Second Talent: [Read People]

In the long run, [Heavenly Nobility] and [Fallen Prodigy] could both bring considerable rewards, but if he could not get past this hurdle in the Bian Kingdom's Capital City, what long run was there to speak of? He would be dead long before then.

With [Read People] allowing him to discern people's labels, combined with [Heavenly Vision] predicting the future, his ability to act independently in this game of chess would grow exponentially.

Zhang Yuan made his choice.

Two of the three talents vanished, leaving only [Read People], which settled behind [Heavenly Vision] as his second talent.

"Creak."

Someone pushed the door open.

Xiao Yuanjun was eating pastries she had procured from somewhere. Delighted, she said, "Third turn already? You're progressing pretty quickly. Your master is most pleased."

Zhang Yuan looked up.

He discovered several illusory labels floating above Xiao Yuanjun's head.

[Greatest Qi Refiner of All Time], [Heaven-Defying Comprehension], [Target of the Great Clans' Pursuit].

The labels were different colors. The first two were golden yellow, while the last was blood red.

Zhang Yuan was puzzled. [Greatest Qi Refiner of All Time] and [Heaven-Defying Comprehension] were easy enough to understand.

Xiao Yuanjun had single-handedly comprehended a method that led straight to the Golden Core realm, so her comprehension and aptitude needed no explanation. Moreover, as the only person to reach tenth-turn Qi refinement, she possessed one more life-bound divine ability than ordinary Qi-refining cultivators, and her Dao status had reached half-step foundation establishment. She deserved the label of Greatest Qi Refiner of All Time.

But what did [Target of the Great Clans' Pursuit] mean?

Could Xiao Yuanjun have a great many enemies?

"What's your first life-bound divine ability?" Xiao Yuanjun asked.

Zhang Yuan concealed nothing, telling Xiao Yuanjun every effect of his first life-bound divine ability.

"Doesn't sound very powerful, but that's normal. After all, the three earthly baleful forces you refined were geared toward support. Hmm... it'll do."

Xiao Yuanjun thought for a moment before speaking.

"What do you mean, it'll do?" Zhang Yuan asked in confusion.

He had refined two earthly baleful forces and condensed his life-bound divine ability. It was nearly midnight now. What had brought Xiao Yuanjun here at this hour?

Surely she was not planning to flee right under a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being's nose.

"Nothing much."

Xiao Yuanjun waved a hand. "Someone's coming to kill you in a little while. Probably the Eastern Bian Li Clan and Western Bian Chu."

"You call that nothing much? Are the enemies not very strong?" Zhang Yuan asked, his brows knitting.

"They're pretty strong. The Li and Chu Clan have probably each sent a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being," Xiao Yuanjun said thoughtfully.

"Then why aren't we running?" Zhang Yuan exclaimed in alarm.

One Foundation-Building Heavenly Being was already deadly enough. How could they possibly handle another?

"No one's asking you to fight Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings. Dongfang Caibai will naturally hold off those two. You and I only need to deal with some shrimp soldiers and crab generals," Xiao Yuanjun said calmly.

If she really had to face a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being, she would have been the first to run. Why would she stay here chatting with Zhang Yuan?

"So that's how it is." Zhang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

When the two clans' Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings traveled, younger members of their lineages would surely accompany them. Those young clan members were most likely the ones they would have to fight.

With the "Greatest Qi Refiner of All Time" holding the fort, it should not be much of a problem.

He had just been lamenting that, after breaking through to third-turn Qi refinement and gaining his first life-bound divine ability, he had no one to test it on. This was the perfect chance to see where his combat strength stood.

While Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun were talking,

Two figures appeared above the Third Princess's Residence, one man and one woman, both Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings!

Li Houjin of the Eastern Bian Li Clan.

Chu Miaofu of Western Bian Chu.

"Third Princess, we heard that a burglar has infiltrated your residence. We have come specifically to apprehend the burglar for you," Chu Miaofu said first.

Dressed in robes, Chu Miaofu stood in midair like a gentle, dignified lady in a painting.

Li Houjin stood beside her, still saying nothing, his gaze indifferent.

