The Golden Crow

“What’s wrong with Chinese people?” Chen Fan asked.

Their gazes made him feel uncomfortable, like people in the city staring at someone from the suburbs or white people looking at Africans! No, it was more than that! It was like the ancient nobles glaring at their slaves.

“Nothing, nothing.”

Everyone was startled. They suddenly thought that even though this man was Chinese, he was also a Connate Cultivator and a Connate Cultivator was superior in any city.

But Yun Yier and the others gazed at Chen Fan with pity. They pitied him for being Chinese.

Chen Fan then noticed.

The appearance of this group of people was a bit different from his. It seemed to be due to the local climate. Most of them had light blue eyes and they had a high-bridged nose. The shape of their faces was also different from that of Chinese people. However, this wasn’t the reason why they looked down on Chen Fan.

“Don’t worry, Senior. You’re already a peerless talent able to reach the Connate Level as a Chinese. Besides, you’re such a young man; there’s still a chance for you to join the large sects,” Mu Hongti said.

But she was apparently worried about Chen Fan’s future.

When Chen Fan was about to ask something else, rays of light appeared in the sky.

“It’s someone from the family!” Yun Yier jumped and exclaimed.

The backups from the cultivation families of Zhuyan City were grand. A few flying ships sailed across the sky and their leader was a Connate Cultivator. There were many warriors in azure armors, Immortal Cultivators, Ethereal Enlightenment and Divine Sea Warriors on the ships.

“Thank you for saving our Master. We’ll definitely offer you something to express our gratitude. Our Lord has organized a banquet for you,” the white-haired elder said.

The elders of the other families also moved forward and greeted Chen Fan. They were astonished since he had been able to reach the Connate Level at such a young age, so they were extremely respectful and friendly.

Zhang Lingfeng suddenly said, “Sect-servant Sang, Senior Chen... is Chinese.”

Chinese?

The elders were startled and started sizing up Chen Fan. Indeed, he had black hair and black eyes which was different from everyone else.

He was really Chinese?

Not only the elders, many other Divine Sea and Ethereal Enlightenment Cultivators were also stunned. They stared at Chen Fan, feeling amazement.

“Ah, a friend from China... What a surprise!”

Sect-servant Sang laughed soullessly.

The elder apparently became indifferent all of a sudden. He invited Chen Fan to get on the flying ship without sincerity and was obviously just trying to be polite.

“Captain, Sect-servant Sang used to be thrilled when he saw Connate Cultivators in the past. Why is he so cold right now? Senior Chen seems to be a talent. He should be someone around our age, right?” Someone on the flying ship wondered.

The captain looked at Chen Fan in pity and mumbled, “You fool! Can’t you see he’s Chinese?”

“What a shame. He could have had a promising future. He might have been able to conquer a city or even become a Golden Core Cultivator, but... he’s Chinese!”

Chen Fan witnessed all this.

He didn’t seem to mind it, but there were more and more doubts in his mind.

The elders of a few other families invited Chen Fan to get on their flying ships, but Chen Fan rejected their offers. Those elders were only being polite. They left immediately after giving Chen Fan their address.

Mu Hongti, who was the last one to leave, also felt sorry for him.

“Senior Chen, I didn’t know our family would react like this, but don’t worry. We’ll never forget what you did for us. Feel free to look for the Mu family if you need anything.”

“Hm.”

Chen Fan nodded.

As for Zhang Lingfeng, he didn’t even look back.

When the flying ships left, Chen Fan pondered for a while. He had a picture of the situation in the Beihan Region. What interested him most at the moment was to know what had happened to the ancient Chinese cultivators that made those people act so indifferent after knowing he was Chinese.

“There was a Nascent Soul Heavenly Lord and many Golden Core and Connate Cultivators among the Chinese cultivators back then. Heaven’s Equal should have been able to become a top figure even on Planet Tianhuang. What exactly happened?” Chen Fan wondered.

He pondered for a while, then turned into a ray of golden light and went to Zhuyan City.

With an address, Chen Fan could travel a thousand miles in a blink. A magnificent old city appeared ahead of him soon. The walls around the city were a hundred feet tall, which were covered in black iron. There were many talisman inscriptions carved on them and they were shining even during the day.

The soldiers stationed on the walls were wearing heavy armor. Even though they hadn’t started working on Immortal Cultivation, they were all hunky and powerful. The moat around the city was a hundred miles long and there were millions of people living inside. An invisible array enveloped the moat, so nobody could fly inside.

“Swish!”

Chen Fan turned back to a mortal and entered the city.

The array of the city had been formed by a Golden Core Cultivator, but Chen Fan could break it easily. However, he didn’t want to be so high-profile as he had just arrived.

Zhuyan City was bustling.

The streets were a hundred meters wide, which allowed ten carriages abreast to pass. The houses on the sides were a hundred feet tall and there were crowds of people moving around. Although their clothes looked ancient, it was as flourishing as Earth.

Chen Fan felt the energy of a lot of Immortal Cultivators along the way. Almost one among dozens of people was an Immortal Cultivator, which was a much higher ratio when comparing this with the numbers in the Realm of Kunxu and on Earth, but most of them were Foundation Establishment Cultivators. There were less Ethereal Enlightenment or Divine Sea Cultivators, and not even one Connate Cultivator.

