The time of one stick of incense passed.
Chen Yan, Shi Mingxu, and He Qingling were each settled into three separate rooms by the disciples of the Setting Sun Sword Manor.
Only two Qi Circulation Realm disciples of the Setting Sun Sword Manor stood guard outside the doors.
Sitting in a chair, Chen Yan lightly closed his eyes, regulating his breathing and recuperating. On the table beside him sat a pot of tea and two plates of pastries.
The Enforcement Hall elder of the Setting Sun Sword Manor had come, saying on the surface that these few young friends had witnessed the incident and must have been frightened, so they arranged a few rooms for Chen Yan and the others to rest a little.
In reality, it was just house arrest, and they had separated and confined the three of them to prevent any possibility of colluding on their stories.
Han Qianfeng's status and position were undoubtedly mid-to-high level within the Setting Sun Sword Manor, so his death was naturally taken very seriously by the manor.
Handling the three who discovered Han Qianfeng's body with some caution was also a reasonable course of action.
Chen Yan knew who killed Han Qianfeng.
It was rumored that the lord of the Setting Sun Sword Manor had once formed a grudge with a certain top-tier sect in the Western Region of the Chenping Continent, so these few cultivators from the Western Region were almost certainly targeting the manor lord.
As for why they killed Han Qianfeng, it was to lure the snake out of its hole.
Although Chen Yan felt this method was somewhat unwise, as such an action, while attempting to lure the snake out, could also alert the enemy.
But these cultivators from the Western Region did exactly that.
As for whether the lord of the Setting Sun Sword Manor would appear or flee...
Chen Yan slowly opened his eyes.
His spiritual sense detected another Peak Qi Sea Realm cultivator approaching in this direction.
He's here.
It seems I won't need to stay here much longer either.
Chen Yan thought to himself.
Another few breaths of time passed, and the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
A slightly older-looking Martial Spring Realm cultivator, appearing to be in his early sixties, walked in. He was the Enforcement Hall elder of the Setting Sun Sword Manor.
"Young friend, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
The Enforcement Hall elder of the Setting Sun Sword Manor said.
"Ask."
Chen Yan said flatly.
Seeing Chen Yan sitting there without rising to pay his respects and using such discourteous language, Elder Li felt slightly dissatisfied, his brows furrowing, but he still said nothing.
If this mountain-opening recruitment ceremony could still proceed normally, and this little bastard named Bao Kai before him could still pass the three rounds of assessment, during the final elder review stage, he would definitely cast a vote of opposition.
Elder Li merely grumbled internally like this.
"How did you discover Elder Han's body?"
Although in his heart, Elder Li had already marked Chen Yan with a big cross, on the surface he still appeared very amiable.
However, to Chen Yan, whatever attitude Elder Li had towards him was completely irrelevant.
"A few disciples at the mountain gate told us to go to the third room on the right, north of the Sword Manor's main hall, to find Elder Han there. Elder Han would tell us the arrangements for the next assessment."
Chen Yan replied.
"Who was the first to discover Elder Han's body?"
"Shi Mingxu. He opened the door and discovered Elder Han's body."
"Before discovering Elder Han's body, did the other two ever leave your sight?"
"No. They were always within sight."
"After discovering the body, what did you all do?"
"Shi Mingxu went to find people. He Xiyao and I stayed where we were."
"Good. I have no other questions here."
Elder Li nodded. The words of this arrogant-seeming rogue cultivator named Bao Kai before him were basically consistent with the others.
And all of this was originally just routine procedure, taking statements.
After all, how could these three youngsters possibly kill Elder Han?
One must know that Elder Han, a late-stage Martial Spring Realm cultivator, ranked within the top five in combat strength within the Setting Sun Sword Manor.
That such a powerful Elder Han had his neck easily snapped could only mean one thing.
The person who killed Elder Han must have a cultivation realm of at least the Qi Sea Realm.
In this situation, looking across the entire Setting Sun Sword Manor, aside from Manor Lord Zhao Zheng, no one else had the capability to handle this matter.
Therefore, Elder Li immediately reported to the Manor Lord, and just moments ago, the Manor Lord had already personally arrived at the scene.
"Come. I'll take you to see the Manor Lord."
Elder Li said to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan nodded, then stood up.
Elder Li's brows furrowed again. He finally couldn't hold back and spoke to Chen Yan:
"Kid, my temperament could be said to be the most easygoing among the various elders of this Setting Sun Sword Manor. When you see the Manor Lord in a moment, you cannot be so disrespectful of seniority. You must know that our Setting Sun Sword Manor's lord is a Qi Sea Realm cultivator. Looking across the entire Jin'an Country, no one can surpass him..."
