Chapter 5464: Special Envoy from Heavenly River Palace
There was a city located in the centre of this Spirit Province, which was also the most prosperous place in the Spirit Province. Many cultivators were gathered there; however, Yang Kai did not detect the existence of any High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters when he swept his Divine Sense over it. Although there were many people here, the strongest were a few Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at most.
While Ji Lao San could detect the aura of Black Ink Strength coming from this Spirit Province, he could not figure out the exact location.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling troubled. How was he supposed to search for the root of the Black Ink Strength in such a dense crowd?
At the very least, he could be certain that there were no Black Ink Clansmen here. If a Black Ink Clansman was hiding here, Yang Kai’s Eighth-Order strength would allow him to see through any disguise at a glance. Since there was no Black Ink Clansman here, it could only be a Black Ink Disciple.
Under normal circumstances, a Black Ink Disciple was no different from an ordinary person until they activated their Black Ink Strength and revealed their true nature.
Of course, Yang Kai could not check every single person in the Spirit Province as that would just take too much time.
In any case, the question that bothered him the most was the reason for the appearance of a Black Ink Disciple in the Shattered Heaven. If there was a Black Ink Disciple, then there had to be a source of Black Ink Strength. Where was the source?
A trace of unease grew in the depths of his heart as it felt as though something ominous was about to occur.
Just as he was thinking about how to search for the hidden Black Ink Disciple, two streams of light appeared in the sky and descended.
The newcomers gave off an imposing aura, clearly showing no intention of concealing their presence whatsoever. Moreover, they were both Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Forget the Shattered Heaven, even in the 3,000 Worlds, Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were considered the strongest as long as the secluded High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters did not take action.
In an instant, countless Divine Senses and gazes were attracted to the two streams of light. The streams of light paused in mid-air before the light around them faded away to reveal the figures of a man and a woman.
The eyes of anybody who saw this pair would immediately light up. At the same time, they would secretly praise those two for being the perfect match for each other. The man was extraordinarily handsome, while the woman was absolutely gorgeous. When they stood together, they were a sight for sore eyes indeed.
The people living in the Shattered Heaven were mostly lawless criminals; therefore, numerous lecherous gazes immediately fixed upon the woman’s graceful form. They secretly swallowed nervously, thinking that if they could become intimate with such a stunning beauty for a night, death would not be too high a price to pay.
The woman was evidently accustomed to such gazes, so she simply snorted coldly before ignoring them.
On the other hand, the man revealed great dissatisfaction, surging his Divine Sense and causing many Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to clutch at their heads and scream in agony.
After teaching these lawless criminals a lesson, he announced loudly, “Heavenly River Divine Monarch has an order to convey! Where is the person in charge of this Spirit Province? Come out and receive the orders immediately!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the expressions of the cultivators on the Spirit Province changed greatly. Those who were watching the woman with lustful gazes quickly lowered their heads and did not dare to take another look. That couldn’t be helped, as the name ‘Heavenly River Divine Monarch’ carried far too much weight.
There were only three Great Divine Monarchs in the Shattered Heaven. In other words, there were three Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters here. One of them was Bright Sun Divine Monarch, Cheng Yang, who pursued Yang Kai in the past, while the other two were Heavenly River Divine Monarch, Tian Luo, and Withering Flame Divine Monarch, Ku Yan.
These three had refused to be controlled by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, so they fled to the Shattered Heaven for shelter. Tens of thousands of years had passed since they entered the Shattered Heaven, and they gradually improved from the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
The cultivators living in the Shattered Heaven could ignore or even insult the Cave Heavens and Paradises, but they could not show the slightest disrespect to the three Great Divine Monarchs. The environment in the Shattered Heaven was harsh, and chaotic, so while those who offended the Cave Heavens and Paradises might survive here, death was inevitable if the three Great Divine Monarchs were to target them; after all, the three Great Divine Monarchs held absolute authority in the Shattered Heaven.
