Though the merchant had been extremely wary of Jiang Chen and had long prepared himself for battle.
He still had not expected Jiang Chen to be able to draw a sword with his left hand.
Much less that an Qi Refinement cultivator's sword could be this fast.
No matter what, his head was gone.
There was no blood to be seen, but his brains had been shaken out.
Before a cultivator formed a Nascent Soul, the dantian could not merge with the soul and Primordial Spirit.
With his head gone, he could only rely on the instincts remaining in his spine, along with fragments of fused memories, to survive until a new head grew back.
Fortunately, the merchant was wealthy. He had attached a Soul-Shifting Artifact to his spine, transferring his soul in advance.
Or rather, duplicating his soul.
Even after Jiang Chen's sword pierced his brain, he remained unmoved. He raised a hand to seize Jiang Chen's blade, intending to take it from him.
Who would have thought that Jiang Chen's sword blade would tremble without end?
The moment the merchant's right hand touched the blade, his entire body jolted violently. He instinctively released his grip.
Amid his shock, he erupted with the spiritual pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm, trying to forcibly pin Jiang Chen down.
Just as he was about to form a hand seal and cast a spell, the Qi Refinement Realm Jiang Chen suddenly shuddered and forcibly broke free.
The merchant had no time to form his hand seal. He could only draw his sword as well, infuse it with surging fire spirit energy, and slash horizontally at Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen had just pulled the sword from the merchant's forehead when he swept aside the merchant's flaming blade with a single strike.
A clang rang out.
The flames were scattered, and the merchant's hand went numb.
Only then did he grit his teeth and ask:
"Who exactly are you?!"
At the same time, the insect tamer, who had been waiting for an opening, seized the chance to stab at Jiang Chen's back.
Jiang Chen did not even turn his head, merely raising a hand behind him.
Bang!
With a flick of his finger, he pierced through the insect tamer's dantian wall.
The insect tamer's eyes went blank. His sea of qi exploded with a boom, blasting him into a spray of flesh and blood that filled the entire interior of the Sandworm.
The merchant showed not the slightest grief. Taking advantage of the moment, he formed a hand seal and unleashed a surging Scarlet Lihuo Flame, instantly swallowing Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen did not budge an inch.
He had actually used his own fire spirit energy to resonate with the Lihuo Flame, adding an exceedingly concealed layer of flame insulation between his body and the fire.
The merchant did not notice. He formed another hand seal and unleashed the complete Lihuo Art, raising the flames' heat and binding force.
Jiang Chen's sword fell to the ground, burned red-hot.
The merchant let out a breath of relief and drew his sword, thrusting it at Jiang Chen.
Just as Jiang Chen seemed about to be burned into charcoal, he suddenly dodged the blade and stepped toward the merchant—
His palm slammed into the merchant's chest!
Bang!
That strike landed precisely where the Soul-Transfer Device was attached to the merchant's spine.
Though the merchant wore two layers of Spirit-Guarding Armor and Jiang Chen's palm strike did not break through his defenses.
The Soul-Transfer Device on his right chest was struck head-on, trembling violently.
It was as though it had been slapped into a concussion...
Jiang Chen's palm strike inflicted a stiffening effect, and he immediately seized the sword from the merchant's hand.
He leaped into the air.
Then his sword came down.
It pierced into the merchant's crown, its tip reaching his spine and completely destroying the merchant's soul.
"You..."
Jiang Chen flipped down, leaving the sword lodged in the merchant's spine.
Then he controlled the sword from afar, making its tip continue downward as it sliced open the merchant's dantian from the side.
The dantian leaked, and the sea of qi dissipated, failing to explode...
"Your greed turned your savior into the living King Yama sending you to the afterlife... Are Merfolk Women really worth that much?"
The merchant's eyes froze. He fell to the ground and died.
The battle had taken a little longer than Jiang Chen had expected.
This showed that humans of the same realm, though their spiritual pressure was inferior to spirit insects such as Sandworms, could make up for it through equipment, spells, and tactics.
What cultivator did not have a few life-saving trump cards?
Trying to defeat an enemy in one move was far too difficult.
