“Such arrogance!” The two cultivators of the Li Family looked thoroughly displeased. “You… are you trying to start a war between sects?”
“A war between sects? Are you worthy? I doubt your sect even ranks among the notable ones.” The fully armored rider’s voice was cold and indifferent.
“Very well — very well — very well! You have nerve. Let’s just see whether you can walk out of Yan territory!” The two cultivators of the Li Family wore dark expressions, cold light glinting in their eyes. Their thoughts raced as they prepared to incite the rage of the Yanxia Grotto-Heaven elders.
“Do you actually think you can keep us here in Yan territory?” The rider gave a cold laugh. “Fish like you — even if you brought a hundred thousand of them, it still wouldn’t matter.”
“You…” The Li Family’s cultivators felt deeply humiliated, yet at the same time profoundly shaken. These people seemed to have enormous backing — why else would they dare speak such wild words? But they had no way out now; they had to tie the Li Family and Yanxia Grotto-Heaven together if there was any hope of destroying this group. Gritting their teeth, they said: “Since you hold Yanxia Grotto-Heaven in no regard, I will report this truthfully, and the elders of the sect will naturally make you understand the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth!”
“You’re not worthy!” The rider did nothing more than step forward with a single powerful stamp — without truly striking out — and the two Li Family men were sent flying like scarecrows, slamming heavily into the wall. The bones throughout their bodies cracked and snapped, blood pouring from their mouths, noses, and ears simultaneously.
“You…” More than half the bones in their bodies were shattered. They lay plastered against the wall like mud, their eyes filled with terror.
At Jiang Yifei’s signal, the rider had not delivered a killing blow — there were still questions to be asked of the two men.
“Did you kill Tingting’s parents?” Jiang Yifei’s words remained calm as ever, but falling on the ears of the two Li Family cultivators at this moment, they struck like thunderclaps. The serene white-clad man before them made them feel like they were standing at the foot of an immovable mountain, forced to look up.
“We’ll talk…”
“What tremendous arrogance — who dares not even put my Yanxia Grotto-Heaven in their eyes?” At that moment, a middle-aged man strode into the front courtyard with great steps. Upon seeing the dozen or more savage beasts, his expression changed immediately, and he said: “What instruction do you all have for us? Why did you harm disciples of Yanxia Grotto-Heaven?”
“Merely the removal of evil.” A rider stepped forward and blocked his path.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying that Yanxia Grotto-Heaven is some form of ‘evil’?” The middle-aged man demanded sharply.
The rider responded coldly: “Whether Yanxia Grotto-Heaven is great evil, I cannot say. But these two are unquestionably murderous villains.”
“This is nothing but your side of the story. Before the matter has been properly investigated, how can you act so rashly and presumptuously? Furthermore, these are disciples of Yanxia Grotto-Heaven. If they have committed wrongdoing, it is naturally we who will deal with it — it is not the place of outsiders like you.”
Jiang Yifei’s expression remained placid, but his words carried a faint chill: “They have committed evil for years, yet Yanxia Grotto-Heaven has done nothing to address it. Now you seek to exonerate them and cover up their crimes. It seems I truly do need to make a trip to Yanxia Grotto-Heaven and demand an explanation.”
“Tremendous arrogance — what do you take Yanxia Grotto-Heaven for? Some words, once spoken, must be paid for.” The middle-aged man stared coldly ahead.
Jiang Yifei said with a faint, cold smile: “Is Yanxia Grotto-Heaven so powerful? I’ve never heard of it, unfortunately. I suppose I shall have to go and experience your great reputation for myself.”
“How utterly contemptuous.” The middle-aged man said icily: “Yanxia Grotto-Heaven is one of the Six Sects of Yan territory. If you insist on making trouble, a war between sects will be unavoidable!”
Jiang Yifei shook his head: “The Eastern Desolation is vast and boundless — how many nations it contains, no one can easily count. The Yan Kingdom is no more than a tiny speck. The sects here are ones I have genuinely never heard of.”
