Bi Luo carefully walked behind Yang Kai while holding a dozen bottles of Soul restoring pills in her arms. Her pair of beautiful eyes were fixed on the stalwart figure in front of her, and her brow was knitted while her expression remained complex.
What she had done today had really caused her to regret.
If not for her specially taking him to Heavenly Le Medicine Square, then none of this would have happened. All she had wanted was to use Le Yu to teach him a lesson, but the result had been far more complex than she had anticipated, causing her to thoroughly offend him. Why did he have to be so powerful, even able to fight on par with Le Yu?
Confused and muddleheaded, Bi Luo didn’t know what she should do next or how she should face him.
The whole way back, Yang Kai’s silent and indifferent treatment towards her made her feel all the more uncomfortable.
Finally, when they arrived back at the palace, Bi Luo couldn’t bear it any longer and swiftly stepped in front of Yang Kai, blocking his path and angrily growling, “Why won’t you say anything?”
However, Yang Kai simply glanced at her slightly, which caused her brow to wrinkle further.
“Hey!” Bi Luo waved her hand in front of his face, “What’s with you, ignoring me like this? I get that you’re some kind of amazing genius, but that shouldn’t be a reason to flat out disregard me. I’ll admit that before, I took you to Heavenly Le Medicine Square intentionally to let Le Yu teach you a lesson, but that’s also your fault! Who told you to be so annoying? I didn’t think things would get so out of hand so… well… sorry, okay? You don’t need to be so angry!”
Although Bi Luo was originally an orphan and did not have the slightest relation to nobility, but now, no matter how you put it, she was Shan Qing Luo’s most trusted confidant, and along with her enchanting beauty, her eyes had long ago found their way to the top of her head, which gave her an arrogant temper.
Coupled with her unique ‘interests’, she had never put any man in the eyes.
Shan Qing Luo bringing back Yang Kai that day and not only letting him live in Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion but also sending three of the most beautiful maids to serve him personally had naturally annoyed Bi Luo a little.
She immediately didn’t have a good impression of Yang Kai and only tolerated his presence because of Shan Qing Luo’s orders, but she never treated him the slightest bit seriously.
It wasn’t until today when Yang Kai showed strength no weaker than Le Yu that Bi Luo realized that he was a bit different from other men, and she also understood why Shan Qing Luo valued him so highly.
With her temper and arrogance, being able to honestly apologize at this time was already the limit of what she could do.
Standing still, Yang Kai simply frowned and continued to stare back at her silently.
Seeing his lack of reaction, Bi Luo became unhappy and indignant, “I’ve already apologized to you so can’t you just forgive me already? As a man aren’t you acting a bit too petty?”
Yang Kai suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed hold of Bi Luo’s shirt, dragging her before him.
Bi Luo’s beautiful face instantly went pale and almost reflexively tried to counterattack, but when she remembered the horrifying combat strength Yang Kai had showed earlier, she could only cry out angrily, “What are you doing?!”
“Plot against me again and I’ll kill you!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
From the firm glare in his eyes and his frigid tone, Bi Luo immediately realized that what he had just said was no joke, and her heart clenched and cold sweat dripped down her back.
Just when she was about to stubbornly try to talk back, Yang Kai suddenly released her, and his face instantly went pale as he spat out of mouthful of blood.
Within this blood was also a trace of purple energy that thrashed about violently, almost like it was alive.
“Ah…” Bi Luo exclaimed.
“Get lost!” Yang Kai suddenly swept a palm wind towards Bi Luo, sending her flying more than a dozen meters away, the next moment a purple fire engulfed his body.
As a chilling cold spread, Yang Kai’s hair and clothes instantaneously became white with frost, an ice-cold aura burst forth.
*Crack…*
With Yang Kai as the center, a radius of a dozen or so meters instantly became an ice filled domain.
Bi Luo’s beautiful eyes flashed violently as she stared at Yang Kai.
It turns out that he hadn’t actually been able to completely resolve the power of Le Yu’s attacks, but had instead used some method to temporarily seal this Demonic Qi within his body, and now it had broken free.
This was Purple Demonic Spirit Fire that originated from Evil Spirits that dwelled in the Evil Cavern!
Of course, it wasn’t a true flame, but rather the Purple Demonic Qi condensed into a form of energy. Le Yu had been absorbing and refining this Demonic Qi for some time now and could already somewhat incorporate it into his attacks.
This Demonic Qi was unusually resilient. Once it infected someone, it was like maggots on rotting bones, and in combat, unless one’s strength far exceeded Le Yu’s, it would only be a matter of time before they would be consumed by this evil Qi and freeze to death.
Bi Luo had only heard about it and never had a chance to see it before until today.
“Are you hurt?” Bi Luo asked. Observing Yang Kai’s current condition, her annoyance once more gave way to guilt at the moment.
“Of course I’m hurt! You try taking a hit from that mace!” Yang Kai grit his teeth and took a deep breath as he circulated his True Yang Secret Art in an effort to repress the Purple Demonic Qi raging within his meridians.
Le Yu was indeed a master amongst the younger generation, although they had fought a seemingly even battle with Yang Kai appearing to attain the upper hand before the Le Family’s Immortal Ascension Boundary masters came out to stop them, but only Yang Kai was aware of what the end result truly was.
Yang Kai knew, if they had continued to fight, he didn’t have any grasp of winning! After all, Le Yu was still four minor realms above him, and had exceedingly high combat prowess.
On top of that, the giant mace he used contained a devastating power. Even using the Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia to fully protect himself, Yang Kai still had his five viscera, six organs shifted under its assault and was unable to relieve himself until now.
“What are you going to do now then?” Bi Luo asked anxiously.
“Heal, obviously, you pig brain!”
“Oh… then we should hurry back!” Bi Luo stepped forward and helped Yang Kai, bringing him quickly to Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
Although Yang Kai had scolded her for having a pig brain, Bi Luo wasn’t annoyed at all. At the very least, she didn’t feel the same cold murderous intent Yang Kai had directed towards her earlier in his tone.
In other words, he wasn’t actually that angry with her anymore.
Back at Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
Yang Kai arrived swiftly at the first floor bath, stripped off his tattered clothes, and immersed himself in the warm water.
Outside, the three women sent to serve Yang Kai walked up and inquired to Bi Luo.
“What happened to the Young Lord?” The mature beauty Yun Li softly asked, aware that something was wrong.
“He fought with Le Yu and got some injuries,” Bi Luo muttered under her breath.
“Ah…” Yun Li quickly covered her luscious red lips with her delicate hand, and her enchanting eyes flashing a frightened light, “Do you mean Young Lord fought with the Le Family’s Young Master? How did such a thing happen?”
“Don’t ask too much, it was my fault.” Bi Luo said with a loud sigh before handing the bottles of pills she was carrying to Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing absentmindedly.
Yun Li observed thoughtfully for a short moment before understanding what had happened and quickly realized that asking any more wasn’t a wise choice.
“Elder Sister Yun, he seems to still be very upset with me, how should I apologize so he’ll forgive me?” After a brief awkward silence Bi Luo suddenly turned and asked.
“Apologize?” A trace of surprise flashed across Yun Li’s eyes as she looked at Bi Luo in astonishment before laughing lightly, “Little Bi Luo is willing to apologize to him, the sun must really be rising from the west today. Is it possible that towards him, you…”
“No!” Bi Luo glared at her fiercely before suddenly flashing a wicked smile, “What kind of lustful thoughts are you thinking? Do you want me to satisfy those hidden desires of yours?”
“Absolutely not!” Yun Li cried out in fright and quickly put some distance between herself and Bi Luo.
“Good, then tell me what I should do?”
Yun Li swiftly regained her charming smile, as her face blushed slightly, and she whispered, “In these cases a woman’s body is her strongest weapon…”
“You really do have only those kinds of thoughts on your brain! Enough already.” Bi Luo said angrily, somewhat exasperated, “Look after him well, I’ll head back first. If something happens to him, remember to let me know as soon as possible.”
“En.” Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing nodded.
In the bath, Yang Kai closed his eyes and circulated his True Yang Secret Art.
The Purple Demonic Qi flowing in his meridians was slowly burned through by his pure True Yang Yuan Qi. Part of it was then expelled from his body and some of it smelted into energy for his own use, while everything that remained was absorbed by his Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
Although this Qi was evil in nature, and it was extremely similar to the energies stored within his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, they were still somewhat different.
This was energy that Le Yu had cultivated; it incorporated his understanding of martial arts and contained traces of his aura.
Le Yu’s comprehension of the martial arts was obviously incompatible with Yang Kai so it could only be expelled.
The rest of this energy however was purely consisted of the Purple Spirit Demonic Qi from Evil Spirits within the Evil Cavern that Le Yu had absorbed, which could be absorbed by his Unyielding Golden Skeleton after being refined.
This evil energy was quite difficult to dissolve. Yang Kai spent a full three or four days before he finally managed to completely purge it from his meridians.
A light fluctuation arose from his Unyielding Golden Skeleton when he had finished. It seemed that this so-called Purple Spirit Demonic Qi quite suited its taste. This discovery involuntarily caused Yang Kai’s brow to twitch.
