Chapter 304: Bluffing Them into a Stumble

Qin Yan's expression changed drastically upon hearing Lu Yang's words.

Whether Lu Yang was a genius from the ancient era or from the Heavenly Court Sect was irrelevant to him, nor was it something he had the qualifications to interfere with.

But Lu Yang claiming to have found the reincarnation of Qin Haoran was a different matter entirely.

If they had found the reincarnation of Qin Haoran, then what did that make him?

Qin Tian had a very clear understanding of himself; his entire purpose for existing was to legitimately inherit Qin Haoran's legacy.

Despite being the same age as Lu Yang and the others, he was already at the late Foundation Establishment stage, with a cultivation speed faster than Lu Yang's junior brothers and sisters.

In reality, his talent was nowhere near that impressive; it was the Nine Serenities Sect elders who had used empowerment techniques to forcibly raise his cultivation to match what they believed Qin Haoran's talent should have been.

This was akin to pulling up seedlings to help them grow, leaving behind endless hidden dangers. Future cultivation would be fraught with difficulties, and ascending to the Body Integration stage would be as hard as reaching the heavens, potentially leaving him stuck at the Void Refinement stage or even lower for the rest of his life.

"Who are you saying is my reincarnation?" Qin Tian stared at Lu Yang, wishing he could swallow him whole.

"Who are you?" Lu Yang was puzzled. Xiao Qi had said that for safety, Elder Mi always traveled alone. Why did he bring a late Foundation Establishment cultivator this time, and why was there a Spirit Transformation stage bodyguard hiding in the shadows?

Was he the illegitimate child of some great power?

"I am the reincarnation of Qin Haoran, Qin Tian!"

"Oh?" Lu Yang looked at Qin Tian, showing a hint of surprise before a mocking smile appeared on his face. He quickly grasped the situation.

Excluding the possibility of Qin Haoran splitting his soul into three, Li Haoran was definitely the reincarnation. This person calling himself Qin Tian was, in all likelihood, a fake.

Perhaps he was pushed forward to inherit the legacy, or perhaps it was a power struggle within the Nine Serenities Sect to establish legitimacy.

Regardless of the reason, he was not a threat and would not affect the big picture.

"Nonsense!" Qin Yan, hearing this, bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She pinched eight Thunder Talismans between her fingers and fired them at Qin Tian like arrows shooting at the sun!

Although Qin Haoran was an incredibly unreliable father, she would not tolerate someone impersonating his reincarnation in front of her!

The talismans flashed instantly, erupting with thunder on flat ground. Milky-white lightning exploded like dancing dragons, crashing toward her opponent.

Qin Tian hadn't expected Qin Yan to suddenly fly into a rage. He hurriedly scrambled to respond, his feet spinning rapidly to manifest beams of light to intercept the lightning. The lightning and light beams collided incessantly.

Qin Haoran's greatest specialty was arrays; coincidentally, Qin Tian's specialty was also arrays.

The milky-white lightning turned into thunder-slurry, creating a deafening explosion that nearly knocked Qin Tian off his feet.

Qin Yan pressed her advantage. She applied a strengthening talisman to her body, pushing her strength and speed to the limit of what her body could bear. She stepped in a Seven-Star pattern, her figure flickering like a ghost as she swept her right leg across.

Qin Tian pinched a seal with both hands, and the array beneath his feet shifted abruptly, manifesting a screen of light before him.

"Hah!"

Crack!

Qin Yan gave a soft shout, adding three parts of force to her kick, actually shattering the barrier.

Taking advantage of the moment the array failed, Qin Yan bit her finger and drew a blood-red rune in the air. The rune transformed into a ribbon, brushing against Qin Tian's neck. Qin Tian, unable to set up another array in time, blocked with his hand and let out a miserable shriek as blood poured from his palm.

Qin Yan stepped forward, closing the distance to engage in close-quarters combat.

Last night, Li Haoran had refined Qin Yan's clothing from head to toe. Though they looked light and airy, they had become a suit of armor that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle to pierce.

