History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474

by 八月飞鹰, Ba Yue Fei Ying, August Eagle

  Other than that, Yan Zhaoge also kept track of what he had asked Ah Hu to take note of earlier.

  “Young Master, it is indeed as you expected,” Ah Hu said, standing before Yan Zhaoge. “Rumours have now begun spreading that Ye Jing and Miss Lin had still held feelings for each other. You were shocked and angered because of it and accidentally beat Miss Lin to death as a result.”

  “Before this, what happened to Ye Jing in the Sealing Dragon Abyss was also because of you having secretly harmed him due to your burning jealousy.”

  Ah Hu looked towards Yan Zhaoge. “Young Master, as you said earlier, does this means that Ye Jing has fallen into Yan Xu’s hands?”

  Sitting on his chair, Yan Zhaoge’s fingers gently rapped on the table surface as his eyes narrowed into slits. “The possibility of that is very high.”

  “He definitely won’t let me have the chance to confront Ye Jing directly.” Yan Zhaoge propped up his leg. “I’m afraid that he really wants to kill me this time.”

  From when the Sacred Sun Clan had come knocking up till now, for a very long period of time, Yan Xu had been very well-behaved.

  While he wouldn’t go out of his way to be tolerant to Yan Zhaoge, he also wouldn’t come finding trouble for him, appearing perfectly normal.

  Some would think that this was because Elder Qin remained in the Eastern Tang, while others believed that it was because the pressure Elder Qin had previously placed on Yan Xu had deterred him sufficiently.

  As Yan Zhaoge saw it, however, this was the calm before the storm.

  What was coming were wild winds and violent storms that would be even more ferocious, like when a person’s attack increases in ferocity upon retracting his fist to prepare for a next strike.

  Ah Hu drew back the corners of his mouth. “He’s waiting for a chance to fish in troubled waters, but there might not actually be such a chance.”

  Yan Zhaoge shook his head, “The Sacred Sun Clan has always been watching hungrily from the side, while Infinite Boundless Mountain is also watching us sneakily. What we see now is actually a very fragile peace.”

  “Everyone is just waiting for an opportunity.”

  After considering the matter for a bit, Yan Zhaoge turned his head to look at Ah Hu. “Elder Qin will be staying here at Overlooking Abyss City over this period of time?”

  Ah Hu replied, “The abnormalities in the Sealing Dragon Abyss have been showing signs of intensifying. If nothing else especially big happens, Elder Qin will be remaining here.”

  “The Sacred Sun Clan’s East Rising Lord is also nearby. However, he hasn’t come to find trouble again, probably because of his concerns regarding the Sealing Dragon Abyss.”

  Yan Zhaoge nodded. “I will be going into seclusion for a period of time. Unless Elder Qin moves, do not disturb me.”

  Ah Hu scratched his head. “What for, Young Master?”

  Yan Zhaoge only smiled, not speaking.

  The others were all a little surprised by Yan Zhaoge’s decision.

  At first, they thought that Yan Zhaoge was intending to forge some artifacts with his Internal Crystal Furnace. Later, they guessed that he wanted to cultivate in some martial art.

  But as time passed, they suddenly found that Yan Zhaoge’s seclusion had exceeded a dozen or so days.

  “It can’t be that he is planning to break through into the late outer aura Martial Scholar realm?” Someone couldn’t help but guess.

  As these words were spoken, everyone else was so shocked that they all jumped before shaking their heads. “How is that possible?! It was only half a year ago that he stepped into the mid outer aura Martial Scholar realm. How would it then be possible that…”

  As they continued, they suddenly all fell silent.

  They had suddenly realized that it was just like this that Yan Zhaoge had stepped into the mid outer aura Martial Scholar realm not even a month after he had reached the early outer aura stage.

  Such a speed was already not something that terrifying would be enough to describe.

  From that angle, taking half a year to go from the mid to the late outer aura stage, didn’t really seem like it would be that hard for people to accept?

  …accept your mother, who would be able to accept it!

  Everyone couldn’t help but want to break out into curses.

