Strongest Martial God - Chapter 40
A hint of panic surfaced on Qu Xuan’s face after seeing Ye Zhong’s indifferent gaze. She pondered for a moment, then reached out her hand and moved her hair behind her ears, and said softly, “Do you know, within this Innate Temple there are the Nine Stairs to Heaven and the Innate Gate?”
“Nine Stairs to Heaven, Innate Gate?” Hearing this, Ye Zhong frowned slightly, vaguely guessing what these were.
“Actually, the place where we are right now cannot be considered as the true Innate Temple, at most, it’s just a periphery. But in the depth, only those who can step on the Nine Stairs to Heaven are qualified to enter the Innate Gate and obtain the inheritance!” Qu Xuan had no intention of waiting for Ye Zhong and the others to reply, so she continued to explain on her own, “And the so-called Nine Stairs to Heaven, at the same time, also means that with so many people entering the Innate Temple, only nine of them would be qualified to step onto the legendary Nine Stairs to Heaven and obtain the qualifications to enter the Innate Gate!”
“And if you want to step on the Nine Stairs to Heaven, you need one thing. And that thing is in this place!” Qu Xuan’s gaze landed on the pavilion’s corner in the bamboo forest and softly said.
“Simply put, is it one of the so-called nine spots, stepping on it has the possibility of obtaining the inheritance of the Innate Temple?” Ye Zhong managed to get a rough idea of the situation, “And there’s something inside that could prove it, right?”
“That’s right.” Qu Xuan’s eyes glinted with a profound look, “That thing is called the Innate Command Token. Ye Zhong, if you can help me get it, then we don’t need the other things inside…”
Upon hearing this, the corner of Ye Zhong’s eyes twitched, and he sighed, “Don’t tell me that your previous claim of the so-called high-grade Spirit Vessel was just trying to trick me into being a helper.”
“No! It is true! There should be a high-grade Spiritual Vessel among the items inside. However, the most important ones should be the Innate Command Token, not the high-grade Spirit Vessel. Ye Zhong, let’s go in together,” Qu Xuan said with a serious look, “Ye Zhong, let us go in together, although our abilities are mediocre, we can still buy you some time to restrain the others.”
Ye Zhong saw the serious look on Qu Xuan’s face and looked at Xiang Qiyu and You Siling. In the end, he could only shake his head helplessly. Honestly speaking, not to mention this Qu Xuan that even he couldn’t see through, just the two newly acquired daggers that were in Xiang Qiyu’s hands alone was enough to allow her fighting strength to be far greater than someone of the same level.
“Then let’s go in together. However, if the situation isn’t right, you must stop fighting and retreat as soon as possible. As I might not be able to take care of you all the time.” Ye Zhong did not hesitate, it might be a little dangerous to bring these three girls in, but it would be more troublesome if he kept playing with them here. The faster the decision process the better, so he didn’t waste a single moment.
Seeing Ye Zhong compromise, the three girls exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
“Since that’s the case, let’s not waste time.”
Since Ye Zhong had made up his mind, he did not say anything further. With a wave of his hand, the four of them headed towards the bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest was quiet and serene. The fog was rising from the forest, and within it there was an additional bone-piercing coldness.
Ye Zhong frowned slightly and looked around, his eyes became more serious.
Inside the bamboo forest, he would occasionally discover some recent traces, but these traces were extremely subtle. If one did not search carefully they would not be recognizable. This meant that the people who entered the bamboo forest were a group of extremely cautious people. And such a character was definitely not easy to deal with.
Behind Ye Zhong, Xiang Qiyu and the other two had a tense expression. Apparently, they had also sensed the heavy atmosphere.
“Be careful.” Ye Zhong instructed dispassionately and turned around. He carefully followed the traces left behind and headed deeper into the bamboo forest.
The traces were crooked, and it was obvious that the person who entered was not walking in a straight line. Even so, their destination was still the same as Ye Zhong and company — Wave Listening Pavilion!
After walking for a while, Ye Zhong suddenly stopped. He narrowed his eyes and looked ahead, less than a hundred meters away from the Wave Listening Pavilion. However, after arriving at this place, he vaguely felt that there seemed to be a lot of gazes landing on them.
Obviously, the party who had entered this place earlier were not naive, they left behind some people for vigilance. At this moment, it was most likely that his party had been discovered.
After scanning his surroundings, Ye Zhong reached out his hand and blocked the other three behind him. He narrowed his eyes and spoke indifferently, his calm voice slowly resounded through the forest, “Friends, since you’ve noticed us, why don’t you come out and greet us?”
