The Jiang Manor was sort of extravagant in decorating. Bright red corridors and waterside pavilions could be seen everywhere. In the distance, there was a jade green lake. Though in the autumn, its backyard garden was full of blooming flowers. There, butterflies were dancing trippingly, and many green vines entangled the trees.

After wandering around for a while, Xiao Chen and Chu Qi still hadn’t reached the front hall. On the way, they met a delicate-looking maid. Then they followed her to the living room. When they arrived there, the maid made tea for them and said, “Please wait for a moment. I’ll go to invite the master here.”

After that, the maid walked straight out. Xiao Chen sat on a chair, raising his head to look at the layout of the living room. By his side, Chu Qi remained silent. After about 15 minutes, footsteps gradually sounded outside, which were getting closer and closer.

“Young hero Xiao, you’re awake.”

Right after Jiang Bietian walked swiftly in, Xiao Chen stood up. He saluted Jiang Bietian with a smile and said, “City Master Jiang, thanks for taking care of me these days.”

“My pleasure, young hero Xiao. Take a seat, please.” Jiang Bietian said with a smile on his face, appearing to be very enthusiastic.

Xiao Chen looked at him and thought, “Is it true that he has no cultivation at all?” He also smiled and sat back in his chair.

The two of them chatted for a while. Xiao Chen said properly and tried not to mention his own business. Of course, he wouldn’t mention the matter of the million Spirit Stones. After a while, Jiang Bietian smiled a little and asked a guard outside to come in.

In the guard’s hands was a large embroidered box, which seemed to be a little heavy. Xiao Chen took a quick glance at it, but his face still looked calm, revealing a light smile.

Jiang Bietian took the embroidered box from the guard and opened it. Suddenly, the whole room was filled with pure Spiritual Qi. Twenty Spirit Stones with faint green light were placed neatly in the box. Each of them was as big as a palm and of extremely high purity. They were the best of the Spirit Stones. Not only could they be used as currency, but also people could absorb the Spiritual Qi inside directly.

“Here are twenty Tier Six Spirit Stones. Ten of them are the reward for you winning the Sword Tryout’s championship, and the other ten stones are the gifts for you saving my daughter’s life that day,” said Jiang Bietian with a smile.

In the Violet Manor, the general currency took the Tier One Spirit Stone as a unit. One Tier Six Spirit Stone was equivalent to 100,000 Tier One Spirit Stones. Then the twenty Tier Six Spirit Stones was the equal of 2,000,000 Tier One Spirit Stones. But now, each of the twenty Tier Six Spirit Stones was the very pure stone of the best quality. Thus, their value was far more than two million Spirit Stones, and it would be a waste to use them as currency.

Xiao Chen suppressed the excitement in his heart at the moment and remained calm. He still smiled and said, “This… How dare I accept such a valuable gift from you?”

As he spoke, he did not even glance at the embroidered box. Jiang Bietian smiled and said, “Young hero Xiao, if you refuse, you will somewhat embarrass me a little.”

“If that’s the case, then thank you for your kindness.” Xiao Chen smiled and looked at Chu Qi. Then he immediately turned his head and changed the subject before Jiang Bietian could. “By the way, City Master Jiang, there’s something that I don’t understand. May I ask you that?”

“Feel free to ask me.”

Xiao Chen asked, “I saw that the Fighting Platform ingeniously structured, but why did it suddenly go wrong?”

Xiao Chen thought that since Ren Tianxing was missing, he had to start with his old friend if he wanted to find him. But Xiao Chen couldn’t say openly that he was looking for Ren Tianxing, for he and Jiang Bietian hadn’t yet been that close.

Jiang Bietian said, “To tell you the truth, Master Ren designed the Fighting Platform. It has been for long years out of repair, so it went wrong. Speaking of which, I feel sorry for you, young hero Xiao.”

Xiao Chen replied, “That’s all right. It turns out that Master Ren designed it. No wonder that it’s well designed. But haven’t Master Ren come back in the past few years?”

