“Huh?” Qianye looked toward the source of the sound.

There was a small airs.h.i.+p hovering in the air nearby and on its bow was Xue Ding, pointing at Qianye and shouting excitedly.

This airs.h.i.+p was clearly made in a rather elegant human design. There weren’t too many of such models in the neutral lands since producing a small engine wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Due to the special environment of the neutral lands, the engines had to be designed differently. Not to mention the origin array, just the materials alone had surpa.s.sed continental standards. This kind of mini-engine was enough to buy a large airs.h.i.+p back on the continents.

Possessing a small, new-model airs.h.i.+p in the neutral land was enough to prove one’s wealth and status, and it wasn’t a small fortune, either. At the very least, the Wolf King’s foster son couldn’t afford one yet.

The airs.h.i.+p descended rapidly. When it was about a hundred meters above the ground, a figure jumped out of the aircraft and landed in front of Qianye.

It was a steadfast looking man in his twenties—well-tanned skin, pointy short hair, and clad in tidy combat robes without armor.

He sized Qianye up from head to toe before reaching out to Qianye, saying, “I’m Xue Wu, Xu Ding’s big brother before he recognized the Wolf King as his adoptive father.”

Qianye was entirely drenched and looked rather miserable. However, he paid no heed to these things and simply reached out to shake Xue Wu’s hand.

The moment their hands came into contact, Xue Wu tightened his grip. “Eh?” Afterward, he proceeded to observe Qianye with an expression of astonishment. The feeling he had gotten just now was akin to gripping a mountain. His entire force bounced back, unable to shake Qianye in the slightest.

Qianye calmly retracted his right hand and said, “You can call me Qianye.”

Xue Ding called out from the side, “So you’re called Qianye, nice name. Unfortunately, you’ve b.u.mped into my brother today and it no longer matters what you’re called! In light of your not-so-bad appearance, this young master might forgive you if you apologize to me and carve me a sculpture. But don’t even think about fooling me regarding the carving, nothing can hide from my eyes!”

“You shut up!” Xue Wu berated.

Xue Ding shrunk back and immediately became silent. It seemed he was quite respectful and afraid of his brother.

Xue Wu said to Qianye, “We’ve incurred your ridicule. This brother of mine was never strictly disciplined as a kid.”

With that, Xue Wu’s expression became serious. “Regardless, he’s still a member of the Xue family unless he commits a serious crime. No outsider may bully our people. Since your origin power is lower than mine, fighting you will lower my status. This is the neutral land, we only look at results and not the process.”

Qianye remained unmoved. “So it’s not a spar?”

Xue Wu said, “No need to worry, I won’t take your life. Since you demanded a leg from one of my brother’s men, I’ll just break one of your legs in return. This will serve as a lesson for you.”

“Very well.” Qianye slowly drew East Peak, leaving the sheath planted in the ground, and his energy began climbing.

Xue Ding was astonished upon sensing Qianye’s aura. “Y-You’re already rank-twelve? You ascended so quickly?”

Xue Wu broke into a frown as he unleashed his powerful aura, an equivalent of five origin vortices. “What’s the difference between rank eleven and twelve? Your cowardice shames the Xue family!”

“Wait!” Xue Ding donned a pair of combat gloves and said, “I’ll join in, too! What I lost was the Wolf King’s prestige, nothing to do with the Xue family.”

Frowning, the elder brother glared fiercely at Xue Ding, but the latter ignored him with a mischievous smile and began flanking Qianye from the side.

Qianye pointed East Peak at the ground, caring little about the addition of a second opponent. Now that he was at his peak levels in both stamina and blood energy, an opponent like Xue Ding wasn’t a problem at all. Only fighting the mysterious ocean ent.i.ty would use up Qianye’s reserves so quickly.

Xue Wu was astonished to find Xue Ding so insistent on flanking Qianye. He knew that this brother—despite his flippant att.i.tude—was highly sensitive to danger. This was something even he couldn’t match. Could it be that this Qianye possessed certain tricks that could endanger their lives?

Qianye also shot an impatient glance at Xue Ding.

The latter’s intuition toward danger was indeed quite sharp. While not dangerous, this kind of opponent was highly unlikeable. As for Xue Wu, the pressure coming off of him was far above Xue Ding’s despite being only one level higher. Apparently, he was a warrior with solid foundations and powerful secret inheritances.

The dark golden blood energy had swum out from Qianye’s heart and the Wings of Inception were beginning to spread out. There, a single, bright feather was trembling gently.

After sounding the opponent out, Qianye intended to use the Shot of Inception to secure a quick kill and then turn back to deal with Xue Ding. Killing the younger brother would take minimal effort, but Qianye had no intention of letting him go. This kind of highly sensitive b.a.s.t.a.r.d might cause trouble for him in the future if left alive.

At this point, the courtyard doors were flung open and Nighteye walked out from within. “Count me in.”

“Why did you come out?” Qianye frowned.

