212: Chapter 212 Feeding on Calamity Qi, or Using Calamity Qi as Power?

The five treasures, any one of which would cause those old monsters Undergoing Tribulation to fight tooth and nail for it if placed in the outside world, and would be enough for a top-tier Sect to exhaust its entire foundation to trade for.

After Venerable Hantian laid out these items he had kept at the bottom of his box one by one, he said no more, simply picking up his teacup and watching Jiang Changge quietly, waiting for his choice.

Jiang Changge's gaze swept over the five treasures one by one, his expression remaining as calm as water.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table, silently comparing these items with the stock in his System warehouse.

The azure longsword was inferior to the xuanchen whisk, the crimson gold Medicinal Pill could not compare to the Immortal Pill produced by the System, and the beast-taming token and offensive secret techniques were not urgently needed by Kunlun. As for that star map Pill Furnace, the grade of Zhou Tianchen's qiankun furnace seemed to be even higher.

He withdrew his gaze and leaned back against the chair, a faint, indiscernible smile hanging at the corners of his mouth: "Fellow Daoist Hantian, these treasures are indeed extraordinary. However, I can forgo the treasures, but I need to exchange them for something else."

Venerable Hantian's hand holding the teacup paused slightly. He raised his eyes to look at Jiang Changge, his gaze becoming a bit more cautious: "Please speak, Fellow Daoist."

"My Kunlun considers itself to have a deep foundation, with dozens of Heaven Rank Cultivation Techniques, piles of Top-Grade Spirit Stone, and no shortage of Heaven And Earth Treasure."

Jiang Changge's tone was flat, as if he were merely stating a very ordinary fact.

"However, I know very little about the many pieces of news and secrets of the Xuanhuang World. Fellow Daoist has lived for hundreds of thousands of years and must be well-versed in the many hidden secrets of this world. I do not need you to trade treasures for this piece of Immortal Dao Origin; what I want to trade for is everything you know."

Venerable Hantian's hand holding the teacup hung in mid-air, his expression shifting constantly.

His eyes were fixed tightly on Jiang Changge, as if he wanted to discern something from that face that looked excessively young.

His curiosity about this young man in white was indeed growing heavier. He could casually produce a life-substitution talisman, his cultivation was something even he couldn't see through, and he sat atop a massive force like Kunlun that had appeared out of thin air, yet he knew very little about the basic landscape and secrets of the Xuanhuang World. This was too contradictory.

A leader of a force with such a foundation should logically be well-informed about all the forces, Secret Realm, and hidden almighty experts of the Xuanhuang World.

Yet the other party frankly admitted to "not knowing much," and that tone didn't sound like modesty; it sounded more like he was genuinely asking for his guidance.

But he also knew that there were some things he should not ask about.

The Xuanhuang World was too vast, and too many secrets had been buried from ancient times to the present. Perhaps Kunlun was a force that had revived from some primordial ruin he had never set foot in, or perhaps the Origins of this Lord of Kunlun were even more ancient than he imagined.

Right now, he was asking for a favor, and that piece of Immortal Dao Origin was too important to him; it concerned whether he could continue to remain free and unfettered in this world. He did not have the qualifications to continue digging for the truth.

"Forget it."

Venerable Hantian set down his teacup and shook his head with a laugh, the laughter carrying a hint of self-mockery and a hint of relief.

"I have lived for an era and considered myself knowledgeable, but today I was stumped by a single sentence from you, Fellow Daoist. It is not that I cannot answer, but that I do not know where to begin."

He took that gray-black Immortal Dao Origin back into his sleeve, picked up his teacup and took another sip, cleared his throat, and then slowly began to speak, his tone more solemn than before:

"As far as I know, besides myself, there are three other Red Dust Immortal who are still active in this era in the Xuanhuang World."

"The first is known by the Daoist name Jiuyuan. He was the earliest among us old guys to achieve Immortal Ascension, having stepped into the Red Dust Immortal realm as early as the primordial era. This person has a solitary personality, dislikes interacting with others, and has lived in seclusion for years in an ancient immortal mansion deep within the extremely cold regions of the North."

