Chapter 411: Ye Chong’s the teacher again!

uan Jin was the most carefully fostered member in Guan family, that she had her own laboratory, and freedom to research on whichever branch of the alchemy. Not even her father, the leader of the family could have a word on her preferences.

The room was filled with all sorts of utensils. The air was fresher than what one would expect in a laboratory thanks to the superior air ventilation. This was the first professional laboratory Ye Chong witnessed in the free space zone. He was not familiar with most of the apparatuses there. He recognized a few since he had seen them in Lunatic Guan’s encyclopedia entries before. Well, he was not a novice and he could guess the functions of these foreign utensils at one glance.

He did enter the place however, as he had perceived 8 spots of threats while he stood by the entrance. Speaking of entrance, there were three of them.

The lady seemed to be rather skillful at handling these reagents. The anesthetic she added remained at the specified area ever since. Spreading of fluid did not occur – now that was not something any alchemist could do.

Knowing that it was an anesthetic, Ye Chong let down his guard, since the smoke pearl in his possession was the counter to all hallucinogens and anesthetics. So he walked into the laboratory as usual, and as he had expected, he was unaffected by the reagent.

Guan Jin’s cherry lips slightly opened in disbelief upon seeing Ye Chong walking in nonchalantly. She did not expect the little mischief she created would cause any visible trouble to Brother Zhu Feng since she only wanted to see his countermeasure for this, she was eager to verify the frightening rumor about him after all. But then … he did nothing! Literally nothing!

Guan Jin’s passion in her gaze intensified.

Ye Chong did not notice Guan Jin’s passion stare however, as he had been distracted by these strange utensils on the table. Certainly the alchemy system was different between one galaxy to another. From the perspective of apparatuses, the 5 major galaxies had an upper hand since they had the avant-garde technologies after all. The precision of analyzing mechanism and processor were far more superior than those in the free space zone. When it came to historical background however, the position changed. No way the studies of alchemy in 5 major galaxies could compete with those of free space zone. Any alchemy aristocrat could easily have history of over a few centuries.

Regarding the learning difficulty, the system of free space zone outweighed the one in 5 major galaxies. The 5 major galaxies did analysis at best, with the aid of technologies but alchemists in free space zone could rely none other than their own senses.

Based on Lunatic Guan’s records in her chip, she seemed to have thoroughly understood and absorbed the system of 5 major galaxies. The later part of her research was indistinguishable of its system. She probably had combined both systems at one point. Ye Chong could not help but to marvel at Lunatic Guan’s insane luck. She was born in free space zone and was raised at May Night’s Ridge, the heavenly place of alchemy, while being able to learn about the alchemy system in the 5 major galaxies. With all these he strongly believed no one else in this world could have surpassed her.

Ye Chong noticed that one flask on the table.

“Are you trying to improvise the Bilayered Liquid Tempering Technique?” asked Ye Chong as he pointed at the utensils near Guan Jin.

“Mhm…,” she blushed, as she bit her lips, “I wanted to try… since father told me that this was aunt’s masterpiece in the past. She always wanted to improvise it. So I would like to try… see if I could make a little improvement… just a little would’ve been great…” It was not sentiments that filled her voice, it was pure embarrassment. She should not have brought Brother Zhu Feng to the lab, now everyone in the ridge would know she wanted to “improvise” her aunt’s technique and she would become a laughing stock for she overestimated herself.

Ye Chong lowered his back and observed these used utensils carefully. He was pretty surprised of the progress. The little girl failed at this attempt, but she was heading to the right way. As expected, this girl was talented after all. Ye Chong could not imagine a girl could have such understanding on alchemy even before adolescence.

Does Guan family only give birth to geniuses?

Shouted Ye Chong in his mind.

“You are right at this.” He decided to offer some advice, “But you did a few parts wrong. The tempering technique basically achieves extraction by splitting the liquid membranes, and your hypothesis should revolve about this core concept. The shape, the membrane, remember.”

Guan Jin’s brows furrowed as she pondered. “I got it!” Then she shouted while jumping, “I know what you mean! I finally got it!” And she excitingly rushed to her table and began mixing the reagent again. She was very attentive on her research, her hands moved gracefully as she added more things to the mixture, as if Ye Chong was not there.

Ye Chong was impressed since he always had a soft spot for a diligent researcher. Well, he was one too and he believed only those who diligently researched would hit the top of their field.

Ye Chong did not say a thing as he started strolling in this laboratory.

The aristocrat was sure something. The lab contained a rich collection of reagents, which teased Ye Chong’s curiosity deeply, that he finally jumped into action and started producing his own reagent too.

The apparatuses in the lab were fairly unique. He knew how to use them but he lacked the actual experience, thus the clumsy movement of his hands. He enjoyed the process of exploration nevertheless.

It took him a moment to grow familiar with the apparatuses. He breathed in relief as he placed one flask down, that was when a pair of watery eyes appeared before him.

Guan Jin was staring at this strange brother of hers. She found him peculiar as he should be a very experienced alchemist, yet he was clearly unfamiliar with most of the apparatuses in the lab.

Weird.

This student of her aunt was filled with mysteries…

“Did it work?” asked Ye Chong, lifting his head.

“Yes! Yes! Indeed it worked!” Guan Jin smiled brightly, as if her dream came true.

Ye Chong responded with a nod. He wanted to tell her something but he did not.

The improvised technique was not the ultimate. It was not final, simply because Lunatic Guan had never stopped improvising the technique ever since. The attempt Guan Jin did this time was merely the first version. Ye Chong zipped his mouth not because of sympathy or confidentiality, but the fact that the later versions would require high-end machines. So it would be pointless to tell her.

“I can’t believe it!” said Guan Jin proudly, biting her finger, “I can actually improvise my aunt’s technique!” Her eyes were filled with blazing passion.

“It’s meal time!” And someone came shouting.

… (At the dining table) …

It was a feast on the dining table as Ye Chong chomped vigorously. “So today, Brother Zhu Feng taught me on improvising the bilayered technique…” Reported Guan Jin to Guan Zhengyuan, and the others gave a friendlier stare at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong’s chopsticks danced, the bowl was tingling yet his eyes remained low.

The tale of “Little Alchemist, Big Creation” had spread throughout the family rapidly. Ye Chong noticed it because of how courteous everyone acted towards him in the house.

Well, he had gotten used to such treatment back when he taught the Sangs on crafting. He still was a little uneasy however so he spent most time in the lab. There would always be a few young men standing by his side. Guan Jin on the other hand would be her pretty assistant.

Ye Chong was rather puzzled by this. Lunatic Guan’s microchip had been kept inside his bag. And the bag was not with him at the moment. He could have just passed the chip to Guan family but he could not. There were too many contents in the chip, several centuries would have easily passed if he had to write everything out from his memory.

He would not be able to accept such fate. But which one to write then? Which would be able to convince the family to let him go?

The worst part was, Lunatic Guan’s later research was beyond the family’s understanding since her research had incorporated techniques from both systems of the galaxies. It was so complicated that even Guan Jin was showing that incomprehensibility towards his writings, eventually Ye Chong only could explain from the most fundamental to at least make sense in his teaching.

Well, that had earned more respects from the family however.

Little Ye Chong knew that, the ultimate factor to Guan family’s resurrection was not the refined theories and techniques created by Lunatic Guan, but those basic approaches from the 5 major galaxies.

The ridge was chaotic these few days, as the generations fought each other. It was becoming more common to see different forces coming to challenge the family, that mortality increased drastically.

But Guan family was at peace. Nothing happened ever since Ye Chong came.

But visionary elderlies like Guan Zhengyuan knew conflict would one day arrive and, “The leader would like Mr. Zhu Feng to move to the entrance. Someone had come for a challenge.”

That was when Ye Chong was demonstrating the molecular qualitative approach in class.

Chapter 412: The Strange Path

hallenging an entire family on something is absolutely not a simple task. It requires technique and a savage bravery to shoulder the risk. Unless in a law’s film, you probably would never see a nobody challenging a prestigious family out of nowhere. So it is only natural to see a well-known person challenging someone else’s home.

Guan Zhengyuan was at the porch. He could not help but to take a deep breath upon seeing the crowd. The Shi family came for real, with an army of 35 experts which probably equalled to one-third of the entire family. And Guang Zhengyuan could perceive the diabolic cunning nature in their eyes. He might not be the best alchemist but he was at least experienced to know that the entire family of his would likely be unable to handle such intrusion.

Whatever that is going to happen, happens. Sighed Guan Zhengyuan in his mind. Looks like he could only rely on Ling’s students now…

Guan family would regain its esteem and rise again, if they won that is. If they lost, it would be a news in the ridge that would lure all other new families who coveted the single slot of residence at the heaven of alchemy. When that happened, Guan family would perish.

That was when Ye Chong exited the porch with the noises crowding behind him.

Countless stares rested upon him. There were respects, envies, doubts and confusions…

So that is the alchemist who took a shortcut back to the ridge? The crowd began rustling again. It was the first time for the majority to see such a young alchemist.

Ye Chong’s arrival had increased the intensity of the place. Ye Chong was fairly calm but a few of the crowd had already their hands wetted. He was leading the group of young apprentices of Guan family, looking fearless and excited. They were anticipating Teacher Zhu Feng’s performance, for he was so great in his teaching that they felt the need to have a cult for him. So to those challengers who blindly came for our family, are you ready to have your butt kicked?

Ye Chong was pretty aware of the situation. At this point he probably would be the only person to take the challenge, since he knew the apprentices of Guan family were matchless against the foes in front of them. He did teach them a few new tricks but it surely would take some time for them to master those skills.

Simply, no way they would win against the challengers.

He was the only hope, he thought as he helplessly walked towards Guan Zhengyuan.

“If it wasn’t for my Zhufeng,” said Guan Zhengyuan with a bright smile, as if liberated from the pressure exerted by the Shi family.

“Mhm,” nodded Ye Chong. The next question however came so unexpectedly that almost everyone tripped their steps, “So… how do people do this ‘challenge’ thing usually? Is it a contest?” That was a good… question…

“Haha…” Laughed Guan Zhengyuan joyfully, “Nothing much. Just some troublemakers wanting some troubles at our porch.”

