Chapter 72: The Strife Within the Zhou Family

  "Hey, isn't this Young Master Zhou Longqi? You've also come to Flame Valley?"

  Just as Hu Gao was about to bid farewell to Zhou Longqi and the others, a group of people suddenly appeared in front of him. The leader was a young man who was roughly the same age as him, with an aura that was as sharp as a sword out of its scabbard. The fluctuations of his Yuan force were astonishingly at the level of the ninth stage of the Condensing Shadows Realm.

  Behind him stood six or seven people, all middle-aged men, wearing black clothes, with cold expressions. Hu Gao felt that this group of people was probably the guards, but their auras were exceptionally strong, all reaching the peak of the ninth level of the Condensed Shadow Realm.

  Being interrupted by these few people, Hu Gao didn't know how to choose anymore. The speaking youth seemed to be smiling, but it was certain that he came to pick a fight, and he also felt a faint killing intent from the other's eyes, obviously not being a good omen, all of them were enemies of Zhou Longqi.

  Hu Gao sighed and said, "Now is indeed not a good time to leave."

  Zhou Longqi glared at the young man in front of him, with a thread of suppressed anger in his eyes. His expression was no longer as carefree as before, but rather quite calm.

  "Zhou Ying, I'm going somewhere, I don't think I need to report to you about it."

  "Of course not! Mr. Longqi's actions naturally don't need to be reported to me." Zhouying also had a faint smile on his face, but with a few more hints of arrogance in his expression.

  "It's just that Zhou Ying is worried about the young master's safety, after all, this Flame Valley isn't a place ordinary people can go to. It's said that even martial artists who have achieved unity with nature may fall. And you're going in with just these few weak and wounded soldiers?"

  "Zhou Ying, watch your words, you're just a collateral descendant after all. Don't think that with a few lackeys watching over you, you're really safe."

  The guards behind Zhou Longqi heard Zhou Ying humiliate their master and naturally couldn't bear it, so they shouted loudly.

  "Haha, this is getting interesting, the dog leg is scolding people." Zhou Ying didn't mind their humiliation and turned around to laugh with his own guards.

  "I'm telling you, Young Master Longqi, we're coming from a good place. If things were to go awry and end up like your father's situation, it would be embarrassing for others to look down on us. But if people were to think that our entire Zhou family is like this, then it would truly be a disaster."

  "Zhou Ying, don't think I'm afraid of you!" Zhou Longqi narrowed his eyes and said. He had originally wanted to endure it silently, but unexpectedly, Zhou Ying not only came to find fault like other Zhou family disciples, but even mentioned his deceased father, making him unable to bear it any longer.

  "Dragon Young Master, what are you talking about? You're not afraid of me, of course. In the Zhou family, who doesn't know you? You can beat up anyone you want and the clan leader never punishes you."

  However, this Flame Valley is not like home, so Young Master Long Qi should be careful. Don't say dying inside is unlucky, if you get robbed, it's a loss for us brothers. Say, did you find anything good? Take it out and let me see."

  Zhou Ying said with a sneer, he had disliked Zhou Longqi since his time in the Zhou household. As the guard said, he was just a collateral branch younger generation member and often didn't receive fair treatment within the family. Now that they've met on this narrow road, if he doesn't thoroughly humiliate him, it will be hard to vent his anger.

  His words of superficial warning, others could hear the sarcastic meaning, but in Zhou Longqi's ears, it had a different meaning.

  At that time, Zhou Longqi's father successfully awakened the totem and generated a variant totem, causing the entire Zhou family to cheer and think that the family would rise with it, pouring resources into it. However, what disappointed the family was that his father's totem never showed any special abilities, becoming known as a "waste" among the clan members.

  His father came to the Dragon Scales Mountains to prove himself, and finally died here. When Zhou Longqi was young, he heard some rumors that his father had actually found a special item in the Flame Valley, which had unleashed the power of the Variant Totem, and had made a great display of divine might, only to be betrayed and surrounded by treacherous people, leading to his death.

  Zhou Ying's words prove that he might know something. It seems that Father's death is not as simple as it appears, and there may be internal struggles within the Zhou family involved!

  "Good stuff is available, but I don't know if you have the ability to come and get it." Zhou Longqi said provocatively, wanting to make Zhou Ying lose his rationality.

  "Hum, giving face but having no face! You're just like your dad back then!"

  As expected, Zhou Longqi's face turned gloomy. This guy must know something. If that's the case, he'll have to be questioned to the death to get an explanation.

  He glanced at Hu Gao and said, "Brother, I'm sorry, I already owe you a favor earlier, and it seems like I'll have to owe you another one this time."

  Hu Gao listened carefully on the side, seeing Zhou Longqi's face change, he probably guessed something, carefully looked at the comparison of the two sides' strength, and his own side was quite different, but he still had a trump card, not afraid, thought for a moment, he said in a low voice, "It's okay, I'll include the interest."

