Chapter 169: Retreat

　　A pale blue light shone on Xingyang Yi’s fearful face, flickering and shifting. If such a powerful lightning bolt were to strike down, it would not leave just a large pit in the yard, but the whole mansion would turn into ashes!

　　He was completely struck dumb, and he felt a chill rise from the bottom of his feet to the back of his head. Suddenly, his pupils constricted, and he bellowed, “There you are! You can’t hide from me!”

　　As electric arcs continued to gather, Xingyang Yi finally found where the enemy was hiding. He waved his hands crazily, and rings of powerful Primordial Qi exploded out of him, transforming into several shadows that took the shape of different demon beasts and rushed up into the sky while roaring and screeching.

　　Even in Firecrow Empire, a four-stars Martial Grandmaster was still a mighty existence.

　　Looking down coldly from his chariot, Yunxiao snorted and said, “He finally found us. But, so what?”

　　He performed an incantation gesture with one hand while the experts on the other eleven chariots walked to the front of their vehicles and performed the same gesture as well. Surrounded by the chariots was the pool of lightning filled with chaotic energy. A stone about the size of a fist could be seen hovering in the middle while constantly emitting wisps of cold air, turning the color of all the electric arcs in the pool aquamarine.

　　“Strike now, metal divine lightning and water divine lightning!” Yunxiao roared and sent an incantation seal into the pool of lightning. The tremendous and violent energy was triggered in an instant, turning into an aquamarine bolt of lightning that smashed down from the sky. The void was shaking and cracking as the bolt pierced through the air toward its target.

　　What he used was the principle of mutual generation and overcoming of the five elements. The bolt of lightning was the combination of the metal divine lightning and water divine lightning. Metal generated water, and water was best at triggering the extreme cold energy in the Outworld Dark Jade. The energy had fused with the lightning, which gave it its aquamarine color and made it even more powerful.

　　RUMBLE!

　　The attack unleashed by Xingyang Yi with all his strength dissolved in a flash under the divine lightning while the powerful blast generated by the explosion slammed onto the mansion, spreading out in all directions. But at the same time, there was a blast that bounced back into the sky and shook the edge of the lightning pool, rendering the stealth of the twelve chariots ineffective and revealing them to the naked eyes.

　　In the blink of an eye, all the buildings of the Xingyang family were swallowed by a sea of blue light: the mansion, which had stood for centuries, was completely enveloped in the explosion and clouds of dust and smoke. At length, when the smoke faded away and the dust settled, everyone was struck dumb, because almost the whole mansion was gone.

　　Fortunately, Xingyang Yi’s attack had countered most of the power, so even though the buildings were destroyed, most of the direct family members were saved by the experts in the family. However, almost all the branch family members, servants, and women vanished together with the mansion.

　　“Son of a bi*ch! No matter who you are, I swear I will kill you today!” Xingyang Yi walked out of the explosion, covered in dust from head to toe. Much of his skin was scorched, and there was even a thin layer of ice on it. Meanwhile, his eyes were shot with blood.

　　The Xingyang family had stood in Firecrow Empire for centuries, but never once had its mansion been completely destroyed by someone like today. Although there were not many casualties in terms of its core members, the humiliation was unprecedented.

　　Moreover, even if he managed to kill the foe today, he was certain that his title as the family head would be deprived of him, and he might even be severely punished.

　　“Elders of the family, let’s attack together! We must kill these people today!” He roared while leaping into the air and leading the attack.

　　In the Xingyang family, only Martial Grandmasters could become elders, so there were only a few of them. Although many of them were Xingyang Yi’s foes, they still united as one and listened to his order at the critical moment.

　　Several figures rushed out of the rubble and flew up into the sky after him. Together they released their auras, targeting the twelve chariots. Meanwhile, the lightning pool gradually calmed down while the energy inside stabilized.

　　“Where are they?” Xingyang Yi was startled. Under his divine sense, he found all twelve chariots empty.

　　Yunxiao and others had stealthily retreated right after the attack, abandoning their chariots and making them hover in the air. They even left the Outworld Dark Jade in the lightning pool, which was glowing with a strange light even now.

　　“Damn you!”

　　Boiling with rage and humiliation, Xingyang Yi threw his head back and screamed. His voice was so loud that it was clearly heard by everyone in the capital.

　　Suddenly, an elder cried out in a shocked voice as he stared in terror at the Outworld Dark Jade, “My lord! The…The level of this stone is very high! It is at least a seventh-tier object!” The reason he said that was because he could only identify items up to the seventh-tier.

　　Stunned, Xingyang Yi turned to look at the Outworld Dark Jade incredulously.

　　Meanwhile, about a hundred miles away outside Shangyang, a Tigerking chariot zoomed through the sky, heading toward Yanwu.

