Chapter 1651: Prior to the Negotiations (Five)
Changyang Ba and Bi Yuntian both became stunned. They stared at Shangguan Mu'er in a daze. At that moment, they found that their minds had stopped working.
The island mistress of Three Saint Island's name was thunderous to their ears. Back when Jian Chen was in seclusion, and the Origin realm experts of the two worlds were negotiating, the Origin realm experts that belonged to the Tian Yuan Continent's side were absolutely filled with fear. In order to avoid any conflict with the foreign Origin realm experts, they had set the location of negotiations to the city lord's estate in Flame City. This was an indication to just how pressured the Origin realm experts of this world felt when the Origin realm experts of the other world remained here.
During the negotiations, the Origin realm experts on the Tian Yuan Continent's side could see the fear for the island mistress of Three Saint Island from the foreign Origin realm experts, which allowed them to understand that the foreigners would not speak brazenly or try to intimidate them during the negotiations. This was not because of Flame City but because of the island mistress of Three Saint Island.
After all, Flame City would only stop Xiong Zhong's group from fighting and destroying the place. If the outcome displeased them, they could have used threats or even just intimidate the representatives of this world. There was no need for them to act so politely and fearful. The true deterrence was the island mistress of Three Saint Island.
Although Changyang Ba and Bi Yuntian never took part in the negotiations, they knew a lot of the details due to their unique identity.
As a result, the couple felt respect from the bottom of their hearts for the island mistress of Three Saint Island. Even though she was not as powerful as their son, her existence was enough to deter all the Origin realm experts from the foreign world aside from the Spiritking.
Yet in that moment, the island mistress who they respected so much was actually calling them mother and father. It was just too shocking, shaking the depths of their old souls.
"Y- y- you're actually the child's mother?" Changyang Ba only recovered after quite a long while. He immediately stared at Shangguan Mu'er with shock and disbelief plastered across his face.
He would have never even dreamt of something like this. The female sovereign who he respected so much was actually his daughter-in-law.
Shangguan Mu'er glanced at Shangguan Aojian and nodded gently as she saw how shocked the old couple had become.
Changyang Ba immediately gasped after receiving her confirmation. His heart beat extremely heavily at that moment. As a matter of fact, his heart had never beaten so quickly. They felt even more shocked now than they felt when they learned that their son was no weaker than the Spiritking.
"S- so you're actually my grandson." Tears pooled in Bi Yuntian's eyes emotionally as she looked at Shangguan Aojian benevolently. She could not help but clench the pouch of fragrance that Shangguan Aojian had initially gifted to her tightly.
Shangguan Aojian had personally made this pouch of fragrance. He had used large quantities of precious heavenly resources. The value of the heavenly resources was enough to shock countless people. Only now did Bi Yuntian learn that the pouch of fragrance was actually a gift from her own grandson, so her value of the pouch of fragrance soared several times over.
...
There was obviously no longer a need to keep Shangguan Mu'er and Shangguan Aojian's other identity a secret. Very soon, this stunning piece of news spread across the entire Changyang clan, shocking them all. The most shocked person was Changyang Ke. He could only sigh emotionally inside.
Soon afterwards, the news spread across the entire Tian Yuan Continent like wildfire. It had even spread across the three other races, surprising everyone in the world. Countless people sighed in amazement.
In Flame City, a young girl passed through the bustling streets with a young boy, constantly moving from shop to shop. Whenever she saw something that caught her eye, she would buy it without any hesitation no matter the price. She was so extravagant that the descendants of many large and luxurious clans could not help but sigh.
The two people who seemed like siblings were two of the three Origin realm experts who guarded Flame City, Xiao Jin, and Xiao Ling. However, they had currently changed their appearances, so only those who knew their behaviour and habits very well could recognise them.
Conversations about Shangguan Aojian and Shangguan Mu'er's other identity were littered across the city. Obviously, the two of them had heard about it as well.
"Hmm? The young island master of Three Saint Island is actually big brother's son," Xiao Ling murmured. She thought a little before saying to Xiao Jin, "Brother Xiao Jin, let's go to the Changyang clan."
"Alright then, sister Xiao Ling," Xiao Jin sighed a little. He was completely helpless. As a spirit of the attributes, his body grew very slowly, but his mind was unlike Xiao Ling's, permanently unable to grow. As a result, although Xiao Jin seemed like a young boy, he was already as mature as an adult. However, no matter how mature he was, Xiao Ling always treated him as her young brother, pulling him everywhere.
At the same time, a young man sat in the forbidden grounds of the city lord's estate, cultivating there. Dense origin energy circulated around him and a tremendous pressure would radiate from him from time to time.
The young man was the white tiger in human form. Unlike Xiao Jin and Xiao Ling, he worked extremely arduously on his cultivation. He did not spend a single moment on pointless things. He basically spent his entire time cultivating, apart from spending some time with his mother. He would not pause unless something major occurred.
At this moment, the white tiger's eyes snapped open. At the moment he did that, the space before him shattered, being reduced to void. Just his gaze alone had surpassed the limits of the space in his surroundings. Compared to the past, his strength had clearly increased.
"The young island master of Three Saint Island is actually my elder brother's son. I need to go congratulate him now that this has been announced," the white tiger murmured. He soon vanished.
Tie Ta currently sat on the throne in the War God Hall. He radiated with a dense, golden light. The light permeated the entire divine hall as if it had fused with the golden divine hall.
Over twenty Saint Emperor hall elders sat below the throne. Every single one had their eyes closed; they were also cultivating, absorbing a tiny portion of the golden light from Tie Ta.
Suddenly, Tie Ta's eyes snapped open. The dense, golden light around him gradually dispersed as well before vanishing completely. The entire divine hall returned to its previous state.
The hall elders beneath the throne all stopped cultivating at the same time. They opened their eyes and looked at Tie Ta politely.
"Prepare rich gifts! I'm going to the Changyang clan," Tie Ta chuckled aloud and stood up, passing down orders.
"Yes, sir! I'll go prepare them immediately," a hall elder immediately replied and left politely.
Chapter 1652: Gathering of the Strongest (One)
At the same time, the sea goddess, Yang Lie, Guihai Yidao, Feng Xiaotian, Houston, and the four brothers all hurried over as well, gathering at the Changyang clan. They all congratulated Jian Chen.
Although Jian Chen did not plan anything special to celebrate, announcing Shangguan Aojian's identity as Jian Chen's son was akin to returning to the ancestral home according to the customs on the Tian Yuan Continent. Even ordinary people would celebrate something like that, not to mention that this had happened with Jian Chen and Shangguan Mu'er, two sovereigns of the world. As a result, many ancestors from large clans and organisations came without invitations from across the world with rich gifts. Even the patriarch of the Tianqin clan, Qin Xiao, matriarch of the Tianmu clan, Tianmu Ling, king of the Qinhuang Kingdom, Qin Ji, Quan Youcai, Kara Liwei, the president and the grand elder of the Radiant Saint Master union had come. Many people who were acquainted with Jian Chen had all come. In the end, Changyang Ba and Bi Yuntian could only decline Jian Chen's request of not celebrating the matter. They ordered a large banquet to welcome the guests.
Everyone dispersed after the celebrations, but the four brothers remained.
Jian Chen knew what the four brothers were looking for. After greeting them, he took them out of the Changyang clan and directly led them to the centre of a desolate mountain range.
There were a few magical beasts living in the mountains, but they were not particularly powerful. The strongest was only at the 6th Class, so the powerful presence that the four brothers unconsciously radiated immediately scared these magical beasts away when they arrived.
Jian Chen extended his right hand and a finger-sized tower suddenly appeared. Sword slashes covered the tower and each slash shone brightly. It formed a powerful sealing force, keeping the two sealed.
This tower was the treasure from a higher world that Jian Chen had found in the Sea of Despair, the Anatta Grand Prime's Anatta Tower.
The four brothers immediately stared at the tower when its appeared. They were interested as well as confused.
This was because the four of them felt a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity from the tower.
"The reason why you've come to find me is probably because of this tower, right?" Jian Chen stared at the four brothers and said calmly.
The four brothers said nothing. Their attention was completely devoted to the Anatta Tower. They were drawn in by it.
With a single movement from Jian Chen, the Anatta Tower in his hand was thrown into the air. Then, under Jian Chen's control, the tower rapidly expanded in the air, becoming something several thousand meters wide, reaching into the clouds in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The Anatta Tower struck the ground heavily after expanding. With a heavy rumble, the entire ground shook. The tower's weight immediately took over after leaving Jian Chen's hand, and it rapidly sunk into the ground.
Jian Chen shook his head rather helplessly as he watched the Anatta Tower sink a few dozen meters into the ground. He had not fully refined the Anatta Tower yet, so it was a problem every time he placed it down. The tower was as light as a feather in his hand, but all of its weight would come crashing down once it left his hand. As a result, he needed to expand the tower; the bigger it was, the better as a greater surface area could support the tower's weight. Otherwise, the tower might end up falling to the core of the planet if it remained as the size of a finger.
