Sovereign of the Three Realms

After receiving the money, Prince of Shangping chuckled. “Alright. Since we’ve entered, all of you can either split up or travel as a group according to our previous agreement. Let me just remind you again that we have all struggled to gain access to this place. It would be best if there were no fatal conflicts. All of you will have a chance to obtain something from the desolate wildlands. Do not impose on others.” His words flowed as gracefully as water. But of course, no one really believed him. Some present were privy to what Prince of Shangping was usually like. No matter what flowery language flowed from his lips, when they were truly faced with something valuable, he might be the first one to turn on a teammate.

Jiang Chen was clearly not interested in forming a group with others. In fact, before Prince of Shangping had even finished speaking, he had already shot Huang’er a meaningful glance and swiftly left the area with Lin Yanyu. After walking for a while, Lin Yanyu hastily asked, “Daoist Huang, why didn’t you take the Eight Treasures Antidote?”

Jiang Chen snickered. “How do you know I didn’t take it?”

Lin Yanyu laughed wryly. “This Eight Treasures Antidote has a very strong smell. There will be a kind of odor fifteen minutes after you consume it. You’ll know it the moment you smell it.”

Jiang Chen laughed. “Let’s go. We’ll be fine without the Eight Treasures Antidote.”

Words of advice remained on Lin Yanyu’s tongue but Jiang Chen and Huang’er had already hastened their steps, shooting ahead at a lightning pace. Lin Yanyu hurried after them. However, their speed was completely off the charts. It took all his energy just to trail weakly after them.

“Wait for me, Daoist Huang!” Entering this strange new world had eaten away at Lin Yanyu’s confidence. After a short while, the various parties that had entered the desolate wildlands had scattered like five hundred carps in a mighty river. Not even a ripple was left to be seen. Indeed, the desolate wildlands were vast to the extent that even five million humans would achieve the same effect. The sheer scale of the wildlands dwarfed even the human domain by more than ten times.

A short fifteen minutes later, there was no one left at the entrance. However, a moment later, a silhouette suddenly reappeared. The figure glanced around before they swiftly retrieved something with a hand and tossed it violently at the flags that marked Prince of Shangping’s formation.

Booom! A series of rumbling explosions rapidly destroyed the formation base. The moment the base was destroyed, the formation was completely ineffective. After this person blew up Prince of Shangping’s formation, they expanded their consciousness, retrieved more treasures and smashed them repeatedly against the gap on the outer boundary.

The gap that had previously been repaired was quickly replaced by another giant crack. Then, the figure stood to examine his handiwork for a split second before vanishing instantly. After about an hour, the cultivators who had originally left the scene wandered back to the valley entrance one after another. The hope in their hearts had not yet been extinguished. The valley entrance was deserted. These returning wandering cultivators approached with utmost care, afraid that Prince of Shangping and the rest would pop up suddenly to massacre them all. With a quick glance, they discovered that the restrictive gap had already been cracked open and those five hundred people had already entered the wildlands.

“Damn it, they went inside but we’re not allowed to? On what basis?! We’ll go in after them. Who’s with me?!”

“What’s there to be scared of? The worst that can happen is that we’ll die. But if we don’t, we’ll be set for life! Let’s go.”

“Wait a moment. Don’t you see that this gap is a little suspicious? If they already entered, why haven’t they repaired it? I don’t trust this. There might be a trap waiting for us inside.” Many people grew alert at these words.

However, there were still the fearless ones who shouted, “The hell is a trap? All of them entered because they want to get rich. Who will be so free as to set such a trap? You think they’re really working together? In the end, aren’t they still a bunch of backstabbing, selfish bastards?!”

“Right! Let’s go and take a look. Even if there is a formation, there’re so many of us that we should be able to shatter it.”

“Not necessarily. We’re all familiar with Prince of Shangping. His skill in formations is truly abnormal. If he set a formation inside and we rush in carelessly, then the only fate that’ll await us is death.”

“Scram if you’re not going! Stop dumping cold water on the rest of us. If you’re a man, then let’s break in together!”

“That’s right. We’ll go together! Whoever’s left behind is a bastard. If we die, we die together. If we make it rich, we make it together.” More and more people gathered at the valley entrance. A bunch of firstcomers had already agreed that upon their shout, everyone would rush towards the gap.

The first batch entered, then a second, a third… Quite a while later, batch by batch, there were at least another twenty to thirty groups who entered. With the exception of those who had not dared to return, these cultivators who had initially left all made their way into the wildlands. Those inside, Jiang Chen included, remained in blissful ignorance of what was happening at the entrance.

…...

Jiang Chen and Huang’er stopped at a fork in the road, waiting for the heavily panting Lin Yanyu to catch up.

“Daoist Lin, this is where we’ll part ways. Let’s meet up in seven days. Whoever arrives first will wait here, but only for three days. If we still haven’t met up by then, just leave.”

Lin Yanyu had just caught up to them before he heard the news that they were splitting up. He couldn’t help but become dispirited, “Daoist Huang, this junior is sincere about following you…”

“We need to handle some important matters. It’s dangerous. There’s no need for you to take the risk. Moreover, you’re not suitable for the jo.,” Jiang Chen got straight to the point without beating around the bush.

Lin Yanyu was a little dejected. But after considering things, he still nodded. “That’s fine then. I’ll be back after seven days. Daoist Huang, I wish you a smooth trip.”

