Chapter 583: Chapter 243: Three Letters and a False Alarm

Even if word eventually got out, he wasn’t afraid. It would just mean having one more Nascent Soul True Monarch as an enemy.

It was like the old saying: too many lice and you stop itching, too many debts and you stop worrying.

To be honest, Xiao Chen had already offended more than one or two Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Adding another to the list was no big deal.

The second letter was a reply from Lianhua Temple.

The letter stated that a portion of the Ruihe Illusion Light Array Flags, commissioned by the Wang Family, had been completed.

It also mentioned that one of their Golden Body Arhats had recently been researching Illusionary Light Arrays and needed to craft various Array Flags to test his insights.

If the Wang Family wished to commission the other half of the Array Flags, they could do so at a 30% discount off the original price, which was practically a half-price offer.

The offer was valid for three years, and they expressed great interest in working together again.

Xiao Chen had heard of Lianhua Temple before; it was renowned for crafting custom Array Flags and Array Plates.

Among Buddhist Cultivators, Tier Three cultivators, equivalent to Golden Core True Men, were known as Golden Body Arhats.

Speaking of which, he had once obtained the Jade Bone of a Golden Body Arhat. It was from this bone that he acquired a trace of the Metal Attribute and began his journey on the path of Body Refining.

He just never expected that in the Eastern Domain, the Buddhist Sects would be located as far away as the Compassion Sea.

As a result, even to this day, Xiao Chen had only ever heard tales about them and had never actually met a Buddhist Cultivator.

In that light, obtaining that Jade Bone in Li State back then was definitely a stroke of incredible luck.

Then again, even without the Jade Bone, his Body Refining would have faced few obstacles thanks to his Augments. The only difference would have been a slightly slower start.

The third letter was quite unusual. It was an invitation.

Xiao Chen opened it and glanced inside. His eyes were immediately drawn to three large words: Nascent Soul Ceremony!

Hm?

’Another Nascent Soul breakthrough?’

.

After all, even in the Eastern Domain, the number of Nascent Soul True Monarchs was quite limited.

On the surface, it seemed as if every major power had its own Nascent Soul True Monarchs, giving the impression that there were quite a few of them in total.

In reality, however, there was a crucial underlying reason for this: Nascent Soul True Monarchs had lifespans of up to a thousand years.

Compared to the five-hundred-year lifespan of a Golden Core True Man, a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s was double that.

In other words, while it might seem like every major power had more than one Nascent Soul True Monarch...

...that was only because their numbers had accumulated over vast stretches of time.

When averaged out over time, it took three or four hundred years—sometimes even longer—for a sect to produce a single Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Many even faced the risk of a generational gap.

Even when you factored in the Supreme Elders in centuries-long seclusion—their survival uncertain—as well as the fortunate Loose Cultivators blessed with destiny-changing encounters and members of ancient Hidden Clans...

...the total number of Nascent Soul True Monarchs was still not very high.

Given the circumstances, Xiao Chen was naturally a little surprised as he looked at the Nascent Soul Ceremony invitation in his hand.

Barring any surprises, this was bound to be the biggest news for some time to come.

He immediately read the invitation’s contents more closely and learned that the newly ascended Nascent Soul True Monarch hailed from a place with an unfamiliar name: Chongzhen Temple.

’Sss... What faction is this?’

Xiao Chen had never heard of this Sect’s name before.

He read on and discovered that it was yet another ancient, Hidden Sect that had been secluded on a sea island, only to quietly re-emerge a few months ago.

’What in the world is going on?’

A sense of unease grew in Xiao Chen’s heart. ’Why are all these Hidden Sects suddenly becoming active, one after another?’

But he hadn’t heard of any major event that would trigger this.

Given the unusual behavior of so many factions, it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

It was highly likely that some secret information was already circulating among a certain echelon of power.

It was just inaccessible to cultivators below the True Monarch Realm of Nascent Soul.

It sounded a bit absurd, but Xiao Chen had read about many similar situations in the Ancient Texts.

When it came to matters like this, all the major powers seemed to share a silent, unspoken agreement.

Until the very last moment, crucial information would be kept from lower- and even mid-level cultivators, leaving them completely in the dark.

’True Monarch Ziyang?’

Xiao Chen mulled it over. ’This Dharma Name... sounds like a cultivator with a Fire Spirit Root?’

However, it was hard to tell what the person actually specialized in from the name alone.

He didn’t dwell on it and continued reading. ’We cordially invite your esteemed presence to Spiritual Spring Island in the South Marsh Sea, on the 9th day of the third lunar month.’

The South Marsh Sea was located in the southern part of the Compassion Sea.

East of the Cangming Sea lay the Tingtao Sea, and further east from there was the South Marsh Sea.

’Well now, that’s a tight schedule.’

Xiao Chen did a quick calculation on his fingers. Today was already the sixteenth of the twelfth month, leaving less than four months until the ninth of the third month.

Keep in mind, many factions would have to coordinate who to send to the ceremony, not to mention the travel time involved.

An arrangement like this was clearly a bit rushed, and he couldn’t help but wonder at the reason.

Wait, the sixteenth of the twelfth month!

He wouldn’t have realized it if he hadn’t done the math, but the calculation made Xiao Chen suddenly aware that the new year was just around the corner.

Sss...!

’At this rate, I probably won’t make it back to Silent Calamity Island before the new year.’

’Looks like I’ll be spending another new year on the road.’

Ever since becoming a Golden Core True Man, Xiao Chen felt like time was passing faster, slipping through his fingers.

He’d do some small task, and several days or even a month would go by. Before he knew it, a whole year had passed in a blur.

’When I pass by Cangming Market, I should take a day to wander around and buy some food.’

Xiao Chen calculated the timing and decided to take a day off to relax.

But on second thought, going to Cangming Market seemed like a bad idea and would take too long. It would be better to wander around the Mojie Sect’s territory before the new year instead.

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