His Psychic’s Head fully active, Jiang Chen monitored the battlefield’s every detail. Gao Zhan’s terrifying saber emitted not only that noisome bloody air, but a hidden slaughtering aura as well. It was an aura that knew only sharpness and edge.

“Is that... the essence of metal?” Jiang Chen’s heart shook. “It can’t be. No, I suppose it makes sense after all. Gao Zhan’s strongest talent is his inborn mastery over the essence of metal. That gory air nonsense is just a façade. With metal energy like that... no wonder he can take up the path of demonic slaughter.”

The essence of metal lay in its utter invincibility and irresistibility. Nothing could withstand it. Amongst the five elements, metal represented a keen sharpness, a force that could sever all. Similarly, the path of demonic slaughter was a path of killing. Such keenness was what it exactly needed.

Jiang Chen suddenly understood. Gao Zhan hadn’t picked the path of demonic slaughter. It was the other way around. That path in particular was assuredly the most appropriate for a genius like him. Jiang Chen was suddenly fired up for the fight.

Essence of metal? What was there to be scared of? He’d had his magnetic golden mountain for ages, and yet it still wasn’t fully refined. He had obtained it by refining the magnetic heart all those years ago. Although he’d discovered more and more of its hidden strengths, its most powerful treasure remained untapped.

The magnetic golden mountain gave him control over magnetic force, allowed him to create magnetic storms, and allotted various other abilities, such as the Evil Golden Eye, to him. In a larger brawl, he could even summon golden weapon-shaped monsters to fight for him, though his Soldier Rosary Beads resulted in him rarely using this ability. The monsters were much weaker in one-on-one combat than the soldiers from the beads.

However, the magnetic golden mountain’s greatest treasure was none of these things. Its ultimate prize was the Lord of the Golden Seal. The Lord of the Golden Seal was truly a miraculous being. If allowed to awaken on its own behalf without any outside stimulation, it was quite ordinary. It would very likely be weaker than an origin realm cultivator, even. If stimulated by a powerful outside force and similarly summoned, the Lord would become immensely strong. The magnetic golden mountain’s latent power could likewise be tapped into. Therefore, the usefulness of the Lord depended entirely on its summoner and conditions of summoning. More latent power tapped into meant a stronger Lord.

In a fight amongst men, it was best for the combatants to go head to head. Gao Zhan’s aggression was almost overbearing. Using his Demon God’s Bloodthirster as a medium, he was calling on its master’s wrath. Through his Evil Golden Eye, Jiang Chen was able to see what that actually meant. The time for holding back was over.

Flipping his palm upwards, he summoned his magnetic golden mountain. His consciousness flooded into it like a powerful deluge. Summoning the Lord of the Golden Seal required making forceful contact with it with his consciousness. Waiting for it to wake on its own was a fool’s errand. Therefore, he decided to take on the maximum amount of risk in order to summon it directly. From his last memory of when he had refined the mountain, the Lord was said to be the final guardian of the mountain, essentially fused with the mountain itself. At the same time, however, it had its own intelligence, and wanted to struggle free of the mountain’s binds.

Jiang Chen knew that his magnetic golden mountain possessed remarkable origins. The Lord of the Golden Seal’s final form could be nothing short of absolutely terrifying. Abruptly communicating with his consciousness like this was actually quite dangerous. If the Lord was angered by the gesture, it was possible that it would swallow his consciousness outright.

The Lord of the Golden Seal’s consciousness was very different from a human’s. It was in a chaotic and muddy state, and the possibility of normal communication was uncertain. Indeed, the magnetic golden mountain in his hand shuddered violently. In the next moment, an awe-striking aura blasted out from the inside. Countless rays of light shot forth from the glittering mountain, all of them shooting into Jiang Chen’s consciousness. His thoughts were completely refracted outwards by the beams. In the next moment, a voice filled with age called out, “Are you summoning me, human?”

“Long time no see, Lord of the Golden Seal. I thought you were going to stay asleep forever,” Jiang Chen communicated.

“Kid, I wouldn’t be so impudent if I were you.” The Lord snickered. “Our agreement isn’t quite that reliable. Killing you is like swatting a fly for me... wait a moment, this can’t be right. How are you at sky sage realm already? Hasn’t it only been a few years?”

Jiang Chen smiled coolly. “Haven’t you heard of the saying, ‘a gentleman who’s been away for three days should be seen in a different light?’”

The Lord of the Golden Seal smacked his lips. “Not bad. I almost did just swat you to death, but it looks like our agreement has some chance of being realized after all. You’re progressing pretty quickly, huh? Well, out with it. What have you summoned me for this time?”

“For you to show off your magnificence, of course.” Jiang Chen grinned.

The Lord cackled. “So, you’re saying you want free labor?”

Jiang Chen didn’t deny it. “I’m just worried that you’re not up for much just after waking up.” He knew that spirit creatures like the Lord of the Golden Seal weren’t as quick or smart as the average human. Though this particular brand of reverse psychology was a bit simple, he didn’t mind applying it occasionally.

