Martial Peak

“There’s no need for that. They have helped me a great deal; it is I who should thank Third Brother for sending me five strong masters,” Yang Kai smiled slightly. On the first night of the Inheritance War, Yang Kai had captured Yang Tie but instead of bringing him back to the main family to exchange for resources, he had let him go. In order to reciprocate, Yang Tie had let the five surviving masters from the Duan Mu Family offer services to him which was a pleasant surprise for Yang Kai.

These days, during several battles, the five Duan Mu Family masters had contributed a great deal; after all, the five of them were all Immortal Ascension cultivators, one of them even reaching the Eighth Stage.

Yang Tie nodded lightly, his eyes suddenly becoming dignified as he said solemnly, “When you meet the Elders, you must not shrink back or show any weakness, or else... you’ll suffer.”

Yang Kai was stunned and wanted to ask Yang Tie to clarify himself but by the time he gathered his wits, his Third Brother had already left, leaving him no chance to ask any questions.

[Does Third Brother know something?] Yang Kai silently speculated.

Although Yang Tie’s personal strength wasn’t outstanding and his performance in the Inheritance War was even somewhat unsightly, his father still had a fair bit of power in the Yang Family.

At least compared with the Yang Family Fourth Master, Yang Tie’s father undoubtedly had higher status and was privy to more of the Yang Family’s secrets.

Did his Third Brother perhaps hear some news from his father? Yang Kai frowned slightly, savouring the words of his Third Brother for a while before shaking his head.

In any case, why the Elder Hall had ordered him to return would become clear in a moment.

Smiling wryly, Yang Kai stepped towards the Elder Hall.

This was the third time that Yang Kai had come to the Elder Hall. The first time was because of the Golden Feather Eagle, the second time was because of the Blood Warriors. Every time Yang Kai came here, he would see these white haired old men standing around, immersed in their own projects.

But this time, the situation was somewhat different.

Leading Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian, as they walked into the Elder Hall, Yang Kai suddenly found the dozen or so Elders were all sitting.

They were divided into two groups, seated on opposite sides of the hall, each of them wearing an indifferent expression.

Sitting at the head of the hall was the Elder Yang Kai was most familiar with, Yang Zhen.

They all seemed to be waiting for him.

This arrangement... it was like they’re here to pass some kind of judgement. Seeing this, Yang Kai silently asked himself if he had done anything worth assembling so many Elders.

Although he was suspicious in his heart, he maintained a calm demeanor and cupped his fists, “Junior Yang Kai greets the Elders!”

Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian also saluted.

“You two, draw back!” Yang Zhen waved his hand towards the two Blood Warriors, his old pair of eyes lingering a moment longer on Ying Jiu.

Not only him, the other dozen plus Elders also stared, surprise and confusion flashing across each of their expressions.

Previously, Ying Jiu had suffered damage to his foundation and recently had been hit with the Qi Binding Seal, but at this moment, not only had he returned completely unharmed to the family with Yang Kai, the aura he gave off was noticeably stronger as well. This alone was worthy of the Elders’ scrutiny.

In truth, none of them understood how this had happened.

Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian exchanged a glance before stepping back, neither of them daring to disobey Yang Zhen’s command.

Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly, his expression becoming pensive.

These Elders not only welcomed him with such a luxurious lineup, they had also expelled his two Blood Warrior guards, forcing him to face off against all of them on his own, greatly magnifying the pressure he felt.

If it was anyone else standing where he was, they would definitely feel nervous and be unable to summon much courage. After listening to whatever these Elders had to say, it was likely they wouldn’t have the guts to argue back.

[Are they trying to intimidate me?]

[What exactly do they intend to do?]

After Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian left, more than a dozen Elders secretly observed Yang Kai’s reaction. When the discovered that his expression was unchanged and was still as calm as the moment he walked in, all of them couldn’t help feeling a little surprised.

This was the first time they had seen such a mentally firm youngster, many of them felt that even the Eldest Yang Wei wouldn’t have fared this well under their combined pressure.

“I don’t know what important matter the Elders wish to discuss to have specially summoned this Junior, may I ask what this is about?” Yang Kai ignored the probing looks from the old men around him and directly spoke to Yang Zhen, getting straight to the point.

“Naturally we have reasons for calling you back to the family.” Yang Zhen sat in the Elder Hall all the year round, dealing with the affairs of the family, so his cold expression had become all but fixed. When people saw him, most of them couldn’t help panicking slightly.

“This old master asks you, what method did you use to allow Ying Jiu to recover from his injuries? What method did you use to allow him to break the Qi Binding Seal? Also, according to the information this old master has received, the Blood Warriors in your house often sustain serious injuries but within one or two days, they always manage to completely heal, how did you accomplish such a feat?”

Yang Kai knit his brow as he asked, “Did Elders call this disciple back at such a critical moment just to ask about such trivial matters?”

Although his tone was flat, everyone could hear the questioning in his words.

This period of time was extremely important to all the Yang Family Young Lords involved in the Inheritance War. If the Elder Hall had really sent an urgent summons to Yang Kai right now simply for this, it was at least inappropriate.

The old men in the Elder Hall stayed here all year round, but they shouldn’t be bored to this extent.

Yang Zhen lightly coughed as he replied seriously, “Naturally not!”

“Are these questions something the family wishes to ask, or is it... the Elders who are asking?”

Yang Zhen was stunned; he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be able to remain so calm and clear-headed when he facing more than a dozen Yang Family Elders, “This old master and all the other Elders are the ones asking, everyone is very curious about how you achieved these things.”

