Back at the Jiang residence, Jiang Chen kept a low profile, acting as though nothing had happened. Even if this matter eventually traced back to him, he didn't care.
Setting aside whether they had any evidence—even if they could prove those people died at his hands, it was they who had picked the fight first.
Besides, he and the Gold-Munching King Mouse had done it so cleanly that no evidence linking him, Jiang Chen, could possibly remain.
The Ice Fire Demon Lotus's devouring power was even more grotesque than the Gold-Munching King Mouse's—it refined people down to their very bones.
After returning to the Jiang residence, Jiang Chen went into seclusion for several days, refining all the spiritual essence absorbed by the Ice Fire Demon Lotus into his own Spirit Sea.
The spiritual essence of four Spirit Realm second-level martial artists was naturally a tremendous tonic.
It pushed Jiang Chen's Spirit Sea to a genuine breakthrough. In a short time, he once again advanced in cultivation, successfully entering the Spirit Realm third level.
This breakthrough came entirely without warning.
Jiang Chen hadn't expected the Ice Fire Demon Lotus to be so heaven-defying. The spiritual essence it absorbed after devouring a target was wasted almost not at all—it became entirely his nourishment.
"My! No wonder the Ice Fire Demon Lotus is ranked among the top ten plant-type spirit entities across the Myriad Heavens Planes. Such terrifying devouring power—it's practically a super cheat!"
Jiang Chen had known the Ice Fire Demon Lotus was formidable, but he never imagined it was this monstrous.
Still, such cheating wasn't without its drawbacks. First, the Ice Fire Demon Lotus could only absorb spiritual essence with ice and fire attributes. For essence of any other attribute, it was highly resistant.
Most critically, the Ice Fire Demon Lotus was ultimately controlled by Jiang Chen's Spirit Sea. His Spirit Sea level determined that the Lotus could only devour opponents roughly on par with him.
Against stronger opponents, things became considerably more troublesome.
Of course, against stronger foes the Ice Fire Demon Lotus wasn't entirely helpless. With Jiang Chen's current cultivation, controlling four Ice Fire Demon Lotus vines was already effortless.
Now that his cultivation had advanced to Spirit Realm third level, the Lotus could continue growing—controlling six vines would pose no difficulty at all.
If six vines worked in concert, they should stand a reasonable chance against an early-stage Earth Spirit Realm martial artist.
Devouring such an opponent, however, would be much harder.
In the sealed chamber, a shimmering aura of intertwined cyan and crimson light enveloped Jiang Chen's entire body, filling the room with a dense, swirling mist.
After advancing to Spirit Realm third level, Jiang Chen discovered that the Ice Fire Demon Lotus had indeed continued to grow. Having incorporated the profound mysteries of the Kurong Shenquan, its form was evolving in accordance with Jiang Chen's intent.
Jiang Chen's eyes now blazed like brilliant stars—one like the blazing sun in its zenith, radiating fierce flames; the other like a cold, solitary moon, gleaming with an ethereal frost.
"The fist intent of the Kurong Shenquan—from one cycle of decay and one of flourishing to nine of each—contains the supreme truth of all creation's development and the cosmos's transformation. One hand channels Great Yin, the other Great Yang, which aligns perfectly with the life essence of the Ice Fire Demon Lotus. It seems there truly is providence at work. I cultivated the Kurong Shenquan and comprehended the supreme truths of Heaven and Earth's Yin and Yang, and in return I obtained the Ice Fire Demon Lotus—a treasure of the highest grade across the Myriad Heavens Planes. And the first two stances of the Moon-Shattering Flying Knife I've been practicing can also incorporate the Kurong Shenquan's profundities. I really did underestimate this technique before…"
Reflecting now, Jiang Chen realized he had indeed undervalued the Kurong Shenquan's mysteries.
This fist art contained the great Dao of Yin and Yang and the workings of the Myriad Heavens themselves, yet it simplified the profound into the simple—and Jiang Chen had previously treated it as nothing more than an ordinary fist technique.
Upon deeper contemplation, he found this martial art was far from what it appeared on the surface.
Carrying his tremendous gains, Jiang Chen emerged from seclusion once more. Facing the morning sun, he drew a deep breath of the dawn air, and his heart felt utterly at ease.
Breathing the peaceful air, savoring the joy of cultivation—this life did not cause Jiang Chen to lose sight of his direction.
His goal was clear: to break through, to keep breaking through, to pursue the supreme Heavenly Dao.
Only by breaking free from the Heavenly Dao's constraints and entering the Myriad Heavens Planes could he investigate the matters of his previous life.
Whether his father in that past life was dead or alive, Jiang Chen had to find out. He refused to believe his reincarnation was without cause.
Being reborn into this world must have been tied to some karmic thread.
He had to unravel that karma.
But talking about all that now was premature. With his current cultivation, the supreme Heavenly Dao was unimaginably far away—this was no task for a single day.
"Young Master Chen, you've finally come out!"
Xue Tong's face carried a hint of anxiety when he saw Jiang Chen.
"What is it?" Jiang Chen paused. "What happened?"
"The Marquis… the Marquis left the Tiangui Kingdom with Jiang Ying!" Xue Tong stammered, but he managed to get it out.
"When did this happen?" Jiang Chen was startled. His father was supposed to be in seclusion—when had he come out?
Xue Tong looked uncomfortable. "Your subordinate doesn't know exactly when it happened. During a patrol, I noticed the door to the Marquis's seclusion chamber was slightly ajar. When I went in to check, the Marquis was gone—he left only a letter."
"Where is it?" Jiang Chen frowned.
Xue Tong hurriedly produced an unopened letter and handed it to Jiang Chen.
On the envelope were written the words "For Chen'er to open personally." With those four characters, even though Xue Tong and the others had seen the letter, none of them dared open it.
Of course, though the news was sudden, the Marquis had left a letter—so presumably there was no danger. Perhaps the Marquis had simply been overcome by homesickness and wanted to return to the Eastern Kingdom for a visit?