Sovereign of the Three Realms

Jiang Chen sat idly back down and smiled at Huang’er. “Looks like we don’t have to do anything. Others will be giving them trouble.”

Huang’er nodded. “I hope they aren’t here for us.”

Huang’er’s worries weren’t unfounded. One’s fortune was best kept a secret. They’d let it be known that they had a wealth of ancient jade earlier. It was possible that someone had targeted them for it.

The Blue Eagle Guard might not be the righteous organization it claimed to be. There was no telling if they had any qualms about committing clandestine deeds.

However, Jiang Chen wasn’t concerned at all.

The Blue Eagle Guard would be wise not to make a move on him. If they did, he wouldn’t hesitate to teach them a lesson. He’d been irritated enough these days due to the pressure of collecting spirit stones.

Outside, all hell had broken loose.

Numerous cultivators shouted and swore at the guards, but that didn’t stop the guards from doing their job. Many foreign cultivators were beaten up. After howls of protestation and pain, they were forced to cooperate with the investigation.

Tempers were stoked ever higher.

On hearing how aggressive the guards were, many cultivators rushed out of their rooms in a fit of rebellious rage to support the victims.

The conflict continuously escalated.

More and more cultivators left their rooms and as a result, a temporary alliance against the Blue Eagle Guard was formed.

That rather surprised Jiang Chen. He hadn’t expected the cultivators in the inn to be bold enough to go against the guards.

After all, the Blue Eagle Guard was the authority figure of the Bluesmoke Isles. No one dared disobey their orders.

Most of the cultivators in the inn were wandering cultivators from other lands. They had no support network in Bluesmoke. It would be very unwise for them to fight the guards. And yet, more and more cultivators took a stand to join the resistance.

Bam, bam, bam!

Someone pounded on Jiang Chen’s door.

He frowned. Was the Blue Eagle Guard truly blind enough to target him?

The door burst open.

Jiang Chen swept a frigid glare outside, surprised to find that his caller wasn’t anyone from the Blue Eagle Guard or a ferocious, uniformed cultivator, but a few wandering cultivators.

One of them cupped his hands in greeting. “Excuse me, brother, the Blue Eagle Guard is way out of line and keeps bullying us foreign cultivators. This isn’t the first time they’ve conducted a midnight raid and they always make a scene. We can’t let them walk all over us. We’re all ready to stage a protest. Are you going to selfishly think only of your own safety, brother?”

Jiang Chen smiled slightly. “I’ve just arrived and know nothing about this city. What’s wrong about the Blue Eagle Guard investigating and searching for wanted criminals?”

“Ai, it’s more than wrong. Do you know how many innocent people they’ve victimized lately? How many have been falsely accused?”

Jiang Chen shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Let’s put it this way, brother. The Blue Eagle Guard claims to be searching for wanted criminals, but really, no one knows who they’re looking for. If you have a lot of valuable items on you, you better be careful. It won’t end well for you if they find out.”

A surprised look blossomed across Jiang Chen’s face. “What would my property have anything to do with them?”

“Ha, that’s for them to say! This is Bluesmoke, not your home. Your words don’t count. Here, they have the final say. So are you joining us or not?” the cultivator asked in a frustrated tone. “If you hide in here and something happens to you, don’t blame us for not giving you a hand then.”

In other words, if he didn’t help when it was needed, he only had himself to blame when he was targeted and no one helped.

Jiang Chen huffed out a silent laugh. He wasn’t a selfish man. However, he didn’t want to blindly follow the herd before he had a good grasp of the situation. He smiled faintly. “You guys can go on. I’d like to see what’s happening first.”

The cultivator scoffed angrily and waved a hand in the air. “Fine. Good luck with that.”

He and his companions stalked away without another word.

When Jiang Chen returned to the room, Huang’er frowned at him. “It looks like the Blue Eagle Guard isn’t exactly a lawful organization.”

“I hope they don’t bother us.” Jiang Chen smiled. “Why don’t we go take a look?”

The din outside was making it impossible for Huang’er to meditate. She nodded. “Alright, let’s do that. We can see if they’re actually searching for criminals, or just using that as an excuse to rob people.”

There was a patch of empty ground outside the inn. The inn itself had been encircled by the Blue Eagle Guard. Not even a fly would be able to escape.

More and more wandering cultivators swarmed to the empty ground, standing up to the guards. It was chaotic, and tension was thick in the air. Both sides were running high on emotions.

Jiang Chen and Huang’er stayed on the fringes of the crowd and calmly looked on. Jiang Chen took note of a thing or two.

Suddenly, the guards parted to the side to make way for a group of people. At the center of the newcomers was a burly man with eyes as bright as lightning, his presence remarkably fierce.

“Commander Yan!”

“Greetings, Commander Yan!” All guards bowed to the man in unison.

Commander Yan’s presence loomed over all the protesting wandering cultivators. His piercing gaze swept through the crowd and made everyone shudder.

“Ninth level empyrean?” This took Jiang Chen off guard. He hadn’t expected someone of that level to be part of the Blue Eagle Guard.

Bluesmoke was merely a second tier faction, with quite a ways before they reached their first tier brethren. And yet, the commander of the Blue Eagle Guard was a ninth level empyrean cultivator!

There was no denying that Myriad Abyss was powerful.

However, Jiang Chen could tell that the commander had only just entered ninth level empyrean. His consciousness would definitely overpower the commander’s.

“The Blue Eagle Guard is fulfilling our duty as the law enforcers. What do you think you’re doing?” Commander Yan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it demanded respect.

The crowd fell silent. Previously shouting cultivators timidly averted their eyes, worried that the commander would target them.

“Any objections to us doing our job?” the commander slowly asked again.

A cultivator took a step forward at this time.

“Commander Yan, we came to do business in Miracle City because we admire the city. However, the Blue Eagle Guard kept intervening during this time and always causes a great disturbance. How do we know you’re actually doing your job or if there’s something nefarious going on? None of us know if the people you arrested are wanted criminals!”

Jiang Chen knew the man was in trouble as soon as he’d taken a stand.