MARTIAL PEAK Continued 140-uptodate(ONGOING)

431-443

Martial Peak - Chapter 431 - BoxNovel

Chapter 431: You Can Leave With Peace Of Mind

    Huo Xing Chen’s loud declaration along with his reputation as the Central Capital’s first delinquent had obviously made a big impression on everyone present.

When they heard this awkward statement, both sides of the battle couldn’t help turning their eyes towards him; Yang Zhao and Yang Shen’s faces even cramped up in annoyance.

Huo Xing Chen’s presence on the battlefield had essentially tied one hand behind everyone’s back. Anyone who was engaged in close quarter combat had to take care to avoid him, and those who were using their True Qi to launch ranged attacks had to ensure he was not in their line of fire.

Otherwise, if they were really to injure him, with his rampant personality, they wouldn’t get off easily.  At that time, even with the protection of Yang Zhao and Yang Shen, the one who hurt Huo Xing Chen wouldn’t be able to avoid his revenge.

Among all the people present, only those direct descendants of the Eight Great Families were qualified to exchange blows with him, but amidst such a chaotic battlefield, even Yang Zhao and Yang Shen hesitated to entering the fray.

Before Huo Xing Chen’s words were finished though, an Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivator that was struck back by Qu Gao Yi crashed into the young delinquent’s shoulder.

Young Lord Huo immediately erupted into a rage, sending a palm to the man’s face and roaring at the top of his lungs, “Fuck, I just said that I am Huo Xing Chen!  Do you have no eyes or what? Is your head broken!? You think you can get away with attacking this Young Master!?”

The Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage master was just beaten by Qu Gao Yi, his Blood Force was unsteady as he heaved for breath and now Huo Xing Chen had given him a big slap to his face.  His chest was filled with bitterness and anger but there was nowhere for him to vent, only able to cough up some blood before falling to the ground weakly.

He had actually fainted on the spot.

“You blind bastard!” Huo Xing Chen snorted.

Seeing this episode, Yang Zhao and Yang Shen’s expression became even uglier.  Huo Xing Chen’s approach was simply too roguish. Except for him, which Young Lord of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families could act so shamelessly.

Ye Xin Rou of the Ye Family also wore a bitter smile on her charming face while Qiu Zi Ruo simply shook his head helplessly.

All of them were ashamed to be associated with this person!

On the other hand, Qiu Yi Meng standing in the distance smiled and enjoyed the performance of this delinquent Young Lord.

Wherever Huo Xing Chen walked, the battlefield descended into chaos. Whoever saw him had to step back and avoid him like the plague.  Standing in the midst of the fight, he scratched his head, calling out in an aggrieved voice, “Qiu Yi Meng, can I come back? No one wants to fight with me.”

After his display just now, who would dare to fight with him?  After all, despite his brazen attitude and conduct, he was still the Huo Family’s only inheritor, unlike other families who had at least a few descendants that the Patriarch’s position could be passed down to.

“No, just stay out there!” Qiu Yi Meng replied with a smile, already having realized that the role this Young Lord Huo could play here wasn’t small.

“Come on…” Huo Xing Chen said bitterly.

Outside the battle, Ye Xin Rou turned around and softly said, “Second Young Lord, let me go handle him.”

Ye Xin Rou’s reputation wasn’t as loud as Qiu Yi Meng’s, but she was still a leader of the young generation in The Central Capital. Some people even lumped her with Qiu Yi Meng as The Central Capital’s two flowers.

Her personal strength wasn’t weak, and with a variety of extraordinary artifacts at her disposal, she had enough capital to compete with an ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage expert.

Against the delinquent Huo Xing Chen, she was quite confident in obtaining victory.  Others not daring to move this Young Lord didn’t mean those from the Eight Great Families wouldn’t.

However, when Yang Zhao heard her request he simply shook his head, his expression becoming dignified as he simply said, “You’re not his opponent.”

Ye Xin Rou smiled sweetly and argued back, “Second Young Lord doesn’t need to worry, although I may appear delicate, in fact, I also have some skill.”

Yang Zhao smiled lightly and said with a deep meaning, “I naturally understand your skill, and I am not belittling you in any way, but it is actually you who is belittling this Young Lord Huo.”

Ye Xin Rou expression finally changed as she hesitantly asked, “You mean he…”

Yang Zhao chuckled, “Before the Yang Family’s children returned to The Central Capital, the younger generation had three stars and Huo Xing Chen was ranked third.  Do you think he is famous only because of his lasciviousness? Xin Rou, you look down on the Huo Family’s heritage too much.”

(Silavin: Just what kind of mastery in dirty arts does this pervert have?)

Ye Xin Rou’s face tightened slightly before she nodded gently, “What Second Young Lord says makes sense, perhaps because I don’t have a good opinion of this person I have failed to evaluate his strength appropriately.”

As these two were talking, Xiang Chu signaled silently to one of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters he had brought with him.

This Immortal Ascension Boundary master quietly separated himself from the siege of Qu Gao Yi and began stealthily making his way towards Xiang Tian Xiao who was currently engaged in battle with another True Element Boundary cultivator.

The battlefield was a mess so no one had the spare energy to pay attention to such a small detail, even Xiang Tian Xiao himself was unaware of it.

A moment later, this Immortal Ascension Boundary master came up to Xiang Tian Xiao’s side, his eyes flashing a sinister light as he released an invisible Spiritual Energy.

However, at that exact instant, Huo Xing Chen for some reason or another stumbled slightly and took a few steps to regain his balance.

These few steps had actually planted him right in front of Xiang Tian Xiao.

His appearance here coincided with this Immortal Ascension master’s Spiritual Energy attack.

A blue halo suddenly enveloped Huo Xing Chen’s body, obviously it was a Soul type artifact he carried with him to defend himself.

Seeing this blue glow around himself, Huo Xing Chen immediately began looking left and right, his eyes quickly meeting with those of the Immortal Ascension Boundary master who had just attacked Xiang Tian Xiao.

Seeing this man’s faltering expression, Huo Xing Chen couldn’t help but grin. “Bastard, you dare use a Soul Skill to attack this young master?  You have some balls! Unfortunately for you, I have a Soul defence artifact on my body. What, were you thinking your sneak attack would actually succeed?”

Such a development was far outside this man’s expectations and he instantly froze up in panic.

Just now, someone had accidentally bumped into Huo Xing Chen and had publicly received a slap across his face, but from an outsiders perspective, he had intentionally used a Soul Skill to attack this walking disaster, how could he possibly expect a good end?

Immediately, cold sweat began pouring down this man’s forehead, quickly waving his hands as he attempted to explain, “Young Lord Huo, I didn’t intend to….”

Huo Xing Chen’s contorted into a fierce grin, his teeth grinding eerily, “You didn’t intend to what?  Are you trying to say that you just ‘unintentionally’ attacked me?”

As he spoke, Huo Xing Chen raised his hand and slapped towards the man’s face.

The master instinctively raised his hand to block Huo Xing Chen’s slap but quickly realized that this was the wrong move, his expression becoming even more frantic and ugly.

“I… I mean, Young Lord Huo, you’re a noble young man, you wouldn’t lower your status by dealing with someone like me, right?”

“Enough bullshit,” Huo Xing Chen grinned maliciously, “You’re from the Xiang Family, right?  Today, this Young Master swears, if I doesn’t waste you, my name will no longer be Huo Xing Chen!  Stand there and don’t move!”

Hearing such a declaration, how could this man dare to move? He could only helplessly stand there, awaiting his fate.  If, just now, he didn’t instinctively block that slap and had just let Huo Xing Chen vent his anger, he likely wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable situation.

The bitterness in his mouth was near unbearable.

Huo Xing Chen turned around and from some unknown corpse on the battlefield picked up a sword.  Waving it a few times, he nodded with satisfaction before slowly walking back, standing in front of the man, his eyes flashing an icy chill as he looked him over from head to toe.

“You decide, should I chop you with this sword, or do you want to do it yourself?”

Even though this master had weathered his fair share of storms, he still couldn’t help feeling terrified at these words, quickly turning eyes filled with prayer to Xiang Chu.

But to his disappointment, Xiang Chu could only stare back at him awkwardly.  Although he was the future heir of the Xiang Family, the Xiang Family was still just a first-class force, how could it afford to offend the Huo Family?

Xiang Chu didn’t dare provoke Huo Xing Chen who was infamous for his rouge behaviour.

Seeing the bitter smile on Xiang Chu’s face, the master also knew that there was no escaping bad luck today, gritting his teeth and muttering in a depressed tone, “Young Lord Huo, you can do it yourself.”

“Good, seems you’re not a total waste after all,” Huo Xing Chen was somewhat surprised that this man didn’t put up any kind of resistance.

As soon as Huo Xing Chen spoke, his blade chopped down with a cold flash of light.

With a muffled thump, the master standing in front of Huo Xing Chen was suddenly missing one of his arms, a fountain of blood erupting from his shoulder.

“Heh, looks like you do have some balls, not even screaming after you lost an arm.”

The man was unbelievably aggrieved but still didn’t dare to resist, slowly circulating his True Qi to slow the flow of blood.  Pale and gnashing his teeth, he eventually managed to mutter, “Many thanks Young Lord Huo for sparing this one’s life.”

Huo Xing Chen said carelessly, “You Xiang Family people have lost an arm, same for the Nan Family.  If all of you don’t plan to withdraw from this Inheritance War, this young master might just cut an arm off each of you!  Later, you’ll have to re-name yourself the one-armed Xiang Family and the one-armed Nan Family, hahaha!”

To this outburst of laughter, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng’s faces turned red then blue.

Huo Xing Chen’s words were obviously ridiculing the fact that four masters from their families had already been forced to waste an arm by Yang Kai.

This was an incredibly shameful stain on the Xiang and Nan Families’ reputations.

Whether it was Xiang Chu or Nan Sheng, both of them couldn’t help clenching their fists at this moment.  This time, they had followed Yang Zhao in order to get revenge on Yang Kai, but after fighting for so long, Yang Kai had never shown up, while their families had been thoroughly insulted by the delinquent Huo Xing Chen.  Even one of their clansmen had been forced to lose an arm.

This was simply even more embarrassing than slapping their own faces.

“Second Young Lord, please seek justice for us!”  Xiang Chu grit his teeth and begged Yang Zhao, a clear anger and hatred in his tone.

He was truly enraged.

Yang Zhao’s brow also wrinkled slightly.  To be honest, he didn’t want to go down and fight right now. Qu Gao Yi was still attacking wildly, and the raging energy he was releasing made every corner of the battlefield unsafe for someone of his cultivation level, but more importantly, Yang Kai had still yet to appear. He was concerned that his youngest brother had some scheme up his sleeve and was just playing the pig to eat a tiger right now.

However, the Xiang and Nan Families were a big boost for him. If he didn’t stand out at this moment, it would have a chilling effect on his allies.

Mulling over his options for a moment, Yang Zhao finally nodded, “Good, this Young Lord will deal with him myself.”

Hearing these words, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng smiled happily.

The next moment, Yang Zhao and his accompanying Blood Warrior descended onto the battlefield.

As soon as Yang Zhao appeared, Huo Xing Chen quickly adjusted his delinquent look, immediately becoming dignified as he said, “Second Young Lord’s demeanor is as elegant as before.”

Yang Zhao chuckled lightly in response, “No one else dares to touch you, so I have to accompany you personally.”

Huo Xing Chen smiled wryly and said, “Is that so?”

Looking back at Qiu Yi Meng, he called out, “Beauty, think of a way to save me, or else I’ll be smashed by this Second Young Lord.  Although I want Yang Kai to lose, I don’t want to be captured either. That would be too shameful.”

Qiu Yi Meng simply smiled though, picking up a piece of fruit from a nearby table as she sat down on Huo Xing Chen’s former chair, “It’s alright, in any case, whether you’re here or not doesn’t make much of a difference does it?  You can leave with peace of mind.”

“How can you be so uncaring?”

“Oh?  The most poisonous thing is a woman. Is the Central Capital Wolf Lord still unclear about such a basic truth?”  Qiu Yi Meng laughed playfully.

Huo Xing Chen found himself speechless.

Chapter 432: Let Me Deliver A Little Gift

    “Do take care, Young Lord Huo!” Yang Zhao chuckled as he ‘kindly’ reminded him, slowly stepping forward with great force.

Suddenly, a series of strange cracks appeared on the ground, almost like something was burrowing down below and a horrible energy surged forth towards Huo Xing Chen.

Evil Spirit Earth Dragon Technique!  A Heaven Grade Top-Rank Martial Skill that Yang Zhao was proficient in.

Each of these dragon phantoms was condensed from the Soul of a Fifth-Order Monster Beast and were stored and nourished by Yang Zhao inside his own body.  They could be used flexibly to oppose an enemy, allowing the Second Young Lord to both attack and defend simultaneously.

On top of that, the number of Earth Dragons Yang Zhao could control was seven!  With this one technique, whenever he faced an enemy in the True Element Boundary, he could often achieve victory without even personally needing to attack.

Huo Xing Chen quickly adjusted himself and leapt backwards, displaying a profound Movement Skill which left behind a faint lotus image with each step he took.  These lotuses instantly blossomed and entrapped the approaching Earth Dragons, blocking their path forward.

Moon Covering Lotus Step!  This was also a Heaven Grade Top-Rank Martial Skill that perfectly offset Yang Zhao’s Evil Spirit Earth Dragon Technique.

After retreating a total of seven steps, Huo Xing Chen seemed to calm himself from his panic and paused, looking up at Yang Zhao and wiping the sweat from his forehead, chuckling, “Second Young Lord, must you embarrass me?  We have some friendship after all. The last time I visited the red light district, you also invited me…”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Yang Zhao couldn’t help interjecting, immediately snorting coldly, “You really are playing the pig to eat a tiger!”

“Whatever Second Young Lord is implying, I don’t understand.  Heh, but since the Second Young Lord has decided to move, this Young Master will naturally accompany you!”  As he spoke, Huo Xing Chen raised both his hands energetically.

One hand held wind Qi, the other thunder.

As the wind whistled and the thunder rumbled, the two energies quickly combined into one as he pushed his palms towards Yang Zhao.

Wind and Thunder Grand Palm Seal!

This was one of the Huo Family’s Mysterious Grade Low-Rank Martial Skills! The two forces of the wind and thunder would harmonize with each other, greatly increasing each others might.

However, Yang Zhao didn’t show any signs of alarm, on the contrary, his expression was light and carefree, not showing any meaning of dodging at all, only revealing a free and easy grin.

“Capture him for me!”  When the Wind and Thunder Grand Palm Seal was right in front of him, Yang Zhao suddenly shouted.

Huo Xing Chen’s face instantly cramped as he shouted, “Second Young Lord, isn’t that inappropriate?”

In response, Yang Zhao just shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, “The wicked have their own ways of dealing with wicked people.”

During the conversation between the two, the Blood Warrior beside Yang Zhao had already taken action.

The Blood Warriors were unable to actively attack due to the Inheritance War’s rules, but now that Huo Xing Chen had attacked Yang Zhao, this master was free to counterattack.

Yang Zhao had apparently planned to get his Blood Warrior to capture Huo Xing Chen from the beginning, so he didn’t make any effort to block him from using his Martial Skill just now.

Earlier, Huo Xing Chen had used shameless methods to stir up the enemy camp, so now Yang Zhao was all but cheating in order to deal with him. Obviously, this was intentional.

With a wave of his hand, the Blood Warrior easily shattered the Wind and Thunder Seal.

Even if it was a Mysterious Grade Low-Rank Martial Skill, it was still only Huo Xing Chen who used it.

After breaking the Wind and Thunder Grand Palm Seal, the Blood Warrior did not hesitate to grab towards Huo Xing Chen.

The Young Lord Huo’s expression turned bitter, seemingly not having thought Yang Zhao would act as shamelessly as himself.

(Silavin: Hey! At least he admits it.)

But in the instant Huo Xing Chen was about to be captured, from the shadows, two black clothed figures appeared in front of him, one of them protecting the delinquent young lord while the other sent out a palm strike to greet the Blood Warrior.

The master from the Blood Warrior Hall immediately became serious, pushing his True Qi madly to increase the might of his attack.

With a bang, the black clothed man retreated a few steps before finally stabilizing himself while the Blood Warrior stood his ground.

After a single move, the difference in strength between these two was easy to judge.

The Blood Warrior was definitely stronger, but the two black cloaked men were also not weak.

“Does he also have such helpers?”  Yang Zhao’s expression became solemn; never had he thought that Yang Kai’s mansion would have so many high level masters lying in ambush.

With just Qu Gao Yi and Ying Jiu, the majority of his and Yang Shen’s people were already occupied.  Since Qu Gao Yi was about to run out of True Qi and Spiritual Energy, victory was within sight, but now, all of a sudden, these two masters who were not much weaker than Blood Warriors had appeared.

That meant that Yang Kai’s compound had the equivalent of four Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters guarding it!

There was also a group of people from the Qiu Family’s Autumn Rain Hall, the Xiang Family, and Huo Xing Chen.

On the other hand, although Yang Zhao and Yang Shen’s forces weren’t inferior to this lineup, even faintly having the advantage, with their two Blood Warriors unable to take the initiative to attack, wanting to conquer this place was nothing but a fantasy.

[Where did Ninth Brother find so many strong allies?]

Yang Zhao’s eyes almost went bloodshot.

“The hell!”  Huo Xing Chen stared dumbfound at the two masked black men who had suddenly emerged.

Yang Zhao didn’t know who these two were, but obviously he did.

These two men had followed him for so many years, so by now Huo Xing Chen could recognize them even if he was blindfolded.  The two masters had hidden their faces, making them look rather suspicious, but he was clear they there the guardians who had always been watching over him.

For a time, Yang Zhao and Huo Xing Chen were both stunned.

Seeing this development, Qiu Yi Meng who sat on Huo Xing Chen’s chair couldn’t help laughing happily. It seemed like she had won her bet.

Yang Shen’s face was also dark as night.

After the two sides fought each other for a moment longer, Yang Zhao grit his teeth and loudly said, “Let’s go!”

With no hope of eating up Yang Kai tonight, what point was there in sticking around?  Yang Zhao was also a decisive person.

