Silence.
Not only were the surrounding "neighbors" stunned, but even Chongxuan Sheng and Fourteen, who had full confidence in Jiang Chen, were also surprised.
They knew Jiang Chen would win, but they didn't know he could win so easily, without even using the Eight-Sound Flame Sparrow.
First in one place doesn't necessarily mean first in the country. First at one moment doesn't necessarily mean first for all time.
Given the vastness and boundlessness of the mortal world, there are naturally stronger experts among the strong, and higher mountains beyond each mountain. No one dares to claim invincibility.
However.
The Soaring Dragon realm experts who could claim first place in Pingxi Commandery and Linhai Commandery were defeated by Jiang Chen with ease in a three-on-one fight.
It was inevitable that people would start wondering—what was Jiang Chen's position among Soaring Dragon realm cultivators now? And looking at all of Linzi, or even the entire world, how did he compare?
Currently, the generally recognized strongest Soaring Dragon realm cultivator in the State of Qi was generally considered to be Wang Yiwu.
But unlike when he dominated his opponents in the Heaven-reaching realm—where even the Seventh Prince of the Great Qi Royal Family, Jiang Wuxie, was defeated by him, and he directly broke historical limits, leaving his name in cultivation history...
In the Soaring Dragon realm, Wang Yiwu had no actual achievements yet. Everyone knew he was strong, but no one knew exactly how strong he was.
And Jiang Chen...
The battle at Cloud Mist Mountain had already showcased his genius creation of the Grade-A mid-tier technique, the Eight-Sound Flame Sparrow, and demonstrated his combat power against Inner Fane realm experts.
Today, fighting three-on-one, he didn't even use the Eight-Sound Flame Sparrow, but instead used his self-created sword art, which no one had seen before, to easily defeat three Soaring Dragon realm experts.
Stepping on the fame of the Ocean-Covering Palm and the Twin Evils of Pingxi, he naturally gained the qualification to compete for the title of strongest in the Soaring Dragon realm.
Even Chongxuan Sheng and Fourteen, who were with him day and night, were secretly amazed at his speed of progress.
The three Soaring Dragon realm experts lay on the ground twitching, their bodies covered in crisscrossing sword wounds. They weren't dead yet, but they had lost the strength to resist.
These people endured the pain without a single cry. Defeating them had already damaged Bao Zhongqing's reputation, and if they couldn't handle the pain, it would be directly slapping Bao Zhongqing in the face.
"If you're not dead, then roll into the carriage yourselves!" Bao Zhongqing said grimly.
Jiang Chen hadn't killed them, holding back his sword at the last moment—of course, this was due to his sense of propriety, but it also undoubtedly showed the gap between the two sides.
Yan Er and the Twin Evils of Pingxi endured the pain, struggled to stand up, and silently crawled into the Bao family's luxurious carriage.
The two horses pulling the carriage had demon beast bloodlines, so they weren't very repulsed by the smell of blood.
Although Bao Zhongqing's face was very ugly—making his face even uglier—he surprisingly didn't explode in anger again.
He just looked at Jiang Chen and asked, "What kind of sword art is this?"
There was no need to hide this. Jiang Chen said calmly, "It could tentatively be called... the Sword of the Human Dao!"
He slightly raised his chin. "There are only two moves so far."
The meaning was also very clear—do you want to try it?
This was a response to Bao Zhongqing's initial provocation.
Back in the Ethereal Realm, during the first Blessed Land challenge he experienced. The opponent was probably a Confucian cultivator, using a remnant move from the ancient Nine Swords of the Gentleman. He was instantly killed.
He had replayed this sword strike countless times. The new sword forms were either a sublimation or concretization of the Sword of Vast Humanity, but in any case, they were based on the Sword of Vast Humanity. On the other hand, he also benefited from this.
So far, the greatest benefit the Blessed Lands in the Ethereal Realm had given him was allowing him to face opponents he couldn't match in advance. Of course, how much he could absorb from these experiences still depended on his own efforts and talent.
However, he only had two moves in this sword art now, and he wasn't even sure how many moves there would be when it was complete—he was still exploring.
Facing Jiang Chen's response, Bao Zhongqing didn't say anything more, and it seemed he had no intention of personally stepping forward to regain his honor.
He just turned to Chongxuan Sheng and said, "Fatty, I gave you a chance."
