Chapter 787: By the Lakeside, A Conversation

"Li Zhiyi..."

Clan Master Chen sat on a sandalwood chair as heavy and dense as ink; the blue smoke from the cigarette at his fingertips met the cold white light, blurring the room into a quiet stillness.

He smoked quietly, but in his ears rang the report from Chen Youqing, who was in Qinzhou.

"The Great Elder has already issued a military pledge; Qinzhou can be completely taken in ten days. Advancing from the eastern and western flanks into Yunzhou, the capture of the five southern provinces of the Great Xia is just a matter of days!"

Chen Youqing continued her report, but she only mentioned the intelligence regarding Li Zhiyi once before moving on.

Yet, Clan Master Chen became interested at this moment:

"Tell me in detail about that Li Zhiyi."

On the other side of the communication array disc, Chen Youqing paused and said:

"Li Zhiyi is very special; he can only cultivate the Path of Will. Previously, because he stole the clothing of Venerable Chen Yan, he was heavily punished and sent into the army. Later, after killing Ji Tianhe, he became a Blood Gu chosen by the Blood Brand."

Chen Youqing sighed softly:

"He possesses a special martial art of the will. The power of his will, when reinforcing his physical body, allows him to traverse the void, and his physical strength can also reach the level of the Sixth Rank."

Under the reinforcement of the Blood Brand, he can contend with a mid-stage Creation Realm expert."

Clan Master Chen narrowed his eyes:

"You must keep a close eye on this person."

Chen Youqing was clearly extremely surprised; after all, no matter how special Li Zhiyi was, her father already stood at the pinnacle of the human race, so why bother with a Li Zhiyi?

Clan Master Chen took a drag of his cigarette and said:

"In ten thousand years of martial arts, there is one special constitution that has been overlooked: that is, a person who is completely unable to cultivate Qi-blood or hard-body techniques."

Even if an ordinary person's constitution is poor, they can still cultivate Qi-blood and hard-body techniques."

As Clan Master Chen's voice fell, Chen Youqing's expression trembled slightly:

"Lu Xunyang."

"Yes." Clan Master Chen nodded:

"In ten thousand years of martial arts, only one Lu Xunyang has been completely unable to cultivate Qi-blood."

The human body is like an iron plate; no matter how solid it is, there are bound to be gaps.

But Lu Xunyang, this iron plate, had no gaps; not a single trace of Qi-blood could be generated within his body.

When something is too absolute, there is a problem."

Clan Master Chen looked toward the floor-to-ceiling window at the side, where the warm light of the setting sun drifted in slowly.

"This kind of constitution is more like it was designed from the moment of birth. Even though Lu Xunyang is already at the peak of the Eighth Rank, he cannot change the problem of his own constitution.

Then tell me, what realm should the person who designed this constitution be at?"

On the other side of the communication array disc, Chen Youqing was still far away in Qinzhou, but upon hearing Clan Master Chen's explanation, a layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.

No wonder; she had vaguely heard that high-level members of the Five Clans speculated that Lu Xunyang was the reincarnation of the Xia Master.

If one followed Clan Master Chen's line of thinking, it seemed highly probable.

"Father is saying that this Li Zhiyi is also like Lu Xunyang, an existence that was designed?"

Chen Youqing pursed her red lips and said:

"Or perhaps, it is not that he cannot cultivate hard-body techniques and Qi-blood, but that he had no opportunity before, and instead, the Path of Will awakened first, so he focused on the Path of Will."

Clan Master Chen nodded:

"That is why I told you to keep a close eye on this person. Never mind, tell this information to Chen Qi; you should return to Chenzhou as soon as possible."

Chen Youqing hesitated, wanting to say more:

"Li Zhiyi and the two battalions of Great Xia military guards have already retreated into an abyss within Qingshan and have become trapped troops; it is not a problem to surround and capture them.

I would like to..."

"Come back." Clan Master Chen said:

"The Blood Brand is still there, and the scabbard of the Blood Brand is still in Chen Qi's hands; there will be no problems."

Chen Youqing nodded hesitantly.

