Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Miss Gu.” The great elder bowed respectfully to Gu Xiqiao, not only because of her strength, but because of Jiang Shuxuan’s instructions before he left.

Gu Xiqiao glanced at him, nodding her head slightly. She didn’t say anything, but turned her gaze toward the people around them instead.

“Ever since the Peace Manor entered the ancient martial arts world, they neither took any of your resources or your space.” Gu Xiqiao pointed out, raising her hand to gesture. She didn’t have an umbrella in her hand, but the snow would bounce off her before it reached her, as though touching a barrier around her. “Although I instructed them not to bully anyone, I didn’t expect them to be bullied instead!”

The people watching this were internally shocked. To be able to condense your chi to this extent, there were only so many people in the world that could do that!

They were also shocked by the words that she said, which made the hearts of those tied on the ground jump, and they started shaking as cold sweat poured down their face. Forget about the Peace Manor, they didn’t expect it would actually belong to Gu Xiqiao. Who was Gu Xiqiao, you ask? She’s the only person right now to have broken through the 80th floor of the Trial Tower, someone who could crush them with just her pinky!

“Shi Qin, call everyone from the Peace Manor to come to the Trial Tower,” Gu Xiqiao said in a flat tone to Shi Qin. The redness in his eyes had receded, and he bowed before turning around, leaving to carry out her order.

Gu Xiqiao’s expression was indifferent, but there was a terrifying pressuring aura that exuded from her entire person, making it difficult to breathe for the people around her.

Her words were not spoken loudly, but the great elder and everyone else gathered here heard it loud and clear, as though the words had been shouted in their ears. They looked at Gu Xiqiao, dumbfounded. She… She was intending for the entire Peace Manor to enter the Trial Tower?!

The great elder could feel his hands shaking when the implications of her words hit them. He was clearly aware of the strength the people in the Peace Manor possessed. If every one of them were to enter the Trial Tower, then the younger generation of the ancient martial arts world would definitely be ranked behind them!

Thinking of that, he glanced at Gu Xiqiao. She still had an indifferent expression on her face, and he knew that there was no turning back from this point anymore.

Outside the Trial Tower, many people had gathered once they heard the news.

Those who didn’t know were still laughing and chatting, guessing, and betting on how many floors the people from Peace Manor would go before they would be beaten.

Baili Bin and the others sat at a pavilion not far from the area. Murong Feiye was elated at the turn of events. “This is going to be so much fun!”

“I thought she’d want to wait a few more days.” Baili Bin was also caught off guard. “I didn’t think she’d make a move suddenly today.”

Shi Haizhe laughed. “If it wasn’t for these people, she probably would have put off a few more days just for fun.”

“What does that mean, it sounds like you know what’s in her mind?” Murong Feiye eyed Shi Haizhe. “Are you really close to her?”

“Not really.” Shi Haizhe shook his head. “It just so happens I know a few things.”

“Why not share it with the rest of us?” Baili Bin looked toward the Trial Tower, where Gu Xiqiao was standing. The air pressure around her was low to the point that no one dared to go near her, and gave her a wide five radius berth. Only Yi Tong remained at her side.

Murong Feiye raised his head, looking at Shi Haizhe with curiosity burning in his eyes, his expression clearly reading ‘how do you know something that I don’t know?’.

“You know about how she helped Wanqi Jue, right?” Shi Haizhe smiled. “But do you know why she even bothered interfering in the first place?”

The two of them stared at him, and Murong Feiye rolled his eyes. “I say, Shi Haizhe, can you not be so long-winded? It’s so unlike you, I’m about to die from anxiety here!”

“Baili, you remember the time when you and Shuxuan killed that international thug?” Shi Haizhe ignored him, turning to Baili Bin.

“That was an… intense and tragic fight.” Baili Bin could still feel the terror that had gripped his heart as the fight was brought up. “I thought that Shuxuan and I would be able to handle it smoothly, but then a burst of chi suddenly flowed out from him, stronger than even the level of Enlightenment. If Shuxuan wasn’t there, I fear that I wouldn’t be sitting here today either.”

Hearing this, Murong Feiye turned to Baili Bin, a shock in his eyes. He had seen the recording of the fight, but all he could see was how well the two had moved together up till the point when they subdued the thug. He didn’t realize there was anything wrong with it.

Unexpectedly, Baili Bin and Jiang Shuxuan had been in such a life-threatening situation.

How strong would a person be, to be above the level of Enlightenment!

