Sovereign Of The Three Realms Chapter 56-60

 

Sovereign Of The Three Realms
(SOTR)

Chapter 56: Face Slapping Interlude

Princess Gouyu’s entrance made the noisy din of voices completely disappear.

After all, every single heir present felt a bit of dread and fear towards the identity of the main organizer of the Hidden Dragon Trials. If you irritated Princess Gouyu somehow and you faced additional obstacles as a result, the loss would outweigh the gain.

A distinguished vicennial gathering such as the Hidden Dragon Trials was something that the whole nation participated in. Shortly after the appearance of Princess Gouyu, two squads of strong practitioners from the Tiandu army sprinted down the avenue and occupied the two sides of the avenue, cordoning off the area.

This meant that the monarch was arriving.

Eastern Lu was in high spirits and his steps were steady and vigorous. His bright eyes looked around with a stern and an awe inspiring gaze.

“May the Emperor live ten thousand years, long live the Eastern Kingdom!”

The subjects and courtiers all threw themselves down on their knees one after another, awaiting the arrival of the king.

The 108 dukes also all found their areas and took their seats.

Eastern Lu occupied the center of the courtyard and spoke with a strong and resonant voice, “Our Eastern Kingdom, with a heritage of a thousand years, has always emphasized the heritage of martial dao. In order to conspicuously display our martial dao, and provide impetus to the dukes, we - the Eastern Kingdom - highly value the vicennial Hidden Dragon Trials. We happened to come upon this distinguished gathering and we saw heroic bearings and valiant postures from all the nobles, people of exceptional ability in all their majestic variety. We are indeed gratified.

Today, the 108 dukes of our court have gathered in a meeting of the wind and clouds. It is said that each age brings forth new geniuses on this noble land, and each will rule their own domain for years to come. We hope that all dukes present will display a new aspect of themselves, and expound on the highest level of their abilities, continuing to foster and enhance the traditions of the revered might of our dynasty.”

Eastern Lu handed the reins back to Princess Gouyu after speaking only a few simple words instead of a long winded speech. After all, Princess Gouyu was the main organizer of the Hidden Dragon Trials.

“Your Majesty, Yan Jiuzhuang has a matter to report.” Yan Juizhuang of the Yanmen dukedom stepped forward and bowed after Eastern Lu had concluded his remarks.

“Oh? What business does Duke Yan have?” Eastern Lu smiled faintly.

“Your Majesty, your subject has heard that the duke of Jiang Han has fallen ill with a severe disease, and has even heard that he is possibly not part of this world anymore. The Jiang Han territory borders the southern reaches of my territory, and is a military fortress of strategic importance. If the duke of Jiang Han does not reappear for an extended period of time, the thieves and rascals in the southern reaches will take advantage of the opportunity to rise in revolt. Your subject sincerely requests to discuss the jurisdiction of the Jiang Han dukedom before the Hidden Dragon Trials.”

The Jiang Han territory - the rights to a dukedom.

Eastern Lu’s expression froze slightly. No one had certain news of Jiang Feng’s condition. This duke of Yanmen had been the first to jump out in an apparent effort to be the trailblazer for the duke of Soaring Dragon.

Eastern Lu’s gaze flitted towards the Jiang Han dukedom area.

Jiang Chen smiled faintly and took a step forward, “Your Majesty, this duke of Yanmen has no respect for his own seniority to publicly curse my father at such a dignified gathering. As the son, how could I sit idly by and ignore this? Your subject requests that Yan Jiuzhuang apologize to me.”

“Apologize? Jiang Chen, you’re at an age in which you still smell of your mother’s milk, who are you to make I, a vaunted duke of a province, apologize to you?” Yan Jiuzhuang laughed coldly.

“Cursing others without cause or reason is a mouth without virtue. A mouth without virtue is an old dog. Old dog Yan, you’re an esteemed noble, yet you’ll willingly become the falcons and hounds of others.1 Condemning you as a dog is an extreme offense to dogs.”

Jiang Chen’s viper tongued foundations weren’t made of pure bluster.

“Jiang Chen, you dare publicly insult and deride a territorial duke... this duke will petition to fix on you the egregious crime of slander and insult to a noble!”

“Old dog Yan, just try making a move against my son!”

Suddenly, a voice rang out like thunder from the area reserved for the Jiang Han territory.

This man’s gait was akin to a dragon’s gambol and a tiger’s walk. He strode to the front with frosty looks shooting out of his eyes and stared at Yan Jiuzhuang, “Old dog Yan, where has my son spoken incorrectly? You, duke of Yanmen, are a duke of the first rank, at the end of the day, and have sunk so low as to become cannon fodder for others, what are you, if not the falcons and hounds of others?”

Jiang Feng!

It was Jiang Feng, the duke of Jiang Han who had been missing for quite some time.

The scene abruptly began bustling with noise and excitement. No one had thought that the duke of Jiang Han would suddenly appear, and even be bursting with the vitality of dragons and the ferocity of tigers.

And judging from his wholly unconcealed aura, it was the frightening aura that only a true qi master boast of!

This Jiang Feng had broken through and become another true qi master!

“Subject Jiang Feng greets Your Majesty!” After Jiang Feng had condemned Yan Jiuzhuang, he genuflected towards Eastern Lu in a very natural and poised way.

“Jiang Feng, We had heard that you were indisposed. So it turns out those were false rumors?” Eastern Lu’s heart had also settled slightly upon seeing Jiang Feng appear at a crucial moment.

As the king of the nation, he did not wish to see the Jiang Han territory change hands under these conditions.

Even if it were to change hands, it would still be up to him, Eastern Lu, to decide who would take over ownership. He absolutely would not let the duke of Soaring Dragon and his henchmen seize ownership with no clear reason whatsoever.

Jiang Feng laughed heartily, “A few thieves and rascals employed some disgraceful and unpresentable tricks. It’s not worth mentioning.”

“Haha, Duke Jiang possesses virtue and patriotism, and naturally has the protection of heaven and earth. It seems that we were overly concerned.” Eastern Lu was also in exceedingly good spirits.

The side of the duke of Soaring Dragon, however, was exceedingly gloomy. Jiang Feng hadn’t died? And had lived with the vitality of dragons and ferocity of tigers to boot? It looked like even his training had broken through.

Long Zhaofeng had a belly full of depression. He was becoming more and more dissatisfied with the competency of his underlings. Not a thing had gone smoothly ever since he had butted heads with the Jiang family father and son.

This Jiang Feng had fallen victim to a fatal poison, how could he be bursting with the vitality of dragons and ferocity of tigers?

Not only had Jiang Feng not died, but his training had gone up a notch. This way, weren’t they asking for ridicule if they sought to seize the Jiang Han territory through devious means?

The duke of Yanmen had a face full of awkwardness, as if someone had landed a hard punch on his nose. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place for the moment, and felt incredibly awkward.

“Duke of Yanmen, I, Jiang Feng, have one bit of advice for you. When being cannon fodder for someone, first look at Du Ruhai’s exit, then think of the straits that have befallen the Pill King Garden.”

The nobles who were the confidantes of and backing up the duke of Soaring Dragon were all deeply moved by Jiang Feng’s words.