Clan Master Chen hung up the communication and, with a flash of his figure, arrived beside a lake.

The afternoon sunlight spread obliquely across the lake, shattering into a dazzling sheet of gold foil. The wind swept across the reed marsh, raising layers of green waves, startling water birds that fluttered across the surface of the water, the ripples carved by their wingtips spreading in circles toward the shore.

By the lakeside, the shadow of a small hut was stretched very long, and a young man sat on a crudely made wooden stool, watching the scenery of the distant mountains.

Clan Master Chen appeared, but the young man did not move his gaze at all, saying:

"You used me as bait, but the Master of Will never appeared; it has disappointed you."

Clan Master Chen chuckled:

"That point is indeed disappointing, but if he does not come, he does not come. If this plan does not work, there will be the next plan."

Chen Yan nodded:

"I have been guessing the real reason you do not kill me. Although you say that I created the True Martial Path and that it is a treasure of the human race, I just feel that this is not your true intention."

Clan Master Chen did not speak, but his eyes contained an endless depth; he just came to Chen Yan's side like this, watching the sunset calmly.

Not until a touch of golden red adorned the mountaintop and the clouds in the sky looked like layers of red waves floating did Clan Master Chen speak again:

"The human race you speak of is only the Great Xia and does not include the Five Clans, but if you live in Chenzhou for a period of time, you will find that the people of Chenzhou also possess truth, goodness, and beauty.

Compared to the Great Xia, where the people's wisdom is undeveloped, Chenzhou is more like the human race."

Chen Yan did not speak, and the two fell into a calm once again.

A terrifying calm.

It was as if a thousand-foot wave could erupt at any moment.

Clan Master Chen was not wrong; in Chenzhou, or more accurately the entire Five Clans, the development of the people's wisdom was far greater than in the Great Xia.

The Five Clans possessed more advanced technology and more enlightened education.

As Chen Yan walked through Chen Prefecture, he could often hear stunning viewpoints and ideas from the commoners passing by.

But this was not a point for the Chen Lord to be proud of; Chen Prefecture could develop like this only because it was more stable, malice was rarer, and its wealth foundation was deeper.

And that the Five Clans could be like this was because for ten thousand years, Great Xia had borne the pressure of the malice of an entire White Calamity Ancient God.

The Chen Lord did not kill Chen Yan, and Chen Yan did not care.

He did not cultivate on ordinary days, nor was he in a hurry to restore his own strength.

The progress of the three parties—Li Zhiyi, Zhao Zhugui, and Zhang Huizhi—could be considered smooth.

Especially Zhao Zhugui, who could be considered to have exceeded Chen Yan's imagination.

Because of the help from the Ji Lord, plus Zhao Zhugui's innate god-level grand array, 【Eternal Tribulation Reversing Blood】.

The current Zhao Zhugui already possessed the strength of the Creation Realm.

It was just that rapid.

After all, 【Eternal Tribulation Reversing Blood】 was a god-level grand array Chen Yan had imitated based on the aura of an Ancient God, which could directly devour others' energy and convert it into his own foundation.

In terms of energy opportunities, 【Eternal Tribulation Reversing Blood】 could be said to be even more heaven-defying than the Saint-Breaking Tree.

After all, 【Eternal Tribulation Reversing Blood】 required no effort at all to directly deprive others.

As for Zhang Huizhi, because he possessed the Saint-Breaking Tree and had established his own intelligence empire with the Magnetic Storm Thunder Prison.

Plus resources like the Dao-Enlightenment Myriad Forms Map that Chen Yan had originally prepared for him, as well as resources seized from the Ji Prefecture treasury, his progress was also extremely rapid.

Zhang Huizhi spent his days contemplating the world's fifth divine technique, 【World Instant】, and Chen Yan, as the original body, would also contemplate it in real-time, inadvertently teaching Zhang Huizhi.

Now, Zhang Huizhi's mastery of 【World Instant】 had reached the Profound level.

Entry, Heart-Entering, Profound, Micro, Divine.

The Profound level meant that Zhang Huizhi had mastered 【World Instant】 to near perfection.

Micro was complete mastery, which was to say, perfect mastery.

