Chapter 481: Schemes and Plots
“It’s over.” Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian had thought they
could smoothly cross the lake after using the Star and Moon Glyph, but they
hadn’t thought that things would take a drastic turn in the next instant.
As their bodies were engulfed by the several hundred meter
tall wave, even mobilizing every scrap of origin power in their bodies wasn’t
enough to stop their downward momentum. The deeper they descended, the fiercer
the heat became, as if it would swallow and melt them whole. They were well
aware that heat of this intensity would melt their bodies even if their bodies
were cast in bronze or iron.
However, the instant before they impacted the lava, a vine
appeared before their eyes. The vine twisted into an intricate knot around them
and flung them both over to the other shore.
Whoosh whoosh!
Their bodies sped through the air like loosed arrows.
This reversal in fortunes happened in the blink of an eye.
Even as they landed, stumbling from the abrupt halt, their faces were ashen and
their hearts still hammering fiercely from their near scrape with death.
Wham!
The wave in the lake once again reared to a height several
meters taller than before. Inside the wave was the figure of a monster the size
of ten ancient elephants. Eyes the size of lanterns glared furiously at the
humans.“Despicable humans who dare interrupt this king’s slumber!”
Feng Wanjian and Lin Feng both subconsciously took a step
back, seeming to find a sense of security the further away they drew from this
immense monster.
“This is the Lord of Lava!” Feng Wanjian’s heart was still
palpating with fear. The enormous wave that had suddenly exploded just now was
obviously from the aura of the Lord of Lava blasting forth. But what was with
the vine that’d just appeared?
Feng Wanjian and Lin Feng were completely befuddled when
their bodies suddenly stiffened. they both looked to the side at the same time.
They were stunned to see that the two figures next to them were the two from
the Regal Pill Palace.
“You guys…” Feng Wanjian was flabbergasted. “When did you
get over here?”
Mu Gaoqi snorted softly, “Feng Wanjian, if it wasn’t for my
senior brother Chen, you’d be food for the Lord of Lava now. How dare you ask
how we made it over here?”
Feng Wanjian and Lin Feng looked at each other, at a loss
for words. They also knew that there was no one else here apart from the Regal
Pill Palace disciples. Even though the two were jerks, they knew that they owed
the Regal Pill Palace another favor.
“Many thanks for your noble act.” For all his faults, Lin
Feng could read the situation well, walking over to give Jiang Chen a cupped
fist salute.
Jiang Chen waved his hand, “I only saved you to sabotage the
Great Cathedral’s plot, that’s all.”
“Great Cathedral?” Lin Feng started.
Feng Wanjian reacted swiftly and began to curse loudly,
“That fecking Great Cathedral, they were the ones behind this alright! Or else,
why would everything be calm and peaceful when they flew over, but so many
disturbances pop up when our turn came around? They were definitely up to
something!”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly, “Yue Pan thought himself smart
and tossed in a spirit glyph, disturbing the lifeforms in the lake. He meant to
leave us in the lurch!”
Lin Feng’s expression also changed greatly. “The Great
Cathedral is a sect with vile, base bloodlines alright! Such vicious brutality!
They are forever my enemy if I make it out alive!”
Feng Wanjian couldn’t help but include the Great Cathedral’s
mothers in his greetings as well. [1] “Xu Gang that bastard, he had ulterior
motives to begin with. We all kept our word and only brought minor origin realm
helpers, but he and his earth origin realm! Hmph! We’ll see which sect has the
last laugh!”
Jiang Chen glanced over at the lava region. The Lord of Lava
was almost going berserk as it kept firing off streams of lava at the shore,
ramming repeatedly against the shores. It looked like he wanted to swallow
everyone whole.
However, the lava lifeforms could only rampage in lava. They
could do nothing when their enemies left that environment. Everyone would be
safe now that they were on dry land.
When Feng Wanjian and Lin Feng saw the crazed Lord of Lava,
they realized that this creature wasn’t too intelligent, but was very
obstinate. Even though they were safe now, their hearts once again began to
beat faster with fear.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Chen waved his hand and took the lead with
Mu Gaoqi.
Xu Gang and Yue Pan of the Great Cathedral had left quite a
while ago, and those from the Walkabout Sect were further ahead. Jiang Chen was
determined to obtain the spring, so he wasn’t willing to fall behind by too
much.
Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian naturally didn’t dare compete with
Jiang Chen anymore. After all, he’d saved their lives. In addition, they were
all third level origin realm and had a clear idea of the prowess they
possessed. The Lord of Lava’s aura in the lava region was at least at the peak of
the earth origin realm, yet Jiang Chen had made it over to the other side
without setting off anyone’s alarm bells. He even had the ability to save them
from their predicament.
This level of strength was quite frightening. They were now
well aware that the mysterious expert Mu Gaoqi had brought wasn’t someone who
they could contend against. Feng Wanjian had even laughably drawn a line in the
ground before entering the cavern, not letting them in. When he thought about
that act now, he felt chills run down his back, truly viewing himself as a
capering clown. The other could’ve killed him in a second if he wanted to.
“Brother Feng, just what kind of freak did Mu Gaoqi invite?
He’s only in minor origin realm, but why do I feel like he’s stronger than Yue
Pan?” Lin Feng was full of questions.
Feng Wanjian smiled ruefully, “You’re asking me, but who do
I go ask? Brother Lin, we need to get things straight from now. First, the
Great Cathedral is our mutual enemy. Second, we don’t have the strength to
fight against this one from the Regal Pill Palace. No matter what conflict
happens later, we must stand by the Regal Pill Palace, otherwise…”
Lin Feng was also in full agreement, “I too agree. Although
the one from the Regal Pill Palace is strong and very mysterious, he’s not a
murderous demon and is completely different from those two scum from the Great
Cathedral. We just need to be polite to them and in return, they won’t make a
move against us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have saved us.”
Feng Wanjian nodded. “We should catch up. I hope the
Walkabout Sect sets up another ambush and gets caught up in an enormous
dogfight with the vile Great Cathedral.”
The current situation had fated that Lin Feng and Feng
Wanjian wear the same pants, standing in the same boat. A pair from the
Walkabout Sect, two from the Great Cathedral, another two from the Regal Pill
Palace, and the pairing of Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian made for four pairs.
After the setback they’d just experienced, Lin Feng and Feng
Wanjian were already leaning towards the Regal Pill Palace. Therefore, it was
basically three sets of people competing for the spring.
The extreme cold came back with a vengeance not long after
they left the lava region.
“Gaoqi, be careful. The two from the Cathedral are about 2.5
kilometers ahead of us.” The sensitivity of Jiang Chen’s Psychic’s Head was at
its sharpest since his vision was obstructed. Mu Gaoqi completely trusted Jiang
Chen by now, and didn’t doubt his words in the slightest.
“Don’t be in a rush to go in. Xu Gang and Yue Pan seem to be
plotting something. They’ve stopped too.” Jiang Chen prevented Mu Gaoqi from
walking forward. He could discover those from the Great Cathedral at this
distance, but he didn’t have to worry about them detecting him.
He focused on his senses for a moment and confirmed his
feelings. “It looks like the Great Cathedral is planning on fighting the
Walkabout Sect. The Walkabout Sect was planning on ambushing us again, but the
Great Cathedral discovered this and are prepared to counter ambush. There’ll be
a good show soon enough.”
Since the two sects were going to face off, Jiang Chen had
no reason at all to disturb them. The two forces that were about to run into
each other were both like snakes and scorpions. It was best if both sides ended
heavily wounded.
As Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi had stopped, Lin Feng and Feng
Wanjian soon caught up to them. They were curious when they saw their
benefactor halting on the path.
Mu Gaoqi said, “The Great Cathedral is facing off with the
Walkabout Sect up ahead. Let’s stay back for now.”
Feng Wanjian was delighted. “And I was hoping just now that
they would engage in a fracas, are they really about to bite each other? Haha!
Fantastic! I hope both of them are heavily injured!”
The Walkabout Sect ambushed the group, and the Great
Cathedral had schemed against them. Feng Wanjian wasn’t kindly disposed towards
either sect at this point. But he hated the Great Cathedral to the depths of
his bones.
Jiang Chen closed his eyes without a word, fully utilizing
his Psychic’s Head. However, there was only so much he could sense, being this
far away.
Roughly an hour passed.
Feng Wanjian grew a bit fidgety and couldn’t help but ask,
“Are they still at a stand off? Did they fight yet?”
Everyone’s eyes flicked in unison over to Jiang Chen. He was
also slightly surprised at this moment. He’d been paying attention to the
conflict between the Great Cathedral and the Walkabout Sect, but all had
returned to calm after a short while.
“Brother Chen, what’s the situation?” Lin Feng also asked.
Jiang Chen furrowed his brow, “It’s quiet again after a
short conflict. Has the outcome already been determined?”
Lin Feng hastily responded, “Let’s go take a look. No matter
who won, it’s good for all of us. It’s best if they’re all down and out.”
Jiang Chen felt that things were a bit odd, but waiting
around wasn’t entirely the productive move. “Be careful, let’s go take a look.”
Jiang Chen reminded Mu Gaoqi.
The four of them cautiously walked forward, and soon
detected a faint light in the distance. There was a wide karst cave [2. Karst
topography is a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as
limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. Wikipedia.], except that this cave was quite
spacious. There was a large platform situated in the middle, surrounding by
grotesquely shaped rocks. The entire scene looked quite sinister.
Xu Gang was actually the first to enter everyone’s vision.
He was currently caught between two enormous boulders, spitting up blood and
wheezing his last breaths. Someone from the Walkabout Sect lay in a puddle of
blood not too far from Xu Gang, fresh blood splattered around them.
The other Walkabout Sect disciple had fallen in front of a
rocky curtain, along with Yue Pan. An exotic and rare spirit herb was at the
end of the curtain. There was a long wound in the disciple’s chest as he
crawled arduously towards the spirit herb. Every time he moved forward, he left
behind a widening trail of blood. On the other hand, Yue Pan’s face was gray.
He seemed to have been hit with severe poison and had no more strength to move.
Feng Wanjian was delighted beyond belief to see this. He
laughed heartily, “Haha! Look at you now! When a dog bites a dog, each ends up
with a mouthful of fur. Good, good, good! How damn satisfying!”
Lin Feng also smiled happily. “These scum deserved what they
got!”
The Walkabout Sect had ambushed them with hidden weapons,
and whether it was the Tristar Sect or the Sacred Sword Palace, both had lost
members to that ambush. Then the Great Cathedral had plotted against them in
the lava region. This grudge went without saying. When they saw how the two
sides were both gravely injured, how would Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian not be
overjoyed? Jiang Chen hadn’t anticipated either that the situation would turn
out this way.
Chapter 482: Waste of Scheming, Easy Trampling
“Gaoqi, remain here.” Jiang Chen said. Although the two sides
in front of them were heavily injured, Jiang Chen’s intuition told him that
something was a still bit off. Something strange was entwined in the air of
this unfamiliar place, forcing him to stay on his guard.
Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian didn’t care much for that as they
strode over, already hefting their swords to enthusiastically send the four on
their way. Feng Wanjian stopped in front of Xu Gang, chuckling, “Xu Gang, you
vile swine! You broke our oath and brought in an earth origin realm cultivator.
Your karma has arrived!” He swung down at Xu Gang’s neck after speaking.
Jiang Chen didn’t stop them. He was more interested in that
rare spirit herb. However, he felt something untoward the moment Feng Wanjian
struck downwards, and instantly halted in his steps, preparing to back up. At
the same time, a ghastly cry came from Feng Wanjian as he collapsed in a heap
on the ground.
The Walkabout Sect disciple who’d been lying in a pool of
blood stood up with a sinister smile. He didn't look injured at all!
Almost at the same time, the light from a blade flashed from
where Lin Feng had dashed to Yue Pan, and his head was separated from his body.
The ashen-faced Yue Pan also leapt up, also looking full of vigor.
Bam bam bam!
Xu Gang sprang into action without delay, with the enormous
boulders crushing his body suddenly flying at Jiang Chen with incredible force.
The other Walkabout Sect disciple also jumped up and drew back his bow. The
nocked arrow transformed into a streak of light as it shot towards Jiang Chen.
The balance had been critically altered in those crucial
moments. Feng Wanjian had fallen from a sneak attack, and Lin Feng had been
bisected in a single blow. The four who had originally been struggling for life
had Jiang Chen surrounded from all four corners, already launching their
killing blows.
It was a good thing Jiang Chen had been on his guard
earlier. When he saw the boulders crashing down on him and the arrow flying
through the air, he snorted softly and clenched his hands once, sealing off the
air around his body with a magnetic storm.
