“Over there! Hurry up!” The tiger roar startled the disciples in the distance, and dozens of them hurriedly ran toward it. Suddenly, several figures flew over them.
“It’s Palace Master and the others! Let’s follow them, quick!”
Initially, these disciples felt perturbed in their hearts, worrying that the foe might be too strong. But they found their confidence when they saw even their two palace masters making their way toward the sound, so they ran over wildly.
But, they had just run a few steps when a thunderous roar mixed with endless Primordial Qi blew into their faces, knocking them flying backward and making them cough blood.
“Xingyang Ming! I swear I will kill you one day!”
Yunxiao had long driven his Tigerking chariot hundreds of miles away. He had killed two birds with one stone during this trip: Not only had he stolen everything in the Supreme Palace’s treasury, but he had also shifted the blame to the Xingyang family.
‘Xingyang Kun! You killed one of my people, and I will kill your whole family!’ A monstrous murderous air exploded out of him. Meanwhile, a dark purple cloud emerged around the chariot as it rumbled across the sky.
After returning to Yanwu, Yunxiao immediately entered the Divine Realm Tablet and began to meditate in seclusion. It took him only one day to break through the barrier of Martial Master and become a Great Martial Master.
“What? Going to Shangyang City?!” Xiao Qingwang narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, “Young Master Yun, are you going to look for the Xingyang family?”
Shangyang City was the capital of the Firecrow Empire, the home to the aristocratic families and the imperial family.
After breaking through, Yunxiao immediately summoned everyone. Looking at Xiao Qingwang’s serious face, he nodded calmly and said, “Yes. I’m going to look for the Xingyang family.”
Li Chunyang’s face was glum when he heard that name, but he shook his head helplessly and said, “I disagree. If we were to fight the Xingyang family now, it is no different from knocking a stone with an egg. Just one of their Martial Grandmasters was enough to throw us into confusion. Although Qingwang is also a Martial Grandmaster now, we are still far weaker than a family who has hundreds of years of history.”
Yunxiao said coldly, “Do you think they will not come to us if we don’t take the initiative to attack? Xingyang Kun has been missing for a few days, and do you think his family doesn’t know we killed him? Whatever we do, we must take the initiative in our own hands! I already have a plan in mind, and I just need eleven people to come with me.”
“Eleven people?” Xiao Qingwang said. They could assemble a team of eleven experts who were Martial Lords and above. Such a force was strong enough to defeat anyone in Tianshui, but it was not enough to deal with an aristocratic family in Firecrow.
“Count me in.” A voice came through the door, followed by a gust of strong wind, and the crowd felt a pressure blowing at their faces. Amidst the shocking gaze of everyone present, Qian Duoduo suddenly appeared in the great hall. Shrouded in an indescribable aura, he seemed a lot different from before.
“Martial Grandmaster!” Xiao Qingwang’s pupils constricted. Looking at Qian Duoduo’s aura, he said in surprise, “You’ve also broken through the barrier of Martial King!”
“Hmph!” With a disdainful look on his face, Qian Duoduo said coldly, “Why can’t I when even you did it? In fact, it is nothing special to me.” He was telling the truth. Even if he did not take the Nine Orifices pill, he could still make the breakthrough as long as he meditated with the Broken Moon Scroll, but it just would not be as fast.
Yunxiao glanced at Qian Duoduo and said with an approving look in his eyes, “The mind follows the heart. You have stabilized your cultivation base so quickly…Truly a man who practices the Broken Moon Scroll. Although Qingwang broke through before you, he is still a bit weaker than you.”
Qian Duoduo had a strange look on his face. The way Yunxiao talked was like a three-year-old kid telling a thirty-year-old adult, “You have good physical strength, not bad!” The feeling was hard to describe.
Xiao Qingwang saw Qian Duoduo’s expression and laughed. “Don’t be unconvinced, I’m very convinced of what this lad has said. If he said I’m weaker than you, that means I’m really weaker than you. Now that we have two Martial Grandmasters, I think we can give it a try.”
At the thought of the strength Yunxiao had displayed during the battle against the Martial Grandmaster, Qian Duoduo did not have anything else to say. He had never seen a freak like this, who was a Great Martial Master on the outside but had the strength of a Martial Lord or even a Martial King.
“No!” Li Chunyang rejected brusquely. “Both of you have just broken through, and you will be no match for those seasoned Martial Grandmasters.”
“Count me in as well!” A strong voice rang out, and then a hearty laugh echoed in the great hall. The crowd turned and saw Neng Feichen stride over. He was beaming with energy and no longer looked old. It was plain that he had a strong vitality, and his lifespan had increased significantly.
“Thank you for the medicinal pills, Young Master Yun!” Neng Feichen bowed and thanked Yunxiao gratefully, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Li Chunyang was somewhat stunned; he felt that the world had changed too fast. It was like he had just blinked once and three Martial Grandmasters had appeared. Three experts from the realm he did not dare to imagine in the past were standing in front of him, bowing toward his grandson.
“You’re welcome, Sect Leader Neng, and I really need your help this time!” said Yunxiao with a smile.