Indeed, Du Ruhai had been a trailblazer and pathbreaker for the duke of Soaring Dragon, but had met his end at the duke’s own hands with his house raided afterwards and the family property confiscated.

Although no one had died in the Pill King Garden, their business was in a sorry state due to the Hall of Healing - like fallen flowers being carried away by the flowing waters as they steadily lost ground. There were even rumors that they had completely sold themselves to the duke of Soaring Dragon, and had lost their right of autonomy.

Yan Jiuzhuang was exceedingly depressed, but his tone remained quite proud. “Jiang Feng, don’t be pleased with yourself too early.”

“Why shouldn’t I be pleased with myself?” Jiang Feng laughed quite heartily. “In terms of one on one combat, you would be unable to beat me. In terms of sons, your son has been thoroughly trounced by my Chen’er on two occasions. I have no reason not to be pleased with myself in front of you, wouldn’t you say so?”

Yan Jiuzhuang had nothing to say to that.

Jiang Chen was in exceedingly good spirits upon hearing his father’s flashy comeback. One had to admit, everyone had their own rules for survival in order to become a duke.

With the appearance of Jiang Feng, the small interlude naturally ended with Yan Jiuzhuang’s losing face with a resounding slap.

Princess Gouyu’s phoenix eyes moved slightly as she flicked a meaningful glance towards Jiang Chen.

“Everyone, I now announce the official commencement of the final competition in this year’s Hidden Dragon Trials. The rules remain the same: Please begin applying for the exam mission.

This time’s exams are still missions divided into nine levels. The missions of different levels represent each dukedom’s rank.”

There were 108 dukes in the Eastern Kingdom that were divided into nine levels of ranks. Each rank consists of twelve dukes, and so on and so forth.

The duke of Jiang Han was ranked number 14 out of the 108 dukes, and counted as a duke of the second rank.

For instance, dukes ranked one through twelve were all dukes of the first rank, and there were naturally levels within the first rank.

Levels one through four were the four great dukes of the kingdom and honored with the title of utmost first rank.

Levels five through eight were honored with the title primary first rank.

Levels nine through twelve were labelled auxiliary first rank.

When it came to second rank and dukes ranked even lower, there was no title of “utmost”. Each rank was also divided into three levels.

With second rank as an example, they were divided into upper second rank, middle second rank, and lower second rank.

The duke of Jiang Han was a noble of the upper second rank!

And the Hidden Dragon Trials were a contest to determine the rankings of the next generation of nobles.

The 108 heirs could apply for a mission of any rank. Of course, each heir candidate only had two application chances.

If both times didn’t result in a completed mission, that meant one had failed the exam and had to handover the dukedom, to allow the big and powerful aristocratic families to continuously take their place.

Many of the heirs would be exceedingly cautious because there were only two application chances, and sought to make the best out of these two chances.

Some heirs may challenge a higher rank mission with the first chance. But if the first challenge failed, then they would exercise extreme prudence when it came to the second application chance. Otherwise, if they failed the second mission as well, that meant handing over the dukedom.

Every duke’s feelings were exceedingly complicated when it came to the Hidden Dragon Trials.

If potential was high, then the concern was which rank was the most appropriate.

If potential was mediocre, then the concern was whether or not maintaining their position was most important?

The higher ranks had to worry about challenges from behind.

The lower ranks also had to worry about their dukedoms being taken by those aristocratic families casting covetous eyes like a greedy tiger.

The middle ranked dukes had to debate whether they wished to take a step forward or remain where they were.

The Hidden Dragon Trials was a time of decisions - indeed, of extremely difficult decisions.

Many times, some heirs overestimated their potential and strength and challenged high rank missions due to a moment’s impulse. The end result was failing twice and the immediate loss of their dukedom.

This would cause extreme feelings of frustration, indignation, and regret.

“Brother Chen, what rank’s missions do you intend on challenging?” Fatty Xuan crowded in and it was apparent that the fatty was just a tad bit nervous at the moment.

Jiang Chen glanced at his two best friends and asked in return, “What have you decided on?”

“I’ve decided to challenge a second rank mission first.” A hint of resolution suffused Hubing Yue’s fierce expression. He was of eight meridians true qi now and thus had the ability to say so.

He even had the right to challenge a first rank mission.

“I… I’ll keep my position first and then see.” Fatty Xuan said weakly. The duke of Jinshan was an upper fourth rank duke. His ranking was above average. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if he could keep this ranking.

At least, the highest expectations that the duke of Jinshan had for fatty Xuan was only to maintain their current ranking.

Jiang Chen nodded, “It is right for Xiaoyue to pick the second rank.2 Brashly assailing the first rank would be too much pressure for you. As for fatty, maintaining your rank would count as success.”

Jiang Chen was rather familiar with the rules of the Hidden Dragon Trials. If the number of people who applied for the missions of particular rank exceeded the quota, then rankings would be decided based on the quality of the missions completed, successively being pushed back appropriately.

This was to say, if fifteen people applied for and completed a mission of the third rank, then the three people ranked in the last of these fifteen would be pushed back to the fourth rank.

And this was the logic that was followed. But the number of 108 dukedoms was eternal and unchanging.

Chapter 57: Sights Set For Duke of the First Rank

This kind of competition was quite cruel. If neither application was completed, it was equivalent to directly losing one’s dukedom.

This way, there were sure to be many dukedoms that were vacated.

The vacant dukedoms would be filled in by strong aristocratic families. Of course, these filled vacancies would only rank at the bottom.

This was to say, the heirs that successfully completed missions would be ranked with priority in the higher ranks. Those who filled in for heirs who had lost their dukedoms could only compete for the vacated, lower ranks.

Of course, Jiang Chen had no need to consider these rules.

Jiang Chen’s goal was clear; he was aiming for the championship. To him, obtaining even the first runner up position on this level of competition meant failing.

“Brother Chen, say something. What rank’s mission do you intend to apply for?” Fatty wasn’t that concerned about his matters, but cared very earnestly about Jiang Chen’s decision.

Jiang Chen smiled faintly as his gaze naturally flitted towards the four great dukes.

Following his gaze, Fatty slapped his thick thigh. “Damn straight. I knew that our Brother Chen either didn’t care to make a move, or would shock everyone when he finally made one!

Heh heh, Brother Chen, I hope you can drag that chit Long Juxue down from her high horse.” Fatty Xuan cackled. “It’d be best if this chit voluntarily offered her body after she was conquered by Brother Chen, and that Brother Chen cast her off after he’s had her. Hahaha, that would truly be too perfect.”

Fatty Xuan’s thin rat eyes had almost formed slits in his laughter as he thought of this scene, fully depicting what “one is invincible when one is base” meant.

Following that, the 108 heirs all lined up according to their current dukedom rankings and prepared to step forward to apply for the missions of this year’s Hidden Dragon Trials.

There was almost no suspense regarding the rank of the missions that the heirs to the first rank dukedoms would apply for.

Each heir had their own self dignity and pride. They would absolutely not tolerate their position being replaced by someone else and being thrown out from the rank of first.

However, it was an absolutely normal thing for the strong to replace the weak. Strength spoke for everything.

The Jiang Han dukedom was ranked 14 out of the 108 dukedoms, so it was soon Jiang Chen’s turn.