And Divine was to surpass 【World Instant】 itself.

As for Li Zhiyi, he had created the will martial arts 【Will Bestowed Upon My Body】 and 【Blood Will】.

【Blood Will】 was a will martial art that, by imitating the Blood Brand and using the power of will as a blade, could sever endless things.

The rapid strengthening of the three, Li Zhiyi and the others, was of course all thanks to Chen Yan's secret guidance.

The three newborn bodies were the most perfect physical forms Chen Yan could create; their comprehension and bone structure were both stronger than Chen Yan's own.

What they lacked was experience.

If Chen Yan wanted to, with just a single thought, Li Zhiyi and the others would directly obtain Chen Yan's past memories and become three Chen Yans.

But Chen Yan did not do so.

It could be said that the development of Chen Yan's trinity meant his current foundation had long surpassed himself when he first entered Ji Prefecture.

What was lacking now was merely the reconstruction of the physical body, allowing the physical body's blood-Qi strength and hard-tempered strength to reach their former levels.

This point, with the help of the Immortal Will, would not be very difficult.

All of this was thanks to the Chen Lord; if the Chen Lord had killed Chen Yan, Li Zhiyi and the others would not have grown so rapidly.

However, the Chen Lord at this moment had no idea what Chen Yan was thinking in his heart.

Chen Yan broke the silence and spoke:

"You keeping me is nothing more than because Chen Changyuan is dead."

Chen Yan smiled faintly; he absolutely did not believe the Chen Lord was a kind-hearted person.

All that talk about wanting Chen Yan to agree that Chen Prefecture was more like the human race.

All that talk about not being able to kill enemies based on one's own grievances.

Perhaps these were the Chen Lord's thoughts, but they were definitely not the Chen Lord's main purpose.

The Chen Lord keeping him definitely had a more profound purpose.

"Oh?" The Chen Lord became interested:

"I don't kill you; what does that have to do with Chen Changyuan?"

The glow of the setting sun coated the bottom of Chen Yan's eyes in a pale gold, and Chen Yan said calmly:

"You said it yourself, Chen Changyuan was the artificial Ancient God you needed, whose future role was to devour the one-fifth of the Fanni Ancient God suppressed beneath Chen Prefecture."

"But Chen Changyuan is dead, and this one-fifth of the Fanni Ancient God beneath Chen Prefecture has not been suppressed by the Prefecture Brilliance for a full thousand years, and is already on the verge of awakening."

"You don't kill me because you want me to help you block Him."

As Chen Yan's voice fell, a hint of a smile appeared on the Chen Lord's lips, and he looked at Chen Yan and said:

"Perhaps."

Having said that, the Chen Lord waved one hand.

Whoosh!

The lake surface suddenly caved in, and the green ripples were gripped by an invisible giant hand, twisted into a deep black vortex in circles.

Ink-colored tentacles broke out from the center of the vortex like they were breaking through soil, their surfaces sticky with slick water-light, their ends branching into sharp barbs.

As the vortex rotated, it slowly rose, churning the surrounding ripples into fine, shattered foam, pressing heavily toward the water surface with a damp, fishy stench.

The Chen Lord took a step out, walking on the lake, heading toward the tentacle-filled hole in the center of the lake.

"Don't you also want to witness what an Ancient God is?" The Chen Lord stood with his hands behind his back:

"Then come with me."

Chen Yan stood up and followed behind the Chen Lord.

The moment he stepped into the black hole of tentacles, a thick, cold sensation rushed toward his face.

Chen Yan's pupils shrank, and he immediately felt as if he were being stared at by something unspeakable.

Everything around him began to change.

The tentacles beside him twisted incessantly, extending all the way to the end of his line of sight, while the tentacles beneath his feet writhed and pulsed, emitting a teeth-grinding sucking sound.

Although nothing was touching Chen Yan, a slippery sensation constantly emerged all over his body.

The tentacle passage did not conform to logic at all; it did not extend straight downward, but rather followed a twisted path like the interior of a living organism.

An inexplicable sense of beauty struck the depths of Chen Yan's heart.