Chapter 626: Uncontrollable Emotions
An Zixuan smiled and said, "Xiao Bai, Jiang Zimo, and Mu Xinya are all in the Kunlun Realm already. When you go to the Kunlun Realm, do take care of them when you can."
Xiao Chen felt surprised. He said, "I remember the three of them did not get into the top twenty, not attaining the Martial God Palace's requirement."
An Zixuan explained, "That Martial God Palace is the human's Martial God Palace. It is not the Fiend's Martial God Palace."
Xiao Chen understood when he heard that. He said, "I definitely will. The three of them are my friends. Even if Senior did not say anything, I would do it."
After leaving the Myriad Fiend Palace, Xiao Chen heaved a sigh of relief. After thinking for a while, he headed for the headquarters of the Great Tang Nation's Golden Roc Merchant Association.
Xiao Chen did not really understand the power of the Wanlong Merchant Association. He had to find someone he could trust to gain more information about their strength. Of all the people Xiao Chen knew, only Jin Dabao had a good understanding of the Wan Clan.
Flying in the sky, Xiao Chen rode an Azure Dragon image and traveled nonstop to the Great Tang Nation's Imperial Capital. His Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art started to show traces of breaking through while he moved at his maximum speed. This development was a pleasant surprise for him.
Ten days later, Xiao Chen arrived at the Great Tang Nation's Imperial Capital. However, Jin Dabao was not there. So he did not get to see him immediately. After spreading the word, he managed to find Jin Dabao three days later.
Xiao Chen never enjoyed beating about the bush. He went straight to the point and explained why he was here.
After the fatty heard everything, he squinted and laughed boisterously, "To think that little bastard has such a day befalling him! Damn it. He had snatched away a significant amount of business from this Fat Lord."
Seeing Xiao Chen's unhappy expression, Jin Dabao quickly said, "A moment of excitement, it's hard to control my emotions; my emotions got away from me. Old Brother Xiao Chen, don't take offense at that. Let me tell you all about the Wanlong Merchant Association's strength now."
Jin Dabao took a sip of wine and continued, "Now that you have advanced to Martial Monarch, you probably do not care about the Wan Clan's Martial King experts. So I will not talk about them. The main thing would be the Martial Monarch experts hired by their merchant association."
The Wanlong Merchant Association had eighteen large branches in the Tianwu Continent. Each branch had two Martial Monarch experts. Their cultivation ranged from peak Inferior Grade Martial Monarch to Medial Grade Martial Monarch.
After all, the Wanlong Merchant Association was wealthy and had vast resources. It would be hard to find an early Inferior Grade Martial Monarch in their ranks.
Just counting the Martial Monarchs in the branches, there were already thirty-six of them—much more than what the Heavenly Saber Pavilion had.
On hearing the fatty's words, Xiao Chen felt quite astonished in his heart. The peak force in the Tianwu Continent were Martial Sages. However, there were very few of them.
There were billions of people in the entire Sky Dome Realm. If all the Martial Sages of the Boundless Sea, Ancient Desolate Land, and the Tianwu Continent were counted, the total would not exceed a hundred.
Relative to the vast Sky Dome Realm, Martial Sages were rare. Furthermore, they would usually be busy comprehending the Heavenly Dao; few of them would bother themselves with mundane matters.
Hence, in normal conflicts, the strongest cultivators that appeared would usually be Martial Monarchs. Martial Sages were pretty much a legend to most people.
Most people only heard of Martial Sages and had never seen one. In their eyes, a Martial Monarch was already a peak expert.
However, although the thirty-six Martial Monarchs were strong, Xiao Chen did not care about them. He would be fine as long as they were not Superior Grade Martial Monarchs.
Jin Dabao continued, "This is just the strength of the branches. Their true strength is located in the Wanlong Merchant Association's headquarters, which has the Eight Great Guardian Deities."
"The Eight Great Guardian Deities are a group of eight Superior Grade Martial Monarchs. They are very famous and extremely strong. Once, a peak Martial Monarch bandit wanted to loot the Wanlong Merchant Association. The Eight Great Guardian Deities worked together and destroyed him in less than a hundred moves.
Eight Great Guardian Deities… Xiao Chen paid special note to this name. Then, he looked at Jin Dabao and said, "That should not be all their power. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to suppress your Jin Clan for so long."
Jin Dabao took a big gulp of wine and replied, "That's right. Rumors say that their Wan Clan has a Martial Sage holding down the fort. This is their greatest trump card."
After hearing Jin Dabao's explanation, Xiao Chen had a better understanding of the Wanlong Merchant Association.
Most people only knew of the eight Noble Clans and the ten great sects of the Great Jin Nation. Unexpectedly, the Great Jin Nation still hid the Wanlong Merchant Association, which was as strong as the Noble Clans. In terms of overall power, they might even be stronger than some of the Noble Clans.
Thirty-six Martial Monarchs, Eight Great Guardian Deities, and a Martial Sage who stood at the peak. The Wan Clan was truly terrifying.
Seeing that Xiao Chen was about to leave, Fatty Jin hesitated for a while before deciding to tell Xiao Chen about Wan Feng. "Old Brother Xiao Chen, the welcoming envoy this time seems to be related to the Wan Clan. You better be prepared."
Xiao Chen paused for a moment. Then, he shook his head and laughed bitterly. Just one Martial Sage already posed quite a problem for him. Unexpectedly, there was now the welcoming envoy.
However, Xiao Chen had already given his promise. He no longer had the opportunity to feel regrets. Even if there was a mountain of knives or a sea of fire before him, he had to go forward.
