123: They are all strong, it’s better to be stronger...

Chen Heguang looked utterly bewildered.

“Who did you kill?!”

“The Old Emperor,” Jiang Lan said nonchalantly. “Then I helped a prince ascend to the throne, so he naturally had to show his appreciation.”

Chen Heguang stood up from his seat and walked over to Jiang Lan.

He reached out and touched Jiang Lan’s forehead, then his own, asking with some confusion:

“You’re not running a fever, so why are you talking nonsense? Did you Cultivate yourself silly?”

Jiang Lan was speechless.

Cultivated himself silly, really?

However, Jiang Lan wasn’t surprised by Chen Heguang’s reaction.

After all, Chen Heguang was just a captain. Although no one in the department dared to do anything to Chen Heguang because of him, his status was still there. The Emperor was on a level that Chen Heguang had never even seen, let alone interacted with.

To him, the Emperor was no different from those things that only existed in legends.

Now that Jiang Lan suddenly said he killed the Emperor, it was normal for Chen Heguang not to believe him.

“Uncle Chen, let me explain…”

Jiang Lan recounted the entire story to Chen Heguang.

Chen Heguang listened with his heart pounding the whole time, his eyes widening and his breathing becoming more rapid. Jiang Lan was even afraid he might have a heart attack and pass out if he didn't control himself.

“Nephew, are you kidding me? Your Uncle Chen can’t handle scares! I’ve heard stories of men raging for a beauty, but raging for a beauty and killing the Emperor, isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Why would I kid you…” Jiang Lan said. “I mainly worried that Gu Yan wouldn’t have company and would be too bored alone in that big house. I wanted Aunt to have someone to talk to.”

“Hiss…” Chen Heguang thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at Jiang Lan and said, “Nephew, you’re not going to use us as hostages for the Emperor, are you? You killed his father, and he’s still giving you a house? And even wants to give you an official position? Why do I find that hard to believe?”

Jiang Lan chuckled.

He had to admit, Uncle Chen’s imagination was quite rich.

He hadn’t even considered that.

With a twitch of his lips, Jiang Lan said, “Do you think the lives of your Old Chen family are more valuable, or the lives of the Emperor’s family?”

“Nephew, isn’t that obvious? Of course, the Emperor’s life is more valuable! He is the True Dragon Emperor! What can a commoner like me compare to him with?”

Jiang Lan shrugged.

“Then that’s it, isn’t it? Do you think the Emperor would exchange the lives of his entire family for your and Aunt’s lives?”

“Certainly not! That would be incredibly foolish.”

Chen Heguang blurted it out without even thinking.

Jiang Lan shrugged again.

“See, don’t you know?”

Chen Heguang also realized it.

But his expression was still a bit unnatural as he said, “I still feel uneasy about it.”

“That courtyard, I estimate it’s at least seven courtyards deep, and it might even be a place where the imperial family used to live. Are you really not going?”

“I’m going!”

Jiang Lan teased, “Didn’t you just say you felt uneasy?”

“Eh… uneasy is uneasy, but if I don’t go, wouldn’t that be a waste of heavenly resources?”

Hearing Jiang Lan’s words, if he said he wasn’t tempted, that would be nonsense.

Jiang Lan smiled and said, “Alright then, you can sell your house tomorrow. From now on, you’ll live in the Inner City. I probably won’t go back often in the future, so you can help manage it regularly.”

“Okay, where in the Inner City? I’ll hire a carriage and move after work.”

“I don’t know yet,” Jiang Lan said. “The Emperor said he’d arrange it when he went back. The specific location hasn’t been decided, but I expect to hear something tomorrow. As for moving, you don’t need to worry; someone will handle it then.”

“Tsk tsk… I never thought that after living most of my life, I’d still get to live in an Inner City house,” Chen Heguang said with a hint of emotion in his voice.

Jiang Lan smiled.

“If you wish, let alone a house in the Inner City, I can even let you enter the Imperial Palace if you want to live there.”

Chen Heguang waved his hands repeatedly.

“No, I’m just a commoner. Living in the Imperial Palace might shorten my life.”

As he spoke, Chen Heguang seemed to remember something and looked at Jiang Lan again, asking:

“Nephew, what Realm are you in now?”

“I’ve reached Mortal Shedding.”

“Mortal Shedding…” Chen Heguang heard this and wasn’t surprised, but his eyes showed some emotion. “It’s too fast…”

He wasn't surprised by Jiang Lan’s Realm.

Chen Heguang also knew that without reaching Mortal Shedding, it would be almost impossible to publicly kill the Emperor in the Golden Luan Hall.

What surprised him was Jiang Lan’s growth rate.

When he was at home before, he had carefully thought through everything that had happened and finally came to a conclusion.

His nephew, perhaps, had never hidden his strength.

Because he noticed that every time he asked Jiang Lan about his Realm, Jiang Lan’s answer was different.

And each time it was higher than the last.

A few days ago, he was in the Bone Forging Realm, then immediately Qi Gathering.

Then immediately Gathering Yuan.

And now, he had already reached the legendary Mortal Shedding Realm.

If he really wanted to hide his strength, there would be no need to raise it a little each time.

So, Chen Heguang thought of an absurd possibility.

That was, his nephew, in such a short period, had grown from an ordinary person who knew nothing about the Martial Dao to a Mortal Shedding expert.

He didn’t know if this was talent or something else.

If it was talent, it should have shown up much earlier, and not suddenly awakened when his nephew was already in his twenties.

But if it was something else, what could it be?

Possessed by a demon?

Impossible.

He had probed more than once. Although his nephew’s personality had some subtle differences from before, it was largely the same.

If he were truly possessed by a demon or evil spirit, his temperament wouldn’t just change drastically, nor would he be in Jiang Lan’s current state.

So Chen Heguang couldn’t figure out what miraculous encounter his nephew had experienced to grow so quickly to this point.

Watching Chen Heguang’s eyes gradually become vacant, staring blankly into the distance, Jiang Lan asked:

“Uncle Chen, what are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Chen Heguang snapped back to reality, shaking his head. “Just thinking you’ve grown up…”

He continued:

“Is it just Mortal Shedding? How many stages of Mortal Shedding?”

Jiang Lan didn’t hide it and replied:

“Six stages, Peak, almost entering the seventh stage.”

Chen Heguang’s eyes trembled.

Although he wasn’t a Mortal Shedding martial artist, he knew that after each major Realm advancement in the Martial Dao, the difficulty of advancing through the minor Realms also increased exponentially.

But with his nephew, why did it seem like there were no thresholds at all?

He was only in the Bone Forging Realm, and it would take several years to advance another step.

But it hadn’t even been several years since his nephew killed that Black Wolf Demon in the city!

Let alone several years, it hadn’t even been several months.

At most, it was just over a month, less than two months.

The speed of this strength increase was a bit too outrageous.

Chen Heguang spoke with a complex expression:

“Good… stronger is better…”