Fengtian Carries the Mandate, Fengtian Prefecture

"Big brother, big brother, wait for me, don't walk so fast." After only half a day, Lu Chen began to regret letting this person stay yesterday.

Nantian Yijian was a chatterbox. As they traveled, he kept exclaiming at Lu Chen's smooth and flowing movements, constantly asking him questions.

"Big brother, what is your current realm, how are you so powerful?"

"Qi Gathering Fifth Layer."

"Big brother, how long did it take you to cultivate to this level?"

"Half a year."

"Ten years to reach Qi Gathering, and you only took half a year, that's truly amazing. I spent a full five years to reach this realm, but I still can't defeat these Demonic Beasts."

"Big brother..." Nantian Yijian was stopped by Lu Chen before he could finish. Although he knew Nantian Yijian was just curious, he was afraid he would go crazy if he listened any longer. However, Nantian Yijian didn't stop, still shouting loudly.

Lu Chen could only vent all his frustration on the Demonic Beasts. One, two, three... Lu Chen killed more and more Demonic Beasts. Suddenly, Nantian Yijian went silent. Lu Chen turned his head to look at Nantian Yijian, only to see him staring at the back of a large tree, looking completely stunned.

Lu Chen followed Nantian Yijian's gaze. About a hundred meters ahead, a group of Cultivators were surrounding an old man and a young man. The old man was very ordinary, shielding the young man behind him. Lu Chen figured it must be some young master from a noble family who had come to play and was now cornered.

The young man was wearing a dark orange and yellow plaid beast-patterned brocade robe, a green waist sash tied around his waist, and had lustrous black hair and piercing tiger-like eyes. He looked righteous and heroic.

Lu Chen was immediately drawn to him; there was something extraordinary about his aura.

The young man, facing the group, showed no fear. He took out a black spear from his storage bag, pushed the old man aside, and pointed at the Cultivators before him, saying, "Do you know who I am, to dare to surround me?"

Seeing the young man's demeanor, the Cultivators didn't seem scared. Instead, they burst into laughter. "Hahaha, we've been looking for you, Young Master Jun. You don't know this yet, but your brother is already putting out warrants for you everywhere. If we catch you, we won't have to worry about resources for the rest of our lives. Do you think we know you?"

The young man's expression changed drastically. He had thought that revealing his identity would scare off the Cultivators, but he never expected they were specifically after him.

This was already the fourth group of people they had encountered since entering the Demonic Beast Forest. He didn't have much strength left to deal with them. He hoped there wouldn't be any more after this group, so he could finally rest.

The young man raised his black spear above his head, twirled it into a flourish, and charged straight at the Cultivators. The old man also took out a spear and began to fight the enemies.

Lu Chen watched the young man's attacks, finding them very pure. His thrusts and blocks were flawless. Such skill was impossible without extremely rigorous training.

Although the young man's attacks were strong, he was outnumbered. With only two of them against a group of Cultivators, they gradually began to falter.

Lu Chen felt the outcome was already decided and prepared to quickly leave with Nantian Yijian. To Lu Chen, this was an internal family dispute, and he didn't want to get involved.

"Little Lu'er, wait, look at the young man's chest." Feng Tiancheng's voice entered Lu Chen's mind, stopping him from leaving.

Hearing Feng Tiancheng, Lu Chen looked over. The young man's chest had been torn open, revealing a plaque.

While this in itself wasn't significant, the style of the plaque was the same as the one he held, although the inscription on it was different.

But with that one glance, Lu Chen felt he had to intervene. This was the only clue he had about his grandfather right now.

Lu Chen's aura slowly began to change. He wanted to understand the connection between all of this, but first, he had to save the master and servant.

Nantian Yijian watched from the side, surprised at how Lu Chen had transformed in the blink of an eye. "Big brother, where are you going?"

Lu Chen ignored Nantian Yijian and charged forward with Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds.

Seeing Lu Chen charge forward, Nantian Yijian, though unsure if he could defeat the Cultivators, knew he had to charge forward for Lu Chen, even if it meant death.

Nantian Yijian shouted loudly, "If I'm going to die, I'll die! Better to die early and reincarnate." He charged forward as well.

The young man and the old man were exhausted and slowly being pushed into a corner. Just then, they felt another group rushing towards them from a distance. Although they didn't know if they were here to capture them, the complicated situation made it easier for them to escape. As long as they could recover some stamina, these Cultivators wouldn't be a threat.

Lu Chen, ignoring the master and servant, directly attacked the remaining four or five Cultivators, unleashing his strongest attacks.

The Azure Emperor Divine Tree extended its tentacles, constantly attacking the Cultivators, while he himself performed a "Dragon Diving into the Sea," releasing three phantom images to entangle different enemies. Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair, Star Serpent Hidden in Clouds, Six Yang Palms that Split the Heavens... Lu Chen didn't care about the consumption; he just wanted to eliminate the Cultivators before him as quickly as possible and then ask the young man about the plaque.

Nantian Yijian also used his magical artifact and engaged one of them in a fight.

The young man stared at Lu Chen's movements, finding them astonishing. Initially, the young man thought Lu Chen would just hold them off for a while, allowing him to recover his strength before helping to defeat the Cultivators. But now, it seemed Lu Chen's combat power was no weaker than his own, and in terms of combat techniques, he was even superior.

