Chapter 589 - The Cause and Effect, and the Next Steps
...The following day, at White Tiger City...
“First team, search the First City; second team, the Second City; and third team, the Heavenly-Barrier Mountain Range…” Progenitor Wen Dao stood in the air while giving out his orders through the badge in his hand.
The experts of the Four Great Factions had spent an entire day searching for Qin Nan, but n.o.body had found any trace regarding his whereabouts, thus Progenitor Wen Dao was wearing a dark expression.
Did that mean that Qin Nan was going to escape again this time?
…Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the Eighth City of the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom...
There existed a vast woods known as the ‘Star Moon Forest’. The trunks of the trees here glowed brightly like stars, producing a glamorous sight.
Despite its beauty, the place was quite dangerous, with many beasts residing in the woods, thus ordinary cultivators would not dare to set foot in there.
Pant, pant.
Heavy breathing could be heard as a figure appeared within the woods.
The figure was none other than Jiang Bilan, who was still using Qin Nan’s appearance.
“I’ve consumed too much of my lifespan this time…”
Jiang Bilan’s figure stumbled forward and fell to the ground under a tree. Her face displayed a great look of fatigue.
For the past day and night, she had been chased by countless experts. Not only was she required to come up with plans to get rid of them, she had been forced to consume her life force too, resulting in a great burden to herself.
Following this, Jiang Bilan closed her eyes as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.
A moment later, a young-looking cultivator approached the place and saw Jiang Bilan who was lying under the tree, and softly said, “Qin Nan, Qin Nan, is that you?”
Jiang Bilan did not react, as if she had actually fallen asleep.
“At last!”
The cultivator wore an excited look as he immediately unleashed a giant web aiming at Jiang Bilan’s figure.
Once he captured Qin Nan, he would live a luxurious life from now onward!
Whoos.h.!.+
Jiang Bilan’s eyes suddenly sprang open, displaying a murderous intent.
“Breath of Death!”
Jiang Bilan consumed her life force and spat out a breath at the cultivator, who opened his eyes wide and completely died not long after.
“That’s the last of them, about time.”
Jiang Bilan let out a sigh of relief while the look in her eyes became relaxed.
As a matter of fact, after she had escaped from the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground, she could easily switch back to her own appearance, saving her trouble from the experts chasing after her. However, she was not willing to do so, as she was doing this to repay someone’s debt, thus she insisted on keeping her appearance. Although her cultivation was still too weak to do anything, since Qin Nan had so many enemies, she would not mind killing some of them for him.
Jiang Bilan rose from the ground and proceeded deep into the woods.
The deeper she went, the even more astonis.h.i.+ng the sight was, as if she had entered a fairyland.
She could hear cries of beasts from her surroundings. However, as the beasts detected her aura, they did not dare to approach her.
A moment later, Jiang Bilan had arrived before a lake deep within the woods. The water was as clear as crystal, allowing one to see the bottom of the lake.
“Withdraw!”
Jiang Bilan performed a hand gesture to get rid of her disguise, allowing her to regain her actual appearance.
Looking at the reflection of the water, her facial features remained the same. However, as she had consumed too much of her lifespan, her black hair had turned white.
Jiang Bilan did not hesitate for too long. She took off her clothes and entered the lake to take a bath.
Half an hour later, she exited from the lake and put on her clothes. She looked more energetic now.
A small breeze swept her white hair upward as Jiang Bilan stared at the surface of the lake for a prolonged period, before she mumbled to herself, “Sacred Leader, I’ve slain the Second Prince on Qin Nan’s behalf. I’ve also changed my appearance to his to trick those idiots of the Four Great Factions, and played them like mice, killing a significant number of their experts… I guess that’s enough to repay your debt.”
Upon saying this, Jiang Bilan’s eyes revealed a complicated look.
Why had she been helping Qin Nan?
Was it because of the complicated feelings in her heart?
Not at all.
Previously at the Ocean of Death, she had been in despair after her cultivation was crippled, which led her to take the path of no return. However, she did not expect to lose her body to the Death Emperor.
How could a cripple like her stand a chance against the Death Emperor?
Following that, Sacred Leader Qinglong had ended up killing everyone apart from the Death Emperor and Progenitor Wen Dao.
Why was that?
Progenitor Wen Dao was left alive for Qin Nan to deal with himself in the future.
On the other hand, Sacred Leader Qinglong had spared the Death Emperor to give her an opportunity.