“I see,” Ye Chong nodded. The word “troublemakers” made perfect sense. And suddenly he had a thought – if it was Lunatic Guan, how would she handle these troublemakers? Ye Chong knew Lunatic Guan well, in most cases, she would annihilate the entire army and take a sprint to Shi family’s home for another massacre.

“Zhu Feng, please do not hesitate, you could do whatever you want with them. Even if you want to shatter the ground, be my guest.” Guan Zhengyuan’s tone was calm, frigidly calm, the typical tone one would use when mentioning the public enemy. His words were crudely translated as – all you can smash.

“Whatever I want?” Ye Chong’s face was filled with the you-sure confusion.

Guan Zhengyuan looked at the army of Shi family, smiled, “Yes, whatever you want.”

And Ye Chong vanished, a faint voice rang, “Alright.”

There Ye Chong was figuring out a strategy to finish this fight in shortest time possible.

It would still be the classic brawling. Picking the right strategy suiting to the situation is vital to the battle, that was the lesson he learned from all battles he had experienced. So, brawling it is.

He had activated the techniques of September Lan style as his assassination went. He did not have his wooden spear with him but being barehanded actually made him better.

The fox joining the hares in the pen – that would be the analogical summary of what happened next.

The alchemists were utterly unprepared towards Ye Chong’s assassination. As known an alchemist was just fragile in front of a martial arts practitioner. They could not react to his overwhelming speed in time. They could not even move a muscle when facing this Jie expert.

Ye Chong zapped through the crowd, with his afterimages stamped on every corner.

Crack… Crack… Klink… Crack…

Those were the sound of throats breaking.

It felt like autumn all over again, when the nuts cracked.

The formation of Shi family army was dense to begin with. And Ye Chong was simply talented at crowd control. They were fighting a losing fight anyway since their flasks contained a massive poison which could have hurt their allies if simply thrown.

The slaughterhouse ran smoothly.

The wails continued.

22 seconds lapsed.

Corpses were all over the ground. Dents could be found over the throats. Ye Chong was expressionless as he stood back.

It was a total massacre.

Thought the spectators in fear.

Nobody would have expected this young alchemist being also a martial arts practitioner, a brutal one too. He was indifferent, satanically indifferent that he did not even bother to have another look at the bodies on the ground.

The apprentices would probably be having nightmare tonight. Guan Jin’s eyes went wide like saucer, her face was pale as in disbelief she looked at the kind, inquisitive Brother Zhu Ling being at the bloody pool.

God of Slaughter…

Thought Guan Zhengyuan, feeling his heart just skipped a beat. Somehow the title appeared in his mind.

People were expecting a battle in alchemy but this young man simply finished everybody without using a single flask, that was something new in the ridge. No one had done this before. May Night’s Ridge was a residence filled with alchemists, there was no practitioner before.

Finishing challengers with brutal force… would this count as victory…? There were debates regarding Guan family’s success since the ridge committee never said one would be allowed to take on challenges only with alchemy.

There was one thing that did not require debates however – Guan family was untouchable and should never be touched! Ever since that incident, no one had come to their porch despite all the bloodshed at other families.

Ye Chong had demonstrated the cruelty of war to the people. The brutal gruesome side of the war too. They had never seen a hand-on-hand before and Ye Chong had shown them. People were stunned and became very convinced that Ye Chong would be a true horror because of the fact he knew both alchemist and martial arts.

Shi family had suffered a great loss this time. One-third of the family’s force got all wiped out in less than a minute. These master-alchemists-to-be were not even able to last till the end.

The debate went on as people argued, “What’s wrong of using martial arts when taking on challenges anyway?”

Guan family remained low on this, as they had their gates tightly shut and forbade everyone from leaving the house.

The incident had also affected the committee, that Guan family was assigned with the most resources this year. Guan Zhengyuan was very delighted since that only signified the elevated status of his family in the ridge.

5 days later, Guan family had also submitted a report on possible improvements that could be made on bilayered liquid tempering technique. That was an earth-shattering discovery. The ridge was shocked again. The technique was an invention by Guan Ling and was recognized as the top recent invention years ago. Attempts on improving the technique had been ongoing ever since, but nobody had succeeded so far. And they actually submitted a report on it?

People once doubted the standard of that mysterious boy till they saw the report. They were totally convinced. On the cover page the author might be “Guan Jin”, the daughter of the family, but everybody could feel the contribution of that someone between the lines.

It looked like Guan family was hopeful of resurrection, while the other families were bitter at it.

Why can’t it be our family that gets a talent out of nowhere?

Chapter 413: Training

t did not take long for Ye Chong to notice the fear in everyone’s eyes upon seeing him. Seeing them backing down all the time was puzzling at first but he understood the cause very soon after. May Night’s Ridge could be a mysterious place of wondrous alchemy to the people outside. The residents in the ridge might possibly be the strongest alchemist he could find anywhere else, but they eventually were just a bunch of researchers isolated from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, that they had never once witnessed the bloodshed of an actual war. In Ye Chong’s eyes, they were just weak.

“Brother Zhu Feng, I have a proposition,” said Guan Jin, seeing nobody around. She had spent most time with Ye Chong so she could say she knew Ye Chong the best. No doubt Ye Chong was an extremely dangerous figure but somehow she felt a kind of security being with him. Brother Zhu Feng would be a tamed, friendly animal as long as he was never enraged. Naturally he was neither odd-tempered nor hot-tempered, after all.

“What is it?” Ye Chong could definitely feel her talents in alchemy, she might be the brightest student in Guan family. Sadly he did not have the microchip with him. He could have taught her all the essentials with it.

For example, the Guan’s automatic analysis mechanism had always been a mystery to Ye Chong regarding the exact concept that made it work in the first place. To him, the mechanism probably was the most valuable and brilliant invention in the chip, as it was the solid proof of Lunatic Guan’s vast knowledge of alchemy.

Guan Jin was a born alchemist. Ye Chong believed her future would still be bright even without the aid of the mechanism. Strangely the little girl showed no fear towards him, while being ever-mischievous, a little perplexing to be honest. She was the exact opposite to the other apprentices who were loyal and modest in the family. Well, perhaps it was her personality that she always was able to create surprises in alchemy.

“Brother Zhu Feng…,” her watery eyes blinked in the harmless innocence, “why don’t you go challenge somebody too?”

“Challenge who?” He took a look at the little girl biting her index finger.

“Yes! Yes! Challenge!” shouted Guan Jin cheerfully. “It doesn’t feel good to always get challenged by people. Brother Zhu Feng it would be better if we go and hit on somebody else instead! Let’s keep hitting them till they never wanted to hit on us anymore!” said Guan Jin, in the most innocent expression possible. That was quite a contrast.

Somehow Ye Chong was reminded of Lunatic Guan. They were still from the same family after all. The same brutal honesty, the same brutal inquisitiveness. Ye Chong seriously could imagine Lunatic Guan flipping out then crashing Shi family’s home right away, and she would not stop till the entire building turned into debris.

Sentiments aside, Ye Chong was processing Guan Jin’s request.

Does Guan Jin’s proposition make sense?

Pretty much. Concluded he. It would be far better to initiator instead of a receiver in wars. The odds would be likelier on their side.

“Can I assassinate?” It would be simple if Ye Chong was allowed to assassinate. He already had an impeccable plan in his mind – he would pilot Moon King at a dark, cold night and make his way to Shi family, then he would raze the entire building to the ground, everything would be accomplished in few seconds of pure silence. It would be smooth and-

“Nah…,” shook Guan Jin, “I don’t think so.” Guan Jin seemed intrigued by his plan at first but luck was not doing them a favor, “The committee had just set up a new rule days ago. Challengers are not allowed to use strategies other than alchemy, or the committee would be stepping in. It is no good for you to raise your fist, since only you know how to use your fist in this ridge. If a bleeding war happened and no flask was thrown, our family would be taking all the blame. Not good, bad plan.” Obviously that new rule was a countermeasure for a monstrous fighter like Ye Chong.

Guan Jin seemed to be a fairly good strategist at her age, like too good, that people would have given her the strangest stare if they heard her explanation. But Ye Chong had already recognized her talents even in wars.

Well, challenging other family in light was something pretty laborious to Ye Chong, since that would be just another war of territory while exposing all his cards at once. He never fancied everything being put under the spotlight, that was simply dangerous.

Ye Chong did not mind helping the family out on some chores, since Lunatic Guan was his teacher, but that did not translate as he was willing to do everything. His own security was still the top priority.

“Not interested,” shook Ye Chong, as he declined Guan Jin’s offer.

“H-how could you…,” tears welled up in her eyes, “How could you simply reject me so? Oh Brother Zhu Feng, how could you say no even to a cute girl with a simple request like me?” she said pitifully, with her shaking voice. She was fairly confident in her trick, since even her father would forgive her whenever she put that face on.

Well, she was facing the wrong foe today. Ye Chong was unaffected by her weeping expression.

“If you don’t mind, I could teach you a trick or two on combats,” said Ye Chong, which was a surprising suggestion to Guan Jin.

“You want to teach me on combats?” Guan Jin was bewildered.

That was probably the moment Ye Chong regretted his generosity the most. He intended to teach only Guan Jin at first, who knows Guan Zhengyuan got informed of this and became excited, “All the apprentices, join your teacher now!” Then Ye Chong got an additional 30 students in his fighting class.

Well, Ye Chong did not show resistance towards the unexpected turn of event however. He knew that students could benefit from a larger group since they could have partners for practical combats which would be the best method to improve their skills.

The Guan apprentices were certainly excited but they behaved themselves in front of Ye Chong, since this teacher was also that murderer who finished over 30 challengers in less than a minute.

Ye Chong took a careful look at bodies of his students. He did not seem very pleased.

“From today onwards, you will be learning martial arts,” said Ye Chong concisely on the first class, to the hell.