As expected, the Lord growled. “Are you doubting my ability? Hmph. What grade of opponent is it? Eh? There’s concentrated essence of metal... is there a spirit here that’s just like me, hmm?”

“Maybe not the same,” Jiang Chen chuckled, “but there’s definitely a fearsome opponent that also holds the essence of metal. How about it, interested?”

“If I say no, will you be disappointed?” The Lord’s mind was clearing up. It noticed that it’d fallen for Jiang Chen’s trick.

“I won’t be disappointed, but our agreement will be null and void.” Jiang Chen smiled serenely.

“I’m sure you know already, kid, but how strong I am in a fight depends on you,” the Lord of the Golden Seal cackled once more. “How terrifying I am is directly correlated with how much you can get out of the mountain. Still... this opponent seems somewhat interesting, at least.”

The desire for battle was palpable in its tone. For something as hawkish as he was, asking for a fight was pretty likely even without the reverse psychology.

Jiang Chen nodded. Time waited for no man. Gao Zhan’s pressure was building up to a peak. If he acted any later than this, he’d be a sitting duck. Jiang Chen wasn’t some kind of passive masochist. Out of his mouth came a draconic roar. In the next moment, he tossed the mountain out of his palm. Pushing constantly with both palms, he sent two magnetic storms rolling outwards. Like two black holes, the golden magnetic storms swallowed everything in their path as they rushed towards Gao Zhan.

At the same time, Jiang Chen pushed his consciousness to its limits as well. The more he squeezed, the larger the magnetic golden mountain became. Slowly but surely, it expanded in size more and more. The magnetic golden mountain was also known as ten thousand yards high. Its strength was apparent even in the name. A golden mountain hovering above the stage was painfully dazzling. Its light shone everywhere, the very image of a divine descent. The sheer grandeur of the scene caused a renewed wave of murmurs in the crowd. Each and every person in the audience was shocked once more by the mountain’s majesty.

“Wow, what is that? A mountain? An enormous golden mountain?”

“Pill King Zhen has a treasure like this? How unnerving! I guess he’s never given a match before his all, huh?”

“Is this Pill King Zhen’s real trump card?”

“Do you feel it? This golden mountain is strangely magical. It seems to have an infinite amount of edges... it makes me quiver to even look at it.” Even the people who were familiar with Jiang Chen couldn’t sit tight anymore. Very few knew that he had a treasure like this at all. He had used the mountain against a large number of enemies, true, but anyone that he’d used it against was also dead.

Jiang Chen wasn’t holding anything back this time. The magnetic golden mountain was out in force, and the pressure it exerted was absolutely devastating. It was natural that it would stir up an uproar. Even the people from the Coiling Dragon Clan were goggle-eyed at the gigantic golden mountain floating in midair. None of them could speak for quite a while.

“Is this... a mountain? Pill King Zhen refined an entire mountain as a treasure?” The Coiling Dragon clan lord couldn’t contain his excitement.

“This mountain also possesses immense metal energy. It’s going to go toe-to-toe with Gao Zhan! This battle is supremely exciting!” Ji San was completely taken by the mountain.

“Hmm. This battle is definitely the most splendid match so far between young lord-level combatants. Yes, they haven’t actually fought much, but simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. There is a lot more skill involved in the blows that actually are exchanged, and they’re both fighting on a higher level,” the clan lord remarked.

Huang’er stood in a corner quietly beneath the stage. Watching her beloved fight like a god amongst mortals filled her heart with pride. After finding such a remarkable man in the wide world, what was there left to regret about life? Every girl had a wonderful prince of her dreams. The only difference with Huang’er was that her noble birth elevated her outlook a great degree. Even the geniuses of Myriad Abyss Island couldn’t meet her expectations. She’d met Jiang Chen in the realm of the mortals. He was a man that hadn’t deliberately preened his feathers in front of her; nor had he tried to win her over with flattery. And yet it was a man like this who had slowly won her over.

“In only ten years, the son of a duke of an ordinary kingdom has become the equal of the Upper Eight Regions’ best geniuses. How many people like that are there in this world, really? A rare occurrence, truly, even in a hundred thousand years.” Emperor Peafowl was stirred up by the performance as well. The heart of a man on his level rarely wavered. Still, he found it hard not to in this moment. It was often said that true geniuses answered the call of fate. With respect to Jiang Chen, Emperor Peafowl believed it completely. True geniuses were born by the decrees of heaven and earth, in an hour of need.

No matter whether Jiang Chen won or lost this battle, Emperor Peafowl firmly believed that the youth was the one he was looking for. There was no mistake about it. Cloudsoar Monarch and his peers exclaimed in surprise as well. Judging from the looks they exchanged demurely, they were clearly impressed. His Majesty had the sharpest eyes of all. No one else could possibly dig out such a relative unknown from a crowd and expect immediate results from the Veluriyam Pagoda gathering alone!