Chapter 168: The Martial Alliance Assembly

Something happened to the Jiang family?

This outcome was probably something both Su Ye and Jiang Liuying had anticipated long ago.

The moment the two of them leaped off the back of that bald eagle, it was already destined that the Jiang family would make a complete break with the Martial Alliance. Once they emerged, a direct conflict with the Martial Alliance would likely ensue immediately.

"What did the phone say? Is your father alright?" Su Ye asked quickly.

With a grieving expression, Jiang Liuying shook her head. Her voice trembled as she said, "The housekeeper answered the call. Our Jiang family is being hunted down by the Martial Alliance, and I don't know where my father went; we can't reach him. What should we do?"

"Don't panic! Let's head back to Yangcheng first. The Jiang family is so large, and Ouyang Feng and the others must be in Yangcheng as well. Let's return first and figure out the situation before deciding!" Shock was also profound in Su Ye's heart. It seemed that Jiang Ziyang must have broken ties with the Martial Alliance in order to avenge them.

As for what the current situation actually was, they truly could not guess.

The two thanked the woman who answered the phone, inquired about the directions, and immediately left the tourist area at a rapid pace.

After stepping outside and walking a short distance—since this was a tourist spot—they quickly found a long-distance bus rest station nearby, where they managed to find a coach heading to Yangcheng.

Su Ye had some money stored in his spatial conch, so he boarded the bus directly by paying double the regular fare.

Upon seeing this, the driver was instantly overjoyed. It wasn't the first time he had taken on such off-the-books business; if he picked up Su Ye and Jiang Liuying, those extra fares would go straight into his own pocket.

"Haha, get on board! There are plenty of seats right on the bus!" the driver greeted them very enthusiastically.

Su Ye brought Jiang Liuying up with him. There were already quite a few passengers waiting inside. When they caught sight of Jiang Liuying's exquisite and delicate appearance, many of the passengers turned their heads to look, even secretly discussing whether she might be a celebrity.

Normally, they wouldn't pay attention to how many passengers there were, nor would they remember a passenger's appearance, but with a beauty of Jiang Liuying's caliber, anyone who had seen her previously would definitely remember.

A young man wearing colorful glasses smiled triumphantly at Jiang Liuying and said in a loud voice, "Hey there, beauty! Heh, why don't you sit by me? I've got a seat right here!"

Jiang Liuying glanced sideways at the young man, too lazy to say a single word, and walked to the back to find two seats where she sat down directly.

Su Ye was already quite used to this kind of situation. Back at school, there had always been groups of male students trying to strike up conversations with Jiang Liuying like this, so he couldn't be bothered to care about such matters.

He sat down in the seat right next to Jiang Liuying, wanting to seize every single second to recover his true qi. Once they returned to Yangcheng, resorting to martial force would probably be unavoidable. Yet this time, going up against the Martial Alliance made the entire power of the Jiang family appear exceedingly fragile.

He wanted some peace and quiet, but the young man who had just tried to strike up a conversation refused to grant it to him.

They seemed to have several companions. One of them laughed out loud and said, "Hahaha, Xiangyang, you got snubbed! Ha, even a beauty of that caliber won't give you the time of day, ha!"

Annoyed, Xiangyang whipped off his colorful glasses to reveal a handsome face, and shouted at his companion, "Mushēn, shut the hell up. I was losing my virginity before you were even weaned off milk! Hmph!"

"Tsk tsk, don't put up a front! The beauty has a boyfriend, didn't you see? If you're so tough, why don't you go over there and keep trying to hit on her? I'll bow to you as my master." Mushēn didn't hold back at all, offering a sarcastic remark.

Seeming to be provoked, Xiangyang stood up abruptly, reached up to smooth his hair, flashed a smile, and took out his phone as he walked over slowly. He first glanced sideways at Su Ye and then directly ignored him.

"This classmate, where are you headed? Just now, my friends and I were discussing you, and I found that you have a certain unique trait..."

At this point, Xiangyang deliberately paused. He had used this exact trick to pick up girls more than once or twice, and all the girls would invariably ask him back, "What trait?"

However, this time, the person he had encountered was Jiang Liuying.

Jiang Liuying merely rolled her eyes in helpless annoyance. Right now, she had no desire to say anything at all, and simply turned her head to look out the window.

This reaction immediately left Xiangyang hanging awkwardly on the spot. He had already pulled out his phone, intending to add Jiang Liuying on WeChat, but now she was completely ignoring him.

Seeing this from afar, Mushēn and the others burst into wild, uproarious laughter.

"Haha, Young Master Xiangyang, you've finally met a girl you can't handle. It seems that without using your family background, people won't even pay attention to you! Haha."

Xiangyang's expression flickered between shades of green and white. Suddenly, his tone rose as he offered a cold chuckle, saying, "Do you know who I am? Today I'm just keeping a low profile and don't want to make a fuss! Would I normally ride a bus like this? My family is in the pill-refining business—do you know what medicinal pills are? A single random pill is enough to buy you out. Women like you are a dime a dozen to me, hmph."

Hearing the unpleasant tone in Xiangyang's voice, Mushēn and the others reined it in a bit and said, "Forget it, Xiangyang. We're going to Yangcheng to handle official business this trip, so don't go looking for trouble casually. You're not going to die if you don't chase women for a single day!"

