Chapter 888: The Mysterious Statue

"Are you two truly disregarding the current situation and planning to burn the bridge here?" Chen Yang asked, a faint flicker of surprise in his eyes, his voice low.

"That depends on you. If you want to start a fight here, we'll be happy to oblige!" Han Li sneered, a layer of golden light appearing on his arms.

Gu Qianxun's hand also moved to her waist, a faint white light flickering at her fingertips.

"Both of you, our common enemy now is Du Qingyang's remnants. If we fight among ourselves here, we'll only be helping those people. If things get out of hand and the Xuan City investigates, none of us will escape," Chen Yang said, his gaze wavering as he slowly retracted his aura.

Seeing this, Han Li and Gu Qianxun also slowly withdrew their erupting auras.

"Regarding the Black Calamity Insect, I indeed failed to fulfill my promise. How about this: after we eliminate Du Qingyang's remnants, within a month I will give you both an explanation. If by then I still haven't found a way to remove the Black Calamity Insect, you two can each make another request of me. What do you say?" Chen Yang said after a moment's deliberation.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun exchanged a private telepathic message upon hearing this.

"Very well, let's do as Fellow Daoist Chen Yang suggests," Han Li said, his expression softening slightly.

They had killed Du Qingyang and just now the gray-robed old man, forging an irreconcilable enmity with Du Qingyang's faction. Unless they left Qingyang City immediately, allying with Chen Yang was their only option.

Although they hadn't found a way to remove the Black Calamity Insect, obtaining two Black Calamity Stones, which would keep the insect dormant for a considerable time, was still a significant gain.

"Thank you both for your understanding and generosity. Since you've come to this secret vault, please choose two items each as a small compensation from me," Chen Yang said with a warm smile, as if the tense standoff had never happened.

Seeing Chen Yang's expression, Han Li's pupils contracted slightly, and his wariness of him deepened.

Nevertheless, Chen Yang's proposal was tempting.

During his search, he had seen many precious items, including several body-tempering techniques that he urgently needed.

"In that case, we won't stand on ceremony," Gu Qianxun said, her beautiful eyes flickering.

"Feel free to take whatever catches your eye, but time is short, so please be quick," Chen Yang said with a generous wave and a smile.

With Chen Yang's words, Han Li and Gu Qianxun didn't hesitate and turned to search for what they needed.

Han Li walked to the wooden shelf holding the techniques and looked at several texts. After a brief hesitation, he quickly made a decision and picked up one.

Although he had roughly browsed these texts earlier, he hadn't examined them carefully due to time constraints.

"Don't choose those techniques. Take the black statue; it contains a body-tempering technique," a voice suddenly sounded in Han Li's mind—it was Crab Daoist's voice.

Startled, Han Li looked up and saw Crab Daoist standing by the vault door, eyes downcast like a loyal guard, paying no attention to the three inside and showing no sign of communicating with Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li's gaze flickered, and he fell into thought, making no further move, as if waiting for more from Crab Daoist.

But after that one telepathic message, Crab Daoist remained silent.

On the other side, Gu Qianxun had already made her selection: a text and a golden beast bone, which appeared to be the spine of some scaled beast. She walked toward Chen Yang.

Seeing this, Han Li frowned slightly and shot a glare at Crab Daoist. Gritting his teeth, he put down the book and turned to pick up the black statue.

A faint, barely perceptible look of satisfaction flickered in Crab Daoist's lowered eyes before disappearing.

Holding the statue, Han Li looked at the other items.

Apart from body-tempering techniques, he had no urgent needs. He didn't require various ores and materials, and other items like armor and weapons seemed of little use.

Suddenly, Han Li had an idea and walked to a nearby wooden cabinet.

This cabinet held beast cores, each shimmering with starlight, quite dazzling.

Since he didn't need anything else, he might as well choose a high-grade beast core. Although Chen Yang had promised to provide beast cores for his cultivation, the future was unpredictable. He preferred to rely on himself rather than others' promises.

Moreover, the higher the grade of the beast core, the more precious it was. Not only did it contain more star power, but high-grade beast cores were also very helpful for opening acupoints. He still remembered the role that Earth-grade beast core had played in opening acupoints.

Du Qingyang seemed to have arranged these beast cores from left to right in order of grade for easy distinction.

He then went straight to the innermost part of the wooden cabinet, where a white jade box was placed, engraved with crisscrossing patterns that faintly emitted a ripple of禁制.

Han Li gently opened the jade box, and a dazzling white light burst forth from within, revealing a fist-sized white beast core.

