Chapter 591: Jiang Chen In Control of Everything
The group burst into raucous laughter after Elder Chen’s
question. It was apparent that they all had similar thoughts, but they didn’t
hold a grudge with the Regal Pill Palace. The sect usually conducted themselves
well, so although they’d felt the same, they hadn’t voiced their thoughts.
However, Elder Wu Hen had an odd smirk on his face. He was happy to watch a
good show, and he also wanted to see what Jiang Chen was up to.
Elder Tan Lang snorted dismissively, “Yun Nie, your Regal
Pill Palace really needs to teach your younger generation proper manners!”
“Indeed, if something’s wrong with his mind, we should take
care of it early! If he goes out and blabs nonsense, he might reveal the entire
secret of the ancient herb garden!” Elder Wu Hui spoke up as well.
It was apparent that no one cared about Jiang Chen’s status
as the champion of the genius group in the Pill Battles. Or, it could even be
that the others had the motivation to suppress Jiang Chen precisely because of
his status.
Elder Xiang Gan only smiled coldly, not saying a word. It
was clear that he was also dissatisfied that Jiang Chen was seemingly creating
trouble out of nothing, but he wasn’t at liberty to publicly censure the Regal
Pill Palace due to their transaction with the Longevity Pill.
It was actually an elder of the Dark North Sect who smiled.
“Alright, alright. The young are always so hot headed. Don’t take it seriously,
we should leave while it’s early.” He walked over to Elder Yun Nie after
speaking, “Daoist Yun Nie, just quickly apologize to everyone so we can leave.
This place truly does feel uncanny.”
Elder Yun Nie was also quite taken aback. He had no idea why
the normally calm Jiang Chen would suddenly voice such stunning words. They
were an absolute affront to the experts present! The items had already flowed
into their pockets, but he was suddenly discussing matters of distribution.
This was without a doubt, a highly forbidden topic. However, he was someone who
protected his own, so he naturally wouldn’t lecture Jiang Chen. He only smiled
faintly, “A joke from a young man. Everyone can just disregard it.”
Elder Chen from the Sacred Sword Palace snorted. “A joke? If
he keeps voicing these kinds of jokes after we leave Mt. Rippling Mirage, then
it’s not so simple as just a joke!”
It looked like Elder Chen wasn’t going to let this matter
just pass by, but wanted to keep worrying away at it like a dog with a bone.
Elder Tan Lang also nodded. “I too think that voicing these
kinds of words shouldn’t be treated as a joke. He should be punished!”
“Right, if the Regal Pill Palace doesn’t bear to discipline
him, then we don’t mind disciplining him in place of the Regal Pill Palace!”
Elder Wu Hui also called out.
Elder Yun Nie frowned, looking at Elder Xiang Gan and hoping
that he would step forth to smooth everything over.
Yet, Elder Xiang Gan had a distant expression on his face.
It would seem that he quite minded what Jiang Chen had said and didn’t plan on
intervening. It was rather Xiang Qin who murmured some words to Elder Xiang Gan
in a low voice, but was glared back down into submission. It was apparent that
Xiang Qin wanted to intervene, but his elder had fiercely rebuked him. It
looked like Jiang Chen’s words had also breached Elder Xiang Gan’s bottom line.
On the Regal Pill Palace side, they too were also baffled.
Apart from Elder Yun Nie, the other elders were looking at Jiang Chen, baffled.
Some even looked at him with mounting anger. This was to be a joyous occasion,
what was Jiang Chen mouthing off for?
As for Mu Gaoqi and Ling Bi’er, they supported Jiang Chen
unconditionally. Although they didn’t understand why Jiang Chen had spoken
these words, they didn’t even think of censuring him at all.
Wang Han from the Sacred Sword Palace couldn’t wait to see
the matter grow bigger. He would be absolutely delighted to see Jiang Chen
rouse public ire.
Through all this, Jiang Chen remained indifferent. He hadn’t
spoken again before now because he wanted to clearly observe everyone’s
reactions. After he’d taken a look at all the sects’ reactions, he finally
smiled faintly, “I won’t waste time in speaking nonsense, since I’ve noted all
your reactions just now. I’ll say only this, you all are free to leave if you
want to die. Or, leave if you’re confident in being able to cure the Miasma.”
The crowd was stunned after these words. The Divine
Befuddlement Miasma? These three words were like a spell. One mention of them
was enough to induce a sense of horror and drain the color away from everyone’s
face.
“What do you mean by that, Jiang Chen?” Zhu Feiyang from the
Tristar Sect roared. “Don’t think you can be an alarmist just because you’re
the champion of the Pill Battles.”
Jiang Chen didn’t pay the slightest attention to Zhu
Feiyang. He just smiled nonchalantly. “I’d planned on telling you this earlier
if you’d divided up the earth rank spirit herbs fairly. But what a pity you
listened to the Sacred Sword Palace’s counsel and subjected my Regal Pill
Palace to unfair treatment when apportioning the spirit herbs. Since you wished
to exercise a tyrannical hand over the distribution rules, then I’m sorry, I’ll
be domineering for once as well. Those who say I’m just spreading alarm can
leave right now and pretend that I’m just farting. But I can definitely say
that you won’t even make out of the mountain. Your graves will be made right
here!”
A bizarre smile appeared on Jiang Chen’s lips. “If you don’t
believe me, you can search your own consciousness. See if you’ve fallen victim
to the Miasma on this island.”
Although everyone felt that this was highly unlikely and
just hyperbole, some of the young geniuses still did as Jiang Chen said. Their
faces changed drastically when they did, because they discovered a faint layer
of Miasma drifting around their consciousness!
The reactions of the young instantly drew attention from the
elders, and they too all checked their respective consciousness. Expressions of
stunned terror soon appeared on their faces.
“Didn’t you think that the atmosphere on this island was
bizarre? That wasn’t a misconception. You thought the feeling of danger came
from the formations on the island, but didn’t realize the true danger lurked
within those multi-colored hues of fog instead! I trust you’re all familiar
with the Miasma?” Jiang Chen’s tone was casual, without the slightest bit of
warmth to it.
Apart from the Dark North Sect having a bit of heart just
now, the Sacred Sword Palace, Tristar Sect, and Walkabout Sect had all wanted
to kick him when he was down, even hoping to sentence him to death if possible.
Although the Great Cathedral hadn’t spoken up, it was evident that Elder Xiang
Gan had also wanted to punish him. This had opened up Jiang Chen’s eyes to the
reality of human emotions. That so-called relationship arising from the
Longevity Pill had been but a piece of paper, unable to withstand the slightest
test. Since this was the case, he had no need to be polite about anything any
longer.
The heavyweights all had darkened expressions as they probed
the fog around them, then took a look at the Miasma in their consciousness.
They’d discovered tragically that Jiang Chen had spoken the truth!
Careless!
They’d been too careless.
They hadn’t thought at all that after successfully reaching
the island, exerting such minimal effort to open the restrictions, and smoothly
claiming the earth rank spirit herbs and sky rank spirit herbs, that what would
truly threaten them would be the entwining mists of this island, the colorful
mists that looked like they belonged to an immortal realm. There really was
spirit power within them, but there was also Miasma mixed in as well, taking
one completely off guard. No wonder they’d had a foreboding feeling rise in
their heart that they hadn’t been able to shake since leaving the island. So
this had been the case!
Solemn gravity was writ all over the heavyweights’ faces.
Whether it was the young geniuses or elders present, everyone there was
familiar with the Miasma. Ling Bi'er in particular swayed slightly. She hadn’t
thought that following her father being infected, she would be infected as
well, and by a strain that was more than ten times stronger than her father’s.
The heavyweights that’d called for Jiang Chen’s punishment
earlier were now all flabbergasted, left without words to utter.
The elder from the Dark North Sect laughed dryly. “Sage
nephew Jiang Chen, how did you see through this Miasma? Were you not poisoned?”
Jiang Chen was impervious to poison because he had refined
the bloodline of the Golden Cicada. He naturally hadn’t been poisoned. However,
he naturally wouldn’t be speaking of that anytime soon. He only smiled faintly,
“Although I was poisoned, I was on my guard well beforehand. I used some
methods to diffuse the poison.”
“Oh?” The Dark North Sect elder’s eyes gleamed. “You know
how to cure the poison?”
Everyone breathed an inner sigh of relief to hear that Jiang
Chen had handled the poison. Things would be simple if there was a cure. It was
said that the Miasma was an incurable poison. They had fallen to the utter
depths of despair just a moment ago, and had almost thought that they would
perish within the ancient herb garden.
Jiang Chen smiled nonchalantly when he saw everyone turn
their gazes to him again. “I can cure it, but why should I give it to you?”
The crowd was left speechless again, sinking into an awkward
silence. As thick-skinned as they might be, they couldn’t bring themselves to
voice words of having Jiang Chen cure them. After all, they’d just wanted to
lecture Jiang Chen just a moment ago, and to harshly discipline Jiang Chen on
behalf of the Regal Pill Palace. They’d only just finished proclaiming those
words to suddenly realize that Jiang Chen grasped their fates in his hands.
Even though they didn’t know if that was true or not, no one dared take the
risk. They were well aware that they were completely helpless in the face of
the Miasma. Jiang Chen had no need to help them. He could just pick up the
spoils after they all died. This meant to say that no matter whether they were
willing or not, they didn’t control their destinies anymore at this moment.
However, these weren't Wang Han’s thoughts. His eyes were
bloodshot as he screamed, “Jiang Chen, I suspect this Miasma is something
you’ve cooked up!”
“That’s right! I think the same too!” Zhu Feiyang from the
Tristar Sect also yelled.
Jiang Chen sniffed. “Your suspicions are your matter. As to
whether I cure you or not, that’s my matter. Since you two idiots have the
moronic idea to hop up and down to try and frame me even now, it would a shame
indeed to not admire your ugly posture in death.” His eyes swept those present
after he spoke, smiling, “Who else thinks I released the poison?”
Even the various elder heavyweights felt themselves unable
to meet Jiang Chen’s eyes. They were all very rational and knew that it was
impossible for the poison to have originated from Jiang Chen. That fog had been
there long before Jiang Chen had arrived. The haze was also all over the lake.
It just wasn’t on a scale that Jiang Chen could’ve managed to pull off.
Chapter 592: Profiteering
The most critical thing was, how dare they continue to
slander Jiang Chen and add to his anger? If they enraged him, what if he really
possessed the antidote and refused to give it to them? Wouldn’t they all perish
here? After all, the heavyweights here were all smart people, and they were
very clear on how tyrannical the Miasma in their minds was. Although the poison
was currently dormant, its effects would explode once it invaded their
consciousness. Upon its activation, those afflicted could only sit back and
await death. Seeing Jiang Chen’s calm and leisurely look, everyone felt even
more uneasy. Those elders who had previously spoken out to discipline Jiang
Chen felt especially regretful.
“Jiang Chen, you sure are ruthless. You didn’t even mention
such a significant matter. But, are you callous to the extent that you don’t
even care about your own sect?” Zhu Feiyang couldn’t help but say.
Jiang Chen smiled indifferently, “Don’t you worry about my
sect.”
He then turned to Elder Yun Nie to say, “Elder Yun Nie, due
to some previous circumstances, I couldn’t notify you properly.” He flicked his
fingers a few times. Seven antidote pills shot outwards into the hands of his
fellow sect members.
“Take the pills immediately, the sooner the better.” Jiang Chen
had long since prepared these seven pills for the four elders and three young
geniuses. Since he wasn’t poisoned, he naturally did not need an antidote for
himself. Fearing that Jiang Chen might change his mind, Elder Yun Nie and the
others did not hesitate to quickly swallow the antidotes and sit down to refine
the pills.
The surrounding onlookers all felt a surge of adrenaline,
some of them even feeling the urge to steal the pills. However, the Regal Pill
Palace members had swallowed the antidotes almost immediately, leaving no
chance for theft. Not to mention, no one would dare make any trouble at this
time. Should they fail to obtain the pills, they would completely enrage Jiang
Chen, which would only spell certain death. At the very least, the pills were
likely real, seeing that Jiang Chen dared give them out to his fellow sect
members. The atmosphere instantly became very awkward, so silent they could
have heard a pin drop. After enough time to brew a cup of tea had passed, Elder
Yun Nie stood up and laughed, “Jiang Chen, your antidote sure is miraculous.
The effects were instant!”
Elder Yun Nie was actually quite stunned, not only at the
efficacy of the antidote, but more surprisingly, out of so many here, Jiang
Chen had been the sole individual who had discovered the Miasma on the island.
Plus, he hadn’t just discovered the Miasma, he had also analyzed the poison and
quickly formulated an antidote. Although Elder Yun Nie wasn’t sure how Jiang
Chen had created the antidote, there was one thing he could be certain of:
Jiang Chen alone had the resources at hand to create the antidotes.
Jiang Chen’s display of incredible insight, prodigious pill
talent, heaven-defying perception and extraordinary strategic ability caused
Elder Yun Nie to view him in a completely new light. A mere fifth level origin
realm cultivator was making a group of sage realm experts dance in the palm of
his hands, to whatever tempo he set. Although there were some external factors
involved, Jiang Chen had definitely displayed astonishing wisdom and tactics.
Following this, the other members of the Regal Pill Palace
also finished digesting the antidote to rid themselves of the Miasma. They rose
one after another, taking a place next to Jiang Chen. Each of them had a tacit
understanding that they should now present a united front to the others. Even
Shen Qinghong was fully willing to stand beside Jiang Chen without awkwardness.
