Chapter 444: Envoy from the Regal Pill Palace

Ye Chonglou’s words were so shocking that even Forefather Thousandleaf’s facial expression changed drastically.

It was rather Jiang Chen who recalled a matter that had come and gone. When he’d returned to the Jiang Han territory once, he’d put his younger cousin Jiang Yu in charge of a spirit garden.

However, all of the medicine ingredients in that patch of land had matured overnight.

When Jiang Chen had investigated and sent people out to do the same, he’d come to the conclusion that it was a place of great ill.

That the spirit ingredients had ripened overnight was actually a very inauspicious sign.

When he’d left the Eastern Kingdom, he’d taken his closest family with him from the Jiang Han territory and hadn’t continued pursuing the matter.

The reason was simple, he’d ascertained that it was an omen of great ill, and so he hadn’t wanted to uncover or provoke this trouble.

When he heard Lordmaster Ye Chonglou’s words, he felt that there was a great possibility to the Lordmaster’s words.

“Chonglou, you say that our sixteen kingdom alliance is a place where demons are sealed?” Thousandleaf found this a bit hard to believe. “If this is so, then why does the Sky Sect want to set up a division here?”

“I’m only speculating. A great sect as the Sky Sect may not fear the demon race. In addition, the fringes of this seal are the most advantageous place for observation. The place of the seal also encompasses the fortunes of the demon race. If the Sky Sect wishes to grow stronger, then there is much benefit to be had in the fortunes, treasures, and various foundations of the demon race. However, there is too little information in the world about the demon race. I can’t fathom why the Sky Sect is setting up a base of operations here either. However, if there’s a reason for what interests them in such a poor backwater here, the only one would be the seal.”

Ye Chonglou’s information was quite limited, and he had a pitifully low understanding of the ancient demon race.

So although his theories were flabbergasting, they didn’t convince forefather Thousandleaf.

It was rather Jiang Chen who found this very plausible.

“Jiang Chen, what do you think about the Regal Pill Palace’s suggestion?” Forefather Thousandleaf was not very interested in talk of the sealing grounds of the demon race. He changed the topic with a question to Jiang Chen.

“The two forefathers should make the decision in great matters of the sect. Just let Jiang Chen know if you need me to do anything. I will not refrain from doing anything that is within my abilities.”

Thousandleaf was quite satisfied with this response and smiled. “We plan on accepting the Regal Pill Palace’s suggestion of an alliance, but they ask to have joint custody over you. The problem is, the two of us worry that the Precious Tree Sect is inferior to the Regal Pill Palace and won’t be able to keep you.”

Although he said this in a joking manner, it did indeed represent the worries of the two forefathers.

Ye Chonglou also looked at Jiang Chen with a hint of a smile. “Jiang Chen, I trust your character very much so, and your potential even more. By nature, you’re not a person to remain within a pond but will soar to the skies as a dragon one day. There will come a day in which both the Precious Tree Sect and the Regal Pill Garden will be unable to retain you. We only hope that there is always a place for the Precious Tree Sect in your heart. When you come into your strength in the future, please protect the sect a bit if conditions allow.”

Of the two, Ye Chonglou was more familiar with Jiang Chen, so his words were direct and a call to the heart.

In reality, Ye Chonglou trusted Jiang Chen and knew that he was a loyal person who treasured comradeship. He would’ve done so even without these words from the forefathers.

Ye Chonglou was saying this for Thousandleaf’s ears in order to abate his concerns and take out the best resources for Jiang Chen to use, to fully cultivate and help Jiang Chen.

“Please be at ease, forefathers. I have never been one to forget my roots. What I have comprehended and gained beneath the branches of the Precious Tree during this time makes me feel that I share part of my destiny with it. Once a disciple, always a disciple. No matter what disasters occur, as long as I have one breath of life in me, I will ensure that the Precious Tree Sect isn’t snuffed out.”

Forefathers Thousandleaf and Ye Chonglou were all overjoyed. They knew his character, and if Jiang Chen had spoken thus, that meant these were truly his thoughts.

“Forefathers, I leave matters of alliances to you. I will take my leave now.”

Jiang Chen wasn’t familiar with the Regal Pill Garden. Even if they were a premier first rank sect in the Myriad Domain, he had no plans to leave his sect for the moment.

He was in no hurry to cultivate when he returned to his residence.

Having reached the level of spirit king and being one step away from the origin realm, this gap wouldn’t be bridged through tempering his spirit ocean and an appropriate amount of time spent in cultivation.

Breaking through to the origin realm required strength of heart and a breakthrough in consciousness. That split second of inspiration was also vital for breakthrough.

There were many spirit kings in this world, but likely less than one out of a hundred could make it to the origin realm.

Training one’s strength of heart was quite a mystical journey.

Jiang Chen always had a bit more inspiration and gains from his meditations beneath the Precious Tree. He also had the slight feeling that if he wanted to break through to the origin realm as soon as possible, he should spend more time meditating beneath the tree.

That month of meditation had swiftly raised the level of his mental fortitude. Adding his practice of the Boulder’s Heart, this enabled his strength of heart to reach new heights under this two pronged approach. He’d reached the requirements of the origin realm.

