An Unexpected Turn

"Taiyi Dry Dragon Bow?"

Chen Xiao's mind stirred. He felt as though he had heard the name of this bow somewhere before, but for the moment, he could not quite place it.

However, the aura radiating from the Taiyi Dry Dragon Bow made Chen Xiao feel refreshed throughout his entire body. The wood-attribute Immortal Spirit energy slowly merged into his original Immortal Spirit Root without the slightest hint of rejection.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiao's True Essence flowed into the main body of the Taiyi Dry Dragon Bow, slowly refining its core.

Yet, up to this point, Chen Xiao had not been able to discern the grade of this immortal bow. The primary reason was that his cultivation base was too low to fully control or command it.

Still, the current Chen Xiao could barely manage to wield the bow if he exhausted every ounce of his True Essence. This was only possible because the Nine Heavens Thunder Virtue Universal Transformation Art he cultivated allowed his True Essence to far exceed that of other Golden Core Realm cultivators, pushing it close to the Nascent Soul Realm.

For now, the immortal artifact simply resided within Chen Xiao's Dantian, releasing its Immortal Spirit energy to slowly nourish his physical body and subtly strengthen his aptitude.

This was another great function of an immortal artifact. However, that was all the Taiyi Dry Dragon Bow could do for Chen Xiao at the moment. If he were to use it to fight an enemy, he could only use it as a club—though, one would likely laugh themselves to death if they saw someone using an immortal bow to bludgeon people.

It took Chen Xiao a full half-month to refine the Taiyi Dry Dragon Bow. Although he could not use it for the time being, it was at least a trump card. After all, that High Immortal had silently gifted him the bow without exposing his identity, clearly acknowledging Chen Xiao's act of playing the pig to eat the tiger.

After Chen Xiao emerged from seclusion, there were no anomalies in the City Lord's Mansion; everything was in perfect order.

However, the other branches of the Chen Clan in Moon-Gazing City had begun to merge into the City Lord's Mansion, looking to the mansion as their leader.

The Chen Clan had originally been a mid-sized family native to Moon-Gazing City, rising to prominence only three hundred years ago with the sudden emergence of Chen Fengyang. Originally, the branch to which Chen Fengyang belonged was not the mainstream of the clan.

In other words, within Moon-Gazing City, there was the Chen Clan of the City Lord's Mansion and another Chen family; although they belonged to the same clan, they were not of the same lineage.

Nevertheless, over the past three hundred years, the Chen Clan had risen to become one of the great families of Moon-Gazing City by leveraging the reputation of the City Lord's Mansion. Chen Fengyang and Chen Tiannan were not the type to forget their roots. Although their branch held sway over the city, they still identified as members of the Chen Clan, so over time, the City Lord's Mansion and the Chen Clan became indistinguishable.

Of course, originally, the Chen Clan remained the Chen Clan, and the City Lord's Mansion had always been the City Lord's Mansion.

This time, after Chen Fengyang obtained the City-Suppressing Seal, the original Chen Clan of Moon-Gazing City was completely absorbed into the City Lord's Mansion, with everything following the lead of Chen Fengyang's branch. After all, with Chen Fengyang present, his descendants were the direct nobility of Moon-Gazing City.

The mineral veins at Mingyu Mountain outside the city had now become the private property of the City Lord's Mansion. However, in the interest of uniting Moon-Gazing City, Chen Fengyang and Chen Tiannan did not reclaim some of the mines there; after all, as long as the spirit veins remained, the mineral veins would be inexhaustible.

Chen Tiannan, who had previously found managing Moon-Gazing City a bit strenuous, now found it extremely easy.

Chen Fengyang was the master of Moon-Gazing City, while Chen Tiannan continued to serve as the City Lord, acting as Chen Fengyang's representative—after all, the two were father and son.

A few days later, a reward from the Glazed Heaven Palace arrived once more, which came as a great surprise.