“Since it is not the meaning of the family...” Yang Kai smiled and shook his head, “Please excuse this Junior for not responding.”

Hearing this, the dozen or so Elders all shook their heads regretfully; even Yang Zhen’s expression became a bit ugly.

None of them had thought Yang Kai would dare not answer their question, and find such a brilliant excuse to justify his response.

Since it wasn’t the will of the family, then he didn’t have to answer. Then, could these old men abandon all face and use their seniority to force him to answer? Obviously not.

“Respected Elders, Junior has a great many things to attend to. If there is something you wish to say, please just say it.” Yang Kai’s tone gradually became impatient; the behaviour of the old men in the Elder Hall made him feel both irritated and unnerved.

The first thing they had done was try to intimidate him so that he wouldn’t talk back; clearly they were going to do something that harmed his interests. If not, why would they go through all the trouble of setting up such an elaborate display?

Since they were planning to make things difficult for him, and remembering the words his Third Brother had spoken to him outside the hall, Yang Kai naturally didn’t need to act polite.

“Very well, this old master won’t beat around the bush anymore.” Yang Zhen nodded, his eyes becoming sharp as he stared at Yang Kai and said, “It’s about the Blood Warriors who serve you, the family has made a decision.”

“The Blood Warriors?” Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled, a bad feeling welling up inside him but outwardly doing his best not to show any weakness to Yang Zhen.

As the two stared at each other, Yang Zhen couldn’t help feeling the urge to avert his eyes, patiently and calmly nodding before continuing, “En, according to the information this old master has obtained, the number of Blood Warriors you have gathered now totals seven, correct?”

“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded firmly.

Ying Jiu and Qu Gao Yi were the first to follow Yang Kai, Xiao Shun came after his Eighth Brother Yang Quan was defeated, and Tu Feng, Tang Yu Xian, Luo Hai, and Yan Ling Xing were recruited a few nights ago when he eliminated Yang Kang and Yang Shen.

In total, Yang Kai’s house current had seven Blood Warriors, all of whom had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage.

“If you didn’t have the means to break the Qi Binding Seal and a method to quickly allow the Blood Warriors to heal from serious injuries, everything would be alright! Even if all seven of the Blood Warriors gathered around you, they wouldn’t be able to show display too much destructive power, but you indeed do have such unusual means.” Yang Zhen stood up from his chair, crossed his arms behind his back and walked over beside Yang Kai, the two of them facing opposite directions as he said, “If this old master’s guess is correct, right now, the seven Blood Warriors serving you have all been completely restored to their peak, correct?”

From the conditions of both Ying Jiu and Tang Yu Xian who had escorted Yang Kai here, the answer to this question was obvious.

“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded once more.

“Then, if this old masters is correct, your next step will be nothing more than to take these seven warriors and crush the remaining Yang Family Young Lords one by one with overwhelming force, while in the process, recruit the remaining Blood Warriors serving them. Is there anything wrong with this old master’s analysis?”

“Elder is not wrong. If Junior had not been recalled by the family, I would have begun acting tonight!” Yang Kai admitted calmly.

Yang Zhen sighed lightly, “Seven Blood Warriors, heh heh. No one would be capable of stopping you, you being able to create such a miracle, and you’ve really shocked us old men! Although Yang Wei, Yang Zhao, and Yang Ying all have a lot of forces and supporters behind them, each Yang Lord had one of their Blood Warriors unable to act. Once you lead your seven Blood Warriors and launch an all-out attack, each of them will quickly fall and victory will easily be yours.”

As he said this, Yang Zhen could almost see the scenes where Yang Wei, Yang Zhao, and Yang Ying helplessly tried to resist, only to fail miserably. This was exactly what Yang Kai had planned to do all along!

“However...” Yang Zhen turned his head towards Yang Kai and solemnly declared, “This is inconsistent with the original intention of the Inheritance War and is not in line with Yang Family’s intention when we allowed Blood Warriors to participate.”

Yang Kai sneered deeply, upon hearing these words, if he still couldn’t figure out why the Elder Hall had summoned him, he would be a fool.

As a raging anger began to spread through his chest, Yang Kai took a deep breath and stared at Yang Zhen sarcastically, “Respected Elders shouldn’t intend to recall the Blood Warriors serving me to the family, right?”

Although he had already noticed the change in Yang Kai’s attitude and tone, Yang Zhen didn’t pay it any mind. Young people were always hot blooded, if Yang Kai wasn’t angry at this time, he wouldn’t be a proper young man.

“Correct, it’s good that you understand!” Yang Zhen nodded calmly.

“I don’t understand!” Yang Kai’s expression was dim, he no longer cared that the other party he was speaking to was a Yang Family Elder, or even his own ancestor, his attitude was unflinching.

Yang Zhen continued unperturbed, “As this old master pervious said, you leading seven Blood Warriors to attack the remaining Yang Family Young Lords is inconsistent with the original intentions of the Inheritance War. The intention of the Inheritance War is something you should be clear about. It is a comprehensive competition to test each of your connections and personal charisma! Those who have established a wide network of supporters and have strong leadership skills can gather more strength. Because the winner of the Inheritance War will become the next Yang Family Patriarch. If you wish to lead the Yang Family in the future, you should be able to do so by amassing the most external support and cleverly defeating your adversaries. Relying on the Blood Warriors who were born and raised in the Yang Family to win simply proves nothing.”