The venerated forefather was efficient this time. In less than half a month, he delivered to Jiang Chen the ten percent of spirit stones. âI swallowed all of my pride this time and begged for the spirit stones everywhere, Jiang Chen. I hope you wonât dismiss it as too little.â
Jiang Chen smiled. âThank you for your efforts, Forefather.â
âWell, youâre our most valued genius, and itâs very likely that youâll become the new leader of the sacred land. We must show you the level of respect you deserve! Oh, as for the ingredients for refining pills, weâve collected most of them. Theyâll be delivered to you in a few days.â
Although the forefather had been manipulative, he had truly gone to some efforts for Jiang Chen. The young man could feel the sincerity shining through.
I suppose at the end of the day, it makes sense from the Eternal Sacred Landâs perspective that theyâre reluctant to give away too much for the human domain.
Jiang Chen received the pill ingredients a few days later.
He went into closed door cultivation and refined them into the Crowning Empyrean and Taiyi Skymender Pills. He knew how rare the ingredients were, so he was particularly careful during this process.
The sacred land had been more generous in this regard, giving him ingredients for free so that he could exchange the pills for spirit stones.
Of course, Jiang Chen knew the sacred land had something to gain as well. If he sold the pills for spirit stones, heâd naturally befriend many people and leave them with a good impression for the sacred land.
They might even end up asking favors from the sacred land. Then when it came to rallying behind candidates for alliance head, they would be more inclined to pick the Eternal Sacred Land.
Jiang Chen didnât want to waste too much time dwelling on politics. The pills would earn him the spirit stones he needed. That was what mattered to him.
There was quite a lot of ingredients. It took him close to a month to refine them all into pills. He thus had a considerable number of Taiyi Skymender Pills and Crowning Empyrean Pills in his possession, which left him in high spirits.
Both Long Xiaoxuan and the Astral White Tiger were given a Crowning Empyrean Pill. The tiger was especially excited. Itâd heard about how effective the pill was in boosting cultivation.
âHaha, Iâll use it once I reach sixth level empyrean in order to ascend to seventh.â The tigerâs intelligence had continued to develop, which allowed it to make better decisions.
Long Xiaoxuan had gotten a pill before. He played with the one Jiang Chen gave him now and put it in his inventory.
As for the Vermilion Bird, the Crowning Empyrean Pill was of no use to it. Glumly, it asked, âYoung master Chen, it would be an amazing achievement if you could refine a pill to help divine cultivators advance a level. Is there such a pill in the world?â
âThere is!â admitted Jiang Chen.
The Vermilion Birdâs eyes lit up. âReally?â
âHowever, I donât know how to refine it, and itâs impossible to collect the ingredients needed. Thereâs no chance anyone would be able to refine it on Divine Abyss Continent.â Jiang Chen shook his head. It was a task too difficult even for him.
Even in the heavenly planes, there might be at most one or two pill dao masters who could refine the pills.
âThere is a pill like that?â The birdâs voice was tinted with complicated emotions. âYouâre so knowledgeable, young master. I wonder whose memory youâve inherited.â
They all knew that Jiang Chen was a god incarnate, but given his wealth of knowledge and experience, he couldnât have been a regular god. He might not even have been a god on this plane.
Jiang Chen smiled and changed the subject instead of giving an answer. âIf the opportunity presents itself, Iâll refine a pill like that for each of you.â
âWonderful!â The Vermilion Bird was ecstatic.
On the contrary, Long Xiaoxuan and the white tiger didnât react that strongly. They were at empyrean realm still and didnât have a deep understanding about the divine realm. Thus, they werenât as eager as the bird was.
Jiang Chen nodded. âI hope that day will come.â
An idea struck him suddenly. He asked, âAs descendents of the divine beasts, have you heard of the black tortoise bloodline?â
âThe black tortoise bloodline? Of course. Itâs one of the four divine beasts.â The Vermilion Bird nodded. âIn the ancient times, there were rumors about a black tortoise.â
âTruly?â Jiang Chenâs eyes lit up.
âIâve heard of one. However, none of the four divine beasts ran into each other in the ancient times. Moreover...â With some embarrassment, the bird continued, âUsually when we meet, it means war. We tend to fight to our deaths.â
âTrue.â Long Xiaoxuan tilted his head and threw the white tiger a glance.
The tiger huffed. âBrother Long, donât bully me because Iâm young. Iâll fight you once I grow up. We astral white tigers are known for our fighting ability in the heavenly planes!â
âHmph, Iâll wait for you to grow up! I hope you wonât run to young master Chen crying like a baby.â
Dragons and tigers were natural rivals. Although Long Xiaoxuan and the white tiger had become brothers, it was inevitable for them to get into fights now and then.
Jiang Chen chuckled. âYouâve gone off topic again. I asked about the black tortoise for a reason.â
The three divine beasts paused. âWhat is it?â
âItâs a secret from the ancient times. Itâs said that once the four divine beasts come together, one would be able to enact the heavenly law, refine the five elements, and eventually create a heavenly plane.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âOh? Thatâs unbelievable!â
âYes! All heavenly planes are refined from items that embody fate. Thus, every world needs such an item, which always dates back to the genesis of all, and can only be stumbled upon rather than sought out.â
The three spirits blinked at Jiang Chen, impressed despite their lack of understanding. They couldnât grasp his words fully. However, mentions of heavenly planes, items that embodied fate, and the genesis of all sounded very impressive.
The Vermilion Bird sucked in a breath. âDo you mean that weâll be able to refine a heavenly plane after gathering all four divine beasts?â
âItâs possible, but it requires a secret method.â Jiang Chen sighed. âVery few know about it.â
âDo you know how to do it, young master?â asked the bird curiously.
There was no need for Jiang Chen to hide anything from his three divine beast friends. âI remember reading about the method in my past life, but I havenât tried it myself. I donât know if itâll work.â
It had been difficult enough to gather all four divine beasts in his past life. They were considered the top most nobles even in a heavenly plane. Not even the Celestial Emperor would approach them without good reason.
Moreover, Jiang Chen hadnât been able to use the method in his past life. He hadnât been able to cultivate martial dao, without which he couldnât enact the heavenly law and refine a heavenly plane. All he knew was the theory. It was a castle in the air that heâd built only in his head!