Having killed Jing Zhiyuan, the old man’s expression didn’t fluctuate in the slightest. To him, killing a man was like crushing an ant—completely insignificant.
But the man he had just killed was an expert at the 4th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm!
"Have you seen enough? Watching a battle from my domain... you really have no fear of death," the old man suddenly spoke as he removed Jing Zhiyuan’s Storage Ring.
"Senior, that Martial Technique you just used..." Ye Xuan walked out from the distance, his expression tinged with shock.
He wondered exactly what level of cultivation this old man possessed to actually be able to tear through space. An Earth Spirit Realm cultivator definitely couldn’t do that, right? There was only one possibility—the old man knew some extraordinary Martial Technique.
"I have fished for a hundred and thirty years," the old man said indifferently. "Through occasional flashes of insight, I created a Martial Technique of my own: Void Shattering."
PLOP. The fishhook was tossed back into the lake. Even though half the water in the lake was gone, it didn’t stop him from continuing to fish.
"A self-created Martial Technique," Ye Xuan murmured, his pupils trembling. Anyone in this world capable of creating their own Martial Technique not only needed immense talent but also spontaneous bursts of inspiration.
He wondered if the old man’s Martial Technique could be considered a Divine Secret Technique. It was impossible to defend against such an attack.
"What? Do you want to learn it?"
"Senior, you want to teach me?" Ye Xuan was astonished.
"As long as you want to learn, I can naturally teach you. I’ve taught this Martial Technique to quite a few geniuses of the Gongsun Family. But none of them could master it. I told them to calm their minds and try mimicking my fishing for a hundred years, but how many people have that kind of patience? Besides, even if they fished for a century, they still might not grasp its profound mysteries."
"Senior, you really want to teach me? But my surname isn’t Gongsun."
"I know who you are. Gongsun Yanran’s son, Ye Xuan. By the way, what are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come just because you were worried about me, right?"
"Well..."
"There’s no need to hide things from an old man like me. If I’m not mistaken, you wanted to take advantage of the chaos to sneak into the resource vault."
Ye Xuan coughed awkwardly, then nodded. "Yes."
"What, with me guarding the resource vault, did you really think you could get in?"
"It was wishful thinking on my part. Senior’s cultivation is formidable, and you even created a Martial Technique like Void Shattering. I definitely won’t be able to enter the resource vault. In that case, this junior will take his leave."
"Where are you going? Didn’t you want to learn my Void Shattering?"
"Senior, do you mean you really are going to teach me?"
"Of course. Didn’t I just say that if you want to learn, I’ll teach you? What, you don’t want to learn?"
"I do! I definitely want to learn."
Ye Xuan immediately sat down beside the old man, but the old man didn’t offer any explanations. Instead, he simply began to fish. Behind them, Hua stood quietly, not saying a single word.
"Watch closely," the old man said.
His fishhook fell into the center of the water, and in the blink of an eye, it breached the surface on the right. After falling back down, it broke the surface on the left. He repeated this motion without any discernable pattern.
From beginning to end, the old man didn’t utter a single syllable. Since he didn’t speak, Ye Xuan didn’t ask questions either, merely focusing on watching him intently.
After a long while, Ye Xuan spoke up. "Senior, are you treating the void like a lake?"
Ye Xuan’s single question caused a brilliant gleam to shine in the old man’s eyes.
"To think you comprehended it so quickly! That’s right. Void Shattering is an ultimate skill I created from the insights I gained while fishing. At the time, I did indeed treat the void as a lake. I thought to myself, since a fishhook can move through water and emerge in a completely different spot, why couldn’t it pierce through the void and strike from another direction? This is the profound truth of Void Shattering!"
Hearing this, Ye Xuan remained silent. Comprehending the profound truth was not the same as mastering the Martial Technique. The hardest part of Void Shattering was the "shattering" itself.
"Why aren’t you speaking? Do you realize how difficult it is? What’s even harder is that my Martial Technique can only be paired with a fishhook. If I threw away my fishhook, I wouldn’t be able to execute Void Shattering either."
