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“They might be aristocracy,” said another.

A certain bearded officer spat out a mouthful of spittle. “Impossible. What kind of aristocratic family would run over to such a place at this time? We have to fight and die every day here. How could those proud young masters be willing to join in on the action? Moreover, those from the major families have their noses in the air, and they’re usually not even willing to glance at us. These people don’t look the part!”

The only major in the group said, “What are you all babbling about?! Just do your job no matter who they are! Even people from the four major clans must follow the procedures.”

The officers all agreed. One among them said with a laugh, “We should take it easy if they’re from the Zhao clan. Or else, the Young Miss Division Commander’s face will turn ugly.”

The major snorted and said decisively, “Everyone will be treated equally no matter who they are. Besides, why would the Zhao people come here? Stop speaking nonsense and get to work! You’ll get three months of sentry duty if you keep goofing off.”

The officer was shocked and waved his hands hurriedly. “Oh no! If I don’t fight for three months, the idleness will be ball-breaking!”

The officers’ little bickering wasn’t very loud. However, the people from the airship were of extraordinary strength and had heard all of it clearly. Their expressions turned rather odd except for the old man who remained completely unmoved.

The petty officer assigned by the major immediately withdrew his sloppy demeanor. He then headed over to the airship with some men and began the routine registration and inspection process. The entire process was carried out strictly in adherence to the rules and without any presumptuous behavior.

Seeing this, the old man nodded and said, “The soldiers are led fairly well.”

There was an astonished expression on the young man’s countenance for he knew the elder rarely offered praises. Moreover, the major families were governed by strict rules—how could these ruffian officers be considered good in his eyes?

As such, Qianye hadn’t even cultivated for two days when he was interrupted by the arrival of an important guest. This Count Yuyang was, at the same time, Duke Yan’s younger brother, definitely an honored guest in every aspect. Moreover, they had used the Zhao clan’s name on the visitor\'s token, signifying that Count Yuyang was here on behalf of the Zhao clan.

It was just that Qianye didn’t quite understand before entering the living room. Count Yuyang was most likely here for Zhao Yuying, and she was indeed out at the moment, but why would the man insist on seeing him?

A thin old man was sitting within the room with his eyes lowered. He only looked up to glance at Qianye when the latter stepped through the door. That single glance made Qianye feel as though a bolt of lightning had flashed past his eyes. His entire body shook and momentarily lost all perception.

Qianye was shocked, and his body reacted automatically. His origin power rumbled out like the raging tides and quickly shattered the origin power binding his body.

Astoundment flashed through the old man’s eyes as he nodded. “What a fierce and tyrannical art. Not bad.”

Qianye was astonished. This old man’s strength was completely unfathomable—a single glance had locked him down on the spot. Although he was able to extricate himself almost immediately, it consumed a good chunk of his origin power. Moreover, a moment of restriction was enough to kill him many times over had they been in an actual fight.

Solely in terms of combat strength, Count Yuyang’s title as an honorary count was apparently too unfitting.

“Combatant Formula?” the young man behind the elder blurted out in astonishment.

His eyesight wasn’t weak despite his young age, and he was able to figure out Qianye’s cultivation art with a single glance. However, the combatant formula was a famous cannon fodder art. As such, it was extremely powerful against opponents below the champion level, but using it to contend against those above was virtually unheard of, especially against people at the elderly man’s level. This caused the young man to be particularly astonished.

The old man was still sitting formally as he sized up Qianye from head to toe. “It’s indeed uncommon to see someone cultivate the Combatant formula to this stage. What’s rarer is the purity of your origin power—truly exceptional.”

Qianye slowly calmed down his origin power and sat down across the old man. “It’s an honor to receive Count Yuyang’s praise.”

Count Yuyang nodded. He then summoned the young man to the front and introduced, “This is Zhao Fenglei, my great nephew. I brought him out this time to broaden his horizons and gain some experience lest he becomes too engrossed in cultivation at home and grows to be lacking in this respect.”

A thought popped up in Qianye’s mind as he recalled the documents he had seen. “Could Brother Fenglei be Duke Yan’s grandson?”

Count Yuyang replied, “Correct, he’s indeed my elder brother’s lineal grandson.”

Zhao Fenglei offered some conventional niceties. Not the slightest fault could be found in his tone, but Qianye’s sharp senses perceived a faint hostility emanating from him, even some killing intent. This bewildered Qianye somewhat because he was quite certain that he had never met Zhao Fenglei before and knew not where he had offended the young man.

Count Yuyang spoke while Qianye was still puzzling over this matter, “This old man came here to bring word to Duke You’s young miss. The empire has recruited an unprecedented number of rising talents from the major clans for this bloody iron-curtain battle. Our Zhao clan also attaches great importance to this fight and Yuying is the leader elected by our council of elders. Her staying in Blackflow up until now is proof of how much she cares about you, so this old man was somewhat curious and insisted on meeting you. And, indeed, you did not disappoint me.”

Qianye only laughed without continuing this topic. Whether in terms of age, combat strength or rank, Count Yuyang wasn’t excessive in playing the part of a senior.

Count Yuyang pondered for a while and said, “I hope you assist Yuying as much you can in this battle and accumulate contributions. This old man might as well tell you that the empire’s bounty this time is several times greater than before. Our Zhao clan will also arrange separate rewards that are not at all inferior to the empire’s. As long as you accumulate enough merits, even our Duke Yan Lineage’s secret cultivation arts are on the table.”

