Chapter 16: The Murong Clan of Dragon City

The so-called Divine Artifact Incarnation is a method developed over millennia by major powers who wield Divine Magical Weapons, pushing the value of these artifacts to its absolute limit.

Thousands of years ago, when major powers first possessed Divine Magical Weapons, they merely used them as powerful weapons that could serve as the foundation of their power.

Later, they gradually discovered that the power of Divine Magical Weapons could actually be borrowed.

As long as Materials with attributes similar to the Divine Artifact or Demonic Weapon are used, methods such as Formations and Sacrifices can be employed to channel a portion of the artifact’s power into an Incarnation, creating a Divine Artifact Incarnation.

For example, if the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance’s Divine Weapon, the Guan Ri Sword, wanted to create a Divine Artifact Incarnation, they would need to use special Materials like Lightning-Struck Wood and Sunfire Essence Gold to forge a small sword capable of bearing the Divine Artifact’s power.

Of course, the Divine Artifact Incarnations created are all disposable items.

Once used, these mundane Materials cannot withstand the explosive power of the Divine Artifact or Demonic Weapon and will shatter, and the power of the Divine Artifact Incarnation cannot compare to that of a true Divine Artifact.

Even so, the power of a Divine Artifact Incarnation is still astonishingly formidable, essentially providing these Disciples of noble families and Sects with an extra trump card.

Some top-tier major powers have even developed more methods to borrow the power of Divine Magical Weapons, surpassing even Divine Artifact Incarnations in strength.

A single Divine Artifact or Demonic Weapon can not only suppress an entire power but also provide trump card strength for its many Martial Artists, which is why these forces in the Jianghu are so eager to obtain them.

And now, the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance not only lacks a Weapon Master but also cannot even borrow the power of their Divine Weapon. What does this signify?

It signifies that although they nominally possess a Divine Artifact or Demonic Weapon, in reality, they are no different from those forces without one.

If this were temporary, it might be manageable, but if it continues indefinitely, the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance is not far from decline, or even destruction.

“Is everything you’ve said true?”

Wenrou still found it hard to believe.

To be precise, it was hearing this from Chen Yuan’s mouth that made her skeptical.

Such critical intelligence, capable of affecting the life and death of the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance, would surely be suppressed with extreme force by the Alliance.

Chen Yuan, a guy from a small Gang in Lianshan City—calling him a frog in a well wouldn’t be an exaggeration—how could he possibly know such information?

But recalling that Chen Yuan actually knew Zuo Xinglie was in Lianshan City, Wenrou felt a bit more inclined to believe him.

“Whether it’s true or false, your Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower can investigate and find out. That’s your specialty.”

Chen Yuan said calmly, “With such a major incident happening to the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance, things inside Guan Ri Valley are definitely not as usual. There will be traces to follow.

You already know the answer in advance; reasoning backward from it, I believe you’ll reach a conclusion quickly.”

Wenrou pondered for a moment, then gritted her teeth fiercely: “Fine! I’ll trust you this once, damn it!

I’ll send a message to my superiors right away and have someone investigate Guan Ri Valley. We should have results in a few days.

If it succeeds, it will be a great merit. I’ll arrange for your matter to be handled immediately.

And as you said, if ninety percent of the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance’s people are stabilizing the Guan Ri Sword, it will be easy for me to help cover up your tracks.”

“Then I’ll trouble Manager Wen.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

Wenrou stared at Chen Yuan with a solemn expression: “I’m staking my future on believing you this time. If you dare lie to me, no matter where you flee to the ends of the earth, I’ll drag you out!”

“Manager Wen, rest assured. I, Chen Yuan, keep my word in all matters, and besides, I don’t lie to women.”

Chen Yuan smiled, cupped his hands, and turned to leave.

His greatest advantage wasn’t just knowing the plot but also being aware of many secrets of various forces and figures in the Jianghu.

Some had nothing to do with him or the plot, but for others, they mattered greatly.

Chen Yuan had no use for these secrets; some secrets, once past their time, ceased to be secrets.

So, when conditions allowed, Chen Yuan preferred to exchange these secrets for tangible benefits, and the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower was the perfect place for that.

They needed intelligence; he had intelligence. Both sides could cooperate quite happily.

Of course, Chen Yuan also needed to ensure his own strength grew to maintain the initiative in such transactions.

In the original plot, the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower had always been a neutral force, adhering strictly to rules, with no record of harmful actions.

But it’s wise to be cautious.

What if they became interested in Chen Yuan, who held many secrets, and didn’t want to trade but instead tried to extract more secrets directly from him?

Thus, only strength is the foundation of everything.

When Chen Yuan returned to the Heaven Wolf Gang, the entire Gang was bustling with activity.

To ‘avenge’ Jiang Kaitai, the Gang members were searching throughout Lianshan City for suspicious outsiders, causing widespread panic.

Not only the Heaven Wolf Gang but also the Blackwater Gang were participating in the search.

Lianshan City wasn’t just the Heaven Wolf Gang’s territory; half of it belonged to the Blackwater Gang.

Currently, the entire city was thrown into panic by the Blood Sacrifice massacre incident. Commoners dared not go out, and merchants dared not open for business, ultimately causing losses for both Gangs.

