CHAPTER 424: NEWS TRAVELS FAST

Truth be told, Jiang Chen was more than a little eager to get Lu Yi’s contact info.

"No point wasting time. Let’s move." He tucked the transmission jade token away, gave Lu Yi a small nod, and shot off toward the horizon.

Lu Yi watched him go, eyes following that shrinking figure in the sky.

That guy’s dangerous, no doubt. And yeah, he ruined my shot at taking down those enemies myself... but at least he’s not like the rest. Didn’t mock me for being mixed-blood. Didn’t look down on me at all.

He let out a quiet breath, a flicker of resolve in his chest.

One day, when I’ve made a name for myself... I’ll return the favor.

With that, Lu Yi smiled and turned to fly off in another direction.

...

At the same time, system alerts echoed through Jiang Chen’s sea of consciousness.

[Ding! Plot alteration detected! You’ve successfully stopped protagonist Lu Yi from launching a major counterattack, cutting off part of his opportunity. Lu Yi’s Heavenly Fate Value has dropped by 6,000 points!]

[Ding! You’ve gained 12,000 Villain Value points!]

A 6,000-point drop... not bad at all, Jiang Chen thought, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. Without missing a beat, he used his divine sense and activated the Villain Eye to scan Lu Yi again, pulling up his status window.

[Name

: Lu Yi

Status: Protagonist

Heavenly Fate Value: 95,260 / 95,260

Aptitude: Peerless Grade

Innate Talent: Saint Demon Heart (Primordial Chaos)

Heaven-Defying Trump Card: All Things Infinite Fusion System (Level 4)

Realm: Middle-stage Transcendence

True Combat Power: Early-stage Nirvana Peering

Cultivation Methods: Purple Crest Immortal Gold Record (Void Tribulation, Core Technique), Sun Shadow Mystic Feather Blade Technique (Transcendence, Great Accomplishment-Level), Azure Flower Profound Howl Record (Transcendence, Entry-Level), Red Cloth Meridian Spirit Book (Dao Palace, Perfect-Level)

Main Equipment: Luminous Heavenly Fury Blade (Nirvana Peering, Upper-Grade)

Trust Level

: 60/100]

Sixty points, huh? So he really does trust me a little. Guess those ’heartfelt’ words struck a chord after all, Jiang Chen thought, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. Too bad that trust won’t lead anywhere. A villain like me isn’t meant to have friends—especially not ones like him.

Anyway... time to count up the loot and keep a close eye on Lu Yi.

With that, he turned his focus to the spoils he’d earned from the battle.

...

Meanwhile, news of the battle at Burning Sun City was spreading fast. Spectators passed it on one after another—first to a few, then to dozens, then hundreds. It didn’t take long before the whole region was buzzing.

Naturally, the higher-ups from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace and the Purple Crest Immortal Sect were among the first to catch wind of it.

Over at Dragon Roar Thousand-Mile Waterfall, You Shaojun, Sun Xiangyuan, and Sun Anming—locked in a tense standoff with Liang Youwen and his group—also got word that the clash at Burning Sun City had ended.

But no one knew who had won... or who had lost.

Anxiously, You Shaojun and the others tapped into their divine sense, checking their transmission jade tokens for updates.

On the other hand, Liang Youwen and his group were feeling confident, certain their plan would go off without a hitch.

But the next moment, the expressions on the senior members from both powerful sects changed in an instant—they were stunned.

"What?!" Liang Youwen blurted out. "A dragon-blooded cultivator just showed up out of nowhere and wiped out Zhong Yushan’s entire group?!"

"No way... how is that even possible?" he stammered, completely thrown.

The news hit the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace and the Purple Crest Immortal Sect like a bolt of lightning—leaving both sides shaken.

A dragon-blooded cultivator... He pulled it off with a surprise attack at the last second. That means he’s strong, but probably not at the Nirvana Cleansing realm yet, You Shaojun thought, eyes narrowing with a cold, angry glint. Some no-name dragon-blooded freak dares to stir up trouble on Prosperous Stone Immortal Star—killed four Nirvana Peering realm experts from our Purple Crest Immortal Sect like it was nothing. He’s asking to die.

But he didn’t say any of that out loud.

He kept it all to himself.

After all, every member of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace had been wiped out, and Lu Yi—the human-demon hybrid—had slipped away.

With no survivors and no proof, the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace had nothing to pin on anyone. That gave the Purple Crest Immortal Sect room to deny everything.

And with Lu Yi still out there, they still had a shot at tracking him down and cleaning up the mess.

As for the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace trying to step in—doing anything quickly would be tough.

Just getting to the scene would take them a fair bit of time.

Meanwhile, if the Purple Crest Immortal Sect managed to take Lu Yi out, they could easily cover up the whole incident before anyone caught on.

Right then, Sun Anming suddenly stepped forward, pulled out his transmission jade token, and poured Immortal Origin Power into it. An image lit up in the air.

"I got this from an Image Projection Stone. Take a look—doesn’t that dragon-blooded cultivator look a lot like Jiang Chen?" He glanced at Sun Xiangyuan and You Shaojun, eyes sharp.

The Purple Crest Immortal Sect had previously captured a few cultivators who’d returned from the Immortal Martial Continent and forced plenty of information out of them—including what Jiang Chen looked like.

Now, comparing that info to the projection, they realized something—the dragon-blooded cultivator looked almost exactly like Jiang Chen. Aside from the draconic traits, it was basically a perfect match.

"It’s him! I can’t believe that bastard Jiang Chen is actually dragon-blooded," Sun Xiangyuan said, clearly stunned. So that’s why he suddenly showed up and wiped out our people.

Jiang Chen was already considered a mortal enemy of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect. If there was a chance to strike back at him, they weren’t going to let it slide.

What confused Sun Xiangyuan, though, was why Jiang Chen had also killed members of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace.

Wasn’t he supposed to be working with them against us?

The same question was clearly weighing on the rest of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect as well.

Just then, Liang Youwen caught a glimpse of the image Sun Anming had projected—Jiang Chen in his dragon-human form. A flicker of realization crossed his face.

"Oh? So that dragon-blooded cultivator is Jiang Chen. No wonder he stepped in and wiped out your four Nirvana Peering experts."

Still, he couldn’t help but wonder—why would Jiang Chen kill people from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace too?

Suddenly, Sect Master You Shaojun’s eyes lit up, and he exploded in anger.

"Ridiculous! Those four were never part of our Purple Crest Immortal Sect! Liang Youwen, stop trying to pin this on us! Elder Sun Anming—did you manage to get images of those four?"

Liang Youwen and the others froze for a moment, caught off guard.

"Yes!" Sun Anming instantly picked up on You Shaojun’s plan. Without delay, he activated his transmission jade token and projected images of Wu Jiaxun and the other three.