The next day, Princess Gouyu personally visited the Jiang Han manor with an imperial summons and a large amount of rewards to commend the Jiang father and son.
The reason given: the Jiang father and son had accomplished an achievement in helping fight Princess Zhiruo’s illness.
This reason was a still bit unclear. Apart from the few witnesses in the know, no one could figure out how the Jiang father and son could’ve helped Princess Zhiruo’s illness.
But those who had attended the banquet at the Soaring Dragon had discovered that Princess Zhiruo had talked and laughed gently and her appearance was more healthy looking. It was a far cry from her previous sickly state.
Could it be that the Jiang father and son really had accomplished something on the subject of Princess Zhiruo’s illness?
Rumors flew wildly as the outside world speculated.
One thing was certain, the Jiang father and son were destined to become famous figures in the capital spotlight in the near future.
As for the protagonist of the matter, Jiang Chen, he had never been concerned about the reactions from the outside world. What he cared more about was improving his own strength.
As time went on, the deadline for the month end examination approached.
Jiang Chen had no reason to panic. The contents of the three foundational exams were a piece of a cake for him now.
Three days passed very quickly.
In these three days, Jiang Chen committed himself to strengthening his fifth meridian. After three days of forging, the toughness of his fifth meridian was basically the same as the previous four.
This way, the five meridians would advance side by side and were on the same level.
On that day in the Soaring Dragon manor, Jiang Chen had only used the strength of three meridians true qi and he hadn’t even touched the true strength of five meridians true qi.
Of course, he was well aware that there were many elements of luck behind his complete restriction of Bai Zhan Yun at eight meridians true qi.
One, his level of martial dao knowledge was eons ahead of a practitioner in the true qi realm.
Two, the two had agreed to spar to using Eastern King Point. With regards to a common technique like the Eastern King Point, Jiang Chen had indeed reached the legendary realm and thus, he could naturally suppress Bai Zhan Yun of the flawless realm.
Third, and the most important point, was that Bai Zhan Yun had already demonstrated the Eastern King Point previously. Jiang Chen had completely seen through his version of Eastern King Point.
At the end of it all, Bai Zhan Yun had actually lost all initiative before the battle had even begun. It was normal for him to be countered at every turn.
Of course, Bai Zhan Yun was also extremely unlucky. How could he have known that his opponent would be a deviant, whose knowledge of martial dao far surpassed this world?
If both sides had brought their strongest techniques and given it their all in an actual match, it would have been difficult to determine who would’ve won if Jiang Chen had matched up against Bai Zhan Yun’s strongest firepower.
After all, Jiang Chen’s true strength was at five meridians true qi, and Bai Zhan Yun was at eight meridians. The three levels of difference between the two encompassed an entire realm.
But, Jiang Chen also believed that if he was able to take or avoid thirty of Bai Zhan Yun’s hits, then he, Jiang Chen, would be the final victor
After simulating the battle, Jiang Chen had a further understanding of the real fighting strength of a practitioner in the realm of true qi.
“Speaking a thousand lines and theorizing ten thousand lines, that is all fake. A martial dao battle is constantly shifting and changing. I can sit here and run simulations, but the many unexpected twists of battle can’t be simulated. At the heart of it all, I need to continue to improve myself. Thankfully, my fifth meridian has gone through the initial steps of strengthening. The next step is to use the True Acupoint Resonance and locate the sixth acupoint.”
He had come to this world and he only used half a month to train from three meridians true qi to five meridians. Even top notch geniuses would have needed three to five months.
But Jiang Chen had only used half a month.
However, this was far from enough. Five meridians true qi were still a bit too weak. Jiang Chen would likely fall victim to many small defeats in skirmishes against other heirs, not to mention fighting against the truly powerful cultivators in the kingdom.
“The final examinations of the Hidden Dragon Trials are fast approaching. Judging from the atmosphere in the capital, it seems that winds are whipping the clouds into a funnel. It would seem that even in a small kingdom, a large vortex would still be formed when the winds and clouds are turbulent. My current strength is still vastly insufficient to navigate the vortex with ease.”
The end of the month had arrived quickly.
On the last day of the month, Jiang Chen arrived at the testing site with Jiang Zheng in tow, he felt completely at ease.
If it wasn’t for those who knew otherwise, who would’ve thought that such a carefree person had yet to pass even the three foundational exams?
Because of his performance at the Soaring Dragon manor that night, Jiang Chen’s appearance attracted quite a bit of a attention. The only difference was that in comparison to that day in the Hall of Healing, those who had pointed and stared without abandon then were more reserved and wary today.
Jiang Chen naturally didn’t give a fig about what the outside world thought about him and he made a beeline straight for the building of the testing site.
Someone was walking out just as he walked in. It was the Yanmen heir, Yan Yiming
“Jiang Chen!” Yan Yiming’s eyes spat fire upon seeing Jiang Chen.
His defeat at the hands of Jiang Chen’s singular poke in the Soaring Dragon manor last time was the shame of his life for Yan Yiming. Not only did he lose all face in front of his peers, but more importantly, he had been made a fool in front of Long Juxue. Even now, Long Juxue was rather stand-offish towards him.
