Chapter Eighty-Four: The Azure Emperor’s Crystal Cauldron (1)

Hearing Jiang Feng’s slightly trembling voice behind him, Jiang Yuehai paused noticeably. For a fleeting instant, a trace of sorrow seemed to hang upon his aged face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. In the next moment, he was once again the cold, ruthless patriarch of the Jiang family. From his hands surged a dense aura of wood energy as he pronounced each word with chilling clarity: “Fang Chuhan, you claim that Jiang Feng is a heretical cultist—do you mean to say that our entire Jiang family is made up of heretics?”

The echo of this statement lingered in the Pine Pavilion, sending a chill through all those with any cunning. At first, they had been shocked only by Jiang Feng, but with these words, their feelings shifted to envy. To have Jiang Yuehai stake the entire Jiang family’s honor as a shield was a privilege that had rarely, if ever, been seen in history.

Most current family heads, though fiercely protective, would not hesitate to betray their own subordinates or even siblings if the interests of the clan were threatened. Yet with a single sentence, Jiang Yuehai elevated the Jiang family’s image in the Pine Pavilion to one of towering grandeur.

“You—would you really wager the entire Jiang family to protect this heretic?” Fang Chuhan’s disbelief was plain. After a moment, realizing Jiang Yuehai was not jesting, he sighed inwardly, turned, and left without so much as a glance at Fang Ping, who was still groaning on the ground.

“Grandfather.” Once Fang Chuhan had departed, Jiang Feng could no longer suppress the bitterness within him and called out. But before he could continue, his voice was cut off as Jiang Yuehai seized his neck with a vice-like grip and lifted him bodily from the ground. The overpowering force caught him off guard, plunging him into breathless suffocation.

Jiang Yuehai’s voice was as icy as if it had come from a mountain of eternal frost. “Feng’er, I do not yet consider you a traitor to the family, but you must tell me—those strange necromantic arts you wield, as well as the Fang family’s myriad shadow techniques and the Liu family’s Ninefold Spiral—where did you learn them?”

Bones in his throat cracked and grated under the old man’s grip, his life force ebbing away. Jiang Feng knew the trust his grandfather had placed in him was already more than generous. If he continued to withhold the truth, he would surely lose that trust—and in the next instant, be erased from the world.

“Boy, don’t mention me—and don’t reveal anything about the River Mountain Bottle!” The voice of Jue sounded in his mind, making Jiang Feng inwardly grimace with bitter amusement.

But time was running short. Jiang Feng quickly devised an explanation and forced out, “I don’t know if you recall, Grandfather, that ever since I was young I suffered from terrible nightmares. These necromantic arts—I learned them from those dreams.”

“Nightmares?” Jiang Yuehai was clearly skeptical. “If that’s so, how is it you couldn’t even grasp necroforce growing up?”

Jiang Feng’s heart tightened. Jiang Yuehai’s gaze could kill. Suppressing his fear, he replied evenly, “That was thanks to the Twenty-Five Shadow Steps. After that, I finally managed to comprehend necroforce, and only then did I understand the true nature of the nightmares that plagued me for so many years.”

“Hmph, go on then.” Outwardly, Jiang Yuehai remained severe and cold, but in truth, his wariness had eased somewhat. Never before had he seen a youth like Jiang Feng meet his eyes so steadily.

Jiang Feng swallowed hard, his voice growing weaker. “Those nightmares were not my own—they were planted in me by someone else, a prison of shadows. There, I was forced to learn those evil arts. At first, I had no intention of studying them, but through a series of coincidences and accidents, I ended up mastering them.”

His tone was utterly certain and his gaze unclouded. Even Jiang Yuehai, with all his skill, could detect no falsehood. After a long pause, the old man finally believed him. The grip on his neck loosened and he was set down.

“Do not speak of this to anyone for now. As for the prison within your body, I will help you investigate. Whatever you suffered as a child, our Jiang family may not rival the greatest powers, but if anyone dares trouble us, I will see that justice is done.”

“Thank you, Grandfather.” Jiang Feng’s gratitude was genuine, without the slightest pretense.

Hearing these words, Jiang Yuehai’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Enough, go on. This time, you’ve brought great honor to the Jiang family in the Nine Rocks Tournament. Not only will the town reward you, but our family won’t treat you poorly either.”

After following Jiang Yuehai back, only Fang Chuhan and Fang Yichen from the Fang family had left; the other two family heads remained, offering their congratulations to Jiang Feng before gradually departing. After all, their descendants had all been eliminated early in the competition; Liu Mengbai of the Liu family had even lost his cultivation entirely. Both Wang Yu and Liu Tao felt a vague bitterness when they saw Jiang Feng.