“That’s right, and that was the reason Shuxuan got injured.” Shi Haizhe’s eyes had a faraway look in them. “After that, Miss Gu found out that the one behind the entire thing was England’s leader at that point in time. She got angry and pushed Wanqi Jue up into the position, cleaning up the entire of England’s Supernatural World.”

Murong Feiye and Baili Bin were both stunned.

They knew that Gu Xiqiao had helped Wanqi Jue, but they had thought it was for expanding Boss Bai’s territory. They sure didn’t expect such a reason!

“Her influence in the ancient martial arts world is not any weaker than Shuxuan’s, who would dare to offend her? But for her not to disclose her relationship with the Peace Manor, other than it would be troublesome, the more important point she made was to let the people in Peace Manor grow faster.” Shi Haizhe sighed. “And now, the Shi family has gone and made her mad.”

They poked a sleeping dragon, and now she was angry.

“Miss Gu!” The people from Peace Manor stood in a line in front of her. A hundred of them in numbers, all with their backs rammed straight.

Just this scene made everyone else who had gathered in front of the Trial Tower to quiet down, not daring to continue their discussion about the people in front of them.

Gu Xiqiao had her hands behind her back. Her ink-black hair fluttering lightly in the wind. She looked toward the Trial Tower, a chilling look in her eyes. “Give it your all, and head into the Trial Tower.”

“Yes!” Once they heard her words, they got extremely excited, all of them taking out their identity wooden plaques and entering the Trial Tower.

All one hundred and five of them rushed into the tower.

Once all of them had entered the tower, the people around finally let out a breath of relief. “Say, how many floors do you think they’ll reach?”

“Apart from the five in front, I don’t really feel any strong aura from the rest. Maybe about the 20th floor?”

“20th? That’s not too bad.” The one who spoke was a boy who looked noble. “Although that can’t be compared to Miss Gu, since they’re her subordinates, I have confidence they’ll be good. Look, some of them are passing the 10th floor already at a remarkable speed.”

“Not necessary, I’m guessing that they’ll come out after they hit the 15th floor.”

In the beginning, these people were still talking and laughing.

But when every single person from the Peace Manor had broken through the 20th floor, the voices slowly died down, their relaxed expressions were replaced with ones of surprise and disbelief!

Because on the 20th floor, not a single person had been eliminated! By not coming out, it meant that they could still continue their climb upward.

The black stone of the ranking list began to refresh, and everyone saw the new ranks that came out.

Yao Jiamu, 67th floor!

Shi Qin, 61st floor!

Xiao Yun, 52nd floor!

Wu Hongwen, 51st floor!

Lu Qi, 49th floor!

***

As soon as the ranking emerged, the other people of the ancient martial arts world were pushed down. A number of names that were unfamiliar appeared once the list was refreshed again, and they all belonged to people from the Peace Manor, and all of them were above the 30th floor.

Everyone from the ancient martial arts world was in shock. Forget about Gu Xiqiao, since she was not the same as them, and it was fine if they couldn’t surpass her. But, even her subordinates were as crazy as her!

But, how was that possible?!

This was simply terrifying!

“Yao Jiamu, it’s the person who placed third in the Youth Ranking List!” Somebody exclaimed, looking at the rankings. He was covering his mouth, his eyes wide in horror.

“Xiao Yun, the 11th on the Youth Ranking List!”

“Wu Hongwen, 15th on the Youth Ranking List!”

The chattering and voices started up slowly again, they now knew why some of the names on the ranking list sounded familiar, it was all from the Youth Ranking List!

All of them were dumbfounded once the words were out.

Gu Xiqiao was strong, they already knew that. But they didn’t expect her subordinates and the Peace Manor to be also this strong!

All hundred and five of them were above the 30th floor, among them was Yao Jiamu, who had been ranked third in the Youth Ranking List. This strength… even the people in the ancient martial arts world couldn’t compare! Those who had plans of going against the Peace Manor were now shaking in their shoes, their hands and feet cold, and feeling like they had just walked past death’s door.

Gu Xiqiao and the Peace Manor… where did these monsters come from?

People had started coming out from the Trial Tower, and the eyes of the crowd who were gathered outside changed as they watched the Peace Manor people step out. In the end, their gazes were full of awe, and none of them could say any words to say.

But at this time, the shock was not over yet!

Gu Xiqiao looked at everyone from the Peace Manor, her lips curving up a little. “Go ahead and introduce yourselves to the ancient martial arts world.”

The people from the ancient martial arts world didn’t understand what she had meant by her words, but the people from the Peace Manor clearly did. Yao Jiamu started first. “Yao Jiamu, nineteen years old. I’ve only been practicing ancient martial arts for six months!”

