Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 993: Plot of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

Chapter 993: Plot of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

"This Divine Ability, though powerful, also has a great cost, like a life-threatening gambit, not to be used lightly until the last moment."

Breathless and powerless, Jiang Chen barely managed to steady himself.

Generally speaking, the power within the Innate Dao Sovereign’s body is nearly infinite, never having to worry about exhausting their power, but once it’s depleted, fully recovering is extremely troublesome and requires a great deal of time.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen was exceptional, with his three Dao Fruits trembling, actively drawing in the Innate Power for him, transforming it into pure power that flowed into his body, aiding his recovery.

Each of the three Dao Fruits was equivalent to a late-stage Quasi-Saint, and together, they equated to Great Perfection. This meant that even if Jiang Chen did nothing, within him, it was as if there was a Great Perfection Level Quasi-Saint helping him cultivate.

No wonder so many pursued the Dao Fruits—the benefits alone were too tempting to refuse, not to mention the many other advantages of possessing Dao Fruits.

...

"This Lake of Destruction is also a troublesome matter. The damned Huang Jiao caused the disaster yet expects me to clean up his mess... truly..."

"Humph, this should be noted as his fault, even if it falls on the Mystic Sect." Jiang Chen glanced at the Lake of Destruction with a helpless flicker in his eyes.

Originally, after fully perceiving the changes in his body, he had planned to leave directly, but just as he made his move, he received a warning from the Heavenly Dao.

He could leave, but he needed to resolve the Lake of Destruction, transforming it into the Innate Qi that would flow into the Three Realms. Otherwise, Heavenly Dao would hold him accountable, cutting away his fate.

Why was Jiang Chen tasked with handling the Lake of Destruction? Because in its formation, he too had played a part.

The self-destruction of Huang Jiao alone, powerful as it was, would not have resulted in a tide of destruction. It was Jiang Chen’s own self-destruction, forcing the Tai Ping Jade Annals to self-destruct, that intensified the Power of Destruction, nearly sweeping across the whole Three Realms.

Had it not been for the intervention of the Jade Emperor and other Great Divine Transcendents from the Mystic Sect, the tide could have affected all Three Realms, leading to an apocalyptic catastrophe.

If the Three Realms were to actually suffer, the combined efforts of Jiang Chen and Huang Jiao would not be sufficient to compensate, with a fate undoubtedly bleak. Even a Saint’s intervention would be unable to save them.

Now, thanks to the Jade Emperor and the intervention of the Great Divine Transcendents who sealed that world-destroying power, it didn’t threaten the Three Realms. But that doesn’t mean Jiang Chen and Huang Jiao are absolved of responsibility.

The disaster was caused by both Jiang Chen and Huang Jiao, so naturally, it fell upon them both to rectify it. But now, with Huang Jiao having reincarnated and his whereabouts unknown within the Human Race, only Jiang Chen remained. Thus, the entire responsibility of making amends fell onto him.

The fault lay with both, not solely on Jiang Chen, and primarily with Huang Jiao, not Jiang Chen. Therefore, it seemed unfair for him alone to deal with the aftermath.

It was Huang Jiao who had caused the trouble, but Jiang Chen, the victim himself, had to clean up the mess, which he understandably found hard to accept. But regardless of his feelings, he had to stifle them, as Heavenly Dao was not one to reason with.

If he refused, the apocalyptic karmic consequences of the incident would fall upon him, severing his path to ascension.

If he agreed to the Heavenly Dao’s terms, transforming the Lake of Destruction into a beneficial force for the Prehistoric World, all karmic consequences would be expunged, and in doing so, Jiang Chen might also gain some merit.

After all, he was an accessory, not the main perpetrator. Good behavior coupled with atoning for his crimes could turn a bad situation into a good one.

The Heavenly Dao seemed to offer Jiang Chen a choice, but in reality, he had none. Without transforming the Lake of Destruction, the towering karmic consequences would bind him, increasing the difficulty of achieving Quasi-Sainthood by a thousandfold.

For the future, Jiang Chen had no choice but to delay his departure, focusing on recovering his power while silently observing the Lake of Destruction before him, contemplating the method of transformation.

"Huang Jiao, this isn’t over yet!"

In his heart, Jiang Chen sneered coldly, planning to use this opportunity to properly deal with Huang Jiao.

The crime was of two, and he alone would solve it, absolving his own sins. What about Huang Jiao, the main culprit? How would he reduce his guilt? When karmic retribution came knocking, Huang Jiao would suffer.

No, no, inflicting karmic retribution directly would be letting him off too easily. Jiang Chen decided to conceal this debt of karma until the critical moment to strike Huang Jiao a devastating blow.

For instance, when Huang Jiao tried to break through to a higher level, releasing this apocalyptic karmic debt could cause his breakthrough to fail despite preparation, resulting in backlash.

Imagining such a scenario, Jiang Chen’s mood, soured by cleaning up after Huang Jiao, began to lighten.

Hmm, dealing with the Lake of Destruction might not be such a bad thing after all.

...

...

As Jiang Chen pondered how to transform the Lake of Destruction, far away in the external Chaos beyond the worlds, within the Fire Cloud Cave that hung high above all others, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were gathered, discussing the situation with grim expressions.

"Ancestor, the Mystic Sect has truly overstepped, to steal our clan’s treasure, the Xuanyuan Cauldrons, and to use it against our Human Race."

"This act is truly an excessive bullying, if the Human Race endures this, then what face do we have to stand between Heaven and Earth?"

