Chapter 1074: Can't Get Up?

Chapter 1074: Can't Go Up?

After a short rest, Ye Chen began to set up the Juling Array.

He wasn't particularly skilled in arrays, at least not as good as Gu San Tong or Wuya Dao Ren, but he was familiar enough with a basic Juling Array. The spiritual energy in Youdu was extremely abundant, making it an excellent place for cultivation.

Half an hour later, the Juling Array was activated, drawing in spiritual energy from all directions and forming a huge vortex.

Not bad!

Ye Chen looked at the spiritual energy vortex with satisfaction.

The spiritual energy in the Zhutian Wanyu was far purer than in Da Chu, requiring almost no refinement. More importantly, it contained faint traces of the essence of heaven and earth, something completely absent in Da Chu.

"Little guy, are you there?" Just as he was observing, the stone door trembled. It was his neighbor, the fox charmer woman. Her voice was still soft and enchanting, making anyone who heard it feel a tingle. Hearing her call him "little guy" felt a bit strange to Ye Chen.

"If you're there, just respond!" Receiving no reply, the fox charmer woman pouted outside the door.

"What is it?" Ye Chen responded indifferently.

"Of course I have something to discuss with you."

"I'm cultivating, no time." Ye Chen's tone remained flat. He had encountered the fox charmer woman the night he arrived on Zhuque Star and knew her true form was a fox.

He could see through her true nature and had figured out the cultivation techniques she practiced. On the surface, it was a charm technique, but in reality, it was a secret art of absorbing yang energy, essentially involving union with male cultivators to draw in their vital yang energy for her own use during intimate moments.

Ye Chen had seen similar cultivation methods in Da Chu before. Those who were drained of yang energy over time would gradually lose their vitality, with dire consequences—mild cases led to a sharp decline in cultivation and stagnation, while severe ones resulted in the body withering away to nothing.

The fox charmer woman's uninvited approach meant trouble, likely because she had set her sights on his abundant vitality.

Although Ye Chen had concealed his saint body bloodline, the fox charmer woman must have sensed something; otherwise, why not target Pang Tong? Pang Tong's cultivation and experience far surpassed his, and looks aside—that was beside the point.

"Can't you bear to leave me standing out here?" Outside the door, the fox charmer woman spoke again, her watery eyes full of charm and grievance. As she spoke, she rubbed her exposed jade-like leg, revealing her fair and tender skin, her seductive posture on full display. Anyone with a weak will would find it impossible to resist.

The stone door opened, and Ye Chen stepped out, but not to let her in. He was heading upstairs to search for the reincarnated person.

"I knew you cared about me." Seeing Ye Chen emerge, the fox charmer woman sidled up to him, lightly tilting his chin with a playful smile, her words dripping with seduction as she bit her red lip. Her silky dress slipped down slightly, every inch of her skin glistening with an irresistible allure that no man could easily ignore.

"A great Zhun Huang like you seducing a junior—doesn't that seem inappropriate?" Ye Chen gently pushed away her jade finger.

"What, am I not beautiful enough, sister?"

"You're beautiful, very beautiful, but I still prefer women without tails."

"Nonsense, my tail is so sexy." The fox charmer woman said, lifting her tail and stroking it lightly, admiring it more and more the longer she looked.

"Hmm, very sexy." Ye Chen left those words behind and turned to walk away.

"Don't go! I..." The fox charmer woman chased after him, but her words stopped abruptly because the little eagle perched on Ye Chen's shoulder glanced back at her. Its sharp eagle eyes flashed with divine light, making her shudder all over.

"Lieyan Jin Ying." The fox charmer woman froze in place, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, as if she had recognized the little eagle's origins.

"You're the one with real presence." Ahead, Ye Chen walked along the quiet path and couldn't help but turn his head to glance at the little eagle. The little eagle's bloodline was powerful, on par with the royal Fox Clan Six-Tailed Fox bloodline, far superior to her single tail. As fellow Zhun Huang, she was no match for the little eagle.

"Big brother, don't mess with her if you don't have to." The little eagle sent a telepathic message to Ye Chen.

"Oh?" Ye Chen smiled with interest. "From what you're saying, she has some powerful backing."

"Jiuwei imperial clan."

"Is there a Fox Clan imperial clan on Zhuque Star?"

"Yes, I've seen them." The little eagle was very certain. "But they're probably not on Zhuque Star right now."

"Got it." Ye Chen chuckled to himself. Anyone who could afford a house in Youdu was no simple character. A Fox Clan royal Six-Tailed was already formidable, not weaker than the little eagle's bloodline, let alone the Jiuwei imperial clan, which could rival the Four Divine Beasts and the sacred beast Qilin.

By the time they finished speaking, Ye Chen had already stepped from the quiet path onto the bustling streets of Youdu.

"Hey, young friend, you look new around here. Want some treasures? I'll sell them cheap." As soon as he entered the street, calls came from both sides, all from stall vendors. The stalls displayed all sorts of strange items.

Ye Chen instinctively glanced over at the stalls, his eyes lighting up with interest.

