"Three years?"
Cheng Zheng was stunned for a moment, then gradually came to his senses. "In that case, he got off cheap this time!"
"If not for that, I would have torn him to pieces to ease the hatred in my heart," the king spoke with a heavy tone.
This statement was quite serious.
Chen An looked at Cheng Zheng with some confusion, not understanding why he was so angry.
He was unaware of the events that had taken place in the palace before, so he did not understand the reason for Cheng Zheng's anger.
However, he didn't say anything, just smiled and said, "It's just a dead man after all, Your Majesty, why bother?"
Cheng Zheng nodded, his face softened a bit, then his gaze returned to Chen An in front of him.
Compared to the matter of the sorcerer, what he was more concerned about at the moment was the situation of Chen An in front of him.
"Changan, are you..."
Cheng Zheng looked at Chen An, hesitating to speak.
He was not a fool and could see some problems from the previous situation.
Being able to easily defeat the sorcerer at the peak of Qi, his strength was probably terrifying.
Even if he didn't figure it out himself, the Qi enshrined around him were not dumb.
Compared to Cheng Zheng, they could feel the lingering aura everywhere.
Chen An's aura was originally hidden, rarely spreading, and always existed only in this mansion.
But after the recent altercation, this aura leaked out.
And now not only the previous sorcerer, but even the surrounding Qi enshrined could clearly sense it.
But Chen An didn't care.
If they knew, they knew.
He was not a thief, what was there to fear?
Facing Cheng Zheng's expectant gaze, he smiled, then nodded, "Yes."
"Three years ago, as a minister, I had a realization. After long seclusion, I finally achieved the Innate."
"I have not informed Your Majesty until now, please forgive me."
He was confessing, but Cheng Zheng already had no intention to listen to his words.
At this moment, all of Cheng Zheng's attention was drawn by those two words.
"Innate."
Standing in place, Cheng Zheng's eyes widened suddenly.
Staring at Chen An in front of him in a daze, he was a bit absent-minded, not knowing what to say to express the shock in his heart.
In the Central Plains where countries fought each other, each country had Qi sitting in charge, and in powerful countries like Dahua, there were more than five Qi.
But even so, Innate was still unattainable.
The last known Innate in the entire Central Plains dates back over a hundred years.
And now, after all these years, has another Innate appeared on this land?
Cheng Zheng was overjoyed.
For him, this was simply the best news.
If someone else ascended to Innate, he would have many worries.
A mere sorcerer at the peak of Qi was already so arrogant, completely unstoppable, let alone an Innate.
To put it bluntly, in this age of peerless Innate, once an Innate appeared, it would probably easily destroy the country.
Even Dahua would not be able to stop it.
If someone else ascended, Cheng Zheng would probably have trouble sleeping and no appetite.
Even the people inside the country would be the same.
After all, even the people within the country could not stop others with other intentions.
Who knows when someone would dislike you and directly take your position?
Okay, even if someone is dedicated to martial arts and does not have this intention, but his relatives and friends might.
Such incidents have occurred countless times on the Central Plains.
But in the face of Chen An in front of him.
Cheng Zheng felt that he would laugh in his dreams in the future.
Chen An would never rebel, not in this lifetime.
Because he simply didn't care about that position.
This was something Cheng Zheng understood very well.
As for Chen An's two children, they also had close ties to the royal family.
The eldest son Chen Mingxiu married Cheng Zheng's daughter, making them even closer.
The second son Chen Mingjue, although his wife was not royalty, she was a close companion of the crown prince since childhood and had a deep relationship with the crown prince.
These two people had strong connections with the royal family and were unlikely to rebel.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zheng suddenly felt a bit regretful.
Why didn't Chen An have a daughter?
Otherwise, he could have had the crown prince marry Chen An's daughter, making her the crown princess directly.
That would have been more stable.
Apart from these, the most important thing was their friendship.
Decades of friendship were the key and the reason for Cheng Zheng's trust that Chen An would not harm him.
"The unwanted guests are gone. If you have no business, feel free to leave."
Chen An stood in place, smiling at the people in front of him. "Of course, if you don't mind the simplicity here, you are welcome to stay and have a meal with me. It's better than nothing."
This was a polite way of asking guests to leave.
Most people understood this and left very sensibly.
But some people stayed.
However, those who stayed were mostly those who had good relations with Chen An.
For example, Liu Chu and some other old friends stayed behind.
