Sovereign of the Three Realms

Wei Jie’s mood had clearly been agitated. He seemed a little emotional. Jiang Cheng could understand Wei Jie’s dejection. House Wei had been collateral damage in this matter from the very beginning, the most innocent of victims. The Coiling Dragon Clan lord might have been somewhat affected, but as a man with his cultivation on the eve of dissipating, it would take a heaven-defying method to reverse fate.

“Young master Jie, in your situation, you should in fact clearly explain yourself to the clan lord.” There were only so many suggestions Jiang Chen could offer.

“The clan leader is magnanimous. He is aware of our House’s loyalty. However, those beneath him don’t share the same views. People in the clan, and also the noble houses under the clan’s banner were jealous of our House’s status to begin with. They wouldn’t pass by an opportunity to supplant us. They slander and suppress us again and again. Even if we’re innocent, their wagging tongues make us guilty.”

Jiang Chen was also aware of the effects of slander. Situations like these truly couldn’t be explained away with a few words. House Wei’s awkward situation wasn’t one that could be overturned with the wave of a hand.

Wei Jie suddenly thought of something, his eyes betraying a little hope and eagerness. “Brother Zhen, I heard that back then in the Myriad Domain, you once refined a pill called the Longevity Pill that can prolong someone’s life for five to eight hundred years. Is that true?”

Jiang Cheng laughed in spite of himself. This Wei Jie’s schemes truly reached far enough, he even accounted for the Longevity Pill. He shook his head with a soft sigh. “The Longevity Pill is only useful for cultivators at the sage realm, it’s of no use to cultivators at the emperor realm. It might even worsen the situation instead.”

Hearing it might worsen the situation, Wei Jian couldn’t help but be reminded of his House’s previous pill king’s disaster. Once bitten, twice shy. His expression suddenly froze. “Is it absolutely useless?”

“It might possibly be somewhat useful, but there’s a greater probability of side effects occurring.” Jiang Chen knew Wei Jie was very keen on seizing the opportunity to restore their relationship with the Coiling Dragon Clan. Only, it wasn’t something he could achieve with the Longevity Pill, because the Longevity Pill was only suitable for sage realm cultivators. There was actually a pill that could extend an emperor realm cultivator’s life. It was called the Pine Crane Pill. Jiang Chen even had one of the two main raw materials required: the first sky-level spirit plant he’d obtained from Mt. Rippling Mirages—the Invisible Chameleon Cloudpine. That pine’s cone was one of the main materials required to refine the Pine Crane Pill.

As to the other ingredient, it was a Goldencrown Cloudcrane’s heart, also a spirit beast very hard to come by. The Goldencrown Cloudcrane might not be the Invisible Chameleon Cloudpine’s match when it came to rarity, but when comparing them one to one, a Goldencrown Cloudcrane’s heart was even more precious than a Invisible Chameleon Cloudpine cone. After all, one Invisible Chameleon Cloudpine could produce many pine cones, while a Goldencrown Cloudcrane only ever have one heart.

Of course, this thing was a mere passing thought in Jiang Chen’s mind. He didn’t even plan on refining the Longevity Pill, to say nothing of an earth shattering pill like the Pine Crane Pill. His identity would inevitably be exposed as soon as he refined the Longevity Pill. It was hard to tell how many people would keep a close watch on him by then. Not to mention that the Pine Crane Pill was a pill at least ten times more valuable than the Longevity Pill. With Jiang Chen’s status and identity, he simply couldn’t handle everything the Pine Crane Pill would bring with it. Even House Wei wouldn’t be able to. This matter might be somewhat possible only if Jiang Chen were to cooperate directly with the Coiling Dragon Clan.

However, no one could read a man’s heart. Jiang Chen had already suffered once because of the Longevity Pill. It was unrealistic to ask him to take out the Pine Crane Pill now for no rhyme or reason. Let alone, amongst the materials needed to refine this Pine Crane Pill, the Goldencrown Cloudcrane’s heart wasn’t easy to collect at all. He had no desire to leap into a quagmire of his own volition.