Beams of light swept across the sky from time to time.

Those were Divine Sea Cultivators flying with artifacts or the Masters of some cultivation families using Dharma Artifacts. People on the ground were all jealous.

“If I become a Connate Cultivator someday, I’ll run wild in the city. Let’s see if those Young Masters would still be so arrogant,” someone said.

“Don’t you even think about it! Connate Cultivators are real powerhouses. There are only a few of them other than those in the City Lord Mansion and the cultivation families. They can live a few hundred years. If you want to become one, get in a sect first. Without the guidance of the Immortal Masters, you’ll never be able to break through the Ethereal Enlightenment Level even after a century.”

Another person sneered.

Chen Fan pondered next to them.

“Looks like it’s very difficult to become a Connate Cultivator even on Planet Tianhuang.”

Chen Fan entered a few shops and found that he needed Spirit Stones no matter what he did. In the Realm of Cultivation, Spirit Stones were money. He only had a few of them left, but this couldn’t stop him at all.

He found a magnificent medicine hall with two ten-foot golden crow statues at the entrance.

A pretty lady in a palace gown approached him and said, “Sir, would you like to buy medicines or make some? The Golden Crow has all kinds of medicines, even superior-grade Spirit Pills. We have alchemists of different levels here...”

She looked gorgeous and was apparently an Ethereal Enlightenment Cultivator. Even though there wasn’t any energy leaking from Chen Fan as if he were a mortal, the lady didn’t mistreat him.

“I’d like to sell something,” Chen Fan said as he took out a bottle of pills.

The lady was startled.

The Golden Crow was a famous medicine hall around the Beihan Region and it was rare for a mortal to go there to sell medicines. However, she still served Chen Fan tea and told him she was going to find an appraiser.

The appraiser was an old man in an azure shirt and a Divine Sea Cultivator. He was a bit arrogant at first, but his look changed after opening the lid of the bottle. He looked at the medicines twice more and was astonished. “These are superior-grade Spirit Pills, ‘Heavenly Essence Pills,’ and you’ve got ten of them!”

The people in the hall were stunned.

Many of them stared at Chen Fan with a confused look.

One superior-grade Spirit Pill could help people become a Divine Sea Cultivator and only a Connate Cultivator could make one. It would be a treasure even to the Golden Crow, not to mention there were more than one!

“The Heavenly Essence Pills can extend your life for a century, save your life, improve your power and basically anything. They’re precious for any Connate Cultivator, especially if they’re milky white in color which are the best of the best. Apparently, they came from an Elixir-brewing Master. The thing that’s so special about them is that they don’t have any side effects, so taking the pills won’t affect your future cultivation. Where did you get them?” the old man said excitedly.

Everyone present was just as stunned. Superior-grade Spirit Pills were already precious, let alone those made by a Master which had no side effects. This was like a dream for many cultivation families.

One Spirit Pill could spare a cultivator dozens of years of cultivation and make him break through to the Divine Sea Level, to later become a superior figure in the city. Such Spirit Pills were really difficult to find.

Many people started to look at Chen Fan with greed.

A man’s wealth was also his ruin!

Even Connate Cultivators would want to snatch such a treasure, let alone ordinary people.

A Young Master immediately offered a price and took out ten thousand Spirit Stones, trying to buy the pills. The old man suddenly felt like it wasn’t right, so he asked Chen Fan to follow him into a room and apologized to him. He said the Golden Crow would protect Chen Fan, but Chen Fan didn’t mind at all. He smiled and said, “I made them.”

“What?”

The senior officers of the Golden Crow who had just arrived were shocked.

Only someone who was at least a Connate Cultivator could make superior-grade Spirit Pills; normal Immortal Cultivators could never achieve this. To be called an Elixir-brewing Master was to become the Overlord among Connate Cultivators.

Chen Fan looked like eighteen and had no trace of power at all, and yet he was a Connate Cultivator?

“You’re a Connate Cultivator. I’m sorry. Please forgive me, Exalted Immortal.”

The old man sized Chen Fan up and became more terrified. He felt that Chen Fan was completely unpredictable and he knelt down in the end.

“Exalted Immortal, superior-grade Spirit Pills are expensive. They cost at least three thousand Spirit Stones. Your Heavenly Essence Pills are even stronger. They’re the best of the best and ten of them together are worth a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. The Golden Crow... doesn’t have so many of them right now!”

The old man smiled wryly.

A hundred thousand Spirit Stones were enough to buy a Treasure Medicine and could help a Divine Sea Cultivator reach the Connate Level.

“Fine.”

Chen Fan stored away the pills and was about to leave.

Zhuyan City was large and there were a few medicine halls like the Golden Crow. He could directly sell the pills to the Chamber of Commerce. They were rich and a hundred thousand shouldn’t be a problem for them.

“Wait...”

The old man said, “The Golden Crow is going to hold an auction three days later. By then, the cultivation families in Zhuyan City and even those from the other cities will send representatives here. There will be Connate Overlords as well. If you can wait for three days, you can put your pills up for auction and set the price even higher. Besides, there will be a few other treasures which might be useful for you.”

“Three days later?” Chen Fan mumbled.