While the Heaven Wolf Gang searched for outsiders, Jiang Kaitai successfully misled the Blackwater Gang, directing their focus onto outsiders as well.

It must be said, Jiang Kaitai’s move of sacrificing his own clan and diverting the blame was indeed clever, enough to cover for him for a long time.

After returning to the Gang, Chen Yuan continued his seclusion, not wasting a single moment.

Jiang Kaitai had initiated the Blood Sacrifice for the Divine Artifact over ten days early, costing Chen Yuan more than ten days of cultivation time.

Even with those extra ten days, he might not have achieved a Breakthrough, but every additional day increased his chances.

Three days later, Wenrou sent someone to inform Chen Yuan that she had already arranged for his matter to be handled.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan was slightly surprised.

He hadn’t expected the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower to act so quickly.

But upon reflection, it made sense. The Tower’s spies were spread throughout the Jianghu, some hidden incredibly deep.

Because the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower’s spies gathered intelligence without any specific purpose, the secret information they obtained often didn’t cause any impact.

This led to some spies remaining undercover for decades without their superiors realizing they were from the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower.

Wenrou was quite reliable in her work, as was the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower.

Since she said she had arranged for it, Chen Yuan believed the Murong Clan would arrive soon.

Sure enough, five nights later, Jiang Kaitai suddenly summoned all the Heaven Wolf Gang’s Hall Masters for a meeting.

When Chen Yuan arrived at the Council Hall, he found that the person sitting in the main seat wasn’t Jiang Kaitai but a handsome yet arrogant-looking young man in his early thirties, wearing a golden brocade robe with dragon patterns and a phoenix-patterned golden crown.

The usually imposing Heaven Wolf Gang Hall Master, Jiang Kaitai, now stood beside the young man, hunched over like an old servant serving tea.

Seeing everyone had arrived, Jiang Kaitai quickly said, “This is Young Master Murong Qing of the Murong Clan of Dragon City, here specifically to investigate the Blood Sacrifice massacre incident in Lianshan City. Hurry and pay your respects.”

“Greetings, Young Master Murong!”

The many Hall Masters present hurriedly bowed with fear and trepidation.

Though they were Hall Masters within Lianshan City, commanding hundreds of Gang members with great authority,

in reality, the entire Heaven Wolf Gang was merely a dog raised by the Murong Clan.

Only Jiang Kaitai had the qualification to call the Murong Clan his masters; they didn’t even have the right to address them as such.

While bowing along with the others, Chen Yuan observed Murong Qing.

The plot had changed again from before.

In the original plot, a middle-aged man named Murong Li had come; now it was Murong Qing.

Chen Yuan had prepared for this. With the Blood Sacrifice occurring over ten days early, who knew if the previous Murong Li might have other tasks keeping him away from Dragon City.

So, switching to Murong Qing wasn’t entirely unexpected.

However, Murong Qing and Murong Li’s strengths were quite similar, both at the Fifth Realm of the Nine Realms of Martial Dao: the Lunhai Realm.

The Foundation Establishment Realm involved releasing Internal Energy as True Qi externally, but limited by Internal Energy, this external release usually didn’t last long.

The Fifth Realm, the Lunhai Realm, involved using Internal Energy to open a Lunhai within the Dantian, where True Qi circulated endlessly, allowing for prolonged external release of True Qi.

Murong Qing wasn’t concealing his aura; even from a distance, Chen Yuan could sense the powerful aura unique to the Lunhai Realm emanating from him.

Of course, this was also because Murong Qing was too ostentatious.

Normal Martial Artists, even upon reaching the Lunhai Realm, wouldn’t intentionally release their aura so conspicuously.

But most people from the Murong Clan were this flamboyant, which was a consensus in the Jianghu.

The Murong Clan originated from the royal family of a dynasty three dynasties ago.

Exactly how far back that was, many people weren’t sure; it was all thousands of years ago anyway.

The Murong Clan’s reign didn’t last long—only a hundred or two hundred years before they were driven out.

But over the following millennia, the Murong Clan always considered themselves royal descendants, claiming nobility and transcendence.

Just look at Murong Qing’s attire: a Jianghu noble family daring to wear a golden robe with dragon patterns and a phoenix-patterned golden crown—each element was a serious overstep.

This was only possible because Youzhou was far from the imperial capital, and the current Daxia Dynasty’s authority had indeed weakened, so no one bothered to stop them.

When the Daxia Dynasty was first established and suppressing the Jianghu, the Murong Clan didn’t dare mention being royal descendants or such things.

Those clothes with dragon and python patterns at home were hidden away, never worn out to show off.

In recent decades, the Murong Clan had truly started to flaunt themselves.

Not only did they resume their previous flamboyant style, wearing overstepping attire, but they even sometimes talked about restoring their kingdom.

Of course, most people just laughed it off.

Thousands of years had passed, with dozens of dynastic changes; the probability of the Murong Clan rebelling to establish a new kingdom was higher than restoring the old one.

Of course, people in the Jianghu knew the Murong Clan was just boasting.

Zhi Shilang dared to openly rebel against the court from Changbai Mountain, but the Murong Clan didn’t have that courage.