All the Yang Family's direct descendants had returned to the Central Capital and the family had given them nearly two months of preparation time. After selecting their respective Blood Warrior guardians, the Yang Family's Inheritance War would soon begin.
As the news was announced, the atmosphere in the Central Capital became tense, the entire Great Han Dynasty abuzz with excitement as many of the world's large and small forces marched in the direction of the capital in order to gain some benefits in this huge event.
The Yang Family's Young Lords had all been busy contacting the various juniors of the other seven families, trying their best to recruit more allies.
The Central Capital's Eight Great Families, the Yang Family, Qiu Family, Liu Family, Huo Family, Kang Family, Gao Family, Ye Family and Meng Family.
Among them, the Kang Family, Gao Family, Ye Family, and Meng Family had all formally announced who they would ally with; only the remaining three had yet to express their views.
The Liu Family, needless to say, had acted according to Liu Qing Yao's declaration; he would ally with any Yang Family Young Lord who bested him in combat. And was currently with Yang Kai.
As for the Huo Family, the delinquent Huo Xing Chen was having fun all day, drinking and partying, showing absolutely no intention to participate in the Inheritance War, giving his father Huo Zheng a massive headache.
Huo Zheng also wanted his son to participate in the Inheritance War, but his disobedient son refused to take any action, frustrating him to no end. If the older generations had been allowed to participate in the Inheritance War, Huo Zheng would have already made a declaration.
Though, as an aside, the Yang Family's Young Lords had heard that Huo Xing Chen and Yang Kai due to him suppressing Bamboo Knot Gang had some grievances, so many of them had gone looking for him to see if they could use this to persuade him to join them, but none of them had succeeded, instead, all of them found themselves dragged into the red light district, only to emerge a few days later, dizzy, and hangover, sighing as they shook their heads.
........
The sky was blue with not a cloud in sight for ten thousand kilometers, the wind blowing through caused the Yang Family's blood red banners to flutter gently.
Nearly a thousand Yang Family cultivators, dressed in black uniforms, gathered around the huge ceremonial altar.
These thousand cultivators inhaled and exhaled as one, almost as if this stretch of Heaven and Earth was breathing.
Just below the altar stood the eight Yang Family Young Lords, all of them wearing their finest robes, their appearances meticulously put together, arranged in order from oldest to youngest, staring up at the ceremonial stage.
Suddenly from somewhere behind them, a voice called out, "Qiu Family Patriarch, Qiu Shou Cheng!"
"Ye Family Patriarch, Ye Kuang Ren!"
"Meng Family Patriarch, Meng Xiping!"
...........
With a cyan flash, the Yang Family's Patriarch, Yang Ying Hao, along with a few Grand Elders who had reached the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, appeared on the ceremonial stage.
Yang Ying Hao returned to the ceremony politely before shouting, "Today is the day my Yang Family presents offerings to the Heavens and worship our ancestors. Many thanks to our honoured guests for joining us this day, please be seated!"
Qiu Shou Cheng, Ye Kuang Ren, Meng Xi Ping, nodded slightly before once again sitting down.
Yang Kai's eyes fixed on Yang Ying Hao. This person, if one went by generation, should be his uncle, his real age probably only a few years older than his father, the Yang Family Fourth Master.
But now, Yang Ying Hao's hair had gone completely gray as if he had already entered his late years, even his face had many deep wrinkles adoring it.
Before the battle with the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, he was not like this. At that time, he also had the appearance of a middle age man, maybe not young, but definitely not so old.
As such, Yang Ying Hao became very old.
It was because he didn't know how long he could live that the Yang Family had so anxiously recalled all the Yang Family Young Lords in order to launch the Inheritance War.
Essentially, there were no rules. The Yang Family would only provide Blood Warriors to the Young Lords and these Blood Warriors would have many restrictions imposed on them for the duration of the Inheritance War. Besides that, the Yang Family would not provide any Young Lord with any direct help.
No matter what kind of force or treachery was used, the one who survived until the end would be the winner of the Inheritance War.
