Jiang Chen looked at the eight Stone Clan brothers and smiled. "You eight, just focus on the work I've given you. As long as you do your duties well, I'll make arrangements for your future when the time comes."
Though the eight brothers felt somewhat dejected, they didn't dare defy Jiang Chen's will and said nothing more.
Jiang Chen set off once more, heading for the grounds of the Heavenly Cicada Ancient Court.
Through the teleportation array, he arrived at Dongyan Island yet again. Now that Jiang Chen had made the trip once before, he had a much better grasp of how the teleportation array worked.
This teleportation was far smoother than the last.
Dongyan Island in its current state had been managed quite well by Lu Che and the others. As for Yan Wanjun, he had returned to the Yan family's headquarters and had not yet come back.
Lu Che was overjoyed to see Jiang Chen return.
However, when he caught sight of the Sacred Vermilion Bird standing beside Jiang Chen, Lu Che's expression shifted slightly. He could clearly sense the terrifying aura emanating from the Sacred Vermilion Bird.
In that moment, Lu Che broke into a cold sweat from head to toe.
The Divine Path realm — this Sacred Vermilion Bird had actually broken through to the Divine Path!
Lu Che's eyes filled with even deeper reverence.
Jiang Chen asked with a chuckle, "Any developments on Dongyan Island while I was gone? Anything happening in the outside world?"
Lu Che quickly replied, "I don't have much information about what's going on outside. But Dongyan Island has been perfectly peaceful lately. The Huichun Island Domain's royal family keeps coming by to pay their respects. Very polite about it, too."
Jiang Chen wasn't particularly surprised by Huichun Island Domain's behavior. As a second- or third-rate power, they were desperate to climb the ranks.
Years ago, to curry favor with the Duowen Divine Kingdom, they had arranged for those noble scions to come to Dongyan Island for training — and that had led to the massacre from back then.
That incident had been a devastating blow to Huichun Island Domain.
But it hadn't extinguished their ambition to rise higher. Once they learned that Jiang Chen was the heir of the Eternal Sacred Land, their eagerness to ingratiate themselves naturally sprang to life.
Jiang Chen's formidable reputation had already spread to every corner of the Wanyuan Islands. Huichun Island Domain might be somewhat remote, but they still had enough intelligence-gathering capability to know this.
And so, they were desperate to win Jiang Chen's favor.
As for this attitude from Huichun Island Domain, Jiang Chen didn't find it particularly offensive. In the martial world, it was only human nature to flock to the powerful and curry favor with the influential.
Back when he'd been on Dongyan Island, Huichun Island Domain's sycophancy toward the Duowen Divine Kingdom had indeed caused him some trouble. But for Jiang Chen, that whole affair had actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Without that incident, how could he have gained access to the inner regions of Dongyan Island? How could he have obtained the inheritance of Pei Xing, the island's first master? And without Pei Xing's inheritance, how could he have acquired partial knowledge of the Myriad Heavens Spirit-Locking Formation?
In that sense, perhaps there really was a heavenly will guiding the course of one's life.
All things considered, Jiang Chen held no particular animosity toward Huichun Island Domain. Especially now, when he was strapped for resources and needed a great deal of them, he felt that there might be plenty worth extracting from Huichun Island Domain.
Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.
No sooner had Lu Che mentioned Huichun Island Domain than Prince Huo and Governor Ding of Huichun Island Domain came calling once again.
"Young Master, will you see them or not?" Lu Che asked.
Jiang Chen asked with a smile, "How did you handle them when they came before?"
Lu Che replied earnestly, "Every time they came, they brought gifts. I accepted the gifts, but I never let them set foot on the island."