Chapter 734: Departure

Jiang Chen was stunned. “What did you say?”

Just a moment ago, Beitang Fengyun had been so arrogant and self-assured, looking down on everyone.

Now, he was looking at him with a sycophantic expression.

‘He wants to acknowledge me as his master?’

Jiang Chen couldn’t quite process it. ‘Is this really a disciple from a Zhongzhou clan? A Four Extremes Genius? How can he be so spineless?’

Beitang Fengyun seemed to see the doubt in Jiang Chen’s eyes and quickly said with a woeful face, “Master, in truth, I am just a marginal figure within my clan. I was exiled to the Azure Sky Sea for offending the son of an Elder with real power. To be able to follow a peerless genius like you, Master, is the greatest honor for me!”

As Beitang Fengyun explained, Jiang Chen began to understand a few things about Zhongzhou. There, attaching oneself to the powerful was extremely common.

For example, his own Beitang Clan was actually subordinate to the City Lord of Coastal City.

According to Beitang Fengyun, the City Lord of Coastal City was a supreme expert at Emperor Realm Perfection whose domain had reached the Fourth Refinement.

Domain Fourth Refinement!

That meant he was even a notch stronger than Duann Tianya.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes and said, “Are you sure you want to follow me?”

“Yes, Master!”

Beitang Fengyun thumped his chest and said, “Master, you’re heading to Zhongzhou, and there are surely many things you don’t understand. If you have me to guide you, you’ll avoid a great deal of trouble!”

Jiang Chen was silent for a while.

‘My own understanding of Zhongzhou is limited. Even though Yao Yueye is from there, he’s been in the Azure Sky Sea for tens of thousands of years.’

‘The information he has on Zhongzhou can’t possibly compare to Beitang Fengyun’s.’

Jiang Chen said in a deep voice, “Does the Beitang Clan know that the North King has submitted to me?”

“They don’t!”

Beitang Fengyun quickly shook his head, his expression a little awkward. “Master, I was exiled here because I offended someone in the clan. My earlier attempt to seize control of North King Island while the North King was away was because I wanted to use the island’s power to gather resources for myself. I was worried that if I reported this to the clan, they would send someone else to take over North King Island, so…”

It’s human nature to be selfish.

Having been exiled by his clan, Beitang Fengyun held a grudge and was naturally unwilling to serve the Beitang Clan with loyalty and diligence.

With a thought, Jiang Chen condensed a Soul Seed in his palm and handed it to Beitang Fengyun. “This is a Soul Seed. Refine it!”

“Yes!”

Beitang Fengyun nodded quickly and refined the Soul Seed without the slightest hesitation.

A trace of awe and heartfelt reverence appeared in his eyes. He stood before Jiang Chen and declared, “Your subordinate, Beitang Fengyun, pays his respects to Master!”

Jiang Chen waved his hand.

He then took Beitang Fengyun and returned to the warship.

Seeing Beitang Fengyun standing respectfully behind Jiang Chen, the North King and the others were not surprised at all. They all had complete confidence in Jiang Chen.

Without Beitang Fengyun’s leadership, the pirates of North King Island were easily brought back under the North King’s command.

The group returned to North King Island.

North King Island was immense. Situated in the Mist Sea Realm, it enjoyed a unique natural advantage, and the entire island was covered with magnificent palaces.

Its area was vast enough to rival that of an Upper Grade Dynasty in the Eastern Continent.

In the central great hall of North King Island.

Jiang Chen was seated on the main throne, while the Four Great Pirate Kings of the East, South, West, and North, along with Yao Yueye, Zuo Yu, Beitang Fengyun, and Luu Fei, all stood respectfully below.

The Little Dragon Maiden was too restless to stay still and wanted to go exploring.

Jiang Chen had no choice but to let Xiaoyou and Little White take her to play around the island. This was the North King’s territory, so he wasn’t worried they would be in any danger.

Jiang Chen swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke, “Beitang Fengyun, tell us about the situation in Zhongzhou!”

“Yes, Master!”

Beitang Fengyun took a step forward and said respectfully, “Zhongzhou has a total of Four Great Dominators: the Holy Realm, the Demon God Celestial Palace of the Demon Realm, the Celestial Demon Sect of the Demon Realm, and the Ancient Divine Palace of the Divine Realm. These Four Great Dominators each control one of the Heaven-Reaching Mountain Ranges. Apart from the Four Great Dominators, the powers of Zhongzhou can be divided into Super, First-class, Second-class, Third-class, and Unranked.”

“How are these powers classified?” Jiang Chen asked.

