Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 414 - 408: An Immortal from Heaven [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1
The Jade Emperor was in a difficult predicament. But still, he made a decision.
At first, he declined, as politeness required.
The Jinghe Dragon King, however, was resolute and directly relinquished his power, even offering to move out of the Jinghe Dragon Palace.
The Jade Emperor could hardly refuse any longer. Although the Jinghe Dragon King’s action gave the impression that he was being forced to give up power, the Emperor had long coveted control over the mortal realm’s water systems. To directly acquire it now would be ideal. Naturally, it was best to gain power without bearing a bad reputation.
Then, the Jade Emperor also took the initiative to exonerate the children of the Jinghe Dragon King and restore their good names.
Previously, to deal with the Jinghe Dragon King, the Jade Emperor had prompted many ministers to fabricate accusations against his children. The children of the Jinghe Dragon King held significant power over water systems in various terrestrial sanctuaries. This was part of the Emperor’s gradual approach to seizing power over terrestrial water systems. By framing numerous children of the Jinghe Dragon King, it seemingly justified actions against him. This suggested to the public that if his offspring were at fault, he, as their father, couldn’t be much better.
They were all tarred with the same brush, and it was time to round them all up.
Now that the Jinghe Dragon King had proactively submitted his power, the Jade Emperor naturally made a gesture, vindicating his children.
After the Jinghe Dragon King expressed his thanks, he even actively applied to reside in the Heavenly Court, not returning to the Jinghe Dragon Palace for the time being!
The Jade Emperor was even more pleased and designated a piece of land to construct a new Heavenly Realm Jinghe Dragon Palace for the Jinghe Dragon King to reside in.
It was sort of a house arrest in the Heavenly Realm.
With that, the matter was temporarily set aside.
「Flowing Sand River Cave.」
Sha Chen, having read the message delivered by Kui Mulang, learned of the whole story and its final outcome. He then informed Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl.
Ao Lie clenched his fist and said, "How despicable! By surrendering power this time, Uncle has weakened our Dragon Clan even further."
The Dragon Girl snorted, "This is too much! The Jade Emperor has gone too far! Sooner or later, our Dragon Clan will reclaim this justice."
Sha Chen replied indifferently, "If you want to reclaim justice, relying on the Dragon Clan won’t suffice. To become strong, to stand tall and proud in the Three Realms, you must become strong yourselves."
"At present, the strongest in the entire Dragon Clan is the ancient Yinglong, who once aided the three sovereigns and five emperors. However, his whereabouts are unknown. After him are your fathers’ generation, the Four Seas Dragon Kings. At their strongest, they are only Daluo Golden Immortals."
Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl bowed their heads.
Being a Daluo Golden Immortal used to be a formidable achievement and what they strove for all their lives. However, now it seemed to them that being a Daluo Golden Immortal was merely the beginning. For the revival of the Dragon Clan, Daluo Golden Immortals were far from sufficient.
Ao Lie said, "Brother, we must become stronger; we must become even stronger! Daluo Golden Immortal is not our end goal. We aspire to become Quasi-Saints, or, if there’s a chance, to become Sub-Sages."
The Dragon Girl said, "Before, we dared not even think of such things, but with General Brother, we have hope. General Brother, I’ll become your concubine; please help us."
Sha Chen rolled his eyes. Help, I can offer. But become my concubine? This girl...
Sha Chen said, "Don’t worry. Since you’ve followed me, you are my people. I will naturally help."
The Dragon Girl’s eyes brightened, and she threw herself into Sha Chen’s arms, exclaiming, "That’s wonderful, General Brother! You’ve finally acknowledged that I’m yours!"
Sha Chen pushed her away. What a mess!
He urged them to continue their cultivation. "Keep cultivating. Unless you break through to the advanced stage of Da Luo, you cannot go out."
They had been stuck at this stage for quite a while now—too long, by Sha Chen’s standards, of course. In their past, breaking through this stage would have taken a lifetime.
Ao Lie said with a bitter expression, "Brother, it’s too hard. We probably need to undergo trials to break through."
Sha Chen looked at him and said indifferently, "Your elder brother Ao Moang is also at mid-stage Da Luo, and so are you. If you want to surpass him, you need to be one step ahead. By the time you go out for trials, he might already be breaking through."
