Five li outside Fengyue City, on the Yangsha Ancient Dao.
The Yangsha Ancient Dao was the only major thoroughfare to Fengyue City; everyone entering or leaving the city had to travel this path.
At that moment, a group of men stood guard on the Yangsha Ancient Dao. They were masked, clad in black robes, and wielded weapons that glinted coldly. Exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura, they ferociously inspected every traveler on the road.
These men were not bandits, however. They held a portrait and compared it to each traveler who passed, as if they were looking for someone.
If a traveler bore even the slightest resemblance to the portrait, they were pulled aside to be identified by a specific masked man—one with a scar across his eye.
Only after the scarred man shook his head were they allowed to leave. Their methods were utterly domineering.
Though the travelers resented this treatment, they swallowed their anger and dared not speak out. Each of the masked men radiated immense power and clearly possessed uncommon strength. Who would seek their own death over a little indignation?
So, they simply let the masked men inspect them. It wasn’t as if anything bad would happen; they could leave right after the inspection.
The masked men, for their part, weren’t overly aggressive. They only focused on those who resembled the portrait, and once they confirmed it wasn’t their target, they would let the person go. As a result, they had maintained their checkpoint here for three days without any major incidents.
After three fruitless days, one of the masked men, who appeared to be the leader, frowned and addressed the one with the scar across his eye.
"Li Kuang, what’s the deal? It’s been three days. How is it that we still haven’t seen a shadow of that brat, Tang Yi? Don’t tell me he got wind of this and fled?"
"That’s impossible, Group Leader Feng! Word is that Tang Yi left home this time to train and build up his strength before applying to the West Mansion. The entrance exam is in just a few days, so he’s bound to return for it."
The masked man with the scar replied respectfully.
The scarred, masked man was none other than Li Kuang, who had managed to escape from Tang Yi with his life.
After escaping by playing dead, Li Kuang had used a special method to contact the higher-ups of the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps and report the circumstances of Zhang Yuxi’s death. In response, the Corps had dispatched two of its top leaders, along with a host of other experts, to deal with the situation.
The masked leader speaking to him was one of the two top figures sent by the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps to deal with Tang Yi: Feng Hua.
Feng Hua was a Golden Robe Warrior of the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps. A Battle King, his position was exalted and his power was immense.
As a Battle Grandmaster, Li Kuang would normally be considered a formidable expert. But in front of Feng Hua, he was no more than a weakling. Feng Hua could kill him a hundred times over with a single finger—the gap in their power was just that vast.
What’s more, among the group Feng Hua had brought, Li Kuang, a Battle Grandmaster, was actually the weakest of them all!
Of the fifteen masked men present, besides Feng Hua and Li Kuang, the rest were all Silver Robed Martial Artists from the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps, and every one of them possessed the power of a Battle Spirit!
’Even Li Kuang hadn’t expected the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps to dispatch so many masters just to deal with that uncanny youth!’
’This time, the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps had practically sent all of its elites. With two Battle Kings overseeing the operation, what force in a small place like Fengyue City could possibly stand against them?’
"Hmph. When that brat gets back, I’m going to catch him with my own two hands. I’ll torture him until he’s begging for a death that will never come. How dare he make me wait this long in this godforsaken place!" Feng Hua snorted impatiently.
"Don’t you worry, Group Leader Feng. We’ll definitely get our hands on Tang Yi before Group Leader Round Dance does. After all, we’re the ones putting in all the hard work. You’re so dedicated to the task, while Round Dance and his men just know how to have a good time. They claim to be ’waiting in the city,’ but what they’re really doing is enjoying the ladies at the Jade Red Tower. There’s no way we’ll lose to them," Li Kuang said with obvious displeasure.
’To dare slander a superior behind his back!’
For Li Kuang to say such a thing was an act of gross insubordination. However, he knew that the two leaders, Feng Hua and Round Dance, were bitter rivals. That was why he dared to speak ill of Round Dance in Feng Hua’s presence—it was a deliberate attempt to curry favor.
Otherwise, how would he ever dare to bad-mouth a Battle King powerhouse?
’Wasn’t that just courting death?’
"Shut your mouth! No more nonsense!" Feng Hua shot Li Kuang a glare, though there was no real reprimand in it. Seeing Li Kuang’s disgruntled expression vanish, he lowered his voice. "Walls have ears. We can discuss such matters in private, but not so brazenly out in the open."
"Yes! Your lesson is well-taken, Group Leader Feng!" Li Kuang responded quickly, but his expression remained nonchalant.
Feng Hua said nothing more. Instead, he put on a magnanimous front. "We’ve mobilized so many people for this mission. It doesn’t matter who catches Tang Yi. The important thing is that he is caught and forced to reveal what power stands behind him. That will be a great accomplishment for us all. However, if we can’t even catch a young brat or handle a minor clan, then how can the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps show its face in public? So there’s no need to bicker. The proper path is to work together and serve the Corps to the best of our abilities."
"Group Leader Feng’s words are wise," Li Kuang said, nodding with false humility.
Li Kuang knew Feng Hua was just putting on a show for the others. Everyone in the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps knew about the bitter feud between the two leaders. They couldn’t be in the same room for a second without arguing, let alone work together.
Still, Li Kuang didn’t call him out on it.
What puzzled Li Kuang, though, was the scale of the response. He had reported that Tang Yi was formidable, but just being formidable shouldn’t have been enough to warrant the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps dispatching so many top-tier experts.
After all, between Feng Hua’s and Round Dance’s groups, there were over thirty people in total, and every single one was at the Battle Spirit Level or higher.
This really felt like overkill.
No matter how strong Tang Yi was, a few Silver Robed Martial Artists at the Battle Spirit Level should have been enough to slay him. There was no need to mobilize anyone at the Golden Robe Warrior level.
Though he didn’t understand why the situation had escalated to this degree, or why the Wolf Heaven Mercenary Corps had sent so many powerhouses, Li Kuang cooperated to the best of his ability.
After the two Golden Robe leaders arrived, he had recounted everything he knew to them in painstaking detail.
Following up on various clues and leads...
...they had uncovered Tang Yi’s identity.
The son of the Tang Family Patriarch!
Sixteen years old, with power at least at the Battle Grandmaster level, and very likely even reaching the Battle Spirit Level!
To possess such power at his age... It wasn’t just Li Kuang; even the two Golden Robe leaders were astounded.
Furthermore, they had uncovered another piece of information: just one month ago, Tang Yi had been a good-for-nothing who couldn’t even cultivate!
’Meaning, in just one short month, Tang Yi had gone from being unable to cultivate to being an expert at the Battle Spirit Level?’
’How was that possible?’
Whether it was true or not, the answers would reveal themselves once they captured Tang Yi and interrogated him.
Therefore, after discovering Tang Yi’s identity, the two Golden Robe leaders had dispatched men to search for him. They had also gone to the Tang Family to make inquiries, and had even considered turning the entire clan upside down to find him.

Comments

Loading...