After the Death Emperor had devoured her flesh, she had no chance to resist his influence. However, as the Death Emperor was severely injured, and was further beaten by Qin Nan, his spirit was significantly damaged, allowing her to regain control of her flesh and slowly refine the Death Emperor’s spirit.
It was only a matter of time until she completely got rid of the Death Emperor from her body!
How could she not repay such a huge debt?
As such, she had slain the Second Prince on Qin Nan’s behalf and lured the Four Great Factions away from him.
“Qin Nan…”
Jiang Bilan’s eyes flickered with a complicated look.
She had pondered immensely on the reason why Sacred Leader Qinglong would give her a chance. It seemed like Sacred Leader Qinglong happened to see through her thoughts, thus giving her a chance for a new start.
“From today onward, the old Jiang Bilan is gone…”
“The Death Emperor is gone too.”
Jiang Bilan’s eyes glittered with determination as she flung her arm and summoned a huge sword with the Qi of Death.
“From today onward, I shall be my new self!”
Clank!
The sword was swung, cutting half of her hair off, which was blown away by the breeze.
……
……
The chaos that ‘Qin Nan’ had stirred lasted for five days in White Tiger City.
Progenitor Wen Dao and the others of the Four Great Factions had no choice but to withdraw their operation and return to their factions.
As a result, Progenitor Wen Dao’s hatred toward Qin Nan grew even further. He had failed to catch Qin Nan twice in a row, damaging his reputation.
White Tiger City returned to its usual daily routine.
Following this, on the sixth day, the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom declared:
The Third Prince had won the trial of the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground, and was appointed as the crown prince. The Heaven-Wors.h.i.+pping Feast would be held in ten days’ time, and the official crowning ceremony will take place during the feast!
An uproar took place in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom when the news was spread around.
Due to Qin Nan’s appearance, various factions had failed to acquire the latest information about the trial of the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground. Now that the Third Prince had earned the t.i.tle of crown prince, they instantly sent out their scouts to investigate the details.
Following this, many were shocked.
The Skyhowl White Tiger had sent its clone and unleashed its strongest attack, but it had failed to kill Duan Qing!
Wasn’t this Duan Qing a little bit too impressive?
Duan Qing’s name suddenly became a hot topic, while the reputation of the White Tiger Platoon dropped rapidly.
To an extent, some of the cultivators started to compare Duan Qing to Di Fengyun.
...Meanwhile, at the Cultivation Hall of the Vermilion Bird Platoon...
Qin Nan sat with his legs crossed while breathing steadily. A thick stream of Qi revolved in his body.
He had been severely injured from the trial of the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground. While people were busy chasing after ‘Qin Nan’, he had gone into seclusion to heal his wounds, and had just finished his recovery.
“Jiang Bilan, the next time we meet, although we won’t be enemies, we will never be friends either.”
Qin Nan mumbled to himself.
The conflict between himself and Jiang Bilan was far too great to be disregarded. Even though he had no idea why Jiang Bilan had been helping him this time, it was impossible for Qin Nan to see her as a friend.
“This time, Jiang Bilan had changed her appearance to mine and exposed herself in White Tiger City, and within half an hour, the experts of the Four Great Factions all arrived here! The Four Great Factions are really desperate to hunt me down.”
Besides that, Qin Nan also learned that the Four Great Factions had always been keeping an eye out for him despite the time that had pa.s.sed since their last encounter.
“I’m not ready to face the Four Great Factions yet. I can only build my foundation here in the Sky-Scorching Ancient Kingdom, taking one step at a time. Once I’ve stabilized my influence here, I could then stand a chance against the Four Great Factions…”
Qin Nan thought for a moment, allowing him to finalize his next plan.
Currently, he had built a solid relations.h.i.+p with the Vermilion Bid Platoon, and the current crown prince was his friend too.
The only enemies left were the Skyhowl White Tiger and Di Fengyun!
“I will never forgive those two!”
Qin Nan had almost died at the trial of the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground, and they were both the main culprits behind the conspiracy.
Judging from the experience he had had at the Dragon Abyss Mystical Ground, both the Skyhowl White Tiger and Di Fengyun desperately wanted him dead even though he had yet to trouble them.
“I’m nowhere close to having the strength to go against the Skyhowl White Tiger and Di Fengyun. The only hope, would be…”
Upon having the thought, Qin Nan’s eyes glittered brilliantly.
It was time to revive the Blood-Winged Vermilion Bird!