The arrival of these seven Blood Warriors allowed Dong Qing Han and Yang Kai’s other allies to relax somewhat.
Confronting the Eight Great Families’ Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters with only a few members of the younger generation, they were obviously scared, but with these seven masters taking a stand they finally felt like they had some capital with which to put up a resistance.
Tang Yu Xian swiftly arrived by Tu Feng’s side.
Besides Ying Jiu, who was missing at the moment, the remaining eight Blood Warriors had all gathered here! Even though they were facing eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, they showed no fear.
Eight versus eight!
Although the numbers were equal, their gap in strength was still vast.
On one side were Grand Elders from the Eight Great Families, true pinnacle existences.
On the other side, of the eight Blood Warriors present, only four had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stages the other four were still at the Eighth Stages.
“Mad Tyrant Blood Skill!” The moment Tu Feng and the other Blood Warriors arrived, they didn’t hesitate to directly display their trump card. Violent energy fluctuations immediately bursting from their bodies as their complexions turned a light red, each of their Blood Forces rapidly intensifying.
Yang Zhao and the cultivators down below who were observing were dumbfounded.
Seven Blood Warriors used their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill simultaneously, who among them had ever witnessed such a magnificent display?
Blood Warriors were synonymous with the word ‘strong’, each one of them was essentially invincible among their peers, even capable of defeating opponents with higher cultivations than themselves, and the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill was their ultimate technique which normally would only be used under extreme circumstances.
It could be said that seeing a Blood Warrior activate their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill was already a rare event, but now, seven of them had actually done so simultaneously.
The momentum emanating from these seven suddenly displaying this forbidden technique threw War City further into chaos.
Even the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary old men were slightly surprised, none of them having anticipated this turn of events.
“Impudence!” Yang Li Ting roared, “Have you all forgotten your identities?”
“Grand Elder, pardon our offence!” Tu Feng’s face turned red as his Blood Force soared, respectfully replying, “Although you are a Grand Elder of the Yang Family, and we are all Blood Warriors of the Yang Family, since the Elder Hall issued a decree that we are to serve the Little Lord, then it is natural for us to protect him in his moment of need.”
“In your eyes, is his safety more important than the family’s honour?” Yang Li Ting asked coldly.
In response, the Eight Blood Warriors immediately nodded, Tang Yu Xian vocalizing their thoughts, “Grand Elder, in accordance with the decree of the Elder Hall, we are now only loyal to the Little Lord. Therefore, his safety is obviously more important than the family’s honor. If something were to happen to him and we stood by and did nothing, we would be guilty of an unforgivable sin. As such, we must offend you today. We only hope that Grand Elder can understand!”
“How dare you!?” Yang Li Ting was very angry as he roared with dissatisfaction, his face slightly twitching. With his status and strength, no one had ever dared to disobey him. The Yang Family Blood Warriors were a golden symbol of the Yang Family, synonymous with loyalty, yet today eight Blood Warriors, who had always been hailed as the right arm of the Yang Family, were willing to fight against him even if it cost them their lives!
Not only so, they had openly declared their intentions in full view of the public; Yang Li Ting suddenly felt like his authority and majesty had been tarnished.
“Foolishness!” The old man who had previously been goading Yang Li Ting into acting coldly snorted, seemingly quite disgruntled with the attitudes of these Blood Warriors; in his view, the masters of the Yang Family Blood Warrior Hall were supposed to be strong and loyal, yet in this situation they seemed more akin to stubborn idiots.
“We have no intentions of acting disrespectfully, but if Seniors wish to act against the Little Lord, we will stop you!” Tu Feng stared at the eight old men in front of him and shook his head slowly.
“Even with the eight of you together is not qualified to stop this Elder!” Yang Li Ting declared forcefully, seemingly determined to wipe clean the disgrace from the Yang Family’s honour, no matter who opposed him.
“What if you count this old master as well?” A calm voice suddenly resounded, seemingly passing from far away yet simultaneously right next to everyone’s ear.
Hearing this voice, the Eight Immortal Ascension Boundary couldn’t help turning their heads and staring towards the source of the sound.
Through the darkness, they seemed to see a person casually strolling through the air, almost like he was out for a relaxing walk, his expression the epitome of calm.
He didn’t seem to be moving very fast, but in only three of his light steps, he had already arrived directly in front of them and whether it was intentional or unintentional, the position he stood at was slightly higher than the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.
Floating there, his expression remained tranquil and temperate, as if looking down at these eight peak masters was only natural.
Yang Li Ting and the other Grand Elders all wore serious expressions as they stared back at Meng Wu Ya, their brows gradually furrowing.
Although the person in front of them only had a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivation, all eight of them felt he was not simple. Even the steps he had taken in order to arrive here seemed to contain a profound mystery to them.
This mystical feeling was difficult for even the eight of them to see through, much less comprehend.
How could a cultivator at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary have such a deep understanding of the Martial Dao? Each of the Grand Elders couldn’t help feeling shocked.
The eight old men were well aware of the existence of Meng Wu Ya; after all, he had come to War City quite some time ago, but the only other thing they knew about him was that he seemed content to focus on his cultivation and didn’t interfere unless absolutely necessary.
All of them had thought he was just an ordinary Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator.
But now, the eight Above Immortal Ascension masters realized that this Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary was not ordinary.
Facing him, even a character like Yang Li Ting felt a sense of crisis and pressure from the bottom of his heart, his instincts screaming to him that, alone, he was not worthy to be this old man’s opponent.
“There’s also this old master!” Another voice rang out, this time; the Eight Great Families’ Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were unable to hide their surprise.
They still knew about Meng Wu Ya, after all, the eight of them would regularly scan every corner of War City with their powerful Divine Senses and had naturally detected his aura.
However, this newcomer who had just spoke seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Not the slightest bit of his aura had been exposed. If he hadn’t taken the initiative to show himself, the eight Grand Elders likely would never have noticed him.
Being able to completely hide from their perceptions, there was no need to speculate about this person’s cultivation.
An Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master! Only someone at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary could do this!
A master at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary had actually hidden all this time inside War City.
If this man had any malicious designs towards the younger generation members gathered in War City, the consequences were something the eight Grand Elders all instantly sweat.
Fortunately, he seemed to have no malicious intentions.
Looking towards the source of this new voice, the eight Grand Elders saw an old man with a pure white beard and a scholarly temperament walking towards them from the distance just as Meng Wu Ya had, causing no small disturbance in their hearts.
What concerned the eight Grand Elders the most was that this newcomer’s steps seemed to contain the same mysticism as Meng Wu Ya’s, though not as profound.
The man came to a stop a dozen or so steps away from Meng Wu Ya and smiled towards him. Treasurer Meng smiled back at him wryly as he shook his head, “I already knew you were in War City. Could you not resist coming forward at last?”
The old man chuckled lightly and apologized, “Many thanks Brother Meng. This time I’ve had to bother you with these issues as it wasn’t convenient for me to appear.”
“I know.” Meng Wu Ya nodded slightly.
“I also want to sincerely thank Brother Meng for discussing the Martial Dao with me for so many years. Ever since I broke through, the many questions I have not been able to understand have been cleared as though I receive enlightenment.”
“No need.” Meng Wu Ya smiled temperately, “Between the two of us, there’s no need to be polite!”
Seeing these two old men completely disregard them and instead hold their own mini reunion, casually chatting with one another, the Eight Great Families’ Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters’ faces suddenly became somewhat ugly.
This kind of behaviour clearly indicated that these two didn’t put them in their eyes.
Although in their hearts they felt annoyed, from this short conversation between the two, the eight old men also heard something unusual.
These two should be old acquaintances, likely friends, but the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master actually seemed to act polite and respectful towards Meng Wu Ya, as if the latter was the Senior rather than the Junior.
What exactly was happening? Was Meng Wu Ya really the greater expert? What qualifications and skills does he have that allowed him to discuss the Martial Dao with the former, even causing him to sincerely thank him for his guidance?
On top of that, Meng Wu Ya had essentially taken this thanks for granted, as if this was the way things should be.
All eight Grand Elders couldn’t help feeling confused.
“May we know two sir’s names?” Qiu Dao Ren asked with a solemn expression.
Although they had determined that these two people didn’t have any malicious intentions here and had only appeared to protect Yang Kai, but facing such powerful masters, they also wanted to know their identities and background.
Meng Wu Ya smiled and replied, “High Heaven Pavilion Contribution Hall Treasurer, Meng Wu Ya!”
This self-introduction made the faces of all those who did not know Meng Wu Ya cramp up.
Contribution Hall Treasurer… A trivial shopkeeper actually possessed such profound momentum and cultivation. Was High Heaven Pavilion truly a Sect filled with hidden dragons and the crouching tigers?
“And you?” Taking a deep breath, Qiu Dao Ren turned his attention to the other old man.
In response, the man nodded lightly, “High Heaven Pavilion Sect Master, Ling Tai Xu!”
The expressions of the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from the Eight Great Families all changed radically at this name!
High Heaven Pavilion Sect Master, Ling Tai Xu!
This man was born into a trivial second-class Sect, but was still able to break through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary! Throughout the history of the Great Han Dynasty, he was truly a unique individual.
Never before had an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters appeared from a second-class Sect. Even the Lu Family’s Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, Lu Si, had only broken through to this realm after the Lu Family rose to the rank of first-class family, and his promotion was in large part due to the guidance and support of the Qiu Family. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Lu Si to have reached his current cultivation.
Ling Tai Xu, this name was legendary, a living legend at that.
Moreover, he also had an apprentice even more famous than himself.
His second apprentice was now the Demon Lord of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land! The man who had total control over a stretch of land ten thousand kilometers in diameter and had made henchmen of the six Great Evil Kings!
Facing the Demon Lord’s wrath, Heaven and Earth paled, and the souls of this world shook.
So when Ling Tai Xu announced his name, the eight Grand Elders suddenly became somewhat nervous, especially Qiu Dao Ren. His Qiu Family was the ones who lead the first crusade against High Heaven Pavilion and subsequently were the ones who had razed it to the ground. Now, the Sect Master from High Heaven Pavilion had appeared here. Perhaps he would try to settle the score.
If a fight between them was really to break out, War City would probably be destroyed.
However, what the eight old men couldn’t figure out was that even though Ling Tai Xu had only recently broken through, how come his insights into the Martial Dao seemed to be more profound than their own?
If this wasn’t the case, how could they have not noticed the existence of Ling Tai Xu until now?
Each of them had reached the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary at least fifty years ago. Over the last five decades, it couldn’t be said that their strengths hadn’t improved, but compared with Ling Tai Xu, their rate of progress was almost non-existent.
How did he do it?
“So it is Brother Ling!” Qiu Dao Ren quickly collected his stray thoughts and gently nodded, “I have been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time.”
“You’re too kind!” Ling Tai Xu smiled calmly, not showing any meaning of finding fault, instead portraying a sincerely humble attitude, “If we were to really discuss our ages, all of you should be this one’s Seniors, being addressed as Brother is already a great honour for this one.”
Seeing the posture of Ling Tai Xu, the old men from the Eight Great Families also relaxed slightly, the fat old man smiling as he said, “Brother Ling is too modest, those who have reached the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary shouldn’t quibble over seniority. Each of us are peers, even among us the generations are quite chaotic.”
“Indeed.”
Someone echoed.
After a few words, the atmosphere suddenly eased a lot.
“What reason does Brother Ling have for appearing at this time?” Yang Li Ting still maintained his cold expression as he asked a question he knew the answer to.
“Naturally I came for this little brat.” Ling Tai Xu smiled and pointed to Yang Kai. “No matter what, I am still technically his Grand Master, and my grand disciple is at such a critical moment in his breakthrough to the Immortal Ascension Boundary. Obviously, I should appear to support him,”
“You intend to protect him?”
“I do.” Ling Tai Xu nodded lightly.
Yang Li Ting suddenly felt that things had become a little troublesome.
Ling Tai Xu was a genuine Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master, Meng Wu Ya had a strange intimidating aura about him, Old Demon’s Demonic Qi was unusual, and the eight Blood Warriors had all activated their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill… The power of this group wasn’t something he could ignore anymore.
An Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage Blood Warrior after activating their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill could exchange a few moves with an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator, so the strength of these eight Blood Warriors couldn’t be underestimated.
Ling Tai Xu’s strength went without saying. Yang Li Ting estimated that if he were to face him one on one, he would likely find himself at a disadvantage. As for Meng Wu Ya, he was even more incomprehensible. Yang Li Ting wasn’t even sure how to evaluate his combat effectiveness, and to top things off, Old Demon was still watching from the sidelines.
This conflict… his chances of victory were slim, and even if he could somehow win, War City and all of its inhabitants would likely be destroyed in the process.
Yang Li Ting’s sharp eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted his gaze towards the deep darkness that surrounded Yang Kai.
He could not understand how this little brat from his family could actually gather so many powerful masters to speak for and shelter him.
“Fellow brothers, could you perhaps listen to my suggestion?” Ling Tai Xu suddenly said.
“Please, Brother Ling.” Qiu Dao Ren replied politely. Ling Tai Xu was already an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator so they could no longer use their status to lord over him.
Simply by virtue of his cultivation, Ling Tai Xu was qualified to speak with them as an equal.
“Fellow Brothers, the reason you wish to stop him from breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary is because you fear that as he gains strength, his heart will become corrupted and he will fall to the Devil’s Path, yes?”
The eight old men nodded in confirmation to Ling Tai Xu’s supposition.
Seeing their unhesitant nods, Old Demon couldn’t help snorting with dissatisfaction and muttering, “The ones who can’t control their own strength and are instead enslaved by it are the real demons. What does cultivating a Demonic Secret Art matter? What’s wrong with a person using Demonic Qi? All of that is just a method of pursuing power. Each and every cultivator acquires their strength differently. Declaring that only your method of cultivation is right while denying others’ is simply the hallmark of ignorant fools.”
“Speak up louder.” Shui Ling, having arrived nearby him at some unknown point, called out half teasingly to Old Demon, “If you only whisper like that, they won’t hear you.”
Hearing the playfulness in her voice, Old Demon glanced over at Shui Ling and smirked, “Little girl, you shouldn’t try to play games with this old master. Don’t think I don’t know your true origins!”
Startled by this statement, Shui Ling couldn’t help asking, “Do you really know?”
“Heh, this old master certainly knows. Not only does this old master know, that old ghost Meng Wu Ya also knows. We’re all from the same sky after all.” Old Demon snorted, a look of pride seeping into his expression.
Shui Ling’s eyes suddenly flashed a brilliant light. Grabbing hold of Old Demon’s arm, her expression filled with infinite bitterness and entreaty as she half tearfully, half joyfully asked, “Senior, do you know how to go back?”
Old Demon looked over her slowly and grinned evilly, “Why, you don’t know the way back?”
“En! I have been trapped here for quite some time and have yet to find a way back. Senior, if you know, can you please tell me?”
Seeing her desperation, Old Demon laughed raucously. His shrill voice was extremely grating to Shui Ling, but no matter how uncomfortable she felt, she still did her best to put on a pitiful expression and pray for sympathy.
“I won’t tell you!” Old Demon suddenly ceased his laughter and casually declared.
Shui Ling froze up for a moment before pouting in disappointment, “Why not?”
In response, Old Demon just shrugged his shoulders, “Because this old master has to wait for Young Master.”
“Wait for him?” Shui Ling glanced over, “Do you think he can break through the shackles of this world?”
Old Demon snorted contemptuously, “If Young Master can’t, then no one can.”
Shui Ling’s expression became somewhat serious as she stared towards Yang Kai. After a long time, she nodded gently, whispering, “If it’s him, he really might be able to…”
“If my guess is correct, in at least three years and at most ten years, Young Master will definitely be able to reach it.” Old Demon declared, full of confidence and full of expectations for Yang Kai’s future.
On the other hand, Shui Ling’s expression went black, unable to stop herself from complaining, “So long?”
“If you want to go back, you’ll have to wait, but whether Young Master will be willing to bring you with him is not something this old master can say. After all, the both of you don’t exactly have the best of relationships. Young Master, he… he’s quite vengeful.” Old Demon squinted at Shui Ling and shook his head slowly.
Shui Ling thought about it carefully, and indeed felt that, with the man’s cold heart and ruthless personality, he probably wouldn’t take her with him out of kindness or pity. So, she quickly cupped her fists politely and respectfully asked, “Junior hopes Senior can offer his guidance!”
Old Demon laughed smugly once more before nodding, “Good, why not.”
Suddenly lowering his voice and becoming serious, Old Demon continued, “Although Young Master holds deep grudges and is someone who will definitely seek revenge for any slight, he is also someone who is fiercely loyal to his friends. You have been in War City for so long observing him, so you should understand his temperament by now.”
Shui Ling nodded lightly as her eyes shone brilliantly.
This incident was a perfect example! Although she didn’t know all the specifics, Shui Ling had a fairly good guess about what had transpired.
All of this was because a single High Heaven Pavilion’s disciple had been injured. Yang Kai didn’t even hesitate to return the Soul Binding Curse doll to her in order to gain her help in killing Xiang Chu. This showed that he was a man of extremely firm character, ruthless to his enemies yet generous to his friends.
“Since you understand, you should know what to do, right?” Old Demon glanced at her meaningfully.
Shui Ling brow twitched slightly, but nodded quickly, “I know. I have to make him see me as a friend!”
As long as she became friends with him, she wouldn’t have to worry about him leaving without taking her along.
“Heh heh…” Old Demon smirked, “Young Master has always been kind to women, especially beautiful women, and you shouldn’t have any problems in this regard. Considering your origins, you’d make a good match for Young Master. Well, work hard!”
Shui Ling’s face immediately went bright red as she loudly objected, “What nonsense are you spouting? How could this country boy be worthy of me?”
Old Demon didn’t get mad, instead just sneering, “After ten years, you won’t be qualified to say so anymore.”
Shui Ling was dumbstruck, feeling like Old Demon was far too optimistic about Yang Kai. Realizing that any further argument was pointless, she held her tongue as she made up her mind to form a good relationship with Yang Kai.
As the two talked, a short distance away, the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were also holding their own discussion.
Ling Tai Xu opened, “In this Ling’s opinion, even if he breaks through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, his heart should not be affected.”
“Why do you believe so?” Yang Li Ting coldly snorted.
“Because he grew up under my watch, I know him far better than any of you.” Ling Tai Xu smiled slightly, he was different from others, and had once even spoken to Yang Kai while he was in a similar state about his Demonic Qi, so he was quite confident about his analysis.
“What Brother Ling says has some merit.” Qiu Dao Ren nodded gently, stroking his beard as he thought for a moment, “But what if things don’t develop as you expect?”
“If that really happens, fellow brothers won’t need to take action. This Ling will personally handle matters!” Ling Tai Xu calmly yet resolutely declared, his expression sinking slightly, “I have already allowed such a situation to occur once in my Sect, it will absolutely not happen a second time!”
The Grand Elders from the Eight Great Families couldn’t help wrinkling their brows, knowing that Ling Tai Xu was referring to the current Demon Lord and somewhat understanding his current feelings.
“As such, fellow brothers, why not wait a while?” Ling Tai Xu proposed to the eight old men.
“Good!” Yang Li Ting focused on the matter at hand, “We’ll do as Brother Ling suggests. After he breaks though, if his temperament truly changes, then we shall trouble Brother Ling to take action.”
“Rest assured, if such a situation occurs, I will personally cripple his cultivation.”
“Agreed! I too do not wish to take his life.” Yang Li Ting snorted and waited quietly with the other seven old men, no longer saying anything more. Even if Yang Kai’s temperament really changed after he broke through, he would still only be an Immortal Ascension First Stage cultivator. With so many peak level masters here, could he possibly escape?
So there was no reason they could not wait for a while and see.
On the other side, Ling Tai Xu just shook his head gently, not a trace of tension upon his face. Apparently, he was fully confident in Yang Kai and not concerned he would have any kind of accident.
With the two sides reaching an agreement, everyone on Yang Kai’s side, including the Blood Warriors and Dong Qing Han, who had been facing off against the eight Grand Elders, couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. As soon as the tension was cut, all of them suddenly realized they were soaked in cold sweat and shivered unconsciously.
Challenging an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master, it was something none of them had ever considered before, but today they had actually done so without hesitation.
Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya both turned to these people and slightly nodded, the crowd hurriedly cupping their fists respectfully in thanks…
Qiu Dao Ren released Qiu Yi Meng from her bindings, as did the Huo Family Grand Elder with Huo Xing Chen. The two young leaders quickly returned to their respective camps, issuing a few instructions and allowing everyone to fall back and stand down.
Yang Zhao’s allies also retreated a fair distance to observe the situation.
A moment later, only Yang Kai, Ling Tai Xu, Meng Wu Ya, and the Eight Great Families’ Above Immortal Ascension Masters remained.
All of the spectators had been focusing their attention on the negotiations that had just taken place and no one had paid much attention to Yang Kai. With things settled now, however, everyone’s eyes focused on him once more, quickly discovering that the World Energy baptism had reached and even more terrifying degree.
A huge amount of World Energy was now constantly surging towards Yang Kai. This torrent of energy was enough to unnerve even the strongest Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master, but Yang Kai still stood there quietly under the black swirling clouds, madly absorbing this raging river of World Energy. It was as if he was a bottomless pit. No matter how much World Energy rushed into his body, he could effortlessly swallow it all.
There was not the slightest leakage, nor was there any sign of discomfort on his face. Apparently, all of this was just a simple matter to Yang Kai.
Not only that, Yang Kai’s body was still emitting evil energy.
Along with the rapid inhalation of the surrounding World Energy, a strange equilibrium had been reached.
Everyone who was watching paled, some even felt fear, but none of them could figure out how a True Element Boundary cultivator breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary could cause such a breathtaking spectacle.
“A good seedling, such a good seedling indeed!” The fat old man’s eyes shined as he muttered to himself, seeming annoyed that his family did not have such a genius.
Thinking about Yang Li Ting’s previous attitude and practices, the fat old man almost felt sorry for Yang Kai.
He also wondered if the Yang Family’s cold and indifferent behaviour had a chilling effect on Yang Kai.
If this little brat had been one of his descendants, he would definitely have taken the utmost care of him, passing along all his knowledge and experience and insuring that the family provide whatever cultivation resources he needed!
Patriarch of the Yang Family? Worthless! Seeing Yang Kai now, as long as he was allowed to grow, he would one day reach the peak of this world! At that time, whether it was the Eight Great Families’ Patriarchs, Grand Elders, or Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, none of them would be worthy of challenging him.
[Yang Li Ting’s conduct was nothing less than stupid!] The fat old man silently thought indignantly to himself.
Yang Kai’s consciousness was still submerged within himself, completely surrounded by darkness, just like War City which was covered by Demonic Qi and dark storm clouds.
The only difference was that Yang Kai’s subconscious mind was even darker than War City, with not a single speck of light at all.
Like before the existence of the Heavens and the Earth, this place was a dark void where nothing existed.
But if one were to observe closely, they would notice some subtle changes occurring. Within the darkness, there seemed to be some kind of power secretly gathering, like a seed buried in the soil just about to sprout and grow.
After an unknown amount of time, a glimmer of light suddenly burst forth from the darkness; a weak glow like that of a firefly, a candle in the wind that might extinguish in the next instant.
But this single point of light had broken the darkness at this moment.
Yang Kai gathered his consciousness on this point of light and felt a slight pulling sensation. As he continued to concentrate on it, he began to notice a hazy image contained within it.
Another ray of light emerged soon after, but its’ colour was slightly different from the previous one.
The next moment, these lights flashed, causing Yang Kai’s Soul to vibrate as mysterious ripples propagated from this point.
Next, at third colour appeared, then a fourth… then a fifth…
When the point of light had reached a total of five different colours, it seemed to have reached a critical point, like a new shoot sprouting after the rain. However delicate and fragile, it was still pushing through the soil in order to emerge, wanting to forever shatter the perpetual darkness that surrounded it.
The flashes emanating from the five coloured light became more and more rapid and intense, and each time it pulsed, the fluctuations in Yang Kai’s Soul would also amplify. The dark void soon seemed unable to suppress this radiance, and the five coloured light gave off a final brilliance, illuminating the entire space.
Suddenly, the five coloured light seemed to congeal, forming a softly glowing five coloured lotus flower which gently floated before Yang Kai’s eyes.
Yang Kai was shocked and pleasantly surprised.
Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus!
The supreme treasure for nurturing one’s Soul had finally revealed its complete appearance. As it slowly spun about its axis, a rich yet gentle energy was released from it and permeated the surroundings at an incredible speed. As this energy spread, it quickly dyed the dark space white, making it no longer a dead zone but one that was filled with a subtle vitality.
The energy which rapidly spread was Yang Kai’s own Spiritual Energy! Something he understood instinctively.
Before even breaking through to the True Element Boundary, Yang Kai had already begun cultivating his Spiritual Energy.
But Spiritual Energy was invisible and ethereal, and similar to True Qi, required a storage location within one’s body. True Qi was stored in the dantian and meridians, while Spiritual Energy was stored in the Knowledge Sea.
Before Yang Kai opened his Knowledge Sea, the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had served as the carrier for his Spiritual Energy.
Right now, Yang Kai was using the Spiritual Energy he had cultivated for many years to develop his Knowledge Sea.
A subtle, nearly invisible Spiritual Energy was quietly being circulated in a steady flow. With the propagation of this Spiritual Energy, Yang Kai felt like a layer of shackles somewhere inside his mind had shattered and his Soul strengthened several times over.
Even though the Soul Warming Lotus was a supreme treasure, it was, after all, only a foreign object which had temporarily stored Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy.
By using this carrier as an intermediary, Yang Kai could also use his Divine Sense, but due to it not truly being a part of him, he had never been able to display his full power. Now that this container had completed its task as a transfer point, Yang Kai could fully utilize his Spiritual Energy, resulting in a large increase in his Soul’s strength.
The extremely strong fluctuations of Yang Kai’s Soul suddenly burst forth from his mind and swept over the entirety of War City.
The masters gathered nearby all changed colour when they felt the strength of this Divine Sense.
Even the Grand Elders from the Eight Great Families wore extremely stern expressions, while Meng Wu Ya and Ling Tai Xu were both amazed and excited.
The fluctuations of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy had completely surpassed his current level of cultivation, leaving those in the same realm as him far, far behind.
In the depths of his mind, the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus still continued spinning as the Spiritual Energy stored within it was released in an uninterrupted flow.
Time passed by.
At some point, all the Spiritual Energy stored in the Soul Warming Lotus had finally been released.
The originally dark void was now filled with silky threads of soft light that extended as far as the eye could see.
Yang Kai clearly saw these threads undergo a suddenly change, seemingly under the influence of some mysterious force.
A group of these threads pulsed as they gradually converged into a thicker, more powerful one, which subsequently pulled in and gathered more threads, gradually strengthening bit by bit in a seemingly endless cycle.
Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling the scene he had witnessed in Tang Yu Xian’s Knowledge Sea, but the demonstration of how one opened and formed their Knowledge Sea she showed him was quite different from scene playing out in front of him now.
When Tang Yu Xian opened her Knowledge Sea, the process was slow and temperate, slowly advancing step by step. Although it didn’t appear particularly difficult, it couldn’t be described as ‘fast’ by any means.
Whereas on the contrary, at this moment, Yang Kai’s spiritual Energy was rapidly and fiercely progressing.
Within the once empty void, Spiritual Energy flooded every corner and was rapidly undergoing a kind of qualitative change.
*Hulala…*
Suddenly, the sound of flowing water appeared. Yang Kai swept his vision around and saw a clear stream of water, like a gentle stream, flowing out from a central point.
Naturally, this point was the Soul Warming Lotus!
This tiny stream of water quickly grew and in the blink of an eye became a mighty river, then a great lake… and finally a vast unending sea!
As brisk winds blew, rolling waves several feet high appeared on this sea, all of it formed by Yang Kai’s vast Spiritual Energy.
The Soul Warming Lotus was quietly suspended above the ocean, constantly emitting a soft five coloured radiance which shone over the entire sea. The ‘water’ below was crystal clear and it swayed and churned in harmony with Yang Kai’s thoughts. Soon after, great reefs formed in all directions, guiding and scattering the waves as the sea churned.
Within the sea, many strange fish began to appear, followed by birds which flew through the sky. After only a brief moment, the dark void had transformed into a world teeming with life.
As the sea breeze blew past him, a pure and natural feeling washed over Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s Soul phantom stood midair, quietly looking around at this new world, his heartbeat racing slightly.
Waving his hand, the floating Soul Warming Lotus suddenly became an island in the sea! Its coloured rays making it particularly eye catching.
Everything here was comprised of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy, so he could manipulate any piece of it at will.
The next moment, Yang Kai suddenly felt something deep within his heart permeate into this sea.
After investigating for a moment, Yang Kai discovered that it was actually all the memories he had!
Contained within his Knowledge Sea were all of Yang Kai’s life experiences and memories. Everything he had encountered and learned these many years was gradually merging with this sea, including his cultivation technique, Martial Skills, even his pain and suffering.
Looking through the water casually, Yang Kai saw a few past events like he was watching a replay, the entire scene clearly presenting itself in front of his eyes as if he was experiencing it once again.
A cultivator’s Knowledge Sea contained all their secrets, so no one would allow another to intrude into the Knowledge Sea unless there was absolutely no other choice.
Doing so was tantamount to presenting yourself naked in front of another.
Shan Qing Luo allowing Yang Kai into her Knowledge Sea showed that she already completely trusted him.
Now, his Knowledge Sea had truly formed!
At this moment, a strange feeling arose in Yang Kai’s heart.
It was like he was seeing himself climbing a long mountain road to the peak of Martial Arts. He had journeyed far, but there was still a long way to go.
Opening his eyes, a brilliant light flashed across them as his gaze became as sharp as an eagles’.
Everyone gathered nearby was shocked, as their expressions froze.
The first thing Yang Kai saw was Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya staring at him appreciatively with smiles on their faces.
Nodding to these two old men, Yang Kai smiled gratefully.
Although he was immersed in his breakthrough, Yang Kai had still felt their arrival and faintly knew what kind of efforts they had made for him.
His heart filled with warmth that cannot be described.
His Grand Master had supported himself unconditionally, and had believed in him without ever wavering!
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai retracted his Divine Sense and aura, suddenly becoming a plain and unremarkable youth, almost like he was an ordinary mortal that had never cultivated before, the only difference being the torrent of evil energy radiate from his body.
The dark clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed, and the horrible World Energy continued to baptize Yang Kai’s body. Although his Knowledge Sea had already formed, his physical baptism was apparently not over.
“Are you human or demon now?” Yang Li Ting asked pointedly.
Yang Kai gave him a faint look and answered his inquiry with practical action.
After regaining control of his body, under his careful guidance, the Unyielding Golden Skeleton’s swallowing ability became tens of times more powerful than before.
A great vortex of wind suddenly covered War City with Yang Kai’s body at its center, and the Demonic Qi which had been spread around was immediately pulled towards him.
Even the mighty World Energy contained in the thick clouds above did not escape this suction.
A massive tornado was formed with Yang Kai calmly standing at its central position, and soon the dark clouds above were drawn into this whirlpool and disappeared into Yang Kai’s body.
Within less than a quarter of an hour, War City suddenly became clear, with not a single cloud in the sky for ten thousand kilometers. The bright blue sky and gentle breeze was seemingly washing the evil intent from everyone’s heart.
The great suction calmed and the cloud of dust gathered around Yang Kai slowly began to settle.
In front of Yang Zhao’s mansion, everyone was silent.
Countless blank pairs of eye stared at Yang Kai,
The events of Yang Kai’s breakthrough were simply indescribable.
Everyone present had doubts in their hearts as they blankly stared at Yang Kai.
Could breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary produce such an unusual baptism, akin to a catastrophe? Could a cultivator that had just opened their Knowledge Sea have such rich and powerful Spiritual Energy?
With everything that had just happened spitting in the face of their common sense, many people could only stand there baffled.
The Central Capital’s First Young Lord Liu Qing Yao, who was always as tranquil as an ancient well, finally grinned helplessly. He found that the current Yang Kai brought him a huge and unparalleled pressure, his instincts telling him he could no longer defeat this youth. In fact, he faintly realized that he wasn’t even worthy to be his opponent anymore.
With a bitter look on his face, Liu Qing Yao whispered to Yang Wei who stood beside him, “Eldest Young Lord, you were right, your Ninth Brother’s achievements are already much greater than mine.”
After that, he simply shook his head and said, “A real monster!”
Yang Wei grinned proudly.
As for the Grand Elders from the Eight Great Families, all of them wore extremely dignified expressions.
Even though they had just witnessed Yang Kai break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage, none of them could see through his depths. His unusually sturdy Spiritual Energy isolated him from any of their attempts to probe him, making them feel quite awkward.
Being able to block their Divine Senses showed that Yang Kai’s own Divine Sense and Spiritual Energy were not weaker than their own, possibly even stronger.
How did he do it?
How exactly did he cultivate?
Each of them was no less than a hundred years old and had cultivated their Souls for countless years, yet the Spiritual Energy of a mere youth less than twenty years of age had surpassed them.
No matter which one of these old men it was, they couldn’t help feeling a frustrating sense of shame.
“Whether this little brat is now human or demon, I think Brother Yang should be able to tell, correct?” Ling Tai Xu smiled and casually said to Yang Li Ting.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s aura was unremarkable, no trace of True Qi fluctuations emanating from him at all, much less the overwhelming Demonic Qi he had previously been releasing. On top of that, his eyes had returned to their former colour and showed crystal clear clarity. Aside from the unusual profoundness in his gaze, he appeared no different from an ordinary mortal.
