The fourth prince smiled as he watched Yun Yi through the balcony leave his residence.

He was overjoyed. He had finally gotten Yun Yi under his command after much preparation. Even though he had spent a lot of money on him, the fourth prince didn’t mind. In fact, he was willing to spend more just for Yun Yi. That was how valuable he was to him since Yun Yi was the key to conquering the Yun Clan.

“Your Highness, should I follow him?” a person who was standing in the shade a few meters away from the fourth prince asked.

“No need,” the fourth prince said. “But do tell the others to keep an eye on him. We have to make sure we can trust him first before using him.”

He nodded at the fourth prince before disappearing into the darkness.

That person was none other than the fourth prince’s personal guard, a secretive individual who rarely showed himself to anyone else as he preferred working alone in secrecy. In fact, only a few people knew of his existence. Not even his father, the emperor, knew that the fourth prince had someone like him as a personal guard.

Earlier, while the fourth prince and Yun Yi were talking to each other, his personal guard had been there listening to them the whole time. The fourth prince ordered him to do so just in case Yun Yi didn’t join their side. The reason the fourth prince revealed so many things to Yun Yi without too much concern was because of him. Had Yun Yi refused to join him, the fourth prince would have ordered his personal guard to kill him without hesitation. After all, with the information he gave to Yun Yi, it would be for the best that he dies if he didn’t become an ally. Yun Yi would just become another hindrance to his plans otherwise.

“Yun Yi, Yun Yi, Yun Yi… don’t let me down...” the fourth prince said as smiled cryptically.

…

World of Terra
Riverspan Sect Territory - Thousand Mountain Valley’s Entrance

“Hey, what’s happening in there?” a disciple from another sect asked as he watched the ongoing commotion happening right at the entrance of the Thousand Mountain Valley.

“I don’t know the full details but it seems the disciples from the Riverspan Sect provoked someone out of their league!” someone explained to him without taking their eyes off of the scene.

The reason why there were disciples from other sects in there was due to the Thousand Mountain Valley being public property. Although it was located inside the Riverspan Sect's territory, the Riverspan Sect was just a second-rate sect. They couldn't monopolize the Thousand Mountain Valley because they didn't have the strength. The other first-rate sects also wouldn't allow them to do so. That is why after a serious discussion among the other sects, the Thousand Mountain Valley became open to the public.

“Did you see that guy?! He’s actually holding his own against those guys from the Riverspan Sect!” another one remarked as he watched the fight in awe.

“He’s not just holding his own, he’s totally dominating them! He’s probably on the same level as those core disciples from first-rate sects!”

While these people were watching the fight between Yun Ling and the Riverspan Sect disciples, the latter didn’t pay them any mind as they launched supreme arts after supreme arts towards Yun Ling. Yun Ling on the other hand lazily dodged their attacks with minimal movement. The fight had originally started as one versus one but after his first opponent was defeated by him instantly, the rest decided to gang up on him. Even so, Yun Ling didn’t seem as though he was having a hard time against them.

As Yun Ling kept dodging their attacks, he felt a build-up of spiritual energy from behind him. Yun Ling turned around and saw one of the Riverspan Sect’s disciples making a circular motion with his hands.

“Take this! Furious Wave Torrent!” the disciple shouted as he pushed his right palm forward at the center of the imaginary circle he made. Not even a second later, a huge torrent of high pressured water suddenly gushed forth from his palm, heading straight towards Yun Ling at an incredible speed.

Yun Ling leaped to the side, avoiding the attack at the last second as the huge torrent of water went past beside him. He was about to move and dodge once again when he felt another wave of attack from the sky descending towards him but found it hard to budge his feet. He quickly looked down and saw both his feet entangled by vines and roots emerging from the ground, greatly restricting him from moving away from his current position.

‘A plant-type supreme art,’ Yun Ling thought after seeing the vines and roots that were trapping his feet.

He looked up the sky and frowned as he saw dozens of flying swords rapidly closing in on him controlled by the other Riverspan Sect disciples from the distance. What was more was that he also felt the torrent of water he had just avoided approaching him from the back.

‘So that wasn’t just a simple, linear attack. He can freely control the water to move however he wants it to,’ Yun Ling analyzed how the high pressured water was suddenly at his back after just dodging it. It turns out it could change direction according to the user’s will.

Yun Ling’s situation wasn’t looking good. Even if he was able to get rid of the vines and roots trapping his feet, he wouldn’t be able to dodge the attack coming from above and behind him at such a close distance on time. This leaves him no choice but to stand his ground and meet their attacks head-on.

The Riverspan Sect disciples went excited when they finally caught Yun Ling in their trap. During the clash earlier, they noticed that Yun Ling was just barely dodging their attacks on purpose. This made them angry for not being taken seriously by him and also made them think of an idea on how to use that against him. They analyzed Yun Ling’s action a bit more just to be certain. They gauged his reaction by sending an onslaught of attack against him which he all avoided at the last possible second. When they were finally a hundred percent sure that he would just barely avoid their attacks, this trap was made.

While he was immobile, the rest of the disciples took the chance to perform their most powerful supreme arts in their arsenal and guided it towards Yun Ling.

Yun Ling merely smiled upon seeing this. When their attacks were only seconds away from hitting him, he clapped his hands once.

BOOM!

All of the disciples’ supreme arts vanished at once. The force of Yun Ling’s clap was powerful enough to obliterate their attacks. Some disciples who were the nearest to Yun Ling were even sent flying a few meters away.

That was one of the supreme arts Yun Ling had in his arsenal. By infusing his hands with his spiritual power, and clapping those same hands together, he was able to create a sound wave powerful enough to counter his opponents' supreme arts and even blow them away.

If Yun Ling had done this in very close proximity with a weaker opponent, they would’ve likely ruptured their eardrums and went deaf or exploded from the vibration itself. Of course, Yun Ling could have done that to these disciples but he didn’t do so. The power of his sound waves was more focused on his opponents' supreme arts than on them. Otherwise, they would’ve had a much worse outcome than just being blown away.

The Riverspan Sect disciples and even the disciples from other sect looked at him in disbelief. This guy was such a freak. In that kind of situation, he was still able to turn things around effortlessly. It made them wonder just how much he was holding himself back against them.

“Not bad. Sect disciples are indeed a bit better than your regular trash in the secular world. You guys have much better teamwork compared to them,” Yun Ling said, thinking of the participants of the Golden Dragon Election he had seen in the banquet. Individually, they were on par or just a bit inferior to these cultivators who belonged in a sect. However, when it comes to a group fight, they'll certainly lose eight out of ten times.

Yun Ling’s remark angered the Riverspan Sect disciples.

Then Yun Ling added, “Unfortunately, you’re far too weak. Even all of you together are not my match.”