After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Yang Yan and her husband, Yang Qingyuan prepared to head back to his room.
However, just a few steps after bidding them farewell, Yang Qingyuan slowed his pace, his gaze sweeping casually behind him.
Though he could not see anyone, his formidable spiritual sense clearly detected that someone was trailing him. Yet, judging by the aura, the pursuer's strength was not particularly formidable.
Yang Qingyuan pondered for a moment before guessing the identity of his shadow. At that thought, a peculiar smile crept onto the corner of his mouth.
As he reached a corner, Yang Qingyuan suddenly flickered and vanished around the bend.
The person trailing him was startled, then quickly accelerated in an attempt to catch up. But just as he rounded the corner, into his blind spot, a small foot caught him squarely in the backside, sending him flying.
"I call this move the backward flat-sands wild-goose kick."
Yang Qingyuan's figure slowly materialized behind him. With a smile, he looked down at the "butt" right in front of him, then continued, "Well, Yang Yitan, why were you following me?"
The person was naturally Yang Yitan, who had been keeping an eye on Yang Qingyuan this entire time.
Instead of flying into a rage after eating dirt, Yang Yitan calmly and gracefully picked himself up, dusted off his clothes, turned around, and looked at Yang Qingyuan with a hint of perplexity.
"Just now, how did you evade my Heaven's Eye perception?"
Logically speaking, for members of the Yang family, the Heaven's Eye on their foreheads meant there were no blind spots or obstructed lines of sight. Even if someone hid around a corner, Yang Yitan could use his Heaven's Eye to pierce straight through and lock onto their position!
Yet earlier, Yang Qingyuan had completely shielded himself from his Heaven's Eye perception, catching Yang Yitan off guard and dealing him a heavy blow.
"We're all from the Yang family. Is it really that hard to figure out how to shield against someone else's Heaven's Eye perception?" Yang Qingyuan spread his hands.
"I see..." Yang Yitan nodded, a flash of eager enthusiasm crossing his eyes. "First of all, thank you for saving Aunt's family yesterday. Yang Yitan expresses his gratitude here."
With that, Yang Yitan bowed respectfully to Yang Qingyuan.
"No need for thanks. Sister Yang Yan has already thanked me," Yang Qingyuan waved a hand dismissively.
"Secondly, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"For all these years, you've been masking your true strength, haven't you?"
"What do you mean?" Yang Qingyuan frowned.
"The speed you displayed when you struck my uncle yesterday was so fast that even Wangquan Hegemony and I failed to react. From that moment on, I knew you had been concealing your power."
"I haven't been concealing my power. I've just never bothered to show it to anyone."
"With your cultivation and talent, how is it possible that the Heaven's Eye on your forehead still hasn't opened? And you expect me to believe you aren't pretending?"
Yang Qingyuan twitched his mouth, then somewhat gloomily reached up to touch the still-tightly-closed third eye on his forehead.
"How would I know why this thing still hasn't opened? Your Heaven's Eye opened early—are there any tricks to it? Teach me."
Yang Yitan blinked slightly. Seeing that Yang Qingyuan's expression didn't seem feigned, he gave him a suspicious look.
"Your Heaven's Eye really hasn't opened yet?"
"If you don't believe me, why don't you come over and check with your spiritual power?"
Yang Yitan nodded, then pressed a finger against the center of Yang Qingyuan's forehead. A flash of purple light swept past, and a moment later, Yang Yitan slowly opened his eyes, a look of astonishment crossing his face.
"It really hasn't opened. How is that possible? No matter how poor a Yang family member's talent is, the Heaven's Eye always opens by the age of six at the latest."
To a certain extent, the timing of a Yang family member's Heaven's Eye opening reflected their innate talent. The earlier it opened, the greater their potential.
Take Yang Yitan, for instance—his Heaven's Eye had opened the moment he was born, making him undeniably the number one talent among the younger generation of the Yang family.
Yet a "monstrosity" like Yang Qingyuan, who still hadn't opened his Heaven's Eye by age eight, had never once been recorded in the thousands of years since the founding of the Heaven's Eye Yang family.
"You're asking me? Who do I ask?" Yang Qingyuan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Speaking of which, do you have any secret methods for opening the Heaven's Eye? Care to share?"
"My Heaven's Eye opened by itself when I was born, so I don't have any tricks."
Hearing this, Yang Qingyuan's mouth twitched. Fine, you geniuses have it all, born with your own "cheat codes." Unlike me, who has to beg everyone under the sun just to get an eye to open...
"Got it. If that's all, I'm heading off."
Discovering he couldn't get any useful information out of Yang Yitan either, Yang Qingyuan turned on his heel to leave.
"Hey, wait!"
"What is it now? Don't tell me you're actually gay..."
"Gay? Give what?" Yang Yitan's pretty face instantly registered total confusion.
"Never mind, it's just the name of a profession."
"Oh..." Yang Yitan nodded thoughtfully, then continued, "I came to ask: the Blue Sky Assembly is a few months away—are you participating?"
"The Blue Sky Assembly?"
Yang Qingyuan froze for a second, then suddenly recalled the plot points surrounding it.
The so-called Blue Sky Assembly was a grand event held specifically by the One Qi Taoist Alliance to test the talents of disciples from various prominent clans. The testing apparatus consisted of the "stones" left behind in various places by the Third Young Master after he drew a circle back in the day. The one acquired by the One Qi Taoist Alliance later came to be known as the "Taoist Alliance Secret Treasury."
Every child capable of seeing the information left behind by the Third Young Master within the "Taoist Alliance Secret Treasury" invariably grew to become a pillar of the One Qi Taoist Alliance.
Consequently, the Alliance always placed great importance on the Blue Sky Assembly. By then, whether it was the Wangquan family—the premier anti-youmu-exterminating clan—or Divine Fire Mountain Manor, renowned for its Pure-Quality Sun Flame, all would send their younger generations to participate.
As the young master of the Heaven's Eye Yang family, Yang Yitan was naturally no exception.
"We'll see. Whether I go doesn't depend on me; it depends on the head of the family."
With that, Yang Qingyuan shrugged. "Alright, now I'm really going to rest. Don't bother me if nothing's up, thanks."
Watching Yang Qingyuan's retreating figure, a smile inevitably tugged at the corner of Yang Yitan's mouth.
"Aside from Wangquan Hegemony, another interesting opponent has actually appeared within the Taoist Alliance. Good, truly good..."