Chapter 553: Chen Yan vs. Xia Hanzhou

For the sake of Chen Yan's cultivation, Xia Hanzhou had actually omitted a great deal of information.

In reality, the underground organizations of Great Xia had faced near-certain death to pass on the Chen Clan's conspiracy.

The information war was fought almost every second of every minute.

The Five Clans possessed a massive network of spies within Great Xia, and Great Xia was the same.

Inside the camp.

"I understand, you have all worked hard."

Xia Hanzhou looked at the middle-aged man sitting to the side and said softly.

The middle-aged man sat calmly and nodded with a bitter smile; his face was full of exhaustion, his beard was unkempt, and his clothes were very dirty.

"After Great Xia refused the Five Clans' conflict, the Chen Clan will certainly conduct an internal purge; that batch of my subordinates will surely not survive.

I ask that the Moon King of Xia be able to arrange proper treatment for their families."

Xia Hanzhou frowned.

That group of people had been planted inside the Chen Clan since the early days of Great Xia; that they could dig up such significant information ahead of time and transmit it back to Great Xia was already somewhat incredible.

But they could not leave, nor could they act rashly.

Once arrangements were made for them to withdraw from the Chen Clan, the Chen Clan would certainly become alert.

But once the news that Great Xia would not participate in the Five Clans' conflict was released, what remained for these people was to be purged.

"Arrange for them to return to Great Xia; as many as can leave, let them leave. For those who cannot, I will provide their families with ten times the compensation," Xia Hanzhou said.

"But..." the middle-aged man was startled:

"But if we do this, the Chen Clan will be alerted."

"Let them be alerted. Since Great Xia is no longer participating in the Five Clans' conflict, why is there a need for more people to sacrifice themselves?" Xia Hanzhou said.

The unkempt middle-aged man's eyes trembled and turned red in an instant; he stood up and bowed directly:

"On behalf of my subordinates, I thank the Moon King of Xia!"

"Shen Xin, you need not do this." The Moon King of Xia helped the man named Shen Xin up.

Yet tears were already flowing from the eyes of the man named Shen Xin.

He was the Director of the Great Xia Investigation Bureau, and his official rank was even higher than the governors of the various provinces, yet he was currently in a wretched state.

Although withdrawing the team from Chen Province now would certainly alert the Chen Clan, and a portion of his subordinates would likely die,

it was still better than being completely purged after being discovered by the Chen Clan.

At this time, saving as many people as possible was all that could be done.

The closer the war, the less valuable human life would become.

Shen Xin felt bitter in his heart, but this was already the best possible outcome.

It was also at this moment.

Xia Hanzhou's communication array disc showed an anomaly; Xia Hanzhou's expression changed slightly—it was a message from Chen Yan.

"Moon King of Xia, I want to try one more time."

Chen Yan's voice rang out from the communication array disc.

Xia Hanzhou's expression changed slightly:

"You..."

"Moon King of Xia, please tell me what level of combat power the gate-guarding puppet will exert before its combat power is increased forty-fold."

Xia Hanzhou's eyes flickered:

"Before the forty-fold increase, Chi Yuexi could barely enter, but the puppet is not affected by the Dao of Will.

Your strength will be greatly restricted."

"I understand," Chen Yan said quietly:

"Let us hold off on the showdown with the Five Clans for now; I still want to try."

Xia Hanzhou's expression changed, and then his eyes widened; Chen Yan was definitely not a person who lacked vigilance.

If he could say this, he must have some certainty.

Moreover, Chen Yan still had the strength of the Dao of Qi and Blood that had never been exposed.

Perhaps, perhaps...

"I understand." Xia Hanzhou cut the connection.

Perhaps, the plan of Xia Qi could still be carried out!

To the side, Shen Xin frowned; after Xia Hanzhou's communication, a layer of light screen had enveloped him, and he could not see at all what was being said.

But he was quick-witted and asked: "Chen Yan?"

"Yes." Xia Hanzhou looked at Shen Xin, not hiding anything; this was a pillar of his Great Xia:

"Chen Yan wants to try again. If he can succeed, none of your subordinates will meet with disaster."

Shen Xin's eyes widened instantly:

"No!

If he fails, the Soul of the Life Chapter will be lost in vain, and even if my subordinates are alive, they will wish they were dead!"

Shen Xin was almost roaring.

The difficulty of entering the Five Clans' conflict had increased forty-fold; why did Chen Yan still want to try again?

Isn't this...

Isn't this treating all of their efforts as a joke?

"Moon King of Xia, he is still young; perhaps he does not understand the value of the Soul of the Life Chapter..." Shen Xin said urgently.

"He understands. He is a Divine General, how could he not understand?" The Moon King of Xia pursed his lips:

"Rest assured."

Shen Xin stood there in a daze, falling into a long silence at this moment.

