Sovereign of the Three Realms

Unlike the slaves in the Myriad Puppets Pavilion back in Veluriyam Capital, these ones didn’t wear any masks. Otherwise, Jiang Chen wouldn’t even haven’t looked at them. However, he didn’t lower his guard even if their faces were exposed in broad daylight. Seen from another angle, the Great Scarlet Mid Region being so straightforward and completely exposing these slaves’ faces might be a trap designed to lure their enemies with.

He was originally planning on buying all Regal Pill Palace disciples if he saw any. But thinking carefully on it now, it seemed very dangerous to do so. In case it turned out to be a trap, he was bound to attract attention if he only bought disciples of the Regal Pill Palace and no one else. After all, who would be so kind as to buy disciples of the Regal Pill Palace only, if they weren’t a disciple of the sect themselves?

Five hundred slaves were put on display one by one and made to kneel on the ground. Only, they were under control. All of them looked dazed. No shame could be seen on their faces, no joy or happiness. Jiang Chen realized with a quick glance that there were indeed quite a few Regal Pill Palace disciples among them. However, he hadn’t had many dealings with them in the past.

All of them were geniuses from the Rosy Valley, but Jiang Chen wasn’t on very friendly terms with them. One of them had even crossed paths with Jiang Chen before. It was Yan Hongtu, someone who’d tried to intimidate Jiang Chen as soon as he’d entered the Rosy Valley. He naturally felt lukewarm towards someone like that.

Jiang Chen wouldn’t have been very keen to rescue him even without any danger. He wasn’t someone to repay grudges with favors. It was important to keep the interest of the sect in mind, but in Jiang Chen’s opinion, there was a problem with the intrinsic nature of someone like this who bullied the weak and fawned on the strong. Yan Hongtu might not even be grateful to be rescued, to say nothing about how much aid he could offer for the sect’s rebuilding.

This auction seemed to have placed the Regal Pill Palace’s disciples in rather prominent spots. Jiang Chen noticed no less than five of them merely walking through the first two rows. On the contrary, not one of them was to be found behind that. Jiang Chen suddenly halted his steps after reaching the fourth row. He noticed a familiar face, but not someone from the Regal Pill Palace. He wasn’t even a disciple of the six great sects in the Myriad Domain. Instead, he was a disciple from a fifth ranked sect.

“Is it him?” Jiang Chen had some impression of this man. His first opponent back in the Myriad Grand Ceremony’s martial tournament was called a man Feng Pao, if memory served him right. He was a genius from the fifth ranked Extreme Wind Sect. He had been seventh level origin realm back then. This man had been single-mindedly devoted to the way of the sword, someone who could even be called a sword fanatic. In Jiang Chen’s opinion, he was someone who should be able to go far in his single-minded pursuit of the pinnacle of sword dao.

Jiang Chen had admired this Feng Pao back then, so he’d imparted to the latter some deeper mysteries of the sword when they fought each other in the tournament. Feng Pao was also a very perceptive man. He’d realized by the end that Jiang Chen had been guiding him, conveying the truth of the sword. He’d reached greater heights in his comprehension of the way of the sword after that fight. Afterwards, with the arrival of the great factions in the Myriad Domain, Feng Pao couldn’t fight alone against the tide and found himself a captive after a moment of carelessness.

Jiang Chen stopped in front of him and glanced at his price tag. Eight hundred thousand saint spirit stones.

“I’m taking this one.” Jiang Chen picked Feng Pao out without the slightest hesitation. Everyone was still observing looking over the goods right now. He’d been the first to make a move. Jiang Chen wasn’t like the others. When others chose who they wanted to buy, they often considered the slaves’ characteristics and compared them against each other. As for Jiang Chen, he wasn’t buying slaves, he was merely buying familiar faces. That was why he wasn’t choosy at all.

Fourth row, fifth row. No one familiar in sight. Jiang Chen saw two familiar faces at the same time when he reached the sixth row. Likewise, the two of them weren’t disciples of the six great sects in the Myriad Domain. They weren’t even disciples of fifth rank sects. Rather, they were old friends from the sixteen kingdom alliance.They were from the Myriad Spirit Sect, one of the four great sects in the sixteen kingdom alliance. It was Liu Wencai and Lu Yali, his brothers back when he’d undergone training on Eternal Spirit Mountain.

Liu Wencai had also received a stroke of fortune from Jiang Chen back on Eternal Spirit Mountain. Jiang Chen had given him the Redscale Firelizard bloodline and awakened the power in Liu Wencai’s body. Jiang Chen had even given him quite a few insights about cultivation back on Eternal Spirit Mountain.

Back when Jiang Chen had left the Precious Tree Sect, he’d made a detour to the Myriad Spirit Sect to see Liu Wencai and Liu Yali. Those two were both good friends of Jiang Chen’s in the sixteen kingdoms. The scenes of his time back on Eternal Spirit Mountain re-emerged in Jiang Chen’s mind when he suddenly saw the two of them again.

“I never thought I’d come across brothers from long ago after such so many years.” Jiang Chen was a little moved. He didn’t have much affection for those Regal Pill Palace disciples. They might have been fellow disciples in name, but they shared none of the feelings between peers from the same sect. On the contrary, Liu Wencai and Liu Yali had shared joys and sorrows with Jiang Chen on Eternal Spirit Mountain. He couldn’t just leave them here now that he had come across them. He glanced at their price tags. Liu Wencai was worth eight hundred thousand saint spirit stones, Liu Yali a mere three hundred thousand.

