Chapter 434: One of the Ancient Great Clans of the Heavenly Grand Realm

The pursuers: “...”

Indeed, in every era, following the crowd can never be stopped.

You understand nothing, see others doing it, and you follow along without even knowing the truth behind it.

One of the pursuers glanced around and, seeing only a few of them nearby, lowered his voice and whispered:

“Zhang Hao killed Chen Xuan.”

“What did you say?!”

The cultivator’s face turned pale, and he immediately shook his head, refusing to believe it:

“Impossible. Zhang Hao is indeed the sole direct disciple of Ancient Yuan Immortal Lord, a recent sensation with unparalleled talent.

But he’s not strong enough to kill Chen Xuan.

Zhang Hao’s talent may be extraordinary, but he hasn’t matured yet. He wasn’t even a cultivator until age twenty, when Ancient Yuan Immortal Lord discovered him and took him as a disciple.

I remember at the Ghost Crow Demon Ancestor’s birthday banquet, Zhang Hao won the top prize, first revealing his edge—his strength reportedly reached Life Stage Three after less than ten days of cultivation.

His cultivation talent is astonishing, yes, but how much time has passed since then? No matter how strong he is, he couldn’t possibly be strong enough to kill Chen Xuan.”

Zhang Hao is a lone cultivator; had he not met Ancient Yuan Immortal Lord, he would have lived his entire life as an ordinary mortal, unknown to all.

Even if he somehow stumbled into cultivation and possessed talent, without resources, his progress would be painfully slow, far behind those with ample support.

Chen Xuan is different.

He was born into the Chen Ancient Clan, raised with a golden spoon in his mouth.

The Chen Ancient Clan is one of the ancient great clans of the Heavenly Grand Realm, and also the largest alchemist guild in the Heavenly Grand Realm.

It possesses the greatest number of alchemists in the world; the most top-tier alchemists today all come from the Chen Ancient Clan.

Without exaggeration, the Chen Ancient Clan monopolizes the entire alchemist industry in the Heavenly Grand Realm.

Whenever someone mentions alchemists, they immediately think of the Chen Ancient Clan.

Precisely because the Chen Ancient Clan monopolizes the alchemist industry, every alchemist fears and reveres them—even though the Chen Ancient Clan has recently oppressed alchemists.

The Chen Ancient Clan looks down on any alchemist resistance and crushes it effortlessly.

Growing up within such a great clan, even a pig could reach the high levels of Life Stage cultivation.

Chen Xuan, a member of the Chen Ancient Clan, is not only a direct descendant but also the newly appointed young master, the heir destined to inherit the leadership of the Chen Ancient Clan.

Without doubt, Chen Xuan was raised soaking in medicinal potions, swallowing pills like candy.

With his innate talent and the backing of the Chen Ancient Clan, Chen Xuan became the most outstanding prodigy of the clan.

Among the younger generation of the Heavenly Grand Realm, Chen Xuan also holds a prominent position—he is a peerless genius of this age, with limitless potential.

At such a young age, he has already reached Life Stage Eight.

Recently, alchemists have been opposing the Chen Ancient Clan, so as the heir, Chen Xuan hosted a gathering of prodigies.

On one hand, he invited renowned alchemists to discuss grievances and resolve conflicts—showing sincere goodwill.

On the other hand, he invited prominent prodigies as witnesses, to foster communication among the current generation of geniuses.

Zhang Hao, as the most talked-about prodigy recently, the sole direct disciple of the Heavenly Grand Realm’s strongest lone cultivator, Bai Yuanxian, and also an alchemist himself,

was naturally included in the invitation list.

Setting aside Zhang Hao’s lack of background, he qualifies as a child of heavenly fortune—not only is his talent monstrous, but he is also invincible at his own level in cultivation.

He has also demonstrated extraordinary talent in alchemy.

“It’s true. I was there.” The pursuer said.

“This...” The lone cultivator was stunned, unable to fathom how Zhang Hao managed to kill Chen Xuan: “Not to mention how Zhang Hao killed Chen Xuan—why did he kill him?”

