Before the Zheng residence gate, all present bowed in salute, including Gu Ang—for a Spirit Fusion expert could defeat him with a single hand. Zheng Mufeng nodded, his face impassive. "Gu Ang, I know why you have come."
Gu Ang bowed deeply once more. "Then I beg Elder Zheng to grant me leave to take Gao Han away." Every head of the Zheng clan had held the rank of Grand Marshal, and Zheng Mufeng had been the previous supreme commander.
"Gu Ang," Zheng Mufeng began, "you yourself said a moment ago that weakness is no cause for vengeance—"
"But Gao Han is nothing but a commoner!" Gu Ang cut him off sharply. "To dare harm a noble clansman is a crime punishable by death!"
Gao Han felt a flicker of anger at the remark, yet remained silent. He would wait and see how the Zheng clan handled the matter.
"Who calls Gao Han a commoner?" Zheng Ling stepped forward, his tone cold. "Gao Han is the top Outer Disciple of the Misty Sect. Are you suggesting the Gu clan's heirs hold higher status than the disciples of the Misty Sect?"
"What? A Misty Sect disciple?"
"So he is the top Outer Disciple of the Misty Sect. No wonder the clan leader treats him so well."
"A prodigy like him must be a key candidate for the sect's cultivation. To reach True Essence at sixteen is unheard of."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Gu Ang's attitude shifted abruptly, his face breaking into a smile. "A disciple of the Misty Sect! Then we are hardly strangers. My two sons, Gu Yunbie and Gu Yunli, are also disciples there. Might you know them, Young Hero Gao?"
He reasoned that if Gao Han knew his sons, he might lure the prodigy to the Gu clan—better to win him over than kill him, and deal a small blow to the Zhengs besides. Zheng Yunqing's heart tightened at the words; after their time together, he had grown to realize Gao Han's terrifying talent. If the youth truly knew the Gu brothers, the Zhengs might lose such a valuable talent.
Gao Han smiled faintly. "Indeed. I know them both."
Zheng Yunqing's heart sank, and even Zheng Mufeng frowned. Gu Ang roared with laughter. "Then we have fought without cause! We are allies!" The Gu clansmen cheered.
But Gao Han quickly extinguished his joy. "Both were defeated by me. Gu Yunbie was wounded by my hand. He was the top Outer Disciple before I defeated him and claimed the title."
The grins on the Gu faces froze solid. Even Gu Ang stared at Gao Han in stunned silence.
Zheng Yunqing exhaled in relief, and a smile returned to Zheng Mufeng's features. Gu Ang's voice turned icy. "You mean to say—"
Gao Han nodded. "I know them, yes. But we met on the battlefield. We are not friends. We are enemies."
"You dare mock me! I will tear you to pieces!" Gu Ang snarled, his rage shattering the stone slabs beneath his feet. Gao Han took note: from this display and his earlier movements, Gu Ang clearly practiced a leg-based art.
As if confirming his thought, Gu Ang leaped into the air and crashed downward in a whirling kick. The strike blurred into a mist of illusory shadows, descending like a heavy cloud, leg-shaped streams of essence hammering the ground below. Zheng Yunqing let out a furious shout. "I will meet your kick! Battle Heaven!"
Zheng Yunqing's palms multiplied into a storm of strikes, each unleashing a palm-shaped burst of essence as if waging war against the sky. His energy clashed with the wall of leg shadows, and thunderous booms rolled across the imperial capital.
In a mansion on the southern side of the city, no less lavish than the Zheng residence, an elderly man had been tending to a bonsai at its most delicate stage. The sudden thunderous clash made him snip a branch he should not have. His face darkened with irritation. "Who dares make such a racket?" He vanished from the courtyard in an instant.
Violent gales erupted from the collision of energies, buffeting the onlookers so fiercely they could barely stand. Gao Han had never witnessed eighth-layer True Essence experts fight; he watched spellbound, awed by their overwhelming power.
The leg shadows dispersed, and the palm force faded. Gu Ang hovered before Zheng Yunqing, his right leg sweeping forward in an unstoppable arc. Zheng Yunqing crossed his palms to block, and the impact exploded like a thunderclap.
Zheng Yunqing's legs sank into the earth. Gu Ang was sent flying ten zhang, skidding back three steps, each imprinting deep into the stone.
"Hmph. The Zheng clan's Battle Heaven Formula lives up to its reputation—truly the palm art of the battlefield."
