LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 7: Sudden Opportunity
The news that the ninth prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, Gu Yan, wished to break through the martial arts pinnacle and reach a new realm of heaven and earth was astonishing. If this news were to spread, the entire region would surely be in an uproar.
After all, there had been no definite news of anyone from the younger generation within this realm making such a breakthrough. If Gu Yan were to succeed, he might well become the first prodigy of the Human Clan in this region.
The Red Yuan Fruit was a kind of heavenly and earthly treasure that could increase the magical power of a Heavenly Human Realm martial artist by hundreds of years, extremely precious indeed.
For the ninth prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, Gu Yan, who was about to break through the martial arts domain and reach the Earth Realm to create a personal Coagulation Field inside his body, the Red Yuan Fruit was extremely important, and could even be considered one of the main ingredients.
The audacity of Shadowless Hand Tian Fei was indeed great, daring to target the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty at such a critical juncture and stealing the Red Yuan Fruit during its transportation.
Perhaps it was the years of smooth sailing that had blinded him, making him provoke someone he should not have.
At this moment, having heard such news, Gu Chen was ready to enter the fray and personally take action to seize the so-called Red Yuan Fruit.
"Truly, this is an unexpected opportunity," Gu Chen said with a faint smile.
Now the surrounding mountain range was entirely under the control of the soldiers of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, implementing a lockdown. Even the Shadowless Hand Tian Fei, no matter how capable he was, had little hope of escaping.
Moreover, with a single command from the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, a vast network of various sects and factions from tens of thousands of miles around had gathered to assist in the capture of Shadowless Hand Tian Fei. It was a trap with no escape.
With a whoosh, silhouettes flickered as Liao Yun and the others dispersed in different directions, beginning their search for Tian Fei's whereabouts.
Each one of them was taking this very seriously, hoping for an opportunity to be personally received by Prince Gu Yan. If they could successfully join his ranks, it would truly be like soaring to the heavens.
After all, if Gu Yan successfully broke through this time, his becoming the crown prince of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty would be beyond dispute.
"Junior sister, why do you look so downcast? While I know you're reluctant to do the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty's bidding, it's also not good to show your displeasure too obviously," said Liao Yun, the senior brother of Xuan Yi Sect, eyeing the graceful figure of Ling Fei beside him, with a hint of heat flashing in his eyes.
Ling Fei had a delicate face and beautiful features, with an exceptionally slender waist. Upon hearing his words, she simply nodded gently.
The Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty was domineering in its actions and didn't tolerate the slightest bit of resistance. Moreover, it was rumored that the ninth prince, Gu Yan, was particularly unruly and tyrannical. Ling Fei had no favorable impression of him, and had it not been for her sect's orders, she would indeed not have come here.
"By the way, junior sister, be careful. Those from the Bi Bo Sect might very well take action against us in secret; we need to be cautious," Liao Yun, the senior disciple of Xuan Yi Sect, said with a serious tone.
"Hmm," Ling Fei simply nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Gu Chen stood in the distance, watching Liao Yun and the others scatter and diligently search through the mountain ranges.
His face was calm, his pupils shone with a divine light, as he once again used the Heavenly Eye to peer through the mountains, leaving no secrets hidden from his gaze.
"Oh? They've sent hundreds of soldiers to guard this place?" Gu Chen's eyes flashed with astonishment.
It seemed that Gu Yan indeed placed great importance on the Red Yuan Fruit. Even though they were in the same realm, the state where the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty was located was quite a long distance from Meteor State. The presence of hundreds of soldiers here also somewhat demonstrated the influence of Gu Yan within the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty.
"It seems he really is going to become the crown prince," Gu Chen muttered to himself.
Then, with the help of the Heavenly Eye, he quickly identified a figure in the mountain range, disguised in the uniform of the soldiers of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, silently heading toward a certain location.
The minor tricks and Face-Changing Skill stood no chance before Gu Chen's Heavenly Eye; he locked onto the target in an instant. This man was none other than the great thief everyone was searching for—Shadowless Hand Tian Fei!
It must be said, Tian Fei truly had some tricks up his sleeve, managing to pull off such an audacious act of deception. If not for Gu Chen's presence today, Tian Fei might have actually slipped away unnoticed.
