Whose Empress Dowager Isn't a Baby?

Thousand-Faced Fox, a three-thousand-year-old fox demon who possessed beautiful women everywhere in search of opportunities. Perhaps she sought ascension; perhaps she had other reasons...

Jiang Chen had happened to use the talk of opportunities to cow her, and a little ambiguity had sprung up between them.

The danger of cooperating with her in dual cultivation was low, and she could provide him with ample demon qi.

That had already been proven many times.

It was just that the Empress Dowager... wasn't she a little too old?

After all, the old emperor was already quite advanced in years.

Although Jiang Chen had heard that the emperor had been quite young before reclaiming imperial power, and had only aged from laboring day and night after ascending the throne.

But the Empress Dowager was the old emperor's mother. How could a young man in his twenties like Jiang Chen bring himself to take a bite?

Jiang Chen hurriedly rewound the plot to when Old General Chen entered the palace to deliver the merfolk women. He then enlarged the map, shifted his gaze, found Peaceful Palace where the Empress Dowager lived, and entered her bedchamber...

The Empress Dowager was asleep.

Her plump, soft, charming figure lay on its side, while her exquisitely beautiful face bore a trace of weariness...

So it really was you!

Jiang Chen reconsidered. In the cultivation world, talking about age seemed rather meaningless.

The previous emperor had died young, and the Empress Dowager was a cultivator. There should still be some oil left in her tank.

The beautiful mature woman in the Butterfly Effect projection looked somewhat older, but she had maintained herself exceptionally well. She looked to be around forty, and her features were delicate while her bearing was graceful and regal...

Jiang Chen felt that it was not as though he could not fight this battle.

Come to think of it, Liu Ruyan was over a hundred years old too, yet wasn't she still a flower-like young maiden?

In one unchosen ending of the main storyline, Jiang Chen had precisely dual cultivated with Senior Sister Liu's body and Thousand-Faced Fox's spiritual power, rising to Qi Refining in one stroke.

Empress Dowager it was, then. For the grand cause of cultivation, it was nothing to reluctantly make a small sacrifice.

Perhaps the Empress Dowager was still a virgin. Whose baby wasn't a baby?

Jiang Chen had read bizarre novels in his previous life where the Empress Dowager was still a virgin. He had thought them absurdly fake back then, but now he hoped the fake could become real!

With Thousand-Faced Fox's illusion techniques, passing falsehood off as truth was far too easy.

Jiang Chen kept talking himself into it, while also feeling that this was his limit. If Thousand-Faced Fox possessed a man or an underage girl, he would not have any thoughts whatsoever even if beaten to death.

Jiang Chen restored the original plot perspective.

For the rest of the day, the plot remained entirely uneventful.

The black-clothed man droned on endlessly, all about secret happenings in the palace. His identity was surely far from ordinary.

Afterward, Jiang Chen only saw more black-clothed men coming and going from the stronghold, all of them at Foundation Establishment.

These people mainly scavenged Sandworm cores, colorful crystal ore, fire lizards, pangolins, immortal spirit cacti, blood-red plantains, and other Flame Mountain specialties.

Every so often, they also captured a few little demons crossing Flame Mountain.

Jiang Chen thought that if the Snake-Demon Widow from Spirit Spring Inn escaped back to Shipo Forest alone, these people would surely capture her.

The plot ended.

Jiang Chen's divine sense returned to the summit of the sand mountain.

The previous main storyline had involved the Demon Sect and Azure Mist Sect.

This main storyline involved palace intrigue in the Fireburn Kingdom.

It required careful consideration.

His matching avatar with Thousand-Faced Fox had become the Empress Dowager. Should he simulate first and renew their old bond to see whether it had any effect?

The two merfolk women were rather cute. Should he save them?

At present, the Heavenly Demon demonic qi stored in his Demon Shrine and his ample spirit stones—if he obtained over twenty Merfolk Pearls as well, wouldn't he undergo another explosive leap in cultivation?

Whether it was merchants selling demon slaves, Imperial Guards robbing demon slaves, or the emperor himself, none of them were good people. By Jiang Chen's moral standards, killing them would leave no burden on his conscience.

[You have finished viewing Main Storyline Four: "Twin Mermaids." Begin the simulation immediately?]

"Let's begin."

Since he was within Li Lingzhou's Sword-Qi Domain, Jiang Chen had sufficient safety guarantees.

This way, he could charge in recklessly during the first simulation.

[First simulation begins. Please choose an airdrop location!]

Jiang Chen directly airdropped himself into the Artificial Sandworm.

Only then did he discover that he could not airdrop himself directly in front of plot characters. He could only appear behind them, and could not get too close.

He needed to maintain a distance at which he would not be noticed. Appearing directly before them would exceed the limits of the plot characters' worldview.

Fortunately, he had not chosen to ambush the black-clothed man directly. Otherwise, with his back turned and some distance between them, without Sword Qi for long-range attacks, he could only rely on transmitting Sword Shock force. Its power would not diminish, but its speed would still be slightly too slow to achieve an ambush.

At this moment, Jiang Chen had airdropped into an unnoticed corner inside the Artificial Sandworm, where the four people could not see him.

