For a moment of silence, the Blood Devil Old Man contemplated many things in his mind, judging that Tang Qian's relationship with Chen Yuan shouldn't be too significant. Furthermore, concealing it would be futile. He nodded and said:

"It is!"

A smile crept onto Tang Qian's expressionless face:

"Very good. Why do you want to kill him?"

"He killed my Ghost Child, ruining my efforts. I need to take his life in return!" The Blood Devil, seeing the smile on Tang Qian's lips, directly revealed the truth.

"I see."

Previously, the people under Tang Qian who were monitoring Chen Yuan noticed that someone was secretly inquiring about Chen Yuan's whereabouts, and reported this to Tang Qian. Afterward, they directly captured the Ghost Golden Child.

Upon learning that it was the Ghost Child investigating Chen Yuan, he guessed that the Blood Devil had returned and seemed to harbor hostility towards Chen Yuan. If that was the case, he could use him.

There was no doubt that he wanted to kill Chen Yuan, but he was also aware of the Qingjiao Society's current situation. If he made a move himself, it wouldn't be so simple.

Therefore, although he could violently and directly kill Chen Yuan, he had been suppressing his killing intent.

Finally, the Blood Devil arrived!

It was unsuitable for him to kill Chen Yuan, as it would invite trouble. But if it was the Blood Devil, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Of course, he needed to confirm it beforehand.

"What? Brother Tang is also dissatisfied with Chen Yuan?" The Blood Devil Old Man shifted his gaze, changing his address to 'brother,' even though he was older.

But in martial arts, the accomplished come first, so it wasn't shameful!

"Indeed, I also want to kill him. How about we cooperate?" A warm smile flickered on Tang Qian's face.

But it seemed somewhat incongruous, making one feel a bit gloomy.

"Cooperate?" The Blood Devil Old Man was somewhat surprised:

"With Brother Tang's strength, why would you need to cooperate to kill a Qi Condensation martial artist?"

He found it a bit amusing, as if Chen Yuan was some remarkable figure, prompting a Tongxuan expert to utter the word "cooperate." It was truly laughable.

But upon closer inspection, he felt something was amiss. Could it be that there was something wrong with Chen Yuan?

"It's not easy for me to move against this person. It's not that I can't kill him, but killing him would be troublesome. Since you also want to kill him, why not join forces? You take action, and I'll provide the specific intelligence.

I'm afraid you're not aware yet, but Chen Yuan has secretly left Nanling Prefecture City."

Tang Qian didn't feel the slightest bit awkward. Chen Yuan was indeed not easy for him to deal with.

He couldn't take action, and none of his subordinates were capable of defeating Chen Yuan with certainty. Sending them would be a waste of lives.

Moreover, Tao Qingyuan and Shi Yunlong were watching him, and he couldn't spare the time to hunt down Chen Yuan. Through some channels, he learned that Chen Yuan had gone to carry out a mission.

But he wasn't very clear about the path he had taken.

He didn't have time to search one by one!

After hearing this, the Blood Devil Old Man sneered in his heart and said in a low voice:

"Brother Tang is using me as a knife, huh? Even Brother Tang finds this person troublesome, so it would be unwise for me to kill him. It's just a Ghost Child, so it's fine if he's dead."

"Therefore... I'll pass on joining forces."

He had roamed the martial world for decades and wouldn't be easily deceived. As he said before, he wanted to kill Chen Yuan only because he had ruined his plans, but it wasn't a necessity.

He could just let it go.

The smile on Tang Qian's face slowly disappeared, and a powerful aura rose from his body:

"You can pass on joining forces, but don't even think of leaving today!"

The Blood Devil did have some reputation, but at the end of the day, he was just a Qi Condensation martial artist. He could suppress him with a wave of his hand. He was giving him face by asking to join forces. If he refused to join forces, then there was only death.

"Brother Tang is threatening me?"

"So what if I am?"

Tang Qian looked at him with an unchanged expression, his eyes slightly narrowed.

The Blood Devil Old Man's face turned red, but he didn't dare to say anything in rebuttal, because he knew that it could lead to death!

Qi Condensation martial artists and Tongxuan martial artists were simply not on the same level.

There was a huge gap between them, which could only be bridged by strength. Unfortunately, he didn't have such strength now.

"Alright... I agree to you."

The Blood Devil decided to pretend to cooperate for now. Once he left the prefecture city, whether or not he killed Chen Yuan would be up to him.

"A wise man submits to circumstances. Tang knows that these Ghost Children are very important to you. You brought four, and I'll temporarily help you raise two. Once news of Chen Yuan's death arrives, you can take them away."

Tang Qian smiled.

If he didn't exert some control, how would he know if this old devil Blood Devil would work wholeheartedly?

"You..." The Blood Devil gritted his teeth.

This had disrupted his plans. Losing a Ghost Wood Child, he might be able to find a replacement, but if he lost two more, then there would basically be no possibility.

His lifespan simply wasn't enough!

He wouldn't be able to break through to the Tongxuan realm in this lifetime.

"Hmm?"

Tang Qian slightly raised his head and glanced at the Blood Devil.

The atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

Taking a deep breath, the Blood Devil Old Man said in a low voice:

"You want to kill Chen Yuan but don't want to involve yourself, but I would be bearing the greatest risk."

