Martial Peak

The Qiu Family group was headed by Qiu Yi Meng while the Huo Family masters were led by Huo Xing Chen.

Those from the Kang Family followed Kang Zhan and the group from the Gao Family had Gao Rang Feng as their leader.

Even the Central Capital’s First Young Lord, Liu Qing Yao, had arrived, bringing with him a group of Liu Family masters, though he chose to stand silently in the corner and not communicate with anyone.

Looking at this spectacular gathering, Huo Xing Chen couldn’t help spitting disdainfully, “Ridiculous.”

“Truly ridiculous.” Qiu Yi Meng gently nodded, “Seven of the Eight Great Families are targeting Yang Kai, yet they still insist on sending a member of the younger generation to serve as a leader. Obviously, they want to use the stage of the Yang Family Inheritance War to deceive the eyes of the world.”

Huo Xing Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, “There’s nothing that can be done, those who know the inside story know that this action is solely to deal with Yang Kai, those who don’t simply believe the Inheritance War isn’t over yet. If they were suddenly to declare the Yang Family Inheritance War over and that Yang Kai had been eliminated for no apparent reason, no one would be able to accept it.”

Just as the Eldest Brother, Yang Wei, clearly understood the situation, Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen also saw things for what they really were.

What happened next had nothing to do with the Inheritance War; instead, it would be more accurate to say that the Inheritance War stage was being used by the seven families to put on a show.

The secret conversation between Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen was not missed by the other Central Capital Young Lords.

Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng hesitated for a long time before walking over to Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen together.

Huo Xing Chen turned his eyes to the two approaching Young Lords and asked with a light smile, “Brother Kang, how is your injury recovering?”

“Brother Huo need not worry, my injury is no longer a problem, Little Lord had a sense of proportion and didn’t deal any lasting damage.” Kang Zhan said lightly and indifferently, not displaying any resentment towards Yang Kai.

“That’s good, that’s good. Hahaha.” Huo Xing Chen said with a false smile.

Seeing his attempt to shoo them away, Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan were also very helpless, the former saying, “Brother Huo, although we formerly opposed the Little Lord, that was only because the situation forced us to be his opponents. In truth, both of us very much admire the Little Lord’s methods and strength, if possible, we wanted to make friends with him.”

“Really?” Huo Xing Chen wore a surprised expression, “I’m quite surprised, I never knew Brother Gao and Brother Kang were such magnanimous people. Yang Kai treated both of you so ruthlessly yet you still want to make friends with him, hahaha, are those your true intentions?”

“Brother Huo, if you are still wary of us, then I and Brother Kang really have nothing we can say.” Gao Rang Feng said seriously.

Huo Xing Chen stared at the two of them for a moment before gradually restraining his false smile and replacing it with a solemn expression.

“What do you want to say?” Qiu Yi Meng, who had been silently observing situation, suddenly took the initiative to ask.

Gao Rang Feng frowned and asked in a low voice, “Brother Kang and I are very confused. Why do our seven families seem so determined to deal with the Little Lord? Why is the Yang Family not saying anything about this matter? The two of you were formerly Yang Kai’s allies, so we thought you might know more about the situation than us.”

“En.” Kang Zhan nodded, “I really can’t understand what is going on here. I was still at home recovering from my injuries when my father suddenly ordered me to come here; even when I asked him why, he didn’t tell me anything. Young Lady Qiu and Brother Huo, if you know something and are able to tell us, we would very much appreciate it, if you don’t, or can’t, then just pretend we never asked.”

Huo Xing Chen went silent and turned his eyes towards Qiu Yi Meng.

Although he had been together with Yang Kai for just as long as Qiu Yi Meng, he would normally not be involved in any of the decisions made inside Yang Kai’s mansion and had only spoken to Yang Kai once in a while. On the other hand, Qiu Yi Meng often spoke with Yang Kai both in public and private and was involved in both planning and executing almost every operation that occurred, so she obviously was better informed than he was.

In fact, the questions asked by Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan were questions he too had.

Facing these three pairs of expectant eyes, Qiu Yi Meng could only shake her head slightly, “I don’t know anything, you’re asking the wrong person.”

Immediately, Gao Rang Feng and Kang Zhan wore disappointed expressions.

“However, although I haven’t been told anything specific, I can roughly guess what is happening.” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly added.

“Oh? Please enlighten us, Young Lady Qiu.” Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng shined.

“Yang Kai being targeted like this, one possibility is that he has done something that has violated the Eight Great Families’ bottom line!” Qiu Yi Meng said indifferently, without any emotion, “For example, the information that is currently being circulated among the common people.”

Cultivating a Demonic Secret Art, sharing the same Sect as the Demon Lord, providing shelter to Demons and Devil’s Path disciples, showing symptoms of Devil’s Practices…

All of these matters could be big or small depending on one’s perspective. Now that someone wanted them to be a big deal, they were a big deal.

“We also know about all of that; those were the reasons our families gave us when they sent us here as reinforcements. But… even if all of that is true, both of us still felt like things aren’t that simple.” Gao Rang Feng frowned, obviously not accepting these justifications at face value.

“Is there some other reason?” Kang Zhan hurriedly asked.

“If it is not because of this, then the only explanation is Yang Kai has something all seven of our families want,” Qiu Yi Meng sneered. After she finished speaking, a light flashed across her beautiful eyes and her brow deeply furrowed as she sunk into contemplation.

These few words suddenly dispelled all of these youth’s doubts.

When one was prosperous, benefits mattered the most. When the world was chaotic, benefits still mattered the most.

