The vast training room appeared unusually silent.
Jiang He watched as Lin Tianzheng and Wang Hou traded glances, asking in surprise, “Minister Wang, Elder Lin, perhaps you find my plan impractical? If that’s the case, we could carry out a second plan, such as knocking down the doors of either the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint or the Dragoncroc Emperor, killing one of them.”
If one was killed, how could they work together?
Lin Tianzheng was not very familiar with Jiang He, but Wang Hou knew that the kid always kept his word. That was why he quickly said, “We mustn’t be rash, Jiang He. The Saint of the Sky Demon Cult is very powerful, and his cultivation is probably close to the pinnacle of Void-tier advanced. Moreover, I sensed that he wasn’t using his full power when he ambushed me, as he quickly distanced himself after one strike—I might not have been able to return alive otherwise.”
Moreover, it was all a hunch. What if the Saint of the Sky Demon Cult and the Dragoncroc Emperor were not in league?
Nonetheless, Jiang He had always preferred to kill any threat in its cradle. He was not bothered with finding out whether the Saint of the Sky Demon Cult and the Dragoncroc Emperor were actually working together, because the possibility of it made it true already!
And if that was the case, he could not afford to wait until they come charging to his house, could he?
Nonetheless, Jiang He appeared stunned and frightened as he said, “Lucky that I held back for now, and did not go after the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor. Otherwise, I might not manage to kill them with my ability yesterday.”
Wang Hou’s expression turned dark at that as he continued, “Moreover, the Dragoncroc Emperor would not be weaker than the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint, and it is backed by an ancient daemon. Elder Lin here has gathered information that those ancient daemons cultivated daemonic arts, offering sacrifices to refine their daemonic weapons and are extremely powerful.”
“I’ve already predicted that.”
Jiang He breathed a sigh of relief. “Minister Wang, which of them is easier to kill—the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor? For more assurance, I think we should go with the second plan: kill one first to take them out one at a time.”
“Absolutely not, Jiang He!”
Wang Hou exclaimed. “We need to take our time and think this through!”
“Hah! Take our time? They are ready to work together and kill me, and resigning myself to die isn’t my style.” Jiang He laughed coolly.
Resigning ourselves?
Wang Hou was speechless.
Could Jiang He have misunderstood the term?
Were they not just discussing setting a trap just before?
But as Wang Hou attempted to dissuade him again, Jiang He said, “Don’t worry, Minister Wang. I won’t go without being a hundred percent sure, and I’m not about to go looking for the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor right now.”
Wang Hou couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
As long as he listened to reason…
He was really afraid that Jiang He would be so reckless that he charged straight to Shennongjia.
On the other hand, Jiang He was thinking something else—
‘I have just ascended and could not fully withdraw my qi. Would I be able to kill the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor if they could sense me from miles away?’
What if they turned tail and fled?
That was why he should be adapting himself to his own strength, and make a move only after he fully controls his qi and not let it loose.
And that process…
Would take most of the day.
And since it would be around nighttime when he goes ahead, why would he say that it was now?
Moreover, fighting at night has another advantage—when he was done fighting, wounded or bleeding as well as having released Twenty-Three Swords to consume his spirit, he could go home and fall asleep right away.
Jiang He had thought about it extensively.
***
After chatting a bit more, it was time for lunch.
Wang Hou tried to treat Jiang He to a meal at the Martial Arts Department (MAD) to let him have a taste of the food there, Jiang He refused, saying, “Could I loan someone from you, Minister Wang?”
“It’s Yan Dehao. I want to know more about the information he has about the Sky Demon Cult. After all, knowing yourself and the enemy wins a hundred battles.”
“Alright, I’ll have Zhou Yu make the arrangements.”
“Many thanks.”
Jiang He rose to his feet and offered a fist-palm salute in parting, saying, “By the way, I’m staying at room 7014 in Hotel Yilong. Just have Yan Dehao go there directly.”
After Jiang He left, Lin Tianzheng laughed. “He is quite something… Moreover, he has the aura of a complete Golden Pellet. He must have gained great providence given his cultivation at such a young age, and it must have been the legacy of a certain clan. Still, I wonder if any old antiques are still alive in that clan.”
Wang Hou could not help feeling a headache at the term, ‘old antique’.
Seemingly able to see through Wang Hou’s worries, Lin Tianzheng chuckled, “Minister Wang, you don’t have to be so worried. Us humans have some of these old antiques still in slumber too, and acquiring microworld legacies is not actually a bad thing. If they weren’t there as a deterrent, the ancient daemons would have shown up long ago.”
“That is true… but conflict is unavoidable once they awaken. With those old antiques’ heavenly powers and depravity, who could stop them then?’
Wang Hou shook his head, dispelling the worries in his head.
Wang Hou’s tone changed and said, “Whatever, let’s not think about that for now. Right now, both the Sky Demon Cult and the daemons believe that I am heavily injured and would definitely go on a rampage in the next few days. We could use this opportunity to kill us a large bunch of Feral Kings, and if we succeed, there would be complete calm over the Hua Nation.”
“And if Jiang He cooperates… we would have a shot against the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor too.”
“I’ll go through the details with Jiang He tomorrow. You and I shall head to Lingzhou City in secret after Jiang He himself went back—when the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor come calling, even killing one of them is a great victory.
***
While Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng discussed their plans, Jiang He had returned to Hotel Yilong and began to condition himself to his strength. He flexed his muscles, familiarizing himself with every inch of his flesh as he attempted to perfectly withdraw his qi…
Then, someone knocked on his door around half past two.