"You're not from Qingzhou, so after killing him, just leave Qingzhou and go to Xuezhou. The imperial court's reach doesn't extend that far. What are you worried about?"

"But I would still be bearing a great risk. I know that the Nanling Prefecture's patrolling envoy Tao Qingyuan highly values Chen Yuan. Killing him would inevitably lead to being hunted down."

"Alright, name your conditions."

Tang Qian knew that the benefits he was offering weren't enough.

The Blood Devil then smiled:

"Brother Tang is straightforward. My requirements aren't high: ten Profound Origin Pills, plus... a child born in the yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour, with a wood-type destiny!"

With these things, he wouldn't be at a loss. Even if he was hunted down, it wouldn't matter much. He could just escape to Xuezhou, as he had done before.

Tang Qian frowned, but quickly relaxed:

"Alright, these aren't difficult problems."

"Very good!"

"Chen Yuan is currently carrying out a mission, and his destination is..." Tang Qian didn't waste any more words, directly telling the Blood Devil the information he had painstakingly gathered.

He urged him to set off immediately without delay, and not to underestimate Chen Yuan.

To this, the Blood Devil Old Man nodded in agreement on the surface, but he didn't take it to heart.

He felt that Tang Qian was being too cautious. To be so wary of a Qi Condensation martial artist was somewhat damaging to his own reputation.

It should be Chen Yuan who was wary of them.

————

————

Chen Yuan secretly left Nanling Prefecture City, not by waterway, but by a rather muddy land route. Don't misunderstand, it was mainly because it had just rained a few days ago, and the ground hadn't dried yet, making it seem a bit muddy.

As for which road Chen Yuan took...

He wasn't too clear about that either, but it definitely wasn't Chenghua Avenue.

It was just a small road.

Chen Yuan was very clear about his own situation. He had just killed Lin Beihan, causing a heavy blow to the Qingjiao Society. Tang Qian was likely to vent his anger on him.

In addition to those disgusting monks, Chen Yuan's own situation wasn't too good.

But as he said before, there was nothing he could do...

This time, being assigned to Qingshui County to investigate the bandits of Dagu Mountain, Chen Yuan felt that if nothing unexpected happened, his destiny might lie with them.

At the very least, it would definitely be related to destiny in some way.

Thinking of this, Chen Yuan was actually quite excited.

He now had the Blood Fiend Saber constantly providing fiendish energy, and his own cultivation was improving rapidly. With the Supreme Profound Sutra constantly devouring the world's origin energy and converting it for his own use,

he was already very close to the peak of Qi Condensation.

Even faster than he had initially anticipated. Perhaps he could reach the peak of Qi Condensation after arriving in Qingshui County.

Qingshui County was relatively far away, being one of the farthest counties in Nanling Prefecture. Chen Yuan was traveling by land, so if he didn't whip his horse, it would be difficult to arrive in less than seven days.

However, he wasn't in too much of a hurry. He even planned to cultivate while traveling, as long as he filled the fiendish energy in his dantian before arriving!

His strength might not increase much, but it would still be good to add some.

At that time, he could focus all his mind on breaking through to Tiangang.

In this way, Chen Yuan, Mo Donghe, and his group disguised themselves and traveled along the way, putting away all the official uniforms of the patrolling envoy division, not intending to reveal their identities.

The journey was uneventful. Although they didn't have the patrolling envoy division's prestige to deter others, the seven or eight of them were all burly men, and at a glance, they didn't seem easy to provoke. No one dared to cause trouble.

Chen Yuan's cultivation was steadily improving. He even intentionally mobilized the Blood Fiend Saber, causing the fiendish energy to come more fiercely. Although he suffered some pain, the result was good.

His cultivation speed greatly increased again!

Even he himself couldn't help but sigh at how powerful it felt to have a cheat!

It felt like his cultivation was just being handed to him.

He had indeed cultivated diligently before, but to be honest, in the Qi Condensation stage, Chen Yuan's diligent cultivation accounted for only a small part. Most of it came from the Blood Fiend Saber constantly spewing pure fiendish energy.

It was like an inexhaustible gold mine.

He wondered if these fiendish energies would still be the same after reaching Tiangang, but after thinking about it, Chen Yuan felt that the chances weren't high. The Blood Fiend Saber wasn't that easy to obtain.

Even when he first obtained it, he didn't expect it to have this effect.

No wonder Su Ziyue said that it would attract a scramble if it was exposed.

Tsk tsk tsk...

......

In a small forest about ten miles outside Qingshui County City, Mo Donghe and the other patrolling guards held wild goose feather sabers, guarding the surroundings, forming a circle and protecting Chen Yuan in the center.

Mo Donghe occasionally looked back at Chen Yuan, who was surrounded by fiendish energy, with some envy in his eyes. He also yearned for the Qi Condensation realm!

Yes, Chen Yuan was preparing to break through to the peak of Qi Condensation!

He had felt the fiendish energy stirring restlessly yesterday, vaguely reaching the point of saturation. He might as well stabilize his cultivation before entering Qingshui County City.

Improving his cultivation wasn't as dangerous as breaking through, which required people to protect him. Mo Donghe and the others were purely concerned about Lord Chen and didn't dare to relax. In fact, even if someone attacked, Chen Yuan could take action at any time.

About a quarter of an hour later, Chen Yuan opened his eyes, and the fiendish energy around him quickly disappeared into his body!