"Get lost."

A cold, clear voice rang out from within the residence.

Chu Miaofu's expression stiffened. She had not expected Dongfang Caibai to show her so little courtesy. Could she not at least exchange a few pleasantries? They were all people of standing.

"Hmph, you refuse the wine of courtesy only to drink the wine of punishment. Fellow Daoist Zhenjue, let's strike!"

Meanwhile.

At the gates of the Third Princess's Residence, more than a dozen young members of the Li and Chu Clan had gathered. Every one of them possessed cultivation, most at the outer Dao foundation establishment realm. At their very front stood two men and two women.

Li Jieyan and Li Jiejian of the Eastern Bian Li Clan.

Chu Ruifeng and Chu Xiyin of Western Bian Chu.

The four clearly stood a notch above the others, not only because of their standing within their clans, but also because they were all cultivators of the sha ingestion gang devoration path.

Among the four, Li Jieyan had reached ninth-turn Qi refinement, while Li Jiejian was at the fifth turn.

On the Chu Clan's side, Chu Ruifeng and Chu Xiyin were both at the eighth turn.

Though their strongest member was slightly inferior, their overall strength was a little greater than the Li's—provided Li Zhongshuang, at the rear of the group, was not counted.

Li Jieyan looked at the plaque above the Third Princess's Residence, excitement stirring in his heart.

The matter of the Demon Empress should have had nothing to do with him. However, his Third Uncle, Li Houjin, had divined karma and told him that the first of his three trials was the [Strong Enemy Trial], and that it lay here at the Third Princess's Residence. That was why he had left Cloud Province City and come here.

He only needed to defeat the strong enemy within the residence to pass the first trial toward proving himself and attaining celestial human status!

"Enter the residence," Li Jieyan ordered decisively.

Zhang Yuan raised his head and gazed at the sky.

The sky above the Third Princess's Residence was tranquil. There were neither clashes of divine abilities nor terrifying sounds, only stillness—an exceedingly uncanny stillness.

Li Houjin had made his move.

The fighting in the sky was probably intense right now.

"Stop looking. We have guests."

With her back to Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun stood in the middle of the courtyard, hands clasped behind her back, displaying all the bearing of an expert.

Honestly, if someone did not know Xiao Yuanjun, she really would have looked the part at first glance.

With that thought, Zhang Yuan turned toward the uninvited guests streaming into the courtyard.

"Why is it you? You're actually still alive?"

A startled voice rang out.

Li Jieyan stared at Zhang Yuan in disbelief.

"What? Aren't you happy to see your brother-in-law?" Zhang Yuan retorted with a cold sneer.

Indeed, they knew each other, and quite well at that.

After all, Li Jieyan had personally traded away his spiritual root.

It could be said that, even if Li Jieyan had not masterminded his brush with death, he was still one of the chief culprits.

"You..."

Li Jieyan was angered, yet his mind was full of questions.

He understood Zhang Yuan's condition better than anyone. How on earth had Zhang Yuan survived under those circumstances?

Surviving was one thing, but how had he crossed thousands of miles to reach the Bian Kingdom's Capital City and stand before him?

"Cousin, do you two know each other?" Li Jiejian asked, puzzled.

Their branch was responsible for managing affairs in the Capital City, so news from Cloud Province City reached them rather slowly. They knew very little about Zhang Yuan's circumstances, only that someone had married into the Li several months ago.

"No!" Li Jieyan said firmly.

How could some wretch from the Outer Heavens deserve to be his brother-in-law?

Besides, he was the eldest of their generation. Who among them could possibly have been a suitable match for Zhang Yuan?

The so-called Li Clan Daughter betrothed to Zhang Yuan had merely been a sham.

Since he had run into him this time, he might as well kill the Third Princess's Consort first, then dispose of Zhang Yuan while he was at it.

"Zhang Yuan, come meet your death!"

Li Jieyan snorted coldly and struck out with his palm from a distance.

A palm imprint as tall as a person took shape.

In an instant, ghost qi filled the courtyard, and all manner of evil fiends' faces gathered and scattered within the palm imprint, a truly terrifying sight.