Chapter 830: Jiang Shan? The Empire!

Jiang Shan sighed and said, "We both know very well the value of this treasure. I believe that not only you, but even if it were me, I would not easily hand it over to others. This is only human nature; what crime have you committed?"

He understood the underlying meaning behind Nangong Zhantian's offering of the treasure.

If initially, out of fear for his own clan leader, he had no choice but to assist him,

then by now, the other party had finally become genuinely convinced and willing, truly integrating into the Cangwu Merchant Association to become one of their own.

Thinking of this, a trace of joy welled up in his heart.

With such a powerful expert at the ninth level of the Myriad Manifestations Realm sincerely assisting him, how could he worry about great matters not succeeding?

Seeing that the Association Leader bore no resentment, Nangong Zhantian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If his deliberate concealment of the divine iron's news had caused the other party's displeasure and created a rift between them, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

Fortunately, changing his approach now to curry favor with the Cangwu Jiang family was not too late.

Jiang Shan reached out, took the divine iron, and said in a deep voice, "I already understand your intentions. For this merit of offering treasure, I will certainly report it to the Clan Leader my lord in the future..."

Overjoyed, Nangong Zhantian quickly cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, Association Leader. I beg you to speak kindly of me before the Clan Leader my lord when the time comes, so that he may know the Nangong family's unwavering loyalty to the Cangwu Jiang family, with absolutely no second thoughts!"

Although the divine iron was of high value, he had absolutely no use for it.

But in contrast, the high regard and appreciation shown by Clan Leader Jiang were entirely different matters.

Judging by the other party's unfathomable strength, even a mere crumb of benefit slipping through his fingers would be enough for him to feast until his bowl overflowed.

It was no exaggeration to say that his hope of achieving the Primordial Spirit realm likely rested entirely on Clan Leader Jiang.

Jiang Shan nodded and said, "Rest assured, I will certainly not let your efforts go to waste."

The grade of this divine iron was so high that even within the Moonlight Empire, it counted as an extremely rare supreme treasure, sufficient to provoke many old monsters at the Heavenly Human realm to fight over it!

Having accepted such a valuable item, he owed it to both emotion and reason to specifically mention it to the Clan Leader.

Seeing Jiang Shan agree, Nangong Zhantian could hardly contain his excitement: "I trouble you, Association Leader; I am infinitely grateful!"

With that, and not wishing to disturb the other party, he immediately took his leave.

Soon, only Jiang Shan remained in the vast room.

He lowered his head, gazing at the piece of divine iron in his hand, brilliant light flashing in his eyes.

"To repair the King of Men's Seal, one must gather divine iron of low-grade Saint rank, along with extremely potent human path aura and kingly path aura."

"Only thus can one stir the dormant spirituality within it and awaken it..."

"Now that the low-grade Saint rank divine iron is secured, only the final two special auras are needed to complete the repair."

Thinking of this, Jiang Shan couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"The King of Men's Seal was once a mid-grade Saint rank treasure; it absolutely cannot be awakened by ordinary auras."

"The intensity of the human path aura and kingly path aura required is such that I'm afraid even the Qin Wang's Seal, which bears the national fortune of the Great Qin, would be unable to satisfy it."

"Looking across the world, only the National Jade Seal of the Moonlight Empire offers hope of meeting this condition."

"But within the Moonlight Empire, there are numerous powerful experts, including no shortage of old monsters at the Heavenly Human level; how could I possibly obtain this object?"

Jiang Shan knitted his brows tightly, sinking into deep contemplation.

Suddenly, his gaze inadvertently fell upon the Cangwu Token hanging at his waist.

In that instant, his heart shook violently!

Since following conventional logic absolutely could not achieve this condition,

then what if he sought out the Clan Leader, who never played by the rules—could that succeed?

"The winds rise and the clouds surge; time waits for no one..."

Jiang Shan's eyes were profound and deep.

As the Association Leader of the Cangwu Merchant Association, he naturally understood his organization's duties.

