The Vermilion Bird would’ve scoffed at another human youth, but Jiang Chen’s words rang in its ears. The bird couldn’t help but take them seriously.
“I agree with young master Chen, Old Brother Vermilion,” Long Xiaoxuan observed from the side. “I also think your behavior’s been a bit abnormal lately.”
The divine spirit creature broke out in a cold sweat. “I have been too hasty, then,” it nodded.
Jiang Chen chuckled, then snapped a finger. “Don’t let that get you down, friend. We have a vault to raid. Come on, let’s see what goodies there are for us to take.”
The Eternal Sacred Land’s vaults were incredibly well stocked. Their splendor was almost dizzying to the eye.
Having seen spirit herb vaults ten times richer in his previous life, Jiang Chen was the calmest of the trio. Conversely, Long Xiaoxuan was the most excited. The dragon’s eyes lit up. “Young master Chen, can we really take anything here?”
Dragons were naturally inclined to h.o.a.rd treasure. It was an instinct down to their bones. Long Xiaoxuan was no different: his blood told him to take everything he saw.
“Brother Long, I know you’re a true dragon, but you can’t just indiscriminately grab everything.”
The Vermilion Bird laughed. “You dragons really do get fixated on treasure, huh!”
Long Xiaoxuan snorted softly, but didn’t answer. The bright glint in his eyes signified his significant interest in the cache before him.
Jiang Chen was much pickier than that. Though he was in the best vault in Eternal Divine Nation, not everything was enough to catch his eye. Some was worthy enough to be in his collection, but he didn’t move to take them. His one rule was to be not greedy; he would grab only what he needed the most.
Things of only ordinary usefulness were ignored.
A stroll through the vault found Long Xiaoxuan burdened with a plethora of miscellaneous valuables. The Vermilion Bird took advantage as well, but Jiang Chen hadn’t taken a single thing just yet. None of the items he’d seen were particularly necessary.
However, when he came to another area, a pile of a certain substance piqued his interest. It was a kind of sand.
Jiang Chen knew of it from his previous life: Moon Lake Silversand, and a premium material for etching formations. It unconditionally increased the strength of any formation it was used in by thirty percent. If the formation in question was perfectly drawn and infused, it would be amplified by as much as a hundred percent.
Moon Lake Silversand was a wonderful substance, something he had dreamed of getting his hands on.
The True Spirit Post that Jiang Chen had acquired from the Primosanct Sect had lain unused all this time. The brush was one of the best tools in the world for drawing up formations.
Combined, the True Spirit Post and the Moon Lake Silversand could improve the power of the most ordinary of formations by a minimum of eighty percent. Used effectively, they could multiply a formation’s strength several times over.
Jiang Chen was a bit surprised at the sheer volume of the sand in the vault. The glistening grains piled up into small hills. He unceremoniously filled several flasks with the thing. When it came to real treasures, there was no such thing as too much of them.
However, the young man was far from insatiable. He took less than a hundredth of the hills of silvery sand. The Moon Lake Silversand itself made his entire trip worthwhile.
Jiang Chen didn’t leave just yet, though. The venerated forefather had personally promised him free access to anything in the vault. Technically, he could take as much as he wished.
Though he wasn’t haphazard about his acquisitions, he’d only been through half the vault.
Jiang Chen picked several more items up in the latter half of the vault, most of them cultivation related. He also pulled a set of talismans which were rather practical for combat usage. Everything else, he left untouched.
Under several pointed suggestions from his human friend, Long Xiaoxuan finally managed to repress his desire to thoroughly plunder the vault. He returned with a vast pile of treasure, but most were cultivation related and non-unique. The Eternal Sacred Land wouldn’t see much of a real loss.
The Vermilion Bird’s standards were much higher. Even the stores of the Eternal Sacred Land were largely uninteresting to it. The items it took away were extremely limited by their excellence.
All in all, each raider was pleased with his hefty haul.
Not long after Jiang Chen and company left, the venerated forefather came to visit the vault. The guard there reported the details of the youth’s visit to him.
The venerated forefather smiled. “I thought that kid would ransack the place, but he has much more restraint than I expected. A young man who is both courteous and adroit, I see. Interesting young people like him are becoming harder and harder to find.”