When he had accepted Jiang Chen’s pill, he’d been struck by a sense of shame.
Nevertheless, he’d been able to clear his mind as he refined the antidote and
break through the demons Jiang Chen stirred in his heart. Thus, he was
wholeheartedly submissive as he stood next to Jiang Chen. Seeing the Regal Pill
Palace’s lively and vigorous looks after refining the antidote, everyone else
gained a more serious expression. Any trace of their former doubt regarding
Jiang Chen’s antidote had been replaced. If the antidote was fake, then the
rest of the Regal Pill Palace would not have acted so happily along with Jiang
Chen.
The Dark North Sect elder sighed lightly, “Ai, we were all
blind to have offended the true pill genius.”
Despite saying this, he was still somewhat relieved. Instead
of adding insult to injury previously, the Dark North Sect had instead spoken
up for Jiang Chen and the Regal Pill Palace. “Sage nephew Jiang Chen, why don’t
you state a price for the antidote?” The elder smiled ruefully. Their Dark
North Sect only needed six antidotes as they had entered with seven members,
but one had already perished. Though Elder Yun Nie didn’t speak up for the Dark
North Sect, he gave Jiang Chen a meaningful glance. Jiang Chen was naturally
aware of the relationship between the Dark North Sect and the Regal Pill
Palace.
He smiled faintly. “The Dark North Sect and our Regal Pill
Palace have always had a good relationship. If I had not been vexed by the
distribution of the earth rank herbs, I had intended to publicly inform
everyone of the Miasma. But since you all went ahead and listened to the Sacred
Sword Palace’s disparaging words, well, you’ve simply tied my hands in this
matter. I’m sure everyone can understand that I’m not the type to try and
impress those who can’t be bothered. Relationships are a two-way street after
all.”
These words were very reasonable, so the elder nodded
slightly, “We can’t blame you for this. It was indeed our mistake to begin
with.”
As the other sects heard this, regret twisted in their guts.
Why had they listened to the Sacred Sword Palace’s slander and purposely
sabotaged the Regal Pill Palace’s gains during the earth rank herb
distribution?
Alas, it was too late for regrets now.
Elder Chen saw the unkind looks that the other sects were
sending his way and was inwardly incensed. He mentally cursed eighteen
generations of their ancestors. These old bastards! No one spoke up when I made
that proposal because they would profit from it. But now they all want to blame
me for saying too much?
Unfortunately, these thoughts could not be voiced, only
bitterly swallowed.
Everyone here had their hearts in their mouths. Previously,
they’d all believed Jiang Chen was crazy for wanting to redefine the heaven and
earth rank herbs’ distribution.
But now they knew, Jiang Chen wasn’t crazy. They were the
ones who were crazy!
Jiang Chen smiled lightly, “The Dark North Sect and the
Regal Pill Palace have a good relationship, and you did not kick us while we
were down or speak up to lecture me. Thus my price is simple. I’ll take half of
your Dark North Sect’s earth rank herbs.”
Among their five participating members, the Dark North Sect
had harvested a total of fifty-four earth rank herbs. Everyone was shocked when
they heard Jiang Chen’s words. The antidote was this expensive? And this
already included a friendship discount?
The Dark North Sect elder thought for a moment before
nodding decisively, “Twenty seven earth rank herbs to buy six lives is a very
fair price.” Saying this, he turned to the other members who had earth rank
herbs, “Everyone, take out half of your earth rank herbs.”
This was a matter of life and death. They might have been
reluctant but they had no choice in the matter. After the twenty seven earth
rank herbs were delivered into Jiang Chen’s hands, six antidote pills were
unhesitatingly passed over to the Dark North Sect members. They didn’t dawdle
either, and immediately sat down in place to refine the pills.
Seeing this transaction, the remaining four great sects all
considered whether or not they should buy the antidote from Jiang Chen.
The Tristar Sect’s Elder Tan Lang was the first to speak up.
He laughed, “Alright, alright. This old man had truly judged wrongly. Honorable
nephew Jiang Chen, it was this short-sighted old man who had wrongly given
offense. I never expected that such hidden dragons and crouching tigers would
be amongst us, more so a genius of your ken. Fortunately we do have you,
otherwise I’m afraid everyone would have perished here.”
These words seemed very grand and optimistic, as if the
elder was a heroic character.
However, Jiang Chen remained indifferent. He wasn’t clear
what sort of person this Elder Tan Lang was, but this elder had been amongst
those who had spoken to discipline Jiang Chen. In fact, he’d been the first
person to do so.
Elder Tan Lang felt a bit awkward when faced with Jiang
Chen’s unresponsive demeanor, but still doggedly pressed on with a look of
magnanimity as he smiled, “This old man knows that just now everyone went a bit
too far and the previous earth rank herb distribution was indeed unfair. How
about this, the Tristar Sect is also willing to purchase the antidote with half
of our earth rank herbs.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Gaoqi was inwardly elated. After doing
some calculations, flowers of delight bloomed in his heart. Brother Jiang Chen
was about to make a fortune, ah!
There were a total of four hundred earth rank herbs.
Subtracting the ones the Regal Pill Palace had obtained meant there were still
three hundred and sixty seven earth rank herbs. If they took half of that, then
Senior Brother Jiang Chen would suddenly obtain nearly two hundred earth rank
herbs! This sort of extravagant wealth would immediately transform Jiang Chen
into the richest man among the Myriad Domain’s younger generation.
But who expected that Jiang Chen would remain
expressionless, before suddenly chuckling indifferently, “When did I say I
would sell the antidote to you?”
Jiang Chen’s words immediately caused everyone’s expressions
to change.
What? Not selling? Could Jiang Chen be planning on staying
put and watching everyone die from the poison?
Elder Chen from the Sacred Sword Palace promptly tried to
incite the others, “Does everyone see and hear this? This kid is vicious to the
bone. All he wants is to sit back and watch us all die to poison so that his
Regal Pill Palace becomes the only one that benefits!”
These words immediately aroused a large number of people to
join in opposition.
Wang Han poured more fuel onto the fire by shouting, “This
kid is too cruel! I think everyone should combine forces and forcefully take
the antidote from him. The Myriad Domain can be without a Regal Pill Palace,
but absolutely cannot only contain the Regal Pill Palace!”
Wang Han’s words inflamed the thoughts of everyone present.
Everyone turned towards Jiang Chen with grave expressions and unkind eyes, like
tigers glaring at prey.
Jiang Chen laughed indifferently as he revealed a pill
bottle with its cover removed, slightly shaking it in the palm of his hands. He
moved the bottle over the lake waters and tilted it slightly. “This is the only
bottle of antidote. With the slightest shake of my hand, these pills will sink
into the lake and dissolve. If anyone feels confident they’re faster than me,
then they’re free to try and snatch these pills from me. But be warned, you
only have one chance. If you can’t steal these pills, then you can only sit
tight and wait for death.” Jiang Chen laughed leisurely, “I, on the other hand,
can easily run away with an escape talisman. I’ll just have to come back later
to help bury your corpses and take care of all the treasures you’re all
carrying.”
When they saw Jiang Chen’s relaxed demeanor, bitter
expressions crossed the faces of the other four great sects’ members as they
suppressed the previous impulses that Wang Han had incited. They did not dare
gamble. They could not afford to gamble. If they lost the gamble, the only
route for them was death. Who knew if Jiang Chen was a careless person? If he
actually threw the antidote pills into the water, then they would be completely
out of luck. Pills were all refined under high temperatures, and would
instantly dissolve in water. They would have no way to save the pills even if
they wanted to.
At this moment, they tragically discovered that their life
and death were no longer in their own hands, but rather firmly within Jiang
Chen’s grasp.
They couldn’t steal the pills. They couldn’t buy the pills.
Just what did this Jiang Chen really want from them?!
Chapter 593: An Exorbitant Price for the Antidote
Pressure built in everyone’s hearts as even sage realm
cultivators were hard pressed to remain unmoving in the face of impending
death. Those of the Sacred Sword Palace were even more desperate. They were
well aware that they had long since formed a death grudge with the Regal Pill
Palace, and they had previously mortally offended Jiang Chen. Even if Jiang
Chen was willing to hand out the antidote, he likely wouldn’t sell it to the
Sacred Sword Palace even at a high price.
A crazed look flashed through Elder Chen’s eyes. “Everyone!
This Jiang Chen has ulterior motives! He has resolved himself to torture us to
death and then conveniently pick up our treasures! When it comes down to it, we
have nothing to lose! Even if we all go down together, that’s still better than
his Regal Pill Palace profiting from everything! We’re dead either way! Are you
all willing to let the Regal Pill Palace watch us die and then rob us of our
items?!”
Nothing to lose!
This was the only way out in the face of no alternatives.
Elder Wu Hen of the Walkabout Sect stared at Elder Yun Nie. “Daoist Yun Nie,
does your Regal Pill Palace truly want to force us to this step?”
Elder Yun Nie didn’t know what Jiang Chen intended, but he
had to step forth at this time to gloss things over. “Jiang Chen, we’re all
compatriots in the Myriad Domain, leave them some hope,” he sighed lightly.
Jiang Chen hadn’t planned on really seeing things through
either. If he really did want to see them dead, he wouldn't need to have
revealed the existence of the Miasma at all. He could just pick up their
treasures after they’d died from the poison. Logically speaking, that would’ve
been the best outcome.
However, Jiang Chen knew that if they all died from the
poison, those in the outside world would blame the Regal Pill Palace no matter
how the sect tried to explain things. They might even unite to mount a crusade
against the Regal Pill Palace, turning the sect into a public enemy. Therefore,
after considering the issue carefully, Jiang Chen felt that he couldn’t be that
heartless in this matter. The reason why he had not relented to their demands
was actually because he wanted Elder Yun Nie to be able to play the good cop,
and he to play the bad.
Jiang Chen pretended to think for a moment before nodding,
“Since it is Elder Yun Nie’s instructions, I dare not disobey. However, are all
of you certain you want to buy my antidote? That I’m not forcing you to do so?”
Elder Xiang Gan of the Great Cathedral spoke up at this
time, “Sage nephew Jiang Chen, since out of everyone here, you were the only
one who could see the problem with this island, you absolutely have the right
to speak. Us old fellows can only admit our defeat. My Great Cathedral is also
willing to offer half of our earth rank spirit herbs.”
“My Tristar Sect is willing as well.” Elder Tan Lang
chuckled.
“Then my Walkabout Sect is naturally willing as well.” Elder
Wu Hen had been silent all this time and now looked at Jiang Chen meaningfully.
In his mind, Jiang Chen had now grown even more mysterious. He couldn’t help
but sigh. Why did a kid with such perverse talent have to belong to the Regal
Pill Palace, and not his Walkabout Sect? Come to think of it, Palace Head Dan
Chi had been the one to discover Jiang Chen back in the sixteen kingdom
alliance. He had been the one who’d shown great vision, whereas numerous others
in the Myriad Domain had reacted like they were watching a joke back in the day
when the Regal Pill Palace had allied itself with the Precious Tree Sect.
Even though Elder Wu Hen was standing in the opposing camp,
he had to admit that Dan Chi had made quite a good move there.
Those of the Sacred Sword Palace however, had all frozen in
place. It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to offer up half of their earth rank
spirit herbs, but there was no way that Jiang Chen would sell the antidote to
them. Hence, they dithered about in place, at a complete loss of what to do.
Originally, they’d wanted to unite the other sects against the Regal Pill
Palace, but that strategy hadn’t held up to the test at all. How would the
other sects think like the Sacred Sword Palace and fatally offend Jiang Chen
when their lives were on the line?
Even as all of the heavyweights looked at him pleadingly,
there wasn’t a ripple of emotion in Jiang Chen’s heart, nor was there any hint
of sympathy or pity. These fellows were only acting like this because of the
circumstances. They might very well erupt in open hostility the second after
they acquired the antidote. Naturally, Jiang Chen wouldn’t give them the
antidote that easily. The momentum and initiative would no longer be in his
hands as soon as he did so.
“Everyone, I won’t beat around the bush. The price for the
Dark North Sect’s antidotes was indeed half their spirit herbs, but that was
the price for friends. Why is that? Because apart from them, all of the other
sects have behaved in a non too friendly manner. Therefore, apart from the Dark
North Sect, no other sect can enjoy this discount for friends.” He spoke in a
measured tone.
Everyone was taken aback by these words, their expressions
turning bitter a scant second later. It seems that Jiang Chen’s appetite is
more than half of the earth rank spirit herbs!
Elder Xiang Gan took a deep breath. “Sage nephew Jiang Chen,
I was unhappy just now, but I didn’t step forward to fan the flames. Even if
you don’t give us the price for friends, you’ll give us at least a fair price,
right?”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly and nodded. “Since Elder Xiang Gan
has spoken, I’ll give you a fair price. One sky rank spirit herb and half of
your earth rank spirit herbs. Ah yes, I’ll also throw in Brother Xiang Qin’s
pill for free. He doesn’t need to split his earth rank spirit herbs.”
“What?!” Elder Xiang Gan’s tone turned frosty as he stared
at Jiang Chen. “You’re certain? Sky rank herb?”
Jiang Chen’s expression was cold. “This is the first price
I’m setting. If you make me restate the price, then it won’t be just this
much.”
He’d had a decent impression of Elder Xiang Gan before this,
but Jiang Chen had been somewhat disappointed with his performance just now.
Therefore, Jiang Chen’s price gave face only to Xiang Qin and not much to Elder
Xiang Gan.
