If he remembered correctly, the Spirit Array he left behind was one that could occasionally improve the quality of a refined pill.
But now, Yang Kai had also learned a great deal more of the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way. The Spirit Array he had just given Lu Si was one that could improve the success rate of refining a pill, and its grade was much higher than the previous one, so he was absolutely confident in his statement.
With Xiao Fu Sheng’s Alchemy level coupled with this Spirit Array, it could be said that refining the pill Lu Si wanted was guaranteed.
“Can you be sure that the pill refining won’t fail?” Lu Si asked trepidatiously.
“Absolutely!” Yang Kai stated once more.
“But what if…”
“There are no ifs!”
Lu Si grinned wryly, really not knowing what to say.
Yang Kai had already stood up and cupped his hands towards Lu Si, “Senior Si, it’s best to act decisively, I believe it shouldn’t take you long to rush to Hidden Cloud Peak.”
“En, good!” Being prodded so, Lu Si made up his mind and stood up excitedly.
The pill ingredients had long ago been gathered. Although these materials weren’t easy to find, given the Lu Family’s capital and the importance of Lu Si, it wasn’t too difficult to collect them.
Lu Si acted swiftly, pulling out a number of jade boxes from a hidden storage in the room, each one carefully storing one of the required spirit herbs.
After packing everything carefully into his travel bag, he turned around and saw that Yang Kai had at some point hoisted the Yang Crystal Jade Bed onto his shoulder, grinning happily and showed his teeth.
“Senior Si, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” Yang Kai laughed and strode out with the jade bed.
Lu Si opened his mouth to say something but quickly swallowed his words back down.
As of now, all he could do was hope that what Yang Kai had said was true.
Lu Liang and others who were waiting outside and stared awkwardly as Yang Kai arrogantly walked off with this Precious Treasure.
This… this…
This was Grand Elder Si’s lifesaving Yang Crystal Jade Bed. Was it really going to be carried off just like that? Prying their eyes away from Yang Kai, they saw Grand Elder Si wearing a helpless expression.
All the Lu Family Elders were dumbstruck.
“No need to see me out!” Yang Kai smiled and nodded towards everyone before carefreely walking out.
It was as if a robber had come, taken all their money, and showed off his haul before departing. What was worse, the Lu Family masters could only stand there and watch as it happened.
A moment later, Yang Kai felt a hand on his shoulder.
Looking back, Yang Kai saw Lu Si standing behind him awkwardly, traces of nervousness and hesitation flashed across his face.
“Hm, what is it?” Yang Kai suddenly became impatient, haggling over this Yang Crystal Jade Bed with Lu Si for so long was not something he had intended.
“Young Master Yang, this old master wants to ask one last time, are you really certain the Alchemy refinement will succeed?” He apparently still felt a bit worried. As he asked, his eyes unconsciously drifted to the jade bed on Yang Kai’s shoulder, seemingly like he was staring at his old lover, reluctant to part with it.
“If you don’t have the courage to even bet then give me back that letter. I don’t want to do this kind of thankless thing.” Yang Kai coldly snorted, clearly displeased.
Lu Si felt a headache coming on and remained indecisive for a while longer before gritting his teeth and nodding, “Good, this old master will believe you!”
“Good,” Yang Kai declared, “I’ll take my leave!”
Lu Si struggled for a moment to remove his hand then reluctantly stared at the jade bed as Yang Kai walked off.
When Yang Kai’s back had disappeared, the Lu Family group also became extremely worried. Lu Liang quickly stepped forward and asked, “Senior Si, isn’t this all a bit hasty?”
“Then what do you suggest I do about it? With such an opportunity right in front of me, do you want me to just let it slip through my fingertips?” Lu Si was also depressed and sighed. “This is akin to a life or death battle, there’s only one choice, to fight! This old master must set out right away, I will return in a few days.”
Saying so, he leapt into the air, and shot out like lightning, disappearing off into the horizon.
After Lu Si disappeared, Lu Liang stood in thought for a long time before ordering, “All of you, arrange some manpower to observe Young Master Yang and see what he does over the next few days, but don’t expose yourselves.”
The gathered masters nodded somewhat begrudgingly.
……
Behind the Lu Family main yard.
Yang Kai returned to his temporary accommodations with great enthusiasm and stepped through the gate. Upon entering, he saw Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man sitting at a table in the yard, looking somewhat bored, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian sat nearby accompanying them.
After realizing Yang Kai had returned, Qiu Yi Meng was immediately shocked upon seeing the Yang Crystal Jade Bed he was carrying.
“Little Lord!” Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian also quickly stepped forward. The two of them had nearly fully recovered after several days of healing, and no signs of injury or weakness could be seen on them anymore.
“Where did you find such a large piece of Precious Jade?” Qiu Yi Meng asked curiously.
“It’s the Lu Family’s treasure,” Yang Kai responded in an off-handed manner before walking to a nearby stone table in the courtyard to set the jade bed down.
“It’s beautiful.” Luo Xiao Man exclaimed, not understanding much about this treasure, stepping forward to touch the jade bed and muttering, “It’s still warm, it looks like it would be comfortable to sleep on.”
Qiu Yi Meng’s expression suddenly became dignified; she had thought that Yang Kai had simply taken a large piece of Precious Jade from the Lu Family, but upon examining it closer, she realized there was a terrifying amount of energy stored inside this Precious Treasure.
If it were to be used in Artifact Refining, it would definitely have a huge effect.
The more she gently stroked the Yang Crystal Jade Bed, the more she felt that it was not simple.
[This treasure… it seems like its grade is not low.]
Both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian were also observing, and the seriousness of their expressions was easy to see.
Such a large piece of Precious Jade was a rarity even for the Yang Family, Heaven knows how much money the Lu Family must have spent to acquire this thing.
“Is this… Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank Yang Crystal Jade?” After a long time, Tu Feng hesitantly asked.
Hearing this, everyone wore a shocked expression as all their faces went blank.
Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank… the grade of this treasure was surprisingly high. In this world, amongst all Precious Treasures, Mysterious Grade Top-Rank was the highest, and Mid-Rank and Top-Rank were only a single rank apart.
What was rarest though was that this thing appeared to be a single large piece of Yang Crystal Jade that had naturally formed over an extremely long period of time. It was the ultimate natural bed, even if one didn’t cultivate a positive attribute Secret Art, just sitting above it and cultivating would bring many benefits.
“Are you certain it is Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank?” Qiu Yi Meng looked at Tu Feng in surprise. Although her eyesight wasn’t bad, it was still somewhat inferior to a top rank Immortal Ascension Boundary master.
“It’s definitely Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank.” Tang Yu Xian confirmed, a strange expression slowly spread across her pretty face as she turned towards Yang Kai, “Little Lord, did you really get this from the Lu Family?”
“Of course.”
Qiu Yi Meng frowned and muttered under her breath, “I remember that the Lu Family’s Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Lu Si encountered some difficulties during his breakthrough which led to his meridians becoming damaged. I was told by the Grand Elder of the Qiu Family at that time that it would be best for him to make a bed out of Yang Crystal Jade and cultivate atop it in order to dredge his meridians with mild Yang Qi. My family’s Elder also said that if the Lu Family’s Grand Elder didn’t seek out such a jade bed quickly, not only would his strength fall, but even his life would be threatened… Yang Kai… this couldn’t be Lu Si’s bed, right?”
Qiu Yi Meng heart clenched as she thought of this.
Yang Kai looked at her with slight surprise and said, “You know quite a lot.”
“It is?” Qiu Yi Meng immediately covered her mouth and couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
This time even Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian were shocked. Naturally they knew who Lu Si was, as one of the few Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, he had become world famous long ago.
However, no one here could understand what kind of skill Yang Kai had used in order to obtain this jade bed. This thing was comparable to Lu Si’s life!
Wasn’t this like… Yang Kai had killed Lu Si?
“Little Lord…” Tang Yu Xian looked awkwardly at Yang Kai and asked, “What price did you pay in order to get this from Lu Si?”
Qiu Yi Meng and Tu Feng also looked at him curiously.
The pure monetary value of this jade bed was immeasurable, coupled with its special use for Lu Si, if Yang Kai hadn’t paid an enormous price, how could he have safely brought it back with him?
“I just helped him with a little something and he gave it to me as thanks.” Yang Kai smiled indifferently, not saying any more.
Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes flashed, seemingly thinking about something while both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian were also obviously not convinced by Yang Kai’s statement, and all of them sunk into contemplation.
“Fine, I’ll just ask Lu Liang myself!” Qiu Yi Meng didn’t bother asking anything anymore, simply declaring somewhat begrudgingly.
With the relationship between the Qiu Family and Lu Family, she could naturally obtain the truth by speaking a few words to Lu Liang.
“Do as you’d like!” Yang Kai shrugged indifferently, in any case, it wasn’t like he had anything to hide. Suddenly, his expression became somewhat treacherous, “We’ll spend a few more days here and then set out. Qiu Yi Meng, if you can’t wait, you can head back to the Central Capital ahead of us.”
“Of course I’ll wait for you!” Qiu Yi Meng smiled sweetly.
Clicking his tongue, Yang Kai quickly picked up the Yang Crystal Jade Bed and headed back to his house to cultivate.
“Hmph, trying to act all mysterious!” Qiu Yi Meng lightly snorted, waving her sleeve as she led Luo Xiao Man off, obviously going to seek out Lu Liang to get some answers.
“Young Lady Qiu, once you learn the truth, please inform us too.” Tu Feng laughed.
“En,” Qiu Yi Meng nodded casually.
After Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man departed, Tang Yu Xian and Tu Feng both shocked their heads and smiled.
“The longer I stay with the Little Lord, the more I can’t see through him.” Tu Feng whispered.
Tang Yu Xian also deeply nodded, “It seems that he can often bring forth amazing surprises.”
When they had first found Yang Kai, he had been facing off in a life or death battle against four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters. His unyielding heart and aggressive demeanor had made both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian feel like his disposition suited them. His little trick which had caused the two of them to help him snap the Nan Family’s Young Lord’s fingers and the way he had subdued the Golden Feather Eagle were also impressive.
Upon returning to High Heaven Pavilion, they learned that Yang Kai and the new Demon Lord actually shared the same root.
While at High Heaven Pavilion, Qiu Yi Meng had also strongly advocated for Yang Kai which had brought them no small shock.
A few days ago, when they were sensing his cultivation technique, both of them had inadvertently injured themselves yet the Little Lord remained safe and sound, and now, he had managed to obtain an extremely valuable piece of Precious Jade from the hands of an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master with seemingly very little effort.
After experiencing all of these events, how could the two of them not marvel at the ability of this Little Lord of theirs?
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian counted silently and soon realized that from the time they had found Yang Kai to the present, it had only been about one month.
In such a short period of time, whether consciously or unconsciously, he had displayed many unparalleled methods which had slowly made the two Blood Warriors dare not underestimate him.
Without even mentioning his formidable background, just the Little Lord himself seemed very unusual!
Inside his room, Yang Kai sat cross-legged on the Yang Crystal Jade Bed, furiously circulating his True Yang Secret Art.
When Lu Si sat atop this jade bed, he would gently pull a thread of Yang Qi in order to sooth his meridians, but now, Yang Kai wantonly extracted the Yang Qi from the Yang Crystal Jade Bed at an astonishing rate.
Yang Kai’s whole body seemed like it had become a bottomless pit. All of his pores were fully open and exhibited an unparalleled suction power. The golden energy was drawn out from the Yang Crystal Jade Bed at a rate the naked eye could see; it was like hundreds of silk threads were flowing out of the Yang Crystal Jade into Yang Kai’s meridians to gather in his dantian.
An indescribably comfortable feeling suddenly arose inside him.
Yang Kai was astonished by the strength and purity of the Yang Qi in this Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank Precious Jade.
Seeming to have been stimulated by this torrent of Yang Qi, Yang Kai felt his meridians constantly quench and flush themselves of impurities, purifying his Yang Qi and making it denser.
Quickly, Yang Kai felt his meridians swell up. Then, with an accompanying low rumble, a new drop of Yang Liquid formed and was deposited in his dantian.
His once bloated meridians suddenly became empty, and the cycle of Yang Qi intake began again.
The Yang Qi in the Jade Bed quickly transformed into Yang Kai’s strength. The Yang Liquid in his dantian formed one drop after another, and the entire Yang Crystal Jade Bed began to shrink very slowly.
During this process, Yang Kai’s physique, his five viscera, and six organs seemed to undergo an incredible baptism.
Two days later, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes, and a light flashed across them.
There were now more than two hundred drops of Yang Liquid in his dantian. When he had left the Evil Cavern, Yang Kai only had a trivial twenty or so drops of Yang Liquid left, but now the number had increased tenfold.
It was obvious how terrifying the quantity of Yang Qi contained in this large Yang Crystal Jade Bed was.
Yang Kai’s current Yang Liquid was very different from when he had begun cultivating. Yang Kai’s True Qi was exceptionally pure, and the energy contained in every single drop of Yang Liquid was also many times greater than before; therefore, even if it was only two hundred drops, it was actually an astonishing amount.
At the very least, it was enough to support Yang Kai for a long time.
The entire Yang Crystal Jade Bed had almost disappeared. Lu Si would be shocked that the treasure he had been using to heal himself, the Precious Jade the Lu Family had spent an incalculable fortune to acquire, had nearly disappeared from this world only a couple of days after it had changed hands.
Only a piece small enough to fit in one’s palm was left!
Yang Kai gripped this small piece of Yang Crystal Jade, and his eyes flashed as he stared at it skeptically.
