Chapter 1637: Hopes of Reaching the Ninth Layer
Xiong Zhong accepted the plan and unfurled it slowly. The plan was inscribed on the hide of a high class magical beast, clearly depicting all the geographical features. This included all the land that the four races inhabited. As expected, there were a few red circles in a few places on the map, and every circle would take up a tiny part of the four races’ land.
Xiong Zhong immediately frowned when he saw the tiny red circles. His expression became rather ugly. Then he passed it to the elders and protectors around him for them to have a look as well. Without any exceptions, all of the people who saw the plan frowned in displeasure.
“The contribution of our world to averting the crisis is only second to your sovereign, Jian Chen. It’s even enough to rival his contributions. After all, if it were not for the tens of thousands of sacrifices from our people, you would have nothing and end up all dead even with Jian Chen’s presence. We saved your world and the countless lives of your world. With such contributions, you’re not even willing to give us a little land? Aren’t you going overboard?” Xiong Zhong said gruffly. He understood inside that the Tian Yuan Continent no longer feared their World of Forsaken Saints. Under such circumstances, the only method to gain some territory besides war was negotiations. They only needed to hold negotiations once. After they consented, it would be very difficult to change the agreement.
As a result, Xiong Zhong and all the elders and protectors stationed in this world had made up their minds about this negotiation. They needed to push for as many benefits as they could for their own world given that they maintained peace as this would have a significant effect on their world’s future.
Houston coughed gently in response to Xiong Zhong. He said, “Indeed, your world has made major contributions to averting the crisis, but there’s one thing that you’re wrong about. The crisis of the world doesn’t only affect our world but your World of Forsaken Saints as well. Our world functioned as the frontline, so once our world gave way, your world could not escape either. Our two worlds basically shared the same fate. If one survived, so did the other, but if one fell, so would the other. As a result, I hope you don’t think that you’re heroes that saved our world because you were saving your own world as well,” Houston said steadily.
The protectors and elders all became rather ugly when they heard his words. Houston’s explanation seemed to have stripped them of all their achievements against the crisis of the world.
Before the people from the foreign world could say anything in response, Houston continued, “In reality, it doesn’t matter what kind of contribution your world has towards eliminating the crisis of the world. There’s no need at all for us to give you any of our land because Jian Chen was the leading figure in stopping the crisis. If it were not for his treasure, you wouldn’t have been able to avoid the fate of being devoured even with your slightly special bloodline. The reason why we agreed to give you some land was just to complete the final wishes of the people who laid down their lives so that they can rest easy in the afterlife.”
…
The two sides argued intensely over the matter of land. Both of them stated their reasons and no one gave in.
Fortunately, both sides felt some fear for each other, which was why everyone purposefully controlled themselves despite the intense discussion. They did not end up fighting.
The Tian Yuan Continent side feared the number of Origin realm experts the foreign world possessed, as well as Xiong Zhong who had reached Reciprocity.
The protectors and elders from the World of Forsaken Saints feared Shangguan Mu’er. Although she was not present and Three Saint Island was extremely far away from Flame City, her strength had reached the point that traversing such a distance would only take a single step.
Very soon, the first day of negotiations came to a close. Neither side made any progress. The side of the Tian Yuan Content wanted to cling onto whatever territory they could, refusing to budge even if it was just slightly more than what they had initially proposed. Meanwhile, the protectors and elders from the World of Forsaken Saints wanted enough land that would make them satisfied at the very least, so the two sides were obviously unable to come to an agreement.
The arctic tundra in the north did not belong to the Tian Yuan Continent, and it was distant from Three Saint Island. A golden divine hall currently stood there silently, and all the protectors and elders from the World of Forsaken Saints had gathered in there.
“This world is going too far. We’ve made such great contributions to stopping the crisis, yet they’ve described it as nothing. Even for territory, they’re only willing to let up that tiny portion. It’s far from enough considering how large our population is,” a protector said furiously.