Speed is the key term in winning an alchemy war. The shorter time the better, be it the time taken for making the potion, or the time needed before the effects of the potion activate. In a place like May Night’s Ridge, there were countless poison that could activate in 0.1 second. One might ask why the rush, but it was always that 0.1 second which determined the outcome of the war. Thus Ye Chong first trained them to create the deadly poison the quickest possible. The formula he chose was simple yet very effective.

Yup, it all relied on the speed of their hands again, just like how Ye Chong almost broke his hands during Mu’s special training course in the past.

To encourage these students, “Look,” he decided to demonstrate his own speed, “If you work hard enough, you could be like me too.” Said he after executing an intense acrobatic performance with his hands.

“Wow…” The kids were simply amazed.

Well that was not Ye Chong’s maximum speed. A real quick hand-movement would be one that lost its silhouette. Certainly that would be very helpful in wars but people could learn nothing if Ye Chong demonstrated that instead.

The passion in students did not last the moment the mundane training began. They never failed to end up looking muddy, swollen and sweaty. Contrary to Ye Chong’s expectation, no one had put up their white flag just yet, not even Guan Jin the blooming princess.

Other than physical training, they also had research training to do. They were required to find out the optimized application of offensive reagents. And that was when practical came in handy. To be frank, a war between alchemists was still fatal even as a practice. Accidents still happened occasionally under supervision of few senior family members.

Everyone looked calm nevertheless. And Ye Chong realized how the competition between families could be cruel at the ridge.

He started estimating the time he had to spend there. Well, he did not intend a permanent residence there. He came just because of Lunatic Guans request and it already felt like the time to go. This was not a good place for permanent resident after all.

The young apprentices learned rapidly. They still needed more time to further improvise their alchemy training but they were already given the best foundation. Under these intensive trainings, it would only be a matter of time till a horrendous army was born and perhaps nobody at the ridge could have a chance against them.

Too bad Ye Chong would be leaving soon and none of the afterstory would have anything to do with him.

But wait, there was one last thing to do. He had to examine his students after the training.

He decided to test them with an actual war. They would be heading to Shi family to initiate a challenge. Of course, the one knocking on Shi family’s door would never be him. That would be a job for Guan’s apprentices.

Chapter 414: An Awesome Strike

he Ridge Council, the committee of the ridge, determined almost everything in May Night’s Ridge. Its headquarter was known as the Ridge Council House and had been the solemn, unshakable establishment in the heart of all residents in the ridge for it had been rumored that the House had existed along with the Ridge.

It was a rather ancient building, with stone walls covered in thick mosses, tangling scented vines over the roof and every corner. One would hear the chimes coming from the roof whenever the breeze came by. The corridor was made out of woods, that each step creating gentle squeaks. The handles of the corridor were unadorned and classy.

It was such a fascinating place that it had become an ultimate goal to every resident in the Ridge, that one day they would be able to step into the House and present their own findings.

Ever since the Ridge was founded, the House had been in charge of evaluating all families’ development of alchemy studies, and certainly every single project or invention would require approval from the House itself. The committee was a wise one that would generously reward talents in the ridge. Not only these contributing researchers would receive helps on finance and materials, they would also gain access to the House’s database, the reference room which contained all records, the unknown dark secrets of every other branch starting from the establishment of the Ridge. Guan Ling the very genius surely had tasted this nectar of knowledge before, the precious formulas of other branches in microchip were originated here as well.

And today, the first meeting of the year would commence. This time with the goal of assessing the report on critical temperature control submitted by Guan family.

The head of the council was an wizened old man in his late seventies. His expression was almost imperceivable with layers of wrinkles. His eyes were looking muddy, his hair was messy. His apparel was torn, discolored and tainted.

Guan Zhengyuan’s eyes were bright the moment he spotted the old man, as hurriedly he led his few men there.

“Just a moment please, leader.”

The old man held his steps upon call. He chuckled as he turned to Guan Zhengyuan and waited him ahead, “If it wasn’t Zhengyuan.”

“Are you well all these while?” said Guan Zhengyuan with a bow. The apprentices bowed as well.

“I am in my seventies. I can’t do very well, but not really bad either. I must say, Zhengyuan, brilliant job this time. The first report for the meeting this year… happened to be from your family I reckoned? It is certainly unexpected.”

“It’s nothing really. All thanks to Zhu Feng and Yan. You know how I do in alchemy, I can’t really help much,” said Guan Zhengyuan honestly, with modesty of a child.

“Oh, Yan? You meant the one who did the report this time? Guan Yan was it? Who is that?” muttered the old man as he glanced at the report in his hand.

“That’s Yan,” Guan Zhengyuan quickly grabbed the shrinking violet at his back. “Come, have a word with our chairperson.”

“Greetings…,” mumbled the young man.

“Hello to you too. Alright, alright, leave the gentleman alone, Zhengyuan, you’re frightening the rabbit,” chuckled the old man again, with a loving look at Yan.

His murky eyes then went upon Ye Chong, “So this must be Ling’s student… Zhu Feng… was it?” Well, Ye Chong was still otherworldly by nature, as he exuded simply a different kind of aura than the other Guans. It was not strange that the old man would recognize him right away.

“Zhu Feng, please come and have a word too,” said Guan Zhengyuan sincerely.

“Zhu Feng has met the head right here,” said Ye Chong formally, the traditional Guan style greetings, with a bow.

“Fair enough. You did well after you got back home. You certainly did not disappoint your teacher. You know I’ve been by Ling’s side since she was very young. She’s intelligence, also hardworking. Please keep up the good work and let the name of your teacher last in harmony,” lectured the elderly.

Although Ye Chong couldn’t really recall anything Lunatic Guan was expecting of him, he could tell the kindness in the words of the old man. “Understood,” said Ye Chong. The conciseness did not seem to please Guan Zhengyuan, even though the old man seemed to like it very much.

“Alright, it’s time to go. The meeting is starting soon. Get prepared, Yan, well, don’t panic, just present whatever you know,” exhorted the old man.

This was the first annual meeting this year. Every member of the House had attended promptly, along with representatives from all 14 families who were highly interested in the latest creation of the new celeb, Guan family.

Guan Yan’s shaking eyes shifted upon every little pair of gazes below. His breathing hastened, his cheeks were red and he could almost hear his heart thumping. He needed water…

It had been a dream for him to stand there and expound his findings but he never really expected the day to come, this fast…

He tried pinching his face, wondering if it was a dream.

“Guan Yan.” And he heard his name announced, it would be time for him to speak up.

His legs were melting as if, his head was buzzing for no reason. He was searching for that one familiar face in the hall, through every corner and stopped at last.

Mr. Zhu Feng was there, standing at the corner silently. He looked calm. No encouragement, no lecture, no slam and clap to wake him from his daydreaming. Somehow, Guan Yan had calmed down.

Shi Wuwei’s face was grim as he watched Guan Yan presenting relaxingly. He was not in a good mood to be honest. Shi Mingbei next to him was looking at Ye Chong too. Their expressions were indescribable.

Technically, every representative of other families looked with an indescribable expression as well. They never expected such a heavy plot twist, such a comeback from a banishing family. Their stares enviously were projected at Guan Zhengyuan. And everybody knew who the real culprit of this mutation was, it was no one other than that indifferent young man at the corner.

Looking at Guan Yan, Ye Chong was feeling odd too. At first he presumed Guan Jin would be the talent who would discover a breakthrough the first. But fate was strange and capricious, eventually it turned out to be Guan Yan the silent and ordinary one who made the breakthrough.

The hall was silent, with Guan Yan’s innocent voice resounded in the space. The audience was listening to him attentively, while being unaware of the horrible happening out there.

…(at the outside)…

Guan Jin was biting her finger as she proudly looked at the porch of Shi family, where large pile of bodies laid. The survivors of the family were looking frightful.

“What? Nobody wants a challenge?” asked Guan Jin innocently as she lifted her tiny chin, leading a row of young Guan apprentices.

10 points to Guan family.

0 to Shi.

It was a shocking figure. Guan Jin led 30 trained apprentices to hit on Shi family, as an mini examination for the trainees while being also a form of demonstration to the families outside.

Of all timings! Thought Shi family in fear. They were truly unlucky today. Shi Wuwei, the leader of the family had already brought the adepts to the House, while the other adepts had headed out for a mission a while ago.

No one would have expected being raided when the family was at the weakest.

The remaining members did not take the challengers seriously at first, since… well those were just a bunch of primary schoolers… with the leader being a 12-year-old girl.

They thought they could kick these children back to kindergarten while receiving compliments from the leader, but things just changed.

Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, the children were simply fast. And it was such insane speed that destroyed everything the Shi’s knew about battles, as they started to realize how unnecessarily flashy their moves were. Combination of potions? That did not matter. The appropriate countermeasure for the little attacks? That never existed. The chance of fighting back? Wait, they could fight back?

The army of children felt like the chivalrous swordsmen whose strikes landed rapidly. The attack had been done before the foe even drew the sword.

“Teehee~ Good bye Shi family!”

Guan Jin led the army away in bright smile of victory.

On that day, two things happened. And every family held their flasks. The two incidents seemed unrelated at first, till they involved Guan family. The House meeting, the Shi massacre.

It was a sign, a sign of Guan’s resurrection, resuscitation of hope.

Of course the family raised again as they stepped on the bodies of Shi’s. The Shi family had weakened dramatically. It had been rumored that Shi Wuwei fainted after coughing a splash of blood upon returning home.

The raise of Guan family actually created a brief peace period in the ridge.

People were anticipating the next war, between Guan family and Shi family. IT would be a never-before-seen major war between two large families, and the outcome of this war would affect the balance of forces between the old and new generations in the ridge.

It was a brewing storm.

Chapter 415: Encounter

ight when everyone anticipated the next massacre to happen, when people were expecting that mysterious boy from Guan family to jump into action again, Ye Chong was already prepared to leave the place.

Guan family had once again risen. They might have sunken for ages, however they were still a family from the ancient. They had the potential from the very beginning, They only lacked a little spark to light up the fire.

