The peak of Mount Tian.
The colossal corpse of the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle was lying on the ground. It had a sword wound that stretched over ten meters long on its belly—it had sliced through the bird entirely, and the blood sleeping out was dyeing its beautiful golden feather scarlet.
Beside the corpse, Jiang He had ended his call with Three Blades Lin and Wang Hou with an upset look.
Retrieving the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle’s corpse with a wave of his hand, he could not help sighing. “Huh… the Martial Arts Department (MAD) has such deep pockets, so why are they acting so poor?”
“All I want is a few hundred Orirocks and three tufts of Sword Will Barrenwort, and they are only giving me a hundred Orirocks and one tuft?’
Most importantly, although Wang Hou had agreed to it, Jiang He was afraid from his tone that the MAD did not have that much stock.
Still, Wang Hou did say he would get him a hundred Orirocks even if he had to steal them—moreover, it was reasonable that they were short on Orirocks.
After all, Orirocks were no different from spirit stones that were spoken of in epic fantasies, and were cultivation resources of divine-tiers as well as greatly benefiting the cultivation of rank-nine elites.
Therefore, in this world where Qi had not returned for long and with so-called spirit stones veins yet to be found, everyone had to depend on heritage sites, and even those might not produce Orirocks with complete certainty.
Even if an elite unlocked a heritage site and claimed the Orirocks within to cultivate and improved their ability, those who accumulated 14 of them like Long Mountain Lin were in the minority. After all, Long Mountain Lin had reached the limit of rank-nine and fall short because he did not gain a perfect grasp over sword will, which was why for him, using the Orirocks would be a waste.
“Still, Wang Hou is a Void-tier elite. He certainly wouldn’t con a martial arts newbie like me since he promised me a hundred.”
“As for steal or extort, what does that have to do with me?”
Jiang He hence leapt, vaulting down from the peak of Mount Tian.
Up in the air, a scarlet sword light shot out from between his brows, expanding against the wind and turning into a giant sword that landed beneath Jiang He’s feet.
Whoosh!
It cut an elegant arc over the horizon as Jiang He directed the sword ahead.
When he was around a hundred miles away from Lake Kanas, he jumped out of the sky, withdrawing his Scarlet Flame Sword and casting Blind Princess’s Eight Practices to hurry on.
After all, Jiang He was keeping his little trump card in reserve, and he did not want to reveal that he had assumed the path of an immortal.
And the two eagle sisters that were aware he was a Royal Sword user were dead.
“Jiang He!”
When Chen Jingzhou and the others noticed him from the distance, they got up and came to him, with Chen Jingzhou asking in concern, “Are you alright, Jiang He? Your mount told us that you went to Mount Tian for payback… by the way, where’s Blade King senpai?”
Jiang He did not answer, and looked at the black panther that was eating fish on the lake shores.
The black panther whose body twitched and shuddered, and quickly spoke through spirit voice, “Please don’t get angry, master. I was worried about you…”
Acting cute, now?
Jiang He withdrew his gaze and laughed out loud, “My mount is merely fooling around… Mount Tian is the domain of the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle after all, and a Feral King just like the Red Toad King. How would I dare to start trouble with that bird when I’m just a rank-nine martial arts newbie?”
Even as he lied, Jiang He’s eyelid did not even twitch. After all, he was lying for the sake of Chen Jingzhou and the others—what if they were spooked if he told the truth?
He added, “I heard that the stream beneath Mount Tian was water melted from snow, with fresh bountiful fishes swimming within. That’s why I went there for a bit.”
“Anyway, it’s already one. Let’s keep going.”
“Blade King has something to do so he went back to Jingdu City for now. I’ll call the shots when we reach Tantra later.”
“…”
Chen Jingzhou’s opened his mouth, his expression suddenly much darker.
Martial arts newbie?
Don’t you think you’ve mistaken about the term?
And after you’ve just killed the Red Toad King, you’re somehow saying you wouldn’t dare to start trouble with another Feral King—doesn’t your conscience hurt?
He stared at Jiang He suspiciously…
Blade King senpai had returned?
That was possible, but was it not a little too hasty letting Jiang He call the shots?
Indeed, Chen Jingzhou was worried Jiang He would start fighting with the Tantras when they reached their Holy Grounds.
Nonetheless, the group had already finished their grill meat and washed their rack, and tidied up the bottles of condiments.
Jiang He retrieved the rack with a wave of his hand before leaping up on the back of the black panther, smiling. “Let’s go, and try to get to Tantra before dark.”
***
MAD headquarters, Jingdu City.
Wang Hou was typing away on his computer, issuing various orders and strategies down the command chain with Three Blades Lin and Zhou Yu.
“Minister Wang… it seems the five Holy Grounds are rather reluctant.”
“What?”
Wang Hou was furious. “Why are they dallying over us loaning some of their people? Do they still want to recruit disciples from our domain? Relay this to them—it’s fine if they won’t loan us their people, but each of them must give me a hundred Orirocks so that I won’t keep score against them.”
“Minister Wang…”
Zhou Yu forced a smile, saying, “The five Holy Grounds insisted that they would close their doors once again if you keep acting like this. They have a limited number of Void-tier elites needed to control the Stargate after all.”
Wang Hou: “…”
After a brief loss for words, he barked, “Did those people grew up eating dung? Setting aside Wudang, why would the other four Holy Grounds have groomed so few Void-tier elites?”
Zhou Yu said nothing.
After all, it was not his place to comment on this matter—he was not even divine-tier, just as Void-tier elites were not to be trifled with. Furthermore, it was already very impressive for the Holy Grounds to have accumulated a handful of Void-tier individuals over their thousand-year history, please!
As a matter of fact, Void-tier Elites could live up to five hundred.
