Chapter 581: The Divine Island
Jiang Chen swept his eyes over the area and noticed that most of the partic.i.p.ants had already gathered here. At rough count, there were fifty cultivators, including the seven of the Regal Pill Palace. It seemed that Vice Hallmaster Yue had entered with the third batch of candidates, and had met up with Elder Yun Nie.
Elder Yun Nie and three other elders had taken up strategic positions, covering the four cardinal directions in order to protect their young geniuses. They were genuinely worried that the two wyverns would change targets and start diving.
When he saw Jiang Chen, Elder Yun Nie called out to him. “Jiang Chen, come over here.”
Although Jiang Chen wasn"t afraid of the two wyverns, he couldn’t appear too out of the ordinary at the moment. He picked up his speed and entered the defensive formation.
Mu Gaoqi ground his teeth. “w.a.n.g Han was up to no good when he lured those two monsters here!”
Jiang Chen just smiled. In truth, it was almost the opposite. If w.a.n.g Han hadn’t been smart enough to lure the two wyverns to this area, he would’ve been brutally hunted down by the two sooner or later.
Jiang Chen surveyed his surroundings. A large lake took its stately place at the bottom of the valley, and everyone was using its east sh.o.r.e as a gathering point. The lake brimmed with spirit power, manifested by a delicate mist. It looked mysterious and unfathomable, provoking an endless source of imagination. The lake was as if a sleeping beauty, full of magical attraction that irresistibly drew the curious glances of those who saw it.
In the middle of that vast aqueous expanse, Jiang Chen spotted a cl.u.s.ter of islands. It was clear that spirit power was almost overflowing from those islands, lovingly spilling over into the air and entwining around the islands. Thanks to the evaporation of the spirit power, rays of light portended peace and prosperity in the air, giving the islands an exceptionally divine air, as if an immortal realm of great fortune.
Jiang Chen recognized those islands as the true core of Mt. Rippling Mirage, and the center of the ancient herb garden! Although he was quite a distance from the abundant spirit power that spilled and flowed in the air above the islands, he still felt physically and mentally refreshed as it wafted over on the wind. Just this hint made it apparent just how rich the spirit power of the islands was.
“It looks like the islands will be the main point of contention in the last three days.” Jiang Chen discreetly turned his attention to the battle raging in the skies above him. He noticed that although all the sects were engaging the wyverns with gusto, they were also keeping a covetous eye on the islands in the lake.
The defensive perimeter below was continuing to constrict as more sage realm cultivators began to join the fray. The Regal Pill Palace was no exception as two other elders joined Elder Yun Nie and Vice Hallmaster Yue on the battlefront.
Although the two wyverns were quite ferocious, they found it hard to keep up with the increasing number of sage realm cultivators joining the battle. The more extraordinary of the Myriad Domain young geniuses were also itching to join as well. For example, on the Sacred Sword Palace’s side, w.a.n.g Han had recovered his overweeningly arrogant att.i.tude after he’d adjusted his state. He’d changed into a pristinely white outfit, and strutted over to the Regal Pill Palace’s side. He spared Jiang Chen an angry glare, fire dancing in his eyes, “Kid, don’t think this is the last of it!”
Jiang Chen shrugged and smiled faintly, clearly not paying heed to those words. Jiang Chen would treat even w.a.n.g Jianyu of the Sacred Sword Palace as though the other had merely farted, much less a w.a.n.g Han.
w.a.n.g Han felt like he’d punched a ball of cotton when he saw how thoroughly Jiang Chen was ignoring him. His ire unspent, he suddenly caught sight of Shen Qinghong out of the corner of his eye. He smirked coldly, “Old brother Shen, you’re a genius of the Myriad Domain’s younger generation, and as such should help shoulder our elders’ burdens. As the first genius in the Regal Pill Palace, are you planning on just watching from off to the side?”
Elder Yun Nie suddenly glared down fiercely. “w.a.n.g Han, if you want to go battle, you are entirely free to. What are you running off your mouth here for?”
w.a.n.g Han was still a bit cautious when it came to Elder Yun Nie, so he laughed loudly. “Is the so-called first genius of the Regal Pill Palace just a t.i.tle to lay claim to false fame? A lie that stands for the ages? Since that seems to be the case, you should all take a look at how I, a genius of the Myriad Domain, battle those monsters!”
He explosively blasted into the air after those words, stimulating his energy to make his sword erupt with light. The light from the sword rent the void as it inscribed a frosted arc that shone with the splendor of the galaxy. It finally impacted in a blow, striking the back of one of the wyverns.
Attacking the wyverns when so many experts were also attracting their attention was simply taking advantage of the situation. The strike looked stunning, but in the end, it was a mere p.r.i.c.k in the back. However, even that was enough to make Shen Qinghong quite depressed.
w.a.n.g Han was a sage realm cultivator after all, and he’d already grasped the initial techniques of flight whereas he, Shen Qinghong, remained that small step away from the sage realm. Therefore, he couldn’t join this kind of fight even if he wanted to. This was obviously w.a.n.g Han mocking him. Shen Qinghong’s face was a bit white as the look in his eyes danced, feeling like blades were cutting across his heart as he watched the figures bob and weave in the air. For someone as proud as Shen Qinghong, the repeated humiliations he’d experienced during this Mt. Rippling Mirage trip had greatly decreased his self confidence.
It was rather Jiang Chen who smiled mysteriously to the side, “w.a.n.g Han’s in for it now!”
His words had just landed in the ears of the others when the other wyvern suddenly sensed w.a.n.g Han’s presence and let out a long howl of fury. It strafed the air with its wings, forcing the sage realm cultivators beside it to leap back in a hasty retreat. It opened its mouth, and released what seemed to be an endless surge of purple lightning that struck at w.a.n.g Han with swift ferocity.