The black-robed Zhuan Xu, with a face full of rage, spoke these words, his tone filled with extreme dissatisfaction towards the Mystic Sect, wishing he could immediately burst forth and slay all those Mystic Sect Great Divine Transcendents.

Zhuan Xu wasn’t just talking, he truly possessed the strength to slay the Mystic Sect Great Divine Transcendents, even without using the Human King’s Dao Fruit, he still had such capability.

Everyone knows that the Human Race has Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, eight Human Kings, who, with the support of the Human Race’s Fate, could contend against two Saints. Without the boost of the Human Race’s Fate, the Three Sovereigns are at the level of Great Divine Transcendents, while the Five Emperors are at the level of Quasi-Saints at their Great Perfection.

This rumor, the first half is correct, but the second half is incorrect. Indeed, the latter three of the Five Emperors, Di Ku, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun, are at Quasi-Saints’ Great Perfection level.

But the first two, Emperor Shaohao and Zhuan Xu, are similar to the Three Sovereigns, being at the level of Great Divine Transcendents.

Among the Five Emperors, only these two Emperors are special, for they are not only Human Kings but also Heavenly Emperors, two of the Five Elements’ Heavenly Emperors of the Human Race, the White Emperor Shaohao of the West and the Black Emperor Zhuan Xu of the North.

Having once been Heavenly Emperors, they have thus widened the gap between themselves and the other three Emperors, taking a half-step beyond the peak of a hundred feet, surpassing the realm of Quasi-Saint Great Perfection, becoming Great Divine Transcendents.

Although their realm has broken through, the two Emperors have always hidden their cultivation and never exposed this fact. This is the trump card of the Human Race, which might play a pivotal role in turning the tides of Heaven and Earth at a crucial moment.

The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, although sealed in the Fire Cloud Cave, are only restricted from leaving, not from communicating with the outside world, and naturally can see everything that happens outside.

Therefore, upon seeing the Mystic Sect use the Human Race’s precious treasures to fight against the Human King, hurting their own kind, they couldn’t help but become infuriated. The actions of the Mystic Sect indeed touched the bottom line of the Human Race, making the long hidden Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors unable to restrain themselves.

"Zhuan Xu, calm down!"

Xuanyuan, the Human King, spoke and calmed Zhuan Xu down.

All the Emperors are descendants of the Xuanyuan Human King. Among them, Emperor Shaohao, the leader of the Five Emperors, is his eldest son, and Zhuan Xu his eldest grandson, Di Ku his great-grandson...

Thus, Zhuan Xu did listen to Xuanyuan Human King’s words. As a grandson, he had to listen to his grandfather a little, after all.

"This time, those friends from the Mystic Sect indeed went too far. Naturally, our Human Race will not let this go easily, but not now—it will be after this incident is over."

"Let us temporarily take note of this matter. Once the affairs of the Earth Dao Country are settled, we of the Human Race will settle the score with these Mystic Sect Great Divine Transcendents together."

Fuxi, the Heavenly Emperor, spoke, effectively setting the tone for the matter—it’s not that they will not retaliate, but rather the time has not yet come.

Being Human Kings themselves, they all understood the importance of timing and knew that now indeed was not a good time to take action. But if they couldn’t act, could they not be angry?

What had just been said was merely a way to vent their rage. It was meant for those Great Divine Transcendents outside to see, for if they saw that even after doing so much, the Human Race still endured, wouldn’t they be seen as pushovers, to be squashed as they pleased?

If the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors did not make a stand, the following actions of the Mystic Sect Great Divine Transcendents would certainly be more outrageous.

"Now is not the time to go to war, but this cannot just be let go. If we bear this silently, our friends outside won’t know how to regard us, maybe even mocking the Human Race for lacking courage."

The Flame Emperor stood up and said, intending to teach those Mystic Sect Great Divine Transcendents a lesson, to let them know that the Human Race was not to be bullied.

"The main warriors were once forced to make a solemn pledge not to take action unless the Human Race faced existential danger. This pledge was somewhat heavy-handed; it should be abolished!"

"Moreover, we could use this opportunity to pressure the Mystic Sect, forcing them to abandon the pledge, so as to liberate our Taoist Masters of the Human Race."

Xuanyuan, the Human King, suggested from the side, wanting to coerce the Mystic Sect with this matter, pressuring them to break their former pledge. The main warriors of the Human Race occupied at least seventy percent of its strength, and if they could act freely, it would certainly bring a tremendous change to the Human Race.

"In the past, the Mystic Sect paid the price of a Heavenly Emperor to seal seventy percent of our war potential. To make them break their pledge now and to liberate these people just by using this incident as leverage, I’m afraid it’s unlikely to succeed."

Emperor Shaohao seemed very hesitant, feeling that it would be difficult to be successful in this endeavor.

"Well, whether it succeeds or not, we’ll know once we try. What if it does succeed? If it doesn’t, we can propose other conditions."

"Jiang Chen was right about something, people always like to make concessions and compromise. If you propose a skylight, surely they will not allow it. But if you advocate removing the entire roof, they will come to a compromise and agree to a skylight."

"The same principle applies to doing business, asking for a high price in the beginning, and then negotiating down. It’s better to start with a higher price to have room for negotiation."

Zhuan Xu, knowing Emperor Shaohao’s concerns, spoke from the sidelines.

Times have ultimately changed. In the Great Ancient, if two forces disagreed, they would simply fight a battle, and the winner would call the shots.

But now, that’s not the case.