Five Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were tasked with guarding these artifacts. Only this level and amount of force could deter enemies from having other thoughts.
But in this way, the number of masters who could be used was also reduced by five.
However, the incident which occurred when the third batch of artifacts appeared had already disrupted the balance of the six camps. If Yang Kang and the others didn’t throw everything they had into dealing with the situation in front of them, they would only fall into a passive state and gain less and less.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow as he pondered about how to capitalize on his current advantage.
The fourth batch of artifacts appeared soon after.
Nothing remarkable happened, the Spirit Array glowed and then artifacts surfaced from the bottom of the lake, but this time, no one acted rashly, although many people still charged in, this time they were significantly more cautious.
Everyone was on guard not only against enemies trying to rob them, but also against the artifacts themselves; after all, any carelessness might lead to their untimely death.
When the cultivators from the six camps reached the center of the lake, all of them suddenly stopped, no one wanted to serve as someone else’s pathfinder, so everyone waited for others to take the lead, contemplating how the artifact’s stored attack could be stimulated and making plans to handle these scenarios.
The scene suddenly became a stalemate, the artifacts suspended mid-air while the cultivators surrounded them, everyone glancing around vigilantly at each other.
Seeing this, Yang Kai frowned; although he also expected such a situation to appear, he too had no good way to deal with it.
Now, whoever came up first would definitely suffer, but they also couldn’t remain in this deadlocked. The fifth batch of artifacts would probably appear soon. If they couldn’t eat this batch, when the fifth one showed up, the situation would only get worse.
Finally, Yang Kang sneered, “Is everyone here so really so timid? Whoever is willing to step forward is who will have an opportunity! I don’t believe it’s impossible to seize these things!”
Just as his voice rang out, within the dense field of artifacts, a weak Spiritual Energy fluctuation emerged.
A Soul Skill! The sudden emergence of this Soul Skill broke the stalemate in an instant.
As an invisible force burst open, it pushed all of the gently floating artifacts into the surrounding crowd.
The energy contained within the artifacts all erupted one after another as a wave of attacks suddenly struck around, causing everyone to hastily dodge or defend themselves.
Yang Kai immediately turned his eyes towards Liu Qing Yao, his brow wrinkling further.
The Soul Skill just now had been his doing. No one knew why Liu Qing Yao was here. He hadn’t offered services to any of the Yang Family Young Lords, nor had he stirred up any trouble until now. Usually, he just stayed in War City, but this time he had quietly run over to Po Jing Lake, his intentions impossible to guess.
But now he had taken the initiative to break this stalemate.
Fortunately, this time everyone was prepared for it. From the moment these artifacts had appeared, everyone had been vigilant against the traps. Fortunately, the grades of these artifacts weren’t too high, so even fully charged with True Qi the power they could display wasn’t too big and the lethality of these attacks was quite low.
Such scattered and disorganized attacks were easy enough for these cultivators to handle as long as they worked together.
Once they had blocked this barrage of strikes, the cultivators once again found themselves in a chaotic competition. After receiving Yang Kai’s orders, his allies didn’t seek trouble with Yang Wei’s group while the reverse was also true. It was as if the two groups had come to a mutual non-aggression agreement.
After the stalemate was broken, the fourth batch of artifacts was carved up.
But before anyone had time to breath, the fifth batch appeared.
What was surprising though was that this batch of artifacts didn’t appear from the bottom of the lake, but instead descended from the sky.
Floating in the air, numerous glowing golden spheres condensed before quickly transforming into a hundred rays of light that shot out in all directions.
The cultivators who had just been grabbing artifacts hadn’t even had time to return to their respective camps when this fifth batch suddenly appeared.
These golden streaks flew about randomly, some of them even spreading as far as the crowd of spectators, causing quite a big disturbance.
The battlefield suddenly expanded because of the unexpected emergence of the fifth batch of artifacts; the chaotic battlefield was no longer limited to Po Jing Lake but had grown to encompass a big part of the surrounding wilderness as well.
With no other choice, even those who had stayed in the six camps had to join in and competed for these newly appeared artifacts.
For a time, the scene descended into pandemonium and everyone, whether they were here to compete or merely spectate, became involved.
Now that things had developed to this point, even the crowd of spectators found themselves becoming riled up, rushing into battle for a chance to grab one of these artifacts.
The Six Yang Family Young Lords constantly issued new instructions to their respective allies, carefully observing both their opponents’ actions and those of the outsiders who chose to involve themselves, adjusting their strategies on the fly.
A point that everyone found particularly interesting was that Yang Wei’s actions were no different from Yang Kai’s, seemingly taking his approach to this situation as a model for his own. Whenever Yang Kai dispatched reinforcements, he too would deploy more manpower. When Yang Kai had his troops pull back, he also had his allies fall back, even when it came to guarding the artifacts his team had already seized, he also used five Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.
Obviously, Yang Kai had noticed this but he didn’t say anything. What his big brother wanted to do was his freedom.
Amongst all the artifacts, one which was shaped like a bell suddenly let out a burst of magical sound that caused those nearby to tremble violently, their True Qi to fluctuate wildly and their blood to flow backwards. After the sound dissipated, those who were nearby who had withstood it dived towards this artifact, stirring up a great melee.
When this artifact had suddenly appeared here, the nearby crowd had boiled over with excitement, all of them using the full strength to try to seize it.
Soon, the artifact had disappeared and no one knew who had taken it away in the chaos.
A burst of curses and complaints erupted from those who hadn’t managed to snatch this artifact. It had been such a rare opportunity. So many artifacts had appeared here, but only one had landed here and now it was gone, who wouldn’t be regretful?
However, when everyone in this area was glancing around, wondering who had obtained the artifact, a pitiful cry rang out and a middle-aged man who seemed to be around forty years old fell to the ground, a great gash on his chest spilling blood and guts as the light in his eyes quickly faded.
Everyone was shocked.
From the middle-aged man’s sleeve, the bell-shaped artifact that had just disappeared emerged and, seemingly attracted by an invisible force, quickly flew out, accelerating towards the centre of Po Jing Lake, returning to the chaotic battlefield.
Everyone was horrified, quickly dismissing any thoughts they had about snatching these treasures.
They knew that this middle-aged man didn’t die for no reason; in trying to seize this artifact for himself, he had brought a fatal disaster upon himself.
Amongst the crowd, there must be masters staring at the movements of these flying artifacts; once an uninvolved bystander couldn’t resist their greed, they would immediately be killed!
Understanding this, the cultivators who had just tried to snatch this artifact couldn’t help showing a happy smile. Fortunately, they hadn’t been the one to obtain that bell-shaped artifact, otherwise the person who was lying dead on the ground wouldn’t be this middle-aged man, but themselves!
The uncompromising and overbearing nature of the Central Capital’s Yang Family was thoroughly illustrated to everyone here.
After numerous fishers amongst the spectators died, the crowd of onlookers no longer dared have any ideas about these artifacts. Once they were moved by their greed, they would find themselves dead.
The battlefield grew more chaotic; after the first few rounds, the time between when batches of artifacts appeared only became shorter.
Often, before a batch had been divided, the next batch had emerged, and everywhere an object appeared people would rush to snatch it.
More and more people died. No matter which camp it was, the losses weren’t small.
Those who remained beside the six Yang Family Young Lords also decreased as time passed; first, half the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were sent out, then the younger generation leaders such as Huo Xing Chen entered the fray as well.
Each of these young rising stars would be accompanied by a number of strong Immortal Ascension masters, otherwise there would be no way for them to survive in such a turbulent battlefield.
Eventually, beside the six Young Lords, there was only their dedicated Blood Warrior guardian and the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters tasked with guarding their obtained artifacts.
When the seventh batch of artifacts appeared, the battle above Po Jing Lake became even more intense, because there were Heaven Grade artifacts among them.
In the eighth batch, most of the artifacts were Heaven Grade.
The ninth batch, all Heaven Grade…
Everyone who was snatching artifacts had their eyes dyed red. Everyone around them was an enemy. They wantonly unleashed their own True Qi and Spiritual Energy without any scruples. They used any method at their disposal in order to seize these powerful artifacts and bring them back to their camp.
Those who sat on the sidelines and watched the development of the situation all cheered loudly or held their breaths in anticipation.
Cultivators came out, grabbed an artifact, and then fought to bring it back, placing it under the care of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters in their respective bases. Everyone’s consumption was huge. Fortunately, Xia Ning Chang and the Medicine King’s Valley Alchemists had refined a batch of pills that could quickly supplement True Qi, so in terms of endurance, Yang Kai’s people performed better than anyone else.
All of them had already taken some pills during the course of this battle.
Thus, despite their physical exhaustion, they could still spend their True Qi without any scruples.
Suddenly, a Spiritual Energy pulse blossomed in mid-air, containing an icy cold feeling.
Yang Kai’s eyes immediately lit up.
Soul type artifact! And it was an offensive artifact at that! But most importantly, this Soul type artifact’s characteristics matched Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy very well!
If he could obtain this Soul type artifact, the power of his Soul Skill would be improved.
Although Yang Kai really wanted to step forward to seize this artifact personally, he somehow managed to press down this impulse, instead calling out to Dong Qing Han who was nearby where the artifact appeared.
Dong Qing Han was accompanied by the Wind and Cloud Dual Guards as usual, so even though he didn’t understand, his protectors did.
The moment the Spiritual Energy pulse broke out, the Wind and Cloud guards also realized the preciousness of this Soul type artifact.
Seeing the look in Yang Kai’s eyes, Dong Qing Han immediately left his original opponent and turned towards the newly appeared artifact, the Wind and Cloud guards following close behind.
Just as he arrived at the location of the artifact, before he had a chance to snatch it, a person appeared before him, smiling deviously as he stared down at Dong Qing Han, “Hey fatty, you’re an ally of Yang Kai, right?”
A blue vein throbbed on Dong Qing Han’s forehead when he heard this, his expression darkening greatly.
When Huo Xing Chen called him a fat brother, he did so in a natural and friendly manner, but the person in front of him obviously didn’t have this meaning.
Dong Qing Han stared at this newcomer with piercing cold eyes, obviously he had been enraged.
Dong Qing Han stared at the young man in front of him and coldly snorted, dodging sideways to try to circumvent him. He knew it wasn’t the time to get bogged down in pointless conflicts, what was important right now was to seize that artifact.
However, the other party obviously had no intention of letting him go, matching his steps in order to block his path again.
Seeing this, Dong Qing Han sneered, his expression still indifference but his aura gradually becoming dangerous.
“Since you’re one of Yang Kai’s allies, you shouldn’t even think of passing me!” The young man firmly declared, his attitude incredibly rampant and arrogant!
“I was wondering who it was, so it is Young Master Lu,” Dong Qing Han spat disdainfully. This youth was no stranger as he had met him before when Lu Song brought materials and troops to join Yang Kai.
But this youth’s vision was far too poor, easily being tricked by Qiu Yi Meng into angering Yang Kai, subsequently leading to him being driven out and then beaten to a pulp by Huo Xing Chen.
After that incident, Lu Song piled all his grievances and hatred onto Yang Kai, so once his wounds had convalesced he immediately sought out Yang Kang and joined his forces in order to seek revenge on Yang Kai.
Among all the Young Lords who were participating in the Inheritance War, three of them held deep hatred towards Yang Kai. One was Xiang Chu of the Xiang Family, one was Nan Sheng of the Nan Family, and the other was Lu Song.
These three all wanted Yang Kai to die without burial for various reasons, so during this battle for artifacts, the three of them had brought their respective forces and specially targeted those who belonged to Yang Kai’s camp.
Lu Song sneer back, “Young Lord Dong, I don’t have any grudge against you, but you choosing to support Yang Kai makes me unhappy. When this Young Master is unhappy, you won’t be happy either, I advise you to abandon Yang Kai now so you don’t end up dying miserably.”
“Try it if you can!” Dong Qing Han knew that Lu Song only wanted to delay him here so he was too lazy to talk any nonsense with him. After he finished speaking, his slightly chubby body flickered and shot off through the sky like a bolt of lightning.
The Wind and Cloud Dual Guards followed quickly, flanking him to his left and right.
Lu Song’s expression sank as he angrily shouted, “Want to leave? In your dreams! Stop them!”
The two Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage masters accompanying Lu Song instantly moved to intercept the Wind and Cloud Dual Guards.
At the same time, countless black lights emerged from Lu Song’s arms and his expression became ferocious.
These black lights gave off an eerie aura and seemed to contain a kind of frigid energy as they swiftly gathered in Lu Song’s hands.
Quickly, two washbasin sized spheres of dark energy appeared atop Lu Song’s palms and pulsed with murderous intent.
Pushing his palms forward, the two masses of energy soared through the air and circled towards Dong Qing Han, attempted to trap him.
Although Lu Song was an arrogant fool, he was still the Young Lord of a first-class family. After so many years of cultivation in such a good environment, obviously he had some decent means.
With Lu Song’s True Element Boundary Seventh Stage cultivation in conjunction with this powerful artifact based attack, he had more than enough capital to thoroughly suppress an opponent at the same cultivation realm as him.
Once someone was caught in this trap, it would be like they fell into a mire, slowing them down significantly.
Dong Qing Han revised his opinion of Lu Song upon seeing this strike. With both of them using high grade artifacts, and given the small difference in their cultivation realms, if they were to really fight, Dong Qing Han would have to spend quite a bit of time to beat Lu Song.
