Sovereign of the Three Realms - Chapter 1785

Chapter 1785: 1785

Jiang Chen hadn’t overexaggerated the problem one bit .

If the ten sacred lands fully lost control of Myriad Abyss, the descendants of the ancient war’s deserters would take over . Myriad Abyss would lose its fervor then, leaving a bunch of self-serving cultivators to lord over the land .

Under a culture like that, who would enter the offworld battlefield to fight off invaders? Certainly not the new rulers!

Of course, Jiang Chen didn't point all of this out clearly .

Technically, Yan Qingsang and Huang’er were descended from deserters of the ancient demon-sealing war as well . Though they had more fire than the rest, they were too unimportant to affect the grand scheme of things .

Moreover, they had been kicked out from House Yan . They could no longer call themselves its scions .

Because Jiang Chen had a ton of free time within the airboat, he took time to read the various works that Senior Pei Xing had left behind . The texts were quite enlightening .

Pei Xing had been an incredible formation master . The ones he’d set up on Winterdraw alone were enough to evoke Jiang Chen’s respect . The more he got perused the senior’s works, the more praise he had . The old master deserved nothing less when it came to his mastery over formations .

“I didn't expect Senior Pei Xing to have been so amazingly proficient . No wonder he was qualified to work together with the two formation masters from Ancient Crimson Heavens and Earth Bodhisattva on the Great Formation . ”

Jiang Chen brimmed with excitement . Faced with row after row of Pei Xing’s books, he was eager to study every single one of them thoroughly .

There had to be information on the Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement too . Though Senior Pei Xing had been responsible for only a part of it, his knowledge was invaluable to consult regardless . If he could find the text concerning the formation, he would understand it much better .

After some hard work, he was rewarded with his prize . In ten days, he discovered a text that contained an ocean of information on the Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement .

There were tens of thousands of characters detailing the formation and its design .

It described not only the part Pei Xing had been responsible of, but his assessments and various details concerning the entire formation as well . There was nearly everything Jiang Chen had wanted .

His newfound prize was precious beyond belief .

“After all my efforts elsewhere, that was almost too easy!” Jiang Chen had always worried about the Great Formation . He’d grasped the portion the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect had been responsible for, and now Pei Xing’s knowledge was his as well . In fact, the solitary cultivator’s experience was richer than the sect’s .

“Pei Xing must have been a true ancient master of formations . A prodigious genius in his art . ” The more he learned, the more he respected the great man of the past .

Starfate traveled for nearly twenty days before approaching the Rejuvenation Isles . Jiang Chen made sure to keep a much lower profile once he was in Rejuvenation territory .

Evidently, Rejuvenation had languished since last he was here . When the three houses of Polylore had caused a severe ruckus, Rejuvenation had suffered heavy losses in both money and men . Right now, it maintained an honest, low-key front .

Jiang Chen was in no hurry to head to Winterdraw yet . He paid a visit to Six Leaf City first instead .

Among the bandits he’d first met upon arrival on Winterdraw, he’d promised the big man surnamed Fang that he would give a storage ring to his daughter .

Jiang Chen hadn’t forgotten about the request . The woman in question was named Fang Yingying .

His last departure from Winterdraw had been in a bit of a hurry . Thus, he hadn’t the time to go to the city and deliver the item . The danger was now past; no one could possibly know he and Jiang Huang were the same, and nobody asked after the joint bounty on his head .

Actually, it’d been so many years that the bounty was no longer in effect .

It took a bit of effort after entering in the city to find Fang Yingying . She was a cultivator of a reasonable level, with a dao partner accompanying her .

Jiang Chen gave the storage ring to her, quite astonishing the woman . When she made to ask after her father though, the young man was already gone . He didn't stay long in Six Leaf City before leaving directly for Winterdraw Island .

The island had been abandoned . It had been rather remote originally, and Rejuvenation had given up on it altogether after finding the formations were irreparable . The island was, for all intents and purposes, totally forsaken now .

Winterdraw had become a nightmare for Rejuvenation that no one wanted to visit . A deserted island so far out in distant waters wasn’t interesting at all .

That suited Jiang Chen’s purposes just fine . He was unhindered by anything on his trip .  