Ye Chong strongly believed that Guan family was practically unshakable now, not even Shi family could touch them. And possibly the family would grow stronger, pulling distance with other families over the time. Guan family had not only an army of fighting alchemist, but also a skillful alchemy researcher like Guan Yan. Ye Chong had given the sparks they needed, Ye Chong had unlocked a new gate for their future, well it might be just a small gap at the moment, but they were growing fast.

They remained fearless even if there were challengers at the doorstep now. Ye Chong reckoned Guan family would continue the hand speed training after the success this time. Guan Jin the talented would surely be a great force for the family in future.

But well, it was time to leave. To be honest, Ye Chong had no idea why he must leave but the feeling was strong in him.

He took one last glance at Guan’s residence below. “Phew…” At least he had another job done. He gave a few taps and the Moon King left the ridge silently like a phantom.

In the midst of night silence, a few red spots were displayed on the projection.

Something was there!

Ye Chong turned on the detection system immediately.

Zoom in!

Those were 7 mechs, heading towards him in a standard formation!

Ye Chong could identify the leading mech, while the rest… he had never seen the 6 models before. But he knew those mechs belonged to Xi Feng tribe.

The leading mech was Phoenix Lord. Ye Chong had smashed one before, though a close fight it was. And the experience of that battle had left deep impression in him. Based on a typical Xi Feng lineup, the other 6 mechs should be a rank lower than the Phoenix Lord.

The Phoenix Lord mech had a rather stunning appearance thanks to its giant pair of green wings. The other mechs also had similarly plated the outer layer with dark green, thus the invisibility at night.

Ye Chong could hear his head buzzing…

He had just encountered 7 mechs. If he was able to pick his opponent, he would choose Xi Feng tribe during an one-on-one without hesitation. However, Xi Feng tribe would be the worst opponent choice in a group fight, since it had been widely known that the Xi Feng tribe had the most impeccably cooperative trained army among the 3 aristocrats. They were feeble as singled out, but they were almost indestructible in a group.

Well, since Ye Chong was the protagonist of this novel, in order to survive, he had no other choice but to run.

Unfortunately, it was too late for him to make an escape as the 7 mechs had charged towards Moon King in a perfect curve formation.

A handful of beams had formed into a giant web netting Moon King.

Ye Chong swung his handle to dodge. To fight against Xi Feng tribe’s mechs, you got to make the move first, anything later would be solely regarded as too late.

The Moon King’s course remained unpredictable while doing most beams fired by the foes. Moon King managed to block the two beams with its shield, but it felt like a close shave to Ye Chong since he always found difficulty with ranged attacks. Assuming the foe had a godly sniper like Mu, it probably would only take a trigger to finish him off.

Ye Chong did not stop his fingers. A small break would have costed his life. Non-orderly Wavy Leap, the first fancy move he had mastered, came into his aid again. Certainly the technique had matured tremendously as the curves had a wider tangent, the velocity was unforeseeably faster.

The dark Moon King moved like a phantom, as shrouded by the night, dodging the beams.

The 7 mechs maintained their flawless formation as they zoomed behind.

Ye Chong could not find the right timing to attack.

There was a prairie not too far away from Line Shaft City.

Feng Su took a look at the sky.

Those are… those are my people!

She shouted in her mind.

They must be here for me!

She thought as she looked at the barbarians, who seemed to have noticed her disdainful stare, that she immediately withdrew her stare out of fear.

Tackan and these barbarians… Feng Su cursed.

She had been spending the days like a caged canary, as she was being watched the whole time. There was not a moment where she could deploy her mech and run. Not only that, she was forced to conduct all kinds of training and engage in all sorts of battles. They were real barbarians for they never thought of showing mercy towards a girl like her.

I think my Jie expert training would’ve been easier than this.

If this isn’t hell…

She would receive the stare of untamed wrath whenever she lifted her steps beyond the boundary, that she believed she would be immediately slaughtered if she ever ran.

“Hmmmmm… weird…,” muttered Liu Sheng as he looked upon the sky, “I have never seen such meteor shower before…”

“So what? It’s your turn to train her,” said Sisko impatiently.

“Again?” Liu Sheng flinched and shrugged at Feng Su. “Well, you have to work hard lassie. You don’t get to train with me everyday.”

Feng Su bit her lips. The veil on her face had already been shredded into a million pieces during her battle. Well, at least these barbarians seemed uninterested of her presence.

But they were lunatics! They were simply maniac! They had some really ridiculous thoughts on combats, that she cannot comprehend! They never had breaks between dummy and fight practice. It was terrifying to Feng Su to perform such sadistic training every single day! Moreover, those were not ordinary fight practices, as they fought with their lives! The first time she saw their “demonstration” she thought these barbarians just had issues with each other and wanted to resolve with murder!

Her pretty face was now tanned. Her smooth hair was puffy and stuck with grasses. She was no longer that seductive singer before. But she made it here, although she was sweating, occasionally bleeding, she made it with maximum efforts and her lips bitten.

Over the days Feng Su could feel the changing attitude among the group, during which occasionally she would see the slight admiration in their eyes.

Despite all the chaotic training, Feng Su did improve greatly under immense stress. Her physique had elevated to a whole new level. She was frail, even as a Jie expert before and that frailty was more apparent when she fought with these barbarians. She could now tie with any of these men, well, given that the fight did not last longer than 15 minutes, since she was still limited by her stamina.

During the process, Feng Su once given up the idea of running away. The attacks from these barbarians were uncertain, that she would never last more than 5 minutes if she did not invest 100% of her efforts. She could lose since they showed zero tolerance towards a lagger.

Well, her time to run had come. She was right. The 7 mechs came for her indeed.

Feng Su was expected to arrive Dankwood and take over the admiration works there a long time ago, but the tribe had never received any reports since then. So they were pretty positive that Feng Su had bumped into something. The authority decided to send off all the forces to look for her.

The plot twist was… they encountered Ye Chong. Ye Chong’s mech, which was presumably an advanced model of Ye family, and that was more than enough to cause alert in the searching team. They did not intend to take action at first, till Ye Chong ran away promptly, which convinced them that something fishy was going on. Everything made perfect sense, as only Ye family’s Mandate model could smash a Phoenix Lord of the tribe, which was the exact model Feng Su was piloting.

It was a one-on-seven fight, which justified the confidence in the leader of Team Feng Su.

They then arrived by a mountain range, which looked like a resting beast in the dark.

That spelled good news to Ye Chong, as his hands danced upon the control panel.

The Moon King made a bouncing turn as the body shook slightly to get out of the foes’ lock-on. Right when the 7 mechs tried to reposition their crosshairs, Moon King made a high leap and zapped through the mountains.

The chasing mechs did not halt at all, as they reformed into a perfect diagonal, following this Ye model.

The piercing cries of the mechs shattered the silence of the woods, as birds flew away.

Both parties gradually lowered their flight.

That was not a good sign to Team Feng Su, as the leader frowned, knowing that it would be a goner if the foe had run into the woods, “Everyone on your mark, turn to manual aiming, ready to fire on my call.”

Their processor had been taking forever to relocate the crosshair on the ever-moving foe. So they got to do it the traditional way.

Well, as expected from a Mandate class…

Complimented the pilot from Team Feng Su.

The model was good enough, but the pilot was greater. Those were some masterly controls he witnessed, with all turns made on the most impeccable timing which managed to disrupt their paces of shooting.

They must not let their prey escape into the forest, as not only it would be more harder, it would be also more dangerous. The foe was a melee model and forest like this was wholly its territory.

A Mandate class pilot must be a melee expert. No explanation required.

The pilot must be.

Frankly speaking, if the foe was not outnumbered, the outcome of the battle would have been the other way round.

“Leader, manual aiming is not possible,” stated the man in the communicating channel.

“I know, such a lively prey, livelier than the animal.”

“True, he’s piloting a Mandate, not some random instant mech at the supermarket after all.” They sounded very excited somehow… probably it was the first time they chased a Mandate.

“Switch your mode,” the leading pilot instructed. “All units switch your single-targeted aiming to area-aiming. Remain manual.”

“Yes, sir.” They understood it was not the time to mess around.

“Lock on complete.”

“Lock on complete too.”

…

“Group firing calibration complete. Ready to fire at once.” Heavy breaths were heard in the channel.

“FIRE!” the leading pilot shouted.

Chapter 416: Huang Jiming’s Battlelust

ountless thin lasers converged into a point, merging into a single, thick beam that came down from high above. The mountain ranges were illuminated as bright as day by the bright laser beam.

The laser beams were merged together after frequency-phase synchronization, and the result was an extraordinarily powerful laser beam. Now, the beam was so powerful that its cross section was much larger than its individual component beams.

The seven mech pilots looked at the holographic screen with bated breath and eyes wide open. The combined power of the laser beams from seven mechs was enough to destroy even a Mandate class mech. However, this power came at a price with an obvious weakness.

First, the beams must be synchronized perfectly. While this was done, the mechs would not be able to move or evade attacks as freely as before. In the vital seconds of battle, this would endanger the mechs significantly. Secondly, activating all of the beams would deplete energy quickly. One round of shooting would exhaust one third of a mech’s energy cell at full capacity.

Experienced mech pilots would know to employ this method only when evasion maneuvers were not necessary, or the result would be death!

The seven mech pilots felt like their blood was boiling with excitement! Terminating a Mandate class mech would bring them not only glory, but also the Tribe Leader’s personal commendation. The Tribe had never defeated a Mandate class mech before.

The combined beam attack was complete! They opened their eyes wide open. The next moment would be the most glorious and unforgettable moment in their lives. They must see with their own eyes the flame that came from the explosion of this Mandate class mech.

The enemy’s dead for sure! Up until now, they had never heard of anyone surviving a combined beam attack. A combined beam attack was like a sharp, double edged knife – it was rarely used, but every unsheathing of the blade would end in casualties.

Suddenly, their eyes widened even further! Every one of them wore the same expression of disbelief, as if they had just seen a monster.

The comms channel was dead silent!

How was this possible … How was this possible?

What were they seeing?

