Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The next day, rumors about the problems between Jiang Chen and Wu Ziming also spread. According to those who were there, Jiang Chen was arrogant and impolite to the Wind Spirit genius. Wu Ziming would not put up with him anymore, so he attacked Jiang Chen to teach him a lesson. And Jiang Chen was injured.
“He was only injured?”
People were surprised when they heard this. They did not mock Jiang Chen. Some people even admired him. It was because of Wu Ziming’s strength and background. Average people usually would not end up well in a conflict with him.
“Jiang Chen has a strong body.” This was the conclusion they drew.
Jiang Chen felt there was nothing to say about all this. He did not enjoy such compliments at all. Some people would challenge strong people and take pride in being able to come out of it safely, but he was not one of them. Neither did he think Wu Ziming was as strong as everyone seemed to think.
In addition, because he had been favored by the Elixir Emperor’s descendant, he received warm invitations from many forces. Even large, aristocratic families in Heaven Divine City invited him to pay a visit. Jiang Chen declined their invitations politely, with the excuse that he had to prepare for the competition.
While staying in the Elixir Tower, he was observing the Source Heaven Stone. The Source Heaven Stone was rectangular. It had a smooth, flat surface, as if it had been cut by a knife. The Spirit geniuses wanted it so much because it was wonderfully effective for practice. Aided by the stone, practitioners would be able to go back to their origins. To put it in an exaggerated way, it could take practitioners back to their innocence and hugely improve their fighting powers.
He took out all the treasures he had got from the Xiahous as well. There were four pieces in all, only one of which was a practicing resource. It was a green tea leaf. The leaf veins looked like golden silk threads woven into a tiny sword.
The Xiahous collection is surprisingly great. They even have Enlightenment Tea.
Enlightenment Tea was a valuable treasure. It was only possible to obtain it by chance. If you went to look for it, you probably would never find it, since there was no record of the surroundings it could grow in. However, the Enlightenment Tea leaves would fly up to some extremely lucky people unexpectedly when they were walking outside.
The small leaf Jiang Chen was holding was priceless. If it went under the hammer at auction, all the various forces would join the bids madly.
After the competition, I should practice in seclusion again for some time, Jiang Chen thought to himself.
In a pig’s whisper, the big day of the competition between the Elixir Fire Union and the Elixir Association arrived. It was held on the square located in the city center. It was a grand event that maybe would not be repeated in 100 years. Besides, the Elixir Emperor’s descendant was here. The whole world was going crazy. The streets in the city were packed with people. Heaven Divine City had to open their air space to disperse traffic.
The talented youngsters who had been on the Elixir Emperor’s ship were also there. And many more people arrived.
Chen Xi arrived in Heaven Divine City at noon. The party would start at nightfall. Many people would not arrive on time due to the tight schedule.
Wu Ziming, Xia Yiming, and others happened to be around the Three Emperor Territory. In this way, they made it to Heaven Divine City after getting instructions. There were many talented young people stronger than Wu Ziming. They flew across the sky in a flamboyant manner. All of them had a particular style.
With so many geniuses around, Heaven Divine City seemed a place endowed with the fine spirits of the universe, as if it was the sacred land in the Three Middle Realms.
“That’s Huo Zhengyu from the Fire Spirit. He has 108 fire clouds with him. A really strong man from the Fourth Palace.”
“And that’s Song Hao, a Sword Cultivator. He doesn’t have anything to do with any aristocratic family. Neither is he a Spirit. But he has managed to be listed in the first tier with his fantastic sword skill.”
“The Icy Spirit’s saint. She is pure, cold, and proud, like a goddess coming down to Earth.”
Jiang Chen heard people talking about the geniuses traveling across the sky, whom they had recognized, from time to time as he walked. Not until then did he realize something.
The Three Middle Realms was a mix of three worlds. It was so big and so spacious that the word genius really meant different things in different places.
Like Young Master Shenji, he was a genius, but only a genius in the Ten Prefectures. Jiang Zhe and Fang Wentian were also geniuses, but only geniuses in the Nine Territories. Wu Ziming was a genius in the Eight Realms of Spirits.
However, only a few people could be called a genius of the Three Middle Realms, because it was such a big and chaotic world. There was no ranking system functioning here, while ranking by martial arts technique types was not so useful either.
People would not bother to pay attention to a bunch of geniuses. They were only interested in the best of them. These people were called the Geniuses of the Four Palaces, from the First Palace to the Fourth Palace. What did that mean?
Ancient places like the Title Palace were not the only things the Three Middle Realms had. There were more than those:
For example, the Doctrine Palace, was also ancient, but few people knew its mystery. There had been numerous treasures hidden in it. Treasure-seekers had sought that place again and again. By then it was almost impossible to find any more treasure in the Doctrine Palace. However, the Doctrine Palace still had its prestige, and there were many obstacles in it. It had become a place where the youngsters would choose to have adventures.
There were eight palaces in the Doctrine Palace, each one with a different difficulty level. Youngsters who could get into the Fourth Palace were already extraordinary. That was why people called them geniuses from the Fourth Palace. These people quite enjoyed the attention paid to them. They despised those who had never tried to have adventures in the Doctrine Palace.
“Be satisfied with what you currently are, an alchemist. Stop struggling in the strong people’s world.” A familiar voice rang out. Jiang Chen looked back and saw a man who he had had no expectation of seeing. It was Ning Haotian. His old enemy was once again so arrogant, just like in the old times.
Jiang Chen had completely frustrated and overwhelmed him in the Great Competition of the Three Realms. Then he went to the Martial Arts Divine School. Not until this day did they see each other again.
To his surprise, Jiang Chen found he was already a Celestial Venerable. His strength was as powerful as the sea.
He was a Spiritual Venerable in the late stage. How has he made such enormous progress?
Jiang Chen found it incredible. It did not take him a long time to achieve Celestial Venerable, but he had consumed lots of resources to make it. He practiced on a ship in the Desolate Forbidden Land for eight months. Then thanks to the Jiangs’ resources, he refined some Yin Yang Nature Elixirs. And the Elixir Association gave him a Heaven Elixir.
Jiang Chen believed Ning Haotian could not have had the same resources without others’ help.
Did the Martial Arts Divine School help him? Jiang Chen thought to himself.
The Martial Divinity was super-powerful. This school had named themselves after this title to show off, but they were only a force in the Ten Prefectures. It was quite unusual. However, the Martial Arts Divine School still existed for a reason. It was said they did have a Martial Divinity!
It was impossible to verify it, but no big forces of the Three Middle Realms had ever made things difficult for them because of its name. People could not help but wonder why.
Did he get another inheritance?
Ning Haotian was a blessed one too. He had two kinds of blood of inheritance.
It was a pity that they had antagonized each other because he had a greed for Jiang Chen’s holy pulse. After being subdued by Jiang Chen, he had never pulled himself together again.
“Ah, the man I defeated more than once. You brag a lot, don’t you?” Jiang Chen was scornful.
“I’m not who I was. You’ll see.”
Ning Haotian looked very arrogant, just like the first time they had met, when he had seen Jiang Chen as an ant. Then he walked ahead, without arguing any more with Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen saw two old men, who were Great Venerables, following him and being very obedient to him.
“What happened?” Jiang Chen touched his chin. He was really curious about the changes Ning Haotian had undergone.
He thought the Title Battle was going to start soon, and then he would find out. The competition was about to start when Jiang Chen arrived at the square.
