A Deal to Cooperate, Straight to Heavenly Wind

Zhong Cheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his tone heavy.

"Only the nine who survive this ten-thousand-year limit and are the last among their peers will be qualified to return to the Zhong family ancestral land, inherit the true legacy of the God of Punishment, and compete for the position of the next head of the Zhong family!"

"Now there are less than three months left until the ten thousand-year deadline. Our generation originally had over a hundred direct descendants, but now, including myself, there are only eleven of us left who have survived."

"If two more people die, the remaining nine will be selected directly."

"My dear elder brother, Zhong Wanchou, in order to ensure that he and his second brother, who shared the same mother, would secure their spots and at the same time eliminate me, his biggest competitor, simply laid a trap halfway through the competition, intending to take advantage of my injury during the competition to eliminate me on the spot outside the clan!"

After listening to Zhong Cheng's explanation, Chen Changqing finally understood the survival strategy of these Aristocratic Clan in the Central Domain.

Compared to the various Sacred Ground in the Yang Realm that cherish their Holy Sons and daughters like precious treasures, the major Lineage in the Nine Netherworlds Central Domain are clearly more cruel and bloody in their actions.

Throwing one's own flesh and blood out to kill each other for ten thousand years, only the nine venomous insects that survive can enter the Ancestral Land and become saints. No wonder Zhong Cheng immediately admitted defeat when he saw the situation was not good on the Ancestral Land Battle Platform, without the slightest bit of the pride that Nangong Tian had.

Those who have survived for over 9,900 years under such cruel rules are all intelligent people who know how to assess the situation.

So how do you plan to go back to the Zhong Family?

Chen Changqing looked at Zhong Cheng, who was bandaging his wound.

"Your elder brother is leading three hundred elite troops to Heavenly Wind City in the north. With your current crippled body, you'll probably be chopped into dumpling filling before you even reach the city gate."

Zhong Cheng smiled wryly and bowed deeply to Chen Changqing with his hands clasped in front of him.

"I will never forget your life-saving grace. To be honest, Black Wind Ridge is the only way to the Zhong family's ancestral land. Both sides are the Weak Water Dead Sea, which even celestial beings cannot cross. There is no other way but to force our way into Tianfeng City."

At this point, Zhong Cheng raised his head, gritted his teeth, and tentatively began to speak.

"Brother Chen, you are Cultivator from the Yang Realm, and you have come to my Nine Netherworlds Central Domain all alone. You must have some extremely important matter to attend to, right?"

Chen Changqing raised an eyebrow noncommittally. "There are a few things."

"The Central Domain Region is vast, with various powerful forces deeply entrenched in their networks, and they conduct extremely strict checks on outside Cultivators, especially those from the Yang Realm."

Zhong Cheng quickly seized the opportunity and pulled out a bronze waist token engraved with the head of a ferocious Ghost King from his pocket.

"As long as Brother Chen is willing to escort me through Tianfeng City and safely return to the Zhong family ancestral land, thus completing the final nine-person team, once I obtain the qualification of successor, the family's guardian elders will immediately come forward to protect me, and my eldest brother will never dare to touch me again!"

"In return, I, Zhong Cheng, swear by my inner demons, will not only offer a reward of thirty million top-grade Ghost Coins, but also utilize the Zhong Family's intelligence network of the Evil-Punishing Bureau Department, which has been operating in the Central Domain for tens of thousands of years, to do everything in my power to help Brother Chen find the person or treasure you are looking for!"

After hearing this, Chen Changqing's heart stirred.

What he lacks most right now is not fighting skills, but spies and intelligence in the Central Domain.

Xiaoqian was captured by the Netherworld Palace and taken to the depths of the Yama Heavenly Palace for the Ten Thousand Ghosts Worshipping Heaven Grand Sacrifice, while the sixth Inheritance Token of the Heaven-Stepping Immortal Emperor was in the Senluo Dead Land of the Yinyue Holy Dynasty's imperial Senluo Deathland.

Both places are extremely dangerous and secret locations in the Central Domain. If he had the intelligence network of a local powerful family like the Zhong Family to guide him, it would undoubtedly save him a lot of time.

Moreover, that young master Zhong Wanchou has three hundred Heavenly Monarch and Spirit Transformation elites under his command.

In Chen Changqing's eyes, that wasn't an obstacle at all; it was clearly a gift package of three hundred walking AFK Points!

"Make a deal."

Chen Changqing nodded readily, casually took out a fifth-grade Mysterious Origin Pill that he had refined in the Yang Realm from his Heaven-Stepping Ring, and flicked it to Zhong Cheng.

"Take this medicine, lest you bleed to death before even reaching Heavenly Wind City, ruining my business."

Zhong Cheng accepted the pill with both hands, feeling the rich and mellow vitality emanating from it. Overjoyed, he swallowed it without hesitation.

As the medicine took effect, the wound on his left shoulder stopped bleeding and scabbed over at a visible speed, and his previously depleted Qi and Blood were restored by about 50-60%.

"Thank you so much, Brother Chen, for the medicine!"

Zhong Cheng jumped up from the rock, stretched his limbs, and his face regained its radiance.

"Shall we set off now? Heavenly Wind City is only 800 li from here; at our pace, we can get there in half an hour!"

"Let's go, it's a good opportunity to meet your good older brother."

Chen Changqing walked out of the Duanhun Gorge with his hands behind his back.

Zhong Cheng, carrying the nicked Heavy Sword, obediently followed half a step behind Chen Changqing, his posture extremely humble, just like a lackey or bodyguard.

