Leisurely mountain village

"He retreated from Qiongding Peak and should be in Zhongbei Border City or some nearby city now," Sixth Brother said. "I'll let you know when I have more information. You guys go to Zhongbei Border City first."

"Okay~" Ye Huan nodded. Last time, he attacked the three continents with his godfather and most of the high-level Venerables in the manor. Later, he robbed around with his sixth brother and Ye brother. He got the coordinates of many main cities, so it was very convenient for him now.

They directly opened a portal, and Ye Huan and Li Ye left the village and went to the border town between Beizhou and Zhongzhou.

Last time they came, it was an ambush, so Ye Huan and his companion immediately changed their appearance after emerging from a secluded place.

"Let's go to a teahouse or restaurant first and hear what's going on. Something this big can't be going unnoticed," Ye Huan said to Brother Ye, as they headed toward the largest teahouse in the city center.

Although this is also a border town, it borders Zhongzhou, which is well known for its lack of defenses around it. Therefore, there is little war here, and it is no different from other inner cities. The entertainment industry, restaurants, and teahouses are particularly numerous and developed.

Sure enough, many people were talking about today's great battle. Although it was several cities away from Dome Peak, adventurers still brought the news here. Whatever their purpose, the matter was now almost a household name in the Northern Continent.

"Nobody knows where Quasi-Emperor Ma Yu went." After listening for a while, Ye Huan and Brother Ye shook their heads, looking troubled.

"Let's go check out that city behind us." Ye Huan decided not to wait around and would take the initiative to find it. Anyway, he was a fast traveler, and more importantly, Ma Yu and Sixth Brother had a good personal relationship. For both public and private reasons, Ye Huan hoped to save him.

"Wait a minute~" Ye Ge suddenly called out to Ye Huan as they walked toward a secluded spot.

"What's wrong?" Ye Huan asked, puzzled.

"Come on~" Li Ye pulled him along, and they quickly arrived at a restaurant, where they sat down at a table with only two other people.

"You guys..." The two were just about to speak when they heard Li Ye say, "Li Ye~"

"You've come too?" The two nodded, and Ye Huan realized they were acquaintances: Sun Busan, the Quasi-Emperor of Zhongzhou, and Wang Chuyi.

"Third Brother, First Brother~" Even though Ye Huan wasn't a Quasi-Emperor before, he still called them "Brother" because of his status as one of the Thirteen Protectors and his relationship with Sixth Brother. Now that he's been upgraded to Quasi-Emperor, it's even more appropriate for him to call them "Brother".

"You're here too, thank you~" Sun Busan and the other man were quite grateful. Although they were allies now, it was normal for them not to interfere in this kind of matter.

"We're talking about this because we're brothers~" Ye Huan nodded. "Have you found anything? We haven't heard any useful information, and we were just about to go to that city with Brother Ye to look for it."

"Our scouts reported seeing Brother Ma over there today, so we came straight here. I reckon those guys from the Northern Continent are coming too," Sun Busan said with a cold snort.

"Let's pull off a heist?" Ye Huan's eyes lit up as he asked. "Three quasi-emperors at the ninth level, I wonder how many of them will come?"

“If all three of them come, we might not be able to handle them. Brother Ma is injured, and we don’t know the extent of his injuries yet,” Wang Chuyi said.

"How come three quasi-emperors at the ninth level suddenly appeared? This is not scientific!" Sun Busan also said. He and Wang Chuyi were both quasi-emperors at the seventh level, and Ma Yu was a quasi-emperor at the eighth level.

Not only that, Ma Yu is also the highest Quasi-Emperor in the Central Continent. Even in the Eastern and Western Continents, there has never been a big shot with the ninth level of Quasi-Emperor. Previously, there was only one under the Southern Emperor, named Jia Rulai.

There is also a Quasi-Emperor at the Eighth Heaven, Kasyapa~

The Southern Emperor, Duan Sheli, is the weakest among the five quasi-supreme beings, but the quasi-emperors under his command are not the weakest on the surface.

On the surface, the one with the weakest quasi-emperor strength before was Emperor Huang Bingyao of the East.

Of course, not now. One Shichen Quasi-Emperor is worth more than ten of the other Quasi-Emperors. The other Quasi-Supremes also marveled at Huang Bingyao's luck, which was truly heaven-defying. At the same time, they secretly mocked Fang Lie, since Shichen was someone Fang Lie had managed to secure.

Ye Huan didn't know if he could defeat a ninth-level Quasi-Emperor since he was only at the first level of Quasi-Emperor, but he was sure he would be fine. When it came to escaping, who could match his skill?

Oh, Master Shichen Daoren, he could absolutely crush ten of him, even if he were at the first level of Quasi-Emperor.

"It's a pity I haven't mastered the River of Time cultivation yet, otherwise I could kill him~" Ye Huan said. Indeed, it's not as difficult to fight as it would be if he exposed his strength. Even if Brother Ye could take on one of them, how could he fight the other two?

Even if he "unleashed his full power" and single-handedly held off one ninth-level expert, and the two seventh-level experts from the Central Plains combined, although the number was greater than nine, his actual strength was not that of an expert.

"Shall we wait here?" Brother Ye asked.

"Hmm." Sun Busan nodded. "But not here. We'll split up on opposite sides, but we can keep in touch if needed."

“Okay, Xiao Huan and I will go to the North Gate.” Li Ye nodded. They were going to the gate at the back of the city, which was also the most dangerous place.

Sun Busan and Wang Chuyi looked at him gratefully. Although they were both at the seventh level of Quasi-Emperor, they might have dared to say they could fight Li Ye before. But now that Li Ye had advanced to Quasi-Emperor, they dared not say that anymore. The terror of sword cultivators was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

“Let’s move a little back, closer to the east gate,” the two said.

Ye Huan and Ye Ge arrived at the north city gate, found a teahouse, went to the second-floor private room, and then saw that many spies and important figures from the Northern Continent had surrounded the north gate.

Although there is no war, a border city is still a border city. The Central Plains can be left undefended, but the Northern Plains cannot. Therefore, this city still has the strongest formations and barriers.

If Ma Yu wants to enter the city, he can only enter through the city gate. Otherwise, he can only go around the city, but going around the city is not an easy way to travel.

Therefore, everyone knows that the key point is the North Gate.

"Qi Yue should have arrived by now," Ye Ge whispered to Ye Huan. Ye Huan nodded. Ma Yu had escaped, while Qi Yue and the others had taken a teleportation array.

"It seems they want to kill Ma Yu, the quasi-Emperor, in this border town. Is this a provocation against Zhou Baihao? What is Fang Lie up to?" Ye Huan wondered.

"The Supreme Palace hasn't even emerged yet, and the Supreme War is still uncertain. He's jumping out now, risking exposing three Quasi-Emperors of the Ninth Heaven. I've guessed one reason now: to flex his muscles for Peng Wanli. But what's the other purpose? I don't understand."

"Who knows? This is completely out of character for him, a hypocrite. This time, he's really been caught off guard." Brother Ye shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

"There's no movement at the East Gate," Sun Busan texted Ye Huan.

"The situation at the North Gate is tense; I reckon Brother Ma will most likely head this way," Ye Huan replied.

“Then we’ll move closer to you so we can look after each other,” Sun Busan decided, and the four of them gathered together, not far apart.

“Okay~ Judging from the noise, I reckon things won’t be so peaceful when Brother Ma comes~” Ye Huan agreed.

“Okay~” Sun Busan replied.

Just as Sun Busan replied, a furious roar came from the north gate: "Ma Yu, I have been waiting for you for a long time."