Jiang Ziya’s expression grew serious. With the Beat God Whip in hand, he had already approached Sha Chen. Feigning composure, he stroked his beard and said, "Although you are formidable, I am not a man who fears death."
Sha Chen replied, "Good. Since you do not fear death, I shall send you to it."
He raised his hand and swung a palm strike.
Jiang Ziya’s face changed dramatically; his eyes suddenly filled with horror, his pupils shrinking. He used the Beat God Whip to block in front of him, but Sha Chen’s palm strike sent him flying along with his weapon.
THUMP.
Jiang Ziya smashed against the wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Holding the Beat God Whip, he felt as though all his muscles and bones had co apart, his whole body falling to pieces. Then, sliding down the wall, he propped himself up with the whip, staring straight at Sha Chen, his expression one of frightened shock.
He had truly not expected Sha Chen to actually strike him.
However, he cracked a smile. Because, although he was struck, he was not dead. Sha Chen dared not kill him. That ant he wouldn’t be killed, even if he was struck. Not dying ant there was nothing to worry about.
Sha Chen watched Jiang Ziya, his face expressionless, then sat down at a table and began drinking on his own.
Jiang Ziya stepped forward, cupping his hands and saying, "River Lord is truly skilled. Even with the Beat God Whip in hand, I had no power to contend."
Sha Chen took out a cup, poured so wine, tapped on the table, and said, "Taigong is the truly skilled one, to be able to face death so directly."
Jiang Ziya took a seat, lifted the cup of wine, and drank it in one gulp. Then, he realized the injuries inside his body were swiftly healing, his eyes shocked and utterly incredulous.
Sha Chen said, "This cup of wine is Immortal Peach Wine, with so added healing Immortal Elixirs, brewed into a healing Immortal Peach Wine. Does it et Taigong’s exacting standards?"
Jiang Ziya’s face turned bitter. "Not only does it et my standards, this cup alone is enough to yield a Golden Immortal!"
Sha Chen chuckled. Indeed, with all these immortal peaches and Immortal Elixirs, one could certainly accumulate the resources to raise a Golden Immortal. But that’s only if the person has the talent to beco a Golden Immortal; otherwise, it’s nothing but a pipe dream.
Sha Chen gave a small laugh, tapped the table, and said, "Since Taigong has co, why not try my culinary skills?"
Without waiting for Jiang Ziya’s response, he went straight into the kitchen and began fussing over the cooking.
Jiang Ziya glanced around, taking the opportunity to assess the situation within the cave. Having seen clearly, he couldn’t help but gasp, utterly astounded. The Flowing Sand River Cave truly was a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land. This place was rich in Spiritual Energy, exceptionally so. He himself possessed the Heavenly Eye, capable of discerning geomancy much better than many other deities of the sa rank. After all, Jiang Ziya was not adept in combat but rather more skilled in divination and assessing geomancy and fate. He knew that Buddhism was at the height of its fortune, and he had divined that the calamities of the journey to fetch scriptures were immutable and that the anomaly of Sha Chen had arisen. For this reason, he aid to set everything back on track. Now, seeing the state of this cave, he fully understood why Sha Chen was able to advance so rapidly.
Innate Earth and Post-Heaven Earth were both planted with vast resources—an endless number of Cultivation resources! There were actually more than a thousand First-class Immortal Elixirs. The quantity was already comparable to that of the Qilin Cliff of our Kunlun Mountain, where Immortal Elixirs were cultivated. Although the Chan Sect had many fields for growing a wide variety of Immortal Elixirs in staggering quantities, in terms of the amount of superior Immortal Elixirs, Sha Chen was on a par with them. After all, besides the few Disciples from the second generation who stayed at Qilin Cliff to serve Lord Yuan Shi, the rest had their own cave-abodes and private domains. Many dium and low-grade Immortal Elixirs were needed to train third-generation Disciples, and the high-grade Immortal Elixirs were all used as rewards, distributed to others. But Sha Chen had planted so many, and they all belonged to him personally. He could eat them or engage in Refining as he pleased.
Immortal Elixirs grown in Innate Earth are potent and rich, inherently superior in quality. Moreover, they can be cultivated faster and reach maturity sooner. Such a large expanse of Innate Earth is rare; Jiang Ziya recalled that his master, Lord Yuan Shi, only had a patch of Innate Earth about the size of a corner of Sha Chen’s. Insignificant by comparison. And Lord Yuan Shi’s Innate Earth was only used to grow even higher-grade Elixirs, never for cultivating First-class Immortal Elixirs.
What shocked Jiang Ziya the most was that Sha Chen had four Innate Spiritual Roots, all of first-rate quality: an Immortal Peach tree, an osmanthus tree, a Mysterious Willow, and a parasol tree. Any one of these would be enough to make a reputation across the world, enough to raise countless strong cultivators, yet Sha Chen possessed all four.
Wait a minute. Jiang Ziya also discovered the Tai Chi Diagram—it was Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad’s Tai Chi Diagram!
Jiang Ziya stroked his beard, his eyes flashing with understanding and astonishnt. No wonder he has the Plantain Fan, no wonder he dares to stand against the Heavenly Court with no fear, no wonder he dares to refuse Buddhism.
He then furrowed his brow. This shouldn’t be. Before I ca here, the Jade Emperor said that Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad and Sha Chen didn’t have much of a connection. He also personally denied it, saying that Sha Chen was not his Disciple and was unrelated to him. If there’s no connection, why is there a Tai Chi Diagram? Could it be that Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad had been to the Flowing Sand River before and left it there?