All kinds of offerings had already been prepared in front of the solemn ceremonial platform, an incense burner released a gentle fragrance while a rare Sixth-Order Monster Beast was carried up, which Yang Ying Hao proceeded to kill, scattering its blood all over the stage.
Offering a blood sacrifice to the Heavens to worship the ancestors!
The ceremony was very elaborate, but Yang Family's younger generation completed their tasks meticulously under the guidance of Yang Ying Hao.
Throughout the whole process, the other seven families elites also watched carefully, observing the performance of these eight youths, doing their best to determine whether the ally of their son or daughter was appropriate while also examining which of their enemies was formidable.
Finally, after paying respects to the Yang Family's ancestors one last time, the ceremony was finally completed.
"Go now! From this point on, it is either you die or I die, put your all into it to achieve victory!" Yang Ying Hao shouted, "Go!"
At his command, a whistle rang out and eight exquisite Cloud Treading Colts arrived in front of the eight youths, each these Yang Family Young Lords swiftly riding their mounts.
The wind stopped and the air around the ceremonial stage suddenly seemed to stagnate, the breath of over a thousand people suddenly halting.
The eight youths glanced at each other and grinned confidently.
Here they were all brothers, but outside the Central Capital, they were enemies! There would be no mercy.
And so…
"Eldest Brother will take the lead!" Yang Wei quickly said, his Cloud Treading Colt sprinting away the moment his voice fell.
"Let's go!" Yang Zhao chuckled.
Eight Cloud Treading Colts dashed towards the Yang Family's dedicated gate, a cloud of dust billowing up in their wake.
"This old master is going to see the excitement!" Kang Family Patriarch Kang Rui snorted and with a wave of his hand, the pure True Qi wrapped him and his entourage up before they shot off like lightning.
"Good, we'll go together!" Gao Family Patriarch Gao Mo Jin followed after.
"This old man will also come!" Not to be outdone, Huo Family Patriarch Huo Zheng also called out loudly.
In an instant, all the members of the seven families had disappeared.
"Hmph, no manners at all!" Yang Ying Hao coldly snorted, blaming these old men for not coming up to say hello to him at least.
All the way, eight Cloud Treading Colt rushed along the ground while seven groups of people flew through the sky, a moment later all of them arriving at the South city Gate.
Outside the South Gate, it seemed to be even more lively than at the Yang Family's ancestor worshipping ceremony. Countless small forces stood around watching, all of them understanding that today was the beginning of the Inheritance War. It was only natural for them to arrive here early and wait for the various Yang Family Young Lords they had agreed to follow so they could travel to War City together.
These four families had long ago expressed their stance, allying themselves with these four Young Lords.
This was a stage for young people.
"Old Qiu, hasn't your Qiu Family chosen yet?" Huo Zheng looked over at Qiu Shou Cheng curiously. Glancing around, he once again confirmed that his delinquent son was nowhere to be seen. Thinking about how he was probably off on some romantic tryst, he suddenly felt a sense of helplessness so seeing Qiu Shou Cheng standing as well, he couldn't help feeling some sympathy.
"How has my Qiu Family not already chosen?" Qiu Shou Cheng smiled slightly as he glanced to one side.
Huo Zheng directed his sight towards where Qiu Shou Cheng indicated and quickly discovered Qiu Zi Ruo standing together with the Sixth Brother Yang Shen. Yang Shen seemed all too happy to receive Qiu Zi Ruo while the latter responded politely.
Seeing Qiu Shou Cheng's son here, Huo Zheng couldn't help being surprised, "Hey, Old Qiu, for this time's Inheritance War, is your son leading the Qiu Family team? What about Meng'er?"
The other six Patriarchs also looked at Qiu Shou Cheng in confusion, obviously puzzled by this picture.
Qiu Shou Cheng had one son and one daughter, but there was no small difference between the two. Qiu Yi Meng's name already resounded throughout the Central Capital and even beyond, she was the second most famous member of the Central Capital's younger generation. All of them felt that Qiu Yi Meng's participation in this Inheritance War was a given, but to their surprise the one who appeared was Qiu Zi Ruo.
