The hundred or so High Heaven Pavilion members, led by Yang Kai, rushed towards to War City.
When they came here, Yang Kai and Ying Jiu had only spent less than two days which included the time it took them to find the survivors, but now, Yang Kai estimated that it would take at least four days for them to return. After all, the strength of these fellow brothers and sisters was somewhat mixed, although many of them had broken through to the True Element Boundary, there were still a lot who remained at the Separation and Reunion Boundary and Qi Transformation Stage.
However, Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry. Talking and laughing with Su Yan, he walked along the road seemingly enjoying the various sights and scenes without a care in the world.
After being separated for more than a year, the physical and spiritual connection between the two not only hadn’t become weaker, but was instead firmer and more intense.
When the two walked side by side, Yang Kai could even feel the True Qi in their bodies slowly intermingling; there were even times when one of them would know what the other was thinking without even exchanging any words, it was a wondrous and mysterious feeling.
One in heart and one in mind, a state they will soon reach.
At the same time, nearly three thousand kilometers away from War City.
A large number of people were lurking in the tall gra.s.s, quietly waiting.
Among these people was Qiu Zi Ruo of the Central Capital’s Qiu Family, Qiu Yi Meng’s younger half-brother. Qiu Zi Ruo was originally an ally of the Yang Family’s Sixth Young Lord, Yang Shen, but after Yang Shen’s mansion was attacked by Yang Kai and his flag was taken, eliminating him from the Inheritance War, Yang Shen’s allied forces, including Qiu Zi Ruo, all joined the Seventh Young Lord, Yang Ying.
But only a few days later, Yang Ying forfeited, and his subordinate forces were absorbed by Yang Zhao.
And so, counting from the start of the Inheritance War till now, Qiu Zi Ruo had changed allegiances three times; a fact that weighed heavily on his heart. Although these changes were a result of circ.u.mstances beyond his control, it was still a big loss of face for him. At the very least, it proved that his vision and ability to judge people was quite lacking. Two of the Yang Family Young Lords he had chosen to follow had been eliminated in quick succession.
Before the Inheritance War began, he had once discussed the course the Inheritance War would take with Qiu Yi Meng and the Qiu Family Patriarch, Qiu Shou Cheng. At the time, Qiu Yi Meng was extremely optimistic about Yang Kai, and had even gone so far as to temporarily withdraw from the family and bring the Autumn Rain Hall, which was nothing but old and crippled soldiers, with her to follow him.
Now, it seems that Qiu Yi Meng had chosen the right person!
On the other hand, Qiu Zi Ruo and Qiu Shou Cheng, who were both optimistic about Yang Shen, had repeatedly been proven wrong.
Now, Qiu Zi Ruo could only sigh and vow to a.s.sist Yang Zhao in winning the Inheritance War to stabilize his position as the family’s heir.
In addition to Qiu Zi Ruo, the Kang Family’s Kang Zhan was also here.
Both of them were Young Lords from the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, and true heirs to their respective families.
If they wanted to deal with Yang Kai, someone from the Eight Great Families had to step forward to take command, so the two of them had been sent here by Yang Zhao.
As for Yang Zhao himself, he had no choice but to stay in War City. If he were to act impulsively and come here himself, he would simply be repeating Yang Shen’s mistake.
Beside the two young super force heirs, Xiang Chu of the Xiang Family and Nan Sheng of the Nan Family were also here. These two’s grievances with Yang Kai were clear to everyone, so when they learned that there was a chance to eliminate him, they naturally took the initiative to offer their a.s.sistance.
Yang Zhao readily accepted.
On top of that, there were another four not weak forces that were partic.i.p.ating in this operation!
“Brother Kang, is the information Second Young Lord gathered really accurate? How could Yang Kai act so recklessly?” Waiting for more than a day and seeing no movement, Qiu Zi Ruo couldn’t help feeling a bit restless.
