“May I?” asked a happily-surprised Jiang Liu.
“Why not? Don’t be a stranger. Come in, come,” answered Li Nianfan with a roar of laughter.
“Yes, my beloved Master. Pardon me for intruding, Lord Saint.” Jiang Liu entered the four-part architecture cautiously. His heart was beating wildly but he tried to keep his composure.
Even though he had been staying at the foot of the mountain for a long time, this was his first time being a guest in the expert’s home. He was greeted by a thick and intoxicating Chaos Spiritual Qi as soon as he walked in. He felt his life being transformed with just a single breath and that his value skyrocketed just by being there.
He sat down on the seat assigned to him and started to survey his new surroundings which immediately gave him a new understanding of the term ‘bigshot’.
‘So, this is what a bigshot’s residence looks like. I’ve been limited by my imagination. Everything seems so ordinary, but there are unimaginable mysteries hidden. Even the weeds growing out of the corner of the walls are Chaos Spiritual Root imbued with exceptional Spiritual Qi.”
Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
In the corner of the courtyard, a hen clucked and a round egg rolled out slowly from its butt. The hen turned around when it felt Jiang Liu’s hot gaze on it. The moment Jiang Liu made eye contact with the hen, his brain went blank with a thud, and the mana of his whole body began to surge uncontrollably. The hairs on his whole body stood up as if he had seen a Chaos Beast and his survival instincts kicked in.
‘That hen’s a Chaos Divine Phoenix!’
Jiang Liu’s heart throbbed and he hurriedly rearranged his expression into a friendly smile directed at the chicken. The North Shadow Guard from the Ministry was also a Chaos Beast and he had left a deep impression on Jiang Liu. The North Shadow Guard and the hen were all from Phoenix bloodlines, but the blood of the North Shadow Guard was actually no better than this group of hens.
The expert was too powerful! Jiang Liu turned his gaze on the boiled eggs on the dining table and suddenly gasped when realization dawned on him. Such divine birds. Yet, they had been relegated to the role of laying breakfast eggs for the expert to consume. This was beyond madness!
It could only be said that there were many hidden treasures in the expert’s residence.
“Brother Jiang Liu, I hope you don’t mind having such a simple breakfast,” said Li Nianfan.
“Not at all, not at all,” he said while coughing. ‘I’d never have the chance to eat anything on this table if it wasn’t for the expert and he has the nerve to say it’s only a simple breakfast? If this is simple then the rest of the world must be eating sh*t.’
“By the way, do you want cow milk or soy milk?” asked Li Nianfan.
It was difficult for Jiang Liu to choose and he was momentarily stunned.
“I’d recommend the soy milk. It’s ground by hand, by Brother Li,” advised Dragin.
“Okay, I’ll have the soy milk then,” said Jiang Liu.
Li Nianfan nodded and said, “Coming right up!”
The breakfast was really simple. Everyone had a bowl of soy milk, a steamed bun, and an egg. They all tasted very delicious and a wave of contentment blanketed them after they had finished their breakfast.
Especially for Jiang Liu who had received the Elite Being Heritage. During this time, he had a lot of experience in chopping wood and his foundation was already extremely solid. The breakfast spread was imbued with a massive amount of aura and with each bite, he could feel his mana skyrocket until he advanced an equivalent of 100 years of hard cultivation.
As he drank the last sip of soy milk, the mana in his body could no longer be suppressed. It began to swell until finally, it became restless. Immediately afterward, his heart grew warm, and so did his whole body. A feeling of sufficient strength emerged. It was like the floodgate had been opened!
In one fell swoop, he had entered the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal! Feeling his new realm, Jiang Liu’s brain began to buzz and it all felt so surreal to him.
When he first met the expert, he was only in the realm of Daluo Golden Immortal. He was saved by the expert and it was also he who gave him the Heritage. After a while, he brazenly joined the expert for dinner and broke through to the mid-stage of a Quasi-Saint. After some more time, he broke through to the late Quasi-Saint.
Now a simple breakfast has pushed him into the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. No one could even dream it possible. The absurdity of it all was out of this world. Previously, if anyone were to tell him he could break through so many realms in such a short time, he would have definitely thought that person to be crazy and lacking common sense.
But the bigshot had shown us through experience that nothing was impossible in this world.