Unfortunately, right now, time was the one thing Dong Qing Han didn’t have enough of.
Tracing the movements of the two energy balls flying towards him, Dong Qing Han took a deep breath and with a great shout, his somewhat fat body quickly shrank, suddenly transforming him from a fatty to a well-built handsome youth. With a booming thunder-like crash, a great crescent blade of wind suddenly appeared and intercepted the two dark energy balls.
The intense collision led to an explosion of energy which completely dissipated both attacks.
Lu Song’s expression changing to one of shock as he momentarily froze, allowing Dong Qing Han to open up a fair distance between them, his now thin body wrapped in a layer of wind which greatly boosted his speed.
No one knew Dong Qing Han cultivated a wind attribute Secret Art. The first impression most had of this fatty was that he didn’t seem nimble, but right now Dong Qing Han’s movements had become sharp and exquisite, like a soaring hawk racing through the forest canopy.
By the time Lu Song recovered, it was already too late for him to catch up.
However, while Dong Qing Han was delayed by Lu Song’s mysterious artifact, another cultivator had managed to seize the target artifact. Fortunately, this person was only an ordinary True Element Eighth Stage cultivator and he was easily knocked back after a single exchange between him and Dong Qing Han.
Realizing that although the two of them had the equal cultivations, he was not this newcomer’s opponent at all, the man immediately lost heart and awkward threw away the Soul type artifact.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the direction he had thrown the artifact happened to be towards the crowd of spectators.
Seeing this, Lu Song laughed and turned back to the artifact.
Dong Qing Han glanced at the culprit angrily for a moment before not wasting anymore time on him, quickly darting towards the direction the artifact had flown.
Wrapped in a faint glowing radiance, the artifact flew through the air and gradually fell towards a group of spectators. With the previous experience, how could this group of bored onlookers dare get involved again? The group quickly scattered in all directions, none of them willing to even touch this artifact.
Only one man and two women remained where they stood.
The twenty seven or so year old youth and the pair of beautiful twin sisters stared blankly at the artifact flying towards them, all of them smiling wryly in their hearts.
According to its current trajectory, if it wasn’t intercepted by someone else, this artifact would fall almost precisely on top of these three people’s heads, like it had been guiding to them by some invisible force.
As these three youths watched, some hesitance appeared in their eyes, but eventually they didn’t move like everyone else.
Soon, the artifact came to a stop right above one of the sister’s heads, this enchanting flower casually reaching out and grabbing it.
“You’re way too reckless!” The young man muttered, his face paling slightly. Everyone who had tried to snatch one of these artifacts so far had been silently killed a moment later, even catching one temporarily was a big risk.
Those who were here to watch the excitement also showed a trace of pity on their faces, these two sisters were young, beautiful, and enchanting, if they were suddenly killed for no reason it would be quite tragic.
This bold action was also seen by Lu Song and Dong Qing Han. Lu Song, who first arrived, let out an arrogant laugh of victory as he extended his hand, “Girl, hand it over, or you’ll die!”
Although Dong Qing Han’s expression was cold, his heart was filled with anxiety, but there was nothing he could do. From the perspective of these spectators, it didn’t matter if the one in front of them was from the Dong Family or Lu Family, in order to avoid being killed, they would naturally choose to deliver any artifact they caught to the first person who asked.
If this artifact was really picked up by Lu Song, it would be quite hard to get back.
Sure enough, the young woman looked up at Lu Song and flashed a fascinating smile as she nodded, “Okay.”
The charming smile coupled with her enchanting voice stimulated Lu Song greatly, so even in this chaotic and dangerous situation, he couldn’t help feeling his pulse quicken slightly.
Just as he was experiencing this gaff, the young woman casually tossed the artifact in her hands; however, upon leaving her fingers it shot out as fast as a meteor, crossing over Lu Song’s head and flying over to Dong Qing Han.
Dong Qing Han was already on edge, alert to any possible danger lurking around him, so when the artifact suddenly flew at him he instinctively reached out and grabbed it. Startled, he stared at his hand then at the young woman a short distance away, his brow furrowing slightly.
It was as if… he had seen this beautiful young woman somewhere before.
Standing there with his still outstretched hand, Lu Song felt thoroughly embarrassed, and his expression quickly became gloomy, glaring at the young woman as he angrily roared, “You court death!”
The True Qi in his body stirred as he threw a punch filled with murderous intent towards the young woman, his face devoid of any mercy.
On the other hand, the young woman maintained her perfect smile as she lightly waved her hand.
In an instant, the space in front of the young woman warped and an impenetrable barrier formed that not only blocked Lu Song’s killing strike but even reflected it back at him, sending him tumbling awkwardly through the air.
Gasps resounded all around and even Dong Qing Han was dumbfounded.
No one had thought that this enchanting young woman who appeared as delicate as a flower was actually hiding such immense strength.
So young, yet able to force the Young Lord of a first-class family back with a single casual blow, such ability wasn’t something an ordinary person could possess.
“Hmph!” The young woman’s smiling face quickly changed to one of disgust and disdain as she snorted contemptuously. She turned around and disappeared into the crowd in the next instant with her twin and young man hurriedly chasing after her.
A short distance away, Lu Song was still in shock, unable to even utter any words of response. When he confronted Dong Qing Han, even if he was at a disadvantage, he wasn’t powerless to resist like just now; that young woman was obviously not an average person! She was clearly much stronger than both him or Dong Qing Han.
His head filled with complex thoughts, Lu Song’s face gradually turned crimson as his True Qi fluctuated unstably.
Against another first-class family Young Lord his skills had proved inferior, and now even a random nameless spectator had easily bested him, naturally he felt he had lost a great deal of face.
After finally composing himself, his first thought was to order his henchmen to seize that young woman so he could torture her to relieve the hate in his heart but he quickly discovered that she and her companions had already disappeared, causing him to feel helpless and depressed.
“Lu Song, this artifact, this Young Master will graciously accept!” Dong Qing Han raised the Soul type artifact in his hand and loudly declared with a smug look on his face.
The Wind and Cloud Dual Guards also broke off their fight with the two Lu Family masters and immediately returned to Dong Qing Han’s side.
“Just you wait!” Lu Song angrily spat.
Staring back at him, Dong Qing Han’s expression became serious as he earnestly said, “Young Lord Lu, I advise you to leave War City and the Central Capital, or else you will die sooner or later, those who have offended my cousin have never had good ends!”
“We’ll see who dies first, him or me!” Lu Song shot back , not appreciating this advice at all.
Dong Qing Han shook his head slowly, no longer concerning himself with Lu Song and flying back to Yang Kai’s camp.
The confrontation here was only a small event in comparison to the entire battlefield, and the shocking performance of the mysterious young woman was only witnessed by a small group of people who quickly forgot about her as they continued watching the chaotic scene in front of them.
Only Dong Qing Han, on his way back, continued to furrow his brow, unable to recall just where he had seen those beautiful twin sisters, their faces were familiar to him but the impression they gave him just now didn’t match with anyone he had met before which confused him greatly.
What he cared more about though, was the strength of the young woman who had just taken action, there was no doubt she was even stronger than he was!
The ninth batch of Artifacts finally for released and the whole lake was decorated with sparse sprinkles of Heaven Grade artifacts. Blinded by greed and a fervent lust of power, every battle got even more frenzied. As their excitement rose, so did the bloodshed.
Everyone knew that there was only a limited number of treasure for them, so once one managed to get his hands on a piece of treasure, he would be targeted by innumerable people around him. This placed the holder’s life in a precarious situation whereby holding onto his life was difficult enough; let alone the artifact in his hands.
Even so, the cultivators still attempted to take on the risk. This led to the artifacts swapping hands at breakneck pace.
Everyone’s entire focus had been attracted by this batch of Heaven Grade artifacts except for the six Yang Family Young Lords!
Since the battle for these artifacts had begun, none of them had ever moved, only deploying their allies one by one until now only their respective Blood Warrior was left beside them.
The six of them were constantly on alert, secretly observing the movements of their opponents. Yang Kai, Yang Wei, and Yang Zhao didn’t appear anxious while Yang Kang, Yang Shen, and Yang Ying couldn’t help showing some slight agitation. When a cultivator from their camp lost an artifact they would wear bitter expressions, and when they successfully snatched one they would show happy smiles, especially when the grade of the artifact was good.
However, no matter who it was, all of them were quietly waiting for the emergence of the Mysterious Grade artifacts, which they knew would soon appear.
Suddenly, a few thousand meters up, a few faint flashes of light like twinkling stars emerged and an extraordinary fluctuation of energy spread from them.
Everyone felt these energy fluctuations and couldn’t help but look up.
What they saw was these points of light getting brighter and brighter as they approached the lake surface at an incredible speed, like brilliant falling stars with five coloured tails trailing behind them.
The six brothers expressions all brightened as flames lit in their hearts .
The Mysterious Grade artifacts had finally appeared!
What’s more, there were a full eight of them!
This was the grand finale of this snatching battle, the most precious eight artifacts!
Mysterious Grade was the highest grade in this world, whether it was an artifact or pill! Refining Mysterious Grade pills was extremely difficult and refining Mysterious Grade artifacts was even harder, so almost every single Mysterious Grade artifact was equivalent to a first-class forces’ foundational inheritance.
In one shot producing eight Mysterious Grade artifacts, only the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families had such a heritage.
Soon, the eight Mysterious Grade artifacts that appeared in the sky had fallen to a height of a thousand meters and were still picking up speed.
Whether it was the crowd of spectators or the battling cultivators, all of them felt as if a mountain like pressure was descending upon them, this aura was like the precursor to the world’s imminent destruction, causing everyone to shudder in fear.
“Run!” Someone exclaimed as they darted away.
Since the emergence of the third batch of artifacts, every artifact had a single strike sealed within it. If a cultivator wanted to seize it, they first had to endure this attack.
These eight Mysterious Grade artifacts were obviously the same. An attack from a Mysterious Grade artifact was difficult for even an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage master to endure, so what chance would these casual spectators stand?
As soon as this cry rang out, the crowd suddenly transformed into a pack of stray dogs fleeing in panic, each of them activating their own movement skills to get as far away from Po Jing Lake as possible.
Not only did these spectators escape, even the cultivators who had been snatching artifact until now also hurriedly withdrew in order to avoid a head on collision.
The six Yang Family Young Lords didn’t move, all of them staring fixedly at the eight falling stars, the light in their eyes glowing brighter with every breath.
Eight hundred meters, seven hundred…
At this distance, the outline of these eight artifacts could be seen clearly; they were all different shapes and sizes. If one didn’t spend a great deal of time to thoroughly research it, they wouldn’t know what these artifacts really did.
Yang Kai had already released his powerful Divine Sense and inspected the eight artifacts as best he could, most interested in one that appeared to be a mirror.
This mirror revealed a mysterious frigid energy fluctuation, indicating it was probably an artifact with a cold attribute. Although what Yang Kai cultivated was the True Yang Secret Art, he still felt that this mirror may be more powerful than the other artifacts.
Five hundred meters…
As if they had discussed it beforehand, all the Yang Family Young Lords who until now hadn’t moved at all suddenly flew up in to the sky, rushing to intercept these eight artifacts.
Mid-flight, the six brothers silently met each other’s eyes and confirmed each other’s goals. Obviously they didn’t want to have any disputes at the outset.
There was a total of eight artifacts so each of them could grab at least one of them, as for the remaining two pieces, they would belong to whoever could snatch them.
Fortunately for Yang Kai, none of his brothers seemed to have eyes on his goal. With the roles of these Mysterious Grade artifacts still unclear, everyone naturally had the intention to first grab one while avoiding unnecessary fights.
The distance between the six brothers and the eight artifacts quickly shrunk.
Everyone’s True Qi circulated fiercely and the six Blood Warriors who followed the six brothers also gathered their strength.
In a flash, twelve people and eight artifacts collided.
The speed of the six Blood Warriors was a bit faster, rushing ahead of their Young Lords and pushing their True Qi to defend themselves as they each reached out towards their respective target artifacts.
A full powered attack from a Mysterious Grade artifact was not something any of the Young Lords could resist, so the Blood Warriors had to resist these strikes first before they could attempt to seize them
Accompanied by a burst of light so bright that observers couldn’t open their eyes, a fierce wave of energy instantly burst out.
Six muffled snorts rang out at the same time, and from inside the brilliant light, a mysterious pattern seemed to appear.
*Shua shua*, the remaining two unattended artifacts fell to the side, attracting six hot glances, but none of them rushed to seize them, even Yang Kai didn’t dare touch the restriction placed on these Mysterious Grade artifacts.
However, under the gazes of these six people, a lone figure suddenly shot towards one of the two drifting artifacts from below. This person seemed to have flown in right after the six brothers took action.
After seeing the face of this person, Yang Kang couldn’t help but curse, “Bastard, Liu Qing Yao!”
The newcomer was none other than the Central Capital’s First Young Lord. Like the Yang Family Young Lords, he hadn’t taken any action before now, but when the Mysterious Grade artifacts appeared, he finally moved, obviously he had come here with the same goal as the Yang Family brothers.
“Courting death!” Yang Shen coldly snorted, how could the Mysterious Grade artifact’s attack be so easy to bear? Liu Qing Yao was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage, once he touched the restriction around this artifact, even if he didn’t die he would be seriously injured.
