The mont she saw Xiao Chen’s score, Lan Nianqin was utterly horrified. ’This has to be a mistake, right?’
She instantly understood how Chang Shunping had felt.
A wave of regret washed over her. If only she had known this a day sooner, she would have pulled out all the stops to make Xiao Chen stay the night.
It wasn’t just her. The first reaction of everyone else who saw it was to wonder if the monthly report was a misprint.
Two thousand six hundred points!
The staggering number was like a boulder dropped into a calm pond, sending shockwaves across all of Hezhou.
"This has to be a miscalculation, right?"
"Twenty-six hundred points... That’s about one Foundation Establishnt Great Perfection cultivator a day, not even counting the last day of the month?"
"So ’average.’ You’d think the enemy was just lining up to be killed."
...
And once the Lingyuan Sect confird the news was true, the na Xiao Chen imdiately rang throughout Hezhou.
The standard greeting between people changed overnight from "How have you been?" to "Have you heard?"
If the other person had, they would imdiately share a mont of awe.
But if they hadn’t, well, that was an opportunity not to be missed.
How could soone not know such important news? They simply had to sit them down and explain everything.
After finishing the story, they would watch their listener’s reaction closely.
Usually, upon hearing the news for the first ti, the person would look astonished. "How is that possible?"
At which point, the storyteller would jump in with their well-rehearsed line: "Tell about it! When I first found out, I was just as..."
Many people told anyone who would listen, inadvertently giving Xiao Chen a massive publicity boost.
Imdiately afterward, a flood of rumors began to spread like wildfire.
In the marketplaces: "Latest news! That Xiao Chen actually ford a Fake Pill long ago, he’s just been keeping it a secret."
"He did it to lure the Divine Fire Sect’s Four Great Wanderers into a trap and wipe them all out in one go."
In the taverns: "Let tell you, my sworn brother saw him with his own eyes! This Xiao Chen is nine feet tall with a face as fearso as Duke Lei himself. One look and you can tell he’s a harbinger of death, born to kill."
"You’ve all heard of the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords, right? Do you know why one of them is the Thunder Sword?"
"It’s a Treasure he uses specifically to slay demons."
In the teahouses: "There were hundreds of Demon Cultivators swarming Qingyang Mountain, all at once."
"And guess what happened?"
"But Xiao Chen of the Wind and Thunder Sword didn’t even flinch, not a hint of panic on his face. He swung the sword in his left hand, and a furious gale erupted. With a single gust, the heads of dozens of Demon Cultivators rolled."
"The one at the very front was a Foundation Establishnt Demon Cultivator, but it made no difference. The wind instantly flayed him to the bone, leaving nothing but a skeleton."
Soone in the crowd challenged the storyteller, "Qingyang Mountain isn’t on the front lines. How could so many Demon Cultivators be there to attack it?"
But he was imdiately shouted down by the rest of the audience. "Don’t tell you’ve never even heard of Xiao Chen!"
"Exactly! This all ca from the Lingyuan Sect!"
"Don’t interrupt! Let the man finish his story! What happened next?"
...
「Back when Xiao Chen was returning to Qingyang County after leaving Willow County.」
Chang Shunping almost thought he’d co to the wrong place.
He’d only been gone for a day. How could the massive Qingyang Mountain have just... vanished?
He subconsciously glanced at Xiao Chen, only to see that he looked just as bewildered.
’A perfectly good mountain, suddenly gone. How very strange.’
"Xiao? Chang?"
A cry of surprise ca from the distance, and Du Mingjie ran over, his face a mask of shock. "I thought... It’s so good to see you’re both okay."
Sect Leader Gong Lingfeng was also nearby.
Hearing this, he approached as well. After looking them up and down, he clasped his hands in greeting. "Xiao, though this is our first ti eting, I’ve heard a great deal about you."
Xiao Chen returned the pleasantry. "Not at all. It is your na, Gong, that is truly renowned."
After a mont of small talk, Gong Lingfeng got to the point of what happened last night. "At 2:45 AM, Qingyang Peak was suddenly attacked by the Divine Fire Sect."
"Do you or Chang happen to know why?"
Chang Shunping, naturally, feigned complete ignorance, his face a mask of grief. "Yesterday, Xiao asked to gather so information, so I left Qingyang around dusk."
"I have no idea what happened after that."
Xiao Chen’s story was just as convincing. "After Chang left, I had a bad feeling, so I went after him."
"I never would have imagined sothing like this happened last night."
"I wonder which Demon was so bold as to do this."
Gong Lingfeng shook his head and explained briefly.
Just as Xiao Chen had guessed, it was Magic cast using an Array; no Demon Dao Golden Core cultivator had actually crossed the border to invade.
One of their own Golden Core Daoists had already investigated the site, and there were no lingering threats.
It was just that the Spirit Ore mine had been buried, and it would take a great deal of ti to excavate it again.
"It must be that the Divine Fire Sect resented you for killing the Four Great Wanderers and wanted revenge, only to find you gone."
Gong Lingfeng remarked with a sigh, "Chen once told that you are protected by great fortune."
"Seeing this now, it seems he wasn’t wrong."
But Xiao Chen just forced a wry smile. "Sigh... What fortune? I was just lucky last night."
"If sothing like that happens again, I’m afraid I won’t be so lucky."
Gong Lingfeng imdiately reassured him, "Xiao, don’t worry. An incident like this won’t happen again."
"For one, the cost of launching such an attack is imnse."
"For another, Elental Magnetic Peak, Seeking Plum Mountain, and Luoyan Mountain are all now protected by a Grand Array."
"The rotations are happening right now, so from now on you can co rest inside the Grand Array."
’Whether the cost was high or not wasn’t the point.’
Xiao Chen felt that if the Divine Fire Sect was willing to do it once, they’d certainly be willing to do it again.
’Still, that last suggestion was a good one.’
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