Chapter 95 Zhou Weiqing’s Coming of Age 'Ceremony! (3)
In the corner of the room, Fat Cat popped her head out, staring blankly at Zhou Weiqing in the doorway, a complicated look in her eyes as well as she pawed the couch in front of her with her claws.
After a long moment, Zhou Weiqing finally seemed to snap out of it, abruptly turning around and saying: “Come on Fat Cat, let’s go to the Skill Storing Palace.”
Although it was already in the small hours of the morning, Zhou Weiqing could not still his restless heart. Fat Cat started a little, but quickly jumped onto his shoulder and sliding down into her usual spot in his arms. She did not know why, but at that moment, she particularly wanted to feel his warm embrace.
Feeling the warm furry body of Fat Cat in his arms, the empty feeling in Zhou Weiqing’s heart felt a little better.
After exiting the inn, the fresh cold air cleared Zhou Weiqing’s mind in a flash. Looking up, he was instantly caught by the breathtaking sight of a sky filled with stars, as if they were winking at him from a close distance, just a hand's reach away from him.
Taking a huge breath, he held it in until his lungs felt like they were about to explode. Only then did Zhou Weiqing stop, expelling out his troubles in that one long breath.
The troubled look on his face disappeared, replaced by a resolute edge to it.
Zhou Weiqing was only seventeen years old, and yet, at this moment, he had finally truly grown up.
And his earlier re-uniting with Shangguan Bing’er, was just like his coming of age ceremony, signalling that he was now truly an adult, a man!
The Skill Storing Palace on the Heavenly Jewel Island was very close to their inn, and before long Zhou Weiqing had entered it. With the Heavenly Jewel Plaque, he easily gained access.
At first, he had been worried that the Skill Storing Palace might be closed at night, but on reaching his destination, he found that his worries had been unfounded, and that the Skill Storing Palace on the Heavenly Jewel Island was actually open everyday, at all hours.
The Skill Storing Palace here had a slightly different payment system as compared to the others Zhou Weiqing had visited before; when entering, no matter which level of Heavenly Beast one wanted to Skill Store from, every day was a flat fee of fifty thousand gold coins.
As compared to the lowest prices in some of the Empires’ Skill Storing Palace of five hundred gold coins, it was more than a hundred times more.
Still, no one would complain of it being too pricey.
That was because each and every one of the Heavenly Beasts in this Skill Storing Palace was painstakingly chosen, and only the best would be allowed to stay here, each having only the best, strongest or most useful Skills.
Amongst them, there was no lack of Heavenly King or even Heavenly Emperor stage Heavenly Beasts!
As for whether there were even higher stage Heavenly God Heavenly Beasts, not many people knew.
Under normal circumstances, entering the Skill Storing Palace, the first thing Zhou Weiqing would have done would be to first Store his two last remaining Skills of the Time Attribute.
Yet, the current him was filled with the image of Shangguan Bing’er, and he could not maintain a calm head. In such a state, he had no patience to slowly look for the most suitable Skill for himself. Coming here in the dead of the night, his target was not to go through Skill Storing.
Under the guidance of an employee, Zhou Weiqing entered the depths of the Skill Storing Palace. The size of this place was actually smaller than that of the ZhongTian Empire Skill Storing Palace, but at every passageway there was a Lustre Gem.
The guide who brought Zhou Weiqing in asked him: “Which Heavenly Beast Attributes are you looking to Skill Store?”
Zhou Weiqing hesitated a moment, before asking solemnly: “Do you all have any Heavenly Beasts with both the Darkness Attribute and Demonic Attribute? Any stage is fine.”
The white clad guide looked at him in surprise, saying: “Please hold a moment, I will have to check regarding that request.”
As he said that, he walked to one of the Lustre Gems at the side and started to search for the required information.
Naturally, Zhou Weiqing had a reason for choosing a Heavenly Beast with both Darkness and Demonic Attributes. The reason he came here this night was actually to Devour a Heavenly Beast’s Heavenly Energy in order to cultivate faster.
After seeing Shangguan Bing’er, his thirst for power had grown to new heights, and he wasn’t even willing to waste any time, wanting to grow stronger in the shortest possible time to gain back his Bing’er.
As for why one which had both the Darkness and Demonic Attributes, there was naturally a reason for that as well. After reading through the Demonic Manual, Zhou Weiqing had a much deeper understanding of the intricate profound mysteries of the Devour Skill.
According to the records in the Demonic Manual, when using the Devour Skill for the purpose of cultivation and training, the easiest for one to purify and absorb was the Heavenly Energy from Heavenly Beasts with both these attributes. That was because the Devour Skill was after all a Demonic Skill, and the Demonic Attribute was intricately linked to the Darkness Attribute.
In truth, having both the Darkness and Demonic Attributes was the hidden foundation that one had to have before they could actually have the Devour Skill.
As such, when the Devoured Heavenly Energy consisted of those two attributes, it would have the greatest fit with Zhou Weiqing’s own Heavenly Energy, allowing him to gain a greater proportion after purifying and absorbing, reducing wastage and greatly further increasing his rate of cultivation.
This was the fastest speed possible for cultivating!
Of course, a Heavenly Beast having both the Darkness and Demonic Attributes was even rarer than a human with those two attributes. If not for the fact that this was the Heavenly Jewel Island Skill Storing Palace, Zhou Weiqing would not even bother asking about this.
