Thousand Leaves Sovereign nodded with appreciation. "I'll give you three days to handle this. Fei Xuan, you're more familiar with the mundane world — accompany Tang Hong to take care of it."
With that, Thousand Leaves Sovereign's gaze swept across the room. "Remember — whether Jiang Chen lives or dies, he will always be a member of the Treasure Tree Sect. His family and friends are likewise people the Treasure Tree Sect must protect. Anyone who targets them is committing an act of fratricide. If I find out, I will show no mercy!"
Jiang Chen was now the Treasure Tree Sect's most prized asset — their number one treasure.
How could Thousand Leaves Sovereign allow the Iron family to harass Jiang Chen's people? If they provoked Jiang Chen, wouldn't all their efforts come to nothing?
Therefore, Thousand Leaves Sovereign personally spoke up to warn the Iron family.
Father and son Long were secretly dejected upon hearing this, knowing that from now on, the Iron family would be trampled under Jiang Chen's feet.
At this moment, their only hope was that Jiang Chen would never emerge from the Undying Spirit Mountain — ideally, that he would die inside.
In the Royal Capital of the Tiangui Kingdom, the entire Jiang household was stunned by the news that the selection tournament had ended but Jiang Chen had not returned from the Undying Spirit Mountain.
The current Jiang household had long since seen Jiang Feng and Marquis Jianghan depart. The only members of the Jiang family remaining were Jiang Chen's third uncle, Jiang Tong, and his cousin, Jiang Yu.
Neither of them could truly lead the Jiang family, and in the end, the decision fell to Gouyu.
"Jiang Chen is my, Tang Hong's, boss. I'm not about to abandon his family. If you need protection, you can come to the Treasure Tree Sect. I, Tang Hong, guarantee your safety."
"We appreciate your kindness. However, we've decided to remain in the Royal Capital and wait for the young master's return." Gouyu's attitude was equally resolute.
She refused to believe that Jiang Chen had fallen, firmly convinced that he would return safely.
The other bodyguards, led by Xue Tong, were equally unwavering in their determination to stay in the Royal Capital rather than go to the Treasure Tree Sect.
Their position was crystal clear: the young master had not entered the Treasure Tree Sect, so as his followers, they absolutely could not set foot in it — otherwise, their standing would be illegitimate.
Though they had all come from the mundane world, these few had spent so long under Jiang Chen's command that they had naturally inherited his indomitable spirit.
Tang Hong, seeing this, couldn't help but praise them. "You really are my boss's people. You're all cut from the same cloth as him. Fine — if you'd rather not go to the Treasure Tree Sect, waiting here is perfectly okay. If anyone comes here looking for trouble, just drop my name, or go straight to the Treasure Tree Sect and complain to Thousand Leaves Sovereign. The old sovereign has personally taken charge of this matter!"
That Thousand Leaves Sovereign — a Sovereign of the Origin Realm — had personally intervened filled Gouyu and the others with genuine pride.
What did that mean?
It meant the young master had truly made a stunning impression this time. Even a Sovereign of the Origin Realm had to acknowledge his existence. Even with his fate uncertain, the Sovereign wouldn't dare let the young master's subordinates suffer the slightest grievance.
This spoke volumes about the young master's current standing.
After Tang Hong left, Crown Prince Ye Rong of the Tiangui Kingdom and Tian Shao of the Dragon Tooth Guard both came to visit and offer their condolences. They had not neglected the Jiang household simply because Jiang Chen had failed to return.
...
Time flew like an arrow; days and months passed like a shuttle.
Before he knew it, half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Chen had been cultivating in the Celestial Spirit Zone of the Immortal Spirit Mountain. After half a year of bitter training, his Spirit Realm seventh-stage cultivation had become remarkably stable, and he was gradually showing signs of a breakthrough.
The spiritual energy concentration in the Celestial Spirit Zone was comparable to ten times that of the outside world. Training here for half a year was truly equivalent to three or five years out there, perhaps even more.
During these six months, Jiang Chen had been completely focused, with no distractions. He didn't need to worry about examinations, about opponents, or about grinding points to improve his ranking.
And so, over the course of this half-year, aside from the occasional chat with Elder Shun and Huang'er, he had devoted himself entirely to cultivation.
Chu Xinghan, who had been unconscious, finally awakened after three months of coma. Upon discovering that it was Jiang Chen who had saved him, his heart was filled with a complicated swirl of emotions.
However, Chu Xinghan was ultimately a broad-minded person. After being struck away by Long Juxue's palm strike, he had already known that his ties with the Purple Sun Sect had come to an end.
Jiang Chen didn't try to persuade him of anything. Now that he was awake, whether he could regain his resolve and walk the path of martial arts again depended entirely on Chu Xinghan's own state of mind.
At first, Chu Xinghan truly felt as though all hope was lost, but as time passed and he watched Jiang Chen train with such frenzy every day, he was deeply moved.
He was especially shaken by the news that Long Juxue had been sliced in two by Jiang Chen's blade on the fighting stage.
After hearing this news, the knot in Chu Xinghan's heart seemed to unravel at once, and all the vitality and conviction he had lost came rushing back.
"Long Juxue, who possessed an Innate Physique, was cut in two by Jiang Chen's blade. It just goes to show — on the martial path, so-called genius and so-called dominance are nothing but illusions. Only a firm and unwavering belief in the martial way is eternal. I, Chu Xinghan, am a man of great worth. My sect cast me aside, my fellow disciples tried to destroy me — and none of it broke me. What reason do I have to keep falling apart? What do I have left to lose?"
At the thought of this, Chu Xinghan suddenly understood everything Jiang Chen had done for him, and grasped his true intentions!
"Jiang Chen..."