Lin Yanyu’s information web ran incredibly deep. Jiang Chen couldn’t help but be a little curious when he heard that there was another variation to the rumors.

“The other version is something that many dare not share in public. Apparently, Emperor Peerless bet against another famous great emperor because of a girl. They were both in love with the same girl, but the girl loved Emperor Peerless. This troubled the famous great emperor greatly. He had a better background and was a tinge stronger than Emperor Peerless, but yet, he was unable to earn the girl’s fancy. Thus, he challenged Emperor to a battle. The winner of the battle would earn the right to be wed to the girl. Unfortunately, the girl’s love for Emperor Peerless was simply too deep, and refused to accept anyone but him, regardless of the outcome of the battle. She even publicly announced that she would only love Emperor Peerless, and Emperor Peerless alone. This angered the other famous great emperor greatly. They proceeded with their battle, but the betting terms had changed. The loser was to never set up his own great emperor faction.”

Jiang Chen responded with a long silence after Lin Yanyu was finished. It was a beautiful tale of undying love and conflict between two unparalleled geniuses. That love had triumphed over desire for power was also deeply romantic. There was no way to verify the rumors, but Emperor Peerless was definitely worthy of his admiration and respect if it was true.

Not every man could forsake their dreams of conquering the world for the sake of love, especially after breaking through to great emperor realm where one could summon storms and winds at the motion of a hand. Having one’s own faction was incredibly important at this realm.

Regardless of the truth, the Bounty Arena would gain an enormous amount of legitimacy if this legendary great emperor joined the event. He was more than happy to see this come true.

There were six more days until the selection. Jiang Chen didn’t remain idle during this period of time. He went out to explore the city and followed the hustle and bustle. Within a few days, he’d visited every single place with activity. His understanding of the city had improved by leaps and bounds. At first, he only had a rough understanding of the city, mostly came from collected data. By immersing himself in the city, he’d gained a much deeper understanding.

Pillfire City wasn’t on par with Veluriyam Capital and had a dominating advantage in terms of pill dao because of a fluke. The city’s foundation in pill dao was indeed much higher than Veluriyam Capital. More importantly, the city’s influence in the pill world was simply uncanny.

Jiang Chen spent his time wandering the streets and noticed many powerful experts and pill dao geniuses from various regions. They had come to the city on a pilgrimage to further their knowledge. Veluriyam Capital hosted visitors from all corners of the world, but they were absolutely still no match for amount of locals. This meant that Pillfire City had an extremely big influence to its surrounding regions. There was no fault with the claim that they were the core of the northern Upper Eight Regions. One could certainly say that they were the brightest and most eye catching jewel in the north.

Jiang Chen could never refute this. The Bounty Arena alone held great influence. The coming event was merely at a scale that was held once every decade, and yet its lure was incredible. Powerful experts from all walks of life flooded into the city from the surrounding regions. There was so much activity that it seemed as though the event was only held at every turn of the century.

The bustle was nothing compared to the Veluriyam Pagoda gathering, but the gathering was something held every sixty years and was the most sought after event in the capital. The Bounty Arena however, was just a common event, sometimes even held every season.

Jiang Chen was deeply impressed by what he’d seen during the past few days. Veluriyam Capital excels in certain areas, but its influence is simply no match for Pillfire City. No wonder people often compare the jewel of the north with the jewel of the south and say that Pillfire City is more splendid. At the end of the day, influence is still incredibly important, particularly to attract talent and formidable experts.

He was incredibly motivated after noticing the discrepancy. Since he’d realized Veluriyam Capital’s flaw, he would have to work on resolving it. As the young lord of Sacred Peafowl Mountain, it was his responsibility to shoulder this responsibility. He wasn’t someone content with mediocrity. Sacred Peafowl Mountain and Veluriyam Capital wasn’t going to remain the same on his watch. He would strive for change now that he was in power.