Instead of addressing that directly, Ye Xuan asked, "Senior, could you tell me in detail about the circulation paths of your Spiritual Qi when you execute this Martial Technique? Or rather, what state of mind are you in?"
"You brat, you always manage to hit the nail on the head. The circulation paths aren’t important; what matters is the state of mind, as well as the mastery over this stretch of sky..."
The old man began to explain in detail.
In other parts of the estate, the battles raged fiercely. Here, however, it seemed like an otherworldly utopia—quiet and peaceful.
Meanwhile, in the main courtyard.
"Report! The He Family has met heavy resistance and suffered disastrous losses! Five He Family Elders have already died!"
"Report! The Yun Family has suffered disastrous losses! The Yun Family Patriarch was injured by the Second Elder, and their forces are currently routed and fleeing!"
"Report! The Qiu Family has suffered heavy casualties and is on the verge of routing!"
"Good!" Gongsun Xin couldn’t help but let out a low roar upon hearing these battle reports.
These ants actually thought they could annihilate the Gongsun Family. Where did they get such courage? Their strongest fighters were merely at the 1st, or at most 2nd Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm. Almost all resources meant for the Earth Spirit Realm were controlled by the Gongsun Family.
"Sound the bell for a counterattack! The entire clan will strike back! Show no mercy to anyone who has set foot in the Gongsun Family’s estate! Do not stop until they have been driven out!"
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
The Unmoving Bell rang out once more. This time, the tempo was rapid and urgent.
Back at the lake, Ye Xuan also heard the bell.
"Don’t worry, that’s the bell for an all-out counterattack," the old man’s voice rang out. "It seems victory is at hand."
Only then did Ye Xuan breathe a sigh of relief. The Gongsun Family truly lived up to its reputation; even when besieged, they wouldn’t be easily defeated. Their initial defense had merely been a setup for this full-scale counterattack.
It seemed his plan to sneak into the resource vault during the chaos was no longer viable. However, he was definitely still going to enter the Three-Star Secret Realm.
"Ye Xuan, can you sense the state I was talking about?"
Ye Xuan shook his head.
"Alas. Your understanding of the Martial Dao is indeed very accurate. But if you can’t sense it, it might be because your cultivation is still too weak. The stronger your cultivation, the more exquisite your connection with heaven and earth becomes. This kind of subtlety can only be intuitively sensed; it cannot be communicated through words."
Back in the main courtyard.
"Young City Lord, we have news of victory from all fronts! The He Family Patriarch was slain by the First Elder! The forces from the Five Great Clans that attacked the Gongsun Family have been decimated, and everyone is fleeing in panic. Barring any accidents, in half an hour, there will be no more enemies left in the Gongsun Family estate!"
Hearing the latest battle report, Gongsun Xin was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but as if recalling something, he asked in a deep voice, "Have you spotted anyone from the Sun Family?"
"Uh, it seems not."
"You haven’t spotted them at all?" Gongsun Xin furrowed his brows.
It was absolutely impossible for the Sun Family not to participate in the battle to seize the city. Yet, not a single one of them had been seen up to this point. This was definitely not a good omen.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long before another scout rushed in to report.
"Reporting to the Young City Lord! Gongsun Tu has died in battle!"
"Report! Gongsun Yuan has died in battle!"
"Report! The Fourth Elder is heavily injured! We need reinforcements in the south!"
Gongsun Xin’s expression turned ugly as he demanded, "What happened?"
"According to our scouts, the Sun Family has joined the fray. They didn’t bring many men—only about ten thousand in total across all four directions. However, every single one of them is an expert. They have over a dozen Earth Spirit Realm cultivators alone!"
"Over a dozen? Where did they get so many Earth Spirit Realm experts?"
"I-I don’t know."
As they spoke, another scout arrived with a report.
"Report! The He Family in the north had originally retreated from the Gongsun Family estate, but their Supreme Elder is now leading their clansmen in charging back!"
"Report! The Qiu Family has also begun to counterattack!"
"Urgent report! The Second Elder has been slain by Sun Zhenwu!"
"Urgent report! To cover the retreat of Gongsun Yanran and the others, the Fourth Elder used a self-detonation Secret Technique and died in the blast!"