Chapter 82 The First Hidden Expert

Zan Yunxiao's first destination was Solhaven City.

He wanted to see how the city had developed since he had last personally visited it.

As he approached the city, he immediately noticed the bustling streets and the endless flow of merchants entering and leaving through the gates.

Solhaven City had transformed into one of the Western Continent's major trading hubs.

Merchants from different regions gathered here to exchange spiritual materials, medicinal herbs, weapons, beast cores, and other valuable resources. Among them were even rare materials that were extremely difficult to find elsewhere.

Most of the rogue cultivators wandering through the city were only at the Qi Refinement Realm at most. Stronger cultivators rarely appeared openly, making Solhaven City relatively peaceful.

Zan Yunxiao walked through the city unnoticed, quietly observing everything around him.

"Not bad..."

He nodded slightly.

"Zan Yin has managed the city well."

The city was no longer merely a place under the Zan Clan's control.

It had become an important center for trade throughout the region, attracting cultivators and merchants from far beyond its borders.

As Zan Yunxiao continued wandering through Solhaven City, an old memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.

His former home.

After following a familiar route away from the bustling streets, he eventually arrived at a secluded manor hidden in a quiet area of the city. The place was surrounded by trees and walls, far from the noise of merchants and cultivators.

Zan Yunxiao stopped before the manor and quietly stared at it.

A faint sense of nostalgia filled his heart.

This was the first home he and Xueyun had lived in after they were married.

Back then, the manor had been nothing more than a peaceful residence where they lived together as an ordinary married couple. It was also here that Jin Feixue had later appeared in his life, persistently pursuing him and eventually seeking to marry him.

Thinking about those distant days, Zan Yunxiao couldn't help but smile.

"Time really does pass quickly."

He remembered how different everything had been back then.

He had never imagined that the quiet manor before him would one day become a reminder of the beginning of his family and the countless changes that followed.

After lingering for a while, Zan Yunxiao finally turned around.

There was nothing left for him to do here.

With one last glance at the secluded manor, he continued his journey through Solhaven City.

After wandering around Solhaven City for some time, Zan Yunxiao finally left the city.

His next destination was the Southern Province of the Crimson Empire.

With his current cultivation, traveling at full speed was effortless. His figure transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the horizon.

For an ordinary mortal, the journey from Solhaven City to the Southern Province would have taken several months.

For Zan Yunxiao...

It took only a few hours.

Upon arriving, he immediately released his spiritual sense, quietly sweeping across the entire province.

His spiritual sense passed through cities, villages, mountains, forests, and countless settlements.

He wasn't looking for treasures.

He was searching for people.

More specifically...

Hidden experts.

"Let's see if there are any powerful cultivators hiding here."

After carefully scanning the entire region, Zan Yunxiao found nothing that concerned him.

There was no hidden powerhouse comparable to himself.

Satisfied, he began visiting the various villages and cities throughout the Southern Province, observing their development and gathering information about the region and if there's a hidden expert visited before.

After some time, he arrived at a relatively ordinary village.

As he walked through the village, something suddenly caught his attention.

A tombstone stood quietly beneath a large tree.

Zan Yunxiao stopped.

His gaze fell upon the inscription.

Zan Shenyuu

Zan Moxuan

His expression immediately became strange.

"Shenyuu?"

He stared at the tombstone for a moment.

"Isn't Shenyuu still alive?"

He remembered seeing Shenyuu in the Patriarch Hall before.

So why would her name appear on a tombstone?

Zan Yunxiao rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

After pondering for a while, he suddenly nodded.

"Ah..."

"That's probably it."

This village was clearly unaware of what had happened to them after they left.

Perhaps after Zan Moxuan and Shenyuu become cultivators and simply never returned to their hometown.

As the years passed, the villagers naturally assumed that the couple had died somewhere outside.

Zan Yunxiao nodded repeatedly, looking as though he had just solved an extremely complicated mystery.

"Indeed."

"It makes sense."

He then noticed another detail on the tombstone.

Zan Shenyuu.

Zan Yunxiao's expression became slightly thoughtful.

"She took her husband's surname?"

In ancient times, it was common for women to retain their birth surname after marriage rather than adopt their husband's family name.

Even in the cultivation world, many families continued that tradition.

For Shenyuu to be recorded as Zan Shenyuu instead of her original surname was somewhat unusual.

"Quite rare nowadays."

Zan Yunxiao glanced at the tombstone again before shaking his head.

"Well, at least they were remembered here."

After spending several days traveling throughout the Southern Province, Zan Yunxiao finally departed.