He was indeed a notorious thief known across the states, daring to provoke the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, truly extraordinary.
At this moment, seeing through everything with his Heavenly Eye, Gu Chen could even peer into Tian Fei's storage magical device, discerning his wealth, and that radiant, spirit-lit, red fruit.
"It seems the travel expenses will be on you," Gu Chen said with a faint smile. In the next moment, his figure flashed, appearing right in front of the great thief, Shadowless Hand Tian Fei.
At this point, the thief was sneakily taking a short cut, hoping to fade into the shadows and leave the place undetected.
"Hand over everything," Gu Chen suddenly appeared, startling Shadowless Hand Tian Fei quite immensely.
"Who?!"
His body trembled, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat, as he saw a young man with jet-black hair, handsome features, star-like eyes, and a cultured and gentle demeanor appear before him.
"What do you mean? I am on a mission to find the great thief Shadowless Hand Tian Fei, may I inquire as to who you are?" Tian Fei asked, feigning confusion.
"Tian Fei, there's no need for pretense in front of me. Hand over the items, and I will let you go," said Gu Chen, his expression extraordinarily calm.
After all, the items Tian Fei stole belonged to Gu Yan, not him. Once he had them in hand, Gu Chen had no obligation to help an enemy catch a thief.
"I don't understand what you are talking about," Tian Fei lowered his head, a vicious light bursting forth in his eyes, ready to take action.
"Thinking of fighting? You may want to consider the consequences," Gu Chen said with composed ease, his calm demeanor immediately putting Tian Fei on edge.
The Shadowless Hand Tian Fei before him only possessed the initial cultivation of the Earth realm, after all. Gu Chen could suppress him with a mere flick of his finger.
"Let's talk this over nicely, we can talk it over," suddenly Tian Fei switched to a completely different demeanor, a grin plastered on his face, and without a word more, he took out the Red Yuan Fruit and handed it over to Gu Chen decisively.
"Now that I've given you the item, you will let me go, yes?" Tian Fei said, watching Gu Chen and taking cautious steps backward.
Gu Chen observed the Red Yuan Fruit in his hand, watching it for a few moments, sensing the raging, overwhelming energy contained within.
Even if he absorbed it, it would add many years to his cultivation.
But just then, the retreating Tian Fei suddenly let out a loud yell, exclaiming, "I've found him, Shadowless Hand Tian Fei is here, he's over here!"
Amplified by his cultivation, his shout echoed far and wide in an instant, heard by everyone in the vicinity.
"What?!"
"Shadowless Hand Tian Fei has been spotted, over there, hurry up!"
In a moment, from all directions, everyone rushed towards the direction of Gu Chen.
"Quick-witted in a crisis, turning the tables with ease, he does have some skills," Gu Chen observed the coldly smirking Tian Fei standing in the distance, his eyes deep and profound.
No wonder the other party has managed to survive until now. Such speed of thought and decisiveness are indeed not something ordinary people possess.
"Regrettably, it's useless against me," said Gu Chen, his expression calm. Others might have fallen today, but not to him.
At this moment, the Shadowless Hand, Tian Fei, stood in the distance, looking at Gu Chen with cold eyes full of mockery and ferocity, thinking that he could take his belongings so easily? No way in hell!
"Dare to take what belongs to Tian Fei, you'll pay the price for your greed," he thought bitterly.
In an instant, the sky lit up with shimmering lights as countless figures rushed towards the area, surrounding Gu Chen.
Leading the way were surely the various soldiers of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty, closely followed by the outstanding disciples of the Bi Bo Sect and others.
In addition, a few war generals, as well as Ling Fei and Liao Yun from the Xuan Yi Sect, had also arrived on the scene.
"Well done!"
The leading general reached out his large hand and patted Tian Fei's shoulder, his demeanor subtly excited.
Retrieving the Red Yuan Fruit was also a great achievement for him, an opportunity to make a favorable impression in front of Gu Yan.
That peerless prodigy, who possessed an extraordinary background and identity, was revered and admired by everyone.
