Pang Family's Investigation

Su Yueli nodded, put away the wooden token, and the two turned to leave the registration area.

As they squeezed out of the crowd, Su Yueli's gaze swept across the Imperial Martial Arena once more.

Among the bustling mass of martial artists, one figure stood out especially sharply.

It was a young man in a dark-gold robe. Within five paces of him, no one dared approach.

With his hands clasped behind his back, the young man radiated an oppressive aura. Conservatively speaking, he possessed at least the foundation of the Fourth Realm's middle or late stage.

Two gray-robed elders followed behind him, their auras so restrained that they seemed like ordinary men.

But Su Yueli practiced killing arts by nature, and her instincts were exceptionally sharp. Those two old men were extremely dangerous—very likely Dao protectors of the Sixth Realm, or even the Seventh Realm.

At that thought, Su Yueli raised her chin slightly. "Who is that?"

Following her gaze, Lin Ye examined the man carefully. Stroking his chin, he began analyzing him with a grave expression. "Judging by that arrogant bearing, along with the experts guarding him, in the imperial city, he must be the young master of some top great lineage. As for which lineage exactly, I have no idea."

Su Yueli was rendered speechless.

No, man, you really sounded like an NPC whose only job was to push the plot along.

Anyone with eyes could tell from his guards and attire that he was either rich or noble. Did you really need to deliver a concluding statement?

What was the difference between saying that and saying nothing...

Seeing her strange expression, Lin Ye asked doubtfully, "NPC? What sect is that?"

Su Yueli raised her head, looked at the azure sky above the imperial city, and sighed. "It means, after hearing your words, I have indeed heard your words. Giving you a brain only to load it with dialogue is a complete waste of memory."

Lin Ye scratched his head, utterly baffled. He could not understand a word of the nonsense this girl was spouting.

"Enough. Let's find a place to stay. The tournament starts in three days." Su Yueli ignored him and headed straight for the market district.

Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the Great Li Imperial City.

The atmosphere in the Pang Family estate's council hall was suffocatingly oppressive.

Two Fifth Realm martial artists knelt on one knee, not daring even to breathe loudly.

A middle-aged man sat in the seat of honor.

The Pang Family head, an Eighth Realm grandmaster—Pang Jinbiao!

"Family Head, we've finished investigating Lingshui City."

The martial artist on the left swallowed, his voice trembling faintly. "We found every witness from the inn. After some discussion, they confessed everything."

That "discussion," naturally, had come with brutal threats of broken hands and feet.

The martial artist then gave a detailed description of Su Yueli and Lin Ye's appearances, weapons, and clothing, emphasizing, "According to our investigation, those two came directly for the Great Li Martial Dao Tournament. They must have already entered the imperial city!"

Bang!

The black iron paperweight in Pang Jinbiao's hand was instantly crushed into a lump of scrap metal.

The blood and qi of an Eighth Realm martial artist erupted through the hall like a tsunami, crushing the two Fifth Realm martial artists flat against the ground. Their bones crackled, and blood spilled from the corners of their mouths.

"Such audacity!"

Pang Jinbiao's eyes were bloodshot, his voice echoing through the hall. "They killed Pang Jinbiao's son, yet instead of fleeing for their lives overnight with their tails between their legs, they actually dared come openly to the imperial city to compete! Do they take my Pang Family for the dead?!"

He abruptly rose to his feet, his killing intent soaring to the heavens. "Pass down my death order! Deploy every Pang Family informant and search every major inn on the outskirts of the imperial city! The moment those two are found, sever their hand and foot tendons on the spot and bring them back! I will personally skin them alive to honor Hu'er!"

"Yes!" As though granted a reprieve, the two martial artists scrambled and rolled their way out.

In the hall, a gray-clothed elder stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Family Head, please calm your anger. Should we... send word to the eldest young master and have him return to the family?"

Pang Jinbiao took two deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his raging blood and qi, then waved a hand.

"No need to disturb Xuan'er."

At the mention of his eldest son, Pang Xuan, a trace of pride flashed through Pang Jinbiao's eyes.

"Xuan'er bears a Superior Immortal Bone. He is currently cultivating in the inner sect of the Blood Fiend Sect and has already become an Immortal Dao grand cultivator at the Second-Realm Foundation Establishment Middle Stage! Cultivation places special importance on one's state of mind. Two mere mortal martial artists are not worthy of dirtying Xuan'er's hands!"

Immortals and mortals were worlds apart.

Having an immortal eldest son who was an inner disciple of a great sect was the greatest source of confidence allowing the Pang Family to run rampant through the imperial city.

Pang Jinbiao's face darkened. "The Pang Family has taken root in the imperial city for centuries. If we cannot even crush two foreign ants, how will we stand in the imperial city in the future? Investigate! Within three days, I want that little bitch kneeling before me!"

Upon hearing this, the elder respectfully withdrew.

Elsewhere, in the outer city of the imperial capital.

Su Yueli and Lin Ye found a fairly secluded inn. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Su Yueli spent a hefty sum to rent out an entire high-class courtyard for themselves.

Pushing open the window, she looked at the imperial city's nightscape beneath its first glittering lights.

On the broad streets, golden-armored city guards patrolled back and forth.

In the sky, flying swords or spirit birds belonging to disciples of immortal sects occasionally passed by. Yet all of them flew in an orderly fashion, not daring to fight, much less casually cast spells within the city.

Su Yueli could not help sighing inwardly. The Great Li Imperial City truly possessed profound foundations.

It was a place where immortals and mortals converged, yet it could maintain such strict order on the surface. Immortals did not dare slaughter freely, while martial artists did not dare cause trouble in the streets.

At that thought, Su Yueli relaxed somewhat.

Such strict order and such a vast city meant that even if the Pang Family was powerful, fishing two people out of an imperial city with millions of residents would not be so easy.

And they likely would not uncover them so quickly either.

Closing the window and shutting out the clamor beyond, Su Yueli walked to the bed and sat down cross-legged.

The Pang Family was like an executioner's blade hanging over her head, ready to fall at any moment.

She knew perfectly well that once the preliminary selection began, her whereabouts might no longer remain hidden.

With Fourth Realm peak strength, facing the colossal existence of the Eighth Realm, she did not even possess the right to resist.

Only a breakthrough would do!

With that thought, Su Yueli closed her eyes.

Her consciousness sank completely into her body, sensing the blood and qi surging through her veins.

The Fifth Realm of Martial Dao was called Martial Awakening.

It required one to feed the violent blood and qi of the Fourth Realm peak back into the bone marrow, cleanse the marrow and temper the bones, thoroughly forge skin, flesh, tendons, and bones into a single iron plate, and attain the Unleaking realm of complete internal and external clarity.

This final step was exceedingly difficult.

Tie Tu of Ironbone Martial Hall was also a man who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, yet he had been stuck at this hurdle for half his life before barely reaching it.

But Su Yueli's gaze was resolute. Taking a deep breath, she no longer suppressed the blood and qi within her body, and activated the breathing rhythm of her fist art.

Her blood and qi became like a dragon, beginning to charge against the solid barrier of the Fifth Realm.

"..."

One night passed.

Her blood and qi had struck that barrier an unknown number of times, yet she was always short by that final step at the threshold.

The obstruction was like a dead wall. No matter how she bombarded it, it only trembled slightly.

Su Yueli opened her eyes and slowly exhaled a cloud of turbid heat, feeling a headache coming on.

For a mortal to cross the hurdle of Martial Awakening truly required immense fortune and the tempering of time.

Turning to look out the window, she realized that dawn had come without her noticing.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."