Chapter 1768 (Raw 1780):
There was not even a maidservant to welcome the guests. After entering, Xiao Chen had to take the initiative to call someone over before a maidservant came to attend to him.
"One room and good wine," Xiao Chen said.
The maidservant smiled faintly and said, "Young Master is alone, right?"
Xiao Chen thought for a while before saying, "Prepare portions and cups for two."
After entering the room, Xiao Chen asked in confusion, "How come the Smiling Daughter Pavilion does not have any headliners recently? It is so quiet; not even a single person can be seen around."
The maidservant replied apologetically, "Young Master probably has not come to Soaring Dragon City for a long time already. Our Smiling Daughter Pavilion's Fairy Basket was lost almost a year ago. The headliners have all returned to the capital already. The headquarters made some arrangements, and the headliners will not be coming to Soaring Dragon City for now."
Xiao Chen felt slightly stunned on hearing that. Then, he recalled that the Fairy Basket that Jiang He stole from the Smiling Daughter Pavilion was currently in his storage ring, quietly collecting dust.
If she had not mentioned the Fairy Basket, Xiao Chen would have forgotten it.
"Since there is no more Fairy Basket, can't another one be made?" Xiao Chen asked, puzzled.
The maidservant smiled. "It is difficult. The Fairy Basket cannot be casually made on-demand. It is a peak Dao Tool with complicated craftsmanship. The formations within are intricate and need at least three years to make. I'm not sure what will happen to this Smiling Daughter Pavilion by then."
It turned out that so much effort went into making a Fairy Basket. This startled Xiao Chen.
He picked up a wine cup and took a small sip. No longer lingering on this topic, he said, "I would like to ask about the headliner Ling Long. Do you know where and when she went?"
The maidservant smiled warmly. "This is really coincidental. I was headliner Ling Long's personal maidservant. My young miss left for the capital already. That was about half a year ago. Originally, she should have left much earlier. However, there was a foolish fellow who wanted to learn the pipa or something. I'm not sure what Young Miss was thinking, but she actually agreed.
"This delayed her and resulted in her leaving two months later than she initially planned."
Learning the pipa… Xiao Chen could not help smiling. Little Martial Nephew Ling Yu is really trying hard.
"Alright, you may leave first. I will call you if I need anything."
"Alright. Young Master, do enjoy."
After the maidservant left, Xiao Chen searched around his storage ring.
Eventually, he found the dusty Fairy Basket in a corner.
Xiao Chen had remained in Dragon Flame City, busy cultivating. He nearly forgot about this peak Dao Tool.
He recalled that he nearly got trapped in there when he tried to subdue it back then. He had cut off his Spiritual Sense and came out after much difficulty.
Now, he had already formed the will of soul, and his Soul Energy was extraordinary.
Xiao Chen believed that he should be able to subdue this Fairy Basket and place his Spiritual Mark on it.
After that, he would be able to completely control this peak Dao Tool.
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Chen's Spiritual Sense barged into the Fairy Basket.
He instantly entered the maze.
Countless ancient screens appeared, crisscrossing each other. The maze was very complicated, just like before.
The Spiritual Sense that made up Xiao Chen in there was trapped inside, unable to come out.
However, this time was different from the previous time.
Xiao Chen's strength was now extraordinary, unlike before.
"Break!" Xiao Chen shouted, and he merged his will of soul with his Spiritual Sense before letting it erupt.
Azure light flashed, and all the screens instantly turned into dust flying in the air. It was like snow drifting down in the dark night sky.
This time was different from the previous time. This time, the dust continued drifting in the air and did not form a new maze.
This was because Xiao Chen had destroyed the maze from its foundations.
The boundless maze that continuously regenerated would not appear again.
Xiao Chen moved forward amid the flying dust. Then, he saw a sleeping woman at the limits of his vision.
This woman looked like a fairy. Her eyes were closed as if she just fell asleep.
Her eyelashes were distinct. Her skin was like snow and looked as pretty as a flower.
The Azure Lotus Fairy!
This was the founder of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion. Back then, she was the one who performed the sword dance after countless Spirit Jades flew into the Fairy Basket.
Xiao Chen still recalled the scene of flowers filling the place, intoxicating three thousand guests, the frost of a single sword freezing fourteen provinces!
He clearly remembered the final stroke of the sword dance. It was hard to forget.
This woman had definitely been a peerless talent. Her every frown and every smile gave off a beauty that could destroy nations. This resulted in people nicknaming her the Azure Lotus Fairy.
Xiao Chen tore his eyes off this woman with some difficulty. Then, he moved to the back and got rid of the Spiritual Mark that the previous owner left behind.
Finally, he left a strand of his will of soul, setting his mark there.
