440: Chapter 440 But I refuse

"Oh my, Fellow Daoist, please forgive my rudeness."

"I originally intended to test you, but I never expected you to be so confident and possess such formidable strength."

"This makes me look a bit narrow-minded. Come, come, Fellow Daoist, please take the seat of honor. I shall penalize myself with a drink to offer you an apology."

As he spoke, Liu Dan moved to pull Zhou Yan toward the pile of gold ore.

"Fellow Daoist Liu Dan, testing me at will—even if it didn't harm me in the slightest—shouldn't be settled by a mere penalty drink, should it?"

"For someone at the Late Stage of Void Refining, doesn't this seem a bit lacking in sincerity?"

Silence fell over the room once more. It was still a probe, but the offensive had suddenly reversed.

Previously, Liu Dan had been testing Zhou Yan, and Zhou Yan had passed that test in a way he didn't quite understand.

After realizing the other party might have briefly acknowledged his strength due to certain circumstances, Zhou Yan's heart, which had been in his throat, instantly settled. However, hearing the offer of a single drink as an apology made him wary again.

If the other party truly believed in the results of the test, they definitely wouldn't have this attitude. This meant there was still doubt in their heart.

Following the usual pattern—once, twice, but not a third time—the other party would most likely try to test him once more.

He had avoided it this time for some unknown reason, but he might not be so lucky next time.

So, Zhou Yan struck decisively, exposing the other's hand first, switching from defense to a proactive strike.

And the result was surprisingly good.

Liu Dan, who had been cheerful a moment ago, suddenly felt his heart tighten.

He then looked at Zhou Yan with a touch of disbelief.

The aura on Zhou Yan's body was very strange, possessing a faint Immortal Qi, as well as Karma and national destiny.

He had originally thought he couldn't see the other's Realm because he was being distracted by these auras.

But now, the other person had seen through his background at a glance.

He lived deep within the palace; unless the other party had known him long ago, it was impossible to state his name and Realm in one breath.

This meant the other party had seen through him. And for someone who could see through him at a glance, how could they only be seeing his name and Realm? Their own Realm couldn't possibly be that simple!

"Fellow Daoist, what is it you want?"

As he spoke, his expression remained amiable, but his tone had turned colder. The neutrality marker was flickering between red and green; it was clear he was thinking.

As expected, this old fellow isn't simple either.

Zhou Yan then revealed a smile. Since they wanted to test him, then let's stop testing altogether.

"It's nothing. Usually, when I chat, I don't just chat. That's too dry."

"Let's play chess while we talk."

Liu Dan seemed to realize something was wrong, but before he could ask what those words meant, he saw Zhou Yan toss out a chessboard.

"Fellow Daoist Liu Dan, come play a few rounds with me!"

One hour later.

"Why hasn't he come out yet?"

The young man wearing the Python Robe was currently pacing back and forth outside the great hall.

Just yesterday, his 'good' Majesty had issued a decree for him to find the Old Ancestor and deliver a message, saying he should help out and test the guest while he was at it.

Originally, he was going to refuse. After all, using the Old Ancestor as a shield was indeed not very honorable.

But the Emperor of Liang's words were earnest. Sitting on his soft dragon throne, he had spent over an hour painstakingly persuading him. Liu Yin, who had been kneeling on the ground for over an hour, was moved to tears. Ultimately, he was convinced and agreed to ask the Old Ancestor to step in.

Finally, Liu Yin went to the Old Ancestor's place and knelt for another hour plus.

Adding it all up, he had knelt for a total of more than three hours.

This was almost too much for his Mortal body to handle.

If he weren't young and strong, and didn't usually take some medicinal pills, he probably would have had to come in a wheelchair to lead the way for Zhou Yan today.

All that was in the past now and didn't matter much, but now that Zhou Yan had gone in and hadn't come out for so long, he was starting to feel a bit lost.

According to the Old Ancestor's temperament, he would definitely perform a test, but he wouldn't normally tell the Emperor the result, nor would he be very serious about it.

But with his request yesterday, the Old Ancestor would likely be a bit more serious for his sake, which would inevitably offend that Senior.

If that Senior were a fake, it wouldn't matter; he should have been beaten out by now, or might even have died on the spot.

But now that the Senior hadn't come out and there was no movement from the Old Ancestor's side, Liu Yin began to panic.

"This is bad, this is bad. Could a conflict have broken out?"

"The Old Ancestor may be a Sword Cultivator with few rivals in the same Realm, but what if that Senior is at the Middle Stage of Void Refining?"

"The Old Ancestor is only at the Early Stage of Void Refining, and he's old and frail. If that Senior really is at the Middle Stage of Void Refining, could something have happened to him?"

Liu Yin bit his thumbnail, his pacing becoming faster and faster. Finally, he stopped abruptly and scratched his hair frantically, leaving his previously tied hair in a mess.

"Argh! That's my ancestor after all! What if something happened to him because of me!"

Liu Yin's expression was grim. He glanced at the darkness deep within the hall, then finally gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and walked into the hall.

After the space shifted, he didn't stop for a second, quickly reaching the door and pounding on it.

"Senior? Senior?"

"Are you two finished talking?"

