Chapter 369 – An Eye for an Eye
Glances filled with astonishment fell onto Jiang Chen’s face. None of these emperors could believe that the man who had brought such a great storm to the Eastern Continent was so young.
Boom!
The next moment, every single Late Combat Soul warrior on the spot unleashed their powerful pressure and made it sweep toward Jiang Chen like a fierce tornado, instantly making him the center of the storm.
Facing such gigantic pressures, Jiang Chen only responded with a faint smile on his face. He just stood there without feeling any discomfort, as if the pressure was useless against him.
“What?”
Even the Imperial Emperor was puzzled by this situation, and couldn’t help but look at Jiang Chen once more. The pressure unleashed by more than a dozen Late Combat Soul warriors was not something fun to be up against, no ordinary man could withstand, and yet, Jiang Chen was behaving as if nothing was happening. Furthermore, this place was the Martial Saint Palace, any young man who came here would be awed, letting the fact that the Imperial Emperor was staring at him. But this young man however, he had been wearing a calm expression ever since he came into the palace, as if he had just stepped into a food market. Just this attitude alone was something that no other young geniuses could compare with.
“Hmph! What are you guys doing? You think I don’t exist?”
Wu Jiu became angry. He unleashed a formidable energy from his body, pushing back all the pressure. With a stern expression, he swept his glance over everyone that stood in the palace. After that, he turned to the Imperial Emperor sitting on the throne.
“Imperial Emperor, I have brought Jiang Chen here.”
Wu Jiu cupped his fist toward the Imperial Emperor.
“Brother, give the Imperial Emperor your greetings.”
Wu Jiu whispered to Jiang Chen.
With the same smile on his face, Jiang Chen cupped his fist toward the Imperial Emperor like Wu Jiu did, then he said, “Jiang Chen greets the Imperial Emperor.”
“Bastard, why aren’t you kneeling down before the Imperial Emperor? Are you courting death?!”
A man immediately shouted at Jiang Chen. Ever since Jiang Chen arrived, this man had been very aggressive. Jiang Chen guessed that he must be either the Seventh Emperor or the Tenth Emperor.
“Lao Shi, Jiang Chen just came here and doesn’t know the rules, you shouldn’t shout at him.”
Wu Jiu responded with a loud voice. At the same time, the way he addressed this man allowed Jiang Chen to confirm his identity. This man was Wu Cong’s father, and since Jiang Chen had nearly killed Wu Cong on the Island of Ice, it was perfectly normal for the Tenth Emperor to hate him so much.
“Hmph! What a clown! Since he now knows the rules, hurry up and kneel down!”
The other man coldly harrumphed. With no need to guess, he must be the Seventh Emperor. Jiang Chen had beat up his son, Wu Yan, in the Martial Palace. This showed that he didn’t respect the Seventh Emperor, it was no different from slapping his face.
A cold glint leaked out from Jiang Chen’s eyes. His expression was the same as before, he was still standing toward the Imperial Emperor with his fist cupped, but he showed no signs of kneeling down. What a joke, asking the once greatest Saint underneath the Heavens to kneel down before a Combat King warrior. Did this guy truly deserve such a great honor?
Right at this moment, the atmosphere within the palace suddenly became heavy. Everyone could clearly feel a fluctuation in the Imperial Emperor’s emotions. In this Martial Saint Palace, he was the ultimate existence, but this young man was refusing to kneel down before him. This was no doubt nothing different from not giving him any face.
“What a bastard, who gave you the audacity to be so rude to the Imperial Emperor? Just this sin alone is more than enough to kill all your family members!”
The Seventh Emperor pointed at Jiang Chen’s nose and scolded.
“Lao Qi, Jiang Chen is my sworn brother, you better show him some respect!”
Wu Jiu adopted a strong attitude toward the men. However, he too did not expect Jiang Chen to refuse to kneel down before the Imperial Emperor. Because of this, Jiang Chen’s image would be greatly ruined in the Imperial Emperor’s mind, this was not good.
Shangguan Sheng and Tiangang Yi didn’t say anything, but their faces were filled with satisfaction. In their minds, Jiang Chen was just a dumbass who didn’t know how serious his mistake was. Since he just offended the Imperial Emperor, the situation wouldn’t be in his favor any longer.
“Enough!”
The Imperial Emperor waved his hand, signaling Wu Jiu and Wu Qi to stop quarreling.
“You are Jiang Chen?”
The Imperial Emperor looked at Jiang Chen.
“I am. May I know your reason for summoning me here, Imperial Emperor?”
Jiang Chen responded in a neither servile nor overbearing attitude.
“What a young talented man! You have strength and courage, I like you.”
The Imperial Emperor unexpectedly praised Jiang Chen. This transformation brought Wu Jiu great joy. As long as the Imperial Emperor had a good impression of Jiang Chen, it would be a good thing.
The other people’s expressions changed because of this. They thought the Imperial Emperor would punish Jiang Chen because of his impolite behavior, they had never thought he wouldn’t be angry at all.
However, with Jiang Chen’s incredible senses, he could clearly feel an unusual emotion coming from the Imperial Emperor. This man didn’t really like him, no Imperial Emperor would like someone who was being impolite to them, because they are already used to sitting above all else. They would never allow someone to challenge their dignity.
“Jiang Chen, I’ve heard that you’ve killed many men from the Shangguan Clan and Myriad Sword Sect. Now, even the Shangguan Clan’s Clan Chief and Myriad Sword Sect’s Sect Chief are here personally, is there anything you want to say?”
The Imperial Emperor said in an indifferent tone.
“Imperial Emperor, this is resentment between Jiang Chen, the Shangguan Clan, and the Myriad Sword Sect. I hope the Imperial Emperor can stay out of it.”