“Heh, you are worthy of a disciple of the Xingxiang Sect. Your eyesight is indeed astonishing.”
Not long after Ye Zhong’s voice faded, a few figures slowly emerged from the shadows of the bamboo forest. The one leading them was a young man of about sixteen or seventeen years old in dark red martial robe. He looked at Ye Zhong indifferently, with a hint of wariness in his eyes.
The powerhouses behind him were at most three to four years older than him, and the youngest was around Ye Zhong’s age. However, after their eyes landed on Ye Zhong, they moved their sights on the three girls behind him, their eyes flashed with astonishment.
“Chiyun Martial House?” (lit. Crimson Cloud)
Ye Zhong’s eyes fell upon the group of people in martial robes. Behind him, Xiang Qiyu whispered.
“Heh heh, this young lady from the Xingxiang Sect has good eyesight. We are from the Chiyun Martial House, I am Jiang Le.” The young man in the lead said with a smile, “Although I don’t know how the brilliant disciples of the Xingxiang Sect found this place, and why you came here… However, this place has been temporarily taken over by our Chiyun Martial House. If you are looking for a fortune, please go somewhere else. We do not welcome you here.”
As his voice faded, Jiang Le stretched out his hand and clapped gently, and all of a sudden, there were other figures walking slowly out from the other direction of the bamboo forest. Their eyes fell on Ye Zhong and his party with a serious look on their faces.
When Ye Zhong saw this scene, his expression changed. He did not expect that he would encounter such trouble in the Wave Listening Pavilion. At the moment, there were nearly twenty people from the Chiyun Martial House. Adding on the fact that some hadn’t shown up yet, the manpower of the Chiyun Martial House here was truly quite astonishing.
Ye Zhong only frowned, although the other party outnumbered him. He had seen too many of these situations and was not too worried about it. Even if he had three burdens, it would not be that easy for the other party to eat him whole.
“Heh heh, our Chiyun Martial House also doesn’t want to cross paths with the Xingxiang Sect. Just consider this a token of our goodwill. Everyone, please leave, we’re not sending you off!” Jiang Le smiled, and with a flick of his finger, a Universe Ring shot towards Ye Zhong.
Ye Zhong caught it carelessly and took a glance at it. He noticed that there were nearly 10,000 low-grade Spirit Stones inside. The Chiyun Martial House was truly lavish.
Along with Jiang Le’s action, those few powerhouses from the Chiyun Martial House who blocked Ye Zhong and his team’s escape route, they slowly opened the route and made gestures of sending off their guests.
“Senior Brother Ye Zhong.” Qu Xuan said softly, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Xiang Qiyu and You Siling were also very nervous. They had gone through so much difficulty to get to this point, so they were somewhat unwilling to give up at this moment. However, Ye Zhong seemed to be the only one in control of the conversation at the moment.
Ye Zhong tossed the Universe Ring up and down repeatedly, a moment later, he threw it back, as Jiang Le’s expression sank. He said and shook his head while sighing, “If possible, I don’t want to reject the deal… However, we are also determined to obtain the item from the Wave Listening Pavilion.”
“Why is there always someone who refuses to drink until forced to do so?” Jiang Le furrowed his brows and sighed. Then, his voice became cold, “Since these disciples of the Xingxiang Sect are not giving us face, then let’s just get rid of them!”
“*Bang—*”
As his voice faded, the nearly twenty powerhouses from the Chiyun Martial House all took a step forward as their Qi and Blood in their bodies surged. At the same time, their auras also slowly spread out from their bodies. These powerhouses of the Chiyun Martial House present all seemed to have the strength at the Third Layer of Body Tempering. When they were gathered together, their combined strength would be so terrifying and extremely oppressive.
At that moment, these people were marching in unison, with an imposing manner as ten thousand horses galloping ahead [1], heading towards Ye Zhong’s position.
“It seems like it’s a little bit stronger than the Ye Clan bullsh*t.” When Ye Zhong saw this scene, he sighed and murmured.
Originally, he had come here in order to avoid too much strife. However, he had never expected that even if he were to come here, he would still have to take action to obtain what he wanted. This was the absolute rule in the world, where the weak were prey to the strong and the strong were respected!
It had nothing to do with right or wrong. There was only the strong and the weak!
Ye Zhong took a deep breath as he had a deep understanding of the situation. The Secret Art of Six Grave Swords within his body urged slowly, causing his Qi and Blood to boil, and the aura that was like a sharp Sword Qi slowly emanated from his body…
TL note(s):
[1] “ten thousand horses galloping ahead” describing the majestic and spectacular scenery.
