Martial Peak

Looking at the backs of the two, Liu Qing Yao’s brows wrinkled slightly, his expression slowly sinking as he slowly shook his head, “Using external forces isn’t a real display of skill!”

Even if he said this, his speed also suddenly rose; obviously he wasn’t willing to fall behind.

A distance of fifty kilometers wasn’t far, so after slightly less than an incense stick worth of time later the three youths arrived at Po Jing Lake.

Yang Kai landed on the eastern bank, Yang Zhao the west, while Liu Qing Yao set down right in the centre.

It wasn’t until now that Yang Kai had his first good look at the rumored Central Capital’s First Young Lord!

Wearing a blue robe that seemed neither expensive nor vulgar, he didn’t appear very old, about twenty-seven or so at most, his posture as straight as a sword. His build wasn’t particularly burly but the force which seemed to pulse from his body couldn’t be ignored. His expression was indifferent, seemingly not caring the slightest for worldly matters, but the light in his eyes revealed a kind of aloof domineering arrogance.

This kind of arrogance had nothing to do with pride or pretense but was instead part of his innate demeanor, an aura a man who had stood at the top of the world for many years would naturally possess. It was as if he stood above the clouds and overlooked the scurrying mortals beneath him.

[He’s no soft persimmon!] From only this brief contact, Yang Kai had clearly understood this point.

Although outwardly his cultivation was only Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage, Liu Qing Yao’s combat strength was certainly not only comparable to an ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary Third Stage cultivator; however, his true power could only be known by fighting him.

Remember the heroic proclamation this person had released before, Yang Kai grinned slightly; this subtle movement attracted the attention of Liu Qing Yao, his cold yet simultaneously extremely piercing eyes suddenly glancing over at Yang Kai as a wave of Divine Sense unscrupulously swept over him.

Yang Kai’s brow couldn’t help wrinkling, his expression becoming a bit disgruntled.

Although his opponent’s action couldn’t possibly threaten him and could even be said to have no malice behind it, such a blatant use of his Divine Sense to spy on him was still a rather uncouth display.

Such a provocative action could easily lead to unnecessary disputes and battles, so most people refrained from doing this kind of thing; however, it was apparent that Liu Qing Yao did this because he didn’t think much of Yang Kai.

Sure enough, after thoroughly examining him with his Divine Sense, Liu Qing Yao no longer paid any attention to Yang Kai, just conspicuously standing there silently by himself.

No one knew why he had run over this time.

Along another shore of Po Jing Lake, a group of people had arrived in advance; naturally, it was Eldest Brother Yang Wei’s people. After seeing Yang Kai and Yang Zhao arrive, Yang Wei just nodded faintly to them before turning his gaze towards Liu Qing Yao, his eyes narrowing unconsciously as his True Qi fluctuated slightly.

Rumor had it that when Yang Wei returned to the Central Capital, he had fought a battle with Liu Qing Yao, but no one knew the final result of that battle.

Now that the two sides had met again, it was only to be expected that some sparks would fly.

“Immortal Ascension Boundary Second Stage, the Eldest Young Lord’s cultivation speed is quite fast!” Surprisingly, Liu Qing Yao actually took the initiative to say hello to Yang Wei.

“My thanks for Young Lord Liu’s assistance; that battle helped me understand a lot.” Yang Wei replied indifferently.

Liu Qing Yao nodded lightly and said, “If you still wish to comprehend more, this Liu is always willing to oblige!”

The expression on Yang Kai and Yang Zhao’s faces suddenly became weird, exchanging a glance with each other across the lake, both of them seeing the deep meaning in the other’s eyes.

These two men had only said a few words, but the meaning in the words was quite intriguing.

It seems like the rumors were true that Yang Wei had lost his battle with Liu Qing Yao, and it was even likely that he was defeated quite miserably! Otherwise, why would Liu Qing Yao speak such haughty words?

Liu Qing Yao’s arrogance didn’t make Yang Wei angry, his expression not changing in the slightest, only nodding lightly, “I will definitely go, I hope at that time Young Lord Liu won’t be too surprised!”

Liu Qing Yao slowly shook his head, “It’s impossible for me to be surprised, because you’re not my opponent!”

As soon as this sentence came out, the allies behind Yang Wei suddenly felt some indignation, all of them turning angry stares towards Liu Qing Yao.

Disparaging Yang Wei in front of them was no different from shaming them directly.

Yet Yang Wei still showed no signs of anger, simply raising his hand to stop the chattering of the crowd behind him, solemnly saying, “My not being your opponent now doesn’t mean I won’t be in the future. And even if, in the future, I am not your opponent, that doesn’t mean no one from my Yang Family will be your opponent. Young Lord Liu, I am not the strongest of the Yang Family’s younger generation, but I know you are the strongest of the Liu Family’s. The limit of your Liu Family is you, but the limit of my Yang Family is still unknown.”

Liu Qing Yao expression finally changed, showing a look of interest, “Amongst the Yang Family’s younger generation, is there really someone stronger than you?”

After a pause, he turned his eyes to Yang Zhao, “The Second Young Lord perhaps?”

“Haha...” Yang Zhao couldn’t help laughing lightly, “Young Lord Liu surely jests, compared with Eldest Brother, Second Brother doesn’t measure up. Whoever you’re looking for, don’t look at me.”

