"Ying'er, are you up yet?"
Having heard idle chatter downstairs for a while, Yun Xiao finally went upstairs to knock on Hu Ying'er's door. It was already well past dawn, and the young girl was still silent, which he found somewhat strange.
However, Yun Xiao knocked for quite some time without a response, and his face changed color when he gently pushed and found the door merely ajar. As the door swung wide open, there was not a soul to be seen inside.
"This girl, she's gone out without even telling me!"
Seeing the neatly folded quilt in the room, Yun Xiao didn't think much of it at first, assuming that Hu Ying'er didn't want to disturb him and had gone out to wander around the inn.
But when Yun Xiao occasionally heard words like "challenge platform" and "Yang Wanliu" being mentioned, his face instantly turned sour, as he seemed to have vaguely guessed the true situation.
"She wouldn't have gone to challenge the arena, would she?"
A thought sprang to mind, and the more Yun Xiao thought about it, the more he felt this possibility was highly likely. Although Hu Ying'er wanted to return to Ancient Moon City to find the bodies of her parents, she probably couldn't resist the urge to seek revenge when she heard about Yang Wanliu setting up the challenge platform.
You should know that Yang Wanliu is the Yang Family's Princely Heir, a person of great significance to the Yang Family and the only member of the Yang direct lineage who Hu Ying'er had a chance of defeating. How could she contain herself?
With his mind racing, Yun Xiao did not linger there any longer; he quickly exited the inn and followed the directions indicated by the discussions of the cultivators, heading towards the center of Ancient Moon City.
...
Ancient Moon City, central area.
This place used to be the busiest spot in Ancient Moon City, but due to an event in the past few days, it was almost completely surrounded by crowds.
It all started when the young and powerful Princely Heir of the Yang Family, Yang Wanliu, set up a challenge platform here, offering treasures from the entire Yang Family's Treasure Vault to anyone under the age of thirty who could defeat him, the Yang Family's Princely Heir, without any cost.
Such a temptation was too much for the cultivators of this humble place, so over the past two days, many tried to challenge Yang Wanliu on the platform.
But Yang Wanliu, already a super genius in the early stages of the Qi Seeking Realm, easily defeated even strong contenders in the late stages and peaks of the Spirit Vein Realm.
On the contrary, with his ruthless disposition, many of the challenging geniuses ended up with broken limbs, and several even lost their lives.
After the first day, no genius of the Spiritual Vein Realm dared to challenge him anymore, because they all knew the vast gap in their Meridian Qi, and more importantly, they knew that stepping onto the platform could mean not coming back alive.
Therefore, starting the second day, only those geniuses who had reached the early stages of the Qi Seeking Realm dared to challenge him, but even they were few and still no match for the Yang Family's Princely Heir, meeting unfortunate ends.
Yang Wanliu himself had reached the early stage of the Qi Seeking Realm and his bizarrely powerful weapon made him unpredictable and nearly impossible to defend against, capable of summoning thunder and lightning out of nowhere to strike his opponent, claiming an easy victory.
Thus, the fame of the Yang Family's Princely Heir spread throughout all of Ancient Moon City, and at least within or near this city, there seemed no one who could surpass him—perhaps this was exactly the Yang Family's intention.
Today was the third and final day of the Yang Family's challenge, so Yang Wanliu arrived early at the platform. He exchanged a gaze with a figure not far away on a certain pavilion, and a confident smile appeared on his face.
On this pavilion stood a group of people from the Yang Family, led by the current Family Head and father of Yang Wanliu, named Yang Dingshan.
Yang Dingshan, until not long ago, was only at the peak of the Qi Seeking Realm. However, for some unknown reason, he had recently broken through to the early stage of the Seeking Origin Realm.
It was this breakthrough to a Great Rank that caused Yang Dingshan's ambitions to swell, and he took the city by surprise to eliminate the greatest threat of the Hu Family, allowing his family to reign supreme.
But with many lesser families in the mixed bag that was Ancient Moon City disliking the Yang Family's arrogance, Yang Dingshan came up with this method of letting his son host the challenge platform.
For major families and sects on the Continent, they place great importance on nurturing the younger generation, as this concerns the future of their power. If no one could defeat Yang Wanliu within three days, the reputation and influence of the Yang Family would rise along with it.
For matters like this, the older generation of powerhouses like Yang Dingshan weren't suitable to be in the spotlight, so they entrusted everything to his son. Yang Wanliu did not disappoint, defeating many geniuses over the last two days and standing unshakable.
"Hey, Family Head, it looks like the Princely Heir is going to win again!"
At this moment, another figure had appeared on the arena, the young genius who went up to challenge Yang Wanliu. Despite the latter's ruthless performance in the past two days, there were still some with lofty pride who remained unconvinced.
