Chapter 626: Who’s the Prey?
Since the formations that covered the entire Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect were now under Jiang Chen’s control, he only needed to inspect them closely to find the problematic areas. His first sweep covered the interior of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. His consciousness first swept through the tower of inheritance, then the cavern, Ancestor Cliff, the cenotaph… There were no problems with the ruins within the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.
Jiang Chen’s consciousness jumped again and explored the three platforms of the altar in the ancient herb garden on the outskirts. He finally understood the purpose of the three platforms at this time. Clearly, each level corresponded to one of the three ancestors and thus three legacies. He continued to expand his consciousness beyond those altars, there were no problems around the lake. As he used his consciousness to examine all possible areas, he didn’t find any fluctuation in the formation in the interior of the ancient herb garden either.
Jiang Chen’s consciousness continued to spread outwards when suddenly—
It came to a stop, locking onto the entrance to the ancient herb garden, in front of that great waterfall. Three figures were at the entrance to the great waterfall, furiously attacking the Rippling Mirage Great Formation around the exterior of that waterfall.
“Who’s this?” Jiang Chen investigated the three through the formation, keeping his consciousness concealed. All of them were similarly unfamiliar, but each possessed terrifying potential. Jiang Chen in particular could feel a startling power and presence emanating from the blue browed youth. He had never even seen this kind of mighty pressure in the Myriad Domain, not even from Sect Head Xiang Wentian of the Great Cathedral.
“They, they, they’re not from the Myriad Domain, are they?” Jiang Chen was greatly shocked. He’d suddenly realized that the power radiating from the three people were slightly similar to that of Ding Tong’s. It wasn’t just Ding Tong, but also the Ninesuns Sky Sect members he’d met back in the Precious Tree Sect.
“Disciples of the Ninesuns Sky Sect?” Jiang Chen strengthened the degree of his consciousness, quickly recognizing the background of these three people.
“Why have they come here?” Jiang Chen’s brain was filled with questions but he immediately realized that the Tristar Sect must have exposed the secret.
Initially, everyone had sworn heavenly oaths before entering the ancient herb garden. Jiang Chen had known since a long time ago that the Tristar Sect was colluding with the Ninesuns Sky Sect. Hence, he had even specifically reminded Elder Yun Nie to close off the Tristar Sect’s loophole. Common sense dictated that the Tristar Sect would not reveal the secret unless they wanted to suffer the tragedy of a heavenly tribulation. But when he saw these three disciples of the Ninesuns Sky Sect, Jiang Chen had a hunch that the Tristar Sect had already exposed it!
Although he didn’t know what method the Tristar Sect had used to evade heavenly judgment, Jiang Chen was almost entirely certain that only the Tristar Sect had enough motive to reveal this matter. Moreover, from the situation, they’d probably revealed it to only the Ninesuns Sky Sect. Otherwise, there wouldn’t only be these three at the doorstep.
Although Jiang Chen’s consciousness had become very powerful, he was still unable to cover the entirety of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect outskirts. Even though he’d spotted the three enemies, he was unable to hear what they were saying. However, Jiang Chen immediately came up with a countermeasure.
He descended from the tower and walked out of the cavern, returning to the area around the altar. Through the transportation formation on the altar, he returned to the altar situated in the ancient herb garden. Then, he released a pack of Goldbiter Rats, instructing them, “Go, scout the area.”
The Goldbiter Rats had already been trained to become Jiang Chen’s eyes and ears. They quickly confirmed the reason behind the group’s arrival. As expected, these three were from the Ninesuns Sky Sect. The one in charge of shattering the formation hadn’t broken through at all. Instead, he’d used some special method to create a temporary crack to enter the formation.
Jiang Chen had naturally heard of this kind of formation splitting art. Who’d have expected that this disciple of the Ninesuns Sky Sect would know such a high-level technique? He actually impressed Jiang Chen. “As expected of disciples from the Upper Eight Regions. Bringing this kind of technique to the Myriad Domain is truly overkill. To be able to even split such an ancient formation, he rather has some skill.”
Although Jiang Chen hated the insufferably arrogant Ninesuns Sky Sect, he knew that offending members of a first rate sect would have severe consequences. Even that Ding Tong, who was only a second rate disciple of the Ninesuns Sky Sect, had been difficult to face. None of these three people were weaker than Ding Tong. That blue browed youth, in particular, possessed a deep and immeasurable power. Jiang Chen suspected that even if his strength was not yet of the emperor realm, he would be fairly close.
Even if Jiang Chen summoned Long Xiaoxuan, there would still only be a fifty percent chance to win over these three enemies. Moreover, Long Xiaoxuan was one of the cards that he could definitely not reveal. Once exposed, the problems he would cause were endless. Hence, Jiang Chen sank into momentary thought. What was a surefire way to chase these three away?
If it had been Jiang Chen from two years ago, he wouldn’t have bothered making any plans upon meeting these three people. He’d have retreated straightaway. Whether he was able to retreat or not was also an enormous question. But his abilities had risen in level after two years of rigorous training, causing his confidence to rise continuously. Moreover, Mt. Rippling Mirage was now his territory. This caused Jiang Chen to feel that he still had a chance in the upcoming fight.
“These three probably want to enter to kill me. Then, I will allow them to enter.” Jiang Chen could see that if any one of these three used the formation splitting technique, none of them by themselves could create a crack. But the three of them had worked together to assault the formation continuously for many days by this point. It was very possible that they could have created a crack.
