A thousand kilometers away from War City, on the second floor of a city restaurant, the guests were plentiful and business was booming. More than a dozen tables were filled with cultivators drinking wine and dining on food.
At one of the tables near the window, a middle-aged man with thin-eyes and a skinny build sat with an indifferent expression.
In front of him were many large and small jugs as well as several dozen pitchers of wine, but even as this middle-aged people downed so many drinks, his face wasn’t the slightest bit red.
He just sat there in his seat, staring out at the pedestrians on the street below with his cold eyes.
Every time he saw a cultivator with a little bit of strength, a malicious light would flash across his eyes, almost like a hungry beast that had come across fresh meat and was just waiting to pounce.
On his face, his expression would change from struggling, hesitation, and reluctance for a while before it gradually subsided with a long sigh, followed by him grabbing one of the jugs of alcohol in front of him and draining it bitterly.
“This old master is starving.” The middle-aged man muttered bitterly as his beady eyes swept over the guests on the second floor, his throat undulating in a rather pronounced fashion as the expression on his face constantly showed signs of struggle, cursing his foul luck in his heart.
“If this was still the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land I could just do whatever I wanted.” The middle-aged man sighed again.
The store’s waiter brought over new pitchers of wine and swept away the empties before hurriedly retreating. Whenever he was near this middle-aged person who was nothing but bone and skin, the waiter couldn’t help feeling like his life was in imminent danger, almost as if this middle-aged man would suddenly transform into a devil and swallow him whole.
As the middle-aged man was wallowing in his unhappiness, an interesting conversation was happening next to him.
It was about the artifact snatching battle which had taken place a few days ago, the few people who were chatting spoke as if they had seen it with their own eyes as they described vivid scenes from the great battle.
“Don’t you know yet? The Central Capital’s First Young Lord isn’t the Liu Family’s Liu Qing Yao anymore.”
“You mean someone beat Liu Qing Yao?” Everyone was shocked.
“It wasn’t a defeat, but the youngest Young Lord of the Yang Family who only was a True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivation took two moves head on against Liu Qing Yao who is a Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master. With such a big gap in strength, the two of them still fought on equal footing!”
“Just wait until that Little Lord grows to the same height as Liu Qing Yao, he’ll surely defeat him. “
“Did that really happen?”
“Naturally! This news is absolutely true, I saw it with my own eyes! The Little Lord is amazing. So young yet possessing such unfathomable strength, on top of that, he’s made allies of more than a dozen first-class forces. I have no doubt that in this Inheritance War he’ll be the ultimate victor.”
“Are you sure? Wasn’t it said that the youngest Young Lord had no connections at all?”
“Don’t you understand what it means to play the pig to eat a tiger? First lure your enemies with weakness, and then shock them with your true strength. At that point, who could possibly resist against him?”
“If I remember correctly, the youngest Young Lord was called Yang Kai, right?”
“Right right, Young Lord Kai…”
As soon as he heard the name Yang Kai, the middle-aged man who was drinking froze, turning his head to look at the man who was just speaking, seemingly very interested in what he was saying all of a sudden.
The people at the next table over made no attempt to lower their voices so everyone on the second floor was easily able to hear what they were saying, causing one of these listeners to snort contemptuously, “What do you know? Clearly that brat Yang Kai only managed to survive two moves because Young Lord Liu wasn’t using his full strength. I was also there and saw everything; didn’t you hear what Young Lord Liu said at the end?”
With a chuckle, the man paused for dramatic effect before boldly declaring, “Young Lord Liu said, ‘Yang Kai, you’re not my opponent. When you grow up, let’s fight once more!’ That was what the First Young Lord of the Central Capital should act like. Yang Kai only blocked two of his casual moves, what’s so great about that?”
The cultivator that spoke earlier was a bit dissatisfied and argued back, “That was just Liu Qing Yao acting arrogantly, if they exchanged a third move, he definitely wouldn’t have been the winner. Yang Kai is the Central Capital’s new First Young Lord!”
“BULLSHIT!”
The quarrel between the two soon spread throughout the restraint. All the cultivators in the Great Han Dynasty were now paying close attention to the Inheritance War; each of them naturally had their own ideas about the trends and developments that occurred.
A moment later, the cultivators on the second floor were divided into two camps and were noisily arguing.
Only the middle-aged man who sat by the window remained silent as the argument raged, but the light that flickered in his eyes was gradually becoming more and more dangerous as time passed.
The crowd quarreled for quite a while but obviously nothing was resolved.
The cultivator who started this whole debate was now thoroughly worked up and turned to the silent middle-aged man and asked, “Hey you, who do you think is the Central Capital’s First Young Lord?”
“You’re asking this old master?” The middle-aged man grinned and asked.
“Yes, you should say something too. Even if you’ve been silent the whole time, you obviously have your own opinion. Let all of us hear it! But… you know… at your age, claiming to be an old master, hahahaha!”
Everyone else also laughed a bit, wondering why this middle-aged person was pretending to be some wise old man.
The second floor suddenly calmed down as everyone’s eyes fixed on the middle-aged man, waiting for him to add his opinion.
The middle-aged man nodded lightly and drained the cup in his hand before firmly declaring, “If you really want this old master to say, the Central Capital’s First Young Lord can be no one else but Young Lord Yang Kai! Not only is he the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, but in the future, he will also be this world’s First Powerhouse, jie jie jie jie!”
Everyone was stunned, even the group of people who were impressed with Yang Kai’s recent display felt that this middle-aged man was exaggerating a bit too much and shook their heads .
Saying Yang Kai was the first person in the Central Capital’s younger generation wasn’t beyond debate, but to say he would be this world’s First Powerhouse was going too far.
There was no end to the martial path, even until now, none of the top masters at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary had ever claimed to be invincible.
“This crazy old man…” The cultivator who first supported Liu Qing Yao said disdainful. “What kind of nonsense is he spewing, what shit does Yang Kai count for? Actually saying he’ll be the world’s first in the future…”
But before he had finished his sentence, he suddenly froze, almost as if his throat was caught by an invisible force rendering him unable to speak.
Everyone turned to look at him and couldn’t help paling.
They saw the face of this cultivator become dark in the blink of an eye, as if he had been poisoned, and his eyes became red as blood began flowing out of his seven orifices.
The next moment, a visible energy flew out from the top of this person’s head and erratically circled the room as the middle-aged man’s eyes gleamed.
The middle-aged man then opened his mouth and directly swallowed this energy form into his belly.
Surprisingly, the middle-aged man who was nothing more than skin and bones, after swallowing this energy, suddenly inflated slightly. Although he was still thin, it was not as wretched as before.
With a loud thump, the dark faced cultivator fell to the floor, dead.
A chill gripped everyone’s heart, making all the cultivators on the second floor feel like they had been plunged into an icehouse.
No one knew how this man died, but from the scene just now, everyone was clear that the culprit was this horrifying middle-aged man.
Terror, fear, panic, and utter mayhem suddenly broke out and quickly shrouded the entire restaurant.
The middle-aged man lowered his head and a wicked, grating laughter slowly leaked from his throat. When this laughter reached the surrounding cultivators, their Blood Force roiled, as if the blood in their veins was boiling.
“Jie jie jie jie…”
The maniacal laughter rapidly grew louder and more insane.
“This old master is starving, and since you’ve offered yourselves up, this old master won’t be polite! Afterwards, if Young Master pursues this matter, this old master also has an excuse!” The middle-aged man muttered as he remained in his chair.
*Pa pa pa…*
A grand bouquet of red flowers suddenly blossomed on the second floor as the bodies of various cultivators burst into blood fogs. Five viscera, six organs scattered all over the floor and the walls were painted bright red. The same energy blob that emerged from the first victim emerged from each dead body and was swiftly swallowed by the middle-aged.
The thin body of the middle-aged man inflated once again, gradually becoming somewhat sturdy and handsome, the only thing that remained unchanged was his cold and piercing eyes.
In a flash, the second floor of the restaurant had become a scene straight out of hell and more than twenty cultivators had died!
The surviving members shivered in fear but none of them could muster enough courage to run away; much less rebel. All of them staring at the middle-aged man in pure terror.
“Still not enough!” The middle-aged man patted his belly, his face showing a clear look of not being full as he glanced around at the dozens of people who were still alive.
When his eyes swept over the crowd, everyone immediately knelt down on the ground and vigorously kowtowed, begging for mercy.
The middle-aged man hesitated for a while, and then for some unknown reason, he didn’t finish them off, his body dissolving into a black mist and disappearing from everyone’s sight.
After he left, the cultivators who survived looked at each other with astonished expression, none of them understanding why this man had let them go.
Judging from the cruel and merciless methods he had just demonstrated, he obviously wouldn’t bat an eye at killing a few dozen more people, but he didn’t do so.
As the survivors began examining each other, all of them were surprised to find that the people who had been spared seemed to be the ones who had just supported Yang Kai, while those who opposed Yang Kai were all dead.
Being able to escape this tribulation, all of them thanked the Heavens for their luck.
After coming to grips with the fact that they were still alive, everyone began noticing the blood and guts which they were all but bathed in and couldn’t help throwing up the food they had just ate.
These cultivators weren’t inexperienced people who had never seen bloodshed before, but none of them had ever witnessed such a horrible scene!
Everyone who had died had basically become scattered chunks of meat…
Outside the restaurant, a black mist suddenly appeared and the middle-aged man’s form gradually condensed. Staring in the direction of War City a thousand kilometers away, he grinned and whispered under his breath, “After such a long time, I wonder if Young Master will be surprised by this old master’s new look!”
Saying so, his expression suddenly sank as he muttered, “I hope Young Master won’t blame me for being late. If I’d only known, I wouldn’t have stopped over in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land for so long…”
Thinking of his Young Master, the look on the middle-aged man’s face became a bit complicated.
In fact, the relationship between himself and his Young Master wasn’t so harmonious. When they had first met, he had tried to use his Soul to seize his body, but he had wound up restrained by him and had to allow his Soul to be branded, basically turning him into servant.
Then came the period of slavery, but during that time, the middle-aged man behaved very docile and loyal. However, he had always been looking for a way to escape this Young Master of his and restore his freedom.
However, as time passed, the middle-aged man gradually discovered the huge potential hidden inside this Young Master of his, and although his memory hadn’t been fully restored, his insight was still sharp.
The Young Master was very much unlike an ordinary cultivator and had a variety of mystery about him. Even accompanying him day and night, the middle-aged man couldn’t see through these mysteries, instead becoming more and more confused, which gradually let him reconsider as he secretly began looking forward to the growth of his Young Master.
Then, after finding the Devil Lord’s body beneath the Coiling Dragon Stream, the Young Master had actually allowed his Soul to possess it.
To be honest, at that time, the middle-aged man was a little worried that his Young Master would be suspicious of his motives and prevent him from seizing this new body, which would probably lead to him holding a grudge and once again trying to find a way to escape.
Fortunately, the Young Master allowed it.
This made him have a sense of gratitude!
Thinking back about it, while the Young Master seemed like he was being generous with him, seizing this Devil Lord’s body was also a big boost to him. After all, with his Soul brand, if he ever acted against him, it would only take a single thought to kill him.
Making up his mind, the middle-aged man’s expression became firm and no longer hesitated.
However… him showing up all on his own was a bit inappropriate. If the Young Master asked what he had been up to, it wasn’t like he could say he was just lingering in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and had forgotten about the promise he carved on the stone cliff wall, right?
Wrinkling his brow and thinking for a moment, the middle-aged man quickly spread out his vast Divine Sense.
He had only intended to see if there was something or someone nearby he could use as a convenient excuses, but when he swept the area with his Divine Sense, the middle-aged man Soul trembled lightly, seemingly sensing a familiar Soul fluctuation somewhere in the distance.
“Hm?” The look on the middle-aged man’s face couldn’t help becoming a bit curious as he stared towards the fluctuation’s source. Soon remembering something, his expression warped into a wicked smile as his figure flickered and he shot off in the same direction.
A hundred kilometers away, a group of people were fleeing.
There weren’t many people in this group, nor were there few, about thirty in total, but the one who lead them was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage master, while most of the rest were just True Element Boundary cultivators.
Around them, a lot of figures were pursed them, slowly forming an encirclement but showing no signs of immediately attacking, as if they were just observing for now.
These surrounding cultivators also didn’t appear to be a united group but instead were divided into several teams, each of them wary of all the others.
“These people are really annoying; they’ve been chasing us for ten days now!” In the crowd, a pretty girl complained bitterly.
“This is troublesome,” A man next to her said with a wry smile, “If things continue on like this, we won’t make it to War City.”
“Senior Brother, what do we do?” the girl asked anxiously.
“Let’s just take one step at a time.” The man obviously had no good ideas so he simply followed behind his Elders in front of him.
As they walked, another young woman with a cold look came up beside them. This young woman had a slender, graceful waist, and shapely figure, a rare beauty, but what was strange was that her delicate hands were wrapped up in cloth, making it impossible to see what they looked like.
Not only her, but many of people in this group had their hands covered up, it seemed like these people had some secret related to their hands they didn’t want revealed.