"Come in with me!" Jian Chen waved at the four brothers before flying through the damaged door of the tower.
The four brothers glanced at the damaged tower that reached into the clouds in shock before flying in with Jian Chen.
There were a total of nine floors in the Anatta Tower. Parts of all nine floors had shattered, with huge strands of sword Qi hovering at the edges of the four different directions, suppressing the floor.
Jian Chen took the four brothers to the sword Qi in the east of the first floor. He stared at the huge sword Qi and said, "You should be drawn towards the Anatta Tower. The reason all lies with these sword Qi. The master of these sword Qi is called the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt, a supreme expert who has reached the very apex of another world. I do not know where your cultivation method comes from, but it's definitely related to the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt. He might have even created it. However, the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt left behind all the sword Qi inside and outside the Anatta Tower, so they share the same origins as you. And maybe because of this, you are drawn towards here."
"The Nirvanic Immortal Exalt has a total of four divine swords, which are the Sword of Mortality, Sword of Reincarnation, Sword of Slaughter, and Sword of Severance. The four swords just happen to share some physical features of the swords in your hands..."
"The reason why you could all break through to the Origin realm during the battle should be connected to the sword Qi the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt left behind. When I subdued this tower previously, four strands of sword Qi assisted me. They were hidden in my hand and during your battle against the crisis of the world, the four sword Qi flew out of my hand out of their own will. They fused with you, which is why the four of you could break through together at that time..." Jian Chen explained to the four brothers.
"Jian Chen, is the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt a person of a higher world?" A'Da asked.
Jian Chen nodded, "Yes, the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt is a person from a higher world, but he does not belong to the Saints' World. Instead, he is from the Immortals' World, a world which opposes the Saints' World, as well as the greatest expert of the Immortals' World. His strength is beyond our imagination." Jian Chen sighed at the sky when he reached this point and said regretfully, "Unfortunately, his glory has become a matter of the past because he has fallen long ago. He died on the battlefield between the two worlds."
Hearing that the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt was already dead, the four brothers' feelings became mixed. They had learnt the origins of their cultivation method, but the original progenitor was unfortunately already dead.
"What you see right now is the sword Qi from the Sword of Severance. If you look at your sword, it's rather similar to the Sword of Severance. I want to see if you can form a connection with the sword Qi. If you can absorb the sword Qi, it would be even better," Jian Chen stared at A'Da in interest as he became slightly eager. Aside from answering the four brothers' questions, he had brought the four of them into the Anatta Tower for this reason. He wanted to see if he could make the four of them remove the sword Qi.
All these sword Qi were sealed, sealing up the Anatta Tower's power. If the seals were not removed, he would be unable to display the Anatta Tower's full strength even if he refined it completely.
A'Da stared at the sword Qi for a while before shaking his head, "I find these sword Qi both familiar and unfamiliar. Absorbing them is completely impossible because I can clearly feel their strength. Even with me just standing here right now, my heart still beats in fear. If I try to absorb it, I'll be ripped to shreds in a single moment, and I'll die."
Jian Chen became disappointed, but he did not become dejected. He brought the four of them to the second sword Qi. The second sword Qi was left behind by the Sword of Slaughter, corresponding to A'Er's sword.
However, it was no different from A'Da. A'Er also sensed some familiarity from the sword Qi, but he was still unable to absorb the sword Qi.
Jian Chen took the four brothers to all four corners of the first floor, but they found nothing in the end. He directly took them to the ninth floor and visited the four sword Qi there as well before leaving in disappointment. They exited the Anatta Tower.
"Then what about the sword Qi outside? Can you control it or absorb it?" Jian Chen stood outside and stared at the sword slashes on the tower. Even though he already knew the outcome, he still wanted to try it.
The four brothers stared at the sword Qi and closed their eyes very soon. Their presences changed abruptly at that moment as well.
Jian Chen's eyes suddenly narrowed. Currently, he could sense that the four brothers seemed to have fused with the sword Qi.
"They're borrowing the sword slashes to comprehend the Way of the Sword!" A thought crossed Jian Chen's head. The same thing had happened with him when he first saw the sword slashes, but he had failed since his realm of comprehension was just too low. Not only did he fail to benefit at all, he had almost suffered an intense backlash.
"The cultivation method of the four brothers should be left behind by the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt. They share the same origins as the sword Qi. I wonder if they can comprehend it successfully," Jian Chen thought.
However, just when he thought of something like that, the four brothers' presence immediately became a mess. They all vomited blood and became extremely pale.
Jian Chen arrived before the four of them. Raising his hand, he used Radiant Saint Force to heal them. The four of them had suffered from a backlash. Fortunately, they were not too heavily injured. With his abilities as a Class 9 Radiant Saint Master, they made a full recovery before long.
"What powerful sword Qi. I've never sensed such powerful sword Qi. I never thought that I wouldn't even have the right to comprehend it after reaching the Origin realm," A'Da sighed deeply as he glanced at the sword slashes with lingering fear. However, he immediately looked away again, no longer willing to try comprehend it anymore.
Jian Chen stared at the sword slashes. He did not tell them that the sword Qi had actually become much weaker than before after conflicting with the Anatta Tower for so long.
Afterwards, the four of them walked around the tower a few times. The four brothers had also flown to the very top of the tower. They saw the four slashes which were missing sword Qi, but they did not benefit from anything at all in the end.
"Jian Chen, you've already answered our queries. If there is anything the four of us can assist you with in the future, please mention let us know. We will do everything we can as long as it's within our abilities. Farewell," the four brother clasped their hands at Jian Chen and left together.
Chapter 1653: Gathering of the Strongest (Two)
Jian Chen watched the four brothers leave. When the finally left his sight, he sighed gently. There was a hint of pity and disappointment on his face. Aside from answering the questions that the four brothers had, he had another intention; he wanted to let the four of them enter the Anatta Tower. He wanted to see if the four of them could somehow remove the seal on the Anatta Tower.
After all, the cultivation methods of the four brothers were related to the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt, and they had only managed to reach the Origin realm through the assistance of the four strands of sword Qi. In this world, the four of them were the only people who were related to the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt, so Jian Chen believed that the four of them would have the greatest possibility in removing the seal on the tower.
Although the seal on the tower had become far weaker after so many years, it was still a seal left behind by the greatest expert of the Immortals' World. Even after it had weakened, it would not be something that Jian Chen could remove. He would still remain helpless against the seal even if his strength progressed by a few more layers.
Jian Chen looked at the damaged tower and stared at the sword slashes. He murmured, "These sword Qi have already developed some intelligence. They must have sensed the brothers' arrival. Maybe they didn't react because the four brothers were too weak. After all, they still haven't comprehended the Way of the Sword."
"If the four brothers comprehend the Way of the Sword and come here after their strength has progressed by quite a few cultivation realms, will the outcome be different?" Jian Chen pondered as he stared at the sword slashes on the tower. After a while of thought, he put the Anatta Tower away. With a single movement, he disappeared from the location as well, leaving behind only a huge pit the Anatta Tower created.
Jian Chen passed the next few years peacefully and simply. He either spent his time by his parent's side or guided Shangguan Aojian through cultivation. He also passed on all the experiences he had gathered across the years to Shangguan Aojian. Sometimes, he would stay on Three Saint Island for some time, accompanying Shangguan Mu'er. He would also visit Longevity Valley from time to time, following uncle Xiu into the fields to do some farming in coarse clothes and bare feet, living an ordinary person's life. He would also visit various places to see acquaintances and friends.
This period of time was the easiest and most pleasing time in Jian Chen's life. There was no longer any need for him to be like before, devoting himself to cultivation every moment of the day while remaining wary against enemies, living under huge pressures, where he could potentially become eternally doomed from even the slightest carelessness.
In the past, Jian Chen had never even considered such a simple and peaceful life. Now that he could finally spend his days as he wished after so much trouble, Jian Chen valued it extremely dearly. He valued every day, every minute, and every second of it. He would often smile, revealing a sense of being relaxed, which he had never shown before.
Through the years, quite a few changes happened to his good friends and acquaintances. The third prince of the Qinhuang Kingdom, Qin Ji, had become the king quite a few years ago, while Tianmu Ling had become the matriarch of the Tianmu clan as well. Qin Xiao had become the patriarch of the Tianqin clan long ago, and he even had several grandchildren now. Under his lead, the Tianqin clan became the greatest clan in the Zhuya Kingdom. It was so prestigious that even the royal family of the kingdom was not as great.
Although there had not been many major changes with the Radiant Saint Master Union, the president announced his retirement a few days after Shangguan Aojian's identity was announced. The new president was Quan Youcai.
The grand elder had retired as well. The two of them had become Class 8 Radiant Saint Masters in the artifact space several decades ago, so they now possessed lifespans of six thousand years. In their remaining time, they planned on stepping down completely and living a hermit lifestyle, no longer interfering with the matters of the union.
