The assembly at Peacock Sacred Mountain had brought an entirely new atmosphere to Myriad Glass City.
Almost everyone had gained something.
Those who hadn't received a Heaven's Elixir had still received Jiang Chen's promise: so long as they one day cultivated to the peak of the Emperor realm, a Heaven's Elixir would not elude them either.
This expectation served as yet another source of motivation for the Emperor realm cultivators of Myriad Glass City.
Even the Sovereign realm cultivators felt a surge of limitless drive.
"Heh, Chen Shao, don't you still have a large stockpile of Heavenly Mandate Decrees? Are you not planning to distribute them?" the Vermilion Bird Sacred Beast asked afterward with a smile.
"The Heavenly Mandate Decrees aren't necessary for the time being. These people are all core members of Myriad Glass City with potential worth nurturing. There's no need for them to refine Heavenly Mandate Decrees."
"Heh, it's not as though every single one of them has that potential."
"That's true, but the Heaven's Elixirs have at least given them a chance. If they can't seize that opportunity, that's a matter of their own fortune. There's only so much I can do."
What Jiang Chen had done was, in truth, more than enough. After all, he had never harbored any desires toward the human territories. He had become the young lord of Peacock Sacred Mountain solely because he had once admired Great Emperor Peacock and been won over by the emperor's force of character.
It wasn't that he possessed any real hunger for power.
But over time, a sense of responsibility had pushed him forward, compelling him to take ever more of that burden upon his shoulders—to bear the weight of justice with an unyielding frame.
Gradually, he had come to realize that he and Myriad Glass City, he and the fate of the human race, were now inextricably bound together.
These things had become a part of him—woven into his flesh, his bones, his very life.
He could never sever them now.
If the human territories were destroyed, he, Jiang Chen, might be able to preserve himself alone. But what about the others? His parents? His wife and daughter? His dao companion? His trusted subordinates?
And all those sworn friends he had forged through the martial path?
These people all revolved around him, all revolved around Myriad Glass City.
Jiang Chen knew that he was no longer the person he had been when he had first been reborn. He could never again be free of all ties, acting purely on whim.
Every decision, every action, had to account for the greater good—to weigh all considerations in their entirety.
"So when are you planning to enter the Six Palaces of Inheritance?" the Vermilion Bird Sacred Beast asked.
"In the next few days or so," Jiang Chen answered honestly.
"Mm, make it quick. I'm planning to make a trip back to the old site of the Sacred Unity Sect these next few days to check whether any of the Boundary Steles have been damaged. That the Demon Lord escaped remains an ill omen," the Vermilion Bird said.
"You're not planning to go into seclusion and attempt a breakthrough to the Divine realm anymore?" The Vermilion Bird Sacred Beast was only a single small step away from breaking through and could do so at any time.
"A breakthrough like that requires inspiration—it cannot be sought out. Seclusion might not be the best approach. I can feel it: that step is about to be taken. I want to see exactly when it will happen—when I'll finally take that perfect step forward. Still, there is absolutely no doubt that my breakthrough to the Divine realm will come."