Abruptly, one of the mech pilots broke out of his trance, and moved so quickly to rewind the holographic screen recording it was like he had gone mad. When he started the screen recorder a moment ago, he wanted to record down the moment when the Mandate class mech exploded into pieces as a piece of his most prized memory. However, he never imagined that he had recorded a scene that had to be seen to be believed.

The holographic screen re-played the entire scene faithfully.

Seen from high above, the night sky and the dark mountain ranges formed the background of the scene. A black mech disguised itself in the dark, making it difficult to notice. The black mech never stopped with its evasion maneuvers – simple ones, grand ones, wide angle deflections, short range and high speed zigzagged evasions – the variety was enough to confuse and impress the observer with the mech pilot’s deft skills.

Just then, an impossibly thick laser beam ripped across the night sky. The devastatingly powerful laser beam was enough to make the mech pilot who released it shudder inside.

No one could possibly survive this laser beam! No one!

However, the impossible had happened.

On the holographic screen, the Mandate class mech suddenly blurred – the mech had gone beyond the effective range of the combined beam attack with astonishing speed as the laser beam barely graced past the mech and hit the ground. The laser beam was very powerful. It hit the ground with a loud “Boom!”. A large hole was left in the ground, the surface charred black and smoldered, all signs of how terrifying the attack really was.

On the holographic screen, the mech was nowhere to be seen.

The other six mech pilots had awaken from their shock. The comms channel burst into chaotic exchanges. The first mech pilot continued to stare at the holographic screen, his mind blank.

Ye Chong wiped away cold sweat from his forehead! That was close. If that beam had touched him even slightly, he would not escape without injuries. The truth was, he knew that this success was partly due to luck. To think that his unlucky streak would finally break at this moment to save him!

Without further hesitation, Moon King dived into the forest. The uneven territory and Moon King’s excellent anti scanning abilities would make him very hard to find.

As expected, the seven mechs left not long after.

The recording of the scene was sent back to the base of the Xi Feng Tribe as soon as possible.

A knock came from the door of the Tribe Leader’s office.

“Come in,” the beautiful Tribe Leader did not lift her head as she continued to work on the documents on her desk.

The door was pushed open, and in came a young man. “Tribe Leader, you called for me?” It was a gentle voice, pleasant to hear. The man wore a friendly, positive expression that was infectious for anyone who saw him.

The Tribe Leader finally lifted her head. She looked at the friendly young man before her and could not help a little smile as she said, “Ah, it’s Jiming, come over here.”

The young man looked meek as he approached the Tribe Leader. No one would have guessed that this shy and mellow young man was one of the Legendary Three of the He Yue Galaxy, and Xi Feng Tribe’s most skilled personnel, Huang Jiming.

“Come and look at this recording,” the Tribe Leader activated the room’s holographic screen.

On the screen was a replay of the scene where Ye Chong avoided the combined beam attack.

Huang Jiming’s gentle expression turned severe, and his warm, friendly charisma transformed into a sharp coldness. His whole body radiated with power. In just an instant, the disguise that he wore in his everyday life was swept away. No one would doubt the status of the current Huang Jiming as Xi Feng Tribe’s most skilled combatant.

The Tribe Leader was not unsettled by his sudden change. On the contrary, she looked satisfied.

“A Mandate class mech? What a strong opponent! To think that the Ye Family has someone so capable besides Ye Yin! Giving a Mandate class mech to this pilot does not do him justice.” Huang Jiming now sounded low and solemn, like he transformed into a completely different person.

The Tribe Leader looked troubled as well. “This came from the free space zone. There’s still no news from Feng Su. She’s officially missing. We have people searching for her, but there’s no news yet. This Mandate class mech was encountered by a search team on Guang Hua planet. Feng Su’s last known location was also on Guang Hua planet.”

Huang Jiming narrowed his eyes. “If Feng Su were to battle with him, it would not be terribly difficult for him to kill her. I’m just curious. For such a capable mech pilot, the Ye Family should have given him a more advanced mech, but instead he got a Mandate class.”

“Is he really that strong?” The Tribe Leader seemed appalled.

“Yes.” There was an undertone of battlelust in Huang Jiming’s voice. “He is probably on the same level as me, Ye Yin and Siva. Any differences in strength would be almost negligible.”

“Since when did the Ye Family had such a powerful expert?” The Tribe Leader lowered her head in thought.

Huang Jiming stayed silent, staring at the holographic screen.

The Tribe Leader asked abruptly, “How did he do it?”

Huang Jiming sounded impressed as he explained, “His evasion maneuvers were excellent. He had kept on with his evasions, and when the combined beam attack happened, he had made a short range high speed change in direction. The change was not large, but it was executed fast enough that it looked like a blur on the screen. Our mech pilots had aimed manually, so they could not help but respond to the sudden change in direction of the enemy. This is a mistake due to a long training history, and skilled veterans are especially susceptible. The mistake committed in aiming caused the beam to be slightly off target, which was how the mech managed to survive. Since the change in direction was short ranged, our mech pilots could not detect it. This subconscious mistake could not be detected by the pilots at all. The more capable the shooter, the more effective this trick is. Besides, notice that his high speed change in direction was done with accelerated speed. That was how his final wide angle evasion move allowed him to avoid the combined beam attack.”

“Do you think you can execute the same moves?” The Tribe Leader asked.

“With great difficulty,” Huang Jiming answered honestly. “This man had managed to survive a combined beam attack, and more importantly, he timed his moves well, so well that his every change in direction was timed perfectly. His final wide angle evasion move was even more impressive. Even a slight delay would have given him a different ending. On the other hand, to be honest, the guy’s just extremely lucky.”

“Strange, why would the Ye Family send such a skilled mech pilot to the free space zone?” The Tribe Leader muttered to herself.

Once again, Huang Jiming stayed silent. Suddenly, he lifted his head and said, “Tribe Leader, I’d like to visit the free space zone.”

“You want to head to the free space zone?” The Tribe Leader seemed troubled. “Oh, Jiming, you know all too well that the Tribe is in dire need of military strength. If you go to the free space zone now …” Seeing Huang Jiming’s determined expression, the Tribe Leader could not finish her sentence.

The Tribe Leader’s office fell into silence.

After a full 10 minutes, the Tribe Leader finally relented with a sigh. “Alright, go. However, please be careful. The Tribe has no men to spare right now, so you can only go alone.”

“Don’t worry, Tribe Leader. I’ve yet to meet a person who is good enough to kill me,” Huang Jiming said with this unshakeable confidence.

Chapter 417: Preamble

e Chong could not tell if he was lucky or not. That he encountered the Xi Feng Tribe’s combat squad was definitely unfortunate. However, he had survived their combined beam attack, and in that sense he was extremely lucky. In the end, Ye Chong was not a born and bred Ye Family member – Moon King’s many special features were designed just for the Ye Family, so for an outsider like Ye Chong who did not receive specialized training from the Ye Family, it was impossible to unleash the full potential of the Moon King.

It was still too short a time for Ye Chong to familiarize himself with Moon King. Aside from his final move, the rest of his executions were not up to his standards. Had it been otherwise, a standard Mandate class mech would be more than enough to deal with a combat squad from the Xi Feng Tribe. Nevertheless, Ye Chong dared not test this out himself. He was still unfamiliar with Moon King. If it was only the Phoenix Class mech, he would have gotten the job done. Unfortunately, there were other mech sizes with it, and Ye Chong remembered Xi Feng Tribe’s group strategy well enough.

When Ye Chong left the mountain ranges, half a month had passed since that day. In this half a month, he tried everything he could with Moon King, since it was his biggest trump card. The more advanced the mech was, the more skilled its pilot should be to draw out its full potential, else the end result would be even worse than using a low class mech. Hence, it was important for every mech pilot to use a mech that was best suited for him or her, and not simply choose the most advanced mech available.

The Mandate class mech was the most advanced mech that Ye Chong had ever maneuvered before. The commands were complicated, and on an entirely different level compared to low level mechs. Some commands were designed to fit the Ye Family’s internal training, and hard to understand for outsiders.

Ye Chong spent most of his time on these particular commands. He could only explore them slowly. Without understanding these special commands, it would be hard to make use of even half of what Moon King was truly capable of.

His hard work paid off, as shown by his current capabilities. Ye Chong believed that if he met the seven mechs again, he would have at least a 70 percent chance of defeating them. However, this success came at a price. Since Ye Chong did not understand all the special commands, every time he initiated one of them, he could only wait nervously until the mech performed its preset maneuvers.

Once, on the ground, Ye Chong initiated one of the unknown commands, and Moon King suddenly turned around and went head first into the ground. Ye Chong nearly vomited from the violent movements. Later, he found out that it was actually a Three-step Zigzag Retreat. Surprises like this happened often and exhausting, even with Ye Chong’s strong body and mind.

Ye Chong tried all 326 unknown commands in Moon King. This allowed him to become familiar with the mech and understand more about the Ye Family mech piloting skills.

Feng Su was not doing much better than Ye Chong. The hellish training bore down heavily on her. Whatever weakness left in her was replaced with a steel determination. Her eyes gleamed coldly with the readiness to kill. Tackan and his group kept her under strict watch, monitoring her every move. All her belongings were taken away, including her dimension keystone. They would only return them to her after the Congregation.

“Let’s go. Seems that the guy’s not coming back,” Tackan said with disappointment.

A young man with a wooden spear in hand walked towards them slowly.

Ye Chong’s arrival was met with joy on Tackan’s side. Ye Chong stole a glance at Feng Su, and kept his surprise to himself. She looked like she had suffered plenty these days. She now seemed more ruthless due to Tackan and his gang’s company. For some reason, Ye Chong suddenly felt indifferent about her situation. If Shang were to see her now, would he still call her a beauty?

Mu and Shang was not aware of Ye Chong’s situation. They were now very busy. Due to the Shi Family’s cooperation, they had rapidly obtained a huge amount of resources. The completion of their first virtual world node laboratory marked a significant improvement in their strength. Little Rock, the rigid genius, was the main star of the laboratory. His computing skills were astonishing, and even Mu and Shang were thoroughly impressed.

