Chapter 457 - Invitation

Whoosh!

A single figure shot out like a cannonball over the horizon at ten times the speed of sound, slamming into Mount Dadong.

Kaboom!

The world quaked.

Mount Dadong, having been destroyed by Jiang He once before, and its surrounding valleys that stretched on for hundreds of kilometers were reduced to nothing. The rundown buildings in Yuzhen, located just outside Mount Dadong, collapsed while the broken roads shattered.

In fact, it was not just Yuzhen. Cities further away were collapsing from the same ‘earthquake’, though Yuzhen and all of those other cities were long since uninhabited, apart from some martial artists roaming the wildlands to train.

Kaboom!

Standing outside his yard, Jiang He could actually feel the violent tremors from three hundred kilometers away.

With a single thought, his bottomless immortal strength surged out and suppressed the tremors, though there was a look of concern on his face—

“That Grand Luo was probably friendly.”

“There would be a major misunderstanding if I actually killed him.”

“Moreover, Grand Luo are never alone. What if their friends, family, fellow disciples. or elders come to bother me? Wouldn’t I be dead?”

Jiang He felt a headache at the thought.

He had gained a lot of information about the celestial battlefield thanks to the returning immortals.

Grand Luo were superior beings and in a league of their own in the celestial battlefield.

It would be fine if that Grand Luo operated alone or was the founder of a certain sect, though Jiang He was worried that he would have companions and the like.

For example, the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect already had a load of Grand Luo and were not short of Demi-Saints.

Jiang He’s immortal will extended.

Beneath a field of debris at Mount Dadong…

Cough.

Violent coughing echoed, and a ragged figure soon flew out from the debris.

The blue-clothed man coughed large mouthfuls of blood, his complexion having paled and his clothes in tatters.

Looking as if he had seen a ghost, he muttered, “Golden Immortal?”

“How the hell was that a Golden Immortal? Not even Grand Luo are usually this powerful, please!”

Dao presence flickered over his body.

His wounds rapidly recovered.

Even his torn clothes became brand-new.

Regaining the strut of an immortal, the middle-aged man covered his face with his hand and said unhappily, “This is embarrassing. I was putting on airs in front of those Golden Immortals and True Immortals just days ago, and ended up beaten up by Jiang He the moment I showed my face. Wouldn’t I lose all dignity if word of this gets out?”

That was when he noticed that sharply that hundreds, even over a thousand immortal wills were extending towards him.

There were only too many immortals in the Hua Nation, and a commotion this big could naturally be felt by those immortals.

Even the immortal wills of Heavenly Immortals covered half of the country.

The blue-clothed middle-aged man promptly withdrew his aura and disappeared in a flash.

Meanwhile, veins of immortal wills interweaved in the air, ‘seeing’ the ruins of Mount Dadong before withdrawing hesitantly upon noticing the middle-aged man.

At the same time, the middle-aged man appeared before Jiang He.

He did not fly over there, and had instead used a spatial shift technique to move there.

In Jingdu City…

“Eh?”

Wang Hou’s expression changed and he disappeared from his office in a flash to appear outside Jiang He’s house in two minutes.

He looked around, giving a look at the distant bell silhouette shielding Lingzhou City and then at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man smiled. “This must be Minister Wang?”

As he spoke, he offered a fist-palm salute and appeared rather respectful in his speech, spouting a whole bunch of courteous words that left Jiang He confused…

What’s going on?

Is this mongrel really so respectful towards Wang Hou?

Why does it feel a little different for him?

Am I being belittled here?

His guilt about injuring the middle-aged man by accident evaporating at that thought, Jiang He asked with a cold look and a flat tone, “How do I address you, Brother? What is your business coming to my house?”

Wang Hou’s eyes shifted at those words.

He did not know the specifics of what had happened, but since Jiang He made a move…

He just had to side with him.

On the other hand, the middle-aged man did a double-take before laughing loud and said, “Please don’t misunderstand, Brothers, for I have no ill-intent—I am Yu Yuan, a disciple of the Jie Sect. I have returned to our homeworld under orders from my Patriarch to meet you two.”

“Yu Yuan?”

Wang Hou and Jiang He traded glances, and were able to see the shock in each other’s eyes.

He was a mythical figure of significance in Hua Nation’s divine myths.

He was a third-generation disciple of the Jie Sect who came under the tutelage of the Golden Spirit Saintess, one of the four chief disciples of the sect itself. Moreover, his Blood God Blade technique was famous throughout the ages.

“Brother Yu Yuan, I see.”

