Chapter 463: Great Barkers Are No Biters
Mu Gaoqi obviously didn’t wish to speak too much about Yan Hongtu, merely reminding Jiang Chen that submitting to the local tyrant was leagues better than offending him. To that end, he was even willing to spend his own money to smooth things over for Jiang Chen.
“Brother Jiang Chen, if you are unwilling to set aside face or spend money, I can bring over some more pills that you can use to fob him off with and end this matter. He won’t make trouble for you in the short term if he gains some benefits from you.” Mu Gaoqi’s careful personality destined his style to be passive and weak. He would rather spend money to resolve problems than fight for himself.
Jiang Chen didn’t look down on the other for that. He knew that Mu Gaoqi had no backer in the Regal Pill Palace, and his martial dao potential wasn’t at the level of a favored son of heaven. One who eked out survival in the cracks of life was fated for a life philosophy of being prudent and humble. It wasn’t Mu Gaoqi’s fault.
They exchanged another round of pleasantries before Mu Gaoqi took his leave. The latter reminded Jiang Chen over and over again before he left not to butt heads with Yan Hongtu.
Jiang Chen dismissed his words with a smile. “Be at ease, Daoist Gaoqi, the matter between us will not be delayed.”
Jiang Chen had never purposefully provoked anyone, but neither would he deliberately fawn upon another. If Yan Hongtu had wanted to be friends, Jiang Chen naturally would’ve treated him in the same manner. But if he wanted to step on Jiang Chen, the latter would never compromise.
It was as Sage Dan Chi had said, conflict and inner turmoil was unavoidable when trying to survive in the sect. In the world of martial dao, the weak were nothing more than fodder for the strong.
Yan Hongtu had no previous grudge with Jiang Chen, so the former obviously just wanted to suppress Jiang Chen and use this to raise his own profile, solidifying his rule over his domain. However, Jiang Chen wasn’t about to quietly submit. It wasn’t that he couldn’t take a step back on the path of martial dao, but that there was no need to do so here.
“Mu Gaoqi is not a treacherous sort, just one with a softer personality. He’s able to survive in the cracks, but he lacks the bit of drive and brilliance of one who seeks the peak of martial dao.” Jiang Chen had a good impression of Mu Gaoqi as he mindlessly toyed with the pills the latter had brought. These didn’t hold much allure for him, but the latter’s nickname as the Wood Demigod wasn’t for naught.
Pills of such quality didn’t exist in the sixteen kingdom alliance—particularly that Spirit Consolidation Pill, the one that Mu Gaoqi had gifted roughly forty of.
“He’s not a miserly one, at least.” Jiang Chen didn’t have much use for the Spirit Consolidation Pill, but it really was quite useful for cultivators in the spirit realm. Although it was a bit of an exaggeration to compare it to a Divine Fruit, it wasn’t too far off either.
Jiang Chen summoned Gouyu and the others, giving each four pills. He planned on giving Tang Hong four of the remainder, and doling out each of the final pills amongst the other Precious Tree Sect disciples. Even though he didn’t have much of a relationship with them, they were all Precious Tree Sect members in the end. They were now crossing the river in the same boat. Giving them each a pill would be doing them a favor as well.
As for the Origin Fostering Pill, Jiang Chen observed the five of them in the palm of his hand for a moment. He had some use for them, but with his preferences, he wasn’t quite satisfied with their quality. He kept two and decided to give the rest to Ye Chonglou.
The lordmaster had just broken through to the origin realm, and although his potential had yet to be fully explored, the area of improvement left to him was nothing compared to a young person’s. Perhaps these pills would be more suited for Ye Chonglou.
It was rather the Seven Star Coalescence Pill that was a rare find for Jiang Chen. He’d refined those sort of pills back in the Eastern Kingdom, and the Vast Oceans Pill was still a hot item in the sixteen kingdoms alliance.
However, that particular pill was only useful in the true qi realm. Its effects were greatly decreased in the spirit realm, and completely inadequate in the origin realm.
“Seven Stars Coalescence Pill? Recovering origin energy… it looks like I must assimilate into the local culture after entering the Regal Pill Palace and place greater emphasis on pills.”
The Regal Pill Palace was a sect that had been founded for the dao of pills. If a disciple didn’t know how to refine pills, then they weren’t a proper Regal Pill Palace disciple.
However, Jiang Chen had lacked time in the past two years to further his studies in the dao of pills. Otherwise, there truly wouldn’t be anyone in the Divine Abyss Continent who had more potential in this field than him. He had been a pill master renowned through the realms in his past life!
Jiang Chen summoned Gouyu after he’d portioned out the pills. “Gouyu, go find Lordmaster Ye Chonglou and take these pills to them.” He would send a message with his consciousness on how to proportion the pills, so there was no need to tell Gouyu about that.
Wen Ziqi walked up afterwards, “Young master, the spirit medicines you gave last time have been consumed. The Silvermoon Monsterapes have large appetites now and eat quite a lot.”
