“Second brother, little sister! Third brother did well, but both of you had excellent performances too and ranked in the top 10!” Wang Yuan was effusive in his praise.
Both Yang Zaixuan and Su Rou had been outstanding in the selection battle and gained recognition for the strength they exhibited during the event.
Yang Zaixuan had single-handedly killed Ling Xue’er, who ranked 8th in the previous Earthly Dragon List. Yang Zaixuan had defeated him so effortlessly that no one doubted that he deserved his 5th rank on the Earthly Dragon List.
Su Rou’s performance in the selection battle had been even more astounding.
Su Rou had deflected Xue Yun’s blade attack and forced Xue Yun to retreat.
Without Su Rou’s interference, Jian Wushuang might not have been able to defeat Xue Yun. This made Su Rou’s strength clear to all who were present.
While Su Rou had amply demonstrated her skills in defensive methods, her limited ability with attack methods resulted in her merely replacing Jian Wushuang’s old rank at the tenth place on the list.
“Our little sister and I are merely supporting players in the Earthly Dragon List. We can’t compare our strength to the third brother who ranks first! ” Yang Zaixuan said.
“My sentiments exactly.” Su Rou nodded earnestly.
“Then you two should work harder in the next two months. The Easternmost Hunting will be tougher than the selection battle you just experienced, and the opponents you face will also be different.” Wang Yuan cautioned.
“That’s right. The Easternmost Hunting is different from the selection battle. We may be the top experts in the Tianzong Dynasty but that may not be the case in the Easternmost Hunting.” Jian Wushuang felt slightly pressured.
After all, Tianzong Dynasty was a small empire.
The twelve Northwestern Dynasties would be participating in the Easternmost Hunting. Six of these were middle-sized dynasties and two were large empires.
These middle-sized and large empires would have territorial areas and warrior numbers far surpassing that of Tianzong Dynasty.
A small empire like Tianzong Dynasty had been able to produce many experts, and even an exceptional talent like Xue Yun. That meant that larger empires would have many talents of their own.
“I don’t know about other dynasties, but I’m familiar with the Cosmos Empire, one of the two large empires.” Yang Zaixuan said.
“The Cosmos Empire has more talents than Tianzong Dynasty and their skills are superior to ours. Cosmos Empire has its own list of top Gold Core experts. Any of the top 50 warriors on that list would easily rank in the top 10 or even in the top 5 on the Earthly Dragon List.”
“Oh?” Jian Wushuang responded, eyebrows raised.
Anyone in the top 50 on Cosmos Empire’s list could make it to the top 10 on the Earthly Dragon List? Maybe even top 5?
“Second brother, why do you know so much about Cosmos Empire?” Jian Wushuang asked, frowning.
Yang Zaixuan’s face darkened and didn’t answer. Jian Wushuang decided not to press him.
“Anyway, we’ll do our best.” Jian Wushuang said.
“Yeah.” Yang Zaixuan and Su Rou also nodded.
The four brothers were drinking and chatting in a majestic manor in the Dragon Palace.
Palace Masters Black and White were playing chess casually.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and a purple-robed servant entered.
“Your Excellencies, Golden-dragon Palace sent a classified letter.” The purple-robed servant handed them the letter.
“Classified?” Palace Master White and Black were surprised. Palace Master White took the letter and dismissed the servant with a wave of his hand. The servant departed immediately and closed the door after him.
Still seated in front of the chessboard, Palace Master White opened the classified letter and read it together with Palace Master Black.
Their faces turned grave after reading the contents of the letter.
“The Easternmost Hunting will be held in two months, so he should focus on improving his strength to prepare for it. This is an unexpected turn of events.”
Palace Master White frowned and turned to Palace Master Black. “What do you think? Should we tell him right now or keep it a secret until the end of the Easternmost Hunting?”
Palace Master Black mulled it over and said, “Just tell him. Let him make the decision.”
“I’ll let him know since I’m closer to him.” Palace Master White rose from his seat and left.
Soon, Palace Master White arrived at the manor where Jian Wushuang and his friends were drinking together.
“Jian Wushuang.” Palace Master White appeared.
“Palace Master White.” The four of them stood up immediately.
“Follow me, I have something to tell you,” said Palace Master White.
Jian Wushuang nodded and followed Palace Master White to a quiet open field.
“This is a classified letter from Golden-dragon Palace. Take a look.” Palace Master White handed the letter to Jian Wushuang.
Jian Wushuang was puzzled, but his eyes widened when he opened the letter and saw its contents.
Only a short paragraph was written in the letter.
“We have found out that Jian Nantian has been detained at… Tiannan Province, Nine Ring Mountain!”
It was a short paragraph, but it was enough to agitate Jian Wushuang.
“That’s where my father has been!”
“My father is being held at Nine Ring Mountain!”
Jian Wushuang’s face reddened with fury and he emanated an aura of uncontained rage.
“Jian Wushuang, keep your cool!” Palace Master White shouted.
But Jian Wushuang didn’t seem to be listening.
Keep calm?
That was his father!
Although he hadn’t seen his father for many years, scenes of his father teaching him swordplay when he was a child remained deeply etched in his mind.
When his father had gone missing. Jian Wushuang had tried all means to find him but had failed as his spiritual power was lacking at the time.
He could only fulfill his father’s wishes that he takes charge of Sword Pavilion, and he had been striving to do just that since then.
Not long ago, he had been surprised to learn from his aunt that his father was still alive.
Now that he finally knew where his father was, how could he not be worked up?
“Jian Wushuang, calm down first!” Seeing Jian Wushuang’s state, Palace Master White shouted again with a special force, causing Jian Wushuang to shudder and calm down immediately.
“Palace Master White.” Jian Wushuang could not help looking at Palace Master White.
“I came to you immediately after receiving this classified letter. Now that you know where your father is, I know it’s difficult for you to calm down and that you’d want to figure out how to rescue your father.” Palace Master White said solemnly.
“I understand all these things!”
“However, before rescuing your father, you should have a clear understanding of the opponents’ strength. Take action with certainty. You wouldn’t want to fail in your rescue attempt and perhaps, even lose your life.”