The inn fell into a sudden silence, fraught with tension.

Yue Shan and the others beside Chen Yuan stood up, each wielding their weapons, staring directly at Gu Hao and his group. At their lord's command, they would not hesitate to strike.

The Five Elements Ghost Child glared at Xiao Qingmu with a sinister gaze.

The disciples of the Qingyun Sword Sect behind Gu Hao also drew their swords in response.

Most of the diners in the inn hurriedly went downstairs to pay their bills, but some remained, eating their meals calmly, some even watching the conflict with interest.

Yet, no one found it particularly out of the ordinary.

In the martial world, drawing swords at the slightest disagreement was commonplace, especially given the past grievances between the two sides.

The hunched old man, previously observed by Chen Yuan, looked up, his gaze slowly sweeping over Chen Yuan and Gu Hao, his brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't expected such a coincidence.

Just having a meal, and he happened to encounter two groups carrying Yuan Kong Tokens.

One side was the renowned Qingyun Sword Sect disciples from Qingzhou, and the other was the imperial hounds. Most importantly, both sides were young and possessed considerable potential.

Seeing the conflict about to erupt, Gu Hao sensed the old man's gaze and narrowed his eyes, saying softly:

"Since Lord Chen is also here for the Yuan Kong Secret Realm, how about we settle this in the Yuan Kong Secret Realm in a few days? To avoid harming the innocent."

"You say fight in the Yuan Kong Realm, so we fight in the Yuan Kong Realm? Who do you think you are?"

Chen Yuan raised his chin.

If a fight truly broke out now, he wouldn't be afraid of Gu Hao. If he could resolve it sooner, it would be the best outcome.

"You really want to fight me?"

Gu Hao's expression turned serious.

"Why not?"

A powerful aura surged, and a thick killing intent enveloped Chen Yuan, with faint reddish-colored Gang Qi beginning to stir.

"Senior Brother."

Xiao Qingmu sensed that the atmosphere was off and tried to dissuade him.

Gu Hao raised his hand, stopping her from continuing. If a fight was to happen, what did he have to fear?

Chen Yuan was ranked forty-second on the Potential Dragon List, indeed showing remarkable strength, but he himself was ranked fortieth, two places higher. Adding his Tongxuan Realm junior sister Xiao, the advantage was with him!

Even if junior sister Xiao didn't directly attack, she could still distract a significant amount of the opponent's attention.

"Fight, hurry up and fight, I can't wait any longer."

Suddenly, a lazy male voice echoed in their ears.

With a slight frown, Chen Yuan and Gu Hao simultaneously turned their heads. On a rooftop not far away, a middle-aged man with somewhat tattered clothes was holding a wine gourd in one hand,

watching them with excitement, seemingly hoping they would start fighting immediately.

His aura was also undoubtedly at the Tongxuan Realm!

What pleased Chen Yuan the most was that the Eye of Heaven skill finally sensed an anomaly. That middle-aged man possessed what he needed most: Destiny!

"Why are you all looking at me? Fight! I just heard that my Jiuyuan Prefecture has some Yuan Kong Secret Realm. I was worried about not having a token, so I'll just take it from you.

Whoever loses has to give me their token."

The middle-aged man's sparse beard fluttered as he spoke in a carefree manner. He had heard earlier that both sides could enter the Yuan Kong Secret Realm, so they must both possess tokens.

As long as he seized them, he could enter the secret realm.

As for the backgrounds of the two sides...

What did he, a wandering cultivator, have to fear?

At worst, he would hide in Xuezhou for a while.

"How annoying, what are you?"

Gu Hao scolded.

The middle-aged man didn't mind at all, instead saying smugly: "Listen up, this seat is the Seven Directions Wanderer, Deng Jiuguang."

"An unknown dares to speak so arrogantly."

"Unknown?" Deng Jiuguang said angrily:

"Who in this Jiuyuan Prefecture hasn't heard of my name? It's just you outsiders. Otherwise, who would dare to disrespect me?"

"Deng Jiuguang, you fool, you dare to speak so arrogantly?"

A rough voice boomed, and a figure flying through the air approached rapidly from a distance. In a short time, it arrived before everyone.

Wearing black cloud attire and carrying two heavy axes, the figure was burly, and his identity was self-evident from his clothes. He was a Sky Patrol Blue Envoy-level expert.

Deng Jiuguang chuckled: "What do you want, Huang?"

"To capture you!"

"With just you? You think you can catch up to this grandpa's movement technique?"

"If you have the guts, fight me. Otherwise, get out of the prefectural city and stop making so much noise here."

The Huang surnamed Blue Envoy said coldly.

"So he's just a rogue cultivator with some understanding of movement techniques. He dares to be so arrogant here." Gu Hao glanced at Chen Yuan, moved his body, leaped out of the window on the second floor of the inn, and stood in the air.

Xiao Qingmu followed closely behind, and several Qingyun Sword Sect disciples jumped out of the window as well.

"Lord."

Yue Shan called softly.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, exchanged a momentary glance with the hunched old man from before, nodded slightly, and then transformed into an afterimage, leaving the inn.

Now that he had seen someone with Destiny, how could he let them go?

"So what if I'm a rogue cultivator? What's wrong, the disciples of your Qingyun Sword Sect look down on rogue martial artists?" Deng Jiuguang said disdainfully.

"Lord Chen, this person has disrupted your and my contest. How about whoever kills this person first wins? If I win, Lord Chen will burn some incense at Junior Brother Liu's burial mound."

"And if you lose?"

"You name the condition."

"Give me the Yuan Kong Token in your possession." Chen Yuan clasped his hands behind his back.