Due to the lack of Saint King ancestors, the Zaar family that once controlled the City of God had completely declined now. Although their ancestor Zaar Caiyun had become a Saint Emperor, she left the clan as well, no longer bothering with the matters relating to the clan. She had faded away from the Tian Yuan Continent.
Changyang Hu remained in the Pure Heart Pavilion to cultivate the entire time. Due to the personal guidance of Feng Xiaotian, he seemed to have severed his emotions and desires completely. He had abandoned kinship and friendship. He had never taken a single step away from the Pure Heart Pavilion after entering it, and he did not even visit his mother who was growing weak across the years.
Meanwhile, Nubis was probably the happiest one out of everyone. He spent his time travelling around with two women, moving through the territories of all four races. Sometimes, he would find a cave and go at it with the two women.
The two women were both Class 7 Magical Beasts who had assumed human forms. They were burly, broad-shouldered, and powerful, even greater than many of the large men on the Tian Yuan Continent.
Xiu Tianyu, Dugu Feng, Yun Zheng, Senior An, Sans, and so on basically spent all their time in Flame City, devoting themselves to the development of the Flame Mercenaries.
A year after Shangguan Aojian's identity was revealed, You Yue and Huang Luan both emerged from seclusion. Their feelings became extremely mixed when they saw Shangguan Aojian.
In the blink of an eye, the ten years that Jian Chen and the Spiritking had agreed on arrived quietly. As soon as it was time, an extremely powerful presence began to radiate from the tunnel connecting the two worlds. A simple-looking middle-aged man appeared. Behind him was a metal sword that hovered with a dark glow. It radiated with soaring sword Qi. The sword Qi was so powerful that it made space distort. If it were not for the fact that the sword Qi was purposefully hidden, it would have been enough to annihilate most of the space in the world.
This middle-aged man was the Spiritking. He had punctually appeared on the Tian Yuan Continent. Behind him were the Origin realm experts from the World of Forsaken Saints.
"Shen Jian, please come to the city lord's estate in Flame City!" Jian Chen's voice rang out from a million kilometers away as soon as the Spiritking appeared. It crossed the distance and boomed thunderously at the location of the tunnel between the two worlds.
The Spiritking's face did not change, nor did he say anything. He directly took a step and with that, he vanished. At the next moment, he had crossed the distance, appearing in the city lord's estate as if he had teleported. He stood before Jian Chen.
Between the two of them was a long discussion table. All the Origin realm experts of the Tian Yuan Continent's world had already been seated and had been waiting for some time already.
The Spiritking observed the composed Jian Chen closely. After staring for a while, he said, "Your strength has increased again?"
Jian Chen smiled, "There was some increase during my period of secluded cultivation."
The Spiritking sat down and became rather stern. Jian Chen's strength before was roughly the same as his. Now that his strength had increased once again during his secluded cultivation, would that mean that the difference between the two of them had shrunken again? Or maybe they were completely on the same level now?
At the same time, the Spiritking was unable to sense just how much Jian Chen's strength had increased. However, he could tell from his battle prowess that Jian Chen might have completely exceeded him already.
Chapter 1654: Unification
Even with his mental fortitude, the Spiritking could not help but gasp when he confirmed the matter. Jian Chen's growth rate had completely shocked him. In a lower world where origin energy was thin, advancing any further after breaking through to the Origin realm would be extremely difficult. It would require several times more energy and time. In fact, the laws of the lower world even restrict people from reaching Godhood. Due to Jian Chen's cultivation method, the Spiritking was previously unable to tell his exact cultivation level, but he could roughly feel that even if he had not reached peak Reciprocity, he was not far from it. Any advance in strength at that level was almost impossible because the lower world rarely had the resources to support the cultivation of a Reciprocity expert. Despite the limitations, Jian Chen had made quite some progress in just two decades. The Spiritking could not help but sigh in surprise from this fellow's speed and talent.
As the Spiritking sat down, the other Origin realm experts all arrived at the city lord's estate as well. They all glanced at Jian Chen with reverence and various other complicated emotions before silently sitting beside the Spiritking.
The Spiritking was not present in the negotiations before, so Xiong Zhong had represented the World of Forsaken Saints as he had been the strongest present. Xiong Zhong had decided everything, but now that the Spiritking was personally present, the protectors and elders who were great enough to be revered on the Tian Yuan Continent all shut up obediently.
"Let's talk about the matter of land. As mentioned in the previous negotiations, our world has already proposed the land we want, and its size is proportional to the territories between the four races. We want a quarter of the Tian Yuan Continent, sea realm, Beast God Continent, and Wasteland Continent. That way, the land we possess in this world will be the same as yours. What do you think?" The Spiritking said calmly as he stared at Jian Chen with interest. He directly ignored the other Origin realm experts who sat beside Jian Chen.
Everyone understood that there would only be two people taking part in the negotiations this time; they would be Jian Che and the Spiritking. The other Origin realm experts had no right to interfere. In a world where strength reigned supreme, the person who could hit harder would always be right. If this world did not have Jian Chen to rival the Spiritking, the problem of negotiations would not exist at all.
Jian Chen shook his head gently in response to the Spiritking's words, "Shen Jian, I won't agree to that."
"Then why don't you tell me what you're thinking?" The Spiritking's face remained the same and he responded easily as if he had expected Jian Chen to put up a fight.
The Spiritking added, "In order to stop the crisis of the world, my world has made a huge sacrifice, paying a great price. If the matter of land cannot be settled peacefully through negotiations, I cannot guarantee you that our world will not resort to military action." The Spiritking's words contained a hint of threat. If the land they were offered did not satisfy them, the World of Forsaken Saints would go back to war.
The expressions of many of the Origin realm experts on Jian Chen's side changed slightly. Their world no longer feared a battle against the World of Forsaken Saints with their current strength, but it would be destructive if a battle did erupt. The Tian Yuan Continent, which had already cracked into four pieces, might be reduced to nothing.
After all, the shockwaves of battles between Origin realm experts were enough to cause a devastating effect on the world. In the past, Jian Chen and the Spiritking's battle in outer space had forcefully split the moon in half. Even now, when night descended, countless people would see the two halves of the shattered moon. None of them wished for the planet beneath their feet to become a second moon.
On the other hand, the Origin realm experts of the World of Forsaken Saints felt prideful because of the Spiritking's awe. They even straightened their backs unconsciously. Due to the fear they felt toward Shangguan Mu'er, they did everything fearfully in the negotiations before, always at the end of their wits. All of them felt extreme indignation because of that. Now that the Spiritking was personally conducting the negotiations, they immediately regained their awe from before.
The Spiritking's threat did not anger Jian Che at all because the current World of Forsaken Saints no longer possessed the strength to challenge the Tian Yuan Continent. Once battle erupted, the World of Forsaken Saints would definitely suffer defeat because his Chaotic Body had reached the Ninth Layer. Even with the crack in his chaotic neidan, which limited him to eighty percent of his power, just that was far greater than what he had been able to use with the eighth layer.
"Correct. Your world indeed played a vital role in averting the crisis of the world. If it weren't for your assistance, we would probably all be dead by now. When your cultivators offered up their lives, I promised them that I'd fulfill their final wish so that they can rest peacefully in the afterlife," Jian Chen said calmly. At the same time, a scroll appeared in his hand, which he spread out on the table. On it was all the territories across the four races.
Jian Chen stared at the map for a while and said, "If I directly give you a piece of land, it'll lead to the objection of many people who originally lived there. After all, their land is their roots as well as the ancestral homes of many people. It holds an extraordinary significance to them, even more important than their lives. They would rather die than leave. There have even been many clans, organisations, and countries that have banded together because of this. If you want to settle down in that land, they'll throw themselves at you without any fear for death. As a result, several billions of people in my world will lose their lives in battles to protect their homeland if I directly follow through with your suggestion. I definitely cannot allow that to happen."
The Spiritking frowned and asked, "Then what do you plan on doing?"
Jian Chen knocked the table with a knuckle and said after some thought, "I have indeed come up with an idea to deal with this problem, and that is to unite the two worlds, abandon the concept of territory and different races to formally become one."
"Uniting the two worlds," the Spiritking murmured softly. He was surprised. Jian Chen proposal had completely exceeded his expectations. After all, they were people from two different worlds and worlds that had initially gone to war with each other. There would still be some hostility between the two worlds. In fact, the Tian Yuan Continent had even been shattered because of their conflict.
"Correct. Unification. Our world will not give you any land. If you want your own land, then use the corresponding wealth to exchange it with people. Although wealth is nothing in our eyes, there are still quite a lot of people who would be willing to sell their land in the world," Jian Chen said sternly. This was the only idea he could come up with that could fulfill the demands of the World of Forsaken Saints as well as maintain the interests of his own world.
