Chapter 72 - 72 Hostage
“Jiang, the Human Emperor?! Even though his appearance has changed, the three recognized Jiang’s voice from his tone and voice.
“H-How did you get here?”
“I heard you guys have caught the attention of Tian Sha Pavilion, just came to enjoy the show.” Jiang chuckled.
“Huh? Dragon family has sent assassins to kill us?” All three were shocked, they didn’t think the Dragon family would be so relentless.
“It’s you two they’re after, nothing to do with Song Ying.” Jiang corrected.
It was clear to the three of them that the Dragon family intended to kill the master and apprentice and take advantage of Song Ying.
“So, how did you guys manage to upset the locals?” Jiang asked, showing a keen interest.
Yuan Wuxing recounted the entire situation from the perspective of a bystander, with Qin Luan and Song Ying occasionally adding a few words.
“Now the Dragon family is guarding around Longyin city planning to assassinate us, I can, of course, escape, but I’m not confident about protecting Qin Luan and Song Ying.”
“The elder of Dragon family at the Divinity Transformation stage won’t bother with this small matter. The Dragon family can only dispatch a Nascent Soul cultivator to forcefully kill us. They are worried that I’ll drag a Nascent Soul stage follower with me to death, making it an unjustifiable loss. We and the Dragon family are both caught in a dilemma. I was thinking about their next move, I didn’t expect them to send an assassin!”
Actually, as soon as Yuan Wuxing started, Jiang could guess most of it. It was the same old story; the Dragon family forcibly abducting a woman, a young man standing up against the injustice, the conflict eventually escalating.
“You guys, you’re too honest, you can’t break the habits of Zhou Dynasty. The
Dragon family issue can be easily resolved.” Jiang laughed, “The Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty runs on its own rules, the strong are respected, play low tricks, forget about reason and learn to adapt.”
“You are the Human Emperor, you have absolute power, of course you would fear nothing!” Qin Luan, unhappy, stated, only to be admonished by Yuan Wuxing.
Jiang was not annoyed: “So let’s run an experiment. I’m currently Huang Li, your friend from Zhou Dynasty, just like you, completed the Golden Core Stage. ”
As Jiang spoke, the unfathomable feeling disappeared. To bystanders, he would appear just as an ordinary cultivator. Yuan Wuxing perceived him as a Golden Core cultivator, and his Golden Core was full, the grade was not low, ranking among the top three of the Golden Core Stage, but he could not determine the exact rank. That was something only a cultivator at the Divinity Transformation stage could do.
“Watch how I do it.” Jiang, indeed, only used the power at the Golden Core stage and didn’t use any techniques that surpassed the power of Golden Core stage, such as Divine Sense.
“Where does the third son of the Dragon family usually make an appearance?”
After thinking for a moment, Qin Luan said, “Injury caused by me should have left him bedridden but considering the Dragon family’s wealth, he should have already been healed by the spirit pills. He’s either roaming around the market, bullying people and dominating women, or he’s somewhere competing in a contest area. That’s where I bumped into him, publicly abducting women.”
Jiang nodded, “Then head to the market to check it out. Wuxing, as an elder at the Nascent Soul Stage, you can trail behind us.”
Being referred to as an elder by Jiang greatly shocked Yuan Wuxing.
Jiang then descended the stairs, followed by Qin Luan and Song Ying, with Yuan Wuxing secretly following them.
“Don’t forget your veil.” Qin Luan reminded Song Ying, knowing that she was attractive and that could easily stir up trouble in this city of Longyin. At first, he lacked experience, but after the troubles with the Dragon family,
Qin Luan realized the necessity to stay low profile.
Song Ying gently veiled half her face in white, then used the shadow created by her wide brimmed straw hat to cover the other half; hence she wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention.
“That said, why did Song Ying come here? Did you come across Qin Luan by chance in the Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty?” Jiang puzzled.
Although the reality was far from Jiang’s conjecture, Song Ying was not in favor of telling the truth for she was, in fact, following Qin Luan’s footsteps to the chaotic Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty, so she was forced to agree.
