouraged. You have great fortune and will get rich sooner or later.”

Xiao Jingting handed a pill to Lei Xuan and said, “This is a Xiling pill. Do you want it?”

Lei Xuan’s eyes widened. “Yes! Yes!” Wind-thunder spiritual roots were good, but how could they compare to single-attribute thunder spiritual roots!

“Uncle Xiao, how many Xiling pills did you actually get?” Chen Xu looked at Xiao Jingting and asked.

Xiao Jingting sighed and said, “Not many, just eight pills.”

Chen Xu: “……” Eight pills, and that’s not many.

“So Uncle Xiao, are you single spiritual root now?” Chen Xu asked.

Xiao Jingting nodded and said, “Yes! I’m now single spiritual root wood attribute.”

Xu Mu’an was single spiritual root fire attribute, Xiao Xiaodong was single spiritual root wood attribute, Xiao Xiaofan was already single spiritual root so didn’t need it, and Xiao Xiaojin was also three spiritual roots, becoming single spiritual root water attribute after cleansing.

Lei Xuan swallowed and looked at Chen Xu, saying, “Young Master Chen, are you also single spiritual root now?”

Chen Xu nodded. After taking the pill, he became single spiritual root metal attribute.

Lei Xuan scratched his head. Since Xiao Jingting got so many pills, Xu Mu’an and Xiao Xiaodong definitely had their share, and Xiao Xiaojin wouldn’t be left out either. So now he was probably the only one here who wasn’t single spiritual root. Lei Xuan swallowed, feeling a sense of crisis. He couldn’t let this group leave him far behind!

Chen Xu looked at Xiao Jingting and couldn’t help his curiosity, saying, “Uncle Xiao, when we were on the Fanxing(starry) flower island and encountered the Golden Bee riot, did you do something?”

Xiao Jingting felt that since he was already exposed, he didn’t care about these details anymore. “Stole a bit of their honey, and as a result, those bees rioted.”

“So the Bee Queen’s royal jelly was also you…”

Xiao Jingting nodded and said, “Yes!”

Lei Xuan stared in amazement and said, “Uncle Xiao, that was also you!”

After Qu Tao returned, he had told many people about his experiences in the secret realm, mentioning the honey thief at the time. But Lei Xuan had only listened to it as a story, never imagining the story’s protagonist was right beside him.

Xiao Jingting glanced at Lei Xuan and the others, saying, “When there’s time, I’ll make honey cake for you to eat.”

Lei Xuan swallowed. Making cake with Golden Bee honey was too extravagant! But it sounded so tempting!

“Golden Bee honey can help with breakthroughs, but since you’re all single spiritual root now, you don’t need to rely too much on external help,” Xiao Jingting said.

Xiao Xiaojin tugged at Xiao Jingting’s pants leg and said, “Father, do you have Golden Bee honey? Give me some! I can use it when roasting meat.”

Xiao Jingting looked at the expectant Xiao Xiaojin and nodded, saying, “Alright.”

Chen Xu looked at Xiao Jingting strangely, thinking: Even grandfather isn’t this extravagant. This way, following Uncle Xiao isn’t bad at all.

“Where exactly are we?” Xiao Jingting muttered.

Chen Xu shook his head and said, “Don’t know. We’re probably not in Yunzhou anymore.”

Xiao Xiaodong had learned from materials that Fufeng Island’s teleportation array had been abandoned for a long time. The records didn’t specify where it led, but it should be very far from Yunzhou.

Xiao Jingting nodded with satisfaction in his heart. Good that they weren’t. He had exposed too much before, so it was better to keep a low profile recently.

Xiao Jingting concealed the destroyed teleportation array, thinking that if there was an opportunity in the future, he would repair it.

After Xiao Jingting’s group surveyed the area, they discovered the teleportation array was located on a deserted island. Occasionally they would encounter fishermen who came to the island to fish. From these fishermen, Xiao Jingting learned that this place was composed of over a thousand islands called Star Cloud Islands, controlled by a force called the Merchant Alliance.

The Merchant Alliance was a super force composed of twelve families. This force currently had three Nascent Soul cultivators.

The twelve major families composing the Merchant Alliance varied in size and weren’t unchanging. Every hundred years, the Merchant Alliance would conduct evaluations. Families with insufficient power would be excluded from the Merchant Alliance and replaced by newly risen families.

Among the twelve major families, the Xie, Cao, and Miao families were the most solid, each having one Nascent Soul cultivator.

Xiao Jingting asked Chen Xu and Lei Xuan, and both said they had never heard of such a force in Yunzhou, proving they were indeed no longer in Yunzhou.

R Notes:  “Calculating, Xiao Jingting was at most thirty”

Okay, so if XJT is around 29–30, that means about 13 years have passed since the beginning.

Here the spiritual roots of the main characters now they’re all single root : 

• Xiao Jingting → wood
• Xu Mu’an → fire
• Xiao Xiaodong → wood
• Xiao Xiaofan →  fire
• Xiao Xiaojin → originally triple roots → water
• Chen Xu → metal
• Lei Xuan → thunder ?