Besides conducting transactions with cultivators on a daily basis, they also bore the responsibility of gathering intelligence.

It could be said that the current Cangwu Merchant Association served as the family's eyes in the outside world.

And according to intelligence he had obtained not long ago,

it was said that the neighboring nation of "Great Qian" had already dispatched troops, engaging in multiple skirmishes with Great Qin along the border.

Spreading alongside this news was word that Yuwen Feng, the Imperial Preceptor of Great Qin, had suffered severe injuries.

He knew of Yuwen Feng's injury because the man was currently recuperating within his own residence.

But how did Great Qian come to know of it?

Although Jiang Shan did not know the answer, he understood that the enemy had calculated that Yuwen Feng was unable to act, and thus chose this exact moment to strike against Great Qin.

Although currently these were merely minor border skirmishes, once the timing was ripe, the conflict would absolutely escalate.

By then, the flames of war would surely sweep across the entire territory of Great Qin, and no faction would be able to remain safe and sound!

Regarding this point, Jiang Shan harbored not the slightest doubt.

After all, considering the blood feud between the two nations from the previous generation, the current King of Qian would absolutely not let this opportunity slip by!

As far as he knew, the grievances existing between Great Qin and Great Qian had persisted for approximately six hundred years.

Originally, with the ascension of the late King of Qian, there had been hope that everything could be resolved.

Unwilling to see his people suffer further from the flames of war, the late King of Qian, in pursuit of peace, overrode all objections in the imperial court and decided to actively resolve this feud with Great Qin.

The late Qin Wang had been of the same mind.

The two saw eye to eye, both halting hostilities, bringing a brief period of peace to the two nations.

During this time, to demonstrate his firm commitment to the concept of peace, the late King of Qian specifically dispatched the Crown Prince of Great Qian to visit Great Qin, thereby strengthening the friendship between the two nations.

However, good times never last long.

One day, the Crown Prince of Great Qin, who is the current Qin Wang, and the Crown Prince of Great Qian, while in a tea house, actually fought over a woman out of jealousy, even coming to blows.

The result was that the Crown Prince of Great Qin, overwhelmed by rage, lifted a chessboard and smashed the Crown Prince of Great Qian to death on the spot!

Once this news spread, the already fragile friendship between the two nations instantly shattered!

Old grudges and new hatreds had made the two nations increasingly hostile toward each other.

As for the woman in the teahouse who had sparked all this trouble, because she was the Holy Maiden of a Heaven-Man-rank sect of the Moon Splendor Imperial Court, the two nations could do nothing about her.

Recalling the beginning and end of the two nations' feud, Jiang Shan could not help but feel a surge of urgency in his heart.

In the past, the Great Qin had Yuwen Feng holding the line, which made the Great Qian wary of acting rashly and did not dare to launch a large-scale invasion.

But now Yuwen Feng's divine soul had suffered grave damage, and in the short term he could not show himself at all.

War between the two nations was about to erupt.

This was also the best time for him to establish a dynasty of fortune, win the hearts of the people, and bring about a change of dynasty in Great Qin!

"That's why I say, time waits for no man..."

Jiang Shan slowly rose and stepped away from the grand armchair.

He then took out the Cangwu Token and tapped it open.

His gaze swept across and landed on the clan leader's clan channel.

The void, White Jade Capital.

Jiang Daoxuan, who had been immersed in cultivating, suddenly sensed an unusual tremor from the Cangwu Token.

He opened his eyes, took out the Cangwu Token, and looked.

He saw that it was a message sent by Jiang Shan.

Inside, everything about the "Human King Seal" was explained in detail.

Of course, it also included the matter of obtaining the divine iron from Nangong Zhantian's hands.

At the end of the message, the current predicament was mentioned.

After Jiang Daoxuan finished reading the message, he could not help but chuckle lightly: "Well, Jiang Shan, I didn't expect you to be carrying such a fortuitous destiny."

"Jiang Shan? Jiang Shan!"

"Everything was long destined, the threads of fate in the unseen world — wonderfully ineffable..."