They had lunch with Chen An and then left.
There was nothing they could do.
They wanted to stay longer and ask Chen An some questions, but they were all busy people and could not stay indefinitely.
After a meal, they all left.
Chen An opened the door and personally saw them off, which surprised them.
To be personally sent off by an Innate, this treatment was something not many people experienced.
They were fortunate to have the experience, making this trip worthwhile.
Time passed once again.
The battle of that day eventually spread over time.
In just half a year, all the countries in the Central Plains knew the outcome of that battle.
The sorcerer who came from the desert, unstoppable and challenging countless experts, had ultimately been defeated.
This news shocked many people.
After all, in the years leading up to this, the sorcerer had challenged many experts and defeated many guardians of countries, establishing a terrifying reputation.
Before this, many people had recognized the sorcerer as having reached the peak of Qi and being almost unbeatable at that level.
Even so, he still lost the battle.
And the one who defeated him was the acknowledged top expert in the Central Plains, the Chen King of Dahua.
More terrifying than the outcome of this battle was the news that the Chen King had ascended to Innate.
Yes, in just half a year, the news of Chen An's ascension to Innate had spread far and wide, almost everywhere.
Even street children had heard the news and knew of the legend of the Chen King.
This was quite unexpected for Chen An.
Just defeating a sorcerer should not have caused such a big reaction.
But Chen An suspected that Cheng Zheng had a hand in spreading this news.
It was probably that Cheng Zheng had deliberately sent out a lot of people to spread Chen An's reputation.
Otherwise, in such a vast Central Plains, how could the news spread so quickly in just half a year?
It was as if it's the modern world, where with a single internet message, the whole world would know.
Cheng Zheng's intention was probably to promote Chen An's name.
Well, more accurately, it was to promote Dahua's name and reputation.
After all, Chen An didn't need that kind of reputation.
But it was useful for Dahua.
With an Innate sitting in power, Dahua's importance instantly increased.
Even the envoys of Dahua became more assertive.
The effects were self-evident.
But Chen An suffered.
He had initially secluded himself in the mansion of the fourth princess, where he had lived in peace as very few people disturbed him except for Cheng Zheng and a few others.
But now things were different.
People from all over the world were coming to him, seeking to become his disciples, challenging him for advice, and wanting to join him.
Numerous requests, too many to count.
Although Chen An could avoid meeting them, there were always people trying to approach him one way or another, and it was annoying for anyone.
There was a simple solution to the problem, just kill a few people indiscriminately.
In the end, his reputation would spread and things would be easier.
But there was a problem.
Although Chen An had killed many people, it was still somewhat embarrassing to suddenly kill people with no reason.
After all, he was essentially a modern person who still valued some principles.
So he decided to move away and live elsewhere.
This time, he did not inform others of his whereabouts, only a few people knew, and he secluded himself there.
The life of seclusion was still good.
The outsiders couldn't find their target and had to leave.
Of course, some were not content with giving up and were trying to cause trouble.
But for these people, Chen An no longer showed any mercy.
He dealt with them directly.
With time, everything calmed down again.
Chen An continued his solitary seclusion, living his leisurely life day by day, while also focusing on his cultivation.
Even after ascending to Innate, he did not give up on his cultivation.
Because he had seen higher visions.
The image of the Founding Emperor of Great Song was still fresh in his mind.
Compared to those towering figures, Innate was not that special.
He was just getting started.
In the realm of Innate, he was only in the first realm, and there was a long way to go ahead.
Chen An continued to cultivate.
But he no longer hoped for further ascension.
He knew his limitations.
After ascending to Innate, he had already begun to realize the limits of his physical body.
Even if he could continue forward, he would not be able to go too far.
There was no way around it.
Although his physical body was good and better than his original body, it seemed to be just average, not comparable to those true geniuses.
Being able to reach this point was already a blessing.
Upon realizing this reality, Chen An might have been disappointed in the past, but now he had completely accepted it.
The successive losses of his wife and teacher had some impact on him.
Now, he had integrated cultivation into himself in the present, rather than being fixated on the past.
He continued to cultivate, but he was no longer attached to how far he would go in the future.
After getting used to it, it seemed not bad.
Time passed bit by bit.
In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.
After five years, Chen An had to come out of this state and leave his seclusion because someone was in trouble.
This time, it was his cousin Chen Ziling.
