On the surface, Xiang Wentian was crusading against the Holy Sword Palace, but wasn't this, in its own way, protecting the Holy Sword Palace too?
With this, the Holy Sword Palace would certainly stop stirring up trouble, and Jiang Chen himself would have no reason to suppress them any further.
Jiang Chen shot Xiang Wentian a meaningful look, but chose not to call him out. It seemed that Xiang Wentian had guessed Jiang Chen had the strength to destroy the entire Holy Sword Palace. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to act this way.
He appeared to be pressuring the Holy Sword Palace, but in reality, he was giving them a graceful way to back down.
Of course, Jiang Chen suspected that Xiang Wentian's move wasn't directed at him personally, but rather taken from the perspective of the greater good of the Myriad Phenomena Domain.
The Three Star Sect had already defected. If the Holy Sword Palace were destroyed too, then the Myriad Phenomena Domain would truly suffer a devastating blow.
Wang Jianyu's eyes blazed with light. After a moment, he let out a cold snort. "Fine, fine. Since Brother Xiang says so, then today I, Wang Jianyu, can hardly refuse to give you face."
In truth, at this moment, everyone from the Holy Sword Palace aside from Wang Jianyu had no desire to fight the Dan Qian Palace to the death.
After all, their momentum had been completely suppressed. Fighting the enemy now would offer them no chance of victory at all. And that Jiang Chen — so bizarre and unpredictable — filled them with an unavoidable sense of dread.
Elder Chen had been killed by the kid. Who was to say he didn't have the means to kill them as well?
Wang Jianyu was powerful, yes, but if Jiang Chen still had even stronger trump cards up his sleeve, then the outcome of any battle would be anyone's guess. Even if some of the stronger fighters could protect themselves, the younger generation could very well be wiped out by Jiang Chen. That would be nothing short of a catastrophe for the Holy Sword Palace.
So no matter how they looked at it, they did not want this fight.
If they won, there was no glory in it. An entire sect defeating a single young man — what glory could there possibly be?
If they lost, their reputation would be destroyed. Not just that — they might suffer heavy casualties, their vitality drained, unable to recover for years to come.
From every possible angle, there was simply no need for this battle.
Seeing Wang Jianyu give up, everyone else felt a wave of relief. Even the once-arrogant Wang Han had been thoroughly cowed by Jiang Chen. All he wanted now was for this demon to never appear before him again — if he couldn't beat him, couldn't he at least avoid him?
Though he gnashed his teeth with hatred toward Jiang Chen, Wang Han knew with bitter clarity that in this lifetime, he would almost certainly never surpass the other again.
The people from the Carefree Sect, however, felt a twinge of disappointment when they saw the Holy Sword Palace back down. They had still wanted to watch the spectacle — to see what it looked like when one man challenged an entire sect.
They hadn't expected that at the crucial moment, Wang Jianyu would lose his nerve.
Seeing Wang Jianyu retreat, Xiang Wentian also breathed a quiet sigh of relief. From his standpoint, he naturally didn't want the Myriad Phenomena Domain to suffer any more internal strife.
"Brother Dan Chi, do me a favor and set aside your grievances for now. You can settle them later — how about that?" Xiang Wentian turned his gaze toward Dan Chi.
Dan Chi replied coolly, "Of course Brother Xiang's face must be honored. It's just that the Holy Sword Palace has provoked us time and again. If we give them face this time, they'll only do it again next time. I'm sure everyone has noticed — nearly every time something involves my Dan Qian Palace, Wang Jianyu is always the one who jumps up to make trouble."
This was the unvarnished truth, and everyone had witnessed it firsthand.
Whenever the Dan Qian Palace had even the slightest issue, the Holy Sword Palace was always the most aggressive in jumping at them. No one could deny that.
Xiang Wentian looked at Wang Jianyu. "Brother Wang, the Myriad Phenomena Domain faces a grave external threat. Shouldn't you at least show some consideration for the bigger picture? If a true catastrophe descends upon the Myriad Phenomena Domain, do you think those grudges between your two sects would still mean anything?"
Wang Jianyu understood this reasoning perfectly well. But beneath the weight of their long-standing enmity, he would rather be bullied by an outside enemy than watch his rival grow stronger.
"Brother Xiang, I'll give you face. I won't cause any more trouble during this Grand Ceremony. However, the grudge between the Holy Sword Palace and the Dan Qian Palace is far from over. Mountains are high and rivers are long — this matter will not simply be forgotten." Wang Jianyu waved his hand irritably. "Let's go."
"Go?" One of the Holy Sword Palace elders looked stunned.
Wang Jianyu snapped angrily, "What else would we do? The Myriad Phenomena Supreme Realm has no place for the Holy Sword Palace — should we stay and watch them gloat?"
And so, the entirety of the Holy Sword Palace turned and walked away.
After they had gone several li, an elder asked in a low voice, "Palace Master, are we really leaving?"
A vicious grin spread across Wang Jianyu's face. "Leaving? As if it were that simple. We'll lie in ambush first. Once they come out of the Myriad Phenomena Supreme Realm and split up, we'll launch a surprise attack on the Dan Qian Palace. That little brat Jiang Chen — if I don't kill him now, there may never be another chance."
After all, Jiang Chen's strength was growing far too quickly. The fact that he had just stepped forward and declared he would challenge their entire sect single-handedly had not only deeply offended Wang Jianyu, but for the first time, stirred a genuine sense of dread within him.
Even if the kid had been boasting, there was no question that he now possessed the capital to stand against the Holy Sword Palace. Otherwise, he would never have been so brazen.
Therefore, the best way to deal with Jiang Chen now was not to fight him on a stage, but to strike him by ambush. A sneak attack, catching him completely off guard.
If they could injure him through treachery, everything else would become far simpler.
The Holy Sword Palace had not held its position as the second-greatest sect in the Myriad Phenomena Domain's martial world by sheer luck. They had their own hidden cards.
...
When the Grand Ceremony martial tournament concluded, the Myriad Phenomena Hidden Dragon Rankings were posted for all to see. Jiang Chen's name sat at the very top — he had claimed the honor of being the new champion of the Myriad Phenomena Hidden Dragon Rankings.