Wu Family's Provocation

"Tomorrow is Wuzhou City's annual Genius Summit!"

Over the past few days, Li Ye had raised his cultivation to the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five. He was just a thread away from stepping into Spirit Martial Tier Six. Yet that final thread had kept him from breaking through for days.

"It seems I need an opportunity!"

In less than two months, he had gone from a cripple unable to cultivate to the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five. Everyone believed that Li Ye had deliberately endured in silence for the past few years, gained some miraculous fortune, and was now gradually erupting.

Yet only he himself knew that all these changes had happened within merely two months!

The excessive streak of breakthroughs had almost made him forget how difficult cultivation was. Now that his progress had suddenly slowed, it was only natural.

But where would the opportunity that could help him break through come from?

Just then, Li Ye heard a commotion outside.

"What happened?"

The courtyard where he lived was quite close to the residences of the other Inner Disciples. The moment he pushed open the door, he heard shouting outside, along with even the sounds of fighting.

When he stepped out, he saw several familiar faces glaring furiously at a few strangers. Among them, Li Ye even spotted Li Yuan Jia, whom he knew relatively well. Seeing blood at the corner of his mouth, Li Ye could not help but be startled!

"Li Yuan Jia, you're still as useless as last year. You couldn't even take ten of my moves. I advise you not to attend this Genius Summit. The top ten has no place for you!"

An arrogant, overbearing voice rang high and clear in Li Ye's ears. Looking closely, he saw three unfamiliar young men standing opposite a group of Inner Disciples led by Li Yuan Jia.

The speaker was a pale-faced young man among them. He wore a cold smile, his gaze full of arrogance.

When Li Ye came out, he happened to see the match between him and Li Yuan Jia end. Li Yuan Jia had been inferior in skill and was injured by his opponent.

"Wu Hao! If you have the guts, face me at the Genius Summit!"

"That's right! That's right! You used despicable means to launch a sneak attack just now. What kind of heroes does that make you?"

Immediately, someone among the Inner Disciples began to complain. Yet the young man merely sneered. "What a joke. A sneak attack? Your own vigilance was too weak! And you still call yourselves descendants of a Lineage? You don't even understand such a simple principle! What a disgrace!"

Those words immediately made the Li Family's Inner Disciples glare furiously. Unfortunately, they were clearly deeply wary of the three men and did not dare strike rashly.

"What's going on?"

Li Ye approached and casually pulled someone aside to ask.

That person had been about to flare up, but when he turned and saw that it was Li Ye, the formidable newcomer ranked among the top ten Inner Disciples, he immediately fell silent. He then patiently explained what had happened.

Only after listening did Li Ye learn that the three men were from the other two of Wuzhou City's Three Great Families. The one who had just fought Li Yuan Jia and injured him was Wu Hao, a genius of the Wu Family. Of the other two, one was also a Wu Family disciple, while the last was from the Yu Family.

"That Wu Hao is one of the very best among the Wu Family's many geniuses. His strength is second only to Wu Batian, one of Wuzhou City's Four Great Geniuses from the previous Genius Summit. He holds a position of pivotal importance throughout the Wu Family!"

Li Ye looked toward the pale-faced young man who had injured Li Yuan Jia. He was around twenty years old and was sweeping his mocking gaze over the Li Family group, utterly unconcerned that he stood within the Li Family grounds.

"Are there no more decent ones? Trash like Li Yuan Jia is actually your Li Family's second-ranked Inner Disciple. What a crushing disappointment! It seems that aside from Li Mo, your Li Family truly has no one left!"

Wu Hao's words were wildly arrogant, showing no regard whatsoever for the Li Family.

"Wu Hao! Don't go too far! This is the Li Family, not your Wu Family!"

An Inner Disciple shouted angrily, yet he did not dare make a move. Li Yuan Jia had been injured after only a few exchanges with the man, and they knew they lacked the strength to step forward.

Only after Li Ye questioned them carefully did he learn that not long ago, Wu Hao, another Wu Family disciple, and someone from the Yu Family had come to the Li Family and immediately challenged the Inner Disciples.

"Wu Hao truly deserves to be one of the top ten from the previous Genius Summit. None of us can even last three moves before him."

The Inner Disciple Li Ye had questioned wore a bitter expression. As Li Ye looked at Wu Hao, he sensed that the man was at around the peak eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm. He had yet to break through Martial Dao Master and enter the Martial Dao Grandmaster realm.

It turned out that Wu Hao had ranked sixth in the previous Wuzhou City Genius Summit. He was considerably stronger than Li Ji, who had once been the Li Family's second-ranked Inner Disciple. This time, he had come directly to challenge Li Yuan Jia in a forceful display.

"Li Yuan Jia, you and I are both the second-ranked Inner Disciples of our respective families. Unfortunately, you are far too weak. You're not challenging in the slightest! Why not have that so-called number one genius of yours, Li Mo, crawl out here? Let me see just how much one of last year's Four Great Geniuses has grown over the past year!"

Arrogant! Arrogant beyond measure!

Yet no one on the Li Family's side dared respond. Wu Hao might have been exceedingly arrogant, but his strength was equally fearsome.

"Wu Hao, you aren't worthy of making Li Mo act! I alone am enough to deal with you!"