There was no time for reflection. Jiang Chen immediately looted the Storage Rings of the merchant and insect tamer, picked up the three spirit swords, then turned and lifted the water tank containing the Merfolk Women, preparing to abandon the vessel and leave.
This Sandworm vessel was not bad, but Jiang Chen trusted his own ability to conceal his presence more.
Just as when they had encountered the man in black, the two Merfolk Women began whimpering and crying for help the moment he lifted them.
Jiang Chen gently patted the wooden railing and said softly:
"Don't be afraid. I'm a good person. Later, I'll tell you about Korean dramas, and you'll believe me."
Seeing how handsome this young man was, the two Merfolk Women felt quite comfortable as his gentle pats made the water tank sway slightly. Moreover, his voice was gentle, and he did not seem like a bad person.
So they stopped struggling and crying for help.
Instead, they began wondering what Korean dramas were...
Suddenly!
Jiang Chen sensed a powerful force approaching.
The man in black?
No, it was a Golden Core cultivator.
Chen!
It seemed the battle had lasted too long and caused too great a disturbance, drawing the attention of a Golden Core expert.
Run?
Jiang Chen believed that by resonating with the desert, he could attain movement speed comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
But he was far slower than a Golden Core cultivator.
There was no escaping...
Now that the other party had locked onto his location, it was too late to conceal his presence.
Suicide could end this Plot Simulation.
But he did not want to waste a precious simulation opportunity!
After turning it over in his mind, Jiang Chen chose to do nothing. He sat on a square table covered in bloody flesh.
He poured himself a cup of the merchant's Western Region black tea and calmly awaited Chen's arrival.
Yet the old general dressed in black did not come down.
After landing, he pinched two fingers together.
From hundreds of zhang beneath the desert, he hauled the Artificial Sandworm out of the ground from afar.
With a wave of his hand, the Sandworm's shell shattered.
Inside, the five walls of the wooden house flew apart.
On the ground lay the corpse of a Foundation Establishment merchant, while another Qi Refinement merchant had already become evenly scattered flesh and blood that filled the wooden house.
Two Merfolk Women were locked inside a water tank.
A young man at the Qi Refinement Realm sat leisurely at a table covered in bloody flesh, drinking tea.
A look of surprise appeared on the old general's face beneath his black covering. One hand rested on his greatsword as he asked directly:
"Who are you?"
The Flame Mountain where Jiang Chen had previously been was under the jurisdiction of the Azure Mist Sect and far from the Imperial Guards' underground base. It was only natural that the old general did not know Jiang Chen.
He took a sip of tea.
A perfectly transparent, naturally integrated aura gradually spread out, accompanied by the nourishment of tea spirit energy on his tongue.
"Who I am is unimportant. What matters is that I killed merchants trafficking Merfolk slaves, which was a righteous deed... General Chen has no reason to destroy my Sandworm wooden vessel, does he?"
Not only had Chen been recognized, he had even been beaten at his own game. His old face could not quite bear it.
"You, a minor Qi Refinement cultivator, killed a Foundation Establishment merchant?"
Jiang Chen smiled calmly.
"The world is vast, and nothing is too strange. There is no need to tell the Imperial Guards every secret, is there?"
Though the old general also felt that this boy was no ordinary person, he was not so easily intimidated.
"You may have killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator across realms, but it took you great effort. For this old man to kill you would be as easy as turning over his hand. Why not leave behind the Merfolk Women and the merchant's Storage Ring, then report your identity? This old man will pretend he never saw you. What do you say?"
Jiang Chen looked straight at the old general and said evenly:
"I fear that if I reveal my identity, General Chen will not dare accept the Merfolk Women and Merfolk Pearls. Wouldn't that make this a needless extra move?"
The old general threw back his black cloak. The immense aura of the Golden Core Realm suddenly rose as he said in a deep voice:
"This old man has seen many young men who put on mysterious airs. I'll give you three breaths. Who exactly are you?!"
"I belong to the Empress Dowager."
As he spoke, Jiang Chen slowly rose to his feet, revealing his tall, upright figure and imposing bearing, before adding:
"More precisely, I am the Empress Dowager's man."
Before you continue