The hand rose, the saber fell!
The saber-wielding assassin's head hit the ground.
"Hmph, worthless trash!"
Chen Han gently wiped the bloodstains from his Ruo Shui Golden Saber. He hadn't expected the last saber-wielding assassin to be so terrified that he couldn't even muster the will to resist.
A man like that was destined to be nothing but trash.
'Two more secret manuals?'
To Chen Han's surprise, he found two secret manuals on the bodies of the two assassins.
The *Qi Concealment Technique* and the *Overlord Saber Technique*.
After a quick glance, Chen Han immediately took an interest in the *Qi Concealment Technique*.
Although it wasn't a superior form of Martial Arts, mastering it would allow him to conceal his aura, making it impossible for others to discern his true strength.
'No wonder that dagger-wielding assassin could tail me so silently. There were several times I didn't notice him at all,' Chen Han thought to himself.
「A few days ago.」
It was this very assassin who had been tracking him like a shadow. Several times, just when he thought he was safe, the dagger-wielding assassin had suddenly appeared. Now he understood it must have been because he had cultivated the *Qi Concealment Technique*.
'If I learn this and combine it with the Vast Sea Step, I could take a general's head from amidst an army of ten thousand,' Chen Han thought.
He immediately committed the *Qi Concealment Technique* to memory.
The secret manual was only a few hundred words long and not too complex. Chen Han understood it at a glance.
As for the other manual, the *Overlord Saber Technique*, Chen Han initially paid it no mind.
Since the saber-wielding assassin couldn't even withstand a single strike from him, his martial arts couldn't be all that profound.
But after flipping to the first page, a cold sweat broke out on his back.
This *Overlord Saber Technique* was actually a High Level Martial Art.
If the assassin's courage hadn't shattered back then, he could have defeated Chen Han with the *Overlord Saber Technique* alone. But now, everything was settled.
He began to read the *Overlord Saber Technique* in detail.
Understanding dawned in Chen Han's heart.
The saber!
The king of all weapons.
Its strikes should be like the wind, its power like crashing thunder.
The *Overlord Saber Technique* had three forms in total.
Each form was stronger than the last. Cultivated to the Great Perfection Realm, it was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stones.
He took a deep breath.
Chen Han's eyes flew open. A vibrant Saber Qi surged from him like a tempestuous sea.
BOOM!
With an awesome swing of his most powerful strike, a massive tree before him—so large it would take three people to encircle it—was instantly sliced in half at its trunk. The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.
"Hooo..."
"So strong!"
Staring at the destructive power of the *Overlord Saber Technique*, Chen Han couldn't help but gasp.
That single strike had unleashed the destructive force of a Martial Disciple Third Layer expert.
"Hmph, my strength can now match that of a Martial Disciple Third Layer expert. No matter how many more assassins come, I won't feel the slightest bit of fear." A smile played on Chen Han's lips. 'But this move is just too draining. I still can't quite handle it. I should use the next few days to practice the *Overlord Saber Technique* and the *Qi Concealment Technique* some more, to achieve a deeper mastery.'
For the next several days, Chen Han trained daily in the Cloud Heaven Forest.
The numerous man-eating beasts that once roamed the Cloud Heaven Forest all became unwilling ghosts under his saber.
For over half a month,
The beasts in nearly half of the Cloud Heaven Forest had vanished without a trace.
And Chen Han's strength was also improving at a rapid pace.
'I've reached the Peak of the Martial Disciple Second Layer. I could break through at any moment.'
Chen Han was full of anticipation.
「The next day」, after gathering his things, Chen Han left the Cloud Heaven Forest.
He had more important matters to attend to.
...
Qingcheng Mountain, Money Shop.
Wang Chong paced back and forth in a furious panic, smashing a delicate porcelain cup to pieces.
"Damn it, why hasn't there been any news?" An incredibly sinister look crossed Wang Chong's face. "Could it be that those four assassins took my money, didn't do the job, and ran away?"
"That's unlikely," a servant replied. "I saw the four assassins track Chen Han into the Cloud Heaven Forest with my own eyes."
Wang Chong sat down resentfully. "Three Martial Disciple Third Layer experts and one at the Martial Disciple Fourth Layer... does it really take them this long to assassinate a single piece of trash? Damn bastards! As long as Chen Han is alive, I'll never know peace. Wouldn't it have been better if he'd just stayed a good-for-nothing? Why did he have to try and turn his life around?"
The more Wang Chong spoke, the more furious he became.
Lately, he had been constantly on edge.
Especially Chen Han's parting words—"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river." It made him realize that this young man, Chen Han, was no ordinary person.
Given the chance, Chen Han would surely soar to the heavens.
That's why he had to nip him in the bud as soon as possible.
"Right, how are the defenses outside?" Wang Chong asked suddenly, as if remembering something.
"The perimeter is heavily guarded. Not even a fly could get in," said the servant.
"Good!"
Wang Chong nodded.
However, just as he was about to sit down, feeling relieved, he suddenly spotted a figure standing in the corner of the room.