Huo Zheng spat disdainfully, releasing a half sneer half sigh, "Old Qiu, it's not that I'm trying to speak badly of him. Heaven knows that compared to my little bastard of a son, your brat is no doubt better, but he's still nothing special. From how I see it, you should hurry up and pass the Patriarch position to your daughter. If you really hand it over to your son, you Qiu Family will meet its end sooner rather than later!"
Qiu Shou Cheng coldly snorted, "How this old master handles things is none of your business!"
Huo Zheng simply rolled his eyes in response, "Stubborn old fool."
For a time, the scene was quite lively. From the gathered audience, the Eldest Brother Yang Wei and Second Brother Yang Zhao received the most help, whenever someone came up to one of them, Yang Wei would simply nod lightly while Yang Zhao would welcome them with a smile.
The two brothers had vastly different personalities so their way of doing things at this moment were also dissimilar.
Only the third Brother Yang Tie, Eighth Brother Yang Quan and the youngest Yang Kai remained alone. They stood in front of the door without anyone bothering to ask about their situation.
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, seemingly without the slightest care. In fact Yang kai receive invitations from various families but he outright ignore them.
Once all the smaller forces had chosen their respective sides, the Yang Family's Young Lords prepared to leave for War City.
Just as Yang Wei gripped his reins and was preparing to lead his team off though, a leisurely sound of horse's hooves rang out from behind him.
Outside the South Gate, the crowd fell silent for a moment as the sound of grew louder and louder.
Turning in the direction of the disturbance, everyone looked over and saw a single Cloud Treading Colt trotting towards them, a young man wearing a big grin on his face sitting atop its back, holding his folded arms before him arrogantly. A strange light filled his eyes as he swept his gaze over the crowd, pausing only when a beautiful woman landed in his sight.
No matter which woman it was, when this young man's eyes landed on them, they couldn't help feeling as if their dresses were being torn open, causing them to shiver in fright.
Huo Family Patriarch Huo Zheng old face suddenly became extremely awkward.
Because the youth who had appeared was none other than his no-good son, Huo Xing Chen.
With only a short distance separating them, Yang Kai and Huo Xing Chen glanced at each other, the latter showing a hint of disdain and provocation, the edges of his mouth rising slightly.
"Did this Young Lord arrive late?" Huo Xing Chen paused in front of everyone, grinning pompously, sweeping his eyes around once more before nodding. "Good good, fortunately it seems I've arrived in time!".
Before the Yang Family Young Lords returned home, there were three members of the younger generation whose names resounded the loudest in the Central Capital.
The first and most famous was Liu Qing Yao, the second was Qiu Yi Meng, and the third is Huo Xing Chen.
The first two were famous throughout the Central Capital whereas the last one was notorious. Everyone in Central Capital knew that the Huo Family's only Young Lord was arrogant and unrestrained. Any beautiful girl, young or old, when she saw him from far away, would immediately rush to avoid his eyes lest she be taken away.
Every family in the Central Capital that had a pretty young daughter had shown her a portrait of Huo Xing Chen's face so that she would remember his appearance.
In a way, Huo Xing Chen's name was even better known than Liu Qing Yao and Qiu Yi Meng. He had even earned the nickname 'Central Capital Wolf'!
Wherever Huo Xing Chen, the Central Capital Wolf, appeared, the winds whirled and the ground shook. Even the Central Capital's crying children would become silent at the mention of the Central Capital Wolf's name!
"Where did you go last night?" Huo Zheng let out a sigh of frustration as he asked.
"Secluded retreat," Huo Xing Chen casually replied.
To this response, Huo Zheng was so angry that smoke nearly burst from his ears, "Little bastard! What the hell is that lipstick on your face about then!?"
Outside the South Gate, there was a sudden burst of laughter.
Huo Xing Chen however didn't mind these chuckles, instead just sneering as he swept his eyes over the crowd, immediately causing the laughter to stop.
Even though the Central Capital Wolf's reputation couldn't be worse, he was still the Young Lord of one of the Eight Great Families! He wasn't someone these people could laugh at.
