Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When people returned to the mountain, everything had come to a close. No one could see Jiang Chen. They did not know whether he was dead or had decided to move on.
Li Yujian flew into the air from the mountain. She, free again, could not stop thinking about what Jiang Chen had told her. She had not taken it seriously, but now she could not let it go. Four Ancients of king grade and the Genuine Heaven Religious Sect working together could not kill Jiang Chen. Instead, they had suffered a great loss.
Once Jiang Chen got stronger, would the All Saints Religious Sect be able to resist him? She had no idea, and she could not find the answer. She returned to the Realm of Heaven Martial Arts with a heavy heart.
Ten days had passed when she finally arrived at the Thousand Sky Continent. By then the tragic news of what had happened in the Dark Continent had created a crisis. All the races were shocked. Even the Holy Lands and the Divine Religious Sects could not sit still anymore.
However, none of them had given any order to kill Jiang Chen. They condemned Jiang Chen, and then they went quiet. No one had sent any troops to deal with him.
Li Yujian was puzzled. She went to see her master after going back to the All Saints Religious Sect. “Yujian! That’s great. You’re fine!” The All Saints Religious Sect had also heard about the incident in the Three Middle Realms. They knew some members of the Red Cloud Society had died in the incident. Her master had thought her apprentice had also been killed by the evil man.
Then Li Yujian told her master every detail about the incident.
“He triggered the Kalpa Thunder of Wrath by breaking through to the Second Constellation Palace. So he does have a divine body.”
Her master was a white-haired old lady. She did not look attractive and seemed to be running out of vitality. However, people like her usually could exert dreadful power at the end of their lives. No wise people would ever try to pick a fight with them.
“Divine body? But it’s said there is no way to break the curse of divine body.” Li Yujian was very surprised. She knew nothing about it, but it explained why Jiang Chen’s body was so strong.
Over the ten days after this mind-blowing incident, everything about Jiang Chen had been investigated. Rising in the Realm of Nine Heavens, he had fought his way into the Three Middle Realms relying on his resolution and strong will. It seemed it would not take long for this man to take his first step in the Three Upper Realms.
At the thought of Jiang Chen’s age, Li Yujian knew it was possible.
“Master, the four great races suffered a big loss, but why have none of them done anything yet?” Li Yujian asked, confused.
“Because he was invited by the academies!” her master said.
“What?!” Li Yujian was extremely shocked.
The Realm of Heaven Martial Arts was huge. It was so huge that it was impossible to divide it by east, south, west, and north. There were numerous continents in this world—for example, the Thousand Sky Continent where the All Saints Religious Sect was located. On each continent there was at least one Holy Land or Divine Religious Sect.
In this world, a Holy Land or a Divine Religious Sect only had a say on their own continent. Of course, some superpowers were governing several or even ten-odd continents. They were the real superpowers of the Seventh Realm. However, they were still not the strongest powers in this world.
Only three academies had supreme powers: Land of Abundance, Sacred Martial Arts, and Divine Honor.
Why were these three academies so powerful? Because they were from the Eighth Realm. After the channel connected to the Sacred Zone had been closed for 500 years, the Eighth Realm had become the paramount existence. In other words, the Eighth Realm could decide the fate of the Nine Realms.
There were only three forces in the huge Eighth Realm. They occupied the world that numerous people were eager to visit. That did not satisfy them. They extended their powers to the Seventh Realm and started three academies. The three academies represented different forces.
Putting the appearances of 10,000 races aside, the conflict among the three academies had lasted for hundreds of years. Since they called themselves academies, they certainly could recruit disciples. Anyone who managed to enter any of these three academies would definitely achieve something momentous in this world in the future.
This was common sense to the youngsters of the Realm of Heaven Martial Arts. Esoteric disciples and premier disciples were nothing compared to the disciples of these three academies.
“There is no way he can pass,” Li Yujian said, lacking confidence. She thought too highly of the academies. Even though she had seen how strong Jiang Chen was, she still did not believe in him.
He was doing great things in the Dark Continent, but, to be honest, battles on that level were only entry-level conflicts here. In the Realm of Heaven Martial Arts, even esoteric disciples were only average. To put it in another way, the reason Li Yujian went to the Dark Continent to have adventures was the Academy of Divine Honor had created the youngest Martial Emperor ever. He became Martial Emperor at the age of 23. Standing in the limelight, he was respected by the whole world.
In comparison, Jiang Chen in the Second Constellation Palace was quite vulnerable before Martial Emperors.
“That’s why all the forces are still waiting. If he can join an academy, no one will try to pick a fight with him.”
“Which academy invited him?” Li Yujian asked curiously.
“All three.”
Li Yujian was speechless. After a long while, she finally told her master about the relationship between Fan Tianyin and Jiang Chen. Although Jiang Chen had never told her what their relationship was, she could tell from Jiang Chen’s reaction that this person was important to him. She must be either his biological sister or his lover.
“Really?” Her master was quite surprised. She turned serious.
“And he also told me…” Li Yujian repeated what Jiang Chen had said to her.
Then her master went to see a powerful person in a vital place in their religious sect to report it.
Li Yujian was waiting for the news. She kind of hoped the All Saints Religious Sect would release the woman. After all, she found it really difficult to forget that look of Jiang Chen’s.
“Don’t release her! She stole a holy method of our religious sect. If we release her, how will others see the All Saints Religious Sect? Besides, he is not a disciple of any academy yet!”
Unfortunately, Li Yujian heard the voice of the saint of their religious sect soon. He sounded extremely angry. Jiang Chen had killed no one from the All Saints Religious Sect. The holy method that Fan Tianyin had stolen had been returned. In theory, the saint should not have been so angry.
She came to understand the reason soon. It was thanks to the saint that Fan Tianyin was not killed. It was said he fell in love with her and he wanted to win her body and her heart. However, in the end he got nothing, so he imprisoned her out of anger.
“I’m a future academy disciple. I’m not scared of him!” Li Yujian heard the saint’s voice again. She was shocked. Then she recalled the saint had received the invitation from some academy. She supposed he had passed the test.
Her master came back soon.
“We’ll release her if Jiang Chen will join the Academy of Sacred Martial Arts,” her master told her the final decision of the All Saints Religious Sect. Li Yujian knew the All Saints Religious Sect was aligned with the Academy of Sacred Martial Arts. If Jiang Chen joined either of the other two academies, Fan Tianyin would be an important pawn for them.
Hopefully everything will be fine, Li Yujian thought.
Her master soon discovered that her proud apprentice had become a different person. It was quite a blow for her, but, fortunately, the will to fight had not faded from her eyes, which was a comfort for the old lady.
Knowing shame is akin to courage. This was the attitude a practitioner should adopt.
On the Dark Continent, Jiang Chen was still in the forbidden land. As the Chinese saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest. He assumed no one would know he was still there. He was not in a hurry to leave. After illuminating the First Constellation Palace successfully, he was hunting fierce beasts to train himself.
