Soon, a line of lovely young women stood before Jiang Wuhen.
The women of the Divine Maiden Sect looked like a bevy of pure, innocent maidens. But everyone knew that the most profound dual cultivation arts in all the Desolate Ancient Continent came from the Divine Maiden Sect.
That blend of innocence and allure made them, in any man’s eyes, absolute stunners.
Jiang Wuhen looked out over them, and a striking panorama greeted his eyes.
Fengxi, in her fiery red gown, exquisite of face and voluptuous of figure, shy yet stubborn.
The Thirteen Guards of Star-Moon Palace, thirteen sisters born of the same womb through a secret art, similar in appearance yet each with her own style, capable of delivering thirteen times the delight.
And Xiao Chen, clad in white as pure as snow, wearing an expression of utter dejection…
Seems like something odd has slipped in there.
Huh? Xiao Chen!
“Why is he here?”
Jiang Wuhen grabbed him by the collar and demanded in a low voice, brow furrowed.
“Uh…”
“Imperial Son, earlier I said I brought everyone from the Divine Maiden Sect to you. This kid counts as half a Divine Maiden Sect member too, so it makes sense for him to be here…”
“If the Imperial Son finds him in the way, this subordinate will execute him right now!”
Yi Shanjin said, and moved to do it.
Jiang Wuhen grabbed hold of him.
Execute nothing!
If I wanted him dead, wouldn’t I do it myself? Since when do I need you sticking your nose in?
Besides, I still need this Son of Fortune for fleecing.
Kill him, and who the hell am I supposed to fleece?
Sensing the displeasure in Jiang Wuhen’s eyes, Yi Shanjin’s heart clenched. He hurriedly said: “Please calm yourself, Imperial Son. This subordinate will take Xiao Chen away at once and not delay your important business!”
With that, he rushed toward Xiao Chen.
But just then—
“Come back!”
Jiang Wuhen said in a low voice.
“What other orders does the Imperial Son have?”
Yi Shanjin cupped his fists.
Jiang Wuhen waved his hand.
“Send them all away!”
The words landed, and Yi Shanjin froze.
But before he could respond, Jiang Wuhen added: “Xiao Chen stays.”
The Divine Maiden Sect women: …
Yi Shanjin: ???
Xiao Chen: !!!
“Imperial Son, this is…”
Yi Shanjin said, baffled.
This Imperial Son has… quite the unique taste.
Before the words were out, Jiang Wuhen shot him a glance.
“Did you not understand me?”
That single look was enough to make Yi Shanjin’s whole body tremble.
“Yes, sir!”
Yi Shanjin hurriedly cupped his fists and led Fengxi and the others away.
In the vast hall, only Jiang Wuhen and Xiao Chen remained.
Xiao Chen’s expression was cold as he studied Jiang Wuhen. He spoke evenly. “I lost to you. Kill me or cut me to pieces, do as you please!”
Jiang Wuhen’s eyebrow arched.
“Oh? Giving up so soon?”
“Not going to try taking Mu Yunxi back from me?”
At these words, Xiao Chen shuddered.
A look of release rose in his eyes.
“Maybe… she’ll be happier with you…”
【Ding dong. Through the host’s manipulation, the Son of Fortune and the Daughter of Fortune have cut ties completely with no possibility of reconciliation. Reward: 30,000 Villain Points!】
In an instant, delight broke across Jiang Wuhen’s face.
Well now. An unexpected bonus!
If Xiao Chen had given up on Mu Yunxi, didn’t that mean he could openly be with her?
We villains have finally made it!
Of course, what mattered more to Jiang Wuhen was the thirty thousand villain points that had just landed.
Not enough. Keep fleecing!
As he pondered, Jiang Wuhen’s gaze sharpened.
“But what about you? Giving up on Yunxi… are you going to give up on yourself too?”
“Do you have any idea what it took for you to make it from little Heavenly Fire City to here, to stand on the stage of the immortal domains? Are you going to throw all of that away over one setback?”
“If you’re so ready to give up… then why did you ever leave Heavenly Fire City in the first place!”
“Thirty years the river runs east, thirty years it runs west. Never mock a young man for being poor!”
【The host has lectured the Son of Fortune. Reward: 10,000 Villain Points!】
Every word Jiang Wuhen spoke rang like a thunderclap.
