While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were making their way back to the tower, the entirety of their home planet, Dragon's Gate planet, was bustling with activity. The mostly stable peace that the six great sects had maintained for so many years was starting to fray and tear, more and more small scale battles taking place and claiming the lives of both disciples and innocent passerby's.
The sun had just set when the spatial array that served as the entrance of the Storm Wolf sect flashed to life, Yan Ying appearing at the center of it. His expression was steely and his body was drenched in blood, his tattered robe and his deep green hair sticking close to his skin. He was carrying a straw sack wet with blood, droplets continuously seeping through the bottom and splashing the ground beneath it.
Yan Ying wasted no time, immediately heading for the split mountain that was the headquarters of the Storm Wolf sect, not even greeting the occasional disciple he walked past. He entered the main building of the Storm Hall, directly entering the room that was forbidden ground for most disciples, the sect master's quarters.
The sect master's quarters was a small room that was decorated rather cozily, an ornate fireplace with a coiled dragon engraved on the mantle taking up most of the eastern wall while a small table covered in a fine white cloth was placed at the center of the room, the sect master sitting at the table and drinking some strong wine with creased brows. There were no chairs around this table, sect master Yan Wuhan simply sat on the ground with crossed legs. Yan Ying walked to the table and sat down, placing the bloody bag on the table.
"Another ambush by the Moon Dragon sect, they tried to make us hand over Ling'er and Little Chen again, but looking at how well-prepared they were it was clear that they never expected us to say yes. Two of the disciples I brought along were killed in the battle, my token was stolen so I activated the secret array within it, the other six disciples should have already arrived in the Mission Castle."
While talking, Yan Ying placed two bloody orbs of jade on the table, the identifying orbs of the two deceased disciples. The secret array within his token was an emergency procedure engraved into it, allowing them to destroy it if it should fall into the hands of an enemy, preventing them from using it to arrive in the middle of their Mission Castle and wreaking havoc.
Yan Wuhan placed down the cup filled with wine, glancing at the bloody bag and letting out a deep sigh. Ever since Huang Dong had been forced to leave the Constellation King's competition early, missing his right arm and severely wounded and poisoned, the Moon Dragon sect had been adamant about getting the Storm Wolf sect to hand over Liang Chen and Yan Ling.
Of course, with the two of them having entered a spatial rift and ending up in an unknown place, this was impossible. And even if it was possible to hand them over, no one in the Storm Wolf sect would ever do so, they would rather fight. There was also another fact that Yan Wuhan knew, them not handing over Yan Ling and Liang Chen was only something that the Moon Dragon sect used as an excuse to start fighting the Storm Wolf sect. They were planning something else, but Yan Wuhan had no idea what. Yan Wuhan glanced at the bloody bag after he finished his sigh, leaning his head on his left hand and poking the bag with his right.
"I don't imagine you'd rush here so fast, nor drag their heads here just because you're angry, was there something special about the group?"
Yan Wuhan gave a light twirl of his finger after speaking, a hair-thin stream of water coiling around Yan Ying and washing away all the blood, revealing that the only wound he had suffered was a small cut on the back of his neck. Yan Ying shook his head slightly, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out an opened letter and a wooden token engraved with a small array that formed an erupting volcano.
"The Moon Dragon sect group was nothing special, but the heads in the bag are quite special. They were handed to us as a gift by a group of assassins clad in black after we killed the group from the Moon Dragon sect, along with this token and this letter."
Yan Wuhan sat up straight when he saw the token, his brows furrowing further. He grabbed the token and the letter, swiftly reading through the letter and occasionally glancing at the token. After he finished reading the letter, he opened the bloody bag and pulled out the head of a young man, placing his index finger against the forehead of the decapitated head, inserting a bit of Qi and closing his eyes. He opened his eyes again after a short few seconds, his expression sinking slightly.
"The contents of the letter aren't wrong. They are indeed from the Dawn's Blade Alliance, and they've indeed allied with the Moon Dragon sect in secret. Sadly, none of the people in this group knew exactly why the two sects have allied."
This was the reason that Yan Ying had rushed here so fast, he wanted to tell his father the news and have him ascertain whether or not the contents of the letter was true. One of the laws that Yan Wuhan specialized in allowed him to read the memories of people weaker than him, it even worked on deceased people as long as it hadn't been too long since their death.
The contents of the letter were very simple, stating that the Moon Dragon sect had formed an alliance with the Dawn's Blade sect, which controlled the entire western part of the planet. This group of people was supposed to join the Moon Dragon sect group in ambushing Yan Ying, but the black-clothed assassins had taken care of them before they got the chance, a sign that their master was willing to work together with the Storm Wolf sect.
Yan Wuhan placed the head back into the bag, washing his hands and glancing at the wooden token in front of him. He stretched out his hand, tracing the array engraved onto the token with his finger while muttering quietly.
"Qing Lan Yong, exactly what are you planning?"
The owner of this token, and the only one who could create the array engraved on it, was Qing Lan Yong, the man who was responsible for the death of Liang Chen's parents. When he spoke the name of Qing Lan Yong, Yan Wuhan seemed to be reminded of Yan Ling and Liang Chen, his expression growing a bit distant.
"It's been quite a while already since we last heard from Ling'er, do you think they're fine?"
The last time they had received any word from Yan Ling was just before she entered the spatial rift, how could Yan Wuhan not be worried after so long had passed without any word? Yan Ying let out a light laugh, shaking his head to ease his father's worry.
"There probably hasn't been any word from them since they ended up in a place so far away that the communication jade is no longer effective. You can relax, nothing's going to happen to them, we just have to await their return."