If he still wanted to label Yang Kai as one who had fallen to the Devil’s Practices, Yang Li Ting would really be a blind man.
Coldly snorting, Yang Li Ting grumbled, “I’m afraid him being able to restore his consciousness this time was pure luck. One day, he won’t be able to control that Demonic power inside him, and at that time, this old master will not be merciful!”
Delivering this line, he turned around and soared towards the Seal Temple.
He wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. As a Grand Elder of the Yang Family, his actions this time made him appear like a wicked and heartless person.
He was only considering the family’s honour and didn’t want to see an evil demon born from the Yang Family, yet in his attempt to clean up his house, he had instead brought the loathing and animosity of a great many onto himself instead.
Even if Yang Li Ting was aloof from worldly affairs, such an embarrassment was still quite uncomfortable!
After Yang Li Ting left, the other seven old men didn’t have any reason to remain and also turned around to depart.
Qiu Dao Ren frowned at Yang Kai before leaving and faintly said, “Don’t practice that Evil Cultivation Technique anymore.”
The fat old man also warned Yang Kai, “Heed our warnings, cultivating that Demonic Secret Art will not bring you any benefit. With your aptitude, no matter what Secret Art you cultivate, your future achievements will be immense. There’s no need for you to intentionally pursue shortcuts.”
The fat old man obviously thought that Yang Kai having such potent strength at such a young age was because he practiced an Evil Cultivation Technique.
Although reality was different, he had spoken these words out of sincere concern, so Yang Kai could only nod gently, not explaining anything.
In fact, he had never practiced any Evil Cultivation Technique or Demonic Secret Art; the thick Demonic Qi in his body was only because of the Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
On top of that, Yang Kai felt that the world could not be so clearly divided into righteous and evil, everyone simply had different perspectives!
Strength was only the result of one’s cultivation, how one used that strength was the most important factor in deciding if they were good or evil.
“Yang Kai, congratulations.” Qiu Yi Meng walked over and smiled, opening up the floodgates.
Quickly, others rushed forward and offered words of praise.
Yang Kai swept his eyes over these people and with a warm smile returned the sentiment, “Thank you, all of you.”
Even if his consciousness wasn’t very clear during his breakthrough, Yang Kai could still sense how these people here had unhesitantly stepped forward to defend him. Receiving Yang Kai’s heartfelt gratitude, everyone smiled even wider.
Shifting his gaze to eight tall figures beyond the crowd, Yang Kai nodded lightly.
The eight Blood Warriors, who normally had a majestic and indomitable aura about them, all currently looked somewhat pale, their Blood Force quite weak.
This was the price they had to pay for activating the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill! Although it had cost them a great deal and they had eventually not fought against Yang Li Ting and the other Grand elders, their extremely firm stance and willingness to pay such a price to protect Yang Kai had still played a vital role.
If they hadn’t displayed such a strong front, Yang Li Ting and the other Grand elders wouldn’t have compromised so easily.
Despite their current weariness, the eight Blood Warriors still laughed happily.
Last but not least, Yang Kai stepped forward and cupped his fists respectfully to Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya, “Grand Master, Treasurer Meng!”
“Get up, get up.” Ling Tai Xu reached out and patted his shoulders, “It’s good that you’re safe.”
Treasurer Meng on the other hand just snorted in annoyance, “You smelly brat, stop bothering this old master with such troublesome things.”
“Of course, of course.” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly. This time was really just the latest in a series of troublesome problems he had bothered Meng Wu Ya with, causing him to feel slightly awkward.
Turning to Ling Tai Xu, Yang Kai asked, “Grand Master doesn’t plan to leave, right?”
Yang Kai was completely unaware that Ling Tai Xu had hidden himself in War City and had no idea when he had even arrived; it was quite possible that only Meng Wu Ya had some clue about this. After finally reuniting after such a long separation, Yang Kai was quite reluctant to see his Grand Master depart again.
Thankfully, Ling Tai Xu nodded, “I have no plans to go anywhere.”
“That’s good.” Yang Kai smiled, “Disciple also found Su Yan and the other members of High Heaven Pavilion recently. They will arrive in War City in a few days. If Grand Master is here to watch over and instruct them, disciple can feel relieved.”
“No need for pointless flattery, this old master also wishes to stay here and converse with Brother Meng.” Ling Tai Xu smiled lightly before turning to look at Qiu Yi Meng, stroking his beard as he suddenly said, “Little girl, your aura is familiar. If I remember correctly, you brought people to set fire to my Sect once.”
Suddenly having this dark history brought up, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into, hurriedly pulling Luo Xiao Man over and blushingly saying, “She was also there!”
Luo Xiao Man silently teared up…
Her eyes darted back and forth helplessly, wanting to escape.
Seeing the two young girls panicking like this, Ling Tai Xu laughed and didn’t continue to pursue the matter. Qiu Yi Meng also realized that the other party didn’t plan to settle accounts with her and had only been casually mentioning it.
Yang Kai smiled wryly and turned his head to look away, letting out a long breath he calmly declared, “Second Brother, Ninth Brother will take his leave.”
In the direction Yang Kai spoke, Yang Zhao simply stared back at him with a pale face, as if he had lost his soul and hadn’t heard him at all. Even after Yang Kai and his allies had departed, he still did not react.
Yang Wei glanced over at Yang Zhao and slowly shook his head. He knew that his Second Brother had been hit hard this time, and it would be a while before he could accept such a result.
He had failed to protect Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu. Yang Kai had ruthlessly executed two of his followers in front of him despite his desperate resistance.
On top of that, the personal charm and potential his Ninth Brother had displayed during this incident dealt Yang Zhao a heavy blow.
Facing a life or death crisis, countless people had come forward to help him resist. Who had ever witnessed such a moving display before? Even facing eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, Yang Kai’s allies hadn’t yielded a single step from beginning to end!
Yang Zhao knew that the cultivators in his house would not be willing to do this for him, and Yang Wei also didn’t believe his allies would make a similar decision.
This time, Yang Zhao had taken a heavy blow. Yang Wei was also hit hard, but at least he was only a bystander, so he had an easier time accepting this result.
[This Inheritance War… is it really necessary for it to continue?] Yang Wei, who was always steadfast and determined, suddenly felt confused.
It had already been eight or nine months since it had begun, but from now on, whether it was personal methods, strength, aptitude, or interpersonal relationships, Yang Kai would undoubtedly have an overwhelming advantage.
On the other hand, Yang Wei and Yang Zhao essentially had no qualifications to compete with him.
Perhaps, in the early stages, the two brothers had still been ahead of Yang Kai. At the time they were stronger than him and had gathered more allies as well, but as time passed, Yang Kai’s mansion had grown into a behemoth, and under his leadership, his allies had formed an unshakable solidarity!
It was precisely this kind of person that the Yang Family needed as its Patriarch.
Given the current circumstances and comparing their relative strength, there was indeed no reason for this Inheritance War to continue.
Letting out a long sigh, Yang Wei suddenly felt a little disheartened, only speaking a few words to Liu Qing Yao before hurriedly departing with his Blood Warrior.
“Second Young Lord, let us return!” The Blood Warrior who had first fought with Tang Yu Xian advised.
However, Yang Zhao didn’t move, his eyes still staring off into the distance.
“Second Young Lord, this Inheritance War, please forgive me for not being able to participate anymore.” A young man with a difficult expression on his face suddenly walked up to Yang Zhao and declared.
Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu had only injured one of Yang Kai’s allies, and in retaliation they had been brutally killed. Having witnessed this, what point was there in continuing to participate in the Inheritance War? Who among them dared to be Yang Kai’s enemy?
The two Blood Warriors’ expressions immediately became ice cold and were about to angrily shout, but they somehow managed to endure.
Seeing things from the opposite party’s perspective, the two Blood Warriors could understand how difficult this decision was to make. After investing so much time, effort, material, and manpower, to quit at this last moment, not only would this youth not reap any benefits, he and the force he came from would even have to bear the title of coward and traitor. However, compared with one’s life, what did such trivial things count for?
The two Blood Warriors could look down on their weaknesses, but they couldn’t open their mouths to accuse them of adding insult to injury. Anyone seeing Yang Zhao suffer such a devastating blow would make a similar decision.
“Farewell.” The youth said before quickly taking his people and leaving, no longer having any face to remain.
“Second Young Lord, forgive us, we can’t participate anymore.” Someone else immediately stepped forward and followed suit.
After less time than it would take to boil a pot of tea, the amount cultivators in Yang Zhao’s mansion had reduced to half their original number.
Before each of these forces left, a representative would offer apologise to Yang Zhao, but he didn’t seem to hear a single one of them.
“Who else wants to leave? If you do just hurry up and leave!” One of the Blood Warriors finally couldn’t contain his anger and shouted.
Hearing this, several other forces that had been hesitating immediately stood firm.
“Anyone else?” The two Blood Warriors scanned the crowd with cold eyes.
Under this intimidating pressure, everyone stood up straight.
“Good.” The two Blood Warriors nodded lightly, a faint look of satisfaction appearing on their faces, showing some appreciation to those who still chose to remain.
Unfortunately, Yang Zhao still remained absent minded as he stood there desolately.
In the crowd, Ye Xin Rou looked at Yang Zhao, her eyes were full of disappointment. She didn’t expect the Yang Family’s Second Young Lord to behave like this after such a setback.
Unsure why, she felt disdain in her heart.
In order to win Yang Zhao’s favor, she had sacrificed more than she was comfortable with, and now she couldn’t see him having any hope of winning.
Looking up at the direction of Yang Kai’s mansion, Ye Xin Rou’s eyes gleamed and her face burst into a strange expression. She bit her thin lips whilst deep in thought, her eyes reddened as if she had realised something.
In less than half a day later, Yang Kai was notified that more than 100 people from High Heaven Pavilion had arrived!
Overjoyed, he rushed out to greet his visitors.
Su Yan and the others had arrived as well. When Xia Ning Chang heard, she rushed out of the Pill Room, her face blushing from excitement.
The two girls had not seen each other for a long time. It was a reunion for them at last. There was so much to say, especially about the common man between them. When the topic was raised, they began to whisper and point at Yang Kai.
Qin Ze of the Medicine King’s Valley forced himself to leave. Although he wanted to take Xia Ning Chang back to the pill room, after seeing her happy expression, he went back alone.
He also couldn’t bear to bother Xia Ning Chang’s reunion with her friends. From what he could recall, he was not old yet he had few friends. Besides pill refining, other matters were usually irrelevant.
Such a young girl, aside from alchemy, should have more important things, Qin Ze sobbed.
The mansion was full of people. The Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall people were quite familiar with High Heaven Pavilion, and soon everyone would get to know each other.
Yang Kai surreptitiously stood close to the two girls but remained silent as they chatted. Listening to his two lovers speak in such a warm, sisterly tone made his heart fill with warmth.
“Brother-in-law.” Su Mu called out. From the way he walked, it was clear that his injuries were no longer an issue after taking the Myriad Drug Milk. “ I see that Senior Sister’s relationship with you seems a bit unusual?”
Yang Kai snorted and slanted at him, “Children shouldn’t ask about the matters of adults.”
Su Mu couldn’t help but spit disdainfully, “You’re not much older than me!”
Yang Kai ignored his retort and said with a straight face, “The person who injured you is already dead, and you will encounter this kind of thing in the future. If you cannot bear it, surrendering will be easy. Do you understand?”
Su Mu snorted and said, “ I know.”
Shaking his head again, “Unfortunately, I tried to cultivate and personally seek revenge. Now, it seems that there is no chance. The two of them did not look too strong.”
“Were there any opportunities for you in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave?” Yang Kai looked at him with a smile on his lips.
He and Su Yan received the final inheritance in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave. The Hu Sisters also got the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art and even Lan Chu Die, received something.
His cultivation hasn’t been very fast in recent years, so Su Mu probably didn’t encounter an opportunity there.
Su Mu laughed a little, scratching his head and nodding, “I received something and have already told Elder Sister about it.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, not inquiring the details, “Work hard. Don’t waste your opportunity. The opportunities in the inheritance Heaven’s Cave are not ordinary.”
“What do you mean?” Su Mu said, unable to understand.
“Nothing. Forget about it.” Yang Kai shook his head and did not explain.
Yang Kai felt a bit faint. The things in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave seem to have surpassed the level of this world. Whether it was Su Yan’s Joyous Unification Art or the Hu Sisters’ Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art, no cultivator of this world could create them.
During this time, Yang Kai also saw a lot of unexpected, eye-opening things, giving Yang Kai extraordinary information.
Qiu Yi Meng arranged for the people of High Heaven Pavilion to live in the mansion.
Undiscovered in War City, Ling Tai Xu and the remaining four Great Elders of the High Heaven Pavilion made their way into Yang Kai’s mansion.
After two or three noisy days, peace had gradually returned to the mansion, and everyone was doing their job methodically.
Hardships and tribulations became more common after a few days. The forces in the leadership became more cohesive. Even though Sects were different, they were as peaceful as brothers and sisters.
In some cases, for example, when a new batch of pills came out, everyone was pushing to get through, but the atmosphere was harmonious.
In these few days, Yang Kai only did one thing.
Cleaning up the Bamboo Knot Gang!
The news of High Heaven Pavilion’s hiding place was revealed by people within Bamboo Knot Gang. After Pang Chi returned to Central Capital, he immediately discovered and took out the culprit Mu Nan Dou.
The next day, Mu Nan Dou’s head was personally sent to Yang Kais mansion by Pang Chi.
According to Pang Chi, Mu Nan Dou sold the information just because Ye Family’s Ye Xin Rou promised him some benefits and sent him two of the Ye Family’s young and beautiful maid servants.
The two maid servants were born in the Ye Family, and Pang Chi didn’t dare touch them. He just sent them over and let Yang Kai deal with them.
For Mu Nan Dou, who was a blind man, Yang Kai didn’t care. Mu Nan Dou was already killed. Naturally, there was nothing to say. Yang Kai did not kill the two maid servants, but had them stay within the mansion.
After all, they were involuntarily drawn into this mess, only used as a bargaining chip for Mu Nan Dou. They did nothing wrong.
Pang Chi immediately returned to the Central Capital to gather supplies for Yang Kai.
After Pang Chi left, Qiu Yi Meng found Yang Kai and pulled him into a room, closing the doors and windows.
Looking at the nervous color of her face, Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh. If this was seen by others there would be a misunderstanding.
Qiu Yi Meng was also busy for several days. After the war, many things had to be dealt with: The casualties, the compensation, the accommodation of the High Heaven Pavilion, and so on, until now.
After the two were seated in her room, Yang Kai reached out and poured her a cup of tea, then Qiu Yi Meng sipped and sighed. She seemed more relaxed now.
“What did you want to talk about?” Yang Kai asked softly and sipped his tea.
Qiu Yi Meng sighed and said, “About Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu…”
“You think I went too far?” Yang Kai interrupted her.
Qiu Yi Meng gently nodded and told the truth, “They were the future heirs of first-class families. You killing them was rash. How do you think you will end up? Do you think that the two families will just give up?”
“They won’t.” Yang Kai shook his head. He knew killing Xiang Chu and Nan would cause this, but killed them anyway.
“There is no way for them to attack me!” Yang Kai chuckled. “If they dare, I admire their courage, but they dare not.”
Not to mention the Yang Family, they’re unable to compete with such a behemoth as himself. It is said that Yang Kai has gathered so many powerful people that it is by no means comparable to those families.
Eight Blood Warriors, one Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, two top Immortal Ascension Boundary peaks… The two families may be vengeful for their dead heirs, but they had to consider if they can do it.
“You…” Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai with hints of love and hate, then suddenly smiled, “But to tell you the truth, when Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng were killed by you, I felt very refreshed. The two men were really sinister and despicable, and they were the heirs to two great families.”
Yang Kai snorted, “The kind of people they were, even if I didn’t kill them this time, they would have been kill by someone else.”
“Oh, that’s what I said, but the problem is that the two families won’t compromise. The Yang family inheritance war is put under pressure because it has never had a first-class family heir die before. It could be big or small, but it depends on me. As arrogant as the Yang family is, they won’t be able to shield you.”
“I naturally know this.”
Qiu Yi Meng wore a dignified look, “If I were them, I would wait for an opportunity to strike when you are down. However, will there ever be a time when you will go down?”
“I cannot say.” Yang Kai shook his head.
Qiu Yi Meng looked up directly into the depths of Yang Kai’s eyes. She said softly, “It looks like we are worried about the same problem.”
Yang Kai smiled a little, “Smart women are not likable.”
“Then, do you like stupid women?” Qiu Yi Meng stood up and turned. “Xiao Man is stupid and you don’t like her.”
“Of course I like her. Those two lumps on her chest are much too generous, bigger than yours.” Yang Kai said without averting his gaze, which were directed at Qiu Yi Meng’s bossom. As his hand touched his chin, he muttered while in deep thought: “If I were to put my head between them, would I suffocate to death?”
Qiu Yi Meng’s face turned bleak and she quickly crossed her arms to block her chest, scolding, “Prevert!”
However, Yang Kai didn’t respond. His expression became serious as he changed the topic, “This time, I didn’t expect my promotion to Immortal Ascension Boundary to cause such a fuss.”
“You were too careless.” Qiu Yi Meng wore a bitter smile. She and Yang Kai were quite worried about this.
The Eight Great Families and the evil cultivators were like fire and water. Yang Kai’s power naturally made them envious and fearful. The people of Eight Great Families who had appeared to cultivate Demonic Secret Arts were either directly destroyed or abandoned. This time, Yang Kai was still alive thanks to Ling Tai Xu.
“I can’t help it.” Yang Kai shook his head. “There is no impenetrable wall in the world!”
Being able to conceal his power for so long already made Yang Kai very content. According to the situation at the time, even if I did not use the Devil Transformation, when I promoted Immortal Ascension Boundary, the energy in the Unyielding Golden Skeleton would be uncontrollably ejected, and those eight people would know.
Unless Yang Kai found a place away from War City, to avoid their eyes and ears.
Now that the situation has evolved in such a way, the Inheritance War should not have been affected. Yang Kai didn’t know if the family would deprive him of his qualifications to participate in the Inheritance War, but it wasn’t impossible for them to do such a thing.
Qiu Yi Meng had started to have a feeling of doubt about this matter. She pulled Yang Kai to the side to quietly discuss this matter behind closed doors.
But now, no matter how worried she was, it would be of no help. The Yang Family’s decision was not something that Yang Kai could interfere with. Just like the previous matter of the amount of Blood Warriors under Yang Kai’s command, the family said that they would not let more than two participate and no matter how much Yang Kai resisted they wouldn’t back off, though a compromise was eventually found.
Although Yang Kai had gotten a lot of benefits at the time, it was annoying that the recent developments could not be expected.
There was no real point in discussing this with Qiu Yi Meng. Yang Kai could only prepare for what results may come.
“If there is nothing else, I will be going first if that’s okay.” Yang Kai hurriedly stood up and prepared to leave.
Qiu Yi Meng glared at him and snorted.
“Anxious to find that icy beauty of yours?” She said in a sour tone.
Yang Kai ignored her and walked out.
“Be careful not to overwork yourself!” Qiu Yi Meng said nonchalantly.
“Are you concerned about me?” Yang Kai paused and said with a smile, while gazing at Qiu Yi Meng. Yang Kai then tilted his head and said, “You don’t really like me, right?”
Qiu Yi Meng’s face turned red and snorted, “So what if I do?”
Yang Kai was stunned. He didn’t expect that Qiu Yi Meng would actually confess so bluntly and suddenly, so much so that Yang Kai did not know what to do. Although he had repeatedly teased Qiu Yi Meng before, it had always only been teasing, and to suddenly get such a response. It had left Yang Kai feeling a little lost.
Yang Kai stood in place, not knowing what to say.
Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai without a care and said, “Liking you, doesn’t mean I have to be with you. I can give up everything to follow you to be a good wife and mother to your children, but only if you can enter the Qiu Family. Would you do that??”
Yang Kai shook his head.
“That’s right, so it can only be to the extent that I like you and nothing more. Later, I will marry a Young Lord of the Central Capital, and then he will marry into the Qiu Family. With the family’s support, we will bring your Yang Family down. At that time, maybe we will become enemies.” Qiu Yi Meng said with self-confidence, seeming to be talking about other people’s affairs, “Maybe I will marry someone like Huo Xing Chen or Gao Rang Feng or Kang Zhan or Liu Qing Yao or maybe even Meng Shan Yi. They are all candidates.”
“They don’t deserve you.” Yang Kai shook his head and suddenly felt a little melancholic.
Qiu Yi Meng chuckled, her eyes welling with shiny tears. She didn’t wipe them away. She turned her head and whispered, “If they don’t deserve me, I don’t deserve you, isn’t that right? You are so powerful, your future’s so bright, only a woman equally as talented can be worthy of you. I used to look down on all the men in the world, but now I can only look up to you…”
Yang Kai suddenly felt that he couldn’t continue to talk to her anymore. If she goes on, the strong and wise woman may start crying.
He grin and gave out an awkward chuckle, “Let’s stop talking about it for now and let it go. Go out to have some fun.”
Yang Kai despised himself for saying such cruel things.
“I can’t stop. I just can’t stop. I don’t think I can ever let go until the day I get married. Maybe then, I will be able to look at you as a friend and finally spend time together to have fun.” Qiu Yi Meng shook his head in a serious manner.
Yang Kai stared blankly at her, “Are you kidding?”
Qiu Yi Meng grinned and smirked, “What do you think?”
“Baby steps.” Yang Kai’s face was covered in cold sweat, fled with no choice.
The soft sound of cracking filled the hallway. Under the moonlight, there was a graceful figure leaning on the handrail of a window, looking up at the starry sky, holding some shelled hazelnuts. She relished them slowly.
Yang Kai was lost in the allure of her light blue hair, that hid her beautiful, charming face. Her small red mouth was slightly open, exposing porcelain white teeth. Exposed to the midnight air were her flawless-as-jade slender thighs. Such a sight was stunning.
Yang Kai frowned and gazed at the woman in front of him.
“Would you like some?” Shui Ling reached out and said that as her lips were not idle, it was apparent she was very skilled.
“No, thank you.” Yang Kai shook his head. “Why are you here?”
“I live next door.” Shui Ling pointed her finger at the room next to him. “It’s boring at night, so I came out to look at the stars.”
“Before that, I have a more important question to ask. Why are you in my house?!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“What’s the matter? Your house is so big, what does it matter that I come and stay here?” Shui Ling grinned and whispered, “Stop being so stingy.”
“Don’t play tricks on me. It doesn’t matter if you live here, but if I find out that you’re trying something, you will die.”
“Oh, I’m so scared.” Shui Ling bit her lips and looked at Yang Kai horrified. Her eyes were filled with fear.
“Hey!” Yang Kai knew that she was only pretending to be afraid, but he didn’t pry deeper into it. He asked, “How much of that conversation did you hear?”
Shui Ling continued to squat and snorted, “I didn’t hear the first half but I heard the second half.”
“Go and accompany her!” Yang Kai said with a wink.
The hazelnut in Shui Ling’s mouth slipped silently and she lost her voice, “Are you not going to accompany her?”
“Either go accompany her, or leave my house now.”
“You…” Shui Ling gnashed her teeth and quickly walked over and put the hazelnut in his hands. She glared at Yang Kai and said venomously, “I will remember you!”
After that, Shui Ling walked into Qiu Yi Meng’s room in anger.
After a few moments, the voice of two girls chatting came from inside the room. Satisfied, Yang Kai left.
Shui Ling arrived three days ago. the day after everyone managed to return to this mansion. Yang Kai knew that she didn’t care for him. This woman had a mysterious origin and her cultivation was also inconsistent with her age, as well as the pale blue hair of hers that was unconventional.
Shui Ling doesn’t look like an ordinary woman.
She said that she was born in Water Spirit Temple and Yang Kai has never heard of such a Sect existing.
Yang Kai had told Old Demon to keep watch on her in case she had an ulterior motive. Yang Kai had other reasons for doing this, mainly being trying to pry into her secrets.
Yang Kai could tell that Shui Ling did not have malicious intent towards his people, so he acquiesced to her request to live here.
Yang Kai just didn’t expect Qiu Yi Meng to arrange for her to live in the room next to his. Obviously, this had the intention of personal monitoring.
It was a moonlit night and the wind was howling.
Yang Kai went to Xia Ning Chang’s room.
Su Yan was also there.
For Yang Kai to suddenly visit so late at night, the two girls were a little shy. Su Yan was better. Xia Ning Chang however was blushing up to her neck.
During the time when Su Yan was not there, she often slept with Yang Kai. Although she had never done anything unusual, Xia Ning Chang still felt ashamed when she saw both Yang Kai and Su Yan.
She stayed silent with a lowered head.
Su Yan glanced at Yang Kai and softly asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.” Yang Kai replied calmly.
Su Yan sighed and then chuckled lightly.
She did not object to Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang being together. Su Yan had never bound Yang Kai in terms of relationships between men and women, and never asked him anything when it came to such things.
If it weren’t for the Joyous Unification Art, there would be no need for that kind of demand from Su Yan. On the contrary, Yang Kai, having cultivated the True Yang Secret Art, was a young man full of sap, so the urges created by the Art were much harder to resist as compared to Su Yan.
Yang Kai’s status was not low. He could have all the women he wanted, especially in his mansion. Nowadays, beautiful women were plentiful and many of them admired him.
However, according to Su Yan, Yang Kai had only had one woman so far.
For such a man, Su Yan would not ask for restrictions on him when it comes to women.
“Do you want to rest?” Su Yan said as she smiled at Yang Kai.
“There was no time for dual cultivation last time, so here I am now.” Yang Kai said.
“Oh.” Su Yan’s face turned red as she remembered.
“I am going to sleep!” Xia Ning Chang suddenly said and directly fell onto the bed, then she covered her face with a blanket, motionless, having seemed to be in a state of sleep in an instant.
Yang Kai and Su Yan looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh. Recalling the times in the cave-dwelling under the High Heaven Pavilion Coiling Dragon Stream, there were times when Xia Ning Chang also used it.
Yang Kai shook his head and did not explain further, Yang Kai and Su Yan sat down facing each other as their palms met.
Joyous Unification Art had already reached its second stage and did not require the combination of physical bodies to perform dual cultivation.
In an instant True Qi residing in them strangely blended, transferring from Yang Kai’s body to Su Yan body and back again, creating an endless cycle!
The battle that took place a few days ago had shaken the entire war city, and it hadn’t completely settled down until now.
During the battle, Yang Kai had suddenly shown an unstoppable momentum, arrogantly killing both Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng in front of Yang Zhao which was a blatant provocation, then breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary.
When the evil energy caused by Yang kai’s breakthrough spread throughout War City, it alerted the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Elders in the Seal Temple. They wanted to swiftly put a stop to Yang Kai’s breakthrough but were unable to because they were forced back due to Yang Kai’s incredible connections and the strength of his followers.
Afterwards, Yang Kai had successfully broken into the Immortal Ascension Boundary. The elders from The Seal Temple then withdrew.
Yang Zhao was left in a haggard state.
The next day, Eldest Brother Yang Wei sent out word that he would not act until the end of The Inheritance War.
This information caused an uproar throughout War City.
Yang Wei’s meaning was obviously stating that he couldn’t win the Inheritance War, and thus took a passive stance. But everyone could understand, and could not blame him for taking such actions.
In the face of Yang Kai’s absolutely overwhelming power, even if Yang Wei did resist it would not help him.
As long as Yang Kai wanted, he will be able to win against Yang Wei in an instant and defeat him in The Inheritance War.
News of Yang Wei’s announcement circulated around the world.
Although there was no news from Yang Zhao, his situation was undoubtedly the worst in everyone’s eyes.
When Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu were killed in front of Yang Zhao, the forces that supported Yang Zhao shrank drastically. Many of them forfeited their participation right to the Inheritance War entirely. The forces had left only half an hour after the battle against Yang Kai, leaving Yang Zhao’s Mansion’s front door cold and desolate.
At the moment, Yang Zhao’s remaining forces were less than half the number they were yesterday. In comparison to the number of cultivators under any of the Yang Family Young Masters, Yang Zhao has fallen from the most to the last.
Moreover, Yang Zhao’s strength wasn’t comparable to Yang Kai’s even at Yang Kai’s current mastery level.
It was even rumoured that Yang Zhao had lost his former vigor since that day. It was as though he had lost his soul and like the walking dead, losing all motivation.
All the cultivators that were left in Yang Zhao’s mansion were languid, listless and without fighting spirit.
The Inheritance War, which had gone on until now had broken down into a one sided battle!
Just as Yang Wei had concluded on that day, any continuation to fight was pointless. There was no need for any of their brothers to further pursue the position of Yang Family’s Patriarch.
Most people in the Central Capital and War City had already concluded that Yang Kai would be the next patriarch of the Yang Family, leading the Central Capital Eight Great Families and holding the power to control the world.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai’s mansion was lively and bustling. The guests were coming and going in countless numbers, running like a river.
All of these guests were people trying to forge ties with Yang Kai at the last minute.
Although they did not help in any battles during The Inheritance War and some even belonged former enemies of Yang Kai, as the Inheritance War comes an end. These people naturally wanted to reap some benefits.
Whether or not Yang Kai reached any agreements or allied himself with the forces that had visited him, he had to, at the very least, be familiar with them.
So when Yang Kai became the head of Yang Family in the future, it would be easier for him to solve matters diplomatically.
All the guests had brought a lot of gifts in hopes of meeting with Yang Kai and exchanging a few words with him.
There were many people who were trying to be a matchmaker. Which one of these forces did not have a few thousand beautiful women? Yang Kai was a young man, and what kind of young man doesn’t like a beautiful woman, this was the unchanging truth.
In the unlikely event that Yang Kai had taken a fancy to one of the forces’ many women, she would be married into the behemoth known as the Yang Family in the future! Who would not be jealous of such a thing?
Yang Kai’s mansion was almost filled to the brim with guests from other forces.
Qiu Yi Meng was not prepared to host the sudden influx of guests, thus was overwhelmed. She hated speculative people who change their faces faster than turning pages on a book.
After Yang Kai was made aware of the influx of guests, he had placed Qiu Yi Meng in charge of the guests. Although she did not know why, she could only comply.
All forces arrived with gifts and Qiu Yi Meng had to personally welcome all of them into the mansion: conversed with them politely, took their gifts, and then sent the guests on their way.
The people who were trying to matchmake did not want to leave the mansion unceremoniously, so they blocked the door and refused to leave without speaking to Yang Kai.
In just a few short days, Yang Kai’s mansion had welcomed more than a hundred forces, gathering a lot of wealth and materials at an incredible speed.
Qiu Yi Meng was deeply shocked.
Even if she was the First Young Lady of the Qiu Family, she was still shocked by the quantity and quality of these gifts!
Five days later, the bustle surrounding Yang Kai’s Mansion gradually calmed down.
Everyone in the mansion suddenly felt a strong energy fluctuation wash over them coming from the depths of the mansion. This energy was mixed with someone’s energy fluctuations. Everyone couldn’t help but have a change of expression and look towards the source of the energy.
Within only a moment, many people had gathered together.
“What is going on!?” Huo Xing Chen yelled, he had just got a new artifact from Treasure Instrument Sect but had not have the time to refine it. He couldn’t help but be amazed.
“It seems that someone has broken through.” Qiu Yi Meng frowned, “and it’s more than one person.”
“I also felt that two people had broke through at the same time…” Dong Fatzi nodded gently, the shockwave of energy then blended and entangled, seeming to not belong to one person.
“But why do I feel…Young Lord Kai’s aura?” Huo Xing Chen didn’t understand. Yang Kai had just broken through to Immortal Ascension Boundary a few days ago. Even if his aptitude was outstanding and his ability amazing, it was impossible to breakthrough after only a few days, wasn’t it?
Does that mean there will be even more people that are going to promote?
“Let’s go check it out.” Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help but be curious and led a group of people over to the source of the energy.
A short walk later, Qiu Yi Meng’s group arrived in front of Xia Ning Chang’s room and reached to knock on the door, but the door was already opened.
Yang Kai emerged from the room, followed by Su Yan, who held a cold temperament, as usual. Although they looked calm, anyone can see the undisclosed joy and excitement in their eyes.
“What? Why are there so many people outside my room.” Yang Kai frowned.
“Who was the one that broke through here?” Qiu Yi Meng looked around curiously inside the room, but did not see anything. She could not help but use her weak Divine Sense to sweep over Yang Kai, suddenly her face changed colour, “You actually…”
Among the people in this group, not only Qiu Yi Meng but also several others had broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, they noticed the abnormality of Qiu Yi Meng’s tone. So they also swept over Yang Kai to check.
Yang Kai was already at the second stage of the Immortal Ascension Boundary!
That is to say, the wave of energy that was set off during the breakthrough was indeed caused by him.
Everyone’s eyes instantly went round with shock as they looked at Yang Kai incredulously.
“It’s only breaking through a minor realm, what’s with all the fuss?” Yang Kai said.
“What’s the fuss?” Huo Xing Chen screamed. “Young Lord Kai Do you know when you broke through last time?”
Who doesn’t know the answer to this question?
They were all standing guard while Yang Kai breakthrough last time, while holding back the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Elders.
That happened only a week ago.
Only a week had passed since Yang Kai had broken through to the Immortal Ascension boundary, this cultivation speed could not be described as talented but simply monstrous.
“Did she break through with you?” Qiu Yi Meng asked as she turned and looked at Su Yan slyly.