Xiangyang glanced at Su Ye once more, then spoke to Jiang Liuying with an arrogant air, "What kind of future is there with a man like this? I'll call my people right now and have them meet us at the station ahead. Whether you prefer a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, you can have it! Otherwise, I'm heading to the Yangcheng Martial Alliance to attend the grand assembly this time—how about I take you along to see the world?"

Attending the Martial Alliance assembly?

These words immediately caught the attention of both Su Ye and Jiang Liuying.

Jiang Liuying immediately spoke up to ask, "What kind of assembly is the Martial Alliance holding?"

"Oh? It seems you know about the Martial Alliance too." Xiangyang straightened his cuffs and said proudly, "This time, the Martial Alliance has acquired quite a few good things, and they've invited two or three neighboring provinces to come participate in an auction. If you want to go too, fine—just follow me and get off the bus at the next stop! By the way, what's your name?"

Jiang Liuying furrowed her delicate brows and looked at Su Ye, seemingly waiting for him to say something.

Su Ye suddenly spoke up, "So you're also heading to the Martial Alliance assembly? What a coincidence! The two of us are as well! This time, Alliance Master Ouyang of the Martial Alliance has acquired quite a few items, and I heard they were even found in the legendary Thunder City. I wonder if that's true?"

"Oh?" Xiangyang had initially felt a sense of hostility toward Su Ye, but upon hearing his words, he looked somewhat surprised. He cast a suspicious glance around at the surrounding passengers—many of whom were asleep—before lowering his voice to say:

"It seems we really are fellow travelers! The news you've received is already known to many. Furthermore, did you know that some changes have occurred within the Martial Alliance this time? Their young alliance master has already been replaced, and what's more, he's currently being hunted down. Otherwise, given my status, how could I possibly travel to Yangcheng in such a low-profile manner?" Xiangyang added in a low voice.

This simple sentence made Su Ye's heart tremble violently. Although he had guessed that Ouyang Feng would also step in to help, he hadn't expected that Ouyang Feng would actually be hunted down. Could the Martial Alliance have grown so ruthless that they would go as far as wanting to kill Ouyang Feng?

Jiang Liuying let out a disdainful huff and said, "I've heard these words more times than I can count; there isn't a single piece of explosive news here! I told you I didn't want to go to Yangcheng, yet you dragged me along anyway. I really don't know what's on your mind."

Hearing this, Xiangyang immediately knew it was time for him to shine. He instantly stepped forward a few paces, leaned against the seat while striking a very dashing posture, and began spilling various secrets one by one.

Both Su Ye and Jiang Liuying listened intently, gradually learning an astonishing piece of news: the Martial Alliance had indeed obtained many fine treasures this time, including quite a few magical artifacts.

Alliance Master Ouyang Yi had actually invited prominent families from various regions to attend the Martial Alliance assembly. On one hand, they would auction off their spoils; on the other hand, they wanted to build good relationships with the various families, with the intention of expanding the Martial Alliance's influence into other cities and even neighboring provinces.

Many families were drawn there specifically by the reputation of the "treasures from the legendary Thunder City"! And because the martial artists traveling there were all carrying heavy and precious items, a considerable portion of them were proceeding with extreme caution.

"It seems we must attend this Martial Alliance assembly as well!" Su Ye muttered to himself. The despicable methods of the Martial Alliance should be exposed publicly right then and there. More importantly, he believed that at this Martial Alliance assembly, he would be able to find members of the Jiang family, and perhaps even Ouyang Feng's people, which would allow them to sort everything out completely.

Knowing what Su Ye was thinking, Jiang Liuying said to Xiangyang, "There's no need for you to arrange a private car to pick us up. If fate allows, we'll see each other again at the Martial Alliance assembly. When the time comes, I'll consider whether or not to give you my WeChat!"

"Oh? Heh, so you're quite romantic after all, hoping for a chance encounter with me?" Xiangyang smiled, abandoning any further delay as he chuckled and walked back to his seat.

Su Ye gave Jiang Liuying a rather helpless look and said in a low voice, "Since you've already fished out the information, don't give him any false hopes. It wouldn't be good if he gets implicated by accident."

"What's wrong with that? What if he falls head over heels for me? Having more friends is always a good thing!" After saying this, Jiang Liuying suddenly cast a meaningful, lingering look at Su Ye and smiled warmly, "Oh? You aren't jealous, are you?"

"Jealous of your ghost."

"You clearly are... Heh, alright, alright, I won't give him my contact info. Honestly, after studying for so long, have you ever seen me as that kind of casual person?" Jiang Liuying complained with a pout.

Su Ye couldn't be bothered to answer her. At a time like this, the fact that she still had the mood to joke around was actually quite nice.

It didn't take many hours before the bus finally pulled into Yangcheng.

Su Ye and Jiang Liuying hurried off the vehicle. Although Yangcheng had originally been their home turf where operating would be very convenient, it was also the stronghold of the Martial Alliance; if they rashly exposed their identities, it would only make things far more dangerous.

The two of them moved cautiously, first finding a place to grab a bite to eat, and then secretly making a few phone calls to the Jiang family numbers, but absolutely no one answered. Just as Su Ye was contemplating whether he should take the risk of returning to the Jiang family estate,

He suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.

It was a slender, petite silhouette wearing oversized clothes and a face mask, yet Su Ye recognized her instantly. It was none other than the Heavenly Secrets Maiden, Ling Zhu, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Ling Zhu... why are you here?" Seeing Ling Zhu wandering around an alleyway searching for something, Su Ye called out to her directly.

"Su Ye, it really is you!"