What he looked forward to most right now was neither the Ancient Jade Gathering nor competing with the prodigies of the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms. It was Huang'er.
The sole reason he had done so much was Huang'er.
He had seized the opportunity of the Ancient Jade Gathering to find a legitimate chance to meet her, and for that chance, Jiang Chen had put in a tremendous amount of effort.
Huang'er, too, had felt the same pull. She had originally had no intention of attending the gathering, but she had also proposed that she participate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the area opened this time is unprecedented in scale. A depth of ten thousand li is yours to explore. Anything you find within is entirely yours to keep. The Blue Mist Island Domain will claim no share whatsoever."
"Of course, with so many participants, disputes are inevitable. I must remind you of this: should any conflicts or fighting arise within, resulting in injury or death, the consequences will be your own to bear. The Blue Mist Island Domain merely provides the venue and has no authority to interfere with your activities. We can only urge everyone to exercise reason and restraint, and to avoid lethal confrontations as much as possible."
These words were naturally directed at the guests — especially those from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms.
After all, word of what had happened on Dongyan Island had already spread throughout Myriad Abyss Island. Though the Blue Mist Island Domain had managed to invite the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, it had no desire to repeat the disaster of Dongyan Island. Should anything happen to their prodigies, the blame certainly could not be laid at their feet.
Jiang Chen found this privately amusing. But given what had transpired on Dongyan Island, the Blue Mist Island Domain's jitters were perfectly understandable.
After all, following the incident on Dongyan Island, the Huichun Island Domain had suffered terribly. The three great houses of the Duowen Divine Kingdom had launched a joint investigation against them, turning their lives into complete chaos.
It was, in essence, a case of laying down the ugly truths upfront.
"Very well. I have said all that needs to be said. Now, all participants, please prepare yourselves. The area will be opened shortly."
Several thousand geniuses participating in the Ancient Jade Harvesting Gathering stepped forward one after another.
On the Yan family's side, Yan Qingsang and Yan Jinnan among them had received a barrage of instructions from Elder He and Elder Quan: once they entered the area, they were not to focus solely on harvesting jade — they were to keep a close watch on Huang'er at all times, lest she run into trouble again.
This was a task Yan Jinnan and Yan Qingsang could not refuse.
It concerned the family's interests, and their own personal interests as well. If something happened to Huang'er, the Xiahou family would never let the Yan family off, and they, as members of the Yan clan, would inevitably suffer along with it.
Thus, both by reason and by obligation, they had no choice but to comply.
The trouble was, Huang'er had two legs of her own, and their cultivation was inferior to hers. Keeping watch over her without being detected would be enormously difficult — practically impossible, in fact.
Fortunately, they had five people and five pairs of eyes trained on a single person, which made things somewhat more manageable.
The entrance was opened, and the screening was extremely strict.
Each participant carried an entry jade token, pre-issued by the Blue Mist Island Domain. The tokens for the great families were custom-made and provided free of charge.
As for the independent cultivators who had paid to participate, the screening was even more rigorous.
Several thousand independent cultivators had each paid a registration fee of two hundred thousand. That alone brought the Blue Mist Island Domain nearly a billion Heavenly Spirit Stones.
It had to be said — hosting this gathering not only generated enormous buzz, but also served as a means of wealth accumulation.
After Jiang Chen's jade token was inspected, he was allowed to pass.
His figure flickered as he entered the open area of the Yellow Dragon Territory. With a reported depth of ten thousand li in every direction, the scope of movement was vast indeed.
Though there were several thousand people, tossing them into a region ten thousand li deep was like scattering a few thousand waves across an ocean — utterly invisible.
Yet the moment Jiang Chen entered the area, a wave of relief washed over him.
At last, he no longer had the Yan family's people watching his every move.
The Yan family, being honored guests of the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, had been admitted ahead of time. Huang'er had already entered the Yellow Dragon Territory half an hour before Jiang Chen.
But the tacit understanding between Huang'er and Jiang Chen ran deep. Though neither had rashly attempted to communicate through divine sense, for fear of detection, Jiang Chen harbored no worry about failing to find her.
The two of them had long since developed an unspoken bond. When Huang'er had entered first, she had left countless subtle clues along the way without leaving a trace.
With Jiang Chen's abilities, no clue was too minute for him to follow — and Huang'er's clues, in particular, were reasonably easy to spot.
Approximately an hour later, Jiang Chen had picked up the trail and knew that Huang'er was waiting for him not far ahead.
He was in no hurry to meet her, however.
He surmised that the Yan family could not possibly have sent Huang'er to the Ancient Jade Gathering without precautions. Those several people from the Yan clan — Yan Qingsang included — were almost certainly assigned to shadow her.
If he rushed over now, he might run straight into them.
So Jiang Chen decided to find an unfamiliar spot and alter his appearance once more. That way, even if he crossed paths with Yan Qingsang, he need not worry about his identity as Shao Yuan being exposed.
It had to be said — for the sake of reuniting with Huang'er, Jiang Chen had endured great hardships and devised numerous plans.
If he could have had his way, he would have stormed the Yan family and spirited Huang'er away in one stroke. But his current strength was far from sufficient for such a feat.
For now, he could only bide his time.
As for his agreement with Yan Qingsang, Jiang Chen naturally did not dwell on it. He had made the arrangement with Yan Qingsang, but there was still a full month to go — plenty of time to make contact.
Jiang Chen followed the clues, drawing closer at a measured pace.
Sure enough, just as he had predicted — Yan Qingsang and Yan Jinnan, those two, had been shadowing Huang'er, whether deliberately or "casually."