  “Who knows what special means he used initially when breaking through from the early to the mid outer aura stage in order to hurriedly see short-term gains?” Someone said in a low tone, then snorted.

  After everyone had clearly seen who that person was, their expressions were all a little complicated.

  It was the previous Acting Elder of the Spirit Wind Canyon, Wen Ningzhi.

  Earlier, when the investigation had ended, Wen Ningzhi had finally still managed to pass through it by the skin of his teeth, only having been punished for neglecting his duties, but at least having finally been cleared of having consorted with the enemy.

  However, while he was still an Assignment Hall Elder now, he didn’t have an actual position to act in, thus being an idle person who just followed by the Eastern Tang Principal Elder Yan Xu’s side, waiting for his orders.

  The Acting Elder positions with actual power in the various lands were always occupied, without having any extra spots.

  With Elder Qin there watching over them, Yan Xu also couldn’t really make arrangements for Wen Ningzhi now. Therefore, Wen Ningzhi could only stay idle there.

  It was even unclear whether he would still be able to continue staying on in the Eastern Tang after this.

  Perhaps the faction of Yan Zhaoge’s second apprentice-uncle Fang Zhun, Yan Xu included, still trusted Wen Ningzhi, but he had inevitably been tagged with the ‘incompetent’ label.

  The future ahead of him was totally dark.

  Wen Ningzhi said in a heavy tone, “The Sacred Sun Clan has the method of sending the Divine Sun Needle into the body. While such techniques are few and far between within the Eight Extremities World, there are still a number of them.”

  “Perhaps faced with the pressure of the late outer aura Martial Scholar Xiao Shen at that time, Yan Zhaoge chose to employ a method which would see him making quick but short-term gains, being like drinking poison to sate thirst. That would also be a very normal thing.”

  “Just that like this, his future cultivation will definitely be affected as a result!”

  “The heavens are balanced—how could all the good things be enjoyed by one person?”

  Some people gazed at Wen Ningzhi mockingly, feeling that he probably loathed the sight of Yan Zhaoge because of what he had suffered at his hands before.

  Many others, though, had the same thought well up within their minds.

  Otherwise, only taking a month to break through from the early to the mid outer aura stage indicated a cultivation speed that would really be a piece of extremely shocking news which completely went against common sense.

  And it was also not an ordinary person’s common sense. Even in the world of geniuses, this was also an impossible feat.

  Someone sighed lightly by the side, “Even if such is indeed the case, there was nothing that could have been done about it, right? Even having to face troubles later on, it would still be better than having been killed or wounded by Xiao Shen right on the spot.”

  Between his words, everyone’s hearts suddenly moved.

  Looking over, they saw someone walking in—that person was precisely Yan Zhaoge.

  “What is everyone conversing about so happily?” Yan Zhaoge asked with a smile on his face.

  Someone went up to meet him, “Zhaoge, you’ve left seclusion? It sure took you long enough…”

  His words suddenly broke off mid-way, as though his voice had been cut in half by a pair of scissors.

  Some others looked over and were also immediately frozen, their mouths unconsciously gaping wide and their eyes staring till they turned round.

  Wen Ningzhi frowned. Looking over from the back row, he only fel
t that Yan Zhaoge’s height seemed to be somewhat higher than before.

  After struggling his way through the stunned, dazed crowd, making it to the front row, and clearly seeing what was going on, he nearly lost it and fainted right on the spot.

  Yan Zhaoge’s height had not actually increased. It was only that he was currently suspended in the air, with more than a foot between his feet and the ground.

  “Having broken through successfully, I naturally left seclusion,” Yan Zhaoge said carelessly as he walked towards the crowd.

  The distance of a foot was naturally not Yan Zhaoge’s hovering limit. However, in this type of occasion, it was already enough.

  If his body could hover temporarily within the air, he would also be able to keep himself moving continuously airborne with the help of his qi.

  This was precisely the trademark of a late outer aura Martial Scholar!

  TN: Boom! Come on, who was surprised? Admit it!