The virtual world was not as common in the He Yua Galaxy, but any slightly powerful organization would enter the virtual world. After all, information exchange in this place was unparalleled. This also made the virtual world more singular in purpose compared to that of the Five Galaxies, but also more dangerous.

Mu and Shang’s node laboratory had been attacked for no less than two dozen times. The strength of each attack was unimaginable in the Five Galaxies. Aside from the first three attacks, where Mu lent a hand to Little Rock, the rest of them were dealt only by Little Rock himself, showing his extraordinary skills as a Maverick. With solid computational skills for backing, careful planning and endless patience, Little Rock grew stronger and stronger as he fought in the arena of the virtual world.

By now, He Yue Galaxy was in a state of great tension. The large scale military personnel reassignments by the Three Aristocratic Families were hard to miss for the curious ones, and even Little Rock could acquire plenty of information in this regard in the virtual world. Nonetheless, the Three Aristocratic Families did not explain their movements. No one knew where the military troops were reassigned to. They seemed to just vanish into thin air.

This created anxiety for other local forces. For second tier aristocratic families like the Shi Family, it was very important news. Currently, they were amassing power, and needed a certain period of peace to adjust to their size. Once the war amongst the Three Aristocratic Families began, the He Yue Galaxy would be plunged into a state of chaos, and the Shi Family must do its best to survive the turmoil.

Just what was the Three Aristocratic Families were up to? No one had an answer to that question.

“Sister Bing, don’t worry too much. Brother Ye will be fine,” the little boy looked up at Rui Bing and offered some words of comfort. Around him were dozens of huge men, looking around anxiously as if expecting an enemy. No one expected the Young Master to go to the planet of Risserd. Now, almost the entire force of the Xue Lai Clan on that planet was converging onto his location.

When Ye Chong was separated from them, they failed to find him. Left with no other choice, the young boy asked for assistance from the Clan’s forces on Dankwood planet. Still, there was no news of Ye Chong. With the upcoming Congregation, the largest event in the entire free space zone that was organized every four years, they believed that Ye Chong might just show himself there. It seemed like a plausible idea. After leaving enough men to continue the search, the young boy and his company headed for Risserd. They never would have expected Ye Chong to leave Dankwood planet for the planet of Guang Hua.

In Flying Moon City, on Risserd. As the Congregation drew near, the number of strong individuals sharply increased in the vicinity. Where Jie Experts were rarely seen in other places, they were noticeable everywhere here. It was no wonder that the young boy’s bodyguards were all nervous.

Using mechs here in the open would be too conspicuous, but without mechs, they were helplessly weak compared to the combat experts around them. Moreover, the Youngest Young Master had always been eager to make trouble, thoroughly enjoying himself in the process.

Looking at the curious eyes of their Youngest Young Master, the bodyguards could not help but feel dread for their future. Finally, Xua Lai Clan’s Risserd force leader could not stand it anymore, and said, “Youngest Young Master, let us return home for now. It’s better if we lay low for now. Master Siva will be here in three days. Until then, your safety …”

“Lil’ Siva is coming?” The young boy was surprised, and did not welcome the news. He mumbled, “That guy, he’s just so boring.” Hearing the Youngest Young Master referring to Siva as Lil’ Siva made the other bodyguards’ expressions turned uncomfortable. Siva was the strongest of the Clan, a mysterious character to most of the Clan’s members. There were numerous legends about him, but no one had seemed to have seen his face.

It was strange to hear Xue Clai Clan’s Number One being referred to like a boy by another seven-year old boy. However, despite their odd expressions, none of them laughed. Perhaps the Youngest Young Master was the only member of the Xue Lai Clan who dared to use the nickname “Lil’ Siva”.

Rui Bing was lost in thought, and did not seem to notice her surroundings. Her usual clear expression was now clouded in misery. After being separated from Ye Chong, she had been in a poor mood. Every time she thought of the numerous enemies that he faced, her heart ached; every time she recalled him getting further and further away from her, her heard bled. Until now, there was still no news of him.

Seeing Rui Bing’s worried face, a flash of concern appeared in the young boy’s eyes. Suddenly, he thought of something, and tugged at Rui Bing’s sleeve and said, “Sister Bing, I’ve an idea.”

Rui Bing refocused herself. “What idea?” The young boy was mischievous, but smart. Perhaps he really had something useful.

“Think about it, Sister Bin. The Congregation is attended by all strong individuals in the free space zone. Besides, I think that the names of those ranked in the first 10 will be spread to every planet. If Sister Bing can make it into the first 10, your name will be known throughout the entire free space zone.” The young boy was already imagining it in his head as he said this.

Rui Bing could not help but feel disappointed. She shook her head and plainly said, “I have not been interested in those things since a long time ago.”

“No, not that,” the young boy quickly explained, “If your name is known in the entire free space zone, then Brother Ye will surely know about it, right? If Brother Ye knows that Sister Bing is on Risserd, he will surely find a way to get here as soon as possible. Then you’ll be able to see each other again.”

Rui Bing jolted in realization, and froze in thought. After a long moment, she acknowledged his point softly. Her eyes cleared up until she looked like her usual self. Her eyes reflected an immovable determination.

No one would have guessed that Ye Chong was also heading towards planet Risserd right then.

In fact, Ye Chong was not the only one heading towards Risserd …

Chapter 418: Feng Su’s Transformation

We are now heading for planet Risserd. Both your candidacies in the Congregation are settled. Hehe, we from the planet of Guang Hua will surely surprise them all,” Liu Sheng chatted eagerly with Ye Chong.

Ye Chong received an entirely different form of treatment compared to Feng Su, but the latter did not hold anything against him, since this was the result of their difference in strength. Ye Chong’s strength was acknowledged by everyone here, including Feng Su herself. The first to fight against Ye Chong was Tackan, and everyone else watched with interest, eager to be next themselves. If it was someone else, they would have been intimidated by the fierce glares from so many strong people. However, for Ye Chong, who had spent time at the Sang Family Village, it was only child’s play.

No matter who Ye Chong fought against, everyone else would be there to watch the battle. After all, it was a rare opportunity to watch an expert fight. Watching him fight was important in improving themselves. After attaining Jie, any kind of improvement would be hard won, so Tackan and his group had came up with this method after much discussion.

Feng Su was surprised every time she saw the young man fight. She felt increasingly familiar about the young man, but could not remember who he really was. She was confident of her feelings, and believed that she must have seen him before. It was only a matter of time before she remembered him.

Nonetheless, this was the free space zone. She had never been here before. No one should look familiar to her here, so why was she having this strong sense of familiarity? The question vexed her.

Feng Su had fought against Ye Chong countless times, but she was defeated completely every single time. Ye Chong never held back. He never particularly liked her anyway. It was just that sometimes seeing her reminded him of Shang, and that made him more wary. After all, he and the Xi Feng Tribe were in conflict.

Now that he was stronger, Feng Su’s combat style no longer impressed him as much as when he first saw her. He could even tell how she made her tricky moves. Ye Chong was not a mentalist, but Huang Baiyi’s influence had given him a strong theoretical understanding of mentalist skills, stronger than Feng Su’s. Xi Feng Tribe’s mentalists failed to inherit a lot of their predecessors’ knowledge. In terms of mentalist skill theory, Ye Chong was definitely superior.

However, Ye Chong did not tell any of this to Feng Su, but adopted an apathy towards her instead.

“These are the young lady’s things, best if you keep them. I’m just a careless guy, I might just lose them somewhere.” Liu Sheng handed over a small bag. After some time of getting to know each other, Ye Chong and the six in the group had formed a strange form of friendship.

“Okay.” Ye Chong took the small bag. He opened it to inspect, and found a dimension keystone inside. Without betraying his findings, Ye Chong accepted the small bag quietly. The dimension keystone itself was not particularly valuable to him. All advanced level mechs of the Three Aristocratic Families would keep their owner’s information in them, even after the master’s death. Hence, outsiders would almost never be able to get their hands on advanced level mechs from the Three Aristocratic Families. It was extremely unlikely to have a person like Ye Luo, who would willingly give away his mech.

However, Ye Chong still accepted the bag. With the dimension keystone in his hands, Feng Su’s usage of her mech would be for him to decide. Without her mech, Feng Su was like a toothless tiger, unable to touch him. Otherwise, Ye Chong would never have one of Xi Feng Tribe’s advanced level mech pilots so close to him.

The starry sky outside the starship was mesmerizing. Ye Chong suddenly had an impulse to just leave the starship with Moon King. It must be a wonderful experience, flying Moon King in outer space.

Ye Chong and the rest of them were now in a starship, albeit a very ancient one. Fortunately, Ye Chong had experience with it, so he was not too surprised. Feng Su, however, was seeing a starship this old for the first time, and could not hide the surprise in her eyes.

“First time riding a starship, huh?” Liu Sheng grinned widely. Once he grew close to someone, he would turn very friendly. He had asked his question because for most of the residents in the free space zone, few of them had ever sat in a starship.

Seeing the ancient starship, Ye Chong nodded a little helplessly and replied, “Yes, first time.”

“Hehe, don’t worry. You’ll get to fly with her again in another four years. You know, the first time I flew in this large metal can, I got dizzy as hell. After that, I got used to it. Truth be told, she flies too slowly, this one. Such a bore!” Liu Sheng shrugged and explained, affecting a weathered tone.

The starship was far from comfortable, and it lacked in facilities, nothing compared to the luxury of Coxcomb. Ye Chong nodded in agreement. “Yes, you’re right.” He could not help but notice Feng Su, who was holding on against Sisko’s fierce attacks. He was surprised to see her improve so fast.

Hearing Ye Chong’s agreement, Liu Sheng continued, encouraged, “Sigh, ain’t that it? The journey’s long and dry. If only I can bring along a lady or two to help pass the time!” Liu Sheng looked regretful.

Ye Chong’s attention was diverted to the fight between the two. Feng Su seemed to show an unusual persistence, and her rare retaliations were sharp, disrupting Sisko’s rhythm.

Observing the battle from the outside, Ye Chong realized that Feng Su’s special ability must have been awakened. Initially, Ye Chong had thought it odd that Feng Su, a Jie expert, performed so weakly. However, after watching her fighting against others repeatedly, he gradually realized that firstly, she lacked combat experience, and secondly, her special ability was not yet awakened.