Yang Kai nodded. During this round of dual cultivation, the growth was tremendous. Yang Kai broke through to Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage and Su Yan broke through to Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage, while their foundations were instantly stabilized.
Su Yan’s harvest was even bigger than Yang Kai’s. After all, he had only just broken through a Great Realm.
Huo Xing Chen suddenly said wretchedly, “In the days you’ve been staying in the room, weren’t you…”
Before he could finish his words, Su Yan stared at him with cold eyes.
Huo Xing Chen stammered. Although he held great interest towards noble and tempered woman, Huo Xing Chen could not help but feel an instinctive sense of fear whenever he faced Su Yan.
[This woman is not normal…] Huo Xing Chen thought that even Liu Liu Yao of Liu Family, was not her opponent.
He didn’t know why but Huo Xing Chen was convinced of his guess.
What’s more, he would consciously avoid harbouring thoughts about the women who admired Yang Kai, let alone Yang Kai’s woman.
“Since you have time to ask so many pointless questions, go back and cultivate.” Yang Kai reprimanded. Although his breakthrough was too abrupt this time, it was due to the immense accumulation of experience and growth that was allowed to explode out after he promoted a Major Realm.
Everyone was ashamed, and they quickly scattered. They all began to worry about their own cultivation and bottlenecks that they’re facing.
Qiu Yi Meng’s face started to blush a reddish hue. She still had heart to cultivate, but she did not have time with everything in such a mess.
“Little Lord, I have something to say.” Xiang Tian Xiao did not leave and looked at Yang Kai seriously.
Since the last battle, Xiang Tian Xiao has been looking for opportunities to speak with Yang Kai, but he had always been busy, finally an opportunity had arisen at this moment.
Looking at him, Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“I am going to look for Junior Sister Xia.” Su Yan said as she turned and left. Su Yan did not want to intervene in Yang Kai’s affairs.
Only Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng and Xiang Tian Xiao were left.
The atmosphere had turned tense. Qiu Yi Meng seemed to suddenly realize that Xiang Tian Xiao wanted to say something. she quickly said, “Young Master Xiang, I hope that you can carefully consider what you’re about to say.”
Xiang Tian Xiao looked at her indifferently and nodded slightly.
“Tell me, what’s the matter?” Yang Kai asked as he looked at him.
Xiang Tian Xiao took a soft breath and said in a concise manner, “I wish to leave and quit the Inheritance War.”
Qiu Yi Meng deeply sighed. Although Xiang Tian Xiao has been reminded, but he still said this sentence, Qiu Yi Meng could not help but feel a little sad.
“You’ve considered everything?” Yang Kai didn’t seem to be surprised, and seemed to already have known that this was coming.
“ En.”
“Since you’ve considered everything… then it’s okay. Go.” Yang Kai didn’t mince any words.
Qiu Yi Meng was shocked and stunned, “Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai glanced at her and faintly said, “I killed his older brother, if he is to stay in my mansion it will reflect badly on him. I am afraid that he will be criticized. It is in his best interest to leave here.”
Xiang Tian Xiao expression changed, he could not help but reveal a look of gratitude.
The battle between the two brothers was an open secret. Although Xiang Chu was his eldest brother, Xiang Chu was trying to get rid of him. But in the end, they were still brothers.
Xiang Chu died at the hand of Yang Kai. If Xiang Tian Xiao still stayed here it would be really inappropriate. Even if the people following Yang Kai understood his reasoning for staying, who would know if everyone would understand his reasons? There were so many people under the sun could they all understand and accept his reasoning.
Listening to Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng had an awkward look and did not know what to say.
Others now break their own heads wanting to squeeze into Yang Kai’s followers, but they didn’t have this opportunity at all, they simply can’t get in.
At the juncture of victory of The Inheritance War, Xiang Tian Xiao chose to leave here. At first glance, such a choice is quite irrational.
But Yang Kai knows that Xiang Tian Xiao has his own reasons. He is not the kind of person who lives for profit.
If he was such a person, he wouldn’t have relied on himself when he was most desperate. The number of people he brought was small, and his strength was not high. But in battles both big and small, they had put in their efforts.
“Thank you, for this last half year you’ve helped me.” Yang Kai said to Xiang Tian Xiao who gently nodded.
Xiang Tian Xiao who always had a meticulous look, gently smile and said, “Thank you for taking care of this one this past half year, Young Lord!”
The pills supplied from the Pill Room, and the artifacts supplied in by the Treasure Instrument Sect, these were shared with the Xiang Family’s cultivators. The level of the Xiang Family’s people had risen several levels.
The smile gradually disappears, and the cold face returns. Xiang Tian Xiao says in a low voice, “Young Lord, when we see each other again, we will be enemies, then I will not be your follower… farewell.”
“I will see you off!”
Outside the house, Xiang Tian Xiao led his family’s cultivators and bid farewell to Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng.
As the sun set, the Xiang Family’s Second Young Lord’s stood tall, striding forward, his head held high.
He had not done anything to feel ashamed of.
Behind him were less than ten people.
When he had come to Yang Kai all those months ago, he had brought more than twenty cultivators with him along with four crates of supplies, but after so long, through various large and small battles, only these few had survived.
All the others had already died in battle, giving their lives in order to obtain victory for Yang Kai.
As the remaining members of the Xiang Family disappeared in to the distance, Yang Kai slowly took back his gaze.
Of these people, the only one whose name he knew was Xiang Tian Xiao. Everyone else he had barely even spoken a word to, but that still could not dampen the respect and gratitude he felt towards them.
This was the case for those from the Xiang Family as well as all the other allies from all their various forces who remained in his mansion. Yang Kai was very grateful to all of them. If they had not come to his aide and he had been truly forced to face the Inheritance War on his own, even with his great personal strength, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything.
Qiu Yi Meng nearby also suddenly felt a little heavy hearted.
This was the first group of cultivators to leave Yang Kai not because of a dispute over interests, nor because of some kind of bitter hatred, but because of honour and commitment to their family.
“The Xiang Family will be much better off under Xiang Tian Xiao’s leadership.” Yang Kai took a deep breath and said.
At the very least, he was more reliable than Xiang Chu. If the Xiang Family was truly inherited by Xiang Tian Xiao in the future, Yang Kai didn’t mind normalizing relationships with them.
Qiu Yi Meng gently brushed her hair back behind her ear and chuckled, “In other words, you’ve done the Xiang Family a favour.”
“Unfortunately, the Xiang Family won’t appreciate it.” Yang Kai laughed wryly to himself, “Let’s head back.”
But as Yang Kai turned around, before he had taken a single step towards the house, his face suddenly became cold, reaching out his hand and grabbing at the air.
His hand, which seemed to reach through the space itself, extends out like an invisible rope.
A cry of surprise rang out, causing Qiu Yi Meng to glance over at its source, her brow furrowed.
A few dozen meters away, a figure wrapped in a black robe was suspended mid-air, struggling violently, their neck seemingly being pinched by an invisible hand, their feet kicking back and forth yet unable to escape from Yang Kai’s grasp.
“Hm?” Qiu Yi Meng was shocked. The exclamation of this person which she had just heard sounded familiar to her, but as she couldn’t see this robed figure’s face she couldn’t help feeling curious.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, flicking his wrist, sending out a wave of True Qi and knocking off his captive’s head covering.
After seeing her true face, Yang Kai only stared harder at her, a cold light flashing across his eyes.
Qiu Yi Meng on the other hand relaxed and calmly watched the struggling posture of the woman in front of her, giggling slightly, “It really is you.”
“Can you let go?” The woman bit her bright red lips, ignoring Qiu Yi Meng’s teasing laughter and glaring at Yang Kai, her face bright red with embarrassment, her well rounded chest rising and falling rapidly, providing quite the enticing scene.
Yang Kai frowned and didn’t immediately know what to do. Just now, he had felt someone quickly approaching him without sending out any greetings, so he had taken the initiative to restrain them.
After considering for a brief moment, Yang Kai waves his hand and released the other party. Suddenly regaining her freedom, the woman yelped and fell to the ground miserably, glaring at Yang Kai angrily as she got up.
There was also a hint of venom in her gaze but she managed to hide it quickly.
She had never been treated like this before.
“Young Lady Ye.” Qiu Yi Meng snickered, standing proudly next to Yang Kai and narrowing her eyes at Ye Xin Rou in front of her, suggestively asking, “Weren’t you living a life of peace and luxury, serving the Second Yang Lord in his Mansion? Why have you come all the way here?”
Listening to the hidden barbs in her voice, Ye Xin Rou felt aggrieved but didn’t reveal anything on her face, instead wearing a dazzling smile, “I don’t understand what Elder Sister Qiu is saying. I am only an ally of Second Young Lord, why would I be serving him? Such minor things can be taken care of by the maids, there’s no need for me to personally intervene.”
“Really?” Qiu Yi Meng put on a surprised expression and continued, “How come I heard that since forming an alliance with Second Young Lord, Sister Ye has steadily grown closer to him. Big Sister was even wondering if it was almost time to talk about Sister Ye’s marriage date.”
Ye Xin Rou’s winning smile never faded as she swiftly countered, “Elder Sister Qiu must be mistaken. Junior Sister Ye isn’t one to casually decide her marriage partner. On the other hand, Elder Sister Qiu isn’t young anymore. Isn’t it about time for her to consider finding a man to rely upon? If Elder Sister is interested, little sister can put in a good word for her with Second Young Lord. Second Young Lord is a little dispirited right now, so if he were to receive such pleasant news, little sister is certain he would be quite pleased.”
“No need for that.” Qiu Yi Meng laughed sweetly, turning her head slightly to look at Yang Kai, “If I am to marry, there’s already a candidate around me.”
Ye Xin Rou couldn’t help gawk slightly, not having imagined that Qiu Yi Meng would act so boldly. Right in front of Yang Kai’s face, she had all but directly professed her love. Only after a while did she recover, wearing a look of admiration as she spoke, “Elder Sister Qiu is really extraordinary, little sister’s face is thin to say such embarrassing words.”
Qiu Yi Meng stared warmly while Ye Xin Rou smiled sweetly, each of them staring into the other’s eyes, invisible sparks flying between them.
At the entrance to the house, the two guards from some unspecified force who happened to be on duty listened to these two young woman calling each other Elder Sister and Junior sister, their tone of voice warm and gentle, as if they were really a pair of harmonious sisters. But contrary to this seemingly intimate conversation, they felt more like these two young ladies were pointing swords at one another, causing cold sweat to drip down their foreheads.
“If you have something to say, spit it out and be done with it! I don’t have time to listen to you two prattle on.” Yang Kai impatiently interrupted their verbal confrontation. He had something he wanted to handle right away so naturally he didn’t want to waste time here.
“Must Little Lord act so cold?” Ye Xin Rou pouted somewhat dissatisfied, “Oh, very well. Since I’m already here, I might as well say what I have to say.”
Yang Kai simply stared at her, his expression still indifferent.
Seeing his attitude, Ye Xin Rou’s brow furrowed somewhat, “Little Lord isn’t going to make me say it here, is he?”
“Is it something inconvenient to say?”
“Of course it is not convenient to say here.” Ye Xin Rou’s expression sank. Right now she was sneaking around. If someone were to see her in contact with Yang Kai, it wouldn’t be a good thing for her.
After all, she was currently Yang Zhao’s ally.
Qiu Yi Meng was obviously also worried about this, tip toeing and whispering something into Yang Kai’s ear.
She was concerned that word of him meeting with Ye Xin Rou would be spread out and used by people as negative propaganda. Not only was such a thing bad for Ye Xin Rou, it would also tarnish Yang Kai’s reputation.
After listening to Qiu Yi Meng’s words, Yang Kai, even if he was not willing to, he could only say, “Let’s talk about it inside.”
Just as he said these words, Ye Xin Rou swiftly flew forward, leaving a fragrant scent in her wake as she rushed into the mansion, throwing a flirtatious glance to Yang Kai and giggling as she passed by him.
Witnessing all this, Yang Kai’s expression became strange. This Ye Xin Rou seemed totally different from what he had imagined.
“Did you think she was a naive innocent woman?” Qiu Yi Meng coldly snorted.
“I did think so.” Yang Kai nodded. From Ye Xin Rou’s reputation, her appearance, and his brief contact with her, Yang Kai had felt that although she was currently his opponent, she wasn’t someone bad.
But now, it seems like his eyes weren’t as good as he had thought.
“Hmph, be careful not to let her eat you, bones and all.” Qiu Yi Meng snorted sourly.
“Just what kind of person do you think I am?” Yang Kai glanced over at her indifferently.
Receiving this look, Qiu Yi Meng suddenly let out a pleasant laugh, feeling like she was worrying over nothing.
If Yang Kai was like Huo Xing Chen, she may still have some concerns about him falling for Ye Xin Rou’s temptations, but even though she felt Yang Kai was hateful at times, he was still a principled person.
If she were to wholeheartedly try to seduce Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng estimated that Yang Kai wouldn’t refuse her, but Ye Xin Rou… she didn’t have such ability!
Thinking so, Qiu Yi Meng suddenly felt a pleasant sense of superiority.
Walking into the house, outside a quiet room, Qiu Yi Meng paused and sneered, “You talk to her yourself. If I go in with you we’ll probably just end up fighting again, so it’s best if I’m not around anyways.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. Having experienced the scene outside his mansion just now, he knew that what Qiu Yi Meng said was the truth.
Both of them were Young Ladies of the Central Capital Eight Great Families, so they would naturally be compared to one another. However, Qiu Yi Meng’s reputation was undoubtedly more spectacular, not something Ye Xin Rou could compare to.
Inside the room, Ye Xin Rou had already taken off her disguise, gently breathing with a calm and relaxed expression. Her looks were impeccable and she had dressed herself up carefully. Yang Kai always knew Ye Xin Rou was a great beauty, but now looking closely at her, this impression became more profound.
Her two jade like arms were exposed and her skin a pure shade of white, her chest was full, not too big or too small, just right, her waist was thin and graceful, perfectly curved hips leading to long slender legs.
Adorning her delicate feet were some small bell-like decorations. Although they didn’t make any sound, they were small and cute, adding an exotic flavour.
The first impression she gave off was that of a gentle and feminine young woman.
But when Yang Kai observed her for a moment, he noticed a certain seductive charm in her movement and gaze.
“Whatever you have to say, just say it.” Yang Kai spat impatiently.
“Little Lord is really quite cold.” Ye Xin Rou smiled and pouted lightly.
“You’re wrong about that,” Yang Kai grinned, “I’m not a cold person, I’m also interested in beautiful women, but I have something to do now, I have no interest in wasting time.”
“Beautiful? May I take that as Little Lord’s compliment?” Ye Xin Rou’s face showed a dazzling smile as she casually flirted.
“To each their own. Everyone has their own views regarding beauty, and in my opinion you are indeed a beautiful woman.” Yang Kai nodded in agreement, “But even if you are a beautiful woman, you can’t waste my time.”
“In that case, Xin Rou will get straight to the point.” Ye Xin Rou didn’t try to entangle him any further. About Yang Kai’s character, even Ye Xin Rou briefly understood. He was a man with strong convictions and refused to be led around by others. Regardless of what kind of word games she tried to play, it would likely only serve to annoy him.
Yang Kai put on an expression that said he was listening.
“After the great battle seven days ago, Second Young Lord has completely lost his fighting spirit. Although I am an ally of Second Young Lord and should support him at this time, reinvigorating his confidence, I believe that no matter how hard I try, it will be to no avail. In other words, Second Young Lord is destined to lose this war.”
“What are you trying to say?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as the corners of his lips rose, “Don’t tell me you plan to abandon Second Brother and seek refuge with me?”
Inside the room, Ye Xin Rou narrowed her eyes and stared at Yang Kai, breaking out into a smile a moment later.
After giggling lightly, she directly said, “Little Lord looks down on people far too much. How could I simply abandon Second Young Lord to support you? If I did so, what would that say about me? What would the people of this world think of me? Of my Ye Family?”
“It was just a joke, don’t take it too seriously.” Yang Kai smiled and shook his head.
He also knew it was impossible for Ye Xin Rou to agree to this condition.
The Inheritance War was held by the Yang Family in order to select it’s next Patriarch and the various forces from around the Dynasty who participated did so mainly in order to win favour with the former.
But the other seven Great Families of the Central Capital were different.
They already had rich heritages and wielded great power. Even if not quite equal to the Yang Family, they were at least on the same level.
They were already inextricably tied to the Yang Family, so there was no reason for them to intentionally please them.
The Young Lords and Young Ladies from the other seven families who participated in the Inheritance War did so mostly to hone themselves and display their abilities. As for who won or who lost, it wasn’t of great concern to them.
So although Yang Zhao’s situation wasn’t very optimistic, it was impossible for Ye Xin Rou to betray him and ally with Yang Kai. She would gain nothing by doing so, while simultaneously damaging her Ye Family’s reputation.
“So what is it you really want?” Yang Kai stared at Ye Xin Rou with sharp eyes, “If I’m not mistaken, you should have been waiting around here for some time now, right?”
It would be too much of a coincidence for her to be outside his mansion at the exact moment Yang Kai had walked out.
As such, the only explanation was that this woman had been waiting for him.
“I don’t really want anything.” Ye Xin Rou shook her head casually, “It’s just that the situation is clear: It is only a matter of time before the Little Lord wins this Inheritance War and it can even be said that if you are willing, you can defeat your brothers right now. “
Yang Kai remained silent, but a hint of vigilance flashed across his eyes. He couldn’t determine if Ye Xin Rou had come here to gather intelligence or some other nefarious purpose.
“The winner of this contest will definitely be the Little Lord.” Ye Xin Rou smiled charmingly as she stared at Yang Kai, seemingly picturing his glorious future, her breath becoming slightly heavier, as if she was slightly intoxicated, “I’ve always had an interest in the strong, and Little Lord is such a person.”
“You have some boring interests.” Yang Kai grinned and said disdainfully.
Ye Xin Rou’s eyes flashed a cold light but quickly recovered, giggling sweetly, “Then I’ll get straight to the point. Xin Rou has come here only to make one request.”
“And that is?”
“When Little Lord becomes Patriarch of the Yang Family, I hope he can take care of my Ye Family.”
Yang Kai’s expression suddenly became slightly strange, squinting at Ye Xin Rou as he asked, “Your Ye Family is also one of the Eight Great Families. What do you need my care for?”
Ye Xin Rou shook her head slowly, wearing a slightly helpless expression, “Little Lord may not know, but the Eight Great Families are currently on the decline. Many of the masters from our families have died recently and the younger generation is not nearly as competent. Many of them prefer to engage in dandyism and delinquency rather than improving themselves. The last time we fought, the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land suffered many losses as well, but we failed to completely destroy them, which greatly damaged the reputation and prestige of the Eight Great Families. No one knows how long our current status and glory will last if this decline continues, however, I feel that Little Lord is a man who can bring about miracles. The best example is this Inheritance War itself. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Little Lord’s performance these past nine months has been a series of miracles. Under Little Lord’s leadership, the Yang Family, rather than decline, is likely to become even stronger, but among our seven families… hehe, I don’t think anyone of us has such ability.”
“When that happens, it won’t be long before your Yang Family really dominates the Central Capital and controls the world, not like now where it does so in name only.”
Yang Kai was slightly surprised, suddenly discovering that he had somewhat underestimated this woman foresight.
Worthy of an heir to one of the Eight Great Families. Despite her obvious personality issues, she was still a unique talent.
The current Eight Great Families didn’t actually differ that much in terms of strength and each of the other seven were always eager to seize the lead role from the Yang Family.
Of course, such an opportunity wasn’t likely to appear any time soon.
But no matter which one of them it was, it was true that their strength was waning.
The problem Ye Xin Rou had just described was something Yang Kai also occasionally thought about, but he hadn’t considered it too deeply because he felt that this kind of thing had little to do with himself.
But listening to her analysis, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling that what she said was reasonable.
The Eight Great Families had sat in their current position for too long and had become complacent. This was the so-called three generations of wealth. After a period of glory, there would inevitably be a decline and, sooner or later, a fall from power.
The symptoms of this decline were already starting to show.
The Young Lords and Young Ladies of the Central Capital each thought of themselves as powerful and superior to all others and had forgotten that their current achievements were due in large part to the hardships and sacrifices of their ancestors.
For example, if someone like Qiu Zi Ruo become the Patriarch of the Qiu Family one day, what hope would it have of rising?
Gao Rang Feng, Kang Zhan, Meng Shan Yi, Liu Qing Yao… all of them had some ability, but under their leadership, could they really halt the decline in their families’ power? This was something that no one could predict.
“Perhaps such an eventuality won’t occur in our lifetime, but I’d rather take precautions sooner rather than later. It’s better to be prepared than not prepared, isn’t it?” Ye Xin Rou declared confidently to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai gently nodded in response.
“In any case, I believe Little Lord isn’t an ordinary man. Under your leadership, the Yang Family will definitely grow stronger than it is now. If Xin Rou doesn’t forge a good relationship with you now, I’m afraid that there will be no chance to do so in the future.” Ye Xin Rou said frankly, no falsehood apparent on her face or in her voice. It was obviously that this was her sincere opinion.
“I admit that what you said makes sense.” After a moment of indifference, Yang Kai focused his eyes on Ye Xin Rou and curled his lips slightly, “But what benefit do I get for agreeing to your request?”
Ye Xin Rou bit her lip gently and whispered softly, “What benefits does Little Lord want?”
As she spoke these words, a fascinating glimmer appeared in her eyes as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, her implied meaning extremely self-evident.
Yang Kai looked at her and grinned, slowly shaking his head as he asked, “I don’t know, what can you offer me?”
Ye Xin Rou let out a charming laugh and slowly rose to her feat, sashaying over towards Yang Kai step by step.
When she arrived only a half step away from him, she spun on her heels lightly before gently sitting herself down atop Yang Kai’s lap, reaching out her jade like arms with fluid motions and wrapping them around his neck, bring her face next to his ear and exhaling a hot breath, “I can give Little Lord anything he wants.”
“Really?” Yang Kai’s flashed an obscene light that seemed to come straight from the depths of his soul, reaching out his strong hands to Ye Xin Rou’s rich womanly assets, kneading and pinching wantonly.
Letting out a suggest moan, Ye Xin Rou looked at Yang Kai impishly and pouted, “Please be a little more gentle with Xin Rou, Little Lord.”
Whispering such words from her bright red lips, Ye Xin Rou exuded a powerful sense of attraction.
In her pair of slightly wet eyes, a hint of pride quickly flashed by.
Even though Yang Kai was outstanding, he was still just an eighteen-year-old boy! Yang Zhao was already her captive, thoroughly conquered by her charms and her body, so how could the even younger Yang Kai escape from her? Ye Xin Rou thought to herself as she disdainfully scoffed in her heart.
Having giving him a taste, Ye Xin Rou next slipped out of Yang Kai’s embrace.
She was an expert at using such tactics, having a bit of fun while whetting a man’s appetite yet not allowing him to succeed too easily.
She was by no means a pure woman, so how could she not understand a man’s thoughts when it came to such matters?
Yang Kai did not try to stop her, instead just watching her with a smile, his expression filled with expectation. However, if one were to observe carefully, they would notice that although his gaze seemed fiery, they were actually filled with cold indifference.
The moment she stood firm, Ye Xin Rou’s clothes all suddenly tore to pieces and scattered.
A snow-white body with outstanding proportions was suddenly exposed to the air, her beautiful silky hair cascaded seductively down her lustrous back, highlighting her breathtaking and seductive figure.
Ye Xin Rou yelped in surprise, not having expected this at all.
Immediately, she realized that when Yang Kai had let his hands wander over her body, without her knowing, he must have gotten up to some kind of mischief with her clothes.
Feeling a slight sense of panic and fear, Ye Xin Rou hurriedly used her delicate arms to cover her most sensitive places. Blushing bright red, she grit her teeth and glared at Yang Kai, “You…”
But after spitting out a single word, Ye Xin Rou quickly swallowed down her anger and instead fidgeted, half nervously half playfully, as she said with wet eyes, “Little Lord, why are you doing this?”
“You offered yourself to me.” Yang Kai snorted and narrowed his eyes, saying in a commanding tone, “Move your hands.”
Ye Xin Rou suddenly became embarrassed and hesitated.
“Didn’t you just say you can give me anything I want?” Yang Kai sneered, “Or what, were you just spouting nonsense?”
“Of course I meant what I said.” Ye Xin Rou replied as she bit her lip, anger flaring up in her heart. She didn’t really object to becoming intimate with Yang Kai, she was even somewhat eager to do so, but before securing any actual benefits or at least some kind of verbal commitment, she didn’t want to let Yang Kai have his way with her.
But now, it seemed like she didn’t have any choice.
After silently cursing to herself, Ye Xin Rou continued softly, “Little Lord, please don’t laugh…”
Yang Kai remained unapologetic, still assuming the demeanor of a superior looking down at her.
Ye Xin Rou then slowly slid her hands away and lowered her head, seemingly shy.
Yang Kai didn’t make the slightest effort to conceal his gaze, his eyes full of aggression as he stared at her.
Rich peaks that concealed a deep valley, a smooth and flat belly without the slightest excess fat, a well trimmed grassy plain that concealed a wondrous treasure, skin as white as fresh snow, a picture sensual enough to make any man spurt blood from his nose; a beauty that one couldn’t help being drawn to.
Ye Xin Rou hid nothing as she stood naked in front of Yang Kai, like the finest piece of art, letting him appreciate her perfect figure and fascinating allure.
Yang Kai had to admit that this woman indeed had enough capital to justify her pride, especially the look of shyness she was wearing which only further enhanced the subtle mood in the air, tickling a man’s instincts to push her down and ravage her.
Seemingly noticing the fire in Yang Kai’s gaze, Ye Xin Rou’s jade white body began glowing a faint reddish hue and her breathing gradually became hurried.
Although she wasn’t an innocent little girl, she was still a woman. Standing like this in front of a man really did make her feel somewhat embarrassed.
“Beautiful?” Ye Xin Rou let Yang Kai’s eyes linger on his body for a moment before slightly lifting her head and gently asking.
Yang Kai nodded strongly as he let out a heavy breath.
“As long as you give me your promise, then Xin Rou will offer you everything…” At this point, Ye Xin Rou had no other tricks she could play. She could only throw out this kind of bait.
Moreover, looking at the appearance and state of Yang Kai, this little brat obviously couldn’t refuse such temptation, of this she was fully confident!
She was the First Young Lady of the Ye Family! Just her identity alone would make any man drool at the thought of obtaining her, not to mention she was also a great beauty.
In the room, facing Ye Xin Rou’s blatant temptation, Yang Kai stood up and walked straight toward her.
Ye Xin Rou raised his eyes and glanced at him shyly, her heart pounding violently, a faint trace of anticipation on her face.
Ye Xin Rou really was quite interested in Yang Kai and was more than happy to have a little fun with such an outstanding young man.
As Yang Kai approached, Ye Xin Rou’s breathing also became faster.
But in the next moment, Yang Kai walked past her, and in a sarcastic tone whispered into her ear.
“Sorry, I have no interest in sluts.”
The expectation on Ye Xin Rou’s face instantly disappeared and her expression became ghastly. Her tender body trembling with embarrassment and rage, she whipped around and angrily shouted, “Yang Kai, stop right there!”
However, Yang Kai didn’t pay her any mind and casually walked out.
Ye Xin Rou was infuriated and leapt forward, preparing to attack, but before she could even get close to Yang Kai, she was swept away by an invisible force. By the time she landed back where she had started, Yang Kai had already disappeared.
“Yang Kai, if you dare do this to me, I’ll make sure you die a miserable death!” Ye Xin Rou screamed hysterically.
Outside the room, Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai with an awkward expression, her face faintly blushing, “Isn’t this a bit much? She’s still a young woman.”
“Too much? Nonsense.” Yang Kai snorted, “I’m already being benevolent enough by not calling Huo Xing Chen over. I am always kind to women. Well, in any case, she’s all yours now.”
“Hehe…” Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help smiling, a trace of anticipation flashing across her face.
Although Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t really do anything serious to Ye Xin Rou given both of their statuses, it was still fine to make her eat some bitter fruit. The two Young Ladies had always been at loggerheads, and now Ye Xin Rou had actually brazenly come to her territory to seduce Yang Kai. Even though Qiu Yi Meng felt a bit sorry for her being toyed with like this, that didn’t mean she wasn’t upset with her as well.
After Yang Kai left, Qiu Yi Meng clapped her hands gently.
Immediately, several lower rank cultivators rushed over and asked, “What are Young Lady Qiu’s orders?”
Her red lips curling into a devilish grin, Qiu Yi Meng lightly commanded, “Block all access to this wing. Without my command, no one is allowed to enter!”
“Yes!”
Inside the room, hearing this, Ye Xin Rou’s beautiful went pale and she immediately cried out, “Elder Sister Qiu, Elder Sister Qiu! Have mercy on Junior Sister, Junior Sister knows she was wrong. Elder Sister Qiu…”
Qiu Yi Meng froze, her brow furrowing slightly as she muttered out loud, “Hmm, how odd, my ears seem to be playing tricks on me. Did any of you hear a voice just now?”
Seeing the dangerous light flashing across the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady, all the guards stood up straight and vigorously shook their heads.
“En, I could have sworn someone was calling out to me just now, but I guess I was just hearing things.” Qiu Yi Meng giggled and casually walked away.
The guards left behind all felt cold sweat drip down their backs.
They suddenly discovered that Qiu Yi Meng actually had such a ruthless and vengeful side to her, and all of them glancing towards the sealed room nearby involuntarily revealed a sympathetic look.
Just beyond this door, Ye Xin Rou’s perfect body was completely exposed…
Back in his room, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his mood fluctuating.
Not because of what just happened with Ye Xin Rou, but because of what was about to happen next.
Seven days ago, when he broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, Yang Kai was still unaware of it as there were so many things for him to deal with at the time, but after resolving all these issues and having a moment of peace, he realized something important.
The Wordless Black Book had a reaction!
Summoning it with his mind, the black book made from a giant piece of soulstone appeared in Yang Kai’s hand.
Only after obtaining this Black Book had Yang Kai truly stepped onto the Martial Path, and from that point on his momentum had been unstoppable.
Each time a seal on the Wordless Black Book was lifted, Yang Kai would obtain a great advantage, but his own unyielding efforts were the real reason for his rapid progress.
Yang Kai still clearly remembered everything he had obtained from the Black Book.
The first page of the Black Book had contained the Unyielding Golden Skeleton which had re-forged his crippled body.
The second page had contained the Tempered Body Record which had allowed him to greatly enhance his physique.
The third page stored the magical incense burner which allowed him to greatly increase his rate of cultivation.
The fourth page had taught him the True Yang Secret Art, the Secret Art which served as the foundation of his current True Qi strength.
The fifth page had guided him to Medicine King’s Valley where he had obtained the peerless treasures beneath the Myriad Drug Pond.
When the sixth page was unsealed, it had opened up the vast Black Book Space.
Since then though, the Wordless Black Book had not shown any response, and only after his most recent breakthrough did Yang Kai feel the seal on the seventh page loosen.
The seal loosening meant that with his current strength and cultivation, he would be able to break this seal and unearth the secret buried in the seventh page.
It went without saying that each time he opened a new page in the Black Book, Yang Kai obtained incredible benefits.
So now, at this moment, how could Yang Kai not be excited?
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Yang Kai held the Wordless Black Book, opened it, and poured his True Qi into it.
But soon, Yang Kai noticed something abnormal.
When he poured his True Qi into the Black Book, the Black Book would swallow it to a certain extent, but the seal on the seventh page didn’t budge, even refusing to accept his True Qi and reflecting it back at him.
Yang Kai was immediately lost in thought.
Was there something wrong with how he circulating his True Qi? Or was the quantity of his True Qi not great enough?
Of perhaps… this wasn’t how the seventh page was supposed to be unsealed.
The seventh page had only begun responding after he had broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary and opened up his Knowledge Sea.
So it was reasonable that the appearance of his Knowledge Sea and Divine Sense were the biggest factors in the seal loosening.
Thinking so, Yang Kai stopped pouring his True Qi into the Black Book and instead began gathering his Spiritual Energy and sending it into the seventh page.
The blank seventh page, after receiving this influx of Spiritual Energy, began to faintly glow and swallow it.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai affirmed his own inference: To unlock the seventh page’s seal, he had to use his Spiritual Energy.
In for a penny, in for a pound, Yang Kai swiftly enhanced the rate at which he transferred his Spiritual Energy to the Black Book.
As his Spiritual Energy was continuously swallowed up by the Black Book, Yang Kai clearly witnessed the seventh page’s seal weaken, like a great iceberg being melting away under a hot sun.
This process was quite slow, but there was without a doubt progress being made.
Time passed quickly and the sun now hung low in the sky. Yang Kai kept at it for an unknown amount of time and had even taken three Spiritual Energy supplementing pills in order to keep up with this rapid consumption, and the Black Book’s seventh page’s seal finally broke.
On the seventh page, a complicated series of criss-crossing glowing lines appeared.
It seemed to be some kind of Spirit Array.
When the complete Spirit Array was fully illuminated, a small vortex which seemed to have the ability to devour everything appeared and began to slowly rotate.
As this rotation became faster, something began to emerge from the page.
Yang Kai suddenly felt an instinctive sense of panic as his Soul seemed to be drawn in by some invisible force, nearly rushing out of his Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai was shocked and stunned, quickly calming himself down and stabilizing his mind.
If his Soul was really sucked away, he would become an empty shell, a mindless idiot!
At this moment, everyone in the house, even Meng Wu Ya and Ling Tai Xu, felt a sense of restlessness.
