The True Alchemic Way was too vast and profound. Not only did it detail a variety of magical Alchemic Spirit Arrays, it also contained the experiences of countless Alchemy Grandmasters, more than enough for Yang Kai to study for several lifetimes, but if he wanted to extract useful information from the True Alchemic Way which was imprinted into his mind, he had to consume a lot of Spiritual Energy.
Doing so damaged his Soul, but with the aid of the Soul Warming Lotus such damage would be instantly repaired.
Proceeding in such a reckless manner and supported by a massive amount of resources, Yang Kai’s cultivation and Spiritual Energy grew at an obvious rate.
Every morning Yang Kai would practice his Tempered Body Record under the rising sun and then take a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid.
After such a long period of accumulation, the Myriad Drug Liquid’s cleansing effect on his body presented itself, allowing Yang Kai to cultivate faster and more efficiently than ever before.
The best part was that this increase in cultivation efficiency would accompany him for the rest of his life, a truly unlimited benefit. As his strength further improved in the future, the effect he obtained from consuming the Myriad Drug Liquid every day also improved.
Such an effect was no different from a snowball rolling downhill!
War City, Eastern Corner, Eldest Brother Yang Wei’s compound.
After a few days of retreat, Yang Wei quietly went out and soon came across the Meng Family’s Meng Shan Yi who was standing in his courtyard, apparently he had been waiting here for some time and was deep in thought, his brow thoroughly wrinkled.
“Brother Meng,” Yang Wei greeted.
“First Young Master.” Meng Shan Yi heard this voice and looked up, happily replying as he hurriedly walked over and immediately brightened up, “First Young Lord’s seems to have made a breakthrough in his Secret Art.”
Yang Wei nodded lightly and affirmed, “En, I am about to advance to the Immortal Ascension Second Stage, I should break through within a few days.”
Meng Shan Yi couldn’t hide his admiration and envy. Although he was also the eldest son of the Meng Family and his aptitude was excellent, he was still only at the True Element Ninth Stage still. Even though he was about to break through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, he was still far behind the Yang Family’s Eldest, Yang Wei.
[Amongst the youths of the Central Capital there are quite a few geniuses!] Meng Shan Yi thought to himself.
Liu Qing Yao of the Liu Family was a given, and it was also well known that the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady Qiu Yi Meng had broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage two months ago. Besides these three, there were no others who had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary yet, but there were many on the verge of breaking through.
This made Meng Shan Yi feel a faint sense of crisis.
Although he was the Meng Family’s First Young Lord, and it didn’t really matter if his strength wasn’t the highest amongst his generation, but which man didn’t dream of being strong?
“What are you doing here?” Yang Wei asked calmly.
“It’s like this First Young Master, since you arrived in War City and entered retreat, it has been four days, I felt it best to remain here in order to update you on the situation as soon as you exited.”
Yang Wei nodded lightly and turned around, “Come inside to speak.”
Inside the room, the two sat down around a small table and Yang Wei silently listened to what had happened on the first night to his Third Brother Yang Tie. Throughout the first part of the session, his expression remained indifferent, as if everything had gone exactly according to his expectations.
But when he heard that Yang Kai had intervened and not only managed to obtain the flag but also captured Yang Tie from under everyone’s noses, his eyes couldn’t help narrowing slightly, his face finally showing a hint of surprise.
Meng Shan Yi smiled bitterly, “Your Ninth Brother’s actions were too unexpected. Both Yang Kang and Yang Ying went for wool but came back shorn. As an aside, it seems he let Yang Tie go back to the Central Capital instead of exchanging him for supplies from your family.
“He even did that?” Yang Wei asked somewhat confused.
“That’s why I said his actions were too unexpected.” Meng Shan Yi shook his head slowly, “I can’t understand what he is thinking or how he will act. At first, I thought he would continue to take action and attack Yang Quan while everyone else consolidated their forces, but he hasn’t made any moves at all these past few days.”
“If he’s half as intelligent as he appears he wouldn’t do that!” Yang Wei’s eyes flashed.
“Good, I didn’t understand it at first either but after some thought, it became obvious Yang Kai didn’t want to stir up everyone’s collective resentment.” Meng Shan Yi’s expression showed a hint of admiration, “He looks farther ahead than I do.”
“Don’t underestimate my Ninth Brother, my instincts tell me he’s not done yet.” Yang Wei frowned, recalling his encounter with Yang Kai in front of the Elders’ Hall when his True Qi fluctuated involuntarily.
“First Young Master means…?”
“Ninth Brother may be my biggest enemy in this Inheritance War, even stronger than my Second Brother!”
“How is that possible?” Meng Shan Yi clearly didn’t believe it, seemingly thinking that Yang Wei was overestimating Yang Kai too much. “Although many people have come to join him over the past few days, all of the Young Lord’s compounds have seen similar expansion. The friends you have made over the past few years have also begun gathering here now. On that note, many of them would like to see you.”
“En,” Yang Wei nodded gently, “I’ll go arrange things with them personally.”
Meng Shan Yi suddenly showed some excitement, “Does First Young Master want to take action then?”
“What action?” Yang Wei looked at him curiously.
Meng Shan Yi’s brow furrowed slightly at this question, “Does First Young Master not plan to attack Yang Quan? Yang Kai shouldn’t be willing to cause trouble right now, thus drawing too much attention to himself while all of your other brothers are still in the process of reorganizing their forces after the losses they suffered. Right now is a rare opportunity! As long as First Young Master sets out in force, I don’t believe Yang Quan will resist too strongly, after all, you are still the Eldest Brother, your prestige in your younger sibling’s hearts should still carry some weight.”