Xi Feng Tribe had a long history in mentalist training. What would their special ability look like? Ye Chong’s apathy was broken by a sudden curiosity.

“Huh?” Even Liu Sheng began to notice something was amiss.

Sisko was very strong. His bulky muscles showed as much, making him look like a small tower of a person. His muscles bulged up with angular edges, which gave him a scary look. He was ill tempered, and fought like a mad berserker. His overwhelming attacks was also a pain for Ye Chong. His techniques were simple and practical, with no flowery moves, aiming to win by pure strength. Besides, his stamina was just as impressive as his muscles. He could sustain his attacks continuously for long periods of time.

Before his large, towering figure, Feng Su looked just like a seven year old girl standing before a large man. A mad beast fighting against a weak and beautiful woman – this was the proverbial beauty and the beast.

Usually, Feng Su could only brace herself against Sisko’s attacks like a tiny boat weathering a storm in the middle of the sea. Her strength was like a mosquito’s against Sisko – they were on completely different levels.

Today, Feng Su remained on the defense, barely holding off her opponent, but with all the expert eyes studying the fight, of course they would notice that something was different!

However, the only one who knew exactly what was going on was Ye Chong. He understood the situation even better than Feng Su herself. Huang Baiyi’s education on mentalists allowed him to make an accurate analysis of the situation.

“Hmm, Mental Foresight, a very practical skill.” Ye Chong thought to himself as he watched Feng Su grew steadier and more relaxed in her battle.

The transformation of a Jie expert was often over in a second, but this short moment was the culmination of all earlier experiences, none of which could have been skipped over.

Feng Su moved like a delicate butterfly, avoiding the continuous blows with ease. It was as if she could predict Sisko’s every move. Often when Sisko had just began his attack move, she already had begun her evasion.

It was a strange sight to behold. The two of them were like a pair of coordinated lovers. Soon, Sisko’s attacks could no longer touch Feng Su. His every attack was avoided, and that frustrated him to no end. However, Feng Su could not pose a threat to Sisko too, since she could not hope to compare against the man’s strength or speed.

Ye Chong’s mind was turning quickly, trying to figure out a way to overcome this special skill. Huang Baiyi had said that it felt like watching an event on rewind in his head. The fierce battle no longer held his interest. He lowered his head and began to think.

Once he began, Ye Chong did not stop thinking about it for three days. In these three days, Feng Su had challenged another four of the group. Aside from Dong Mo, who had won against Feng Su with great difficulty, the other three had ended up in a tie against her. Of course, as an alchemist, Kurdi was not one of Feng Su’s opponents.

These battles eventually led the group to acknowledge her status as an equal in the group. Strength determined everything. Since she was strong, she would receive equal treatment.

On the fourth day, Feng Su approached Ye Chong.

“Please return my things to me,” Feng Su demanded coldly. She heard from Liu Sheng that her bag was not in the hands of this young man. After spending so many days enclosed in the ship, her dark skin had turned fair again. Her former beauty was once again presented to the people around her.

Ye Chong lifted his head, annoyed by the disruption in his thought process.

Ye Chong looked at Feng Su, and was surprised to find that she looked a little different. She was imbued with faint a sense of confidence found in skillful experts.

“Please return my things to me!” Feng Su repeated her request louder, raising her eyebrow.

Ye Chong studied her silently for half a minute before replying in a gentle but determined voice, “I refuse.”

Returning her things to her! Ye Chong was not like the other six ignorant people. To return the dimension keystone to this strong and definitely not friendly mech pilot was something that Ye Chong would never do.

The other six in the group looked towards them, surprised. They could not understand why Ye Chong would deny this perfectly reasonable request.

Chapter 419: This Young Man Is A Little Cold

he suddenly reached out with her right hand, her hand fisted and aimed towards Ye Chong’s weak spot.

If she had learned anything at all recently, it was all of the qualities that make for a fine combat expert. That punch came abruptly without warning. Her battles against Sisko and his group these days had made her more confident of herself.

Ye Chong leapt back lightly in a seemingly impossible step, avoiding the blow.

Tackan and the others immediately began to follow Ye Chong’s every move closely. After her transformation, Feng Su was becoming a problem to solve for them. They could not find her weakness. They wanted to see how Ye Chong would deal with her.

The situation looked precarious, but Ye Chong’s expression was calm and collected, without any changes.

He avoided the blow, but the danger was not over yet. Feng Su seemed to have anticipated Ye Chong’s move. She stepped lightly on the ground and launched herself forward, straight towards Ye Chong. She pulled back her fist, ready to punch.

Feng Su’s eyes were fixed on the young man before her. She could even see every movement of his muscles.

Ye Chong’s brows knitted together. His upper body was rigid as his right arm suddenly extended out like a whip towards Feng Su.

That seemingly impossible motion caught the attention of Tackan and his group. They had never seen Ye Chong use this move when fighting against them before. Everyone stood up instinctively and approached the fighting pair.

The September Lan Family’s muscle control techniques allowed Ye Chong to execute bizarre movements. These movements were all surprising and difficult to predict.

This time, however, it did not hinder his opponent, much to his surprise. As if she knew exactly what Ye Chong would do, Feng Su suddenly bent down and evaded Ye Chong’s right arm, her right fist coming towards Ye Chong like a bolt of lightning.

“Roar!” Ye Chong suddenly cried out! Mortal Roar! It was also a technique of the September Lan Family.

A formless sound wave spread out rapidly away from him.

Unexpectedly, the wide range attack had affected the observers more. The ones who were watching immediately howled in pain, blocking their ears with their hands as they retreated quickly.

The one closest to Ye Chong, Feng Su, was affected the least. Just as Ye Chong began his Mortal Roar, she had already slipped backwards quickly, and only the aftershocks of the attack managed to ruffle her hair.

Once again, the distance between the two of them was widened.

Feng Su’s eyes turned serious. As expected, this young man was the hardest of the group to deal with. She did not initiate an attack again. The Mortal Roar had made her wary.

Ye Chong began to look at Feng Su in a new light. This new Feng Su was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. Ye Chong had fought with Feng Su before this, and her current powers of foresight were much stronger than before. Her foresight ability now was enough to make Ye Chong feel threatened. Even that Mortal Roar, an attack that had almost no precursor moves, had been easily avoided by her. This foresight ability was truly powerful.

These few days, Ye Chong had been thinking about the weakness of Feng Su’s special technique. He knew that every technique would have its own weaknesses, elements that could not be handled well by the technique. If this blind spot was properly taken advantage of, winning would not be an issue.

Huang Baiyi had said that mentalists were more sensitive than most to changes in their surroundings due to long periods of mental training. In this respect, mentalists were even better than combat experts. Besides, they were very sensitive to threats. For someone as powerful as Huang Baiyi, he would literally be able to tell the exact moment someone had thoughts of killing him.

Mental Foresight was based on these two kinds of sensitivities.

It was not too complicated to explain it, but to reach Feng Su’s level of ability would require very long periods of hard work and an element of luck. Even knowing the theory behind this technique, Ye Chong still could not figure out how to fight her. If she could avoid an attack like Mortal Roar, then Ye Chong could not even be certain if it was because of Feng Su’s instinct or her sensitivity to her surroundings.

These were two entirely different concepts.

If it was instinct, then Ye Chong would not worry too much about it. Even Huang Baiyi had admitted that the skill was not always accurate. The man’s instincts were accurate only about 20 to 30 percent of the time. Only God would have a perfect instinct. If someone of Huang Baiyi’s level could only have 20 to 30 percent accuracy when it comes to instincts, then Feng Su would definitely not be better than that.

If it was due to the sensitivity to her surroundings, then the problem became much harder. This was unlike instinct, its accuracy not attributed to luck, but to skill. Besides, any person trained as a mentalist would be mentally strong enough to avoid careless mistakes.

The two of them stared at each other without moving. As he stared coldly at his opponent, Ye Chong suddenly felt his body temperature rising. This new experience had got him excited!

The paradoxical emotion of calmness and excitement were melded together perfectly in him once again.

Tension filled the air between them. The others who were watching were also excited. Battles of this level were hard to find, and they had a feeling that the young man was about to fight for real! Everyone kept their eyes peeled, for fear of missing a single detail.

Ye Chong concentrated like never before. Blue lines appeared in his vision, some large, some small, and blue dots in a variety of brightness.were scattered between these blue lines.

Facing an unknown threat, Ye Chong’s special technique from attaining Jie now revealed itself.

Dangerous! Ye Chong’s entire being was radiating with danger that felt like a solid barrier. No one expected to see that typically calm and composed young man to be so strong! Tackan and his friends began to feel terrified. They retreated slowly, trying their best to avoid attention.

Feng Su’s expression changed. Her opponent’s strength had far exceeded her expectations.

“Well, take them if you want. I don’t care much for them anyway. Heehee, it’s a gift to you, remember that, think of it as a love token, so take care of it!”

Just when everyone thought a colossal battle was impending, Feng Su suddenly smiled, stretching her curvy waist. Her curves were once described by Shang as the most beautiful of all, and she was now as bewitching as ever. Even more enticing was her lazy and teasing demeanor, done in an entirely natural way.

The coldness in Feng Su left, and was replaced with devilish charm. Her smile was like a spring breeze, thawing the ice of the earlier cold tension.

She stretched her neck smoothly and without wariness before Ye Chong, all the defensiveness gone from her every move, as though Ye Chong was her lover, quietly studying her beauty.

This abrupt twist was completely unexpected, and Tackan and his friends could only stare with their mouths open wide, sighing unconsciously.

Ye Chong studied Feng Su quietly, a dangerous aura still emanating from him.

Feng Su’s hair was shook loose from her hair band due to Ye Chong’s Mortal Roar. Her dark, gleaming tress flowed down along her body. Feng Su stole a quick, playful look at Ye Chong, and quickly looked away. Her slender, fair hands combed through her hair softly in a feminine fashion.