He discovered that he couldn’t absorb the energy in this small piece of Yang Crystal Jade, even if he ran his True Yang Secret Art at full strength. It seemed that there was something mystical inside that was resisting the absorption force from his body.
If he really wanted to absorb it, Yang Kai was confident that he could extract the remaining energy inside the jade piece, but when he discovered such a strange phenomenon, he was more inclined to examine it than simply absorb it.
The palm-sized jade block still had the same golden glow as before, but the richness of its colour was far greater than the peripheral Yang Crystal Jade. The circulating hue almost appeared like a golden molten liquid rather than the previous wisps of gas.
Staring at it curiously though, he couldn’t unravel anything special about it.
After a moment, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to probe the jade; however, even if he fully exerted his Divine Sense, all he could sense inside the jade block was darkness, like there was absolutely nothing abnormal about it.
With neither his True Qi nor his Divine Sense probes yielding anything, the obvious conclusion was that this piece of jade was just a normal piece of Yang Crystal Jade, but Yang Kai couldn’t shake the feeling that something was unusual about it, so after contemplating for a moment, he called out, “Tu Feng, Yu Xian!”
The door opened soon after, and Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian walked in.
“What orders does Little Lord have?” Tu Feng asked loudly. Tang Yu Xian on the other hand stared at Yang Kai curiously. She discovered that after not seeing him for only two days, this Little Lord of hers seemed to have become stronger. Although his realm remained at the True Element Boundary Seventh Stage, which she knew he had also broken through to not long ago, Yang Kai’s cultivation had largely consolidated, even showing some faint signs of breaking through once more.
[Impossible!] Tang Yu Xian shook her head secretly. After just two days of retreat, how could he have achieved such phenomenal growth?
Also, where did that Yang Crystal Jade Bed go? Tang Yu Xian couldn’t see the large jade bed anywhere inside the house.
Yang Kai casually threw the jade block in his hand to Tu Feng and asked, “Take a look at this thing. Can you discover anything unusual about it?”
Tu Feng took the jade in hand, and his eyes flashed in surprise, but he quickly steadied himself and wrinkled his brow as he released his True Qi and Divine Sense into the block, examining it for a while before shaking his head and replying, “My accomplishments with Divine Sense aren’t as good as Yu Xian’s, it’s best if you let her see it.”
It was now Yang Kai’s turn to look strangely at Tang Yu Xian, not having expected that her Soul would be stronger than Tu Feng’s to the point where he would readily acknowledge it.
Anyone who reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary was not only required to increase the strength of their True Qi but also, and perhaps more importantly, they needed to cultivate their Soul. Some people had a greater understanding and aptitude towards Divine Sense and Soul Skills, and this naturally gave them an advantage over other Immortal Ascension Boundary masters of the same realm.
Apparently Tang Yu Xian was one such person.
Yang Kai nodded, and Tu Feng easily passed the jade block to Tang Yu Xian.
The latter simply smiled softly, took the jade block, closed her eyes, and poured her Divine Sense into it.
Gradually, the look on Tang Yu Xian’s elegant face became slightly serious, apparently she had really discovered something, and thus the output of her Spiritual Energy also began increasing steadily.
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened upon seeing this, and he secretly looked forward to unravelling this mystery.
A good while later, Tang Yu Xian took back her Divine Sense, exhaled softly, and opened her eyes with clear signs of excitement apparent on her face, “Little Lord, this Precious Jade has bred a True Spirit!”
“A True Spirit?” Yang Kai and Tu Feng both exclaimed together.
“A True Spirit!” Tang Yu Xian nodded firmly and quickly elaborated, “On top of that, as far as I can tell, it formed quite some time ago, and has already achieved a certain degree of sentience, so it was able to deceive your Divine Sense.”
“This True Spirit has its own consciousness?” Tu Feng half shouted, “That means, at minimum, it’s over a thousand years old!”
“Ahem!” Yang Kai gave a wink to Tu Feng.
Seeing this, Tu Feng suddenly remembered something and quietly released his Divine Sense to carefully examine the surroundings. A moment later, a harsh coldness filled his expression as he grunted heavily.
In that sweep of the area, he discovered several Immortal Ascension Boundary masters hiding their auras around this house, obviously monitoring the situation inside Yang Kai’s courtyard.
Obviously, these people were masters from the Lu Family!
It wasn’t that Tu Feng’s Divine Sense wasn’t as strong as these people, but these masters had also taken advantage of a few special artifacts which helped hide their presence. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai’s reminder, prompting him to intentionally probe the surroundings, it was likely he wouldn’t have even noticed their presence.
In his heart, Tu Feng was secretly surprised, and did not know whether Yang Kai was just being cautious or if he was already aware of them.
After knowing someone was watching outside, Tu Feng didn’t dare say too much.
Yang Kai beckoned both of them closer, quickly letting Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian sit down a short distance away from himself.
The three of them leaned their heads in closer and whispered softly.
“I’ve heard about some Precious Treasures breeding True Spirits in the past. It is said that if a piece of Precious Jade has an exceptionally long history, there is a chance for it to give birth to a True Spirit. Is this the situation right now?” Yang Kai asked in a lowered voice.
Tang Yu Xian nodded slightly, whispering, “En, it’s just that the chance of such a True Spirit forming inside such a jade is exceptionally small. Out of over 10,000 Precious Jades of such age, it’s not certain even one will breed a True Spirit.”
As she spoke, her expression became slightly agitated. “But once a True Spirit is born inside a Precious Jade, its value immediately rises several tens of times.”
Tu Feng also nodded in agreement, “Indeed.”
Yang Kai suddenly became interested and asked curiously, “What kind of uses does such a True Spirit have?”
The two Blood Warriors looked at each other and suddenly felt relieved; after they had started accompanying Yang Kai, it was always he who had marveled both of them, but now it seems that he really was still just a young man. In terms of knowledge and information, he was still not a match for them.
[It turns out we can still be of use to this Little Lord.] Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian thought to themselves.
Putting aside these distracting thoughts, Tang Yu Xian hurriedly replied, “The formation of a True Spirit is incredibly difficult and can only occur in the largest and highest quality jade mines. If I’m not mistaken, the Lu Family’s Yang Crystal Jade Bed should have been extracted from a large scale Yang Crystal Jade mine. The Yang Crystal Jade in that mine was likely very high in grade, and that Yang Crystal Jade Bed was likely the core of the mine.”
“And this small piece should be the inner most piece of that Yang Crystal Jade Bed, right?”
At this point, Tang Yu Xian naturally could guess the origin of this jade block.
“En.”
Tang Yu Xian smiled brilliantly, “The Lu Family must have thought that the Yang Crystal Jade Bed was the essence of that jade mine, but in fact, this palm sized piece of jade is the core of that essence! The energy contained within it and its true value is probably higher than the rest of that entire jade mine!”
Yang Kai suddenly became infected with her excitement.
“Also, the most important aspect of a True Spirit… is it can achieve sentience!” Tang Yu Xian’s eyes flashed a fervent light, not making any effort to conceal the enthusiasm in her voice, “If it can be refined into an artifact, then when the artifact is completed, its grade will surely be improved by leaps and bound, it’s even possible that if an Artifact Refining Grandmaster were to refine an artifact with it, it could possibly become a Spirit Grade artifact!”
Spirit Grade artifact!
That was something only heard of in legends.
Xiao Fu Sheng’s lifelong pursuit had been to be the first person to refine a Spirit Grade pill. In a similar fashion, the highest level of artifact so far had always been Mysterious Grade Top-Rank and such artifacts were extremely scarce, there had never been a confirmed Spirit Grade artifact.
It seemed as if there was some kind of power in this world that suppressed the advancement of Artifact Refinement and Alchemy, making Mysterious Grade Top-Rank the highest achievable height.
“If you give it some time and allow it to fully develop its consciousness, then it will certainly be able to play a huge role. This is truly a blessing from the Heavens, an unparalleled good fortune!” Tu Feng quickly added.
“Oh? How long will that take?” Yang Kai asked.
Tang Yu Xian smiled wryly, “At the very least, it will take a few hundred years, most likely more.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
A few hundred years later, who knew if he would be dead or alive.
“The growth of a True Spirit is definitely slow as it’s not a physical entity per-say, but if it does achieve maturity, it will become unrivaled in this world.”
“Is it really so powerful?” Yang Kai inhaled a sharp breath.
“It is most certainly that powerful,” Tang Yu Xian nodded, and her expression became serious, “In addition to Artifact Refining, if you can safely absorb this True Spirit, it will provide a tremendous boost to your strength, it may even grant you some unexpected benefits or even bestow upon you some kind of Heaven defying ability.”
Hearing this last bit of information, Yang Kai suddenly felt the urge to immediately absorb the True Spirit.
Tang Yu Xian obviously saw this look in Yang Kai’s eyes and quickly waved her hands, sternly warning, “Little Lord, you mustn’t act impulsively! The energy contained within this small piece of jade is beyond your imagination, if you really tried to assimilate it now, the results would be disastrous.”
“I know.” Yang Kai saw her so earnestly remind him and was secretly surprised; however, he understood that trying to absorb this True Spirit now would leave him more unfortunate than fortunate.
After seeing Yang Kai’s honest reply, Tang Yu Xian returned the small piece of jade to him and said, “Little Lord has gotten something good, but make sure you don’t spread such news around or I’m afraid many of this world’s powerhouses will seek trouble with you over it.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded, as he carefully stowed the jade piece into his Black Book space, inside there it would be near impossible for someone else to find.
Tu Feng grinned, chuckling slightly, “It looks like the Lu Family has eaten a big loss this time.”
No matter what Yang Kai had paid for Lu Si’s Jade Bed, it was obvious that he had picked up an incredible bargain.
Tang Yu Xian also smiled happily, “They must not have imagined it possible that a True Spirit would exist within that Yang Crystal Jade.”
This True Spirit had already begun to form its consciousness, so it was able to deceive most masters’ Divine Senses. Before, when it was hiding inside the Yang Crystal Jade Bed, it was unlikely that Lu Si had discovered it, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to give it to Yang Kai.
“Hmph, the Lu Family has some guts, even daring to monitor Little Lord’s movements. Such people are not worthy of trying to win over!” Tu Feng grumbled, “Yu Xian and I have already fully recovered. Little Lord, when do you plan on setting out again?”
“We’ll leave tomorrow,” Yang Kai said decisively. He hadn’t planned on staying at the Lu Family home for a long time, and he had only tarried here these past few days in order to let the two Blood Warriors heal and so that he could absorb the energy in the Yang Crystal Jade.
Having been away from home for so many years, even Yang Kai couldn’t wait to go back to see his family.
“Good, I’ll inform Young Lady Qiu, she had said she wanted to travel together with us earlier.” Tang Yu Xian nodded.
Yang Kai’s intent to leave the Lu Family soon spread.
Lu Liang and the rest of the Lu Family Elders collectively breathed a sigh of relief upon learning this. Although they couldn’t express exactly why, every day Yang Kai was here was another day they felt uncomfortable. They even worried slightly that the other Yang Family Young Lords would learn that their Lu Family had been in contact with Yang Kai.
In the evening, Lu Liang once again hosted a grand banquet for Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng.
At the banquet, everyone talked about their past heroics and future aspirations, but the Yang Family Inheritance War and the Central Capital’s current situation were both glossed over completely.
Qiu Yi Meng looked around and immediately understood that the Lu Family was not optimistic about Yang Kai, but she didn’t make any effort to persuade them otherwise and ate very little before departing early, exactly the same as she had done the first night they had arrived.
Yang Kai also simply enjoyed the feast, not once bringing up the idea of winning over the Lu Family. Instead, he drank and ate the various delicacies and spirit fruits placed before him merrily, allowing Lu Liang and the others to unconsciously feel relieved.
All of them were fearful that he would broach the subject of recruiting them to his cause at the last minute. If he did, Lu Liang didn’t know how he would respond.
Although the wine was the same as before, but different from when he had arrived, the other’s attitude towards Yang Kai had undergone some subtle changes. The Lu Family leaders were still respectful and polite, but they also seemed less inclined to flatter or curry favour with him.
Once three rounds of drink had been downed, everyone returned to their respective residences to rest.
The next day, all of the Lu Family’s leadership came to see Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng off from the main entrance with Lu Liang at their head.
Lu Liang sincerely stared towards Yang Kai and said, “Young Master Yang, safe journeys on your way to the Central Capital, and remember, this Inheritance War cannot be taken lightly.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Lu Liang suddenly smiled and continued, “Since Young Master Yang has honoured my Lu Family with a visit, this Lu also wishes to deliver you some silver as a token of friendship. I hope that Young Master Yang will not decline.”
Saying so, he beckoned to a man behind him.
The man hurried forward upon being summoned and held out a box of silver coins with both hands.
Both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian’s expression became slightly dark, obviously unhappy, as they coldly glanced towards Yang Kai, waiting for his instructions.
However, Yang Kai didn’t seem to notice anything and instead smiled back and nodded, “Since Patriarch Lu wishes to send this Young Lord a gift, I have no reason to decline! Tu Feng, accept it.”
“Yes!” Tu Feng nodded lightly and took up the box of silver coins.
“The Lu Family wishes Young Master Yang victory in the Inheritance War and glory in your future!” Lu Liang gently cupped his fists and shouted.
Yang Kai laughed seemingly happily, “This Young Lord will take advantage of Patriarch Lu’s auspicious words!”
Saying so, Yang Kai mounted his Cloud Treading Colt and turned to leave, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian quickly following behind.
Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man also mounted on the Cloud Treading Colts the Lu Family had prepared for them and set out, but after a few steps Qiu Yi Meng paused and whispered with a sigh, “Lu Liang, this time, I’m afraid you’ve misjudged!”