Wham!
The boulders exploded as soon as they hit the storm’s front,
and the speeding arrow vanished after being ground away by the storm. Jiang
Chen’s eyes flashed coldly as he looked at each of the corners.
“So it seems the four of you were plotting together?” Jiang
Chen laughed coldly at them. He hadn’t anticipated this scene from the
Walkabout Sect and Great Cathedral. Seconds away from attacking each other,
they’d formed an alliance and agreed to play dead to create this facade.
“Kid, state your name!” Yue Pan leered. “I don’t create
nameless ghosts with my blade.” The eyes of the two from the Walkabout Sect
rapidly darted around, a thick sense of killing intent within them.
Jiang Chen’s gaze was at ease as he looked at the latter
two, “You’re dealing with the devil here. Aren’t you afraid of becoming
sacrificial lambs to the Great Cathedral later?”
A disciple with almost triangular-shaped eyes snorted
derisively. “That’s our matters, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Xu Gang yelled, “Kid, don’t try turning us on each other!”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly, “Do I even need to?”
Standing off in the distance, Mu Gaoqi was greatly beset
with worry. He had produced a sword and was preparing himself to leap into the
battlefield. Although his strength was only first level origin realm and on a
completely different level from those present, he knew he couldn’t sit idly by
as his comrade was surrounded.
“Gaoqi, back up some.” Although Jiang Chen was standing with
his back to Mu Gaoqi, it was as if he had eyes on the back of his head as he
stopped Mu Gaoqi’s impulsiveness.
Xu Gang suddenly grinned, “Mu Gaoqi, if you want to come
down here to your death with that little bit of talent of yours, we won’t mind
sending you on your way as well.”
Even a rabbit would bite if it was forced up a wall. Mu
Gaoqi spoke in a rare moment of anger, “Xu Gang, don’t you overstep yourselves!
The duos from the other three sects have been all eliminated now, what else do
you want?”
Xu Gang snorted softly, glaring at Jiang Chen. “Mu Gaoqi,
you’re something else, aren't you? Where did you find this rogue cultivator?
Even we were almost fooled by how deep he’d hidden himself.”
That the Great Cathedral and the Walkabout Sect could set
aside their previous grudges and team up against Jiang Chen meant that they had
realized Jiang Chen was the true threat in this expedition. This was why they’d
set aside their differences to create this ruse of injuring themselves to lure
their enemy. It was a pity that Lin Feng and Feng Wanjian had escaped death
from the lava lake only to die here.
Yue Pan flourished the blade in his hand. “Alright, less
talk now. This kid isn’t an ordinary character since he could escape from the
boiling lava lake. If the four of us don’t take him out together, none of us
can dream about calmly proceeding later.” It was obvious that they were
definitely in agreement on that point.
Mu Gaoqi cried out loudly, “Be careful, the Walkabout Sect
uses poison!” Jiang Chen knew that without Mu Gaoqi’s reminder, but it was
truly displaying their incompetence in front of a true connoisseur if they
wanted to use poison on Jiang Chen.
Back when he’d been playing with poison in his previous
life, who knew if the Walkabout Sect had even formed yet!
Xu Gang and Yue Pan were both Great Cathedral disciples and
possessed frightening battle strength at close quarters combat. On the other
hand, the Walkabout Sect disciples were skilled at long range combat, and
excelled at using strange poisons from the shadows to control the battlefield.
If they hadn’t all sworn to the heavens previously that they
wouldn’t act against each other before killing their opponent. Yue Pan and Xu
Gang would’ve never been willing to expose their backs to the two from the
Walkabout Sect.
Two figures pincered Jiang Chen between them, their speed
leaving a trail of sand and rocks in the air. Yue Pan’s style was fierce,
dominating opponents with sheer momentum, whereas Xu Gang favored a vigorous
attack, bursting with power. They were very similar in style, but their ease in
coordinating this attack revealed how often they’d worked with each other. The
twin attacks coming from either side would result in a combined strength that
was far greater than the sum of its parts.
The two from the Walkabout Sect had sealed off the
battlefield with their arrows and poisoned darts, using concealed weapons to
harass Jiang Chen in tandem with Yue Pan and Xu Gang.
Mu Gaoqi was frantic and surreptitiously circled around to
the back of one of the Walkabout Sect disciples, only to hear the latter snort
derisively, “Mu Gaoqi, don’t blame me for killing you if you step within three
hundred meters of me!”
Mu Gaoqi had wanted to backstab the fellow from behind, and
even more worried now that his plans had been seen through. He knew that he was
only of first level origin realm and had never focused on martial strength. He
had no advantages whatsoever if he wanted to face off with these third level
origin realm cultivators.
Yue Pan’s blade had locked onto Jiang Chen at this moment.
“Time to meet your maker, kid!” Yue Pan’s downward swing suddenly accelerated
by a few notches. Light from the blade flashed by as the weapon bit deeply into
Jiang Chen’s shoulder.
Pfft!
The blow cleaved Jiang Chen clean in two. Xu Gang’s blow
also landed in that split second opening, smashing explosively onto Jiang
Chen’s upper body. He twisted his sword, making Jiang Chen’s head explode loudly.
Xu Gang and Yue Pan looked at each other, highly pleased
with themselves. They’d been practicing this concerted move since they were
ten, and had never failed even against opponents a bit stronger than them.
However, when the two had finished basking in the afterglow, they felt slightly
nonplussed. The atmosphere felt a bit bizarre, and something felt off. It was
like they’d overlooked a key detail.
Their strike had been clean and to the point, with no flaws
to it whatsoever. Except, the feedback from that crisp and vigorous stroke was
eerily similar to a giant gourd, and they felt none of the usual thrill that
came from dismembering their opponent.
“Something’s wrong!” Yue Pan took a look at the corpse and
finally noticed. There was no blood.
“Yue Pan, what the hell are you guys doing?” The two from
the Walkabout Sect had also discovered this outlandish situation and began
yelling loudly.
Everyone suddenly felt the ground tremble beneath their
feet, which rapidly grew in intensity till it felt like the earth was about to
split apart.
Bam bam bam!
Countless explosions rocked the air as numerous holes
suddenly appeared in the ground. Vine strands sprang out like the tentacles of
a monster, instantly sealing off the area.
As for Jiang Chen, he landed in front of Mu Gaoqi with a
twist of his body, looking none the worse for wear.
The expressions of Yue Pan and the others changed drastically
as they discovered the vines around them were all lotus vines, each of them the
frost-white limbs of the Ice Lotus. The vines surrounded the four disciples
like an igloo.
“What the hell is this?” Yue Pan was feeling quite weirded
out by this turn of events and slashed at one of the vines. It broke with a
snap.
“Haha, it’s merely form! Good for looks and nothing else.
It’s just a bunch of trash!” His sword danced with brilliance in the air as he
slashed at a second vine.
Whoosh!!
Cold light flared brilliantly as this stroke slashed down. A
faint layer of frost had grown on the longsword that was slashing down on the
second vine. In the next second, it spread rapidly, covering the entire sword.
“No! This is freezing qi!” Yue Pan hurriedly threw away the
sword and backed up, but a vine had snuck up behind him, as if it were a spirit
snake. Its flower petals probed forwards, then wrapped around Yue Pan like an
enormous mouth as countless currents of white frost instantly froze Yue Pan.
Crunch, crunch!
The flower petals shook a few times as its enormous biting
force crushed Yue Pan’s body to pieces and digested it. The remaining disciples
could do nothing but watch with mouths open in horror.
Xu Gang reached out, intending to use his old trick of
having a scapegoat attract the vines while he made his escape. However, he had
barely begun to reach out when two vines behind him wrapped around his waist
and hoisted him into the air. He was immediately immobilized as he flew through
the air.
Xu Gang was scared out of his wits, “Surrender, I surrender!
Daoist Chen, I surrender!”
The other two Walkabout Sect disciples weren’t any better
off. They had already been trussed up by the ice vines, and the immense
freezing power of ice continuously assaulted their nascent soul, as if wanting
to even freeze their circulation.
“Mercy, Daoist Chen! We surrender! If you need help in
exploring the spirit spring, we’re yours to command!” The two from the
Walkabout Sect knew that their life and death was up to a single thought of the
other. If they still didn’t surrender now, they wouldn’t ever have a chance to.
Jiang Chen’s face was detached. “Mine to command?”
“Yes, yes! You know too that Mu Gaoqi is weak and
insufficient. We’re the useful ones in moments of need!”
“That’s right, if you tell us to go east, we’ll never go
west!”
Mu Gaoqi didn’t have the slightest reaction even though
these people were calling him weak. He was completely shellshocked. He knew
that Jiang Chen was strong, but had never imagined that Jiang Chen would win so
easily when surrounded by four people. What kind of counter attack was this? It
was a complete smackdown!
Chapter 483: Rune of Heavenly Water, Prison of Water
In the end, Jiang Chen had his own principles. He wouldn’t
have antagonized these people if they hadn’t laid hands on him. After all, they
had put quite some effort into their schemes, but unfortunately, those plans
couldn’t entrap one of Jiang Chen’s strength. Sadly, this group was sly,
slippery, and deeply selfish. They’d actually banded together to act against
him! There was no way he would show them mercy.
He waved his hand and the petals of the ice lotus opened up,
swallowing the struggling fellows whole.
Jiang Chen didn’t feel the slightest ripple of emotion as he
watched this scene expressionlessly. The world of martial dao was just as cruel
as this. If he was soft hearted and let them off, they would undoubtedly raise
even more trouble when they left and returned to the sect.
He’d never liked to create trouble for and hobble himself
with restraints of his own making. Mu Gaoqi was still speechless, trying to
make sense of the near unbelievable turn of events.
Jiang Chen’s strength and presence gave him a formless
pressure. He knew that it would be beneficial to himself when he invited Jiang
Chen, but he hadn’t thought that everyone else would end up dead at this point.
“Gaoqi, do you think I should’ve let them go?” Jiang Chen
suddenly smiled and asked.
Mu Gaoqi stammered, not knowing how to respond. He was weak
by nature, and had made it to this step in his cultivation purely by using
pills. He’d never experienced any tempering from cruel bloodshed. Therefore, he
didn’t have a strong grasp of the law of the jungle.
“Gaoqi, if you don’t have this kind of mental preparation,
you should refrain from adventuring outside that often in the future. This kind
of experience isn’t suitable for you.” Jiang Chen sighed lightly and looked
ahead. “Let’s go.” He’d already arrived at the rock curtain by the time his
words had rung in Mu Gaoqi’s ears. He stood above the the herb, only plucking
it after careful consideration and coming to the conclusion that nothing was
untoward.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen’s words rang like the morning bell,
causing great waves of emotion in Mu Gaoqi’s heart. When he thought back to
everything that had happened on this expedition, he had to admit that he was
still too naive. He’d thought that everyone would treat him fairly after he’d
offered up the pills and would work together with him in exploring the spring.
Reality had proven otherwise, and nothing had proceeded as he’d thought. If he
hadn't invited Jiang Chen, then at best, he would’ve been blocked outside the
cavern, or even worse, slaughtered if he’d insisted in coming in.
Feng Wanjian had blocked him from entering, and those from
the Great Cathedral had agreed. The Walkabout Sect had long since laid in wait
after entering and attacked them all from the shadows. If it hadn’t been for
Jiang Chen pulling him back, Mu Gaoqi surely would’ve been the first to fall
given his cultivation level. When they arrived at the lava region, Yue Pan of
the Great Cathedral had schemed against them. If it wasn’t for Jiang Chen, Mu
Gaoqi wouldn’t have made it past the lava region at all. If he’d lacked even
the slightest iota of luck, he would’ve fallen into the lava and fed to the
lava monsters. And now in the karst cave, would he have had a better fate than
Lin Feng or Feng Wanjian if not for Jiang Chen? Obviously not!
Mu Gaoqi had a moment of profound insight when he ruminated
up to this point.
“The jianghu [1] is vicious, the jianghu is savage! The
senior executives of the sect always tried to make us understand this in the
sect, but I was too naive. I always felt that because my pill potential was
extraordinary, others would always kiss up to and fawn over me. Who would’ve
thought that the ugliness of humanity would be revealed in its entirety during
the search for the spring? I likely would’ve died four times over had it not
been for Brother Jiang Chen.”
No words were as convincing as reality. Mu Gaoqi thoroughly
let go of the burdens in his heart after this moment of realization and called
out, “Brother Jiang Chen, wait for me!”