After sorting out the Chen Duke's Mansion back then, Chen An had left it to Chen Qi and Chen Ziling to take care of it.
Now, over forty years had passed, and Chen Ziling had already had a family, becoming a figure of the grandfather's generation.
This time, he felt that he might not make it through this year, so he wrote a letter, hoping that Chen An would return to see him for the last time.
Chen An did not say much after receiving the letter, immediately set off.
He did not bring anyone with him, just went alone.
The familiar mansion appeared in front of him, looking unchanged from the outside, still the same as before.
Except that the title on the gate had changed from Chen Duke to Chen King.
Looking at the somewhat familiar mansion in front of him, Chen An paused for a moment, feeling a bit absent-minded.
Even though he had rarely come back since then, this was still the place he had grown up in, and there were still some unforgettable memories.
Returning now, the past memories resurfaced in his mind.
But some of the people were no longer there.
He collected himself and walked forward.
Before he could speak, a servant hurriedly came over, "Are you the Chen King, Your Highness?"
Chen An was surprised.
After asking carefully, he found out that it was Chen Ziling who had given the order.
He was probably afraid of a repeat of the incident at the Chen Duke's Mansion, so he had instructed that if there were any suspicious people, they should be treated respectfully.
Understanding the reason, Chen An couldn't help but smile dumbfoundedly.
Back then at the Chen Duke's Mansion, his lackeys didn't know the name Chen Changan and triggered a massacre, causing him to burst in directly.
It seemed that even now, Chen Ziling still remembered it.
It seemed that the impression should be quite deep.
But on second thought, anyone who encountered that incident would probably remember it vividly.
It was said that even now, the leftover servants who heard the name Chen Changan would shiver.
A maniac killer.
After a dumbfounded smile, he entered the mansion.
Walking inside, Chen An could feel the changes in various places.
Although it looked the same from the outside, decades had passed, and it was impossible for it to have remained unchanged.
The decorations had become much more exquisite, and there were many changes in the details.
The place where bodies were buried and hidden had also disappeared, seemingly moved elsewhere.
Along with that, his mother's tomb had been moved to the ancestral tomb of the Chen family, where it was now being respected.
In the past few decades, Chen An had returned a few times.
But back then, it was always Chen Qi who personally received him.
"Three years?"
Cheng Zheng was stunned for a moment, then gradually came to his senses. "In that case, he got off cheap this time!"
"If not for that, I would have torn him to pieces to ease the hatred in my heart," the king spoke with a heavy tone.
This statement was quite serious.
Chen An looked at Cheng Zheng with some confusion, not understanding why he was so angry.
He was unaware of the events that had taken place in the palace before, so he did not understand the reason for Cheng Zheng's anger.
However, he didn't say anything, just smiled and said, "It's just a dead man after all, Your Majesty, why bother?"
Cheng Zheng nodded, his face softened a bit, then his gaze returned to Chen An in front of him.
Compared to the matter of the sorcerer, what he was more concerned about at the moment was the situation of Chen An in front of him.
"Changan, are you..."
Cheng Zheng looked at Chen An, hesitating to speak.
He was not a fool and could see some problems from the previous situation.
Being able to easily defeat the sorcerer at the peak of Qi, his strength was probably terrifying.
Even if he didn't figure it out himself, the Qi enshrined around him were not dumb.
Compared to Cheng Zheng, they could feel the lingering aura everywhere.
Chen An's aura was originally hidden, rarely spreading, and always existed only in this mansion.
But after the recent altercation, this aura leaked out.
And now not only the previous sorcerer, but even the surrounding Qi enshrined could clearly sense it.
But Chen An didn't care.
If they knew, they knew.
He was not a thief, what was there to fear?
Facing Cheng Zheng's expectant gaze, he smiled, then nodded, "Yes."
"Three years ago, as a minister, I had a realization. After long seclusion, I finally achieved the Innate."
"I have not informed Your Majesty until now, please forgive me."
He was confessing, but Cheng Zheng already had no intention to listen to his words.
At this moment, all of Cheng Zheng's attention was drawn by those two words.
"Innate."
Standing in place, Cheng Zheng's eyes widened suddenly.
Staring at Chen An in front of him in a daze, he was a bit absent-minded, not knowing what to say to express the shock in his heart.
In the Central Plains where countries fought each other, each country had Qi sitting in charge, and in powerful countries like Dahua, there were more than five Qi.
But even so, Innate was still unattainable.