“Senior Brother Tao, if we can’t escape, we should just separate.” The woman’s eyes flashed a cold light, these days being chased like this had pushed her patience to the limit, “The goal of these people is our Ghost King Valley. If we separate from them, they shouldn’t find trouble with your Treasure Instrument Sect.”
However, Tao Yang shook his head and said, “Junior Sister Leng, your thoughts are too simplistic. Do you really think that these people are after your Ghost King Valley’s disciples?”
“Although that’s not the whole reason, a big part of it is certainly our responsible.” Leng Shan said awkwardly; she was no fool and naturally knew that the although these people had continued to pursue them, even threatening them from time to time. The biggest reason they hadn’t simply attacked was that they were afraid of offending Treasure Instrument Sect.
Ghost King Valley was just an excuse to justify their current actions.
[Looks like this time I’ve made a mistake!]
A few months ago, the news of the Inheritance War reached the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and the people from Ghost King Valley had naturally gotten wind of it as well.
Like Chen Xue Shu, when Leng Shan heard Yang Kai’s name, she was also a bit suspicious, not certain if this Yang Family youngest Young Lord was the one she was familiar with.
Later, after many inquiries, she confirmed his identity.
Leng Shan’s status in Ghost King Valley wasn’t low, so she had gone to ask Elder Gui Li to allow her to lead some of the Sect’s people to participate in the Inheritance War.
Gui Li immediately refused.
Ghost King Valley was a Sect from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. Disciples running out from its borders would certainly not have good ends. As for going to the Central Capital to participate in the Yang Family’s Inheritance War, how could he possible permit it?
Not only did he refuse, he also confined Leng Shan and ordered that before she reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary she was not to be released.
Sometime later, her Senior Brothers Chen Yi and Cheng Ying secretly released her and the three of them gathered a group of fellow disciples who had received Yang Kai’s help in the Evil Cavern before secretly sneaking out of Ghost King Valley and traveling to the Central Capital.
All of them owed Yang Kai their lives and wanted to repay him somehow. After all, back in the Evil Cavern, if it wasn’t for Yang Kai, they would have already died a thousand times over.
Unfortunately, the Ghost King Valley group’s characteristics were too obvious.
Their hands were pale and bloodless just like a ghost’s, so once they were seen, everyone would know they were from an Evil Sect, causing them to be hunted down and killed mercilessly.
Therefore, the Ghost King Valley disciples all wrapped their hands in white cloth so, although they looked a big weird, they could effectively hide their background.
But with the exception of Leng Shan’s brief experience in the Isolated World, none of these young disciples had ever left the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, so once they left and entered the Great Han Dynasty, they had all but become headless flies.
Finally, after wracking their brains over it, Chen Yi decided to go to Treasure Instrument Sect to find Tao Yang and take advantage of Treasure Instrument Sect’s name to go to the Central Capital.
In his opinion, Tao Yang and the others from Treasure Instrument Sect would definitely move to assist Yang Kai.
Tao Yang has long ago received a letter from Yang Kai’s messenger, but he hadn’t been able to convince the Sect Elders so he could only rely on his fellow disciples if he wanted to go support Yang Kai.
When the Ghost King Valley group arrived at Treasure Instrument Sect, Tao Yang was in a bad mood, so when he saw Leng Shan, Chen Yi and the others he was overjoyed and quickly arranged for them to quietly hide inside Treasure Instrument Sect.
Over the next while, Leng Shan and Tao Yang used both soft and hard forms of persuasion to finally convince the Elders of Treasure Instrument Sect to take a stand in the Inheritance War.
After that, they immediately set off.
But after leaving Treasure Instrument Sect, they almost immediately found themselves being tracked by several people.
Every day, Treasure Instrument Sect was very lively; similar to Medicine King’s Valley, cultivators flowed like an endless river into the Sect to request Artifact Refining, but this group of people was different, they only followed them, never once coming up and speaking with them directly.
After a day of this situation, one of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from Treasure Instrument Sect finally couldn’t stand it anymore and bluntly asked what their purpose was, soon learning that these people were actually sent by the various Yang Family Young Lords to lobby them into joining their respective camps.
A group of Alchemists from Medicine King’s Valley had already declared their support for Yang Kai, so a group of Artifact Refiners from Treasure Instrument Sect was seen as the highest available prize.
Whether it was Yang Zhao, Yang Kang, Yang Shen, Yang Ying, or even Yang Wei, each of them had sent their own group of lobbyists.
But how could Tao Yang and the others accept such an invitation?
After being refused though, these groups of people didn’t lose heart and while keeping an eye on each other, lacking any further instructions, they simply began following Tao Yang’s group.
After a few days of this, an opportunity finally presented itself.
A disciple from Ghost King Valley accidentally exposed his identity which caused the surrounding groups to pounce.
“Master Wu, as long as you hand over the Ghost King Valley disciples, I swear to you we will not embarrass your noble Sect; after all, Artifact Refining is a rare skill and we would certainly not want any misfortune to befall all of you!” From the outside crowd, an Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage expert said with a smile.
These words instantly gained the support of the other surrounding groups everyone nodding their head in agreement to express their attitude. They were implicitly suggesting that as long as Treasure Instrument Sect handed over the Ghost King Valley disciples, they wouldn’t expose the fact that they had been colluding with an Evil Sect.
Wu Yan, who was the Treasure Instrument Sect group’s leader, just snorted and refused to respond.
How could he not see through the intentions of this group of people? It was because he understood all this that he disdained to even reply.
“Tao Yang! Get over here!” Wu Yan’s stomach was full of grievances but he had nowhere to vent, so he could only angrily roar at this junior of his.
Tao Yang’s neck shrank and immediately rushed to the front, respectfully asking, “Uncle Wu, what are your orders?”
Wu Yan wore a smile that wasn’t a smile and quipped, “Little brat, your courage has really grown fat huh? Daring to shelter these Ghost King Valley disciples, what explanation do you plan on offering your dear Uncle?”
Wu Yan also only knew their true identity after the Ghost King Valley disciple exposed his hands a few days ago.
If he had known earlier, how could he and the other Elders of Treasure Instrument Sect so casually let Leng Shan and the others stay in the Sect?
Tao Yang didn’t bother trying to deny at all, instead just laughing as he said, “Uncle Wu, they are my sworn friends. When I, Junior Sister Zhao Rong, and my two Junior Brothers traveled to the Evil Cavern last time we received much care from them, otherwise I’m afraid all of us would have already departed for the next life.”
Wu Yan blinked, “Didn’t you say it was Yang Kai who took care of you all back then? How did it suddenly become a group of Ghost King Valley disciples? Which story is the truth?”
“We received care from all of them, all of them!” Tao Yang said with a somewhat sketchy expression, “In any case Uncle Wu, our Treasure Instrument Sect is just like Medicine King’s Valley. We open our doors only to do business, as for if a client is a virtuous paragon or an evil demon, what difference does that make to us?”
“Hmph! Anyways, this situation is your fault, so you find a way to solve it for this old master, or else, when we get back, I’ll personally drive you out of the Sect!”
“Don’t say that Uncle Wu, haven’t I been trying to find a way out of this mess?” Tao Yang suddenly looked depressed.
“You better think of a way.”
Facing this harsh new reality, Tao Yang had no way out.
This group of people from Ghost King Valley were all juniors, so none of them were Immortal Ascension cultivators; as for Treasure Instrument Sect, there were several who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and the artifacts they carried were incredibly varied and powerful, but due to their profession, their overall combat strength was quite low, and they were definitely not the opponents of these onlookers.
If they could secretly get a message to Yang Kai, informing him of their dilemma, Tao Yang firmly believed that he would definitely bring a large number of people to support them and reaching War City would become easy.
However, in this situation, there was no chance of one of them slipping away.
“Senior Brother Tao, I’m sorry, it’s our fault you were reprimanded.” Leng Shan said with a guilty expression. She and Chen Yi felt incompetent, they had only been thinking about seeking Tao Yang’s help. After the Evil Cavern incident, Tao Yang and his fellow disciples had stayed in Ghost King Valley for a while, so everyone was familiar with one another, making them temporarily forget that they were technically supposed to be enemies.
“Don’t worry about it. Uncle Wu was just venting his anger, he won’t really drive me out of the Sect.” Tao Yang smiled and waved his hand casually.
Treasure Instrument Sect’s population was incredibly sparse, with only a total of around a hundred people in total. The disciples recruited each generation had all undergone a rigorous selection process even more stringent than Medicine King’s Valley’s.
As a result, every disciple of Treasure Instrument Sect had unparalleled talent and achievements in Artifact Refining, and Tao Yang was one of the top figures in his generation.
Treasure Instrument Sect was counting on him to carry on its legacy, how could Wu Yan really be willing to drive him out of the Sect?
As he said so though, Tao Yang’s expression became gloomy. The five groups of people had moved to their front, back, left and right, making it seem like they were providing a high-quality escort, but in reality, they had them trapped.
[Fight? Impossible. Talk? They’re not willing to listen.]
Moreover, as time passed, the closer they came to War City, the thinner the patience of these five groups became, the looks in their eyes gradually becoming dangerous.
The status of Treasure Instrument Sect wasn’t as lofty as that of Medicine King’s Valley, when people from Medicine King’s Valley went out, no one dared to offend them.
Although Treasure Instrument Sect had a fair bit of reputation, some people still didn’t place them in their eyes.
These years, Treasure Instrument Sect’s leadership had lost count of how many great forces had secretly been trying to annex them, whether through negotiation, bargaining, tricks, schemes, or flat out intimidation.
Fortunately, Treasure Instrument Sect had many connections so each time disaster struck, they had somehow resolved it.
However, this situation wasn’t sustainable in the long run, they would need to attach themselves to some force in order to survive sooner or later.
It was also for this reason that Treasure Instrument Sect’s Elders agreed to Tao Yang’s request to participate in the Inheritance War, as long as he could negotiate some favourable terms with Yang Kai, it wouldn’t be impossible to resolve this issue once and for all.
The group flew forward again for half an hour and was now 800 kilometers from War City.
At this distance, the five batches of people sent by the Yang Family Young Lords were obviously at their limit, all of them quietly exchanging glances as they prepared to strike.
The Treasure Instrument Sect and Ghost King Valley group were aware of this and raised their guard even further.
Sure enough, from the left most group, the Immortal Ascension Boundary master who spoke before coldly shouted, “Master Wu, it seems that your noble Sect really insists on sheltering these evildoers! Since Master Wu is not willing to hand them over, then we have no choice but to act. If in the process we cause offence, I hope Master Wu will be magnanimous!”
When Wu Yan heard this, his expression twisted in anger, “What do you want to do?”
The man chuckled and said, “Good and evil cannot coexist, I simply want to punish these devils! Master Wu, I suggest you and your Sect Brothers and Sisters not interfere so as not to suffer any accidental injuries”
Wu Yan sneered, “You won’t say that all these juniors behind this Wu are devil spawn? No matter if they fight back or not you’ll grab all of them, won’t you?”
“How could I?” The man slowly shook his head, “At the very least, I know well your first disciple Tao Yang, as for everyone else, whether they are minions of evil or not, after we interrogate them, we will understand!”
Having heard these words, everyone understood that this man was going to use the excuse of suppressing the Ghost King Valley disciples to capture those from Treasure Instrument Sect, so long as they didn’t kill anyone and simply imprisoned all of them, they could easily bring these valuable Artifact Refiners back to their respective Young Lords.
What’s more, if a fight really broke out, would Tao Yang and the others really stand by and do nothing? Once they inevitably started fighting back, these people would have the perfect excuse to justify their actions.
All the different actions that they could take will all lead to the same, inevitable conclusion.
Wu Ya’s expression sank as he muttered under his breath, “It seems that my Treasure Instrument Sect can’t avoid this tribulation, wait for the fight to start then find a way to escape, if you can’t escape, don’t resist. They won’t kill. Tao Yang, you go to War City, find Yang Kai. Let him step forward to resolve this!”
“Disciple won’t fail!” Tao Yang firmly declared.
“Also, tell him, if there is a single casualty from our Treasure Instrument Sect, don’t expect this old master to refine him a single piece of junk for the rest of his life!” Wu Yan reiterated.
“Master Wu, have you made up your mind?” The man mocked before shouting, “If so, then pardon my offence!”
As his voice rang out, the five batches of people almost simultaneously leapt forward, their goal obviously the Treasure Instrument Sect disciples in the crowd.
Treasure Instrument Sect had dispatched more than twenty of its members this time so the number of targets wasn’t small. At the very least, each of the Yang Family’s Young Lords back in War City could harvest a few.
Treasure Instrument Sect and Ghost King Valley were immediately overwhelmed by this sudden rush and were about to follow Wu Yan’s instructions to escape when a figure suddenly appeared above everyone’s heads.
This person was quite strange; no one had even noticed how he appeared. It was almost as if he had been there the whole time and had just now revealed himself.
When this figure appeared, a horrifying Spiritual Energy descended upon the crowd.