Elder Xiang Gan was incensed. He had never imagined that
Jiang Chen would demand such an exorbitant price. This was profiteering!
“My Tristar Sect will pay this price!” Elder Tan Lang
quickly spoke up when he saw that Elder Xiang Gan was silent without a word.
He’d offended Jiang Chen terribly just now. If he wasn’t more proactive now,
the price might be even higher when it was his sect’s turn.
“Heh heh, but that isn’t the price for your Tristar Sect.”
Jiang Chen flicked a noncommittal glance at Elder Tan Lang. He grinned, “Nevertheless,
I won’t be too hard on you. One sky rank spirit herb and two third of your
earth rank spirit herbs. Take it or leave it, just tell me your decision. No
room for negotiation.”
Zhu Feiyang of the Tristar Sect couldn’t help but fly into a
rage. “Jiang Chen, you’re raising the price for no reason at all! This is a
complete scam!”
Jiang Chen laughed coldly. “Don’t get me wrong, everyone.
I’m not asking for you to buy my antidote. Refine the antidote for yourself if
you can.”
Refine the antidote now? Even if they had an inkling how to
do so, Jiang Chen had likely taken all the necessary ingredients.
Elder Tan Lang’s expression was very dark as he grit his
teeth lightly and replied, “Alright, as you say. One sky rank spirit herb and
two thirds of our earth rank spirit herb.”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “Alright, please wait to one
side.”
“Why do we need to wait?” Elder Tan Lang was in a hurry to
get the antidote.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely give the antidote to you before
the poison takes hold.” Jiang Chen wasn't in a hurry at all. He shifted his
gaze to the Great Cathedral, then the Walkabout Sect. As for the Sacred Sword
Palace, he couldn’t even be bothered to look at them.
Elder Xiang Gan finally sighed with resignation. “Alright, I
was wrong this time and got taught a good lesson by a youngster. It will be as
you say then, one sky rank spirit herb. My Great Cathedral obtained eighty
earth rank spirit herbs in total, taking out Xiang Qin’s ten makes for seventy.
Half of that is 35 herbs, correct?”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “That’s correct.” He then
casually waved his hand. “Those of the Great Cathedral please also wait
momentarily.” Looking at the Walkabout Sect again, he asked, “What say you,
Elder Wu Hen?”
Elder Wu Hen started. He’d thought that Jiang Chen had long
since viewed the Walkabout Sect on the same level as the Sacred Sword Palace,
but here he was asking them. He frowned, “What price would sage nephew Jiang
Chen like to propose for my Walkabout Sect?”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “I clearly delineate between my
grudges and gratitude. Your Walkabout Sect has offended me deeply, but I should
still give you the chance to make a transaction. I will name my price only
once, it’s up to you whether you want to buy or not.”
Ultimately, Elder Wu Hen was still a worldly person, and he
relaxed slightly when he heard that Jiang Chen was willing to sell the antidote
to him. After all, if they did not obtain the antidote, they were dead without
a doubt. It was impossible to expect them to research what the antidote was and
refine it in the short amount of time left. However, Elder Wu Hen was a bit
worried that Jiang Chen would ask for an exorbitant and unacceptable price. So,
he looked at Jiang Chen again after reconsidering multiple times. “Jiang Chen,
we can settle all of our previously grudges as long as you give us a fair
price.”
Elder Wu Hen had finally realized that Jiang Chen was no
ordinary person after experiencing so much. He was clearly not a character that
Elder Wu Hen could take care of himself. As opposed to continuing to oppose
him, he might as well be forthright and beg for reconciliation.
Jiang Chen stared at Elder Wu Hen for a long time before
finally smiling slightly. He’d used the Psychic’s Head to observe Elder Wu Hen
just now and discovered that the old man actually really did want to make up
with him, likely because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to best Jiang Chen.
As for why he was begging for reconciliation, he was likely asking Jiang Chen
to not set too exorbitant of a price.
Jiang Chen nodded lightly. “I’d planned on taking both sky
spirit herbs, but since Elder Wu Hen understand the principles of what is right
or wrong, your sect can enjoy the same price as the Tristar Sect.”
He wasn’t an unfeeling sort of person. Elder Wu Hen’s
attitude clearly indicated that he was giving up on his pursuit of Jiang Chen
and forgoing his plan of seizing the Cloudpine. This indirectly meant that he
was forfeiting. Therefore, Jiang Chen decided to go with the flow and give the
Walkabout Sect a fair price. Originally, he’d wanted to take both of their sky
spirit herbs, but abruptly changed his mind and left them one to give them some
hope.
Elder Wu Hen sighed lightly. “I am immensely grateful for
this.”
He was of also aware of Jiang Chen’s meaning. All along,
he’d wanted to rob Jiang Chen’s sky rank spirit herb. But now, Jiang Chen
hadn’t taken away both of the Walkabout Sect’s sky spirit herbs, he was
indirectly returning them a herb. When all was said and done, the Walkabout
Sect would still have one sky rank spirit herb remaining. Elder Wu Hen both
admired Jiang Chen and felt resigned that he could only admit defeat.
Thus, there was only the Sacred Sword Palace left. The few
sect members felt extremely awkward and kept shooting looks filled with pleas
for help towards the Walkabout Sect and Tristar Sect. They obviously hoped
these sects would still speak up for them.
Chapter 594: Returning with Arms Full of Loot
After all, they were all part of the Myriad Domain’s six
great sects so the other sects weren’t willing to just watch the Sacred Sword
Palace perish here.
Elder Xiang Gan spoke up, “Sage nephew Jiang Chen, the
grudge between the Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace…”
Jiang Chen cut him off before he finished his sentence,
“Elder Xiang Gan, no one should try and be the peacemaker here. What did I say
when Wang Han was swaggering in front of me previously after receiving his
earth rank herbs?”
Everyone stared at one another, not knowing what Jiang Chen
meant. Only Wang Han stared at the ground in embarrassment, dearly wishing for
a stone to hide under. When he had originally been showing off in front of
Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen had said there would come a time when Wang Han would beg
Jiang Chen to take his earth rank herbs. How could he not remember this
clearly?
Meanwhile, off on the side, Mu Gaoqi’s blood was frothing
with excitement. Jiang Chen was still able to speak to these heavyweights with
such ease, and even toy with them as he pleased. What could be considered the
true demeanor of a genius? This was a true genius! By this point, Mu Gaoqi was
willing to prostrate himself before Jiang Chen in admiration.
Mu Gaoqi quickly followed up when he heard Jiang Chen’s question.
“My Brother Chen has previously said that Wang Han would end up begging him to
accept his earth rank herbs. Wang Han replied that Brother Chen was
daydreaming.”
Wang Han was red-faced but could not retort. Although his
heart was full of teeth-gnashing hatred, there was no way he could act on his
anger. He knew that this wasn’t the time to flare up. If he exploded in rage
now, it was tantamount to condemning all the lives of the Sacred Sword Palace
members into the abyss.
“Jiang Chen, killing someone is but a simple matter. What
are your conditions for selling your antidote to the Sacred Sword Palace? Just
give us a price. A slice or a dice is all the same. Be more straightforward
about it!” Elder Chen said indifferently.
Jiang Chen’s voice was likewise apathetic. “Does this count
as begging me?”
The ashen-faced Wang Han suddenly stepped forward and bowed
before Jiang Chen. “Jiang Chen, my mouth was previously cheap and dirty. You
are a truly magnanimous gentleman. Here are all my earth rank herbs, please
accept them.”
This Wang Han was unexpectedly aware of when he should bow
and submit. At this moment, he had actually managed to overcome his mental
hurdles and bent his back to Jiang Chen in surrender.
Even if everyone knew that his actions weren’t heartfelt, it
was still quite a large change for an arrogant genius like Wang Han to humble
himself. Jiang Chen also felt slightly surprised and glanced coldly at Wang
Han. Though he saw that the corners of Wang Han’s eyes were about to erupt in
furious fire, Jiang Chen remained unconcerned. He had never been afraid of Wang
Han and if it wasn’t for the greater picture, he simply did not want to give
the antidote to the Sacred Sword Palace. However, Jiang Chen was quite aware
that if he really withheld the antidote from the Sacred Sword Palace, then he
wouldn’t just offend the Sacred Sword Palace, but would incite hostility from
all the other sects as well. They might even covertly band together to suppress
the Regal Pill Palace. Such was human nature. Although Jiang Chen was not at
fault, it was human nature to sympathize with the weak. And in this matter, the
Sacred Sword Palace was undoubtedly the “weak” side.
“Alright, Jiang Chen, the grudge between the Regal Pill
Palace and the Sacred Sword Palace does not need to be resolved through this
matter. Why don’t you sell them the antidote?” Elder Yun Nie spoke up in an
attempt to persuade him.
Jiang Chen nodded, “Since that’s the case, then here’s my
price. I’ll take your two sky rank herbs and two-thirds of your earth rank
herbs!”
This price caused everyone to suck in a breath of cold air.
They all looked at the Sacred Sword Palace, clearly waiting to see if they
would accept such a price. This price was obviously much higher than the other
sects’, who needed to pay only one sky rank herb.
The Sacred Sword Palace on the other hand, needed to pay up
both their sky rank herbs for the antidote. This wasn’t that surprising
however, considering the hostility between the Sacred Sword Palace and the
Regal Pill Palace. At the same time, everyone else was secretly glad that Jiang
Chen had given them some leeway instead of enforcing such a ridiculous price.
If Jiang Chen had hardened his heart and asked for all their
sky rank herbs, everyone would have had no choice but to pay such a price in
exchange for their lives. Thus, those who originally still had grievances all
felt a bit better. In retrospect, these transactions were all voluntary. They
were the ones asking Jiang Chen to sell the antidote and not Jiang Chen forcing
them to buy. Those from the Dark North Sect felt especially good. Originally,
they had felt Jiang Chen was unreasonable as he had still asked for half of
their earth rank herbs despite their two sects’ good relationship. It wasn’t
until they compared themselves with the other sects that the Dark North Sect
realized how much face they were given. The Sacred Sword Palace wouldn’t even
be able to keep a single sky rank herb!
Elder Chen seemed to have expected that Jiang Chen would
give such an extortionist price. His complexion was ashen as he stared at Jiang
Chen, “Fine. Jiang Chen, we accept this price. The Sacred Sword Palace has
really underestimated you!”
Jiang Chen ignored the looks of those in the Sacred Sword
Palace as they gnashed their teeth and smiled faintly, “Everyone, the prices
have been set, but our deals have yet to be completed. In order to proceed with
our transaction, I need a promise from you all.”
“Promise?” Everyone was suspicious.
“I’m not a fool who will take blind risks. Although this
transaction entails you begging to buy my antidote, I know that your hearts
aren’t satisfied. In fact, some of you are already plotting how to take care of
me after you receive the antidote. Apologies, but I won’t give you such an
opportunity.”
Jiang Chen had calmly calculated every step from beginning
to end. As he swept his gaze lightly over the various elders present, Jiang
Chen spoke evenly, “Therefore, I need you all to swear a heavenly oath that
afterwards, you won’t use this matter as an excuse to create trouble for or
bear resentment towards the Regal Pill Palace. If anyone troubles any members
of the Regal Pill Palace regarding this matter, then they will be punished by
heavenly tribulation.” Jiang Chen wasn’t purposely trying to make things
difficult for the others. But since he had started this matter, he must wrap
things up cleanly and not bring downfall to the Regal Pill Palace.
Hearing Jiang Chen’s words, Elder Yun Nie also nodded, “Yes,
this is a transaction made of free will. You don’t have to purchase the
antidote if you have any grievances, but no one is allowed take their anger out
on our Regal Pill Palace due to this matter.”
Elder Xiang Gan smiled wryly, “The Great Cathedral has
already acknowledged our bad luck regarding this. On behalf of the Great
Cathedral, I swear that we will not use this matter as an excuse to find
trouble with the Regal Pill Palace. Otherwise, may I, Xiang Gan, be struck dead
by heavenly lightning!”
Although Elder Xiang Gan was normally domineering, he still
had a bottom line and clearly understood that Jiang Chen was not at fault in
this matter. If he was in Jiang Chen’s position, then he would only have been
more ruthless and taken all the others’ sky rank herbs. By charging only half,
Jiang Chen could already be considered benevolent. Continuing this dispute
would be disgraceful.
Moreover, since they had previously sworn a heavenly oath
not to reveal anything regarding this ancient herb garden, anyone who raised a
fuss over this later on would bring down heavenly tribulation upon their entire
sect!
After Elder Xiang Gan swore the oath, the Dark North Sect
elder also laughed. “Needless to say, Jiang Chen has shown us much face. Our
Dark North Sect is filled only with gratitude, completely free of resentment.
But since sage nephew Jiang Chen requires an oath, then this old man swears
that…”
After the Dark North Sect, the third to step forward and
swear their oath was actually Elder Wu Hen. Elder Wu Hen had a face full of
dejection as he smiled ruefully at Jiang Chen, “Sage nephew Jiang Chen, this
old man has been highly intelligent for my entire life, but yet I always end up
with my hands tied when it comes to you. This time, I’ve thought things
through: don’t bully the youth when they’re poor. From now on, I will neither
find reason to make trouble for you nor trouble the Regal Pill Palace over this
matter. If I renege on this oath, then may I suffer heavenly tribulation!”
Elder Wu Hen’s words induced some surprise from the other
elders. It seemed that Elder Wu Hen and Jiang Chen had some unspoken history?
