“Who do you think you are, how dare you...” A guard cultivator rushed over and attempted to grab Jiang Chen’s collar.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, drew his arm back, and swung forward with a fierce slap.

“Out of my way!”

The slap was so violent that the peak sage realm cultivator flew backwards, like a child who’d just learned how to walk.

“Someone’s causing trouble!”

“An enemy’s attacking!”

“Notify the supervisor immediately! An enemy’s attacking us!”

Jiang Chen had steeled his heart to raise an enormous ruckus, so he wasn’t holding back at all. He fought his way in like he was possessed by a demon god. He didn’t use any other attack. Every time a foolish cultivator made their way towards him, he simply slapped them into oblivion and moved onto the next target. Although his slaps appeared casual and simple, it was an attack that combined both his knowledge and power to make them very difficult to dodge.

Jiang Chen literally slapped his way into the shop. None of the guards could take more than a single slap. It almost seemed that his palm was imbued with some sort of magic that ensured he never missed.

That being said, it didn’t take long before some real resistance showed up. A few emperor realm cultivators flew out from the inner courtyard and surrounded him tightly. An advanced emperor realm old man seemed to be the leader of the group.

“What are you doing, sir? We just opened our humble shop not long ago and you’ve arrived to cause trouble already? Don’t you think you’re a little too hasty?”

“Yes, Elder Mo is right. Our shop is new and we haven’t made enemies with everyone. You’re obviously here to cause trouble, so are you bold enough to tell us your name?”

“Yeah, or are you so cowardly that you won’t even reveal your identity after attacking us? We know that you’re the one who tricked Pill King Hong into a bet and forced him to his death!”

Jiang Chen wasn’t sure how to react to this. Pill King Hong had obviously been killed by his own people, but now they were shifting all of the blame onto him instead. This barbaric logic both incited and amused him.

“Hah! You guys know better than anyone how and why Pill King Hong was killed.” Jiang Chen thought it beneath him to rise to the provocation. “Tell your boss to come out right now. Pill King Hong is your man and he died without honoring his bet. Naturally, I’ve come to seek answers from you lot.”

“Enough is enough, boy!” The advanced emperor realm old man uttered angrily. “Pill King Hong may be a member of our shop, but he is just a wandering cultivator we hired as a guest pill king. You already forced him to his death, so what else do you want with us?”

Thorough disassociation of responsibility! These people were obviously very familiar with twisting things around.

“Wandering cultivator? Guest pill king?”

Jiang Chen sneered. “If he really is just a wandering cultivator, why was he afraid to reveal the power behind him? Don’t tell me that there’s nothing else going on around here!”

“You can take it or leave it. Not only did you force our guest pill king to his death, but you even came to make trouble. I don’t care who you are, but you absolutely must stay and explain yourself!”

The old man’s suddenly turned forceful and determined, as if he’d just received an order. It was so obvious that even Jiang Chen could sense it. Smiling coldly, the young man brandished his sleeves and charged straight towards the old man.

The old man grew angry when he saw Jiang Chen act so impudently, as if they were nothing but decoration. “Rein in your arrogance, boy!”

Jiang Chen snorted coldly. “I’m just this arrogant!”

Since he was now emperor realm, he was absolutely confident in his abilities to fight advanced emperor realm cultivators head on. Moreover, his wealth of trump cards gave him further assurance since he could escape any time he wished.

As fists and legs clashed against one another, turbulent shockwaves knocked over the surrounding cabinets. Luckily for the shop, the internal structures were all protected with formations, or the terrifying shockwaves would’ve turned them to dust. Still, it didn’t matter if there were protective formations all over the shop because Jiang Chen was planning to wreak complete havoc. That was why his attacks were big, wide, and extremely destructive.

The old man was the only cultivator who could fight Jiang Chen head on. The remaining four initial emperor realm cultivators who tried to support their colleague found themselves extremely pressured by the youth’s formidable combat abilities.

Jiang Chen pushed his palms forwards and fired out a modified version of the Vermillion Bird image like he was a volcano. Although the image wasn’t as strong as it would be with the Vermillion Bird’s bloodline, Jiang Chen’s image was made up of prehistoric flames and contained the essence of prehistoric fire.

