Chương 32: You Guys Are Too Smart For Your Own Good!

Ren Qingquan immediately followed the map pointing to the item with a lot of energy. After bypassing a crowded area, he arrived in front of a store with a massive glass window on the first-floor facade. The transparent glass window displayed several items for all to see. Among the items shown, there are many medicinal pastes, herbs, and incense. Except for those, there's a small three-legged furnace that seems to be out of place.

The moment Ren Qingquan saw that furnace, he immediately opened the system map while thinking, 'As expected, this old furnace is indeed the item I looked for. No matter how I look at it, this furnace seems like the one used to craft pills in cultivation manhua. Through [Scan], I also saw Xiao Cai looking at the furnace. When she saw it, she looked as if she wanted to say something, but stopped herself and simply followed Ren Qingquan into the store.

Unlike the street, which is filled with people, the store is pretty desolate. Except for three people standing behind the counter, there are only two other visitors. Ren Qingquan ignored the other visitors and immediately went to a girl standing behind the counter. Without much nonsense, he immediately pointed to the furnace, "I want that, give me the price." The clerk looked at the place Ren Qingquan pointed and smiled, "I apologise, customer, that furnace is a relic retrieved from the Meteor Island.

It's our store's lucky charm and isn't for sale."

"I want that. You can use this money to buy it." Ren Qingquan pointed at the furnace while looking at Xiao Cai, just like a toddler who asked his parent for a toy. Then, he placed a pouch containing money that the original Ren Qingquan had saved up in Xiao Cai's hand. Xiao Cai slightly opened the pouch before walking toward the counter to whisper a few words to the clerk. Through [Scan], I could hear that Xiao Cai is basically just offering a large sum of money to buy it.

The clerk seems shocked by the amount Xiao Cai mentioned. That's until Xiao Cai shows the money pouch Ren Qingquan has just given her. Seeing the stack of papers and the nomination written in it, the clerk immediately said, "Please wait a moment, I'll bring the store owner here." Soon after, the store owner entered the room. Initially, he looked unhappy and stubborn. That's until Xiao Cai whispered another insane amount of money to his ear.

The amount Xiao Cai offered is definitely far above the one Ren Qingquan gave her. It seems Xiao Cai indeed knew the preciousness of that furnace. While Ren Qingquan watched Xiao Cai and the store owner haggling, I was busy checking the books I've scanned. The clerk previously mentioned Meteor Island. That name gave me a sense of familiarity, but I can't exactly put my finger on where I heard it from.

The feeling of half remembering something annoyed me, so I searched where I had read about that Meteor Island before. After scouring through several books, I recalled what that island is. In legend, a few hundred years ago, an island suddenly fell from the sky like a meteor. The location it fell to is on the sea beyond the Endless Mountain. The legend isn't too important. What makes me feel familiar with Meteor Island is that it's where all of those cultivation books came from.

Maybe I should ask Ren Qingquan to visit Meteor Island. Although hundreds of years have gone by and previous generations have thoroughly plundered the area, some items might still be left there. If there's something as powerful or even more powerful than the furnace here, Ren Qingquan's safety will be much more guaranteed. I don't want to lose the only person who can let me anchor new abilities to others.

Otherwise, I might have been checkmated and could only wait for death while staying in this accursed dark space. With that in mind, I sent him a mission. [Mission: Go To Meteor Island. Details: As the location where all cultivation techniques and many treasures have been excavated, the meteor island might contain more treasures to be unearthed. Reward: 1 chance to learn any technique. Punishment: None Deadline: None.] Ren Qingquan, who has been listening to Xiao Cai's bargaining while in a half daze, quickly focused after seeing the mission I sent.

'Treasure hunting at Meteor Island?' [Yes.] I could feel Ren Qingquan turning excited.

'Where is this Meteor Island you mentioned?' It seems Ren Qingquan has been wasting his time reading novels. He didn't even know about the Meteor Island. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Although it's a bit tiresome, I still showed him a world map. The map consisted of a single massive continent. On the continent, around three-fifths contain extensive annotation, including city names, special places, and other important landmarks.

As for the remaining two-fifths, it consisted of a massive wilderness with a single annotation, 'Endless Mountain.' The Endless Mountain is shaped like a crescent moon hugging the western part of the continent. The crescent-moon-shaped Endless Mountain also has several tentacles that penetrate deep into human-controlled territory. For example, the place Ren Qingquan previously visited is one of the tentacle-like parts of Endless Mountain that's located near the Burning Sky City.

As for the Meteor Island, it's located in the sea area to the west of Endless Mountain, which means it's necessary to bypass Endless Mountain to reach the Meteor Island. When Ren Qingquan saw the map, he almost fainted.

'That's too fucking far! God knows how long I'll need to travel before I can reach that island. Even if I went there in a carriage, my ass might flatten by the time I reach the island.' While complaining, Ren Qingquan suddenly stopped because Xiao Cai had finished negotiating with the store owner. With a massive grin, the store owner respectfully handed the furnace to Xiao Cai, who then gave it to Ren Qingquan.