There was only the two of them left now that all the others
were dead. Mu Gaoqi hadn’t been this far before either, so they could only
slowly explore. It was a good thing that he had a wood constitution, so he
could more or less sense the spring’s location. The two of them made slow
progress forward based on these clues.
This ancient cavern was like one of those bottomless pits
from the legends. The further in they went, the more Jiang Chen could feel that
this cavern must have had a remarkable purpose in ancient times. The further
down they went, the more sensitive Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi’s perception became.
“We should be almost there!!” Mu Gaoqi spoke
enthusiastically, his voice a bit shrill from excitement.
Jiang Chen reached out a hand and made a gesture to be
quiet. “Gaoqi, speak with your consciousness. If a strong entity lives within
this heavenly land, you’ll wake it with your yelling.”
Mu Gaoqi blushed deeply, feeling that he’d completely lost
face for himself. He was still too untested after all, and wasn’t able to keep
his cool in the face of such a tiny matter.
“Brother Jiang Chen, do you sense any danger?” Mu Gaoqi
asked with his consciousness.
Jiang Chen himself didn't know either if he was being
paranoid. The ones who'd entered the cave were all dead, but his intuition was
still warning him that danger was still present.
“Caution is the parent of safety. Gaoqi, the closer we get
to our destination, the more dangerous things will become.” Jiang Chen slowed
down and extended his consciousness to scan all the flora and fauna around him.
The two of them passed through an endless black corridor to be suddenly greeted
with a patch of green light.
“We should be here.” The scene opened up to them after they
rounded the bend. There was a naturally formed lake in this underground world
that seemed like an emerald embedded in this boundless night. The surface was
as calm and smooth like a mirror, the waters a pure jade-green and emitting a
dense mist of abundant spirit qi, lulling onlookers.
“Brother Jiang Chen, we’re rich, we’re really rich!” Mu
Gaoqi couldn’t hold back his excitement and shouted with glee.
Jiang Chen’s heart stirred as he suddenly felt his intuition
spike, but a glance around revealed no overt signs of danger. However, his ears
twitched as he heard water dripping down, coming to a halt at their feet.
He raised his head for a look, and suddenly saw two drops
start to descend. Jiang Chen’s God’s Eye suddenly contracted and magnified this
falling water drop, revealing the dense runes that were appearing within it.
“This is bad!” Jiang Chen immediately reacted—this was an
attack that had transmuted the attacker’s consciousness into liquid! That
seemingly minuscule droplet contained immense and devastating destructive
power. This attack was absolutely beyond the scope of the origin realm!
Before Jiang Chen had time to respond, the two water drops
had already expanded. Like a waterfall crashing down from the nine heavens, the
droplet instantly engulfed the two in a gigantic burst of water.
After the water washed over them, two enormous bubbles
remained, imprisoning Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi within. The water curtain seemed
thin, but it seemed to be composed of the strongest power beneath the heavens.
No matter how much force Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi exerted, they were unable to
pierce the bubble.
Jiang Chen had yet to run into anything like this since he’d
set foot in the world. When he saw that the bubble was unaffected by his normal
attacks, he decided to pursue another path. He called upon his fire attribute
arts and sent the Skyblaze Supernova Point sizzling towards the water curtain.
The result was unchanged. As if he’d tossed a pebble into
the ocean, the bubble remained completely intact and nonresponsive.
The Supernova Point was currently Jiang Chen’s strongest
single target attack. But even that only caused the runes in the water to flare
when it hit the water curtain, but failed to harm the curtain in any way.
Mu Gaoqi was punching and kicking over on his side, but that
too proved futile. The most frightening thing was that Jiang Chen kept sending
messages to Mu Gaoqi, but the latter didn't respond at all. It seemed that the
water curtain could also block all communication into and out of it, making it
so that Jiang Chen was rendered incapable of contacting the outside world.
“Hmph! Two mere origin realm rats want to break through my
Rune of Heavenly Water?” A figure suddenly flashed out of the shadows in the
walls.
This person was stooped and a little hunchbacked, but even
so, he was very tall and bulky. He held a wooden cane in his hand, his vicious
eyes gleaming like a hungry wolf’s. He took several leisurely circles around
Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi, inspecting them.
Jiang Chen was surprised to see that this man wore the same
clothes as the two Walkabout Sect disciples.
“This person is an expert from the Walkabout Sect?” Jiang
Chen was astonished. Those two had invited such an expert? But if this was the
case, why did the two disciples choose to ally with Xu Gang and Yue Pan?
Something wasn’t quite making sense here.
The hunchbacked expert murmured to himself. “Only these two
rats have come squirreling over, so this means that the others are dead? These
two look to be from the Regal Pill Palace? This isn’t right, according to my
predictions, it should’ve either been the two from the Great Cathedral making
it this far, or the two useless disciples from my Walkabout Sect. Why is it the
two from the Regal Pill Palace?”
However, he didn’t seem to care very much about this
question after thinking over it. “Hmph, it’s easy enough to kill the rats from
the Regal Pill Palace. If I wasn’t worried for the scent of blood disturbing
that being, I would’ve killed both of you a long time ago.”
The hunchback walked to Mu Gaoqi and stomped on the water
curtain, cursing loudly, “Particularly you, idiot! Screaming and yelling as if
you were afraid the entity here wouldn’t detect you? What an absolute f*cking
idiot!”
The two of them couldn’t communicate with the outside world,
but the hunchback’s words were as clear as crystal. Mu Gaoqi was beside himself
with regret, feeling that he’d dragged down Jiang Chen again.
It was rather Jiang Chen who sat down cross-legged,
oblivious to the outside world when he realized he had no way of breaking
through the curtain of water.
The hunchback expert was indeed an elder in the Walkabout
Sect and had happened to hear some of the two disciples’ conversation before
they’d set out. He’d surreptitiously followed them after learning of the spring
with the wood energy, and used his strength to bypass the two to reach the
spring first. However, when he arrived, he discovered a warning line drawn
around the spring, a line left behind by a strong entity.
The strength of this entity was such that even a second
level sage realm as he felt a bit stressed. Therefore, he’d been brainstorming
on how to quietly bypass this entity, or at the very least not awaken it.
This was when Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi had arrived. The latter’s
excited shout had completely irritated the hunchback, so he’d used his arts to
imprison the new arrivals.
It wasn’t that he didn’t kill people, but more that he was
worried that the killing intent and scent of blood would disturb the entity if
he did so. Even so, Mu Gaoqi’s previous shout still set him a bit on edge. He
became lost in thought as he gazed at that line.
Chapter 484: Dragon!
All of a sudden, thunder-like cracks rang out from the
shores of the lake. The several hundred stone stairs next to the lake’s surface
trembled as the ground rumbled. The rumbling intensified, until the cavern
itself began to quake. Enormous boulders shook loose from the rocky walls. It
was a good thing that Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi were protected by the water curtain,
which deflected all the rocks for them.
The hunchbacked expert had a dark face, shooting an intense
glare of utmost killing intent at Mu Gaoqi. He knew that the last yell had
still disturbed the great being, completely ruining his plans!
Whoosh!
A green light abruptly shot up from the ground in front of
the lake, creating a frightening rift in the earth. A black tail suddenly poked
out through the crack. It extended into the air, seemingly probing the air.
After a moment, it slapped down audibly towards the hunchback.
The hunchback had been on his guard ever since the earth had
started to quake. He immediately dodged towards the stairs when he saw the tail
sweep at him. He produced a thin blood colored blade and chopped down on the
tail as it drew close.
Jiang Chen quailed momentarily when he saw this odd tail.
“The tales say that only the tail of a dragon is seen, the head is never
glimpsed. This is a dragon’s descendent! A child of dragons resides here?!” His
usually calm temperament was shattered by this revelation.
The power hidden in the bloodline of a dragon’s descendent
was utterly horrifying. Even the most humble and diluted of dragon bloodlines
was still a part of the dragon race. Without question, they were one of the
strongest bloodlines in ancient times.
The hunchback’s strike landed on the tail and skittered off
in a shower of sparks, leaving behind a clear, ringing sound.
Clang!
It actually hadn’t broken through any of the scales on the
black tail! The hunchback was also immensely shocked.
Although he hadn't used his full strength, he had calculated
his power precisely, as well as the location the blow would land. Even if he
didn’t slice the tail open, he still should’ve broken through a scale or two!
But who knew that apart from a spray of sparks, this strike
would not even leave behind a blemish on the tail! The hunchback broke out in a
cold sweat at the sight. He swayed to the side and shot towards the rock wall
next to him.
Slap, slap, slap!
The dragon tail seemed to possess a certain sensory magic
that allowed it to predict the hunchback’s movements. It pursued him without
pause, cleaving through the ground like a knife through hot butter. It easily
left deep furrows in the walls and caused countless rocks to fall in its wake.
The rumbling of the rocks made it seem like the cavern would
collapse at any time. Jiang Chen watched the fight with unblinking eyes. “The
dragon has only revealed its tail, but that alone is enough to force a second
level saint realm to scurry in all directions. It looks like the power of this
divine dragon is quite terrifying!”
It would be false to say that he wasn’t the least bit
frightened. However, he wasn’t willing to miss this level of a fight, and he
absolutely wanted the divine dragon to win. Otherwise, once the Walkabout Sect
sage realm killed the dragon, Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi would be next on his
list.
“This hunchback expert keeps dodging to the left and right
but refuses to leave. Does he have anything else planned?” Jiang Chen’s sharp
eyes found an odd point. The battle situation was quite apparent. The Walkabout
Sect hunchback didn’t dare take the tail head on, indicating that his strength
was far below that of the divine dragon.
However, not only did the expert not attempt to escape, it
even looked like he had something up his sleeves.
“Let’s see what this Walkabout Sect old fellow wants to do.”
Jiang Chen couldn’t take a closer look as long as he was trapped in the water
bubble, and so was clueless as to the hunchback’s plan.
However, of one thing he was certain, the hunchback was very
set on the spring. He refused to back down even when he was facing a dragon.
The momentum of the dragon tail’s attacks were quite
shocking. Each sweep of the tail left deep grooves in the rock walls. If it
landed on a human body, then even one of the second level sage realm would
likely have his bones broken and tendons snapped, dying after spitting out
blood.
“Just what is this old man planning?” Jiang Chen still had
no clue after observing for a while, but suddenly realized with a glance to the
side that Mu Gaoqi’s face was turning purple. He was about to faint.
The water curtain maintained a vacuum, and although origin
realm cultivators didn't need fresh air to live, the immense sealing abilities
of the water curtain had an extremely strong corrosive effect, making the
weaker Mu Gaoqi feel like he was unable to hold on.
Jiang Chen looked again at the water curtain, certain that
it was impossible to break. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to
escape. He had laid out an escape plan long ago. He looked down at the ground
and activated the Lotus.
The Rune of Heavenly Water was quite amazing and could even
partially restrict the ground, but the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice was a
divine level treasure. The Rune didn’t have the same level of power underneath
the ground. A lotus soon appeared beneath Jiang Chen’s feet after ramming its
way through the water curtain.
Jiang Chen made a hand seal and created a copy of himself
from the Lotus, placing it within the water curtain before allowing the lotus
to bring him underground. Ever since he’d entered the origin realm, he’d fully
tapped into the illusory arts of the Lotus. When he fought Yan Hongtu not too
long ago, as well as one against four when fighting Xu Gang, Yue Pan, and the
others, the copies had all been put to great use.
Jiang Chen repeated the same actions and saved Mu Gaoqi from
the water prison as well.
“Brother Jiang Chen, where are we?” Mu Gaoqi slowly came to,
but still felt rather groggy.
“We’re in the depths of the earth. Don’t fuss, the Walkabout
Sect old thief is fighting a dragon. Although we’re quite a bit a ways, I can’t
promise that we’re out of their perception range.”
Whether it was the second level sage realm hunchback or the
mysterious dragon, both were existences far beyond the two of them. Mu Gaoqi
was startled and tightly shut his mouth. He’d already caused trouble once with
his speech, he’d finally learned his lesson this time.
Jiang Chen sat down cross legged. Even though they were
hundreds of meters below ground, he could still feel the stunning battle taking
place above them.
Enormous aftershocks kept rippling through their
surroundings, and the two of them could feel the intense trembling even from
deep within the ground.
Mu Gaoqi slowly recovered his senses and suddenly remembered
Jiang Chen’s words. He was shocked, “Brother Jiang Chen, what did you say?
Dragon?!”
Jiang Chen nodded, “Correct. Dragon.”
