Sovereign of the Three Realms

Just a short while ago when the price of one Longevity Pill had shot to the skies, the onlookers had felt it to be a ludicrous amount for a pill. That is, that was the thought in everyone’s mind except the two fighting over it. Even if the two heavyweights from the Regal Pill Palace had found this price to be verging on the ridiculous, not a hint of it crossed their faces. But having seen Xiang Wentian’s stunning transformation, all doubts and skepticism were now gone with the wind.

Everyone could more or less understand the miraculousness of pills. But for a pill to have such amazing and instantaneous effects like the Longevity Pill was still a first for everyone, even those with a wide array of experience. They all looked at Xiang Wentian, not even blinking for fear of him reverting to his previous form if they did. This scene was just like magic. But no matter who, everyone was convinced that the Longevity Pill had the power to turn back time.

“Congratulations, ole brother Xiang!” Palace Head Dan Chi was the first to come forward in congratulations. Although he was surprised, he was even more delighted. He could see the glorious future of the Longevity Pill from Xiang Wentian’s transformation.

Xiang Wentian laughed heartily. “Haha, ole brother Dan Chi, I definitely owe your Regal Pill Palace one this time!”

Xiang Qin also walked in front of Jiang Chen. “Brother Jiang Chen, you are my brother from now on. Whoever makes trouble for you in the Myriad Domain invites trouble from me, Xiang Qin!”

Xiang Qin sent a fierce glare in all directions when he was done, taking special care to linger in Wang Han and Wei Qing’s direction. He was obviously aware that Jiang Chen had earned their enmity.

Jiang Chen smiled in response when he saw Xiang Qin’s enthusiasm. “I am truly flattered and overawed by Brother Xiang’s courtesy.”

Xiang Qin had a generous personality as he too smiled, “Brother, you have such pill dao potential at your age. You must come and visit our Great Cathedral often!”

“I will certainly visit Brother Xiang when I have the time!”

The two acted like old friends at their first meeting, a sentiment that made Wang Han grit his teeth to watch. He also knew that Xiang Qin was going to these lengths as a public warning to him and Wei Qing not to touch Jiang Chen. However, even as Wang Han ground his teeth together, this only reaffirmed the determination to see Jiang Chen dead. If Jiang Chen was allowed to come into his full strength, then he really might become an enormous threat to the Sacred Sword Palace in the future! With the undying enmity between the Sacred Sword Palace and Regal Pill Palace, the stronger the Regal Pill Palace became, the harder it would be for the Sacred Sword Palace to remain at ease.

“Congratulations, ole brother Xiang.” Tristar Sect Head Zhu also came forward with good wishes.

Xiang Wentian was the preeminent martial dao cultivator within the Myriad Domain after all. How would the others dare not show him face? Even the previously lectured Wang Jianyu stepped forth with a smile plastered on his face. Thankfully, Xiang Wentian was too elated to follow up on what happened earlier, thanking everyone with smiles. Only Honored Master Tian Ming slouched, dejected, in a corner. He’d fallen into depression when he’d lost the bidding. He’d even hoped at one point that the pill was fake! Now seeing how magnificent Xiang Wentian’s changes were after he’d taken the pill, he was assaulted by another storm of regret. However, rationally, he also knew that competing with that crazy old Xiang Wentian in terms of wealth was a lost cause to begin with. He had been doomed to lose from the beginning. “I say, ole brother Dan Chi, I’m reserving the next Longevity Pill that’s refined. No one can take it from me!”

Honored Master Tian Ming was a clear-headed person and knew that this matter really couldn’t be blamed on the Regal Pill Palace. He’d lost fair and square, and no one could be placed at fault. Although this had nothing to do with the Regal Pill Palace, Palace Head Dan Chi still felt a bit guilty towards Honored Master Tian Ming. “Ole brother Tian Ming, the next Longevity Pill to be refined is definitely yours.”

Honored Master Tian Ming finally smiled when he heard this. “Good, good! I won’t short you on the price either. I’ll pay just as much as ole brother Xiang did.”

Honored Master Tian Ming’s words set down a base price for the Longevity Pill at ten million upper rank origin spirit stones. One had to say, this figure was a particular exorbitant one. But since even Xiang Wentian and Honored Master Tian Ming had bought the pill for this price, no one could find a problem with it.

A high price made for an upscale strategy. They already had a ringing endorsement from Xiang Wentian, so the Regal Pill Palace wouldn’t worry for lack of buyers. Which heavyweight amongst the six great sects would be unable to take out ten million stones, to say nothing of anything else?

Ten million stones for five hundred years of life. This was a good trade no matter how one looked at it. Even many of the fifth rank sect heavyweights were tempted. There weren’t that many sage realm cultivators in the fifth rank sects, but there were still a couple.

The sect heads of a fifth rank sect could still take out ten million spirit stones. It just might be a heavier burden for them as it might represent more than half of their personal wealth.

“Ole brother Dan Chi, I’d also like to reserve a pill. Can I do so?” Tristar Sect Head Zhu chuckled.

Dan Chi smiled. “We will prioritize Myriad Domain requests for the Longevity Pill. Of course, it is indeed difficult to refine this pill, so we can’t guarantee when a second and third pill will be produced.”

“Haha, I can wait, I can wait.” Sect Head Zhu hurriedly responded with a smile when he saw that Dan Chi didn’t turn him down.

It was those of the Sacred Sword Palace and Walkabout Sect who were the most dejected now. Jiang Chen had already clearly indicated that he wouldn’t be selling this pill to members of their sects. They were people who demanded face; how would they be able to take this lying down? Wang Jianyu in particular quite desired a Longevity Pill, but he knew that if he stepped forward with a reservation request, that’d only be inviting humiliation down on himself. He flourished his sleeve, snorted, and left.