This feeling only lasted a moment, dissipating as fast as it came, but it had caused these two elite masters to become deeply vigilant.
Simultaneously, the two old men probed the area where Yang Kai had secluded himself, but after a careful examination they failed to discover anything. It seemed like something was isolating this area from their Divine Sense probe.
This discovery, or rather lack thereof, only made them feel more suspicious, wondering what exactly was happening.
Inside his room, Yang Kai stared at the object which had emerged from the seventh page of the Black Book, his expression somewhat awkward.
This thing was about the size of a small egg. It had two pointed ends and was rounded in the middle with a single flat edge, there were also many lines and patterns on its surface, somewhat like human veins but also resembling a complex tortoise shell pattern.
At first glance, Yang Kai thought it was some kind of strange fruit.
But after carefully observing it, Yang Kai felt it more closely resembled a closed eye.
At this thought, a chill ran through his heart and countless goose bumps appeared on his skin.
He didn’t know what this thing was. In the past, when a new page in the Black Book was unsealed, there was always a message that let him know what benefit he had obtained, but this time there was no such convenient explanation.
The difficulty in undoing this seal was also far beyond what Yang Kai had expected.
Vaguely, Yang Kai felt that this strange object was something absolutely indispensable, but he had no idea what its purpose was. All he could tell was that it seemed to have some kind of faint connection with his Soul.
Attempting to reach out to it with his Divine Sense, the eye-like thing immediately disappeared, and at the same time, Yang Kai noticed a new presence in his Knowledge Sea.
Drawing his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai quickly looked around.
Sure enough, the strange object had been admitted to his Knowledge Sea and was now quietly floating above island transformed from the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus. There was no sense of incongruence, as if it perfectly matched with his Soul.
In addition to it and the Soul Warming Lotus, there was also a small sword floating about in his Knowledge Sea.
It was the Soul type artifact he had used to kill Nan Sheng.
In order to refine this small sword, Yang Kai had expended a lot of effort, but this strange eye-like object had entered his Knowledge Sea almost effortlessly.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai couldn’t understand what any of this meant.
At that moment, a sound reached his ear and Yang Kai removed himself from his Knowledge Sea.
Opening the door, outside his room stood Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya who were staring at him with dignified expressions. Immediately, two huge Divine Senses swept over him, but after finding nothing out of the ordinary, they simply stared at him with puzzled looks for a moment before not asking anything, turning around, and leaving.
“Young Master, are you alright?” Immediately after, Old Demon arrived and asked anxiously.
“I’m fine.” Yang Kai shook his head lightly; knowing these people had all come here worrying about him made his heart feel a little warm.
“Good, as long as Young Master is alright.” Old Demon put down the worries in his heart and turned around to leave.
“Wait.” Yang Kai suddenly called out.
“What are Young Master’s instructions?”
“Go and call Leng Shan.”
“Yes.”
A dozen or so breaths later, Leng Shan of Ghost King Valley walked into Yang Kai’s room under the leadership of Old Demon.
Looking at Yang Kai curiously, Leng Shan calmly asked, “What is it?”
“Take a seat.” Yang Kai didn’t get up and instead gestured casually to her.
Leng Shan paused for a moment, not understanding Yang Kai’s intentions.
“I once said that when I broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary one day, I would set you free!” Yang Kai said with a friendly chuckle to Leng Shan’s suspicious face, “Now, it’s time to fulfill that promise.”
Leng Shan’s eyes suddenly flashed a brilliant light, full of hope and expectation.
A few years ago, when she had gone out for life experience in that Isolated World, Yang Kai had left a brand on her and Zi Mo of Tian Lang Dynasty’s Souls. At the beginning, Leng Shan and Zi Mo tried every means to escape Yang Kai’s control, but after wide variety of experiences, Leng Shan’s attitude towards him slowly changed.
Later, when they had reunited at the Evil Cavern and Yang Kai had single-handedly saved her and her fellow Ghost King Valley disciples, Leng Shan even began to feel grateful towards him.
When she had learned of the Inheritance War, Leng Shan and the Ghost King Valley disciples who owed Yang Kai a deep debt of gratitude had defied their Elder’s commands and journeyed to War City to assist him.
By now, she wasn’t very concerned about the Soul brand that Yang Kai had left in her mind, not even really caring if it remained or not. After all, beside the initial period where she had tried to rebel against him, Yang Kai had never used it to harm or coerce her in any way.
But despite all that, hearing Yang Kai say he was going to remove it still made Leng Shan a little happy.
This man really was someone who kept his word.
Yang Kai gently nodded, and Leng Shan stepped forward and sat down in front of him.
“Relax.” Yang Kai laughed lightly when he saw some nervousness on her face.
The next moment, the huge and pure Divine Sense condensed and directly rushed into Leng Shan’s mind.
Right now, Leng Shan was still only a True Element Boundary Ninth Stage cultivator, but although she hadn’t broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary yet and opened up her Knowledge Sea, as a sentient creature, she still had a Soul.
His powerful Divine Sense scanning through Leng Shan’s mind, Yang Kai immediately found an energy fluctuation which matched his own.
It was the Soul brand he had implanted on Leng Shan a few years ago!
Next, Yang Kai carefully drew out this Spiritual Energy and assimilated it into his Divine Sense.
This process wasn’t difficult for Yang Kai who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary.
After only as long as it would take to drink half a cup of tea, Yang Kai took back his Divine Sense and smiled, “Done.”
Leng Shan blinked slowly and looked at Yang Kai, her emotions somewhat torn.
Regaining her freedom was obviously a happy event, one worth celebrating, but after so long subtly feeling Yang Kai’s presence near her, Leng Shan now suddenly felt like something was missing, which was somewhat disconcerting.
“Thank you.” Leng Shan recovered quickly, stood up and thanked him gently.
From now on, she and Yang Kai were no longer connected. After the end of the Inheritance War, she would likely return to Ghost King Valley with her fellow disciples and never again set foot in the Central Capital and War City.
“It’s what I should do.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Leng Shan smiled shyly, nodded, and then left the room.
In the hall outside, Old Demon chuckled and said, “Leng girl, congratulations.”
But in response, Leng Shan actually gave him a cold stare. Her expression greatly confused the Old Demon, wondering where he had offended her.
“Old Demon, come in.” Yang Kai suddenly called out from inside the room.
Old Demon hurried in and asked, “What other instructions does Young Master have?”
“Take a seat.”
“Ah…” Old Demon was shocked and suddenly realized what Yang Kai was planning. Unable to hide a look of excitement he hesitantly began to say, “Young Master…”
“Since I told you to sit then sit, dispense with the nonsense.”
Old Demon obediently sat down in front of Yang Kai, trying his best to calm himself even as he anticipated what was to come next.
“Relax your Knowledge Sea’s defence.” Yang Kai said lightly.
Old Demon hastened to comply.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense poured into Old Demon’s Knowledge Sea and began seeking for his Spiritual Energy brand.
A short while later, Yang Kai and Old Demon blinked at the same time, the former staring at the latter somewhat strangely.
“Heh heh…” Yang Kai grinned as he stared at Old Demon, “Seems like I’ve seen something incredible.”
Just now, when he had invaded Old Demon’s Knowledge Sea, the first thing he saw was a blood red sea.
Old Demon’s Knowledge Sea, which could only be described as an ocean of blood, was filled with potent Demonic Intent and was in no way weaker than Yang Kai’s, and also carried a slight feeling of unease.
While exploring this bloody Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai faintly perceived some of Old Demon’s memories, including his previous desires to escape from and seek revenge on him.
However, everyone had their own thoughts and secrets so Yang Kai didn’t dare to spy too much, lest he come across something he would rather not see, and after finding the thread of Divine Sense belonging to him and retrieving it, he hurriedly evacuated.
Old Demon immediately paled, “Young Master, please calm your anger. All of those thoughts were something old servant had long ago. Now, old servant is completely loyal to Young Master and will continue to be until the earth is destroyed and the sun and moon fade from the sky!”
“Fine, fine.” Yang Kai stood up and casually waved his hand, “Don’t try to flatter me. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have set you free in the first place.”
“Young Master is the epitome of magnanimity!” Old Demon loudly declared, “From this day forward, Old Servant pledges to redouble his efforts to loyally support Young Master.”
Yang Kai simply nodded lightly, not saying anymore.
Old Demon didn’t get up to leave immediately though and instead began fiddling with his hands, seemingly wanting to say something.
Yang Kai noticed this and waited for him to speak.
“Young Master, Old Servant must inform you of a previous offence.” Old Demon nervously said.
“If you’re referring to your previous thoughts, you don’t have to say any more.”
“No, something else.” Old Demon shook his head in embarrassment, “It’s about your method of controlling others.”
“You mean your method.”
“Yes, yes, Old Servant’s methods,” Old Demon nodded. Whether it was himself, Leng Shan, or Zi Mo, it was only through Old Demon’s assistance that Yang Kai was able to control them.
In the process, Yang Kai was only responsible for providing a thread of Divine Sense while all the other arrangements were made by Old Demon.
At those times, Yang Kai’s cultivation was still relatively weak and it was impossible for him to use his Spiritual Energy to brand others’ Souls.
“What Old Servant wants to say is… this method has both advantages and disadvantages.” Old Demon stole a glance at Yang Kai, and seeing his expression remain indifferent, he couldn’t help wincing slightly and quickly continuing, “The biggest advantage of this method is its ease of use; Young Master had likely already realized that, with the help of Old Servant, by only using a thread of Divine Sense it is easy to control others.”
“And the drawbacks?” Yang Kai thought that this was the main point as he hadn’t heard Old Demon mention any kind of disadvantage before.
Old Demon scratched his head awkwardly and after a long silence said, “The malpractice of this method is that if one suffers, so does the other…”
“Speak clearly.” Yang Kai frowned.
“If the Soul of the one being controlled by this method is destroyed, then Young Master’s Soul may also be injured…” Old Demon grit his teeth and explained.
Yang Kai was somewhat startled but hurriedly made a conjecture, “Is it because my thread of Divine Sense in their mind would also be destroyed?”
“En, precisely. Fortunately, both Old Servant and that little girl Leng Shan were both safe the whole time.” Old Demon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he said, “But… perhaps… if that girl Zi Mo encounters some kind of tragedy…”
Yang Kai snickered, understanding what Old Demon wanted to say.
“Young Master, if this issue concerns you, Old Servant will immediately take a trip to Tian Lang Dynasty and bring her here.” Old Demon quickly proposed.
“Do you have such ability?” Yang Kai stared at him.
Although Tian Lang Dynasty wasn’t as powerful as the Great Han Dynasty, it was still a vast land where many cultivators gathered. Sen Luo Temple where Zi Mo hailed from was the pinnacle super forces of Tian Lang Dynasty and would obviously have more than one Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Master guarding it.
Even though Old Demon’s cultivation was strong and his methods profound, snatching someone from Sen Luo Temple was still impossible.
Old Demon had never told him this before because he had originally wanted to use this method to leverage his freedom. But after all this time, Yang Kai understood that Old Demon no longer had any intentions of doing this and naturally had no intention to pursue it any further. The fact that Old Demon had willingly told him about this malpractice was enough to explain his frankness and loyalty.
On top of that, in Yang Kai’s view, this malpractice wasn’t actually a big deal.
As long as Zi Mo didn’t die, he wouldn’t receive any injury.
“No need, we can deal with it later on.” Yang Kai casually said.
“Yes.” Old Demon said awkwardly as he nodded.
In any case, having his thread of Divine Sense in someone else’s mind wasn’t an issue to be resolved by others. Yang Kai could only wait for the Inheritance War to end before finding some free time to seek out Zi Mo.
Thinking about that bold and daring woman, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly became a bit strange.
[Back then, in that Isolated World, she and I almost…]
Reflecting on his youthful recklessness Yang Kai shook his head and sighed.
…………
Two days later, in the early morning, a group of uninvited guests came to Yang Kai’s mansion.
The guards on duty hurriedly informed Yang Kai of these people’s arrival. When Yang Kai arrived in the main hall a short while later, he discovered Yang Zhen, the Head Elder of the Yang Family Elder Hall, sitting at the table.
Along with Yang Zhen, there were a few others who Yang Kai had never greeted before, but one thing these people all shared in common was that they were very strong, each of them having at least reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage.
Five such masters had suddenly appeared at once.
Furrowing his brow slightly, Yang Kai stepped forward and cupped his fists politely, “Greetings Elder Zhen.”
Yang Zhen nodded lightly, his expression quite solemn.
“Elder Zhen, these are…” Yang Kai glanced around at the other seated figures.
“Elders of our Yang Family.” Yang Zhen explained.
Yang Kai had already met a number of the old men who belonged to the Yang Family’s Elder Hall. Those Elders had served the Yang Family for many years and now that they were approaching the twilight of their lives, had been granted the status of Elder and given a seat in the Elder Hall. Besides handling some minor chores now and then, most of those old men spent their time studying the Martial Dao or enjoying their remaining years however they chose to.
However, there was another group of Elders who really managed the Yang Family’s affairs and were the ones with real power.
The Elders in front of him now were obviously from the latter group.
Understanding this, Yang Kai nodded slightly to each of them.
None of them responded though, their expressions remaining aloof and indifferent.
Yang Kai didn’t pay this any mind. The Yang Family’s top management were mostly like this, as were the Elders of the other Eight Great Families.
“May Junior ask what purpose Elders have in coming to my house at this time?” Yang Kai asked, a bad feeling welling up in his heart.
Last time, because of the Blood Warrior issue, Yang Kai had been summoned back to the family. Now, a number of Elders had personally come to see him. Obviously the problem this time was more serious than last time; otherwise this would not be the case.
“Why ask something you already know?” Yang Zhen coldly snorted and said, “You killed the heirs to the Nan and Xiang Families in full view of tens of thousands of people in War City. Such wanton lawlessness, do you really think yourself to be above the Heavens?”
“Is that what this is about?” Yang Kai stared blankly at Yang Zhen for a moment before chuckling, “Several Elders, aren’t you making too much of a fuss over nothing?”
“Too much of a fuss?” A man wearing a blue gown suddenly called out coldly. “They were two heirs of two first-class families, not stray dogs or cats that could be casually butchered!”
“To me, they are no different from stray cats or dogs.” Yang Kai turned to look at the person who spoke, a sneer appearing on his mouth.
“Bold!” The man was coldly snorted as everyone else in the room shook their heads, their expressions filling with disappointment.
Although they resided in the Central Capital, they had also been paying attention to the situation in War City. From Yang Kai’s past performances, these Elders had thought a reliable candidate to inherit the Patriarch’s position had emerged.
But now, after they had met him, they suddenly discovered that this little brat simply didn’t know how high the Heavens were and that he didn’t place anyone in his eyes! Such willfulness had obviously disappointed them.
Although the Yang Family was normally arrogant and domineering, they wouldn’t intentionally go around provoking trouble, but Yang Kai killing two first-class family heirs in the Inheritance War had undoubtedly violated this bottom line!
With such a precedent set, the next time the Yang Family held the Inheritance War, which prominent family would dare to send its people to participate? It was precisely because the lives of these Young Lords and Young Ladies from big families weren’t in any danger that they came in the first place; after all, the Inheritance War was a rare opportunity for them to hone their skills and make connections.
But now that this sense of security had been destroyed by Yang Kai, if the Yang Family couldn’t give the world an appropriate explanation, what point would there be in trying to host the Inheritance War from now on?
“Relying on your identity as a Yang Family direct descendant to kill another first-class family’s heir, such behaviour has had a chilling effect on many of this world’s forces and has put the family in an awkward position!” A middle-aged woman who appeared to be around forty years old stared coldly at Yang Kai and said in a hoarse voice.
This woman wasn’t ugly. Even though she was now middle-aged, she still retained a kind of mature charm, but listening to the harsh tone of her voice made others feel particularly uncomfortable.
“Even if I wasn’t a Yang Family direct descendant, since those two dared offend me, they would still have to die!” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a ruthless light.
The several Elders present could only shake their heads, the middle-aged woman muttering, “It seems that you’re completely unrepentant. Elder Zhen, we’ll leave this up to you.”
Yang Zhen nodded lightly and took over the conversation, “Yang Kai, you’ve gone too far this time. You are young and headstrong, this old master also had a period where he acted so, and as such will not blame you for your actions, but as a man, you must take responsibility for what you have done.”
“How does Elder Zhen want me to take responsibility?” Yang Kai sneered, “Could it be those two families want me to pay with my life?”
Yang Zhen nodded lightly, “The people from the Nan Family and Xiang Family who arrived in the Central Capital a few days ago indeed asked for such compensation.”
“And the meaning of the family?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin.
“The family naturally rejected their outrageous request.” Yang Zhen coldly snorted, “Without considering their own weight they dared ask my Yang Family to hand over one of its direct descendants, utter nonsense!”
Yang Kai’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. The family refusing such a request was not because they wanted to protect him, but rather because agreeing would affect the honour of the family. About such calculations, Yang Kai was abundantly clear.
Even if it wasn’t him but one of the other Yang Family Young Lords who had committed such an act, the Yang Family would still protect them.
So Yang Kai didn’t feel a need to express any gratitude.
“However, we still must provide some kind of response, otherwise the Yang Family’s reputation will be tarnished.” Yang Zhen quickly said, “The family has ordered you to apologize to the two families!”
“Apologize?” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“En!”
“And if I refuse?”
“This is an order from the family!” The man in the blue robe shouted, “Do you dare to refuse?”
“So what if it’s an order from the family?” Yang Kai coldly scoffed at him.
“Arrogant brat!” The man angrily shouted, “I have already heard that you were wild and disrespectful, but I never expected the rumors to have understated things so much. Us coming here specially is already giving you more face than a mere junior deserves! Since you wish to play with fire then you should be prepared to get burnt.”
As the man spoke, his aura became dangerous and pressed towards Yang Kai.
But in the next moment, countless Divine Senses and extremely powerful auras shrouded the entire hall from every direction.
*Hualala…*
The main hall trembled and creaked under the weight of this pressure.
Facing the brunt of this pressure, the aura the blue robed Elder had just released was melted like snow under the hot summer sun.
The other Elders in the hall also went pale, suddenly recalling that there were many powerful masters gathered in Yang Kai’s mansion, trying to use force as a deterrent here was akin to showing off meager skills in front of an expert…
“Everyone withdraw!” Yang Kai yelled.
The horrible pressure instantly dissipated, and the Divine Senses were all taken back.
The blue robed Elder by now had large drops of cold sweat on his forehead as he stared towards Yang Kai complexly.
He was an Elder of Yang Family and was used to being the one in power. Few could even speak to him as an equal given his status, so he had thought that being sent here to speak with Yang Kai was nothing more than a minor inconvenience, but now it seems like it was actually a very dangerous mission.
The prestige of this little brat in front of the various masters gathered in this mansion seemed to have reached an unparalleled level.
No wonder the Patriarch had ordered several Elders to come together. When he had first received this order he thought Yang Ying Hao was making a fuss over nothing, but apparently the Patriarch had much greater vision than he had.
If he had come here by himself in order to deliver the family’s order, this little brat would likely not even bother to receive him.
“What is Elder’s name?” Yang Kai stared at him.
“Wei Qing!” The blue robed Elder unconsciously responded to Yang Kai’s words, his face suddenly becoming a bit red after returning to his senses.
The other Elders in the hall couldn’t help narrowing their eyes slightly at this gaff, their evaluations of Wei Qing greatly reducing.
“Elder Wei…” Yang Kai muttered, a trace of disdain flashing across his eyes as he coldly remarked, “Please don’t try to show off your strength inside my house, there are many dangerous characters residing here you know.”
Being so disdained, Wei Qing’s expression twisted and became especially ugly.
“Enough!” Yang Zhen shouted, sullenly staring at Yang Kai, “While Elder Wei’s surname is not Yang, he has made considerable contributions to the family over these years. Otherwise, he would not have been granted the position of Elder. Showing contempt for him is no different from showing contempt for the Elder Hall. Is that another responsibility you wish to bear?”
Yang Kai stopped talking but still remained indifferent.
“Let us handle our official business.” The middle-aged woman hurriedly said, reminding everyone that they had come here not to discuss etiquette but to exert pressure on Yang Kai. Awakened by these words, some of the Elders’ faces went red, while others went black. Even with five of them arriving at once, hadn’t they almost forgotten their intended purpose?
None of them had expected Yang Kai to steer the conversation in a different direction with only a few pointed words.
If they continued like this, it would be difficult for them to complete their task.
[This little brat is really adept at leading people by the nose.] The woman couldn’t help re-evaluating Yang Kai. Facing such offensive remarks, it was no wonder Wei Qing couldn’t hold his temper.
As a Yang Family disciple, daring to ignore the family’s commands and daring to despise an Elder, did he really consider himself a Yang Family disciple?
“En, we should deal with the main issues.” Yang Zhen was also slightly surprised, re-focusing his attention and calmly asking, “Putting aside the Nan and Xiang Family issue for now, Yang Kai, I want to ask you something: Is it true you have a strong demon in your house?”
“Yes.”
“Is he from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land?”
“No, Junior has already discussed this matter with the Grand Elders residing in the Seal Temple.”
Yang Zhen nodded faintly, “Naturally, we are aware of your conversation with Grand Elder Li Ting and we have also sent people to the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land to investigate. From the news we have received so far, he indeed does not seem to be a person from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, but such news can be forged. Regardless, since you claim he is not a person of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, then where does he come from?”
“I don’t know.” Yang Kai shook his head.
Wei Qing didn’t dare make another sound, but a different Elder in yellow robes coldly snorted, “You don’t know where he’s from yet you still accepted him? I heard that the relationship between you two is akin to master and servant.”
“I don’t have a habit of prying into others’ private affairs. Everyone has their own secrets, isn’t that also true of you Elders? If I were to ask right now, would you willingly tell me everything about yourself?”
“Impudence!” The yellow robed man was so angry that he smashed the arm of his chair.
Yang Zhen quickly reached out and silenced this man. Yang Zhen was aware that none of the Elders who came here today were Yang Kai’s opponent in a verbal confrontation. This little brat’s tongue was too slippery and he could easily lead these stubborn Elders off topic.
“Let’s not mention this for the time being. Yang Kai, did you really come from High Heaven Pavilion?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai’s brow finally furrowed, faintly realizing what Yang Zhen wanted to do.
“And the remaining High Heaven Pavilion dem… *ahem*… are those people in your house right now?”
“Correct.”
“High Heaven Pavilion has been designated an Evil Sect. So many Devil Path cultivators reside in your house, including a number of juniors from Ghost King Valley. Taking all of this into consideration, I will ask you once again… Have you ever cultivated an Demonic Secret Art?” As he reached the end of this question, Yang Zhen’s eyes gradually became sharp as he stared at Yang Kai fixedly.
However, in response, Yang Kai’s lips just curled into a mocking grin as he replied, “If Junior said he had never cultivated such a Secret Art, would several Elders believe it?”
After a short pause, all five of these Elders shook their heads.
Less than ten days ago, when Yang Kai was breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, the Demonic Qi and evil energy that burst from his body had blanketed War City, catching the attention of many and causing no small amount of concern.
Everyone now believed that Yang Kai had cultivated some kind of Demonic Secret Art, so even if he were to deny it now, no one would be convinced.
“Then I have nothing to say.”
Since they had already decided he was cultivating an Demonic Secret Art, opening his mouth to deny it would only be a waste of breath.
“Then we’ll have to take that as a confirmation…” Yang Zhen took a deep breath and said with a somewhat disappointed voice, “Yang Kai, in truth, regarding this Inheritance War, this old master was not very optimistic about you at first because of your eccentric choices and lack of strong allies, but you have repeatedly created miracles and defied all of our expectations. This old master was also gradually realized that the Yang Family could only be inherited by you. The Yang Family is a great colossus, and only with outstanding people at its helm can it prosper and grow, you are such a person.”
“Elder Zhen thinks too highly of me.” Yang Kai commented, slightly surprised.
“But now, this old master has one question he must ask…” Yang Zhen let out a sigh before solemnly asking, “Yang Kai, what is it you want to do?”
Yang Kai stared back at him calmly and said nothing.
Yang Zhen stood up and walked over to Yang Kai slowly, continuing, “Sheltering the last remaining members of High Heaven Pavilion, a close relationship with Ghost King Valley, a powerful demon servant of unknown origins, cultivating a Demonic Secret Art, almost falling to the Devil’s Practices yet still obstinately continuing down this path. You only broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary a few days ago yet now you have already reached the Second Stage, the speed of enhancement of your Demonic Secret Art… it’s nothing less than astonishing.”
“Yang Kai, tell this old master, what exactly do you want? Could it be you want to overturn the Central Capital and oppose the Eight Great Families?” Yang Zhen step by step approached Yang Kai, staring straight into his eyes as if trying to see into his inner thoughts.
Overturn the Central Capital and oppose the Eight Great Families!
Yang Kai had never had such thoughts. Although he didn’t have a great sense of belonging to the Yang Family, his only desire was to clear his Sect’s name, not start a rebellion.
Listening to Yang Zhen’s stern questioning though, he quickly realized something.
“Is this what the family… what you think of me?” Yang Kai stared at Yang Zhen in front of him and asked quietly.
Yang Zhen’s expression became somewhat pained as he shook his head, “You shouldn’t blame the family for thinking negatively about you. If you want to blame someone, then blame yourself. Your performance these past few months are the root of all these speculations. It is undeniable that you are indeed a good seed, but if such a good seedling were to become a Demon Lord level figure, the family won’t hesitate to purge you in order to maintain its honour and purity!”
After a short pause, Yang Zhen sighed again, “If all of this was just the family’s worries, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. The various family Elders would just need to help you dispel the Demonic Qi in your body and that would be the end of it, but you should understand that it is not just my Yang Family that is currently making noise about this, correct?”
Yang Kai’s expression had long ago become cold.
“You should know that the day after you broke through, the other seven Great Families all sent people to contact my Yang Family. All of them expressed worries that you will become a figure akin to the current Demon Lord!” Yang Zhen deeply sighed, “This wasn’t just baseless speculation but the lessons learned from experience. You come from High Heaven Pavilion, you cultivate a peerless Demonic Secret Art, and your aptitude is Heaven defying. Meanwhile, the Demon Lord was a former disciples of High Heaven Pavilion and is currently the absolute ruler of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. His strength and methods are phenomenal, and in this world, no one in the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary is his opponent, while the two of you share a Martial Uncle-Martial Nephew relationship.”
“A single Demon Lord has forced the Eight Great Families into a passive position, if a second were to rise…” Yang Zhen slowly shook his head, and fearful expression creeping onto his face, even showing some trepidation as he swept his eyes over Yang Kai. “These factors are linked together, how could people not have concerns?”
“Is everyone worried about me becoming a second Demon Lord?” Yang Kai asked unemotionally.
“Yes, and from what we understand your aptitude is even greater than that so-called Demon Lord. If you were to really reach that step…” Yang Zhen smiled helplessly as he shook his head.
If Yang Kai were really to become the second Demon Lords and fight against the forces of the Central Capital, what resistance could the Eight Great Families hope to mount?
The other Elders in the hall also wore disturbed expressions, seemingly picturing the scene of the Central Capital’s destruction.
“In the end, all of this is just your speculations.” Yang Kai suddenly lost interest in defending himself, instead just bluntly stating this fact.
The people of the Eight Great Families were thick-headed and stubborn, they always believed themselves to be in the right. Yang Kai knew there was nothing he could say or do that would change their opinions or alleviate their suspicions.
The most he might be able to do is change the thinking of one or two people, but that wouldn’t have any effect on the overall situation.
“Preventing problems before they happen, this is one of the reasons the Eight Great Families have been able to stand firm in the Central Capital for so many years.” Yang Zhen admitted freely, “The Eight Great Families must defend themselves against you!”
“My path is something I have walked on my own.” Yang Kai said with a hint of venom and mockery, “I was born a cripple, unable to cultivate. My father wanted me to enter the Yang Family Dragon Transformation Pond in the hopes that its mystical effects would help cleanse and heal my body, but after working tirelessly for so many years and submitting so many applications to the Elder Hall, his simple request was never once accepted. Even if he had made enough contributions to the family in order to warrant such a reward, the Elder Hall only gave my parents a single response, ‘wastes are not qualified to use the Dragon Transformation Pond’.”
Yang Zhen’s expression immediately became awkward. When the Yang Family Fourth Master submitted these applications in the past, he was the one who had rejected them. Yang Kai bringing this subject up at this time, naturally Yang Zhen would feel his face become slightly hot.
“Now, after I have this kind of accomplishment and cultivation, the family wants to control me and tell me what I can and cannot do. Elder Zhen, don’t you think that’s too ridiculous?”
Yang Zhen’s face went blue, too embarrassed to answer.
Yet Yang Kai continued, “A few days ago, when I was breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, if it weren’t for my friends and elders stepping forward to help me, I would have already been killed by my own family’s Grand Elder. Even if I didn’t die, I would probably have become a cripple again. Does the family only want to block my path and destroy my future? Elder Zhen, don’t you think the family is going too far?”
“Impudence!” Yang Zhen couldn’t help shouting out in annoyance, “The family is supreme, what does it matter if the family sacrifices you for its benefit?”
“Elder Zhen’s ideals and conviction are worthy of praise, Junior admits he is inferior in this respect! After all, Junior is a relatively selfish person.” Yang Kai suddenly stepped forward and emitted a cold murderous aura, “As such, Junior will now kill all five of you Elders and then confess his sins to the family, accepting whatever punishment they decide to impose. That way you all can be at ease in the afterlife that you sacrificed yourselves for the family.”
All five of the Elders went pale and hastily jumped up from their seats, staring at Yang Kai cautiously while secretly condensing their strength.
Seeing the reaction, Yang Kai suddenly laughed heartily, “Several Elders also seem to be relatively selfish people…”
The Elders couldn’t help turning red in the face, all of them feeling somewhat ashamed of their performance. It was easy to speak of one’s ideals, but when it was their turn to be sacrificed, things never seemed to be that simple.
“The main issue, let’s get back to the main issue…” The hoarse woman hurriedly changed the topic.
Yang Zhen stared at Yang Kai for a moment before wearing a forced smile and shaking his head, “It’s always so tiring dealing with you. Fine, this old master will stop beating around the bush, letting you apologize to the Xiang and Nan Families is just a cover. My Yang Family Juniors never admit defeat. Even if you felt like you should apologize to those two families, the family would never agree and would even try to prevent you from doing so.”
“What does the family really want me to do?”
“Return to the Central Capital where the Grand Elders will jointly take action to dispel the Demonic Qi in your body. From that point on you won’t have to worry about falling prey to the Devil’s Practices and the other seven families will also lose their reason to sanction you.”
Yang Kai remained silent.
He didn’t believe that the Yang Family’s Grand Elders had the means to dispel the evil energy in his Unyielding Golden Skeleton which was undetectable as long as he didn’t purposely display it.
Moreover, this Evil Energy wasn’t harmful to him in the first place so Yang Kai didn’t feel that he needed to drive it out.
“After that, you may continue with the Inheritance War, but the position of Yang Family Patriarch cannot be inherited by you. Patriarch also said that after the end of the Inheritance War, he will come forward personally to rectify High Heaven Pavilion’s name. Patriarch hopes you can understand the pains of the family.”
The family had nothing but suspicion and fear towards Yang Kai. Naturally, they couldn’t allow him to sit in the Patriarch’s position. If, one day, Yang Kai really became a Demon Lord-like character, wouldn’t the Yang Family lose all face?
“Don’t hurry to refuse, the family proposing this also stems from another layer of considerations.” Yang Zhen took a deep breath and added.
“What considerations?”
“It’s about the mysterious rate of cultivation of those in your house!” Yang Zhen said solemnly as he stared at Yang Kai.
The other Elders in the room also began breathing a little quicker.
“Do you think you can continue concealing it?” Yang Zhen smiled wryly, “Although no one knows exactly why the strength of the cultivators in your house improves so quickly, everyone agrees that you have something to do with it. The Blood Warriors under your command breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage one after another, this phenomenon is too abnormal and has attracted a lot of attention. In addition, there is also the case of your parents…”
At the mention of his parents, a cold light flashed deep within Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Yang Ying Feng suffered from a chronic illness and had his cultivation stagnate at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage for many years, but now he has already broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage. All of this happened after you returned to the Central Capital. Such a rapid increase in strength in such a short period of time, do you dare to say that this has no relationship with you? Dong Su Zhu’s strength hasn’t shown as terrifying an increase in strength as Yang Ying Feng, but she is still progressing many times faster than before. Do you really think all of us Yang Family people are blind?”
Yang Kai simply remained indifferent.
He had considered this issue before giving his parents the Myriad Drug Liquid and Myriad Drug Milk, but had still not hesitated to do so because they were his parents, the only ones in the entire Yang Family who had ever truly cared for him.
“You cultivating a Demonic Secret Art is enough to explain the rapid growth in your personal strength, but then what method did you use to allow your friends, family, and allies to similarly improve their strength at such a quick pace? Not only does my Yang Family care deeply about this but so too do the other seven families.” Yang Zhen’s expression became somewhat dispirited, “Do you really think the other seven families would join forces to apply pressure to my Yang Family simply to dispose of you? Although you do have the potential to become a second Demon Lord, right now, your strength is still insignificant to pose any real threat, they aren’t idle enough to concern themselves with such trivial matters.”
Benefits were supreme, and the Central Capital Eight Great Families were all sensitive to their scent. Them taking action could only mean there were enough benefits for them to do so.
The effects of the Myriad Drug Liquid had obviously drawn their attention.