Liu Qing Yao chuckled, “If it is not the Second Young Lord, then who else? Only you and the Second Young Lord from your Yang Family’s direct descendants are slightly worthy of attention, the others...”

Slowly shaking his head as he spoke, he casually glanced over at Yang Kai and immediately sneered.

Watching all this, Yang Wei, who was always aloof and indifferent, suddenly burst into laughter, “Young Lord Liu, since you can’t see it yourself, it means you’re already not his opponent.”

Liu Qing Yao’s expression sank as he stared at Yang Wei across the distance. He didn’t understand why this Yang Family Eldest Young Lord was so certain, because no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t see any of the Yang Family direct descendants being able to match himself.

However, if there truly was such a person, and even he couldn’t see any clues, it meant that this individual was indeed a scary person!

[If he really can deceive my eyes, he has already won!], Liu Qing Yao thought.

“Eldest Young Lord, I hope what you said is true.” Liu Qing Yao succinctly said.

“You’ll see soon enough!” Yang Wei nodded gently.

Yang Kai who had been sitting on the sidelines had not interrupted once. However, he always felt that Yang Wei’s eyes had been aiming at him, intentionally or unintentionally.

[What did Big Brother notice?] Yang Kai thought to himself suspiciously.

After a short while, Huo Xing Chen and a large number of people arrived and landed behind Yang Kai. Similarly, Yang Zhao’s people gathered around him.

When these people arrived, Yang Zhao finally relaxed and quietly put down his guard. Just now, he was obviously worried that Yang Wei would act against him.

Although he had a Blood Warrior guarding him at all times, it was still dangerous to come here all alone.

Soon after, more and more people gathered on the banks of Po Jing Lake. Yang Kang, Yang Shen and Yang Ying also arrived.

After such a long period of recruitment, how much support the six brothers had gathered could be distinguished at a glance.

The first three to arrive had brought roughly the same number of people, so even if there were some slight differences in strength, it wasn’t obvious; however, the later three’s situation was undoubtedly worse. Even though these three Young Lords had one of the Eight Great Families as an ally, it was still difficult for them to gather much support with just their personal connections.

When they noticed this gap in strength, the faces of Yang Kang and the others suddenly became ugly.

Yang Kai, who everyone initially thought would be eliminated on the first night, was now far ahead of them.

If this were to continue, their situations would only get worse and worse.

All three of them secretly thought to themselves that they must redouble their efforts to recruit supporters after this event. At the very least, they couldn’t lag behind Yang Kai.

Not only did the six Yang Family Young Lords gather at Po Jing Lake, but the cultivators who were spectating the events in War City also came to watch the show, forming a big circle around Po Jing Lake.

However, these people had enough common sense to stay far away from the lakeside, only moving close enough to get a good view.

No one would take their own life lightly. With so many powerful masters gathered together, once they accidentally got caught up in the fray they wouldn’t even know how they died.

The pair of twin flowers who were previously sitting in the inn lobby had also joined this outer circle, their position not far from where Yang Kai’s group had set down.

After not seeing him for a few months, he seemed a lot stronger than before, and perhaps because of his change of status, he now gave off a dignified and imposing aura as well.

One of the two stared towards him as a strange light flickered across her eyes, her enchanting face softening as she reminisced about past events, her change in mood indirectly affecting her sister, causing even her heartbeat to speed up slightly.

Gritting her teeth, the older sister took a deep breath and calmed the rising heat within her chest, smiling helplessly as she shook her head.

This was an unavoidable side effect of the Secret Art the sisters cultivated. Their two minds and hearts gradually became interconnected, so when her little sister felt strongly about something, she too would be affected.

From time to time, she would also think about this young man’s figure before immediately feeling embarrassed to say anything to her sister, leaving her somewhat depressed and uncomfortable.

And now, after having arrived in War City long ago, she couldn’t work up the courage to see him, so she kept hiding in an inn nearby his compound, often looking out the window and wondering if he would appear. Yet, for such a long time, he did not show up.

Finally, today, she had seen him at last. If she were to miss this opportunity, who knows when the next would come by?

Thinking about how she just couldn’t be honest with her words or even herself, the young woman couldn’t help feeling bitter, wishing she could be a little more like her younger sister whose every thought was written on her face, never needing or trying to hide what she was thinking.

“Hey, aren’t we going to help him?” The young man from before asked with a chuckle.

“Us, help him? What role can the three of us play with so many masters around?”

“Haa, this is why women are harder to deal with than enemies! I shouldn’t have come here with you!” The man said in exasperation. If he had known that such a big event was going to happen, he would have brought everyone in the inn. With only the three of them as True Element Boundary cultivators, they really couldn’t make much of a contribution.

As time slowly passed, everyone anxiously waited for the emergence of the batch of artifacts, many of them trying to guess how these thousand artifacts the Yang Family had invested would appear here.

Yang Kai used his powerful Divine Sense to sweep the surroundings, carefully monitoring the crowds for any signs of movement.

As he examined the spectators, he was surprised to find there were many masters hiding their presences! Perceiving this, Yang Kai secretly speculated that these masters weren’t here to watch the excitement, but had actually been deployed by the Eight Great Families to monitor the situation here.

Yang Kai also noticed that at the bottom of Po Jing Lake there were some subtle energy fluctuations. This anomaly was so small that even Yang Kai barely noticed it, not to mention other people.

It seemed like this batch of artifacts had long ago been placed at the bottom of the lake and would only appear at the appointed time.