  "Haha, I've never heard that human relationships have interest before. You really don't look like a Taoist." Zhou Longqi chuckled and said in a low voice, he knew Hu Gao was joking, but his heart still felt warm.

  Hu Gao was originally watching with a detached attitude, but by now he naturally knew that he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. He raised an eyebrow and rubbed his nose, saying: "We've got to make it clear, eight out and fourteen back is the only way."

  The two of them completely ignored Zhou Ying's shouting and started talking to each other in a low voice.

  "What is eight out and fourteen back?" Zhou Longqi looked puzzled.

  Hu Gao was speechless, and he had just blurted out the common saying of his previous life's usury. He could only patiently explain, "It means if you ask me to borrow 100 gold coins, I'll only give you 80. When it's time to repay, you have to return 140 gold coins."

  Zhou Longqi's eyes widened, his IQ was not low to begin with, and after hearing this explanation, he instantly understood. "Hu Shao, if you don't go into business, it would be a waste of your exceptional talent! Never mind, in the future, if I can speak on behalf of the Zhou family, I will definitely give all the family businesses to you!"

  "We'll talk about it another day!" Hu Gao turned his head towards Zhou Ying, who was furious, "I don't know where a dog came from, barking non-stop. Did this gentleman hear that?"

  "You..." Zhou Ying's fingers stretched out, he was so angry with this little kid Hu Gao that he couldn't speak.

  Zhou Longqi suppressed his smile and said, "This guy is just a concubine-born illegitimate son of a branch of our Zhou family. Don't bother with him, Hu Shao."

  "So that's how it is." Hu Gao spread his hands to Zhou Ying, "Since you're Brother Zhou's kin, then this time, your punishment for offending me will be to slap the right side of your face with your left hand and then slap the left side of your face with your right hand. Ah, after being out for a few days, I've become even more benevolent towards people."

  Looking at Hu Gao's nonchalant expression, Zhou Ying was furious, his mind quickly turned around, and he really couldn't think of such a family number, damn it's unlucky!

  "Finish off that kid for me!" Whatever family you're from, in this Flame Valley, if you're killed then you're killed. Zhou Ying didn't bother to say more and directly gave the order to kill.

  In an instant, the six guards standing behind him burst out with a strong yuan force fluctuation, and there was also a cold killing intent, rushing forward to kill Hu Gao.

  Zhou Longqi naturally couldn't let Hu Gao, who was helping him, suffer a loss. He hastily took a step forward, his voice low and stern, as he displayed the majestic aura of a tiger, "How dare you! Don't you know who I am? You actually dare to kill in front of me, do you want to die?"

  As his voice rose, the six guards who were charging forward suddenly stopped in their tracks, as if they had been stunned by something.

  Zhou Ying burst into a thunderous rage. So many condensed shadow realms, ninth-stage peak warriors, could it be that they were still afraid of being intimidated by a young whippersnapper?

  "What's there to be afraid of? Zhou Longqi only knows how to use intimidation! Kill him, if anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility."

  This kind of momentum is something that only people with absolute power can manipulate, Zhou Longqi's intimidation of the demon beast was okay, but when it came to dealing with six condensed shadow realm ninth-tier peak warriors, the effect was actually not great. Moreover, he also somewhat underestimated their killing intent towards Hu Gao, or rather overestimated the deterrent force of his own identity.

  "Kill!"

  Six guards were awakened by Zhou's loud roar and all let out a loud shout before charging at Hu Gao once again.

  Faced with the joint attack of several people, Hu Gao was not flustered. He had come to the Dragon and Tiger Mountain Range in order to rapidly increase his strength, and having these masters take him down was more than suitable.

  What's most important is that he has the Wind and Thunder Bead in his hand, if he really can't win, there's still a chance to turn things around, it's just not suitable to reveal his trump card for now.

  "A true hero is not afraid of being barefoot! Let me see how much you are all worth!"

  Draw out the Shadowless Sword, Hu Gao's crimson Yuan energy surges forth, unleashing the most powerful aura. Whether the opponent is intimidated by himself or thinks he's just pretending to be fierce, this one sword infused with aura can win him a chance to turn the battle around.

  "Everybody stop right there!"

  Just as both sides were about to clash, a loud shout of anger suddenly rang out from behind the crowd, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind.

  A white-clad youth with a jet-black long sword on his back flew into the middle of both sides, with an overwhelming aura bursting out from his body, causing everyone around him to be shocked.

  He is a master of Tong Ti Jing and is quite young, about the same age as Hu Gao!

  Hu Gao found out through Xiao Wu's investigation that this person had been watching the play outside just now, but when he saw Zhou Longqi was in danger, he didn't hesitate to take action. It seems that he should be on Zhou Longqi's side.

  He took a glance at the young man and was also surprised by his cultivation. At such a young age, he had already reached the state of unity with the universe. It seemed that this person was an even more formidable character than himself.

  It seems that this Longjia mountain range is indeed worth coming for! Hu Gao couldn't help but sigh.