Although his battle with Le Yu did not have a final winner, such a fight had managed to completely stabilize his True Element Boundary Fifth Stage cultivation.
Yang Kai had also been able to compete with one of the top experts in his generation.
So far, the number of such difficult opponents he had faced were actually quite few: Nine Star Sword Sect’s Wu Cheng Yi, Qiu Family’s Qiu Yi Meng, and now Le Yu.
Each of these three were extraordinary talents, and all of them possessed strength that did not allow Yang Kai to underestimate them in the slightest.
The world was truly vast. Who knows how many other geniuses like them were out there?
Slowly opening his eyes, his body and mind were refreshed. His wounded five viscera, six organs had all been completely healed. He noticed that the water throughout the bath had also taken on a purple shade, giving it a faint glow.
Getting up from the bath and drying himself, he leisurely dressed and walked out from the pavilion.
Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing all wore happy expressions upon seeing him exit.
“Have Young Lord’s injuries been healed?” Yun Li quickly inquired.
“Yeah.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Thank goodness,” Yun Li let out a sigh of relief, quickly turning to Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing, “Quickly inform Bi Luo, when she hears that Young Lord has recovered it will greatly relieve her worries.”
“Yes!” Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing replied crisply before rushing off.
Yun Li turned her gaze towards Yang Kai and said with a smile, “Young Lord should know that for the past few days Bi Luo had come here several times a day to ask about your injuries. She also obviously hasn’t rested well and seems quite worn out.”
“She brought it upon herself.” Yang Kai snorted.
Bi Luo’s concern about his well being had nothing to do with her caring about him but was instead driven by fear of how Shan Qing Luo might punish her later. How could he not understand something so obvious?
Yun Li couldn’t help but giggle lightly, “Since she was young, Bi Luo has never been sensible enough, having spent most of her life growing up sheltered inside the palace, all year round being doted upon by Mistress. Young Lord shouldn’t lower himself to her level.”
“That’ll be up to her.” Seeing Yun Li go so far to defend Bi Luo, Yang Kai felt it wasn’t good to dwell on things any further.
What’s more, he wasn’t particularly concerned about what had happened. He was mainly just upset about Bi Luo scheming against him.
He believed that after this incident, Bi Luo wouldn’t dare try something like that again.
Yun Li quickly followed up, “The pills that Young Lord bought before are in your room, and all of the accounts have been settled.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Having a strong backer really made a big difference. It allowed him to wantonly purchase so many bottles of Spiritual Energy pills without even having to pay up front. It was no wonder those Young Lords and Young Ladies of those great forces were able to grow so much faster than ordinary people.
Near unlimited access to precious cultivation resources coupled with their already high innate aptitudes made achieving greater heights than their peers the norm.
This world had always been unfair as such.
“Also, a member of the Le Family specifically paid a visit to the palace a couple days ago to deliver something.” The mature beauty smiled meaningfully.
“Oh? The Le Family?” Yang Kai’s brow rose, a tinge of surprise apparent on his face.
“En, they brought a bottle of Mysterious Grade pills that are useful for restoring Spiritual Energy.” Yun Li covered her lips with her hand as she laughed elegantly at Yang Kai, “That member of the Le Family apparently rushed all night from their family home to deliver this bottle of pills and insisted on having this servant deliver it to Young Lord. Seeing how Young Lord was still healing at the time, this servant accepted it temporarily. Would Young Lord like to accept it or… perhaps you wish to reject?”
“Nonsense!” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “They took such pains to deliver this gift, naturally I must accept it.”
Seemingly knowing he would say so, Yun Li simply nodded slightly, “Very well, if you were to reject them outright, I’m afraid the Le Family would suffer quite the loss of face, being able to make big things small and small things disappear is for the best, I knew that Young Lord was such a benevolent man.”
[This little fox…]
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling his face grow somewhat hot.
The Le Family sending him such a precious thing, Yang Kai understood clearly that this was nothing more than their attempt to smooth over relations. But whatever the outcome, the Le Family was still considered a great force, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit surprised at how quickly they had compromised.
“Shan Qing Luo holds quite some prestige,” Yang Kai whispered softly, only able to conclude that the Le Family had taken such actions in order to give Shan Qing Luo face.
What he didn’t know was that the Le Family couldn’t figure out his origins, so before they did, they didn’t want to risk offending such a Heaven sent talent.
If they thought they could quietly eliminate Yang Kai, then how could the prestigious Le Family be so generous? But the battle between Yang Kai and Le Yu had taken place inside Fragrance City and was seen by so many people. Since they couldn’t take such actions without drawing suspicions, and they were somewhat afraid of offending the force behind him, their only choice was to temporarily compromise.
A bottle of Mysterious Grade pills was quite expensive, but it wasn’t something the Le Family couldn’t afford.
When Yun Li heard him mutter as such, she simply maintained her charming smile and continued, “There is something else this servant should inform Young Lord about.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Many young masters in the city and even a number of young ladies would like to invite Young Lord to socialize with them…”
Yang Kai’s origins were quite mysterious, so not drawing the attention of these various local forces would be quite unusual. Over the past few days all of these great forces that resided within Fragrance City had spent considerable effort trying to discover what his background was, but much less inquire about where he hailed from, many of them couldn’t even confirm what his name was.
Under such circumstances the best they could do was have some of their younger generation invite Yang Kai out to socialize in the hopes of gaining some useful intelligence.
If he really had a grand force supporting him from behind, making friends with his was naturally to their benefit, but even if he didn’t have such a background, given how promising a talent he was, any of these forces would still be willing to extend an olive branch to him.
“No need,” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow, “I have nothing to discuss with them.”
Seeing him reject so decisively, Yun Li was slightly surprised, but soon let out an elegant laugh, “Very well.”
“I’m going back to cultivate.” As soon as he spoke these words, Yang Kai immediately walked back towards his second floor room.
Looking at his gradually receding back, the mature beauty Yun Li couldn’t help staring at him a bit oddly before slowly shaking her head as she smiled warmly. She had never before seen such a determined young man.
Given his temperament and drive, it seems like his strength was not unwarranted.
Over the next few days Yang Kai had spent almost all of his time spying on the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way, yet his progress was still unbearably slow, not even daring to guess how long it would be before he managed to grasp it completely.
However, Yang Kai didn’t mind. His true purpose was to exhaust his Spiritual Energy by studying the True Alchemic Way. Obtaining the knowledge contained within it was only a secondary concern.
Consuming various bottles of Soul nourishing pills, his Soul continuously grew stronger, not only did it become more formidable, but it also increased in toughness, and now he was able to extend his Divine Sense over a far greater range.
His supply of pills was consumed very fast though. This was mainly due to these pills not being of very high quality, which gave them a less than desirable efficacy. If Yang Kai wanted to quickly restore his Spiritual Energy, his only option was to consume greater numbers of these pills.
Even the bottle of Mysterious Grade pills which had been delivered to him by the Le Family was consumed in less than two days.
No one would ever dare to cultivate Spiritual Energy like Yang Kai, relentlessly exhausting their Spiritual Energy, and then devouring massive amounts of pills to supplement it. If anyone else had tried they would have long ago permanently damaged their Soul, likely degenerating into an idiot, unable to recover for the rest of their life.
The only reason Yang Kai didn’t have such worries was thanks to his Heaven defying Soul Warming Lotus.
Ten days later.
His supply of pills had been depleted, and although Yang Kai could clearly feel that his Soul had grown significantly stronger, when he tried to erase Shan Qing Luo’s Soul Seeking Seal again, he was still incapable of even shaking it, instead each time he tried to eliminate this devilish seductress’s Soul Seeking Seal all he would end up doing was provoking its defensive response, which plunged him in illusions that repeated beguiled and bewitched him.
One day he would string this little temptress up, strip her of her clothes, and spank her! Yang Kai secretly cursed to himself.
Suddenly, a light knocking sound resounded, someone obviously had shown up at his door.
“Come in!” Yang Kai called out.
When the door was pushed open, Bi Luo, her enchanting figure wrapped in a scarlet red dress, giggled lightly as she walked in.
Seeing her choice in outfit, it was clear to anyone that she had dressed up intentionally so to somewhat imitate Shan Qing Luo’s taste to give her a seductive and enrapturing aura.
Yang Kai was slightly startled, “Why are you here?”
Since they had returned to the palace that day, Bi Luo had not appeared in front of Yang Kai. However, thanks to Yun Li occasionally putting in a good word for her from time to time, Yang Kai had already decided to no longer pursue the previous matters between them.
He had never thought that she would actually come to seek him out like this.
But now, Bi Luo had appeared before him, and she wasn’t exuding her usual proud and domineering attitude, but instead faced Yang Kai somewhat nervously, and some clear traces of confusing and reluctance were still apparent in her eyes.
“I’ve come to check up on you.” Bi Luo spoke softly with a rare hint of gentleness in her tone as she looked somewhat sheepishly at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai just smiled lightly, “If you’re still worried about what happened before, there’s no need, I don’t intend on seeking out trouble with you over it.”
“Are you really not angry?” Bi Luo looked at him in surprise.
“As long as you stop trying to plot against me!”
