Chapter 654: Pluto

Yan Bingxuan was extremely shocked after learning that the pearl given to Wenren Xuewei was so valuable. Despite her diligent efforts managing the Baleful Qi Energy Company each year, her profits, even with Chen Mobai's connections, only amounted to a few million.

“It’s fine, to me, it’s just an object for appreciation,” Chen Mobai said to Yan Bingxuan, trying to make her feel that the item wasn't very expensive, to avoid burdening her. However, even so, after Immortal Peach tried to forcefully purchase the pearl, all the female cultivators in the Immortal Sect learned of its true value. Yan Bingxuan felt immensely guilty, believing she had caused Chen Mobai a loss of one or two hundred million.

After finally calming down the agitated Yan Bingxuan, Chen Mobai, who had just hung up, received a call from the other person involved. It was Wenren Xuewei.

“Well, this is a surprise. What made you call me today?” It was usually Chen Mobai who initiated calls to her, inquiring about various matters.

“I called to thank you. I didn’t realize the item you gave me was so precious.”

Wenren Xuewei’s soft, smiling words prompted Chen Mobai to immediately resume his act. He claimed that for him, it was merely a decorative accessory, and as a Pure Yang Scroll cultivator, water spiritual energy was useless to him. Giving it to her, he asserted, would allow it to be used to its full potential. For Chen Mobai, Wenren Xuewei was a straightforward confidante. Conversations with her were the most relaxed and comfortable among all his female friends; he only needed to maintain his facade as a genius on par with her.

As they chatted, Chen Mobai learned the true purpose behind Immortal Peach’s attempt to forcefully acquire the pearl: it was meant to help her daughter, Pei Qingshuang, achieve Core Formation.

“I hope Cui’er can seize this opportunity to reach the Sword Heart Insight realm…” Wenren Xuewei genuinely hoped her best friend would succeed, especially since both she and Yan Qiongzhi had already achieved Core Formation and didn’t want Pei Qingshuang to fall too far behind.

“Sword Heart Insight? Is there something wrong with that realm?” Chen Mobai’s words led to a misunderstanding by Wenren Xuewei. She thought that he, the century’s foremost talent in swordsmanship, intended to impart some successful experiences to Pei Qingshuang through her. She thanked him on behalf of Pei Qingshuang but then explained that Pei Qingshuang had already begun her seclusion and could not receive the message.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, is that realm difficult to achieve?” Chen Mobai found this perplexing. After his Violet Lightning Sword acknowledged him as its master, he had already achieved Sword Heart Insight. He hadn't even actively pursued it; it was only after the Violet Lightning Sword prompted him that he reluctantly lowered his guard, achieving the unity of man and sword.

“Well… Cui’er simply can’t compare to a true, peerless sword genius like you.” Wenren Xuewei could only respond this way after hearing him.

“Alright then, I hope she achieves Core Formation soon. By the way, I’m planning to buy two more Void Blind Boxes…” Chen Mobai didn’t want to get involved with the Nascent Soul Immortals of the Immortal Sect, so he quickly changed the subject from Pei Qingshuang, bringing up their shared hobby with Wenren Xuewei.

“Two? You could try buying a set of blind boxes; you might get something even better.”

Blind box sets exist? Chen Mobai was surprised and immediately asked Wenren Xuewei.

It turned out that some of the Immortal Sect’s Void Blind Boxes came from Golden Core True Lords who achieved nirvana upon reaching the end of their lifespan on Earth Star. However, the majority were recovered from extraterritorial battlefields during the Expansion Wars. Since establishing order on Earth Star, the Immortal Sect had launched thirteen “World Expansion” level wars, which were brutal conflicts mobilizing all cultivators. During these wars, even Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators perished, let alone Golden Core True Lords. Before their deaths, these fallen Golden Core True Lords would place their lifelong accumulations into their personal domains on the battlefield, leaving behind markers for Immortal Sect cultivators to recover. The so-called blind box sets were left by Golden Core True Lords who sacrificed themselves at the same time and location on a single battlefield. These sets had a high chance of containing valuable items. Of course, there was also a significant possibility that the Golden Core True Lords of the Immortal Sect had expended everything during battle, leaving the boxes empty.

Chen Mobai was greatly intrigued after hearing this. He felt that opening these sets would be an even better way to legitimize the items he had brought from the Eastern Barrens. He immediately pressed, “Are these blind box sets also snapped up on the Immortal Sect Network?”

“Not really. The gamble involved is too great, so hardly anyone buys them. They’re mostly piled up at the Boundary Gate Administration. People who do buy them usually do so for the void power released after breaking them open. If you’re interested, I can inquire for you; once details are settled, the flagship store will list them specifically for you.”

