Chen Yan’s mind was in knots.
He had greatly overestimated himself.
In front of the real big shots of these sects, he was still far too inexperienced.
Although, if you added up all his reincarnations, Chen Yan’s age probably wasn’t that much younger than Elder Bai Qiming.
But the experiences accumulated over those years were completely different.
Chen Yan had always been a small cultivator wasted in the outer court, idle day after day.
He had no talent—neither in cultivation nor in political cunning.
As the reincarnation report bluntly put it, his years had all been wasted on a dog’s life.
It was not an exaggeration.
“So, why have you been quiet since back then?” he said.
“Aren’t you the one who asked Yue Chi’s little disciple to investigate those two murdered Martial Spring Realm cultivators?”
The gap was not only in scheming; it was also in intelligence and connections.
Chen Yan could rely on almost nothing except himself, and his own death.
“The one who suppressed the news was Dignity Elder He Furen of Yuanhua Mountain,” Bai Qiming said.
“How about that, not only Song Wencheng of Kongyuan Mountain, you also have a feud with He Furen?”
Chen Yan’s pupils constricted, his heart shaken.
He Furen!
He recognized the name—because it had been on Steward Song’s list!
Song Mingde’s list even had the name of the Dignity Elder from Yuanhua Mountain!
What on earth was going on?
Could the Dignity Elder of Yuanhua Mountain be one of Elder Bai’s cronies?
No, if that were true, it would be too exaggerated.
If Elder Bai really had the ability to unite the four great elders of other peak branches, he would have no need to fight Fu Qian.
He would have already covered the sky with one hand.
And Bai Qiming’s words had clearly been hinting at himself.
You have a feud with He Furen too?
He could roughly guess, or surmise, that those two Martial Spring Realm cultivators from Yuanhua Mountain had been killed by himself.
But Chen Yan’s current cultivation, in Bai Qiming’s eyes, was only early Qi Circulation Realm.
He did not ask how Chen Yan had managed it, nor did he want to ask.
“If you don’t want to say, then forget it,” Bai Qiming said.
“This time it’s your turn to tell me what information I want. What exactly is Elder Fu planning?”
“Elder Fu believes it was you, Elder Bai, who sent people to kill Song Mingde,” Chen Yan answered.
“So he sent Lan Wei to kill my disciple and Lu Li?” Bai Qiming continued.
“Maybe. If I hadn’t been close with Senior Brother Zhao and had some knowledge of alchemy, I might have died in that manor too,” Chen Yan replied.
“I always thought you were clever, Chen Yan,” Bai Qiming said.
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be alive standing here.”
Chen Yan’s mouth twitched slightly; he didn’t know how to respond.
Because he indeed shouldn’t still be standing here alive.
He had lost count of how many times he had already died.
“I can now answer your original question. You wanted to know why I wanted to see you, right?” Bai Qiming said.
“Yes.” Chen Yan replied.
“Because I owe you a favor. If not for you, Qin Yue would not have returned here alive.” Elder Bai said.
“Don’t hold such hostility toward me. I don’t care about the life or death of an outer court disciple of Kongyuan Mountain.”
“What I’m most curious about is why a Kongyuan Mountain disciple like you would do things for Elder Fu?”
The answer was simple.
“If the remnant soul of the Black Flood Dragon were allowed to go missing, it would likely bring great disaster,” Chen Yan answered.
He was not lying.
“You are quite responsible. This zeal of yours resembles your master’s ways back then.” Elder Bai chuckled.
Lin Qifeng?
Chen Yan did not know much about his bargain master’s past.
“You still don’t know about your master’s past, do you?” Bai Qiming said.
“The disciple does not know,” Chen Yan answered.
“Qifeng was a prodigy the likes of which Kongshan Sect, even the entire Chenping Continent, sees once in a thousand years,” Bai Qiming continued.
A prodigy?
Chen Yan thought of his master, still confined to the back cliff of Kongyuan Mountain doing wall-facing penance.
It didn’t seem to fit.
...
Chen Yan left the True Dharma Hall.
The truth he had thought was clear blurred again.
Seeing Elder Bai at Qingchan Peak’s True Dharma Hall had not been his main reason for coming.
He had originally suspected Elder Bai the most as the one wanting him dead.
But the truth might not be that simple.
Dignity Elder He Furen of Yuanhua Mountain.
Chen Yan had considered that Elder Bai might be deceiving him, shifting the blame to Yuanhua Mountain.
But He Furen’s name had been written on the note Steward Song left at the Immortal Gambling Den in Taiyun City.
However...
His head hurt.
The amount of information was overwhelming; he could not sort it out in a short time.
Because the real mastermind behind the disaster that would befall the outer court in more than two years might not be the Qingchan True Dharma lineage.
The message Song Mingde intended to pass to Elder Fu might not have been aimed at Elder Bai.
The waters running underneath might be deeper than he imagined.
Perhaps the Qingchan True Dharma lineage had only been the last to clean up the spill.
Unconsciously, Chen Yan found himself standing before Cangwu Residence.
He walked straight in, still holding the Qingchan Martial Decree; entering Cangwu Residence was an easy matter.
“You went to see Bai Qiming?” Fu Qian asked as soon as he saw him.
“Yes.”
“To do what?”
“To do what a disciple wants, to see whoever a disciple wants, is likely the disciple’s own freedom, right?” Chen Yan said.
“Humph.” Fu Qian snorted coldly.
But he really had nothing to rebut with.
Chen Yan was a Kongyuan Mountain disciple; he could not interfere.
“Did you retrieve what I asked for?” Fu Qian asked.
Chen Yan took out the box holding the paper slip and handed it over.
“Last night, on the way back to the sect, I was ambushed by two Martial Spring Realm cultivators,” Chen Yan said.
“Do you know who those two cultivators were?” Fu Qian asked.
“They might have been from Yuanhua Mountain, possibly men of Elder He Furen,” Chen Yan said.
“He Furen?” Fu Qian’s expression shifted slightly.
“Maybe. I’m not certain.”
“What cultivation level were those two?” Fu Qian asked.
“Both Martial Spring Realm,” Chen Yan answered.
“Then how did you return alive?” Fu Qian asked.
“Thanks to the treasures given by my master and my martial uncle,” Chen Yan said.
When faced with questions he could not answer, he always relied on Lin Qifeng and Yue Chi.
Let the learned men present the defense—this was Chen Yan’s current way of solving problems.
“You are fortunate then,” Fu Qian said indifferently without looking up.
“What makes Elder Fu say that?” Chen Yan asked.
“Just now a message came from Taiyun City. Last night, the Immortal Gambling Den in Taiyun City was wiped out.”