Chapter 817: All-Seeing Eyes
A look of doubt colored Jiang Chen's face for a moment, and he looked at Emperor Peafowl a little more seriously than he did before. If Emperor Peafowl really had activated the All-Seeing Eyes, then calling him a terrifying cultivator would be an understatement. A person like him shouldn't be limited to an earthly plane like this!
Emperor Peafowl had been observing Jiang Chen all this time, and he himself was very, very surprised at the strength of the youth's reactions. As a great emperor, he had never talked about destiny with any youngsters. In fact, most of his friends and great emperors who were close to him were skeptical when he talked about destiny. One might even say that most of them disapproved of his theory completely. Most of them saw destiny in the same way as heaven's will. They thought that it was something that was completely unpredictable.
Emperor Peafowl might be keenly aware of the correctness of his ideas, but he wouldn't go so far as to force his understandings down someone's throat. However, after a thousand years of careful exploration, he had managed to summarize and create a technique that could observe destiny itself. It was true that he felt that his abilities in this regard were half-baked, but he was almost never mistaken about the people of great destiny whom he had observed in private.
Although Jiang Chen hailed from the Myriad Domain, Emperor Peafowl had secretly gathered much information on him and come to the conclusion that he was a boy of great destiny. Emperor Peafowl was tempted many times to see Jiang Chen with his own eyes, but he was worried that his visit would disrupt Jiang Chen's fate. So he had kept his desire in check. Then, he heard that the Eternal Celestial Capital had sent out a capture order on Jiang Chen, and that the person in question was on his way to Veluriyam Capital.
This revelation gladdened Emperor Peafowl, and his belief in the will of heaven grew even stronger. As such, he had been waiting all this time. He had been waiting for a genius who shouldered the destiny of a world to show up. Finally, Jiang Chen entered Veluriyam Capital that day. His arrival happened to coincide with young lord Fan's funeral procession.
It was yet another sign that the old was ushered out in exchange for the new. The powerful destiny Jiang Chen carried with him when he showed up in Veluriyam Capital was a massive shock to even Emperor Peafowl. It was enough to finally convince him of his own theory. What surprised Emperor Peafowl the most at this moment was that Jiang Chen's reaction was not one of skepticism. No, the boy asked the emperor if he could see the threads of destiny. Did Jiang Chen believe in the theory of destiny too?
Emperor Peafowl sighed, "I've always been cultivating eye arts. More than a thousand years ago, enlightenment suddenly dawned on me, and my arts transformed into a strange kind of observation art. At first, I didn't know what it was, so I spent a thousand years observing everything before me. Although my observations have never coalesced into a system of their own, I was seldom wrong when I used it to observe destiny. The day you entered the city was a great shock to me. I've never seen someone with a destiny as great as yours, not to mention that it subtly matched the winds of destiny that had surged to the sky and shaken the clouds back in the Myriad Domain. In that moment, I had ascertained almost immediately that you were the youngster I was waiting for from the Myriad Domain. You were the Jiang Chen who the Eternal Celestial Capital wanted very badly, but couldn't hunt down despite all their efforts."
Eye arts? Jiang Chen couldn't help but stare at Emperor Peafowl's eyes. Emperor Peafowl's eyes were like a pair of deep pools, but their depths were as unfathomable as the sky itself. His eyes would shift colors between dark green and azure from time to time, and it constituted an incredibly unique visual impact.
"If I'm not mistaken, you have an eye art yourself, Jiang Chen. In fact, it is an incredibly powerful one!" Emperor Peafowl said smilingly.
Without an objection to offer, Jiang Chen nodded, "You have amazing talent, Your Majesty. There really is nothing that can be hidden from you. Now that I think back, it’s hilarious how confident I was at hiding my own abilities. Thank goodness I haven't caused trouble within your domain, or you could've killed me in a single strike."
"Hahaha," Emperor Peafowl laughed candidly, "Your claim that you haven't caused trouble is not entirely accurate, but it is a fact you haven't started one of your own accord. I wouldn't have visited you if you did, or if you'd proven yourself to be evil."
