NOVEL NEXT Chapter 433: Shameless Denials
News of the Thunderclap City fight had already spread—helped along by Man Feicai and the other cultivators who'd bolted from the city.
At Dragon Roar Thousand-Mile Waterfall, You Shaojun, Sun Xiangyuan, and Sun Anming could only stare at each other, caught between shock and anger.
Failed again?
All four Nirvana Peering realm experts… dead?
Lu Yi's just a half-breed human-demon—how the hell is he this strong?
They kept the thoughts to themselves. After all, they'd just been bad-mouthing Lu Yi, insisting it was the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace sending people after him. Blurting out the truth now would only make them look like fools.
"Oh? Failed already? Your people really are useless—they can't even deal with one Lu Yi. And why bottle up your anger like that? Doesn't it make you itch?" Liang Youwen's smile carried a sharp edge as he studied their forced calm.
"Heh. Those four were obviously your people," You Shaojun shot back, eyes full of disdain. "Just another one of your little plays. Frankly, we'd be thrilled if they all died."
He didn't stop there. "But I'm betting they're just faking their deaths. A stunt like that would make our side hesitate, afraid to go all out to catch Lu Yi."
"Exactly," Sun Xiangyuan cut in with a sneer. "We're not giving up on taking him. Once we have him, we'll drag every one of your tricks into the light."
"So shameless." The old man from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace, a blue crown perched on his head, jabbed a finger at Sun Xiangyuan and You Shaojun. "Those four were obviously from your Purple Crest Immortal Sect.
"And the one who killed them—Jiang Chen—is a dragon-blood cultivator with a long-standing grudge against your sect. He had every reason to act.
"There's plenty of proof you're lying, yet you keep denying it without shame."
"Jiang Chen's never killed any of our people," You Shaojun said flatly, eyes steady on Liang Youwen and the blue-crowned elder. "In both Burning Sun City and Thunderclap City, the ones who died were all from your Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace.
"From start to finish, it's been your people putting on this show. For all we know, Jiang Chen's just playing along with you. None of ours have even been there—aside from those three Transcendence realm disciples who went to Burning Sun City."
"Talking's a waste of time. Your clock's ticking," Liang Youwen said with a small shake of his head and a faint smile. "With Jiang Chen backing Lu Yi, you'd better start thinking up new tricks. Hahaha."
He'd seen too much shamelessness in his life to be rattled by any of this.
"Hmph. Same goes for you," Sun Anming shot back with a contemptuous snort.
Silence fell after that, both sides turning their attention back to their own people.
On the Purple Crest Immortal Sect's side, the first group of four Nirvana Peering realm experts—already closest to Thunderclap City—were the first to arrive, with more on the way.
Meanwhile, the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace had slipped several of their own Nirvana Peering realm cultivators deep into the Purple Crest Immortal Sect's territory, heading straight for Thunderclap City.
...
While all that was going on, Jiang Chen and Lu Yi were already tens of millions of kilometers from Thunderclap City.
"I'm done carving it." Jiang Chen tossed the jade slip to Lu Yi. "The stealth technique you wanted."
"Thanks!" Lu Yi caught it with a grin and started looking it over.
He'd seen plenty of Nirvana Peering-level techniques before—most from Lu Tingyun—but this Cleansing Breath Restraining Aura Precious Art was impressive. Everything in it flowed well, nothing seemed missing, so he dove straight into practicing it.
The supreme self is unstoppable, repelling Qi to guard the body. Wisdom clears the mind; the vermilion spirit drives away foul breath. Breath scatters and draws in the fluids; the mind forms the core origin…
The chant echoed through Lu Yi's consciousness. After turning it over in his head, he realized he could already make sense of most of it.
The Saint Demon Heart—ranked at the level of Primordial Chaos—didn't just give him a Peerless Grade aptitude, terrifying physical compatibility, and the power to fight far above his realm. It also gave him incredible comprehension when it came to cultivation techniques.
It couldn't quite match Jiang Chen's Wordless Heavenly Jade, but it still left the so-called geniuses of the world in the dust.
And the best part, the Saint Demon Heart was only a byproduct of his true trump card—the All Things Infinite Fusion System.
With that in mind, it was easy to see just how overwhelming his potential really was.
Time slipped by as Lu Yi worked through the teachings of the Cleansing Breath Restraining Aura Precious Art. It didn't take long before he'd grasped the basics.
Yes! Entry-level already. He could barely keep the excitement out of his thoughts. At least now I can hide my aura a bit. I won't be like an open book anymore.
He quickly ran the technique, pulling his aura in until it all but vanished. Even at this stage, it was enough to fool most ordinary Transcendence realm cultivators.
What he didn't know was that while he was practicing, Jiang Chen had already mastered a matching method to see right through it—finishing it almost instantly with the help of his Wordless Heavenly Jade. The technique was so simple to him that the qi and blood it cost barely even registered.
In the end, the Cleansing Breath Restraining Aura Precious Art wouldn't do a thing against Jiang Chen, and it wouldn't hold up well against anyone with sharp tracking skills either.
"Already at entry-level? Not bad. Keep going," Jiang Chen said. "If anything trips you up, just ask."
"Got it!" Lu Yi nodded without hesitation.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly and went back to sorting through what he'd taken from Gui Donghua and the other three.
Enter.
At his thought, Ying Luo appeared inside the Immortal Martial Mustard Seed space. Without wasting a moment, she spat out the bodies of Gui Donghua and his companions.
"Big brother, we had a deal," Ying Luo said, giving Jiang Chen a pitiful look.
"I remember. Don't worry, little glutton." Jiang Chen smiled and shook his head, then emptied the storage artifacts from Gui Donghua and the others before passing the now-empty containers to her.
He also tossed in the chunk of Space Essence Gold he'd promised.
"Wow! Space Essence Gold—gulp! This is the kind of treasure us Void White Dragons dream about—gulp!" Ying Luo was already drooling.
This wasn't just any rare material. At the Void Tribulation level, Space Essence Gold could help a cultivator grasp the Dao of Space and was prized for crafting space-related immortal tools of the same rank. Its worth spoke for itself.
"Enjoy," Jiang Chen said.
"Thank you, big brother! Gulp!" Ying Luo licked her lips and happily started devouring both the storage artifacts and the gleaming gold.
While she feasted, Jiang Chen turned back to sorting through everything else he'd claimed from Gui Donghua and his men.