Chapter 684: The Drawbacks of the Ancient King's Disappearance, Seen in a New Light

Chapter 684: Chapter 369: The Drawbacks of the Ancient King’s Disappearance, Seen in a New Light

“You sought me out for the matter of the Copper Heart too, right?” Qing Cang pinched out the virtual screen, asking with a half-smile.

Su Chen didn’t feel embarrassed. Instead, he keenly caught the hidden implication in Qing Cang’s words.

“Brother, what do you mean by ‘too’?” Qing Cang glanced at him and replied, “Chu Lingyuan sent me to take you into the Copper Heart.”

“Venerable Chu Lingyuan?” Su Chen was surprised. He had just returned from the Copper Heart, and Chu Lingyuan already knew.

Qing Cang clicked his tongue in wonder. “I didn’t expect you to have such a good relationship with Ku Baiye.”

“Ku Baiye? You mean Brother Ku?” Su Chen was taken aback before realizing that this matter was related to that Brother Ku.

“That’s right, him, Ku Baiye,” Qing Cang said with a sigh. “His master once competed with our master for the position of the Ancient King. However, the previous Ancient King ultimately passed it down to our master.

“Ku Baiye is older than all of us, and we have been well looked after by him. This is especially true for Chu Lingyuan, who had his life saved by Ku Baiye several times during his youthful adventuring days.”

Su Chen was surprised that there was such a connection.

“However, Ku Baiye has a tricky and eccentric personality. I didn’t expect him to speak up for you.”

Tricky and eccentric? Su Chen thought about it. “It’s alright, I guess. Maybe it’s because I’m the Star Chief?”

“Perhaps that’s part of the reason,” Qing Cang said noncommittally. At Ku Baiye’s age, whether someone was a Star Chief or not didn’t matter much anymore. If he didn’t like Su Chen, he wouldn’t have spoken up, even for a Star Chief.

“Right now, if I were the one asking for you to enter the Copper Heart, Chu Lingyuan would probably still put on airs. After all, with the Ancient King gone, the power of the Ancient King needs to be conserved as much as possible. But since it was Ku Baiye who asked, he couldn’t exactly refuse.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you there.”

Su Chen had sought out Qing Cang precisely to use the back door, so he naturally didn’t refuse. He followed Qing Cang back to the Copper Heart.

They were greeted continuously along the way.

Su Chen whispered, “Brother, shouldn’t we cover up a bit? The Copper Heart is closed to the public, after all. Won’t it look bad if you escort me in?”

“What is there to be afraid of?” Qing Cang appeared indifferent. “You’re the Star Chief. We can just count it as a Sect reward.”

Seeing that Qing Cang didn’t care, Su Chen didn’t press the issue. His heart stirred, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Qin Yun gave me a piece of Morning Fire Residue. Brother, do you know its origins?”

Qing Cang nodded. “It should be from Ink Cast Mountain. They specialize in crafting and refining equipment, and rumor has it they have some connection to the True Martial Sect.”

They specialized in forging weapons. No wonder the Soldier Nurturer reacted to it, Su Chen thought deeply.

Qing Cang reminded him, “This item is quite precious, but what profession you can refine from it depends entirely on luck. You don’t need to rush; it won’t be too late to use it when you reach the Morning Star realm.”

“Mm,” Su Chen nodded, then changed the subject. “Brother, what’s the status of the Flame Fire Golden Sand I asked for?”

“It’s on the way. It will be here soon.”

Chatting along the way, the two arrived at the Copper Heart.

“Brother Ku.”

Stepping inside, the two greeted him simultaneously. Su Chen added, “Thank you…”

Before he could finish, Ku Baiye raised a hand. “Alright, go on…”

He seemed too lazy to say more.

Qing Cang pressed his hands down in the air. A green data stream surged before their eyes, quickly forming a void rift.

“The Copper Heart has been activated. Go on in…”

Su Chen bowed to Ku Baiye again, then turned and stepped inside.

Qing Cang looked back. “Brother, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Ku Baiye gave no response. Qing Cang didn’t mind and walked out.

Having visited the Copper Heart several times, Su Chen was already extremely familiar with it. He smoothly stated his requirements and waited quietly for the Copper Spirit to mimic the environment.

Although it took a bit longer this time, it was nowhere near as difficult as the Endless Abyss from before. In fact, it could even be considered easy. He merely had to observe the operational state of things, which didn’t delay his profession development in the slightest.

***

Ten days had passed since Qin Yun’s banquet ended. The Qin Family, which had previously been largely deserted, was gradually becoming lively again.