Hearing this, Kang Zhan only laughed, replying confidently, “Brother Qiu, just be patient. Since Second Young Lord deployed us here, there’s definitely no problem with his information.”
Qiu Zi Ruo suddenly looked at Kang Zhan with a puzzled expression, “Brother Kang seems to admire the Second Young Lord quite a bit.”
Kang Zhan smiled lightly, “I’m not afraid to admit to Brother Qiu that, in fact, when the Inheritance War started, I wanted to form an alliance with the Second Young Lord because I felt that with his methods and strength he would ultimately become the biggest winner.”
“Oh? Then why did Brother Kang choose to ally with the Seventh Young Lord?” Qiu Zi Ruo’s brow rose, not quite understanding. Kang Zhan was originally the ally of the Seventh Brother, Yang Ying, it was only after Yang Ying’s forfeiture that he became Yang Zhao’s ally.
“I had no choice,” Kang Zhan smiled helplessly and shook his head, “Second Young Lord chose Ye Xin Rou from Ye Family, so I could only choose someone else.”
Qiu Zi Ruo’s eyes flashed a light of clarity, nodding his head in understanding, “Beauties always has some advantages.”
“En, beauties, especially ones as stunning as Ye Xin Rou, are always favoured by us men.” Kang Zhan licked his lips.
Qiu Zi Ruo also grinned meaningfully. As Young Lords of the Central Capital Eight Great Families, both of them were quite familiar with Ye Xin Rou and knew that this woman had a special relations.h.i.+p with Yang Zhao.
For this reason, Ye Xin Rou now held a unique position in Yang Zhao’s mansion. Although all of them were allies of Yang Zhao in name, Qiu Zi Ruo and Kang Zhan, who came later, didn’t have nearly as much authority as Ye Xin Rou.
However, under the circ.u.mstances, the two of them didn’t care about this much, and it wasn’t like their status was low.
“This information was obtained by that woman when she went to the Central Capital.” Kang Zhan smiled awkwardly, “Against the Ye Family’s First Young Lady, what kind of resistance could a trivial sub-Sect Master of an underground force put up? As long as he was offered a little incentive, I’m sure he’d have sold her his soul.”
“En, reasonable.” Qiu Zi Ruo nodded, secretly thinking about if he could keep any of his secrets should Ye Xin Rou use her beauty to tempt him. Especially if his life was also risk.
“Even if Yang Kai is quite smart, he probably couldn’t have imagined that such a little clue would allow Second Young Lord to infer that he had left War City!” Kang Zhan grinned, “He thinks he hasn’t revealed any flaws, but apparently he’s still a little naive.”
“No one is perfect!” Qiu Zi Ruo shook his head bitterly, “Yang Kai is also about the same age as us. If he could do everything perfectly, what point would there be in us still living?”
“Fair point.” Kang Zhan nodded. Even having said what he said, he couldn’t deny that Yang Kai’s methods were impressive. If it wasn’t for the Second Young Lord’s near paranoid surveillance of him, they might very well have missed this rare opportunity.
“Young master Xiang, Young Master Nan, we’ll be relying on the masters of your families to handle Ying Jiu by Yang Kai’s side.” Kang Zhan suddenly turned his head and said to Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng.
Xiang Chu nodded lightly in response, “Happy to oblige!”
On Nan Sheng’s face there was a sharp look, like a scorpion just waiting to sting. Coldly stroking the two stumps on his hand, he said, “This time we’ve both brought a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master specifically to tie down Ying Jiu. As long as I can obtain revenge for the loss of my fingers, when I become Patriarch of the Nan Family, I pledge to follow any command the Second Young Lord decrees!”
Kang Zhan glanced at him for a moment before nodding slightly.
Yang Kai had an evil demon in his service that had reached the peak of the Immortal Ascension Boundary; it was because of this master that Yang Zhao had requested the Xiang and Nan Family Young Masters bring a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master each during this operation.
Such masters were rarely seen in the Inheritance War.