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Compared to Yan Wuhan, Yan Ying was far calmer when it came to Liang Chen's and Yan Ling's situation. Yan Wuhan picked up the cup of wine again, downing the rest in one gulp and taking a crystal jug out from his interspatial ring, refilling the cup.
"Are you sure? What if they encountered an enemy too strong for them, what if they ended up in a truly dangerous place? You know how Ling'er can be, can we truly be that confident?"
Yan Wuhan treated Yan Ying as his own son, but that didn't change the fact that Yan Ling was the last of his actual children, he was so worried about her that he could barely think straight at times. Yan Ying swiped his own interspatial ring, taking out a cup and a porcelain kettle filled with warm tea, pouring himself a cup while talking.
"We can be that confident. With Little Chen around, there is no need for us to worry. Ling'er might be reckless and shameless, but Little Chen is still able to reign her in if he needs to, he might be the only one able to do so."
Yan Ying had a great deal of trust in Yan Ling, but the main reason he could be so confident that they would be fine was the fact that Liang Chen was with her. He drank some of the tea he had poured himself, his own gaze growing a bit distant as he continued to talk.
"I still remember when I saw Little Chen in the Mystic's Hidden Realm, we found him as the sole survivor in an area riddled with ruined corpses. I pitied him at first, offering him to travel with us so that I might do for him what you did for me. But then I saw him fight for the first time, I saw his eyes, his bearing, and I found myself filled with fear. Can you imagine that? Me, filled with fear upon seeing such a small child fight? I don't know what it was, but even the smallest of the actions he did while fighting were enough to fill me with fear, I almost felt like I was looking at death itself, a truly irrational fear."
Yan Ying chuckled lightly when he reminisced about the time he first picked up Liang Chen in the hidden realm. His words weren't a lie, he was truly filled with fear when he saw Liang Chen fight for the first time, blood drenching his body as he held the bow and shot one arrow after the other, each one charged with crimson lightning.
"And then we started to travel together and encounter more and more diverse situations, but he always looked so calm and composed, so prepared to deal with everything, just looking at him was enough to instill confidence and calmness in me. It was a truly strange sensation, filled with fear when I saw him battle and filled with confidence when I saw him in any situation."
No matter the enemy, no matter how dire the odds, no matter how large the hurdle, Liang Chen had faced them all with a composed atmosphere and calm eyes, as if nothing was able to faze or stop him. Yan Ying drank some more tea, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
"And you know what? My feelings were always proven correct. No matter how great the obstacle ahead of us, no matter how dire it looked, we always managed to overcome it, Little Chen's expression remaining as calm as always. And anyone he designated as an enemy? They all died in the end, unable to resist his fearsome attacks. The situation is no different now, the enemies will die and the obstacles will be overcome. And in the end, they will both return to us alive, stronger than ever before."
Yan Wuhan wasn't as filled with confidence as Yan Ying, but his brows unfurrowed a little after hearing him talk. He could only pray that Yan Ying was correct, that both Liang Chen and Yan Ling would be fine on their own, returning to them one day in the future.
--
The headquarters of the Nightshield sect was located above the vast ocean that separated the Soaring Cloud continent from the areas controlled by the Dawn's Blade Alliance. A completely round island that spanned a few hundred kilometers in each direction floated on the water, five equally large islands hovering in the air about 10 kilometers above this island. The floating island was where the most common of disciples lived, while the five floating islands housed the five halls of the Nightshield sect, each of them held aloft by a massive array engraved into the island itself.
A man covered in a black robe was currently making his way across the island that housed the Duskshield Hall, his appearance and body strangely blurry as a black mist cloaked his body. He swiftly arrived at a triangular palace made from a strange type of golden metal, a large courtyard that served as a diverse garden surrounding the entire palace.
The cloaked man entered the courtyard, quickly making his way over to a small pond filled with colorful carps, a tall oak standing proudly next to the pond. There was a circular table placed next to the oak, a handsome man sitting on one of the eight chairs that surrounded the table. The man looked like he had just entered his twenties, his skin smooth and unblemished, his eyebrows slanted upwards and were rather sharp, accentuating his emerald green eyes. His silky black hair reached down to his nape and hung loosely, a young girl, most likely only two or three years old, with blue hair and emerald eyes grabbing onto it and playing with it.
If Liang Chen were to see this man, he would immediately know who he was, Qing Lan Yong. The cloaked man vanished into the shadow of a tree, his voice drifting out from the shadow of the oak that stood next to the table, the young girl seemingly unable to hear it.
"Young Master, we have done as you ordered and delivered the letter, but I must ask, are you certain you wish to do this? If you were to ally with Dawn's Blade, you would be able to gain far more resources to increase your stagnating cultivation."
This man knew that the Dawn's Blade Alliance hadn't just reached out to the Moon Dragon sect, they had also contacted the Fiendgod sect, the Ghost Soul sect, and the Nightshield sect, they had contacted every sect other than the Storm Wolf sect. But no matter what they had offered, Qing Lan Yong would always cause the negotiations to collapse, something that his great status in the Nightshield sect allowed him to do. Qing Lan Yong didn't glance at the shadows, continuing to play with the child in his hand, a warm smile on his face as he responded in a quiet voice without even moving his lips.
"Aye, thanks to the fact that Wu Huan somehow got lucky enough to become the honorary disciple of that Sealing God Empyrean, allying with Dawn's Blade would indeed mean that I could get more resources. But, Old Li, this is not about resources. You can tell the Moon Dragon sect spies that keep trying to win you over that I owe Liang Chen a debt greater than any resources they can offer me, I will not allow them to lay a hand on either him or his sect."