Sovereign of the Three Realms

Chapter 874: Lin Yanyu’s Background

Lin Yanyu was a little surprised. When he did business with Jiang Chen earlier, the only impression he got was that this ‘Daoist Huang’ was extremely overbearing. He surmised that this person was a descendant of one of the great clans or great families, because he carried himself with the strong mannerisms of aristocratic families. A person like him might spare the less fortunate a little money when they were in a good mood, but they would never take the other person’s side when they were being threatened by injustice. This was because such actions were utterly beneath them and why Jiang Chen’s actions had caught Lin Yanyu a little off guard. However, he was obviously unwilling to involve an innocent person in his own predicament. He went over to Jiang Chen and said, “It’s alright, Daoist Huang. I can give up a few pills. It’s not like I’d become rich even if they paid.”

Jiang Chen snorted coldly, “Now that I’ve interfered, you’ll get those pills back even if you don’t want them anymore.”

Sheer dominance!

The onlookers watching the spectacle all thought that he had a screw loose in his head. Why was he insisting when the master of the pills himself had given up on pursuing the matter? Did he fancy himself the master of this place and ruler of all or something? The onlookers couldn’t wait for the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain to grow enraged and immediately fight Jiang Chen to the death. In fact, the more chaotic the better, and the best—if someone died. Who didn’t want a good show and fewer competitors to fight against? Surprisingly, the infamous Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain were unusually restrained today. Everyone could see a hint of killing intent passing through the white-haired old man’s face, but not only did he hold himself back, he went so far as to control his restless companions as well.

“Daoist Huang, is it? The young do indeed harbor heroes, and you’re one one with a fiery temper too. If I have to guess, both your background and origin aren’t simple, are they? Fine, I’ll give you a bit of face this one time.” The white haired old man swung his arm and tossed a storage ring to Lin Yanyu, “Keep your eyes open, kid. We won’t be this lenient if you try to sell us pills again a second time.”

Did he just… pay for the pills? The sight stunned everyone who was watching the scene. The white-haired old man wore no expression on his face, however. He simply stared indifferently at Jiang Chen. “The Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain never forgets a grudge. The reason we give you face today isn’t because we’re afraid of you, but because we want you to remember that you’ve offended the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain. Once we head out of the desolate wildlands, you and us shall settle this grudge once and for all.”

What he really meant was that both their goals lay inside the desolate wildlands, and that there was no point in hurting each other now and enabling others to take advantage of their weaknesses. Jiang Chen shrugged nonchalantly, “I hope you can come out alive too. A reminder, if you will—the Eight Treasures Antidote is the real thing. If you don’t want to be poisoned to death, you’d better consume it now.”

Of course, he wasn’t doing this for the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain’s sake. He was advertising for Lin Yanyu. Humans were strange creatures in that they bullied the weak but bowed to the strong. Jiang Chen’s tyrannical and self-centered behavior intimidated even the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain, much less the other normal wandering cultivators. As Jiang Chen had expected, people began approaching Lin Yanyu to buy pills on their own.

There were a lot of people here who could afford two hundred thousand saint spirit stones. The price Lin Yanyu had priced his pills at  really was quite fair. In less than an hour’s time, the Eight Treasures Antidote that no one had wanted to buy just a few moments prior was actually completely sold out. Lin Yanyu had roughly sixty pills before he had met Jiang Chen. He had failed to sell even a single pill despite trying to do so for a couple of days. This was because no one was willing to believe his words and take that first leap of faith.

But Jiang Chen did, becoming the first person to buy his pills. He was then followed by the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain. Soon after, everyone else grew tempted to buy them. After all, the desolate wildlands were filled with danger. The price of a mere two hundred thousand saint spirit stones for insurance against one kind of danger one might encounter there was quite fair. While some of the top experts or leaders within the area might possess powerful pills that protected them from the threat of poison, the same couldn’t be said for every wandering cultivator. That was how the pills came to sell like hot cakes.

Even the Ghost Cave Five purchased five Eight Treasures Antidotes before the pills were sold out. This time they were extremely honest and didn’t try to cheat during the payment at all. It was obvious that they had become a lot more obedient after they had been taught a lesson by Jiang Chen. They too were afraid that he would hold a grudge against them, and they bought the pills in an attempt to express their desire to reconcile with him. They wanted to say, hey, we can’t beat you, and we’re afraid of you, so we’re buying a few pills from your friend as a show of our respect.

The fact that he had sold out of pills in just an hour bewildered Lin Yanyu a little. He had transformed into a rich man, with ten to twenty million saint spirit stones jingling in his pockets. The cost to make the pill was relatively low, so his net profits were pretty high. He had earned at least ten million saint spirit stones from today’s business. “Thank you for standing up for me, Daoist Huang. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. I have a few pills left that I would like to gift to you as a show of my thanks.” Lin Yanyu truly was a person who refused to take advantage of another person. He was the kind of person who repaid every kindness he received.

Jiang Chen waved a hand and said, “It’s fine.”

Lin Yanyu fell silent. He wasn’t quite sure of how to deal with Jiang Chen’s oppressive mannerisms. He wanted to be acquainted with Jiang Chen, but he was also afraid that Jiang Chen might be disdainful of him, which was why he was pacing back and forth around the area in an awkward manner.

“You sold your pills, so why haven’t you left yet?” Jiang Chen asked with a frown.

Lin Yanyu smiled wryly at Jiang Chen. Although he didn’t reply, his eyes told Jiang Chen that he wasn’t planning to leave.

