Chapter 383: Can't Outplay Him, Really Can't Outplay Him

A trace of a smile appeared at the corners of Lu Xuanzhi's mouth:

"As the dignified Top Scholar of the Great Xia, could it be that you dare not battle me, a Top Scholar of a single province?

Or are you saying that you believe the Great Xia is inferior to Lu Province?"

As Lu Xuanzhi's voice fell, a wave of angry cursing erupted instantly.

"Is Lu Province planning to rebel? How dare they say the Great Xia is inferior to Lu Province?!"

An examinee was furious; Lu Xuanzhi was provoking everyone.

Lu Xuanzhi chuckled:

"If Chen Yan dares not accept the challenge, isn't that a disgrace to the Great Xia?

If he comes out, I will immediately retract my previous words!"

As Lu Xuanzhi's voice fell, everyone glared at him in anger.

"Chen Yan is not here!"

A Military Guard spoke up, while Shang Yunwu stood in the clouds:

"Come back another day."

"Not here?" Lu Xuanzhi sneered:

"Is he not here, or does he not dare? If he avoids the battle, I will only look down on him more and more!"

"He is truly not here!"

Shang Yunwu let out a low roar:

"Can't you fucking understand human speech?"

Lu Xuanzhi narrowed his eyes, and a blood-red light erupted from his entire body.

Yet, it was at this moment.

"Lu Xuanzhi, you are a hidden prodigy of Lu Province, already at the Fifth Rank; do you think I don't know?"

A voice of indifference rang out.

Everyone looked toward the source of the voice, all revealing expressions of pleasant surprise.

Someone shouted:

"It's Jidao Wu!"

Jidao Wu had a tall, imposing figure, full of majesty, as he walked toward Lu Xuanzhi from the distant sky:

"You are battling Chen Yan with a higher cultivation rank; even if you win, it is an unhonorable victory!"

"Hahaha." Lu Xuanzhi laughed loudly:

"Who told your Great Xia's Top Scholar to only be a Fourth Rank?

Isn't this your own fault?"

Boom!

A powerful aura erupted from Jidao Wu's body; he looked coldly at Lu Xuanzhi and then left directly.

In the distance, Second Rank General Star Li Muyun looked at Jidao Wu:

"Why don't you just take action and suppress him? It would save him from shouting here constantly."

Jidao Wu spoke indifferently:

"Why should I settle troubles for the Chen clan?

Didn't you also not take action?"

Li Muyun, Yin Youming, and the others looked at each other, not speaking.

The man wanted a battle of Top Scholars; it would be unreasonable for them, these Second Rank General Stars, to intervene.

"That Chen Yan's strength shouldn't be weak; I heard he battled Yu Changsheng and two Fei Yi beasts at San Jin, and Yu Changsheng even died."

A female General Star named Mu Ziwei spoke up.

"And who is Yu Changsheng?" Jidao Wu asked:

"Is he very famous?"

No one spoke.

The Second Rank General Stars were the strongest prodigies recognized by the Great Xia over the last ten years; Yu Changsheng was merely a top-three prodigy from a local region.

They really couldn't be compared.

"Li Muyun, you are truly shameful, letting a member of the Chen clan take the Top Scholar title!" Jidao Wu hummed lowly.

Li Muyun was the youngest and the only Second Rank General Star who participated in this year's imperial examination, yet he was not the Top Scholar.

This was something many had not expected.

Li Muyun pursed his lips:

"Why are you blaming me? The imperial examination secret realm has rank suppression; I lowered my own rank to enter.

Besides, that Chen Yan is definitely not weak; he has peculiar methods and obtained a massive amount of points!"

Just at this moment.

Roar!

A dragon's roar resounded.

Everyone looked far into the distance; a golden dragon flew from the distant sky, carrying a magnificent momentum, arriving suddenly.

Zhao Tian, an attendant to the State Administrator, stood atop the golden dragon.

With a complex expression and a soft sigh in his heart, he spoke:

"Examinee of Yunmeng, General Star of Fushan, Chen Yan, who does not let his ambition for the blue clouds fall, ascends the dragon today, drawing the attention of the world!"

His voice was clear and resonant, echoing through Xiaoyang.

Below, the Military Guard, a crowd of experts, all appeared with joyful expressions on their faces.

As for Lu Xuanzhi in another part of the distant sky, he sneered.

The top scholar's reward has arrived; now Chen Yan has no choice but to show himself.