But Liu Qing Yao didn’t seem to panic at all, his True Qi suddenly bursting out, causing the robe he was wearing to shine vibrantly. On his robe, images of a great river and a round crescent moon appeared, there was even a fish swimming in the water giving it an almost lifelike appearance. The river surged upwards in great billowing blue waves, forming into a raging torrent which quickly shrouded Liu Qing Yao’s figure.
As this happened, the crescent moon shot out a thousand rays of light towards the Mysterious Grade artifact while the seemingly ordinary fish leapt from the water and transformed into a great and imposing dragon which opened its mouth bit towards the artifact as well.
“Water Moon Blue Wave Armour!” Yang Zhao exclaimed, apparently recognizing this treasure.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled. Although he had never heard of this Water Moon Blue Wave Armour, Liu Qing Yao daring to snatch this Mysterious Grade artifact alone was obviously because of it.
This was a rare treasure, capable of both offence and defence; it looked like a Mysterious Grade artifact itself!
Liu Qing Yao was the First Young Lord of the Central Capital. He was also the Liu Family’s inheritor; him having a Mysterious Grade artifact of his own was plausible.
When the dragon and moonlight hit the Mysterious Grade artifact’s barrier, the seal was immediately stimulated and countless golden lights shone out, quickly overwhelming the thousand moon beams.
The dragon struggled for a while longer but eventually lost to the golden lights, bursting into mist and disappearing.
Liu Qing Yao took this opportunity to grab the artifact before the countless golden lights reached him, causing the water curtain surrounding his body to tremble fiercely.
Yang Kang and others secretly stole glances at the situation, praying with all their hearts that Liu Qing Yao would either be repelled or killed.
However, to their disappointment, when the golden lights faded completely, Liu Qing Yao remained. The Central Capital’s First Young Lord stood there, his expression indifferent as he firmly grasped the artifact in his hand.
Just when everyone thought he had succeeded, Liu Qing Yao’s expression changed sharply as his eyes bulged.
From the artifact, suddenly a burst of blue energy like a ribbon shot out and attempted to entangled Liu Qing Yao, immediately wrapping him up in a few layers. This blue energy was extremely strange, even his Water Moon Blue Wave Armour was unable to impede its progress.
“Resist!” Liu Qing Yao angrily roared, the water curtain around his body fiercely swelling, finally slowing the speed at which the blue energy was engulfing him.
The six Yang Family Young Lords saw this unexpected development and were all stunned; however, in the next moment Yang Wei’s expression changed, turning to his nearby Blood Warrior and shouting, “Get back!”
Unfortunately, his warning came too late, Liu Qing Yao had relied on his own artifacts to block the attack of and seize this artifact, how could the six Blood Warriors not have done the same?
Although they didn’t have their own Mysterious Grade artifacts, but they had superb cultivation and strength.
The six Blood Warriors had already grasped the artifacts their respective Young Lords had sought, and by the time Yang Wei shouted out, blue ribbons of energy had already emerged and shot towards the six Blood Warriors, attempting to bind them in place.
As soon as they saw these blue energy ribbons, the six Blood Warriors’ expressions changed greatly. Obviously, they knew the details of these blue ribbons. Without a moment’s hesitation, all six of these masters flew back at their fastest speed, but the blue energy ribbons pursued relentlessly, and quickly overtook them.
No one managed to escape, all of them wound up captured.
Unlike ordinary ropes, these blue energy ribbons immediately disappear into their bodies after they had fully engulfed the six Blood Warriors and didn’t affect their freedom of movement.
Across the distance between them, the six Blood Warriors all looked at each other and with depressed expressions.
“This damn thing!” Tu Feng sighed.
The others also gnashed their teeth as they cursed, “Too sinister!”
Ying Jiu didn’t say a word as he rushed over to Yang Kai’s side and handed over the mirror like artifact before he rapidly flew back to the lakeshore.
Yang Kai stared at his back and frowned. Although he did appear to be wounded, the current Ying Jiu gave him a very different feeling from usual, almost like a tiger that had all its teeth pulled out.
Not only Ying Jiu, but the other Blood Warriors too handed over their seized artifacts before immediately departing.
“What just happened?” Yang Kang muttered, holding a ring like artifact in his hand, completely confused.
“Big Brother, if it’s convenient, would you be so kind as to enlighten your brothers?” Yang Zhao smiled and looked towards Yang Wei.
Just now Yang Wei had apparently seen some clues, so he had immediately tried to warn the Blood Warriors to withdraw. Unfortunately, he was not in time.
Yang Wei surely understood what this mysterious blue ribbon was.
Hearing Yang Zhao’s request, Yang Wei’s face remained indifferent, obviously not planning to reply, but when he turned and saw Liu Qing Yao who was still entangled by the blue ribbon and unable to move, he frowned slightly before nodding.
Even if he revealed this piece of information, it would do him no harm. What’s more, even if he did not speak, so long as these his brothers went back and asked the Blood Warrior, they would understand.
Although Liu Qing Yao relied on the power of the Water Moon Blue Wave Armour to block the blue energy ribbon from binding his body, it obviously was unable to completely resolve it either, so when he saw Yang Wei nod, he too couldn’t help glancing towards him and listening carefully.
“My Yang Family has four Grand Elders, all of whom are Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters. With the addition of the Patriarch, that makes a total of five.” Yang Wei began calmly, “The other seven families also have roughly the same number, but these Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters are all old people who almost never fight anymore. Even in the recent war with the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, only one or two were dispatched. Among these Grand Elders, one of them is particularly well known for his binding techniques: The one who originated from the Blood Warrior Hall!”
“Huang Jiu Zhou?” Yang Zhao was shocked.
Of the four Yang Family Grand Elders, only one was from the Blood Warrior Hall! When he was young, he was also just a Yang Family Blood Warrior, but over many years he made great contributions to the Yang Family and was able to break through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, reaching the peak of this world’s martial dao and was bestowed the rank of Grand Elder.
Every member of the Yang Family knew his name as he was the strongest living member of the Blood Warrior Hall. He was held up as an example to all, proof that if one cultivated diligently enough he could one day reach the same height as Huang Jiu Zhou.
“En,” Yang Wei nodded and pointed his finger at Liu Qing Yao. “These things stem from his hand! The Qi Binding Seal locks its target’s True Qi inside their own meridians, making it impossible to use!”
“These things were traps placed on them…” Yang Zhao nodded before suddenly realizing something, “Then our Blood Warriors…”
“Their True Qi is also sealed right now. Although they’ll be able to break the Qi Binding Seal on their own with their strength, without two or three months it will be impossible!” Yang Wei whispered.
All the Yang Family Young Lords suddenly wore ugly expressions.
Originally, they each had only two Blood Warriors at their disposal. One was responsible for guarding them, the other for guarding the flag. However, now each of them had lost one of these powerful guardians to Huang Jiu Zhou’s sinister methods. In the future, whether it was attacking or defending, the power available to each of them would decrease sharply.
Considering all this, everyone turned to look at Yang Kai, and could not help but envying him.
Only Yang Kai had managed to gather three Blood Warriors, so he could afford this loss.
Huang Jiu Zhou planting these Qi Binding Seals in the eight Mysterious Grade artifacts was obviously the Yang Family’s arrangement, another means to accelerate the progress of the Inheritance War. With six fewer Blood Warriors available to stabilize the situation, the battles would surely become more dangerous and consequential.
“Serves you right!” Yang Kang looked at Liu Qing Yao who was still struggling with the Qi Binding Seal and gloated. “Young Lord Liu, even my Yang Family Blood Warriors couldn’t escape these Qi Binding Seals, I think you should just accept your fate. Obediently hand over the artifact in your hand and we brother’s won’t hold this affront against you.”
Liu Qing Yao’s expression remained cold and indifferent, snorting dismissively before ignoring Yang Kang’s banters.
Seeing this, Yang Kang became a little annoyed, coldly saying, “Liu Qing Yao, even if you refuse to accept reality you have no choice. This artifact snatching battle was my Yang Family’s arrangement. What rright do you have to interfere?”
“It’s a Mysterious Grade artifact. Of course I want one for myself!” Liu Qing Yao finally responded, his tone neither cold nor hot, not a trace of panic despite being trapped.
There were not many Mysterious Grade artifacts in this world, and the Yang Family suddenly coming up with so many at once would clearly be too big a loss. In all likelihood, these eight artifacts were donated by all Eight Great Families, one from each family, so why else would the numbers be so coincidental?
Liu Qing Yao being tempted by these Mysterious Grade artifacts was understandable, as was his decision to participate in order to snatch one.
This explained why he came here this time, but no one had expected that the final eight artifacts not only had a fierce attack sealed within them, but also had Huang Jiu Zhou’s Qi Binding Seal hidden inside as well. This two layered trap had actually simultaneously ensnared six Blood Warriors.
“Since you’ve admitted so, then don’t blame us brothers for acting in kind.” Yang Kang sneered glancing around at the other Young Lords, “Who would like try grabbing Young Lord’s Liu’s artifact first?”
The sealed attacks and Qi Binding Seals in that artifact had already been triggered, anyone could take it away at will now. As for the remaining artifact, it had already fallen into Po Jing Lake.
Yang Kang’s proposal made Yang Shen and Yang Ying very excited, suddenly showing an eagerness to try.
If he was at his peak, none of them would dare have any ideas about fighting Liu Qing Yao, but now all his strength was being used to resist the Qi Binding Seal, how could he have any spare energy to fight others?
Yang Wei didn’t say anything and Yang Zhao simply stood there smiling, no one able to figure out what he was thinking.
Yang Kang couldn’t work up the courage to ask either of them so he eventually turned his attention to Yang Kai, “Ninth Brother, say something.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders in response, “You help yourself.”
“Ninth Brother!” Yang Kang’s expression suddenly became grim, “Although we are all opponents, right now you should give Fifth Brother some face, the thing he snatched originally should be ours.”
Yang Kai simply shook his head and firmly declared, “If I want something, I’ll grab it myself.”
“Fine!” Yang Kang sneered, no longer haggling over things, turning to stare at Liu Qing Yao, “Young Lord Liu, don’t struggle. It’s pointless to resist.”
Liu Qing Yao sneered back, his expression becoming cold as his True Qi suddenly surged. At the same time, the Water Moon Blue Wave Armour on his body also began flickering and the patterns of rivers, fish, and crescent moons gradually became illusory.
Yang Kang and the others expression rapidly changed as they yelled out, “Liu Qing Yao, are you crazy!? That’s a Mysterious Grade artifact!”
Liu Qing Yao didn’t respond, instead pushing his True Qi even harder.
*Pa…* The river pattern on the Water Moon Blue Wave Armour suddenly burst, and with the disappearance of the river, the Qi Binding Seal cracked slightly.
*Pa…*
The crescent moon disappeared next, further fragmenting the Qi Binding Seal.
*Pa…*
With the final fish pattern disappearing, the blue Qi Binding Seal also shattered like a broken mirror and burst open.
The Water Moon Blue Wave Armour worn by Liu Qing Yao simultaneously disintegrated and scattered into the winds.
The surrounding glow gradually dimmed as this rare and precious Mysterious Grade artifact finally died.
Like a tiger which had just escaped from its cage, Liu Qing Yao let out a long breath before gazing sharply at everyone around him, “A trivial Qi Binding Seal wants to restrain me, Liu Qing Yao? You Yang Family people look down on me far too much!”
Yang Kang and the others trembled fiercely, staring blankly at the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, shaking their heads slowly as they grinned wryly.
Having witnessed this display, Yang Kai’s eyes also narrowed, secretly admiring Liu Qing Yao. This unyielding young man clearly demonstrated he would rather break than bend.
On the other hand, the six Blood Warriors failed to resist the Qi Binding Seal not because they were weak, but because they didn’t have a heritage like Liu Qing Yao’s.
Liu Qing Yao was only able to break free of the shackles of the Qi Binding Seal by sacrificing his own Water Moon Blue Wave Armour; the price could only be described as enormous.
Moreover, not every artifact was capable of pulling this off, this was clearly one of the Water Moon Blue Wave Armour’s last resort abilities.
“Do you want to fight alone or together? This Liu will accept any challenge!” Liu Qing Yao declared as he overlooked the six brothers proudly.
Yang Kang’s face couldn’t help twitching.
Just now he had been eager to start something with Liu Qing Yao, but now that the situation had taken a sharp turn, he didn’t dare to step forward. If he were to be defeated by Liu Qing Yao here, he would lose all face.
Yang Shen and Yang Ying’s expression were also ugly, unconsciously glancing over towards Yang Wei, counting on him to say something.
Now that Liu Qing Yao had uttered this challenge, if none of the brothers said anything, not only would they lose face, the Yang Family would as well. Once word of such an incident spread, the rest of the world would start thinking that the Yang Family was just a soft persimmon!
“The artifact is right here!” Liu Qing Yao lifted the artifact he had just snatched up high and sneered, “If any of you can withstand three of my moves, this Liu will willingly hand it over!”
Being repeatedly provoked so made the Yang Family’s Young Lords all look sullen.
Even Yang Zhao, the best among them at hiding his thoughts, couldn’t help showing signs of anger.
This bloody battle was their stage, an internal struggle for supremacy, but now this Liu Qing Yao had decided to butt in and casually disdain them, how could they not be angered?