"Your Gu clan's Thirteen Lonely Clouds Kicks are no less formidable."
The Thirteen Lonely Clouds Kicks, another Mystic-Rank low-tier technique, shrouded the foe in a cloud of illusory leg strikes, leaving them unable to discern the real attack until it was too late. A single kick could slay an ordinary fourth-layer True Essence warrior.
"Who dares create such uproar?"
A thunderous roar reverberated through the sky, pounding at Gao Han's ears until his chest felt ready to burst. He quickly closed his eyes and circulated his essence to steady himself.
Others fared no better. Those below the third layer of True Essence collapsed, coughing up blood; some fell unconscious outright. The roar carried the imposing might of a Spirit Fusion expert, and its power was devastating.
Zheng Mufeng narrowed his eyes and laughed loudly. "Old Hu! What brings you here today?" His laughter cut through the roar, easing Gao Han's discomfort. When Gao Han opened his eyes, he saw a purple-robed elderly man floating in midair, scholarly in appearance yet wild with anger.
"Clan Leader Zheng, who is this?" Gao Han glided beside Zheng Yunqing using Phantom Stride and asked quietly. Zheng Yunqing kept his gaze fixed on the man in the sky. "This is Hu Ziyan, the ancestral elder of the Hu clan. He is the strongest Spirit Fusion expert among the current great clans—he has comprehended Will."
Gao Han could no longer remain calm. Will was an ethereal, ineffable realm of insight, felt but not spoken. Those who wielded Will far surpassed peers of the same realm, capable of even instant killing.
Many forms of Will existed: Sword Will and Blade Will for unmatched offense, Earth Will for impenetrable defense, and the basic Martial Will. Legend had it that Sword Jingtian had already awakened Sword Will.
"Zheng old ghost! What are you doing? Your bickering ruined a bonsai I have nurtured for five years!" Hu Ziyan's face twisted with rage. As he spoke, rich wood-element qi swirled around him, reviving withered plants wherever it touched.
"What kind of Will is this?" Gao Han muttered, confused by its seemingly harmless nature.
Zheng Yunqing warned him gently. "This is the rarest Wood Will. It accelerates the recovery of vital energy. That is why he is the strongest of the ancestral elders."
"Clan Leader Hu, I beg for justice!" Gu Ang knelt and pleaded. Hu Kai and the others felt wronged as well—for a high-ranking warrior to beg for mercy was humiliating, unfit for the battlefield.
Hu Ziyan frowned at Gu Ang's behavior, yet the Gus were allied with the royal faction, and he could not ignore the matter entirely.
"Ah, Nephew Gu. What troubles you?" Hu Ziyan spoke casually, but his eyes bore into him sharply. Gu Ang wasted no time recounting the entire incident.
"Gao Han? Who is Gao Han?" Hu Ziyan scanned the crowd.
Gao Han stepped forward calmly. "I am Gao Han."
Hu Ziyan glanced him up and down and snorted. "You are the cause of this chaos? You have angered me greatly." The last word slammed into Gao Han's chest like a heavy hammer. He staggered back, slamming into the wooden pillar by the gate before regaining his balance.
This attack was targeted solely at him, unlike the earlier widespread roar.
"Enough. Gao Han, you will go with Gu Ang to the Gu residence." Hu Ziyan issued his judgment.
"Wait!" Zheng Mufeng interjected smoothly. "Gao Han is now a guest of the Zheng clan. What gives you the right to decide his fate, old Hu?" He floated into the air, his presence heavy. "In the Tianwu Continent, strength rules all."
"What do you mean? Do you wish to fight me?" Hu Ziyan had not expected Zheng Mufeng to defend so lowly a figure. To his surprise, Zheng Mufeng nodded firmly. "Indeed I do."
Hu Ziyan hesitated. A battle with Zheng Mufeng would serve no purpose, yet he had already spoken; to back down would make him look weak.
Zheng Mufeng also wished to avoid fighting, for Hu Ziyan was the strongest of them, and victory was far from certain. But if he did nothing, he would lose face by failing to protect someone who had sought refuge with the Zhengs.
As the two men stood off, another elderly man appeared in the sky, treading on empty air—yet another Spirit Fusion expert. His arrival made Hu Ziyan even more uneasy. "Elder Situ! You too?"
Though Hu Ziyan wielded Wood Will, it boosted recovery, not offense. Facing two Spirit Fusion experts at once placed him at a clear disadvantage. This was Situ Wei, the former clan leader of the Situ clan.
