Having lived two lives and seen countless people,
Jiang Chen wasn't angered. He understood that rogue emperors were, for the most part, a proud and unruly bunch. The Huashan Twins' submission to Peacock Holy Mountain had been forced by circumstance.
To earn their genuine loyalty, he would need to subdue them through sheer capability — make them truly believe in Peacock Holy Mountain and in him as their Young Lord.
Only then could they truly give their hearts.
Lightly tapping a pine branch beside him, Jiang Chen regarded the Huashan Twins with a calm gaze. "Gentlemen, back then you fought three against nine, and one of your companions was killed. Have you ever considered that if your cultivation had been just a little stronger, perhaps even nine rogue emperors ganging up on you wouldn't have been enough to stop your escape?"
The Huashan Twins froze, unsure why Young Lord Zhen would suddenly bring up such a thing.
Jiang Chen paid no mind to their confusion and instead turned to Mo Wushuang. "Brother Mo, if the nine of them had surrounded Emperor Ziyou or Emperor Mozhe instead, would they have been able to trap them?"
Mo Wushuang considered for a moment before answering. "That's hard to say. Emperor Ziyou and Emperor Mozhe are both among the very pinnacle of emperors. If they were dead set on fleeing, even surrounded by nine attackers, they would always be able to find a sliver of an opening."
"A sliver of an opening." Jiang Chen nodded. "Well put. The world of martial dao is just that cruel. The gap between being a fraction stronger and a fraction weaker — sometimes that's all that separates life from death. If the Shura Emperor had been even slightly more powerful, even with both Emperor Jingzhong and you attacking him, he might well have had a chance of escape. In the end, it all comes down to cultivation."
The Peerless Emperor nodded in deep agreement. "Indeed. Sometimes what looks like a razor-thin margin is actually an ocean of difference."
Jiang Chen nodded again. "I happened to watch that battle very closely. And I noticed some problems."
"Problems?" The Huashan Twins started.
"Yes. Problems with the two of you in terms of martial dao." Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "You two brothers have practiced a paired combat technique, but due to certain issues with your training, you've never been able to synchronize it to perfection. This has prevented your combined combat power from increasing significantly. Am I wrong?"
The Huashan Twins were stunned, a flicker of disbelief appearing in their eyes.
They had never imagined that Young Lord Zhen would possess such perceptive eyes. The two brothers did indeed share a paired technique, but because of certain peculiar reasons, they had never been able to master it to its peak state. As a result, whenever they fought in tandem, they could never bring their full combined strength to bear.
If they could push that technique to its pinnacle, their coordinated offense and defense would see a dramatic leap in power. Even when besieged by nine experts, they would have had a real chance of cutting their way out.
This was a secret known only between the two brothers. No one on the outside had ever caught wind of it.
And yet Jiang Chen had called it out in a single sentence.
In that moment, both brothers' eyes filled with suspicion as they stared at Jiang Chen in astonishment.
"Young Lord Zhen, forgive my bluntness, but while my brother and I may not be the strongest, we are still Emperor-realm cultivators. You may be a martial prodigy, Young Lord, but you're still young. The depths and dangers of that battle — are you truly certain you understood them all?"
They had fought many powerful opponents while using that paired technique, and not a single one — not even their own adversaries — had ever spotted the flaw.
They refused to believe that this Young Lord Zhen could have seen it. It was probably just a lucky guess.
Jiang Chen seemed to read their thoughts. Unhurried, he smiled mildly. "That battle may have looked chaotic, but it wasn't actually all that profound. I truly did see through it. I saw three separate opportunities where you could have broken through the encirclement — but all three times you fell short by a single move, and the effort collapsed. Once, Emperor Huoyan forced you back. Another time, you were intimidated by Emperor Ruoyi's arrows. And the third time, it was
BOOM!
A deafening buzz erupted inside the Huashan Twins' heads, as though their brains were about to split apart.
That battle had unfolded exactly as this young Lord Zhen described. They really had had three chances to break free of the siege — but all three times, they had failed to seize the moment.
The third time, with Ye Jianlei, had been their best opportunity. Yet they hadn't grasped it, and were ultimately cornered into a dead end — one step from death.
Now, hearing Jiang Chen lay bare the hidden truths of that battle with his own words, the Huashan Twins were deeply shaken. They realized that this young Lord of Peacock Holy Mountain was no mere guesser.
He had genuinely deciphered the intricacies of their fight. Every critical turning point was laid out as if he were reciting from memory.
Without extraordinary powers of observation, that level of insight was simply impossible.
In that moment, the Huashan Twins' wariness toward Jiang Chen gained yet another layer. They were beginning to understand why this Young Lord Zhen had become the Young Lord of Peacock Holy Mountain and heir to Glazed Royal City at such a young age.
It seemed Young Lord Zhen truly did possess real talent and capability.