Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 269: Chapter 242: Household Slaves Take a Side, Divine Sense Breakthrough

...

The Imperial Mausoleum, rear courtyard.

Chen Yin held a cup of wine, and Sun Hao, who was opposite him, raised his cup as well.

”I heard the True Master has already promised Tributor Chen a path to Core Formation, so Tributor Sun must be next in line. We are merely household slaves. Tributors like you are what the True Master truly needs. If you reach Core Formation in the future, I hope you’ll look out for us.”

Chen Yin also wore a mask, but his was a featureless golden face. Only one person in the entire Imperial Mausoleum was qualified to wear the ghost mask:

Thousand Eyes True Master!

”Chen Che?”

Sun Hao’s expression soured, and he couldn’t help but snort coldly. ”I can see he’s a rebellious sort, not the type to remain a subordinate for long. His heart isn’t sincere!”

With Chen Che under the protection of Thousand Eyes True Master, Sun Hao truly had no opportunity to make a move against him.

His previous attempts to probe him had been rebuffed, leaving him naturally resentful.

”How so?”

Chen Yin narrowed his eyes slightly.

”We’ve been running ourselves ragged for the True Master’s Divine Statue, sparing no effort and pouring our hearts and souls into it. But he refines one cauldron of pills and casually heads back to Jinyun Valley.”

Sun Hao sneered. ”He clearly doesn’t take the True Master’s affairs to heart.”

Just as Chen Yin was about to speak, his brows suddenly lifted.

Turning his head, he saw Chen Xi standing respectfully outside the courtyard. After a moment of thought, he asked, ”Weren’t you assisting Tributor Chen with his alchemy? Why have you returned?”

”Reporting to the Old Ancestor. Greetings, Tributor Sun.”

Chen Xi cupped his fists and said respectfully,

”Tributor Chen finished refining three cauldrons of pills and sealed his furnace for the day, so I returned. He... he said he needs to rest for three days and told me to go back then.”

”...See!”

Sun Hao’s face was a mask of ’I told you so’. ”This is worse than not taking the True Master’s affairs to heart—he simply doesn’t care at all! Acting like this, he might even jeopardize the True Master’s trip to the Black Tortoise Calm Sea...”

”Indeed, indeed.”

Chen Yin agreed with a smile.

The two then continued their pleasant conversation for another hour before Sun Hao finally took his leave.

The moment he left, Chen Yin’s smile vanished. He turned to Chen Xi. ”You heard what was just said. Tell me, what are Tributor Sun’s intentions?”

”It’s nothing more than an attempt to ostracize Tributor Chen and to get us to sow discord in front of the True Master.”

Chen Xi answered honestly.

Their talent for Cultivation might have been lacking, but having come from the Royal Family, they understood political infighting like the back of their hands. On the surface, Sun Hao was complaining on behalf of Thousand Eyes True Master, but in reality, he was just playing mind games.

If you whisper enough lies in someone’s ear, they eventually sound like the truth.

”We’re not getting involved in their affairs.”

Chen Yin nodded slightly and tapped his fingers. ”Where are the pills Tributor Chen refined?”

Chen Xi quickly presented the pills.

He understood what his Old Ancestor meant.

Before, they were emperors who only needed to balance their subjects. But now, before Thousand Eyes True Master, they were the subjects.

Moreover, while Chen Che’s talent for alchemy was considerable, Sun Hao’s aptitude for Beast Taming was not to be underestimated either. The conflict between the two Tributors was like another political struggle, and they had no need to take a side. The best strategy was to help neither and offend neither.

Only by having both sides try to win them over could they reap the greatest benefits.

The so-called art of power was nothing more than mastering the intricacies of human relationships.

”So many?”

He casually opened the vial and tipped it over. Eleven pills immediately rolled out. When he saw the quality of the pills, Chen Yin’s eyelid twitched, and he asked in astonishment,

”From just three cauldrons, he refined so many, all of this quality? Did he really refine these today?”

”Yes.”

Chen Xi immediately recounted the events of the day’s alchemy session.

”He actually possesses such talent in the Dao of alchemy?”

After listening, Chen Yin let out a long breath, staring at the pills in his hand as if stunned by their very existence.

”Absolutely superb. I admit I am his inferior.”

Chen Xi spoke the truth. ”Today, Tributor Chen refined them three times right in front of me, without holding anything back. Yet, I still can’t figure out how to refine the Yin Spirit Pill. Perhaps it would take me years of painstaking effort...”

CRACK!

His five fingers crushed the teacup, spilling tea everywhere, but Chen Yin seemed completely unaware, a testament to the shock he felt. ”Is the gap between us really that wide?”

”Yes!”

Chen Xi nodded bitterly.

But he received no response. He only saw Chen Yin sitting there, fingers tapping the table, seemingly pondering something. He remained like that for nearly a full hour. Finally, his Old Ancestor clenched his jaw as if having made a firm decision and said,

”From now on, if Tributor Chen requires anything, as long as it’s not excessive, you must satisfy his requests. And one more thing. Relay what Sun Hao said today to Tributor Chen, word for word. Don’t add or embellish anything... just make sure he’s aware of it.”

”Old Ancestor...”

Chen Xi’s eyelid twitched. He looked up, speechless, but under Chen Yin’s dark gaze, he eventually lowered his head. ”Yes.”

He knew.

With that one sentence, his Old Ancestor, who had originally intended to remain neutral, had chosen to side with Chen Che.

Clearly, that cauldron of pills had increased Chen Che’s importance in his Old Ancestor’s heart.

...

”Phew!”

Upon returning from the Earth Element Star, Chen Che cleaned his ear and couldn’t help but mutter to himself,

’Being a master of time management really isn’t easy.’