Any creature with the bloodline and form of a dragon could
be called a dragon. Only when the bloodline became so diluted that their
descendants could no longer shift into dragon form would they lose the right to
be called a dragon. But even so, as long as a creature had the bloodline of a
dragon, no matter how much their form had changed, they would call themselves
the descendants of dragons. After all, even the slightest of association with
the word “dragon” was a cause for pride. Since ancient times, it has always
been one of the most noble of bloodlines, the truest king of beasts. Even the
slightest drop of dragon blood meant that they were one of their descendants.
Currently however, judging from the dragon’s tail and
scales, this creature was definitely a true dragon. Jiang Chen wasn’t sure of
its particular bloodline, but it could definitely keep the true form of a
dragon.
A dragon like that had a very pure bloodline no matter how
far down in the world it had come. After all, changes to its body had to do
with purity of its bloodline.
“Then… then can we get out?” Mu Gaoqi’s thoughts weren’t on
the spring at all.
Dragon!
Dragons existed only in legends of the Myriad Domain. Even
the premier experts of the Myriad Domain would pay solemn attention when they
heard the legends of dragons. They were spoken of as invincible existences.
Therefore, Mu Gaoqi had no thoughts of seizing a spring with wood spirit energy
from a dragon. He only wanted to know if they could make it out alive.
“I don’t know. If the situation called for us to escape,
that old thief from the Walkabout Sect should’ve ran long ago. However, he
didn’t go, which indicates he must have noticed something. What reason do we
have to flee since he isn’t doing so?” Jiang Chen had seen too many true
dragons in his past life, and often saw ones with the highest of lineages.
Therefore, he wasn’t the least bit afraid of dragons.
Even if the strongest of the ancient dragons might’ve been
stronger than his father, the Celestial Emperor, he’d never seen one of that
caliber in his past life, and those certainly didn’t exist in the current plane
he lived in.
When he took into consideration his knowledge of the ancient
beast language and his equal skill in the noble dragon language, he decided to
stay. In contrast, he was more at ease if the dragon killed off the hunchback
expert. Jiang Chen would rather have dealings with a dragon than his fellow
man.
He could possibly communicate with a dragon, but he’d never
be able to communicate with an evil heart.
“Gaoqi, you stay here and don’t move a muscle. I’m going up
to take a look.” Jiang Chen was concerned about the battle situation and was
likewise worried about the spring. If he turned tail and left, he would likely
regret it for the rest of his life.
Only with great risk comes fortune. He didn’t wait for Mu
Gaoqi to respond as he made a hand seal. One of the petals of the lotuses
retracted and folded Mu Gaoqi in. He was now imminently ill at ease about Mu
Gaoqi. If he didn’t restrict his movements, the fellow might run around
haphazardly later and ruin things again.
It was better for Jiang Chen to restrict his movement now
and have him just stay where he was. There were only good things to be had from
training inside the Lotus, and the spirit pearl Mu Gaoqi had should resist the
Lotus’ power.
Chapter 485: Jiang Chen Reveals Himself
Jiang Chen had no lack of ability or courage, and he fully
exploited the Lotus’ enormous capability to surreptitiously move upwards.
Numerous ice and fire lotuses had taken up residence a few meters beneath and
around the cavern. Jiang Chen’s consciousness descended upon them to observe
the brutal fight.
The cavern was a wreck, fallen boulders dotting the area.
A black dragon was coiled atop an enormous boulder, staring
viciously at a particular rock wall. The hunchback had already lost an arm, and
his chest and back were covered with bloody wounds. He was panting heavily.
“You despicable human, how dare you set up a poison
formation in my territory! What sect are you from?! When this sage one leaves
this area, I’ll make sure to annihilate your sect!” The dragon’s awe-inspiring
voice reverberated around the cavern, echoing to and fro.
“Hahaha!” The hunchback began to laugh maniacally, in spite
of his injuries. “Such big talk! I might actually be slightly afraid of you if
you weren’t poisoned to this state. You still want to throw your weight around
after being hit with my Spirit Restraint Powder? Dream on!” His words set off a
spasm of coughs, hacking up large mouthfuls of blood.
It was obvious that he’d used poison to ambush the dragon,
but had been injured in turn as well. Given his grievous wounds, he couldn’t
muster enough strength to end the dragon with one last blow.
Jiang Chen wasn’t sure if he should be happy or worried at
this sight. The hunchback’s deviousness was too frightening. He hadn’t made a
move when he’d first arrived at the spring, but had instead set down a poison
formation first. It was obvious that he’d long been prepared for such an
outcome.
As for the dragon, it hadn't noticed the poison formation
when it first woke up. It’d immediately attacked fiercely and ferociously,
taking in more poisonous air as it did so.
Although its powerful attacks had injured the hunchback, the
dragon had also been heavily dosed with the Spirit Restraint Powder, leaving it
unable to concentrate its dragon breath anymore. It too was unable to give the
hunchback a lethal blow.
One true dragon and one second level sage realm had both
suffered great losses.
“Vile human, don’t think I don’t know your intentions! As
good as the spring is, it won’t purify your lowly bloodline.” The dragon was
incensed.
The hunchback laughed leisurely. “Just keep talking tough! I
won’t die from these injuries for a short while anyways. But with your poison,
even with the true essence of a dragon, how long can you hold on without aid?
Three months? Six months? One year? I’ve got more than enough time to spare.
When you die, I’ll peel off your skin, pull out your tendons, bleed you dry,
feed on your heart, and then refine your core, hahaha!! The bloodline of a
dragon and a spring with wood spirit energy, what a fortuitous occurrence that
the heavens have given me! There hasn’t been an emperor realm cultivator in the
Myriad Domain for hundreds of years. It looks like I’m predestined to become a
Great Emperor and unite the Myriad Domain!”
If one could absorb the bloodline of a dragon, ascending to
the emperor realm was a given. Add the baptism of the spring, and it wasn’t
farfetched to think that he’d become a Titled Great Emperor that everyone in
the Divine Abyss Continent would look up to.
The hunchback started laughing proudly as he started to
imagine his future, but his laughter choked off into silence as a violent light
shone in his eyes, “Who’s there?!”
Although Wei Wudao [1] was gravely injured, his
consciousness was unimpaired, and he felt a ripple of another consciousness in
the shadows, observing them. The shout he let out shook the rock walls in its
intensity, rock shards falling as they fragmented into pieces.
That ripple of consciousness had been Jiang Chen in the
shadows. The Lotus had almost perfectly concealed him, and he’d been very
careful, but he hadn’t thought that Wei Wudao would be even more shrewd than a
rat! He immediately retracted his consciousness and ceased observing.
Wei Wudao looked around for a bit, but came up empty handed.
“That’s odd, I definitely felt a consciousness spying from the shadows.
Although it hid itself well, there’s no mistake about it.” Wei Wudao suddenly
looked at the two water curtains. The two figures were still inside. “Weird,
was it my imagination? Those two origin realm rats have no future but death
under the suppression of my Rune. There’s no way they can escape. Can it be
that there’s some remnants left alive from that pack of minor origin realm
cultivators who entered the cave earlier?”
Wei Wudao suddenly jerked in surprise when his thoughts
reached that point. It wasn’t that he was afraid of those minor origin realm
cultivators. He was confident he could handle them all, even if they came
charging in as a horde. Even a lean camel was bigger than a horse, and his
injuries were only to his body. His battle strength might be below par, but
that wasn’t enough to prevent him from dealing with a few minor realm
cultivators.
Wei Wudao’s gaze was about to shift from the water curtain
when a thought struck him.
“Wait… wait!” Something flashed through his mind. The quick
glance he’d taken just now had set off a slight warning bell. His body flashed
as he landed next to the water curtains like a large bird of prey. The closer
he was to the water curtain, the further he was from the dragon. Therefore, he
didn’t feel the slightest pressure from this movement.
“How can this be!?” He looked at the two figures in the
water curtain, particularly Mu Gaoqi. His face had been almost turning purple
from suffocation earlier, but why was he actually more rosy cheeked now? This
doesn’t make sense!
Wei Wudao paced around the curtain, looking carefully at the
two. However, he couldn’t see anything through the water either. If a level two
sage realm cultivator looked carefully at the illusion that Jiang Chen was
channeling through the Lotus, they would’ve certainly seen some flaws. But when
viewed through the curtain and his heavy injuries obscuring his perception, he
could call upon only half his cultivation. Therefore, he couldn’t see much of
anything no matter how hard he looked.
Wei Wudao’s unease only grew as he slapped his hand against
the water curtain, a blue light from his hand seal covering the water curtain.
Pop! Pop!
The two water curtains popped as two figures landed in front
of Wei Wudao.
“Hmm? This isn’t them!” He was greatly shocked and slammed
his hand down on the two lotuses. They swayed and then drilled deep into the
ground.
This turn of events left Wei Wudao openmouthed with
surprise. He’d been out and about in the world for who knew how long, and had
imprisoned many with his Rune. Even sage realm cultivators would find it almost
impossible to escape if confined by his rune, but now two origin realm rats had
escaped! He was both angered and anxious.
He was angry that his Rune had proven ineffective, and anxious
that the two origin realm rats might come back with reinforcements, ruining his
advantage for taking the spring for himself.
A true dragon and a spring of wood spirit energy. This was a
fortuitous occurrence bestowed by the heavens! What portion of it would be his
if stronger people arrived? He didn’t even dare think about it!
As he blanked momentarily, he was suddenly struck with joy.
That peeping consciousness he’d sensed just now must have come from the two
minor origin realm cultivators.
Since they haven’t left yet, there’s no need for them to
leave now!
Wei Wudao suddenly smiled and flicked his hand, a jade-green
vertical bamboo flute appearing in his right hand. “A mere origin realm wants
to display your incompetence to me? My ‘Hypnotic Requiem’ melody will destroy
your consciousness, even if you’re hidden thousands of feet in the ground.” Wei
Wudao had many hidden techniques, and this particular melody was useless on
dragons, so he hadn’t bothered to use it. The souls of dragons were simply too
strong, and the consciousness of a dragon was almost invincible. Wei Wudao had
never thought of using this method to suppress the dragon. However, it was
perfect for two mere origin realm cultivators.
Jiang Chen knew that things had taken a bad turn when his
consciousness had been discovered. However, he wasn’t nervous as he decided to
just break out of the wall and land on the other side, placing the dragon
between him and Wei Wudao.
The dragon had obviously long since detected Jiang Chen’s
presence. He looked Jiang Chen up and down as the human broke out of the wall.
Jiang Chen grinned and greeted it in the dragon language,
“Five claws and horns. You’re a true descendent of the dragons!”
The dragon trembled when he heard the dragon tongue, staring
at this human young man with incredulity. “Human, you know dragon speech? Are
you the reincarnation of a true dragon?”
“…no no, there’s no presence of a dragon about you.”
“I’m not the reincarnation of a dragon, but I’m a friend of
the dragons.” Jiang Chen spoke in flawless dragon.
The two of them chattered away in the dragon language,
completely stunning Wei Wudao. He glared fiercely at Jiang Chen, “Kid, just
what kind of background do you have?”
Jiang Chen smiled, completely at ease, “Does that matter,
Wei Wudao? Are you going to get the hell out now yourself, or will you wait for
the experts from my sect to come and destroy you?”
“You!” Wei Wudao scanned the surroundings and found no sign
of Mu Gaoqi’s consciousness. He suddenly started, “Your companion fled?”
Jiang Chen laughed. “Do you think we’d be so dumb as to stay
here for you to capture? Of course he went back to get reinforcements!”
“Went back?” Wei Wudao’s eyes spun in thought. “You’re a
disciple of the Regal Pill Palace, and it takes at least four to five days to
make a round trip from there. By that time, I’ll have assimilated the dragon
blood, refined the core, been baptized in the spring and gone on my merry way.
Your sect can only come to pick up your carcass!” Wei Wudao lifted the flute
and prepared to play.
Jiang Chen had come out because he’d been worried about this
“Hypnotic Requiem”. He could resist its effects, but Mu Gaoqi, hundreds of feet
below, wouldn’t be able to. This was why Jiang Chen had come out to face this
Wei Wudao.
Of course, he wasn’t the sort to put himself in sure danger
like a moth to flame. He’d broken out of the wall because he’d already made his
own plans. He would never stand face to face with his enemy without
preparations beforehand. But even with Wei Wudao’s injuries, a second level
sage realm still wasn’t someone Jiang Chen could handle.
“Wei Wudao, who are you trying to frighten with a mere
‘Hypnotic Requiem?’ Why don’t you get a taste of this first!” Jiang Chen pulled
back on Sunpiercer after speaking, sending out three arrows in quick succession
like meteors flaring across the sky, aimed straight at Wei Wudao.
