Chapter 316: Chapter 314: Distress Signal
Under Jiang Chen’s unrivaled Divine Aura.
How could any of these experts dare to resist?
However, Jiang Chen couldn’t possibly trust them so easily. He found a batch of Alchemy ingredients in his Storage Ring and quickly refined a batch of Heart-devouring Pills.
This Heart-devouring Pill was a Third-grade Pill.
For Jiang Chen, who had already advanced to a Half-step Fourth Grade Divine Thought Grandmaster, refining a Third-grade Pill was no challenge at all. Gazing at the thousands of people before him, Jiang Chen handed the Heart-devouring Pills to White Tiger and the other experts from the Tenth Hall.
His indifferent gaze swept over the crowd as he said calmly, "With the exception of my senior brothers and sisters from the Tenth Hall, everyone else will swallow this Heart-devouring Pill!"
"Heart-devouring Pill?"
"Th-this is a poison pill! If we swallow it, our lives will be in your hands, dependent on a single thought. How can we do that?"
"Jiang Chen, you’ve gone too far!"
"We are all disciples of the Saint Martial Sword Sect! How can you treat us like this?"
The moment they heard "Heart-devouring Pill," everyone’s expression changed drastically.
It was an infamous poison pill!
The Heart-devouring Pill!
It was refined from over 180 different types of herbs. Furthermore, every different combination and sequence of herbs could produce a different effect. To cure the poison, one would either need an expert at the Union Palace Realm to forcibly refine it out of their system, or they would need to know the exact Alchemy sequence to create the antidote.
Otherwise, it was absolutely incurable!
Once you took the first pill, you had to take more Heart-devouring Pills at regular intervals from then on!
If you missed a dose, your heart meridians would rupture, and you would die. Not even an expert at the Heavenly Destiny Realm could escape this fate!
How could they possibly swallow such a poison pill?
Jiang Chen glanced at the Saint Martial Sword Sect disciple who was shouting the loudest. This person was an expert from the Celestial Alliance, with a cultivation at the Heavenly Destiny Realm Eighth Stage. He was even a formidable figure ranked fifteenth on the Saint Martial Sword Sect’s Inner Sect’s Celestial Pride List.
The corners of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted slightly. "So you’re unwilling to take the Heart-devouring Pill, is that right?" he said faintly.
"I refuse!"
The man sneered. "Jiang Chen, you are indeed powerful. We are no match for you. But you must have some ulterior motive for wanting to subdue us. I don’t believe you’d dare to kill us all—"
Before he could finish, a flash of sword light streaked across his neck.
His face still wore a triumphant smirk as his head slid from his neck and tumbled to the ground.
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
It stained the clothes of several nearby experts red.
Jiang Chen stated indifferently, "Anyone else who refuses, feel free to step forward. I will grant you a swift death!"
Cold!
Decisive!
Utterly merciless!
Staring at the headless corpse, and recalling the scene just moments ago where Jiang Chen had slaughtered over ten thousand Nine Sins Hall experts without batting an eye, the remaining thousands of people exchanged glances. Finally, with resigned helplessness, they braced themselves and swallowed the Heart-devouring Pills.
Every one of them now looked at Jiang Chen with gazes filled with deep reverence and fear.
None dared to disobey!
Jiang Chen waved his hand and said, "Now, clean up the battlefield. The treasures within the Storage Rings of the Nine Sins Hall members and the other dead experts are yours for the taking. First come, first served. If anyone dares to use their strength to bully others and plunder their gains, I will show no mercy in cutting them down!"
"We understand!"
"Thank you, Alliance Leader!"
Just moments ago, these experts had looked as if their world had ended. Now, however, their faces lit up with excitement.
Before, they had banded together to resist the exploitation of the Nine Sins Hall’s Yinn Tianzong.
Now, Jiang Chen was giving all the spoils of war to them. These were the belongings of tens of thousands of deceased experts—their value was absolutely immense!
The crowd’s resentment toward Jiang Chen lessened considerably.
Bai Ling and White Tiger exchanged a glance, both secretly admiring Jiang Chen. His carrot-and-stick approach was truly a masterful way of managing subordinates!
Jiang Chen looked at the two of them. "Senior Brother White Tiger, Senior Sister Bai Ling, you and the brothers from the Tenth Hall, come with me!"
"Alright!"
The two immediately followed him.
「Inside Haifeng City.」
Jiang Chen looked at the more than two hundred experts of the Tenth Hall before him and said in a heavy voice, "Senior Brother White Tiger, first tell me everyone’s current points and rankings!"
White Tiger nodded. "I currently have one hundred million points, ranking fifty-sixth on the Hundred Kings List. Bai Ling has thirty million points, ranking on the Thousand Marquis List..."