After all, in the mortal world, wealth could be described as universal. Buying land would obviously not be a problem and through this method, the World of Forsaken Saints would definitely be able to obtain some land or even more than what they had initially planned on getting.
The light in the Spiritking's eyes flickered. He found Jian Chen's suggestion to be rather enticing. Although it would mean that they would need to lose some things in order to get land, their world had existed for countless years and it followed a monarchy system. Just the amount of wealth paid as taxes was an astronomical figure, so the Sacred Spirit Hall had accumulated a huge amount of wealth long ago. Losing some of their resources would not affect them at all. At the same time, they could use those resources to buy land from the various people across the four races, so the final amount of land they could end up with would be far greater than what they could ever negotiate for, assuming the negotiations even went their way in the first place.
Splitting up the land had a direct connection to the lives of several billion people, so the Spiritking understood that if he continued to insist on dividing up territories, it would be unlikely to proceed smoothly. Jian Chen would never make the decision to take the lives of several billion people. As a result, the unification of the two worlds, which would allow the World of Forsaken Saints to buy land, seemed to be the only valid method so far to both solve the problem of land and the lives of several billion people.
Chapter 1655: A New Era (One)
The Spiritking sank into his thoughts over Jian Chen's suggestion of unifying the two worlds and gaining land through purchase, clearly weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the suggestion. He would discuss with the elders and protectors around him from time to time through communication techniques.
For the moment, the city lord's estate became silent. No one spoke on Jian Chen's side. Jian Chen had already presented his exact idea. They only needed to wait for the World of Forsaken Saints' response on whether they agreed or not.
This matter clearly was extremely important, enough to influence the World of Forsaken Saints far and wide. As a result, the Spiritking and the others dared not to be careless. They all seemed to be sitting there silently, but they had engaged in discussion long ago.
Time passed silently until four entire hours had passed. Only then did the Spiritking respond. He said, "Alright, I agree to it. Our worlds will be unified from now onwards, and we can buy any land in your world."
The Origin realm experts on Jian Chen's side all began to smile as if a heavy load had been lifted from their shoulders when they heard the Spiritking's response. The matter of land had weighed on their hearts for two decades, and they knew that as long as the matter was not properly settled, it was possible for war to break out between the two worlds. They did not fear it, but they did not wish to see it either. Now that the matter of land had reached a perfect conclusion, many of them let out a breath of relief.
Jian Chen also smiled. He said sincerely, "I hope that our worlds can coexist peacefully in the future. Of course, I must remind you that we won't do anything if you buy land fairly, where how much you can obtain will depend on your abilities, but I do not wish to see you force people into selling. If that happens, we will interfere."
"There will be some conflicts between the unification of our worlds. If we don't manage it well, it might even erupt into war, and the shockwaves of the battle will be extremely destructive to the Tian Yuan Continent once Saint Emperors get involved. The Tian Yuan Continent has already shattered now, becoming extremely weak. It won't be able to endure much at all, so I'd advise some Origin realm experts of both worlds to form an alliance to prevent this so that they can specially manage this matter and prevent Saint Emperors from taking part in large-scale battles," Houston suggested.
Jian Chen nodded slightly, "That's not a bad suggestion. I feel the need to form an alliance to prevent large wars between experts. After all, the Tian Yuan Continent will not just be our homeland in the future. It'll be yours as well. None of us would wish to see our homeland destroyed at our own hands in the end."
"Okay, I agree," said the Spiritking.
...
Afterwards, the two sides ironed out some details regarding the unification of the two worlds. They both considered that unification would not be an easy matter as they were people from two separate worlds. Hence, they set down many rules and restrictions to avoid large-scale conflict between the two worlds.
At the same time, they formally established an alliance between the two worlds. The name of the alliance was the Tian Saints Alliance, taking from the name of the Tian Yuan Continent and the World of Forsaken Saints. There was no alliance head, only alliance elders. Without any exceptions, the Origin realm experts of the two worlds would take up those positions. The alliance only existed to prevent large-scale conflict between the cultivators of the two worlds and prevent the shockwaves of battle from destroying their homeland. The alliance would not interfere in anything else other.
With the negotiations concluded, everyone dispersed. The details of the negotiations were announced as soon as possible.
Very soon, everyone learnt about the conclusion of the negotiations between the two worlds. Some people treated it like it was nothing, while others sank deep into their thoughts about the future developments of this world. At the same time, there were other people who began to weep in joy as they cheered jubilantly. They were the people who were prepared to guard their homeland, kingdom, ancestral home, or clan to the death. They originally planned to enter a battle to the death against the foreign world, to protect what belonged to them. However, when they learnt about the conclusion, they all became emotional. Many people began to cry uncontrollably.
"It's sovereign Jian Chen. It's sovereign Jian Chen who helped us. If it were not for sovereign Jian Chen, who stood against our land being handed over, where we are standing now would probably already belong to the foreign world. On the other hand, all of us, people deeply attached to the land, would end up dead on the battle against the World of Forsaken Saints..."
"Thank you, sovereign Jian Chen. Thank you. Long live sovereign Jian Chen..."
"The other sovereigns of our world don't really care about our lives but sovereign Jian Chen does. He was the one who saved us. It was he who protected our ancestral land..."
Very soon, some people learnt that the final changes in the decision to hand over land were completely due to Jian Chen. They immediately began to cheer Jian Chen's name gratefully. Jian Chen had protected their homes and their lives. At that moment, several billion people across the world silently remembered Jian Chen. There were even a few cities where people began to erect statues of Jian Chen. People would kneel before the statues every day, and there were even many families who hung up images of Jian Chen on their walls to worship.
As the greatest sovereign in the world, he was supreme. However, he was not like the other sovereigns who paid no attention to the lives of those who lived at the bottom of society. He thought for them and spoke for them. He had protected their homes, their ancestral lands, and even their lives.
On the other hand, Jian Chen appeared on Three Saint Island. He sat on a rock at the top of Three Saint Mountain. Shangguan Mu'er was sitting beside him, playing her zither. The music she created was beautiful and touching, enough to enchant people. Jian Chen would remain there for the next period of time to quietly overwatch the developments of uniting the two worlds and see if there would be anything he had not accounted for.
The World of Forsaken Saints moved quickly once the negotiations concluded. The next day, a large number of Sainthood experts emerged from the tunnel that connected the two worlds. They entered the Tian Yuan Continent before dispersing in all directions, flying towards the territories of the four races.
These people were all Saint Kings and Saint Emperors. They were the people the World of Forsaken Saints sent to buy land. They all possessed a large amount of wealth. Of course, since they came from the World of Forsaken Saints, they did not need to worry about being robbed even with so much treasure because there were Origin realm experts from their world who watched over everything.
Chapter 1656: A New Era (Two)
In quite a large, bustling city, the lofty city lord laid back in the air as he watched a performance. Suddenly, a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance appeared before him and directly said, "I want to buy this city!"
The city lord leapt in fright with the sudden appearance of a person. He became stunned when he heard the person's words, and he only responded after quite a while with much uncertainty, "Are you from the World of Forsaken Saints?"
The middle-aged man smiled and introduced himself, "I am Stark. I come from the World of Forsaken Saints, and I am a Sixth Heavenly Layer Saint King."
"What! S- S- Saint King..." The city lord scrambled to his feet and became rather pale. He was only a Heaven Saint Master right now, but he was also the strongest expert in the city. Saint Kings were insurmountable existences in his eyes.
"I want to buy this city. You can go sort it out with the people in the city. Whether it be money, battle skills, or cultivation methods, they're all things I can offer. I'll pay according to the territory size of each person. Of course, there'll be something in for it for you if you satisfy me as well," said Stark.
"B- but this city is the territory of the Luofei Kingdom. How can I..." The city lord said as he appeared to be troubled. He was rather reluctant to help the people from the foreign world. After all, he was a human, so how could he help a foreign race? However, the person standing before him was a Saint King, so even though he was reluctant, he was not bold enough to directly show it.
"The Luofei Kingdom you speak of only has a single Saint Ruler. If you end up contributing enough, I can ask the higher-ups to let you into the sacred grounds of our World of Forsaken Saints to cultivate. You'll definitely be able to become a Saint Ruler within a decade," said Stark.
"What? I can become a Saint Ruler within ten years? Is that true?" The city lord's eyes widened as he became emotional. He became a Heaven Saint Master many years ago, but it would be almost impossible for him to reach Sainthood in his lifetime with his limited talent. Sainthood was a fatal attraction to him.
"Of course. How precious do you think our sacred lands are? Making people reach Saint Ruler is only a simple matter," Stark guaranteed.
"Alright, I agree. Senior, as long as I can become a Saint Ruler, I'll do whatever you ask me to..." The city lord agreed excitedly. He had completely forgotten about any matter regarding the fact that they were of a different race now that the hope of reaching Sainthood was presented before him.
