Chapter 403: Joining Forces, a Reunion of Master and Disciple

Chapter 403: Joining Forces, a Reunion of Master and Disciple

Wan Tianlin arrived, accompanied by two elderly tribe members whose strength surpassed that of ordinary True King Heaven Venerables. Evidently, they were among the strongest elders in the Wan family, second only to the Immortal Heaven Venerables.

This display of accompaniment was a testament to the importance the Wan family placed on Wan Tianlin.

Xu Yan's eyes flickered as he noticed that Wan Tianlin's strength had indeed broken through, and his aura had become more solid. It seemed that with the help of the Blood Heart Fruit, he had successfully comprehended the secret technique of the Wan family.

This secret technique was evidently crucial for breaking through the foundation of the Immortal Heaven Venerable realm.

While cultivating this secret technique did not guarantee a breakthrough to the Immortal Heaven Venerable realm, it significantly increased the chances of doing so.

In the Wan family, Wan Tianlin was already regarded as a future Immortal Heaven Venerable powerhouse.

With each additional Immortal Heaven Venerable, the strength of the Wan family would naturally rise to a new level, giving them a greater advantage in suppressing the Heavenly Cavern.

"Brother Xu, have you made any discoveries?" Wan Tianlin asked politely.

Although his strength had improved, Xu Yan still appeared much the same as when they last met, showing no signs of growth. However, Wan Tianlin did not dare to underestimate him.

"I won't hide it from you, Brother Wan. I used some methods to extract information from the dead assassins who were sent by the shadowy force that targeted me, and I learned some clues..." Xu Yan nodded, getting straight to the point.

Wan Tianlin's eyes narrowed. Xu Yan's mention of "using some methods" implied that he had employed unconventional means to extract valuable information from those assassins, and those methods were likely not simple ones.

"Please, Brother Xu, tell me," Wan Tianlin said solemnly. The existence of this mysterious force felt like a pair of sinister eyes watching the Wan family from the shadows, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"The shadowy force is called 'Heavenly Shadow of Death,' and it is composed of two parts: the Heavenly Shadows, who are led by the Heavenly Executioners and specialize in killing techniques, and the Earthly Shadows, who excel in infiltration and assassination..." Xu Yan did not hold back, revealing all the information he had learned about the Heavenly Shadow of Death.

"Heavenly Shadow of Death?" Wan Tianlin and the two tribal elders were stunned as they listened. They had never heard of such a force, and the fact that it had remained so hidden indicated that its ambitions were not small.

"The person who tried to assassinate me last time was actually a member of the Earthly Shadows, and there may still be more of them hidden within the Wan family. Additionally, it is known that in the Nine Mountains Realm, there is a Seven-Leaf Heavenly Executioner who leads the Heavenly Shadow of Death, and this Seven-Leaf Heavenly Executioner is an Immortal Heaven Venerable..." Xu Yan said in a low voice.

"Brother Xu, is it true that the Seven-Leaf Heavenly Executioner is an Immortal Heaven Venerable?" Wan Tianlin and the two tribal elders were shocked.

This meant that there was an Immortal Heaven Venerable plotting against the Wan family! In the Nine Mountains Realm, Immortal Heaven Venerables were few and far between, and they all knew each other.

"There's no doubt about this, and it's even possible that there is more than one Seven-Leaf Heavenly Executioner. After all, that dead assassin had limited status and may not have known much," Xu Yan said gravely.

Wan Tianlin's expression turned solemn. "Brother Xu, what is the reason behind the Heavenly Shadow of Death stirring up conflict between us? What do they hope to achieve?"

"Their goal is to incite conflict between the Green Lotus Realm and the Nine Mountains Realm, causing turmoil in the Divine Realm and attempting to restore some sort of 'heavenly glory'..." Xu Yan did not hide anything and went on to explain that the Heavenly Shadow of Death sought to create chaos and restore this so-called heavenly glory. However, he did not mention the means by which he had obtained this information.

Wan Tianlin did not ask about those details either.

"This matter is of great importance. I need to report it to the Immortal Ancestors of my family before we can decide on our next course of action," Wan Tianlin said, his heart filled with shock.

The ambitions of the Heavenly Shadow of Death were truly appalling. What did they mean by restoring heavenly glory? It was something he had never heard of, but it was clear that this group was composed of fanatical and dangerous individuals.

The thirty-six realms of the Divine Realm were united in their stand against the invasion of the Heavenly Cavern. There was an unspoken agreement to avoid intense conflicts, much less attack each other. In fact, if one realm was in danger of being overtaken by the Heavenly Cavern, the others would lend their aid.

In a sense, they were all in this together.

Yet, the Heavenly Shadow of Death dared to plot to incite warfare among the thirty-six realms, stirring up chaos in the Divine Realm. If they succeeded, wouldn't it play right into the hands of the Heavenly Cavern? If even one realm, or worse, several realms, fell into the hands of the Heavenly Cavern, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Based on my investigations, I believe that the Heavenly Shadow of Death's stronghold is too much for me to handle alone. That's why I sought Brother Wan's help.

