I Am Supreme
chapter-690

After a long, long time, Yun Yang finally pocketed the items left behind by Ouyang Xiaoshe – yet, the two treasure maps were not placed together. He picked up the one owned by Old Dugu and took a rapacious sniff. "Father, don't you worry – have I not recovered that which belonged to us?" He said softly.

He did not mull about it any further. With a loud scream, he struck a hole in the ground with a slam of his palm and buried the corpse of Ouyang Xiaoshe deep within it.

After that, with a sway of both his arms, the horizons were covered with dark clouds which grew thicker by the second. With a sudden clap of thunder, a huge, torrential rain started pouring down.

The dense droplets cascaded onto the burnt, reddened earth...

The heavy rain drizzled continuously. The weather was still extremely cold – it was neither likely for such huge rain to occur, nor should it have been accentuated with lightning and thunder. However, under Yun Yang's control, the rain still continued to pour.

"I burned and destroyed all of these; I have to restore some of it, one way or another..."

The torrent of rain poured and poured, largely restoring the potential of life to this barren piece of land...

In the meantime, Yun Yang's silhouette had already vanished in the midst of the drizzle.

...

Both the sun and rain contributed to a contrasting, extraordinary sight as they appeared side by side, sharing the same skies upon the horizon. A torrent of rain occupied one side of it, while the other half was painted with the colors of daybreak – there was not a cloud to be seen for a million miles.

A dense mass of purple clouds crept up the edges of the skies in a promising manner. With a glance, the rising sun was on the brink of emerging from the ground, appearing once more in the human realm.

Yun Yang was garbed in his signature purple robes as he slowly sauntered down the streets of Tiantang City. He was like a god that had descended into the human realm, enshrouded by the gushing, auspicious aura of the East, his expression one of peace and solemness.

Yun Yang's movements seemed sluggish, but he was actually rather fast. He quietly entered a pawnshop located on the main street in the center of the city.

In the pawnshop, Shui Wuyin – seemingly the shopkeeper of the place – lifted his head and exchanged glances with Yun Yang briefly before lowering his head. He did not attempt to initiate conversation as a form of acknowledgment - two of his employees rushed out attentively to welcome Yun Yang instead.

"Do you have any unclaimable items of value which have exceeded their pawn limits? Bring them out – the price will not be a problem," said Yun Yang, with both his arms crossed behind his back.

"Valuable items which have long passed their redeemable period? Such things shall only come by through serendipitous encounters - they cannot be sought out so blatantly!" Shui Wuyin lifted his head. "We have none in stock currently. Since it's the good stuff we're talking about, they will not fall into an unclaimed state so easily. However, if this young master insists, we can secure them for you if there is any in the future."

Yun Yang snorted. "Secure? Whatever for? Serendipitous encounters? Cannot be sought? This young master has nothing but money. Do you think that I can't afford the good stuff? Items that have never before surfaced in this world?

His tone of voice was shrouded with annoyance as he turned around to leave, clearly displeased.

Shui Wuyin waited a moment before standing up. "Look after the storefront. I'm going back to sleep for a bit – I'm tired."

Entering a private corner, Shui Wuyin gave out a command.

"Orders from the higher-ups – there is no need to secure it any longer!

...

The assassins in the eastern vicinity of the city had almost reached the end of the road.

From the very start, there had been billions of notorious martial world assassins, yet now, barely seven thousand people had survived. The casualties had taken up seventy to eighty percent of their original numbers.

Although the so-called Assassins' League was still not considered to have disappeared completely into thin air, they have already ceased to exist except in name, which still instilled fear and anxiety amongst the masses.

On the contrary, the good martial men who were besieged outside still surrounded the structure, making it totally impenetrable, surrounding it and holding it up like a sturdy pair of iron walls. Their eyes, however, sparkled with excitement, as their hearts mused and contemplated. Now that the situation remained clear and smooth, victory seemed to be a course set for us. In this fight, however, will I be able to reap the rewards of it? This was a very practical question to ask!

