As soon as Yang Kai activated the mirror-like Mysterious Grade artifact, Su Yan’s aura changed dramatically. She was clearly standing next to him, but in the eyes of the four masters from the Kang and Qiu Family, she had become ethereal, like her entire being was omnipresent. In other words, this woman, at this moment, had all but become one with this Mysterious Grade artifact.
The four people were stunned, not understanding why this was happening.
This Mysterious Grade artifact was clearly summoned by Yang Kai, so how could this young woman be the one resonating with it the strongest?
This phenomenon was also noticed by Yang Kai and Su Yan, both of them turning to one another, seeing the excitement in each other’s eyes.
When he had summoned the mirror artifact, Yang Kai hadn’t anticipated this result.
But in this moment, he understood.
Su Yan and he both cultivated the Joyous Unification Art, and their True Qis had formed a kind of circulation. As such, any artifact he had refined with his True Qi, to a certain extent, could be used by Su Yan, and vice versa.
This was equivalent to two people sharing their artifacts.
In particular, this mirror was primarily an ice attribute artifact, perfectly compatible with Su Yan’s True Qi attribute; it was basically tailor-made for her. While Yang Kai could use this artifact somewhat, because his True Qi attribute was the exact opposite, he was unable to fully display its strength; Su Yan, on the other hand, could utilize one hundred percent of its might.
During the artifact snatching battle at Po Jing Lake, Yang Kai felt that this artifact’s grade might be higher and had thus made it his priority target, leading to this unexpectedly fortuitous situation.
“This artifact is a barrier creation type!” One of the Kang Family masters shouted as he swept his eyes over their suddenly changed surroundings, the others beside him nodding in agreement, all of their expressions quite grave. They were all experienced people and could make quick and accurate assessments of their situation, so they naturally saw that this artifact was incredibly strong and sturdy at a glance.
This artifact had erected a dome like barrier around them, creating a type of small isolated space. Without breaking this barrier, the artifact would continue to maintain this isolated space, but breaking this barrier while Yang Kai and Su Yan were closely staring at them was obviously not going to be easy. How could the four masters dare act rashly? As the cold winds whistled and whipped around them, the ground became covered in a thick layer of frost as falling snow whirled around them.
All of a sudden, the four masters noticed that their True Qi was slowly being frozen! Immediately they began circulating their Secret Arts madly, but they were still unable to completely resist the chill around them, frost staining their hair and clothes only a moment later.
“How do you feel?” Yang Kai didn’t pay any attention to the four masters, but instead asked Su Yan curiously.
“My strength has increased a lot. I feel like… I can do anything!” Su Yan gently exclaimed, feeling a slight chill nip her nose, but still extremely comfortable.
Su Yan wasn’t one to boast or exaggerated, if she was saying so, it meant she really felt omnipotent within this barrier!
Yang Kai laughed heartily, “Good, then from now on this artifact is yours to use!”
“En,” Su Yan nodded lightly, without the slightest objection. Accepting something her man gifted her as though it was natural.
The conversation between the two youths reached the ears of four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters and caused all of their expressions to dim. Although a Mysterious Grade artifact was indeed powerful, none of them were weak, so how could they stand being so despised by two members of the younger generation?
“I’ll give it a try!” Su Yan whispered softly, waving her hand almost arbitrarily towards the four masters.
Instantly, the cold wind became even much more biting and the expressions on the four masters changed from unhappiness to fright. Although they had been able to stand their ground so far, with this drastic increase in cold pressure, their hair and extremities began freezing visibly faster.
To their horror, even when they pushed their True Qis to the limit, they couldn’t resist the invasion of this chill, their bodies soon beginning to shiver from the cold.
Su Yan’s brow rose for a moment before wrinkling slightly, seemingly trying to familiarize herself with the power of the artifact. As her expression fluctuated, the connection between her cold attribute True Qi and this frozen world deepened. With a fierce rumble, the ground which was covered in a thick layer of snow suddenly burst open as thousands of ice blades shot into the air, joining the already thick blizzard surrounding the four masters.
With no path to the Heavens nor door into the Earth, the four masters born into two of the world’s super-forces all felt extremely troubled. As their True Qi was slowly frozen, their responses became sluggish, further compromising their ability to defend themselves. Even though they somehow used their Martial Skills and Artifacts to block this round of attacks, before they could catch their breath, Su Yan’s next attack had arrived.
From the surrounding ice mountains, bright beams of light suddenly erupted, seemingly crossing space as they shot towards the four people.
As Yang Kai stood beside Su Yan, motionless, his heart pounded.
He hadn’t expected that with the help of this Mysterious Grade artifact, Su Yan’s strength could rise to this level, all on her own being able to suppress four Immortal Ascension Fifth Stage masters from the Central Capital Eight Great Families to the point where they could only defend themselves without being able to hit back.
This artifact had created the ideal combat environment for Su Yan. In this world, she was supreme!
Even as the real owner of this artifact, he had somehow degenerated into a mere spectator.
The power of the artifact was indeed terrible, but Su Yan’s strength was also unquestionable! With the two combined, this lopsided route was the result.
It was now only a matter of time before she beat these four; looking at Su Yan seemingly playing with a new toy, Yang Kai happily smiled.
Outside the barrier, Kang Zhan and Qiu Zi Ruo had both hurriedly brought their forces over, but none of them could approach within a hundred meters of this dome.
The chill that radiated from this barrier was too strong, even a hundred meters away, all of them had to circulate their Secret Arts to resist the invasion of the cold.
“Break it!” Kang Zhan shouted, taking the lead by pulling out his own Mysterious Grade artifact, which he had not used in the Inheritance War so far, poured in his True Qi, and attacked the barrier in front of him.
On the dome’s surface, a series of ripples quickly spread, the wind and snow that obstructed their view of the inside stagnating somewhat.
After this single strike, Kang Zhan’s breathing became somewhat heavy; his strength wasn’t that high, so the stress on his body and consumption of his True Qi from using a Mysterious Grade artifact wasn’t small. Fortunately, Qiu Zi Ruo also had an artifact of the same level and the other cultivators with them also unleashed a barrage of attacks to follow up.
After this round of attacks, the barrier seemed to weaken somewhat. Seeing this, Kang Zhan’s hope rose and he excitedly ordered, “Don’t stop! Continue until it breaks!”
The longer this situation dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for them. Most of the masters from their forces had already been drawn out to contain Ying Jiu, so if the four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Central Capital Eight Great Families were defeated inside this barrier now, Kang Zhan really had no idea how they would capture Yang Kai.
As this operation’s leader, he was more anxious than anyone else!
Everyone outside the barrier pushed their True Qi furiously, trying to break open this barrier even a moment sooner.
Suddenly, a few screams rang out from afar. Glancing over at the source, Kang Zhan’s face turned blue as he angrily yelled, “Xiang Chu, Nan Sheng! What are you doing?”
In the direction he was staring, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng had actually taken their forces and snuck over to where the members of High Heaven Pavilion were standing.
Since the beginning of the battle, these people had been standing there observing, not interfering just as Yang Kai and Kang Zhan agreed.
But when the snow and ice barrier appeared, Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu had turned their attention to them.
It was only after this outburst that Kang Zhan noticed their actions.
Nan Sheng, who was confronting the members of High Heaven Pavilion, completely ignored Kang Zhan’s question as he sneered, “Obediently surrender. If you resist, I have no problem playing with you!”
The few members of the older generation all wore ugly expressions as they stood in front of the young disciples; although they were angry, they didn’t dare launch an attack, quickly shouting, “Two Young Lords, just now, my Martial Nephew reached an agreement with your leader, are you going to go back on your word now?”
Nan Sheng snickered, “An agreement? I don’t know anything about that. Why don’t you try pointing out who made a deal with Yang Kai? Do you really think you High Heaven Pavilion trash are untouchable? After this young master is tramples all of you, what can Yang Kai say?”
“You go too far!”
“Too far?” Nan Sheng laughed, “Why don’t you go ask Yang Kai and see if he knows the meaning of going too far!”
After saying so, his expression became cold as he yelled, “Capture them all! Kill anyone who dares to resist! It seems like Yang Kai cares a great deal about you, let’s find out just how you’re really worth to him!”
Immediately, the Nan Family and Xiang Family people surrounded the members of High Heaven Pavilion, their expression grim and menacing.
Everyone from High Heaven Pavilion was furious, especially the members of the younger generation. Seeing that the situation was about to reach the level of an all-out conflict, Kang Zhan quickly rushed over and grabbed Nan Sheng’s collar, grinding his teeth and angrily interrogating, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Nan Sheng didn’t pay Kang Zhan’s anger any mind, just grinning back happily as he calmly replied, “Young Lord Kang, do you think the four masters from your Kang Family and Qiu Family can capture Yang Kai inside that ice and snow barrier?”
Kang Zhan’s brows wrinkled and his eyes flashed an unhappy light, coldly snorting back, “What does that have to do with what you’re doing right now?”
“Naturally my actions are related.” Nan Sheng said lightly, seemingly not having the slightest tension, “If those four masters can’t catch Yang Kai, this time’s operation can basically be declared a failure! After dispatching so many people, we couldn’t even defeat three people, if word of this were to spread… heh heh Young Lord Kang, what the consequences would be, do I have to explain?”
“What do you mean?” Kang Zhan gradually calmed down. Just now, seeing Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu act against these High Heaven Pavilion people, he thought their plan was to kill them to vent their anger.
Thinking so, he was naturally enraged, firstly, Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu’s actions were basically disregarding his face, and secondly, if possible he didn’t want to offend Yang Kai.
But now, there were neither any dead nor wounded, so he was at least willing to listen to Nan Sheng’s explanation.
Moreover, the situation in front of them really wasn’t good, if he was really to allow Yang Kai to escape; he would have no way to explain to Yang Zhao. His status was already not as good as that of Ye Xin Rou’s, and after such a disastrous failure it would only sink even lower.
“I don’t have any other meaning.” Even facing Kang Zhan’s inquiry, Nan Sheng just smiled coldly, “I only want to say that as long as we have chips in hand, even if those four Seniors fail, we’ll still be in control. Yang Kai likely won’t surrender because of them, but allowing us to leave shouldn’t be an issue. Young Lord Kang also saw the power of his Mysterious Grade artifact. If Yang Kai is determined to keep all of us here, could any of us possibly resist?”
Kang Zhan’s expression became solemn as he contemplated Nan Sheng’s words, reluctantly finding himself unable to refute.
It was obvious to everyone here that Yang Kai really cared about these High Heaven Pavilion people. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have proposed such a deal in the first place. Given the strength he had just displayed, and knowing his temper, if someone dared block his road, he wouldn’t have bothered discussing anything and simply attacked. The fact that he didn’t proved that he wasn’t willing to abandon these people.
With these people as a bargaining chip, could he force Yang Kai to submit? Unlikely, but escaping would be a simple matter!
“Young Lord Kang wouldn’t be worrying about a simple oral agreement with Yang Kai, right?” Nan Sheng saw his hesitation and sneered.
Kang Zhan wore an ugly expression but didn’t deny the charge. Although it was just a verbal agreement, as a Young Lord of one of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, he couldn’t just go back on his word or he would lose face. Since he had promised Yang Kai not to move against these High Heaven Pavilion people, if he arbitrarily reneged just because the situation suddenly became unfavourable, it would be inappropriate.
“Young Lord Kang, this is a critical situation. Do you want to see Yang Kai use that artifact to defeat all of us here?” Nan Sheng struck while the iron was hot, continuing to persuade.
Xiang Chu also chose this moment to chime in, “Young Lord Kang, please consider the greater good. I don’t deny that I hate Yang Kai to the extreme, but even without considering my personal feelings, this is our best option given the situation.”
Taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh, Kang Zhan’s hesitation turned to conviction and nodded, “So be it!”
He was also really afraid of Yang Kai and didn’t have much hope that the four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters would be able to defeat him.
When Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu heard this, their faces filled with joy.
Since they began participating in the Inheritance War, they had finally found an opportunity to exact revenge on Yang Kai, naturally they felt happy.
“Don’t embarrass them too much. Just grab two people.” Kang Zhan frowned and ordered.
“Good.” Nan Sheng nodded, snorting disdainfully as he swept his eyes over the members of High Heaven Pavilion, pointing to one of the older generation disciples and ordering someone to bring him over.
The middle aged man didn’t resist, even intentionally stopping some of the younger generation disciples from taking any rash actions.
At this moment, the enemy in front of them was too strong. If they were to retaliate then they would certainly be annihilated. Therefore, remaining calm and doing as they were told was all that they could do.
Seeing that no one from High Heaven Pavilion stood out to resist, Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu couldn’t help showing some disappointment, immediately cursing, “Cowards!”
Kang Zhan’s brow wrinkled; somewhat annoyed at their attempts to stimulate these High Heaven Pavilion people, but he ultimately didn’t say anything.
Nan Sheng’s eyes continued to wander around the crowd looking for a suitable target, suddenly noticing a pair of eyes glaring at him angrily and sneering, “take him!”
As soon as he spoke, one of the Nan Family masters charged into the crowd of High Heaven Pavilion disciples and retrieved the target.
This person wasn’t very old, even younger than Yang Kai, but his strength wasn’t bad, reaching the True Element Boundary Fifth Stage. Obviously, his aptitude was good.
It was also because of this that Nan Sheng chose him.
