Chapter 86

Wu Xuan's face turned purple. He had never expected that Tian Qian, who had never been involved in the affairs of the Four Gangs, would suddenly take action against his Xuanwu Gang.

"Why? Didn't Tian Qian agree not to participate in the war among the Four Gangs? Why did you send killers to my Xuanwu Gang?" Wu Xuan roared.

"Because he provoked someone he shouldn't have!" Qiu Yu said coldly, "Tian Qian will do anything to pave the way for him. Anyone who provokes him will die!"

"Thud, thud, thud!"

The Xuanwu Gang was annihilated, with blood flowing in rivers under the wrath of Tian Qian. Ironically, many members of the Xuanwu Gang died without knowing how they were destroyed. Of course, if they had known it was because Wu Meng had provoked Chu Yan, would they have regretted it?

This news quickly spread throughout Tongtian City. The successive destruction of the Qinglong Gang and the Xuanwu Gang was something no one had anticipated. The stalemate among the Four Gangs that had lasted for a hundred years was finally broken, leaving the Baihu Gang and the Zhuque Gang as the dominant forces.

Tian Qian remained in the middle, a force protected by the Eastern Alliance, which no one dared to challenge.

However, Chu Yan was unaware of all this. He had never wanted to get involved in the affairs of the Four Gangs. The Baihu Gang's victory was entirely due to their own abilities. As for why they were using his name, the reason was simple: they were afraid that the chaos would cause dissatisfaction among other forces in the Inner Circle. So, he didn't care.

Tongtian City was ultimately a minor force in the Inner Circle, and the turmoil it caused that night quickly subsided.

That night, Chu Yan sat alone in his room, continuing to consolidate his cultivation.

He had reached the initial stage of the Three Thousand Silver Rivers, but there was still a distance to the advanced stage. There were a few seals he couldn't comprehend, so he decided to try again that night.

For half an hour, silver light flickered on Chu Yan's skin, reflecting the moonlight beautifully. Soon, the yuan qi in his body began to flow toward his feet, forming three ancient seals in a short moment. These seals were like the wings of a mythical beast, intricate and elegant, with divine patterns flowing over them, giving a sense of profound mystery.

Chu Yan suddenly opened his eyes, and for a moment, it seemed as if ethereal yuan qi wings were fluttering behind him, filling him with joy.

"Have I reached the advanced stage?"

At midnight, the stars twinkled. In a grassy area of the Baihu Gang's courtyard, a shadow suddenly flashed by, difficult to catch in the moonlight.

"Not fast enough! Faster! This speed is far from enough!"

This shadow was Chu Yan. The three seals on his feet made his feet glow with silver light. He ran wildly and then used the grass, which was like a scythe, to leap into the air.

Leaping over the grass! This was the symbol of reaching the advanced stage of the Three Thousand Silver Rivers. Chu Yan smiled.

"Now that my speed is good, the key is to match my sword technique with this speed." Chu Yan stopped on a tree branch, which was only as thick as a thumb, but he stood steadily like a light swallow.

After reaching the advanced stage of the Three Thousand Silver Rivers, Chu Yan realized a problem: his sword technique was lacking. The Heavenly Star Sword Path and the Sun Destruction Sword Path were powerful, but they were too broad and lacked agility. Once he reached full speed, his accuracy was greatly reduced.

"It seems I need to change my cultivation method." Chu Yan returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and focused his mind in his dantian, heading for the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower.

At the Dustless Realm, one could enter the third floor of the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower. However, he had been delayed by the matter of Su Xishuang and had not entered until now. Today, Chu Yan decided to visit the third floor.

The third floor of the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower was finally reached. The walls still flowed like a sea, but the speed was even more unrestrained and violent, like a raging flood.

On the third floor, there were more vortices. In addition to the vortices for the third level of the Heavenly Star Dustless Canon, the third level of the Heavenly Star Secret Techniques, and the Xuantian Fragments, Chu Yan saw several more vortices.

Each vortex contained a divine object. Suddenly, Chu Yan's gaze was drawn to a stone statue, which resembled a woman with nine tails.

This statue, ten meters in diameter, exuded boundless vitality, as if it were absorbing all the power of the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower.

"Rank 2,700 on the Eternal List, the Reincarnation Statue? It can devour the vitality of heaven and earth and convert it for its own use?" Chu Yan's eyes widened. This divine object was truly heaven-defying, and the most amazing thing was that the Reincarnation Statue had some connection to Emperor Qin Shi.

"This Reincarnation Statue is truly formidable. Senior Qin Shi once used this divine object to condense the power of a continent into a ten-meter radius for his own use? And he used this statue to reincarnate the world?" Chu Yan was excited.

He had always been eager and admiring of the stories of Qin Shi. Now, on the third floor, he continued to read more about Qin Shi. Qin Shi left the low-level starry sky and went to the high-level starry sky, where there were two continents like black holes: one called Swallowing Heaven Void and the other called Concealing Heaven Void.

These two continents were super continents, each comparable to a hundred earthly continents, which shocked Chu Yan. When Qin Shi reached the intermediate continent, he challenged the Concealing Heaven Void and countless other continents with a single strike.

