I Am Yang Yan's Master (Part 1)

"This hunting trip is ostensibly a hunt, but in reality, it is meant to select suitable candidates from among our many juniors and cultivate the Family's first heir. If we fail to seize this opportunity, we can forget about ever contending for the Family!"

The Yang Family's hunting party moved slowly forward. At the very back, a young man in black had flickering eyes that revealed fierce ambition.

"Exactly. We absolutely cannot miss this opportunity! The two of us are the strongest among all the juniors. If we join forces, we will surely make a name for ourselves in one stroke. When the time comes, no matter which of us becomes the first heir, the other will possess supreme authority!"

The blue-robed young man beside him curled his lips into a smile.

"Honestly, we have Yang Jun, that useless piece of trash, to thank for this chance! Think about it—someone who could casually spend over a million taels of silver buying things, and even put a martial skill like Three Waves of the Yangtze River up for auction, how could such a person possibly have low status? Yet that useless Yang Jun actually followed and ambushed him. He deserved to die!"

"Hehe, if not for idiots like that, who knew when we would ever have our day in the sun? What worries me most now is Yang Yan. If he comes back at this time to compete for the position of first heir, we may face some trouble..."

"You are overthinking it. Yang Yan was indeed somebody in the past, but now... without the Family's support and no supply of pills, his cultivation progress must be painfully slow. I heard that even now, he is only at the Mid Fourth Level Qi Sea, far inferior to the two of us at the late Fourth Level!"

"Mid Fourth Level? But he is the Patriarch's son. The Patriarch only had two sons, Yang Jun and him. Now that Yang Jun is dead, I am afraid the Patriarch may favor him..."

"I never expected your strength to be decent while your courage is so small. So what if the Patriarch favors him? When Yang Yan left the Family, all the elders were present. If the Patriarch truly dares to appoint a useless fool who voluntarily abandoned the Family, your father, the First Elder, and my father, the Second Elder, will certainly jointly impeach him. By then, he may not even be able to keep his seat as Patriarch!"

"That is true..."

As the black-robed and blue-robed youths analyzed the situation, they spoke with effortless familiarity. One could tell at a glance that neither held a low position within the Family.

"Hmm? Why have the people ahead stopped? Let's go take a look!"

Just as the two imagined how they would make a name for themselves in one stroke during this hunt, the slowly advancing procession suddenly came to a halt. They exchanged glances, then urged their horses forward together.

"What is going on? Why have we stopped?"

Before they reached the front, a dignified voice rang out. Hoofbeats clattered, and a middle-aged man rode over.

Several elderly men followed behind him. Every one of them had condensed auras, their true qi seeming almost tangible. The slightest movement from them produced a force that was impossible to resist!

Sixth Level of the Qi Sea Nine Heavens, Astral Gang Realm!

The middle-aged man was even stronger. With a slight circulation of true qi within his body, gleaming golden weapon armor would form over his surface, impervious to blades and spears, impossible for them to pierce!

Seventh Level of the Qi Sea Nine Heavens, Weapon Armor Realm!

These people were none other than the Yang Family Patriarch, Yang Tiecheng, and the elders!

"Reporting to the Patriarch, it seems that people fought in the valley ahead not long ago... I feared there might be danger, so I had everyone stop..."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, a young man at the front clasped his fists and answered.

"A fight? You all wait here. The elders and I will go have a look!" Yang Tiecheng frowned when he heard this. He stopped the black-robed and blue-robed youths who were approaching, then waved his hand and led the elders forward.

After traveling two or three li, they saw a valley stretching across the path before them. It was precisely the location of this hunt: Luoshui Gorge!

They rode forward for a while and indeed found the valley in complete disarray. The trees were covered in scorched marks and smoke, while the ground was riddled with pits, as though it had just undergone a battle.

"It seems the battle ended not long ago!"

Everyone dismounted and proceeded on foot. After observing the area for a while, they reached their conclusion.

Judging by the scorched marks on the trees and the craters in the ground, this destruction could not have occurred long ago—at most ten-odd minutes earlier!

In other words, someone might have been fighting here only ten-odd minutes ago!

"Hmm? Patriarch, look at these pits..."

Suddenly, an elder pointed at the traces left by the battle on the ground. His previously steady expression turned deathly pale in an instant.

In the direction of his finger lay a pit not far away. Every one of these pits was identical in size, and their depth and positioning were as though calculated with meticulous precision—completely identical!

Furthermore, every pit had been created by a single strike of overwhelming force. Their surfaces were smooth as mirrors. Even more shocking, the surrounding area had not suffered the slightest damage; not even a blade of grass near the edges of the pits had been harmed!

Logically speaking, creating so many pits in the ground should have caused energy to run rampant, destroying everything around them. Yet these pits seemed as though they had been measured out deliberately—even the distance between each one was equal. Such a situation could only indicate one thing...

"The person fighting had terrifyingly strong control over their power!"

Yang Tiecheng spoke slowly, his face grave as he gave his conclusion.

Since it had been a battle, no one would deliberately measure out spots to strike pits into the ground! There was only one explanation: while the two fought, one had been pursuing while the other fled. These pits must have been created by some special martial skill used by the pursuer!

For pits formed by a martial skill to be so perfectly orderly, this person's control over their strength was simply horrifying!

Once one's cultivation reached a certain level, one would understand that battle was not simply a matter of greater power being better. Excessive power instead wasted stamina. Every attack required moderation; only by controlling one's strength so it did not exceed the proper limit while still being able to wound the enemy could one be considered a peerless master!

Clearly, the person who had created these deep pits had not only achieved that, but achieved it flawlessly!

"To control one's power with such precision, their strength is likely at least that of a Qi Grandmaster—a grandmaster of a generation!" another elder said, still shaken.

Eighth Level of the Qi Sea, Qi Grandmaster—a grandmaster of a generation. Such strength would be nearly invincible in Luoshui City and could rank among the foremost experts even throughout the entire Shenfeng Empire!

"Quick, look at this hole!" Another elder suddenly pointed ahead.

Everyone followed the direction of his finger. After only one glance, their faces turned pale as gold paper.

Before them stood an enormous boulder over ten meters in diameter. A hole as thick as a finger had been punched through its upper portion. A ray of light occasionally shone through it, and after one look, everyone understood that the hole had pierced through the entire boulder!

A finger-thick hole... It had surely been made with a finger!

To pierce through a boulder more than ten meters in diameter with a single finger—and the boulder was incomparably hard granite—just how powerful must that finger force have been?

How could Luoshui City contain such a terrifyingly powerful existence?