With this one command, the cultivators who were besieging Qu Gao Yi immediately fell back.  Qu Gao Yi was bloody and gasping for breath, so obviously he didn’t try to stop them, instead just staring at the retreating enemies.

The Autumn Rain Hall and Xiang Tian Xiao’s people also separated themselves from their matches and assumed a defensive stance.

“Sixth Young Lord, is this all right?” Qiu Zi Ruo was clearly quite unwilling.

He more than most wanted to beat Yang Kai tonight to prove his ability, so when he heard Yang Zhao’s order to retreat, he was more than a little upset.

“What else do you want to do?”  Yang Shen angrily retorted, his stomach full of grievances with nowhere to vent.

In tonight’s battle, he had clearly suffered more serious loses than Yang Zhao, so it was obvious his mood would not be good.

Saying so, Yang Shen sighed and was about to leave with Yang Zhao when a figure suddenly flew in from outside.

A loud voice calling out, “If you left just like this, Ninth Brother would feel a little remiss, let me deliver a little gift for Second Brother and Sixth Brother to bring back!”

As he spoke, an overwhelming sword wave descended from the sky.

Nine Star Sword Sect’s Mysterious Grade Martial Skill, Strike of Ten Thousand Swords!

Amidst this violent sword wave, a purple halo burst forth as a frigid Soul Skill engulfed the courtyard below.

Simultaneously, the roars of a tiger and ox resounded as two Monster Beast phantoms tore into the crowd.

A thousand of razor sharp crimson petals fluttered through the air like snowflakes, leaving behind trails of blood in their path.

This flurry of attacks arrived at Yang Zhao and Yang Shen’s forces almost all at once, instantly filling the just calmed atmosphere with a thick murderous intent.

“Young master, watch out!” A scream sounded.

The two Blood Warriors first protected Yang Zhao and Yang Shen while the masters from the Xiang Family, Nan Family, Qiu Family, and Ye Family all rushed to shield the young masters of their own families from this torrent of attacks.

The energy between heaven and earth suddenly fell into disorder as True Qi violently raged about.

After a while, this earth-shaking movement gradually subsided.

Of those who had come to attack Yang Kai’s compound tonight, seven fell to the ground after this one encounter while everyone else remaining didn’t get off scot-free.

As Yang Zhao stared up into the starry sky with cold eyes, the still hovering Yang Kai stood tall, holding a red sword in his hands with a big smile on his face, casually saying, “Good evening my brothers, Ninth Brother was just out for a bit and was negligent in his hospitality, but such minor things don’t matter between us, do they?”

Hearing these words, Yang Zhao’s face twitched slightly while Yang Shen called out in disbelief, “Ninth Brother really was out this whole time?”

Before, when Huo Xing Chen and Qiu Yi Meng said that Yang Kai was not at home, he and Yang Zhao obviously didn’t believe them, thinking that Yang Kai was simply too afraid of being captured so he had hid inside his mansion somewhere, but now that they saw him flying back from outside his compounds walls, they had no choice but to believe.

“Right!” Yang Kai nodded, “The night air was pleasant so I went out to visit Third Brother’s house. I didn’t expect that I would actually have guests of my own tonight! If I had, I would have stayed in to offer proper entertainment.”

“Third Brother’s house…” Yang Zhao’s eyes narrowed, suddenly realizing just how daring this Ninth Brother of his was, even feeling a bit of admiration for him.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Zhao asked, “What happened to Third Brother?”

“Third Brother has been defeated,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Fifth Brother and Seventh Brother joined forces to attack him, so obviously Third Brother was unable to endure.”

“Third Brother not being able to endure was to be expected; rather, it is Brother Kai who has given Second Brother a big surprise.  You actually managed to quietly gather so many allies, Second Brother is impressed.”

“Second Brother exaggerates,” Yang Kai smiled offhandedly.

“So, who acquire the flag and who managed to capture Third Brother?”

Listening to Yang Zhao’s question, Yang Shen also perked up his ears in interest.

“You’ll hear about what happened tomorrow,” Yang Kai said as he smiled meaningfully, not saying another word.

Yang Zhao didn’t ask any more, instead just nodding slightly as he wore a light smile, “In that case, Second Brother will take his leave. Brother Kai, let us settle this score later.  Next time, Second Brother will be fully prepared; I hope you don’t let me down.”

“En, I’ll do my best to satisfy you.”

“Let’s go!” Yang Zhao snorted and swiftly led his allies away.

Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng both glanced towards Yang Kai fearfully before leaving.  The impression Yang Kai had left on them the last time they had met at Tai Fang Mountain was too deep. Even though they had been clamouring for revenge, at this moment, when they came face to face with him again, they couldn’t help trembling feeling somewhat timid.

With Yang Zhao leaving, Yang Shen naturally didn’t linger, ordering his allies to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades before disappearing into the night.

And so, the battles on the first night of the Inheritance War finally came to an end.

Inside the Seal Temple, the eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary Grand Elders all slowly opened their eyes, withdrawing their powerful Divine Senses, a faint look of awe emerging on their faces as they cast their gazes out across War City.

For those who had reached their age and realm, it was very hard to have anything in this world excite them.

But tonight, someone had indeed done so.

Chapter 433: Too Sinister

    After a moment of silence, a white-haired old man asked with a voice that sounded somewhat weak, “The northwest corner, which junior from the Yang Family does it belong to?”

Pondering for a moment, one of the other old men replied, “It seems to be the youngest one.”

Everyone gently nodded and sighed, “Since ancient times, heroes have always been born from the younger generation.”

Yang Li Ting, the Grand Elder from the Yang Family dispatched to the Seal Temple, couldn’t help but laugh heartily.  Even though he no longer pursued material things in the outside world, his martial heart calm as a breezeless lake, after glimpsing Yang Kai’s performance tonight, he still felt a little buoyant thinking about the future of this Yang Family successor.

The Qiu Family’s Grand Elder, Qiu Dao Ren also nodded in approval, “With such courage and strength he is indeed impeccable; however, in the Inheritance War, these two points alone cannot guarantee victory. It remains to be seen if he has enough allies as well.”

“It seems we must pay more attention to his performance. This time’s Inheritance War seems like it will be more exciting than in previous one.”

Everyone nodded once more at this sentiment.

Eight Grand Elders at the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, characters that were treated as honoured ancestors even in the Eight Great Families, had penetrated every corner of War City with their Divine Sense earlier this night to monitor the various Young Lord’s movements.

Yang Kai’s actions had naturally failed to elude their perception.

The only thing that these eight people couldn’t understand was what method he had used in order to suddenly unleash such a violent Spiritual Energy.

Given his cultivation realm, it was impossible for him to have already cultivated out his Divine Sense, so the only explanation was that this youngest Yang Family Young Lord had acquired a very powerful Soul type artifact, which gave the illusion of being able to release his Divine Sense.

Although these eight Elders were more interested in Yang Kai now, it was only limited to this.  These old men would not participate nor interfere in the Inheritance War in any way. They would be happy if Yang Kai were to win, but if he were to lose, they also wouldn’t care. Even the Yang Family’s Yang Li Ting shared this mindset.

When the eight Grand Elders took back their ocean-like Divine Senses, Yang Kai involuntarily let out a sigh of relief, the faint vigilance that had always been hanging on his face finally relaxing as he unconsciously stole a glance towards the Seal Temple’s location.

Throughout the night, he could detect that someone was monitoring him, and there was more than one of them.

But the Divine Senses of those people were so powerful that no matter what he did he was unable to hide his whereabouts.  Thinking about the information he had gathered related to the Inheritance War, Yang Kai quickly understood who was spying him.

[Seems that I must break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary as soon as possible.]  Yang Kai felt that after opening his Knowledge Sea and with the assistance of the Soul Warming Lotus he would be able to evade these old fogies surveillance.

The feeling of being constantly monitored was very uncomfortable, even if he knew they wouldn’t take any action towards him, Yang Kai refused to allow this to continue.

After all, he had too many secrets hidden on him.

“Yang Kai!” Qiu Yi Meng called out in good spirits, standing up from her chair and greeting him warmly.

Glancing at the scene below him, Yang Kai quickly ordered, “Have some people clean up the blood and bodies here.”

The bodies left on the ground all belonged to his allies, the fallen that belonged to his enemies had already been taken away by them.  The Qiu Family’s Autumn Rain Hall had lost six people while seven of those who had followed Xiang Tian Xiao had also died. In addition to these thirteen bodies, there was a fair amount of blood spattered around.

After issuing this order, his figure flickered and landed in front of Qu Gao Yi.

In this battle, Qu Gao Yi had tied down nearly ten Immortal Ascension Boundary masters by himself, several of them even having reached the Seventh or Eighth Stage. Obviously, he had reached his limit.

If it weren’t for him, the outcome of tonight’s battle would be hard to predict.

Now, Qu Gao Yi, who had just recovered from his previous injuries was heavily wounded again.  His entire body was covered in blood, some of it his own, some of it his enemies, and the menacing aura which he emitted had yet to disperse, giving him a particularly fierce appearance.

“Subordinate has fortunately not failed the Little Lord!” Qu Gao Yi grit his teeth and quickly said.

“En, you’ve done very well.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.

Receiving such praise, Qu Gao Yi grinned ferociously before his burly body trembled lightly.

From the shadows, Ying Jiu emerged like a ghost beside Qu Gao Yi and supported him, insuring he didn’t embarrass himself by collapsing here.

“Send him back to rest.” Yang Kai said to Ying Jiu.

“Yes,” Ying Jiu nodded and helped Qu Gao Yi back into the mansion.

Yang Kai then turned to look at the two black-clothed people who were still covering their faces and chuckled, “Many thanks for your work, Seniors.”

The two men did not say anything, instead just casually cupping their fists to Yang Kai before disappearing into the darkness.

Huo Xing Chen kept staring at them until the moment they vanished, his eyes a bit bloodshot, almost like he wanted to bore a hole into their backs with his stare and loudly chastise them for appearing here.

After they left, Huo Xing Chen looked at Yang Kai, his expression somewhat blank, grinding his teeth as he somehow managed to mutter, “You’re too much!  Even including this young master in your plans!”

Yang Kai smiled indifferently and shook his head in response, “Without them, this place would still be safe tonight, at most, you would have been taken away.”

“Good good good!  This young master won’t bother arguing with you!”  Huo Xing Chen also knew that Yang Kai was telling the truth.  With Ying Jiu still unharmed and lurking in the shadows, neither Yang Zhao nor Yang Shen dared to act rashly. If they could truly cooperate, sending one of their Blood Warriors  to entangle Ying Jiu while the other went to retrieve the flag, they would have had a good chance at succeeding.

But could they really cooperate sincerely?

In the end, both of them were opponents, they could cooperate if it was mutually advantageous to do so, but with only one of them able to profit, how could they be willing to offer up their benefits to the other?

Yang Kai had obviously understood this point, so he didn’t have any reservations about boldly running out to seek trouble.

As those from the Autumn Rain Hall and those who followed Xiang Tian Xiao were collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades, Yang Kai swept his eyes over them and said, “This is the Inheritance War, participating or not is your choice, many of you may die, so you must be mentally prepared.”

Hearing this, those from the Autumn Rain Hall and Xiang Family couldn’t help wrinkling their brows; suddenly feeling like this Yang Kai was too uncaring.  They had all come here to help him win this contest, yet when some of them had died, he didn’t even offer a single word of thanks nor comfort.

[So what if you’re a Yang Family Young Lord, the ones who died here weren’t just livestock, they gave their lives for you!]

Seeming not noticing this subtle change in expression, Yang Kai simply continued in a solemn tone, “I will remember those who died here and will compensate for your losses several times over in the coming days, but for now I must simply ask you to wait.”

Qiu Yi Meng somewhat tight expression loosened at these words.

This seemingly simple pledge was enough for her.  The time she had spent with Yang Kai was neither long nor short, and she had never heard him swear to anything.

But she knew that a man who doesn’t make promises easily was definitely a man who would do what he says!

At that moment, Qiu Yi Meng was full of expectations for the future.

She still remembered that Yang Kai had once said that he only wanted allies who would stand firmly beside him even in his most distressed and embarrassed moment.  Those who were only interested in what benefits he could offer them, he didn’t need.

And now, these people here had all not hesitated to come to his aid during his weakest moment.  Whatever other reasons they may have had, this alone had obviously won his approval.

In the Inheritance War, the sooner capital was invested, the greater the return would be.

If you wanted to make true friends with a man, you must do so when he his weak. If he is already strong, you would have no chance.

Qiu Yi Meng felt she had made the right choice. This young man was really someone who could bring about miracles.

The battle had left Yang Kai’s compound seriously damaged, so after the people from the Autumn Rain Hall and Xiang Family finished processing their fallen members, they immediately plunged into renovation work without even stopping to rest.

Qiu Yi Meng really took to her role as manager, organizing all the available manpower to efficiently patch up the mansion.

As for the Huo Family Young Lord, he had disappeared at some point and no one knew where he had gone.

Outside War City, Huo Xing Chen swaggered along for about ten kilometers before slowly coming to a halt and shouting, “Come out, why are you still bothering to hide?”

The next moment, two old men at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage appeared from the darkness and came up to Huo Xing Chen, shouting respectfully, “Young Master.”

Huo Xing Chen stared at them for a moment, his expression quite complicated; only speaking after a long time, “Did Father send you here to watch me?”

One of the old men nodded and said, “Yes, Patriarch was afraid that danger might befall you tonight so he dispatched us to protect Young Master from the shadows.”

Huo Xing Chen was the only heir to the Huo Family. No matter how he frustrated Huo Zheng, even openly opposing him when he chose to support Yang Kai earlier today, how could he rest easy with his son in such a dangerous place?  Naturally, he had made some arrangements.

“Hah, let you protect me from the shadows!?”  Huo Xing Chen grit his teeth, “Do you mean protect me in secret?  Do you not even understand something so simple!? If you do, then why did you jump out an expose yourselves!?  That Yang Zhao’s henchman Blood Warrior wouldn’t dare kill me, at most he would have captured me, this Young Master was never in danger of losing a hair!  Yet both of you actually… you actually shamelessly wrapped your faces up and ran out on your own! You really frustrate this Young Master! Fortunately you both concealed your identities and only exchanged a single blow with that Blood Warrior so those people probably didn’t see through your origins, or else my Huo Family would have lost all face this time!”

The Central Capital Eight Great Families would all send out masters to participate in the Inheritance War, but with the exception of the Yang Family’s Blood Warriors, the strongest cultivators they had ever sent would be Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage experts; now, if the Huo Family was discovered to have deployed two Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters, they would definitely degenerate into laughing stock.

The two masters glanced at each other with bitter expressions, the one who spoke before trying to explain, “Young Master, we also have our own difficulties.”

“Difficulties?  What are these difficulties you speak of?  Let’s hear it.” Huo Xing Chen squinted at the two.

The two old men let out long sighs before recounting what happened during the day.

As Huo Xing Chen listened, his expression became uglier, eventually unable to stop himself from laughing angrily, “You sold yourself for two small pots of wine?  I think you should just go to the Qiu Family or Yang Family and offer them your services! My Huo Family probably doesn’t have such precious nectar for you to enjoy!”

“Please calm your anger Young Master,” The two masters said hurriedly, quickly following up, “The point was that those two pots of wine were delivered personally by Young Lady Qiu, we really had no way to refuse.”

Huo Xing Chen spat disdainfully, and glared at them, grinding his teeth over and over as he muttered, “That pair of smiling wretches are too sinister!  It’s also you two idiots’ fault for not hiding yourselves well enough, letting them discover your whereabouts!”

Chapter 434: Famous Throughout The Central Capital

    The Huo Family’s two Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters both wore extremely awkward expression, wanting to explain to their Young Master that they had perfectly concealed themselves, but were finally unable to utter any words.

Even until now, they still didn’t understand how they had been exposed, so all they could do was silently accept this rebuke.

“Haa… this is the end of this Young Master, a death without burial, unable to even enter the Heavens.” Huo Xing Chen sighed and shook his head.

“Young Master, what happened?” The two masters were shocked.  They had followed Huo Xing Chen for so many years, yet they had never once heard him make such a serious declaration.  When he had spoken so, the two of them had immediately examined Huo Xing Chen’s body, if something was truly wrong with him, how could they not worry?

“This Young Master now has to streak ten laps around War City naked, what difference is that from being dead?” Huo Xing Chen said with a sigh of bitterness.

The looks on the two masters’ faces suddenly cramped up, secretly thinking that although their Young Master was famous for his drinking, gambling, and womanizing, from young till now, he hadn’t shown any interest in this kind of indecent hobby.

At a glance, the two seemed to have pictured Huo Xing Chen streaking around the city streets, his unfettered appearance causing shrieks and screams from all the women who inhabited War City.

In an instant they felt dumbstruck, half wanting to curse, half wanting to laugh.

(Silavin: I say, my good man, those are some loyal guys you have there.)

Quickly collecting themselves, one of them hesitantly asked, “Young Master, what is this all about?  How come you suddenly want to… *ahem*… I mean, why do you need to do this, is someone forcing you?”

“Nobody is forcing me, it’s just that this Young Master was impulsive during the day and gambled with that little bastard Yang Kai!”  Huo Xing Chen felt an unbridled anger well up inside him when remembered the scene of him betting with Yang Kai earlier today.

That brat Yang Kai clearly knew what the outcome tonight would be and lured him into a trap by making himself look like he had no hope of surviving, only using a single Golden Feather Eagle to tempt him into making this ridiculous wager.

At that time, he felt that Yang Kai was being whimsical and foolish, but now it seems the dumb one wasn’t Yang Kai but actually himself.

As he briefly summarized about the bet he had made to them, the two Huo Family masters were left speechless.

Both of them knew the disposition of their Young Master well.  Huo Xing Chen had a terrible reputation outside, filled with rumours of debauchery and delinquency, but if he dared speak words, he would always honour them.

In other words, when it came to gambling, he was quite upstanding.  Though he liked to play rogue, he had never once gone back on a debt.

A perfect example was when he didn’t have enough silver to compensate for his losses, he had directly transferred ownership of the Profound Light Gang to Yang Kai.  It was obvious from this point that Huo Xing Chen was a decisive person who disdained owing other people, whether it was in terms of gambling or relationships.

