Chapter 434

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, unable to believe it:

"Impossible. Zhang Hao is indeed the sole direct disciple of Ancient Yuanxianjun, the most talked-about figure recently, with a talent unmatched in the world.

But he is not strong enough to kill Chen Xuan.

Zhang Hao's talent is extraordinary, yes, but he has not yet grown into his power—he was not a cultivator until age twenty, when Ancient Yuanxianjun discovered him and took him as a disciple.

I remember at the Ghost Hong Demon Ancestor's birthday banquet, Zhang Hao won the top prize in the contest, first revealing his edge; his strength was said to have 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 could never have grown powerful enough to kill Chen Xuan."

Zhang Hao is a lone cultivator; had he not met Ancient Yuanxianjun, he would have spent his entire life as an ordinary mortal, unknown and unnoticed.

Even if he had stumbled into cultivation by chance and possessed talent, without resources his progress would have been painfully slow, far behind those with access to resources.

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 Lord Tianhong, and also the largest alchemist guild in Lord Tianhong.

It possesses the greatest number of alchemists in the world; the most elite alchemists alive today all come from the Chen Ancient Clan.

Without exaggeration, the Chen Ancient Clan monopolizes the entire alchemist industry in Lord Tianhong.

Whenever alchemists are mentioned, everyone thinks of the Chen Ancient Clan.

Precisely because the Chen Ancient Clan monopolizes the alchemist industry, all alchemists revere it—even though the Chen Ancient Clan has recently oppressed them.

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 heir but also the newly appointed young master, the designated successor destined to lead the Chen Ancient Clan.

Needless to say, Chen Xuan was raised soaking in medicinal potions, swallowing pills like candy.

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

Among the younger generation of Lord Tianhong, Chen Xuan also holds a prominent position—he is a peerless prodigy of this age, with limitless potential.

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

Recently, some alchemists have opposed the Chen Ancient Clan, so as the clan's heir, Chen Xuan hosted a Prodigy Gathering.

On one hand, he invited renowned alchemists from across the land to discuss matters, negotiate grievances—his sincerity was undeniable.

On the other hand, he invited prominent prodigies as guests to witness the event and foster communication among the current generation of prodigies.

Zhang Hao, as the most talked-about prodigy recently and the sole direct disciple of Lord Tianhong's strongest lone cultivator, Bai Yuanxianjun, is also an alchemist.

Naturally, he was on the invitation list.

Setting aside Zhang Hao's lack of background at birth, he qualifies as a child of heavenly fortune—not only is his talent monstrous, but he is unbeatable at his own cultivation stage.

He has also demonstrated extraordinary talent in alchemy.

"It's true—I was there myself," said the pursuer.

"This..." The lone cultivator was stunned, unable to fathom how Zhang Hao had killed 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 walk out of Shenshan? 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—do you know about the conflict between the Chen Ancient Clan and the alchemists?"

"Of course I do—this matter caused a huge uproar; it was only calmed down when the Chen Ancient Clan's top alchemist intervened."

"Exactly this matter. Don't be fooled by the fact that the top master intervened—it's only been temporarily eased, and the tension is 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 effectively represents the rebellious alchemists' side.

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 could not 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 sever Chen Xuan's head with my own eyes. It was terrifying."

The pursuer recalled the scene of that day, his face openly showing fear and shock.

That was Chen Xuan!

The current young master of the Chen Ancient Clan, the future heir to lead the clan—just like that, Zhang Hao cut off his head.

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

At that moment,

Another pursuer spoke up: "I can confirm this—entire Chen Ancient Tower was shattered in the fight, incredibly violent.

At first, I thought some contemporary prodigy had gotten into a heated debate and started fighting—turns out it was Zhang Hao and Chen Xuan.

I never imagined Zhang Hao would kill Chen Xuan; the combat power he unleashed at that moment was absolutely earth-shattering, on par with Chen Xuan's—otherwise Chen Xuan wouldn't have been killed."

The lone cultivator murmured in awe.

I never would've thought—Zhang Hao was rumored to be gentle and refined, yet he chopped off Chen Xuan's head over a single word. No wonder the Chen ancestral clan issued a bounty; if it were me, I'd be furious too.

Our own territory, we sincerely invited alchemists to meet and resolve matters—clearly a peaceful, amicable gathering. Yet Zhang Hao drew his blade and severed Chen Xuan's head. If this can be tolerated, what cannot? Zhang Hao is pushing too far.

The other pursuers, much like him, nodded in agreement.

"Zhang Hao is bullying too much. The Chen ancestral clan went out of their way to resolve the conflict with sincere talks."

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

They weren't present and didn't know the details of Chen Xuan's death; they'd only heard he was beheaded by Zhang Hao.

Now that they'd learned the full account, they were astonished—and somewhat righteous in their outrage.

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

Ahead.

Zhang Hao didn't know what the free cultivators and pursuers were saying—if he had, he'd have been so furious he'd spit blood and shout, "What absolute nonsense you're spouting! Don't twist the truth!"

…

(PS: Today is May 20th—the so-called "520." As a single dog, I opened my Moments and posts and got hit hard. So… exhausted from the emotional blow, I'm writing one less chapter today, 23333.

Stop fighting, stop fighting—I'm telling the truth, okay? I admit it: I wasn't hit hard—I just wrote one less chapter.)