Chapter 756: Companions

"Ye Chen?" Seeing Ye Chen arrive, the elders were all taken aback. "You're in Dan Cheng?"

"It's obvious, I'm right here in Dan Cheng." Ye Chen shrugged, then glanced around, his gaze finally settling on Dan Chen. "Senior, judging by your expressions, something's wrong. Why not share? Maybe I can help."

Dan Chen said nothing and simply handed Ye Chen the piece of paper imprinted with divine sense.

Ye Chen took it and quickly scanned the paper, his brows furrowing immediately. Especially when he saw the demanded ransom of the Wan Dan Bao Dian, his eyebrows knitted together tightly.

"Everyone's kidnapping for ransom these days, but compared to this, the ransoms I used to demand feel like child's play." After furrowing his brow, Ye Chen stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Has the market price gone up?"

As he muttered, Dan Chen and the other elders eyed Ye Chen up and down, each stroking their beards with a peculiar look in their eyes.

Sensing the elders' unusual stares, Ye Chen was puzzled. "Don't look at me like that. It wasn't me who did it."

"We know it wasn't you." Dan Yi cleared his throat. "You do this kind of thing often, so maybe it was one of your fellow practitioners."

At those words, Ye Chen's mouth twitched back and forth more than a dozen times in an instant.

Damn it, even kidnapping has "fellow practitioners"? Your imagination is on overdrive, turning a straightforward abduction into something so elegantly phrased.

A second or two later, Ye Chen glanced at the chuckling Dan Yi, then summoned a wisp of immortal fire to burn the paper to ashes. "Do you seniors have any idea which force is behind this?"

"It's too mysterious; we have no way of knowing." Dan Chen and the others shook their heads. "The divine sense imprint only has the ransom location and the demand for the Wan Dan Bao Dian. Based on just that, it's hard to pinpoint the force involved."

"Earlier, we suspected it might be the Nan Chu Three Sects. They have the motive." Dan Yi pondered aloud.

"It won't be the Nan Chu Three Sects." Ye Chen waved his hand dismissively.

"You're so certain?" The elders all looked at Ye Chen in surprise.

"Of course I am." Seeing Dan Chen and the others staring at him in astonishment, Ye Chen couldn't help but smile slightly. "I'm now the sect master of Heng Yue, and Qing Yun Zong is also under our control, so they wouldn't make an enemy of Dan Cheng. As for Zheng Yang Zong, they suffered heavy losses in the Three Sects' conflict, and their two halls were completely wiped out in the Dong Yue battle. Add to that, their intelligence network has been uprooted by us. They don't have the luxury to cause trouble for Dan Cheng right now."

"When did you become the sect master of Heng Yue?"

"You've taken control of Qing Yun Zong?"

"The two halls of Zheng Yang Zong and their intelligence network, did you guys destroy them?"

Suddenly, the hall was filled with a chorus of astonished voices. The elders all wore expressions of shock as they looked at Ye Chen, especially Dan Chen and Dan Yi. After the battle at Lu Gu Cang Yuan, they had returned to Dan Cheng and made several trips to Nan Chu to gather information, but they hadn't found any trace of Ye Chen.

It was only in the last few days that they learned of Ye Chen's news, leading an army to disrupt Ling Zhen's birthday banquet, which had truly shocked them. They had no idea he commanded such a massive force.

Now, their shock turned to utter dismay. Ye Chen had taken control of two out of the Nan Chu Three Sects. Anyone hearing this news would be stunned!

"I won't go into details one by one." Ye Chen pulled out several dozen jade slips sealed with his various memories, handing one to each person. These were prepared in advance to save time.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Soon, the jade slips were crushed by Dan Chen and the others. After reading the memories inside, their pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints, visible to the naked eye, and their expressions turned to ones of stunned horror. Their mouths hung open wide enough to fit two eggs.

Silence fell over the grand hall, the only sound being the thumping of heartbeats.

"This..." After three or five seconds, the group subconsciously turned to Ye Chen. The memories in the jade slips were too shocking. They had no idea Ye Chen's controlled forces had grown to such an extent. If Nan Chu's total strength was divided into ten parts, Ye Chen now controlled nearly seven.

