Chapter 527: Bad Things Happened to a Good Thing

Nangong Xiaoyun had just arrived at Boundary Mountain. She had only heard that the battle was brutal but knew nothing of the specific details. Therefore, she was unaware of Jiang Fan's achievements. She instinctively felt that for a mere two hundred defenders to win such an epic battle, the disciples and elders from all sects must have displayed extraordinary combat prowess. Otherwise, victory would have been difficult.

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up. He had long coveted the three Nascent Soul Strike Talismans. If these three talismans had been present at the Battle of Boundary Mountain, victory would have been secured much earlier. Their power was comparable to the transformative tribulation lightning that had turned the tide.

A rough calculation showed that Jiang Fan had obtained over a hundred beast king demon cores from the Giant Sect's sacred land, Sky-Shattering Gorge, and before and after the Battle of Boundary Mountain. In the battle against the demon beast army, he had captured another two hundred. In total, he had accumulated three hundred.

Considering that five beast king demon cores were equivalent to a Class 1 mission, or one hundred merit points, this meant he had a full six thousand merit points. This was far more than enough to exchange for three Nascent Soul Strike Talismans. Furthermore, his merits from the Battle of Boundary Mountain had not yet been tallied. He would truly be able to exchange for a significant number of items this time.

"Alright, you go ahead. I'll be there shortly," Jiang Fan said. In any case, it would take quite a while to gather all the disciples before the merit rankings were announced.

Nangong Xiaoyun nodded, "Then come as soon as you can. Many people were unhappy about you topping the last ranking. They're all eagerly waiting for you to fall flat this time, so they can comfortably say, 'This guy's true colors have been revealed.'"

With a teasing smile, she skipped away with light steps.

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose and mumbled, "Are there still people like that now?"

After experiencing so many major battles, unless the disciples of the nine sects were blind, they should all have some understanding of his true strength. Who would dare underestimate him now?

Gazing at the person still sleeping in his arms, Jiang Fan leaned against the city wall, not disturbing her. He also didn't waste time, quietly cultivating the Cloud Shadow of Heavenly Thunder Six Sections technique from the Thunder Incantation Token.

Last time, he had practiced in haste and only cultivated halfway, but he had mastered the skill of instantaneous movement over fifty zhang. This had played a crucial role when he seized the Demon Moon Bone Hairpin. How could such a divine skill be neglected?

He immediately closed his eyes and focused on cultivating.

Several hours later, thunder snakes roamed within his body, and currents surged. Whenever he wished, he could transform into thunder within a hundred zhang radius and arrive instantly. Whether for killing enemies, seizing treasures, or making a sudden escape, it was a divine skill.

"The first layer has been perfectly cultivated," he thought. "If the second layer is perfectly cultivated, I can achieve the heaven-defying ability of instantaneous movement within a thousand zhang radius. Unfortunately, with my current lightning power, I cannot support such a long-distance jump."

Jiang Fan secretly lamented. It was already extremely fortunate to have gained some lightning power from the Heavenly Thunder Stone and successfully cultivated the Five Thunders Righteous Heavenly Palm of the second layer of the Three Purity Thunder Shadow. How could he expect to gain more lightning power again?

"Mmm..." Suddenly, Liu Qingxian woke up. She had a nightmare, dreaming that Jiang Fan, with half his face disfigured and covered in blood, was smiling and waving goodbye to her. Fortunately, when she opened her eyes, she saw Jiang Fan's tender, affectionate face. This finally allowed her constricted heart to relax. It had been a dream.

She sat up but snuggled into Jiang Fan's embrace, unwilling to leave. Remembering how she had pounded his chest before falling asleep, she extended a fair finger and gently rubbed it. "Does it still hurt?" Liu Qingxian quietly asked, leaning close to his ear.

Jiang Fan took her hand and shook his head slightly. "It hurts, but not as much as my heart did," he said. The moment he learned of Liu Qingxian's ordeal, his heart felt as if it had been pierced by a sword. Though famous swords are sharp and precious blades keen, how can they compare to the pain of love?

Liu Qingxian's eyes welled up. She felt that her sincere feelings had not been wasted. Lifting her gaze to meet his deep, affectionate eyes, she raised her pale neck slightly. Her dry, lusterless lips touched Jiang Fan's cheek.

Jiang Fan's body trembled slightly. This time, he didn't refuse. He pulled her into his embrace, taking her with abandon.

Just as their eyes grew hazy and their breathing quickened, a shout came from afar, drawing closer: "Junior Brother Jiang! Junior Brother Jiang!" Both of them trembled in surprise.

Liu Qingxian scrambled out of Jiang Fan's embrace in a panic, hastily pulling at her disheveled collar and wiping away the marks from her lips.

As the two looked towards the source of the sound, Liang Feiyan ran over, looking anxious amidst the swirling snow. "Junior Brother Jiang, so you were hiding here!" he exclaimed.

It was him! What terrible timing! Jiang Fan immediately flared up, his face cold as he asked, "What do you want?"

Uh... Liang Feiyan was bewildered by Jiang Fan's cold expression. How had he offended him? It wasn't until he noticed Liu Qingxian beside him glaring at him with displeasure, and that her collar was slightly disheveled with lingering moisture on her lips, that he finally realized he had interrupted something important.

"Damn it! No wonder they all pushed me to come!" Liang Feiyan cursed inwardly. "Those bastards!"

Everyone was waiting for Jiang Fan. Ye Cangyuan had asked Nangong Xiaoyun to invite him, but Nangong Xiaoyun pushed the task to Xia Chaoge. Xia Chaoge pushed it to Ouyang Jun, who pushed it to Xie Liushu, and Xie Liushu, in turn, pushed it to him. It turned out that all those guys had guessed that Jiang Fan and Liu Qingxian were having a private moment. And with just a man and a woman, it was entirely possible they were engaged in something intimate. Rushing over suddenly would likely disturb them and earn their displeasure, so everyone had refused. Only he had foolishly run over, and sure enough, he was met with a cold reception.

"Ahem, Junior Brother Jiang," Liang Feiyan stammered, avoiding their gaze and speaking quickly, "the merit rankings are about to be announced. Vice-Pavilion Master Ye and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's special envoy are asking for you to come."

Jiang Fan nodded, took Liu Qingxian's hand, and walked away. As he passed Liang Feiyan, he said crossly, "Senior Brother Liang, don't just focus on cultivating. When you have time, find a senior sister or junior sister and talk about love. It's quite pathetic to always be alone."

With that, he left the dumbfounded Liang Feiyan behind and walked away.

It took a while for Liang Feiyan to recover his senses. He couldn't help but feel a stomach ache from anger. Not only had he received a cold reception, but he had also been lectured.

"Isn't it just about women?" he muttered. "If I, Liang Feiyan, wanted to find a renowned genius from the Nine Sects, wouldn't it be a piece of cake? The Nine Sects' foremost beauty, Liu Qingxian... hmm, she doesn't count. Spirit Beast Sect's Senior Sister Yi Lianxing... ugh, she doesn't count either. Supreme Sect's number one genius, Xia Chaoge... hmm, she definitely doesn't count. Pleasure Sect's renowned Junior Sister Ji Ruyue... alright, she still doesn't count. Then what about Qin Caihe, my junior sister from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect? Her looks are quite striking..." "Damn it!"

By the end of his mental list, Liang Feiyan's eyes were wide with shock, and he burst out a curse. Any genius woman from the Nine Sects who had even a slight reputation, upon closer inspection, turned out to have intricate ties with Jiang Fan.

"Jiang Fan! You scoundrel!" he yelled. "I'm going to report you to the authorities!"