Hearing his companion's question, Li Yuzhen was taken aback, about to reveal Pei Xuanjing's identity when she heard Pei Xuanjing's voice resonating in the crowd's ears from far away. "Jingxuan has seen the Second Miss before, it's been many years, I hope you have been well!"
Pei Xuanjing naturally heard the crowd's whispers, and he was not surprised that Li Yuzhen recognized him.
Before Li Yuzhen could reveal his identity, he took the initiative to give a fake name, reversing his own name, as a temporarily assumed identity.
Sure enough, upon hearing Pei Xuanjing's voice, the intelligent Li Yuzhen understood Pei Xuanjing's intent to conceal his identity as well.
Although confused, she still continued along the lines of Pei Xuanjing's words: "I didn't expect Brother Jing to still remember me from our brief encounter back then. It has been so long, I trust you have been well too, Brother Jing."
Li Yuzhen smiled and spoke to Pei Xuanjing whilst making a fist salute, her demeanor as brave and heroic as ever.
Many years had passed, and although she didn't have as impressive a fighting reputation as Pei Xuanjing, she was a person of extraordinary talent, and also born into the Li Family of Longxi, a top-tier powerhouse. Li Yuzhen crossed many obstacles that most people would struggle with their entire lives, and was promoted to the Third-Grade Grandmaster Realm.
Pei Xuanjing dismounted from his horse, took a few steps forward, and said, "Second Miss's heroic air is unforgettable. It's just a bit unexpected to meet the Second Miss here."
Pei Xuanjing wasn't surprised at Li Yuzhen's breakthrough to the Third-Grade Grandmaster level; after all, who knew how deep the roots of such a heritage-rich family like hers could be. He was just curious why she was here, given they were not far from the Northwest Dao.
"Why can't I be here when Brother Jing can?" Li Yuzhen retorted.
Pei Xuanjing smiled, she was right.
This place wasn't his own after all. If he could be here, why couldn't anyone else?
While watching Li Yuzhen conversing with Pei Xuanjing, a young man in the crowd quietly said to the man in white beside him, "Mr. Cui, it seems this person's relationship with Second Miss is not ordinary. At least, Second Miss has never smiled like that at you."
The young man who spoke was surnamed Zheng, named Zheng Anhan, from the Xingyang Zheng Clan, and was of the Third-Grade Grandmaster Realm.
The object of his jest came from the Cui Clan of Qinghe, named Cui Qingping, whose skill was also at the Third-Grade Grandmaster Realm.
The Li Family of Longxi has always had a close relationship with the Qinghe Cui Clan, and there were many marriages between them.
As a legitimate son of the Cui Clan, Cui Qingping was very fond of Li Yuzhen and had been pursuing her for a long time.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Li Yuzhen was not interested in this matter and was rather cold towards him.
"Shut up, " Cui Qingping said in a low voice.
Although his gaze had been fixed on Pei Xuanjing, it was not because of Li Yuzhen.
Instead, he had been unable to determine Pei Xuanjing's strength, as the latter stood before them seemingly as ordinary as any other man.
This alarmed Cui Qingping, who was ranked seventeenth on the Hidden Dragon List, and he wondered if Pei Xuanjing's strength might surpass his own.
Despite this, he found Pei Xuanjing's face somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall where he might have seen it before.
Pei Xuanjing didn't know what Cui Qingping was thinking; he only looked at Li Yuzhen who was standing in front of him.
Although Li Yuzhen was a woman, she was dressed as a man, wielding a long sword in her hand. She stepped forward towards Pei Xuanjing and said, "Meeting like this must be fate. Allow me to introduce you to some friends."
"This is Mr. Cui, Cui Qingping."
"Nice to meet you, Brother Jing," the man named Cui Qingping nodded slightly at Pei Xuanjing.
"Mr. Cui," Pei Xuanjing nodded in return. "This is Wang Shanyang, Brother Wang."
"This is …"
Those whom Li Yuzhen introduced to Pei Xuanjing were all from various noble families, both legitimate and illegitimate descendants.
Among them, the person with the strongest ability was as powerful as Li Yuzhen herself, while the weakest were at the Fourth-Grade Martial Arts realm.
Perhaps it was the education of the aristocratic children.
Perhaps it was because they hadn't figured out Pei Xuanjing's strength yet.
Everyone Li Yuzhen introduced was polite, and there were no condescending provocations.
Even though some people might be annoyed by the abrupt appearance of Pei Xuanjing, they did not directly target him out of respect for Li Yuzhen.
Of course, while these people didn't target Pei Xuanjing, they also weren't particularly enthusiastic, maintaining an indifferent attitude.
Pei Xuanjing didn't pay much mind to their attitudes. Although he was technically of the same generation as them, his strength could no longer be determined by age alone.
If one were to really discuss status and power, perhaps only the elders of these people's families had somewhat of a qualification to discuss status and identity with him.
"Brother Jing, did you also come here for the Secret Inheritance of this Forbidden Place?"
"Yes, there's a Reality similar to a Blessed Land here. Any martial artist who enters it would potentially obtain a martial skill inheritance, even the worst Martial Studies taught here is of high quality, " Li Yuzhen informed sincerely.
She originally thought that Pei Xuanjing knew about this, but it seems like he didn't.