Under this circumstance, it became more difficult for him to tell Li Nianfan what he had planned to say. He wondered whether the expert would be angry if he told him he would not be able to chop and deliver firewood to him for quite some time.
“Brother Jiang Liu, are you okay?” asked a concerned Li Nianfan when he noticed Jiang Liu’s expression.
Jiang Liu hesitated and let out a long sigh before speaking. “Lord Saint, I have some matters to attend to so I won’t be able to deliver firewood to you for quite some time.”
“Is that all? I thought it’d be something more serious than this. Don’t worry about the whole firewood thing,” said Li Nianfan with a grin. “It’s important to attend to your own personal matters. There’s no need to beat yourself up over it.”
“Thank you for your understanding, Lord Saint,” said Jiang Liu gratefully.
“Hahaha, you’re being too formal.” Li Nianfan kept laughing but then stopped to ask with curiosity, “Do you want to tell me what this is all about?”
“Yes,” answered Jiang Liu, not planning to hide anything from the expert. “Someone tried to snatch the sword from me after they found out about the Heritage, so I need some time to solve this problem once and for all.”
“No way,” said Li Nianfan. He was very familiar with this kind of trope. After all, it was a simple ‘kill the person to steal his treasure’ cliche. It was natural for others to be consumed by greed once they had discovered a Heritage treasure and Jiang Liu was an easy target as his spiritual cultivation was not high.
However, to covet this kind of Heritage meant that the other party’s powers were not that high either. Li Nianfan became calmer at the thought of that. If Jiang Liu could not handle them then there would be others from the Heavenly Palace who could.
He decided to not be involved in this matter. After all, he was not Jiang Liu’s mother and did not want to waste his time on this kind of matter. Not to mention, the situation did not seem serious so there was no need to play the hero.
It was only natural for one to encounter many obstacles on the path of cultivating one’s Spiritual Qi. What happened next would be heavily dependent on Jiang Liu’s training and luck. It would be another matter if he really could not handle it himself and asked for the expert’s help.
All these thoughts occurred in Li Nianfan’s mind in a split second. “These people should be punished for trying to snatch away other people’s treasures! Brother Jiang Liu, this matter shouldn’t be ignored. In fact, I’ve always wanted to tell you that the sword can be used to kill people, too!”
Li Nianfan’s words sent a shockwave through Jiang Liu’s entire body. His mind suddenly became clear and even his aura became sharper. Previously, Li Nianfan had given him the role of a woodcutter. He took this mission to heart, which caused his sword to lack a certain sense of sharpness. However, with a simple reminder from the expert, his aura had been transformed!
‘I have a sword and I’ve been cutting firewood in the forest for a long time. One day, my sharp edge was revealed and I was able to pierce through the universe! What a transformation!’ thought Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu’s heart was surging and his blood was hot with excitement. He wished he could worship Li Nianfan there and then.
A glimmer of enlightenment flashed in his eyes.
‘Yes, the expert must’ve noticed that my swordsmanship isn’t perfect yet and had used this opportunity to sharpen me! Swords are meant for killing! The expert’s asking me to kill people! The expert’s using this incident to test me, to see if I can complete my transformation and solve the problem. I mustn’t let him down!’
Li Nianfan smiled enigmatically when he noticed the sharp glint in Jiang Liu’s eyes. It seemed like his pep talk for Jiang Liu had worked! This was the gift of gab. In many situations, one did not have to do much but just speak beautifully to get the respect of the other party.
“You have nothing to fear as long as you do things with a clear conscience. You can always come back and ask for my help if you really can’t solve it yourself. I’m confident any problem can be easily solved with my network of people!” said Li Nianfan in a soothing voice.
‘This means I have the expert’s backing and I can do whatever I want. He’s so good to me!’ thought Jiang Liu. Then, he opened his mouth to thank him. He was so touched by the expert’s gesture that he stood up agitatedly. “But please don’t worry about me. I’m sure I can handle this myself and come back to chop wood for you again.”
“Okay, just be careful,” said Li Nianfan with a smile while waving his hand.
The interaction between them had deepened their bond with each other. Li Nianfan was hoping Jiang Liu would one day be a bigshot himself so he could cash in on his protection.
Jiang Liu was all pumped up after Li Nianfan’s pep talk. He bid farewell to him and rushed down to the foot of the mountain to sharpen his sword.
The next day, at a distance a few hundred thousand miles away from the Fallen Immortal Mountain, stood a plain named Green Peak Plain.
