Chapter 353: Bai Tianyi

"You know about our Ancestors?" The leader of the Ouyang family was frowning and looking at Bai Tianyi with a strange look.

Although these two ancestor's names had been spread far and wide around ten thousand years ago, they had suddenly become very low-profile, and no one remembered them anymore - that was if you were not a member of the Ouyang Family.

The Ouyang Family were very well aware that these two old Ancestors, brothers by blood, were in seclusion, trying to extend their lives.

The reason they were doing so was because of an old rival of theirs.

Although Ouyang Jie and Ouyang Yulong, alongside the other eight great families, had teamed up once before to get rid of him, they had failed.

The battle had split the world into several continents, but all they had found out was that the man was immortal due to having become an artificial spirit.

These two ancestors, Ouyang Jie, and Ouyang Yulong were now waiting patiently for him to reemerge. But this was only known to the Ouyang family; everyone else had long since thought that they had vanished with time.

Xue Wei looked at Bai Tianyi. He instantly understood what was going on. Bai Tianyi had never before hidden his past, and he could guess that the Ouyang family had been one of the families that teamed up to deal with him.

Since that was the case, there was really no reason for Xue Wei to be polite to them anymore, and his eyes turned cold.

But while Xue Wei was turning hostile, the Ouyang people were excited and felt that perhaps this young boy was someone important.

The leader's eyes were shining with excitement. It was rare to come across someone who had knowledge of their ancestors, and although the child was somewhat young, he wanted to get closer to him.

"May I ask what connection there was between yourself and our ancestors?" they asked with bated breath, but Bai Tianyi just glanced at them.

"With the way the Ouyang family has been treating us, I do not see any reason for my companion to say anything," Xue Wei said with a smirk, his words stunning the Ouyang family's leader and his face alternated between pale and red. They had indeed been overly rude at the beginning, how they regretted it now.

Bai Tianyi considered his options. Should he tell them the truth? They might actually die from shock when they knew he was Bai Tianyi. The thought alone amused him.

However, if he told them his real identity, then it would, without a doubt, end with a fight.

Looking at Xue Wei, to see what his thoughts were, he saw that there was an unwavering determination in his friend's eyes. It was clear that Xue Wei intended to support him no matter what he wished to do.

Seeing this, his heart felt somewhat warm. It was good to have martial brothers in this life and no longer be a lonely swordsman.

"My name is Bai Tianyi," he introduced himself with a smirk on his face, and the Ouyang family was shocked and looked at him.

Their eyes widened first, but then they narrowed dangerously.

"You said you are Bai Tianyi?" The leader asked, and Bai Tianyi generously nodded his head.

"Bai Tianyi, the genius that needed the Eeight Ffamilies to gather together ten thousand of years ago to defeat?" the leader asked again, his voice was low and dangerous.

"Time sure flies," Bai Tianyi said with a grin on his face. He was utterly casual about this, and no one, apart from the ones who knew Bai Tianyi intimately, understood what was going on.

The men from the Ouyang family were hesitating. They did not know if Bai Tianyi was telling the truth. Since he knew about Ouyang Jie and Ouyang Yulong, it was evident that he also knew about Bai Tianyi, but to actually be him? They did not believe it.

"Well then, Bai Tianyi, why are you running around in this world? You should be standing at the apex of the world," one of the Ouyang family members mocked.

"Well isn't it because of your old men and the others who chased me down?" Bai Tianyi answered the question with another question.

The Ouyang family leader looked deeply at Bai Tianyi. He could see no signs of lying; in fact, he was casual and completely carefree, as if he did not even care whether or not they believed in him or not.

This alone was enough to make the leader apprehensive. And when he looked at the cold eyes of Xue Wei, he became even more hesitant.

Although he did not doubt their strength, he felt that five of the people in the group in front of him were impossible to see through the strength of, and he was not willing to take a risk with his members for something that was not certain.

"Why don't we split up here?" the leader made a decision and instantly said. "I understand that we want to head towards summer, but we can't go the same way. I will let you walk southeast, which is spring and summer, and we will walk southwest, which is summer and autumn."

Xue Wei had not expected that he would take a step back like this, even less had he expected that he would give up the southeast direction to them.

Since they had taken a step back, so did Xue Wei. He nodded his head and led his group of Vermilion Birds towards the southeast.

As they vanished into the distance, one of the Ouyang members, a young girl, looked at their leader. "Big brother Yingwu, why did we not stop them?" she asked hesitatingly. "It could have been Bai Tianyi. If we slay him, it would be a great contribution."

