Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Sacred Institute had once led all the races through the Era of Darkness and into new horizons. When it had outlived its usefulness, the Sacred Institute was abandoned.
Now, however, the current wisdom and most people’s instincts pointed to a new calamity coming. So, once again, all the races had decided to pin their hopes on the Sacred Institute.
What was different about the current situation was that the former Sacred Institute had gained its success step by step. However, the current Sacred Institute had been created from all the races’ wishful thinking in the face of the upcoming calamity, and it was really nothing more than a copy of the old one.
“Women are really untrustworthy.”
Not until he had heard about the Sacred Institute did Jiang Chen understand why Mrs. Yang had been behaving like she had. He had naively thought it was because of his infinite charm. In fact, Mrs. Yang hadn’t been lying to him. She wasn’t a slutty woman. She had only wanted to find a safe haven for herself.
Her husband had died on the Alien Battlefield, and therefore she’d lost any sense of protection ever since. As a single woman with a child, she had found herself targeted by greedy clansmen who wanted to rob them of their property, or to do even worse.
Jiang Chen’s abilities had been proven by everything that he had accomplished over the years.
Jiang Chen’s refusal made Mrs. Yang feel more secure. It at least proved that Jiang Chen was not a lecher who would dump her after sleeping with her. So, Mrs. Yang had not given up on that idea yet.
“The Heavenly Palace and the celestial palace have proven themselves. The next thing for you to do is to try and gain the recognition of all the other races.
“It would be a good start to collaborate with the Sacred Institute.”
They had had a successful conversation, but they still needed to get rid of all the people who were still standing around outside the Heavenly Palace, wanting to settle scores with Jiang Chen.
The Sacred Institute offered Jiang Chen very good terms. If Jiang Chen said yes, that would also be a very respectful gesture toward the Sacred Institute. It would be a win-win situation.
“I cannot say yes,” said Jiang Chen.
“May I know why not?” Mrs. Yang was very surprised. She couldn’t think of any reason for Jiang Chen to decide to say no.
“I respect the Sacred Institute a lot, but there is no way I’m ever going to allow the Sacred Institute to impose its will on the Heavenly Palace.
Jiang Chen continued seriously, “We from the Heavenly Palace will occupy all of the Spiritual Lands of those three forces who originally came from the Worlds of Meson.”
As to why, it was of course because of ambition. He didn’t want to split the revenues with the Wizards and others.
“Once those three forces give their Spiritual Lands to the Sacred Institute, all the races will be eligible to fight against you in any upcoming battle.
“Would you be happy if there was a force with more than ten Venerable Sovereigns hovering around the Heavenly Palace?”
“A force with more than ten Venerable Sovereigns?” This remark made Jiang Chen pause for a minute. He had to take it seriously.
“And that isn’t the only powerful force on the Endless Continent.”
Mrs. Yang knew that Jiang Chen didn’t know about the current situation on the Endless Continent very well after the three years that he had been away.
“100 saints and 500 reincarnated souls of the Sovereign Spirits have all become Venerable Sovereigns,” Mrs. Yang said, surprising Jiang Chen.
Three years had passed, and the Sovereign Path had ended. Jiang Chen had missed it. The Sovereign Path had been a big success. It had created a lot of young Venerable Sovereigns.
Saints were selected from the Sacred Spirits, and Jiang Chen had been one of them.
The World of Bloody Sea was open to the world again after the disturbances there had subsided. Saints were allowed to go there to have adventures again.
“Besides that, there were thousands of seniors stuck at the peak of Martial Arts Saint. More than half of them had a breakthrough with the help of the Sovereign Spirits.
“The number of Venerable Sovereigns is rising quickly. And your Heavenly Palace has only one at the moment.
“The Heavenly Palace is in a unique position. You haven’t been driven away forcefully because the Sacred Institute remembers that it was you who saved the world.”
Mrs. Yang then disclosed her threat, more surprising news to him.
“If you don’t collaborate with the Sacred Institute, the Heavenly Palace will have a tough time.” In the end, Mrs. Yang had finally told him the most important thing.
“In other words, there are thousands of Venerable Sovereigns now?” asked Jiang Chen.
“And this is only a conservative estimate. And not all Venerable Sovereigns are like Mo Kuang.”
Jiang Chen sat down and contemplated these issues deeply.
He definitely didn’t believe everything, or really even half, of what Mrs. Yang had said.
Maybe there were tons of Venerable Sovereigns, but the Heavenly Palace wasn’t really in such a terrible situation as she was trying to imply.