Green Peak Plain’s original terrain was flat, with abundant Spiritual Qi and a lot of elixirs distributed throughout. It was regarded as a treasured land of feng shui, so many families and sects had settled down there.
The Zheng Family was originally from the Prehistoric native land. Although their influence was not small, it was only relative to the Prehistoric Immortal World at that time. However, with the benefits of the Area of the Gods, the strength of the Zheng Family had naturally skyrocketed. Old Zheng, the oldest member in the family, transformed from the original Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation base into a Daluo Golden Immortal in one night!
Now, coupled with the perfect cultivating conditions and an opportunity, Old Zheng had broken through to the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. This transformation directly enabled the Zheng Family to enter the ranks of the great families in the Area of the Gods.
This was a very happy event, so a banquet was specially set up to invite guests from all over the world to come to Zheng’s house as a guest. Of course, it was also to show off their strength.
In the past, he was just a Quasi-Saint and he was not qualified to even be acquainted with a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. Now that he was a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal, he hoped to know more people from the same level to advance to the next rank.
One could join the banquet without any invitation as long as one was a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. The Zheng Family did not dare to be negligent in this matter.
On the day of the banquet, a young man with a black longsword was seen entering the Zheng’s Family home. His face was calm and he had his aura under control. He only had to release a bit of his aura and was immediately taken to the VIP table by the servants who also served him all the best wine and dishes.
All the guests’ eyes popped out with surprise when they saw the young man being led to the VIP table for the seats there were specially reserved for those in the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. It was rare for a man as young as him to reach the realm and even rarer for them to not hear of him before.
Everybody started to wonder whether the young man had come out from the Chaos and speculated if that was how he had kept his power hidden for so long.
The young man they were wondering about was no other than Jiang Liu. He had decided to keep a high profile to attract the attention of Palm Sword Cliff’s followers. He planned to journey through the world, make new acquaintances with as many powerful people as possible, and kill every Palm Sword Cliff’s follower he came across. A simple and straightforward plan.
Therefore, he had decided to turn up here after learning that there was going to be a banquet. Jiang Liu sat at a table drinking and eating by himself.
There was still a steady stream of guests coming into the Zheng Family’s house and some of them were well-known. The servants would announce their names loudly to make both the guests and hosts puff up with pride.
“Wei Changhong, owner of Divine Sword Villa, is here!”
“Azure Python, Demon King of the Ice Heart Lake, is here!”
“Clear Spirit Hermit, the master of Clear Wind Cave, is here!”
Each announcement was greeted with gasps from the guests.
“All the Chaos Daluo Golden Immortals have come. The Zheng Family has truly become a first-rate clan. I’m so jealous.”
“Yes, the networks have certainly become more powerful, not to mention their own strength.”
“Even in the Area of the Gods, it’s extremely difficult to reach the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. I heard rumors that the reason Old Zheng was able to break through was due to a great fortune he picked up.”
Everyone was shocked and started to get lost in their own thoughts. ‘A great fortune he picked up? Could it be…?’
There were countless legends circulating in the Area of the Gods, one of which had become the most widespread and mysterious, causing a great sensation. From time to time, a great fortune capable of causing monstrous transformations could be found in random places in the Area of the Gods.
According to the legend, someone picked up a half-eaten object that was round in shape, and after eating it, he instantly broke through his realm!
There was another legend of a man who was walking along the road when he felt something dripping onto his head. When he looked up, he discovered it was unknown divine milk. After drinking said milk, the man became a genius.
There were even demons who occasionally saw broken eggshells in the woods. Later on, they found their own bloodlines evolving and going against fate after eating the extraordinary eggshells.
The great fortunes left no trace and there was no pattern to be detected. They could appear in any shape, in any place, at any time. In the end, everyone attributed it to the magic of the Area of the Gods, and those who had gained the good fortunes were deemed the luckiest people in the Area of the Gods.
“How lucky! It’s no wonder he was able to reach the realm of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal. Anyone could’ve done that if they came to possess great fortune.”
“Sigh, I wish I was as lucky as him. When will it be my turn?”
“What’s the point of training for thousands of years when good fortune will do?”
Suddenly, the Zheng Family’s servant announced in a shaky voice. It was obvious his mood was very unstable.
“The Palm Sword Cliff’s followers are here!”
