Chapter 532: Converging on Mt. Rippling Mirage
A fifty percent guarantee was already incredibly stunning for the Ling sisters.
“Fifty percent?” Ling Hui’er latched onto Jiang Chen’s arm and swung it fiercely. “Then you have to save my papa, senior brother Jiang Chen! Hui’er promises that as long as senior brother tries his best, Hui’er will not forget about the thing that she promised the senior brother that day, whether you succeed or not!”
Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he thought back to the events of that day. Hui’er often voiced incredibly astonis.h.i.+ng words despite her young age. Now that she was swinging his arm, the astonis.h.i.+ng weapon that was her chest would rub against his arm every time it crossed her body. The incredible springiness of her mounds of flesh kept squeezing Jiang Chen into increasingly dire straits. He flung a plea of help with his eyes towards Ling Bi’er, controlling his mind with effort and preventing himself from reacting physically. If he had that kind of reaction at this kind of time, it would truly be an enormous embarra.s.sment in front of the sisters.
Ling Bi’er pulled Ling Hui’er aside when she saw Jiang Chen thus. “Hui’er, don’t be discourteous. This matter is of grave importance and junior brother Jiang Chen must have his own considerations.”
Ling Hui’er pouted with her small mouth. “Sis, you can’t fight with me about this!”
Ling Bi’er was speechless and she walked forward to perform a ceremonious bow. “Junior brother Jiang Chen, I have never requested anything of anyone in my life. Bi’er is asking you for this favor on behalf of our papa. In return, no matter the result, us sisters will be your servants, as if cows or horses, in grat.i.tude.”
Jiang Chen was now utterly lost for words. This pair of sisters was quite, quite shrewd. This situation was developing as if he was an enormous villain forcing the two to sign contracts selling themselves to him. He waved his hand a few times. “Senior sister Bi’er, what talk is there of payment between those of the same sect? We first have to collect all of the items corresponding to an antidote. Light will only be somewhat shed on this matter after the trip to Mt. Rippling Mirage. Everything is just talk if we cannot find the appropriate spirit herbs.”
Ling Bi’er froze slightly, with delight overflowing from her eyes afterwards. “Does this mean you’ve agreed to help, junior brother?”
“You sisters have done so much for your father already, I am not so cold hearted to be untouched by the sight of your efforts. How can I stand idly by and do nothing?”
The sisters were overjoyed to see Jiang Chen agree. Ling Bi’er wiped lightly at the corners of her eyes, whereas Ling Hui’er cheered exuberantly. “Senior brother Jiang Chen, Hui’er will keep her word. I will not forget about that day. We can pinky swear if you don’t believe me!”
Ling Hui’er stuck out her pinky to swear with Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen smiled. “Junior sister Hui’er, some things need not be mentioned again. If I do this out of expectation of payback, I’m sure the two of you wouldn’t be at ease allowing me to treat your father either.”
Ling Hui’er’s face went blank, seeming not to understand. In the sect and the Rosy Valley, all of the young geniuses looked at her with covetous eyes, as if wanting to devour her. She felt that senior brother Jiang Chen should be the same, but what did he mean by his words? Her thoughts were simplistic, so she immediately came to the conclusion that Jiang Chen didn’t like her. After staring blankly for a while, she put her head back and asked, “Senior brother Jiang Chen, do you not like Hui’er? Ah yes, you must like my sister, right?”
Ling Bi’er immediately blushed flaming crimson after hearing these words, but she didn’t reprimand Ling Hui’er this time, instead pretending she hadn’t heard a thing as she walked over to her father’s bed. Nevertheless, her attention was laser focused on Jiang Chen’s reaction. One thought was dominating her mind at the moment, I do want to know how junior brother Jiang Chen views us two sisters!
“Junior sister Hui’er, you and your sister are both beautiful women with your own unique strengths. Who in the sect wouldn’t like you? However, if I take advantage of you during this precarious time, then I would be less than human.”
Ling Hui’er seemed to understand his words, but not quite all at once. But when Ling Bi’er heard these words, her spirits drooped slightly in response. She could tell that Jiang Chen was treating them differently from the other geniuses in the sect. He was helping them not because of who they were, but because he truly wanted to help them.
Ling Bi’er was actually a bit sad upon realizing that. She felt that all of the young men in the sect who held her and her sister up as fairies from the heavens were less preferable than Jiang Chen looking at them differently. It was a pity that she didn’t feel that from his words.
Although a bit disappointed, she still made up her mind. “Even though I am but a girl, I am someone who keeps my words. If junior brother Jiang Chen can really cure papa, then I will never regret being a maid or slaving away like a beast of burden for him.”
There was a reason why Ling Bi’er appeared so icy and distant on the surface. This kind of standoffish bearing was eminently useful in protecting the two sisters in this kind of environment. Moreover, her father’s ailment had truly imparted a few degrees of sternness and melancholy to her personality. A frosty exterior would also keep ne’er-do-wells away, serving as a kind of self protection. However, even the firmest iceberg would melt when coming in contact with a heated force. It might even cause the melting ice to form surging rivers.