As long as I remain the young lord of Sacred Peafowl Mountain and ruler of Veluriyam Capital, I will make sure that the Capital exceeds Pillfire City and become the most stunning jewel in the Upper Eight Regions. Even though the two were currently equals, Jiang Chen understood that the latter was already beginning to move ahead of the former. The difference in heritage was one reason why, but Emperor Peafowl’s dedication to the demon race issue was also another deciding factor.

Veluriyam Capital would likely be ahead in the race if the emperor wasn’t distracted by the demon race issue and focused his efforts on catching up to Pillfire City. It was still one of the most powerful existences in the Upper Eight Regions that no first ranked sect would ever dare offend. But for the past few millenniums, Veluriyam Capital had been in a state of stagnation. This meant that the Capital was content with their position in the Upper Eight Regions, and there was no outward attempt to expand.

In the meantime, Pillfire City had been focusing their efforts in their expansion. They weren’t just expanding their land, but also their influence. Pillfire City had not been as influential as Veluriyam Capital in the past. However, they’d gained much ground after a few millenniums worth of effort. Their influence was no longer limited to just their surrounding region. Even the mid regions had begun to rely on them more and more. They were unknowingly drawn in by Pillfire City, though the influence was imperceptible.

Pillfire City is a lot more powerful that I thought. It seems life in Veluriyam City has been too peaceful for its own good. The great emperors of Veluriyam Capital weren’t frogs in a well, but Jiang Chen had probably surpassed them in knowledge about the state of affairs in the Upper Eight Regions after his short excursion around the city. Maybe the emperors believed that the traditions and heritage of Veluriyam Capital was already enough to solidify their position in the human domain, or maybe they believed that Pillfire City was simply too far away to influence their territory.

Regardless of the reason, Jiang Chen believed that the citizens of Veluriyam Capital were too optimistic. Emperor Peafowl likely hadn’t considered this issue either. Pillfire City’s influence was definitely going to spread to the borders of Veluriyam Capital one day. They would be surrounded by the enemy on all sides by the time they realized this fact.

It’s time for Veluriyam Capital to rise up. Let me make the first step by retrieving Mu Gaoqi from them! Jiang Chen wasn’t going to allow anyone to trample on him. Due to greed, Pillfire City would never allow themselves to coexist with Veluriyam Capital, even if they were miles apart from each other. They wanted to become the single largest faction and the singular brightest jewel in the Upper Eight Regions. Nobody else was allowed to compete for their glory. They were destined to become the one and only of the human domain.

Lin Yanyu didn’t remain idle either. He brought in new information every single day.

“Master! I’ve just received news that other than Emperor Peerless, two or three more eminent figures will be be joining the selection test. Because of these great figures, the coming Bounty Arena has become a once in five hundred years event!”

“Oh? Who are those eminent figures?” Jiang Chen was curious.

“I’ve heard that a very accomplished pill king will also be joining. He’s one of the top thirty-six pill kings in the city’s millennium pill king hall of fame at half step pill emperor realm.”

“A quasi pill emperor?”

“Yes. A peerless talisman master and formation master will also be joining. Come to think of it, it’s quite a frightening list.”

Jiang Chen didn’t waver even the slightest when he heard Lin Yanyu’s news. “If that’s the case, the legitimacy of the coming Bounty Arena will increase by many folds. It’s a good thing.” He chuckled. He felt no fear for any of those so-called eminent figures. He’d have no problems competing with them in the coming arena lord selection. If it were a martial dao exchange, there would be some discrepancy between strengths due to age differences. But since it was a bounty mission, there would be nothing holding him back.

Lin Yanyu was excited by how confident his master was. “Master, the more legitimate the event, the more famous you’ll be when you become an arena lord. It’ll surely be of great help when you attend the Star Harvesters’ auction.”

He had the utmost faith in Jiang Chen. The thought that his master would fail to become an arena lord never even crossed his mind. Six days went by in a blink of an eye. On the day of the selection, Jiang Chen brought his receipt and participant medallion to the Temple of Cleansing Fire.