“En en, I promise I won’t do such things anymore, that day really was only an accident.” Bi Luo smiled before slowly walking over to Yang Kai and softly whispered, “If Mistress asks about what happened that day…”
“I wanted to stretch my limbs a bit. Le Yu happened to be available for me to spar with.” Yang Kai casually replied, naturally knowing what he should say at this moment.
Bi Luo couldn’t help smiling happily. Her slender white palm rested upon her proud chest as she breathed a sigh of relief and completely putt down the stone which had weighed upon her heart before quickly following up, “You really are a good person. I’ve misjudged you!”
Having finished what she wanted to say, she suddenly noticed Yang Kai’s eyes staring towards her round peaks, and she hurriedly wrapped them in her arms before blushing lightly, “Hey, haven’t you seen enough!”
However, just as she said so, she seemed to think of something again and relaxed her arms, deliberately straightened herself up, and put on an indifferent expression, “Well go ahead and look, it can be considered as me paying you back slightly, in any case it’s not like I’ll lose anything by you staring.”
Seeing how careless she was acting, Yang Kai suddenly found himself somewhat dumbfounded.
Seeing his reaction, Bi Luo let out a giggle before gently sitting herself down behind him in a half-kneeling position and lightly rested her delicate hands on his back and gently kneaded.
“What are you…” Yang Kai called out in surprise.
“Every day around this time don’t you have Elder Sister Yun Li do this for you to help relieve your fatigue? Today I had come here in order to apologize to you, but I hadn’t expected that you would so frankly accept, so allow me to perform a rare service for you like this, you should gratefully accept it.”
Yang Kai was once again stunned. He hadn’t thought that Bi Luo would really feel so guilty about that day.
Otherwise, why else would she go to such lengths to please him?
Since Yang Kai had greatly enjoyed Yun Li’s massage that day, Yang Kai had specifically requested that she come by every day to do so.
The strain he placed himself under to cultivate his Soul was quite intense and fatiguing, so having her gentle slender fingers disperse his stress like so was an extremely pleasant sensation for him.
Bi Luo must have figured things would turn out like this from the beginning.
While her technique was not on par with Yun Li’s, it was still quite comfortable.
After a while, Bi Luo suddenly asked, “Does it feel good?”
“It’s alright,” Yang Kai spoke bluntly.
“Just okay?” Bi Luo felt like she had received a hit, “Compared with Elder Sister Yun Li?”
“Her’s is better!”
“Humph!” Bi Luo pouted, her expression unconvinced before an impish smirk appeared on her face.
Suddenly, a bewitching voice drifted into Yang Kai’s ears and seemed to contain an endless appeal and temptation, then, from all around him, erotic moans and seductive scents overwhelmed his senses. Yang Kai’s eyes shot open, only to find his vision filled with numerous delicate young girls, their bodies draped in nearly transparent silk garments which barely covered their jade white skin, and their water snake like figures gently twisted as they teased him incessantly.
Immediately, Yang Kai’s breath became heavy, and his whole body seemed to be on fire.
Quickly noticing the situation wasn’t normal, he began circulating his Joyous Unification Art, which instantly sent Bi Luo behind him into a trance. Her enchanting eyes suddenly blurred over as her body went limp.
The Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art could seemingly dispel any Seduction Technique. The last time Yang Kai was affected by Shan Qing Luo’s illusion it was also with the help of Joyous Unification Art that he managed to extricate himself.
This time it had also helped him maintain his sanity.
“What are you trying to do?” Yang Kai turned his head only to see Bi Luo blushing furiously. Her beautiful eyes were now wet and unfocused. She had apparently suffered from the backlash of her Seduction Technique being broken.
Fortunately, she had only casually applied her technique and hadn’t really intended on harming Yang Kai, so the backlash wasn’t serious and only sent her into a light state of confusion without doing any damage to her.
“I just wanted to make you comfortable…” Bi Luo panted lightly. Her whole body was seemingly devoid of strength as she stared back at Yang Kai in dismay, “What did you do? Why am I suffering from this backlash?”
“You cultivate a Seduction Technique?” Yang Kai laughed at her, surprised by the fact that her technique was the same as Shan Qing Luo’s.
“En…” Bi Luo replied gently. Her enchanting appearance and her seductive moans echoing about in Yang Kai’s head.
This alone was a more effective temptation than her Seduction Technique.
However, Yang Kai simply laughed, “You’re finished. I just told you not to scheme against me, yet you suddenly try to do this. It seems like you haven’t received a harsh enough lesson yet!”
Grinning, Yang Kai pressed himself directly onto Bi Luo’s body, and his hands brazenly grasped onto her tall peaks.
Feeling this blazing heat and amazing elasticity, Yang Kai also felt himself burning up again. His chest pounded as his blood boiled, and his lower half became hot.
After all, it had been quite some time since he had last dual cultivated with Su Yan…
During this time, he had experienced all kinds of beautiful temptations, and each time he had suppressed his impulses, but this had inevitably lead to him having a severe buildup of repressed desires. With so much kindling stacked, and Bi Luo’s Seduction Technique acting as the spark, Yang Kai’s fire had completely been lit.
“Hey, you… what are you doing?” Bi Luo was shocked and quickly tried to push Yang Kai away, but suffering from the backlash of her Seduction Technique, she couldn’t even summon enough strength to stop him from kneading her chest, so how could she muster the power to escape from under his weight?
With hot breath stroking her face, her heart shuddered from both fear and desire, and Bi Luo almost had her thoughts swallowed by the atmosphere.
With a great tearing sound, her red dress was ripped open, which sent a chill across Bi Luo’s jade white skin as it became exposed to the cold air.
“You bastard!” Bi Luo cursed through her gritted teeth. Her eyes filled with fear and confusion, she balled her hands into fists and hit Yang Kai’s shoulder.
“Ah…” As she struck him lightly, a numbing sensation transmitted from her chest as if she had been struck by lightning, and caused Bi Luo to let out an amorous moan that flooded the room, which caused her an unparalleled amount of shame.
Somehow shifting her gaze downwards, she saw that damn man placing his lips onto her pink cherries. His pair of big rough hands wantonly wandered back and forth across her body. Each stroke sent a dizzying burst of pleasure up her spine.
“Don’t…” Bi Luo shouted softly, and her tightly gripped fists gradually lost strength, seemingly somewhat reluctant to push him off of her, and her tense body slowly relaxed. Bringing one of her fingers to his lips and gently sucking upon it caused erotic moans to leak from her mouth. She no longer resisted or struggled, and instead a look of enjoyment and pleasure filled her face. Her beautiful eyes further blurred as her pure jade white skin began to take on a pink shade, and a sweet scent wafted from her enchanting body, and her hips slowly started swaying of their own accord towards Yang Kai, as if she was looking forward to what was to inevitably to come.
Yang Kai was stunned.
All he had wanted to do was give Bi Luo a lesson, and although he felt that doing this to a young woman was a bit excessive, considering his target, he didn’t think it was beyond reasonable.
Since Bi Luo cultivated Seduction Techniques, it was natural for her to be familiar with the matters between men and women, so only something like this could give her an unforgettable hit in order to let her stop trying to plot against him.
But unexpectedly, this enchantress no longer seemed interested in resisting him; not only allowing herself to be compromised but also even coordinating with him.
To him in his current state, this was undoubtedly a joyous turn of events.
With this in mind, Yang Kai no longer held back, and pressed forward with full force as he tore off what little clothes they had left on and prepared to go all the way.
Feeling this sudden burst of aggression, it was like a bucket of cold water was splashed onto her face, and caused Bi Luo to suddenly sober up. She quickly put up a firm resistance to Yang Kai, and her face filled with fear, “No, no… you can’t, anything but that…”
“You’ve got to be kidding…” Yang Kai glared at her as his brow wrinkled greatly. Having already reached this point, was he still destined to fail?
“If you really can’t help it, I’ll call Elder Sister Yun Li to come, if that’s still not enough I can ask Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing to accompany as well, Mistress specifically sent them here to attend to your needs, no matter what you want from them they’ll certainly be willing to fulfil your every desire.” Bi Luo desperately tried to convince him with a look of desperation and entreaty upon her face, “Alright? I’ll call all three of them right now.”
“Don’t bother, I want you.”
Bi Luo’s face somehow simultaneously paled in fright and blushed in embarrassment, as she quietly swept her eyes from Yang Kai handsome face, down his firm chest, and all the way until she saw his tall raging dragon head. Panic filled her head, and she was unable to hold back a quiet yelp.
Suddenly feeling timid, her face blushed from shame, and she quickly averted her eyes away from Yang Kai as her thoughts churned before daring to utter under her breath, “Do you want to perhaps… try something different…”
“What?” Yang Kai stunned.
“Well… that is… how about…” Bi Luo bit her lip before softly whispering into his ear.
“Huh?” Yang Kai stared back at her in confusion.
Seeing his reaction, Bi Luo was momentarily dumbstruck before pulling Yang Kai closer and once again whispering to him, as she quickly explained to him in clearer terms her proposal. Upon separating, even she felt her face turn red hot from shame. Her white skin was now a bright shade of crimson all the way down her neck as her beautiful eyes became even wetter and unfocused.
Yang Kai froze stiff, unable to process what he had just heard for a moment before he stared into Bi Luo’s eyes and stutteringly asked, “Is that okay?”