　　The people in the chariot were extremely excited and could not believe that they had just attacked the Xingyang family with lightning. It was such a crazy deed that they reckoned even those super aristocratic families with thousands of years of history would think twice or thrice before doing it.

　　After the excitement, Li Chunyang looked worried. “I think the Xingyang family is going completely crazy now. Although they won’t trace it back to us so soon, we need to be prepared for battles. When the time comes, their retaliation will wash over us like a fierce torrent.”

　　“Retaliation? Hmph!” A ferocious look came over Yunxiao’s face as he said coldly, “We will see only after they recover from the blow we just gave them!”

　　Everyone frowned and did not quite understand what he meant. It seemed that the blow was serious, and it had destroyed the whole mansion. But, the core members of the Xingyang family, especially those experts, were still alive and unhurt.

　　Suddenly, Yunxiao’s face flickered. Staring ahead, he cried out in a serious voice, “Watch out, there’s an expert in front of us!”

　　His cry alarmed everyone. They kept their guard up and sent out their divine sense, yet they found nothing unusual. However, none of them would doubt what he said.

　　“You are good, little boy! How did you find me?”

　　At that moment, a voice came from the void ahead, where the air twisted and distorted, revealing an old man with a white beard, who laid on his back in midair. He yawned and stretched his back, then looked at Yunxiao with his drowsy eyes. But, as soon as he did that, a startled look came over his face. He rubbed his eyes with a hand, somewhat incredulous, and said in a shocked voice, “How… how’s this possible? You are just a little boy! Are you really just fifteen years old? But, you are already a fourth-tier alchemist! Or third-tier?”

　　The old man sucked in a cold breath. To him, it did not matter whether Yunxiao was a third-tier or four-tier alchemist, what mattered was that the latter was only fifteen years old, and he was absolutely sure about that.

　　The people on the chariots were on high alert. They could not sense the old man’s aura at all, and their divine sense went through him as if there were no one ahead. If they had not seen him with their own eyes, they would not have known that there was a man in front of them. They had never experienced this before, which made them extremely nervous.

　　Yunxiao snorted and said with a smile, “It’s my business, so why does it concern you, my lord? We are in a hurry, please let us through.”

　　“In a hurry? Hehe! You are afraid those little ones from the Xingyang family will catch up with you, aren’t you?” The old man smiled lazily and said, “The strongest ones among you are three Martial Grandmasters, and from what I can see, they are still fresh in the realm. Tsk, tsk, today’s young people are becoming more and more ignorant.”

　　The three Martial Grandmasters almost fainted, especially Neng Feichen and Xiao Qingwang. Had it not been for the chance to break through and become Martial Grandmasters, their lives would have come to an end soon. And yet, this old man called them young people…

　　But, in the face of the old man, whose strength was unknown but surely stronger than theirs, their nerves were tensed and they did not dare to relax their vigilance.

　　Yunxiao’s face turned cold. “Let me repeat myself: it’s our business, and why does it concern you? Please get out of the way!” His tone grew cold, and the politeness was gone.

　　The old man froze for a moment. He did not expect Yunxiao to speak to him in that tone. Rolling his eyes inwardly, his face suddenly turned dark as he said in a deep voice, “Why does it concern me? You little punks just attacked someone in Shangyang. Do you think the few old things including me are mere decoration? And now you have the nerve to say it doesn’t concern me? Do you know who I am? I reckon you must be spies from either the Skyfragrance Empire or the Woodensun Empire!”

　　The two empires the old man mentioned were the Firecrow Empire’s neighbors, and together, they were the three major empires that occupied the southern region of the Heavenly Martial Continent. By accusing them of being spies from either one of the empires, he had given himself a reasonable excuse to kill them.

　　While frowning, Yunxiao asked, “Who are you?”

　　The old man glared at him and snapped, “My identity is my business, and why does it concern you?”

　　Everyone, including Yunxiao, was speechless. “What exactly do you want? I know you are not trying to capture us, or you would not have talked so much. And we are certainly no match for you. Why don’t you just tell me what you want?”

　　That gave the old man a pause, but then an approving look came into his eyes, and he said, “It really saves a lot of time when talking to a clever person. Well…” He thought of his identity, and he was somewhat embarrassed to say what he wanted. After a moment of hesitation, he finally said, “The array you put out over the Xingyang family looks quite interesting. Although it is nothing to me, I feel some parts of it are not bad. So…let me have a look at its diagram. Of course, I am not taking it from you, because it is really nothing to me. I just find it interesting, that’s all.”

　　‘It is nothing to you?’ Yunxiao sneered in his heart. ‘It is one of the three ultimate arrays of the Shenxiao Temple passed down since ancient times. At its maximum strength, it can attract the Brahma Divine Lightning, which can destroy even the Holy City. You are merely a Martial Emperor, and yet you claim it is nothing to you? What a poser! Let’s see how long can you posture for!’