Chapter Eighty-Five: A Master of the Five Elements

Lindong’s eyes also lit up. When he saw that Ye Zihan’s cultivation was on par with his own, he was deeply shaken, for the aura around Ye Zihan was not only no weaker than his, but even the restrained presence was the same.

Lindong smiled and said to Yanchen and Chen Yiyan, “Please come into the hall and have a seat.” He was also a young prodigy who respected worthy opponents; if an opponent fell short, he would surely look down on him. At his age, there were very few peers who could stand against him, yet the Ye Zihan and Chen Yiyan before him were actually putting immense pressure on him, which left Lindong rather puzzled.

Yanchen cupped his hands and smiled. “Thank you for the welcome, little Brother Lindong.” With that, he quickly followed Lindong into the city lord’s manor, where Lin Lei and the others had already prepared tea and refreshments for Ye Zihan and the rest.

Ye Zihan entered the manor with them and slowly took a seat. For him, today was extraordinary, because he felt that the city lord of Xuanwu City had definitely not invited them here for such a simple reason; there must have been some deeper purpose. But Ye Zihan was too tired to bother with it now.

Tonight had indeed been a night of earth-shaking turmoil. Slaying several assassins at the level of the Five Elements realm had already pushed them to their limit. Even the unruly Chen Yiyan was now mentally exhausted.

After fighting those assassins through the entire night, not to mention Chen Yiyan, even Ye Zihan, with all five elements fully unleashed, was utterly drained. If not for the city lord’s invitation, they might already have gone to sleep.

“Tonight frightened all of you young heroes. Let me, Lin Lei, calm your nerves.” Just after Yanchen and the others sat down, Lin Lei began to speak courteously. In truth, he did have something he needed to discuss with Ye Zihan and the others, or else he would never have casually invited strangers into the city lord’s manor.

Yanchen smiled and said, “May I ask whether City Lord Lin Lei sought us out tonight for some matter? And those assassins from tonight, what sort of people were they? If City Lord Lin Lei does not mind, please tell us about it.”

Yanchen simply got straight to the point and bartered openly with Lin Lei and the others. At the very least, he could now be certain that Lin Lei must know the background of those assassins. But since he would not speak of it, there was little point in saying more.

Lin Lei looked at Yanchen and Ye Zihan, then smiled. “Haha, I truly do not know who those assassins are. However, for now we can have all of you stay in our city lord’s manor. I believe no one would dare come here and cause trouble, so please rest easy here for the time being.” Lin Lei genuinely did not want to tear open the black hand behind those assassins, because he could not afford to provoke it. This was absolutely a topic that everyone on the continent had no choice but to avoid.

Ye Zihan glanced at Lin Lei, hoping to catch some flaw in the city lord of Xuanwu City, but he was disappointed. Lin Lei was not someone at his level could expose so easily; after all, his cultivation surpassed Ye Zihan’s, and as the lord of Xuanwu City, he would never lower himself before these young prodigies, even if swords were already at their throats.

But there were truly very few who could place swords before Lin Lei. He himself was already a top-tier expert, and unless some supreme master made a move, he had nothing to fear. He had ruled Xuanwu City for decades; if anyone were truly stronger than him, he would likely have been killed long ago.

Yanchen smiled and said, “Since the city lord has said so, we have nothing more to say. As for those assassins, most of them were either dead or injured tonight. I think they will no longer dare come looking for trouble, so there is nothing for us to worry about.”

Indeed, Yanchen no longer had much to concern himself with. Especially now, since he was already on the verge of breaking through to the Five Elements realm, he eagerly awaited that day.

Lin Lei smiled and said, “Exactly. Those assassins were already either dead or injured. I think none of you suffered any loss, so let this matter end here. Xuanwu City truly does not have such assassins within it; they may have entered from the outskirts, which is why even we in Xuanwu City could not fully guard against them.” At last Lin Lei let out a breath of relief, fearing that Yanchen and the others would keep pressing him. It was indeed a difficult matter to explain.

Ye Zihan looked at Lindong and said to Lin Lei, “I never expected the young city lord’s cultivation to be so high, already reaching the Five Elements realm. If I had not made a recent breakthrough, I would certainly not be his match.”

What Ye Zihan said was true. Before coming to Xuanwu Marsh, he had only been a master of the Four Symbols realm, whereas now he was already in the Five Elements realm. Naturally, he was very excited.

Lindong smiled and said, “Not at all, not at all. We are merely evenly matched. Since you and I are both at the Five Elements realm, there is nothing much to distinguish between us. Still, Brother Chen Yiyan seems to be a mid-stage Five Elements realm expert, a little above us.”

That was the truth. Chen Yiyan was indeed a mid-stage Five Elements realm expert, while Ye Zihan and Lindong were merely at the early stage of that realm.

There were not few experts who could reach the Five Elements realm, but for someone as young as Ye Zihan and the others to break through to it, the number was very small. It was indeed a profoundly shocking thing.

