Chapter 1186: Playing Tricks, Scams

"Young friend, your master is?"

"Jian Fei Dao."

"The Zhutian Sword God, Jian Fei Dao?" Dongyang and Qingyue looked at Ye Chen tentatively.

"Such an impressive title—who else in the Zhutian myriad domains would dare to use it?"

"So it's the descendant of the Zhutian Sword God. Our apologies for the disrespect." Dongyang and Qingyue's expressions toward Ye Chen changed completely. The Zhutian Sword God was a legendary figure in the quasi-heaven myriad domains, on the same level as the Eastern Emperor. They had every reason to believe that the Eastern Emperor had indeed entrusted his legitimate son to the Sword God in the past, so they had no doubts about Ye Chen's words.

"You're too kind." Ye Chen smugly smoothed his hair.

"Since the Eastern Emperor entrusted the prince to the Sword God, the prince must be with him. Could you take us to meet the prince?" Dongyang and Qingyue looked at Ye Chen expectantly.

"Honestly, I can't find my way home right now." Ye Chen cleared his throat.

"What do you mean by not finding your way home?"

"A hundred years ago, I accidentally entered an ancient secret realm and got trapped inside. When I finally got out, I was in this star domain." Ye Chen made up a convincing excuse. "In short, I'm lost."

"This..."

"I've lost a lot of memories in my head." Ye Chen tapped his forehead. "I don't even remember which star domain or ancient star my master is in. So, I need a star map—the bigger, the better—so I can gradually find my way back. Besides that, I'll need plenty of travel expenses. The journey is extremely long, and some magical artifacts and pills would be even better."

"That's easy to arrange. We have star maps, though not the largest, they're still substantial. As for magical artifacts and pills, our divine dynasty has plenty, and money is no issue at all." Dongyang and Qingyue were quite generous, pulling out their storage bags and handing them directly to Ye Chen without hesitation.

"That's great." Ye Chen grinned, not holding back at all. He'd gone through all this trouble just to get some goodies from the divine dynasty! Dongyang and Qingyue were certainly delivering.

"Young friend, we shouldn't delay. Let's set out right away to find the prince!" Dongyang and Qingyue both stood up.

"No rush." Ye Chen tucked away the storage bags and waved his hand. "I still have some matters to attend to at Lingxiao Palace in the near future, and I need some time to think about the way home. Once you two seniors have sorted out the divine dynasty's affairs, you can come find me at Lingxiao Palace, and we'll head out together then."

"That works." Dongyang and Qingyue nodded in agreement.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" As the three were talking, frenzied roars echoed from outside the small bamboo grove.

Before the words had even faded, a disheveled figure burst in—it was Hua Tiandu.

Hua Tiandu looked terrifying now, his hair a wild mess, his body covered in fresh blood, his face twisted, his expression grotesquely fierce. His body was so battered and deformed that it hadn't fully recovered yet. Anyone who knew him would recognize a person, but to others, he might as well be a monster charging in.

Behind Hua Tiandu was the Zhenxuan Daoist, who had been sent away earlier but had returned. It seemed he had led Hua Tiandu here, and his goal was simple: to settle scores with Ye Chen.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Hua Tiandu lunged at Ye Chen like a mad dog.

"How dare you!" Qingyue gave a stern rebuke and casually sealed Hua Tiandu in place.

"Zhenxuan, are you ignoring my authority?" Dongyang's face darkened as he glared at Zhenxuan Daoist.

"Senior brother, what are you talking about?" Zhenxuan Daoist said leisurely. "The divine dynasty's godson was nearly beaten to death, so we're just here to seek justice. Otherwise, people outside might really think our divine dynasty is easy to bully."

"Junior brother, what exactly do you want?" Qingyue glanced at Zhenxuan Daoist.

"Kill him." Zhenxuan Daoist's killing intent surged as he fixed his eyes on Ye Chen. The pressure from a saint was overwhelming, and so was the killing aura, leaving Ye Chen, who was sitting there, unable to move. It felt as if his entire body had plunged into the depths of Jiu You hell—a breath of death.

"Do you even know who he is?" Qingyue said gravely.

"It doesn't matter who he is." Zhenxuan Daoist snorted coldly.

"Even if he's the disciple of the Zhutian Sword God?" Dongyang stared straight at Zhenxuan Daoist.

"The disciple of the Zhutian Sword God?" Zhenxuan Daoist's body trembled. He looked at Ye Chen, then back at Dongyang and Qingyue with utter disbelief. "He's the disciple of the Sword God?"

"What do you think?" Dongyang and Qingyue both snorted coldly.

"This..." Zhenxuan Daoist's face changed. He knew Dongyang and Qingyue wouldn't joke about something like this, and he was all too aware of who the Zhutian Sword God was—a mythical figure in the Zhutian myriad domains.

