Unrivaled

The main hall was steeped in tension. Chen Yuanya remained silent for a long while.

"Third Uncle is truly wise and mighty, able to discover such a promising talent as Master Shen!" Gao Qin suddenly cupped her hands, her voice ringing out. "Today, I accept my defeat wholeheartedly!"

Chen Quan heard her and thought, This is bad.

"Master Shen's skill at crafting artifacts is superb!" He hurriedly cupped his hands too, his voice even louder than Gao Qin's. "Third Uncle has a discerning eye. Flame Heart Island should belong to Master Shen!"

He didn't want anyone labeling him "narrow-minded and jealous of others."

Though his heart was already turning purple with envy!

Chen Yuanya looked at the two juniors, approval in his eyes.

They understood the bigger picture, put the family first, and didn't fight or scramble for their own gain. Now these were the promising talents the Chen Clan had raised!

"Father, are you really going to give Flame Heart Island to an outsider?" Chen Yuliang sent him a voice transmission.

The smile on Chen Yuanya's face didn't waver. His tone was firm. "Impossible!"

Chen Yuliang breathed a sigh of relief.

Flame Heart Island was rich in earthfire, a precious resource of the Chen Clan. How could his father hand it over to an outsider?

"Master Xu is right. Nephew Shen's set of spirit artifacts is extraordinary. Flame Heart Island should belong to Nephew Shen."

"Father?" Chen Yuliang stared at him in bewilderment.

"Shen Yue is a nephew I've watched grow up since childhood, a close friend who has known you for many years," Chen Yuanya replied through a voice transmission, his tone calm.

"..." Chen Yuliang fell silent.

He absolutely refused to acknowledge such shameless behavior.

"Congratulations, Brother Shen!" He walked over with a beaming smile and bumped Shen Yue's shoulder, acting like an old friend of many years.

Then he took out the jade slip for Flame Heart Island and said, "Brother Shen, take it."

He was only doing this because he feared his father's might.

"Congratulations, Brother Shen!" Chen Quan and Gao Qin saw this and cupped their hands together.

"Thank you, Senior Chen and Senior Xu. And thank you... Brother Yuliang?" Shen Yue returned the salute.

Though he had no idea what the Chen Clan was up to, claiming an island for artifact crafting was definitely a good deal.

Chen Yuanya nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces before he smiled and said,

"You are all the future of this marketplace, the torchbearers of the Chen Clan's artifact-crafting lineage. Today's contest wasn't for personal gain. It was a contest to pursue the Great Dao."

"Do not grow arrogant in victory or lose heart in defeat. Only by encouraging one another can you climb higher, even after reaching a hundred-foot pole."

"I hope you never forget your original aspirations and keep striving forward, forging more peerless divine weapons for the Chen Clan and the cultivation world!"

His words left Chen Quan and Gao Qin fired up with enthusiasm. They nodded again and again.

Shen Yue nodded along, too. He'd heard too many speeches like this at work in his previous life. He was immune to them by now.

"That's enough for today." Chen Yuanya waved a hand. "Yuliang, see Nephew Shen off."

"Brother Shen, this way."

"Thank you for the trouble, Brother Yuliang."

The two left the hall first.

Gao Qin and Chen Quan followed, leaving together.

On the way,

"Brother Quan," Gao Qin asked, unable to hold back, "isn't inscribing artifacts with array patterns considered an unorthodox method? Why does Brother Shen's crafting technique look so... profound?"

Chen Quan shook his head. "I'm not sure, but the Fire Refining True Explanation clearly says that inscribing artifacts with array patterns is a crooked path, not to be learned or used. We'd better not learn it."

"True. Best not to."

The two rode their spirit swords, turning into streaks of light as they flew off in opposite directions.

Within the streaks of light,

Gao Qin: "When I get back, I'm going to study this method of inscribing artifacts with array patterns in depth!"

Chen Quan: "Ha ha, who knew there was such an unorthodox method? Wonderful, wonderful!"

Above Refining Lake,

A sword's light rode the wind and cleaved through the waves. The lake split in two wherever it passed, raising walls of water several yards high. What a magnificent sight.

This sword was Chen Yuliang's life-bound spirit sword, one of the Twelve Divine Firmament Swords from the Jade Void Sword Sect. It was incredibly powerful.

Shen Yue stood on the sword as the lake rushed beneath his feet, the shrill whistle of air tearing past his ears.

He couldn't help but marvel. Compared to this sword, his spirit boat was like a small witch beside a great one.

Once he had some free time, he would have to try crafting a spirit sword.

The spirit sword cleaved through the waves with a roar and soon arrived at Cuiwei Island.

On the island,

Chen Tong sat before a stone table, muttering to himself:

"It can't be done... It can't be done... Fake... It's fake..."

"Brother, what are you muttering about?" Chen Huan ran out, his head wreathed in black smoke and his face soot-black, teeth flashing white. "I'm out of materials. Give me some more?"

Chen Tong saw Chen Huan in that state, and a surge of anger shot through him.

He was exceptionally gifted, already a quasi-Foundation Establishment cultivator and a quasi-Core Formation patriarch at such a young age. How could he have such a useless younger brother?

