Chapter 5 The Secret War

　　The giant snake transformed into a dragon and failed, the moment its inner dan burst into pieces, ten thousand points of golden rain shot out in all directions, and no one noticed that one of the golden lights flew into the distance. 　　The golden light penetrated through countless forest trees and fell to the ground, a bright and dazzling golden bead rolled down to Chen Nan's feet, he saw all this clearly, and excitedly squatted down and picked up the golden bead. The golden bead's luster flowed and the peaceful light it emitted soothed his mind. Regarding the legends of dragons, Chen Nan could be said to know a great deal about them, and the golden bead in front of him had no secrets for him to speak of. 　　Although the giant snake had failed to transform into a dragon, it had after all reached the half-dragon realm, and the power contained within it was half snake attributes and half dragon attributes. The shattered inner dan was the essence of its body, concentrating the essence of its entire body, half snake yuan and half dragon yuan. All of the snake yuan dissipated into the air when the inner dan burst, but the dragon yuan did not dissipate, and the pure dragon yuan concentrated together to form the dragon pearl. 　　"Dragon pearl, this is really a dragon pearl!" Chen Nan marveled. 　　Although the dragon bead was small in size, it contained pure and powerful dragon power, it was a priceless treasure. 　　Chen Nan was very clear about the utility of this bead, within an hour, the dragon bead was activated, if it was swallowed at this time and withstood the powerful impact of the dragon power, then the person who swallowed the dragon bead would be able to absorb the essence of the dragon bead three or four tenths of the dragon bead and achieve a supreme power. If within an hour, the dragon pearl is not swallowed by any person or animal, then it will quickly lose its luster, the powerful dragon power all converge to the core of the bead, the outer layer of the dragon pearl will become hard, non-immortal treasure level weapons can not be broken, which means that the powerful dragon power within the dragon pearl can not be drawn at will. 　　Ten thousand years ago, Chen Nan's family lineage decided that he had to become a strong man, but his cultivation could never be raised, and his low power was the root of his suffering. He had always longed for great power, now the opportunity was right in front of him, but he hesitated, he wasn't afraid that he wouldn't be able to withstand the impact of the powerful dragon power and burst into flames, at this moment, he remembered a conversation his father had with him. 　　Chen Zhan said: ''Heavenly treasures may be able to give a person great power and become a supreme expert in the blink of an eye, but there is always loss with gain, in the event that he obtains all of his coveted feats, it also means that he has lost the qualification to ask for the strongest person forever. The power gained from the outside world shackles the development of his own power, and is a shackle that he will never be able to break through." 　　Chen Nan said, "Even if he can't become the strongest, it's not bad to have the chance to be a supreme expert." 　　Chen Zhan said, "A person who can withstand the powerful spiritual impact of a heavenly treasure must not be extraordinary, in addition to having a superb physique, he must also have a heart that will never give in. How can such a person endure the torment of never having hope, and will ultimately self-destruct." 　　Chen Nan said, "It wouldn't be this extreme, would it?" 　　Chen Zhan said, "Strong people are not afraid of loneliness, they are afraid of being forever stagnant on the path of pursuing power." 　　Although Chen Nan did not completely agree with his father, Chen Zhan, he felt that there was some truth to it. 　　"Swallowing it, perhaps in an instant I'll become a strong man, or perhaps I'll immediately burst into flames, but either way I've lost my qualifications to become the strongest man." 　　Chen Nan laughed to himself, "For someone with stagnant martial arts like me, perhaps swallowing the Dragon Pearl is the best option, after all, this is a chance for a carp to leap the Dragon Gate." 　　"Could this be a gift from heaven for me?" 　　Chen Nan looked down at the glowing and flowing Dragon Pearl in his hand, hesitated for a long time, and finally sighed, "But I'm really not willing to do this! I, Chen Nan, don't need 'gifts'!" 　　Looking back, Chen Nan was somewhat lost. 　　Before the age of sixteen, he had been praised as a martial arts genius, with his martial arts cultivation growing by leaps and bounds, making him the "number one" among his peers. However, after that was the beginning of his nightmare, no matter how hard he worked, his cultivation could no longer be raised, and even his family's Xuan Gong fell from the Mahayana realm of the second heaven to the intermediate realm of the first heaven. Watching his peers surpass him one by one, his heart was incomparably lost and bitter to the extreme. Although he vaguely guessed that the great fall in martial arts cultivation was related to some "external factors", he was unable to find out the truth. 　　After the aura of genius faded, countless mocking voices came from behind, but he could not say anything. Outside public opinion, the family's mission ...... enormous pressure as a heavy mountain pressed on his heart, incompetent performance makes him feel that he is a mediocre generation, not worthy of being born in such a family. 　　