Xiao Chen said with a serious expression, “It is my fortune to have the Sect Master take care of me like that.”
“Most outstanding talents have someone behind their backs protecting them. The Sect Master has long since been your protector. However, that is all that he can do. Whether you can snatch back your King title in the conferral ceremony half a year from now will still depend on yourself.”
Xiao Chen nodded to indicate that he understood. Then, he asked about another matter. “Senior Sister, do you know of any peak forging sects or forging masters that are on good terms with our Supreme Sky Sect?”
“What are you thinking of doing, forging a Secret Treasure?”
“No, I have some questions that I would like to ask and wonder if our sect can give me a recommendation letter.”
Shui Lingling smiled and said, “This is easy. The most famous Sword Casting Grandmaster, Situ Leihong of the Profound Domain, has a deep friendship with Master. I’ll write you an introduction letter. You’ll only need to show your identity medallion to see him.
“He is someone who has forged many Sub-Divine Weapons, a legendary master at forging swords. He will definitely be able to answer your questions.”
When Xiao Chen heard that, he rejoiced. Someone who could forge a Sub-Divine Weapon would no doubt know all the prerequisites for nourishing an Embryonic Soul into an Item Spirit.
After saying goodbye to Shui Lingling, Xiao Chen received Yue Chenxi, Gong Yangyu, Jin Lin, Liu Ke, and Xiao Xian at his peak. Everyone including Jin Dabao chatted freely for a long time.
Everyone spoke about the past and discussed the martial way. It felt like the entire night passed in the blink of an eye.
When the sky turned bright, Xiao Chen went out alone and met with the First Elder, Han Qinghe. There, he found out some of the details of the King conferral ceremony.
The Thunder Sovereign had been in closed-door cultivation all along. Currently, the Holy Masters of the Three Holy Lands were in charge of the Martial God Palace. This was the reason given for the postponement of the King conferral ceremony by half a year.
There was another very big reason. This postponement allowed the Holy Masters to give the top Holy Scion, Xia Houjue, time to accumulate military merits to hit the requirements of being conferred King.
Then, the Holy Masters would confer a Kingship on Xia Houjue as well as on Xiao Chen. They would use the resources of the Holy Lands to overwhelm Xiao Chen’s fame, telling everyone who the outstanding talent that the Martial God Palace truly supported was.
The Three Holy Lands really put in a lot of effort. In order to suppress him, they even used this.
There was only one piece of good news. The Supreme Sky Emperor personally fought for Xiao Chen to get the title Azure Dragon King and succeeded.
After Xiao Chen found out about all this, he did not say anything. As long as he could get the title Azure Dragon King, everything would be fine.
The Supreme Sky Emperor managed to help him this far. Xiao Chen would have to deal with the rest himself. As for those people who were planning to kick up a storm at his King conferral ceremony, he would beat them all back with force.
By the time Xiao Chen returned to his peak, Gong Yangyu had already left while Lord Jiu and Jin Dabao were still fast asleep.
When Yue Chenxi saw Xiao Chen return, she hesitated for a moment before saying, “Senior Brother Xiao Chen, after you are conferred a King, you will have your own territory. I wish to come along with you when that happens.”
“Senior Brother, we wish to come with you as well,” Jin Lin and the other two chimed in quickly.
Xiao Chen laughed, “You are thinking too far into the future. Furthermore, you are all elite disciples of the Supreme Sky Sect. Whether I can take you or not would depend on Elder Han.”
Smiling, Yue Chenxi said, “Senior Brother can rest assured on this point. It was First Senior Sister who spoke to us about this to begin with. Since she agreed, there should not be any problems with Elder Han and the Sect Master.”
Jin Lin, Xiao Xian, and Liu Ke added, “Now, it all depends on Senior Brother.”
If Xiao Chen could successfully be conferred King, the territory he obtained would fall under the Supreme Sky Sect. However, in reality, it would be equal to him forming his own sect. At that time, he would definitely need people to help him.