Those with brains that enjoyed a faster processing speed had already started to rally amongst themselves. Cliques were created and alliances were being formed.

In the meantime, at the core location of the city's east-central region, Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan, who were the top leaders of the two great assassin organizations, gathered thirty of the strongest individuals within the Assassins' League. These were also the ones who possessed the highest of cultivation bases.

"How is the situation?"

"Almost there."

Their gazes fell upon each other momentarily, noticing how their eyes reflected a similar gleam of cold light.

It was almost time!

As long as the right opportunity arose, the two of them would charge outwards at the first moment alongside the combined forces of between three to forty people. Surely, they should be able to leave a bloody trail from this – perhaps there was not even a need to spend too much effort on it.

Throughout this entire stalemate, did Hen Bieli and Hongzhan really decide not to flee?

No, most of them did not wish to leave!

Even the likes of Ouyang Xiaoshe and many other martial world practitioners could come up with such a trick –was it really possible that the two most formidable assassins in the world could not conjure this thought?

If it was up to them both, they would have fled earlier – even Yun Yang would have found it hard to completely defend himself against that!

Fortunately, either Hen Bieli nor Hongzhan were ordinary characters – they were, at the very least, highly ambitious, ruthless individuals. Ever since the dragonhide treasure map had fallen into their hands, leaving it exposed, they had already started making arrangements, exploiting Yun Yang's scheme by laying out their own within his!

Without a doubt, the Assassins' League's prior agreement was an impediment to them, yet it was not completely without room to wiggle. The arrangements they had conspired required slaughter - much, much more of it. In the midst of this bloodbath, the highly-desired turning point would appear – a moment they thoroughly yearned!

The two sides of the battle were encountering casualties.

The martial world practitioners' forces were losing men, exerting their resources; Hong Zhan and Hen Bieli were also quickly depleting their assets, encountering many fatalities, rapidly decreasing the numbers of their very own assassins.

The million men from the assassins' forces were dubbed the most notorious in the world, yet there were not many true experts within; furthermore, they were caught in a situation that kept them here - their interests did not truly align with the two.

While what Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan needed – or perhaps the simple goal behind this part of the scheme - was to eradicate all these men, or slowly convince them.

Only by achieving this goal could they finally attain the cream of the crop that they truly desired - a group of elites that were even more fearsome than the ordinary members of the two greatest assassin organizations combined.

This battle of the century was still ongoing until this very moment. To the Assassins' League, it was truly a way to retain the best of the best by process of elimination

Those with a lower cultivation base were long dead. Those with bad fortunes were also long dead. Hence, those who managed to survive until the end were not only bestowed with an incredibly high-leveled cultivation base - they were also blessed with uncannily excellent luck!

In the martial world, the word 'luck' was quite important – at most times, it was even more crucial than having a high-level cultivation base!

Have you not witnessed how some people always had the most miraculous, serendipitous fates? They could instantly transform unfortunate circumstances into a blessing. Some men may be bestowed with the high-leveled cultivation bases, yet, they were still murdered the instant they showed themselves!

There was no need to say that this was all dictated by luck - there was no other reason that could be believable enough to hold against this!

Since the beginning of time, only those with such luck would prevail and reach the peaks of success. Did you not witness how Ling Xiaozui, Dugu Chou, or even the two assassin leaders resembled the likes of men with said luck?

The ones blessed with good luck had always managed to go further and steadier than those who had stronger abilities.

So what if you were blessed with the best aptitude in the world? It only takes one appearance in the martial world to get you murdered – no matter how good your aptitude is, it would still be a waste!

Especially since Hen Bieli and Hong Zhan had planned to attain the treasure for themselves and achieve such a big goal, they really needed such individuals, blessed with excellent luck – it did not matter if your luck was bad, but if we work together, it would not be very nice to drag me down along with you...