The question was asked.

The pursuers all looked at the lone cultivator with strange expressions again.

Brother, do you know nothing? Did you just step out of the deep mountains? Your information is this outdated?

“Sorry, I’ve been in seclusion these past few days. I haven’t been keeping up with outside news.”

The lone cultivator sheepishly scratched his head.

The pursuer didn’t press further and continued:

“You just came out of seclusion? Then you must know about the conflict between the Chen Ancient Clan and the alchemists.”

“Of course I do. That matter caused a huge uproar; it was only calmed down when the Chen Ancient Clan’s top alchemist stepped in.”

“Exactly that incident. Even though the top master intervened and eased tensions, it’s still simmering. To resolve it, Chen Xuan invited the rebellious alchemists and contemporary prodigies as witnesses.”

The pursuer glanced ahead at Zhang Hao and added:

“Zhang Hao was on the invitation list because his beloved is one of the alchemists involved in the conflict with the Chen Ancient Clan—Zhang Hao essentially represents the rebellious alchemists.

At the gathering, Zhang Hao and several alchemists confronted Chen Xuan to negotiate.

It’s said that during the negotiations, Zhang Hao and Chen Xuan couldn’t reach an agreement; in a fit of rage, Zhang Hao attacked and killed Chen Xuan.

Although I wasn’t invited to the gathering, I was in the ancient city where it took place—I saw Zhang Hao cut off Chen Xuan’s head with my own eyes. It was terrifying.”

The pursuer recalled the scene that day, his face clearly showing fear and dread.

That was Chen Xuan!

The current young master of the Chen Ancient Clan, the future heir, simply decapitated by Zhang Hao.

The image of blood spurting everywhere was vivid in his mind.

At that moment,

another pursuer spoke up: “I can vouch for this. The entire Chen Ancient Tower was shattered during the fight—extremely violent.

At first, I thought some contemporary prodigy had gotten into a heated debate and started fighting, but it turned out to be Zhang Hao and Chen Xuan.

I never imagined Zhang Hao would kill Chen Xuan. The combat power he unleashed was absolutely earth-shattering, on par with Chen Xuan’s—otherwise, Chen Xuan wouldn’t have been killed.”

The lone cultivator murmured in amazement.

“I never expected it. Zhang Hao was rumored to be gentle and refined, yet he chopped off Chen Xuan’s head over a disagreement. No wonder the Chen Ancient Clan issued a bounty—had I been in their place, I’d be furious too.

They invited alchemists to their own territory for peaceful talks, a gesture of goodwill, and Zhang Hao went and cut off Chen Xuan’s head. If this can be tolerated, what cannot? Zhang Hao is being utterly outrageous.”

The other pursuers nodded in agreement, sharing the same sentiment.

“Zhang Hao is being outrageous. The Chen Ancient Clan made sincere efforts to resolve the conflict by holding this meeting.”

“Poor Chen Xuan—his head just rolled off like that.”

They hadn’t been present and didn’t know the full details of Chen Xuan’s death—only that Zhang Hao had beheaded him.

Now that they’d heard the full account, they were astonished and indignant.

“But I’m more curious—how did Zhang Hao suddenly become as strong as Chen Xuan? If I remember right, just a few days ago, Zhang Hao barely broke through to Life Stage Four. I can’t imagine any forbidden technique that could boost someone four stages at once.”

Ahead,

Zhang Hao had no idea what the lone cultivator and pursuers were discussing. Had he known, he would have been furious enough to spit blood and shout, “What nonsense are you saying? Don’t twist the truth!”

(PS: Today is May 20th, the so-called “520.” As a single dog, I opened my Moments and status updates and got hit hard—so... exhausted from the emotional blow, I’m writing one less chapter today, 23333.

Stop hitting me, stop hitting me—I’m telling the truth, okay? I admit it—I didn’t get emotionally hit; I just wrote one less chapter.)