However, out of all of them, the strongest Yang Wei was still just an Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage and he had already fought Liu Qing Yao once so he had an understanding of the depths of his strength. If he didn’t dare to step forward to meet Liu Qing Yao’s challenge, what chance would anyone else have?
Everyone felt completely embarrassed!
Especially considering the fact that the Yang Family was widely recognized as the head of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families.
Yang Wei’s brow furrowed, knowing that maintaining this stalemate was not a solution. Liu Qing Yao had spoken loudly, if none of them fought him now, it would only cause the crowds spectating down below to underestimate the Yang Family.
Just as he was about to agree, taking on a personal embarrassment to preserve the Yang Family’s reputation, Yang Kai grinned and took a step forward, casually asking, “Whoever can withstand three of your moves was it?”
Liu Qing Yao immediately frowned, not having thought that the first to answer his challenge would be Yang Kai, but he still nodded once and replied, “Correct!”
“Block three of your attacks and the artifact is mine?”
“En.”
“Good! Said it and meant it! Let me try!” Yang Kai nodded lightly, no signs of tension on his face at all.
As soon as he spoke these words, Yang Wei hurriedly objected, “Ninth Brother, don’t be impulsive.”
“There’s no problem.” Yang Kai waved his hand and said, “Big Brother, just stand back and watch, I’ll prove that our Yang Family people can’t be bullied so easily.”
Yang Wei looked sluggish.
Yang Zhao and the others were also stunned, not understanding where their youngest brother had picked up such courage. Although they all knew from the past few battles that Yang Kai’s own combat power wasn’t weak, but this time his opponents was also not ordinary.
This was the Central Capital’s younger generation’s well known first expert!
Everyone couldn’t help thinking Yang Kai was simply acting rashly out of anger.
With his True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivation, facing off against an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master, he basically had no hope of winning.
No one knew what Yang Kai had to back him up. The Mysterious Grade Artifact had just fallen to his hands, and had not been refined yet. Therefore, it was of no use.
Not only were the Yang Family brothers amazed, but even the cultivators below who had come to spectate also showed shocked expressions. All of them now, concentrating on the sky, holding their breaths as they waited silently.
The actions of the Yang Family’s Young Lords had been the focus of everyone attention just now, so the entire scene that had just played out was obviously witnessed by all of them.
Floating midair, Yang Wei felt a little worried. He too didn’t know where his Ninth Brother’s confidence came from. He had long ago thought that that Yang Kai was mysterious and powerful, but after all, that was just his speculations. Before the snatching battle had begun when he had a verbal conflict with Liu Qing Yao, it was indeed Yang Kai he was thinking of, but he had not openly declared so at the time.
If Yang Kai were to mature, he would definitely be qualified to compete with Liu Qing Yao, but now… it was still too early.
After Yang Kang and others stared blankly for a while, they all shook their heads and stepped back, preparing to watch the good show. Although they were brothers with Yang Kai, right now they were also opponents. When he was defeated here by Liu Qing Yao, it would no doubt be a stain on his reputation.
Yang Kai’s radiance had been far too strong for far too long, and now they finally had a chance to see him knocked down a few notches.
“Is this kid crazy?” There were some ridiculing and disdainful voices whispering amongst the spectating crowd, “Daring to fight with the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, these Yang Family direct descendants really are too arrogant!”
“What do you know? In this situation, whether they fight or not, the Yang Family will lose face. Them sending out the youngest isn’t a bad plan. Even if he loses, the Yang Family will also be able to say ‘it’s not that our Yang Family isn’t as good as the Liu Family, it’s just that everyone is too young’.”
There were plenty of self-proclaimed smart and savvy people who expressed this idea, gaining the support of many people who nodded in agreement.
However, there were still some people who chose to quietly watch Yang Kai, wondering if he would show them some kind of earth-shattering means.
These people thought that Yang Kai didn’t seem like an arrogant and boastful youth. Since he dared accept the Central Capital’s First Young Lord’s challenge, he either had mental problems, or his real ability far exceeded everyone’s expectations.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes converged on these two people, as for the cultivators from the six different camps fighting over Heaven Grade artifacts; no one seemed to care anymore.
In full view to the public, Yang Kai showed no signs of nervousness, just standing mid-air like a statue, staring back at Liu Qing Yao lightly, nodding casually as he called out, “Young Lord Liu, whenever you’re ready!”
Liu Qing Yao couldn’t help but frown, a touch of resentment creeping into his indifferent expression as he snorted, “I too want to see how you can block three of my moves!”
Just as his voice fell, a terrifying Spiritual Energy broke out.
This Spiritual Energy was filled with ruinous intent, coalescing in an instant and then piercing through the sky like a lance which could rip apart anyone’s mental defences.
When this Spiritual Energy broke out, it was as if Liu Qing Yao was a sleeping dragon which had just awaken, bringing destruction with him.
The Soul type artifacts on all of the Yang Family Young Lords flashed brilliantly as invisible forces appeared around them, blocking the residual waves of Liu Qing Yao’s Divine Sense attack.
Everyone’s face changed, even Yang Wei’s usually indifferent expression became dignified. The last time he had fought against Liu Qing Yao, although he had ultimately lost, it hadn’t been a miserable defeat, but now it was apparent to him that Liu Qing Yao at the time had held back.
No wonder he dared to arrogantly declare no one could resist three of his moves! Even if he had promoted to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage now, Yang Wei still felt it would be difficult for him to withstand three moves.
This guy was different from the Yang Family Young Lords who didn’t wear any Mysterious Grade artifacts. With these high-grade artifacts to act as amplifiers, Liu Qing Yao could display much more strength than his Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivation would suggest!
*Weng weng weng…*
A strange sound echoed through the sky, like a howling voice that penetrated deep into one’s ears, causing one to feel like they had suddenly sunk into a violent destructive vortex. It seemed that even the Heavens couldn’t withstand the impact of such a Divine Sense attack and would soon collapse.
“Such strong Spiritual Energy!” In the crowd, those with higher cultivations unconsciously exclaiming.
As for those with lower strength, under the violent energy fluctuations, their faces contorted painfully.
Many suddenly felt that even gasping for breath became difficult, as if there was a mountain weighing down on their heads, involuntarily stimulating the idea of bending their knees in worship.
“Ninth Brother, be careful!” Yang Wei called out as he hurriedly withdrew, avoiding the center of the Spiritual Energy’s impact. Yang Zhao and the others also quickly retreated a hundred paces before finally stopping.
“Impressive!” At the centre of the vortex of Spiritual Energy, Yang Kai’s eyes brightened and couldn’t help praising.
Liu Qing Yao’s Divine Sense attack, even if it was achieved with the assistance of a Mysterious Grade artifact, indicated that his foundation was quite solid, at least more so than he had anticipated.
Yang Kai estimated that Liu Qing Yao’s Divine Sense strength wasn’t inferior to an average Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth or Sixth Stage master.
Liu Qing Yao’s eyes sharply gawked at Yang Kai. Since he was planning on using a potent Divine Sense attack for his first strike, he obviously did not wish for Yang Kai to last all three moves.
He too had believed that Yang Kai had stepped forward because he was the youngest, so even if he lost it wouldn’t be too shameful. Therefore, he wanted to thoroughly defeat him in a single blow.
But soon, Liu Qing Yao’s eyes flashed.
Having taken his Divine Sense attack head on, his opponent hadn’t suffered at all. Even Yang Wei had to avoid the aftermath of his strike by a hundred meters, yet this Yang Kai who stood in the centre of his Spiritual Energy explosion acted as if he had been hit by a nothing more than a light spring breeze. Forget about showing any discomfort, all that could be seen on his face was strong fighting intent.
After a short time, the horrible Spiritual Energy dissipated and Yang Kai still stood, completely unphased.
He hadn’t taken any damage from this Divine Sense attack!
“Heavens! How can this be? How can he be safe? Am I seeing things?”
“Impossible, absolutely impossible.”
“An Immortal Ascension cultivator has an absolute advantage over those at the True Element Boundary. Is the youngest Young Lord of the Yang Family wearing some kind of very high-grade Soul type defensive artifact?”
Everyone among the crowd of spectators who witnessed this confrontation clamoured, many of them refusing to believe their own eyes. Just now, when Liu Qing Yao’s horrible Spiritual Energy erupted, all of them had thought that when the dust had settled, Yang Kai would definitely be seriously injured and suffer a steep price for his arrogance, but now, the result was far too different from their expectations.
Even if he wore some kind of Soul type artifact, was there really any kind of defence that didn’t leak? Also, none of them had even seen the movement of a Soul type artifact on Yang Kai, almost as if he had endured this blow on his own.
“Two moves left!” Yang Kai called out, grinning slightly at Liu Qing Yao.
“How did you…” Liu Qing Yao’s brow furrowed, his face filled with suspicion. As the one who had initiated this attack, he was even more surprised than everyone else. Quickly steadying his expression, his look finally became serious, gently nodding, “Seems you really have some capital. I have underestimated you!”
As soon he spoke these words, he took a step forward. With this step, Liu Qing Yao’s aura changed again. From Yang Kai’s perspective, this Central Capital First Young Lord suddenly seemed many times bigger, but upon staring at him fixedly, Liu Qing Yao was still Liu Qing Yao, nothing had changed.
Staring at him for a moment, Yang Kai soon understood that his opponent’s Martial Skill has caused this illusion in his own mind and quickly steadied his thoughts.
After Liu Qing Yao tread another step, Yang Kai found that even if he concentrated fully, he couldn’t completely stop his thoughts from fluctuating, causing the young man in front of him to once again appear as a giant, even if the affect only lasted a moment.
Third step……
When this step was trod, a buckling sound seemed to emerged from the depths of the void.
It was as if a huge drum was being beat, causing a resonance within the hearts of all who heard it.
“The Liu Family’s Nine Resonant Steps!” Yang Wei’s face changed slightly, muttering under his breath.
The energy between Heaven and Earth had become turbulent and Liu Qing Yao seemed to have transformed into a bottomless pit, madly swallowing the surrounding World Energy.
The fourth step……
*Dong!*
The slightly weaker cultivators who had just experienced a violent throbbing in their hearts suddenly felt like their Blood Force and True Qi pulsed strongly, even showing some signs of instability.
The fifth step……
A series of coughs and splashes sounded one after another as everyone whose cultivation was below True Element Fifth Stage, without exception, spat blood.
Even from so far away, Liu Qing Yao’s actions had still precipitated such a strong reaction, the Central Capital younger generation’s first person truly deserved his name!
Sixth step, seventh step…
With each step Liu Qing Yao trod, a strong and powerful throbbing sound resounded, causing the world itself to shudder, almost as if the Heavens and Earth could not bear the weight of his steps.
As the number of steps increased, Liu Qing Yao’s figure quickly become bigger and bigger in everyone’s eyes. At this moment, the Central Capital’s First Young Lord had become a behemoth, his head reaching the clouds, his feet shaking the ground, no matter who it was, from their perspective they could only gaze up at him.
Eighth step, ninth step…
In the eyes of the crowd, Liu Qing Yao’s one step which would be enough to flatten half of War City was about to trample onto Yang Kai’s head. Even though this step seemed oddly slow, it also gave an unavoidable feeling, as if no matter how they tried none could escape being crushed into dust by it.
With this thought flashing across their minds, many people felt as if they were in mortal danger, their faces turning pale as they trembled in fear.
The Liu Family’s Nine Resonant Steps, a Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank Martial Skill, one of the Liu Family’s core inheritances.
Trod nine steps and shatter the Heavens!
The youngest Yang Family Young Lord finally just as the giant foot was about to step down on him.
His right fist clenched, and then suddenly, in the middle of the day, a starry sky illusion emerged. The myriad stars on this night sky were dazzling and mesmerizing and as his fist punched forward, all of them flashed brilliantly.
Star Mark! Yang Kai had not used this move for a long time, it was not that he didn’t want to use it but rather that he never had an appropriate opportunity to.
All the energy contained in the Star Chart Space on the back of his hand broke out at this moment and the giant foot was met by this starry sky head on.
The momentum of Yang Kai’s attack was astonishing, releasing a terrifying light that seemingly bathed the entire world in its radiance.
*Hong…*
The two fierce attacks collided together and set off a massive explosion of energy, perfectly offsetting each other.
The starlight quickly dimmed, but the giant Liu Qing Yao was also shaken, the gargantuan foot that seemed capable of trampling the Heavens and Earth being forced back.
The Liu Family’s Nine Resonant Steps was actually blocked in a frontal contest!
And the one who accomplished this unprecedented feat was only a True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivator!
Everyone was shocked, staring dumbfounded at the scene in front of them, their thoughts completely chaotic, unable to accept what had just transpired.
The violent energy fluctuations continued for a while before gradually subsiding.
When the dazzling starlight disappeared, Yang Kai let out a loud cough, falling back several dozen meters before stabilizing his stance.
In a frontal confrontation with Liu Qing Yao’s Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank Martial Skill, even his Star Mark had been slightly overwhelmed. What’s more, the gap in cultivation between the two of them wasn’t small, and even included the watershed of the Immortal Ascension Boundary.
While Yang Kai had been forced back, Liu Qing Yao’s body also swayed slightly, the huge figure in everyone’s eyes rapidly shrinking, like he had been stabbed by a sword and suddenly deflated.
