Lin Yanyu's intelligence was quite reliable. When Jiang Chen heard there was yet another version of the story, he couldn't help but feel a spark of interest.
"This version of the rumor isn't something most people dare discuss in public. Apparently, back then, the Peerless Emperor competed in a wager with a certain renowned Emperor. The reason was a woman. At the time, both the Peerless Emperor and that renowned Emperor were enamored with the same lady. But that lady happened to favor only the Peerless Emperor. This made the renowned Emperor extremely bitter — he considered himself of higher birth and slightly greater strength than the Peerless Emperor, yet he couldn't win the lady's heart. So, the renowned Emperor challenged the Peerless Emperor to a duel. Originally, he intended the duel to determine who would win the lady's affection. But the lady was deeply devoted to the Peerless Emperor, acknowledging only him, and she declared that regardless of whether the renowned Emperor could defeat the Peerless Emperor, she would recognize only the Peerless Emperor for the rest of her life. This drove the renowned Emperor to fury. Though the duel still took place, the terms of the wager changed — it became a bet on whether one could establish one's own Emperor-grade faction."
After hearing this anecdote from Lin Yanyu, Jiang Chen was silent for a long while. It truly was quite the tale — featuring both unwavering, never-abandoning love and the clash of two rival geniuses, along with the sentiment of loving one's woman more than one's empire.
Jiang Chen couldn't verify whether this rumor was true, but if it were, the Peerless Emperor was certainly someone worthy of admiration.
Giving up one's grand ambition of contending for the world for the sake of a beloved woman — that was something no ordinary man could accomplish.
Moreover, at the Emperor level, one held supreme power and authority, able to turn the world upside down with a flip of one's hand. Whether or not one had established a personal faction was of paramount importance.
Regardless, if such a legendary Emperor-grade powerhouse truly participated in this Bounty Arena, it would certainly raise the prestige of the event.
Jiang Chen was naturally delighted by this prospect.
With six days remaining before the selection trial, Jiang Chen didn't idle during this period. Rather than staying at the inn every day, he roamed around Pill Fire City, heading wherever the bustle was greatest.
Over the course of several days, he visited virtually every lively spot in Pill Fire City.
The gains from this were enormous, granting him a far more detailed understanding of the city. Previously, his knowledge of Pill Fire City had been mostly broad strokes, drawn largely from documents.
Now, being there in person, his understanding deepened considerably.
Pill Fire City being able to rival the Crystal Royal City — and even decisively surpass it in the field of alchemy — was no empty boast.
In terms of alchemy heritage, Pill Fire City truly exceeded the Crystal Royal City by a wide margin.
The most crucial point was that Pill Fire City's influence in the alchemy world was truly extraordinary.
During his days of wandering through Pill Fire City, Jiang Chen noticed he could see powerful figures from various domains everywhere — alchemy geniuses from all regions, studying and furthering their cultivation here with a pilgrim-like reverence.
While the Crystal Royal City also attracted people from far and wide, in terms of sheer numbers of outsiders and their mobility, it simply couldn't compare to Pill Fire City.
This demonstrated that Pill Fire City's influence over the surrounding domains was immense — calling it the northern core of the Upper Eight Realms was no exaggeration whatsoever.
One could say that Pill Fire City was a pearl embedded in the northern reaches of the Upper Eight Realms — perhaps the most brilliant, most dazzling pearl of all.
Even Jiang Chen had to acknowledge this.
Just the Bounty Arena alone carried enormous influence. This particular event was merely an ordinary one occurring once every decade, yet its pull was already tremendous.
Over these past few days, powerhouses from the surrounding domains of Pill Fire City had been flooding in like migrating fish. The liveliness rivaled that of a once-in-a-century grand assembly.
Though this level of excitement still couldn't match the Crystal Royal Tower Assembly — that event occurred only once every sixty years and was the grandest occasion in the Crystal Royal City.
The Bounty Arena, on the other hand, happened frequently — sometimes even quarterly. And this time was merely a once-in-a-decade tier event.
What Jiang Chen had seen and heard over these days left him deeply moved: "It seems that while the Crystal Royal City has its advantages, compared to Pill Fire City, it is indeed at a disadvantage in terms of influence. No wonder — of these two pearls in the north and south of the Upper Eight Realms, most people consider Pill Fire City the more dazzling one. Influence... in the end, it all comes down to influence — the ability to attract talent, to attract supreme powerhouses!"
Feeling the gap, Jiang Chen quietly steeled his resolve. Now that he knew what the Crystal Royal City lacked, he would work hard to do something about it.
Since he was now the Young Lord of Peacock Sacred Mountain, for the sake of that title alone, he should do something worthy of it.
Jiang Chen was not a man content with mediocrity, nor was he willing to see Peacock Sacred Mountain and the Crystal Royal City remain unremarkable under his watch.
With the position comes the duty.
"As long as I hold the position of Young Lord of Peacock Sacred Mountain, as long as the Crystal Royal City is truly under my control, I will make it surpass Pill Fire City and become the most dazzling star in the Upper Eight Realms!"
Jiang Chen now understood with perfect clarity that while the Crystal Royal City and Pill Fire City were nominally equals, Pill Fire City had already risen above.
There were naturally many reasons for this. Heritage was one factor, and on the Crystal Royal City's side, the Peacock Emperor's attention was divided by the Demon Race — that was another reason.
If the Peacock Emperor weren't distracted by the Demon Race and focused entirely on catching up to Pill Fire City, the Crystal Royal City would likely be in an even better position than it was now.