Unfortunately, Dragon King's seclusion was a bit too long this time. Thus, it was no surprise that the four hostile forces were turning restless. If they didn't fear Dragon King's remaining influence, they would have long sent their troops to completely eradicate the Dragon God Celestial Palace. How could they leave the slightest chance for the Dragon God Celestial Palace?
Therefore, this was the best time for Ye Chen. Later on, as Dragon God Celestial Palace's strength waned further, even he would be of no help to contend against the four hostile forces. He couldn't be arrogant to battle one against a hundred or thousand. That would be simply courting death.
The eighteenth elder didn't say a word. When he met Ye Chen at the Ye Residence, he just knew that the latter was already determined, and nobody could change his decision. Furthermore, he believed that his ability to survive was very strong. To mature into his present state from a puny little genius, his ability to survive had to be formidable.
Everything that needed to be said had been said. All the elders looked at Grand Elder, waiting for his opinion.
The Great Elder opened his mouth, "I've discussed it with the Protectors. They won't oppose Ye Chen entering the battle, but they strongly emphasized on one point—the disciples of Dragon God Celestial Palace must go to battle as well. This will not only help in tempering them, but also be fair."
Great Elder's meaning was clear: Ye Chen, who was not even a member of Dragon God Celestial Palace, had come to offer without hesitation. Then, the disciples of Dragon God Celestial Palace naturally would have to participate as well. Otherwise, it would be inconsistent by both logic and sentiment.
"That is, of course, as it should be!" Hearing these words, the majority of elders nodded.
The great elder turned to Ye Chen and asked, "Ye Chen, the drop of will Patriarch left in your sea, have you used it?"
He hoped that Ye Chen hadn't used the drop yet. Only when Life and Death Kings' will reached the sixth step would they be able to leave behind a drop of will in others' Sea of Soul. It should be known that this will was not ordinary; it contained a trace of Life Essence Zhen Yuan. This trace of Life Essence Life Zhen Yuan was essential for the King's will to show its wonders. It was equivalent to a full power defense of a half-step King. However, even Life and Death Kings with sixth step wills had limited Essence Life Zhen Yuan. Just using it once led to a drop in their cultivation base. One or two times was fine, but if used many times, they would need to undergo years of recovery.
"That, I've already used it."
When he first arrived at the Sky Martial Region, he'd entered an underground crack in search of the Rootless Flower and Shadowless Grass. Who knew that the Shadowless Demon inside would be so frightening. If not for the Dragon King's will protecting, he would have lost his life right there. Thereupon, after the will was used, he eventually formed his Destruction Sword Soul at the moment of calamity and escaped.
Ye Chen still had lingering fears of that time to this day. To have one's body seized by the Shadowless Demon was a frightening affair. Even he, who had a strong will, felt his blood go cold thinking about that.
"Already used? What a pity!" Great Elder shook his head, but soon afterward felt some admiration. A few palace disciples had also received a drop of Dragon King's will, but none of them had used it. Although one could claim that everyone's encounters would be different, in any case, Ye Chen's claim that he had walked through one danger after another should be true.
"For you to have the heart to fight for Dragon God Celestial Palace. I, as the great elder of the Elders' Association, sincerely thank you. We've already discussed previously and decided to give you the identity of Azure Dragon Hall's deputy. If you some issue, we can have another discussion."
"Deputy of Azure Dragon Hall?"
Ye Chen knew that Azure Dragon Hall was the head of five great halls. Although the status of Azure Dragon Hall's deputy was not above other four hall leaders', it was absolutely above the latter deputies. Therefore, it required more strength as well. He had originally thought that the identity of a head attendant would be enough. After all, he had no prestige in the Dragon God Celestial Palace, and it would be hard to avoid public dissatisfaction. Who knew that the result would be much better than he'd imagined.
His biggest issue coming to Dragon God Celestial Palace was that he would have to hear orders from others. This was not something he was fond of. However, at present, this problem no longer existed. Deputies had authority over ten thousand troops, and were usually only under the supervision of Hall Leaders.
'That's enough." Ye Chen faintly smiled.
"Alright!" Great Elder faintly nodded, "To obtain the deputy command token, you'll first have to assume the position. Elder Yu will take you there. In addition, this is Dragon God Command Token. With this token, you're my Dragon God Celestial Palace Envoy. Although it won't give you more authority than the Hall Leaders, your status will be above them. If necessary, you can disobey their command and act on your own discretion.
Saying these words, Great Elder handed over a five-colored command token. On its surface were five huge dragons with five different colors—azure, black, red, white, and yellow.
Ye Chen received the command token, feeling a little flabbergasted. As far as he knew, five hall leaders had command tokens respective to their halls. For example, the Azure Dragon Hall Leader had the Azure Dragon Command Token, Black Dragon Hall Leader had the Black Dragon Command Token, and so on. As for the deputies, they had tokens with the word 'little' added in their command tokens, for example, Little Azure Dragon Command Token. Long Biyi, despite not being deputy of Azure Dragon Deputy, possessed the Little Azure Dragon Command Token. Due to her direct relation with the Dragon King, her command token was a little different from the others. However, the Dragon God Command Token was even higher the Azure Dragon Command Token. He didn't know how many people had this token, but he could guess that it wouldn't be more than five, or even less.
Great Elder continued to explain, "This Dragon God Command Token only has two copies. One is for Goddess Xu Jing and the other is for you…Use it well. With this command token, you can go anywhere in the palace without fear, including the forbidden zones."
