HSSB129: No longer of use
The arrival of Zhao Hao and the others did not affect the result of Sikong Qing’s and Hou Xiang’s battle.
Sikong Qing’s advantage had already accumulated to the point of being difficult to reverse; as long as she herself did not make a silly mistake out of complacency, she would inevitably be the victor.
The passion of this cold girl towards the martial dao far surpassed the imaginations of many; currently focused on the battle, she naturally wouldn’t be complacent and underestimate the enemy.
Thus, Hou Xiang was already destined for defeat.
When the sword in Sikong Qing’s hand knocked away his spiritual artifact that was a short axe, Hou Xiang stood where he was, his face a burning red.
The other Infinite Boundless Mountain disciples were also completely without face. Ji Hanru and Hou Xiang were elites of their clan’s younger generation, yet had both been defeated at the hands of Broad Creed Mountain’s disciples.
And in terms of age, Hou Xiang was older than Sikong Qing while Ji Hanru was older than Yan Zhaoge.
Especially embarrassing was the fact that Ji Hanru was older than Yan Zhaoge by not just a year or two. Strictly speaking, they weren’t even in the same age category; by logic, Ji Hanru should have secured a complete victory.
Zhao Hao was currently also garbed in black, in the attire of an Infinite Boundless Mountain disciple.
However, he didn’t even glance at his fellow disciple Hou Xiang once. Rather, it was Sikong Qing on whom his gaze rested on for a moment.
However, the next instant, Zhao Hao’s gaze had already shifted to fall on Yan Zhaoge.
Glancing at Zhao Hao, Yan Zhaoge no longer saw the arrogance and disdain that he had once seen in the other party’s eyes. However, it was definitely not a peaceful gaze, being as sharp as a sword.
“Ah, I no longer have to give face to Uncle Zhao now…” The corners of Yan Zhaoge’s mouth curled slightly as his gaze suddenly turned cold and penetrating.
His eyes like electricity, it was as though the air shook suddenly, causing Zhao Hao’s eyes to feel a piercing pain.
Elder Zuo snorted from mid-air, “A late outer aura Martial Scholar bullying someone of the early inner aura stage?”
He said this layered with a cold snort, his voice solidified till it seemed like a real entity, pressuring down towards Yan Zhaoge like a mountain peak.
The Fu Enshu by the side similarly gave a cold snort, “Rein in the pair of eyes of that disciple of yours first. Such unbridled and unrestrained provocation; does he think that no one can take care of him?”
As her words resounded, the mountain peak weighing down on Yan Zhaoge abruptly shattered, disappearing without a trace.
Looking straight at Elder Zuo, Fu Enshu said in a slow and orderly manner, “Speaking of bullying, your clan’s early Xiantian disciple also attacked the late outer aura stage Zhaoge just now, didn’t he?”
Usually speaking like a swift gale of wind and a heavy downpour of rain, currently suddenly speaking slowly and leisurely in a soft and gentle manner, it really was all that more aggravating.
On the ground, looking at Zhao Hao, Zhao Ming sighed, “Sixteenth Brother, with your talent, even if you did not inherit the throne, you could still enter my Broad Creed Mountain whereupon the clan would treat you as an important target for grooming. Why did it have to come to this?”
Zhao Hao glanced at Zhao Ming from the corner of his eye, then completely ignored him.
In comparison to Zhao Yuan and Zhao Sheng, while Zhao Ming was more forthright and cared more about relationships, he also had a rasher temper. Seeing Zhao Hao’s arrogant and disdainful manner, he was instantly angered to the point of not being able to say a word.
From the sky now resounded Fu Enshu’s voice, “So it’s that ungrateful bastard of Zhao Shicheng’s.”
In her life, the person she respected the most was her Master Yuan Zhengfeng, the two being as close as father and daughter. Because of this, she especially hated those who were unfilial.
Fu Enshu’s likes and dislikes followed her heart, having never been a reasonable person. Now, recognising Zhao Hao, her gaze instantly turned hostile.
This glance of hers was like it could truly birth electricity within the air as a streak of light vaguely seemed to flash by.
Elder Zuo’s expression changed as he boomed loudly, “Fu Enshu, that’s too much!”
He moved to block Fu Enshu’s attack, the latter raising her brows, “Hmmm?”
Lifting his hand to stop the two, Shan Shiweng gazed at Fu Enshu, “Our two clans had an agreement that day. The matter of the Eastern Tang already having passed, whatever his background, this one is now a disciple of my Infinite Boundless Mountain.
Fu Enshu glanced towards Yan Zhaoge, Feng Yunsheng, Sikong Qing and the others.