It was Yan Dehao.
His burly two meters frame appeared rather ragged, and he looked curious tired. Only his bald head was even shinier now.
“You were asking for me, Mister Jiang?”
Once Yan Dehao entered the room, the smell of alcohol streamed out of his mouth.
Jiang He was stunned.
A chatterbox champion like Yan Dehao tended to be always optimistic, so why would he end up like this after a few days apart?
After a bit of questioning, Yan Dehao stammered and throw up his hands. “I’m fine. It’s just… I was undercover for so long, and not really used to life now after I came back… Sob… Mister Jiang… Y-You were right.”
Suddenly…
He burst into tears, and cried like an overgrown baby who was also 2 meters tall and over 200 catty.
That left Jiang He very confused.
My hunch… was right?
He then remembered his conversation with Yan Dehao just a few days ago.
When Yan Dehao mentioned his girlfriend, Jiang He himself seemed to have said something in the lines of… after leaving without a word for seven years as an undercover agent, your girlfriend’s children might have grown so much they could use soy sauce bottles now.
Could it be…
He was on the money?
Indeed, he did not even have to ask, and Yan Dehao started talking about how his ex-girlfriend married someone else and started a family.
Jiang He was listening happily when Yan Dehao abruptly stopped sobbing, put on a strong face and seethed, “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault. She would definitely have waited for me if I mustered my courage and confess to her before I went undercover.”
Jiang He: “…”
Screw me.
You were crying over half a day when you hadn’t even confessed?
So…
You are merely nursing single-sided feelings for said girlfriend?
Still, Jiang He could not bear seeing Yan Dehao crying so miserably, and said, “Grandmaster Yan, you should think about this way… if you really confessed back then, she would have rejected you for being ugly, so she wouldn’t have been your girlfriend.”
“And if she’s not your girlfriend, what does she starting a family have to do with you?”
“That’s impossible!” Yan Dehao exclaimed angrily. “She would never have rejected me!”
A vein bulged on Jiang He’s forehead at that. Why can’t this brat listen to advice?
After taking a deep breath, Jiang He added, “Then let’s change our perspective. Even if she promised to become your girlfriend, humans always have a change of heart. It’s not too much even if she married someone else and started a family after not hearing a word from you for seven years?”
“No way, she’s not like that…”
Jiang He clenched his fist until it started cracking loudly and gritted his teeth, “Yan Dehao, do you believe me when I say that I’ll punch you if you keep talking back?”
Shocked, Yan Dehao promptly beamed and said, “Just tell me what you want to know, Mister Jiang. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Jiang He then asked about the Sky Demon Cult’s headquarters in detail.
By using the locations of previous entry points, Yan Dehao made a guess. “The entry points were always in the wildlands. Although they would shift around up to fifty kilometers, the general location ought to be Mount Leigong and Moon Hill in Miaojiang.”
After Yan Dehao left, Jiang He took out his phone to check the landscape around Miaojiang, along with the general location of Mount Leigong and Moon Hill. At the same time, his qi was circulating and he was adapting himself to his own strength.
Soon, the sun was gone and night has come.
It was only then that Jiang He’s aura suddenly stirred, and in the next instant, the aura of his frightening physical strength was promptly withdrawn.
Jiang He stood up laughing. “Not bad, not bad… now that my qi and energy could be retracted, I look no different from an average person before I release my power. With this, I don’t have to worry about the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint and the Dragoncroc Emperor noticing me beforehand.”
Then, Jiang He mused to himself for quite a while.
Should he go to Shennongjia to kill the Dragoncroc Emperor, or go bother the Sky Demon Cult over at Miaojiang?
Jiang He had always been prudent when it comes to deciding the fate of others, for he could not afford to be careless at all.
That was why he decided to… flip a coin.
“Heads and it’s the Sky Demon Cult, tails and it’s the Dragoncroc Emperor….”
Whoosh!
The coin jumped high in the air before landing on Jiang He’s palm.
Jiang He opened his fingers…
It was tails.
“Is it a little unfair for the Dragoncroc Emperor that I decided its fate with a coin toss?”
Jiang He thought about it, and then decided to toss the coin two more times.
Best of three and all that.
Still, he couldn’t help laughing after throwing all three times. “It seems that even the heavens want to see you die, Dragoncroc Emperor… I’m letting them down if I don’t kill you.”
All three coin-tosses ended up tails.
***
At the same time.
The depths of a big lake in Shennongjia.
The Dragoncroc Emperor was sitting cross-legged in mediation, refining the Nine Dragon God Fire Shroud.
Like a bell, the bronze Nine Dragon God Fire Shroud was swirling atop the Dragoncroc Emperor’s head when it suddenly opened its jaw and spat out a mouthful of blood essence.
Ooom!
The blood essence fused inside the Nine Dragon God Fire Shroud, causing it to shine brightly.
All the light receded in the next instant, and the Nine Dragon God Fire Shroud shrank down to three-inches and landed on the Dragoncroc Emperor’s palm.
Delighted, he laughed out loud, rose and strode out of his lake. “Now that I’ve fully refined the Nine Dragon God Fire Shroud and gained great strength, I shall move to rendezvous with the Sky Demon Cult’s Saint tomorrow at Lingzhou.”
The appointed day was at hand!
There was a flash of killing intent in the Dragoncroc Emperor’s eyes just then…
Tomorrow, Jiang He shall die!
