Although everyone knew that the Second Young Master and Great Elder were incompatible, they had always maintained a public sense of decorum up until now. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two parties seemed to have become more and more volatile over the past year.
The reason was simple: The Great Elder was Young Master Zi Dong’s grandfather, and his daughter, Gong Sun Yu, was Zi Dong’s biological mother. With this kind of relationship, Gong Sun Liang spared no effort to support Zi Dong, waiting for him to become the Sect Master of Purple Star.
Zi Wu Ji’s mother, on the other hand, was just a woman from a small family on Purple Star; as such, how could he compare with Zi Dong?
Gong Sun Liang had always looked down on Zi Wu Ji.
Roughly two years ago, Zi Long and Zi Dong had left Purple Star together and had yet to return. So, those with power on Purple Star had begun struggling for power and profit.
Especially over the past year, Zi Wu Ji had secretly moved to win over many masters. Gong Sun Liang had also begun to amass support, and the conflict between the two parties had become almost impossible to hide.
The actions of these two sides had caused many of Purple Star’s masters to split into three distinct factions. One of these factions supported Zi Wu Ji while another faction was headed by Gong Sun Liang, both taking advantage of Purple Star’s Sect Master and Young Master’s absence to further their own agendas. The rest were cultivators who were waiting for Zi Long’s return without joining either side.
Since the two were secret opponents, Gong Sun Liang certainly would not be willing to talk to Zi Wu Ji.
Zi Wu Ji frowned as some displeasure appeared on his face; after all, he was still Purple Star’s Second Young Master. Gong Sun Liang not giving him any face in front of so many masters was a difficult insult to swallow.
“Gong Sun Liang, how dare you act so dissolute!” Ji Jun, who had been standing behind Zi Wu Ji, suddenly shouted, “Second Young Master asked you a question, why have you not answered?”
Gong Sun Liang’s eyes flashed as he looked down at Ji Jun coldly, snorting as he said, “Who are you accusing of acting dissolute? This old master is Purple Star’s Great Elder. With Sect Master not here, all decisions fall to this old master. What thing are you to dare yell at this old master?”
Ji Jun smiled coldly, “Gong Sun Liang, don’t think that others don’t know what you are thinking. With the tiger not home, the monkey acts like a king. When Sect Master returns, we’ll see how arrogant you can be.”
“Who did you just call a monkey?” When had Gong Sun Liang ever been so insulted? He could not help angrily glaring at Ji Jun.
“You know it in your heart,” Ji Jun sneered again.
“You court death!” Gong Sun Liang was furious and the Saint Qi in his body surged fiercely, seemingly on the verge of attacking Ji Jun.
Everyone’s face changed drastically.
“Great Elder, please restrain your anger!” Zi Wu Ji suddenly stood forward and blocked Ji Jun, hurriedly cupping his fists and saying lightly, “Old Ji has always been blunt with his thoughts, if he has offended you, this Wu Ji will apologise on his behalf and hope that Great Elder will not take it to heart.”
“Hmph,” Gong Sun Liang coldly snorted in a noncommittal manner.
Zi Wu Ji simply chuckled in response, “This is not the time for infighting. Right now, what’s most important is to figure out who it was that broke into Purple Star Palace. I do not know what this person’s objective is, but if they have malicious intentions, the situation is worrying. What does Great Elder think?”
Gong Sun Liang also recognised that this was not the time to fight with the other party. The sudden intrusion of a Second-Order Origin King to Purple Star Palace had simply agitated him a bit too much. As such, he quickly held his tongue.
Zi Wu Ji continued, “With my father not here and my eldest brother out accompanying him, Purple Star Palace currently has no leader. Although this Wu Ji is willing to offer his assistance, he is somewhat powerless to help. Since Great Elder is in charge of all matters in the palace, I will have to entrust Great Elder to find out who this intruder is and what his purpose is. I hope Great Elder can find this villain and tear his corpse into ten thousand pieces to serve as a warning. Otherwise, what face would our Purple Star have?!”
Gong Sun Liang frowned and quickly spat, “There is no need for the Second Young Master to say anything more, this old master will handle the matter appropriately. Second Young Master should withdraw.”
“En, Wu Ji will take his leave!” Zi Wu Ji nodded and smiled before leaving calmly with Ji Jun.
After he left, Gong Sun Liang shouted, “Spread out and search the palace, don’t let off even the slightest clue! That person could not have gone far and must be using some kind of Secret Technique to conceal their aura. If you find them, don’t engage, notify this old master and he will arrive as quickly as possible!”
“Yes!” Everyone agreed and dispersed.
For a time, Purple Star Palace was abuzz with activity with masters combing every path and flying across the sky. Powerful Divine Senses continuously swept every corner of the grounds as they continued an exhaustive search…
“Second Young Master, why must you show such tolerance to that old fart?” Ji Jun asked in a disgruntled tone on the way back.
A sneer appeared on Zi Wu Ji’s face as he snorted lightly, “It’s not time to tear face with him yet. Let that old thing act arrogant for a while more.”
Ji Jun frowned, but having received such an answer, he didn’t refute.
“However… the thief who suddenly appeared this time has helped me greatly,” Zi Wu Ji smiled lightly. “No matter who this person is, this Young Lord must offer his sincere thanks.”