This continuous, long-standing battle had truly beat these top assassins into shape for the second time around, grinding and compressing them into a compact piece of steel.

The highly-anticipated moment mentioned by Hen Bieli was a plan to wait until the surrounding assassins were completely annihilated before their own men could breakout from the enclosures as they wished.

First and foremost, men had small goals – they could flee easily.

Secondly, since the day we took our god-willed pledge, we had worked ourselves to our limits. We fought on continuously, we stayed and stood our ground until this moment, never escaping to anywhere else - when did we ever had an ounce of defiance?

However, in this situation, everyone else had limited strength left in them. You died because of your bad luck, and we were the only ones who survived - how should we go about it then? Of course, we would fight for our survival by continuing our onslaught from one place to another… was this not reasonable?

"If one continues to dig amongst the sand, he shall find gold eventually." Hen Bieli was extremely gleeful – he was very contented with his own predictions.

Seven thousand or more men remained at present. In the span of two days, these seven thousand men might just be reduced to approximately three thousand – or even two thousand. When the time came, they shall initiate another attempt at breaking out. Disregarding the small group they were in, the rest of the manpower was basically gone.

With that, instinctively, they banded together and left abruptly.

The two assassin leaders meticulously calculated and planned their moves - this scheme within a scheme of theirs was delicately detailed.

However... the worldly affairs will never go as one's wishes.

The sky had just begun to brighten. The rising sun had just emerged from the horizon, as fragments of morning light began to color the land.

Suddenly, there was a loud, abrupt bang that came from outside. It was followed by countless shouts and screams, rising and falling one after another incessantly.

"The time for our all-out attack is here! Those assassins no longer have much energy left in them – so charge, everybody!"

"Charge!"

"I'm going in first! The dragonhide treasure map is mine!"

"With what do you deserve to enter first? I shall enter FIRST!"

With another loud bang, a few men had already charged forward directly from the east. They shoved their way forward, bulldozing through whatever structure impeded their path. Whatever that hindered their line of vision was flattened completely...

Faced with the abrupt and impending unexpectedness, the assassins stood up in a flurry of terror, each with disbelief etched across their faces.

At this moment, this clearly undue moment… looking at the stance taken for the past few days, a buffer in movements in half a month's time would be deemed a common sight - so why should an all-out attack be launched at this time?

Are you all no longer fearful? What made you think that you can wipe us out in one attack?

As one side made their move, the other side retaliated in defiance instinctively. Upon hearing a battle cry to charge, many men lunged forward instantly without a moment of hesitation, followed by many more who did the same in a mindless, muddleheaded manner.

Conforming to the majority view - following the herd blindly - had always been a trait of men. No wonder it was not met with any objections!

Then... as the sounds of slaughter grew increasingly intense by the moment, the more experienced and knowledgeable men of the cohort could no longer resist themselves but to charge in and participate in the battalion.

By the time the men with uncannily high cultivation bases and an extra sense of patience charged into the scene, the situation had already reached uncontrollable levels – it had reached the point of no return.

A flurry of rowdiness came from all directions as countless men surged inwards.

There was no other way besides charging in at full force.

If I don't enter, then how should the treasure map be obtained?

Under the influence of this similar thought, the whole region in the east of the city began to descend into an earth-shattering, murderous atmosphere.

The other three regions of Tiantang City were drenched in the sunlight. Only the East City region was plagued with smoke and dust, to the point where everything was totally illegible.

This final battle that determines all, under the direction of some intentioned individuals, had thus commenced ahead of time!

...

On one side, it was a battle in full swing; yet only a sea of calm and peacefulness was found on the other.

In a tavern located at the edge of the eastern city, The Ten Kings from the Concourse of the Underworld were presently gathered together. They each had a cup of tea before them, nothing else more, looking incredibly bored.

Preceded by a flash of silhouettes, Yun Xiaoyao, Fan Mofei and the rest entered with large strides.