The party was led by a True Immortal, accompanied by three Great Ascension Realm cultivators and over a dozen Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators.

"Moon-Gazing City, Chen Fengyang, come out and receive the decree."

The black-clad True Immortal held his nose in the air and remained silent, while a late-stage Great Ascension Realm cultivator stood in mid-air and shouted loudly toward the City Lord's Mansion.

Everyone in the City Lord's Mansion was slightly stunned. Had the Glazed Heaven Palace not sent a High Immortal to bestow rewards half a month ago? Why had another group arrived?

Everyone was left feeling bewildered.

The attire worn by these people was clearly that of officials subordinate to the Glazed Heaven Palace; who could fail to recognize it?

However, the cultivators in the city could see that the attitude of these newcomers was not like that of the previous High Immortal. Although the previous High Immortal had been aloof and shrouded in immortal light, making his features indistinguishable, he had bestowed blessings upon all the cultivators in the city with a single stroke of immortal light, leaving the cultivators of Moon-Gazing City with an excellent impression of the Glazed Heaven Palace.

But this time, it was different. The group of over a dozen people arrived in a grand, overbearing manner, their spiritual pressure pressing down on the surroundings without restraint. Those with low cultivation bases near them were actually forced to the ground.

"Chen Tiannan, City Lord of Moon-Gazing City, pays respects to the Envoys."

Chen Tiannan hurried out of the mansion and bowed to the Glazed Heaven Palace envoys in the sky.

"Chen Tiannan? The City Lord of Moon-Gazing City? Hmph." The late-stage Great Ascension Realm cultivator looked on with disdain. "Call Chen Fengyang and that boy from the Chen Clan who awakened the Immortal Spirit Root to come out."

Hearing this, Chen Fengyang's heart stirred; he vaguely sensed that something was wrong. When the High Immortal came to bestow rewards last time, he had simply handed the City-Suppressing Seal to Chen Fengyang without any further explanation. Later, he learned from Chen Xiao that the High Immortal had silently gifted Chen Xiao an immortal artifact without exposing his identity, clearly intending for him to continue his concealment.

But this time, they were explicitly calling for Chen Fengyang—who was in the middle of refining the City-Suppressing Seal—and Chen Xiao to come out?

Chen Fengyang did not want Chen Xiao exposed to the public eye; it would be extremely dangerous for him.

"Reporting to the Envoys, my father is currently in seclusion, refining the City-Suppressing Seal of Moon-Gazing City, and cannot receive the Envoys at this time."

Although Chen Fengyang kept his head bowed, his tone was neither servile nor overbearing.

"What?" This time, the black-clad True Immortal was moved. "Refining the City-Suppressing Seal of Moon-Gazing City? How did he obtain that seal?"

The black-clad True Immortal, with his black hair and long beard, felt a ripple of emotion break his calm expression.

The City-Suppressing Seals of the cities within the Glazed Heaven were all kept within the Glazed Heaven Palace. Only those who made great contributions to the Glazed Heaven could obtain one. Even if someone in this Chen Clan had awakened an Immortal Spirit Root and possessed the potential to become a Golden Immortal, they absolutely did not have the qualifications to possess a City-Suppressing Seal yet.

An Immortal Spirit Root that had not yet matured was, in the end, only a hope; only by truly becoming a Golden Immortal was one qualified to represent everything.

A few days ago, they had received instructions from the Glazed Heaven Palace to bestow rewards upon the Chen Clan of Moon-Gazing City, but they had not expected this clan to have already obtained the City-Suppressing Seal of Moon-Gazing City.

However, the True Immortal knew in his heart that Chen Tiannan did not have the guts to deceive him.

"Reporting to the Envoys, half a month ago, a High Immortal from the Glazed Heaven Palace descended in person and bestowed the City-Suppressing Seal of Moon-Gazing City upon my father."

Chen Tiannan raised his head, his gaze meeting that of the True Immortal.