This beautiful pair, who came carrying the orders of Heavenly River Divine Monarch, were clearly from the Heavenly River Palace. Furthermore, Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were considered very powerful in the Heavenly River Palace. These two might even be Disciples of Heavenly River Divine Monarch. With such a close connection to Tian Luo, even the lawless criminals in this Spirit Province did not dare to be disrespectful towards them in the slightest.
Following their command, a figure immediately flew out from the Grand Hall in the middle of the Spirit Province. This person was also in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but he did not look like a warrior. He was dressed luxuriously, seeming more like a wealthy merchant. His face was round and clean, and his smile was ingratiating. Cupping his fists from a distance, he bowed, “Bamboo Basket Province’s Tan Chuan greets the Special Envoys. Allow me to apologise for my late greetings.”
Although they were all in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Tan Chuan was nothing more than the Master of a small Spirit Province. In terms of status, he could not compare to the two people who served under Heavenly River Divine Monarch; hence, he naturally showed a humble attitude as soon as he appeared.
The male Envoy nodded lightly, “So you are the person in charge here, Brother Tan Chuan. This Senior Brother and Junior Sister have not left the Heavenly River Palace in a long time, so we were not aware.”
Judging from his words, they seemed to be acquainted with each other. Nevertheless, his attitude remained aloof. It was obvious that they did not have a close relationship with each other.
“It’s nothing, Brother Wu. Such a rough place cannot be compared to Heavenly River Palace. May I know what brings you here today, Brother Wu? What orders does the Divine Monarch have for me?” Tan Chuan inquired respectfully.
When it came to business, the man surnamed Wu did not procrastinate. He immediately took out a jade slip and announced in a resounding his voice, “By order of my Honoured Master, Tan Chuan of the Bamboo Basket Province must gather 200 Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and above, then head to the designated rendezvous location in three months.”
Tan Chuan’s expression became solemn when he heard the announcement. Raising his hand to receive the jade slip, he examined the contents carefully and confirmed that the jade slip truly contained this command from Heavenly River Divine Monarch. After that, he revealed a puzzled expression, “Brother Wu, is Heavenly River Palace planning to wage war against the others?”
The three Great Divine Monarchs had divided the Shattered Heaven among themselves, so it was impossible for them to be at peace. There had been countless squabbles and skirmishes among them over the years, but those were mostly inconsequential disputes, nothing serious enough to warrant concern. However, Tian Luo’s actions clearly indicated that he was planning something big.
Although the number of cultivators living in Bamboo Basket Province was not small, there were not many Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and above. That was especially true for Sixth-Order Masters, whose total numbers could be counted on one hand. Even though there were somewhere between 400 and 500 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Tian Luo had directly demanded a force of 200 people. That was equivalent to taking away half of the Bamboo Basket Province’s strength! How could that not shock Tan Chuan?
The man surnamed Wu simply shook his head in response. Glancing around, he then kindly pointed out something, “Brother Tan Chuan, if I were you, I would close the Grand Array first before asking questions. At this rate, you might not be able to gather 200 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters if you delay any longer, and you know what will happen to you if you disobey Honoured Master’s orders.”
Tan Chuan was taken aback by those words and looked around him. What he saw enraged him so much that his face visibly twitched.
After hearing the order relayed by the man surnamed Wu just now, some of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters living in the Bamboo Basket Province had urgently fled to prevent themselves from being recruited by Tan Chuan. Many of them were simply passing by this area or stopping here temporarily to trade with others, so wouldn’t they be wronged if they were caught by Tan Chuan?
A few Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had taken the lead, causing even more Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to take the opportunity to escape. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen such Masters were gone.
Furious, Tan Chuan roared loudly, “Activate the Array! If anyone else dares to leave Bamboo Basket Province, I will slaughter them without mercy!”
After saying that, he took to the skies and instantly caught one of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who was about to leave and swung out his fist at him.
This Fifth-Order Master was rather unlucky. He didn’t even get the chance to speak a word before Tan Chuan punched his face in.
In order to make an example, Tan Chuan had not held back at all. How could a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master survive against the full attack of a Sixth-Order Master? That blow shattered the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s head to pieces. Fresh blood spurted out of his neck like a fountain, and his headless corpse slowly dropped back to the ground.
