A Method for Lasting Peace

"Chen Fan, it's me."
Meng Xue's weak voice came from the phone.
"Are you alright?"
Chen Fan quickly asked.
"I just used my ability, I'm a little weak, you don't need to worry about it."
Meng Xue coughed twice.
"Sister."
Meng Yu's anxious voice came from the side.
"It's nothing."
Meng Xue's voice sounded, "Chen Fan, Du Hao and his group are coming. In two hours, they will enter An Shan City. You absolutely must not let them enter the city."
"Ah?"
Chen Fan's expression changed, and he asked, "Why?"
"They are coming this time, a total of four people. The leader is Du Hao; I probably don't need to introduce him much.
Two of them are B-rank Awakened. The one in white has a lightning ability. His moves are extremely powerful; you must be careful, it's best to kill him first so he doesn't get a chance to attack. The second one, dressed in blue, you also need to be careful of, because compared to that lightning ability Awakened, his ability is even more troublesome."
"What is his ability?"
"Etherealization."
Meng Xue said directly, "He can make his body ethereal, making him impossible to hit. So your blade techniques might work on others, but not necessarily on him.
If you want to kill him, you must strike the moment he attacks you, because in that instant, his body will change from an ethereal state to a physical one."
"I see."
Chen Fan nodded.
If Meng Xue hadn't reminded him, he might have directly slashed at him, only for the opponent to easily neutralize it, wasting over 100,000 True Qi.
However, judging by Meng Xue's words, that guy seems to only be immune to physical attacks?
If he's in an ethereal state, and I hit him with a mental secret technique, he should die, right?
"Meng Xue, I remember you said earlier that there are four people coming this time, so what about the last one?"
"The last one is dressed in black and is the thinnest. He's only a C-rank Awakened with ordinary combat strength, but among the four, he poses the greatest threat to you."
Meng Xue coughed violently twice.
"His ability is tracking. He can find the owner of a scent based on the scent left at the scene. Your disguise might fool others' eyes, but it won't fool him.
According to my perception yesterday, you went out hunting early this morning. Du Hao successfully led these people into An Shan City. They went to where the battle broke out two days ago. That person used his ability, and then, at the Martial Arts Association and the Awakened Association, they found traces of you."
Chen Fan's heart jumped when he heard that, and he quickly asked, "What happened after that?"
"They went to the Martial Arts Association, called everyone up, but didn't find any trace of you. So they started interrogating the people in the association, your friends. To protect your secret, more than half of them were killed. The remaining ones couldn't bear the torture and could only reveal you. As for the rest, I don't know, because my mental power yesterday could only help me get this far."
"Today, I used my ability again, wanting to see the outcome of your fight with them, but a warning arose in my heart. My intuition told me that if I continued to predict, my life force would be drained. So, I could only retreat and seek other options, checking their abilities for a while, which is what I just told you. I'm truly sorry, Chen Fan, I can only help you this far."
After speaking, Meng Xue coughed twice again.
"No, Meng Xue, you've done very well."
Chen Fan quickly said, "You told me the most important information; isn't that enough? Don't worry, I won't let those people enter the city. Also, tomorrow, I will get the Heavenly God Fruit. You just need to wait one more day."
"Thank you, Chen Fan."
Meng Xue was stunned for a moment, then slowly said.
"It's nothing, you should rest now."
"Mm."
Meng Xue nodded. After Chen Fan hung up, she put down her phone.
"Sister, drink some water."
Meng Yu carefully brought a bowl of water.
Meng Xue took two sips, waved her hand, and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Sister, you've been looking more and more haggard these past few days." Meng Yu's eyes reddened.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just wait until Chen Fan brings back the Heavenly God Fruit tomorrow, and everything will be alright."
Meng Xue stretched out her dry, twig-like hand and stroked the younger girl's face.
Her gaze turned towards the entrance.
These were two B-rank Awakened, could Chen Fan win?
No, he absolutely must win.
Chen Fan hung up the phone, his face thoughtful.
Meng Xue's suggestion was not bad. B-rank Awakened should not be underestimated, especially one with a lightning ability. After all, among the current three S-rank Awakened of the Yan Kingdom, one is a lightning ability controller.
His True Essence in his body had now reached 2700 points, equivalent to 270,000 True Qi points, allowing him to use the fifth slash of the Wind-Welcoming One-Blade Slash, which has 50 times the power.
But he could only use it once.
If this one slash hit the guy who could etherealize his body, it would be a huge loss.
As for the etherealization guy, he felt it wouldn't be difficult to deal with, just use a mental secret technique.