Sixteen to twenty years old, he felt very tired of living, and even had the idea of light life, during this period of time he was full of confusion in his heart. However, there was always a belief in the deepest part of his heart, he firmly believed that sooner or later he would be able to break through the shackles and break through the current cultivation barriers, which was the driving force behind his unceasing cultivation of the family's Xuan Gong. 　　Reborn after ten thousand years, Chen Nan's martial arts cultivation still had not made the slightest progress, but the heavy pressure from the family had completely disappeared. After a year of adjustment, he had already integrated into the current society. He had freed himself from the pain of the past and restored his original nature. 　　"Maybe I missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity today, but I will never regret it!" 　　The dragon pearl that had originally flowed with brilliance gradually dimmed, and in the end, the light completely turned inward, and its color changed from golden yellow to turquoise, becoming an ordinary pearl. 　　Chen Nan put the dragon pearl away and returned along the original path, he didn't want to stay even for a moment, for fear of being pestered by the Imp Princess behind him. He climbed up a high mountain, looking far away, the Little Princess and the others were still at the crater of the volcano, he let out a long breath and said, "Whew~~~ finally got rid of the nightmare that is the Little Devil." 　　Chen Nan had been turning around in the mountains for three days, and he was embarrassed to realize that he was lost. The continuous mountain range was boundless, and if he couldn't find his way back again, he could only be a savage in the mountains. 　　A wisp of light smoke curled up from a distant mountain forest, Chen Nan was overjoyed and searched forward. At a distance of 100 feet from the light smoke, he stopped, he did not dare to recklessly go forward, in case it was the little princess's group, he would die without a burial place. 　　After careful investigation, he finally determined that this is a group of strangers, and these people seem to be looking for the way out of the mountain. For the next two days, he had been quietly following this group of people. 　　But luck always seemed to elude Chen Nan, on the afternoon of the third day, he was following the group of people unhurriedly, when suddenly seven or eight figures sprang out from all around him and surrounded him. From their sharp eyes, it could be seen that everyone was an expert, and from the cold and murderous aura emanating from their bodies, it could be imagined that everyone had experienced life and death battles. 　　The people from the front all turned back, there were more than twenty people in total, and the person at the head was a young man who looked quite handsome, and his body faintly exuded a domineering aura. He looked Chen Nan up and down and frowned, ''Who are you? Why are you following us in a sneaky manner?" 　　Chen Nan explained, "I'm a lost hunter who wants to follow you guys out of this big mountain." 　　"A hunter dares to walk into the depths of this mountain range?" 　　"I unknowingly broke into this place while hunting a white deer, and as a result, I couldn't find my way back." 　　The young male pointed towards a stout hunk next to him, "You, go." 　　From the tone in which he ordered his men, it could be seen that he was a person accustomed to giving orders, and Chen Nan guessed that this young male must be a person of great power. 　　The big man held a large sword in his hand, wide and long, and came over and rushed to slash down at Chen Nan. Chen Nan hurriedly dodged to the side, the big man's sword was empty, the second sword came again, the sword body inspired a light green light, slanting chopping Chen Nan's waist and abdomen. 　　Chen Nan screamed in his heart: No way, materialized sword qi! Wouldn't this be a Grandmaster level expert! How could such a person be willing to be someone else's henchman? 　　Shocked as he was, he still dodged at the first opportunity. 　　"Giggle." 　　The pale green-colored blade split a shallow ditch in the ground. 　　Chen Nan felt very strange, the power of a materialized sword qi could not be so small, even an ordinary sword qi was much stronger than this sword. 　　"Could it be the fighting qi of the West?" He confirmed the thought in his mind after taking a closer look at the big man's sword stance. 　　The big man's ferocious slashes arrived again, and Chen Nan was forced to battle with the big man, fighting qi after fighting qi, and the light greenish-colored sharpness put Chen Nan in a perilous situation. 　　The young male standing next to him sneered, ''Do ordinary hunters have such good martial arts? If you don't tell the truth again, you will die without a burial place after ten moves." 　　Chen Nan hurriedly shouted, "Stop, I'll talk." 　　The young male clapped his hands and said, "Stop." 　　The big man collected his sword and stood, rushing at Chen Nan, "Alright, kid, actually caught more than twenty moves from me." 　　