“Ha, Jiang Feng, your wisdom, courage, and unbreakable strength in the tournament have made you the champion. Congratulations!” Xuan Xingzi stepped forward with a formal smile, harmless in appearance. Clearing his throat, he announced in a ringing voice, “This year’s Nine Rocks Tournament has been a spectacle, with Young Master Jiang Feng bringing us one breathtaking battle after another. Let us all congratulate him—he is a model for all young necroforce practitioners in Nine Rocks Town. Let us take inspiration and strive together!”

The words were strong and resonant, making Jiang Feng’s cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Then Xuan Xingzi looked at him kindly and said, “As champion, you will receive Nine Rocks Town’s greatest treasure as a reward. Young Master Jiang Feng, please come with me.”

“Go on,” Duan Xingyun, standing beside Xuan Xingzi, said with a warm smile, as if he himself had won the championship.

Encouraged by his friend and feeling his grandfather’s broad, reassuring hand on his shoulder, Jiang Feng’s heart brimmed with happiness. It made all the pain and suffering in the tournament—the threats of bodily destruction and the torment of shifting stars—worthwhile.

Xuan Xingzi gave Jiang Feng a deep, meaningful look, then raised his hands as if conducting a ritual. Torrents of necroforce surged from him. After gathering his strength, he dropped into a horse stance and thrust out a palm. The space before Jiang Feng twisted and tore open, forming a great rift, and Jiang Feng was drawn through it like a kite with its string cut.

He plunged into utter darkness, unable to see his own hand. He tried to fly, but an invisible wall blocked his necroforce, rendering him unable to use his arts. Then, a glimmer of light appeared in his vision. Only then did he realize that the darkness was composed of thick black mist. The light grew, dispersing the shadow like a receding whirlpool of water, and suddenly the world before him blazed with brilliance. He stood transfixed, dumbstruck.

Before him stood a palace of dazzling splendor, resplendent and magnificent beyond compare.

Inscribed above were the words: Langya Chamber of Commerce, Langya Hall.

In the relatively poor Nine Rocks Town, this Langya Hall was akin to a celestial estate—grand, majestic, and beautiful. Yet compared to the Blood Fiend Tree or the bronze hall erected by Jue within the Mysterious Forest, it was nothing.

Still, the style suited the Langya Chamber of Commerce. In a town where many powers coexisted, an even grander palace would only invite resentment. Besides, the Chamber of Commerce was not focused on teaching necromancy, but on business; they had neither the resources nor the need to build palaces stretching for hundreds or thousands of miles.

There were no restrictions or formations protecting the palace, which made Jiang Feng frown. He thought inwardly, “The Langya Chamber of Commerce is truly arrogant—not even a single barrier outside their main hall. Clearly, they don’t take our four great families seriously.”

Inside, every corner was draped with glittering gold and jewels, causing Jiang Feng to secretly sneer. He had not expected that an establishment as grand as this—one that possessed treasures like the Pine Pavilion—would decorate its interior with such trifles. To practitioners of necroforce, gold and silver were useless: they couldn’t buy elixirs, nor spirit artifacts, and were only occasionally used in certain alchemical formulas. Even for crafting necro-artefacts, the gold and silver here, though bright and beautiful, would yield little if melted—likely not enough to forge even the lowest grade of spirit tool.

“Ah, forgive us, Young Master Jiang Feng. Our Langya Chamber of Commerce is wealthy, but not extravagant. This hall was built by previous presidents, and I found the original decorations too wasteful, so I replaced them with cheaper gold and silver.” Xuan Xingzi, seeing the disdain in Jiang Feng’s eyes, explained with good humor and without a trace of annoyance.

Jiang Feng smiled politely. “Elder Xuan Xingzi’s thriftiness is admirable—no wonder the Chamber’s business flourishes. With such a leader, prosperity is assured.”

“You flatter me.” Xuan Xingzi appeared genuinely modest. He pointed and said, “There, that is your reward—the Azure Emperor’s Glazed Cauldron.”

From his outstretched finger, a beam of light shot forth, crashing into one of the nearby structures. From the ruins, a house-sized cauldron emerged.

At a closer look, Jiang Feng was shocked to discover that this house was, in fact, a massive alchemical furnace.

“Heavens! With a cauldron this size, how many pills could one possibly refine?” he exclaimed. Xuan Xingzi merely smiled wryly and shook his head, saying nothing more.