Facing this harsh new reality, Tao Yang had no way out.
This group of people from Ghost King Valley were all juniors, so none of them were Immortal Ascension cultivators; as for Treasure Instrument Sect, there were several who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and the artifacts they carried were incredibly varied and powerful, but due to their profession, their overall combat strength was quite low, and they were definitely not the opponents of these onlookers.
If they could secretly get a message to Yang Kai, informing him of their dilemma, Tao Yang firmly believed that he would definitely bring a large number of people to support them and reaching War City would become easy.
However, in this situation, there was no chance of one of them slipping away.
“Senior Brother Tao, I’m sorry, it’s our fault you were reprimanded.” Leng Shan said with a guilty expression. She and Chen Yi felt incompetent, they had only been thinking about seeking Tao Yang’s help. After the Evil Cavern incident, Tao Yang and his fellow disciples had stayed in Ghost King Valley for a while, so everyone was familiar with one another, making them temporarily forget that they were technically supposed to be enemies.
“Don’t worry about it. Uncle Wu was just venting his anger, he won’t really drive me out of the Sect.” Tao Yang smiled and waved his hand casually.
Treasure Instrument Sect’s population was incredibly sparse, with only a total of around a hundred people in total. The disciples recruited each generation had all undergone a rigorous selection process even more stringent than Medicine King’s Valley’s.
As a result, every disciple of Treasure Instrument Sect had unparalleled talent and achievements in Artifact Refining, and Tao Yang was one of the top figures in his generation.
Treasure Instrument Sect was counting on him to carry on its legacy, how could Wu Yan really be willing to drive him out of the Sect?
As he said so though, Tao Yang’s expression became gloomy. The five groups of people had moved to their front, back, left and right, making it seem like they were providing a high-quality escort, but in reality, they had them trapped.
[Fight? Impossible. Talk? They’re not willing to listen.]
Moreover, as time passed, the closer they came to War City, the thinner the patience of these five groups became, the looks in their eyes gradually becoming dangerous.
The status of Treasure Instrument Sect wasn’t as lofty as that of Medicine King’s Valley, when people from Medicine King’s Valley went out, no one dared to offend them.
Although Treasure Instrument Sect had a fair bit of reputation, some people still didn’t place them in their eyes.
These years, Treasure Instrument Sect’s leadership had lost count of how many great forces had secretly been trying to annex them, whether through negotiation, bargaining, tricks, schemes, or flat out intimidation.
Fortunately, Treasure Instrument Sect had many connections so each time disaster struck, they had somehow resolved it.
However, this situation wasn’t sustainable in the long run, they would need to attach themselves to some force in order to survive sooner or later.
It was also for this reason that Treasure Instrument Sect’s Elders agreed to Tao Yang’s request to participate in the Inheritance War, as long as he could negotiate some favourable terms with Yang Kai, it wouldn’t be impossible to resolve this issue once and for all.
The group flew forward again for half an hour and was now 800 kilometers from War City.
At this distance, the five batches of people sent by the Yang Family Young Lords were obviously at their limit, all of them quietly exchanging glances as they prepared to strike.
The Treasure Instrument Sect and Ghost King Valley group were aware of this and raised their guard even further.
Sure enough, from the left most group, the Immortal Ascension Boundary master who spoke before coldly shouted, “Master Wu, it seems that your noble Sect really insists on sheltering these evildoers! Since Master Wu is not willing to hand them over, then we have no choice but to act. If in the process we cause offence, I hope Master Wu will be magnanimous!”
When Wu Yan heard this, his expression twisted in anger, “What do you want to do?”
The man chuckled and said, “Good and evil cannot coexist, I simply want to punish these devils! Master Wu, I suggest you and your Sect Brothers and Sisters not interfere so as not to suffer any accidental injuries”
Wu Yan sneered, “You won’t say that all these juniors behind this Wu are devil spawn? No matter if they fight back or not you’ll grab all of them, won’t you?”
“How could I?” The man slowly shook his head, “At the very least, I know well your first disciple Tao Yang, as for everyone else, whether they are minions of evil or not, after we interrogate them, we will understand!”
Having heard these words, everyone understood that this man was going to use the excuse of suppressing the Ghost King Valley disciples to capture those from Treasure Instrument Sect, so long as they didn’t kill anyone and simply imprisoned all of them, they could easily bring these valuable Artifact Refiners back to their respective Young Lords.
What’s more, if a fight really broke out, would Tao Yang and the others really stand by and do nothing? Once they inevitably started fighting back, these people would have the perfect excuse to justify their actions.
All the different actions that they could take will all lead to the same, inevitable conclusion.
Wu Ya’s expression sank as he muttered under his breath, “It seems that my Treasure Instrument Sect can’t avoid this tribulation, wait for the fight to start then find a way to escape, if you can’t escape, don’t resist. They won’t kill. Tao Yang, you go to War City, find Yang Kai. Let him step forward to resolve this!”
“Disciple won’t fail!” Tao Yang firmly declared.
“Also, tell him, if there is a single casualty from our Treasure Instrument Sect, don’t expect this old master to refine him a single piece of junk for the rest of his life!” Wu Yan reiterated.
“Master Wu, have you made up your mind?” The man mocked before shouting, “If so, then pardon my offence!”
As his voice rang out, the five batches of people almost simultaneously leapt forward, their goal obviously the Treasure Instrument Sect disciples in the crowd.
