Chapter 796 - 78: The Truth
Chapter 796: Chapter 78: The Truth
Boom!
A swath of trees collapsed, turning into wood chips.
Lin Chen landed on the ground and collected the Demon Core from the demon beast.
"Young Master Gu truly deserves to be a disciple of the Canglan Sect. Such strong power, an Innate First Realm demon beast couldn’t withstand more than three moves from him."
Qiao Shishuang, who was behind, had an expression of admiration on her face and her eyes blinked: "Choosing to cooperate with Young Master Gu is the most correct decision I’ve made."
"Miss Qiao, you’d better think about which way to go. We’ve been wandering in this mountain range for three days already."
Lin Chen turned back to glance at Qiao Shishuang. Entering the depths of the Profound Dragon Mountain Range, this was the seventh Innate Demon Beast he had slain.
To avoid disturbing more demon beasts, he quickly eliminated them using the Canglan Finger and then immediately changed locations to prevent the commotion from attracting other demon beasts.
The two raced through the forest. Hearing Lin Chen’s words, Qiao Shishuang’s delicate face showed helplessness: "Young Master Gu, I only have a section of the map inside the Dragon Blood Bodhi tree. The current location we’re in should be close. We just need to find a place that matches the map markings."
"What features does the map have?"
"There are two valleys, and there’s a pond at the right valley."
For the first time, Qiao Shishuang told Lin Chen about the map’s information. After entering the depths of the Profound Dragon Mountain Range, she found that the range was more dangerous than she imagined. The main concern was that the mountain contained some poisonous air. Innate Martial Artists have Protective Gang Qi, and the air won’t invade the body, but it shrunk the scope of her Divine Soul Perception.
In reaching this far, they didn’t dare to fly in open space; flying would expose themselves to the view of other demon beasts, so they could only travel through the forest, which restricted their sight.
To avoid missing anything, she chose to share the map’s markings with Gu Fei.
Lin Chen nodded, said nothing more, and continued to lead the way ahead, entirely opening up his Divine Soul, unaffected by this mountain’s poisonous air.
A half two-hour later, Lin Chen suddenly stopped and changed direction, moving to the left.
A quarter of an hour later, when the pond appeared before them, Qiao Shishuang’s eyes gleamed with excitement: "That’s it, this is the pond—the right side has a valley, and the waterway matches the map perfectly."
Hearing Qiao Shishuang’s words, Lin Chen also breathed a sigh of relief. Searching like a headless fly through the Profound Dragon Mountain Range was too dangerous. Just moments ago, his Divine Soul perceived two Innate Second Realm demon beasts. Upon sensing these beasts, he immediately withdrew his Soul Perception to avoid alerting them.
That’s just the Innate Second Realm. Without a safe path, going further in could lead to encounters with Innate Third or even Innate Fourth Realm beasts.
Encountering such high-level beasts means turning back and running if discovered.
Now the map-marked location has been found, and the upcoming path will be much safer—it’s a path the Chu Family has explored for decades, proven safe.
Members of the Chu Family perish when entering the mountain because their Realm is too low, lacking even the Innate level. A single misstep and encountering Innate beasts could mean total annihilation.
"Miss Qiao, please lead the way now."
"Alright."
Qiao Shishuang did not refuse, the map etched in her mind necessitated her leading.
Under Qiao Shishuang’s guidance, the journey was calm, without encountering Innate-level demon beasts. The few beasts below the Innate level were unable to detect Lin Chen and Qiao Shishuang, even if they did, sensing their powerful aura kept them at bay.
One two-hour later, Lin Chen and Qiao Shishuang reached the waterfall source. Looking at the mountain forest ahead, Qiao Shishuang couldn’t resist quickening her pace, rushing towards the forest.
"Young Master Gu, after crossing this forest, and passing seven hills..."
"Stop!"
Lin Chen interrupted Qiao Shishuang, his gaze fixed on the depths of the dense forest. Qiao Shishuang’s delicate face showed confusion, but upon seeing Lin Chen’s serious expression, she immediately understood.
"Young Master Gu, is there a terrifying beast in the forest?"
"No beasts, but there are a few people."
Lin Chen shook his head, and before he could continue, two flows of breath emanated from the dense forest, this time even Qiao Shishuang sensed them.
"After days of waiting, we finally have you."
Two men stepped out from the forest’s entrance. Seeing them, Qiao Shishuang’s eyes overflowed with immense hatred.
"I knew there were still remnants of the Chu Family alive, and sure enough, I’ve found you."
Fan Ping spoke with a cheerful tone, and Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. This phrase, "remnant of the Chu Family," was likely referring to Qiao Shishuang.
Lin Chen wasn’t too surprised; he had suspected Qiao Shishuang’s true identity for some time.
Her storytelling had few holes, except for two points of suspicion. Firstly, when mentioning the Chu Family’s massacre, she was particularly detailed about the number of people killed.
If Qiao Shishuang was unrelated to the Chu Family and merely travelled to Sanlian City with Zhuo Huai, she’d have mentioned the Chu Family’s annihilation in passing. But she specifically said, "All thirty seventy-four members of the Chu Family perished."
Such detailed memorization is borne from ingrained pain; one wouldn’t remember nor specifically mention this figure otherwise.
The second flaw was the Dragon Blood Bodhi fruit; Qiao Shishuang claimed Zhuo Huai found it in the Chu Family. This implies the fruit has one of two origins.