Since he had made this bet and now lost, according to his personality, if he couldn’t find a way out of it, he really would have to strip down and run ten laps around War City.

The two masters could almost certainly predict that once news of such an incident was passed back to the Huo Family, Huo Zheng would be so mad he would spit blood.

“What wonderful plan do you have to let this Young Master escape this tribulation?  Speak up.” Huo Xing Chen said as he walked over to a large stone and sat down.

The two masters both exchanged a glance before one of them lightly coughed and replied, “Young Master, I don’t believe Young Lord Kai really wants to see you streak ten laps around War City. Regardless of how it happened, the Young Master is still one of his allies, so he will likely give you some face. If you go explain things to him, he should be willing to make big things small, and make small things nothing.”

“Bullshit!”  Huo Xing Chen snorted, “Although this Young Master hasn’t known that brat for long, but I already understand his personality quite well. He’s even more decisive, stubborn and ruthless than this Young Master!   If I can’t find some way to appease him, he’ll definitely make me run ten laps; he might even be looking for me right now!”

While saying so, he ground his teeth, “Damn it, that bastard’s personal strength is too freakish!  If not, this Young Master would just beat him up to solve this problem.”

Thinking of the scene that night and thinking about the defeat Xiang Tian Xiao suffered, Huo Xing Chen suddenly felt forlorn.

Both of them were Young Lords from the Eight Great Families, so why was he so much stronger than him?

“How do you want to appease him, Young Master?”  One of them heard Huo Xing Chen’s words and couldn’t help but ask.

“I do not know, that’s why I’m asking you.”  Huo Xing Chen slumped over, showing a frustrated expression.

After thinking for a moment, one of the two old men finally said, “If that is the case, for better or worse, the Young Master has already declared that you are an ally of Young Lord Kai, although the Patriarch objected and refused to send any aid.  But right now, what Yang Kai lacks the most is materials and manpower, while our Huo Family has both strong financial resources and talented people. I think it’s best if you convince your lord father to truly support Young Lord Kai, that way he may exempt you for your gambling debt.”

After hearing his subordinate’s proposal, Huo Xing Chen cracked out a calculative grin. “Alright. Those words were all from you and not me. I did not utter a single sentence right? So, when you return back home and report to my old man, make sure you report this fact. Understand?”

After listening, the Master was stunned, but understood what Huo Xing Chen has planned. Showing a wry grin, the Master could only resign to the fact that Huo Xing Chen has thought up the same plan. However, Huo Xing Chen just needed to Master to realise the plan by inducing it through words.

As a result, when Huo Zheng asked about what happened, he could feign innocence.

Huo Zheng was no doubt annoyed with his son’s decision and refused to give him the least bit of support, but if these two masters were to act as lobbyists, they may be able to convince the Patriarch to mobilize manpower and supplies from the Huo Family.

“Good, go now, we need to get this done before the sun rises tomorrow, lest that bastard says that this Young Master refuses to keep his promises.”  Huo Xing Chen folded his hands behind his back and swaggered off towards the Central Capital, the two Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters quickly following behind.

When no one was watching, Huo Xing Chen’s face gradually became dignified, no trace of his previous delinquent smile apparent on his face.

During tonight’s battle, everyone had only marveled at the powerful performance of the Yang Kai’s two Blood Warriors and then by his own rogue behavior.  It seemed that no one had time to think about how the two Blood Warriors had, in the span of a single day, restored themselves to their peak condition.

Huo Xing Chen had to admit that he had severely underestimated Yang Kai.  Before tonight, he really believed that Yang Kai would be eliminated, or even if he wasn’t, he would be left in a precarious situation.

But contrary to his expectations, Yang Kai had easily defended his base and even found time to run outside to cause trouble.

This Yang Family Little Lord was really too interesting!

Not only him, but the other Yang Family Young Lords were each not opponents one should provoke.

Originally, his intention was to just play around in this Inheritance War in order to relieve his boredom, but now, Huo Xing Chen was faintly looking forward to it, looking for what kind of twists and turns would happen during this contest, he even thought it was interesting whether Yang Kai would be defeated or not.

Staring off into the night, Huo Xing Chen considered many things as he made his way home.

On the first night of the Inheritance War, there were two battles in total, one at the Third Young Lord, Yang Tie’s mansion, the other at the Ninth Young Lord, Yang Kai’s.

The final outcome of these two battles had greatly shocked all who bore witness.

For both of these battles, a single person had overshadowed all others, Yang Kai!

During the battle at Yang Tie’s compound, both the flag and the person were snatched by Yang Kai at the last moment, while at his own mansion, in his absence, it remained perfectly defended.

This was nothing short of incredible.

None of the people who heard these two messages were willing to believe their ears, but after many inquiries, they had no choice but to confirm it was the truth.

At the same time, another astonishing piece of news came out.  This Yang Kai not only had the Huo Family’s sole heir Huo Xing Chen as an ally, but even the famous Qiu Yi Meng had temporarily withdrawn from her Qiu Family in order to support him!

Huo Xing Chen participating didn’t create much stir, as the Central Capital’s number one delinquent Young Lord, there is nothing wrong with him randomly picking one of the Yang Family Young Lords, but why was it that Qiu Yi Meng was willing to go against her family to help this Yang Kai?

The Qiu Family First Young Lady’s name resounded loudly throughout the Central Capital and even the Great Han Dynasty.  Crowds had always made judgements based on the opinions of famous people, so Qiu Yi Meng’s move had given many people some thoughts.

It was obvious that with the Huo Family’s Young Lord and the Qiu Family’s Young Lady supporting him, not only would Yang Kai become famous throughout War City, even the Central Capital’s populace would know his name.

The limelight belonged to Yang Kai right now and no one could challenge him for it.

The night fell and day dawned.

In the front courtyard, Yang Kai was cultivating his Tempered Body Record when Qiu Yi Meng walked over, a thick look of exhaustion on her face.

She didn’t sleep at all last night; after yesterday’s war, organizing the cleanup and reconstruction had kept her busy until now.  Halting her footsteps a dozen paces away from Yang Kai, Qiu Yi Meng’s weary yet beautiful face revealed a suspicious expression.

This was not the first time she had witnessed Yang Kai practicing this set of punches and kicks, but till this day she still couldn’t unravel any profoundness in it, from her perspective, it seemed like even she could easily imitate him.

She didn’t know why Yang Kai had a special liking for this set of exercises and would never fail to execute them when the sun rose each morning.

“What’s the matter?”  Yang Kai asked calmly.

“Your cousin is here.” Qiu Yi Meng rubbed her forehead gently and replied.

“Is he round?”

“En, very.”

(Silavin: Hahah. The actual translation was quite plain. So I changed it a little

Is he fat?

En. He is fat. )

“Let him find a place to settle in, I’ll go see him later.”

“En.” Qiu Yi Meng nodded and walked a few steps before turning back and saying, “Oh right, I forgot to mention, you should stay in today.”

“Hm, why?”

“Many people will probably come to see you.”

“If I don’t know them, send them away.” Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly, still clenching his fists.

People coming to see him today would definitely be because the news of last night had spread.  Although many forces gathered outside the Central Capital’s South Gate yesterday had already selected which Yang Family Young Lord they would support, many more were still observing the situation, some of whom had specifically chosen to use the performance of the various Young Lord on the first night to make a final decision.

Yang Kai’s performance last night had been too dazzling, so it wasn’t surprising that some people would come running over to try currying favour with him.

Listening to Yang Kai’s answer, Qiu Yi Meng instinctively wanted to retort, but after thinking for a moment, simply nodding, “Good, those who show up who you don’t know are probably only interested in reaping some benefits.”

Qiu Yi Men was well aware of Yang Kai’s personality.  Any grievance had to be settled and only soft food would be eaten while hard food rejected; it wasn’t easy for her to build their relationship up to where it was today, so how could she jeopardize it by make such a silly mistake like opposing him on this?

With a sigh, she turned around set out to attend to her own business.

After half an hour, Yang Kai finished his morning routine and felt a burst of joyous relief from his bones.  The Tempered Body Record was something he practiced whenever possible. This seemingly ordinary set of exercises actually put an enormous strain on his body, pushing him to his limits both physically and mentally.  The further into the set of motions he proceeded, the greater the pressure he had to bear, in fact, with his current cultivation and strength, he could still only complete half of the entire routine.

Yang Kai secretly estimated that he would need to at least break through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary before he could complete the entire set of movements described in the Tempered Body Record.

Chapter 435: Old Friends Meet

    Inside one of the rooms in Yang Kai’s mansion, Dong Qing Han sat drinking tea, thinking about some of the things his two trusted guards had told him after they had returned last night, the sense of shock he felt only now calming slightly.

Although he was not present at the time, it didn’t prevent Dong Qing Han from understanding just how terrifying Yang Kai’s strength was from the description of Wind and Cloud guards.

This little cousin of his had simply grown at a Heaven defying pace over the course of these last few years!  Dong Qing Han couldn’t help feeling a bit envious.

After waiting for a while, a sweat covered Yang Kai finally came to see Dong Qing Han.  However, this lack of etiquette didn’t bother Dong Qing Han. When they were children, the two of them had seen each other in far worse conditions, forging a kind of brotherhood between them. Such small things would be easily ignored.

“You little brat.” Dong Qing Han did not get up. Instead, he simply glanced at Yang Kai with meaning in his eyes. “You really do have skills. Don’t care about me and take these two old fogeys tonight.”

Hearing such words, Yang Kai grinned and replied: “When the conditions are not right, do not act. There is no need for them to work so hard tonight.”

Yang Kai was quite respectfully towards these two old men, not only because they were his cousin’s guardians, but also because when High Heaven Pavilion found itself in danger, they had spared no effort to arrive earlier than the punitive expedition to deliver a warning, allowing the Sect to evacuate its core members safely.

If it weren’t for the timely arrival of the Wind Guard, High Heaven Pavilion might have suffered some losses. If that were to have happened, his relationship with Qiu Yi Meng would likely be hostile right now.

The Wind Guard smiled and shook his head, “I just wandered around with Old Cloud and made some noise.  Last night’s movement only succeeded because of Young Lord Kai’s abilities.”

The Cloud Guard also silently nodded.  When the two old men looked at Yang Kai again, there was clear admiration reflected in their eyes.

No young man had ever made them feel so amazed.  Their family’s Young Lord wasn’t considered bad amongst the younger generation, but he was still far from enough to compare with this young master.

The Wind and Cloud guards were curious about just how much further Yang Kai would grow.

“This time I’ve brought thirty people with me.  In addition to the Wind and Cloud Guards, there are five others at the Immortal Ascension Boundary, the rest are True Element cultivators of at least the Fifth Stage!”  Dong Qing Han said confidently. “Also, my father let me bring some supplies, most of which are finished pills while the rest are some assorted materials. It’s not a lot but it’s not a little either.”

Yang Kai nodded and smiled, “Uncle is too thoughtful.”

The Dong Family was Dong Su Zhu’s family.  Yang Kai was the son of Dong Su Zhu. As a first-class force, the Dong Family deploying so many people, including seven Immortal Ascension masters, as well as providing a large quantity of pills was considerably generous.

After all, Yang Kai’s expected chances of victory in the Inheritance War were almost zero.

The Dong Family must have been psychological prepared for everyone they sent to become a sacrifice.  In particular, the loss of so many Immortal Ascension masters would not be a small blow to the Dong Family.

The Dong Family’s willingness to support him so was not something Yang Kai would forget.

“I’ve already handed over everything to your place’s manager and her people.” Dong Qing Han said, his slightly fat face showing a somewhat wretched grin.

“You mean Qiu Yi Meng?” Yang Kai responded, slightly stunned.

“Besides her, who else could I mean?  Little brat, such success on the battlefield, such luck in love, you’re really living it up!”  Dong Qing Han said somewhat enviously, “On top of that, I heard from my sister that there seems to be another pure, innocent, and adorable maiden who thinks of you day and night.”

The more he spoke, the more wretched and envious his tone became.

Dong Qing Han was also the Young Lord of a first-class family, yet he felt like he had so few blessings compared to Yang Kai.

When Yang Kai heard his cousin drone on and on like this and was about to correct the record, Qiu Yi Meng came in from the outside, a big smile on her face as she asked, “What are you two brothers talking about?  How is it I seem to have heard someone bad mouthing me?”

“Nonsense!”  Dong Qing Han quickly got up from his chair and emphatically professed.  When facing Yang Kai, he could act free and easy, they were cousins after all, and in terms of intimacy, they were closer than Yang Kai was to any of his brothers. However, in front of Qiu Yi Meng, Dong Qing Han didn’t dare show a casual attitude.

Yang Kai chuckled and shook his head, his eyes immediately after being attracted to a woman standing beside Qiu Yi Meng, her brow furrowed slightly.

This young woman was a rare beauty, luscious black hair fluttering down her back like a waterfall, perfectly curved brows, a pair of shimmering eyes, a cute nose, and pink luscious lips which seems like they would leak sweet nectar if pinched.  Her skin was white like winter snow and her figure was impeccable. She gave off a unique feminine aura which seemed to draw in the stares of those around her.

On top of her beautiful appearance, she displayed a temperament not even inferior to Qiu Yi Meng.

However, if someone who didn’t know her saw her for the first time, what would attract them most would not be any of these things, but instead the two great mountains which adorned her chest .

This pear of jade peaks were nothing short of colossal, so full they seemed ready to break free of the clothes which bound them at any moment, displaying an amazing elasticity whenever they trembled lightly.

Complimenting this young woman’s proud capital was a thin water snake like waist which appeared a soft as silk and a perfectly rounded bottom which swayed gently as she walked, seducing the eyes of men who gazed upon her.

Yang Kai made no attempt to hide his gaze which landed squarely on this young woman’s chest.  Seeing this, Qiu Yi Meng pouted quietly and unconsciously leaned forward slightly.

After breathing in a deep breath, Yang Kai moved his line of sight to meet the young woman’s pair of elegant eyes.

There seemed to be a tinge of joy in her gaze, mixed with regret, some excitement, embarrassment, all a myriad of other emotions.

The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth curled upwards slightly as he grinned back at this woman.

“Yang Kai, you remember this girl don’t you?” Dong Qing Han asked with a grin.

“Naturally I remember her,” Yang Kai said as he nodded to the young woman before him, “Senior Sister Lan, long time no see.”

“En, it’s been three or four years since the last time we met,” The woman replied, her tone somewhat complex.

This young woman was none other than High Heaven Pavilion’s Lan Chu Die!

Yang Kai had once bought two seeds from her stall and later explored the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave alongside her for a time.   However, in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave, Yang Kai found the conduct of this Senior Sister of his somewhat unpleasant, so everyone had eventually parted ways.

Later on, when a number of first-class forces heard that an Inheritance Heaven’s Cave had been discovered near High Heaven Pavilion and many of its disciples had obtained great benefits within, they came in order to tempt some of them into joining their respective Sects.

At that time, Lan Chu Die had been won over by Dong Qing Han and joined the Dong Family.  She had also obtained a lot of benefits in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave.

When Yang Kai had last seen her, Lan Chu Die had only been a Qi Transformation Seventh Stage cultivator, but now she has reached the True Element Boundary Sixth Stage!

His impression of this Senior Sister was neither good nor bad.  Rather, he simply felt that she only acted based on benefits, always weighing what she could gain and what it would cost her before acting.

After so much time had passed, Yang Kai no longer cared about such trivial matters anymore.  Lan Chu Die had no strong family background and was essentially alone in High Heaven Pavilion. On top of that, she was a woman. There was nothing wrong with her acting in a shrewd manner, especially considering she was a great beauty that constantly drew covetous gazes from men.  If a woman like her didn’t do everything possible to strengthen herself and her position, she would only degenerate into a man’s plaything.

Everyone had their own hardships to deal with! Yang Kai understood this well.

“Senior Sister is impressive; your cultivation has risen quite fast.”  As these thoughts turned in his head, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to offer his former Sect mate some praise.

“How can I compare to Junior Brother Yang?”  Lan Chu Die grinned wryly, “Senior Sister never thought one of her Junior Brothers would actually belong to the Central Capital’s Yang Family.  If I had only known back then, Senior Sister would have gifted you those two seeds instead of selling them to you.”

Speaking politely, and even a little bit restrained, it seemed that this sudden tremendous change in Yang Kai’s identity had left Lan Chu Die slightly uncomfortable.

Qiu Yi Meng glanced back and forth between these two and couldn’t help feeling that the relationship between this Senior Sister and Junior Brother was a bit too dull.  They didn’t show the usual cordial attitude one would expect from two fellow disciples reuniting after a long time, but although she didn’t know the exact reason for this, she could still infer some information based on their short conversation.

Dong Qing Han smiled and added on, “Yang Kai, Sister Lan is now one of the leaders amongst the Dong Family younger generation, and she also has a great many admirers.”

“Is that so?”  Yang Kai said in a somewhat surprised tone.

“Rapidly improving cultivation along with great beauty, I don’t know how many young men are vying for her attention.”  Dong Qing Han said intentionally or unintentionally.

Lan Chu Die’s cheeks couldn’t help blushing slightly, glancing over at Dong Qing Han and saying, “Young Lord Dong, please don’t say that.”

As she spoke, she secretly stole a glance at Yang Kai’s reaction, but upon seeing him remain completely indifferent, a slight sense of loss suddenly came over her.

“Okay okay,” Qiu Yi Meng clapped her hands and interrupted this unproductive conversation, quickly saying, “You three can discuss such things later, for the time being, now that people are beginning to gather, Yang Kai, can you tell us what your plans are for the next few days?”

“What plans I have?” Yang Kai stared blankly at Qiu Yi Meng.

The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady narrowed her eyes slightly as she continued, “You are the master of this place, and light night you won a great victory, do you really have no thoughts about how to move in the coming few days?”

“What do you suggest?” Yang Kai grinned and asked back.

“You can attack your Eighth Brother Yang Quan’s base.  As far as I know, Yang Quan only has a Blood Warrior at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage protecting him, but there is only one of them.  With our current strength, you shouldn’t have a problem defeating him. If you attack him, you can let either Qu Gao Yi or Ying Jiu entangle that Blood Warrior and then easily capture his flag!