The Tristar Sect’s Elder Tan Lang released a long sigh, “Who
would imagine that so many old fellows would be helpless in front of a youth? I
have to say, Jiang Chen, you’ve really caused this old man endless
astonishment. Fine then, I, Tan Lang, vow on behalf of the Tristar Sect that
after receiving the antidote, we will not find trouble with the Regal Pill
Palace over this matter. If we renege, may heavenly lightning strike me down!”
After all the four great sects had sworn their vows, the
remaining fifth rank sects naturally dared not dally and stood to swear their
oaths. Although they hadn’t obtained that many earth rank herbs, they had still
received some.
Finally, only the Sacred Sword Palace remained, but they
were obviously reluctant to swear the oath as the Sacred Sword Palace and the
Regal Pill Palace had already completely fallen out with each other. Jiang Chen
frowned and said, “It doesn’t matter if the Sacred Sword Palace doesn’t want to
swear the oath. If you want to make trouble for me, I, Jiang Chen will keep you
company anytime.”
The relationship between the Sacred Sword Palace and the
Regal Pill Palace was akin to fire and water, so Jiang Chen did not care
whether or not they swore the oath. Even without this matter, they were already
life and death enemies. With these oaths, Jiang Chen was reassured that there
would be no future problems and thus traded the antidotes for spirit herbs from
each sect. Jiang Chen did not take any covert actions with the antidotes and
straightforwardly handed them out one by one.
“Everyone, don’t blame me for not reminding you. Although
the antidote can cure the Miasma’s poison, this Miasma is still extremely
overbearing you should avoid exerting yourselves in the short term. Otherwise,
if the poison breaks out before it is purged by the antidote, then not even the
heavens can help you.”
When they heard Jiang Chen’s reminder, everyone turned pale
and quickly sat down on the spot to refine the antidote.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen threw a look at Elder Yun Nie. “Well
then, the Regal Pill Palace will take our leave.” Elder Yun Nie laughed.
As the Dark North Sect had also taken the antidote earlier
on, they also laughed, “The Dark North Sect will also take our leave.”
As the two sects quickly departed the scene, the other four
sects could only stare at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Obviously, the unexpected development this time had given them a heavy sense of
helplessness. They were unable to do anything despite being extorted of so many
spirit herbs by a young cultivator.
After walking a while, Jiang Chen suddenly paused and headed
over to the nearby Dark North Sect. He took out all the earth rank herbs he had
previously received from them.
“Friends from the Dark North Sect, I was previously forced
by the situation to take your earth rank herbs in order to set an example in
front of the other four sects. Our two sects have always had a good
relationship so how could I sit back and watch you die? Please take back these
earth rank herbs. I, Jiang Chen, am definitely not one to loot a burning
house.”
The Dark North Sect all glanced at one another and then
stared at Jiang Chen. They felt more and more that they were unable to see
through this kid. The head elder laughed, “Jiang Chen, these earth rank herbs
are a reasonable payment for saving our lives. You don’t have to be so polite.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chen took a single earth rank herb,
“Since that is so, I’ll accept this one. I definitely can’t accept the others.”
After saying this, he left the other herbs on the ground and
rejoined the ranks of the Regal Pill Palace. Elder Yun Nie could not help but
sigh in admiration at Jiang Chen’s demeanor and strategy. By first receiving
and then returning the spirit herbs, their Dark North Sect allies could not
help but be grateful towards the Regal Pill Palace. It had to be said that
Jiang Chen had played his hand to perfection!
Chapter 595: A Solo Operation
Since Jiang Chen had suddenly received roughly a hundred
earth rank spirit herbs, he naturally did not care about twenty or so from the
Dark North Sect. Not only would he be making a magnanimous gesture in returning
their spirit herbs, he would also strengthen their loyalty to the Regal Pill
Palace. If the Regal Pill Palace really needed to request a favor from the Dark
North Sect in the future, the latter wouldn't be able to idly sit by on account
of the favor he’d granted them in saving their lives. So it was without a doubt
that Jiang Chen’s actions had not only won Dark North Sect’s friendship, it had
also solidified the close relationship between the two sects.
Indeed, the head elder from the Dark North Sect sighed.
“Daoist Yun Nie, the Regal Pill Palace will surely enjoy great fortune in the
future due to Jiang Chen.” He raised his hands in a cupped fist salute towards
Jiang Chen. “Sage nephew Jiang Chen, our Dark North Sect will remember this
debt of gratitude. Please let us know if we can help you in the future.”
The others of the Dark North Sect also raised their hands in
cupped fist salutes towards Jiang Chen. After exchanging a round of pleasantries,
the Dark North Sect was aware that Jiang Chen must have a great deal to speak
about with Elder Yun Nie about so they took their leave. When they did, that
was when Jiang Chen took out the five sky spirit herbs and about a hundred
earth spirit herbs that he’d just obtained. “Elder Yun Nie, according to the
rules of Mt. Rippling Mirage, half of this needs to go to the sect. I’ll take
two of the sky spirit herbs and half of the earth spirit herbs. The rest is for
the sect.”
Elder Yun Nie was rather embarrassed by this. “Jiang Chen,
how can we possibly accept this?”
Jiang Chen remained resolute. “I was merely taking advantage
of the opportunity I was given. If I hadn’t handled things well, then I would
have brought trouble to the sect instead. Therefore, I will only feel at ease
if I offer this up to the sect.”
He thought a little more before he took out half of the Sage
Fledgling Grass, placing the grass into an old storage ring and giving it to
Elder Yun Nie as well. “Elder, this is half of what I received before.”
Elder Yun Nie accepted the ring. When he examined it
closely, his heart skipped a beat. Sage Fledgling Grass!
It really was the Sage Fledgling Grass, and there looked to
be at least two or three thousand blades! Then had all that Wang Han spoken of
been true? Although Elder Yun Nie was surprised, he did not speak frankly, but
only looked at Jiang Chen with some surprise.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “It was just a lucky opportunity.
I don’t need that many for myself. Palace Head Dan Chi has always said that he
has a grand ambition. I might not be able to serve him until the end, so take
these as another source of strength I can provide for the sect.”
Jiang Chen had spoken similar words back when he offered up
the Longevity Pill. Elder Yun Nie was shocked and silent for a long while. His
heart was full of a multitude of feelings as he looked carefully at Jiang Chen,
unable to find the right words to describe the latter.
This young man had brought him so much shock, surprise and
wonder again and again. Even discounting those three sky rank herbs and half of
the earth rank herbs, just these three thousand blades of Sage Fledgling Grass
were more than enough to cultivate a dozen sage realm experts for the sect.
This was an absolutely sensational amount of wealth! However, receiving this
wealth was secondary. The most important thing was that Jiang Chen was actually
willing to give away so many things in one go. This disciple’s character and
magnanimity had continuously shocked Elder Yun Nie.
Jiang Chen had previously utilized the Miasma’s antidote to
manipulate the overall situation and used various tactics to isolate the five
other great sects so that they were unable to come together to contend against
the Regal Pill Palace. Each sect had been met with a different strategy. Faced
with Jiang Chen’s sophisticated methods, Elder Yun Nie had been simply rooted
to the spot in amazement.
Such a talent was unique even in the entire history of the
Regal Pill Palace, much less during Elder Yun Nie’s lifetime. Though Palace
Head Dan Chi had also accomplished much in his younger years and was considered
a genius amongst geniuses, Dan Chi’s history couldn’t be compared in the same
breath with Jiang Chen’s radiance.
After Jiang Chen had given these spirit herbs to Elder Yun
Nie, he took out the Aletheia Icegrass and Scarletheart Fruit he had previously
harvested and gave them to Ling Bi’er. “Senior Sister, these two spirit herbs,
along with the Tranquil Jade Sumi and Thousandmesh Jaderoot you previously
obtained comprise the four necessary ingredients for your father’s antidote.
Hold on to these for now.”
When Mu Gaoqi saw Jiang Chen acting like this, he asked
curiously, “Brother Chen, do you still have something else you need to do?”
Jiang Chen nodded, “I still have some things to take care
of, so you all should leave first.”
Hearing this, Elder Yun Nie couldn’t help but walk over,
“Jiang Chen, although everyone is constrained by their heavenly oaths and can’t
deliberately make trouble for you, there are definitely some people who will
still target you…”
Of course, Jiang Chen was well aware of this. However, there
were only two days remaining and he was still quite curious about that sacred
altar. If he left without answers, he would feel terribly unjustified.
He just felt that the secret hidden within the sacred altar
was far more precious than some mere earth rank herbs. Since he was already
here, he refused to leave empty-handed. Otherwise, the next opportunity to
enter would be three thousand years later. Would he still be in the Myriad
Domain after three thousand years? Jiang Chen didn’t have to think hard to know
there was no chance of that happening.
Originally, Elder Yun Nie had wanted to add a few more words
of advice. But after thinking about it some more, he didn’t try and sway Jiang
Chen any further. He only gave Jiang Chen a simple look, “Take care.” He knew
that this kind of maverick genius was destined to be unconstrained by normal
rules and convention, and already beyond his control. Since Jiang Chen had
already made up his mind, Elder Yun Nie knew nothing he could say would
convince him otherwise.
Ling Bi’er also felt a bit of loss and surprise when she saw
that Jiang Chen would not be leaving with everyone else. But due to her
introverted character, her face revealed no emotions as she gazed at Jiang Chen
and lightly said, “Junior brother, be careful.”
Then, she paused for a moment before giving Jiang Chen her
two unused escape talismans. “These are for you.”
Jiang Chen nodded with a smile and accepted the escape
talismans without any pretense. He then waved good bye to everyone present.
“All of you should also leave quickly, since running into
the other four sects would be inconvenient.” When he finished saying this,
Jiang Chen’s body flashed and disappeared.
Elder Yun Nie shot a deep and meaningful glance towards the
spot where Jiang Chen had vanished. Then, he suddenly smiled and waved his
hands, “Let’s go, we’re leaving this ancient herb garden. After we leave, we’ll
immediately find the transportation matrix and depart this island straight
away.”
Without a doubt, the spirit herbs that Jiang Chen just gave
them had caused the Regal Pill Palace to become the biggest winner of this
expedition to Mt. Rippling Mirage. Their harvest was comparable to the other
sects’ combined total, as just their sky rank herb collection was equal to that
of the other sects. The third level of the sacred altar had twelve sky rank
herbs, and the Regal Pill Palace had originally been assigned two. Jiang Chen
had extorted another five herbs through trading the antidote, of which three
had been given to the sect, totaling five sky rank herbs for the Regal Pill
Palace. As for Jiang Chen keeping two for himself, Elder Yun Nie was naturally
fine with that and even felt that Jiang Chen had kept too little.
With such an enormous harvest, the Regal Pill Palace would
certainly not stick around. The sooner they left, the safer they would be.
Roughly half an hour later, the Great Cathedral, the Tristar
Sect, the Walkabout Sect and the Sacred Sword Palace had finished refining the
antidote, and left the lakeshore to arrive on the outskirts.
Elder Chen of the Sacred Sword Palace was full of
indignation, “Everyone, we’ve all been played by that little bastard Jiang
Chen. Will you all just forgive and forget?”
The other three sects’ people all smiled faintly. Each of
them were wily old foxes who knew that the Sacred Sword Palace wasn’t saying
this out of a sense of justice, but trying to incite them against the Regal
Pill Palace. This sort of manipulation was seen through very easily. Elder
Xiang Gan smiled indifferently, “Brother Chen, if you have other plans, that’s
your own business. All the Great Cathedral did was engage in a simple business
transaction with Jiang Chen.”
Although the Great Cathedral was domineering, they couldn’t
really consider Jiang Chen to have cheated them in this matter. To be blunt, it
had been Jiang Chen who had saved them. If it was the Sacred Sword Palace who
had the antidote, it was likely they would’ve been even more ruthless. They
might have even just concealed the matter and waited for everyone to die from
poison before cleaning up the spoils. Hence, even though the Great Cathedral
was very jealous of Jiang Chen’s spirit herbs, they disavowed these thoughts as
they’d already sworn a heavenly oath.
After all, Jiang Chen hadn’t robbed them blind and even left
them some herbs in the end.
Elder Chen sneered, “This one is a bit surprised that old
brother Xiang is being so reasonable… Elder Tan Lang, Elder Wu Hen, what do you
two think?”
Elder Tan Lang said coldly, “The heavenly oath has already
been sworn. What can we do about it?”
The Walkabout Sect’s Elder Wu Hen also did not want to
continue to fight. He had a hunch that if they continued entangling with Jiang
Chen, they would still be the ones who would suffer a loss in the end. Thus he
smiled darkly, “Elder Chen, if your Sacred Sword Palace wants to go make
trouble, just go do your thing.”
“Can it be that Elder Wu Hen is not going?”
Elder Wu Hen laughed, “This old man is neutral.”
Neutral my ass! Elder Chen almost blurted out but managed to
hold the words back in the end. Seeing that the Great Cathedral and the
Walkabout Sect had both given up, Elder Chen also knew that his attempt at
provocation had failed.
“You all made a heavenly oath, but I did not. You guys go
first then!” Elder Chen had obviously hardened his heart to make trouble for
Jiang Chen.
“Let’s go.” The Great Cathedral’s Elder Xiang Gan did not
want to keep wasting time with Elder Chen and led the Great Cathedral in a
quick exit.
The Walkabout Sect also left quickly under Elder Wu Hen’s
leadership.