“Such arrogance — I’ll show you just how powerful you truly are.” The middle-aged man rode a rainbow arc into the air, soaring to mid-sky, where he spat out a purple-gold shield and a blood-red spear from his mouth.
The roar of a savage beast rang out. A rider mounted his beast and surged skyward like a streak of green light, shooting straight through.
“Aaaah…”
The middle-aged cultivator from Yanxia Grotto-Heaven let out a scream on the spot. The purple-gold shield was sliced clean in two in an instant, and the blood-red spear was shattered into two halves. His chest and abdomen were nearly ripped fully open, and he plummeted to the ground, blood gushing in torrents.
Under ordinary circumstances such wounds would have been immediately fatal, but cultivators possessed exceptionally powerful physiques — he swiftly stanched the bleeding and stabilized his injuries, his face drained of all color as he retreated to the side.
Ye Fan’s heart shook deeply. He felt that every one of these dozen or so riders was extraordinary — considerably more powerful than the Ji Family members and the Yao Guang Sacred Ground’s people he had seen at the Demon Emperor’s burial mound.
At that moment, unable to hold back any longer upon hearing the commotion, several Immortal Masters came walking out from the inner courtyard.
“Who are you people?” One of the elders furrowed his brow. Having already overheard the exchange in the front courtyard, he was greatly irritated and displeased — these people had shown Yanxia Grotto-Heaven no regard whatsoever.
“We would trouble you all to lead the way and take us on a visit to Yanxia Grotto-Heaven.” Jiang Caixuan’s beautiful face carried a cold smile. “Please, all of you — after us.”
Everyone from Yanxia Grotto-Heaven changed color at once. One of them said: “You are young, yet so arrogant — has no one in your family taught you to respect your elders?”
Jiang Caixuan spoke in an icy tone: “The disciples your sect has trained kill people, bully the helpless, and drive a man over seventy to utter desperation. On what grounds do you speak of the Way of the Teacher? You have no right to.”
“What evidence do you have?”
“They’ve already confessed themselves.”
The elder in the center furrowed his brow and said: “Setting aside whether they were beaten into a false confession, even if there truly was wrongdoing, it is not your place to handle it — Yanxia Grotto-Heaven has its own rules for dealing with such matters.”
“Wonderful — ‘dealt with by ourselves.’ For over two years, the deceased lie unavenged, their killers roam free, and they continue to persecute helpless elders and children — is this your sect’s code of conduct?” Jiang Caixuan was deeply sympathetic toward Tingting, and as she said these words, her beautiful face was layered with frost. “Even now, you are still looking for ways to exonerate and cover for them. You are truly worthy of being their Masters — birds of a feather flock together.”
“You…” The brow of the leading elder shot upward, yet he still did not dare act outright, for the opposing formation was truly terrifying — that golden divine Houwu alone filled him with deep dread.
At this moment, Jiang Yifei spoke: “Take them all down!” Several riders heard the command and stepped forward simultaneously.
The elder cried out: “Go!” He was the first to shoot skyward, riding a rainbow arc to flee. He had already discerned that these people were of extraordinary origins — well beyond anything they could contend with. Once they became enemies, there would be no possibility of escape. The others also scattered in all four directions, one after another, streaks of rainbow light shooting toward the heavens.
Savage beasts roared. Tremors rang across the sky as several beasts, each bearing a rider, charged off in different directions — and overtook them in an instant.
“Aaah…”
Screams rang out one after another. Then, in short order, several riders returned swiftly, dragging every last one of them back as though hauling dead dogs — every person captured, including the elder, bore terrible wounds on their bodies.
Beside them, Ye Fan was deeply shaken. Ancient desolate clans were truly colossal forces — these riders were terrifying.
Jiang Yifei singled out two riders and left them to deal with the Li Family, instructing them not to kill indiscriminately — only the chief villains were to be executed.
“We go to Yanxia Grotto-Heaven!”