With her temper, if she had been on her lonesome, she might have not cared about it and slaughtered Zhao Hao on the spot, even if it meant being surrounded and simultaneously attacked by the Infinite Boundless Mountain trio following that.
However, there were also juniors of her clan present here. If she failed to take proper care of them and something happened, the consequences would be disastrous beyond compare.
Infinite Boundless Mountain’s Elder Zuo said coldly, “Fu Enshu, do you really think that without the people of your Broad Creed Mountain, my Infinite Boundless Mountain cannot ourselves deal with the problem of the Giant Spirit Magnetite vein?”
“Eh?” Fu Enshu was slightly stunned as she lowered her head to look towards Zhao Hao, “…you don’t mean him, do you?”
Shan Shiweng was silent for a moment before he nodded, “To tell you the truth, our clan’s new disciple Zhao Hao has also put forward a technique for helping the Giant Spirit Magnetite vein to recover.”
“Before this, this was kept secret and not announced, not as an intentional concealment of the fact, but rather because we were surveying the area and making certain of our preparations.”
At this point, Shan Shiweng’s expression did not change, whereas Elder Zuo and the Magnetite Elder actually stared at Zhao Hao with rather unfriendly gazes.
Due to wanting to keep everything to himself, this little fellow had all along withheld the core portion of his secret technique, only having revealed some limited information on it.
However, with this matter just being so important, concerning one of Infinite Boundless Mountain’s most important lifelines, Elder Zuo also hadn’t dared to suppress and not report the matter.
Therefore, he had not shared in such a great contribution at all, only able to receive some recommendation benefits through Zhao Hao.
It was the same for the Magnetite Elder who guarded Cloud Portent Mountain as well.
Although facing Broad Creed Mountain, the two Infinite Boundless Mountain bigwigs had to stand behind their disciple Zhao Hao, they were both extremely dissatisfied towards this untactful member of the younger generation within their hearts.
Meanwhile, they were also secretly doubtful on whether Zhao Hao’s method would really work.
These past days, having been in Cloud Portent Mountain, Zhao Hao had been surveying it on-site.
Earlier, he had not completely finished with that yet. Therefore, when Yan Zhaoge and the others had come visiting, Infinite Boundless Mountain had also not been against it, wanting to have two hands of preparations available as they sought stability.
Herein lay the reason why Yan Zhaoge had earlier felt that Infinite Boundless Mountain’s attitude was ambiguous.
Zhao Hao glanced coldly at Yan Zhaoge and Fu Enshu, saying, “My plan here has already reached complication; we no longer require any others coming from outside of the clan.”
The meaning of his words that Yan Zhaoge and the others were no longer of use being here.
“Ah,” Fu Enshu was angered to the point of laughing.
Looking at Zhao Hao, Yan Zhaoge had a thoughtful expression on his face.
Earlier, Hou Xiang had let out big words, and Yan Zhaoge had been completely too lazy to pay heed to them.
In the first Extreme Yin Bout, when the Extreme Yin Crown had fallen into the hands of the Sacred Sun Clan, the relationship between Broad Creed Mountain and Infinite Boundless Mountain had become much warmer, as the cooperation between them increased.
It was only after the second Extreme Yin Bout, with Jade Sea City having obtained the Extreme Yin Crown, that their relationship gradually grown distant once more.
Now that the Extreme Yin Crown had fallen back into the hands of the Sacred Sun Clan, would Infinite Boundless Mountain team up with the Sacred Sun Clan?
This was why following the third Extreme Yin Bout, with the Extreme Yin Crown falling to Meng Wan once more, the tensions between Broad Creed Mountain and Infinite Boundless Mountain had instantly eased.
However, cooperating did not mean that they would be intimate to the point of being inseparable.
How they cooperated and to what extent they did so, as well as what each side could get from the other-all these were continually changing, continually being weighed by them.
For example, when the Sacred Sun Clan had started a war with Broad Creed Mountain, Infinite Boundless Mountain definitely wouldn’t have helped the Sacred Sun Clan. However, whether they stood on as simple bystanders or they truly helped Broad Creed Mountain in facing off against the Sacred Sun Clan was naturally a different matter altogether.
If they, representing Broad Creed Mountain, helped Infinite Boundless Mountain to solve the huge problem of the Giant Spirit Magnetite vein, Infinite Boundless Mountain would owe them, and in effect Broad Creed Mountain, an incomparably huge favour.
When the two engaged in cooperation later on, Broad Creed Mountain would definitely hold a great advantage.
Also, this didn’t require Broad Creed Mountain to contribute anything material, because the Giant Spirit Magnetite vein was Infinite Boundless Mountain’s own possession.
But if Infinite Boundless Mountain solved this problem on its own, that would mean a different result altogether.