Elder Tan Lang from the Tristar Sect sighed. “Elder Chen,
with the heavenly oath restraining us, I’m afraid I can’t accompany you.”
Elder Chen just sneered and waved his hands, not even
bothering with perfunctory words.
“Elder Chen, don’t blame this old man for not reminding you.
Jiang Chen has definitely left long ago after receiving so many treasures.”
Elder Tan Lang chuckled and left with the Tristar Sect.
As Elder Chen watched them leave with a darkened face, Elder
Xi next to him walked over, “ Brother Chen…”
“Don’t worry right now. Let’s leave this place first.” Elder
Chen waved his hand. Under his leadership, the Sacred Sword Palace members
disappeared in streaks of light.
Not long after the disappearance of the Sacred Sword Palace,
the Great Cathedral once again appeared in the same spot.
“Elder Xiang Gan, why did we return here?” asked an elder
from the Great Cathedral.
Elder Xiang Gan laughed lightly, “We have a heavenly oath
restricting us while the Sacred Sword Palace does not. If the Sacred Sword
Palace succeeds, we can then ‘ask’ them for the herbs. That wouldn’t be
contrary to our oaths, right?”
When they heard this, the others were all shocked and had to
admire Elder Xiang Gan’s cunning – the older the ginger, the spicier it was!
Chapter 596: Each With Their Own Plots
It was not long after the Walkabout Sect had left that Elder
Wu Qi came up to Elder Wu Hen and said, “Daoist Wu Hen, as I see it, the Great
Cathedral and the Tristar Sect aren’t going to just let things go. Although
they are bound by their heavenly oaths, they are keeping their eye on the
Sacred Sword Palace. If that sect succeeds in their revenge, then they will
still have a chance to strike. How about our Walkabout Sect also…”
If this was Elder Wu Hen from a few days ago, this kind of
reminder like this wasn’t even necessary as he would have already considered
different angles and calculated the best strategy. But now, he had no such
inclination or interest, so he just lightly smiled, “Wu Qi, have you noticed?
Despite the fact that we’ve all been focused on this child for the past few
days, none of us were able to do anything to him? This time around, he even
managed to fool everyone by being a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“So what? He was just lucky.”
“Lucky?” Elder Wu Hen smiled nonchalantly, “In the world of
the strong, you can be lucky once, but definitely not twice or thrice. I can
guarantee that the Sacred Sword Palace will definitely be unable to deal with
Jiang Chen. And if they keep underestimating him, they might even eat another
loss! Let’s go, our Walkabout Sect shall not meddle in these muddy waters any
longer.”
As Elder Wu Hen was a very shrewd and thoroughly wily old
fox, he was able to assess the overall situation without losing his presence of
mind. He saw in Jiang Chen an obscured potential. Through his foxy old eyes,
this Jiang Chen was definitely not someone whom those in the Myriad Domain
could suppress. This child would surely shine brilliantly in his own time.
Unless one could instantly kill him on the spot, forming an
enmity with someone like him would lead to endless trouble. Hence, Elder Wu Hen
felt that there was no need to continue their feud since the Walkabout Sect had
managed to resolve all grievances with Jiang Chen. Otherwise, the Walkabout
Sect would never have a day of peace when this child grew into his own.
Past events had already proven that the younger generation
of the Walkabout Sect, whether it was Wei Qing or Wei Xing’er, were unable to
contend with Jiang Chen despite currently having stronger cultivation. Although
there were other talented youngsters in the Walkabout Sect, they still lacked a
certain temperament compared to Jiang Chen – the ability to conjure clouds and
summon rain with the flip of a hand.
Undoubtedly, Jiang Chen’s previous prudent planning
regarding the use of the antidote as a bargaining chip had caused even a
vindictive person like Elder Wu Hen to give up on his feud and make a clean
break. It wasn’t that he was a magnanimous person, but that he could identify
from the details that Jiang Chen had a kind of potential incomparable to that
of his peers. Thus, although Elder Wu Hen had guessed Wei Qing had died at
Jiang Chen’s hands, he didn’t even bring that up. Firstly, Wei Qing wasn’t his
descendant; secondly, although Wei Qing had been talented, his frivolous
character rendered him unable to accomplish great things. There was no need to
create waves for him.
After the Walkabout Sect left, the Tristar Sect’s members
who thought similarly to the Great Cathedral also decided that they were going
to be the oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada.
Elsewhere in the jungle, after Elder Chen formed several
hand seals and blew a few whistles, a few green butterflies quickly flew over.
Their wings were gossamer thin, and looked oddly like two swords.
“Sword Butterflies?” Wang Han’s eyes lit up upon seeing
these butterflies. He had heard that the Sacred Sword Palace possessed a
marvelous butterfly that could act as their eyes and ears, but he’d never seen
one before.
The butterflies fluttered down to rest on Elder Chen’s arms.
Though it was unknown what communication method he was using, he soon revealed
a pleased expression. “The Regal Pill Palace has left, but one has remained.
From the Sword Butterflies’ description, it should be Jiang Chen. This kid
actually wants to explore alone!”
Elder Xi was also overjoyed. “The kid hasn’t left?”
Killing intent burst forth from Wang Han’s eyes. “He hasn’t
left? That’s wonderful! Truly, a person will not die unless he seeks death. No
matter what, we must slaughter this kid!”
Elder Chen nodded. “Elder Xi, take everyone else and leave.
I will remain.”
Elder Xi was surprised. “Why?”
Wang Han was also anxious. “Elder Chen, Jiang Chen has also
humiliated me greatly. If I don’t personally kill him, my heart won’t be at
peace. The others can leave, but I definitely won’t!”
Elder Chen had a frosty expression. “What? Do you wish to
disobey this seat’s order?”
Elder Chen was a cultivator of the earth sage realm and thus
had an incredibly strong aura. In the face of this pressure, rapid changes
flitted across everyone’s expressions.
Elder Xi quickly said, “Brother Chen, please calm down.”
“Humph! Do you think I don’t want to bring you all? It’s
just that since this kid is operating by himself, bringing more people just
makes it easier for him to notice our traces. Plus, do you think those old
foxes, Xiang Gan, Wu Hen and Tan Lang, will just simply leave?”
Elder Xi showed a bewildered expression, “What do you mean?”
A cold light danced in Elder Chen’s eyes. He spat out
fiercely, “If my guess is correct, they must be tracking us so that they can
take the easy pickings..”
When Elder Xi heard this, his expression slightly changed as
he suddenly understood what Elder Chen meant.
“Although they’re unable to touch the Regal Pill Palace
after being bound by the heavenly oath, they know we aren’t restricted. Thus
from their perspective, we’re the perfect target. As long as we take care of
Jiang Chen and snatch the spirit herbs, they will definitely all jump out one
after another!”
Elder Chen gnashed his teeth. Although he could guess that
this would happen, he had no way of changing the outcome. Colliding head on
with the three other sects would only result in a lose-lose scenario. The best
way was to pretend he was still unaware of them and then immediately escape
after he secretly succeeded in chasing down Jiang Chen. As long as he left Mt.
Rippling Mirage, the others would have no way to publicly start anything. They knew
there were only two days remaining and every moment was precious regardless of
their schemes. Elder Xi was also an intelligent person, so he nodded. “It is
indeed better with fewer people. We will be responsible for luring the other
three sects away and leave Elder Chen to pursue Jiang Chen alone.”
Since even Elder Xi had spoken up, Wang Han had no way of
contradicting both elders no matter how reluctant he was.
“Elder Chen, after you catch that thief, Jiang Chen, please
cut off a few pieces of flesh for me!” Wang Han’s tone was full of resentment.
Elder Chen smiled indifferently. “Let’s go, Jiang Chen has
dishonored our Sacred Sword Palace far too much. When he falls into my hands,
he’ll be dreaming if he wishes for a painless death!”
When he saw Elder Xi look at him, Elder Chen knew what the
former was thinking and sent him a silent message. “Rest assured, Jiang Chen
managed to grab so many sky rank herbs. If I get them back, there will
naturally be a portion for you.”
Elder Xi nodded after hearing this promise. “Alright. I’ll
take the others to lure the other sects away. You be careful of that little
beast’s counterattack.”
The corners of Elder Chen’s mouth quirked into a chilling
smile. He was a sage realm expert pursuing a fifth level origin realm
youngster. If he really ended up being counterattacked, then he really didn’t
need to show his face in the Myriad Domain anymore. “Let’s go!”
After Elder Chen finished saying these words, he whistled
softly and the ghostly Sword Butterflies started leading the way. Obviously,
these incredibly perceptive butterflies had long since tracked down Jiang
Chen’s whereabouts. Elder Xi led the others towards the outer areas.
A quarter hour later, the Great Cathedral once again
appeared in this spot. Elder Xiang Gan inspected the area, while another elder
belonging to the Sacred Wolf family sniffed the air with a solemn expression.
“Martial Brother Xiang Gan, the Sacred Sword Palace seems to
have guessed that we’re tracking them and are trying to avoid us. They were
here before but from here onwards, they have started to conceal their aura.”
This elder was Elder Na Zhi from the Sacred Wolf family, who had a strong
tracking ability.
“Are there any clues?”
“Well, there are some traces. They tried to hide their
tracks but should be heading towards the peripheries.” Elder Na Zhi replied.
“Go, follow them!” Elder Xiang Gan waved his hand and
commanded. But he sneered just as his voice faded, “You guys go on first. I
have something to take care of.” Saying this, Elder Xiang Gan’s figure flashed
and streaked towards a dense patch of forest in the west. He soon landed in a
place a dozen miles away. There, the Tristar Sect was stunned by the sudden
appearance of Elder Xiang Gan.
Elder Xiang Gan glared frostily at the Tristar Sect, “I will
only warn you once. Stop following us. Don’t blame this old man for being
impolite if there’s a next time!”
Elder Xiang Gan’s strength was extraordinary, and he was
much stronger than even the strongest member of the Tristar Sect, Elder Tan
Lang. Coupled with the Great Cathedral’s usual threatening influence, the
Tristar Sect was embarrassed but they could not ignore his threats.They had
lost track of the Sacred Sword Palace, so were following the Great Cathedral
instead, hoping to share in the spoils a little.
“Heh heh, old brother Xiang Gan, perhaps there’s a
misunderstanding here?” Elder Tan Lang chuckled. “We’re just hurrying along on
our own journey.”
Elder Xiang Gan sneered, “There’s no need for your slyness.
This old man isn’t interested in playing word games with you. Remember, this
can happen only once with no exceptions. Otherwise, all of you can stay here
forever.”
Menacing, tyrannic, straightforward. Elder Xiang Gan coldly
swept his gaze over their faces before he sped away.
The Tristar Sect could only stare at each other in dismay.
The livid Elder Tan Lang helplessly grit his teeth while staring at Elder Xiang
Gan’s departing figure. But since he couldn’t beat the other, he could only
pinch his nose and endure.
“This old brute is too cocky!” Zhu Feiyang spat out. “There
will come a day when he won’t be able to be so arrogant.”
Elder Tan Lang took in a deep breath. “Never mind. That old
man is simply too tyrannical, even more overbearing than the patriarch of the
Sacred Elephant family. It’ll be too troublesome for us to keep following them.
Let us leave!”
They could only give up since they couldn’t beat the Great
Cathedral in this. There were only two days left anyways, not to mention if
they could find the Regal Pill Palace, it wasn’t even clear if the Sacred Sword
Palace would be able to beat the Regal Pill Palace. Besides, the Regal Pill
Palace certainly should have left after receiving so many good things. Thus,
after much deliberation, Elder Tan Lang decided to give up pursuit.
Jiang Chen had taken the long way around and left some
Goldbiter Rats as sentries along the way. He suddenly halted as he received
some surveillance information from the Rats. “The six great sects are all
rather remarkable. If I had been a bit more careless and didn’t leave the
Goldbiter Rats as watchers along the way, I might really have fallen into their
traps.”
Jiang Chen was secretly amused as he gained a deeper
understanding of the intricate schemes between the six great sects of the Myriad
Domain. However, instead of being troubled, he was secretly pleased. From these
Goldbiter Rats’ reports, he knew that the other sects wouldn’t team up to
oppose the Regal Pill Palace. As long the Regal Pill Palace wasn’t dragged into
this whirlpool of a mess, Jiang Chen had nothing holding him back.
Chapter 597: Elder Chen’s Doomsday
The Goldbiter Rats he had left as sentries quickly
transmitted some intelligence that surprised Jiang Chen. “It seems that I’ve
previously underestimated this Sacred Sword Palace. I hadn’t thought that Elder
Chen would be this shrewd and calculating. He's actually used some scheme to
lure the Great Cathedral away while he comes after me himself?”
He had to admit, he had underestimated the Sacred Sword
Palace’s abilities. He’d always felt that the Sacred Sword Palace was all brawn
and no brains, with their eyes on the top of their heads. Now, as he looked at
Elder Chen, Jiang Chen realized that he had been too naive. None of the elders
were the kindly sort. Elder Xiang Gan of the Great Cathedral and Elder Tan Lang
of the Tristar Sect had both been planning on effortlessly reaping the spoils
of a contest fought by others. They wanted to be the unknown oriole behind the
mantis stalking the cicada. Rather, it was rather the Walkabout Sect who'd
learned their lesson, since Elder Wu Hen had left first with his sect.
Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised by this. He’d thought that
the Sacred Sword Palace and Walkabout Sect would be the two sects most eager
for his blood. Judging from their actions, could it be that the Walkabout Sect
truly wanted to let bygones be bygones? Either way, it was all the same to
Jiang Chen since he hadn’t suffered any losses in his exchange with the
Walkabout Sect. He’d already killed Wei Qing, and although Elder Wu Hen had
coveted his Hidden Chameleon Cloudpine, the elder had ended up giving him a sky
rank herb instead.
No matter how he looked at things, this trip had been quite profitable.
If the Walkabout Sect had truly recognized the error of their ways and turned
back, he wouldn’t mind that either. After all, one enemy fewer for the Regal
Pill Palace was a good thing, particularly when the sect had been the main
beneficiary of this trip. A party who had received benefits should always be
more reserved and keep a lower profile afterwards.
However, since that Elder Chen had resolved to create
trouble, not only did Jiang Chen not mind, he even slightly looked forward to
their upcoming clash. Without considering the various grudges between the
Sacred Sword Palace and the Regal Pill Palace, how many times had the Sacred
Sword Palace suppressed him and troubled him during the Pill Battles and the
harvest of Mt. Rippling Mirage? How many times had this sect tried pressuring
him and encumbering him? Wang Han had attempted to murder him whenever the two
had met! And now this Elder Chen was looking for him with hostile intent,
obviously coming to kill him as well.
Previously, Jiang Chen had given them the antidote out of
consideration for the greater picture and not because he was generous. If he
hadn’t, the other sects would definitely have grown more hostile towards the
Regal Pill Palace. If the other sects had not been present, Jiang Chen would’ve
never spoken of the Miasma. Had the matter been only between the Regal Pill
Palace and the Sacred Sword Palace, he’d absolutely have stayed in the back and
quietly admired how they would die to the poison, before making off with all
their treasures.
Now that Elder Chen was hunting Jiang Chen down by himself,
he no longer needed to consider the bigger picture since no one else was
around. The killing desire that Jiang Chen had suppressed for a long time
finally exploded. As the intelligence was continuously fed to him by the
Goldbiter Rats, Jiang Chen knew that the other members of the Sacred Sword
Palace had lured the Great Cathedral and Tristar Sect away. This meant that
only him and Elder Chen were left inside.
“Mm?” Jiang Chen’s ear suddenly twitched as a faint smile
appeared on the corners of his lips. “Is he here?”
He didn’t take cover or try to escape the meeting. Instead,
Jiang Chen merely stood on the banks of the lake and looked at the island in
its middle. He should’ve been setting foot on the island by now. But if he
didn’t do away with this old fart first, that would just be leaving trouble
behind him.
……
As Elder Chen followed the sword butterflies, he noticed
that Jiang Chen was on the path to the island in the lake. He was startled and
had to speed up, since he was deathly afraid that it would be difficult to
track Jiang Chen down if he set foot on the island again. After all, the Miasma
was on the island. Even though he’d taken the antidote, who knew if the
antidote would still be useful after its effects had passed? Therefore, Elder
Chen picked up his pace and hurried back to the lake area.
Suddenly, he halted in his steps as he noticed a figure
standing proudly on the banks of the lake with its arms crossed. The figure
perched on an enormous boulder, giving it the dashing air of standing aloof
from the world, above all else.
It was Jiang Chen!
Elder Chen was surprised and delighted. He was surprised
that Jiang Chen was standing there, coolly composed, and delighted that Jiang
Chen had yet to set foot onto the island. Elder Chen could easily hunt him down
in this area.
“So you’ve come hmm, Chen?” Jiang Chen slowly turned around
with a slight smile that made Elder Chen’s heart sink.
The elder spoke frostily, “What, you knew I was coming?”
Jiang Chen smiled emotionlessly. “Does it matter whether I
knew or not? Here you are. Speak. What do you want this time?”
“What do I want?” Elder Chen started laughing. “You ask me
what I want? You’ve humiliated my Sacred Sword Palace multiple times in a row,
do you think I’m here to have a heart-to-heart chat with you?”
“So this means you’re here to kill me, right?” Jiang Chen
said with a supercilious smile.
“Don’t act coy, you’ve brought this upon yourself! If I were
you, I would’ve left for the outside world immediately. If you’d done that, I
wouldn’t have been able to hunt you down. But who knew that you’d lose your
head and not bear to leave? It looks like there’s something on this island that
still holds your interest?”
Jiang Chen nodded. “Chen, it seems I’ve underestimated you.
Since you’re able to find your way here while throwing off the other sects,
you’re definitely not dumb.”
For some reason, Elder Chen’s heart sank even further when
he heard this. Jiang Chen seemed to have known that he was coming? And he even
knew that the other sects tried to follow him, and that he’d shaken off their
pursuit? Elder Chen was momentarily astonished, but got over it in a second.
“Jiang Chen, I don’t have time to flap my lips with you. Spit out all you’ve
gained and I can leave you a whole corpse. If you insist on defying me, I don’t
mind ripping you apart piece by piece, and then using my internal flames to
bake your soul so you beg for death!”
Elder Chen leered as he clapped his hands together. Seven
sword shadows whooshed into the air, enclosing Jiang Chen’s body and blocking
off all movement. He wouldn’t be able to jump into the lake even if he wanted
to.
Nonetheless, Jiang Chen’s expression didn’t change at all.
He still had an amused hint of a smile playing about his face. “I wonder how
your cultivation ranks in the Sacred Sword Palace, Chen?”
“Kid, do you think you can escape death by changing the
topic?”
“No matter what your rank is, I only want to tell you that
you will no longer exist in the Sacred Sword Palace after today. Ah right, I
can also tell you that Du Lihuang…”
Elder Chen’s expression darkened before Jiang Chen had finished
speaking. “You killed Du Lihuang?”
“Although I didn’t kill him, I saw exactly how he died. Mm,
I have everything he collected as well. Do you want to take a look?” Jiang Chen
laughed leisurely before he suddenly smacked his head. “Oh right, that idiot
Wang Han’s accusation that I gained a few thousand blades of Sage Fledging
Grass was correct.” He took out some blades of Grass as he spoke and flung them
up in the air, tauntingly.
Elder Chen’s face had grown colder and colder, and he spoke
lowly, “So it seems that you’d long since hidden these things away, and have
come back to pick up your loot? What a filthy little vermin you are!, As
expected, you have a keen mind indeed if you’ve managed to deceive even those
old foxes!”
Jiang Chen smiled indifferently. “You think too much. The
only reason I’ve come here is to attract some idiots from the Sacred Sword
Palace so I can take my anger out on you. You’ve done your fair share to
provoke me during this time.”
“Hahaha!” Elder Chen laughed uproariously. A mere fifth
level origin realm cultivator dared speak such words even when death was
staring at him in the face! “Kid, dreaming in broad daylight, huh? I don’t know
if you’ve lost your mind from the fright or if you’re simply too arrogant. I’ll
crush a fifth level origin realm ant like you in three moves!”
Elder Chen activated his sword technique after speaking, The
seven sword shadows turned into numerous beams of cold light and shot down from
the heavens, churning through the air. It was at this moment that a glimmer of
light the size of a mustard seed suddenly materialized in the air around Jiang
Chen. It only wavered once before it formed a marvelous vortex that swept
through the air and sucked in all of the sword qi without warning.
“What?!” Elder Chen was dumbfounded. He’d never seen such a
bizarre thing! The next instant, something even more incredulous happened as
the mustard seed of light swayed with the wind before turning into a stunning
gale that disturbed the air currents and shifted the clouds. The most
frightening thing was that the momentum of this gale actually sealed off the
air within twenty kilometers around them. It was as if this section of space
had been carved out and separated from the outside world.
“How can this be?” Elder Chen was frightened clear out of
his soul. He had simulated many possible outcomes along the way, such as him
easily crushing Jiang Chen, or Jiang Chen being defiant to the end, such that
he needed to call upon his trump cards to end things with great effort. But in
all his speculations, the end result had been him killing Jiang Chen. He’d
never thought that a mere fifth level origin realm cultivator would be any
threat to him in martial dao.
And yet—
Elder Chen finally understood in this moment why Jiang Chen
had always been so composed, why this young disciple was of the mind to
discourse freely and proudly with Elder Chen. Jiang Chen wasn’t stalling for
time at all; he really did have the confidence to do so! Elder Chen had viewed
Jiang Chen as prey snared in a trap, easily within his grasp. But he’d never
thought that Jiang Chen saw him as the prey instead, one that he could kill at
any time!
It was just—how could Jiang Chen be doing this? How could
such terrifying spatial restraining power explode so suddenly from a fifth
level origin realm ant? This didn’t conform to reality at all, it had surpassed
the bounds of reason!
Elder Chen soon had his answer but he almost didn’t believe
his eyes. He blinked, hard, as he stared unwaveringly at the heavens above him.
That—was a true dragon!
Horns, scales, five claws. A real, true dragon!
Elder Chen was completely shellshocked in this moment. He
couldn’t understand this at all, why did Jiang Chen possess a true dragon?!
What did a true dragon represent? Even though the elder had
never seen one, he was still aware of a dragon’s power. He couldn’t imagine at
all that a mythical dragon, present only in legends, would appear here under
Jiang Chen’s control! It was at that instant that Elder Chen’s heart sank,
never to arise again as he knew he was done for!
Chapter 598: Sudden Changes in the Altar
Although Elder Chen was an earth sage cultivator, he had no
way to defend against the strength of Long Xiaoxuan’s dragon aura. The immense
dragon aura had transformed into an ultimate overbearing strength that covered
the heavens and earth, crushing down on Elder Chen so hard that he couldn’t
move even a finger.
Long Xiaoxuan opened his maw and swallowed Elder Chen as if
swallowing a date whole. Six exotic butterflies frantically flew out in the
instant that he was swallowed, but all were diced into nothingness under the
dragon aura. Long Xiaoxuan returned to a mustard seed of light to Jiang Chen’s
side. The dragon had used the Dragon Domain to seal off the area as he killed
Elder Chen, then swallowed everything whole. There was no need to clean up the
scene.
Elder Chen’s storage ring naturally landed in Jiang Chen’s
hands. He only swept a perfunctory gaze over it, not having enough time to look
closely at it. “Brother Long, I’ll have to borrow your arts this time to take
me across the lake.”
Long Xiaoxuan didn’t waste any time and immediately
transformed a ball of wind and cloud to carry Jiang Chen through the fog and
onto the island in a blink of an eye. Jiang Chen remained on guard even though
this was his second time here, however, he didn’t need to take so many
precautions as there was nobody else here. He could stop and closely observe
anything that caught his eye along the way.
There wasn’t anything of particular note on the periphery of
the island, so Jiang Chen quickly arrived at the altar again. He lifted his
head to look at the altar sitting high at three levels into the air. The altar
was located at the peak of the third platform, giving one a mysterious and
fathomless feeling. Jiang Chen dashed upwards and quickly arrived on the third
level. He stood beneath the altar and spent quite some time observing it,
studying the various strange words and carvings on its side. The restrictions
shimmering in and out of existence around the altar cautioned Jiang Chen from
approaching lightly. He’d returned to this island purely because he wanted to
make a thorough investigation. He felt that there was still something about this
island that had yet to be uncovered, and that this secret was possibly more
precious than the sky spirit herbs.
Now that there were no elders or heavyweights restricting
his movements, Jiang Chen could investigate the situation as freely as he
wanted, but he still hadn’t discovered any clues after half an hour. Jiang Chen
grasped the nameless saber in his hand and felt the saber’s agitation. He still
had no idea how the saber was connected to the altar. Even Jiang Chen found
things odd. The altar was most likely a holy place and desecration should be
absolutely forbidden. Although the blade was good, it was still an item of
violence. There shouldn’t be any connection between the two.
However, he could just so happen to feel that there was an
exceedingly mysterious connection between the two. Yet, he was unable to
successfully bring them together even though he could feel this connection.
Just as Jiang Chen was feeling slightly disappointed…
The vibrations from the nameless saber abruptly heightened
as it suddenly turned into a beam of black light and shot through the air.
In the next instant, the saber actually stuck itself into
the top of the altar like it was a key!
Wham!
It was a perfect fit, and the pillars around the altar
started shaking in unison, emitting dull hums. The entire altar began to shake
slightly as well.
In the next moment, numerous strange doors appeared in front
of Jiang Chen. An incredible force roiled out of the doors and sucked in Jiang
Chen’s body, a force that seemed to be able to take in everything beneath the
heavens and on the earth. Everything went black in front of Jiang Chen’s eyes
as he sank into the void.
…….
On the outskirts of Mt. Rippling Mirage.
As time began to count down, the expressions of the various
heavyweights became noticeably graver. This was the last day to harvest within
the mountain, and no one had emerged from the mountain up to now. They had no
idea what was happening inside, because the interior of the mountain was
completely segregated from the outside world. There was no way to communicate,
even using one’s consciousness to probe the mountain was impossible.
Although everyone here was an exceedingly shrewd heavyweight
of the Myriad Domain, they were all becoming more nervous as time went on. This
time’s harvest had simply been too bizarre. No one had come out ahead of time
even on the last day. This was completely different from usual as people would
start exiting the mountain roughly three to four days before it closed. Judging
from the complete lack of people, could it be that unexpected events had
happened inside?
No one wanted to think that way but given this abnormal
situation, ominous thoughts began creeping up in everyone’s minds.. All the
sects had sent their elites this time, and the elders accompanying them had all
been pillars of their sects. Even if the young geniuses weren’t the cream of
the crop, they were still extraordinary existences within their sects.