After a while, Shen Xin walked out of the tent and ran into Zhang Ting, who was coming toward him.

At this time, one of Zhang Ting's arms was still broken, and his expression was incomparably gloomy.

Damn Li Xuanxiao!

Li Xuanxiao made things difficult for him time and again, saying that he, Zhang Ting, had hidden his true strength, and saying that the decrease in the number of fire beasts within the Huo Yu was all the work of him, Zhang Ting.

Now, the tempered martial artists training within the Huo Yu all gave him, Zhang Ting, no pleasant looks.

Originally, Zhang Ting was not well-liked.

Now, it was even more so.

Everyone believed that Shen Yiwei was the true successor of Lu Xunyang's faction, while he, Zhang Ting, was a villain who had stolen the position.

The prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain!

They would not stand in Zhang Ting's position to think; they would only believe that Zhang Ting was exactly as Li Xuanxiao said.

Zhang Ting could not take it anymore; he wanted to report this to Xia Hanzhou.

Just then, he saw Shen Xin walking toward him.

Shen Xin narrowed his eyes and glanced at Zhang Ting; he did not like this person, but as they brushed past each other, he spoke indifferently:

"You people of the Xunyang faction are all reckless fools who act boldly without considering the consequences!"

Zhang Ting's footsteps paused, and he looked coldly at Shen Xin:

"Did I provoke you?"

Shen Xin sneered:

"Isn't Chen Yan from your Xunyang faction?"

Zhang Ting was stunned, and then anger erupted in his eyes:

"You want to blame everything on me, right? Chen Yan is so impressive; he entered Jin Province, and all the high-ranking officials of Jin Province welcomed him—the whole world knows it!

He travels across Great Xia, and everyone is paying attention to him; he doesn't even cultivate anymore, and this is also my problem?!"

Zhang Ting exploded.

He felt that he was unlucky.

Back then, he suggested that the Longevity King should manage Chen Yan and let him focus on cultivation, but he was looked down upon by the Longevity King for so long.

They said he was not worthy of managing Chen Yan.

He quietly went to train in the Huo Yu, but trouble followed him constantly; everyone believed that he, Zhang Ting, was a villain who concealed his teammates.

And now!

Now he didn't want to manage anything, and he didn't even dare to mention the name Chen Yan.

Yet this Shen Xin was saying that Chen Yan was of the Xunyang faction, and that he, Zhang Ting, had also become a reckless fool.

"I, Zhang Ting, have never had anyone call me a reckless fool!

You aren't worthy either!

Chen Yan is Chen Yan, and I am I; his liking for travel has nothing to do with me!"

Zhang Ting roared out, his voice reverberating outward; all the grievances he had suffered for so many days erupted in an instant.

Even Shen Xin was taken aback.

"Did you eat a bomb or something?" Shen Xin narrowed his eyes:

"Watch your attitude!"

When did he ever say anything about Chen Yan not cultivating?

What did it have to do with him if someone traveled across Great Xia?

Perhaps Chen Yan was cultivating a martial art that required travel to advance.

Was this Zhang Ting catching him to find an excuse to curse?

All around, the military guards watched in a daze.

It was the first time they had seen Zhang Ting erupt with such great anger.

"Zhang Ting, what does the Divine General traveling across Great Xia have to do with you?"

A cold voice rang out; Jidao Wu, a second-rank General Star, appeared, looking at Zhang Ting with cold eyes.

"It has nothing to do with me!" Zhang Ting was furious.

"If it has nothing to do with you, why are you shouting so loudly?" Jidao Wu shouted angrily:

"Do you think my military guards are just freeloaders!?"

Boom, boom, boom!!!

Auras erupted one after another, instantly locking onto Zhang Ting.

Zhang Ting's body stiffened.

He realized that the current situation had nothing to do with whether Chen Yan was cultivating or not.

It was simply because the existence of him, Zhang Ting, was a problem in itself.

Now that war had broken out, the status of the military guards was clearly higher than that of the Martial Suppression Division.

Zong Heng and those old military guards were probably all waiting to settle scores with him, Zhang Ting.

Zhang Ting narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.

Zong Heng and Tan Yishi had indeed already appeared, looking at him coldly.

Damn it!

Zhang Ting looked at Shen Xin with cold eyes; if it weren't for this person deliberately provoking him, how could it have come to this.

"You live a truly pathetic life." Shen Xin said indifferently, then left directly.

Zhang Ting felt like vomiting blood.

"Enough!"

Xia Hanzhou walked out with a cold expression and looked around:

"What are you all trying to do? Move, all of you, move!"

Jidao Wu and the others hurriedly saluted, then retreated.

"Zhang Ting, whether Chen Yan cultivates or not is none of your concern." Xia Hanzhou looked at Zhang Ting again.

