Chapter 168 Let's Make a Deal, You Dog of a System

At the battlefront between the Great Shang and Xiqi.

Jiang Yuan and his entourage suddenly appeared in the Great Shang military camp, yet they were not in any rush to wander around.

Instead, they quietly waited in place. Since they made no effort to conceal their presence, it was inevitable that someone would notice the three of them.

The first person to appear before Jiang Yuan was Grand Preceptor Shen Gongbao.

During this period, Shen Gongbao had been stationed in the Great Shang camp to oversee the entire campaign. Moreover, ever since the incident involving Nezha, Shen Gongbao had become exceptionally vigilant regarding the camp's security, terrified that some powerful expert might sneak in and commit acts detrimental to Great Shang.

Thus, when Jiang Yuan's party arrived, Shen Gongbao was the very first to detect them.

"This humble Daoist pays respects to the King, Senior Bai Ze, and Lady Shiji."

"This humble Daoist has committed a grave offense and begs the King for punishment," Shen Gongbao said, cupping his fists and bowing in supplication.

"Of what crime is the Grand Preceptor guilty?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"The matter regarding Nezha was entirely my negligence, which allowed the cunning Taiyi Zhenren to exploit an opening," Shen Gongbao explained, detailing the cause.

Jiang Yuan smiled and shook his head. "I do not blame the Grand Preceptor for this. Taiyi Zhenren is a Primordial Golden Immortal. At that time, there were no Primordial Golden Immortal experts in the Great Shang camp, so it is only natural that Taiyi Zhenren took advantage of the void to take Nezha away. The Grand Preceptor need not reproach himself."

"I heard the King went in search of Nezha. Did you manage to see him?" Shen Gongbao asked out of curiosity.

Jiang Yuan nodded. "Nezha could not be found; he is likely with the Primordial Celestial Clan. However, I did settle some scores with Taiyi Zhenren."

"Did the King go to the Golden Light Cave?" Shen Gongbao asked inquisitively.

"Would the Grand Preceptor care to guess what fate befell Taiyi Zhenren?" Jiang Yuan asked, raising an eyebrow with a mysterious smile.

"The King might as well spell it out. How could I possibly guess everything?" Shen Gongbao said with a helpless sigh.

Truth be told, he longed to hear the news of Taiyi Zhenren's death. After all, back when he was on Mount Kunlun, out of all the Twelve Golden Immortals, the one he despised the most was precisely Taiyi Zhenren.

Without beating around the bush, Jiang Yuan directly tossed out the severed head of Taiyi Zhenren and asked with a smile, "I wonder if the Grand Preceptor is satisfied with this outcome for Taiyi Zhenren?"

Shen Gongbao stared blankly at the head of Taiyi Zhenren tossed out by Jiang Yuan, lost in a trance for a moment before bursting into roaring laughter.

"Taiyi Zhenren, oh Taiyi Zhenren, your day has finally come! Half of the grievances I, Shen Gongbao, suffered all these years on Mount Kunlun were because of you, Taiyi Zhenren!"

The expression of Shen Gongbao, who had been smiling all over just a moment ago, suddenly twisted with ferocity. He walked up to the head of Taiyi Zhenren and delivered a fierce kick.

"Has the Grand Preceptor vented his spleen?" Jiang Yuan watched the scene with a faint smile.

As if suddenly realizing something, Shen Gongbao offered a somewhat apologetic expression. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I lost my composure just now."

Jiang Yuan merely shook his head lightly. "Everyone harbors a side within them that causes them to lose composure."

"For the Grand Preceptor to speak such words and act in such a manner before me shows that the Grand Preceptor does not regard me as an outsider."

Jiang Yuan saw nothing wrong with Shen Gongbao's behavior. If the man couldn't even show emotional fluctuations upon the death of his most hated enemy, Jiang Yuan would have had to harbor suspicions regarding Shen Gongbao's true intentions in coming to Great Shang.

"Since the King went all the way to the Golden Light Cave to slay Taiyi, why did Primeval Lord of Heaven not show his face?" Shen Gongbao asked with some puzzlement.