“Then, Brother Zhen, will you sell Longevity Pills in Taiyuan Tower? If you sell it, I fear you’ll be immediately recognized. It’d be detrimental to you.”

Jiang Chen shook his head, “I will refine the Longevity Pill in the future, but the time isn’t ripe yet.”

“It’s better this way. The Veluriyam Capital might be formidable, but it’s still hard to guard against the Eternal Celestial Capital and the Ninesuns Sky Sect secretly causing trouble.” Wei Jie nodded in understanding.

That was one of the reasons why Jiang Chen rather appreciated Wei Jie. At the very least, this young man knew discretion, knew the importance of things, knew when to advance and knew when to retreat. He wouldn’t force someone into something. He could put himself in the other’s shoes and think from their point of view. That was a virtue rarely seen from the scions of noble houses. “Young master Jie, tell your father when you go back that if your house doesn’t find me lacking in qualification, I’m not opposed to being House Wei’s guest pill king.”

Wei Jie was overjoyed when he heard. “Brother Zhen, are you serious?”

Jiang Chen smiled faintly, “Do you think I’m someone to speak recklessly?”

Wei Jie slapped his thigh. “That’s great! I never dared to ask you upfront out of fear I’d implicate you. But in fact, you might not necessarily be in such a great danger.”

Jiang Chen smiled. “I came all the way here from the Myriad Domain. Do you think the path was lacking in danger? Am I not still here anyway?”

“That’s true, but you still need to be on your guard. How about I send you my personal butler and protector Qixia so he can act as your bodyguard?” Wei Jie suggested.

“No need for that.” Jiang Chen waved it off, his refusal firm. Wei Qixia might be a powerhouse at the first level of the emperor realm, but Jiang Chen truly had no use for him. If there were a situation he himself couldn’t handle, then one more Wei Qixia would also be useless.

Their conversation concluded, Wei Jie went back home in high spirits, carrying good news with him. The benefits of having Jiang Chen as their House’s guest pill king was obvious for all to see. House Wei was going to break away from the awkwardness of not having a pill king, while his House’s pill business would once again go back on track. Everything was developing in a favorable direction!

Wei Jie felt his entire body overflowing with enthusiasm and motivation. His feelings for Jiang Chen nowadays were almost akin to adoration and blind trust already. In particular, that scene Jiang Chen had defeated Pill Master Yu had made Wei Jie realize even more deeply that this genius from the Myriad Domain, who’d hacked his way through a mountain of corpses and blood, would also one day illuminate the Capital with his extraordinary abilities. He’d been fortunate enough to meet such a genius. It that wasn’t luck, then he didn’t know what luck was. House Wei might still be in a difficult spot for now, but Wei Jie firmly believed that they was bound to soar in Jiang Chen’s wake, ascending like a boat rising with the tide.

…

Jiang Chen was about to cultivate after seeing off Wei Jie when Long Xiaoxuan transmitted a message to Jiang Chen, “Young master Chen, I think I’m going to break through to the emperor realm. You better find a place and make some preparations. Dragons breakthroughs come with a vast aura and momentum, so I don’t want to do it in the center of the Capital.”

Jiang Chen didn’t know if he should be happy or worried instead at the sudden news. He was happy because Long Xiaoxuan was finally breaking through after spending so long at the pinnacle of the sage realm. The dragon was definitely going to make a terrific hired thug as soon as he entered the emperor realm. With the dragons’ innate dominating power, Long Xiaoxuan could probably face a powerhouse at the fifth or sixth level emperor realm head on without falling downwind even at initial stage emperor realm, He might even withstand a later-stage emperor realm at the seventh level without suffering defeat.

After all, for the lineal descendants of the dragons, the higher their cultivation, the stronger the power of their bloodline would manifest, and the more ridiculous their fighting power would be. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Long Xiaoxuan would increase his fighting prowess tenfold in the blink of an eye after breaking through to the emperor realm.

His thoughts distracted for a moment, Jiang Chen then composed himself. He asked, “Brother Long, about how far off are you?”