Everyone in the five groups who were attacking suddenly stumbled, each of them showing aghast expressions as they quickly circulated their True Qi to resist this pressure, all of them trembling as they fearfully looked towards this newcomer.
On the other hand, the Treasure Instrument Sect and the Ghost King Valley people all felt confused.
Especially Leng Shan, when this person appeared, she felt a faint fluctuation in her mind, but before she had a chance to carefully investigate, the fluctuations disappeared.
As she stared at this floating middle-aged man, Leng Shan couldn’t help frowning in suspicion.
The opposite party also glanced at her casually, revealed a friendly smile, and then immediately turned his eyes away.
In the next instant, a cold, brutal, and bloodthirsty aura filled the middle-aged man’s eyes as he laughed wickedly, “So many bullying the few, interesting!”
His attitude was casual, neither friendly nor hostile, as if he was a great masters who had only coincidentally passed by here and had come to watch the show.
No one dared to respond, under this horrible and sinister Spiritual Energy, any slight loss of focus could lead to disastrous consequences.
The scene suddenly stagnated, and the expressions of the people in the five groups were extremely ugly as they were fixed in place. All of them looked at the middle-aged man with fear and terror, gradually leaking beans of cold sweat from their foreheads.
“Are you all mutes?” The middle-aged man’s expression dimmed as he loudly shouted.
This shout was like a crack of thunder, causing everyone’s ears to ring and bleed, all of them stumbling back a few steps before they regained their balance, turning even more fearful looks forward towards this man.
All of them knew, if none of them spoke and broke this deadlock, this situation simply wouldn’t end.
After realizing this, the most powerful figures among the five groups glanced at each other before the same man who had been speaking before stepped forward nervously and respectfully asked, “May I ask Senior’s great name? This humble one is Lei Zhou of Tranquil Light Sect …”
But before he could finish introducing himself, he was cut off by the middle-aged man, his brows wrinkling somewhat in annoyance, “Tranquil Light Sect? Never heard of it!”
The Tranquil Light Sect was also a first-class force, so being so blatantly disdained made Lei Zhou unhappy, but in front of this malevolent man he didn’t dare show any anger, laughing awkwardly as he tried to continue, “We are here to support the Central Capital Yang Family’s Second Young Lord.”
Lei Zhou understood that this middle-aged man’s strength was unfathomable and had a wild and arrogant demeanour. He was definitely someone with eyes higher than the top of his head. But even if the Tranquil Light Sect didn’t enter his eyes, could the Central Capital Yang Family also be the same?
By purposely bringing up the Second Young Lord’s name he was hoping to make this man take a step back.
“Second Young Lord?” Sure enough, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but reveal a look of interest when he heard these three words, “Who is the Yang Family’s Second Young Lord?”
“Yang Zhao!” The man smiled and replied, his expression also relaxing, thinking that his words had played some role.
“What about you?” The middle-aged man turned his head and looked at the other groups.
Everyone quickly rushed to report the name of the Young Lord they supported and to which Sect they belonged.
Unexpectedly, the middle-aged man’s casually grinning expression gradually grew dark after hearing these various names and titles, soon becoming cold and menacing, like the black clouds of an approaching storm.
Bad! Everyone who saw this couldn’t help trembling, their backs now covered in cold sweat.
“You people, seems none of you are supporting Yang Kai?” The middle-aged man’s lips curled into a sneer, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes.
“Senior, we are on our way to support Yang Kai.” Tao Yang bravely stepped forward and cupped his fists, noticing some subtle information in these last words.
“Hm?” The middle-aged man looked over at him, his sullen expression brightening all of a sudden as he laughed and said, “Good good good, you have a little vision, very good, just support Yang Kai well and you won’t regret it!”
“Many thanks for Senior’s auspicious words!” Tao Yang replied happily.
Wu Yan quickly shot Tao Yang a disgruntled glare; his First disciple’s performance just now was nothing short of coveting life while fearing death, seeking favour from this middle-aged man so blatantly.
This made Treasure Instrument Sect loss face!
“En, since you’re on your way to support Yang Kai, this old master can’t sit back and do nothing!” The middle-aged man nodded gently and waved his hand, “Your safety is something that this old master will take responsibility of!”
Hearing this, whether it was the Ghost King Valley disciples or the Treasure Instrument Sect people, everyone was filled with joy, none of them had dreamed that such a powerful master would jump out of nowhere to protect them at this critical juncture, each of them cupping their fists in thanks.
On the contrary, the five groups of people all look grim, not daring to act out; after experiencing this person’s Spiritual Energy pressure, they naturally knew he was not someone they could provoke.
Lei Zhou somehow managed to cup his fists and squeeze out a smile, “Since Senior has come forward, this one will step back. Farewell!”
Finished what he had to say, he literally stepped backwards, afraid to turn his back to this middle-aged man.
The people in the five groups had only managed to take a few steps back before a wicked laughter filled their ears, causing all of them to feel unnerved.
“Did this old master say you could go?” The eyes of the middle-aged man flashed a dangerous and cold light, his tone noticeably lowering as a gloomy aura spread out from him, sending chills down everyone’s back.
All those who were trying to retreat immediately halted, their expressions turning extremely ugly.
“What instructions does Senior have?” Lei Zhou frowned and asked, secretly circulating his True Qi as he did so.
“This old master is in a good mood today and is too lazy to slaughter,” The middle-aged man smiled slyly, his expression light and carefree. “But all of you have eyes but fail to see, such blind fools shouldn’t be left alive. Since you’ve chosen to support the wrong person, this old master can’t just sit by and ignore you.”
Hearing the meaning of his words, the faces of everyone in the five groups grew even uglier, one of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters coldly snorting, “How I chose to act is none of your business. Although Senior may be strong, but facing so many of us I don’t believe you’ll feel much better. Must Senior insist on acting ruthlessly?”
As this man spoke, the five groups gradually gathered together, all of them staring at the middle-aged man with dignified looks, displaying a unified front.
Against such a master, they were forced to do so. Their only hope was that this middle-aged man would see this and back down.
However, the middle-aged man didn’t show any signs of hesitation, instead only looking more and more excited, “Good good! Finally enough targets to slaughter!”
As he spoke, he licked his lips and slowly lifted his hand, “Heaven Sealing Blood Sea!”
Behind the middle-aged man’s back, a crimson light flashed and a bright red wave of blood spread out in all directions.
Before anyone could react, the entire region had been enveloped in this blood sea.
All everyone could see was a scarlet world, the Heavens and Earth had all transformed into waves of thick red blood which churned and rippled around them, blood bubbles constantly rising from beneath their feet, the smell of iron thick and nauseating.
From all around, wails and moans rang out.
It was like they had been dropped into a demonic purgatory!
“What is this?” The five batches of people suddenly panicked, none of them had ever seen such a strange Martial Skill. All the middle-aged man had done was wave his hand and the entire world had changed. Instinctively, everyone pushed their True Qi and tried to escape, using their movement skills and artifacts to their full potential as they tried to escape this blood red world.
However, the blood pooled beneath them seemed to exert a huge suction on them, locking them in place, unable to escape.
The ground had become like quicksand, the more one tried to struggle, the faster they were pulled under.
“Jie jie jie jie…” The middle-aged man once again smirked and let out a burst of demonic laughter, seemingly enjoying the desperate and helpless expressions of those struggling to escape from this blood sea, his eyes flashing with a strange, excited light.
The people from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect was also stunned, all of them glancing around this bloody sea as they trembled in fear.
Everyone knew that this middle-aged man who had suddenly appeared was very powerful, but no one imagined he would be strong to this extent.
A single move had left these five powerful groups of cultivators to fall into desperation, and from his appearance, it seemed like he hadn’t even gone all out but was instead just casually taking action.
Ghost King Valley itself was an Evil Sect. The Martial Skills and Secret Arts it practiced also had sinister attributes, but when Leng Shan and her fellow disciples compared their Sect’s techniques with the scene in front of them, filled with blood and ghastly wailing, they all felt their soul’s tremble in fright.
The Treasure Instrument Sect’s Artifact Refiners were even worse off, all of them pale with fright. Only Wu Yan, who barely managed to keep his composure though his heart was pounding, turned his eyes and looked at the middle-aged man unconsciously.
It was obvious to him that this middle-aged man wasn’t someone they should associate themselves with.
After only ten breaths of time, the cultivators trapped in the blood sea had all undergone massive changes. These people, no matter how strong or weak, how high or low their cultivations, all had ferocious looks in their bloodshot eyes, the prior looks of fear and panic had disappeared from their faces and was replaced by infinite madness and killing intent.
It seemed like this blood sea’s hidden brutality and malice that had affected their hearts.
“Kill!” Someone screamed as they summoned their artifact and used a Martial Skill on the companion beside him, decapitating him instantly.
“Kill! Kill! Kill! KILL!”
The five groups of people seemed like they had all transformed into slaughtering demons, unable to even recognize their parents anymore, screaming wildly as they fought with anyone and everyone around them.
One by one, bodies fell, and the blood that flowed from these fresh corpses dyed the blood sea even redder.
The smell of blood was overwhelming.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man seemed to be admiring a great drama, his expression filled with joy and happiness.
Severed limbs, mountains of corpses, rivers of blood.
Treasure Instrument Sect and Ghost King Valley’s several female disciples all couldn’t help covering their mouths and rushing to the side to vomit.
None of them had ever even imagined such a bloody and terrifying scene; it had obviously far exceeded their psychological limit.
The middle-aged man noticed this change and glanced over, but after snickering once he turned his eyes away and stopped paying attention.
After about half a cup of tea’s time, the five groups of people trapped in the Heaven Sealing Blood Sea had all died with the exception of the Lei Zhou, the first Immortal Ascension Boundary master to speak earlier.
From the beginning, he was the strongest of those who were present. Although he was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage, whether it was his personal cultivation or Martial Skills, they far surpassed his allies.
However, even though he had survived, he was no longer the same person he once was.
His entire body was covered in blood and his eyes were completely bloodshot, like a beast that had been trapped in a cage for thousands of years. Hot breath left his mouth and nose as his face expression only showed infinite murderous intent, staring left and right for new prey as he stood alone in the sea of blood.
His sentience had been annihilated; right now he was nothing more than a walking corpse driven by his killing instincts.
“Good! Since you survived, this old master won’t kill you!” The middle-aged man smiled and waved his hands in a strange pattern, quickly condensing a mysterious glowing seal that show out and landed on Lei Zhou’s body.
When this seal hit him, Lei Zhou suddenly seemed to transform into a whirlpool that madly swallowed all of the blood around him.
This bizarre scene shocked the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect cultivators again.
Along with this infusion of blood, this Immortal Ascension Boundary master gradually changed, swelling up to more than twice his previous size as his face distorted greatly, even his head ballooned up like a giant bag.
For a while, the blood poured into his body, and soon no semblance of his original appearance remained. He couldn’t even be described as human anymore.
This Immortal Ascension Boundary master had transformed drastically into a blood red creature, its hideous face containing a pair eyes that radiated a savage light.
Wu Yan was absolutely stunned by the mysterious methods of this middle-aged man. Examining this new monster he also quickly discovered that although it was formed from a strong Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage master, its current True Qi fluctuations had grown significantly while its aura was more manic and brutal.
“Huo…” Lifting its head to the sky the newly transformed creature let out a roar which shook the air, the clouds gathered over its head scattered as a red light from its forehead shot up to the Heavens.
“It’s a little useful. Don’t worry, this old master will feed you plenty of fresh blood!” The middle-aged man mumbled to himself before waving his hand again, the once Immortal Ascension Boundary master instantly transforming into a bloody light and disappearing into his palm.
Everyone left stared dumbfounded.
The methods this middle-aged man pulled out one after another were all so foreign to them and exceeded their comprehension; it was as if they didn’t belong to this world at all.
After witnessing the brutal cruelty of this person, the people from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect suddenly felt anxious, as if they had escaped the wolf’s den only to fall into the tiger’s.
He had just killed five strong groups of people like crushing a bunch of ants, if he wanted to kill them, would he even need to blink?
Unexpectedly, after he received this bloody light, he actually landed on the ground nearby and smiled towards them, “En, the mixed fishes are cleaned up, let’s go.”
No one dared to move, everyone just stood there nervously, trying to avoid eye contact.
“Hm?” The middle-aged people also noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat wrong before laughing out loud, “Afraid I’ll kill you?”
Wu Yan couldn’t help coughing lightly, fixing his expression as best he could as he hurriedly said, “Nonsense, we owe Senior a life-saving grace, this one wouldn’t dare suspect Senior’s intentions.”
“Rest assured, since you’re here to support Yang Kai, I won’t harm you, after all, I’m also on my way to support Yang Kai, hahaha!” The middle-aged man’s expression mellowed quite a bit, causing everyone to relax slightly, but in the next instant his expression became fierce again as he let out a malicious sneer, “But if you’re here to help one of the other Yang Family Young Lords, I won’t show any mercy.”
The relaxed atmosphere immediately tensed up again.
Wu Yan even more hastily replied, “No no, all of us are going to support Young Lord Kai.”