A means to quickly improve the strength of cultivators, which family wouldn’t be jealous of such a treasure?
“Making you return to the Central Capital is also the family’s consideration. Only if you return to the Yang Family and enter the protection of the family’s masters, can you rest at ease.”
“Is the family’s greatest concern this secret of mine?”
“I won’t deny this.” Yang Zhen nodded calmly, “But this time the family has done its best, as proof, we have come in person to inform you instead of simply sending a letter or messenger. The difference between the two approaches, you should be able to understand.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
These five Elders coming to speak to him personally obviously was a display of sincerity, the family’s way of saying they hoped they could cooperate. Yang Kai would return to the family to accept protection and in exchange he would offer the secret to enhancing his forces’ strength to them.
If the family had instead sent him a letter ordering him to return, then directly suppressed and imprisoned him, obviously he would never have compromised. At that time, it would be no different from trying to scoop water with a bamboo basket, a fruitless endeavour.
The Yang Family’s leadership also somewhat understood Yang Kai’s temperament so they naturally hoped to solve this matter peacefully rather than by force.
“You consider carefully.” After Yang Zhen finished, he stopped talking and waited patiently.
However, Yang Kai only took a moment before decisively shaking his head, “Knowing the whole story now, it is even more impossible for me to return to the Central Capital.”
The family wanting his Myriad Drug Liquid, this wasn’t a big deal. Considering just how much Myriad Drug Liquid he had, Yang Kai didn’t mind giving them some. Although he didn’t have much sense of belonging to the Yang Family, in the end, it was still the Yang Family which had provided him with a stage to display his talents. For the family, this Myriad Drug Liquid could be considered a thank-you.
But after he returned to the Central Capital Yang Family’s compound this time, Yang Kai was quite certain he would never come out again and this cultivation would surely be crippled.
To Yang Kai, such consequences were impossible to accept.
After listening to Yang Kai’s answer, Yang Zhen didn’t show any surprise, seemingly having expected such a response, nodding lightly he simply said, “Since this is your choice, this old master won’t say any more. This Old Master will only remind you that since the other seven families have already begun to move, it is impossible that they will give up easily. My Yang Family will not fall out with the other seven families just for you. The only option we can offer you is to have you return to the family to receive protection; otherwise, whatever consequences come from your decision you must face on your own.”
After saying his piece, Yang Zhen stood up and left with the other Elders.
The middle-aged woman was the only one to look back at Yang Kai before leaving and whispered, “Consider the family’s proposal, it’s not a bad offer, even if your cultivation is abolished, you can still live a good life in the Yang Family, anything you want from the family will be open to discussion.”
In response, Yang Kai simply stared back at her coldly and indifferently.
The woman slowly shook her head and no longer said anything, quickly following the others out of the mansion.
After they left, Yang Kai let out a light sigh and a trace of exhaustion appeared on his face.
An ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make him guilty. Such was the case with the Myriad Drug Liquid, which was why Yang Kai had always tried to keep it hidden. Only a few of his most trusted confidants knew of its existence while others were kept in the dark.
However, the Eight Great Families, over time, had been able to infer some things from observing him and the people around him. This was something Yang Kai couldn’t avoid.
However, it was something he absolutely did not wish to talk about. Unfortunately, if one were to obtain something good, would anyone really question about its origins? Even if he were to ask his parents to trust him, they would still have some doubts in their minds.
The reason for the rapid increase in strength of everyone in his mansion was because Xia Ning Chang was using the Myriad Drug Liquid when she performed Alchemy, allowing the effects of the elixir to seep into every pill she produced while simultaneously enhancing the primary function of each pill. The end result was a cleansing effect on everyone’s body, optimizing their aptitudes.
However, the improvement in their cultivation pace wasn’t too exaggerated; after all, they weren’t directly using the Myriad Drug Liquid.
Judging by the actions of the Eight Great Families and the attractiveness of the Myriad Drug Liquid, this incident would likely become very problematic and may even develop into a full blown crisis.
Outside the main hall, Yang Kai met with a slightly panicked Qiu Yi Meng.
Yang Kai had rarely seen such an expression on Qiu Yi Meng’s face. The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady had always been calm and steady, even in the face of great danger she was able to remain level headed and make appropriate decisions.
But now, she was showing clear signs of anxiety and fear. As long as one wasn’t blind, they would be able to tell how disturbed she was.
“Yang Kai.” Qiu Yi Meng whispered softly, her voice trembling slightly.
Yang Kai did his best to remain calm and looked straight at her, “What happened?”
“A letter was just delivered ordering me to return to my family.” Qiu Yi Meng replied quickly.
“Such a fast reaction.” Yang Kai smiled, but his eyes remained cold as ice.
Yang Zhen had barely left his front door before someone from the Qiu Family had arrived to deliver Qiu Yi Meng and order to return to the Central Capital; it seemed like the Eight Great Families were really grasshoppers on a rope.
“What do you mean?” Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai suspiciously. When she had received the letter, Qiu Yi Meng didn’t know what was happening or how she should respond and, in a panic, rushed over to see Yang Kai, but after mentioning her concerns, his response was only these inexplicable words. Such a strange reaction only compounded her concerns.
“Nothing.” Yang Kai casually brushed aside her question and smiled temperately, “When do you leave?”
“As soon as possible.” Qiu Yi Meng bit her red lips, “Also, father ordered me to bring the people from the Autumn Rain Hall back with me.”
The Autumn Rain Hall was the only boost that Qiu Yi Meng had brought with her when she joined Yang Kai.
“I understand.”
Qiu Yi Meng slowly shook her head, a pained expression creeping onto her face, “Well I don’t understand! Ever since I received that letter, I’ve had a restless feeling, as if something big happened without me knowing, and if I leave here, I’m afraid… I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back.”
Qiu Shou Cheng ordering Qiu Yi Meng to bring back the people of the Autumn Rain Hall already illustrated that this matter wasn’t as simple as it appeared.
Qiu Yi Meng was no fool, on the contrary she was incredibly intelligent, and obviously she had realized something was amiss.
However, she didn’t know what the problem was. When she had decided to help Yang Kai participate in the Inheritance War, she had temporarily separated herself from her family. This was her decision and hers alone. It had nothing to do with the will of the Qiu Family.
The Qiu Family’s true ally was the Yang Family’s Sixth Young Lord, Yang Shen, yet now, even though the Inheritance War had not ended, for no reason at all, the Qiu Family had suddenly recalled her.
“You’re thinking too much.” Yang Kai grinned at her.
Qiu Yi Meng grabbed Yang Kai’s arm nervously and stared at him with a look of entreaty, whispering, “Do you know anything?”
Yang Kai just shook his head in response, “How would I know what your Qiu Family’s thoughts are?”
“Is there some relationship between this and the visit you received from the Yang Family Elder Hall?” Qiu Yi Meng persisted.
The insight of the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady was as amazing as ever.
“No.” Yang Kai still shook his head decisively, “It’s probably just that Uncle Qiu hasn’t seen you for so long and misses you, so he summoned you back.”
Qiu Yi Meng stared at Yang Kai blankly for a moment before slowly letting go of his arm and smiling bitterly, “You’ve always been like this, never willing to tell me anything.”
Yang Kai opened his mouth but suddenly found he didn’t know what to say.
“Since that’s the case…” Qiu Yi Meng took a deep breath and calmed her nerves, “Then I won’t ask any further, you take care.”
“This time, you’ve worked hard, I’ll see you off!” Yang Kai said in a slightly low voice.
Outside the house, the members of the Autumn Rain Hall were all ready to depart. Qiu Yi Meng and Yang Kai look at each other, neither of speaking, one of them having a pair of eyes filled with a look of expectation and longing, the other a dull light.
The atmosphere was very strange.
After a long awkward silence, Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes eventually dimmed. Wearing a wry smile she turned around without a word and led the Autumn Rain Hall back towards the Central Capital.
Until the very end, she didn’t hear a single word from Yang Kai.
If Yang Kai had asked her to stay, she wouldn’t have hesitated to ignore the recall order from the Qiu Family.
But Yang Kai just silently watched her leave.
Both of them knew that Qiu Yi Meng really wasn’t coming back.
As Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng were separating though, a new group of three people appeared. The person in the lead was calm and steady while the two behind him were both Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters. All of them had fully restrained their auras and wore somewhat aloof expressions.
This was the attitude and bearing of a true heavy-weight individual.
Qiu Yi Meng immediately stopped, staring blankly at this group of three before quickly cupping her fists, “Uncle Huo!”
The Huo Family Patriarch, Huo Zheng, stopped and smiled at Qiu Yi Meng, nodding gently, “Is little niece Qiu headed back to the Central Capital?”
“Yes.” Qiu Yi Meng nodded gently, wearing her usual calm smile.
“En, good, go back quickly, your father is waiting for you.”
After saying so, Huo Zheng led the two Huo Family masters and strode towards Yang Kai.
Qiu Yi Meng on the other hand wore a shocked look.
She hadn’t expected that not only was she recalled by the Qiu Family, but Huo Xing Chen was also ordered to return.
Huo Zheng appearing here was obviously to catch the delinquent Young Lord, Huo Xing Chen. Besides Huo Zheng, no one from the Huo Family could get Huo Xing Chen to obediently return, so he had no choice but to come in person.
Outside the house, Yang Kai stared at these three visitors indifferently but still politely greeted Huo Zheng as Qiu Yi Meng had.
Huo Zheng nodded lightly and looked at Yang Kai with a complicated expression.
“If you’re looking for Young Lord Huo, he’s inside the house.” Yang Kai said calmly.
“Good, I’ll find him myself.” Huo Zheng nodded, not saying another word before leading the two masters into Yang Kai’s mansion.
Only a moment later, Yang Kai heard Huo Xing Chen squeal like a boiled pig. Not long after, Huo Zheng appeared again, the Central Capital Wolf now being carried out by one of the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage masters, completely unable to resist.
“Hey old man, let me down!” Huo Xing Chen struggled and yelled, but to no avail, the master who had captured him ignored him completely.
“Daring to offend I, your father?! You’re dead! Do you believe father won’t castrate you and feed your meat to the dogs!?” Huo Xing Chen continued to scream.
“What did you say? Daring to call yourself father in front of your father!” Huo Zheng glared at his disobedient son.
Huo Xing Chen suddenly wore an innocent smile and said, “Father, I’m not talking to you. But just look at you, yelling so loudly for no reason, such a loss of face.”
“You shut up and follow me back to the Central Capital!”
“Huh, why?” Huo Xing Chen was really confused.
“If I tell you to shut up, you shut up! If you dare spout any nonsense, then Father will slap your fat mouth!
“Now, now, Father… True gentlemen discuss their problems rather than resort to violence… All right, all right, I’ll go back to the Central Capital with you, but at least let me say a few words to Young Lord Kai in private first. We’ve been together for so long now that we’ve developed a kind of friendship.”
Huo Zheng paused and glanced between his son and Yang Kai with a frown before nodded gently.
The Huo Family master immediately released Huo Xing Chen.
“I’ll wait over there for you.” Huo Zheng snorted.
“Got it.” Huo Xing Chen nodded.
After the three men from the Huo Family left, Huo Xing Chen chuckled and looked at Yang Kai with interest, “It seems like… something big has happened.”
Earlier he had saw Qiu Yi Meng preparing to leave and suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Then, when his dad had arrived along with masters from his family to grab him, Huo Xing Chen realized things were more serious than he had expected.
“Is it inconvenient to say?” Huo Xing Chen shrugged his shoulders, “Forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything. In any case, since my old man came personally, I can’t stay, knowing too much won’t do me any good.”
Suddenly, Huo Xing Chen’s face became serious as he whispered, “Young Lord Kai, you are destined to be a great man. Don’t die too early. This time, I don’t know what happened, but the coming days will definitely be difficult for you yet you have to persist! No matter what others may think about you, I firmly support you. If you were to die earlier than me, heh heh… I’ll dig up your corpse, string it up, and whip it a hundred times every day… I, Huo Xing Chen have never admired any other man in life, so don’t disappoint me.”
Seeing Huo Xing Chen’s usual unrestrained behaviour, Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin, “Get out, I won’t see you off!”
“See ya!” Huo Xing Chen laughed and walked forward.
Two younger generation leaders from the Eight Great Families had left Yang Kai’s mansion in the space of an hour, one of them was even Yang Kai’s right-arm.
Outside the mansion, several of the young leaders who had arrived after hearing the disturbance couldn’t help feeling shocked and confused.
This change had come so fast, like spring squall, without giving anyone time to prepare.
It wasn’t until long after the figures of Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen disappeared that everyone recovered from their daze.
After a while, many of them clamoured around Yang Kai to ask what was happening.
“Settle down!” Han Xiao Qi of Ten Thousand Flower Palace stood up and took charge of the situation, “How do you expect Yang Kai to answer if all of you keep shouting?”
The group of youths suddenly went silent, all of them staring towards Yang Kai, hoping he could relieve their doubts.
“Everyone come inside first, I’ll explain what I can.” Yang Kai let out a long sigh before turning around and walking into the house. Wishing to hear news of the situation a moment sooner, everyone else rushed to keep up.
Inside the mansion’s main hall, Yang Kai sat at the head of the table and waited patiently for everyone to arrive.
Within a short time, the representatives from all the various forces had arrived.
Han Xiao Qi informed Yang Kai before taking her own seat nearby.
Yang Kai awoke from his meditation and swept his eyes over the faces of the crowd.
As he glanced around, many familiar faces appeared in his vision.
Dong Family Dong Qing Han, Purple Fern Valley Fan Hong and Luo Xiao Man, Reflecting Moon Sect Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu, Pure Heart Palace Zuo Fang, Soaring Feather Pavilion Chu Jing Shan, the four Ten Thousand Flower Palace maidens, the Duan Mu Family’s five Seniors, Blood Battle Gang Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er, Storm Hall Fang Zi Ji, Ghost King Valley Leng Shan and Chen Yi, Tian Yuan City Liu Fei Sheng…
Eleven young leaders from eleven forces. Besides those from High Heaven Pavilion, all the young leaders of all the forces had gathered here.
Not only that, Qin Ze of Medicine King’s Valley, Wu Yan and Tao Yang of Treasure Instrument Sect, and every last Blood Warrior were also present.
This lineup was unprecedentedly luxurious and powerful.
However, the very fact that Yang Kai had summoned all of them at once let everyone realize the seriousness of the situation. Even if he had called assemblies before, he would never have Medicine King’s Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect attend as well.
Realizing this, everyone felt a bit on edge as they waiting for Yang Kai to speak.
“Junior Brother Yang, if you have anything to say just say it, there are many Alchemy tasks waiting for me back in the Pill Room.” Qin Ze said impatiently. During these past few months, while studying the Alchemic Way under Xia Ning Chang’s tutelage, the Alchemists of Medicine King’s Valley had made significant progress. By now, Qin Ze almost never left the Pill Room and even had thoughts of settling down here permanently, never to return to Medicine King’s Valley.
Compared with Medicine King’s Valley, this place was without a doubt the Holy Land of Alchemy.
Yang Kai stood up and smiled lightly, “Many of you saw what transpired earlier today and are no doubt wondering why Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen suddenly left.”
The gathered figures all nodded in unison.
Yang Kai continued, “I can’t tell you the specific reasons, but I can offer you some information…”
Everyone suddenly held their breath.
“This place will soon face some difficulties, some particularly troublesome difficulties at that.” Yang Kai quickly said as his expression became serious.
The crowd was stunned for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.
Dong Qing Han was the first to call out, “Since I came to your house, there has never been an idle moment. What event hasn’t been troublesome?”
“En en.” Zuo Fang also nodded repeatedly, “No matter what these difficulties are, all of us can work together to overcome them. Come on; tell us, what kind of difficulties you are expecting this time.”
The expressions of everyone present were relaxed, with not the slightest signs of tension on their faces, apparently still not aware of the seriousness of the problem.
“This time, all of your lives will be at risk, and there’s even the possibility that the prosperity of your families and Sects will be affected.” Yang Kai swept his eyes over the crowd solemnly, “Knowing so, are you still able to laugh casually?”
This time, everyone was stunned silent and stared towards Yang Kai with serious expressions.
“I’m not being an alarmist here. Perhaps the situation isn’t quite so dire, but it definitely isn’t much better.”
“Are things really so serious?” Chu Jing Shan shook his head slowly, “How can that be? All we’ve done is come here to offer our support, to help you participate in the Inheritance War, how can there suddenly be a danger to our lives or even to the future of our Sects?”
“It is precisely because you are helping me.” Yang Kai looked at the crowd apologetically, “The issue this time is related to me.”
Han Xiao Qi suddenly understood and interjected, “Is it related to your breakthrough to the Immortal Ascension Boundary a few days ago?”
Everyone couldn’t help but furrow their brows, suddenly remembering the terrifying Demonic Qi and the confrontation they had with the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders.
Even now, all of them were still worried about what fallout there would be from that event.
“Although that’s not the primary reason, it’s at least related to it.” Yang Kai freely admitted before speaking some truly surprising words, “It’s very likely that because of this time’s issue, I will become an enemy of the Central Capital Eight Great Families!”
The audience immediately went into an uproar, both from shock and surprise.
Becoming enemies with the Central Capital Eight Great Families, this was something none of them had ever imagined before.
The forces of this world primarily participated in the Inheritance War in order to build good relationships with the Eight Great Families, but even if those gathered in Yang Kai’s mansion didn’t come for such a reason, none of them had thought that one day they might actually have to confront these super-forces.
This was no different from hitting a stone with an egg.
Many pairs of eyes trembled and looked towards Yang Kai, seemingly trying to see if he was making some kind of a bad joke.
Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed. Yang Kai’s expression was completely serious.
“Because of this, Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen had to leave.” Yang Kai let out a light sigh, “The reason I have summoned all of you here today is only to express my heartfelt thanks to you. All of you have fought and bled for me for which you have earned my eternal gratitude, and I hope we will have a chance to meet again in the future.”
“Yang Kai, what’s the meaning of this!?” Hu Jiao Er suddenly stood up, her expression filled with anger as she shouted, “Are you trying to drive us away?”
Yang Kai nodded, quickly saying, “That’s right, you staying here any longer will not bring you any advantages!”
“You bastard!” Hu Jiao Er clenched her teeth as she tried to suppress her rage, sarcastically shouting, “What do you even see us as? Come when you call, leave when you order? You forcefully pulled us sisters into your house and now you want to drive us out? Why should I listen to you!?”
“Big Sister…” Hu Mei Er shouted anxiously as she grabbed Hu Jiao Er’s hand, “Yang Kai is only doing this out of good intentions.”
“Of course I know that! I’m not blind…” Hu Jiao Er snorted and glared at Yang Kai menacingly, “What I can’t stand is his arbitrariness.”
Facing such strong rebuke, Yang Kai could only smile bitterly.
“I thought you had something important to say.” Qin Ze spat disdainfully, “It turns out it’s just some trivial matters… Junior Brother Yang, I’m not going anywhere. Central Capital Eight Great Families? What do they count for? Do any of them dare harm my Medicine King’s Valley people? No! Even if they had several times the courage they wouldn’t dare.”
Saying so, Qin Ze got up from his seat and left, not putting the Eight Great Families in his eyes at all.
Seeing this display, everyone couldn’t help laughing a bit.
However, when they thought about it, Qin Ze was indeed qualified to say such words. Although Medicine King’s Valley was just a second-class Sect, but because of its peculiar makeup, the Eight Great Families really wouldn’t dare harm its people.
“Yang Kai, just how serious is the situation?” Han Xiao Qi calmly took the initiative to ask.
Yang Kai shook his head lightly, “I don’t know, but becoming an enemy of the Eight Great Families is quite likely. For some reasons, the people of the Eight Great Families want me to submit to them, and since I have refused to do so, a contradiction was born, one that cannot be resolved peacefully. Therefore, I wanted to let all of you leave here as soon as possible and no longer associate yourselves with me.” Suddenly turning to the nine tall figures in the back of the hall, he continued, “Of course, this includes those from the Blood Warrior Hall as well.”
Tu Feng and the other Blood Warriors quickly exchanged a glance before laughing spiritedly.
Tang Yu Xian saying, “Little Lord, if I may speak freely, please don’t look down on us. Since we have decided to follow you, then we shall share life and death with you, never retreating in the face of adversity. Little Lord, have you forgotten, the name Blood Warrior is synonymous with loyalty!”
“Even in death, we shall not leave.” Ying Jiu said coolly.
“We swear to follow the Little Lord!” All of them shouted.
“Since that is the case, I will not say any more, to do so would only be an insult to you.” Yang Kai nodded firmly.
“The Seniors from the Blood Warrior Hall aren’t leaving, so naturally I’m not leaving either.” Dong Qing Han smiled. “You are my younger cousin, what kind of man would I be if I abandoned my family?”
“Yang Kai, all of us owe you our lives, in your hour of need, naturally we won’t leave you.” Han Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai with a hint of tenderness. She knew how difficult it must have been for Yang Kai to make such a decision under these circumstances.
“A debt of graciousness must be repaid with gratitude, a grudge must be repaid with revenge, and my Pure Heart Palace will also stand by you.” Zuo Fang quickly declared.
Even without mentioning Yang Kai saving his life in that Isolated World, some time ago, Xia Ning Chang had refined a batch of pills for Zuo Fang’s Senior Brother Li Xin Yuan to repair his damaged dantian.
Zuo Fang was incredibly grateful to Yang Kai, so how could he just leave at this time?
“Ever since I came to this house, my strength and cultivation have improved rapidly. Every day there is no lack of high-grade pills and whatever artifact I want I can easily acquire. Quite frankly, I never want to leave this place.” Fang Zi Ji laughed heartily.
“Good for nothing.” Hu Jiao Er stared at him somewhat disdainfully.
“I’m just speaking the truth.” Fang Zi Ji shrugged his shoulders casually.
“Yang Kai, as long as you don’t forces us out, we won’t leave.”
All the cultivators in the house stood up and echoed this sentiment one by one.
Yang Kai swept his eyes over the crowd once more, a heartfelt smile on his face. He could tell that each of these people were completely sincere. There was not a hint of falsehood in any of their words.
However, he didn’t discount the possibility that they hadn’t yet realized just how serious this problem was.
But currently, it was not convenient for Yang Kai to say anymore. If he were to really try to force them out at this point, it would only show that he didn’t really think of them as his friends and allies.
With things having reached this point, all he could say was, “Many thanks for all of your good intentions, just remember that my words today still stand. In the future, if you decide that it is impossible for you to remain, I, Yang Kai, swear not to stand in your way or to utter half a word of blame.”
“Fine fine, don’t say anymore. Saying anymore will just hurt our feelings.” Dong Qing Han casually called out, the atmosphere suddenly becoming harmonious.
Next, everyone began to inquire all at once about what was actually going on. Since all of them were now in the same boat and this was related to everyone’s interests, Yang Kai explained what had transpired between him and Yang Zhen, but as for the Myriad Drug Liquid, he still kept that to himself.
After listening to his explanation, everyone’s brows furrowed as they became clear just how dire Yang Kai’s situation was.
Because he had cultivated a Demonic Secret Art, given shelter to many Devil’s Path disciples, and shared a common origin with the current Demon Lord, the Eight Great Families had become suspicious and fearful towards him; such a scenario was indeed not optimistic.
The Inheritance War suddenly underwent many unforeseen changes.
From Yang Kai’s supporters, the Qiu Family’s Qiu Yi Meng was recalled to the Central Capital and the Huo Family’s Huo Xing Chen was personally brought back to the Huo Family compound by the Huo Family Patriarch and confined to house arrest.
Prior to this, the Xiang Family’s Xiang Tian Xiao had also left Yang Kai’s mansion.
At the same time, rumors began to circulate in War City that Yang Kai had colluded with demons and monsters.
Inside his mansion there were members of High Heaven Pavilion as well as disciples from Ghost King Valley. On top of that, he cultivated a Demonic Secret Art and had almost fallen to the Devil’s Practices. When he was breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, he had scattered Demonic Qi all over War City and had confronted Eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders from the Eight Great Families after cruelly killing two first-class family heirs. To top it all off, he also hailed from the same Sect as the Demon Lord.
All kinds of news were spread out, causing a great deal of suspicion among populace.
Suddenly, much of the world felt that Yang Kai really was a dangerous character.
There was even a rumor that the Yang Family wanted to stop Yang Kai from participating in the Inheritance War and competing for the position of future Patriarch.
All of War City was suddenly abuzz as a dangerous tension began to emerge.
The entire Inheritance War had been thrown into chaos.
Yang Kai had reached a position of absolute superiority twice now, but each time, for various reasons, it was impossible for him to win the final victory. This brought about some voices of sympathy as well as others who took pleasure in others’ misfortune.
Fortunately, he hadn’t been allowed to obtain victory. If a demon became the Patriarch of the Yang Family in the future, wouldn’t that be the greatest scandal in this world?
Public opinion changed as fast as the tides and in only half a day, news had spread throughout War City and the Central Capital. Everyone was talking about it and all those who had been holding great expectations for Yang Kai underwent a great change in attitude.
Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen, who were forced to leave, had also become the protagonists of the peoples’ discussions. The Young Lady and Young Lord were abandoning Yang Kai precisely because they had seen through his evil nature yet were helpless to stop him from within.
If not for this, it would have been impossible for them to betray Yang Kai.
When such news was released, the whole city went into an uproar, feeling indignant for Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen and abhorrent towards Yang Kai’s tyranny.
Yang Wei’s compound.
Ever since Yang Kai broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, there had been no movement from Yang Wei. All the cultivators who had come to support him were ignoring outside events and cultivating diligently, not caring at all about the Inheritance War. The Eldest Young Lord, Yang Wei, no longer had any confidence in winning, so what waves could his allies make?
What was most important now was for them to improve their strength because once the Inheritance War ended, they would have to leave War City and would lose this advantageous cultivation environment.
Inside the quiet mansion, a rush of footsteps suddenly broke the silence. The sound of these steps was hurried and was obviously heading towards Yang Wei’s room. Quickly arriving, the young man didn’t even knock on the door before shoving it open and frantically shouting, “Eldest Young Lord, Eldest Young Lord!”
Yang Wei, who was meditating, slowly blinked and turned to look at Meng Shan Yi whose expression was a mix of surprise and excitement. The former raising his sword-like eyebrows quickly said, “Shan Qi, how many times have you told not to get so flustered at every little thing.”
Saying so, Yang Wei slowly shook his head with a helpless expression.
“Eldest Young Lord, this time, things are different.” Meng Shan Yi cheeks flushed bright red, seemingly having encountered some kind of great fortune, but if one looked carefully, they would also notice some anxiety and hesitation on his face.
“What happened?” Yang Wei had been in secluded retreat these days, studying a number of old texts, and had no idea about the chaotic situation brewing outside.
Meng Shan Yi collected himself and replied, “Yang Kai is about to be eliminated.”
Yang Wei’s brow suddenly furrowed and seriously asked, “Where did you hear such gossip?”
“It’s not gossip.” Meng Shan Yi shook his head, his expression becoming solemn as he reported the recent changes that had occurred in War City.
As Yang Wei listened, his expression became strange.
Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen leaving Yang Kai was something far outside his expectations.
Such rapid changes in public opinion in War City were obviously due to someone fanning the flames behind the scenes. As for who the masterminds behind this propaganda campaign were, there was no need to guess. Besides the Eight Great Families, no one had the ability to influence the masses so quickly.
Yang Wei had not expected that his Heaven defying Ninth Brother had actually captured the attention of the Eight Great Families.
Vaguely, he felt like something was out of place though…
Even if his Ninth Brother had the potential to become a Demon Lord, considering his identity as a direct descendant of the Eight Great Families, it was impossible for them to make such a public fuss about him as it would only serve to tarnish their dignity. What deeper meaning was there to their actions?
Moreover, the first wave of propaganda seemed like it was designed to discredit Ninth Brother and force him into a passive situation, allowing others to take up the mantle of righteousness, if this was really the case…
Considering the development of the situation, Yang Wei suddenly thought of a possibility and couldn’t help looking awkward.
“Eldest Young Lord, there is one more thing I must report to you.” Meng Shan Yi frowned and said hesitantly.
“What?”
“My Meng Family sent a letter, ordering me to cooperate with Second Young Lord… to defeat Yang Kai.” Meng Shan Yi managed to cough out these words though his extremely bitter face.
“The Meng Family?” Yang Wei brows furrowed, “And my Yang Family?”
“The messenger said… not to worry, the Yang Family will not intervene in this matter.”
Meng Shan Yi had also been in retreat when this letter arrived, but after swiftly inspecting the situation inside War City and understanding the current climate, he had rushed over to Yang Wei.
“Cooperate with Second Brother… haha.” Yang Wei suddenly laughed, “Even if the two of us gather together all of our forces, I’m afraid we’re still not worthy to be Ninth Brother’s opponents, what other arrangements are in place?”
Meng Shan Yi wore a forced smile, “Eldest Young Lord doesn’t need to feign ignorance… The messenger who came said not to worry about anything; all we need to do is make an appearance and take a public stand, as for everything else, those from Second Young Master’s mansion will handle it…”
Yang Wei went silent, a strange light flashing across his eyes.
“Eldest Young Lord…” Meng Shan Yi grit his teeth, “Although this message came from my Meng Family, it seems like your Yang Family has also acquiesced.”
Yang Wei nodded gently. If there is no acquiescence from the Yang Family, how would the Meng Family dare to do this? They didn’t have such courage.
“Second Young Lord has lost all fighting spirit these days, and the staff in his mansion has shrunk dramatically. He is simply not an opponent to the Little Lord.” Meng Shan Yi said sullenly, “But from the sounds of it, Second Young Lord is now certain he can eat up Yang Kai’s house… How could he suddenly have such great confidence?”
“Reinforcements, reinforcements from the Eight Great Families!” Yang Wei confidently answered.
Meng Shan Yi couldn’t help feeling shocked. Yang Wei had instantly guessed what he was thinking. Suddenly wearing a sullen expression the former asked, “Eldest Young Lord… does this mean that they have already designated Second Young Lord as the next Patriarch of the Yang Family?”
Reinforcements weren’t being sent to the Eldest Young Lord, but instead to Yang Zhao, this was enough to infer many things.
The Yang Family obviously hoped that Yang Zhao could inherit the Patriarch position and had thus sent reinforcements to him in order to defeat Yang Kai and win the Inheritance War.
Yang Wei had a smile on his face and nodded lightly, “Even without mentioning Ninth Brother’s situation, according to the current state of affairs, the Yang Family really should hope so.”
“Eldest Young Lord, aren’t you frustrated by their decision?” Meng Shan Yi immediately felt indignant.
The Inheritance War had carried on for almost a year now, and if it were to reach a natural conclusion, the winner would definitely be Yang Kai while Yang Zhao would undoubtedly be the next one eliminated. Yet now, how could a youth who had become depressed over a mere minor setback be suitable to inherit the Yang Family?
Simply comparing their mental fortitudes, Yang Wei was undoubtedly more suitable for this position.
But even though such things were obvious, why had the reinforcements been sent to Yang Zhao?
Hearing the ire in Meng Shan Yi’s voice, Yang Wei simply grinned and shook his head, “Why should I be frustrated? Actually, if I’m to be honest, I don’t really want to be the next Yang Family Patriarch. I’m fairly certain Ninth Brother also feels the same.”
“How can that…” Meng Shan Yi was dumbstruck, Yang Kai’s performance throughout the Inheritance War could only be described as vowing to achieve victory no matter what.
“Ninth Brother and I both want to ascend to the peak of the Martial Dao. Those who take the pursuit of the martial peak as their goal will not care for transient things like becoming the Patriarch of the Yang Family. Although such a position seems important and lofty, in the grand scheme of things, it is not but a trivial matter. More importantly, once one mounts such a position, how would they have time to focus on their own cultivation? As far as I know, the biggest reason Ninth Brother is even bothering to participate in the Inheritance War is to clear the name of his Sect, High Heaven Pavilion. He seems to have reached an agreement with the Patriarch that so long as he wins, High Heaven Pavilion’s title of an Evil Sect will be removed and its reputation will be restored.”
“Just for that?” Meng Shan Yi was flabbergasted, completely unable to understand what he was hearing. Were there really people in this world who didn’t care for such honour and privilege?
“Just for that.” Yang Wei nodded, “This time, I participated in the Inheritance War because of the family’s rules and also to hone myself. As for becoming the next Patriarch, it’s not too important for me.”
Meng Shan Yi was silent.
“From this point on, the wisest decision for the family is to support Second Brother. Although Second Brother’s mentality isn’t as firm, compared to myself and Ninth Brother, he is no doubt more suitable to become Patriarch.” Yang Wei said frankly without the slightest of cares.
“Are you disappointed? Do you feel like all the efforts you’ve put in so far to assist me have not been rewarded?” Yang Wei suddenly asked the silent Meng Shan Yi.
Not hesitating for an instant, Meng Shan Yi shook his head gently, “Hearing the true ambitions of Eldest Young Lord is this Shan Yi’s honour. Since the Eldest Young Lord doesn’t want to become the Yang Family Patriarch, all I need to do is change my outlook slightly.”
Saying so, he asked, “Are we going to cooperate with Second Young Lord?”
Yang Wei smiled calmly, “Since the Meng Family has sent a letter, it means the Eight Great Families have already joined forces with the Yang Family’s acceptance. Am I even able to refuse? If all they need is a show of face, you going is enough. From now on, the conflict that takes place has nothing to do with the Inheritance War.”
It could be said that from the moment Yang Kai broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, the Inheritance War had ended.