Treasure Instrument Sect had dispatched more than twenty of its members this time so the number of targets wasn’t small. At the very least, each of the Yang Family’s Young Lords back in War City could harvest a few.
Treasure Instrument Sect and Ghost King Valley were immediately overwhelmed by this sudden rush and were about to follow Wu Yan’s instructions to escape when a figure suddenly appeared above everyone’s heads.
This person was quite strange; no one had even noticed how he appeared. It was almost as if he had been there the whole time and had just now revealed himself.
When this figure appeared, a horrifying Spiritual Energy descended upon the crowd.
Everyone in the five groups who were attacking suddenly stumbled, each of them showing aghast expressions as they quickly circulated their True Qi to resist this pressure, all of them trembling as they fearfully looked towards this newcomer.
On the other hand, the Treasure Instrument Sect and the Ghost King Valley people all felt confused.
Especially Leng Shan, when this person appeared, she felt a faint fluctuation in her mind, but before she had a chance to carefully investigate, the fluctuations disappeared.
As she stared at this floating middle-aged man, Leng Shan couldn’t help frowning in suspicion.
The opposite party also glanced at her casually, revealed a friendly smile, and then immediately turned his eyes away.
In the next instant, a cold, brutal, and bloodthirsty aura filled the middle-aged man’s eyes as he laughed wickedly, “So many bullying the few, interesting!”
His attitude was casual, neither friendly nor hostile, as if he was a great masters who had only coincidentally passed by here and had come to watch the show.
No one dared to respond, under this horrible and sinister Spiritual Energy, any slight loss of focus could lead to disastrous consequences.
The scene suddenly stagnated, and the expressions of the people in the five groups were extremely ugly as they were fixed in place. All of them looked at the middle-aged man with fear and terror, gradually leaking beans of cold sweat from their foreheads.
“Are you all mutes?” The middle-aged man’s expression dimmed as he loudly shouted.
This shout was like a crack of thunder, causing everyone’s ears to ring and bleed, all of them stumbling back a few steps before they regained their balance, turning even more fearful looks forward towards this man.
All of them knew, if none of them spoke and broke this deadlock, this situation simply wouldn’t end.
After realizing this, the most powerful figures among the five groups glanced at each other before the same man who had been speaking before stepped forward nervously and respectfully asked, “May I ask Senior’s great name? This humble one is Lei Zhou of Tranquil Light Sect …”
But before he could finish introducing himself, he was cut off by the middle-aged man, his brows wrinkling somewhat in annoyance, “Tranquil Light Sect? Never heard of it!”
The Tranquil Light Sect was also a first-class force, so being so blatantly disdained made Lei Zhou unhappy, but in front of this malevolent man he didn’t dare show any anger, laughing awkwardly as he tried to continue, “We are here to support the Central Capital Yang Family’s Second Young Lord.”
Lei Zhou understood that this middle-aged man’s strength was unfathomable and had a wild and arrogant demeanour. He was definitely someone with eyes higher than the top of his head. But even if the Tranquil Light Sect didn’t enter his eyes, could the Central Capital Yang Family also be the same?
By purposely bringing up the Second Young Lord’s name he was hoping to make this man take a step back.
“Second Young Lord?” Sure enough, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but reveal a look of interest when he heard these three words, “Who is the Yang Family’s Second Young Lord?”
“Yang Zhao!” The man smiled and replied, his expression also relaxing, thinking that his words had played some role.
“What about you?” The middle-aged man turned his head and looked at the other groups.
Everyone quickly rushed to report the name of the Young Lord they supported and to which Sect they belonged.
Unexpectedly, the middle-aged man’s casually grinning expression gradually grew dark after hearing these various names and titles, soon becoming cold and menacing, like the black clouds of an approaching storm.
Bad! Everyone who saw this couldn’t help trembling, their backs now covered in cold sweat.
“You people, seems none of you are supporting Yang Kai?” The middle-aged man’s lips curled into a sneer, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes.
“Senior, we are on our way to support Yang Kai.” Tao Yang bravely stepped forward and cupped his fists, noticing some subtle information in these last words.
“Hm?” The middle-aged man looked over at him, his sullen expression brightening all of a sudden as he laughed and said, “Good good good, you have a little vision, very good, just support Yang Kai well and you won’t regret it!”
“Many thanks for Senior’s auspicious words!” Tao Yang replied happily.
Wu Yan quickly shot Tao Yang a disgruntled glare; his First disciple’s performance just now was nothing short of coveting life while fearing death, seeking favour from this middle-aged man so blatantly.
This made Treasure Instrument Sect loss face!
“En, since you’re on your way to support Yang Kai, this old master can’t sit back and do nothing!” The middle-aged man nodded gently and waved his hand, “Your safety is something that this old master will take responsibility of!”
Hearing this, whether it was the Ghost King Valley disciples or the Treasure Instrument Sect people, everyone was filled with joy, none of them had dreamed that such a powerful master would jump out of nowhere to protect them at this critical juncture, each of them cupping their fists in thanks.
On the contrary, the five groups of people all look grim, not daring to act out; after experiencing this person’s Spiritual Energy pressure, they naturally knew he was not someone they could provoke.
Lei Zhou somehow managed to cup his fists and squeeze out a smile, “Since Senior has come forward, this one will step back. Farewell!”
Finished what he had to say, he literally stepped backwards, afraid to turn his back to this middle-aged man.
Silavin: Well, I bet tons of you guys were waiting for the old man to come back. How is it? Was it satisfying? Haha.