Very few people knew that there was an ancient clan of several tens of thousands of years old hidden within an ancient mountain range. Today, the ancient clan had received a special guest. This guest seemed like nothing special, but he managed to enter the clan silently, ignoring any and all defensive measures.
The guest stood before the ancestor of the ancient clan and said emotionlessly, "You have an underlying illness that prevents you from reaching Saint Emperor for the rest of your life. I just happen to have the cure for it, and I can make you become a Saint Emperor in a hundred years as well as give you the power to increase your clan by ten Saint Kings. I can let you choose the ten people, and I'll make them all become Saint Kings within a century. What you have to do is just move out of this mountain range. This mountain range will belong to us in the future."
A light flickered through the eyes of the ancestor. He said with a gruff voice, "You're able to infiltrate here silently, and I can't tell what your strength is. If I'm right, you should be a Saint Emperor from the World of Forsaken Saints. Your conditions are indeed enticing. I might have already agreed if you were a human, but it's a pity that you aren't. It's impossible for you to get us to move out of here."
"Don't you have enemies? I'll be honest, but we're looking for a lot of land, and there'll be a lot of people who will benefit from us. They'll either obtain the cultivation methods or battle skills they want or have their strength increased dramatically with our assistance. I can't guarantee whether your enemies will become even more powerful," the foreign Saint Emperor said calmly.
The face of the ancestor of the ancient clan changed, and his gaze began to waver.
"I'll give you three days to consider it. I will be back after three days."
...
Similar occurrences did not just happen on the Tian Yuan Continent. It occurred in the sea realm and with the magical beasts quite a lot as well. Not only did the people from the World of Forsaken Saints lay their hands on the cities of mortals, but they also targeted a few hermit or even ancient clans. They approached them through various ways and used various methods to tempt them for their land.
The appearance of a Saint Tier Battle Skill was enough for ancient clans to go to war with one another. The World of Forsaken Saints had such a great heritage that the Saint Tier Battle Skills that were priceless in the eyes of the Tian Yuan Continent cultivators were nothing to them. As a result, on just the first day, many hermit clans chose to sell their land for a Saint Tier Battle Skill, a Saint Tier cultivation method, or the opportunity to become a Saint King or even a Saint Emperor; they made this decision so that their clans could become even more glorious and greater. Their entire clans moved.
At the same time, the people from the foreign world used money and other treasures to buy large quantities of land from mortals. They had even offered a few benefits to the kings of kingdoms, winning over the kingdoms themselves. As a result, the territories of entire kingdoms had basically become their backyard.
Of course, the foreign people did not run amuck on the land that they had bought. They only wanted territory so that they could provide their weaker clansmen with a better living environment. After all, the environment in the World of Forsaken Saints was just too horrible, completely unsuitable for Mortal realm cultivators to inhabit. Countless people would die from natural disasters every day, so the other world seemed like heaven.
Jian Chen and Shangguan Mu'er sat on the same rock on Three Saint Island. They were both observing everything unfolding in the world, whether it be on the Tian Yuan Continent, Beast God Continent, Wasteland Continent, or in the sea realm.
"It has only been the first day, and the foreign world has already obtained so much land. If this continues, they'll probably be able to buy more than half of the Tian Yuan Continent. Jian Chen, have you made any countermeasures in regards to this?" Shangguan Mu'er looked at Jian Chen.
Jian Chen nodded, "I have indeed made countermeasures. The World of Forsaken Saints will only be able to obtain a limited amount of our land through their various measures because I've already secretly ordered many of the large clans and sects in this world to reject their offers of selling over their land." Jian Chen paused before continuing, "And the Origin realm experts of the World of Forsaken Saints aren't stupid. They know that once they buy up more land than we can afford to sell, we'll end up rebounding with full force. They know when to stop. After all, we agreed to them buying our land not because of how powerful they are but because of their contributions to stopping the crisis of the world. They completely understand this."
Chapter 1657: Tie Ta Bids Farewell
Not only were Jian Chen and Shangguan Mu'er observing the Sainthood experts from the World of Forsaken Saints as they bought land recklessly, but the other Origin realm experts in the world were also secretly watching over these experts from the foreign world as well. Their souls were expanded across the territories of the four races as they paid close attention to the foreign experts, preventing them from going overboard. Only Xiao Jin and Xiao Ling paid no attention to the entire matter, running around every day as they played. Even the white tiger, who had been cultivating like a madman, would expand his soul from time to time and observe everything outside.
At the same time, the Origin realm experts from the World of Forsaken Saints were also secretly observing the clansmen who had come to buy land. After all, every single one of them bore an extremely significant amount of wealth for purchasing land. Not only did they carry the money used in the world, but they also carried a large number of cultivation resources, cultivation methods, battle skills, and so on. The Sacred Spirit Hall had accumulated all of these treasures across the years. Even though it all amounted to only the tip of the iceberg of the Sacred Spirit Hall, it was still enough for Saint Emperors to go crazy over it. Hence, to ensure their safety and to make sure their treasures were not stolen, the Origin realm experts watched over everything at all times.
As long as the disparity in strength was not sufficiently wide, the Origin realm experts of both worlds would be able to sense each other's souls. As they expanded their souls so often, the Origin realm experts that belonged to the world of the Tian Yuan Continent would often come into contact with the extended souls of the Origin realm experts, but nothing adverse happened.
The reckless purchasing of land had caused quite a tremendous uproar in the world of the Tian Yuan Continent. They all offered large amounts of treasures and cultivation methods to purchase land, causing the value of Saint Tier Battle Skills and cultivation methods to plummet. Basically every ancient clan and organisation with Saint Kings who agreed to move received a Saint Tier Battle Skill or a Saint Tier cultivation method.
After all, Saint Tier Battle Skills were precious due to their shortage. Even many ancient clans that had existed for tens of thousand years did not possess one. With the entry of the World of Forsaken Saints, the influx of Saint Tier Battle Skills and cultivation methods immediately caused these items to lose their former value.
The foreign world's use of wealth on mortals and cultivation resources when dealing with cultivators was truly an effective method of obtaining large plots of land. The resources they consumed through this trade would be utterly insignificant to the Sacred Spirit Hall that had existed for countless years.
This consumption was insignificant because not only did the World of Forsaken Saints possess more Origin realm experts than the Tian Yuan Continent's world, even their Sainthood experts had exceeded Jian Chen's world in number. As a result, there were basically countless Saint Tier Battle Skills and cultivation methods.
In the blink of an eye, the World of Forsaken Saints' large-scale purchasing of land had gone on for three whole years. Not only did the World of Forsaken Saints gain quite a large section of territory among the four races, the strength of Jian Chen's world had rapidly increased in those three years as well. The World of Forsaken Saints had brought with them many heavenly resources that had never appeared on the Tian Yuan Continent as well as scrolls that contained the comprehension of the mysteries of the world, which would assist people in reaching Sainthood. As a result, many Heaven Saint Masters managed to reach Saint Ruler. However, the people who reached Sainthood through the use of heavenly resources would never be able to advance any further in cultivation. Only the small portion of people who broke through using the scrolls of comprehension and their own hard work could progress further.
These heavenly resources were not as perfect as the Violet Cloud Peaches and possessed backlashes. Once someone reached Sainthood through the use of these heavenly resources, their foundation would be wholly destroyed, restricting them to that cultivation level for the rest of their lives. However, there were still many peak Heaven Saint Masters who chose to break through to Sainthood with this destructive method as their talent limited them to the Sixth Cycle of Heaven Saint Master. They would be reduced to a skeleton in a thousand years' time at most if they did not make this choice.
Forsaken Saints rapidly entered the world through the tunnel during these three years, to the point where their population stretched into the hundreds of millions. These people were not powerful, mostly below Earth Saint Masters. Earth Saint Masters and Heaven Saint Masters only represented a tiny portion of them. They settled down on the land the World of Forsaken Saints owned. They cultivated there, established families and businesses there, attempting to unite with the people of this world.
With their existence, the world gained a new race, the Forsaken Saints.
The people from the World of Forsaken Saints always called themselves Forsaken Saints. Many of them did not know where the name came from, let alone what it truly meant. After all, the name had been around for just too long, so long that even past Spiritkings were unable to research the subject. It was like a brand, burnt deeply into the depths of their minds, such that they would always remember that they were Forsaken Saints.
After moving to the Tian Yuan Continent's world, the first friends that the Forsaken Saints made were merchants. In the eyes of the merchants, there were no eternal enemies, only eternal profit. They saw the arrival of the foreign race as a great opportunity, so many of the merchants imported the local specialties of certain regions as well as what the Forsaken Saints lacked. They benefited tremendously.
Merchants became the first friends of the Forsaken Saints as well as the most welcoming group.
Of course, there would be a few cultivators who were journeying through the continents who would end up in some small-scale conflicts and fights against the Forsaken Saints. However, the upper echelon of the Tian Yuan Continent did not interfere with these matters. After all, every single expert had grown up in a sea of blood and corpses; this would only be training for them.