"Silly girl," Ouyang Yingwu smiled slightly. "If he was really Bai Tianyi, then he is immortal. At the same time, we have to take into consideration that he was not alone. Although the majority of them were somewhat weak compared to us, five of them were immeasurable. Also, remember, Bai Tianyi alone needed the eight great families to go together to deal with him in the past. Even if he is not at his peak, he will not be weak either."

The girl who had casually asked finally understood why Ouyang Yingwu had done what he had, and she nodded her head, which had turned crimson from embarrassment when she saw how seriously he was answering her.

As they left, the people from the Demon Phoenix Empire were puzzled. What had happened? Who was Bai Tianyi? Was he not just a childish sidekick of the Azure Dragon?

Understanding that things were different from what they had expected, many of them were puzzled, but a few of the smarter ones had listened in on the conversation and understood specific points.

Bai Tianyi was an ancient monster. Although his shell was that of a young boy, he was, without a doubt, the oldest one amongst them all.

At the same time, he held strength that could not be belittled. He was most likely amongst the strongest of them all; for the sake of being able to deter the Ouyang family, strength was definitely needed.

The more they thought about this, the more they felt reverence towards Xue Wei. Even his companions were special.

They continued moving southeast and found that many treasures were untouched in this primal forest.

But from time to time, they would also encounter strong beasts from another realm, that they had to battle.

Some of these battles were easy, others were harder, but they had still yet to lose even one member of their team.

Xue Wei had to warn them about staying alert always, or the success would have risen to their heads, making them less likely to die.

There were sneak attacks from snakes, even the insects were deadly, and although no one had died yet, they had to be alert, or they would be wiped out.

Many of the geniuses were starting to get tired of the constant warning from Xue Wei. They were beginning to become overconfident, and the princes began complaining about how they had not attacked the Ouyang family and robbed them, whennow they had the chance.

This way, all of them were getting immensely unsatisfied with Xue Wei, and although he could feel the dissatisfaction, Xue Wei ignored it completely.

He was not here to make friends, as long as they would survive and gain some resources, everything else didn't matter.

They were continuing towards southeast when the First Prince suddenly spoke up.

"We should head directly south!" he declared. "There are more treasures in the south area of the forest; the southeast is going to be a waste of time for us!"

Pausing in his steps, Xue Wei turned around and looked at the First Prince, who was challenging his authority, but contrary to what they all had expected, he did not get mad.

"Why don't you head south then?" he asked as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"You... You said we are going southeast," the First Prince said, wondering why things were so different from what he had expected.

"Yes. I am heading southeast. But I never said you all had to follow me. I offered to lead you, but it is clear that some of you are displeased with me as a leader. To be honest, I am also displeased with being a leader. Having such a huge team who are constantly complaining and never alert enough is dragging me down. I have to spend extra effort saving all of you and be alert for all of you; I simply don't want to."

Hearing this, all of them were silent. It was true that they had not been alert, and he had been the one to discover all the beasts that had arrived. He had also saved quite a few of them from time to time.

Although they wanted to complain about him, they were unable to say anything at all. He had made it impossible to refute.

"Now, I am going to the southeast. Those who want to follow me are more than welcome, and those who want to go south, just do so and stop troubling me. However, if you split up from the group, your life and death are in your own hands, and I will take no more responsibility for you."

Everyone was caught in a dilemma. Most of them had wanted to use this chance to complain about Xue Wei, but he had turned it completely around.

"I am staying with you," a timid voice sounded, and everyone turned around to look at a young girl who was standing in the back.

Not many girls were in the team, but the ones who were, were all very timid and silent. They did their best, but they never really spoke with anyone. They were real demure ladies.

Even so, the woman was the first one to speak up, and Xue Wei was somewhat surprised.

Then she continued, "I value my life. What he said made sense, if we were to split up, no one can save us in the time of need. I would rather be scolded but live than be arrogant and die."

The more she spoke, the higher and stronger her voice became, and Xue Wei had to admit that he was astonished by the courage of this demure little lady.

He did not mind going with the team. In fact, things were going much smoother when they were many as they could kill beasts faster, but he was not willing to be trampled all over. He was not ready to be humiliated by the princes.

Hearing the words of the girl, many finally started to understand that this was their lives they were gambling with. Their faces instantly turned pale, and they realized that arrogance had gone to their heads.