Lu Liang’s expression changed slight and tried to say something, but Qiu Yi Meng had already urged her Cloud Treading Colt forward and was moving away at great speed.
Behind him, the Lu Family Elders all wore uncomfortable expressions.
“I’ve misjudged?” Lu Liang frowned and turned over the words Qiu Yi Meng had left him. Her meaning was obvious, it was clear that she blamed Lu Liang for despising Yang Kai.
[But… even if you are the First Young Lady of the Qiu Family, in the end, you’re still nothing but a young woman! In terms of vision or strategy, how can you compare with this old master?]
Although Lu Liang was also somewhat disturbed by these final words, he eventually dismissed Qiu Yi Meng’s rebuke.
[After all, time will only prove that this old master hasn’t miscalculated!]
The Five Cloud Treading Colts galloped quickly with Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man slowly catching up from behind.
After leaving the Lu Family, both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian had always been in a mood, unintentionally staring towards Yang Kai.
When they had departed, Lu Liang’s attitude had seemed to be sincere and generous; however, what was actually going through his mind was apparent to everyone.
If the Lu Family really wanted to make friends with Yang Kai, they wouldn’t have seen him off with a bit of money!
What was the Inheritance War truly about? It was a contest which compared the communication and leadership skills of the Yang Family Young Lords.
The most important factors were how many talents they could recruit and how many materials they could gather!
If the Lu Family wanted to stand by Yang Kai’s side to participate in the Inheritance War, at the very least they should have provided him with some manpower, Precious Treasures, artifacts, or martial techniques.
Then what did it mean to only give Yang Kai some silver? In this world, sometimes, there were things money couldn’t buy. This was especially true when it came to rare and valuable things.
Although Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian had only been accompanying Yang Kai for a short time, but they were well aware that Yang Kai’s talent and aptitude were extraordinary.
In terms of Yang Kai’s future achievements, both of them were full of confidence.
The Lu Family treating Yang Kai so disdainfully had clearly made the two Blood Warriors uncomfortable.
There was just one thing they couldn’t understand… If the Lu Family wasn’t planning to support Yang Kai, then why did they bother giving him these silver coins at all? This was almost like saying ‘I don’t want to stand on the same side as you, I’d still like to make friends with you’.
It was just Yang Kai who knew that Lu Liang had only decided to give him some silver when he learned about his relationship with Xiao Fu Sheng. If it weren’t out of consideration for Xiao Fu Sheng’s face, it was likely that Lu Liang wouldn’t have given him anything.
Seemingly aware of the two Blood Warriors discontent, Qiu Yi Meng rolled her eyes and said, “If you have something to say, why bother enduring?”
Tu Feng spat disdainfully, before angrily replying, “Then I’ll speak. Young Lady Qiu, you should let my words pass from your left ear to your right, like you never even heard them.”
“Good, speak, I’m also interested in what you have to say!”
“Little Lord!” Tu Feng shouted, “I’ve checked, Lu Liang really only gave you a bit of silver, there’s only three million worth of coin in this box, isn’t that a bit too stingy?”
“Then how much do you want?” Yang Kai glanced back at him, laughing dumbly.
“His Lu Family is also a first-class family! What does it mean to give only three million silvers? If one buys a few bottles of good pills, or a couple good artifacts, this money will be gone! At the very least he should have given ten million silvers, a gift of three million silvers only serves to lose face for the Lu Family!”
“That’s right, this so called gift of theirs is no better than an insult!” Tang Yu Xian also nodded deeply.
“Three million silvers is three million more than zero,” Yang Kai said with a grin, “I’m not afraid to tell you, this Young Lord currently has no silver on him at all! These three million silvers are actually quite useful to me.”
“Although this money may look like a lot, but when it comes to the Inheritance War, money is essentially the most useless resource,” Tu Feng replied indignantly. “Lu Liang clearly knows this, yet he still went through with this farce, if not for his Lu Family’s relationships with Young Lady Qiu’s family, I’d have beaten him bloody and forced him to swallow these silver coins!”
Qiu Yi Meng shook her head and smiled, “Lu Liang really was short-sighted this time, but… it’s not like he is completely to blame, it was more because your Little Lord was acting too outrageously!”
“Young Lady Qiu, what do you mean to say, how can you blame the Little Lord?” Tang Yu Xian was shocked for a moment.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He knows best how he acted in the Lu Family these past few days.” Qiu Yi Meng said, pulling her Cloud Treading Colt abreast to Yang Kai’s and glaring towards him, “Why you, are you even aware of what your own situation is right now? Why did you so offhandedly dismiss the opportunity I set up for you to win over the Lu Family?”
Yang Kai only glanced at her for a moment before turning his eyes away.
“Hey, I asked you a question!” Qiu Yi Meng shouted, unable to hold back any longer, “Don’t you understand that not only did you fail to make an ally, but you may have also added to your enemies!? If you keep acting like this, you’ll soon find yourself surrounded on all sides!”
“An ally?” Yang Kai sneered, “Someone who’s only interested in gaining the most benefits they can from associating with me isn’t qualified to be my ally!”
“Where are you going to find allies who don’t have their own interests? Don’t you think you’re being too naive?”
“I’m too lazy to explain myself to you, how I do things is none of your concern!”
Qiu Yi Meng nearly choked at this harsh rejection and suddenly wore an annoyed expression as she replied in a low voice, “Just you wait, after this Young Lady arrives back at the Central Capital, I’ll join forces with one of the other Yang Family Young Lords and trample flat that smug face of yours!”
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian suddenly became short of breath and hurriedly said, “Young Lady Qiu, please have care how you speak.”
Yang Kai however just smirked, “You can try, just don’t blame me afterwards for trampling flat your Qiu Family when you lose!”
Qiu Yi Meng stared in shock at Yang Kai, seemingly never thinking he would speak such vicious words to her.
Even Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian behind the pair were overwhelmed. Even they felt that Yang Kai’s remarks were a bit too arrogant and overbearing.
However, they were suddenly put on edge and wanted to say a few words to Yang Kai while soothing Qiu Yi Meng’s anger, but when they saw her expression the two Blood Warriors couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief. Not only did she not seem to care but instead was smiling as she stared towards Yang Kai. Wearing a beautiful smile as she spoke as sweetly as possible, she asked, “Yang Kai, tell me honestly. Aside from that devilish woman, how many connections do you have and how many forces are you able to draw to your side?”
Yang Kai speaking so confidently had caused Qiu Yi Meng to immediately realize something, so she suddenly showed interest in these matters.
After taking a glance at her though, Yang Kai just laughed wildly and replied, “None, I’m just a loner!”
“I’d be a pig if I believed you!” Qiu Yi Meng sneered.
The Lan River ran through the Great Han Dynasty like a long sleeping dragon, dividing the country into two parts.
On the river’s surface, which was more than a few thousand meters in breadth, rapids and eddies were frequently seen and ferocious waves splashed at its banks.
When Yang Kai’s group of five arrived at the Lan River, they gazed across it for a moment in admiration.
“We’re almost there, after crossing the Lan River and passing through Feng Province, we’ll reach the Central Capital!” Tu Feng seemed to fear that Yang Kai, who had been away from home for several years, wouldn’t remember such landmarks, “How about we let the Cloud Treading Colts take a rest, they’ve been running for almost three days straight now.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Little Lord, you rest while I go find a boat to cross the river!” Tu Feng grinned while releasing his Divine Sense and a moment later turned towards a certain direction and flew off.
This group all had cultivations above the True Element Boundary, so even though the Lan River was a few thousand meters wide, it wouldn’t be an issue for them to fly over it.
But although they could fly, the Cloud Treading Colts obviously couldn’t, so it was still necessary to find a boat that could ferry these Monster Beasts across the river.
A short time later, a modest sized boat sailed up the river towards Yang Kai and his group with Tu Feng standing at its bow, waving towards them.
Seeing this, Tang Yu Xian grinned and led her and Tu Feng’s Cloud Treading Colts forward, “Let’s go.”
Four people and five Monster Beasts walked up to the shore and were trying to board the boat when the boatman frowned slightly and said to Tu Feng, “Great warrior, why didn’t you tell this old man that you also had five horses?”
Luo Xiao Man couldn’t help laughing when she heard this.
The Cloud Treading Colt really did look similar to an ordinary horse, but even though the two appeared similar, they were very different. Only an ordinary person wouldn’t notice the difference, naturally there was nothing wrong with this though.
Qiu Yi Meng and Tang Yu Xian also giggled softly.
Tu Feng quickly replied, “So what if we have horses? Is there a problem?”
“No no,” The boatman, who appeared to be an old man in his fifties, quickly shook his head, “It’s just that if you want to take these horses across the river, you’ll need to pay extra.”
Tu Feng suddenly rolled his eyes, “Fine fine, we’ll pay.”
Hearing these words, the boatman suddenly looked happy, “If Milord says so, then there’s no problem, everyone come up.”
Yang Kai’s group all shook their heads lightly, each of their statuses was quite profound and all of them were powerful cultivators in their own right, so even though the boat was a little cramped, they were obviously disinclined to argue with this ordinary old man who used this ferry to maintain a meager life.
The boat was small, but it was still big enough to handle five people and five Monster Beasts at once.
With the boatman securing the sails and casting off, the boat set out towards the opposite shore.
Standing on the deck, Tang Yu Xian laughed and said, “I’ve never actually been on a boat before, with how it rocks back and forth, if an ordinary person were to try standing atop it for a long time I’m sure they’d start feeling sick.”
Tu Feng nodded in agreement, “True, true, it’s probably not easy making a living on this river.”
Although Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man didn’t say anything, they both nodded to express their approval. The two of them had also apparently never ridden a boat like this, so they were obviously intrigued by the experience. As the ship swayed back and forth and the water lapped up against the hull, the two young ladies seemed to be greatly enjoying themselves.
“If it’s already so rough on a river, just what must it be like on the Endless Sea?” Tu Feng said with a bit of wonderment. Though he was an Immortal Ascension master and possessed a wealth of knowledge, he had never actually been to the sea before, so he obviously knew nothing about it; turning to look at the boatman, Tu Feng asked, “Old man, have you ever been to the sea before?”
The old boatman could only grin and shake his head when he heard this question. “This old man has spent his whole life on the Lan River, how would I have time to visit the sea? Although I have never seen one before, I’ve heard that the boats that sail the Endless Sea are extremely large and powerful, some of them reaching over a thousand meters in length! Such boats, even on the rough Endless Sea, are apparently very stable, enough so that one can pour a glass of water and set it down on a tabletop yet it won’t spill a drop.”
“Is that true?” Tu Feng smiled faintly, obviously not convinced.
“What can’t it be true? Great warriors just need to think about it, with such a big ship, even if the sea is rough and stormy, how could it be shaken so easily?”
The two Blood Warrior, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man suddenly became interested. Although they knew that this boatman was just telling stories of things he had never seen, so it was quite possible what he was saying was false, they still couldn’t help listening to pass the time.
Seeing his audience full of interest in his stories, the boatman not only wasn’t frightened but instead became even more enthusiastic.
Yang Kai sat quietly to the side, smiled silently while casually glancing around.
Of everyone on the scene, only he had been to the Endless Sea, and he had even sailed far away from shore, almost unable to ever return. Of course, Yang Kai was disinclined to correct the boatman’s exaggerations.
Several stories later, the boat had arrived at the center of the Lan River.
As Yang Kai stared off across the water, he suddenly felt that something was out of place. Following his instincts, he couldn’t help staring straight towards the boatman.
The old man, who was still talking about the Endless Sea, was suddenly interrupted when Yang Kai said, “Old man, the way your paddling seems to be wrong.”
Hearing this strange comment, everyone onboard turned to look at Yang Kai.
The old boatman even laughed and said, “What exactly does little brother mean?”
Yang Kai grinned and replied, “People who paddle all year round will synchronize the rhythm of their paddling with their breath, especially on such a big river where the rapids cause more resistance. If they don’t do so, it will cost them twice as much effort for only half the result, greatly consuming their strength! Old Man, since you’ve lived your whole life on the water, why don’t you understand something so simple?”
Digesting these words, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian’s face suddenly became dark as they stared towards the boatman cautiously.
In the eyes of the boatman, there was a flash of shock and panic, but it quickly faded as he smiled and said, “Little brother, what you said does makes sense, it’s just that this old man has been paddling like this my whole life, so I’m afraid I’m just used to it. When I have time, I’ll try the method you mentioned to see if it really is easier.”
Yang Kai’s grin only became deeper though, “We’ve already crossed half of the river this way yet you don’t even seem to be out of breath and… if you’ve always lived near this river, shouldn’t fish be a regular part of your diet? If so, why do I not smell the scent of fish on you at all… hahaha!”
His voice becoming cold and a sharp glint entering his eyes, Yang Kai said firmly, “Old man, you’re not an average person, are you?”
Before Yang Kai had finished speaking, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian both rushed towards the boatman.
It was at that moment that the Silver Blood Golden Feather Eagle hovering in the sky let out a series of rapid cries, a clear warning sign that danger was approaching.
Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man’s pretty faces also paled as they quickly circulated their True Qi to protect themselves.
*Bang!*
On the surface of the river, several water columns suddenly emerged, and each one of them concealed a person within.
All of a sudden, a tremendous suction suddenly welled up from beneath the hull, causing the boat to feel like it had fallen into a quagmire, unable to advance or retreat, before cracking under the pressure and quickly sinking.
Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng, and Luo Xiao Man all hastily flew up into the air but were suddenly met with a huge pressure pressing down on them. Suffering such a sudden attack, the three of them were forced back down towards the boat.
