Rejected

Qiu Mo suddenly chuckled, his well-defined fingers brushing over the wine stain. "Don't be impatient, Little Wolf King. Tonight's show has only just begun."

"Father has already reached a preliminary alliance with Tianyu Academy."

"Once the New Year Martial Arts Tournament begins, it will be the day we achieve our great undertaking, and I..."

His fingertips tapped out a crisp sound on the table. "...will become Great Yan's new ruler."

The loft suddenly fell silent.

Di Kun stared at the man before him, then suddenly threw back his head and laughed. "What a Little Yan King! You disguised yourself as a wastrel and mingled through the imperial city. Even the Peerless Princess was fooled by you!"

On the roof, Lu Chen's blood and qi churned.

The furnace phantom trembled within his sea of consciousness, nearly leaking its aura.

He forcibly suppressed his killing intent and continued listening intently.

"During the tournament, someone will assassinate King Yan, and Tianyu Academy will seize the chance to take control of all Yanjing!"

Little Yan King dipped his finger in wine and traced Yanjing's terrain across the tabletop. "My Yanbei will cede a portion of territory in exchange for your Wolf Court's assistance..."

Before he could finish, a disturbance suddenly arose downstairs.

Lu Chen inwardly cursed that things were bad when he saw a squad of City Patrol Guards approaching Drunken Immortal Residence with torches raised.

He made a snap decision, becoming an afterimage as he vanished into the streets and alleys.

He did not go far. After Di Kun led his people into the night, he secretly followed them again.

In the end, they were received by a Black Robed Figure at a dilapidated house.

A sharp gleam burst from Lu Chen's eyes.

This was getting more and more interesting.

With a flip of his hand, he took out a Blood Thunder Seed, poured astral qi into it, and hurled it fiercely.

The Blood Thunder Seed shattered the window and shot inside.

"Not good..."

The voice had barely sounded when—BOOM!

A terrifying thunderstorm swept across more than a hundred meters.

The house was wiped clean by the storm.

Two figures were flung out from within and crashed down far away.

The guards outside suffered the same fate.

Battered wave after wave by lightning, they were ultimately turned into charred black stakes.

Though they were not dead, they had completely lost their ability to fight.

Lu Chen appeared with his face covered and collected them all into the Devouring Furnace, imprisoning them for the time being.

He had swept the whole pot clean.

Before the city guards arrived, Lu Chen vanished into the night.

After rifling through the storage pouches on their bodies, he was overjoyed.

Not only did Little Wolf King carry documents proving his collusion with King Yanbei, he also had secret documents exchanged with Tianyu Academy.

The crucial part was that they had abandoned King Yanbei and intended to strike against King Yanbei's army of one hundred thousand Blood Puppets.

Lu Chen's eyes shifted as he slipped into the Qiu Family.

Qiu Mo was preparing to rest when he suddenly became alert. Turning around, he saw Lu Chen enter.

"Who are you?" Seeing that the other man had his face covered, Qiu Mo was greatly alarmed.

Without saying a word, Lu Chen directly tossed him the documents between Little Wolf King and Tianyu Academy.

Qiu Mo's expression changed drastically.

"Leave at once, lest you be erased!"

With a light motion of his hand, the documents vanished.

When he looked up again, Lu Chen had disappeared as well.

Qiu Mo did not dare hesitate. He immediately summoned his personal guards, explained the situation, and left Yanjing under cover of night.

The Wolf Court planned to launch a sneak attack when the two sides combined their forces, then charge into Yanbei.

Furthermore, he had been exposed and could not remain.

What puzzled him was, who had delivered the message?

Why would that person help him?

It could not be someone from the imperial clan, nor could it be someone from the academies, much less someone from Great Liang. Could it be Great Qi?

But that could not be right either!

They had never had dealings with Great Qi!

And they did not even share a border. The other side had no reason to help King Yanbei.

Could it be someone from Heavenly Dao Academy?

But no matter who it was, the documents could not possibly be fake.

His heart grew ever more anxious. Like lightning splitting the heavens, he sped straight toward Yanbei.

After seeing Little Yan King off, Lu Chen went to Peerless Palace.

Without alerting anyone, he entered the Peerless Princess's bedchamber directly.

As a result, he was nearly beaten to death by two little Maidservants.

They were actually Yuanying-level experts.

Upon seeing the Peerless Princess, Lu Chen felt a burst of regret.

He had not seen her true face.

"Couldn't you have someone announce you?" The Peerless Princess was speechless.

