Friends Reunited

While Bai Xiaowen was browsing the stalls, he personally witnessed how a Newcomer was fleeced by Jin Gong.

There was no need to go into the details. The man had simply stepped into every trap Bai Xiaowen had avoided before.

In the end, after paying over twenty Divinity Cores, the Newcomer happily obtained a stall and was preparing to make a big splash when Jin Gong leisurely pulled out a G-205 single-soldier combat communicator and reminded the careless Newcomer about the issue of long-distance communication...

By the time the Newcomer learned that the G-205 communicator had N upgrade options, each requiring Divinity Cores, he was already itching to throw down with Jin Gong.

However, since the Square was still within the suppression range of the God of Prophecy's statue and fighting was forbidden, he could only give up resentfully.

Bai Xiaowen had already sentenced that Newcomer to death in his heart. With a brain like that, competing for the Land of Origin's sole treasure was probably beyond him.

Still, although Goblin Jin Gong was exceptionally skilled at swindling money, his stall management service was quite reliable.

As it happened, someone had taken an interest in a Divine Artifact Fragment listed for sale at one of the stalls. Bai Xiaowen watched as Jin Gong, acting as the intermediary, helped the two sides communicate.

After clarifying which Divine Artifact Fragments the buyer possessed and the details of how many fragments would be exchanged, Jin Gong used the G-255 Central Communicator to call the Stall Owner and relay the buyer's proposal in full.

Once he confirmed that both sides were interested in the transaction, Jin Gong had them swear a Divine Name Oath in the names of their respective Deities, then arrange a time for the trade. Naturally, Jin Gong would also take a commission, collecting some Divinity Cores from both parties depending on the number of fragments involved.

After watching the entire process, Bai Xiaowen trusted this goblin Jin Gong a little more.

"Alright, it's time to enter through the Temple Gate and see what this vast inner region of the Prophecy Temple is really like."

According to Jin Gong, the inside of the Prophecy Temple was like a gigantic Magic Cube that constantly changed. Unexpected encounters could happen at any moment—just imagine how terrifying a Magic Cube the size of a planet would be.

Furthermore, unlike the Square outside the Temple Gate, there was no Divine Power Suppression from the God of Prophecy within the "Magic Cube," so combat was allowed.

There were many Artifact Fragments within the "Magic Cube," and it was even possible to find a complete Artifact. The Stall Owners here had basically found their Artifact Fragments inside the "Magic Cube."

It could be said that the Magic Cube was a Gold Mine of tremendous value, though it was naturally filled with all kinds of dangers as well.

However, just as Bai Xiaowen was preparing to enter the Temple Gate and explore the inner region, he suddenly spotted two "acquaintances."

The two aliens he had encountered on Profound Ice Star—the Scalefolk, Chadu, a master of Star Magic, and his hunchbacked Bristlemane companion.

The two aliens had clearly recognized Bai Xiaowen as well.

"Hi, human Frost Dragon Summoner. Hello." The Scalefolk Chadu smiled. "We meet again."

The Bristlemane stared intently at Bai Xiaowen.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaowen keenly caught a concealed Thought Wave transmission.

The transmission was not meant for him. It was something the Bristlemane had secretly sent to Chadu.

The Thought Wave conveyed, "Chadu, I'd bet anything that this human definitely has a Poseidon's Staff Fragment!"

The Scalefolk Chadu secretly replied, "I'm not taking that bet, Gu Li... After all, that human entered that damned Ruins just like us. It's possible..."

The Bristlemane Gu Li said, "Damn it, we never should have agreed to let him explore the Ruins. We found those Ruins—they should belong to us!"

Chadu replied, "More precisely, they were Ruins blasted open by my Starfall... But what better option did you have back then? We didn't know there were Poseidon's Staff Fragments in those Ruins at the time!"

Bai Xiaowen was initially somewhat surprised that he could catch the conversation between the Bristlemane Gu Li and the Scalefolk Chadu, but on second thought, it was not strange at all.

