Chapter 516: Chapter 331 Steadfast Friendship
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As Yan Xiaobao entered the room, the man who was seated lifted his head. When his eyes landed on the alert young man, his face bloomed into a radiant smile.
The man in the room, much like Deng Wu, was also young—twenty years old, maybe. His face was strikingly handsome. His long black hair was bound by intricately crafted white jade ornaments, his skin was as pure as fresh snow, and his eyes reminded one of a beautiful Phoenix—black like the midnight sky without moonlight.
This handsome man was smiling as he conversed with Deng Wu and Xu Biao, but as Yan Xiaobao walked through the doorway, his smile gradually widened.
"Hello!" he called out. "My name is Zhong Hui. I apologize for interrupting you and your companions, but I was alone, and noticing someone next door, how could I resist paying a visit?"
It was the same friendliness he always showed. Although he appeared sincere, the more Zhong Hui spoke, the more an unsettling feeling crept into Yan Xiaobao’s heart.
Yan Xiaobao kept smiling as he walked further into the room, yet every step he took was measured. Inside, every fiber of his being screamed that something was off.
The man seemed like a young master from a distinguished family. His attire and jewelry were of the finest quality, his face looked innocent, yet it was evident that he was accustomed to things always going his way.
Yan Xiaobao couldn’t fathom why this man had entered their home, but he was certain it wasn’t just out of neighborly curiosity.
What concerned Yan Xiaobao was that this young man might have come specifically to keep an eye on him. It was obvious he suspected Yan Xiaobao of possibly killing two high-ranking experts. This was the only plausible assumption, as nothing had happened after their deaths—except for the appearance of this young man.
Everything suggested he was no ordinary individual. The white-haired young man casually sat down beside Deng Wu. He smiled politely at the newcomer and nodded, thinking his best course of action was to cultivate. If he convinced the Dragon Army that he was a Master-level expert, the theory that he was the attacker would inevitably collapse.
This was Yan Xiaobao’s plan as he sat down and began cultivating. He absorbed the essence of heaven and earth while unmistakably emitting the aura of a Master-level expert. However you looked at Yan Xiaobao, there was no denying that he was indeed a Master-level cultivator.
Observing this, Zhong Hui’s smile grew even wider, a curious expression flickering across his face as he stared at Yan Xiaobao. He had previously heard stories from the war about how Yan Xiaobao, seemingly weak, was able to generate strength far beyond what his actual level suggested.
Zhong Hui was entirely convinced that this was due to the young man sharing his body with the spirit of a true expert. Though rare, such occurrences did happen occasionally, and it was more or less the only explanation Zhong Hui could think of. And who was Zhong Hui? He was General Frozen—a revered expert capable of making even the Dragon Army Commander tremble in fear, a man in control of the entire tunnel system.
General Frozen’s name was recognized by every top-ranking expert in the world. It was well-known that he was a ruthless expert who liked to collect beautiful humans or individuals of extraordinary talent. Over the years, countless geniuses had ultimately become part of his Frozen Corps, a brigade that followed only General Frozen’s orders. Once someone joined the Frozen Corps, their ordinary life came to an end; no one could ever leave.
Aside from General Frozen, no one knew for sure whether the members of the Frozen Corps were truly dead or alive. Still, everyone understood that the moment someone entered the White Jade Palace, their life was effectively over.
All of this was common knowledge among the world’s top experts. Sadly, Yan Xiaobao was just a seventeen-year-old youth. Despite being a Master-level expert, his understanding of the broader world was frighteningly limited. This young man didn’t even know what he was dealing with.
Lan Feng, too, had failed to notice the gravity of the situation. As the Phoenix Divine Beast, his impression was that anyone they came across was someone he could handle with ease because of his Saint-level rank. His confidence was immense. Back when he roamed the world, Saint-ranked experts were incredibly rare. But the Phoenix overlooked just how much the world had changed over the thousands of years he had been trapped inside the hairpin.
Unaware of who Zhong Hui truly was, Yan Xiaobao sat beside Deng Wu, his entire focus zeroed in on cultivation. The essence of heaven and earth began to coalesce around him. To those observing him from the outside, his refinement process seemed neither slow nor fast, and since General Frozen couldn’t perceive the purity of his Qi, no one truly understood just how terrifying his cultivation speed had become.
Though Yan Xiaobao no longer needed to utilize Qi for combat, resulting in a popular misconception that refining less sophisticated Qi might be simpler, he further refined his Qi into spiritual energy. The finer the Qi, the better the spiritual energy. This alone was one of the reasons Yan Xiaobao’s abilities far exceeded those of any cultivator below the King-level.
While Yan Xiaobao was engrossed in cultivation, Zhong Hui once again began casually chatting with Deng Wu and Xu Biao about nothing in particular. Their conversation ranged from discussing the weather expectations inside the cave near the Dragon Army headquarters to mundane topics like their dinner plans for later.
Zhong Hui seemed fascinated by anything related to the group of friends. He skillfully extracted a wealth of information without anyone harboring any suspicions about him. As for how he managed to do so, it seemed no one was paying attention. From the moment he had arrived until the moment he sat beside Deng Wu, not much time had passed. Yet, in that brief interval, it appeared that no one could clearly recall exactly what had happened.