Chapter 567: Arid Continent
If Shu Xiaolou wasn’t at Peach Blossom House, she must be at the Beast Appraisal Pavilion, so Lin Jin made his way over to the tower.
The lecturers of the pavilion would never stop Lin Jin from entering the pavilion. When he arrived on the fourth floor, he was greeted by a wall of blurry paintings.
Shu Xiaolou was throwing a tantrum by sealing up the paintings so Lin Jin couldn’t get inside, not even with the Cosmic Ink.
Lin Jin felt helpless. This did seem like something Shu Xiaolou would do.
However, Lin Jin knew how powerful Shu Xiaolou was so she must be watching him from somewhere. He decided to say his goodbyes in the room.
“Shu Xiaolou, no banquets last forever and all good things must come to an end. Thank you for taking care of me all this while. I am very grateful for that.” Having said that, he bowed in front of a painting that was flanked by weapons.
“I will be going on a journey so I have come to say goodbye. As my friend, you should send me off.” Upon saying that, Lin Jin looked around.
There was no reaction.
It looked like he was talking to himself, which seemed a little foolish.
However, Lin Jin knew that Shu Xiaolou was listening.
“Alright, if you won’t come out, I’ll be heading out now.”
Lin Jin looked around once more and still no response.
He had no choice but to descend the stairs. Yet, even after stepping out of the pavilion, Shu Xiaolou never appeared.
Lin Jin sighed.
Shu Xiaolou must be angry this time.
This further upset Lin Jin. Had it been any other day, Shu Xiaolou would have tried to bribe him or threaten his life to prevent him from leaving the academy. This time, she knew that she wouldn’t succeed, so she chose to stay away.
After waiting at the door for the longest time, Lin Jin sorrowfully summoned a cloud and left.
Once Lin Jin was gone, Shu Xiaolou’s figure materialized outside the Beast Appraisal Pavilion. With puffy red eyes, she glanced up at the tiny dot in the sky. Her fist was clenched so tightly that her knuckles popped.
Zhong Zifeng, who returned to the pavilion noticed Shu Xiaolou and he quickly saluted her.
She simply turned and walked away without speaking a word. Then, as if she remembered something, she paused.
“Little Zhong, I’ll be staying at Peach Blossom House from now on. You may find me there if there is any business but don’t let anyone near it these few days.”
Having said that, she disappeared in a flash.
He could tell that Shu Xiaolou was in a terrible mood.
Lin Jin was just as depressed. Having spent three months with Shu Xiaolou, he knew she had issues with separation. Hence, Lin Jin understood her reluctance to show up.
Soon, Lin Jin suppressed his miserable feelings. Shu Xiaolou would always be at Heavenly Spiral and they could surely meet again. Why did he have to be so sad?
Lin Jin’s next destination wasn’t Jade Dragon Kingdom.
Daojun’s Hieroglyphic contained many things and among them was information of a few magic treasures.
Anyone who tried using a magic treasure would swear by it. As for Lin Jin, the Immortal Binding Rope he obtained was more than just powerful. During times of emergency, its deployment could turn the tide in his favor, just like that time when they fought the zombie. It was because of the Immortal Binding Rope that they managed to seal it inside the painting.
All magic treasures were great things. Lin Jin knew he had countless strong enemies waiting for him beyond the horizon. Having a few more useful items would be helpful when the time comes for them to duke it out.
Being the number one expert five hundred years ago, Daojun had achieved immortality so the magic treasures he possessed must be incredibly strong. After sustaining heavy injuries from his clash with the immortal devouring beast, Daojun knew his days were numbered so he made arrangements for his death. Besides passing down a handful of magic treasures to his disciples, Daojun hid away the rest.
Some of the locations he listed didn’t even appear possible to house anything of value.
The Immortal Binding Rope had been one of Daojun’s magic treasures. However, he hadn’t passed it down to Insect Taoist. It was the latter who somehow managed to retrieve it from the rope’s hiding place.
Although Daojun didn’t clarify this in his hieroglyphic, one could deduce the item’s location based on the clues he provided.
Lin Jin’s next target was a magic treasure called the ‘Four Ocean Gourd’. In Daojun’s Hieroglyphic, he mentioned he had obtained this in an immortal’s ruin. However, Daojun rarely used this artifact. In his words, the treasure did not suit him.
After Lin Jin discovered the use of this gourd, he immediately decided that his first target collection would be this magic treasure.
It may not have suited Daojun, but it suited Curator.
All this time, Lin Jin wanted Curator to have a unique move. Flames were Lin Jin’s trademark and Curator had been using fire spells too. Lin Jin thought it was rather bland.
If he could obtain the Four Ocean Gourd, Lin Jin was sure he could conjure a powerful force when the treasure was used in tandem with the water reservoir scale.
According to Daojun’s notes, the Four Ocean Gourd was in the northwest Arid Continent. It was a little far off from here to Lin Jin chose to hurry over on his cloud.
With Lin Jin’s current cultivation level, his spirit energy volume was at about five hundred stones now. As he could regenerate spirit energy sequentially, allowing it to flow continuously, cloud-riding for an extended period wasn’t problematic anymore. He wasn’t any slower than an eagle beast either.
Hence, it made more sense to ride a cloud. What’s more, he could practice his cloud control skills too.
Three days later, Lin Jin arrived at Arid Continent. Of the large continents in this world, Arid Continent was one of the smallest. It was filled with mountains, and freshwater was an incredibly scarce resource, thanks to its dry weather. It was unsurprising that this place was sparsely populated.
Arid Continent didn’t have premium countries, not even intermediate ones. It was made up of a few small countries, so this continent couldn’t compare to its contemporaries.
With both a small population and a limited number of states, the terrain on Arid Continent was also dangerous, making it a favorite hiding place for ruffians, villainous experts, and fugitives. It was said that most of the small countries in Arid Continent were established by villainous experts and ruffians. Of course, the civilians living here weren’t exactly good people either.
Looks like each place had its unique way to sustain its population.
Anyway, when Lin Jin arrived on his cloud, he was greeted by a desolate view.
In Lin Jin’s words, this place wasn’t suited for humans habitation. However, such was life. When one door closes, another would open.
Arid Continent may be bare but it was an important transport route. For land travelers, this place was connected to North Continent, the northern part of United Continent, as well as East Continent. If one wanted to travel between Grassy Continent and South Continent, they would have to pass through this area too.
Of course, one could choose to take a detour, but it would cost a lot of time and money. The journey would be twice as long, and for this reason, the people of Arid Continent were able to maintain their livelihood. The people here lived on robbing travelers and collecting toll fees. To reap profits without having to toil away at the fields was quite enjoyable for them.
Daojun had explained why he decided to hide the Four Ocean Gourd in such a deserted and dangerous place like Arid Continent.
Back then, Daojun visited this place during his travels. He found it to be incredibly dry, and rain never fell once through the year. He left the Four Ocean Gourd in a temple here and placed a formation so that once every few months, the gourd would activate on its own. Using its limitless water supply, the gourd would bring rain to the lands of Arid Continent.
With this, Daojun had hoped that Arid Continent could be like the other continents and their people could grow their own crops. The civilians could stop relying on petty crimes to live effortless lives.
These were all written in Daojun’s Hieroglyphic. It was clear that Daojun had acted with good intentions.
Though, the outcome might very well be completely different from what Daojun originally imagined.