The problem was, Du Hao was there.
The more moves he used, the more he revealed, and the easier it would be for the opponent to guess his identity.
"This Du guy is really troublesome."
Chen Fan clenched his fist.
If he didn't kill his true body, he would never be able to kill him.
Even if he killed his clone and all the people he brought this time, next time, he would still bring more people, and it wouldn't take much thought to know that the next group would be stronger than this one.
A toad crawling on the instep doesn't bite, but it's disgusting.
"I need to find a way to solve this problem."
Chen Fan said, walking towards the door.
If the other party would appear here in just over an hour.
Then he would go ahead and intercept them halfway, and while he was at it, think of a countermeasure.
And at this moment, Jiulong City.
In a magnificent hall, a round table was set, laden with exotic delicacies, so abundant that it hardly looked like breakfast.
Several figures gathered around the table, their faces adorned with broad smiles.
"Brother Du, this is my good brother, Ye Cheng." Zou Xuan, dressed in white, pointed to a radiant young man beside him and said, "Brother Ye, this is Brother Du whom I told you about."
"I've long heard of Brother Du's great name, like thunder in my ears. To meet you today, you truly live up to your reputation." Ye Cheng cupped his hands and smiled.
"Hahaha."
Du Hao laughed heartily twice, saying, "Brother Ye is too polite. What great name do I, Du Hao, have? It's all thanks to the brothers in the city showing me respect."
"Brother Du is too humble."
"Not at all, not at all."
"Alright, you two, if you keep this up, I'm afraid we'll still be sitting here until dark." Zou Xuan said, half-laughing, half-crying.
"Hahaha, indeed. Everyone, let's eat first; we can talk while we eat."
Du Hao made an inviting gesture.
"Good, in that case, we won't be polite."
The other three looked at each other and smiled.
As expected of Brother Du, this single breakfast was already so extravagant.
After eating more than half of the food on the table, Du Hao wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, looked at Ye Cheng, and said, "Brother Ye, after we reach An Shan City, it'll be up to your performance. That guy caused me so much trouble; you must help me find him."
"Don't worry, Brother Du."
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "Before I came, Brother Zou told me that even if two or three days have passed, or even ten days to half a month, I can still smell that guy at the scene. Even if he runs to the ends of the earth, finding him is only a matter of time."
"Good!"
Du Hao was overjoyed to hear this, saying, "Brother Ye, as long as you can help me find that guy, after the matter is successful, whatever request you make, I will grant it."
Ye Cheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Brother Du is too polite; this is just a small favor."
Du Hao smiled and nodded, then cupped his hands towards Zou Xuan and the other two, saying, "Once that guy is found, the rest will be up to you two."
"Brother Du, rest assured. Although that guy's physical strength is not low and he can withstand heavy artillery attacks, in the end, he is still just a C-rank Awakened. Can the power of a C-rank Awakened's ability compare to my lightning?"
Zou Xuan's eyes showed disdain.
His lightning ability was supremely yang and unyielding, with unparalleled power. At close range, it could even blast through the bodies of Commander-tier fierce beasts, and Elite-tier fierce beasts were mere fodder.
"That's right, according to Brother Du's description, that person uses a blade technique called the Wind-Welcoming One-Blade Slash. It is indeed an extremely profound blade technique. The most powerful slash is said to be able to cleave a top-tier Commander-tier fierce beast in two from a hundred meters away."
"Brother Jiang is right, that is indeed the Wind-Welcoming One-Blade Slash. However, judging by the size of the blade qi, that guy can only use the first slash, but he can use it twice consecutively." Du Hao recalled, still looking quite shaken.
"Even if he can only use the first slash once, isn't that still impressive?"
Jiang Miao said, "This blade technique is unlike others; it requires extremely high comprehension from the practitioner. Many people in the association tried to cultivate it, but all returned without success, wasting a lot of time. That person can use the first slash, and even use it twice consecutively; that's not simple. However..."
He changed his tone, a hint of arrogance appearing on his face: "Don't say he can only use the first slash; even if he could use the second, the third, or even the fifth slash, he wouldn't be able to harm me in the slightest."
"Good!"
Du Hao slapped the table and said, "Brother Jiang is amazing!"
Zou Xuan's mouth twitched several times.
He thought to himself, you talk as if you can withstand it; aren't you just relying on your etherealized body to evade?
However, even he had to admit that he had no way against Jiang Miao in his etherealized state.
"Three sirs."
Du Hao's gaze swept over the three faces, saying, "In that case, we should not delay. Let us depart immediately for An Shan City!"