Jiang Chen graduated ahead of time and joined the Hall of Heroes the next day of competition.
The Hall of Heroes was also called the Hero Palace. It had a long history and was second to none in the Nine Heavens Continent. It was the leader of the bright side, taking responsibility for helping others.
Many disciples felt jealous of him when they heard the news.
Jiang Chen had managed to clear his doubts during this time.
For example, how was the Sacred Zone doing 500 years later?
According to Shi Gandang, the Sacred Zone had closed its plane channel 500 years earlier and had been isolated from the other planes ever since.
That was why they could only find information regarding the Sacred Zone in books.
By that time, only few people knew of the existence of the Sacred Zone. Even fewer people knew it well, especially people who could answer Jiang Chenâs questions.
âFive hundred years ago? Could there be any connection?â
Jiang Chen had been killed exactly 500 years ago. The plane channel of the Sacred Zone had closed after his death.
âXiao Nuo, what on earth did you do?â
âWas everything between us fake?â
âDarn it. If you hurt my family, Iâll make your descendants pay the price, even if youâre dead!â
Jiang Chen was terribly upset. It took him a long time to calm down.
Besides investigating news of the Sacred Zone, he also had to inform the Taoist Priest Skywind, who was in the Alien Battlefield, of what had happened to his father.
If the Sacred Institute could help him, it would be a simple thing.
However, after Jiang Chen had mentioned it, Shi Gandang had a weird expression on his face. He had only told Jiang Chen that he would try his best to help him, but he couldnât promise anything.
âThere are demons exiled by the Nine Realms in the Alien Battlefield. Itâs where the Reaching Heaven States go on adventures. Many respectable people from the Sacred Institute are there. Why wouldnât it a piece of cake for them?
âThe Sacred Institute has recruited many short-term disciples this year. Could it be related to that?
âNo matter what the truth is, a storm must be coming soon. I have to strengthen myself as soon as possible.â
If anyone else walked into Jiang Chenâs room, they would find Jiang Chen talking to himself like a crazy person.
Actually, this was how he thought through things. He was used to analyzing problems he had first, then prioritizing them so that he could face them calmly.
That day, Jiang Chen went to the Hero Palace with the other disciples of the Heaven Grade who had received outstanding grades.
In some peopleâs eyes, the Sacred Institute was more important than the Hero Palace, but they didnât know these two organizations well enough.
People who had paid a visit to the Hero Palace knew the Sacred Institute was actually affiliated with it. It was only an institute responsible for training disciples with talent.
It was the Hero Palace that had invested all of the resources, including materials and labor.
Its location was exactly what the short-term disciples, who hadnât been in the Dragon Field for long, had imagined, situated in mountains.
Thousand-year-old pine trees and palaces with gray tile and red brick could be seen everywhere. Overlapped mountain peaks looked like waves in the fog. Seen from the sky, the beautiful buildings looked quite average.
The Hero Palace wasnât far from the Sacred Institute. It only took a few seconds to travel there by machine-operated bird.
The group was led by Shi Wengong and Nan Gong. After arriving, Shi Wengong left with the other disciples.
Nan Gong showed Jiang Chen around the Hero Palace.
âI remember when you said you would get an outstanding grade and join the Hero Palace when you had just arrived in the Dragon Field. I didnât expect you to achieve all this in less than six months.â
It was Nan Gong who had brought Jiang Chen there and given an outstanding grade to a short-term disciple. It had caused a stir.
Thanks to Jiang Chenâs performance, contradictory opinions had disappeared gradually. Eventually, everyone appreciated Nan Gongâs good judgement.
âThank you, Nan Gong. By the way, what should I do at the Hero Palace?â Jiang Chen said.
âSimple. No pain, no gain. In the Sacred Institute, you only needed to study hard, but in the Hero Palace, you have to be more active,â Nan Gong said.
Jiang Chen knew this, too. No matter what title or glory a group had, it was still profit-driven at the end of the day.
The Sacred Institute was educating the smartest geniuses in the continent for free, but they had to work for it after they became strong.
To avoid opposition from other institutions, those who joined the Hero Palace wouldnât disassociate themselves from their group.
It was a smart policy. In this way, the Hero Palace had united everyone together without any effort.
But to be fair, not anyone could succeed in the same way. The reputation of the Hero Palace was the main reason many were drawn to it.
By then, demons had been exiled to the Alien Battlefield. Monsters were under complete control. Human beingsâ only enemies were human beings.
And the current enemy of the Hero Palace was the Evil Cloud Palace.
âJiang Chen, youâre the best disciple of the year, but every year, the best new disciples of the Sacred Institute join the Hero Palace. You know what I mean?â Nan Gong said.
âYeah.â
Large numbers of disciples graduated from the Sacred Institute every year, then newbies would come.
Although the Sacred Institute was famous, Jiang Chenâs performance there didnât mean he was the most powerful youngster in the Dragon Field.
Especially in the Hero Palace, which had absorbed all of the Sacred Instituteâs best disciples. It was full of powerful people.
Nan Gong hoped he wouldnât be as unbridled as he had been in the Sacred Institute. Otherwise, things would end differently.
âWait here. Iâll give them your information.â
Nan Gong had him wait outside when they had arrived at a palace.
âThank you, Nan Gong.â
Jiang Chen started to observe the environment nearby after Nan Gong had walked into the palace. Whitty preferred this place to where they had been living in the Sacred Institute.
âEh?â
Jiang Chen suddenly found a giant rock nearby stirring abnormally. He walked over and found some words appearing on it.
âHuangfu Qi has been awarded a million upper-grade yuan stones, a skyfire crystal, and the opportunity to practice in the Holy Thunder Sea for killing Chu Nan, ranked ninth on the Slay Demon List.â
Jiang Chen was in a daze. He knew these texts werenât being shown specifically to him. There were many such rocks throughout the Hero Palace used to announce news.
He didnât know who Huangfu Qi was, nor did he know who Chu Nan was, but he was tempted by the awards.
âIf one can win such great awards by killing someone, one could benefit from killing,â Jiang Chen thought to himself.
âThe Slay Demon List refers to powerful youngsters from the Evil Cloud Palace. Theyâll be great threats once they become stronger. There is a similar list in the Evil Cloud Palace, which lists all of the geniuses from the Hero Palace they aim to kill,â a familiar voice came from beside him. Jiang Chen looked over and saw it was Ying Wushuang from the Discipline Department.
She had changed her uniform to a beautiful outfit, which displayed her feminine charm to the fullest.
Maybe it was due to this, but she looked like a normal person instead of that serious person she became when leading her team.
âDonât look at me like that. Weâll be together for a long time,â Ying Wushuang said when she saw the confusion on Jiang Chenâs face, but her words made Jiang Chen more confused.
âDidnât you say you would work on a solution to the problem the Reaching Heaven States who developed their extraordinary meridians were having, so that they could keep developing their remaining undeveloped extraordinary meridians?â Ying Wushuang said.
Jiang Chen seemed to have understood, but then was confused by another something else. He said, âWhy didnât they send a guy?â
âAre you looking down on women?!â Ying Wushuang raised her slim eyebrows. She looked pissed off. The expression of the leader of the Discipline Department had returned to her face.
âOf course not. Itâs just that my method will require physical contact. Weâll even have to be naked in front of each other.â
âTo be naked? Why is that?â
Ying Wushuang was surprised. When she had realized what he had been implying, she flushed to the roots of her hair.