The sudden change in the situation surprised Yue Baoqi and the other Grand Xuan Dynasty Martial Saint as well.
Still, Yue Baoqi quickly calmed her mind, not being greedy for battle as she just repelled her second opponent with a single sword before immediately retreating.
Without that enemy who cultivated in the Flowing Wind Nine Heavens Slash, it would be much easier for her to leave.
The other Grand Xuan Dynasty Martial Saint did not dare to pursue her as he hurriedly went far away from the Myriad Dragon Palace.
Yue Baoqi had just relaxed somewhat when she was taken aback to discover that the bright golden Myriad Dragon Palace had totally ignored the other Grand Xuan Dynasty Martial Saint, now instead leisurely following after her.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 648: Questioning
HSSB648: Questioning
After the great gate had opened and that Grand Xuan Dynasty martial practitioner who cultivated in the Flowing Wind Nine Heavens Slash had been sucked within, the Myriad Dragon Palace continued following after the North Sea Sword Pavilion’s Yue Baoqi.
Yue Baoqi was taken aback as she watched the Myriad Dragon Palace shaking unceasingly, as if there were currently people clashing within.
However, the shaking did not affect the progress of the Myriad Dragon Palace as it continued leisurely following after her.
Yue Baoqi did not know where Yan Zhaoge came from. While Yan Zhaoge had acted against the Grand Xuan Dynasty as well, Yue Baoqi still viewed him with vigilance.
She tried to shake off the Myriad Dragon Palace, but Yan Zhaoge’s laughter now resounded from within it, “Wanting to acquire information, how could an Essence Spirit Martial Grandmaster captive know more than a Martial Saint?”
Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s words, Yue Baoqi hesitated slightly.
She heard Yan Zhaoge continuing, “I am surnamed Yan, Yan Zhaoge. You might find my name unfamiliar, but I wonder if you have heard of the Grand Xuan Dynasty’s Phoenix Bearing General, Yang Zhaozhen, before?”
Yue Baoqi knit her brows slightly at these words that would easily lead to misunderstandings before she head Yan Zhaoge continuing, “If you have heard the name Yang Zhaozhen before, are you aware that he was slain by someone a while back?”
Yue Baoqi’s gaze abruptly focused as she stared at the Myriad Dragon Palace, “…It was you?”
Yan Zhaoge answered nonchalantly, “That’s right.”
Yang Zhaozhen being the general of a region of the Grand Xuan Dynasty, Yue Baoqi indeed knew of his name. Also, she had just heard the news of his death not long ago.
Hearing Yan Zhaoge mention this now, she indistinctly remembered that she seemed to indeed have heard his name before. This had also precisely been in connection with Yang Zhaozhen’s death.
While Yue Baoqi did not believe Yan Zhaoge just like this, her footsteps finally slowed.
The Myriad Dragon Palace already no longer shook.
The great gate opened, Yan Zhaoge’s figure appearing with his hands behind his back as he stood leisurely by the entrance.
Yue Baoqi looked past Yan Zhaoge, appraising the interior of the Myriad Dragon Palace.
In the depths of the volatile, profound space, numerous dragons coiled, imprisoning someone.
That person was precisely that Grand Xuan Dynasty martial practitioner from earlier who cultivated in the Flowing Wind Nine Heavens Slash.
He was currently imprisoned by several true dragons manifested from the dragon qi of the Myriad Dragon Palace, his face devoid of colour.
As an early Merging Avatar Martial Saint, this person was not Yan Zhaoge’s match at all.
However, if Yan Zhaoge wanted to capture him for questioning, it would not be as simple and straightforward as when he had slain Yang Zhaozhen back then.
Slaying and capturing were on two totally different levels of difficulty. It had taken even Yan Zhaoge quite some time to succeed in it.
However, this Grand Xuan Dynasty martial practitioner had already been injured by Yue Baoqi beforehand, and Yan Zhaoge also possessed two Sacred Artifacts, the Imperious Cold Martial Armour and the Dark Feather Slaughtering Golden Spear. With that, he had still succeeded in capturing him and suppressing him in the depths of the Myriad Dragon Palace in the end.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yue Baoqi finally strode into the Myriad Dragon Palace.