“Forefather, Sir Jiang Chen didn’t take much, but he brought two companions with him. One of them took quite a few spirit herbs for cultivation.”
The forefather smiled faintly. “If you knew who they were, perhaps you wouldn’t mention that. Anyway, the things they took won’t hurt us.”
The forefather had much more vision than his underlings. He knew that Jiang Chen had with him a vermilion bird and a true dragon.
A combination like that was impossible to find anywhere, even if one searched high and low. The Eternal Sacred Land was fortunate to be graced with their presences.
Were they supposed to be faulted with taking too much in light of that? Rather, the forefather hoped they would take even more.
The more the sacred beasts received, the more they would remember the favor owed. The help they offered in the future would far outweigh what they had taken.
Even if the true dragon and the vermilion bird weren’t grateful to the Eternal Sacred Land, they would be grateful to Jiang Chen. Would they refuse a request for help from the youth?
It was a worthwhile investment in the end.
The venerated forefather was all the more impressed with the young man.
After returning to his residence, he decided to make for Martial Divine Nation after only a brief respite. The trip was necessary; he’d given his promise.
He didn’t expect the venerated forefather to make such a visit so soon, though.
“Jiang Chen, it seems you’re planning to leave soon?”
“Tomorrow, I think,” Jiang Chen answered briskly.
“Alright. I haven’t forgotten my part of the bargain. Here are a few talismans that may be useful in saving your life. These are offensive and defensive talismans, as well as escape glyphs. The offensive talismans will allow you to use attacks that are seventy to eighty percent of my strength for a short time, and the defensive ones will help you deal with many unforeseen circ.u.mstances.”
The venerated forefather was banking a lot on this venture.
Jiang Chen accepted every gift that was given. What the forefather saw worthy to give was undoubtedly valuable. He didn’t want to waste the goodwill.
“Jiang Chen, I haven’t had such high hopes for a young man in a very long time. I look forward to hearing the reports of your success,” the venerated forefather encouraged.
“Venerated forefather, I can only promise to give it my all. If the task seems impossible, I won’t place myself into extreme danger. After all, I owe my allegiance to the Eternal Sacred Land. It would be irresponsible for me to put my life on the line for the Martial one.”
The venerated forefather waved a hand. “I’ve never cared for empty words of courtesy. I want to mention only one thing. If your trip succeeds, you will have won the goodwill of the Martial Sacred Land. That sacred land is known for its great generosity.”
“I see. I’ll take that to heart,” Jiang Chen smiled.
He rested in his own residence that night. The second morning, he sought out his disciple, Hua Ming. The boy had been established in the capital, and Jiang Chen had always had precious little time to teach him.
Thankfully, Hua Ming was talented enough to understand the essence of Jiang Chen’s tutelage with only a little guiding. He was a natural for cultivation, and had improved at incredible speed.
“Hua Ming, the entire divine nation knows who I am now. There’s no need to hide our relations.h.i.+p anymore. I am now a disciple of the sacred land, with a personal residence there. I’d like to take you in as well. You can cultivate inside my residence to break through that much quicker.”
Hua Ming was bizarrely ecstatic. He rarely saw his master, and knew even less about his master’s ident.i.ty. However, he had witnessed Jiang Chen’s incredible performance in the rebellion. He was proud that he had such a great master from the bottom of his heart – the greatest, in fact!
Because of this, he was very anxious of this all turning out to be a dream.
Only when Jiang Chen brought him back to his own residence did Hua Ming feel relieved once more. His master was as pleased with his behavior as ever.
“Where are you going now, master?”
“My destination is a secret, don’t ask. If someone comes to look for trouble or pick a fight, go find Elder Ziju… or the three primes themselves, if you prefer. Our residence will not suffer the misbehavior of another!”
“Yes, master!” Hua Ming’s eyes brightened. The uncertainty in his heart mostly faded away.
After settling Hua Ming in, Jiang Chen departed the Eternal Sacred Land quietly. His destination: Martial Divine Nation.
There was an ongoing rebellion there as well. The nation was still being ravaged by the fires of war. It had faced the worst of the ten sacred lands’ respective rebellions.