Chapter 886 Joining Forces

Han Li, Chen Yang, and Gu Qianxun quickly cleaned up the cave, erasing traces of the battle and piling up the corpses of Du Qingyang and the others.

Chen Yang fumbled around Du Qingyang's corpse and pulled out a pitch-black token.

The token was triangular in shape, with two curved protrusions on top, looking very much like a strange goat's head.

One side of the token bore the characters 'Qing Yang', while the other side also had two characters, 'Xuan Cheng'. The material it was made of was unknown, but a faint, peculiar black light flowed continuously across its surface.

Seeing this, Chen Yang was overjoyed and began to fondle it in his hands.

Han Li glanced at the black token, knowing that it was most likely the token representing the identity of the City Lord of Qingyang.

“You can take your time admiring that thing when you get back. This place is no place to linger,” Gu Qianxun said coldly upon seeing this.

“Heh, forgive my rudeness, you two.”

Chen Yang laughed heartily, put away the black token, took out a white round stone, rubbed it slightly with his fingers, and then tossed it into the pile of corpses.

With a crackling sound, the white round stone suddenly ignited, turning into a ball of white flame that enveloped the corpses of Du Qingyang and the others, which quickly melted away.

“No time to waste, let's go.” Without waiting for the corpses to finish burning, Chen Yang immediately changed into a new set of clothes and took out two black armored outfits for Han Li and the other to put on.

Han Li took the black armor but did not put it on immediately, a look of confusion on his face.

“There is a formidable confidant of Du Qingyang guarding the secret vault. We need to eliminate him first. Wearing these guard uniforms will make it easier for us to move,” Chen Yang explained.

Han Li nodded at this and was about to take off his Xuan Fighter uniform when he glanced at Gu Qianxun and paused.

His Xuan Fighter uniform was different from Chen Yang's clothes; it was quite thin, and taking it off would leave him with almost nothing.

Just then, the rustling of clothes came from beside him. Gu Qianxun had directly taken off her goose-yellow attire, revealing a white close-fitting undergarment.

The undergarment was a bit too small, squeezing the pair of jade-white breasts on her chest somewhat out of shape, as if they were about to burst forth; her slender waist was so delicate it seemed one could encircle it with a single hand; her round, long legs shimmered with a snowy luster, their proportions nearly perfect.

However, neither Han Li nor Chen Yang had any lascivious thoughts at the moment. Gu Qianxun's chest, abdomen, and legs were covered in scars, especially a huge centipede-shaped wound on her chest that slanted downward from her collarbone, a shocking sight.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly. For cultivators at their level of physical cultivation, ordinary injuries rarely left scars unless they were inflicted by special weapons or were nearly fatal wounds that barely allowed survival.

Either way, Gu Qianxun's past experiences were no simple matter.

Gu Qianxun's expression was calm, as if Han Li and Chen Yang were just two stone statues. She put on the black armor and quickly tidied herself up.

“Time is tight; you two should change clothes quickly as well. There's no need to apply the useless common sense of gender distinctions to me. I have never lived in such a naive environment,” Gu Qianxun said flatly, then strode out first.

“Fellow Daoist Gu is truly unconventional,” Chen Yang remarked with a click of his tongue, as if just coming to his senses.

Han Li gave a wry smile, quickly took off his Xuan Fighter uniform, and changed into the black armor.

The black armored guard uniform included a face mask that covered most of the face, making it more discreet and safe.

Thus, led by Chen Yang, the two immediately left the cave and ascended along the tunnel they had come from, with the Crab Immortal following unhurriedly behind.

“Fellow Daoist Li, how about we join forces?” Just then, a voice as faint as a mosquito sounded in his mind, quite different from ordinary divine sense transmissions—it was Gu Qianxun's voice.

Han Li raised an eyebrow at this and glanced at Gu Qianxun out of the corner of his eye.

“I know Fellow Daoist Li prefers to act alone, which was evident from your earlier refusal to join the Thousand Bone Alliance. But times have changed. Now that Du Qingyang is dead, my transaction with Chen Yang has come to an end. After he successfully takes power, you and I seem to have lost our usefulness, especially since we still have the Black Calamity Insects inside us,” Gu Qianxun said, her voice even fainter and faster.

Han Li still said nothing, merely glancing at Chen Yang's right arm wrapped in animal skin.

“Chen Yang's strength is unfathomable, far more than what he just displayed. Although he seemingly self-destructed the acupoints on his right arm, he is still not to be underestimated. Moreover, he is cunning and treacherous, absolutely not to be trusted. Now, only by joining forces can we ensure complete safety,” Gu Qianxun seemed to understand Han Li's meaning and added.

Han Li's eyes flickered. After a moment's deliberation, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Seeing Han Li's gesture, a hint of joy flashed deep in Gu Qianxun's eyes, but it vanished instantly.

The group of four soon exited the tunnel and arrived at a side hall of the city lord's mansion.

Quite a few people had gathered here, mostly guards of the mansion, along with some stewards and attendants.

The few who had gone hunting with Chen Yang earlier were also here. As soon as they saw Chen Yang enter, they immediately went up to greet him.

“Captain Chen Yang, how did it go?” the tattooed young man asked in a low voice.