“En.” Bi Luo nodded almost imperceptibly.
“How do you even know about…” Yang Kai’s head was still trying to catch up with this scenario, and he suddenly felt like, in front of Bi Luo, he was still somewhat pure and innocent.
“I cultivate Seduction Techniques, these matters… of course Mistress and my seniors have informed me about…”
What Yang Kai didn’t know was that because Bi Luo had decided to cultivate Seduction Techniques, Shan Qing Luo had specially assigned two girls to assist her in practicing these arts, and it was because she was perennially together with these young maidens and earnestly ‘studying’ together with them, that Bi Luo had developed such special interests.
“Well… would you like to…” Bi Luo seeing Yang Kai stupidly freeze there couldn’t help herself nervously asking again.
Although she usually portrayed the air of a haughty seductress, in the end she was still a girl, and now that she had really encountered this kind of situation for the first time she still felt a good amount of shame and fluster.
“Good!” Yang Kai replied excitedly.
“En. Promise me first that you’ll not taint my purity and then… I’ll…” Bi Luo’s face continued to redden before slowly exchanging places with Yang Kai. This time pressing him beneath her as she revealed an enrapturing smile and slowly slid her enchanting lips down his body.
Soon after, a bestial roar along with a slight, nasally moan rang out inside the room.
Outside Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
The mature beauty Yun Li and the young maidens Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing were sweeping the leaves when a pair of light footsteps approached from afar.
When Yun Li looked up, she quickly discovered two unfamiliar women walking towards them.
There were very few strangers in the palace, so even though she had not yet formally met these two, she still had a fairly good idea about who they were.
No doubt they were the two young ladies whom her Mistress had brought back with her a few days ago. One of them was named Qiu Yi Meng while the other was called Luo Xiao Man.
These two had their True Qi sealed and were under a kind of house arrest in Fragrance Guest House.
Due to the fact that they hadn’t showed any unfavourable behaviour since they arrived, they had been allowed to wander about within the palace grounds.
The two of them should have something they wanted to discuss with the cultivation obsessed Young Lord staying in Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
Thinking so, Yun Li’s face immediately wore an elegant smile as she gently called out, “Young Lady Qiu and Young Lady Luo I presume?”
Qiu Yi Meng’s gaze swept towards the mature beauty who had called out to her, and her eyes flashed a little surprise. She still couldn’t quite believe how one Heaven sent beauty after another emerged within Shan Qing Luo’s palace.
Quickly recovering, she nodded politely, “Indeed, how should I address this Elder Sister?”
Yun Li replied with a light chuckle, “Young Lady Qiu is far too polite, you may call this one Yun Li.”
The mature beauty naturally knew that Qiu Yi Meng had an extraordinary status, and that even though technically she was currently a prisoner, she was still the beloved daughter of an extremely powerful and noble family, so how could she allow someone of such origins to address her Elder Sister?
Qiu Yi Meng simply smiled in reply, not dwelling upon the matter any further.
Seeing this, Yun Li smiled warmly and continued, “You two young ladies should be looking for Young Master Yang, right?”
“En. We heard from the people within the palace that he was living here, so we came here in hopes of being able to discuss some matters with him. I don’t know if it would be convenient for him to see us now, would it?”
“Right now…” Yun Li glanced back towards the second floor of Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion before smiling softly. “At this time of day Young Master Yang is normally taking a short rest.”
“Rest?” Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help being surprised. “Is he usually very busy?”
“En, Young Master Yang has essentially been cultivating ever since he arrived here.”
Qiu Yi Meng’s felt slightly startled, quickly wearing a helpless smile.
Although she and Luo Xiao Man were both dedicated and industrious, they would not submerge themselves in cultivation all the time. Now hearing that Yang Kai had not slackened on his cultivation in the slightest, even surrounded by this unfamiliar and possibly dangerous environment, she couldn’t help but admire his perseverance.
“Come with me, since the two young ladies are old friends of Young Master Yang, he shouldn’t object to meeting with you.” Yun Li giggled and set aside her broom and issued a few instructions to Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing before leading Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man inside.
Looking around at Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion’s surroundings, Qui Yi Meng couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter. Luo Xiao Man on the other hand was thoroughly irritated and quietly muttered to Qiu Yi Meng, “That smelly brat gets to live in such a wondrous place, surrounded by all these fragrant flowers and plants with such beautiful scenery.”
On the contrary, the Fragrance Guest House where the both of them had been living had no such view or atmosphere. It was instead located in quite a secluded and dark place, almost like a cage, and there was simply no way to compare it with Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
“He has an entire pavilion to himself along with three beautiful maids to serve him!” Luo Xiao Man indignantly complained, feeling angrier and angrier. While she and Qiu Yi Meng were under house arrest in that dreary place, why was Yang Kai’s treatment so much better?
[The two of us clearly have much higher status than him, so why?]
“Wow, there’s even a bath!” Once they stepped into Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion, Luo Xiao Man couldn’t remain calm anymore and enviously look at the huge bath while complaining somewhat forlornly, “Elder Sister Qiu, I really want to take a bath here, since we’ve arrived I haven’t been able to clean up properly, it’s unbearable.”
When she said as such out loud, even Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, however, she still managed to maintain her composure and lightly rebuked, “Xiao Man!”
“That damn smelly brat!” Luo Xiao Man murmured discontentedly.
Yun Li, who was leading the way suddenly turned back and smiled, lightly saying, “Young Master Yang is actually an upright man, I’m afraid both of you have simply misunderstood him. I’ll inform him later about your request, I’m certain he won’t object to you taking a bath here.”
“I don’t want to, what if he decides to peek…” Luo Xiao Man exclaimed loudly.
Yun Li simply smiled and shook her head, “You don’t have to worry about that, Young Master Yang isn’t a no good womanizer.”
Her face blushed slightly, and she continued, “Ruo Yu, Ruo Qing and I were sent here specifically to serve Young Lord, no matter what he may request of us, but Young Lord has always treated us quite courteously, never making the slightest improper demand, therefore… I have no doubt that what you’re afraid of won’t happen.”
“Is he really so upright?” Qiu Yi Meng’s clever eyes flashed lightly, as if she completely hadn’t expected Yang Kai to remain so indifferent in the face of such beauties, instead choosing to spend all his time cultivating.
If that really was the case, this youth was really a bit different from others, or at the very least his perseverance and aptitude were quite good.
If she could pull him into the Qiu Family and provide him with better cultivation resources, in the future he would likely be able to become one of this world’s supreme experts!
Thinking till here, Qiu Yi Meng sudden made a wry grin. Right now she didn’t even know if she could regain her own freedom, so thinking about anything else right now was a bit premature.
But if she really could regain her freedom, Qiu Yi Meng secretly made up her mind to get him to join her Qiu Family. Such an outstanding talent was quite rare after all.
As the three of them chatted, they soon arrived at the second floor.
Yun Li softly said, “Young Master Yang is inside, two young ladies please wait here, I’ll inform him of your arrival.”
“Please do!” Qiu Yi Meng politely replied.
Yun Li smiled, stepped forward, and reached out her hand to open the door, but suddenly she heard a burst of noise come from inside the room.
These sounds were quite strange, and the voices making them were by no means quiet. It seemed like the roars of a man and the muffled calls of a woman, but the man’s voice was full and clear, while the woman sounded like something was blocking her mouth.
These voices could all be heard clearly by the three women outside, which caused all of them to freeze in surprise.
But soon, the mature beauty Yun Li’s white neck flushed pink, her lifted jade hand also shivered slightly, her eyes slightly trembled and watered, like she had lost control over her hand, and she nibbled her lips as she stood there not sure about how she should proceed.
Qiu Yi Meng was also dazed for a moment before a certain thought crossed her mind, and her face instantly became a crimson red as she gripped her fists and cursed, “This little bastard!”
Luo Xiao Man’s eyes fluttered as she stood there, and her brow wrinkled in confusion as she innocently asked, “Elder Sister Qiu, what’s happening inside? What are those sounds?”
“Uh…” Qiu Yi Meng jolted in surprise, not knowing just how she should respond, “Inside… they’re… probably cultivating…”
Casually spouting off this nonsense, Qiu Yi Meng blushed even redder.
Luo Xiao Man looked at her suspiciously then directed her gaze towards Yun Li and muttered under her breath, “Cultivating… how come it sounds more like they’re fighting… also… why are you two blushing?”
“It’s nothing!” Qiu Yi Meng firmly declared, now feeling like her face was on fire.
At that time.
All of a sudden, the voices inside became more violent. The man’s roar and the woman’s muffled groans mixed together while seeming to rises to a climax and filled the ears of the three women.
These voices seemed to contain some kind of magical power, causing whoever heard them to feel their legs weaken and their blood to boil.
“Ah …” Luo Xiao Man yelped softly, and her face immediately filled with dismay, “Elder Sister Qiu, that little bastard… he couldn’t be…”
“What?” Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes were spinning slightly, and her heart was a mess.
“He’s not killing the woman inside is he?” Exclaimed Luo Xiao Man, her innocent eyes trembling violently, entreating softly, “Elder Sister Qiu, let’s go back, I feel funny…”
“What’s wrong?” Qiu Yi Meng was surprised and quickly tried to regain her composure.
