Chapter 176 Confrontation (I)

Inside the airship of the Dragon Phantom Sect sat an old man with a handsome young man staring at him. The old man’s name was Hao Liyu. Hao Bufei, who had a trace of the dragon emperor’s bloodline, was adopted by him. He found this kid at the edges of the Third Region when he set off and journeyed to the other regions.

Although the old man would insist on making Hao Bufei call him grandfather, the young man wouldn’t want to call him that in front of the public because he was a bit shy as he did not have any family members, to begin with. Or rather, it was still a bit embarrassing for him to call someone his relative.

“Bufei, this old man is already at the end of his life. With your strength, I know that you’re already sufficient enough to lead the entire sect. More—”

“Wait, wait!” Hao Bufei immediately interrupted. “What do you mean by leading the sect, master? Don’t you think it’s still too early for me to do that?”

Hao Liyu just shook his head and heaved a sigh. “Bufei, it’s not that you’re still young. It’s just that with your capabilities, you are now able to lead the sect. I believe in you.” He then smiled amicably at this young man.

“Grandpa!” Hao Bufei, no matter how arrogant his character was, still blushed upon calling Hao Liyu. At his age, some might say he was a bit overreacting, but the old man was the only family he had ever had. “W-What are you saying? Why do you sound like you’re leaving me?”

The old man then laughed, which surprised everyone in the airship. Rarely could they see this old man laugh, even the sect master himself had only seen this old man laugh once.

After all, Hao Liyu was too old to be laughing so strangely after being questioned by a much younger generation. “That’s okay, Bufei. Now, I can finally leave in peace with you calling me “grandpa” in front of everyone.”

“Ah?!” Hao Bufei looked around and ran away from the scene, hiding in a corner. “You are such a shameless old man!”

When the old man, Hao Liyu, heard Hao Bufei, he laughed even harder that anytime, he could vomit blood due to laughter. “Alright, alright. This old man’s just teasing you, you kid.”

“Hmph!”

“Hahaha!”

Everyone in the Dragon Phantom Sect was pretty harmonious. Moreover, how could they not be harmonious when the old man was present with them? He even offered the sect master to accompany them, which he usually never did in the past when the Void Ground opened in the Third Region.

It could be said that Hao Liyu was already very old.

When everybody finally calmed down, the old man suddenly looked in a certain direction. “I don’t know why, but I believe that I can at least let Hao Bufei escape if I am cornered between life and death. I can feel it. There’s danger coming toward us. It’s ominous.”

***

On the other hand, Cai Hong brought the people from the Northern Wolves Sect with him. He was so fast that his company had basically paled during the trip. They always pleaded with him to slow down a bit from time to time, so they could have time to breathe.

It had to be known that Cai Hong comprehended the rules of the gale, the wind. With wind, his speed would be abnormally higher than others. Moreover, having neared the perfection of his comprehension of these rules, he might be able to comprehend the rules of speed.

“Just hold on tight, we’re already near our destination. I can also see others who have already gone ahead of us. We can’t be idle. My mission still matters the most. Even if I cannot enter the Void Ground, I must still finish my mission—that includes crashing my way into the Void Ground although I could probably die.”

Everyone gasped in shock at just how loyal and obedient a servant Cai Hong was. Moreover, the most frightening fact was that he was only a servant. What about his master? Wouldn’t his master be some kind of person who would basically rival the power of a god? That was not human at all!

Nangong Yi and Nangong Bai were both curious about the strength of Cai Hong’s His Highness. However, they dared not utter a word about His Highness. Otherwise, they might incur the wrath of this young man, whose strength surpassed everyone they had encountered so far.

Just where did he hail from?

***

“Why are you teasing me like this? Hmph!” Lan Mingyue acted like a child in front of Yang Lujia. Before Yang Lujia could utter a single word, Lan Mingyue immediately interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear you talk anymore. Anyway, when are we going to the Void Ground? Isn’t it possible to go right now? What are you still waiting for?”

Yang Lujia grinned from ear to ear as he noticed a familiar aura speeding up to that place. Although it was faint, he could still sense him.

After he acknowledged that kid as his servant, a faint connection was established between the two of them. It was strange, but this connection resonated with his blood as if Cai Hong was part of his own.

“We will have to wait first. I wonder how that kid would handle the mission I gave him. It would certainly be easy. He must have already subdued the other sect by now, given his strength. As for the other one…” He then turned to the lady beside him. “Lan Mingyue, didn’t you say that there was an old man in the Dragon Phantom Sect who was even stronger than you are?”

Lan Mingyue nodded and crossed her arms, musingly. “Yes, I’ve never fought him, and neither did the other sect masters. However, I did meet him and his aura was unfathomable. It was also rumored that he had some valuable one-time treasures that he could use to defend the sect from their enemies.

“Moreover, the Dragon Phantom Sect is also the oldest sect that ever existed in the Third Region.”

***

Cai Hong was somewhat anticipating the person he was going to meet this time. After all, Nangong Yi told him that this old man had treasures with him that could even kill a peak Saint King.

If he could steal these resources, wouldn’t that mean that he would be able to contribute to his master, His Highness’s treasure vault? His Highness would certainly have several treasures in his own treasury, even more valuable than that old man’s possessions.

“We’re finally here,” Cai Hong said in a nonchalant tone, although his heart was beating rapidly. He wanted to complete his mission quickly and steal all the treasures of that old man to offer to His Highness.

As a servant, like any other, he wanted to be praised by his master.

However, when he looked at the enormous and extravagant-looking gate of the Void Ground, he was shocked. It was his first time seeing such a grandiose gate.

Its composition was clearly made of hard metal with two engraved dragons on the outside whose eyes were like piercing their souls whenever they tried to look at it directly. It was like these two dragons were telling them that this was their territory and only those who were capable and talented enough could enter.

Even Cai Hong, who was already a Saint Emperor himself, was somewhat afraid of the dragons’ gaze when he looked at it. It was simply too menacing and petrifying. Other than that, they also gave him a sense of familiarity.

The void…

It was the void’s aura that made him feel close to the door and to these dragons.

“Senior, what are you doing? Aren’t we going inside now?”

“Have you seen the old man anywhere?” Cai Hong suddenly asked.

“Uh… no?” Nanong Yi replied. As he scanned the area around them. “I guess they already entered the gate to the Void Ground, senior.”

“No, they haven’t,” Cai Hong said, his tone sounding insistent.

“Eh? How can you be sure about this, senior?” Nangong Yi asked.

“Intuition,” Cai Hong said.

Nangong Yi and the others, on the other hand, were speechless.

“Moreover, I can feel their aura already. There’s someone stronger than any of you here. on their side. It seems to be the old man you’re referring to,” Cai Hong said as he grinned, making them feel shivers down their spine.

“S-Senior? May I ask something? There’s something wrong with the—”

“Yes?” Cai Hong abruptly changed his expression to a calm one, almost as though altering his expressions was something very natural to him. “What did you just say?”

“Uhm…” Nangong Yi was somewhat embarrassed but he was concerned about the changes he noticed on the gate to enter the Void Ground. It was not that significant, but it could mean something or might even become obvious to the eyes later on.

“Whatever you’re going to say, save it for later.” Cai Hong’s gaze then turned sharp as he looked in a certain direction. “Because they’re already here.”