Chapter 235: We

In truth, when Li Chen mentioned the Sage Realm, Feng Chu had already mentally prepared himself.

It wasn't that Feng Chu was boasting, but in the entire cultivation world, those who could withstand that strike of his were few and far between.

For this person to still catch it so nonchalantly, it truly left him somewhat astonished.

There couldn't be more than a handful of such young Sage Realm experts on the entire continent, could there?

However, the demonic energy within Feng Chu's body remained somewhat manic, nearly spiraling out of control again.

Li Chen casually injected a burst of golden light, and the demonic energy within Feng Chu actually began to dissipate, which left even him feeling it was quite miraculous.

Feng Chu meditated for a while, exhaled a breath of turbid air, then bowed to Li Chen once more and said respectfully, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for saving my life. May I dare ask for your honorable name?"

Li Chen glanced at him and said, "My name is Li Chen."

Upon hearing this name, Feng Chu trembled all over and immediately knelt down: "This commoner pays respects to Your Majesty."

Li Chen's great name had long since spread across the continent, and the cultivators of the cultivation world were also thunderstruck by it; a Sage Realm Emperor who was still so young—there was only one such person.

Feng Chu had never expected that he would be able to encounter Li Chen here.

Li Chen raised a hand to signal him to rise and asked, "How did you appear here?"

Feng Chu replied, "Replying to Your Majesty, my sect is nearby. The elders were attacked by a very powerful demonic creature, so I came to resolve it. I didn't expect the creature to flee to this place, and I made a mistake in my haste. Fortunately, I was saved by Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not find me unworthy, Feng is willing to serve Your Majesty to repay your kindness."

If it were any other emperor, having such a powerhouse offer help would certainly make them smile with joy. However, Li Chen had far too many powerhouses under his command, and with his great fame, he was not lacking in helpers. Yet, seeing Feng Chu's good intentions and the rarity of a sect powerhouse offering allegiance, it might be a good start, so he found it difficult to refuse.

Thus, Li Chen spoke, "The imperial court is currently in need of talent. You may go find City Supervisor Lin Yue'e in Shanghe City. She will be in charge of the Sect Affairs Department in the future, and you will be able to put your talents to use."

Li Chen reckoned that the system's setting for Feng Chu was to be his own guardian, but Li Chen didn't need one, and Li Sining didn't either. Therefore, having him act as an assistant to Lin Yue'e wouldn't be a waste of talent.

Feng Chu was overjoyed upon hearing this; this meant he was being officially enlisted. He said gratefully, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty! This subject will certainly exert himself to the utmost until his dying day!"

Li Chen nodded, feeling that his attitude was acceptable, and then began to inquire about the origin of this demonic lair.

Feng Chu indicated that this lair was once the hiding place of an Outer Realm Heavenly Demon, which was later discovered by powerhouses from various sects who attacked it in unison.

After the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon was exterminated, this place became a spot for some sect disciples to grind for experience.

Li Chen continued to ask, "Are there no other secret passages here?"

Because Li Chen's system mission was still a few demonic creatures short of completion, and the creatures here had already been wiped out, Li Chen guessed that the system must be hinting at other secret passages, hence the question.

Feng Chu pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, since you put it that way, I also find it strange. The demonic creature I was pursuing should have come from this place, but there shouldn't be such a creature here. There must be something suspicious about this location."

Saying this, Feng Chu acted as a vanguard and took the lead in exploring.

Wu Nanzhi followed by Li Chen's side, and it turned out that just as Li Chen had expected, their group discovered a fissure in the deepest part of the demonic lair, from which powerful demonic energy was leaking.

Feng Chu stared at the fissure, his brows tightly locked: "This demonic energy is so intense; there must be something strange inside. It must be related to the demonic creature that attacked me."

Normally, one would need to request reinforcements here, but Li Chen was the strongest Sage Realm expert of the era; where would he need any assistance? He casually shattered the fissure and discovered that there was actually a whole new world inside.

The area here was vast, and demonic energy permeated the air.

Li Chen walked toward the center position and discovered a coffin.

There were nine dragons on the coffin, and it was also emitting dense demonic energy.

Feng Chu, who was nearby, exclaimed: "The World-Suppressing Bronze Coffin? I didn't expect it to be here!"

Li Chen began to analyze; the fact that the World-Suppressing Bronze Coffin was here meant two things.

First, the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon might have come to this world through the World-Suppressing Bronze Coffin.

Second, the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon's goal was to find this and open a passage.

Although Wu Nanzhi didn't know the use of the World-Suppressing Bronze Coffin, this was the second time she had followed Li Chen to see such a coffin. This time, she felt even more fearful than the last. It was said that there were nine World-Suppressing Bronze Coffins, and Li Chen had already found two.

To prevent the leakage of demonic energy, Li Chen dispersed the demonic energy on the coffin and casually set up a seal.

Finally, in the nearby area, he found more than ten demonic creatures, killed them with his own hands, and completed the mission.

Feng Chu praised Li Chen highly, stating that he hadn't even seen clearly what the demonic creatures were before they were all resolved by His Majesty. His Majesty was truly peerless under heaven.

Hearing him say this, Li Chen felt a bit like laughing. This old fellow was quite savvy; he hadn't even entered the officialdom yet, and he had already learned how to flatter.

Yet Feng Chu was not a simple person; even the two strongest Venerables of this place, True Person Chi Yuan and Superior Qingxu, had never been flattered by him—he only did so with Li Chen.

This was enough to show his respect for Li Chen, this Sage Realm Emperor; at the very least, Li Chen had saved his life.