Chen Nan sighed in a small voice in the continental language of ten thousand years ago, "No matter which era it is, the strong are honored, after my martial arts cultivation regresses, I'm destined to experience all sorts of unpleasant things, the tiger falls down and is bullied by the dog!" 　　He thought quickly and said, "This gentleman, if I say that I'm an ordinary hunter who has learned martial arts you definitely won't believe me, but I can prove it to you." 　　The young gentleman said, "How can you prove it?" 　　"I am a hunter, of course I prove it by the abilities possessed by a hunter." Chen Nan bent down, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and put it to the end of his nose and sniffed it, saying, "I'm sure there are no other large beasts within a three-mile radius of here, except for a female tiger." 　　"Oh, are you really sure?" The young male asked. 　　"I'm sure." 　　"Good, Yang Chong you take a few people to the neighborhood to take a look." 　　A young man answered, "Yes." He led a few people and searched deeper into the woods. 　　In just a matter of tea time, a tiger's roar was heard in the distance, and in a short while, a few people dragged back a dead tiger. 　　The young man glanced at the dead tiger, smiled faintly and said, "According to this it seems that you are really a hunter, but I still have some questions, the fastest way out of the mountain from here is three days, could it be that you chased that white deer for three days and three nights?" After saying that the young man's tone turned cold and said in a chorus, "Tie him up for me." 　　Several experts rushed up, placing their sharp blades against Chen Nan's various vital points. If he alone wanted to fight against so many experts, it was undoubtedly like an ant trying to shake a tree, so he did not resist. He laughed bitterly in his heart, having just escaped the clutches of the young princess, he had become someone else's captive again. 　　One of the young male's men said, "Third ...... third young master, why tie him up, just kill him directly." 　　From the incoherent "Third Young Master", Chen Nan had already heard some "flavor", and was even more certain that this person was by no means an ordinary person. 　　The young gentleman said, "Let's take him into custody first, I have a feeling that this person is not ordinary, I didn't even realize that he was a martial artist before he made his move." 　　Chen Nan began his second life as a captive, but this time, his "treatment" was obviously much better than the first time, at the very least, no one treated him as a private property, and from time to time, they would "express their excitement" to him. This group of people was very disciplined, no unnecessary words, only the gentleman occasionally whispered a few words to the person next to him. 　　Two days later, Chen Nan had to marvel at the magic of fate as he actually saw the Little Princess again. Now, there were only ten people left in the Little Princess's group, four guards and two trainee magicians had died during the fight against the giant snake, and the survivors were all seriously injured and had not yet recovered. 　　The young princess was taken aback when she saw the young prince and his party, her brows frowned slightly, but in an instant, she revealed a bright smile, "The Tian Yuan Continent is really too small, I never thought that I would meet His Highness the Third Prince here." 　　The young male was also full of smiles, "Yes, I also didn't expect to meet Your Highness Princess Yu here." 　　The young princess laughed, "The third prince is not enjoying his happiness in the imperial city of the Moon Worshipping Kingdom, why did he run to the border of our Chu Kingdom, could it be that he wants to go on a mission to our country? It seems like there's no need to run to the deep mountains to visit our country." 　　Not far away Chen Nan heard clearly, can not help but some generalization, before and after a few days work, in the vast mountains, actually arrived a princess and a prince. 　　The third prince said, "Princess Yu's words are still as sharp as ever, I can't afford the big hat of 'randomly trespassing on the border of another country'. If I remember correctly, this mountain range in the central zone of the Tian Yuan Continent shouldn't belong to any country." 　　The little princess said, "Your Highness the Third Prince has a lot of work to do day in and day out, how could you come here for no reason, after all, this place is close to the border of our Chu Kingdom, so it has to make one's heart suspicious ah." 　　The Third Prince laughed, "Hehe, Princess Yu is overly concerned, in fact, the main reason why I came here this time is because I heard that a Qilin Divine Beast has appeared in the Falling Wind Mountain Range, and I wanted to take my chances to see that legendary Divine Beast." 　　The little princess said, "Oh, so that's how it is, I didn't expect the news to spread so quickly, even the Third Prince who is far away in the Moon Worshipping Kingdom knows about it." 　　The third prince said, "Legend has it that the unicorn came out of the saint now, the divine beast present has shocked the world, this matter has been uploaded on the continent in a flurry of rumors." 　　The little princess sighed and said, "Alas! Really want to go and see what that Qilin really looks like, but unfortunately I don't have the chance." 　　The Third Prince wondered, "Why did Your Highness say that?" 　　