Translator/Editor: Mr. Voltaire

“What!? Five powers from the Hall of Heroic Spirits?” The Azure Dragon’s Mayor was stupefied, and had almost started jumping up and down in rage. Although he was a well-mannered and well-tempered man, he couldn’t stop himself from bellowing at Ling Chen, “Are you kidding? I absolutely cannot agree to this! The Hall of Heroic Spirits is a sacred place- the most sacred place to all warriors of the Forgotten Continent! The powers there are from the strongest and most renowned heroes of the Forgotten Continent. Every power is waiting for the most suitable genius to claim them. Of course they can’t be casually taken away!! I don’t have the right to allow such a thing, and even if I did, I definitely wouldn’t agree, otherwise I would be betraying the wills of those ancestral heroes! It would be the most disrespectful and blasphemous thing I could do!!”

“Mmm, what Mr. Mayor says is true.” Ling Chen smiled, “Every type of power is waiting for the most suitable genius to claim them, and they decide who they want to belong to. Indeed, Mr. Mayor Is unable to make this decision for them. In that case, if they are willing to leave with me, then I’m sure Mr. Mayor wouldn’t mind, right?”

The Azure Dragon’s Mayor was momentarily shocked. In the past few days, he had already heard from the guardians of the Hall of Heroic Spirits what had happened on that day. He knew that when Ling Chen had appeared, all the pillars released an unprecedented strong light, and that the lights even seemed to fight with each other over him. If Ling Chen once again entered the Hall of Heroic Spirits, those powers would all acknowledge him again. Ling Chen would be able to pick any pillar then transfer the power inside the pillar to the scroll. This was the easiest and most efficient way of transferring power. Once the power was inside the scroll, Ling Chen would be able to decide who received the power.

“Of course I would mind!” The Azure Dragon’s Mayor shook his head, “Ling Tian, you’ve already been acknowledged, but the rules are the rules. Those who accept the Hall of Heroic Spirit’s challenge can enter once, and only once. If someone is fortunate enough to be acknowledged by a power, they must use the scroll immediately, and cannot take it outside. Even if someone is acknowledged by more than one power, they can only choose one! These rules have never been broken in the past, and will never be changed!”

“There are no such things as unchangeable rules.” Ling Chen calmly said, “The Hall of Heroic Spirits is within the Azure Dragon City, and you are the Mayor of the Azure Dragon City. I’m sure that you have the power to change this rule... all you need to do is say a few words.”

“Absolutely not! That would be blasphemy to the Hall of Heroic Spirits! If I really did this, the Hall of Heroic Spirits would no longer be sacred anymore!” The Azure Dragon’s Mayor resolutely refused, his voice not showing even a bit of weakness.

Ling Chen shrugged, his face indifferent, and said, “Alright then... Goodbye, Mr. Mayor.”

Without a pause, Ling Chen gathered up the Flaming Black Grass and started to walk away.

Azure Dragon’s Mayor stood frozen in his place. He never thought that Ling Chen would simply leave like this. If it was over any other matter, he would be able to remain calm and see who was tougher, him or Ling Chen. After all, if Ling Chen did not give him the Flaming Black Grass, he would not receive any rewards, and would instead have to suffer the consequences of failing the quest. If the Azure Dragon’s Mayor adamantly refused, Ling Chen would have to compromise. However, this concerned the life of his son, so he was unable to remain calm at all... If this Ling Chen was really determined not to give him the Flaming Black Grass, his son would die without a doubt!

“Wait!!” The Azure Dragon’s Mayor hurried caught up with Ling Chen and blocked the path in front of him. He frowned and said, “Ling Tian, you’ve already received the power of the War God. All of the remaining powers can’t even compare to the War God’s power, so what do you want so much power for?”

Ling Chen slowly said, “This doesn’t concern Mr. Mayor. After all, I’ve already said that I have my own plans.”

The Azure Dragon’s Mayor forced himself to stay calm, and said, “Any other request, I can try to fulfil. I absolutely cannot grant this request.”

“Then goodbye!” Ling Chen’s body flashed, and he quickly sidestepped the Azure Dragon’s Mayor’s body and walked towards the exit.

“Wait... I’ll give you one million gold! Listen carefully, one million!”

“No need.”

“...... Then I’ll give you twenty Celestial grade equipment! Celestial grade equipment is priceless; you’ll be able to ride on everyone else’s heads.”

Ling Chen was unable to keep calm when he heard the offer of twenty Celestial grade equipment. At the moment, he only had two Celestial grade equipment. Finding more Celestial grade equipment would be extremely difficult. However, facing this type of temptation, Ling Chen maintained his poker face, and casually waved his hand, “Mr. Mayor, I still have business to attend to, so I really need to leave. Right now, I’m only interested in the power from the Hall of Heroic Spirits. If Mr. Mayor truly believes that his son’s life is worth less than his ‘principles’, then I have nothing to say to you. Goodbye.”

“Wait!!”