Strands of dazzling white light radiated from the beast core, bright and blinding, almost impossible to look at directly, each strand exuding a terrifying fluctuation of star power.

Han Li looked at the white beast core, a look of admiration in his eyes.

He was now very familiar with beast cores; this white beast core was far more powerful than the one Gu Qianxun had given him that day, surpassing the category of Earth-grade beast cores.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's lips. He closed the jade box again, picked it up, turned around, and walked over to Chen Yang.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, I'll choose these two items. Is that all right?" He raised the jade box and the statue in his hands.

"Of course there's no problem. But Fellow Daoist Li seems to have chosen a Heaven-grade beast core. The higher the grade of the beast core, the more difficult it is to refine. Moreover, because the star power contained in a Heaven-grade beast core is too powerful, it can easily backfire if one is not careful. Fellow Daoist Li should be cautious when using it." Chen Yang glanced at the two items in Han Li's hand, paid little attention to the black statue, but when he saw the white jade box, a hint of pain flashed in his eyes as he spoke awkwardly.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Chen Yang." Han Li smiled slightly and said.

Chen Yang glanced at the white jade box again, then forcefully looked away.

"Let's go. Time is running out."

With that, Chen Yang picked up the black jade box containing the Black Calamity Insects and led the way out, followed by the Crab Daoist.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun watched Chen Yang take the black jade box, exchanged a glance, a trace of surprise flickering across their faces, then followed.

The group soon left the treasure vault and, led by Chen Yang, quickly arrived at a side hall within the city lord's mansion.

Han Li and the other followed Chen Yang and the Crab Daoist all the way to a side hall within the city lord's mansion.

Entering the hall, Chen Yang's expression turned serious as he spoke:

"You two, please wait here in this side hall for a moment. Adjacent to this hall is the main hall where Du Qingyang used to conduct affairs. I will later find a way to summon his remaining loyal followers there. If things go smoothly, there will be no need for you two to act. If not, I will need your full support."

"City Lord Chen Yang, we are now grasshoppers tied to the same rope—if one prospers, we all prosper; if one suffers, we all suffer. Naturally, we should advance and retreat together." Gu Qianxun nodded and said with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Gu is right. Rest assured." Han Li also spoke.

Having received their promises, Chen Yang nodded slightly and left with the Crab Daoist.

After they left, only Han Li and Gu Qianxun remained in the spacious side hall.

"Fellow Daoist Li, come sit here and rest for a while. With Chen Yang's cunning and methods, I think we won't need to intervene." Gu Qianxun sat down at a stone table in the hall and beckoned to Han Li.

Han Li frowned slightly, walked over, and sat down opposite her.

"How much do you know about Chen Yang?" Han Li asked after a moment's deliberation.

"This man is far from as simple as he appears on the surface. His methods and temperament are top-notch. Anyone who dares to underestimate him will end up worse than Du Qingyang." Gu Qianxun said slowly.

Han Li said nothing, merely pondering silently.

"Fellow Daoist Li, there is something I have considered over and over and decided it's best to be frank with you." Gu Qianxun hesitated slightly, then said.

"You want to talk about the time I was attacked by the Heart-Eroding Insects, right? Was Scarface acting on your orders?" Han Li's eyes flickered as he asked.

"You already know?" A flash of surprise crossed Gu Qianxun's face.

"I only guessed after experiencing this series of events. After all, neither Du Qingyang nor Chen Yang had any reason to kill me. On the surface, you didn't seem to have one either, but in reality, there was a very hidden reason." Han Li said slowly.

"It seems you are even smarter than I originally thought. Tell me, what is that hidden reason?" Gu Qianxun said with a faint smile.

"You have a blood feud with Du Qingyang. His strength far exceeds yours, so you were afraid that after he absorbed my true spirit bloodline, his power would skyrocket, making revenge even harder. That's why you wanted to kill me in advance, right?" Han Li said expressionlessly.

"Correct. At that time, although I had already plotted with Chen Yang, it wasn't to use your bloodline backlash, but another covert ambush. However, after the Heart-Eroding Insects failed to kill you, I began to see you differently. Later, when Chen Yang learned that Du Qingyang was about to use the Gala Blood Array to absorb your true spirit bloodline, I adjusted the original plan and incorporated you into the new scheme." Gu Qianxun nodded and said.

"Compared to that, I'm more curious why you chose to confess this to me?" Han Li looked at Gu Qianxun with a half-smile.

"Since we are to cooperate, it's best to be honest with each other. After all, Chen Yang is definitely no easier to deal with than Du Qingyang. If you and I still harbor grudges, we will eventually die at his hands." Gu Qianxun sighed and said leisurely.