It didn’t take long for the guide to finish his search and return to Zhou Weiqing, saying respectfully: “Sir, I have completed the search. Heavenly Beasts with those two Darkness and Demonic Attributes are extremely rare, and even in our Heavenly Jewel Island Skill Storing Palace, we only have two. One is a Top level Zong Stage Heavenly Beast, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider, and the other is a Heavenly Emperor Stage Heavenly Beast, the Devil Dragon Girl.”
“However, in order to Skill Store Heavenly King Beasts and above, one needs to have a certain contribution to our Heavenly Jewel Island, otherwise a barter trade of equivalent exchange is required.”
Zhou Weiqing started: “Additional payment of gold coins isn’t accepted?”
The guide smiled as he shook his head, saying: “I’m sorry Sir, the value of Heavenly King Beasts and above isn’t measurable by just gold coins alone.”
Hearing his words, Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “I see… so the fifty thousand gold coins here are just for Zong Stage Beasts. In that case, I’ll choose that Eight-Eyed Demon Spider you mentioned earlier then.”
“Please follow me.” The guide nodded as he led Zhou Weiqing into the passageway where the Darkness Attribute Heavenly Beasts were.
As it was late in the night, the rather empty Skill Storing Palace was eerily quiet, and only their footsteps could be heard as they walked down the path led by the guide. As they walked, the guide told Zhou Weiqing: “In order to ensure the Heavenly Beasts are active and in a good environment, although they are given Seals and restrictions, the restrictions are much weaker than compared to other Skill Storing Palaces. The Eight-Eyed Demon Spider is a fierce, violent creature, and you need to be careful when you are going through Skill Storing later.”
Zhou Weiqing nodded towards him, saying: “Thanks for your advice, I will take care.”
The two walked almost a hundred metres through various passageways, twisting and turning before they finally reached a large door, about two metres tall and a metre wide. Clearly, there was a Sealed Heavenly Beast behind this door.
Finally, the guide stopped right before the door, pausing a second before saying: “Sir, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider you requested is right behind that door. Please do note that you have one day in order to go through Skill Storing. If you do not come out within a day, you will be charged a second day’s fee even if you do not make full use of the time. After completing your Skill Storing, please return via the route we came by, and do not wander into any of the other Heavenly Beasts’ rooms, lest any harm comes to you.”
As he said that, he took out a key and opened the door, before motioning Zhou Weiqing to enter.
Zhou Weiqing thanked the guide before entering the room alone.
The room wasn’t large, though it was specially reserved only for the lone Heavenly Beast, and it was only about a dozen or so square metres. As soon as he entered the door, Zhou Weiqing spotted his target easily.
It was a huge spider, almost totally lifeless-grey in colour. It’s body was large, almost the size of a big millstone. As compared to ordinary spiders, its eight limbs were not long at all, but its large eight glowing eyes on its back were icy cold, almost terrifying.
Its entire body was also covered densely with black tattoo lines, almost forming a strange web design on its body. It’s relatively short legs were actually terrifying, with vicious reverse spikes studding it. On a single look, one could easily tell this was a fierce creature designed to be a killing machine.
This was the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider indeed. It truly lived up to its name.
Zhou Weiqing drew in a deep breath as soon as he saw the creature. Even someone used to seeing Heavenly Beasts like himself was almost caught by surprise. His earlier excitement cooled down instantly, as he forced himself to calm down.
Without even looking at the introduction, he understood clearly that if not for the fact that this Heavenly Beast was Sealed, he could not possibly even dream of facing it. In fact, even the entire Fei Li Battle Team together would not be a match for it.
Dual Attributes. Darkness and Demonic. Top Level Zong Stage!
That was already more than comparable to an ordinary nine-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master!
Just as Zhou Weiqing was busy thinking, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider decided to try to give him a show down, a scare. Its still, unmoving body abruptly charging forward in a sudden pounce at Zhou Weiqing.
Its swift, violent abrupt movement, coupled with the intense killing intent from all its eight eyes.
Almost subconsciously, Zhou Weiqing flew backwards in retreat, his back striking the door heavily. At the same time, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider’s body was stopped in mid air, barely a metre from him.
It had been stopped by a long thick black chain, which seemed to made of an unknown material, tough and flexible as could be.
In just that short instant, Zhou Weiqing was startled into cold sweat. The Eight-Eyed Demon Spider looked at him, its eight eyes seeming to mock him as it glared coldly from its position.
“Damn it, are you asking for death?” Zhou Weiqing growled in a low tone.
The sheer violent tyranny of the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider had sparked his own anger and fire.
He had originally already been in a bad mood, and had came here specially to train, and now he had met a creature testing his limits as well.
The muscles of both arms bulged out, growing at a sudden insane speed that the naked eye could follow. Soon after, the usual black tiger tattoos spread across his entire body, and with a savage stomp of his right foot, Zhou Weiqing suddenly charged forward towards the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider’s head.
If this powerful Heavenly Beast had not been Sealed, perhaps Zhou Weiqing could only attempt to run if he saw it, and even that would be a minuscule chance of escaping. Yet, now, it was severely restricted by the Darkness Seal on it, and it could barely unleash a fraction of its own power.
When Zhou Weiqing entered the Demonic Change State, the Eight-Eyed Demon Spider seemed to grow agitated. Seeing him charge forward, it emitted a shrill cry, its legs shrinking in as it lowered its back, revealing layers of scales like an armored covering.
Alas, what met its defenses was Zhou Weiqing’s Demonic Right Leg.
A loud explosion. The Eight-Eyed Demon Spider’s body was smashed savagely down onto the ground.
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