“It looks like Liu Wencai’s cultivation made huge strides forward after the awakening of his bloodline. Otherwise, why would his price be the same as an origin realm genius like Feng Pao?” Jiang Chen took both Liu Wencai and Lu Yali with him. After taking those three, Jiang Chen took another look but didn’t spot any other familiar faces. He immediately led the three to the transaction area. “I’m taking these three.”

The staff inspected the slaves’ numbers, took the payment, removed their bindings, and completed the deal. The process was extremely simple. None of the three was someone important, so no suspicions were aroused. The transaction went without a hitch.

Jiang Chen took the three of them back to his room at the auction. He saw Wei Xing’er sitting there dazed, her face wan and her lips quivering, as though she’d suddenly suffered a tremendous blow.

“What’s the matter?” Jiang Chen asked, a little surprised.

Huang’er heaved a soft sight. “She said that those auctions are all fake. She saw some slaves she once bought amongst those up for sale. She’d clearly released them, but here they are again. In other words, it’s simply impossible for those slaves to leave the Great Scarlet Mid Region!”

“What?” Jiang Chen froze.

Wei Xing’er’s face was pained. “I was too naive. I always thought I could spend some money and buy their freedom. I never thought they would still be shacked to their fate in the end. The Great Scarlet Mid Region will never allow those from the Myriad Domain to walk free.”

Jiang Chen wrinkled his nose. “In other words, the three I bought are also a no go?”

Wei Xing’er said with a bitter smile, “I don’t know either, maybe it’ll depend on their luck. If their luck’s good, they won’t be caught and will make good their escape. Otherwise, they’ll be caught again return to a life of slavery.”

She had clearly just realized this matter, so she suddenly felt dismayed. She’d sometimes participated in auctions in the Great Scarlet Mid Region before, and when she saw familiar faces from the Myriad Domain, she’d rescue them within the limits of her financial resources. Not because she had particular feelings for those people, but purely out of psychological comfort. However, cruel reality told her that everything she’d done was futile as smoke.

It was easy to imagine her disappointment when she realized what she thought to be meaningful suddenly lost all meaning. Jiang Chen didn’t contradict her this time. “You already did what you could. If they can’t run away, then it’s their own fate. No need to blame yourself. Not everyone will be caught and brought back.”

Wei Xing’er felt a little better after his comforting words. She looked up and asked, “Did you come back this time to seek revenge against the Great Scarlet Mid Region?”

Jiang Chen shook his head, his tone exceptionally firm. “Let them be proud for a few more years. One day, I’ll repay them twofold everything they did to the Myriad Domain.”

“Then, do you think my Walkabout Sect will be revitalized one day?” Wei Xing’er’s eyes suddenly shone bright.

“If everyone in the Walkabout Sect is like you, then that day will come without fail.” Jiang Chen didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm after all. He suddenly asked once more, “What’s the approximate situation in the Myriad Domain now?”

“I haven’t returned there ever since they caught me. I hear it’s been divided between the various factions of the Great Scarlet Mid Regions. All the resources have been forcibly seized by the Great Scarlet sects as well.” Wei Ting’er was a little depressed.

“Seized?” Jiang Chen’s laugh was cold. “It seems these sects haven’t learned their lesson yet.”

Wei Xing’er suddenly remembered something. “That time when someone sent all the heads of big sect leaders in the Region to the Great Scarlet Emperor, I heard everyone say it was your doing, is that true?”

Jiang Chen smiled. He didn’t deny it. That was only a little advance interest. It was nothing at all compared to everything the Great Scarlet Mid Region had done to the Myriad Domain.

Wei Xing’er stared at Jiang Chen for quite a while before finally asking, “You didn’t buy those Regal Pill Palace disciples? Do you need my help?”

“No need, they’re merely bait. They shouldn’t be in any danger for now.” Jiang Chen shook his head and turned down her good intentions. If he bought those Regal Pill Palace disciples right now, it was an unknown whether he could get them out of the Great Scarlet Mid Region. If he didn’t buy them, they might continue to live on as bait. So now wasn’t the time to save them yet, even if he was going to do it.

Everyone finally finished picking over the five hundred origin realm slaves. Next, the organizers led out twenty sage realm slaves and sold them via auctioning. These sage realm slaves mostly came from the Myriad Domain. Of course, some also came from other areas. The minimum bids were usually above five million.

Jiang Chen didn’t recognize any familiar faces, so his interest for the auction waned. He was ready to leave with the three he’d bought once the auction ended. He asked about many other subjects from Wei Xing’er as they waited for the auction to end. However, she’d never left the Great Scarlet Capital. She only heard some news of the outside world in the Veranda. It wasn’t convenient for her to inquire further about them, for fear of raising suspicions that she would turn traitor.

At the end of the auction, Wei Xing’er didn’t try too hard to detain Jiang Chen since she knew he wanted to leave. She didn’t invite them to go to the Resplendent Emerald Veranda either. After taking their leave, Jiang Chen quickly led Feng Pao and the others out of the Great Scarlet Capital. Though he didn’t think Wei Xing’er would go as far as harming him, he could tell she was in a delicate situation. He would find himself in great trouble in case those surveilling her became suspicious.

Jiang Chen didn’t stop after leaving the Great Scarlet Capital. Instead, he quickly traveled a thousand miles away from Great Scarlet Capital before finally finding a remote corner to rest. The three he bought showed signs of anxiety since having been bought. They had no idea how their futures would unfold.