Two High Heaven Pavilion disciples were quickly brought before Nan Sheng, one old, one young. The old generation disciple still wore a calm expression, neither angry nor humble, but the younger disciple was actually grinning as he sneered at Nan Sheng. .
“Good eyes!” Nan Sheng nodded, suddenly slapping this youth across his face.
With a loud smack, a clear handprint appeared on this young man’s face and one of his teeth was knocked loose, blood leaking from his mouth.
Not uttering a word, this youth just silently turned his eyes back towards Nan Sheng sullenly.
Nan Sheng nearly popped a vein on his forehead, not having anticipated that this kid would remain so defiant; annoyed in his heart, he threw out another slap and yelled, “Little bastard!”
After being slapped twice, the young disciple’s cheeks swelled up and his mouth was stained with blood but the look in his eyes still didn’t change at all, not showing the slightest timidity, his look practically screaming ‘death before insult’!
Kang Zhan couldn’t help feeling a bit moved seeing the performance of this High Heaven Pavilion disciple.
“What is your name?” Kang Zhan asked.
The young disciple glanced at him faintly and said proudly, “Su Mu!”
“Su Mu…” Kang Zhan took a deep breath, nodded and muttered, “Seems High Heaven Pavilion really isn’t ordinary.”
If a simple young disciple had this kind of temperament, what about the others? These people, even if they were to kill all of them, would any of them yield or beg for mercy?
Silently contemplating this, for some reason, Kang Zhan felt the answer was a resounding no.
In response, Su Mu just sneered and said, “You can only bluff and bluster in front of me. Once my Senior Brother Yang comes out, you wouldn’t dare!”
Kang Zhan’s expression quickly dimmed. Just as Su Mu said, he really didn’t dare act ruthless in front of Yang Kai.
Nan Sheng was even more enraged, viciously kicking out Su Mu’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground before he sent out a series of slaps.
Kang Zhan didn’t even have time to stop him before Su Mu received a dozen slaps.
*Pa pa pa…* The sound was loud and resounding.
No one from High Heaven Pavilion moved, but the sound of their breathing became heavy, their eyes glowing red like wild beasts as they stared at Nan Sheng.
Their deafening silence was like the calm before a storm, causing Kang Zhan’s brown to furrow, quickly calling out, “Enough!”
Nan Sheng obediently stopped and let out a breath, grabbing Su Mu’s face and pulling out his sword, pressing it against his neck, “You really think I don’t dare to kill you?”
“You don’t have the guts.” Su Mu’s face was swollen and bloody, but his sneer never faded, as if he was completely unafraid of death.
Nan Sheng’s face twitched maliciously, hesitation and struggle filling his expression. The sword in his hand slowly pressed forward, leaving a bright red line on Su Mu’s neck, but never actually completed the act.
If he wanted to kill Su Mu right now, it would be quick and easy.
But thinking about Yang Kai seeking revenge, Nan Sheng couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread.
On the contrary, Su Mu still looked calm, without the slightest trace of fear; he could tell that Nan Sheng was terrified of Yang Kai.
“Let him go.” Kang Zhan took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. Nan Sheng wore a ruthless face, but on the inside he was just an indecisive spoiled child.
Nan Sheng’s fist clenched and he ground his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to kill this brat in front of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do the deed.
After Kang Zhan spoke these words, Nan Sheng knew he was riding a tiger. If he really let him go, it would be the same as admitting he didn’t have any guts. As the Young Lord of a first-class family, could Nan Sheng afford such a reputation?
A ruthless light flashing across his eyes, Nan Sheng stabbed out his sword.
With a loud splat, blood splashed out.
Su Mu’s right chest had been pierced through by the sword.
Nan Sheng’s expression became ferocious as he mercilessly threw Su Mu to the ground.
The others from High Heaven Pavilion were shocked and rushed forward to support Su Mu.
“You really thought I wouldn’t dare to kill you?” Nan Sheng spat madly as his face warped with anger.
“You bastard!” Kang Zhan was also shocked, roaring angrily as he kicked Nan Sheng, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Just now, when Nan Sheng was slapping Su Mu, he didn’t stop him. After all, although he looked somewhat miserable, he wasn’t really hurt. After a few days of healing he would be as good as new so Yang Kai shouldn’t have cared, but this sword wound was no minor matter.
Fortunately, it seemed like Nan Sheng was still hesitant to actually kill him.
He had chosen to pierce Su Mu’s right chest. If he had chosen to pierce his left side where his heart was instead, Su Mu would probably have died immediately!
A series of enraged roars came from the mouths of the High Heaven Pavilion disciples and many of them began launching attacks towards the Xiang and Nan Family cultivators.
“None of you bastards is allowed to hit back!” Kang Zhan roared at the two family’s cultivators as he hurried forward, took a jade bottle from his sleeve, poured out a healing pill and stuffed it directly into Su Mu’s bloody mouth.
As he did so, Kang Zhan also suffered a number of attacks from the High Heaven Pavilion people. Fortunately, he wore a high grade defensive armour and wasn’t injured.
Perceiving his intentions, the people gathered around Su Mu did not stop him and the several older generation members quickly began revolving their True Qi to help Su Mu heal.
*Ju…*
A crisp sound suddenly spread from afar.
Kang Zhan turned his head and saw that the barrier created by the Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank artifact disappeared in a flash of light.
The remaining snow in the sky gently fell to the ground.
In the center of where the barrier once stood, Yang Kai and the young woman reappeared, a cold wind still swirling around them.
A few meters in front of the pair there were four ice-sculptures posed in a series of odd positions.
Naturally these sculptures were the four masters from the Kang and Qiu Families!
The stiff expressions on the faces of the four ice sculptures clearly showed everyone that none of them could believe what was happening to them.
Kang Zhan felt a chill shoot up his back as his expression twitched violently.
Although he faintly felt that the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters would be able to capture Yang Kai, he hadn’t thought the end result of their battle would be so lopsided.
As soon as the cultivators gathered around the barrier saw Yang Kai and Su Yan emerge, all of them leapt backwards, looks of fear and terror covering their faces.
There weren’t many powerhouses left among them, even if there were some Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators remaining, they were only ordinary Fourth or Fifth Stage masters.
After seeing the elites from the Eight Great Families frozen into ice sculptures, none of dared challenge these two juniors.
Qiu Zi Ruo’s face also went pale as he sucked in a sharp breath, his heart filled with a sense of horror.
Yang Kai glanced at him and said faintly, “They won’t die, but if they want to free themselves it will take them at least half a day.”
Qiu Zi Ruo nodded half dazed and somehow managed to mutter out, “Many thanks for Ninth Young Lord’s discretion!”
Yang Kai simply nodded and said no more.
After all, these four people were from the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families; he could teach them a harsh lesson, even seriously injure them, and it wouldn’t matter. However, killing or crippling them would not end so easily.
Sometimes the best way to demonstrate your strength was to show mercy, so Yang Kai had let Su Yan spare their lives. Even so, after they managed to break out of their ice prisons, Yang Kai estimated that it would be a month or two before they fully recovered.
Looking around, Yang Kai immediately discovered the commotion surrounding the High Heaven Pavilion members, and although it wasn’t immediately clear what had happened, he realized that something was wrong and his expression couldn’t not help but sink.
“Senior Brother Yang, Senior Sister Su!” Li Yun Tian shouted tearfully, “Brother Su… Brother Su was stabbed!”
Su Yan’s beautiful face suddenly discoloured and her figure flickered as she rushed into the crowd, Yang Kai following close behind.
Staring at the scene before him, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as wrath began filling his face.
In the middle of the crowd, Su Mu had already gone pale, kneeling limply on the ground. A sword was inserted in his right chest and thrust straight out his back. With blood leaking from his mouth and wound, his vitality slowly draining as he struggled for each breath, cringing the whole time as he endured his urge to scream.
One of the Martial Uncles from High Heaven Pavilion sat behind him, his hands pressed against his back as he poured his True Qi into Su Mu.
Su Yan’s eyes quickly became wet.
She and Su Mu were real brother and sister. Seeing her younger brother in such a miserable state, how could she not feel tearful?
Yang Kai pushed open the crowd and quickly stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing Su Mu’s wrist, examining his condition for a moment before squeezing open Su Mu’s mouth and feeding him some Myriad Drug Milk.
Bracing Su Mu, Yang Kai pulled out the long sword inserted into his chest, bringing with it a splash of blood.
Quickly using his True Qi to seal the flow of blood to Su Mu’s wound, he turned to Su Yan and gently comforted, “He’ll be alright.”
Su Yan nodded lightly.
Having fed him the Myriad Drug Milk, Su Mu’s life wouldn’t be in any danger, and may even turn this tragedy into a blessing. At the very least, his constitution and strength would be improved, but… if it wasn’t for Yang Kai and Su Yan’s swift appearance, if they had taken even half an hour longer to defeat the four Qiu and Kang Family masters, things may have turned out very different.
Even if Su Mu didn’t die, he would likely end up crippled for life!
Standing slowly, Yang Kai’s expression became incredibly calm as he turned and stared at Kang Zhan standing nearby.
Kang Zhan suddenly felt his mouth go dry. Seeing Yang Kai stare silently at him made him realize this time things would not end simply.
“Who did it?” Yang Kai stared at Kang Zhan and asked solemnly.
Kang Zhan swallowed and hesitated, “Ninth Young Lord, this was just an accident…”
“Who did it!”
Kang Zhan’s brow furrowed. Although he knew Yang Kai’s strength was tyrannical, as the leader of this operation and one of the Young Lords of the Central Capital, he naturally couldn’t act too timid, quickly saying, “Ninth Young Lord, this is the Inheritance War. It’s normal for one or two people to be injured or killed. You and I are enemies, and your friend’s life isn’t in any danger. Even if he really died, that’s all there is to it. Has Ninth Young Lord not taken the lives of many others during this war?”
“I’ve indeed taken many lives.” Yang Kai didn’t deny Kang Zhan’s claim, “If the relatives and friends of those people want to take revenge on me, they are welcome to seek me out. As such, now that one of my friends has been hurt, I have to take revenge for him, so I must know who did it.”
Kang Zhan suddenly froze up. Where there are contradictions and resentments, there is revenge. Since he just said that injuries and death are perfectly normal, what right did he have now to stop Yang Kai from seeking revenge? What’s more, the two of them had previously agreed that the people of High Heaven Pavilion would not be harmed in this fight as long as they didn’t intervene.
Now that someone from High Heaven Pavilion had been seriously wounded in violation of that agreement, Kang Zhan really didn’t have any moral ground to stand on.
Kang Zhan fell into a dilemma, if he was to sell out someone on his side just like that, he would appear spineless, but he really was afraid of what Yang Kai might do if he continued to feign ignorance.
“It was them!” Li Yun Tian suddenly stood up and angrily shouted, point his finger towards the far side of the crowd, “Those two groups are the ones who wanted to kill Brother Su!”
Turning his eyes in the direction of Li Yun Tian’s pointed finger, Yang Kai saw none other than Nan Sheng and and Xiang Chu.
Turning his gaze towards them as well, Kang Zhan frowned deeply as he suddenly discovered that Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu had at some point quietly slipped away and returned to their own camps.
The two of them had escaped, leaving him behind to wipe their asses. Kang Zhan was naturally furious!
“Them huh? I understand.” Yang Kai nodded lightly before turning his gaze back to Kang Zhan, coldly saying, “Young Lord Kang, I told you that the people from High Heaven Pavilion not participating in this battle was for your own good! It seems like you didn’t believe me when I said that if they were to suffer any losses I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from killing you.”
Kang Zhan was momentarily dumbstruck, his eyes quickly filling with fear.
He discovered that the aura Yang Kai was projecting had suddenly become violent and bloody as he released a thick murderous intent.
Almost subconsciously, Kang Zhan retreated as Yang Kai glared at him, raised his hand, and stabbed the sword which had formerly been pierced through Su Mu’s right chest towards him.
Kang Zhan face went pale, never having imagined that once Yang Kai said he would kill, he really would kill. Hastily pushing his True Qi and using his strongest Martial Skill, he tried to resist, but against the devastating force of Yang Kai’s thrust, Kang Zhan’s attempt to defend himself was meaningless.
*Pu…*
Kang Zhan let out a strained cough as his right chest was pierced by the long sword, just like Su Mu. Under the huge force of this strike, he stumbled back a dozen steps before finally stabilizing his stance.
His whole body trembling violently, Kang Zhan stared towards Yang Kai in total disbelief.
The entire crowd went dead silent, all of their faces showing utter shock!
For the first time in the Inheritance War, one of the Young Lords from the Central Capital Eight Great Families had been injured, seriously injured at that!
Usually, it was impossible for any of the Young Lords from the Eight Great Families involved in Inheritance War to suffer real harm, much less have to worry about their lives. No one had ever dared to kill them; at most, they would defeat them and force them to withdraw.
But now, this age old precedent that had been maintained for countless years had been broken.
Kang Zhan slowly lowered his head and stared at the long sword in his chest. Even as the dull pain gradually began to spread from his wound, he still couldn’t believe that Yang Kai had really stabbed him; his courage had simply reached the point where he didn’t fear the Heavens.
“Ninth Young Lord…” Kang Zhan muttered, his mouth filling with blood and his breathing becoming laboured.
Yang Kai simply glared at him coldly and said, “If you weren’t from the Eight Great Families, I would kill you where you stand!”