“I want to fight alongside you!”

“But…”

“I’ve already recovered.”

“No.”

“Enough!”

Qianye hadn’t managed to stop her when Xue Ding jumped over to block her way. His eyes were s.h.i.+ning brightly as he took a couple of deep breaths and calmed down his surging emotions. “Hey beautiful, why didn’t I discover your exciting grace last time?”

“That’s because you were busy running for your life.” Nighteye left him no face.

Xue Ding said with an awkward smile, “This time, it’s different.”

Nighteye’s smile became even more dazzling. “It will be no different this time, you better think harder about how to save your worthless skin.”

A dagger appeared in Nighteye’s grasp and danced about between her agile fingers.

Xue Ding looked infatuated, but Xue Wu’s expression changed rapidly. “Vampiric blade? You’re vampires?”

“Anyone can use a good blade,” Qianye replied coldly.

Xue Wu replied, “Indeed a good blade, a good fit for her.”

Qianye waved East Peak at the man. “This one is even better.”

Xue Wu scanned both man and sword with his razor-sharp eyes. “It is indeed a good blade, but you’re not a good match for it.

Qianye’s eyes turned a faint blue. “Not a good match. Are you referring to the sword or the woman?”

“Both.”

Qianye caressed East Peak with his hand, saying, “These are the neutral lands.”

“So?”

“Only results speak for whether one is a match or not.”

Xue Wu shouted, “Good, then I shall wait for your results!”

Qianye hadn’t even made his move, but Nighteye was already furious. Xue Wu’s silhouette appeared in her eyes as her figure flickered past the brother.

A sense of extreme danger welled up in Xue Wu’s heart. He made to pull back without further thought but found that his body was extremely sluggish. The restraining force came from all directions, almost as though he were wrapped up in spider webs. The controlling power wasn’t that strong, but it appeared out of nowhere and disrupted his balance, almost causing him to trip and fall. His leap traveled a mere ten meters in distance and still couldn’t escape the range of Nighteye’s gaze.

The man felt as though a large hand had grasped his heart and was twisting it violently. He let out a loud cry and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Qianye appeared quietly in front of Xue Wu and knocked once on each of his legs, fracturing all the bones therein.

Xue Wu cried out once again and almost fainted from the pain.

Qianye shot a glance at Nighteye, who shrugged at him with a cute smile—she was so beautiful that Qianye was somewhat dazzled.

This was the first time the Eyes of Destruction and Control had worked together against a powerful enemy, and the results were exceedingly good. Xue Wu didn’t even realize what had happened, neither did he get the chance to display all of his powerful secret arts before he was flipped over.

However, three was still a Xue Ding nearby. The young man was already drenched in sweat and stammering. How would he dare to come up and attack?

“Oh right, you’re supposed to be my opponent.” Only at this point did Nighteye remember this person’s existence.

“Beauty, ah no, great beauty, don’t be in a rush to attack!”

Xue Ding hadn’t even finished speaking when a slash arrived at the speed of lightning. It was so fast that he couldn’t even see the trajectory. Xue Ding wasn’t simple, either—he immediately utilized a secret art to increase his speed and moved back over ten meters away.

Even so, he was still a moment too late. He felt a chill sweep past his face and was subsequently shocked out of his wits. Crying all the while, he felt around with his hand, hoping to find where the wound was. His legs were trembling so hard that it looked like he was about to die.

Nighteye was startled and, for a moment, even forgot to deal the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

Xue Ding groped about but simply couldn’t find where the injury was. Then, he howled loudly, “My nose ring!”

The two gem-studded rings on his nasal ala had vanished.

At this point, even the man who had collapsed on the ground could no longer bear to watch. Xue Wu roared furiously, “Shut up! Look at you! You’ve lost all of the Xue family’s face!”

Xue Ding replied instinctively, “Nonsense! What I lost was the Wolf King’s face.”

Deeply angered, Xue Wu had wanted to berate the younger brother again when a cold voice suddenly arrived from the distance. “The consequences of throwing away the Wolf King’s face are dire.”

Hearing this voice, Xue Ding’s expression changed drastically. He gasped. “Gary!?”

Xue Wu was much calmer and only somewhat surprised.

A brown-haired young man walked out from the forest with a struggling native in his grasp. This person was tall, handsome, and had a trace of bloodl.u.s.t in his expression. Gary tossed the native to the ground after exiting the woods and stomped the unfortunate victim’s head apart.

After the act, he kicked the dead body into the Black Grove and said with a sinister smile, “These lowly native rubbish even dares to ambush me? Unfortunately, just a few of them isn’t enough for me to kill. Well, that’s also fine since there are a lot of people here. I’ll take my time killing them!”

Xue Ding forced a radiant smile and said, “Big Brother, how come you’re here?”

Gary licked his lips, and his smile became much more sinister. “Oh my little brother, I followed you here of course!”

The words little brother were heavily stressed.

Xue Ding’s expression turned wretchedly pale.