Immortal Martial Emperor

"Hurt my brother? You’re asking to die!"

As the nonchalant voice drifted over, Hong Yu, astride his warhorse, slowly rode out from behind Tie Tongtian.

Sitting upright on his horse, Hong Yu gave the wailing Guiyuan Sect disciple on the ground nothing more than a passing glance. He then ignored the man as if he were thin air, his gaze landing on Xue De at the head of the procession.

Their eyes met, and sparks seemed to fly as their sharp gazes clashed in midair.

Xue De’s teeth itched with rage, a chilling killing intent flickering in his eyes. He longed to strike Hong Yu down that very instant.

Hong Yu met his stare with unflinching calm.

’Wasn’t he just as eager to kill Xue De?’ he thought.

However, it was clear that Tie Heng wasn’t going to let them come to blows right now.

He cleared his throat and said calmly, "Tian’er, let the man go."

"Yes, Father!"

A triumphant smile spread across Tie Tongtian’s face as he pulled on his reins to back his horse away. But then he caught the Guiyuan Sect disciple staring at him with a venomous glare, and fury surged in his heart.

’Who did this guy think he was?’

’He was the great, spoiled young master of the Iron Soldier Pavilion!’

He wasn’t about to tolerate such a hateful look.

The corner of his mouth curved upward into a playful smirk, a perfect mirror of Hong Yu’s own. With a slight flick of his wrist, the warhorse that had already started to step back raised its hooves high once more. A sickening double CRUNCH followed.

Immediately after, a scream so wretched it would make any witness weep in pity echoed from the city gates.

"Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. This warhorse of mine has such a fiery temper, I couldn’t quite control him. My deepest apologies!"

With an apologetic smile, Tie Tongtian finally let his spirited horse back up a few steps, putting some distance between them.

Looking at the bloody, mangled mess between the Guiyuan Sect expert’s legs, even Tie Tongtian himself couldn’t help but shiver.

"You bastard! Tie Tongtian, you’ve got some nerve!"

Qi Tianbao, the second-ranked True Disciple of the Guiyuan Sect.

In truth, he was the undisputed First True Disciple in terms of combat strength. The only reason he wasn’t was that he had intentionally thrown the match during the competition against Huo Yan, who was Wang Ba’s Direct Disciple.

At around twenty-three years of age, he was already at the Late-stage Celestial Soul Realm.

He was only a single minor realm weaker than Zheng Tian.

Among the Guiyuan Sect experts on this trip, besides Xue De, he was the most powerful!

He had remained silent until now, drawing no attention to himself. But seeing his junior brother so brutally maimed by Tie Tongtian’s warhorse, he could finally restrain himself no longer. With a push of his legs, he shot off his horse’s back, soaring fifteen or sixteen meters into the air.

"Chasing Star Finger!"

Qi Tianbao roared in a low voice.

A brilliant white light erupted from his finger, coalescing into a finger of pure Elemental Power five or six meters long that came crashing down toward Tie Tongtian.

The Chasing Star Finger was a Spirit-level Middle Grade Martial Technique.

It had three techniques: the First Technique, Chasing Star Finger; the Second Technique, Meteor Finger; and the Third Technique, Star-Pointing Finger.

If cultivated to the final technique, Star-Pointing Finger, a single touch could shatter mountains and carve new roads!

Even now, just using the First Technique, Chasing Star Finger, the power was immense. The sheer might pressing down on Tie Tongtian’s warhorse made its legs tremble, nearly causing it to collapse.

At the critical moment, it was once again Hong Yu who made a move.

"You think you can hurt my brother while I’m here?" A cold glint flashed in Hong Yu’s eyes.

A shadow of his fist condensed before him.

In reality, he had already launched over seventy bursts of Fist Force in the blink of an eye. His movements were simply too fast for anyone to discern.

"Come on! Let me see what’s so special about the genius who surpassed Senior Brother Zheng Tian!"

Qi Tianbao bellowed.

The Chasing Star Finger finally collided with the Vibrating Fist Shadow.

BOOM!

The impact of energy seemed to make the entire city gate tremble.

The Chasing Star Finger and the fist shadow were perfectly matched; neither could overcome the other!

KABOOM!

The two opposing energies annihilated each other in a massive explosion.

Qi Tianbao used the force of the recoil to fly back and land gracefully on his warhorse, whereas Hong Yu’s arm merely trembled slightly.

The two locked eyes again.

Hong Yu appeared completely unfazed, as if the recent exchange had nothing to do with him.

Qi Tianbao’s gaze sharpened, his pupils contracting as he stared intently at Hong Yu. The power possessed by this genius, someone who could defeat both Zheng Tian and Blood the First, was enough to leave him shocked and wary.

"What the fuck, are you Guiyuan Sect people deliberately trying to start shit?"

After being attacked repeatedly as if he were some kind of pushover, Tie Tongtian, the great dandy, finally exploded.

The Iron Soldier Pavilion experts behind him grew tense, ready for a fight.

The experts of the Guiyuan Sect radiated an imposing momentum, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

A sinister light flickered in Elder Xue’s eyes, but he remained silent, his mind busy with some unknown scheme.

Tie Heng let out a soft sigh. "That’s enough," he said calmly. "We haven’t even departed, and you’re already causing a huge scene. Do you want to attract more experts to come fight us for that ore vein?"

"Hmm?"

Xue De froze.

He was immediately reminded of the instructions Wang Ba had given him before entering the Cave of Ten Thousand Souls with Zheng Tian: he absolutely had to secure the majority of the mining rights to the ore vein. He quickly waved a hand at his sect members. "Qi Tianbao, tell the disciples to stand down. There will be plenty of time and opportunity to settle any grudges once we arrive."

"Yes, Elder Xue!"

Qi Tianbao replied respectfully.

