I Have A Qi Fortune Altar.
Chapter 328 - 328 303 The Soaring Hidden Dragon List Ranking

Chapter 328: Chapter 303: The Soaring Hidden Dragon List Ranking! Chapter 328: Chapter 303: The Soaring Hidden Dragon List Ranking! Let everyone know just how many eyes Prince Chen has!

The background of the Taoist Divine Palace must not be leaked, but the fact that Jiang He backs him can be known to all. At most, people will say that Jiang He values Chen Yuan greatly.

After all, isn’t it normal for a genius ranked in the top fifty of the Hidden Dragon List to be highly valued?

As long as everyone in Qingzhou knows Jiang He is the one behind him, whoever dares to play tricks on him will have to think twice!

Coming out from the secluded Nanling Prefecture to the public stage of Qingzhou, Chen Yuan was bound to be scrutinized by many. He had no intention of playing the role of a tiger masquerading as a pig,

but instead he would make it clear to everyone that he, Chen Yuan, was not to be trifled with!

Regarding Chen Yuan’s departure, Huang Yi spoke a few words to retain him. In his view, staying in the Prefecture City of Jiuyuan was the safest choice. Even the Qingyun Sword Sect, powerful as it was,

would not dare to openly massacre a Heavenly Patrol Bureau of Jiuyuan.

This would be a crime akin to rebellion, a major incident affecting the imperial court’s dignity.

If it incited the emperor’s wrath and a Yang Transformation bigwig descended, it would spell disaster for the Qingyun Sword Sect.

However, Chen Yuan merely smiled and made up an excuse on the spot. He, of course, wouldn’t disclose his real plans.

Staying here might be safe, but there was an even greater chance that he would leave behind a fatal flaw. Once the enemy lurked in the shadows, that would pose the greatest danger to him.

He had to take this opportunity to resolve these troubles once and for all!

Of course, to many people, this seemed like Chen Yuan was scared and desperately trying to flee to Qingzhou City, or that he was trying to hide somewhere, fearing retaliation.

It’s worth mentioning that the news of the Elder’s death from the East Ping Prefecture’s power, who Chen Yuan killed with a punch, also reached their Sect.

They sent people demanding an explanation from Chen Yuan, who then slaughtered them and hung their bodies at the city gate while proclaiming:

“Want an explanation from me? Then come exchange it with your life!”

Afterward, that first-rate power did not stir up any more trouble or make any moves. It wasn’t that they feared his might, but rather they felt it wasn’t worth it. After all, having offended two top powers in Qingzhou, Chen Yuan was most likely not going to survive.

With that in mind, why go out of their way to stir up trouble?

They might as well wait until Chen Yuan was dead before stepping out to say a few words…

…

…

After leaving Jiuyuan Prefecture, Chen Yuan and his group traveled swiftly, even hiding their tracks.

He wasn’t a fool, nor did he consider the experts from the Bright Temple and the Qingyun Sword Sect fools either. If they were to leave in a big commotion, anyone who wasn’t a fool would sense something suspicious.

But as things stood, aside from himself, probably everyone assumed he was just biding his time to avoid the spotlight, which was quite normal and in line with everyone’s speculations.

And nobody thought any less of Chen Yuan for doing this, facing two top powers as enemies; to do otherwise would be the real folly.

Having Gu Hao and Monk Jingxin as stepping stones was enough to uphold Chen Yuan’s reputation.

The name of the Demon Blade spread wide across Qingzhou.

Many were even speculating whether Chen Yuan could escape this disaster. If he died, the world would lose a great master, and the unwritten rules of life and death confrontation within the same realm didn’t apply to scions of noble families and Sect disciples with background.

It certainly didn’t apply to someone of humble origin like Chen Yuan.

If he survived, many believed that Qingzhou might gain another strong Core Realm fighter in the future.

Amidst the numerous speculations, only two people believed that Chen Yuan would certainly get through these dangers safely. They were the Saintess in the Black Robe of the Heavenly Demon Hall and the hunchbacked old man Ming He.

Only they had personally witnessed the terrifying power contained within the Dan Talisman in Chen Yuan’s hand and guessed that he must have a powerful protector.

Even if there were no protector, with that talisman, Chen Yuan’s chance of survival was greatly increased.

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed. Chen Yuan and his group, keeping their tracks hidden, entered another prefecture on the essential road to Qingzhou City, called Shangyang Prefecture, more than four hundred miles from Jiuyuan Prefecture.

And in a straight line, it was also less than a thousand miles from Qingzhou City.

On this day, Chen Yuan, wearing a Human Skin Mask obtained from Miao Renfeng, entered a tavern in the Prefecture City with Yue Shan and Zhao Beishan to purchase some items and also to gather information about recent events.

Perhaps even about himself. These few days, in order to camouflage more convincingly, Chen Yuan and his party truly had not contacted anyone. They traveled by night and hid by day,

rarely encountering other travelers. Whenever they came across a county or state city, they mostly skirted around it.

Welcomed by a servant to the tavern’s second floor, the three picked a spot at random to sit down, ordering some dishes and drinks like ordinary travelers of Jianghu.

Even to conceal their identities further, Chen Yuan disguised his Yan Ling Saber by wrapping it in hemp cord.

The tavern served up the food and drinks quickly. In just a moment, they were brought two plates of beef, three roasted chickens, several vegetables, and some peanuts.