Loud gasp and chokes sounded from the crowd.

“Wu Hongwen, nineteen years old. Been practicing for six months too.”

“Lu Qi, twenty-four years old. I’ve been practicing for three months!”

The atmosphere was chilly as they continued to introduce themselves. The crowd looked at each other, swallowing heavily. Apart from horror, there was even panic in their eyes. These people… they had been practicing for just half a year or less?!

“That’s impossible!” Someone exclaimed from among the crowd, his voice hysterical.

It was normal to feel that way, they had been laboring for decades after all, and these people who had been practicing for less than a year had reached this level, who wouldn’t go a little nuts from hearing that?

So naturally, disbelief would be their first reaction.

However, deep in their hearts, they had already begun to believe it to be true. Just like how they couldn’t believe these people would be stronger than them in the beginning, the facts in front of them were telling them… this was all true!

Gu Xiqiao was a monster, and the people under her were even worse than her!

“Miss Gu.” Unspeakable shock had swelled up in the great elder’s heart, and it took him a few minutes before he managed to gather himself enough to ask, “H-how long… have you been practicing?”

As soon as the words came out, everyone’s eyes turned to Gu Xiqiao. The speed these people had cultivated at was just terrifying, so they really wanted to know, for Gu Xiqiao who had broken through the 80th floor, how long did it take for her to reach this level?

“I practiced longer than them.” Gu Xiqiao smiled at the great elder.

Everyone, including the elders, let out a sigh of relief at those words. They wiped their sweat off their faces, thinking, ah, longer than them, then she was more normal.

But before they could fully feel the relief seeping into their bones, Gu Xiqiao continued, “Seven months.”

When those two words came out, the entire area outside the Trial Tower fell silent. The air was cold, and you could even hear a pin drop.

Everyone’s gaze turned dull as they continued to stare at Gu Xiqiao.

Even Baili Bin, who was sitting in the pavilion, was stunned speechless. The book in Murong Feiye’s hands fell to the ground with a ‘thump’.

Seven months, 80th floor.

Horrifying and monsters were words that couldn’t even begin to describe her!

“Great Elder, this… Miss Gu…. and the Peace Manor people, they’re all just too scary.”

The second elder slowly picked himself off the ground, watching the Peace Manor people leave. He let out his breath slowly. He had never seen such a person in his life.

The great elder looked around at the dumbfounded people from the ancient martial arts world. “For us, it’s a blessing for the ancient martial arts world.”

As for those people from the Shi family who were still tied up and on the ground, they were as white as paper. They didn’t think that the people from the Peace Manor would be terrifying to this extent. Though it was a heavily snowing day, sweat continued to pour down their bodies. Thinking about how they had just intruded the Peace Manor, as well as hurt Shi Qin’s mother, they collapsed further onto the ground.

Especially the patriarch of the Shi family, seeing that the people around him were looking at him as though he were a fool, his heart turned black with distress. If they didn’t have that falling out with Shi Qin, if they hadn’t harmed his mother, would they be on good terms with the Peace Manor right now? That way, their Shi family status could have skyrocketed in the ancient martial arts world…

But now, their Shi family had angered the Peace Manor, and with their influence, who would dare to interact further with their Shi family now? The patriarch of the Shi family could only see a bleak future ahead of them, and he regretted his actions now.

***

At the Peace Manor, Wu Hongwen had a triumph look on his face as he browsed through The Forum. “Er Qiao, I thought that we’d still have to endure for a few more days.” He didn’t expect them to be able to blow off some steam today.

“There’s no time.” Gu Xiqiao inserted the golden needles into Shi Qin’s mother one by one. “I need to leave the ancient martial arts world tomorrow. In this period, you need to focus on raising your strength.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Luo Wenlang poked his head out from the sea of books. “Where are you going?”

Having finished inserting all the needles, Gu Xiqiao looked up. “I’m not sure.” She turned to Shi Qin. “Don’t worry, your mother is fine now.”

Shi Qin mumbled a thanks.

“No worries. But you guys…” Gu Xiqiao stood, looking at them. “With so many masters here, how could you let Mama Shi get hurt?!”

“It’s not their fault.” Shi Qin shook his head. “My mom stepped out of the formation accidentally, and was taken by the Shi family. If it wasn’t for Xiao Yun, my mom would be…”

Gu Xiqiao patted his shoulders. “It’s over now. The Shi family will come begging for your forgiveness, latest by tomorrow night.”