After hearing the summary, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but frown. "One hundred million points? You’re already at the Peak of Heavenly Destiny Realm and only a step away from the Half-Step Union Palace Realm. I’ll give you two hundred million points’ worth of Cyan Radiance Stones. Go exchange them for an Enlightenment Fruit; that should be enough for you to break through to the Half-Step Union Palace Realm. As for Senior Sister Bai Ling, you don’t need to worry about points from now on. I can guarantee you a spot on the Thousand Marquis List. I have a Mixed Element Golden Pill here. Take it and try to raise your cultivation by another realm or two before Celestial Fate Island opens."
Afterward, Jiang Chen issued a series of commands.
He put the several thousand people he controlled with the Heart-devouring Pills to full use, having them frantically mine for Cyan Radiance Stones in the Ninth State.
Jiang Chen only took a fifty percent cut.
Furthermore, if anyone turned in Cyan Radiance Stones worth more than ten million points, their required contribution quota would be lowered by ten percent, among other incentives.
Motivated by this series of incentives, the other experts on the Ninth State also flocked back to Haifeng City, and the mining of Cyan Radiance Stones began in full swing.
As for Jiang Chen himself, he remained in Haifeng City.
He looked up at the Venerable List...
First: Lan Haichen, Saint Martial Sword Sect of the Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 2,325,156,320.
Second: Xuue Yinhao, Yuhua Sect of the Daqian Dynasty. Points: 1,865,458,451.
Third: Night Emperor, Emperor’s Palace of the Great Jin Dynasty. Points: 1,674,584,520.
Fourth: Mu Tiexin, Yinluo Sect of the Iron Wood Dynasty. Points: 1,654,548,840.
Fifth: Du Xinwu, Fiery Sun Sect of the Celestial Nine Dynasty. Points: 1,563,231,412.
Sixth: Yee Chenfeng, Celestial Sword Sect of the Celestial Universe Dynasty. Points: 1,435,216,411.
Seventh: Qin Han, Sun and Moon Pavilion of the Great Qin Dynasty. Points: 1,412,123,586.
Eighth: Sima Hengfeng, Star Pavilion of the Han Dynasty. Points: 1,325,114,589.
Ninth: Jiang Chen, Saint Martial Sword Sect of the Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 1,125,125,123.
Tenth: Di Tian, Saint Martial Sword Sect of the Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 1,025,458,411.
"Hm? Di Tian actually made it onto the Venerable List? This person is truly worthy of his title as the strongest in the Saint Martial Sword Sect beneath Lan Haichen!"
Jiang Chen’s gaze swept over the list, and he couldn’t help but feel surprised. Among the Ten Great Venerables, three were actually from the Saint Martial Dynasty. After his initial surprise, his eyes fell on the top spot, where the name Lan Haichen was displayed. A brilliant light shone in Jiang Chen’s eyes. ’Lan Haichen, with over 2.3 billion points? He’s really left everyone else in the dust. But I’m holding onto the two billion from the Cyan Radiance Celestial Palace, and I still haven’t collected the points from Yinn Tianzong and the others.’
’I’ll wait until the very last moment to surpass you, to send you toppling from the heavens back down to the mortal realm!’
Jiang Chen sneered.
He then summoned the Celestial Fate Daoist of Haifeng City, preparing to exchange his points for two more Spirit Nurturing Divine Fruits and attempt to break through to the Fourth-Grade Divine Thought Grandmaster realm.
However, things don’t always go as planned.
Just as Jiang Chen was about to make the exchange, his Communication Token suddenly vibrated violently. Startled, Jiang Chen took out the Communication Token and saw the message written on it: "Alliance Leader, life-or-death crisis. Come to the First State to save me, quickly! —Ruan Lingyun!"
’Ruan Lingyun is in the First State? He’s a veteran of my Heaven-Soaring Alliance. I have to save him!’ Jiang Chen took a deep breath, then looked toward the Celestial Fate Daoist. "Senior, I wish to travel to the First State. Is there a way?"
"There is a way, but it will cost two hundred million points!" the Celestial Fate Daoist said with a smile.
Jiang Chen felt a sharp pang of regret.
A Great Void Transmission Talisman only cost one hundred million points!
Why did teleporting to the First State cost double the price?
However, to save his brother, Jiang Chen could only grit his teeth and pay the two hundred million points. He received a Great Void Transmission Talisman fixed to the First State’s coordinates. After leaving a message for White Tiger and Bai Ling via his Communication Order, he activated the Great Void Transmission Talisman at top speed, leaving the Ninth State and heading for the First State!