What happened next was just the Eight Great Families carrying out some secret manoeuvres under the guise of the Inheritance War.
“I understand.” Meng Shan Yi nodded slightly, turned around and left, preparing to visit Yang Zhao’s mansion.
After Meng Shan Yi left, Yang Wei’s expression became pensive, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t understand why it was that Ninth Brother had suddenly become such a priority target.
In his heart he felt slightly disgruntled.
At the same time, inside Yang Zhao’s house.
Group after group of masters quickly gathered, these people had never before appeared in the Inheritance War, but today, as if they had meticulously planned it out, they had all arrived here.
The cultivators from Yang Zhao’s original allies all stared at these newcomers in somewhat of a daze.
They found that many of these people were Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage masters, while Seventh and Eighth Stage cultivators abounded.
There were a total of seven new groups, each with the same powerhouse lineup.
Those with slightly discerning eyes soon realized where these seven groups hailed from.
Obviously these groups belonged to the Central Capital Eight Great Families. Apart from Yang Family who hadn’t sent any personnel, the other seven families had all arrived.
Among the seven groups of people, one young man and one young woman looked at each other with depressed and guilty expressions on their faces.
After a while, the young man slowly walked over to the woman and nodded solemnly.
The two found a secluded corner, and stared out at the gathering of masters with helpless expressions.
These two were none other than Huo Xing Chen and Qiu Yi Meng.
This morning, the two of them had left War City, only to return the very same evening.
In the span of less than a day, the two of them were forced to change from Yang Kai’s allies to Yang Zhao’s, their identities changing so rapidly it was laughable.
“What conditions did your father promise you?” Huo Xing Chen turned to look at Qiu Yi Meng and asked flatly.
“In the future, this Young Lady will inherit the Qiu Family!” Qiu Yi Meng replied with a sigh.
“Congratulations. Isn’t this what you always dreamed of?” Huo Xing Chen smiled.
“Yes.” Qiu Yi Meng brushed her hair back behind her ear, not the slightest bit of happiness apparent in her eyes, “What about you?”
“My old man said, if I don’t come, he’ll drive me out of the Huo Family and banish me for life. That old fart was serious, I couldn’t refuse.” Huo Xing Chen couldn’t help smiling wryly.
“It seems like we both compromised.”
“Seems like it.”
The two stared at each other for a moment before suddenly wearing disdainful expressions and simultaneously muttering, “I really despise you!”
The Qiu Family group was headed by Qiu Yi Meng while the Huo Family masters were led by Huo Xing Chen.
Those from the Kang Family followed Kang Zhan and the group from the Gao Family had Gao Rang Feng as their leader.
Even the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, Liu Qing Yao, had arrived, bringing with him a group of Liu Family masters, though he chose to stand silently in the corner and not communicate with anyone.
Looking at this spectacular gathering, Huo Xing Chen couldn’t help spitting disdainfully, “Ridiculous.”
“Truly ridiculous.” Qiu Yi Meng gently nodded, “Seven of the Eight Great Families are targeting Yang Kai, yet they still insist on sending a member of the younger generation to serve as a leader. Obviously, they want to use the stage of the Yang Family Inheritance War to deceive the eyes of the world.”
Huo Xing Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, “There’s nothing that can be done, those who know the inside story know that this action is solely to deal with Yang Kai, those who don’t simply believe the Inheritance War isn’t over yet. If they were suddenly to declare the Yang Family Inheritance War over and that Yang Kai had been eliminated for no apparent reason, no one would be able to accept it.”
Just as the Eldest Brother, Yang Wei, clearly understood the situation, Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen also saw things for what they really were.
What happened next had nothing to do with the Inheritance War; instead, it would be more accurate to say that the Inheritance War stage was being used by the seven families to put on a show.
The secret conversation between Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen was not missed by the other Central Capital Young Lords.
Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng hesitated for a long time before walking over to Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen together.
Huo Xing Chen turned his eyes to the two approaching Young Lords and asked with a light smile, “Brother Kang, how is your injury recovering?”
“Brother Huo need not worry, my injury is no longer a problem, Little Lord had a sense of proportion and didn’t deal any lasting damage.” Kang Zhan said lightly and indifferently, not displaying any resentment towards Yang Kai.
“That’s good, that’s good. Hahaha.” Huo Xing Chen said with a false smile.
Seeing his attempt to shoo them away, Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan were also very helpless, the former saying, “Brother Huo, although we formerly opposed the Little Lord, that was only because the situation forced us to be his opponents. In truth, both of us very much admire the Little Lord’s methods and strength, if possible, we wanted to make friends with him.”
“Really?” Huo Xing Chen wore a surprised expression, “I’m quite surprised, I never knew Brother Gao and Brother Kang were such magnanimous people. Yang Kai treated both of you so ruthlessly yet you still want to make friends with him, hahaha, are those your true intentions?”
“Brother Huo, if you are still wary of us, then I and Brother Kang really have nothing we can say.” Gao Rang Feng said seriously.
Huo Xing Chen stared at the two of them for a moment before gradually restraining his false smile and replacing it with a solemn expression.
“What do you want to say?” Qiu Yi Meng, who had been silently observing situation, suddenly took the initiative to ask.
Gao Rang Feng frowned and asked in a low voice, “Brother Kang and I are very confused. Why do our seven families seem so determined to deal with the Little Lord? Why is the Yang Family not saying anything about this matter? The two of you were formerly Yang Kai’s allies, so we thought you might know more about the situation than us.”
“En.” Kang Zhan nodded, “I really can’t understand what is going on here. I was still at home recovering from my injuries when my father suddenly ordered me to come here; even when I asked him why, he didn’t tell me anything. Young Lady Qiu and Brother Huo, if you know something and are able to tell us, we would very much appreciate it, if you don’t, or can’t, then just pretend we never asked.”
Huo Xing Chen went silent and turned his eyes towards Qiu Yi Meng.
Although he had been together with Yang Kai for just as long as Qiu Yi Meng, he would normally not be involved in any of the decisions made inside Yang Kai’s mansion and had only spoken to Yang Kai once in a while. On the other hand, Qiu Yi Meng often spoke with Yang Kai both in public and private and was involved in both planning and executing almost every operation that occurred, so she obviously was better informed than he was.
In fact, the questions asked by Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan were questions he too had.
Facing these three pairs of expectant eyes, Qiu Yi Meng could only shake her head slightly, “I don’t know anything, you’re asking the wrong person.”
Immediately, Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan wore disappointed expressions.
“However, although I haven’t been told anything specific, I can roughly guess what is happening.” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly added.
“Oh? Please enlighten us, Young Lady Qiu.” Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng shined.
“Yang Kai being targeted like this, one possibility is that he has done something that has violated the Eight Great Families’ bottom line!” Qiu Yi Meng said indifferently, without any emotion, “For example, the information that is currently being circulated among the common people.”
Cultivating a Demonic Secret Art, sharing the same Sect as the Demon Lord, providing shelter to Demons and Devil’s Path disciples, showing symptoms of Devil’s Practices…
All of these matters could be big or small depending on one’s perspective. Now that someone wanted them to be a big deal, they were a big deal.
“We also know about all of that; those were the reasons our families gave us when they sent us here as reinforcements. But… even if all of that is true, both of us still felt like things aren’t that simple.” Gao Rang Feng frowned, obviously not accepting these justifications at face value.
“Is there some other reason?” Kang Zhan hurriedly asked.
“If it is not because of this, then the only explanation is Yang Kai has something all seven of our families want,” Qiu Yi Meng sneered. After she finished speaking, a light flashed across her beautiful eyes and her brow deeply furrowed as she sunk into contemplation.
These few words suddenly dispelled all of these youth’s doubts.
When one was prosperous, benefits mattered the most. When the world was chaotic, benefits still mattered the most.
If this was the case, then this situation was understandable.
Looking at Qiu Yi Meng’s shifting expression, the Young Lords all realized she probably knew what it was their families were after, but since she didn’t explain, Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng knew not to ask any further.
However, the Eight Great Families’ actions this time gave all of them a feeling like they were pawns being manipulated.
Since they wanted to deal with Yang Kai, given the heritage and strength of the Eight Great Families, they could have just acted in a straightforward manner, but instead they had decided to put on this farce by borrowing the Inheritance War’s stage.
The several young people gathered here suddenly felt both disgruntled and depressed.
As the four of them had been speaking, Liu Qing Yao had kept his eyes closed and seemed to not be paying any attention to them, but no matter who it was, they could sense a thin threat of Divine Sense observing them. Apparently Liu Qing Yao was also interested in their discussion.
The four of them also didn’t feel any need to guard against him.
At the same time, deeper inside the mansion.
Inside Yang Zhao’s room, the Second Young Lord, sat motionless on his bed.
After just ten days of time, the always loft and arrogant Yang Zhao had transformed into a withered and sullen individual, dark rings around his bloodshot eyes giving him a particular fierce look.
Ye Xin Rou paced back and forth slowly in front of Yang Zhao, detailing the current situation to him.
Gradually, Yang Zhao’s seemingly dull face took on some colour as his red eyes narrowed slightly.
“Second Young Lord, reinforcements from the seven families have all arrived. Each of them sending at least twenty Immortal Ascension Boundary masters at the Sixth Stage or higher, there is even a large number of Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters. The seven families meaning is clear, they hope you can lead these people to defeat Yang Kai as quickly as possible and win the Inheritance War.”
“Why did the seven families suddenly send so many people to participate in the Inheritance War?” Yang Zhao muttered.
Since he hadn’t spoken in quite some time, Yang Zhao’s voice had become a bit hoarse and it had a sickly tone to it, like he was on the verge of death.
Ye Xin Rou smiled gracefully and replied, “Didn’t I just tell you about it? Yang Kai is a dangerous person who is very likely to become a second Demon Lord. The Yang Family cannot allow such a man to become its next Patriarch. The seven families and the Yang Family have occupied the Central Capital for centuries and are life and death allies; naturally they are also concerned about this issue as well. Now they have taken the initiative to gather in your house and are only waiting for you to issue the order. Second Young Lord, the Yang Family’s Patriarch position is yours for the taking.”
“Is it really just for such reasons?” Yang Zhao’s gaze became cold as he stared at the lithe young woman in front of him.
“What other reasons could there be?” Ye Xin Rou gawked.
Suddenly wearing a look of impatience on her face, she walked over and hugged Yang Zhao’s arm like a spoiled child and said, “Second Young Lord, don’t think too much about it, quickly fix yourself up and meet with everyone. Letting these people wait too long will do you no good.”
“I’m not going.” Yang Zhao said with a disheartened look, apparently not the least bit excited by this shocking news, quickly brushing away Ye Xin Rou’s entanglement.
Ye Xin Rou shook her head slowly, she hadn’t expected Yang Zhao to be happy about all of this but she still couldn’t help wondering, “Second Young Lord, what’s wrong?”
Yang Zhao simply shook his head, “The Inheritance War is a battle between my Yang Family’s direct descendants, a battle of wits, a battle of connections, a battle of charm. I’ve already lost, and since I’ve lost, why should I bother with it anymore.”
“How is that so? There are still so many people gathered in your house and with the addition of so many powerful masters willing to assist you. Now is the perfect time to stage a comeback.” Ye Xin Rou tried to console.
“People from seven of the Great Families… heh heh,” Yang Zhao sneered, “If I use them to defeat Ninth Brother, even if I sit in the Patriarch’s position, I’ll never feel deserving of it!”
“Second Young Lord, what are you saying?” Ye Xin Rou continued to prod, “Relying on just the allies gathered in your house, there is no way to defeat Yang Kai, but now that such a good opportunity has appeared in front of you, how can you not act? How can you not seize this chance?”
After a short pause, Ye Xin Rou laughed and said, “Could it be that Second Young Lord fears being criticised by the world? Second Young Lord, achieving your objective is what is most important, as for history, history is written by the victors, once you sit in the position of Yang Family Patriarch, who would dare to criticize you?”
Yang Zhao however remained unemotional and uninterested.
Ye Xin Rou suddenly lost patience and coldly shouted, “Second Young Lord, I hope you can put the overall situation first, the Yang Family has already acquiesced to this matter. If you don’t act, it would be akin to rebelling against your family. Humph, the noble Yang Family Second Young Lord only able to act like a whipped dog, simply laughable!”
Yang Zhao suddenly raised his head and stared towards Ye Xin Rou with his bloodshot eyes. Seeing this look, Ye Xin Rou immediately panicked but before she could react a cold hand was already around her neck and her vision became blurry. After quickly regaining her senses, Ye Xin Rou discovered she had been thrown onto the bed by Yang Zhao.
The faces of the two were almost stuck together, and Ye Xin Rou could clearly feel the hot breath from Yang Zhao’s nostrils; however, this heat was not a result of lust but instead because of rage.
The big hand around her neck was like an iron hoop, preventing her from even struggling.
Ye Xin Rou suddenly became frightened; only at this moment remember that she was not Yang Zhao’s opponent at all.
“Second Young Lord, what do you want to do…” Ye Xin Rou wore a pained expression as she bit her red lips, staring weakly towards Yang Zhao.
“I, Yang Zhao, am insidious and cunning, but I will not stoop so low as to use such disgraceful methods to defeat Ninth Brother! In this Inheritance War, I used my all in order to fight Ninth Brother yet still lost. As such, I have no complaints! Cheap slut, you’re not qualified to judge me! If you dare to say something like that again, I don’t mind making you the first Young Lady to die from a super force in the Inheritance War… What Ninth Brother dares to do, I dare to do as well! I, Yang Zhao, dare to be even more ruthlessness than him!”
Yang Zhao’s cold, hoarse voice was like the call of a demon from the depths of hell; causing Ye Xin Rou’s beautiful face to fill with fear and regret.
Staring into Yang Zhao’s eyes, Ye Xin Rou was truly frightened.
She could see that Yang Zhao wasn’t putting up a front to try to intimidate her, if she really uttered another word and angered him; she would most likely die here.
“Your Xin Rou was wrong, she wouldn’t dare…” Ye Xin Rou immediately backed down, as a woman, she didn’t feel the slightest bit ashamed.
Yang Zhao coldly snorted before releasing her.
After getting up from the bed, Yang Zhao muttered, “Those people gathered in my house are just here to borrow my name. Even if I disagree, they can still borrow Big Brother’s name. Since the Yang Family has tacitly consented to this, it is true I can’t resist! However, if they want to drag me out and use me as a figurehead to deal with Ninth Brother, they’re dreaming! Get out, from now on, you are in charge of all matters inside this house!”
Ye Xin Rou, who was still recovering from her earlier panic, couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath and tremble, “Second Young Lord, you mean…”
“You don’t need to suspect anything, from this moment forward this house is yours, the masters from the seven families and all my allies are also yours to command. Aren’t you a woman who pursues authority? If we didn’t have that in common, we would never have become allies in the first place. Now’s your chance to obtain what you want, what are you hesitating for?”
Ye Xin Rou didn’t care about the mockery in Yang Zhao’s words, only excitement could be seen in her eyes. Only after she took a deep breath to collect herself did she ask, “But… how should I explain this to the people in the house?”
“Do you need to explain anything? I’ve already agreed to let them borrow my name, as for any kind of justification, just say whatever you want.”
Ye Xin Rou’s smile blossomed like a great flower as she nodded, “After suffering a setback, Second Young Lord not only wasn’t disheartened, but instead emerged even stronger from this tribulation and has taken advantage of this momentum to break through. As such, he is currently in secluded cultivation!”
“Good.” Yang Zhao snickered, “I guess I should thank you for finding an excuse that takes my face into consideration.”
“We’re not strangers, no need to act polite.” Ye Xin Rou narrowed her eyes towards Yang Zhao, “After this, perhaps Xin Rou will really have to commit herself to Second Young Lord. I only hope that when Second Young Lord sits upon the Yang Family Patriarch’s position he will remember to take care of my Ye Family.”
Yang Zhao just sneered dismissively, “You should worry about surviving the conflict with Ninth Brother first.”
Ye Xin Rou’s pretty face cramped as a trace of fear flashed across her eyes, but she soon recovered and confidently said, “With the forces gathered here, what chance does Yang Kai have to resist?”
Yang Zhao simply closed his eyes and stopped talking.
“Then Xin Ruo will take her leave.” Ye Xin Rou bowed before turning around and exiting.
After she left Yang Zhao’s private house, she paused and stared up at the sky.
In the dark night, a full moon hung high in the sky sending out soft light.
Ye Xin Rou couldn’t contain her joy as she smiled happily; shooting a glance back at Yang Zhao’s house, a trace of disdain crept into her expression.
She hadn’t expected Yang Zhao to make such a decision, but since he had already transferred command to her, she could really cut loose and do things as she wished.
Her face filled with excitement. She let out a wicked laughter that quickly reverberated throughout the mansion, sending a cold chill down the spines of those who heard it.
A short time later, the leaders of the seven great forces in Yang Zhao’s mansion gathered in the main hall.
Ye Xin Rou sat at the head of the table.
Nearby, Liu Family’s Liu Qing Yao, Kang Family’s Kang Zhan, Gao Family’s Gao Rang Feng, Qiu Family’s Qiu Yi Meng, Huo Family’s Huo Xing Chen, and Meng Family’s Meng Shan Yi all stared at her curiously.
Ye Xin Rou on the other hand wore a light and casual expression without the slightest unease on her face.
Sweeping her alluring eyes around the table, Ye Xin Rou spoke first, “Brother Meng, Eldest Young Lord didn’t come?”
When he heard himself called out by the current Ye Xin Rou, Meng Shan Yi couldn’t help trembling slightly, but still quickly responded, “Eldest Young Lord said that he felt he would soon break through and must enter retreat. For this time’s action, Eldest Young Lord has authorized this Meng to command his forces.”
Ye Xin Rou was slightly surprised but soon wore a winning smile, “Such a coincidence, Second Young Lord also felt he would soon break through and has entered secluded retreat. I’m afraid he won’t be able to exit for some time. The Yang Family’s Young Lords are really dragons among men. Two brothers simultaneously breaking through, it really makes one admire their aptitude.”
Listening to her saying these words, everyone present couldn’t help showing awkward expressions.
Huo Xing Chen quickly changed the subject, “Junior Sister Ye, if Second Young Lord isn’t coming, who will be responsible for this seven-family coalition, it wouldn’t be you, right?”
“That’s right,” Ye Xin Rou responded lightly, flashing a charming smile as she changed her posture slightly, “This operation will be directed by me.”
Huo Xing Chen let out a half chuckle half sneer.
“Before entering retreat, Second Young Lord declared that all of the mansion’s matters would be taken over by me and all those gathered here are to follow my orders!” Ye Xin Rou’s expression became cold as she stated firmly.
Once again, the other six youths in the room wore cramped faces.
“Elder Brothers, Elder Sister, are you questioning Junior Sister’s abilities?” Ye Xin Rou took in the expressions of everyone around her and asked with a temperate smile.
“Of course not.” Kang Zhan shook his head, “It’s just that Second Young Lord not coming forward personally and instead sending Young Lady Ye in his stead seems somewhat improper; after all, the orders given to all of us gathered here from our respective families were to assist Second Young Lord.”
“Is Brother Kang skeptical about whether Second Young Lord truly authorised me to take command?” Ye Xin Rou giggled, “I’m afraid I don’t have such guts. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Second Young Lord, he is currently cultivating in his private residence.”
Kang Zhan’s brow furrowed. Although he was uncomfortable with this situation, it wasn’t convenient for him to say anything more.
Since Ye Xin Rou dared to say these words, her current authority must really have been approved by Yang Zhao.
Huo Xing Chen inserted himself suddenly, “Second Young Lord being unavailable is unfortunate, but since that is the case, there’s no reason to dwell on it; however, I’m doubtful whether Junior Sister Ye really has enough prestige to serve as his replacement.”
“Oh? Since Young Lord Huo is saying so… Does that mean Young Master Huo has someone in mind to serve as this movement’s leader?”
As Ye Xin Ruo said these words, her eyes glanced over towards Qiu Yi Meng who throughout this entire conversation had remained indifferent and expressionless.
Not only did Ye Xin Rou look at her, most of the youths gathered at this table instinctively turned their gazes towards Qiu Yi Meng.
Compared with Ye Xin Rou, Qiu Yi Meng was undoubtedly more suitable to lead Yang Zhao’s forces. She had this ability.
However, Qiu Yi Meng was forced to leave Yang Kai’s mansion this morning so her suddenly being in command of Yang Zhao’s allies was somewhat inappropriate.
Even if she was willing to assume the leadership role here, the masters from the seven families wouldn’t allow it and would likely not obey her orders.
“What does Elder Sister Qiu think?” Ye Xin Rou’s narrowed her eyes slightly as she stared at Qiu Yi Meng.
With everyone’s attention now focused on her, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t remain silent any longer, faintly replying, “I believe Junior Sister Ye has enough ability to serve as leader.”
“Since Elder Sister Qiu has said so, Junior Sister will not shirk her responsibilities.” Ye Xin Rou smiled proudly.
Huo Xing Chen let out a sigh. He could understand why Qiu Yi Meng didn’t try to assume command, but even so, he found it difficult to suppress the frustration in his chest.
Ye Xin Ro’s current appearance really made her seem like a treacherous snake.
There was no doubt she was a great beauty with both a refined and seductive charm, but Huo Xing Chen couldn’t bring himself to like her.
This was probably the first time the Central Capital Wolf, Huo Xing Chen, found himself despising a beautiful woman.
“Enough about this topic,” Ye Xin Rou said definitively. Having established her authority over Yang Zhao’s forces, she steered the conversation back to the main issue, “All of you have received orders from your respective families and have gathered here for one purpose: To defeat that arrogant Yang Kai. If we fail, I think each of you knows the consequences very well. Although our current strength is indeed above that of Yang Kai’s forces and we are fully prepared for a head on conflict, is this really the best option? How to defeat the forces in Yang Kai’s mansion while suffering the fewest losses, everyone please share your views. Junior Sister is still young and inexperienced and would appreciate advice from all of you.”
Fluttering her lashes, Ye Xin Rou glanced around the table and waited quietly.
From the start of the meeting till now, Liu Qing Yao’s eyes had remained closed, showing no indication of expressing any opinion. On the other hand, Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng put their heads together and whispered about something, their expressions both solemn, seemingly in the midst of a serious discussion.
The Huo Family Young Lord sat back in his chair and stared up at the sky, as if he was watching a parade of beautiful women flying through the moonlight.
Qiu Yi Meng remained indifferent with a tinge of sadness occasionally flickering past her eyes.
Meng Shan Yi scratched his head and sighed helplessly.
Among the six youths, each of them had different expressions, but none of them took the initiative to speak.
After waiting for quite some time, Ye Xin Rou smiled and said, “It looks like no one has any ideas. If so, why not listen to Junior Sister’s proposal?”
Saying so, before anyone could react, Ye Xing Ruo continued, “Although there are now forces from our seven families gathered in this mansion and the number of masters is great, giving us an overwhelming advantage in both strength and number, the power gathered in Yang Kai mansion can’t be ignored. First off, there is that Evil Sect Master, Ling Tai Xu, who is an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator; however, since this is still the Inheritance War, he is unlikely to get involved. As for the Blood Warriors serving Yang Kai, thanks to the previous declaration from the Yang Family, only two of them can fight. Besides them, there is that Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary Demon… These people are the biggest threats to us.”
“If we rush to attack, there is a high probability that our forces will suffer some unnecessary losses. The people gathered around Yang Kai can’t be taken lightly. They can often make some unexpected moves, I think Young Lord Huo and Elder Sister Qiu understand this point better than us.”
Huo Xing Chen chuckled, “Don’t ask me, I don’t know anything. In his house, I didn’t do anything other than trying to pick up girls. There were so many beautiful women in his house after all…”
Ye Xin Rou’s smile didn’t break at all, “Brother Huo is too modest, who doesn’t know that your strength has greatly increased. Even Brother Gao isn’t your opponent anymore.”
Gao Rang Feng’s face immediately went black, silently cursing out Ye Xin Rou as a cheap slut who targeted other people’s weaknesses. On the day Yang Kai launched his night raid on Yang Kang, Gao Rang Feng had been swiftly defeated by Huo Xing Chen, which the former regarded as a lifelong humiliation. These days, he had redoubled his efforts in the hopes that one day he could win back his face.
With Ye Xin Rou mentioning this right now, Gao Rang Feng suddenly felt like his stomach was full of grievances and muttered in a neither rude nor polite voice, “Young Lady Ye, please focus on the topic at hand.”
Ye Xin Rou flashed a faint smile and nodded apologetically, “Please don’t mind, Brother Gao. Junior Sister simply spoke thoughtlessly and had no intention of disparaging you.”
Gao Rang Feng’s expression only became bitterer at this non-apology.
Ignoring him, Ye Xin Rou continued, “Considering this situation, I think we should use a surprise attack force in order to catch Yang Kai off guard.”
The seven Young Lords and Young Ladies were gathered with Ye Xin Rou sitting at the head of the table; she spoke with authority and was clearly organized, providing accurate analysis of their current predicament and causing all of the others to raise their evaluations of her.
This young woman wasn’t just a pretty face who knew how to sweet talk others like some of them had thought.
When she sat in a position of authority, she was able to quickly adjust her mentality and speak in a manner consistent with her identity.
After stating her idea, the other six couldn’t help staring at her curiously.
“Surprise attack force?” Gao Rang Feng parroted, “What kind of surprise attack force?”
Ye Xin Rou answered with a smile, “A surprise that the Little Lord couldn’t possibly anticipate!”
Gao Rang Feng’s brow furrowed, Ye Xin Rou keeping them guessing made him feel slightly disgruntled, “Explain what you mean specifically.”
Ye Xin Rou giggled and turned her gaze towards Qiu Yi Meng, sweetly saying, “Elder Sister Qiu is no doubt the biggest surprise-attack force when it comes to the Little Lord.”
Hearing this, Qiu Yi Meng immediately glared towards Ye Xin Rou.
Huo Xing Chen also narrowed his eyes and snorted.
The other Young Lords wore awkward expressions as all of them instantly understood what Ye Xin Rou was thinking.
“Elder Sister Qiu has been working with the Little Lord since the start of the Inheritance War and was akin to his right arm, I’m afraid no one is clearer about the situation inside his house that she is. Also, Elder Sister Qiu only left Yang Kai’s mansion this morning. No matter how sharp the Little Lord is, do you think he would be able to anticipate that after less than a day of time she would become his enemy and bring people to attack him?”
“Ye Xin Rou, you better carefully consider what you’re talking about.” Huo Xing Chen stared at her with a sullen expression as a cold light flashed across his eyes.
In response, Ye Xin Rou simply snorted, “Young Lord Huo, what do you mean by this? What I am saying, of course I am clear about. Rather, your attitude… Are you perhaps dissatisfied with my plan?”
Huo Xing Chen brushed off her pointed words with a sneer.
“Don’t forget, right now I am representing Second Young Lord! Refusing to accept my orders is akin to refusing Second Young Lord’s commands. If this is how you plan on acting, I have the right to ask you to leave this house. A single mouse dropping can ruin a pot of porridge. Second Young Lord’s mansion can’t afford to keep any bad seeds around.” Ye Xin Rou said viciously as she wore a sneer on her face.
Huo Xing Chen’s expression twitched and wanted nothing more than to immediately stand up and leave, but remembering the threat his father had made to him before he left, he somehow managed to press down the anger in his heart.
His mouth moved constantly but no sound emerged from it, seemingly silently cursing.
Ye Xin Rou once again smiled warmly and continued, “Actually, Junior Sister came up with this proposal after considering many things. What I’ve mentioned is just one of them.”
“What other considerations?” Gao Rang Feng asked. He suddenly discovered that over the course of the Inheritance War, Ye Xin Rou had experienced a terrifying amount of growth. Before now, she wasn’t as insightful or manipulative, nor were her thoughts so sharp and decisive.
Probably after staying with the Second Young Lord for a long time, she had gradually been influenced by his personality.
“From the previous incident when the Little Lord killed Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu, it is apparent Yang Kai places great importance on his friends. Elder Sister Qiu is also his friend. Given the Little Lord’s personality, he shouldn’t be able to treat Elder Sister Qiu ruthlessly, and I want to take advantage of this point.”
“He is indeed such a man.” Kang Zhan nodded lightly, thinking that Ye Xin Rou’s analysis was reasonable.
Last time, simply because Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu, those two idiots, injured a disciple from High Heaven Pavilion, they were chased down by Yang Kai for over three thousand kilometers and even after they sought refuge in Yang Zhao’s mansion they didn’t escape from death.
Qiu Yi Meng and Yang Kai had been together for so long, sharing both joy and sorrow. Qiu Yi Meng had also made many great contributions to Yang Kai’s campaign during the Inheritance War; it wouldn’t be strange for him to not want to fight with her.
“As such, if Elder Sister Qiu is the one to go, it might be possible to defeat the Little Lord without any further bloodshed.” Ye Xin Rou looked at Qiu Yi Meng with a smile and asked, “Elder Sister Qiu, what do you think?” “
Qiu Yi Meng’s expression was desolate as she turned her eyes away and stared off into the distance and said in a flat tone, “Your thoughts are too simple. While it’s true Yang Kai cares about friendship, he is also a very selfish person! If a conflict erupts between us, he will undoubtedly not hesitate to maintain his own interests.”
Ye Xin Rou wore a surprised look, “Elder Sister Qiu really understands the Little Lord, but I still believe this plan has a good chance of success. How can you know it won’t succeed unless you try?”
Saying so, her eyes flashed a ruthless light. Obviously, until Qiu Yi Meng agreed she would not give up.
“Fine.” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly smiled, “Since Junior Sister Ye is so certain, Elder Sister will listen to you once and see if I can defeat Yang Kai by myself.”
“Elder Sister is really a confident woman; Junior Sister is filled with respect.”
“Many thanks. Junior Sister’s care in this matter, Elder Sister will certainly remember.” Qiu Yi Meng smiled brilliantly.
Ye Xin Rou also smiled back at her, “There’s no need for such politeness between us sister. A few days ago, Junior Sister received much from Elder Sister, hehehe… Elder Sister’s care, Junior Sister will not forget for the rest of her life.”
The hall’s temperature suddenly dropped as the atmosphere became tense.
Gao Rang Feng, Kang Zhan and all the others couldn’t help lowering their heads and trembling.
None of them knew what these two young women were talking about, but it was obvious something happened between them recently that forged a deep grudge.
A few days ago, Ye Xin Rou had snuck into Yang Kai’s house to seduce him, but as a result, Yang Kai had stripped her naked and abandoned her inside a secluded room. At the time, Qiu Yi Meng was present, but instead of helping her, she had posted guards at her door and trapped her inside.
Ye Xin Rou was imprisoned for three days in the state she was born in.
It wasn’t until three days later that Qiu Yi Meng finally sent a maid to her with a change of clothes…
How could Ye Xin Rou forget this shameful insult? Now that she had assumed command of the seven-family force, the first thing she sought to do was find a way to embarrass Qiu Yi Meng. This was a blatant case of mixing public and private affairs, but her excuses and methods were actually quite brilliant, not giving Qiu Yi Meng any legitimate reason to refuse, allowing the former to lead her around by the nose.
“Then I will entrust Elder Sister with leading our efforts and wish her a swift victory.”
“Elder Sister will take advantage of Junior Sister’s auspicious words.”
“It’s best to act swiftly, let’s set off now.” Ye Xin Rou said.
“Now?” The Young Lords couldn’t help asking in surprise, none of them having expected Ye Xin Rou to act so urgently.
“If we strike tonight while the Little Lord is still unprepared perhaps we can achieve twice the results with half the effort.” Ye Xin Rou smiled coldly.
“Good, Elder Sister will set out immediately.” Qiu Yi Meng laughed before standing up and walking out.
“Qiu Yi Meng…” Huo Xing Chen stood up and shouted, but Qiu Yi Meng didn’t even glance back. As she walked away, all he could so was slowly shake his head.
After Qiu Yi Meng left, Huo Xing Chen turned around and glared coldly at Ye Xin Rou, callously saying, “Little tramp, if something unexpected happens to Qiu Yi Meng, this Young Master swears he will sell you to the cheapest, filthiest brothel so that any beggar off the street can taste your beauty and make sure that in less than three months you’ll become a pile of meat so rotten even the wild dogs will refuse to come near you!”
A cold light flashed past Ye Xin Rou’s eyes but surprisingly she didn’t get angry, instead just giggling charmingly, “Aren’t Young Lord Huo’s worries superfluous? How could Elder Sister Qiu suffer anything unexpected? Do you really think Little Lord will attack her? If he does, he’ll just be confirming he has fallen to the Devil’s Practices, unable to recognize his friends or family.”
After a short pause, she followed up, “But since Young Lord Huo is so worried, let’s follow her and observe, just in case.”
Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng both nodded their heads and felt that Ye Xin Rou’s decision was correct.
None of them believed Qiu Yi Meng would really defeat Yang Kai. Even if he placed a heavy emphasis on sentiment, he wasn’t a fool, how could he just give up without a fight?
But if all of them were to set out, even if Yang Kai fought back, they could immediately provide assistance.
The conversation over, all of them stood up and walked out.
The moon floated high in the star-studded night sky, bathing all of War City in its silvery glow.
Inside Yang Kai’s compound, all the remaining cultivators had calmed down from the impact of Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen leaving.
The advantage they held in terms of strength and manpower was still enormous, so even without Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen, all of Yang Kai’s allies felt he would inevitably win the Inheritance War.
The only thing that worried them somewhat was what Yang Kai had said earlier that day about possibly becoming enemies off the Eight Great Families.
After all, many of them were members of the younger generation, who among them wanted to openly oppose the Eight Great Families? That was not an issue for them, but also one for the Sects and families they represented.
