Chapter 722: Barred At The Northern Gate
Jiang Chen woke up early the next morning with the intention of seeking out Huang’er and continuing their conversation. However, he was a step too late. She’d left behind a note telling him that she was going for a stroll. She also mentioned that there would be no need to wait for her, but to leave the city first. Jiang Chen knew that Huang’er had done this on purpose, and he was greatly touched by the kind gestures of this considerate girl. Although she was an incredibly beautiful, highly prestigious, and extremely talented young lady of a noble house, she was also extremely considerate and possessed none of the headstrong and unruly temper a noble lady usually had in spades. Instead, she had a open and natural bearing. Since Huang’er was rather insistent on this course of action, he naturally wouldn’t continue to turn down her offer.
He arrived at Lord Seven’s doorstep on time. The butler had been waiting at the door since daybreak. He looked noticeably more enthused than he was yesterday when he’d glimpsed Jiang Chen. “My lord, we have prepared the ingredients.”
When he heard Lord Seven’s tone, Jiang Chen immediately knew that the Wei young master was doing well. He nodded indifferently, “Let us depart then. Allow me to confirm with you one last time: are you sure you can do this?”
Lord Seven naturally knew what Jiang Chen meant. He smiled, “I wouldn’t make a joke at my young master’s expense, no matter what.”
While they conversed, the door to the neighboring room opened to reveal a young man whose face was tinged with a faint purple hue. He staggered for a brief moment before making his way unsteadily towards the two.
“Why have you come out, young master?” Lord Seven hastily went over to support the young man.
“I’m fine,” The young man waved Lord Seven away. He nodded kindly at Jiang Chen, “You must be the venerable pill king who cured me of the poison?”
“It seems that you’re recovering quite nicely.” Jiang Chen examined this person with a critical eye before smiling faintly.
This young man obviously knew how to conduct himself. He dropped into a deep bow in front of Jiang Chen, “I am Wei Jie, the descendent of a ninth rank aristocratic family in Veluriyam Capital. I thank you for saving my life, venerable pill king.”
Jiang Chen smiled indifferently, “It’s nothing, we just happen to have what each other needs. Besides, your current state is only temporary.”
Wei Jie didn’t take offense at Jiang Chen’s words. He smiled slightly, “I believe that I will definitely make a full recovery with your aid, venerable pill king.”
Seeing that this Wei Jie didn’t possess the arrogance that most aristocratic descendants did, and that he was extremely cognizant in how to interact with others, Jiang Chen’s impression of Wei Jie improved slightly. “Let’s go,” Jiang Chen nodded, not wanting to talk more than necessary.
Lord Seven looked surprised, “Don’t you have a companion, my lord?”
“He was just a friend of mine from the city. He purposely came to visit me when he heard that I was here. He’s since left.”
The reason Jiang Chen purposely mislead them was because he didn’t want them to know that he was the person the Eternal Celestial Capital was hunting for. As expected, both Lord Seven and Wei Jie exchanged a brief glance after hearing Jiang Chen’s words. The last bit of suspicion they held in their hearts vanished completely. However, truth be told, they didn’t really care if this venerable pill king was Jiang Chen or not. Wei Jie’s life was more important than anything else, so even if he really was Jiang Chen, there was nothing wrong with using each other to fulfill their respective needs.
As they walked down the streets of Myriad Peoples City, Jiang Chen felt rather calm as he took in the culture and customs of Myriad Peoples City. He had already made up his mind to make this gamble; there was no point worrying over it now.
They arrived at the northern gate an hour later. As they had imagined, the northern gate had became a lot different after the Eternal Celestial Capital had taken over. Sentries flocked everywhere, and the gate itself was enveloped in all sorts of restrictive formations. It practically looked like a dragnet of sorts.
There was no less than a thousand people queuing up to exit. It was obvious that the inspection process was incredibly complicated and quite time consuming. However, it was obvious that those from Veluriyam Capital wouldn’t bother to wait in a line. While the group might have looked helpless and passive when Wei Jie was hurt, their sense of superiority as a person from Veluriyam Capital was all too obvious at the moment.
Under Lord Seven’s guidance, they ignored the line and cut right through the crowd to the city gate. The queuing wandering cultivators were obviously used to such groups already. After all, all parties from Veluriyam Capital never had any intention of lining up for their turn, no matter what their status was. The Eternal Celestial Capital wouldn’t force them to stand in line either, so they hadn’t stopped Veluriyam Capital groups from jumping the line. When Lord Seven walked up to the inspection point, some Eternal Celestial Capital disciples were already holding up strange-looking mirror fragments, wanting to flash them across Lord Seven’s face.
Lord Seven immediately pushed them out of the way and hectored, “What are you doing?”
Those belonging to the Eternal Celestial Capital quickly surrounded them as a middle level manager walked over to meet Lord Seven. He looked Lord Seven up and down several times before politely saying, “Please cooperate with us, sir.”
Lord Seven grinned widely, “Are you someone from Myriad Peoples City?”
“I am an inspector from the Eternal Celestial Capital. I have been ordered by my superiors to hunt…”
“The Eternal Celestial Capital?” Lord Seven interrupted brusquely before the other could finish, “Is the Myriad Peoples City part of Eternal Celestial Capital’s territory now?”
“Sir, the Myriad Peoples City is not part of the Eternal Celestial Capital’s domain, but we have already come to an agreement with the city lord of Myriad Peoples City about this temporary situation with the northern gate. Please cooperate with us, sir.”
