Conspiracy

The herb garden fell quiet.

In the distance, cultivators fought over spirit herbs. Blade light sliced through stone pillars; a few screams carried over, then quickly vanished.

Chen Changqing did not look back.

When Jian Chen spoke those words, he recalled the phantom of the Heaven-Treading Immortal Emperor.

When that Immortal Emperor had spoken, he had mentioned only nine inheritors.

He had not said how those inheritors would meet.

Nor had he said that inheritors had to seize one another's tokens.

It was a blank deliberately left behind.

Chen Changqing asked, "Have you seen any other inheritors?"

Jian Chen replied, "Two."

"Dead?"

"One died. One escaped."

Chen Changqing asked, "You killed them?"

Jian Chen replied, "I killed one. The other was difficult to kill."

Chen Changqing said, "To escape from your hands, he evidently wasn't useless."

Jian Chen looked at him.

"Neither are you."

Chen Changqing did not follow up on that.

He raised a hand and pointed toward the depths of the herb garden.

"Did you come here for the herbs, or for me?"

Jian Chen replied, "For the token."

"The token is right here now."

"Not killing you now."

Chen Changqing asked, "Why?"

Jian Chen pressed the ancient sword back into its sheath.

The azure light withdrew.

The fissure in the ground stopped three feet from Chen Changqing.

"There is something deep within the Immortal Palace."

"What?"

"The entrance to the Heaven-Treading Relic Estate."

Chen Changqing did not answer immediately.

Jian Chen had said it too directly.

So directly that it felt like he was casting bait.

Chen Changqing put the token into the Heaven Treading Ring, sealed it with a layer of spiritual power within the ring, then added another layer of Supreme Purity Divine Light.

The Inheritance Token was still trembling, but its radiance had been