"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Ling Chen had just entered the mansion when streaks of light shot towards him from three directions: front, left, and right.
The light dissipated, revealing a sea of familiar faces.
Leading them was none other than Liu Ruyun.
"How has everyone been doing lately? Is everything alright?"
Concerned about the repercussions his affairs might have on the members of the Four Domains Alliance, particularly provoking oppression from the Northern Region Cultivators, he made his visit a priority after leaving the State Governor Mansion.
Liu Ruyun said with a smile.
The others chimed in with their agreement.
Ling Chen’s eyes rested on Liu Ruyun as he remarked, "Not bad, you’ve reached the late Seven Stars Realm!"
Indeed, Liu Ruyun had now advanced to the late fifth stage of the World Realm.
The others had also made their respective advancements.
"Where are Young Master Qin and Young Master Ouyang?"
Ling Chen scanned the crowd but failed to spot the two.
At that moment, two more streaks of light burst forward and landed behind Liu Ruyun.
The two greeted him; it was Qin Wufa and Ouyang Jie.
Their cultivation had also improved significantly, reaching the middle Seven Stars Realm level.
Ling Chen laughed and said, "You two are lagging behind; Lady Liu has pulled far ahead in cultivation."
When he had left, he had provided them with abundant Spirit Crystals, enough for all three to reach the late Seven Stars stage.
Qin Wufa touched his head, appearing somewhat embarrassed, "Given my talent, I’m already quite content with such progress."
Ling Chen playfully suggested, "Could it be that Lady Liu has been using the Alliance Hierarch’s authority to oppress you?"
He then turned his gaze towards Liu Ruyun.
Liu Ruyun laughed, "Taking advantage of your absence, as the Alliance Hierarch, I certainly had to exert my full authority to give these two a hard time!"
Ouyang Jie and Qin Wufa hurriedly waved their hands.
Ling Chen roared with laughter.
"Alright, I’m back now, so let’s celebrate properly today. In three days, the Qing Province Heavenly Pride List will officially begin!"
"Of course, we must welcome and cleanse the dust for the Alliance Hierarch."
The atmosphere was very harmonious with not the slightest sign of estrangement.
"Let’s not stand around here anymore; let’s sit and chat in the Council Hall!"
Following that, everyone headed towards the grand council hall in the center of the mansion.
"Alliance Hierarch, you’ve also reached the late Seven Stars stage, truly putting us to shame,"
Liu Ruyun looked at Ling Chen with a gleaming laugh.
When Ling Chen left, he was only at the mid Six Stars stage,
while she was at the late Six Stars stage.
But, without seeing each other for a year, Ling Chen had caught up with her in terms of cultivation.
You see, Ling Chen’s strength was not as simple as his apparent cultivation level.
He could probably even battle with an Eight Stars Realm cultivator by now.
Qin Wufa and Ouyang Jie showed wry smiles on their faces.
Now, Ling Chen had actually surpassed them.
Ling Chen smiled proudly.
Soon, everyone arrived in the Council Hall.
Liu Ruyun assigned people to prepare a feast and fine wine.
With Ling Chen’s return, how could they not celebrate?
Everyone took their seats.
The conversation flowed immediately.
Everyone was clear about Ling Chen’s imprisonment in the World Prison.
After all, the matter had been announced to all.
"What exactly is the World Prison like?"
Liu Ruyun and the others were extremely curious.
Ling Chen replied with a smile, "Actually, the World Prison is like the internal world of a cultivator. Aside from the extremely thin Spiritual Energy, it’s not much different from the outside world. Of course, it’s full of criminals, so the fights there are quite brutal..."
Listening to Ling Chen’s account satisfied everyone’s curiosity.
Two hours later, the banquet was set up in the center of the grand hall.
Everyone took their seats.
"Come, let’s raise our glasses and celebrate the safe return of the Alliance Hierarch!"
Lady Liu said with a smile.
Everyone stood up and raised their glasses to toast Ling Chen.
Ling Chen also stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Thank you all, and I wish everyone here could ascend the Qing Province Heavenly Pride List and achieve a good ranking!"
"Thank you, Alliance Hierarch!"
The crowd spoke one after another.
Then, they all drank in one gulp.
And after that, they took their seats again.
The instant Young Master Qin sat down, Ling Chen’s gaze caught sight of the latter’s right hand.
Although it was very similar to an ordinary person’s hand, Ling Chen could still tell that it was condensed from Spiritual Power.
Previously, Young Master Qin either covered it with his left hand or concealed it with his sleeve.
Ling Chen did not notice.
Not until now did Ling Chen finally see something amiss.
"Young Master Qin, what happened to your hand?"
He had the feeling that the people from the Northern Region would definitely not let them go.
Especially during the time he was imprisoned in the World Prison.
"It’s nothing, just an injury during a friendly exchange with someone."
Young Master Qin said with a smile.
His left hand naturally covered his right hand.
Ling Chen’s expression turned cold, and a burst of Divine Soul Telekinesis shot out directly, shattering Young Master Qin’s right sleeve.
Exposing an arm formed by the condensation of Spiritual Power.
It turned out, Young Master Qin’s right arm was chopped off by someone.
"Why haven’t you taken an Elixir to recover?"
Ling Chen fixed his gaze on Young Master Qin.
An arm severed right from the shoulder was definitely not a result of a friendly exchange.
It must have been the people from the Northern Region causing trouble.
And, not recovering probably meant that those people came to cause trouble more than once.
Even if he did recover, his limb would still be severed again.
As for the price of Elixirs that can heal the body, Young Master Qin’s fortune could easily bear it.
For an imperial-level Cultivator, losing a hand or an arm doesn’t really affect their strength.
Because they have all mastered Sword Intent.
They can completely manipulate Spiritual Weapons out of thin air.
"It’s nothing, just wanted to experience life without a right hand," Young Master Qin said with a laugh.
"Fine. Since you won’t tell, then I shall no longer be the Alliance Hierarch!"
Ling Chen shook his head lightly. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
He was about to step away.
The crowd hastily spoke up.
Their faces filled with urgency.
Ling Chen paused in his step, and said, "If you still regard me as your Alliance Hierarch, then tell me the whole truth."
"Alliance Hierarch, I will tell you everything!"
Before long, Ling Chen learned of the whole story.
As expected, the people from the Northern Region were relentless, taking the chance to target the people from the four domains while he was away.
The perpetrator came from the Star Capital.
The Star Capital, among the twelve capitals of the Northern Region, ranked at the forefront in terms of strength.
There were three Heavenly Pride Token holders alone.
As for now, a year had passed, and the Heavenly Pride level strength, that is, seven-star imperial cultivators and above, counted as twelve.
Among them, all the Heavenly Pride Token holders had been promoted to eight-star imperial cultivators.
The leader had even reached the late eight-star stage, not far from the nine-star imperial cultivator.
This past year, nearly every half a month, they would come once.
Targeting to cripple an arm or a leg of the genius cultivators from the Four Domains Alliance.
At first, Young Master Qin would take Elixirs to recover.
But with the need for an Elixir every half month, even he couldn’t afford it.
So he simply stopped recovering.
"Star Capital, is it?"
A cold murderous intent appeared on Ling Chen’s face.
A year ago, in the State Governor Mansion, when State Governor Mu Qing asked the Commanders how to deal with him, there was one Commander who wanted to kill him.
He remembered it was the Commander from the Star Capital.
Ling Chen asked coldly.