Lord Seven laughed loudly, “Cooperate? And why should we cooperate with you? I’ve passed through this northern gate at least eighty times already, but this is a first for me. What, the Eternal Celestial Capital comes all the way to the doorstep of Veluriyam Capital to inspect Veluriyam Capital citizens? What kind of colossal joke is this?”
The expression of the person in charge darkened, “Please don’t make this difficult for us, my friend. If you are someone from Veluriyam Capital, then you are definitely not our target. So what’s the harm of cooperating with us? Just think of it as doing us a favor.”
They had encountered several groups from Veluriyam Capital over the past few days. After some negotiation, the majority had shown the Eternal Celestial Capital some face. The Eternal Celestial Capital also prepared a small gift in return as a show of their thanks, leaving both sides happy at the outcome. However, Lord Seven obviously had no plans of showing the Eternal Celestial Capital face. He sneered, “Do you a favor? Who will do us a favor then? You’re blocking the entrance to Veluriyam Capital and you’re expecting me to show you face? You’re funny, real funny!”
Lord Seven was in an extremely combative mood. He obviously didn’t plan to give an inch of ground. The noise from their argument alerted the higher ups of the Eternal Celestial Capital. A big man dressed in rich robes walked over, a few stragglers accompanying him. The entire scene fell silent the moment this person appeared. All whispers and gossiping stopped instantly, as if they had agreed to do so beforehand. A late level emperor realm cultivator?
“Venerable saint holy king!” Those who belonged to the Eternal Celestial Capital all greeted and saluted him respectfully. They obviously respected the big man a lot.
A venerable saint holy king? Jiang Chen’s heart sank a little. He had also heard that the Eternal Celestial Capital had sent an eighth level emperor realm expert and a saint holy king to oversee this mission. A saint holy king’s status was extraordinary within the Eternal Celestial Capital. They could be considered the top leaders of the sect, just like the venerated elders of regular sects, an extreme heavyweight. In terms of status and authority, these saint holy kings were absolutely part of the top twenty, or even the top ten of the entire sect. They were much more respected than a holy king like Gong Wuji.
“Which family in Veluriyam Capital do you belong to, my friend?” The saint holy king smiled faintly as he stared at Lord Seven. His eyes were so deep that he looked like he would see right through Lord Seven.
Lord Seven was also an emperor realm expert. However, he was only at initial emperor realm. He could feel a slight pressure fall on him as he stood up to a late level emperor realm. However, he was used to big scenes in Veluriyam Capital, so he wasn’t frightened speechless. He smiled calmly, “Venerable saint holy king, you sound like you’re going to make a decision based on who we are? What would you do if I say that I am a servant of one of the emperors?”
The saint holy king laughed, “if you are, then naturally I would have to show you respect. But you don’t look like one.”
This saint holy king named Mu cast a glance at the warriors behind Lord Seven. He possessed some level of insight, and obviously knew a little about the class and strata of the forces in Veluriyam Capital. He could see that these people were quite powerful, but it was also equally obvious that they were absolutely not direct subordinates of one of the emperors.
Lord Seven obviously had no wish to be led about by the nose. He smiled widely, “I have no interest in talking nonsense with you. My young sir is grievously injured, and we must go back to Veluriyam Capital immediately to treat his wounds. Moreover, he also carries an incredibly important and time-sensitive message for Veluriyam Capital. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let us through right now.”
“Of course I can let you through, but please cooperate with us.” This saint holy king was obviously not a pushover. Veluriyam Capital was stronger than a first rank sect, but that was only when comparing the two overall. A first rank sect might be afraid of Veluriyam Capital, but they might not necessary be afraid of every force in Veluriyam Capital. If every person belonging to Veluriyam Capital refused to be inspected, then his inspection would completely lose its meaning.
Lord Seven retorted decisively, without a single shred of hesitation, “Impossible!”
Saint Holy King Mu said coolly, “Then my apologies, please choose a different path to return to Veluriyam Capital.”
Lord Seven’s face stiffened, “So the Eternal Celestial Capital plans to butt heads with Veluriyam Capital to the end, are you? I shall report every word to my patriarch then. Mu, I sure hope you can endure the consequences if Veluriyam Capital and the Eternal Celestial Capital come to blows in the future.”
It was true that a saint holy king of the Eternal Celestial Capital’s status was esteemed, and this one’s strength was much higher than Lord Seven’s. However, Lord Seven was a denizen of Veluriyam Capital, and thus held the psychological advantage in this matter. Plus, it wasn’t like Lord Seven had never seen a cultivator at Holy King Mu’s level in Veluriyam Capital. In fact, he had seen quite a lot of cultivators who were stronger. That was why Lord Seven wasn’t afraid of the saint holy king at all in this game of brinksmanship.
Saint Holy King Mu’s expression sank slightly. If he was to be honest with himself, he didn’t wish to make the situation any bigger than it was already either. After all, they were already risking the wrath of Veluriyam Capital with their current actions of blocking the gate. If these people really went back and twisted his words, it might actually turn into an immense misunderstanding. The Eternal Celestial Capital had absolutely no intention of provoking a giant like the Veluriyam Capital.
“Can we speak somewhere else, my friend?” Holy King Mu’s attitude softened just a little.
“There’s no need. We will pass through this Myriad Peoples City northern gate in precisely the manner we used to in the past. You don’t need to go fishing for our identities either. House Wei has never been inspected in Veluriyam Capital, but now you’re saying that we have to be inspected in a tiny place like Myriad Peoples City? Dream on!” Contrary to his looks, this Lord Seven was apparently an expert when it came to borrowing his force’s prestige.