Jiang Ziya thought about it and felt it was very likely. After Sha Chen arrived at Flowing Sand River, he had never gone out, so it must have already been here. However, there were too many things here; it was impossible for them to have all been here originally. Could soone have brought them in?
As Jiang Ziya was lost in his wild thoughts, Sha Chen had already brought out several dishes—four dishes and one soup, along with two jars of immortal wine. He used the Nine-dragon Divine Fire Cover to keep the dishes warm and the Panlong Cauldron as a stove to heat the wine. Then, Sha Chen also sat down, poured wine with an impassive expression, and gestured for Jiang Ziya to drink and eat.
In fact, what Jiang Ziya saw were all things that Sha Chen allowed him to see. If Sha Chen didn’t want him to see, he could have just blocked it with the Sky Covering Umbrella. Even though Jiang Ziya had the Beat God Whip and could go wherever he wished in the world, he dared not wander around inside the Flowing Sand River Cave. If he did, even though Sha Chen wouldn’t dare to kill him, giving him a fierce beating was certainly feasible.
Sha Chen was letting him see all this to make him understand that his growth was grounded, rational, and justified. This way, Jiang Ziya wouldn’t regard him as so kind of aberration or demon, nor entertain thoughts of eliminating such an ’aberration.’ After all, during the primordial tis, many aberrations and people with unknown origins would hinder those who foresaw the future from divining it accurately. They represented variables, and to make one’s divinations or arrangents more accurate, unpredictable aberrations would be dealt with. Aberrations that were dealt with would not appear, would not beco mainstream, and would certainly not be rembered by others.
Jiang Ziya was certainly not a match for Sha Chen, but he could inform others, especially Lord Yuan Shi. Sha Chen didn’t believe that Lord Yuan Shi would be unaware of Jiang Ziya’s visit. He must have known and would certainly inquire about it. Or perhaps Lord Yuan Shi also knew about the situation here, but without visiting in person, many things were not clearly understood. He hadn’t co, but he could learn through Jiang Ziya.
Sha Chen thus let them know that his strength was based on solid foundations; he was not without backing, nor was he an aberration. It was simply that his wings had grown strong. He had beco more powerful and was rely rebelling against injustice.
Indeed, Jiang Ziya had already co to believe what he was seeing. With so many good things around Sha Chen, his growth to this extent is perfectly normal. After all, if I had this many good things, let alone reaching Sha Chen’s level, I might have already stepped into the Quasi-Saint Realm long ago!
Of course, that was wishful thinking on his part. In reality, even with so many resources, becoming stronger also required corresponding talent and physique. Without talent, one could never reach the corresponding level, nor could one quickly absorb enough resources in a short ti. In other words, you can be offered a royal feast, but if you don’t have the stomach for it, you can’t finish it all.
Sha Chen was continuously increasing his talent, developing his potential. In fact, Jiang Ziya’s current talent wasn’t even comparable to Sha Chen’s; he had reached the limit of his potential as a Daluo Golden Immortal, and that was only due to the karmic bolstering from the Divine Enthronent catastrophe. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have even reached the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm.
Jiang Ziya looked at the four dishes and one soup and asked, "Does the River Lord normally eat so simply?"
Sha Chen replied, "Not at all. If a distinguished guest visits, I will prepare one hundred and eight dishes—seventy-two main courses and thirty-six cold dishes—and there will be ample good wine to serve." Then, he glanced at Jiang Ziya and said without any courtesy, "If unwelco guests co uninvited, I still can’t neglect my manners. Four dishes and one soup is quite good already." He raised his hand and added, "Otherwise, I’d be treating them to a slap."
Jiang Ziya forced a bitter smile. Wherever he went, he was always greeted effusively by his hosts, treated to fine wine and food. Even the Jade Emperor would give him so respect. But here, at the cave of a re Great General for Folding the Curtain—a demoted general at that—he was treated with such contempt and humiliation. It was bad enough to be beaten, but also to be utterly disrespected, threatened with violence, and mocked. If it were anywhere else, Jiang Ziya would naturally not have endured such a slight; he would simply have dusted himself off and left. But he knew Sha Chen would not ask him to stay, because he had co uninvited.
Moreover, his purpose on this visit was to persuade Sha Chen to accept his fate, comply with the heavenly mandate, join the scripture-fetching team, participate in the scripture-fetching catastrophe, and complete his mission—not to refuse, not to cause trouble, but to be peaceful and amiable.
「After the wine had ward their spirits.」
Jiang Ziya could no longer restrain himself and said, "River Lord, do you enjoy living here? Have you ever thought about leaving Flowing Sand River and striving for a new world outside?"
Sha Chen chuckled. "I’ve been here for more than two hundred years, living a contented and fulfilled life. I eat, drink, and enjoy myself; I lack for nothing. I practice Cultivation and martial arts; I never miss out on anything. Why would I want to go out into the world?"
Jiang Ziya said, "The outside world is full of splendor! If you don’t go out and strive, how can you progress?"
After speaking, he regretted it. I want to slap myself! Sha Chen looked at him strangely, making him feel awkward.
This place is a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, a place where Spiritual Energy converges. There are abundant resources; in all the heavens, there’s no personal cave-abode as excellent as this. Moreover, Sha Chen advanced from a True Immortal to his current Daluo Golden Immortal Realm in just over two hundred years. And that’s called no progress!?
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