Zhang Ting's body stiffened; his brain felt a bit dizzy, and as he looked around, he laughed.

If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't beat Xia Hanzhou, he would have at least punched the other person out.

At this moment, he missed Lu Xunyang.

"Why did you come here?" Xia Hanzhou looked at Zhang Ting.

Zhang Ting held back a surge of anger in his heart, but still took a deep breath and said:

"The fire beasts within the Underground Huo Yu are constantly decreasing; it is Li Xuanxiao's doing, but he keeps saying it is my doing."

Xia Hanzhou raised an eyebrow:

"Which level are you on?"

"I am currently on the eighty-fifth level."

"What about Li Xuanxiao?"

Zhang Ting took a deep breath:

"I don't know."

Xia Hanzhou nodded.

Previously, Li Xuanxiao had also come to accuse Zhang Ting, but Li Xuanxiao was on the eighty-eighth level.

Since Zhang Ting was on the eighty-fifth level, that meant he couldn't possibly affect Li Xuanxiao, who was on a deeper level.

What the hell?

Which level is Chen Yan on?

What the hell?

Could he have rushed to a level deeper than the eighty-eighth?

Didn't he just enter the Sixth Rank?

Could it be that he is suppressing the Huo Yu using the path of Qi and Blood?

That's not right.

If he wants to temper his body with flames, why would he use Qi and Blood to suppress the Huo Yu?

But could he temper his body in a fire domain deeper than the eighty-eighth level?

Could he withstand it?

What the hell!

Xia Hanzhou forgot to ask which level Chen Yan was on; he had assumed Chen Yan was safely tempering his body within the fiftieth or sixtieth levels.

After all, he still had to consume the True Dragon Fire Marrow.

One must know that the True Dragon Fire Marrow is a Sun-rank Grade A body-tempering medicinal treasure; swallowing it is something even a Creation Realm master of hard-body cultivation can barely withstand.

It was already monstrous enough that Chen Yan could utilize magma for tempering in addition to accepting the medicinal treasure tempering.

Xia Hanzhou was a bit bewildered; he felt he needed to ask about Chen Yan's current strength.

Perhaps the reason for the decrease in fire beasts was Chen Yan.

"There are opportunities within the fire beasts; those capable will obtain them. It's nothing to worry about. Even if you slaughtered every single fire beast, it wouldn't be a problem."

Xia Hanzhou was now eager to ask about Chen Yan's current strength, so he spoke perfunctorily to Zhang Ting.

"I know." Zhang Ting looked at Xia Hanzhou:

"But Li Xuanxiao is framing me!"

Xia Hanzhou pulled back the tent flap and looked at Zhang Ting:

"Is it possible that it's not just him alone who wants to frame you?

I don't mean that; I mean..."

Xia Hanzhou got stuck: "Uh..."

He couldn't say it, so he walked directly into the large tent.

Zhang Ting's body stiffened, and he laughed again.

Inside the tent.

"How many True Dragon Dharma Images do you have now?" Xia Hanzhou immediately connected to Chen Yan's communication array disk.

"Four thousand one hundred and thirty-five."

"Good!" Xia Hanzhou prepared to hang up the communication; he needed to find some wine.

"My protective patterns have already reached the Sun-rank." Chen Yan said again.

"Hmm... hmm." Xia Hanzhou raised his eyebrows slightly; he didn't quite understand.

"Forging the Expansion Firmament, I have already entered the Divine realm.

King Xia Yue, do you think I have a chance?" Chen Yan asked.

He was actually unsure of his own current strength.

"I have already created a Sun-rank martial art unique to the path of Will." Chen Yan spoke again:

"If that doesn't work, perhaps I can use the path of Qi and Blood; after all, I can now condense three Qi and Blood clones."

"His own True Essence Dharma Image has also reached three thousand."

Chen Yan spoke again.

What he could rely on now was not just horizontal tempering, but also Qi and blood.

His strength in both aspects had improved tremendously, which was the reason Chen Yan wanted to continue testing it.

"King Xiayue, are you listening?" Chen Yan asked.

But Xia Hanzhou, within the communication array disk, did not speak for a long time.

"Chen Yan." Xia Hanzhou's voice was somewhat nervous:

"Wait there, I am coming to find you."

Xia Hanzhou's expression was somewhat numb; he was not quite sure if the person communicating with him was really Chen Yan.

If it was not, then that would be real trouble.

"That is even better." Chen Yan said.

Xia Hanzhou prepared to hang up the communication, then suddenly thought of something:

"What level are you on?"

"Here..." Chen Yan glanced at the fragments of fire beast corpses all around:

"It should be the ninety-fifth level."

Silence.

Silence was the lamp light within the camp tent.

With a hum.

Xia Hanzhou's figure vanished directly from within the camp tent.