"We ran into my master on our way to the Falling Wind Mountain Range, he said it was too dangerous there and forced me back, what a bummer!" The little princess had an indignant look on her face. 　　A light flashed in the eyes of the Third Prince and said, "Could it be Senior Zhuge Xifeng." 　　"It's that old man." 　　"Senior Zhuge is famous all over the world, his martial arts cultivation is transcendent, he is one of the senior experts I admire the most." 　　"Really, if that old man hears about this, he'll be so happy that he might even take you as his disciple." 　　"If that were to happen, I would beg for it." 　　The little princess laughed, "Maybe this old man has already heard it and is now hesitating whether to really take you as his disciple." 　　The third prince's face flickered with astonishment and laughed, "Hehe, how could that be, hasn't senior Zhuge already rushed to the Falling Wind Mountain Range, even if the senior his martial arts is divine, it is impossible for him to have heard the words from a few hundred kilometers away, right?" 　　The little princess huffed, "This old man is uneasy, afraid that I will sneak back again, he has been following me on the road." 　　"Oh, it seems like the old man really loves you and is afraid of any accidents." The Third Prince laughed. 　　"It's clear that he doesn't trust me." 　　The Third Prince looked at the young princess's guards and said, "Princess Yu, are these men of yours injured, why do they all look pale?" 　　"Yes, we ran into an ancient giant on our way to the Falling Wind Mountain Range, luckily the old man arrived instantly, otherwise it would have been really dangerous." The little princess had an afterthought look on her face. 　　"It's really fortunate! Well, this mountain range is often infested with monsters, it won't work without some experts to protect you, how about this, I'll escort you out of the mountain." The Third Prince had a sincere look on his face. 　　A cold light flashed in the eyes of the little princess and she laughed, "Thank you, Your Highness the Third Prince, no need to trouble you guys, that old devil master of mine will take care of us." 　　"Your Highness Princess Yu don't need to be polite with me, when it comes to this kind of thing, as a matter of reason I have to escort Your Highness out, besides Senior Zhuge may not have really followed down." 　　"I appreciate Third Prince's kindness, we really don't need you to escort us, this is already the fringe of the mountain range, hardly infested with monsters." 　　"No, I must escort you guys out, or else I will feel uneasy in my heart." 　　Seeing that she couldn't push back any further, the young princess had a look of gratitude on her face as she said, "Then I'll be grateful to Third Prince." 　　"Princess Yu, you're too kind." 　　Chen Nan saw all this clearly, secretly sighing that the two of them deserved to be born in the family of a feuding emperor, and in just a few moments they had already completed a "battle of the heart". 　　Little Princess led a cadre of seriously injured guards met the third prince of the Bay Moon country heart is quite uneasy, she does not believe that this is a coincidence, the biggest possibility is that the other side has long been guarded here. In order to protect herself, she first aggressively take the initiative, so that the third prince can not feel her reality, and then inadvertently raised Zhuge multiplied wind, so that the third prince heart is quite scrupulous. However, the third prince is by no means a generalized generation, his heart although doubtful, but did not retreat, but would like to follow all the way down, to further probe the truth. These two can be said to be "full of ghost words", "nonsense". 　　Third Prince and Little Princess two groups of people together toward the mountain outside, Chen Nan walked in the back of the team secretly thankful, thanks to the Third Prince pestered the Little Princess, so that the Little Princess did not notice him hiding in the back of the team. But the good times didn't last long, the guards under the Imp soon discovered him as a bound captive, and one of the guards ran forward and whispered a few words into the Imp's ear. 　　At that moment, Chen Nan felt that darkness enveloped the earth and the sky lost its color. 　　The little princess was full of excitement as she walked towards Chen Nan with a smile on her face, without a doubt, this was the truest expression she had ever had since she met the Third Prince, but Chen Nan would rather look at her false smile than see her smile that came from her heart at this moment. 　　He shouted in his heart, Demons of hell quickly lead your children and grandchildren away! 　　At first, the third prince did not understand why the little princess of Chu suddenly got excited, he could not help but secretly guess whether Zhuge multiplied the wind has arrived not far away, then he looked with the little princess's eyes, finally discovered the "root" of the little princess's excitement, was actually captured the day before that captive. 　　The Third Prince was shocked, and began to have wild suspicions about Chen Nan's identity, he coughed and said, "This person has been sneaking around behind us on the road, and was later caught by my men, does Your Highness recognize this person?" 　　"Recognize, of course I do." The little princess gritted her teeth and said, "He was a little eunuch brought out from my palace, he was originally out to serve me, I didn't expect that he would be the first to run away when he met the ancient giants. Little Li Zi you didn't expect to see me so soon, right?" 　　