Chapter 523: Revisiting the Huang Family
Seeing the middle-aged man in front of him, Jian Chen was in a daze. Uncle Tian’s method of arrival was far too odd for Jian Chen to understand. It was practically millions of kilometers away from Mercenary City to here. Merely a breath after Ming Dong had used that jade piece of his, Ming Dong’s uncle Tian had traversed that distance in no time at all.
Even more shocking to Jian Chen was that uncle Tian seemed to break apart the fabric of space as well. Furthermore, he appeared precisely within this not-as-spacious room. Such a precise position like this was almost unbelievable to him.
That was because a Space Gate simply couldn’t be set up this quickly.
The Space Gate behind the man slowly disappeared from sight, allowing the space it had opened up from to return back to normal. No one there would be able to see that a fissure had even opened up in the sky to begin with.
There was not a sliver of energy to be felt from this man; from the appearance of his face, he was nothing more than the average commoner. Nothing strange could be said about him except for the fact that he was floating in mid-air like some sort of supernatural figure.
“Uncle Tian, I didn’t think that you’d come so fast. This jade piece you gave me is really useful!” Ming Dong spoke in excitement. Toward this middle-aged man, his voice held an undisguised level of emotion. In Ming Dong’s mind, uncle Tian held a tremendous amount of power and was even more important than his own parents. The reason why he achieved the success he had today was all due to uncle Tian’s kindness. It was uncle Tian that had transformed him from an ordinary mercenary into what he was now. Not only did he grow from a Great Saint Master to a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master, he was one of the many people on the Yian Yuan Continent that held a highly coveted Heaven Tier Battle Skill.
Uncle Tian slowly descended to the ground and smiled kindly at Ming Dong as if he was looking fondly at his very own grandson. Brimming with care and doting, he smiled, “Child, what have you come to your uncle for?”
“Uncle Tian, my sworn brother Jian Chen has something he requires your assistance with.” Ming Dong spoke.
Uncle Tian continued to have that kind smile on his face as he turned toward Jian Chen. Suddenly, the light in his eyes concentrated heavily onto Jian Chen before turning resplendent. With a startled sound of surprise, the Saint Ruler’s expression grew astonished. Shortly afterward, two bright golden rays of light shot out from his eyes and seemed to bath Jian Chen within their golden color.
Jian Chen wanted to say something, but he found himself unexpectedly unable to do anything. It seemed that the golden ray of light caused his entire body to become immobilized. He no longer had control of it.
This sudden development made Jian Chen feel extremely shocked, but he calmed himself down in a flash since he knew that Ming Dong’s uncle Tian wouldn’t do anything unfavorable to him without a reason.
The Saint Ruler’s actions caused Ming Dong to turn pale with fright before crying out to him in anxiety, “Uncle Tian, just what are you doing…”
Before Ming Dong could finish his sentence, uncle Tian held up his hand to stop him. With a calm voice, he said, “Do not worry, I only wished to look at the current condition of his body, I am not hurting him.”
With that, Ming Dong let out a sigh of relief — he thought that uncle Tian was about to hurt Jian Chen.
Very quickly, the golden ray surrounding Jian Chen’s body disappeared. The golden light in the Saint Ruler’s eyes had also returned back to its normal color. As soon as the light disappeared, Jian Chen felt his body control come back to him.
Although he was not hurt in any way, Jian Chen was practically sweating bullets. He did not know just how strong uncle Tian was, but this course of action by him had frightened Jian Chen. If a single observation with his eyes was enough for Jian Chen to lose control of his body, that meant uncle Tian’s strength was truly too terrifying to behold.
Uncle Tian’s eyebrows narrowed together as his brightly lit eyes stared at Jian Chen. With a low voice, he wondered, “Your Saint Weapon was actually shattered?”
Jian Chen’s heart leaped up his throat once again. The secret that his Saint Weapon was shattered was something that neither the Saint Rulers of the Qinhuang Kingdom nor the Huang family had been able to discover. This uncle Tian had unexpectedly been able to do so with a single glance, finding out Jian Chen’s greatest secret just like that. How could he not feel surprised at that? In truth, Jian Chen began to exaggerate and think that in front of uncle Tian, there was not a single secret he could hide from him.
Jian Chen grew extremely courteous and cupped his hands together, “Junior Jian Chen pays his respects to senior. Senior is correct, this junior’s Saint Weapon was destroyed.”
“Curious, what a miracle! Despite your Saint Weapon gone, your strength and mind power seem even stronger than before. Even my eyes cannot see just what fortuitous event caused this to happen!” Uncle Tian replied.
The Saint Ruler’s words shocked Jian Chen again. He had no idea that even his mind power would be able to be determined at a glance. Though, he felt a little reassured since the Saint Ruler’s voice did not indicate that he had learned about the azure and violet Sword Spirits.
“It is as senior says, this junior came across a happenstance that allowed me to preserve my strength even after my Saint Weapon was shattered.” Jian Chen replied respectfully.
Uncle Tian nodded his head with his eyes still staring brightly at Jian Chen. Then, with a slightly more thoughtful expression, he spoke, “With the intensity of your power of thought, you’re already capable of controlling the energy of the world. I didn’t expect that since we last met half a year ago, you would reach such a level. This rate of progression is simply too unbelievable.” Uncle Tian paused to sit down at the nearby table. “Tell me why you need my assistance so much.”