"Elder, don't you think I'm also very easygoing?"
Chen Yan said with a smile.
Hearing this, the corner of Elder Li's mouth twitched slightly, then he sighed:
"This child cannot be taught!"
Elder Li led Chen Yan, passing through several layers of corridors, heading towards the main hall of the Setting Sun Sword Manor.
Chen Yan's spiritual sense could clearly detect that within the main hall ahead, there was the aura of a Peak Qi Sea Realm cultivator, as well as the auras of several Martial Spring Realm cultivators.
Not only that, hidden in the dark corners above the main hall were also two Qi Sea Realm cultivators.
In the Sword Manor's main hall, sitting in the master's seat was precisely the Setting Sun Sword Manor's lord, Zhao Zheng. He appeared to be in his fifties, with a cold, stern face. Vaguely, one could see his features somewhat resembled He Qingling's.
This rather surprised Chen Yan.
Shi Mingxu and He Qingling had long since been standing in the hall.
"Reporting to the Manor Lord, the three who discovered Elder Han's body have all been brought."
Elder Li bowed respectfully towards Zhao Zheng.
"Mmm."
Zhao Zheng nodded slightly. His gaze swept over Shi Mingxu, He Qingling, and Chen Yan. The pressure of a Qi Sea Realm cultivator reverberated within the grand hall.
When his gaze fell upon He Qingling's face, this Peak Qi Sea Realm Sword Manor Lord suddenly froze for a moment.
Chen Yan's eyebrow raised slightly.
Because the instant Zhao Zheng's gaze landed on He Xiyao, the two Qi Sea Realm cultivators hidden in the shadows moved.
Two figures swiftly pounced from the shadows. One blocked in front of He Qingling, while the other lunged to kill towards Zhao Zheng.
Although the cultivation realms of these two Qi Sea Realm cultivators were inferior to the Peak Qi Sea Realm, both being only late-stage Qi Sea Realm, their actual combat strength still far surpassed that of ordinary late-stage Qi Sea Realm cultivators.
Especially this kind of premeditated ambush could catch Zhao Zheng completely off guard.
Powerful true qi pressure erupted violently. Unnoticed until now, a sword flowing with silvery radiance actually appeared in Zhao Zheng's hand. Judging from the true qi coiled around the sword's body, this sword's grade had to be at least mid-tier spiritual artifact or above.
Zhao Zheng's strength was above that of the two late-stage Qi Sea Realm elders.
But the gap was insufficient to overcome his disadvantage of fighting two alone.
Several Martial Spring Realm elders of the Setting Sun Sword Manor wanted to step forward to assist, but they were easily repelled by the true qi of the two late-stage Qi Sea Realm elders.
"Wei Tai, die!"
After exchanging several rounds of fierce combat, one of the late-stage Qi Sea Realm elders shouted sharply, raising his hand in a sword-finger strike aimed at Zhao Zheng's chest.
Zhao Zheng's pupils contracted sharply. Knowing he couldn't dodge this sword-finger strike, a flash of ruthless determination appeared in his eyes as he swung his sword, hacking towards the late-stage Qi Sea Realm elder.
Trading injury for life, life and death decided in an instant!
In the flash of lightning and spark of flint—
*Clang!*
A cold black iron sword interposed itself without warning between the Qi Sea Realm elder and Zhao Zheng.
Both Zhao Zheng's slash and the Qi Sea Realm elder's sword-finger were effortlessly blocked.
The wildly surging true qi between the two Qi Sea Realm cultivators instantly dissipated.
"Gentlemen."
The young cultivator in gray daoist robes standing between them spoke calmly and lightly, as if discussing a breeze:
"Please, both of you, sit down first."
Seeing this, the other Qi Sea Realm elder nearby took two steps forward, speaking in Chen Yan's direction:
"May I ask who you are, sir, and why you obstruct my Xuan Sheng Sect disciples from executing a traitor?"
He emphasized the three words "Xuan Sheng Sect", clearly intending to use the sect's reputation to pressure others.
Chen Yan showed no reaction, merely lifting his eyes slightly to glance in the elder's direction.
*Thump!*
An irresistible, vast pressure descended upon the speaking elder. His knees slammed heavily onto the blue brick floor as if nailed to the ground, kneeling on the floor.
"Did I let you speak?"
Chen Yan's expression was blank, his voice cold as ice.