“Ai, I wonder if something’s happened inside? This is very
out of the ordinary.” Honored Master Tian Ming of the Dark North Sect sighed,
further dampening everyone’s spirits. Just as they were all sinking into a
solemn silence, the transportation formation on the outskirts of Mt. Rippling
Mirage began to show a ripple of movement.
“Someone’s coming out!”
The formation rippled slightly as figures began appearing
from within.
“Eh, it’s those from the Regal Pill Palace.” Palace Head Dan
Chi immediately looked over and saw that Elder Yun Nie was emerging with the
group, but his look immediately froze when he saw that there were only seven
present. The one missing was Jiang Chen!
Dan Chi’s heart sank. Jiang Chen occupied a place in his
heart that was even higher than Shen Qinghong’s. How could he not be shocked
when he saw that Jiang Chen was missing from the group that had come out? He
wouldn’t have been surprised if someone from the Regal Pill Palace had perished
in Mt. Rippling Mirage, as there were all sorts of odd things happening within
the mountain and many dangerous elements, but Jiang Chen wasn't the sort to
lack fortune and perish young!
“Palace Head, Yun Nie has fortunately not let you down.”
Elder Yun Nie ignored the odd looks coming from the other sect heads and
directly walked up to Palace Head Dan Chi.
Although Dan Chi was concerned about Jiang Chen, he wasn’t
at liberty to be frank with his questions. He could only nod. “Where are the
others?”
Elder Yun Nie sighed. “It’s difficult to explain. Allow me
to elaborate in detail later on as we truly have had great harvests in the
mountain this year.”
However, Palace Head Dan Chi was feeling anxious and didn’t
care about what they might’ve gained. That was all secondary to Jiang Chen’s
existence. If a genius who could impact the fortune of the Regal Pill Palace
for thousands of years to come had perished, then it would be an enormous loss
that no treasure could replace.
“Elder Yun Nie, we can talk about the harvest later. Why are
there only seven of you?” Palace Head Dan Chi decided to cut straight to the
point.
Elder Yun Nie smiled ruefully. “Jiang Chen is fine. He told
us to leave first as he seems to have some matters to take care of. That
disciple undertakes his matters in mysterious ways. We can explore them in
detail later.”
Palace Head Dan Chi’s heart settled back down when he heard
that Jiang Chen was fine.
The other sects came up at this moment. “Elder Yun Nie,
what’s happened inside? Where are the others from our sects?”
Elder Yun Nie smiled. “There aren’t many who perished on
this trip. Don’t worry, they should be out soon.”
The formation stirred again as they spoke, and the Dark
North Sect quickly walked out followed shortly thereafter by the Walkabout
Sect.
When Sect Head Wei Wuying saw that there was someone
missing, and that the person was Wei Qing, his expression couldn’t help but
change subtly. “Elder Wu Hen, where’s Wei Qing?”
Elder Wu Hen sighed wryly. “Is Wei Qing not out? Then he’s
likely perished.”
Wei Wuying’s expressions flickered rapidly. “Perished? How
could he have perished?”
Although Elder Wu Hen guessed that it likely had something
to do with Jiang Chen, he only wanted to draw clear the lines between him and
Jiang Chen at the moment and not have this child become the Walkabout Sect’s
nightmare. Therefore, he didn’t say anything even though he suspected that
Jiang Chen was behind this. “Sect Head, Wei Qing insisted on going off alone
and likely ran into a strong spirit beast within the mountain. It’s not just
him, but also Ding Tong of the Tristar Sect, Du Lihuang of the Sacred Sword
Palace…”
Tristar Sect Head Zhu leapt to his feet before Elder Wu Hen
had the chance to finish. “What did you say? Ding Tong? What happened to Ding
Tong?”
Elder Wu Hen responded sharply. “Sect Head Zhu, are you
interrogating a prisoner?”
Sect Head Zhu had lost his composure because he was beyond
shocked.. Ding Tong wasn’t a disciple of the Tristar Sect, but one that the
Ninesuns Sky Sect had sent to set the scene in the Myriad Domain. How would he
explain to the Sky Sect if something had happened to Ding Tong? Sect Head Zhu
was stunned senseless for a moment and stood there dumbly.
Everyone thought that the sect head was concerned about his
genius disciple. Who would know his real thoughts? It took Sect Head Zhu a
short while to adjust his emotions before he could apologize. “I was brusque
earlier, Daoist Wu Hen. If I may, what’s happened to Ding Tong of my sect?”
“He vanished without a trace early on.” Elder Wu Hen nodded.
“If he hasn’t come out by now, then that means he probably perished within.”
Sect Head Zhu felt like he’d been struck by lightning as he
fell into complete disarray. Although Ding Tong wasn’t as strong as him, the
former wasn’t far off. As a sage realm cultivator, there was no one who could
threaten him in the group that’d entered the mountain?! Ding Tong was a genius
of the Sky Sect after all! His cultivation level and his methods made it so
that he could do as he wished in the Myriad Domain!
Such a character had perished? And early on at that?
“Daoist Wu Hen, are there incredibly strong spirit beasts
within the mountain?” Sect Head Zhu obviously couldn’t accept the news that
Ding Tong had fallen.
Elder Wu Hen shook his head. “I only saw two wyverns that
were third or fourth level sage realm and I didn’t run into anything stronger.”
Sect Head Zhu was further baffled by this. A third or fourth
level sage realm wyvern wouldn’t threaten Ding Tong at all. Only a sky sage
realm cultivator, and pinnacle expert at that, would be able to thoroughly
overpower Ding Tong. How could Ding Tong have perished?
Chapter 599: The Formation Closes
By the time two hours had passed, the fifth rank sects had
all emerged, followed closely by the Tristar Sect. However, even within that
group, Ding Tong was nowhere to be found. Sect Head Zhu’s expression grew
colder with each step he took, “Elder Tan Lang, where’s Ding Tong?”
Elder Tan Lang seemed to have anticipated his sect head’s
question, but had a baffled expression on his face. “It’s odd. I tried to get
in contact with him as soon as we entered Mt. Rippling Mirage, but never
received a response. It’s as if he hadn’t entered the mountain at all.
Sect Head Zhu’s expression was stricken as all thoughts of
being lucky withered and vanished. Judging from the situation, Ding Tong must
have perished not long after he’d entered.
How would any of them understand how prideful Ding Tong had
been; how sure of himself he had been to immediately go after Jiang Chen, only
to be promptly killed? As for Elder Tan Lang attempting to contact Ding Tong,
he had indeed received the elder’s missives, but he was far too arrogant to
listen to Elder Tan Lang. He just couldn’t be bothered to respond, and had set
about planning Jiang Chen’s death by himself. Therefore, his mysterious
disappearance almost made Elder Tan Lang suspect that he hadn’t even entered
Mt. Rippling Mirage at all.
“Could he have been sent into a patch of turbulent space
when the formation activated?” Everyone started to voice their own
speculations, a hubbub of discussion quickly growing around his possible fate.
The only ones left within were those from the Sacred Sword
Palace and the Great Cathedral. However, the Sacred Sword Palace soon made
their appearance after the Tristar Sect. They looked quite worse for the wear,
and were even missing two from their group. Their leader, Elder Xi, seemed to have
suffered some serious injuries while he was inside.
This bedraggled appearance made Sacred Sword Palace Head
Wang Jianyu frown. “Elder Xi, what happened?”
Elder Xi spat out, “Elder Xiang Gan of the Great Cathedral
was domineering and utterly unwilling to listen to reason. He’s the one who
injured me. If we hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to crush the jade
token and transport out, I likely would’ve lost my life.”
The crowd broke out into shocked murmurs as those words rang
in the air. Elder Xiang Gan of the Great Cathedral had done this? Why?
Wang Jiangyu was enraged and turned to glare ferociously at
Xiang Wentian of the Great Cathedral. “Family Head Xiang, just what does your
Great Cathedral mean by this?”
Xiang Wentian smiled with a distant look on his face. “Ole
brother Wang, who should I look to for answers? Elder Xiang Gan hasn’t come out
yet, so I don’t know what’s happened either.”
Wang Jianyu’s rage was already burning white hot. “Would my
people lie with a straight face? Only your Great Cathedral was named, not a
single other sect!”
However, the Great Cathedral wasn’t the type to just roll
over either. The family head of the Sacred Lions snorted coldly upon hearing
Wang Jianyu’s unfriendly tone. “What do you want to do huh, Wang Jianyu?”
That instantly stopped Wang Jianyu in his tracks. What could
he do? Lay his life on the line against the Great Cathedral? He’d have to be
able to beat them to do anything of the sort! Yet, he wouldn’t take this lying
down no matter what! He combusted his aura as an enormous sword shimmered into
being behind him, hovering gently as it flickered in and out of sight. Wang
Jianyu’s voice was a menacing growl, “Although the Great Cathedral is strong,
they cannot bully others for no reason at all. Even if I am weaker, I will not
idly sit by and see my disciple bullied like this! You may be domineering and
strong, but you can’t stopper the mouths of everyone beneath the heavens, can
you? Can you do as you want in the Myriad Domain just because you’re a bit
stronger than everyone else?”
One had to say, his words were ones that fanned the emotions
of every sect there, and his tone was nothing short of provocative.
As the tension grew, the formation took the opportunity to
tremble one more time as the final group from the Great Cathedral walked out.
Elder Xiang Gan cackled when he saw the tense atmosphere. “You haven’t died
yet, Xi? Good, let’s go again!”
This was akin to dousing a fire with oil. If looks could
kill, Wang Jianyu’s glare would’ve killed him a hundred times over. It was a
good thing that Xiang Wentian stepped out to cool things down with a shout,
“Xiang Gan, what’s going on here?”
Xiang Gan chuckled. “Family Head, the Sacred Sword Palace is
simply too shameless. They had ulterior motives towards the Regal Pill Palace
and I simply couldn’t stand it any longer. Then, Xi went on to talk a load of
nonsense, so I had no recourse but to angrily strike out.”
Elder Xi almost spat blood in anger when he heard these
words. “Xiang Gan, can you be any more shameless? You wanted to interrogate me
as to where Elder Chen had gone! You…”
Elder Chen?
This was when Wang Jianyu remembered that there was still
one more elder who wasn’t present in the Sacred Sword Palace group, Elder Chen.
“Elder Xi, what’s going on here?”
Elder Xi didn’t actually know how to respond to this. Should
he just say that Elder Chen had gone off to pursue Jiang Chen, and Xiang Gan
had wanted to follow behind to pick up the spoils? There was no way he could
spin it into something honorable no matter what he said.
It was Elder Yun Nie who immediately sized up the situation
with a clear mind. He couldn’t help but become anxious. It looked like the
Sacred Sword Palace was using some sort of method to track Jiang Chen with the
intention of killing him. Although the Great Cathedral was restricted by the
heavenly oath and couldn’t do anything to Jiang Chen, they could set their
sights on the Sacred Sword Palace and act as the oriole behind the mantis. The
Sacred Sword Palace had been crafty enough to split into two groups and lure
the Great Cathedral people away. This meant that Elder Chen had gone off to
chase after Jiang Chen alone!
“Yun Nie, what’s going on here?” Palace Head Dan Chi seemed
to have guessed at something, since only Elder Chen and Jiang Chen had yet to
emerge, and those who hadn’t exited yet had been confirmed as perished.
Elder Yun Nie was also a bit nervous at this time as well.
If Elder Chen had gone off alone to hunt down Jiang Chen, there would be no end
of trouble on that front. Although Jiang Chen was highly competent, he still
had quite a gap to bridge when compared to Elder Chen. One was at fifth stage
origin realm, the other at the earth sage realm. This enormous difference
spanned an entire realm, and was normally grounds for a complete trampling!
Elder Yun Nie’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile; he really
was a bit regretful that he hadn’t stopped Jiang Chen from going off. He could
only respond, “Palace Head, this is a long story. It all starts off with the
ancient herb garden…”
They’d all sworn not to reveal the secret of the ancient
herb garden, but were allowed to mention it in a report to their sect heads
when they emerged. The caveat was that their respective sect heads couldn’t
reveal the secret of the ancient herb garden either. Therefore, it didn’t count
as Elder Yun Nie violating the oath as he reported the full story to Palace
Head Dan Chi.
With the floodgates opened, everyone else started making
their own reports as well. Everyone present had a clear picture of what had
happened after roughly half an hour, particularly how Jiang Chen had used one
bottle of antidote to seize so many sky and earth rank herbs in the end. The
sect heads were all immensely taken aback at the reports. Wang Jianyu even
cursed audibly, “Jiang Chen that brat! This is absolutely despicable!”
Palace Head Dan Chi’s growing irritation was sparked by that
comment. He snorted coldly, “Would any of your people have made it out alive if
not for Jiang Chen? Wang Jianyu, I’ve seen shameless people, but none as
shameless as you!”
Wang Jianyu glared back fiercely. “Dan Chi, we all know that
you protect your own, but I won’t let this matter lie! You’ll have to return
all of the spirit herbs that your people scammed out of us!”
“That’s no problem. I’ll give them back to you as soon as
all of you commit suicide!” Palace Head Dan Chi laughed indifferently.
“Palace Head Wang, don’t you mangle things! Your people were
the ones who begged Jiang Chen to make this transaction with thick faces. He
didn’t beg them to trade with him!” Elder Yun Nie also roared out angrily. “Why
don’t you talk about how he saved seven of your people? And why don’t you talk
about how shameless Chen is to immediately chase after Jiang Chen to kill
him?!”
Wang Jianyu snorted coldly several times, glowering at the
Regal Pill Palace.