Kang Zhan’s face paled visibly as an icy chill tightly gripping his heart. He didn’t dare say another word, quickly sinking to the ground before taking out a high grade healing pill and swallowing it.
As the wind whistled across the battlefield, Yang Kai stepped forward, releasing a pressure towards the crowd that felt as if a mountain was pressing down on them, each of them feeling the breath of death upon their necks.
From the people Yang Zhao had deployed, besides Kang Zhan who was focused on healing himself, the four ice sculptures a short distance away, and the dozen plus masters battling Ying Jiu, everyone else had all gathered in one place.
Headed by Qiu Zi Ruo, all of them had a look of panic on their face.
“What should I do? What do I do?” Qiu Zi Ruo muttered, his face pale as he anxiously asked the people around him.
This time’s operation was supposed to be directed by Kang Zhan, but now that he had been seriously wounded, this burden naturally fell to Qiu Zi Ruo.
Facing such a strong and ruthless character like Yang Kai, who hadn’t even hesitated to stab Kang Zhan through his chest, Qiu Zi Ruo couldn’t summon any courage to resist, he was afraid that if he were to try putting up a strong front, his fate would be the same as Kang Zhan’s.
Unfortunately for him, since he had no idea what to do, how could anyone else?
“Nan Sheng, all of this stemmed from your actions! You tell me, what we should do now?” Qiu Zi Ruo turned and yelled at Nan Sheng.
Nan Sheng’s previously domineering and arrogant attitude had vanished, replaced with fear and depression as he licked his dry lips, saying nothing.
Seeing Qiu Zi Ruo’s flustered reaction, a hint of disdain and hostility flashed across Xiang Chu’s eyes as he said, “Young Lord Qiu, Yang Kai is just one man. What is there to fear? What he and Young Lord Kang said was the truth: In the Inheritance War, there’s nothing wrong with one or two people being injured or dying. What’s more, that kid isn’t even dying. Yang Kai is clearly just raising a fuss over a trivial matter, he has no right to criticize our actions! Now is still a good opportunity for us to eliminate Yang Kai. Young Lord Qiu should act decisively and grab it, all of us await your orders.”
“Bullshit!” Qiu Zi Ruo roared, “Yang Kai and Young Lord Kang both warned you two not to touch those High Heaven Pavilion people. Moreover, Yang Kai also just showed mercy to our people, but you… you… damn your eighteen generations of ancestors!”
Xiang Chu expression blackened, deeply disappointed with Qiu Zi Ruo’s weakness.
As these two spoke, Yang Kai had already approached to within ten meters of the crowd; he was just one man facing seven forces, yet he showed no fear. Although all of the top masters were occupied or disabled, his enemy still had a massive numerical advantage including several Immortal Ascension masters.
“Qiu Zi Ruo,” Yang Kai shouted, “You are Qiu Yi Meng’s brother. I don’t want to embarrass you, so stand aside.”
A look of joy flashed across Qiu Zi Ruo’s face but, just as he was about to open his mouth and agree, he paused, furrowed his brow, and shook his head, “Ninth Young Lord, your offer, this Qiu will have to decline.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Seems you have some backbone!”
Without saying anything else, a light suddenly flashed, and a giant bone shield appeared in his hands.
“It’s that Mysterious Grade artifact!” Qiu Zi Ruo and others looked slightly confused.
Yang Kai had only used this artifact once in public during the attack on Yang Kang’s mansion; as such, everyone knew how outstanding the defensive strength of this artifact was and that it had the ability to swallow True Qi based attacks. With it equipped, Yang Kai’s defense could be said to be impregnable.
But at this moment, why had Yang Kai summoned it? This act made everyone here feel quite puzzled. Did Yang Kai perhaps want to consolidate his defence before attacking?
Before they could think through all of this thought, a dangerous aura began filling the air.
Thin bolts of lightning began flashing across the bone shield’s surface before a violent flash of energy burst forth from its gaping mouth.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
A lifelike meter-thick lightning dragon rushed out from the mouth of the bone shield, coiling through the air. Reaching several tens of meters in length, a potent destructive aura radiated from it as it stared down the remaining members of the seven forces.
“How is this possible?” Qiu Zi Ruo exclaimed.
There were many kinds of artifacts out there but they could broadly be grouped into three categories, offensive, defensive, and auxiliary. This bone shield of Yang Kai’s was clearly used for defense, so how could it suddenly display such great offensive might?
On top of that, this lightning dragon seemed was something they had witnessed before!
“It’s the power from Yang Kang’s Mysterious Grade artifact!” Xiang Chu screamed and suddenly realized that the bone shield in Yang Kai’s hand could not only swallow True Qi attacks but could also store and then release them.
This giant lightning dragon was clearly the ability Yang Kang’s Mysterious Grade artifact had displayed when he and Yang Kai had fought more than two months ago.
At that time, this lightning dragon must have been swallowed up by Yang Kai’s bone shield, and now he was preparing to unleash it.
Could anyone here resist the power of a Mysterious Grade artifact?
Only if they had a Mysterious Grade defensive artifact like the bone shield in Yang Kai’s hands!
When the number of lightning dragons that emerged from the bone shield’s mouth reached eight, they suddenly roared furiously and charged towards the crowd. Meanwhile, the group headed by Qiu Zi Ruo just stood there dumbstruck, a mix of disbelief and despair filling their faces as the heard the bells of death toll for them.
If there were still masters here, they could rely on them to block these lightning dragons, but all of the masters that had been deployed for this ambush were either pinned down or encased in ice. There was no one left with the strength to resist this attack.
Soon, someone panicked and ran. Then, like an explosion had gone off in their minds, waking them from their stupor, everyone screamed and fled, each of them soaring up into the air or scrambling across the ground, desperate to escape the lightning dragons’ wrath.
Xiang Chu’s mind at this moment was surprisingly clear, loudly clamoring for everyone to band together to resist. However, in this chaotic scene, he was powerless to change anything. Even Qiu Zi Ruo was escaping, so how could he hope for others to stand and fight?
*Hong hong hong…*
*Ka cha…*
Those lightning dragons were like all-conquering swords, radiating supreme and unmatchable power and rampaging through the crowd. Those with better luck who were struck by one of these eight dragons fell to the ground, twitching and powerless. Those who weren’t lucky were directly incinerated.
The few remaining Immortal Ascension Boundary masters desperately protected their Young Lords and Ladies, doing their best to evade the lightning dragons, running around like whipped dogs.
Cries of pain and screams of terror resounded. Before the power of this Mysterious Grade artifact, life was cheap, harvested as easily as wheat.
Upon hearing these voices, Kang Zhan, who was still revolving his healing art, struggled to open his eyes only to bear witness to this miserable scene, his blood immediately freezing over.
Only now did he realize that what Yang Kai had said to him before was true.
Him not wanting these people from High Heaven Pavilion to participate in the battle really was for his and his side’s own good! Nan Sheng had only injured a single High Heaven Pavilion disciple and it had already provoked such wanton killing. If someone from High Heaven Pavilion had really been killed by them, then… would anyone here be able to return to War City?
Kang Zhan didn’t dare to think about it anymore, instead closing his eyes once more and doing his best to ignore the sounds of death around him.
On the other hand, everyone from High Heaven Pavilion suddenly looked excited, one by one clenching their fists and shouting out.
After enduring all the humiliation they had just received, at this moment, they saw all of it paid back a hundred times over.
Yang Kai alone had caused seven forces to scatter in panic, none of them able to escape or defend themselves, much less hit back.
A purple halo of light suddenly rippled through the air, as if someone had tossed a giant stone into the centre of a calm lake, washing over the cultivators who were already enduring the lightning dragons’ assault.
Along with these ripples of light came a frigid Divine Sense attack filled with a frigid demonic chill.
Soul Skill! Yang Kai had unscrupulously sent out a wide area Divine Sense attack.
Whenever this Spiritual Energy hit a cultivator, they would suddenly collapse, a sharp pain like needles piercing their minds causing them to shriek as an evil energy wore down their Souls.
Rendered powerless to resist, these incapacitated cultivators became easy prey for the lightning dragons.
Only the few remaining Immortal Ascension masters managed to withstand this Soul Skill, but none of them could avoid some pain in the process.
Wails of sorrow and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
It was only after several dozen breaths of time that the eight lightning dragons gradually dissipated, the power of the Mysterious Grade artifact finally expended. Simultaneously, Yang Kai stopped projecting his Soul Skill. In this barren wilderness, countless people lay on the ground, some just stunned, others wounded, and a fair number of them dead.
The seven forces that had participated in this mission were originally three hundred strong, but at this moment, only two hundred or so were still alive.
The bodies scattered atop this field were all burnt black like charcoal, wisps of smoke still rising from them.
Qiu Zi Ruo sank to the ground, his eyes dim and his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Having just escaped from the jaws of death, his mood was a bit complicated.
Compared to so many of those around him, he was basically unharmed.
When he had begun participating in the Inheritance War, he wasn’t afraid of anything. He couldn’t imagine a scenario where his life would be in any danger, but after today, he no longer dared to think so.
He didn’t know whether Yang Kai had scruples about him because of Qiu Yi Meng or if his luck had just been amazing, allowing him to avoid falling victim to the lightning dragons. Nevertheless, seeing Yang Kai massacre so many people so easily really frightened him.
It was as if the very depths of his soul had been covered with a huge shadow, seemingly laughing at him, able to take his life whenever it pleased.
“Young Lord Qiu, we have to go!” A random Immortal Ascension Boundary master from one of the seven forces, seeing Qiu Zi Ruo fall into this morbid state, rushed over and picked him up before flying off towards War City.
After suffering such a terrible assault, this master couldn’t summon any fighting spirit and didn’t dare to remain, now just wanting to run away as fast as possible.
In fact, almost everyone here was the same, putting everything they had into escape, unable to care about anyone but themselves.
“Why are you all running?” Xiang Chu screamed, “His artifact can’t be used any longer and after releasing such a big attack he’s sure to be exhausted! Now is the best time to capture him! Young Lord Qiu, Young Lord Qiu! Where is Young Lord Qiu?”
Obviously, no one cared about Xiang Chu’s ravings. He wasn’t qualified to issue any orders here in the first place, but even if he was, amidst this hellish purgatory, no one would have listened to him anyways.
As he was shouting madly, Xiang Chu suddenly felt a sharp gaze fall upon him.
Turning his head, his eyes perfectly met with Yang Kai’s cold stare.
His heart leaping into his throat, Xiang Chu unconsciously stumbled backwards a few steps.
“Junior Brother Xiang, let’s go. There’s nothing more we can do here.” Nan Sheng rushed up and pulled him.
Xiang Chu ground his teeth angrily, staring back at Yang Kai with a vicious and resentful look before shouting, “Retreat!”
[A group of cowards! Together with such a group of people, how could they ever amount to anything?] Xiang Chu was extremely depressed thinking about how, at Tai Fang Mountain, if only he had not offended Yang Kai and instead been able to make a good impression on him, would he have been the one following him today, achieving miracle after miracle and basking in the glory of victory?
However, there were no redos in this world. Xiang Chu only hated how he had eyes but failed to see and wound up offending such a monster.
The cultivators from the seven forces either escaped or lay dead, and in the blink of an eye, no one was left.
“Do you think, I’ll let you go?” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly rang in everyone’s ears; although this voice wasn’t loud, it was no less impactful than the boom of thunder.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu both couldn’t help looking back, but when they saw Yang Kai still standing there, not chasing after them, they both felt a great sense of relief. Apparently, he was just trying to scare all of them.
Flying at their fastest speed, both of them only wanted to reach Yang Zhao’s mansion in War City so they could hide out and wait for Yang Kai’s anger to subside, or possibly let Yang Zhao come forward to mediate the matter.
Yang Kai’s True Qi and Blood Force swelled up before settling, showing he had regained his calm. Turning towards Su Mu, who was now in a coma, and Su Yan, whose eyes were still red and swollen, he lightly said, “You wait here for half a day before catching up. By that time, Su Mu’s condition should be stable enough to travel.”
Su Yan glanced over in surprise, looking up at Yang Kai and asking, “What about you?”
“Those who dare harm our Sect’s people must pay the price!”
Finished with what he had to say, like a bolt of lightning, Yang Kai shot off into the sky, radiating a frightening murderous aura.
Any cultivator from the seven forces who was still alive and currently struggling to escape gradually relaxed after flying a hundred kilometers or so. Looking back and not seeing any pursuers, each of them couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
Recalling the tragedy they had just experienced, chills ran up their spines and they quickly thanked the Heaven’s for blessing them with good luck today.
A group of roughly twenty escapees glanced around at each other, not knowing where the rest of their allies were or how far they had fled.
“We should be okay now, right?” Someone asked nervously, everyone here obviously still very much on edge.
“Ninth Young Lord doesn’t put any weight on human lives…” As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately nodded in agreement.
“It’s all that Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu’s fault, if it weren’t for those two bastards how could we have become so distressed?”
“What did you say?” Someone stood up in anger, “My Nan Family’s Young Master was simply taking the bigger picture into consideration. What the hell do you count for? How dare you curse Young Master Nan!”
“Did I say anything wrong? Considering the bigger picture? Hah, bullshit! Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu were clearly just trying to find a way to vent their anger! You really think we don’t know that your Nan and Xiang Families have deep grudges with the Ninth Young Lord and have repeatedly suffered losses at his hands? Isn’t the whole point of you participating in the Inheritance War this time just to retaliate against him?”