Luo Xiao Man fidgeted for a moment before whimpering, “I want to go to the bathroom for some reason… let’s go.”
“Ah… En…” Qiu Yi Meng’s face couldn’t have been redder if she had tried, and she also thought that they shouldn’t stick around here any longer, but just as she was about to suggest to Yun Li that they leave the door in front of them suddenly opened.
When they turned their gazes towards the open door, a young enchanting beauty appeared in front of them. All four women stood there for a moment, staring at each other. The three newcomers noticed that this seductive girl’s hair was a mess and large parts of her clothes were ripped and torn. Her skin seemed to glisten with sweat and had a distinct pink glow to it, and in her hands were a few pieces of cloth that seemed to have once been part of her outfit.
Up and down her jade-white body, Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man could clearly see a series of red marks, especially around her chest. The outline of hands as well as distinct finger imprints could be seen upon her twin white rabbits, almost like they had been branded by a pair of scorching iron claw.
Running down her slender legs was a glistening liquid, like thin threads of crystal silk clinging to her inner thighs.
Finally, around her lips, there seemed to be a touch of some kind of murky white fluid…
“Ah…” Bi Luo was shocked as she stared blankly at the three women in front of her before gritting her teeth, lowering her face, and shuffling past them, trying her best to disappear as quickly as possible.
Although she was essentially not wearing any clothes at this point, since the palace only had women within its walls, she didn’t feel particularly embarrassed about it, so to her it was more important to escape from the place Yang Kai was, even a moment sooner.
As Bi Luo half walked half ran away, the three women still remained immersed in a strange silence.
It was only a moment later that Luo Xiao Man suddenly recovered and gently asked, “Elder Sister Qiu, what was she eating?”
Qiu Yi Meng stood stiff for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
[What was she eating? More like why didn’t she clean it up!?]
Yun Li slowly turned back to face them, and her voice somewhat higher pitched as she stuttered slightly and almost didn’t dare to make eye contact with Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man as she asked, “Two Young Ladies, do you… do you still wish to meet Young Master Yang?”
Qiu Yi Meng took a deep breath to calm herself before nodding slightly.
Having come all this way and enduring all of that, she was not resigned to simply turn back now.
Yun Li nodded stiffly before calming her breathing and calling out, “Young Lord, Young Lady Qiu and Young Lady Luo have come to see you.”
“Show them in.”
Yun Li was surprised for a moment before turning her eyes towards Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man, “Please enter!”
Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man both took a deep breath before taking a step forward. As soon as they entered the room, Yun Li ran away like she was desperately fleeing.
Inside the room, Yang Kai, his clothes somewhat ruffled, was in a zen like state as he sat upon a jade chair smiling as he looked at the two girls who came in.
Meeting eyes with him briefly, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help thinking about everything that had just taken place, and her pretty face blushed once more as she quickly averted her gaze.
Luo Xiao Man timidly shuffled behind Qiu Yi Meng and glared somewhat hesitantly towards the grinning Yang Kai.
Yang Kai paid their attitudes no mind and just continued to casually stare back at them.
Facing this unscrupulous gaze, Qiu Yi Meng somehow couldn’t focus herself and nearly forgot why she had come here in the first place, as she allowed the awkward silence to continue on.
After a brief moment that seemed to last forever, a set of footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairs behind them, and after a moment, Bi Luo reappeared, making no attempt to hide her presence.
She was now fully clothed, and although her face was still flushed, she no longer seemed to be in an embarrassed state, instead restored to her original, aloof and enchanting aura.
Without paying Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man any mind, Bi Luo boldly stepped into the room and shouted at Yang Kai, “Hey, you little bastard, I’m warning you, what happened just now was just me indulging my curiosity towards what a man was like, it has nothing to do with you in particular. Today’s matter ends here, our debts are settled so do not bring it up again. Got it?”
Yang Kai gawked for a moment before wryly nodding, “En, got it.”
Bi Luo’s eyes narrowed as she threateningly waved her first and firmly declared, “If you dare get any strange ideas, this young lady will make sure you look good, hmph!”
Seeing her not give Yang Kai any face whatsoever, Luo Xiao Man couldn’t help but give birth to a feeling of comradery, and a big smile emerged on her face as she hoped this new ‘friend’ of hers would scold Yang Kai a few more times to help ease the grief she felt in her heart.
Oblivious to all of this though, Bi Luo finished what she had to say and immediately turned around intending to leave.
“Elder Sister…” Luo Xiao Man really couldn’t help herself anymore, quickly speaking a few words of greeting.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Bi Luo’s gaze turned towards Luo Xiao Man. A kind smile appeared on her face, yet her eyes had obviously drifted to the massive Twin Peaks which had appeared before her.
“Elder Sister, whatever it was you were snacking on, there’s still a little bit of it left around your mouth…” Luo Xiao Man said with a big friendly smile, attempting to show some good will by gently reminding her, gestures to the side of her mouth lightly with her finger.
“Uh…” Bi Luo nearly tripped and quickly reached out her hand to wipe the last traces of her ‘snack’ from her mouth. After doing so, she glared bitterly at Yang Kai for a moment before smiling even more radiantly towards Luo Xiao Man, “Thank you little sister, I’ll be sure to thank you properly sometime soon.”
“En.” Luo Xiao Man replied happily.
She hadn’t expected this young woman to be so warm and pleasant to speak with.
Off to the side, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help feeling that something was wrong with this exchange, but in the end she couldn’t put her finger on it so she decided to not think about it any further.
Bi Luo’s appearance had been just like a passing storm.
Her showing up had given Qiu Yi Meng some much needed time to compose herself, and she soon turned to Yang Kai and smiled, “Since we’ve last seen you, it seems like you’ve been living quite well, a beautiful pavilion and numerous beauties at your beck and call, you must be reluctant to leave here by now, right?”
Yang Kai snickered meaningfully, stared back at Qiu Yi Meng, and relaxed himself as she replied, “I doubt Young Lady Qiu visiting me today was to express her envy about my living arrangements, no need for any flowery words, say what you want directly, I despise women trying to play games with me.”
Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes flashed, but she nodded and maintained her smile, “Straight to point it is then, I want you to help the two of us leave here.”
[It really is about that.]
Yang Kai remained indifferent as he quipped, “Do I look like a man with such means?”
However, Qiu Yi Meng’s poise didn’t break, “At the very least, you’re True Qi hasn’t been sealed. If I don’t ask, how would I know?” Letting out a faint sigh she continued, “Xiao Man and I are different from you. Our cultivation has been restricted, and we’ve lost the ability to even defend ourselves, much less escape. What is it, were you planning to stay here forever?”
Saying so, she coquettishly covered her mouth, “Indeed, here you have the Beguiling Demon Queen to act as your backer, never needing to worry about cultivation resources, with enchanting beauties to serve your every whim, I can understand why no man would want to leave here.”
“Trying to rile me up are you?” Yang Kai sneered. “Don’t think I’ll be taken in that easily.”
Qiu Yi Meng’s brow finally wrinkled lightly. Aware that Yang Kai wasn’t easy to deal with she elected to try a more direct approach, “Fine, I’ll be blunt, what conditions must I offer for you to be willing to help me and Xiao Man leave here?”
“And why do you think I have any power to help you in the first place?” Yang Kai’s expression also sank, obviously displeased that this woman was a bit too self-righteous.
“I’m counting on your unusual relationship with the Beguiling Demon Queen. As long as you are willing to put in a few words to her, and considering that Xiao Man and I don’t actually have much value to her as prisoners, why wouldn’t she be willing to let us go? On the contrary, the Qiu Family and Purple Fern Valley would most definitely be willing to pay a high price for our release if she requested them to.”
Seeing Yang Kai begin to contemplate the matter, Qiu Yi Meng hurriedly added, “All I ask is that you speak up for us since Xiao Man and I have no way to see her. If it weren’t so, I wouldn’t have come to see you for this.”
“I also have no way of seeing her right now!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Wasn’t she more than willing to see you before now?” Qiu Yi Meng’s expression clearly showed she didn’t believe him.
“Shan Qing Luo isn’t in Fragrance City right now, apparently she’s taken the city’s masters and gone to visit the Thunderbolt Beast King’s territory, whether you choose to believe me or not is none of my concern.”
Yang Kai knowing about this was actually accidental. He had only learned about the reason for Shang Qing Luo’s absence a few days ago when he overheard the conversation between a few of the Immortal Ascension Boundary masters who had been spectating his fight with Le Yu.
Although he was embroiled in a heated battle at the time, he had never once relaxed his guard regarding his surroundings.
“Ah…” Qiu Yi Meng exclaimed, and her eyes flashed with a trace of excitement and eagerness, as she urgently asked, “Since she is not here, why don’t you leave? Or are you actually planning to stay here forever?”
“Leave here? Where do you want me to go?” Yang Kai’s suddenly became cold, his eyes filled with undisguised resentment.
“You can go…” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly choked up.
[That’s right, if he leaves here… High Heaven Pavilion has already been dismantled and all of his Elders, Senior Brothers, Sister Seniors, Junior Brothers, and Junior Sisters have scattered, where is he supposed to go?]
It seems like, he really doesn’t have anywhere to go!