The Azure Dragon’s Mayor indeed did not disappoint Ling Chen. He once again blocked Ling Chen’s path and gritted his teeth. He finally spoke, “You need to first tell me what you need the powers for.”

“I want to give them to people who are important to me. I just want to help them as much as I can.”

Hearing his answer, the Azure Dragon’s Mayor’s face slightly relaxed, then said, “If it’s like this... I can allow you to enter the Hall of Heroic Spirits again... but you can only take away one type of power! One!”

Ling Chen laughed in his head. His request of five types of power was simply too ridiculous, and he did not at all believe that the Azure Dragon’s Mayor would agree. He simply started off with an outrageous request so that bargaining would become easier later. Being able to take away even one type of power would already be enough for Ling Chen. The powers in the Hall of Heroic Spirits were all left behind by godly experts from the Forgotten Continent. On average, it would take one hundred years for a single person worthy of a power to appear. These powers were priceless. Being able to receive the War God’s power, as well as another type of power would be an extremely large gain.

However, although he was satisfied with one type of power, how could he not continue bargaining? He calmly replied, “One? Mr. Mayor, this is a bit too far from my original proposal... Forget it, five types of powers is truly a bit too much to ask for, so what about three types of power? Surely this is reasonable.”

“Two! This is my last offer. If this is not enough for you, then even if I can’t obtain the Flaming Black Grass, I still won’t compromise any further.” The Azure Dragon’s Mayor gnashed his teeth as his face darkened.

Ling Chen struggled to control himself from laughing out loud.

Ling Chen had already decided that if the Azure Dragon’s Mayor refused, he would just take one type of power. He never thought that the Azure Dragon’s Mayor would offer him two instead... it seemed that starting at five was the right decision! If he started off by asking for two or three, maybe he would have been able to take away only one type of power.

Ling Chen controlled himself from allowing his happiness to show on his face, and instead put on a conflicted and hesitant expression. After more than half a minute (deliberately made it longer, not a typo) , he released a sigh and said, “Alright, I won’t push Mr. Mayor any further, let’s settle with two.”

After speaking, he directly placed the Flaming Black Grass into the Azure Dragon’s Mayor’s hand.

Ling Chen’s ‘compromise’ allowed the Azure Dragon’s Mayor to release a breath of relief. With the Flaming Black Grass in his hand, the anger that he had kept bottled up immediately vanished. He carefully held the Flaming Black Grass in his hand, and curiously asked Ling Chen, “You just secured an outrageous deal. Aren’t you afraid that, by giving me the Flaming Black Grass now, I might change my mind?”

“I believe that the honourable Mayor of the Azure Dragon City wouldn’t be a liar. The things I said before must have angered Mr. Mayor. Trying to secure one’s interests is something that people do naturally, so I hope that Mr. Mayor won’t hold that against me. To be honest, even if Mr. Mayor was unwilling to grant my request, before exiting, I still would have given Mr. Mayor the Flaming Black Grass.” Ling Chen said as he smiled. His words were so charming and beautifully said that whether they were true or false, only Ling Chen himself knew.

The Azure Dragon’s Mayor looked at Ling Chen, then gently smiled and nodded his head, “Not only do you have terrifying talent and unfathomable power, you also know when you should say what. What you have bargained for today rightly belongs to you, I don’t have the right to hold that against you. Instead, I only have gratitude towards you for bringing back the Flaming Black Grass. You can go to the Hall of Heroic Spirits to claim your reward. As for the guardians over there, I’ll let them know.”

“Ding... You have completed the secret quest ‘Looking for Flaming Black Grass’, EXP +5000, Fame +100, SP +100. In future, minor violations of city laws will not be punished. Every day you are permitted to kill a maximum of five people (limited to players) without being arrested. Unless your Crime Points are lower than -50, you will not be arrested when entering Azure Dragon City. Hidden reward: Azure Dragon’s Mayor’s favourability towards you has greatly increased. From now on, you may ask him for help when in Azure Dragon City. Bonus reward: you may proceed to the Hall of Heroic Spirits and retrieve two types of power.”

This quest was truly worthy of its status as a secret quest. Just those 100 SP was already something that would satisfy most people. Ling Chen immediately bid farewell to the Azure Dragon’s Mayor, and directly headed to the Hall of Heroic Spirits.

Since the Hall of Heroic Spirits had been established, apart from the guardians and managers, Ling Chen was the first person to enter twice. After entering the Hall of Heroic Spirits, the first person he saw was the cold black-clothed guardian. The black-clothed guardian gave him a glance, and said, “Mr. Mayor has already told me about your situation. The powers within these ten pillars, you are allowed to take away two. Take your pick.”

After speaking, he no longer took notice of Ling Chen. He had guarded the Hall of Heroic Spirits for many years, and this was the first time he had seen such a violation of the Hall of Heroic Spirits’ rules. However, these were the Azure Dragon’s Mayor’s orders, so he could do nothing about it.

Ling Chen walked over to the ten pillars. He did not walk over to the first pillar, and look at each of the pillars in order. Instead, he directly walked over to the fifth pillar. On the way here, he had already decided which ones to pick.