Cold sweat silently escaped Jiang Chen's pores. Emperor Peafowl is too amazing. I'm not even living in his house, and yet he seem to know everything that has happened around me. "Your Majesty, you haven't imbued a consciousness around my social circle, have you?" Jiang Chen didn't know what kind of expression he should wear.
"Haha, do I look like someone who enjoys spying on others?" Emperor Peafowl was also somewhat amused by Jiang Chen's words.
So far, Jiang Chen's impression of Emperor Peafowl was quite good. At the very least, Emperor Peafowl's bearing and broadmindedness were things that no ruthless overlord could compete against. Through his conversation, Jiang Chen could deduce that the latter's understanding of him had come from general observation, not spying. If it really was spying, Jiang Chen would've left Veluriyam Capital without a second thought. After all, no one wanted to be spied upon during every moment of their lives. It was practically torture of a whole different kind to live that way.
"Your Majesty, do you mean that you know everything that I did in Veluriyam Capital?"
"Not necessarily. I can more or less grasp the general aim of your actions. For example, you are the one who trashed all those pill stores at Farmer God Market, aren't you?"
Jiang Chen knew that anyone with a discerning eye could figure that out. He smiled, "It was a choice I was forced to make. They had to pay for their intolerable acts of bullying. In fact, I'm actually relieving you of some burdens, Your Majesty."
House Wei belonged to the Coiling Dragon Clan, and the Coiling Dragon Clan belonged to Emperor Peafowl. Indirectly speaking, he was indeed helping out Emperor Peafowl.
However, Emperor Peafowl returned a noncommittal smile. After a moment of silence, he said slowly, "I know everything that happens in Veluriyam Capital. The Majestic Clan's provocations, the feathery probes of Emperor Shura, their hopes towards Veluriyam Pagoda and their desire for my seat as the number one great emperor of Veluriyam Capital… if even my subordinates know about this, how could I not know about them as well?"
Jiang Chen was surprised, "You knew it all from the very beginning, Your Majesty?"
"That's right," Emperor Peafowl revealed the ghost of a smile, "In other words, even Emperor Shura's tremendous success and growth, so much so that even the outside world think that he was now capable of replacing me, was within my predictions. In fact, you might even say that I'm the one who pushed for his growth in secret."
"What?" Jiang Chen's mind couldn't quite catch up to the topic, "You mean you were purposely nurturing a threat?"
"The nurturing part is true, but a threat? Not necessarily so." Emperor Peafowl's smile was deep, "My only fear is that he grows too slowly."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Chen frowned. He suddenly felt like his brain was a little lacking.
"More than a thousand years ago, I vaguely activated the All-Seeing Eye and felt the call of heaven's dao. There, I was able to capture tiny glimpses of the laws of the world."
"You're about to achieve a breakthrough?" A thought abruptly flashed across Jiang Chen's mind.
"I am. I've been suppressing it for more than a thousand years, holding myself back from mastering the laws, but I feel that I can't do so for much longer. I am afraid that I am fated to leave Veluriyam Capital in less than a hundred years. Therefore, someone capable enough must succeed my seat. An ordinary person would be unable to quell the internal and external threats of Veluriyam Capital." Emperor Peafowl sighed softly with a hint of melancholy.
"Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty, but there are countless people out there who is incapable of learning heaven's dao or win its acknowledgement. If you have sensed it, then why on earth would you suppress it on purpose?" Jiang Chen seriously couldn't understand Emperor Peafowl's thoughts.