“Do you think my other brothers are all docile sheeps?”  Yang Kai smiled as he shook his head, “Do you think they’ll sit back and watch me attack Eighth Brother without trying to interfere?”

“Naturally they’re not vegetarians.  Most likely your brothers will choose to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight while looking for an opportunity to gain the fisherman’s benefits, especially if you are the one who initiates this action, but last night, except for your Eldest Brother Yang Wei, each of your brothers lost a fair amount of strength.  Right now they are still licking their wounds so for the next few days they’ll be focusing on recruiting more soldiers to expand their strength, how could they have any spare effort to spend on you? Even if they interfere, it will only be in the form of harassment rather than actual combat. If you move decisively, then tonight you’ll have a good chance of eliminating your Eighth Brother!”

“Your ambition is not small!”  Yang Kai looked at her and nodded in approval, “I admit that what you said makes sense, but I won’t attack Eighth Brother.”

“Why not?” Qiu Yi Meng asked suspiciously, “If you miss this opportunity, such a good chance may not present itself in the future.”

Dong Qing Han also solemnly nodded, “What Young Lady Qiu said true, I also think you should act tonight.”

Dong Qing Han hadn’t participated in the battles last night, only hearing about the excitement the morning after, so he naturally couldn’t wait to stir up some trouble himself.

“Are you still not clear about the subtleties of the Inheritance War?  If you beat your Eighth Brother, then you’ll have an opportunity to assimilate the forces he’s gathered into your own.  Why would you be hesitant in front of such a good chance?” Qiu Yi Meng was having difficulties understanding Yang Kai’s decision, if it were her in his place, there would be no need to think about it, tonight she would definitely strike while the iron was hot and make her name resounded even louder throughout War City and beyond.

It was precisely so that when she heard Yang Kai refuse her proposal, she had become somewhat confused.

Chapter 436: Lu Family People Arrive

    Inside the room, not only was Qiu Yi Meng puzzled, everyone else also didn’t understand why Yang Kai didn’t pursue this opportunity.

At this time he was more than able to attack Yang Quan.

“Are you still taking your brotherhood into account at this time?”  Qiu Yi Meng sneered, “Don’t forget, last night two of your brothers didn’t hesitate to attack you.  In your Yang Family’s Inheritance War, any talk of brotherly bonds is pure nonsense, the only law here is the law of the jungle, using your blood and bones as well as those of other family’s cultivators to build a path to fame and fortune.”

Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly, although what Qiu Yi Meng said was the truth, it still wasn’t something that should be so carelessly mentioned.

Qiu Yi Meng either didn’t see or didn’t care about this slight change in expression, continuing, “Not to mention, even if you don’t attack Yang Quan, someone else will attack him sooner or later.  Instead of allow others to pick up this cheap bargain it would be better for you to grab it yourself.”

“Knowing Junior Brother, you should have a reason for your decision, right?” Lan Chu Die suddenly spoke, her eyes flashing a glimmer of soft light.

Whether it was because she was interrupted or because of the subtle tones in Lan Chu Die’s voice, the slightly bitter feeling in Qiu Yi Meng’s heart throbbed again, causing her to snort lightly, “And what reason is that?”

“Think about it yourself; Young Lady Qiu is smart, I’m sure if you give it some thought you’ll understand.” Yang Kai smiled casually.

Qiu Yi Meng looked at him and let out a long sigh, the slight turbulence she felt suddenly calming down.  Just now, she had become slightly over-excited. One reason was that Yang Kai had never accepted her views no matter what advice she made so she couldn’t help feeling a sense of discouragement.  Secondly, Yang Kai staring at Lan Chu Die’s chest had made her upset.

She also had a woman’s capital, it’s just that they weren’t as big!

In the end though, Qiu Yi Meng was still Qiu Yi Meng.  Her thoughts and wisdom were both extraordinary, so naturally, once she had calmed down and began processing the information she had on hand, it wasn’t difficult for her to unravel Yang Kai’s intentions.

Dong Qing Han saw and felt the slight tension in the air and did not dare to interrupt, only able to play dumb as he watched from the side.

For a time, it was so quiet that one could hear a needle fall to the floor, but soon, Qiu Yi Meng looked up and stared into Yang Kai’s eyes, smiling as she nodded and said, “I understand.”

“Since you know, then don’t bring this matter up again.” Yang Kai nodded.

“Good, I won’t bother trying to advise you in the future, this feeling of showing off meager skill in front of an expert isn’t very pleasant.” Qiu Yi Meng spat disdainfully, looking a little depressed.

“Heh, a good woman should be obedient!”  Yang Kai casts a look at her as if this outcome was only natural.

Dong Qing Han spat out the mouth full of water he had just drank upon hearing this sentence, coughing violently as he secretly admired the depths of Yang Kai’s courage.

Who would dares say this to Qiu Yi Meng?  None of the other Young Lords of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families had such guts, nor did they have the qualifications, only his cousin would dare speak this way.

Such balls!  However, the most surprising part was that the Young Lady Qiu didn’t retort.

Nearby, Lan Chu Die wore a puzzled expression, wanting to ask what all of this was about but too embarrassed to do so.

On the other hand, after the Wind and Cloud old men thought about it for a while, both of them nodded in agreement.

“Um… can I ask a question?” Dong Qing Han finally couldn’t resist his curiosity, “What kind of scheme is going on?”

Qiu Yi Meng giggled and looked towards the Wind and Cloud Guards, “If the two Seniors have understood, they should explain to Young Master Dong.  Don’t let him be so anxious.”

The Cloud Guard quickly exchanged a glance with the Wind Guard before saying, “This old man can think of only one reason.  If there is anything lacking from my explanation, I hope Young Master Kai and Young Lady Qiu can elaborate.”

After a pause, he continued, “Young Master Kai is now the centre of attention, among the remaining seven Young Lords, none can compare at the moment.   On the surface this is indeed a good time for him to act aggressively and expand his influence. The other Young Lords all suffered heavy losses last night and have no time and or mood to pay attention to others.  The only exception is the Eldest Young Lord Yang Wei, who didn’t take action yesterday out of consideration for his identity as the Eldest Brother. Such was his way of giving his younger brothers some face. However, if Young Master Kai was to attack Yang Quan tonight, given Young Master Yang Wei’s temperament, he shouldn’t plot behind his back, at most, he would join hands with Young Master Kai to divide up the benefits.”

“But if Young Master Kai does this, then he’ll have a record of eliminating two Yang Family Young Lords in a very short time.  This way, his fame will reach new heights, but that will only draw more attention to himself. Once they’ve finished consolidating their positions, the other five Young Lords will definitely regard Young Master Kai as their biggest enemy, quite possibly forcing them to join together to handle us!”

Wind Guard nodded and quietly said, “The tree which rises too far above the forest will be destroyed by the wind.”

Listening to this explanation, Dong Qing Han and Lan Chu Die immediately realized why Yang Kai didn’t agree with Qiu Yi Meng’s initial proposal.

The analysis of the Wind and Cloud Guards was really possible… No, it was almost certain.

If the other Yang Family Young Lords were forced to join forces against him, Yang Kai’s days would definitely become difficult.

Now that he had grabbed the limelight, doing it again would only be counterproductive.

For a time, Dong Qing Han awkwardly scratched his head and was secretly glad that he was not born into the Yang Family. If he had to compete with Yang Kai and his insidious brothers, even after he had failed, he probably wouldn’t be clear why.

The Wind and Cloud Guards both slowly shook their head, one of them saying, “This Old Man can only see this reason, but if there are others, could Young Master Kai enlightened this elder?”

“Is this one reason not enough?” Dong Qing Han suddenly felt confused again, after all, this one reason should be more than enough to let Yang Kai stand down.

Yang Kai smiled slightly as he nodded, “There is indeed another reason, but I can’t say it right now, it would only make people think that I am too arrogant.  You’ll understand a few days from now.”

The Wind Guard nodded lightly, “If Young Master Kai has his own considerations, then there’s no need to explain. We will just wait and see.”

Qiu Yi Meng let out another long sigh, “I understand you less and less the longer we interact.”

Even she didn’t know what the second reason Yang Kai refused to attack was, or if it was possible he had a third reason as well.

As the group of people were finishing up this discussion, Xiang Tian Xiao arrived and politely cupped his fists, “Young Lord Kai, someone has come to seek an alliance with you.”

“Is it someone who knows me or someone who doesn’t?” Yang Kai frowned and asked.

“Their leader says they know you.” Xiang Tian Xiao replied.

“Who is it?” Yang Kai was suddenly surprised.

“The Lu Family.”

Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng both exchanged a glance and grinned, knowing that this must be someone sent by Lu Liang.

“Since they’ve come, let them come in.” Yang Kai gave a command, his expression completely flat, these people would definitely be bringing many gifts from the Lu Family.

Xiang Tian Xiao nodded in acknowledgement before turning around to greet these newcomers.

A moment later, Lu Song led two Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage masters into the mansion’s main hall.

Lu Song really didn’t want to bring these supplies to Yang Kai.  In his mind, Yang Kai must be nothing more than a treacherous bastard, or else how could he have blackmailed the Lu Family into giving him such rich compensation for an act they played no part in?

He had simply never heard of someone so shameless!

If possible, he wanted to bring these supplies to one of the other Yang Family Young Lords, but after word of Yang Kai’s performance spread last night, Lu Song realized that it was impossible for him to not make this delivery.

Lu Liang had commanded that whatever Yang Kai’s performance in the Inheritance War was, these things must be given to him, and now Yang Kai’s performance had suddenly become the most dazzling of all the Young Lords.

If this batch of materials wasn’t handed over to him but instead given to another by him, when Lu Song returned to the family, he would likely be disciplined harshly.

Thinking about how this time, both these gifts and people had to be handed over to that thug Yang Kai, Lu Song couldn’t help feeling his stomach turning.

The Lu Family had sent a lot of manpower.  Two Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage masters were responsible for guarding Lu Song, while an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage, two Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage, and twenty other True Element Boundary cultivators comprised the rest of the force.

If someone came with such a powerful boost, any of the other Yang Family Young Lords would no doubt come out to greet him personally, but this Yang Kai actually had one of his henchmen lead him inside, obviously not having any intention of welcoming him in person.

This only made Lu Song’s stomach full of grievances bloat.

When he initially walked in, his expression was quite flat, but upon seeing Qiu Yi Meng, he quickly went forward and cupped his fists, “Lu Song greets cousin.”

Qiu Yi Meng gently nodded, “En, you’ve worked hard.”

Lu Song smiled and replied, “Cousin is too polite, it’s just delivering some things, no trouble at all.”

After this initial conversation, Lu Song swept he eyes over the crowd and asked, “Who is Young Lord Kai?”

Yang Kai nodded indifferently and replied, “I am!”

Lu Song’s gaze fixed on Yang Kai, his mouth forming into a slightly provocative grin as he chuckled, “Greetings Young Lord Kai, this Lu Song has long heard of your reputation.”

When Qiu Yi Meng heard this, her eyes involuntarily narrowed slightly, obviously unhappy with Lu Song’s impolite tone.

Yang Kai though remained unphased, not seeming to care in the slightest, only saying, “The Lu Family seems to have spared no expense.”

Considering what he had done to Lu Liang, this Lu Family Young Lord being in a good mood would have been odd, so Yang Kai has no intention to care about him, after all, he had a perfectly good reason to not like him.

Lu Song hadn’t thought Yang Kai’s reaction would be so dull, so instead of continuing to provoke him, he simply went straight to business and flatly said, “When I left home I was told that all of these things must be delivered to Young Lord Kai.  Also, these people who have accompanied me are at Young Lord Kai’s disposal. I hope they will be of help to Young Lord Kai in the Inheritance War.”

“Understood,” Yang Kai nodded. “If that’s the case, then feel free to settle yourselves.  This place is quite big, have Qiu Yi Meng help you arrange a courtyard somewhere. If you have any concerns, I’ll try to meet them.”

The big change in attitude from the Lu Family’s Patriarch Lu Liang didn’t surprise Yang Kai, but towards this group of people, he didn’t pay much attention.

If he was not mistaken, Lu Song should have already arrived in War City long ago, but he didn’t show up yesterday and had only come today.  It was obvious that this youth was waiting to see if he would be eliminated last night.

Whether this guess was correct or not, it would be simple to find out after he deployed the Bamboo Knot Gang.

Towards such an ally, Yang Kai would naturally not treat them the same as he would the Dong Family or Qiu Yi Meng.

Qiu Yi Meng smiled and was about to help arrange Lu Song’s people when Xiang Tian Xiao actually ran in again and said, “Young Lord Kai, there are people…”

“Who?”

“Purple Fern Valley!”

Hearing this name, Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes lit up and happily said, “It must be Xiao Man.”

As she spoke, she hurried turned to Yang Kai and whispered, “It’s not that Xiao Man didn’t want to help you yesterday, but you also know that Xiao Man is a girl.  Although she has some status in Purple Fern Valley, it’s still not enough to allow her to make any big decisions. Her being able to bring people here today has certainly taken her quite a lot of effort.  Be sure to thank her properly.”

Chapter 437: More People Arrive

    Luo Xiao Man and Qiu Yi Meng’s situations were quite similar, both of them were young women who had not low positions in their respective forces, but because they were female, they often met with challenges.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Yang Kai nodded gently, “I’ll go meet them myself.”

Hearing these words Qiu Yi Meng suddenly smiled brightly and said, “Seems you still have some conscience.”

Standing up, Yang Kai led a group of people outside.  Qiu Yi Meng turned back before leaving and spoke to Lu Song, “Wait for a moment here. I will arrange accommodations for you later.”

Lu Song nodded indifferently, unable to help feeling somewhat slighted, after all, when he came, Yang Kai hadn’t gone out to welcome him.

Outside the house, the Purple Fern Valley group, headed by Luo Xiao Man, was waiting quietly.

After a moment, Yang Kai walked out along with Qiu Yi Meng, followed by Dong Qing Han and Lan Chu Die.

“Elder Sister Qiu!” Luo Xiao Man saw Qiu Yi Meng, shouted with joy, and stepped forward, but when she saw Yang Kai beside her, she immediately halted, her neck shrank, and her timid nature resurfaced.

Her fear of Yang Kai had penetrated into her soul, but even she didn’t quite understand it.  In any case, as long as she saw Yang Kai, even if she didn’t think of him as a bad person, Luo Xiao Man was still afraid of him.

This time, if it wasn’t for Qiu Yi Meng’s asking her personally, she wouldn’t have had the courage to stand by Yang Kai’s side during the Inheritance War.

“Xiao Man!”  Qiu Yi Meng knew that this little sister of hers lacked courage and quickly walked over and held her hand for a while.

Yang Kai glanced at her with a smile and then glanced over at Lan Chu Die behind Dong Qing Han, quietly thinking that these two young women shared a common trait.

Of course that was their bountiful mountains.  Both of these two weren’t tall, once could even call them petite and delicate; however, the capital they possessed was no less than earth-shaking.

Glancing back and forth between the two, Yang Kai suddenly felt somewhat dazed and overwhelmed.

When Lan Chu Die noticed this unscrupulous gaze, her face blushed slightly.

“Purple Fern Valley’s Fan Hong greets Young Lord Kai!”  From the group of people that came from Purple Fern Valley, a young man stepped forward, smiled and cupped his fists.

“Brother Fan isn’t a stranger, no need to act so formal.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.

Fan Hong grinned slightly awkwardly, “Previously, when we met in High Heaven Pavilion, this Fan had acted rudely, I hope that Young Lord Kai will not take offence.  From this day onward, Fan Hong is here to accompany Young Lord Kai in his efforts.”

Yang Kai’s eyes flashed subtly as his attitude also become more relaxed, putting on a hearty smile, “Brother Fan coming all this way to support me is my honour.  As for the previous things, they were mere trivialities I have already forgotten about.”

The last these two met was at High Heaven Pavilion when the Dong Family’s Dong Qing Han, Bai Family’s Bai Yun Feng, and Fan Hong from Purple Fern Valley had come to recruit disciples.  When the trio had learned that Yang Kai had obtained a Mysterious Grade Martial Skill, the two who didn’t know about his hidden background had each offered a price in hopes of purchasing it.

Dong Qing Han being Yang Kai’s cousin obviously didn’t participate while the ignorant Bai Yun Feng had ended up despising and fighting with Yang Kai.  Sometime later, Bai Yun Feng had died in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s Spider Mother’s Den.

At that time, Fan Hong’s attitude toward Yang Kai was not good but at least he didn’t take things as far as Bai Yun Feng, so Yang Kai had never thought of seeking vengeance against him.

Listening to his Yang Kai’s, Fan Hong’s smile relaxed as he offered his thanks

“Let’s go inside and have some tea while we talk.” Yang Kai warmly said.

The number of cultivators Purple Fern Valley had sent was neither many nor few, and on average they had similar strength to the people the Lu Family had deployed.  Since the Inheritance War was a stage for the younger generation, many of these people were similar in age to Fan Hong and Luo Xiao Man.

Luo Xiao Man and Qiu Yi Meng had become inseparable after sharing so many life experiences together so Yang Kai guessed that the people from Purple Fern Valley would faithfully follow Luo Xiao Man’s orders and by extension would obediently follow Qiu Yi Meng’s.

This group of people could be counted on to help him!  Yang Kai secretly calculated in his mind, elevating the positioned of the Purple Fern Valley’s cultivators in his heart.

When they returned to the mansion’s main hall, Yang Kai introduced the various Young Lords and Young Ladies and their respective forces to one another.

At first, Lu Song’s expression was not very good, but when Yang Kai came back and introduced Luo Xiao Man, the look in his eyes softened and the anger in his heart also faded.  Since ancient times, heroes had always loved beauties; with such an enchanting young girl coming to support him, it was understandable that Yang Kai would take the initiative to go out and greet her.

Secretly steeling a glance at Luo Xiao Man and Lan Chu Die, Lu Song’s thoughts wandered slightly as he wondered which of these two had superior assets.

(Silavin: A normal gentleman. I guess.)

Luo Xiao Man was originally a willful girl, but since she experienced the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, her temperament had changed.  Her courage had become smaller than that of a mouse so as she was stared at by Lu Song, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy, and eventually hid behind Qiu Yi Meng.  On the other hand, Lan Chu Die stood beside Dong Qing Han and stared back at this rude youth with a pair of sharp eyes, not showing any fear, her smile slowly becoming slightly cold.