Neng Feichen said seriously, “You don’t have to speak like that, my lord. Now that Dhyana Sect has surrendered to Yanwu, we will naturally obey my lord’s orders!”
The people around felt relief when they heard him state his stand clearly. After all, Dhyana Sect was not weaker than Yanwu, and with Neng Feichen becoming a Martial Grandmaster now, it might be extremely difficult to control. But, it seemed that they had worried too much.
Yunxiao said with satisfaction, “Good! I’m glad that Sect Leader Neng thinks like that. As long as you follow me wholeheartedly, you will have the hope to become a Martial Emperor, or even a Martial Supreme in the future.”
He was telling the truth. As long as he could restore his strength of a ninth-tier Alchemy Supreme, these people could all advance to higher realms with just medicinal pills. However, they did not take it seriously and thought he just said that for the sake of courtesy.
Yunxiao stood up as an inexplicable aura emanated from him, filling everyone’s heart with surprise and bewilderment while giving them a feeling as if they were facing a guru. He said in a soft voice, “The three of you, Grandpa, Dad, the two deputy Sect Leaders of Dhyana Sect, Ji Meng, Teacher Luo, Hong Bing, and Yian, you will immediately practice the Twelve Purple Lightning Array with me.”
“Twelve Purple Lightning Array?” Everyone was astonished, and Li Chunyang asked, “What is this array? Why does it require twelve people? And how long do we have to learn it for?”
There was a glimmer of shock in Luo Yunshang’s eyes and a blank look on her face, but a complicated look filled her eyes very quickly.
Yunxiao glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as he chuckled and said, “It is only a lightning-attracting array that can attract different types of lightning according to the strength of those forming it. If it is formed by twelve Martial Sovereigns, it can attract the strongest lightning called the Universal Brahma Divine Lightning, which can wipe out even a warrior with an indestructible body!”
The crowd was taken aback. They thought it was only a simple and ordinary array, but it turned out to be such a heaven-defying one!
“As for how long…” He chuckled and said, “You only have six hours, which happens to be the duration of our journey from Yanwu to Shangyang.”
…
Twelve hoverchariots rose into the sky from Yanwu and sped away in the direction of Shangyang. Yunxiao sat in his Tigerking chariot, meditating. He had simplified the essence of the array and taught everyone. Suddenly, a figure landed on his chariot and walked lightly toward him, sending a sweet fragrance into his nose.
“Yes? Is there anything else you don’t understand?” Yunxiao woke up from his meditation as he stared at Luo Yunshang and asked softly.
Luo Yunshang looked a little lonely as she stood there on the chariot, staring at the sky. At length, she sighed and said, “You should know what I’m thinking. Can you tell me the news about that man?”
As she said that, her voice grew extremely anxious. Her delicate body seemed a little weak in the strong blowing wind, and her shoulder began to shiver.
It was the first time she had asked seriously, hoping to get some definite information from Yunxiao. Although she had long been convinced that Gu Feiyang was still alive, that was just her guess. She did not know what the truth was.
“He was just a prodigal. The so-called number three on the power chart and an Alchemy Supreme are all bullsh*t in my eyes, and yet so many innocent girls like you have been cheated by him and miss him day and night! He is not worthy of you!” There was a look of melancholy in Yunxiao’s eyes and a weariness that belonged to someone who had gone through everything life could offer, which was completely unmatched with his young face of a fifteen-year-old boy.
That gave Luo Yunshang a pause, and she seemed to have captured a strange feeling. Supposedly, when someone scolded Gu Feiyang like that, she would have flown into a rage. But for some unknown reason, she did not feel angry right now. Her heart fluttered slightly as she stared at Yunxiao’s clear eyes, as if he were about to overlap with the figure in her heart.
She remembered the pair of deep eyes she saw on the Snowfall Peak of Shenxiao Temple, which seemed to have read through all the transmigrations and vicissitudes of life in the world. Although it was only a quick glimpse, she found them extremely familiar, as if she had been quietly staring at them for a thousand years in one of her previous lives.
‘Becoming loose are my clothes yet I regret not, for I languish and suffer for him willingly.’
“I forbid you from talking about him like that. If he is well, it will be sunny.”
There was a look of helplessness and bitterness in Yunxiao’s eyes as he smiled wryly and said, “He’s all right.”
Luo Yunshang breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At that moment, all the emotions and speculation that had been accumulating in her head and weighing down on her heart were released. She felt she was completely relaxed, and her body was as light as a sheet about to take flight.
“Thank you, Yunxiao!” In the face of her student, Luo Yunshang burst into tears of joy.
Yunxiao smiled bitterly; he really did not know how to end this matter.
Luo Yunshang sobbed softly. Suddenly, she felt so tired that she leaned her forehead against Yunshang’s upper arm, and soon her tears wet his sleeve. She seemed to have not noticed her unusual behavior, and she asked in a low voice, “Can you tell me how is he doing?”
Yunxiao frowned and said with a wry smile, “Teacher Yunshang, now is not the time to think about this. I’ll tell you when we get back.”