“Men die for wealth, birds die for food. It looks like even the disciples of the Ninesuns Sky Sect couldn’t help their greed when they heard of the ancient herb garden.” Jiang Chen sneered silently when he saw the insanity gripping the three.
However, a sense of sorrow surfaced in his heart at the same time. From the way things stood, the cons of the ancient herb garden appearing ultimately outweighed the pros. The Tristar Sect’s exposure of the secret would bring great calamity to the Myriad Domain. From today onwards, the Myriad Domains might not know any more peace!.
Mt. Rippling Mirage was under his control. Without the right token, no one else could enter the restricted grounds of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. They could at most reach the altar. But, Jiang Chen still did not wish for outsiders to intrude continuously into this mountain. Although Mt. Rippling Mirage was only the outer restricted area of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, it was still part of the sect’s territory. And now, it had even become Jiang Chen’s personal territory.
Anyone who ventured forth without an invitation should die!
Jiang Chen took a moment to plan his course of action and came up with the general gist of a plan. When it really came down to things, there was still some time until the Myriad Grand Ceremony, so he wasn’t in the greatest of hurries to leave. These three had used a formation shattering technique to enter the ancient herb garden with the intention to kill him and plunder his sky rank herbs. When he thought about this, Jiang Chen’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Kill me? It seems they think of me, Jiang Chen, as some kind of prey to be eaten. When they enter the ancient herb garden, we shall see just who the real prey are.”
He began to make preparations as he spoke. Although this was his territory, Jiang Chen didn’t dare to be careless. None of these three were the benevolent sort. The only enemies of this level that Jiang Chen had faced were Ding Tong and Elder Chen of the Sacred Sword Palace. Moreover, Jiang Chen had only defeated them after summoning Long Xiaoxuan. Even the weakest of these three people were at least on par with Ding Tong. And that blue browed youth was more than equal to the combined strength of five Ding Tongs. Jiang Chen had no reason to underestimate this kind of opponent.
Fortunately, there would still be a day or two before these three people cracked the formation. Two days of preparation were enough for Jiang Chen to make many arrangements. “If these three people can use the formation shattering technique, there must be a formation master among them. No wonder they dare to trespass into Mt. Rippling Mirage!”
But even a formation master could ultimately not compete with the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s formations.
“Even with the combined efforts of these three people, they still need a lot of time to create a crack. I’ll only need to eliminate one of them after they enter so that they won’t be able to use that formation splitting technique anymore. Then, they won’t be able to leave this place before the formation opens. During that time, they’ll become like turtles in a jar, waiting to be slaughtered…” Jiang Chen smiled slightly and disappeared with a flicker of his shadow.
……
Two days later, Fatty Wu Hen stood in front of the great waterfall. His forehead was beaded with perspiration but he was unusually excited, “Soon, soon. Everyone, work hard and put in all your effort!”
Boom!
Although the Rippling Mirage Great Formation was powerful, its defensive power had still degraded after lasting from the ancient era to modern times to less than a third of its peak power. Hence, under the continuous efforts of the three, they finally created a crack in the formation. When they saw this, the three were wild with glee and fought to be the first to rush in, as though they were standing at the gates of heaven.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Three shadows rapidly flew in before the formation on the great waterfall shut with a crash. Clearly, although the three had cracked the formation, it was but for a split second. Nonetheless, the three people were in high spirits right now. After spending so much time and effort, they had finally entered.
“Mm, there’s so much spirit energy in this place. It’s significantly different from the outside. It seems that this is the ancient herb garden you’ve mentioned, Senior brother Cao,” Shi Zhen clucked his tongue in wonder after surveying his surroundings. He casually pocketed a stalk of true saint spirit herb. “I hadn’t imagined that true saint spirit herbs would sprout everywhere. It seems that this ancient herb garden is truly deserving of its name!”
Cao Jin clearly did not intend to simply pluck some true saint spirit herbs after entering this place. With a wave of his hand, he gathered the other two people close to him, “The two of you, we’ll have more than enough time to pluck all the spirit herbs from this place. Our top priority is to find Jiang Chen. But there’s something I must tell you guys first—we might not be able to find Jiang Chen on this trip.”
“What?” Fatty Wu and Shi Zhen’s expressions instantly shifted. “Senior Brother Cao, what do you mean? We’ve already come this far and you’re saying that we might not find Jiang Chen?”
“Don’t panic. Initially, the Tristar Sect’s report said that one of the elders of the Sacred Sword Sect had also not made his way out. It’s very likely that he stayed over to kill Jiang Chen. Hence, whether it’s Jiang Chen or that Sacred Sword Palace elder, we cannot let them slip away. If the elder killed Jiang Chen, it’s very possible that Jiang Chen’s treasures fell into his hands.”
After the other two heard this, both of them replied, “As long as the treasures exist, that’s fine. A mere elder of a fourth rank sect isn’t worth worrying over.”
Cao Jin nodded. “Even so, the three of us shouldn’t split up too far in case we stay here long enough for catastrophe to strike. After all, if these ancient ruins turn out to be strange, we can at least take care of each other by staying together.”
Even someone as powerful as Cao Jin was being this cautious. The other two had no reason to be conceited about their abilities and nodded one after another.
