Chapter 510: Jade Emperor: I Feel Insulted!
Outside the mountain archway of the Chan Sect, the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole, the True Habitant of Tai Yi, the True Habitant of Yu Ding, the True Habitant of Yellow Dragon, and the other personal disciples of the Primeval Lord of Heaven were all standing above an immortal cloud and staring afar.
Zip.
There was a sudden but faint tearing sound.
It was the True Habitant of Tai Yi, tearing open a pack of spicy potato strips he took out of nowhere.
Masterfully opening the pack, he ate one, and could not help chuckling when he saw his fellow brother disciples turning toward him. “This is a specialty product that Jiang He’s dog brought from the homeworld called spicy potato strips. It is said to be very popular at the homeworld with the youths, and they are selling it at ten packs per immortal crystal, with a free bottle of Future Cola and a bucket of potato chips, chicken cutlets, and popcorn. It tastes quite good and suits my palate. Why don’t you have a taste?”
Seeing that the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole and the others were shaking their heads, the True Habitant of Tai Yi quickly finished the bag of spicy potato strips and took out a bottle of Future Cola, chugging it and then popping off the cap for a look, and then exclaiming in delight, “One more bottle, haha!”
“What do you mean one more bottle?”
The True Habitant of Yellow Dragon asked in confusion, while the True Habitant of Tai Yi explained, “There’s a sort of event for this Future Cola. If there’s a line ‘one more bottle’ on the bottle cap, you can take the cap to Jiang He’s dog to trade for another bottle. There’s also ‘one more box’, but those are very rare, and there might not be one even among ten thousand bottles.”
Future Cola clearly had no such events, but since Dumbo and the others had bought a lot, they directly sought out the bigwigs of Future Cola and custom ordered those.
“I see.”
The True Habitant of Yellow Dragon realized with a start, and said, “That’s quite interesting. Since it’s not that expensive, I could buy some from Jiang He’s dog.”
Not... expensive?
The cultivators on Earth would be jumping up and screaming murder if they heard that.
How expensive was immortal crystals after all?
It was absolutely priceless back on Earth!
Two years ago, the price of inferior-grade spirit stones was even b.u.mped up to dozens of millions of dollars, and it was rare to come by even if you had the money.
At present, even after Earth had gone through the Second Revival of Qi and the Hua Nation also discovered a mining vein for spirit sones, inferior-grade spirit stones were still worth five million dollars each.
And if the inferior-grade spirit stones were that expensive, mediocre-grade and superior-grade spirit stones were naturally even rarer... and immortal crystals were naturally priceless.
Buying rubbish food worth a few bucks with a single immortal crystal?
Was that not a violent sort of squandering?
Of course...
The cultivators from the immortal sects or demonic sects back on Earth would never get to encounter elites the likes of the True Habitant of Tai Yi, even for the rest of their lives.
After a few minutes of small talk about spicy potato strips and cola, the True Habitant of Tai Yi’s tone then changed and he asked, “What is actually going on, Brother Yu Ding? Why would the Jade Emperor suddenly want to visit the Hollow Jade Temple?”
“I don’t know the specifics.”
The True Habitant of Yu Ding replied. “I sent word to Yang Jian so that he would relay a message from Jiang He to the Duke of Dong Mu, only for Yang Jian to reply with a message that the Jade Emperor is coming to visit.”
The Jade Emperor was the Lord of the Celestial Court, and equal in rank to several Saints in terms of seniority in Daoist tradition.
While the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole would say ‘Jade Emperor’ as if in disrespect, the fact that the Primeval Lord of Heaven was not showing his face while the Jade Emperor came to visit meant that personal disciples such as them naturally had to step out to receive the Jade Emperor.
It was also because Guang Chengzi and the others were not there, or all Twelve Hollow Jade Immortals would be there.
That was how high the Lord of the Celestial Court ranked in terms of pecking order!
“Eh?”
That was when the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole’s eyes twitched, and he looked out to the distant horizon with a smile. “He’s here.”
At the same time, millions of miles away from the mountain archways of the Chan Sect...
The originally serene horizon abruptly quaked, and soon, the Jade Emperor, Lü Dongbin, and Yan Jian abruptly appeared.
The Jade Emperor had changed into another set of embroidered clothing.
