Sovereign of the Three Realms

Ji San’s intuition really was quite powerful. The second Jiang Chen’s name appeared in his thoughts, he immediately came to the conclusion that this opportunity must’ve been claimed by Jiang Chen. In truth, the answer he’d jumped to was in fact the reality of things.

When Ji San and the other geniuses returned to their seats, Jiang Chen was already seated next to Emperor Peafowl. There were countless gazes of jealousy, envy and hatred that flicked across Jiang Chen in that instant alone. It was obvious that these great clan scions was unable to accept this young man who had come out of nowhere to claim the great emperor’s opportunity for himself.

“Pill King Zhen?”

“How did a pill dao genius obtain an opportunity like this? Could his martial dao talents be higher than even us of the great clans?”

“Where on earth did this Pill King Zhen come from? Why have we heard nothing about him before?” It was obvious that everyone was having trouble accepting this kind of outcome.

Even the great clan clan lords themselves couldn’t quite wrap their heads around it, much less their disciples. They were all hoping that their own would emerge the victor, but they’d never thought that a young man of unknown origin would be the one who would ultimately claim this opportunity for himself. His identity was an even greater joke than this outcome. His true identity was that of a pill king, a guest pill king who hailed from a ninth rank aristocratic family!

If they were to judge by status alone, a guest pill king from a ninth rank aristocratic family shouldn’t even possess the qualifications to attend this battle. But it was this unqualified person who’d laughed at the finish line, and this result was an enormous slap to the face for all the great clans. Every other clan lord under Emperor Peafowl were immediately filled with disgust towards this Pill King Zhen, with the notable exception of the Coiling Dragon clan lord. It was obvious that they couldn’t find it in themselves to accept this outcome with a tranquil mind.

Surprisingly, the Coiling Dragon clan lord was the one who’d managed to be the most open minded, having lived through so many years of torment. The three young scions beneath the Coiling Dragon Clan were all peerless geniuses. That being said, the Coiling Dragon clan lord still thought them to be just a tad bit unqualified to succeed the mantle of Emperor Peafowl. It wasn’t that they were entirely unqualified. It was just that they didn’t stand head and shoulders above their peers. If they were forcefully raised to that level of power, they might end up shooting for the moon if their luck held. However, if their luck turned for the worse, then they might encounter a death worse than young master Fan’s.

Although Jiang Chen was the one who stood at that prominent spot right now, the Coiling Dragon clan lord didn’t see it as a bad thing. Rather than displeasure, he even felt an undercurrent of excitement. Even though he had been very courteous to Jiang Chen before, it had primarily been because he required Jiang Chen’s aid. But although he needed Jiang Chen’s help, even he was doubtful as to whether Jiang Chen could really procure the Pinecrane Pill for him.

Even though Jiang Chen had vividly described that extraordinary master of his to the point of creating the image of an otherworldly master in the clan lord’s mind, he wouldn’t be completely convinced until that senior was before his eyes. But the moment he saw Jiang Chen grabbing the emperor’s opportunity for himself in such a monstrous fashion, the final trace of doubt in the clan lord’s mind vanished completely.

How could the scion of a feudal vassal, born in a tiny, worldly kingdom of the Myriad Domain, reach such a level if he hadn’t landed on a massive opportunity during his youth? It just didn’t seem possible for a poor, desolate backwater like the Myriad Domain to ever produce a genius like Jiang Chen, no matter how he looked at it. If that was true, the only possible explanation behind Jiang Chen’s growth was the guidance of his elusive master. That was how the clan lord rationalized his conjectures and finally came to believe Jiang Chen’s words in full.

“Your Majesty, we are all very curious as to how this Pill King Zhen obtained this opportunity. Please grant us this favor and satisfy our curiosities.” The Spirit Branch Clan Lord took the lead to speak for the clan lords.

“It is truly surprising to see this Pill King Zhen beating all of our clan’s geniuses. We cannot help but be curious at this pill dao genius who possesses such wonderful martial dao talent as well.

“Your Majesty, may we know where this Pill King Zhen comes from?” Although the clan lords had not voiced it out loud, they were obviously harboring some ill will towards Jiang Chen. It was only natural that a fellow who had appeared out of nowhere, without any foundations to speak of, wouldn’t win everyone’s acknowledgement so easily.

Emperor Peafowl smiled calmly, “It is a moot point to ask a hero where they were born. However, I can give you all the answer of how he did it easily.”

As he spoke, Emperor Peafowl nodded at the Cloud Monarch. The latter opened his palm to reveal an image crystal. The image crystal, as its name implied, could record images. Although it didn’t capture every moment from within the formation, there were still records of Jiang Chen at certain critical regions. At the very least, the image crystal had caught the crucial moments when Jiang Chen had beaten the stages. However, the crystal wasn’t omnipotent, and the footage appeared blurred and unclear.

Everyone could see that Pill King Zhen had passed through the three stages like everyone else present. The difference, however, lay the ease in which Pill King Zhen had overcome all of them. In comparison, the great clan scions all encountered some measure of difficulty or trouble, even though they’d passed through the stages all the same. Almost no one had been able to overcome the obstacles as easily as Pill King Zhen. As for the Peafowl Mural, Jiang Chen had used only fifteen minutes to beat the test. If there was one thing Jiang Chen didn’t lack over the course of his two lives, it would be his insight.