"The State Master cherishes your talent and specially bestows a Morning Star-grade treasure, the Red Refinement Gauntlets. May you advance even further in the future!"

Zhao Tian shouted this out while almost gritting his teeth, and a pair of gauntlets radiating red light appeared in his hands.

He had no idea why Xia Qi would bestow such a treasure upon the current top scholar.

A Morning Star-grade gauntlet is indeed a treasure, but it is simply unworthy of the status of a top scholar.

Within the hidden space of the Cloud Heaven.

The Grand Preceptor and the Little Fate-Controller were also watching this scene.

"Why bestow such trash?" the old crone Fate-Controller frowned, extremely puzzled.

"Previous top scholars all received a full set of Bright Moon-grade battle armor."

The thirteen-year-old little nun spoke up:

"The State Master is being thoughtful. On one hand, Chen Yan has no use for such things; he possesses the Immortal Body and excels in speed, so Bright Moon-grade armor would only drag him down.

On the other hand, the Lightning Strike Treasure Land has appeared, and Xiaoyang is under the gaze of the world's experts.

The State Master is telling Chen Yan to avoid the storm, to give Chen Yan time to cultivate, and not to fall into the quagmire."

The Preceptor spoke earnestly:

"Actually, some people have already guessed that the Lightning Strike Treasure Land is related to Chen Yan.

Think about it, if those experts from the Five Clans all associate this with him, will they not cause trouble for Chen Yan?"

Chen Yan is to be enfeoffed as a First-Rank General Star; this is a certainty, a Divine General.

The Five Clans will never allow such a young Divine General to emerge.

The impact Chen Yan will bring to the world will be even greater than that of Lu Xunyang back in the day.

So now, Xia Qi must ensure that Chen Yan does not encounter any accidents before his appointment as a general.

The Fate-Controller nodded; the State Master had indeed thought very deeply.

The other party's protection of Chen Yan was also meticulous.

Every aspect had been considered.

Chen Yan's treatment was frighteningly good.

And it was almost the instant that Zhao Tian's words fell.

The entire Xiaoyang fell silent.

Zong Heng and the other experts of the Military Guard were all stunned, and then their expressions turned ugly.

"Red Refinement Gauntlets?" Zong Heng asked.

"Yes." Zhao Tian nodded with an incredibly complex expression.

"But in previous years, it was always a full set of Bright Moon-grade battle armor, this gauntlet..." Zong Heng said with difficulty.

This gauntlet wasn't even worth one ten-thousandth of a Bright Moon-grade battle armor.

Is it not a bit too cheap?

The entire Xiaoyang was somewhat bewildered.

And they realized for the first time that this top scholar's reward was a bit off.

"Please have the top scholar come out." Zhao Tian said.

"He is not here." Zong Heng said:

"I will accept it on his behalf."

Zhao Tian took a deep breath and handed over the gauntlets.

On the ground, someone spoke up:

"Could it be that the State Master has already seen something? Is Chen Yan going to return to the Chen Clan?"

As his voice fell, the surroundings instantly went quiet, followed immediately by an uproar.

"Chen Yan is not lacking such a gauntlet; he still has the Immortal Body."

"It was said before that the Great Elder of the Chen Clan had arrived in Xiaoyang, and Chen Yan hasn't appeared either. Could it be that Chen Yan has already left?"

"How can such a heaven-gifted talent return to the Chen Clan? He is a figure like Lu Xunyang."

"The State Master is muddled! Why not try to win Chen Yan over more? Muddled!"

………………

Exclamations rang out one after another.

The public seemed to have seen the thing they least wanted to see.

The State Master must have already seen something; after all, even the Great Elder of the Chen Clan had come to Xiaoyang to pick up Chen Yan.

Now, Chen Yan might have already broken ties with Great Xia.

Above the Cloud Heaven, Jidao Wu and several other General Stars also had uncertain expressions.

Lu Xuanzhi frowned; could it be that Chen Yan has really already left?

Public opinion was in an uproar.

"Impossible..."

Within the Military Guard, San Jin muttered; she absolutely did not believe that Chen Yan would return to the Chen Clan.

"Hahaha, what a joke!"

Shang Yunwu laughed loudly:

"The State Master's decision is absolutely wrong! Chen Yan is the person who saved tens of thousands of examinees in Qinzhou!"

"Exactly!" Shao Hengyang also held back a breath, growling aloud:

"Chen Yan will absolutely not leave Great Xia!"