"He cultivates extremely Yin and extremely cold Cultivation Technique. It is said that the sea area for ten thousand miles around that immortal mansion has been frozen by his cold Qi into an eternal, unmelting glacier. I have not been in contact with him for over thirty thousand years, so I do not know if he is still in that immortal mansion, nor do I know if he is still alive. After all, for those of us Red Dust Immortal who remain in the Lower Realm, our immortal power only depletes and never replenishes, and our Lifespan is not infinite after all."

"The second is known by the Daoist name Yunzhongjun." Venerable Hantian's tone lightened slightly, as if his impression of this Yunzhongjun was decent.

"This person achieved Immortal Ascension in the Middle Stage of the ancient era, has a gentle personality, and likes to travel around."

"The last time I heard news of him was several thousand years ago. It is said that he was living in seclusion on an unnamed island in the East Sea, spending his days fishing and growing flowers, occasionally transforming into a Mortal to walk through the fishing villages along the East Sea coast. He lived even more freely than I do. However, this person's whereabouts are uncertain, and I cannot determine his current specific location."

"The third is known by the Daoist name Xuanyan. This person achieved Immortal Ascension tens of thousands of years later than I did, having the least seniority, but his cultivation and combat strength are extremely fierce. He has a record of fighting two people of the same rank alone without being defeated."

"He cultivates the art of deduction and divination and has extremely high attainments. It is said that he can deduce the trend of the Heavenly Dao for the next ten thousand years. This person has lived in seclusion for years on the peak of a mountain in the Western Regions called Tianxuan Peak, rarely interacting with Red Dust Immortal from the outside world, nor does he participate in the disputes of the Xuanhuang World. But the things he deduces, even that old antique Jiuyuan, dares not underestimate."

Jiang Changge listened quietly to the end, tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table, and went over these three names in his mind.

Jiuyuan is in the extreme North, Yunzhongjun wanders aimlessly, and Xuanyan is skilled in deduction. Added to this Hantian who is hidden in the city market, these are the four Red Dust Immortal currently known in the Xuanhuang World.

As for those "showing no signs of activity" mentioned by Venerable Hantian, it is unknown if they have passed away or are hiding.

He picked up his teacup and took a sip, not continuing to ask more about the Red Dust Immortal.

He had a rough idea of the distribution of top combat power in the Xuanhuang World in his mind; as for the more detailed things left, he might as well leave them to be slowly understood in the future.

He leaned forward slightly, placed his teacup back on the stone table, and his gaze fell upon Venerable Hantian. His tone was still casual, but the question he asked made Venerable Hantian's hand holding the teacup pause slightly:

"Fellow Daoist Hantian, you have lived for an era in the Xuanhuang World. Have you ever heard of any force in this world that feeds on Tribulation Qi, or uses Tribulation Qi as power?"

Venerable Hantian slowly set down his teacup, the bottom of the cup making a very light crisp sound as it touched the stone table.

His brows knitted slightly, and he did not answer immediately, but remained silent for several breaths, seemingly searching for clues in his memory of hundreds of thousands of years.

"Tribulation Qi." He repeated the term in a low voice, his tone carrying an indescribable solemnity. "Why do you suddenly ask about this, Fellow Daoist?"

"I encountered an ancient demonic Cultivator named Venerable Lingyun in the Southern Wilderness. This person was Sealed in the Early Stage of the ancient era and broke out of the Seal a few years ago. To restore his cultivation, he wantonly slaughtered Cultivators in the Southern Wilderness and has now been suppressed by Kunlun."

Jiang Changge's tone was flat, and then he changed the subject.

"But behind him, there seems to be someone else. Someone provided him with help before and after he broke the Seal. I suspect that the power of that person behind the scenes is related to Tribulation Qi."

The reason Jiang Changge asked about Tribulation Qi was because he suspected that the recent so-called natural disasters in the Southern Wilderness were man-made.