500: Chapter 500 We are also willing to follow you!

"What is it?"

Yan Qingwu asked with a look of wariness.

How could she not be wary?

Every time he asked her something, something huge inevitably happened the next day...

Ye Chen pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you know about the Martial Arts Tournament?"

On the other end of the phone, Yan Qingwu was clearly stunned for a moment.

"The Martial Arts Tournament? Why are you bringing that up?"

"I heard it's being held at Mount Song in half a month, and the champion's reward is a jade sword." Ye Chen spoke calmly and indifferently, "But... what no one knows is that a key is hidden inside the sword."

"A key?" Yan Qingwu's voice instantly became alert. "What key?"

Ye Chen interrupted her and gave the answer directly: "The same kind of thing that was in the buddha head."

Yan Qingwu's voice became exceptionally excited: "You mean that jade sword hides a bronze key?"

"Exactly."

"Is the source reliable?"

"Tong Sanqian said so himself. His Tong family used to be from the Kunlun Ruins. That sword was originally his family's property, but it was lost after the family's fortunes declined."

Yan Qingwu pondered for a moment before continuing.

"The Tong family indeed was; he didn't lie to you about that."

"So..."

"You plan to participate in that Martial Arts Tournament?"

"Yes." Ye Chen explained matter-of-factly, "I am determined to get the bronze key. Since it's hidden in the sword, I'll just win the sword back."

"What are you going to use to enter?"

Yan Qingwu's tone carried a hint of helplessness. "Those who participate in the Martial Arts Tournament are all families, factions, or sects. At the very least, you need a proper martial arts hall sign. What about you? What do you have?"

Ye Chen didn't hesitate at all and continued to be matter-of-fact.

"I have the country. Does the Dragon Group not count?"

Yan Qingwu was so choked by his words that she couldn't speak for a long time.

She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but thinking about it carefully...

The Dragon Group was indeed a formal organization, and a national-level one at that. Its status was far higher than those families and sects.

"It counts... I suppose it counts."

She chose her words carefully, "But for the Dragon Group to sign up for this kind of event, it has to go through formal procedures, reporting through layers of bureaucracy. It would take at least half a year for the approval to come down."

She paused, "This session of the Martial Arts Tournament starts in half a month. There's simply no time."

Hearing this, Ye Chen chuckled.

"That's why I was thinking your Yan Family, or Old Master Xuanyuan, should have a way, right?"

Yan Qingwu: "..."

So this guy was waiting for her here all along?

She took a deep breath and spoke irritably, "So you didn't call to notify me to clean up the mess, but to ask me to use the back door for you?"

"How can you call it using the back door?" Ye Chen looked innocent. "This is called rational use of resources."

Yan Qingwu rolled her eyes at his matter-of-fact tone.

"Ye Chen, do you have some kind of misunderstanding regarding the word 'rational'?"

"Let's set aside the misunderstanding for now." Ye Chen said with a grin, "Just say whether it can be done or not."

Yan Qingwu was silent for a good while before gritting her teeth and speaking: "I'll help you ask the Old Master, but let me give you fair warning—I can't guarantee whether it'll work or not."

"Got it! I knew Little Sister Qingwu was the most reliable!"

"Don't give me that!"

Yan Qingwu spat irritably, "Hanging up! Wait for it!"

The call ended.

Ye Chen put away his phone, the smile on his face fading slightly as he turned to look at the people kneeling all over the hall.

"Alright, continue."

That nonchalant tone made it seem as if the phone call just now had only been about what to eat for dinner.

The expressions on the faces of the people kneeling on the ground were quite a sight.

They had heard everything clearly just now—

This lord was going to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament.

And he wanted the Dragon Group to sign him up.

And the Dragon Group's side was actually trying to find a way to help him through the back door.

What kind of status was this?

Elder He knelt to one side, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He had been in the Soul Hall for thirty years and had followed Tong Sanqian for thirty years; he considered himself well-traveled and knowledgeable.

But someone like Ye Chen...

He was truly seeing it for the first time.

At such a young age, he possessed the strength of the Golden Core Stage, taking down the Soul Hall headquarters as easily as eating or drinking, and he could make a phone call to have the Dragon Group open the back door for him to join the Martial Arts Tournament.

This kind of person could no longer be described with the word "genius."

He was a monster.

A complete and utter monster.

...

The interrogation lasted for an entire morning.

When the last person finished their confession.

Ye Chen leaned back in his chair and glanced at the thick stack of handwritten confessions in front of him, his expression unreadable.