The Mind Cultivation Method had already made the range of Bai Xiaowen's Spirit Sense far greater than others of the same level. Antahe's Psionic Secret Art—the Soul Tower secret art—had further increased the Condensation Degree, or precision, of his Spirit Power. Combined, the two seemed to have produced an effect where one plus one was greater than two when it came to eavesdropping.

Moreover, Bai Xiaowen's priority was higher than theirs, and he had now advanced to become a High-Tier Evolutionary at Level 17. His level was not much lower than theirs, so intercepting their private conversation was only natural.

Bai Xiaowen did not reveal anything. Instead, he pretended that nothing had happened and chatted with the two Alien Friends sentence by sentence.

Don't ask. Intercepted intelligence was simply too good. Making a fortune in silence while letting the other side get fleeced to death in complete ignorance—wasn't that wonderful?

"Human Summoner, I'd like to trade for something..."

The two Alien Friends quickly reached a decision. Chadu smiled and said, "You must have gained quite a lot in those Ruins, right? These black stones engraved with ancient Deity Runes contain powerful cold currents. They're definitely fine works carefully crafted by a Deity! How many did you find?"

Chadu displayed a Divine Rune Black Stone in his hand.

Bai Xiaowen recognized it at a glance. It was one of the pieces of the Frozen Ancient God Seal.

Bai Xiaowen now understood as well. The Frozen Ancient God Seal was likely not an Artifact, but the name of a god-level Magic Array. These Divine Rune Black Stones were the components that formed the Frozen Ancient God Seal Magic Array.

There were more than ten thousand such components!

And who had set up this Frozen Ancient God Seal Magic Array?

Considering that the Frozen Ancient God Seal did not obstruct outsiders at all, yet continuously produced streams of extreme cold, it looked very much like a restraint placed upon the Ancient Antahe Kingdom. Bai Xiaowen boldly guessed that this god-level Magic Array had most likely been set up by an enemy of the Sea God, and after the Ancient Antahe Kingdom had entered hibernation.

Leaving aside the Magic Array's power, Bai Xiaowen had no desire to assemble it merely because there were over ten thousand components in total.

If Bai Xiaowen had stayed on Profound Ice Star for a while longer and gathered several thousand Divine Rune Black Stones, or components, then with his attainments in formations, he might have been able to deduce the full structure of the Ancient God Seal Magic Array and further improve his mastery of formations.

Moreover, as long as he was willing to invest enough effort and energy, it would not have been impossible to restore the Frozen Ancient God Seal Magic Array in full.

But Bai Xiaowen had no intention of doing that.

Why spend time collecting Magic Array components when he could look for the remaining fragments of Poseidon's Staff instead? The Origin Divine Artifact, Poseidon's Staff—wasn't that far more appealing?

As for improving his mastery of formations through research into the Ancient God Seal Magic Array... please, the Classic of Supreme Emptiness was still waiting to be cultivated to the seventh level. Raising all six branches of Immortal Techniques directly to advanced level—wasn't that more appealing?

Thus, Bai Xiaowen did not hide anything and took out a Divine Rune Black Stone as well. "I collected some too. If you want them, I can trade them to you..."

"..." Chadu hesitated. He had enthusiastically praised the black stones of the Frozen Ancient God Seal because he wanted to arouse Bai Xiaowen's interest in restoring the Ancient God Seal, then sell Bai Xiaowen the Ancient God Seal components he had in hand.

Who would have thought that Bai Xiaowen would immediately ask whether he wanted to buy them?

No matter what, he had to own up to the act he had put on. At the very least, he could not refuse too bluntly. Chadu could only clear his throat and put on a show. "Well, these things are indeed quite interesting..."

However, before Chadu could say his "but," Bai Xiaowen cut him off with a delighted expression. "That's great! Do you have any Artifact Fragments? Any fragments will do—I'm willing to trade them to you!"

A recent medical checkup found that Old Ya's liver function had a minor problem. He's taking traditional medicine to regulate it... and he doesn't dare stay up late anymore... updates will be slacking off this month...

Also, the Land of Origin is the final major storyline of this book.