Chapter 96: Is That Explanation Enough?

The next morning, long before dawn had fully broken, the Shen family estate was already surrounded by thousands of luxury cars. The spectacle was so vast that one glance was enough to make the heart tremble.

At the estate gates stood a coffin as black as ink.

Before the entrance, several enormous vats had been set up for burning spirit money.

But the things being burned were not paper offerings at all. They were real banknotes, red and crisp.

The young master of the Ma family was no ordinary man.

How could mere spirit money possibly match his grandeur?

As one wealthy guest after another stepped forward to throw in money, the flames grew ever fiercer, like several giant swords of fire planted before the Shen estate gates, surging upward with mounting arrogance and menace.

Inside the Shen estate, all was quiet.

The servants did not dare to come out, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

As for Ling Xiao, he was still in meditation.

It was not until the sun had climbed well past the zenith that Ling Xiao finally awoke from his contemplation. He stretched his back, his limbs loosening, and a series of crisp crackling sounds rang out pleasantly.

Glancing outside through the window, Ling Xiao showed a hint of surprise.

"I didn't expect the Ma family to be rather interesting."

With that, he called out.

"Ming Cheng."

"Coming, Young Master!"

"Put on your clothes and come outside with me."

"Right away! I've been waiting for you for ages."

Ming Cheng's eyes gleamed. He knew that in a moment, he would get to enjoy himself again.

The two of them went downstairs, and Shen Qingshan hurried forward to greet them.

"Young Master Ling, the Ma family is going too far. Should I call some others over to help bolster the scene?"

"No need to make it that troublesome. They're here for me. I'll go myself."

With that, Ling Xiao clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the outside, Ming Cheng following closely behind.

After they left, the respectful expression on Shen Qingshan's face gradually vanished.

"Young Master Ye, Ling Xiao has taken the bait! So long as he dares lay a hand on Ma Changlong, this northwest will be his grave!"

On the second floor, Gu Mingyan stood in a robe, leaning against the windowsill, a slender lady's cigarette between her lips, alluring beyond measure.

"At last, it's beginning?"

Beside her, the air warped for a moment. Then, out of thin air, a woman in a tight black outfit appeared. Her graceful figure was fully revealed by the close-fitting fabric.

"Hall Master, we've just received word. The young master of Kongtong has already descended the mountain, bringing four elders at the ninth level of Martial Saint, along with a host of disciples of considerable strength."

At this, those beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and two icy flashes burst forth.

"Ye Gucheng is in such a hurry to come and die?"

The woman in black furrowed her brows slightly.

"Hall Master, this is Kongtong territory. And Ye Gucheng was once one of the Four Young Lords of the martial world. His strength cannot be underestimated. Can the young master really withstand him?"

Gu Mingyan shot her a glance, and the other woman instantly shuddered.

"Feng Wu, remember this: in today's martial world, there is no one who can be compared to Ling Xiao."

"He alone is enough to sweep across the world."

Feng Wu looked confused. Seeing her doubt, Gu Mingyan took the cigarette from her lips, exhaled a plume of smoke, and gazed at the figure walking toward the gates with a look of reverence.

"Let me put it this way. The Three Supreme Arts of the Ghost Valley are famed throughout the world, and they are the very foundation upon which the Ghost Valley stands in the martial world of this land. You should know that."

"Yes. The supreme wisdom art, the supreme martial art, and the supreme healing art. Master just one, and you can preserve a thousand years of incense and inheritance. Master two, and you can secure wealth and glory for a hundred generations. Master all three, and within ten years you can bring peace to the whole world."

Pausing, she added,

"But the Three Supreme Arts are extremely difficult to cultivate. Every generation must divide them among three people, each practicing one, only then can the inheritance continue without end. Once divided into three, their power is greatly weakened. That is why my Ghost Valley has remained in seclusion for a thousand years. Ever since our founder, the Sage of the Valley, established the sect, we have never taken part in the struggle among the hundreds of sects."

"But what if someone managed to cultivate all three arts?"

"That's impossible!"

Feng Wu blurted it out at once.

"The difficulty of cultivating the Three Supreme Arts is as hard as ascending to the heavens. It is several times more difficult than advancing to Martial Emperor. In all our thousands of years in Ghost Valley, there has never been..."

Halfway through, she suddenly stopped. Her eyes flew wide open, and her body began to tremble.

"Don't tell me... don't tell me... the young master he... But he's only been cultivating for three years! Three years, and he mastered all three arts that normally take three people a hundred years each to truly integrate?"

Gu Mingyan turned back with a smile. In that instant, it seemed even the sky outside the window had lost its color.

"That's why I admire him so much."

"Th-that's..."

Feng Wu had completely gone dumbfounded.

Those were the Three Supreme Arts of Ghost Valley!

Their cultivation difficulty was universally acknowledged as monstrous. Setting everything else aside, in all these thousands of years, not a single person had ever mastered all three. Let alone within three years.

If such mastery were truly possible, then this person could no longer be described merely as a genius. Calling him a monster would not be an exaggeration.

So that was it. So that was why the young master was so audacious, why he dared enter the northwest alone without the slightest fear.

With such monstrous talent, let alone the northwest, what was there in the whole world to fear?

At that moment, Feng Wu suddenly felt she could hardly breathe.

Ling Xiao was clearly far away from her, yet she felt as though he were right before her eyes.

It was not that Ling Xiao was truly near. It was his aura. Even from the gates of the estate, a thousand paces away, it still pressed down on her heart with effortless force.

Terrifying. Truly terrifying.

For a moment, she actually began to feel pity for the people outside.

Although there were more than ten thousand of them, and on average each was worth tens of billions, compared with Ling Xiao, they were simply not worth mentioning.

They had no idea what sort of existence they were facing.

Outside, Ling Xiao had already arrived at the estate gates.

The moment he appeared, he was surrounded by a crowd. Ming Cheng immediately stepped in front of him and snorted coldly.

"The Ghost Valley young master is here. Show some respect!"

Ma Changlong's eyes were bloodshot. He waved a hand, and the crowd split to both sides. With his hands behind his back and a dark expression on his face, he walked out from among them.

"I don't care whether you're the young master of Ghost Valley or some other nobody. I'm here today for Shen Qingshan. Tell him to get out here!"

Ling Xiao said indifferently,

"No need to look for him. Your son was killed by me."

At those words, the atmosphere in the entire air froze at once.

Ma Changlong clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked.

His eyes were drenched in blood as he ground his teeth and said, word by word,

"Why did you kill my son?"

Ling Xiao tilted his head and thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm... because he was ugly. Is that explanation acceptable?"