Yao Yueye spoke up. “I happen to know a little… The Four Great Dominators each have an invincible Demigod and at least a hundred other Demigods. As for Super-class powers, they require ten Demigod ancestors. First-class powers need three Demigods. Second-class powers need one Demigod, or an Emperor Realm Perfection master with a domain at the Fifth Refinement or higher. Third-class powers require an expert at the Domain Third Refinement or higher. The rest are all Unranked powers…”

Beitang Fengyun nodded and said, “Master, although Zhongzhou is a single continent, its true origin is the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak. No one knows how tall the Divine Peak is; not even a Demigod has ever reached its summit. Only the Four Great Dominators are truly located on the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak itself. As for the other powers… to put it nicely, they are said to occupy the major regions of Zhongzhou. In reality, they are merely occupying one of the four main branch ranges of the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak!”

“The stronger a power is, the closer it is to the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak.”

As Beitang Fengyun and Yao Yueye continued their explanation, Jiang Chen was secretly astonished.

Since the great war of antiquity, the Eastern Continent’s Ancestral Vein had been severed, and no more Demigod Powerhouses had been born there.

A Second-class power in Zhongzhou had at least one Demigod Powerhouse!

This was simply unheard-of!

More importantly…

The entire continent of Zhongzhou actually had the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak as its source, with four major branch mountain ranges spreading out from it, covering the whole of Zhongzhou.

It was less a continent…

…and more like…

Zhongzhou was composed of four massive mountain ranges spreading out from the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak at its center.

The four mountain ranges started from the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak and extended all the way to the Azure Sky Sea. The closer to the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak, the higher the mountain’s elevation, and the more Spiritual Qi and various resources there were.

As for Coastal City, home of the Beitang Clan, it was founded by a master at Emperor Realm Perfection with a Domain of the Fourth Refinement. It belongs to the Holy Domain, which is under the jurisdiction of the Holy Realm.

And it was located at the very end of the Holy Sanctuary Mountain Range!

However…

Even though Coastal City was just at the end of one of the four great mountain ranges of the Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak, the density of its Spiritual Qi far surpassed that of the Azure Sky Sea!

Jiang Chen suppressed the shock in his heart as a magnificent picture formed in his mind.

An entire continent… Centered around the unknowably tall Heaven-Reaching Divine Peak were four branch mountain ranges, spreading out in all directions.

Each branch range was immense. At their narrowest, they were comparable to half the size of the Eastern Continent, and at their widest, they were thousands or even tens of thousands of times larger.

The powerful factions were all situated upon these mountain ranges.

A single mountain range could be tens of millions of times larger than the Eastern Continent—it was truly difficult to fathom!

Jiang Chen asked, “What level of power is the Demon God Palace?”

Beitang Fengyun said, “The Demon God Palace is a Super power, second only to the Four Great Dominators. It’s said that the Young Master of the Demon God Palace, Xiang Tianwen, is walking the strongest path and is preparing to break through to the Demigod Realm. If he succeeds, he will likely rival the top-tier Demigods, and may even have a chance to become an invincible Demigod in the future. The Demon God Palace will likely rise to an even higher level because of him!”

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, his eyes pulsing with a brilliant divine light and a fiery battle intent.

The might of Zhongzhou was beyond imagination.

The thought of Xiang Tianwen’s power was like a great mountain pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.

But…

“The strongest path? Xiang Tianwen, no matter what path you take, I will cut you down with my sword!” Jiang Chen took a deep breath, rose to his full height, and declared, “Four Kings of East, South, West, and North, hear my command! I order you all to give your full support to Luu Fei. I hope that the next time I return to the Azure Sky Sea, Luu Fei will have become its one true Pirate King.”

“Boss…” Luu Fei looked at Jiang Chen, his face full of emotion.

‘His dream was to become a Pirate King; he never expected Jiang Chen to remember it.’

Jiang Chen smiled slightly. “Don’t disappoint me!”

“I won’t!”

Luu Fei nodded solemnly.

Jiang Chen then looked at Yao Yueye, Beitang Fengyun, and Zuo Yu. “The three of you, follow me to Zhongzhou. We leave immediately!”

“Yes!”

The three replied respectfully.

Immediately after…

Jiang Chen called back Xiaoyou, Little White, and the Little Dragon Maiden, but the three little ones insisted on staying in the Azure Sky Sea. He had no choice but to urge them to be careful.

Then, taking Zuo Yu, Yao Yueye, Gai Shi, and Beitang Fengyun, he stepped onto the Teleportation Array to Zhongzhou…

[Ten chapters today, seven more to go. Little Tian will keep working hard!]