Upon hearing Wenren Xuewei’s words, Chen Mobai didn’t hesitate and immediately asked her to inquire on his behalf.

“To be honest, I’ve mastered the Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram, and with the auspicious aura’s blessing, I feel I can profit greatly from opening blind boxes. That’s why I sold the pearl to raise merit points for purchasing them.” Chen Mobai made this groundwork with Wenren Xuewei beforehand to prevent too much commotion in the Immortal Sect if he were to open many top-tier items.

“You actually mastered it so quickly? You truly live up to your potential for Soul Transformation. You know, Ancestor Yuanyang himself switched to cultivating the Great Sun Golden Crow Method because he felt he couldn’t perfect this one…” Wenren Xuewei was slightly astonished to hear that Chen Mobai was already blessed with an auspicious aura. The Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram was considered the slowest cultivation technique for divine sense in the Immortal Sect, progressing at a snail's pace without the aid of a high-grade Wutong spiritual tree.

Chen Mobai genuinely hadn't known that Ancestor Yuanyang had also cultivated this technique. He immediately humbly stated that it was all thanks to the Jade Wutong. After all, when Ancestor Yuanyang first appeared, the Jade Wutong in Danxia City hadn't yet grown to its current peak Fourth Tier. Thus, Wenren Xuewei readily accepted Chen Mobai’s explanation.

However, as a friend, she reminded Chen Mobai that the Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram was a divine sense technique deciphered from the Phoenix Seal Heavenly Tome. She urged him to apply to the Heavenly Tome Academy to study it when he had time. She now had immense confidence in Chen Mobai’s talent, believing he would surely gain valuable insights from the Heavenly Tome. Chen Mobai, however, knew his own limitations in that regard. He readily agreed, but inwardly hoped to avoid going if possible, so as not to ruin his image as someone with Soul Transformation potential in the Immortal Sect by gaining nothing.

After they hung up, Wenren Xuewei proceeded to leverage her connections at Jumang Daoist Academy. Ten minutes later, she sent Chen Mobai a contact number. It belonged to Lin Dongsong, a graduate of Jumang Daoist Academy, who was specifically responsible for managing the outflow of Void Blind Boxes at the Boundary Gate Administration. Every Void Blind Box listed on the Immortal Sect Network was personally selected and displayed by him.

“Hello, Councilman Chen…” Lin Dongsong had not yet achieved Core Formation, so he was very courteous towards Chen Mobai. Since Wenren Xuewei had already communicated most of the details, their conversation proceeded very smoothly.

However, blind boxes recovered from extraterritorial battlefields were much cheaper: a single box was 10% off, two were 20% off, three were 30% off, and five or more received the lowest clearance price of 40% off. Chen Mobai was unaware of these prices beforehand. Checking his account, he found he had just enough to buy three.

Lin Dongsong sent him a table detailing the Void Blind Boxes currently stored at the Boundary Gate Administration, including the names, life stories, cultivation realms, and nirvana locations of the Golden Core True Lords who left them. Of course, many data pages were blank, indicating that these boxes were recovered from extraterritorial battlefields, and the original owners' lives were unknown.

“Councilman Chen, these blind boxes may pose a danger because they could contain items unique to other realms, never before seen in the Immortal Sect.”

“To prevent any impact on Earth Star’s environment, you’ll need to sign a contract upon purchase, ensuring that the blind box is opened within your personal domain.”

“This way, even if something unexpectedly harmful to the environment emerges, at most your domain will be sealed off and rendered useless, without affecting the entire Earth Star.”

Lin Dongsong’s explanation made Chen Mobai understand why these recovered extraterritorial Void Blind Boxes were so inexpensive. However, for him, this was actually ideal. He possessed many items that were unknown in the Immortal Sect. As for the danger… at worst, he just wouldn't open them. Chen Mobai cherished his personal domain quite a bit, still hoping to transplant the Jade Wutong from Danxia City into it after achieving Nascent Soul.

Chen Mobai spent two days reviewing the Void Blind Box list, ultimately choosing three recovered from the Pluto Star battlefield. Pluto Star represented one of the most brutal battles in the Immortal Sect’s history. The Pluto race residing there possessed extraordinary talents; their most powerful Pluto King was even stronger than the Immortal Sect’s Soul Transformation cultivators. When the two realms connected, the Immortal Sect was even counter-attacked. Ultimately, it was Ancestor Yuanyang, relying on the elemental suppression of his Pure Yang Scroll, who difficultly repelled the Pluto King and sealed off the portal between the two realms. Chen Mobai consulted the relevant information and decided that Pluto Star was very suitable for legitimizing the Dharma Body Nascent Soul and the Spirit Water of Rejuvenation, so he chose it.