“Jiang Chen, what rank’s mission would you like to apply for?” Princess Gouyu asked.

“First rank!” Jiang Chen didn’t even bat an eyelid.

“You have great aspirations, but I must remind you that everyone ahead of you has also applied for missions of the first rank. The competition between you all will be quite fierce!”

“What is the point of rankings without competition?” Jiang Chen smiled faintly.

“Very good. According to the rules, each heir must complete three missions to pass this particular exam. If a single mission is failed, that will be deemed as failing this application.”

“Understood.” Jiang Chen nodded slightly.

“Mm. Head over there to draw your first mission.” Princess Gouyu marked down a symbol for the mission of the first rank on Jiang Chen’s application tablet.

“Jiang Chen, you’re applying for a mission of the first rank. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Please come over here. All the scrolls here are missions of the first rank. Please choose whichever one you’d like.”

Jiang Chen nodded, swept his eyes in a circle, and picked one at random.

They were all missions of the first rank and thus, their difficulty should all be similar. Jiang Chen naturally would not be overly selective. Not to mention, these scrolls were all sealed with no hint at their inner contents.

After selecting his mission, Jiang Chen was in no hurry to open it. The organizers of the Hidden Dragon Trials also didn’t demand immediate verification of the mission.

Candidates only needed to complete the mission and hand it in for verification.

“Jiang Chen, what kind of mission did you select?” An heir next to him asked out of curiosity.

Jiang Chen flicked a glance at him but only smiled faintly and left. It was obvious that the other heir wasn’t a friend, and was possibly from the enemy camp, here to elicit some information from him.

Although Jiang Chen was unafraid, he was unwilling for additional people to appear and cause trouble for him when he was completing his mission.

According to the rules, the three missions had to be completed within three months.

When the exams were over and the 108 nobles were present again, after weeding out and replacing the appropriate ones, the ranking contests would commence according to each rank.

This was to say that, when rank were decided, the twelve heirs of the first rank would only be able to challenge others within the first rank to determine the final rankings.

The competitions within each rank were for the final rankings.

The heirs could leave after selecting their first mission. They only needed to come back when they had completed a mission in the future to select their second mission.

“Chen’er, what kind of mission have you drawn?” Jiang Feng asked eagerly upon returning to the manor.

Jiang Chen gave the scroll to Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng took a look and frowned, “This first mission is a bit harder.”

“Hmm?”

“A serial rapist has appeared in the region of the Red Moon county located within the Tianhu territory, collecting the flowers of beautiful girls. His qinggong is extraordinary, and he calls himself “Lotus Harvester”.1

He specializes in hunting young girls and is exceedingly cruel. Whenever he harvests a young girl, he even kills them and cuts off the two things in front of the victims’ chest as a momento.”

“Such a frenzied lunatic exists on this world?” Even Jiang Chen was vaguely surprised. Such a villain who had committed his full share of crimes should have been slaughtered long ago. Why was he allowed to thrive until this day and destroy so many lives?

“The level of this thief’s training is said to be between eight meridians true qi and nine meridians true qi. He has weathered hundred of battles because he works alone, and thus his combat ability is incredible. Chen’er, your mission is not simple.”

Jiang Chen was also a bit surprised. None of the missions of the first rank were simple alright. The first mission was to kill a practitioner in the advanced realm of true qi who was between eight and nine meridians.

And this mission had to be completed within a month.

According to the exam’s rules, the participating heirs had to absolutely keep their identities a secret. They could not mobilize any connections.

If they used any connections without authorization, they would immediately be judged as failing the mission if discovered. As a punishment for cheating, their dukedom would be confiscated.

A few heirs had held the mentality of getting by on a fluke in past years, but would almost always be found out by the Eastern family clan’s mighty intelligence network. They would be called out and lose their dukedoms.

Therefore, there were fewer and fewer heirs who held the mentality of getting by on a flukes.

With no time to lose, Jiang Chen made a few minor adjustments to his preparations and set out on his way.

The Sheng battalion brothers escorted Jiang Chen out of the capital and halted their footsteps. According to the rules, if they escorted him another step, it was very likely that Jiang Chen would be deemed as having cheated.

Jiang Chen urged his horse onwards after leaving the capital. He came to a large canyon after galloping 60 km. Jiang Chen urged the horse to give a mighty leap forward, their bodies soaring high up in the air as he allowed the horse to descend into the bottomless abyss as it would.

As for Jiang Chen, he made a flip in midair and dashed towards another narrow winding trail. His figure vanished into the boundless and indistinct open country with a few leaps and bounds.

After roughly ten minutes, more than ten figures abruptly appeared where Jiang Chen had sent his horse jumping off. The person in charge was the Soaring Dragon warrior who was willing to die for his mission, Long San.

Long San’s face was covered as his sinister and ruthless eyes patrolled the area. He cursed viciously. “This brat Jiang Chen is so damned devious and wretched. His presence scatters apart here. In front of us is the boundless open country, but we don’t know where he’s gone.”

“Lord San, what should we do?”

Long San looked at the terrain again, “There’s only one place to go here. We’ll split up into three parties here and chase after him separately. Remember, the duke will award a hundred thousand gold, bequeath land, and award a rank with eight thousand below him to whoever kills Jiang Chen.”

Territory and bounty, these were irresistible temptations. Moreover, this mission was merely killing an heir and wasn’t too difficult!

The groups for the three different directions were quickly settled upon, and they started searching according to the three different paths.

Although it was the first time that Jiang Chen had ever walked out of the capital since arriving in this world, the memories of his past life were enough to help him handle such a situation.

There were roughly 2,500 km between the capital and the Tianhu territory. The ordinary steeds of this world could travel 1,500 km in a day. A practitioner in the advanced realm of true qi, if dedicating himself to traveling, could also travel 1,500 km in a day.

Of course, no advanced practitioner would waste true qi on traveling. Jiang Chen was no exception. He’d seen from the map that a larger village could be reached by traveling through this narrow, winding path and traversing a few mountain ridges. This village was one of the more renowned livestock farms for producing steeds in this area.

Jiang Chen had arrived at the road to the village after roughly two hours. He didn’t enter the village, but spent a large sum to purchase a steed that could travel 2,500 km a day.

Jiang Chen didn’t linger after swapping out his steed, and he dashed towards the direction of Tianhu territory.

To elude observation, Jiang Chen would occasionally choose a few trails off the beaten path. He’d rather take the longer way around, instead of having new complications crop up.

Like this, Jiang Chen covered 2,500 km in four full days before he entered the Tianhu territory.

Jiang Chen didn’t just spend these days traveling. Whenever it was nightfall, Jiang Chen would revisit and study the past cases of that Lotus Harvester.

Jiang Chen had made a few gains after a few days.

One thing that Jiang Chen could be sure of was that the area in which the Lotus Harvester would commit his crimes never exceeded the Tianhu territory. There were ten counties within the Tianhu region, and the Lotus Harvester had committed most of his crimes in the Red Moon, Black Forest, and Large Rock counties. There was an occasional incident or two in the other counties, but the frequency wasn’t high.

Jiang Chen spread out the map of the Tianhu territory for perusal and mused at the map for a while. From the terrain of these three counties, their location formed the Chinese character “品”.