“Hasn’t the Spiritual Land Battle got a guarantee of fairness?” Jiang Chen asked after a second.
Mrs. Yang then realized that, in spite of everything, Jiang Chen was going to do exactly what he wanted to do anyway.
Her demeanor became much colder and she got ready to leave, putting on her shoes silently.
“Mrs. Yang, even though I’ve refused to share with the Wizards, etc., it doesn’t mean I won’t collaborate with the Sacred Institute.”
“You don’t really want to collaborate. You have refused to accept the Sacred Institute’s verdict, and that will shake the Sacred Institute’s prestige that we’ve just gained.
Mrs. Yang continued coldly, “Jiang Chen, you’ve antagonized so many people throughout your life. It’s partly because of your own character. You are too showy. You don’t know how to be humble at all.”
“But I am a swordsman, aren’t I?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Jiang Chen said with a small smile, “I have an idea. I negotiate with the Sacred Institute concerning the revenues gained on those Spiritual Lands. The Heavenly Palace will get 70 percent, and they will get 30 percent.”
“They consist of three forces. That means each of them will only get 10 percent? There is no way they will agree to this proposition,” Mrs. Yang said in surprise.
“Okay, well it’s no longer any of my concern. The Heavenly Palace didn’t refuse the Sacred Institute’s request outright. We only want them to make some small compromises,” said Jiang Chen.
He’d saved the Sacred Institute’s face, which was beneficial for the Heavenly Palace.
His master had been completely overburdened over the last three years for the sake of the Heavenly Palace. He wasn’t going to let the Heavenly Palace get stuck in a crisis because he was feeling arrogant..
As the Supreme Venerable of the Heavenly Palace, he had the responsibility to lead the Heavenly Palace into a new, bright period.
Mrs. Yang’s demeanor got a little warmer. She frowned slightly. She was thinking.
“If the Sacred Institute forced the Heavenly Palace to agree with what it wanted simply for its own prestige, wouldn’t that go against its original intentions?” Jiang Chen seized the chance of her silence to speak.
He said, “Instead, if the Sacred Institute is just and fair and pays equal attention to all parties’ needs, even if the negotiation fails, it shouldn’t have anything to do with the Sacred Institute. And this is exactly what the Sacred Institute should aspire to.”
“No wonder you’ve got so many extremely pretty women. You are really eloquent.”
Mrs. Yang shook her head. She had been persuaded.
“You’re right, but there is one thing I need to confirm with you. Do you truly want to collaborate with the Sacred Institute or do you just want to take advantage of it?” Mrs. Yang showed that charming smile again. She was extremely beautiful.
“Are you going to offer me your full sincerity again?”
Jiang Chen was kind of worried that she would take off her clothes again.
“I don’t want to be refused twice in one day,” Mrs. Yang said in a soft voice. She came up to Jiang Chen in a sultry fashion.
However, she did nothing but gaze at Jiang Chen with amorous eyes.
Her face had not been affected by the passing of time at all. Her skin was so soft that it seemed as if it could be broken by a mere touch.
Jiang Chen knew what she meant. He gave her a gentle kiss on her red lips.
“That’s great.”
Mrs. Yang smiled happily. This kiss made her feel young again. She felt as though she was in love.
“Get prepared to deal with their anger,” Mrs. Yang said to him.
“I’ve been preparing for it.”
Then the two of them walked out of the Cloud Reaching Hall.
Mrs. Yang announced the Heavenly Palace’s proposal.
“Those are our Spiritual Lands. The Heavenly Palace wants 70 percent? And we’ll have to split the remaining 30 percent?”
As Mrs. Yang had predicted, the three teams flew into a rage.
However, they didn’t even have the time to express their anger, because the Devil Slaughter Tower rose again.
“You’d better not threaten me. Otherwise, with a slight shake of my hand, we’ll have no idea who’ll die,” said Jiang Chen.
Everyone who was standing on the plaza in front of the Heavenly Palace knew the fame of the Devil Slaughter Tower.
“You are not showing respect to the Sacred Institute. This was not what they were suggesting.” This female Wizard was trying to sow dissension between the Heavenly Palace and the Sacred Institute.
But Mrs. Yang responded right away in a righteous manner. “The Sacred Institute is only the negotiator of this problem. We will respect all of your opinions. We will neither show bias for anyone nor vent our anger on anyone.”
Next to her, seeing her serious look and thinking of what had happened in the palace, Jiang Chen smiled to himself.
This feeling he had when he was bullying others turned out to be really great.