“Pathetic little tricks!” Wei Wudao’s flute flicked left and
right and knocked the arrows away with ease.
Chapter 486: Use of All Trump Cards, Destroying Wei Wudao
The dragon was also immensely disappointed once it saw Jiang
Chen’s cultivation level. “Young man, even this sage can’t help but suspect
your intelligence. You could’ve escaped, why did you come out to your death?
Your cultivation is leagues apart from his!” The dragon sighed in the dragon
language.
When Jiang Chen had first appeared and spoke fluent dragon,
the dragon had actually felt a bit of anticipation for this human’s next move.
But when he actually saw Jiang Chen make his move, his hope evaporated like a
snowflake in the desert. Although the youth had a decent strength, that was at
most when facing off against a sky origin realm cultivator. It was absolutely a
different case when compared to a sage realm cultivator.
Even though Wei Wudao had successfully knocked aside Jiang
Chen’s arrows, he was still slightly surprised at the strength behind them. A
minor origin realm cultivator is capable of exhibiting the battle ability of a
sky origin realm cultivator!? A trace of alarm began to grow in Wei Wudao’s
heart. If he didn’t kill this kind of opponent, he would only be fostering
trouble for himself in the future.
He sneered, “Kid, do you think you can avoid death by hiding
behind that little eel? I admit that your cultivation isn’t bad, you even count
as one of the premier geniuses of the Myriad Domain. However, the dumbest thing
you’ve done yet was running out to play the hero even though you had the
opportunity to escape. Since you’ve come so boldly, how would I be able to face
the senior executives of your Regal Pill Palace if I were to let you go? Even
giving you Sunpiercer, just who are you to old man Yun Nie?”
As an elder of the Walkabout Sect and a master of poisons,
Wei Wudao often sparred with Elder Yun Nie of the Regal Pill Palace. In fact,
he had a bit of a grudge with the elder. He immediately recognized the weapon
when Jiang Chen brought out Sunpiercer. From there, it was easy enough to
conclude that this youth had a relationship with that elder of the Regal Pill
Palace.
Sunpiercer was just something that Jiang Chen was using to
cover up his true attack. Instead of responding, he just laughed, making a hand
seal as he did so.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
A slew of vines tore through the walls and ground of the
cavern. At first count, they numbered around eighty, each as thick as a full
grown tree. They wove through the air, clustering together to form a bristling
wall. Every twist and curve of the vines gave off a palpably lethal aura.
“The hell is this?” Wei Wudao was stunned. However, he was
still a sage realm expert. A little complication like being besieged by vines
wasn’t enough to faze him. “Kid, you certainly have some ability to boast
about. At least, being able to dual train water and fire is quite the feat.
But.. so what!? Do you think that you could rely on mere minor origin realm
cultivation to try and refine me with fire? Or use ice to seal me in?”
The Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice was unequalled, but
only when it was facing a strength on par with or slightly above it.
The enormous gap between the minor origin realm and the
mortal sage realm wasn’t something that could be crossed on a moment’s whim, so
Wei Wudao naturally had reason to dismiss Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen furrowed his brow, “Wei Wudao, were you
uninjured, I may not have dared to try challenging you. But, here you are, a
single strike away from crumbling. This sort of risk is definitely worth it for
the spring.”
It was like Wei Wudao had heard a truly amusing joke as he
broke out in hearty laughter. “It looks like you truly believe you have a
chance! In which case, let me give you a look, an abject lesson on how puny a
minor origin realm is in front of a sage realm cultivator!” He put away the
flute, drawing instead the blood-red longsword he had used before.
Pfft pfft pfft pfft!
Wei Wudao’s body was a shadow as it flashed by four of the
vines. The four vines were severed with barely any resistance, falling limply
to the ground.
Jiang Chen’s pupils contracted swiftly, apparently surprised
by a sage realm cultivator’s overbearing ability. When he faced off against
Sunchaser and Yan Hongtu previously, at most, they could only sever one vine.
Wei Wudao had sliced away four with a single careless stroke. He well deserved
the reputation of a second level sage realm cultivator. However, Jiang Chen
wasn’t disheartened. He manipulated the fire lotus, sending gouts of flame
through the air. His finger stabbed forward and the air began to sizzle and
sear.
“Skyblaze Supernova Point!” Supernova Point was his
strongest attack he’d developed so far. It was like an inferno had descended
from the skies, a white hot pyre to its target. The terrifying fire elemental
power congealed at the very tip of his finger until it streaked through the air
with an explosive blast.
Wei Wudao was also quite surprised when he saw the strength
behind this finger. Such domineering strength is coming from a minor origin
realm cultivator?
He laughed heartily, “Interesting, hmm? But, go back and
suckle at your mother’s teat for a few more years before coming to challenge
me!” He extended his hand and several runes rippled out, expanding in the air.
Suddenly, the water curtains of the Rune of Heavenly Water cascaded down in
front of Wei Wudao, defending against the Skyblaze Point with barely a ripple.
On the other side, Jiang Chen wasn’t dejected by this
development. Instead, he chuckled and suddenly reached out with his right hand,
his fingers constantly flickering gently through hand seals as if he was
playing the zither.
Suddenly, all the lotuses began swaying to an odd rhythm.
The cadence gave off a mesmerizing feeling, not at all like the battle crazed
tempo that had just happened. A strange raspy sound echoed in the air, emitted
by the vines as they swayed.
Wei Wudao held his breath for a moment, feeling strange.
“What are you playing at, kid?” He fell silent, trying to figure out what was
happening. The battle’s rhythm had suddenly flipped from a furious back and
forth to this drastically slowed tempo. There was definitely something odd
going on.
But what was strange about it?
Wei Wudao stared at the rhythm of the lotuses, determined to
read something from it. There seemed to be a frightening attack held within
this bizarreness that would spell disaster for him at any second.
Except, no matter how he stared, he couldn't see through it.
He suddenly yawned as a thought flashed through his mind. It might be nice to
take a nap.
That thought didn’t seem to come alone, as it was followed
by many more like, surging into his consciousness like a locust plague. As he
looked at the vines sway, milky-white mist began to drift from from, an oddly
appropriate accompaniment the rhythm.
“What’s going on?” Wei Wudao’s heart suddenly sank as he
felt his body soften. He actually had the urge to drift away to sleep.
His consciousness began to dissipate.
“Wei Wudao, you’re injured. It won’t ever heal if you don’t
rest. Take a nap.” This voice kept reminding him in his consciousness,
hypnotically lulling him to sleep. He felt that something was amiss, but a strong
sense of drowsiness kept muddling his senses.
He suddenly shook his head and his body.
Jiang Chen hastily yelled when he saw this, “Wei Wudao, look
here!” Just now, he’d been releasing the sap from the Divine Tree of Dreams
from the vines. He’d first obtained it in the Valley of Destruction during the
initial selection in the sixteen kingdoms. Since even he had almost fallen to
its hypnotic scent, he’d learned his lesson and collected large amounts of sap,
but hadn’t had a chance to use it after refining it.
He’d released it through the Lotus just now to hypnotize Wei
Wudao. Even the swaying of the vines was an imitation of the tree.
However, Wei Wudao’s strength of heart was still stalwart,
even though he was deeply injured. He desperately hung onto a sliver of
wakefulness, and wasn’t completely lulled by the Divine Tree.
It would’ve sent him into eternal slumber once the hypnosis
took effect. It was a pity that there was that final step left.
When Wei Wudao shook himself all over, Jiang Chen knew that
the Divine Tree hadn’t fully succeeded. But it had provided him with an
opportunity, a chance where his enemy’s consciousness was at its weakest, and
his defenses the lowest. At that moment, Jiang Chen fully activated the Evil
Golden Eye and infused it with all the metal power he could control, melding
the two into a brilliant beam that shot into Wei Wudao’s eyes.
Wei Wudao’s consciousness was already half asleep thanks to
the Divine Tree’s hypnosis. Although he was still hanging onto a sliver of
consciousness, he still wasn’t fully awake and was thus at his most vulnerable.
On the other hand, Jiang Chen’s every move had been for the sake of this blow
with the Evil Golden Eye. In fact, it could be described as an attack sent at
his peak condition.
Even one sitting at the peak of the sky origin realm would
likely lose in the face of this sparkling missile. But it still wouldn’t be enough
to take down Wei Wudao… had he not been in his current condition.
Whoosh!
He shook all over as it suddenly felt like thousands of
golden needles had shot into his eyes, drilling into the depths of his blood
vessels.
“No!” Although Wei Wudao didn’t know what kind of art this
was, but he knew the signs of trouble when he saw it, and he’d definitely
sensed it when that golden light burrowed into his body. He suddenly threw back
his head and howled, “Little swine, I…”
But his voice petered out into silence before he could rant
more. His pupils contracted rapidly as all his circulation seemed to freeze.
The power of metal in that Evil Golden Eye had thoroughly assimilated his
circulation and froze instantly.
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate when he saw that he’d succeeded.
He gathered up the immense power of metal once again and stabbed at the air
from afar, focusing his power into a meteoric streak that shot towards Wei
Wudao.
Supernova Point!
This was his strongest point thus far, combining the power
of metal essence with the strongest power of metal from the magnetic golden
mountain, coalescing into the “Galaxy Supernova Point”.
If an expert from ancient times demonstrated this move, the
power within would be enough to crush the stars, moon and sun.
Bam!
Just like a supernova, Wei Wudao’s body suddenly exploded.
The boundless attack utterly fragmented him. His nascent soul didn’t even have
time to emerge before it too was incinerated to dust.
Jiang Chen himself was secretly impressed by the power
behind this finger. The strength of this move was far beyond his expectations.
Now that his enemy was dead, Jiang Chen also breathed a sigh
of relief. He’d used almost all his power and all his trump cards this time.
Even so, a large part of why he’d won was Wei Wudao’s heavy injuries.
Otherwise, even all of his arts would’ve been incapable of defeating this
second level sage realm.
Chapter 487: Dancing with Dragons
Jiang Chen had absolutely taken a huge chance with this
battle. He’d revealed multiple trump cards over the course of this battle,
including the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice, the Divine Tree of Dreams, the
Evil Golden Eye, and the Galaxy Supernova. The fight had lasted for just a few
moments, but he was as exhausted as if he’d battled for three days and three
nights.
Drained beyond belief. He was almost completely wrung out.
On the other side, the dragon was in complete shock. It’d
nearly succumbed to despair when it saw Jiang Chen’s initial three arrows. But
the match had quickly taken turns that even it’d never expected. That human
youth it didn’t think much of had actually killed Wei Wudao!
Although Wei Wudao himself wasn’t much in the dragon’s eyes,
he was still a second level sage realm cultivator. Even injured, that was still
an existence that couldn’t be underestimated.
This young man was just a minor origin realm cultivator, but
possessed a battle ability far beyond his cultivation, and a number of
techniques that made the dragon’s scalp go numb. Suddenly, it didn’t know
whether to be happy or depressed.
Wei Wudao was deader than dead, so the antidote to his
Spirit Restraint Powder was certainly in this young man’s hands. To the dragon,
this meant that he’d kept the wolf at bay, only for the tiger to slip in
through the back door.
The atmosphere became a bit heavy, and the dragon could no
longer take it. It fixed his gaze on Jiang Chen, who was sitting on the stone
steps, and rasped, “Young man, what do you intend to do to me?”
Jiang Chen started, then started laughing. “I said I’m a
friend of the dragons, why would I do anything to you?”
The dragon tilted his head and widened its eyes, staring at
Jiang Chen, obviously unable to tell if those words were a lie or not.
Jiang Chen opened his palm. “This is the antidote, I
obtained it just now.”
The dragon was greatly surprised. He’d swept the carcass
with his consciousness just then and hadn’t found the antidote. So the youth
took it alright!
“How did you obtain it?”
Jiang Chen smiled without responding. He had so many lotuses
that acted like extensions of his limbs. Anything they could reach was as if
already in his pocket!
“Alright…” The dragon sighed. “No matter what, you’re still
a bit better than that old ruffian. What do you want?”
Jiang Chen smiled. “I only have two requests.”
“What requests?” The dragon revealed a trace of wariness.
“Don’t tell me you want to enslave me. That’s impossible! One of the noble
dragon race will never be a slave!” The dragon spoke firmly, cutting off this
idea before it could bloom.
Jiang Chen knew much about the dragon race, even more than
this dragon in front of him. Dragons were indeed the nobility among all beasts.
However, there were many that had been enslaved by humans in the ancient times.