"Would you believe me if I told you that it was all to keep a close watch on the demon race?" Emperor Peafowl suddenly revealed a self deprecating smile. Jiang Chen shivered as he stared at Emperor Peafowl in disbelief. He actually doubted his own eyes for a second, for he saw a hint of true worry leaking from Emperor Peafowl's expression. It was both great mercy and great wisdom that had been born of a compassion that encompassed the world. Jiang Chen had seen a very similar expression from Ye Chonglou and Palace Head Dan Chi's faces before. It was just that Ye Chonglou only had the worry, but not the in-depth knowledge of the bigger picture. He didn't know just how deadly the demon race was. Palace Head Dan Chi possessed greater understanding than Ye Chonglou, but he thought more from his sect's point of view.
Emperor Peafowl was the only one who Jiang Chen'd seen so far to possess both mercy and wisdom. An erudite wisdom and true worry for the world that was untainted by even a speck of selfishness. A moment of puzzlement later, Jiang Chen came to understand why. Emperor Peafowl's cultivation was so great that he could sense the laws of the world already. Therefore, what meaning did worldly power conflicts mean to him? His viewpoint and insight of the world had long since exceeded the viewpoint of Veluriyam Capital. Unfortunately for him, his viewpoint was too high and too far out of reach. It was so high that no one could catch up to him. As a result, not many people could understand his feelings at all.
The demon race? Why on earth would normal cultivators bother to think about the demon race unless a demonic calamity actually happened? There could be countless calamities in the world, but none were as important as their own cultivation. It was exactly because most people were this numb, selfish, and easily satisfied by low ambitions that no one paid attention to the bigger picture.
It was why Emperor Peafowl was alone in his wisdom. It was to the point where one might even say that the timing of his worries and compassion was a little off. Suddenly, Jiang Chen felt a little stifled. For whatever reason, he suddenly recalled his father from his past life. His father had exactly been such a person himself. Despite holding the post of a celestial emperor, he was troubled by a lack of people who could understand him. He was worried to death for the fate of the great Taiyuan world, but still failed to prevent the calamity that destroyed the heavenly plane in the end. A person like him might be called a hero or a pioneer in books' written pages. However, most of them didn't have a good ending.
In comparison to his father, Jiang Chen felt that he had lived his life too lowly during this lifetime. His father would likely be unhappy if he learned of his current appearance, wouldn't he? Passion mixed with shame rose within Jiang Chen's heart, "Jiang Chen is most impressed by the height of your insight, Your Majesty. I may not be able to become someone as great as you, but I will contribute my strength to the Divine Abyss Continent to the limit of my capabilities."
Despite not having promised anything in stone, Jiang Chen had made up his mind. He had lived so very cautiously so far, but what had befallen him after all his efforts? A destroyed sect, and no home to go back to. If that was the case, then why should he live so suffocatingly anymore? Why should he not do all he could and live to his heart's content instead?
Chapter 818: Redistribution of Longevity Pills
Throughout the course of his visit, Emperor Peafowl hadn't given any Jiang Chen any promises or made any lofty demands. If one had to describe this visit, it was as if a lonely elder spotting a young man that happened to catch his interest, and so made a visit to make a friend. A smile appeared on Emperor Peafowl's face when he heard Jiang Chen's words.
"Just like you said to Ji Ole Third before Jiang Chen—destiny. In the thousand years that I've held sway in Veluriyam Capital, there has yet to be a single person who has so elicited admiration from me. I have nothing else to say that other than if you remain pure of heart in Veluriyam Capital, you can do as you will in the Capital. I will handle all trouble that may arise from what you might do." Emperor Peafowl smiled faintly after saying this and pointed lightly with his finger, causing all of the scenery around them to instantly vanish—the emperor as well. Only a voice lingered by Jiang Chen's ear, "Jiang Chen, remember to come to the Peafowl Gathering."
Jiang Chen remained silent for a long time, deep in thought. He'd had quite a bit of gains from this conversation.
The next day, young master Ji San came hurriedly running over with another bit of news. "Brother, this kind of sucks. I just received word that many more places have been added to the Peafowl Gathering. Almost all great clans beneath Emperor Peafowl have received invites for a large portion of their disciples."
"Oh? The invitation list's grown bigger?" Jiang Chen smiled.
