Ordinary People: Starting with the Chen Clan

"How could someone as wise as Senior Brother Qiong be someone as dull-witted as me to fathom?"

Ni Chang spoke calmly and did not say anything more.

Seeing this, Li Huayuan and the others stopped dwelling on the topic and instead discussed the final gains of the disciples from each faction during the Blood Trial.

At the urging of the old Taoist priest of Qingxu Sect, Li Huayuan still activated his red-eyed one-tomoe form.

Chen Xuanzhou looked at the giant python beside him and thought to himself, "I wonder if Li Huayuan's gambling addiction will still take the bait again in this life, without the Bloodline Flood Dragon."

This time, you should know that Han Tianzun is currently a guest at Chen's house!

But none of this matters to him anymore. He won't even come when the next Blood Trial offers him Foundation Establishment Pills.

The bet was quickly settled, and the seven Nascent Soul cultivators from different sects all unleashed their magical treasures, targeting the weakest points in the restrictions.

When the passage opened and it was the turn of the Hidden Moon Sect disciples to line up and enter, the three members of the Chen family huddled together tightly.

Their hands even clasped together, and they disappeared before the barrier.

Chen Xuanzhou watched from afar, his hands clenching slightly before finally letting go, as if he could do nothing but watch.

After a dizzying moment, Chen Houwu immediately erected a shield around himself.

He sensed the surrounding area within a few feet with his spiritual sense, but didn't see a single person. This made his expression slightly unpleasant.

"When I entered the secret realm, I had already put myself between two people. I thought that since the Spirit Fusion Talisman had a 50% chance of success, and I was in the middle, one of them should be able to teleport to me by chance."

The result? Heh...

Hopefully, they'll have better luck and meet someone.

Chen Houwu sighed, looked around but didn't see anything particularly significant, so he headed towards the core area.

. . .

On the other side, Chen Xuanhong and his companion were lucky enough to be teleported to the same place.

The two looked at the grayish-black mud on the ground. Chen Xuanhong pressed down slightly with her foot, and immediately bubbles rose from the rotten puddle.

There were also strangely shaped, twisted trees and blood-red grass growing nearby, and the air was filled with a pungent, strange smell.

Such a landmark location that even with their eyes closed, the pungent smell would allow the two to recognize it.

"I never expected that we'd teleported to the same place!"

"Yes, luck is the most unpredictable thing. Let's see if Atsushi is around."

As Chen Houzhe spoke, he took out a square, earthen-yellow compass.

He gently tossed it into the air, and a stream of blood-red magic power flowed into the bottom of the compass, accompanied by a pungent smell of blood.

A short while later, the copper needle on the compass was still spinning around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Seeing this, Chen Houzhe had no choice but to put the compass back into his storage bag.

"Let's go. It seems we'll have to keep moving and search for Atsutake's location as we go."

The two did not linger at the Black Dragon Pool for even a moment, but flew directly over the cold pool.

They ignored the spiritual herbs that were right in front of them in the pool, and their blatant leap across the Black Dragon Pool was not because they dared to disregard Chen Xuanzhou's words.

However, in the outer areas like Wulongtan, the danger mainly comes from people, and these two don't seem like easy targets.

Moreover, everyone has just entered the secret realm and hasn't picked many medicinal herbs yet, so there's no need to fight to the death.

Flying over the icy pool would allow one to avoid the entanglement of the icy toads within, saving some time.

After leaping over the icy pool, the two stopped making such a show of themselves and instead moved close to the ground.

Along the way, the two did not stop at any of the medicine-producing sites they passed. They only took out their compasses to sense the locations every ten miles or so.

In stark contrast to his smooth-sailing journey, Chen Houwu's recent days have been filled with ups and downs and constant setbacks.

For example, at this moment, he was looking at the two people in front of him who were positioned in a pincer movement with a gloomy expression. Obviously, he was being treated as an easy target.

Neither of them were ordinary people; both had reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and both were in the late stage.

And the weapons they carried were not to be underestimated either; one of the slightly taller middle-aged men was holding a gourd that was more than half a person's height in one hand.

Black flying ants kept emerging from the gourd's mouth, accompanied by black smoke, making it difficult to see their true forms.

Another slightly overweight young man, with his eyes half-closed, was completely obscured by a giant bear. Despite his rounded figure, he always made people subconsciously ignore him.

Looking at the two beasts, Chen Houwu only recognized that the giant bear was a first-tier high-grade spirit beast, the Mountain Moving Bear.

It's the kind of creature that's muscular and resilient. Even among first-tier demonic beasts, it's considered outstanding.

With the luxurious equipment provided by Chen Xuanzhou, Chen Houwu, while not certain of victory, was more than capable of saving his own life.

However, the patriarch once taught that in all things one should know to be masculine and feminine, and to avoid taking action if possible.

"Gentlemen, the trial has just begun. Making enemies indiscriminately may not be a good thing!"

Besides, although I'm alone, I'm loaded with plenty of equipment, look at this!

Chen Houwu flipped his hand, and three talismans with firebird patterns appeared in his palm.

Even at this point, Chen Houwu was still unwilling to start a conflict lightly. It would be best to deter the other party with force, and completing the mission was the top priority.

The reason for using talismans instead of precious magical artifacts is to prevent the other party from developing greed.

After all, magical artifacts can be used again after being replaced, while mid-level talismans can be consumed at any time.

As expected, Chen Houwu took out three Firebird Talismans without warning. The two exchanged glances and each took a step back.

"Gentlemen, I don't want to say it a second time!"

Chen Houwu also stepped forward, his voice becoming colder.

The slightly chubby young man squinted so narrowly that his eyes were almost invisible as he said to the middle-aged man beside him, "Senior Brother Lin, this kid is a tough nut to crack, not easy to deal with!"

Moreover, when I was outside, I saw that he had two brothers who entered the secret realm together. Even if I captured him, it would be very unlucky if his two brothers came looking for me.

If we use up too many of our trump cards on him, dealing with his brother will be troublesome too!

The tall, thin middle-aged man, known as Senior Brother Lin, showed no change in expression, silently putting the black ants back into the gourd.

However, the black smoke did not dissipate, still obscuring its form.

The fat man and the young man had obviously been working together for many years, so there was no need for them to say anything more. The giant bear in front of the fat man immediately moved to the center.

His broad frame was just right to protect both of them in time.

Chen Houwu then summoned a shield-shaped magical artifact, inside which was a layer of blood-red shield. As for his life-saving ability, it was of course the Bloodline Dragon Inner Armor.

The two maintained a safe distance of nearly ten zhang, alternating and separating.