He currently had two options.

First, he could directly ambush and kill the two merchants. He should be able to manage it, but battle would inevitably create unnecessary disturbances and bring the black-clothed men more quickly.

Jiang Chen did not yet have complete confidence that he could defeat a cultivator at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Second, he could bluff the two men by saying he had come to save them and that black-clothed men were pursuing them.

He could first make the Sandworm dive and evade the black-clothed men, then look for an opportunity to kill the two merchants.

The drawback was that this would easily alert the two men. In the end, he would have to face two opponents alone head-on in a fierce battle, and might still draw in the black-clothed men.

Of course, he could also avoid killing anyone and negotiate instead. If negotiations failed, he could spend money to buy the Merfolk Pearls or the two merfolk women.

After turning it over and over in his mind, Jiang Chen chose the second plan. He would first try the grand art of talking his way through things.

Since he had not planned an ambush, Jiang Chen simply stood there.

He looked around. The internal space of the Artificial Sandworm was not large, but the decor was rather decent.

It was entirely sealed with lacquered wood, completely isolating the sand. At the center stood an Air-Blowing Shrine over a man's height tall, similar to an air conditioner. It ventilated the space and maintained a warm, comfortable temperature.

Within a few breaths, the two merchants discovered him.

"Who goes there!"

Jiang Chen took a look. The leader was a middle-aged merchant with ordinary features and plain clothes, though he wore two layers of protective garments beneath them. His eyes revealed the shrewd cunning characteristic of merchants.

The other man was about the same age, with cultivation only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. He appeared to be controlling the Artificial Sandworm's movements.

But both men had clearly been greatly frightened by Jiang Chen's appearance.

The merchant had already drawn his sword and pointed it at him.

The Sandworm controller had even prepared a magical artifact for escape.

Jiang Chen merely said:

"You've been targeted by black-clothed Imperial Guards. If you dive and hide now, you can still be saved."

"Who are you?"

"I'm here to buy Merfolk Pearls. I didn't expect there to be merfolk women here as well, but rest assured, I will pay."

Merchants were the least likely to believe human words.

"You are only a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator. Why were you able to suddenly appear here?"

Jiang Chen casually fabricated an answer.

"Perhaps it is some spatial transportation treasure. You'd best not ask about that—it gets people killed... Of course, if you delay any longer and the black-clothed men catch up, that will get you killed too."

For safety's sake, the merchant ordered the Sandworm controller.

"Dive first."

The Sandworm thus sank several hundred zhang straight down, only stopping once it could not descend another inch. It remained still, concealing its aura.

A moment later.

A Foundation Establishment divine sense really did sweep the nearby area!

The merchant was alarmed.

All three held their breath and focused, saying nothing.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the black-clothed man finally departed.

But Jiang Chen could vaguely sense that the black-clothed man was still circling within ten li.

"Don't move. Wait here for two hours."

About half an hour later, the black-clothed man left, but Jiang Chen still insisted on waiting two hours.

The three stared wide-eyed at one another, observing each other without a word.

Two hours later, Jiang Chen took out one cracked Foundation Establishment Sandworm core and the remaining six Qi Refining cores.

"I have one Foundation Establishment core and six Qi Refining cores here. Together with the two lives I saved, how about exchanging them for your two merfolk women and twenty Merfolk Pearls?"

The price Jiang Chen offered was truly outrageous. The only Foundation Establishment core worth anything was even cracked...

To a merchant, that feeling of losing capital and flesh hurt worse than being killed.

The middle-aged merchant pondered for a moment.

"Fine, but you must tell me why a Qi Refining cultivator like you could suddenly appear here."

Jiang Chen's gaze shifted slightly, and his tone grew colder.

"Didn't I tell you? Asking that gets people killed. They are only some merfolk women and Merfolk Pearls. Are they more important than your lives? Why not sell them cheaply to me, then each return to his own household? Be more careful in business from now on, and do not travel this official road again."

Seeing that the other party was deliberately evading the question, the merchant concluded that Jiang Chen did not possess absolute strength to protect the treasure. His expression darkened as he waved a hand.

"The most important thing in business is trust. Since you do not trust me, young friend, forgive me for being unable to agree to your deal either."

When words were not on the same road, half a sentence was too much.

Jiang Chen thought, This bastard doesn't feel even a shred of gratitude for me saving his life. A merchant indeed—at the end of the day, he simply cannot take a loss.

He felt the time was about right. At such depth, with the black-clothed men no longer nearby, he could try taking the hard route.

"Fine. I'll offer a little more money, then."

Jiang Chen's right hand, which wore his Storage Ring, seemingly produced a bag of spirit stones from thin air.

However, this bag of spirit stones did not come from his Storage Ring, but from his inventory. Jiang Chen made no effort to conceal it, deliberately allowing the merchant to see this strange method of retrieving items.

The merchant frowned, just as expected, his attention diverted.

In the blink of an eye!

Jiang Chen's left hand suddenly produced a disciple sword riddled with holes.

Sword sharpness combined with resonance. The sword howled like a gale as it pierced straight through the merchant's gleaming, oily forehead.