Jian Chen replied respectfully, “Senior, this junior has a matter that I wish senior will oversee impartially.” With that, Jian Chen began to recount the tale of the Huang family to him.
Hearing the entire story from start to finish, uncle Tian sat there without a word and with furrowed eyebrows.
At this, Ming Dong felt quite anxious. Worried that his uncle Tian would refuse Jian Chen, Ming Dong pleaded, “Uncle Tian, Jian Chen is my sworn brother. If it wasn’t for Jian Chen saving me in the past, I wouldn’t be able to survive until today, let alone see you uncle Tian. Now that my sworn brother is in trouble, you must help my sworn brother.”
Almost as if he was moved by Ming Dong’s words, the Saint Ruler sighed, “I had originally planned on not getting involved, but I suppose I should help just this once if Jian Chen saved your life before.”
Jian Chen was unable to contain his joy at those words and clasped his hands together, “Many thanks to senior for his assistance!”
“No thanks is necessary. Jian Chen, you are quite talented in skill. In fact, you are several times stronger than Ming Dong. I hope that when I am not around, you will look after Ming Dong in my stead.” He sighed as a helpless light flashed in his eyes.
“Senior, this junior and Ming Dong are sworn brothers. Even without senior saying so, this junior would do so.” Jian Chen spoke honestly.
Ming Dong felt rather displeased at uncle Tian’s words and grumbled, “Uncle Tian, you take me to be a young child still.”
Uncle Tian smiled, “There’s no time to lose then. The sooner we go, the sooner we can resolve this matter. Jian Chen, which direction is the Huang family located in?”
“About several ten thousand kilometers in the northwestern mountains!” Jian Chen spoke with excitement. With the Saint Ruler Tian making his advent, the ancestor of the Huang family would have no qualms either.
Growing silent for a moment, the Saint Ruler then responded, “I’ve found the location, let us go then.”
“Yes, senior!” Jian Chen immediately walked toward the exit. After his feet had taken several steps forward, his entire body suddenly came to a stop as he stared at uncle Tian in amazement.
He had only watched uncle Tian’s right hand slowly lift up before settling down on the empty space in front of his chest. The next moment, the space near him began to violently tremble; and in another brief moment, a pitch-black crack appeared right in front of Jian Chen’s eyes. The crack expanded rapidly before instantaneously becoming a Space Gate. The entrance to the other side was a very familiar site to Jian Chen — it was the house where the ancestor of the Huang family lived in.
“It should be here. Let’s go then!” Uncle Tian spoke before waving his other hand. Jian Chen could only feel a tremendous amount of power envelop him without any resistance before independently shooting him through the space along with Ming Dong.
After the three disappeared, the spatial rend left behind slowly winked out of existence, allowing the space to become normal again. The only difference was that the former three inhabitants of the room had vanished without any of the Heaven Saint Masters in Changyang Manor noticing.
……
At the Huang family’s residence on the sword-shaped mountain peak, the ancestor of the Huang family was cultivating as per usual. Pondering on his position over a stool, his expression couldn’t help but reveal an expectant look. Ever since Jian Chen had left, he couldn’t bring himself to the calm needed to cultivate. All his mind could think about were the words “5000 year old Saint Ruler”.
After becoming a Saint Ruler for so many years, the ancestor was extremely understanding just how paramount the existence of a 5000 year old Saint Ruler was. Such a person like this was even more rare than a commoner getting a glance at one of the ancient clans or finding the feather of a phoenix and the scale of a Qilin.
On the Tian Yuan Continent, whether it was a Heaven Saint Master, Saint Ruler, or an existence above a Saint Ruler, they were all still unable to escape from the shackles of age.
On the continent, the average human would only be able to live for 200 years. An Earth Saint Master was expected to live for 500 years, and a Heaven Saint Master for 1000 years. For a Saint Ruler, they should only be able to live for 3000 years. Even a Ninth Layer Saint Ruler would only be able to live for 3200 years at most. Unless there was some sort of longevity medicine, it was very hard to break apart this law.
In order to live for 5000 years, one had to make a breakthrough as a Saint Ruler. A Saint Ruler would never be able to live for as long as 5000 years. Under the heavens, only a Saint King or higher would be able to live for that long of a lifespan.
It had been for this reason that when the ancestor had first heard Jian Chen describe this Saint Ruler having reached 5000 years old, he lost all of his self-control and had even enthusiastically agreed to Jian Chen’s request at the risk of offending the Huanggu clan.
Just like this, the ancestor sat there for two days uneasily. He couldn’t calm down enough to cultivate, and in his mind, he was extremely anxious to see whether or not Jian Chen would really be able to bring such a character to help his Huang family. With such a high and mighty existence like this backing the Huang family, they would be able to hold their head up high in front of the ancient clans, let alone such small and insignificant isolated families.
Just while the ancestor sat nervously on the stool, he suddenly felt the space in front of him start to warp and distort. Then, a Space Gate suddenly appeared right in front of the hut where the ancestor lived. Three people were revealed as they walked out from it.