Murong Clan of Dragon City

The so-called Divine-Artifact Avatar was a method developed over thousands of years by the major powers that possessed Divine Weapons and Demonic Arms, a way to maximize the value of such artifacts.

Several thousand years ago, after obtaining Divine Weapons and Demonic Arms, these major powers merely treated them as powerful weapons and foundations for their sects.

Later, they gradually discovered that the power of Divine Weapons and Demonic Arms could actually be borrowed.

As long as materials with attributes similar to those of the Divine Weapon or Demonic Arm were used, arrays, sacrifices, and other methods could draw a portion of its power into an avatar, creating a Divine-Artifact Avatar.

For example, if the One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance wished to create a Divine-Artifact Avatar of its divine weapon, the Sun-Piercing Sword, it would need special materials such as Thunderstruck Wood and Blazing-Sun Adamant to forge a small sword capable of bearing the artifact's power.

Of course, all Divine-Artifact Avatars were one-use items.

Once used, these mortal materials would shatter under the eruption of a Divine Weapon or Demonic Arm's power, and the avatar's strength could not compare to that of the true artifact.

Even so, Divine-Artifact Avatars possessed astonishing power, equivalent to giving the disciples of aristocratic clans and sects another trump card.

Some top-tier powers had even developed other methods of borrowing the power of Divine Weapons and Demonic Arms, methods even stronger than Divine-Artifact Avatars.

A Divine Weapon or Demonic Arm could not only suppress an entire faction, but also provide trump-card strength to its many martial artists. That was why the powers of the martial world all coveted them so eagerly.

And now, not only had the One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance lost its Weapon Lord, they could not even borrow the power of their divine weapon. What did that mean?

It meant that although they nominally possessed a Divine Weapon or Demonic Arm, they were in fact no different from factions without one.

If this was only temporary, it would be manageable. But if it continued, the One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance would not be far from decline or even destruction.

"Is everything you said true?"

Wen Rou still found it hard to believe.

More precisely, she found it hard to believe because Chen Yuan was the one saying it.

The One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance would certainly suppress to the death intelligence of such importance, intelligence that could determine its survival.

Chen Yuan came from a small gang in Linked Mountains City. It would not be excessive to call him a frog at the bottom of a well. How could he possibly know something like this?

But recalling that Chen Yuan had known Zuo Xinglie was in Linked Mountains City, Wen Rou believed him a little more.

"Whether it's true or not, Skywind Rain-Listening Tower can investigate it yourselves. That's your specialty."

Chen Yuan said calmly, "Something this serious happened to the One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance. Sun-Piercing Valley will definitely be different from usual, and there will be clues to follow.

"You already know the answer. Work backward from that answer, and I'm sure you'll reach a conclusion soon enough."

After pondering for a moment, Wen Rou suddenly gritted her teeth. "Fine! I'll trust you this once!

"I'll send word to the higher-ups immediately and have someone enter Sun-Piercing Valley to investigate. There should be results in a few days.

"If this works out, it'll be a major merit. I'll immediately arrange for someone to handle your matter.

"And as you said, ninety percent of the One Qi Piercing Sun Alliance's people are busy stabilizing the Sun-Piercing Sword. That'll also make it easier for me to conceal your information."

"Then I'll have to trouble Boss Wen."

"Don't thank me just yet."

Wen Rou stared at Chen Yuan solemnly. "I'm staking my future on trusting you this time. If you dare deceive me, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I'll drag you out!"

"Rest assured, Boss Wen. I, Chen Yuan, always keep my word. Besides, I would never lie to a woman."

Chen Yuan smiled, cupped his hands, and turned to leave.

His greatest advantage was not merely his familiarity with the plot. It was that he knew the secrets of many factions and many people in the martial world.

Some had nothing to do with him or the plot, but to others, they mattered greatly.

Chen Yuan had no use for these secrets. And once the time had passed, some secrets would no longer be secrets.

So, when conditions allowed, he might as well exchange those secrets for tangible benefits. Skywind Rain-Listening Tower was exactly the sort of place for that.

They needed intelligence, and he had intelligence. The two sides could cooperate quite pleasantly.

Of course, Chen Yuan also had to ensure the growth of his own strength in order to retain the initiative in such transactions.

In the original plot, Skywind Rain-Listening Tower had always been a neutral power that adhered to its rules. There had been no reports of it harming anyone.

But one must always be wary of others.

What if they became interested in Chen Yuan, a man who knew so many secrets, and instead of making a deal, wanted to pry even more secrets directly from his mouth?

Thus, only strength was the foundation of everything.

When Chen Yuan returned to the Heavenly Wolf Gang, the entire gang was busy.

To avenge Jiang Kaitai, the Heavenly Wolf Gang's members searched all over Linked Mountains City for suspicious outsiders, leaving everyone on edge.

It was not just the Heavenly Wolf Gang. Even the Blackwater Gang had joined the search.

Linked Mountains City did not belong solely to the Heavenly Wolf Gang. Half of it belonged to the Blackwater Gang as well.

The blood-sacrifice massacre had already thrown all of Linked Mountains City into panic. Ordinary people did not dare leave their homes, and merchants did not dare open for business. Wouldn't the losses ultimately fall on them?

The Heavenly Wolf Gang searched for outsiders, while Jiang Kaitai had successfully led the Blackwater Gang astray as well, directing its attention toward outsiders.