Chen Nan simply fainted, actually being called a eunuch. 　　The little princess stared at him viciously, the meaning of which couldn't be more obvious, threatening cum intimidating him into cooperating. 　　When one was under the roof, one had to bow one's head. Chen Nan hesitated for a moment and finally said helplessly, "Please punish Her Highness the Princess." 　　The Third Prince laughed, "Since he's Princess Yu's lackey, I'll ask Your Highness to deal with him on your own." Saying so, he turned around and left. 　　"Heh heh heh heh ......," the little princess looked at Chen Nan, her face filled with laughter. 　　A chill ran through Chen Nan's body as he lowered his voice, "Your Highness, let's make a deal." 　　The little princess remembered those filthy words of Chen Nan earlier, her body trembled with anger, and she shrilled, "Make a deal with me? What gives you the right, you're dreaming." 　　"Zhuge Xifeng is actually not here, the Third Prince wants to deal with you." Chen Nan flew out these words before the Imp's palm fell. 　　The Little Princess lowered her raised palm, sized him up carefully, and said, "Looks like I really underestimated you, I didn't expect you stinking thief to have a few brains. However - I'm very upset in my heart right now, the deal is delayed, and now I want to vent!" 　　"Ah......" Chen Nan's miserable cries rang out in the forest, interspersed with the Imp Princess's smug laughter. The Third Prince and the others in the distance looked at each other in dismay, gaining a further understanding of this rumored Little Demon Princess. 　　A round of bright moon hung high in the sky, bright moonlight like white feathers sprinkled in the forest in large patches, the night breeze was pleasant, blowing gusts of flowers and grasses, the entire mountain forest was shrouded under the watery moonlight, and from afar it looked veiled, hazy, harmonious, and serene. 　　The nose and face of Chen Nan is and the little devil princess in a tent in a low voice exchange of views, the two have already determined that the forest coincidental encounter with the third prince and other people is no accident, this is all premeditated, these people have long been guarded in this road out of the mountains. 　　The little princess said, "I had an intuition from the beginning that they were going to be unfavorable to me, but I don't understand why they had such a motive." 　　Chen Nan said, "How is the relationship between the Moon Worshipping Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom?" 　　The little princess said, "The relationship between the two countries has been quite alright in recent years, nothing unpleasant has happened." 　　"That's strange, if that's the case, why would they be unfavorable to the princess." After pondering for a while, Chen Nan smiled and said, "I see, they want to rob her here." 　　"Go to hell." The little princess punched hard at Chen Nan's head. 　　Chen Nan took the pain and shouted in a small voice, "Aren't I helping Your Highness analyze it, how can Your Highness be so agitated? Besides it's not like there's no such possibility." 　　"You don't have to think about this aspect, everyone knows that this Third Prince is not someone who lives a rotten life." 　　Chen Nan said, "Maybe ...... maybe he wants to give Her Highness as a gift to someone else." 　　Hearing Chen Nan compare her to a gift, the Imp Princess gasped in anger and said in a cold voice, "You scum talk really hard, don't you know who you're talking to?" But then she quickly calmed down again, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "The possibility is almost zero." 　　"That's strange, besides Her Highness, what else could make the Third Prince desperate, wait a minute ......" 　　"Houyi bow!" 　　"Houyi Bow!" 　　Chen Nan and the little princess shouted together as they woke up at the same time. 　　"When Her Highness used the Houyi Bow to shoot the giant snake that day, the golden light arrow must have been seen by the Third Prince as it cut through the sky." 　　"No wonder this guy is always glancing at the box behind me, actually hitting on the idea of our heirloom Houyi Bow, really damned." The little princess clenched her small fists and said, "You scum haven't come up with a countermeasure by now?" 　　"This can't be blamed on me, ah, a clever woman can't cook without rice, Her Highness's guards have all been seriously injured, and now there are no usable soldiers, what can I do? I think it's better to give the Hou Yi bow directly to the third prince, the so-called know the time for ...... hehehe." Seeing a hint of a cold smile at the corner of the Imp Princess's mouth, Chen Nan hurriedly stopped his words and laughed dryly. 　　"You scum still blabbered about making a deal with me during the day, but in the end you can't help with anything. Hehehe, this is good, I can clean you up without any worries, you don't know how hard I've been searching for you in the past two days, I can't wait to skin you immediately." 　　Looking at the little princess's evil smile, Chen Nan couldn't help but shiver, "Your Highness, I didn't mean to peek at you ...... out of the bath in the first place ......" 　　After hearing these words, the little princess's eyes almost spewed out fire, "Ah, you damned scum, you still dare to mention ...... I'll kill you!"