However, in his heart he was suspicious, just how did the Yang Family’s youngest Young Lord know this kind of person? Wasn’t the man in front of them some kind of legendary Demon Lord?
Amongst the crowd, Leng Shan hesitated for a long time but finally worked up the courage to face the middle-aged man and said, “Senior, many thanks for rescuing us, dare I ask how we should address Senior?”
Wu Yan’s ears also twitched, quieting even his breathing as he listened.
“Old master is called… en, old master is surnamed De!”
“So it is Senior De,” Leng Shan didn’t dare to dig any deeper on this subject but couldn’t help asking, “Senior De, have we met somewhere before?”
Chen Yi and Cheng Ying couldn’t help feeling shocked, and quickly and quietly signaling Leng Shan to stop.
This middle-aged man was definitely not a good person and his methods were extremely fierce. On top of that he was more than a hundred times crueler and brutal than even their Ghost King Valley. If this Junior Sister of theirs upset him in any way, none of them would escape punishment.
But to their great surprise, the middle-aged man who claimed to be surnamed De actually smiled slightly and nodded, “Yes, we’ve met.”
This answer only confused Leng Shan even more though, wrinkling her brow as a look of incomprehension spread across her pretty face, “If we’ve met before, why do I not have a single impression of Senior De? I can only feel that Senior is somehow familiar.”
Leng Shan was a rising star of Ghost King Valley and although she wouldn’t claim her memory was infallible, those she had met she was still clear about.
This was especially so for this Senior. For someone so powerful, how could she possibly forgot about his existence?
However, Leng Shan simply couldn’t remember seeing him anywhere.
And this sense of familiarity wasn’t something like a memory, but more like a feeling.
If she had to describe it… the Senior in front of her right now gave her the same feeling as that Tian Lang Dynasty bitch Zi Mo!
Both she and Zi Mo had their Soul’s branded by Yang Kai, causing them to have an inexplicable intimacy, but why would this Senior also give her such a feeling?
This Senior De was powerful so he couldn’t have suffered the same Soul branding that Yang Kai had used on her, right? Leng Shan shook her head and immediately rejected this possibility.
Seeing her confusion, Senior De actually grinned towards her meaningfully and quipped, “Long ago this old master met you but at the time you have not met this old master.”
Leng Shan was now even more confused, but she knew it wouldn’t be prudent to ask any more.
“Come on, let’s talk while we walk. This place is only 800 kilometers from War City. If we leave now, we should arrive before dark!” Senior De waved his hand and took the lead.
The Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect people all glanced at each other somewhat hesitantly.
Wu Yan was even more awkward but after a short silence he bit his lip and nodded, “Follow him.”
This person was too powerful, and no matter what reason he had for helping them, the simple truth was if he really wanted to kill him, all of them would be dead in an instant.
It was a blessing not a curse, and if it was a curse it couldn’t be avoided. Right now, all they could do was obediently follow this Senior De. The truth of the matter would reveal itself when they reached War City.
Soon, a group of thirty people followed behind the terrifying Senior De.
From a short distance ahead, the middle-aged man suddenly turned around and beckoned to Leng Shan, “Little girl, come over!”
Leng Shan nodded and stepped forward, Chen Yi hurriedly whispering, “Senior Sister, be careful!”
“En.” Leng Shan replied, seemingly not worried, calmly walking over to the middle middle-aged man’s side and respectfully asking, “What is Senior’s command?”
“Heh heh,” The middle-aged man turned to look at her and grinned, “Relax.”
Leng Shan still doesn’t know what he was planning to do when suddenly she saw his hand grab towards her. In that instant, she instinctively wanted to resist, but before her True Qi could even condense, the middle-aged man took back his hand.
Hearing a series of howls and screams, Leng Shan’s eyes shrank, her expression changing greatly.
She found that the Ghost King Seal in her body had actually been caught by the middle-aged man and though it struggled fiercely, it had no ability to resist let alone escape.
The Ghost King Seal was a Martial Skill that Ghost King Valley was known for and all of its members cultivated it.
This spiritual body was something that was born from tormented souls and Ghost King Valley disciples would refine it with a special method inside their own bodies, raising it with their Spiritual Essence so it grew in strength along with its owner.
When they fought against a tough opponent, it could be used to launch and unexpected attack.
It could be said that when one fought a Ghost King Valley disciple, they were really fighting against two opponents.
However, Leng Shan and this group of disciples were still quite young and their Ghost King Seals hadn’t reached full maturity so the power it could display was still quite limited.
No one should be able to forcefully take out a Ghost King Valley disciple’s Ghost King Seal, but this surnamed De had done so with ease.
In fact, Leng Shan didn’t even notice until it was all over.
Just as she was preparing to ask his intentions, Leng Shan saw the middle-aged man spit out a black mist that immediately squirmed into her Ghost King Seal.
The Ghost King Seal, which had been struggling violently up to now, seemed to have received a great boost from this black mist and quickly became docile, not only was it no longer struggling, it even seemed to show some signs of intimacy, it’s distorted facial features expression becoming happy and joyful.
Leng Shan couldn’t help feeling startled, swallowing down the words she was about to speak.
“Here you go!” The middle-aged man smiled and released the Ghost King Seal which was quickly taken back by Leng Shan into her body.
“Junior Sister!” Chen Yi had witnessed the entire scene just now and was immediately filled with anger and indignation, rushing over to Leng Shan’s side as he glared at the middle-aged man.
“Your courage isn’t small!” The middle-aged man sneered.
Leng Shan hastily held him back though, “I’m fine, Senior Brother, you’re misunderstanding. This Senior has just helped me a lot!”
As she spoke, the excitement in her voice continued to rise.
“What do you mean?” Chen Yi asked curiously.
“My Ghost King Seal has fallen asleep,” Leng Shan explained.
“What?” Chen Yi’s eyes bulged out.
The Ghost King Seal would grow along with its host and just like a snake shedding its skin, every time it fell asleep, once it awoke its strength would noticeably increase.
Leng Shan’s Ghost King Seal had already undergone this process a total of three times, but the next evolution was supposed to occur when she broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, by which its strength wouldn’t be any worse than an average Immortal Ascension Boundary master.
But now, this process which should have occurred at least a year or two later had suddenly occurred ahead of time.
Leng Shan even felt that after this evolution, her Ghost King Seal would undergo earth-shaking changes.
All of this was because of Senior De’s black mist.
“Many thanks Senior De!” Leng Shan thanked him wholeheartedly.
“No need to be polite, consider it a reward for coming to help Yang Kai. Nurture your spirit well. When it wakes up, it will have achieved sentience and will become your most loyal partner,” Senior De said in a scholarly manner.
“Achieved sentience…” The eight Ghost King Valley disciples jaws all dropped, unable to believe what they had just heard.
A Ghost King Seal achieving sentience wasn’t just a fantasy, in the Ghost King Valley’s records, this had really happened to one of the Sect’s Senior Elders hundreds of years ago when he had broken through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary.
The current Ghost King Valley Sect Master Gui Li hadn’t even achieved this step.
Everyone realized just how valuable this gift was!
Leng Shan’s eyes flashed with excitement, biting her thin lip, not knowing what to say, after a while softly whispering, “What is Senior De’s relationship with Yang Kai?”
“He’s my little… *ahem*, my Young Master!” The middle-aged man lightly coughed, almost blurting out something he shouldn’t have.
“So, you’re a Yang Family person?” Leng Shan tilted her beautiful head slightly.
“En, well, in a sense.” The middle-aged man answered ambiguously.
“Senior, Senior…” Chen Yi grinned and walked over, fidgeting nervously as he wrung his hands, “You see, like Junior Sister Leng, we’re all also going to help Yang Kai, so…”
The middle-aged man glanced at him and sneered, “Do you think it’s so simple to let that spirit evolve? Every time I do so it damages this old master’s strength!”
Chen Yi expression went black and blushed with embarrassment, though he was still quite reluctant to give up so he didn’t withdraw.
If he were to cultivate himself, even if he did so day and night without rest, the chances of his Ghost King Seal gaining sentience and becoming a legendary existence was basically zero. With such a great opportunity in front of him, if he didn’t at least try to grasp it, he would definitely regret it for a lifetime.
However, thinking about asking for such a big favour really made Chen Yi feel awkward.
But to his surprise, the middle-aged man suddenly grinned and continued, “Well, today this old master is in quite a good mood, so I’ll help you little brats!”
Chen Yi was so excited he nearly jumped up and cheered, quickly thanking Senior De before turning around and hurriedly waving his fellow Sect Brothers and Sisters over, “Everyone come here, come quick!”
The rest of the Ghost King Valley disciples all rushed over as well, their smiles reaching from ear to ear as they lavished this middle-aged man with praise, flattery and thanks.
Senior De was true to his words and swiftly took the Ghost King Seals out of their bodies and fed them a breath of black mist.
A short time later, the processing was complete.
The eight Ghost King Valley disciples all glanced around at each other and saw the vibrant excitement and expectation in their eyes. Just now when they had heard what this middle-aged man had said they half doubted half believed him, but when their Ghost King Seals were returned, each of them became keenly aware that this evolution would surely result in a qualitative leap, filling them with hope for the future.
This time, they had really benefited big, and they had yet to even reach War City to meet up with Yang Kai! To think they had already met this incredible master who delivered them such a big gift! Once they arrived at War City, if they could build a good relationship with this Senior De, perhaps he would grant them some more of his wisdom.
As they watched the Ghost King Valley disciples obtain such a great opportunity, the Treasure Instrument Sect people’s eyes gleamed.
Tao Yang even courageously rushed up and smiled widely, “Senior, Senior, we are also going to help Yang Kai, so could you perhaps… hehe…”
“What do you want?” The middle-aged man didn’t get angry, just turning a smile to him.
Tao Yang’s expression brightened as he asked, “Is there a way for Senior to improve the purity of our True Qi? It would be best if it could be improved by a grade or two!”
In order to be an Artifact Refiners or an Alchemist one needed to have very high purity and density of True Qi in their body. Tao Yang wasn’t a Ghost King Valley disciple so he couldn’t expect a similar benefit so he made this request instead.
Listening to his request, the middle-aged man sneered, “This old master can’t help you with that, such things all depend on one’s own hard work.”
“So there’s no way…” Tao Yang couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
“But… I heard those people before say you were all from Treasure Instrument Sect, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then if it’s about Artifact Refining, this old master can perhaps give you a pointer or two, heh, that is if you’re open to hearing them.”
Hearing this, Wu Yan couldn’t help secretly sneering in disdain.
Although this middle-aged man was extremely powerful and possessed many strange methods, but when it came to Artifact Refining, no one in this world could match those from Treasure Instrument Sect, even if they were Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.
So obviously he wouldn’t take this middle-aged man’s words seriously, thinking he was just trying to show off.
“Is Senior also familiar with Artifact Refining?” Tao Yang’s face brightened again.
Senior De gently nodded, “This old master knows a little, nothing profound but it should be enough to expand your horizons.”
This time, even Tao Yang’s face became slightly awkward, not knowing what to do next.
There was still someone who dared to show off their knowledge of Artifact Refining in front of Treasure Instrument Sect. Apparently, this world was filled with all kinds of people.
However, having witnessed the opposite party’s brutal methods, if he let him lose face, who knew if he would get angry or possibly even kill him? Clearly understanding this point, all Tao Yang could do was scratch his head humbly and ask for Senior De’s advice while doing his best not to show any disrespect no matter what he said.
Tao Yang didn’t hold any hope, he was just afraid of angering this master, so he only pretends to be open-minded.
But after talking to him for a while, Tao Yang’s expression slowly became solemn. He found that this middle-aged man really hadn’t specialized in Artifact Refining and it was very likely that he rarely did any Artifact Refining himself, but he indeed possessed some mastery in the subject. This Senior’s knowledge of Artifact Refining techniques far exceeded his own understanding and insights. The many things he spoke about were completely unheard of and were beyond this world’s current Artifact Refining standards.
It didn’t take long for Tao Yang’s solemn emmxpression to become one of shock. Even Wu Yan, who had formerly disdained to participate in this conversation, began listening in.
After half an hour, Wu Yan finally couldn’t help but get involved. He put forward his own opinions on the issues of Artifact Refining while discussing and debating ideas with Senior De…
War City, inside Yang Kai and his Little Senior Sister’s room, Yang Kai let out a long breath and the bone shield in his hands finally turned into a stream of light, disappearing into his body.
Refining a Mysterious Grade artifact had taken Yang Kai a full five days, and even this was only achievable with his extremely pure True Yang Yuan Qi. If someone else at his cultivation level wanted to refine this Mysterious Grade artifact, without ten days to a half month, it would be fundamentally impossible.
As soon as the the bone shield entered his body, Yang Kai understood its structure and functions and after a moment of contemplation, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
A Mysterious Grade artifact was really out of the ordinary. The role it could play was not small, if used properly, it could turn the tide of a battle.
Yang Kai naturally had his reasons for refining this bone shield and not the ice mirror or small sword.