It was entirely purple-gold and embroidered with the picture of dragons, phoenixes, and other divine beasts, which looked very imposing.
Looking around him, the Jade Emperor chuckled. “It has been years since I’ve come down. No worries, Duke of Dong Mu, let’s just fly over there.”
Lü Dongbin, who was about to charge a s.p.a.ce-Piercer to warp with the Jade Emperor and Yang Jian, promptly stopped. He made the hand seals and invoked a flying sword... but then finding flying with both the Jade Emperor and Yang Jian on a sword a little inappropriate, waved his hand instead to summon an immortal raft.
It expanded against the wind and instantly turned into a giant, luxurious ship hovering in the air, and Lü Dongbin smiled. “Your Majesty, Erlang Shen, please.”
Lü Dongbin only followed after both the Jade Emperor and Yang Jian boarded.
While the ship was only an superior-grade immortal item, it flew quickly under Lü Dongbin’s control, cutting a streak of immortal radiance over the horizon as it flew to the Hollow Jade Palace dozens of million miles away.
The Jade Emperor was in good spirits and was enjoying the natural scenery beneath at the ship’s bow with a cup of wine in hand.
Lü Dongbin sat beside him and made small talk with him, while Erlang Shen sat cross-legged on the deck. He had always been a man of few words, and while things were not sour between him and the Jade Emperor, a rift did exist.
Around an hour later, the immortal ship stopped in front of the mountain archway of the Chan Sect.
The Jade Emperor had just alighted when the True Habitant of Yu Ding and the others came to greet him.
Having the wind in his sails, the Jade Emperor cut to the point with a smile. “There is no need for such ceremony, True Habitants. I am imposing since I came uninvited... and I have come today to meet that youth from the homeworld.”
“Your Majesty wishes to see Jiang He?”
The True Habitant of Yu Ding and the other Twelve Hollow Jade Immortals all felt an inward twitch, while the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole stepped out with a smile. “Jiang He is staying at the Hollow Jade Temple right now. I’ll have someone get him...”
“It’s fine. I’ll go to him myself.”
The Jade Emperor waved to stop the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole, who was not actually too surprised.
Given the demonic level of Jiang He’s abilities, it was not outrageous to consider that the Jade Emperor would personally visit him... though the Lord of the Three Realms had great authority, he had a mild demeanor too.
“I’ll lead the way, Your Majesty.”
“Many thanks, Lord of Longevity!”
The Immortal Hermit of the South Pole himself had a post in the Celestial Court known as the Lord of Longevity. Still, his post was in name only, and the Jade Emperor had no authority to order him around.
Soon, the Jade Emperor could see the yard where Jiang He was staying.
“Your Majesty, this is where Jiang He is lodging. At the moment, he has borrowed my master’s Three Gem Back Scratcher, saying that he intends to use the time-acceleration array inside it. There’s no telling if he is cultivating at the moment... eh?”
Before the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole could finish, he sensed Jiang He’s aura appearing and disappearing. Then, an immortal could be seen taking to the air and floating above the yard was staying, and expanding endlessly...
It only stopped enlarging at ten thousand feet.
After that, Jiang He took to the skies and held out a Spatial Ring as he dumped various medicinal ingredients into the pot.
As he did so, he noticed the Immortal Hermit of the South Pole and Lü Dongbin. He hence promptly dumped everything in the Spatial Ring into the pot and flew up to them, greeting Lü Dongbin in delight, “Brother Lü, you’re finally here... Eh? Could you be... the legendary Erlang Shen?”
Moreover, Yang Jiang was still behind him.
Though this was the first time Yang Jian had met Jiang He, he was a Chan Sect disciple and therefore knew Jiang He by reputation even if he usually stood watch at the Celestial Court. Offering a fist-palm salute, he said, “The name is Yang Jian, a disciple of the Chan Sect. Pleasure to meet you, Brother Jiang He.”
Jiang He returned his fist-palm salute and shared a few courteous greetings.
Seeing that Jiang He completely took no notice of the Jade Emperor, Lü Dongbin promptly communicated to Jade Emperor through acoustics, and only then did Jiang He flinch and exclaim in surprise, “You’re the Jade Emperor?”
The Jade Emperor was dumbstruck.
His expression darkened!
He felt insulted!