Incidentally, the terrain of these three counties was more complicated and was advantageous to the Lotus Harvester’s operations.

“This rapist has extraordinary qinggong, but the distance he can cover should be middling. This is why there are a few cases that involve a long and arduous journey. That is to say, this villain must have a lair within the three counties. It is said that the wily hare has three holes to its burrow. If I can find one of his lairs, then it will be much easier to capture and kill this villain.”

Jiang Chen had more or less deduced a few clues.

Jiang Chen arrived at the Large Rock county on the fifth day. He had his reasons for choosing the Large Rock county, and not the Red Moon county, which had the higher number of incidents.

According to the patterns from the previous cases, the Lotus Harvester had succeeded twice in the Red Moon county. Black Forest county neighbored Red Moon county, so its guard would be raised higher.

There was a mountain between Large Rock and Red Moon. Red Moon was located to the south of the mountain, and Large Rock to the north. The flow of information between the two was blocked due to the mountain.

Jiang Chen speculated that it was possible that this Lotus Harvester would choose to make a move in Large Rock county!

Chapter 58: Competition at Star Argus Palace

“Heh heh, have you heard? The decennial competitions of the Star Argus Palace will begin in three days times. It seems that both the South Sect and North Sect think that their victory is a foregone conclusion.”

“Psht. How could that bunch of broads from the North Sect win out over the beasts of the South Sect. They haven’t won against the South Sect for the last sixty years.”

“What goes around comes around. It’s said that Sectmistress Jade of the North Sect has obtained a few disciples whose potentials are quite good. They’re all beautiful to a fault, and there’s high hope for the sect triumphing over the South Sect this time.”

“Whatever! Whether it’s the South Sect or the North Sect that wins, it won’t be our turn to live in the Star Argus Palace. It’s just be a bunch of men changing to a crowd of women.”

Jiang Chen heard this snippet of conversation from a neighboring table in some tavern.

In the days after he’d arrived in the Large Rock Country, he’d heard the most information about the North and South Sects of the Star Argus Palace.

The winner would be able to take up residence in the Star Argus Palace, and the loser would have to depart and find another location to settle down in.

Of course, this occurred once every ten years. If a sect lost, then they merely needed to stage a comeback next time.

Jiang Chen drank alone, but his hearing was focused on all sides. His “Ear of the Zephyr” was now at the third level and his hearing was at least two to three times stronger than the average practitioner.

All sorts of information and messages flowed in at the moment.

Star Argus Palace, North Sect, broads, beauties…

The useful information was constantly filtered out and listed separately by Jiang Chen.

Resting his wine cup, Jiang Chen put down a few silvers and floated out the door. He’d decided to make a stop at the Star Argus Palace.

If the Lotus Harvester was to commit an incident lately, then there was no location more suitable in the entire Tianhu territory than the Star Argus Palace.

Beautiful disciples, just this item was of enough interest.

The law of rapists was that the higher the level the training of the victim, the better. Therefore, girls who trained were the favorites of rapists.

And where else in the Large Rock province would have more beauties than the Star Argus Palace at this moment? Not to mention the fact that they were all practitioners, it would be one big harvest if these girls were plucked.

Jiang Chen contemplated things from the perspective of the Lotus Harvester and felt that even if the Lotus Harvester didn’t commit an incident, he was sure to come out and pluck something or another.

Jiang Chen used a few materials to make a few adjustments and disguise himself after leaving the capital. His current visage appeared as a thirty something wandering gallant.

Vagabond gallants and characters like these numbered at least eight hundred million, if not one billion within the Eastern Kingdom. Jiang Chen’s disguise was beyond ordinary. It was the type that wouldn’t be picked out if thrown into a crowd.

The Star Argus Palace’s topography was exceedingly ideal. A city called Star City had formed in the 50 km around the Star Argus Palace, and it’d been built reliant on the Star Argus Palace.

The existence of a sect, even an ordinary sect, would bring pervasive influence to its local surroundings.

Two days later, Jiang Chen arrived at the Star City to discover that not just anyone could spectate the competition between the North and South Sects of the Star Argus Palace.

There were only three hundred audience members allowed. After eliminating the predetermined quota, there were only roughly one hundred places left for outsiders.

The number of wandering gallants that had surged into the Star City the past couple of days numbered more than a hundred thousand.

More than a hundred thousand competing for roughly one hundred spots was the equivalent of one out of a thousand. This wasn’t just an ordinary level of difficulty.

However, Jiang Chen knew that in order to investigate the Lotus Harvester, he would have to obtain an observation spot.

If Jiang Chen revealed his status as the heir to a dukedom, he was bound to cause a ruckus within Star City. It wouldn’t be a hard thing to obtain an observation spot.

However, if he did so, that would be in violation of the rules, and he would be directly thrown out of the competition.

Jiang Chen arrived at the Star Argus Palace headquarters stationed in Star City. There was already a sea of humanity and it was packed full of people.

“I’ll pay thirty thousand silver, who’s willing to give me a spot?”

“Psht. Pal, did you just awaken from your dream? A hundred thousand silver won’t even buy a spot now, how could you offer a price in the tens of thousands?”

“Eh…”

“I’m of five meridians true qi, don’t I have the right to spectate the battles?”

“Apologies, our rules are that unless you have the right to enter only if you’re of six meridians true qi.”

“Brother, I have a relationship with Xie Qiang of the South Sect. Make an exception for me?”

“Who’s Xie Qiang? We only recognize relationships with the Sectmaster and the elders.”

“Brother, I’m the boss of Thousand Horse Hall. Your Star Argus Palace has also done business with me. This observation spot…”

“Sorry, business is business and relationships are relationships. If you have money, there are still a few spots for sale. A hundred thousand silver for one.”

“Gah, I’ll buy one!”

Jiang Chen did an auditory sweep and comments such as these travelled into his ears. The entire scene was in a chaotic uproar. Everyone was trying their utmost and breaking their heads trying to get an observation spot.

“Ai, when a man is poor his ambition is not far reaching. Looks like we’re destined to be without luck for observing this decennial competition between the North and South sects.”

“What can we do, the Star Argus Palace is just that cocky. Apparently the disciples that are participating this time are all disciples of five meridians true qi.”

“Tsk tsk, the strength and influence of a foremost sect in the Tianhu territory alright. These genius disciples probably wouldn’t be inferior even when placed amongst the sons and disciples of the various nobles?”

“This… they’ll probably be on a similar level?”

Jiang Chen was speechless when he heard those words. Five meridians true qi was absolutely the lowest level of existence amongst the heirs.

However, this Star Argus Palace was just a sect in the Tianhu territory. It was a thing worth having pride and dignity in that they boasted so many disciples of five meridians true qi.

Jiang Chen stood in a corner, debating how to get his hands on an observation invitation.

He’d purposefully disguised himself as a three meridians true qi independent practitioner with humble strength. He had no desire to reveal his talents and attract the Lotus Harvester’s attention.

Therefore, he absolutely could not reveal his true strength.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Chen hit upon an idea.

“Brother, my strength in martial dao is mediocre, but my potential in spirit medicine is quite high. I’m also exceedingly adept in the dao of alchemy. I can help out if any injuries from the blade result in the process.”

