“Are you sure it’s Jiang He?”
“It should be him…”
Over fifty kilometers outside Lingzhou City, both Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng were flying rapidly toward Jiang He’s house, with Wang Hou talking to someone else over the phone. “Our surveillance equipment has detected someone flying over the skies of base cities at 6.8 times the speed of sound. I can’t imagine anyone else reaching such speed aside from Mister Jiang.”
It was only obvious.
Wang Hou did not arrive at this time by coincidence, but thanks to intelligence reports.
After all, Jiang He did not cloak his figure when he returned from overseas, and it made sense if he was picked up by a base city’s surveillance systems.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Both Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng landed outside Jiang He’s house.
Jiang He got to his feet to welcome them, since the array guarding his house was still up. If both Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng entered it on their own, they would be killed by a thunderbolt at any moment.
“Minister Wang, Elder Lin.”
He greeted them with smiles and said, “What a coincidence that you would arrive now, just when I got home… I do have something important to discuss with you.”
After a little chat, both Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng turned toward the Thunder Talisman Daoist.
He had really listened to Jiang He and was looking for a house to stay nearby. Even so, there was not a single complete building around Jiang He’s house at all, with most left in ruins following various battles.
He hence waved his hand firmly and blew away the house opposite Jiang he’s house, and took out an upper-grade soul item that resembled a raft out of his Spatial Ring.
The Thunder Talisman Daoist blew a gust of air and threw the raft on the ground, and the raft rapidly expanded into a double-decked ship over thirty-meters in length.
Leaping on to the deck, he then offered Jiang He a fist-palm salute and said, “Brother Jiang He, I shall stay here for a few days. Just tell me if you need anything.”
Jiang He nodded.
As the Thunder Talisman Daoist climbed inside the ship, he did not look straight at Wang Hou or Lin Tianzheng… after all, why bother himself with two mere commoners cultivating martial arts whom he could crush with a thumb?
On the other hand, both Wang Hou and Lin Tianzheng looked utterly baffled.
Was that…
A cultivator?
They were unable to see through the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s cultivation because the gap between them was too massive, although there was no concealing the sense of danger they felt in his presence.
The two men only whispered after the Thunder Talisman Daoist climbed up the boat, “Jiang He, that’s…”
“A master whom I loaned, specializing in crafting talismans. Ignore him.”
Jiang He stretched out a hand to usher them then, saying, “Minister Wang, Elder Lin, if you please.”
After they arrived at Jiang He’s mansion and before he said anything, Wang Hou pressed, “Did you have a quarrel with the Penglai Sect, Jiang He?”
Jiang He did a double take, but then nodded and said, “You are really well-informed, Minister Wang—you even know about that.”
I’m well-informed?
Wang Hou was at a loss for words. “How could I not know that you had blown up the Penglai Sect?”
Jiang He laughed and appeared a little embarrassed then as he said, “I can’t help it. Didn’t I agree to catch two Feral Kings for the Superpower Research Department? But right after I left, both the Penglai Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect came to my house. Setting aside how they had intruded inside the array I set up and sent several Yuan Spirit-tier and Convergence-tier elites, they even sent stronger Sufferance-tier after me when I managed to counter-kill those who were chasing me before. My hand was forced… I had no ideas aside from retaliating.”
“After that, I went to the Penglai Sect and set an array to surround it. But while I improved my cultivation and suffered my retributions, and borrowed the power of the retribution thunderbolts to crack the Penglai Sect’s array, I had to change my plans because the Penglai Sect’s ancestral master came after me with a demi-immortal item… Therefore, I seized the moment when they opened their array and threw in every last bomb I planted—I mean, crafted. I ended up overcompensating and all of Penglai Sect was gone.”
Towards the end, Jiang He felt a little upset even as he spoke.
Did you think I wanted to blow up Penglai Island?
As a matter of fact, I did not. How good looking an island it was, and would I not have gotten a place to have a break when I go on an overseas trip if I had occupied it? Most importantly, there were also their riches and vault that accumulated over the last several thousand years…
But after he thrown 900 or so Doom Shrooms, everything was gone.