Moreover, Ye Zihan and the others would continue advancing. If nothing unexpected happened, Ye Zihan’s cultivation would certainly surpass Lindong very quickly, and perhaps even overtake Chen Yiyan. That was the advantage of Ye Zihan’s full elemental awakening.

Ye Zihan looked at Yanchen and then said to Chen Yiyan, “Brother Chen Yiyan, it seems we are truly experts of the same level. The Five Elements realm is indeed a watershed. In the future, we will have to march toward even higher realms. I wonder who will be the first to enter the legendary supreme realm?”

Right now, Ye Zihan only wished to break through to that supreme realm as quickly as possible. For Chen Yiyan and Ye Zihan alike, these were things worth looking forward to.

Chen Yiyan looked at Ye Zihan and smiled. “Although we are both experts of the Five Elements realm now, the one who will advance first certainly will not be me. I have been at this realm for a long time, yet I still show no sign of a breakthrough. I think I had better take it slowly.”

He did not want to compare himself with this monstrous Ye Zihan, because even if Ye Zihan were not at a higher level than him, he could still suppress Chen Yiyan. That was the advantage of Ye Zihan’s dual cultivation.

Ye Zihan smiled and said, “Brother Chen Yiyan, do not be discouraged. The one to break through to the supreme realm will surely be you. You are already close to the peak of the Five Elements realm. I believe you will break through much faster than I will, and I am still only at the early stage of the Five Elements realm, so there is simply no comparison between us.”

What Ye Zihan said was true. His cultivation speed was indeed much faster than Chen Yiyan’s, but for Chen Yiyan, who stood only one step away from the supreme realm, breaking through would be a matter of course.

As for Ye Zihan, he was only at the early stage of the Five Elements realm. What he needed now was to stabilize that realm before attempting a breakthrough to the supreme realm. Thus, it would be perfectly reasonable for Chen Yiyan to be the first to advance. Even so, Chen Yiyan still might not be able to defeat Ye Zihan, because Ye Zihan had now fully awakened all five elements and was absolutely the only monstrous talent of his kind on the entire continent.

Ye Zihan had once thought himself a useless waste of the Ye family, but who could have imagined the outcome would be like this? He was already a master of the Five Elements realm. Given more time, Ye Zihan would not stop there. What were seven-star experts or eight-trigram experts to him? He could simply smile and pass them by.

Today, Ye Zihan and Chen Yiyan had come within a hair’s breadth of killing those supreme-realm experts. Their opponents’ carelessness was their greatest enemy, which was why those black-clad men who had underestimated them were doomed to be the first fools to die. And that arrogant supreme-realm expert, too, was struck at his vital point by the shameless Mo You, which was why he could not finish off Ye Zihan.

If Ye Zihan were also a supreme-realm expert, then the black-clad man ambushed by Mo You might have been in real danger. Moreover, Mo You was already a master of the Four Symbols realm, and a breakthrough to the Five Elements realm was not far off. By then, Mo You would surely become an excellent enforcer for Ye Zihan, and the Defying Heaven Pavilion would also need such an enforcer.

Lin Lei looked at the now-calmed Ye Zihan and the others, and at last he felt at ease. The reason he had invited Yanchen and the others into the city lord’s manor was indeed to discuss something, so now he had no choice but to speak plainly.

“Young Hero Yanchen, Young Hero Ye Zihan, we truly know nothing about what happened today in Xuanwu City. However, there is a matter related to all of you that I would like to ask your opinion on.” At last, Lin Lei revealed the purpose of inviting Ye Zihan and the others here, because he urgently needed these young experts to carry out something extremely important.

Ye Zihan looked at Lin Lei, and his heart tightened as well. The city lord of Xuanwu City seemed very tense, which suggested there was indeed something important to announce to them. He was surely someone who could help, otherwise they would not have been invited here.

“May I ask what matter the city lord wishes to discuss with us? If there is anything we can do to help, we will absolutely not refuse.” At this point, Ye Zihan no longer had the leisure to be cautious. They had already survived a brush with death tonight, and Lin Lei’s anxious expression had betrayed his tension, so there was no need for Ye Zihan to be false and polite. He might as well speak openly with the city lord.

When Lin Lei heard Ye Zihan say this, he understood something as well. It seemed Ye Zihan was the one speaking for Yanchen and the others. So if he had anything to say, he might as well say it to Ye Zihan. He nodded and said, “Little Brother Ye Zihan is right. We truly do have a very important matter that requires your help. Aside from young experts like you, there is nothing we can do.” Lin Lei was very pleased, because he was highly satisfied with Ye Zihan’s response. At the very least, Ye Zihan had no intention of refusing him.

“Oh? Since the city lord has said so, then we shall listen carefully. I only wonder what exactly the matter is?” Yanchen was also very curious, because he had originally thought the city lord had invited them to calm their nerves. Now it seemed the matter was certainly not as simple as they had imagined.