The grade of the ice mirror was higher than that of the bone shield, so the time it would take to refine would be much longer. As for the small sword, it was a Soul type artifact and Yang Kai was conscious of the fact that although his Divine Sense was powerful, without a Knowledge Sea, he would find this artifact difficult to refine.
Therefore the bone shield became the natural first choice.
When the bone shield entered his body, the innate technique of this Mysterious Grade artifact became known to Yang Kai. On top of that, his True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivation had been fully consolidated.
Yang Kai estimated that if he were to refine the ice mirror now he could immediately break through to the True Element Boundary Ninth Stage!
As one’s strength increased, if they wanted to break through to the next realm it wasn’t enough to simply accumulate True Qi, it was just as, if not more important to strengthen one’s mental fortitude and deepen one’s understanding of the Martial Dao.
Once both these requirements were met, the accumulation of True Qi would become very easy.
As he was studying the mysteries of the bone shield, Yang Kai suddenly felt a ripple in his mind and couldn’t help lifting his head, turning his eyes in a certain direction as a thick smile appeared on his face.
“Old Demon, you’ve finally appeared!” Yang Kai grinned, quickly getting up, opening the door and going out.
“Little Lord!” Ying Jiu appeared like a ghost.
Yang Kai gave him a faint look and swept him with his Divine Sense, quickly nodding as he realizing he had fully restored his strength before casually saying, “Cultivate yourself. For the time being, I have no urgent tasks for you.”
“Yes!” Ying Jiu’s figure gradually faded into the shadows.
In fact, Ying Jiu was a little surprised, he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to have no reaction to his current state; apparently he had complete faith in Meng Wu Ya being able to break the Qi Binding Seal.
The door to the room next door suddenly opened and Meng Wu Ya stepped out with a dignified expression, staring off into the distance.
“There’s a strong Demonic Qi!” Treasurer Meng looked at Yang Kai intentionally or unintentionally as he spoke, “And it’s somewhat familiar!”
“You’ve met before.” Yang Kai grinned.
Meng Wu Ya’s brow wrinkled for a moment before his eyes widened, “That Devil Lord?”
“Correct.” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Once, a long time ago, in his secluded cave below the Coiling Dragon Stream, Meng Wu Ya had forcefully removed Old Demon from Yang Kai. At the time, the two had gotten into an odd argument but because Old Demon was only a Soul form Treasurer Meng was able to easily suppress him, but Yang Kai was keenly aware that even then Meng Wu Ya was somewhat wary of Old Demon.
“Since it is him, then this old master won’t find trouble with him. When he gets here let him come see me,” Meng Wu Ya said, a faint look of reminiscence creeping into his expression.
Yang Kai was surprised but quickly nodded.
“You little brat. Don’t think badly of this old master, but you better be careful with that Devil Lord, he’s not as simple as you think.”
“I know.”
“Also, make sure he doesn’t act out, those eight masters in War City who are monitoring everything must have detected him already.”
Remembering this point, Yang Kai suddenly felt some headaches. There were currently Eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Central Capital Eight Great Families who were tasked with supervising War City and the Inheritance War. The Old Demon’s aura couldn’t possibly have been missed by these eight people and although he served Yang Kai, if he were to act too outlandishly, these eight masters would certainly not just sit by and watch.
After a few words, Meng Wu Ya turned around and walked back into his room.
Yang Kai wore a helpless look before shaking his head and walking out. He really wanted to know what Old Demon had been up to these past few months.
Moreover, from what he had sensed, Old Demon wasn’t alone but was actually accompanied by Leng Shan as well.
Since Leng Shan was with him, the disciples from Ghost King Valley he knew would definitely be with her as well; this was something far outside Yang Kai’s expectations.
As he was walking towards the mansion’s entrance, Yang Kai called out to a passing cultivator and said, “Go and call Qiu Yi Meng!”
“Yes!” The man responded and hurriedly left to find Qiu Yi Meng.
At the compound’s entrance, the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady appeared, a curious look upon her face, “What is it?”
“We are receiving some guests!” Yang Kai replied casually.
“Guests?” Qiu Yi Meng’s frowned for a moment but immediately grinned, “Someone’s coming to support you?”
“Something like that.” Yang Kai said ambiguously.
Qiu Yi Meng smiled faintly as she looked at him. Although she didn’t know how he knew someone was coming, since he said so, he probably wasn’t wrong, so she simply nodded, “It’s always good to have more people, and our strength will definitely grow.”
“The ones coming right now are a little different, you’ll have to take special care in their arrangements. Pay special attention to not let them have any conflicts with the other forces in the house.”
“What do you mean?” Qiu Yi Meng didn’t understand, what force could make Yang Kai pay such attention to? Whether it was a super-force, first-class families, or second-class Sects, Yang Kai’s attitude towards them had always been the same, he never looked down on those who came from weaker forces and never curried favour with those who came from stronger ones. It was exactly because of his fair and even handed manner that everyone in the mansion felt at ease.
But now, he actually wanted her to pay special attention to these newcomers. Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help wondering if there was something different or special about this group which would cause Yang Kai to concern himself with them.
“They come from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, do you understand?” Yang Kai turned his eyes and looked at Qiu Yi Meng.
In the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady’s mind, the images of two women suddenly appeared, one was a mature and seductive beauty, the other was a naked girl with a white liquid dripping from her lips, “Is that Demon Queen coming?”
“No, they’re from the Ghost King Valley.” Yang Kai shook his head.
Qiu Yi Meng secretly breathed a sigh of relief before nodding, “I understand.”
Since they came from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, they were Evil Sect disciples and may have grudges with the Sect forces in the house. If things weren’t handled well, it would only cause a fire in the backyard.
But since when did this smelly man have a relationship with Ghost King Valley?
Qiu Yi Meng was once again surprised by the number of Yang Kai’s allies.
After a not long or short wait, a large group of people walked in front of the house; more than thirty of them in total. Seeing this, Qiu Yi Meng welcomed all of them with a big smile.
Yang Kai held his hands behind his back and stood there quietly, his eyes landing on a middle-aged man at the head of the group, his lips slowly curling into a grin.
Turning his gaze to the ones behind him, every Ghost King Valley disciple that he had met in the Evil Cavern was there.
But what really surprised and excited Yang Kai was that his friends from Treasure Instrument Sect were with them as well!
Not long after the start of the Inheritance War, Yang Kai had the Bamboo Knot Gang deliver two letters which had resulted in his Little Senior Sister immediately rushing over.
Unfortunately, Treasure Instrument Sect hadn’t responded. As for the other forces in his compound, they had all gathered here on their own accord without Yang Kai needing to ask!
But now, Tao Yang and the others from his Sect had finally appeared, lifting a big weight from Yang Kai’s heart. The only thing that made him feel strange was why these three groups of people had arrived together.
On top of that, Yang Kai was curious why both the Ghost King Valley and the Treasure Instrument Sect members all showed such great respect towards Old Demon.
What exactly had Old Demon done? Yang Kai frowned and thought.
After having been separated for so long, Old Demon seemed a bit nervous as he led everyone forward. Although he didn’t want to publicise the real nature of his relationship with Yang Kai, he still cupped his fists respectfully and said, “Young Master, please calm down… this old man wishes to die old… and as a humble husband!”
Yang Kai coldly snorted and cut him off, “I thought you wouldn’t show yourself in front of me for the rest of your life!”
Old Demon’s expression suddenly became panicked, quickly trying to explain, “No no, hasn’t this old master come? Before I just had a little accident, haha…”
“We’ll talk about your ‘accident’ later.” Yang Kai gave him a sharp look.
Old Demon winced but eventually nodded, glancing over at Qiu Yi Meng who stood next to Yang Kai with a smile, secretly praising this unknown girl for her vision, thinking she was at least qualified to warm the Young Master’s bed.
Qiu Yi Meng returned the gesture to Old Demon. Although this person gave her an uncomfortable feeling, he was still someone who had come to support Yang Kai.
Behind them, the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect members watched this scene play out.
On their way here, the two factions had thoroughly experienced the power and mystery of Old Demon. Those from Ghost King Valley watched as their Ghost King Seals were fed a black mist by him, causing them to fall into a deep sleep while undergoing an astonishing evolution. Wu Yan and the other Treasure Instrument Sect members had also gained many inspirations and insights into the Dao of Artifact Refining from Old Demon. Whether it was in demeanor or speech, everyone treated him very respectfully.
However, such a mysterious, powerful, brutal, and bloodthirsty master, in front of Yang Kai, actually seemed more like a mouse meeting a cat.
[What is happening?]
All of them were stunned by this display.
“Brother Yang, long time no see!” After collecting themselves, the Ghost King Valley disciples, along with Tao Yang and his fellow disciples came forward.
“En, too long indeed.” Yang Kai glanced around at all of them, “I’m glad all of you came. You didn’t encounter any trouble on the road, did you?”
As he said these words, he shot a glance over at Old Demon, he was really afraid that this wily old Devil Lord had done something to them.
“No no, just some minor troubles, fortunately, this Senior arrived in time to help, allowing us to arrive here safely.” Everyone spoke at once.
All of them understood what should be said and what should not, how could they suddenly expose the cruel methods Old Demon had shown them?
The atmosphere was harmonious and everyone seemed to be getting along.
Qiu Yi Meng looked around and found that eight of the younger cultivators had wrapped white cloth around their hands, giving them a somewhat ghastly appeared, and quickly realized that these people should be the disciples from Ghost King Valley.
But when she learned the origins of the other members of this group, Qiu Yi Meng could barely contain her excitement.
These people were actually Artifact Refiners from Treasure Instrument Sect! Qiu Yi Meng was even more surprised when she learned that their leader was actually Wu Yan. When it came to Treasure Instrument Sect, besides the Sect Master himself, Wu Yan’s Artifact Refining methods was the best.
It was rumored that Wu Yan had traveled all over the Great Han Dynasty and even to many foreign lands for twenty years in order to successfully absorb the very best Artifact Refining flames in this world, a process that had actually changed his physique and True Qi attributes.
This man was a Grandmaster Artifact Refiner that could even refine Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank artifacts.
Amongst the Artifact Refining community, his reputation was no less shocking than Xiao Fu Sheng’s was in the world of Alchemy.
However, Artifact Refining was even more complicated than Alchemy. It took a long period of time and required a great many materials to forge a single high grade artifact. In addition, cultivators had a much greater demand for pills than artifacts, so in terms of public reputation; Wu Yan was vastly inferior to Xiao Fu Sheng. This was similar to how Treasure Instrument Sect’s reputation was inferior to Medicine King’s Valley.
But that still didn’t detract from Wu Yan’s outstanding accomplishments and magical methods in Artifact Refining.
Besides this Grandmaster, there were nearly twenty other members of Treasure Instrument Sect, all of whom were excellent Artifact Refiners.
How could Qiu Yi Meng dare neglect them?
Together with Yang Kai, she quickly settled the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples into their own courtyards, all of them expressing excitement and enthusiasm as they busied themselves.
Silently calculating in her head, Qiu Yi Meng discovered that Yang Kai’s current amount of support had reached an incredible level. A dozen or so large and small Sects plus masters from Medicine King’s Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect. Such a gathering was enough to make everyone’s eyes red.
What she wanted to know the most though was, how did he do it?
Looking at the figure of the man walking in front of her, the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady couldn’t help gently biting her lips, unable to take her eyes off of him!
With her head filled with strange and confused thoughts, Qiu Yi Meng quietly followed behind Yang Kai in some sort of daze. She kept imagining what the future of this young man would look like.
Of course, she was imagining a much farther future as she was already certain Yang Kai would defeat his brothers and win the Inheritance War, becoming the next master of the Yang Family.
Her breathing became slightly quick as she thought about it; once again thanking the Heavens she had chosen to go against her family in order to help him.
“Old servant greets Young Master!” When she was still lost in thought, a sudden voice reached Qiu Yi Meng’s ear and brought her back to reality, only to look over and witness a shocking scene.
She saw the middle-aged man who all the Ghost King Valley disciples and even Treasure Instrument Sect Wu Yan treated respectfully now kneeling on the ground, with his head deeply bowed.
Old servant? Young Master?
Qiu Yi Meng gasped as she quickly covered her slack jawed mouth, trembling at what she saw.
Although she was still not aware of Old Demon’s strength, but the pressure she felt from him was heavier than any of the Blood Warriors in the mansion.
That was to say, this gloomy middle-aged man was definitely stronger than any of these Blood Warrior.
But at this moment, he was actually humbling himself and even claimed to be a servant? Even the Blood Warriors around Yang Kai didn’t show him this kind of loyalty. What was all this about?
Unconsciously turning her eyes to Yang Kai, she found that his expression was still indifferent, as if he felt nothing wrong with this situation, instead just lightly saying, “Get up, there’s no need for such displays between you and I.”
“Many thanks, Young Master.” The middle-aged man said joyfully, his tone containing clear signs of reliefs.
Turning to the still dumbfounded Qiu Yi Meng, Old Demon smiled at her and said, “Little girl, no one here is an outsider, there’s no need to hide the relationship between myself and Young Master, but I do hope you won’t reveal it to anyone else. My Young Master usually likes being low-key.”