  History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 73: The time to shine has come once again

  HSSB73: The time to shine has come once again

  While Yan Zhaoge appeared completely ordinary on the outside, his body currently contained an explosive power.

  Within each of the acupoints on his body, there seemed to be coiling an ice dragon as well as a fire dragon.

  Fire and ice intersected like yin and yang, complementing each other and benefiting from each other’s strengths as each cycle passed.

  In the time it took to lift a hand or raise a leg, it was like there were innumerable ice and fire dragons moving about impatiently together.

  Having reached the front of the crowd, Yan Zhaoge finally landed on the ground, bowing in greeting.

  Only now did everyone finally recover from their dazed, stunned state, though the way they looked at Yan Zhaoge now was, understandably, extremely weird.

  He had taken a month before achieving his breakthrough from the early to the mid outer aura stage, then spent half a year before once again breaking through into the late outer aura stage.

  At first glance, the speed of the latter seemed to have decreased.

  But everyone present knew that the former required achieving a certain epiphany and level of understanding before one could break through the bottleneck and form weapons with their qi, whereas the latter required lots of pure, grinding effort, accumulating and refining one’s aura-qi to a certain point before the breakthrough could be successful.

  From a certain perspective, what was needed was just a lot of time.

  However, in such a time-consuming process, Yan Zhaoge had actually also surpassed people by so, so much, having completed it in a far shorter time.

  “How exactly did he manage it?” Everyone could only feel dizzy as their heads spun, “Could it still be said that there was a shortcut for this?”

  Like the Sacred Sun Clan’s Divine Sun Needle technique, as long as it was a technique that helped one to progress using such unnatural ways, it would generally by followed by some severe side-effects. Oftentimes, the cost would be greater than the benefits. Unless there was no other choice, no one would choose to utilise such methods.

  Also, such methods could not be used more than once. After having been used the first time, the side-effects it would leave behind would eliminate the possibility of using it ever again.

  Therefore, the way everyone was looking at Yan Zhaoge now was like how they would look at a monster.

  Yan Zhaoge pretended not to notice this. Taking to the air and levitating had been to show off his new cultivation base. Now that this goal had already been achieved, he no longer had to express anything about it in words.

  What words could he say?

  Just take a glance and figure it out for yourself.

  “En, it should be just like this.” Yan Zhaoge was very satisfied with the effect, thus completely not mentioning the topic that the crowd had been discussing previously, instead asking like nothing had happened, “Everyone gathering here—could it be that something major has happened?”

  The others awakened one by one, one of them answering, “The black fog within the Sealing Dragon Abyss has been rapidly expanding once again, even more densely than before. Even ordinary Martial Scholars are finding it hard to approach.”

  “With the abnormalities in the Sealing Dragon Abyss having intensified, Elder Qin, Elder Yan and the others are preparing to venture deep into the Sealing Dragon Abyss and suppress the black fog, as well as investigate the situation.”

  The scale of the abnormalities this time was something that had never been seen before.

  But to Broad Creed Mountain, the Sacred Sun Clan as well as the Eastern Tang Kingdom, it was also a good chance to settle the problem for good.

  If they only treated the symptoms rather than the root, it would turn into a long-term problem, involving even more of their attention in the future.

  Before this, the few powers had always been observing from the side, just waiting for the problem of the Sealing Dragon Abyss to completely erupt out for good before moving once to see where the cause of the symptoms lay, thus resolving the situation.

  At the same time, the root of the problem should lie in Hell.

  Yan Zhaoge nodded. He had exited seclusion at just the right time.

  Not speaking unnecessarily, Yan Zhaoge and the others went together to meet Elder Qin as well as the other high-level experts of Broad Creed Mountain.

  Other than Elder Qin and Yan Xu, Broad Creed Mountain also had a long-time Elder who had hurried over to the East Heaven Region to help keep an eye on the Sacred Sun Clan. He was likewise a longtime Martial Grandmaster, possessing strong ability.