The Qin Family had operated for many years and still had some friendly acquaintances. At the banquet, Qin Yun and Su Chen had buried the hatchet. Putting aside Qin Yun’s status as a prisoner, associating with the Qin Family no longer posed any hidden dangers. Thus, visitors came one after another to pay their respects.

At the main gates, after seeing off another group of people, Qin Lie let out a long sigh, feeling quite exhausted. After all, he had deviated from the core of the family long ago; it was only in recent days that he had been thrust back into the position of the helmsman.

Just as he was about to turn back, his ears twitched. He quickly walked deeper into the estate and arrived at Qin Yun’s room, calling out respectfully, “Father.”

Previously, he had harbored some complaints against Qin Yun. However, at that banquet, seeing him act so humbly toward Su Chen in order to seek a way out for the Qin Family had deeply moved Qin Lie. Right now, he felt a bit more genuine respect for his father.

“Is there any news of Su Chen?” Qin Yun’s voice came from the room.

A fleeting look of confusion crossed Qin Lie’s eyes. Puzzled, he asked, “What news?”

Qin Yun fell silent for a moment before replying, “Any news at all. Is there anything regarding Su Chen?”

Qin Lie hesitated. “Not long after the banquet ended that day, Su Xingzhong headed to the Copper Heart. It is said that he used his Star Chief reward as a trade to have Venerable Chu Lingyuan specially open the closed Copper Heart for him.”

“He went to the Copper Heart?” Qin Yun’s voice sounded faintly urgent.

Qin Lie was bewildered. “Yes, Father. What’s wrong?”

There was no movement from the room for a long time. Qin Yun frowned deeply. According to his estimations, the one controlling Su Chen’s body right now should be that Residual Spirit. According to their deal, the moment it seized Su Chen’s body, it was supposed to pay a visit immediately.

Because he had already laid the groundwork at the banquet, Su Chen’s visit wouldn’t seem abrupt. When the time came, they could even put on a show of deep brotherly affection, thereby getting Chu Lingyuan to lift his house arrest.

But he waited and waited, and even to this day, Su Chen hadn’t shown up. This gave him a rather bad premonition, which was why he had called Qin Lie over to ask.

Qin Yun couldn’t figure out what that Residual Spirit was doing at the Copper Heart. Could it be to avoid others seeing through its disguise? But it had never mentioned this matter before. Moreover, even if it had just obtained the body and didn’t want to show its face too much, there was no need to go to the Copper Heart.

Could it be… the Residual Spirit failed? Qin Yun’s heart skipped a beat, but he immediately dismissed the thought. That was even more impossible.

If the Residual Spirit had failed, how could Su Chen let the matter rest? He would definitely find Chu Lingyuan and Qing Cang, and confront him directly. It would be impossible for things to be like they were now, as if nothing had ever happened.

Treachery?

Qin Yun’s eyes turned ruthless. If the Residual Spirit had gone back on its word, he would kill it at all costs… No… he should call it Su Chen now.

He reached out a hand, and an illusory scene emerged. It was the very last scene where the Residual Spirit was attached to the Morning Star Residue, and the two of them were conversing.

There was absolutely no trust between him and the Residual Spirit. To make the Residual Spirit fulfill the deal, the threat of force was one aspect, but there was also the entire record of their plot.

If this matter were exposed, he would definitely be doomed, but the Residual Spirit wouldn’t have it easy either.

“Father?” Qin Lie’s voice came from outside the door again, whispering. “Since Su Xingzhong accepted your apology gift, he definitely won’t target the Qin Family. Please rest assured.”

Qin Yun’s expression darkened. “I know,” he said in a deep voice. “You may go.”

***

In the Copper Heart, Su Chen was surrounded by layer upon layer of mechanical structures. Metal gears engaged and rotated, emitting faint hums in rhythm. They operated according to a specific pattern, occasionally forming various shifting designs.

This was the “complex yet regular” mimetic environment.

At the same time, Su Chen’s figure was slowly walking forward at an extremely sluggish pace. But upon closer inspection, one could see that the edges of his body were extremely blurry, seemingly trembling at a very high speed, even though the resulting visual effect appeared incredibly slow.

“Extreme speed is extreme slowness. This concept is truly abstract enough,” Su Chen muttered to himself. He had tried several times before barely finding the trick to it.

He estimated that with a bit more time and Guiding, he should be able to complete it thoroughly.

As he was thinking, a line of text suddenly popped up on his interface—