"Additionally, I would like to ask Brother Wan to help me transmit a message to find someone..." Xu Yan continued, revealing his intentions.

Aside from joining forces to destroy the Heavenly Shadow of Death's stronghold, he naturally wanted to find Meng Chong as well.

"Of course!" Wan Tianlin readily agreed.

The fact that a shadowy force had infiltrated the Wan family's territory in Da Gai Mountain was unacceptable, and they would root them out at all costs.

As for transmitting a message to find someone, that was an even simpler matter.

"We must not delay. Brother Xu, let's act now," Wan Tianlin said, his eagerness evident.

"Good!" Xu Yan glanced at the two tribal elders from the Wan family, assessing their strength. He believed that with their help, they would be able to destroy one of the Heavenly Shadow of Death's strongholds.

After all, according to Ying Yi's information, while the strength of each stronghold varied, they weren't overly powerful, and the Heavenly Executioner leading the Da Gai Mountain region might not be stronger than these two tribal elders.

"One of the Heavenly Shadow of Death's strongholds is located here..." Xu Yan revealed the location of one of their bases, as he knew that Wan Tianlin would be more familiar with the Da Gai Mountain region.

"So, it's here!" Wan Tianlin nodded and quickly located the position of the Heavenly Shadow of Death on the Wan family's map of the Da Gai Mountain region.

...

"The mission failed!"

Ying Yi had returned to his base, his aura weakened as he had used a secret technique, paying a significant price.

"Why did it fail?" asked the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner, his figure appearing before Ying Yi.

"Xu Yan's strength was stronger than expected, and a powerful member of the Wan family intervened. I had to use a secret technique to escape..." Ying Yi said in a low voice.

"Stay here to recover from your injuries. Once you're healed, I will assign you a new mission," the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner instructed.

"Yes, sir!" Ying Yi replied.

While mission failures were not uncommon, and it was understood that not every mission could be guaranteed success, the recent appearance of a traitor had made them more cautious.

Ying Yi was left at the base to recuperate, while the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner and the rest of the base's occupants quietly departed, taking up a hidden position elsewhere.

If the location of their base had been compromised, they expected an attack to come.

However, after waiting for three days, no attack came, and the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner breathed a sigh of relief. Ying Yi had not encountered any problems, nor had anyone tracked him to their new location.

Just as he started to relax, a small, two-inch-long black spirit bee flew over and landed on his shoulder.

Buzz!

The spirit bee's antennae fluttered, transmitting a faint soul wave.

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner's face changed drastically. One of the Heavenly Shadow of Death's secret bases had been eradicated by Xu Yan and the Wan family! Only one person had managed to escape, and they had paid a heavy price for their survival.

"Was it a traitor, or did we leak our location and the Wan family found us?"

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner couldn't sit still any longer and led his men back to the Heavenly Shadow of Death's division at Da Gai Mountain.

He had a hunch that the Heavenly Shadow of Death might have been investigated by the Wan family, and they would likely soon launch a manhunt against them.

Before they could return to the division, another spirit bee arrived.

The second stronghold had been eradicated as well, and the culprits were once again Xu Yan and the Wan family. This stronghold was stronger, and two people managed to escape.

'To have simultaneously exposed two strongholds, and connected ones at that!'

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner fell deep in thought.

These messenger spirit bees were unique to the Heavenly Shadow of Death; they were fast, secretive, and ensured that messages couldn't be intercepted. Judging by the speed of the spirit bees, there wasn't much time between the eradication of the first stronghold and the second.

From this, he deduced that Xu Yan and Wan Tianlin must have rushed from one stronghold to the next without rest.

This indicated that they had already thoroughly investigated these two strongholds.

The only thing he couldn't understand was why, in addition to Xu Yan, only two tribal elders from the Wan family had joined the attack. Why didn't they wipe out the stronghold entirely and leave no survivors? Suddenly, his expression changed slightly as a thought occurred to him. Could the Wan family have intentionally let some people escape, only to secretly follow them and thereby locate the Heavenly Shadow of Death's division at Da Gai Mountain?

'The Earthly Shadows are all experts in stealth. There's no way a True King Heaven Venerable could successfully tail them. Could it be that one of the Wan family's Immortal Heaven Venerables personally made a move?'

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner's heart sank.

After all, if an Immortal Heaven Venerable had made a move, they would undoubtedly be doomed.

'Although the Heaven's Cavern in Da Gai Mountain is currently relatively stable, without any major disturbances, it's unlikely that one of the Wan family's Immortal Heaven Venerables would easily leave their seat of power...'

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner pondered for a moment before giving an order. 'Notify the escapees to head to this location and gather here.'

Out of caution, he ultimately didn't instruct the escapees to assemble at the division but instead directed them to a hidden backup location.