Hiss!
The other elders present didn't expect that Ye Chen would receive the Dragon God Command Token. Of course, they didn't think that this was Great Elder or the Protectors' idea. It must have been the command Dragon King gave earlier. The former didn't have the authority to bestow the Dragon God Command Token.
"Ye Chen, with this token, your status is equivalent to our entire Elders Association." Elder Yu said with a trace of envy on his face.
Ye Chen accepted the command token and said earnestly, "Many thanks to Senior Dragon King and everyone's care. Ye Chen will certainly use this token with care."
This status was bestowed by others. He would certainly not use it recklessly.
"Good! This meeting concludes here. Dragon God Envoy, have a rest at the palace first. When it's time to assume your position, someone will inform you."
Azure Dragon Hall had lost a large number of troops, and needed to temporarily undergo some adjustment.
"Alright!" Ye Chen faintly nodded.
"Elder Yu, take Dragon God Envoy to a residential area…Redcloud Residence in the core area should be good."
…
Redcloud Residence was a top-notch dwelling place the palace. The entire region was covered by numerous big and small arrays. These arrays, apart from defense and offense, also worked to collect Yuan Qi from the heaven and earth, greatly aiding one's cultivation.
Elder Yu led Ye Chen to the Redcloud Residence and left after having a cup of wine with him. Before leaving, he issued some attendants to heed to Ye Chen's needs.
These attendants were all young and had cultivation bases of Clasping Yuan realm. They all seemed under thirty years of age. Of course, this was merely their outer appearance. Be it ordinary sects or a fifth grade sect, the position of attendants was below that of elders. And, a big portion of them were disciples who did not have enough talent. Therefore, even though they seemed thirty years old, they were probably in their forties or fifties.
"Nothing for now, you can leave!" Ye Chen said.
"Understood!" With that, they left the Redcloud Residence and assumed watch outside.
As the attendants left, Ye Chen looked around and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. There was no need to mention the residence's luxury and comfort. It occupied an area of several hundred hectares. At both sides of the roads was a mid-grade tree at every ten steps. Some trees also had fruits, which were mid grade as well.
Plucking a fruit, Ye Chen took a bite.
"Mid grade fruit is a mid grade fruit, alright! Pleasing texture and taste…such a pure power! If one eats it every day for years, it will save a lot of bitter cultivation, and even improve constitution by a lot."
Outside, nobody would be extravagant enough to eat mid-grade fruits in place of normal fruits. Even ordinary fifth grade sects wouldn't be able to afford it. And even in Dragon God Celestial Palace, only such top-class dwellings would have such treatment. For others, eating a mid-grade fruit would be luxury which they could only afford once in a while.
In a courtyard nearby was a hot spring. Above the red spring, Above the spring, pure energies took form of mist. A mouthful of this mist would make one's body completely relaxed. As for the sky above the entire Redcloud Residence, it seemed that some array were creating red-clouds everywhere, creating a beautiful sight.
Soaking in the red spring, Ye Chen lay on a rock calmly.
…
A few days passed by, and Ye Chen walked out of Redcloud Residence on this particular day.
"This island is not small like South Rudra Region. I first need to get familiar with it." A bigger place had its own share of troubles. If he wished to go somewhere, it was quite annoying. For example, within several hundred li of Redcloud Residence, there was not a single person except some attendants and their dwellings.
Ye Chen let Yan Zi, a young married woman, be his guide for the time being.
"Dragon Gold Envoy, this the palace's biggest training ground. Demonic beasts breed like flies here with all kinds, from first to sixth grade. It's surrounded by a huge array which forbids demonic beasts from leaving. Only after they've evolved to the seventh grade would they be able to leave."
Yan Zi was pretty as a flower. Being able to become a tour guide of Dragon God Envoy, she felt quite glad inwardly. They were attendants, whose treatment wasn't as good as inner disciples. Thus, they didn't get a share in the resources at all. They could only rely on contributions to obtain resources. However, the attendants had their perks. They were rewarded from time to time by the higher-ups. In her view, by serving Ye Chen, she could certainly get some rewards.
Upon leaving the test grounds, the two took a palace's unique flying boat and arrived before a huge lake. The lake water was not transparent, but seemed crystalline. Above the lake, rainbows could be seen everywhere. The entire sky seemed like polished jade, without a speck of dust. It was so beautiful that it was impossible to describe it in the realm of humans.
As the two arrived, they saw a beautiful woman in palace gown collecting the rainbow essence in a bottle, looking like a fairy. This woman was none other than Dragon God Celestial Palace's fifth disciple, Chen Yuxin.
She also saw Ye Chen approaching. Stopping her work, her figure flickered.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Ye!"
In reality, she was slightly older than Ye Chen in age and in appearance as well. However, in terms of strength, her addressing Ye Chen as senior brother was no disgrace to her at all.
Ye Chen smiled, "Didn't expect to run into Junior Sister Chen here!"
"Hehe!" Chen Yuxin smiled and took out a peculiar case from her storage ring, handing it over to Yan Zi, "It has three five-colored thunder shells. You can go back…I'll show Senior Brother Ye around."
"Understood!"
Yan Zi couldn't help but let out a joyous expression for a moment. The thunder shells refined by Chen Yuxuin were highly famed. A five-colored thunder shell could kill a powerful Astral Reaching expert. Although its might was not as good as that of the seven-colored ones, it was more than enough for her.