Jin Dabao watched as Xiao Chen left. His eyes squinted almost shut in a contemplative expression, and he muttered to himself, "The Wan Clan is not that easy to deal with. It would be hard to do so by relying on just Xiao Chen."
After a long time, Jin Dabao seemed to come to a decision. He told the manservant beside him, "Gather all the available Martial Monarchs in the Golden Roc Merchant Association in the shortest time possible.
"Also, invite Miss Su of the Heavenly Craft Manor. Damn it. This Fat Lord will bet everything on this."
"Roar! Roar!"
An Azure Dragon roared as Xiao Chen soared through the sky. He rode the Azure Dragon image as he flew nonstop to the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.
Traveling to the Ancient Desolate Land and the Great Tang Nation's Imperial Capital took Xiao Chen nearly a month. He did not want to keep Ying Yue waiting too long, so he rushed at his top speed.
Cultivators with good eyesight might discover an Azure Dragon swimming in the sky ten kilometers up. It scattered all the clouds blocking its way.
Xiao Chen stood on the dragon's head, his white robes fluttering in the wind. No expression was visible on his delicate face.
"Chi!"
Suddenly, Xiao Chen felt like the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art was about to break through from Small Perfection to Great Perfection. It felt fantastic. Without him having to circulate it purposefully, the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art's circulation method cycled automatically.
The Quintessence slowly flowed through the meridians. Occasionally, it would pass some of the minor meridians. Xiao Chen clearly felt the Azure Dragon below him growing excited. Its speed increased explosively, leaving small spatial cracks behind him.
"Roar!"
A resonant dragon roar rang out. The Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art finally reached Great Perfection. The Quintessence completed a cycle and returned to the dantian. Then it started to circulate in the circulation method for the Great Perfection Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art.
"Xiu! Xiu!"
Aside from the Azure Dragon image that Xiao Chen was riding, two more Azure Dragon images appeared at his side. Compared to earlier, his speed tripled, reaching Mach 8.
After training for two months and failing to break through this bottleneck, Xiao Chen finally succeeded in such an unexpected and natural fashion. He felt that it was rather odd.
However, without those two months of training, accumulating a vast amount of experience, such a breakthrough would not have happened. In the end, it could simply be a matter of achieving success when the conditions were right.
"Azure Dragon Tail Whip!"
Xiao Chen revealed a joyful expression. He executed Azure Dragon Tail Whip, and the three Azure Dragon images moved at the same time. Their tails swung and struck Xiao Chen heavily.
"Hu Chi!"
An arcing azure beam of light flashed in the sky. Xiao Chen moved ten kilometers in an instant.
When Xiao Chen looked behind, a Xiao Chen still stood there ten kilometers back—an afterimage left behind as a result of the extreme speed.
The afterimage slowly faded and disappeared after three breaths.
Xiao Chen smiled gently and said, "Moving ten kilometers in an instant. I finally stand a chance at fleeing from a Martial Sage.
"However, the Great Perfection Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art exhausts too much Quintessence. In normal battles, I will only need one Azure Dragon."
When Xiao Chen returned to the Heavenly Saber Pavilion, he headed to where Leng Tianhe stayed. When he found Leng Tianhe, he paid his respects and informed him of his intentions.
"Senior, will you be willing to lend this junior the Divine Weapon?"
If anyone else made this request of Leng Tianhe, he would have been sent flying with a slap. The Divine Weapon was not something that one could borrow at will.
However, the person asking was Xiao Chen. Leng Tianhe could not help but contemplate the request. After a long time, he slowly said, "I can feel a Holy Seal in your mind. Since Liu Tianyu had given you this chance before, it would not be appropriate for me to reject you."
"Hu!"
Leng Tianhe casually waved his hand, and the wooden box containing the Divine Weapon flew over. Xiao Chen stretched out his hand and caught the wooden box. He said softly, "Many thanks, Senior!"
With the Divine Weapon, Xiao Chen felt a little more confident. However, he hoped that he would not need to use it. It would be enough to brandish it to scare the other party.
Finally, Xiao Chen took out the inner vest that the Supreme Sky Sect had given him. This item was a defensive-type Superior Grade Secret Treasure that could raise his defense by twenty percent.
The favor of the Myriad Fiend Palace's An Zixuan, Jin Dabao's information, a defensive Superior Grade Secret Treasure, and the Divine Weapon Heavenly Universe Saber. Everything was ready.
Xiao Chen covered the wooden box containing the Divine Weapon with a black cloth and carried it on his back. Then, he took a deep breath and headed towards Saber City.
At an inn in Saber City, the Feng Clan's Clan Head, Feng Tianming, and Ying Yue had waited for Xiao Chen for more than a month.
At this moment, the two were seated at a tea table. An ancient tea set sat on the table with an incense burner placed on the upper right corner of the table. The incense burner gave off a pleasing fragrance, raising one's spirits.
Feng Tianming wore luxurious clothes, and his aura was withdrawn. He gently took a sip of tea and said, "Princess Ying Yue, we have waited for very long already. I think Xiao Chen won't be coming."
Feng Tianming could not help his doubts. Currently, Xiao Chen had a great future ahead of him. He was the strongest of the younger generation, a King Grade True Dragon genius. After he ascended to the Kunlun Realm, he would reach Martial Sage at the minimum.
If Xiao Chen was more fortunate, he might become the second Thunder Emperor.
Why would Xiao Chen offend the influential Wan Clan, bringing suffering upon himself for the sake of a promise from four years ago? After all, Xiao Chen had not truly matured yet.
Ying Yue set down the teacup in her hand. With a faint smile on her beautiful face, she replied, "Relax. I understand him. And so did Feixue. Otherwise, she would not have endured this for four years for his sake."