When he saw Lu Chen use no hand seals or incantations, and tentacles appeared around him...

"It's actually Spiritual Power! But how can there be someone with Spiritual Power in this place?"

The young man's curiosity about Lu Chen's origins intensified. He himself possessed Spiritual Power, and he knew how difficult it was to achieve. Only those with exceptionally high Talent could potentially cultivate Spiritual Power by using secret techniques when advancing to a major realm. Moreover, the higher the Talent, the more Spiritual Powers one could manifest.

Under the fierce assault from Lu Chen and Nantian Yijian, the four or five Cultivators gradually began to lose, and started begging for mercy.

Lu Chen was about to stop his attack and let them go, but Feng Tiancheng's voice echoed in his mind: "Kill them quickly, to prevent unforeseen circumstances. When fighting enemies, never be soft-hearted."

The Cultivators, seeing Lu Chen's movements slow down as if he was distracted, immediately swung their swords. Nantian Yijian saw this and shoved Lu Chen aside, but his thigh was struck by a sword, and blood began to flow.

Lu Chen's eyes instantly turned red. His family had already died once before his eyes, and now he had finally found a brother, only for him to be injured because of him. Lu Chen directly controlled the Divine Tree's tentacles to tear the Cultivator before him to shreds, and then killed all the other Cultivators.

Lu Chen ran to Nantian Yijian, filled with self-reproach, and quickly fed him a pill. The bleeding gradually stopped.

He finally understood why Feng Tiancheng had said that one must never be soft-hearted when facing enemies, and that evil must be eradicated completely. Soft-heartedness without sufficient strength was irresponsible towards those around you. This was his second lesson in cultivation.

At this point, the young man and his servant walked over, cupped their fists in thanks to Lu Chen and Nantian Yijian, and offered another pill.

"Daoist friend, this is a Minor Returning Heaven Pill. It can quickly heal wounds. You can try it on your brother."

Lu Chen took the pill, examined it, and then fed it to Nantian Yijian. Nantian Yijian's wound slowly began to heal.

The young man spoke again, "My name is Jun Laoye, I am from Fengtian..."

Before he could finish, his servant interrupted him and continued, "We are from Fengtian Prefecture and were on our way back when we were ambushed."

As he spoke, he handed Lu Chen a plaque engraved with a spear.

"Little brother, this is my identity plaque. If you ever need help in the future, you can come to Fengtian Prefecture to find me."

Lu Chen took the token and, looking at Young Master Jun, naturally knew the servant was lying.

However, he didn't care. All he needed now was to figure out the matter of the token; Lu Chen wasn't concerned about anything else. Furthermore, he needed a place to go in the future, and this token was perfect.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for your help over there. If I seek your assistance in the future, I hope you won't find it troublesome."

"Not troublesome at all, not troublesome," Young Master Jun said quickly.

Lu Chen put away the token and helped Nantian Yijian lean against a tree to sit.

He took out the previous token and asked if either of them knew its origin. Both Young Master Jun and the servant shook their heads. However, Young Master Jun then said to Lu Chen, "In two months, Fengtian Prefecture will be holding its annual disciple recruitment. With your strength, you'll definitely be selected as an inner disciple. Once you're there, you can search the sect's Scripture Pavilion, which contains records of various sects on the continent."

"Also, I can have my second uncle properly thank you then."

Lu Chen agreed to Young Master Jun's invitation, "When we get out of here, I will definitely go to Fengtian Prefecture to take a look."

Young Master Jun was very happy when Lu Chen agreed. "Then you absolutely must come."

Since Lu Chen hadn't gotten any news about the token, he lost the desire to continue chatting and exchanged a few more perfunctory words with Young Master Jun.

Suddenly, the servant whispered something in Young Master Jun's ear, and then pulled him away.

It was only then that Nantian Yijian voiced his confusion. Lu Chen didn't want to burden Nantian Yijian with his own hatred.

"Big Brother, didn't we agree? Brothers should share revenge and bear hardships together."

"Big Brother, don't you consider me a brother?"

Finally, under Nantian Yijian's insistence, Lu Chen slowly recounted the story of his grandfather being captured and his entire village being massacred.

Watching Lu Chen reveal his past, he initially thought his own experiences were tragic. But after hearing Lu Chen's story and considering how bravely Lu Chen faced it, he realized how insignificant his own suffering was.

"Big Brother, don't worry, I will definitely cultivate diligently. We'll go rescue Grandpa together in the future."

"The most important thing now is to find news of Grandpa."

As Lu Chen spoke, he stripped all the equipment and magical treasures from the Cultivator and walked over to Nantian Yijian to begin inventorying the spoils of war.

Although there were many items, only a few were usable.

Lu Chen took a set of armor for himself and then threw all the remaining weapons and equipment to Nantian Yijian, telling him to put them away.

Nantian Yijian quickly caught them. Lu Chen saw that Nantian Yijian was still using a standard Heavenly Net, and since he didn't need one himself, he took out the Heavenly Net magical treasure he had collected from the previous Secret Realm from the Twin Fish Plate and gave it to Nantian Yijian as well.

Looking at this scene, Nantian Yijian felt he had not followed the wrong person.

Not only did Lu Chen not snatch his magical treasures, but he also gave him his spoils of war and then gifted him such a fine Heavenly Net. Nantian Yijian was deeply moved.