Seeing these reactions, Lu Song took back his gaze hastily.

Although Yang Kai was talking with Fan Hong and Dong Qing Han, he had also diverted part of his attention to the eyes of everyone in the hall, so when he noticed Lu Song’s petty actions, he couldn’t help but sneer.

Senior Sister Lan wasn’t a good person to bully, she was strong willed and intelligent, how could she possibly let such delinquent behaviour off so easily?

Before many words could be exchanged though, Xiang Tian Xiao once again appeared.

Not waiting for him to speak, Yang Kai directly asked, “Who is it this time?”

“A young man and woman, the strength is probably only around the True Element Boundary Seventh Stage,” Xiang Tian Xiao replied meticulously, “They said they are old friends of the Young Lord’s.  They said their names were Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu.”

“It’s them?” Yang Kai looked surprised.

“Do you know them?” Qiu Yi Meng asked with amazement.

“Of course I know them.” Yang Kai smiled happily as he reminisced, “I once met them when I was out for life experience, they are a Senior Brother and Junior Sister couple from Reflecting Moon Sect.”

“Reflecting Moon Sect…” Qiu Yi Meng frowned, “If I remember correctly, Reflecting Moon Sect should be just a second-class force.”

“En, it is a second-class Sect.” Yang Kai nodded.

Xiang Tian Xiao spoke up again, “Young Lord Kai, only the two of them have come and it seems that no masters have accompanied them, what are your instructions?”

There were only two young cultivators with strengths around True Element Boundary Seventh Stage; such strength wouldn’t be of any use in the Inheritance War.  Those who wanted to participate in Inheritance War from the world’s major forces would either sent a large contingent of manpower to help, or deliver a substantial amount of war material and resources, it was essentially impossible for a Sect or family to send only two young people with low strength to act as their representatives.

Xiang Tian Xiao asking this question was obviously implying that Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu both wanted to use their old friendship with Yang Kai as an excuse to take shelter under his wings, an act he himself found quite distasteful.

“Yang Kai, even if they are old friends, their attitude doesn’t seem to be appropriate, you should properly refuse them.”  As his cousin, Dong Qing Han felt obligated to remind him.

If he were to blindly accept them, it would only make his other allies who had brought him much more support disgruntled, after all, if they obtained victory in the Inheritance War, this Reflecting Moon Sect would also need to be given a piece of their cake.

However, if they had sincerely come to help him, even if they were few in number and strength, they shouldn’t be rejected mercilessly.

“No need,” Yang Kai shook his head and got up; smoothing his robe slightly, “Wait here for a moment. I’ll go talk to them myself.”

Qiu Yi Meng looked awkward, not understanding why Yang Kai was acting so seriously when dealing with a mere second-class Sect, even when he had just greeted Luo Xiao Man’s Purple Fern Valley he was not as happy.

But after thinking about it for a moment, Qiu Yi Meng just giggle lightly.

Looking back at Lu Song, she also found that the Lu Family’s young master’s facial expression had turned sour.

Furrowing her brow, Qiu Yi Meng knew that he was resentful because of Yang Kai’s indifference towards him and couldn’t help but deeply sigh.  Lu Liang sending his to participate in this time’s Inheritance War was probably a mistake.

Qiu Yi Meng hadn’t had much contact with this young master from the Lu Family so she wasn’t aware of his personality before, but now, she understood that this cousin of hers’ wasn’t mature enough to remain here.

Suddenly wearing a smile, she turned to him and said, “Lu Song, don’t think too much about it, since these two are old friends of Yang Kai, him going out to meet them isn’t surprising.  Just wait till then come in then we can send them away, a trivial pair of second-class Sect disciples doesn’t have the qualifications to stay here.”

Dong Qing Han shot Qiu Yi Meng a strange look.  He hadn’t thought that this Young Lady Qiu was so petty and difficult to accommodate.

Lu Song had been secretly annoyed, but as soon as Qiu Yi Meng said this, he suddenly smiled and thought that Qiu Yi Meng was quietly supporting him, quickly nodding, “What cousin said is correct, isn’t everyone in this hall now at least from a first-class force?  That Reflecting Moon Sect is quite interesting actually, a trivial second-class Sect actually sending two juniors to participate in the Inheritance War, ridiculous! I’d like to see what thick skin these two have to come here so empty handed.”

Qiu Yi Meng smiled meaningfully and said no more.  Having received a look of encouragement from her, Lu Song straightened himself up and waited for Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu to come in so he could valiantly send them packing.

Outside the mansion, a pair of youths, a young man and a young woman, stared around with a look of anticipation and anxiety.

As Su Xiao Yu stared at the entrance and waited for a long time without seeing Yang Kai, she couldn’t help lick her dried lips slightly and say, “Senior Brother, do think that this Yang Kai is really that Yang Kai?  What if nobody comes to see us even after we’ve reported our names?”

When Chen Xue Shu heard this he wore a bitter smile, “Junior Sister, don’t you think you’re asking the wrong  person? How should I know if this Brother Yang is the same Brother Yang we know? The world is so big, there is bound to be many people with the same name.”

“Ah…” Su Xiao Yu suddenly felt a little lost, “If this Yang Kai isn’t the one we know, then we’ll have run all this way only to be refused, that would be quite shameful.”

“If we lose face then we lose face; master didn’t want to participate in this Inheritance War exactly because our Reflecting Moon Sect is just a second-class force and our strength isn’t great, participation wouldn’t benefit the sect much and might even harm it.   It was only because I convinced him that this Yang Kai might be an old friend of ours that master allowed us to come. If this mansion’s owner isn’t the one we know, then being refused might not be a bad thing, at the very least we’ll be able to leave here and not trouble ourselves.”

“I think he is the one we know!” Su Xiao Yu suddenly affirmed, “Do you still remember his performance in that isolated world?  The people from the Tian Lang Dynasty were all toyed with by him, he even had time to save all of our lives in the process, except for the Central Capital’s Yang Family, I’m afraid that no force could train such a person.”

Recalling the experiences they had in the isolated world, Chen Xue Shu also wore a faint smile, if not for Yang Kai, all the cultivators from the Great Han Dynasty would have been completely annihilated.

“Whether it is him or not, we’ll soon know.”

Chapter 438: Provocation

    As the Senior Brother and Junior Sister were talking, they suddenly saw Yang Kai walk out from inside.

“Brother Chen, Junior Sister Su, I trust you’ve been well since we last met.” Yang Kai smiled warmly, seemingly quite happy about reuniting with the pair after so long.

Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu had both speculated that the Yang Kai they knew was the one from the Central Capital’s Yang Family, but after seeing this familiar face, both of them couldn’t help tensing up, even forgetting to answer, just stupidly standing in the same place and staring.

At this moment, the two did not know why their hearts clenched a bit, perhaps it was because they were worried about them having the qualifications to associate with such a person, causing them to feel somewhat lost and embarrassed.

“Do I have flowers on my face?”  Seeing them hesitate, Yang Kai snorted somewhat unhappily.

Hearing the affinity in his tone, the Senior Brother and Junior Sister returned to the sense and calmed their frayed nerves.

Chen Xue Shu took the initiative to say hello, “Junior Brother Yang, we meet again.”

Su Xiao Yu even smiled slightly as she looked Yang Kai over, commenting, “Why you!  You really are a person from the Central Capital Yang Family, we didn’t have a clue!  How could you not tell us!?”

“Junior Sister!” Chen Xue tugged Su Xiao Yu’s sleeve and chided, “The Yang Family has its own rules.  When their descendants go out for life experience they must not reveal their identity, Junior Brother Yang wasn’t deliberately deceiving you.”

“I know.” Su Xiao Yu smiled and stuck out her tongue playfully, “I was just a bit surprised is all.”

“It’s not too late to know now.  Come in.” Yang Kai warmly said, ushering the two inside.

All the way, Su Xiao Yu was like a twittering sparrow.  She had come from a second-class Sect, so although she was one of the future pillars of the Reflecting Moon Sect, her experience and vision was still quite lacking compared to those from first-class forces, let alone the Young Lords and Young Ladies from the Central Capital’s super-forces, suddenly being thrown into such an environment she was naturally curious.

Especially given that the person showing her around was someone she knew and had a good friendship with.

Su Xiao Yu’s questions were mixed and chaotic, just like a villager from the countryside visiting the big city for the first time, everything around her was new and fresh.

Yang Kai led the pair inside as he responded casually to Su Xiao Yu’s incessant questions while Chen Xue smiled and shook his head.

“Your Yang Family colossus right?  I heard that it occupies one-tenth of the entire Central Capital and that it takes three days and three nights on horseback just to ride a across its territory, is that true?”  Su Xiao Yu Yue asked excitedly.

However, Yang Kai hadn’t had a chance to answer before a sudden burst of mocking laughter rang out.

When this sound reached her ear, Su Xiao Yu couldn’t help but glance around her surroundings, only then did she discover that Yang Kai had led them to a large hall where many people had already gathered.

The various Young Lords and Young Ladies seated around the main table all wore expensive robes and gave of imposing auras.  Each of them also had strong guardians around them as well as numerous pieces of fine jewellery and flashy accessories which were obviously high grade artifacts.

In contrast, although she and Chen Xue both also wore a number of artifacts and were not dressed poorly, compared with those people it was still as different as Heaven and Earth.

The young man who had sneered at her question was one of those sitting at the table, and at the moment he was looking at her and her Senior Brother like a pair of country bumpkins.

Su Xiao Yu suddenly turned bright red, wanting to dig a hole and crawl inside so she could escape from these people’s stares.

Yang Kai frowned slightly before wearing a kind smile again, “Don’t listen to outside rumours, the Yang Family’s power isn’t small but it isn’t so exaggerated.”

“En.”  Su Xiao Yu’s eyelashes flashed brightly, even though Yang Kai had covered for her, she was still somewhat embarrassed.  Chen Xue Shu gently took her hand in order to comfort her, finally relaxing Su Xiao Yu’s tense mood.

She really hadn’t expected so many people of great status would be waiting here, if she had, she wouldn’t have asked so many silly questions.

It was true that she hadn’t experienced much of the world, but when she went out, she also knew what to say and what to do.  It was just because of Yang Kai’s easygoing and friendly reception that she had been too relaxed. Because she was of an ordinary origin but had found herself thrown into such an extraordinary situation that Su Xiao Yu had happily asked all the questions that had come to her mind, but that didn’t mean she wanted all of them to pass on to bystander’s ears.

“Come in, let me introduce you…” Yang Kai brushed over the awkward atmosphere and enthusiastically said, “These two are friends I met in an isolated world, Reflecting Moon Sect’s Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu.”

In that isolated world, Yang Kai had received a lot of guidance from Chen Xue Shu, the Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair had also invited Yang Kai to travel together with them.

At that time, they were both True Element Boundary Third Stage cultivators while Yang Kai had only reached the Separation and Reunion Boundary Third Stage, Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu had obviously wanted to take care of him.

For this reason, Yang Kai was very fond of both of them.

Chen Xue smiled and shook his head, “Junior Brother Yang is too polite.  In truth it was Junior Brother Yang who saved both myself and Junior Sister Su.  If it weren’t for Junior Brother Yang, we two may have already turned into withered skeletons.  We owe him our lives.”

“If you’re a friend of Yang Kai’s, then you’re this Dong Qing Han’s friend too.”  Dong Qing Han smiled and got cupped his fists. He knew that anyone who could be called Yang Kai’s friends were naturally people who shared a bond which wasn’t based on benefits and interests.

Such people would be heavily favoured by Yang Kai.  In general, the Young Lords from great forces and families all had a common problem which was when others approached them, they had to first suspect whether their intentions were pure or based solely on what profits they could make.

Therefore, Dong Qing Han treated these two very seriously.

“So it is Young Master Dong!” Chen Xue apparently had heard Dong Qing Han’s name before and quickly made a polite gesture.

“Purple Fern Valley, Fan Hong!”

“Greetings, Brother Fan.”

“Qiu Family, Qiu Yi Meng.”  The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady smiled slightly, her face filled with a noble air that in no way detracted from her attractiveness.

Chen Xue Shu was immediately shocked while Su Xiao Yu also showed great surprise as she stared at Qiu Yi Meng.

“So it is Young Lady Qiu, we have long heard of and admired you!”  This was not just flattery, Chen Xue Shu sincerely admired this famous young lady.

Qiu Yi Meng smiled happily, turning a glance towards Yang Kai, seemingly trying to say that even though he wouldn’t take her seriously, she was still a world famous member of the younger generation admired by many.

Everyone who sat around the table all gave Yang Kai face and greeted Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu politely, only Lu Song sat on his chair silently, his expression containing no small amount of disdain.

However, Chen Xue Shu still turned to him, smiled and cupped his fists, “Dare I ask this Young Lord’s name…”

He naturally saw that this person somewhat despised him and his Junior Sister, the ridicule he had uttered the moment they entered the hall was all the proof he required, but being from a second-class Sect, Chen Xue Shu knew it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a first-class family’s Young Lord to look down on them, so he didn’t feel any particular grievances about the other’s attitude.

Moreover, the people here should all be allies of Yang Kai so how could he embarrass him?  Instead Chen Xue Shu decided it was best if he could resolve the contradiction between him and Lu Song peacefully.

After all, if all went well, everyone here would be working together in the future, if there were contradictions between allies, it would only cause problems for Yang Kai who was the master of this place.

Unexpectedly though, when Chen Xue Shu lowered his attitude and spoke politely, Lu Song actually didn’t say anything back, like he hadn’t heard anything at all, simply sitting there sipping his tea disdainfully.

Yang Kai stared at this situation as his lips slowly formed into a cold smile.

Immediately after, he turned to look at Qiu Yi Meng.

In some sense, Lu Song was still Qiu Yi Meng’s cousin, Yang Kai wanted to question who had given Lu Song the guts to act so unruly in his house.

When his eyes met the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady’s eyes, Qiu Yi Meng actually just smiled meaningfully and slowly shook her head.

Seeing this, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly as the coldness in his gaze became even more severe.

Chen Xue Shu waited for a moment but when Lu Song failed to answer, he couldn’t help looking a little embarrassed, patiently asking one more, “This brother, is there some way I have offended you?  If so, this Chen hopes that the Young Lord can show magnanimity and forgive this one’s transgression.”

Hearing these words, Su Xiao Yu’s eyes instantly became a bit wet as she desperately tried to suppress her urge to cry.

Chen Xue Shu was her Senior Brother and her lover.  Being ridiculed by Lu Song was already a slap to her face, now seeing the beloved hero in her heart have to apologize and lower his head for her, how could she not feel bad?

Especially since the other party was simply ignoring them for no reason.

With tears in her eyes, Su Xiao Yu turned her head and silently appealed to Yang Kai in the hopes that he could settle this quarrel so her Senior Brother would no longer have to debase himself.

Seeing this, Yang Kai only smiled lightly at her as he silently mouthed a few words.  Su Xiao Yu didn’t see exactly what he said, but the meaning in his eyes was clearly conveyed.

“Don’t worry!”

Su Xiao Yu’s mood suddenly calmed down, knowing that Yang Kai wouldn’t sit by and do nothing; she quickly took a deep breath and stifled the tears in her eyes, no longer making a sound.

After Chen Xue Shu’s second attempt, Lu Song finally put down his teacup and shook his head arrogantly, “It’s nothing serious, you haven’t offended me.  It’s just that I am a solitary person not good at communicating, especially with those who don’t know their place, nothing more.”

Chen Xue Shu’s expression stiffened, but he still somehow managed a smile and said, “So that is it, this Chen was too presumptuous.”

Lu Song raised his eyes and finally looked at Chen Xue, chuckling somewhat, “You are from Reflecting Moon Sect?”

“Yes, we Senior Brother and Junior Sister come from Reflecting Moon Sect.”

“How many people have you brought with you to participate in this Inheritance War?”

Chen Xue Shu’s face became awkward as he hesitantly replied, “There are only my Junior Sister and myself for the time being, but…”

But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Lu Song’s sneer.

The Lu Family’s Young Lord stood up, crossing his arms behind his back as he lifted his chin slightly, giving off an aloof prideful aura, “Only the two of you…  Both of you only at the True Element Boundary Seventh Stage? You think such pitiful strength makes you worthy of participating in the Inheritance War? Do you think this is a children’s game?”

Facing such naked contempt, Chen Xue Shu was struck silent, his face blushing bright red with embarrassment once more.

Lu Song confidently stole a quick glance at Qiu Yi Meng.  Upon seeing the Qui Family’s Young Lady smile back at him with a look of approval, Lu Song felt further emboldened and decided to strike while the iron was hot and completely humiliate the two youths in front of him.

“Do you know how much my Lu Family has invested here?” Lu Song looked at Chen Xue Shu with contempt, “Two Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage masters, one Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage, two Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stages and twenty True Element Boundary cultivators along with countless supplies.”

    Inside the main hall, Lu Song’s arrogance was all but stifling.

Both Dong Qing Han and Fan Hong had their brows knit.  They were not as idiotic as Lu Song. They had already understood something, but since neither Yang Kai nor Qiu Yi Meng had spoken up, they didn’t plan to interject, instead choosing to stand by and watch things play out.

Receiving the praise from Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes, Lu Song sneered even harder as he insolently said, “If you want to reap some returns, you have to invest enough first!  Can you bring out so much manpower and resources? Oh, I apologize, I forgot, you’re nothing but a second-class Sect. You probably don’t even have this much strength, but at the very least, you should be able to produce half of what my Lu Family has brought.  If you can’t even do this much, I suggest you get the hell out and crawl back to wherever you came from.”

“Young Master!”  The Lu Family’s Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage master had a cold sweat on his forehead.  He was not young and inexperienced like Lu Song and had quickly discovered things were out a place, especially the coldness and dissatisfaction in Yang Kai’s eyes.

The young master of his family speaking so willfully in another person’s home, bullying and suppressing Yang Kai’s friends to the point of tears, wasn’t this the same as slapping Yang Kai’s face?

What’s more, when Yang Kai introduced Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu, the tone he used was quite serious.

