Saint Grass Dragon

Jiang Mingyang fell silent, his gaze turning resolute.

What Jiang Mingyang failed to notice was that an air of mysterious authority had somehow settled over him.

In the words of his previous life, it was the bearing of someone born to command.

Jiang Mingyang slowly left the Jiang Residence and returned to Duke Tianya Mansion.

The place was the same. The people... were entirely different.

The moment Jiang Mingyang entered the mansion, he saw Ma Hongjun devouring a plate of Longwind Chicken.

Ma Hongjun was the first person Jiang Mingyang had acknowledged as a good friend. That, coupled with the way Ma Hongjun behaved around him, made their relationship plain to see.

Everyone could tell that Ma Hongjun followed Duke Tianya's every command without question.

Ma Hongjun also visited the Jiang Residence from time to time to ask Jiang Tian to suppress his Evil Fire.

Naturally, no one dared neglect Ma Hongjun.

After Jiang Mingyang left for Slaughter City, Ma Hongjun became the most influential figure in Duke Tianya Mansion.

His own talent was exceptional, too, so the servants at Duke Tianya Mansion practically treated him like royalty...

When Ma Hongjun saw Jiang Mingyang, he grew visibly excited. He put down the Longwind Chicken and hurried over. "Boss, you're finally back!"

Jiang Mingyang smiled and asked, "How have you been? Did you ask my father to suppress your Evil Fire?"

Ma Hongjun grinned. "Yeah. I asked Senior Jiang to suppress it twice."

Jiang Mingyang nodded, took out a jade box containing the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's inner core, and handed it to Ma Hongjun.

Then he said, "This time, I found something that can solve your Evil Fire problem for good.

But it's far too potent. You'll have to reach the Soul Emperor level before you can absorb it."

Solving the Evil Fire problem was a promise Jiang Mingyang had made to Ma Hongjun.

He could have kept the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent's inner core and used it to control Ma Hongjun.

But doing that would only leave a bitter taste in Ma Hongjun's mouth.

It would never earn loyalty. Sooner or later, Ma Hongjun would turn against him—or be driven into defiance, even if he never openly rebelled.

He would have to give Ma Hongjun the inner core eventually. Since keeping it served no purpose, Jiang Mingyang handed it over now.

Ma Hongjun took the inner core and hugged Jiang Mingyang in excitement. "Boss, you're the best!"

Jiang Mingyang laughed and patted Ma Hongjun's hand. "Haha, keep training hard!

And remember, there's an enormous amount of energy inside it. You must reach the Soul Emperor level before absorbing it, or it'll burst you apart."

Ma Hongjun thumped his chest. "Don't worry, Boss." Then he carefully placed the jade box in his Space Soul Tool.

As Jiang Mingyang's foremost follower, Ma Hongjun naturally lacked nothing he needed.

Soul Tools might be precious to ordinary Soul Masters, but to someone of Jiang Mingyang's standing among the highest nobility, they were nothing remarkable.

After putting away the jade box, Ma Hongjun suddenly remembered something. His expression changed.

He hesitated before asking, "Boss, are those rumors going around true?"

Jiang Mingyang raised an eyebrow. Had word already spread this far?

Since Ma Hongjun was his foremost follower, Jiang Mingyang felt he ought to clear up the misunderstanding.

Otherwise, even his most casual actions might be assigned some special meaning and have unintended consequences.

Still, he could not explain everything outright. He would have to put it another way.

Jiang Mingyang led Ma Hongjun slowly into the sitting room.

Then he said, "I'm not the sort of person those rumors make me out to be, and nothing like that happened between His Majesty and me.

Hongjun, the world is complicated. You can't believe every rumor you hear.

You need to learn to form your own judgments. Only then will you truly be mature enough to shoulder important responsibilities.

As for His Majesty and me, I have my reasons.

If I get the chance, I'll tell you someday."

Ma Hongjun answered firmly, "Boss, you've been so good to me. I believe you."

Jiang Mingyang smiled and patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder.

What he appreciated most about Ma Hongjun was precisely that loyalty—or, perhaps, that sense of brotherhood.

Afterward, the steward had a meal prepared, and the two ate together at their leisure.

When they finished, Ma Hongjun accompanied Jiang Mingyang on a stroll through the garden, which covered nearly a hundred mu.

Bright flowers of every kind filled the garden, and the lake water was clear and sparkling.

Jiang Mingyang asked, "Hongjun, you're thirteen and a half now, aren't you? What level have you reached?"