“Shut your dog mouth!”
“I’m just telling the truth. Honestly, what were you Nan and Xiang Family people thinking, daring to fight with a Yang Family’s Young Lord! Why don’t you polish your dog eyes and take a look at reality. Even if Second Young Lord really wins the Inheritance War, what can Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng really do to oppose Yang Kai? At most, you people can only grumble and curse him behind his back!”
“Are you from the Nan Family?” As the two people were arguing, a low cold voice suddenly drifted into everyone’s ears.
The cultivator who was defending Nan Sheng proudly raised his head and shouted, “What of it?”
But just as he spoke these words, a blood red petal shot through his head. Everyone stared blankly for a moment before all the colour drained from their faces, slowly turning their eyes towards a figure deeply printed into their nightmares quietly floating above their heads.
“N… nin… Ninth Young Lord!” After clearly seeing the face of the person who had just killed the Nan Family cultivator, everyone trembled in fear as they stared at Yang Kai in horror.
They hadn’t expected Yang Kai to really pursue them.
Of the twenty or so people in this group, there was only one who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and he was just a Third Stage master from a random force.
Suddenly seeing Yang Kai appear here, everyone subconsciously gathered towards this Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator, seemingly wanting to find some sense of security.
On the other hand, this Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivator couldn’t help swallowing nervously.
While he was a genuine Immortal Ascension master, his combat power was extremely ordinary. For Yang Kai, who could fight evenly with Liu Qing Yao, wouldn’t he be nothing more than fish on a chopping board?
This man knew he was definitely not Liu Qing Yao’s opponent!
The only thing that made him feel a little relieved was that after Yang Kai killed the Nan Family man he hadn’t immediately started slaughtering everyone else but instead stared and asked, “Who else is from the Nan or Xiang Family?”
The twenty plus people here suddenly realized what Yang Kai wanted to do.
Injustice would bring about punishment, debts would be paid. The Ninth Young Lord intended to execute every last Xiang and Nan Family cultivator!
No one dared to answer, lest they inadvertently say too much and bring Yang Kai’s wrath down upon them.
Facing Yang Kai’s inquiry, no one dared to answer, only the loud pounding sound of their nervous hearts resounded through the deafening silence.
Waiting only a moment, Yang Kai quickly lost patience and coldly declared, “If you don’t speak, you can all die, if you talk, I’ll spare you!”
“Him! He’s from the Xiang Family!” Someone immediately couldn’t bear the pressure and pointed to a person nearby him.
Having been exposed, the man screamed in terror and tried to run.
Unfortunately, before he could take more than a single step, a blood-red petal shot towards him and pierced through the back of his head.
Following his momentum, the man fell face first to the ground and rolled a few times before never moving again.
“Anyone else?” Yang Kai asked again.
Everyone violently shook their heads, indicating that there were no more people among them from the two families.
Yang Kai swept his eyes over the crowd for a moment before shooting off into the distance again.
Seeing him keep his promise, really sparing those who weren’t from the Xiang or Nan Families, the survivors let out long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground, powerless. With great beads of sweat falling from their foreheads, the cold wind caused their bodies to tremble unconsciously.
“Don’t let me see you again in War City!” From far away, Yang Kai’s voice reached their ears…
The crowd once more jumped to their feet and nodded quickly, “Yes, yes, you will never see us again!”
After narrowly surviving this calamity, none of them dared to return to War City anymore. None of them could summon the courage to face this slaughtering god again!
If Yang Kai alone was strong to this ridiculous extent, then what about the powerful masters who still sat in his house? Originally, this group of people was quite optimistic about Yang Zhao, believing he could rely on his vast numerical superiority and wide network of forces to obtain the final victory in the Inheritance War, allowing them to drink a cup of soup after the Second Young Lord finished with the meat.
But now, none of them dared to think so.
Shortly after, seventy kilometers away, Yang Kai once again killed three cultivators who belonged to the Nan and Xiang Families, leaving behind another terrified group of cultivators before disappearing again.
Yang Kai wasn’t someone who enjoyed indulging in indiscriminate slaughter, but when he needed to be ruthless, he would be ruthless, and when he could show mercy, then he would show mercy.
Just as he didn’t let Su Yan kill the four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Qiu Family and Kang Family. That was, of course, also because he had scruples about the intricate relationships between the Eight Great Families.
However, this time, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng had crossed his bottom line.
Although these two had consistently been targeting him and his allies since the beginning of the Inheritance War, Yang Kai hadn’t paid them any mind since it was true that when enemies met during the Inheritance War, deaths inevitably would occur on both sides.
But this time was different; these people were the last foundation remaining from High Heaven Pavilion and represented its hope for revival.
Moreover, he had reached an agreement with Kang Zhan, yet Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu had still taken action against them.
The moment he saw what had happened, Yang Kai swore he would not left off a single person from the Xiang or Nan Families.
He was going to use these two families’ forces to warn the world that anyone who moved against High Heaven Pavilion would suffer the tiger’s fury!
Chasing down various groups of fleeing cultivators, Yang Kai executed any and all members of the Xiang and Nan Families he encountered, not showing the slightest mercy, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
After an entire day of pursuit, Yang Kai had traveled close to three thousand kilometers and finally caught sight of Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng.
The two were amongst a group of people still struggling along, having not stopped for a moment to rest the whole time. At this moment, their True Qi was all but exhausted and their breathing was ragged.
They had thought that once they returned to War City they would be safe, so to prevent any accidents from happening, they had forced themselves to keep traveling, but how could they have imagined that with their goal in sight, Yang Kai would really catch up with them?
When they felt a murderous and bloody aura lock on to them, everyone in this group turned their gaze towards the sky behind them and called out in shock, “Ninth Young Lord has caught up!”
“What!?” Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu paled with fright, also turning around and discovering Yang Kai’s figure crashing towards them, like a great scarlet meteor.
“Has he gone crazy?” Nan Sheng stared blankly, “All this for a single disciple from High Heaven Pavilion? “
Xiang Chu’s expression also darkened, all the blood draining from his face as he nodded subconsciously, “I’m afraid we really crossed the line this time!”
“Junior Brother Xiang, what should we do now?” Nan Sheng said as cold sweat began gathering on his brow, “Hurry up and think of something!”
“We have to make it back to War City, there’s no other option. As long as we return to Second Young Lord’s mansion, we can still survive!” Xiang Chu grit his teeth and desperately increased his speed.
Nan Sheng cursed viciously, thinking that Xiang Chu’s plan was equivalent to having no plan at all, but he didn’t voice his complaint directly. The most crucial thing right now was escaping Yang Kai’s pursuit.
The members of this group were already empty oil lamps after fleeing for an entire day at the fastest pace they could sustain; at this moment, seeing how fast Yang Kai was gaining on them, none of them were confident they could make it to War City before being overtaken.
Just what kind of monster was he? Did his True Qi reserve have no bottom? After chasing them for so long, his murderous intent hadn’t weakened at all. In fact, it was stronger and bloodier than the last time they faced each other. Clearly his fighting spirit had reached its peak, and he would not give up no matter the cost.
Without any time to complain, Nan Sheng quickly took out a few True Qi supplementing pills and furiously crunched them, also raising his speed to maximum.
“You can’t escape!” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly reached them from behind, causing everyone who heard it to feel like their hearts were being gripped by the icy hand of death, “Xiang Family, Nan Family, not one of you will survive!”
“Ninth Young Lord, we’re not Xiang Family people, nor Nan Family people!” A young leader of one of the seven forces couldn’t bear the overwhelming pressure Yang Kai’s pursuit brought him and quickly shouted.
“Then kill the people from the Nan and Xiang Families around you and I will spare your lives!”
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng’s faces both changed greatly, quickly sweeping their eyes around at the people near them with great vigilance, for fear that these people would really take action against them.
For this ambush mission, the Nan and Xiang Families had deployed almost seventy people, but after suffering the devastating attack from Yang Kai’s lightning dragons, those who had survived had dispersed and escaped separately. Now, there were less than twenty of them gathered here. They were outnumbered by the other forces around them by a ratio of three to one.
If these people really listened to the temptation of Yang Kai and began attacking them, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng were certain they wouldn’t survive.
Fortunately, the people who heard Yang Kai’s words didn’t immediately act and hesitation could be seen on their faces. Regardless of what had transpired, they were still allies of the Xiang and Nan Family cultivators. Therefore, they would hesitate to backstab their former allies with only Yang Kai’s words
Seeing all of their hesitation, Xiang Chu quickly shouted, “Everyone, Brother Nan and I are heirs to first-class families. If you really try to kill us here, I’m sure you yourselves understand what the consequences will be.”
Those who were still hesitating also suddenly awoke after these words. If they were originally hostile to each other, then even if they killed or butchered them here, no one would say anything, but right now all of them were allies of Yang Zhao. If they really slaughtered their allies here in order to save themselves and word of it spread out, their families and Sects would be shunned and disgraced as cowards and traitors. This was something none of them could afford.
Compared with their own lives, the honor and integrity of their respective forces was more important.
What’s more, whether Yang Kai could really catch up to them before they made it to War City wasn’t certain, and even if he did overtake them, while he was fighting the Nan and Xiang Family people they would still have an opportunity to escape.
“Young Master Nan, Young Master Xiang, rest assured, we would never try to kill you.” Someone immediately said in a righteous tone.
“Very good.” Xiang Chu nodded slightly, breathing slightly easier.
Behind them though, Yang Kai seemed to be able to hear their entire exchange and without changing his expression coldly snorted and shouted, “Since you’re not willing to kill the Nan and Xiang Family dogs, I won’t force you! As long as you can stop Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng for me, I won’t find trouble with you. Refuse, and I swear none of you will live to see tomorrow’s sunrise!”
The atmosphere that had just relaxed suddenly became tense once more.
The condition Yang Kai put forward this time was not only simpler, but also easier to accept. After all, they just needed to slightly hinder Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu. As long as they didn’t kill them personally, it wouldn’t be a complete betrayal.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu were also well aware of this and quickly led their own people away from the other cultivators in their group.
Nan Sheng even angrily roared towards the distance, “Yang Kai, do you think you’re something great? If not for having scruples about your identity, do you believe this young master would allow you to embarrass me so?”
In response though, Yang Kai just sneered coldly, “Regarding this kind of thing, I’m just studying what you taught me back at Tai Fang Mountain. When you and Xiang Chu schemed against and wantonly bullied those around you, did you give a fuck about right or wrong? At Tai Fang Mountain you acted all domineering and arrogant, taking lives however you pleased, but now that you’re faced with a Young Lord from a super family, do you only have the courage to escape?”
Facing this cold sarcasm, Nan Sheng suddenly couldn’t utter any rebuttal.
At Tai Fang Mountain, he had indeed acted arrogantly, bullying and oppressing Yang Kai and the members of Storm Hall and Blood Battle Gang, even trying to force the Hu Sisters to become concubines.
Fortunately, at that time, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian had promptly arrived and revealed Yang Kai’s true identity, causing Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu to choke back down their arrogance. Otherwise, after that battle, both Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall would have suffered serious losses and even if Yang Kai managed to escape, the price he would pay to do so wouldn’t be small.
It was time to clear away all their debts, Yang Kai didn’t have the patience to continue entangling himself with these two fools.
“Not good, Ninth Young Lord is gaining on us!” Someone exclaimed.
Many cultivators turned their heads instinctively at these words and immediately went pale, they discovered that during Yang Kai and Nan Sheng’s short exchange, he had actually closed a large part of the gap between them. At this rate, he really would catch up with them before they reached War City.
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng also panicked.
Sensing his aura inflate suddenly, it seemed like Yang Kai was preparing to attack them.
This discovery made everyone feel even more helpless. The shocking blow the bone shield had released was still fresh in all of their minds; naturally, all of them were afraid of the Ninth Young Lord’s awe inspiring methods.
*Shua shua shua…*
Behind all of their backs, a phenomenal Sword Qi erupted.
Thousands of Sword Qi blades, each one made from a wisp of pure True Qi, suddenly appeared, forming a great array in the sky before shooting towards them.
This long range, wide area of effect attack immediately hampered everyone’s pace. Many cultivators were even being forced to turn around and use Martial Skills or artifacts to fend off these Sword Qi blades.
After blocking this wave of attacks, there were several cultivators with weaker cultivations that fell to the ground either too injured or exhausted to continue escaping.
Xiang Chu expression became even gloomier, realizing that no matter how he tried to run, he couldn’t escape from Yang Kai’s pursuit. There was simply too big a difference in their speeds.
“Seniors, I’m afraid I have no choice but to ask you all to stall him for a while!” Gritting his teeth, Xiang Chu turned to the people around him and shouted.
These people were the last Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Xiang and Nan Families remaining. Although the strongest of them had only reached the Immortal Ascension Fourth Stage, between the two families, there was still seven of them in total!
With these seven Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, even if Yang Kai’s strength far surpassed his cultivation realm, it would still be impossible for him to pursue them.
Moreover, War City was already not far away, at most another hundred fifty kilometers. Right now, this was the only solution Xiang Chu could come up with to delay Yang Kai.
When the seven masters heard Xiang Chu’s words, they all wore surprised expressions for a moment but quickly collected themselves and nodded, “Young Lord, rest assured that we Elders will stop him here even if it costs us our lives.”
