The turning point of this battle should have started the moment the Peerless Emperor sent word to the Gold-Munching Mouse.
One could say that from the moment the tide turned, everything had progressed flawlessly. It was just a pity that at the very last moment, that fellow who claimed to be a human realm Heavenly Rank powerhouse had ruined the whole affair, turning what should have been a triumphant victory into something that fizzled out anticlimactically.
"Pass on my decree: all human cultivators who have thrown in their lot with the Wind Cloud Sect must pull back from the brink immediately. Those who remain obstinate and continue aiding a tyrant will be branded traitors to the human race!"
"Furthermore, spread the news of this battle throughout the human territories. Especially the fact that the Wind Cloud Sect Master fled in panic and his army was nearly annihilated — emphasize this repeatedly. Let everyone under heaven know that the once-insufferably arrogant Wind Cloud Sect is nothing but a paper tiger!"
Although Jiang Chen had failed to kill Xiahou Jing, there was no question that the Glazed King City had come out on top.
Xiahou Jing may have escaped with his life, but his true wings had been clipped. On top of the Wind Cloud Sect's devastating defeat, rallying another army and keeping those human cultivators blindly devoted to him would now be far more difficult.
Jiang Chen intended to cut off that possibility entirely. That was why he had to make a public proclamation — a warning to all those unprincipled human cultivators.
Truthfully, Jiang Chen held these people in utter contempt. If Xiahou Jing had truly been a senior human cultivator, their submission to him would have been somewhat understandable.
But to blindly worship a mysterious figure of unknown origins who played at being supernatural? Jiang Chen had to wonder whether these people had any brains at all.
The Wind Cloud Sect had suffered a crushing defeat, and Xiahou Jing's personal forces had been wiped out entirely. However, a significant portion of the sect's main strength was still intact.
Of the Eight Dharma Kings, only Moya Dharma King and Tunyun Dharma King had accompanied Xiahou Jing this time. The other six had been dispatched on separate missions and had not participated in the battle. In theory, these core members of the Wind Cloud Sect still existed — the sect had not suffered a truly fatal blow.
Moreover, these Dharma Kings were all bound by the Wind Cloud Laughing Pill, which meant they could very well continue down the path of corruption.
"Brother Mo, come with me for a moment."
Jiang Chen singled out the Peerless Emperor and headed toward a private chamber.
"Brother Mo, these past few years have been tough on you. Restoring your appearance is no problem at all — I have many methods, and none of them would leave any lasting side effects. However, this Wind Cloud Laughing Pill — I'll need to study it thoroughly. I'll have to draw a blood sample from you..."
The Peerless Emperor chuckled. "No need to go to all that trouble. I have a Wind Cloud Laughing Pill right here."
With that, the Peerless Emperor produced half a Wind Cloud Laughing Pill as if by sleight of hand — or rather, a quarter of one, to be precise.
The Wind Cloud Laughing Pill was roughly the size of a lychee. The quarter-piece the Peerless Emperor produced was still not insignificant.
"In the Wind Cloud Sect, we were forced to take an antidote at regular intervals, and after each cycle, a new Wind Cloud Laughing Pill would be administered. I seized an opportunity once to secretly keep this quarter-piece. The amount was small enough that it went undetected."
The Wind Cloud Sect maintained tight security — under normal circumstances, cheating was absolutely impossible.
But the Peerless Emperor was both supremely skilled and audacious enough to take the risk, managing to smuggle this quarter of a Wind Cloud Laughing Pill past their watchful eyes.
Jiang Chen was overjoyed at the sight. "Brother Mo, you've really done it! This saves me a great deal of trouble. With the original pill in hand, I'll have far more confidence in my analysis!"
In his previous life, spanning a million years, Jiang Chen had not spent much time on serious pursuits — but the most serious of those was his study of alchemy. Alchemical traditions of every school, every sect, every lineage — there was almost none that he had not studied.
That vast knowledge from his past life made him consistently capable and at ease in the field of alchemy.
This Wind Cloud Laughing Pill would be no exception. Jiang Chen was fully confident in that.
The Peerless Emperor, however, let out a sigh. "Young Master, I've honestly lost count of how many times you've saved my life. It truly shames me to think about it."
"What are you saying, Brother Mo? If you hadn't risked yourself to send that intelligence, the Glazed King City could have faced a life-or-death crisis. Whatever I've done for you is small kindness — what you've done is the greater good. Tell me, how many heroes in this world would go so far as to disfigure themselves and go undercover in the Wind Cloud Sect?"
Jiang Chen had already held Mo Wushuang's character in high regard.
After this incident, he was even more certain that the Peerless Emperor was a man worthy of trust — his integrity was beyond reproach.
The Peerless Emperor did not think much of it, simply replying, "Many cultivators could do something like this. Disfiguring oneself, though, does take a certain courage. And a bit of quick thinking."
"Regardless, Brother Mo, you are a great hero of our human race. If the Glazed King City had fallen to the Wind Cloud Sect, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
This time, Jiang Chen was not being modest. His gratitude to the Peerless Emperor was entirely sincere. His family, the foundation he had painstakingly built — nearly all of it resided in the Glazed King City.
If something had gone wrong while he was away, it would have been a regret that lasted a lifetime.
With the Peerless Emperor's quarter of a Wind Cloud Laughing Pill in hand, Jiang Chen's workload lightened considerably. Many complicated procedures could now be bypassed.
He could proceed directly to deconstructing the pill.
Jiang Chen naturally had his own methods for decomposition. In fact, he knew many sets of decomposition techniques. What he chose to use was simply the one he deemed most suitable.
Time was not on their side.
Jiang Chen was eager to analyze the properties of the Wind Cloud Laughing Pill as quickly as possible so that he could produce a corresponding antidote.