The Sky Kun Flowing Light Escape was swift as lightning, leaving no trace.
Jiang Chen knew that any pill shop daring to set up operations here must have a powerful backer. If he lingered too long, more experts would surely arrive as reinforcements.
All alone, Jiang Chen had no intention of staying put and waiting for the enemy to mass their forces. He had already captured one person — that was enough. Knowing when to quit was the smart play.
At the very least, his little stunt had dealt a blow to the enemy's morale, no matter who they were.
Before long, Jiang Chen returned to the Peacock Sacred Mountain.
His Sky Kun Flowing Light Escape was extraordinarily fast, so he wasn't worried about being tailed. After entering the Peacock Sacred Mountain, Jiang Chen kept an extremely low profile and headed straight for the Young Lord's Manor.
Even back on the sacred mountain, he could feel the tension hanging thick in the air.
Inside the Young Lord's Manor, Huang'er's face lit up with delight the moment she discovered Jiang Chen had returned.
Jiang Chen didn't want to disturb anyone else. He turned to Huang'er and said, "Huang'er, don't spread the word about my return just yet."
Huang'er didn't ask why. She simply nodded.
"Chen-ge, how did your trip to the Red Cauldron Central Domain go? Did you manage to rescue Miss Wei?" The last time Jiang Chen had gone to the Red Cauldron Central Domain, Huang'er had gone with him.
It was during that trip that Huang'er had met Wei Xing'er. In fact, the idea of going back to rescue Wei Xing'er had been Huang'er's suggestion.
Jiang Chen had no reason to hide anything from Huang'er. "I did rescue Wei Xing'er. Hasn't she arrived in the Glazed Glass Royal City yet?"
After rescuing Wei Xing'er, Jiang Chen had instructed the Gold-Munching Mouse King to escort her back to the Glazed Glass Royal City first. By all rights, enough time had passed that she should have made it by now.
Huang'er shook her head. "The situation in the Glazed Glass Royal City has been extremely tense lately. Every checkpoint leading into the city has been locked down tight. It's very possible Wei Xing'er is stuck at the border. Oh, Chen-ge — how did you get back? Were you not aware of the situation in the city?"
Jiang Chen felt a flush of embarrassment. He certainly hadn't taken the normal route back.
"I entered through the Glazed Glass Royal Tower directly, then exited from there," he explained, then furrowed his brow. "What's been happening? The situation in the Glazed Glass Royal City is this complicated?"
Huang'er's gaze grew heavy as she looked at Jiang Chen. She let out a soft sigh. "Not long after you left, a rumor began to spread — that the Peacock Emperor had been ambushed by the demon race and may have already fallen. The rumor has yet to be confirmed to this day, but it's been gaining more and more momentum throughout the Glazed Glass Royal City. Ever since it started, the atmosphere in the city has become extremely strange."
Jiang Chen's expression turned dark in an instant.
The Peacock Emperor ambushed by the demon race — fallen?
"Impossible!" His denial was instinctive. Setting aside the Peacock Emperor's formidable Divine Abilities, in Jiang Chen's eyes, the Peacock Emperor was simply not the sort of man who would meet an early end.
The Peacock Emperor possessed a quality that most emperors did not — a tremendous karmic fortune that would not be extinguished so easily.
Still, there was no smoke without fire. If such a rumor had been spread, there had to be some basis for it.
Huang'er gently clasped Jiang Chen's hand. "Chen-ge, don't be agitated. I also believe that someone of the Peacock Emperor's caliber would never fall so easily."
"You're right. His Majesty the Peacock Emperor commands vast and extraordinary powers. The demon race is formidable, but the demonic tribulation hasn't fully erupted yet. Ordinary demon experts wouldn't be able to do anything to him."
Jiang Chen had clashed with the demon race before. Even last time, when he had fought Blood Kui, the Blood Demon Emperor, amid the Collapsing Cloud Mountains in the Red Cauldron Central Domain, he hadn't felt that Blood Kui — even at his peak — could necessarily defeat the Peacock Emperor.
Unless Blood Kui had fully recovered to his ancient-era peak, in that half-dead state, bumping into the Peacock Emperor would almost certainly mean the Blood Demon Emperor would suffer a devastating defeat — and he might not even get the chance to escape with his life.
There were many emperor-class experts, but among emperor-class experts, the gap in power could be enormous.
The Peacock Emperor was unquestionably among the very apex of the emperors across the human territories.
Jiang Chen simply refused to believe the demon race could bring such a figure down so easily.
Most likely, this was a rumor deliberately spread by certain parties.
But who had started it? Without some shred of evidence, how would they dare circulate something like this? Were they not afraid that the Peacock Emperor would return and settle the score?
"Oh, Chen-ge, during the months you were away, both the Nirvana Emperor and the Coiled Dragon Emperor came to the Peacock Sacred Mountain looking for you," Huang'er added.
The Nirvana Emperor was one of the Peacock Emperor's closest allies — among the original Seven Great Emperors, the only one who had followed the Peacock Emperor's lead without question.
That was because the Nirvana Emperor's rise to power had been entirely nurtured by the Peacock Emperor's own hand. Among the earliest Seven Great Emperors, the Nirvana Emperor had always been regarded as the Peacock Emperor's right-hand man.
As for the Coiled Dragon Emperor, he had originally been the lord of the Coiled Dragon Manor, another of the Peacock Emperor's most trusted forces.
Both of these men could be considered direct-line emperors of the Peacock Emperor's faction.
Among the eight great emperors of the Glazed Glass Royal City, the Nirvana Emperor and the Coiled Dragon Emperor both fell squarely within the Peacock Sacred Mountain's camp.
Their visit to the sacred mountain to seek out Jiang Chen had to be connected to those very rumors.
The Peacock Emperor's fate would determine the destiny of the Glazed Glass Royal City. Whatever the case, they needed to get to the bottom of this.