Xiao Chen originally intended to use that territory as his foundation for the reestablishment of the Dragon’s Gate in the future.
Restoring the Dragon’s Gate to its peak would be impossible with just Xiao Chen alone. Yue Chenxi, Jin Lin, and the others would all eventually grow to become grandmaster-level Martial Sages. If they really wanted to join, he would benefit tremendously.
However, all this would have to wait while he repaid the Supreme Sky Sect’s kindness to him first. It was still too early to speak of this now.
Xiao Chen temporarily rejected the group’s suggestion. “Thank you all very much. However, we should wait until after the King conferral ceremony. If I cannot provide a better future for you, even if the Sect Master agrees, I will not.”
Seeing that Xiao Chen did not reject them right off the bat, Jin Lin and the rest did not press him. At least there was some hope.
“In that case, I will take my leave first. Senior Brother Xiao Chen, you will definitely be successfully conferred King.”
Will I definitely succeed?
Xiao Chen pondered the strength that Di Wuque and the Divine Daughter displayed in the Heavenly Ruin Wasteland, the suppression that the Three Holy Lands put so much thought into, and the covetous gazes of the ancient race geniuses.
He knew that his King conferral ceremony was fated to be turbulent. If he made the wrong move, everything would crumble like dust. Those people would not pass up on a chance to knock him down.
Collecting his thoughts, Xiao Chen woke Jin Dabao and Lord Jiu. “Get up. Stop sleeping. It is time to depart.”
The fatty rubbed his eyes as he asked in a daze, “Depart? To where?”
“To the Profound Domain’s Ying Clan to help Old Jiu dispose of some spoils. The biggest merchant association in the Kunlun Realm—the Flourishing Heaven Pavilion—is there. You would be very interested in that.”
When Jin Dabao heard that, he immediately perked up. Lord Jiu had already awakened, wishing he could clear his stock now.
Xiao Chen opened his mouth and spat out the Dragon’s Gate’s warship. He raised its eighteen sails and set off with Jin Dabao and Lord Jiu for the Profound Domain.
As a cool breeze blew, the warship pierced through the clouds.
At the warship’s bow, Xiao Chen fiddled with the Lunar Shadow Saber. The expression on his face was peaceful and serene as his black hair and white robes fluttered in the wind.
The Flawless saber Dao has my body as a saber and my thoughts as a saber.
However, without a saber in hand, something was still lacking. In the end, Xiao Chen could not truly achieve flawlessness.
Only when he became one with the saber, merging the saber that was his physical body with the saber in his hand, could he bring the Flawless saber Dao to Great Perfection.
As Xiao Chen held the Lunar Shadow Saber in his hand, he entered into a wondrous state of comprehension. The character of the Flawless saber Dao slowly became clearer in his mind.
The Flawless saber Dao was not simply a Martial Technique. Instead, it was a path that he had to take—a saber Dao that no one before him had trodden.
Right now, the Flawless saber Dao was like a newborn baby. There was only a vague concept of it.
Once Xiao Chen comprehended it and brought this saber Dao to its peak, it would allow his strength to increase immensely. Furthermore, it would be a blessing to bladesmen of the future, giving them one more option. Its accomplishments would last forever.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen felt a murderous intent. He narrowed his eyes and sent out a saber light. The clouds five kilometers ahead scattered. A masked man clad entirely in black appeared before the three.
This black-clad man did not say anything. He stretched out his hand, and white rings of light appeared behind him. Each ring contained surging energy and felt very solid. He had a total of one thousand and five hundred rings.
In the center of the rings was a vague White Tiger roaring.
The five kilometers of clouds that Xiao Chen scattered with his move suddenly regathered as the tiger roared.
When that black-clad person pointed, translucent ripples appeared in the sky. A colossal finger emerged from the ripples and descended towards the Dragon’s Gate’s warship.
