The next day, the group of people were ready to set out.
No one from High Heaven Pavilion came to see them off! Even the formerly arrogant Xie Hong Chen didn’t have the face to appear in front of Yang Kai and instead chose to silently preside over the reconstruction of the Sect.
It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai finally realized what Qiu Yi meant when she said she’d be imposing on him.
As the Silver Blood Golden Feather Eagle soared high above, Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian each rode on a Cloud Treading Colt and stared towards Yang Kai awkwardly, but both of them smiled as if they were anticipating something.
Yang Kai frowned deeply as he glanced around, obviously somewhat depressed.
There were only three Cloud Treading Colts between them, the two Blood Warriors both rode one and Yang Kai rode the last, the question then was, which mount would Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man ride?
Tang Yu Xian could bring one with her, but the other?
Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man were both young girls and the road to the Central Capital was long and bumpy. No matter who they rode with, there was bound to be a certainly amount of physical contact.
“Xiao Man or I, you can choose yourself,” Qiu Yi Meng obviously understood this, grinning towards Yang Kai.
Her smile, while beautiful and captivating, seemed to contain many different emotions, teasing, anticipation, embarrassment, and so on.
Luo Xiao Man also realized the situation they were in and couldn’t help blushing bright red.
However, Yang Kai just snorted and said, “Yu Xian can take one, Tu Feng can carry the other, I’ll ride alone.”
Qiu Yi Meng’s smile quickly disappeared as she stared at Yang Kai, apparently not having thought he would reject such a great opportunity to be close to a beauty.
As for the two Blood Warriors, both of them couldn’t hide their surprise.
Tu Feng quickly coughed and commented, “I do not mind if the two young ladies have no objections.”
Qiu Yi Meng quickly directed a glare towards him, causing Tu Feng to immediately stifle his words, a faint laugh taking its place.
“If so, I have a suggestion.” Qiu Yi Meng’s gaze quickly transferred back as she let out a giggle.
“What?”
“You and Tu Feng can ride together so that Xiao Man and I can have a mount to ourselves.”
“In your dreams!” Yang Kai resolutely refused. [Don’t screw with me! You want Tu Feng and I to ride a Cloud Treading Colt together?]
Qiu Yi Meng seemed to know that he would say so, so she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and then said, “Then you can ride together with Elder Sister Tang!”
Tang Yu Xian, who up to this point had been enjoying the role of bystander, suddenly blushed bright red upon hearing this suggestion. Since Yang Kai was one of the Yang Family’s Young Lords and she was a Yang Family’s Blood Warrior, if Yang Kai really insisted on sharing a Cloud Treading Colt with her, she would not refuse, but wouldn’t that be too awkward for her?
Suddenly, she was extremely nervous, for fear that Yang Kai would agree to Qiu Yi Meng’s suggestion.
“No!” Yang Kai frowned, suddenly feeling like the situation was more difficult than he had thought.
“There aren’t enough mounts, so we need to share, if you don’t agree with my suggestions then what do you propose?” Qiu Yi Meng casually said, maintaining her calm and composed smile, obviously she had already considered this issue yesterday.
Yang Kai remained silent for a long time but still couldn’t come up with a good idea.
“Hey, you’re a man aren’t you, make up your mind! Don’t make us sit here waiting all day for you.” Qiu Yi Meng urged.
Yang Kai ground his teeth for a moment longer before jumping up onto his Cloud Treading Colt and reaching out his hand.
Just as Qiu Yi Meng wore a victorious smile and was about to accept, Yang Kai suddenly said, “Luo Xiao Man, come up!”
The Qui Family’s Young Lady’s face cramped up on the spot before she stared blankly at Yang Kai, and a look of embarrassment flashed across her eyes, as she suddenly felt the urge to run up and slap Yang Kai.
On the other hand, Luo Xiao Man, like a frightened rabbit, recoiled sharply and hurriedly whimpered, “N.. n…no!”
Even she wasn’t quite sure why, but she deeply feared Yang Kai.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai shouted impatiently, signalling to Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian with his hand as he glanced back at the two young ladies.
“Haa…” Qiu Yi Meng let out an exasperated breath as she muttered under her breath, “How can you be so ruthless?”
“What ruthlessness are you talking about? If you don’t want to follow along with us you can find your own way back to the Central Capital. Just go hire a carriage or something.” Obviously Yang Kai really didn’t want to be entangled with her any further.
Qiu Yi Meng stared at him bitterly but quickly found that he wasn’t speaking in jest, letting out another sigh she turned to her side and said, “Xiao Man, go up.”
“I… I… I’m scared!” Luo Xiao Man whimpered as she burst into tears.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, he won’t bite you,” Qiu Yi Meng joked as she held Luo Xiao Man’s arms and, while the latter let out a pitiful cry, tossed her up behind Yang Kai before she mounted Tang Yu Xian’s Cloud Treading Colt.
“Hold on tight,” Yang Kai grumbled before rapidly urging his Cloud Treading Colt forward.
Helpless, Luo Xiao Man resigned herself to her situation and quickly wrapped her arms around Yang Kai, as her pretty face drained of all colour.
The entire party travelled forward in silence.
Qiu Yi Meng seemed quite angry and didn’t try to speak with Yang Kai again even when they stopped to rest. Luo Xiao Man on the other hand slowly relaxed after suffering silently for a whole day.
As the group galloped along the bumpy road, Yang Kai continuously felt two tremendously soft sensations press against his back. Experiencing this wondrous elasticity, he couldn’t help feeling his decision was correct.
[This little girl, Luo Xiao Man, she really has some capital, it’s fantastic!]