A huge vortex appeared, instantaneously swallowing the boat, and everyone onboard it was pulled down into the river.
The Five Cloud Treading Colts were also caught up in this attack and disappeared instantly.
The moment he fell into the water, Yang Kai felt a shocking burst of power from nearby, obviously the two Blood Warriors had already engaged the boatman in combat.
From all around, numerous figures rapidly swam towards Yang Kai’s group, like sharks swarming towards their prey.
Yang Kai quickly sized up the situation.
But what he saw only caused his expression sink further.
Both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian had been dragged into the river and were currently fighting against three people. The three were all Immortal Ascension Boundary masters and none of them were weak, one Eighth Stage, one Seventh Stage, and one Fifth Stage. Even though the two Blood Warriors were definitely stronger than these three masters, it would still take them some time to deal with them.
The nearest enemy to Yang Kai was less than a thirty meters away. Yang Kai clearly saw him sneer towards him before sending out a palm strike, a pale blue light shooting forth, breaking through the water as it raced towards him.
Yang Kai also struck out, sending forth a glowing fist pressure that smashed into the approaching palm.
There was a muffled thud and a flash of light but the palm strike’s strength wasn’t completely exhausted, so all Yang Kai could do was turn away and swiftly move towards the surface.
While he was surfacing, Yang Kai glanced around and saw that Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man were not far from him, but their situations were undoubtedly safer than his own, because these attackers, in addition to the three masters tying down Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian, were almost all gathering towards him.
[They’re here for me!]
Yang Kai quickly became aware of this fact, but he had no time to ponder over it right now. A moment later he managed to reach the surface and fly up into the sky. Immediately after, a figure burst out of the river and shot towards him. It was precisely the same person who had attacked Yang Kai just now. This man was now staring coldly at Yang Kai with a vicious expression on his face. Waving his arms, he prepared to send another palm strike towards Yang Kai.
At that critical moment, the Golden Feather Eagle actually dove towards this attacker, releasing a countless number of golden lights towards him.
These golden lights took the man by surprise and knocked him back down into the water.
Using this opportunity, Yang Kai turned towards the shore and quickly flew off.
“Shua shua shua…” A series of splashes rang out as six or seven figures shot out of the water and hovered midair. All of them quickly searched their surroundings before turning and pursing Yang Kai. Among them, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man were all present, obviously they wanted to help Yang Kai.
“Block them!” A middle-aged man in the lead ordered, quickly following up, “Don’t kill them!”
Immediately, two of the attackers responded, separating from their teammates and intercepted Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man, as a sneer appeared on both their faces.
Qiu Yi Meng expression was ice cold as she whispered to Luo Xiao Man, “They’re here to deal with Yang Kai, so they’ll only try to impede us, don’t hold back, they won’t dare try to kill us.”
“En.” Luo Xiao Man nodded heavily, her wet clothes were stuck to her body, further highlighting her voluptuous figure.
“Shua…” Another set of splashes resounded as the two Blood Warriors and the three Immortal Ascension Boundary masters emerged from the water. Tu Feng’s body was wrapped in a brown glow as he displayed a fierce assault, completely not caring whether he was injured in the process.
Tang Yu Xian also pushed her True Qi to the limit, and her graceful figure rapidly moved between the three enemy masters as she unleashed various Martial Skills, clear signs of anxiousness were on her face.
“Who are you!? You dare attack the Central Capital’s Yang Family!?” Tu Feng roared as struck towards the nearest enemy.
“We’re attacking because you’re the Yang Family!” The Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage master who was facing off against the two Blood Warriors laughed madly and shouted, “Your Yang Family is always so arrogant, never placing anyone in your eyes, but let’s see how your family survives after we extinguish all your little brats!”
From his vicious cursing, it seemed that this Immortal Ascension master’s grudge with the Yang Family wasn’t light.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian’s expressions became incredibly solemn. This man’s words had told them that them being attacked was no accident but was instead a premeditated ambush specifically targeting the Yang Family.
With these three masters as opponents, even though the two Blood Warriors were anxious and wanted to immediately regroup with Yang Kai, they wouldn’t be able to do so for at least half an hour.
“Yu Xian!” Knowing that every breath was precious and they couldn’t afford to be held down here any longer, Tu Feng suddenly roared and fell back slightly.
“Good!” Tang Yu Xian immediately stepped in, and her True Qi surged madly from her body. The entire battlefield suddenly became enveloped by a layer of fog. At the same moment, a potent Spiritual Energy burst forth, sending a powerful Soul Skill sweeping towards the three enemy Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.
The two Blood Warriors were clearly anxious to return to Yang Kai’s side, so they unhesitantly used their hidden trump cards.
The three enemy masters managed to jointly resist Tang Yu Xian’s Soul Skill, but although they were unharmed, wrapped in this fog bank, they had lost track of their opponents. Suddenly, the Eighth Stage masters felt a violent surge of Blood Force from the direction Tu Feng had retreated along with a terrifying True Qi pressure. Realizing what these fluctuations meant, the lead enemy Immortal Ascension Boundary master’s expression changed dramatically as he cried out, “Fuck! These Yang Family Blood Warriors are all crazy! He’s using his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill! Quick, stop him!”
Mad Tyrant Blood Skill was the supreme Martial Skill of the Yang Family Blood Warrior!
When this skill was activated, the Blood Warrior’s Blood Force would briefly be promoted two or three times over, and although their realm wouldn’t change, both their offensive and defensive strength would be greatly enhanced.
This was somewhat similar to the change Yang Kai experienced when he used his Devil Transformation.
However, the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill was not as good as Yang Kai’s Devil Transformation because using it would result in a severe backlash. A Blood Warrior would overdraw their own vitality to enhance their Blood Force when this skill was used.
Once they used the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, a Blood Warrior would gain a massive increase in strength for a short time, but afterwards they would be weakened significantly for weeks if not months.
The battle has only just begun yet Tu Feng had already decisively used this trump card. It was obvious just how anxious he was, which shocked the three enemy Immortal Ascension Boundary masters and caught them off guard.
None of them had expected that Tu Feng would act to recklessly in order to protect this Yang Family Young Lord, not hesitating at all to use this double edged technique.
Knowing that their chances for victory would decrease dramatically if he succeeded, the three enemy masters had no leeway to compete with Tang Yu Xian, furiously trying to defeat her so they could stop Tu Feng from activating his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill.
However, Tang Yu Xian was also a member of the Blood Warriors and her strength was unquestionable. Coupled with her high grade artifact, she somehow managed to hold her ground. As a result, the three enemy masters who had originally planned to hold down these two Blood Warriors instead found themselves being contained.
“Hurry up!” The Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage master roared to his comrades when he saw that they couldn’t break Tang Yu Xian’s defense in short order.
On the other side, several people were chasing after Yang Kai, lead by the middle-aged man who had initially attacked him. This man was an Immoral Ascensions Boundary Third Stage master, and behind him was an Immortal Ascension First Stage master along with two True Element Boundary Ninth Stage experts.
Such a lineup was more than enough to easily kill any ordinary True Element Boundary Seventh Stage cultivator.
However, Yang Kai was anything but ordinary!
Hearing the roar of his comrade, the lead middle-aged man’s expression became cold as he glared towards Yang Kai’s back and hastily used an offensive Soul Skill.
An invisible force shot through the air and directly penetrated Yang Kai’s mind.
Yang Kai, who was flying forward, suddenly shuddered, and his True Qi fluctuations became erratic as he staggered and his speed dropped significantly.
“Hah!” The middle-aged man coldly snorted while he and his group rapidly caught up with Yang Kai and surrounded him.
“This is one of the Yang Family’s Young Lords?” The Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage master said as he looked down at Yang Kai and spat disdainfully. “He’s nothing much, I thought this time there’d be some twists and turns but it turns out it was so easy!”
The middle-aged man grunted heavily, “You underestimate the Yang Family too much. Right now this kid is only weak because he’s too young. Once he grows up to the same level as you, there’s no way you’d be able to beat him.”
The Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage man’s expression became somewhat gloomy, obviously not agreeing with this assessment but not bothering to refute it and instead just nodded gruffly, “Unfortunately for him he’s still just a True Element Boundary cultivator, nothing more than prey for us!”
An Immortal Ascension Boundary master dealing with a True Element Boundary cultivator really was simple. If the latter didn’t posses an artifact which could defend their Soul, they would be completely incapable of resisting Soul Skill attacks.
This was why the Young Lords and Young Ladies of these great forces and great families would always wear at least one such artifact. Given the capital and heritage of these forces, they would easily be able to furnish their important juniors with such defensive artifacts.
“Enough nonsense, quickly kill him before anything else comes up!” The middle-aged man shouted as he saw Yang Kai not put up any resistance, as both his eyes were somewhat dim, and his gaze was unfocused.
The Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage master shrugged his shoulders and let out an arrogant laugh, “Good, looks like I get the pleasure of killing him.”
As he was speaking, the Immortal Ascension First Stage enemy lifted his weapon and slowly stepped towards Yang Kai, kicking Yang Kai’s chest heavily and thrust his sword at his neck.
Yang Kai’s eyes still remained bleak, seemingly unable to put up the slightest resistance, only able to stand there waiting for death.
Suddenly.
A dazzling purple ray of struck like a snake and crashed into the head of the Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage cultivator.
A frigid cold energy filled with all kinds of Yin evil aura instantly burst into his Knowledge Sea.
His weapon was only three centimeters away from Yang Kai’s neck, and the smug, casual grin still adorned his face.
However, that was as far as his weapon would pierce. After the Soul Skill from Evil Cavern’s Soul Type Evil Spirit exploded in his head, the man was instantly fixed in place, only felt a deep chill in his mind. His entire Knowledge Sea was apparently frozen solid.
Yang Kai’s sneak attack had succeeded.
Quickly following up, Yang Kai released a purple halo around himself that instantly engulfed the middle-aged Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master as well as the other two True Element Boundary Ninth Stage youths.
Sensing this attack, the middle-aged man instinctually retreated. His eyes trembled fiercely, and he could hardly believe what he had just saw. As for the two True Element Boundary juniors, both of them screamed pitifully as they grabbed their heads and doubled over in agony.
*Hong…*
A muffled sound rang out as Yang Kai’s fist struck the chest of the Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage man before him. The man’s chest visibly deformed and it seemed that all of his ribs had been shattered. Fragments of his bones pierced through his heart and lungs as a violent True Yang Yuan Qi exploded inside his body.
This man didn’t even let out a scream before both his eyes went dark.
In an instant, an Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage master was killed!
Yang Kai’s image flickered, and before anyone had noticed he was already in front of the two True Element Boundary Ninth Stage youths. Coldly glaring at them, he reached out, clutched both their heads, and twisted viciously.
Immediately, two cracking sounds were heard.
The heads of the two youths were now dangling onto their backs; their necks were clearly snapped.
By the time the lead middle-aged man had regained his balance, Yang Kai had already killed all three of his companions!
As their four eyes met, Yang Kai’s indifferent expression gave way to a taunting smile, causing the middle-aged man to cringe in shame.
Because of his momentary negligence, three members of his team had lost their lives.
But what shocked him the most was that he clearly felt that his Soul Skill had struck this Yang Family Young Lord, yet why did it seem to have no effect at all?
There was no trace of any Soul type artifact on him so he had definitely been hit with the full force of his Soul Skill.
How could he still be completely unharmed? Even if it was a peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master who had taken such an attack, wouldn’t they at least have suffered some damage?
However, seeing Yang Kai’s performance just now, it was obvious that his Soul Skill had done about as much harm to him as a mosquito bite.
Also, what exactly was that frigid, evil Spiritual Energy that had attacked him just now?
“Little brat, you dare play the pig to eat a tiger!” The middle-aged man roared in anger.
Yang Kai just sneered disdainfully back at him and quipped, “So what?”
[Hmph, you’re accusing me? You’re the ones ambushing me here and ganging up on me even though your cultivations are all higher than mine, am I not even allowed to play the pig here either?]
[What kind of bullshit is that?]
Hearing Yang Kai’s response, the middle-aged man’s angered expression slowly morphed into a sneer, “Good, all you Yang Family bastards are like this, each one more of a freak than the last! But no matter what, you’re destiny is still to die here today!”
Although he had made such a bold declaration, Yang Kai easily observed that this man had no intention of actually doing so. Instead, he was looking towards himself with dread. Seeing Yang Kai kill all his allies like a flash of lightning had obviously frightened this man greatly.
This person was a meticulous individual, so he would certainly act with caution.
“You’re not my opponent!” Yang Kai declared coldly and indifferently.
The middle-aged man was stunned, obviously not expecting Yang Kai to make such a crazy statement, his expression becoming cold again, “Even if you’re from the Yang Family, you should have some shame! I’m an Immortal Ascension…”
“An Immortal Ascension master?” Yang Kai actually took the initiative to walk towards him, his expression calm and relaxed, like he didn’t consider the man in front of him the slightest threat, “I just killed an Immortal Ascension master right in front of you.”
The middle-aged man choked on his words as he stared at Yang Kai, and his expression became awkward as he remembered everything that had just happened.
“Not just that guy, you too, an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master, are destined to die at my hand today,” Yang Kai grinned fiercely, “Unfortunately, although you have some talent for it, it seems like you haven’t fully comprehended that Soul Skill of yours, your execution of it was a bit weak, it seems you haven’t been cultivating it for very long, right? Otherwise how else would I be able to stand here completely unharmed? Actually, even if you were more skilled at using your Soul Skill it wouldn’t matter, my Spiritual Energy is far stronger than yours anyways!”
“Nonsense!” The middle-aged man vehemently sneered as he calmed his nerves. Obviously, he wouldn’t believe Yang Kai’s shameless boasting.