The Fairy Basket formally changed masters.
At this moment, the dark space lit up. Xiao Chen felt firm ground under his feet and discovered that his surroundings were a vast formation.
That was right. It truly was a vast formation.
There were many flickering stars in the sky, and a moon hung high above. The bright moon was the center of the formation, and the faint stars formed nine hundred ninety-nine different formations.
Hundreds of flowers bloomed on the ground, each of them competing in beauty. The field of flowers looked endless, like a sea of flowers.
Xiao Chen could not make out how many formations lay within the sea of flowers.
The sky and the ground were connected. The formations of the stars and the flowers were linked.
Just one movement caused the stars to move and the flowers to bloom and wither. There were all sorts of changes, looking unfathomable and mysterious.
The Azure Lotus Fairy lay quietly among the flowers.
Now, Xiao Chen finally believed that this Dao Tool did indeed require three years to prepare.
That was still not quite right. He felt that it was already very impressive to be able to make this in three years.
The sleeping Azure Lotus Fairy looked lovable, piquing men's curiosity to the extreme.
While the Azure Lotus Fairy's eyes were tightly shut, she already looked so beautiful. If she opened her eyes, how charming would she be?
However, that was just a thought.
Xiao Chen knew about the strangeness of this Fairy Basket. It needed to absorb sufficient Spirit Jades before the formation could be activated to display mysterious phenomena of different levels.
The more Spirit Jades, the more magnificent and beautiful the mysterious phenomenon.
It was said that no one had seen the Azure Lotus Fairy appear from the original Fairy Basket of the Smiling Daughter Pavilion before.
The Azure Lotus Fairy in replicas would only occasionally be invited out by some extravagant guests to perform her powerful sword dance.
Xiao Chen rubbed his chin as he studied the complicated formations above and below, a heavy frown settling on his face.
Due to his deep accomplishments in geomancy, he could tell that the large, complicated formations hid a powerful killing move.
However, this killing move was well hidden. It would not be easy to uncover it.
Perhaps the rumor was true. The Fairy Basket was not something useless that could only materialize those magnificent mysterious phenomena.
After its mysteries were unraveled, the Fairy Basket could turn out to be a Dao Tool of inestimable might.
It could be that there might not be a need to figure out its mysteries at all. Maybe one only needed to activate all the formations formed by the stars and moon in the sky and the sea of flowers on the ground before materializing that killing move.
Just think about it, how awful would a killing move materialized by so many formations be?
Once this killing move appeared, it would definitely be terrifying.
However, this was just a thought. If Xiao Chen truly wanted to activate all the formations in the Fairy Basket, he would require an astronomical amount of Spirit Jades.
Nevertheless, if he hung on to it, the Fairy Basket might become a great killing tool to place his final gamble on in the future, if he were truly in dire peril.
Xiao Chen withdrew his Spiritual Sense from the Fairy Basket and returned to reality. Then, he took another drink of wine.
The door to the elegant room opened, and Lan Luo walked in alone.
Upon seeing the other cup and wine prepared on the table, Lan Luo asked, "You knew that I would come?"
Remaining standing, Lan Luo continued agitatedly, "Why do you never listen to me, stubbornly wanting to kill Long Bo?"
In Purple Sun City, Xiao Chen had not listened to her advice to leave the Scarlet Blood War Banner behind when leaving Purple Sun City.
In the Cluster Lord's Residence, Xiao Chen had not listened to Lan Luo again, directly "killing" Long Bo.
These two matters resembled each other. Lan Luo simply could not understand.
After thinking for a while and drinking in silence, Xiao Chen gazed at the cup and asked, "Why do you think that I must listen to you?
"It looks like there are some misunderstandings between us that cannot be resolved quickly. This drink is on me. Let's meet again if it is fated. No matter what, I owe you two favors now."
Lan Luo toyed with the wine cup in her hand and smiled bitterly in her heart. "Must you calculate favors so clearly?"
When views were irreconcilable, it would be a waste of breath to continue the discussion. Xiao Chen felt helpless. He wanted to talk things out properly with Lan Luo, but he discovered that their characters were totally different. Perhaps they were both too strong-minded.
Neither was willing to give in to the other; both of them felt that they were right.
Actually, no one was wrong. Neither could be blamed. It was just that many things in the world could not be explained simply with right and wrong.
"I'll be going first."
Xiao Chen put down the wine cup and stood up to leave. However, just when he stood up, someone violently pushed the door of the elegant room open.
Six people appeared outside the door. The leader looked at Xiao Chen and smiled. "You want to leave? You can't do so now."
It was the group of people who came to look for Xiao Chen under Liu Ruyue's orders.