His figure was illusory, his Eighth-Rank strength terrifying to the extreme; traversing the void, Zhang Ting and the others did not notice at all.

It was not until Xia Hanzhou saw the young man within the Huo Yu that a look of shock gradually appeared on Xia Hanzhou's face.

"Come and hit me!"

Xia Hanzhou spoke directly to Chen Yan:

"Use your strongest strength!"

Within the Huo Yu, Chen Yan nodded; Xia Hanzhou's level of assessment for combat power was definitely higher than his own.

Chen Yan also wanted to test what kind of combat power he would erupt with in his current strongest state.

The next moment.

Sss, sss, sss!

Streaks of thunder-ice Qi and blood burst forth from Chen Yan's body, transforming into countless mists that condensed into three Qi and blood clones.

And Chen Yan's own aura also erupted in an instant, waves of blinding golden light diffused, and astonishing force roared in the void.

Protective patterns, activate!

Fist Realm, activate!

Spear Realm, activate!

As the three Qi and blood clones began to condense their momentum, streaks of surging blood seas appeared upon the three Qi and blood spears.

Profound-level 【Blood Domain Reversing the World】, activate!

Xia Hanzhou's eyes widened, and he could no longer hide the look of admiration on his face.

This was 【Blood Domain Reversing the World】, and it was being performed simultaneously by the three clones erupted from 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】.

Just this display of combat power alone was enough for Xia Hanzhou to let Chen Yan take the gamble.

But immediately following.

Streaks of golden-red flowing light suddenly appeared from Chen Yan's body.

Streaks of protective patterns condensed from the power of will flowed toward the three Qi and blood clones.

Xia Hanzhou was stunned for an instant; using the power of will to outline an array!

He could even imprint this array onto himself and the three Qi and blood clones, allowing the three Qi and blood clones to also share the ability of concealment and rapid displacement.

This...

A genius-like concept.

Immediately after, Xia Hanzhou's eyes both shrank.

Because he saw that streaks of flowing light suddenly appeared in Chen Yan's palm, and a pitch-black sphere the size of a melon seed condensed in Chen Yan's palm.

Dangerous, unknown, terrifying!

A series of perceptions rushed toward Xia Hanzhou.

"This!"

Xia Hanzhou became grave.

【Decay Control - Saintly Condensed Primordial】!

The next instant.

Boom!

Chen Yan and the three Qi and blood clones erupted simultaneously!

Ice, thunder, and spear shadows rushed toward him in an instant, and dozens of blood rivers blooming with other-shore flowers wrapped around Xia Hanzhou heavily, proceeding to shred him.

Just at this critical moment.

A pitch-black point of light appeared before Xia Hanzhou in almost an instant.

And then.

Explode!

Rumble!

The terrifying roar that scorched the heavens and burned the earth instantly overturned ten thousand layers of magma fire waves, and the void within the entire Huo Yu began to twist and deform.

Xia Hanzhou, at the center of the explosion, protected his body with his Spear Soul; at this moment, a look of solemnity appeared in his eyes, and as he pressed his hands down, the terrifying explosion condensed and extinguished under the pressure of his palms.

As he tore through the fiery light of the explosion, three long spears struck in an instant, colliding with Xia Hanzhou's right hand and erupting with the sounds of clashing metal.

The long spears shattered into pieces.

Just as Xia Hanzhou was about to say something, cracks of tearing light appeared simultaneously upon the three Blood-Qi Avatars.

Self-detonation!

Boom!

Another explosion occurred.

Xia Hanzhou's eyes flickered, and a golden array disk instantly flew out, a powerful spatial vortex beginning to absorb the explosive waves from all directions.

But at this moment, Chen Yan's true self had already struck.

Boom, boom, boom!

Facing an Eighth-Rank, Chen Yan did not hold back at all.

A series of thrusting punches were unleashed directly, with the 【Heaven-Splitting Style】 and 【Radiance-Condensing Style】 being used in constant alternation.

Xia Hanzhou's figure dodged like a fleeting shadow, his palms striking out continuously to swat away Chen Yan's attacks.

"Not bad, not bad!"

Xia Hanzhou laughed out loud:

"How do you cultivate?!"

He was actually excited; facing Chen Yan, he had unexpectedly needed to deploy an array in that split second, which had caught him somewhat off guard.

He was, after all, second on the Eighth-Rank Leaderboard.

As he was speaking, the protective patterns on Chen Yan's body flickered, and his body shifted to appear above Xia Hanzhou's left, a whip kick slamming fiercely toward Xia Hanzhou's neck.

"Good lad!"

An array disk appeared beside Xia Hanzhou, blocking this strike.

But in front of him, a pitch-black point of light suddenly appeared.

"This attack again, you can cast it instantly?!" Xia Hanzhou exclaimed in astonishment.

His entire person was swallowed by the firelight.