But just as he shouted, a tyrannical Divine Sense suddenly locked in on him.
The Spiritual Energy he felt was more powerful than an ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage master, even faintly reaching the strength of a peak Immortal Ascension Boundary elite.
No, the pressure he felt from this Divine Sense was definitely on par with a peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master!
The middle-aged man had only ever experienced such a powerful Spiritual Energy from a handful of people, and each of those few were true peak Immortal Ascension masters!
The nerves he had just managed to calm once again became badly frayed!
As the middle-aged man’s heart clenched, Yang Kai pushed his palms forward.
Suddenly, a White Tiger and Divine Ox phantom leapt out.
At the same time, a crimson sword appeared in Yang Kai’s hand and a ten meter long Sword Qi wave slashed through the air. Surrounding this sword wave, a flurry of blood red petals fluttered about, each one glistening sharply as they raced towards the stunned man.
Simultaneously, a lightning like purple beam surged towards the Immortal Ascension Third Stage master’s head.
In that instant, Yang Kai had used all of his strongest skills and artifacts, holding nothing back.
Realizing the terrifying power behind this wave of attacks, the middle-aged man cried out in shock and immediately went all out to defend himself. In the blink of an eye, he was overtaken by the Sword Qi wave and entangled by the White Tiger and Divine Ox, allowing the Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia to engulf him.
An incredible bang resounded…
The middle-aged man pushed his True Qi to its limit, sending out a shockwave visible to the naked eye all around him. A fierce wind pressure burst from the man’s body, which somehow managed to repel the Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia and the attacks of the two beast phantoms.
Trembling from the impact, the middle-aged man staggered but did not withdraw and instead took advantage of the opening he had created to rush towards Yang Kai.
In the end, this man was still an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master. Although Yang Kai’s taunting had a certain influence on his will, causing him to lose the initiative, his combat instincts and wealth of experience had still allowed him to instantly take the most appropriate action.
This youth before him was undoubtedly an elite of the elite, with a combat capability that far exceeded his True Element Boundary Seventh Stage cultivation; however, the middle-aged man was also keenly aware that the Soul Skill displayed by Yang Kai, although extremely high in grade, was not nearly as potent as one released by an Immortal Ascension master.
Strictly speaking, it was akin to a loud burst of thunder.
Although it was somewhat shocking, it wasn’t actually all that dangerous.
The reason for this was because Yang Kai could only somewhat use his Divine Sense, so he could only display this Soul Skill, but because he hadn’t opened his Knowledge Sea, it was unable to show its full potential.
When he formed his Knowledge Sea, the power of this Soul Skill would increase several fold.
Although the middle-aged people didn’t know why Yang Kai’s Soul Skill seemed to lack substance, it didn’t hinder him from taking advantage of this point.
If he could resist Yang Kai’s Soul Skill, then he was still only facing a slightly stronger True Element Boundary cultivator. Even with those good artifacts and profound Martial Skills, his realm was still much lower than his own.
He could still kill him!
Realizing all of this, the middle-aged man’s will became firm again as he adjusted his stance and rapidly formed a number of hand seals. A burst of thunder and lightning quickly surrounded him.
*Kachacha…*
With a thunderous crash, a lightning bolt bigger than a man’s thigh flew through the air and then, like a snake striking its prey, it coiled tightly around Yang Kai.
In order to kill Yang Kai, the middle-aged man had directly resorted to his most powerful attack.
Yang Kai was unable to avoid this bolt of lightning and was soon entangled by it, immediately falling into a difficult struggle, and his entire body suddenly felt like it was being singed.
Coldly roaring, Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi surged out from his body, forming a seemingly thin defensive shield around him, protecting him from the lightning arcs.
The Asura Sword in his hand flickered, sending out a series of Sword Qi blades while the Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia petals, which had been scattered, once again gathered to attack the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man also didn’t dare hold back, and quickly summoned a small hammer artifact which pulsed with lightning; wielding this hammer, the power of the man’s lightning increased once again.
The two beast phantoms rushed forward again but when they were struck by the man’s lightning they were forced to retreat.
The two people stood firmly less than ten feet apart from one another, each of them having used their full strength yet the end result was a deadlock.
The middle-aged man frowned and secretly felt the situation was bad.
This time’s action of attacking the Yang Family Young Lords was a huge risk. In their original plans, they should have made a successful first strike and immediately gained a huge advantage. Even if the Yang Family Young Lord had two Blood Warriors with him, they wouldn’t need to worry after causing some initial damage.
It had never occurred to them though that any of the Yang Family Young Lords would have such freakish combat potential, able to easily kill three people with cultivations far above his own realm, and even being able to fight an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master to a standstill.
The two artifacts he used were extraordinary; both of them were clearly Heaven Grade Top-Rank.
His Martial Skills were profound, True Qi unfathomably pure, and to top it all off he could even use Soul Skills!
The middle-aged man quickly estimated that he would need to spend at minimum a half hour before he could kill this youth, and that was under the most ideal circumstances, with no outside interference!
Right now, every breath of time was precious, so how could the other side give him half an hour to mess around? What’s more, whether this Yang Family Young Lord still had any trump cards left was difficult for the middle-aged man to guess.
[Damn it, this time we’ve all but failed!] The middle-aged man anxiously thought to himself.
At that moment, a roar which shook the Heavens and Earth resounded from the other side of the battlefield.
On that side of the fight, the three enemy Immortal Ascension Boundary masters hurriedly retreated in panic as a crimson red glow radiated from Tu Feng, and the long scar across his face seemed to pulse menacingly.
Mad Tyrant Blood Skill!
“Yu Xian, I’ll handle them!” Tu Feng declared firmly, his cold glare causing the three Immortal Ascension Boundary masters to tremble.
Tang Yu Xian didn’t say anything, and instead immediately turned around and quickly soared towards Yang Kai’s position.
When the middle-aged man who was fighting with Yang Kai saw Tang Yu Xian break off and head towards his location, how could he dare remain?
He was just an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivator. For this time’s action, he was only responsible for killing the Yang Family Young Lord. As for fighting a Yang Family Blood Warrior, he definitely wasn’t qualified.
In a flash, he pushed back Yang Kai’s assault to create an opening which he used to his advantage to flee without any hesitation.
Only a moment after the middle-aged man fled, Tang Yu Xian arrived beside Yang Kai and asked anxiously, “Are you alright, Little Lord?”
Yang Kai waved his hand and collected the scattered blood red petals, and after glancing towards the fleeing enemy and determining he couldn’t catch him, he quickly said, “Capture him!”
Tang Yu Xian didn’t hesitate, and her lithe body flickered as she shot off towards the middle-aged man.
A few breaths later, Tang Yu Xian dragged her target back.
An Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivator facing Tang Yu Xian wasn’t even worthy of holding her shoes.
With his True Qi sealed, Tang Yu Xian didn’t even spare this man a second glance before tossing him in front of Yang Kai.
The look on the middle-aged man’s face clearly showed he had suffered a terrible defeat, and his dazed eyes fixed on Tang Yu Xian filled with horror. It seems that it wasn’t until this moment he realized just how terrifying the Blood Warriors really were.
Suddenly wearing a sneer, he turned his attention to Yang Kai and said, “Young Master Yang… you won’t get any information from me.”
However, to his surprise, Yang Kai just grinned fiercely, unhurriedly walked over, stared down at him and lightly said, “When did I say I wanted to ask you anything?”
As soon as Yang Kai spoke these words, the blood red sword in his hand drew a stunning arc, and the True Qi’s imprisoned middle-aged man’s head fell to the ground, and his still open eyes revealing a disbelieving light.
“Anyone who knows my secrets will either die or become my person!” Yang Kai declared firmly.
Tang Yu Xian trembled lightly and glanced towards Yang Kai slightly awkwardly, with a tight expression.
Yang Kai’s last words definitely had a deeper meaning!
What secret did this middle-aged man know about her Little Lord that caused him to execute him so decisively?
What about herself? Did she also accidentally stumble across some secrets of this Little Lord of hers?
Before she could ponder over these issues further, Yang Kai, who had already taken back his long sword, said lightly, “Go help Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man.”
“En!” Tang Yu Xian nodded, setting those distracting thoughts aside and dashing off again.
Yang Kai stood in place and looked around for a while, before quickly discovering that Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man weren’t capable of defeating their adversaries but were still unscathed. Their opponents apparently had no intention of harming them, only wanting to stop them from assisting Yang Kai.
As Tang Yu Xian arrived in front of them, the two men didn’t even have a chance to realize the graveness of their situation before they were killed.
On the other side, Tu Feng and the three Immortal Ascension Boundary masters had disappeared, probably because the other side understood that it was impossible to compete with the Blood Warrior who had activated his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill.
Tu Feng was obviously pursuing them.
After a moment, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man, led by Tang Yu Xian, regrouped together with Yang Kai.
Both the young women had nervous and worried expressions mixed with some lingering fear.
Looking suspiciously at Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng asked, “How are you not hurt at all? Did you fall from the sky when they hit you earlier?”
After hearing her say this, Tang Yu Xian suddenly worriedly examined Yang Kai, clear signs of concern filling her pretty face.
Just as Yang Kai had fallen into danger, she had been busy containing the three enemy masters and obviously didn’t have the spare capacity to monitor what had transpired here.
On the other hand, Qiu Yi Meng was different, knowing in advance that her life wasn’t in any danger; she had naturally diverted some of her focus towards Yang Kai’s side.
“Is Little Lord really uninjured?” Tang Yu Xian carefully scrutinized him, afraid he was putting up a front to deceive her.
“Just some minor wounds, nothing to worry about,” Yang Kai casually responded. In reality, he didn’t even have a single scratch on him; however, his situation had truly been quite dangerous so if he were to say he was unscathed, it would only make everyone more suspicious.
“You…” Qiu Yi Meng slowly shook her head and solemnly said, “It’s getting harder and harder to see through you.”
Glancing around at the three dead bodies on the ground, Tang Yu Xian also couldn’t help staring at Yang Kai blankly.
Although these people were dead, she could still tell that these three all had higher cultivations than Yang Kai; one of them had even reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary.
However, Yang Kai had killed all three of them without any assistance!
On top of that, he had also fought an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master to a draw!
“Enough about me. Yu Xian, how are you holding up?” Yang Kai obviously didn’t want to say any more about this topic and quickly steered the conversation towards Tang Yu Xian.
Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man also suddenly noticed that Tang Yu Xian was injured.
All of her clothes were tattered and there were still some traces of blood at the corners of the lips. Her True Qi flow seemed turbid, indicating that she had obviously suffered some internal injuries. On her snow white right arm, there was also a long wound and, although it was no longer bleeding, her sleeve was stained a dark shade of red.
Given Tang Yu Xian’s strength, if it weren’t for her having to fight three opponents at once, she wouldn’t have become so disheveled.
The primary reason for her being injured so heavily was because time was too tight. She had to make some sacrifices in order to let Tu Feng display his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, thus giving her a chance to aid Yang Kai.
If there had been enough leeway, she and Tu Feng could definitely defeat the three enemy masters or even kill them without becoming so distressed.
However, considering Yang Kai’s safety, she and Tu Feng knew that the faster they acted, the better. So, even though she knew acting so recklessly would allow their enemy to injure her, Tang Yu Xian still chose to act so.
Even if he knew that using the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill would overdraw his vitality, leaving him weak for a long time after, Tu Feng also didn’t hesitate.
The loyalty of the Blood Warriors was fully shown in this battle.
“I’m fine; Little Lord doesn’t need concern himself with me!” Tang Yu Xian’s expression softened as she lightly shook her head.
Yang Kai’s group had only waited about half an incense stick worth of time before Tu Feng’s bloody figure returned.
The murderous aura radiating from his body was so thick it was nearly substantive, giving him the appearance of a slaughtering god. Even Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help trembling lightly upon seeing Tu Feng like this.
Two heads were held in Tu Feng’s hands, obviously, their previous owners were two of the enemy masters who had fought with him and Tang Yu Xian.
After rushing back, Tu Feng casually dropped the two severed human heads on the ground and said in a slightly annoyed tone, “These two committed suicide, while the last one managed to escape.”
Tu Feng had managed to hunt down the Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage and Fifth Stage master, but just before he could capture them they had decisively bitten their tongues, and only the strongest enemy master had successfully fled.
“All of their allies here are also dead.” Tang Yu Xian said in a cold unfeeling tone.
“Interesting,” Yang Kai’s expression was frigid, but an eerie smile also adorned his face, “The ones behind this group of people really have some means!”
If the masterminds behind these assassins clearly weren’t simple, or else these masters wouldn’t have so resolutely ended their own lives rather than run the risk of revealing any information.
“The only ones who knew the Young Lord was taking this route were the Lu Family!” Tu Feng said maliciously, and his face showed a fair bit of indignation.
It was clear he was quite angry.
This time such a large scale assassination plot had occurred even though both he and Tang Yu Xian had been on guard. The other party had obviously used some kind of mysterious method to completely shield all of their auras, which resulted in their two Blood Warriors not noticing anything. If it weren’t for Yang Kai suddenly realizing something was wrong at the critical moment, the result of this plot might have been very different.
Under the protection of two powerful Blood Warriors, a Yang Family Young Lord was almost killed! If such news were to spread, the Blood Warrior Hall would lose all face. Both of them would also be punished by the family, possibly even having their cultivations wasted to apologize for this crime!
Such a severe sentence was entirely possible!
In other words, Yang Kai’s vigilance had not only saved his life but had also saved both his and Tang Yu Xian’s life.
