Leaving the mountain peak, Ye Xuan found Hua.
"Hua, are you sure the fifty City Lords have left the Sun Family?"
Hua said seriously, "Young Master, I am sure."
"Good. I need to head out for a bit."
"Young Master, do you need me to go with you?"
"Not this time. I’ll be fine on my own."
Ye Xuan was clearly afraid of dragging Hua into trouble if anything went wrong.
"Young Master, it won’t be dangerous, will it?"
"Don’t worry, it won’t."
Twenty minutes later, Ye Xuan left the Big Mountain.
He walked out of the Illusion Array and headed straight for Hero City. The Big Mountain wasn’t far from Hero City. Traveling at top speed, he arrived by evening.
Ye Xuan didn’t go through the main gate, but scaled the wall to enter. He wasn’t stupid. Although the City Lords had retreated, he was still a wanted man. Everyone entering the city was required to show their true face. Those with full beards would even have them shaved off on the spot.
The walls of a city were a hundred meters high and perfectly smooth. Even an expert in the Demon Spirit Realm couldn’t leap a hundred zhang in a single bound. Only someone in the Earth Spirit Realm, by continuously borrowing momentum, could easily vault over the hundred-meter-tall wall. Although Ye Xuan was not in the Earth Spirit Realm, he managed to scale it with some effort, relying on his mid-Earth-grade longsword.
Wearing a bamboo hat, he strolled casually through the city. His clothes were very ordinary, without even a single totem on them.
Ye Xuan was in no rush to head to the Sun Family’s home. It was only evening, and the sky hadn’t yet gone dark. It would be much easier to act under the cover of night.
He entered an inn, ordered a pot of tea, and listened for news while he drank. Just then, someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Kid, you’ve got some nerve."
Ye Xuan smiled and said, "Mr. Man Tian, what a coincidence. Are you storytelling here? By the way, your *Ye Xuan’s Record* is quite well written. Even my blood boiled listening to it."
The person patting his shoulder was none other than Man Tian.
Man Tian stroked his beard and said, "You listened to my *Ye Xuan’s Record*? It’s a pity that telling *Ye Xuan’s Record* is now banned nationwide."
"Yeah, Hua told me about it. She’s been out gathering information recently."
"Hua, the woman wearing a mask? Hmm, she has some skills. She’s not simple."
Ye Xuan didn’t catch the underlying meaning in Man Tian’s words. He cupped his fists and said, "Mr. Man Tian, I still have to thank you. If you hadn’t found me such a good place... you know."
Man Tian said indifferently, "Didn’t I tell you? This is a trade between you and me. By the way, what are you doing here?"
"I’m going to the Sun Family’s home."
"Still eyeing the Sun Family’s resources? They hid them long ago."
"No, I’m going to the Three-Star Secret Realm."
"Going to the Secret Realm to find fortuitous encounters? But there shouldn’t be any left."
"I’m not looking for encounters, just killing Beasts."
"Risking so much danger just to kill Beasts?" Man Tian was a little surprised. Then, he condensed his voice into a line, transmitting it directly to Ye Xuan. "Do you realize that the storm around you has started to cool down? Many people now believe you’re dead. If you cause a commotion at a time like this, wouldn’t it prove you’re alive? The whole incident will be reignited."
Ye Xuan, however, said nonchalantly, "If I have to hide for the rest of my life and never come out, I might as well be dead. Oh, right, Mr. Man Tian, I also wanted to ask you. Were you the one who spread the rumor that Ye Xuan was killed by the Main City Lord?"
"It wasn’t me; it was those City Lords. They spread these half-true, half-false rumors just to save face. Even if you show up again in the end, it won’t affect them. After all, people only heard it through the grapevine."
"I see."
"By the way, Ye Xuan, I heard about something. You need to be careful."
"What is it?"
"The fifty City Lords returned without success, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let it go. Failing to kill you is a disgrace to all one hundred and eight Sub-City Lords. A couple of days ago, the City Lords of the Three-Star Cities took the lead and reported to the Main City Lord that you had gone into hiding and that the Celestial Secret Pavilion refused to help."
"The Main City Lord?" Ye Xuan frowned, then asked, "They’re not asking the Main City Lord to take action, are they? Is it really the Main City Lord’s turn so soon?"
"Not exactly. Even if the Main City Lord could sweep across the world, he still wouldn’t be able to find where you are. They’re asking the Main City Lord to provide them with some Abnormal Warriors. You have to understand, the world is vast, and the people of the Celestial Secret Pavilion aren’t the only ones who know the Inference Technique. There are many others who know this Abnormal Technique, but they can’t join the Celestial Secret Pavilion because of their wicked intentions. The Main City Lord recruits capable men from all over the world, so they do have a few of these Abnormal Warriors."
Hearing Man Tian’s words, Ye Xuan’s eyebrows twitched. He stared intently at Man Tian, and after a long moment, said, "Mr. Man Tian, do you mean that even if the Celestial Secret Pavilion doesn’t act, others will?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Then what’s the use of you guaranteeing that the Celestial Secret Pavilion wouldn’t take action?"
"It’s still useful. As long as the Celestial Secret Pavilion doesn’t act, others won’t be able to track you down. After all, even if the Celestial Secret Pavilion went all out, they wouldn’t necessarily find you, let alone anyone else."
"You mean these people won’t be able to infer anything?"
"I can’t guarantee it, but there’s a 99.9 percent chance they won’t be able to."
"With such a high probability, doesn’t that mean they won’t be able to figure it out? I can rest easy then."
"But you still have to be careful."
"Why?"
"They can’t find the Big Mountain, but if you show your face, they might take advantage of your rising momentum. Using this ’momentum,’ they could infer when and where you’ll appear next."
"Momentum can be used to infer my whereabouts too?"
"Of course. It is, after all, the momentum you created."
"Mr. Man Tian, what if I insist on going to the Three-Star Secret Realm?"
Ye Xuan was already out here. Asking him to go back just like that was absolutely impossible. Retreating just because the other party might calculate his location? That was ridiculous. Was the Inference Technique really that formidable?
"If you really want to go, promise me you’ll go straight back the moment you come out. Then, stay inside the Big Mountain for as long as possible. Alright, I’ve said my piece. I have matters to attend to. Whether you listen or not is up to you." Man Tian stood up and left as he spoke.
Ye Xuan sat in his seat and drank his tea for a while.
After dark, he stood up and headed for the Sun Family’s home. He didn’t go through the main gate, but scaled the wall to enter. Running the Hidden Dragon Technique at full capacity, absolutely no one but a true expert would be able to sense his aura.
Moving steadily forward, Ye Xuan finally arrived at the location of the Three-Star Secret Realm. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he tossed down hundreds of Array Banners. Each Array Banner corresponded to a specific node.
Before long, the Teleportation Array was activated. Ye Xuan stepped in immediately without the slightest pause.
The Three-Star Secret Realm was not as large as the Two-Star Secret Realm. This was because there weren’t many low-level Beasts inside. First and second-level Beasts were virtually non-existent; the weakest were third-level Beasts. The most common were fourth and fifth-level Beasts.
However, there were obvious signs of battle here. Collapsed trees were everywhere. Ye Xuan pressed forward and soon reached the territory of the fifth-level Beasts.
Faint explosive sounds drifted over from the distance.
Members of the Sun Family were in the Secret Realm.