He now directly referred to the Primeval Lord of Heaven by name rather than as "Master," a gesture intended to demonstrate to Jiang Yuan his resolute determination to sever ties with the Chan Sect.

Jiang Yuan also shook his head in puzzlement. "For reasons unknown, the Primeval Lord of Heaven did not show his face throughout the entire ordeal."

Shen Gongbao could only sneer upon hearing this.

"It seems that even the Twelve Golden Immortals are nothing more than tools to be discarded whenever he pleases!"

He now felt somewhat fortunate that he had withdrawn from the Chan Sect early on. Otherwise, his own fate might not have been any better than that of Taiyi Zhenren.

"That Primeval Lord of Heaven is truly cold-blooded," Jiang Yuan remarked casually.

He had a lingering suspicion that the Primeval Lord of Heaven's failure to rescue Taiyi Zhenren must have involved some deep conspiracy; the Primeval Lord of Heaven might have wanted Taiyi Zhenren dead from the very beginning. This wasn't merely Jiang Yuan guessing blindly—barring some hidden plot, how could the Primeval Lord of Heaven possibly allow a disciple of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm to be sacrificed so easily?

Furthermore, Taiyi Zhenren was practically a public facade for the Chan Sect. The Primeval Lord of Heaven undoubtedly harbored some ulterior, unspeakable scheme!

This realization made Jiang Yuan somewhat uneasy. When saints scheme, could any of it ever be simple?

"The Primeval Lord of Heaven has always been such a person. He only values those who are useful to him. As for disciples like us who linger on the fringes of the Chan Sect, he doesn't give us the slightest bit of regard," Shen Gongbao mocked bitterly.

"Yet precisely because he is a saint, most people only sought discipleship under him for the prestige of being a saint's disciple, correct?" Jiang Yuan asked.

Shen Gongbao smiled awkwardly. Back then, he too had gone to Mount Kunlun to seek apprenticeship simply because he wanted to become a disciple of a saint.

Had he known he would suffer such grievances, he would have gone to Biyou Palace instead. Even if the Master of Heaven failed to manage his disciples properly, at the very least, he fiercely protected his own. He truly could not fathom why the Three Pure Ones, all being saints themselves, could have such a vast gap in character.

"Why does the King have the leisure to visit the Great Shang military camp today? There should still be some time before the decisive battle. The King need not worry too much; with the assistance of the immortals from the Jie Sect, Great Shang is currently holding the upper hand," Shen Gongbao said with a calm smile.

"Has Daoist Zhao Gongming arrived at Great Shang?" Jiang Yuan asked casually.

At the time, Zhao Gongming had not returned to Great Shang with him, and Jiang Yuan wasn't certain if he had actually managed to drive the man away in a huff. If he had inadvertently chased him off, it would be a rather substantial loss, wasting several hundred tyrant points for nothing.

"He has arrived. On the very day the King departed, Daoist Zhao Gongming arrived at the Great Shang military camp," Shen Gongbao replied.

Only then did Jiang Yuan feel somewhat satisfied. Although this Zhao Gongming possessed a foul temper, his promises were absolute—every word carried the weight of iron. In truth, Jiang Yuan didn't despise him all that much; he simply couldn't stand that obnoxious attitude of his. Since the man was still willing to work for Great Shang, Jiang Yuan didn't mind making a few concessions of his own.

"What realm is the Grand Preceptor currently in?" Jiang Yuan asked, looking at Shen Gongbao with a smile.

In truth, he had seen through Shen Gongbao's cultivation realm at a single glance.

Shen Gongbao was currently at the mid-stage of the Great Golden Immortal realm, which temporarily allowed him to serve as a vital pillar of strength in this massive war. However, once the later stages arrived, his role would likely become insignificant. By then, the conflict would essentially be fought by Primordial Golden Immortals like Taiyi Zhenren—and even Primordial Golden Immortals might be reduced to mere cannon fodder.

Only Half-Saints and Saints were the true主力 (mainstays). Currently, the strongest individual by Jiang Yuan's side was still only the Half-Sainted Bai Ze. As for saints, the Master of Heaven could barely be counted on his side.

The journey ahead was long and arduous. Jiang Yuan had no idea how much time remained before the ultimate final battle, and he was even more curious about the war raging beneath the Abyss of Heaven.