Tu Feng was grateful but also ashamed, and in his anger, he suddenly associated this incident with the Lu Family. It wasn’t that he had a habit of maliciously accusing others, it was only that with his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill active, his thirst for battle and killing intent were greatly stimulated, which caused his thoughts to be more violent and aggressive.
In addition, the Lu Family’s attitude towards Yang Kai the other day had made him quite unhappy, so he naturally took this opportunity to vent his frustrations.
Hearing his words, Qiu Yi Meng’s face paled greatly and hurriedly said, “Lu Liang would never make such a suicidal mistake!”
At this moment, Tu Feng didn’t care about Qiu Yi Meng’s identity or face and coldly snorted, “Lu Liang may not, but that doesn’t mean others of the Lu Family wouldn’t!”
Qiu Yi Meng cramped up, not knowing what to say in this situation, and unconsciously turned her eyes towards Yang Kai hoping he wouldn’t act as unreasonably as Tu Feng.
However, Yang Kai remained silent. Frowning, he scanned the surrounding area, eventually looking up from the battlefield before freezing. Staring up at the Silver Blood Golden Feather Eagle in the sky, he calmly said, “The Lu Family isn’t responsible, I’m afraid that the Eagle was the one who gave away our position! We’ve been too careless!”
Qiu Yi Meng saw him say this and couldn’t help feeling relieved. Although the Lu Liang’s actions had also made Qiu Yi Meng somewhat unhappy, they were still more or less a subordinate of the Qiu Family. During these years, the Lu Family had also provided the Qiu Family with a lot of good things, so as the First Young Lady of the Qiu Family, she still had an obligation and responsibility to protect the safety of the Lu Family as best she could.
“This little bastard!” Tang Yu Xian grit her teeth and stared at the golden Feather Eagle circling above them.
Yang Kai continued calmly, “For so many years, no one has dared have ideas about the Yang Family’s descendants; therefore, neither you nor I had predicted such an event would happen, it seems we need to re-evaluate our mindsets!”
Done explaining, Yang Kai let out a loud whistle and the Golden Feather Eagle immediately swooped down.
Suddenly smiling meaningfully, Yang Kai looked at Qiu Yi Meng and said, “Although this time’s matter is unrelated to the Lu Family, I hope that today’s events can reach Lu Liang’s ear, and… it’s better if the news were to be conveyed to them by the Qiu Family!”
Qiu Yi Meng didn’t respond for a moment, not immediately understanding why Yang Kai had suddenly made such a proposal, but her brow lightly wrinkling as she thought for a moment, then suddenly wearing a bitter expression, she clenched her fists and shouted, “Why you! How could you suddenly come up with such a plot! You really are too sinister! Even if they acted that way, you don’t have to be so brutal with them! You… I… I… haa…”
“Hmph! They brought this upon themselves. Since when was this Young Master a pile of loose mud that can’t weather wind and rain? This will just be a little lesson for them.” Yang Kai sneered.
When everyone heard Yang Kai say this, all of them realized that even if he acted aloof, he was actually still holding a grudge over the Lu Family’s attitude towards him.
He may not have cared what the Lu Family thought of him, but he absolutely wouldn’t allow others to look down on him, and those who dared do so would pay the price sooner or later.
However, the exchange between him and Qiu Yi Meng had left the two Blood Warriors and Luo Xiao Man puzzled.
“Elder Sister Qiu, what are you talking about?” Luo Xiao Man innocently and straightforwardly asked.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian also stared at her and wondered what kind of tricks Yang Kai was up to that had actually brought on such strong condemnation from Qiu Yi Meng.
Qiu Yi Meng sighed as she turned towards Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian, “I told you before that your Young Lord is someone who seeks vengeance for even the slightest grievance yet you still don’t understand… Haa, let me ask you, although it’s true that this incident has no relation with the Lu Family since Yang Kai had only stopped by the Lu Family, if word of such an attack today were to reach Lu Liang’s ear, how do you think he will react?
Tu Feng stared stunned, suddenly realizing what Yang Kai was plotting and let out a raucous laughter, “That Lu Liang will certainly panic, fearing that the Little Lord might suspect he had leaked his location!”
“In order to profess his innocence, Lu Liang will certainly come to the Central Capital to plead his case to the Little Lord! Since it will be necessary to clarify his standpoint, he will also have to bring along some generous gifts.” Tang Yu Xian covered her lips and stared in amazement towards Yang Kai, wondering how he had suddenly come up with such a sinister trick.
The most important part of all of this, of course, were these ‘gifts’!
Qiu Yi Meng ground her teeth and continued, “Moreover, if this message is passed on to him by my Qiu Family, Lu Liang will definitely think that either I or the Qiu Family is planning to mediate the situation, so if he prepares an appropriate gift, Yang Kai will definitely not blame him. Do you understand now? This Young Lord of yours is clearly making a fuss about nothing, blowing the whole situation out of proportion, all in order to take advantage of this opportunity to gather wealth!”
Both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian looked towards Yang Kai with great admiration.
Regarding this kind of quick-witted and meticulous thought, the two of them felt that they were actually inferior to this Little Lord of theirs.
After just encountering a life-threatening danger, most people would still be in shock, and their only thoughts would be about how joyful it was to be alive.
But the Little Lord of their family was completely different, not only was he the very picture of calm, he had also immediately come up with a way to benefit from this situation. In fact… wasn’t his reaction a bit too quick?
This time, the Lu Family was really going to suffer an unexpected calamity!
For a moment, the two Blood Warriors couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Lu Liang. They really didn’t know what kind of reaction this Lu Family Patriarch would have after knowing the truth.
What was worse though was, even if he were to fully understand everything that transpired here, he would still have no choice but to choke down this loss! Who let Yang Kai only stay at his home on his way to the Central Capital?
“Tell Lu Liang to know that he doesn’t need to see me, just send the appropriate things to the capital.” Yang Kai added in a subtle manner.
Qiu Yi Meng let out yet another sigh, simply disinclined to respond at this point.
“We should leave here first before finding a place to rest.” Yang Kai’s expression sank as he waved lightly.
The five Cloud Treading Colts, which were not easily raised, had been swallowed up by the enemy’s trap, so the five of them could only fly the rest of the way.
Tang Yu Xian’s wounds were neither heavy nor light, as for Tu Feng, he was actually uninjured; however, it wouldn’t be long before his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill’s effect would disappear, at which point his Blood Force would become incredibly feeble.
If the two Blood Warriors wanted to completely restore themselves, it would take them at least ten days to half a month at least.
After suffering such an ambush, Yang Kai’s group didn’t dare act too conspicuously.
At the foot of a small hill, the group of five stopped to rest.
With things as they were, Yang Kai could only personally go out to gather some food. Seeing their Little Lord prepare a meal for them, the two Blood Warriors became increasingly ashamed and simultaneously grateful.
That night, five people sat around a fire and grilled some wild game.
The atmosphere was a bit subtle, and the two Blood Warriors were feeling remorseful about their dereliction of duty, yet were unsure about how to apologize as they stared towards Yang Kai with eyes full of guilt. Qiu Yi Meng on the other hand was still annoyed at Yang Kai for using her to punish the Lu Family, so she naturally didn’t speak with him. Off to the side, Luo Xiao Man obviously sensed how tense the situation was so she chose to remain silent like a frightened rabbit.
Only Yang Kai sat casually beside the fire, staring into the flickering flames as he reminisced about the day’s experiences. As he went over what had happened again and again in his head, he gradually came to a terrible conclusion.
After a long silence, Yang Kai straightened up and suddenly said, “You don’t have to feel guilty, today’s ambush wasn’t targeting me.”
“But Little Lord…” Tang Yu Xian objected, her expression still thoroughly ashamed.
However, Yang Kai waved his hand to stop her before continuing, “I’m not saying things to comfort you. This plot really wasn’t directed towards me. They probably learned about our movement a few days ago so they chose to set up an ambush on the river because they knew if we wanted to cross, we would need to find a ferry, thus creating an opportunity for them to act.”
Listening to him so seriously explain things, everyone couldn’t help but listen more carefully.
“Their deployment was very well thought out, the three most powerful masters in their group were only meant to delay the two Blood Warriors while the remaining people were responsible for killing the Yang Family’s juniors! While the strengths of these people were great, when they were chasing me, I didn’t notice any signs of deep hatred on their faces, so the chances are good they don’t actually have a grudge against me.”
Tu Feng nodded and said, “When we were fighting, the strongest person also said let slip that their actions this time were targeting all the Yang Family Young Lords!”
“En, it’s good that this time they happened to meet me, if it were any of the other Yang Family juniors, they would likely be dead right now.”
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian couldn’t help secretly feeling lucky, fortunately, they were escorting Yang Kai past this place. If it were one of the other Yang Family Young Lords, with the number and strength of these assassins, how could he have survived?
“Did you notice the distribution of those people’s power?” Yang Kai asked intently with a wry grin on his face.
“Their power distribution?” Tu Feng frowned.
“Right, an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage, a Seventh Stage, a Fifth Stage, a Third Stage, a First Stage…” Yang Kai suddenly grinned meaningfully, “Other than that, they were all True Element Boundary cultivators. Such an unusual distribution of Immortal Ascension masters, don’t you find anything strange about it?”
With Yang Kai’s prompting, everyone suddenly understood.
“There’s a gap!” Tu Feng quickly said.
“Right, there’s a gap!” Yang Kai slightly nodded, “The masters of any force should have a tiered distribution, since they have an Immortal Ascension master of the Seventh Stage, logically there should have been two to four Sixth Stage masters accompanying them for a mission as important as the assassination of a Yang Family direct descendant. If a force was trying to stir up trouble with the Yang Family, they would surely put forward their entire strength.”
Turning to the two Blood Warriors, Yang Kai asked, “Tu Feng, Yu Xian, when you were fighting with those three, did you notice them use any techniques or Martial Skills related to any major families or Sects?”
Both Blood Warriors immediately shook their heads, Tu Feng adding, “Those people were very cautious and didn’t use any unique Martial Skills, probably because they were worried we would discover their origins. However, I felt like they were not very familiar with one another because they didn’t coordinate or cooperation with one another very smoothly.”
“Naturally, their cooperation was lacking. If I haven’t guessed wrong, they didn’t even come from the same force.” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “No single force would dare challenge the Yang Family alone.”
“What does the Little Lord mean?”
“Those people… they should have been gathered from a number of different forces, each one sending out a number of their masters to observe the movements of the Golden Feather Eagles, speculate our whereabouts, and then set up ambushes here!”
Qiu Yi Meng nodded in agreement, “What you said makes sense. If that is really the case, then it would explain why they had such a spread in their cultivation realms.”
If this group of masters was gathered from several forces, obviously there would be differences in their cultivations and abilities.
“Little Lord is quite observant.” Tu Feng laughed.
Yang Kai paused and then suddenly smiled weirdly, glancing around at the others, “Since these master came from several forces, then it’s absolutely impossible for there to only be this many of them.”
The expression on the two Blood Warriors’ faces quickly cooled, “You mean they still have backup?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “No! The ambush in this location was likely only those people… but if so, then what about all the other masters besides them?”
Everyone thought for a moment before showing a grim expression as they turned to stare at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s eyes were ice cold as he muttered, “It seems that my brothers’ journeys won’t be very peaceful, this action must be aiming at all of the Yang Family’s direct descendants! Hmph, seems our enemies have invested quite some effort!”
If Yang Kai’s speculation was correct, this time’s plot was truly grand. Several forces’ masters divided into several groups to trace the whereabouts of the Yang Family’s Young Lords and assassinate them before they could return to the Central Capital.
With the Golden Feather Eagle’s hovering over the heads of Yang Family Young Lords, it was almost akin to a bright light in the darkness guiding them towards their targets.
This time with Yang Kai was a near miss, but what about the other Yang Family Young Lords? Would some of them really be killed half way home?
To dare enact such a bold plot, the people behind the scenes, whether it was their methods or their courage, were extraordinary.
“Your Yang Family has offended too many people, you’re brought this upon yourselves” Qiu Yi Meng sneered lightly.
“It’s not yet certain that this is an enemies doing,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly. “The impact of the Inheritance War is simply that big.”
Qiu Yi Meng looked at him blankly in shock, immediately understanding what he was thinking.
“The family will find out, it’s not something we need to think about.” Yang Kai said decisively. Suddenly wearing a smile as he got up and walked away from the fire, he called out, “Tu Feng and Yu Xian, come with me.”
The two Blood Warriors glanced at one another before quickly getting up to follow Yang Kai.
Left alone without any explanation, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man both pouted, “So secretive!”
Walking off into the darkness, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and turned to look at the two Blood Warriors.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian’s nerves were somewhat on edge, not knowing what Yang Kai had called them out for. Everything that happened today had created a very awkward situation for them, causing them to feel quite guilty. Both of them had secretly vowed that they must be more vigilant for the rest of this trip, but that didn’t change the fact that what had happened had already passed.
[The Little Lord wouldn’t want to reprimand us here, would he?] Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian thought to themselves silently, the dark of night fortunately covering their depressed expressions.
“How are your injuries?” Just as the two were going over their suspicions, Yang Kai suddenly asked.
Tu Feng nearly stumbled, completely not expecting that Yang Kai would actually asked such a question, but upon hearing the concern in his voice, both his and Tang Yu Xian’s hearts felt lighter and they became even more embarrassed about their previous concerns.
Quickly recovering, he replied, “I have no obvious injuries, but my vitality has been overdrawn so I can probably display about sixty percent of my strength. Yu Xian is better off than me, but she still suffered some internal injuries. If we want to fully restore ourselves, I’m afraid it will take a few days.”