Jiang Yifei personally helped Old Uncle Jiang up onto the golden divine Houwu, the two of them sharing the same mount. Jiang Caixuan lifted Tingting onto the divine deer, seated in front of her. And Ye Fan shared a mount with one of the riders as they rose into the sky.
“There’s no need to go to Yanxia Grotto-Heaven — those two beasts are already dead, and the blood debt has already been repaid…” Old Uncle Jiang, upon learning that his son had been deliberately murdered, had clouded, aged eyes unable to hold back the tears.
On the other side, little Tingting had also begun to weep.
“We are going. We must go. No one kills a member of my Jiang Family and simply walks away!” Jiang Yifei’s expression was calm, but his words carried tremendous force.
Ye Fan felt a surge of emotion in his heart. The road ahead of him was still very long. Compared to a colossus like an ancient desolate clan, he was truly too small and insignificant.
The townsfolk were left gaping in stunned silence. A long while passed before cheers erupted — the cancer that had poisoned the town had finally been cut out.
The several captives from Yanxia Grotto-Heaven, faced with the choice between life and death, had no choice but to submit and lead the way.
More than a dozen savage beasts soared through the clouds and mist, galloping across the sky, their collective thunder like ten thousand horses charging in unison — or like a tidal surge sweeping through the high heavens.
Just then, Ye Fan felt eyes upon him. He turned to look and found it was none other than the arrogant young man, Jiang Yichen.
Meeting his gaze, Jiang Yichen looked away, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
Ye Fan’s heart gave a sudden jolt. Why would he act like this? He could not recall having offended this young man of the ancient desolate clan — he could not figure out why the other party had their eyes on him.
Before long, the group arrived at Yanxia Grotto-Heaven. Ahead of them, peaks gleamed green and valleys shone with verdure, mist and haze drifting through the air, rosy glows flickering in and out of sight — it truly lived up to its name.
“Who dares intrude upon the sacred grounds of our sect?!” A shout rang out from up ahead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The captives who had been brought along were all hurled forward, and cries of alarm erupted from within.
“A great enemy approaches!” Yanxia Grotto-Heaven erupted into chaos.
In an instant, mist and haze surged into the sky. The Dao-inscribed formations carved into the mountains and earth unleashed their power, sending blazing torrents of divine radiance soaring upward to block the group’s path.
“This is nothing — allow me to break through it.” At this moment, the imperious young man Jiang Yichen suddenly made his move. From within his body flew a purple-gold gourd, its purple light brilliant and resplendent. It rapidly expanded in the sky, drawing in all the mist and haze like a whale swallowing a river, sucking every bit of it into the gourd’s mouth. In the blink of an eye, the power of the Dao-inscribed formations was completely suppressed.
Then the purple-gold gourd bore down like a small mountain pressing forward, wisps of dense purple mist swirling around it. A chorus of cries rang out immediately, and numerous figures went flying, swept up and drawn into the purple-gold gourd.
Ye Fan’s heart lurched. He had not imagined the purple-gold gourd would be so formidable — effortlessly breaking through Yanxia Grotto-Heaven’s mountain-guarding Dao inscriptions and drawing in a great many cultivators. It was truly alarming.
“The depth of an ancient desolate clan’s foundations is extraordinary. This is merely a boy of sixteen or seventeen years — and they’ve bestowed upon him such a terrifyingly powerful treasure…” Ye Fan kept muttering to himself inwardly.
“There’s no need for all this…” Old Uncle Jiang kept trying to dissuade them from the side.
Jiang Yifei shook his head and said: “Tingting’s parents did no wrong, yet they were persecuted and killed. We must demand a reckoning. My Jiang Family has never feared trouble!”
Boom!
At this very moment, a powerful shockwave swept outward from within Yanxia Grotto-Heaven, blasting the purple-gold gourd back. An aged voice carried outward: “So it is people from an ancient desolate clan — might I ask in what way my Yanxia Grotto-Heaven has given offense?”