As the burning heat waves rolled towards the enemy, the cultivators was greeted with heat beyond belief. They felt as if every bit of water inside their body was being absorbed or evaporated at an incredible pace. Color drained from their faces. They felt that they would be turned into dried husks at any second.

“Something’s not right with that fire. Retreat!” Although the old man didn’t know what that attack was, he could sense the terrific fire spirit energy radiating from it. Naturally, he was aware of just how deadly it was. This flame had to be a heavenly flame, or was very close to being one.

An expert who possessed a heavenly flame would be very welcome in the martial dao world no matter where they went. There were very, very few lucky stars out there who could tame a heavenly flame.

By the time they noticed something amiss and tried to retreat, Jiang Chen had thrown yet another modified Vermillion Bird image their way. Made of prehistoric flame essence, the image made everyone turn white in fear. They’d never thought that there would be someone who’d dare attack them in their own territory, completely unafraid of retribution.

Just how confident and powerful must he be to do this?

Jiang Chen’s killing intent rose sharply as he manipulated the image to corner and reduce the amount of space his enemies had available. Besides that, he also secretly sent Long Xiaoxuan out to aid him at an opportune moment. The Goldbiter Rats had been sent out a long while ago and were furiously digging beneath the shop. The Rat King had left to escort Hu Xing’er, but the Goldbiter Rats were so numerous right now that a group of talented rats had been chosen to lead during his absence. This group had been chosen after a careful selection process, and had further evolved their bloodlines some time ago thanks to receiving the wood spirit spring from Jiang Chen. This had earned great respect for Jiang Chen from the leaders of the younger rat generation. Just like the Rat King, they all executed his orders faithfully.

Suddenly, the group of cultivators felt the ground beneath them give in. A big hole appeared beneath someone’s feet, the precursor to more and more holes appearing. The holes reached down to the water line, with air bubbles rising to their surface. Jiang Chen knew that it was the work of the Goldbiter Rats.

The young man had always been an expert in chaotic battles. He immediately urged the Vermillion Bird images to swallow the three initial emperor realm cultivators before they could recover from their surprise and establish a firm footing.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

A series of bloodcurdling screams later, there was nothing left of the three cultivators but ash.

Jiang Chen was destructive, but the Goldbiter Rats didn’t lag behind either. They chewed the entire shop into a hollow shell in a short amount of time, collapsing everything like they were made of paper.“Brother Long, work with me!” Jiang Chen suddenly cried out, prompting Long Xiaoxuan to activate his dragon domain and press down on the old man. A dragon domain was extremely frightening. It was a real dragon forcefield, far, far stronger than an emperor domain.

If Long Xiaoxuan had reached proper heights in his cultivation, his domain could paralyze the old man and turn him as weak as a baby. But even so, it was still enough to make the old man panic when he suddenly sensed the pressure bearing down from behind him.

Naturally, Jiang Chen wasn’t going to pass up such a golden opportunity. He activated a trap formation to confine the old man inside. At this point, the young man had more than fulfilled his kill quota. He needed a live captive, and the old man looked like an authoritative figure in this shop. He had to be important personnel even if he wasn’t the mastermind. By taking him captive, Jiang Chen might be able to pry out some useful information.

Jiang Chen knew that there was a devious plot going on around, one that might very well be targeted at Sacred Peafowl Mountain. It was so obvious that he could’ve figured it out with his toes.

It was blatantly apparent that the establishment of these shops and the daily lectures of the pill kings was their first move to sound out Veluriyam Capital’s reaction. One might say that the enemy had been too successful in their attempt. They’d met no resistance whatsoever, and everything went by so smoothly that they grew careless in the end. Jiang Chen’s sudden appearance completely disrupted their tempo. He had destroyed a link in the enemy’s chain of plans.

The old man held back against the two domains for a moment, but soon realized with despair that his resistance was completely futile. The realization terrified him beyond words because he’d initially thought that the task of capturing Jiang Chen would be a piece of cake. He truly regretted his earlier decision and underestimating his enemy now.

The two domains working in parallel quickly destroyed the old man’s last bit of resistance. Jiang Chen tapped every vital spot on the old man’s body and to completely seal off his movements. The young man’s motions were so practiced that they stunned the old man beyond words. Now that Jiang Chen had a captive, there was no reason for him to stay here any longer. He summoned the Golbiter Rats and Long Xiaoxuan to his side before vanishing in a flash of light.