At the same time, many cryptic talisman scripts appeared in a ring of light with the Dragon’s Gate’s warship as the center. They formed a massive formation in the air, locking down space.
As this mysterious black-clad person moved his hands, he drew forth such horrifying might. On the warship, Jin Dabao and Lord Jiu paled as they watched the giant finger descending towards them.
With a thought, a bright moon rose behind Xiao Chen. The surroundings turned dark like night as the moon hung high in the sky. “Ka ca! Ka ca!” The instant the full moon rose, the massive formation restricting the Dragon’s Gate’s warship shattered.
Facing the horrifying giant finger, Xiao Chen pointed as well. The resplendent bright moon in the night sky vanished, turning into a saber light that shot out from his fingertip.
When the saber light clashed with the giant finger, a loud explosion resounded in the air. Shock waves surged out and lightning flashed. Saber lights, sword images, and all sorts of mysterious phenomena flickered continuously in the sky.
When the black-clad man pointed, he had revealed a somewhat contemplative look in his eyes. Then, he leaped back and prepared to leave.
“Whoosh!”
However, the moment the black-clad person turned around, he found the white-clad Xiao Chen with the Freedom Wings unfurled on his back looking at him coldly.
“Brother Xia, why are you not working on accumulating one million military merits for your King conferral but coming to Supreme Sky Province from the White Emperor City to point at me? This Xiao is honored.”
The moment this person made his move, Xiao Chen recognized him. This was the White Emperor City’s Holy Scion, Xia Houjue. In the three years that Xiao Chen had not seen him, he had grown to an astonishing level, thanks to the resources of his Holy Land.
When Xia Houjue pointed, he had appeared very casual. However, the might manifested could kill an ordinary grandmaster-level Martial Sage.
Having been seen through by Xiao Chen, Xia Houjue removed the mask on his face and smiled. “There is no need for you to worry for me. I will definitely be conferred King. Just worry about yourself. It is not that easy to get the title of Azure Dragon King.”
Xiao Chen said calmly, “I will return the same words to you. Just worry about yourself. Since you gifted me a finger, I will return one to you as well.”
Snow drifted behind Xiao Chen. The perfected Winter Saber of the Flawless Four Seasons came out as he pointed.
The snow that filled the air gathered and formed a crystalline flower behind Xiao Chen. A vast snowfield blanketed the land for five thousand kilometers.
Xia Houjue’s expression turned grave. He extended his hand, and a stone finger condensing vast and ancient strength at a single point appeared and struck the ice flower, instantly shattering it.
However, the cold Qi spread out and permeated the ancient stone finger. Crackling resounded, and the stone finger likewise shattered and turned into countless shards of ice.
Xia Houjue felt depressed. He had not expected the cold Qi to be so strange, putting him at a disadvantage. He said in a frosty voice, “Xiao Chen, let’s see if you can still be this arrogant half a year from now.”
Xiao Chen let Xia Houjue leave and entered deep thought. He swept his hand across, and the ice in the air turned into spots of glacial light that returned to his hand and reformed the ice flower.
“Snow of the four seasons, eternal and everlasting. If you think that this move will be only this powerful half a year hence, you will definitely suffer a lot.”
For the White Emperor City’s Xia Houjue to appear now was within Xiao Chen’s expectations and was perfectly logical.
The three Holy Scions had been the leaders of the Tianwu Domain’s younger generation for a long time. Of the three, Xia Houjue had the greatest ambitions and desires.
Xiao Chen was now famous throughout the entire Kunlun Realm. Even though the Dragon’s Gate was no more, his reputation surpassed that of the Three Holy Scions among the Tianwu Domain’s younger generation.
However, the three Holy Scions had more than ten years to build up their reputation, in addition to their Holy Lands’ long and storied history. Their reputation was much more solid than that of someone like Xiao Chen, who suddenly came into prominence in four to five years.