Suddenly, everyone felt the dangerous aura vanish from the room.

Ye Chong turned away coldly and left, without looking back at Feng Su.

As Ye Chong finally disappeared from view, Feng Su’s tense body finally relaxed. No one noticed that her back was already covered in sweat.

In the coming days, Feng Su behaved obediently, the ruthless character in her hidden deep inside. She was once again the beautiful and mesmerizing Feng Su from before. Her every move was tantalizing, the very image of the Devil’s charms.

Even Sisko, who lacked aesthetic appreciation, was beginning to look at her more.

The only one who was unaffected was Ye Chong.

Feng Su spent the most time with Ye Chong. She noticed now that as long as she did not interrupt his thought, the young man would not care about whether she was near him.

More discouraging was the fact that, no matter how she tried to seduce him, the young man seemed to have a heart made of stone, and he never budged.

This frustrated Feng Su to no end. On the other hand, the young man had tied her small bag onto his waist, where she could almost reach it.

But she never would! She believed that if she tried that, the consequences would be unbearable. Would he kill her? It was more than likely! She would not risk her life for that. Every day, she could only watch her bag on the young man’s waist from afar, cursing the stone hearted young man.

One thing vexed her as well – could the young man actually recognized what was in her bag? She sat beside him, thinking about it. The young man was also deep in thought, and she dared not disturb him.

Could he have recognized the dimension keystone? Could he be an outsider, just like her? If this was the case … Her pulse quickened!

Ye Chong was very sensitive to his surroundings, and Feng Su’s suddenly accelerated pulse rate broke his train of thought. He took an odd glance at Feng Su.

Noticing Ye Chong’s gaze, Feng Su returned it with a sweet smile, and quickly lowered her head.

Ye Chong did not mind her, and continued on with his thoughts.

Chapter 420: Arriving At Risserd

To join the Congregation is not hard at all. Hehe, I’ve done my homework. Risserd has 20 places reserved, 10 more than other planets. As long as you can beat one of them, Sister Bing, the rest will be easy.” The young boy rested his chin on his hands as he explained with a smile.

Rui Bing thought about it for a moment, saying nothing.

The general, leader of the young boy’s bodyguards, said oddly, “Master Siva should be here by today! Why has he not shown himself?” The legendary Number One of the Tribe was someone he respected a lot, that was why he was beginning to feel nervous.

The young boy rolled his eyes and said, “Lil’ Siva is here already. You just don’t know it.”

“Where? Where?” The general looked around him, but could not see the person he admired so much.

“No need to find him, you won’t find him anyway. Lil’ Siva never likes to come out in the open,” the young boy said this like someone who knew it best.

“Huh, when did you get this?” Fei Si lowered herself and studied the pendant hanging from the young boy’s neck. The pendant was made of some unknown material, shining with a dim metallic glimmer like a coin, covered with strange patterns.

“So huge!” The young boy did not answer her as he stared blankly at the exposed point between her open collar.

“So naughty at such a young age! You asked for it!” Fei Si blushed and flicked her finger lightly on his forehead.

Fei Si’s action made the bodyguards around them immediately uncomfortable.

The young boy rubbed his forehead and laughed suggestively. “Sister Fei Si …”

Seeing the young boy’s odd expression, Fei Si blushed again. She raised her hand in the act of hitting him and said, “Humph, guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson!”

The young boy quickly ran away, but still laughing weirdly as he left.

“What? You haven’t found him?” Huang Jiming sounded disappointed. He had arrived at Guang Hua planet for some time, but there was no news of the Mandate class mech. It was like the mech had vanished into thin air.

“Yes, Master Jiming. We have kept all known Ye Family’s base of operations on planet Guang Hua under surveillance, but there’s still no sign of the mech. There’s also no news on Madam Feng Su yet. We believe that she must have met with a fatal accident.” Xi Feng Tribe’s temporary person in charge on Guang Hua reported respectfully. Ever since the Abductor incident, Xi Feng Tribe had removed nearly all their forces from Guang Hua. These days, they only allocated limited resources discreetly on Guang Hua. In searching for Feng Su, the Tribe had used all personnel on the planet, and even reassigned people from nearby planets to assist in the search.

“Hmm, the search for Madam Feng Su must not cease,” Huang Jiming spoke with a low voice. Feng Su may not be enjoying as high a reputation as Huang Jiming himself in the Tribe, but she was very popular. Feng Su was not originally from the Xi Feng Tribe, but she had attained Jie from her own efforts, and was conferred a Phoenix class mech by the Tribe Leader herself. This was an honor that was unprecedented. Huang Jiming admired her for this as well. Of course, the other reason was her otherworldly beauty. Many mech pilots in the Tribe had a crush on her, and Huang Jiming himself could not help but felt curious of the young woman too.

Since the Mandate class mech was nowhere to be found, Huang Jiming felt deflated. He asked, “So, what’s there to do in the free space zone?” This was his first time in the free space zone. Rumour had it that this was where the Tribe originated from, and that was one of the reasons he wanted to come here.

“If Sir would like to sightsee, Risserd would be a good choice. The quadrennial Congregation is about to begin. If Master Jiming is available, it is an event that might be worth your attention. Many experts would gather there. There are no mech pilots, but the combat experts, mentalists and alchemists present are much stronger than our people.”

“Oh, a Congregation?” Huang Jiming’s interest was instantly piqued.

The starship landed smoothly.

The only families that owned starships on planet Risserd were the Yan and Huang Families. These two families were the Big Two in the entire free space zone. They also had the longest histories compared to any other tribe in the free pace zone, and enjoyed high reputation. The two families gave birth to many strong members, and they often took up half of planet Risserd’s allocated openings for the Congregation.

Guests for the Congregation this year were handled by the Yan Family.

When Ye Chong and his company left the starship, they found that the dock was almost full with other starships. It seemed that many Congregation members from other planets had already arrived. The docking area of the Yan and Huang Families was the largest in the entire free space zone.

Ye Chong and his bunch did not stand out much. Guang Hua was an alchemist center, but it was already below average compared the entire free space zone in terms of combat.

As they left the ship, staff members appeared for ushering. This was not the first trip for Tackan and his friends, so they were familiar with the procedure.

Ye Chong and company were led into the Yan Family compound. Every planet’s Congregation representatives would be provided with special accommodation.

“This will be where you stay throughout the Congregation. Our Family will provide your meals. If you have other requests, please let us know. We will do what we can to assist you.” The usherer from the Yan Family bowed formally, but he could not help but steal a glance at Feng Su. Female Jie experts were rare, and female Jie experts who could attend the Congregation were rarer still.

Of course, more importantly, this was a very beautiful Congregation contender. She would definitely rank high in the lineup of the most beautiful female Congregation contenders in history.

“Alright.” It was Liu Sheng who replied with courtesy. No matter how bad they behaved normally, it would not do to act carelessly in the Yan Family.

The Yan Family disciple disciplined himself as well as someone from an aristocratic family ought to, quickly directing his attention away from Feng Su, composed himself, and said, “I hope you will all feel at home. The last group of Congregation contenders will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. The Family head and wife has prepared a banquet to welcome all of you. Please honor us with your presence!”

“Of course! We’ll be sure to join you,” Liu Sheng answered swiftly.

Liu Sheng’s attitude must have won the usherer’s favor, for the man smiled as he said, “You must be tired from your long journey. Please rest well.” He then left their house.

“It’s best if everyone stayed within the building. Any sightseeing of the area can wait until after the Congregation. If you have to leave for urgent matters, remember to bring your weapon with you,” Liu Sheng advised the group seriously, but the words were obviously meant for Ye Chong and Feng Su. They were the only newcomers. The rest of the group did not even deign to pay him any attention.

“Is it really that dicey out there?” Feng Su asked in surprise.

“Dicey?” Liu Sheng chuckled carelessly and said, “That word doesn’t quite describe it. Many capable people died right here every year, you know? Risserd has another name, called the Pro’s Graveyard. Don’t think that Jie experts can do as they please here. The Jie experts here, hehe, you’ll know exactly how strong they are very soon.”

Ye Chong ignored him. He did not intend to go out anyway. Sightseeing was not one of his hobbies. Besides, he did not want to get into trouble. While his looks had been altered, making him difficult to be recognized, it was still better to lay low. Ye Chong understood the importance of that.

Feng Su thought about it for a moment, and returned to her room as well.

The Congregation, a spectacular event that many had dreamed to be a part of, did not excite Ye Chong at all. The only reason he was here was because he had promised Tackan and his group, and also because he was a little curious of all the experts that were said to surface in this event. However, he would mostly observe the Congregation without getting involved. This was only a chance to expand his worldview. He did not care to think about what role he should play in the event.

Because of his intentions, Ye Chong was quite relaxed, while Liu Sheng and others were all stressed out.

Dinner was sent over by the Yan Family’s people. The meal was excellent, and Ye Chong went into a good mood because of it.

After dinner, when Ye Chong was about to return to his room, he suddenly heard Feng Su said, “I want to go out for a walk, anyone want to accompany me?” Her sweet voice was tempting.

Liu Sheng and company could not help but frown. They did not expect Feng Su to actually plan to head out.

Just when everyone was at a lost, a calm voice came from behind them, saying, “Don’t go out.”

It was Ye Chong. He had reached the door, and stood before it to stop her from leaving. Letting Feng Su out? He knew exactly who Feng Su was. It was impossible for the Xi Feng Tribe to be powerless on such an important planet. If he let Feng Su out now, she would surely return with a whole squad of mechs to kill them. It would be too late for him then.

“You’re stopping me? Why?” Feng Su asked calmly, as though Ye Chong’s objection was expected.

The others looked to Ye Chong. They had noticed the strange relationship between the two of them. When Ye Chong first refused to return Feng Su’s bag, they had already thought it strange. The fact that he was stopping her from leaving now was even more confusing. Was he worried about Feng Su? The cold look on Ye Chong’s face ruled out that possibility.

“No particular reason.” Ye Chong did not budge.

“You know who I am, don’t you?” Feng Su’s eyes were fixed on Ye Chong as she asked this question out of the blue.