Yan Yiming felt that it was all Jiang Chen’s fault. If it wasn’t for that bastard, Jiang Chen, how could he, Yan Yiming, be relegated as a joke for the entire capital?
“You’re that Yan monkey who stole my seat?” Jiang Chen first drew a blank, but then recognized the person in front of him.
Except, his sudden epiphany was even more of an insult in Yan Yiming’s eyes.
“Jiang Chen, how dare you treat me this way! If if wasn’t for your evil trick, do you think you could’ve beaten me with a mere three meridians true qi?!” Yan Yiming yelled hoarsely as he paid no heed to what sort of occasion it was.
“This means that you don’t accept your defeat?” Jiang Chen smiled faintly.
“Accept? Who do you think you are for me to concede to you? Is your Jiang Han duchy ranked higher than my Yanmen duchy? Or is your level of training higher than mine?”
“Then, what do you want to do?” Jiang Chen remained cool and collected.
“I… I want to fight you!” Yan Yiming roared. He did not accept his defeat, he had not conceded! He was going to gain back his lost prestige and more!
And the most direct way was to defeat the culprit, Jiang Chen, humiliate him severely, tyrannize him and stomp him firmly into the ground!
“Fight? I have no time and no interest for you!” Jiang Chen smiled carelessly as he shook his head and walked past Yan Yiming like he was air.
“Jiang Chen, you coward! You won by a fluke and no longer have the guts to fight me? Alright! I’ve long since known that your Jiang family is a clan of cowards. You don’t fight? Fine! I will let you go as long as you admit in front of everyone that you’re a coward!”
Jiang Chen ignoring him was, in Yan Yimin’s eyes, a guilty act. This bolstered Yan Yiming’s confidence even more and made him firmly believe that Jiang Chen had won through luck.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen’s steps froze.
Whether it was the label of coward or the insult to his father, they were both acts that crossed his bottom line.
Those who cross my bottom line cannot be forgiven!
“Three moves!” Jiang Chen glared at Yan Yiming coldly. “You have no qualification to fight with me! I will concede if you aren’t flat on your back in three moves!”
“Hahaha! You are very cocky indeed! I don’t want your three moves! I am the exalted heir of Yanmen…” Yan Yiming was about to continue his boasts and bluster when the words abruptly died in his throat.
He dared not speak further and he could not speak further because in front of him, Jiang Chen had become like a cocked arrow, emitting a strange kind of aura and locking onto Yan Yiming.
“First move, watch carefully!”
Jiang Chen had no flowery moves and merely took one step forward. His arm lifted slightly as he took one step.
Except that when he raised his arm, it gave others a heart pounding feeling.
“Thunder!”
An aura as sharp as a sword spread out, from his fingertip, and lanced through the air. It had an incredible path, it was as if it would cleave the heavens as it shot towards Yan Yiming!
Yan Yiming only felt that his eardrums were going numb as thunder roiled. This astonishing point was speeding towards his weaknesses like a loosed arrow.
“Huh. Same old tricks. Trying to harm me with this Eastern King Point?”
Although Yan Yiming had been surprised by the suddenness of this point, he was still confident that he could evade it.
His body dashed away like the waving movements of willow tree branches.
“Willow Step, waves without wind!”
Yan Yiming’s body moved like dandelions soaring through the air. The rhythm of the movement was like water ripples caused by the wind, it had an indescribable elegance.
This was Yanmen’s exclusive heritage — “Willow Step”.
Yan Yiming was very confident. He firmly believed that that day’s defeat was a result of method restriction. He was going to fully demonstrate his family’s heritage today and beat the shit out of Jiang Chen!
However, his moment of pride didn’t last long. Jiang Chen took another step forward, but the movement of his arm had somewhat increased in speed.
“Second point, Starburst!”
Jiang Chen’s moves were simple, fast and without embellishment. It may have seemed to be overly simple and crude to outsiders.
But, only Jiang Chen himself could understand the true meaning of his seemingly clumsy moves.
It was easy for all techniques under heaven to become more complex, but it was difficult for the complicated to become simple.
Jiang Chen’s two points had actually already reached the level of simplifying the complex. All complications were concentrated into the move.
Seeking change in the midst of constancy.
Of course, a trace of a proud smile found its way to Yan Yiming’s face. “Jiang Chen, although your Eastern King Point is not bad, but you’ve run out of tricks haven’t you? You want to hurt me? Keep dreaming!”
But, it was as if he hadn’t spoken.
Jiang Chen’s entire posture sudden changed drastically. His finger moved slightly and the rhythm changed again.
“Third point, Nameless!”
This point caused flowers to not be flowers and fog to not be fog. It was indescribable and unexplainable. It obviously hailed from the Eastern King Point, but it far surpassed the meaning that the Point should have.
An incredible line, an incredible curve, an incredible point.
A shocking hit.
Yan Yiming only felt a sharp pain under his rib cage in the same position as last time, but he felt more than ten times that power. It ripped apart all his moves and defenses mercilessly like it was paper. Another hit!
Yan Yiming’s body fell heavily to the ground again, his status unknown!