Sovereign of the Three Realms

Elder Yun Nie had apparently seen Jiang Chen’s confusion as he sent a silent message over. “Jiang Chen, Palace Head Dan Chi took the reins of power when he was less than fifty years old. Now, he is still less than a hundred, and there is no other heavyweight in the Myriad Domain who is at the peak of fifth level sage realm, about to break through to the sixth like he is.”

Jiang Chen understood without Elder Yun Nie’s explanation. His current confusion wasn’t the difference in strength between Palace Head Dan Chi and Honored Mastered Tian Ming, but that he wanted to know what level the other sect heads were at.

In the world of martial dao, different territories, different levels, and different resources would give birth to different levels of geniuses. When Jiang Chen had been in the Eastern Kingdom, becoming a true qi master at the age of twenty was quite a feat. In the Skylaurel Kingdom, it was quite something to be half step spirit realm at twenty years old. In the four great sects, only one who set foot into the earth spirit realm at age twenty was counted as a genius. And in the Regal Pill Palace, one had to break into the origin realm around twenty years old to have the right to enter the Rosy Valley and be hailed a genius. Whereas in the Myriad Domain, the top geniuses between the ages of twenty and thirty were measured on the basis of whether or not they could assail the sage realm. However, the Myriad Domain was just a lowly Lower Realm in the end.

In actuality, there weren’t more than fifty amongst the younger generation who truly possessed the ability to assail the sage realm. Such were the limits of the Myriad Domain. Once a top genius entered the sage realm, their cultivation speed would fall drastically. After entering the sage realm, it would be incredibly difficult to take another step forward.

Take Shen Qinghong, for instance. If he made it into the sage realm before thirty, then his next step would be to advance to the earth sage realm. If he could do so before sixty years of age, then he would be classified as a genius on par with Dan Chi. If he did so after sixty, then he was at most on Elder Yun Nie’s level. If he still couldn’t break into the earth sage realm after he turned a hundred years old, then he was destined to be disqualified from the running for the sect head’s position.

Of course, this wasn’t an absolute either.

The difficulty would increase once again after entering the earth sage realm. Each step forward would be fraught with hardship. Dan Chi had enjoyed smooth sailing back in the day and had entered the earth sage realm before sixty years of age. But once he had consolidated himself within it, he had been caught in a bottleneck due to his prior smooth progress. It wasn’t until he met Elder Shun that he had broken through this bottleneck and made it into the peak of the fifth level sage realm, ready to break through to the sixth level at any moment.

Meeting Elder Shun had been his fortuitous occurrence. If it hadn’t been for this, even if he had broken through the fifth level sage realm, he never would’ve had the ability to break through multiple times as he had done now.

After all, the best resources were limited in the Myriad Domain, and enormous fortune was needed to take another step forward. Without a doubt, meeting Elder Shun had been the making of the current Dan Chi.

Tian Ming patted Dan Chi’s shoulder and smiled, “Ole brother, I’d long since heard that you’d broken through to the fifth level sage realm. It looks like you’ll break through to the sixth level sage realm at any time. You are certainly the sect head that is richest in youth and richest in strength! In my view, you’ll catch up to me in another three to five years!”

Honored Master Tian Ming was more than three hundred years old, three times greater than Palace Head Dan Chi, but they were obviously old friends and had personalities that meshed together well.

“Old brother Tian Ming, your lifespan will become inexhaustible once you break through to the sky sage realm. You’ll even have the hope to become a Titled Emperor then.” Dan Chi laughed.

Tian Ming laughed heartily. “Titled Emperor? I have no such ambition. If I can make it to the peak of the sage realm whilst I live, that alone will allow me to die without regret.”

So he said, but everyone knew that these surely weren’t Honored Master Tian Ming’s thoughts. At the very least, he wouldn’t be accepting of this kind of thinking.

“Oh right, ole brother, I should’ve gone to congratulate you on forming an alliance with the Precious Tree Sect last time, but one of my personal disciples was at a critical moment in his training and that set a few things back. I hope you don’t think badly of me.”

Heavyweights from all the sects had indeed participated in the alliance ceremony, but Honored Master Tian Ming had indeed been absent, with his vice head Spiritual Master Chi Ming attending in his stead.

Palace Head Dan Chi smiled carelessly. “Ole brother is needlessly distancing himself with these words.” He then waved his hand at his entourage of young folk. “You all, come and greet the sect head of the Dark North Sect.”

The Dark North Sect head chuckled merrily, his smile growing wider after sweeping his eyes over Jiang Chen and the others. “Mm, I remember this wise nephew1 is Shen Qinghong, correct? If I recall, you’re the disciple of Elder Lian Cheng, about to set foot into the sage realm. You truly deserve the title of genius alright.”

His gaze then halted briefly on Ling Bi’er and nodded approvingly. “Ninth level sage realm, a top genius. Good, very good!”

When he saw that Jiang Chen was only fifth level origin realm, Honored Master Tian Ming was slightly taken aback. “This wise nephew looks a bit unfamiliar.”

“Haha, ole brother, this is Jiang Chen, and the young genius that my Regal Pill Palace and the Precious Tree Sect are raising together.”