“No.” Hearing Gu Xiqiao’s words, Shi Qin laughed. “They sent someone over just now already, but I didn’t bother about them. Thank you, really, for today.”

He knew that if it wasn’t for Gu Xiqiao, he probably wouldn’t even have made it past the selections. And today, the people in the Peace Manor had made a move all because of him. He could feel the prickle in his eyes when he thought about it.

The Shi family had indeed sent someone over.

Having provoked the Peace Manor people, how could they not be afraid?

Don’t say the Shi family, even though families who previously troubled the Peace Manor had also sent their representatives bearing big gifts, and the first in line to rush over was definitely the Murong family.

At the same time, the people at the Peace Manor finally understood how important strength was in the ancient martial arts world, and they took Gu Xiqiao’s words to heart, putting more effort into their training.

Gu Xiqiao pointed out the problems that they encountered one by one, before taking Hua Youlin to the Baili residence.

Murong Feiye and Shi Haizhe were still there, and when they saw Gu Xiqiao come in, looked at her with a strange look in their eyes.

“Dinner is about to start.” Baili Bin had already recovered, and he looked toward Gu Xiqiao. “We can continue to look over the books after eating.”

“There’s no need,” Gu Xiqiao replied, looking at Baili Bin. “I’ve already found what I needed.”

“You have?” A surprised look crossed Baili Bin’s face. “Where?”

Her gaze shifted to the two books beside him. “The first book, page 42, line 17. It was written that in 963 A.D, the Zhuge clan and Patriarch Yun, ‘Three thousand hectares gleamed brightly, and the dense mountains surrounded the ancient city’.

“So you think that the Zhuge clan moved to Mingzhou?” Baili Bin felt that Gu Xiqiao’s conclusion was just out of nowhere.

“In the second book.” Gu Xiqiao just smiled at him as she continued, “The first page details the event of when the Zhuge tribe first came to the ancient martial arts world, and their original address was in Mingzhou.”

Baili Bin took the book and flipped to the page immediately, seeing the sentence that she had just mentioned.

“No way, you can find this too?” Murong Feiye leaned his head over to take a look, and he couldn’t help but swallow heavily. There were so many books, and she had managed to narrow down a single sentence like this.

Baili Bin was silent for a moment, before he spoke again, “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Why the rush?” Baili Bin looked at her, a questioning gaze in his eyes.

“I fear that it’ll be too late.” Gu Xiqiao raised her head, watching the snow that continued to fall, letting out a sigh.

The group of them left to get dinner, when Gu Xiqiao turned to Yi Tong suddenly. “The Hua family has returned to Mingzhou, right?”

“That’s right.” Yi Tong nodded his head seriously. “The big boss has told us to pay close attention to the Hua family. We’ve been watching them since the first day the Hua family left the capital.”

In Mingzhou, its four seasons were like spring, and they had countless beautiful scenic spots.

At the end of December, everywhere else was cold and covered in snow, but in Mingzhou, it was warm and comfortable.

At Mingzhou airport, two figures suddenly appeared at the entrance of the hall.

One was tall, and the other short.

The taller one was a girl, wearing a light green dress with only a thin jacket on top of it. Her face was exquisite like jade, and her entire person seemed to glow when the faint light of the sun shone on her. Her looks turned a lot of heads while she stood at the entrance.

A bird with flamingly bright red feathers was perched on her shoulder, and you could tell it was no ordinary bird just from the looks of it.

Beside her, there was a thin boy who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old.

Behind the two, a robot roughly half the size of a person followed behind, the light reflecting on the cold metal.

The odd group stopped beside the gates, looking as though they were waiting for a ride. The two of them gave the impression of big customers.

“Miss, come and sit in my car. I’ve been bringing guests around for more than ten years now, and I know Mingzhou like the back of my hand. I can bring you to wherever you want to go!” A crowd of drivers immediately went up to her to talk.

“Miss, take mine! The starting price is twelve bucks!”

“Miss…”

The two were surrounded by all the unauthorized taxi drivers in an instant, and while they usually solicited passengers at Mingzhou Airport by just forcefully dragging them into the car, they somehow seemed unable to touch the pair when they looked at the girl’s face. Seeing the chilling look in her gaze, they didn’t dare to move too near her either.

“Miss, don’t believe their words.” An old man with a cane walked out of the airport. “They say they’ll charge you twelve bucks now, but when you get down, they’ll charge you a thousand or two!”

Hearing those words, these drivers turned and wanted to yell at the person who was disrupting their business, but they were met with two burly men in black who stood behind the old man. They didn’t dare make another peep, and slowly dispersed.

