Ultimate Scheming System

“Hmm?”

She looked at Xu Que, surprised, astounded, and at a loss for words. She could not believe that a young man from the Form Synthesis Stage could tell that she was in disguise.

“Come on, why are you so shocked? It’s not worth mentioning, but I had mastered the art of disguise by the time I was three, and learned how to break it by three-and-a-half. This is child’s play for me.” Xu Que, as usual, bragged shamelessly, with a smug look plastered on his face.

However, in reality, he was impressed by her skill. This level of disguise must be beyond supreme, for the System to charge him 100,000 Acting Tough Points just to see her real face. Bear in mind that when he met Zixia Fairy a few years ago in the Five Elements Mountain, he only had to spend 5,000 Acting Tough Points to see her face. And now, to see this old lady’s face, he would have to spend 100,000. That’s 20 times more than what he had to pay before! Putting it simply, this could be summarized in five simple words—it was f*cking impressive indeed!

“It seems like I was right about you. You are indeed stronger than most cultivators in the Form Synthesis Stage!” She nodded as she continued, “However, the reason why my appearance has been changed is beyond my will and control. I was poisoned when I visited the Refined Moon Palace. Unless I can reach the mid-level of the Celestial Stage, I will never be cured of this poison!”

“Ah, poisoned? Of course, I knew it all along! I was testing your sincerity.” Xu Que spoke shamelessly without skipping a beat. After all, he had bluffed that he had mastered the art of disguise at the age of three. To think that she was poisoned, not in disguise? Now, this was awkward.

“Since you have already seen how sincere I am toward working with you, do you have any other concerns regarding our partnership?” The old lady paid no mind to Xu Que’s boasting.

Xu Que smiled. “Of course, I still have my reservations. However, I see death as an old friend, and, thus, I am not afraid of dying. I can work with you, but I have one last question.”

“Shoot.” The old lady nodded.

His eyes narrowed to slits. “What is in the jade box from the Refined Moon Palace?”

The old lady fell silent and she hesitated for a moment. Moments later, she answered solemnly, “In the box is the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone!”

“What stone?” Xu Que was puzzled. He has never heard of the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone.

The old lady was not surprised; in fact, she had predicted Xi Que’s response. She nodded. “It’s as I said before, you don’t even know the realms and levels after the Great Vehicles. I suppose it’s only reasonable you haven’t heard of this stone.”

She snapped her fingers as she extracted a black stone the size of her thumb. The black stone looked dull and boring, but that didn’t make it less unique. The crack on the stone shone with a dark but golden light.

“This is a Spiritual Tao Stone. The cracks on the stone are what we call the patterns; the more stripes there are, the stronger the Taoist Connotation. This stone I am holding is only half of a single striped stone, which is even less than a full stone.” The old lady explained.

“You mean a dull-looking black stone like this contained Taoist Connotation? Is this human-made or natural?” Xu Que couldn’t help but be surprised. After all, he had only heard of spiritual stones,which were created and formed by the universe and contained massive amounts of Spiritual Energy, which could then be used in training and as currency. Before this, he had never heard of the Spiritual Tao Stone. Subconsciously, he put two and two together upon hearing the old lady’s introduction. The two were similar in the sense that one provided Spiritual Energy, while the other provided Taoist Connotation for cultivation.

“It is neither manmade nor natural!”

Xu Que was even more puzzled. “Who created it, then?”

The old lady’s eyes fixed on him and said, “Celestials!”

“Celestials?” Xu Que was baffled. “Come on, you must be joking. Aren’t you one already?”

“Me?” The old lady couldn’t help but smile. “The path toward Immortality is long and tough with strong competition. I am merely a Human Celestial; what do I amount to compared with the real Celestials? Don’t forget; I am still but a Human.”

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“In that case, these stones can only be created by Earth Celestials?” Xu Que’s eyebrows knitted together as he foresaw an arduous and tedious path ahead.