Zhao Fenglai was shocked. “This…”

But he immediately stopped speaking when Count Yuyang raised his hand. The young man was apparently quite reverent of this elder.

Qianye pondered in silence for a moment before saying, “I shall try my best since you think so highly of me.”

Whether it was with the empire or the major clans, bountiful rewards signified greater danger. Judging from Count Yuyang’s words, the Zhao clan seemed to have invested quite a bit of power in this battle.

Qianye wasn’t quite clear as to why the Zhao clan would recruit a small mercenary corps commander like himself since they had already mustered such military power. But he had long since decided on a strategy regarding this Iron Curtain. He had just recently built a small foundation for himself, so how could he sacrifice everything for the Zhao clan in exchange for rewards?

The secret cultivation art, no matter how good, was a matter for the future. The Combatant Formula wasn’t inferior to any other art below the champion level. Meanwhile, Qianye’s condition was special, and his path to the champion-rank was unlikely to be conventional.

Zhao Fenglei’s expression was one of displeasure as he listened to the conversation from one side since the evasive intent in Qianye’s reply was obvious. He wanted to say something but refrained from doing so after glancing at Count Yuyang.

Count Yuyang, on the other hand, nodded calmly and said, “Since that is the case, this old man will take his leave.”

Qianye stood up to see the visitors out and had just exited the building when a personal guard rushed over with an urgent report. “Sire! Young Miss Zhao has returned with grave injuries!”

Qianye was astonished. “Yuying’s injured?! Where is she? Lead the way immediately.”

Count Yuyang was still beside him. He who had never worn his heart on his sleeves couldn’t help but reveal an astonished expression at this moment. Zhao Fenglei’s expression shifted even more rapidly. Everyone followed the personal guard and hurried toward Zhao Yuying’s residence.

Zhao Yuying wasn’t lying on the bed when Qianye rushed into the room, but her condition wasn’t necessarily better. She was sitting beside the table with two bottles in front of her, one of which was still unopened. Hearing people enter, she withdrew her hand and looked up.

Zhao Yuying’s face was devoid of color. Although she was wearing her usual nonchalant expression, Qianye, with his sharp eyesight, immediately noticed that her hand under the table was trembling slightly all along.

She couldn’t even control her own fingers despite her powerful strength—one could easily imagine the severity of her injury. This small maneuver naturally couldn’t evade Count Yuyang’s eyes. The old man’s expression turned rather unsightly.

Zhao Yuying was startled upon seeing Count Yuyang. “Sixth Grand Uncle, why are you here?” The more powerful one was, the greater the danger under the Iron Curtain. Why would an important character of the Duke Yan lineage personally take this risk at such a time?

Qianye spoke anxiously without waiting for Count Yuyang’s reply, “How are your injuries?”

Zhao Yuying shook her head and said, “It’s no big deal. Such a small injury isn’t a problem for this mom—for me.”

Zhao Yuying was somewhat more reserved in front of Count Yuyang and quickly withdrew her usual obscene language. She said it wasn’t a big deal, but Qianye didn’t believe it at all.

“Who did this?” His words were filled with killing intent.

“That bastard Nangong Xiaofeng. F*ck! This mommy was chasing down a vampire viscount when that bastard launched a sneak attack. But the little animal didn’t have it easy either. He suffered a fierce blow from my cannon. Damn his grandmother! He made me waste that cannon shell. That’s my entire fortune!”

Zhao Yuying was apparently quite furious. The angrier she was, the less reserved she became, and foul language eventually began to gush out from her mouth. Count Yuyang, with his level of self-restraint and upbringing, revealed a great shift in facial expression. Zhao Fenglei was completely flabbergasted and even his body was frozen stiff. Apparently, he had never seen this kind of disposition.

Qianye, on the other hand, felt somewhat relieved. He would find it abnormal if she wasn’t spewing foul language. It seemed the injuries were still under control at the moment since she was so full of spirit.

“Nangong Xiaofeng?” Qianye frowned as he tried to recall if he had ever heard of this name.

Zhao Yuying sighed. “He’s the number one expert of the Nangong family’s younger generation. In the recent years, he’s even a bit stronger than this mommy here, but that’ll change after a few years!”

“Why?”

“Of course it’s because of Xiaoniao’s matter. What else can it be?”

Killing intent surged in Qinaye’s eyes. “Where did you meet him?”

Zhao Yuying was shocked and replied hurriedly, “What are you planning to do? Don’t be rash?”

“It’ll be better to kill him since he’s injured!”

Count Yuyang let out a cough at this moment and said slowly, “This matter isn’t so simple. We mustn’t act rashly. There are strong undercurrents within the empire, and the Nangong family’s tendencies are not clear. It’s exactly a crucial contesting moment. We have to consider the aftermath at length since an inappropriate handling of matters will push them to the other side. Naturally, Yuying’s injury isn’t a small matter. Rest assured, we will definitely make Nangong Yuanbo fork out a satisfactory explanation before we let this slip.”

Qianye narrowed his eyes. A sanguineous hue ignited within his clear, obsidian pupils as he sneered, “A satisfactory explanation? Yuying has been wounded like this. Only Nangong Xiaofeng’s death is a satisfactory answer!”

Zhao Fenglai couldn’t help butting in, “You want to kill Nangong Xiaofeng when you’re not even a champion yet? He’s not someone you can casually move even if he’s heavily injured. What are you going to fight him with? The Combatant Formula? Besides, is the Nangong family someone you can afford to offend if our Zhao clan doesn’t take the initiative?”

Qianye turned to glare at Zhao Fenglei and suddenly said, “Get lost!”