'Also, send word to One-Leaf Heavenly Shadow and Two-Leaf Heavenly Shadow to await orders here!'

After some thought, the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner issued another command.

If they wanted to confuse their enemies, they would need to have other members of the Heavenly Shadow of Death present at this backup division. If necessary, they could even sacrifice some members.

Buzz!

Two spirit bees instantly departed to deliver the messages.

Meanwhile, the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner continued leading his trusted followers back to the Da Gai Mountain division.

As soon as they arrived, another spirit bee flew over.

A third stronghold had been destroyed.

The leader of this stronghold was relatively strong, and although he fought desperately, allowing two people to escape, he managed to injure one of the Wan family's tribal elders.

'Something's not right!'

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner furrowed his brows.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had figured something out.

'Could the Wan family be using Wan Tianlin as bait to lure out strong members of the Heavenly Shadow of Death?'

At this moment, the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner suspected that the reason the Wan family hadn't completely wiped out the Heavenly Shadow of Death's strongholds and had allowed people to escape each time was to deliberately send a message to the Heavenly Shadow of Death.

Wan Tianlin was relatively unprotected, making this the best opportunity to assassinate him and Xu Yan!

'Hehe, so that's their plan! They want to lure us out!'

Once the Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner understood their strategy, he coldly smiled to himself, knowing he wouldn't fall for it.

The primary purpose of killing Wan Tianlin was to incite conflict, and now that their scheme had been exposed, it would be a lost cause to take the risk of trying to kill him again.

'Xu Yan!'

The Five-Leaf Heavenly Executioner muttered to himself.

'Brother Wan, if we have the chance, let's cooperate again!' Xu Yan said with a smile, cupping his hands.

'Of course!' Wan Tianlin replied with a smile.

This joint operation had eliminated three Heavenly Shadow of Death strongholds, and all three locations had been provided by Xu Yan. Each time, they had intentionally let people escape.

Of course, the escapees had used secret techniques and their strength had declined.

Xu Yan had then secretly followed the escapees and soon returned, apparently having obtained the location of a new stronghold from the escapees.

Although he didn't know what methods Xu Yan had used, it was clear that these escaped members of the Heavenly Shadow of Death would be very useful!

Through this joint operation, Wan Tianlin had also obtained a list of some of the Heavenly Shadow of Death members who had infiltrated the Wan family.

This information had come from the escapees, thanks to Xu Yan's extraordinary methods of interrogation.

Even the dead assassins' mouths couldn't remain shut, and this caused Wan Tianlin's admiration for Xu Yan to deepen.

'Six of them! Heavenly Shadow of Death, just you wait, Xu Yan will wipe you all out in one go!'

Xu Yan's eyes turned cold.

He had already gained control of six members, from Shadow One to Shadow Six. All he needed now was an opportune moment to locate the Heavenly Shadow of Death's division and then destroy them.

'Let's wait for my junior disciple to arrive!'

The message seeking Meng Chong had already been spread by the Wan family.

As long as Meng Chong was in Da Gai Mountain, he would surely receive this message and come.

After this joint operation to eradicate the Heavenly Shadow of Death's strongholds, Xu Yan had gained more information about their locations, but he didn't take action and only destroyed three of them.

In addition to the stronghold in Da Gai Mountain, he had even obtained information about strongholds in other regions, such as Qian Die Mountain.

In a certain city on Da Gai Mountain, a burly man with thick hair was leaving the city.

'Big Senior Brother is looking for me.'

This burly man was Meng Chong.

To hide from his pursuers, he had deliberately worn a thick wig and altered his appearance.

However, because of his stout build, his pursuers would pay close attention to anyone with a similar physique and thoroughly investigate them.

Fortunately, Meng Chong's stealth and transformation techniques were exquisite, allowing him to easily conceal his identity, and if necessary, he could even shrink his muscular frame.

'I've almost gathered enough treasures to deepen my foundation. It's time for a breakthrough.'

Meng Chong left the city, evading potential pursuers.

'Once I break through to the Great Sun Starry Sky Unconquerable Body, I'll kill anyone who comes after me!'

Meng Chong's eyes turned cold and fierce.

Having faced pursuit and even life-threatening danger shortly after entering the Nine Mountains Realm, he couldn't just let it go.

Once he broke through to this new realm, he would fear no one below the Immortal Heaven Venerable level, and even True King Heaven Venerables wouldn't be able to threaten him. Then, he would unleash his full power and let these pursuers experience the ferocity of his physical martial arts.

Xu Yan, who was waiting for Meng Chong to appear, received a message from a communication talisman indicating that Meng Chong was within range of the talisman's signal.

'Second Junior Brother!'

Seeing Meng Chong with his wig, Xu Yan's eyes turned even colder.

The fact that Meng Chong had to wear a disguise due to the Heavenly Shadow of Death's pursuit showed how much danger he had faced recently.

'Big Senior Brother!'

Meng Chong was overjoyed and removed his wig, carefully storing it away.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end