As everyone knows, peanuts are the quintessential snack with drinks.

Drinking the refreshing beverages from black bowls, Chen Yuan and his companions pricked up their ears, eavesdropping on the various conversations on the second floor.

“Hey, did you hear? Wang Er’s mom is pregnant again.”

“Who’s the father? Isn’t her husband long dead?”

“Heh heh, what do you think?”

“Bro, you can’t talk about that, it’s a serious crime.”

“What do you know, it’s said that there are people who like this very style now.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuan frowned. This was the first time he had encountered such a discussion about ethics in this world. It wasn’t unfamiliar to him from his previous life, where he had a friend who was a veteran member of the sea-leg club…

(Don’t ask what the sea-leg club is about.)

After listening for a moment, Chen Yuan shifted his focus because he heard his own name being mentioned.

“This Demon Blade is truly powerful, to actually surge so many ranks on the Hidden Dragon List by outright surpassing the Qingyun Sword Sect and the Bright Temple.”

“Indeed, in the past two years, it’s probably this person who has the most talent within the Qingzhou Domain.”

“Tsk tsk… the twentieth rank on the Hidden Dragon List, that’s already quite near the top.”

“Of course, the difference between the top twenty of the Hidden Dragon List and the next thirty below is said to be significant. Even though Chen Yuan is only ranked at the twentieth place, you have to look at how he rose to that position,

shooting up twenty-two ranks from forty-second place. Besides him, how many others could accomplish that?”

“According to an uncle of mine who works for the government, the reason Ascending Immortal Tower has placed Chen Yuan in such a high rank this time is all because his strength remains unfathomable even now.

Plus, his ranking has risen too quickly over the past half year, leading many to believe that Ascending Immortal Tower’s intelligence is not accurate, so they directly promoted him by twenty ranks.

If it had been someone else, at most they would have been ranked thirtieth on the Hidden Dragon List.”

“After all, whether Gu Hao and Monk Jingxin have truly died at the hands of the Demon Blade, there has been no accurate news. The only proof of his strength,

is that not long ago he obliterated a Reach Profound expert with a single punch.”

“Do you think that the Demon Blade’s true strength might be more than just the twentieth rank on the Hidden Dragon List?”

“What do you mean?”

“In the past few days, I carefully reviewed the news about the Demon Blade and realized that every time he fights, he bursts forth with strength surpassing his usual abilities. To say he’s not hiding his strength would convince no one.”

“It’s a pity though, even if he’s deeply hidden his true capabilities, he probably won’t be able to survive this time.” Someone seemed to sigh with a tinge of regret.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you forgotten? Both the Fei Yu Sword and Monk Jingxin have backers. Giving Chen Yuan such an unclear criminal charge, with heads burned to ashes, surely someone will seek justice, right?”

“Do you really dare think someone will make a move on Chen Yuan? Haven’t they said he’s extremely gifted and is valued by others?”

“If he had remained holed up in Prefecture City, it would have been difficult for others to lay a hand on him, but since he took the initiative to leave, hehe…”

“But lately there haven’t been any rumors about wanting to kill him.”

“Brother, don’t be so naive. Who would kill someone, especially a government official, and make a big public spectacle out of it?”

“It’s the calm before the storm.”

“Brother Ma is right, just wait and see. I have a premonition that this matter won’t end well; we should just sit back and watch the drama unfold.”

“Haha, big brother is right. Come on, let’s drink…”

At a nearby table, the conversation stopped, but other people were still discussing. However, their discussions were much the same, all feeling that Chen Yuan might be in trouble,

this was all too customary…

Withdrawing his attentive spirit, Chen Yuan had gained some understanding of his current situation. His predicament didn’t come as any surprise; he had anticipated it all.

He even had a measure of the outside world’s defamation and praise for him.

The only thing that somewhat astonished him was that Ascending Immortal Tower had placed him so high in the rankings this time, leaping directly from the forty-second to the twentieth place on the Hidden Dragon List.

Such a dramatic rise in ranking was rare on the Hidden Dragon List, especially since the closer you get to the top, the smaller the increments of the rise—after all, you are a genius, and so are others.

Your cultivation has increased, but doesn’t that mean others have improved theirs as well?

According to his original prediction, he was likely to take over Monk Jingxin’s spot this time, with a small chance of entering the top thirty. He didn’t expect Ascending Immortal Tower to act this way.

Probably even they were startled by his repeatedly explosive increase in strength.

Being placed directly at the twentieth rank seemed to completely confirm that Gu Hao and Monk Jingxin died by his hand, without any doubt.

Truly, they held him in high regard.

With a self-deprecating smile, Chen Yuan drained the wine in his bowl in one gulp. Everything was unfolding just as he had predicted, the storm clouds were gathering indeed!

“Congratulations… my lord.”

Yue Shan’s face was filled with a smile as he looked at Chen Yuan and whispered.

He evidently had also heard the discussion from those few people just now.

Being in the top twenty of the Hidden Dragon List was indeed a great honor!

It signified that their lord had now reached the level of the strongest batch of geniuses in the world, and his followers would rise with the tide.

As for the worry about danger…

They had some, but they also had immense trust in the ever-steady Chen Yuan.

They believed that with him present, he would surely be able to turn peril into safety.

“Truly, the young master is a divine being!”