Chapter 254: In the Shadows

With a distant wave of Yang Yan's hand, a deep, dull thud of colliding flesh echoed through the air. Following this, the crowd watched in utter horror as Bai Yunfei, whose face still retained an expression of lingering terror, slowly collapsed to the ground. The last traces of vitality completely vanished from his eyes, and he perished on the spot.

The entire scene plunged into an absolute silence. Everyone stared in stupefied awe at the slowly falling body of Bai Yunfei, a sense of profound disbelief welling up in their hearts.

Although they were well aware that half a year ago, this young man named Yang Yan had used his strength at the Third Tier of the Spirit-Channeling Realm to defeat Lu Qingshan, a peak Spirit-Channeling expert, and even severed one of the latter's arms, he had only managed that feat at the cost of sustaining severe injuries himself.

Yet the current outcome was vastly different from back then. Not only had Bai Yunfei met his demise, but Lu Qingshan—who had broken through to the Spirit-Sea Realm not long ago—had also been crushed by Yang Yan in a single blow, his body embedded deep into the mountain wall with his life or death unknown.

This spectacle was simply too shocking. It took a long time for the crowd to recover their senses, as their cognitive understanding flatly refused to let them believe everything unfolding before their eyes.

It was unimaginable that Bai Yunfei and Lu Qingshan, both long renowned in Bingzhou, had failed to gain the slightest upper hand against Yang Yan—even with the latter having attained the Spirit-Sea Realm. Instead, neither had lasted more than a single move before being defeated by Yang Yan. This meant that Yang Yan's current strength was fully capable of contending with ordinary cultivators at the Third or even Fourth Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm; otherwise, it would have been utterly impossible for him to dispatch Lu Qingshan with such effortless ease.

When this realization dawned upon them, many were left too shocked to speak.

A cultivator at the Fourth Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm, or perhaps even higher, at the tender age of seventeen or eighteen was simply mind-boggling.

Looking across the entire cultivation world of Bingzhou, even the most prodigious talents could only reach around the Fourth Tier of the Spirit-Channeling Realm at such an age. Yet Yang Yan had completely shattered this record. While one might not dare call him the absolute last, he was certainly without precedent.

Ordinarily, an expert who reached the Spirit-Sea Realm was capable of dominating the cultivation world of an entire province. Had it not been for the twist brought by Yang Yan today, Lu Qingshan's current cultivation would have made unifying the Bingzhou cultivation world an exceedingly simple task. After all, although there was only a single step between the peak of the Spirit-Channeling Realm and the Spirit-Sea Realm, the strength displayed by the two realms was worlds apart.

Originally, Lu Qingshan had harbored such ambitions. He had deliberately concealed his breakthrough, plotting with the Cloud Mountain Sect to wipe out the Vatican Sound Valley. Naturally, once the valley was destroyed, Lu Qingshan would have turned his blade against the Cloud Mountain Sect without the slightest hesitation, thereby ending Bingzhou's three-way standoff that had lasted for decades.

Before that, he had intended to use Ji Yuanxuan and the others as hostages to lure Yang Yan to this place, tearing Yang Yan limb from limb to avenge his severed arm.

Yet, meticulously as his clever scheme had been laid out, the one thing he had miscalculated was Yang Yan's current strength.

The sheer speed of Yang Yan's cultivation had vastly exceeded Lu Qingshan's imagination.

Upon reflection, it was only natural—how could anyone believe that a greenhorn whose strength had only reached the Third Tier of the Spirit-Channeling Realm half a year ago could easily slaughter a Spirit-Sea Realm expert after a mere six months? Such a notion was something he would never have believed even if beaten to death.

And precisely because of this disbelief, he had perhaps been beaten to death by Yang Yan instead. Regrettably, heaven would never grant him a second chance at regret. In the cultivation world of the jungle, where the strong preyed on the weak, the victors became kings and the losers villains; only the winners were ever remembered.

"My son-in-law is truly a freak."

After a long while, Ji Yuanxuan below finally recovered his wits, murmuring in absolute disbelief, though his face was dominated by joy.

As expected, his precious daughter had a fine eye for people. In a mere half-year, Yang Yan had grown to such heights. In his heart, he naturally believed that only a young hero like Yang Yan was worthy of his beloved daughter.

"Brother-in-law is truly formidable."

Ji Wuyue's two older brothers also came to their senses, their faces similarly brimming with boundless delight.

On Ji Wuyue's exquisitely charming face, a radiant joy bloomed as well. She gazed with burning eyes at the figure standing loftily in mid-air, her maiden heart fluttering wildly while an overwhelming sense of intense pride swelled within her.

When she had first met Yang Yan, apart from the resonance between their special spiritual constitutions, a woman's intuition had told her that the man before her was extraordinary.

Had it been merely that, with Ji Wuyue's proud disposition, she naturally would not have deliberately sought closeness with Yang Yan.

Yet fate was wondrously strange. When the two of them were trapped together in the underground palace, a twist of serendipity led them to share intimacy, thus cementing their relationship.

As a young woman, Ji Wuyue held rather contradictory and complicated feelings about losing her virginity to another.

In truth, a trace of quiet relief lingered in her heart. Compared to Bai Yifei, Yang Yan was undoubtedly far more outstanding. During their cooperation in the ruins prior, Ji Wuyue had already developed a subtle affinity for him.

Though that feeling had been extremely vague, it was an undeniable fondness. While it had not yet ascended to the stage of romantic love, she was certain it was heading in that direction.

Yet, understanding her own heart was one thing; she cared deeply about how Yang Yan felt toward her.

Given her proud nature, had he chosen to shirk responsibility after the fact, she would never have lowered herself to beg.

And when Yang Yan declared that he would take responsibility for her, her joy was accompanied by a lingering anxiety.

That anxiety stemmed from whether Yang Yan was truly fond of her or merely staying by her side out of guilt and compensation.

This answer was of paramount importance to Ji Wuyue. For a man intended to accompany her through the rest of her life, she hoped there would be no lingering estrangement or thorns between them.

Fortunately, time had proven everything. The dozen days spent with Yang Yan in the Vatican Sound Valley could be called the happiest moments of Ji Wuyue's life thus far.

It was only then that she finally understood why she had previously remained entirely indifferent to those so-called young prodigies and geniuses of Bingzhou, feeling not the slightest ripple of emotion toward their pursuits and affections—she had simply been waiting for Yang Yan all along.

It was precisely because of Yang Yan's appearance that she felt her life had become complete.

Staring blankly at the straight figure suspended in mid-air, Ji Wuyue understood that she finally had someone to lean on for the rest of her life. As long as the man before her did not fall, no harm would ever befall her.

Yet just as Ji Wuyue was swept up in a tempest of emotions, Yang Yan's figure in mid-air suddenly pivoted. His gaze locked onto a distant mountain peak, and a cold shout burst abruptly from his lips.

"Your Excellency has been hiding and tailing us for so long; it's time to come out."

As Yang Yan's words fell, the expressions of both Ji Wuyue and Ji Yuanxuan altered drastically. Could it be that apart from the people of the Cloud Mountain Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect, someone else had been lurking here all this time? Yet previously, none of them had sensed a thing!

"A true hero indeed comes from the youth! I fear no young cultivator throughout the entire Fengyun Empire can rival you. No wonder the sect places such high importance on you—let me deal with you personally!"

A sonorous voice resounded fiercely across the entire Vatican Sound Valley. Simultaneously, a figure soared from the mountain peak, finally coming to a halt in the void directly opposite Yang Yan.

"Treading the air—another Spirit-Sea Realm expert!"

Many members of the Vatican Sound Valley below let out a gasp of astonishment.

They had witnessed far too many shocking events in a single day. First, Lu Qingshan of the Heavenly Sword Sect attained the strength of the Spirit-Sea Realm, only to be defeated in a single move by the suddenly appearing Yang Yan. Following that, yet another Spirit-Sea Realm expert had emerged, and judging by the circumstances, this adversary was clearly even more formidable than Lu Qingshan—otherwise, he would not dare boast of being able to slay Yang Yan.

As that figure materialized, Yang Yan's expression grew somewhat grave.

The middle-aged man before him appeared to be around forty years of age. He had a lean, bone-thin build yet stood quite tall, making his entire frame resemble a towering bamboo pole. In his hands were a pair of disproportionately tiny daggers, and at this moment, he was fixing a cold stare upon Yang Yan.

As soul power drifted outward from between his brows, a sense of vigilance arose in Yang Yan's heart, for he found himself entirely unable to probe the true depth of the opponent's strength.