“Somewhere between a month and three. Maybe even closer.”

Jiang Chen thought a moment. Taiyuan Tower’s grand opening was in three days. He would be relatively freer after that. When the time came, he would find a remote spot, deploy a concealing formation and suppress as much as he could the signs of Long Xiaoxuan’s breakthrough. Otherwise, the dramatic heaven and earth phenomena during a dragon’s breakthrough would certainly attract attention from all parties. He didn’t want Long Xiaoxuan to stir up a hornet’s nest.

Jiang Chen nodded. “Leave it to to me. After you break through to the emperor realm, your cultivation in the secrets of dragon shapeshifting should also come to fruition. By then, you can transform into human shape and move about in broad daylight inside the Capital without needing to worry like now.”

Long Xiaoxuan snorted softly, “This world full of mundane temptations might not be to this dragon’s liking anyway.”

Dragons were ever like thus, haughty, posers. Jiang Chen didn’t believe Long Xiaoxuan would ever come to dislike the mortal world. He chuckled mischievously, “We’ll see when the time comes whether you like it or not. Don’t tell me you want to be always hiding. Isn’t that really boring?”

“Don’t delay with the preparations,” Long Xiaoxuan snorted, but he didn’t say anything further.

Wry disgruntlement mingled with happiness in Jiang Chen’s sigh, “I never thought I would be fated to a life of playing nanny. I have to worry about my fellow sect disciples, and now that it’s over, I have to worry about these guys instead.”

Long Xiaoxuan breaking through the emperor realm was good news when all was said and done. It would have spared him a lot of trouble when he came to the Capital if Long Xiaoxuan had already broken through to the emperor realm back in the Myriad Domain. Jiang Chen silently sighed with emotion. In spite of himself, his thoughts veered to those people from the Regal Pill Palace. He wondered how they were now.

He hadn’t heard a word from Palace Head Dan Chi. Elder Yun Nie and Mu Gaoqi were certainly still in Veluryiam Capital, but he didn’t know whether House Sikou had sold them or kept them for themselves. This was also a matter he had to investigate as soon as possible. If House Sikou were using the two themselves, then he had to rescue them no matter what. Apart from Mu Gaoqi and Elder Yun Nie, there was also sister Ling Bi’er. Back the in the Regal Pill King Palace, when the several of them had separately returned to their own dwellings, Jiang Chen had been surrounded, Shen Qinghong captured, but Ling Bi’er had seized an opportunity to run away. He wondered where was Ling Bi’er nowadays?

Jiang Chen was rather concerned about Ling Bi’er. He knew that this frosty senior sister of his had tacitly pledged her heart to him already. Back then in that desperate situation in the Paramount Realm, Ling Bi’er clearly could have hoped to make good her escape alone, but she didn’t run away by herself. Jiang Chen wasn’t a dunce. How would he fail to see these feelings? Their friendship was something Jiang Chen had no reason whatsoever to disregard, to say nothing about the feelings between man and woman.

Apart from Ling Bi’er, there was also her father and her younger sister. The two of them should have come to the Veluriyam Capital and met up with him, but neither of them had arrived even after so long. Jiang Chen was also somewhat worried. Only, he had so many things vying for his attention at present. He was too busy to inquire about Ling Su and Ling Hui’er. He could only hope that they would arrive safe and sound, that the Eternal Celestial Capital or the Ninesuns Sky Sect hadn’t captured them. It would be enormous troubles otherwise.

Jing Chen mused for a moment, but he simply had too many things to attend to. So he simply stopped thinking about them, sat down cross-legged, and started cultivating. He hadn’t stopped his cultivation during these days. With the assistance from countless Heroic Sage Pills, his cultivation pace was blistering. He’d lacked resources before, but his cultivation speed had been frightening even back then. Now that his resources were abundant, his cultivation speed would naturally be surging. There were already faint signs of him breaking through the fourth level of the sage realm.

“Who knows. I might well first break through to the fourth level before Brother Long’s breakthrough!”