In the middle of the night, the house was eerily quiet.
Yang Kai, who was sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light quickly flashing across them.
Hurriedly getting up, he quickly walked outside.
As soon as he opened his door, a burst or rustling clothes reached his ear and in the next moment, Ying Jiu, Old Demon, and Tang Yu Xian appeared in front of him.
“Little Lord…” Tang Yu Xian called out.
“I know,” Yang Kai’s expression became serious, “Call everyone.”
Tang Yu Xian quickly released her Divine Sense across the entire mansion. Feeling this burst of Spiritual Energy and recognizing what it meant, all the forces inside the house quickly assembled.
“Hmph!” A light snort came from nearby and a vague figure slowly emerged out of thin air, revealing the light blue haired Shui Ling.
Ying Jiu narrowed his eyes slightly. Even until now, he still had a sense of dread when it came to this mysteriously appearing and disappearing young lady.
So young, yet already an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage master and possessing a special constitution; if it was one on one, Ying Jiu estimated she was not his opponent, but if she wanted to escape from him, even if he activated his Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, he had no confidence in forcing her to remain.
“It seems like Qiu Yi Meng is the one coming.” Shui Ling sighed faintly, “It’s a pity, I quite liked her. Yang Kai, how could you and her have reached this point?”
“I don’t know, don’t ask me.” Yang Kai spat in annoyance.
With Shui Ling having realized the identity of the approaching people, how could Yang Kai not have noticed?
What’s more, the one leading this group was actually Qiu Yi Meng, who had only left this morning!
Accompanying her were more than twenty masters each of them at or above the Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage. Besides Qiu Yi Meng whose aura was quiet, everyone else was giving off a clear murderous intent, apparently not holding any favourable intentions towards the people inside Yang Kai’s mansion.
Yang Kai didn’t think Qiu Yi Meng was behind this action. After being together with her for so long, Yang Kai knew her better than that. What kind of personality she had, Yang Kai understood best, but her leading people towards his mansion was also an indisputable fact.
“Let’s go out and have a look.” Yang Kai coldly snorted, taking the lead and walking out.
Ying Jiu, Tang Yu Xian, and Old Demon quickly followed after him.
A moment later, a small number of people had gathered outside the main entrance and more cultivators from inside the house were continuously rushing out, organizing themselves in an orderly fashion as they assembled together with Yang Kai.
All of these people didn’t know what was going on. When they got outside the house and their eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, they sight they saw left them all dumbstruck.
Not far from the mansion stood a solitary Qiu Yi Meng.
Ten meters behind her there were more than twenty Immortal Ascension Boundary masters belonging to the Qiu Family lined up, each of them giving off a frightening aura.
After a moment of stunned silence, Luo Xiao Man shouted in surprise, “Elder Sister Qiu!”
After calling out, she rushed out of the crowd and ran towards Qiu Yi Meng. As she ran her pair of enormous jade peaks swayed with vigour.
Among all of those present, she and Qiu Yi Meng had the closest relationship. One was sensible and capable, the other innocent and cute, their opposite personalities actually complimented each other extremely well and Qiu Yi Meng had always been very good to her; after experiencing so many ups and downs together, the two were as close as blood-related sisters.
When Qiu Yi Meng left this morning, Luo Xiao Man had cried for a long time and until now her eyes were still red and puffy with a spiritless expression adorning her face.
Seeing Qiu Yi Meng suddenly return, Luo Xiao Man was, without a doubt, the happier than anyone and she made no attempt to hide her joy, it was like a lost child had finally found her way home and was now eagerly rushing over.
A touch of sadness flashed across Qiu Yi Meng’s face for an instant before indifference replaced it.
When the distance between them shrank to less than twenty meters, Qiu Yi Meng gently lifted her hand.
A ray of light shot out from her palm and struck the ground right in front of Luo Xiao Man’s feet.
Dust flew up.
Luo Xiao Man immediately came to a halt and stared towards Qiu Yi Meng in front of her.
“Don’t come any closer, otherwise don’t blame my subordinates for not showing any mercy.” Qiu Yi Meng looked at Luo Xiao Man coldly and said in a frigid tone, like she was speaking to a total stranger.
“Elder Sister Qiu…” Luo Xiao Man whispered through her quivering lips, her eyes filled with confusion, unable to understand what was going on.
Qiu Yi Meng hadn’t actually struck her, but just now, if she had been running slightly faster or if Qiu Yi Meng had aimed slightly further, Luo Xiao Man’s legs would have been crippled.
Feeling the cold and desolate aura emanating from Qiu Yi Meng, Luo Xiao Man’s heart was filled with tremendous pain and her eyes began to water, opening her mouth to speak but unable to utter any words, subconsciously she even felt a trace of fear.
In this moment of confusion, a big hand lightly held her shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, the image of Yang Kai shaking his head slowly entered her view
“Go back.” Yang Kai whispered, gently tossing her back towards the others without waiting for her to respond.
After Luo Xiao Man landed, she suddenly discovered that the atmosphere was strange.
Outside the mansion, Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng faced each other. Identical to what happened this morning when the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady left, nothing was said, nothing needed to be said.
But anyone could see that this meeting was completely different from the one this morning, the situation was completely different.
“Were you forced?” Yang Kai stared straight into Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes and asked.
“No.” Qiu Yi Meng shook her head slightly.
“No?” Yang Kai smiled mockingly, “Since you weren’t forced, why did you bring these people here? Don’t tell me they’re here to hire themselves to me?”
“Why I’m here, you already know in your heart. Why bother asking such pointless questions?” Qiu Yi Meng shot back, her expression still ice cold.
“If you don’t explain, how would I know?”
“Aren’t you the same? You never explain anything to me, why should I explain anything to you?” Qiu Yi Meng retorted.
Yang Kai casually shrugged his shoulders. What she said wasn’t untrue.
“First Young Lady, there’s no need to speak any nonsense with him.” Suddenly, a low voice came from behind Qiu Yi Meng.
As these words were said, one of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters with a thick imposing manner stepped forward and stood behind Qiu Yi Meng.
“You are?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed.
“Qiu Family Fallen Leaves Hall, Hall Master, Chen Xuan!” The man coldly snorted, slightly raising his head and arrogantly declaring, “First Young Lady wanted to be considerate of your past friendship and say a few words to you, but it should be enough already.”
Yang Kai’s expression didn’t change as he lightly nodded, “Greetings, Hall Master Chen’s name is really thunderous. Junior has long heard of you.”
The Qiu Family’s Fallen Leaves Hall was equivalent to the Yang Family’s Blood Warrior Hall. Similar institutions existed in all the Eight Great Families, places where extremely strong and extremely loyal masters who dedicated their lives to their respective families were cultivated.
Because of differences in family heritage, reputation, and training methods, among these institutions, the Blood Warrior Hall had become the most famous; on top of that, the Blood Warriors were truly a step above the warriors trained by the other seven families in terms of combat prowess.
In particular, the forbidden Mad Tyrant Blood Skill which was unique to the Blood Warrior Hall alone was enough to make the Blood Warrior Hall stand above any other similar institution.
The Qiu Family’s Fallen Leaves Hall as one such institution only had true masters serving within its ranks. Once they went into action, they would attack as swiftly as the autumn wind, overwhelming their enemies with irresistible force, not allowing their enemies any time to catch their breath.
Because of their modus operandi, the masters from the Fallen Leaves Hall were generally impatient and despised wasting time.
Qiu Yi Meng and Yang Kai exchanging thinly veiled words for so long had obviously annoyed them, resulting in Hall Master Chen Xuan stepping forward to expedite matters.
Chen Xuan snorted and turned a blind eye to Yang Kai’s compliment, sneering as he said, “Since you’re finished with your discussion First Young Lady, please step back.” Turning his eyes to Yang Kai again, he coldly declared, “Little brat, death is here for you. Although you are a Young Lord of the Yang Family, but since you cultivate a Demonic Secret Art, collude with Demons, and are attempting to subvert the Eight Great Families. Today will be your demise.”
Chen Xuan and the masters of the Fallen Leaves Hall had always operated in and around the Central Capital and as such didn’t know much about Yang Kai or the forces supporting him. Although they had also been paying attention to the progress of the Inheritance War, everything they knew they had heard from others. About how powerful Yang Kai and the masters inside his house were, Chen Xuan always felt it was too exaggerated and that most of it was hearsay and rumours.
As a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, how could he put a measly Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage cultivator in his eyes, especially considering how young the latter was.
Not only did Chen Xuan think so, most of the masters sent by the seven families had similar thoughts. In their view, seven great families joining forces and deploying so much manpower was making a fuss over a trivial matter.
So when Qiu Yi Meng brought them out along to seek trouble with Yang Kai tonight, Chen Xuan and the other Fallen Leaves Hall masters were very excited and thought that they could easily smash through Yang Kai’s compound’s defences.
Even Ling Tai Xu, who was still inside the mansion, wasn’t placed in their eyes.
Although Ling Tai Xu was an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master, with his reputation as the Sect Master of an Evil Sect and the master of the Demon Lord, if he dared to take action, the eight Grand Elders residing in the Seal Temple would certainly not sit idly by.
Listening to Chen Xuan’s self-righteous declaration, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a cold light, “Bold words!”
“Hall Master Chen, wait a little longer.” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly interrupted. “I still have a few words to say to Yang Kai.”
Chen Xuan coldly snorted, but it wasn’t a good idea for him to not give Qiu Yi Meng face in such a public setting. When they had been deployed for this operation, Qiu Shou Cheng had passed down orders that although this conflict was to take place on the Inheritance War’s stage and was ostensibly the responsibility of the Eight Great Families Young Lords and Young Ladies. However, this was simply the public propaganda. In actuality, Chen Xuan would hold decision-making power on the battlefield.
This is to say, to some extent; Qiu Yi Meng had to obey Chen Xuan’s orders for the time being.
However, if she just wanted to say a few words, he could tolerate it.
Yang Kai glanced at him coldly before turning to Qiu Yi Meng and muttering, “Why?”
“Because my father said, as long as I can defeat and capture you, I can inherit the Qiu Family. You should know how much I longed for this day to come, and although we used to get along very well, but compared to my achieving my lifelong endeavour, what do you count for?”
“Heh heh,” Yang Kai couldn’t help grinning, “Forget about me, can you even convince yourself with such a lame excuse?”
“Lame excuse? What I’m saying is the truth. Today, I am here to defeat you. Yang Kai, out of respect for all that I’ve done for you, obediently surrender without a fight, if you insist on resisting, no one will benefit. Moreover, I know I am definitely not your opponent.”
“Okay.” Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
Behind the two, Chen Xuan couldn’t help gawking, but he quickly focused his eyes on Yang Kai’s movements to guard against him trying to swindle them.
The people behind Yang Kai also had awkward expressions.
None of them had anticipated that in less than a day, Qiu Yi Meng would switch sides and lead a group of masters to find trouble with Yang Kai. When she had spoken just now, there was no hesitation in her voice, and the cold indifference she was exuding now made many of those who former looked up to her feel an immense sense of indignation, but out of respect for their past friendships, no one could bring themselves to accuse her.
If it was anyone else in Qiu Yi Meng’s placIe right now, none of them would be willing to forgive her and would likely have already cursed out her eighteen generations of ancestors.
Even so, no one had a friendly expression on their face, Luo Xiao Man had even broken down into tears as she stared at Qiu Yi Meng incredulously.
“Are you saying that seriously?” Qiu Yi Meng was stunned.
“Why not? If you can capture me, you can become heir to the Qiu Family, right?” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “You’ve indeed paid a great deal for me, now I am simply returning the favour, what’s wrong with that?”
The look on Qiu Yi Meng fluctuated as a strange light flashed across her beautiful eyes, seemingly feeling touched somewhere deep in her soul by these words; she even felt the impulse to shed tears.
“First Young Lady…” Chen Xuan saw Qiu Yi Meng’s reaction and felt her determination to fight begin to waver so he quickly called out to her.
If they really could take Yang Kai without a fight, it would be the same as making a huge contribution to the Qiu Family. Qiu Shou Cheng had told him that once they captured Yang Kai, he was to be sent back to the Central Capital Qiu Family at all costs!
Qiu Yi Meng turned a deaf ear to Chen Xuan as a look of hesitation continued to linger on her face for a moment before she suddenly grit his teeth and shouted, “Do you think such these words can soften my heart and weaken my resolve? You bastard, how despicable can you be!?”
Yang Kai’s serious face cracked into a big grin as he sent a half teasing half apologetic look to the young woman in front of him.
“That really was your plan.” Qiu Yi Meng spat in annoyance. Just now she really had been moved by his honeyed words, only causing her to hate herself even more, “No matter what you say, since I’ve come this far already, I won’t go back empty hanempty-handed
g so, she lifted her hand and summoned a long dagger. This weapon gave off a silvery light and was obviously a high grade artifact.
True Qi fiercely erupted and a thick killing intent surged upwards.
Many people cried out in shock, no one had thought such a change would happen so quickly, even Ying Jiu didn’t have time to react.
The eyes of Chen Xuan and Fallen Leaves Hall masters also flashed brilliantly as they held their breaths in anticipation.
Facing Qiu Yi Meng’s approaching dagger, Yang Kai maintained his calm grin, not showing the slightest tension as he stared at the brilliantly glowing blade, he didn’t even condense his True Qi, as if he really had no intention of resisting.
Qiu Yi Meng’s beautiful face was filled with determination and the speed at which she struck only accelerated.
But in the next instant, Yang Kai’s complexion rapidly changed, his eyes filling with shock as he grabbed towards Qiu Yi Meng’s hand as fast as he could.
*Pu…*
A dull thud resounded and blood splashed out.
Screams rang out and the masters behind the two entangled figures shot forward.
The eyes of Chen Xuan and the other Fallen Leaves Hall masters all wore fanatical expressions as they stared at the dumbstruck Yang Kai, grinning fiercely as they approached.
Ying Jiu, Tang Yu Xian, and Old Demon also pushed their True Qi rapidly and crossed over the heads of Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng to intercept Chen Xuan and the Qiu Family masters.
The battle had instantly erupted; those below the Immortal Ascension Boundary were unable to interfere. Even those younger generation leaders who had already broken through the Immortal Ascension Boundary were too afraid to approach and could only use their Martial Skills and artifacts to strike from a distance.
Brilliant flashes of light blossomed and waves of True Qi rampaged about.
Amidst the chaos, Luo Xiao Man stumbled over to Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng but after seeing the situation, she couldn’t help trembling violently as she covered her mouth to stifle her screams.
Qiu Yi Meng had fallen limply into Yang Kai’s arms, her face pale and bloodless as she silently smiled towards the man embracing her. Inserted into her lower abdomen was the very same dagger artifact she had taken out just now.
Yang Kai on the other hand was completely unscathed.
“What the hell are you doing?” Yang Kai angered snapped.
“I couldn’t do anything…” Qiu Yi Meng smiled faintly, “I could only think of this way and let myself escape temporarily.”
Just now, Qiu Yi Meng stopped her attack halfway through and instead turned the dagger on herself. Yang Kai saw this and immediately tried to stop her.
However, Qiu Yi Meng’s previous expression was too convincing and Yang Kai was also deceived by her for a moment, thinking that she really was going to attack him.
When he realized he had been tricked, it was already too late to stop her.
Blood flowed from Qiu Yi Meng’s lower abdomen and soon her clothes were stained dark red, giving her a strange ephemeral beauty.
“Don’t talk.” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow but didn’t panic, Qiu Yi Meng’s injury wasn’t in a fatal position nor did the dagger penetrate too deep, with the help of the Myriad Drug Milk, in only a day or two she would fully recover without even a scar.
“I have something I want to ask you.” Qiu Yi Meng panted for breath as she stubbornly stared at Yang Kai.
“If you have something to say, just spit it out.” Yang Kai coldly snorted, he was quite discontent with Qiu Yi Meng right now.
Qiu Yi Meng went silent for a moment before staring at Yang Kai, her eyes filled with a look of expectation as she whispered, “If I really had attacked you, would you have resisted?”
“What do you think?” Yang Kai stared back at her.
“I don’t know, I never could tell what you’re thinking.”
“I’m not an idiot, how could I just stand there and let you stab me!”
“Sure enough…” Qiu Yi Meng laughed bitterly, “You’ve always been a selfish person, but if you weren’t, you wouldn’t be you.”
Yang Kai suddenly wore a fierce grin, “If you really had tried to attack me, then today your life would have been over.”
“What would you do to me? Kill me?”
“Nothing so dramatic, I’d just strip off all your clothes, and then… heh, spank your little butt red!”
Qiu Yi Meng’s pale cheeks suddenly blushed furiously. No one had ever spoken such shameful words to her and she was at a loss about how to respond, in her mind she couldn’t help imagining a scene where she laid across Yang Kai’s lap naked and was repeatedly smacked.
[Shameful!]
“Stop it. Both of you!” Luo Xiao Man stood helplessly to one side and pitifully called out, “Quickly tend to her injuries.”
“She won’t die.” Yang Kai said in an intentionally aloof face before tightly holding Qiu Yi Meng and standing up. Glancing over at the chaotic battlefield, a cold light flashed through the depths of his eyes before he turned around and hurried into the house.
Luo Xiao Man chased after him quickly.
A short time later, the three arrived at Su Yan’s room.
Pushing open the door, the trio was hit by a blast of cold air.
Su Yan was sitting on the ice crystal bed, seemingly cultivating, but in fact her mind wasn’t here at all. The commotion outside Yang Kai’s house and the ensuing battle had naturally drawn her attention, but because of her identity as a High Heaven Pavilion disciple, it wasn’t convenient for her to come forward to join the fray and could only wait here quietly.
“What happened? How did she receive such an injury?” Su Yan saw Qiu Yi Meng’s condition and quickly inquired.
“This silly girl did it to herself.” Yang Kai said while laying Qiu Yi Meng down on the ice bed, the profound chill quickly enveloping her and causing her to shiver.
However, thanks to this influx of cold Qi, her wound stopped bleeding and her pain was also numbed.
“I’ll leave her to you.” Yang Kai snorted, turned around and left.
The location of Qiu Yi Meng’s injury was too sensitive, if she had been wounded anywhere else, Yang Kai would handle it himself, but since it was on her lower abdomen, he could only hand her treatment over to Su Yan.
Su Yan also had some Myriad Drug Milk on her and would know what to do.
The sound of battle outside continued to grow and very soon it seemed as if half the night sky was illuminated by explosions of light.
When Yang Kai returned to the outside of the house, he suddenly found that the battle had reached a fever pitch with both forces’ strength comparable to each other.
The enemy force consisted of twenty Qiu Family Fallen Leaves Hall masters at or above the Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage.
On his own side there were three Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, Ying Jiu, Tang Yu Xian, and Old Demon, each of whom was currently displaying phenomenal strength
Shui Ling was also taking advantage of her special constitution to harass the enemy and disrupt their concentration.
There were also many other Immortal Ascension Boundary masters from Yang Kai’s allies participating in the battle one way or another. In terms of quantity, Yang Kai undoubtedly held a big advantage, but each master from the Fallen Leaves Hall couldn’t be underestimated, so even if they were heavily outnumbered, the fight was still relatively even.
The battle quickly became a difficult struggle.
Since the beginning of the Inheritance War, Yang Kai and his allies had never encountered such a situation, every battle they fought had always been a lopsided route.
Chen Xuan and the other Qiu Family masters were even more shocked though. They had arrived here tonight full of confidence, but when the battle really began, they discovered that the rumors weren’t exaggerations at all and had even underestimated the combat power of the cultivators in Yang Kai’s house.
The Fallen Leaves Hall had deployed almost all of its manpower for this operation yet now they had no way to defeat the forces of a single Yang Family Young Lord.
Chen Xuan couldn’t help feeling a great sense of shame but quickly steadied himself and began to fight back seriously.
Yang Kai watched for a moment but didn’t go personally enter the fray, instead turning his eyes towards a spot in the distance.
From the direction he was staring, he felt the auras of many strong masters.
The strength of each of these people was no worse than that of the masters from the Fallen Leaves Hall, but they numbered several times as many!
Without a doubt these people were the masters from the other six families.
Just as Yang Kai suspected, three kilometers away on the third floor of a large building, the six super family’s Young Lords and Young Ladies, headed by Ye Xin Rou, had gathered and were observing the battle.
Although it was night time, the moon was full so everything that had taken place in front of Yang Kai’s mansion had been seen by them.
Qiu Yi Meng suddenly attacking, Yang Kai taking action in response, they had witnessed everything.
But the final result surprised all of them!
The one who fell in a pool of their own blood was actually Qiu Yi Meng.
Ye Xin Rou’s beautiful face flashed a gloating expression before she coldly snorted, “Yang Kai really has lost his humanity, he’ll even viciously attack someone who supported him for so long and who he had such a good relationship with like Qiu Yi Meng.”
Kang Zhan and the other Young Lords silently nodded, although they were discontent with Ye Xin Rou’s arrogant attitude, they still agreed with her current rhetoric.
They were too far from the battle and hadn’t seen any of the intrigue which played out, all they were able to determine was that Qiu Yi Meng had been stabbed by Yang Kai.
Since entering Yang Kai’s mansion more than ten months ago, Qiu Yi Meng had served as his right arm, managing all of the matters inside his house even down the deployment of his allied forces, she had put in a tremendous amount of work and effort, but in the end, Yang Kai hadn’t even hesitated to attack her.
No matter who saw this, wouldn’t they be disappointed?
With such an example, how could anyone think Yang Kai still had any sense of morality? It was obvious that he cared nothing for his allies and all that mattered to him was his own interests.
Only Huo Xing Chen wore a different expression, a subtle sneer adorning his face. Although he hadn’t seen exactly what happened just now, he wholeheartedly disagreed with Ye Xin Rou’s assessment.
“It seems like my plan has failed.” Ye Xin Rou said, however there was not look of disappointment on her face, instead there was even a hint of joy. She apparently very much enjoyed watching Qiu Yi Meng’s bitter experience, but she quickly wore a calm, indifferent expression, “If only I had known things would turn out like this I wouldn’t have sent Elder Sister Qiu in to face such danger alone. *Ha…* it seems I overestimated Yang Kai’s humanity, he can no longer be saved. He is a true demon who no longer recognizes friends or family.”
“What should we do now?” Gao Rang Feng asked pointedly, Qiu Yi Meng’s so called surprise attack force hadn’t played any role at all which made him suddenly suspect if Ye Xin Rou knew things would turn out this was and had deliberately set the former up to fail. Thinking so, a thick sense of detest began to well up in his heart.
“Let’s observe the situation for a while longer,” Ye Xin Rou said without the slightest sense of tension, her expression calm and light. Oh! The fight is starting to get fiercer.”
“Shouldn’t we send reinforcements?” Kang Zhan frowned, “If we stand by and do nothing I’m afraid the Qiu Family will complain later.”
“Let them fight for a while longer.” Ye Xin Rou faintly smiled, “Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian have already activated their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, I don’t think anyone from any of your families wants to face them in their current state, right? After a while, the effects of the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill will disappear, that will be the best time for us to intervene.”
The looks on each of the Young Lord’s faces became awkward but none of them opened their mouths to refute.
No one wanted to lose one of their families’ masters when there was another option available.
After this brief conversation, everyone fell silent and waited patiently.
As time passed, the fighting only became more and more fierce and people were constantly injured or killed.
Yang Kai’s allies and the Fallen Leaves Hall both suffered losses.
Although the powerhouses from the Fallen Leaves Hall held nothing back and fully displayed their great strength, it wasn’t enough to ensure their safety in this kind of melee.
This was especially true when Yang Kai finally joined the battle, the moment he entered the fray the delicate balance was broken. After unleashing an eruption of evil energy from inside his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, the Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage Yang Kai was actually able to fight evenly with a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters.
Also, now that Yang Kai had opened his Knowledge Sea, he could display the full might of his Soul Skills and Soul type artifact. Using these two methods he was able to catch people off guard by launching swift, unexpected attacks, often able to kill people in a single strike!
The Fallen Leaves Hall immediately began suffering heavy losses and the situation quickly became dire. Suddenly facing immense pressure, Chen Xuan couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted loudly, “Young Lady Ye!”
He was calling for reinforcements.
If the others didn’t immediately support them, Chen Xuan would have to order his people to retreat, if they kept fighting, the entire Fallen Leaves Hall would likely fall here.
The cultivation and methods the people in Yang Kai’s house were completely beyond his expectations.
These Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators not only had extremely pure True Qi but each of them was equipped with high-grade artifacts.
Weren’t all of these Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators from ordinary first-class families? Why did each of them appear to be wealthier than him? Chen Xuan couldn’t help silently complaining.
The Fallen Leaves Hall was one of the Qiu Family’s most important halls because of their strength and loyalty to the family. The number and grade of artifacts they possessed was not small and could even be said to be the best the Qiu Family had to offer, but compared to Yang Kai’s Immortal Ascension allies, they were nothing short of shabby pieces.
On top of that, the pills that these people took in battle were also quite unusual. Chen Xuan and the Fallen Leaves Hall masters were already panting for breath, their True Qi quickly depleting, but their opponents were still as mighty as dragons and fierce as tigers, unscrupulously spending their True Qi as if they were worried they couldn’t use it all.
What kind of True Qi supplementing pills had such potency?
Although it was a well-known fact that Yang Kai has two unbelievable forces supporting him, Medicine King’s Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect, Chen Xuan only now realized just how much of an impact these auxiliary supports could provide.
When she heard Chen Xuan call her name, Ye Xin Rou, who had intended to drag things out a while longer, couldn’t sit still.
The Qiu Family’s Fallen Leaves Hall had already lost a lot of people, all of which she had clearly seen, causing her to coldly snort, “A group of wastes.”
After making no attempt to hide her disdain, she wore an unwilling expression and shouted, “Let’s go.”
It was almost as if she was being forced to do something against her will.
Seeing her appearance and the current state of the Fallen Leaves Hall, Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan couldn’t help feeling a sense of revulsion.
The distance separating them wasn’t great so they arrived very quickly.
Ye Xin Rou’s voice spread throughout War City as she shouted, “Yang Kai, as long as you continue to associate with demons, you will sooner or later fall to the Devil’s Practices. Don’t let your pride cloud your judgement. Surrender the Evil Sect disciples you are sheltering in your house and repent for your crimes! Do so, and out of consideration for the many longs years of friendship between the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, we will not embarrass you any further, if you insist on being stubborn and continue to resist, you will only implicate the innocent around you in your sins.”
From amidst the fierce battle, Yang Kai suddenly leapt up and hovered mid-air, fixing his gaze on the approaching group of cultivators, his expression indifferent.
With their respective Young Lords or Young Ladies at their head, groups of masters from six super-families that were in no way weaker than those from the Fallen Leaves Hall rapidly closed in.
Everyone who looked up and saw Yang Kai either wore solemn or bitter expression, except for Ye Xin Rou who had a self-satisfied look upon her face. Huo Xing Chen even quietly sneered, “Junior Sister Ye’s eloquence is quite good.”
Such an excuse, portraying Yang Kai as evil while casting their side as righteous and merciful, Huo Xing Chen felt even he wasn’t capable of spinning such a compelling narrative.
It seemed like Ye Xin Rou had carefully and painstakingly planned out how to force Yang Kai into a passive situation.
“Young Lady Ye,” After a moment of silence, Yang Kai suddenly grinned, “It has only been a few days since we last met, and I’m glad to see you in such high spirits. Where might my Second Brother be?”
Ye Xin Rou’s eyes flashed a trace of hatred. The last time they had met, she had tried to seduce Yang Kai only to be scorned as a pair of worn out shoes. Naturally, she still bore a grudge against him, but although her heart was filled with resentment, she didn’t show any trace of it on her face as she gently smiled, “Second Young Lord is currently in secluded retreat. All of his house’s matters are currently being managed by me.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, a light smile adorning his face, “I always felt that my Second Brother wasn’t so shameless and despicable. So, it turns out that it was someone else directing this action. No wonder, no wonder.”
Ye Xin Rou’s expression dimmed slightly as she silently cursed.
However, Yang Kai just laughed before suddenly wearing a strange expression and saying in a regretful tone, “Young Lady Ye, for how I treated you a few days ago, I really must apologize. After thinking about it later, I realized I was mistaken. Since you delivered yourself to my door, I should not have refused you. Baring your beautiful and delicate body before me without hiding a single thing, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I don’t know what foolishness possessed me to give up such a wonderful opportunity. I sincerely regret it!” As he shouted loudly, Yang Kai slapped his thigh as if he was truly aggrieved.
Listening to his words, Kang Zhan, Gao Rang Feng, and many others all suddenly made weird faces and turned to stare at Ye Xin Rou awkwardly.
None of them knew when Ye Xin Rou attempted to seduce Yang Kai, and judging from the current situation, it seemed like she had gone with high spirits but returned disappointed…
This… was really letting a Heaven sent gift slip.
The Little Lord had such formidable will! Every man present couldn’t help admiring him a little, imagining that if Ye Xin Rou were to seduce them… they would not have been able to resist.
“I’ve reconsidered now.” Yang Kai said seriously, “Young Lady Ye, let us find a secluded place and I will do my best to meet your expectations. I am quite confident in both my skill and stamina, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”
Ye Xin Rou’s expression was completely sullen and the rage she felt caused her to tremble faintly. She had never expected Yang Kai to be so shameless, not hesitating to openly publicise these kinds of private matters.
Wanting to refute him directly but lacking confidence in her believability, she couldn’t help angrily retorting, “Yang Kai, don’t spout nonsense! Wanting to use such vulgar words to smear my name, how could I, Ye Xin Rou be such a woman?”
Hearing this argument, Gao Rang Feng, Kang Zhan, and everyone else awkwardly turned their heads away, their expressions still somewhat unconvinced.
Huo Xing Chen even whistled obnoxiously.
“You don’t believe me?” Ye Xin Rou glared at these people, her pretty face now a bright shade of red.
However, no one bothered responding.
“Hmph, whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter. In any case, nothing ever happened between this bastard and me.” Ye Xin Rou huffed angrily, seemingly completely annoyed.
“Obviously. Young Lord Kai just said he shut you out, how could anything have happened between you two?” Huo Xing Chen cynically muttered.
Ye Xin Rou took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, forcing down the anger in her heart before turning an ice cold stare towards Yang Kai, her mouth curving into a malicious grin as she nodded lightly, “Yang Kai, this time I’m not here to trade meaningless words with you but to bring you back to the Central Capital and force you to repent for your wicked deeds, this is also the meaning of the Eight Great Families!”
Declaring so, she pointed right at him and shouted, “Capture Yang Kai, anyone who dares to resist, kill without mercy!”
She had been thoroughly enraged by Yang Kai’s little stunt and didn’t plan on arguing with him any longer.
Immediately, the six groups of masters behind her shot forward, bringing with them a terrifying momentum.
“Since when was I defenceless?” Yang Kai roared, “Tu Feng!”
Seven figures suddenly flew out from the house, headed by Tu Feng, it was the remaining seven Blood Warriors.
Counting the previous Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian, the nine Blood Warriors who resided in Yang Kai’s mansion had all been deployed.
“Mad Tyrant Blood Skill!” Seven voices simultaneously boomed and a torrent of True Qi and Blood Force erupted, causing everyone’s eyes to shrink and all of War City to tremble, as if in the next moment the entire city would be crushed under the pressure.
Ye Xin Rou’s face suddenly filled with indignation as she shouted, “Yang Kai, have you forgotten? This is the Inheritance War, and the Yang Family has forbid these seven people from intervening! If you dare let them fight, you will be violating your agreement with your family!”
“This is no longer the Inheritance War,” Yang Kai sneered, “You know this better than me!”
Old Demon, who was currently fighting with the Fallen Leaves Hall masters, also let out a wicked laugh and shouted, “Since when did Little Lord care about this nonsense Inheritance War? Patriarch of the Yang Family, what crap is that? All of you slandering him so maliciously, if there weren’t things here he still worried about, he would have already left long ago!”
“What are you trying to say?” A master from the Fallen Leaves Hall, who was fighting Old Demon, saw him suddenly shout this monologue and couldn’t help asking.
Old Demon grinned maliciously towards this man and declared, “I’m saying, you’re already dead!”
These words seemed to contain a strange and profound power that caused a sense of death to infiltrate the mind of this master, the next moment, his movements stopping and his eyes glossing over, his face suddenly becoming pale as he muttered, “I… I’m dead… already dead…”
“Idiot.” Old Demon coldly snorted, rapidly thrusting his hand out and inserting it into the dazed master’s chest and pulling out his still beating heart.
Fresh blood splashed out from the new hole in the man’s chest
Old Demon’s face became more and more terrifying as he glanced around to find the most heavily populated enemy position, “Blood Sea Seals the Heavens!”
A crimson light shot out from behind him, filling the air with a gloomy aura, the ground instantly transforming into a bubbling swamp of blood that impeded the movements of all those unlucky enough to be caught in it.
Ye Xin Rou’s expression became fearful along with Gao Rang Feng, Kang Zhan, Meng Shan Yi’s, even Liu Qing Yao’s always stoic expression became incomparably grave.
Old Demon’s cruel methods were far beyond what any of them could accept. Before now, none of them had ever even heard of a man who could cultivate such evil Martial Skills and Secret Arts.
Smelling the rich, bloody aura, Ye Xin Rou couldn’t help but vomit.
Old Demon’s powerful technique had instantly pulled a dozen Immortal Ascension Boundary masters into this bloody sea and sealed them, none of them able to escape.
