Chapter 218 - 215: 300 Years Ago
Nangong City wasn’t actually that afraid of death.
If he were truly afraid of dying, he wouldn’t have provoked the Blood Slaughter Three Demons back then for the sake of a few complete strangers.
The problem was,
if he died here,
killed like a random bystander by the aftershocks of a battle between experts—it would be a bit of a joke.
"Maybe things aren’t so bad... If we just wait patiently, we might see a resolution soon."
Shen Changchuan said comfortingly.
"Oh? Does Brother Shen know something I don’t?"
"I don’t have any inside information. It’s just a hunch."
Shen Changchuan shook his head slightly.
He was indeed making a deduction based on his feelings.
He suspected,
that one of the parties causing this massive commotion was likely his so-called convenient brother, Shen Chong...
According to what Shen Chong had said, he hadn’t come here to hunt down survivors like Shen Zeyu.
If he wasn’t lying and had truly just run into them by chance while passing through,
then he must have had another target here!
And that target was most likely the other supreme expert who had raised this dark celestial curtain!
’If I’m not mistaken, this must be a scheme orchestrated by the ’old grandpa’ possessing Shen Chong... And right now, the old grandpa himself is probably fighting via Possession and Substitution...’
’I just wonder what a being of that level is scheming to get.’
’A battle of this magnitude will likely draw everyone’s attention.’
’A battle at the Divine Travel Realm, or even higher... even the Tian Nan Shen Clan wouldn’t dare to ignore it...’
’Sigh, it’s just one thing after another. I hope everything turns out okay...’
Numerous thoughts flashed through Shen Changchuan’s mind.
A flicker of worry rose within him.
"Is that so? Then I can relax."
Nangong City, of course, couldn’t hear Shen Changchuan’s inner thoughts. He only heard him mention his hunch, which was enough to make him relax a bit and sit down cross-legged.
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"Heh, Brother Shen, you’re so young, yet so powerful, and you have incredible luck. One look and it’s clear you’re a person blessed by fortune."
"Since you have a hunch, it must be true."
"Brother Nangong, you think too highly of me... If I were really so blessed by fortune, I wouldn’t have ended up hiding in such a remote place to develop myself..."
"Now that you say that, I’m even more certain!"
"???"
"Look, if you hadn’t come to this place, how could you have gotten so many opportunities and reached the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer?"
"This is proof of your great fortune!"
At that, Nangong City became even more confident.
The outside world’s perception of this man’s strength was still around the Qi Introduction Fourth or Fifth Layer.
This meant that when he first arrived in Dawan Village over a year ago, his strength was only around the Qi Introduction Fourth or Fifth Layer!
But now,
his Cultivation Realm had already risen to the Ninth Layer Middle Stage Peak.
In just one short year,
he had jumped five or six entire layers!
Even within the Shen Family, with the training reserved for the direct bloodline, this would likely be impossible, right?
It must be his great fortune that has set him on this path of rapid advancement, a veritable highway to the heavens!
"..."
Faced with Nangong City’s blind faith and optimism, Shen Changchuan was at a loss for words.
Still, upon thinking about it carefully,
his own luck really did seem to be pretty good!
’Could I be a protagonist, too? Do I really have great fortune?’
Shen Changchuan considered this for a moment,
but ultimately shook his head.
’Give me a break,’
’A true protagonist at the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Realm would probably be slaughtering Soul Emergence experts as easily as chickens!’
’Unlike me. I risked everything, erupted with all my power, and even had a breakthrough mid-fight, but in the end, I could still only barely withstand a single one of their attacks...’
’The difference is just too vast!’
Just then,
Shen Changchuan suddenly sensed something. His gaze shifted to another direction, his brows twitching slightly.
"Speaking of which, there might be someone who knows a thing or two about the current situation..."
"Oh? How so?"
"We’ll know once we go take a look."
With that,
Shen Changchuan led Nangong City, and enduring the immense pressure on their shoulders, they rushed off in another direction in just a few bounds.
A dozen breaths later,
still fighting against the pressure,
they crossed a ruined, collapsed street.
Ahead was an open area,
where three panting Cultivators at the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer Peak were leaning against a massive boulder, gasping for air.
It was the leaders of the Wolf Fang Gang, the Mountain Alliance Association, and the White Cloud Sect, who had managed to escape here by a stroke of luck during the sudden turn of events!
"Gentlemen, we are all trapped under this dark sky. Whether we live or die is up to fate. I wonder if you could tell us a little about the current situation, and what exactly the Qi Family was hiding?"
Shen Changchuan clasped his hands in greeting to the three men and asked directly, not beating around the bush.
The three men exchanged glances upon hearing his words, seemingly communicating something.
After a moment,
Gang Leader Qiu of the Wolf Fang Gang shook his head and said to Shen Changchuan,
"I’m truly sorry, but we are also completely clueless about this turn of events."
"Our three factions joined forces merely to avenge a generational feud. We had no idea something like this would happen. Otherwise, we would have definitely discussed it further and chosen a more opportune time to strike..."
As he spoke,
Gang Leader Qiu even wore a look of lament.
"Sigh, gentlemen, things have already come to this. What is there to hide?"
"Surely you don’t think that after a battle of this level, you can still remain uninvolved?"
"We don’t really care about some treasure. We just don’t want to die in ignorance, so we’d like to understand the situation."
Shen Changchuan cut him off with a sigh.
At the same time,
the faint pressure of his Divine Sense spread out.
Under the terrifying, oceanic pressure that shook the very heavens and void, this wisp of power was almost imperceptible,
but the three men stared at Shen Changchuan as if facing a formidable foe.
"Soul Emergence?!"
All three were shocked.
Then, a moment later,
a deep bitterness filled their eyes.
Shen Changchuan said nothing,
merely standing with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.
On the way into the Qi Family Mansion, although the Qi Family’s various defensive Arrays had been broken one after another, there were still quite a few corpses of the three factions’ Cultivators on the ground.
Far more, in fact, than there were corpses from the Qi Family.
The attacking side’s losses were so great. Setting aside the consequences of defeat, even if the three factions had won and annihilated the entire Qi Clan, their own manpower losses were so severe that they would shake the very foundations of their power. Was it worth it?!
Shen Changchuan had become suspicious back then.
And just now, after using a Soul Search to obtain Shen Zeyu’s memories, he saw that the three factions had not backed down even when Shen Zeyu appeared and invoked the banner of the Shen Family.
This made Shen Changchuan even more certain,
that there was something extremely fishy going on!
The three factions’ objective,
definitely couldn’t be as simple as they claimed!
"Sigh... this matter might be related to that great battle from three hundred years ago..."