299: Shangguan Tianhong

"Is he... really that strong? How is that possible! He's not much older than I am."

"The truth is right before our eyes. Some top-tier geniuses cannot be judged by common logic. You'd better restrain yourself in the future."

Jiang Residence

In a courtyard, Jiang Ye and his three companions were drinking. Azure Dragon said, "Give me another fifty thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. I plan to go to the Inner God Realm to join the Divine Sword Sect and Cultivate for a while."

Shi Bao was puzzled and asked, "You're just going to join them directly? Will they even take you?"

"My Sword Cultivator Realm has already broken through to the Sword Domain. Sword Cultivator Sects will be fighting to have me."

"What is this Sword Domain thing?"

Azure Dragon said with disdain, "I can't explain it to you brutes. You don't even know what a sword is."

Jiang Ye and the other two felt a bit indignant, but they couldn't refute him. They gave him fifty thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

Shi Feng said, "We can't stay in the Outer God Realm any longer either. We should head to the Inner God Realm soon and find a power to join, otherwise, it will be hard to raise our Realm."

Jiang Ye nodded. "Yeah, I also feel that breaking through to the God Venerable Realm is a bit difficult; future Breakthroughs might get slower and slower. We must go to some major powers and find treasures that help us break through faster. Let's set off in three days! I'll leave things here to Sect Master Yun and Old Zhu. I'll leave some of my power with them just in case."

Just then, Zhu Changyuan walked in and said, "Alliance Master Jiang, there are several people outside claiming to be from the Shangguan Family, saying they have important business with you."

"Shangguan Family? Do you know who they are?"

"I'm not sure if it's that Family, but if it is, they have a massive background!"

"What's the background of that Shangguan Family?"

"Legend has it they have three Old Ancestors who have broken through to the God King Realm. They are considered a top-tier Family power in the Inner God Realm."

Shi Bao said with some surprise, "Holy crap! We're still only in the Divine Sovereign Realm. The gap is huge!"

Jiang Ye said, "I'll go see what this is about!"

Inside the living room

A young man sat in the guest seat drinking tea, with two guards of powerful aura standing behind him. Jiang Ye scanned their aura strength with his Soul; the young man was in the God Venerable Realm, while the other two were already beyond the God Venerable Realm. It seemed this Shangguan Family was indeed not simple.

Jiang Ye said, "I am Jiang Ye. May I ask what business you have with me?"

The young man said, "Hehehe, my name is Shangguan Tianhong. I've come to find you because I want to make a deal with you."

"Oh? What kind of deal?"

Shangguan Tianhong said, "You fight in a Family competition for me, and I will intimidate the people from the powers you killed before so they won't dare trouble your Jiang Alliance again. How about it?"

"What kind of competition?"

"A competition between the five Great Ancient Clans. The goal is to fight for slots to enter the Ancient God Emperor Secret Realm. Each Family can invite three external helpers who are not clan members."

"Ancient God Emperor?" Jiang Ye thought for a moment and asked, "Can I go in?"

Shangguan Tianhong was somewhat surprised. "Oh? You want to go in too?"

"Of course. There's no harm in going in to take a look, right?"

"It might be a bit difficult unless... you can take first place for my Shangguan Family. There will be fifteen slots to enter the Secret Realm then, and I can give you one."

Jiang Ye asked, "What is the approximate strength of the opponents?"

"All participants must be under thirty years old and below the God Tribulation Realm! Do you have confidence?"

"Heh, since you came to find me personally, do you lack confidence in me?"

"Brother Jiang, like you, I don't like wasting words. Let's be blunt! I've looked into your strength. To be honest, I'm still a bit short on confidence because the opponents are all around the eighth stage of the God Venerable Realm. To be safe, I will provide you with resources to enter seclusion for a month. I hope you can break through to the God Venerable Realm; that way, the certainty will be greater. How about it?"

Jiang Ye said, "I want three slots! Also, give me enough resources for my two brothers to also enter seclusion and break through. I promise to take first place, otherwise, you can take my life!"

"Hmm?" Seeing his strong confidence and that he dared to stake his life, Shangguan Tianhong saw he wasn't joking at all. "Fine! I believe you. I will satisfy all these conditions."

"Then I'll settle things here and leave with you immediately."

"No problem, I'll wait for you!"

Immediately, Jiang Ye left and sent an urgent message for Zhu Renzhou and Lord in the Clouds to come over to arrange things.

One of the guards behind Shangguan Tianhong said, "Young Master, do you really have that much confidence in him?"

"He could insta-kill a third-stage God Venerable at the ninth stage of the Divine Sovereign Realm, and even scared that trash from the Liu Family's eighth-stage God Venerable guard into not daring to fight. If he breaks through to the God Venerable Realm, first place is practically guaranteed!"

"But for the three of them to enter seclusion for a month, the resources required won't be small. I'm worried the Clan Chief won't agree."

Shangguan Tianhong said, "The external helpers the others found are only at the eighth stage of the God Venerable Realm. Once Jiang Ye fights them, they won't have any objections."

A short while later

Jiang Ye, Shi Bao, and Shi Feng followed Shangguan Tianhong to the Shangguan Family in the Inner God Realm. Upon arrival, they had to pass through a Magic Array to enter the Family estate. The aura of various Magic Arrays was everywhere; they all felt the foundation of an Ancient Clan, which was incomparable to any Family they had seen before.

As Shangguan Tianhong led them through a corridor, his cousin Shangguan Yunzhu happened to be approaching with a young man.

Shangguan Yunzhu said, "Brother Tianhong, these people are..."

"This is the external helper I brought back—Jiang Ye. These two are his brothers."

The young man was also an external helper they had invited—Bai Tianhao. Looking at Jiang Ye and the others with disdain, he said, "Brother Tianhong, you actually brought back someone who hasn't even broken through to the God Venerable Realm to be an external helper? If you really couldn't find anyone, I could have introduced a Junior Brother at the seventh stage of the God Venerable Realm to you. That way, you wouldn't have to lose face by having someone in the Divine Sovereign Realm fight for you."

"Heh, that remains to be seen. What if the one losing face is you?"

"Oh? Since you have so much confidence in this person, how about I trade a few blows with him?"

Jiang Ye suddenly said, "Shangguan Tianhong, don't waste time here. Hurry up and find us a cultivation room to start our seclusion!"

Shangguan Yunzhu was a bit surprised. This person was only at the ninth stage of the Divine Sovereign Realm, yet he had quite a temper. She said disdainfully, "Brother Tianhong, the helper you found doesn't have much strength, but he certainly has a big temper!"

Bai Tianhao, seeing that Jiang Ye completely ignored them, said, "Hmph! A mere ant, daring to put on airs in the Shangguan Family?"

Jiang Ye asked Shangguan Tianhong, "Can I slaughter him?"

"Huh?" Everyone was shocked. Where did he get this confidence?

Bai Tianhao said, "I think we should have a match, so he can learn what it means to overestimate himself!"

Shangguan Tianhong asked, "What do you think, Brother Jiang? However, killing is not allowed here for now."

Jiang Ye said, "As long as he doesn't die, it's fine, right?"

"This... don't cause too much of a commotion. After all, he still has to fight for my Shangguan Family."

Bai Tianhao was furious, as if he were being treated like meat on a chopping block to be carved at will!

"Then let's see how much ability you have!"

The two stepped out and stood opposite each other. Jiang Ye said calmly, "Can we start now?"