“How is this possible?!” After watching the battle for a while, Gao Rang Feng couldn’t help shouting.
He discovered that the seven super-family coalition force comprised of more than a hundred Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage and above masters, were actually unable to quickly defeat the cultivators from Yang Kai’s mansion.
Despite the fact that they held an absolute numerical advantage in terms of Immortal Ascension masters compared to Yang Kai, their opponent was still able to put up a strong resistance.
Observing carefully, Gao Rang Feng suddenly understood, “Yang Kai’s subordinate Blood Warriors… Since when did all of them reach the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage?”
This sentence shook others awake as well, many of them glancing around and discovering that this was really the case.
Nine Blood Warriors, Nine Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage masters…
When Yang Kai broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, four of them were only at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage, yet after only a dozen or so days, all of them had broken through.
An Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage Blood Warrior, after activating their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, could exchange a few moves with an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master. Although the masters from the seven families were also not ordinary powerhouses, how could any of them be opponents of these nine Blood Warriors in a one on one fight? Even if a number of them collaborated they wouldn’t necessarily be able to defeat their enemy.
It could be said that the biggest reason Yang Kai’s forces could last until now was solely because of these nine Blood Warriors.
“Their other Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master hasn’t appeared yet!” Liu Qing Yao suddenly reminded, causing everyone’s heart to tighten once more.
That was right, what about the master named Meng Wu Ya? The battle had already gone on for some time now yet he hadn’t appeared. Why didn’t he take action? Did he disdain to intervene, or was he currently not here?
“Delay will lead to more problems in the future.” Kang Zhan muttered as his brow furrowed. Since the beginning of this operation he had always felt restless. Perhaps Yang Kai had left a psychological shadow on him last time when he had injured him, but whatever the reason, Kang Zhan now had a deep wariness of Yang Kai engraved in his heart.
Gao Rang Feng nodded lightly in agreement. During the months of the Inheritance War, Gao Rang Feng had accompanied Yang Zhao several times against Yang Kai, yet every time, no matter how the unfavourable the odds were, Yang Kai always managed to carve out a path to victory, shocking everyone in the process.
This time everyone was confident they could defeat Yang Kai, but who knows what would happen if things continued to drag on?
After all, miracles were almost commonplace when it came to Yang Kai.
“I’m going to help!” Huo Xing Chen said as his eyes flashed a strange light, not waiting for Xin Rou to respond before dashing off.
Ye Xin Rou was momentarily stunned but soon coldly snorted and didn’t make any attempt to stop him.
“I’m going to challenge the Little Lord!” Liu Qing Yao also stepped out.
This time, Ye Xin Rou couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly tried to object, “Young Lord Liu, please wait. You’re not his…”
However, before she could finish her sentence, Ye Xin Rou swallowed back down the words she was about to say because Liu Qing Yao directed an ice cold glare towards her. Although she was nominally the head of this seven-family coalition and she could arbitrarily overrule Gao Rang Feng or Kang Zhan, she still had an instinctive fear towards Liu Qing Yao.
This was a result of living many years in the shadow of the Central Capital’s First Young Lord.
Ye Xin Rou wanted to say that Liu Qing Yao was not Yang Kai’s opponent, but naturally these words would anger him.
“At Po Jing Lake, I once said, when the Little Lord broke through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, I would fight with him again. That time has come; whoever dares to stop me, don’t blame me for being impolite.” Liu Qing Yao said calmly.
Ye Xin Rou somehow squeezed out a smile and said softly, “Then Young Lord Liu must be careful. I wish you a swift victory that will dampen Yang Kai’s prestige.”
Down below, Huo Xing Chen had already rushed to the outskirts of the battle while smiling and greeting the various young leaders outside Yang Kai’s mansion.
All of them glared angrily at him in response!
None of them understood why the situation had developed into this, and seeing Huo Xing Chen’s Huo Family also participate in the attack on Yang Kai’s house tonight naturally fueled their anger.
Huo Xing Chen wore a carefree expression, seemingly paying no attention to the death stares he was receiving and instead turned towards Dong Qing Han, “Fatty, get over here, this Young Master has long since felt unpleasant associating with you. As fat as a pig yet strutting around pretending to be an elegant gentleman, how could you possible compare to this Young Master’s elegant demeanor?”
“What did you just say?” Dong Qing Han’s eyes dimmed as he stared at Huo Xing Chen coldly.
“Didn’t you clearly hear what I just said? Or has all that fat plugged up your ears?” Huo Xing Chen scoffed as he shook his head back and forth disdainfully.
Dong Qing Han let out a frigid laugh as his slightly rotund face trembled, stepping forward slowly while cupping his fist.
“Good, good,” Huo Xing Chen laughed, “A trivial first-class family’s Young Lord daring to join forces with that evil creature Yang Kai, just watch how this Young Master smacks you silly today!”
Saying so, he swept his eyes over all the other young leaders and arrogantly said, “All of you fools, if you don’t want to die, abandon Yang Kai as soon as possible and run as far as you can run!”
The faces of all of these youths were incomparably ugly by now.
“If you feel unwilling and refuse to accept this Young Master’s kind warning, come up and fight a few rounds, this Young Master will neither run nor hide.” Huo Xing Chen sneered.
Han Xiao Qi stared at him coldly, her brow furrowed slightly before she suddenly wore a dazzling smile and shouted, “Let’s teach this arrogant Young Master that the young leaders from first-class forces are not to be looked down upon.”
The next moment, a dozen youths all rushed Huo Xing Chen and began pummeling him.
Within a few short breaths, Huo Xing Chen, like the dead pig, was grabbed by Dong Qing Han and thrown into Yang Kai’s mansion, the latter calling out to several True Element youths and ruthlessly saying, “Strip off his clothes and lock him in one of the storage rooms for a few nights! Bastard, how dare he call me fat?”
Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan, who saw this whole exchange, both wore awkward expressions as a thick sense of incongruency arose in their hearts.
“Young Lord Huo has been captured, what should we do?” Meng Shan Yi suddenly said with a wry smile.
“Clumsy tricks!” Ye Xin Rou coldly snorted before disregarding this matter. Huo Xing Chen wasn’t of any consequence, all that matters was that the Huo Family’s masters continued to fight.
Just as Huo Xing Chen was being captured, Liu Qing Yao also arrived in front of Yang Kai.
“Last time at Po Jing Lake I failed to fully enjoy our fight. Today, I have deliberately come to ask Little Lord for advice. I hope Little Lord will not refuse.” Liu Qing Yao wore an indifferent expression as he looking towards Yang Kai and lightly said.
Yang Kai nodded slightly, “Brother Liu, forgive me, I’m a little busy right now. Let’s make this quick.”
Liu Qing Yao nodded and nothing more needed to be said. The next moment, his aura and True Qi violently surging forth.
Step by step, Liu Qing Yao trod forward, and each time he did so, it was like a gong was rung that resounded throughout the Heavens and Earth.
Liu Family’s Nine Resonant Steps!
During their confrontation at Po Jing Lake, Liu Qing Yao had used this technique against Yang Kai. This was one of the Liu Family’s core inheritances, a Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank Martial Skill, and the most powerful attack Liu Qing Yao could muster.
However, this time was quite different the last; back then, because of the massive gap in cultivation, Liu Qing Yao had held back as he wanted to compete in terms of skill rather than raw power.
Now though, Liu Qing Yao went all out so the momentum he gave off was much stronger than when he had used this Martial Skill at Po Jing Lake.
*Dong…* With each step Liu Qing Yao took, a shockwave of sound burst inside everyone’s ears, making several of those with weaker cultivations tremble unconsciously.
*Dong dong dong…*
Liu Qing Yao’s figure seemed to grow larger and more majestic with each step he took.
By the time he had trod the ninth step, Liu Qing Yao had become a giant in everyone’s eyes.
His head had reached the Heavens while his feet covered the Earth, he was like a towering titan who held up the sky itself.
Trod nine steps, shatter the Heavens! This was the Liu Family’s Nine Resonant Steps.
As his foot came down for the ninth and final step, Liu Qing Yao’s momentum had nearly reached that of a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master.
An unimaginably huge foot crashed slowly towards Yang Kai, not giving him any chance of escape.
Everyone suddenly sunk into a kind of illusion, as if this foot was crashing towards them and as soon as it fell they would be reduced to dust.
The cultivators with slightly lower strength couldn’t help turning pale as they trembled with fright.
But facing this terrifying blow, Yang Kai simply lifted his fist and punched out.
This seemingly unremarkable straight punch however was filled with a terrifying destructive force.
When this tiny fist impacted the giant foot, it was as if the entire night sky flashed.
Liu Qing Yao’s momentum deflated and his huge figure suddenly staggered backwards.
*Hong…* An earth shattering sound resounded as the giant fell to the ground and disappeared in a burst of light. Standing mid-air, Liu Qing Yao suddenly coughed out a mouthful a blood and held his chest, his eyes staring blankly towards Yang Kai, a hint of awe and fear flashing across their depths.
“Thank you for your instruction!” Yang Kai inspired gently.
“Fierce!” Liu Qing Yao sincerely admired, “This Liu has lost. Many thanks, Little Lord, for showing mercy!”
The last time when the two had fought above Po Jing Lake, Yang Kai had to use his Mysterious Grade Martial Skill, Star Mark, in order to force a draw.
But this time, he had only used a simple punch to break the Liu Family’s core Martial Skill.
The difference in strength between the two young men was apparent at a glance.
“Young Lord Liu is too polite.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Although I lost, but this action is not something I have any ability to influence. My apologies Little Lord, the most I can do this time is remove myself from this conflict.” Saying so, Liu Qing Yao turned around and quickly disappeared into the night sky.
“Young Lord, Young Lord!” The Liu Family’s masters all saw Liu Qing Yao’s sudden departure and couldn’t help calling out in surprise.
However, they received no response.
Ye Xin Rou’s expression became extremely irritable!
Within less than an hour, two Young Lords and the only other Young Lady from the seven-family coalition had been eliminated.
Qiu Yi Meng leaving the stage was caused by her own hand, it could even be said that Ye Xin Rou had deliberately set her up to fail.
Huo Xing Chen being captured was something she didn’t stop or even care about. Although he was physical here, his spirit had never left Yang Kai’s house. Him remaining didn’t contribute anything to their forces and on the contrary was a negative influence, so it was better for him to exit early.
However, Liu Qing Yao actually going so far as to personally withdraw was not something Ye Xin Rou could easily accept.
Liu Qing Yao still held the title of the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, his words and actions had a big influence on many things, especially when it came to public opinion.
Liu Qing Yao still had a great deal of prestige in the eyes of the world.
With this turn of events, Ye Xin Rou would obviously feel annoyed.
Now, there were only three Young Lords remaining beside her.
Kang Zhan, Gao Rang Feng, and Meng Shan Yi, whether these three held the same convictions as her was something she couldn’t verify with certainty. Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng she, was relatively confidant in, but Meng Shan Yi’s thoughts were harder to understand.
“Senior Brothers aren’t considering withdrawing, right?” Ye Xin Rou asked subtly, deciding to stamp out problems before they arose.
“Junior Sister Ye need not worry.” Kang Zhan shook his head slowly, “This time’s action is the collective meaning of the Eight Great Families. How could we carelessly retreat? Doing so would be too irresponsible.”
Gao Rang Feng also nodded in agreement. Although in his heart he rather sympathized with Yang Kai’s current situation, in the end, he was not familiar with the latter nor did he share any deep friendship with him, so he did not have much issue with following his family’s instructions.
Hearing their stances, Ye Xin Rou looked a little embarrassed and nodded slightly, “Junior Sister is relieved then. Such a grand event, Junior Sister does not have confidence to manage alone and must ask several Senior Brothers for their continued assistance.”
In the current situation, she had no choice but to lower her stance unlike the domineering performance she put on back at Yang Zhao’s mansion.
Qiu Yi Meng, Huo Xing Chen, and Liu Qing Yao’s successive departures had affected the mentality of some their respective families’ masters. Without the Young Lords or Young Lady of their family here to serve as leader, many of them began to feel like they were simply working for the benefit of others, causing them to focus more on protecting themselves rather than defeating their opponent.
This was especially true of the Qiu Family’s Fallen Leaves Hall; they had acted as tonight vanguard and as a result, suffered the greatest losses. How could they be willing to sacrifice any more for a prize they ultimately wouldn’t obtain? Since reinforcements from the other six families had arrived, the remaining Qiu Family masters had all but stopped engaging Yang Kai’s forces.
All of these masters were quite shrewd; none of them was willing to suffer for the sake of an outsider.
The seven-family coalition seemed looked like a monolithic iron slab, but in actual fact they were all secretly calculating against each other, creating a somewhat laughable scene.
The furious battle raged on.
The losses of the seven-family coalition forces became more and more devastating as time passed, with the nine Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage Blood Warriors using their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill becoming the biggest obstacle to defeating Yang Kai.
After repeated attempts and many bloody battles, it was still impossible to repel these nine.
The nine Blood Warriors split into groups of two and each pair was able to pin down a whole group of enemy masters while Ying Jiu alone stood guard beside Yang Kai, clearing out enemies who got too close to him.
The looks on Ye Xin Rou and Gao Rang Feng’s faces continuously darkened.
The Blood Warriors had been using their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill for too long now, according to the information they had, the Yang Family Blood Warrior’s forbidden technique could only be activated for around half an hour.
But half an hour had long since passed yet the nine Blood Warriors didn’t show any sign of Blood Force exhaustion. Instead, they were all brimming with vitality.
Only now did all of those present realize that there was a good reason why the Yang Family stood at the top of the Eight Great Families for so many years.
Even though the other Great Families had all sent out their own elite in a united front, they had no way to defeat these nine Blood Warriors. Obviously, this made them both frustrated and anxious.
Amidst the chaotic battle, Yang Kai was constantly monitoring the surrounding situation.
Although the nine Blood Warriors were fierce and Old Demon’s strength was even more astonishing, his other Immortal Ascension Boundary allies were gradually suffering losses and if their numbers reduced too far it could greatly affect the trend of the battle.
Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya not appearing, Yang Kai could understand, because once either of them took action the situation would be beyond repair.
Inside War City, they weren’t the only top level masters.
In the current situation, Yang Kai even more disapproved of the two of them moving. Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya’s biggest contribution right now was to act as deterrents.
Not to mention, this war hadn’t ended yet, and no one knew what the final outcome would be.
A white figure suddenly soared out of Yang Kai’s house. Sensing this familiar aura’s appearance, Yang Kai quickly fell back to meet up with her.
Turning his head, Su Yan had already rushed over to his side.
“Qiu Yi Meng isn’t in any danger, she’s just resting now.” Su Yan reported softly.
Yang Kai nodded.
“I’ll assist you.”
“Good!”
Su Yan hadn’t originally intended to participate in this battle, but since the enemy force was both larger and more powerful than they had anticipated, she felt she had no choice but to come forward. Yang Kai had already stated that this was no longer the Inheritance War, so how could she still stand idly by? After treating Qiu Yi Meng’s wound, she had immediately set out.
Along with her, the four Elders from High Heaven Pavilion also appeared. Each of these old men had not weak strength, and after joining the fray they quickly created an advantageous trend around them.
The Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank ice mirror artifact was summoned into Su Yan’s hand and a profound chill instantly spread out around her. As she poured her True Qi into it, the snow-capped mountain within the mirror began emitting a silvery glow, pulsing an ice cold aura.
A flash of light blossomed and a huge barrier suddenly appeared, enveloping a large number of masters from the seven-family coalition.
Kang Zhan’s eyes shrank as he shuddered and shouted, “It’s that artifact!”
Ten days ago, the four Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage masters from the Kang and Qiu Families were trapped by this artifact and quickly turned into ice sculptures, seeing this scene once again appear in front of him, Kang Zhan couldn’t help panicking.
“What’s so special about this artifact?” Ye Xin Rou hurriedly asked.
Kang Zhan quickly collected himself and in a dignified voice explained all he knew.
Listening to his description, Ye Xin Rou’s pretty face also paled while nearby, Gao Rang Feng and Meng Shan Yi wore equally dim expressions.
Such a powerful artifact, who could withstand it?
Moments after Kang Zhan finished explaining the specifics of the ice mirror, the barrier in front of them suddenly shattered and two figures flew out. Everyone turned their eyes towards this pair and, as expected, saw Yang Kai and Su Yan.
As for the masters from the seven families who had been trapped inside the barrier a moment ago, all of them had turned into ice sculptures, standing there silently in various strange poses, whether they were dead or alive was uncertain.
From beginning to end, the battle inside the ice barrier had only lasted as long as it would take to drink half a cup of tea.
But this was only the beginning, Su Yan, who had just frozen a dozen or so Immortal Ascension masters once again poured her True Qi into the mirror and to the utter horror of Ye Xin Rou and her allies, another ice barrier formed.
This time, another dozen plus people were shrouded within it.
“Impossible!” Ye Xin Rou screamed, “This kind of artifact must require a massive amount of True Qi to activate it! Even if she is an Immortal Ascension Boundary master, she can’t possibly use it twice in such quick succession!”
By Su Yan’s own skill and strength, she really couldn’t use this artifact repeatedly. If she were to really do this, she would no doubt exhaust her True Qi prematurely, so even if she managed to trap her enemies inside the barrier, she would have no way to defeat them and would instead become vulnerable to their counterattack.
However, right now Yang Kai was beside her and the two of them had cultivated the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art.
With the pair’s True Qi constantly circulating between them, Su Yan could bear this kind of seemingly excessive consumption.
A burst of uneasiness rose inside Ye Xin Rou’s heart.
Armed with this Mysterious Grade artifact, Yang Kai and Su Yan alone could take care of a dozen opponents at once. If this repeated a few times, would anyone be left in her army?
Just as she considered this frightening possibility, the barrier lifted for the second time, and more than a dozen newly formed ice sculptures appeared.
*Hua…*
When the familiar flash of light blossomed once more, all the masters from the seven family coalition scattered desperately trying to avoid being trapped inside this certain death barrier.
Ye Xin Rou’s face finally became fearful, her expression incomparably ugly as she wracked her brain trying to find a way to overturn the current predicament; unfortunately, nothing came to mind.
This was the first time she deeply felt her own incompetence and weakness. She couldn’t help thinking to herself that if Second Young Lord was here, with his intelligence and methods, then maybe he could find a way to combat this strategy.
Although Yang Kai and Su Yan’s strategy was shamelessly monotonous, it was incredibly effective, almost forcing the seven family coalition into a corner.
“Enough!” An angry roar suddenly resounded through the air, containing endless majesty and inspiring fear in all those who heard it, causing the entire battlefield to instantly stagnate.
High up in the night sky, a terrifying aura appeared and as everyone turned their eyes towards it, they discovered a massive palm image crashing towards the ground.
This palm strike slowly flew towards the barrier that Su Yan’s artifact had just created.
*Peng…*
When this strike hit atop the barrier, a tremendous rumble erupted, causing everyone in the surroundings to stumble.
With a loud bang, the seemingly sturdy ice barrier shattered into pieces like an ordinary mirror, revealing all the people inside it.
Both Yang Kai and Su Yan coughed simultaneously, their faces suddenly turning slightly pale.
The ice mirror artifact was essentially shared between both of them, originally refined by Yang Kai but now used by Su Yan, so once the barrier it created was forcibly smashed, both of them had suffered a certain amount of backlash.
The masters who had been trapped inside the barrier saw this scene and quickly realized they had been saved from a desperate situation, a look of joy flashing across their faces as they swiftly fled.
None of them wanted to be turned into frozen ice sculptures.
Witnessing all of this, Ye Xin Rou couldn’t help wearing an exuberant expression while all the other Young Lords let out a sigh of relief and turned their attention to the sky above.
On the other end of their gazes stood eight figures, obviously they were the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders who had been sitting in the Seal Temple. The eyes of these eight old men however were all staring at Su Yan and Yang Kai, their faces filled with surprise, shock, and even some dread.
Yang Kai raised his head and stared coldly at these eight old men.
The eight Grand Elders appearing here was expected by Yang Kai and his allies.
One of the eight old men slowly took back his raised hand; obviously he was the one who had sent out the previous earth shaking palm.
Yang Kai shifted his eyes to this individual and narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling that this old man was the one who seemed to have a particularly bad attitude towards him before.
“Grand Ancestor!” Ye Xin Rou extremely happy shouted.
The man nodded lightly.
Gao Rang Feng, Kang Zhan, Meng Shan Yi, and everyone else from the seven-family coalition all quickly cupped their fists and politely greeted.
After a lapse of ten days, these eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters had reappeared, their purpose self-evident, causing many down below to feel both relieved and embarrassed.
If their seven family coalition had been able to defeat Yang Kai, then it would not have been necessary for these eight Grand Elders to appear. Perhaps these eight old men realized that with the remaining strength of the seven family forces they had no way to take Yang Kai’s mansion and had thus chosen to act.
This was the mainly the results of Ye Xin Rou’s miscalculations and improper deployment, otherwise this situation would not have occurred.
“Yang Family brat,” An Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elder with a square face looked at Yang Kai maliciously, “Last time we didn’t dispose of you on the spot only because you were a child of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families. But instead of using this opportunity to repent for your sins, you instead became more unruly and have even now wantonly slaughtered the loyal masters of our Eight Great Families! Do you want to rebel!?”
Yang Kai took a deep breath and calmed the turbulent blood flow in his chest before coldly replying, “With a sword laid across my neck, should I let my head be chopped off or try to fight back? If Senior was in my place, how would you respond?”
“If you hadn’t committed any crime, how could my Eight Great Families act against you like this? How could your Yang Family not care about you? Making such foolish mistakes yet still so thick-headed!”
“I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong.” Yang Kai replied flatly, “If you’re worried about me becoming a person like the Demon Lord, then I will forfeit this Inheritance War and no long compete for the position of Yang Family Patriarch, so you can rest at ease.”
“The Eight Great Families cannot forgive a black sheep like you, your very existence is a stain on the Yang Family and the Eight Great Families’ honour.” The square faced man shouted.
“In the end, all you want is for me to submit.” Yang Kai smiled coldly, “I apologize, I’m a stubborn person who refuses to eat hard food. If you had come to discuss things with me, we could have reached some kind of agreement, but since you insist on using force to coerce me, then I can only resist and ensure no one gains anything!”
“Impudence!” The square faced old man coldly shouted, “You’re not qualified to discuss anything with us, no matter who tries, today, no one can save you!”
“Elder Brother, at your age, do you not think it inappropriate to argue so with a Junior?” A light voice suddenly called out while two figures flew out from Yang Kai’s house.
Obviously, it was Meng Wu Ya and Ling Tai Xu.
Meng Wu Ya smiled indifferently, “The matters of the younger generation, must we intervene?”
“Meng Wu Ya!” The square faced old man stared deeply at Treasurer Meng, his expression unchanged, seemingly having anticipated that he and Ling Tai Xu would appear, “I don’t know what secrets you are hiding, but you alone are still not qualified to block my Eight Great Families’ actions.”
Last time, when Yang Kai was breaking through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, these eight Grand Elders had made an appearance, but at the time they hadn’t acted ruthlessly because the situation was still within their ability to accept. Firstly, Yang Kai hadn’t grown beyond their control, so there was no need to immediately execute him, and secondly, they didn’t want to fight with Meng Wu Ya and Ling Tai Xu who were supporting him without it being absolutely necessary.
Meng Wu Ya went without saying, his whole existence was surrounded in mystery. None of them could see through him. As for Ling Tai Xu, regardless of anything else, he was a genuine Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master, and fighting such a powerhouse was no joke.
“I’m not qualified? Heh heh.” Meng Wu Ya grinned, his expression completely tranquil, “Don’t say me, even that guy down below, one-on-one, none of you are his match.”
As he said so, he casually pointed towards Old Demon.
In response, Old Demon grinned fiercely.
“Him?” The square faced old man thought otherwise but still showed a look of surprise on his face, slowly shaking his head, “What does he count for?”
From his words, a thick contempt and disdain was apparent.
Not only was his expression so, but the other Eight Great Families’ Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were also so, all of them secretly thinking that Meng Wu Ya no longer had all of his faculties; actually saying such nonsense.
Between Old Demon, Meng Wu Ya, and Ling Tai Xu, the one they were most wary of was Ling Tai Xu; after all, this man had reached the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, and his cultivation equal to their own. Not to mention, he was able to cultivate a monster like the current Demon Lord!
After Ling Tai Xu, the second person they had concerns about was Meng Wu Ya. Although he was only a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master, none of them could fully understand him. To an enemy they couldn’t completely understand, naturally they had some suspicion and fear.
As for Old Demon… Although he too was a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary like Meng Wu Ya, none of them really placed him in their eyes.
Such a cultivator, any of them could casually kill. Previously, when Yang Li Ting used a palm to explode his Blood Demon Puppet, Old Demon hadn’t dared to revolt; from this alone they concluded Old Demon was not their match.
Hearing the mockery in the square faced man’s words, Meng Wu Ya couldn’t help but laugh, “Old Devil Lord, these people seem to be looking down on you, aren’t you going to speak up?”
“If they want to look down on me, they’re free to do so. Why should I bother saying anything?” Old Demon smiled devilishly, not showing the slightest shame or embarrassment, as if he didn’t care one bit what these eight old men thought of him.
“Can you really stand it?” Meng Wu Ya stared at Old Demon with a sly smile, “Considering your cruel personality, shouldn’t you be itching to give this group of short-sighted children a harsh lesson?”
“You’re right. All of them are short-sighted brats, but why should this old master lower himself to their level?” Old Demon scoffed, arguing back and forth with Meng Wu Ya while ignoring the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders like they were air.
Everyone’s mood was quite awkward.
Listening to these two quibble, it seemed like this old Devil Lord really he was the Senior and these Above Immortal Ascension Boundary old men were the inexperienced Juniors, not worthy of his attention.
Did he really have such skill? Such qualifications?
Just as everyone was puzzling over this idea, Old Demon’s face suddenly became solemn as he calmly declared, “Although this Old Master doesn’t want to lower himself to the level of these kids, but if I continue to let them act arrogantly without responding, they’ll really start thinking this Old Master can be casually bullied. This technique is quite laborious to use so this Old Master was hoping he wouldn’t have to display it.”
Saying so, the rolling True Qi within Old Demon’s body suddenly became completely still.
“Demon Specter Saint Technique!” A great roar that seemed to resound throughout the Heavens and Earth left Old Demon’s mouth and at the same time, the surrounding World Energy whipped up into a violent storm.
At the same time, everyone felt like all the blood in their bodies was being violently drawn to Old Demon, seemingly wanting to burst from their bodies and fly towards him.
The lower strength cultivators present instantly had pained expressions and under this strange suction their skin became bright red and blood began leaking from their seven orifices, making all of them appear particularly miserable.
Even the ones who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary had to furiously circulate their Secret Arts in order to barely stand firm.
Everyone present had a dignified expression, none of them knew what method Old Demon had used to achieve such an effect.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Bright red beams of light suddenly appeared from all directions and rushed into Old Demon’s body.
These beams were composed entirely of blood from the scattered fallen cultivators. Whether it was the masters from the seven family coalition, or the allies who supported Yang Kai, as long as they had died, all the blood from their corpses would be drained within a few breaths.
Even the blood that had seeped into ground was drawn out under this huge suction.
As Old Demon’s body absorbed all of this blood, he was suddenly dyed entirely red, like a boiled crab.
Suddenly, from within his body, a heart-pounding surge of Blood Force that was many times more intense than when the Yang Family Blood Warrior’s activated their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill erupted!
Once all the ownerless blood within a thousand meters was completely exhausted, the suction force suddenly disappeared.
Everyone below the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage had shed blood during this process, including those from Yang Kai’s house.
However, none of these people’s lives were in any danger, Old Demon had still been quite measured and didn’t cause any of them to die for no reason.
At this moment, an earth-shaking energy fluctuation began radiating from Old Demon.
A pressure field centered around him also quickly spread outwards.
The aura he emitted intensified rapidly, soon breaking through the limits of the Immortal Ascension Boundary and continuing to climb at an incredible speed…
The Eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elder’s eyes all trembled violently as they witnessed this scene, a deep feeling of terror gripping their souls.
After a moment, the energy fluctuation slowly subsided and Old Demon let out a long breath, a ferocious glint flashed across his eyes as he flexed his fists and showed a satisfied expression on his face.
The Eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders quickly released their Divine Senses to probe Old Demon and were suddenly dumbstruck.
Above Immortal Ascension Boundary!
Right now, Old Demon was a genuine Above Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator.
After regaining their composure, a series of incredible questions flashed across each of these eight old men’s thoughts; what kind of Martial Skill was this Demon Specter Saint Technique and what grade was it? Why could a cultivator at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary break through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary in such a short time?
Even the ultimate technique of the Yang Family Blood Warrior Hall, the Mad Tyrant Blood Skill, couldn’t produce such an effect.
Tu Feng and the other Blood Warriors using their Mad Tyrant Blood Skill could exchange a few moves with an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master, but there was still a great disparity between them and the genuine article.
However, after using this Demon Specter Saint Technique, Old Demon had really reached their level!
In an instant, the breathing of these eight old men became rapid and their eyes practically turned red.
If they could obtain this Heaven defying method, just how much would the strength of their family increase?
Each of the Eight Great Families only had a few Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, but all of them had many at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary. Even if the effects of this technique were short-lived, in a key moment, it could play a critical role.
“Is this old master now qualified to exchange moves with you?” Old Demon snickered towards the eight old men, each of whom wore an awkward expression and didn’t respond.
As for the square faced master who had just ridiculed Old Demon, his face was even uglier than the rest.
With both of them now at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, what right did he have mouth off to Old Demon?
“Demon Specter Saint Technique, not too bad of a technique.” Meng Wu Ya nodded gently, “That and the Blood Demon Puppet you refined serve as complementary skills right?”
Old Demon chuckled wryly, “Don’t expose all my secrets please.”
Meng Wu Ya’s insight was truly impressive; with only a single glance he had noticed the subtle connection between Old Demon’s Demon Specter Saint Technique and his Blood Demon Puppet.
The Demon Specter Saint Technique required a great deal of fresh blood to perform, the higher the cultivation of the people the blood came from, the greater Old Demon could enhance himself.
However, this condition in itself was quite problematic; after all, it was impossible for Old Demon to produce such a large amount of blood in an instant.
But by using the Blood Demon Puppet, this problem was eliminated. In fact, the Blood Demon Puppet’s primary purpose was as a blood storage, its combat ability was actually just a secondary benefit.
When necessary, Old Demon could sacrifice his Blood Demon Puppet to use all of its absorbed blood to display the Demon Specter Saint Technique.
“You actually have such an ability?” Yang Kai also looked at Old Demon with surprise, even though he knew that both Old Demon and Meng Wu Ya were extraordinary, and had secretly speculated about their heritage, Yang Kai discovered now that he had still underestimated them.
“Forgive me, Young Master. Old Servant usually doesn’t use this move so he has never displayed it before.” Old Demon replied.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and didn’t pursue the matter, he didn’t have a habit of snooping into other people’s secrets. After their brief exchange, he and Old Demon turned their eyes towards Meng Wu Ya.
“Old man, it’s your turn. With just this Old Master and Sect Master Ling, I’m afraid it’s still not enough.” Old Demon shouted.
After all, the opposing side had eight people, such a difference in numbers was a bit overwhelming.
Although Old Demon and Ling Tai Xu were a powerful deterrent, now that things had reached this point, they really weren’t enough to force the enemy back.
Meng Wu Ya nodded gently, inhaling a deep breath before simply shouting, “Solve!”
*Kacha…*
From within Meng Wu Ya’s body, a chain-like energy pattern emerged that seemed to be binding him like a vicious snake; then, with an eerie creak, this chain shattered into a myriad of light particles.
An imposing pressure suddenly burst forth and shook the Heavens themselves.
Meng Wu Ya’s expression didn’t change at all, but at this moment, compared with the previous one, the aura he gave off was completely different.
Above Immortal Ascension Boundary!
After shouting a single word, in an instant, Meng Wu Ya became and Above Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator!
The method he had used to accomplish this was completely different from the one Old Demon employed.
Old Demon had used some kind of forbidden technique to absorb a massive amount of blood from the surrounding area in order to raise his strength.
However, Meng Wu Ya seemed to have unlocked some kind of seal inside his body, restoring his original strength.
This implied that Meng Wu Ya had already reached the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, but for some unknown reason had part of his strength locked away.
This discovery once again greatly disturbed the eight Grand Elders.
As they looked over Meng Wu Ya again, the expressions on each of their faces became even more dignified.
The more they interacted with Meng Wu Ya, the less they were able to see through him. Everything about him was far beyond their comprehension.
At this moment, the pressure Meng Wu Ya gave them was the highest, followed by Old Demon, and the previously most powerful Ling Tai Xu had actually become the least imposing.
This kind of lineup and such profound heritage…
This matter had grown far beyond what they had anticipated! The eight old men all wore awkward looks. Originally, they thought that their appearance would be enough to settle things, but now they discovered that they had greatly miscalculated.
Only now did they understand why ten days ago, when Ling Tai Xu and Meng Wu Ya appeared to protect Yang Kai as he broke through, did they not show any fear.
If they had really fought that day, never mind Yang Kai, all of War City would likely have been destroyed.
Tonight’s battle had undergone so many unexpected twists and turns that everyone couldn’t help feeling confused and anxious.
Old Demon and Meng Wu Ya both stepping forward and using their own unique Heaven defying methods to instantly reach the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, such a fantastical display was not something average people could dream of seeing. Many of those present felt that even if they were to die tonight, it would be worth it, and secretly began to look forward to how this situation would develop from here.