After all, even first-cla.s.s forces didn’t have many Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators and if one were to fall in the Inheritance War, it wouldn’t be a small loss.
However, Xiang Chu and Nan Sheng’s hatred of Yang Kai was so extreme that when Yang Zhao made this request, they had readily agreed.
These two masters had only arrived at Yang Zhao’s mansion a month or so ago with the intention being for them to help suppress the demonic masters who had joined Yang Kai, but now they were being deployed on this mission.
Although Ying Jiu was a Yang Family Blood Warrior whose cultivation had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage, two Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators should be enough to contain him.
Regarding this battle, no matter who it was, they were completely confident in obtaining victory.
None of them could have imagined that at this point in time, Ying Jiu had reached the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary as well.
While a number of scouts were deployed to investigate the surrounding movements and circ.u.mstances, everyone else in this ambush squad held their breath and waited quietly.
One day later, there was news that roughly a hundred people were approaching and would arrive within half an hour.
Kang Zhan immediately stood up and called out, “Prepare for battle. If we can take down Yang Kai here, after returning home, Second Young Lord will definitely grant everyone rich rewards, so bring out all of your strength and absolutely do not underestimate the enemy!”
All the gathered cultivators nodded in unison.
“Should we launch a sneak attack?” Qiu Zi Ruo looked over and asked.
Kang Zhan glanced over and wrinkled his brow, soon after shaking his head. “Since our scouts could discover them, they must have noticed us as well. Trying to sneak attack them is impossible.”
“We should face them head on, I want Yang Kai to regret ever offending me, Nan Sheng!” Nan Sheng grinned, his True Qi violently bursting out.
“En, we’ll defeat them fair and square! After today, there will be no Yang Kai in the Inheritance War!” Kang Zhan declared, “Fight!”
Thirty kilometers away, Yang Kai’s expression dimmed, wondering just where he had screwed up.
How could Yang Kai have antic.i.p.ated that Yang Zhao would infer his movements simply by noting an unusual action of the Bamboo Knot Gang Sect Master Pang Chi?
When he discovered some people lying in wait up ahead spying on everyone who pa.s.sed by, Yang Kai suddenly realized that something wasn’t quite right.
The other party so clearly setting up a blockade along his return path, obviously they knew where he had gone! It was impossible for Pang Chi to have sold him out; he should still be detained by Qiu Yi Meng. As for Qiu Yi Meng betraying him, that was even more impossible.
Then the problem must be with someone else in the Bamboo Knot Gang!
After a moment of thought, Yang Kai deduced this conclusion.
It seems like when he returned to War City, he’d have to clean up his house.
However, even so, Yang Kai would never regret his actions! If he had to choose again, he would still have come out personally to meet his fellow brothers and sisters from High Heaven Pavilion.
If only to see Su Yan a moment sooner!
Sensing the change in Yang Kai’s mood, Su Yan couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
Yang Kai just smiled and shook his head. “Nothing, just a group of people blocking the road ahead.”
Su Yan’s expression immediately became cold.
The last time they were together, she and Yang Kai had agreed to travel the world together, but due to Qiu Yi Meng’s interference, those plans had been destroyed. Now, more than a year later, after they had just reunited, a group of people had jumped out to cause trouble for them. It was only naturally for Su Yan to be upset.
“Who is blocking the road?” The several Martial Uncles from High Heaven Pavilion suddenly became nervous.
“Probably my Second Brother.” Yang Kai let out a sigh, Yang Wei wasn’t one to do this kind of thing, and even if he wanted to he didn’t have enough capital to do so, so it was easy to infer that the ones lying in wait for him were Yang Zhao’s allies.
“Martial Uncles, you may have to fight. You don’t have to worry about me, just focus on protecting the other disciples of the Sect.”
“Can we avoid them?” One of them asked, the group from High Heaven Pavilion was simply too weak to face these ambushers.
“They’ve already noticed us and have come prepared. We can’t escape.” Yang Kai shook his head helplessly, somewhat annoyed in his heart.