Return of the King, Dominating the City

Chapter 2076: Chapter 1857: Like Thieves in the Night

Nie Wushuang is only at the early SS level; to forcibly advance to the SSS level, she needs to absorb a vast amount of energy, and this process is bound to be extremely lengthy.

As long as she doesn’t encounter any accidents, it’s all good.

In the evening, Song Yun and Song Mengjie had a romantic candlelight dinner, and both returned to the hotel contentedly.

For some time afterward, Song Yun was constantly accompanying Song Mengjie. Later, Lin Rou also became busy, and Song Yun found a reason to leave.

After the Black Hand Sect incident, everyone knows Lin Rou has an impressive boyfriend; her status in the crew has skyrocketed, whether it’s Arnold the director or other actors, they all give her due respect.

Seeing that things were arranged properly here, Song Yun left France.

However, he didn’t return to Huaxia but went to Komi Primitive Forest in Sha Country.

In the cavern where he found the Ice Crystal Holy Grail, there were a total of eight passages.

Among them, the guardian beasts in four of the passages have perished, and Song Yun obtained the inner cores.

But nobody has traversed the other four passages, and the beasts inside remain.

Song Yun’s trip this time is specifically to kill the beasts and obtain the inner cores.

When he killed the Flood Snake, he was at late SS level, and now he has reached halfway to SSS level. Although killing the other beasts won’t be a straightforward crushing, it won’t be as difficult.

However, unexpectedly, the beasts in the other four passages were all weaker than the Flood Snake.

In the end, after battling through four fights, he defeated four beasts and obtained a total of three inner cores.

Why three? Because one of the beasts was too weak and hadn’t formed an inner core.

Song Yun brought the demon beast cores back to Azure Dragon Villa and spent time refining them into four High-level Vast Essence Pills.

He gave one of the Vast Essence Pills to Gu Zi, who was thrilled and was about to close himself off for cultivation, when they received a notification for the top ten of the martial gathering to meet in Yanjing.

"Seems like it’s about to begin."

Song Yun thought to himself.

Gu Zi felt a bit regretful and had to put away the High-level Vast Essence Pill, planning to consume and refine it when there was time.

The two tidied up some things, and Song Yun refined dozens of Truth Awakening Pills, giving them to Yang Xuewei.

The Truth Awakening Pill is the lowest elixir pill he can refine, but even so, only Yang Xuewei could consume it, as the other women are still only at Inner Strength level, not having advanced to S level.

However, the hermit taught by Gu Zi directly cultivates S level energy. Once their foundation is established, they will smoothly advance to S level.

As for what height they can ultimately reach, it can only depend on their talent and opportunities.

After arranging everything at home, Song Yun and Gu Zi headed to Yanjing.

Song Yun originally thought the meeting place would be in some secluded courtyard but was surprised to find it in a military district guesthouse.

Even more unexpectedly, the first acquaintance Song Yun encountered upon arrival was Juan Mao.

Moreover, Juan Mao had advanced to early SS level, indicating he also had some fortuitous encounter.

Song Yun smiled and said, "Your advancement speed isn’t ordinary."

"It’s my dad’s intervention," Juan Mao pursed his lips, "Besides, even if I’m strong, how can I compare with you? I heard that at the martial gathering, you killed Shen Family’s Shen Wenguang, who was at mid SSS level. You, my friend, truly are a marvel."

Song Yun chuckled indifferently and, with a friendly gesture, walked inside with Juan Mao, asking, "Why are you here?"

Juan Mao proudly replied, "The martial gathering is just to vie for spots huh? Actually, there are eleven spots in total, and sorry, the eleventh spot is predetermined by the Golden Dragon Palace."

"Is the predetermined person you?" Song Yun asked in mock disdain.

Juan Mao nodded with a helpless expression, looking like he deserved a beating, "No choice, I’m the Hall Master’s pick."

Song Yun’s eyes lit up, asking, "Is Senior Shi Cheng here today?"

Juan Mao replied, "He is."

Receiving the answer made Song Yun somewhat expectant.

He had heard of Shi Cheng’s reputation for a long time, yet had never met him in person.

Then the two entered a meeting room where Lu Tiange, Lin Jun, Lin Xiang, Gu Man, Gu Meng, and Dongfang Yun were already seated.

Upon seeing Song Yun enter, their gazes converged on him.

Lin Jun, treating Song Yun as a valued younger brother, greeted warmly, "Song Yun, you’ve arrived."

Gu Man, Lin Xiang, and Gu Meng also nodded and smiled at Song Yun amiably.

Dongfang Yun’s face showed a flash of excitement, nodding towards Song Yun with joy flickering in her eyes.

After Song Yun and Juan Mao took their seats, Juan Mao glanced at Dongfang Yun, then at Gu Zi, who came with Song Yun, and whispered, "Song Yun, seems like you’ve managed to win over the two beauties of the Hermit Realm, you’re really shameless."

Song Yun laughed, "What do you mean shameless? That’s called charisma."

Juan Mao showed a disdainful expression before shifting tones, saying seriously, "But Lu Tiange seems not very friendly towards you."

Song Yun glanced at Lu Tiange, whose injuries had healed. Seeing Song Yun’s gaze, Lu Tiange’s eyes showed resentment. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and ignored Song Yun.

"Humph!" Song Yun snorted lightly, saying to Juan Mao, "Lu Tiange is just a mere clown, no need to pay attention."

A total of nine young individuals began chatting.

Soon enough, the door creaked open.

Walking in were Changshan Sect Leader Huang Jinseng, Lin Family Master Lin Xiao, and Gu Village Chief Gu Hong.

As for the Shen Family, after the martial gathering, they were suppressed by the entire Hermit Realm cooperatively, now in a state of decay, struggling to return to their former peak condition.