Even Peerless Great Emperor was stunned to witness how Jiang Chen, with nothing more than a casual gesture, brought the unruly Huaishan Jiao brothers to wholehearted submission.
He had been by Jiang Chen's side for quite some time now and had witnessed many of his remarkable feats. Yet every time he dealt with Young Lord Zhen more closely, Peerless Great Emperor would discover that his previous understanding had been nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.
This young genius seemed to be born an inexhaustible treasure trove, with limitless surprises waiting to be unearthed.
"How about it, you two? Were Mo's earlier words nothing but empty boasts?" Mo Wushuang watched the Huaishan Jiao brothers with a broad grin.
The Huaishan Jiao brothers were deeply ashamed. Cupping their fists, they said, "Brother Mo, it is we who were too blind to see reason. We thought you were just blowing hot air before. Now we see — we were nothing but frogs at the bottom of a well. Say no more. We truly submit this time."
Mo Wushuang chuckled. "You Huaishan Jiao brothers are proud, and I have my own pride as well. But I have never once regretted joining Peacock Holy Mountain — quite the opposite. I am only proud and delighted. I roamed the world for thousands of years and never believed that heaven-defying prodigies truly existed. But after meeting Young Lord Zhen, I became a believer. Some people in this world are simply born to be geniuses that others can never hope to match."
Truly a genius.
A young genius at the Royal realm who could offer martial guidance to Emperor realm experts — if word got out, it would make everyone in the world drop their jaws.
Yet Young Lord Zhen had done exactly that.
Proud as the Huaishan Jiao brothers were, even they could not hold onto their arrogance in this moment.
Among the strong, there is always someone stronger. One mountain always proves lower than the next.
As rogue cultivators, the Huaishan Jiao brothers had clawed their way to the peak of martial arts one step at a time, becoming Emperor realm powerhouses — reaching a summit that countless others could never hope to attain.
Their pride was entirely understandable.
After all, cultivators in this world were as numerous as stars in the sky, beyond counting. But the truly few who could reach the peak were just that — a precious handful.
Any cultivator who had climbed to the Emperor realm had trampled over countless corpses to get there. Among a hundred million cultivators, there might not be a single one who could ascend to the Emperor realm!
So the Huaishan Jiao brothers had always thought highly of themselves. Even the bigwigs of sects and top-tier factions did not particularly impress them.
Because they believed those people had simply been born lucky — born with the resources of great factions, their status and cultivation level built up by sheer resource accumulation.
Unlike them rogue cultivators, who had fought their way through the independent cultivator world with blade and spear.
It was precisely this pride that kept them from truly letting go of their arrogance. And Jiang Chen had, with one effortless display, completely demolished every last shred of it.
Jiang Chen waved his hand. "The three of you will be the pillars of Peacock Holy Mountain going forward. Spend more time exchanging ideas and sparring with one another. I have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
When the deed was done, he brushed off his robes and departed, concealing both merit and name.
Jiang Chen's objective this time had been to put on a show — to awe the Huaishan Jiao brothers and take the edge off their pride, so that they could truly and peacefully integrate into Peacock Holy Mountain.
Otherwise, these two brothers would carry a natural arrogance with them — a destabilizing factor within Peacock Holy Mountain — and no one would be able to accept them wholeheartedly.
After Jiang Chen had gone, Jiao Yun sighed. "Brother Mo, who exactly is Young Lord Zhen's master? His depth of martial knowledge is absolutely terrifying."
"Indeed. In that fight — in the span of a flash of lightning — even with the advantage of a spectator's clarity, grasping so many key points at such speed was no small feat. To fill in every flaw in our brotherly martial techniques... even the Peacock Great Emperor might not be able to do that."
Not might not — definitely could not.
Jiang Chen's martial knowledge dated back to a lifetime in which he had been a peerless existence across all realms. No Emperor realm expert in any mundane world could possibly compare.
Mo Wushuang chuckled. "I'll say it again — what you've seen so far is merely the tip of Young Lord Zhen's iceberg!"
"Just the tip of the iceberg?"
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "Did you really think Young Lord Zhen's abilities were limited to this?"
The Huaishan Jiao brothers were rendered speechless. Thinking it over carefully, they realized that this Young Lord Zhen, despite his youth, was truly impossible to see through.
His potential seemed truly inexhaustible.
Look at everything he had accomplished in recent days — was there a single deed that did not shake heaven and earth?
At the Lord's Assembly, from a defensive position, he had defeated the Shura Great Emperor who had prepared extensively.
At the Independent Cultivator Assembly, he had revealed one trump card after another, completely overshadowing Pill Fire City and leaving them utterly humiliated.
And this time at the gates of Peacock Holy Mountain, Young Lord Zhen had managed to rally so many Emperor realm rogue cultivators to fight on his behalf, slaying the Shura Great Emperor with ease. On top of that, he had brought the two brothers to heel.
And now, he had effortlessly filled in every flaw in their martial techniques, giving them the key they had finally been seeking for a breakthrough.