If this was the case, then this situation was understandable.

Looking at Qiu Yi Meng’s shifting expression, the Young Lords all realized she probably knew what it was their families were after, but since she didn’t explain, Kang Zhan and Gao Rang Feng knew not to ask any further.

However, the Eight Great Families’ actions this time gave all of them a feeling like they were pawns being manipulated.

Since they wanted to deal with Yang Kai, given the heritage and strength of the Eight Great Families, they could have just acted in a straightforward manner, but instead they had decided to put on this farce by borrowing the Inheritance War’s stage.

The several young people gathered here suddenly felt both disgruntled and depressed.

As the four of them had been speaking, Liu Qing Yao had kept his eyes closed and seemed to not be paying any attention to them, but no matter who it was, they could sense a thin threat of Divine Sense observing them. Apparently Liu Qing Yao was also interested in their discussion.

The four of them also didn’t feel any need to guard against him.

At the same time, deeper inside the mansion.

Inside Yang Zhao’s room, the Second Young Lord, sat motionless on his bed.

After just ten days of time, the always loft and arrogant Yang Zhao had transformed into a withered and sullen individual, dark rings around his bloodshot eyes giving him a particular fierce look.

Ye Xin Rou paced back and forth slowly in front of Yang Zhao, detailing the current situation to him.

Gradually, Yang Zhao’s seemingly dull face took on some colour as his red eyes narrowed slightly.

“Second Young Lord, reinforcements from the seven families have all arrived. Each of them sending at least twenty Immortal Ascension Boundary masters at the Sixth Stage or higher, there is even a large number of Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters. The seven families meaning is clear, they hope you can lead these people to defeat Yang Kai as quickly as possible and win the Inheritance War.”

“Why did the seven families suddenly send so many people to participate in the Inheritance War?” Yang Zhao muttered.

Since he hadn’t spoken in quite some time, Yang Zhao’s voice had become a bit hoarse and it had a sickly tone to it, like he was on the verge of death.

Ye Xin Rou smiled gracefully and replied, “Didn’t I just tell you about it? Yang Kai is a dangerous person who is very likely to become a second Demon Lord. The Yang Family cannot allow such a man to become its next Patriarch. The seven families and the Yang Family have occupied the Central Capital for centuries and are life and death allies; naturally they are also concerned about this issue as well. Now they have taken the initiative to gather in your house and are only waiting for you to issue the order. Second Young Lord, the Yang Family’s Patriarch position is yours for the taking.”

“Is it really just for such reasons?” Yang Zhao’s gaze became cold as he stared at the lithe young woman in front of him.

“What other reasons could there be?” Ye Xin Rou gawked.

Suddenly wearing a look of impatience on her face, she walked over and hugged Yang Zhao’s arm like a spoiled child and said, “Second Young Lord, don’t think too much about it, quickly fix yourself up and meet with everyone. Letting these people wait too long will do you no good.”

“I’m not going.” Yang Zhao said with a disheartened look, apparently not the least bit excited by this shocking news, quickly brushing away Ye Xin Rou’s entanglement.

Ye Xin Rou shook her head slowly, she hadn’t expected Yang Zhao to be happy about all of this but she still couldn’t help wondering, “Second Young Lord, what’s wrong?”

Yang Zhao simply shook his head, “The Inheritance War is a battle between my Yang Family’s direct descendants, a battle of wits, a battle of connections, a battle of charm. I’ve already lost, and since I’ve lost, why should I bother with it anymore.”

“How is that so? There are still so many people gathered in your house and with the addition of so many powerful masters willing to assist you. Now is the perfect time to stage a comeback.” Ye Xin Rou tried to console.

“People from seven of the Great Families… heh heh,” Yang Zhao sneered, “If I use them to defeat Ninth Brother, even if I sit in the Patriarch’s position, I’ll never feel deserving of it!”

“Second Young Lord, what are you saying?” Ye Xin Rou continued to prod, “Relying on just the allies gathered in your house, there is no way to defeat Yang Kai, but now that such a good opportunity has appeared in front of you, how can you not act? How can you not seize this chance?”

After a short pause, Ye Xin Rou laughed and said, “Could it be that Second Young Lord fears being criticised by the world? Second Young Lord, achieving your objective is what is most important, as for history, history is written by the victors, once you sit in the position of Yang Family Patriarch, who would dare to criticize you?”

Yang Zhao however remained unemotional and uninterested.

Ye Xin Rou suddenly lost patience and coldly shouted, “Second Young Lord, I hope you can put the overall situation first, the Yang Family has already acquiesced to this matter. If you don’t act, it would be akin to rebelling against your family. Humph, the noble Yang Family Second Young Lord only able to act like a whipped dog, simply laughable!”

Yang Zhao suddenly raised his head and stared towards Ye Xin Rou with his bloodshot eyes. Seeing this look, Ye Xin Rou immediately panicked but before she could react a cold hand was already around her neck and her vision became blurry. After quickly regaining her senses, Ye Xin Rou discovered she had been thrown onto the bed by Yang Zhao.

The faces of the two were almost stuck together, and Ye Xin Rou could clearly feel the hot breath from Yang Zhao’s nostrils; however, this heat was not a result of lust but instead because of rage.

The big hand around her neck was like an iron hoop, preventing her from even struggling.

Ye Xin Rou suddenly became frightened; only at this moment remember that she was not Yang Zhao’s opponent at all.

“Second Young Lord, what do you want to do…” Ye Xin Rou wore a pained expression as she bit her red lips, staring weakly towards Yang Zhao.