Jiang Chen could tell that there was a long history between them. Honored Master P'eng was expressing his resentment towards the master of the Veluriyam Pagoda, but one could tell from his voice that he didn’t just bear hatred for the late master. Rather, it was an odd mixture of gratitude and grudge.  

“Alright, the past should remain in the past. Young lad, what is your name?”

Jiang Chen wanted to tell the keeper his fake name, but he quickly realized that there was no need to do so within the pagoda. “This young lad is called Jiang Chen, but because of certain reasons, I’m now going by the name of Zhen Shi. I am the young lord of Sacred Peafowl Mountain of Veluriyam Capital.” 

“Sacred Peafowl Mountain?” The elder shook his head in a confused manner. “Never heard of it.”

“Senior, you’ve never heard of Sacred Peafowl Mountain?” Jiang Chen was quite taken aback.

“Is that weird?” Honored Master P'eng asked in response.

Jiang Chen smiled wryly. “Sacred Peafowl Mountain is the current ruling faction of Veluriyam Capital. They’ve been the rulers for many millennia."

“Only a few thousand years?” Honored Master P'eng laughed. “Do you know how long I’ve been cooped up in here? According to my modest estimates, I’ve been in here for over 150,000 years. Remember, this is only a modest estimate. The last time a genius managed to enter the Six Palaces of Heritage was more than 20,000 years ago. Jiang Chen immediately caught the meaning behind his words.

To the citizens of the capital, Sacred Peafowl Mountain seemed like a faction with very long history. After all, many generations had come and gone ever since Emperor Peafowl had come into power a few thousand years ago. This span of time was miniscule when compared to the entire history of Veluriyam Capital. The last genius who had managed to enter the Six Palaces of Heritage did so over 20,000 years ago. Sacred Peafowl Mountain probably didn’t even exist back then. Even if it did, it was probably a faction with little power. Jiang Chen wasn’t too overwhelmed by the large span of time. After all, he was someone who had lived for millions of years. A few hundred thousand years was still a long time, but not enough to shock him greatly.

Honored Master P'eng was a little surprised when he noticed Jiang Chen’s bland reaction. “Jiang Chen lad, you don’t seem very surprised by the large span of time. Does a young lad like you really know what it entails?” 

“Of course,” Jiang Chen replied blandly.

“Yeah, right.” Honored Master P'eng was skeptical. “If you knew, why would you have such a bland reaction after hearing such an astronomical number?” 

The two geniuses that he’d met before were extremely dumbfounded when they heard the number of years at play.

“Esteemed senior, must I show an over-exaggerated expression for you to be content?” Jiang Chen smiled wryly.

“Uhh…” The elder was at a loss for words. However, he still stood by his opinion. “Since you understand, why don’t you explain it to me?” 

“Even a great emperor realm cultivator will only have a life expectancy of five to ten thousand years. Rarely do they live for more than ten thousand years. One can only be free from the baggage of time when one reaches the empyrean realm. Even then, one still couldn’t consider oneself immortal. The empyrean realm has its own trials and tribulations. It’s why they say an immortal has five paths to degradation. A few hundred thousand years is still an extremely long time to an empyrean realm cultivator.” Jiang Chen spoke with extreme detail, rendering Honored Master P'eng speechless. He had originally thought that Jiang Chen was nothing but an ignorant child. Never in his mind did he think that the young lad would give him such a detailed response.

It seems like the young lad truly understands the meaning behind the years. But he is no more than thirty years old! How can he maintain such composure after hearing about such a great span of time? How steady must his dao heart be to do such a thing? 

He was growing more and more interested in the young lad and gave a long and sincere sigh. “Good lad. It seems like it’s not just luck that brought you here. Not bad. You are very interesting. I’ve begun to think quite highly of you now. By the way, you mentioned that you are now going by the name of Zhen Shi. Why is that?”

The old man had been lonely for over hundreds of thousands of years. He could no longer stop talking now that he had company. Jiang Chen was more than happy to converse with the old man. The more he could find out about the Six Palaces of Heritage, the more advantageous it would be for him. He regaled the old man about his past without leaving out any details, up to the destruction of Regal Pill Palace. Nothing was hidden, including what had happened at the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect and the Myriad Domain. 

Jiang Chen knew that there was no need to hide the truth. After all, Honored Master P'eng was a powerful cultivator from ancient times who had lived through the ancient demonic calamity. Based on what the old man had just said, he was most definitely an empyrean cultivator. Jiang Chen wasn’t sure about his cultivation level, but he was more than certain that the heritage found within the Myriad Domain wouldn’t be enough to incite the slightest interest in him. The elder remained silent after hearing his story. He sighed gently after a some moments had passed.

“It seems that after the ancient demonic calamity, the Divine Abyss Continent has gone downhill with each passing generation. What happened to the great ancient races? Where are they now? Upper Eight Regions? What is that? Is it part of human territory?” Honored Master Tiankun knew nothing about the current state of the outside world, but Jiang Chen could tell that the old man wasn’t the least bit satisfied with the current state of the human race. He also viewed the Upper Eight Regions with great scorn.