Wu Jiu cupped his fist toward the Imperial Emperor and said.
“Hmph! Wu Jiu, who are you to tell the Imperial Emperor what to do? The Imperial Emperor is the Eastern Continent’s ultimate existence, there is nothing he can’t interfere with! Furthermore, what happened back in the days was all because of his own capability, don’t always think you are the greatest man here!”
Wu Qi said with a loud voice.
Hearing this, Jiang Chen felt a strong desire to tear this Seventh Emperor’s mouth apart. His understanding regarding power games were deep, the Imperial Emperor was an outstanding figure of his generation, and the one thing he didn’t like people mentioning was the event where Wu Jiu gave him the chance to visit the Island of Ice, as if his throne had been given to him by Wu Jiu. That incident had become a prick in the Imperial Emperor’s heart, and it simply upset him whenever someone mentioned it. Wu Jiu was a man with an imposing bearing, and the way he behaved made some people feel as if he was taking credit of that incident. If this situation went on for a long time, the Imperial Emperor’s appreciation would turn to hatred, or even hostility. In the current situation, this was the one thing no one should bring up.
“I’m merely judging the matter as it stands.”
Wu Jiu’s attitude was still strong.
“Alright, since this resentment is between them, why are you getting involved? Why don’t you just let them solve this themselves?”
Wu Qi and Wu Jiu were fitting one thing into another. All the other emperors standing aside were watching how things went with cold attitudes. Suddenly, Jiang Chen had a feeling that the relationship between Wu Jiu and these emperors wasn’t that good.
But, it was understandable. First, it was because of Wu Jiu’s character. He was an independent man who acted on his own whim, a man like him was never a good player in power games. Furthermore, there were so many emperors in the Martial Saint Dynasty, so why let Wu Jiu managed the Martial Palace? Also, he had gone missing for ten years, but the Martial Palace only assigned an acting-chief during the period of his absence, and when he returned, he was immediately reinstated to his old position. The other emperors obviously didn’t feel happy with this.
“Let me tell you this, Wu Qi. Jiang Chen saved my life in Inferno Hell, and he is my sworn brother, so of course I have to help him.”
Wu Jiu said.
“Hmph! This Jiang Chen nearly killed Wu Cong, and he beat up Wu Yan right after arriving at the Martial Palace; he has absolutely no respect for the princes! This is an insult to the Imperial family, a sin that can only be redeemed with his death!”
The Tenth Emperor coldly harrumphed. An eye for an eye.
“All young men are hot tempered, Wu Cong and Wu Yan were no match for Jiang Chen, and it simply means they are lacking in strength. Jiang Chen also didn’t even kill them.”
Wu Jiu said.
“Imperial Emperor, the Shangguan Clan has always serviced the Martial Saint Dynasty, and we just want to kill our enemy, but the Ninth Emperor keeps stopping us, this is really unfair. I hope the Imperial Emperor can consider our loyalty for all this time and give us justice.”
Shangguan Sheng bowed deeply toward the Imperial Emperor.
“The Myriad Sword Sect has never said no to any of the Martial Saint Dynasty’s requests. Now, our elders have been killed, our young geniuses have been killed, even our number one genius, Xuan Yuzi, has been killed by this guy. This is a resentment that can’t be resolved, I hope the Ninth Emperor can stay out of this, and let us settle this ourselves.”
Tiangang Yi spoke as well. The leaders of both superpowers from the Jian Province were pressuring the Imperial Emperor at the same time.
“This is giving me a headache. Lao Jiu, what do you think?”
Imperial Emperor turned to Wu Jiu and asked.
“Imperial Emperor, I only have one thing to say; I will protect Jiang Chen with my own life! He has saved my life, and if anyone wants to kill him, they will have to stop over my dead body!”
Wu Jiu’s attitude remained strong. He didn’t want to back down from this matter.
The Imperial Emperor furrowed his brows. A displeased expression could be seen on his face. He didn’t like the way Wu Jiu talked, as it sounded like Wu Jiu wasn’t giving him any face in front of so many people.
Caw!
Right at this moment, a sharp caw was suddenly heard from outside the palace. After that, a hawk with golden feathers flew into the palace and landed on the Imperial Emperor’s shoulder. It made some ‘caw’ sounds near the Imperial Emperor’s ear, and after that, it flew out from the palace.
The Imperial Emperor threw his glance onto Jiang Chen’s face once again, then he said, “Jiang Chen, one side wants to kill you, and the other side wants to protect you; it is a difficult decision to make. However, I just received news about a dimensional crack having appeared in a remote area of the Eastern Continent, and a huge amount of Dimensional Creatures have rushed out from it. These creatures are wreaking havoc and killing many innocents, and I am thinking of sending you to eliminate all the Dimensional Creatures and repair the crack. If you can do it, I’ll forgive all the wrong deeds you’ve done, what do you think?”
“Dimensional crack?”
Jiang Chen was startled for a moment.
“That’s right. When the greatest Saint swung his sword toward the Heavens and destroyed the gates leading to the Realm of Immortals, the Saint Origin Realm was seriously affected, and the dimensional barrier surrounding our realm became weakened. Creatures will frequently break into our world and wreak havoc, but it seems like it’s a much more serious matter this time. There are sightings of Combat Soul Dimensional Creatures, and their numbers are huge. Your mission is not only to eliminate those creatures, you have to repair the crack as well.”
The Imperial Emperor explained.
“No way!”
Wu Jiu nearly jumped up, “Imperial Emperor, this is simply a mission that cannot be accomplished! Putting aside those ferocious Dimensional Creatures, only a Combat King warrior who has mastered the Dimensional Laws can repair a dimensional crack, and Jiang Chen is only a Divine Core warrior! Not only can he not repair it, he might get dragged into the crack if he gets too close!”