Ji Jun frowned and thought about it for a moment before asking, “Second Young Master means that this intruder helped you distract that old fart?”
“That is part of it,” Zi Wu Ji smiled slightly, “The person who appeared is clearly very strong, capable of casually exchanging blows with Gong Sun Liang before freely leaving. He must also be a Second-Order Master and Gong Sun Liang finding him will not be easy. Old Ji, think about it, if that old thing can’t find this person, what face will he have left?”
“Indeed!” Ji Jun’s eyes flashed with joy, “If he can’t find that person, that old fart will be disgraced. Hahaha, no wonder Second Young Master was so eager to withdraw just now, so it was for this reason!”
“Why else do you think this Young Lord would act so cooperative? Although this matter is somewhat troublesome, it can also be a good opportunity to accumulate prestige if handled properly,” Zi Wu Ji stroked his chin lightly. “But… who would dare to break into my Purple Star Palace? Among the Star Field, Second-Order Origin Kings are a rarity, and each of them is a well-known master. None of them would need to act so sneakily.”
For some reason, when Zi Wu Ji said this, Yang Kai’s image suddenly flashed across his mind.
Yang Kai was Purple Star’s Third Venerable and only recently appeared in Purple Star City. Tonight, Purple Star Palace was broken into, so Zi Wu Ji naturally thought of Yang Kai.
“Could it be him?” Zi Wu Ji couldn’t be sure, but a thick suspicion appeared between his brow that he could not dismiss.
In a certain courtyard inside Purple Star Palace, Yang Kai was concealing himself while silently observing the masters of Purple Star Palace search for him.
He had made this trip in vain now that he had been noticed, and to make matters worse, he could not leave freely at the moment. With so many masters’ Divine Senses probing around, he would definitely be noticed if he made too much movement.
As such, he could only endure and wait for an opportunity to present itself.
Time passed slowly, but Yang Kai was not in a hurry. The coming and going masters in the sky passed by not far away, but not one of them ever noticed him.
Suddenly, a familiar figure fell not far away, took a look around, then walked straight towards a certain pavilion.
In front of this pavilion were several Origin Realm masters standing guard. After seeing this visitor though, all of them saluted, “Subordinate greets Seventh Elder!”
“En,” This Seventh Elder gently nodded and asked, “Nothing has happened inside, right?”
“Reporting to Seventh Elder, there has been nothing unusual,” The lead Origin Realm guard replied respectfully before asking suspiciously, “Seventh Elder, what happened just now? Why did this subordinate sense someone was fighting?”
“Someone trespassed into Purple Star Palace. Great Elder was concerned they might have come for the people inside, so he asked me to come and have a look. Open the barrier.”
“Yes,” The several Origin Returning Realm masters heard this and without hesitation took out a kind of stone tablet like artifact from their Space Rings and poured their Saint Qi into them. The next moment, a layer of ripples appeared around the pavilion as a barrier opened.
Seventh Elder then walked straight inside. A short while later, an angry series of curses rang out from inside.
However, these curses quickly turned into miserable cries, as if whoever was shouting was being beaten by this Seventh Elder.
Seventh Elder walked out a moment later with a hint of irritation on his face, coldly snorted, and said, “Overconfident fool, daring to act against this old master. If you did not have some use left, I would have taken all your lives! Watch these people well, if any of them manages to escape, it will be all of your heads!”
The Origin Realm guards all wore terrified expressions as they hurriedly nodded in acknowledgement.
Seventh Elder then flew off into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
After the Seventh Elder left, the several Origin Realm masters looked at each other with solemn expressions, preparing to activate the barrier again.
In his hiding spot, Yang Kai wore a strange expression as he stared towards the pavilion with a suspicious look on his face.
From the voices that were angrily cursing just now, he seemed to have heard one that was familiar to him!
This was a completely unexpected development.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai made up his mind, and before the barrier was raised again, his figure flickered and rushed directly into the pavilion.
The Origin Realm masters who were opening the barrier frowned as at that moment they all felt a slight sense of unease, but that feeling disappeared in the next instant, leaving them all at a loss.
However, none of them discovered anything wrong, so they did not pay this incident any mind and simply activated the barrier again.
Inside the pavilion, Yang Kai revealed himself leisurely.
Before he could see the scene inside the room clearly, two figures suddenly rushed up and tried to attack him.
Yang Kai’s face sank and his Domain burst forth, completely solidifying the surrounding space. Under his delicate control, the Domain field he formed was extremely small, only covering the interior of the pavilion, without touching any of the barriers outside.
“Shhh…” Yang Kai quickly stretched out his finger and gestured.
Only then did he see the situation inside the house clearly.
There were a total of five people inside, all of whom were Origin Realm cultivators, the strongest of which was a Third-Order. Four of these people were complete strangers to Yang Kai, but one young man was actually familiar to him.
At this moment, the young man was held mid-air by Yang Kai’s Domain and had a suspicious expression on his face as he stared at Yang Kai fiercely, but in the next moment, his eyes bulged and he pointed towards Yang Kai as he haltingly called out, “You…”
Yang Kai grinned, “Brother Shen Tu, the world is really too small. I trust you’ve been well since we last met?”