These two may not have high birth or great strength, but Yang Kai obviously valued them highly!

If he continued to let Lu Song talk like this, things would become bad!

“Young Master, you’ve said so much, it’s best if you sit and drink some tea to wet your throat.”  Under the eyes of the public, he couldn’t speak directly, only able to quietly give Lu Song a reminder.

But Lu Song remained completely ignorant, still sneering disdainfully, his attitude more arrogant than ever.

Chen Xue Shu’s face was also getting uglier and uglier.

“Lu Song!”  Yang Kai suddenly said coldly as he stared that the Lu Family’s Young Master.

“What instructions does Young Lord Kai have?”  Lu Song immediately stopped chattering and asked quickly.  With Chen Xue Shu he could make a fuss, but he didn’t have the guts to do so directly towards Yang Kai.

“Get out.”

“Huh?”  Lu Song’s expression cramped as he stared in confusion.

“I’ll give you thirty breaths of time, if within thirty breaths you don’t leave my house, I’ll make you stay here forever.”  Yang Kai spoke extremely solemnly, an icy murderous intent flashing across his eyes.

Lu Song froze up completely; never had he dreamed that such a result would occur.  The meaning of Yang Kai’s words was clear, but that only made him more confused, the people he was expelling weren’t these two parasites from Reflecting Moon Sect, but himself.

“Young Lord Kai, are you cracking a joke?”  Lu Song’s mouth twitched slightly as his face gradually reddened.  If he were to be driven out by Yang Kai in front of so many people, he would have no face left at all.

“Do I look like I’m joking?  You have twenty-five breaths left!” Yang Kai snorted.

“Are you insane!?”  Lu Song roared as he glared at Yang Kai incredulously, “My Lu Family has dedicated so many resources to help you win this Inheritance War yet you want to throw me out?  Don’t you want our support?”

Yang Kai didn’t answer and instead just continued to stare at him coldly.

Perceiving this cold intent, Lu Song couldn’t help trembling slightly, suddenly thinking of something and asking, “My cousin is here to help you, she is one of your biggest boosts, aren’t you afraid that if you drive me out she will leave too.”

“If she’s stupid enough to support you then she can get the hell out as well!”  Yang Kai sneered even harder, “Twenty breaths.”

Qiu Yi Meng rolled her eyes at this comment.

“Cousin…” Lu Song finally began panicking and secretly regretted saying so much nonsense, glancing over at Qiu Yi Meng in hopes that she would say a few words to dull Yang Kai’s overbearing approach.

However, Qiu Yi Meng just sighed, “Lu Song, you should leave, he’s a man of his word. Nothing I say will change anything, if you push him too far, even I won’t be able to help you.”

“But…”

“Fifteen!” Yang Kai issued a final warning.

“Young Master, let’s go.”  The Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage master said through his tightly clenched teeth, letting out a long sigh after he had spoken the words.  Lu Song hadn’t seen the hidden intent behind this farce, but he understood it well. Saying anything more would yield no benefit so the best course of action would be to swiftly retreat.

Seeing Lu Song’s embarrassment and helplessness, Su Xiao Yu suddenly became flustered and excited, secretly gripping her fists.

All the insults and ridicule she had just received, at this moment, seemed to have been returned tenfold, causing her to gratefully glance over at Yang Kai.

Outside the mansion, Lu Song cursed angrily, “Bastard!  I brought both people and supplies to participate in the Inheritance War yet you actually have the gall to drive me out!  If that’s how you want to do things then I’ll accompany you! I’ll spread word of your deeds here today and see if anyone dares join you from now on!”

Inside the hall, Qiu Yi Meng shook her head and smiled bitterly.  If it wasn’t for the Lu Family’s Young Lord’s terrible performance, she wouldn’t have manipulated him into this situation.  The Lu Family was still one of the Qiu Family’s subordinates, so a certain amount of face should have been given to them, if there was any hope, Qiu Yi Meng would have been happy to let Lu Song stay here.

But after hearing his unrepentant threat, Qiu Yi Meng immediately affirmed that her decision was correct.  Forcing him out now had only let him lose face, if she had tried to let him remain; it was entirely possible Yang Kai would eventually kill him.

“Why did you encourage him?”  Yang Kai looked at Qiu Yi Meng with great meaning.  Lu Song was an idiot, but if Qiu Yi Meng didn’t support him, he wouldn’t have dared act so wantonly in front of himself.

Just now, he had acted so wild and unscrupulous that it was clear when Yang Kai went out to meet Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu Qiu Yi Meng must have given him some hints.

“En, I casually spoke one or two things to him,” Qiu Yi Meng nodded faintly, “But isn’t this result good?  I don’t think you wanted him to stay anyways.”

“Good, I wanted him to leave, but he had brought a lot of things with him so it wasn’t quite proper to just tell him to get out.” Yang Kai said with a smile.

“So you should thank me, shouldn’t you?” Qiu Yi Meng said frankly as she smiled back, not making any attempt to deny or evade.

With Yang Kai, she had no need to be polite, this man was simply too sharp and strong. If she were to continue playing coy, Yang Kai will definitely continue to lead her by the nose.

Yang Kai acted like he hadn’t heard her and instead turned to Chen Xue Shu and said, “Brother Chen, I’ve let you suffer.”

Chen Xue Shu scratched his head slightly as he looked somewhat embarrassed.  From the words of Yang Kai and Qiu Yi Meng, he also understood some of what had just happened, it seems he had been an unwitting participant in entrapping that Lu Song.

However, he didn’t mind, just returning his usual polite smile, “Being able to contribute to Junior Brother Yang is this Chen’s honour, I simply listened to a few unpleasant words, nothing worth mentioning!”

Wrinkling his brow next, Chen Xue Shu continued, “However, driving him out like this may not be good for Junior Brother Yang’s reputation.”

Yang Kai waved his hand and indicated it didn’t matter, following up, “Having him stay behind would be more troublesome, his attitude was bad. Even if he didn’t target you just now, he would inevitably have conflicts with other people in the future.  A single mouse dropping can ruin a pot of porridge, it’s best to eliminate such problems from the start. Just look at Qiu Yi Meng, though he’s her cousin, she also doesn’t want to take care of him.”

Qiu Yi Meng spat disdainfully as she retorted, “Don’t pin this on me.  You think I’m some kind of vicious cunning snake woman? It was you who drove him away in the end.  Now I have to explain things to Lu Liang… ha… I hope Lu Liang can understand my hardships. Why did he have to send out such a good for nothing…”

Perceiving the headache Qiu Yi Meng was having, everyone remained silent.

At that moment, a series of True Qi fluctuations came from outside, accompanied by a brief sound of battle.

Everyone was surprised, not understanding how a fight had suddenly broken out.  Yang Kai quickly released his Divine Sense to investigate but soon after his expression calmed down, glancing over at Qiu Yi Meng as he said, “I’m glad you helped get rid of that Lu Song so promptly.”

“What happened outside?” Qiu Yi Meng asked in amazement.

The others in the hall were also confused.

“He challenged a person he absolutely shouldn’t have provoked!”  Yang Kai sneered, “I really want to know how he’s survived so long with such terrible vision.”

As Yang Kai spoke, the battle outside calmed down and Lu Song’s wretched screams passed through the walls to everyone’s ears.  His cries were incredibly miserable.

“Just what the hell happened?”  Qiu Yi Meng said anxiously, almost unable to resist the urge to run outside to see the situation.

“Damn bastard!  You actually dare have ideas about I, your father’s property!”  A loud and familiar voice echoed from outside, and a moment later, Huo Xing Chen walked into the hall with an angry look, still cursing vigorously, “Who this Young Master is, how could he not see!?  That brat’s courage is really big enough.”

(Silavin: WTF. This guy’s luck is the opposite of all protagonists.)

After coming in, Huo Xing Chen shouted, “Hey, Yang Kai, just what the hell happened with that little bastard?  Why did he try to rob me without saying a word?”

“What do you have to be robbed of?”  Yang Kai was confused, his Divine Sense only allowed him to understand the general situation, so exactly what had transpire wasn’t clear to him.

“This Young Master’s treasures!” Huo Xing Chen waved his hand and shouted, “Bring it all in!”

Immediately, a group of people carrying a number of boxes walked in and placed them on the ground.

With his hands on his waist, Huo Xing Chen said disdainfully, “These things are what that bastard wanted to snatch from me, he must be insane!”

Qiu Yi Meng sighed while helplessly and hurriedly asking, “What did you do to him?”

“Cracked a few of his ribs and then threw him out.” Huo Xing Chen replied indifferently.

Rubbing her forehead, Qiu Yi Meng let out a long sigh before turning to look at Yang Kai with a wry smile.

When Lu Song was angered about losing all the precious materials he had brought when he was thrown out just now he coincidentally ran into Huo Xing Chen and figured he could snatch something to make up for his losses.  He was accompanied by two Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage masters while Huo Xing Chen only had two Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage guards, the difference in strength should have made robbing him easy.

However, he never expected that these two Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage masters were out of the ordinary and by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

Fortunately, Huo Xing Chen had enough discretion not to kill someone inside Yang Kai’s compound, or Lu Song’s life would likely have been forfeit.

Listening to Qiu Yi Meng briefly explain the situation, Huo Xing Chen nodded in understanding, “So that brat turned out to be your cousin.  I suppose it’s a good thing I went easy on him or else he might really be dead. Qiu Yi Meng, how do you have such an idiot for a cousin? “

“Enough about that. Why did you suddenly disappear last night? Where have you been until now?” Qiu Yi Meng swiftly changed the subject.

Huo Xing Chen couldn’t help looking a bit awkward as he replied in a greatly diminished tone, “I went back home to ask my old man for some supplies and people.”

“Did your father actually give you some of your family’s masters and resources?”  Qiu Yi Meng asked happily. If the Huo Family were to really support him, it would be a big boost to Yang Kai’s strength.

“Even if he didn’t want to, he had to.” Huo Xing Chen said with a tinge of embarrassment, not wanting to explain any further.  He then walked over and opened the boxes before turning to Yang Kai and declaring, “You can see for yourself, one box of Alchemy materials, one box of Artifact Refining materials, all of which are at least the Heaven Grade with a few pieces being Mysterious Grade, a box of finished pills used for healing, cultivating, and True Qi restoration, on top of that there is also a box of artifacts.  En, although their grade is a little worse they are still Earth Grade and above and should be useful for arming some of your men.”

After explaining the contents, Huo Xing Chen looked up at Yang Kai proudly and firmly declared, “These four boxes or this Young Master, pick whichever one you prefer.”

    The Huo Family Young Lord’s words were spoken without hesitation.

Everyone in the hall heard them and instantly shifted their eyes towards him and Yang Kai.  It seemed that there was something unusual going on between the two.

Both Lan Chu Die and Luo Xiao Man, the two big-breasted women, were so surprised they covered their mouths, glancing back and forth between the two young men several times.

(Silavin: Please! Do not awaken the darkness within Humanity!)

Yang Kai’s expression went black, knowing that Huo Xing Chen’s words were too easy to be misunderstood, loudly rebuking, “Explain things better.”

Huo Xing Chen also realized that there was a problem with his words and burst out into laughter before saying, “Don’t misunderstand, yesterday I made a bet with Brother Yang here about whether he would last the night, but it seems this Young Master’s eyes weren’t good enough leading to my loss!”

“What were the stakes?” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly became interested, she was curious about what Yang Kai and Huo Xing Chen had bet.

“If I lost, I’d give him my Golden Feather Eagle, if he lost… heh!”  Yang Kai looked at Huo Xing Chen with big grin, “The Huo Family Young Lord agreed to strip down and run ten laps around War City! “

After a brief silence, fits of laughter broke out while many of the young women couldn’t help blushing a bit.  Thinking of the scene where the Huo Family Young Lord in front of them had to run around War City in the state he was born in was quite something.

“A loss is a loss. There’s no need to advertise.”  Huo Xing Chen said, extremely depressed, suddenly becoming serious as he said, “Yang Kai, you choose, if you want these things, our gambling stakes will be written off.  If you insist though, this Young Master will strip right here and pay his debt, but these things and these people, even this Young Lord, will leave here permanently!”

Declaring so, Huo Xing Chen opened his folding fan and waved it a few times, “Since this Young Master dared to bet, he will certainly keep his word.”

As he spoke, his expression was relaxed, without any signs of tension, obviously he felt that with such a big temptation before him, Yang Kai would definitely accept the masters and materials he had brought.

Compared with letting him streak ten laps around War City, these things were much more valuable, as long as Yang Kai wasn’t a fool he should know how to choose.

Nodding as he smiled warmly, Yang Kai replied, “Then I must ask Young Lord Huo… to strip!”

Huo Xing Chen’s look gradually solidified, as the movement of his folding fan slowly became stiff, bitterly saying, “Young Lord Kai… Don’t be like this… there is no grudge between us, why must you act so ruthlessly?”

Qiu Yi Meng nearby giggled lightly.

Huo Xing Chen quickly turned her eyes to her and entreated, “Qiu Yi Meng, help me say a few words, or do you plan to just stand by and watch?”

However, Qiu Yi Meng just slowly shook her head, replying seriously, “I have no way of convincing this man, you already know this.”

Huo Xing Chen desperately swept his eyes around the crowd, eventually fixing on Dong Qing Han who was seated nearby, hurrying forward and asking, “This fat brother, you seem to have a close relationship with Yang Kai.  Help me say a few words…”

Dong Qing Han’s expression cramped. Huo Xing Chen calling him a fat brother obviously made him unhappy.  But even if he wasn’t pleased with this attitude, considering the identity of the opposite party, Dong Qing Han knew it wouldn’t be good to strike back maliciously so he simply wore a bitter smile and said, “Young Lord Huo, forgive me, this one’s word’s don’t carry much weight, for such matters…”

While he was trying to find an excuse, Dong Qing Han became even more annoyed when he discovered this Young Lord Huo was staring at Lan Chu Die standing beside him.  Seeing the obvious obscene light in the Central Capital Wolf’s eyes, he couldn’t help coughing.

“Beautiful.” Huo Xing Chen exclaimed without hesitation, glancing around and quickly discovering Luo Xiao Man as well, the light in the eyes becoming even stronger than before as hot air seemed to spill from his nostrils.

Luo Xiao Man quickly hid behind Fan Hong, hiding her face as she fidgeted nervously.

She had never before encountered such an unscrupulous person, someone who didn’t even try to hide the lascivious look on his face, he was far more shameless than even Yang Kai!

“Yang Kai, these people, are all your allies?” Huo Xing Chen suddenly asked.

“Good, they all arrived today.”

Huo Xing Chen’s face suddenly became serious, taking a few steps to arrive in front of Yang Kai before cupping his fists and saying, “Young Lord Kai, our earlier bet was really my, Huo Xing Chen’s fault for having eyes but failing to see.  I ask that you be the bigger of us and not pay such trivial events too much mind, after all, I’m just a delinquent Young Lord, how can I compare with you? Last night, I deeply realized my mistake so I rushed back to the Central Capital and earnestly begged my old man for this manpower and these supplies.  From now on, I, Huo Xing Chen, am willing to follow your commands whether they be storming the Heavens or marching on the gates of hell, and all I ask is that you not abandon me!”

Saying so, he suddenly sat down on the floor and declared, “In any case, I am already here, there’s no need to send me away.”

Qiu Yi Meng shook her head and sighed as she looked over at Yang Kai and commented, “I feel that it is better to let him leave.  If he really remains, none of the young women here will be able to relax.”

Yang Kai nodded immediately, “My thoughts exactly.”

“Young Lord Kai, Young Lady Qiu, I have done nothing wrong here, how can you be so cruel?” Huo Xing Chen all buy cried out, although he had played around with countless women, it was quite rare to meet beauties on Lan Chu Die and Luo Xiao Man’s level.  Not to mention, the women who he normally encountered were always only attracted by his identity and money.

“Fine fine.” Yang Kai sighed, apparently too lazy to keep entangling himself with this delinquent Yong Lord, waving his hand and saying, “Let your people put these things into storage.”

Yang Kai had never anticipated Huo Xing Chen would actually support him, much less bring along a fair quantity of people and supplies.

When dealing with an unruly person like Huo Xing Chen, he had to make him suffer a bit first or he wouldn’t be obedient in the future.  After suffering this loss, Yang Kai estimated that he would curb his ruffian behaviour in front of him quite a bit.

Finally hearing the words he was searching for, Huo Xing Chen was overjoyed and quickly jumped up from the ground and yelled at the group of people who had accompanied him, “What are you doing, pick up those supplies and take them inside! Also, make sure you all act prudently, don’t go around thinking that just because you’re from the Huo Family you can bully others, in this place, everyone is an ally, understood?”

“Yes!” The Huo Family’s people replied firmly before picking up the four boxes and hurrying away.

After taking care of business, Young Lord Huo smiled widely and stepped towards Luo Xiao Man, laughing as he asked, “Beautiful girl, may I know your name?”

Luo Xiao Man was terrified, swiftly fleeing to Qiu Yi Meng’s side and tightly pinching her sleeve, “Elder Sister Qiu…”

Unfortunately for Luo Xiao Man, the delicate and helpless appearance she portrayed as she desperately sought refuge only further stimulated Huo Xing Chen.

Unwilling to see her little sister bullied so, Qiu Yi Meng patted her hand and turned a sharp glare towards Huo Xing Chen as she sneered, “If he dares have any ideas about you, I’ll let him die without a burial!”

Huo Xing Chen let out a hollow laugh before nodding, “So the young miss has a strong backer.  Rest assured, since you are Qiu Yi Meng’s sister, I promise not to make a move against you!”

Before Huo Xing Chen could approach his next target, Lan Chu Die smiled brilliantly and said, “I’m Yang Kai’s Senior Sister!”

Huo Xing Chen stumbled and nearly fell after suffering this pre-emptive strike.

“Don’t make trouble,” Qiu Yi Meng snorted, “We all know you’re lascivious, but you shouldn’t be desperate to this extent.  What’s more, with your status as the Huo Family’s Young Lord, any kind of beauty will be able to be found for you. Continuing to show off these cheap methods here will only serve to embarrass yourself further.”

Huo Xing Chen scratched his head and smiled awkwardly as he said, “Even if they were to see me being shameless, even if they badmouth me. At the end of the day, it does not matter to me.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he took a seat nearby, the formerly aloof arrogance on his face converging significantly.

