Chương 856: Chapter 855: The Spectator

The street outside the tavern was chaotic. Swords clashed against sabers and flashes of Qi illuminated the white mist. The blue robed members of the River Flow Clan fought aggressively against the green robed cultivators of the Ironwood Clan. The red robed Raging Blade members joined the fray to support the green side. Li Yu sat at his corner table and took a long sip of his local wine. The drink was strong and carried a faint metallic aftertaste but it warmed his chest pleasantly.

He picked up a piece of roasted spiritual meat with his chopsticks and watched the brawl through the large open window with extreme interests. Usually there was an underlying story to such conflicts. The fact that they were getting away with fighting in such a city meant that the guards were used to such things like this and the clans didn't hurt bystanders. Or it meant that the clans were more powerful than the guards and the guards could not do anything against them.

From how it currently looked, it seemed to be that these conflicts were isolated incidents within the clans. People were watching from the streets and stalls. The fighters were extremely aggressive towards one another but no one was using techniques that would possibly strike a bystander. It was controlled violence, so to speak. To an ordinary mortal, the fight would look like a battle between gods. Fireballs exploded against water shields and shockwaves cracked the cobblestones.

But to Li Yu, it looked like a group of children swinging wooden sticks. He had long analyzed their cultivation levels with a casual sweep of his senses.

"Look at that fool." A man sitting at the table next to Li Yu laughed.

"The River Flow young master thinks his Core Formation cultivation makes him invincible. He left his flank completely open."

"He is arrogant." The man's drinking companion agreed.

"But you cannot blame him entirely. Ever since his clan found that new spirit stone mine, they have been walking around like they own the city." Li Yu chewed his food slowly. He kept his eyes on the street but he focused his hearing on the conversation at the next table. He loved good gossip and this sounded like a classic setup.

"I heard they found the mine by pure accident." The first man said while pouring more wine.

"One of their outer sect disciples was bullied and was kicked off a cliff by an Ironwood enforcer. The boy survived the fall and landed directly inside an undiscovered spirit stone cavern."

"That is also what I heard had happened." The companion nodded in agreement.

"And now the Ironwood Patriarch claims that the cliff and the ravine belong to his family's ancestral estate. They want the mine for themselves. It is pure greed and completely ridiculous." Li Yu chuckled softly. The bullied disciple falling off a cliff and finding a massive treasure was a staple of stories told to children. Even his dad had told him such stories back in their village when he was much younger. It was highly entertaining to see it actually be played out in reality.

The street brawl reached a crescendo. The young master of the River Flow Clan unleashed a massive wave of blue water Qi. The attack knocked several Ironwood cultivators off their feet. Before the green robed fighters could retaliate, a booming voice echoed over the rooftops.

"Enough." A stern voice commanded. A squad of heavily armored city guards descended from the sky. Things had gone too far this time and such large attacks was the limit they were willing to let go. They landed directly in the middle of the chaotic street. The captain of the guard released his aura and it was a solid Soul Formation pressure that instantly crushed the fighting intent of the lower level combatants.

The young masters and squad leaders immediately sheathed their weapons with their arrival, not of the man himself but what he represented. No one wanted to defy the city guard openly like this. The crowd quickly dispersed and the street returned to its eerie quiet. Li Yu finished his meal and paid his tab with a few low grade spirit stones since the free show was over. He left the tavern and found a comfortable inn to spend the night. This clearly wasn't the end of things and he was curious how things would unfold.

The next morning the city was buzzing with tension. Li Yu decided to explore the markets again as he wasn't quite done looking at everything the other day. He also wanted to see how the conflict was affecting the local economy and wanted to find more additions for his inner world as well. He walked through the bustling merchant district and stopped at a large tea house. He ordered a pot of gloomy blue tea and a plate of sweet steamed buns.

The tea house was packed with people whispering about the clans and all of the recent and past actions they have taken. It would seem that he was in good company when it came to gossip.

"The Raging Blade Clan is out for blood." An old woman gossiped to her friend at a nearby table.

"They are not just helping the Ironwood Clan for a share of the mine. It is a matter of face."

"What happened?" Her friend asked eagerly.

"The River Flow young master broke his engagement with the Raging Blade young miss last month." The old woman explained.

"He went to their compound and publicly declared that her talent was too weak for her to deserve him. He said she was unworthy to be his cultivation partner now that his clan was rising in power. He didn't say it out right but with their rise he clearly has more options now."

"Such arrogance!" The friend gasped.