"It's getting late. His Majesty has prepared some food and wine to apologize for not being able to welcome you properly yesterday."

"Several enshrinement experts of our Great Liang will also be present. They are the pillars of our Great Liang, and it's a good chance for you to meet them, Senior."

Under his pounding, the door actually creaked open a crack. This sight made his hand freeze.

One had to know that the entire room and the door inside had been refined by the Old Ancestor. If it could be easily pushed open by a Mortal like him, didn't that mean...!

"Old... Old... Ancestor?"

Liu Yin threw open the door and was about to rush in, only to see his own Old Ancestor looking at Zhou Yan with moist eyes, trying to persuade him to stay.

"Fellow Daoist, will you truly not stay?"

"If you can stay, you can make any request you wish."

Zhou Yan simply shook his head slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Liu Dan, your conditions are very tempting; every single one hits the mark."

"However, I refuse!"

"The thing I love doing most in my life is saying 'no' to those who think they know me."

"Compared to the constraints of rules and regulations, I prefer being free and unfettered. So, Fellow Daoist, do not try to persuade me further. I will be heading to the Dao Sect next. We shall meet again if fate allows."

With that, Zhou Yan walked toward the door.

This scene had a massive impact on Liu Yin.

His own habitually arrogant Old Ancestor had been rejected so casually.

What shocked him even more was that the Old Ancestor's posture was extremely humble right now. Even after being rejected, he didn't say another word, simply allowing the other party to leave.

For a moment, he was frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time.

As Zhou Yan passed by Liu Yin, he stopped, patted his shoulder, and then turned to speak to Liu Dan behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Liu Dan, this junior of yours is quite good. He's stronger than many people."

After saying this, Zhou Yan strode away, while saying to Liu Yin behind him:

"I'll be going now. The people arranged by the Dao Sect already looked for me last night. So, give the Emperor of Liang a message: there's no need to see me off. As for that banquet..."

The corners of Zhou Yan's mouth curled up, but he quickly suppressed it.

"I won't be going to the banquet, so as not to trouble you."

"I'm off."

Having finished, Zhou Yan conveniently closed the door behind him.

After doing all this, Zhou Yan walked toward the distant hall with a tense expression. Although his gait remained steady and his figure looked carefree, he was panicking like crazy inside.

"What's the situation? Did this old guy use cheats?"

"Why could he still move while playing chess?"

Just now, after Zhou Yan activated the chessboard, he thought it would be a classic 'burning rope' time. After all, this thing could even hard-control the real Void Refining stage Emperor Gaozong of Yu; there was no reason it wouldn't control this guy.

But an accident suddenly occurred. The entire room rioted as various stray energies suddenly condensed and converged toward Liu Dan.

Then, a massive amount of dark gold special effects, carrying a multitude of sword glows, washed over the chessboard.

Zhou Yan's health was dropping just by looking at that power. If it even grazed him, the consequences would be unthinkable.

But the opponent was a bit stubborn, repeatedly exclaiming 'Fellow Daoist has good methods' and 'Fellow Daoist has true Divine Abilities.'

The other party violently bombarded his chessboard. If Zhou Yan hadn't been constantly regenerating health, just watching it could have killed him.

Fortunately, the other party only bombarded it for a short while. Once the metallic Qi in the room had thinned out considerably, they stopped, and the two began to communicate again.

After that commotion, both of them became much more cheerful in front of the chessboard, showing mutual courtesy.

Liu Dan kept trying to persuade Zhou Yan to stay, even offering the bargaining chip of allowing him to enter the Ancestral Temple and become an Old Ancestor of Great Liang.

However, Great Liang would be gone in a hundred years anyway, so Zhou Yan refused without a second thought.

Fortunately, because of that incident, neither of them made a move first. He only had the chance to slip away when Liu Yin burst in.

On the other side, some time after Zhou Yan left, Liu Dan, who had been maintaining his composure, instantly collapsed onto the ground, panting for breath.

Terrified, Liu Yin hurried to support his Old Ancestor.

"Old Ancestor, are... are you alright?"

Liu Dan waved his hand.

"I am fine. I just didn't expect the opponent to be so strong. That Divine Ability of his is truly incredibly powerful."

"If not for that matter, perhaps he truly would be an Immortal's Reincarnation. But looking at it now, he should be a peerless expert who has been in seclusion for many years and has only just appeared in the world."

"Go back and tell the Emperor that this person is at least at the Middle Stage of Void Refining or above. He must absolutely not be offended. Tell the Emperor not to have any crooked thoughts; he doesn't have the ability to bear the consequences."

After saying this, he pushed Liu Yin out, while also instructing him to bring back a batch of better metallic minerals to replenish this place.

Only after Liu Yin left with a face full of worry did he finally heave a sigh of relief and collapse onto the ground again.

"Oh, heavens! This young man!"

"Even though I used an Immortal art, I couldn't break free... Could that also be an Immortal art?"

"It shouldn't be. The Immortal Realm has already disappeared, and I didn't see him participate in the Heaven-Kowt Assembly."

"He couldn't really be an Immortal descended to the world, could he?"

"No, no, I need to get in touch with that Old Daoist and have him investigate the situation further."