The abundant qi of true dragons was mostly retracted within. However, just the tiny portion of it that was emanated caused Yue Baoqi to feel rather admiring of it.
She looked at Yan Zhaoge, who did not bother explaining anything.
He just went before the Grand Xuan Dynasty Martial Saint, smiling, “How do I address you?”
The other party looked at Yan Zhaoge with a complex expression on his face, not speaking at all.
If not for him having experienced it personally, never would he have thought that he might actually be beaten by a Martial Grandmaster so utterly easily, even having been captured alive by him.
Hearing that the other party had even slain Yang Zhaozhen, this Grand Xuan Dynasty martial practitioner sighed, completely losing all words.
Yue Baoqi who had also been appraising Yan Zhaoge with a complex expression on her face now glanced at that Grand Xuan Dynasty expert, saying, “He is called Zhang Xuan, and is known as the ‘Nine Heavens Sole Crane’. He is a guest Elder under the Grand Xuan Dynasty’s Marquis Weilin.”
Zhang Xuan swivelled his head and glanced at Yue Baoqi, continuing to smile bitterly.
She was a renowned expert of the North Sea Sword Pavilion’s senior generation, her name already having spread far and wide since the days of her youth. Thus, he knew who she was.
It was just that he had only heard of her before this, not having actually met her before. That was why he had pursued her doggedly earlier just based on his speed.
He had thought that even while he wasn’t a match for her, with the help of his companion, their combined forces should be able to secure them victory over her, or tie her down at the very least.
In the end, it was only having truly clashed that he knew that he wasn’t Yue Baoqi’s match at all.
If not for Yue Baoqi not wanting to be delayed, being unwilling to battle, the two of them might even have been slain by her sword.
Looking at Zhang Xuan, Yan Zhaoge nodded, “Mister Zhang, is it? A pleasure.”
“I believe you should already know the reason for me keeping you here. Please tell us in detail the arrangements of the Grand Xuan Dynasty here in the region of the North Sea this time.”
Zhang Xuan’s eyes were closed as he did not speak.
Yan Zhaoge said nonchalantly, “Yang Zhaozhen was a distant relative of the Grand Xuan royalty, but I just killed him as I liked. Therefore, I wouldn’t mind killing another Martial Saint of the Grand Xuan Dynasty at all.”
Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s words, Zhang Xuan opened his eyes, staring at him.
Yan Zhaoge said, “You serve the Grand Xuan Dynasty and Marquis Weilin, but it is only listening to orders. He provides you with protection as well as some resources and treasures, while you fight for him with all your martial proficiency.”
“Speaking of fighting for him, that should only be to the extent of your capabilities. You just have to do things to your utmost. You shouldn’t have to serve him to the death?”
Yan Zhaoge pointed at Yue Baoqi beside him, “In being unable to defeat her, and me as well, you indeed lack strength. Still, it wasn’t because you failed to try. Having done all this, it should already be sufficient. You should be thinking for yourself now. If you answer my questions, you would also not have let down Marquis Weilin.”
“Of course, if you are vastly indebted to Marquis Weilin or your relationship is such that you would die for him, you can pretend that I didn’t say any of what I just did.”
“It is not easy at all for one to step into the Martial Saint realm. As there is no enmity between us, I will also not humiliate you by extracting information ou
t of you with torture.”
“If you don’t speak, I will give you a swift and clean death. After you’re dead, I’ll just have to spare some effort in capturing someone else and questioning them.”
While Yan Zhaoge’s tone was calm, Zhang Xuan’s heart turned cold at his words.
He was certain that if he stubbornly refused to speak, this youth before him would not waste any more time with him. Instead, he would kill him directly before going off to look for another target.
Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment before he slowly sighed, “You win.”
“After the Grand Xuan took down the Dim Darkness Sect’s main altar, they are now preparing to conquer the North Sea. His Majesty the King is still personally leading. Of the four Lord Protectors, Lord Protector Tang and Lord Protector Lu have accompanied him here to the North Sea as well.”
“Apart from them, there are also Marquis Weilin and many other peak experts as they seek to completely trample over the North Sea Sword Pavilion.”