“High potential in spirit medicine? That will only be proven through tests. If you truly have such abilities, then it will be no problem obtaining an invitation.”

Jiang Chen sat through a spirit medicine test according to the other’s instructions. This was practically as simple as eating to Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen was treated as an honored guest in less than fifteen minutes. His spirit medicine caused even the spirit medicine administrator from the Star Argus Palace, who had assumed personal command over the area, to even slightly admit defeat.

In this way, an invitation was in hand and “Spirit Medicine Great Master Chen” was written on it.

Jiang Chen had given himself a shake and become “Great Master Chen”.

Jiang Chen’s status immediately increased greatly with the invitation, becoming a distinguished, honored guest. A specially assigned person led him into the headquarters of the Star Argus Palace and arranged a first class guest room for him.

“Heh heh, it looks like one must have expertise in one specialty. One wouldn’t even be able to enter the door without a particular specialty.”

Jiang Chen laughed self deprecatingly and sat cross legged on the bed.

It would obviously not be the thing to do if he started practicing techniques in a powerful and dynamic way whilst on someone else’s territory. Jiang Chen meditated for a while and started circulating vast waves true qi in his body, strengthening his meridians.

After strengthening his meridians, Jiang Chen started training the three abilities of “God’s Eye”, “Ear of the Zephyr”, and “Boulder’s Heart”.

As of now, Jiang Chen had trained “God’s Eye” to the peak of the third level, and “Ear of the Zephyr” to the peak of the third level as well.

Progress was still slow in “Boulder’s Heart”, as he had just entered the second level.

“It’s said that these abilities can penetrate the Thirty Three Heavens (2), therefore there should be 33 levels. I have only but just started from ground zero.”

Jiang Chen also knew that the earliest stages of training were the easiest. It would unfortunately become more difficult as one progressed.

The range in which the “God’s Eye” and “Ear of the Zephyr” could cover was only a radius of a thousand meters.

Any further would be beyond his power.

The mental strength of “Psychic’s Head” wasn’t able to be defined in quantitative terms, but Jiang Chen could clearly sense that his mental state of being had increased greatly.

A mental state of being could only be perceived in the finest of details. It was an instinctive strength, a sixth, seventh sense that exceeded the five senses…

Jiang Chen woke up early the next morning because the decennial event of the Star Argus Palace was beginning today.

As “Great Master Chen” in the spirit medicine world, he had actually been arranged a second class seat. This seat was quite ideal and was situated behind only the “high and mighty” in the first row.

Jiang Chen used the “God’s Eye” for slight observation and discovered those sitting in front all possessed power that didn’t lose out to the North and South Sectmaster/mistress of the Star Argus Palace.

They were mostly all at seven meridians true qi.

“Looks like the culture of martial dao is flourishing in the Large Rock province. It’s a rare sight to have so many seven meridians true qi practitioners present.” Jiang Chen evaluated silently, but was also slightly worried. “With so many seven meridians true qi practitioners holding down the fort, even with the Lotus Harvester’s eight meridians true qi, he probably wouldn’t dare to brazenly do something impetuous?”

Jiang Chen’s emotions were quite complicated. He both hoped for the Lotus Harvester to appear, but also didn’t wish for female practitioners to be targeted.

Just as he was wavering, a group of people walked out from the hallways on the two sides.

One side wore all black, they were from the South sect.

One side was all female and mostly wore downy yellow clothes, patently the North Sect.

The South Sect Sectmaster was called Shen Rong and roughly forty years old. Long sideburns along with his thin, lean features, gave off a dignified bearing.

Everyone called the Sectmistress of the North Sect as “Madame Jade”. She was a young, married woman who actually looked only roughly 27 or 28. A pair of tapered almond eyes adorned her face and she was exceedingly alluring. No one knew if that was her true age or if she was skilled in making herself look youthful.

As a guest, Jiang Chen couldn’t very well have no respect and observe the two heads of their sects through the “God’s Eye”. But from external appearances, the two were absolutely of the advanced realm of true qi.

As for whether it was seven meridians true qi or eight meridians, Jiang Chen couldn’t gauge it either, without a careful look.

“Heh heh, junior sister Jade, it’s been ten years but your elegance remains the same as before.” Shen Rong chuckled and took the lead in speaking.

“Save the idle chatter Shen Rong. In this time’s competition, my North Sect will absolutely take back control of the Star Argus Palace.” Madame Jade’s delicate brow arched and her jade like voice sounded.

“Alright, then let our disciples fight decisively!” Shen Rong smiled freely and easily.

Chapter 59: Following the Clues

Both sides agreed to send out five disciples to do battle. The side that won three times out of five would be labelled the victor, and would wrest control of the Star Argus Palace for the next ten years.

Jiang Chen was absolutely disinterested in the competition of those that were five meridians true qi.

Jiang Chen surreptitiously started utilizing his God’s Eye when everyone’s gaze was locked onto the crowd of youths, and he started observing the seated guests.

If the Lotus Harvester was going to come, he naturally wouldn’t brazenly appear undisguised. He would certainly disguise himself as a guest and take advantage of the situation to profiteer, like robbing an owner when his house was on fire.

He had to admit, these guests were all quite entranced. Almost everyone in Jiang Chen’s God’s Eye range had concentrated their attention on the competition on the field.

This was a competition between the most distinguished disciples of the Star Argus Palace’s new generations. These guests of exceptional ability all made their living in the Large Rock Province. They would naturally pay attention to the condition of the Star Argus Palace’s next generation.

The first two battles were quickly concluded. The North and South Sect had both won one battle.

Jiang Chen had also completed a round of observations but gained nothing. None of these people looked like the Lotus Harvester in disguise.

Jiang Chen’s mind was not quite at rest, and so he made another thorough round of observations. The results were the same, he couldn’t find the slightest flaw in these guests.

“Is it possible that the Lotus Harvester really didn’t come? Or is it that he’s disguised himself so well that my God’s Eye can’t see through him?”

Jiang Chen questioned his own judgement a bit. Due to his training of the “Boulder’s Heart”, he’d had a faint instinctive feeling that told him something would happen at the Star Argus Palace today, and it was very likely something to do with the Lotus Harvester.

That was the say, it was possible that the Lotus Harvester was already present.

Except, there was a full three hundred guests spectating the competition. Which one was the Lotus Harvester? Jiang Chen first observed through using God’s Eye, then leveraged Ear of the Zephyr to listen to these people’s breathing and heartbeat.

In the end, he still gained nothing.

“Is my feeling incorrect?”

Four battles of the competition had been completed as Jiang Chen was musing, and both sides had won twice.

At this moment, a fifteen to sixteen year old girl walked out from behind Sectmistress Jade of the North Sect. She was wearing a downy yellow light petticoat, and had an exquisite and delicately wrought body. She slowly walked onto the stage.

“I am North Sect disciple Wen Ziqi, please grant me your instruction.”

The girl called Wen Ziqi had a head full of hair that was akin to a waterfall of black yarn. Her eyes like lacquer, shone with a purity like that of a mountain spring.

The softly spoken sentence was enough to send her entire face blushing to the backs of her ears.

