Third Master Jing of Frostmoon City had always been a ruthless person, even to himself. The moment he saw that the situation wasn’t right, he took quick steps towards Jiang Chen and apologized without hesitation. “Friend Shao, I apologize for offending you. Please forgive me for being blind to who you are.”
If Jiang Chen hadn’t had to consider the bigger picture, he wouldn’t have given a d.a.m.n about Third Master Jing’s apology. Moreover, the third master was formidable because he could submit to circ.u.mstances if necessary. If one day he had the upper hand, he could turn against Jiang Chen just as easily. The best way to deal with people like him was to kill him and end all one’s troubles once and for all.
However, Jiang Chen had business in Frostmoon City, so it might not be wise to fall out completely with a local head gangster. In fact, this seemed like a good opportunity to check if he had any useful information. After all, Third Master Jing was the vice head of Moon G.o.d Sect’s first division, wasn’t he? And so Jiang Chen smiled. “Third Master Jing, there is a good saying that goes ‘no discord, no concord’. I’m sure that we will both be pleased if the discord between you and me can turn into a friendly relations.h.i.+p, wouldn’t you agree?”
Although Third Master Jing found it strange that Jiang Chen’s tone was more amiable than expected, he grabbed onto the extended olive branch and smiled. “I absolutely do. I admit that I can be a bit of a b.a.s.t.a.r.d sometimes, but you should also know that Frostmoon City can be so weak. It makes doing business difficult unless you’re forceful. Anyways, I have absolutely no reason not to become friends with you seeing how magnanimous you are, friend Shao.”
The atmosphere actually turned cheerful and lively as they chatted. They didn’t look at all like two sworn enemies who were about to fight each other to the death a moment ago. This outcome caused the corner of Long Xiaoxuan’s mouth to droop downwards repeatedly. This wasn’t fun. He was hoping to fight another round, but his wish was obviously not going to come true.
Not long after, Third Master Jing’s subordinates brought Jiang Chen’s spirit herbs and two hundred million saint spirit stones over. He personally placed the goods in Jiang Chen’s hands. “No discord, no concord, so please accept the Smiling Bodhi I traded you earlier as a gift. As for these goods, I cannot possibly accept them since the transaction is now null, so please take them back, Sir Shao.”
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate to retrieve the two sky rank spirit herbs. “It’s true that I have urgent need of the Smiling Bodhi. These two hundred million saint spirit stones and two earth rank spirit herbs are about equal in value to a Smiling Bodhi, so you should keep them, Third Master Jing. Now we can meet comfortably with each other in the future without feeling the pain of our losses.”
Third Master Jing gave him a thumbs-up. “That’s wonderful!”
And so a conflict came to an unexpected end just like that. Both parties wisely didn’t mention the cultivators who went missing earlier, as if they’d never existed in the first place. Now that the atmosphere had turned amiable and friendly, Third Master Jing finally took his leave and cordially invited Jiang Chen and his friends to visit him at the first division.
As Long Xiaoxuan watched Third Master Jing departing with his men, he curled his lips into a sneer. “Hypocrite, what a hypocrite! Had he stayed any longer I might have thrown up on the floor.”
The scene earlier was very wearing on Long Xiaoxuan’s nerves. Jiang Chen smiled. “He’s a formidable b.a.s.t.a.r.d who can throw or take a punch alright. Oh right, brother Long, this is Emperor Peerless. He is my sworn older brother. Old Brother Mo, this is my younger brother, Long Xiaoxuan.”
Emperor Peerless hadn’t seen Long Xiaoxuan earlier, so he found the young man’s sudden appearance a bit strange. Naturally, Jiang Chen had to make the necessary introductions. The emperor didn’t ask how Long Xiaoxuan came to be though. He guessed that Long Xiaoxuan must’ve been in Frostmoon City since the beginning.
Long Xiaoxuan cast a glance at Emperor Peerless and struck a c.o.c.ky tone. “Old Brother Mo, you’re pretty strong, aren’t you? Very impressive.”
The great emperor smiled. “As I thought, the brothers of my brother are all extraordinary. Little brother Long looks very young, but the depth of your cultivation is incredibly impressive. Also, if I’m not mistaken, little brother Long possesses great qi and blood. You must be a cultivator with a powerful bloodline. Cultivators like you normally possess great martial dao talent.”
Long Xiaoxuan was a true dragon, so of course his qi and blood were incredibly rich. Although the young man had hidden them well, a great emperor’s insight wasn’t to be underestimated.
The dragon withdrew his conceit when he saw how Emperor Peerless had seen through him with a single glance. Old Brother Mo’s answer made him realize that the great emperor was truly powerful, and Long Xiaoxuan wasn’t so prideful that he couldn’t acknowledge a true expert. He knew that he was still a long ways away from becoming as strong as this Old Brother Mo, even though he was a true dragon who had reached emperor realm. There was no way he could beat the great emperor in a straight fight, and the only thing he could do was to run away.
“Old Brother Mo, you should head in and save your wife. Brother Long and I will ensure that you’re not disturbed.”
It wasn’t the time to stand on ceremony, so Emperor Peerless answered. “Alright. Thank you for all you’ve done.”
Jiang Chen carefully went over the curing method and healing procedure until the emperor was sure that he hadn’t missed anything. Finally, the great emperor went upstairs to cure his wife’s poison.
After Emperor Peerless had gone upstairs, Jiang Chen asked the dragon, “Brother Long, please look after them for a moment. I need to check outside. Why hasn’t the innkeeper and attendants shown up despite such a large commotion?”