"Wasn't I afraid of alerting outsiders?" Lu Chen stared at the veil on the Peerless Princess's face, wishing he could tear it off.

"Speak. What is it? I just lay down, and there have been too many matters these past few days!"

Lu Chen spread the two documents open on the table.

The Peerless Princess looked them over one after another and said blandly, "That's it?"

"Huh... huh?" Lu Chen froze, stammering, "What do you mean, 'that's it'?"

"Enough. Withdraw for now and prepare well for tomorrow's tournament. I need to rest!"

"N-no, such a huge matter... damn it!"

Dragged out by the two little Maidservants, Lu Chen was on the verge of collapse.

He had thought he would receive some reward, or at the very least get to see Yun Niang.

Instead, he had been rejected.

The other side might already have known.

After returning to Tianyan Academy and explaining the matter to the old ancestor, he was kicked out of the great hall with one kick.

The old ancestor left him with one line: "You eat salted radishes and fret over bland matters."

Lu Chen was completely numb.

Damn it, if they were all so capable, how had Great Yan ended up in such a sorry state?

Their abilities were nothing special, yet each of them put on airs like three big-tailed wolves rolled into one.

What he did not know was that they simply did not want him involved too early.

As he lay down, messages were sent from Peerless Palace to the front lines through special methods.

At the same time, the imperial clan used the sudden outbreak of blood-red lightning to detain personnel from the Wolf Court.

Unfortunately, Little Wolf King and his protector had vanished without a trace.

The Tianyu Academy representative sent to meet Little Wolf King did not return. Someone had detonated a Blood Thunder Seed, and they were all utterly bewildered, with no idea what had happened.

Why had Little Wolf King used a Blood Thunder Seed?

They all secretly raised their guard.

They had to guard not only against Great Yan's imperial clan, but also against the Wolf Court, temporarily halting all operations.

Things had changed, and they had no choice but to proceed with caution.

Otherwise, they would be consigned to eternal damnation.

The next day, the streets were empty of all but ten thousand people.

At the martial arena, thirty-six platforms stood tall, formation patterns interwoven like a net, every rune shimmering with flowing light.

Outside the arena, a sea of cultivators and spectators packed the grounds, while banners of every color snapped loudly in the wind.

Upon the high platform, King Yan wore a purple robe and golden crown. Three Divine Bird phantoms circled behind him, their pressure as deep as an abyss.

"The Four Nations New Year Martial Arts Tournament begins!"

At the ceremonial official's long cry, countless spirit sparrows soared from the formation cores, their feathers scattering golden dust that formed the four words: "Martial Fortune Flourishes."

Disciples from Tianyu Academy, Great Liang's Zhu Clan, Great Qi's Lü Clan, and other factions filed into the arena, while the Wolf Court's seats alone stood empty.

"The Wolf Court colluded with foreign enemies and sought to throw Great Yan into chaos!" King Yan suddenly raised a hand. A scroll of documents unfolded in the air, its writing scarlet and glaring.

"The evidence is here. All members of the Wolf Court are expelled from Great Yan!"

At a single command, warships rose into the air. The Wolf Court members captured last night were taken away from Yanjing.

At Tianyu Academy's seating area, the Purple Robe Elder's face was livid.

Heavenly Dao Academy's envoy wore Black Robe as dark as ink, his fingertips lightly tapping the table. "I heard earlier that Tianyu Academy had ambitions of independence. Were you so eager?"

The Purple Robe Elder hurriedly rose. "Petty people were plotting in secret. I beg Your Excellency the Envoy to investigate clearly!"

The envoy smiled faintly. "Hand over one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones to Great Yan's imperial clan, and this matter will be dropped!"

King Yan and the old man both bowed in salute.

They all knew perfectly well what was going on.

If Heavenly Dao Academy had not stirred trouble from within, the two sides would never have reached this point.

Heavenly Dao Academy was the true culprit.

This was its habitual art of balance.

It made the factions below fight one another, ensuring its absolute hegemony.

The Purple Robe Elder gritted his teeth and threw out a storage ring. Spiritual Light shot into the sky, drawing waves of uproar from the crowd.

King Yan accepted the storage pouch and slowly sat back down, his expression calm and unruffled.

Lu Chen folded his arms as he watched the scene, sighing inwardly.

Such a major matter had been brushed aside so lightly. The waters here were far deeper than ordinary.

Heavenly Dao Academy was indulging this!

Suddenly, a chill ran through his entire body. He abruptly turned his head and saw someone staring at him coldly.