The terrifying pressure in the air also dispersed, giving everyone feeling akin to seeing a bright moon after the storm clouds passed.
Looking at it now, the two young men were still staring each other down, as if they hadn’t just engaged in an epic exchange of blows.
All of the other Yang Family direct descendants were dumbfounded.
None of them had imagined that Yang Kai was strong to this extent!
All of them knew that his personal strength wasn’t weak, but even if they thought highly of his potential, he was still the youngest amongst them, and now they discovered that one on one, none of them was his opponent!
The question each of them was asking right now though was how he, a True Element Boundary Eighth Stage, could be evenly matched with Liu Qing Yao, an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage?
Yang Zhao and the others all looked a little unsightly. Although personal strength wasn’t that important in the Inheritance War, as cultivators, each of them sought the peak of martial arts, hoping to one day step into the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, gaining the respect of thousands of people.
This ambition had nothing to do with the Inheritance War or even the position of family heir.
Only Yang Wei shook his head and smiled. In his heart, he was secretly relieved.
“One move left!” Yang Kai shouted after letting out a long breath, staring at Liu Qing Yao as he chuckled lightly.
The latter stared back with a dignified expression, not daring to underestimate Yang Kai again, but after a long silence he unexpectedly shook his head and declared, “No need. Right now you’re still not my opponent! But I will admit that you have the qualifications to challenge me.”
Saying so, he casually tossed something from his hand to Yang Kai, obviously the Mysterious Grade artifact he had just snatched, staring at this youngest Yang Family Young Lord sharply as he said, “I’ll be waiting for you. When you break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, let us fight once more!”
Yang Kai was slightly surprised as he reached out and caught the artifact, his eyes flashing for a moment but eventually just deciding not to say anything more.
For the two moves just now, Liu Qing Yao didn’t use his full strength. This was a fact which Yang Kai understood very well.
But what Liu Qing Yao didn’t know was that he had not used his all either! Yang Kai had only stepped forward because he wanted to obtain this Mysterious Grade artifact. If not for this temptation, he wouldn’t have bothered even speaking to Liu Qing Yao.
But now it seemed that this young man, although somewhat overbearing and arrogant, wasn’t a wicked person.
With the artifact in his hands now, naturally he felt not need to continue this contest.
Seeing Liu Qing Yao toss this artifact he had sacrificed his Water Moon Blue Wave Armour to obtain over to Yang Kai without hesitation, all of the Yang Family Young Lords’ eyes couldn’t help turning slightly red as their breathing sped up.
In the blink of an eye, their Ninth Brother had taken the lead and obtained two Mysterious Grade artifacts!
Turning to look at Yang Wei, Liu Qing Yao nodded lightly, “Eldest Young Lord, I now understand what your Yang Family’s limits are. Your Ninth Brother indeed has more potential than you, but I, Liu Qing Yao, have also not reached my limit yet! We will settle this score later, and decide once and for all who the leader of our generation will be. I look forward to it!”
Saying so, he decisively turned around and left.
The look on the five brother’s faces was a bit complicated. When they turned to stare at Yang Kai, a thick jealousy flashed across their eyes. It seemed like it would be necessary for them to revise their evaluation of their youngest brother again.
As for Yang Kai, his expression remained indifferent, waiting for Liu Qing Yao to leave before immediately flying down towards the lake.
“Shit, there’s still one more!” Yang Kang also regained his wits and quickly chased after Yang Kai. Of the eight Mysterious Grade artifacts, each of the brothers had secured one, Liu Qing Yao snatched one, and the last one had fallen into Po Jing Lake, but after witnessing the might of the sealed attack and Qi Binding Seal implanted on these Mysterious Grade artifacts, no one dared to rush into the lake to find it, so until now, it had been left unattended.
Hearing Yang Kang’s curses, all of the other brothers also came to their senses and flew down as well, lest they allow one of their rivals to take advantage of the situation.
However, no matter who it was, no one dared move too close to Yang Kai.
Now that all of their Blood Warriors had their True Qi sealed, it was equivalent to them having no one guarding them. With Yang Kai’s performance just now, he would be more than capable of capitalizing on this opportunity.
If they were to lose in the Inheritance War for this reason, it would be too pitiful.
Yang Kai also noticed how everyone was acting vigilant towards him but he had no interest in engaging in such a pointless exercise. With so many of their allies nearby, none of his brothers would be easy to capture.
After a short period of time, with no idea how to proceed, the six brothers gave up and returned to their own camps.
The Heaven Grade artifacts from the ninth batch were still being carved up but more than half of them now had owners. Only a small number of them were still up for grabs and were constantly changing hands, the scene now actually more intense than ever before.
The cultivator from the six camps had all suffered multiple casualties.
Huo Xing Chen had fallen back already. Fortunately, his Huo Family hadn’t lost too many people. Although both of his Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage guards were injured, their wounds weren’t too serious. Only two or three of his True Element Boundary cultivators had died.
“Young Lord Kai!” Huo Xing Chen called out with a sullen look, “Would you like me and my forces go clean up the Xiang and Nan Families?”
Yang Kai turned his head and glanced at him, not quite sure why he would ask such a question.
“Those bastards Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng and their lackeys have been doing nothing but targeting our people. Fuck, they didn’t even place this Young Master in their eyes. Yang Kai, just give the word and I’ll let my old man bring some people to clean up their two families tomorrow!”
However, Yang Kai just snorted back “Can’t afford to take on some losses? Then don’t participate in the Inheritance War!”
Huo Xing Chen spat dismissively and shot back, “Who says my Huo Family can’t afford to lose? It’s just their actions are far too shameless. I know the rules of the Inheritance War forbid private retaliation against forces which are involved, but this Young Lord is the famous rogue Huo Xing Chen, why should I care about such trivial rules.”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Don’t bother, they’ll pay the price sooner or later.”
Yang Kai had also noticed this situation, he understood just how deep the resent Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng held towards him. So, specifically targeting him was to be expected. However, he also knew that he couldn’t seek revenge in private for this. If he did, it would undoubtedly have a profoundly negative effect. In the future, what forces would dare come participate in the Inheritance War if such acts of revenge became common?
“Fine, fine. You have the final say.” Huo Xing Chen didn’t object any further, “But Young Lord Kai, remember, it’s not just the Xiang and Nan Families but also that idiot Lu Song. When the day comes for them to pay, make sure you bring this Young Lord along, I want to make sure they suffer!”
“That day will definitely come.” Yang Kai snickered.
“Also, that little brat Qiu Zi Ruo is going too far as well. Although he’s not acting as obviously as those three, he’s still actively seeking out conflict with us. I guess he wants to defeat you in order to stabilize his position as the Qiu Family heir.”
Letting out a sigh, he continued, “Having a big sister like Qiu Yi Meng, his life must not be easy. Well, considering we’re all Central Capital people, we can at least let him keep his dog life after this is all over.”
Huo Xing Chen spoke these words as if victory was already assured.
“Enough about that. What’s the situation with that artifact now?” Yang Kai’s eyes turned towards Po Jing Lake and said.
“It’s still down there,” Huo Xing Chen swept his eyes around and said, “Everyone is staring at it but no one dares to go down and retrieve it.”
Yang Kai nodded, with the sealed attack and the Qi Binding Seal still intact, everyone was reluctant to act. Whoever went down first would definitely end up suffering while making life easier for everyone else, no one would do such a thankless act.
In order to resist the sealed attacked from the artifact, one had to be at least an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage master to come out unscathed, but even if they successfully blocked this attack it wouldn’t help, the Qi Binding Seal had even managed to ensnare the famous Blood Warriors, general Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters definitely couldn’t escape.
In other words, if one of the Young Lords wanted to resist the artifact’s sealed attack and the subsequent Qi Binding Seal, they had to at least sacrifice an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage master.
No one was willing to make such a sacrifice.
Yang Kai’s brows furrowed, also thinking that things had become a little difficult.
Not only him, the other five Young Lords were also caught between their greed and reason.
Yang Kai had already snatched two Mysterious Grade artifacts. In the future, whether he was attacking or defending, he would no doubt occupy a certain advantage, so with one more still available, naturally everyone was eyeing it.
Just as everyone was feeling helpless, from below Po Jing Lake’s surface a violent energy fluctuation broke out.
Whether it was the Yang Family’s direct descendants, their allies, or the spectators who had gathered nearby, all of them quickly glanced back and forth at each other in confusion.
This energy fluctuation was obviously a result of the seal on the Mysterious Grade artifact being touched.
[Had someone sneaked to the bottom of the lake? Which camp were they from?]
Glancing around the surroundings, Yang Kai couldn’t help furrowing his brow because he discovered that all five of his brothers had the same expression as him, wondering who it was that was acting.
Before there was enough time to think things through, a powerful Spiritual Energy immediately erupted from the bottom of the lake.
*Hong…*
A loud bang resounded and the entire Po Jing Lake underwent earth-shaking changes. The blood-stained water was driven by this intense Spiritual Energy and like a dragon entering the sea, shot into the sky several dozen meters creating a great spectacle.
Yang Kai’s eyes calmly scanned this water fountain as well as the lake below.
Soon, he caught a glimpse of the gloomy light radiating from the Mysterious Grade artifact which had fallen into the lake.
At the same time the artifact appeared though, a blue energy ribbon emerged from it.
The Qi Binding Seal!
This Qi Binding Seal directly began entangling the air and after it formed a few layers, a vague figure floating above the water of the lake appeared and was bound in place, seemingly unable to move.
“It’s him!” Ying Jiu, who had always remained silent, couldn’t help but exclaim.
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate for an instant, leaping up and rushing towards the centre of Po Jing Lake, the corners of his mouth flashing a sharp smile as he pushed his True Qi its limit.
*Shua,* the Asura Sword appeared in Yang Kai’s hand and a massive number of Sword Qi blades appeared like feathers around him, quickly condensing into a single sword wave before shooting out.
He also recognized this vague figure.
It was none other than the mysterious master who had attempted to sneak into the Pill Room that morning!
He hadn’t expected this man’s courage to be so big, even sneaking into this place. Yang Kai figured he had dove into the lake when he was fighting with Liu Qing Yao just now.
With the Blood Warriors all having their True Qi sealed, they obviously couldn’t detect his existence, only Yang Kai could sense him, but he was too weak to worry about, so this mysterious master decided to seize this opportunity.
However, the owner of the artifact had yet to be determined!
[Since you’ve decided to show up in front of everyone here, I’d like to see how you escape!] Yang Kai sneered.
But just as he was thinking so, the blurred figure bound by the Qi Binding Seal unexpectedly burst into mist, just like it had earlier this morning.
Yang Kai stopped in place, his eyes narrowing sharply, spreading his Divine Sense all around to search for the Mysterious Grade artifact.
A moment later, the long sword in his hand swung down, unleashing a sword wave that warped the air around it.
From the direction he had slashed, a fuzzy figure appeared again, grabbing the last Mysterious Grade artifact before transforming into a streak of light.
The speed at which it fled was still outrageous, leaving Yang Kai no chance to make a second attack.
Everything had started so quickly and ended just as fast. By the time the mysterious master had snatched the artifact and disappeared, the other five members of the Yang Family were still hesitating to rush forward.
Atop Po Jing Lake, the red water once again settled and the mysterious master had vanished.
Yang Kai stood mid-air, carrying the Asura Sword in his hand, his expression a little bitter.
For the second time in a single day he had let this person slip away right before his eyes, completely incapable of stopping them!
[Such a strange and mysterious man!]
Suddenly, Yang Kai noticed something, reaching out and grabbing it as it fell through the air but after seeing what it was clearly, he was visibly shocked.
Shoving this object into his sleeve pocket he immediately turned around and return to his camp.
No one knew what it was he caught in the sky above the lake, but everyone saw his reaction and couldn’t help feeling curious!
The six Yang Family Young Lords all glanced back and forth at each other. They tried to glean some clues from their opponents, but everyone’s eyes only contained suspicion and confusion, each of them unable to figure out which of their brothers had recruited such a mysterious master…
—
The artifact snatching battle was about to come to an end. The eight Mysterious Grade artifacts had been carved up leaving only a small amount of Heaven Grade artifacts to be fought over.
After a half a cup of tea’s time, everything had subsided and the cultivators all returned to their respective camps.
As like in the beginning, six groups stood at the edge of Po Jing Lake, but now, the total number of people had decreased by a quarter, even a large number of Immortal Ascension Boundary masters had fallen!
Among the six brothers, Yang Kang, Yang Shen, and Yang Ying had suffered the biggest losses. When the third batch of artifacts appeared, the three of them had fallen into a trap and as time passed, their disadvantage gradually grew. Fortunately, the fighting had only lasted a short time, otherwise the forces that accompanied them here may have been completely wiped out.
Every cultivator present was now thoroughly fired up, each of them glaring around at their opponents with hate filled eyes. This was actually a normal situation. While the Inheritance War was happening, private retaliation between forces was forbidden, but once it ended, the forces which had developed deep grudges were destined to have life and death contests.
Therefore, even if the artifact snatching battle had ended, the scene was no less tense than while it was happening.
Yang Kai had also lost some troops, but the harvest he reaped was even bigger! Compared to others, the number of artifacts in his camp was undoubtedly more.
In particular, Yang Kai had won two Mysterious Grade artifacts, which were more valuable than any number of lower grade artifacts.