"Right!" Ji San was a bit depressed. "I'd thought we were the only young disciples to be invited amongst all the great clans yesterday and was feeling a bit proud of that fact. It's all turned to nothing the next day, sigh."
Ji San really was sounding a bit depressed. After all, everyone wanted to be special. If everyone was invited, then there was nothing special about this treatment at all.
Jiang Chen smiled, "Brother Ji, there's nothing to be depressed at all. At last you were the first batch to be invited, no?"
Ji San started and broke out in a grin. "That's right! I was the first batch. There's still more glory in that than them!" He seemed to immediately think of something else and spoke again, "Oh right brother, there's something very important that I must tell you."
"What?"
"About the Longevity Pill. The Sacred Peafowl Mountain owes you a big favor having received the Longevity Pill, so they've been discussing what to do recently as well."
"Have they reached a conclusion?" Jiang Chen asked carelessly. The Longevity Pill hasn't been released to the market yet. Apart from the two that the Majestic Clan had taken out to experiment with last time, all of the rest had been confiscated by the Peafowl Guard. There were none in circulation, so they were impossible to find in Veluriyam Capital.
"The clan lord says that the Sacred Peafowl Mountain has decided upon what to do."
"And what is that?"
"Initial plans are to split the profits five ways."
"Five ways? What do they mean by that?" Jiang Chen didn't quite understand this plan.
"The Sacred Peafowl Mountain as one, the Coiling Dragon Clan for one, House Wei, you, and the Regal Pill Palace." Ji San explained in detail. A thought struck Jiang Chen when he heard this. The Regal Pill Palace also has a share? Sacred Peafowl Mountain is showing me quite some face. However, he then immediately felt that this was likely a result of personal intervention from Emperor Peafowl. "In terms of materials, House Wei will shoulder the cost for that. The Sacred Peafowl Mountain and the Coiling Dragon Clan will be in charge of providing pill kings, and you and House Wei will handle the technique aspect."
This meant Jiang Chen and House Wei's contribution were a result of the pill recipe. This was quite a reasonable proposition.
"Brother, you can raise any objections you have as well. We're still in the process of gathering opinions."
Jiang Chen thought about it and shook his head. "This is a very reasonable offer, I have no opinions."
"Alright, then I'll go back and tell the clan lord." Ji San was quite happy. After all the loops and turns, the Longevity Pill recipe had still fallen into their camp.
Jiang Chen suddenly thought of something and spoke up, "There's something we need to keep an eye on."
"What is it?"
"The Eternal Celestial Capital stole the pill recipe and were the ones who gave the pill to the Majestic Clan. However, their quality was lower because they didn't benefit from my pointers. But since they have the recipe, they possess a latent threat to the future market."
"That's very true."
"Therefore, the Sacred Peafowl Mountain must announce right now that the Longevity Pill is their research item. Apart from the pills from them, everything else is counterfeit and fake. There's no guarantee that there will be no side effects, and we must have everyone acknowledge that only pills from the Sacred Peafowl Mountain are the legitimate products."
"Right, this point is very important. This means that even though the Wang father and son are dead, they must shoulder this to the end. We'll say that the Eternal Celestial Capital's recipe was stolen by the Majestic Clan." Ji San's face was solemn.
"That's how we'll do it." Jiang Chen smiled coldly. "The Eternal Celestial Capital stole the recipe from the Regal Pill Palace to begin with. What business does such ill gotten gains have in being announced to the world?"
"Precisely!" Ji San agreed.
"The most critical thing is, the quality of their pills is less than ours. If the Eternal Celestial Capital doesn't wish to accept this, then the Sacred Peafowl Mountain can issue a challenge and host a competition. The results of the contest will determine whose is real and whose is fake."
Ji San's eyes lit up as he slapped his thigh. "This plan is perfect! If they don't answer the challenge, that means they have a guilty conscience. If they do and their quality is less than ours, then theirs is still fake and their reputation will suffer heavily as a result."
