Chapter 3603: Puzzling

Just as Ye Beifeng was entranced by the benefits that would come from the Ye family gaining another Immortal Exalt, the Master of Fire Virtue’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Little Feng, you should head back first. There’s no need for you to wait here.”

With that, Ye Beifeng was taken aback. He asked in confusion, “Senior, what has happened? Chang Yang should be here soon.”

“Go back. Forget about Chang Yang. Tell that junior from your family that if he wants the Thousand Immortal General’s post, then he better try and obtain it through his own strength and not resort to some shortcut.” The Master of Fire Virtue waved his hand.

Ye Beifeng became more and more perplexed by that. He had even issued an edict already, so why did the Master of Fire Virtue’s behaviour suddenly change. It was to a point where he almost no longer recognised him.

Ye Beifeng wanted to ask some more questions, but he saw how the Master of Fire Virtue’s face immediately sank, which frightened him into keeping his mouth shut. He left there with a head full of doubts.

The Master of Fire Virtue stood with his hands behind his back in the hall. He closely recalled what Jiang Pingtian had said and gradually became stern. “First, the secret care from the artifact spirit of the Observance Heaven City. Now, a warning from Jiang Pingtian. Just who stands behind Chang Yang? Surely he doesn’t have any connections with a Grand Exalt?”

For the next few hours, the Master of Fire Virtue remained in the side hall the entire time. He did not leave.

“Vice city lord, Chang Yang wishes to see you!” At this moment, a soldier called out.

“Please invite him in quickly!” The Master of Fire Virtue immediately instructed. He was a mighty late Immortal Exalt, yet he actually said “please” there.

Very soon, Jian Chen entered the hall. He bowed towards the Master of Fire Virtue and said, “Greetings, senior!”

“Hahahaha, Chang Yang, you managed to reach the finals with your strength as a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor. You’ve truly left me deeply shocked.” The Master of Fire Virtue smiled from ear to ear. He completely erased his pressure as a late Immortal Exalt, so he seemed like a regular old man. He seemed amicable and approachable. He did not come off as haughty at all.

Afterwards, the Master of Fire Virtue took out a jade table from his Space Ring and poured Jian Chen a cup of fragrant alcohol. “This is immortal wine that I’ve used hundreds of God Tier heavenly resources to brew over many years. Try it, Chang Yang. It should be able to help you recover a bit of Chaotic Force as well.”

Under the Master of Fire Virtue’s invitation, Jian Chen sat before him at the jade table. However, his eyes flickered with uncertainty as he stared at the wine that shone with hazy light.

With his experience, he could obviously tell just how precious this tiny cup of wine was. Why would a late Immortal Exalt invite him to try something so precious without any good reason?

“Thank you, senior!” After a moment of hesitation, Jian Chen downed the entire cup of wine, as he had no other choice. If he refused it, he would only offend the Master of Fire Virtue even further.

When the wine reached his belly, Jian Chen immediately felt like a ball of fire had risen up through his body. An extremely tremendous energy erupted inside him, leaving him flushed.

After all, this was wine brewed by a late Immortal Exalt. The energy it contained was far too terrifying. Regular Immortal Emperors did not even possess the right to drink it.

Jian Chen immediately devoted himself to refining the energy, turning it into wisps of Chaotic Force.

The Master of Fire Virtue stared at Jian Chen with a smile the entire time as if he was studying him carefully. A hint of contemplation and deduction appeared in the depths of his eyes.

“A haze. With my cultivation, I actually can’t deduce anything about him. An expert of a higher cultivation is clearly covering for him,” thought the Master of Fire Virtue. Only Immortal Emperors could participate in the competition for the Thousand Immortal General’s post, so the Master of Fire Virtue naturally eliminated the possibility that Jian Chen was hiding his cultivation.

Otherwise, in another time and place, the Master of Fire Virtue might even consider that Jian Chen was an existence no weaker than himself.

A while later, Jian Chen recovered. He clasped his fist towards the Master of Fire Virtue again. “Thank you for your gift, senior. You’ve bestowed me with something so precious, so may I ask how I can assist you, senior?”

The Master of Fire Virtue chuckled and said, “I’ve specially called you over purely because I wanted to meet you in person. You received three byes, and you lasted until now with your strength as a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor. Even I have not seen many people who are so lucky and talented.”

Jian Chen immediately developed doubts. His gut feeling told him that this definitely was not so simple.

But afterwards, after a simple conversation, the Master of Fire Virtue passed another jade bottle over to Jian Chen. “There are high grade God Tier pills inside. It’s not particularly precious to me, but it can increase your cultivation slightly. Hopefully, you can defeat Ye Qingyun and Xia Mingtian in the upcoming match and emerge as the victor.”

“Chang Yang, I have very high hopes for you. Don’t disappoint me.”

……

…

In the end, Jian Chen left the city lord’s estate with the high grade God Tier pill from the Master of Fire Virtue. On the way back, he was filled with doubts. The Master of Fire Virtue’s unexpected friendliness left him rather puzzled.

Jian Chen returned to the inn and locked himself up in his room again, quietly waiting for the arrival of the final round.

On the way back, he passed by the gambling parlour and discovered that sure enough, the situation was as he had imagined. Perhaps because his performance last time was a little too miserable and he had intentionally exposed that he only had around a dozen God Tier pills left in the end, many people had low expectations of him. Basically all of the gamblers shifted their attention over to Ye Qingyun and Xia Mingtian. No one paid any attention to him as a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor anymore.

After a series of increases and decreases, around two million and eight hundred thousand five-coloured immortal crystals remained in the pool. If nothing went wrong, it was enough for him to receive the highest payoff.

However, unbeknownst to Jian Chen, as soon as he left the city lord’s estate, the Wayless Immortal Exalt of the Immortal Feather sect personally visited the Master of Fire Virtue.

“Senior Fire Virtue, I’ve already reached an agreement with Ye Qingyun for him to work together with Xia Mingtian against Chang Yang. Once Chang Yang is defeated, they’ll settle it in a fair battle. Yet in the end, the master has summoned Chang Yang at a time like this… everyone is aware of the relationship between the master and the Ye family. Doing this will ruin the fairness of the final match.” The Wayless Immortal Exalt clasped his fist at the Master of Fire Virtue. Despite speaking very politely, he was secretly hiding an attempt at holding the Master of Fire Virtue accountable.

The Master of Fire Virtue furrowed his eyebrows and said rather unhappily, “Fellow Wayless, I’m struggling to understand what you’re saying. How has my meeting with Chang Yang affected the fairness of the match?”

“Please stop playing the fool, master. Some of the healing pills in Chang Yang’s possession must have ended up in your hands already, right? If you pass these pills onto Ye Qingyun from the Ye family, then it will no longer be fair to Xia Mingtian of our Immortal Feather sect,” said the Wayless Immortal Exalt.

The Master of Fire Virtue chuckled and said, “If that’s the case, then you’ve imagined wrong. I called Chang Yang over purely because I admired him. I wanted to meet with him. Let alone me, even the Ye family does not have a single healing pill that he possesses.”

“Is that true?” The Wayless Immortal Exalt refused to believe it.

“You’ll find out for sure once the battle begins. Alright, I still have other matters I need to tend to, so forgive me for being unable to accompany you out.” The Master of Fire Virtue asked him to leave. He felt very displeased inside. He thought, “Even a mere Third Heavenly Layer Immortal Exalt dares to question me. Hmph, if it weren’t for the Immortal Feather sect behind you, would I still treat you with such respect?”