"He humiliated their entire family by doing such a thing. No wonder they allied with the Ironwood Clan. They want to crush the River Flow Clan to erase the insult they threw at them." Li Yu sipped his hot tea. The canceled engagement trope was another classic he had heard in stories from story tellers. He could almost picture the dramatic scene in the main hall. A young master breaking a contract and a young woman swearing a vow of vengeance.

It was a predictable script for what would happen there but it was a very common event that happens in the real world all the time. He finished his tea and wandered back out into the market. He headed past the weapon stalls and the pill vendors to find the exotic beast merchants. He wanted to see what other unique creatures this city had to offer. He found a secluded vendor sitting under a dark canvas tent. The merchant was selling high tier aquatic beasts contained in compressed tanks.

Li Yu browsed the selection and his eyes caught a flash of silver light. He pointed to a large tank filled with dark water.

"What is that one?" Li Yu asked.

"You have a good eye, young master." The vendor smiled greedily.

"That is a Lunar Ray. It absorbs moonlight to strengthen its fleshy wings and it can release localized gravity pulses. It is very rare in these border regions." Li Yu also noticed a strange crustacean in a smaller tank. It had a translucent shell that hummed with a strange vibration.

"And that?" Li Yu pointed again. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"An Echo Crab." The vendor replied.

"It mimics the ambient sounds of its environment to camouflage itself from predators. It is mostly a decorative pet." Li Yu bought both of them without negotiating the price. The vendor was thrilled and handed over the sealed spatial containers. Li Yu walked into a quiet alleyway and transferred the Lunar Ray and the Echo Crab directly into the vast ocean of his Koi Sanctuary. He knew they would thrive in the rich spiritual waters of his Koi Sanctuary.

As he walked back to the main street, he passed two merchants arguing over a delayed shipment.

"The roads are closed because of the Ironwood Clan." The first merchant complained loudly.

"They are mobilizing their forces. I heard their young master is furious after what happened at the auction house yesterday."

"The auction?" The second merchant asked.

"Yes." The first merchant nodded.

"The Ironwood heir tried to buy a rare Core Condensation pill. But the River Flow boy was there. He outbid the Ironwood heir on every single item just to make him lose face. They even got into a bidding war over a useless rusted sword. The River Flow boy paid ten times its actual worth just to secure it." Li Yu laughed out loud for a brief moment as he got caught up in what he was hearing. He covered his mouth quickly to mask his amusement.

He silently placed a mental bet that the useless rusted sword was actually something special. Vague memories of his life with a system came back to his mind from his experience in the Temporal Dao Stone; he had done something similar in that lifetime as well. The River Flow young master maybe had something similar guiding him or it could also just be dumb luck. He would never reveal such things though.

Over the next two days, Li Yu simply enjoyed his free time here while listening to gossip and watching events unfold. He couldn't help but be drawn into the conflict happening before him. He ate street food and drank different types of drinks while enjoying the spectacle. He watched the city from the rooftops at times to get a better view. He knew Oram and Fenric were hiding in the shadows somewhere nearby but they never revealed themselves.

'I wonder what they think of me just not doing much and enjoying the show.' Li Yu thought to himself but he would never get an answer. They let him enjoy his peaceful observation as it brought them no trouble. The other five in the shadow were stunned by his actions, however. They were used to following prodigies that were set to purpose and were determined to make something out of themselves.

Now they were following someone who completely forgot what he was set out to do and was enjoying the small conflicts of a few nobody clans in a border city. The five didn't know what to do with themselves. Li Yu began to pay closer attention to the fourth faction as the conflict continued. The black robed cultivators belonged to the Night Sable Clan. They had not participated in the street brawl but they were heavily involved in the conflict.

Li Yu sat on the tiled roof of a tall restaurant one evening and was enjoying some snacks. He ate a skewer of grilled spirit fowl and watched the dark alleys below. He saw a Night Sable elder meet with an Ironwood captain in the shadows and neither of them could tell that Li Yu was there. The elder handed over a leather pouch filled with detailed maps of the River Flow patrol routes. An hour later, Li Yu saw that exact same Night Sable elder send a messenger bird to the River Flow compound.

The message likely contained information about the Ironwood Clan's troop movements.

"Playing both sides." Li Yu thought as he chewed his food.