After explaining, Tu Feng hastily added, “Little Lord can rest assured that even if it costs me my life I will safely escort you back to the family!”
Tang Yu Xian nodded firmly, “For the rest of the journey, we will redouble our vigilance and after returning to Central Capital we will accept responsibility for this crime!”
Yang Kai only nodded slightly and didn’t say anything more. After a moment, he took out two pills from his sleeve pocket and handed them to the two Blood Warriors, “Each of you take one, swallow them right here, immediately.”
The two Blood Warriors were surprised, not understanding why Yang Kai was suddenly acting so seriously, but they also knew that Yang Kai wouldn’t harm them, so neither of them hesitated to take the pill they were offered.
Immediately after tasting these two pills, the Two Blood Warriors immediately judged them to be ordinary healing pills, their grade at the most Earth Grade Top-Rank, but this only confused them even more, wondering why their Little Lord had given them such ordinary recovery medicine.
Although they were puzzled, they didn’t reveal anything on their faces.
Even if Yang Kai had given them a pair of Common Grade pills, it was still a benevolence they wouldn’t normally receive.
“Whether it’s trying to win you two over or if I encounter danger, for this trip back home, I still require the two of you to stay by my side, so… I hope you can recover a bit faster.” Yang Kai said with a meaningful smile.
The two Blood Warriors were only more confused after hearing Yang Kai’s words. These two healing pills were only Earth Grade Top-Rank, so how could they help them recover any faster? What was their Little Lord trying to imply with his words?
Both of them shook their heads secretly, pressing down the curiosity in their hearts.
“Go back, meditate and refine the medicinal effects, don’t waste any of it.” Yang Kai waved casually.
“Yes, Little Lord,” Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian responded with a nod, both of them turning around and walking back to the campfire; however, the two of them suddenly stopped in place and turned to one another. Seeing the meaning in each other’s eyes, they quickly faced Yang Kai respectfully.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai looked at them curiously, not knowing what else they wanted to say.
“Little Lord…” Tu Feng’s look became calm and solemn as he spoke, “For this time’s Inheritance War, if the family allows Blood Warriors to participate, then I and Yu Xian hope to serve the Little Lord. Whether we be used as guards or labourers, we only hope the Little Lord will accept us!”
Yang Kai blinked before staring straight into Tu Feng’s eyes, after a long time letting out a great laugh, “I’d be happy to!”
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian both smiled and quickly knelt down, swearing, “The two of us will humbly await the Little Lord’s arrival at the Blood Warrior Hall!”
“En, I will certainly go.” Yang Kai nodded firmly.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian got up and retreated. Following Yang Kai’s urging, the two of them hurriedly found a place to sit and revolved their healing arts.
Looking in the direction of the two meditating warriors, Yang Kai’s heart pounded, silently celebrating.
[I’ve finally won over these two Blood Warriors!]
Along the way, although he had used some deliberate methods, it was more Yang Kai inadvertently displaying all kinds of shocking and fantastic abilities that had really conquered Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian, resulting in them pledging their allegiance.
Although this time’s Inheritance War wouldn’t necessarily allow the participation of the Blood Warriors, Yang Kai still had to plan ahead.
If the Blood Warriors were really allowed to participate, then he had now easily acquired two powerful boosts.
The best part was when Tu Feng had requested to serve him, he had been completely earnest, without a trace of dissatisfaction.
This was the first time the two Blood Warriors had displayed the attitude of subordinates in front of Yang Kai. It also meant that they were really willing to assist him in the Inheritance War.
Looking up at the stars, Yang Kai smiled happily, full of expectations for the upcoming Inheritance War.
It was particularly peaceful that night.
The morning of the next day, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian both opened their eyes from the meditation and looked at each other, both of seeing a mix of joy and shock in each other’s eyes.
After a night’s restoration, all of their injuries had basically recovered. The wounds and overdrawn vitality they had expected would take at least half a month to restore had actually been completely healed in less than a day.
Recalling the profound effects that had taken place when they were refining that seemingly ordinary Earth Grade Top-Rank healing pill last night, both of them were amazed and confused.
It was no doubt an Earth Grade Top-Rank pill. In normal times, neither of the two Blood Warriors would even spare it a glance. In fact, if it weren’t for it being delivered to them by Yang Kai, how could they have taken it?
The two of them had their own healing pills, all of which were Heaven Grade Top-Rank.
But this simple Earth Grade Top-Rank pill, which would usually be despised by them, had suddenly produced many magical effects as they had refined it last night. These effects had swept through their meridians and physique like a gentle breeze, not only healing all of the wounds they had suffered in this recent battle but even mending many of their old battle scars.
Blood Warriors were trained from young for battle; every full-grown Blood Warrior had experienced hundreds of life or death battles, which had led to them accumulating many large and small injuries. It could be said that each Blood Warrior’s body was filled with these dark wounds.
No ordinary healing pill could treat such injuries, only extremely rare, precious medicines and long periods of time would give them a chance to eliminate these hidden dangers.
But as a Blood Warrior, how would they have so much time to rest?
For Tu Feng, before, when he circulated his True Qi, there would be a slight tingling sensation below his ribs, but he had always ignored this subtle pain.
As for Tang Yu Xian, every time she became angered, her heart would feel a pinching sensation. This was a result of her being poisoned once and never fully recovering.
These dark injuries were very subtle and wouldn’t normally affect their combat effectiveness, nor would it impede the circulation of their True Qi, but both of them knew that even if it wasn’t an impediment to them now, as time passed, one day, sooner or later, their strength would certainly be affected by the accumulation of these injuries, possibly leading to their early deaths.
But now, the two Blood Warriors clearly felt that all of the dark injuries leftover from their past battles had all but disappeared.
Was this something an Earth Grade Top-Rank pill could do?
In an instant, both of them have understood that their Little Lord had hidden something else inside these two Earth Grade Top-Rank pills, or else they wouldn’t have had such astonishing effects.
On top of that, whatever it was he had hidden inside these healing pills was, without a doubt, a priceless and rare treasure!
After taking a long time to recover from their shock, the gratitude and guilt the two Blood Warriors felt became even more intense.
As for Yang Kai, he had woken up earlier. It could even be said that he hadn’t really slept the night before.
The two Blood Warriors had been in a meditative state to recover and Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man were women, so naturally the duty of night watchman had fallen to him.
Looking at Yang Kai, the two Blood Warriors couldn’t help feeling subtle warmth.
Just as they were preparing to offer their thanks, Yang Kai gave them a faint look and asked, “Which great forces are in the vicinity?”
Tu Feng paused for a moment before replying, “I remember that this place should be governed by Tian Yuan City.”
Tian Yuan City was the name of a city and the name of a great force.
“What rank force is Tian Yuan City?” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow and asked.
“A first-class force, why does Little Lord ask?” Tu Feng couldn’t understand why Yang Kai suddenly cared about Tian Yuan City.
Yang Kai showed a big grin as he smiled back at Tu Feng’s question, a sly look appearing on his face.
Qiu Yi Meng opened rolled her eyes and bitterly muttered, “He’s looking for another victim to blackmail.”
“The situation’s forcing me, all I can do is act accordingly!” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders.
Seeing him not deny the charge, the two Blood Warriors’ expression became somewhat cramped.
But as they thought about it, the Lu Family which was thousands of kilometers from here had been painted guilty because of yesterday’s incident. Soon, Lu Liang would have to carry a generous offering to the Central Capital to give Yang Kai as a show of goodwill, so how could the nearby Tian Yuan City escape unscathed?
In the end, it was a fact that Yang Kai had been attacked within the scope of the Tian Yuan City’s influence, so Tian Yuan City naturally had to accept some responsibility for this matter.
It was up to the top executives of these nearby forces to understand the times.
In this sensitive period, any small event many turn into a big deal.
“Should we send a letter to Tian Yuan City?” Tu Feng was obviously quite experienced in these matters, his voice even containing a hint of eagerness, “If Little Lord wants, I can personally pay them a visit now. Let’s see if they dare try to argue back.”
Even Tang Yu Xian showed an enthusiastic look at this moment, seemingly wanting to set out together with Tu Feng.
“No need, such a big event will naturally be known to them.” Yang Kai shook his head and stood up and said, “Good, let’s go, we’ve been delayed a number of times already, I’m eager to see what the Central Capital is like after all these years.”
“Are Seniors’ injuries alright? Do you want to rest here a few more days?” Qiu Yi Meng frowned and asked with some concern.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian exchange a wry glance with each other before shaking their heads quickly, “No need.”
Seeing how they responded, Qiu Yi Meng didn’t insist.
Without the Cloud Treading Colts, the five people could only fly, so their speed was naturally slower.
After one day, the strength gap between the three juniors was clear at a glance. Even after flying for so long, Yang Kai’s expression was dull, no signs of fatigue apparent on his face, almost like he hadn’t expended any energy at all.
Qiu Yi Meng was slightly out of breath. In order to keep up with the two Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, her True Qi consumption had been quite serious.
As for Luo Xiao Man, her face was a bright red as sweat poured down her forehead. Her two great jade rabbits heaved up and down as she breathed heavily, creating quite a spectacle.
But she still grit her teeth and followed the crowd without saying a word.
If it wasn’t for Tang Yu Xian being unable to stand by and watch her suffer, offering to help her along, Luo Xiao Man would have already been left behind by everyone.
Yang Kai’s group walked along remote roads just to be safe, but never encountered any danger again, stopping at night to rest before setting off the next day.
Such a routine continued on.
Eight days later, a huge city came into everyone’s view.
The Central Capital!
Looking from afar, it seemed like this place was the center of the whole world. The size of Central Capital City was difficult to describe, even from over a hundred miles away, its outline was still clearly visible.
Those who witnessed its majestic momentum couldn’t help feeling small and insignificant in comparison.
When people thought of the Central Capital, they would involuntarily remember a certain saying.
From North to South, this is the world’s greatest city!
Standing at the edge of the south side of the city, one was unable to see the edge of the north side; the entire Central Capital seemed to be an endless sea of roads, buildings, and people, immense and magnificent.
It was often the case that on one side of the city there could be a great storm with thunder and lightning while at the other end of the city the sun would be shining in a clear blue sky.
Even if you were an Immortal Ascension masters, if you wanted to fly from one end of the city to the other, it would take you at least two or three hours!
This alone illustrated the immense scale of this city.
The world’s greatest city, it wasn’t an undeserved title!
It was hard to imagine how such a huge city, almost capable of being a small country in its own right, had been established. According to historical records, this city had already existed at the beginning of recorded time, and over the years, the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families had put down roots and firmly occupied it. As such, this grand old city constantly expanded and consolidated, growing larger and larger as the years, decades, and centuries passed.
Eventually, it became the wonder it was today!
The group of five people touched down outside and gazed towards the Central Capital.
“Although I’ve lived here nearly my entire life, I still can’t help marveling every time I see it.” Tang Yu Xian said with some slight emotions.
Tu Feng also had a dignified expression, and it wasn’t just them, anyone who stood outside the Central Capital would stop to admire it, regardless of whether they were long-time residents or newcomers.
Looking at the huge city that he had been away from for several years, Yang Kai’s expression was calm. It was only when he thought about his family waiting for him inside that his pulse quickened slightly.
Qiu Yi Meng gently brushed her hair back past her ear before turning to look at Yang Kai and say, “Xiao Man and I will be separating with you here. Right now, if we were to be seen together with you, I’m afraid it would cause some misunderstandings.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded offhandedly.
Tu Feng suddenly smiled and turned to Qiu Yi Meng, “Young Lady Qiu, for this time’s Inheritance War, will your Qiu Family stand on the Little Lord’s side?”
Qiu Yi Meng smiled and stared at Yang Kai, calmly replying, “Although I’ve become acquainted with your Little Lord, the Inheritance War is too important to make a rash decision, I still have to think over it carefully.”
“What else is there to consider?” Tang Yu Xian smiled, striking while the iron was hot, “In addition to the Little Lord, Young Lady Qiu doesn’t know any of the other Young Lords nor do you know their depths. If the Qiu Family were to support one of them, wouldn’t that be slightly inappropriate? Even if you did so and lost, the Qiu Family’s heritage wouldn’t be affected, but supporting a character like the Little Lord is undoubtedly something Young Lady Qiu won’t regret.”
Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai with a smile, seemingly waiting for something.
However, after a long wait, and seeing Yang Kai having no intention to speak, she couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed, sighing slightly, “Everything will depend on your Little Lord’s performance.”
This statement was very thought provoking.
His performance, did she mean how he performed before her, or during the Inheritance War?
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian’s eyes swam for a moment, suddenly wearing strange expressions, seemingly like they had just heard some kind of big secret, eventually turning their gaze back towards Qiu Yi Meng.
Unfortunately for them, Qiu Yi Meng’s face remained unchanged, still indifferent.
Tu Feng continued to add fuel to the fire, a meaningful grin appearing on his face, “If the Little Lord and Young Lady Qiu were to join forces, they would definitely be undefeatable, in the future, the Central Capital would clearly be controlled by the two of you, if you were to form a pair now, it wouldn’t be a misdemeanor…”
Tang Yu Xian quickly followed up, “I think so too. Young Lady Qiu doesn’t need to hesitate.”
“Hmm…” Qiu Yi Meng smiled plainly, as if she didn’t understand the hidden meaning of Tu Feng’s words, not blushing or showing any signs of embarrassment, just consciously or unconsciously casting her eyes towards Yang Kai.
Just when Tu Feng was about to say something more, Yang Kai suddenly interrupted and said, “I’m sure we’ll meet again, until then.”
This sentence was quite awkward, although Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian both wanted to take this opportunity to firmly grasp a big ally for Yang Kai, they didn’t expect him to suddenly cut them off here.