Yang Wei waved his hand and nodded to everyone around the lake. Following this act, he led his people and his captured artifacts away. As though following his lead, his younger brothers, Yang Zhao and Yang Kang immediately followed suit to leave. Soon, even the reluctant Yang Shen and Yang Ying left the scene as well.
After such a big fight, no one was in the mood to keep stirring up trouble.
“Ying Jiu, what’s your situation?” Yang Kai glanced over at Ying Jiu who was sitting cross-legged on the ground nearby after he had been hit with the Qi Binding Seal.
Ying Jiu slowly shook his head, “I can’t mobilize more than a small amount of my True Qi and my meridians have all been sealed. It will take me at least two months to break through.”
Being hit by an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary’s sealing technique, even if the Blood Warriors were strong they wouldn’t be able to undo it easily.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled slightly, Ying Jiu having his True Qi sealed was a big loss for him; the mere idea of his existence hiding in the shadows was a big deterrent to any opponent.
Now that this deterrence didn’t exist, he could only rely on Qu Gao Yi and Xiao Shun. Although they were also very powerful, Ying Jiu was more adept in terms of concealment and assassination.
[I can only wait to see if Meng Wu Ya can lift it. If Treasurer Meng can’t help, then Ying Jiu can only remain idle for two months.]
“Let’s return.” Yang Kai said lightly.
“This is for you!” Dong Qing Han walked up and handed Yang Kai a palm sized sword shaped artifact, it was the Soul type artifact that Yang Kai had seen before.
“You’ve got it.” Yang Kai smiled, happily accepting. The moment he touched it, an icy chill seemed to affect his Divine Sense. This was indeed an artifact that fit well with his Spiritual Energy, it would play a great role for him.
“Your cousin went forth personally, how could I not have obtained it?” Dong Qing Han thumped his chest proudly, “That Lu Song wanted to block this young master but, hah, he overestimated his own skill far too much.”
After a pause though, he sheepishly said, “But regarding my obtaining this artifact successfully, I have to thank that young woman.”
“Young woman?” Yang Kai asked offhandedly as he fiddled with the little sword in his hand.
“En.” Dong Qing Han said as he revealed a thoughtful look, “I feel like I had met her somewhere before, but I can’t remember where. She was the one who threw this thing at me.”
“Which camp was she from?” Yang Kai suddenly felt confused.
“She was among the spectators.”
“A beauty?” When Huo Xing Chen heard the word ‘woman’ he quickly asked this question with a wretched grin.
“Not only beautiful, but also enchanting!” Dong Qing Han wore an expression that screamed ‘I know what you’re thinking’ as he smiled back. “On top of that, she seemed to have had a twin. There was another person next to her who had the looked exactly like her. She was also extremely strong, Lu Song is a True Element Seventh Stage cultivator and is the Young Lord of a first-class family but she easily sent him tumbling with a single move.”
“Twins?” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly rose a lot, “What kind of twins?”
Upon hearing the word ‘twins’, Yang Kai suddenly thought about the pair of charming flowers he was familiar with. In fact, he had thought that the people from Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall would have shown up at his mansion some time ago, but until now he hadn’t seen them. This made Yang Kai doubt whether these two beautiful sisters were holding a grudge against him; after all, when they had parted at Tai Fang Mountain, Hu Jiao Er’s mood had been quite sullen.
Dong Qing Han was stunned by his cousin’s strong reaction and at a loss for how to describe the young woman he had met. Instead, just pointing his hand in a certain direction and saying, “They were watching the fun from over there, as for where they are now I have no clue.”
At the end of the artifact snatching battle, the crowds that had come to watch the show had also naturally dispersed, a large number of them heading back to War City.
Yang Kai immediately glanced in the direction he pointed but didn’t find any trace of the person he was looking for, quickly releasing his Divine Sense all around to scan the surrounding twenty kilometer radius.
Just after deploying his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found two distinct auras.
These two were different from everyone else around them.
Even if two people appeared similar, they would still have their own unique characteristics.
But the auras of these two people were exactly the same, almost as if they had been carved from the very same mold. Moreover, under the investigation of Yang Kai, the two people not only had the same life aura, even their two True Qis had seemingly merged with each other, forming a kind of mysterious circulation which mutually supported and strengthen one another.
[Found them!]
Yang Kai couldn’t help smiling as he shot off in their direction.
“What are you doing!?” Huo Xing Chen was shocked. This entire place was an unsafe region, so he couldn’t help quickly shouting, “Follow him!”
As one of the Yang Family Young Lords who was participating in the Inheritance War, at any time, under no circumstances should Yang Kai be acting alone, or he would most likely be targeted by powerful enemy masters.
The response of everyone was also quite rapid, quickly collecting the artifacts they had snatched in the previous battle before catching up with Yang Kai’s pace.
Among the crowd of people rupturing to War City, one man and two women walked side by side.
The young man’s face was quite dissatisfied; thinking about the war he had just seen, he couldn’t help feeling his blood boiling slightly, longing to have participated in it.
The two young women didn’t say a word as they casually strode forward.
The appearance of two delicate flowers caused all the cultivators next to them to frequently steal glances but the two women remained indifferent, seemingly quite used to it, not showing any signs of anger or happiness at this attention.
Seeing them act so submissively immediately aroused some bold and impulsive thoughts among their onlookers, some of them thinking that if they were to go up and chat with them they might be able to reap some unexpected benefits.
“Jiao Er, Mei Er, there are a few people staring at us. Would you like me to send packing?” The young man suddenly asked softly.
Hu Jiao Er’s beautiful eyes flashed a bit of disgust and helplessness before shaking her head gently, “No, let’s just get back to War City.”
Yang Kai was still just behind them. If they were to get caught up in a conflict here, they would definitely be seen by him.
It seemed that when they heard the conversation between the two people, the ones in the crowd eager to try their luck noticed that Hu Jiao Er wasn’t willing to cause any trouble here.
If she was worried about provoking others here, obviously she didn’t have a strong background! Moreover, the three of them didn’t seem very old so their strengths shouldn’t be too high, making them even easier to deal with.
Considering all this, from the surrounding crowd of people, a young man with a mature and reliable appeared walked up to the two sisters with a big smile on his face, but before he could speak to them, a shadow suddenly fell from above and blocked his path.
This person not only blocked him, but also blocked the Hu Sisters and Fang Ziji.
The trio almost instinctively circulated their True Qi, preparing to hit back at this unknown assailant.
But when they saw this newcomer’s face, Hu Jiao Er suddenly wore a flustered expression while a happy smile blossomed on Hu Mei Er’s face.
Seeing this enchanting, feminine smile, the young man couldn’t help feeling a little upset, plucking up his courage and rudely asking, “Who are you?”
Hearing this voice, Yang Kai turned his head and glanced at the young man.
“N… nin.. Ninth Young Master…” The youth’s face immediately went white as he spoke incoherently.
“You want something?” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow and said.
“This lowly one doesn’t dare… please carry on Ninth Young Master!” The terrified young man somehow managed to blurt out before quickly fleeing with his companions.
Just now, the battle between Yang Kai and Liu Qing Yao was also seen by him. Not only was his personal strength phenomenal, he had a great many powerful masters at his command as well. How could a small third-class Sect disciple like him have the courage to stick around?
Fearing for his life, the young man’s only thought right now was escaping.
“Brother Yang!” After the man scurried away, Fang Zi Ji smiled lightly and cupped his fists.
“Brother Fang, long time no see.”
When they had parted ways back at Tai Fang Mountain, Fang Zi Ji had said that he would come to participate in the Inheritance War, so him being here now wasn’t a surprise to Yang Kai. During the incident at Tai Fang Mountain, whether it was the members of Storm Hall or Blood Battle Gang, they had all stood unwaveringly on his side which almost lead them into a conflict with the Xiang and Nan Families, so Yang Kai had quite a favourable opinion of this young man.
“I’ll leave you three to catch up. Heh heh.” After exchanging greetings, Fang Zi Ji quickly retreated a distance and met up with Huo Xing Chen and the others who had just arrived.
“Hm, Senior Brother Fang?” Lan Chu Die’s beautiful eyes lit up slightly. Although the two were from different Sects, they had both come from the same region, meeting again after so long she naturally felt a little nostalgic.
“You are… a Junior Sister from High Heaven Pavilion?” Fang Zi Ji didn’t quite recognize Lan Chu Die as she had not been a famous figure back then.
Lan Chu Die nodded with a smile.
Dong Qing Han frowned, examining Fang Zi Ji for a while before suddenly saying, “I remember! I always thought those two girls seemed familiar, they’re Blood Battle Gang’s two flowers!”
The last time Dong Qing Han went to the High Heaven Pavilion, he had also paid attention to the situation of Storm Hall and Blood Battle Gang. The charming two flowers and Fang Zi Ji were leading figures in their respective Sects.
However, he hadn’t had any significant contact with the trio, so it took him a while to recognize them.
This also explained why she had thrown the artifact to him.
The crowd behind Huo Xing Chen were also very interested in this group of three, but seeing Hu Jiao Er’s complicated expression, none of them rushed up to disturb them. Instead taking turns greeting Fang Zi Ji, they were secretly listening in on the nearby conversation.
“Why did you hide from me though you’ve already arrived here?” Yang Kai asked Hu Jiao Er.
“Who is hiding from you?” Hu Jiao Er snorted, her face blushing bright red.
“You really weren’t hiding from me?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a smile as he stepped forward with an accusatory look.
“Of course not…” Hu Jiao Er muttered, her beautiful eyes fluttering about. “We only arrived here today.”
Yang Kai glanced back at Hu Mei Er, only to see her smiling wryly as she silently exposed her Elder Sister’s white lie.
“Good. Since that’s the case, then you should come back to the house with me.” Yang Kai casually said, not planning on teasing her any more.
Hu Jiao Er snorted back at him though and said, “We just came to War City to play, not to participate in the Inheritance War with you. I’m not going.”
“Mei Er, how about you?” Yang Kai smiled and asks.
“I’ll go!” Hu Mei Er nodded repeatedly.
“Mei Er!” Hu Jiao Er shouted, letting out an exasperated sigh a moment later. Apparently, she hadn’t expected her little sister’s position to be so firm. Yang Kai just asked casually yet she had readily agreed.
Hu Mei Er spit out the tongue cheekily and smiled.
“We’re just a second-class Sect, we won’t be of much help to you. So, do you really still want us to come?” Hu Jiao Er whispered softly, feeling a little embarrassed.
Yang Kai suddenly realized that this was what she really was hesitating over.
The forces which were currently gathered in his mansion, with the exception of Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu’s Reflecting Moon Sect which was a second-class Sect, the rest were all first-class. Therefore, Yang Kai presumed that when Hu Jiao Er learned about this, she felt inferior and had thus hid from him.
“Jiao Er, in the future you and Mei Er will be people who stand at the very peak of this world. You don’t need to care about your second-class Sect origins,” Yang Kai said to her seriously. When they had last met, the two sisters only had True Element Boundary Fifth Stage cultivations but now they had both reached the True Element Boundary Eighth Stage. Additionally, the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art they cultivated was extraordinary, given enough time both of them would no doubt break through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary.
It could be said that in the future, this world’s summit would have a place for the two of them!
“Do you really think so?” Hu Jiao Er looked a little bit stunned, her enchanting face slowly filling with a brilliant radiance as she stared at Yang Kai with delight, not seeming to have imagined that his evaluation of their two sister was so high.
Yang Kai nodded without hesitation.
“This… seems like they’re falling.” Huo Xing Chen whispered as he stealthily observed.
“Nope, they’ve already fallen.” Fang Zi Ji grinned meaningfully.
“Hahaha, good, I approve!” The Huo Family Young Lord said as he opened his signature folding fan.
“Hmm, well, I’ll think about it. I’ll come see you with Mei Er in a few days after I make a decision.” Hu Jiao Er hid her happiness in her heart and said softly, gently pursing her thin red lips, creating a seductive air around her.
Yang Kai suddenly stepped right up to her.
“Wh.. what?” Hu Jiao Er looked confused, leaning away slightly as Yang Kai brought his face closer to hers.
Yang Kai snickered lightly before whispering into her ear, “If you keep escaping, I’ll tell everyone your secret!”
“What secret?” Hu Jiao Er blushed from her neck to the top of her head as Yang Kai’s hot breath blew past her ear, feeling incredibly nervous, like a thousand ants were crawling all over her delicate skin.
“How one side is bigger and one side is small of course!” After whispering so, Yang Kai straightened up and sneered, he eyes intentionally or unintentionally glancing down towards Hu Jiao Er’s perfectly rounded bottom.
Under this unscrupulous gaze, Hu Jiao Er sudden felt like she had been stripped naked, her blood icing over as her face turned red with anger and shame, “Cut the crap!”
Saying so, she unconsciously lifted her hips, emphasizing her lower half’s capital.
“Why ask me something you already know? Anyways, you check for yourself, Mei Er and I will go on ahead.” Finished with what he wanted to say, Yang Kai grabbed Hu Mei Er’s hand and heading back towards War City.
“Yang Kai, why must you act like a shameless rogue!?” Hu Jiao Er stomped her foot in anger for a while.
“Shameless rogue?” Huo Xing Chen straightened himself up and said with indignation, “Girl, what did Yang Kai do to you?”