"Go ahead and kill me if you want." Ye Chen spoke up, shrugging casually. "I've fallen into your hands today, so I have nothing to say. But if my master comes for revenge later, don't cry foul. They say wrongs have their perpetrators and debts have their debtors. The Sword God is a fair man and won't harm your family over this, so you can rest easy on that point. As for me..."

"I was blind not to recognize the disciple of the Sword God. Please forgive me." Before Ye Chen could finish, Zhenxuan Daoist backed down completely.

"Could you at least lift your pressure first?" Ye Chen glanced at Zhenxuan.

"Of course, of course, I'll lift it right away."

"Oh dear, oh dear, I'm dizzy." As soon as the pressure lifted, Ye Chen swayed from side to side and collapsed headfirst into Zhenxuan Daoist's arms, spitting out fresh blood and fainting on the spot.

"Young friend!" Qingyue hurried forward.

"You've done quite the deed." Dongyang also stepped up, glaring fiercely at Zhenxuan in the process, assuming it was his earlier pressure and killing intent that had injured Ye Chen.

"This..." Zhenxuan Daoist was panic-stricken, sweat pouring down his forehead. Who was Ye Chen? The disciple of the Sword God! If something happened to him, who knew if the Sword God would come and stomp him to death.

At that thought, Zhenxuan Daoist didn't even have time to wipe his sweat before rushing forward, pulling out various spiritual pills and elixirs from his storage bag.

A simple apology wasn't going to cut it—no way!

With his eyes closed, Ye Chen was secretly delighted inside, happily absorbing the essence of the pills. He was indeed injured, but it wasn't from Zhenxuan's pressure or killing intent—it was all an act.

In the world of cultivators, there's a term for what he was doing: touching porcelain.

And his performance was spot on, because it had thoroughly scared Zhenxuan Daoist, who was now piling spiritual pills and elixirs on him like there was no tomorrow, afraid something might happen.

Hua Tiandu, still sealed nearby, was completely stunned by the scene.

He had come for revenge, only to uncover that Ye Chen was the disciple of the Zhutian Sword God.

What a twist.

The disciple of the Zhutian Sword God—that was an unshakeable background, far surpassing his own by miles.

He's actually been injured by the pressure!

Dongyang, who was treating Ye Chen's wounds, muttered gravely.

At least it didn't damage his Dao root!

Qingyue's face was also grim.

You've done quite the deed!

Dongyang and Qingyue glared at Zhenxuan Daoist again.

Naturally, the two of them regretted not stopping Zhenxuan earlier.

Zhenxuan Daoist felt wronged but didn't stop, shoving large quantities of potent medicines into Ye Chen's body, including seventh-tier pills and even one of eighth-tier quality.

Ye Chen, pretending to be unconscious, was grinning even more.

Now, all his injuries—hidden or otherwise—were being pinned on Zhenxuan. Who asked him to show up at the perfect time?

All Ye Chen had to do was absorb the pill essence while others handled the healing.

After some time, he slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing Ye Chen awake, Dongyang and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Zhenxuan Daoist kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, terrified that something might go wrong with the Sword God's disciple in their divine dynasty.

"Senior, next time go easy on me—I'm not tough enough to take it." Ye Chen rubbed his head as he sat up.

"It was my recklessness, young friend. Please don't hold it against me." Zhenxuan Daoist was now as meek as a lamb, all because of the Sword God's reputation.

"For the sake of you healing me, I'll let this slide and not report it to my master." Ye Chen said it with a tone of deep sincerity, as if he'd suffered a great injustice.

"That's for the best, that's for the best." Zhenxuan Daoist replied, wiping away more sweat.

"Since your godson is here, I have to say a few words." Ye Chen glanced at Hua Tiandu and casually pulled out a stalk of Cui Xian Bamboo, tucking it into his storage bag.

"Your godson has such a small mindset."

"He disrupted the auction— that's not right."

"And in a fight, if you lose, you lose—it's normal to get beaten."

"His mouth is foul too. He called a perfectly fine fairy from Lingxiao Palace a wretch."

"And as for assaulting female cultivators, that's even worse. They're people with parents too. A proper young woman, and he just toys with her as he pleases. Is there no law?"

"In the future, you three seniors should keep a better eye on him. Someone like him could easily get killed outside."

Ye Chen went on like a chatterbox, lecturing Hua Tiandu mercilessly.

But more than that, with every point he made, he casually pulled out another stalk of Cui Xian Bamboo and slipped it into his storage bag.

His actions left Dongyang and the others staring in astonishment. How could the disciple of the Zhutian Sword God act like such a shameless bandit? A perfectly fine bamboo grove was being stripped bare like a bald patch.

"Well then, I won't disturb you any longer!"

After pulling out one last stalk, Ye Chen turned and dashed away faster than a rabbit, afraid the old folks might change their minds and demand the storage bags back or drag him back for more talk.

Dongyang and the others watched Ye Chen disappear, then looked at the Cui Xian Bamboo grove, still trying to process what had just happened.

If they ever found out Ye Chen had been bluffing them all along, would they chase him down and kick him to death?