Chapter Seven: The Bell’s Ring Stirring the Spirits

Chen Fan and his master returned to Yan Capital just in time for the day of the Demon Slaying Conference, so they stayed for two more days.

Rejoining this grand event, Chen Fan’s feelings were completely different this time.

Thousands of warriors from all over had gathered, but unfortunately, ninety-nine percent were below the sixth tier, not worth his attention.

As for those participating in the Demon Slaying Conference, the highest cultivation level was only the fifth tier, and the captured beasts at most fifth-tier as well.

After all, sixth-tier beasts had greatly increased in strength, and only grandmasters could capture them, making it far more difficult and costly.

Even now, Chen Fan was confident he could slay a sixth-tier beast with a single strike, so naturally, he had no interest in battling fifth-tier beasts.

The world changes in mysterious ways; what once filled him with fiery passion for demon slaying now seemed rather dull.

At the venue, Chen Fan sat beside his master, watching warriors on the distant arena slay beasts, finding it uninteresting.

His gaze began to wander around.

Prominent figures from major clans and factions had gathered, many of whom were seventh tier or above.

The Four Sects and Two Academies each had grandmasters stationed.

However, the disparity in strength was alarmingly vast. The strongest sects, Mengzheng Sect and Bijing Sect, were backed by powerful Yan Capital clans, far more formidable than the White Cloud Academy.

The White Cloud Academy relied solely on Master Dong Guozhi, whose eighth-tier martial cultivation was formidable, but the overall number of experts was fewer.

Of course, Dong Guozhi had recruited another grandmaster at great cost, but he was only seventh tier, weaker in strength, and merely had a business relationship with the academy.

“My strength at most can contend with the weakest grandmasters, perhaps only maintaining a stalemate; winning is impossible...” Chen Fan thought as he surveyed his surroundings.

At the same time, an elderly man with graying beard was scrutinizing him.

“When will the opportunity come? Chen Fan is a prodigy of the Martial Academy; why has he stayed in Yan Capital so long? Has he abandoned further cultivation?” The man was from the Shadowless Sect and was quite anxious.

There were other third-tier targets on the Shadowless Sect’s assassination list, but none as weak as Chen Fan.

For example, Zhan Yi, one of Yan Capital’s top ten young warriors, had grasped the realm and was a half-step grandmaster. Even he might not stand against such a figure alone, let alone someone with myriad skills.

Chen Fan was the only hope he saw!

But these days, Chen Fan had been with Dong Guozhi every day, leaving no chance for an attack.

Suddenly, Chen Fan turned his head and raised an eyebrow at the old man.

The old man’s expression shifted slightly upon seeing Chen Fan’s glance, then forced a smile and nodded at him.

Chen Fan nodded slightly in return.

Master saw this and narrowed his eyes, saying:

“That gentleman is from your clan. He is Chen Feiteng, head of the Chen family in Yan Capital, with seventh-tier martial prowess. He arrived in Yan Capital around the same time as I did, but he has little ambition for power, and his family’s strength isn’t very strong.”

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow; he had heard of that family.

Though they had a grandmaster stationed, their family influence, while superior to ordinary martial families, still lagged behind the Four Sects and Two Academies.

Though the old man was spying on him, Chen Fan did not immediately associate him with a Shadowless Sect spy. After all, the world was vast, and there were few grandmaster-level spies even in Qinghe County. It was unlikely any random person would be one.

Still, Chen Fan remained cautious of everyone.

After the Demon Slaying Conference, Chen Fan followed his master to attend Yan Capital’s high-level gatherings, truly entering the city’s core circles.

These people treated Chen Fan courteously.

However, Chen Fan knew their politeness was based on his talent and his master’s strength.

If his master fell, these people would likely swarm the White Cloud Academy to draw its blood.

In the adult world, interests far outweighed feelings.

...

In the following days, Chen Fan reunited with old acquaintances from Feiling County—Bao Tianyou, Meng Qi, and others.

When he was obscure, Bao Tianyou had taken good care of him. Although Chen Fan’s strength had grown, he felt inclined to repay a little.

He even invited Bao Tianyou to come to Yan Capital and become a core disciple, but Bao Tianyou declined outright.

Bao Tianyou was wise.

With his talent, he was outstanding in Feiling County, but would be average in Yan Capital.

Knowing his own limits—second-tier foundation—he saw little chance of breaking through to fifth tier even with good conditions, and sixth tier was a distant dream. He preferred to live freely in Feiling County.

Everyone had their own aspirations; Chen Fan did not force the matter but gave Bao Tianyou many cultivation pills.

Though the best of these were only Spirit Pills, they saved Bao Tianyou years of arduous training.

What was commonplace for Chen Fan was a treasure hard to come by for the entire Bao family!

Compared to Bao Tianyou’s earlier investments, the value of Chen Fan’s gift had already returned many times over.

After the Demon Slaying Conference ended, Yan Capital found no further leads on the mysterious beasts.

Chen Fan decided to leave.

During this time, he often practiced the “Heavenly Heart Formless Art,” improving his proficiency considerably.

He could now slightly alter his body’s bone structure, though only compressing it, not stretching, and muscle changes were still impossible.

Using the “Heavenly Heart Formless Art,” he altered his face, compressed his bones, shrinking his height by nearly a foot and drastically changing his appearance.

He strode confidently out of the White Cloud Academy alone.

Later, at a nearby station outside Yan Capital, he retrieved his prized steed, One Zhang Xue, and rode away.

Such a fine horse could reveal his identity; he naturally could not leave it at the academy.

...

Shadowless Sect’s spies still vigilantly watched the White Cloud Academy day and night, even sending experienced masters of disguise to ensure no mistakes, unaware that Chen Fan had already left.

Meanwhile, Chen Fan had returned to the Martial Academy.

He dove straight into the Myriad Illusions Hall.

His plan was to cultivate until his bone forging was complete, then use the White Jade Red Sun Pill to break into the sixth tier.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The Martial Academy’s bell for summoning disciples rang dozens of times, echoing across the Luoyun Mountains.

“What emergency summons this time? Has something major happened?”

Chen Fan felt uneasy and left the Myriad Illusions Hall.

The entire academy was in chaos.

He hurriedly grabbed a disciple to inquire and learned the shocking news—

The beasts of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge in the Western Wilderness had stirred up a massive beast tide, threatening the western border of the Great Qian Empire!

The disciple’s expression was grave:

“Not only have beasts launched massive attacks on the border, but numerous strange beasts have appeared throughout Qinghe County near the frontier, mixed with some demon beasts, causing chaos in major cities and human settlements!”

Beast sieges, demon beast uprisings.

Chen Fan’s heart tightened.

He had encountered strange beasts several times and understood these creatures better than most.

Although there had been multiple outbreaks within Qinghe County, these monsters were tiny and difficult to detect, lacking intelligence. Previous outbreaks had not caused serious consequences and were largely ignored.

During his trip to Yan Capital, Chen Fan had even faced strange beast attacks, and although grandmasters were dispatched to the outskirts, they found little.

Now, these strange beasts were causing turmoil across half of Qinghe County, indicating their numbers had grown significantly.

“Could these creatures really be from the Western Wilderness? How on earth did they infiltrate Great Qian?!!”

The sudden uprising coincided with the beasts’ siege, clearly connected to the great demons of the Western Wilderness.

It was even possible these strange beasts originated from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge.

Chen Fan knew it was too late to dwell on this now.

The crucial matter was to resolve the beast plague!