Xiang Wentian suddenly spoke, “Wang Jianyu, you should be
satisfied with your lot. A few spirit herbs for seven lives. Jiang Chen has
responded to your hatred with kindness. If it had been the Sacred Sword Palace
in the same position, you likely wouldn’t have been so generous with the
antidote, hmm? Perhaps you would’ve been happy watching everyone die from the
poison and then gone to pick up the spoils!”
Xiang Wentian had been irritated by the conflict just now as
well. In standing out to say this now, he could suppress the Sacred Sword
Palace and indicate goodwill to the Regal Pill Palace at the same time.
Honored Master Tian Ming of the Dark North Sect also
chuckled. “Indeed, sage nephew Jiang Chen’s actions have actually been
exceedingly kind. After all, much was to his credit, and so it’s only right
that he receive some of the spirit herbs. If it hadn’t been for him, not only
would everyone not obtain the antidote, they wouldn’t even have their lives.
And now, sage nephew Jiang Chen isn’t even out yet!”
Wang Jianyu’s position immediately weakened when faced with
the words of three other great sects. He looked at the Walkabout Sect as if
looking for help, but they didn't speak up. Sect Head Zhu didn’t have the heart
to participate in the verbal sparring because of what had happened to Ding
Tong. It was obvious that Ding Tong’s supposed death had plunged the sect
head’s emotions deep into the abyss.
Palace Head Dan Chi’s gaze was just as solemn as he looked
at the transportation formation. As time dwindled, the formation was already
showing slight signs of closing. If Jiang Chen didn’t exit before the formation
closed, then he’d be in great trouble. The difficulty in trying to survive the
interior of Mt. Rippling Mirage alone for thirty years was far from ordinary,
not to mention the pursuit of Elder Chen. This was a threat on both sides for
him.
If Jiang Chen really was lost somewhere in the ancient herb
garden, then the Regal Pill Palace would still be unable to rescue him in time
for the next Pill Battles. After all, the ancient herb garden operated using
different rules from Mt. Rippling Mirage. There was no way anyone from the
Myriad Domain could open that formation if not at the end of the three thousand
year cycle.
Three thousand years…
Palace Head Dan Chi’s head went numb at the thought of that
number. He’d be decrepit then, and likely half of those present would’ve died
already. Those who yet lived would be doddering antiques.
Palace Head Dan Chi was filled with mixed emotions as
concern filled his heart. Jiang Chen had, at some point, become someone who
could impact the fortunes of the sect. The importance attached to him was
almost on par with the palace head himself!
How would he be able to explain himself to Elder Shun later
if Jiang Chen went missing? Dan Chi stared fixedly at the formation with a
steely face.
Each grain of sand in the hourglass marked the passed time
as they fell. Elder Yun Nie’s mood was also extremely heavy as he glanced at
the hourglass. There really wasn’t much time left.
In the end, all the grains of sand had fallen through to the
bottom. Wham!
The formation abruptly vanished before everyone, and Ling Bi'er suddenly weakened as she fainted, right next to Dan Chi.
Chapter 600: The Mysterious Cemetery, The Ancient Crimson
Heavens Sect
Palace Head Dan Chi’s heart sank to the bottom of the valley
the instant the transportation formation closed. All color drained out of Elder
Yun Nie’s face as his lips trembled slightly, unable to accept this reality. Mu
Gaoqi clutched his head with both hands, squatting down in misery. And if it
wasn’t for Palace Head Dan Chi’s fast reactions, Ling Bi'er likely would’ve
crashed onto the ground after fainting.
“My condolences, ole brother Dan Chi…” Honored Master Tian
Ming walked over with a soft sigh and comforted Dan Chi.
Elder Chen hadn’t emerged on the Sacred Sword Palace’s side
either, but Wang Jianyu could not do anything about it other than curse loudly.
He had no idea what had happened. Logically speaking, Elder Chen shouldn’t have
lost track of time. If he’d succeeded in killing Jiang Chen, he should’ve
exited immediately. If he’d failed, he should’ve left early as well. There was
no way an expert of his caliber would make the mistake of losing track of time.
Therefore, something must’ve happened inside, something big. Otherwise, how
could an expert like Elder Chen not have made it out?
On the Great Cathedral side, Xiang Qin also stared dumbly at
the formation, tongue-tied for the longest of times. He had rather admired
Jiang Chen, and was quite crestfallen to see that Jiang Chen hadn’t exited.
However, the other members of the Great Cathedral, particularly Elder Xiang
Gan, were actually taking delight in the Regal Pill Palace’s misfortune after
witnessing Jiang Chen’s stunning abilities. It wasn’t a bad thing that such an
extraordinarily talented person like Jiang Chen hadn’t come out, particularly
since he possessed so many sky rank spirit herbs! His absence would surely
shave away at the foundations of the Regal Pill Palace.
As the foremost sect in the Myriad Domain, the Great
Cathedral was never happy to see their competitors grow stronger. There was no
need to even speak of the Walkabout Sect—they were almost dancing a jig of
delight. Unexpectedly, it was Elder Wu Hen, with his previous experience facing
off against Jiang Chen, who frowned slightly, also feeling that something was
amiss here. It constantly nagged at him; Jiang Chen was not an unlucky person
so how could he possibly have been trapped within the mountain?
Regardless, the formation to the mountain had shut and they
could only reopen it after another thirty years. If Jiang Chen and Elder Chen
were still inside the ancient herb garden, then they’d have to wait three
thousand years before that formation could be opened.
Three thousand years…
That number was simply too stupefying!
With Ding Tong’s demise, the Tristar Sect could not spare
any effort to delight in the Regal Pill Palace’s loss of Jiang Chen. They
sketched perfunctory waves of farewell and decided to leave.
The next was the Walkabout Sect, whose morale was also
affected after losing Wei Qing.
Xiang Wentian of the Great Cathedral called out at this
time. “Everyone, allow me remind you all before we leave. Remember to keep the
ancient herb garden a secret. After all, we’ve all sworn secrecy on our sects
and will bring annihilation down on our sects if we accidentally reveal its
existence.”
After the groups of people had left, only the Sacred Sword
Palace, Regal Pill Palace and Dark North Sect remained. The Dark North Sect did
indeed have good relations with the Regal Pill Palace. They’d stayed because
they were worried that the Sacred Sword Palace would do something
disadvantageous towards the Regal Pill Palace. However, since the Sacred Sword
Palace had lost Elder Chen and Du Lihuang, their battle strength was roughly on
par with the Regal Pill Palace now.
The Sacred Sword Palace dithered for a long time but
realized that the Dark North Sect seemed to have no intention of leaving. Thus,
the former knew that it’d be difficult to make trouble for the Regal Pill
Palace this time. The fierce and ambitious Wang Jianyu also left irritably with
his group when he saw that nothing could be initiated here. No matter how
important Elder Chen was, they could only come back after thirty years.
The Dark North Sect felt great gratitude towards Jiang Chen
for not only giving them the antidote, but also returning all of their earth
spirit herbs. This undoubtedly strengthened the friendship between the two
sects. The Dark North Sect kept the Regal Pill Palace company for a few days,
only taking their leave when it was apparent that the Sacred Sword Palace would
not return.
Palace Head Dan Chi sighed lightly, knowing that it was
useless to keep waiting here. He left despondently with the Regal Pill Palace’s
team. Along the way, when Elder Yun Nie relayed that Jiang Chen had handed over
half of his spirit herbs, the latter’s loss cut into his heart even harder.
The more extraordinary Jiang Chen was, the harder it was for
Palace Head Dan Chi to tolerate all this. Moreover, he had been the one to
bring Jiang Chen to the Regal Pill Palace. If anything really had happened to
Jiang Chen, then he would have let down both the Precious Tree Sect and Elder
Shun.
“Palace Head, we must remember that Jiang Chen is someone
who possesses great fortune. Perhaps we’ll be able to save him after thirty
years, when we enter the mountain again.” Elder Yun Nie sighed.
Palace Head Dan Chi nodded. “Indeed, Jiang Chen doesn’t seem
like the sort who will meet an early doom. I believe that he will make it out.
Don’t reclaim his residence when we return, and don’t alarm those of the
Precious Tree Sect. All shall be as before.”
Although Jiang Chen hadn’t emerged, Dan Chi wasn’t the sort
to burn a bridge after crossing it. However, he was worried that someone else
within the sect might do so, so he made this statement before anything could
happen.
……
Jiang Chen remained in that groggy, unaware state for an
indeterminate period of time. Then all of a sudden, the suction force vanished,
restoring autonomous function to his limbs. He took another look around and saw
that he had entered a space that was completely cut off from the rest of the
outside world!
What greeted his eyes was a vast, sprawling cemetery. As It
stretched out in the distance, the sheer sense of desolation resulting from the
countless years that had passed here almost made Jiang Chen suspect that he was
standing at the origin of time.
“The tomb of Lu Qi of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.”
There were rows of tombstones that looked like they had been
cut from the same mold. They were all graves of the Ancient Crimson Heavens
Sect members, and each one was just a cenotaph containing the personal effects
of the deceased! This meant that their bodily remains weren’t present beneath
the tombstones.
“Why is it like this?” Jiang Chen walked straight down the
rows of the tombstones. All of them were adorned with only a few simple words,
but he had the feeling that there seemed to be a glorious history behind each
of these names. Each person here had lived a impassioned, fervent life. . It
was just… for some reason, not only had all of them died without exception,
their bodies had not been recovered.
The endless graveyard gave Jiang Chen the sudden forlorn
feeling of having reached the end of the world. Finally, when he reached the
end of the graveyard, he suddenly saw an altar there that was exactly the same
as the one on the island!
“How is this possible?!” He stopped, stunned, and stared at
the altar for a long while.
“It really is that altar!” He confirmed in the end that this
was the same altar as the one that had stood on the island. It appeared that
this altar was the key to triggering the transportation formation. Jiang Chen
had activated it because of the nameless blade, and it’d sent him to this bleak
cemetery which appeared to have been forgotten by the heavens as it lay quietly
in the long river of time. No one had looked for it and weeds were flourishing
everywhere.
“Just where is this place? And what is the Ancient Crimson
Heavens Sect?” Jiang Chen’s mind was full of questions. He’d spent a fair bit
of time in the Regal Pill Palace and had perused many of its ancient tomes.
Thus, he knew a bit of the history of the Myriad Domain. However, there was no
record of this sect in the Regal Pill Palace’s archives.
Jiang Chen almost suspected that he’d been transported to
another plane! But looking at the altar, he had to admit that he was still on
the Divine Abyss Continent. It definitely wasn’t that easy to move between
planes. With his cultivation at fifth level origin realm, he would never be
able to withstand the immense pressure and turbulence from transportation
between planes.
Jiang Chen stared dumbly at the altar as his nameless blade
fell soundlessly to the ground behind it. He walked over quietly and picked it
up. No matter whether he was able to use it or not, it was still one of his
belongings and he wasn’t willing to discard it.
After he’d crossed over the cemetery, what lay beyond was a
mess of broken and dilapidated buildings. Although abandoned, their scale and
aura of magnificence illustrated their once-glorious states. As Jiang Chen
weaved his way through the ruins, he sensed the desolation clinging to the
buildings and felt a wave of bleakness wash over him.
Judging from the materials used in the buildings and the
fragmented formations around him, Jiang Chen could already see that the Ancient
Crimson Heavens Sect had once been an absolutely enormous entity. All of the
Myriad Domain sects together wouldn’t be enough to stand up to even one of its
fingers.
Although Jiang Chen had never experienced the might of a
true first rate sect such as the Ninesuns Sky Sect, his instinct was that the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect was even stronger than the Sky Sect! Except, even
such a strong sect had been unable to weather the tribulations or time,
becoming part of a nameless history that no one asked after. If it hadn’t been
for Jiang Cheng experiencing the cataclysm in his past life, he wouldn’t have
been able to believe his eyes.
“Ai, even after thousands of years of power, even if their
name was carved into the annals of history, one is still unable to escape being
rendered obsolete by the heartless passage of time. Then, this Ancient Crimson
Heavens Sect was likely a sect from the ancient times? Current books have
almost no record of the ancient times.” Jiang Chen didn’t understand much of
the Divine Abyss Continent, but he knew that its history traced back to the
ancient times. Perhaps this sect had been one that existed in that era.
As Jiang Chen walked along, he arrived beneath a cliff as
tall as ten thousand feet that looked as if it would bridge the heavens. There
were countless words carved on the stone cliff, giving it an extremely strong
visual impact.
“The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect seeks not for our legacy
to be passed down through the ages, but seeks to have a clear conscience. As
strong enemies from outside the region have invaded, the entire sect has
mobilized. Since we know death is a sure fate, we hereby raise our tombstones
to pass this knowledge on. From today henceforth, the doors to the mountain
will be sealed off from the world. If there are any disciples who do not die in
this battle, they should reopen the formation and restore the sect. If the
entire sect perishes, then anyone who comes after can receive the legacy of my
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect!”
Jiang Chen saw that the elegant script on the wall was
simple but noble, filled with a grand and magnificent air. Although the writer
was charging into certain death on the battlefield, he had the optimism of one
who could look at death calmly in the face.
Who knew how many thousands of years it’d been, but Jiang
Chen could still imagine the heroism of the writer as he read the words on the
wall. It was a pity that he seemed to be the first who’d set foot into the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect afterwards. That meant to say that every one of
the sect had fallen, and no disciple had made it back alive.
