Chapter 134: Connate Demon Silver-Crowned Crane
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
This was the second time that Jiang Tianchen had seen the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters.
Back then, before he had taken over the position as emperor of Yunyang country, he had once visited this Valley chief together with his father Jiang Yunding, then the emperor of Yunyang country. Then, he was just a young teen, barely thirteen years of age.
In the blink of an eye, thirty years had pa.s.sed, and he had already gotten so much older. The years had left their mark on his wizened face, but the emperor that stood in front of him still looked the same as he had thirty years ago, just like a middle-aged man.
“Although I had heard a long time ago that the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters had the ability to maintain his image well… but I never thought that he would still be able to maintain his look from more than thirty years ago.” Jiang Tianchen looked at the middle-aged man in front of him as he sunk deep into his thoughts. He was extremely shocked that the man looked exactly the same as he had thirty years ago. Was this really the valley chief that he had met on his previous visit and not the son of that chief? Although he had long heard that this chief of the valley had such abilities, but it had always been just hearsay. Now that he finally saw the man in the flesh for himself, Jiang Tianchen was shocked and could hardly calm himself.
Even when the valley chief spoke, Jiang Tianchen did not respond as he was still deep in thought.
“Jiang Tianchen, right? Even your father did not dare to be as disrespectful in front of me.” The elegant man was the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo. Seeing that Jiang Tianchen had ignored him, although there seemed to be hardly any change in his expression, his eyes seemed to flash with a murderous cold glint that scared Jiang Tianchen so much that he recovered from his daze immediately.
“Your Excellency, please do not misunderstand. I was just so alarmed to see that Your Excellency looks exactly as young as you did thirty years ago. That was why I went into a daze.” Jiang Tianchen bowed deeply as he spoke, his voice apologetic.
Although he was the emperor of Yunyang country and the one who reigned supreme over the whole of the country, but in front of this man, he did not dare to show any sign of arrogance. Not only was the man the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, which ruled over all sixteen countries of the Eastern valley, including Yunyang country, but just the level of power within the man was also enough to make him cower in fear. Not only was the man the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, but he was also a Connate adept who had achieved the late Connate stage!
Needless to say, Jiang Tianchen was very good with his words. At least, what he just said was enough to soften Su Mo after it entered his ears. His fierce gaze turned gentler as he said, “So…. what urgent matter brings you here today to find me?”
Jiang Tianchen breathed in deeply, before he spoke slowly, “Your Excellency, my father has been murdered.” As he spoke, his tone turned low as if he could not control it. In front of Su Mo, the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Jiang Tianchen, the emperor of Yunyang country, did not dare to refer to himself as the emperor, but referred to himself in the first person using just the term “I.”
“Oh?” Su Mo raised his brows. “As far as I know, your father Jiang Yunding had already achieved the early Connate stage quite some time ago… recently, did a Connate adept cause trouble for you in Yunyang country?” As he spoke, Su Mo’s eyes seemed to flash coldly. All the sixteen countries within the Eastern valley were under the protection of the Valley of Medicine Masters, including Yunyang country. This was widely known. Hence, although many of the sixteen countries of the Eastern valley did not have any Connate adepts, these countries did not receive any trouble from other Connate adepts. This was because it was understood that these sixteen countries of the Eastern valley had the backing of the Valley of Medicine Masters.
Now, hearing that the retired emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Yunding, who had already achieved the Connate stage, had just been murdered, Su Mo, as the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, immediately felt that someone had dared to disrespect the Valley. Laying hands on Jiang Yunding was no different from slapping the Valley of Medicine Masters on the cheek.
“Your Excellency, my father was not killed by a Connate adept… the man who killed my father is only a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering at best,” replied Jiang Tianchen, his face bitter.
“Jiang Yunding had already achieved the Connate stage many years ago, but he was killed by a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering? What happened to his years as a Connate adept?” The icy cold glint in Su Mo’s eyes disappeared and was replaced with disdain. A Connate adept of the early Connate stage being murdered at the hands of a Great Consummate adept was simply a disgrace to Connate adepts! In that instant, Su Mo felt that Jiang Yunding had embarra.s.sed the ranks of Connate adepts.
“Your Excellency, although that man is only a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering, he is definitely not your typical Great Consummate adept.” Seeing Su Mo’s disdain towards his late father, Jiang Tianchen was infuriated, but he did not dare to show his anger. He forced a bitter smile out of the edges of his mouth as he said, “That man most likely received the treasure of a Primal Core adept!”
“Primal Core adept?” Su Mo’s eyes narrowed. His expression, which had been relaxed, now changed drastically.
“In his hands, he had a small metal sphere which could transform into a spear… the metal spear did not look impressive, but it radiated a cold glow that was visible to the naked eye. Once if flew out, it could easily kill a man. My father had died because of that metal sphere, and had been murdered by that metal ball which had transformed into a spear and pierced through him.” Jiang Tianchen continued, “My father was wary and had defended in time, but he was still unable to defend himself against that spear.”