After speaking so, Yang Kai really started walking off.
The two Blood Warriors were stunned for a while, before hurriedly cupping their fists to Qiu Yi Meng and hurriedly catching up with Yang Kai.
Looking at Yang Kai’s quickly disappearing back, Qiu Yi Meng stood in place, only coming back to her senses after a long time, not having expected him to so decisively walk away from her.
“This guy!” Luo Xiao Man was indignant. “Isn’t he a bit too rude? Didn’t we travel all this way together? Why didn’t he at least say a few words before leaving?”
Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes flashed thoughtfully.
[Did he notice?]
[He should have noticed, or else he wouldn’t have just left without making even the slightest effort.]
[This guy, he’s really not easily fooled.]
“Elder Sister Qiu, aren’t you angry?” Luo Xiao Man said poutingly to Qiu Yi Meng, stomping her foot a few times, “How could he just walk off and ignore you?”
“Nevermind,” Qiu Yi Meng let out a light sigh, taking Luo Xiao Man’s hand and pulling her along, “Let’s head back to my Qiu Family.”
“Oh, en.”
“When we reach my home, you can send a letter to your Purple Fern Valley so they don’t worry about you.”
“En, I’ll do that.”
“After having not seen your Senior Brother Fan Hong, haven’t you been thinking of him?” Qiu Yi Meng asked with a smile, seemingly wanting to find another topic to discuss to disperse the haze in her heart.
“Ah… no…” Luo Xiao Man shook her slightly blushing face and whispered, “I don’t know why, but I haven’t thought about him for quite some time.”
“That’s naturally because you’ve seen the wonders of the outside world!”
The two girls hadn’t known each other a year ago, but since they initially went to High Heaven Pavilion, they had been involved in one adventure after another, each time encountering various spectacles and dangers. For this period, they had never been apart, so after such a long time experiencing weal and woe together, whether it was Qiu Yi Meng or Luo Xiao Man, they regarded each other as family, as though they were both blood sisters.
So regarding Qiu Yi Meng’s words, Luo Xiao Man also didn’t have any opinion, not even trying to refute her.
On the other side, Yang Kai and the two Blood Warriors rushed to the south of the Central Capital.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian walked behind Yang Kai, and although they didn’t say a word, they were still filled with doubts, not understanding why Yang Kai hadn’t made any effort to win over the Qiu Family.
If the Lu Family didn’t enter his eyes, the two Blood Warriors would take it for granted, but the Qiu Family was different. As one of the Eight Great Families, the support it could provide him was significant.
As long as one’s head was still working, they wouldn’t so easily let go of such a prize.
What’s more, Qiu Yi Meng’s status in the Qiu Family wasn’t low. If Qiu Yi Meng agreed to support him, it was basically equal to saying the entire Qiu Family supported him.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian were curious and wanted to ask, but they didn’t know how to start speaking so instead they just followed behind Yang Kai all the way, pondering over how to bring the matter up.
After a while, Tang Yu Xian cleared her throat rather loudly and stared towards Tu Feng.
The latter was frowning and thinking, so he was caught off guard and temporarily stunned.
Seeing such a reaction, Tang Yu Xian couldn’t help rolling her eyes, feeling slightly speechless.
These subtle movements of the two Blood Warriors were naturally noticed by Yang Kai.
Slowing his pace slightly, it wasn’t long before the two caught up. Yang Kai turned to them and asked indifferently, “Are you confused?”
Both Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian nodded dully.
“What’s so weird about it?” Yang Kai smiled plainly, no traces of regret apparent in his expression.
“Little Lord, why did you just leave Young Lady Qiu hanging like that? The Qiu Family’s forces are not weak, if you could ally with them, they would certainly provide a big boost in manpower and materials for this Inheritance War!” Tu Feng didn’t beat around the bush, asking directly.
Both he and Tang Yu Xian had decided that as long as the family allowed Blood Warriors to participate in this time’s Inheritance War, they would follow Yang Kai, so naturally they wouldn’t act indifferently towards Yang Kai’s actions like they had before.
However, Yang Kai simply shook his head slowly and faintly said, “Qiu Yi Meng has scruples in her heart so she won’t dare take a stand right now. Thus, even if I were to try to win her over, the result will be the same.”
“Really?” Tu Feng was shocked and blankly stared, “From what I have seen over her interactions with the Little Lord, she seems very interested in you. I would even say she favours you quite heavily. Whenever we spoke, she would be full of praise towards the Little Lord’s abilities.”
“That’s right.” Tang Yu Xian also nodded slightly.
“Her, like me?” Yang Kai stared at Tu Feng in shock before laughing loudly, “Tu Feng, ah Tu Feng, if you really think so, then you’re too naive!”
Tu Feng wasn’t a young man, so hearing Yang Kai say this to him, his face couldn’t help dying a slight shade of red.
“Perhaps my performance is impressive in her eyes, even much stronger than others of our generation,” Yang Kai raised his brow, showing a self-confident style, “Because of this, she will feel that I am different from the other Young Lords she’s interacted with, but that doesn’t mean she likes me.”
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian both frowned, still somewhat unconvinced by Yang Kai’s argument.
Yang Kai smiled slightly, “Who is Qiu Yi Meng? The First Young Lady of the Qiu Family, the most dazzling star of the Qiu Family’s younger generation! Let me ask you a question: for such a woman, can she really decide her own future?”
Hearing these words, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian couldn’t help but frown.
Qiu Yi Meng, her pursuers were countless, the most desired young woman of the Central Capital.
But even with so many young talents seeking her favour, Qiu Yi Meng was still single; there weren’t even rumors of her having a liking for any of the Central Capital’s Young Lords.
The reason for this was because the Qiu Family’s Patriarch Qiu Shou Cheng had declared that anyone who wanted to marry Qiu Yi Meng had to enter the Qiu Family!
This simple sentence might sound pleasant to the ear, almost as if Qiu Shou Cheng dearly loved his daughter and didn’t want her to leave the Qiu Family.
But in reality, it was actually that Qiu Shou Cheng didn’t want to let go of such a good opportunity to enhance the Qiu Family!
In a nutshell, Qiu Yi Meng’s destiny wasn’t something she had any control over. In the future, she would become nothing more than a game piece which would draw in benefits for the Qiu Family via a political marriage.
Such ideological education which held the family’s interested above all else had been impressed on her since childhood.
Who would become her partner, when she would be married, all of these decisions were to be made by the Qiu Family’s leadership, and she simply didn’t have any say in the matter.
How could a woman who had received such indoctrination easily decide to stand by Yang Kai’s side for this Inheritance War? If she were to make a rash decision now, the Qiu Family would definitely not recognize it!
“You don’t believe it?” Yang Kai looked at the two Blood Warriors carefreely.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian didn’t answer.
“Her not entering the Central Capital’s gates with us is the best evidence!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “If she had really decided to side with me, she wouldn’t care what other people would think.”
“So don’t bother saying she favours me, because to her I am at most a Yang Family direct descendant who may become her ally! However…” Yang Kai’s expression suddenly became serious, “If someone better than me were to appear, the Qiu Family will definitely become my enemy in the future!”
Both Blood Warriors look stunned. Although they felt that Yang Kai’s views and thoughts were a bit too extreme, they had no choice but to admit that the various great families didn’t place too much importance on the desires of their Young Lords and Young Ladies.
Accepting the influence of their family from an early age, they would always consider the interests of the family above their own interests. As for things like love, that was a secondary concern!
“Subordinate will remember the Little Lord’s words.” Tu Feng nodded slightly.
Because of Tu Feng’s position, he didn’t need more than a general understanding of politics. Although the Blood Warriors were powerful elites, they didn’t understand the thoughts of these Young Lords and Young Ladies.
Yang Kai nodded casually before turning around, no longer discussing this topic.
After an hour, the three finally arrived at the Central Capital.
Because of the sheer size of the Central Capital, there were countless gates one could enter from.
The three of them had arrived at one of the city’s south gates!
There was no bustling of ordinary people, nor cultivators streaming back and forth. Instead, the south gate was just like the open mouth of a giant beast, only a few powerful cultivators stood by this gate, their vision casually glancing around.
This South Gate couldn’t be entered by average people.
This gate was the dedicated entrance to the Central Capital’s Yang Family home.
Each of the Eight Great Families had their own dedicated gate.
Once one entered this gate, they would follow a dedicated path all the way to Yang Family’s compound.
Except for members of the Eight Great Families, no one could pass through these gates and passages. Any trespassers would be killed without questions!
There were a few patrols in front of the south gate, but no cultivators unrelated to the Eight Great Families ever showed up here, so naturally the atmosphere was quite leisurely.
When the trio came to the city gate, the cultivators on guard all directed awe-inspired gazes towards them.
After seeing the jade talisman on the two Blood Warriors’ waists, they immediately collected themselves and cupped their fists respectfully.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian remained indifferent to this performance, not even blinking, instead just following behind Yang Kai as he strode into the Central Capital!
After the three had entered the gate, the guards finally let out a sigh of relief, all of them still slightly overawed.
“Which Young Lord is back? He looks pretty young, probably only seventeen or eighteen years old.”
“A Young Lord who is only seventeen or eighteen years old… Could it be the youngest one?”
“Wasn’t the Youngest Lord rumored to be unable to cultivate? If so then isn’t he basically no stronger than an ordinary person? How come he seems so aloof and confident? Strange…”
“Normal or not, it’s none of our concern, all we need to do is guard this gate.”
“Right, don’t say such things carelessly; it won’t end well for you if one of the family’s powerful masters overhears you. However, isn’t he the first of the Young Lords to return to the family?”
“En, no one else has returned yet.”
Less than an incense stick worth of time after Yang Kai and the two Blood Warriors had entered the city gate, a large group of people appeared before them, seemingly having been waiting for their arrival.
The number of people in this group was quite big, at least a dozen or so, and the one leading them seemed to be a stout fat man. He was less than six feet tall and his big belly would jiggle slightly every time he walked back and forth in front of the crowd. It seemed like after having paced here for a long time, some sweat had started flowing down his face as he was wiping his forehead and neck from time to time with a handkerchief.
Suddenly noticing Yang Kai’s group of three, the fat man was temporarily stunned before suddenly showing an overjoyed expression, quickly stowing his handkerchief in his sleeve and signalling to the crowd behind him, all of them swiftly assuming a welcoming posture.
Yang Kai and the two Blood Warriors stopped five steps in front of this crowd and glanced towards the fat man. Staring at this person though, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown.
This fat man was clearly not a Yang Family member but instead came from one of the Yang Family’s attached forces. His cultivation wasn’t high, but since he was here, it must be because of the family’s arrangements; what Yang Kai didn’t understand was why.
“The two respected warriors have worked hard this time!” The fat man first respectfully bowed to Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian before his pair of small eyes tightened, almost narrowing to the point of closing as he smiled and looked at Yang Kai, “Two warriors, may this one ask, which Young Lord might be under your charge?”
Tu Feng’s expression remained calm as he replied, “Fourth Master’s son, the Little Lord!”
The Yang Family’s Young Lords rarely showed themselves in the around the family home, so it wasn’t surprising that this fat man didn’t recognize Yang Kai, so Tu Feng naturally didn’t care about this question.
The fat man’s face showed a slight look of surprises, apparently not having through that the first Young Lord to return to the family would be the Little Lord, but he immediately collected himself and, together with the people behind him, quickly cupped his fists and bowed politely, “The third-class steward Yin Tian You, in accordance with the command of the family, welcomes the Little Lord back to the capital. Many thanks to the Little Lord for his hard work these past few years!”
A third-class steward’s status in the Yang Family was neither high nor low, but given that this Yin Tian You’s strength wasn’t great, he was probably didn’t have any cultivation talent.
The Yang Family was a colossus that required many people who were proficient in various fields to help with management. For these individuals, their strength wasn’t all that important, what was important was their abilities in the areas they were charged with.
Just as Yang Kai was wondering what Yin Tian You was here for, it turns out the family had actually arranged for him to welcome the various Young Lords who were returning home.
Yang Kai’s brow loosened as he smiled lightly towards Yin Tian You and nodded, “Steward Yin has worked hard, have you been waiting here many days?”
Yang Kai’s amiable response was slightly unexpected for Yin Tian You, his small pair of eyes flashing a radiant light as he smiled even more humbly, “It is this Yin’s privilege to serve as the welcome party for the Young Lords’ return, waiting a few trivial days’ worths of time is no issue at all.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly and asked, “What arrangements does the family have for us?”
The Yang Family was different from an average family. The tempering they gave to their juniors was quite cold so it was unusual for the Elders within the family to display any goodwill or politeness to them.
In the past, when the Yang Family direct descendants returned from their outside life experiences, they would all simply returned to their respective residences, no one would be sent to receive them.
But this time there was a third-class steward waiting here; obviously the family had made some other arrangements for them.
Yin Tian You listened to Yang Kai, and he couldn’t help but nod appreciatively, “The Little Lord’s wit is sharp, this servant admires.”
Tu Feng interjected here coldly, “There’s no need for flattery, just answer the Little Lord’s question.”
“Yes.” Yin Tian You still maintained his welcoming smile, no trace of distress or dissatisfaction apparent on his face, “The situation is this, and the family has commanded that upon their return, the Young Lords should not first return to their respective residences but instead report to the Dragon Transformation Pond.”
“The Dragon Transformation Pond!” Tu Feng exclaimed.
Yang Kai also showed a look of shock while Tang Yu Xian’s beautiful eyes flashed a brilliant light.
None of them had expected the family to prepare such an extravagant gift for the returning Young Lords.