Ma Hongjun grinned. "Thanks to you, Boss, the Evil Fire hasn't been interfering with me, so I've been cultivating much faster. I'm already at level thirty-six."

Jiang Mingyang nodded. Four levels in a year and a half was quite good, especially since Ma Hongjun had yet to take an Immortal Herb.

As for why he had not given Ma Hongjun one the moment they met—honestly, giving something so valuable to a stranger would have been absurd.

Even a romance needed time for two people to meet and get to know each other!

Besides, what if he had handed over an Immortal Herb straightaway, only for Ma Hongjun to say later, "Sorry, Jiang Mingyang, but I still prefer my freedom..."

Jiang Mingyang would have wanted to cry himself to death.

Moreover, although Jiang Mingyang knew the original story, he felt he ought to judge Ma Hongjun for himself instead of relying on it.

After all these years together, Jiang Mingyang felt Ma Hongjun was indeed a good person, with the rare sense of loyalty he had shown in the original story.

Perhaps because the Evil Fire had not tormented him so badly, and because he had spent so much time among the highest nobility through Jiang Mingyang, Ma Hongjun's temper was far better than it had been in the original story.

After all, one could call the highest nobility wicked or filthy.

But when they dealt with others, they truly knew how to make a person feel as comfortable as if bathed in a spring breeze.

That night, Ma Hongjun absorbed the Nine-Grade Purple Ganoderma, one of the slightly lower-quality Immortal Herbs Jiang Mingyang had left, and reached the threshold of level forty.

By Jiang Mingyang's estimate, some of its energy remained, but not enough to raise him another level once he became a Soul Ancestor.

At the Imperial Palace, Jiang Mingyang walked into Mingde Hall.

Qian Renxue looked up and smiled at him.

Jiang Mingyang strode up the steps and drew Qian Renxue into his arms.

He picked up a grape from the table, gently peeled it, and fed it between her luscious red lips.

"Dealing with state affairs?"

Qian Renxue slowly chewed the sweet grape, then looked at him and asked with concern, "You've already reached level sixty. Why haven't you gone to hunt a Soul Beast?

You can still cultivate at level sixty, but surely a Soul King and a Soul Emperor can't cultivate at the same speed!"

Jiang Mingyang nodded. "I'm preparing to hunt one. Right now, I'm aiming for a Jade Serpent or a Gale Wolf in the Star Dou Great Forest.

But specimens of either species that are fifty or sixty thousand years old are incredibly rare.

I've heard there are some in the Star Dou Great Forest, so all I can do is go and try my luck."

Qian Renxue touched his face and asked in exasperation, "Why are you so fixated on the Star Dou Great Forest?

There are Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in there. If you run into one, won't you be finished?"

Jiang Mingyang frowned, then realization dawned. "Qianqian, you mean Sunset Forest?"

Qian Renxue nodded proudly, thrust out her ample chest, and patted it. "From what I know, there's a Saint Grass Dragon over fifty thousand years old in Sunset Forest. It's a subspecies with Azure Dragon blood.

As Saint Grass Dragons grow older, their bloodline continually becomes purer.

They say a hundred-thousand-year-old Saint Grass Dragon can reach as much as fifty percent Azure Dragon bloodline purity. The one in Sunset Forest is already fifty or sixty thousand years old.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan originally wanted one of Yu Yuanzhen's descendants to use it as his Eighth Soul Ring, strengthening the clan's foundations and giving them a second Titled Douluo.

But his descendants failed to live up to expectations. Now it's there for whoever can claim it—and it would make an excellent Sixth Soul Ring for you."

Overjoyed, Jiang Mingyang pulled Qian Renxue close and kissed her.

Soul Beasts with a high concentration of dragon bloodline had effectively become a monopoly on the Douluo Continent.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan ran roughshod over everyone. They offered hefty bounties and forbade others from hunting Soul Beasts with dragon bloodlines.

If someone caught another person hunting such a Soul Beast and killed them, they could collect a substantial reward.

The risk simply was not worth it. With a Titled Douluo backing the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, almost no one dared use a Soul Beast with a dragon bloodline.

But publicly, Jiang Mingyang was the son of the Heaven Dou Empire's First Military Commander, while Qian Renxue was the Heaven Dou Empire's emperor.

Neither had reason to fear the mere Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Besides, in secret, Qian Renxue was the daughter of Spirit Hall's pope and the granddaughter of its former pope.

That little Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan... Hah...

Jiang Mingyang decided he could not let his visit to Mingde Hall go to waste...

By the time Jiang Mingyang walked out of Mingde Hall, he had surely lost some weight...