“I’ve heard of master’s junior Sectmistress Jade of the North Sect obtaining a fine disciple. It must be you, junior sister. I am your foolish brother Lu Boyu and I’ll demonstrate a few moves with you.”

This Lu Boyu was slender and tall, and his thin face emanated a sense of suaveness. His eyes were like a second mouth that could also speak.

He had a few traces of a elegant bearing within his gestures.

What surprised Jiang Chen quite a bit was that both of them were actually six meridians true qi!

For two six meridians true qi to appear in such a small Star Argus Palace, no wonder it caused those spectating the competition to also gasp and exclaim softly.

Sectmistress Jade’s originally confident, charming face darkened suddenly. She had held this disciple, the pride of her joy, in reserve and concealed her strength in preparation to soar to the heavens with one feat. She hadn’t thought that the South Sect would also play such a hand.

The battle between these two trump cards was indeed much more exciting than those from earlier.

Although Wen Ziqi was gentle and refined, and even blushed when she talked, she wasn’t the least bit ambiguous and perfunctory when she entered battle conditions. Her advances and retreats were measured, and she attacked and defended. She actually had quite the authoritative air.

Except, disciple Lu Boyu was patently a character that the South Sect had cultivated with emphasis. No matter what Wen Ziqi did, he could firmly repress Wen Ziqi.

And, with his combat attitude of accomplishing a task with ease, he obviously was holding his strength back.

Jiang Chen shook his head lightly and privately flicked a glance at the South Sect Sectmaster Shen Rong. A sly old fox was the master at machination and maneuver. It looked like the North Sect would still be unable to win for the next ten years.

Just as the thought flashed through Jiang Chen’s mind, Lu Boyu lightly exhaled forcefully and snatched out softly with his hand, grabbing Wen Ziqi’s trailing sleeve and brought it for a sniff in front of his nose. “Mm, national beauty and a heavenly fragrance - great commendation, great commendation!”

Wen Ziqi was the epitome of awkwardness as she could neither advance nor retreat in that moment. Her eyes red, tears were already rolling in her eyes.

North Sect Madame Jade slammed her hand down on the table and rose, speaking angrily to Shen Rong of the South Sect. “Shen Rong, are your disciples just as wicked and philandering as you?”

Shen Rong laughed heartily and lightly rubbed his sideburns. “Junior sister Jade, what’s the harm in the young making harmless jokes?”

Madame Jade was so infuriated that her alluring body trembled slightly and her pink face was suffused red with anger. She had labored over ten years of preparations but was still one step short in the end. It was easy to imagine the bout of depression she felt.

Lu Boyu cupped his hands at Wen Ziqi, “Junior sister Wen, your foolish brother had no other intention and was purely jesting with you, that was all.”

Tears rolling in her eyes, Wen Ziqi lightly stomped her foot and ran to Madame Jade, starting to cry out of her aggrievement.

“What are you crying for?” Madame Jade was similarly depressed and she lectured, “Your skills were not as good as others, so just go back and train well. How will you bear responsibility for great matters in the future if you only know to shed tears when you run into anything?”

As the victor, Shen Rong didn’t take the advantage to add insult to injury. Rather, he walked in front of Madame Jade and cupped his hands, “Junior sister, the stroke of a brush does not create two Star Argus Palaces. Although you and I are of the North and South Sects, the god of destiny has made fools of people. I have always had a noble ambition during my stewardship of the Star Argus Palace, and that is to merge our North and South Sect and recover the glorious days of yesteryear, strengthening our Star Argus Palace’s reputation, allowing our Palace to become a first rate sect in all of the Eastern Kingdom.”

“Pretentious hypocrite.” Madame Jade wasn’t in a good mood.

“Junior sister, your foolish brother was contemplating in the depths of the mountains a while ago and unintentionally discovered a hidden spot of the sect. It may touch upon the heritage of the founder of our Star Argus Palace. Your foolish brother finds it difficult to do so much single handedly, and would like to invite junior sister to return to the mountain and discuss a strategy together.” Shen Rong’s posture was quite low.

“Secret spot of the sect? Founder of the sect?” Madame Jade’s refined brows lifted slightly.

“Junior sister, you and I are of the same sect and same origin. Why the need to separate yours from mine on such an important matter? If this matter can facilitate the merging of the two sects, in the future, wouldn’t you and I have rendered a great service to the sect?” Shen Rong’s tone was exceedingly sincere.

Madame Jade mused in deep contemplation as she felt a bit of dilemma. If Shen Rong’s attitude had been haughty, Madame Jade would have surely left with a flourish of her sleeves.

But on the contrary, Shen Rong had humbled himself and every word he spoke was from the basis of the righteous cause for the sect. This tempted Madame Jade a bit.

“Junior sister, there are many people here. Why don’t you and I first discuss this in the sect’s secret room? I have a few clues that just so happen to need to be discussed with junior sister.”

Madame Jade hesitated for a bit and finally nodded. “Shen Rong, if you truly have the intention to help the sect merge as one, then I, Madame Jade, am not a heartless person.”

Shen Rong was overjoyed, “Junior sister’s magnanimity is the blessing of our sect. This way please.”

He immediately gave orders to Lu Boyu, “Boyu, you look after the assorted honored guests. I have matters to discuss with my junior sister.”

“Yes.”

Shen Rong expressed his apologies to the guests and moved to the internal areas of the Star Argus Sect along with Madame Jade.

Jiang Chen sat in his seat, rather baffled. A competition had ended just like that, but he had gathered no clues at all.

Instinct told him that there was definitely something out of the ordinary at this decennial event. Yet, he couldn’t find any traces of it, no matter how he observed.

“Just where did it go wrong?” The guests were already dispersing in twos and threes. Some intended to leave, while others were preparing to return to their quarters and leave after supping at the Star Argus Palace’s banquet.

Jiang Chen was helpless and without a strategy at that moment, as he sank into an impasse.

“Did I really make this trip for nothing?” Jiang Chen was unwilling to concede defeat. He felt sure that he had missed some fine details.

After training “Boulder’s Heart”, he was confident that his intuition was much stronger than that of ordinary folks.

At this moment, another disciple walked out from within the inner doors and spoke to the six or seven female disciples left behind, of whom included Wen Ziqi. “Junior sisters, in accordance with the master’s junior’s orders, I invite my fellow junior sisters to go and pay our respects to the sect’s founding master.”

Upon hearing that it was their master’s orders and that it had to do with paying respects to the founding master, Wen Ziqi naturally didn’t decline and followed the disciple away.

Gazing at the messenger disciple, Jiang Chen’s emotions bafflingly palpated a bit.

“Haven’t I met this person?” Jiang Chen went over the experiences of the past few days in his mind, but couldn’t find any memories with regards to this person.

But, when this disciple had arrived just now, his mental strength had detected a strand of a familiar feeling.

“Who was that person?” Jiang Chen’s thoughts flickered and he walked towards Lu Boyu. “Brother Lu.”

Lu Boyu took in Jiang Chen’s appearance as a wandering practitioner and smiled faintly, “What instructions does this honored guest have?”

“Brother Lu, the disciple that came by with a message just now, who is he in the Star Argus Palace?”

“Oh, that was one of master’s honorary disciples. I can’t remember his name. What, do you know him?”