The stalls were full of genuine treasures. For instance, those stalks of Life Lotuses were extinct spiritual herbs in Da Chu, yet here in Youdu, they were just common street goods.

People really can't compare themselves to others!

Ye Chen shook his head with a laugh. He wanted to buy some, but he was flat broke. Even these street goods were way out of his price range.

After asking around along the way, Ye Chen arrived at the city center.

During this time, he performed divinations multiple times and confirmed that there were no reincarnated individuals in the first level of Youdu.

He took out his property jade token and stepped into the teleportation array.

When he reappeared, he was in the second level of Youdu.

Compared to the first level, the second level was much smaller, but the spiritual energy was more than twice as dense.

Youdu had clear levels: properties in the first level were all ten zhang in size, while in the second level, they were twenty zhang.

As for thirty-zhang properties, they only appeared in the third level, and only a few could afford them—three hundred thousand yuan shi was an amount most cultivators couldn't save in a lifetime.

None here either!

Ye Chen stood still and calculated for a long time, but found no reincarnated individuals in the second level of Youdu.

Instinctively, he looked up. He wasn't sure which level the reincarnated person was on, but it was clear they weren't in the first or second.

Ye Chen smiled slightly to himself, thinking that the reincarnated person's status on Zhuque Star must be quite significant. Starting from the third level, it was no longer for ordinary people—if they were on the ninth level, they would be among the direct descendants of the Zhuque family.

Without delay, Ye Chen set off again, heading to the teleportation array from the second level to the third level, determined to find the reincarnated person.

"Halt!"

The elder guarding the teleportation array spoke sternly—it was a white-haired elder, only a little over two hundred years old.

"Senior, I want to go up." Ye Chen bowed respectfully.

"I know you want to go up." The white-haired elder glanced at Ye Chen. "Do you have a property jade token?"

"Yes, yes." Ye Chen hurriedly handed over his property jade token.

"This kind of property jade token... won't get you up there." The white-haired elder glanced at it but didn't take it.

"Won't get me up? What do you mean?" Ye Chen was stunned.

"Take it back and figure it out yourself." The white-haired elder didn't bother explaining and tossed an ancient scroll to Ye Chen, which was inscribed with the word "Youdu."

Ye Chen caught it but didn't leave. He flipped through the ancient scroll right in front of the white-haired elder and discovered it was a secret volume introducing Youdu's rules.

Damn!

As he read, Ye Chen couldn't help but curse, startling the white-haired elder.

What the hell!

Even with Ye Chen's composure, he felt like scratching his head.

It wasn't his fault—he was just outraged by Youdu's ridiculous rules. To go to the third level, you needed a property token from the second level, not the first.

Youdu's Lingxiao Xianque had nine levels: the first to third levels were for foreign cultivators, the fourth to sixth for the Zhuque family's illegitimate and collateral branches, and only the seventh to ninth for the true core of the Zhuque family.

After reading the Youdu secret volume, Ye Chen finally understood what true hierarchy meant.

To reach the third level, you needed a second-level property token; that meant to reach the fourth, you'd need a third-level one. It was one level building on another—who knew when he'd ever get to the ninth?

Ye Chen closed the Youdu secret volume, feeling aches all over his body from sheer frustration at the rules.

He knew the reincarnated person was above, but he couldn't get there. To go up, he'd at least need to buy a property in the second level of Youdu, which cost two hundred thousand yuan shi. As an outsider, where was he supposed to get that kind of money?

Noisy!

Just as he was fuming, Ye Chen heard a cold snort—it was from the white-haired elder, whose face had turned dark. He'd been jolted by Ye Chen's outburst and was naturally annoyed.

"Senior." Ye Chen chuckled and approached, pointing upward. "Without a second-level property token, is there another way up? Like, maybe paying some money?"

"Three thousand yuan shi."

"Three thousand?" Ye Chen twitched his mouth, tempted to hand the elder a knife and tell him to rob someone, but that was just a thought. If he actually gave the elder a knife, he might end up getting stabbed himself.

"Senior, here's the thing." Ye Chen stepped closer with a laugh. "I have urgent business with someone up there. Could you trouble yourself to pass on a message? I'd be deeply grateful."

"Everyone who comes here claims they need to find someone up there. If I announced for every one of you, do you think I'm some errand boy?"

"Of course I wouldn't let you go for nothing." Ye Chen quickly pulled out a high-grade spirit sword, which could fetch at least a thousand yuan shi if sold. He had no choice but to make the investment.

"Who are you looking for?" The white-haired elder eyed the spirit sword, a glint flashing in his old eyes, and casually waved it into his sleeve. His attitude softened a bit—one thousand yuan shi was no small sum for him.

"I'm looking for... looking for... uh..." Ye Chen stammered out three "looking for"s but suddenly realized he didn't know who to specify.

"I forgot about that." Ye Chen scratched his head, because he had no idea what identity the reincarnated person held in Youdu. He couldn't just call down everyone from above—that would require selling all his treasures, and even then, he couldn't afford the announcement fees for the white-haired elder.

"Who exactly are you looking for?" The white-haired elder asked Ye Chen sternly.

"Zhuque, if it's Tian Zhuque."

"Take your sword back and get lost quick."