Yang Quan only had one Blood Warrior at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage with him while his mother had come from a second-class force. This kind of defensive power wouldn’t be difficult to breach with Yang Wei’s current forces.
“If we act now it is definitely possible for me to subdue Eighth Brother.” Yang Wei didn’t refute Meng Shan Yi’s analysis, “Even if he does resists, it will still be futile in the end.”
“If so, why does First Young Master hesitant?” Meng Shan Yi asked, slightly puzzled.
“If there’s not enough benefits, I won’t act!” Yang Wei shook his head, “This topic ends here. When the right opportunity to attack arises , I will attack. For now, Brother Meng, accompany me to meet those people.”
Saying so, Yang Wei stood up and walked out.
Although Meng Shan Yi was a bit displeased in his heart, he didn’t say anything; however, he couldn’t help wondering… would eliminating Yang Quan really not yield any benefits? Forget about the fact that Yang Quan himself and his flag could be used to exchange for a large quantity of materials for the main family, after he had been removed from the competition, his allies could be recruited to Yang Wei’s side.
How were there no benefits!?
At this moment, three hundred kilometers away from War City.
Along a dusty road, two beautiful and enchanting women were laughing as they walked forward. Beside these two great beauties were two pure and innocent young girls, one of whom was quite lively, constantly calling out Aunt Xiang or Aunt Lan as she tittered on about whatever interesting topics she could think of, causing the two beautiful women to show warm smiles.
The other girl was, in contrast, was very quiet. This girl was covered by a thin veil which perfectly hid her true appearance from those around her, but her pair of bright sparkling eyes which were exposed was indescribably beautiful while still appearing as tranquil as shimmering water. Adorning her forehead was a light blue gem which only further emphasized her otherworldly charm; she was like an immoral fairy that had not been tainted by worldly matters.
As she gazed in the direction of War City, the eyes of this veiled girl shone with expectation and joy mixed with a touch of shyness. Every time the figure in her memory emerged, it seemed that her cheeks hidden under her veil would blush lightly.
A maiden is most beautiful when she is in love.
Right now, she was the most radiant she had ever been. Even for the two beautiful women who interacted with her frequently, this appearance of hers couldn’t help surprising them a bit.
The livelier girl suddenly came over and took the arm of the veiled and giggled mischievously, “Is Elder Sister thinking about my cousin?”
Hearing these words, Xia Ning Chang immediately became shy as her delicate earlobes glowed a bright red as she made a flurried attempt to deny, “I… that is… I mean, don’t talk nonsense!”
“Hehehe,” Dong Qing Yan laughed happily as she followed up, “Nonsense? Then why is it that whenever I mention him Elder Sister blushes?”
“Am I blushing?” Xia Ning Chang couldn’t help but stretch out her hands and cover her cheeks, only to remember shortly after that she was still wearing her veil. Even if she was blushing, others definitely couldn’t see it.
However, she still felt her cheeks were quite hot.
“Just look how flustered you are.” Dong Qing Yan continued to tease, “Elder Sister Xia, what do you like about my cousin? I can only think of him as someone normal, nothing special at all.”
“I don’t like him.” Xia Ning Chang denied.
“Then why was it when you heard he would participate in the Inheritance War you immediately left from Hidden Cloud Peak? Master was quite upset, he said that without Elder Sister Xia around there was no one else to discuss the Alchemic Way with.”
“I am his Little Senior Sister, Senior Sisters have to take care of their Junior Brothers. It’s a matter of course.” Xia Ning Chang whispered in a pitifully quiet voice. Even she felt that this reason was too far-fetched, unable to convince anyone including herself.
Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan who were nearby and overheard this conversation between the two girls couldn’t help but laugh.
For this pure, quiet, and innocent girl Xia Ning Chang, the two beautiful women had nothing but affection. Neither of them had children of their own, but after spending many months together with her on Hidden Cloud Peak, they regarded her as their own daughter. Xia Ning Chang being in love with Yang Kai was something they were well aware of and had no objections to.
From their perspective, only a Young Lord from the Yang Family could reluctantly be worthy of their daughter and have the ability to protect her.
“Do you really not like cousin?” Dong Qing Yan stared at her meaningfully.
Xia Ning Chang stared hard at her for a long time before somehow managing to nod stubbornly.
“Thank goodness, that means I can marry cousin later without any worries.” Dong Qing Yan giggled impishly as she casually let out this shocking statement.
“Ah…” Xia Ning Chang was stunned as she stared at Dong Qing Yan in a dumbstruck manner.
“Alright, don’t tease you Elder Sister Xia anymore, you’ll make her cry.” Aunt Xiang couldn’t stand by any more and reached out to pull Dong Qing Yan to her side, quickly glancing over at Xia Ning Chang and whispering, “Don’t listen to her nonsense, she’s just playing with you.”
Xia Ning Chang gently nodded and smiled, “It’s alright for Little Sister Dong to marry Junior Brother. If you become husband and wife, you will definitely grow closer.”
Hearing this comment, Dong Qing Yan immediately looked over and Xia Ning Chang and waved her hands frantically, “I don’t want to marry someone like my smelly cousin who always runs around and I can never see. I’d rather marry someone ordinary who will love and spend his life with only me. That would make me happiest.”
Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan were both secretly surprised by the magnanimity of Xia Ning Chang. This girl was clearly interested in Yang Kai and dearly missed him when he had left Hidden Cloud Peak, but when she heard someone else wanted to marry him, she was not only not against it but instead agreed with a big smile.