Along the way, Zhong Cheng couldn't help but steal glances at the white-robed figure ahead. After holding back for a while, he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked in a low voice, "Brother Chen, if I may ask, what was the final result of your battle with Nangong Tian in the Ancestral Land competition three days ago?"

"I left early, only to hear that the Nangong Family had given Nangong Tian their most prized possession, the Yama Emperor Sword, and that over 50 million Ghost Coins had been wagered on the betting pools outside..."

"Result?"

Chen Changqing kept walking, his tone as calm as if he were just saying that the weather was nice today.

"Nangong Tian broke three seals, and I casually chopped off his head; the Grand Elder of the Nangong Family's Law Hall was not Qi Ingestion and reached in from afar to save him, but I severed his arm."

"On my way here, I stopped by the Guiding Divine City and threw that Grand Elder of the Law Hall into the Nangong Family's crowd like a firecracker. The Guiding Divine City should be having a feast right now."

Boom!

Zhong Cheng, who was following behind, stumbled and almost fell headfirst into a ditch of dead wood by the roadside.

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide, standing there dumbfounded, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit a large fist.

Did they kill Nangong Tian?

Did they sever the arm of the Grand Elder of the Dharma Hall?

They even threw a dignified Three-Tribulation Ghost Immortal into the Guiding Divine City like a firecracker?!

Zhong Cheng swallowed hard, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his scalp tingled.

No wonder this scoundrel dared to venture into the Central Domain alone!

I was actually worried just now that my elder brother Zhong Wanchou's three hundred men might cause trouble for this man?

He even set off Three-Tribulation Ghost Immortal like a firecracker. If Zhong Wanchou's small force went there immediately, they probably wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap for him!

Why did you stop?

Chen Changqing walked a dozen or so feet and then looked back at him.

"Coming... coming!"

Zhong Cheng shuddered and quickly jogged after him, bending even lower, completely banishing any inappropriate thoughts from his mind.

Hug someone's leg!

This time, they've truly latched onto a powerful ally capable of turning the entire Nine Netherworlds Central Domain upside down!

Half an hour later.

At the edge of a vast expanse of yellow sand and Gobi Desert, a magnificent city built entirely of dark brown boulders appears on the horizon.

Heavenly Wind City.

As a vital passage connecting Black Wind Ridge with the Central Domain inland, this city originally saw a large number of caravans and Ghost Cultivators coming and going every day.

But today, the city gate was so deserted that not a single passerby could be seen.

The city gate, towering thirty feet high, was tightly shut. Behind the crenellations of the city wall, three hundred Zhong Family Cultivators, clad in blood-red heavy armor and armed with powerful bows and crossbows, stood ready for battle.

On the open ground directly in front of the city gate, there was a grand chair covered with White Tiger.

A tall, burly young man dressed in a purple-gold python robe, with a sinister face, was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, slowly trimming his nails with a small, golden nail clipper in his hand.

Beside him stood four elderly men with profound auras, all of whom were at the Heavenly Monarch Great Perfection, with one of them even having stepped into the threshold of the Half-Step Tribulation Immortal!

This young man in the purple-gold python robe was none other than Zhong Wanchou, the eldest son of the Zhong Family.

"Young Master, Blood Butcher and his men have been in Black Wind Ridge for almost two hours. They should have returned with Third Brother's head by now. Why is there still no sign of them?"

An elderly man with one eye next to him frowned and spoke in a low voice.

Zhong Wanchou blew the crumbs off his fingernails and chuckled casually, "What's the rush? Third Brother is at least a fool who awakened the Zhong Kui Faxiang. He can certainly make a last-ditch effort before he dies. But he's been hit by Blood Butcher's Seven Baleful Intent Bone-Eroding Nails. Even if he grew wings, he wouldn't be able to escape Black Wind Ridge."

The words had barely left his mouth.

At the end of the distant yellow sand road, a wisp of dust suddenly rose.

Two figures leisurely crossed the Gobi Desert and walked straight to an open space a hundred feet away from the city gate.

Upon seeing the burly young man on the left, carrying a tattered Heavy Sword and hopping around energetically, Zhong Wanchou, sitting in the armchair, jerked his hand so hard that his golden nail polish knife sliced his own finger!

"Third brother?! How are you still alive? What about the twelve people from Blood Butcher?!"

Zhong Wanchou suddenly stood up from his chair, his face terribly gloomy.

Zhong Cheng, carrying his Heavy Sword, spat on the ground, his back ramrod straight, and pointed at Zhong Wanchou's nose, cursing. "Zhong Wanchou, you sent those twelve useless cowards to block the road, thinking you could take your Third Master's life? They're already down there paying homage to the King Yama. If you miss them, I'll send you down there right now to reunite with them!"

Zhong Wanchou was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. Just as he was about to order the arrows to be fired, the white-haired old man at the Half-Step Tribulation Immortal realm next to him suddenly reached out and stopped him.

The white-haired old man's cloudy eyes were fixed on the white-robed youth beside Zhong Cheng, who had remained silent. His withered hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and his voice was strained:

"Something's wrong with the eldest young master! The poison from the Bone-Eroding Nails in the third brother's body has been completely removed, and I can't see through the true nature of that young man in white beside him at all!"

The moment the white-haired old man finished speaking...

Chen Changqing took a step forward, and the five Inheritance Tokens in the Heaven-Stepping Ring suddenly vibrated simultaneously without warning. This time, the direction sensed by the Tokens was no longer the distant north, but pointed directly to the tallest pavilion of the City Lord Mansion in Heavenly Wind City!

Chen Changqing raised his head, glanced in the direction of the City Lord Mansion, and then beckoned to Zhong Wanchou below the city gate.

"Are you all coming at me all at once, or are you lining up to come and die one by one?"