In this fiercely competitive landscape, the Jiang Han Marquis Manor found itself in a difficult position.
The Hidden Dragon Trial was now only six months away. The previous Jiang Chen's performance had been nothing short of disastrous. He still owed a mountain of uncompleted assessments.
Even without the Incident at the Heaven-Sacrifice Grand Ceremony, he would have been the top candidate for demotion, with perhaps a thirty to forty percent chance of passing at best.
But the current Jiang Chen was far from dispirited. On the contrary, he was thrilled.
"The strong rule supreme — this law of survival holds true from the highest heavens down to the mortal world. In my previous life, I couldn't cultivate and never got to experience it. In this life, with my youth ahead of me, there's no way I'm letting this chance slip by!"
In his past life, he had been the Son of the Heavenly Emperor, holding an exalted status. Almost no one dared offend him. And because of his Extreme Yin physique, he couldn't cultivate. Even if he'd wanted to hide his identity and compete with others, that was never an option.
Now, in this life, he could finally cultivate to his heart's content, finally savor the thrill of surging toward the pinnacle of martial arts. This was the stage he'd always wanted.
"I promised Dongfang Lu I'd enter the palace in three days to consult with the princess. I need to make the most of these three days. And right now, my identity is that of a marquis heir participating in the Hidden Dragon Trial. There's still half a year until the final examination. As the heir of the Jiang Han Marquis — well, the title of marquis isn't much, but I ought to give my dear old father a bit of face, shouldn't I? I can't very well let him lose his marquis seal!"
After organizing his thoughts, Jiang Chen realized time was tight.
He had to admit — that flogging in the Heaven-Sacrifice Temple had been brutal. Forget the previous Jiang Chen; even a warrior twice as strong wouldn't have survived it.
Now Jiang Chen had gotten lucky, inheriting the previous Jiang Chen's body. But this body was seriously injured. If he didn't treat it, forget entering the palace in three days to see the princess — he'd probably miss this month's minor examination at the end of the month as well.
The Hidden Dragon Trial had monthly minor exams, and the scores accumulated. Missing even one month's assessment would put him significantly behind.
The previous Jiang Chen was already drowning in unfinished work. If he fell any further behind, he'd be kicked out long before the final exam.
That was something Jiang Chen was not going to let happen.
In his past life, with injuries like these — as the Son of the Heavenly Emperor, a supreme alchemy grandmaster renowned throughout the heavens despite being a martial arts failure, a man whom even many alchemy immortals came to for guidance — a single pill would have instantly restored him to peak condition.
But his current circumstances were nothing compared to his past life.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen had managed the Celestial Library for a million years and had read every text across the heavens, from mortal dimensions to divine paths of the highest realms.
Treating this kind of injury was trivial.
After resting for the night, Jiang Chen rose early the next morning, pondered briefly, then took out brush and ink to write a list.
"Jiang Zheng!" he called toward the door.
Jiang Zheng was the personal attendant the Jiang Han Marquis had assigned to Jiang Chen specifically to look after his daily life, meals, and lodging. The incident where Jiang Chen had been drugged while eating breakfast at the Songhe Pavilion had earned Jiang Zheng no small amount of reprimand.
He'd spent the entire previous night in restless anxiety. As the saying goes, when the master is humiliated, the servant should die. In principle, Jiang Zheng ought to have offered his life as penance.
But he truly couldn't stomach it. He had served this young master with every ounce of dedication, yet the young master was just… incorrigible.
Attendants and stewards serving other marquis heirs lived lavishly — fine food, fine drink, flattered wherever they went. The one Jiang Zheng served, on the other hand, was constantly stirring up trouble, pulling some bizarre stunt every other day. And whenever this young master got into something, he'd dump the whole mess on Jiang Zheng's shoulders without a second thought.
So these days accompanying Jiang Chen, Jiang Zheng had been both firefighting and taking the blame. Far from feeling the dignity of an elevated station, he was worn to the bone and could barely keep up.
Not to mention that this young master had absolutely no concept of money. Today a friend was in trouble — he'd pay to fix it. Tomorrow some sworn brother caused a scene — he'd pay to smooth it over.
The Jiang Han Marquis was certainly generous with funds, but even he couldn't sustain this kind of spending. And sure enough, here they were, only mid-month, and the month's budget was already tapped out.
So now, Jiang Zheng considered it a blessing whenever he could get some peace and quiet. The moment he heard Jiang Chen's voice, his head started to ache.
But when your master calls, you can't not answer.
"Young Master, this subordinate has failed in his duties and has not looked after the Young Master properly. Please punish this servant severely. Even if you strip me of my position, I will have no complaints." Jiang Zheng dropped to his knees the moment he walked in.
All that about "failing in his duties, please punish me" — that was just courtesy. The Jiang Han Marquis had already let it go, which meant Jiang Zheng had escaped the worst.
This young master, for all his dissolute ways and lack of ambition, didn't have the nasty habit of mistreating his servants.
If it had been the previous Jiang Chen, he probably wouldn't have read the true meaning behind Jiang Zheng's words. But the current Jiang Chen had a million years of experience from his past life — he could see through people and understand the world with crystalline clarity.
Hearing the tune, he knew the song. He understood perfectly well that his steward had been worn down by the previous Jiang Chen and was looking for a way out.
Jiang Chen didn't call him on it. Instead, he chuckled warmly. "Jiang Zheng, when my father assigned you to me, he originally intended it as a path to fortune and prosperity for you. Over these past days, I'm afraid you haven't enjoyed any fortune — instead you've been running around putting out fires and cleaning up after me. Your hard work and your suffering — I've taken note of all of it."
Jiang Zheng froze. What kind of wind was blowing today? When had this young master ever learned to say something so considerate?