Regardless, she didn't withhold this information, as it wasn't a particularly secretive matter.
Pei Xuanjing frowned slightly; he originally thought that these people were here due to the Netherworld Book's disturbance too, but it turned out they were here for the so-called Secret Inheritance of the Forbidden Place.
Could it be that this Secret Inheritance is related to that page of the Netherworld Book?
He had no idea.
"I didn't come here for that," Pei Xuanjing responded frankly..
According to Li Yuzhen, perhaps he too could enter and obtain some sort of legacy.
But in Pei Xuanjing's view, unless he acquired some peerless martial studies, there was not much use for him.
After he killed the Lord of Shenxiao Gate, he gained several martial studies that originally belonged to the Shenxiao Sect. Coupled with the martial studies that Yu Zhenzi later found from the Lord of
Shenxiao Gate's old lair, Pei Xuanjing temporarily did not lack martial studies for refining Taoyun.
His main purpose in coming this time was for that page of the Netherworld's Book, not for any martial studies or skills.
Li Yuzhen was surprised to hear this. She had never expected to get such an answer.
Just as she was about to ask something, she suddenly saw Pei Xuanjing's face scrunch up and say, "Someone is coming."
Li Yuzhen followed Pei Xuanjing's gaze and saw a troop of people slowly approaching where they were.
The group was dressed in black robes and had a ghost mask on their faces, emitting a cold and eerily bizarre aura. There was only one power in the martial arts world that dressed like this.
Yin Si (Underworld)!
The appearance of Yin Si put tremendous pressure on the group.
Li Yuzhen's face showed surprise. After exchanging glances with her companions, they quietly began to prepare for the worst.
There was no way around it. The reputation of Yin Si's men was not very good in the martial arts world.
Even young experts like Li Yuzhen who came from powerful backgrounds wouldn't take the slightest chance when faced with such underhanded killers. They were fully on guard, fearing a surprise attack from the other party.
They also recognized the ghost mask on the leader of the group. It was Yama King.
As the leader of the Ten Halls of Yama, the Yama King put many experts to shame. It could be said that the reputation of Yama King was founded on countless experts' lives, full of blood and terror.
The group from the Underworld quickly stopped a hundred yards in front of them.
By then, Li Yuzhen and the others had reached their highest level of alert.
Faced with the sudden appearance of the Underworld , they knew that things were not likely to go
smoothly, anu some were even conswering retreating.
But to their surprise, the people from the Underworld only glanced at them before focusing on a man named Jingxuan.
"Pei Xuanjing, I did not expect you to dare to come here," the man in the black robe and ghost mask leading the group from the Underworld said.
The man in the leading black robe and mask was none other than Yama King, the leader of the Ten Halls of Yama.
Though Yama King was only the leader of the Ten Halls of Yama, his position was above the Five Ghost Emperors, making him the second -most powerful person in the Underworld's Fengdu.
Though he had never met Pei Xuanjing, Yama King recognized him at first sight.
Originally, Yama King wasn't fond of minor figures like Li Yuzhen appearing and wanted his subordinates to drive them away or kill them on the spot.
But at this moment, when he saw Pei Xuanjing, Yama King was filled with murderous intent and wished to kill him then and there.
Calm in the face of Yama King's ominous aura, Pei Xuanjing replied casually, "Why wouldn't I dare to come?"
Speaking of which, the Underworld's reputation echoed throughout the world, and everyone, from commoners to the royals, revered its name.
However, this formidable Underworld's reputation had tumbled several times due to Pei Xuanjing.
It could be said that the Underworld had lost many of its men against Pei Xuanjing, leaving its reputation in ruins.
Therefore, Pei Xuanjing did not care about Yama King'S threats.
"So, he is Pei Xuanjing! No wonder he seemed familiar, it turns out it is him," Cui Qingping realized, looking enlightened.
He had been wondering why the man known as Jingxuan seemed so familiar. Now, as Yama King had revealed his identity, everything became clear.
"Jingxuan, isn't that the same as Xuanjing? We were so slow to realize."
"Miss Li, you know Pei Xuanjing? Why haven't we heard you mention him before?" someone asked Li Yuzhen curiously.
Li Yuzhen had to explain to her companions the questions that were spewing at her like a volley of bullets, and their surprised gazes about how she happened to have a chance meeting with Pei
Xuanjing…
Still, they could hardly believe it.
Judging from his peers, but with strength placing him among the strongest of martial artists, the younger generation was polarized in dealing with Pei Xuanjing's status.
One group thought that Pei Xuanjing was merely lucky. If they had the same opportunity to get the legacy that originally belonged to the Shenxiao Sect, they would have done as much, perhaps even more.
They believed that Pei Xuanjing was merely lucky enough to take the first step and that they could eventually catch up and even replace him.
But the others admired and even worshipped Pei Xuanjing's legendary journey. After all, every one of them who entered the martial world longed for the day when they too would share his fame.
Particularly martial artists of humble background idolized Pei Xuanjing. They highly respected Pei Xuanjing, who went from a small town in a border county to become a household name and felt proud to have something in common with him.
The people present, each of them of remarkable origin, were even more aware of how Pei Xuanjing got to where he was today. It didn't happen just because of luck..