Xiang Chu nodded firmly, “Good. All of you must be careful, don’t underestimate him!”
“Understood!”
Immediately after, the seven Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Xiang and Nan families stopped; turned around and prepared for battle.
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng led the rest of their group and continued to run, not once looking back.
Seeing seven people suddenly turn to face him, Yang Kai’s expression became cold, sweeping over them with his Divine Sense and quickly understanding the strength of his opponents, impatience slowly filling his eyes.
“Ninth Young Lord, if you want to pursue our young masters, you must first pass us old masters!” One of them called out, all seven of them quickly circulating their True Qi, unleashing a barrage of Martial Skills and artifact attacks towards Yang Kai.
None of them had anything more to say to Yang Kai. Now that things had developed to this point, all that was left was to fight.
“With just you?” Yang Kai laughed wildly, summoning his Mysterious Grade Low-Rank bone shield and blocking the torrent of attacks directed towards him.
*Hong hong hong…*
With a series of loud bangs, explosions resounded around. Every time he was struck, Yang Kai’s pace would reduce slightly, but at the same time the beast mouth of the bone shield would swallow up the berserk bombarding it. As it devoured these various True Qi based attacks, the bone shield expanded at a visible rate.
After a round of attacks, Yang Kai was unscathed but his speed had fallen sharply, delaying his advancements.
“Disperse!” Now aware of the abilities of the bone shield, none of these seven old men dared gather in the same place, scattering in all directions.
A burst of light quickly emerged from the mouth of the bone shield and the sharp spurs lining its edge began to hum.
With a bang, the True Qi which had just been swallowed was all shot out.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Simultaneously, the bone spurs on the edge of the bone shield were also released and shot out towards the seven Immortal Ascension masters.
These seven masters were prepared this time though and had already summoned their own defensive artifacts to protect themselves while they quickly took evasive action.
In this confrontation, the seven masters all managed to avoid the True Qi attack from the bone shield’s mouth while the bone spurs were all blocked by their various methods. Although they were uncomfortable, none of them were injured.
The bone shield was truly powerful. No cultivator under the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage could break its defence, but if one understood its specific uses, it wasn’t difficult to handle. After all, artifacts were only tools, they were no substitute for people’s intelligence.
On top of that, these seven people had no plans to really fight with Yang Kai, they simply wanted to delay him for about as long as it would take to boil a pot of tea, if they could buy that much time, given Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu’s speed, they would be able to make it back to Yang Zhao’s mansion in War City.
Seeing their plan succeed, the seven masters relaxed and suddenly felt that Yang Kai wasn’t as terrifying as they had imagined.
Perhaps he was invincible amongst those at the same cultivation realm, and even had the ability to fight with low level Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, but to achieve the wide scale slaughter of more than a hundred people he had to rely on external forces.
Once he didn’t have such formidable external means available to him, his real strength would be quite limited.
Perhaps, this time, they could not only delay him, but even capture him alive! When they thought of this, all seven of these masters suddenly become eager to try, their original lack of confidence quickly being replaced with ambition.
Immediately, all of them launched Soul Skills towards Yang Kai, suddenly submerging him in a web of Spiritual Energy waves.
Standing in the center of this storm, Yang Kai simply shook his head and stared back at these seven, disdainful.
Since refining the essence of that Soul Type Evil Spirit in the Evil Cavern, the thing Yang Kai feared the least was Soul attacks. On top of that, comparing the amount of Spiritual Energy he had with the combined Spiritual Energy of these seven masters was like comparing a vast ocean and a stream, it was impossible for such a weak attack to disturb him.
On the contrary, when Yang Kai counterattacked, the Spiritual Energy which suddenly broke out from him made all seven of these masters feel like their Knowledge Seas were freezing over.
Realizing this, all of these masters were amazed at the power of the Soul type artifact Yang Kai possessed.
“Why are all of you struggling so hard when Xiang Chu abandoned you here as sacrifices?” Yang Kai shook his head, not wanting to be tied down by these seven any longer, “Even if he can escape to War City, I will still take his life. All of you will only die here in vain!”
The seven masters’ expression all sank, one of them firmly declaring, “Ninth Young Lord, there is no need to stoke dissension among us. I am a member of the Nan Family, and when I die my ghost will still be a member of the Nan Family. It is our duty to protect the Young Lord’s safety. Ninth Young Lord, since you are so confident about defeating us, why not let us see what Heaven defying methods you posses?”
“As you wish!” Yang Kai nodded gently, his expression suddenly becoming extremely calm, the bone shield in his hand disappearing as he slowly lifted his right hand to his brow.
As they saw his hand rise, the instincts of the seven masters suddenly began warning them of danger. In that moment, it seemed like everything under the Heavens suddenly stood still and the eyes of the seven Xiang and Nan Family masters all bulged as they stared at Yang Kai, wanting to respond but oddly finding themselves frozen in place.
In this world, they suddenly found that only Yang Kai could move.
Slowly wiping his right hand across his forehead, in an eerie voice, Yang Kai suddenly shouted.
“Devil Transformation!”
The Heavens shook and the Earth trembled, and all seven of the spectating masters suddenly felt like they had been submerged into a violent storm.
A thick cloud of darkness that seemed to swallow all light and hope suddenly burst out from Yang Kai’s body. This black energy was incredibly dense, filled with a bloodthirsty, brutal, and evil aura that permeated through the air, causing the seven masters to involuntarily retreat in fright.
As Yang Kai’s aura swelled, each of these seven masters felt a deep sense of intimidation descend upon them, filling them with a feeling of powerlessness.
The power shown by Yang Kai right now had left all of them dumbstruck.
The evil energy contained within the Unyielding Golden Skeleton had not been used for a long time. Yang Kai was also concerned about the relationship between the Eight Great Families and the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, so he had thus far not used this trump card.
But now, in order to kill Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, he had unhesitantly summoned this strength.
A moment later, this dark energy had engulfed Yang Kai’s body, completely concealing his figure within save for his two demonic red eyes.
Observing carefully, the will projected by Yang Kai was unchanged, but the demeanor of the seven masters had undergone a drastic change.
A moment ago, the seven of them had been dreaming about joining hands and capturing Yang Kai, gaining a massive merit for Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu, but now this thought had been viciously erased from their minds.
Although they didn’t understand exactly why, when they faced Yang Kai now, all of them couldn’t help feeling like they were facing their final moments.
The eyes of the seven masters soon clouded over, like the darkness was swallowing up not just the light but their consciousnesses too.
Staring into Yang Kai’s cold, cruel eyes, the seven masters couldn’t help but slowly retreat back.
Yang Kai raised his hand slowly, gathering a few small and wisps of dark energy into the shape of a snake which suddenly shot out towards one of the seven.
Seeing the approaching black snake, the man’s face paled and he hurriedly tried to dodge, but he was too late and the darkness penetrated his chest. The next moment, black gas began leaking from his entire body and he fell face down onto the ground.
A single blow, and an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master had died, unable to even fight back.
Witnessing this, the remaining six people are despaired.
They hadn’t even seen clearly how their comrade was attacked, nor did they understand how Yang Kai’s strength had suddenly reached such a terrifying height.
Back at Tai Fang Mountain, Yang Kai was able to kill two Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage masters while only possessing a True Element Fifth Stage cultivation. Now that he was only a step away from the Immortal Ascension Boundary, how could his strength be comparable to back then?
Immortal Ascension Boundary Third and Fourth Stags cultivators were indeed no longer anything in his eyes.
“If you stand in my way… then die!” Yang Kai’s cold voice resounded, the sky dimmed, and a great black palm descended like rolling thunder towards the six remaining masters. As this dark palm approached, it appeared all encompassing in the six masters’ eyes, giving rise to the idea that no matter how they tried to evade, they would inevitably be struck.
The six masters all screamed, madly circulating their True Qi as they did their best to escape from this place, but all of their efforts were in vain as the giant palm continued to fall upon them.
With a startling bang, the Earth trembled.
When the black palm struck, a giant crater appeared along with the sound of bones shattering.
A moment later, the six people all lay upon the ground inside the new palm shaped crater. Although none of them had died, the evil energy was already eroding their minds and bodies, blurring their consciousnesses.
Along with countless bones in their bodies being shattered, it was likely none of them would ever be able to recover.
“I told you, you’re nothing but sacrifices, but you all still insisted on this foolish resistance!” Yang Kai shook his head. Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu knew that he had a technique which could greatly increase his strength, but apparently they hadn’t told anyone.
If these seven people who had been left behind to delay Yang Kai knew this information, none of them would have had any delusions about capturing him and wouldn’t have ended up in such an embarrassing state.
Without caring whether these six people lived or died, Yang Kai turned his eyes towards War City, coldly snorted, and soared into the sky once more.
Even if Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng really hid inside Yang Zhao’s mansion, they would still die today!
War City.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu raced forward, leading a group of ragged and disheveled cultivators. When the pedestrians saw this group of people looking so embarrassed and fearful, they naturally became suspicious, especially about what kind of monster they were running from.
All of them were dripping with sweat, both from exhaustion and fear, and their True Qi was completely drained, barely able to yell at the bystanders to get out of their way as they rushed towards Yang Zhao’s mansion.
This news quickly spread to Yang Wei’s and Yang Kai’s compounds.
Yang Wei’s brow wrinkled, unclear what had happened. However, realizing that something big was happening, he immediately brought a guardian Blood Warrior along with him and quietly left his house, heading towards Yang Zhao’s.
Inside Yang Kai’s mansion, when Qiu Yi Meng received this piece of intelligence, her beautiful face immediately clouded over, quickly issuing orders to the major forces in the mansion to head out into War City in preparation for Yang Kai’s return.
She wasn’t sure what had happened to Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu, but she was faintly aware that this matter had something to do with Yang Kai.
As Yang Kai’s allies were just about to deploy, Old Demon suddenly appeared beside Qiu Yi Meng frowning and said, “You don’t have to go out, Young Master will be back soon.”
“He’s already back?” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. With Yang Kai out alone and only Ying Jiu protecting him, she had constantly been on edge. Now hearing the news of Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, she was afraid that Yang Kai had suffered some kind of accident, but listening to Old Demon, it seemed her concerns were unwarranted. Depressing the worry in her heart, she quickly asked, “Where is he right now?”
Old Demon’s squinted and stared off into the distance for a moment before replying, “Although Young Master is back in the city, he doesn’t seem to be headed towards the mansion and is instead moving to the southeast.”
“Southeast…” Qiu Yi Meng’s brow furrowed, the worry she had just pressed down suddenly resurfacing, “That’s Yang Zhao’s location!”
“Damn it, who provoked Young Master, he’s completely enraged now!” Old Demon took a deep breath and shouted, “This old master is going to rendezvous with him!”
As he spoke these words, Old Demon’s figure flickered, transforming into a bloody light that shot off towards the southeast.
Qiu Yi Meng’s beautiful face suddenly became solemn. Not daring to hesitate any longer, she hurriedly rushed out of the mansion with the assembled forces.
At the same time, Meng Wu Ya, who was meditating in his room, slowly opened his eyes, his brow furrowing deeply as he stared towards Yang Kai’s position, muttering to himself, “How is that little brat emitting such a strong Evil Qi?”
Becoming somewhat concerned, he quickly stood up, opened the door, and stared off into the distance. The sky over War City gradually began filling with dark clouds, blotting out all traces of sunlight, it was as a bucket of black ink had been spilled and was slowly dying the world black, weighing heavily on people’s hearts.
Letting out a sigh, Meng Wu Ya appeared to tread a few steps but actually crossed several hundred meters as he did so.
Inside the Seal Temple, the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters also left their mental construct world and stared at each other, their somewhat aged eyes all flashing some surprise.
Qiu Dao Ren frowned and quickly spoke, “Brother Yang, that little brat from your family seems to have signs of Devil’s Practices.”
Yang Li Ting’s face, however, remained indifferent, his eyes still closed.
The fat old man grinned and chimed in, “You really don’t care? If this continues, it’s possible he will fall onto the Devil’s Path.”
Yang Li Ting slowly opened his eyes and bluntly said, “Each of us follows our own path. Why should this old master care if he lives or dies?”
“If he really loses his mind and degenerates into a demon, what should we do?” The Kang Family’s Above Immortal Ascension Boundary asked. A young man, releasing such potent Evil Qi from his body, would inevitably have his heart corrupted and fall onto the Devil’s Path, becoming a demon that wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter his friends and family.
“At that time, this old master will take the initiative to clean up his own house. It has nothing to do with any of you,” Yang Li Ting responded indifferently.
When the other seven old masters heard this judgement, they no longer tried to persuade Yang Li Ting, all of them slowly shaking their heads. In this moment, they secretly thought that even though the Yang Family was strong, it wouldn’t survive for long. The bonds and affection for one another in the Yang Family was simply too thin. If one of the young genius disciples of their family suddenly appeared in this situation, how could they just sit by and ignore them? They would have already stepped forward to seize him, brought him to an isolated place, and begun suppressing the Evil Qi in his body.
What’s more, with this little brat’s talent and aptitude, he would very likely become the brightest star in the Yang Family’s future, yet now Yang Li Ting was still willing to casually discard him.
The other seven masters really couldn’t understand.
However, it was also true that this wasn’t any of their business. Each of them had already lived many years and had stopped concerning themselves with worldly matters. Since Yang Li Ting didn’t care to do anything, they were naturally too lazy to pester him about it, some of them even taking some pleasure in this awkward situation.
