Both of the Huo family's experts assumed the Blood Guardians had betrayed their hiding spot.
Qiu Yimeng, however, slowly shook her head and chuckled lightly. "Those two Blood Guardians are currently recuperating from their injuries and have no attention to spare at the moment. But it wasn't me who discovered the two of you either—I'm not that capable."
"Then…"
"Hehe. This junior will take her leave." Qiu Yimeng offered no further explanation, merely flashing a faint smile.
Miss Qiu was clever and perceptive, skilled at manipulating situations through schemes. Although she had tempered that side of herself around Yang Kai, she saw no reason to do so with others.
At a time like this, she saw no need to reveal the truth. Leaving a touch of mystery for those two would only benefit Yang Kai all the more.
After Qiu Yimeng departed, the two men stared at the fine wine in their hands and let out dejected sighs.
They knew perfectly well who had tipped Qiu Yimeng off, but they simply couldn't believe that Yang Kai possessed such uncanny abilities.
"What do we do about this?" one of them muttered, his brow deeply furrowed.
The other wore a grim expression as well, shaking his head. "It's not easy. We've accepted two jugs of his wine. Tonight…"
"This Young Master Kai is quite the schemer."
As the saying goes—eat someone's food and your words grow soft, take someone's gifts and your hands grow weak. Even if it was just two jugs of wine, they had been personally delivered by Miss Qiu herself. A modest gift carrying great sentiment. When the time came tonight and Yang Kai's estate faced danger, could they really stand by and do nothing?
If anyone else had delivered the wine, or even Yang Kai himself, the two experts could have refused on righteous principle. They could only refuse no one but Qiu Yimeng.
"Besides, the Patriarch hasn't authorized us to participate in the succession war yet. And historically, it's perfectly acceptable for other factions to deploy experts at the seventh or eighth level of the Shenyou Realm—or even at its peak—but the Eight Great Families have never sent anyone above the fifth level. If we act rashly and are discovered… where would we put our faces?"
"How about we return the wine?" one suggested.
The other nodded. "Sure. You go return it."
"Get lost!"
Returning the wine would be a slap in Miss Qiu's face. Who would do something so foolish?
They exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads and sighing. Those two jugs of fine wine now felt hotter in their hands than red-hot iron tongs.
With no way out, they split the jugs between them. But drinking the wine no longer brought the rich flavor of old—it was nothing but bitterness and helplessness on their tongues.
Time drifted slowly onward. The sun set and the moon rose. Stars dotted the heavens, and the sky seemed strung with countless glittering gemstones, clustered together in breathtaking splendor.
The Martial City, which had been bustling with noise during the day, abruptly fell silent.
Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes were trained on the movements of the eight young masters' estates within the city.
Faint wisps of Divine Sense crisscrossed through the Martial City, monitoring every direction. The most powerful among the experts deployed their Divine Sense with bold abandon, comprehensively surveying all activity in their surroundings.
At the very center of the Martial City stood the Sealing God Temple.
It was a magnificent palace. Within its halls, eight white-haired elders sat cross-legged, each positioned at one of the eight corners.
All eight were as calm and undisturbed as still water. Each circulated their own cultivation technique, appearing outwardly unconcerned—but in truth, their Divine Sense had long since penetrated every corner of the Martial City.
These eight belonged to the Eight Great Families of Zhongdu, and every single one of them was a supreme expert above the Shenyou Realm.
The Yang family's succession war was unfolding in the Martial City. Young prodigies from across the land had gathered here, and virtually every participant was a leading figure within their own faction. The stakes were enormous.
That was why, whenever the succession war commenced, the Eight Great Families would each dispatch one expert above the Shenyou Realm to station in the city. First, to oversee the outcome of the succession war. Second, to guard the young participants.
Otherwise, if experts from the Cangyun Evil Ground descended upon the city and wiped everyone out in one sweep, the losses would be catastrophic.
These eight were all well past a hundred years of age. The eldest had even reached two hundred—truly half-buried in the earth, neck-deep in grave soil. They had long since ceased concerning themselves with internal family affairs or the state of the world, devoting themselves solely to personal cultivation and the comprehension of the martial path.
Their role here was not to interfere with the succession war, but solely to oversee its outcome and protect the Martial City from falling into enemy hands.
As for who won and who lost, they could not have cared less.
At their level of strength and age, their only remaining aspiration was to penetrate the mysteries beyond the Shenyou Realm within their lifetime. That was the sole pursuit that still drove them.
Within the eight young masters' estates, some were stirring with restless intent, some were wracked with worry, some were preparing to sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight from across the river, hoping to reap the fisherman's profit.
The forces at their disposal varied, and so did their attitudes.
The night deepened, yet all eight estates remained utterly still, leaving the many onlookers who had been eagerly awaiting a confrontation quietly growing anxious.
Yang Kai stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his figure as straight as a sword, at the central hall of his own estate. His gaze was fixed on a command banner hanging at the very top of the hall.
In the succession war, that banner was a key element as well.
There were two ways to defeat a young master in the succession war.
The first was to capture the person directly. Once done, that young master would lose all qualification to continue competing for succession.
The second method involved that very banner.