Yue Baoqi glanced at him upon hearing his words, but did not speak as she let Yan Zhaoge continue directing the questioning as he wanted.
Yan Zhaoge asked, “Are the descendants of Shen Lingzi here as well this time?”
Zhang Xuan replied, “That’s right. The Shenling Nine Swords who went on conquest against the Dim Darkness Sect’s main altar have still accompanied his Majesty in coming to the North Sea this time.”
Yan Zhaoge crossed his arms, “Last time, they took the anti-Xuan coalition by surprise. This time, those of Shen Lingzi’s lineage no longer have the advantage of surprise. It should not be so easy for the Grand Xuan Dynasty to obtain victory? Do they have some special arrangements planned out?”
Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before nodding, “His Majesty will be personally overseeing the establishment of the Heavenly Fire Tribulation Thunder Formation in the North Sea.”
Yan Zhaoge raised his head slightly, “…That’s vicious enough.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 649: Many gains with a single action
HSSB649: Many gains with a single action
It had already been some time since Yan Zhaoge had come to the Royal Reed Sea. Having stayed in a branch altar of the Dim Darkness Sect for a period of time before, he also had decent understanding of the various local powers.
While the North Sea Sword Pavilion did not have three great copper men protecting it like Copper Men Island, having been flourishing for so many years, it had naturally accumulated advantages of its own.
Having been in the northern regions of the Royal Reed Sea for so many years, the sword-qi of the experts of the North Sea Sword Pavilion had accumulated to become vast as the deep ocean.
The ocean of sword-qi seemed to have truly merged completely with the ocean there.
The closer one got to Grinding Hut Island where the North Sea Sword Pavilion was located, the more vigorous and condensed the sword-qi became.
It was to the extent that the Grinding Hut Region surrounding the island had gradually become an independent world of its own, completely separated from the outside world by layers of sword-qi as it had become a sword-qi world.
This sword-qi world was all-encompassing and seamlessly connected with the North Sea Sword Pavilion’s guardian grand formation as its core.
Wanting to break through this sword domain and launch an attack directly on Grinding Hut Island would not be an easy thing at all.
There were as many experts in the Grand Xuan Dynasty as there were clouds, and they even possessed the high-grade Sacred Artifacts, the Xuan King Spear and the Cloud Rotating Heavenly Light Sword.
However, the anti-Xuan coalition was prepared this time. Not just experts of the North Sea Sword Pavilion itself, experts of the other sects had congregated in the Grinding Hut Region as well.
Like this, the Grand Xuan Dynasty had to proceed with caution.
King Xuanmu wanted to mightily sweep through the Royal Reed Sea, securing his position as the absolute ruler of the Grand Xuan Dynasty. He did not want to accrue great losses in doing so, obtaining an overall hard won victory with tragic casualties to his side.
Thus, he had chosen to use the Heavenly Fire Tribulation Thunder Formation, a great killing weapon.
Having heard at the Dim Darkness Sect branch altar that the Grand Xuan Dynasty grasped the Heavenly Fire Tribulation Thunder Formation, Yan Zhaoge had been rather surprised by this.
After all, the might of this formation was considerably great.
If the Heavenly Fire Tribulation Thunder Formation that Yan Zhaoge knew of was unleashed completely, the entire northern region of the Royal Reed Sea could be engulfed entirely in flames.
Its scale would be far greater than the frenzied tides of flames that the Eight Extremities World had suffered during the invasion of the Flame Devil World back then.
Still, the amount of materials that would have to be depleted for the establishment of this formation would also be an inestimable amount, an incomparable sum.
In worlds like the Eight Extremities World and the Vast Ocean World, it was impossible that they might be gathered successfully.
There was only the World beyond Worlds in which this possibility existed.
Even so, Yan Zhaoge strongly suspected that not all of them could be collected from just the Royal Reed Sea alone.
In wanting to establish this formation now, the Grand Xuan Dynasty had clearly viciously steeled their resolve.
The Dim Darkness Sect’s main altar having already fallen, if the North Sea Sword Pavilion was conquered, especially if their Pavilion Lord Gu Hong perished in the process, the anti-Xuan forces should no longer pose much of a threat at all then.
