Chapter 3361: Swearing Fealty

Jian Chen stared coldly at the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King and said, "Ceremonial Bell, you seem to have forgotten something. You came to the Peace region and you begged me. You wanted my protection. I didn't invite you to come here. You have served me diligently over the years and made great contributions to the Peace region, but that's all a part of your responsibility. They're all things you had an obligation to do."

"If you couldn't even handle that, or you wanted compensation for that, what's the point of keeping you around?"

"Not to mention the fact that you even want me to make you a ruler. Hmph, Ceremonial Bell, you're far too complacent, aren't you? Aren't you aware of this, even in the slightest?"

Towards the end, Jian Chen spoke harsher and harsher.

The Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King turned pale-white. His heart trembled as he said in a hurry, "Please calm down, sir. It's my mistake, it's my mistake. I've misspoken. I don't have any of those fantasies either. Please forgive me for this time. Please give me an opportunity to fix my errors."

Jian Chen's expression did not change. His gaze was still just as cold. "Ceremonial Bell, if you don't want to stay in the Peace region, you're welcome to leave whenever you want to. I definitely won't stop you. However, if you want to remain here, you better recognise your standing."

"This ends here. Don't mention it again. You can go." Jian Chen waved his hand. After bowing politely, the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King backed away carefully.

Soon after the Ceremonial Bell Heavenly King had left, Bai Yueye of the White Emperor clan entered carefully. She was nervous, taking small, hesitant steps with her head lowered, even afraid to breathe too loudly. She bowed politely towards Jian Chen. "Greetings from junior Bai Yueye, sir!"

As soon as he saw Bai Yueye, Jian Chen could not help but smile. His gaze softened as well. When he first arrived in the Wood Spirits World, the person he had the most contact with was her. Not only was this girl kind-hearted, but she had also taken great care of him back then in Death Valley. Jian Chen had a very good impression of her.

After becoming a ruler, he had also nurtured Bai Yueye, so her strength had changed in an overwhelming fashion compared to the past.

"Yueye, haven't I told you already? I don't care about these trifling gestures of courtesy. You can just call me by my name." Jian Chen smiled.

"H-how would I dare to do something like that?" Bai Yueye was overwhelmed with fear. Calling a ruler directly by their name was something she could not imagine as such an insignificant figure.

Jian Chen did not haggle over this with Bai Yueye. Instead, he waved his hand. An ancestral imprint immediately drifted over to Bai Yueye as he directly gifted her one of them.

"Sir, w-what is this?" Gazing at the ancestral imprint hovering before her, Bai Yueye's eyes narrowed. She became both surprised and uncertain.

"It's an ancestral imprint. For you."

Afterwards, Jian Chen called over Bai Yurou and Chu Tianxing, giving them an ancestral imprint each.

Xia Jianming was obviously no exception either, also obtaining an ancestral imprint from Jian Chen.

He still had over a hundred ancestral imprints on him. These ancestral imprints no longer served much purpose to him, so he would obviously use them to nurture the people around him.

Immediately, the Divine Palace of Peace gained several Wood Spirits with ancestral imprints.

Of course, while they possessed ancestral imprints, they still could not be regarded as heavenly kings. If they wanted to become a heavenly king, they had to reach the Ninth Heavenly Layer of Infinite Prime while possessing an ancestral imprint.

Both were critical.

However, after obtaining an ancestral imprint, both their battle prowess and regeneration had increased. They now possessed the ability to challenge those at higher cultivations than them.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had already passed. During this time, many Primordial realm experts visited the Peace region, not just reputed experts from the nine imperial cities of the Peace region, but also people from the Grand Heaven Domain and the Jade Centre Domain.

The strength of these people varied, but most of them were Eighth or Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Primes. They expressed good will towards Jian Chen either openly or secretly, sincerely expressing their fealty in hopes that they could be nurtured as one of the rulers.

Many of them thought that this was simply absurd. Rulers could not be raised just because he said he wanted to.

However, they had been stuck at this point for countless years. As long as there was the tiniest of hope, they would not let it slip by.

If they became rulers, they would rise up, their statuses changing dramatically. Very few people could resist such a great temptation.

But without any exception, all of these people were mercilessly turned down by Jian Chen. He waited for the Jade Heaven Ruler to get back to him.

Finally, after another few days, the Jade Heaven Ruler arrived in the Divine Palace of Peace and passed a list of seven names that she had carefully chosen to Jian Chen.

"I've combed through all the Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Primes in the Wood Spirits World. These seven people are those who I believe are the most trustworthy and reliable. Of course, nothing is certain. After all, people change with circumstances. I can't guarantee you how they'll change in the future," the Jade Heaven Ruler said sternly.

Jian Chen nodded. He obviously understood that. Then he picked up the list and browsed through it before passing it to Xia Jianming. "Xia Jianming, tell the seven of them to gather in the Divine Palace of Peace immediately."

"Yes, master!" Xia Jianming rushed off with the list.

Seeing how unhesitantly Jian Chen decided on these seven people, the Jade Heaven Ruler was very worried. "You're taking far too great a risk. This is basically an extraordinary gamble. If you devote a tremendous amount of resources into nurturing them and they refuse to obey you, your entire investment will be lost."

"I understand your worries, but if I want to open the stone door, I have no other choice. Moreover, since your Wood Spirits race is a part of the Spiritsages, this is equivalent to helping out the Spiritsages," said Jian Chen. Given his relationship with the Wind Venerable and Shen Jian, he did not mind nurturing a few Chaotic Primes for the Spiritsages.

"You're in such a hurry to enter the stone door because of the injuries to your legs?" said the Jade Heaven Ruler gently as she glanced at Jian Chen's legs, which remained crossed the entire time.

"That's correct!" Jian Chen did not deny that.

"I will help you with everything that I have." The Jade Heaven Ruler left after leaving that behind.

Before long, seven Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Primes appeared in the Divine Palace of Peace.

These seven people came from various places in the Wood Spirits World. Some were lofty heavenly kings, some were the Heaven Fighting Ruler and the Jade Heaven Ruler's subordinates, and others were ancestors of peak organisations that dominated a region of their own.

At this moment, they all stood politely before Jian Chen. They were both excited and suspicious.

Clearly, they had already realised a few things from being invited here.

"Sir, do you really have a way for us to reach the realm of rulers?" The speaker was a heavenly king, the Mayhemless Heavenly King!

Two of the nine were heavenly kings. They happened to be the Mayhemless Heavenly King and the Deadwood Heavenly King!

Jian Chen sat on his throne and gazed down on the seven of them. He said calmly, "I'm bold enough to call the seven of you over, so I obviously have the confidence. However, I do have one condition, which is once you become rulers, you must all listen to me before I leave the Wood Spirits World."

"Leave the Wood Spirits World? Sir, I-I struggle to understand what you are saying," the Deadwood Heavenly King said in utter confusion.

The six other Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Primes were just as puzzled.

"The Wood Spirits World is just a small place. There's an even vaster world outside the Wood Spirits World, so I will be leaving here sooner or later. Don't ask too much about this. There are certain things that you'll find out about sooner or later. I only want to know whether you accept my condition or not," said Jian Chen.

The seven Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Primes looked at one another in response.

The Wood Spirits World was just a small place?

There was an even vaster world outside?

They felt extremely shocked by those words.

But in the end, they still caved in to the temptation of becoming a ruler. After a moment of deliberation, they all made their decisions.

"I agree. As long as I can become a ruler, your word is my bidding from now onwards in the Wood Spirits World."

"I also agree."

"If I can become a ruler, I will obey every word of yours."