âLet me say a few things first.â The Purple Smoke sect head was the first to break the stifling silence. âHongxue, are you sure that young man was called Jiang Yu?â
âNo question about it,â Yi Hongxue sobbed. âHe really was called Jiang Yu. His father always called him âYuâerâ.â
âAh, that should be it then. The Jiao brothers of Mount Huai joined up with young lord Jiang Chen, so itâs understandable that he sent one of them on that errand. The young lord should know about all this, then.
âGiven that thatâs the case, the fact that Senior Jiao refrained from going on a killing spree means that the young lord didnât give him permission to do so.â The sect headâs analysis was reasonable.
His captive audience felt their hearts settle down a bit.
âThat father and son pair is definitely very close to young lord Jiang Chen. Otherwise, he wouldnât have sent a great emperor to personally pick them up!
âAnother point: the young lord Jiang Chen has no intention of destroying our sect. Otherwise, he would have given instructions to Senior Jiao to do so. The rumors are true; young lord Jiang Chen is a principled man, not just some brutish lout.
âFinally, young lord Jiang Chen is unlikely to pursue a grudge against us at a future date. To us, the matter is something to lose the entire sect over, but the young lord is concerned with far more important things. He has no energy to waste on people like us! Thereâs no need to wait. If he wanted to destroy us, he wouldâve done so already.â
The summation was almost too rational to listen to.
One of the elders breathed a sigh of relief. âYouâre absolutely correct, Sect Head. Weâre shrimp and small fry to him. Heâs not interested in stooping to our level.â
âQuite so. That father and son suffered a bit, but at least theyâre still alive and intact. The only regret is that Jiang Yuâs father was rather beaten up when he left. Still, the injuries werenât anywhere close to being fatal. Perhaps young lord Jiang Chen meant to see what Jiang Yu thought was best. If Jiang Yu wanted to take revenge, Senior Jiao wouldâve acted upon it. Otherwise, they would just depart and turn over a new leaf.â
âMakes sense. Good thing Jiang Yu wasnât the petty type...â The discussion became quickly heated.
The Purple Smoke Sectâs forefather remained silent. Only after everyone finished speaking did he let out a soft sigh. âYes, let bygones be bygones, but we canât rest easy yet.â
âForefather, fortune and misfortune are often intertwined with one another. What has happened may have been a lot of trouble for the Purple Smoke Sect, but thereâs opportunity here as well.â
âOh? How so?â
âIf Jiang Yu is truly young lord Jiang Chenâs relative, we can take this chance to head to Veluriyam to apologize. At the same time, we can bring Agarwood Valley to the young lordâs attention as a means of building a relationship. No faction in Phoenix Cry can do anything about the valley, but perhaps Veluriyam has a solution? If we can use this as a chance to bring us closer to a prominent faction, this may turn out to be an amazing blessing for the Purple Smoke Sect after all.â
Everyoneâs eyes lit up at the suggestion. If all that could come to pass, the whole situation would be turned on its head.
The Purple Smoke forefather beamed. âA wonderful approach. Phoenix Cry doesnât have the ability to investigate Agarwood Valley. Asking Veluriyamâs assistance may turn out to be a very wise decision.â
......
Jiao Yun didnât let Jiang Chen down. He took Jiang Tong and Jiang Yu back to Veluriyam Capital in perfect safety.
On the way, father and son couldnât shake themselves free of a dreamlike feeling. They were both anxious and excited.
Jiao Yun had spoken clearly to them, but they found it difficult to fully accept their newfound happiness for the moment. The memories of captivity were still too fresh in their minds.
Only after entering the city proper and seeing Jiang Chen within the young lord residence did their hearts settle down. Jiang Feng was tremendously pleased by the sight of his lost brother.
After the ordeal heâd been through, Jiang Tong felt similarly about their reunion. That, on top of discovering his brother was back together with his wife, made him happy enough to cry.
Jiang Tong had always respected Jiang Feng a great deal. What had happened to his marriage and family had always saddened him. Now that his brotherâs family was whole once more, he was wholeheartedly delighted for him. Similarly, Jiang Yu was overjoyed to see Jiang Chen again.
âBrother Chen, you saved me yet again,â sighed the young man. âItâs only been ten years, but youâre Veluriyam Capitalâs young lord now, huh? Youâre respected the world over!â
âMy brother. It seems that your decade of trial has matured you a fair bit. Very good. I thought you would ask Jiao Yun to slaughter them. As expected of a Jiang son! Your benevolence will serve you well. Once you settle down here in the young lord residence, we can start catching up on your ten years of wasted cultivation.â
Jiang Yuâs throat quavered. He couldnât do much more than nod, forcing down his tears that were about to burst forth at any second.