In the end, the human heart was made of flesh and blood. Although she came off coldly, the heart beating in her chest was still pa.s.sionate. It’d just been that no one had ever been able to capture her heart and make it beat in tandem with their own. But now, she seemed to vaguely detect the rhythm of another. However, being someone who was naturally slow to warm up to another, Ling Bi’er grew a bit nervous at this moment and even began to overly care about gains and losses, becoming afraid. She knew full well that she was inferior to her younger sister when it came to matters of the heart.
Her younger sister was still a child at heart, loving and hating directly and fiercely. Ling Bi’er felt hard pressed to suppress her embarra.s.sment when she thought of her younger sister’s actions. She felt her ears burn at even the thought of doing something similar. Grabbing a man’s hand and placing it on her chest was something that Ling Bi’er would never be able to do!
Jiang Chen didn’t say anything as he picked up the brush off on the side, starting to write and draw on a paper he pulled towards him. He quickly finished writing out a diagnosis. There were four kinds of Miasmas within Ling Su’s body, and four different kinds of cures were necessary.
“Senior sister Bi’er, you should pay extra attention to these four kinds of spirit herbs during this time’s trip to Mr. Rippling Mirage. If you can’t find them, I’ve written down their respective subst.i.tutes as well. Try to collect as much as you can. I’ll also keep an eye out when I enter the mountain as well.”
Ling Bi’er hastily shunted away all the random thoughts in her mind when she saw Jiang Chen handing over the list, carefully receiving it. “Bi’er will deeply remember junior brother’s immense favor.”
Jiang Chen didn’t linger any longer. “Let’s speak of the rest after the Pill Battles. I’ll take my leave now.”
He made his final preparations after returning to his residence, and put all of his attention and time into preparing for the Pill Battles in the final two days. He received a few retellings of the Pill Battles and their origin from Elder Yun Nie, of how the Pill Battles had proceeded lately, and the various pill dao geniuses from the various Myriad Domain sects in the past couple of years. It made for quite a thorough dossier.
The groups converged on Mt. Rippling Mirage after two days. Although it was a pill compet.i.tion, all the sects were placing significant emphasis on the proceedings.
From the Regal Pill Palace side, Palace Head Dan Chi was personally heading up the entourage with great fanfare as a show of support to Elder Yun Nie. Jiang Chen had given all the appropriate orders with regards to his residence before setting out and convening with the group as they headed over to Mt. Rippling Mirage together.
Mt. Rippling Mirage was thousands of kilometers away from the Regal Pill Palace, located in the southwest of what had been the Myriad Empire. It was where spirit herbs grew most abundantly in the entire Myriad Domain. Before the Empire had fallen, its strength had been so great that it exercised control over all the major sects in the Myriad Domain. Therefore, the Empire had always enjoyed all the best resources.
When it’d fallen, the six great sects had divvied up the remaining treasures to fuel a quick pace of growth, forming the situation seen today.
The six great sects had once fought ferociously over the resources of Mt. Rippling Mirage, resulting in a great number of injuries and casualties. No one sect was willing to submit to anyone else, which was how the agreement that gave rise to the Pill Battles had been formed.
The entourage arrived successfully after a few days of travel. When they arrived, they found that Mt. Rippling Mirage wasn’t just a single mountain. More accurately speaking, it encompa.s.sed several mountain ranges; a vast territory that covered several thousands of kilometers. When one looked out over the area, the outskirts were covered by a fog that was tinged with faint blue, seeming to billow like waves that left much to the imagination.
This was how Mt. Rippling Mirage had received its name.
The Myriad Empire had raised a Rippling Mirage Hall outside this collection of mountain ranges. Located on the outskirts of Mt. Rippling Mirage, it was an enormous villa where the royal family used to gather the various powers of the Myriad Domain. Even then, it was large enough to host everyone summoned, so the few hundred people that the 6 fourth rank sects and 20 fifth rank sects was hardly enough to fill the premises.
When he saw the grand and magnificent Rippling Mirage Hall, Jiang Chen could imagine how prosperous and strong the Empire had been before. The level of architecture that this hall displayed was far above and beyond even the best building in the Regal Pill Palace.
“Hahaha, young brother Dan Chi, it’s been a few years since we’ve last met. You are even more elegant than before.” A hearty laugh rang through the air without warning. The newcomer was dressed in a black robe and walked over with great strides, moving directly towards them as if an enormous wave from the great seas.
“Ole brother Tian Ming, you came personally as well?” Dan Chi beamed merrily at the sight of him and walked up in welcome. The two embraced, laughing heartily.
Elder Yun Nie explained lowly off on the side, “That’s Honored Master Tian Ming, the sect head of the Dark North Sect. His position is high and n.o.ble, and he has the closest relations.h.i.+p with Palace Head Dan Chi. The Dark North Sect is also the closest with our Regal Pill Palace, and we interact most with them.”
These words were naturally for Jiang Chen and the other younger folk. The younger generation would be taking over the sect sooner or later, and it’d be beneficial for them to gain an understanding of the political layout of the Myriad Domain.
Jiang Chen and Mu Gaoqi looked at each other, both obviously recalling that the Dark North disciples had been the first to have been ambushed and killed by the Walkabout Sect’s concealed weapons on that trip to the spirit spring. They’d thought that this sect was weak because of that, but this notion was swiftly dismissed after seeing Honored Master Tian Ming. His cultivation level was at seventh level sage realm! Even higher than Dan Chi’s as a sky sage cultivator!