Hearing Yang Kai’s words sent a jolt through Qiu Yi Meng and caused her to quickly feel ashamed.
Unbeknownst to her, Yang Kai had also been marked by Shan Qing Luo’s Soul Seeking Seal. With such a technique implanted on him, even if Yang Kai fled to the ends of the Earth, Shan Qing Luo would still be able to find him, so trying to flee would simply be a waste of time and energy.
“In that case, come back with me to the Qiu Family!” Qiu Yi Meng suddenly proposed. Her eyes were completely sincere.
This was definitely a good opportunity, Qiu Yi Meng could also see that the relationship between Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo was complicated, if at this time she could put out attractive enough conditions, she had no doubt she could get him to join her Qiu Family, if so then this time’s sufferings and tribulations would also be considered somewhat worthwhile.
Qiu Yi Meng was a decisive woman, and she naturally knew what to do at this time.
“Young Lady Qiu must be joking, right?” Yang Kai stared back at her with indifference as he sneered.
“On the contrary, I’m very serious.” Qiu Yi Meng brushed her hair back behind her ear. “I can offer you even better treatment than you receive here; any cultivation resources you desire and any number of beauties to serve you!”
“Elder Sister Qiu …” Luo Xiao Man almost yelped in surprise. She never dreamed Qiu Yi Meng would immediately offer such rich incentives to win over Yang Kai.
The Qiu Family was one of the Eight Great Families in the Great Han Dynasty. It was an overlord that possessed a rich heritage and vast foundations. Many cultivators from all over the world would gladly sell their souls for just the chance to join them. However, the Qiu Family had always had eyes above their heads and wouldn’t accept just any elite or master into their ranks.
But now… even if it were a number of high level Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, it should cost such a big price, right?
Was this little brat really worth all this?
However, although Luo Xiao Man thought Qiu Yi Meng’s actions were surprising, having stayed together with her for so long, she knew that she always had extremely accurate judgement.
Since she dared to offer up such lucrative incentives to recruit him, maybe this man really was worth it!
At that moment, Luo Xiao Man no longer dared to underestimate Yang Kai anymore and even did her best to observe him more discerningly.
“How about it? I’m serious about my offer.” Qiu Yi Meng said as she looked solemnly at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled. He hadn’t expected that not only was this woman’s cultivation and aptitude outstanding, but her heart was also firm and decisive. Based on the performance he had seen from her over this short period of time, he easily concluded that if this woman didn’t fall early, she would certainly achieve great heights in the future!
“If that’s not enough, if you wish to marry a woman from my Qiu Family, other than myself, I can promise you right here and now. I have a younger cousin who is quite talented and beautiful…”
Yang Kai suddenly looked at her playfully, “You can’t tempt me with beauties.”
Hearing him say this, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t hold back a laugh, and her vibrant eyes flashed a mischievous light, “Really? But just now…”
“That was just an accident,” Yang Kai replied calmly and didn’t show the slightest signs of embarrassment or guilt.
“Fine fine, then do you agree or not.” said Qiu Yi Meng, but seeing Yang Kai still maintaining his indifferent look, she couldn’t help but feel more and more annoyed.
If it were any other young men, if she had offered up such attractive conditions, she was certain they would immediately become obedient and agree, but from what she could observe, this little bastard before her didn’t even seem the slightest bit tempted at all.
[Just how greedy is this little bastard?]
“No thanks, I’m fine with how things are right now.” Yang Kai replied decisively not wanting to waste any more time with her.
Qiu Yi Meng’s face twitched slightly before resuming her smile, “Well, think about it, if you ever change your mind, feel free to find me. The Qiu Family’s door will always be open to you!”
From their time together, she knew that he wasn’t the kind of man who could be coerced. The only way to win him over was to give him the freedom to choose, but continuing to press the issue would only serve to annoy him. Secretly she was somewhat upset with herself for acting too impulsively.
However, seeing him acting so carefree, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t stop herself from feeling annoyed, which caused her to become slightly anxious.
“In any case, could you at least put in a few words for Xiao Man and I to the Beguiling Demon Queen?”
“If I see her again,” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow and shrugged. “As you can see, I’m a prisoner here too, my accommodations just happen to be better than yours.”
“Good!” Qiu Yi Meng smiled happily, “Either way, I offer you my thanks, if we can survive this ordeal, when I return to my Qiu Family I’ll be sure to advocate on behalf of your High Heaven Pavilion!”
A light flickered across Yang Kai’s eyes for the first time as he stared back at her, resuming their usual calm a moment later.
Qiu Yi Meng’s last words had finally won her some of Yang Kai’s favor.
“Suit yourselves!” Yang Kai nodded before closing his eyes and resuming his meditation.
Qiu Yi Meng continued to observe him for a moment and quickly realized that this youth had actually entered a state of cultivation right in front of her and Luo Xiao Man’s faces. Exchanging a dumbfound glance with her partner, she couldn’t help shrugging her shoulders, saying to Luo Xiao Man, “Let’s go.”
“That’s right,” Yang Kai suddenly said, “If you want to use the bath on the lower floor just let Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing know so they can prepare the warm water, I won’t be leaving this room for a while.”
Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help blushing once more, as she understood in that moment that her entire conversation with Luo Xiao Man as they came up the stairs had been heard by him.
“Thank you. I hope we won’t be enemies again in the future!” Qiu Yi Meng stared deeply at Yang Kai as she said in a low voice.
Downstairs, Luo Xiao Man, unable to hold back any longer, softly asked, “Elder Sister Qiu, is that guy really worth so much in your eyes?”
Qiu Yi Meng’s expression remained dignified as she pondered for a moment before nodding, “En, of all men I have ever come across, he is the most unfathomable. On top of that, it’s only been half a month since we last met, yet it seems like he has become stronger. Although his realm is still lower than my own, whenever I’m in front of him, I always feel a kind of intangible pressure from him.”
“That may be because our True Qi is sealed! If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t necessary need to fear him!
“No…” Qiu Yi Meng slowly shook her head, “I trust my instincts! I believe his talent is even higher than the Liu Family’s Liu Qing Yao!”
“Ah… you think he’s superior to the Eight Great Families’ first Young Lord?” Luo Xiao Man’s eyes filled with astonishment.
“I’m only counting the Seven Great Families. After all, the Yang Family can’t be taken into account.” Smiling wryly, Qiu Yi Meng involuntarily thought about the way the Yang Family cultivated its direct disciples.
Thinking about it, she suddenly noticed that Yang Kai’s surname was also Yang. He couldn’t be…
It shouldn’t be. Although she didn’t recognize all of the Yang Family’s Young Lords, she did at least know their various ages. Only one of the Yang Family’s direct descendants, the youngest, had a similar age to Yang Kai, and it was said that this Young Lord had been born with a congenital defect and lacked any cultivation aptitude at all.
However, his ruthless, overbearing, and domineering attitude was exactly the same as the Yang Family’s.
“Fortunately, he has no background. If he already had a significant backer, heh…” Qiu Yi Meng shook her head with a smile. Since she was born, she had always had eyes atop her head, and very few Young Lords had ever been worth a second glance from her, but somehow this one was different. Something about him demanded she pays attention to him.
While the pair chatted, they came outside to find Yun Li and asked her to help prepare some hot water before vigilantly entering the first-floor bath.
Oblivious to all of their concerns, Yang Kai simply remained on the second floor and continued his cultivation.
The demons which had built up over the past few months inside Yang Kai’s heart had been completely expunged with the assistance of Bi Luo’s cherry red lips.
This allowed him to relax greatly as he re-entered a state of cultivation.
With all of his fatigue and stress seemingly relieved, for the first time in more than a year, Yang Kai felt renewed both inside and out.
He also had a faint perception that his mental state had actually improved.
With the enhancement of his mood, along with relaxing both physically and mentally, the speed with which he cultivated increased noticeably.
Yang Kai didn’t stop studying the True Alchemic Way, even though he no longer had any Spiritual Energy supplementing pills.
After a session, once he exhausted his Spiritual Energy, he would wait a few hours to allow his Soul to slowly recover while circulating his True Yang Secret Art, not wasting a single moment.
His Tempered Body Record, as well as the Incense burner from the blank book also played a role at this time. Both of them were things which had become somewhat dust-laden after a long period of not being used.
Now that he had a period of relative calm, Yang Kai took the chance to bring them out again.
Three days later.
Shan Qing Luo returned to Fragrance City.
One of the first things she did was visit Tranquil Phoenix Pavilion.
After a few days had passed, this devilish woman seemed more and more flirtatious and alluring. Her whole being constantly exuded an aura of unparalleled seduction, meanwhile, her slim exquisite body seemed to appear delicate and fragile yet, in fact, contained a tremendous explosive strength.
Not only was she amongst the most beautiful woman in the world, she was also one of its apex masters, something no one could deny.
Her watery enchanting eyes stared into Yang Kai’s as she giggled charmingly, “Little bastard, you’ve been quite well behaved these past few days I see.”
Yang Kai remained indifferent and coldly snorted, “I have some self-knowledge!”
“Now now don’t be so upset.” Shan Qing Luo lightly replied, “I had ordered a few beauties to serve you well, yet how is it that I hear from Yun Li that you haven’t eaten any of them yet? I didn’t think you would be so studious.” Shan Qing Luo looked at him somewhat surprised.