A small fishing boat was anchored silently several dozen kilometers away from Three Saint Island, rising and falling with the waves. Two young men of similar ages stood on the boat in coarse clothes; their feet were bare and they were fishing. Beside them was a basket that contained several large fish squirming about. It would splash water on the two young men from time to time, soaking their clothes, but they did not seem to mind at all. They stared out at the sea as they conversed with great interest.
"Father, what do you think we should eat tonight? Do you want to eat mother's fish soup or roast fish? I like the taste of roast fish more," one of the young men said with a smile. He seemed content.
"Your mother's fish soup isn't bad. Your second aunt's fried fish is pretty good as well, while your third aunt's roasted fish is delicious. Why don't we try them all tonight? We've caught so many fish anyway," said the other young man. To no surprise, there were two swords on his back, one azure, and one violet.
The two of them were Jian Chen and Shangguan Aojian.
At this moment, the space next to Jian Chen rippled, and a burly man suddenly appeared by his side as if he had teleported. The burly man's skin was lustrous as if he was plated in gold. He wore an attire for battle with a cape, making him seem dignified. He naturally radiated with an aura of supremacy. The most eye-catching part was the golden imprint of an axe between his eyebrows.
"Tie Ta, you've come at a perfect time. Why don't you come back to Three Saint Island with me to try the fish? It must have been several decades since you've tried something like that. It'll be nostalgic," Jian Chen said to the burly man who had suddenly appeared.
Tie Ta looked at the fishing duo, and his gaze became mixed with feelings. There was a strong sense of a reluctance to part with them. After a moment of silence, he sat down beside Jian Chen and stared off into the sea. He said, "Jian Chen, I've come this time to bid farewell to you. I am leaving."
Jian Chen's grip on his fishing rod immediately tightened when he heard that. He only responded after some silence, "Have you really thought it through? Once you leave, it won't be very easy for you to return. Who knows how long you'll have to wait for."
"Senior Audriana has already made all the preparations. She is urging me to go to the higher world. I've already thought it through. I will leave soon because I don't want to stay here either. There's no point in staying here anymore," Tie Ta said rather gloomily.
Jian Chen glanced at Tie Ta deeply before sighing. He knew part of Tie Ta's reason. Originally, Tie Ta had been engaged to a woman in the tiny village he had grown up in on the Tian Yuan Continent. However, the woman had been married off to another man in the village many years ago, and she had become a grandmother now. Tie Ta's heart had always ached because of this matter.
Tie Ta had always kept this matter hidden and did not tell anyone. However, with Jian Chen's tremendous strength now, his soul could easily envelop the entire world. If he was willing, he could make anything happen in the world, so what happened in Tie Ta's village obviously could not be kept a secret from him.
Jian Chen patted Tie Ta's shoulder, "You have to protect yourself once you go to the Saints' World. We might meet there before long." Jian Chen did not try to persuade Tie Ta to stay. He knew that Tie Ta would depart sooner or later.
Tie Ta looked at Jian Chen and said, "Jian Chen, come to the Saints' World with me. Senior Audriana has told me that I'd become the ruler in the eyes of everyone once I return to the God clan. Everyone will respect me and listen to my commands. The God clan is a glorious clan in the World of Forsaken Saints. They're very powerful, so if you go to the Saints' World with me, you'll be able to remain in the clan to cultivate. With my status in the God clan, no one will be able to make any trouble for you."
Shangguan Aojian was immediately displeased when he heard Tie Ta's words. He grumbled, "Uncle Tie Ta, I won't stop you if you want to go to the Saints' World, but don't entice my father, or I'll never forgive you."
Tie Ta looked at Shangguan Aojian, and his gaze became gentle. He smiled without minding too much, "Your father is going to leave sooner or later, and it won't just be your father, but your mother as well because it'll be almost impossible for their strength to progress if they remain here.
Chapter 1658: Doubts About Jian Chen's Identity
"Hmph," Shangguan Aojian snorted gently and turned around, no longer paying any more attention to Tie Ta. He knew that his parents would leave this world sooner or later and that day was approaching.
"Tie Ta, there are still a lot of things tying me down here. I want to stay a little longer in this world so that I can spend some more time with my parents before I leave. After all, who knows how long I'll be gone for. I don't even know if I'll be able to see the two of them when I do come back," Jian Chen said with a rather heavy heart because he had no idea whether he could return after going to the Saints' World.
He was not afraid of dying. However, he was still tied down. Even if he had to go, he could not leave in such a hurry.
"Okay, I'll wait for you in the Saints' World. Directly go to the Godnigma Plane as soon as you get to the Saints' World. I have no idea where the Godnigma Plane is; I just heard it from senior Audriana. Senior Audriana told me that our God clan is located on the Godnigma Plane and as long as you make it there, you can find where the God clan is by asking anyone," Tie Ta said sincerely.
"Alright, I'll come looking for you on the Godnigma Plane if I get the chance." Jian Chen paused with that and became stern, "But Tie Ta, I hope you can promise me something. Please do not tell anyone in the God clan about me. The more powerful they are and the more authority they possess, the more you cannot speak of me. Okay?"
"Why?" Tie Ta asked in confusion.
Jian Chen paused for a short moment before responding, "Don't ask me now. Anyway, just don't mention my existence randomly in the God clan. Please do not mention the two swords I possess to the upper echelon of your God clan in particular, and it's best if you keep it a secret from people who aren't a part of the God clan as well. You'll learn the reason in the future."
Tie Ta understood the significance of the matter when he saw Jian Chen's seriousness. He immediately nodded solemnly and guaranteed, "Ok, I agree. I won't speak of it randomly. I don't know the reason, but I believe you because you are my best brother."
Jian Chen sighed gently and pulled back his rod. He pulled out a sixty centimeters in length fish out of the water. Jian Chen removed the fish from the hook before throwing it into the basket, "And Ming Dong. Ming Dong was sent to the Saints' World several years ago. With his strength back then, it definitely would have been challenging for him to survive in the Saints' World. His life will be in danger if he shows any carelessness at all. It has been so many years, and I wonder how he has been. I worry about him the most. Tie Ta, since you have the God clan in the Saints' World, I hope you can look for him using the God clan once you go to the Saints' World if you can." Jian Chen became worried when he mentioned Ming Dong. However, he still had some hope that Ming Dong had not been stranded in some place and the Anatta Grand Prime's organisation had protected him instead. After all, Ming Dong had been sent away by one of the Anatta Grand Prime's treasures, the Fortune Jade Pedestal, in the Heavenly Palace of Bisheng. The matter would surely involve the Anatta Grand Prime. It might have even been a way for the Anatta Grand Prime to choose a successor.
If that were the case, Ming Dong safety would have been guaranteed, but if it were not, it would be a horrible situation for Ming Dong to be stranded in a higher world.
"Don't worry. The matter has always been weighing on my mind. Ming Dong is also my friend, so I'll immediately get people to look for Ming Dong once I get back to the God clan, "Tie Ta slapped his chest and guaranteed.
Tie Ta and Jian Chen spoke for a very long time, only leaving when they knew it had become late; this was because both of them understood that this would be the last time they met in this world. Next time, they would see each other in the Saints' World.
With Tie Ta's departure, Jian Chen and Shangguan Aojian returned to Three Saint Island. Jian Chen's heart felt rather heavy. First, Ming Dong had been sucked away; then his sister was taken away without him even getting the chance to bid farewell. Now, Tie Ta was about to leave as well. He would lose one more close friend. Aside from this, what bothered Jian Chen the most was the identities of Tie Ta and himself. He was a successor of the Immortals' World, a disciple of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens; this was an unshakeable fact. Ever since he cultivated the Azulet Swords Law, ever since he cultivated the Chaotic Body, ever since the sword spirits took him as his master, his identity had changed.
Meanwhile, Tie Ta was a part of the God clan from the Saints' World. The Saints' World and Immortals' World were hostile towards one another, so he really did not know whether his relationship with Tie Ta would remain the same once his identity was revealed.
Aside from Tie Ta, there was also his sister Changyang Mingyue who worried for him and protected him since their youth.
Jian Chen felt that a huge boulder was weighing on his heart when he thought of these matters. He felt nervous from how suffocating it felt. Internally, he was even slightly afraid of facing all this.
...
In the War God Hall, Tie Ta sat on the throne boldly. His face was calm, but his eyes shone coldly and vigorously. He seemed dignified. The current him was no longer the country bumpkin who was just born yesterday. Tie Ta had truly matured in the past few decades, whether it be his temperament or personality.
"Jian Chen asked me to keep the matters about him a secret from the upper echelon of the God clan, in particular, his two swords. I can't even mention it to outsiders. Why did he ask for something like that? Is there a secret that needs to be hidden?" Tie Ta thought about what Jian Chen had told him and became curious.