Even his own father rode a dragon carriage hauled by nine five-clawed golden
dragons when he traveled. There was no such thing as not enslaving a dragon.
The strong were revered, and no race was able to escape this
odd logic. However, Jiang Chen knew that it was unrealistic to expect this
dragon to docilely bow down to him in servitude. He smiled faintly, “Your
strength is far greater than mine. I don’t dream of enslaving you. However, I
do plan on signing a treaty with you, to form an alliance. This is my first
request.”
“A treaty?” The dragon blinked, mulling over the request.
After a moment, he nodded. “I can consider a mere treaty. However, you can’t
force me to this and that. I will go back on my agreement then.”
Jiang Chen laughed, “We’re allies, I won’t be attempting to
enslave you. However, don’t think that there are no benefits for you in this
treaty. To be honest, even though you’re a true dragon, you’ve awakened less
than a hundredth of the ancient dragons’ bloodline in your body. What if I
could awaken your heritage, and gift you the arts of the dragons? What if I
could help you fly through the air and ground, be hailed a Great Emperor,
transform into human shape, summon the wind and rain, break through the void,
and ascend to the heavenly dao?”
Jiang Chen’s every word in the dragon language slammed
against the dragon’s heart as if a spell.
“What are you saying?”
“I’ll say this only once.” Jiang Chen smiled. “You are a
true dragon, but you’re currently holing up in this remote corner of the Divine
Abyss Continent. You have no confidence in showing yourself before you’ve
reached your full strength. If you do, you’re afraid that those who call
themselves emperors will capture and enslave you. You don’t need to deny
anything, because the only way that no one knows of you in the Myriad Domain,
with your peak sage realm cultivation is if all this is true.”
The dragon was silent. It was indeed a true dragon that had
awakened from a dragon egg after countless years of nurturing in this spring of
wood spirit energy. It knew nothing of the outside world, just fragments from
his inherited memories that awoke through the years.
It’d grown strong in the couple hundred of years that it’d
stayed in the spring, but had never left. It was lonely, but had no companions
to speak to. There was no one it could depend on, or succor.
It was a good thing that as its cultivation level had risen,
its memories had continued to awaken and it had learned more and more. Its
memories were the reason it hadn’t dared leave the spring, the fragments that
informed it that there were many races in the world that eclipsed it in
strength. The experts of these races all shared a common interest, and that was
to enslave dragons.
Having a descendent of a dragon as their steed, a contracted
beast, was a very fashionable thing amongst them.
It was a true dragon, so it would more than likely become
very popular as soon as it appeared. Therefore, it both yearned for the outside
world and worried that it would be hunted down as soon as it appeared. This
contradiction left it bereft of the conviction to step away from the spring,
and in that moment, its thoughts had been laid bare by Jiang Chen. It couldn’t
find the words to refute him.
“Youth, you speak of impressive sounding things, but how do
I know you’re not lying to me?” The dragon was still very much on its guard.
“I hold your life and death in my hands right now, what need
do I have to lie to you? Besides, I’ve always valued keeping my word. As a show
of faith, take this secret method of the dragon race and study it first.” Jiang
Chen sent over a secret method of the dragons with his consciousness after
speaking.
“Mm?” The dragon immediately detected upon receiving the
method that this really was a cultivation art of the dragons!
Jiang Chen smiled. “I also have the method that dragons use
to transform. With your cultivation, you should have long been able to
transform. Your inherited memories must not contain this technique, does it?”
As one of the royal races of ancient times, the dragons had
noble lineages and extraordinary status. Jiang Chen had naturally studied them
thoroughly. He could easily take out a handful of those techniques, and it was
made even easier since this dragon was still just a baby compared to the dragon
races in his past life. It couldn’t even count as having undergone an initial
awakening, only a half step awakening at most. He could naturally bluff a baby
dragon.
“A transformation technique?” The dragon’s eye gleamed. “Do
you mean that?” It couldn’t help but become excited at the thought of being
able to transform. If it could shift into a human form, he’d be able to travel
the four seas without worrying about being hunted down.
Jiang Chen laughed leisurely, “Forget it if you don’t
believe me. There should be nothing amiss with the method I just sent you,
right?”
“Youth, just who are you? According to my inherited
memories, you shouldn’t know so much at your cultivation level.”
Jiang Chen didn’t directly respond to this question. He
smiled instead, “You may be the only true dragon in the entire Myriad Domain,
and I’m the only person in the entire region who understands dragon tongue. I
may even be the most special existence in the Divine Abyss Continent!”
For some reason, the dragon grew thoughtful when it heard
Jiang Chen’s words. Its draconic intuition told it that this human youth didn’t
seem to be blustering. “I can agree to the matter of the alliance, name your
second condition.” The dragon’s tone softened.
“The second condition would be the spring. This is your
territory, but I want to make use of its power to baptize my body.”
“That’s not a problem!” The dragon agreed without a moment’s
pause. “The spring has an endless supply of spirit power and can purify itself.
It will still recover over time even if ten, hundreds, or thousands of people
are immersed here. If you like it, I don’t even mind if you take the entire
spring away.”
“Take it away?” Jiang Chen grew curious. “How would we do
that?” He really didn’t have the kind of treasure that could swallow rivers or
move creeks to just abscond with this spring.
The dragon chuckled, “A trade! You give me the
transformation method and I’ll help you move the spring.”
Jiang Chen’s interest was piqued, “What about the treaty?”
“You don’t have a bad heart, I can agree to the treaty. I
can even gift you some dragon crystals and dragon blood if necessary. But, I’ve
heard you humans are very treacherous and often betray your allies. Therefore,
we can be allies, but you must swear to the heavens that we won’t betray each
other.”
The dragons were a proud race, and would never ignore,
regret, or betray a treaty. But humans were different. There were numerous
stories of humans betraying even their kin for profit. Dragon crystals or a
drop of dragon blood were an exceedingly valuable item for anyone. However, to
this enormous dragon, dragon crystals were just its solidified fecal matter, and
although dragon blood was precious, it wasn’t much to give up just a bit of it.
It certainly wasn’t an empty boast to claim that dragons
were full of treasure from head to toe.
Jiang Chen smiled, gratified at the offer. “Alright! It
would be remiss for me to keep hemming and hawing since you’re being so
forthright. Let’s happily settle on this then!”
One man and one dragon sat on the banks of the spring after
they chatted, swearing to the heavens and signing a treaty of allies. The
dragon seemed to have quite a good impression of Jiang Chen as well as it
didn’t overly haggle over the details. The two concluded their treaty in a
lighthearted atmosphere.
Jiang Chen flung over the antidote when they were finished,
“You only need to eat the antidote for it to work. Remember, don’t be in a
rush. Expel all the toxins, lest you give rise to countless trouble in the
future.”
Chapter 488: Cutting the Hair and Washing the Marrow, An
Enormous Change
The atmosphere lightened considerably after the treaty was
signed. When the dragon began to expel the toxin, Jiang Chen even purposefully
assumed his role as pill master to probe the dragon’s body, ensuring the
complete removal of toxins. He didn’t hold back either, as he transmitted the
“Dragon Transformation Method” to the dragon.
“This transformation method isn’t an easy thing to train
either, and won’t be grasped overnight. However, the foundation of this
transformation method has to do with the arts of your dragon race. True dragons
can be large or small, can rise or hide themselves. You can grow large enough
to spit clouds and mist, or so small that you are virtually invisible. If you
wish to soar the four seas, then you must master this foundational method and
train in the skills of the dragons.” Jiang Chen didn’t need to resort to any
tricks if he wanted to tame this dragon. He only needed to show it some of his
abilities.
Indeed, the dragon’s admiration for Jiang Chen grew even
stronger after it received the “Dragon Transformation Method”. “Youth, it’s not
a bad thing to ally with you!”
Dragons were proud by nature and normally weren’t much for
compliments. As such, their rare occasions of praise came from the heart.
“Since you’ve been so forthright, I, a son of the dragons,
won’t lie to you either. If you wish to move the spring away, you must first
move that Taiyi Jade Vine. That Jade Vine is the only source of the spring’s
energy. Once you remove the Jade Vine, I will suck up the water for you.
The dragons could summon the wind and rain, or overturn
rivers and seas. That was their natural gift, and there was no need for them to
be taught how to do so. They could suck dry a massive river, much less this
small lake.
Jiang Chen smiled. “Not yet,” and summoned the Goldbiter Rat
King. “Ole Gold, I’ve found the natural place of spirit power. Have you
selected your children yet?”
The Rat King stared at the jade green spring with narrow
eyes, delight suffusing them. “Young master Chen, you didn’t lie to me alright!
Fantastic, fantastic! I’ve already selected a hundred of my children and
they’re ready at any time.”
The Goldbiter Rats were small, so not a lot of spirit power
was required to evolve their bloodlines.
Jiang Chen laughed and responded, “Ole Gold, you’re in too
much of a rush. The spring’s owner is here, don’t you intend on greeting him?”
The Rat King had simply been far too agitated, with eyes
only for the spring. He hadn’t noticed the large dragon coiled atop it at all.
When he finally saw the dragon on the stone steps, he couldn’t help but tremble
all over and hid behind Jiang Chen. “This… this is a… dragon… dragon!”
The royals of ancient times, the dragons possessed a
naturally intimidating aura. This was why the Rat King was almost scared into a
faint when he saw the dragon.
“Just look at you! This is a true dragon, the owner of this
place and also our friend. Hey now, buck up, you’re the descendent of the
Goldbiter Kingrats! Although they weren’t the equivalent of the dragons in
ancient times, they were still a frightening race!”
The Rat King chuckled and cowered, still appearing a bit
shell shocked.
The dragon suddenly spoke, “Descendent of the Goldbiter
Kingrats? I have a few memories of them, a terrifying race capable of
swallowing the heavens. They’re supposed to be unnaturally fierce, so why are
their descendants so cowardly?”
Forget swallowing the heavens, the Rat King wished the
ground would swallow him whole.
Jiang Chen smiled, changing the subject, “You’re a dragon,
but you should at least have a name when you walk about outside, hmm?”
The dragon started. It really had never considered having a
name. It asked blankly, “Do I have to have a name?”
The Rat King couldn’t help but muffle laughter when he heard
that idiotic question.
“And what are you laughing at?” The dragon’s face chilled. A
mere rat dared laugh at a dragon?
The Rat King’s expression changed drastically as he tucked
his head in and crept behind Jiang Chen again, quietly sniggering off on the
side.
Jiang Chen nodded. How about this, you have a body of black
scales for armor, so I’ll call you Long Xiaoxuan.” [1]
“Why small?” The dragon asked dejectedly.
“Unless you like being called Long Daxuan?” [2] Jiang Chen
smiled wryly, “Don’t blame me for not warning you now, but Daxuan really
doesn’t sound good, and it’s easy to appear older than your years.”
“Then let’s do Xiaoxuan.” The dragon said, depressed.
“Alright, alright, I’ll call you Brother Long in the future
if you don’t like the name Xiaoxuan. This way, everyone will think your surname
is Long.”
“That’s more like it!” The newly crowned Long Xiaoxuan
nodded with satisfaction.
“Alright, Brother Long, you’ve already received the method
and if you don’t mind, please take some cover. Your presence will surely badly
scare those Goldbiter Rats. Plus, I have a companion with a natural-born wood
constitution who’s waiting for baptism in the spring.” Jiang Chen hadn’t
forgotten Mu Gaoqi.
The latter was magically delivered to the edge of the spring
after a short while.
“Brother Jiang Chen, is this a dream?” Mu Gaoqi couldn’t
believe the sight in front of his eyes. This had to be a dream.
Jiang Chen waved his hand, “Gaoqi, don’t speak nonsense. I
don’t know where that old thief and the dragon have gone to, but now is our
chance.”
Mu Gaoqi suddenly came to his senses after Jiang Chen’s
words and nodded his head furiously, “Yes yes, I’ve gone silly in my joy.”
Mu Gaoqi actually had some speculations in his heart, but he
didn’t dare voice them when he saw Jiang Chen’s no nonsense manner. After so
much, he would be a fool if he couldn’t see how extraordinary Jiang Chen was.
“Let’s go!” Jiang Chen grabbed Mu Gaoqi and leapt into the
spring.
Two splashes accompanied the two as they landed in the
spring. The water of the spring was quite temperate, neither hot nor cold. As
the two sat in it, they could feel spirit power of unparalleled purity sinking
into each of their pores, surging in to fill their bodies.
“This is amazing!” Mu Gaoqi couldn’t help but cheer.