All was in readiness from spirit force reserves to his strength of heart. All he needed was that flash of inspiration.

When it appeared, the origin realm would be accessible through a simple piece of paper, apparent after one poke.

Jiang Chen was in no hurry. He knew this breakthrough required a steady, calm mindset, just  like all his training beforehand.

Great haste does not always bring about success.

One night, Jiang Chen was sitting cross legged beneath the Precious Tree, paging through the “Annals of the Mountains and Rivers of the Divine Abyss Continent”. This book, borrowed from Miss Huang’er, had been greatly useful in understanding this world.

“Does this Divine Abyss Continent have anything to do with the myriad worlds in my past life?” Jiang Chen tried to discern some clues from this ancient tome.

It was a pity that although the information within was quite well rounded, on the whole, it was a shallow exploration of the continent, not chronicling any of its secrets.

This could be viewed as a classic, and not an arcane codex.

Even so, Jiang Chen still gleaned much from it.

This book gave a thorough overview of the eight powers in the Upper Eight Regions. This also gave Jiang Chen a deeper understanding of the Sky Sect.

“So it turns out that this Sky Sect is quite particular, even the inspectors are divided into twelve ranks. With Zuo Lan’s cultivation at earth origin realm, he was only a fourth rank inspector! There are eight more levels above him. It seems the Sky Sect truly has deep foundations. However, from Miss Huang’er’s words, it seems that there are even more mysterious powers in the continent. Can it be…”

Huang'er and Elder Shun were both equally mysterious, and it could be seen from her speech and demeanor that they had quite an impressive background—maybe one even stronger than the Sky Sect?

If this was the case, why had she left her home to drift around outside? Since Elder Shun knew of her illness, why not take her home?

Jiang Chen guessed that there must be certain reasons at play here. However, he knew that there was no point in inquiring about certain things if folks didn’t speak of them.

…...

In a secret cave residence somewhere in the Precious Tree Sect, a man in an almond yellow robe sat in the place of honor, with Forefather Thousandleaf and Ye Chonglou sitting at his side.

The yellow clad man was the envoy from the Regal Pill Palace. There was a large Bagua embroidered on the back of his almond yellow robes, the unique symbol of the Regal Pill Palace.

“This is the personal letter from the head of my palace. Please take a look first.

His attitude wasn’t arrogant. Rather, a faint smile hung on his face, giving others a feeling of quiet confidence.

Thousandleaf accepted it and scanned it, handing it to Ye Chonglou for a look as well.

Ye Chonglou also took a look. The letter was written in a genuine and sincere tone. From the perspective of the Regal Pill Palace head, he was being quite courteous and kind to men of talent.

“Gentlemen, the Ninesuns Sky Sect has stretched out their hands in all directions these years with a domineering air. Their influence has not stretched into our Myriad Domain before. However, the Sky Sect has erected more than ten divisions in the Myriad Domain in the past ten years, and those are only the ones out in the open. No one knows how much influence they’ve garnered in the shadows. Although the sixteen kingdom alliance is in a remote backwater in the Myriad Domain, our palace head has long since valued the Precious Tree Sect. He does not wish to see the sect swallowed by the Sky Sect. You should also know that your strengths are precisely ours in the Myriad Domain as well. Therefore, our two sects have quite some commonalities from a certain perspective.”

Forefather Thousandleaf nodded his head slightly. The Precious Tree Sect was most skilled at growing spirit medicine ingredients, and the Regal Pill Palace’s foundations in the art of pills was the strongest in the Myriad Domain.

They did indeed have this in common.

“Gentlemen, you know our condition. Please speak your mind if you have any conditions. Since we are to ally, we should lay bare our hearts and have a frank conversation.”

The man from the Regal Pill Palace appeared quite easygoing, but that was because of his background and that his cultivation was above even forefather Thousandleaf. Therefore, despite his relaxed manner, the forefathers were still at a disadvantage.

“We only have two concerns.”

Ye Chonglou knew that it wasn’t convenient for Thousandleaf to voice them, so he spoke instead. “Firstly, how do you propose sharing Jiang Chen?”

“Secondly, will the Regal Pill Palace covet my sect’s Precious Tree of the Rosy Dawn?”

The yellow clad man smiled slightly. “The Precious Tree is indeed a treasure, but the resources of my Regal Pill Palace far exceed the Precious Tree Sect. Apart from the purple fruits holding some allure for us, we find no value in the red and green fruits. However, the purple fruits are produced once every six hundred years. This duration is too long, why would my sect think further on this? My sect has heard of Jiang Chen killing Long Juxue of the azure phoenix constitution and have divined that this boy has great fortune. Otherwise, with my Regal Pill Palace’s legacy, why would we need to ally with the Precious Tree Sect?”

In the world of martial dao, there was often a matter as “borrowing fortune”. If a notable character had innate, great fortune, then all the parties having to do with this character could borrow his fortune and find great success and prosperity as well.

The Regal Pill Palace had set their sights on Jiang Chen’s great fortune!

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter