Chapter 365: A Dog with a Sense of Superiority?

When Jiang Mu entered the Longevity Hall, the men Ji Man had brought were still locked in a fierce battle with Gu Lichuan and the others outside. Although the tide of battle had already turned, the fight was not yet over.

Only Cui Xuanye had come over to help Chen Yuan break the array, so he was the only other one to have made it inside the Longevity Hall.

By the time they realized what was happening inside the Longevity Hall and tried to enter, they found that the array had already sealed the entrance.

Since Qingchen and Cui Xuanye, the ones who understood arrays, were both trapped inside, the others could only try to break it with brute force from the outside.

But this array from Unrivaled City was not something that could be broken so quickly.

Jiang Mu was arrogant and confident, but he wasn’t blindly so.

Aside from Si Bai, he didn’t take anyone else on the Hidden Dragon Rankings seriously, but that didn’t mean he could actually take on all the ranked prodigies present.

Just then, Flying Shadow rushed straight for Chen Yuan, who finally got a clear look at the man.

This Flying Shadow was Jiang Mu’s Personal Guard, someone Jiang Mu had recruited into Unrivaled City several years ago while roaming the Jianghu.

The man was in his thirties, clad in a suit of Profound Black Battle Armor studded with black Crystal Stones. His features were somewhat weathered, and his hair was already flecked with gray, making him seem to be lacking in Vitality.

His presence, however, was exceptionally sharp, and the power fluctuating from his body was extremely strong. He had to be at the Half-Step Primordial Pill Realm of Cultivation, the kind of expert who could begin Solidifying his Pill at any moment.

The only reason he hadn’t was because he was deliberately suppressing his Realm to protect Jiang Mu inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

“Chen Jiutian, is it? The Young Master gave you a magnificent opportunity, but you had to be shameless and throw it away. Do you really think you’re somebody? Soon enough, you’ll find out just what a grand opportunity you rejected! Hidden Dragon prodigies? You’re all just a bunch of frogs in a well!”

Flying Shadow sneered. Two short blades forged entirely from black Crystal Stones appeared in his hands. They radiated an astonishing Demonic Qi—they were a pair of Celestial Soldiers.

For a place like Unrivaled City, Celestial Soldiers were hardly a rarity.

Although Flying Shadow wasn’t of the Divine King Bloodline, he was one of Jiang Mu’s trusted Personal Guards, so he had managed to obtain a Celestial Soldier for himself.

At that moment, a hint of deep jealousy colored Flying Shadow’s gaze as he looked at Chen Yuan.

When he had first joined Unrivaled City, he hadn’t been appointed as Jiang Mu’s Personal Guard directly. It was only because he had decent talent and knew how to get things done to win Jiang Mu’s favor that he was casually accepted into Unrivaled City as a common Guard.

It was only through his own tireless service over the years, even taking a fatal blow for Jiang Mu during a trial in a secret realm, that he had earned Jiang Mu’s favor and was promoted to be his Personal Guard.

Yet now, this Chen Jiutian was being personally invited by Jiang Mu to become a Personal Guard, even being promised a bright future. It was obvious how highly Jiang Mu regarded him. How could Flying Shadow not feel a surge of jealous hatred?

Most importantly, Chen Yuan had already made a name for himself in the outside world. If he joined Unrivaled City, he would be allowed to keep his own name.

But Flying Shadow, who had joined Unrivaled City in his youth, had been stripped of his original name long ago. He could only be known by the codename “Flying Shadow.”

Chen Yuan caught the flicker of jealous hatred in Flying Shadow’s eyes and couldn’t help but sneer. “Acting like a dog, and you’ve managed to develop a superiority complex from it. How laughable! To have reached this level of cultivation at your age, you must have been somebody in the Jianghu back in the day. Even if you never made it onto the Hidden Dragon Rankings, you could have become a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster by now. But look at you now—nothing more than a servant in Unrivaled City, forced to suppress your own Realm just to escort Jiang Mu into the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Have you truly never once regretted it?”

“Insolence! Die!”

Flying Shadow roared. The immense Demonic Qi on his twin blades surged, and he instantly slashed down with both Demon Sabers. A massive Sword Aura, dozens of feet long, shrieked through the air as it shot toward Chen Yuan!

Chen Yuan’s words had struck a raw nerve.

He had originally thought that joining Unrivaled City would be like joining a Major Sect like the Vajra Prajna Temple, where any disciple eventually had a chance to rise to prominence.

Who would have thought that the hierarchy within Unrivaled City was so rigid? Taking even a single step up the ladder was next to impossible.

If he were in the outside world, even as a Loose Cultivator who didn’t qualify for the Hidden Dragon Rankings, he could have still become a powerful figure in his own right. Why would he have ended up in a state where he didn’t even have his own name?

In the dead of night, Flying Shadow had felt regret, but regret was useless. Unrivaled City was utterly ruthless toward traitors.

So, he could only bury that regret deep in his heart and continuously brainwash himself, telling himself that without Unrivaled City, he never would have obtained so many top-tier Cultivation Techniques.

Having shattered his opponent’s composure with a single sentence, Chen Yuan sneered. The Nether Blood Fiend Power surged from his Blood Sea Listening Tide. He swung his saber, and a wave of Blood Fiend energy shot toward the heavens!

The Nether Blood Fiend Power collided with the two Demonic Qi Sword Auras, instantly erupting with a deafening BOOM.

Chen Yuan was slightly surprised. This Flying Shadow was genuinely strong. Wielding a Celestial Soldier and cultivating a Celestial Level Technique, his foundation of power was exceptionally deep.

In terms of raw power reserves, he was already comparable to a top-ten expert on the Hidden Dragon Rankings like Zhang Xuanzhong. No wonder he looked down on the other prodigies on the list.