"Keep it low-key, low-key." Ye Chen smoothed his hair and casually found a comfortable spot to sit, not treating himself as an outsider at all. He even grabbed a spirit fruit from the table and popped it into his mouth.

"This kid..." The elders' eyes were filled with shock and astonishment. In just one year, he'd grown to this level. The speed of his rise was beyond their expectations.

"Let's get back to the main issue!" Ye Chen straightened up a bit, not wanting to dwell on the topic, and shifted the conversation.

At the mention of the main issue, the elders quickly snapped out of their shock and returned to the previous discussion. With Xuan Nu's life hanging in the balance, they had no time to marvel over Ye Chen's affairs.

"Anyone who dares to target Dan Cheng must be no ordinary force." Dan Yi stroked his beard and mused. "Since we've ruled out Nan Chu, it has to be a force from Bei Chu."

"It seems Shi Xue Dian is the prime suspect." A white-robed elder spoke with a cold tone.

"Respected seniors, it's not that simple." Ye Chen said thoughtfully, his words laced with deeper meaning.

"Young friend, if you have a different view, please share it."

"Shi Xue Dian isn't without suspicion, but other forces are also possible, such as the assassin dynasty suppressed by Chu Huang, the demon realm suppressed by Yan Huang, the underworld realm suppressed by Yue Huang, the witchcraft clan suppressed by Tai Wang, the ghost clan suppressed by Tian Zang Huang, the demon clan suppressed by Dong Huang, the yinming sacred realm suppressed by Zhan Wang, the soul-devouring clan suppressed by Xuan Huang, and the blood clan suppressed by Chen Huang. These forces once nearly dominated this land and have recently reemerged. Even in their decline, their strength is not to be underestimated. Personally, I lean more toward them than Shi Xue Dian."

"We've heard rumors of this." Dan Chen took a deep breath, a hint of worry in his eyes.

"So, before we confirm the identity, any side except the forces I control could be involved. The key is their main purpose. Is it really the Wan Dan Bao Dian, or do they have other intentions?" Ye Chen said slowly.

"If that's the case, the targets multiply, and things get a lot more complicated." A white-haired elder pondered aloud.

"So, will you seniors actually hand over the Wan Dan Bao Dian to ransom Xuan Nu?" Ye Chen looked around, his gaze finally resting on Dan Chen.

"Yes." Dan Chen replied firmly. "Though the Wan Dan Bao Dian is precious, my disciple's life is priceless."

"Since you're going to ransom her, I think I can be of help." Ye Chen took a bite of the spirit fruit. "I'm familiar with kidnapping, and I'm just as familiar with demanding ransoms. I know all the ins and outs."

As soon as he said this, the elders all stroked their beards, looking at Ye Chen with meaningful eyes. Of course you're familiar. Otherwise, how did you earn the title of the God-Pit? When it comes to abductions and ransoms, you're basically our senior in that field.

Seeing the elders' gazes turn odd again, Ye Chen felt a bit embarrassed. After all, kidnapping wasn't something to brag about. Bringing it up was just shameless.

"I'll go fetch a copy of the Wan Dan Bao Dian." Once his expression returned to normal, Dan Chen stepped out of the grand hall.

"The Wan Dan Bao Dian is a refining intent, right? And it has a copy?" After Dan Chen left, Ye Chen looked at Dan Yi and the others in surprise.

"My senior brother used great divine powers to seal the various intents of the Wan Dan Bao Dian into the Jiu Xuan Shen Shi, which can serve as the Wan Dan Bao Dian." Dan Yi smiled and explained. "But compared to the true Wan Dan Bao Dian, the refining intents in the Jiu Xuan Shen Shi are naturally not as rich."

"I see!" Ye Chen stroked his chin, his eyes darting around as if scheming something.

"Gather the strong experts of Dan Cheng and head there together." Dan Yi had already started giving orders. "Also, put Dan Cheng on full alert. No one leaves the city, no one enters, and Luo Xi is in seclusion, so keep that girl under watch. If she comes out, enforce house arrest."

"Luo Xi is in seclusion?" Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. "That explains why I haven't seen her around."