Now that Ren Qingquan has gotten hold of the furnace, I scanned it thoroughly to understand what it actually is. I've actually scanned it before, which is why it appears on Ren Qingquan's system map in the first place. But that's merely a basic scan that can only show the amount of energy in things. What I am going to do now is to use [Scan] as X-ray to see the inner workings of this furnace and the reason it contained such a massive amount of energy.

When my [Scan] tried to penetrate into the furnace, I felt a small amount of resistance that immediately disappeared. I am not too sure what caused that resistance, so I ignored it for now. Because of its small size, I finished examining the furnace quickly. Just as I expected, I didn't have any record of the material used to craft that furnace. Still, I successfully found the reason it contained such massive energy and what kind of energy it contained.

Within the weapon, there's actually a massive amount of spirit qi. That spirit qi spread across the materials, with most of it condensed around rune-like symbols. No matter how I see it, this thing is definitely a cultivator's item. What a pity. Among those runes, a lot of them seem to be damaged, which might affect the furnace's function. After checking the amount of damage and comparing it to the weapon-refining knowledge I had collected before, I felt Ren Qingquan might've lost money this time.

In the weapon refining book I read, it's mentioned that runes are the core of weapons. It's what grants them special effects, and also what regulates the spirit qi within it. If only a bit of the rune is broken, it might still be usable because a weapon refiner usually includes possible damage caused in battle and often adds a secondary rune system to let the weapon work. I don't know if alchemy tools also receive the same treatment but with this much damage, I am not even sure that thing can be used.

Well, looking at the bright side. Even if the furnace is somehow scrapped, Ren Qingquan can still simply absorb the spirit within it. Now that Ren Qingquan has obtained a bargain, or so he thinks, he continues to explore the market. What a pity, this time he's not very lucky and didn't find anything valuable even by evening. Looking at the dimming sky, Ren Qingquan and Xiao Cai finally returned to the Zhang Family residence. While on the road, I kept on using [Scan] to study the furnace Ren Qingquan had purchased.

At the same time, I also kept an eye on the people I've anchored. Over the past few days, I have rarely heard any important news. But today, I finally heard some explosive news. Through Ren Xuan's [Scan], I saw him sitting in front of his white haired master. As soon as Ren Xuan's elderly master spoke, he immediately dropped a bombshell.

"We have been delaying our great cause for too long because of the Ren Family's suspicious movements. Around half a year ago, the sect found evidence of people from the Ren Family purchasing weapons and recruiting mercenaries. Although the numbers are negligible, there could be more of which we didn't know about. From the look of things, the Ren Family might've heard of our plan to rebel."

"After such a long delay, every higher-up in the sect has become impatient. That's why I'll give you a mission to cause trouble in the Ren Family and keep them busy for a month or two, so they can't send reinforcements to the capital. I know you might still have feelings for the family. That's why I didn't ask you to kill them, but only to delay them."

"As a rising star of the Ren Family, you should know how to keep them busy." Ren Xuan replied with a faint smile.

"Disciple understands. For the sake of the sect's return to the mainland, this disciple definitely won't disappoint. Furthermore, I have no feeling for the Ren Family. After all, I've been hunted by Ren Wangzhen. Without the Sect's protection, I would've been in danger."

"Good, good, good, I'll definitely reward you greatly once you succeed." The elder said as he brushed his beard.

"After our sect and ancestral master got exiled to the Endless Mountain by the Azure Empire's Second Emperor. We waited for three hundred years before finding an incompetent emperor who ignored the empire and never attended court meetings. This is our best chance to control the continent's resources!" When he finished speaking, the old man was half shouting. The looks in his eyes also feel dangerous. It's pretty similar to the gaze a fanatic believer from a weird cult has.

Ren Xuan simply listened to the elderly man's mumbling with an expressionless face. At last, the elderly man calmed down and waved his hand, "You're dismissed. I'll be waiting for your good news." Once his master stopped speaking, Ren Xuan left the room and bought some items. Occasionally, I heard him mutter something like, 'Something is wrong', 'Things aren't progressing as before,' or 'Did my return cause a shift in causality?

But I've tried to follow the path I've walked before to ensure it doesn't cause any significant changes.' After hearing Ren Xuan's mutterings, I finally came to my senses. All this while, I am simply too dumbfounded to react to that conversation properly. I don't even know where I should start my retort. I've heard about the Martial Spirit Sect's grand plan. But I never expected it to be a fucking rebellion! Actually, who could connect a sect's grand plan with rebellion?

I thought they're just planning to flatten the Endless Mountain at most! Apart from that, I was also left completely speechless when Ren Xuan's master mentioned they are postponing their rebellion plan because they discovered someone from the Ren Family was hiring mercenaries and purchasing weapons. By comparing the time Ren Xuan's master mentioned, I am sure the 'someone' he mentioned is Ren Qingquan. And Ren Qingquan absolutely has no idea about their plan! That's why I became extremely dumbfounded.

These people are simply too good at fighting against illusory enemies.