The fist gained more and more momentum while it was falling fiercely at Ye Zhong. As it was approaching its target, the whistling in the air intensified and became a loud rumble.
All the fallen leaves on the ground dried out completely and turned to powder.
Ye Zhong frowned at the roaring flame wrapped around the fist. He knew that Du Ji was much stronger than him; nevertheless, he didn’t expect him to use such a powerful stance.
‘Du Ji is using his full force. If this heavy Myst stance strike hits me, I will be gravely injured; that is if I manage to live!’ Ye Zhong anxiously thought.
‘High-level Spirit stance – White Tiger’s a.s.sault!’ Ye Zhong bit his lips until he tasted hints of metallic sparkles in his blood. There were no signs of reinforcements on the horizon. He had no other choice but to rely on himself.
“Zoom!”
Sequences of runic patterns lit up, intertwined, and suddenly, a spectral tiger appeared in the air.
“Roar!”
The spectral tiger roared at the sky. The tiger swiftly stretched his legs and promptly lunged forward at the approaching fiery fist in the air.
Although the tiger’s strike was ferocious, its power was stopped the exact moment Du Ji’s fiery fist connected. The spectral beast faded and crumbled in the incinerating heatwave.
Ye Zhong’s White Tiger a.s.sault and Du Ji’s were both low-level Myst stances. However, powered by a five-star condensed prime Warrior, the Scarlet Flame Fist reigned superior. The unreserved lethal punch did not slow down at all after crushing the big cat.
The flame fist continued to enlarge in Ye Zhong’s eyes while approaching with unbelievable speed. Ye Zhong quickly leaped backwards. Using a protecting stance to envelop his whole body, he was ready to face this attack. He would never let the Du’s set foot on his family’s grounds.
Just as the fist was about to land on Ye Zhong’s chest, a blurred figure appeared in mid-air. It brought Ye Zhong ten meters away from the fist’s course and saved him from the horrifying attack.
“Bang!”
The fiery fist fiercely struck the dust. A loud rumble echoed throughout the mountains. The whole forest shook, birds flew in fear, and land animals ran for cover. When the debris settled, a ten meters wide pit appeared on the ground.
“Ye Wei!” Du Ji’s face turned ashen. He coldly stared at the shadowy figure next to Ye Zhong.
Ye Wei interfered at the absolute last moment. His cousin Ye Zhong would have been lying dead in that pit right now if he was just a tenth of a second slower.
Ye Wei, being Master Yi’s only legacy apprentice and being the hero who fought a powerful demon at the Ning City tournament, was a renowned person in Green Moon City. His accomplishments spread so fast Du Ji heard all of the news surrounding Ye Wei at a restaurant. Through other guests’ chitchat, he gained an understanding of Ye Wei before he was told the news by the Du family’s scouts.
While the smoke and dust settled down, Ye Wei casually removed the dirt from his robe. He then glared fiercely at Du Ji.
The Ye family were always the top priority for Ye Wei. All of his heart belonged to his roots. At the threat of the Lu family, he had to be cautious and patient, but he would not tolerate Du’s terrorizing.
“Ye Wei, like I said to your cousin, I was ordered by the Lu family to check these grounds! Are you sure you want to confront the Lu’s?!” Shouted Du Ji. He was irritated by the youngster’s interruption.
Du Ji shivered under Ye Wei’s cold gaze. He knew he could not stop Ye Wei by force, therefore resorted to threatening his family. ‘Hmph, it seems this kid doesn’t dare to mess with the Lu’s’, Du Ji mischievously concluded.
“It was the Lu’s elders order. We are not going to disobey, and we are going to explore this land even if it’s your family’s burial hill. You can’t afford to be responsible for holding us down here, can you?”
Du Ji stood still as Ye Wei slowly approached him step by step. ‘What if those rumors are right, and this kid was able to defeat that demon?!’ A trace of fear flashed in his eyes, ‘I once fought a demon at the same level too, and if it wasn’t for the Patriarch’s intervene, I would surely have died.’
Feeling threatened, Du Ji spoke unwillingly in a soft voice, “Us Du’s, just like your family, are from Green Moon City, ordered and used by Lu family. We are forced to do this just as you are. If you let us continue, we give you our promise that everything will be left intact on your grounds. If you decide to stand in the way, we have no other choice but to report your disobedience to the Lu’s.”
‘So you are respecting us now?’ Ye Wei surmised. He was disgusted by Du Ji’s att.i.tude. Smiling disdainfully, Ye Wei stated, ‘If you really did respect us, how do you explain what you tried to do to my cousin?’
‘Ye Zhong is just a one-star condensed prime Warrior. Du Ji clearly wanted to kill him and then immediately retreat, so he could bring the Lu’s to exterminate my family!’
‘Respect? You wouldn’t even think about respecting anyone if I was not here, opportunistic snake!’