Being called a fatty or whatever, Chongxuan Sheng didn't react at all, not even his eyelids twitched. It was truly harmless.
He glanced back, casting an extremely contemptuous gaze: "Bao Pockmark, if your hands were as fierce as your mouth, you absolutely wouldn't have lost face like today."
Bao Zhongqing nodded through gritted teeth, turned around, and left in a huff.
"Take this junk at your doorstep with you too!" Chongxuan Sheng shouted from behind.
Bao Zhongqing just pretended not to hear, got into the carriage, took the reins, and drove away personally.
This surprised Jiang Chen a bit. He had thought this person would abandon his subordinates and leave on his own.
After all, for a noble young master of this status, driving a carriage wasn't exactly a dignified thing. In more strictly managed families, he might even be reprimanded.
As soon as Bao Zhongqing's carriage disappeared around the corner, Chongxuan Sheng waved his hand and instructed the gatekeeper: "Call a few people to move these things inside!"
Jiang Chen was a bit embarrassed for him: "Didn't you say you didn't want this junk?"
In fact, this embarrassment was completely unnecessary.
Chongxuan Sheng waved his hand carelessly: "Bao Pockmark's skills are inferior, and he brought this upon himself. These are just apology gifts!"
Jiang Chen looked up at the sky for a moment.
Setting aside whether this matter was right or wrong, it was also hard to say clearly. The key was that he hadn't "forgiven" the other party, so how could he accept apology gifts?
The servants were busy moving things, and the three walked into the inner courtyard.
Once the door was closed, they could speak freely.
Chongxuan Sheng walked slowly and suddenly said: "If nothing unexpected happened, it was Wang Yiwu who made the move!"
Jiang Chen didn't understand: "What does this have to do with Wang Yiwu?"
Saying Bao Zhongqing was on Wang Yiwu's side and came today to set up an ambush, playing the inside man—that didn't make much sense either. Bao Zhongqing himself was a top noble young master and couldn't possibly be Wang Yiwu's subordinate.
Fourteen also looked over, obviously equally confused.
Chongxuan Sheng smiled with a sense of superiority: "I'll explain that later!"
He tilted his head and looked at Jiang Chen with some jealousy for a while, making Jiang Chen's skin crawl.
Back in the Heaven-reaching realm, Jiang Chen had been chasing him hard. From complete domination to more losses than wins, then slowly catching up to an even split.
Fortunately, he had in time pushed open the Gate of Heaven and Earth, borrowing realm suppression to dominate again for a while.
From then until now...
The story of Zhen Wudi and Dugu Wudi seemed to be turning a page...
Chongxuan Sheng couldn't help but feel a bit emotional: "Your current combat power may have already caught up to me!"
Just may? Just caught up?
Jiang Chen smiled without speaking. But his mind quickly sank into the Ethereal Realm, sending Chongxuan Sheng a sparring invitation—which was also quickly rejected.
The fatty guessed what he wanted to do from his expression, so his response was particularly timely.
"Ahem." Chongxuan Sheng said seriously: "Let's talk business!"
Are you kidding! In the Soaring Dragon realm, on the Sixth-Rank Sword Discussion Platform, one battle could mean eighty points of Merit won or lost! How could I, Chongxuan Sheng, take this loss... er, risk?
Jiang Chen rolled his eyes, but there was nothing he could do about this kind of thick skin.
The Shadow Guard that Chongxuan Sheng had assembled was very efficient. They had just entered the study when Chongxuan Sheng's butt had barely settled into the chair when the intelligence arrived.
The fatty casually unfolded the slip of paper, glanced at it a few times, and smiled, clearly in control: "Just as expected!"
The paper was passed to Jiang Chen. He looked at it for a while, then handed it to Fourteen.
To be honest, after reading the intelligence, Jiang Chen felt even more confused.
Because he simply couldn't see how this intelligence supported Chongxuan Sheng's judgment.
It practically overturned his judgment!
He looked at Fourteen, who was completely buried in his heavy armor, so no one could confirm whether this guy understood it.
Jiang Chen had always considered himself a smart person, but this time he truly couldn't keep up with the thinking.
The intelligence showed that just yesterday, Wang Yiwu had repeatedly struck, attacking many of Bao Zhongqing's businesses.