I Can See Your Combat Power-Chapter 1737 - 175: Confidence

"Listen carefully, child."

The old man stopped cracking peanuts and said sternly, "There’s nothing better in this world than these peanuts!"

Having said that, the old man waved his hand impatiently, disdainfully saying, "A child blind to value will get no more treats, go to the mountains by yourself."

"Longevity to the Ancestor, this child takes his leave."

Cao Lie prostrated himself, respectfully made a deep bow, and then disappeared from the mountaintop.

If it hadn’t been for the elder speaking up back then, how could he have merely been punished in the Valley of Ten Thousand Tribulations for his crimes?

...

Yinglong Terrace

"Where is Cao Yang? Why do they not come out to greet me when I have arrived?"

Cao Lie, having landed on the pinnacle of the pavilion, looked around and spoke to several Lin Clan elders before him.

"What status do you have to dare call the Sect Leader by his name?"

The Lin Clan elder, in a black robe embroidered with a golden dragon, furiously said, "Don’t forget you’re still a criminal. Now that the Great Commander is gone, let’s see who can protect you!"

"Cao Lie has never needed anyone’s protection in his life."

The warden snorted, his hands behind his back, and said, "Where is Cao Guang? Why isn’t he guarding Long Valley but instead troubling the Ancestor?"

"How dare you address the Beast King by his name so impudently!"

Hearing this, the equally indignant Lin Clan elder Cao Chun replied but didn’t forget to explain, "A few months ago, the Starlight King Beast sensed its kin and the Beast King followed the scent into the void to hunt. Besides, Long Valley is such an important place, it hardly needs guarding."

"It had better not be. That guy Cao Guang is always so fortunate," Cao Lie couldn’t help but sigh. There are always some natural kings in this world, martial artists with extraordinary talent and perception, who have also awakened a Heaven-level Bloodline. While everyone else struggles to find the path to crossing the shore, it seems as if the heavens have prepared everything for them already.

Out of sight, out of mind, but when such an individual appears right beside you, that’s undeniably a tremendous challenge to the mindset of one’s contemporaries.

After a prolonged period of envy, people find other means to comfort themselves, like saying what is given by heaven must be repaid, or the achievements of the young do not guarantee success later in life, suggesting that the trials designed by heaven are meaningful.

But clearly, some people seem to exist solely to shatter common knowledge. Throughout his journey, there has been no indication of any misfortune befalling Cao Guang.

Even now, he is about to hunt his second void beast. If Cao Lie had heard such news before, he would have been extremely angry, but now, he only has a fleeting moment of envy that quickly dissipates.

"Hurry up and have Cao Yang come to see me. I have returned with important matters and have no time for idle chatter with you."

Cao Lie walked boastfully, arrogant with his hands clasped behind his back, striding past Cao Chun.

...

Jianlong Cliff 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Did he really say that?"

Cao Yang, who didn’t stop handling political affairs for a moment, put down the documents in his hand and massaged his slightly swollen head.

To be honest, he wasn’t at all pleased, although Cao Jinyu took the person away promising to keep him under strict control.

But Cao Lie’s temperament couldn’t be clearer to him; a madman who had no bottom line and no hesitation in pursuing his goals.

Ever since he was young, he would take his fellow disciples’ battle beasts and conduct experiments merely to satisfy his curiosity, like poking holes in the wings of a feathered beast to see if it could still fly, or pushing a sea beast into a venomous pool to see if it would die, amputating horns, ripping off scales, feeding poison, and forcing beasts to fight.

None of the battle beasts that passed through his hands ever returned whole. There were individuals who refused to lend their beasts to him, and they had their arms brutally broken.

As the master of the Lin Clan, Cao Yang had seen countless people in his lifetime and understood that the so-called ’other shore’ was about completely accepting oneself.

In other words, the kind would become even more content and pure in their kindness, while the wicked would feel even more justified in their evil.

Some people should never reach that other shore, such as Cao Lie.

If possible, he truly did not wish to have any dealings with Cao Lie, but as the sect leader of the Lin Clan, there were things he couldn’t handle according to his own wishes.

...

Youlong Hall

"Arriving so slowly, are you truly busy, or have you not figured out how to face me yet?" Cao Lie, sitting in Youlong Hall with legs crossed, stared at the arriving Sect Leader Cao Yang, taunting him.

Cao Chun, who accompanied Cao Yang into the hall, felt his Spiritual Power surge, eager to teach Cao Lie a lesson upon hearing such disrespectful words, but was stopped by a wave of Cao Yang’s hand.

"The delay was due to contemplation – to consider whether to cast you into the Valley of Ten Thousand Tribulations or lock you in Poison Dragon Stream. Now, it seems you are more suited for the tongue-plucking hell of Buddha’s Country!"

Cao Yang glanced at Cao Lie, speaking indifferently, "You don’t salute upon seeing the sect leader, do you wish for death?"

"Hahaha, the sniveling brat who had his arm twisted off is now putting on airs. How curious," Cao Lie chuckled as he rose to his feet, clasping his hands and bowing deeply, "Beast Taming Sect’s Cao Lie greets the Sect Leader!"

Clearly, Cao Yang had no intention of excusing the salute; he walked proudly toward his seat of honor.

And Cao Lie, not one to meekly obey, casually took his seat after completing the perfunctory salute.

"Speak quickly before you’re cast into Poison Dragon Stream; what is this so-called important matter?" Cao Yang said, looking up at the sky outside the hall and speaking dispassionately, "You have half a quarter-hour."

Cao Lie raised his eyebrows, "It seems the Sect Leader truly doesn’t want to see me. Could it be because your broken arm still aches?"

"Cao Lie, you are insolent!"

Cao Chun could not contain himself upon hearing this and, bursting with Spiritual Power, charged at Cao Lie. Without even turning his head, Cao Lie extended a thick dragon claw from his body, dispersing Cao Chun’s Spiritual Power and pressing him to the ground.

"Boom!"

"A mere Human King dares to act wildly in Youlong Hall; do you really think I would not lay a hand on you?" Cao Yang frowned, "Release him immediately."

"Sect Leader, don’t rush. I’m merely preventing the elder from disturbing our conversation due to his agitation," Cao Lie said with a smile, "After all, only I in the whole of Xiehe possess the method to extend the lives of Grandmasters and Kings. If the Beast Taming Sect disdains this research, Cao Lie will take his leave and not insist."

The expressionless Sect Leader Cao Yang tried to remain calm, yet his pupils involuntarily dilated. As the head of a holy land, he was acutely aware of the immense value of what Cao Lie spoke of to the holy lands.

Each Grandmaster who has undergone Spirit Qualification is undoubtedly a martial arts prodigy, and how many such people exist within the holy land?

Let’s put it this way, everyone meditating in seclusion in Kunlong Abyss is a powerhouse of that caliber.

If wild Grandmasters may waste time not knowing how to advance further, then the disciples of sects and holy lands are the fortunate ones who have perceived the path to the other shore from the beginning of their cultivation.

But why, despite seeing the path ahead, are there not a corresponding number of Kings? It is because of the lifespan of the Human Race.

Some Grandmasters begin to wane in spirit at the start of their quest, some during the process of merging with the Dao, and many more fade away just as they are about to succeed.

The cruelty of ascending to the King Realm lies in this long and torturous transformation process, and for holy lands, the greatest difficulty has never been technique, but time, time, time!