With this, Xiao Chen fixed his eyes on Jiang Bietian’s face, trying to find even a slight emotion change on his face. Jiang Bietian sighed and said, “Yes, it has been many years since I saw Master Ren come back last time.”

“Oh? Then, after the last time you saw Master Ren, where did he go?” Xiao Chen did not look away and questioned closely. He felt that things would not be that simple.

Jiang Bietian also raised his head and looked at him. At this moment, when they looked into each other’s eyes, it seemed that both of them wanted to find something in each other’s eyes. The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became a little weird. After a short silence, Xiao Chen smiled and said, “City Master Jiang, don’t get me wrong. I just asked it casually.”

Jiang Bietian nodded and sighed again. “In fact, there is nothing to hide. Master Ren is very famous. Many people have heard of him. But as for where he last appeared, some people said that it was in the Death (Wastelands provinces), some said that it was in the Life (Wastelands provinces), and others were saying that he had gone to some other realms. People hold all sorts of versions of what had happened.”

Xiao Chen smiled. He didn’t believe Jiang Bietian’s words. Jiang Bietian must know something, but he would never tell it to an outsider.

“By the way, I almost forgot about it when we are chatting.” With a smile, Jiang Bietian also changed the topic this time. He took out two delicate jade notes from the pocket on his chest and handed one of them to Xiao Chen. “These are the jade notes of the Cloud Mist Academy. You won one of the places this time. As for the other place, Perfected Immortal Chongyang has decided to give it to Miss Chu Qi.”

Xiao Chen took the jade notes, though he had never thought of going to the so-called Cloud Mist Academy. He smiled and said, “Then thank you, City Master Jiang. Where are my friends now?”

“They’re also in the manor. I’ll bring you to them right now. Follow me, please.”

At once, Xiao Chen followed him and found Yang Qing and others. After Jiang Bietian left, Yang Qing whispered, “Are you all right, Brother Xiao?”

Xiao Chen shook his head. With fixed attention, he said, “Let’s leave for the Yan Prefecture City today.” Yang Qing was stunned. “Why are you in such a hurry? Don’t you intend to go to the Cloud Mist Academy?”

“The Cloud Mist Academy? What am I going to do there?”

Yang Qing was even more stunned, but it was no surprise. Xiao Chen was not from the Wastelands, so he did not know what the Cloud Mist Academy was. Thinking of this, Yang Qing looked outside and made sure that no one was around. Then he said, “Brother Xiao, I have always wanted to tell you that if you want to draw people over to your side and form a force, the Cloud Mist Academy will be the best place for you to go.”

When Xiao Chen heard his words, his expression turned serious. The first reason he came to the Wastelands was to find Ren Tianxing, and the second was to draw some people in. Thus, he asked, “Why do you say so?”

Yang Qing whispered in Xiao Chen’s ear, “The Cloud Mist Academy is not a certain force. Instead, it is equivalent to an academy. You have also seen its high admission requirements. Even someone as excellent as Liu Qing was unable to enter the academy. Therefore, it can be said that any person who can enter the Cloud Mist Academy is one in a hundred. Moreover, they will also enter a certain force in the future. Therefore, why don’t you draw them over to your side as soon as possible…”

Xiao Chen stared intently at him, knowing what he meant. If what he said was right, it was indeed a good way. After all, he couldn’t draw in those elders who had reached the Apotheosis Realm or the Grand Completion Realm. But if it were the new blood of the Cultivation World, it would be totally different.

Now the Annihilation Times had come. With their strong combat strength and high status, those people of the older generation were extremely important. However, the strength of the bright younger generation should not be overlooked either. Time makes it inevitable that the rising generation is always worthier than the former one. In the future, these young talents would definitely surpass the elders! Thus, this group of people was more important than one or two cultivators in the Grand Completion Realm!