At that point, the leading general turned his gaze to Gu Chen, noticing the Red Yuan Fruit in his hand, and immediately made a judgment, saying, "Indeed, it's the Shadowless Hand Tian Fei, seize him for me!"
"Yes!"
Hundreds of soldiers responded. They were dressed in standard armor, moved with uniform precision, and formed battle formations, pointing their long spears towards Gu Chen.
The cultivation of these soldiers was mostly within the Coagulation Field, with a few unit leaders being in the Divine Intent Realm.
Now, they had formed some kind of battle formation; the combined strength of hundreds of men was directed uniformly at Gu Chen.
Ling Fei of the Xuan Yi Sect stood in the distance, her beautiful eyes blinking as she looked at the handsome figure not far from her, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him before.
Her intuition was incredibly sharp, much more so than her peers, and sometimes, she almost seemed clairvoyant, able to recognize someone's extraordinary qualities.
Ling Fei was well aware of her unique trait, so she trusted her gut feelings. Despite racking her brain, she still couldn't figure out where she had seen this handsome man before.
Gu Chen noticed Ling Fei sizing him up with a puzzled look and felt a slight stir in his heart, sensing her exceptional nature.
However, he was also aware that it would be difficult for Ling Fei to recognize him.
Then, his gaze shifted, looking at the hundreds of soldiers before him arranged in military formation. If they were all from the Divine Intent Realm, led by multiple figures from the Earth realm, they might truly have posed some trouble for Gu Chen.
Unfortunately, the current army formation was not up to the task. It could handle other individuals in the Earth realm but not Gu Chen.
Jing!
In a flash, magical power surged within Gu Chen's body. With a flick of his finger, a thick sword Qi appeared, and the Heavenly Earth Essence Qi almost seemed to solidify, slashing down on the formation before him.
"Pfft!"
In a single encounter, numerous soldiers spat out blood, their so-called battle formation easily shattered by Gu Chen.
"Hmm?!"
The complexion of the leading general changed. According to the intelligence he had, the Shadowless Hand Tian Fei was merely at the early stage of the Earth realm and could not possibly possess such supreme strength.
The reason why no one had been able to capture him was simply due to his superior Face-Changing Skill and breath-concealing techniques.
The intelligence never indicated that the thief Tian Fei possessed such formidable and shocking fighting prowess.
"Hand over the Red Yuan Fruit!"
At this moment, a few chief disciples of sects on par with the Xuan Yi Sect stepped forward. With their remarkable cultivation, all in the Earth realm, they joined forces to attack Gu Chen.
Boom!
But alas, to no avail. With a mere sweep of his sleeve, Gu Chen sent them flying back even faster than they had come.
"As expected, compared to the lower realms, the power has diminished quite a bit," Gu Chen sighed to himself after seeing the results.
He knew this was after he had remade his body and his strength had increased. Had he used this move there, without even cracking the ground, it indicated just how stable the higher realms were.
In the Nine States, with Gu Chen's current strength, this single strike could have split the heavens and shattered the earth, turning over a dozen mountains into dust in an instant.
Yet here, each of his moves was significantly "weakened."
On the other hand, the crowd witnessing Gu Chen's formidable strength had their expressions change drastically.
"Infinite Azurite Waves!"
At that moment, the chief disciple of the Bi Bo Sect stepped forward. With an angry roar, he performed the Bi Bo Sect's founding technique, summoning ocean waves that reached for the sky, crashing towards Gu Chen.
Thud!
Upon seeing this, Gu Chen tapped his foot lightly on the ground, and a massive shockwave spread out, destroying the oncoming waves and sending the Bi Bo Sect's chief disciple flying back with blood spewing from his mouth.
"Powerful!"
Liao Yun from the Xuan Yi Sect, who was about to take action, was inwardly alarmed and retreated discretely a few steps. He then looked towards the leading general and said, "My lord, how can Tian Fei have such great strength?"
The war general of the Heavenly Mysterious Imperial Dynasty frowned as well, his eyes filled with confusion. Even though he had a cultivation at the complete stage of the Earth realm, facing Gu Chen, he too felt uncertain.
"Could it be he is not Tian Fei?!" Suddenly, such a thought emerged in the general's mind, causing his face to twist with shock.