“Stand down!” the divine cultivator in the carriage shouted at the bushy-browed servant. Even all his servants combined wouldn’t rival a G.o.d. The Vermilion Bird could kill them without lifting a feather.
A fight between two G.o.ds had no clear winner.
The divine cultivator weighed his options. He’d clearly underestimated his enemy. He’d thought the young man was a regular cultivator he could easily extort.
But this was no easy prey! There was a G.o.d protecting him. The would-be bandit forced himself to calmly face this development.
He wasn’t confident that he’d be able to defeat the Vermilion Bird. After all, a divine beast could easily overpower a human cultivator of the same level. Their bloodline gave them an immense edge over their human counterparts.
Realization dawned.
A young man affiliated with Eternal Divine Nation being followed by a vermilion bird… Could this young man be Jiang Chen?? The genius everyone was talking about in Myriad Abyss?
The divine cultivator hesitated. If the young man before him was Jiang Chen, he’d have to think twice before antagonizing this potential victim.
Jiang Chen was a member of the Eternal Sacred Land. What was more, everyone knew about his relations.h.i.+p with Divine Kasyapa.
The divine cultivator had just escaped from the Boundless Prison as well. There weren’t a lot of people he was wary of, but Divine Kasyapa was one of them.
It wouldn’t be worthwhile for him to offend Kasyapa for Jiang Chen. He couldn’t afford to have both Kasyapa and the Eternal Sacred Land retaliate against him. Besides, the fact that Jiang Chen was protected by a sacred beast G.o.d made things even worse.
The worst case scenario was one of him facing three divines. Even someone as confident as he knew that was suicide. He wasn’t sure if he could defeat Divine Kasyapa in a duel, let alone with two other divines.
Those who had survived the Boundless Prison knew when to cut their losses. They were very observant and easily adapted to different situations. The divine cultivator was no exception.
He smiled and clucked his tongue appreciatively. “I didn’t expect to run into a G.o.d descended from the four divine beasts in the middle of nowhere. How marvelous! If I’m not mistaken, you must be young lord Jiang Chen from the Eternal Sacred Land, are you not?”
Jiang Chen tensed. The man had changed his tune in the blink of an eye, unusual for someone of his status. That made the young lord very wary.
He smiled slightly. “Since the senior knows this is the territory of Eternal Divine Nation. It’s not that difficult to guess at my ident.i.ty.”
“Haha, I’ve mistaken a friend for a foe! Brother Kasyapa and I go way back. We’re old friends from the Boundless Prison. I didn’t expect to run into his junior here. How fascinating.”
The man had been saying everything was boring, but now suddenly found things fascinating. He’d also changed the way he addressed Jiang Chen from young man to young friend.
Jiang Chen couldn’t not be wary of men like him.
“Brother Kasyapa and I are very close, young friend. It’s all been a misunderstanding. This seat is curious though. What treasure lies hidden in a remote mountain like this?” The divine cultivator hadn’t fully given up and was trying to get an answer from Jiang Chen in a roundabout fas.h.i.+on.
Jiang Chen didn’t call him out for trying to establish rapport. He smiled. “To tell you the truth, I’ve just acquired some spirit stones - quite a lot of them. I happened to need the spirit stones for something. I hope you’ll let me off the hook, senior.”
“Just spirit stones?” the divine cultivator couldn’t help but ask. “Why then did this seat see a flash of heavenly light and a stunning myriad of colors? It was tremendous. If I hadn’t pa.s.sed through the area, I would’ve missed it.”
Jiang Chen snapped to inward attention, but he didn’t let it show. He smiled. “That was me brandis.h.i.+ng my sword in a fit of excitement after acquiring the spirit stones.”
He manifested his Pentecolor Divine Swords and infused it with his spirit energy. Beams of heavenly light soared into the sky, stunningly magnificent.
It was a remarkable display of quick thinking. The explanation did make sense. At least the divine cultivator couldn’t find any fault in it.
Of course, it didn’t mean he believed Jiang Chen.
The divine cultivator smiled slightly. “Ah, so this seat has jumped to the wrong conclusion?”
Jiang Chen smiled in lieu of an answer.
“The sacred land isn’t far from here, senior. If you’re interested, we can have a drink there.”
Jiang Chen didn’t want to stay any longer.
Having a drink in the sacred land wasn’t appealing to someone who’d just escaped the Boundless Prison. They’d sooner destroy the sacred land than visit it.
Jiang Chen didn’t expect the man to accept his offer either. He was ready to leave as soon as he was finished exchanging pleasantries.
“I have urgent business to attend to, senior. Please excuse me.”
Jiang Chen left without hesitation. Although the man had seemed eager to befriend him, he knew it was merely a facade. The two-faced divine would never actually let anyone get close to him.
Men like him would do anything for profit. Friends.h.i.+p was but a cover story for him. He couldn’t be trusted.
Once Jiang Chen vanished in thin air, the five demiG.o.d servants cursed after him.
The bushy-browed servant couldn’t contain his frustration. “Are we just going to let him go, master? Isn’t that a pity? He sounds so suspicious. He must have gotten something good.”
“Do you think we would’ve been able to keep him?” asked the divine cultivator.
“There are six of us, but only one of him and a divine beast.”
“How naive of you. He has other companions.” The divine cultivator smiled darkly. “Besides, do you think we’ll be able to go against the sacred land’s forefather, the Vermilion Bird, and Divine Kasyapa altogether?”
The bushy-browed man slumped. No matter how powerful his master was, the master would still be in grave trouble if the three formed a united front.
“Then what do we do, master?” a hook-nosed servant asked frustratedly. “Are we just going to let the boy get off free and dandy? That’s humiliating.”
“Don’t do anything reckless at the moment. Besides, this is his territory. Whatever he got, we have no right to intervene. Of course, that’s the official reason. What’s more important is that I don’t want to make three powerful enemies just yet. We can get our resources elsewhere. We’ll let him win today! If there’s a next time, we’ll get it all back from him, with intereste=!”
The divine cultivator knew when to back down. He gave up as soon as he realized that he didn’t stand a chance.