533: Chapter 533 The Secret of Heaven

As soon as these words were spoken, Su Ming's pupils suddenly constricted.

The Spirit Race?

That was a mysterious race that only existed in ancient texts and legends of the Northern Border. They were not of flesh and blood, born of heaven and earth, with long lifespans and extreme xenophobia. How could a minor Foundation Establishment cultivator like him, who had only just set foot in the Central Continent, have anything to do with the Spirit Race? How could this Master of Tianji Pavilion be so certain?

Inside the xuantian ring.

Lin Yu, who had originally maintained absolute silence, suddenly trembled in his soul body.

That layer of deliberately suppressed eerie blue luster rippled violently like water waves.

"This old fellow... can he really see the future from the cracks in a tortoise shell?" Lin Yu's voice rang out in Su Ming's Sea of Consciousness, tinged with an irrepressible shock, before he quickly began to mutter, "Spirit Race...! Could it be that the 'True Explanation of Spirit Nurturing' really requires going to the core heartlands of the Spirit Race to obtain the remaining complete Cultivation Technique?"

Su Ming looked up at the Pavilion Master's back.

"Tianji Pavilion needs a map of the Spiritual Veins in the Spirit Race's territory." The Pavilion Master turned around, his eyes, which seemed able to see through everything, staring at Su Ming. "Since you are going anyway, draw it for Tianji Pavilion while you're at it. This is the condition for exchanging for the ten-thousand-year void azure stone marrow."

Su Ming took a deep breath and met the Pavilion Master's gaze.

"How can the Pavilion Master be certain that this Junior will definitely go?" Su Ming's tone carried a hint of well-measured doubt and probing.

"The divination will not lie," the Pavilion Master said indifferently, his tone extremely certain. "As for why you are going and when you are going, that is your own Karma. This old man will not ask, nor will I care."

"Junior's cultivation is low." Su Ming spoke again, throwing out a second question. "When should I go? If I go too early, I'm afraid I won't return, and Tianji Pavilion's map will become a mere scrap of paper."

"When you ought to go." The Pavilion Master looked at Su Ming, a flash of admiration appearing in his eyes. "The Spirit Race's territory is exceptionally dangerous, and its Laws are vastly different from those of the Human Race. With your current cultivation, going there is just seeking death. You only need to remember this promise."

Su Ming nodded slightly. The condition was to go in the "future." As long as he didn't go now, this deal was just an empty check. Getting the stone marrow while staying alive was the most urgent matter at hand.

This was the most brilliant open scheme; Tianji Pavilion didn't even need to use a Restriction to force him.

"One last question: to what extent does the map need to be drawn?"

The Pavilion Master did not speak.

He raised his withered right hand. As his wide sleeves billowed, a Jade Slip emitting a faint white light flew out from his hand and hovered steadily in front of Su Ming.

"Inside this are fragments of intelligence regarding the outskirts of the Spirit Race's territory that Tianji Pavilion has collected over the past thousand years," the Pavilion Master explained. "As well as an extremely crude framework of the Spiritual Vein paths. What you need to supplement are those blank core nodes. Just draw according to this."

Su Ming reached out and gripped the Jade Slip in his palm.

The moment the Jade Slip touched his hand, an extremely warm and smooth sensation was felt.

He did not hesitate, sending a strand of Divine Sense into it.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, a massive but incomplete map instantly unfolded. Vast areas of gray mist shrouded the core regions, with only a few thin lines of spiritual energy light flickering at the edges.

Inside the xuantian ring, it took Lin Yu only a breath's time to finish scanning the map.

"There really isn't much here," Lin Yu muttered.

Su Ming's Divine Sense withdrew from the Jade Slip, and he solemnly placed it into his Storage Pouch.

"Junior agrees."

Without the slightest hesitation or procrastination, Su Ming gave his answer.

But he did not stop there.

In this Central Continent where people were swallowed whole, blind obedience would only make others feel you were worthless. He had to transform himself from a "tool to be ordered around" into a "collaborator with bargaining chips."

"However," Su Ming's tone shifted, becoming extremely sincere yet carrying an unyielding persistence, "since the Pavilion Master says the Spirit Race's territory is dangerous, I'm afraid I won't be able to complete this mapping task alone. To ensure that the map can be brought back to Tianji Pavilion intact, I need some minor assistance."

Immortal Master Xuan Ming, who had been sitting nearby, felt a flash of brilliance in his deep-set eye sockets upon hearing this.

"This kid..." Immortal Master Xuan Ming couldn't help but feel admiration for Su Ming's performance in his heart. "He actually dares to bargain with the Master of Tianji Pavilion."

The Master of Tianji Pavilion looked at Su Ming and was not angry.

"What do you want?"

Su Ming bowed slightly. "First, the Spirit Race language is obscure and difficult to understand. I need a Jade Slip containing the most complete information on their language and customs. Second, since I must go deep into the core nodes, I need three of Tianji Pavilion's specially made Fixed-point Teleportation Talismans that can ignore space locks. After all, a dead man cannot draw a map."

Silence fell over the side hall once more.

Su Ming's requests weren't overly large, but every single one hit the mark.

He wasn't asking for Magic Treasures or Spirit Stones, but for chances of survival. This pragmatic attitude actually made the Master of Tianji Pavilion think more highly of him.

"Very well," the Pavilion Master nodded. "These things will be given to you along with the ten-thousand-year void azure stone marrow."

"Old man, your ability to go with the flow hasn't changed in thousands of years."

Immortal Master Xuan Ming, who had been watching coldly from the side, suddenly let out a raspy cold snort.

He stood up, casually patting away non-existent dust from his gray Daoist robe, his gaze sweeping over the Master of Tianji Pavilion.

"Using a drop of stone marrow that was just sitting there, along with a few scraps of talisman paper, to buy a Junior with limitless potential to wade through the muddy waters of the Spirit Race for you. This deal is a huge profit for your Tianji Pavilion."

The Master of Tianji Pavilion did not refute him; there wasn't even a ripple of emotion on his face.

"The Heavenly Dao circulates; we each take what we need," the Pavilion Master said in a flat tone.

Having said that, he ignored Immortal Master Xuan Ming's mockery, turned to lift the curtain behind him, and walked toward the back hall deep within the side hall.

The side hall fell silent once again.

Qing Feng stood to the side, his eyes filled with shock as he looked at Su Ming. He opened his mouth, his lips twitching violently as if he wanted to ask something. Su Ming had actually been able to extract life-saving items from that Pavilion Master with such ease.

He had just taken half a step forward.

Ming Yue immediately reached out and firmly grabbed his sleeve. The young girl shook her head gently, her eyes signaling him to look at their expressionless Master nearby, hinting that now was absolutely not the time to speak.

Qing Feng closed his mouth dejectedly and retreated to his original position.

Su Ming stood where he was, his hands still hanging naturally at his sides. He did not release his Divine Sense even slightly, simply waiting quietly.

Before long.

The curtain was lifted slightly, and the Master of Tianji Pavilion walked out slowly.

His hands held a jade bottle only about the size of a thumb. The bottle was a translucent mutton-fat white.

But the most attractive thing was the sight inside the jade bottle.

Through the thin layer of jade, one could clearly see a drop of emerald green liquid, as brilliant as an emerald, suspended quietly at the bottom of the bottle. The drop of liquid seemed to have a life of its own, rotating extremely slowly and emitting a terrifying Life Qi that seemed capable of bringing dead wood back to life.

ten-thousand-year void azure stone marrow.