“Naturally.” Yang Kai said, but his conscience actually felt somewhat guilty.
Shan Qing Luo simply laughed though and leaned in closer to him as she whispered into his ear, “Bi Luo’s technique isn’t bad, right?”
“So-so…” Yang Kai instantly blushed upon realizing he had been exposed and quickly changed the topic, “You temptress, what exactly do you want in coming here?”
“Nothing much.” Shan Qing Luo’s tender body twisted as she put on a shy face, gently sat down atop the bed next to him, and smiled invitingly, “Are you bored staying here already?
“What do you think?” Yang Kai glared back at her coldly.
Shan Qing Luo just shrugged, “Why not go out for a walk then?”
“Where can I go?”
“Where do you want to go? No one’s stopping you.”
Yang Kai stared at her for a moment before processing what she had just said. Suspicion flashed across his eyes, “Are you saying, I can leave here?”
“Of course, when did I ever say you couldn’t leave here? Haha…”
“You… you…” Yang Kai nearly choked. His stomach was full of grievances.
“Alright alright, don’t be so angry.” Shan Qing Luo suddenly became serious and solemnly said, “This time I came here to tell you specifically that you’re free to leave here. After all, in order to win over a man, you can’t simply lock him up, I understand at least that much.”
“Yes yes, you keeping me here doesn’t mean you can keep my heart!” Yang Kai nodded righteously and eagerly proposed, “Then that Soul Seeking Seal…”
“Let’s keep that for now, or else how would I ever find you again?” Shan Qing Luo nibbled her red lips, appearing somewhat sad.
“Alright,” Yang Kai don’t try to force her.
Although Shan Qing Luo said he could leave, Yang Kai didn’t feel too happy about it. At the very least, he didn’t experience the excitement he had imagined he would.
Probably because he knew that this devilish woman didn’t have the slightest malicious intent towards him, so although she had technically trapped him here these past few days, he didn’t actually have any particular resentment towards her.
Not to mention, using her name, Yang Kai had also fished a lot of benefits without suffering any loses.
If it weren’t for Yang Kai having seen her deepest inner thoughts when he had inadvertently invaded her Knowledge Sea, he would have long ago stopped acting polite with her.
“Oh right, how are you intending to deal with Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man?” Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled slightly as he asked, “Luo Xiao Man isn’t so important. Although her Purple Fern Valley isn’t bad, compared to you their influence is still somewhat lacking, but Qiu Yi Meng is a Qiu Family person.”
“Of course I understand the complexities of their identities,” Shan Qing Luo smiled softly, “But I can’t allow them to leave just yet, I’m planning to bring them to the battlefield tomorrow.”
“The battlefield?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“En, most of the Great Han Dynasty’s major forces have been waging a campaign against the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land for quite some time now.” Shan Qing Luo casually replied to Yang Kai.
“What do you intend to do by taking them to the battlefield?”
“Naturally, I have my reasons. Why, do you want to accompany me as well?”
“No thanks.” Yang Kai stretched his body as he let out a light laugh, “I’ve finally achieved some degree of freedom, so why would I continue to follow you around just to be manipulated?”
“Hmph, what an ungrateful man, returning the sincerity I’ve shown you with such spite.” Shan Qing Luo glared at him bitterly.
“Ugh…”
Frowning, Kai Yang suddenly remembered something and asked, “Right, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. What are Evil Spirits, and what is this Evil Cavern?”
Shan Qing Luo was suddenly surprised, “Where did you hear about that?”
“That day when I fought with Le Yu, I heard others in the audience say that he had comprehended one of his Martial Skills from Evil Spirits that dwelled in the Evil Cavern.”
Hearing this, Shan Qing Luo nodded and didn’t ask about the grudges between Yang Kai and Le Yu that had lead to the fight; with her shrewdness, she could easily tell that the blame lay with Bi Luo for this incident.
Collecting her thoughts, she replied, “The Evil Cavern is a very strange and dangerous place, filled with beings we call Evil Spirits. Le Yu’s Demonic Purple Qi Body Martial Skill was obtained from there, but right now he’s still incapable of fully casting it. Why, do you want to check it out?”
“I had intended to.” Yang Kai didn’t deny it. After all, when he had refined those traces of Purple Spirit Demonic Qi left inside his body, he felt that their energy was somehow similar to the Evil Qi stored within his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, which sparked his curiosity. He wanted to find out what mysteries were hiding with the Evil Cavern’s Evil Spirits that lead to this induction.
If he was lucky, he might be able to uncover some of the secrets about his Unyielding Golden Skeleton there.
Now that chaos had descended upon the world and with the smoke of battle erupting all over, Yang Kai became acutely aware that his strength was still too low, and he was unable to make any significant impact on the overall situation. It was better to find a place to hone himself and enhance his cultivation so that he was better prepared for whatever came next.
“You want to go there…” Shan Qing Luo frowned slightly, apparently somewhat unwilling to allow him, but a sigh soon leaked from her delicate lips, “Alright, you seem to be cultivating some kind of Evil Cultivation Technique. Going there might lead to some gains for you, but the Evil Cavern is located in the territory of the Profound Yin Ghost King. The environment there is significantly worse than Fragrance City, it could even be described as a land where enemies are everywhere, so… I’ll send Bi Luo with you tomorrow, she knows the way there. With her, you should be able to bypass some troublesome places more easily.”
“Good!”
The next day. At dawn, Bi Luo ran over.
Since the day the two of them had engaged in their ‘joint activities’, this enchanting girl had never again appeared in front of Yang Kai, so upon meeting again for the first time, she couldn’t help but blush lightly. However, she still glared at Yang Kai fiercely and curtly said, “Mistress has instructed me to guide you to the Evil Cavern. You little bastard, even if you’re courting death, why must you pick that kind of place and force this Young Lady to take you there? Forcing me to run around like this, seriously, how annoying.”
Yang Kai could only laugh sheepishly and scratched his head while saying, “Thanks in advance.”
“Fine fine, do you have anything left to tidy up? If you don’t then let’s leave now, that place isn’t exactly close to Fragrance City. Going back and forth will take a few days at least.”
“Nope, let’s go.”
As the two of them were just about to leave the palace, they happened to bump into Shan Qing Luo who was accompanied by Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man. It seemed like they had been waiting there specifically for Yang Kai.
As they glanced back and forth amongst themselves, Yang Kai noticed Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man’s depressed and desperate expressions, which seemed to silently beg Yang Kai to say a few words for them in order to help them out of their current predicament.
However, after wrinkling his brow slightly, Yang Kai pretended not to see them anymore.
Since Shan Qing Luo obviously wasn’t intending to take their lives, and she must have some other purpose in bringing them with her, saying anything at this point wouldn’t be helpful in the slightest.
“I’ll take you part of the way. Half a day later we’ll separate, it’ll save you some effort.” Shan Qing Luo lightly smiled and waved her hand. A gentle Qi wrapped all of them up before she directly flew out of Fragrance City.
Feeling this gentle, breeze-like Qi enshroud him, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown. Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man also despaired, realizing once again just how futile trying to escape from the Beguiling Demon Queen’s hands would be.
Speeding through the air, in an instant, they had already traversed a few thousand meters.
As they flew, Shan Qing Luo whispered to Yang Kai, “The Evil Cavern is located in the Profound Yin Ghost King’s territory, but with my Seal, no one should provoke you. Nevertheless, you and Bi Luo should still try to avoid stirring up trouble, the people there are not as amenable as Fragrance City’s residents. Bi Luo will only be able to take you there before she has to return.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded slightly.
“There are many Evil Spirits that live inside the Evil Cavern, every year many people obtain benefits from them but even more people die to them. Don’t dive too far into the cavern, if you encounter some of the more powerful Evil Spirits that dwell further inside you’ll certainly die!”
“What exactly are Evil Spirits?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Evil Spirits are… they’re a partial solidification of Demonic Qi and Evil Qi which makes them difficult to cope with. They possess no sentience but are incredibly aggressive, and as long as they sense living creatures they’ll attack.”
“What benefits can be obtained there other than learning Martial Skills?” Yang Kai asked. Shan Qing Luo seemed quite familiar with the Evil Cavern so naturally, he wanted to gain as much intelligence about it from her as possible.
“Besides obtaining and cultivating some special Martial Skills, after you defeat one of those Evil Spirits they’ll leave behind some of their essences. This essence is a type of energy that can be absorbed and refined, allowing one to increase their cultivation, it’s for this reason that the Evil Cavern, despite its dangers, continues to draw many cultivators who want to gain life experiences as well as strengthen themselves. Not only disciples from the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land’s sects, there are even many outsiders who disguise themselves and come here, hoping to gain some advantages.”
“I see!” Yang Kai nodded.
“However, there are also some Evil Spirits inside that posses some special things, such as odd Martial Skills like Le Yu’s Demonic Purple Qi Body, but all of these Martial Skill are basically Evil Skills. Another example is a type of essence that strengthens one’s Spiritual Energy, there have been a few people who have come across such things and had their Spiritual Energy enhanced greatly.”
“Is there really such a wondrous thing?” Yang Kai’s interest was suddenly piqued when he heard there was a chance to obtain some Precious Treasures which could enhance his Spiritual Energy.