Situ Wei smiled gently. "Gentlemen, fighting is unwise. I have a proposal."
Hu Ziyan had no other choice but to listen. Zheng Mufeng, though suspicious, agreed. "Speak your mind, Elder Situ."
Situ Wei's expression turned solemn. "You know of the Spirit Kingdom's Young Generation Tournament in one month's time?"
"Nonsense. Who does not?" Hu Ziyan rolled his eyes. "I thought you spoke of something secret."
Situ Wei smiled unconcernedly and glanced at Zheng Mufeng, who nodded in realization. "I see where you are going."
"Indeed," Situ Wei said. "Let the grudge between the Gu clan and Gao Han be settled there. Let the young settle their own affairs."
Gao Han was confused. As a former outcast of the Gao clan, he had never learned of the tournament; he had only read anecdotes of the continent in the Scripture Pavilion, never of this event.
"The Spirit Kingdom Tournament?" he mused. Gu Ang dared not interrupt, for three Spirit Fusion experts spoke above him, and his own elder was absent.
Zheng Yunqing opened his mouth but said nothing. Hu Ziyan stroked his beard and nodded at last. Situ Wei turned to the crowd. "We have reached a resolution. Your feud shall be settled at the Young Generation Tournament in one month. Gao Han must compete. If any young Gu clansman defeats him, Gao Han shall submit to the Gu clan's punishment. If no one can defeat him, the matter is dropped. Agreed?"
Beneath the authority of the elders, Gu Ang had no choice but to nod. Situ Wei then looked to Gao Han.
Gao Han bowed respectfully. "Elders, I have something to say."
Hu Ziyan scowled. "What? You object to our ruling? Would you rather be taken away at once?"
Gao Han ignored him and fixed his gaze on Situ Wei.
"This boy is arrogant!"
"He courts death!"
"How dare he defy three Spirit Fusion elders!"
Muttered criticisms spread through the crowd, all staring at Gao Han with contempt. But Gao Han paid them no mind, his eyes steady.
Situ Wei's patience wore thin. He had intended to help the youth, yet Gao Han seemed ungrateful. Still, out of regard for Zheng Mufeng and news that his granddaughter had fallen for the boy, he spoke coldly. "You disagree with our decision?"
Gao Han saw his displeasure but spoke calmly. "I only ask this: if the Gu clan wins, I forfeit my life. But if they lose, should they not offer compensation? The arrangement as it stands is unfair."
Gu Ang exploded with rage. "You insolent whelp—"
Situ Wei paused, then laughed. "Quite right! You speak sense." He turned to the other two elders. "What say you?"
Zheng Mufeng fought a smile and nodded. "Gao Han speaks fairly."
Hu Ziyan waved a hand indifferently. "Whatever."
"Very well," Situ Wei declared. "If Gao Han wins, the Gu clan shall pay him one million taels of silver. Does this satisfy you, Gao Han?"
Gao Han nodded. Situ Wei was secretly delighted—his future grandson-in-law had a shrewd mind for business.
Zheng Mufeng smiled. "To ensure the Gu clan honors their word, the three of us shall witness the agreement."
Situ Wei agreed at once. Hu Ziyan, having no stake in the gold, assented as well.
Gu Ang's face twisted with fury; he nearly spat blood. "You—"
Zheng Mufeng unleashed his Spirit Fusion pressure, slamming down on Gu Ang. "You have a problem with this?"
Gu Ang struggled to breathe under the weight. "I dare not."
Zheng Mufeng snorted and withdrew his aura.
Gu Ang glared daggers at Gao Han. "A mere first-layer True Essence runt, the lowest of the low. I hope you survive the tournament."
Gao Han did not even glance at him. "Worry for your own clansmen, not me. I suggest you pray they do not leave the arena broken in limb—else the Gu clan will be known as the house of cripples."
Gu Ang huffed and bowed to the three elders. "If you have no further commands, I shall take my leave."
Zheng Mufeng waved him away dismissively.
With one last venomous look, Gu Ang led his people away. Hu Ziyan departed without a word.
Zheng Mufeng smiled at Situ Wei. "Shall we go inside for tea?"
Situ Wei's smile never faded. "I would like that. And Gao Han—you shall join us." He had come to judge the man his granddaughter had chosen, and he had many questions.
Gao Han, eager to learn the truth of the Young Generation Tournament, agreed without hesitation.
And so, under the authority of the great Spirit Fusion experts, the Gu clan was forced to swallow their humiliation.