Jiang Chen gave him a pat on the shoulder. âThere, there. All that trouble is behind you now. Xue Tong, please accompany Jiang Yu for the next while.â
Xue Tong and Jiang Chen were both Jiang Chenâs cousins. Though they werenât directly related, they knew each other well nevertheless. The company was completely appropriate.
Having received Jiang Tong and Jiang Yu back into the fold, Jiang Chen was finally done with another important matter.
âThe only one whoâs not with me right now is Huangâer...â Jiang Chen felt pain strike his heart whenever he thought of her. His reunion with Dan Fei, his parents, his other relatives... all these were good things. But his time and vows with Huangâer were similarly invaluable and irreplaceable.
A gathering like this without Huangâer made him feel somewhat empty. He wanted to sprout wings and head for Myriad Abyss Island immediately. Alas, he had promised her that he wouldnât before he attained peak emperor realm.
She wasnât the type to run her mouth.
There was a definite reason for her in saying that he had to reach peak emperor realm. A place like Myriad Abyss Island was incomparable to the human domain.
Emperor realm cultivators were reasonably high level in the human domain, but perhaps they were only middling on Myriad Abyss Island. Regardless, no amount of mystery and fear relating to that isle could curb the enthusiasm in Jiang Chenâs heart.
He couldnât sit tight whenever he remembered that Huangâer was there, waiting for him with nervous tension. He had to cultivate ceaselessly, as quickly as he could. He couldnât make hr wait too long. Time was of the essence. He didnât want to reach Myriad Abyss Island only to find her corpse.
Sheâd promised him that if he didnât come in time, she wouldnât serve as a cultivation cauldron for the genius from House Xiahou. Sheâd commit suicide instead. However, he couldnât accept either outcome.
âI have to hurry up in my cultivation.â
Unfortunately, he didnât feel confident enough to challenge the third of the Six Palaces of Heritage without reaching mid emperor realm first. Still, he was immensely self-assured as he was already at peak second level emperor realm.
If he hadnât been forced to leave to combat Emperor Pillzenithâs kidnapping during his time in the Eternal Celestial Capitalâs territory, he wouldâve broken through to third level in that residence.
Now that his affairs were taken care of, Jiang Chen was more than happy to spend some time in closed door cultivation to make up for lost time.
When he broke through to third level, he could use an Emperor Ascension Pill to get to fourth level. That would make him mid emperor realm, qualifying him for the third palace. The short-term action plan bolstered his determination even more.
Having spent a few days doing the cityâs paperwork, Jiang Chen was ready to announce closed door cultivation the next day.
On the day of his announcement though, there was an uninvited guest outside Sacred Peafowl Mountainâs gates.
âPhoenix Cry Lower Region? The Purple Smoke Sect?â Jiang Chen was mildly taken aback at the identification on the visitorâs card. Wasnât this the sect the one responsible for kidnapping Jiang Yu?
Why had this person come? Did they feel excessively guilty, perhaps?
Despite his surprise, Jiang Chen also realized that the sect might have guessed closer to the truth. That was eminently the most likely reason for their follow-up apology.
He didnât feel there to be much bad blood between them and was initially set on having Xue Tong dismiss the man. But this guest in particular was very stubborn. He would see no one but Jiang Chen, reportedly because he had important news to personally inform the young lord.
âShow him in.â His extraordinary obstinacy surprised Jiang Chen, spurring a change of heart.
It was none other than the Purple Smoke Sectâs forefather.
âGreetings, young lord Jiang Chen. I am Zi Tan of the Purple Smoke Sect.â The forefatherâs attitude was one of utmost respect. He didnât dare put on any airs before Veluriyamâs de facto ruler.
Nearby, Jiao Yun snickered. âWhat? I didnât annihilate the Purple Smoke Sect on my visit, so you came asking for a beating?â
âNot at all, not at all. Truly, I am grateful to your mercy last time, senior. I apologize for not recognizing someone as famous as you. Thankfully, a friend came by who did, and thatâs when I learned how much trouble our sect was actually in. I was quite worried, as was the entire sect...â
âIs that all you came to say, Zi Tan? After coming so far?â Jiang Chen cut him off coolly.
The forefatherâs heartbeat skyrocketed. He felt an inexplicable pressure before Jiang Chen, one that persons in authority customarily exerted. Its power drew cold sweat from his entire body.
âYoung lord Jiang Chen, I didnât come just to apologize. I also have very important information to report. This matter has troubled Phoenix Cry Lower Region for many years, but our regionâs sects arenât strong enough to deal with....â The Purple Smoke Sectâs forefather stepped forward reverentially, leading into the next topic.