Chapter 257: Chapter 219 Return Trip
When they were still some distance from the Giant City, Chen Xing handed the variable mud to his sister, asking her to leave midway and depart the land of strife with her mask on.
The road had been deserted since they were quite far from the city, with Sìxiàng providing cover by keeping watch.
But according to Sìxiàng, it sensed the breath of life in the far distance ahead.
So, the time for parting had come.
Because summoning Taotie had drawn the attention of the Dark Fire Organization, being with him only increased the danger.
Chen Lingya silently nodded; she wasn't indecisive by nature and knew staying would only be a burden, "Then I'll leave with Wan Ning first."
Chen Lingya and Wan Ning dismounted from Taotie and left in another direction.
After a moment of thought, Chen Xing retracted Taotie into the Beast Taming Space.
Then he ascended to the skies with Sìxiàng.
Hovering above the clouds, Chen Xing watched from afar as his sister safely reached the Giant City, and then he only entered the city from another gate after she departed on the nearest Teleportation Array.
After entering the city, he waited at the prearranged location for half an hour before his mentor finally arrived.
Han Yuning noticed that Chen Xing no longer wore his mask.
And guessed a part of the story.
"Did you find the person?"
"Yes, they've entered the city."
"What are you planning to do now?" Han Yuning inquired about Chen Xing's next intentions.
"Let's find a quiet place to talk," Chen Xing thought, and Sìxiàng took him and his mentor into the Dark Realm.
"Mentor, have you heard of Meng Quan from the Meng Family?"
"I have not," Han Yuning shook his head.
Chen Xing said, "He's a powerful elder from the fourth branch of the Meng Family."
As he spoke, Chen Xing also briefed his mentor about the general events and sought his opinion.
Hearing about the identity, Han Yuning pondered for a moment then said, "He is the man behind this matter? As a powerful elder from a branch family, he is indeed a person of note in the Giant City."
Seeing that Chen Xing remained composed, Han Yuning continued, "You might not be fully aware of this aspect, so let me explain it to you.
Forces that stand unshaken in the Giant City like the Meng Family are basically inheritances passed down from ancient times.
They are the elite powerhouses of the city.
And such top-tier forces will definitely possess a foundation above Transcendence."
"Above Transcendence," Chen Xing slowly repeated, "That would be Ascension?"
"Correct," Han Yuning said, "It's a simple principle. If I have it and you don't, why should you sit at the same table with me?
To share a cake at the same table, everyone must have a hand of equivalent cards."
Ascension, huh... Chen Xing mused.
Sìxiàng hadn't yet achieved Transcendence, let alone Ascension.
But such beings must be part of the family's hidden strength, not something they would casually reveal.
If an elder with actual power from a branch family were at the level of Ascension, that would be too terrifying a thought.
"However, you need not worry, as that elder hasn't reached Ascension yet. If he had, he wouldn't merely be an elder with actual power from a branch family."
"But according to the unspoken rules, to secure the position of a powerful elder, one must at least own a High Transcendence Beast Taming and have surpassed the Fifth Level on the path of Transcendence."
Chen Xing asked, "Mentor, how strong is Transcendence Fifth Level?"
Han Yuning frowned, "I don't know how to describe it to you. Each level of Transcendence is worlds apart, and the gap between each is substantial."
After pausing, Han Yuning used herself as a reference, "My strongest Beast Taming is only at the First Layers of Transcendence.
Your Beast Taming's combat power after evolution is indeed exaggerated, especially that unique skill that can directly snatch away souls.
But skills also have a limitation in strength, and it depends on the Energy Level of the one releasing it.
But what if it encounters a situation where it cannot snatch away the opponent's soul?"
"Moreover, even if you deal with Meng Quan, he is, after all, a member of the Meng Family, and this is their stronghold."
Hearing his mentor's words, Chen Xing came to a sudden realization.
Sìxiàng's power had surged ridiculously after its evolution, deserving of a beast of red Quality and its evolutionary path,
Previously, even Transcendence level Beast Tamings that felt as imposing as mountains were easily dealt with by Sìxiàng.
This led to a subtle shift in his mindset.
Now reminded by his mentor, Chen Xing adjusted his state of mind back. At this moment, he recalled a detail.
Sìxiàng did not directly snatch souls when executing Dark Realm Judgment.
There was a step in the process that involved dragging the soul into a gate.
And it seemed that the stronger the soul of the opponent, the slower the speed at which it was taken.
During the process of snatching the soul, the skill would be in a blank state.
If there were more than one opponent, and they all attacked Sìxiàng at the same time,
This brief interval might become its flaw.
Seeing this, Han Yuning asked, "Did you have any pursuers when you went to find your sister? You didn't leave any trails, did you?"
Chen Xing shook his head, "No, they were all taken care of, but I dealt with them too quickly to inquire about their identities."
By the time he arrived, Sìxiàng had already dealt with all the enemies.
Relieved at his response, Han Yuning nodded, "Then there should be no issues. Those with real identities wouldn't show up in person; it was just a bunch of underlings, so this matter should be over."