“You’re a wealthy man right now. Someone may think ill of your profits. You can stay if you think you’re good enough to deal with these greedy robbers.” Jiang Chen had spoken out of good intentions. He could see that Lin Yanyu’s martial cultivation wasn’t as outstanding as his pill dao cultivation. Although he was a sage realm expert, he was only at first or second level sage realm. Cultivators like him were everywhere in this place. Even the weakest amongst the Ghost Cave Five was slightly stronger than Lin Yanyu.

Lin Yanyu knew that Jiang Chen was saying this for his own good, so he sent him a mental message, “Thank you for your kindness, Daoist Huang, but I still wish to enter the desolate wildlands and try my luck. Do not misunderstand my intentions, however. I am not here to get rich or anything… I bear a burden that I cannot speak of.”

Lin Yanyu might look like a soft person, but in reality he was quite stubborn. Jiang Chen knew Lin Yanyu must have his own reasons for staying and that it wasn’t the sort of thing for him to stick his nose in. Suddenly, he recalled that Lin Yanyu came from Pillfire City. He threw out a careless question, “Do you come from Pillfire City?”

Lin Yanyu nodded with a bit of self derision, “I am from Pillfire City, but their reputation is less of a talisman and more of a burden to me.”

“Burden? What do you mean?”

Conflicting emotions roiled behind Lin Yanyu’s eyes. He cast a glance at Jiang Chen before saying, “I hope you won’t tell this to anyone, Daoist Huang. I may come from Pillfire City, but if I’d had the choice of choosing my own birthplace, I would prefer to not have had any association with that place.”

“Why?” Now Jiang Chen was puzzled. Pillfire City was the greatest power in the pill industry and one of the most powerful entities in the entire human domain. Normally, to have been born into a powerful entity like Pillfire City, one would be proud of both their status and origin..

A hint of hatred actually flashed across Lin Yanyu’s normally gentle eyes, “That’s because Pillfire City destroyed my family and robbed us of the pill formula that’s rightfully ours. They killed my clan and destroyed my entire life.”

“Huh…” Jiang Chen was speechless for a bit. He never would have thought that Lin Yanyu would have such a tragic past.

“Thirty years ago, when I was still a child, my Lin family was a top-ranked aristocratic family in Pillfire City. One day, my family found an ancient inheritance of three ancient sky-rank pill formulas inside our ancestor’s house. After news of the discovery was spread,countless powers set their eyes on my Lin family. Just like that, a family of ancient heritage was wiped from the world. If I hadn’t happened to be with my mother paying a visit to her family at the time, even I may have been destroyed along with the rest of my family.” A hint of apology passed through Lin Yanyu’s eyes before he cut his sorrowful story short, “Daoist Huang, I’ve never told anyone this secret before, but you aren’t from Pillfire City, and you are my benefactor. It wasn’t my intention to burden you with such a secret, but… I hope that you won’t tell anyone about this.”

Jiang Chen was dumbfounded by Lin Yanyu’s reactions for a moment. Finally he said, “Relax, I’m not that senseless of a person.”

Lin Yanyu nodded nonstop, “I know, I know.”

“You’re still staying in Pillfire City after your family’s destruction?”

“Mm, Pillfire City is huge, and my enemies do not know that I am right within their midst. Pill factions are everywhere in Pillfire City, so I randomly joined one and learned the basics of pill dao at a young age. I did know some of my family’s inheritance. That was how I managed to climb to the… half-assed level I’m at right now,” Lin Yanyu said a little self-derisively.

Jiang Chen grew some respect for the man. It was rare to find a person who could endure such humiliation and bear his family’s mantle for revenge for so many years while still maintaining a heart of gold on the inside. Another person might have already become twisted beyond recognition. “I don’t think your pill dao level is half-assed. In my opinion, you’re at least at the level of a mid-rank pill king,” Jiang Chen gave his assessment.

“That’s because my family has a long history in pill dao,” Lin Yanyu sighed. “My grandfather and great-grandfather are all ninth-rank pill kings. In fact, my father was once called a genius who could challenge a half-step pill emperor. Unfortunately… it’s all gone. It’s all gone.”

“Your father could challenge a half-step pill emperor?” Jiang Chen looked a little surprised. “He was that great?”

Great pride exuded from Lin Yanyu’s eyes when his father was brought up. “It’s true. When my father was still young, he was on par with Pill King Ji Lang. However, Ji Lang was lucky to be born in the emperor’s direct line of descent. In the end, the sheer amount of resources Ji Lang had access to propelled him to where he currently stands. My father may not have necessarily been weaker than him if he had been given the same amount of opportunities.”

Pill King Ji Lang was the pill king who had fought against Jiang Chen at Sacred Peafowl Mountain. He was said to be second only to the ruler of Pillfire City, Emperor Pillzenith, and was his indisputable successor of pill dao. Before he had participated in the pill battle of Sacred Peafowl Mountain, he was said to be undefeated in pill dao. Had Lin Yanyu’s father really been the equal of Pill King Ji Lang when he was younger? If this was true, then his talents really were quite incredible.

Jiang Chen smiled, “Do you mean that Pill King Ji Lang who lost to Sacred Peafowl Mountain’s Pill King Zhen not long ago?”

A hint of disgust flashed through Lin Yanyu’s eyes when his name was brought up, “That’s him, that cocksucker. The stories of him being undefeated for his whole life is utter nonsense. My father’s fought him countless numbers of times in pill dao, and they both scored victories and suffered losses, so how can he possibly be undefeated?”

It was clear from Lin Yanyu’s tone that he was extremely hostile towards Pill King Ji Lang.

I've always felt that Divine Throne of Primordial Blood's cover is pretty badass...

Su Chen lost his sight in an unfortunate, unanticipated encounter. He was unwilling to give up despite suffering one of the most tragic fates possible in the human realm, and fought on. Su Chen wants to use his own efforts to create a completely new destiny, both for himself and for mankind!