Jiang Chen was greedily absorbing all the wood elemental
energy, scouring his body of impurities. As a wood constitution body, Mu Gaoqi
was truly a fish in water this time. The Goldbiter Rats were hiding in another
corner, far away from these two. There was plenty of spirit energy in this
enormous spring.
The baptism occurred for a full half month before the spirit
energy in the spring began to ebb. At that time, both Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi
had achieved their goals.
Jiang Chen had broken through to third level origin realm,
but Mu Gaoqi had had an even greater gain. While he didn’t take in as much
spirit energy as Jiang Chen, his gifts of a wood constitution had worked in
tandem with the spring’s energies, wholly purifying his body to the level of an
innate constitution—one which actually far surpassed that of Long Juxue’s!
Although she too had possessed an innate constitution, there
were still more or less some impurities within. But Mu Gaoqi had eliminated all
his flaws, and naturally had much higher potential. There were naturally
differences in the level of innate constitutions. Mu Gaoqi now could be counted
amongst the peak of the Myriad Domain when it came to potential.
“Congratulations Gaoqi, you’ll soar to the skies from now
on.” Jiang Chen smiled.
Mu Gaoqi bowed deeply with cupped fists, saying seriously,
“Elder brother Chen, there would be no me without you. My accomplishments of
today are purely because of Brother Jiang Chen’s help. I will never forget this
favor as long as I live! If elder brother Chen has any requests in the future,
I will be sure to handle it with all my efforts!” Mu Gaoqi was a smart person
as well, he’d even changed what he called Jiang Chen from “Brother Jiang Chen”
to “elder brother Chen” [3]. Even though it was just a slight change, the
meaning behind it was vastly different.
“Gaoqi, you and I have been through thick and thin, and
since you call me elder brother, I don’t mind telling you that I intend on
taking the spring away with me. There won’t be any spirit spring with wood
energy here in the future.”
Mu Gaoqi was astonished at hearing this. “Brother Chen, you
mean to take the spring? How… how do you intend on doing this?” He couldn’t
imagine such a thing.
“I naturally have my ways.” Jiang Chen smiled faintly and
didn’t respond. He didn’t want to spread the news of his alliance with Long
Xiaoxuan just yet.
There were advantages to someone with a cautious nature.
Take Mu Gaoqi for example, he knew what questions to ask and what not to, what
could be voiced and what had to be kept a secret. He knew that he shouldn’t
keep asking when he saw that Jiang Chen didn’t give him any details. He
scratched his head, “Brother Chen, then I’ll wait for you outside?”
Jiang Chen nodded. “Sure, you be careful too. I may not be
that quick about things, you can go back first if you want.”
Mu Gaoqi responded without hesitation, “I’ll wait for you at
the entrance.” He was well aware that if Jiang Chen wanted to move the spring,
it would be a monumental undertaking. Even though Mu Gaoqi deeply wished to
observe, he still reined in his curiosity.
Soon after he left, the Goldbiter Rats also finished their
baptism. One had to say, the spring had had a great effect on inducing the Rats
to evolve. The ones that had been selected had cast off their old selves and
evolved their bloodlines. It could be said that they’d reached the skies with
one leap, particularly the Rat King. He’d grown incredibly strong in one month,
breaking through to and reaching the peak of the origin realm in one month! His
children had all broken through to the origin realm as well, their speed in
advancement so fast that even Jiang Chen wanted to call them perverse.
“Having ancient bloodlines is indeed different!” Jiang Chen
sighed, whereas Long Xiaoxuan just snorted dismissively, clearly not holding a
high opinion of the Goldbiter Rats’ evolution. Jiang Chen smiled ruefully at
the sound, “Brother Long, your lineage is noble and your heritage excellent,
you don’t understand the troubles of the Rats!”
The Rat King walked over, seriousness in every fold of his
body. “Young master Long, it is thanks to your spring that us Goldbiter Rats
have been able to reach where we are today.”
Long Xiaoxuan apparently liked being sweet talked. He felt
that he’d gained quite a bit of face with the moniker “young master Long” and
spoke proudly when he saw how the Rat King humbled himself in front of the
dragon, “As long as you know that you should be grateful!”
“Alright, we’re all friends in the future. Brother Long,
I’ve obtained the Taiyu Jade Vine, it’s your turn to demonstrate your art now.”
Long Xiaoxuan nodded, taking to the air and opening his
mouth. A strong suction force suddenly covered the lake’s surface. The
jade-green spring waters turned into a green wave, filtering into Long
Xiaoxuan’s mouth as the lake’s waters grew increasingly shallow…
Chapter 489: Returning with Fruitful Results
The spring had been completely sucked into Long Xiaoxuan’s
abdomen. The Rat King was flabbergasted at the sight, sighing, “Amazing,
wonderful! The king of beasts, truly the royalty amongst us all! This ability
to swallow the skies and devour the earth is absolutely at the peak of all beasts.
Young master Long, Ole Gold is most impressed!”
The Rat King’s personality was a bit similar to Mu Gaoqi’s.
They were both cautious and wary. However, the Rat King had lived for hundreds,
if not a thousand years, so it’d long since grown comfortable with itself. He
had more of a scamp’s air around him, the slipperiness of someone familiar with
social conventions. These words were obviously to kiss up to Long Xiaoxuan and
make the dragon happy.
In terms of strength and lineage, the dragon was indeed far
superior to the Rat King. But in terms of age, Long Xiaoxuan actually wasn’t
much older than Jiang Chen. It was just that he’d been nurtured by the spring
ever since he lay curled in his egg, and some of his inherited memories had
awakened before he’d hatched. It had been several hundred years or so since
Long Xiaoxuan’s memories had been awakened, but he had only broken out of his
egg in the last thirty years or so. Only then had his body begun to develop.
Dragons were naturally proud, and didn’t possess a high emotional intelligence,
so he felt quite pleased and high on the Rat King’s compliments. He even felt
that the lowly Goldbiter Rats didn’t seem that ugly to his eyes anymore.
Jiang Chen knew full well what was going on, but didn’t
spoil things. “Brother Long, have you finished learning the foundations of the
Transformation Method?”
Long Xiaoxuan didn’t respond. He just shook his body as a
faint haze of light suddenly covered his enormous body. His body started to
shrink continuously beneath that light, and quickly became as small as a
mustard seed.
“Well done! Hiding your true form, you’re a dragon alright!”
Jiang Chen applauded and laughed, stunned at the training potential of the
dragons. Human cultivators would be unable to truly master this kind of art
that hid one’s form, even if they trained to the point of becoming a Great Emperor.
The waters of the spring had been thoroughly sucked dry, and
all sorts of precious and exotic treasures were revealed. The Goldbiter Rats
didn’t dare keep the treasures to themselves. They collected them all and
offered them to Jiang Chen.
The treasures were actually the dragon’s accompanying
treasures. The entire body of a dragon was a treasure, even their defecation.
They would all transmute into treasures over time, particularly when nursed by
the spirit spring. All sorts of spirit stones were present in heaps and piles,
whereas all sorts of spirit herbs dotted the ground.
“Brother Long, do you still want these treasures?” Jiang
Chen asked for Long Xiaoxuan’s opinion.
“I long since put away the useful items.” Long Xiaoxuan was
quite dismissive of what remained. Jiang Chen knew that dragons had high
standards, and happily claimed all the treasures for himself. These spirit
stones and herbs were absolutely an astounding amount of wealth. Even though
he’d temporarily bid farewell to a shortage of resources, no one wanted to
return to poverty after one bout with it in the martial world.
The further one proceeded in their cultivation, the greater
the need for resources. Therefore, no one would ever think they had too many
resources, only that they had too few. The finite amount of overall resources
meant that it was impossible for everyone to have sufficient resources,
limiting the amount of people at high cultivation levels. Ultimately, it comes
down to strength, luck, and intelligence to fight for all of them.
Jiang Chen swept around in an arc and confirmed that there
was nothing of value left before finally leaving. Long Xiaoxuan concealed
himself and left with Jiang Chen. He could feel the dragon’s nervousness.
Although the dragon was strong, with even ordinary emperor realm cultivators
unsure of winning out over him, he’d never set foot outside of this area since
regaining his memories. It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t anxious by this
sudden departure.
“Don’t worry Brother Long, although the outside world is
devious, with our strength, there’s nothing to worry about unless we run into
any reclusive experts.” Jiang Chen spoke silently to the dragon.
Although Long Xiaoxuan was nervous, he wouldn’t admit to it
at all. “You think too much, I just can’t bear to leave this place. Who told
you that I’m worried??”
Jiang Chen smiled and didn’t say anything else. All things
needed time.
They ran into no obstructions as they left, but Jiang Chen
discovered that Mu Gaoqi had yet to leave because he’d been trapped by the lava
region. Unexpectedly, the Lord of Lava treasured grudges. It was actually still
guarding the area after so many days, just waiting for them to return.
Mu Gaoqi scratched his head with some embarrassment when he
saw Jiang Chen arrive. “Brother Chen, this Lord of Lava seems to have lost its
mind. My strength is low and I’m not certain I can make it over. I could only
wait here for you.”
Jiang Chen nodded, although Mu Gaoqi’s strength had risen by
quite a bit, the effects of this remaking was destined to be less impressive
when compared to the Goldbiter Rats. Most humans had no heritages or bloodlines
to awaken. As such their strength wouldn’t suddenly increase explosively.
With Mu Gaoqi’s cultivation level, it was already stunning
that he was touching third level origin realm by now. Jiang Chen himself had
broken through to the third level, and his cultivation continued to increase in
minute amounts. This Lord of Lava was likely at the peak of earth origin realm.
At Jiang Chen’s current strength, he felt no pressure in facing off against the
Lord of Lava.
He stood with his arms crossed, shooting forth the God’s Eye
at the Lord of Lava. “Formed from the coalescence of the earth’s fires, you’ve
reached your current cultivation after much effort and time. Don’t block the
way, and I won’t make trouble for you.”
The Lord of Lava was already incensed, and began to scream.
The lava of the lake rose, covering his body. With the added protection, the
Lord of Lava quickly turned into the size of a small mountain. “Human, you are
but a puny ant in front of this lord! How dare you speak so boldly!”
Jiang Chen laughed heartily, “Ant? That means you’re not
moving then?”
The Lord of Lava waved its large hand and sent a torrent of
heat waves crashing into Jiang Chen. “Die, ant!”
Nine fire columns as thick as fire dragons churned towards
the humans.
Suddenly, a black light flashed across the Lord of Lava’s
body as a bafflingly strong force suddenly manifested as a water vortex,
catching the nine thick fire columns.
Szzt, szzt, szzt, szzt!
The nine fire columns all vanished into the air as if they’d
sunk into the depths of the sea.
“You…” The Lord of Lava was dumbstruck at the sight. It was
obvious that this scene was completely out of its expectations.
Long Xiaoxuan hadn’t shown himself, but Jiang Chen knew that
the dragon had made a move.
The Lord of Lava seemed to sense something, as extreme fear
suddenly suffused its eyes. It shrieked like it’d seen a ghost and shrank, the
enormous body suddenly turning into nothing as it fled deep into the lake.
The lake was suddenly as calm as a mirror, without a single
air bubble marring its surface. This reaction speed rendered Jiang Chen
speechless. He knew that the Lord of Lava must’ve sensed the dragonic aura of
Long Xiaoxuan.
“Heh heh, you sure fled fast. Chalk one up to you
recognizing the situation.” Jiang Chen called out to Mu Gaoqi. “Let’s go, the
Lord of Lava won’t make trouble anymore.” After speaking, he turned into a
streak of light and flew over the lake.
If it wasn’t for the harassment from the lava monsters, it
would be an easy thing for origin realm cultivators to leisurely fly over the
lake. Mu Gaoqi followed quickly when he saw Jiang Chen fly over.
At some point in this journey, he’d started to
unconditionally trust Jiang Chen. If Jiang Chen said that the Lord of Lava
wouldn’t dare harass them, then it truly wouldn’t dare harass them. They met
with no further obstacles as they traveled through the cavern. The light of day
greeted them as they took their first steps outside.
It’d been almost a month. As Mu Gaoqi breathed in the fresh
air and thought about everything that had happened, he truly felt that he’d
aged decades. When he thought about how those who’d entered this area was now
dead without even a corpse remaining to them, while he himself had received the
baptism of the spring, causing his cultivation to increase greatly and his
constitution advancing to an innate level, this put him in a wonderful mood.