Jiang Chen shook his head. “Just curious.”

An honorary disciple, obviously someone with no particular reputation, yet, he’d given Jiang Chen a familiar feeling. Jiang Chen instinctively followed them outside.

But, when he chased out after them, there were no traces of those people outside.

The most peculiar thing was that the female disciples should’ve had a particular body scent. But at this moment, a strange smell permeated the air, making it impossible to discern the scent of the female disciples.

“No, this isn’t right.” Jiang Chen immediately employed God’s Eye to the extreme and looked around his surroundings, but still came up empty handed.

It was as if that honorary disciple had vanished into thin air with those female disciples.

Jiang Chen found a South Sect disciple and asked him where the temple of the founding master was. When he swiftly hurried there, the locks were hung upon the doors to the temple. There were obviously no rites of worship to the founding master.

“Indeed, something’s wrong with that honorary disciple!” Jiang Chen calmed down and went over the entire matter again. Suddenly, the South Sect Sectmaster Shen Rong’s sideburns floated in Jiang Chen’s mind.

“Hmm? Shen Rong! Right! I’d actually detected Shen Rong’s presence on that messenger disciple just now. Although that person consciously concealed his presence, a few minute movements and subconscious habits were unable to escape from my God’s Eye’s notice!”

“Is something amiss with this Shen Rong?” Jiang Chen hesitated no longer when his thoughts arrived at this point, and he deployed God’s Eye, Ear of the Zephyr, and Boulder’s Heart to their utmost.

Chapter 60: The Splendor of Spring and Killing Intent

Once he had deployed all three abilities to their utmost, he finally found a tiny sliver of a clue in a clump of shrubbery. This clump of shrubbery was slightly different from the ones in front of it.

This shrubbery all vaguely leaned in the same direction. It was obvious that something had passed by here and caused this bit of change.

With The God’s Eye careful discerning ability, Jiang Chen finally found a few footprints in the surrounding grass - so faint that they could barely be detected.

These footprints were concealed very well. Jiang Chen quested all along the way and followed them to a sea of bamboo. Jiang Chen’s body was like an ape’s as he swung through the sea of bamboo, continuously hanging onto this clue and not letting go.

Finally, after half an hour, Jiang Chen appeared in front of an entrance to a secret underground chamber, deep within the sea of bamboo.

Jiang Chen took out one Layered Feather Throwing Dagger, and surreptitiously followed the course of the underground chamber.

There was actually a world of its own the further he went into the secret chamber. The entrance was small, but a vast expanse came into view after threading through a long hallway.

What Jiang Chen had wholly unanticipated was that this vast expanse was actually an underground palace. The palace wasn’t large, but all the furnishings that should’ve been there were all present.

A large jade bed was installed at the end of the palace.

But an even more astounding scene was present on the jade bed.

Madame Jade was presently naked and had been placed in the center of the jade bed. There wasn’t a shred of clothing on her body, and all of her places of importance were on full display.

The six female disciples of the North Sect were placed on both sides, three on each side. The three on the left had also been similarly stripped with not a scrap left on their bodies.

The silk robes of the three girls on the right had been partially unfastened. Although they hadn’t been completely unrobed, important places disappeared and reappeared like smoke. Including Wen Ziqi, all of them bore expressions of fright and horror as they looked at the person standing at the head of the bed.

That person was that honorary disciple who had been the messenger.

Jiang Chen did not rush to reveal himself. Separated by such a distance, the honorary disciple hadn’t discovered him either.

“Tsk tsk, it is indeed the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Haha, the old and young of the North Sect of the Star Argus Palace have all been captured in one net by me. Ah, this is excellent indeed!”

The person’s voice carried a few tones of abnormal betwitchingness. A pair of evil eyes swept over the tempting bodies as he emitted a low roar like that of a beast’s.

These North Sect girls were all martial dao practitioners, each with lithe and graceful figures. Particularly Madame Jade - her figure was even more superior compared to those of the female disciples.

If these female disciples were mostly budding flowers, then Madame Jade was a blossomed fresh flower full of the amorous feelings of a young married woman.

“Should I eat the old one first or taste the young one first?”

The person smiled evilly, but his gaze stopped on Wen Ziqi. “This lass is genteel and refined, and blushes even when she speaks. She must have a particularly distinctive flavor when tasted. She’s the one.”

The person bent down as he spoke and began to undo Wen Ziqi’s clothes.

Wen Ziqi’s eyes displayed a desperate, horrified fear as her tears rolled down like beads.

Jiang Chen knew that it would be rather unkind if he continued watching like this.

Coughing lightly, he walked out from the shadows and said with a trace of a smile, “Brother, you know how to enjoy amorous happenings alright. How could you relish such wonderful things by yourself?”

The person was as if struck by lightning and his body suddenly dashed away, landing in a corner. His hand had already grabbed the hilt of a short sword as his sinister eyes pierced towards Jiang Chen.

“Who are you?”

Jiang Chen laughed faintly. “Are you Shen Rong? Or Shen Rong’s honorary disciple?”

The person laughed heartily. “Shen Rong? Honorary disciple? Haha, they’re but bodies I use when I hunt and pluck flowers. If you want to find them, you can only go to the netherworld.”

“This is to say that you’ve already killed the Star Argus Palace’s South Sect’s Sectmaster Shen Rong? You were disguised as Shen Rong from the very beginning?” Jiang Chen understood everything all at once.

Shen Rong and that honorary disciple who had carried the message were actually all the same person, and that was the person standing in front of him. It was more than likely that this person was that Lotus Harvester.

“Haha, just who are you? Don’t you think that you’re asking too many questions?” The person’s tone was dark and cold as his eyes locked onto Jiang Chen, seeming to want to seal off all avenues of retreat with his gaze alone.

“Lotus Harvester, you’ve got some nerve in hunting and plucking flowers in a sect’s sphere of influence.” Jiang Chen snorted coldly.

A sliver of surprise flashed through the person’s gaze. “You know me? Huh. Are you also from those interfering busybodies at the Six Panel Door? Trying to enforce justice on behalf of heaven?”

“You’re correct.” Jiang Chen smiled faintly.

“Blockhead. Fool.” A trace of an odd smile suddenly appeared on the Lotus Harvester’s face. “If I haven’t met a thousand people trying to carry out justice on behalf of heaven, I’ve met at least eight hundred. All these people are now sleeping soundly in the netherworld, you’re the next one.”

“You’re quite confident.” Jiang Chen also smiled.

“Why wouldn’t I be confident towards someone who’s already half dead? Do you know why these women are lying here without being able to move at all? I didn’t seal their acupoints.” The Lotus Harvester smiled leisurely.

“What? You mean, the… the smoke from the candles are poisoned?” Jiang Chen’s face changed drastically.

“At least you’re not a complete idiot. You should die, must die, for disturbing my sexual pleasure. Give me your head in apology!”

The Lotus Harvester suddenly moved and his figure dashed forward like a ghost or a goblin.

It was said that the Lotus Harvester’s qinggong was extraordinary, and his movements indeed lived up to its reputation. The short blade in his hand turned into a flash of cold light as it chopped towards Jiang Chen’s neck.

Jiang Chen’s body wavered and tottered, as if he might fall down at any moment.

