Chapter 67: Chapter 67 Ao Lie, Good Brother【Extra, Request for Recommendation Tickets】_1
Sha Chen was unaware that someone was already scheming against him. Li Changgeng merely wished for his downfall, but Matchmaker wanted his life. It wasn’t that Matchmaker was cruel by nature; it was purely because their interests did not align—he didn’t want Buddhism to complete the quest for the scriptures easily. Since Buddhism had set its sights on Sha Chen, then they should be denied him. If Sha Chen had known what Matchmaker was thinking, he would have cursed out loud. He had already been cautious enough, yet someone still wished for his death.
Sha Chen was cultivating, but suddenly he felt a jolt through his body. "Who wants to harm me?" Sha Chen abruptly awoke with a furrowed brow. Having reached the level of Greater Primordial Golden Immortal in his cultivation, he had a faint premonition of fate’s designs. He had sensed that someone wanted to harm him. However, he didn’t know who it was.
Sha Chen felt uneasy and then checked the Apricot Yellow Flag of Wuji and the Black Tortoise Divine Array several times to ensure they were functioning normally. He also scoped out his practice ground hundreds of times with the Illusion-Breaking Divine Eye to confirm that, apart from him, there was no one else. After inspecting the Flowing Sand River thousands of times and finding everything as usual, with the Thousand Swords Piercing The Heart Formation unchanged, he finally felt at ease.
Sha Chen muttered to himself, "Who exactly wants to harm me? It seems I must quickly enhance my cultivation and strength to face the unknown threat. I need to strengthen my defenses too. The current defenses can’t even ward off a Saint, which is not truly safe."
Sha Chen’s eyes flickered. And even though my talent and potential have improved, they are still insufficient compared to the speed at which I absorb. I need to unlock more potential.
Actually, Sha Chen’s cultivation speed was already not slow. It would take others hundreds of thousands or even millions of years to progress from True Immortal to Greater Primordial Golden Immortal. But he had only taken a few decades. Of course, this was the result of his consumption of countless cultivation resources, enhancement of potential, and practice of top-tier cultivation techniques. Nevertheless, his cultivation speed was truly rapid.
But Sha Chen was not satisfied. According to the news from his incarnation Li Bai, Sun Wukong had made rapid progress since he began cultivating, now already reaching the middle phase of Greater Primordial Golden Immortal, which was indeed swift. If he lagged behind any longer, Sun Wukong would leave him far behind. Sha Chen wanted to continue to keep a low profile and did not wish to compete with others, but he desired to enhance himself more rapidly. Remaining low-key was a must, but it was for the purpose of strengthening his power. The sooner he became powerful, the sooner he would feel secure.
Just as Sha Chen was settling his inner turmoil and preparing to continue his cultivation, voices calling out from beyond the Flowing Sand River reached him.
Indeed, is this the source of my unease!?
Sha Chen furrowed his brows, ignored the shouts, and used his divine vision to look outside, where he saw a familiar figure. It was Bai Yulong Ao Lie!
He was startled. Didn’t I tell him to go back and stay behind closed doors, to be a proper scapegoat? Why has he come again?
Sha Chen definitely did not want to see him. Because of the previous incident, he feared it might have aroused suspicion from Buddhism and the Heavenly Court, leading them to blame him, which would be troublesome. But if he didn’t see him, Ao Lie, lacking in intelligence, would keep yelling on the shore, "Brother, it’s me, Ao Lie! Open up the formation, your little brother has come to visit you. About the liuli Dragon Pearl you mentioned last time, it really is..."
Ao Lie’s previous indiscretion had almost made Sha Chen’s face turn green with panic, so he quickly interjected sternly, "Nonsense! If you’re here, just be here. Why cause trouble for me?"
He opened a water passage, and Ao Lie immediately arrived in front of the formation. Sha Chen, after checking thoroughly, finally opened the formation to let him in.
Ao Lie was overjoyed to see Sha Chen again and, for some reason, he always felt that Sha Chen possessed an aura of the Dragon Clan, which made dragons feel an instinctive closeness to him. He wanted to give Sha Chen a hug to express his joy. Sha Chen was utterly unwilling, his face full of disdain.