What manner of enemy could possibly compel mighty figures like the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to draw a boundary on the earth and pit themselves against them in a protracted stalemate, unable to even emerge from the abyss?

Perhaps, compared to the war between Great Shang and Xiqi, the war beneath the Abyss of Heaven was the one that truly induced headaches.

Jiang Yuan felt a trace of melancholy. The challenges he would have to face in the future were still quite numerous.

"Reporting to the King, this humble Daoist lacks talent and has only reached the mid-stage of the Great Golden Immortal realm, still quite a distance away from the late stage," Shen Gongbao answered honestly.

"For the Grand Preceptor to cultivate to this realm entirely through your own efforts demonstrates extraordinary innate talent and is no small feat," Jiang Yuan praised.

"However, I believe that the Grand Preceptor's current strength is likely somewhat insufficient for the final battle to come."

"The King means to say...?" Shen Gongbao did not play dumb.

For the King to say such things to him clearly implied an intention to help him ascend in power, didn't it? He had long since heard tales of the Human Sovereign's divine capabilities, which caused Shen Gongbao's heart to grow warm with a budding sense of eager anticipation.

In truth, by this point, Shen Gongbao had also realized that his own cultivation realm was indeed somewhat lacking. The primary issue was that his position within Great Shang was not low, meaning those with cultivation levels and strengths superior to his own inevitably felt a degree of lingering discontent.

When facing late-stage Primordial Golden Immortal powerhouses like Zhao Gongming, he simply felt too ashamed to issue commands. By what right could he do so? What qualifications did a mere Great Golden Immortal have to command a Primordial Golden Immortal?

In the end, this remained a world where the strong preyed upon the weak. Shen Gongbao felt that with his current insufficient strength, he truly lacked the qualifications to direct others.

"Since I have already spoken thus, what other meaning could there be? Everything the Grand Preceptor has done for Great Shang during this period is something I have witnessed with my own eyes."

"Naturally, I will not be stingy when it comes to the Grand Preceptor. To prevent a Primordial Golden Immortal like Taiyi Zhenren from infiltrating the Great Shang military camp ever again, I deem it necessary to help the Grand Preceptor ascend to the realm of the Primordial Golden Immortal," Jiang Yuan said slowly with a smile, revealing his true intention.

Shen Gongbao did not offer any polite declinations. He had already roughly grasped Jiang Yuan's personality: the King despised hypocritical people, and if one had any thoughts in mind, speaking them straightforwardly was entirely acceptable. Moreover, when the King offered a reward, it was a genuine bestowal; there was no need to refuse.

"Then this humble Daoist expresses his profound gratitude to the King," Shen Gongbao said, his expression neither sorrowful nor joyful.

He knew that such a reward would eventually come his way. The Human Sovereign was never a petty person. As long as he contributed enough to Great Shang, the rewards he deserved would never slip away.

Jiang Yuan nodded with a faint smile, communicating silently with the system in his mind.

"Damn system, how many tyrant points will it cost to help someone like Shen Gongbao, who is currently at the mid-stage of the Great Golden Immortal realm, ascend to the Primordial Golden Immortal realm?"

"1,188 tyrant points," the system replied placidly.

"So expensive? Damn system, why don't you just go rob someone?" Jiang Yuan raged inwardly.

He found it somewhat difficult to accept this price tag. In the past, his transactions with the damn system had never exceeded four digits. Who the hell knew that helping Shen Gongbao ascend would be this costly? Had he known it was going to be this expensive, he wouldn't have put on such a grand facade.

Sigh, he had forgotten that the individuals he had previously helped ascend were all at the state of complete perfection within their realms, meaning the tyrant points consumed were limited. But now, things were different.

Shen Gongbao was not at the great perfection of the Great Golden Immortal realm and thus required a massive consumption of tyrant points.

Jiang Yuan, who had originally felt quite wealthy with over eight thousand tyrant points, suddenly realized he was still a pauper.

"Let's make the trade, damn system," Jiang Yuan thought with a heartbroken expression.

In the future, putting on airs required caution—it simply cost too many tyrant points.