21: Chapter 21 Ye Chen

After Yun Ming left Luoxia Market, he headed straight for Qiya City.

He wanted to see if this Ye Chen truly possessed a Protagonist Halo as he suspected; otherwise, not only would his investment be a failure, but he might even be in danger.

On the way to Qiya City, Yun Ming concealed and obscured his Qi aura and tracks to prevent being followed.

However, Yun Ming had overlooked one problem: Qiya City was vast. Even though he knew Ye Chen was here, he didn't know his exact location.

"Damn, I forgot to ask."

Helpless, Yun Ming could only wander around Qiya City. If even he couldn't find him, could those demonic Cultivators?

If he really died like that, he wouldn't be worth investing in anyway.

Meanwhile.

Ye Chen had disguised himself as a beggar and was crouching under the eaves of a house, pondering why he had been exposed.

"Kid, a tracking mark must have been placed on you, but your Realm is too low to detect it." An aged voice suddenly rang out in Ye Chen's mind.

"Old Xuan, what should I do then?"

"First, throw away everything on you except for the Spirit Stones. If the mark is on one of these items, it'll be easy to handle. If not, it'll be troublesome." Old Xuan's tone was somewhat heavy.

Ye Chen trusted Old Xuan implicitly, even though they had only known each other for three days.

Old Xuan was the artifact spirit of the ring on Ye Chen's hand. He claimed to have once been a Transformation God Daoist Lord, but unfortunately, he was betrayed by those closest to him, leaving behind only a wisp of a remnant soul. Over many years, he had merged with the ring and become its artifact spirit.

The reason he had awakened now was also due to absorbing the Spiritual Qi within Ye Chen's body.

To repay him and to leave behind a Legacy, he took Ye Chen as his disciple. After three days of guidance, Ye Chen had not only recovered from all his injuries but his Realm had also reached Qi Refining Level 7.

However, during these three days, he had been hunted by Demonic Path Cultivators like a cat playing with a mouse. Each time, they would only tease him and then intentionally leave an opening for him to escape.

While throwing his things away, Ye Chen said to Old Xuan, "Old Xuan, aren't we being too passive? Can we find a way to make them suffer a loss too?"

After a moment of silence, Old Xuan said firmly, "We can, but we need to..."

Old Xuan's voice stopped abruptly. Ye Chen panicked slightly and kept calling out in his heart, "Old Xuan, Old Xuan? What's wrong?"

At that moment, Ye Chen felt the sunlight being blocked. He looked up, but the blinding sun made it impossible to see who was standing before him.

He instinctively prepared to attack, but Old Xuan suddenly spoke up to stop him: "Stop! Don't move. This person is very dangerous."

Ye Chen's movements came to a screeching halt. The longsword in his hand almost struck the other person, but the man remained as steady as Mount Tai, motionless.

It was only then that Ye Chen clearly saw who the person in front of him was.

"It's you!"

"Kid, you know him!" Old Xuan's voice was filled with shock.

"Old Xuan, is he dangerous?" Ye Chen was puzzled. He couldn't see how the person in front of him was powerful at all; the man had even been stingy when buying things.

"What Realm do you see him at?"

"Qi Refining Level 4."

"Hehe, you're still too young. That's just his hidden Realm. I can't even see through his true Realm. It's as if this person doesn't even exist."

"Old Xuan, what are you talking about? I don't understand a word."

"All you need to know is not to provoke him." After saying that, Old Xuan went silent again, refusing to respond no matter how Ye Chen called him.

Yun Ming pointed at the sword in Ye Chen's hand. "Could you put the sword down first?" He had been startled by Ye Chen's sudden strike. Before he could react, it almost slashed his own neck, but luckily Ye Chen had stopped in time.

Ye Chen hurriedly put away his sword. "Sorry, sorry! I thought you were one of the people hunting me."

"Oh, not so aloof anymore, I see." Yun Ming hadn't expected to actually run into this kid. It seemed his luck was good; he'd go back and do today's ten-pull later.

Ye Chen didn't know what "aloof" meant, but he could sense that Yun Ming was teasing him. "Please stop joking around."

For some reason, Ye Chen instinctively used the formal "you."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. I'm here for serious business."

Hearing Yun Ming mention serious business, Ye Chen also turned serious. "Senior, let's talk somewhere else. It's not safe here."

Although he didn't understand why Ye Chen was calling him Senior, he figured it made sense since Ye Chen's cultivation had been crippled.

But as for changing locations, Yun Ming was a bit too lazy to move.

"No need, we can talk right here. It's simple." As he spoke, he casually shielded Ye Chen's Qi aura as well.

Ye Chen wanted to ask for Old Xuan's opinion, but Old Xuan refused to speak. Helpless, Ye Chen could only agree. "Alright, Senior, what is it?"

Yun Ming told Ye Chen all the intelligence he had gathered about Yin Mei.

Ye Chen nodded. This information was indeed very useful to him, and it even played a crucial role in the counterattack plan he had just thought of.

"Thank you, Senior. But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think highly of you, of course!" Yun Ming bluffed. "Last night, I observed the celestial phenomena and saw the Emperor Star shining in the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, its light brilliantly rising from the Eastern Wall. This is a sign that a Sage Ruler is about to arise. Guess who it is?"

Ye Chen pointed at himself, looking completely dazed. "Me?"

Yun Ming patted his shoulder happily. "Exactly! It's you. This evil Cultivator named Yin Mei is your first stepping stone. But be careful and proceed step by step."

Yun Ming's original intention was: your Realm is too low right now, wait until it's higher before seeking revenge.

But in Ye Chen's ears, it sounded like the plan he had just come up with in his mind had been seen through in an instant, and he was being told to be cautious.

Beyond shocked, Ye Chen could only nod numbly.

Then Yun Ming took out a bottle of spring return pills and a qi condensing pill, handing them to Ye Chen. "Take these for the road."

Looking at the Medicinal Pills in his hand, Ye Chen was so surprised he didn't know what to say. Yun Ming was like a roundworm in his stomach, knowing exactly what he needed most right now.

"Senior, how can I repay you?" Whether it was the information or the spring return pills and qi condensing pill, though they weren't extremely valuable, they were exactly what he needed most.

Yun Ming waved his hand. "No need for repayment." Then, acting mysterious, he added, "Staying alive until the end is the best repayment."

"Senior! Huh?!" Ye Chen suddenly realized that Yun Ming had vanished. He disappeared right before his eyes in an instant. He looked around, but besides pedestrians, there was no trace of him.

"Alright, don't bother looking. He's gone. I even suspect he was never here." Old Xuan's voice rang out again.

"Old Xuan, you're alive again!" Ye Chen said happily.

"Pah, pah, pah! Watch your mouth, you brat."

"Well, you were the one playing dead just now, leaving me to face the Senior all by myself."

"What do you mean 'playing dead'? That was a technique to seek good fortune and avoid calamity. Do you have any idea what he just did?"

"I do. He gave me crucial intelligence, healing pills, and the qi condensing pill I need to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 8!"

"Pah! That's nothing. He just shielded your heavenly secrets."

Ye Chen showed a puzzled expression.

Seeing Ye Chen's silly and cute look, Old Xuan knew he couldn't explain to a teenager just how terrifying that man was. So, he changed his wording: "All you need to know is that if he were unhappy, he could wipe out everyone in Qiya City with a single thought."