“I don’t have any other meaning.” Even facing Kang Zhan’s inquiry, Nan Sheng just smiled coldly, “I only want to say that as long as we have chips in hand, even if those four Seniors fail, we’ll still be in control. Yang Kai likely won’t surrender because of them, but allowing us to leave shouldn’t be an issue. Young Lord Kang also saw the power of his Mysterious Grade artifact. If Yang Kai is determined to keep all of us here, could any of us possibly resist?”
Kang Zhan’s expression became solemn as he contemplated Nan Sheng’s words, reluctantly finding himself unable to refute.
It was obvious to everyone here that Yang Kai really cared about these High Heaven Pavilion people. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have proposed such a deal in the first place. Given the strength he had just displayed, and knowing his temper, if someone dared block his road, he wouldn’t have bothered discussing anything and simply attacked. The fact that he didn’t proved that he wasn’t willing to abandon these people.
With these people as a bargaining chip, could he force Yang Kai to submit? Unlikely, but escaping would be a simple matter!
“Young Lord Kang wouldn’t be worrying about a simple oral agreement with Yang Kai, right?” Nan Sheng saw his hesitation and sneered.
Kang Zhan wore an ugly expression but didn’t deny the charge. Although it was just a verbal agreement, as a Young Lord of one of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, he couldn’t just go back on his word or he would lose face. Since he had promised Yang Kai not to move against these High Heaven Pavilion people, if he arbitrarily reneged just because the situation suddenly became unfavourable, it would be inappropriate.
“Young Lord Kang, this is a critical situation. Do you want to see Yang Kai use that artifact to defeat all of us here?” Nan Sheng struck while the iron was hot, continuing to persuade.
Xiang Chu also chose this moment to chime in, “Young Lord Kang, please consider the greater good. I don’t deny that I hate Yang Kai to the extreme, but even without considering my personal feelings, this is our best option given the situation.”
Taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh, Kang Zhan’s hesitation turned to conviction and nodded, “So be it!”
He was also really afraid of Yang Kai and didn’t have much hope that the four Immortal Ascension Boundary masters would be able to defeat him.
When Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu heard this, their faces filled with joy.
Since they began participating in the Inheritance War, they had finally found an opportunity to exact revenge on Yang Kai, naturally they felt happy.
“Don’t embarrass them too much. Just grab two people.” Kang Zhan frowned and ordered.
“Good.” Nan Sheng nodded, snorting disdainfully as he swept his eyes over the members of High Heaven Pavilion, pointing to one of the older generation disciples and ordering someone to bring him over.
The middle aged man didn’t resist, even intentionally stopping some of the younger generation disciples from taking any rash actions.
At this moment, the enemy in front of them was too strong. If they were to retaliate then they would certainly be annihilated. Therefore, remaining calm and doing as they were told was all that they could do.
Seeing that no one from High Heaven Pavilion stood out to resist, Nan Sheng and Xiang Chu couldn’t help showing some disappointment, immediately cursing, “Cowards!”
Kang Zhan’s brow wrinkled; somewhat annoyed at their attempts to stimulate these High Heaven Pavilion people, but he ultimately didn’t say anything.
Nan Sheng’s eyes continued to wander around the crowd looking for a suitable target, suddenly noticing a pair of eyes glaring at him angrily and sneering, “take him!”
As soon as he spoke, one of the Nan Family masters charged into the crowd of High Heaven Pavilion disciples and retrieved the target.
This person wasn’t very old, even younger than Yang Kai, but his strength wasn’t bad, reaching the True Element Boundary Fifth Stage. Obviously, his aptitude was good.
It was also because of this that Nan Sheng chose him.
Two High Heaven Pavilion disciples were quickly brought before Nan Sheng, one old, one young. The old generation disciple still wore a calm expression, neither angry nor humble, but the younger disciple was actually grinning as he sneered at Nan Sheng. .
“Good eyes!” Nan Sheng nodded, suddenly slapping this youth across his face.
With a loud smack, a clear handprint appeared on this young man’s face and one of his teeth was knocked loose, blood leaking from his mouth.
Not uttering a word, this youth just silently turned his eyes back towards Nan Sheng sullenly.
Nan Sheng nearly popped a vein on his forehead, not having anticipated that this kid would remain so defiant; annoyed in his heart, he threw out another slap and yelled, “Little bastard!”
After being slapped twice, the young disciple’s cheeks swelled up and his mouth was stained with blood but the look in his eyes still didn’t change at all, not showing the slightest timidity, his look practically screaming ‘death before insult’!
Kang Zhan couldn’t help feeling a bit moved seeing the performance of this High Heaven Pavilion disciple.
“What is your name?” Kang Zhan asked.
The young disciple glanced at him faintly and said proudly, “Su Mu!”
“Su Mu…” Kang Zhan took a deep breath, nodded and muttered, “Seems High Heaven Pavilion really isn’t ordinary.”
If a simple young disciple had this kind of temperament, what about the others? These people, even if they were to kill all of them, would any of them yield or beg for mercy?
Silently contemplating this, for some reason, Kang Zhan felt the answer was a resounding no.
In response, Su Mu just sneered and said, “You can only bluff and bluster in front of me. Once my Senior Brother Yang comes out, you wouldn’t dare!”
Kang Zhan’s expression quickly dimmed. Just as Su Mu said, he really didn’t dare act ruthless in front of Yang Kai.