Ao Lie’s body trembled, and a competitive fire flashed in his eyes. He then gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and said, "I will not lose to him, Brother! I am going into closed-door cultivation now!"
Sha Chen turned to look at the Dragon Girl. "When we first met, you were several realms stronger than Ao Lie. Now, you are advancing side by side with him. Don’t you have anything to say about that?"
The Dragon Girl was about to say something cheeky when Sha Chen continued, "I don’t need useless people around me. If your talent isn’t up to par, don’t come to me again. Just leave whatever you bring, put it down, and go."
The Dragon Girl’s body instantly trembled, afraid of losing Sha Chen. She quickly relented, grabbing Sha Chen’s hand and shaking it back and forth. "General Brother, I was wrong! I truly was! Don’t be angry. I will definitely cultivate earnestly and strive to improve. I won’t let you down, and I will break through faster than Ao Lie!"
Sha Chen said, "It better be true. Anyone can talk big."
The Dragon Girl’s face turned red. "General Brother, can you not just ’talk big’?"
Sha Chen was taken aback.
The Dragon Girl continued, "This dragon here can give you a ’blow’."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Sha Chen gave her a savage beating. "Didn’t you want to temper yourself? To break through between life and death? It starts now. I’ll help you."
He hit her hard, battering the Dragon Girl until she howled in pain, her face bruised and swollen, begging for mercy over and over. "General Brother, I was wrong, I was wrong! Don’t hit me anymore! It hurts so badly! Go easy! Stop! Not there..."
「Another year passed.」
Ao Lie and the Dragon Girl had both entered critical closed-door cultivation, sensing the cusp of a breakthrough.
Sha Chen’s refining of the million-year-old White Tiger bone had also yielded some results; his physical body was greatly enhanced. His physical body had originally only reached the initial stage of the Primeval Chaos Law Body. Now, he had solidified his cultivation in this stage and advanced further. This saved him over a hundred thousand years of arduous cultivation. One could imagine how potent the White Tiger bone truly was.
Besides strengthening his physical body, the White Tiger bone also deepened Sha Chen’s understanding of the True Dragon Body Forging Technique and the Yuanfeng True Secret. These were originally cultivation methods of divine beasts. Having refined the White Tiger bone, Sha Chen’s deeper comprehension of divine beasts naturally extended to their cultivation techniques.
Having completely refined the White Tiger bone and strengthened his body, Sha Chen planned to cultivate his mana and advance his cultivation level.
Meanwhile, the belated envoy from the Heavenly Court, Great White Plane Li Changgeng, finally arrived, imperial decree in hand. He had not brought other immortals, arriving alone.
Upon reaching the Flowing Sand River, he started to call out at the entrance, "General for Folding the Curtain! General for Folding the Curtain! Congratulations, congratulations! Such a joyous occasion, a joyous occasion! General for Folding the Curtain, come out quickly to receive the decree!"
Great White Plane called out from outside, his face wreathed in smiles as if truly momentous joyous news had arrived.
Initially, Sha Chen paid no attention. Knowing Sha Chen’s temperament, Great White Plane made it clear that the joyous news concerned Sha Chen and that, as an old friend, Sha Chen shouldn’t be wary of him.
Only then did Sha Chen transmit his voice in reply, "Sir Li, what exactly is the matter?"
Seeing that Sha Chen had responded, Li Changgeng breathed a sigh of relief, his expression somewhat complicated. He sighed internally. There was a time he could come here swaggering openly and righteously. If he called out a couple of times and Sha Chen didn’t respond, he would attack. Even if he couldn’t break through, he could still force Sha Chen to be polite and respectful. Now, Sha Chen had merely responded, without a hint of respect in his tone, yet Li Changgeng felt almost flattered. In just three hundred years, the power dynamic between them had completely reversed and the gap widened. The complexity of emotions in Great White Plane’s heart was palpable. If only he could return to three hundred years ago, he thought wistfully. Back then, Sha Chen was so weak, so easy to bully.
As he was lost in these thoughts, Sha Chen bellowed, "Li Changgeng! If you have something to say, say it quickly!"
Li Changgeng was startled. He initially wanted to flare up, but Sha Chen’s stern shout carried a deterrence that shocked him.
His instinctive reaction was, "Yes, yes, I’ll speak right away..."
After coming back to his senses, a pang of bitterness welled up in his heart.
