Staring at Jiang Chu's back, Chen Chen pondered, 'What does this person mean? Does he want to support me in going against Zhou Renlong? That doesn't make sense.'

To be honest, although Zhou Renlong was somewhat powerful and competent, it wouldn't be worth it to go to such great lengths to deal with him.

After a moment of silence, Chen Chen decided to tell Zhou Renlong about the fact that he had become commander of the allied forces of the two states.

Now that the Demon Clan Master had become his subordinate, of course he had to be smug about it.

"Oh… I see."

After learning this news, Zhou Renlong replied with a simple answer, but Chen Chen could clearly imagine his furious appearance.

Although he was clearly the Clan Master, he was actually a subordinate to the Junior Clan Master.

Zhou Renlong, who was extremely prideful, definitely couldn't stand it.

"Old Zhou, there's no need to say anything about the relationship between you and me. Just like before, you don't have to be too polite to me when you see me, nor do you have to bow. I'm not the type to put on airs just because I've become an official," Chen Chen answered with a smile.

Zhou Renlong stayed silent while Chen Chen was secretly smug.

After a few moments, Chen Chen had no choice but to change the subject because Zhou Renlong still hadn't replied to him.

"Old Zhou, how's that rival of yours, Jiang Wang of Great Xia? Do you think that it's his doing that I've become your superior now? Is he trying to suppress you through me?"

"That old scoundrel died while fighting at the front line of the war. His state funeral was held half a month ago, and it's said that he killed three Essence Soul realm Demon Emperors before his death. Although I hate to admit it, he's pretty gutsy," Zhou Renlong answered.

"He's dead?"

Chen Chen was slightly shocked.

He was surprised that a powerful figure like Jiang Wang had died just like that.

However, he did not dare conclude that his promotion to Commander-in-chief had nothing to do with Jiang Wang. After all, Jiang Chu had been in the State of Jin for a month already.

"Let's take one step at a time and play it by ear."

Chen Chen shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. After all, he was not a fortune teller, so he couldn't see through everything.

While his Senior Brothers were refining pills, he had to make a trip to the Demon Clan, as well as Lao Hei's place.

Although Lao Hei had brought Green Bean along with him, he was only at the Core Formation realm, and it would be hard for him to fight so many demons.

At the end of the day, he was just a domestic pig.

Besides, what if Lao Hei became a stray pig after not seeing its owner for a long time? After all, there were a bunch of other animals beside it now.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Chu returned to the military camp 1,500 kilometers away, heading to the middle of the tent that had been set up.

The tent was surrounded by twelve people clad in black robes, all of whom had locked and sealed the entirety of the large tent. That way, outsiders couldn't get close to it at all.

The twelve men in black robes were the Dark Guards of Great Xia, which was a secret force that was directly subordinate to Jiang Wang.

These Dark Guards had undergone training from a young age, accustomed to being emotionless, ruthless monsters who only knew how to follow orders.

Additionally, their cultivation levels had all reached the peak of the Essence Soul realm, and they were equipped with all sorts of amazing treasures and arrays that could restrain Essence Soul realm powerhouses.

There was a wooden box in the middle of the special array in the large tent.

Jiang Chu slowly walked towards the wooden box and gently lifted its lid. Soon, a wisp of essence soul floated out from inside it.

Looking at the essence soul, Jiang Chu immediately fell to his knees and said in a deep voice, "Master... Chen Chen has joined the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan of Saintess Yu Qiong... Yu Qiong is known for having plenty of treasures. If she has given Chen Chen some treasures to protect his soul, our plan will most likely fail."

Hearing his words, the essence soul didn't say anything, but he seemed to be very fatigued.

"Jiang Chu, since the destruction of my physical body, my primordial spirit has been debilitating every day. If I take over an ordinary body and do a soul replacement, I will only end up living feebly for a few days. In that case, I might as well die.

"Chen Chen is my last chance. If Yu Qiong has already given him treasures to protect his soul, even though he only joined her sect a short while ago, I admit defeat."

"But..."

Not giving Jiang Chu a chance to continue, the essence soul interrupted, "I can't last ten days with this essence soul. Do you understand?"

Hearing his words, Jiang Chu suddenly lowered his head and teared up before muttering, "I... I'm willing to contribute my physical body!"