  Seeing Yan Zhaoge, Elder Qin said, “This time, you shouldn’t enter the Sealing Dragon Abyss along with this old man and the others.”

  “In such a critical period, it’s very hard to say what actions the Sacred Sun Clan will take. Our clan places caution as a priority—we cannot afford to not stand vigilant against them.”

  Yan Zhaoge answered, “I understand.”

  That Elder who had just arrived from Broad Creed Mountain remained outside to hold down the formation as well as look after Yan Zhaoge, also monitoring the Sacred Sun Clan’s movements in the meantime.

  Yan Xu, being naturally familiar with the situation as the Principal Elder of the Eastern Tang, was also left to assist with the situation outside.

  Elder Qin and the others were thus set to venture into the depths of the Sealing Dragon Abyss.

  From the Eastern Tang, their King, Zhao Shicheng, would also venture there personally.

  Although, as king, he shouldn’t take the risk himself and stand at the frontlines like a simple foot soldier, he was duty-bound to participate as he was the only one who could activate the power of Jingyang City’s grand formation from a long distance away.

  The lands of the Eastern Tang were firmly connected with the Sealing Dragon Abyss. As Jingyang City was the central area where all of the power of the Eastern Tang Kingdom’s earth veins congregated, it would be of great help to the expedition.

  In order to prepare for the worst, the group of Broad Creed Mountain experts led by Elder Qin would travel alongside Zhao Shicheng and the other Eastern Tang Kingdom martial practitioners.

  Meanwhile, the Sacred Sun Clan also transmitted over the news that due to the fact that Hell along with the Sealing Dragon Abyss was a major, pressing issue, a group of their experts led by the East Rising Lord would also be venturing into the depths of the Sealing Dragon Abyss.

  Infinite Boundless Mountain similarly sent news that they would not ignore this matter.

  As the news was sent over, the Eastern Tang Kingdom citizens who were hovering on the brink of danger yet having a limited knowledge of the true situation naturally all rejoiced and danced in celebration.

  At this moment, on the surface, the three Sacred Grounds looked like they had reached a common agreement and forgotten what had happened in the past between them.

  But th
e inside story was something only that those involved would themselves know.

  Standing on the ramparts of Overlooking Abyss City, gazing far away, Yan Zhaoge could see the contours of the Luliao Mountains. At the same time, in another direction but still close to them, he saw an area with a thick black fog rising into the heavens.

  Half of the entire sky appeared to have been enveloped by it.

  Standing by Yan Zhaoge’s side, Ah Hu’s expression was more grave than usual. “If the aura cannot be externalised, it would even be impossible to go near its outskirts.”

  Yan Zhaoge stroked his chin. “The crucial point actually lies with Hell. The various Sacred Grounds have already dispatched some peak experts over to investigate, with the lineup being even more terrifying over on this side. From our clan, my father headed out personally.”

  Ah Hu stroked his chin as well in a copycat manner. “With the Family Head moving personally, there shouldn’t be any problems, right? The other Sacred Grounds probably also sent over their top bigwigs.”

  Yan Zhaoge looked around his surroundings. “It’s with me that there might easily be problems.”

  “I have now become professional bait, specially used to get people on the hook.”

  “Earlier, it was the Crimson Spirit Flag Master. Now, it is the Sacred Sun Clan’s people.”

  Ah Hu frowned, “Young Master, there have been no news of the Crimson Spirit Flag Master for such a long time. It can’t be that he will also come over to fish in troubled waters this time?”

  Yan Zhaoge shook his head, “To him, the water here is already too troubled to fish in. With three Sacred Grounds staring at this region of the Eastern Tang, it would be completely impossible for him to sneak himself in.”

  “As soon as he appeared, he would die immediately.”

  “Although Elder Qin has entered the Sealing Dragon Abyss, Elder Kong is waiting outside specifically for the people of the Sacred Sun Clan.”

  Ah Hu gave a simple laugh. “Young Master, your time to shine has come once again.”

  “Get lost!” Yan Zhaoge scolded laughingly, “In your eyes, do I only ever rely on this kind of method to shine?”