Tie Heng also gestured to the experts of the Iron Soldier Pavilion. "Let’s move out!"

The group of experts immediately followed the two Primordial Core Realm masters toward their destination.

Hong Yu and Tie Tongtian rode side-by-side.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of wind from behind. Glancing to his side, he saw Qi Tianbao riding up next to him.

Qi Tianbao kept his gaze fixed forward, as if he couldn’t be bothered to even glance at Hong Yu, but his quiet voice carried clearly to Hong Yu’s ears. "You’re really something else. I never imagined that besides Senior Brother Zheng Tian, there was another opponent in the Qin Kingdom who could make my blood boil with excitement."

Qi Tianbao suddenly turned to look at Hong Yu. His eyes flashed with a crazed battle lust, but they also held a hint of pity. "If it were possible, I’d genuinely look forward to a fair fight with you at the Southern Ten Nations Alliance tournament in a few months. What a pity. This time, you’re doomed."

With that, Qi Tianbao suddenly spurred his horse onward, catching up with the rest of the Guiyuan Sect party.

Staring at the figure riding away, Hong Yu frowned. ’Doomed?’

"That bastard is way too arrogant, isn’t he? Dammit, what’s all this ’doomed’ crap? Does he think he’s some kind of Master Diviner?"

Tie Tongtian grumbled angrily for a moment before offering some reassurance. "Younger Brother Hong, don’t worry. With your strength, as long as Elder Xue doesn’t make a move, none of them are a threat to you. And you don’t need to worry about Xue De, either. My father will keep him in check!"

"Mm," Hong Yu grunted in casual agreement.

But in his heart, the look of cold confidence in Qi Tianbao’s eyes as he left cast a shadow of unease that he couldn’t shake.

...

The destination for Hong Yu’s group was the Tianmu Mountain Range, located in the northeastern part of the Qin Kingdom, bordering the Yaoyue Kingdom.

The Tianmu Mountain Range served as a natural wall separating the borders of the Qin and Yaoyue Kingdoms. Because it was a borderland, it was most often contested as a strategic military location. Few ever considered whether there might be ore veins within it.

It was only in recent years, after the Qin Kingdom had firmly established itself as the strongest nation in the Southern Ten Nations Alliance, that the Yaoyue Kingdom had been deterred from making any incursions into the Tianmu Mountain Range.

And it was precisely for this reason that members of the Tie Family and the Guiyuan Sect had extended their search for ore veins to this area.

There, within the Tianmu Mountain Range, they discovered an extremely rich and peculiar ore vein.

After six days of nonstop travel, Hong Yu and his group finally reached the Tianmu Mountain Range on the morning of the seventh day.

The group didn’t head directly into the mountains. Instead, they stopped for a brief rest in Celestial Eye City, the only fortress near the Tianmu Mountain Range.

The Iron Soldier Pavilion had branches in every city of the Qin Kingdom, and the expert who had discovered this ore vein was waiting for Tie Heng’s party in Celestial Eye City.

"Chen Mu pays his respects to the Chairman!"

Chen Mu was a bald, middle-aged man with a steady and composed demeanor. He was the Iron Soldier Pavilion expert who had discovered the ore vein in the Tianmu Mountain Range.

Tie Heng was clearly very familiar with Chen Mu. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Old friend, it’s been hard work for you all these years!"

Chen Mu smiled. "It’s nothing, really. I’ve always enjoyed traveling the lands and searching for new veins!"

"Alright, we’re brothers, no need for such formalities. Once this survey is done, we’ll drink until we drop!" Tie Heng said with a hearty laugh.

Chen Mu nodded, then shot a disgusted look at the group from the Guiyuan Sect before his gaze finally fell on Hong Yu and his companions.

He lingered on Tie Tongtian for a few extra moments.

The great dandy’s suit of armor was simply too eye-catching.

"Chairman, is that the young master, Tongtian?" Chen Mu asked, surprised. "Why is he dressed like that?"

Tie Heng rubbed his nose in embarrassment and quickly changed the subject. "Never mind this little rascal... By the way, Chen Mu, you sent word two months ago that you’d discovered the vein. Why did you insist we come at this particular time? A delay of over two months is a huge risk. If word gets out, it’ll be a disaster for us!"

Tie Heng’s worries were well-founded.

After all, the Tianmu Mountain Range bordered the Yaoyue Kingdom, and according to Chen Mu, the scale of this ore vein might be the largest in the history of the Qin Kingdom.

Faced with such riches, it was likely that even the Yaoyue Kingdom wouldn’t be able to resist fighting for it, even at the cost of openly falling out with the Qin Kingdom.

Chen Mu gave a wry smile. "Of course, I know we should act quickly. But this vein is... special. I already had you delay for two months, but even now, I’m not sure if it’s the right time to go and survey it."

"Why is that?"

Tie Heng was taken aback.

Chen Mu was the Iron Soldier Pavilion’s most outstanding prospecting expert. In the past, his discoveries and survey arrangements had always been foolproof, planned down to the last detail.

He had never seen him so hesitant before!

Chen Mu smiled wryly. "You’ll understand when you see it for yourselves."

Led by Chen Mu, the group left their horses at the Iron Soldier Pavilion’s branch in Celestial Eye City and proceeded toward the Tianmu Mountain Range on foot.

Fortunately, there were no weaklings in the party, so they moved swiftly through the mountains.

Even in the dense, sunless forest, Chen Mu led them through the undergrowth with the agility of a monkey. Despite his speed, it still took them a full three days to reach their destination.

It was a vast valley.

When they arrived and gazed upon the canyon before them, Hong Yu and the others finally understood Chen Mu’s worry and helplessness.

The expression on every face gradually grew grim...

"I can’t believe something like this exists here. This is going to be a problem!"