After waiting for him to calm down, Qiu Yi Meng smiled slightly and continued, “Yang Kai, I think you should begin making some plans for how to arrange your house. I’m afraid it is going to become more and more lively in the near future.  Yesterday, it was so quiet it was almost eerie, but today three major forces arrived to join you. The other Young Lords probably don’t have such charm. Although there still aren’t that many people, most of them aren’t familiar with each other, once more arrive, if they aren’t placed properly, some contradictions are bound to arise.”

Yang Kai simply chuckled and waved, “With you here, what need is there for me to handle such matters?”

Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Do you really want me to act as the house manager?”

“I don’t believe anyone else can,” Dong Qing Han interjected, “If it is the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady issuing instructions, my Dong Family will have no objections.”

“Purple Fern Valley also agrees.” Fan Hong nodded lightly.

Both of them represented first-class forces of similar strength, but in front of Qiu Yi Meng they still acted politely.  Not only was this young woman the leader of the Central Capital Qiu Family’s younger generation, her insight and personal strength were beyond question. Of all the people here, she indeed was the most qualified to coordinate the overall situation.

“Although it is embarrassing to say so, with just we Senior Brother and Junior Sister here, my Reflecting Moon Sect is also willing to listen to Young Lady Qiu’s instructions.  Additionally, I believe those who come later will also have no objections.” Chen Xue Shu politely added.

“Those who will come later?” Qiu Yi Meng expression brightened as she asked.

Yang Kai also looked at him curiously.

Chen Xue Shu smiled and said, “Because we weren’t sure that the Yang Kai here  was the one we knew, Junior Sister Su and myself went ahead in order to probe the situation.  If the one here was really Brother Yang, my Reflecting Moon Sect would agree to participate in the Inheritance War. If not, then my Reflecting Moon Sect would have immediately withdrawn.”

“So that’s how it is.  How long will it take for your fellow Sect Brothers and Sisters to come?”  Qiu Yi Meng didn’t show the least bit of disdain even though Reflecting Moon Sect was just a second-class Sect which made Chen Xue Shu very happy.

“They can arrive here in three days as they are already on the road.  They are only waiting for us to send word to them before they make their final decision about whether to participate or not.”  Chen Xue Shu smiled and looked over at Yang Kai, “Not only our Reflecting Moon Sect, but there are a number of others who traveled here together with us.”

“Oh, who?” Yang Kai asked somewhat surprised.

“A number of old friends.” Chen Xue Shu smiled, “In addition to our Reflecting Moon Sect, there are also members from Water Moon Hall, Pure Heart Palace, Soaring Feather Pavilion, and Ten Thousand Flower Palace!”

“The people from Ten Thousand Flower Palace are also coming to participate in this Inheritance War?”  Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help showing some shock, while Huo Xing Chen laughed raucously and said, “Interesting!  Too interesting! It seems my decision to stay was the right one.”

Ten Thousand Flower Palace was a very special Sect.  It was a first-class Sect made up of only women. Because their members were all women, they didn’t possess particularly strong forces and had never before experienced the Inheritance War, but this time, Ten Thousand Flower Palace had actually sent people to participate and had chosen to support Yang Kai.

“En, these Sects all lost a fair amount of strength in the recent battle against the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, so none of them originally planned to participate, but after everyone heard that one of the Yang Family Young Lords was named Yang Kai, each of them decided to investigate the situation.” Chen Xue Shu explained.

Chapter 441: Your Face Is Really Big

    “You having such thoughts are more than enough,” Yang Kai said gratefully.  In the last battle with the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, almost all of the first-class forces had participated, and all of those that did had suffered losses, some of which were quite severe.  Yang Kai had never expected that all of these people he had almost forgotten would rally together to participate in the Inheritance War simply because of he might be one of the Yang Family Young Lords.

In particular, the women from Ten Thousand Flower Palace were breaking a centuries old precedent to do so.  In order to do so, Yang Kai knew they had encountered many obstacles from their respective Elders.

The most important point though was that the events of last night hadn’t reached their ears yet, so they knew nothing about the current situation in War City.  Without knowing Yang Kai’s current status, they had still stepped forward voluntarily; this was truly something worth taking note of.

These people were friends he had made in that Isolated World and they traveled all this way simply because they sincerely wanted to help him, after all, Yang Kai had saved all of their lives from the hands of the Tian Lang Dynasty’s cultivators.

On top of all that, all of these youths were leaders amongst the younger generation in their respective Sects!

“Water Moon Hall, Pure Heart Palace, Soaring Feather Pavilion, Ten Thousand Flower Palace…”  Qiu Yi Meng eyes flashed brilliantly as a radiant glow seemed to adorn her face, her tone quite excited as she spoke, “All of these Sects are first-class forces.  Without even mentioning the first three, just having Ten Thousand Flower Palace come to support you in the Inheritance War! Yang Kai! Your face is really big! How did you meet all these people these past few years?”

Dong Qing Han and Fan Hong also stared at Yang Kai with amazement, never having expected his circle of contacts to be so wide.

Chen Xue Shu smiled and shook his head, “Actually, there are two other Sects we couldn’t get in contact with. If they learned about Brother Yang participating in the Inheritance War, I’m certain they would also come.”

“Oh?  Which two forces?”  Qiu Yi Meng asked full of interest, wondering just how deep Yang Kai’s bottom line was.

“One of them is the Endless Sea Island’s Asura Sect, and the other is the Tian Lang Dynasty’s Sen Luo Temple!”

These words cause everyone else in the hall to be stunned.

The Endless Sea Islands Asura Sect!  The only ones present who understood the details of this foreign Sect was Qiu Yi Meng.  It was a first-class force in the Endless Sea Islands and was in no way weaker than ordinary first-class forces of the Great Han Dynasty. In fact, because the Sects of the Endless Sea Islands occupied islands with particularly rich World Energy, they produced a number of materials that weren’t available in the Great Han Dynasty, making it easier for many Endless Sea Islands cultivators to increase their strength.

As for the Sen Luo Temple, everyone had heard of it!

Sen Luo Temple was the Tian Lang Dynasty’s super force!  Its status was equivalent to the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families.  As long as one had even a bit of worldly contact they would be familiar with this name.  The people gathered right now in Yang Kai’s mansion were all from first-class forces, so naturally these Young Lords and Young Ladies had heard of Sen Luo Temple.

“Young Lord Kai is too amazing!  Not only do you have friends from the Endless Sea Islands, but even people from other dynasties as well!  This Fan Hong is deeply impressed.”

“You lying bastard…”  Qiu Yi Meng gnashed her teeth, “Before, when I asked you how many supporters you had, you told me that there was none!   To think I almost believed your nonsense… Hah, I’d like to see you try to fool me again!”

Yang Kai shook his head with a chuckle and didn’t explain.

From the start, he hadn’t counted on the people mentioned by Chen Xue Shu at all, but the actions of these Sect’s disciples had given him a pleasant surprise.

“Junior Brother Yang, since it is really you, I should go back and deliver the good news so that the others from my Sect can come here at full speed.  Those from Soaring Feather Pavilion, Pure Heart Palace, and Ten Thousand Flower Palace also need to be informed. I’m certain they’re all guessing about whether or not you are the Yang Kai they all know. If they find out you are, I’m certain they’ll all be very happy.”  Chen Xue Shu proposed excitedly.

Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll be troubling you then.”

Pausing slightly, he then called out, “Ying Jiu!”

Suddenly, In the hall, a blurry figured appeared like a ghost.  No one knew when he had come or how long he had been hiding; in fact, it was more than likely he had been there the whole time.   The blurred figure swayed a few times before gradually condensing into a solid and the portrait of Ying Jiu appeared in the eyes of everyone.

Everyone in the hall was terrified, especially the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters who stood behind their Young Lords and Young Ladies, even they hadn’t noticed Ying Jiu’s aura before.

This Blood Warrior… was really unusual.

“Reporting.”

“Escort Senior Brother Chen out of town!”

“Yes!”

Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu hadn’t encountered any problems arriving here, but if they were to leave from Yang Kai’s compound, they would definitely be regarded as enemies by his brothers. If they didn’t have a master to escort them, it was likely they would be intercepted.

Each of Yang Family’s Young Lords had their own intelligence organization, and naturally they would do everything possible to stop new forces from joining their opponents.

Chen Xue Shu obviously knew this point, so he made no attempt to object, simply turning to Ying Jiu and politely cupping his fists solemnly and respectfully saying, “Many thanks for Senior’s protection.  Junior Brother Yang, Junior Sister Su and I should leave immediately.”

“Little Sister Su should stay behind. One of you is enough to deliver a message.”  Qiu Yi Meng suddenly spoke, smiling as she continued, “Don’t misunderstand, I just want to know more about what happened during your life experience in that Isolated World and how you all came to know this bastard.”

Hearing this, Chen Xue Shu smiled slightly helplessly before nodding, “Good, then Junior Sister Su will remain here and accompany Young Lady Qiu, Senior and I will return shortly!”

After that, he hurriedly cupped his fists towards Yang Kai before heading for the exit.

Ying Jiu nodded silently before his body blurred again, disappearing instantly.

“Qiu Yi Meng, you make arrangements for them.”  Yang Kai said lightly before turning to the others in the hall, “All of you are free to go about your own business, I don’t believe there will be any battles in the short term. You should take advantage of this opportunity to rest and familiarize yourselves with each other.”

“What are you going to do?” Qiu Yi Meng asked.

“Cultivate.” Yang Kai grinned and strode away.

“Cultivating madman!”  Qiu Yi Meng shook her head and smiled wryly.

“His strength isn’t without reason,” Huo Xing Chen muttered thoughtfully, immediately becoming slightly bitter, “If I put in half as much effort as him, the difference between us shouldn’t be so bad, right?”

Qiu Yi Meng was too lazy to reply.

Inside his room, Yang Kai sat cross-legged on the floor and examined the content of his Black Book space.

During this period of time he had been frantically collecting supplies, so the Black Book space was now full of all kinds of supplies and materials, as well as finished pills and artifacts. The Earth Grade artifacts Huo Xing Chen had brought today were also included.

With the addition of these artifacts, Yang Kai was capable of arming everyone currently supporting him.

By now, Yang Kai had built up a good force, but at this moment, seeing this dazzling array of materials, he still couldn’t help feeling a bit moved.

There materials included many high quality spirit grasses and herbs as well as numerous rare and precious metals, along with a variety of useful spirit pills.

If he could hire some good Alchemists and Artifact Refiners, this pile of materials would be enough to refine many rare and useful spirit pills and artifacts.

Yang Kai discovered that, unconsciously, he had actually gathered an amount of wealth not inferior to a mid-sized family, and this was just the beginning.

The Bamboo Knot Gang was still continually buying materials that flowed into the Central Capital from all over the world, and as more forces came to join him, the amount of supplies he had would only increase.

Not only was Yang Kai gathering materials, his brothers were as well; however, in this aspect, Yang Kai was one step ahead of them.

During the Yang Family’s Inheritance War, the first result most outsiders would notice is an increase in the price of all kinds of Alchemy and Artifact Refining materials.

As the price of these materials increased, the status of Alchemist and Artifact Refiners also rose.  A lot of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners would also arrive in War City and the Central Capital in order to wait for solicitation from the Yang Family’s Young Lords.

Yesterday was the first day of the Inheritance War, so the various Yang Family Young Lords had only wanted to compete for the first victory, but today, these same Young Lords had begun sending out invitations to high-level Alchemists and Artifact Refining Masters.  The rewards for service were naturally high as well, the higher the grade of Alchemist or Artifact Refiner, the more they would be paid.

The only ones who didn’t post such recruitment notices were the Eighth Brother Yang Quan and Yang Kai.

Yang Quan was well aware that he had no hope of victory, so even if he could attract some Alchemists and Artifact Refiners to work for him, they naturally wouldn’t treat him seriously, as for Yang Kai, he had no intention of seeking out outside Alchemist and Artifact Refiners.

He had already made arrangements!

The finished pills in the Black Book space were divided into their various categories, but all of the Yang attribute pills and those useful for cultivating Spiritual Energy had been taken out.

When he saw the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng, Yang Kai’s look couldn’t help but sink slightly.

Where had Su Yan gone?  He had sent hundreds of people from the Bamboo Knot Gang out to inquire, but to this day there was still no news.  Even his Grand Master Ling Tai Xu and the High Heaven Pavilion Elders seemed to have evaporated, leaving behind no trace of their whereabouts.

Letting out a sigh, he remembered that High Heaven Pavilion still carried the title of an Evil Sect.  The world was still reeling from the existence of the Demon Lord, so every day Yang Kai hadn’t won the Inheritance War was one more day he couldn’t clear High Heaven Pavilion’s name!

Being declared an Evil Sect wasn’t actually a big problem, the key was that the current Demon Lord hailed from High Heaven Pavilion.  This was the root cause of High Heaven Pavilion’s downfall. If it could cultivate a character like the Demon Lord, no one could say for certain it couldn’t cultivate a second one.

Collecting his thoughts, Yang Kai began to absorb the energy from the Yang attribute pills.

There were eight Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters in War City constantly monitoring all of their movements, something which made Yang Kai feel uncomfortable.  If he didn’t quickly break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, one day his many secrets might be discovered by these eight old men.

Right now, he had reached the True Element Boundary Eighth Stage, only two Minor Realms away from the Immortal Ascension Boundary. It was not far.

It took a full day for him to fully absorb the Yang attribute pills in the Black Book Space, but after he finished, Yang Kai could clearly feel that the Yang Liquid in his dantian and the True Qi in his meridians had increased in both density and purity.

The incense burner he had not used in a long time was also taken out again and ignited while he circulated his True Yang Secret Art.  Simultaneously, Yang Kai also began cultivating his Spiritual Energy by studying the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way.

The incense from the incense burner could suppress the speed at which he could circulate his True Yang Secret Art by exerting a kind of pressure on him.  By doing this, when the incense had been burnt through, the speed at which he could circulate his True Yang Secret Art would increase slightly; repeating this process over and over again would eventually yield great benefits.

As for studying the True Alchemic Way, for Yang Kai this was the fastest way for him to deplete his Spiritual Energy which was the most effective method he had of cultivating his Soul.

Chapter 442: A Maiden Is Most Beautiful When She Is In Love

    The True Alchemic Way was too vast and profound. Not only did it detail a variety of magical Alchemic Spirit Arrays, it also contained the experiences of countless Alchemy Grandmasters, more than enough for Yang Kai to study for several lifetimes, but if he wanted to extract useful information from the True Alchemic Way which was imprinted into his mind, he had to consume a lot of Spiritual Energy.

Doing so damaged his Soul, but with the aid of the Soul Warming Lotus such damage would be instantly repaired.

Proceeding in such a reckless manner and supported by a massive amount of resources, Yang Kai’s cultivation and Spiritual Energy grew at an obvious rate.

Every morning Yang Kai would practice his Tempered Body Record under the rising sun and then take a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid.

After such a long period of accumulation, the Myriad Drug Liquid’s cleansing effect on his body presented itself, allowing Yang Kai to cultivate faster and more efficiently than ever before.

The best part was that this increase in cultivation efficiency would accompany him for the rest of his life, a truly unlimited benefit.  As his strength further improved in the future, the effect he obtained from consuming the Myriad Drug Liquid every day also improved.

Such an effect was no different from a snowball rolling downhill!

War City, Eastern Corner, Eldest Brother Yang Wei’s compound.

After a few days of retreat, Yang Wei quietly went out and soon came across the Meng Family’s Meng Shan Yi who was standing in his courtyard, apparently he had been waiting here for some time and was deep in thought, his brow thoroughly wrinkled.

“Brother Meng,” Yang Wei greeted.

“First Young Master.” Meng Shan Yi heard this voice and looked up, happily replying as he hurriedly walked over and immediately brightened up, “First Young Lord’s seems to have made a breakthrough in his Secret Art.”

Yang Wei nodded lightly and affirmed, “En, I am about to advance to the Immortal Ascension Second Stage, I should break through within a few days.”

Meng Shan Yi couldn’t hide his admiration and envy.  Although he was also the eldest son of the Meng Family and his aptitude was excellent, he was still only at the True Element Ninth Stage still.  Even though he was about to break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, he was still far behind the Yang Family’s Eldest, Yang Wei.

[Amongst the youths of the Central Capital there are quite a few geniuses!]  Meng Shan Yi thought to himself.

Liu Qing Yao of the Liu Family was a given, and it was also well known that the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady Qiu Yi Meng had broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage two months ago.   Besides these three, there were no others who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary yet, but there were many on the verge of breaking through.

This made Meng Shan Yi feel a faint sense of crisis.

Although he was the Meng Family’s First Young Lord, and it didn’t really matter if his strength wasn’t the highest amongst his generation, but which man didn’t dream of being strong?

“What are you doing here?”  Yang Wei asked calmly.

“It’s like this First Young Master, since you arrived in War City and entered retreat, it has been four days, I felt it best to remain here in order to update you on the situation as soon as you exited.”

Yang Wei nodded lightly and turned around, “Come inside to speak.”

Inside the room, the two sat down around a small table and Yang Wei silently listened to what had happened on the first night to his Third Brother Yang Tie. Throughout the first part of the session, his expression remained indifferent, as if everything had gone exactly according to his expectations.

But when he heard that Yang Kai had intervened and not only managed to obtain the flag but also captured Yang Tie from under everyone’s noses, his eyes couldn’t help narrowing slightly, his face finally showing a hint of surprise.

Meng Shan Yi smiled bitterly, “Your Ninth Brother’s actions were too unexpected. Both Yang Kang and Yang Ying went for wool but came back shorn.  As an aside, it seems he let Yang Tie go back to the Central Capital instead of exchanging him for supplies from your family.

“He even did that?” Yang Wei asked somewhat confused.

“That’s why I said his actions were too unexpected.”  Meng Shan Yi shook his head slowly, “I can’t understand what he is thinking or how he will act.  At first, I thought he would continue to take action and attack Yang Quan while everyone else consolidated their forces, but he hasn’t made any moves at all these past few days.”

“If he’s half as intelligent as he appears he wouldn’t do that!” Yang Wei’s eyes flashed.