The Yang Family had occupied the top position of the Central Capital for a long time, but if things continued on their current trend, within less than a hundred years, they would definitely be supplanted by one of the other seven Great Families.
It was a somewhat ridiculous that these seven old masters could see this truth, but the Yang Family’s Elders were still oblivious.
Yang Zhao’s Mansion.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu rushed inside like a couple of stray dogs and hurriedly called out, alerting Yang Zhao who was in his private chambers.
Getting up from his bed, Yang Zhao stared towards where the voices originated.
“Second Young Lord, what happened?” Ye Xin Rou twisted her water snake like waist, the sheets slowly falling, exposing her pure white skin. Two slender arms gently wrapped around Yang Zhao’s waist as she gently pressed herself onto his back, her lightly blushing face showed a tender expression.
“Something’s happened, I sounds like the voices of Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng.” Yang Zhao’s brow wrinkled slightly.
“Are they already back?” Ye Xin Rou smiled sweetly, her lashes fluttering lightly, “They must be here to bring good news to Second Young Lord.”
Yang Zhao chuckled, reaching out and gently pinching Ye Xin Rou’s perfectly rounded bottom, silently marveling at the amazing elasticity of her skin.
This rude action provoked a light yelp from Ye Xin Rou who gazed back at Yang Zhao accusatorily.
“Hopefully so!” Yang Zhao was also secretly looking forward to it. This time’s ambush could be said to be perfect, filling him with great confidence that Kang Zhan, Qiu Zi Ruo, and the seven forces he had deployed would achieve their objective, and had been quite looking forward to hearing from them. In such a state, he had no mind to cultivate and had instead been entangling with Ye Xin Rou, trying to relieve the anxiousness and anticipation in his heart.
Otherwise, given his temperament, it would be impossible for him to still be lazing around at this hour. Beauties were tempting, but right now he valued his own strength and power above all else.
As long as he could defeat Yang Kai, he wasn’t afraid of facing his Eldest Brother Yang Wei and was confident he could easily win the final victory in the Inheritance War.
“Since its good news, then it won’t be too late if you listen to it a bit later.” Ye Xin Rou said playfully, lifting her jade arms and hooking them around Yang Zhao’s neck, pulling him back down, trying to keep him in bed for a while longer.
“Don’t make trouble. If it’s really good news, I’ll spoil you all night tonight!” Yang Zhao said with a light laugh, his eyes flashing a sharp light as they filled with endless expectation.
Although Ye Xin Rou felt it was a pity and was somewhat disappointed, she no longer tried to retain him. In order to handle people like Yang Zhao, her body was only a small temptation, not a decisive factor.
“Then allow your Xin Rou to help you dress.” Ye Xin Rou gently got up and found a messy stack of clothes near the bed, slowly helping Yang Zhao dawn his robes.
Just as she was wearing his robes though, Yang Zhao’s brow furrowed and Ye Xin Rou also paused. Both of them could not clearly hear Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, but their voices weren’t excited, instead exasperated, shouting out desperately.
Both of them suddenly realized that something wasn’t right.
If these two people had really rushed back here to deliver the good news Yang Zhao was expecting, it was impossible for them to sound so panicked.
“Second Young Lord, Second Young Lord!” Outside the door, the footsteps and voices of Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng loudly resounded.
Yang Zhao quickly jumped up and opened the door. Upon seeing Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, he couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
These two were actually in such a sorry state. Many scars and bloody wounds appeared on their bodies, their faces were both pale, and their True Qi was obviously completely depleted. This wasn’t the appearance of someone returning in triumph but rather beat dogs that had been chased back!
Ye Xin Rou let out a sharp cry and quickly jumped onto the bed, covering her snow white peaks and graceful body with the beddings, lest something which shouldn’t be shown appear in the public eye. However, her ears continued to be perked up, not willing to miss anything.
“What happened?” Yang Zhao took a deep breath and tried to calm his turbulent mood. Although he was asking this question, just by seeing the appearance and expressions of these two, Yang Zhao had already understood, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
“Second Young Lord…” Nan Sheng swallowed hard, unable to utter any more words.
Yang Zhao immediately turned his eyes to Xiang Chu, the latter’s eyes dimming somewhat as he bowed his head, his expression filled with shame and resentment.
“Failed?” Yang Zhao asked in a cold voice, his expression darkening noticeably.
Nan Sheng remained silent, his pale face slowly turning red while Xiang Chu clenched his fists and nodded, “We’ve disappointed Second Young Lord’s expectations.”
Yang Zhao couldn’t help staggering slightly, staring incredulously at the two before him, although he already had some suspicions in his heart when he first saw them, but upon receiving confirmation, he still couldn’t believe it.
With how many people he had dispatched, with so many high level masters, how could they still have failed?
“Explain!” Yang Zhao’s expression suddenly became cold and sullen.
“Ying Jiu… has broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage!” Xiang Chu replied through his grit teeth. This was something beyond everyone’s expectations. Ying Jiu at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage was enough to give Yang Zhao a serious headache, necessitating him to deploy two Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters just to pin him down; however, who would have guessed he had already promoted to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage?
As a Blood Warrior at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage, only a Blood Warrior of equal strength or an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master could deal with Ying Jiu!
Upon hearing this explanation, Yang Zhao’s brow furrowed further. This incorrect intelligence clearly occupied a large part of the reason for this operation’s failure.
“What else? Even if Ying Jiu reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage, that can’t be the entire reason for this failure. There should have been more than enough of you to suppress Ying Jiu even if he has broken through.” Returning to his sense, Yang Zhao sharply interrogated.
“Ying Jiu was indeed pinned down…” Xiang Chu replied bitterly; as he recalled what transpired during the battle, he began to shudder unconsciously, “But Yang Kai possesses two Mysterious Grade artifacts…”
Xiang Chu began to briefly recount the events of their encounter.
The more Yang Zhao listened, the more his heart went cold, realizing just how terrifying his Ninth Brother really was.
“What about Kang Zhan and Qiu Zi Ruo? How come only you two have returned?” Yang Zhao suddenly realized something out a place and asked.
“Young Lord Kang, he… he… he was stabbed through his chest by Yang Kai with a sword and was seriously injured, he should still be healing.”
“What!?” Yang Zhao’s eyes bulged and Ye Xin Rou who was lying on the bed also cried out in shock, her delicate hands covering her small mouth while her eyes flashing an astonished light.
Kang Zhan had his right chest pierced by Yang Kai’s sword… this news was simply too absurd.
From the first time it was held until now, no child of the Eight Great Families had ever suffered such a serious injury when participating in the Inheritance War, according to historical records, these Young Lords and Young Ladies had at most suffered some small cuts and bruises.
But now, the Kang Family’s future successor had actually been run through with a sword!
This development left Yang Zhao and Ye Xin Rou suddenly dumbfounded, neither of them having imagined that Yang Kai would truly be so fearless.
“What about Qiu Zi Ruo?”
“Unclear. We were separated on the way back, I don’t know where he is now.”
“Good, good, good!” Yang Zhao suddenly laughed thunderously, causing Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng to feel like their faces were on fire, both of them wishing they could find a hole nearby to crawl into.
“You guys are simply too great! Actually being thrashed so miserably by my Ninth Brother, you really live up to your names as Young Masters from first-class families! Always acting so arrogantly and boasting of your extraordinary strength and wit, wantonly showing off your pride, only to now run back here like stray dogs! So many people at your disposal yet still unable to capture Ninth Brother! What use are you to me!?”
Being reproved so maliciously, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng both felt quite annoyed, but although they were incredibly vexed, they didn’t dare to refute.
Just as Yang Zhao was reprimanding Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, a piercing voice filled with murderous intent suddenly arrived, “Xiang Chu, Nan Sheng, come out and face death!”
Although this voice wasn’t loud, it resounded clearly in everyone’s ears.
Upon hearing these words, the ashamed and aggrieved Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng couldn’t help going pale.
Yang Zhao’s face also suddenly became strange, squinting towards Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng as he smiled coldly, “What is the mean of this? Why has Ninth Brother suddenly come here?”
Nan Sheng firmly shut his mouth, not daring to reply.
Xiang Chu nervously stuttered, “Yang Kai has been chasing us and probably just arrived…”
“Idiot!” Yang Zhao gnashed his teeth, “Obviously he is chasing you, what I want to know is why! What haven’t you told me?”
Just now, when he was describing the course of the battle with Yang Kai, Xiang Chu hadn’t said anything about the members of High Heaven Pavilion or what transpired between them, afraid it would only infuriate Yang Zhao.
But now, Yang Kai had already slaughtered his way to Yang Zhao’s front door, so Xiang Chu knew there was no way for him to keep concealing matters.
“Speak, what the hell did you do to infuriate Ninth Brother so much?” Yang Zhao took a deep breath and tried to calm his tone.
“It’s about some people from High Heaven Pavilion… Big Brother Nan injured one of High Heaven Pavilion’s disciples.”
“High Heaven Pavilion? The sect Ninth Brother was staying at?” Yang Zhao frowned and asked in confusion, “There’s more to it than just that, right?”
“Second Young Lord, it’s like this…” Xiang Chu’s brow furrowed deeply as he helplessly explained what had happened.
After listening to the whole story, Yang Zhao nodded lightly, “Facing an enemy, one must use any means they are capable of, what you did wasn’t wrong.”
Xiang Chu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Yang Zhao didn’t plan on holding them accountable, but just as he began to smile, Yang Zhao’s expression dimmed again and glared coldly at him, “If you had the ability to withstand Ninth Brother’s revenge, I would simply clap my hands and applaud! But do you have such ability? Without possessing any such capability, your actions are nothing short of idiotic! You two are just stupid pigs blinded by your hatred!”
Xiang Chu froze up, unable to utter a word of refute.
At this time, Nan Sheng raised his head and said, “No matter whether our actions were right or wrong, Yang Kai is currently standing outside the mansion and shouting loudly. If Second Young Lord just ignores him, I’m afraid no one will take Second Young Lord seriously anymore.”
“Trying to goad me using such obvious methods?” Yang Zhao laughed, “Nan Sheng, you look down on me, Yang Zhao, far too much. No wonder you and Xiang Chu suffered such a big loss at Ninth Brother’s hands.”
Nan Sheng trembled lightly and immediately apologized, “I had no such intention. Please excuse my rudeness, Second Young Lord.”
Glaring at him him coldly, Yang Zhao continued, “There is some truth to what you say. Ninth Brother daring to seek trouble right outside my house, I really can’t just ignore him.”
Hearing this, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng suddenly felt overjoyed, quickly bowing their heads, “Many thanks, Second Young Lord!”
“No need.” Yang Zhao slowly shook his head and declared flatly, “This time, I will protect you because you are still my allies! After today, you and your people can scram. War City has no place for you, nor does the Yang Family Inheritance War!”
Coldly snorting, Yang Zhao quickly threw on the last of his clothes and walked out.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu remained where they were, as if they had lost their souls. They had never imagined Yang Zhao would drive them away because of this.
They represented the Xiang and Nan Families and had been among the first to support Yang Zhao in the Inheritance War. For so long, they had weathered wind and rain, experiencing hardships and struggles, fighting side by side with Yang Zhao.
In order to win this Inheritance War, both of their families had contributed a lot of manpower, materials, and money.
But just as the battle was about to end, they were being driven out by Yang Zhao.
If word of this were to spread out, the two large families would definitely become laughing stocks. Paying so much, yet not reaping any benefits, this would seriously damage their families’ honor.
Having offended Yang Kai and lost favour with Yang Zhao, it was impossible for them to form any meaningful connection with the Yang Family in the future.
Other forces in this world may also alienate them for this reason. If that were to happen, developing their families would become exponentially more difficult.
It was also likely that because of this failure, their positions as family heirs would be removed as well.
Considering all this, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng couldn’t help shivering in a cold sweat.
Immediately, their eyes filled with rage and hatred, grinding their teeth and clenching their fists.
If it wasn’t for Yang Kai… if only that bastard Yang Kai didn’t exist… how could they have fallen into such a terrible situation?
“Two Young Lords…” Suddenly, a voice as delicate as falling rain quietly reached their ears. Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng looked over at the voice’s source only to see Ye Xin Rou smiling lightly as she held up a quilt to her chest, her two perfectly shaped shoulders completely exposed, giving off a jade-like luster.
In normal times, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng would definitely do their best to imprint this beautiful scene into their memories, but right now they had no such desire.
Ye Xin Rou giggled, seeming to not care at all about exposing her skin, gently adjusted the beddings before her two snow white peaks as she said, “If you stand there, it is quite difficult for me to dress myself. Would you mind stepping out for a moment? Also, now that Second Young Lord has gone out, shouldn’t the two Young Lords chase after him?”
Waking from their daze, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng quickly took back their gazes and sprinted out of the room. Although Yang Zhao said he would protect them, who knows if he was telling the truth?
After the two of them had left, Ye Xin Rou snorted with dissatisfaction, “Not even helping me close the door, hmph.”
As she spoke, her eyes flashed and her cheeks blushed slightly, muttering to herself, “This Yang Kai is quite interesting, even daring to injure Kang Zhan like that. How bold…”
Although she had seen Yang Kai a few times now, she and the youngest Yang Family Young Lord had never actually spoken, so she knew nothing about his temperament. However, after today’s events, she understood him a bit more, suddenly feeling a bit interested about him, in her heart secretly wondering whether Yang Zhao would really be the final victor in this Inheritance War.