Nan Sheng was even more enraged, viciously kicking out Su Mu’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground before he sent out a series of slaps.
Kang Zhan didn’t even have time to stop him before Su Mu received a dozen slaps.
*Pa pa pa…* The sound was loud and resounding.
No one from High Heaven Pavilion moved, but the sound of their breathing became heavy, their eyes glowing red like wild beasts as they stared at Nan Sheng.
Their deafening silence was like the calm before a storm, causing Kang Zhan’s brown to furrow, quickly calling out, “Enough!”
Nan Sheng obediently stopped and let out a breath, grabbing Su Mu’s face and pulling out his sword, pressing it against his neck, “You really think I don’t dare to kill you?”
“You don’t have the guts.” Su Mu’s face was swollen and bloody, but his sneer never faded, as if he was completely unafraid of death.
Nan Sheng’s face twitched maliciously, hesitation and struggle filling his expression. The sword in his hand slowly pressed forward, leaving a bright red line on Su Mu’s neck, but never actually completed the act.
If he wanted to kill Su Mu right now, it would be quick and easy.
But thinking about Yang Kai seeking revenge, Nan Sheng couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread.
On the contrary, Su Mu still looked calm, without the slightest trace of fear; he could tell that Nan Sheng was terrified of Yang Kai.
“Let him go.” Kang Zhan took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. Nan Sheng wore a ruthless face, but on the inside he was just an indecisive spoiled child.
Nan Sheng’s fist clenched and he ground his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to kill this brat in front of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do the deed.
After Kang Zhan spoke these words, Nan Sheng knew he was riding a tiger. If he really let him go, it would be the same as admitting he didn’t have any guts. As the Young Lord of a first-class family, could Nan Sheng afford such a reputation?
A ruthless light flashing across his eyes, Nan Sheng stabbed out his sword.
With a loud splat, blood splashed out.
Su Mu’s right chest had been pierced through by the sword.
Nan Sheng’s expression became ferocious as he mercilessly threw Su Mu to the ground.
The others from High Heaven Pavilion were shocked and rushed forward to support Su Mu.
“You really thought I wouldn’t dare to kill you?” Nan Sheng spat madly as his face warped with anger.
“You bastard!” Kang Zhan was also shocked, roaring angrily as he kicked Nan Sheng, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Just now, when Nan Sheng was slapping Su Mu, he didn’t stop him. After all, although he looked somewhat miserable, he wasn’t really hurt. After a few days of healing he would be as good as new so Yang Kai shouldn’t have cared, but this sword wound was no minor matter.
Fortunately, it seemed like Nan Sheng was still hesitant to actually kill him.
He had chosen to pierce Su Mu’s right chest. If he had chosen to pierce his left side where his heart was instead, Su Mu would probably have died immediately!
A series of enraged roars came from the mouths of the High Heaven Pavilion disciples and many of them began launching attacks towards the Xiang and Nan Family cultivators.
“None of you bastards is allowed to hit back!” Kang Zhan roared at the two family’s cultivators as he hurried forward, took a jade bottle from his sleeve, poured out a healing pill and stuffed it directly into Su Mu’s bloody mouth.
As he did so, Kang Zhan also suffered a number of attacks from the High Heaven Pavilion people. Fortunately, he wore a high grade defensive armour and wasn’t injured.
Perceiving his intentions, the people gathered around Su Mu did not stop him and the several older generation members quickly began revolving their True Qi to help Su Mu heal.
*Ju…*
A crisp sound suddenly spread from afar.
Kang Zhan turned his head and saw that the barrier created by the Mysterious Grade Mid-Rank artifact disappeared in a flash of light.
The remaining snow in the sky gently fell to the ground.
In the center of where the barrier once stood, Yang Kai and the young woman reappeared, a cold wind still swirling around them.
A few meters in front of the pair there were four ice-sculptures posed in a series of odd positions.
Naturally these sculptures were the four masters from the Kang and Qiu Families!
The stiff expressions on the faces of the four ice sculptures clearly showed everyone that none of them could believe what was happening to them.
Kang Zhan felt a chill shoot up his back as his expression twitched violently.
Although he faintly felt that the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters would be able to capture Yang Kai, he hadn’t thought the end result of their battle would be so lopsided.
As soon as the cultivators gathered around the barrier saw Yang Kai and Su Yan emerge, all of them leapt backwards, looks of fear and terror covering their faces.
There weren’t many powerhouses left among them, even if there were some Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators remaining, they were only ordinary Fourth or Fifth Stage masters.
After seeing the elites from the Eight Great Families frozen into ice sculptures, none of dared challenge these two juniors.
Qiu Zi Ruo’s face also went pale as he sucked in a sharp breath, his heart filled with a sense of horror.
Yang Kai glanced at him and said faintly, “They won’t die, but if they want to free themselves it will take them at least half a day.”
Qiu Zi Ruo nodded half dazed and somehow managed to mutter out, “Many thanks for Ninth Young Lord’s discretion!”
Yang Kai simply nodded and said no more.
After all, these four people were from the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families; he could teach them a harsh lesson, even seriously injure them, and it wouldn’t matter. However, killing or crippling them would not end so easily.
Sometimes the best way to demonstrate your strength was to show mercy, so Yang Kai had let Su Yan spare their lives. Even so, after they managed to break out of their ice prisons, Yang Kai estimated that it would be a month or two before they fully recovered.