The people kneeling in the hall had now divided into two distinct groups.

One group consisted of those whose hands were stained with the blood of the innocent, accounting for more than two-thirds.

Their faces were as pale as death.

However much they had enjoyed the killing back then, they were equally broken in this moment...

The other group consisted of those who, although they had practiced demonic arts, had at least not personally taken the lives of innocent people.

They knelt to the side, not daring to make a sound, their hearts filled with both the relief of surviving a disaster and the anxious wait for the final verdict.

Ye Chen closed the confessions and stood up.

The gazes of everyone in the hall instantly focused on him.

"Lin Biao." Ye Chen spoke indifferently.

Lin Biao's spirits lifted, and he hurriedly stepped out from behind Ye Chen, bowing with his hands clasped: "Master, your subordinate is here!"

"The guilty ones are to be all locked up, awaiting the arrival of the Dragon Group to handle them."

Ye Chen's voice was calm without a single ripple, "Not one is allowed to escape, understood?"

"Your subordinate understands!"

Lin Biao responded and turned to make arrangements.

But he had only taken one step when his pace halted.

He turned back, his face showing some hesitation, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow: "Something else?"

Lin Biao swallowed and asked cautiously: "Master, what about us..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already obvious.

These Soul Emissaries, although they had long since defected to Ye Chen, were still Soul Hall members after all. They had also practiced demonic arts and their hands were more or less stained...

Ye Chen glanced at him and said indifferently: "Just say that you are my people. They can call me to confirm."

Lin Biao was stunned, then reacted, his face instantly showing a look of wild joy.

"Yes! Your subordinate understands!"

With those words, he turned and strode toward the group of Soul Hall members, his back straighter than before.

The dozen or so Soul Emissaries behind him also showed looks of joy, simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief.

This one sentence from Ye Chen was more effective than any tonic!

After all...

If they were Ye Chen's people, they wouldn't have to be like that group of guilty people.

When they had first handed their souls over to Ye Chen, they had been somewhat depressed in their hearts.

But at this moment...

They were happier than anything!

Elder He knelt to the side, his eyes darting around. He suddenly shuffled forward on his knees a few steps, his voice carrying a hint of urgency: "Instructor Ye! This old man is also willing to follow you!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed three times with loud thuds.

His forehead hitting the stone floor was quite resonant.

Venerable Qinglong and Venerable Vermilion Bird looked at each other and dared not hesitate any longer, hurriedly kneeling forward as well.

"Instructor Ye! We are also willing to follow you!"

"Through thick and thin, we will not decline!"

The three of them knelt in a row, each posture more sincere than the last, as if the people who had just wanted to push all the blame onto Tong Sanqian's head weren't them at all.

Bing Lan looked at this scene with a strange expression, her heart filled with complex emotions.

A-Chen was much more miraculous than she had imagined.

Back then, when they first met in her family's swimming pool, how could she have thought that not long after, today, there would be such a scene?

A group of powerhouses kneeling before A-Chen, begging to be taken in?

Ye Chen looked down at these three Venerables who had changed from arrogant to subservient, and spoke indifferently.

"Be my people?"

"That is not so easy to be."

Elder He hurriedly stated his position: "Whatever Instructor Ye commands, just say the word! This old man will certainly go all out!"

Venerable Qinglong kowtowed like a woodpecker: "Yes, yes, yes! We will certainly give our all until our dying day!"

Venerable Vermilion Bird was even more direct: "With just a word from Instructor Ye, I won't even bat an eye if I have to go through fire and water!"

Ye Chen glanced at them, the smile on his face unchanged.

"You need to demonstrate your value."

"Not just anyone can be one of my people, right?"

The expressions of the three changed slightly, their hearts skipping a beat.

They knew all too well.

Ye Chen was testing them.

If they couldn't produce something decent, let alone following him, whether they could walk out of this hall alive would be a question.

However.

Before they could speak, Ye Chen had already continued: "Hmm... I've thought of it. You three lure out the person behind Tong Sanqian. I don't like being targeted."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of all three changed drastically.

Lure that person out?

How could they lure him?

They didn't have any clues...

And.

That person's strength crushed Tong Sanqian's; they were simply no match...

Venerable Qinglong wiped away a cold sweat and said hurriedly: "Instructor, that person's strength is very high. We simply cannot win against him..."

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.

"I don't need you to fight. I only need to know the other party's identity."

"And..."

"The traces of his emergence from the Kunlun Ruins."

"The rest, I will handle myself. Understand?"