He'd poured so many resources into him, yet he couldn't even become an artifact crafter!

"Have you no shame, asking me for more?" Chen Tong opened his mouth to curse.

Before the words left his mouth, his expression suddenly changed. He looked toward the lake.

A sword's light shot through the air. Two people stood on the spirit sword.

Chen Yuliang stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sharp as lightning.

Shen Yue stood at his side, his expression calm.

Chen Tong's mind went buzz.

His cousin had personally escorted him here!

This guy had really made it!

"Chen Tong."

Looking down at him from above, Chen Yuliang said, "You're outrageously bold. You knew my close friend Brother Shen Yue was an artifact crafter. Why didn't you apply in advance for Brother Shen to become Flame Heart Island's lord?"

"Ah?"

Chen Tong stared at him blankly.

Wasn't that a bit of a stretch?

Since when had Shen Yue become Cousin Yuliang's "close friend"?

And even if Shen Yue was an artifact crafter, why should Chen Tong, a quasi-Core Formation patriarch of the Chen Clan, help a guardian apply to become an island lord?

"I was wrong!"

Chen Tong pulled out a handful of spirit stones, held them out with both hands, and bowed in apology. "I hope Island Lord Shen can be magnanimous and forgive this petty man."

He was apologizing to the island lord, not the island guardian!

Only then did Chen Yuliang's expression soften.

An ordinary artifact crafter naturally wasn't worth this much effort.

But Shen Yue was different.

Shen Yue was now his "close friend." Everyone needed to know it.

"Brother Shen, what do you think...?" Chen Yuliang looked toward Shen Yue.

Shen Yue beckoned, and fifty spirit stones flew into his storage pouch.

"We're all family. It was just a minor misunderstanding."

There was no reason to turn down free spirit stones.

Chen Yuliang nodded and urged his spiritual power. The spirit sword roared into motion again, carrying the two of them toward the lakeside residential area.

The little courtyard by the lake.

Li Sheng, Changqin Wuming, and all the island guardians in the residential area who had heard the news crowded around. They packed Shen Yue's little courtyard so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

Changqin Wuming stood in the middle of the yard, chest thrust out, his grin stretching from ear to ear.

The Chen Clan would be destroyed, the marketplace seized—just a matter of time!

Things were finally looking up! His Majesty was back on the rise!

Suddenly, two figures came riding the waves.

"Huh? Why are there so many people?"

Zhou Chongwen looked at the dense crowd, his eyes lighting up. He turned to Zhou Feng at his side, brimming with pride.

"Son, look at that crowd. They've come to celebrate you becoming an array master."

"Wasn't I right? No one can match your talent!"

Zhou Feng lifted his chin and swept his gaze over the tops of the crowd's heads, the corner of his mouth curling into a proud smile.

His father was right. No one could match his talent. He was already an array master, a future guest elder of the Chen Clan.

Whoosh!

Sword light roared, and spiritual pressure descended like a mountain.

Shen Yue and Chen Yuliang stood upon the sword, hovering in midair.

"You've seen the island lord. Why haven't you bowed?"

Chen Yuliang's voice rang across the entire lakeside residential area.

The island lord?

Everyone's heart jolted!

In the Chen Clan, only direct-line artifact crafters or long-renowned artifact crafters could be called "island lord."

Every one of them was a major figure!

Shen Yue... had become an island lord?

No one knew what had happened.

But no one dared to be negligent.

"Greetings, Inspector Chen! Greetings, Island Lord Shen!"

The dense crowd bent at the waist in unison.

Chen Yuliang nodded in satisfaction. "Brother Shen, what would you like to take?"

"Brother Chen, please wait a moment."

Shen Yue leapt down from the spirit sword, walked through the crowd, patted Qin Wuming on the shoulder, then went inside to pick up a few things before leaping back onto the sword.

Chen Yuliang urged his spiritual power. The spirit sword carried the two of them away with a roar, vanishing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The spirit sword disappeared into the distance.

But the crowd erupted like a pot boiling over.

"Shen Yue's become an island lord!"

"Emperor Ming, you're something else! Really something else!"

Changqin Wuming stood rooted to the spot, his head buzzing.

On the Green Jade Gourd above the lake,

"Father," Zhou Feng lowered his head. "Is my talent... really the best in the world?"

"You're number one, peerless!" Zhou Chongwen declared firmly.

"Then what about Shen Yue...?"

"Shen Yue relies on working tirelessly day and night, but hard work has its limits." Zhou Chongwen's expression was solemn. "You're different. You rely on your talent, and it has no limits."

Zhou Feng's eyes lit up. "I understand. I have wisdom that can shake the heavens!"

Zhou Chongwen patted his good son affectionately, then turned to steer the gourd through the waves.

The lake's icy water splashed Zhou Feng in the face, streaming down with his tears.

"Ahhh... Island Lord, Island Lord! How did you become an island lord?!"

At the same time,

On Cuiwei Island,

Chen Tong took out a voice transmission talisman, sank his divine sense into it, and his expression turned sinister.

"Cousin Yunxi, Shen Yue is not only close to Cousin Qiaoqian, but also has a deep relationship with Cousin Yuliang. Moreover, he's become an artifact crafter and the lord of Flame Heart Island."