It was no wonder the Gold-Munching Mouse King was somewhat taken aback — these were Celestial dharma bodies. Their life essence and bloodline essence were absolutely premium tonics.
Pitiful Xiahou Jing. A genius of the Xiahou clan from Myriad Abyss Island, yet he had ended up dying a foreign death, his corpse left unburied — a fate entirely of his own making.
The harvest from this battle was nothing short of enormous.
Jiang Chen toyed with the Celestial Edicts of Xiahou Jing and Shu Wanqing in his hands, pondering how exactly he should distribute these two.
Every Celestial realm expert, upon comprehending the laws of heaven and earth, would refine a Celestial Edict as their personal certification of ascension.
Each Celestial Edict represented one Celestial realm powerhouse. If an Emperor realm cultivator with no hope of breaking through on their own obtained a Celestial Edict, they had a very high chance of refining it and advancing to the Celestial realm in one stroke.
Thus, these two Celestial Edicts meant two additional Celestial realm experts.
Adding the ones obtained from killing Xiahou Jing's subordinates, Elder Peng and Elder Mo, Jiang Chen actually already held four Celestial Edicts.
With them in hand, he naturally needed to think carefully.
Jingzhong the Great Emperor and Wushuang the Great Emperor certainly didn't need one. Having obtained the Sky Kun bloodline, their breakthrough to the Celestial realm was a near-certainty — there was no need to waste these Edicts on them.
Moreover, Celestial Edicts had one drawback: even after refining one, you would be constrained by the cultivation level of the previous owner, making further breakthroughs virtually impossible.
For instance, if Shu Wanqing had been at the third stage of the Celestial realm, then whoever inherited and refined his Celestial Edict could at most reach the third stage — that would be the absolute ceiling.
Breaking past that third stage would be a hundred times harder than a normal self-driven breakthrough.
In other words, refining someone else's Celestial Edict practically meant that one's martial achievements in this lifetime could never surpass the previous owner's.
Of course, for many Emperor realm cultivators, this drawback was no issue at all.
Because many of them, relying on their own strength, might not break through to the Celestial realm even in ten lifetimes — let alone achieve continuous breakthroughs within it.
If Jiang Chen were to make these four Celestial Edicts public, countless Emperor realm cultivators across the entire human domain would probably lose their minds.
Without question, the allure of Celestial Edicts would surpass everything. Pine Crane Pills, Emperor Soaring Pills — in the face of a Celestial Edict, they were all nothing but passing clouds.
Pine Crane Pills existed to extend one's lifespan at the tail end of an Emperor realm cultivator's life, didn't they? But if one could break through directly with a Celestial Edict, advancing to the Celestial realm in one leap and watching one's lifespan explode upward, why would anyone need Pine Crane Pills to eke out their remaining years?
Thus, a Celestial Edict was an object ten, even a hundred times more precious than a Pine Crane Pill or an Emperor Soaring Pill.
A Celestial realm expert had exactly one Celestial Edict — no more, no less.
And in the human domain, Celestial realm experts were exceedingly rare creatures. Old fossils like Shu Wanqing hardly ever showed their faces.
"Brother Mo, Brother Hui — among the many Emperor realm cultivators under my command, who do you think deserves a Celestial Edict?"
Jiang Chen was actually finding it very difficult to choose.
He had candidates in mind — Jimie the Great Emperor, Panlong the Great Emperor. But neither had yet reached the pinnacle of the Emperor realm. Refining a Celestial Edict would still be far too difficult for them.
Most critically, as his direct subordinates, Jiang Chen didn't want them to rely on Celestial Edicts.
As his inner circle, he hoped they would break through to the Celestial realm under their own power. That way they'd retain greater potential and be able to go further in the long run.
"Young Master, this matter needs to be handled with care. Don't underestimate these few Celestial Edicts — once distributed, they could easily cause problems with morale. If anyone perceives the allocation as unfair, all sorts of issues will inevitably arise. It could readily spiral into internal strife."
Jingzhong the Great Emperor, old and shrewd as he was, saw things from a broader perspective.
Wushuang the Great Emperor nodded as well. "If the Young Master distributes them according to closeness of relationship — giving them first to your direct subordinates like Panlong and Jimie — no one could fault that. You'd just need to watch out for Emperor realm cultivators like Emperor Nian from Glazed Royal City gossiping behind your back. As for rogue cultivators and Emperor realm experts from other sects — they've only temporarily pledged themselves to Glazed Royal City. They wouldn't dare harbor such hopes. Not unless the day comes when the Young Master has Celestial Edicts in abundance."
Jiang Chen laughed. "My hopes for Panlong and Jimie are the same as for you two — I want them to break through on their own. Especially Panlong. I have very high expectations for him."
"Oh?" Jingzhong the Great Emperor's eyes lit up. "What expectations does the Young Master have for Daoist Panlong?"
"He's a descendant of the True Dragon bloodline, and I happen to have a True Dragon. Once Brother Dragon breaks through to the Celestial realm, a single drop of his bloodline essence could potentially forge a mighty dragon warrior! Panlong's bloodline compatibility is a perfect match — the True Dragon bloodline was practically tailor-made for him."