"Why are you here, and speaking without restraint? Do you want to get me killed?" Sha Chen said emotionlessly.
Ao Lie’s enthusiasm didn’t wane as he replied, "Brother, I was praising you. Your prediction last time was spot on. The liuli Dragon Pearl really was in the sky, and I felt as if it had some magical power, like it was tempting me to steal it."
Sha Chen just made an ’oh’ sound.
Ao Lie continued, "Later, when I went back and told my father, he broke out in a cold sweat. He said I did the right thing and asked if I was guided by an expert."
Sha Chen became alert and asked, "What did you say?"
Ao Lie replied with some embarrassment, "I’m sorry, brother, I..."
Upon hearing this, Sha Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he exclaimed, "You didn’t sell me out, did you?"
Ao Lie guiltily said, "I’m sorry, brother. In that moment, vanity got the better of me and I said I figured it out myself. I, I owe you an apology."
Sha Chen breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "That’s fine then, as long as you didn’t mention me." He preferred to keep a low profile and didn’t want others to know about him.
Seeing Sha Chen’s lofty principles and integrity, Ao Lie felt even more ashamed and believed he had wronged Sha Chen. "Brother, I owe you an apology. Yet you still protect me so earnestly, making me feel ashamed."
Ao Lie was a young man who valued affection and loyalty. He was usually surrounded by fair-weather friends who rushed to take credit for even the smallest achievements. Sha Chen’s indifference to fame and fortune moved and inspired him.
Sha Chen didn’t want to engage in too much idle chatter with Ao Lie, saying, "Did you come here just to say this? From now on, don’t mention me outside, and let’s meet less frequently. Alright, you should go back now." He was clearly showing Ao Lie the door.
Ao Lie said, "Brother, don’t be hasty. It’s a long way to the East Sea. As your junior brother, I can’t leave without having a few meals."
Sha Chen frowned. Empty-handed and expected to provide a simple meal? He was utterly resistant. "A simple meal? How about we each take a step back? You don’t eat a meal, just eat... simply..."
Ao Lie interjected, "Right, brother, I’ve brought a few hundred chests of special products from my Dragon Palace. You must accept them, otherwise I’ll be upset."
Then he opened his Qiankun Bag and took out several hundred large chests, piled up like a mountain. Upon opening the chests, there was a dazzling gleam of gold and the rich essence of divine power. They contained pearls, agates, crystals, corals, and all sorts of rare treasures from the sea. Most abundant were the elixirs grown in the sea, some seedlings of sea trees, and seeds of sea elixirs. Frankly, the contents of these hundreds of large chests were even more valuable than those ten mines of God Source Stones.
Sha Chen was stunned and slightly reproachful, saying, "What simple meal? As your brother, can’t I even prepare a proper feast? Let me tell you, nobody is leaving sober today. If you don’t get drunk, brother will be angry."
Ao Lie was deeply touched. Sha Chen’s hospitality made him feel right at home. Here, he experienced the warmth of family. Then he felt ashamed—the gifts he had brought were rather ordinary, and here was his brother welcoming him with such enthusiasm, it made him feel quite embarrassed.
"Brother, I’m truly sorry. These sea trees and sea elixirs, I have plenty on my side. Bringing them was purely to add to the splendor of your abode. These corals and crystals are incredibly precious, but our father awards them sparingly, so I brought a smaller amount. Next time, I’ll definitely bring more."
Sha Chen immediately patted his shoulder and said, "Please don’t. Just bring more sea trees and sea elixirs. There’s no need for corals and crystals. I don’t want to trouble you."
In reality, Sha Chen was a pragmatist. Corals and crystals might be nice to look at, but they were useless to him and were not even as valuable as bricks for heating. Sea trees and sea elixirs were rare on land, contained divine power, and were necessary for cultivation—they were what he truly desired!
However, Ao Lie was deeply moved. Brother is such a good person. To avoid putting me in a difficult position, he’d rather have those seemingly useless plants and flowers.