Chapter 257: Gift

The eighth bell tolled, and the resonance of the Boundary Stone lasted for a long time.

Amidst the countless battles, Jiang Yan spotted a familiar face.

“That… seems to be someone named Balshus?”

“He’s still at the Seventh Rank?”

The person Jiang Yan noticed was none other than the exiled crown prince he had encountered during the Rising Tide Championship.

Who would have thought that this wanderer would cross paths with Jiang Yan here?

The path of the Seventh Rank was indeed long, and achieving the Eighth Rank to complete one’s life Metamorphosis was no easy feat.

Every being had a long journey ahead, facing challenges far beyond their current capabilities.

The Seventh Rank, in the presence of these Transcendent powerhouses who were at least at the Eighth Rank, seemed so humble and insignificant.

Using some unknown method, he concealed himself outside the battlefield, observing the battle just like Jiang Yan.

“As long as I can seize the Boundary Stone, I can enter the Four Directions Realm! I will avenge my father and mother. I will personally execute those traitors!”

Balshus clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot. The aftershocks from the center of the battlefield occasionally shook his body, while the pressure from the Law constantly weighed on his heart.

“This… is the battle of the strong? I will definitely grow to this level!”

Balshus stared intently at the constantly shifting Boundary Stone—it was his only hope for rapid growth.

“Elemental Transformation combined with the Hidden Breath Secret Technique, no wonder he’s so well-hidden.”

If Jiang Yan’s Spiritual Power hadn’t reached the Seventh Rank Starry Sky level, it would have been difficult to detect Balshus’s whereabouts.

It seemed this move was an attempt to swallow an elephant whole—a risky gamble.

Jiang Yan didn’t find it inappropriate for a mere Seventh Rank Transcendent to lie in wait among a group of Eighth and Ninth Rank powerhouses.

Every Opportunity offered two choices.

One was to take risks, the other was to be conservative. Balshus had chosen the shortcut, at the cost of a near-certain death.

Sometimes, the weak couldn’t even make a choice between the two.

Balshus had been hunted by the rebels for months. If he remained this weak, his life would come to an end, and his hopes of revenge would be buried in the Starry Sky.

After his death, no one would likely bother to collect his body.

The Boundary Stone continued to resonate, its signal spreading far and wide… More and more powerhouses flocked to the scene, competing for the ticket to this land of Opportunity.

“Do you need my help?”

Suddenly, a hoarse voice echoed in Jiang Yan’s ear, its tone eerie and alien, as if it came from another world.

Jiang Yan turned his head and saw a man clad in black-feathered robes squatting in the Void, shoulder to shoulder with him, his gaze also fixed on the battle at the center of the battlefield.

His eyes held no solemn scrutiny of the war, only a mocking amusement at the struggles of mortals, as if watching ants fight over a piece of sugar—a scene he could destroy with a mere wave of his hand.

Jiang Yan, who had concealed himself with Concealment, Chaotic Void Ancestral Spirit Body Separation, and a King-grade Armament to mask his Aura, had been effortlessly discovered by the man before him.

Jiang Yan remained expressionless, his gaze joining the man’s as they both looked toward the battlefield.

“I’m just watching. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and seize the Boundary Stone.”

The corners of Black Feather Gu Jin’s lips curled slightly. “Truly modest. I believe you should have a hundred percent certainty of dealing with them.”

Jiang Yan paused, turned his head, and locked eyes with Gu Jin.

“You flatter me. I wouldn’t dare make such bold claims.”

Gu Jin shook his head and said nothing, turning his attention back to the group desperately fighting for the Boundary Stone.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan spoke.

“Hey, you know, every time that bell tolls, many people die. Nine tolls, nine times many people die. It’s like… scheduled garbage disposal.”

Gu Jin’s gaze on the battlefield paused slightly, his focus no longer fixed on the collisions of Laws.

“Haha, your perspective is quite interesting. By the way, I’m Gu Jin. What’s your name?”

Black Feather Gu Jin extended his hand, a smile on his face as he looked at Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan reached out and shook it.

“Jiang Yan.”

“As a friend, let me give you a gift.” Gu Jin stood up, the black feathers covering him rustling softly. His golden eyes faintly emitted a mysterious light, dazzling to behold.

Jiang Yan remained seated in the Void, quietly awaiting Gu Jin’s gift.

Gu Jin slightly raised his right arm, his thumb and middle finger overlapping.

Snap!

A crisp sound pierced through the entire space. The Transcendent experts locked in fierce battle froze in place as if someone had pressed pause.

All Laws solidified, dissolving into elegant and noble black feathers.

The Physical Bodies did the same.

Amid the black feathers filling the sky, only Gu Jin and Jiang Yan remained, facing each other.

“This Boundary Stone—consider it my presumptuous gift, alright?”

Gu Jin held a piece of jade in his hand, looking warmly at Jiang Yan.

“Of course, we are friends.”

“Mmm, friends.”

Gu Jin took a step forward, appearing right in front of Jiang Yan, and personally placed the Boundary Stone into his hand.

“Four Laws… If you can advance to Martial God, I might give you an even greater gift.”

With that, Gu Jin vanished from before him.

Only a parting message remained.

“Goodbye, friend.”

Jiang Yan stared at the jade in his hand, momentarily unsure whether this so-called key was a blessing or a curse.

“Seen through in an instant. Can Laws truly not be concealed?”

In the past, the Sky Demon had sensed the Life and Death Law Jiang Yan cultivated through Bloodline Legacy. Today, this unknown birdman had seen through the four Laws he had mastered at a glance.

Whoosh!

Just as he was pondering, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air suddenly came from behind him.

A fiery blade struck Jiang Yan’s back but couldn’t penetrate even a fraction, tightly wrapped in a thick layer of black substance—unable to pierce, unable to pull free.

Jiang Yan turned around, smiling as he looked at the crown prince of a fallen kingdom who had just ambushed him.

He raised the Boundary Stone in his hand. “You want this?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t want to do this!”

Balshus was on the verge of breaking down. Ambushing someone went against his principles, but some things were far more important than principles.

He remembered Jiang Yan’s face in his dreams.

He had sworn that one day he would defeat Jiang Yan on his own—the man who had once easily bested him.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice choked with tears, the fiery blade in his hand trembling as if enduring something unbearable.

“I… must obtain the Boundary Stone… I must. So, I’m sorry—please just die!”

He roared, thunder and fire intertwining across his body, once again summoning that familiar Elemental Domain.

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s just the victor becoming king, the loser a bandit. If it were me, I’d be even more ruthless.”

“You can only blame yourself for being too weak to succeed in your ambush.”

With that, Jiang Yan tore apart the Domain, and tore apart Balshus along with it.

Dust to dust, earth to earth, the Universe gathered, and the Starry Sky gained one more corpse.

“It seems that Gu Jin did it on purpose. He certainly has a sense of humor.”

Jiang Yan smiled indifferently. Seeing the resonance of the Boundary Stone fade away, he knew the eighth toll of the bell had already concluded.

“Only one toll remains. I wonder what kind of powerful beings it will attract, and how that so-called Realm Gate will appear?”

Jiang Yan found an uninhabited planet and quietly began his cultivation.