The first thing he did once Starfate landed was to send out the Goldbiter Rats . “Ole Gold, scout out the entire island . Report on anything still alive back to me . ”

The Goldbiter Rats were particularly suited for tasks like these . Their vast numbers could cover the entirety of Winterdraw with ease, ensuring that no suspicious tidbit escaped his grasp .

After so many years, Winterdraw had become an uninhabited island . The Goldbiter Rats’ comprehensive efforts failed to seek out any man still residing here .

Those who could escape already had . Those who’d failed were long dead at the bottom of the surrounding seas . No one would stay on an isolated island for long .

The lack of inhabitants here was perfect .

Jiang Chen hadn’t destroyed the formations on the island . Instead, he’d refined the item that was its core, the obelisk Pei Xing had left to control Winterdraw’s operations .

If Jiang Chen wanted to, he could restore the formation anytime to restore the island to its former vitality . Still, he was hesitant on whether or not that was the right choice .

When he voiced his concerns to his companions, Yan Qingsang was the first to enthusiastically respond . “Do it! Why shouldn’t you? If you fix the formation here, the island will be our territory!” He was a bit overexcited . One of his youthful dreams was to have an island to call his own .

Huang’er was rather intrigued as well . “Brother Chen, it would be a wonderful thing if we could take this island for ourselves . If there’s an ancient formation here that allows travel between Winterdraw and the human domain, this would make a great base for us . ” 

Jiang Chen realized the appeal himself . If he could make Winterdraw his own, he would be able to travel freely between Myriad Abyss and the human domain . That would be an enormous boon .

He was extremely conflicted for a time .

“Manpower… I need manpower . Without people to stand guard here, I’m worried that…” Restoring the formation would attract outside attention . Unwanted visitors were, of course, undesirable .

Though Winterdraw’s formation formed a harmonious whole that shunted out the average interloper, a top-level expert would have a chance at getting in past the outer, thinner defenses .

With someone at the nexus of the formation controlling it, that would be much more unlikely; but preventing such a possibility was nearly impossible .

Suddenly, his consciousness shifted . His Evil Golden Eye pointed towards the sky, even as color drained from his face . “Get into the airboat!” he barked to Yan Qingsang and company .

He took out the Holy Dragon Bow and summoned the Confounding Puppets around himself .

The unanticipated visitation placed him on the highest of alerts .

He could feel the incredible strength of the hidden observer . This wasn’t an existence he could necessarily defeat as of yet .

“Hahaha…” A slightly aged voice echoed forth from the void . “Well done, young man . I’m surprised you noticed me . ”

Yan Qingsang and Huang’er were astonished when they heard who it was .

“Grandpa?” The former blurted out, stunned by the turn of events .

A figure stepped out of the air, landing before the group . It was none other than Yan Wanjun, who had left Mount Cloud Camel to avoid further danger .

The old man’s appearance here was the last thing Jiang Chen would’ve anticipated . He trained his Evil Golden Eye on Yan Wanjun a long while before he could ascertain that the man was indeed genuine .

With that, he relaxed . “Elder Wanjun, you caused quite a scare . Aren’t you worried that you’ll frighten us youngsters by creeping up on us like this?”

Yan Wanjun roared with laughter . “No one can match your daring, Shao Yuan . There’s no way I could scare you! Where is the domination from when you killed those cultivators from the Cloudwave Sect?”

Jiang Chen blinked . “You…”

“I’ve been following you all this time . I was hidden in the capital during this time, near the sacred land . ”

“How did you know it was us?” Jiang Chen smiled wryly .

“My grandson and granddaughter are here . It’s not unreasonable to feel some sort of connection, no? Plus, my intuition told me something about your intentions when you left the sacred land . That’s why I came . That you killed the useless guys from Cloudwave without my help was quite a surprise though . ”

As a venerated elder of House Yan, Yan Wanjun was an advanced empyrean cultivator . Killing Elder Xu and his lackeys would’ve been trivial for him .

However, he’d refrained from doing so after seeing Jiang Chen’s remarkable prowess . Instead, he kept an eye on them from the shadows without getting to close .

Since he wasn’t radiating any hostile intent, Jiang Chen had ended up not noticing his presence beside the Cloudwave group .

“It seems you can’t stop worrying about Qingsang and Huang’er, Elder Wanjun,” sighed Jiang Chen .