If he had chosen to take Qiu Yi Meng with him instead, he wouldn’t have been able to experience such enjoyment.
This discovery suddenly made him feel the trip back to the Central Capital wasn’t so bland.
Tu Feng and Tang Yu Xian could also perceive the strained atmosphere lingering around their group, so they didn’t dare say much, as to not further the awkwardness of the situation. If not for the harsh wind, which whistled past their ears, there would be no sound at all.
Along the way, it seemed like the entire world had already become aware that the Yang Family was recalling their Young Lords and word of the Inheritance War was gradually spreading.
It was only a short while ago that the war between the righteous and evil Sects had broken, out and now the Yang Family was preparing to launch their Inheritance War, it seemed like this year the entire Great Han Dynasty was destined to be a restless.
The Inheritance War attracted the attention of millions of people.
Although the Yang Family’s Inheritance War ostensibly was about selecting its next Patriarch, but each time it happened it would inevitably involve a wide range of influences and many forces from across the dynasty would come to participate.
Those forces which participated would often send out their juniors to bear witness to the heritage and methods of the dynasty’s great families so that they could increase their experience and hone their skills.
On the other hand, it was also an opportunity to forge connections with the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families.
If these smaller influences could accurately judge the situation of these Yang Family Young Lords, there would no doubt be great benefits to them in the future.
In addition to the dynasty’s major forces, there were also many individual cultivators who would come to the Central Capital to seek their own opportunities.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and as such was a much-anticipated event. Some who took advantage of this opportunity would have a chance to leap over the Dragon Gate and became famous while others would only find themselves an early death.
Pros and cons coexist; the entire Inheritance War was a gamble.
Various forces and cultivators bet their lives hoping to secure their futures.
This war was the most important checkpoint for this generation’s Young Lords of the Yang Family.
Five days later.
After traveling some ten thousand kilometers the group was still some distance from the Central Capital.
When the three Cloud Treading Colt stopped for a rest, Qiu Yi Meng suddenly looked off into the distance, after a while saying, “The Lu Family’s home is near here, I’d like to make a detour there to borrow two Cloud Treading Colts.”
Then, turning to look at Yang Kai, she asked, “How about stopping there for a rest?”
When Yang Kai frowned and was about to refuse, Tang Yu Xian suddenly interjected, “Since it’s nearby, then we might as well take advantage of the opportunity, it shouldn’t delay us very long.”
Yang Kai looked at her suspiciously, not immediately understanding why she had made such a decision herself.
However, Tang Yu Xian simply smiled back and said, “The Lu Family seems to have ties to the Qiu Family, right?”
Qiu Yi Meng nodded, “Right, they’re one of our subordinate forces. Amongst the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, which family doesn’t have one or two such attached influences? Though the world is big, amongst the top forces there’s always some contact, the Lu Family and Qiu Family just happen to share a somewhat closer relationship, these years they’ve also come to visit my Qiu Family’s home quite frequently.”
Tang Yu Xian quickly followed up, “The Lu Family is also considered as a first-class family, Little Lord paying them a visit wouldn’t be inappropriate.”
Once she had mentioned the Lu Family’s status, Yang Kai immediately realized that Tang Yu Xian wanted to take the opportunity to win them over and see if they could become a boost to him in for the coming Inheritance War.
Even if he couldn’t draw them to his side, showing his face would still be a prudent move.
Although Yang Kai currently held the identity of a Yang Family Young Lord, but in the end that meant very little. A Yang Family Young Lord, who had no background or allies, was just a paper tiger even if he was somewhat stronger than his peers.
After realizing her intentions, Yang Kai no longer refused, “Good, this Lu Family can also be said to have some small influence, it wouldn’t be polite not to at least pay them a visit.”
Qiu Yi Meng scoffed lightly at Yang Kai’s dismissive response but didn’t haggle over the matter.
The Lu Family wasn’t originally a first-class family, but because of its close ties to the Qiu Family, after receiving such a great power’s assistance, it gradually became stronger, leading to it accumulating more Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, until finally it had been promoted.
This was something which had only happened in recent years.
In reality though, the Lu Family could only be ranked amongst the lower end of the dynasty’s first-class forces.
After being acknowledged as a first-class family though, the two nearby third-class forces had no choice but to submit to the Lu Family.
Lu Liang, the Lu Family’s current Patriarch, didn’t possess great strength, only achieving Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage cultivation, but as a Patriarch, individual strength wasn’t the most important requirement. His talents in communication and management were the biggest reasons for the Lu Family’s current prosperity.
It was also because of his persistent visits and overtures to the Qiu Family that the Lu Family had managed to win their favour.
When Yang Kai’s group arrived at the Lu Family’s compound, the guards immediately realized that their status was extraordinary and thus quickly came forward to respectfully greet them.
These Lu Family guards naturally had some vision so upon recognizing the Cloud Treading Colts, Monster Beasts that could only be bred by first-class forces; they immediately knew that Yang Kai was by no means an unimportant person.
After Qiu Yi Meng reported her identity and name, the guards immediately bowed respectfully to her, one of them hurriedly rushed into the compound, most likely to inform the leaders of the Lu Family.
The Lu Family home had many manors within its grounds, along with a number of pavilions, lakes, bridges, gardens and fields, giving one a refreshing impression.
The buildings weren’t grand, but were exquisitely built, refined and elegant.
Qiu Yi Meng led the way, Luo Xiao Man stood alongside her while Yang Kai followed behind them, and the two Blood Warriors brought up the rear.
As they walked forward, Yang Kai also glanced around appreciatively at the various sights.