Yang Wanliu's opponent on the arena was also a genius who had reached the early stages of the Qi Seeking Realm. This person appeared to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and reaching the Qi Seeking Realm at such an age already demonstrated an incredibly remarkable talent.
Unfortunately for him, Yang Wanliu's moves were odd and unpredictable. Occasionally, the power of Thunder Wood that he would release caught the man off guard, striking him abruptly. The man stiffened on the spot and was ultimately kicked in the chest by Yang Wanliu, who seized the chance. Spewing blood, he was knocked off the arena.
Luckily, this person's physical strength was extraordinary, and unlike some others from yesterday, he was not kicked to death on the spot. This, however, caused a glimmer of somber dissatisfaction to flash in the victorious eyes of Yang Wanliu.
This Princely Heir of the Yang Family was inherently cruel and callous, never showing mercy with his strikes, making those who challenged him on the arena suffer terribly, and some even met their demise.
Today was the third day since the arena had been set up, and Yang Wanliu hoped that his authority could reach an absolute peak. Yet, although the first challenger had been defeated, he was not killed, which left Yang Wanliu feeling like his purpose had not been fully achieved.
But under such public scrutiny, it was impossible for Yang Wanliu to pursue his opponent below the arena to finish him off. Thus, out of sight, out of mind, he redirected his gaze toward the other onlookers.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to challenge me on the arena?"
Yang Wanliu swept his gaze across the crowd with a hint of cold severity. To tell the truth, he was in a rather foul mood, as he had thought that after his performance in the past two days, there would be hardly anyone brave enough to challenge him today.
But just as the stage was set, someone had come forth to challenge—did this not mean that his ruthlessness in the previous days was not enough, failing to deter these people sufficiently?
However, after Yang Wanliu's words settled, there was no response for a long time, which made him quite satisfied, believing that his intimidating effect had finally taken hold.
"I'll give it a try!"
However, just as Yang Wanliu was basking in self-satisfaction, thinking that today would be an easy pass, a voice suddenly emerged from beneath the arena. Following that, a graceful figure leaped out from the crowd and onto the arena.
"Hmm? A woman?"
Upon hearing the voice, Yang Wanliu turned his head and frowned slightly, as the person standing not far in front of him was petite, dressed in plain clothes and simple hairpin, with an ordinary face but indeed, undoubtedly a young girl.
On the Continent, Cultivators did not distinguish much between men and women, but generally, male talents outnumbered female ones. Hence, Yang Wanliu had not encountered many female challengers in these past days of arena combat.
Besides, with Yang Wanliu's reputation, he was known not only for his arrogance but also for his lechery, which was hardly a secret. Many young female geniuses, to avoid the disgrace after a defeat, would not easily challenge him without absolute certainty.
Yang Wanliu was a lecherous man. Had the person leaping onto the arena been a beautiful young girl, his mood might have been somewhat lifted. But facing someone with an ordinary look and still seemingly undeveloped figure, he could hardly muster any interest.
Moreover, to think that such an apparently underage girl would dare to challenge him, Yang Wanliu's heart already began to swell with indignation.
For beautiful women, Yang Wanliu naturally showed tender cherishing, but for those he found unappealing, he held no such sentiment. At this moment, he just felt his dignity was being provoked.
"Yet, this girl's eyes... why do they seem familiar?"
Yang Wanliu's cold gaze measured the young girl, eventually resting on her clear eyes. For some reason, those clear eyes made him feel a sense of familiarity.
But Yang Wanliu was certain he had never seen this girl before, and how could such an ordinary-looking girl ever catch the eye of the eldest young master of the Yang Family?
This girl who suddenly spoke up and leaped onto the arena was none other than Hu Ying'er, who had entered Ancient Moon City with Yun Xiao but had disappeared early in the morning.
Originally, she intended to return to the Hu Family's old home for a visit first thing in the morning, but unexpectedly, just as she left the inn, she heard those discussions. Old grudges and new hatred surged in her heart, and ultimately she couldn't resist the urge to confront this eldest young master of the Yang Family.
With Hu Ying'er's own Early Stage Spirit Vein Realm Cultivation, naturally, she could not be a match for Yang Wanliu. But now she was capable of initially controlling her Double Flower Pure Lotus Body, and the powerful alternate persona could manifest at any time.
Back at the Hu Mansion, Hu Ying'er had already tried it once and knew that her other identity had reached the Early Stage of the Qi Seeking Realm. With such Cultivation, facing Yang Wanliu, there might not be no chance of victory at all.
Despite Hu Ying'er's usual gentle demeanor, she was extraordinarily stubborn at heart. She didn't mention her arch-enemy to Yun Xiao much on their journey, but she had always harbored thoughts of one day exterminating the Yang Family to avenge the great grudge.
With Hu Ying'er's original strength, annihilating the entire Yang Family was far from realistic. However, Yang Wanliu's setting up of the arena gave her an opportunity—a chance for a public and righteous revenge.