246: Chapter 246 Can you give me a ride along the way?

The power it unleashed was five times stronger than if he had performed the Azure Wood Thunder Blast himself.

Mid-tier Treasure Artifact; compared to a Magical Artifact, it was simply not the same thing, a world of difference.

The tiered unlocking mechanism designed by Sun Boyong used Su Cheng's own core spiritual power, so he could unleash sixty percent of its power, whereas other Cultivators would be lucky to manage thirty percent.

Unleashing sixty percent of its power was already equivalent to a full-strength strike from a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator.

In other words, while Su Cheng's cultivation was still at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage and his Divine Sense had reached the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, his combat strength could already go toe-to-toe with a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator.

Although he couldn't use it for long, even with the massive spiritual power from cultivating the Qiankun Creation Art, it was enough; all that remained was to raise his cultivation level.

But that was the limit for now.

Golden Core Cultivators were existences of another dimension; even an Early Golden Core could easily crush ten Foundation Establishment Peaks. That was a true cultivation barrier, unbreakable.

And this was exactly why Su Cheng wanted to help Fang Zhenhai reach the Golden Core Realm first.

Before the dust had even settled, Su Cheng stood in the side room with half a wall missing, looked down at the bronze short sword in his hand, and withdrew the wanbao mirror into his palm.

He turned and walked into the front hall.

Zhou Changgeng had already stood up from his chair, patting the dust off his clothes, and stared in that direction for a good while without speaking.

Sun Boyong sat behind the counter without moving, still holding a white Go piece in his hand.

Su Cheng stood still before the counter and spoke: "I'll pay for the damage to the partition room."

Zhou Changgeng waved his hand: "Forget it, that room was empty anyway. If it collapsed, it collapsed."

"It's your place," Su Cheng said as he placed two Storage Pouches on the counter. "I won't sleep soundly if I don't compensate you."

He pushed the first Storage Pouch to Sun Boyong: "Ten supreme grade po zhang pills; perhaps Senior's Disciples can use them. Also, three jars of wine, Bixiao Drunk bought from Treasure Gathering Tower; they say it's aged for a hundred years and brewed with thousand-year spirit spring water."

Sun Boyong took the Storage Pouch, his movements pausing for a moment.

Medicinal Pills were expected, after all, Su Cheng was a Danding Sect Disciple, but supreme grade po zhang pills?

Although these were only second-rank pills, the difficulty of refining them was right there; there were probably very few alchemists in the entire Tianlan Province who could push the quality to supreme grade.

Could Su Cheng, a Junior at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, have refined these himself? That shouldn't be possible, right?

If not, then the power behind this kid was terrifyingly immense.

Sun Boyong didn't ask.

He pulled a wine jar from the Storage Pouch, unscrewed the cap to take a sniff, and his eyebrows jumped.

"Good wine."

"The Medicinal Pills are also not bad, so I won't be polite."

When he helped Su Cheng modify the wanbao mirror, the condition he set was for the other party to owe him a favor.

Now it seemed that choice was more and more correct.

This kid's foundation was even deeper than he had initially estimated. It was hard to say how far he would go in the future, but keeping this favor would be useful sooner or later.

The second Storage Pouch was pushed to Zhou Changgeng.

"Brother Zhou, inside are five supreme grade clear spirit pills, biling pills, and ning shen pills each, as well as six pieces of second-rank Advanced spirit ore and one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. You should be able to use all of these."

"It's too much; you need them more than I do." Zhou Changgeng was stunned and pushed them back toward Su Cheng without even checking.

"It's not much," Su Cheng said with a hint of gratitude in his voice. "Without Brother Zhou, it would have been impossible for my mirror to be upgraded to a Treasure Artifact."

"Don't refuse. Since I can take these out, it means I'm not lacking in these things."

Zhou Changgeng wanted to say more, but he kept his mouth shut. He wasn't a pretentious person and couldn't do the whole back-and-forth thing, but the items truly exceeded his expectations.

Then he reached out and took the items.

"Alright, then I'll take them."

Su Cheng nodded, then continued: "There's one more thing. I owe Senior Sun a favor; I've said it before, and I'll say it again today. No matter when, as long as Senior speaks, Su Cheng will definitely do his utmost."

Sun Boyong stood up from his chair, stretched his wrists, and looked at Su Cheng.

"Kid, you have a flaw; you speak too maturely. I've lived for nearly four hundred years, and you're the first one who makes me feel like I'm chatting with a peer."

Su Cheng didn't respond.

"There's no rush for the favor; I don't have anything I need your help with right now. First, raise your own cultivation; Early Foundation Establishment Stage is too low, it doesn't match the things in your hands."