“Oh? This is sage nephew Jiang Chen, the one you allied with the Precious Tree Sect for? It seems it is rather I who didn’t recognize greatness.” Tian Ming chuckled and nodded repeatedly. “Good, good. With your cultivation level of fifth level origin realm, and Palace Head Dan Chi and Elder Yun Nie’s great favor, you are certainly an extraordinary young genius. You will surely amount to much in the future.”

This Honored Master Tian Ming looked to be the extremely nice sort, offending none, complimenting even youngsters and not impacting their confidence. This was rather rare, so Jiang Chen didn’t forget his manners and thanked him, “Many thanks for Sect Head Tian Ming’s auspicious words.”

Honored Master Tian Ming’s gaze rested on Mu Gaoqi last. He found this sight even rarer and couldn’t help but laugh. “The Regal Pill Palace is a great sect founded on pill dao alright. This sage nephew is the youngest, with a cultivation at the peak of the second level origin realm. He must be a superb pill dao genius to be able to participate in this gathering. Am I possibly wrong?”

Mu Gaoqi was unavoidably nervous at facing a sky sage realm expert, so it was Palace Head Dan Chi who laughed good-naturedly, “This one’s pill dao potential is indeed extraordinary. He has an innate wood constitution of high order, and a pill dao genius that my Regal Pill Palace will focus on cultivating in the future. I’ve brought him out to see the world this time.”

The Regal Pill Palace naturally had to package Mu Gaoqi’s identity as one with an innate wood constitution. This kind of figure had a certain reputation that would attract more attention and spread the Regal Pill Palace’s name throughout the world. The effect of such a representative character would be far reaching. If Mu Gaoqi had great accomplishments in pill dao one day, then there would be many who came to join the Regal Pill Palace based on his fame alone. A character such as him would be enough to affect the sect’s fortunes for a thousand years, and even had the potential to raise the sect to new heights through his power alone.

After all, this kind of potential would be fiercely fought over even in the Upper Eight Realms. An innate constitution wasn’t that rare in the Upper Eight Realms, but one of high order was a rare find of one in a million. However, an innate wood constitution of high order was one that would only be found once in ten billion. A figure possessing that constitution would be hotly fought over the instant they appeared.

As long as an innate wood constitution of high order wasn’t accidentally lost and the sect took good care of the genius for a couple of decades, they would certainly grow to become strong support for the sect. For martial dao sects, what they lacked the least were martial dao geniuses, but what they wanted the most were extreme pill dao geniuses. It wasn’t that they lacked the resources or recipes needed to refine pills, but that they lacked the best pill masters. Compared to the shortage of resources, there was a greater shortage of great pill masters.

Indeed, when Honored Master Tian Ming registered this introduction, the light of incredulity immediately shone from his eyes. His face became wreathed in smiles as he sighed with appreciation. “Incredible, incredible! An innate wood constitution of high order that’s difficult to find in even one out of ten billion has appeared in the Regal Pill Palace. It looks like your sect has truly found favor with the heavens; you have no end of good fortune! A martial dao genius such as you appeared first, then a pill dao genius such a sage nephew Mu Gaoqi second. In my eyes, the Regal Pill Palace will surely become the force that lifts up the Myriad Domain in a hundred years!”

Mocking laughter traveled in from nearby. “Ole Tian Ming, it looks like your old habit of complimenting just anyone up to the skies really needs to change.”

The voice boomed out like a broken gong, extremely irritating to the ears. Its owner was a tall and stockily built man, giving one the feeling of a wild, unbridled style. He had an enormous sword strapped to his back and walked with great vigor and poise, purposefully displaying his strength and giving off the feeling of a sword ripping through the air as he strode forward.

This person was indeed Sacred Sword Palace Head Wang Jianyu. However, Honored Master Tian Ming’s shrewdness and excellent upbringing didn’t falter. He wasn’t incensed by these words, and instead chuckled. “You’re always so sharp, Jianyu. How come you’re here by yourself during the time’s Pill Battles?”

Wang Jianyu smirked and didn’t respond. He walked up to Palace Head Dan Chi instead. “Not bad huh, peak of fifth level sage realm. But…” When he cast his eye over Jiang Chen and the other young disciples, a hint of mockery curled into his smile. “What a pity that there isn’t a single sage realm cultivator amongst your younger generation. What a pity, such great pity.”

It was obvious to everyone that he was here to provoke the Regal Pill Palace.

Palace Head Dan Chi also smiled indifferently. “Palace Head Wang, the Pill Battles of Mt. Rippling Mirage have to do with pill competitions. If you wish to glorify the martial prowess of the Sacred Sword Palace, it won’t be too late to do so at the Myriad Grand Ceremony in three years’ time.”

The Pill Battles were where the pill masters could contend with each other, whereas the Grand Ceremony was where the younger generation met in martial dao. Wang Jianyu’s jeering based off of martial dao at the Pill Battles was indeed a bit inappropriate.

Wang Jianyu laughed heartily. “The Myriad Grand Ceremony, haha! I hope that three years is enough time for someone from the younger generation of the Regal Pill Palace to emerge in a way that makes everyone’s eyes light up.” He was about to leave after he finished speaking when he suddenly smiled mysteriously. “Oh right, let me add on that my Sacred Sword Palace has already had two young geniuses break through to the sage realm. They’ll be sure to soar to the top with one move in the Grand Ceremony, hahaha!”

1. This doesn’t mean an actual relationship, just a term of affection.