Coming at Li Chen's level versus coming at a low level perhaps yielded different effects.

If someone of a low level had come here, Feng Chu would certainly have treated Li Chen as a junior and looked after him.

But now that Li Chen had come, Feng Chu had only loyalty!

He also never expected that this decision of his would cause the gears of his fate to begin turning.

The group left the demonic lair and temporarily parted ways. Feng Chu had to return to his sect first; he was the Sect Master of the Xiaguang Sword Sect and had many matters to handle. After finishing the sect's business, he would then go to report to the imperial court's Sect Affairs Department. Li Chen prepared to return to Shanghe City; he hadn't seen Lin Yue'e for a long time and needed to check on her cultivation progress.

At the same time, at the Jiang family in Shanghe City.

Jiang Mo had prepared food here to host the group from her sect.

It was just a simple meal; she was now the head of the Jiang family in Shanghe City, so she could certainly arrange for any delicacies.

At the dinner party, everyone reviewed what had just happened in the demonic lair.

Sect cultivators were basically like this; every time they went out for training, they would review the process of the training, thinking about whether there were any shortcomings in this training and making some changes next time.

As they chatted, several people brought up Li Chen.

One of Jiang Mo's senior sisters asked, "I heard your sister is an Imperial Consort?"

Jiang Mo nodded and replied, "That's right, I also have an aunt who is an Imperial Consort."

She didn't mention that her mother and others in the family had also moved into the imperial palace.

!

Everyone felt that the women of the Jiang family were truly beautiful, being repeatedly valued by the Emperor.

The two senior brothers, who still had bruises on their mouths, were also guessing that since Jiang Mo looked like this, her sister probably wasn't much worse. They truly envied the Emperor for being able to eat so well.

Ning Tao, meanwhile, frowned slightly. She felt that the imperial family was overbearing; they could forcibly recruit any woman they liked into the harem, and her disgust for the imperial family increased by a few points.

She just didn't dare to show it in front of Li Chen, which didn't mean she had changed her view of the imperial family.

Jiang Mo's two senior sisters were also very worried about their sweethearts. The two of them felt that their sweethearts had offended the Emperor, so they had to be careful in their future actions and must not be caught with any leverage.

This time, the two senior brothers didn't talk back; they also realized the severity of the situation. The imperial family didn't seem as weak as they had imagined; it was even very aggressive.

They still had lingering fears about Li Chen's power just now.

Facing their junior sister's care, they were also very grateful; it was truly in times of adversity that one saw true feelings.

Previously, they had been bewitched by Jiang Mo's beauty, but now they realized that there were truly people around them who were good to them, and such people were the most worth cherishing.

These four began to show off their affection, and only when they heard their master Ning Tao's cough did they restrain themselves.

Ning Tao and Jiang Mo were both somewhat speechless: We're still standing right here, and you two have already started showing off your affection?

Seeing her disciples reconciled as before, she was indeed happy.

After all, the disciples had reached this age, and it was indeed time to consider their own futures.

They were all people from the sect, and they could help each other.

Just at this moment, a noisy sound appeared outside the Jiang residence's main gate.

"This is the Jiang residence; idlers are not allowed to enter."

The head maid of the Jiang residence blocked a group of people outside.

The head maid was a disciple of Xie Minjun and had previously been a sect cultivator; now she had just changed to a different place to cultivate, and her strength was not bad.

She was responsible for looking after the Jiang family's industries in Shanghe City. Although Jiang Mo was the head of the Shanghe City family, she still had to go to the sect to cultivate, so the head maid was the actual person in charge here.

And now, a group of people dressed in expensive clothing wanted to forcibly enter the Jiang residence, so the head maid had to block them, and the two sides began to confront each other like this.

Among that group of people outside the gate, the leader was a pot-bellied Prince, who was wearing a brocade robe embroidered with gold dragons, the hem of the robe swaying gently in the wind, fully displaying his extraordinary nobility.

On that brocade robe, golden dragons were soaring through the clouds, lifelike and imposing.

This person was exactly Li Yanhui, a vassal prince who had inherited his father's throne. His face was full of fat, the corners of his mouth hooked into a smug smile, and his eyes revealed a craving for power and greed for beauty.

He was surrounded by a group of subordinates dressed in gorgeous clothing, each of them arrogant and despotic; as the lackeys of a Prince, they didn't put ordinary people in their eyes at all.

Li Yanhui had heard that Ning Tao was here, so he brought numerous experts with him, aggressive and vowing to snatch Ning Tao back to get married.

He secretly calculated that with Ning Tao's peerless beauty, if he could take her into his residence, he would certainly be able to add much luster among the many vassal princes.

Moreover, if Ning Tao were in the sect, he wouldn't be able to use force, but since she was here now, she was already in his pocket.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, discussing and guessing who this sacred person was, daring to be so arrogant in front of the Jiang residence gate.

Facing the head maid's obstruction, Li Yanhui's subordinates roared even more arrogantly: "Move aside! Do you know who this is? This is a Prince! Can you afford to offend him?"

Their words were full of intimidation, as if the head maid would immediately suffer a disaster if she dared to block them again.

Li Yanhui, however, did not speak personally, just standing to the side, proudly raising his head and looking at people through his nostrils.

As a Prince, his power was overwhelming; who dared not to fear him?

Now that the imperial court's situation was turbulent and Emperor Li Chen was overly aggressive, the imperial family had also begun to become arrogant and despotic.

If it were the head maid of an ordinary family, she would certainly have been scared out of her wits upon hearing this; offending the imperial family was a very dangerous thing, let alone a Prince!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 236 =====