The lightning bolt rent the air as it exploded into countless purple lightning snakes that careened through the sky. Although the sage realm cultivators next the wyverns had fast reactions, they still weren’t fast enough to catch lightning as it snaked down to w.a.n.g Han at a terrifying speed.
w.a.n.g Han had been feeling quite proud about ambus.h.i.+ng the wyvern when he was unexpectedly confronted by a sky covered with jagged purple lightning homing in on him. Fright drained the color from his face and he threw all thoughts of image to the winds. He dove desperately, as fast he could, letting himself crash into the ground with a frightening boom.
He was all too familiar with the power of the lightning, and knew that escape in any other direction would only result in him being cleaved in two by the lightning’s edge. Only by free falling downwards and slamming into the ground would he have a chance to live.
Indeed, the two Sacred Sword Palace elders below reacted swiftly and flung out several talismans in a row. The talismans all radiated green light to form streams of green air currents, mysteriously catching all of the purple lightning like green carpets.
Wham wham wham!
The purple lightning and green air currents clashed against each other with ear piercing shrieks, sending the air around them into disturbance as gusts and turbulence rocked the air.
w.a.n.g Han’s speed was nothing to laugh at, so although he’d slammed himself into the ground and looked quite the worse for wear, he hadn’t actually suffered injury from the lightning. Bedraggled, he picked himself from the ground and bolted for the defensive encirclement.
Shen Qinghong spurted out in laughter. “w.a.n.g Han, is this what you meant by battling that monster?”
Many watching on the ground burst out in raucous laughter, obviously amused by w.a.n.g Han’s comical downfall. w.a.n.g Han had always possessed a genteel bearing, self-styling himself as the top genius of the Myriad Domain. He"d lost a great deal of face in falling down in such an ign.o.ble manner this time. He was so incensed that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood, but settled for glaring frostily at Shen Qinghong, unbounded killing intent surging out of his eyes.
Shen Qinghong had been feeling a bit self conscious before, and a bit wary of w.a.n.g Han who’d broken through to the sage realm before him. Yet, the sight of such an unkempt w.a.n.g Han easily dissolved the knot in his heart. He felt then that there was nothing to fear about this w.a.n.g Han. Turning the focus of his gaze to Jiang Chen, he also felt that this young genius wasn’t as irritating to the eye as he’d first believed. Shen Qinghong had suffered the mockery and laughter of the sage realm geniuses throughout this trip to Mt. Rippling Mirage, and each time, it’d been his peers who’d stood up for him. Shen Qinghong’s comprehension wasn’t weak, and his mental state had been tempered repeatedly on this trip, which was how he could come to such conclusions.
Mu Gaoqi asked with curiosity, “Brother Chen, how did you know that w.a.n.g Han was in for it?”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly, but didn’t respond. It was plain to him that the two wyverns viewed w.a.n.g Han as the culprit who’d stolen the Sage Fledgling Gra.s.s. Why else would they have chased him for days on end without respite? w.a.n.g Han’s seemingly das.h.i.+ng strike had done nothing more than expose the fact that he’d entered their attack range. Of course they would attack him! However, this conclusion was something that’d come out of the various grudges that had formed when the two of them had fought over the Gra.s.s. It was rather difficult to succinctly explain.
The elder of the Sacred Sword Palace also found this situation to be rather odd. “w.a.n.g Han, these two wyverns seem to be abnormally fixated on you. Just what have you done to make them hate you thus?”
w.a.n.g Han stared viciously at Jiang Chen as he intentionally raised his voice, “Senior Elder, this is all because that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d Jiang Chen stole several thousand blades of Sage Fledgling Gra.s.s and pinned the blame on me!”
w.a.n.g Han’s words had been spoken quite loudly, such that even the cultivators battling the wyverns in the air had heard them clearly. They rang in everyone’s ears as if a crack of thunder.
Several thousand blades of Sage Fledgling Gra.s.s?
Everyone doubted their ears in that second. Ten blades was already a small fortune, and a hundred was a great transaction. But several thousand blades? What kind of concept was that?
Even all the blades of Gra.s.s in the six great sects were piled together, they still wouldn’t amount to several thousand blades, but this Jiang Chen had several thousand of them all to himself? Therefore, the atmosphere at the scene instantly became quite awkward. All eyes were on Jiang Chen, as if wanting to see straight through him.
It was a good thing that Jiang Chen had realized beforehand that w.a.n.g Han would certainly reveal this if he was provoked enough. So, when everyone looked over at him, his lips curved upward slightly as he looked at w.a.n.g Han as if looking at an utter idiot.
Mu Gaoqi was the first to leap up. “w.a.n.g Han, don’t you go falsely accusing others! Several thousand blades of Sage Fledgling Gra.s.s? What kind of dream do you think you’re in?”
w.a.n.g Han gave a long peal of laughter. “What, Jiang Chen, you have the guts to do it, but none to admit it?”
It was apparent that w.a.n.g Han was delighted to see everyone look at Jiang Chen with such avaricious eyes. Don’t you think you’re quite something, Jiang Chen? Don’t worry, I’ll slander you first regardless of whether or not you have the Gra.s.s!
Everyone’s att.i.tudes were quite congruent when it came to matters like these. They would rather believe it to be true than not. Thus, everyone looked at Jiang Chen with traces of judgement.
Elder Yun Nie snorted coldly upon seeing the hints of judgement and jeered, “w.a.n.g Han, this isn’t the first time your Sacred Sword Palace is pinning a crime on someone else. When Jiang Chen’s score was in the lead in the Pill Battles, your sect said that something was amiss with his bloodlines and wanted to check them. Do you want to try the same trick again? You have truly inherited w.a.n.g Jianyu’s style.”