"Jian Chen doesn't want me to reveal this to other people. That means that it'll threaten his life if I do. Jian Chen is my best friend, and I won't allow anyone to harm him, even if it's the upper echelon of the God clan," Tie Ta murmured gently. Towards the end, his bright eyes shone with two rays of light.
"But if I want to protect Jian Chen, I have to know what he's fearing and deal with the source of the problem. But from Jian Chen's words, everything seems to be related to the two swords." After a moment of silence, Tie Ta stood up. He took a step and suddenly vanished from the divine hall.
The Elven Godtree reached into the clouds within the forbidden ground of the elves. It radiated with a tremendous presence of life. The forbidden grounds were quiet, without anyone to be seen. Only the elven queen had the right to enter and leave as she pleased. Even the elven elders could not set foot in here so easily.
At this moment, there was suddenly a flash of golden light. A figure had appeared silently before the Elven Godtree. He was several meters tall and extremely burly, while his skin was golden. He wore a cape and naturally radiated with a sense of supremacy.
"Audriana greets the war god!" Before the Elven Godtree, an illusionary woman appeared. She bowed towards Tie Ta, who had suddenly appeared.
"Audriana, I want to ask you if you recognise the two swords used by my brother Jian Chen," Tie Ta questioned.
After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head and said, "War god, I do not recognise the two swords. However, the two swords are violet and azure and their sword Qi are unique. They do resemble a set of legendary treasures."
"What treasures?" Tie Ta's eyes narrowed, and he continued his questioning. He already realised that he might be able to find out what Jian Chen feared from Audriana.
Audriana recalled the past and said, "They're supreme treasures of the Immortals' World, the Azulet swords, also known as the twin swords of yin and yang. They are one of the ten great god artifacts of the Immortals' World. They are the sect treasures of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens, the chief sect of the nine great sects in the Immortals' World. It's said that the founding ancestor of the sect, Violet Heavens Immortal Exalt, personally forged the two swords. The Violet Heavens Immortal Exalt is a peak expert from the Immortals' World, one of their five Grand Exalts." Audriana's expression suddenly became rather complicated, and she said hesitantly, "Except that we're enemies with the Immortals World. If Jian Chen's swords are the twin swords, then..."
"If they are, then what?" Tie Ta asked in a deep voice.
"If they are, Jian Chen definitely won't be able to keep them, but that's given that he doesn't have any ties to the Immortals' World. If he does, he'll become the public enemy of the Saints' World and might even be hunted down by several Grand Primes. It's just that right now, Jian Chen's swords only resemble the twin swords from the Immortals' World. After all, their difference in power is just too extravagant," replied Audriana.
Chapter 1659: Tie Ta's Departure
Tie Ta fell silent. He did not delve into the matter of the Immortals' World. Right now, all he was thinking about was Jian Chen. Everything that Jian Chen had said to him earlier and his stern expression clearly appeared in his head.
If Tie Ta were the same country bumpkin from several decades ago, he would have never thought so much. However, he had truly matured after he became the war god of the Hundred Races and reached the Origin realm. After learning all this from Audriana and connecting it to what Jian Chen had told him before, he was basically certain that Jian Chen was related to the Immortals' World. He did not know whether Jian Chen's swords were the Azulet swords from the Immortals' World, but he knew there was a connection between the two.
A while later, Tie Ta suddenly stared at Audriana sternly and said with a heavy voice, "Audriana, Jian Chen is my best brother. It doesn't matter whether he has any connections to the Immortals' World, but you cannot reveal anything regarding him, especially in regards to his two swords. Even if the upper echelon of the God clan asks you, you cannot speak of it. Do you understand?" Although Audriana was the greatest Godking of the God clan, Tie Ta had basically directly ordered her right now. He seemed dignified and possessed an undefiable sense of power.
"Yes sir," Audriana replied politely. Not only was she completely fine with Tie Ta's words, but she also behaved like the situation was natural. As a member of the God clan, Audriana deeply understood just how revered the war god was in the God clan. Even though the current war god was still very weak and had not fully matured, even hall elders or great elders in the God clan who basically led the entire clan would not dare to disobey the war god's will.
This was because the war god was the soul of the entire God clan. He was their belief and their pillar of support. Only when the war god was present was their God clan truly the God clan.
"I want you to swear," Tie Ta still did not find it enough as this matter was directly related to the life of his best brother; he could not afford any mistakes.
"I, Audriana, swear..."
...
A month later, the Elven Godtree that had remained rooted in the forbidden grounds of the elves for millions of years vanished. Meanwhile, a vast swathe of kneeling people had already gathered. They extended from the top of the mountain to the base. From afar, it even seemed like the entire mountain had donned 'armor' made from countless Hundred Races cultivators.
That was not all. There were also countless cultivators of the Hundred Races who knelt on the land around the mountain. They reached into the hundreds of millions. It was such a grand view that it was enough to shock anyone and everyone.
This was because today was the day the war god would leave this world and venture into an entirely new one. Everyone from the Hundred Races would gather here to send off the war god as long as they could. Across the Wasteland Continent, there were even more members of the Hundred Races who could not make it due to their strength and the distance, or there would have been even more people gathered here.
The golden divine hall at the top of War God Mountain that everyone knelt towards suddenly began to shine with a dazzling golden light. The light was so bright that it outshone the sun, replacing it as the only source of light in the world. It illuminated the Wasteland Continent one last time. The War God Hall slowly rose up from War God Mountain, climbing higher and higher and faster and faster. In the end, it turned into a streak of golden light, shooting into outer space at an extraordinary speed.
At the same time, a considerable swirl gradually formed in outer space, slowly transforming into the gate to the Saints' World. The War God Hall that had become a golden streak of light rapidly approached the gate.
At that moment, the War God Hall gained worldwide attention. Regardless of the humans, the sea race, magical beasts or even Forsaken Saints, countless cultivators all raised their heads to watch the War God Hall leave.
They did not do this to see Tie Ta off, but to see the War God Hall enter the spatial tunnel. Many people revealed envious expressions because they knew that the Saints' World was a higher space. If Saint Emperors entered the Saints' World, it would become countless times easier to reach the Origin realm; hence, many Saint Emperors yearned for the Saints' World. Unfortunately, it was impossible to pass through the tunnel without the strength of the Origin realm.
Jian Chen sat on a rock and drank by himself gloomily on Three Saint Island. He watched the War God Hall approach the spatial tunnel and raised his glass for Tie Ta. He saw Tie Ta off from there, wishing that everything would go his friend's way in the Saints' World.
"War god, the Saints' World has a total of forty-nine great planes. The spatial tunnel's connection in the Saints' World is not fixed, so please leave everything to me. I'll control the direction in the spatial tunnel to prevent us from ending up on some remote plane," Audriana's voice rang out inside the War God Hall.
Finally, under the gazes of countless people, the War God Hall arrived before the spatial tunnel. However, at this moment, an indescribably tremendous might erupted from the War God Hall. The pressure seemed to make it the supreme ruler of the universe, making the entire universe tremble. Even the laws of the world had almost shattered before it.
At this moment, the War God Hall was surrounded in a green light that teemed with the presence of life. The moment the green light appeared, the world trembled and the celestial bodies dimmed. Countless stars darkened.
The green light seemed to be enough to destroy the universe. With its appearance, the surrounding space was all reduced to darkness because the light was just too powerful. It was so great that it could destroy a massive planet in a single moment, completely exceeding what the space in this world could withstand.
When a meteor a hundred kilometers in diameter approached the green light, it was reduced to dust silently.
The expressions of countless experts who witnessed this scene from the distant Tian Yuan Continent changed drastically. Their faces all became extremely pale because the very depths of their souls trembled before the pressure.
The eyes of all the Origin realm experts in the world narrowed. They were wholly fixated on the green light around the War God Hall as respect appeared in their gazes.
Chapter 1660: Going Together
There were also some Origin realm experts from the World of Forsaken Saints who remained in this world. They all showed expressions of fear as the pressure was far greater than anything they had ever felt from the Spiritking.
"Godking..." Jian Chen stared at the green light from Three Saint Island and murmured to himself. He had seen Godkings many times. Both protector Shui and Audriana had come down to this world, but this was the first time he had seen the true might of a Godking. They could annihilate universes with a twitch of their finger.
In the depths of space, a violet sea of lighting gradually formed. Thick bolts of violet lightning crackled as they rapidly approached Audriana with an indescribable presence of the world.
Now that Audriana's strength as a Godking was exposed, the world no longer accepted her, so judgement descended.
The judgement contained extraordinary power. Let alone the fact that Audriana was weakened and unable to use her full strength, even when she was at peak condition, she definitely would have passed away from such a trial, unless she used the treasure that the experts of the God clan had bequeathed to her for the exact purpose of protecting her from the judgement of the world.
However, before the violet sea of lightning had approached Audriana, the War God Hall had already entered the tunnel to the Saints' World while shrouded by the presence of light. It vanished from the world, and with its disappearance, Audriana's presence vanished as well.
