Chapter 89

Jiang Chen kicked aside the skeleton and picked up the precious bow and the quiver.

"Was just thinking about how to get Xue Tong a fine bow, and this Blood Fiend actually delivered a gift." Jiang Chen knew the value of the bow and arrows, recognizing their extraordinary nature.

After dealing with the Blood Fiend, Jiang Chen did not linger and started moving toward the outer area.

At the same time, he communicated with the Swordbirds in their language, instructing them to search for Xuan Pang and Hu Qiu Yue from the third layer to the first layer.

Only the Golden-Winged Swordbird could understand Jiang Chen's instructions, and the other Swordbirds had to be directed through it.

Jiang Chen himself did not idle, beginning to search every corner.

"Xuan Pang, you must be fine." Jiang Chen knew that Xuan Pang and the others were actually victims of an unforeseen disaster. If the other party was not targeting him, they would not have been targeted.

With five or six days left until the mission deadline, Jiang Chen was not in a hurry to leave.

However, the number of noble heirs remaining in the Endless Catacombs was clearly very few. The traces of battles scattered throughout the catacombs indicated that this trial was extremely bloody, with severe conflicts among the noble heirs.

"These calamities suffered by the noble heirs are mostly due to the Long family's machinations," Jiang Chen sighed lightly.

The Long siblings' manipulation of the competition was evident. Some of the bodies were close to the Long family, while others were not.

It was clearly a struggle between two camps.

It seemed that the attrition rate for this assessment was at least over thirty percent.

For the kingdom, this attrition rate was indeed high. In previous assessments, the attrition rate never exceeded ten percent.

An attrition rate over ten percent was considered a heavy loss.

"Internal strife, this is probably the result of internal strife. If Long Teng uses this method to establish his authority, even if he replaces the royal family and controls the entire kingdom, he will inevitably suffer a great loss. Moreover, how can these nobles willingly submit to him?"

Jiang Chen shook his head. In the end, he had no interest in the struggle for secular power. However, the tide of events had placed him in opposition to Long Teng.

And this time, Long Teng's hiring of assassins had thoroughly enraged Jiang Chen.

"Long Teng, as long as I, Jiang Chen, am alive, I will make sure your Long family disappears from the map of the Eastern Kingdom!"

Jiang Chen was truly angry this time.

On the first day, Jiang Chen found nothing. He neither found Xuan Pang nor Hu Qiu Yue!

In this situation, no news was the best news.

Not finding them meant they might still be alive!

On the second day, most of the noble heirs remaining in the Endless Catacombs had already withdrawn. Jiang Chen still found no clues.

"Could it be that they didn't die and have already left?"

Jiang Chen was not willing to give up. He decided to search for one more day. If he still found nothing on the third day, he would leave the Endless Catacombs.

With two or three days left, he could still make it back in time!

It was on the third day that a Golden-Winged Swordbird found a clue. In a swamp in the second layer, there was a sign of a living person.

Jiang Chen immediately rushed over and found that there was indeed a living person in the swamp. Most of his body had been sucked into the mud, but he was still holding onto a clump of trees, unable to move forward or backward. He was now unconscious, but his hands were still tightly gripping the trees.

"Xuan Pang?" Jiang Chen was also stunned when he saw the person's face.

He quickly called the Golden-Winged Swordbird to help rescue him.

Soon, Xuan Pang was pulled out, extremely weak. Jiang Chen gave him a pill and massaged his body.

Xuan Pang slowly woke up, his lips pale: "Brother Chen, am I... still alive?"

"Fatso, I really thought you were dead. Did you see Xiao Yue?" Jiang Chen asked.

"No... I didn't see him. I had the worst luck. On the third day, I got stuck in this swamp. I shouted every day, but no one heard me."

Xuan Pang complained.

This swamp was extremely desolate, and it was a miracle that Xuan Pang had made it to this place.

Jiang Chen secretly rejoiced that Xuan Pang was stuck in the swamp; otherwise, he might have met a worse fate.

"Brother Chen, I really messed up this time. I didn't collect a single Green Spirit Pearl. Damn, does the swamp bully fat people? Just because I'm a bit heavy? But my lightness skills are pretty good. How did I get stuck?"

Xuan Pang mocked himself.

Jiang Chen was speechless, glancing at Xuan Pang and smiling: "It's not all bad. Look at your body, you've lost a lot of weight."

Xuan Pang was stunned, looked down, and saw that his tight clothes were now loose, like stolen clothes.

And his waist, which was thicker than a bucket, was now almost normal.

After nearly a month without food or drink, if it weren't for his fat, he would have starved to death long ago.

"Brother Chen, did I... lose weight successfully?" Xuan Pang jumped up, his eyes sparkling, "Ha, really lost weight? So, in the future, no one will complain that I'm too heavy when I hug them?"

Jiang Chen was speechless. This fatso's mentality was really something. He brushed off the failure of the assessment and immediately thought about dating.