Su Cheng silently accepted this assessment without arguing.

Before leaving, Zhou Changgeng pulled him outside, and the two stood under the old locust tree in Qingfeng Alley.

"There's something I need to tell you," Zhou Changgeng rubbed his hands. "After all these years of struggling outside, my foundation is almost solid. I feel like I'm close to the threshold of a third-rank Artifact Refiner. The conditions at the Sect are better than outside, and it's more convenient for closed-door Breakthroughs. Besides... it's been many years since I left, it's time to go back and see old friends."

Su Cheng's footsteps paused for a moment.

"Are you going back to the Tianhai Sect with Senior Sun?"

"Yes, leaving tomorrow," Zhou Changgeng's voice wasn't loud. "Revered Master said that although that kid Huang Bai is currently influential in the Sect, if I return as a third-rank Artifact Refiner, he won't be able to deal with me. Besides, Revered Master is still here; he won't dare to be too outrageous."

Su Cheng was silent for a while, then suddenly had an idea. It was a coincidence; he hadn't originally had that thought, but who knew the other party would be leaving so soon.

Returning to the Tianhai Sect meant heading toward Canghai Prefecture, which required passing through Taining Province.

His father, Su Chengyuan, had taken the people from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce to the Xuanhuo Territory, located at the border of Tianlan Province and Taining Province. Also, although there had been no movement from the Tianyang Sect for now, Su Cheng had never truly felt at ease.

Su Chengyuan only had Foundation Establishment Cultivators under him. Although they were many, the Tianyang Sect was a Golden Core Sect after all. If they acted regardless of the consequences, Su Chengyuan and the others wouldn't be able to cope with their cultivation levels.

"Brother Zhou, I suddenly remembered there's something else I want to say to Senior Sun."

Zhou Changgeng turned his head to look at him: "What is it?"

"Let's go inside and talk."

The two turned back into the shop.

Sun Boyong was still sitting in the front hall. Seeing them return, he looked up at Su Cheng.

"Kid Su, what's up? Is there something else?"

Su Cheng cupped his hands: "Senior Sun, Junior has an audacious request."

Sun Boyong gave him a questioning look, signaling Su Cheng to continue.

"My father is currently in the border region of Tianlan Province and Taining Province. I'm worried someone might cause trouble on the return journey. Since Senior and Brother Zhou are returning to the Tianhai Sect, you'll likely be heading in that direction. I wonder if you could... give me a lift along the way? I'll go to meet them."

Sun Boyong looked at him for two breaths.

The kid said "give me a lift," but he probably meant he wanted a Great Cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage like him to act as a backer for his father's team.

However, he wasn't being secretive about it; he spoke quite candidly.

"Who's causing trouble?" Sun Boyong asked casually.

"Tianyang Sect." Su Cheng briefly explained the ins and outs of the matter, without exaggeration, saying what needed to be said and not a word more.

In any case, the meaning was that the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce and the Tianyang Sect had an old grudge that was hard to reconcile.

After listening, Sun Boyong snorted: "Those people from the Tianyang Sect? I don't even spare them a glance. It's just a small favor; we're passing through anyway."

Sun Boyong didn't care about the grudges between the Tianyang Sect and the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce; he was purely helping Su Cheng, further expanding the favor.

Su Cheng cupped his hands: "Thank you, Senior."

The next morning, the three of them packed their gear.

Before leaving, Su Cheng called over Fang Zhenhai and asked the chamber of commerce to send someone to the Danding Sect to bring a message to Senior Brother Chen Yuan, saying he had matters to attend to and would push back his return date to the Sect, with his return being temporarily undecided.

Additionally, he asked Senior Brother Chen Yuan to tell his Revered Master on his behalf that once this matter was finished and he returned, he wouldn't leave the Sect again before the Alchemy Hall Competition.

Fang Zhenhai noted everything down and followed them to the city gate. Before they left, he handed over a Storage Pouch, saying it was a small token of appreciation from the chamber of commerce for Senior Sun and Brother Zhou.

Sun Boyong accepted it all, thinking to himself that this chamber of commerce president knew how to conduct himself, treating it as a protection fee for this trip. Then, the three of them took to the skies on their artifacts and flew toward Taining Province.

Su Cheng followed behind Sun Boyong's spiritual light, the wind whistling past his ears, his mind entirely on his father's affairs.

Whether the Tianyang Sect would be crazed enough to take action, he wasn't sure.

But with Sun Boyong there, at least the worst-case scenario could be handled.

As for what Su Chengyuan had done in the Ten Thousand Snakes Valley, Su Cheng was still completely unaware.

(Next chapter will be out a bit later, big bosses!)