“Good, I didn’t understand it at first either but after some thought, it became obvious Yang Kai didn’t want to stir up everyone’s collective resentment.” Meng Shan Yi’s expression showed a hint of admiration, “He looks farther ahead than I do.”

“Don’t underestimate my Ninth Brother, my instincts tell me he’s not done yet.”  Yang Wei frowned, recalling his encounter with Yang Kai in front of the Elders’ Hall when his True Qi fluctuated involuntarily.

“First Young Master means…?”

“Ninth Brother may be my biggest enemy in this Inheritance War, even stronger than my Second Brother!”

“How is that possible?” Meng Shan Yi clearly didn’t believe it, seemingly thinking that Yang Wei was overestimating Yang Kai too much.  “Although many people have come to join him over the past few days, all of the Young Lord’s compounds have seen similar expansion. The friends you have made over the past few years have also begun gathering here now.  On that note, many of them would like to see you.”

“En,” Yang Wei nodded gently, “I’ll go arrange things with them personally.”

Meng Shan Yi suddenly showed some excitement, “Does First Young Master want to take action then?”

“What action?” Yang Wei looked at him curiously.

Meng Shan Yi’s brow furrowed slightly at this question, “Does First Young Master not plan to attack Yang Quan?  Yang Kai shouldn’t be willing to cause trouble right now, thus drawing too much attention to himself while all of your other brothers are still in the process of reorganizing their forces after the losses they suffered.  Right now is a rare opportunity! As long as First Young Master sets out in force, I don’t believe Yang Quan will resist too strongly, after all, you are still the Eldest Brother, your prestige in your younger sibling’s hearts should still carry some weight.”

Yang Quan only had one Blood Warrior at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage with him while his mother had come from a second-class force.  This kind of defensive power wouldn’t be difficult to breach with Yang Wei’s current forces.

“If we act now it is definitely possible for me to subdue Eighth Brother.”  Yang Wei didn’t refute Meng Shan Yi’s analysis, “Even if he does resists, it will still be futile in the end.”

“If so, why does First Young Master hesitant?” Meng Shan Yi asked, slightly puzzled.

“If there’s not enough benefits, I won’t act!”  Yang Wei shook his head, “This topic ends here. When the right opportunity to attack arises , I will attack.  For now, Brother Meng, accompany me to meet those people.”

Saying so, Yang Wei stood up and walked out.

Although Meng Shan Yi was a bit displeased in his heart, he didn’t say anything; however, he couldn’t help wondering… would eliminating Yang Quan really not yield any benefits?  Forget about the fact that Yang Quan himself and his flag could be used to exchange for a large quantity of materials for the main family, after he had been removed from the competition, his allies could be recruited to Yang Wei’s side.

How were there no benefits!?

At this moment, three hundred kilometers away from War City.

Along a dusty road, two beautiful and enchanting women were laughing as they walked forward.  Beside these two great beauties were two pure and innocent young girls, one of whom was quite lively, constantly calling out Aunt Xiang or Aunt Lan as she tittered on about whatever interesting topics she could think of, causing the two beautiful women to show warm smiles.

The other girl was, in contrast, was very quiet.  This girl was covered by a thin veil which perfectly hid her true appearance from those around her, but her pair of bright sparkling eyes which were exposed was indescribably beautiful while still appearing as tranquil as shimmering water.  Adorning her forehead was a light blue gem which only further emphasized her otherworldly charm; she was like an immoral fairy that had not been tainted by worldly matters.

As she gazed in the direction of War City, the eyes of this veiled girl shone with expectation and joy mixed with a touch of shyness.  Every time the figure in her memory emerged, it seemed that her cheeks hidden under her veil would blush lightly.

A maiden is most beautiful when she is in love.

Right now, she was the most radiant she had ever been.  Even for the two beautiful women who interacted with her frequently, this appearance of hers couldn’t help surprising them a bit.

The livelier girl suddenly came over and took the arm of the veiled and giggled mischievously, “Is Elder Sister thinking about my cousin?”

Hearing these words, Xia Ning Chang immediately became shy as her delicate earlobes glowed a bright red as she made a flurried attempt to deny, “I… that is… I mean, don’t talk nonsense!”

“Hehehe,” Dong Qing Yan laughed happily as she followed up, “Nonsense?  Then why is it that whenever I mention him Elder Sister blushes?”

“Am I blushing?”  Xia Ning Chang couldn’t help but stretch out her hands and cover her cheeks, only to remember shortly after that she was still wearing her veil.  Even if she was blushing, others definitely couldn’t see it.

However, she still felt her cheeks were quite hot.

“Just look how flustered you are.” Dong Qing Yan continued to tease, “Elder Sister Xia, what do you like about my cousin?  I can only think of him as someone normal, nothing special at all.”

“I don’t like him.” Xia Ning Chang denied.

“Then why was it when you heard he would participate in the Inheritance War you immediately left from Hidden Cloud Peak?  Master was quite upset, he said that without Elder Sister Xia around there was no one else to discuss the Alchemic Way with.”

“I am his Little Senior Sister, Senior Sisters have to take care of their Junior Brothers.  It’s a matter of course.” Xia Ning Chang whispered in a pitifully quiet voice. Even she felt that this reason was too far-fetched, unable to convince anyone including herself.

Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan who were nearby and overheard this conversation between the two girls couldn’t help but laugh.

For this pure, quiet, and innocent girl Xia Ning Chang, the two beautiful women had nothing but affection.  Neither of them had children of their own, but after spending many months together with her on Hidden Cloud Peak, they regarded her as their own daughter.  Xia Ning Chang being in love with Yang Kai was something they were well aware of and had no objections to.

From their perspective, only a Young Lord from the Yang Family could reluctantly be worthy of their daughter and have the ability to protect her.

“Do you really not like cousin?”  Dong Qing Yan stared at her meaningfully.

Xia Ning Chang stared hard at her for a long time before somehow managing to nod stubbornly.

“Thank goodness, that means I can marry cousin later without any worries.” Dong Qing Yan giggled impishly as she casually let out this shocking statement.

“Ah…” Xia Ning Chang was stunned as she stared at Dong Qing Yan in a dumbstruck manner.

“Alright, don’t tease you Elder Sister Xia anymore, you’ll make her cry.”  Aunt Xiang couldn’t stand by any more and reached out to pull Dong Qing Yan to her side, quickly glancing over at Xia Ning Chang and whispering, “Don’t listen to her nonsense, she’s just playing with you.”

Xia Ning Chang gently nodded and smiled, “It’s alright for Little Sister Dong to marry Junior Brother.  If you become husband and wife, you will definitely grow closer.”

Hearing this comment, Dong Qing Yan immediately looked over and Xia Ning Chang and waved her hands frantically, “I don’t want to marry someone like my smelly cousin who always runs around and I can never see.  I’d rather marry someone ordinary who will love and spend his life with only me. That would make me happiest.”

Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan were both secretly surprised by the magnanimity of Xia Ning Chang.  This girl was clearly interested in Yang Kai and dearly missed him when he had left Hidden Cloud Peak, but when she heard someone else wanted to marry him, she was not only not against it but instead agreed with a big smile.

Chapter 443: Grandmaster Hides Shortcomings

    Xia Ning Chang obviously didn’t want to continue exploring this topic so she quickly changed the subject by asking, “Aunt Xiang, isn’t it a bit inappropriate for Medicine King’s Valley to have sent out so many people this time?”

As she asked, she glanced back over her shoulder.

Behind the four women was Old Man Meng. He wore a grim expression and sighed.  When he thought about how they would soon see Yang Kai, that bastard boy soon, his heart ached for his treasured apprentice.

As these thoughts raced through his head, Meng Wu Ya let out another long sigh, but thinking about how he was helpless to stop things now that they had gone this far, all he could do was try his best to squeeze out a smile uglier than if he had simply broken down in tears.

Behind Treasurer Meng, there was another group of people, all of them dressed in white, numbering at least thirty!  These people didn’t possess great strength, even their leader Qin Ze was just a trivial Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage master, the weakest of them only having Peak Separation and Reunion cultivations.  If such a group of people were plunged into a fight with a true master, they might not even have the strength to run away.

However, these people were all Alchemists from Medicine King’s Valley!  Even if they didn’t possess great strength, they were still highly respected existences; no one would dare take the initiative to offend them.

Alchemists were also divided into grades corresponding to the grades of Precious Treasures, i.e. Common Grade, Earth Grade, Heaven Grade, Mysterious Grade…. Each of these grades further divided into low, mid, and high rank.

A flower symbol representing the Alchemist’s grade was generally displayed on their chest.

The number of petals of this flower represented the Alchemist’s grade, while its colour, gold, silver, or white, corresponded to high, mid, and low rank.  Through the embroidering on their chest, one could see at a glance what level an Alchemist was.

These Alchemists from Medicine King’s Valley each proudly displayed the floral emblems on their chests.  All of them had least two petals while more than half had three-petals. On top of all that, Qin Ze even had four petals!

Four petals, this meant he was a Mysterious Grade Alchemist!

Throughout the entire Great Han Dynasty the number of Alchemists qualified to wear the four-petal emblem numbered only a few dozen, one quarter of which belonged to Medicine King’s Valley.

Those whose embroidered flowers had three petals were Heaven Grade Alchemist who could confidently refine Heaven Grade pills while those with two petals were Earth Grade Alchemists.

“Master Aunt, what instructions do you have?”  Qin Ze saw Xia Ning Chang glance back and quickly approached her, respectfully asking if she had some request of him.

Xia Ning Chang hastily replied in a somewhat flustered voice, “Senior Brother Qin, don’t call me that, I am still younger than you.”

However, Qin Ze’s expression remained extremely serious as he shook his head, “That will not do, Master Aunt.  Since Master Uncle Xiao announced to Medicine King’s Valley that you are his peer, then no matter the difference in our ages, you are my, Qin Ze’s Master Aunt!”

Xia Ning Chang couldn’t help smiling bitterly, not knowing what to say.

She had heard that Yang Kai was going to participate in the Inheritance War and had immediately said she wanted to go to the Central Capital alone with Meng Wu Ya to help, but Xiao Fu Sheng had suddenly made a declaration, summoning thirty Medicine King’s Valley disciples to accompany them.

Xia Ning Chang had resided on Hidden Cloud Peak for so long but only Hidden Cloud Peak’s people knew about her expertise in Alchemy.

Alchemists by nature were an arrogant group of people, so Qin Ze and the other disciples of Medicine King’s Valley looked down on Xia Ning Chang.  As a result, Xiao Fu Sheng’s decision had stirred up many feelings of jealousy.

During the Grandmaster’s announcement, he had proclaimed that Xia Ning Chang’s achievements in Alchemy were equal to his own, even somewhat beyond, and that in time she would certainly reach a height even he could not reach.

Qin Ze naturally did not believe this. After all, in this world, who could compare with Grandmaster Xiao?

Extremely confident in his abilities after promoting to Mysterious Grade Alchemist a few days ago, Qin Ze boldly challenged Xia Ning Chang to a contest.

The result was a crushing defeat!  After this incident, Qin Ze sincerely admired Xia Ning Chang and no longer dared to be disrespectful to her.

Alchemists were like this, they had their own unyielding pride. If you wanted them to respect you, then you had to conquer them in the Alchemic Way.  In this way, Alchemists were a relatively straightforward group.

Usually, disciples of Medicine King’s Valley were unable to even see Xiao Fu Sheng, much less learn Alchemy from him, but now another Alchemist Grandmaster comparable to Xiao Fu Sheng had appeared, and she was so young. Naturally they would be respectful towards her.

In the beginning, these thirty people had been a hundred kinds of unwilling, but after her contest with Qin Ze their attitudes did a complete turn-around as all of them couldn’t be more eager to follow Xia Ning Chang in order to learn the Alchemic Way from her.

However, Xia Ning Chang clearly knew that although Xiao Fu Sheng said he had convened these thirty Alchemists to follow her in order to study the Alchemic Way, he was in fact doing so to help Yang Kai.

“It’s nothing, we were just chatting.” Aunt Xiang waved her hand.

Qin Ze nodded without complaint and immediately retreated back, leading the other thirty Alchemists with him.

“If I recall correctly, Medicine King’s Valley has never participated in the Inheritance War before. I’m afraid my actions this time will lead to criticism.” Xia Ning Chang said worriedly.

In response, Aunt Xiang smiled and said softly, “Don’t worry, what Medicine King’s Valley chooses to do, no one is qualified to comment.  But it seems Grandmaster Xiao really cares about Yang Kai, if not, how could he have issued such an order? Mobilizing thirty talented Alchemists and even instructing your Aunt Lan and myself to accompany you because he was afraid of what might happen to Yang Kai.”

Xia Ning Chang nodded silently.

How could Xiao Fu Sheng not care about Yang Kai?  Yang Kai had made both her and Lu Si bring him two sets of Alchemic Spirit Arrays which he had painstakingly studied in this period of time.  For Grandmaster Xiao, these two sets of Spirit Arrays were more valuable than any other treasure in this world. Given their source, how could Grandmaster Xiao not concern himself with Yang Kai’s safety?

Who cares if Medicine King’s Valley had remained neutral for thousands of years, what did it matter if Medicine King’s Valley didn’t involve itself in worldly matters, in front of these two Spirit Arrays, everything else was unimportant!

This order had even nearly caused Grandmaster Xiao and the Valley Lord to quarrel.

Thinking about Grandmaster Xiao acting willfully and hiding shortcomings, Xia Ning Chang couldn’t help but smile.

After a while, the sky grew dark and everyone stopped to rest at the edge of a river.

Gazing off in the direction of War City, Xia Ning Chang’s heart pounded, [Tomorrow, I’ll be able to see Junior Brother again.  When we meet, how should I greet him? What should I say first?

For a time, Xia Ning Chang fell into such contemplation.

……

Yang Kai Mansion, inside his room.

As the incense burner puffed, and a light fragrance filled the room, Yang Kai’s True Yang Secret Art seemed to be circulating at a snail’s pace, as if his True Qi was being pressured by a mountain, barely able to advance forward.  At the same time, Yang Kai’s mind was completely absorbed in exploring the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way; as he gradually became aware of the hidden profundities of the world, his state of mind was unconsciously tempered.

As his understanding of the True Alchemic Way grew, Yang Kai began to realize just how precious the knowledge it contained was.  Every now and then, his expression would change, sometimes displaying shock, sometimes excitement, sometimes confusion.

After an unknown amount of time, absorbed in the True Alchemic Way, Yang Kai had gradually become unaware of the outside world’s situations, his entire being focusing on absorbing and understanding this profound knowledge.

The experiences of various Alchemy Grandmasters were also slowly being digested in his mind.

A brand new picture seemed to be slowly unfold in his mind; by peering into the True Alchemic Way, Yang Kai gradually discovered that his understanding of the Martial Dao was also enhanced.

Facing this kind of temptation, Yang Kai could barely control his impulse to delve into the Alchemic Way in order to experience first hand the knowledge he had gleaned, to see what new horizons would open up before him when he successfully refined his first pill.

During this time, remembering what Xiao Fu Sheng had once said to him, Yang Kai did his best to suppress this desire.

Before one reaches the Immortal Ascension Boundary, they must not practice Alchemy!  Now, he had even more reason to break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary as soon as possible.  After reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary, once he found some spare time, he would try his hand at Alchemy.

The improvement of a cultivator’s strength not only depended on their accumulation of True Qi, physical training and their own understanding of the Martial Dao were the keys to successfully breaking through; therefore, when cultivators encountered bottlenecks, they wouldn’t choose to enter retreat but instead would go out into the world, hoping to encounter some special opportunities which would improve their own comprehension, allowing them to push past their bottleneck.

Yang Kai faintly felt that exploring the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way would not only increase his Spiritual Energy, but would also greatly improve his understanding of his own strength.

Immersed in this situation, Yang Kai was unaware of how long it was before he gradually woke up.

Opening his eyes, his True Yang Secret Art was still circulating slowly, but he could feel it was obviously faster than its initial speed.  The True Qi in his body had apparently adapted to the current pressure and as time passed it would only get faster and faster. .

Moreover, his current True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivation seemed to have consolidated considerably.

Letting out a gentle breath, Yang Kai felt a little happy.

Standing up, he put the incense burner back into the Black Book space and then used a strand of pure True Qi to created a swirling vortex at his fingertip to absorb all lingering fragrance in his room.

The incense released from the burner was far too overbearing.  With the exception of himself, who had the assistance of the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, Yang Kai estimated that anyone under the Immortal Ascension Boundary would be unable to resist its effects.

If one of the maids in the house were to walk in and accidently sniffed this scent, the result would likely be their immediate death.

Finished with the clean up, Yang Kai walked towards the door and stepped out.

Having been in retreat for a few days now, the people who Chen Xue Shu had mentioned should have already arrived.  As the mansion’s master, naturally he should show up to welcome these old friends.

As he made his way through the winding corridors, halfway to the main hall, Yang Kai suddenly saw Lan Chu Die and Luo Xiao Man talking.

Seeing these two girls sitting together and chatting happily was an eye-catching sight.  Both of them shared a common feature, their towering peaks which hid deep valleys that seemed to suck in other’s vision.

The two of them obviously had a number of common topics to discuss…

“Senior Sister Lan, Luo girl!”  Yang Kai called out to them casually.

Lan Chu Die immediately glanced over towards him and smiled somewhat happily while Luo Xiao Man nearly jumped out of her seat, her face going pale white as her eyes darted back and forth.

“Are you really so scared of me?”  Yang Kai smiled and stared at Luo Xiao Man with interest.  The latter’s eyes flashed as she searched for a place to hide, but there was no such place nearby, eventually only able to turn to Lan Chu Die and silently pray for help.

“Junior Brother, don’t bully her.” Lan Chu Die glanced over at Yang Kai before suddenly wearing a strange expression, taking out a handkerchief and gently wiping his face, smiling as she said, “Your face is a bit messy.  Junior Brother, you should have a good wash, if you appear before people looking like this it will be bad for your reputation.”

Seeing her act so intimately, Yang Kai’s mouth twitched slightly before wearing a meaningful grin, “Senior Sister Lan is too thoughtful, I will pay more attention from now on.”