Not to mention, he was the only successor to the Huo Family, making it even more unwise to provoke him. If one were to laugh at him again now, they would have to worry that this Young Lord Huo would remember their appearance.
Huo Zheng shook his head helplessly, his face filled with bȧrėly controlled rage, coldly snorting as he asked, "Since you're not fooling around in the Red Light district, what are you doing here?"
Huo Xing Chen smiled and said, "Hahaha, didn't you say that the Yang Family Inheritance War was a rare opportunity to gain experience? Your son has thought about it and came to the conclusion that the Huo Family can't just sit on the sidelines of such a major event, or else others might start saying my Huo Family has no real men!"
Hearing these words, Huo Zheng couldn't help smiling, his previous displeasure and anger already thrown to the wind, hurriedly asking, "You mean… you want to participate in the Inheritance War?"
"Your son was indeed thinking so, after all, I should try to live up to your expectations!" Huo Xing Chen replied in a dignified manner.
Huo Zheng was overjoyed, slapping his thɨġh happily, "Good good good! You finally understand, finally! It's not too late! Good, come down, come down!"
As he spoke, Huo Zheng rushed forward, diligently helping his son down from the back of his Cloud Treading Colt.
He didn't feel the slightest embarrassment at his overly doting approach, instead just smiling brightly as he acted.
Of course Huo Zheng would be deliriously happy. No matter how he tried to persuade Huo Xing Chen, his son was never willing to participate in the Inheritance War. Compared with the Inheritance War, he was more willing to go out drinking.
This attitude had caused Huo Zheng to think that the Huo Family would have nothing to do with this times Inheritance War, leaving him quite depressed.
But now, to his great surprise, on the day the Inheritance War truly commenced, his delinquent son had actually taken the initiative to participate all by himself, how could Huo Zheng not be happy?
"Take a look!" Huo Zheng smiled, waving his hand and pointing towards several nearby youths, "These are the eight Yang Family Young Lords! Son, choose one you want to support, after you do, Father promises you he'll let the Star Hall accompany you!"
"Hahaha, good! I like it!" Huo Xing Chen laughed as he licked his lips ominously.
The voices of the father and son were heard by everyone present, even the breathing of many of the Yang Family Young Lords also became slightly rough.
Star Hall! Within the Huo Family, it was their special forces.
It was completely made up of women, and the women inside were not only beautiful, but also quite strong. More importantly, because they were women, the Secret Arts and Martial Skills they practiced were more focused on precision and swiftness, so over the years they had mainly been responsible for ȧssassination.
If such a force were to land in their hands, it would become a big boost. If it became an enemy's support, it would definitely give them a severe headache.
So when these Yang Family children heard Huo Zheng mention the Star Hall, both they and Huo Xing Chen were full of interest.
Huo Xing Chen's expression was casual as he glanced around at all the Yang Family's children. With the exception of Yang Wei who maintained his stoic expression, everyone else smiled and cupped their fists.
Obviously they all wanted to win his favor so he would choose to stand with them.
Huo Zheng however just maintained his smile, not giving anyone any clue as to who he would ultimately choose.
Huo Xing Chen looked Yang Kai and said "Yep, I choose him".
"Who?" Huo Zheng also looked awkward.
"Young Lord Kai!" Huo Xing Chen replied with a smile.
The seven Patriarchs all frowned slightly while Qiu Shou Cheng became even more puzzled.
"Hey, give me control of the Star Hall now," Huo Xing Chen said excitedly, "The Star Hall and my name match; they should be taken care of by me. You're already quite old; you shouldn't hold them back now lest those beauties end up alone when you croak!"
(a/n: Huo Xing Chan's name has the character for 'star' in it)
"Okay…" Huo Zheng said waiting for Yang Kai approval.
"Yes" Yang kai didn't rebuke as he already for the places for Huo Xing Chan and Qu Yi Meng.
Outside the South Gate, things finally subsided.
The Eight Young Lords rode their Cloud Treading Colts and headed to War City!