When Yang Zhao stepped outside the house, he saw Yang Kai standing in the sky silently, alone, Evil Qi soaring into the sky, his immense Divine Sense enshrouding the entire compound, penetrating into every corner and crevice.
From all around, people constantly rushed towards Yang Zhao’s mansion, slowly forming a large crowd. These people had all been attracted here by Yang Kai’s voice and were eager to find out what was happening.
Inside the War City, the tranquility of the past two months gave way to heated tension.
A few thousand meters away, on the top floor of a tea house, at a window which opened towards the direction of Yang Zhao’s mansion, Yang Wei concealed himself and stared at Yang Kai across the distance, unable to help his expression from changing. Thick surprise flashed past his eyes due to how calm Yang Kai seemed despite projecting such a rich murderous aura towards the mansion below him. The look on his face was unyielding, and anyone who saw it would instantly understand that he would never give up until he achieved his objective!
“What does Ninth Brother want?” Yang Wei muttered to himself. War City had been peaceful for more than two months, and everyone had been working hard to develop and strengthen themselves in order to achieve enough power to fully suppress their opponents. Ninth Brother suddenly emerging at this point confused Yang Wei greatly.
Faintly, Yang Wei felt like he had missed out on some vital turning point.
There should have been some conflict between his Ninth and Second Brother that he was unaware of. Otherwise, this scene wouldn’t be taking place right now.
Suddenly, a blood red streak appeared in the sky, surrounded by thick Demonic Qi. When Yang Wei laid eyes upon it, his breath stagnated and his blood seemed to run cold.
A moment later, this bloody light came to a stop beside Yang Kai and revealed itself as the demon master who had suddenly appeared in Yang Kai’s mansion more than two months ago.
“Young Master!” As soon as Old Demon appeared, he greeted Yang Kai and began monitoring the surroundings vigilantly.
Yang Kai simply nodded. He was well aware that Old Demon would come so he naturally had nothing much to say.
“What the hell is he?” Yang Wei thought out loud, really wondering what Old Demon’s origins were.
Out of the corner of his eye, a familiar figure suddenly appeared and calmly sat down on the chair opposite him.
Turning around, Yang Wei confirmed the newcomer was none other than the Liu Family’s Liu Qing Yao!
Yang Wei nodded slightly and raised his hand to pour a cup of tea for him.
“About the origins of that man, everyone wants to know.” Liu Qing Yao suddenly said, “It’s almost as if he appeared out of thin air. The only thing we’ve managed to confirm about him is that for the past half a year or so he was wandering around the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and he killed a lot of people during that time.”
“Oh?” Yang Wei’s brow furrowed, “So, he’s a man from the Evil Land?”
“Probably not. Among the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s six Great Evil Kings, there is no such person!” Liu Qing Yao shook his head. Old Demon had displayed terrifying strength and methods in battle two months ago, so naturally he would be curious about it. However, even after leveraging the power of the Liu Family to gather information about him, he still had no clue about his background.
“But he seems to be very respectful towards Ninth Brother. Why is such a strong master so timid in front of him?” Yang Wei gently let out a sigh, still just as puzzled as before.
This demon master was only a step away from the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary. Such characters were rare even among the Central Capital Eight Great Families. Even if such masters weren’t as revered as the Grand Elders at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, once they broke through, they would become objects of admiration and reverence.
“Forget about him, your Ninth Brother is also impossible to understand.” Liu Qing Yao said with a dignified expression, his eyes staring off into the distance at Yang Kai.
Yang Wei glanced at him and suddenly grinned, “I didn’t expect Young Lord Liu to speak of someone of our generation like this. If Ninth Brother were to learn of this, I’m sure he’d be proud.”
Liu Qing Yao shook his head, “I’m not qualified to evaluate him, and his future achievements will definitely be higher than mine.”
“His achievements are already higher than yours!” Yang Wei smiled deeply.
The Blood Force and aura Yang Kai was projecting, although still just carrying the signature of the True Element Boundary Ninth Stage, brought immense pressure to Yang Wei, even across such a great distance.
He estimated that if he were to fight Yang Kai right now, he would be defeated within a single breath.
Even if Liu Qing Yao was stronger than Yang Wei right now, he was still not Yang Kai’s opponent!
Yang Wei could see this, so naturally Liu Qing Yao could as well, his expression becoming a little complicated, but he didn’t refute, instead just nodding, “But like this, he will sooner or later fall to the Devil’s Path, so even if he possesses great strength and amazing aptitude, with his body’s True Qi being corroded by such thick Evil Qi, he won’t be able to suppress it.”
Listening to this, Yang Wei frowned bitterly, knowing that Liu Qing Yao wasn’t being an alarmist. In his heart, he was also wondering just how Yang Kai suddenly entered such a state.
[Did Ninth Brother cultivate some kind of supreme Evil Technique these past two months?] Yang Wei secretly guessed.
Yang Zhao’s allies quickly emerged from the mansion and glared at Yang Kai, their expressions filled with anger. However, when they saw Old Demon standing nearby to guard him, fear flashed across their eyes and they unconsciously stepped backwards.
The deterrence of Old Demon’s bloody and cruel methods was immense.
Not long after Old Demon appeared, Qiu Yi Meng also showed up with a group of Yang Kai’s allies.
After seeing Yang Kai’s current appearance, the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady couldn’t help feeling her heart clench, quickly calling out, “Yang Kai, what happened? What’s wrong?”
Huo Xing Chen also instinctively trembled as he felt the malicious aura pulsing from Yang Kai’s body.
All the people in the spectating crowd were also pointing towards Yang Kai, whispering and discussing whether the Yang Family’s youngest Young Lord had really fallen onto the Devil’s Path and would soon lose his rational mind.
If this really was the case, it would be the most ironic joke.
The Central Capital Eight Great Families and the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land had always been as incompatible as fire and water. The Eight Great Families’ cultivators were all charged with eradicating demons, but now, the Yang Family’s brightest new star and the most hopeful candidate to become its next Patriarch was about to become a demon. Such news would be the topic of discussion the world over.
Tang Yu Xian, the Hu Sisters, Dong Qing Han, the Ten Thousand Flower Palace quartet, Luo Xiao Man… many of them directed worried eyes towards Yang Kai.
“Are you still…?” Qiu Yi Meng asked, gazing into the crimson lights which were once Yang Kai’s eyes, desperately searching for any trace of humanity. Unfortunately, she was disappointed. Yang Kai’s eyes were clear at the moment, but all that filled them was hatred and murderous intent, nothing resembling human warmth remained, only cold malice.
Shivering involuntarily, Qiu Yi Meng felt her heart sink. From the beginning of the Inheritance War, she had performed admirably in acting as Yang Kai’s second in command, responsible for the management and deployment of his allies. Nevertheless, she still looked to Yang Kai as the backbone of their efforts. Every major operation centered around his commands.
If any accident were to happen to Yang Kai, all her efforts would become worthless.
Yang Kai glanced at her for a moment before shaking his head slowly, “I’m fine.”
Hearing these words, Qiu Yi Meng froze up, somewhat unable to believe that under such a state, Yang Kai was actually able to suppress the murderous hostility in his body and still maintain mental clarity.
If it were any other cultivator, could they accomplish this?
Old Demon on the other hand just spat disdainfully and snickered, “Young Master, your current look suits old servant very much! Hahahaha, we master and servant really share a common fate!”
Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help shooting an angry glare at Old Demon before anxiously asking, “Since you’ve come back, why didn’t you return to the mansion but instead came here? What is it you hope to accomplish?”
“Kill someone!”
“Who are you going to kill?”
“Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng!”
Hearing this, everyone’s expression greatly changed.
Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng, although not on the same level as the Young Lords and Young Ladies of the Central Capital Eight Great Families, were still successors to first-class families. Such people could not be killed recklessly.
Even a blind bastard like Lu Song hadn’t provoked Yang Kai’s killing intent, so why was he suddenly so intent on killing Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng at this time?
Qiu Yi Meng, who was doing her best to calm her racing heart, couldn’t help thinking that Yang Kai really had gone mad.
“Yang Kai, can’t we go back first?” Qiu Yi Meng reached out and gently held Yang Kai’s arm, whispering softly, “Let’s go back and talk about this, see if there’s a more suitable way to kill Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu and calm your anger.”
Yang Kai turned his head and stared at Qiu Yi Meng strangely.
“If you insist on acting right now, there’s no way for you to really kill those two. Yang Zhao’s mansion has too many cultivators right now. Even if all of us rush in, we may not be able to cut them down.” Qiu Yi Meng continued to persuade, “So let’s go back first, okay?”
Watching this scene, Huo Xing Chen’s eyes had all but bulged out of their sockets.
He had never seen, or even heard of Qiu Yi Meng having such a gentle side. The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady always behaved in a steadfast and intelligent manner, bordering on shrewd and ruthless, so everyone had nearly forgotten that she was a young woman.
Such a woman whispering sweet words would be a fatal temptation to any man and was all but impossible to resist.
Huo Xing Chen thought about it and concluded that if he was treated gently by Qiu Yi Meng, even if he felt his will was firm, he would listen to whatever it is she said.
“Yes, Yang Kai, let’s go back first and discuss things. It’ll be fine even if we leave things as they are for a day or two.” Luo Xiao Man summoned up courage even she didn’t know she had and actually tried to persuade Yang Kai.
Each of the four Ten Thousand Flower Palace Four girls nodded in agreement, also doing their best one by one to calm Yang Kai.
Although their reasons and arguments varied, without exception, each of these beauties did their best to convey their care and concern.
Seeing all of these young women drown Yang Kai in such maternal care, the rest of the crowd couldn’t help staring awkwardly.
Yang Kai frowned and swept his eyes over crowd in front of him, eventually fixing his gaze on Qiu Yi Meng and asking, “Do you all see me as some kind of child?”
Although his words were sharp and cold, Yang Kai actually felt warmth in his heart. No matter the reason, these people spoke up out of concern for him and his current state.
All of these young women’s faces became slightly red, only now understanding that when Yang Kai said he was fine, he really was still fully conscious.
Seeing them blush, Yang Kai smirked, a trace of tenderness creeping into his expression as he gratefully said, “I’m really alright, you don’t have to worry.”
Qiu Yi Meng took a deep breath and adjusted her expression, a moment later nodding, “Good, I’ll believe that you are really okay, but you just said that you wanted to kill Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng. How do you plan on killing them? This is Yang Zhao’s compound and there are nearly a thousand cultivators in it, five times our current number! Even if you succeed in killing those two, most of your allies will be buried here along with them; do you really have the heart to do this?”
“You put too much value on those two.” Yang Kai’s expression once again became cold as he slowly shook his head, “The difference in number doesn’t mean anything, Second Brother is a cautious person, and he won’t act unless he is certain of his victory. It’s absolutely impossible for him to launch a full scale war here with me for them.”
“He still has scruples about big brother. His objective is to win the final victory in the Inheritance War! As for me, I don’t care.” Yang Kai smiled coldly.
Qiu Yi Meng was stunned. Let alone Yang Kai simply being alright in this condition, his thoughts and insight were actually just as sharp as usual.
One of them could go all out while the other was burdened with various worries. Thinking about it for a while, Qiu Yi Meng felt things would likely develop just as Yang Kai said they would.
As Qiu Yi Meng mulled over these thoughts, Yang Zhao walked out from his house, his expression incredibly gloomy. Standing tall, with a large number of his allies behind him, he coldly said, “Ninth Brother, what is your intent?”
Yang Zhao was quite angry right now. The failure of this operation and Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng aggravating the situation was a major disappointment to him. Although he was deeply shocked at the strength Yang Kai was currently displaying, it was more the fact that he was brazenly blocking the entrance to his house that made Yang Zhao feel like he had lost face.
It was still daytime, and although dark clouds loomed high in the sky blotting out any signs of the sun, his Ninth Brother acting this way was simply not putting him in his eyes.
“Second Brother,” Yang Kai faintly nodded at him. “Second Brother’s methods are simply outstanding. This time, Ninth Brother was almost defeated.”
Yang Zhao’s face twitched and coldly shot back, “Ninth Brother doesn’t need to ridicule me, the bottom line is I underestimated your strength. This time, if I had gone personally, it would be impossible for Ninth Brother to be standing here talking down to me.”
A fierce grin slowly crept onto Yang Kai’s face as he replied, “I’m afraid that even if Second Brother had come personally, nothing would have changed!”
Yang Zhao was stunned for a moment before his expression sank and he solemnly said, “Ninth Brother, Second Brother only realized just now that you are the wildest of us Yang Family descendants!”
Taking a deep breath to adjust his mood, Yang Zhao slowly continued, “Ninth Brother, for the sake of a single wounded High Heaven Pavilion disciple, is all of this worth it? I’ve heard the whole story. While it’s true you had an agreement with Kang Zhan and Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu violated it, resulting in the serious injury of one of your Junior Brothers, and they should be punished for that transgression, I don’t believe that’s enough to sentence them to death. Not to mention you’ve already killed so many, shouldn’t that be enough to cool your anger? You bringing your people to block Second Brother’s door, do you think that’s really appropriate? Or perhaps… you think Second Brother is easy to bully!”