Qiu Yi Meng quickly recovered from her initial shock and replied seriously, “Senior, please rest assured, I…*ahem*, I haven’t seen anything. You two continue to talk.”
In fact, right now she knew it would be best to leave quickly.
The fewer secrets she knew, the safer she would be. However, strong curiosity was part of her nature so Qiu Yi Meng stood in place, not moving.
Silently wondering how this mysterious and powerful master had come to have a master, servant relationship with Yang Kai.
Just how had this smelly brat achieved this?
“How’s your body?” Yang Kai didn’t drive Qiu Yi Meng away; after all, Qiu Yi Meng was his second in command, it was best not to deceive her about his relationship with Old Demon, at least it was better than her grow suspicious of him.
Listening to Yang Kai, Old Demon’s expression suddenly became thankful as he quickly replied, “These past few months I’ve adjusted quite well to it, there should be no problems within 30 years or so.”
“What about thirty years later?” Yang Kai frowned, the whole concept of seizing another person’s body was all a bit above his head.
“That depends on old servant’s efforts, if I can perfectly integrate my Soul with this body, there’ll be no need to change it in the future, but if I can’t, I’ll have to find a replacement after 30 years.”
“En, if there’s anything I can help with, just ask.” Yang Kai nodded lightly, not feeling any need to act polite with Old Demon.
“Thank you, Young Master. For the time being, there’s no problems.”
“Good. If you have nothing else to do, there’s somebody who wants to see you.”
“Who?”
“Meng Wu Ya!” Yang Kai’s lips curled upwards as he observed Old Demon’s reaction and sure enough, a look of dread flashed across his face. He knew that in their initial encounter, Meng Wu Ya’s had made a profound impression on Old Demon, even causing him to be fearful, confirming once again that Treasurer Meng wasn’t as simple as he appeared.
“That old ghost!” Old Demon ground his teeth bitterly, “Old servant will go speak with that old fart and settle our grudge once and for all!”
As he said, he turned a knowing look to Yang Kai and said, “Young Master, you play with this girl. Your very humble old servant will go look for him now.”
Yang Kai’s face went black as he waved his hand.
Old Demon’s figure disappeared in the next breath.
Now there was only two people left in the hall.
“Can you tell me who that Senior is?” Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help asking curiously.
However, Yang Kai just shook his head.
“Forget it. If you want to act mysterious go ahead, I’m already used to it.” Qiu Yi Meng scoffed.
“How is everyone progressing in refining their new artifacts?” Yang Kai turned to her and inquired, while he had spent the last few days refining his new artifacts, everyone else in the mansion had been doing so as well.
“Most of them are almost done, in the next two days or so more than half should exit their retreat.” Qiu Yi Meng grinned. “What about you? How much progress have you made?”
“I’ve only finished refining one.”
“So fast?” Qiu Yi Meng’s beautiful face twitched. The artifacts obtained by Yang Kai were all Mysterious Grade so with his cultivation five days was definitely not enough time for him to successfully refine even one of them, but after being shocked for a moment, Qiu Yi Meng regained her composure. The man in front of her had brought forth so many miracles that she had gradually gained some immunity.
“With the people from Treasure Instrument Sect arriving today, you’ll be busy for a while. I’ve already allocated a place for them to set up an Artifact Refining workshop, so you’ll have arrange it with them. If you need materials, just let me know. I’ve already accumulated a lot; in addition, let the Pill Room refine a batch of pills that can quickly restores True Qi. Artifact Refining requires a great deal of True Qi, so we can’t let those Artifact Refiners become worn out.”
“I know.”
“That’s all.” Yang Kai nodded, stood up and walked towards the inside of the mansion.
Staring at his fading back, Qiu Yi Meng opened her mouth to say something but quickly swallowed the words back down. She didn’t quite know why, but recently she had always wanted to say a few extra words with him.
After Yang Kai left, Qiu Yi Meng shook her head with a smile as she slowly understood that the mysteries surrounding this man had become something of an obsession to her. She found herself constantly wanting to dig up all the secrets he was concealing in order to satisfy her own curiosity.
The next day, Yang Kai came to Treasure Instrument Sect’s courtyard and negotiated with Wu Yan for a while, the two sides eventually reaching a consensus.
Treasure Instrument Sect was different from Medicine King’s Valley. The Alchemists from Medicine King’s Valley were here to learn the Alchemic Way from Xia Ning Chang, but Treasure Instrument Sect had come to seek asylum.
One of the conditions Tao Yang had to achieve for Wu Yan to take part in the Inheritance War was to convince Yang Kai to declare that Treasure Instrument Sect was under his protection after he became head of the Yang Family.
If Yang Kai failed to win the Inheritance War, he would have to use his own strength to protect Treasure Instrument Sect from the harassment of other forces.
Yang Kai naturally accepted.
Tao Yang felt quite apologetic but there was nothing he could do about it. This was related to the future stability of his Sect, as just a young disciple he had no right to speak.
After the negotiations, Treasure Instrument Sect immediately dedicated themselves to Artifact Refining.
During their discussions, Wu Yan had also taken a look at the artifacts Yang Kai had obtained at Po Jing Lake and had confidently declared that everything below Mysterious Grade could be upgraded by him, possibly even increasing it a whole rank, but even if he couldn’t achieve such a leap in quality, they would still be better than they originally were.
He was of such a calibre!
Yang Kai was very grateful; upgrading an artifact was completely different from refining a new one. The former was essentially re-refining a finished product and was no doubt more time and cost efficient, so Yang Kai had let Qiu Yi Meng spread the word that any cultivator in the mansion could seek out the Treasure Instrument Sect group to repair or upgrade their artifacts.
After handling the Treasure Instrument Sect issues, Yang Kai rushed to Meng Wu Ya’s room.
Old Demon had gone to see Meng Wu Ya yesterday and there had been no news from them since. What these two old men would do when they met up really worried Yang Kai.
If the two of them were to really fight, his entire house would be annihilated in an instant.
However, Yang Kai soon discovered that his concerns were unnecessary.
After entering Treasurer Meng’s room, all he saw was Old Demon sitting face to face with him, both of them sneering somewhat at each other, half like they were fighting, half like they were having a nice chat. The entire scene was quite awkward.
“You two, enjoying your chat?” Yang Kai boldly inserted himself between them and asked.
“En,” Meng Wu Ya nodded lightly while Old Demon didn’t make a sound, from his expression it seemed like he had suffered a loss.
“Good, then if you’re not busy, I have something to ask you.” Yang Kai said with a grin.
“What does Young Master want to discuss?” Old Demon quickly asked.
“It’s about that mysterious master!” Yang Kai looked at Meng Wu Ya whose brow wrinkled slightly, suddenly realizing what he wanted to say.
That last time both he and Yang Kai had noticed the mysterious master’s intrusion but before either of them could arrive she had already escaped.
Then at Po Jing Lake, this mysterious master had appeared once again and even snatched a Mysterious Grade artifact!
The existence of this person made Yang Kai somewhat unnerved, the sooner they were dealt with the better.
Old Demon wasn’t clear about who this mysterious master was so he asked curiously.
Yang Kai told him the shot version of his two encounters with her.
After listening to this, Old Demon felt slightly shocked as he looked at Meng Wu Ya, “Even you didn’t catch a glimpse of this person’s face?”
Treasurer Meng slowly shook his head, “There’s some kind of special aura around this person isolates them from other’s investigation. I’d guess that even if an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary wanted to, it won’t be easy. As long as this person wants to hide himself, no one will be able to find him.”
“Impressive!” Old Demon said then quickly sneered, “But from the fact that this guy was injured by Ying Jiu and Young Master, his personal strength doesn’t seem to be very high.”
Near the Pill Room, the mysterious master had suffered a hit from Ying Jiu’s Flickering Shadow Strike and was slightly injured, then at Po Jing Lake, she hadn’t been able to completely avoid Yang Kai’s sword wave. If her strength was really high enough to avoid detection from the likes of Meng Wu Ya and Old Demon, these situations wouldn’t have occurred.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement, “But even still, this person is definitely a formidable master.”
“What does Young Master want to do?” Old Demon looked up and grinned.
“I’ll say this first, don’t expect this old master to intervene.” Meng Wu Ya looked at Yang Kai and said, “This old master is only here to protect Chang’er. As for this whole Inheritance War mess, this old master won’t get involved.”
After saying that, he let out a somewhat tired sigh, “This old master is getting on in years, if I were to intervene in you young people’s affairs I’d have no face left at all.”
“I never wanted you to intervene,” Yang Kai chuckled, “I just wanted to ask you two if you had any good ideas about how to expose that person?”
Meng Wu Ya shook his head while Old Demon grimaced slightly. If even Meng Wu Ya had no way to draw this mysterious master out, Old Demon obviously wouldn’t either. Only if this person appeared in Yang Kai’s mansion again would there be a chance, but after being almost caught last time, as long as they weren’t an idiot they wouldn’t try again anytime soon.
“Young Master, do you have any information on that person at all? Even Old Servant can’t make porridge without rice.” Old Demon asked.
“Information… there is one thing.” Yang Kai suddenly said.
“Oh? What?” Meng Wu Ya and Old Demon looked over at it at the same time.
“She’s a woman!” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed.
“How do you know?” Treasurer Meng frowned.
Yang Kai smiled as he pulled out a long blue silk like hair from his sleeve and held it up, “This fell off her at Po Jing Lake.”
Pausing for a moment, he continued, “However, I don’t know why her hair looks like this. Both of you are experienced and knowledgeable, have you ever seen this colour of hair before?”
Meng Wu Ya and Old Demon looked at the blue strand of hair at the same time and couldn’t help showing some surprise.
This strand of hair was very different from an ordinary woman’s hair, for almost all people, whether they were man and woman, their hair would be black, but this strand was actually a unique color of pale blue.
Besides being unusually smooth and supple, this colour was quite unusual.
After a moment, Meng Wu Ya and Old Demon exchanged a glance and, each of them seeing a strange look in the other’s face.
Seeing this kind of reaction, Yang Kai secretly began guessing what they were thinking about.
After a short silence, Meng Wu Ya said, “I don’t know who this woman is, and I’ve never heard of anyone with this particular colour of hair, but I would guess it’s related to her cultivation technique and physique. Yang Kai, don’t make things too difficult for this person. She may come from an extraordinary place.”
If Meng Wu Ya said so, although he didn’t provide any specifics, Yang Kai still nodded in a dignified manner.
He hadn’t intended on acting ruthless in the first place.
Suddenly Old Demon let out an evil laugh, “Young Master, if this hair is really from that woman, Old Servant might have a way to find her!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “How sure are you?”
“Heh heh… Soul tracking is one of this old servant’s specialities, just sit back and prepare for a good show! With this hair of hers to use as a medium, she’ll have nowhere to hide!” Old Demon said confidently.
“Evil Demon Techniques!” Meng Wu Ya snorted disdainfully.
Instead of being offended, Old Demon just grinned more cheerfully.
Yang Kai didn’t care what means he used as long as he could find the mysterious woman, asking, “How long do you need?”
“Old Servant can finish the preparations in ten days, but everything after that will depend on luck, if that woman never comes close to this old servant again, there’ll be no way to track her!”
“Then prepare as soon as possible!” Yang Kai firmly declared.
No matter what kind of purpose this woman had for approaching the Pill Room, since she wasn’t successful the first time, she would definitely try again, and judging from her appearance at Po Jing Lake, this person absolutely wasn’t timid and didn’t hold anyone in her eyes. Someone who would steal something right out from under the noses of this world’s heroes would surely have a great deal of self-confidence and arrogance. She wouldn’t retreat simply because of a little setback. After she found a way to completely conceal her aura, she would definitely come again.
All Yang Kai had to do was wait for her next visit before springing his trap!
Handing the light blue hair over to Old Demon, Yang Kai hurried away.
Quickly finding Qiu Yi Meng near the Artifact Refining workshop, Yang Kai secretly spoke a few words to her. No one knew what the two discussed, only that after Yang Kai whispered something to her, Qiu Yi Meng vehemently objected, even going so far as to grab Yang Kai’s arm and refuse to let go.
The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady rarely ever acted so boldly. From birth, she had received strict education on etiquette and behaviour from her tutors, but now she had actually latched onto Yang Kai in full view of the surrounding crowd, almost as if she was begging him not to abandon her. All around, everyone was silently speculating about what was happening.
In the end, Yang Kai managed to break free from Qiu Yi Meng’s grip and strode away, leaving the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady standing there in a frustrated and angry state.
“Young Lady Qiu, what did Junior Brother Yang just say?” Lan Chu Die had just finished having her artifact looked at and had come out for a breath of fresh air when she saw this scene and found it quite curious.
“Nothing.” Qiu Yi Meng quickly regained her composure and slowly shook her head.
Lan Chu Die smiled and no longer asked, knowing that she wasn’t qualified to contact too many high-level secrets with her current identity.