“I see. All this time I thought that you liked me and followed me here.”
Qin Luan was taken aback, after the trip to the Mysterious Secret Realm, he thought that Song Ying had developed feelings for him. However, it now seemed like he had overthought.
Song Ying smiled at Jiang, revealing nothing about clenching her little fist hidden in her sleeve, ready to strike.
Currently, Jiang was at the Golden Core Stage and didn’t use his Divine Sense, hence, he couldn’t see the fist Song Ying had concealed inside her sleeve.
Upon arriving at the bustling market, the voices of street vendors ringing through the area, the scene was lively. Jiang had been round and about for several rounds but didn’t come across a scene of men bullying or dominating women. However, there was plenty of thievery and counterfeit products.
It was a wonder how Qin Luan and Song Ying managed to stumble across a girl being forced upon the moment they arrived.
“It seems the third son of the Dragon family is not around here. By the way, what’s his name?”
“Dragon San Shui, he has two older brothers, Dragon Da Jin and Dragon Er Huo.”
“…The Dragon family is pretty cultured, they even know about gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.”
“Yes, when I first heard how the Dragon family name their children, I thought my master was Dragon San Shui’s father.” Qin Luan replied while nodding his head repeatedly, then he felt a kick from Yuan Wuxing lurking from behind.
Dragon San Shui was indeed on a contest stage, in high spirits.
Just recovered from a severe illness, he needed a good vent. So, he had a contest stage set up.
“These are ten medium-grade Spirit Stones, who is willing to come up here and get beaten up by me!” Dragon San Shui stood in the middle of the stage and looked invincible.
Jiang could tell that this guy’s power at the Foundation Establishment stage was all built up by pills, he would be useless at the Golden Core Stage for the rest of his life.
But who said the Dragon family didn’t have money?
“Here!” A cultivator, also at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, climbed onto the stage. His fundamentals were deep, much stronger than Dragon San Shui.
However, this cultivator was quickly overwhelmed by Dragon San Shui’s messy attacks. Eventually, he fell to the floor, got a good beating from Dragon San Shui.
“Splendid!” Dragon San Shui looked satisfied. He threw the spirit stones at the cultivator, telling him to get off the stage.
“This is like buying a punching bag with spirit stones! ” Qin Luan murmured.
“Here are twenty mid-grade Spirit Stones, who is willing to come up and get beaten up by me!” Dragon San Shui took out more spirit stones. People knew the more stones they received, the worse they would get beaten up.
Despite this, many people were willing to go on stage.
“Me, me, me, I can take a beating!”
“I shouted the loudest!”
“I’m a Golden Core cultivator!”
Among the clamor, Jiang’s voice rang out the loudest. Everyone turned around in shock, his presence as a Golden Core cultivator amidst the Foundation Establishment cultivators was surprising.
Since a Golden Core cultivator was available as a punching bag, Dragon San Shui naturally chose Jiang.
“I have a condition.” Jiang said as he went up on the stage. “Give me the Spirit Stones first.”
Dragon San Shui, without any hesitation, threw the Spirit Stones directly at Jiang, not worried that Jiang would run away with the money. There were followers of the Nascent Soul Stage nearby. Jiang, as a Golden Core cultivator, couldn’t do much.
Jiang held on to the bag of Spirit Stones for a moment, then threw it back to Dragon San Shui.
Dragon San Shui caught the Spirit Stone bag, a puzzled look on his face.
“Since for twenty Spirit Stones a Golden Core cultivator is willing to get beaten up heartily, naturally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can also get beaten up by a Golden Core cultivator for the same price. It’s quite reasonable, don’t you think?”
As Jiang was laughing and reasoning, he fiercely rushed forward, got close to Dragon San Shui and started attacking violently.
“Stop!” The Nascent Soul cultivator reacted and was filled with rage, set on killing Jiang.
Jiang held onto Dragon San Shui’s pressure point and hid behind him, like a hostage, “If you dare attack me, I will kill him! Let’s see whose life is worth more, mine or the third son of the Dragon family!”