As he spoke, Yang Zhao’s tone grew colder and more accusatory.
Hearing this sharp questioning, all the cultivators around Yang Zhao secretly rallied themselves, the atmosphere suddenly becoming red hot.
However, Yang Kai remained as calm and cold as ever, “Second Brother, I have no other purpose in coming here today, I just want to kill those two. After I take their lives, I will leave immediately!”
“With me here, do you think you can kill them?”
“Then there’s nothing more to discuss.” Yang Kai said disappointedly, shaking his head slowly as he shifted his gaze away from Yang Zhao towards the cultivators behind him, his eyes swiftly landing on Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng who had at some point snuck into the crowd.
Perceiving Yang Kai’s cold stare, the two couldn’t help going pale.
“No matter who tries to protect you today, you will still die!” Yang Kai suddenly showed an impatient look as he shouted, an ice cold murderous intent flashing across his eyes.
*Kacha…*
Suddenly, a layer of ice began spreading across the ground, carrying with it a chill capable of freezing one’s soul. With Yang Kai at the center, a fan-shaped region in front of him immediately transformed into a frigid purgatory.
Feeling an acute sense of danger from this cold front, the cultivators gathered outside Yang Zhao’s mansion all showed shocked expressions, quickly leaping up into the sky to avoid being contaminated by this murderous ice.
Unlike the True Yang Yuan Qi from the True Yang Secret Art, the energy stored inside the Unyielding Golden Skeleton was actually the complete opposite, filled with cold and evil attributes.
Yang Kai used this frigid evil energy to cause the surrounding temperature to plummet.
Old Demon cackled happily, waving his hand and shooting out a crimson light, covering the newly frozen ground in a blood red layer, filled with a rich smell of iron, atop which stood a strange humanoid figure.
Naturally, it was Old Demon’s Blood Demon Puppet, the one that was impossible to destroy so long as the blood sea beneath it existed.
The Blood Demon stood quietly on the sea of blood without taking any action, simply releasing an astonishing Evil Qi from its body.
Tang Yu Xian also gave a shout and unleashed a powerful Spiritual Energy fluctuation.
The cultivators behind Yang Kai also no longer hesitated, rapidly pushing their True Qi and summoning their artifacts.
*Huo!* An astonishing roar rang out behind Yang Kai as a huge head formed entirely of black energy began to emerge.
The head swayed back and forth, its eyes the size of bronze bells exuding a terrifying light.
Being stared at by these ominous eyes, no one dared to act rashly!
Gradually, the black Qi coalesced into a solid form, drawing shouts of shock and dread.
Before everyone’s eyes, a hundred meter long pitch black dragon appeared, hovering above Yang Kai’s head like a living creature.
When Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng saw this black dragon, their legs couldn’t help going soft, almost causing them to collapse to the ground.
At Tai Fang Mountain, Yang Kai had used this black dragon to effortlessly kill two Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage masters.
A hundred meters in length, the black dragon gave off an imposing aura, terrifying all the cultivators who laid eyes upon it. Their attitude towards Yang Kai, who had summoned such a monster, also quietly changed.
Many of Yang Zhao’s allies thought it would be easy to defeat Yang Kai and his forces simply by virtue of their overwhelming numerical advantage, but after witnessing Yang Kai’s astonishing methods, they quickly reigned in their expectations.
Such strength and heritage was not something ordinary people could handle. Today, although they were confident in being able to force Yang Kai back, defeating him was unlikely.
The only comfort they had was that whether it was Old Demon or Tang Yu Xian, neither of them had made any movements after showing their strength. It seemed like they just wanted to deter them rather than really start massacre.
Yang Zhao’s expression changed drastically as he quickly shouted, “Ninth Brother, are you really planning to fight Second Brother here and now?”
As Yang Kai said before, Yang Zhao had many more concerns than him. Although his forces were far superior in number, on average, they were also weaker and the amount of top level masters he had was actually fewer than Yang Kai. Once a battle broke out, the only result would be a mutual loss.
At that time, the fisherman’s profit would all be reaped by Eldest Brother Yang Wei.
He didn’t want to hand a gift to his big brother.
He didn’t plan on fighting anyone before he had secured an absolute advantage!
Unfortunately, Yang Kai’s forcefulness this time made him realize that his plan to win the Inheritance War would not develop as smoothly as expected.
“Second Brother, I meant what I said: I just want to kill those two. If you hand them over, I’ll immediately retreat!” Yang Kai said once more.
“Impossible!” Yang Zhao firmly rejected. If he were to hand over Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng here, how would any of his allies ever trust him again? However, from Yang Kai’s words, he knew that his Ninth Brother also didn’t want to fight here.
Mutual destruction, neither of them wanted to see this result!
Yang Zhao was worried about Yang Wei capitalizing on this situation while Yang Kai was unwilling to send his friends to a pointless death. Their concerns were different, but their conclusions were the same.
After letting out a sigh of relief, Yang Zhao suddenly smiled and said, “Ninth Brother, since you and Second Brother have similar scruples, I have a suggestion. Do you care to listen?”
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled, not knowing what Yang Zhao was plotting. However, he still nodded lightly, “Go on.”
“This incident can be considered an internal matter of our Yang Family. Since it is an internal matter, only those from the Yang Family should participate. You want to kill, I want to protect. Whoever’s methods prove superior will have their way. How about it?”
Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin as he laughed playfully, “An internal matter?”
“Correct.”
“Only Yang Family people can participate?”
“Yes.”
“Including Blood Warriors, right?”
“Naturally, although the Blood Warriors are not surnamed Yang, they are still members of my Yang Family.”
“I understand.” Yang Kai nodded lightly, staring straight into Yang Zhao’s eyes and saying, “Then we’ll do as Second Brother says! This time, it will be an internal fight between Yang Family members.”
“Said it and meant it!” Yang Zhao couldn’t help laughing riotously, like he had just succeeded in some great trick.
Yang Kai also laughed loudly, so much so that Qiu Yi Meng’s brow wrinkled, faintly aware that something was wrong, but could not understand what.
In the distant tea house, Yang Wei and Liu Qing Yao were equally confused, neither of them understanding why Yang Zhao seemed so confidant nor what he was plotting to do. On the other hand, they also didn’t know why Yang Kai seemed equally smug.
Of the two brothers, one wanted to protect Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu and one wanted to kill them. Who would ultimately get what they wanted, no one knew.
For this battle that only Yang Family members could participate in, the Blood beside Yang Zhao would obviously square off against Tang Yu Xian while Yang Zhao’s opponent was Yang Kai, but at this moment Yang Kai’s aura was showing obvious signs of Devil’s Practices and his oppressive momentum and tyrannical strength were obvious to all.
What made Yang Zhao so certain he could block him?
Yang Wei and Liu Qing Yao both weren’t optimistic about Yang Zhao’s chances; no matter how much he had improved in the recent months, it was absolutely impossible for him to be Yang Kai’s opponent.
“Yu Xian!” Yang Kai suddenly called out.
Tang Yu Xian nodded gently, her outstanding figure flickering as it flew into the sky.
The Blood Warrior beside Yang Zhao also smiled slightly and without hesitation rushed to confront Tang Yu Xian.
The two Blood Warriors didn’t exchange a single word, launching straight into a violent conflict.
However, no one paid attention to their fight, even though they were among the strongest Immortal Ascension Boundary masters in the world, today’s focus was still the two Yang Family Young Lords.
“Ninth Brother!” Yang Zhao shouted spiritedly, surprising everyone. Facing the current Yang Kai, not only did he not focus on defending himself but instead took the initiative to attack, stomping his foot hard against the ground.
A number of strange cracks propagated along the ground with Yang Zhao at their center, like a group of great beasts were tunneling below the surface, a horrible energy soon emerging from the depths of the Earth and leaping towards Yang Kai.
Evil Spirit Earth Dragon Technique!
On the first night of the Inheritance War, Yang Zhao had used this Heaven Grade Martial Skill to deal with Huo Xing Chen.
Each of these dragon phantoms was condensed from the Soul of a Fifth-Order Monster Beast housed inside Yang Zhao’s body, and could be used as flexibly against an enemy as his own arms, often able to attack and defend simultaneously.
Previously, Yang Zhao was only able to use seven earth dragon phantoms simultaneously, but with the growth of his strength, he could now summon ten at once, each of which also had greater power than before.
Facing Yang Zhao’s killing blow, Yang Kai’s expression didn’t change at all. With a single thought, the great black dragon above his head suddenly opened its mouth and leisurely spewed a beam of Dark Qi.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
As this beam of Dark Qi swept over the earth dragon phantoms, the latter exploded into a cloud of dust, unable to offer the slightest resistance.
Seeing his attack so easily dealt with, Yang Zhao oddly didn’t seem to care, instead actually wearing a sly grin as he stood in place, staring at Yang Kai proudly, a trace of pity in his eyes as he lightly said, “Ninth Brother, this is the end!”
Yang Wei and Liu Qing Yao, who still sat a few thousand meters away in the tea house also showed a look of understanding, both of them realizing what Yang Zhao was planning.
Qiu Yi Meng’s beautiful face also changed drastically. Through the dust, she suddenly spotted a figure moving at an unbelievable speed towards Yang Kai’s back.
The person who had appeared had expertly concealed himself and silently approached, so by the time Qiu Yi Meng noticed it was too late for her to warn Yang Kai.
“Second Brother, did you really think that Ninth Brother didn’t know what you were planning?” Yang Kai called out as a grin appeared on his face. The black dragon above him rapidly turned and rushed towards the approaching figure like an arrow shot from a bow, opening it’s great jaw in order to bite down on its prey.
The approaching figure was stunned, never having imagined that his whereabouts were actually fully understood by Yang Kai. He immediately realized how tricky it would be to handle the black dragon and swiftly retreated, his figure flickering a few times before coming to a halt beside Yang Zhao and gazing towards Yang Kai strangely.
Yang Kai just coldly snorted, still remaining motionless, staring straight at Yang Zhao.
“It turns out the other Blood Warrior in Second Brother’s house has already broken the Qi Binding Seal!” Yang Wei muttered aloud.
During the battle at Po Jing Lake, every Young Lord had lost a Blood Warrior to the Qi Binding Seals that the Yang Family Grand Elder Huang Jiu Zhou had planted on the Mysterious Grade artifacts. These Qi Binding Seals should have taken at least two months for the Blood Warriors to break on their own.
The affected Blood Warrior in Yang Wei’s service was still in retreat back at his mansion, striving to break through the Qi Binding Seal as he had be doing for the past two months, and he should be able to exit soon.
Yet, obviously, Yang Zhao’s Blood Warrior who was hit by the Qi Binding Seal had already managed to free himself.
[No wonder Second Brother made such a suggestion. This was what he was counting on.]
With Ying Jiu not here, Yang Kai now had to fight not just Yang Zhao, but an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage Blood Warrior as well! From every outside observer’s perspective, he had no chance of winning.
“You already knew?” Yang Zhao’s face slightly twitching. He thought his plot had succeeded, and was even preparing to use this opportunity to eliminate Yang Kai, but now it turns out his opponent was already aware of his second Blood Warrior.
“Naturally I knew.” Yang Kai said casually with a look of disdain. Under the immense power of his Divine Sense, no one in Yang Zhao’s house could hide from him.
“Then why did you agree?” Yang Zhao looked at Yang Kai incredulously.
“Why would I not agree?” Yang Kai said proudly as he shook his head, “You can’t stop me.”
His words were arrogant to the extreme.
Everyone was stunned, all of them showing awkward or disbelieving expressions. Many of them secretly thinking that the Yang Family’s youngest was really crazy. At the very least, he couldn’t be measured by common sense anymore.
Yang Wei and Liu Qing Yao in the tea house were equally dumbfounded.
Facing a Blood Warrior at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage, he dared to make such a bold claim?
That meant wasn’t taking the Yang Family Blood Warriors seriously either!
The surrounding atmosphere suddenly became a bit strange.
The Blood Warrior next to Yang Zhao also wore a bitter expression and said, “Little Lord, although all of us Blood Warriors deeply admire you, being ignored so is still quite grating. In order to prove my strength, I won’t hold back any longer.”
“Then go ahead and try to stop me!” Yang Kai laughed, forming a series of hand seals, sending out a great wave of Black Qi.
The black dragon above his head also let out a fierce roar and charged towards the Blood Warrior and Yang Zhao.
Yang Kai wasn’t prepared to waste any more time, immediately using his full strength.
Faced with such a violent attack, Yang Zhao suddenly suffocated, unable to summon the slightest bit of resistance. However, the Blood Warrior beside him suddenly unleashed a powerful burst of True Qi and Spiritual Energy, forming a light barrier around him and Yang Zhao.
*Keng keng keng…*
When the Black Qi impacted the light barrier, in just the blink of an eye, the white halo became polluted, almost as if someone had spilled black ink on it.
The Blood Warrior hadn’t anticipated Yang Kai’s methods would be so overbearing. Not daring to show the slightest negligence, hurriedly pulling Yang Zhao away.
But the cloud of Black Qi seemed to have a mind of its own, quickly pursuing the retreating pair like a great shadow.
Simultaneously, the hundred meter long black dragon swooped down towards the heads of the Blood Warrior and Yang Zhao, opening its great maw as if to swallow them whole.
A violent and fierce power welled up with the black dragon as its centre and swiftly expanded outwards, causing the surrounding Black Qi to ignite and explode.