“Councilman Chen, I’ve cancelled your previous order for two Void Blind Boxes. The link I sent you leads to the three Pluto Star blind box sets; you just need to place a new order and make the payment.”

Chen Mobai followed Lin Dongsong’s instructions, and soon received a simply packaged alloy box. After using a special magical technique to unlock its seal, he saw three fist-sized light orbs shimmering with silver. He hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist his curiosity. However, because he had to follow the rules, he used the Turtle Treasure to teleport to the Divine Tree Secret Realm, arriving at the periphery of the Grand Dao Tree. He controlled the Formless Puppet to enter his personal domain, then connected his domain to the outside of the Divine Tree Secret Realm. If anything unexpected emerged, he would immediately manipulate the Formless Puppet to send the item to the Grand Dao Tree.

But as it turned out, he had overthought things.

After the three Void Blind Boxes were opened:

One contained only a change of clothes, some grain-abstention pills, and a notebook.

Another yielded a section of pale jade resembling bone and a bottle of dark liquid, somewhat like blood.

The last one contained a bag of spirit stones, a Third-Tier flying sword with several nicks, and a damaged Dharma robe.

Chen Mobai opened the bag of spirit stones and found three mid-grade spirit stones and twenty-seven low-grade spirit stones inside. He thought for a moment, then took out twenty-seven mid-grade spirit stones and three hundred low-grade spirit stones from his own storage bag and placed them inside. To be safe, he didn't legitimize too many. These spirit stones could be openly used for the Five Elements Essence Qi puppets crafted by Chai Lun, thereby legitimately promoting Yan Bingxuan's company's development.

Even with Chen Mobai’s auspicious blessing ensuring his gains were above average, the value from these three blind boxes, compared to the merit points he spent, was a significant loss. This also confirmed one thing: opening these extraterritorial blind boxes usually didn’t result in a profit. No wonder they were cheap; even the Immortal Sect’s Golden Core True Lords were unwilling to purchase them.

Chen Mobai used the Formless Puppet to scan the notebook from the first blind box. After converting it into an electronic version, he read it on his phone. The notebook began with the owner's name and origin: Yu Jirong, a Golden Core True Lord from the Heaven-Mending Daoist Academy. He had formed a team with two other Golden Core True Lords, entering Pluto Star first through a boundary gate to gather intelligence. Yu Jirong was also a cultivator who had mastered the Inches of Space Tome, making it easy for him to uncover much information about the Pluto race on Pluto Star. For instance, the Pluto race’s highest ruler was the Pluto King, and the race itself was created by the God of Death. The ultimate goal of successive Pluto Kings was to enter the River of Death flowing in the deepest part of Pluto Star, seeking traces of the vanished God of Death. The Pluto race’s cultivation method was peculiar: they cultivated the Asura Dharma Body, ultimately transforming into Non-Heavenly Beings, possessing power close to that of the God of Death. However, even the Pluto King could not achieve this; only by entering the River of Death could one truly transform into the ultimate Asura…

After reading the notebook, Chen Mobai nodded slightly, then manipulated the Formless Puppet to pick up the pale, bone-like jade. He sensed a faint, chilling energy flowing within it. After some consideration, he abandoned the idea of carving characters onto it. From his storage bag, he took out his commonly used soul-nourishing wood. Controlling the puppet, he carved the method of the Dharma Body Nascent Soul onto it using the Immortal Sect’s script. After Grandma Ming became Luo Yixuan’s external avatar, her Fourth-Tier soul-nourishing wood became useless and was added to Chen Mobai’s collection. After using the Fourth-Tier one, Chen Mobai no longer thought much of his original Third-Tier one, which happened to be suitable for this purpose.

After carving, he changed the name of the Dharma Body Nascent Soul. He changed it to “Asura Dharma Body.” Then he carved the prescription for the Spirit Water of Rejuvenation onto the back of the soul-nourishing wood. Finally, he took out the two ink jade boxes that sealed the Other Shore Flower and the Nine-Dragon Locust Horn. These were what he had supposedly opened from Yu Jirong’s blind box. With the Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram as a cover, his good fortune should be acceptable to the Immortal Sect, right? Chen Mobai thought with a hint of hesitation. However, realizing this concerned Zhou Shengqing’s Dharma Body Nascent Soul, he decided to be a little more daring.