It was an ancient battle, but unfortunately, the third floor did not describe the outcome, so Chu Yan had to give up.

Continuing to cultivate in the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower, the night passed quickly.

During the night, Chu Yan memorized the techniques of the Heavenly Star Dustless Canon and the Heavenly Star Secret Techniques. The third level of the Heavenly Star Secret Techniques was a set of finger techniques called "Heavenly Destiny Finger." This set of techniques was divided into three levels: the first finger breaks Yin and Yang, the second finger destroys creation, and the third finger seizes destiny!

Looking at this set of finger techniques, Chu Yan didn't know its exact level, but the scenes that unfolded in his mind, with the three shocking fingers descending from the clouds, were quite awe-inspiring. If he could reach the limit of this technique, Chu Yan was confident he could challenge Shao Baiyu of the fourth level of the Dustless Realm.

In summary, this night was a great harvest for Chu Yan and his companions. Muye also broke through to the fourth level of the Dustless Realm three days later.

The day of the three-team battle was approaching, and Chu Yan and his companions finally left in the early morning.

Before leaving, Shao Baiyu found Chu Yan again and gave him three hundred second-grade spirit stones.

"What? Is this a bribe?" Chu Yan took the three hundred spirit stones and sneered at Shao Baiyu.

"Not a bribe. This time, we annihilated the Qinglong Gang and seized a thousand second-grade spirit stones. These three hundred are your revenge, owed to you by the Baihu Gang." Shao Baiyu clearly admitted that he had been using Chu Yan from the beginning, and so had the Baihu Gang.

Shao Baiyu also knew that if it weren't for Chu Yan, the Baihu Gang could still have annihilated the Qinglong Gang, but the numerous surrounding forces would have used this as an excuse to challenge the Baihu Gang, leading to a difficult situation for them.

Because of Chu Yan, the Baihu Gang, under the guise of the wilderness, avoided this conflict.

"Fine, I'll take these three hundred spirit stones. From today on, the Baihu Gang doesn't owe me anything. But Shao Baiyu, you still owe me an explanation. When we meet next, I hope you'll give me a reasonable explanation." With that, Chu Yan and the new disciples left, heading back to Huatian Sect.

Shao Baiyu stood there, then laughed bitterly: "Nothing can be hidden from him."

"Master, he knows everything?" An old man appeared beside Shao Baiyu.

"Yes, but he didn't point it out. The explanation I owe him is not easy to give..." Shao Baiyu sighed, bitter and regretful. There were things that even Ye Xun and others hadn't seen through.

Shao Baiyu had used Chu Yan, and it was part of a grand conspiracy that perhaps only Shao Baiyu knew about, which began during the recruitment of the Ten Thousand Sects. On the Ten Thousand Sects platform, when Chu Yan stood proudly against Chiyue and Lin Daoyan, Shao Baiyu was there, but he didn't reveal himself. It was Chu Yan's strength that made Shao Baiyu make this decision.

The Mystic Ice Sword belonged to the Baihu Gang, and the Ice River Sect's appearance was due to the information Shao Baiyu had leaked.

Thus, the subsequent events unfolded. Unfortunately, Shao Baiyu had not anticipated that the force behind Tian Qian was the Eastern Alliance, and Qiu Yu had known Chu Yan for years. The auctioneer of the Mystic Ice Sword was naturally known to Chu Yan.

But Chu Yan didn't point it out. Some things, once past, should be let go, as he said, Shao Baiyu owed him an explanation.

---

In Huatian Sect, Chu Yan and his companions had been away for a month and had not returned. Some in the sect even spread the rumor that they had died outside.

In the Alchemy Hall, Yu Ruoxi, lost in thought, fidgeted with her hands. The young girl seemed to have something on her mind.

"Still worried about that little rascal?" Mu Ling'er poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Yu Ruoxi. Since the incident with Chu Yan, their relationship had subtly improved, even surpassing her relationship with Lin Yuyan.

"That rascal, he boasted that he would make the New Disciple Camp change hands in the next competition, but he hasn't returned yet!" Yu Ruoxi sighed, "Senior Sister Ling'er, he really won't be in trouble, will he?"

Mu Ling'er smiled and shook her head, "Don't worry. They should have gone to Tongtian City. With him around, no one can harm that little rascal, even if someone from the Chiyue Valley comes, he will kill them without hesitation."

"Senior Sister Ling'er, who is that person?" Yu Ruoxi blinked her big eyes. She had often heard Mu Ling'er talk about Chu Yan's stories and was even more curious about him.

"A person who has no concern for the masses but is filled with thoughts of Chu Yan."

Yu Ruoxi was lost in thought, wondering if that person was Chu Yan's love interest. But she didn't know that Mu Ling'er was referring to Qiu Yu.

"Wait for him, he will return. Your Flame Alliance's second place might not last much longer." Mu Ling'er smiled faintly, but her eyes revealed a hint of longing and resentment.

"That little rascal, he hasn't visited the Alchemy Hall since coming to Huatian Sect. How annoying! I'll have to go find him myself, won't I?"