The last known Innate in the entire Central Plains dates back over a hundred years.
And now, after all these years, has another Innate appeared on this land?
Cheng Zheng was overjoyed.
For him, this was simply the best news.
If someone else ascended to Innate, he would have many worries.
A mere sorcerer at the peak of Qi was already so arrogant, completely unstoppable, let alone an Innate.
To put it bluntly, in this age of peerless Innate, once an Innate appeared, it would probably easily destroy the country.
Even Dahua would not be able to stop it.
If someone else ascended, Cheng Zheng would probably have trouble sleeping and no appetite.
Even the people inside the country would be the same.
After all, even the people within the country could not stop others with other intentions.
Who knows when someone would dislike you and directly take your position?
Okay, even if someone is dedicated to martial arts and does not have this intention, but his relatives and friends might.
Such incidents have occurred countless times on the Central Plains.
But in the face of Chen An in front of him.
Cheng Zheng felt that he would laugh in his dreams in the future.
Chen An would never rebel, not in this lifetime.
Because he simply didn't care about that position.
This was something Cheng Zheng understood very well.
As for Chen An's two children, they also had close ties to the royal family.
The eldest son Chen Mingxiu married Cheng Zheng's daughter, making them even closer.
The second son Chen Mingjue, although his wife was not royalty, she was a close companion of the crown prince since childhood and had a deep relationship with the crown prince.
These two people had strong connections with the royal family and were unlikely to rebel.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zheng suddenly felt a bit regretful.
Why didn't Chen An have a daughter?
Otherwise, he could have had the crown prince marry Chen An's daughter, making her the crown princess directly.
That would have been more stable.
Apart from these, the most important thing was their friendship.
Decades of friendship were the key and the reason for Cheng Zheng's trust that Chen An would not harm him.
"The unwanted guests are gone. If you have no business, feel free to leave."
Chen An stood in place, smiling at the people in front of him. "Of course, if you don't mind the simplicity here, you are welcome to stay and have a meal with me. It's better than nothing."
This was a polite way of asking guests to leave.
Most people understood this and left very sensibly.
But some people stayed.
However, those who stayed were mostly those who had good relations with Chen An.
For example, Liu Chu and some other old friends stayed behind.
They had lunch with Chen An and then left.
There was nothing they could do.
They wanted to stay longer and ask Chen An some questions, but they were all busy people and could not stay indefinitely.
After a meal, they all left.
Chen An opened the door and personally saw them off, which surprised them.
To be personally sent off by an Innate, this treatment was something not many people experienced.
They were fortunate to have the experience, making this trip worthwhile.
Time passed once again.
The battle of that day eventually spread over time.
In just half a year, all the countries in the Central Plains knew the outcome of that battle.
The sorcerer who came from the desert, unstoppable and challenging countless experts, had ultimately been defeated.
This news shocked many people.
After all, in the years leading up to this, the sorcerer had challenged many experts and defeated many guardians of countries, establishing a terrifying reputation.
Before this, many people had recognized the sorcerer as having reached the peak of Qi and being almost unbeatable at that level.
Even so, he still lost the battle.
And the one who defeated him was the acknowledged top expert in the Central Plains, the Chen King of Dahua.
More terrifying than the outcome of this battle was the news that the Chen King had ascended to Innate.
Yes, in just half a year, the news of Chen An's ascension to Innate had spread far and wide, almost everywhere.
Even street children had heard the news and knew of the legend of the Chen King.
This was quite unexpected for Chen An.
Just defeating a sorcerer should not have caused such a big reaction.
But Chen An suspected that Cheng Zheng had a hand in spreading this news.
It was probably that Cheng Zheng had deliberately sent out a lot of people to spread Chen An's reputation.
Otherwise, in such a vast Central Plains, how could the news spread so quickly in just half a year?
It was as if it's the modern world, where with a single internet message, the whole world would know.
Cheng Zheng's intention was probably to promote Chen An's name.
Well, more accurately, it was to promote Dahua's name and reputation.
After all, Chen An didn't need that kind of reputation.
But it was useful for Dahua.
With an Innate sitting in power, Dahua's importance instantly increased.
Even the envoys of Dahua became more assertive.
The effects were self-evident.
But Chen An suffered.
He had initially secluded himself in the mansion of the fourth princess, where he had lived in peace as very few people disturbed him except for Cheng Zheng and a few others.
But now things were different.