Moreover, a faint intuition told him that the person before him was far more formidable than Sun Tianyang, whom he had previously defeated, and vastly superior to the likes of Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan had merely stumbled upon a fortunate breakthrough a month prior; having just reached the Spirit-Sea Realm, his cultivation had yet to fully stabilize. Strictly speaking, he was even a notch inferior to Liu Zong, the patriarch of the Liu clan of Shangzhou.

Yet back then, when Yang Yan was only at the Fifth Tier of the Spirit-Channeling Realm, he had been capable of trading blows with Liu Zong head-on. Now, not only had his spiritual energy cultivation reached the peak of the Spirit-Channeling Realm, but both his Supreme Profound Heavenly Art and his soul realm had also broken through. The overlapping strength of these three aspects gave Yang Yan the full capital to swiftly defeat an expert at the First Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm.

If he were to encounter a cultivator at the Second or Third Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm, Yang Yan might require some effort to deal with them, yet he would still hold at least a seventy percent chance of victory.

As for this unfamiliar man before him, his strength was at least at the Fourth Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm, if not higher, making it somewhat arduous for Yang Yan to claim victory.

Owing to the opponent's formidable strength, his skill in concealing his aura was likewise exceptionally profound. Had it not been for the chaotic rout of the lingering Heavenly Sword Sect and Cloud Mountain Sect disciples following the deaths of Lu Qingshan and Bai Yunfei, Yang Yan truly might not have sensed this fellow's presence.

Simultaneously, a sigh could not help but rise in his heart. It seemed that the Fengyun Pavilion and the Profound Heaven Palace truly thought highly of him to dispatch such an expert to intercept him. Given that the two factions were presently locked in a tense war with the Martial Dao Gate, being able to detach an expert at the Fourth Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm or higher just to deal with him was a genuine testament to their regard.

"I wonder which side's dog you are—the Profound Heaven Palace's or the Fengyun Pavilion's?"

Yang Yan stared coldly at the middle-aged man, speaking slowly after a long pause.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's expression darkened abruptly. With his strength, even within the Fengyun Pavilion he belonged to the very peak tier; even the sect master spoke to him with courtesy. When had anyone ever dared to address him as a dog in such a public setting?

Though his temperament was normally exceptionally steady and calm, hearing such arrogant words from Yang Yan still stirred an urge to fly into a rage.

"Such a sharp-tongued brat! Since you are so arrogant, I shall see whether your strength truly matches your mouth!"

Following the middle-aged man's cold shout, pale-cyan wind-attribute spiritual energy surged across his entire body. Judging from the terrifying energy fluctuations released by that power, Yang Yan roughly discerned the man's strength: a cultivator at the Fifth Tier of the Spirit-Sea Realm!

Such strength, even placed within the Fengyun Pavilion or the Profound Heaven Palace, could be considered top-tier, yet he had been dispatched merely to capture him.

Furthermore, judging from the wind-attribute spiritual energy diffusing from the opponent's body, there was a high probability he hailed from the Fengyun Pavilion.

"It seems the cooperation between the Profound Heaven Palace and the Fengyun Pavilion is hardly airtight."

Yang Yan could not help letting out a cold laugh.

Outwardly, the two factions claimed to be cooperating to deal with the Martial Dao Gate, yet covertly they kept dispatching people to move against him. First, the Profound Heaven Palace's agents had attempted to utilize the influence of the Sword Sect, the Xu family, and the Dragon-Imperial Fortress to deal with the Zhang family, foolishly hoping to use the Zhang family as hostages to coerce him.

As for this so-called Fengyun Pavilion, they had played an even larger hand, directly dispatching a Fifth Tier Spirit-Sea Realm expert to deal with him, using the Heavenly Sword Sect and Cloud Mountain Sect as a cover to lure him here and slaughter him to seize his spirit-seed.

"It appears those old fogey factions truly place immense value on spirit-seeds."

Yang Yan arrived at his conclusion.

Having just entered the Spirit-Sea Realm himself, he naturally lacked a profound comprehension of a spirit-seed's importance. Only experts who had truly reached the Life-Forgetfulness Realm could increasingly grasp the vital significance of such things.

For experts of the Life-Forgetfulness Realm, any further breakthrough would lead them into the Soul-Control Realm, and the key to that breakthrough lay in extracting one's soul from the physical body to form an independent entity.

To achieve that, one's soul had to be maintained in a remarkably formidable state, thereby raising the success rate of the breakthrough.