No longer able to sense Audriana's presence, the sea of violet lightning gradually dispersed in the end. Very soon, the universe returned to its previous peaceful state.
Jian Chen sat on Three Saint Island silently as he drank by himself. He gazed at the calm space in a daze. He knew that Tie Ta had left. He had left this world, and he had no idea when they would meet again. Perhaps, they would not meet again.
The countless people kneeling towards War God Mountain rose on the Wasteland Continent. All of them were filled with a heavy reluctance to part with the war god. The War God Hall that had basically become the representation of the Wasteland Continent had vanished, now replaced by a golden statue.
The statue stood three hundred meters tall and seemed life-like as if it was Tie Ta himself. A mysterious power circulated within it. It stood there silently with an indomitable spirit, radiating with power. It shone with golden light, which illuminated the surroundings.
This was a statue that Tie Ta had left behind. The statue contained his power. It became the new symbol of the Hundred Races and was also a powerful defence, used to protect the Hundred Races.
The uproar caused by Tie Ta's departure settled very soon. His departure made all his good friends feel depressed, while the people who had no ties to him did not care at all. At most, they would just think back to when Tie Ta led the Hundred Races against the World of Forsaken Saints and the crisis of the world and sigh as a result. Meanwhile, all the Forsaken Saints living in the other world basically felt relieved and joyful for Tie Ta's departure, without any exception whatsoever.
Tie Ta's departure meant that there was one less powerful Origin realm expert for the world.
The World of Forsaken Saints had gained a complete, firm footing in the world of the Tian Yuan Continent now. Whether it was the Tian Yuan Continent, Beast God Continent, Wasteland Continent or the sea realm, they had gained a sizeable piece of territory in all these places. They did not continue to expand unceasingly, as the upper echelon of the foreign world understood that although Jian Chen had told them that they could buy land as they pleased, expanding too recklessly would lead to the interference of Origin realm experts.
The Forsaken Saints were currently attempting to unite with the people of the world completely. The people in charge of the World of Forsaken Saints did not wish to become locked in a dispute with the Origin realm experts of the other world as it would be detrimental to their races' future developments. Aside from that, they were not overly ambitious in the first place. They only wished to find a safe place for their weaker clansmen. The Sainthood experts would mostly remain in their original world.
With the entry of the Forsaken Saints, the World of Forsaken Saints also opened itself up to the people of the four races. The abundant energy of the world and origin energy in the World of Forsaken Saints had drawn over quite a few Sainthood experts across the four races. Apart from that, many of the heavenly resources and treasures in the World of Forsaken Saints could not be compared to the other world's as their origin energy had never run out, allowing them to grow in an environment rich in origin energy across so many years. Just this was enough for many Sainthood experts to treat the World of Forsaken Saints as a holy land. Many Sainthood experts set off by themselves in search of fortuitous encounters to increase their strength.
Although the laws of the world were gradually reaching completion in the world of the Tian Yuan Continent and origin energy was reappearing, it would not be able to rival the World of Forsaken Saints so soon. As a result, the World of Forsaken Saints became a place where many Sainthood experts needed to journey to.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed since Tie Ta's departure. In those three years, Jian Chen remained on Three Saint Island, rarely ever leaving the island. He did not pay attention to the developments of the outside world, nor did he interfere with anything on the Tian Yuan Continent. He lived a life away from society.
Jian Chen had taken his parents to Three Saint Island very early on. They lived on Three Saint Island. You Yue and Huang Luan were also cultivating on Three Saint Island.
Jian Chen did not go into seclusion or cultivate across these years. He lived a straightforward and plain life, completely living like an ordinary person. He would take the boat out with Changyang Ba and Shangguan Aojian from time to time to go fishing. He seemed to be extremely satisfied.
In recent years, Shangguan Aojian had stopped cultivating as well. He spent all his time by his father's side, but only he knew that he was not happy at all despite often smiling and laughing on the surface. Instead, he felt that he was in extremely low spirits. He knew his father. He understood that the changes with his father were just signs of him leaving this world soon.
By the fireside, Jian Chen, Shangguan Aojian, Shangguan Mu'er, Changyang Ba, Bi Yuntian, You Yue, Huang Luan and so on all ate the roast fish with great interest. The entire family drank some alcohol and talked about everything. They were cheerful.
Although Huang Luan and You Yue were the ones who had been formally wed to Jian Chen, they did not feel any reluctance to accept Shangguan Mu'er at all. Instead, they accepted Shangguan Mu'er as their elder sister, as there were many cases of a man taking up many wives on the Tian Yuan Continent, let alone someone as outstanding as Jian Chen.
At this moment, the expression of Jian Chen who was eating his fish changed. He slowly put down the fish he was eating and said to everyone, "I have some matter that I must attend to so I must leave temporarily. I will return very soon." With that, Jian Chen vanished. At the same time, there was a flash of violet light across the distant sky, disappearing into the horizon.
The Cross Mountains were the largest mountain range on the Tian Yuan Continent. At the same time, it was a forbidden zone to many human cultivators. Even Saint Rulers could not set foot in there carelessly because a powerful magical beast clan controlled the mountain range. It was the Gilligan clan.
Even though the situation with the world had changed, the Gilligan clan was not affected because their dwelling was basically a place humans never set foot in. Coupled with the deterrence from the Winged Tiger God, even Saint Emperors were not bold enough to provoke them, allowing the clan to continue thriving.
At this moment, on a mountain peak that reached into the clouds in the depths of the Cross Mountains, a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance sat on a stone seat. His clothes were simple, and his ink-black hair was let down casually behind him, buffeted in the wild wind.
Before the middle-aged man was a stone table; there were two exquisitely-crafted jade cups on the table and a jug of alcohol that was not particularly large. It gave off an enchanting fragrance.
At this moment, a violet streak of light arrived with a flash. A young man who only seemed to be in his twenties had appeared on the top of the mountain. The young man was very handsome. His face was resolute, and his eyebrows were straight and defined. He gave off a sense of sharpness, while his eyes shone brightly as if swords were hiding in them.
The young man was Jian Chen.
"Shen Jian, why have you called me here?" Jian Chen looked at the middle-aged man on the stone seat and asked calmly.
The middle-aged man was the supreme ruler of the World of Forsaken Saints, the Spiritking.
Shen Jian extended his hand to invite Jian Chen to sit down. He said, "I've called you over because I have something important I want to discuss with you."
Jian Chen sat down before Shen Jian, and Shen Jian personally poured a cup of alcohol for Jian Chen. He said, "The matters with the World of Forsaken Saints have basically been dealt with. It's almost impossible for my strength to increase if I remain here, so I plan on going to the higher world." Shen Jian looked at Jian Chen and continued, "What about you? When do you plan on leaving?"
Jian Chen did not hurry. He took a tiny sip of the alcohol. The alcohol was a rare, precious variety, but Jian Chen was unable to taste its deliciousness in his mouth at all. Instead, it was filled with bitterness.
"I'm not like you, lonely and basically having no ties apart from the clansmen of the World of Forsaken Saints. I can't come and go as I please, with nothing holding me down. There are just too many ties in this world for me. Not only are there the parents who raised me, but I also have wives and many friends who had once fought alongside me. The Saints' World is dangerous. In this world, no one can stop us, but once we go to the Saints' World, we're nothing. I might never be able to see the people close to me ever again once I leave," Jian Chen said bitterly.
"So you plan on staying here forever?" Shen Jian asked.
Jian Chen shook his head, "I will go to the Saints' World, but I'm not going to leave in a hurry. At the very least, I have to spend some more time with my parents and my wives."
"Actually, you can take your parents and those close to you with you. Although they haven't reached the Origin realm, as long as you use something that can hold people, you'll still be able to pass through the spatial tunnel and enter the Saints' World," said Shen Jian.
"With my current strength, it'll be difficult to gain a stable footing in the Saints' World. My life will be in danger from even the slightest carelessness. Am I supposed to take my parents with me and live a life on the run? If that's the case, I might as well leave them here so they can live a peaceful and happy life instead," Jian Chen laughed self-deprecatingly. He had never considered taking his parents with him to the Saints' World. At the very least, he needed the power to be able to gain a stable footing in the higher world and ensure that he could protect his parents before even considering the thought.
"When do you plan on leaving?" Jian Chen continued. There was a sliver of mixed feelings in his gaze for Shen Jian. After all, the two of them were people from the same world in the past, and they were now stranded in a foreign place. Although they had been opponents for a period of time, Jian Chen still felt familiar with Shen Jian.
"I can leave whenever I want, but just as you've said, the Saints' World is dangerous. With my current strength, I'll probably even struggle to keep myself alive, so I planned on going with you. With our strength combined, I believe we'll be able to gain a footing in the Saints' World without long," the Spiritking looked at Jian Chen and said seriously.
After a slight moment of thought, Jian Chen agreed with pleasure. He said, "Alright, we can go together, but you need to give me some time."
"Alright."