The old man walked to the front of Gu Xiqiao, raising his hand to point in another direction. “If you walk down here, there’s a taxi queue. This is your first time in Mingzhou, isn’t it, miss? Be more careful next time, don’t be cornered by such people.”

For the families of these two to let them out alone like this to a foreign place, they were sure bold and confident.

The old man looked at the girl, then to the boy beside her, and seemed to recall another reminder for them, “Take care of your wallet and purse, and your other valuables. Be careful if you stay in hotels too, I don’t know about the others, but Tianxing Hotel has always been alright.”

The girl lifted her backpack on her back, smiling at the old man in thanks. “Thank you, sir. We understand.”

Her smile was polite, and the old man nodded his head in acknowledgment and left with his bodyguards. His steps were hurried, probably because he had urgent matters to see to.

“When you head home today, don’t take the road with gold,” The girl narrowed her clear eyes at the old man’s retreating back, and softly said.

Logically speaking, the distance between the two of them was already too far apart for him to hear her, but the clear, loud voice resounded clearly beside his ear. He turned his head hesitantly, but found that the pair was already long gone.

The old man looked doubtful, but he turned and left in the end.

On the way back, the old man looked at the road sign of the road name ‘Yin Lian Road’, and he couldn’t help but recall the clear voice and the words that had been said. He opened his mouth immediately, “Take Yan Qing Road.”

Yan Qing Road? Wouldn’t that just be a longer detour?

However, the driver said nothing, turning the car to follow the instructions, driving the road all the way back to the mansion.

The journey was uneventful, and nothing untoward happened. The old man sighed, and felt that he might have been overthinking in the end. When they reached the manor gates, a young man came out and opened the door for him. “Grandpa, you’re home.”

“Hm.” The old man nodded his head.

Just as the two were about to head in, a figure ran over in a rush suddenly. “Mr. Wei, something has happened! There was an explosion along Yin Lian Road!”

“An explosion?” The young man’s expression changed. “Take some people and head over first, I’ll follow behind.”

“What was the road you said again?” The old man looked up suddenly, something flashing in his eyes.

“Yin Lian Road.” The man repeated.

The old man was stunned, and the driver who had just come down was also wiping the sweat off his head. He had almost driven the car along Yin Lian Road just now, and if he had, then they would be…

“Grandpa, what’s wrong?” The young man had a solemn expression on his face.

“Chenxi, I originally intended to take Yin Lian Road on the way back just now.” The old man was pulling himself together as he spoke. “A young lady told me not to take the road with gold, so we changed and took the Yan Qing Road instead.”

The young man’s expression changed as soon as he heard this. He obviously knew what his grandfather was talking about. “Grandpa, let’s go in and continue this talk.”

“Yes. That girl is my savior, you have to find her.” The fear was still clear on the old man’s face, and he had to be helped inside the manor. Despite that, he didn’t forget to remind his grandson about the fact.

“I understand, Grandpa.” The young man nodded his head.

He watched the old man leave, and thought for a moment before turning and walking another way. “Is Mr. Yan still around?”

“Mr. Yan usually comes here at this time of the year and stays for half a month. There are still three days left, he should still be here,” The man beside him answered.

The young man nodded his head, quickening his pace. “I’m going to look for Mr. Yan, go on ahead to the airport and check on the surveillance.”

At the end of this road was a courtyard.

In this place where every inch was surrounded by golden villas, this yard was very lofty. However, the cars that passed the place would unconsciously avoid the area, and even the honks from cars were not allowed.

The young man stood in front of the door, raising his hand to knock on the door. Before his knuckles could touch it, the door was opened by a pretty girl. “Mr. Wei, the young master bids you to come in.”

The young man was not surprised at this either, as he had become familiar with things like this happening. He stood at the door for a while, calming himself before he slowly made his way inside.

The yard was full of flowers, and there was an extremely handsome person holding a pot, watering them. The girl who had opened the door for the young man watched the sight in front of her with a dreamy look in her eyes. The man noticed the flower beside his feet that was wilting, and he gave a light sigh. “What a pity.”

His voice was clear, like a breeze on a cool night, the bright moon shining in the dark sky.

He handed the pot to the man next to him, and turned his head to look at the young man that had just entered. His eyes were bright, like the stars in the sky. “Chenxi, why have you come looking for me today?”

Wen Chenxi finally snapped out of his daze, and recounted what had happened to his grandfather, as well as the words he had said.

“Young Master, there are still people in this world who can read the secrets of heaven?” The man holding the pot said, startled at the discovery.