Fortunately, on the way back, Jiang Chen collected enough Green Spirit Pearls from the bodies of the dead noble heirs.

Including his own and Xuan Pang's quotas, there was still more than enough.

After resting for half a day in the catacombs, Xuan Pang gradually recovered some strength and became curious: "Brother Chen, what happened? Why do these Swordbirds listen to you?"

"Fatso, we are brothers. Don't ask about these things. The more you know, the worse it is for you." Jiang Chen knew that Xuan Pang would never achieve anything in martial arts, so it was better for him not to know.

"Alright, no matter what, you are my most admired Brother Chen." Xuan Pang didn't ask further, "Brother, how many days have passed?"

"Twenty-seven or twenty-eight days?"

"Exactly twenty-seven or twenty-eight?" Xuan Pang was frustrated, "If it's twenty-seven days, the main force is still outside the valley. If it's twenty-eight days, the main force has already left. We have to go back ourselves. Without fast horses, how can we make it in time?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm more concerned about Xiao Yue." Jiang Chen sighed.

"Xiao Yue's Eight Meridians True Qi, could there be any problems?" Xuan Pang asked casually.

Jiang Chen waved his hand but said nothing.

If Hu Qiu Yue died, regardless of the reason, Jiang Chen would make the Long family pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold!

After resting for another night, Xuan Pang's injuries had recovered about seventy percent. The two of them walked for several hours in the catacombs and finally emerged!

Outside, it was a clear sky with green trees.

Xuan Pang looked up and breathed deeply, shouting: "Is anyone still alive? Being alive is great! The air outside is so refreshing!"

After leaving the valley and reaching the original campsite, they found it in ruins, with no one left.

"Did we arrive too late?" Xuan Pang was a bit embarrassed, "Brother Chen, I seem to have held you back again."

"Stop talking nonsense." Jiang Chen looked around, "From the traces, they must have left just a day ago. That means we have two days to get back."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Xuan Pang said hurriedly.

"No rush." Jiang Chen smiled and muttered a few words in the language of beasts. Ten Golden-Winged Swordbirds flew out from the grass.

"I need to return to the capital and need your help." Jiang Chen instructed.

He arranged for six Golden-Winged Swordbirds to take turns carrying them. The other four would lead the Swordbird army.

Jiang Chen would not bring the Swordbird army to the capital but would settle them in a deep mountain several dozen miles outside the capital.

Several dozen miles, at the speed of the Swordbirds, would take only a short time.

With this flying army, Jiang Chen felt much more confident.

...

In the capital, a storm had been brewing over the past few days.

The attrition rate for this trial was as high as thirty percent, with over a hundred noble heirs participating, and only seventy to eighty returning.

Of these seventy to eighty, a small half were injured.

Rumors about Long Teng's heir manipulating the competition spread throughout the capital, shocking the entire Eastern Kingdom!

If the competition between Long Teng and the royal family was previously conducted in secret, then this manipulation of the competition was almost an open challenge to the royal authority.

Although the rules of the Hidden Dragon Competition did not explicitly prohibit manipulation,

Long Teng's heir's actions, favoring those who submitted to him and eliminating those who opposed him, clearly aimed to force other nobles to join them.

This was forming factions!

When a noble openly forms factions, it is a sign of rebellion!

Of course, this was just the public opinion in the capital.

Contrary to this version, another rumor claimed that the one manipulating the competition was Jiang Chen of Jianghan.

This rumor portrayed Jiang Chen as the mastermind behind the manipulation, blaming him for the internal strife among the noble heirs.

Moreover, this rumor mentioned a highly sensitive piece of information: Jiang Chen had attempted to assassinate the Long siblings and seize the First Noble Order of Long Teng!

The two versions represented the opposing forces in the capital!

Although the first version was more convincing and closer to the truth, more than half of the 108 noble families in the capital had already acknowledged the dominance of the Long Teng family.

Thus, although the first version was closer to the truth, it was gradually being suppressed.

The second version, due to Jiang Chen's disappearance, was gaining more traction. This also symbolized that the balance of power between the royal family and Long Teng was tilting towards Long Teng.

Inside the Jianghan family, although Jiang Feng could maintain the situation, he was powerless to stop the rumors outside.

After all, his roots were shallow, and he had only a fraction of the influence of the Long Teng family in the capital.

In other words, if the royal family's support were withdrawn, Jiang Feng would be isolated, and the entire Jianghan family would be like a lone boat in the ocean, facing the fierce attacks of Long Teng and his allies.

The situation in the capital was becoming increasingly delicate.

Inside the Long Teng family, Long Teng, Long Zhaofeng, was in high spirits. The thorn in his side, Jiang Chen, had finally been eliminated. Although Long Yin Ye and his sister did not see Jiang Chen's death before leaving the catacombs,

Long Teng was confident that Jiang Chen had entered the fourth layer, a recognized no-go zone, and would surely die!

So, in Long Teng's eyes, Jiang Chen was already a dead man.