Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Two Veins

“Rat-tat-tat...”
A burst of bullets struck Jin Yu’s Radiant Golden Body, scattering a cascade of dazzling sparks.
Though the bullets couldn’t penetrate the golden armor, the force of impact still pushed Jin Yu back a few steps. Having taken the hit for no reason, Jin Yu’s face turned sour.
Damn it... This is not honorable combat.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a proper contest between supernatural practitioners? Why are you bringing an AK-47 into the ring?
“Huh, didn’t break through?”
Seeing that the volley had no effect on Jin Yu, Old Ma was a bit surprised.
Just as he was about to fire another burst, Lu Dashan, standing nearby, suddenly spoke.
“Old Ma, you rusty piece of junk, can’t even handle a little monk?”
“Out of the way, watch me.”
With that, he unzipped his mascot costume and pulled out a gleaming brass 40mm rocket launcher, hoisting it onto his shoulder and aiming at Jin Yu across the stage.
“Oh my god...”
Staring at the dark muzzle of the forty-millimeter cannon, Jin Yu felt his hair stand on end.
His Radiant Golden Body was tough enough to take regular bullets, as long as they weren’t armor-piercing or incendiary. But a rocket launcher?
That’s just excessive.
“Do you concede?”
Shouldering the rocket launcher, Lu Dashan stood like a war god, silent and imposing.
“I... I concede.”
Even though retreating like this was hard to accept, the dominance of the rocket launcher was terrifying. Jin Yu could only admit defeat.
Witnessing this scene, Huang Bo—who had just left the stage—couldn’t help but feel relieved. If he hadn’t withdrawn earlier, he’d probably be feeling the same pressure as Jin Yu, staring down the barrel of that rocket launcher.
On stage, the old Taoist responsible for judging was speechless. Bringing a mascot crew was one thing, but now you’re using heavy weapons as your trump card?
What was supposed to be a dignified contest of supernatural practitioners had been turned into a circus—utterly absurd.
Speechless as he was, Ye Yan had indeed eliminated the others by skill, and according to the rules, the winner of this match was Ye Yan.
The old Taoist rubbed his face in resignation and announced, “Azure Dragon Arena, winner: Ye Liangchen.”
“It’s over, huh?”
Hearing the judge’s voice, Ye Yan spat out his sunflower seed shell, adjusted his mask, and slowly stood up.
To be honest, it was rather boring.
Yawning, the three banner spirits transformed into blue light and flew back into Ye Yan’s sleeve.

Just as Ye Yan gathered up his banner spirits and prepared to leave to check out other matches, the old Taoist jumped down from the audience and called out to him, “Young man, wait...”
“Is there something you need, Elder?”
Ye Yan paused, confused about what the old Taoist wanted from him.
As Ye Yan pondered, the old Taoist shook his sleeves and pointed at the pile of sunflower seed shells nearby, “Clean up your mess first.”
Ye Yan: “...”
...
...
Clean up your own trash, indeed. After tidying up the sunflower seed shells, Ye Yan was about to wander over to the adjacent arena when, at the door, he saw Huang Bo—recently bested by Lu Dashan—standing and smoking, seemingly waiting for someone.
Seeing Ye Yan come out, Huang Bo quickly straightened his reversed cap and greeted him,
“Ye Liangchen, over here.”
“Is there something you want?”
Realizing Huang Bo was waiting for him, Ye Yan hesitated briefly before speaking.
Huang Bo rubbed the back of his neck and grinned, “Nothing much, just wanted to get to know you.”
“But I just took the advancement spot from you. You still want to be friends?”
Ye Yan looked at him, puzzled.
Huang Bo shrugged, “If you lose, you lose. Winning and losing is normal. Besides, in our neck of the woods, the last thing we do is hold grudges—that’s not manly at all.”
“Northerner?”
“Yep, a true Northeastern guy.”
Huang Bo patted his chest, full of pride.
Interesting.
Seeing Huang Bo’s demeanor, Ye Yan couldn’t help but smile.
This guy had been speaking standard Mandarin all along, so Ye Yan hadn’t thought he was from the Northeast.
“Bro, have a smoke.”
Huang Bo pulled a cigarette from his box and handed it to Ye Yan without hesitation, embodying the warm, straightforward spirit of a Northeasterner.
Ye Yan accepted and lit it. The two smoked and chatted idly.
Huang Bo was a talker; once he started, he never stopped, always eager to chat.
“Brother, your spirit-summoning skills are impressive. Even my martial techniques had no effect on your spirits. Are you trained in the Liangshan tradition?”

South: shamanic arts.
North: master mediums.
These are the two great legacies in the world of supernatural practitioners, both renowned for spirit summoning.
As a Northeasterner, Huang Bo was familiar with the master medium tradition, which was quite different from Ye Yan’s methods. That’s why he suspected Ye Yan was a disciple of the Liangshan shamans.
Ye Yan shook his head, “Just some family skills, nothing fancy.”
“Family skills?”
Huang Bo paused, then gave a thumbs-up, “Your family’s talent is remarkable—my martial arts couldn’t break your spirit summoning. This is my first time failing so completely.”
“You know many shamans?” Ye Yan caught another meaning in Huang Bo’s words.
“I know a few.”
Huang Bo didn’t hide it, “Our martial tradition has ties with the Guan family of the master mediums, so the junior members often spar with each other.”
“Brother Huang, which Guan family are you talking about? They’re not one of the four great families, are they?”
Ye Yan was familiar with the four great families—Lu, Wang, Lü, and Gao—but Guan didn’t ring a bell, though the name sounded familiar.
“It’s the family of ‘Guan Shihua,’ one of the top ten elders—same branch as the Deng family in River City. But specifically, it’s the Snow City Guan family.”
“Oh.”
With that explanation, Ye Yan suddenly recalled—there was indeed a Guan family.
But compared to the other top ten elders, their presence was barely felt. Not just the family, even Guan Shihua herself was rarely mentioned, and people had to think twice before recalling her.
Moreover, due to Feng Zhenghao’s intervention, the shamaness had already stepped down from the top ten elders.
The Guan family’s presence was even less noticeable.
Seeing Ye Yan deep in thought, Huang Bo sighed,
“It’s normal if you don’t know the Guan family, Brother Ye.”
“Ever since Granny Guan forbade the master mediums from heading south, the reputation of many Northeastern legacy families has faded.”
“And now, with Granny Guan stepping down from the top ten, it’s only made things worse.”
Ye Yan: …
If he recalled correctly, he might have had a hand in Granny Guan’s sudden retirement from the top ten elders.