People from all over the world were coming to him, seeking to become his disciples, challenging him for advice, and wanting to join him.
Numerous requests, too many to count.
Although Chen An could avoid meeting them, there were always people trying to approach him one way or another, and it was annoying for anyone.
There was a simple solution to the problem, just kill a few people indiscriminately.
In the end, his reputation would spread and things would be easier.
But there was a problem.
Although Chen An had killed many people, it was still somewhat embarrassing to suddenly kill people with no reason.
After all, he was essentially a modern person who still valued some principles.
So he decided to move away and live elsewhere.
This time, he did not inform others of his whereabouts, only a few people knew, and he secluded himself there.
The life of seclusion was still good.
The outsiders couldn't find their target and had to leave.
Of course, some were not content with giving up and were trying to cause trouble.
But for these people, Chen An no longer showed any mercy.
He dealt with them directly.
With time, everything calmed down again.
Chen An continued his solitary seclusion, living his leisurely life day by day, while also focusing on his cultivation.
Even after ascending to Innate, he did not give up on his cultivation.
Because he had seen higher visions.
The image of the Founding Emperor of Great Song was still fresh in his mind.
Compared to those towering figures, Innate was not that special.
He was just getting started.
In the realm of Innate, he was only in the first realm, and there was a long way to go ahead.
Chen An continued to cultivate.
But he no longer hoped for further ascension.
He knew his limitations.
After ascending to Innate, he had already begun to realize the limits of his physical body.
Even if he could continue forward, he would not be able to go too far.
There was no way around it.
Although his physical body was good and better than his original body, it seemed to be just average, not comparable to those true geniuses.
Being able to reach this point was already a blessing.
Upon realizing this reality, Chen An might have been disappointed in the past, but now he had completely accepted it.
The successive losses of his wife and teacher had some impact on him.
Now, he had integrated cultivation into himself in the present, rather than being fixated on the past.
He continued to cultivate, but he was no longer attached to how far he would go in the future.
After getting used to it, it seemed not bad.
Time passed bit by bit.
In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.
After five years, Chen An had to come out of this state and leave his seclusion because someone was in trouble.
This time, it was his cousin Chen Ziling.
After sorting out the Chen Duke's Mansion back then, Chen An had left it to Chen Qi and Chen Ziling to take care of it.
Now, over forty years had passed, and Chen Ziling had already had a family, becoming a figure of the grandfather's generation.
This time, he felt that he might not make it through this year, so he wrote a letter, hoping that Chen An would return to see him for the last time.
Chen An did not say much after receiving the letter, immediately set off.
He did not bring anyone with him, just went alone.
The familiar mansion appeared in front of him, looking unchanged from the outside, still the same as before.
Except that the title on the gate had changed from Chen Duke to Chen King.
Looking at the somewhat familiar mansion in front of him, Chen An paused for a moment, feeling a bit absent-minded.
Even though he had rarely come back since then, this was still the place he had grown up in, and there were still some unforgettable memories.
Returning now, the past memories resurfaced in his mind.
But some of the people were no longer there.
He collected himself and walked forward.
Before he could speak, a servant hurriedly came over, "Are you the Chen King, Your Highness?"
Chen An was surprised.
After asking carefully, he found out that it was Chen Ziling who had given the order.
He was probably afraid of a repeat of the incident at the Chen Duke's Mansion, so he had instructed that if there were any suspicious people, they should be treated respectfully.
Understanding the reason, Chen An couldn't help but smile dumbfoundedly.
Back then at the Chen Duke's Mansion, his lackeys didn't know the name Chen Changan and triggered a massacre, causing him to burst in directly.
It seemed that even now, Chen Ziling still remembered it.
It seemed that the impression should be quite deep.
But on second thought, anyone who encountered that incident would probably remember it vividly.
It was said that even now, the leftover servants who heard the name Chen Changan would shiver.
A maniac killer.
After a dumbfounded smile, he entered the mansion.
Walking inside, Chen An could feel the changes in various places.
Although it looked the same from the outside, decades had passed, and it was impossible for it to have remained unchanged.
The decorations had become much more exquisite, and there were many changes in the details.
The place where bodies were buried and hidden had also disappeared, seemingly moved elsewhere.
Along with that, his mother's tomb had been moved to the ancestral tomb of the Chen family, where it was now being respected.
In the past few decades, Chen An had returned a few times.
But back then, it was always Chen Qi who personally received him.