Such an occurrence would rarely happen in any of the Great Territories across the 3,000 Worlds, but in contrast, the Shattered Heaven was a truly lawless place. Killing others over even a small disagreement was very common here.
After witnessing Tan Chuan murdering a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the others no longer dared to act recklessly. They quickly backed down like cowardly quails.
There was a loud hum, and the Grand Array covering the entire Bamboo Basket Province closed. The inside and the outside were now isolated from one another. With this, nobody could leave without Tan Chuan’s express permission.
Many of the cultivators were panicking at the sudden turn of events; however, Tan Chuan ignored them and looked at the Special Envoys from Heavenly River Palace, “What’s going on, Brother Wu?”
The man surnamed Wu shook his head and said nothing. The reason for all this was in no way glorious, and could even be said as shameful, so how could he reveal the truth at will?
Tan Chuan only became more anxious seeing this. Revealing a pleading expression, he begged, “Brother Wu, why don’t you come over and have some tea? You must allow this Tan to provide some hospitality as a host. Bamboo Basket Province might lack many things, but we have a specialty known as the Jade Spirit Fruit. The taste is sweet and exquisite. You’ve come from afar, why not take a short rest? It won’t be too late for you to leave after a cup of tea.”
What he mentioned was not without reason. The so-called ‘Jade Spirit Fruit’ was certainly a local delicacy. It was not very useful in terms of cultivation, but it had beauty-preserving effects when consumed by female cultivators. Unfortunately, the number of such fruits produced was very small so they would be cleaned out in a matter of breaths every time they appeared on the market. It was precisely because Tan Chuan was overseeing the Bamboo Basket Province that he could preserve a few for his own use.
He did not have a close relationship with the man surnamed Wu, so there was nothing he could do if the other party was not willing to divulge much, so in order to learn more, a more convoluted method was required. He hoped that the Jade Spirit Fruit would catch the interest of the woman standing nearby.
Sure enough, the eyes of the woman, who had remained silent and indifferent all this while, suddenly brightened at the words ‘Jade Spirit Fruit’.
As a Disciple of Heavenly River Divine Monarch, it was only natural for her to know about the Jade Spirit Fruit. It was just that these fruits were often shared among the wives and concubines of Heavenly River Divine Monarch whenever they were offered to Heavenly River Palace, so how could she hope to get any?
Women would always be conscious of their appearance. Even if she was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and her appearance could be described as youthful, she still wished to look young forever. Nevertheless, she said nothing and simply used her large eyes to plead with her Senior Brother.
After spending so many years together, how could the man surnamed Wu not understand the meaning behind that look? Thinking to himself that a moment of delay would not hurt, he nodded in agreement, “Good. We can rest for a moment before we leave.”
Tan Chuan was overjoyed and quickly motioned his hand to guide them, “This way, please.”
A short while later, Tan Chuan led the two Envoys from Heavenly River Palace into the Grand Hall and sat down.
The man surnamed Wu was thinking about how he should respond if Tan Chuan brought up the matter from earlier; after all, one was generally partial towards those who bestowed favours upon others. His Junior Sister had benefited from Tan Chuan, so it would not be reasonable for him to ignore the latter’s inquiry.
Unexpectedly, Tan Chuan did not mention the matter and simply had a leisurely chat with the man surnamed Wu.
The man surnamed Wu was very satisfied, thinking that Tan Chuan knew how to show proper respect, causing his impression of the latter to increase significantly.
After a short wait, a servant brought over a platter of Spirit Fruits. These Spirit Fruits were the size of a fist and crystal clear. Moreover, a sweet fragrance permeated the air.
The woman from Heavenly River Palace stared at the Jade Spirit Fruits without blinking. She immediately fell in love with the appearance of the fruits and couldn’t bring herself to eat them. Just as she was about to put them away, Tan Chuan suddenly turned towards her, “These fruits are freshly picked. You, Young Lady, should eat them immediately for the best effect.”
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