His next destinations were the other provinces within the Crimson Empire. Before investigating the regions beyond the empire's borders, he wanted to thoroughly examine his own territory first.

His third destination was the Southwestern Province.

Compared to the other provinces, this region was relatively ordinary. Most of its people made their living through fishing, and there were few major cultivation forces or valuable resources.

Nevertheless, Zan Yunxiao still visited the province.

His purpose wasn't merely to inspect its prosperity.

He wanted to determine whether any hidden experts were living within the Crimson Empire.

Upon arriving, he released his spiritual sense and quietly swept across the entire province.

Mountains...

Villages...

Cities...

Even remote areas were thoroughly examined.

As expected, he found no hidden powerhouse capable of threatening the Zan Clan.

"Nothing here either."

Zan Yunxiao wasn't disappointed.

This was precisely why he had decided to personally travel throughout the Crimson Empire.

After spending several days exploring the Southwestern Province, he departed and continued toward the Western Province.

The situation there was much the same.

Zan Yunxiao investigated the cities, villages, mountains, and secluded regions, yet once again, he found no powerful hidden cultivator.

After confirming there was nothing unusual, he continued his journey.

Eventually, he arrived at the Northern Region.

Zan Yunxiao's expression became slightly thoughtful.

This region had once belonged to the Northern Alliance.

However, after the Northern Alliance was defeated, its territory was incorporated into the Crimson Empire.

Thus, the Northern Region was now officially part of the Crimson Empire.

"So this is the territory that once belonged to the Northern Alliance..."

Zan Yunxiao looked across the vast northern lands.

During the war, he had personally slaughtered many of the Northern Alliance's Nascent Soul experts.

Now that their territory had become part of the Crimson Empire, he wanted to see what remained.

More importantly...

He wanted to determine whether the Northern Region contained any hidden experts who had escaped the war.

Zan Yunxiao slowly released his spiritual sense.

It spread across the entire Northern Region like an invisible wave.

This time, he searched much more carefully.

After all...

If there really was a hidden powerhouse here, this would be the most likely place to find one.

As Zan Yunxiao's spiritual sense swept across the Northern Region, he suddenly detected a powerful aura.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Found one."

The aura belonged to a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

Although it was far weaker than him, it was still the strongest hidden cultivator he had encountered during his journey so far.

More importantly, the cultivator was surprisingly close to his current location.

Zan Yunxiao immediately followed the aura.

After traveling for a short while, he arrived above a large city.

His spiritual sense quickly pinpointed the source.

It came from the city's castle.

"So he's the City Lord?"

Zan Yunxiao's eyes flickered with interest.

The old man living inside the castle was indeed a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

For Zan Yunxiao, killing such a cultivator would be effortless.

But that wasn't why he had come.

He wanted to recruit him.

If the Central Continent eventually invaded the Western Continent, every powerful cultivator would be valuable.

Rather than killing potential allies, Zan Yunxiao would rather make them submit and fight alongside the Zan Clan.

With a thought, he distorted his appearance.

His face became completely blurred, while his black robes fluttered gently around him.

The next moment, he appeared inside the City Lord's residence.

The old man immediately sensed the intruder.

His expression changed drastically.

"Who are you?!"

Before Zan Yunxiao could even answer, the old City Lord's spiritual energy erupted.

BOOM!

A terrifying palm struck toward Zan Yunxiao with his full strength.

The entire castle trembled.

The shockwave spread throughout the city, causing countless citizens to look toward the City Lord's residence in terror.

However...

When the dust finally settled, Zan Yunxiao was still standing exactly where he had been.

Not a single scratch could be seen on his black robes.

The old man's pupils shrank.

"Impossible..."

Zan Yunxiao slowly raised one hand.

He didn't even bother drawing his sword.

An invisible force descended.

Boom!

The old City Lord's knees slammed against the ground.

His entire body was forced downward by an overwhelming pressure.

"Urgh!"

He desperately tried to resist, but the gap between them was simply too great.

The pressure increased.

Boom!

His body was completely pressed against the ground.

At that moment, the old man finally understood.

The mysterious black-robed figure before him wasn't merely stronger than him.

He was someone from an entirely different level.

A terrifying sensation of death filled his heart.

"I..."

"Senior!"

"Please spare my life!"

The old man desperately shouted.

His dignity as a Nascent Soul expert had already been thrown aside.

Compared to death, dignity was worthless.

He had cultivated for hundreds of years and finally reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

He wasn't ready to die yet.

Zan Yunxiao looked down at him silently.

A faint smile appeared beneath his blurred face.

At least...

This old man knew when to surrender.