“The Upper Eight Regions, Mid Regions, and Lower Regions form the entire human domain. This junior has no information regarding the other great ancient races as they are no longer found within the human domain or the ancient texts. Oh, this junior has heard rumors about an island called the Myriad Abyss Island. It’s said that many powerful beings have gone into seclusion on that island after the great ancient war. I believe they left because the qi in the human domain was exhausted after the great battle. It was no longer a suitable place for an empyrean expert.” Jiang Chen explained carefully.

“Horse shit!” Honored Master P'eng yelled agitatedly. “Everything you’ve heard is a lie! The only reason they survived the ancient battle was because they were nothing but cowardly turtles! All experts with a backbone joined the battle against the demons! Many powerful experts fell in battle! Only vermin that hid and contributed nothing to the battle were able to live to the end!” He let out another long sigh. He seemed very agitated and upset. “I’m also a coward. The biggest coward of all!” He blamed himself.

Jiang Chen immediately consoled him, “Esteemed elder, It isn’t your fault. You were sealed in this place by the master of the Veluriyam Pagoda.

Honored Master P'eng sighed. He calmed down a little after Jiang Chen consoled him. However, it didn’t take long before he raised his voice again. “Young lad! If the human realm is truly at the state which you’ve described, I can guarantee that the demon race’s revival will spell the end of the human race!”

Jiang Chen’s heart skipped a beat. “Is the situation really that dire?”

“Of course it is!” Honored Master P'eng no longer bothered to affect the air of a sage elder. “Many great races have united together as one army during the ancient battle. Even then, we were barely able to stop the demon army’s advances after paying a great price. We lost almost eighty percent of our army. Of course, we culled their army in great numbers as well, but there were a few demons that were too powerful for us to kill. In the end, we were forced to seal them away.

“What does sealing them away mean? It means that we weren’t able to eliminate them down to their roots! It means that the demon race will one day rise from the ashes!” The more he spoke, the more riled up he became. “I can’t believe that these shameless cowards actually ran away and hid themselves in a corner of the world!  They are the scum of the ancient ages! Even if they are no longer alive, their descendants are surely as cowardly and as spineless as them!”

Jiang Chen couldn’t agree with these words. His most beloved Huang’er was from the Myriad Abyss Island, and was most definitely not a coward. She was a very compassionate person and would never run away from danger. They had braved through all kinds of dangers together. However, Jiang Chen didn’t correct the Honored Master P'eng. The old man was very hot-headed by nature, and had been sealed in the pagoda for hundreds of thousands of years. The only thing he could do was worry, as he knew nothing about the outside world. It was only natural that he would fail to control his emotions and lose his temper.

“Sigh… no wonder there have been so few geniuses that could enter the Six Palaces of Heritage. Even an old man like me is beginning to despair. Who knows? Maybe a demon spawn will be next to enter the six palaces.” Honored Master P'eng began to laugh at his own words. “Indeed, that is something that will never happen! The moment someone with a demon’s bloodline enters the pagoda, he will be struck down by the formations! By the way, Jiang Chen, you mentioned that the strongest cultivator in the human domain is only at the emperor realm?

Jiang Chen gave the question some thought before he replied. “I’ve met an expert beyond the emperor realm, but he wasn’t from the human domain. Instead, he calls the Myriad Abyss Domain home.”

“Don’t even mention those cowardly turtles.” Master Tian Kun was fuming with anger.

Jiang Chen smiled wryly. “Esteemed elder, you shouldn’t make generalized assumptions. That elder is definitely no coward.”

Master Tian Kun snorted. “Even if he isn’t, the same couldn’t be said for his ancestors and his elders!”

It was at this point that Jiang Chen realized it would be futile to reason with the old man. However, he remained firm that Elder Shun was no coward. How much courage would it take for someone to escape the Myriad Abyss Domain with Huang’er, despite its strict rules? It was a great act of treason to the Myriad Abyss Domain. Their lives would be forfeit if they were ever caught. However, Elder Shun was willing to risk it all for Huang’er. He didn’t just take Huang’er away. He also went back to the Myriad Abyss Domain to look for the Requiem Wood.

Jiang Chen didn’t know Elder Shun well, but he still respected him greatly. He didn’t think badly of Master Tian Kun either, but treated them both with equal respect. Within Honored Master P'eng, he could sense the valiance and courage from a person of ancient heritage. The ancient expert also possessed a great amount of vitality. It was beyond anything seen in a modern cultivator.

Jiang Chen explained a little more about the situation in the Upper Eight Regions. The elder cursed in a low voice every once in a while as he listened. “What a bunch of bastards! They aren’t even close to being as valiant as us, but they sure are quick to master infighting! How can they murder each other when the human race is in such a great state of decline?”

These words were obviously directed towardsr the Eternal Celestial Capital and Ninesuns Sky Sect.

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