Xiao Chen composed himself, thinking, “Among the Five Continents, even the powerful Divine Mist Sect only has a few disciples who have reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, plus Zuoqiu Yang, who is at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. The rest of them are still at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, or even in the Core Forming Realm. And the young cultivators whom I can bring back from the Cloud Mist Academy will become peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, or even the Nirvana Realm cultivators.”

“If Big Brother Xiao Ning and Gu Feng also come here to take charge, will we directly surpass those so-called big sects and become a major force in the Violet Manor with one action? At that time, we will not even fear the Mo Clan.”

Seeing that Xiao Chen was about to change his mind, Yang Qing continued, “It’s more than that. The Cloud Mist Academy is the best place to cultivate. If you go there, you will make much greater progress in less than three years. I see no reason why you don’t go there.”

Xiao Chen thought carefully for a moment. “Since I was in the Violet Manor, I have always been distracted by all kinds of things and have never cultivated well. Although my cultivation seems to be higher than others of the same generation, there are many powerful people in this world. Perhaps compared with the powerful ones, I am nothing. It seems that I must improve my cultivation. In this way, I can face the unpredictable future more calmly and make it easier for me to convince the public in the future.”

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen nodded firmly. “Okay, I’ll go to the Cloud Mist Academy!” Then he looked at Chu Qi, who still kept quiet. But since Xiao Chen had decided to go, she would undoubtedly stay by his side.

Then they said good-bye to Jiang Bietian and left the Yan Prefecture City. Although Jiang Qianqian would also go to the Cloud Mist Academy, Xiao Chen certainly would not go with her.

The Cloud Mist Academy was located in the southwest of the Death (Wastelands provinces). It was in a city called the White Fog City, which was tens of thousands of miles away from the Yan Prefecture City. The division of areas in the Wastelands was, in fact, the same as the division of the Violet Manor, which had five continents. The registration time of the Cloud Mist Academy was on the 28th of September, which was half a month away. Therefore, Xiao Chen didn’t need to hurry on with his journey. When he was in a sparsely populated place, he would fly on his sword. While he was in a crowded place, he would take a carriage.

Of course, although it seemed to be an easy and relaxing trip, Xiao Chen still did not let his guard down. Especially when he put up for the night, he was always on the alert. He still remembered that some unknown people surprisingly attacked him that evening after the Sword Tryout. Xiao Chen hadn’t yet found out who those people were, but the person was onto him.

Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. It was late autumn, and the grass and trees had withered. The whole world looked bleak. In the Wastelands, the poor places appeared to be extremely barren. In contrast, the prosperous places were much more prosperous and bustling. In the four minor realms, the White Fog City was the most flourishing and also the most dangerous because there was an evil force called the Black Horn.

Gangsters of the Black Horn were all over the Wastelands, large or small. This place was only one of their ports. They engaged in the trade of human beings, including slaves, women, and children. Except for that, they also had close connections with the other forces. They organized many unknown and evil deals, including soul trading.

Meanwhile, they took in desperados from all over the world. Some people might ask why the Cloud Mist Academy just let these evil people do whatever they liked. It was because they couldn’t control these evil people at all. The White Fog City was very large. It was called a city, but in fact, it was bigger than a state. Compared with the White Fog City, even Tianyuan City was just a small one.

There were three districts in the White Fog City. The Cloud Mist Academy was in the northern district. The southern district which connected to the Lifeless Sea was where the Black Horn was located. Therefore, some people called the southern district the Black-horn City or the Black-horn Port. As for the central district, it was a land of no one. It was the most chaotic place, in which bloody incidents happened every day.

Today, when Xiao Chen just arrived in this city, he couldn’t help feeling a little shocked. In terms of size alone, perhaps no city in the five continents could compare with it, even if it was the Tianyuan City. After walking for more than an hour, it seemed that they had just walked through only a few blocks.

At this moment, Xiao Chen suddenly felt that a faint murderous aura was approaching him slowly from behind. The aura was getting closer and closer. He turned around and saw a black-clothed man crop up before him.

“Junior Brother Xiao.” The man greeted.