Jiang Chen had spoken so much to get to this point. Even though the Eternal Celestial Capital had stolen the pill, he wasn't going to let them have an easy time of things. You destroy my clan, kill my peers, sell my friends, steal my things, and want to live large after all of that? Dream on! Even if Jiang Chen didn't have the strength to hack his way to the Eternal Celestial Capital at the moment, he would never let them go skipping off into the sunset.
Having received Jiang Chen's plan, Ji San happily went to report back. If this plan could be deployed properly, then they would be able to take down a majority of the market without having to defeat the Eternal Celestial Capital's recipe. After all, the only factor everyone agreed on in the world of martial dao was the quality of the pill. Whoever's was higher was the authentic one!
After sending off Ji San, Jiang Chen went in search of the House Wei father and son and relayed what he'd just learned. They were overjoyed to hear of all this as they hadn't been told of it yet. To them, it was a stroke of good fortune falling out of the sky and striking them on the head.
"Pill King Zhen, the Longevity Pill? Two parts of the profit to our House Wei?" Wei Tianxiao found it a bit hard to believe as an incredulous expression blossomed over his face.
"Indeed, but House Wei in charge of the materials. Of course, the cost of the goods aren't too high for this pill. Two million saint spirit stones per pill is already a very high price. The costs of the materials themselves are at most fifty thousand saint spirit stones." Jiang Chen had been the one to create the pill, how would he not know the price of the materials? When he'd auctioned off one pill in the Myriad Domain, he'd sold it for ten million origin spirit stones and some other bits to Xiang Wentian of the Great Cathedral. That made for less than two million saint spirit stones. So now that a pill was priced at two million saint spirit stones, that was a very high price indeed. With the twenty percent that House Wei could split, that meant they would receive four hundred thousand spirit stones per pill. Compared to the fifty thousand saint spirit stones in costs, this was an absolute killing!
Gratitude was written all over Wei Tianxiao's face when he heard Jiang Chen's analysis. "Pill King Zhen, it is truly House Wei's fortune that my son was able to make your acquaintance. Although I know that you were destined to soar to the skies one day in your brilliance, I hope that House Wei has the great fortune to follow in your footsteps when that day arrives."
As a mighty expert and the house lord of House Wei, Wei Tianxiao was holding to a very humble posture in front of Jiang Chen. This also displayed his rational actions in dealing with interpersonal relationships. Jiang Chen had close relationships with the Coiling Dragon Clan now and had even caught the Sacred Peafowl Mountain's eye. Wei Tianxiao knew that Pill King Zhen wouldn't be spending much time in House Wei in the future. Although this depressed him some, he knew that this was a momentum he couldn't stop.
After last time's affairs, Taiyuan Tower's business boomed even more so after reopening for business. Taiyuan Lodge also opened for business after being won by Jiang Chen in a bet. Of course, House Wei also viewed Taiyuan Lodge as Jiang Chen's property as well. They were keenly aware of their positioning and had placed themselves as of secondary importance. With the force of Jiang Chen's rise, they knew it wasn't anything that their house could hold back. They might as well adjust their mentality and lower their posture so as to cooperate with Jiang Chen for even longer, therefore benefiting even further from their friendship. From the current circumstances at least, House Wei's position had risen to new heights compared to even their previous peak. This was all because of Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen didn't plan on sharing Taiyuan Lodge with House Wei as it was something he'd won in a bet. This was going to be his new stronghold of operations. He naturally knew what Wei Tianxiao meant with this low posture and wasn't the sort to burn bridges after he'd crossed them. "House Lord Wei, House Wei is a great reason for why I've been able to find my footing in Veluriyam Capital. We suffered through trials together and will naturally enjoy the rewards together. It's natural that you take twenty percent of the Longevity Pill. The most important thing is that the Sacred Peafowl Mountain and the Coiling Dragon Clan acknowledges House Wei."
Wei Tianxiao only nodded with a smile as he ruminated on the gratitude flowing through him.