"Who are you?" Wang Chong shouted.
"What, you don't recognize me?" Chen Han slowly emerged from the shadows. "Spending five thousand taels to buy my life. Wang Chong... you're quite the big spender, aren't you?"
Wang Chong was horrified.
He looked at Chen Han emerging from the darkness as if he were looking at a Demon King emerging from the Abyss. "How did you get in? There are so many guards outside! Didn't any of them stop you?"
Outside?
Chen Han smiled.
True, the Money Shop was surrounded by layers of security, its defenses tighter than an iron drum. But those guards were just ordinary people; they couldn't possibly stop him. Especially not after he had learned the *Qi Concealment Technique*. He could walk right up behind them and they wouldn't notice a thing.
Seeing Chen Han's smile, Wang Chong started to feel true fear.
He almost shrieked, "Chen Han, what do you want?"
"What do I want? It's rude not to return a favor... You paid to have me killed, so now I've come to take your life. It's only natural," Chen Han said calmly.
An eye for an eye. It was perfectly normal.
Chen Han would never allow anyone who threatened his life to continue living in this world.
That was why, after leaving the Cloud Heaven Forest, the first person he sought out was Wang Chong.
"Don't kill me! I'll give you however much money you want!" Wang Chong cried out. In that moment, he had none of the arrogance and swagger he'd shown when he stormed into the Chen Family's home.
Chen Han shook his head.
Money?
If he wanted money, all he had to do was take a trip into the Cloud Heaven Forest and hunt a few beasts. That would be more than enough.
Looking at Wang Chong, who was practically on his knees begging for his life, a trace of contempt and disdain curled Chen Han's lips.
He was regretting it now, but it was far too late.
If this man hadn't been so aggressive all this time, even going so far as to hire assassins to kill him, Chen Han would never have thought of taking his life.
"If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for looking down on others!"
The Ruo Shui Golden Saber swung fiercely.
Wang Chong immediately collapsed into a pool of his own blood.
After finishing his business there,
Chen Han returned home.
With less than two months until the Chen Family's Inner Sect selection, Chen Han planned to use the coming days to fully integrate the combat experience he had gained in the Cloud Heaven Forest.
He sat cross-legged on his bed.
Chen Han's breathing fell into a steady rhythm.
His entire consciousness sank into the Nebula Map within his body.
In his Dantian, a newly formed Fixed Star was slowly revolving around the central, primary star. The Essence Power between heaven and earth was being continuously absorbed by these two star-like Dantians.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Faint cracking sounds echoed from within his bones and meridians.
The Essence Power of the world gradually filled every corner of his body.
At this moment, it was as if Chen Han's very soul had returned to the vast Cosmos.
Within the boundless Cosmos, inside the brightest Fixed Star, a figure slowly emerged. This figure, with white hair and a white beard, stood atop the Fixed Star. He was the previous master of the Ancient Divine Technique.
The phantom's mouth was moving slightly.
'What is he saying?'
Chen Han tried with all his might to listen... but there was no sound at all.
BOOM!
All of a sudden, the mystical world of the Cosmos returned to normal. The morning sunlight fell upon the bed, shining on Chen Han's body.
"Hooo..."
After sitting quietly for a long time, Chen Han let out a long, turbid breath.
A single moment in the Hengyu had been an entire night in the real world.
"Emperor Yu!"
His eyes flew open as he slowly uttered the name.
That was the name he had heard the white-bearded old man say just as he was leaving the Nebula Map in his body. For what reason had this mysterious Emperor Yu been besieged by so many peerless experts, forced to turn his legacy into a falling star to escape?
'Forget it. Perhaps my strength is still insufficient to glimpse the true secrets of this Ancient Divine Technique. But I believe that one day, I will learn everything.'
Chen Han thought to himself.
Gently stretching his body, Chen Han felt a surge of joy.
'I can't believe I actually reached the Martial Disciple Third Layer. I thought it would take at least half a month... It seems this *Ancient Divine Technique* is truly extraordinary. I just wonder when I'll be able to condense the third Fixed Star!'
Just then, a sudden clamor came from outside the house.
Chen Tianzheng threw the door open and shouted, "Han'Er, come quickly..."
"What's wrong?" Chen Han asked hurriedly.
He had never seen his father so flustered. 'Could someone be here to cause trouble again?'
Chen Han's brow furrowed. He gripped his Ruo Shui Golden Saber and charged outside menacingly.
"Han'Er," Chen Tianzheng called out urgently. "Someone from the Chen Family's Inner Sect is here... This is your best chance to enter the Clan's Inner Sect. You must seize it."
A chance to enter the Clan's Inner Sect?
Filled with confusion, Chen Han stepped into the main hall.
Only then did he see that besides his mother, Mrs. Wang, there were two strangers in the hall. It was a man and a woman. The man was in his fifties, while the woman was around his own age. She was stunningly beautiful, on par with Chen Yuxin, a rare beauty in the making.
'So these are people from the Clan's Inner Sect?' Chen Han wondered.