Jiang He’s attitude became much peaceful, and he offered a fist-palm salute while Wang Hou spoke courteously as well.

Yu Yuan waved them off, chuckling, “It was I who did not give this much thought. No need to be concerned, Brother Jiang He.”

He was actually underestimating Jiang He a little before and had called him by his name, but it was obvious that he treated Jiang He as an equal by addressing him as ‘Brother’.

After more courteous small talk, Jiang he invited Yu Yuan into his mansion.

Boa Hancock quickly served three cups of Old Tea of Enlightenment.

As the tea’s aroma swirled, Yu Yuan’s pupils narrowed.

Staring at the tea cups still placed on the tea table, he noticed the ever distinct patterns on the Old Tea Leaves of Enlightenment floating on top of the scalding tea, and promptly cried out in surprise, “Brother Jiang He… could this tea be the legendary Old Tea of Enlightenment?”

Jiang He had a sip of the hot tea and smiled. “Good eye, Brother.”

Yu Yuan was speechless.

His very gaze toward Jiang He changed.

The Tea of Enlightenment was a legendary spirit plant. It was said that there had been a single Old Tea Tree of Enlightenment growing deep within the forbidden grounds of the celestial battlefield, but having gained Dao, no one except Saints could pluck a single leaf from it.

“Not even our patriarch had more than a handful of Old Tea Leaves of Enlightenment… even my master and her fellow disciples had only more than a few sips of this tea, let alone myself… and yet Jiang He has it?”

Raising his cup, Yu Yuan had a sip and savored it. He then felt a special Dao presence swirling in his mind’s eye—while his Dao sight had been like grasping at straws before, it had become much clearer now.

Clearly, the Old Tea of Enlightenment worked even for a Grand Luo like Yu Yuan.

He then looked at Jiang He to find him chugging it, as if he was drinking typical water from a mountain spring and not the extremely precious Old Tea Leaves of Enlightenment.

“Eh?”

“Hold on!”

Watching as Jiang He chugged a cup of Old Tea of Enlightenment after another, Yu Yuan could not help being stunned inwardly and ask, “Brother Jiang He, this tea works incredibly even for Grand Luo such as I, and I felt as if my enlightenment of Dao has improved several notches after drinking it. Why is there no reaction for you even though you are drinking more than one cup?”

Beside them, Wang Hou appeared to be feeling the enlightenment as well, with Martial Dao emanating out of his body and appearing rather profound.

Jiang He flashed a pained smile and replied, “It might be my poor constitution that a cup is far from enough for me to gain enlightenment.”

He then had two more cups, and there was no reaction either. “Or perhaps it has nothing to do with constitution… I may have developed immunity towards the Old Tea of Enlightenment.”

“Immunity?”

Yu Yuan was puzzled.

Jiang He patiently explained, “This stuff is like medicinal pellets.”

“Anyway, to use an analogy… the commoners have a medicine called anti-inflammatories. Its effect is best on the first usage, but weakens when used long-term. This might be the same thing with the Old Tea of Enlightenment, as I must have developed immunity after drinking it every day.”

Yu Yuan was dumbstruck.

He was blue with shock.

Just listen to this man…

Is this how a person talks?

Developing immunity towards the Old Tea of Enlightenment?

Moreover, drinking it every day?

Do you really take it for ordinary water now?

After they had their tea and a little small talk, Yu Yuan’s tone changed and he cut to the chase, saying, “The leaders of the Hundred Races Alliance are seething after their legion was routed, and it is especially true for some lesser races that suffered overwhelming casualties. They would not be trying anything against our homeworld for the foreseeable moment.”

As he spoke, he looked at Jiang He and smiled, “Brother Jiang He, word of how you overwhelmed Modolo and White Sky had echoed throughout worlds. Legends of you are now spread even in the celestial battlefield, and even most Grand Luo knows that we humans have an immeasurably powerful Golden Immortal added to our ranks.”

“…”

Jiang He appeared baffled and muttered, “I don’t even know where the celestial battlefield is… how did I become a legend there?”

“Oh, by the way!”

His tone changed then as if remembering something, and he said unhappily, “I should have named myself at the time… even if the other races know that there is a powerful human Golden Immortal, how could I feel good knowing they don’t know what my name is?”

Both Yu Yuan and Wang Hou could not hold back from laughing out loud at that.

“Brother Jiang He, Brother Wang Hou… to tell the truth, I have returned to our homeworld under my partriach’s orders to invite the two of you to the celestial battlefield…”