...
In the Giant City, within the Meng Family.
Inside a grand mansion, Meng Quan inquired of a servant, "Has the embroiderer not returned?"
"The seventh lady hasn't returned; she said she wanted to torment that person a bit more."
Meng Quan frowned upon hearing this and then said, "Send someone to inform her not to waste time and to come back after dealing with it."
He sent people to assassinate Chen Lingya, but it wasn't just for his son.
In fact, over the years, he had a total of fifty-seven children, twenty-eight of whom were sons.
Even having great-grandsons, he wouldn't even care about this one's death if it wasn't because he was the first child born to a newly taken embroiderer.
Sending Meng Shao to participate in the Snail Clan's ancestral relic event was also with a try-it-and-see attitude; he didn't expect him to definitely obtain the treasure.
But in the end, not only was the inheritance not obtained, but they also offended the person who did inherit the Snail Clan's legacy.
Too stupid, he didn't learn the essence of his lessons.
Meng Quan was really disappointed. If Meng Shao could come back to life and stand in front of him, he would undoubtedly give this son who only knew enjoyment of male company a severe beating.
Since that woman obtained the Snail Clan inheritance, they might as well try to gain her favor or even devise a plan to marry her. A lone woman coming to marry into the Giant City, would they still have trouble getting the inheritance from her?
But there were no ifs, since the offense had already been made.
Then they must eradicate the problem at the root, to prevent future troubles!
Meng Quan could climb from a distant, illegitimate child to a position of real power as an elder of a branch family.
It was all because of his ruthlessness!
...
Chen Xing and Han Yuning rested in the Dark Realm for one night.
Perhaps it was the presence of the Sìxiàng, but through the entire night, no creatures of the Dark Realm disturbed them.
The next day, the two left the Dark Realm and departed from the Giant City through the Teleportation Array.
Half an hour after they left the Dark Realm.
The empty streets around them began echoing with a dense rustling sound.
It was like many rats squeaking in the corners.
Gradually, from the corners emerged a vast amount of black roots, resembling hair or perhaps the fur of some creature.
The tangled mass of roots intertwined on the ground, forming the shape of a face lying on the earth.
"I smell it... right around here, it's close by, I smell it, heeheehee..."
After exiting the Teleportation Array, Chen Xing was seriously contemplating a question.
"So... why hasn't anyone from the Dark Fire Organization come looking for me yet."
It can't be that they haven't discovered me yet, can it?!
Chen Xing didn't know that his casual guess was actually very close to the truth.
Meanwhile, in a luxurious building somewhere in the Giant City.
A plaque hung on the wall – Dark Fire.
A man in a red shirt holding a stack of neatly organized intelligence reports in a beast skin document bag was brought to a specialized office.
In the office was just a large desk, and behind it a bed laid out horizontally. Enjoy exclusive content from M V L
A curtain obscured the view, and only the large figure lying on the bed could be vaguely seen.
"Sir, here is all of yesterday's intelligence," the man in red said respectfully.
With no response, the man bowed slightly, then left the office with his head down and tactfully closed the door, even hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside.
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that the sounds of shifting came from the bed.
Accompanied by heavy breathing, a large hand pulled back the curtain.
The man rolled out of bed and sat on the edge, bleary-eyed, seeming not quite awake yet.
He yawned, spread his hands out, and pushed the bag of intelligence reports to the corner of the desk.
"An eyesore!"
In the corner, bags filled with intelligence reports had already accumulated like a mountain.
These were the various intelligence reports from the Giant City and its surrounding areas every day.
Processed and analyzed every two days.
Originally, these intelligence reports were to be cleared every hour, but the workload was too intense.
Later it changed to handling reports every two hours, then once a day.
Now it's every two days.
Since the new leader took over at the Dark Fire Organization's Giant City branch, the reports have been dealt with every two days.
These intelligence reports were collected from the Giant City and nearby areas.
Some were valuable, some were not.
How to distinguish valuable information from these reports required personal judgement.
But to Yan Dongzhou, none of them were valuable!
Because truly urgent and important intelligence would always be sent directly to headquarters, and the subordinates would handle it well.
These were all uncertain or some pending intelligence.
To think he himself needed to analyze them.
It was utterly insane. If everything required the leader to handle, what was the need for those useless underlings?
"The leader, Elder Meng Quan of the Meng Family, has come to visit," came the voice of a subordinate from outside the door.
"Let him in, and, who is this Elder Meng Quan again?" Yan Dongzhou paused for a moment.
"The real power elder of the fourth branch of the Meng Family, responsible for Beast Taming training."
"Oh, right, let him wait in the reception room. I will go there after I finish eating."
"..." The corner of the subordinate's mouth twitched, but he was already accustomed to his leader's personality.
If it wasn't for the fact that your father is the head of the Yan Family, such behavior would easily get you sacked.
After waiting for over an hour.
Meng Quan finally met the reportedly "domineering" head of the Dark Fire branch.