Everyone in the hall fell silent. Their expressions were all very ugly. After the negotiations from the first day, they all understood the Tian Yuan Continent’s attitude towards the matter. It would clearly be difficult for them to obtain a substantial amount of land.
“It’s a pity that the Spiritking isn’t here, which was why we were so hesitant during the negotiations and afraid of offending this world by going too far. Even if we ignore Shangguan Mu’er who is spying on us secretly, there’s the even more terrifying Jian Chen above our heads. He’s no weaker than the Spiritking, so if he just happens to break through…” An elder said grimly. His face became rather pale as he reached the end of those words.
Xiong Zhong sighed gently, “That’s true. Jian Chen is in secluded cultivation, but who knows when he’ll emerge. If he does actually break through and decides to turn on us, none of us will be able to make it back to our world alive. Let’s postpone the negotiations for now and wait until the Spirtking returns.”
The Origin realm experts of the four races remained in Flame City. After the first day of negotiations, they gathered together once again, except for Xiao Jin, Xiao Ling, and the four brothers, who did not care about the matter regarding land at all. They left as soon as the negotiations had concluded.
“The World of Forsaken Saints has quite the appetite. The land they want is just too much. How can we let up so much land so easily? After all, they’re not a part of our world,” Guihai Yidao said gruffly.
“The negotiations regarding territory cannot be concluded in just a day or two. In my opinion, we should let the matter be for now. Once Jian Chen emerges from seclusion, let’s ask for his opinion. After all, if it were not for the fact that Jian Chen has the strength to keep the Spiritking at bay, we would not even have the right to negotiate,” said the sea goddess.
“Alright, let’s postpone the matter for now. We’ll wait for my great-grandson to emerge. After all, he has the most authority among all of us,” Yang Lie chuckled. Whenever his great-grandson was mentioned, he would be unable to contain his pride.
“Yang Lie, you’re acting like we don’t know that Jian Chen is your descendent. Don’t get too cocky,” Guihai Yidao cursed jokingly. He too envied Yang Lie as he had such an impressive descendent.
A huge blood-red cloud remained in outer space without moving at all. Jian Chen sat with his legs crossed inside as the essence of the cloud’s power gathered from all directions, permeating Jian Chen’s surroundings in the form of a red mist that was even darker in color. It entered his body through his pores and breath.
After entering Jian Chen’s body, the red mist was rapidly converted into Chaotic Force. Jian Chen was clearly much faster at refining the power than before.
Jian Chen’s chaotic neidan was no longer as small as when he had just broken through to the eighth layer. As he rapidly absorbed the cloud’s power, it grew slowly. Even though its growth was extremely gradual, any progress he made meant that he was even closer to reaching the ninth layer of the Chaotic Body.
“There might be hopes of me reaching the ninth layer of the Chaotic Body here. When I broke through to the eighth layer, my cultivation directly went from Receival to early Reciprocity, completely skipping past Returnance. If my Chaotic Body reaches the ninth layer, I wonder what my cultivation will reach. Will it be peak Reciprocity or will I directly reach Godhood,” Jian Chen thought as he was filled with anticipation.
The eighth layer of the Chaotic Body bestowed the battle prowess of Godhood on him, but that was only battle prowess. His personal level of cultivation remained at early Reciprocity. However, if his cultivation level also progressed to Godhood, just what level would his battle prowess reach?
“Whatever. I’ll let the matter of territory negotiations between the two worlds be for now. I’ll devote myself to increasing my strength here. Once I absorb all the essence of the cloud, or when my Chaotic Body reaches the ninth layer, I’ll emerge from seclusion. The two sides currently fear each other anyway and with Shangguan Mu’er watching over them, there’s no need for me to worry,” Jian Chen thought. Although he was cultivating here, he still paid attention to the Tian Yuan Continent at all times. He only needed to expand his soul, and he would envelop the entire planet. He was extremely clear of what had happened during the negotiations. His soul had even extended into the golden divine hall on the arctic tundra, and he had clearly heard the words of Xiong Zhong and the others.