CHAPTER 298: CHAPTER 170: WHEN THE WIND RISES, EVEN PIGS CAN FLY_3

"Eh? Your jade-like face is actually a magical artifact?"

Yingyue felt the changes in Ye Qingzhou’s Qi and was extremely surprised.

After all, she was a Peak Grandmaster at the Heaven-Ascending Sixth Layer Realm and close to Ye Qingzhou, yet she couldn’t recognize the unfamiliar Qi around him at this moment.

"Truly a masterpiece of the Immortal Family, indeed extraordinary."

Ye Qingzhou was very satisfied with this mask. Compared to simply altering bone structure and appearance, this direct method of changing a person’s Qi was clearly much more challenging!

The fluctuations of Spirit, Qi, and Mind are different for every Martial Artist. Thus, under the perception of their Qi, many disguises are difficult to escape the senses of a powerful individual, and can be unraveled at any moment.

Especially for Master Level Martial Artists, whose Qi penetrates heaven and earth, and whose Light of Spiritual Mind covers them, how strong is their spiritual perception?

Bone Shifting, such a minor trick, is nothing but a joke under the Qi perception of a Martial Arts Master.

"The Rain Master possesses these methods, yet doesn’t use them on himself—is it because he is confident no one can recognize him, or is it deliberate, to intimidate opponents by revealing his identity?"

Ye Qingzhou thought briefly and came to a conclusion: "I’m certainly not the first to know the secret of the True Words Nine-Character Seal, so the Rain Master must be doing it deliberately."

"The art of war states: The false becomes true, the true becomes false, intertwining false and true, hard to discern truth from fiction. The Rain Master might not have fully recovered his strength, so he deliberately exposed his identity, letting others hesitate when plotting against the Heart Evil Stream. Or perhaps, the Rain Master has recovered, but deliberately exposes his whereabouts, intending to use himself as bait for a willing party to take the bait..."

Ye Qingzhou’s mind instantly conjured various possibilities. The more he thought, the more he felt that the Rain Master was profound and unfathomable, surely an unparalleled cunning manipulator with grand ambitions.

Forget it, anyhow, it has nothing to do with me.

The Heart Evil Stream doesn’t plan to rebel, only their style is somewhat extreme. Ye Qingzhou holds no bias against them, for he himself enjoys the thrill of settling grudges.

......

January 20th, Great Cold.

This event marks the end of the year, heralding the retreat of winter and the arrival of spring, beginning a new cycle of seasons.

In many places in the Dongji Kingdom, during the period from Great Cold to the start of spring, there are many important folk customs, such as clearing out the old, making preserved meats, and holding stove and year-end festivals.

Yingyue wanted to follow local customs, so she bought many ingredients a few days in advance, dragging Little Youruo into the kitchen with her, claiming to prepare a grand feast to broaden Ye Qingzhou’s horizons.

Ye Qingzhou indeed had his horizons broadened, just not by a grand feast, but by a pot full of Cthulhu-style dark culinary chaos.

Some ingredients were directly carbonized under Yingyue’s handling, or turned into water-boiled fish with bizarre deep-sea aesthetics, removing any appetite Ye Qingzhou had, making him want to avoid it desperately.

In the end, Ye Qingzhou had to order a luxurious takeout, and the three of them... well, one person and two snakes, happily indulged in a meal together.

The day after Great Cold, Ye Qingzhou received a call from Xu Yunxi: "Ye Qingzhou, the Dragon Vein you asked me to find, I’ve located it."

"Oh? So soon?"

"It’s somewhat coincidental. Have you heard of Dr. Qiu? He’s a member of our Xiang Province Geographical Association, and although his martial arts cultivation is average, not even at Professional Level, he has cultivated a unique technique called ’Dragon-Seeking and Gold-Splitting,’ which can sense the flow of Qi in topography, making him highly skilled in Feng Shui and geomancy. The Dragon Vein you wanted was found by him."

"Why doesn’t he use the Dragon Vein he found?"

"He can’t use it."

Xu Yunxi laughed, saying: "Though the term Dragon Vein sounds lofty, it’s essentially energy circulation underground. With certain methods, you can extract some energy from it, like converting it into fortune. But this energy cannot be directly absorbed and refined by the human body, so its use is quite limited."

"So he just gives it to me for free?"

"It costs money."

"How much is he quoting?"

"One billion."

"Can’t it be negotiated down?"

Though Ye Qingzhou wasn’t short on money, he instinctively sought to save, having been used to poverty before.

Xu Yunxi found his frugality amusing and said helplessly: "Ye Qingzhou, this is a Dragon Vein, you know how many wealthy tycoons want it? If not for Dr. Qiu knowing your status as a Martial Arts Hidden Dragon and valuing your potential, wanting to connect with you, he might not sell it at all."

"Hey, he wants to curry favor with me, he should give it for free."

Ye Qingzhou sighed, feeling like he missed out on a billion.

Xu Yunxi was helpless with Ye Qingzhou’s frugality too, thinking he might be tight on cash, so she asked: "Should I cover this cost for you first?"

Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "No need, I have it myself."

The payment from selling the Divine Gold to Gu Mingye had already been fully received, so Ye Qingzhou wasn’t lacking money now; whether a billion or ten billion, to him, was just a number.

But having more money didn’t mean spending recklessly.

After all, this money was hard-earned from Kang Jinlong, quite laborious indeed.

After resting for a day, Ye Qingzhou went to the agreed place to meet the main character.

"Dr. Qiu, hello."

"Ye Hidden Dragon, long time coming."

Qiu Xiangyuan, with the reserved demeanor characteristic of intellectuals, said a few courteous words to Ye Qingzhou.

Ye Qingzhou didn’t plan to engage in pleasantries with Qiu Xiangyuan, thus directly asked: "The Dragon Vein I want, where is it?"

"It’s deep within Longhua Mountain. Its vein resembles an Azure Dragon, flourishing everywhere. If a billionaire obtains it, with luck’s blessing, they might reach trillions."

This saying was something Ye Qingzhou heard for the first time: "Earning money through luck?"

Qiu Xiangyuan was unsurprised: "In business, many times it’s about being in the right place at the right time, even a pig can fly when it’s in the air currents."