All this was thanks to Jiang Chen. Mu Gaoqi cast a
worshipful glance at Jiang Chen, inwardly rejoicing at his initial decision. If
he hadn’t invited Jiang Chen, but any other genius of the Regal Pill Palace, he
would likely be a pile of withered bones by now. Even if he hadn’t died in the
hands of the Walkabout Sect, he would’ve died to Xu Gang and Yue Pan of the
Great Cathedral. Had he been able to make it to the spring by some fluke, he
ultimately would’ve died in Wei Wudao’s hands.
“Gaoqi, this matter ends here. Don’t mention it when we
return to the sect, let’s go.”
Mu Gaoqi nodded and then seemed to think of something. He
took out the spirit pearl of fire and ice. “Brother Chen, this is yours.”
Jiang Chen waved his hand, “I have no use for it. Since I
gave it to you, keep it as a memento.”
Mu Gaoqi trembled slightly, how could he accept such a
valuable item? “I… Brother Chen, this won’t do!”
“Keep it, I’ve given it to you.” Even though it was the
treasure of a sage realm expert, Jiang Chen had the Bewitching Lotus of Fire
and Ice, so he really had no need for the pearl.
At this point, Mu Gaoqi could be viewed as someone who’d
gone through life and death with Jiang Chen, so using this bit of benefit to
thoroughly bind Mu Gaoqi to him wouldn’t be such a bad idea either. Besides,
with Mu Gaoqi’s potential and gifts now, he was destined to be an uncommon
figure in the future. Gifting him the spirit pearl could be viewed as a long
term investment.
Mu Gaoqi was quite touched when he heard Jiang Chen’s words.
He accepted happily, feeling even more gratitude towards Jiang Chen. He also
made up his mind to carefully follow in Jiang Chen’s footsteps in the future.
Chapter 490: The Battle Over Residences in the Sovereign
Area
When he returned to the Regal Pill Palace, Jiang Chen
decided to first pay a visit to Dan Chi’s residence to catch up on news before
returning to his residence.
Walking in, he found that all of his followers had immersed
themselves in training, not setting a single foot outside. The residence was
still orderly, but it was rather Huang’er who’d taken up some of the daily
tasks of cleaning and keeping everything neat.
When Jiang Chen stepped inside, he was greeted by the sight
of Miss Huang’er holding a broom, gently sweeping some fallen leaves in the
courtyard. Evidently she was taking very good care of the place, as the entire
residence was spic and span.
“Miss Huang’er, why are you the one being imposed on for
these chores?” Jiang Chen was a bit embarrassed when he saw this development.
She was his patient! How was she being asked to do this kind of menial work?
Huang'er dimpled, “Sir Jiang, you’re back? I’d just thought
that things can’t be a mess when you return. You might be displeased otherwise.
So, I swept a bit since I had some free time on my hands. Huang'er is clumsy
and can’t do much anyways.”
Jiang Chen smiled, “If Miss Huang'er is clumsy, then no one
can be considered good with their hands.”
As the two chatted, Huang’er’s eyes suddenly flicked, “Sir
Jiang, you… you seem a little different?”
“Mm, I had some fortuitous occurrences this time.” Jiang
Chen knew that Huang'er's observation skills were sharp. She was able to
quickly detect many things.
“Sir Jiang is truly an unparalleled genius. You were
uncommon to begin with, and now have completely remade yourself with this
change. Huang'er believes that Sir Jiang will be on the same level as the top
geniuses in the Upper Eight Realms before too long.” Huang'er sighed with
amazement. Her expression then flickered as she raised the broom and smiled at
Jiang Chen. “Sir Jiang, a guest comes calling. Huang'er will go to the rear
yard first.”
Jiang Chen was moved. He’d just sensed that there were
footsteps approaching the residence, but to think that Miss Huang'er felt the
same as well! He looked at Huang’er’s lithe, graceful silhouette in deep
thought. I wonder where Elder Shun and Huang'er are from? Far from their homes,
they’re drifting through desolate regions such as the Myriad Domain. They must
have their own reasons other than the Hundred Generations Curse? One can find a
sense of nobility from Miss Huang’er’s actions, but she sets aside her bearing
to be friendly with everyone. Her actions betray her breadth of mind as far
beyond that of ordinary, short-sighted girls…
Jiang Chen was a bit curious, but he didn’t intend to plumb
the depths of this particular mystery. As he stood there ruminating, someone
sent in a message from outside, “Senior brother Jiang Chen, Elder Yun Nie
requests your presence at his residence.”
Elder Yun Nie had found out the second Jiang Chen had
stepped foot inside his home. It was almost impressive that there were no
secrets in the Regal Pill Palace that was hidden to the Elder. In any case, he
should’ve gone to see Elder Yun Nie after seeing Sage Dan Chi. Jiang Chen
smiled and walked out, “I was just about to pay a visit to Elder Yun Nie, but
he’s summoned me first. Let’s go!”
The guards were flabbergasted when Jiang Chen once again
appeared at the Hundred Elders Peak.
“This Jiang Chen is a bit too ridiculous, isn’t he? Elder
Yun Nie personally sent a person to invite him over? A message glyph would’ve
done the job just as well!”
“Oh what do you know? Jiang Chen is destined to be
extraordinary. Sage Dan Chi personally traveled to recruit him and Elder Yun
Nie values him this highly. In my eyes, Jiang Chen will sooner or later become
an influential person in the Regal Pill Palace. He might even become the
successor!”
“Oh come on. That’s too much. Do you know what the successor
is? How is it that easy to become the successor to the Regal Pill Palace?”
“Don’t believe me? Wait and see. I completely trust Sage Dan
Chi and Elder Yun Nie’s eyes.” The guards were still gossiping even after Jiang
Chen had disappeared from sight.
……
“Jiang Chen, I’ve invited you here today to thank you for
your help, amongst other things. You’ve helped me successfully break through to
fourth level sage realm and become another earth sage cultivator of this sect.”
Elder Yun Nie was in a great mood as he smiled and continued. “Secondly, I
wanted to ask if you’re interested in competing for a residence in the
Sovereign Area of the Rosy Valley?”
“Congratulations to Elder Yun Nie for breaking through to
the earth sage realm!” Earth sages was absolutely the first tier amongst
experts in the Regal Pill Palace. Even Palace Head Dan Chi was only fifth level
sage realm.
“Haha! The lion’s share of the credit goes to you for this
accomplishment! The Sovereign Area of the Rosy Valley has created four new
residences, and competition is fierce for them. I made a decision for you when
you weren’t here and put your name down for a lot. You won’t blame me for my
decision, will you?”
There were four areas in the Rosy Valley. Jiang Chen’s
current Soaring Clouds was the lowest level, and Peerless was quite small as it
was where the female disciples lived. Sky Pillar was the one level above
Soaring Clouds. Sovereign wasn't segregated by gender, and those who lived in
it had their own separate residences, each with land of almost a hundred square
miles that didn’t overlap with the territory other geniuses.
This kind of independent residence was absolutely the
highest class of residences for the younger generation of the Regal Pill
Palace, whether in terms of spirit qi in the environment or its facilities.
Although Jiang Chen’s current residence wasn’t bad, it was on a completely
different level compared to the Sovereign Area.
“Sovereign?” Jiang Chen arched his eyebrow. “I’ve heard that
the land in a radius around each residence belongs solely to the disciple?”
“Exactly so. Those are the best residences for the younger
generation. Jiang Chen, such a chance must not be missed, you can’t afford to
lose out on it!” Elder Yun Nie smiled. “Both Sage Dan Chi and I look favorably
on a young genius like you. You’ll be restricted in what you can do if you
continue to skulk in the Soaring Clouds Area. The Sovereign Area is where your
stage is!”
Elder Yun Nie’s words also caused ripples of great emotion
in Jiang Chen’s heart. He’d come to the Regal Pill Palace to embrace further
challenges. What was the use in coming if he didn’t even dare take the
challenge for a residence in the Sovereign Area?
“Many thanks for Elder Yun Nie’s favor. How many residences
might there be in the Sovereign Area?” Jiang Chen asked.
“There were only eight residences, and now four more have
been added this time. Thus, competition has gotten, hmm, impassioned.” Elder
Yun Nie looked at Jiang Chen with brightly shining eyes. “The apex geniuses
should live in the apex areas. Jiang Chen, although you are young, you
undoubtedly have the aura of a sovereign. I feel that you should pursue this
challenge whether you succeed or not. In addition, half of the allotment of the
residences will be reserved for pill masters this time.”
“Oh? How is this so?” Jiang Chen blinked rapidly, his
interest piqued.
“The first eight residences are all currently taken by
martial dao geniuses. This time, I analyzed the situation for the Palace Head
to secure two slots for pill geniuses. This is to say that martial dao geniuses
will be competing for two of the slots this time, and the other two are
reserved for pill geniuses. Since you seem to be a peak genius in both daos,
you can make the decision yourself as to which to choose.”
“Of course, there are some reminders that I must voice
first. In terms of pills, I feel that your potential will give you quite a
guarantee for success. As for the two slots in martial dao, you’ll face
enormous competition from large numbers of sky origin geniuses from the Sky
Pillar Area. I feel that you have no need to reject what is near at hand to
seek what is far away.” Elder Yun Nie looked quite favorably upon Jiang Chen,
but still wanted to share his opinions.
There were two slots reserved for each, and the dao of pills
was relatively easier given where Jiang Chen’s cultivation was currently at.
Although he wasn’t afraid of the impending fight from the sky origin geniuses,
it was apparent that it would consume more time and effort.
Jiang Chen’s current cultivation level could easily win over
those at the peak of the earth origin realm, but the results were still up in
the air if he were to face a sky origin realm genius.
Geniuses in large sects such as the Regal Pill Palace were
bound to have numerous trump cards in hand. Given that Jiang Chen had yet to
enter the earth origin realm, he was well aware that he couldn’t say that he
was assured of a victory against the large swathes of sky origin realm
geniuses.
He might have a chance if he used all of his trump cards.
But doing so for a mere residence in the sect clearly wasn’t his style. He
thought briefly. “Alright, then I’ll participate in the competition for the
pill dao residences.” He quite liked the idea of an independent residence with
a high degree of solitude, especially after taking the spring with the wood
spirit energy. He also needed a place large enough to hold it. A residence that
was his alone fit the bill perfectly. Therefore, he set his sights on the prize
and was determined to win it.
Elder Yun Nie also laughed heartily when he saw that Jiang
Chen had taken his advice. “Good, good, good! Promising and worthy to be
taught. Jiang Chen, you have lived up to my hopes for you.”
A follower on the side couldn’t help but say to Jiang Chen,
“Senior brother Jiang Chen, the elder fought ferociously in the council meeting
this time in order to secure these two slots for pill geniuses. He even pounded
the table in front of first elder Lian Cheng in heated argument for quite some
time before finally obtaining them.”
Elder Yun Nie chuckled and glared at his follower. “You talk
too much. Dismissed.”
The follower’s heart spasmed in fright as he hastily stepped
away to the side. Jiang Chen was also quite surprised by this matter. Palace
Head Dan Chi had only smiled merrily when he’d paid his visit and hadn’t said
anything. However, his expression had been quite… interesting. Now that Jiang
Chen thought about it, this had probably been the reason why?
Elder Yun Nie spread out his hands. “Jiang Chen, I didn’t go
against Elder Lian Cheng just for you. Our Regal Pill Palace was founded for
pills, and this has been our tradition for a thousand years. But now, martial
dao flourishes whereas we have become complacent about our achievements in
pills. Many of us are arrogant and still heady from the halo of being number
one sect in pills. We are unable to extract ourselves, and it will be very
dangerous to continue this way. This is why I went to the point of fighting
with Hallmaster Lian Cheng of the Hall of Might. As the Hallmaster, his
perspective is naturally one of having more martial dao geniuses enter the
Sovereign Area.”
Jiang Chen nodded. The Hall of Might was the foremost hall
in the Regal Pill Palace, and Elder Lian Cheng the foremost elder on the
council. Elder Yun Nie’s Herbal Hall ranked number two, and he was likely the
only one amongst the elders who dared argue against Hallmaster Lian Cheng. Even
though he said it was for the good of the sect, Jiang Chen knew that there was
still more or less a desire to protect and nurture Jiang Chen behind Elder Yun
Nie’s actions.
The warmth of gratitude rose in Jiang Chen’s heart in that
moment. “Elder Yun Nie, this disciple will bring forth everything I have to
obtain a place in the Sovereign Area to repay your immense favor!”
Elder Yun Nie applauded loudly. “Good, good! I too wish for
you to stun all those present in this competition. This way, who will dare say
anything when I add you to the list of those participating in the Pill Battles
of Mt. Rippling Mirage?!”