On the other hand, the Hu Sisters looks out the window and also witnessed this scene.
“Did you see that? That smelly brat is too shameless! Actually flirting with that Qiu Family woman in public! Mei’er, you must be careful of him! Don’t get swept up in his pace!” Hu Jiao Er ground her teeth as she complained to her little sister.
Hu Mei Er on the other hand just held her slightly blushed cheeks and stared at where Yang Kai had just been, obviously not having heard a word her Elder sister had said.
Seeing this spellbound appearance, Hu Jiao Er couldn’t help but sigh, reaching out her small jade hand and pinching her little sister’s dainty nose, wiggling it slightly, “Cultivate!”
“Ah… en.” Hu Mei Er nodded and reluctantly took back her gaze.
Although the Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall joined Yang Kai later than the other forces in the house, Qiu Yi Meng didn’t supply them with any less pills. With the help of the Mysterious Grade Pills that seemed to flow freely from the Pill Room, the Hu Sisters’ rate of progress was better than ever and after only a few days of cultivation their Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art was showing signs of a breakthrough.
Also, after repeatedly taking these pills, the Hu Sisters clearly felt that there were some subtle changes occurring in their bodies and it was now easier for them to absorb the surrounding World Energy than ever before. Their meridians were tougher and more flexible, allowing them to circulate their Secret Art even more quickly.
Having witnessed Yang Kai’s aptitude and strength made both of them feel pressured, and they knew if they didn’t work hard, they would only be left behind by him, so naturally they didn’t slack at all in their cultivation.
…………
Night time, War City eastern corner, Yang Wei’s mansion.
Yang Wei, who was refining the Mysterious Grade artifact he had obtained a few days ago, suddenly heard a knock at his door and his brow couldn’t help but wrinkle as he called out, “What?”
“Eldest Young Lord, someone’s come to visit.” Meng Shan Yi’s voice came from outside, a hint of awkwardness in his tone.
“Who?” Yang Wei’s eyes flashed. Meng Shan Yi knew he was in the process of refining a Mysterious Grade artifact yet he had still come to disturb him, obviously this guest was unusual.
But what person could cause Meng Shan Yi’s tone to become so strange?
“I think it’s probably Yang Kai!”
“Ninth Brother?” Yang Wei’s voice suddenly increased in pitch slightly, his tone also becoming somewhat strained.
Soon, the door was opened and Yang Wei appeared in front of Meng Shan Yi with a sullen face, asking in a serious tone, “Is it really Ninth Brother?”
Meng Shan Yi grinned awkwardly as he scratched his head, “I can’t see his face but Senior Ying Jiu is beside him, it’s basically impossible for Ying Jiu to be following anyone else.”
Yang Wei’s eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded, “Since Ying Jiu is here, it must be Ninth Brother.”
Suddenly grinning, Yang Wei mutter, “Such boldness, it seems I still can’t see through Ninth Brother.”
Although he had formed a temporary alliance with Yang Kai during the Po Jing Lake artifact snatching battle, in the end, the two were still opponents So; Yang Kai daring to visit his out with only Ying Jiu for protection showed his courage wasn’t ordinary.
“Eldest Young Lord, this is a rare opportunity!” Meng Shan Yi’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke, “Considering Yang Kai’s performance since the start of the Inheritance War till now, he will definitely become a stronger opponent than even the Second Young Lord, so now that he’s appeared in our territory all alone…”
As he said so, he made a slicing motion across his neck.
However, Yang Wei just snickered and slowly shook his head.
“Eldest Young Lord!” Meng Shan Yi’s tone rose once more, unable to understand why Yang Wei didn’t want to take advantage of this chance, “This is too good an opportunity to pass up! If you don’t take him out now, I’m afraid there won’t be a second chance.”
In the beginning, no one was optimistic about Yang Kai’s chances, but in one night he had turned all that around and now the number of people betting on his victory was only growing. This wasn’t without reason either; the pace of development at Yang Kai’s mansion was nothing short of astounding.
The gap between him and his brothers was gradually expanding and as time passed this gap would only become bigger and bigger until he ultimately eliminated all of them and become the final winner.
Meng Shan Yi felt like he could all but see that day coming so, as an ally of Yang Wei, how could he not be worried?
But faced with such a tempting opportunity, the Eldest Young Lord suddenly seemed to have some brotherly scruples; it was nothing short of foolishness.
“I have my own thoughts on this matter, don’t say anymore!” Yang Wei waved his hand and strode away.
Meng Shan Yi was depressed as he smiled bitterly, but after thinking about it for a moment, his expression suddenly became firm before he quickly turned around and disappeared into the darkness.
In the main hall, Yang Kai wore a black robe covering his whole body and sat quietly. Behind him, Ying Jiu wore an indifferent expression and spread out his Divine Sense, alert for the slightest signs of danger.
Seeing Yang Kai so calm and relaxed, not showing the slightest signs of fear or distress, Ying Jiu couldn’t help secretly admiring him.
Earlier, Yang Kai had suddenly told him to follow him out and Ying Jiu didn’t ask any questions; just quietly sneaking out of the house with him, only to receive a great shock soon after.
Yang Kai’s destination turned out to be Yang Wei’s mansion! Ying Jiu didn’t dare relax in the slightest as he stood guard.
Thinking about the dispute that had broken out between the Little Lord and Qiu Yi Meng during the day, Ying Jiu suddenly understood why the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady had suddenly acted so out of character and desperately tried to stop him.
After entering the hall, Ying Jiu noticed several powerful Divine Senses sweep over them, but no one had physically stepped forward. Even Yang Wei had yet to appear.
Ying Jiu knew that the masters in Yang Wei’s mansion had all locked their Divine Senses onto this place.
However, Ying Jiu knew he was not the only one aware of this, his Little Lord must have also been aware, yet he still looked as calm as ever.
“Ninth Brother, you’ve got some guts! Daring to come to my house all alone, aren’t you afraid I’ll make it so you never leave?” A cold voice suddenly came from deeper inside the mansion, echoing throughout the main hall, “Or did you think no one was in here so you can barge in here on your own?”
Yang Kai only felt Yang Wei’s voice enter his ears from all around, causing them to buzz slightly. At the same time, a Spiritual Energy wave crashed towards him, but there was no murderous intent behind it, obviously it was just to probe.
A few days ago, Yang Kai and Liu Qing Yao had exchanged two moves and Yang Wei had observed all of it from only a thousand meters away, but in that brief exchange, he still couldn’t fully grasp what Yang Kai’s strength was; so naturally he was curious about his youngest brother’s true ability.
Yang Kai remained indifferent, allowing this Spiritual Energy wave to rush into his mind unopposed as he chuckled, “Afraid? If I thought Big Brother would do that, I wouldn’t have come!”
“Ha ha!” Yang Wei laughed and finally appeared from the dark and came towards Yang Kai.
Ying Jiu quickly scanned the area but was surprised to discover that Yang Wei was actually alone; he didn’t even have a Blood Warrior guarding him. Although there were many strong people around the hall, if Ying Jiu wanted to seize Yang Wei, it would only take an instant.
These two brothers… Ying Jiu shook his head slightly, it seemed like they really had faith in one another.
Yang Kai took of the hat which was covering his face and smiled at Yang Wei, the latter clapping his hands and immediately summoning a maid to serve tea.
After the maidservant left, Yang Kai began, “Big Brother, is this the first time we’ve talked like this?”
“Indeed.” Yang Wei nodded. From when he was a child until now, Yang Wei had given off a solitary aura, and had never been close to any of his brothers, so this was actually the first time Yang Kai had a face-to-face conversation with him.
“Ninth Brother, you coming to see me at such a time, are you planning to take action?” Yang Wei went straight to the subject, apparently having some speculations in his heart already.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, taking a deep breath before continuing, “The family must be quite dissatisfied with the Inheritance War’s progress, otherwise they wouldn’t have invested a thousand artifacts to speed up the process. Since they want us to act faster, we can only comply, otherwise they’ll use less friendly methods to motivate us from behind. I’m sure Big Brother understands this point, right?”
“Of course! I’m sure everyone understands.” Yang Wei nodded.
“In that case, if we don’t act now, others will seize the initiative,” Yang Kai said in a low tone. The attitude of the family was very obvious. The artifact snatching battle was a way for them to silently urge them to fight; all of the brothers knew that.
Once the individual camps had finished distributing and refining these artifacts, there would definitely be those who couldn’t wait to use them.
“Who does Big brother think will be the first target to be attacked?”
Yang Wei glanced at him and said decisively, “You already know the answer, so why bother asking? It’s not me, but you!”
“I think so too.” Yang Kai grinned.
Among the remaining six Yang Family Young Lords, Yang Zhao and Yang Kang were blood related brothers while Yang Shen and Yang Ying were similarly related. Although they were still technically opponents, while there were still other enemies in the Inheritance War, they would support each other.
Soft persimmons should be pinched. If they really wanted to make a big move, then these pairs of brothers would definitely join forces to attack either Yang Kai or Yang Wei who appeared to be alone.
Yang Wei was the eldest, so on the first night of the Inheritance War he had given his younger brothers some leeway by not immediately attacking so the four would definitely not attack him first.
Under these circumstances, Yang Kai would definitely be attacked by everyone within ten days!
His light was too strong and not too long ago he had snatched two Mysterious Grade artifacts, how could his brothers give him time to breathe?
Alone, Yang Kai didn’t place any one of the four in his eyes, but if all of them teamed up, it would cost him greatly to fend them off. Only if both Meng Wu Ya and Old Demon took action could he reduce the risks somewhat.
It was because he understood his current position that Yang Kai had rushed to Yang Wei to discuss things with him.
“Who do you plan on attacking?” Yang Wei asked as a bit of excitement flashed across his eyes.
“Fifth Brother.” Yang Kai grinned.
Yang Wei paused for a moment to think before suddenly understanding, coldly snorting, “Fifth Brother choosing Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian as his subordinates was really not a wise move!”
Amongst the remaining six brothers, Yang Kang was definitely not the weakest, but Yang Kai had still chosen him as his first target. The only explanation was because Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian were currently his assigned Blood Warriors.
If it wasn’t for a series of coincidences before the start of the Inheritance War, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian would have been following Yang Kai right now.
Yang Kai choosing Yang Kang as his target also showed he cared a great deal about Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian.
“And so? What do you want your eldest brother to do?” Yang Wei asked curiously.
“I’d like you to block Second Brother. I’m afraid that Second Brother won’t sit still once he gets word of what’s happening.” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.
“Not a problem!” Yang Wei nodded, but he quickly wore a sly grin, “However, what’s in it for me?”
Yang Wei obviously wanted to reap some benefits from this. After all, he and Yang Kai were still rivals. Thus, it was impossible for him to help Yang Kai without getting anything in return, and even if he was willing to do so, his allies wouldn’t be.
Since Yang Kai wanted Yang Wei to take care of Yang Zhao, he had to offer up enough sincerity!
These brothers always settled their accounts.
“What does Big Brother want?” Yang Kai had already considered this issue before he came so he wasn’t surprised by this request.
Coughing light, Yang Wei smiled, “Big Brother has always had his eyes on those Alchemists in your house. Of course, I don’t want many of them. How about just five?”
Yang Kai immediately wore a dumbfounded look, “Big brother, your appetite is too big!”
“Too big?” Yang Wei smiled wryly, “You have thirty Alchemists in your house. I only want five of them.”
“I can’t make decisions for them,” Yang Kai shook his head. “Big Brother knows what kind of temperament Alchemists have. Even though they reside in my house, they’re only cooperating with me at best. I can’t order them around. How about this, instead of the Alchemists themselves I’ll give Big Brother a batch of Mysterious Grade pills.”
“Mysterious Grade Pills?” Yang Wei heard these words and couldn’t help grinning happily, “Delivering me a batch of Mysterious Grade pills, Ninth Brother really acts boldly! Good, your big brother accepts!”
He also knew that acquiring five Medicine King’s Valley Alchemists was basically impossible, so he didn’t have any expectations of success, he just wanted to open the bargaining with something big and from his perspective, it had paid off.
Still grinning, a dangerous light flashed across Yang Wei’s eyes as he asked, “When are you planning to act?”
“Tomorrow!”
Yang Wei’s brow furrowed and a hint of doubt emerged on his face.
He hadn’t expected Yang Kai to move so swiftly!
Tomorrow, according to normal circumstances, many cultivators in Yang Kai’s house should have just finished refining the artifacts they had snatched a few days ago. Him choosing such a time to attack obviously took that into consideration.
However… what about the Mysterious Grade artifact he acquired?
Yang Wei estimated it would take at least eight more days for him to finish refining his own Mysterious Grade artifact, and that it would be similar for the others as well.
“I’ll wait for your signal!” Yang Wei didn’t go any deeper into it. As far as he knew, for these Mysterious Grade artifacts, if one could use one, everyone could use one, while if one couldn’t use one, no one could use one. In either case, the situation was balanced.
During their conversation, Yang Wey shot a glance towards Ying Jiu unconsciously, a deep trace of doubt flashing across his eyes.