Jiang He could feel his heart bleeding.
On the other hand, Wang Hou was scowling.
You flattened the Penglai Sect and even talk like you felt all miserable about it. The Penglai Sect might come back to life from sheer rage if they knew!
At that thought, Wang Hou said, “By the way, the Penglai Sect is an immortal sect in the end and would have much cards at their disposal. There is no telling how many had escaped, and if they return seeking revenge…”
In fact, Wang Hou was a little worried then.
Nonetheless, Jiang He confidently said, “No worries. Don’t you know how I, Jiang He, do things? Since I would blow up their sect, I would naturally weed every last one of them out and never allow any threats to remain.”
He then spoke of how the Ten Thousand Swords Sect came to him, apologizing and seeking penance. “The Ten Thousand Swords Sect would be offering several cultivation manuals, so gift them to the country. I’ll leave how the manuals would be handled and promoted to you, Minister Wang.”
Delighted, Wang Hou thanked Jiang He repeatedly.
Still, his expression turned somber again as he mused to himself, “Promoting and when it should be promoted would require a process. Right now, martial arts are starting to spread among the citizens. If we promote immortal arts, there is a chance we would cause many people to give up on martial arts while failing to build up on immortal arts, and we would lose more than what we’ve bargained for.”
“Certainly, cultivating immortal takes a serious toll, and if one’s talent or physique prove lacking, they are fated not to make it far on the path of immortal arts.”
Lin Tianzheng nodded as well. “Moreover, would martial arts lose out to immortal arts entirely? One could reach the divine even with powerful martial arts alone, just as formidable martial artists could turn the table on the gods!”
“Is it really that troublesome?”
Jiang He was stunned.
Did cultivating immortal arts have that many obstacles and limitations?
Talent or physique?
How did he manage to cultivate immortal arts even though his talent or physique was lacking?
And it did not seem difficult to cultivate it?
Soon, the topic was drawn to the Penglai Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect again.
Wang Hou chuckled. “Jiang He, you would definitely have greatly intimidated the secluded immortal sects and demonic sects after you wiped out the Penglai Sect all by yourself. They would have to be wary of their place when they eventually show up or think about doing anything rash. And that is great, absolutely great!”
In fact, Wang Hou had another idea…
Should their country try wiping out one of the secluded immortal sects too?
If Jiang He’s homecooked bombs could destroy one, would hydrogen bombs be even more effective?
Still, Jiang He quickly refuted that idea once he voiced it, as he said seriously, “Absolutely not, Minister Wang… those elites possess extremely sharp senses for danger and they would have fled by the time you fired your nukes. With them out of harm’s reach and you only blowing up their territory, there would be unimaginable consequences when those who survived retaliated!”
“That is the first part. As for the second… the radiation resulting from the hydrogen bomb is exceedingly high. Moreover, I blew up the Penglai Sect with my homecooked bombs which reached up to 270 million tons in yield. How horrific the radiation from such a powerful hydrogen bomb would be?”
Puzzled, Wang Hou interjected to ask, “The homecooked bombs you made… have no radiation at all?”
Jiang He could not help chuckling.
My bombs are environmental-friendly and green in every sense of the word. It is basically a plant, so where would the radiation come from?
Not bothered to explain, he proceeded to the third reason as to why he would not use hydrogen bombs against the secluded immortal sects.
“According to what I know, there are plenty of Sufferance-tier and Mahayana-tier elites presiding inside the secluded immortal sects, demonic sects, and the Holy Grounds of the ancient daemon cultivators. It is not difficult for the likes of them to stop hydrogen bombs—all they need to do is wave their mystic treasure and the bomb would be detonated hundreds of miles away. How would you reach them?”
Wang Hou appeared dejected and helpless then, feeling a sense of vulnerability inside.
Were those secluded immortal sects that powerful?
If they did not have Jiang He…
He did not even dare to imagine the outcome otherwise.
Were the billions of people on Earth there to be harvested as the other beings wished?
