Information.
Chen Yan understood the importance of information all too well.
Throughout all his actions so far, Chen Yan had always been the one in the open, while his enemies lurked in the shadows.
It was precisely because of this that Chen Yan was almost always restrained and manipulated, and would always die for seemingly inexplicable reasons.
Back when Chen Yan was still a talentless hack, idling away his years in the outer court, he never felt this world was particularly dangerous.
Occasionally, a manager disciple or an administrator from the outer court would give him so simple tasks that required a bit of ti to complete.
Other than that, all he needed to do was lie flat and coast along.
Well, except for that outer court catastrophe.
But when Chen Yan began to get entangled with those major figures within the sect and gradually started to uncover the truth behind everything, the more he struggled, the darker this world appeared.
Peace and tranquility were rely a superficial facade of this world.
The true world of immortal cultivation devoured people without spitting out the bones.
Chen Yan knew what he had to do.
He left Manager Ding's side room and then found an unoccupied corner within the inner area of the Gambling Den.
The box in his hand still had a restriction layer applied by Steward Song using his true qi.
This was likely the last wisp of true qi Steward Song left behind in this world.
Chen Yan circulated his own true qi and easily wiped away that restriction layer.
He opened the box. Inside was only a piece of paper folded several tis.
Taking out the paper and unfolding it, Chen Yan discovered it only contained thirteen nas written in small regular script.
Just thirteen nas.
...
Pei Qingshan.
Zheng He.
Qiguan Jin.
Xue Xiu.
He Furen.
...
Zhang Xishun.
Huo Mu.
"..."
This was sowhat troubleso.
Chen Yan frowned. After obtaining Song Mingde's list, he did not feel the sudden enlightennt or clarity he had originally imagined.
The reason was simple: he simply didn't recognize the vast majority of the nas on this list, let alone knew how to connect these nas together.
Zhang Xishun, he knew who that was.
Another familiar na caught Chen Yan's attention.
Xue Xiu.
Supervisor of the outer court Training Grounds, and acting elder of the outer court.
Could it be that all thirteen people on this list were sleeper agents arranged by Bai Qiming within the various peaks and branches of the Kongshan Sect?
The current acting elder of the outer court was Bai Qiming's sleeper agent?
He couldn't jump to that conclusion just yet.
For now, Chen Yan could only judge that the nas written on this list must share so commonality.
The most likely possibility was that these people were all Bai Qiming's sleeper agents.
Chen Yan read it several more tis, committing all thirteen nas on the list to mory.
Then he folded the paper and tucked it into his clothes.
Ti to return to the sect.
Chen Yan walked out of the Gambling Den and waved at the doorman standing at its entrance.
"Immortal Master?"
Seeing Chen Yan erge from the Gambling Den, the doorman was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Chen Yan to co out so quickly.
"Bring my horse."
Chen Yan said.
"Right away, I'll go get it!"
The doorman was very nimble. He headed towards the stable nearby and soon brought Chen Yan's horse over.
He didn't ask any extra questions, nor did he say anything more.
Chen Yan mounted the horse and headed for the city gate.
The journey from Taiyun City back to the Kongshan Sect was over eight hundred li and would take about two and a half hours.
If he had been marked from the very beginning, it was highly likely soone would attempt to intercept and kill him on his way back.
Just like they had killed Song Mingde.
And Chen Yan was already prepared to face death.
It would be best if he could bring Song Mingde's list back to the sect. Even if he couldn't, he had already obtained the intelligence Song Mingde had hidden away.
It was a cloudy, moonless night.
The branches of the trees lining the road flew past rapidly behind him. The only sounds in Chen Yan's ears were the wind, the hoofbeats, and the horse's rapid breathing.
"Pei Qingshan, Zheng He, Qiguan Jin..."
At regular intervals, Chen Yan would silently recite the nas on the list in his mind to reinforce his mory.
"Xue Xiu, He Furen..."
Suddenly, Chen Yan's peripheral vision caught a dark shadow swiftly flashing past on one of the trees beside the road.
What was coming would always co.
Chen Yan mobilized the true qi within his Martial Spring. His ridians were rapidly filled with true qi, ready to engage the enemy at any mont.
The horse beneath him suddenly let out a shrill, terrified whinny, as if startled by sothing imnse.
In the next instant, a blade's gleam flashed before Chen Yan's eyes, heading straight for his neck. He hurriedly raised his arm, using his forearm to block.
At the mont the blade was about to touch Chen Yan's skin, his protective true qi erupted from the ridians in his arm.
The sound of tal clashing, accompanied by sparks, sprayed onto Chen Yan's face. Using the imnse recoil force coming at him, he flipped off the horse and rolled several tis on the ground.
Chen Yan quickly spun to his feet. Before fully rising, his palm lightly brushed against a shadow on the ground. Seizing this opportunity, he released the Shadow Binding Rope into the shadow.
Chen Yan wasn't carrying any weapons. He wasn't skilled in using them.
Back in his first life, Chen Yan had acquired a sword of quite decent quality. Although it was a mortal weapon, it could still resonate with true qi.
That sword had cost him six mid-grade spirit stones.
Based on Chen Yan's inco in the outer court at that ti, that sword was worth a year's salary.
His reason for buying that sword was simple and pure.
Because it looked cool.
But Chen Yan was not adept at swordsmanship.
So he found a manager disciple at the Training Grounds who practiced the sword and gave him another three mid-grade spirit stones, wanting to learn swordsmanship.
Before he could even practice with him twice, that sword-practicing manager disciple t with an accident during an outer court mission and unfortunately died.
The spirit stones were wasted again.
Thus, Chen Yan's interest in learning the sword was almost completely extinguished.
From then on, Chen Yan's sword beca rely an ornant hanging at his waist.
Even when he occasionally encountered conflicts and needed to fight, Chen Yan never drew his sword, relying solely on his fists.
But these were all matters of the distant past now.
Back to the present.
Having stood up from the ground, Chen Yan vigilantly observed his surroundings.
Then, two figures landed in front of Chen Yan.
Neither of them wore daoist robes. Instead, they wore clothes similar to Chen Yan's, quite common among the ordinary people of the Qingque Kingdom.
However, compared to Chen Yan's attire, the clothes of the two n before him were clearly more suited for movent.
"Martial Spring Realm?"
One of the two n in front of Chen Yan let out a rather surprised sound.
From their brief exchange just now, that person could clearly sense that Chen Yan's cultivation realm was definitely not the early Qi Circulation Realm as reported, but a genuine Martial Spring Realm cultivator.
Chen Yan could also sense that the two n sent to ambush him were also both in the Martial Spring Realm.
Chen Yan exhaled a heavy breath, not daring to relax in the slightest.
This was his first ti truly crossing hands with Martial Spring Realm cultivators.
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