“Small metal ball? Transformed into a spear?” Su Mo’s eyes narrowed again as his gaze landed on Jiang Tianchen like lightning bolts. He asked seriously, “Are you sure… the small ball in that man’s hands could transform into a spear?”
The sudden seriousness of Su Mo gave Jiang Tianchen immense pressure. He breathed in deeply, then dared to respond, “Your Excellency, although I did not see it for myself, many people in the Chu royal household of the Western Chu ridge of Yunyang country saw the scene with their own eyes… Most importantly, my father had died because of the small metal spear that had transformed out of that small metal sphere!”
As he spoke, Jiang Tianchen paused before adding, “The reason why I suspect that he is in possession of a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept… this mysterious metal ball that can transform into a spear is just one of the reasons.
“The other reason is the sheer speed of his increase in power. Two years ago, he was just sixteen years old and a martial invalid that everyone knew about… but now, he is just eighteen years of age and has already achieved Great Consummation of Qi-Gathering! Most importantly, he was not born into any reputable families, but is just someone who was born and raised in a desolate little town in an inferior prefecture of the Western Chu ridge.” Jiang Tianchen finished his piece in one breath.
“Sixteen years old, a martial invalid?” Su Mo’s eyes narrowed once again. His expression changed drastically again as he asked, “Eighteen years old and somehow appears to have achieved Great Consummation of Qi-Gathering? Plus, using a small metal ball that seems to be a spear sphere, he killed the previous emperor of Yunyang country, the early Connate adept Jiang Yunding?”
Su Mo had seen records in the old books that had been pa.s.sed down through generations of the Valley of Medicine Masters of an amazing weapon that only adepts of the Primal Core stage and above could produce. That weapon was known as the spear sphere.
Within the spear sphere, there were many complicated spells, and if one did not know how to use the spear sphere, it was simply impossible to awaken it. But once the spear sphere was awoken, it was able to release frightening amounts of murderous power, and the more inner Qi that was injected into the weapon, the more powerful it would become.
According to the old books and records… middle Connate stage adepts who managed to awaken the spear sphere and utilize it had a more than eighty percent success rate in using it to ambush and kill penultimate Connate stage adepts. If late Connate stage adepts injected all their energy into the spear sphere, they did not even have to ambush the opponent, as long as they had the opportunity, they could easily use it to kill a penultimate Connate stage adept!
Thinking of this, Su Mo’s eyes flashed as he sucked in a deep breath of cold air.
In an instant, his eyes glinted brightly as his gaze landed on Jiang Tianchen once again. “You should now… the consequences of lying to me.” His eyes flashed threateningly as he said this.
“Your Excellency.” Seeing his reaction, Jiang Tianchen was sure that the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters before him was very interested in the treasure that was in the hands of that young man. Otherwise, Su Mo would not have confirmed the truth in his words once again. “If there is any untruth in anything that I, Jiang Tianchen, told you today, Your Excellency can take away my life at any time!” Jiang Tianchen said seriously, even using his life as a guarantee.
Seeing this, Su Mo no longer doubted him. He pulled out a short flute and put it to his mouth, blowing a short verse of music on the flute. The sounds of the flute rolled away into the distance.
Whoos.h.!.+
Just as Jiang Tianchen raised his brows slightly at the ear-piercing flute music, another sound came to his ears, the sound of something speeding through the air. When he raised his head towards the source of the noise, he saw a ma.s.sive white crane. Its wingspan was more than ten meters wide. As it appeared in the air above him and the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo, it circled in the sky, its sharp eyes fixated on Su mo.
“Is this the Connate demon of the Valley of Medicine Masters, the silver-crowned crane?” With just a glance, Jiang Tianchen could easily see the silver crown on the head of the white crane. Instantly, he guessed that this white crane was the Connate stage flying beast that the Valley of Medicine Masters had reared.
The Connate demon, silver-crowned crane.
“Old friend, follow me on a trip,” said Su Mo to the silver-crowned crane with a smile. Usually, even Connate demons which had attained intelligence would find it difficult to understand human language. But if the Connate demon had lived long enough and people had always used human language to communicate with it, eventually these Connate demons would be able to understand human language easily.
But even though they could fully understand human language, Connate demons could not speak the language. This was simply because demons had a bone in their throat that only allowed them to use demon tongue… only Primal Core demons which had their inner core would be able to use the inner energy of the Primal Core to transform the bone in their throat such that they would be able to speak the human language and interact with humans.
Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+
…
As Su Mo spoke, the ma.s.sive Connate silver-crowned crane that was circling above now shot towards the ground, scooping Su Mo up together with it into the skies and flying towards the direction of Yunyang country. As for Jiang Tianchen, the emperor of Yunyang country, he was also brought onto the back of the silver-crowned crane together with Su Mo.