“Yes, indeed. The Spiritual Tao Stone is especially precious. You could call it priceless even. A cultivator at the peak of the Earth Celestial Stage can only create a single Spiritual Tao Stone when, at the brink of death, he pours all of his Taoist Connotation into a stone.” The old lady caressed the remainder of the Single-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone carefully as she lowered her voice.

“Like this piece in my hand—originating from a peak level Earth Celestial, it still cost me an arm and a leg despite having only one stripe. Only the Highest of the Heaven Celestials could create a two-stripe stone, and at least a Golden Celestial would be necessary to create a stone with three stripes.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Que nodded in enlightenment. He understood the main gist about the Spiritual Tao Stone. It was a product generated by the deaths of the highest celestial beings, something like the Sarira Relics from the ashes of top monks in Buddhism. However, these stones were extremely precious as they can store and purify the Taoist Connotations of cultivators. When given to another person, it may increase their Taoist Connotation and make breakthroughs easy for leveling up.

“Young man, you might want to think this through. The Spiritual Tao Stone is especially precious to cultivators. If you can seize the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone from him, I can share it with you, and I will teach you how to use it!” The old lady’s eyes lit up with anticipation as she looked at Xu Que earnestly.

Xu Que smiled. “All right, I like working with straightforward people. What do I have to prepare, and when do we set off?” He answered quickly as he had gained an interest in the stone.

Even someone as powerful as the old lady could not cultivate the stone. This might be his chance to land something big, ahead of the cultivators of higher ranks. For the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone is the product of the death of the highest of Golden Celestials; it has surpassed the Human Celestials by three cultivation stages! One can only imagine how massive the Taoist Connotation contained in that stone is.

Xu Que was convinced that if he could get his hands on the stone, after cultivation, his powers would multiply enormously! Not only could he level up quicker, but the prowess of the King of Tough-Acting Fist would also increase and it might even kill the Human Celestial within seconds!

“You don’t have to prepare anything, just don’t get injured before we set off. According to my calculations, the Refined Moon Palace shall reach this world in three days. You can come to the Dong Mansion to find me then.” The old lady was brimming with joy and hope. She felt as though they would succeed with Xu Que’s help, by merely being on the same team, and they would be able to obtain the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone.

Xu Que smiled and said, “All right then, I will see you in three days!”

He headed straight for the Dong garden. Buttface scurried along after him when he saw the tension dissipating into thin air.

“F*ck, dude, you didn’t die just now? I see the old hag seems to be happy. Don’t tell me you are going for ladies triple your age too?”

“Scram! What a pervert! After returning from the R Nation, you have evolved into something else!” Xu Que glared at Buttface, and he couldn’t even be bothered lifting a finger to beat him. They swiftly left the mansion and headed for the city gates to meet with Jiang Hongyan and the others. Of course, they would be joining him for the treasure hunt!

He planned to acquire the Three-stripe Spiritual Tao Stone and then obtain the black and white bone ashes to cultivate the Space-Breaking Spell and return to the Four Great Continents afterward.

Boom!

As Xu Que stepped out of the City Gates, a large force descended from the skies at high speed and went straight for Xu Que’s head.

“Hmm?” Xu Que’s eyebrows lifted. Electricity was discharged from beneath his feet as he took off, leaving nothing but a lingering shadow.

Boom!

A massive explosion crashed onto where he had last stood, killing his shadow.

“How dare you attack us, the Lu Family, you lowly imbecile! We shall take your life!” Xu Que lifted his head. A few middle-aged men in white charged toward him, the Chinese character “Lu” embroidered on their sleeves. They are here to avenge Lu Zhouhe.

“Ha, ha, here we go again, the same old trope! After killing the youngsters, the parents come to seek revenge. It’s a shame, because to me, all of you are lower than ants!” Xu Que smirked and his eyes contained an icy glare. He ordered, “Buttface, give me your sh*t!”

In mere seconds, Buttface ran toward the enemy from behind, shouting excitedly, “Here, here! Fresh and piping hot, take care not to scald your fingers with these hot potatoes!”