The essence soul smiled and waved its hands.

"Hey, Jiang Chu, I'm not trying to be a wet blanket. You might have good aptitude, but you're still far from being qualified. Okay, let's put this matter aside. Have you found out about Chen Chen's life and background?"

Hearing this, Jiang Chu immediately took out a book from his storage ring, one which contained biographical information about Chen Chen that he had found out after asking around in the State of Jin.

Since a state funeral had already been held for Jiang Wang in Great Xia, even the descendants of his family thought that he was deceased. Hence, they would never think he would appear again.

According to the original plan, he would take over Chen Chen's body, conduct a soul replacement, and then continue cultivating using Chen Chen's identity.

In order to not give himself away in the future, he naturally had to get to know Chen Chen better.

After the book appeared, the pages began to flip automatically, but the essence soul managed to skim through everything in just a few moments.

Jiang Wang's essence soul could not help but be amazed by what he saw.

"This person… He is indeed a genius. He rose and progressed so quickly… Geniuses like him are unheard of."

Jiang Chu was silent, speechless as he clenched his fists.

He never would have expected his master to continue with the soul replacement, even after learning that Chen Chen had joined the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.

In his opinion, Jiang Wang was a heroic person who would rarely make decisions he wasn't confident about, especially since they were in a life-or-death situation, like now.

"I'll do the soul replacement myself."

After a long time, Jiang Wang's essence soul suddenly spoke up.

"Master!" Jiang Chu exclaimed in horror, his face covered in disbelief.

"Don't fight with him. Based on Chen Chen's experience, he is a very intelligent and vengeful person. If you fight with him but the soul replacement ends up failing, you'll definitely die," the essence soul said indifferently, seemingly having resigned to its fate.

Jiang Chu lowered his head. He and his brother were both orphans whom their master adopted when they were children. They were obviously loyal to him.

He was extremely touched that Jiang Wang was still considering his wellbeing, even at such a juncture.

"Master… How can I tell if the future Chen Chen is you? Do I need a special code word? Chen Chen is very smart; he might impersonate you and talk to me."

The essence soul shook his head and replied, "There's no need for a code word. Regardless of whether I succeed in the soul replacement or not, take the Dark Guards with you and pledge allegiance to him in the future."

"What?!"

Jiang Chu couldn't believe his ears.

'Master wants me to pledge allegiance to Chen Chen? It will be fine if he succeeds in the soul replacement, but if he fails, Chen Chen would still be my enemy. How can I pledge allegiance to the enemy?"

"There's no feud between me and Chen Chen. If I succeed, everything will be fine, but if I fail, then he will inevitably be angry with the Jiang family.

"With his talent and background, it won't be hard for him to annihilate us in the future. So, if I fail, I must let him get some benefits, all in order to make him simmer down."

Hearing this, Jiang Chu became silent.

His master always considered the consequences and had steps to take after failure.

'Why doesn't Master want to take revenge?'

Before he could ask the question he had in mind, the essence soul took the initiative to explain it to him.

"Jiang Chu, even if I die, I would have brought it upon myself. You don't need to avenge me. Besides, once my form and essence soul are destroyed, I won't know if you've avenged me or not. I won't be bothered about it either. Besides, if I can't kill him, how can you? When the time comes, it will only result in a greater disaster for our family.

"After all, he has an Innate spirit body. Do you understand?"

Jiang Chu gritted his teeth and assented after hearing that.

"I... I understand!"

Of course he knew what an Innate spirit body signified.

That meant that if he couldn't kill Chen Chen, who had an innate spirit body, right now, he wouldn't be able to kill him even after decades of cultivation. He would get crushed to death by Chen Chen if he simply lifted a finger.

That was the real difference between elites and mortals, which made others feel desperate and helpless.

"It's good that you understand. Before you go, I have to remind you again, no matter what, do not resort to heretical means. After thinking carefully, I still feel that I must have been schemed against back then. Otherwise, I wouldn't be reduced to this point today."

After saying that, Jiang Wang's essence soul floated away.

When he was out of the tent, he finally said, "As a human… I still can't betray humans after all."

Watching the despondent essence soul from afar, Jiang Chu knelt down and remained still for a long time.

He knew that once his master left this time… He might never return again.