"They are instigating the war to weaken the top three clans. Once the River Flow and Ironwood forces destroy each other, the Night Sable Clan will sweep in and take control of the city." It was a sound strategy. The Night Sable Clan operated the gambling dens and the local intelligence networks. They thrived in the chaos of such conflicts. By the fifth day, the conflict escalated significantly. The border city was no longer safe for normal merchants.

The street brawls had turned into targeted assassinations and coordinated raids. The lower level Body Refining and Qi Condensation disciples were being used as cannon fodder in the fighting. The Foundation Establishment and Core Formation elites were launching violent strikes against enemy supply lines to try and disrupt what they could. Li Yu sat near the window of his inn and watched the night sky. Flashes of violent Qi erupted across the city as the conflicts went on.

While it was no longer as safe as before, the fighting was still restricted towards one another. There were still no bystanders that got drawn into the fighting and that was what allowed these clans to keep going. If bystanders were starting to die, the city guards would intervene. If it was just against one another, then no one seemed to care. The true powerhouses finally started stepping onto the board. Soul Formation elders were clashing in the skies above the merchant district.

Their attacks shattered roof tiles and collapsed empty buildings. The arrays protecting the city kept everyone below safe and sound. It turned into free entertainment among the civilians brave enough to watch. Others kept their heads down and went about their day without watching. Li Yu scanned the deeper auras within the city. The Divine Transformation grand elders were currently engaged in a standoff outside the city walls.

They were projecting their auras to intimidate each other but they were hesitant to fully commit to a death match. If a Divine Transformation expert fell, it would cripple their clan for generations.

"The hierarchy is so rigid." Li Yu mused to himself.

"The weak die in the streets while the strong posture in the sky." He poured himself a cup of tea as he couldn't take his spiritual sense away from the action. He felt a sudden shift in the ambient pressure. A massive explosion rocked the western side of the city. A terrifying wave of dark energy slammed into the protective arrays of the River Flow compound. The attack was incredibly dense and powerful. It was the unmistakable signature of a Soul Transformation expert.

"The Ironwood Clan hired a rogue expert!" A terrified voice yelled from the street below.

"A Soul Transformation assassin is attacking the River Flow gates!" A hidden expert had finally appeared. The Ironwood Clan knew they could not break the River Flow defenses with their own elders so they paid an outside force to do the heavy lifting. The dark energy crashed against the blue water arrays of the compound and the array began to crack under the immense pressure. The Soul Transformation assassin laughed maniacally from the sky as he was sure of his victory.

Suddenly the air in the city grew completely still. A terrifying aura erupted from the very center of the River Flow compound. It was vastly superior to the Soul Transformation level assassin above. It was heavy and absolute. It was the aura of a Half King. The old patriarch of the River Flow Clan had finally awakened from his secluded cultivation. A massive hand constructed from blue water Qi materialized in the night sky.

The hand moved with incredible speed and swatted the Soul Transformation assassin like a bothersome fly. The assassin screamed as his dark energy was completely crushed in an instant. He couldn't react or escape the hand that had appeared in the sky. He was thrown miles across the sky and crashed into the distant mountains with his fate unknown. The Half King aura flared brightly and covered the entire city in a suffocating pressure.

The fighting in the streets stopped instantly with the arrival of such a power house. The Soul Formation elders froze in the air. The Divine Transformation grand elders outside the walls immediately retracted their domains and fell back.

"Ironwood Clan." A booming voice echoed from the River Flow compound. The voice belonged to the Half King Patriarch.

"You have forced my hand by going too far. Tomorrow the River Flow Clan will march. We will wipe you and your Raging Blade allies from the face of this city. Clean your necks so I don't have to dirty my hands." A second aura flared from the northern district. It was equally as powerful and equally as oppressive. It was the old Ironwood Patriarch. Another Half King had entered the fray.

"We welcome your march!" The Ironwood Patriarch roared back.

"We will see who stands tall when the sun sets." The entire city held its breath. The minor skirmishes were over. The full scale war had officially begun. Li Yu smiled brightly with the two new comers as it made things more interesting. He didn't fret over the loss of life on the streets. Those cultivators knew what they were getting themselves into and death was always waiting for a cultivator. They had made their decision and now they could only hope they were on the winning side.

He finished his cup of tea and closed his window once things had settled down. Li Yu walked over to his bed and laid down with thoughts about what was going to happen next. He was looking forward to tomorrow and seeing those two experts in battle. He wanted to see how the grand finale of this dramatic conflict that had rocked this border city would unfold. Li Yu, along with many others, were deciding which high rooftop they would sit at in the morning and also what to eat while watching the conflict unfold.