Ye Zhong was smart enough to understand Du’s intentions. He used the voice transmission technique to talk to Ye Wei in private, “They want to destroy our family; this won’t end neatly. If I let Du JI go, the first thing he will do is to complain to the Lu’s! That means they might bring havoc to the burial hill.’
Ye Wei’s head was spinning. He tried to think a way out of this mess. His ultimate duty was to defend his ancestral grounds for future generations of Ye family.
Suddenly, Ye Zhong’s voice sounded in Ye Wei’s mind, “Ye Wei, if you take Du Ji, I will be able to take out the rest. We have some powerful men with us. They won’t just stand and watch. These are our ancestral grounds, and we must defend them!” Ye Zhong had heard about Ye Wei’s achievements in Ning City and believed his cousin, surely the strongest cultivator of the family, was strong enough to take control of the situation.
Ye Wei was uncertain, ‘Cousin Zhong, You want us to kill all the witnesses?’
Ye Wei had never killed an innocent before. He was hesitant. Even though it was Du family members in front of him, it would still be murder. Furthermore, committing a sinister act of that scale would leave marks on his mind, a dark chapter will never be beneficial to his ability to focus when he would cultivate.
The situation was urgent. Ye Wei knew he couldn’t just keep thinking about the consequences. One Du escapee would mean the end of his family. He had to help his cousin, “No, this isn’t fair. If we have to kill, I cannot let you do all the dirty work,” Ye Wei looked determined. It appeared there was no other choice.
“Ye Wei, let me do this. Your talent is extraordinary, and you are the hope and future of our family. As long as you deal with Du Ji, I should be able to take care of the rest. You don’t even need to kill him, rather, just keep him under control. I am ready to do the rest.’ Ye Zhong said earnestly. He made a hand signal, and Ye’s men who surrounded the Du’s squad dispersed.
“Little Wei, don’t give Du Ji a hard time. He’s almost peeing his pants; in the end, he is in a way innocent. He is just following his patriarch and the Lu’s orders. I would do something similar in his position.”
‘This has to be done clean! No one, absolutely no one, can escape!’ Ye Zhong laughed. Then he spoke to Du Ji, “Hey, we understand the Du family’s situation, and you can’t really just leave our ancestral land unsearched.”
Ye Zhong was trying to gain some time and draw Du Ji’s attention away from Ye Wei.
“But there is a requisite,” Ye Zhong smiled. He narrowed his eyes as he started to approach Du Ji, “You have to withstand three blows, from my little cousin, to prove that you are worthy, then I will let you search the…”
Du Ji was not a fool. Seeing both Ye Wei and Ye Zhong approach, he was aware something was up. ‘They want to kill us all. These Ye brothers are ruthless, like the patriarch warned me.’ He felt threatened, however, the five-star condensed prime Warrior knew better than to panic.
“I will let the Lu’s decide!” Du Ji responded before Ye Zhong finished his sentence. Ye Wei and Ye Zhong heard a sound of a scroll being torn.
“Woosh!” hundreds of runes burst out of the scroll. Empowered by Du Ji’s Qi, the runes formed a yellow beam of light that broke through the thin night mist. The beams transformed into two huge letter. The surname «Lu» appeared in a starry sky in an eye-catching shade of gold.
Du Ji used one of the scrolls provided by the Lu family. The flare is visible within a radius of one hundred miles. All the leaders of the martial family squads were given one, including Ye Zhong. If someone would use it, it would notify one of the Lu’s ten-star condensed prime Warrior on guard around the area.
At this very moment, Lu Zhong was sitting on one of the tree branches many miles away from the Ye’s burial grounds when he noticed the letters. He stood up abruptly, surprised, and hopeful.
“Did they find the Drakehead?!” exclaimed Lu Zhong excitedly. He hurriedly used a transportation stance and turned into a flash of light. He moved instantly towards the spot indicated by the signal.
Lu Feng’s cultivating was disturbed by a small explosion. He opened his eyes. “Ehm…?” At the quiet pond, he was also able to see his family name spelled in the starry sky.
He frowned, slowly stood up still, and stared at the golden letters in the sky. He as well turned into a blurred figure in the dark forest and hurried in the same direction.
‘I would like to see what happened.’ Thought Lu Feng while flying through the mountains.
While the two Lu’s headed to the foothills where the Du’s and Ye’s stood off, Ye Wei and his cousin uncomfortably stared at the night sky, frowning.
The Ye cousins planned to neutralize Du Ji quietly and swiftly. They wanted to attack the whole squad before anyone could notify anyone. Unfortunately, they didn’t expect him to be so alert. It would not be wise for the Ye’s to make a move now the Lu family would be rushing over.
‘Du Ji almost killed my cousin. I cannot let him walk free.’
‘Fortunately, it won’t take me long to destroy this conniving snake.’ Ye Wei curled his fingers. Before Du Ji even saw one rune being drawn, five Peerless Qi Swords were already en route.