Selecting Spiritual Materials

Seeing Di Jun's impatient expression, Shi Mo merely smiled faintly. "I need some spiritual materials to set up the formation restrictions. The higher the quality, the better. It will affect how efficiently the Heavenly Court gathers the power of the stars once the formation is complete."

"Bai Ze, take him to open the Heavenly Court treasury. Let him choose whatever spiritual materials he needs," Di Jun directly ordered.

"The Demon Emperor is indeed generous," Shi Mo said with a smile. "However, I also need a large quantity of starstones nurtured in the Primordial World's starry sky. They are very important for setting up the formation."

"Take him to the Primordial World's starry sky to choose them," Di Jun instructed Bai Ze directly before Shi Mo could finish.

Utterly unconcerned with Di Jun's mood, Shi Mo left the Demon Emperor Hall with Bai Ze after the latter respectfully acknowledged the order.

After Shi Mo departed, Di Jun's expression turned cold. He dismissed the Monster Clan experts standing below, then could not help snorting in irritation.

"Do not be angered, Demon Emperor. Once he has set up the formation restrictions, it will not be too late to deal with him," Kunpeng said with a smile.

"The Demon Master wants the spiritual treasures on him, does he not?" Di Jun glanced at Kunpeng before continuing, "Then I shall have to trouble the Demon Master to see him off when the time comes."

Kunpeng paused at those words, then revealed a cruel smile. "Rest assured, Demon Emperor. I will not let him return to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain alive."

Noncommittal, Di Jun gazed coldly and sharply beyond the Demon Emperor Hall. "If he wants to take advantage of my Monster Clan, he must have the life to do so."

"Brother, Shi Mo is no fool. Since he dared leave Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain and come to the Heavenly Court, he likely has some means of protecting himself. If we fail to kill him in one blow, I fear there will be no small amount of trouble later," Donghuang Taiyi said with a frown.

"The Eastern Emperor worries too much! What methods could he possibly have? Could he have a top-grade innate spiritual treasure protecting him?" Kunpeng sneered dismissively.

Di Jun also smiled. "Even if Zhen Yuanzi lent him the Earth Book for protection, could it withstand your Chaos Bell's full-force strike, Second Brother?"

"Let us wait until he has finished setting up the formation restrictions that gather the power of the surrounding stars in the Heavenly Court," Donghuang Taiyi said noncommittally.

Elsewhere, in a corner of the Heavenly Court not too far from the Demon Emperor Hall, stood a great hall almost as large as the Demon Emperor Hall itself, situated upon a floating island shrouded in chaotic clouds.

"Did Di Jun comprehend these formation restrictions from the River Diagram and Luo Writing?" Shi Mo narrowed his eyes as he examined the ever-changing chaotic clouds and the seemingly disordered patterns on the palace walls.

"Di Jun's attainments in formations are quite impressive. It seems he truly cannot be underestimated if he was able to become the Demon Emperor."

Bai Ze acted, quickly opening the doors to the Heavenly Court treasury before them.

"Damn! Is this a treasury, a warehouse, or a junkyard?" Upon entering, Shi Mo was dumbfounded by the piles of all manner of spiritual materials and treasures within.

Sure enough, the efficiency with which the vast Monster Clan had gathered all kinds of spiritual materials throughout the Primordial World was truly astonishing.

Yet they could not make use of these materials and simply piled them in the Heavenly Court treasury like garbage. It was an outrageous waste.

What a waste! Such a waste! Shi Mo thought. If Bai Ze had not been beside him, he would have almost been unable to resist taking out the Earth Book or unfurling the Infinite Umbrella to sweep away all these spiritual materials and treasures.

"Well? Fellow Daoist Shi Mo, the Heavenly Court treasury is richly stocked. It contains most of the spiritual materials and treasures found in the Primordial World. Whatever materials you need for your formation, you should be able to find them here."

Seeing that Shi Mo seemed somewhat stunned, Bai Ze could not help smiling.

"What use is having a lot? They need to be useful," Shi Mo said, rolling his eyes at him. He then began wandering through the treasury, inspecting the properties and uses of various spiritual materials and treasures.

The more Shi Mo inspected, the more he regretted asking for too little in his previous deal with the Monster Clan. He should have demanded more shares of spiritual materials and treasures in exchange for the innate spiritual treasures.

Time slowly passed. Seeing that Shi Mo had nearly toured the entire treasury without choosing anything, Bai Ze finally could not help asking, "Fellow Daoist Shi Mo, have you finished choosing?"

"What are you rushing for? The Heavenly Court treasury is so large and has so many spiritual materials and treasures. Naturally, I have to select them carefully," Shi Mo said, glancing at Bai Ze.

I should never have brought him to the largest Heavenly Court treasury, Bai Ze thought.

After wandering around a while longer, Shi Mo finally pondered for a moment before bringing out the Infinite Umbrella. Its powerful suction immediately drew in a great quantity of spiritual materials like flying stones in a sudden rainstorm.

At the sight, Bai Ze nearly could not resist stepping in to stop him. Only when he saw Shi Mo quickly stop after taking merely about one percent of the spiritual materials and treasures did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fellow Daoist Shi Mo, does setting up formation restrictions truly require so many spiritual materials and treasures?" Bai Ze nevertheless asked with a frown.

"What do you think? Do you not know how large the Heavenly Court is? To set up a formation covering such a vast area, how could it possibly require only a small amount of spiritual materials?" Shi Mo rolled his eyes at him, then continued:

"If you think I am using too many materials, then we can reduce the area covered by the formation. That would save me trouble as well, and I would not need to put in so much effort. But then, if the effect of gathering the power of the surrounding stars fails to meet your Demon Emperor's requirements..."

Before Shi Mo could finish, Bai Ze hurriedly said, "All right, all right, use more materials if you must! Can we begin setting up the formation now?"

"Do not rush! We have not gathered all the formation materials yet. Come, take me to the Primordial World's starry sky," Shi Mo urged.

Helpless, Bai Ze could only lead Shi Mo out of the Heavenly Court treasury. They passed through the thirty-three heavens once more and entered the Primordial World's starry sky.

"Come on! The Primordial World's starry sky is vast. Finding enough starstones for my needs will take some effort, so we need to move faster," Shi Mo said as he flew with practiced familiarity toward an asteroid belt ahead.

Bai Ze followed helplessly and watched as Shi Mo searched and examined the area, selecting and taking away some starstone materials from the asteroid belt.

After that, Shi Mo took Bai Ze on a rough tour of nearly the entire Primordial World's starry sky. The various star ores he took away could probably be piled into several mountains.

Bai Ze increasingly suspected that Shi Mo had deliberately come to plunder the Monster Clan's stellar spiritual materials.

"Hmph! That greedy Shi Mo!" Di Jun fumed in the Demon Emperor Hall after receiving Bai Ze's divine-sense report.

"If he wants to use this opportunity to take vast amounts of spiritual materials and treasures from my Monster Clan, he must have the life to bring them back," Donghuang Taiyi said, unable to suppress the killing intent in his eyes.

Di Jun, his face dark, transmitted an order to Bai Ze. "Urge him along. He has already spent far too long selecting spiritual materials."

Only after Bai Ze repeatedly urged him did Shi Mo reluctantly leave the Primordial World's starry sky.

Shi Mo then dragged Bai Ze around the Heavenly Court's thirty-three heavens once more. Finally, after some deliberation, he formally began setting up formation restrictions throughout the Heavenly Court.