Copper Men Island possessing sufficient defences, the Grand Xuan Dynasty could even ignore then, just slowly going to deal with the remaining Radiant Light Sect.
At that point, the Radiant Light Sect would be hard pressed to stand on its own. It was questionable if they would even continue forcefully resisting the Grand Xuan Dynasty then.
Yan Zhaoge smacked his lips, “You mean that preparations for the establishment of the Heavenly Fire Tribulation Thunder Formation are already complete?”
Zhang Xuan said, “It has not been completed completely. Word from the higher-ups is to temporarily lock down the news, drawing out more North Sea Sword Pavilion martial practitioners who were out to return to reinforce them before netting them all in one fell swoop.
Yan Zhaoge raised his brows, rather surprised, “Are there extremely important figures of the North Sea Sword Pavilion who are not there and have to be captured?”
King Xuanmu was personally leading his troops as he was reinforced by two Immortal Bridge Martial Saints of Shen Lingzi’s lineage.
People who held sufficient weight in their eyes were figures like the Pavilion Lord Gu Hong of the North Sea Sword Pavilion, the Chief of the Dim Darkness Sect Zhou Haosheng, the Chief of the Radiant Light Sect Luo Zhitao and the Chief of Copper Men Island Gongsun Wu.
Beneath them would be Seeing Divinity Martial Saints like Wu Zixiu and Nie Sheng.
The remaining, even if they were not small fry, could definitely not be considered important targets.
Yue Baoqi shook her head, “From what I know, our sect’s higher echelon experts have all long since returned to reinforce, no one remaining in the outside world.”
Zhang Xuan glanced at her upon hearing this, not saying anything.
Yan Zhaoge came before Zhang Xuan, smiling as he asked, “Oh? It looks like there’s something you’re still not telling us.”
“Let me remind you. It is impossible for me to directly believe whatever you say without verifying it at all.”
“If I learn from others that your information is false, I believe you can imagine what the consequences will be.”
Yan Zhaoge pointed to Yue Baoqi, “It is related to her?”
Zhang Xuan sighed, “The higher-ups instructed us to keep an eye out for the ‘North Sea Fairy’ Yue Ba
oqi. If we manage to capture her, we will be rewarded greatly.”
Hearing his words, Yan Zhaoge turned to look at Yue Baoqi and blinked.
Yue Baoqi appeared to be at a loss.
Yan Zhaoge asked slowly, “The reason?”
Zhang Xuan shook his head, “I am indeed unclear on the reason. Marquis Weilin did not explain it. Still, it is rumoured to be a decision by one of the Shenling Nine Swords.”
Looking towards Yue Baoqi, his gaze was rather strange.
The Grand Xuan Dynasty’s people who had received this order were all Martial Saint experts at the very least. All of them felt completely mystified by it as well.
Yue Baoqi was a famous figure of the entire Royal Reed Sea. Even if everyone had not seen her in person before, from looking at recorded images of her, they would know her to be a rare beauty.
Not only was she a beauty, she was also remarkably talented, possessing extraordinary strength as she had Transcended Mortality and reached Sainthood at a young age, her future unprecedented.
This inevitably caused those of the Grand Xuan Dynasty who had received this order to wonder if someone of Shen Lingzi’s lineage had set his eyes on Yue Baoqi, wanted to obtain her for himself.
After all, considering those who had pursued Yue Baoqi since the times of her youth, they were already nearly sufficient to fill up an entire ocean.
King Xuanmu had even asked for Yue Baoqi’s hand in marriage on behalf of his son before. It was just that the North Sea Sword Pavilion had refused.
Knowing what Zhang Xuan was thinking from his gaze, Yue Baoqi frowned, not uttering a sound.
However, Yan Zhaoge’s thoughts would not be as simple as this.
Indeed, what Zhang Xuan and the others were guessing was also very possible, was even a very great possibility.
However, knowing that there had to be some connection between Sikong Qing and Yue Baoqi, Yan Zhaoge inevitably had to think more about this.
What if they were looking for more ‘Sikong Qings’ or ‘Yue Baoqis’?
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 360