His trip to the Marsh Forest and the return to the valley had caused him to miss several days of class without excuse. As a result, he was naturally chewed out by Li Tingyu. Fortunately, with his Cultivation and Realm being what they were, the most she could do was make him write a self-criticism report.

This made Qiu Beixuan incredibly envious. Anyone else who skipped class would have had to carry a cauldron and run several laps around the training grounds at the very least.

’Now that the trivial matters are settled, it’s time to start my Cultivation.’

He finally understood why so many Loose Cultivators were unwilling to join a faction. Once you got entangled in something, you had to work on it day and night. Where was the time for Cultivation?

However, while Loose Cultivators were free, they lacked cultivation resources, and their ability to handle crises was extremely low.

You can’t have both the fish and the bear’s paw.

’The Spiritual Qi in Hunzhou is truly scarce. No wonder Thousand Eyes True Master is so tolerant of his Tributors...’

He didn’t know what other Golden Core cultivators were like.

But, in his opinion, Thousand Eyes True Master was one of the poorer ones. Perhaps it was because he had settled in the Mortal World, or perhaps because most of his subordinates were Divine Dao Cultivators.

Sitting cross-legged, Chen Che sensed the Spiritual Qi in his surroundings.

However, thanks to the Ancient Energy-Introducing Technique, his Cultivation speed wasn’t too slow.

At the same time, he sent a portion of his consciousness into the Gourd.

Inside the Gourd, a behemoth occupied a corner—it was the Thousand-Eyed Divine Statue. Besides that, there were also numerous bottles and jars, including that piece of Divine Court Wood.

Ever since Chen Che discovered that the Gourd could not only isolate its contents from the outside world but also block Divine Sense, he had moved some of the more important items from his Storage Ring into it.

’Looks like I need to find some time to ask Sister Li and learn more about the Heaven-Filling Map. Maybe then I can deduce the Grade of this Gourd...’

Chen Che suspected that this Gourd’s level was not as simple as he had imagined, but the key problem was that he knew far too little about High Tier Spatial Magical Artifacts.

With this in mind, he extended his Divine Sense to cover the Thousand-Eyed Divine Statue.

”Absorb!”

BOOM!

The calm Power of Faith on the Divine Statue was disturbed. Like an anthill suddenly kicked, it instantly transformed into a terrifying tsunami that surged toward him.

In that instant, Chen Che felt as if he were in Kyoto. Looking up, he saw mortals all around him. At the moment the sun rose, tens of thousands of mortals knelt down and bowed toward the Divine Statue in unison.

As they kowtowed, the whispered prayers of countless mortals rushed in:

”Thousand Eyes Venerable, I pray for immortality! I want power that can shake the heavens and earth! Please, grant my wish! I’m willing to offer half of my lifespan!”

”Thousand Eyes Divine Venerable, I want to be the Emperor of Great Chen! If I become the emperor, I’ll definitely build you a thousand-zhang golden-bodied divine statue...”

”Thousand-Eyed Supreme God, I want to become the most powerful person in the world! I want everyone who has ever offended me to die without a complete corpse!”

”Thousand Eyes Divine Venerable, I want...”

This Divine Statue was of a much higher level than the previous ones, and the intentions within were far vaster and more chaotic, as if hundreds of millions of people were whispering in his ear.

In that moment, Chen Che felt as if those hundreds of millions of mortals were kowtowing to him, making wishes to him.

If a cultivator with a slightly weaker Divine Soul were to come into contact with this Power of Faith, they would be instantly overwhelmed by the endless intentions. They would either become mindless living corpses or be completely replaced by these consciousnesses, ultimately turning into madmen who had lost their sense of self.

But this was to be expected. After all, the people of Kyoto had worshipped it for over a thousand years. An unknown number of people had knelt before this Divine Statue, made wishes, and forcibly nurtured this ordinary stone into a Tier Four artifact.

’What vast consciousness...’

Even though Chen Che had been prepared, he still felt a piercing pain in his sea of consciousness, as if it were about to burst.

”Nngh~”

With a muffled grunt, Chen Che immediately guarded his mind and, without forgetting, mobilized his Divine Sense, shaping it into a millstone to constantly grind away at the Power of Faith, crushing the intentions within bit by bit. If Thousand Eyes True Master were here, he would undoubtedly be heartbroken.

For a Divine Dao Cultivator, these consciousnesses were the very sustenance that nurtured their growth.

Because in sufficient quantities, they could be used to coalesce Divinity (Golden Core), ignite the Divine Fire (Nascent Soul), refine a Divine Body (Divinity Transformation), and even form an eternal and indestructible Divine Kingdom.

But for an ordinary cultivator, if this vast consciousness wasn’t completely swept clean, it would instead pollute their Divine Soul.

This was especially true during the Core Formation, which came with a Heart Demon Tribulation. When the tribulation arrived, these impurities—remnants of the greed, obsession, madness, and anger from the wishes—would be amplified a hundredfold, thereby affecting one’s mind.

Therefore, Chen Che didn’t dare to be the least bit careless...

’Refining this Power of Faith is truly thankless work. There are just too many impurities. Still, the rate of improvement is several times faster than using Divine Court Incense.’

He simultaneously operated the Ancient Energy-Introducing Technique, crushed the consciousnesses within the Divine Statue, and integrated the purified Power of Faith into his own Divine Sense.

”CRACK!”

An unknown amount of time passed.

Within his sea of consciousness, it was as if a spring thunderclap had exploded.

At the same time, Chen Che’s body shuddered. He didn’t open his eyes, but his Divine Sense’s perception had expanded several times over. It was like putting on glasses for the first time after being nearsighted for years—he could see much farther:

”A breakthrough!”

”Divine Sense of the Golden Core Second Layer! Twenty thousand zhang!”