“None of your damn business!” Hu Jiao Er angrily spat, stomping a few more times before hurriedly chased after Yang Kai, grabbing hold of his free arm and shouting miserably, “I’m not finished with you! You’re going to tell me clearly today!”
“Her attitude is a bit rough, but it seems like she’ll act meek in front of Young Lord Kai.” Huo Xing Chen thought about it and secretly counted the beautiful women who had been charmed by Yang Kai, immediately admiring him for his talent in the field.
The Hu Sisters and Fang Zi Ji weren’t the only ones who had come from Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall, both Sects had sent more than twenty people each. Although they couldn’t be compared with the other forces in terms of overall strength, it was still an extremely generous amount of manpower.
Previously, as a result of the two factions being implicated because of High Heaven Pavilion, all of the masters from both Sects were forcefully conscripted into the war with the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, so the losses they had suffered were even heavier than other forces.
So among the people who came here from Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall, there were only four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, and their cultivation realms weren’t very high.
It was because she had concerns over this that Hu Jiao Er hadn’t been very eager to seek out Yang Kai. Since he was here to participate in the Inheritance War, what he needed most were strong masters, something they were greatly lacking, the strongest amongst them only having reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage.
Guan Chi Le, the Blood Battle Gang Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage Elder who had been with them at Tai Fang Mountain was also among them.
Yang Kai, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er stuck together the whole way back to War City and then went to the inn the sisters had been staying at to pick up these people.
About the current situation of the two factions, Yang Kai was clearer than anyone, so naturally he didn’t have any complaints and was instead incredibly grateful they had sent anyone at all.
These people also showed great caution when they saw Yang Kai’s allies. Obviously, because of their recent situation, they had become somewhat timid, constantly tip toeing around like they were on thin ice for fear they might annoy someone and cause trouble for their Sects.
Upon returning to the mansion, Qiu Yi Meng led a large group of people who had stayed behind to greet them with a smile.
As the second in charge in the mansion, the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady was naturally happy to welcome the Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall cultivators. She even happily and intimately chatted with the Hu Sisters, intentionally or unconsciously casting a glance or two over at Yang Kai as she did.
It was obvious to her that these twin sisters’ attitude towards Yang Kai was somewhat unusual. Grinding her teeth in frustration as she silently cursed Yang Kai in her heart. [How can you leave for only a few hours to return back with two rare beauties in tow?]
After such a big battle, there were many things to process.
The living arrangements for the people from Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall were handled by Qiu Yi Meng while the other forces which had just participated in the battle busied themselves calculating their gains and losses.
Soon, the results came out.
This time, in the artifact snatching battle, thirty six of Yang Kai’s allies had fallen, four of which were Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, the others were all True Element cultivators. Fortunately, the arrival of the Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall people made up for this loss.
No one complained. Ever since they decided to participate in the Inheritance War, everyone had been mentally prepared for this possibility.
As for the thousand artifacts that had appeared at Po Jing Lake, Yang Kai’s people had managed to seize two hundred and four of them.
Yang Kai quickly pushed the tedious task of disseminating these artifacts onto Qiu Yi Meng.
Two hundred and four may seem like a lot, but in fact, artifacts were still in short supply. However, Yang Kai believed that with Qiu Yi Meng’s ability she should be able to work out a fair and optimal distribution so that none of his allied forces had any complaints.
When he finally returned to his room, Yang Kai saw Xia Ning Chang fast asleep on the table.
Little Senior Sister had been performing Alchemy almost nonstop for a while now. Although the Alchemists from Medicine King’s Valley were already familiar with Xia Ning Chang’s Alchemic methods and could lighten her burden somewhat, she was still consuming a huge amount of physical and mental strength to keep up with the mansion’s demand.
Opening the door had awakened her, and after seeing Yang Kai returning unharmed, Xia Ning Chang couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
When Yang Kai came over and gently picked her up, his Little Senior Sister no longer panicked like she did the first time, seemingly having gotten used to this kind of intimate contact.
Gently placing her on the bed and pulling up the sheets, Yang Kai sat down next to his Little Senior Sister and waited for her to fall asleep once again.
Smiling lightly, Yang Kai gently brushed Xia Ning Chang’s hair back; looking at her innocent veil covered face with his heart relaxed.
Even until now, he had still not seen the unveiled portrait of his Little Senior Sister. The most he ever saw was back in the Nine Yin Mountain Valley when she had kissed him after opening half her veil.
Regarding the appearance of his Little Senior Sister, Yang Kai not being curious was naturally impossible.
However, he was convinced that when she felt the time was right, this Little Senior Sister of his would definitely show him.
For now… this thin layer of mystery was one of Xia Ning Chang’s most attractive points.
After a moment of hesitation, Yang Kai gave up any idea of sneaking a glimpse of what lay beyond her veil and quietly stepped went out, turning his eyes to the bright moon handing in the night sky.
“Ying Jiu!” Yang Kai suddenly called out.
From the darkness, a thin figure emerged; it seemed that even if he lost the ability to use his True Qi, concealing himself had already become Ying Jiu’s instinct.
“Come with me.”
Ying Jiu nodded slightly and said nothing.
Coming up to the next room over, Yang Kai gently knocked on the door, Meng Wu Ya responding soon after, “Come in.”
Yang Kai pushed open the door and walked inside.
Treasurer Meng sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating some type of profound Secret Art.
When Ying Jiu looked at this old man, his face which was always tranquil like an ancient well twitched slightly. Ever since Meng Wu Ya’s arrival at Yang Kai’s mansion, Ying Jiu had paid special attention to this person.
Not only Ying Jiu, but Qu Gao Yi and Xiao Shun were also curious about him.
Meng Wu Ya’s strange aura and strength made the three Blood Warriors unconsciously feel tremendous pressure whenever they were around him. They really couldn’t imagine what force in this world could produce such a master.
This sense of intimidation wasn’t something a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master could make them feel. Only the supreme experts at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary should be able to accomplish this!
The three Blood Warriors hadn’t said anything openly, but each of them was secretly speculating about what Meng Wu Ya’s origins were; however, they were no closer to the truth now than when they had first met him.
Seeing Yang Kai bring him here, Ying Jiu had an inkling as to why, but as usual he didn’t show anything on his face.
The Qi Binding Seal he had been hit with was something the Yang Family’s Grand Elder Huang Jiu Zhou had set up personally. Even if Meng Wu Ya was an extraordinary master, it was still likely that nothing could be done about it.
After all, Huang Jiu Zhou was a true Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master while Meng Wu Ya was just a Peak Immortal Ascension cultivator; there was still a significant gap between them.
“Treasurer Meng.” Yang Kai greeted lightly, Meng Wu Ya nodding in turn before turning his eyes to Ying Jiu with a suspicious look, letting out a tired sigh soon after.
“A seal?” Meng Wu Ya grinned as he stared at Ying Jiu.
Ying Jiu remained stoic in response.
“Treasurer Meng, do you have any way to lift the seal placed on him?” Yang Kai sat down casually and poured himself a glass of water to moisten his throat.
“Let me have a look.” Meng Wu Ya didn’t affirm or deny anything, beckoning to Ying Jiu, “Come here!”
Ying Jiu glanced at Yang Kai and upon receiving a nod, he stepped towards Meng Wu Ya.
Seeing him look somewhat unhappy, Meng Wu Ya couldn’t help chuckling, “Relax kid. I know you have some ability, but right now you’re no better than a cripple. What use is there in you being wary of this old master?”
As he spoke, he reached out and held Ying Jiu’s wrist.
The room fell silent for a while. Yang Kai put the cup in his hand to his lips but barely drank as he waited nervously; he wasn’t sure Meng Wu Ya would be able to help.
Ying Jiu’s expression was also light, seemingly not having much expectation of Meng Wu Ya.
“Heh heh,” Meng Wu Ya scoffed twice a few breaths later, “Not bad. The one who created this has some attainments in sealing techniques.”
Ying Jiu quickly shot back, “Naturally, this is my Yang Family Grand Elder Huang Jiu Zhou’s skill!”
“I don’t care what Zhou he is.” Meng Wu Ya spat disdainfully, “This old master has never heard of him.”
Ying Jiu wanted to say a few words in response to this slight but Yang Kai reached out and stopped him promptly.
Ying Jiu, who was always silent, suddenly arguing so combatively was apparently because he extremely admired Huang Jiu Zhou and refused to accept others looking down on him.
After all, Huang Jiu Zhou was the only Blood Warrior in several generations who had been promoted to the position of Grand Elder. All the Blood Warriors took him as their role model and goal to surpass.
Meng Wu Ya had indeed praised Huang Jiu Zhou’s standard of sealing technique, but in Ying Jiu’s opinion, it sounded more like this old guy simply disdained them. What qualifications does a mere Peak Immortal Ascension have to comment on an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master?
“Treasurer Meng, can you help?” Yang Kai leaned forward and asked anxiously.
“En.” Meng Wu Ya replied casually.
Ying Jiu’s eyes narrowed, staring towards Meng Wu Ya with a half shocked, half suspicious expression, seemingly not having expected such a response.
Yang Kai secretly felt relieved. Although he didn’t know what kind of magical means Meng Wu Ya had, Treasurer Meng had always given him a profound and mysterious impression. Yang Kai had met a fair number of Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters such as Lu Si, Yang Ying Hao, as well as several of the Yang Family’s Grand Elders.
But none of them gave him anything close to the pressure he felt from Meng Wu Ya.
Somehow, on a near subconscious level, Yang Kai always felt that Old Man Meng was somewhat unfathomable, perhaps even more terrifying than an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master.
Receiving this answer, Yang Kai’s heart calmed down immediately. Since Treasurer Meng said he could help, it meant that there was no need to ask any further.
“Can you really break this?” Ying Jiu asked, still somewhat unable to believe what he was hearing, even thinking Meng Wu Ya was just talking irresponsibly.
In response, Meng Wu Ya simply glanced at him and nodded.
“How long?” Ying Jiu asked again.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t lift the Qi Binding Seal himself, but it would take him at least two months of concentrated effort to do so.
If Meng Wu Ya’s method took just as long, it would be better for him to simply handle the matter himself.
Ying Jiu didn’t like the arrogant attitude of this old guy who didn’t put Huang Jiu Zhou in his eyes so he naturally didn’t want to ask him for help if it wasn’t necessary.
In response, Meng Wu Ya raised two fingers.
Yang Kai raised his brow and smiled lightly, “Is that two months or twenty days?”
Having said that, Yang Kai was hoping very much for it to be the latter. In his opinion, it was reasonable for Meng Wu Ya to use twenty days to relieve the Qi Binding Seal.
Ying Jiu also looked suspiciously at Meng Wu Ya, curious about how he would answer.
“Two days!” Meng Wu Ya said offhandedly.
Yang Kai and Ying Jiu both froze, a dumbstruck look appearing on their faces.
Yang Kai suddenly discovered that he had still been underestimating Meng Wu Ya’s ability; Treasurer Meng was definitely not as simple as he had thought.
“Senior…” Ying Jiu took a deep breath, his expression somewhat awkward, “It’s not that this Ying Jiu is doubting you but isn’t that a bit…”
“Arrogant?” Meng Wu Ya snorted unhappily, “If this seal was planted on this old master, I could break it with a snap of my fingers, but since it’s been placed on you, it’ll take two days. Actually, this old master has done quite a bit of research into the field of sealing techniques, this little trick is nothing much.”
Little trick…
Yang Kai quickly noted that Ying Jiu’s always stoic face was twitching slightly and couldn’t help feeling the urge to laugh, but he firmly suppressed such desires in his heart. He lightly coughed and followed up, “Treasurer Meng, are you absolutely sure…”
“If you brats don’t even want to try, this old master has no extra time to speak nonsense with you. The door is just there.” Meng Wu Ya snorted and narrowed his eyes at Ying Jiu, “With your skills, it’ll take you two months or so to break this seal. Well, work hard.”
Ying Jiu brow twitched once more.
After carefully examining the Qi Binding Seal placed on him, two months was Ying Jiu’s estimate of how long it would take to break it, yet Meng Wu Ya had been able to determine this with a mere glance. This master’s eyesight was very sharp.
Furrowing his brow, Ying Jiu solemnly cupped his fists and said, “Junior Ying Jiu requests Senior’s assistance. Earlier on, Junior acted impolitely and hopes Seniors will not take offence.”
In any case, it was just two trivial days, after those two days passed everything would be clear.
Ying Jiu was also quite curious if this Meng Wu Ya was really as powerful as he claimed to be.
“Treasurer Meng, I’ll leave this to you…” Yang Kai looked at Meng Wu Ya and grinned.
Old Man Meng waved his hand impatiently in response, “Fine, just go, he’ll see you in two days.”
Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction,. He reminded Ying Jiu to cooperate and then turned to leave.
When he returned to the room next door, Xia Ning Chang had already disappeared, probably having returned to the Pill Room.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Yang Kai took something from his sleeve.
It was a long strand of hair!
Today at Po Jing Lake when he struck the mysterious master who grabbed the eighth Mysterious Grade artifact this had been left behind.
But who would have thought that this mysterious master who could appear and disappear like a ghost was actually a woman!
Thinking about it, in one day he had confronted this person twice but Yang Kai still hadn’t even seen her face, making him feel a little depressed.