The crowd of Military Guards kept speaking up, extremely dissatisfied with the reward from the State Administrator.

Inside a room within a large building.

Two people sat on a sofa.

Huang City Martial Suppression Division Chief An Qing looked viciously at everything happening outside the window.

"How does he dare to return to Qin Province, how does he dare!"

An Qing roared; his son An Yunan had been killed by Chen Yan's own hands, and he, as a father, had spent these past few days in extreme agony.

"Chen Yan should not have returned yet," the other person on the sofa spoke, smiling:

"You have already paid, and we have already begun."

"Do it, do it!" An Qing growled aloud.

"Alright then," that person laughed aloud:

"Rest assured, after today, Chen Yan's reputation will be ruined!"

Having said that, the person left.

In the room, An Qing was left alone; he held his head, his eyes scarlet:

"What is the use of just ruining his reputation? I want him dead, I want him dead!!!"

An Qing growled aloud, then immediately took out an iron plate engraved with secret scripts; it was a communication array disk.

An Qing took a deep breath, and then endless dejection appeared in his eyes:

"I never thought that I, a city-level Martial Suppression Division Chief, would actually fall to the point of contacting a Ji Clan spy."

A look of malice appeared in his eyes.

He had obtained the contact method for this Ji Clan spy several months ago, but had never used it once.

But this time, he was going to use it.

An Qing tapped the communication array disk, and a low voice instantly came from within it.

"An Qing, you really did come to find us."

Outside Xiaoyang City, inside a luxurious room hidden beneath the earth.

Jiang Yuan lay on a sofa, array patterns flickering at his throat, speaking into the iron plate in his hand that was identical to An Qing's:

"I never thought, I never thought that the Huang City Chief would also seek us out, the Ji Clan."

His voice was altered by the array patterns at his throat, becoming extremely deep.

Beside him, Chen Yan watched in astonishment.

"You want to kill Chen Yan?" Jiang Yuan was stunned, then smiled:

"He is a Great Xia top scholar, a Third-Rank General Star; he is very expensive."

From within the iron plate came An Qing's growl:

"I want him dead!!!"

Jiang Yuan smiled faintly:

"But, he is truly very expensive."

"I have a Bright Moon-tier tempering technique; this is my greatest secret!"

On the other side of the communication array disk, An Qing's voice even became sorrowful:

"This is what I exhausted everything to prepare for my son!"

"What do I want this for?!" Jiang Yuan's voice turned cold:

"I want precious medicine!"

"None!" An Qing growled.

"Then I won't kill Chen Yan," Jiang Yuan cursed in a low voice:

"This Chen Yan is..."

"Ji Clan!" An Qing roared, almost hysterically:

"Do you understand? It is not about what you want, but about what I have!"

Jiang Yuan was taken aback; what a reasonable statement.

Jiang Yuan glanced at Chen Yan beside him and smiled:

"How about this: I will send someone to meet you this afternoon. He is extremely strong; if he wants to kill Chen Yan, he can kill him easily."

Afterwards, the two finalized the plan.

Once everything was finished, Jiang Yuan tossed the communication array disk aside and looked at Chen Yan:

"Ten Bright Moon-tier precious medicines."

"One," Chen Yan said.

"Damn!" Jiang Yuan cursed in a low voice:

"A Bright Moon-tier tempering technique, and you are trading it with me for one precious medicine?

Nine!"

"Jiang Yuan," Chen Yan said earnestly:

"You know, I already split all the Bright Moon-tier precious medicines with you..."

"Don't, don't try that," Jiang Yuan hurriedly waved his hand; facing Chen Yan, he absolutely would not accept any swindling:

"I don't believe you split them with me before.

To be honest, you know that if I took it out to sell, it would definitely be fifteen precious medicines; asking for nine from you is truly being reasonable."

Chen Yan sighed softly: "Three, just consider it an investment in me; in the future, I will definitely sponsor you to become a Divine General!"

Jiang Yuan was speechless; why did Chen Yan inadvertently paint another big picture for him?

"Just nine!" Jiang Yuan said.

Chen Yan sighed inwardly; if he took out nine, then his previous lie would be self-defeating.

He didn't expect to be outmaneuvered by Jiang Yuan at this very moment.

"I can give you five first, and owe you four," Chen Yan said with a smile.

Jiang Yuan frowned, sizing Chen Yan up, feeling that the other party really only had this many precious medicines.

Afterwards, Jiang Yuan nodded.