She was spending enormous time and effort on separately raising the two Apes. However, as time went on, the Apes also entered a period of rapid growth. The sudden explosion of their appetites meant that their development was about to accelerate. This was a good thing, but presented an enormous expense for Jiang Chen.
He had many resources, whether from the Precious Tree Sect or the legacy territory from ancient times. But even so, there were many who depended on him, so it was difficult to make ends meet. Add the several hundred Goldwing Swordbirds that Jiang Chen had always kept at his side, that meant he had another couple hundred spirit realm cultivators to feed. Their appetites were equally astounding.
“Who would’ve thought that I, Jiang Chen, would have to start worrying about day to day living?” The Regal Pill Palace’s resources were ten times that of the Precious Tree Sect, but they were still noticeably insufficient in his hands because he had so many vassals who needed them. Gouyu and Xue Tong were followers and not official disciples, so they received no resources.
“It looks like I still need to earn money eh!”
This wasn’t difficult for Jiang Chen, particularly in the Regal Pill Palace. He decided to still attack this problem from the angle of refining pills.
The Silvermoon Monsterapes, Goldbiter Rat King and Goldwing Swordbirds were all clamoring for food, awaiting bloodline evolution. If they didn’t receive enough resources, their strength would never develop at the proper pace.
Jiang Chen recalled that apart from the standard amount allotted from the Regal Pill Palace, he could also undertake missions to earn resources, or even travel outside the sect and gain resources in that manner.
“It looks like I should go see what missions are available.” There was much he needed to be familiar with in order to settle into sect life as soon as possible, having newly arrived in the Regal Pill Palace.
He sat down cross legged, meditating for a moment and unearthing a few ancient pill recipes from the memories of his past life that were suitable for the origin realm.
“Collect resources, refine pills and increase strength.” These were the matters that Jiang Chen needed to pay the most attention to. He glanced at the time and saw that Gouyu had left for roughly three hours. It should have been enough to visit Ye Chonglou and return, yet there was no sign of her.
As he mused, Huang’er appeared at his door with scattered footsteps. “Sir Jiang, sister Gouyu has left for so long and is unfamiliar with the people and terrain here. Huang’er is a bit worried.” Huang’er had built an exceedingly deep relationship with Gouyu during this time, and was thinking the same thoughts as Jiang Chen.
“Mm, I was just thinking the same. But this is the Regal Pill Palace, so nothing untoward should have occurred.”
Even so, Jiang Chen didn’t linger. Gouyu was his follower and had always performed her job without cause for censure. Jiang Chen rather admired her frank directness.
The other followers were also worried when they heard that Gouyu had yet to return and followed Jiang Chen out on his search.
They actually heard Gouyu’s raised voice in the midst of an argument at the Valley entrance even before they’d walked up. “Nonsense! By what right do you bar my entrance?” Gouyu had her hands on her thin waist as she argued with the guards at the entrance in a charming and non-threatening way.
“The Rosy Valley is the residence for geniuses. You have no right or papers, of course you can’t enter.”
“Bullshit! I just left from here and now I can’t enter? You’re just purposefully making things difficult!” Gouyu was also growing more and more irritated by now.
“Heh heh, so what if we are? What are you going to do about it? You can enter however you’d like if you have the medallion of a core disciple. Stay the hell away if you don’t!”
“Are the followers of the core disciples not human? Can we not enter? Then why can those followers enter and leave as they wish?” Gouyu pointed at the other followers entering and leaving the Valley.
“And how do you compare to the others? Who’s your master? What’s your cultivation? A mere earth spirit realm? Even the medicine boys running errands have a higher cultivation than you. You blasphemy the Rosy Valley with your presence!”
“Right, know your place! You’re not even sky spirit realm!”
“Alright, either go the hell away or don’t blame us for taking action!” These guards all spat vicious words, their countenances at their most superior.
“Tsk tsk, I’d like to see just how you will take action!” Jiang Chen’s voice rang coldly from behind them. “Gouyu, come in.” There was a kind of authority in his voice that no one dared question.
Jiang Chen’s God’s Eye swept through the guards, gleaming, “I will help anyone who touches even a hair on her head reincarnate immediately.”
He was obviously not joking. It was said that great barkers are not biters. It was fairly obvious that these guards were targeting Gouyu by blocking her. Their target? Him.
Otherwise, with Gouyu’s identity and status, and being a great beauty to boot, these guards had no need nor motivation to make things difficult for her.
Since he’d trained the Evil Golden Eye, Jiang Chen’s gaze was starting to possess more and more of a royal’s dignity. The heavenly intimidation within his eyes left the guards at a bit of a loss, as if their very souls were being held fast. They couldn’t move at all.
Gouyu snorted softly and walked in openly. “Young master, the items have been delivered to the lordmaster. He thanks you greatly.”
Jiang Chen waved his hand and stared at the guards, his tone ice. “Open your eyes and take a good look! These are my followers. Whoever dares give them trouble when they enter and leave in the future is challenging my good temper. Repetition of such a matter will not be tolerated. If this happens again, I don’t mind killing some of you to help stimulate your memories.”