To the Lotus Harvester, this looked like the struggles of its prey and it further stimulated his wildness.

“Die!” The Lotus Harvester waved his blade and stabbed downwards.

The anticipated scene did not occur.

The short sword didn’t land in a chop on the neck. More accurately speaking, the short sword chopped empty air.

That wavering and tottering opponent suddenly vanished where he stood.

“Ah, not good!” The Lotus Harvester’s reaction was quick as he abruptly turned his body, sweeping his short sword out in the space behind him.

At this moment, a flash of cold light came from an unknown location. It was like it didn’t need to follow the rules of space as it instantaneously shot to his throat.

A flying dagger!

A perfect angle, a perfect hit.

Jiang Chen’s Layered Feather Throwing Dagger was as thin as a feather as it melted into the thin air. It cleaved space apart as it flew into the Lotus Harvester’s throat.

The Lotus Harvester clutched his throat in a death grip as his eyes bugged violently like a dead fish’s. He stared at Jiang Chen with a face full of incredulity.

He had never thought that he would perish in such a place like this.

He didn’t understand. Why was the other fine after falling victim to the poison in the candle smoke? Why had the other been able to find this place and easily, thoroughly understand his identity?

But, the Lotus Harvester would have no chance to find the answers to all these in this lifetime.

How would he have known that for a great master of alchemy who had occupied all the various planes such as Jiang Chen in his past life, the poison methods of him, the Lotus Harvester, was akin to child’s play.

Jiang Chen walked up and relieved the Lotus Harvester’s body of its head with a light stroke of a blade. He enveloped it in a cloth bag at his waist with a smooth motion and rolled the Lotus Harvester’s head inside.

He picked up the Lotus Harvester’s short blade as well, and searched out a few other things from the Lotus Harvester’s body.

According to the requirements of the mission, the head of the Lotus Harvester was required for inspection after killing the Lotus Harvester, and he also needed to obtain some sort of token from the Lotus Harvester. This short sword was naturally a type of token.

Jiang Chen rolled all the random things on the Lotus Harvester’s body into a cloth bag, and hung it on his waist in a fluid motion.

Walking to the front of the big bed, the seven females from the North Sect were all staring with wide eyes. Their expressions were both awkward and full of the desire to be saved.

Jiang Chen had seen countless women in his past life, and naturally wouldn’t lose his composure in such a scene with naked bodies lying all around. His gaze sweeping past all the ladies, Jiang Chen shoved a pill into Wen Ziqi’s mouth.

“Swallow it.”

Wen Ziqi’s limpid eyes blinked. There were still traces of tears hanging on her long eyelashes, but she swallowed the pill obediently.

This pill was the antidote to those substances that would numb the nerves.

Jiang Chen had fully prepared these basic equipment the last time he’d visited the Hall of Healing.

Pills produced by the Hall of Healing would naturally not be an ordinary product.

A moment after Wen Ziqi had taken the pill, her hands and feet regained some of their movement. She struggled to sit up, and her hands subconsciously moved to put her clothes on.

Except, the pill had just taken effect and she didn't have enough strength in her hands. With a shake of her hands, the robe slipped down and ended up revealing, in detail, the splendor of spring that was her chest.

A pair of jade peaks as adorable as doves fell right into Jiang Chen’s view.

What a beautiful sight. Jiang Chen’s heart also lurched slightly as he turned around and didn’t stare continuously instead.

Wen Ziqi’s elegant face had already blushed to the back of her ears at this time. It was a good thing that Jiang Chen had turned his back so that she didn’t continue to wallow in awkwardness.

She hastily wrapped her clothes around herself and said lowly, “It’s alright now.”

Jiang Chen turned around and placed a bottle of pills in front of Wen Ziqi. “Give these to your master and your fellow sisters. You’ve fallen victim to the Lotus Harvester’s schemes. It was great fortune amongst unfortuitous circumstances that you were unsullied.”

“He… he was the Lotus Harvester?” Wen Ziqi’s face turned pale with fear when she heard the Lotus Harvester’s infamous name. Her heart pounded furiously in her fright.

Madame Jade was the first to recover her movement ability after taking the pill.

She had been touched by the Lotus Harvester earlier and the flush of intimacy had yet to fully disperse from her face. There were still traces of lustful desire fading in and out in her charming eyes.

“What is the young hero’s name? Little girl here thanks you for saving my life.” Madame Jade’s tone was young and ignorant, in stark contrast to her stern manner as cold as ice and frost earlier.

Jiang Chen’s thoughts perked. Judging from this tone, he knew that the Lotus Harvester had probably employed some methods on Madame Jade, and her desire had not yet dissipated.

He smiled wryly. “I am a nameless nobody, my name is not worth mentioning. Since you are fine now, I shall take my leave.”

Madame Jade sighed lowly and spoke bitterly, “Young hero, you’ve seen all there is to see from both young and old from the North Sect of the Star Argus Palace. What a philanderer. If you leave just like this, I’m an old woman and thus afraid of nothing. But who will prove the innocence of these girls in the future?”

Jiang Chen rubbed his nose. “I think this is a bit of an exaggeration?”

Madame Jade smiled in a gently and lovely way, “Who was it just now who was enchanted by my chest and the area between my legs just now?”

Jiang Chen felt greatly depressed and aggrieved. He admitted that his eyes had stayed on Madame Jade’s body for a few seconds just now. That was because her young woman’s body was the most special, the most curvaceous.

But it hadn’t been as exaggerated as she said. Enchanted by herl, now what the heck was that?

“Madame, although I am young, I know of the strict rules of conduct between men and women. I absolutely will not speak even half a word of what has happened today after I leave. If I violate my words, then may I die from ten thousand arrows piercing my heart.”

“You… you don’t need to swear such a blood oath.” Wen Ziqi’s face flushed red again as she hastily spoke up, and then added another sentence. “We all believe you, you’re an upright gentleman with strict morals.”

Wen Ziqi thought of the awkward scene just now. The scenery of her chest hadn’t originally been displayed, but her own hands had failed and allowed a thorough look for the other.

When she thought of this scene, Wen Ziqi felt uncontrollable embarrassment.

Jiang Chen nodded his head lightly and took in a deep breath. He knew that it was not advisable to remain in this place for long. If he lingered any longer, and Madame Jade tried seducing him every now and then, he may actually fail to hold his position.

After all, a colorful scene littered with naked, jade bodies, and exuding fragrances such as this one, wasn’t one that any male could easily defend against.

Seeing that Jiang Chen could resume a clear and bright heart under such a short time frame and walk towards the outside, Madame Jade also privately admired him. How could an ordinary young man have controlled himself under these circumstances?

“Young hero, I may not have enough face as an old woman, but can I ask for your honored name on behalf of my pathetic disciple?”

Madame Jade was a quick witted person and knew that Jiang Chen was at least somewhat kindly disposed towards her disciple Wen Ziqi, given that he had given her the antidote first.

Jiang Chen’s body halted slightly and he responded faintly, “I am Jiang Chen of the Jiang Han territory, here to execute the Lotus Harvester by royal order. Everyone, we shall meet again some day!”

He disappeared from where he stood with a point of his toe, like a wild goose flying to the unseen world, after he had spoken.