Hearing it, the dying embers of fighting spirit in Xiao Chen’s heart reignited.
That final line, “Thirty years the river runs east, thirty years it runs west. Never mock a young man for being poor!”, struck straight to his core and set his blood boiling.
Xiao Chen closed both eyes. His dao heart, broken, was rebuilt. It was as though he had undergone a transformation. Without a sound, two threads of ancestral fire origin materialized around him.
Until now, the only ancestral fire he had truly mastered and fused into his own origin, transforming it into an origin pill fire, was the Nine Nether Devil Fire.
Now, reborn through Jiang Wuhen’s words, he had transformed even the Green Lotus Emperor Fire into an origin pill fire.
The blaze art cycled, and the ancestral fires surged.
Xiao Chen’s aura climbed with terrifying speed!
BOOM!
In an instant, his realm shattered its bottleneck. Xiao Chen stepped solidly into the transcendent realm’s seventh stage.
But this was only the beginning.
The next instant, the ancestral fires spread, turning the void around his body into a sea of flame.
The Nine Nether Devil Fire and the Green Lotus Emperor Fire wove and intertwined. Bathing in them, Xiao Chen looked like a deity born from the ancestral fires.
Transcendent realm, eighth stage. A natural progression!
Then the black great ruler emerged from the storage ring of its own accord. Golden runes covered its surface as it rose slowly, coiling around Xiao Chen’s body like a golden chain.
Under the ancestral flames’ burning, the golden runes flowed into Xiao Chen’s body.
His realm rose again.
Transcendent realm, ninth stage!
Around him, the two ancestral fires began to withdraw, coiling like two fire dragons, one green and one white, before drilling back into his body.
The blaze art circulating within Xiao Chen grew more profound at the same moment.
His eyes snapped open. Faint flames burned within them: one pale as ash, one clear as azure!
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!
Burst after burst of searing, explosive aura erupted from Xiao Chen’s body.
At that moment, Xiao Chen’s cultivation sublimated. He had crossed the threshold of the transcendent realm and advanced to the divine martial realm!
Watching this, Jiang Wuhen was consumed by envy.
As expected of a Son of Fortune!
A single epiphany, and he leaped four full stages in one go to reach the divine martial realm.
Poor him: after buying the Hundredfold Comprehension Halo and grinding through three days of secluded cultivation, he’d barely pulled some distance ahead of this Son of Fortune before being caught right back up.
A moment later, Xiao Chen’s realm stabilized at the first stage of the divine martial realm.
He opened his eyes, felt the transformation within him, and exclaimed with delight: “This breakthrough has been an enormous harvest!”
“Not only did my realm rise to the first stage of the divine martial realm, my blaze art has advanced to the ‘saint grade’!”
As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Wuhen, a complicated look rising in his eyes.
Back then, he had believed the rumors: that Jiang Wuhen was arrogant and domineering, cruel and ruthless, stealing a dynasty’s fortune and carving out a fellow disciple’s supreme bone. Despicable and low, stopping at nothing!
Yet when Xiao Chen had lost, his dao heart damaged and his spirits crushed, Jiang Wuhen hadn’t kicked him while he was down. Instead, a single speech had rekindled the fighting spirit in his heart.
His dao heart, broken, was rebuilt; his strength climbed to new heights.
How could someone who repays enmity with kindness be the villain of the rumors!
There was still one thing he didn’t understand.
“Why… did you help me?”
“We’re clearly on opposite sides…”
Xiao Chen’s fists clenched, his expression grave.
Why? To fleece you, obviously. What else, love?
Of course, that was the thought. It couldn’t exactly be said out loud.
“I’ve heard your story, and I… rather admire you.”
“As for being on opposite sides, I don’t care. You shouldn’t fade away like this. I hope… you’ll stay by my side…”
Jiang Wuhen offered an olive branch at just the right moment.
But to Xiao Chen’s ears, the words carried a different flavor.
He treats me this well because he wants me… to stay by his side?
And he recalled the scene just now: Jiang Wuhen sending all the Divine Maiden Sect women out and keeping only him.
Could it be…
As his imagination ran wild, Xiao Chen involuntarily clenched and shuddered.
And at the same time—
【Ding dong. The Son of Fortune now has a psychological shadow of the host. Reward: 114,514 Villain Points!】