Of course, such deep power reserves came at a cost. He was already thirty-seven or thirty-eight, and from the looks of it, he should have been able to break through to the Primordial Pill Realm long ago.

But he had been suppressing his Realm all this time, waiting to escort Jiang Mu into the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

Suppressing one’s Realm was actually quite common. The top-ten experts on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, like Qingchen and Zhong Li, were all doing it in preparation for the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

But they had only been suppressing their Realms for a year or two at most. In contrast, Flying Shadow’s power was already leaking and becoming difficult to control when he attacked. He must have been suppressing his breakthrough for at least three years.

While this state granted him immense power reserves, it was also unstable. Over time, he could even suffer a backlash that would damage his very foundation.

Flying Shadow’s arms were slightly numb. He stared at Chen Yuan in horror.

He had performed countless meritorious deeds for Unrivaled City over the years, earning several Celestial Level Techniques in return. Who would have thought that in a direct clash, he would still be a notch weaker than Chen Yuan in terms of raw power?

But in the next instant, Flying Shadow’s figure blurred. He transformed into a streak of black light, appearing behind Chen Yuan in a flash, almost as if he had teleported.

The two black Demon Sabers elongated like shadows, one stabbing for the back of his heart and the other for his Dantian!

His codename was Flying Shadow. Naturally, his specialty was speed.

Furthermore, he wasn’t using a simple Lightweight Skill, but the Shadow Transformation Secret Technique, a method that allowed him to merge into his surroundings. Such a technique had already surpassed the scope of Lightweight Skills.

However, each use of the technique placed immense pressure on his Inner Viscera and Meridians and consumed his own Vitality, which was why he appeared to be lacking it.

But just as the two Demon Sabers were about to pierce Chen Yuan’s body, the sound of the Doroduma Barrier-Breaking Curse suddenly echoed.

In that instant, Buddha Light flared and the Brahma Sound boomed. The Power of Breaking Obstacles and Reducing Karma shot into Flying Shadow’s mind, causing him to falter for a split second.

Chen Yuan spun around, his Blood Killing Heaven-Seizing Hand crashing down. As the Killing Tribulation Power surged, a monstrous wave of Demonic Qi erupted from Flying Shadow’s body, blocking part of the attack’s force. At the same time, clarity returned to his eyes.

But even though the Demonic Qi was immensely powerful, it couldn’t completely negate the force of Chen Yuan’s palm. Flying Shadow was sent flying, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

“You reached this level of Cultivation by relying on the scraps Unrivaled City threw you, and you still dare to look down on the prodigies of the Hidden Dragon Rankings? You’re a fool!”

Chen Yuan snorted and mimed drawing a bow. The Nether Blood Fiend Power transformed Vitality into a monstrous aura of death, coalescing into a pitch-black arrow on a bowstring of pure void.

The Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow, enhanced by the Nine Prisons State, shot forth with a deafening blast, draining all Vitality Power from its path!

Flying Shadow’s Cultivation was not weak—he was even stronger than most of the prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings. But his strength was limited to the Condensing Truth Realm, propped up by the Cultivation Techniques Unrivaled City had given him.

Unrivaled City may have given him many Celestial Level Techniques, but they were bestowed haphazardly, with no regard for his true Martial Dao path. He had no right to choose; he could only practice whatever he was given.

The prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, however—even those like Shangguan Moyuan and Zhang Xuanzhong who had died by Chen Yuan’s hand—had determined their own Martial Dao paths long ago and were proceeding step-by-step.

Once they condensed their Primordial Pill and entered the Martial Arts Grandmaster Realm, their Cultivation would fully integrate, and their strength would skyrocket.

As for Flying Shadow… even though his power was on the verge of breaking through, his Cultivation after entering the Primordial Pill Realm would be nowhere near that of the Hidden Dragon Rankings prodigies who had long since established their Martial Dao paths.

Now, locked onto by the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow and sensing the astonishing aura of death it radiated, Flying Shadow’s expression changed dramatically.

His hands formed a Seal Technique. Flying Shadow’s Qi Blood began to burn, and his Demonic Qi compressed rapidly. In an instant, his body merged with his surroundings, performing the Void Shadow Transformation.

Flying Shadow’s Shadow Transformation Secret Technique was bizarre and profound. He was the fastest Martial Artist Chen Yuan had ever seen; even the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow couldn’t maintain its lock on him.

Chen Yuan formed a Seal Technique with his hands. In an instant, a divine light blossomed in his eyes, which now resembled endless abysses with star charts swirling within, a profoundly mystical sight.

Using the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, Chen Yuan could not only see Flying Shadow’s true form but also his trajectory after performing the Void Shadow Transformation.

After using the Void Shadow Transformation Secret Technique, Flying Shadow couldn’t actually control his movements freely; he could only travel in straight lines.

Therefore, with the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, Chen Yuan could easily predict his position.

The next moment, Dao Essence surged around Chen Yuan as silvery-white lightning coalesced in his hand.

In an instant, thunder roared. The lightning formed a blade, and the Shenxiao Evil-slaying Sword slashed down, bathing the entire Longevity Hall in a flash of silvery-white light.

Sensing the Shenxiao Evil-slaying Sword was about to strike him, the horrified Flying Shadow abruptly changed direction.

But in the next moment, the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow slammed into him, leaving a massive dent in his Celestial Soldier Level Battle Armor.

Although the arrow failed to completely pierce the Celestial Soldier Armor, the impact still caved in Flying Shadow’s chest, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

The next moment, a black and red Sword Aura sliced through the air. Before he could transform into a shadow again, his head was already sent flying!