Dashing Student

Luoxian City.

Inside the City Lord Mansion, a servant quickly walked into the study, holding an ordinary wooden box in his hands.

"Master, there's a man outside who says he's here to deliver something on behalf of the old housekeeper."

The servant stood respectfully outside the study, as their master was the renowned Wu Jue Zhenren, a Great Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage!

"Wu Yuan? Has he not returned yet?" A deep voice came from the study.

"Not yet." The servant replied.

"Then bring the item in."

Having received permission, the servant entered the study and saw a man in a brocade robe, a middle-aged man who appeared quite dignified.

His brows arched upward, looking spirited, but upon closer inspection, one could see a hidden malicious look deep in his eyes.

This man was Wu Jue Zhenren!

His cultivation had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, achieving the Unity of Heaven and Man realm. If he didn't actively release his aura, others would only see him as an ordinary middle-aged man.

The servant stepped forward and placed the wooden box on the desk, then slowly opened it.

However, the moment it was opened, time in the room seemed to freeze.

The next second, the lid of the box fell to the ground with a clatter, and the servant turned pale, his finger pointing at the box trembling.

"Master, this is... the old housekeeper!"

Inside the wooden box was the severed head of the old housekeeper Fang Yuan, his eyes still wide open.

"Bastard!"

Wu Jue instantly erupted in anger, releasing a vast and abyssal aura, striking the box with one hand, pulverizing it along with the head in an instant.

The servant beside him was terrified, and the overwhelming pressure caused him to kneel directly on the ground.

"Hmph, blame your bad luck."

After saying this, Wu Jue didn't turn around, only lightly stretched out a finger, and a blue flame landed on the servant.

"Ah... ah!"

The moment the flame touched the servant, it flared up fiercely, engulfing him in a blaze and turning him to ashes in the blink of an eye.

A gust of wind scattered the ashes.

"Damn it, who is it that ruined my plans?"

Sending back Wu Yuan's head was complete provocation, yet he didn't know who was targeting him.

"Could it be Linyuan Old Demon? Or perhaps the Bamboo Grove Three Sages?"

"Or the Heavenly Mechanism Tower?"

As the city lord of Luoxian City, Wu Jue commanded a large number of cultivators and controlled numerous industries like spirit veins and spiritual medicine.

Therefore, it was inevitable that he had many rivals.

These rivals could all be targeting him, and of course, those who could be considered his rivals must all be Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

Being among the top cultivators in the Nine Provinces, Wu Jue couldn't have imagined that the one daring to provoke him was merely a small Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Chen Nan also didn't expect that sending Wu Yuan's head to the City Lord Mansion would cause the mansion to become suspicious of its opponents, even sparking a new round of open and covert battles.

He simply thought that Wu Jue, being the mastermind, must pay a price.

He didn't have the strength to confront Wu Jue directly yet, so sending Wu Yuan's head back would disgust Wu Jue.

After delivering the head, he quickly left with Song Ya.

He brought Song Ya along because Li Nushuang mentioned that Kunlun State might have traces of their kind, so they wanted to seek them out.

Considering Li Nushuang had turned into a tabby cat, only Chen Nan could accompany her there.

To avoid accidents on the road, Chen Nan reluctantly chose to take the teleportation array for convenience and speed.

However, the cost of the teleportation array truly pained him.

The price for teleporting one person was one top-grade spirit stone, or one hundred mid-grade spirit stones, or ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.

This price was enough for Chen Nan to buy many elixir pills for cultivation or a handy ninth-grade spiritual artifact.

Accumulating a hundred mid-grade spirit stones was an especially difficult task for a loose cultivator.

Only after leaving Ten Thousand Beasts City did Chen Nan become quite wealthy, allowing him to take Song Ya through the teleportation array.

The teleportation array gradually lit up with milky white light, and there were already eight people standing on the array. Chen Nan pulled Song Ya into the light as well.

As his vision started to spin, it turned black.

When Chen Nan came to his senses, they had already left Luoxian City and arrived in an unfamiliar place.

They were in a mountain valley, with a road leading in all directions.

Outside the teleportation array, there was a team of guards watching over it.

As soon as he stepped out of the teleportation array and his vision gradually restored, Chen Nan immediately saw a towering mountain peak.

The mountain peak stood like a pillar on the ground, its top and bottom equally wide, the peak shrouded in clouds, indistinct.

Even from a distance, one could see the giant pillar reaching the sky!

"Is that the Heavenly Pillar?"

Chen Nan was filled with awe; it was his first time seeing such a huge and peculiar mountain peak.

He wondered if there really were Immortals atop the Heavenly Pillar, or if its summit harbored even stranger beings.

Chen Nan's initial destination was the Heavenly Pillar because the entrance to the Ancient Realm Secret Realm was located there.

Song Ya also looked at the Heavenly Pillar with wide eyes and mouth shaped like an 'O', exclaiming, "So big, so thick..."

Chen Nan quickly covered Song Ya's mouth, his head filled with black lines.

What kind of nonsense was this little girl saying?

He hurriedly led Song Ya away, randomly choosing a path to avoid being seen as a deviant.

On the way, he was surprised to find that Kunlun State had many mountains, all of which were small peaks, encountered frequently, making the terrain quite peculiar.

"Jue Mingzi, you said you'd take me to find our clan members, where should we start looking?"

Song Ya hugged the tabby cat, looking up and asked.

Chen Nan shook his head, "I'm not your clan, so how would I know where your clan members are? But since there's news about them, we might as well inquire first."

"Also, stop calling me Jue Mingzi. My real name is Chen Nan!"

Initially using an alias was to avoid trouble, but after sharing life and death experiences with Song Ya, there's no need to be so cautious.

"Got it, Jue Mingzi."

Song Ya teased intentionally, calling him by the wrong name.

Chen Nan was helpless and let her be.

Their speed was quick, as Chen Nan grabbed Song Ya and transformed into a green afterimage, swiftly traversing the mountain road.

Before long, a city like a giant beast appeared at the end of the road.

Two vigorous characters atop the city gate resembled two Azure Dragons coiling.

"East Qing... City, what a strange name."

Song Ya suddenly raised her hand, excitedly saying, "I know! I know!"

"Mother said, four major cities were established around the Heavenly Pillar in Kunlun State: East Qing, West White, South Red, and North Beixuan, corresponding to the four celestial beasts!"