This woman’s speed was simply too fast and her concealment methods were extremely profound. In front of everyone at Po Jing Lake, she managed to snatch the eighth Mysterious Grade artifact before anyone even noticed her. Yang Kai really didn’t know how she did it, especially knowing she had to withstand the sealed attack in the artifact as well as Huang Jiu Zhou’s Qi Binding Seal.
Liu Qing Yao only managed to escape the Qi Binding Seal by sacrificing a Mysterious Grade artifact, but what about this woman?
What made Yang Kai even more concerned was who this woman was working for. Yang Wei, Yang Zhao, Yang Kang, Yang Shen, and Yang Ying’s expression were all filled with suspicion and confusion, seemingly ignorant of this woman’s identity, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility that one of them was just acting.
After thinking about it for a long time yet still not discovering any clues, Yang Kai could only set this matter aside for now.
In front of him right now were three artifacts; these were Yang Kai’s biggest gains today.
Although his allies had managed to snatch over two hundred artifacts, all of those together didn’t add up to the value of these three before him.
The first one was a palm sized sword that gave off a cold aura; it was the Heaven Grade Soul type artifact.
After examining it carefully, Yang Kai couldn’t have been happier to discover that this Soul type artifact was actually Heaven Grade Top-Rank!
Soul type artifacts were inherently more expensive and harder to refine than other artifacts.
This Heaven Grade Top-Rank Soul type artifact was worth no less than an ordinary Mysterious Grade artifact.
However, it would be difficult for Yang Kai to refine this Soul type artifact, especially since he had yet to open his Knowledge Sea. After fiddling with it for a while, Yang Kai put it down and began examining the other two.
One of the two artifacts was the mirror he had first obtained. This mirror also gave off a cold air, but this aura was different from the one the Soul type artifact radiated. The cold aura from the small sword was a piercing one that affected one’s Soul while this mirror gave off a profound frigidness that seemed to want to encase the world in ice.
Filling the mirror with his True Qi, the surface of flashed and Yang Kai suddenly witnessed a bizarre scene.
Through the mirror, he saw a magnificent snow-capped mountain. Around this mountain were innumerable fluttering snowflakes that seemed to swirl through the sky on the cold whistling wind, creating a pure white paradise as far as the eye could.
*Ka-cha…*
The temperature of the whole mansion suddenly dropped and a wave of cold quickly spread out, causing Yang Kai to instinctively use his True Yang Yuan Qi to resist.
[Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank artifact!]
When Yang Kai realized this fact, he couldn’t help showing a look of shock!
He didn’t know anything about the other seven Mysterious Grade artifacts, but he was certain that out of all of them only one or two of them would be Mid-Rank. The mirror he had snatched first turned out to be a Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank!
A Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank artifact was worth at least ten Mysterious Grade Low-Rank artifacts!
This time he had really won big!
Yang Kai took a moment to calm himself before withdrawing his True Qi. Without the constant stream of True Qi, the mirror quickly lost its radiance and the endless snowy mountain scene was once again hidden from sight.
Before he completely refined it, Yang Kai wouldn’t know what effects this mirror possessed.
Putting the mirror down, Yang Kai looked at the last artifact.
This was the one that Liu Qing Yao threw to him.
A bone shield!
This bone shield wasn’t large, only about the size of a plate, and Yang Kai couldn’t identify what Monster Beast’s bones it was made from. The shape was irregular, both sides were a polished white ivory colour, the edges had numerous bumps and ridges, some sharp, some rounded, while the face had a beast head design carved onto it with a large open mouth.
This beast face had a mouth full of fangs and gave off an aggressive, murderous aura, as if it were staring menacingly at you.
As he observed this face, Yang Kai felt a bloody aura wash over him, surprising him somewhat.
The grade of this bone shield wasn’t as high as the small mirror. Only Mysterious Grade Low-Rank, but because it was a defense type artifact, its true value wasn’t much worse.
There were many types of artifacts and in general, ones used for defence were rarer that offensive types, making them more valuable.
Each of these three had something which set them apart from ordinary artifacts, if he could refine all of them; Yang Kai estimated that his overall strength would be greatly improved.
So far, he only had three artifacts that could be used.
The Asura Sword, Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia , and Devil Sealing Chain.
The first two were Heaven Grade artifacts and after using them for so long, Yang Kai was also sure they were Top-Rank. After all, these things were the treasured Hallowed Artifacts of Endless Sea Island – a first class Sects. Therefore, their grades obviously wouldn’t be bad.
First-class Sects would always have at least one Mysterious Grade artifact, but the fact that the Asura Sword and Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia were still considered Hallowed Artifacts must be because these two artifacts had some special significance.
As for the Devil Sealing Chain, Yang Kai wasn’t sure what grade it was. Since he had used it to seal the Devil General’s Soul Clone in the Evil Spirit Cavern, the Devil Sealing Chain had lost its function and he was still restoring it slowly with his True Qi.
Now that he had acquired three new, high-quality artifacts, Yang Kai was naturally anxious to refine them.
After careful consideration, Yang Kai put down the Soul type artifact and the ice mirror and picked up the bone shield, circulating his True Qi.
As his rich and pure True Yang Yuan Qi poured into the bone shield, the speed at which Yang Kai refined it was quite fast.
Time passed by, and Yang Kai had been in retreat in his room since returning from the artifact snatching battle. His Little Senior Sister would come back once a day but she never bothered him, just peacefully sleeping on her bed beside him.
Inside the mansion, the sadness that was originally caused by the loss of so many allies gradually faded. The people from Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall also quickly became familiar with the rest of Yang Kai’s supporters and the Hu Sisters settled in nicely with the other young leaders of the various forces.
The only thing that made them feel depressed was that they hadn’t even seen Yang Kai’s shadows these past few days.
Not to mention them, even Qiu Yi Meng, the second in command in the mansion, hadn’t had a chance to see Yang Kai.
However, all of them knew that Yang Kai was refining the new artifacts, so they didn’t disturb him.
Two days later, Qu Gao Yi, who sat in the hall guarding the flag, opened his eyes and looked up upon feeling a light breeze brush past him.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Ying Jiu staring at him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be following the Little Lord? Why did you come here?” Qu Gao Yi asked suspiciously.
Yang Kai’s security had always been Ying Jiu’s responsibility; he basically never separated from him.
“Little Lord is currently in retreat, and his safety… there’s certainly no problem.” Ying Jiu thought about the old man in the room next to Yang Kai and didn’t have the slightest worry at all.
“Even if that’s the case, you shouldn’t slack off.” Qu Gao Yi began to reprimand.
“Don’t say this.” Ying Jiu sighed lightly, quickly continuing, “Old Qu, I’ve met a powerful master.”
“How strong?” Qu Gao Yi was stunned. Blood Warriors were all very powerful, not only did they receive dedicated training from childhood from the Yang Family, they also possessed the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill which could greatly enhance their combat strength temporarily, so Blood Warriors were a group that always had eyes atop their heads.
“Very strong.” Ying Jiu was as concise as ever.
“How strong is that?” Qu Gao Yi rolled his eyes, the two were brothers in arms so when they spoke alone they were obviously more casual; however, since Ying Jiu evaluated this person so highly, his strength was no doubt extraordinary.
Qu Gao Yi couldn’t help being interested, wondering just what Ying Jiu had encountered in the end.
“I estimate that if you or I were to really fight him, within three moves we’d be defeated!” Ying Jiu said with a serious expression.
Qu Gao Yi’s jaw dropped, he had never heard the usually reticent Ying Jiu give such a high evaluation to anyone before, asking hesitantly after a short silence, “What if we use our Mad Tyrant Blood Skill?”
“Still not worthy to be his opponent, ten moves at most!”
“Above Immortal Ascension Boundary?”
“Immortal Ascension Peak!”
“Bullshit!” Qu Gao Yi sprayed Ying Jiu’s face with spit.
Ying Jiu wiped his face indifferently and reaffirmed, “It’s true.”
Qu Gao Yi’s expression was doubtful as he looked Ying Jiu up and down, obviously not believing what he was saying.
Peak Immortal Ascension masters were a rarity, and he had met quite a few of them. After all, even first-class forces would have Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators, but after activating the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, whether it was him or Ying Jiu, they had both defeated such masters.
A cultivator, no matter how strong they were, would always have limits, how could there suddenly be someone who could defeat them in ten moves even after they activated their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill?
The Blood Warrior Hall’s Hall Master Feng Sheng didn’t have such skill and Feng Sheng was strongest Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary that Qu Gao Yi had ever encountered in his life. There was no stronger Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator in the world than Feng Sheng.
“Look at me now.” Ying Jiu raised his arms and gestured to himself.
“Look at what…” Qu Gao Yi frowned before suddenly calling out in shock, “Your True Qi…”
He had finally noticed that something was not quite right.
“I broke the Qi Binding Seal with that master’s help!”
“How can that be?” Qu Gao Yi was shocked.
It had only been two days! Two days yet the Qi Binding Seal had already been broken! What magic was this? However, Ying Jiu’s True Qi really was flowing through his meridians again without the slightest sign of imprisonment, even if Qu Gao Yi couldn’t believe it he had to believe it.
“Who?” Qu Gao Yi finally asked about the main point.
Ying Jiu glanced around before motioning him over and whispering in his ear.
“That old…” Qu Gao Yi also knew that Meng Wu Ya was very strong, but he never dreamed he was powerful to this extent.
“Right, him. I’m still confused about it myself.” Ying Jiu kept shaking his head, still somewhat unable to believe that just two days ago he had asked Meng Wu Ya to give it a try without any expectations but today he had already succeeded.
In retrospect, that old man had just poked him a few times seemingly at random, taught him a set of strange breathing techniques, and then after two days of slight effort the Qi Binding Seal collapsed.
It was so unbelievable that Ying Jiu thought he was dreaming.
Only then did he realize that two days ago when Meng Wu Ya said he had done some research into sealing techniques he was being modest. This wasn’t on the level of ‘some research’, he clearly had unfathomably deep achievements in this field!
“Old Qu, I’ve noticed that there are many mysterious people in this house.” Ying Jiu said solemnly.
“I also noticed this point.” Qu Gao Yi deeply nodded.
Needless to say, Meng Wu Ya, who could immediately crack Huang Jiu Zhou’s Qi Binding Seal was already astonishing.
The pair of twin sisters who had just arrived was also unusual, obviously they were both only True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivators, but whether it was Ying Jiu or Qu Gao Yi, they felt that both of them weren’t inferior to Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators. The pair estimated that even Immortal Ascension Third or Fourth stage masters weren’t their opponents.
And then there was Yang Kai’s Little Senior Sister! This veiled young woman would come and go to the Pill Room each day, and then the Pill Room would spit out a variety of extraordinarily high level pills, many of which even had Pill Veins.
Mysterious Grade pills had almost become common items in Yang Kai’s mansion.
On top of that, the strength of this veiled woman was also amazing. When she had first arrived, she had just broke through to Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage cultivator, but just a few days later she broke through once more to the Immortal Ascension Second Stage. Now her cultivation had been completely consolidated and there were even signs she was preparing to break through again to the Third Stage.
Neither of them had ever seen her enter retreat to cultivate, so how was her strength increasing so rapidly?
Moreover, after taking those pills, the Young Lords and Young Ladies inside the mansion also experienced transformations; the men became more and more handsome while the women became more and more beautiful. Furthermore, in terms of cultivation, it was almost as if they had been reborn. Although none of them had reached the same terrifying level as the veiled woman, the speed at which all of their cultivations increased was abnormal.
Of course, the title of most mysterious undoubtedly belonged to the Little Lord!
The injuries of both Qu Gao Yi and Ying Jiu had already healed, but not only that, even the dark wounds left behind from decades ago had also disappeared. Even Xiao Shun, who had just joined them, said he had made a similarly miraculous recovery. On top of that, all of them noticed that their cultivation was much smoother and faster than before.
All of this was definitely the credit of the strange Earth Grade pills the Little Lord had given them; clearly they had some hidden mystery to them.
Moreover, the Little Lord’s own methods were just as magical. Since the inception of the Inheritance War he had made many amazing moves which even Qu Gao Yi and Ying Jiu highly admired.
It was said that great talents were one in a generation, so how come this generation had so many monsters appearing one after another? On top of that they all seemed to be gathering around Yang Kai.
“Old Qu, speaking of which, I’m going to break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage soon.” Ying Jiu’s mouth curled upwards slightly.
“Heh heh, me too.” Qu Gao Yi was not willing to show weakness.
“Was our cultivation so fast before?” Ying Jiu looked straight at him and asked.
“No.” Qu Gao Yi frowned and whispered, “What are you trying to say?”
“I just thought that, so many amazing and mysterious people voluntarily gathering around the Little Lord is too abnormal, but what if, instead, they became amazing because of the Little Lord?” Ying Jiu said with great meaning.
A look of shock spread across Qu Gao Yi’s face.
When Ying Jiu mentioned this, he suddenly realized.
It really didn’t make sense for all these geniuses and masters to gather at the Little Lord’s side, and when these Young Lords and Young Ladies first arrived they didn’t seem too out of the ordinary besides their aptitudes being slightly better than average people, something to be expected from disciples of first-class forces. However, as time passed, each of their aptitudes and talents seemed to steadily be increasing.
During this short time, the number of people who broke through their bottlenecks and promoted was quite shocking.
But if all of this stemmed from Yang Kai’s hand, how did he do it? Even the Yang Family’s Dragon Transformation Pond didn’t have such a remarkable effect.