Even if he hadn’t cultivated God’s Eye, Evil Golden Eye, Boulder’s Heart, and Psychic’s Head in this life, it was still impossible for anything within the mural to hide itself from Jiang Chen’s insight. His experience and insight were simply too vast. One might even say that his experience and insight exceeded that of Emperor Peafowl’s.

It was true that Emperor Peafowl’s formation was exquisitely made, and the Thousand Peafowl Mural was an extraordinary object. It was also true that the formation was intelligently laid out, and the opportunity very well hidden. One could say that the entire setup was almost perfect. But no matter how outstanding Emperor Peafowl’s setup was, his mind couldn’t exceed the limitation that was the Divine Abyss Continent.

Jiang Chen’s insight was solidly at the level of the divine planes. How could a mere Divine Abyss Continent contain someone like him? Therefore, he’d only needed to visualize for fifteen minutes before he spotted the opportunity hidden within the mural. However, the fortune he’d gained had truly been extraordinary.

It was a set of swords Emperor Peafowl had used to dominate the Divine Abyss Continent in his youth. The swords had five colors that matched the natural cycle of the five elements. This set of five swords was the set of weapons Emperor Peafowl had used to kill demons and monsters, dominating the world in the process. There were almost no opponent of his that had survived to tell the tale of these five swords after facing them. After Emperor Peafowl had reached the apex, the Pentecolor Divine Swords started to appear less and less. Finally, he sealed away the five swords a thousand years ago and never used them since. More specifically, he sealed these five swords into a diagram of a peafowl, turning them into the tail feathers. On the surface, the tail feathers looked completely ordinary, perfect yet unassuming.

But Jiang Chen was still able to detect a bit of the five elements and a portion of the seal thanks to the God’s Eye and Psychic’s Head. The emperor’s seal had been sublime, almost completely flawless. But for a singular genius like Jiang Chen, the flaws in an almost perfect seal like this was still magnified tens and hundreds of times. Perhaps the flaw looked like a wisp of smoke in Emperor Peafowl’s eyes, but it was practically a smoke signal in Jiang Chen’s eyes.

Although the clan lords felt absolutely depressed after watching the recording on the image crystal, the only thing they could do was turn around and scold their disciples. It was the only way they could make themselves feel better. But they knew in their hearts that it wasn’t that their scions had performed badly, but that this Pill King Zhen was simply too monstrous.

Just how powerful must his consciousness be to be able to visualize that mural and find its flaw in just fifteen minutes? Even ninth rank emperor realm experts would be hard pressed to see through the devices that surrounded fortune bestowed by Emperor Peafowl. But this young lad of unknown origin really did seem to possess the insight to see through it. Even if they assumed that it was just luck, there was no changing the fact that he was the victor of this test.

Emperor Peafowl smiled, “Do you have any doubts remaining after watching the contents of this image crystal?”

“Your Majesty, this Pill King Zhen’s mysterious origin is an enormous hidden threat. There is no harm in granting him a small opportunity, but the selection of your direct disciple is a whole other matter.”

“He is absolutely right, your Majesty. There are plenty of forces who are eyeing Veluriyam Capital covetously. We cannot allow the enemy to infiltrate our ranks.” If they couldn’t suspect his results, then they could only attack his origin. This Pill King Zhen had been a character of mysterious origin ever since he entered Veluriyam Capital. This was the only point they could feasibly use to attack him.

Emperor Peafowl’s tone was as calm as ever, “I have my own considerations with regards to his background.”

The Coiling Dragon clan lord smiled, “Pill King Zhen’s genius in pill dao is known to all, but who knew that his martial dao talents were just as outstanding? A genius among geniuses like him is exactly the kind of genius Sacred Peafowl Mountain needs right now. Your valuable insight is truly a fortune, Your Majesty. My Coiling Dragon Clan disciples admit defeat wholeheartedly.”

“Yes, I’m utterly impressed!” Ji San echoed with a laugh.

Ji Zhongtang examined Jiang Chen closely several times before nodding his head thoughtfully. It was obvious that even Ji Zhongtang had nothing to complain about if he lost to such a great opponent. Considering that Emperor Peafowl had laid down the foundation, and the Coiling Dragon Clan had offered their support as the number one clan, the rest of the clan lords were naturally no longer in a position to persist in their objections.

Emperor Peafowl couldn’t help but inwardly praise the Coiling Dragon clan lord when he saw this show of support. The Coiling Dragon Clan Lord truly was deserving of his title as the number one clan lord in Veluriyam Capital. His horizon and generosity were leagues ahead of the other clan lords. He was about to speak when a beam of light suddenly cut through the air. It transformed into a sacred message glyph in Emperor Peafowl’s palm. The message glyph was a long range consciousness transference divine glyph that was of a far greater grade than a normal message glyph. The information contained inside the glyph entered his consciousness in full with a single sweep of consciousness.

His expression darkened instantly. Everyone’s heart skipped a beat involuntarily when they saw his expression change so drastically. There were very few things that could cause Emperor Peafowl to lose his genteel mask after so many years. This news, whatever it was, must be one of great weight.