When Wei Wuying of the Walkabout Sect saw Wang Jianyu leave, he laughed wryly in his heart. He knew that he had offended the Regal Pill Palace quite a lot just now, and flicked a glance over to Elder Wu Hen. Elder Wu Hen smiled and walked up. “Daoist Yun Nie, you and I have been friends for a hundred years now. You won’t really be banning my Walkabout Sect from this pill, will you?”

Elder Yun Nie smiled. “The Walkabout Sect possesses a high caliber of talent in pill dao as well. Normally, you don’t purchase any pills from my Regal Pill Palace either. Furthermore, there’s temporarily no one who has a need for this pill in your sect.”

“Palace Head Dan Chi, I’m from the Nearmoon Sect. I’d like to be so bold as to reserve a Longevity Pill…”

“Palace Head Dan Chi, this little brother would also like to reserve a pill.”

All of the fifth rank sect heads stepped forward in this moment, and those who had some relationship with Palace Head Dan Chi took an additional step forward. It was apparent that the Regal Pill Palace had a good network of connections and a stellar reputation. These fifth rank sect heads all knew that the Regal Pill Palace was kinder than the other sects when it came to business negotiations.

Elder Wu Hen looked at the scene developing in front of him. “Daoist Yun Nie, you wouldn’t sell to the fifth rank sects and still bypass our Walkabout Sect, would you?”

It wasn’t that Elder Yun Nie was purposefully not agreeing, but that the Longevity Pill was Jiang Chen’s recipe. Jiang Chen had already made his position clear in not selling to the Walkabout Sect and Sacred Sword Palace, so Elder Yun Nie wasn’t at liberty to overrule Jiang Chen’s words. “Daoist Wu Hen, we can slowly discuss the particulars of business between our two sects in the future. This matter is immensely important, and I can’t make the decision on behalf of our Regal Pill Palace either.”

Elder Yun Nie could only fob Elder Wu Hen off for now.

What followed next had nothing to do with Jiang Chen. Although he had refined four Longevity Pills, he’d only taken out the lower rank one for the auction. There was one more lower rank as well as two mid rank pills that Jiang Chen wasn’t planning on taking out for now.

By his estimations, he calculated that even Elder Yun Nie would only be able to refine two or three pills a year. There was no way that he’d be able to refine any more. Elder Yun Nie’s consciousness might not even be as strong as Jiang Chen’s, since the latter had the benefit of Boulder’s Heart and Psychic’s Head supporting him. As for pill refining techniques, there was even less of a comparison to be drawn there.

Jiang Chen estimated that if Elder Yun Nie were to refine the pill, his chances of success would very low. He’d likely only make an attempt once or twice a year. His consciousness wouldn’t be able to take it if he made any more attempts than that. Unless Elder Yun Nie ascended to the level of pill king, it was unlikely he’d ever reach the point of making an attempt once every three months. At that point, his chance of success would also be higher, and he’d definitely produce one or two pill in each attempt. After all, no pill king would be able to measure up to Jiang Chen in his past life in any aspect of pill dao technique.

Ling Bi’er was genuinely happy for Jiang Chen when she saw everyone mobbing her sect for a chance of a Longevity Pill. This junior brother Jiang Chen seemed to be all encompassing! She was suddenly a bit more confident in his abilities to cure her father’s Miasma.

Mu Gaoqi was even more delighted. The more Jiang Chen succeeded, the happier he was. “Brother Chen, you’ve really come into some wealth this time.” He sighed with admiration.

“Did you pay attention to the spirit herbs for me?” Jiang Chen responded with a question.

Mu Gaoqi smiled ruefully. “Brother, everyone switched their attention to the Longevity Pill in the hubbub. No one was in the mood to sell anything.”

Ling Bi’er also walked over at this time. “Congratulations, junior brother Jiang Chen. From now on, there will be no one who doesn’t know your name in the entirety of the Myriad Domain.”

Jiang Chen flashed a dashing smile. “That doesn’t matter; there’s actually not that much advantage in being famous.”

Being a celebrity did indeed bring its own worries. A large group of young folk from the Myriad Domain came over to greet Jiang Chen. Among them were both fourth rank sect geniuses as well as fifth rank sect geniuses. Everyone had the same thought; they had to build a good relationship with Jiang Chen. With his deep pill dao potential, he would certainly become a pill king one day, rising up to becoming a person of incomparable value in the Myriad Domain.

Even the various sect heads had to show him a bit of respect now. If his martial dao potential was a bit higher, then he might even become the legendary figure of his generation in the Myriad Domain! Therefore, apart from the few geniuses who looked upon Jiang Chen with hate, almost all of the young geniuses who’d come to Mt. Rippling Mirage wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get to know Jiang Chen. Even if they couldn’t become good friends, it would be good to become acquainted with Jiang Chen.

It was because of this that Jiang Chen decided to just go into closed door cultivation when he returned to his residence. He didn’t want to waste time exchanging meaningless pleasantries. Why not make use of this time to cultivate instead?

The restrictions placed on the outskirts of Mt. Rippling Mirage were lifted three days later. The top ten from both the elder and genius group would be the first batch sent into the mountain, with the full twenty days of harvesting available to them. This was the benefits granted to the winners of the Pill Battles, and they would equally split any gains with their sect. But of course, it was up to each individual person’s discretion just how much they took out to hand over to the sect. In the years of the pill battles, the amount that was truly taken out and handed over to the sect was less than thirty percent, never mind fifty!

The various sects didn’t do much to enforce a strict split either. If individual sect members grew strong from this lax behavior, it would still trickle down to the sect in the end. Therefore, the sects weren’t too strict when it came to this requirement. Otherwise, it was quite easy to tighten the screws on things if they so desired.