Chen Yan took out five Bright Moon-grade precious medicines and handed them to Jiang Yuan.

"How did you get mistaken for a spy of the Ji Clan?" Chen Yan asked.

"It's very simple," Jiang Yuan smiled:

"I am actually an invincible prodigy planted by the Xia Clan into the Ji Clan's spy organization, and then planted by the Ji Clan's spy organization into the Aristocratic Family Alliance!"

Chen Yan suddenly understood, and couldn't help but look at Jiang Yuan with even higher regard.

"This afternoon, you go see An Qing," Jiang Yuan smiled, then made a throat-slitting gesture.

Chen Yan nodded.

He would not let an enemy he could deal with jump around in front of him.

He killed An Yunan, and he would never regret it.

An Qing was a bit pathetic, actually discussing how to kill Chen Yan right in front of the person himself.

Jiang Yuan stood up and poured a cup of tea for Chen Yan.

"This afternoon, we will return to Xiaoyang."

"Mm," Chen Yan nodded.

He and Jiang Yuan had been digging tunnels underground until they later arrived at this place.

This was a safe house Jiang Yuan had privately prepared for himself.

The entire structure used high-grade cultivation room bluestone as wall material, which could greatly isolate others' perception.

This person, Jiang Yuan, always gave Chen Yan a feeling of being bottomless.

If Chen Yan were not the Master of Will, he might really not be able to outplay Jiang Yuan.

Chen Yan secretly thought it a pity; when he pioneered the Word Realm, he vaguely felt that Chen Changyuan was also about to enter the Word Realm.

But for some reason, an existence that even Chen Yan felt was powerful stopped Chen Changyuan's actions.

If Chen Changyuan could enter the Word Realm, Chen Yan could play the other party to death.

Afterwards, Chen Yan looked toward the Saint-Breaking Realm.

The towering Saint-Breaking Tree overflowed with divine radiance, and its spreading branches no longer had their former thin, withered state.

On a branch hidden behind dense foliage, a chaos-colored fruit was nearing maturity.

Chaos-colored fruit.

It had appeared when Chen Yan pioneered the Word Realm, but until now, it was still a sliver away from maturity.

Chen Yan had always looked forward to the growth of the chaos-colored fruit; he felt this fruit would bring him a brand-new transformation.

It was also at this moment.

With a 'pop' sound.

Jiang Yuan snapped his fingers.

Immediately following, the room's ceiling retracted, and a giant screen descended.

On the screen, there were hundreds of surveillance feeds.

Not only were there surveillance feeds of the area around this room, but there were also surveillance feeds inside Xiaoyang City.

The Aristocratic Family Alliance, the civilian sector, and even the Military Martial Guard and the Martial Suppression Division all had feeds.

"Later, you must put in a good word for me in front of the State Ruler," Jiang Yuan smiled:

"You know, I am most lacking in resources."

Jiang Yuan glanced at Chen Yan, wearing a smile.

Chen Yan was speechless; Jiang Yuan was clearly showing off to him at this moment.

"Yo, your reputation seems a bit poor," Jiang Yuan looked at the surveillance screen and said with a faint smile:

"One Bright Moon-grade precious medicine, and I'll solve it for you, and you can even turn the tables."

Yet, in the surveillance screen, someone was spreading unfavorable remarks about Chen Yan.

Chen Yan looked at the surveillance screen and waved his hand:

"Forget it."

"Hm?" Jiang Yuan was stunned:

"You don't care about your reputation?"

"You're wrong," Chen Yan smiled:

"I just never let others influence me."

Jiang Yuan pursed his lips; is that so?

No wonder Chen Yan could cultivate with such single-minded focus, progressing at lightning speed.

He still didn't quite believe that Chen Yan could really not care about public opinion.

"Give me a Morning Star-grade, and I'll handle it for you," Jiang Yuan smiled, speaking with great temptation:

"It's very cheap."

Chen Yan shook his head and stood up:

"I'll borrow your cultivation room for a moment."

"Azure Vault grade, I will handle it for you immediately!" Jiang Yuan spoke again.

"Jiang Yuan, if you are always concerned about the opinions of others, then you will only become a slave to them," Chen Yan said with a smile.

Jiang Yuan frowned as Chen Yan walked toward the cultivation room.

Jiang Yuan felt somewhat unwilling; was Chen Yan's heart truly this strong?

"Earth Vein grade," he said indifferently.

Chen Yan, who was just about to enter the cultivation room, smiled:

"Deal."