During the battle of Po Jing Lake, Ying Jiu was among the six Blood Warriors affected by the Qi Binding Seal, so Yang Wei didn’t understand why he would be the one escorting Yang Kai right now, but as he stared, he noticed that Ying Jiu showed no signs of his True Qi being sealed.
What did that mean though? Had he already broken the Qi Binding Seal?
“Then that’s settled,” Yang Kai slowly stood up and smiled, “Now that our business is over with, let’s talk about something else.”
Yang Wei showed a confused expression.
“Still planning on hiding? Show yourselves already.” Yang Kai swept his eyes across the hall and coldly snorted.
At the same time, Ying Jiu’s figure suddenly faded into thin air, disappearing as if he had never existed.
Yang Wei’s look changed abruptly as he glanced around, his complexion immediately turning red.
*Shua Shua Shua…*
A group of people suddenly appeared from all directions and surrounded Yang Kai and Meng Shan Yi walked in from the main entrance, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Shan Yi!” Yang Wei’s expression became ugly as he shouted, “What do you think you’re doing?”
As he spoke, his True Qi violently surged upwards as anger flashed across his face.
Meng Shan Yi looked at Yang Wei, grit his teeth and cupped his fists, “Eldest Young Lord, forgive me. Shan Yi wants to take this opportunity to eliminate the Ninth Young Lord!”
Saying so, he turned to look at Yang Kai and continued, “Ninth Young Lord, don’t blame this Meng for acting underhanded, with such a rare opportunity presenting itself, this Meng has no choice but to grasp it. If you must blame someone, then blame yourself for coming in the first place. Know that this decision has nothing to do with the Eldest Young Lord, it was all this Meng’s own ideas, if you wish to retaliate in the future, please only seek out this Meng.”
Yang Kai sneered, “Big Brother certainly didn’t know about this. If he did, he wouldn’t have bothered talking so much.”
Listening to these words, Meng Shan Yi nodded gently, “As long as Ninth Young Lord understands.”
Yang Wei took a deep breath and calmed down, his expression becoming gloomy as he said, “Shan Yi, you’ve made a mistake this time!”
However, Meng Shan Yi just smiled and shook his head, “Since Eldest Young Lord doesn’t want to act ruthlessly here, then I shall act in your place!”
“I don’t mean that,” Yang Wei helplessly sighed as he said in a disappointed tone. “Do you really think Ninth Brother would dare enter this place if he wasn’t certain he could withdraw? Do you really think that just these few people can force him to stay behind?”
“If you really think so, you can try.” Yang Wei said calmly.
Meng Shan Yi couldn’t help feeling awkward.
He hadn’t thought Yang Wei wouldn’t even try to stop him from carrying out this plan but after a moment he smiled and nodded firmly, “Thank you, Eldest Young Lord!”
Yang Wei said nothing and just stared at him with a trace of pity.
“Ninth Young Lord, pardon my offence!” Meng Shan Yi’s expression became solemn as he gave the signal to attack.
In an instant, more than a dozen masters who had at least reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stages attacked Yang Kai.
This was Yang Wei’s mansion’s main hall, and although the space wasn’t small, it also wasn’t big! Meng Shan Yi couldn’t arrange too many people to come in, so he went for quality instead. Of the masters he had brought, five had even reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage; with such a luxurious lineup Meng Shan Yi felt confident they could easily take down Yang Kai.
At the same time he gave the command, Meng Shan Yi glanced over at where Ying Jiu was formerly standing.
Ying Jiu didn’t appear, but when the crowd of Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators’ attacks were just two meters away from their target, Yang Kai’s mouth curved into a grin.
A cold gloomy light suddenly bloomed from Yang Kai’s body and a dark energy wave burst out. To the horror of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, all of their Martial Skills seemed to sink into this gloomy light like stones falling into the ocean, causing a small splash before disappearing completely..
Seeing this, all of their expressions filled with shock.
Staring carefully, these masters soon discovered the source of the phenomenon.
In Yang Kai’s hands, at some point a small bone shield had appeared. This roughly plate-sized bone shield was irregularly shaped, and its edges were covered in sharp spurs, while the centre face had a giant open mouth carved into it. Its fangs gave all who stared at them chills.
At this moment, the bone shield gave off a faint glow while Yang Kai simply held it up and stood there quietly, giving off an immovable, impregnable feeling.
Yang Wei’s expression cramped and Meng Shan Yi couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
This bone shield was clearly the Mysterious Grade artifact that Liu Qing Yao had snatched a few days ago and then threw to Yang Kai.
But it had only been seven days since then, so how had Yang Kai already managed to refine it?
It wasn’t easy to overcome the defence of a Mysterious Grade defensive artifact, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. The attacks just now hadn’t been everyone’s full strength, otherwise, if these dozen or so Immortal Ascension masters all struck in earnest they could definitely wear down this bone shield.
With not much time to think about the problem, Meng Shan Yi once again yelled, “Attack!”
The dozen or so masters no longer held back, all of them using their strongest Martial Skills and artifacts, creating an Earth-shattering wave of attacks that quickly engulfed Yang Kai.
*Hong hong hong…*
The sound of explosions rang out and the hall trembled violently, numerous tiny cracks even began appearing on the surrounding walls.
Yang Kai retreated continuously under the bombardment as his face turned red, he was clearly under tremendous pressure, but his bone shield still firmly guarded his front, none of the Martial Skills or artifact strikes managing to overcome the bone shield and, oddly, the giant open mouth on its face would swallow the resultant energy waves, leaving nothing left.
What made people feel even more confused was that as this energy was swallowed, the bone shield rapidly increased in size.
After a full round of attacks, the bone shield had expanded to three times its original diameter and Yang Kai could now completely hide behind it.
Meng Shan Yi’s eyes narrowed. He never thought that a trivial Mysterious Grade Low-Rank defence type artifact could withstand the intense barrage of so many Immortal Ascension Boundary masters!
He too had a Mysterious Grade artifact but its effect was nowhere near as good as this bone shield.
[What in the world?]
As he stared at the bizarre scene before him, he suddenly noticed that Yang Kai’s eyes had become dangerous. Suddenly, Yang Kai lifted the odd shaped bone shield and slammed it down, causing the floor to cave in under it and open up a large pit.
The next moment, the bone spurs around the edge of the bone shield all shot out.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
These spurs were both sharp and swift, the aura the gave off was both awe inspiring and unstoppable.
In a flash, the dozen plus Immortal Ascension Boundary masters’ expressions all changed greatly as they hurriedly defended themselves.
*Hong…*
From the giant mouth on the bone shield’s face, a beam of energy shot out, causing everyone to burst out into panic, it was as if all the energy that had been swallowed was now being spat back at them.
The energy beam that carried a scent of destruction and was as thick as a man’s thigh flew straight towards Meng Shan Yi.
The terrifying pressure of this attack descended on him, and in the face of certain death Meng Shan Yi even lost the will to escape.
“Ji Li!” Yang Wei roared.
A figure suddenly appeared in front of Meng Shan Yi, his face was expressionless and only his eyes radiated a strong light.
One of the two Blood Warriors protecting Yang Wei!
As soon as he appeared, he let out a low roar and a dazzling golden light erupted from his burly body, it was as if he had been transformed into a golden statue, his exposed skin shining brilliantly.
Two great fists smashed out and met the energy beam head on.
With a loud bang, Ji Li was flung backwards, the golden light around his body dimming greatly while the energy beam fully dissipated.
Meng Shan Yi stood stiff, cold sweat pouring down his forehead as his expression was still filled with panic.
Slowly managing to turn his eyes towards Yang Kai again, he couldn’t help revealing a look filled with fear.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
The dozen or so Immortal Ascension Boundary masters all managed to either dodge or block the bone spurs which promptly returned to the edge of the bone shield and after spitting out the energy beam, the bone shield rapidly shrank back down to its original size.
The scene suddenly became silent and no one dared to make any rash movements.
Yang Kai had successfully blocked all of their strikes and even launched a counterattack with his Mysterious Grade artifact, while Ying Jiu, who was hidden in the shadows, had yet to attack!
This time, even if they could take down Yang Kai, the price they would have to pay would be enormous.
“Capable of both offence and defence. Ninth Brother, you got a good artifact.” As if nothing had happened, Yang Wei stared at the bone shield on Yang Kai’s arm and said enviously.
“Surely Big Brother’s artifact isn’t bad either, right?” Yang Kai smiled and put the bone shield away.
Yang Wei let out a laugh but said nothing back, both of them knew that although Yang Wei’s artifact definitely wasn’t bad, it wouldn’t compare with the bone shield.
Judging from what just happened, this bone shield had a special ability that could swallow attacks, store them, and then send them back. Very few such artifacts had ever appeared in this world.
Yang Wei’s brow furrowed as he thought about it. In different people’s hands, this bone shield would definitely play different roles.
“Ninth Young Lord,” Meng Shan Yi spoke hesitantly, still somewhat unsettled as he looked straight at Yang Kai and asked in a deep voice. “Just now… did you really want to kill me?”
The damage caused by that energy beam was too great. Even though Meng Shan Yi had a Mysterious Grade artifact, it wouldn’t have been enough to save him.
If he had taken that attack head on, he might very well have died.
During the Inheritance War, death wasn’t unusual, but those who died were normally ordinary masters and disciples. As for the Young Lords and Young Ladies from the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, no one dared to kill them. As proof, over the years, no leading member of the younger generation from the Central Capital had ever died in the Inheritance War, even instances of them being heavily injured was quite small.
However, a moment ago, if it wasn’t for Ji Li defending him at a critical moment, Meng Shan Yi was afraid he would become the first to break this tradition.
Whether or not Yang Kai really intended to kill him, Meng Shan Yi had his concerns.
“What do you think?” Yang Kai gave a non-answer as he grinned at him.
Meng Shan Yi’s expression went black, his heartbeat speeding up a lot. It seemed like the Ninth Young Lord… really had some killing intent towards him.
“Big Brother, that’s how it is. Ninth Brother will take his leave.” Yang Kai nodded towards Yang Wei before wearing his face covering hat and walking towards the exit.
No one stopped him; Meng Shan Yi didn’t dare order another attack, and since Yang Wei didn’t have any intention of blocking Yang Kai’s way, the dozen or so Immortal Ascension Boundary masters naturally wouldn’t act rashly.
After Yang Kai had left, Yang Wei patted Meng Shan Yi’s shoulder and said, “Ninth Brother just wanted to give you a warning, he didn’t really intend on killing you.”
“Who knows?” Meng Shan Yi took a deep breath and calmed his frayed nerves, “In any case, I now know just how crazy the Ninth Young Lord is.”
Grinning wryly as he shook his head, “But as said, Ninth Young Lord daring to come here really was because he was certain he could leave. That bone shield… it’s too strange, even if it is a Mysterious Grade defensive artifact, it shouldn’t have been able to display such power.”
If all Mysterious Grade artifacts were so powerful, what would the point in cultivating be?
In general, a Mysterious Grade defence type artifact shouldn’t have been able to withstand the attacks from so many masters.
“I’m afraid Fifth Brother is out of luck!” Yang Wei said solemnly.
“Indeed.” Meng Shan Yi nodded in agreement.
Refining a Mysterious Grade defensive artifact so many days ahead of everyone else and Ying Jiu suddenly breaking the Qi Binding Seal restoring his peak strength, Yang Kai now had an overwhelming advantage over Yang Kang.
How could Yang Kang resist?
When Yang Kai brought his troops to attack Yang Kang, the latter most likely would still be trying to refine his own artifact. One was prepared, one would be caught off guard, and coupled with the difference in quantity of Blood Warriors and artifacts, Yang Kang’s defeat was all but assured!
“Shan Yi, you’re not suited for using plots,” Yang Wei frowned and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have used our own people to launch an attack here, I would have secretly sent word of Ninth Brother’s whereabouts to my other brother’s houses and then just sat back and watched the show.”
Listening to Yang Wei’s plan, Meng Shan Yi couldn’t help feeling stunned, turning a look of surprise towards Yang Wei. He had never thought that this blunt and stoic young man could actually come up with such sinister ideas.
But as he thought about it, Yang Wei’s proposal really was the perfect solution! If he had done so just now, he could have just relaxed and watched his enemies fight amongst themselves.
Suddenly feeling annoyed, he couldn’t help complaining, “Eldest Young Lord, since you had such an idea, why didn’t you tell me?”
In response, Yang Wei slowly shook his head, “I will settle things with him in the future. Before the end of the Inheritance War, I won’t attack Ninth Brother!”
“Understood.” Meng Shan Yi nodded lightly. Recalling the scene where he had just been exposed to mortal danger, he still felt slightly cold, and no longer dared to object.
Outside Yang Wei’s house, Yang Kai walked alone through the darkness. Such a big movement had obviously attracted many people’s attention.
When he snuck out he quickly hid himself and fortunately he didn’t seem to arouse anyone’s attention.
Ying Jiu followed close by in the shadows. Yang Kai quickly ducked into a dark alleyway and paused, taking several deep breaths to calm the raging blood in his chest.