Gu Hao frowned: "What do you need the Yuan Kong Token for? Don't you already have one?"

"That's none of your business."

If he didn't need it, couldn't he sell it?

As for killing Gu Hao, if he had the chance later, he wouldn't mind ambushing him. If he didn't have the chance, he'd deal with it another day. A waste who didn't even have Destiny wasn't worth him wasting much thought on.

"Alright!"

Gu Hao gave Chen Yuan a deep look.

The Huang surnamed Blue Envoy on the side looked at Chen Yuan with surprise, obviously hearing the word 'Lord' from Gu Hao's mouth and pondering over the colleagues around him.

It seemed that none of them were acquainted with this person. Could he be an expert from Qingzhou City?

"May I ask who you are?"

The Huang surnamed Blue Envoy cupped his fist in greeting.

"Sky Patrol Envoy of Nanling Prefecture, Chen Yuan!"

Looking at the Jiuyuan Blue Envoy in front of him, Chen Yuan announced his identity.

Strictly speaking, he was now under the jurisdiction of Nanling Prefecture, so there were no errors.

"Nanling Prefecture..." The Huang surnamed man pondered, he remembered that the Blue Envoy of Nanling Prefecture seemed to be Tao Qingyuan, but the young man in front of him didn't seem to be.

Thinking about it, his eyes narrowed as he sized up Chen Yuan and asked:

"Could you be... the Demon Blade Chen Yuan on the Potential Dragon List?"

"May I know your name, Lord?" Chen Yuan asked politely.

"I am Huang Yi, Sky Patrol Blue Envoy of Jiuyuan!"

Saying that, he cupped his fists and smiled.

"I have long admired your name, Lord Huang."

"What, you two want to kill me?" Seeing Chen Yuan and Gu Hao discussing him as if he were a prize, Deng Jiuguang felt a surge of anger.

He was a Tongxuan expert, yet he was so disregarded by two young brats. It was truly detestable.

Huang Yi: "This Deng Jiuguang has always been reckless in his actions, doing things flamboyantly according to his whims. He relies on his movement technique, which far surpasses others of his level. Lord Chen, if you want to kill him, you must be careful."

Although he had no friendship with Chen Yuan, they were both officials of the imperial court after all. In public, he had to maintain the proper etiquette. Moreover, his relationship with Tao Qingyuan was still acceptable.

"Thank you."

Chen Yuan nodded. The next moment, without any warning, his speed soared, drawing an afterimage in the air, and grasped the hilt of the Wild Goose Blade in his hand.

A dragon's roar shook the heavens.

A faint reddish-colored Xuan Yang Gang Qi shot straight into the sky, slashing towards Deng Jiuguang.

Even without the bet, this guy had to die!

He had to get his Destiny.

Deng Jiuguang's eyes narrowed, his face gloomy. He hadn't anticipated Chen Yuan's explosive attack. He crossed his fists in front of him, creating a layer of Gang Qi to protect himself, then threw a punch.

The fist force collided with the blade's edge, creating a loud boom.

Both dissipated...

In terms of realm, Deng Jiuguang was still slightly stronger than Chen Yuan. Of course, their actual strength was another matter.

Seeing this, Gu Hao also followed the agreement and decided to first kill this arrogant guy who kept calling himself grandpa. As for Chen Yuan... they had similar plans.

If he had the chance, he wouldn't mind ambushing Chen Yuan.

With a flick of his longsword, a cold light appeared, and a sharp sword Qi shot straight at Deng Jiuguang.

After exerting his full strength to shatter the sword Qi, Deng Jiuguang's feet moved like the wind, drawing an afterimage as he shouted: "You two prodigies on the Potential Dragon List are ganging up on an old man of forty-nine. You have no martial ethics! If word gets out, what will your reputation be?"

"How annoying!"

Chen Yuan shouted lowly, stomping his feet, causing the air to tremble. A dark golden streamer flashed around him, and with a shake of his right arm, a fist the size of a sandbag was thrust forward.

The terrifying temperature under the reflection of the sunlight seemed to distort the air, although it wasn't truly distorted, just reflected, but it was enough to prove Chen Yuan's strength.

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, sealed off Deng Jiuguang's retreat. So what if his movement technique was strong? Unless it was too amazing, it would be difficult to retreat unscathed under the combined attack of two martial artists of the same realm.

In fact, that was indeed the case. Facing the full-force onslaught from Chen Yuan and Gu Hao, Deng Jiuguang was stunned for a moment. He shot out a Gang Qi to collide with the fist force.

But the result was that his side seemed extremely fragile and was shattered with a 'boom'.

He could only launch another attack to resist.

But in doing so, Gu Hao on the other side found an opportunity, and sword Qi poured out like rain, instantly shattering Deng Jiuguang's protective Gang Qi.

In a single exchange, in just three breaths, Deng Jiuguang was struck by several attacks and was already heavily injured.

This was normal. Unless they were peak Tongxuan experts, few could withstand the combined attack of two prodigies on the Potential Dragon List.

"Pfft."

Deng Jiuguang's body was cut with several sword marks, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He regretted his previous words, he should have let them fight it out first before speaking.

Gu Hao controlled his sword in the sky, resembling a sword immortal, holding his longsword and seemingly slashing at Deng Jiuguang, but his true target was Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan on the other side was the same, the blade's edge skillfully passed Deng Jiuguang, heading straight for Gu Hao.

————

Thanks to the book friend 余生唯一人 for the 3,000 coin reward, thanks to the book friend 紫气东来挂东南 for the 3,000 coin reward.