It had to be said that Jiang Kaitai's move of sacrificing his own kin and shifting the blame elsewhere had been truly brilliant. It was enough to conceal him for quite some time.

After returning to the gang, Chen Yuan continued cultivating in seclusion, unwilling to waste even the slightest amount of time.

Jiang Kaitai had activated the blood sacrifice artifact more than ten days early, which meant Chen Yuan had lost more than ten days of cultivation time as well.

Though another ten-plus days would not have been enough for him to break through, every additional day gave him a little more certainty.

Three days later, Wen Rou sent someone to inform Chen Yuan that she had already arranged for his matter to be handled.

Chen Yuan was slightly surprised upon hearing this.

He had not expected Skywind Rain-Listening Tower to move so quickly.

But on second thought, it was only normal. Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's spies were spread throughout the martial world, and some were hidden remarkably deeply.

Because Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's spies gathered information without pursuing any particular objective, most of the secret intelligence they uncovered did not cause any impact.

As a result, some spies could remain undercover for decades without even their superiors realizing they belonged to Skywind Rain-Listening Tower.

Wen Rou was reliable in her work, and Skywind Rain-Listening Tower was the same.

Since she said she had already arranged it, the Murong Clan would likely arrive soon.

Sure enough, on the night five days later, Jiang Kaitai suddenly summoned all the Heavenly Wolf Gang's hall masters for a meeting.

After Chen Yuan arrived at the Council Hall, he discovered that the person seated in the seat of honor was not Jiang Kaitai, but a young man in his early thirties.

The young man wore a golden brocade robe embroidered with dragon patterns and a golden crown decorated with phoenix patterns. He was handsome, yet carried an arrogant expression.

Jiang Kaitai, the usually imposing hall master of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, now stood beside that young man with his waist bent, like an old servant pouring tea and serving water.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Jiang Kaitai hurriedly said, "This is Young Master Murong Qing of the Murong Clan of Dragon City. He has come specifically to investigate the blood-sacrifice massacre in Linked Mountains City. Hurry and pay your respects."

"Greetings, Young Master Murong!"

The many hall masters present hurriedly bowed in fearful respect.

They might be hall masters in Linked Mountains City, commanding hundreds of gang members and looking quite impressive.

But in truth, the entire Heavenly Wolf Gang was merely a dog raised by the Murong Clan.

Only Jiang Kaitai was qualified to call the Murong Clan his masters. They were not even qualified to address them as masters.

As Chen Yuan bowed along with the others, he also observed Murong Qing.

The plot had changed again.

In the original plot, the one who came was a middle-aged man named Murong Li. Now, he had been replaced by Murong Qing.

Chen Yuan had already prepared himself for this. The blood sacrifice had taken place over ten days early, so who knew whether Murong Li had another mission and was absent from Dragon City?

Thus, Murong Qing's appearance instead was not particularly surprising.

However, Murong Qing and Murong Li were roughly equal in strength. Both were in the fifth of the Nine Martial Realms, the Sea Wheel Realm.

The Qi Forging Realm involved releasing internal force as true qi. But constrained by one's internal force, this externalized true qi usually could not last long.

The fifth realm, the Sea Wheel Realm, involved using internal force to open a Sea of Wheels within the dantian. True qi circulated endlessly within it, ceaselessly renewing itself, allowing true qi to be released externally for extended periods.

Murong Qing made no effort to conceal his aura. Even from far away, Chen Yuan could sense the powerful aura unique to the Sea Wheel Realm emanating from him.

Of course, that was also because Murong Qing was far too ostentatious.

Even martial artists who had reached the Sea Wheel Realm would not deliberately release their aura and make themselves so conspicuous.

But most people born into the Murong Clan were this flamboyant. That was common knowledge in the martial world.

The Murong Clan descended from the imperial family of a dynasty from several dynasties ago.

As for exactly how many dynasties ago, not many people knew. In any case, it had happened thousands of years ago.

The Murong Clan had not held the throne for long. They had been driven off it after only one or two hundred years.

Yet for the following thousands of years, the Murong Clan had always regarded themselves as descendants of royalty, proclaiming themselves noble and above others.

Murong Qing's attire alone made that clear. He came from a martial aristocratic clan, yet he dared wear a golden robe with dragon patterns and a golden crown with phoenix patterns. Every part of it was outrageously beyond his station.

It was only because Youzhou was far from the emperor's reach, and because the Great Xia Court had indeed weakened considerably, that no one bothered to restrain them.

When Great Xia had first been established and its authority still dominated the martial world, the Murong Clan had not dared mention that they were descendants of the imperial family.

All the garments in their household bearing dragon or python patterns had been hidden away tightly. They never dared wear them outside to show off.

Over the past few decades, the Murong Clan had become thoroughly brazen.

Not only had they resumed their former ostentation and begun dressing beyond their station, they even occasionally told people that they intended to restore their dynasty.

Of course, most people only treated it as a joke.

Thousands of years had passed, and dynasties had changed dozens of times. The chances of the Murong Clan rebelling and founding a new state were greater than their chances of restoring their old one.

Naturally, everyone in the martial world knew that the Murong Clan was merely talking big.

Zhishilang had dared to raise an uprising in Changbai Mountain and openly rebel against the Great Xia Court. The Murong Clan did not have that kind of courage.