Over there, Li Yuan Jia forcibly drew a breath and pushed away the others supporting him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Unfortunately, in the next moment, a hand pressed down on his shoulder, and a voice sounded beside his ear. "Yuan Jia, heal your injuries first. Leave this man to me!"

The one holding him down was Li Ye. Li Ye had already seen that although Li Yuan Jia looked mostly fine, their earlier exchange had injured his internal organs. If he did not immediately regulate his breathing and recover, his injuries would only worsen and might even affect tomorrow's Genius Summit!

"Li Ye, his strength isn't something you can handle!"

When he saw that it was Li Ye, Li Yuan Jia's expression relaxed. Yet he quickly shook his head. Li Ye had performed brilliantly before, even overpowering Li Wei and Li Xuan, two Martial Masters at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, to become the seventh-ranked Inner Disciple. But the gap in cultivation was simply too great!

With a single glance, he could tell that Li Ye was only at the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Five. Although he had advanced greatly compared to a few days ago, and that speed alone was enough to astonish him beyond measure, the gap was still far too vast!

"Your strength may allow you to contend with Martial Masters at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, but the gap between a Martial Master and a Martial Dao Master is not as small as you imagine!"

"Don't worry. I know my limits."

With a faint smile, Li Ye knew that if this had been ten days ago, he truly might not have had the confidence to fight a Martial Dao Master, especially one who had entered the top ten at Wuzhou City's previous Genius Summit.

But things were different now. The Cloud-Turning Palm, Frost Fist, and Gale Legs had all reached the Minor Success stage, increasing his strength by more than threefold. On top of that, he had directly cultivated the Phantom Step to Major Success. He was confident that as long as no Martial Dao Grandmaster appeared, there were very few people capable of threatening him.

Of course, if things truly went wrong, he still had two trump cards in hand: the Sword Control Technique and Blood Eyes. He had nothing to fear!

Li Yuan Jia hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying quietly, "Be careful!"

For some reason, as Li Yuan Jia looked into Li Ye's confident eyes, he was infected by that confidence. He actually began to faintly hope that Li Ye would create another miracle, just as he had during the Inner Disciple competition.

"Your opponent is me."

Replacing Li Yuan Jia, Li Ye directly faced Wu Hao. Only when he truly stood before him did Li Ye understand why Li Yuan Jia had tried to stop him. The aura belonging to a Martial Dao Master exerted fatal suppression upon those whose cultivation was insufficient. It was a kind of oppressive presence, as though encountering a natural predator. Being able to bring out seventy or eighty percent of one's strength was already impressive, and the greater the gap in cultivation, the stronger that suppression became.

Yet Li Ye felt no discomfort at all. The pressure of his opponent's aura was child's play before him and could not affect him in the slightest.

"Who the hell are you? Get lost! A peak Spirit Martial Tier Five actually dares challenge me, Wu Hao? I really can't tell whether you're truly stupid or simply courting death!"

The instant Wu Hao saw Li Ye, he dismissed him with utter disdain and could not even be bothered to act.

"He is Li Ye, ranked seventh among our Inner Disciples this time!"

Someone immediately shouted from the side. Though many of them disliked Li Ye for stepping over their heads and surpassing them despite having once been a cripple, at this moment, facing an outside enemy, they hoped Li Ye could create another miracle.

"Seventh-ranked Inner Disciple? A brat who's only at Spirit Martial Tier Five?"

Upon hearing that, Wu Hao revealed a strange expression, then burst into loud laughter. "Are you joking? Or has your Li Family fallen to such a state that a trash like Li Yuan Jia can be your second-ranked Inner Disciple, and you even let a brat at Spirit Martial Tier Five enter your top ten Inner Disciples?"

The two men behind him also sneered repeatedly, their eyes revealing traces of contempt.

The Li Family members did not know how to refute that. Were they supposed to say that Li Ye's combat strength was even more monstrous than that of ordinary Martial Masters at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm? That he could learn a High-Grade Yellow-Tier Combat Technique after watching it once?

Not only were they unwilling to tell people from the Wu Family and Yu Family, but even if they did, no one would believe them!

"Are we fighting or not? If not, get the hell out of the Li Family!"

Li Ye frowned, yet inwardly he thought, The Three Great Families of Wuzhou City have struggled against one another for centuries. Each wants to dominate Wuzhou City, yet they have always kept one another in check. From the looks of it, have the Wu Family and Yu Family both turned their spearheads toward the Li Family?

If that were truly the case, then even though the Li Family was known as the foremost of Wuzhou City's Three Great Families, facing two families at once would surely be fraught with peril!

After all, the Three Great Families were roughly equal in strength. Once two joined forces against the remaining one, they could very well shatter the balance that had endured in Wuzhou City for centuries!

"What are you? A piece of trash at Spirit Martial Tier Five dares speak to me like that!"

Wu Hao's face turned cold as a tangible killing intent erupted from his body.

"Trash? Indeed. You don't even dare accept the challenge of someone at Spirit Martial Tier Five. You Wu Family people truly are trash!"

Li Ye's sharp retort immediately made Wu Hao lose face. With an angry roar, he directly struck out with his palm!

"Brat! You are courting death!"

A terrifying palm wind howled as it crashed forward with savage force! Li Ye's expression grew slightly grave. Though he had spoken lightly, he knew in his heart that this was the strongest opponent he had faced so far. Wu Hao's strength even felt no less formidable than Li Huangran's!