The two elders sighed and left Dan Chi's private chamber.
Dan Chi watched them go, a confident smile playing at the corners of his lips. "An old person in the house is like a treasure. I've got two old folks in mine, and all they do is argue against me. Still, their hearts are in the right place. It's just that some things are simply not meant to be discussed in detail."
Dan Chi smiled faintly, his thoughts drifting to that mysterious old man who had visited not long ago. The mere memory of that enigmatic figure sent waves of excitement surging through his heart.
That old man had casually displayed just a fraction of his power, and it had been enough to utterly awe Dan Chi.
It was also that same old man who had told him that the Treasure Tree Sect had a young man named Jiang Chen, urging him to keep an eye on the boy and watch over him at the appropriate time, making absolutely sure that nothing untoward happened to him.
Of course, the mysterious old man had not left Dan Chi empty-handed. He had offered a few pointers on cultivation and even passed down a secret technique.
After practicing that secret technique, Dan Chi had been left thunderstruck, realizing that he had struck an incredible fortune.
Most importantly, those brief words of guidance from the mysterious elder had allowed his cultivation to achieve a breakthrough in just one or two months.
That was the most astonishing part. The old man's comprehension of the martial Dao, his realm of martial understanding—it was nothing short of alchemical, turning stone into gold.
"Sigh, that senior… he never once told me his name. That I, Dan Chi, should encounter such a wondrous fate and receive guidance from a mysterious expert… What a pity he only stayed for a few days. If he could have taught me for a year or two, I, Dan Chi, would surely have become the foremost figure in the entire Myriad Phenomena Domain. Truly, with that, Danqian Palace would stand a real chance of challenging a third-rank sect." Dan Chi's heart raced with excitement at the memory.
"That senior's instructions—I must keep them firmly in mind at all times. He asked me to use Danqian Palace's resources to search for a treasure called Soul-Calming Wood. I cannot afford to be lax about this matter. And then there's this Jiang Chen. To earn such high praise from that mysterious senior… even if he isn't the senior's own disciple or follower, he must be someone the senior holds in extremely high regard. Perhaps the senior deliberately left him to temper himself here in the Myriad Phenomena Domain. I, Dan Chi, owe a debt of gratitude for the senior's guidance. I must look after this boy well and not let the senior down."
A young talent capable of earning such wholehearted endorsement from that mysterious elder—Dan Chi was deeply curious and eager to meet Jiang Chen.
After gathering materials on Jiang Chen's rise, Dan Chi was thoroughly astonished.
The Eastern Kingdom—without question one of the most backwater nations in the entire world. That a petty lord's son from such a place could blaze a trail so extraordinary, committing one astonishing feat after another along the way…
From Dan Chi's lofty vantage point, these deeds might seem easy enough.
But for a martial artist who had risen from the mundane world, every single one of them was nothing short of a miracle.
If a martial artist achieved one miracle, you could call it luck, a fluke.
But achieving miracle after miracle, each one different from the last—that could no longer be summarized with a single word like "luck."
Slaying Long Juxue, who possessed an Innate Constituted Body. Killing an elder of the Purple Sun Sect. Every one of these accomplishments served as irrefutable proof of Jiang Chen's genius.
And crushing the patrol envoy of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect—that was even more outrageous.
If the intelligence hadn't been rock-solid, Dan Chi might have dismissed it as fabricated.
But the reports kept arriving, one after another, and not a single one proved false. The crushing defeat of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect's patrol envoy contained not the slightest exaggeration.
This news had left Dan Chi thoroughly shaken.
Cross-referencing it with that mysterious senior's instructions, Dan Chi realized that a true genius was rising like a blazing sun over the Treasure Tree Sect in the Sixteen Surrounding Kingdoms alliance.
This genius represented an opportunity for Dan Chi.
An opportunity to recruit exceptional talent, and a personal opportunity as well.
Through Jiang Chen, if he could establish a close relationship with that mysterious elder, it would be an unparalleled chance for Danqian Palace.
Dan Chi was a man of great decisiveness. When he sensed an opportunity, he never hesitated or second-guessed himself. He acted with firm resolve.
In truth, many sects across the Myriad Phenomena Domain had received the intelligence about Jiang Chen crushing the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect's envoy.
But without exception, the leaders of those sects all felt that this young man's sharp edges were far too dangerous. Offending the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect was a death sentence, and they saw no reason to get involved.
Dan Chi alone—bolstered by the mysterious elder's instructions and his own keen judgment—resolved to act, planning to bring Jiang Chen into his fold.
A genius who had clawed his way up from the mundane world, facing a patrol envoy backed by the full support of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect, and managing to utterly crush him—did the quality of such a talent really need to be questioned?
What kind of sect was the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect?
It was a first-rank sect. Their patrol envoys were not positions just anyone could fill. Every single one of them was a one-in-a-million prodigy.
Every one of them had enjoyed the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect's vast resources.
Yet the man who had crushed them, Jiang Chen, had risen entirely from the mundane kingdoms.
The gap in their environments and conditions had been staggering, and yet he had still achieved a crushing victory. That alone was proof enough of how terrifying Jiang Chen's talent truly was.
Under Dan Chi's direction, the Danqian Palace alliance delegation set out in grand procession, officially departing for the Treasure Tree Sect seven days later.
Meanwhile, the various major powers of the Myriad Phenomena Domain—whether willing or not—all dispatched respectable representatives to the Treasure Tree Sect to attend the alliance ceremony.
From top to bottom, the Treasure Tree Sect was electrified upon learning that they were about to form an alliance with Danqian Palace, the premier sect of the Myriad Phenomena Domain.
Under the leadership of Patriarch Qianye and Ye Chonglou, the Treasure Tree Sect mobilized virtually its entire membership to welcome the arrival of the Danqian Palace delegation.
The moment Dan Chi appeared, every heart in the Treasure Tree Sect quickened its pace. Even Patriarch Qianye felt a surge of the excitement one experiences upon meeting an idol.
Dan Chi's cultivation had long since left the Origin Realm behind, elevating him to the Saint Realm—one of the foremost powerhouses in the entire Myriad Phenomena Domain.
For such a towering figure to personally visit the Treasure Tree Sect—how could anyone there not be thrilled?