“Take care.” Jiang Chen believed that a seasoned cultivator like Lin Yanyu would definitely have his own means of survival. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare to enter the desolate wildlands so rashly. Hence, he was relatively unconcerned about Lin Yanyu’s wellbeing. To tell the truth, they were still mere acquaintances. If the boy’s fortune was truly so scant that he could not surpass this obstacle, then it was also impossible for him to stay by the boy’s side as a nanny. That wasn’t realistic.

After splitting ways with Lin Yanyu, Jiang Chen and Huang’er followed the map left to them by He Hongshu. They travelled relatively undisturbed along the designated path.

“Huang’er, take this pill.” Jiang Chen retrieved two pills, swallowing one before handing the other to Huang’er. He had personally handcrafted these pills as a precaution against the Wood Demon Parasites. Every single one of the ingredients that had gone into this pill was intended to repel the parasites. Moreover, he had integrated Dragonwhisker Water, an excellent defensive measure against the parasites. At least, taking this medicine could prevent a sudden assault of the Wood Demon Parasites.

Although he didn’t know how He Hongshu had been attacked by the Wood Demon Parasites, nor did he know where that man had been targeted, Jiang Chen followed the principle of ‘it pays to be cautious’. Taking precautionary measures was definitely necessary. After taking the pill, the two people sat down to refine it for a while before they continued on their way.

The greenery in the desolate wildlands was very lush. Vegetation covered every surface, leaving no clear trace of a trail. This was not unusual. Tens of thousands of years had passed without human intrusion. Naturally, there wouldn’t exist any kind of pathway. At any rate, with a map in hand, Jiang Chen wasn’t too worried about getting lost.

“Brother Chen, look! Over there.” Huang’er suddenly pointed at something.

Jiang Chen looked along the length of her arm before he spotted a stalk of spirit herb. Twice as big as an ordinary spirit herb, it appeared extremely sturdy, filled with exuberant vitality. His eyes flashed as he rushed over and circled this spirit herb twice. After examining it, he spoke in an awed voice, “This is… a sky rank spirit herb!”

Huang’er nodded. Her appraisal ability wasn’t bad. She could naturally distinguish sky rank spirit herbs. Only great emperors were qualified to use them. Even the empyrean experts on the Myriad Abyss Island mostly only used sky rank spirit herbs. After all, anything above sky rank could be classified as divine rank, true items fit for the gods. It was immensely difficult to a divine rank spirit herb. Even the Myriad Abyss Island didn’t possess many of them. Although they did exist there, it wasn’t to an extent that they could be thoughtlessly used by any person. This was why Huang’er was so shocked to encounter one in this place.

Jiang Chen surveyed his surroundings, ascertaining that there were no signs of danger. However, his instincts were screaming at him to leave this stalk of spirit herb alone. He lingered for a split second before he grabbed Huang’er’s hand. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Let’s go.”

Huang’er seemed a little startled that Jiang Chen was not harvesting this herb. She shot him an astonished glance.

“Trust me, there’s definitely something wrong here. My instincts are very rarely wrong. If I remove it, there’ll definitely be trouble brewing on the horizon.” Jiang Chen wasn’t really afraid. But he did not want to stir up any unnecessary ruckus before they found the Requiem Wood. When Huang’er heard his words, she nodded. She was a woman who didn’t think much of material goods in the first place, and was indifferent to fame or gain. As someone who possessed a vast repertoire of knowledge, she pondered briefly upon listening to Jiang Chen and came to a similar conclusion that this seemed rather strange. Hadn’t they just entered the desolate wildlands? If they were to able to find sky rank spirit herbs a mere five hundred miles in, then the desolate wildlands must be too abundant with priceless treasures. If that was the case, it’d be much more attractive than the Myriad Abyss Island.

Along the way, the two of them ran into various kinds of spirit herbs of both earth and sky rank. Nonetheless, Jiang Chen refused to gather them and staunchly ignored the possibility of gathering the later stalks. He resolutely quashed any tendrils of greed. Whether it was sky or earth rank spirit herbs, he was certainly not lacking in them. The only thing he needed right now was the Requiem Wood.

When Jiang Chen and Huang’er’s silhouettes disappeared into the distance, a tremor suddenly ran through that stalk of sky rank spirit herbs before it began to glow with a bizarre emerald light. These emerald rays of light slowly coalesced a ghostly figure. It flickered in and out of sight, sometimes solid, sometimes an illusion, giving off an ephemeral sensation. The figure clicked his tongue. “Tsk tsk. A human cultivator actually resisted the temptation of sky rank spirit herbs? Could it be that my transformation wasn’t realistic enough?”

That ghostly figure wavered abruptly, dissolving into an emerald tinted breeze and vanishing where it had stood. Amidst the endless desolate wildlands, its movements appeared incredibly bizarre. Jiang Chen and Huang’er remained unaware of what happened behind them. Their goal was very clear: the Requiem Wood.

The two of them continued to pick up their pace. Then, while they travelled, they suddenly heard an unusual voice travel from the undergrowth beside them. Unexpectedly, Jiang Chen stopped in his footsteps. His God’s Eye shone a beam of golden light towards the source of the voice.

“Eh? Why is it them?” Jiang Chen’s gaze penetrated the vegetation and landed on five figures. It was the Ghost Cave Five! These five guys had previously passed the selection and somehow snuck into the valley as well.

When the Ghost Cave Five brushed away the bushes to see Jiang Chen and Huang’er, their expressions were somewhat embarrassed. The one-eyed man who led the group chuckled awkwardly, “Ah, it’s you, senior.”

Senior? When Jiang Chen heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh silently. This Ghost Cave Five really knew how to grovel! Previously, they had called him “brat” the moment they opened their mouths. And now, he’d suddenly risen to the rank of senior?