Jiang Chen didn’t care about the innkeeper or the attendants. He was worried for his spirit beast cub. After all, he did put it in the inn’s care. When he headed out and took a spin around the inn, Jiang Chen was flabbergasted by his discovery. There was no one inside the inn except them, and everyone from the innkeeper to attendants to guests had fled the scene.
Jiang Chen wasn’t sure how to react, but he did figure out why they’d fled immediately.
“This Third Master Jing is rather infamous. It seems his presence has frightened off the innkeeper and the attendants.”
Thankfully, the spirit beast cub was still right where he deposited it last time; the spirit beast care area. When the spirit beast cub saw Jiang Chen walking towards it, it jumped into his lap with an aggrieved look and let out a plainful whine. It seemed to be complaining that Jiang Chen was heartless or something.
Jiang Chen was amused by its reactions. He petted the cub before smiling, “I’m just protecting you, little fella. If I were to bring you with me, Brother Long is certain to scare you.”
Seeing as there were no one left inside the inn, there was no point in leaving the cub behind in this area. He had no choice but to take it back to his room. When Long Xiaoxuan saw the spirit beast cub, his eyes lit up. “Is that the descendant of the Astral White Tiger you mentioned?”
“Brother Long, I know that dragons and tigers are incompatible with each other, but it is just a cub right now. You don’t have to show that much animosity, do you?”
Long Xiaoxuan let out an odd laugh. “How did you come to that conclusion? I just want to know if it really has the Astral White Tiger’s bloodline. If it did, then it’ll be quite interesting.”
“Interesting how?” Jiang Chen said warily.
“When it grows up, I’ll have a true opponent I can spar with anytime I want,” Long Xiaoxuan said proudly. “Once my inherited memories and bloodline powers have completely awakened, even you will be outshone by me, young master Chen. I’ll feel lonely if I can’t find a worthy opponent after I’m at the top.”
Jiang Chen was very amused. “Brother Long, is it just me, or have you gotten a lot more self absorbed since the last time you appeared? Have you finally awakened the narcissistic side of a dragon from your inherited memories?”
True dragons had always been prideful and narcissistic race. It was their unique racial characteristic since ancient times. A dragon was both prideful and very conceited. There were never enough ways for them to show off themselves. Jiang Chen had started noticing the signs from Long Xiaoxuan’s recent behavior. He couldn’t help but lament, to think that that pure Long Xiaoxuan who felt shy at the sight of a mere stranger would change so quickly!
Long Xiaoxuan wasn’t ashamed of his att.i.tude though. “Please watch your words, young master Chen. This isn’t narcissism, this is just the truth. I am confident that the strength of true dragons is absolutely superior to you humans.”
Jiang Chen chuckled. “Don’t you think you’re being a little overconfident? I am absolutely certain there are more celestial emperors within the human race than the dragon race.”
Long Xiaoxuan quibbled. “That’s only because we dragon race are of n.o.ble blood and has a slow reproduction cycle. Out of every race in the heavenly planes, the human race is the species with the greatest reproduction rate.”
The human race had two strong points compared to other races. They had strong reproductive and learning capabilities. It was why the human race was able to grow and pa.s.s on their knowledge, skill, and more to the next generation despite facing all sorts of calamities. The human race’s strong reproductive ability made them very powerful. Moreover, a human race’s bloodline had great tolerance, inclusiveness, and a.s.similation. It allowed the human race to exist within the various worlds like evergreen trees.
Moreover, a strong learning ability meant that a lot of experts were raised within the human community. It made sure that a powerful genius could always be born at the right time to save the human race from disaster. There were countless humans who met with life-or-death crises in the worlds, but they were always able to survive like weeds, never failing to grow between the cracks. When the winds and rain were over, they would flourish with life once more. These two strong points were qualities that many races didn’t possess.
Jiang Chen chuckled. “All races have their advantages and disadvantages. All things are created equal.”
Surprisingly, Long Xiaoxuan didn’t refute him this time. He let out a soft sigh. “My inherited memories do contain some information. It seems that humans and dragons shared a close relations.h.i.+p with each other during ancient times, and dragons are willing to interact with the humans.”
Long Xiaoxuan wasn’t talking nonsense. In ancient times, the true dragons and humans didn’t just share a close relations.h.i.+p with each other, they even copulated a lot and gave birth to children of mixed blood. The dragons truly wanted to acquire the human ability to reproduce. A dragon’s reproductive ability was far, far inferior. If the true dragons could reproduce as quickly as the humans, they would’ve dominated the heavenly planes a long time ago.
“Brother Long, you and I are not friends because of our races. We are friends who’ve helped each other in our times of need. Maybe there isn’t another true dragon in Divine Abyss Continent, but that isn’t an issue. As long as you continue to improve your cultivation, it’s only a matter of time before you break through the limits of this plane and ascend to the heavenly planes. When that happens, I am sure that you can find the place where you truly belong.”
Jiang Chen himself was intrigued by Long Xiaoxuan’s predicament though. If Brother Long was the only true dragon in this whole world, then what on earth had brought him into existence? He couldn’t have just popped out of nowhere, could he?
Jiang Chen wasn’t able to come up with an answer no matter what. Moreover, the Divine Abyss Continent was strange in many ways. There were a lot of things that couldn’t be explained through common sense at all. For example, it should be an average secular plane. However, it contained a lot of things that completely exceeded its level