Li Haoran had even suggested Qin Yan follow his example and shave her head to refine it into a wig for combat advantages, a suggestion Qin Yan had firmly rejected.

Elder Mi saw that things were going south and was about to intervene when Lu Yang flashed over and clamped onto his wrist.

"Elder Mi, do you have so little faith in the reincarnation of your Sect Master?"

Qin Tian and Qin Yan exchanged blows rapidly. While Qin Tian's arrays had some finesse, he was ultimately not suited for close combat. Under Qin Yan's fierce onslaught, he gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Qin Yan specialized in talismans, but her hobby, inherited from her mother, was close-quarters combat.

Qin Tian coughed up blood repeatedly, retreating while his entire body trembled uncontrollably. His internal organs were churned together—this was the hidden force Qin Yan had struck into his body during the fight. Qin Tian pressed his palm against a tree, causing it to explode, which finally dissipated the strange hidden force.

"Who are you!" Qin Tian had suffered a major loss in their brief exchange. He hadn't expected such a vast gap in combat power between two cultivators at the same late Foundation Establishment stage.

"Qin Yan," she spat out coldly, not saying another word.

Lu Yang saw that Qin Yan still wanted to fight, so he sent her a telepathic message, informing her that a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator was still hiding nearby. If she continued to beat Qin Tian, there was no guarantee that this expert wouldn't intervene.

Qin Yan stopped, returning to the back. Li Haoran kindly comforted his "former daughter," telling her not to be so angry.

Meng Jingzhou sent a telepathic message to Qin Yan: "Big niece, why did you use your real name? Didn't we agree to use aliases?"

When they were discussing the plan last night, Lu Yang had suggested that when dealing with the Demonic Sect, they shouldn't use their real names or faces to avoid future trouble. Therefore, the four of them standing before Elder Mi were all disguised.

"I was too angry, I forgot." Qin Yan felt a bit embarrassed; her experience in the jianghu was still insufficient, and she was easily controlled by her emotions.

Lu Yang looked at Qin Tian with a beaming smile: "You say you are the reincarnation of Sect Master Qin, do you have any proof?"

Qin Tian, still shaken from being beaten by Qin Yan, no longer had his previous arrogance, but he still stiffened his neck: "I have attained enlightenment in reincarnation and recalled clues about the treasure Sect Master Qin hid in Guhuaizhen."

"Let me guess—could it be that you recalled that the treasure Sect Master Qin buried is related to a locust tree?"

Elder Mi, Qin Tian, and the Spirit Transformation stage expert hiding behind Qin Tian were all shocked.

How did the other party know this too?

Could it be that they really were the Heavenly Court Sect and had found the true reincarnation of Sect Master Qin?

Lu Yang wore a mysterious, unfathomable smile that left the three of them suspicious and uneasy.

In truth, this was easy to guess. If the Nine Serenities Sect really knew where the treasure was, they would have taken it long ago instead of waiting until today.

The only explanation was that the Nine Serenities Sect knew of the clue, and that the clue was extremely vague.

What could the clue be? Nothing more than a locust tree.

Even if Lu Yang had guessed the clue the Nine Serenities Sect possessed incorrectly, the clue he stated was still a factual one.

Lu Yang saw Qin Tian's reaction and knew he had guessed correctly.

Elder Mi was a veteran of the jianghu whose expressions were not easily revealed, but Qin Tian was inexperienced; a little bluffing was all it took.

Elder Mi tried to remain calm: "That proves nothing. Guhuaizhen is most famous for its locust trees. Anyone could think of a clue related to locust trees without it having to be related to ghosts!"

"It seems that is all the information you have." Lu Yang shook his head regretfully. "I never expected that the Nine Serenities, which once stood alongside the Heavenly Court, would have decayed to this point."

"I said it before: we of the Heavenly Court Sect have found the reincarnation of Sect Master Qin, and we have long since learned the location of the treasure from his own lips."

"WHAT!!"

(End of chapter)