“It's taken care of,” Chen Yang said with a grin.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall let out a cheer.

"Now everyone, follow the plan and act separately." Chen Yang raised his hand and pressed down slightly, signaling the crowd to calm down, while softly instructing.

"Yes!" The crowd quickly restrained their emotions, answered in unison, and then dispersed separately.

"Let's go too." Chen Yang said softly to Han Li and the other, and also walked out of the side hall, heading down a remote path.

After a moment, the four arrived at a spacious stone hall. At the end of the hall was a stone door several zhang high, engraved with streaks of silver patterns that shimmered with silver starlight.

On the stone wall above the stone door were engraved four large red-gold characters: "Qingyang Secret Vault."

In the center of the stone hall stood a black stone platform several zhang in size. An old man in gray robes sat cross-legged on the platform, meditating with eyes closed.

This old man had ordinary features, except that his cheeks showed a silvery-white color, which looked very strange.

Streams of silver-white light radiated from the old man's body, shooting out in all directions, nearly a hundred streams in total, making him look like a silver hedgehog.

Hearing the footsteps of Chen Yang and the others, the old man in gray robes opened his eyes and looked over, and the silver light on his body retracted and disappeared.

"Captain Chen Yang, why have you come here?" The old man in gray robes looked over, a hint of vigilance appearing on his face, his tone cold.

"Elder Ye, the city lord is currently presiding over the Gara Blood Array. The array has encountered some problems and urgently needs blood essence crystals to remedy. The city lord sent me to fetch some." Chen Yang's face was full of urgency as he spoke rapidly.

"The secret vault can only be opened by the city lord himself or with the city lord's token. Captain Chen Yang, do you have the city lord's writ?" The old man in gray robes showed no change in expression upon hearing this.

"Look at me, I was so anxious that I forgot about this. Here is the city lord's token." Chen Yang slapped his forehead, feigning annoyance, and took out the black token obtained from Du Qingyang's corpse.

Seeing the token, the old man in gray robes relaxed his vigilance slightly. He took out a silver key about a foot long and was about to turn and walk toward the stone door.

"Eh, the secret vault door!" At that moment, Chen Yang suddenly widened his eyes and pointed at the secret vault door, as if he had seen something incredible.

Startled by the sound, the old man in gray robes whirled around to look at the door.

The secret vault door was tightly shut, with silver light flickering on it, but no unusual changes.

The old man in gray robes was taken aback. At that moment, three sharp gusts of wind struck from behind.

Eighteen points of starlight appeared on Han Li's arms. His arms suddenly thickened by half and took on a brilliant golden color, looking like two golden giant pestles as he thrust them toward the old man in gray robes.

On Chen Yang's left arm, streaks of white light suddenly emerged, revealing twenty or thirty acupoints. Like his right hand, it resembled an invincible white giant sword, stabbing fiercely at the old man's back.

Gu Qianxun's hand flashed, and the white bone sword appeared, transforming into streaks of white sword shadows that slashed at the old man's neck.

"What are you doing!" The old man in gray robes instantly sensed the three terrifying auras behind him. Without turning his head, he transformed into a bolt of silver lightning and fled forward.

Although the old man's reaction was a moment late, his forward flight speed was no slower than Chen Yang's. The three attacks could not catch up to him for a time.

At the same time, streaks of silver light burst from the old man's body, rapidly connecting to form a silver armor covered in spikes.

Seeing this, Chen Yang's eyes showed a hint of urgency, and he was about to do something.

But at that moment, Han Li's figure suddenly became blurry, his speed doubled, and he instantly caught up with the old man in gray robes. His fists slammed heavily onto the old man's shoulders.

Dazzling golden light erupted from Han Li's fists. The space within a few zhang hummed loudly, trembling madly as if collapsing.

"Bang!"

With a crisp sound like bone cracking, the old man in gray robes' body was sent flying forward like a sandbag, crashing heavily to the ground.

The silver armor on his body also collapsed with a bang and dissipated.

Before the old man in gray robes could react, two soft sounds, "Puff, puff," were heard.

Chen Yang's left hand had already pierced through the old man's chest, grabbed a beating red heart, and crushed it.

At almost the same time, Gu Qianxun's bone sword pierced through the old man's lower abdomen and dantian. Fierce white light radiated from the bone sword, gouging out a bloody hole.

"You... dare..." The old man in gray robes struggled to utter a few words, his body convulsed a few times, his eyes quickly dimmed, and his breath ceased.

"Thanks to Fellow Daoist Li's blow that shattered his Star Thorn Mystic Armor. If he had reacted, it would have been dangerous." Chen Yang withdrew his arm and nodded with a smile to Han Li.

Han Li glanced at Chen Yang's left hand, a strange look flashing in his eyes. He shook his head faintly and said nothing.

Gu Qianxun also withdrew her bone sword, flicked her wrist, and turned it back into a white bone spine chain, coiling it around her waist.

Chen Yang took the silver key from the old man in gray robes' hand and walked to the secret vault door.

Below the door was a bowl-sized white protrusion. He lifted and moved it with his hand, and the white protrusion shifted aside, revealing a keyhole.

Chen Yang inserted the key into the hole and turned it a few times.

With a few dull clicks, the silver light on the stone door completely dissipated, and then the door slowly opened.