Incidentally, five hundred years ago was the Degenerate Age and the era of decline for martial arts. It was the uniqueness of the five Holy Grounds and their Secret Realms that allowed the grooming of that many Void-tiers—just look at the martial clans and schools who left the mountains. How many of those had Void-tier elites?
Even if there were, they would be in tight seclusion, with some even reaching the limit of their lifespan.
“How did the old martial clans and the schools with Void-tier elites react?”
“The Void-tier elite of Ji clan of Xibei is willing to help keep the Stargate safe. It’s said that they have a strong connection with the Jiang clan of the Yellow Emperor Tomb, and had been cultivating at the Jiang clan’s Secret Realm all along. Also, Old Dong of the Eight Trigrams School is willing to fight, and Elder Luchan is willing to step out of his mountain too.”
“The Ancient of the Southern Frontier’s Miao clan is reaching the end of his lifespan, and I had yet to contact them.”
“Zhang Tianxiang, the chief of the Cangzhou’s Zhang Clan just called, saying that he would pull himself to fight if need be as well.”
Wang Hou waved him off, saying, “It’s enough to have Master Dong and Elder Luchan holding the line. Please tell Master Zhang to rest and recuperate well—I shall have a drink with him when I’m free.”
Having received his orders, Zhou Yu stepped out of the room.
Wang Hou then called for Three Blades Lin and asked, “How’s your gramps, Old Lin? Has he returned?”
As a matter of fact, the Lin clan of Jingdu city was an old martial clan with a long history too.
Aside from Three Blades Lin, the Blade King whose name resounds over the martial world, Three Blades Lin’s gramps was a Void-tier elite as well.
Nonetheless, Three Blades Lin was smiling reluctantly at the mention of his gramps, sighing. “I’ve got no word at the moment… well, it’s a long story with my gramps. He may be over two hundred, but he’s no different from a kid—what era is this now? How dangerous is the ocean?”
“Even so, once he heard that a heritage site was found at the island nation a while ago, he insisted on crossing the sea to claim that providence, only to run into the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor in its invasion of the island and had a bout with the beast, and there was no word of him ever since.”
A while ago, it was reported on the net that the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor’s attack on the island nation ended with one of its islands sunk, and the beast was only repelled when a Hua Nation elite came to help.
The incident did indeed happen, but it was a little different from what actually happened.
The reality was that Three Blades Lin’s old man could not sit and wait upon learning about the discovery of a heritage site over at the island nation. Though he arrived first to claim that providence, the unsealing of the heritage site ended drawing the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor.
Hence, the battle between a Void-tier Elite and a Feral Emperor sunk an island.
As for why the news would report that a Hua nation-elite went to assist the island nation and repel the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor… was that headline not better to the ears than what actually happened?
After all, the Hua Nation was vast and had many elites—they needed to save face, at least.
Indeed, the island nation’s media echoed that perspective might have to do with Wang Hou’s subsequent trip there.
Nonetheless, upon the mention of the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, Three Blades Lin was gritting his teeth in rage. “If something really did happen to my gramps, I’m going to kill that Nine-Headed Snake King!”
“The likes of you? A divine-tempest pinnacle martial artist like you… what are you supposed to do, behead yourself and use your head to kill it?”
Wang Hou could not help retorting, although his gaze shifted before he finished. “Hold on, are you talking about the Nine-Headed Snake King? That vermin at Lake Panlong?”
Amused, Wang Hou chuckled, “The Nine-Headed Snake King is one thing, while the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor is another matter entirely… both of them might be snakes with nine heads but they are completely unrelated. Any mishap your gramps face is due to the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor. Why would you kill the Nine-Headed Snake King?”
“I don’t care. I just want to kill!”
Three Blades Lin laughed coldly. “Isn’t it its own fault for growing more heads? Moreover, a kid like Jiang He has already slaughtered four Feral Kings at rank-nine. How could a high-mighty divine-tempest elite like me lose out to Jiang He?”
Wang Hou was a little speechless.
Aren’t you embarrassed competing against a junior over such matters?
After musing to himself for a while, Wang Hou eventually said, “Your gramps is probably fine. There’s a good chance he entered the heritage site, and that site must be extraordinary if a Void-tier individual could enter it. This counts as providence for your gramps too, and it could be a grand providence since he isn’t returning even after so long. Moreover…”
His eyes lit up as he lowered his voice, adding, “I attempted to force my way in, but a mysterious power knocked me out. I suspect that the heritage site is a relic before the Old Martial Era.’
“What?”
Three Blades Lin’s expression changed as well and he exclaimed in surprise, “Minister Wang… do you mean my grandfather might have secured a legacy from the Era of Qi Refinists?”
“That’s just a hunch, but there’s a strong chance.”
Wang Hou was not certain but…
It was very likely!
After all, the three Immortal Peaks—Fenglai, Fanghu and Yingzhou were all eastward of Bohai Sea, and the island nation was incidentally in that direction. It was reasonable that an elite of the Qi Refinist Era had left a cave from that age.
***
Half past six on the 6th of October.
Jiang He’s group of six had finally arrived at the mountain gates of Tantra.
In reality, it was not yet night at Tantra due to the time difference.
As Jiang He stood beneath the mountain and watched the stairs that stretched on into the clouds, he caught Cheng Dongfeng who was about to climb it, saying, “Hold on, Old Cheng. Why the rush?”
After that, Jiang He looked up the mountain again.
A mist shrouded the mountain halfway up, and the peak was entirely obscure.
And there was not a single figure halfway down the mountain.
Lifting a brow, Jiang He barked, “What is the Tantra Sect doing? We are here representing the country, aren’t we? And yet they aren’t even sending an acolyte to receive us?”
