Chapter 331: King of the Beasts

　　Jiang Yuan smiled thinly and bowed back. “Brother Chu is early too.”

　　As soon as she said this, she saw the Floating Cloud young master coming out of the hold of the ship, and she unconsciously narrowed her eyes.

　　Noticing the slight change in her expression, Chu Zhengyan smiled. “Ah, I met Brother Yun on my way, so I invited him to join me.”

　　Jiang Yuan looked at the Floating Cloud young master calmly and smiled. “I see.” And bowed to him too.

　　Lu Mingshu looked over to Jiang Yuan. She knew that Jiang Yuan wasn’t that calm deep inside. Putting aside her relationship with the Floating Cloud young master, the nickname Four Princes of Yunjing, while somewhat of a joke, symbolized how powerful their families and supporters were. The Qin, Jiang, and Nie families were three big aristocratic families. The Chu family was not as good, but Chu Zhengyan’s master, Bao Guang, was a strong power in his own right. Any two among these four joining forces would not be something so simple.

　　Chu Zhengyan and the Floating Cloud young master, what was the hidden truth? A simple deal or a full alliance?

　　After greeting Jiang Yuan, the Floating Cloud young master noticed Lu Mingshu and Yan Wugui and reached out his hand to them. “Two unfamiliar faces, how may I address you?”

　　“Bell Woods’ Ji family’s Gentleman Ji and Miss Ji,” replied Jiang Yuan.

　　She sounded like she was introducing somebody who she did not really care about. If they were really the Ji siblings, someone like Prince Jiang would really not care much about them.

　　The Floating Cloud young master nodded and said no more.

　　On the other hand, Chu Zhengyan was all smiles. “Brother Jiang, are you going to stay here for a moment?”

　　“Yes.” Jiang Yuan nodded. “Our ability is lacking, so we are planning to get enough rest before continuing.”

　　“Brother Jiang is too humble. Since that’s the case, we will make a move first.”

　　“Please.” Jiang Yuan bowed.

　　“Let’s go.” Chu Zhengyang told a younger cultivator, and the boat sped into the formation in the blink of an eye.

　　“Chu Zhengyan’s junior brother,” Jiang Yuan said, perhaps for herself or perhaps for the duo. “He’s not as good as Chu Zhengyan, but similar.”

　　Lu Mingshu and Yan Wugui exchanged glances.

　　“Fu Yun is known for being suspicious,” Jiang Yuan continued. “Even though he married into the Nie family, he still doesn’t trust them. He brought none of them along with him. Is he with Chu Zhengyan because of convenience or because the Nie family told him to do so?”

　　Obviously, Jiang Yuan was talking to herself this time. Someone who knew nothing about Yunjing would not be able to answer.

　　Jiang Yuan closed her eyes slightly, seeming to be in deep thought.

　　Meanwhile, Prince Chu’s boat had already entered the formation. And expectedly, as soon as they entered, a water beast went up to them.

　　The Floating Cloud young master waved his hands, and many sharp blades flew out to strike the water beast down.

　　Lu Mingshu couldn’t help but look over at Jiang Yuan. Even though her weapon was icicles, Jiang Yuan and the Floating Cloud young master’s skills seemed to be like different tunes played with equal skill to complement each other. If they were like what Elder Miss Nie said – childhood sweethearts – they might have trained together. I wonder how she feels when she sees that.

　　She might not hate the Floating Cloud young master anymore, but it’s clear that she still cares, or she would not have been provoked by me and Yan Wugui.

　　Right now, there was no need for her to hate or be jealous of Elder Miss Nie. She was better than her and able to look down on her with her status. But if it was five years ago, what would she have felt? Back then, Jiang Yuan gave the Floating Cloud young master so much, yet they had to part ways just because Elder Miss Nie was richer and could provide him with more resources.

　　The Jiang Yuan now no longer needed Elder Miss Nie’s approval, but the humiliation was something she would never be able to forget.

　　I hope she will be able to stay calm throughout the debate.

　　At this point, Chu Zhengyan seemed to have chosen the same strategy as the first four participants. After a while, Lu Ming realized that they had already overtaken the first boat.

　　Her eyes widened in shock, but when she thought back, Lu Mingshu realized why.

　　So it’s that! The boat seems to be the same, but Chu Zhengyan’s boat never flipped, and it seems to move in a certain rhythm!

　　After some time, another boat entered the formation. It was Prince Qin.

　　“Let’s get going.” Jiang Yuan suddenly turned to them. “Are you ready? If we stay here any longer, we will be late.”

　　“We’re ready when you are,” Yan Wugui said casually.

　　Jiang Yuan nodded. She stomped, and the boat started to speed into the formation.

　　“‘I’ll take center, you guys take the wing.”

　　As soon as she finished this, they met with a water beast immediately.

　　Within no time, icicles were everywhere, and the water beast was taken down successfully.

　　Under Jiang Yuan’s control, the boat suddenly took a turn and went ahead for a mile, but soon, they met another water beast.

　　And the killing spree continued.

　　If everything went well, they would be able to reach the island by noon.

　　Suddenly, the boat shook violently. Jiang Yuan pressed the boat down casually.

　　She didn’t take much notice as it was always like this when a water beast attacked.

　　But this time around, it was different. The beast did a vigorous counterattack, and she was unable to control the boat. With a whoosh, water started filling the boat, and her cover made of soul energy shattered.

　　Jiang Yuan was sent flying out, but before she dropped into the water, she jumped up quickly and stopped mid-air.

　　She turned green and stared at the water beast, which looked extremely fierce.

　　Cries of alarms from boats nearby could be heard, and all participants took a deep breath.

　　“What the hell, Freezing Spirit?”

　　“Where the hell did it come from?”

　　“Oh my god, it’s the king of beasts used to suppress the formation! And is that Prince Jiang?! The king of beasts rarely makes an appearance, he’s so unlucky.”

　　“I don’t think it’s ever appeared at all. I have never heard about it before.”

　　“Once, very long ago during the debate, it went bonkers and killed half of the participants….”

　　Hearing this, chills ran down everyone’s spine.

　　Will I be that unlucky to meet up with the king of beasts when it goes crazy?

　　“How could this have happened?” Some already started trembling. “Don’t they have Freezing Spirt elders here?”

　　The other party gulped. “Yes, but elders are at the island, it will take some time for them to reach here.”

　　“Yeah, and they might not even notice too since the debate has been peaceful for years….”

　　The few of them got more fearful as they spoke, and they even wanted to do a U-turn.

　　“Shall we turn around? This might not get us a rank, but it’s better than losing our lives.”

　　One of his friends choked. “How are we going to do that? Killing our way out is harder than killing our way in!”

　　“This…”

　　“Calm down. If anything bad happens, it will happen to Prince Jiang too. Let’s wait….”

　　All of them took a deep breath and waited.

　　On the other hand, Jiang Yuan turned black seeing the king of beasts.

　　Somebody’s trying to kill me! She gritted her teeth.