“There are indeed many good things to be had inside the Evil Cavern, but it all depends on your ability to earn them.” Shan Qing Luo smiled lightly.
“En, such treasures existing, the Heavens and Earth are vast and mysterious.” Yang Kai became more and more aware of this fact ever since his last expedition to Nether Mountain.
“Long ago, I once heard from my mother that the Evil Cavern was connected to another place…” Shan Qing Luo said, chuckling slightly, obviously not taking this anecdote too seriously.
“Another place? Where?”
“The Demon World…”
Everyone else in the group had a light flash past their eyes. None of them had ever heard about such a place.
“Who knows, maybe it’s true. How else could you explain the presence of those Evil Spirits which only exist there.”
“You’re joking, right?” Yang Kai sneered lightly.
“Hehe… it’s just something my mother heard from her mother…” Shan Qing Luo smiled as she said offhandedly.
“Yang Kai, are you planning to go to this Evil Cavern for life experience?” Qiu Yi Meng’s beautiful eyes shimmered, as she asked him.
“En.” Yang Kai nodded.
“Could you bring us with you? I’d like to experience that place too.” Qiu Yi Meng’s smiled sweetly.
Shan Qing Luo glanced meaningfully towards her after hearing this.
Qiu Yi Meng laughed dryly, “I can be of help to him, with more people it will be safer. After all, my strength isn’t low.”
“Rest assured, I don’t intend on mistreating you two,” Shan Qing Luo said softly. “I’m simply taking you to the battlefield so you can see for yourselves exactly how those who’ve come to attack the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land act.”
Qiu Yi Meng was stunned for a moment before understanding at least part of what Shan Qing Luo’s intentions were.
“In fact, good and evil aren’t as clearly defined as you may think. In this world, things aren’t that black and white!” Shan Qing Luo’s always soft and enchanting voice at that moment actually took on a serious and slightly helpless tone.
Half a day later, their group parted ways. Shan Qing Luo brought Qiu Yi Meng and Luo Xiao Man away while Yang Kai and Bi Luo continued on towards the Profound Yin Ghost King’s territory.
The Profound Yin Ghost King had the appearance of an evil ghost. Amongst the six Great Evil Kings his strength ranked near the top, a very difficult opponent. Once, the Ghost King also had some intentions towards the Beguiling Demon Queen’s beauty and even employed some underhanded means in an attempt to seize her only to have the previous generation’s Beguiling Demon Queen rescue her, so he and Shan Qing Luo didn’t have a very good relationship.
Between the two big territories, there had even been some conflict.
Therefore, even though Bi Luo had Shan Qing Luo’s Demon King’s Order, she really didn’t dare show it lest it draw unwanted attention from cultivators loyal to the Ghost King.
The two proceeded cautiously towards the Evil Cavern, however their journey was relatively uneventful, as they did not encounter any major problems.
Occasionally, they would encounter some other cultivators, but each time both sides would only be vigilant towards one another and neither rashly took action.
Three days later, the two arrived within three kilometers of the Evil Cavern.
Upon reaching here, Bi Luo stopped and pointed to the front. “Where you want to go is right ahead.”
“En,” Yang Kai gazed ahead, but to his surprise didn’t discover anything unusual there, not even signs of Demonic Qi like he had imagined.
“Hey, you little bastard, once you go, do your best not to die!” Bi Luo snorted unhappily.
Hearing this, Yang Kai stared towards here and suddenly chuckled, “What’s this? Why do you care so much about whether I live or not? Have you perhaps fallen for me?”
“Bullshit!” Bi Luo shouted, “This Young Lady liking you? I’d sooner fall in love with dog crap! There’s nothing between us at all! Let me warn you, you better forget about what happened that last time, neither of us owes the other anything! If you dare spread around any nonsense about it I’ll castrate you!”
As Bi Luo continued scolding him, Yang Kai suddenly rushed up, wrapped his arms around her waist and back, pulled her towards him, and fiercely sealed her lips
“Em… mmm!” Caught by surprise, Bi Luo struggled fiercely to escape.
However, Yang Kai quickly released her and laughed as he turned around and quickly left.
“Bastard!” Bi Luo blushed furiously, biting her lips as a residual feeling and taste spread across them.
[As long as I live, I’ll never allow a man to touch me again!] Bi Luo cursed to herself.
Waiting until Yang Kai had disappeared from sight, Bi Luo coldly snorted before turning away as well.
Crossing the final three kilometers or so, Yang Kai came across a dark hole leading into the ground. Standing beside this pit, he felt an eerie wind blow past him that sent a chill across his skin, which not only made his body feel cold but even caused his Soul to feel uncomfortable.
[Worthy of being an Ominous Ground, it really is unusual…] Yang Kai secretly thought.
Circulating his True Yang Secret Art slightly to disperse this cold feeling, Yang Kai quickly jumped into the cave with the wind whistling past him as he quickly fell into the abyss.
This pit was quite deep. Yang Kai had fallen for quite some time, yet had not reached the bottom.
Suddenly, the sounds of fighting rang with flashes of flickering light from below. Clearly, someone was using a Martial Skill.
Yang Kai quickly raised his level of vigilance even further and kept in mind everything Shan Qing Luo had told him. Although this Evil Cavern was extremely dangerous, there were always groups of people inside it for life experience. He had just not thought that he’d meet some the moment he entered.
The more dangerous a place was, the more wonderful the treasures it held, and the Evil Cavern clearly had enough hidden opportunities to attract these fortune seekers.
If it were not for the world currently being in a time of chaos, with many people engaged in warfare outside, there would certainly be even more cultivators inside these caves.
Where people gathered, disputes would occur, even leading to fights and bloodshed. This was an ancient truth that applied no matter where one looked.
After a while, the sounds and flashes of light became clearer.
As Yang Kai listened, he became aware of four distinct individuals, each of whom had the strength that was neither high nor low, probably all True Element Boundary cultivators.
Descending even slower, Yang Kai quietly released his Divine Sense and felt a large number of evil auras in every direction for as far as he could sense. These auras varied in strength and gave off an uncomfortable feeling, probably the Evil Spirits he had been told about.
There were also the auras of a number of cultivators, but they were quite scattered, each group seemingly deciding to not mix well water with river water.
Although he was not aware of any immediate dangers, Yang Kai still quickly took back his Divine Sense.
Searching one’s surroundings with their Divine Sense had its own dangers. If it suffered any injury while away from one’s physical body it would damage their Soul. Even if it was an Immortal Ascension Boundary master they would carefully consider when and where to use their Divine Sense and normally would only use it occasionally to investigate their surroundings.
After the time it would take to drink half a cup of tea, Yang Kai finally touched the ground again.
Not far in front, he saw four people engaged in sending a variety of Martial Skills flying about. Each of them displayed excellent teamwork, when one retreated, another advanced, obviously they had full control of the situation.
Fighting with them were a few things which emitted an odd fluorescence. These things were humanoid in shape and had fuzzy facial features, but their bodies were vague and misty, almost like an ethereal illusion.
Ferocious roars and bursts of wailing howls rang out along with explosions of wind. Although these things didn’t appear to be too powerful, they possessed an odd tenacity and were apparently extremely difficult to kill.
[These things should be the so-called Evil Spirits! Sure enough, they’re unusual creatures.]
Although Yang Kai had suddenly set down behind them, none of these four actually noticed, presumably concentrating too much on the battle before them.
To avoid any misunderstandings, Yang Kai deliberately made some noise.
The four cultivators were instantly surprised and hurriedly looked back.
The next moment, one of the four left their formation and vigilantly faced Yang Kai.
In response, Yang Kai remained indifferent and didn’t reveal the slightest hostility but instead just quietly stood there waiting for the fight to end.
The youth who was confronting him stared for a moment before noting Yang Kai’s behaviour and quickly flashed a meaningful grin before nodding lightly in acknowledgement.
Yang Kai nodded lightly in return before going back to observing the environment of the Evil Cavern.
This underground cavern seemed similar to the Heaven’s Cave he had visited once before many years ago. The entire underground structure was a massive hollow with the occasional giant column towering to the ceiling high above.
Unlike the Heaven’s Cave though, this Evil Cavern was barren and almost devoid of any vitality, inevitably giving off a feeling of repression. The architecture was quite complex with multiple paths winding off in all directions.
Although it was deep underground, it wasn’t pitch dark. Everywhere you looked there were flickering points of light, some like tiny fireflies that flitted about, others like clumps of ghost fire. It was like the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land’s purgatory, with members in it appearing no better than hell spawns.
After looking around for a while, Yang Kai had a random thought.
If Old Demon were here, these green Evil Spirits would undoubtedly be a delicacy for him. It was a pity that he was probably still absorbing the Demonic Qi at the bottom of the Coiling Dragon Stream.
As for the four cultivators before him, although one of them was guarding against Yang Kai, thus reducing their available firepower, the remaining three didn’t appear burdened. Quickly launching a variety of ferocious Martial Skills, they soon dispatched the few green Evil Spirits they were fighting.
Accompanied by a series of piercing howls, the bodies of these green Evil Spirits suddenly collapsed and dissipated into thin air.
All that was left behind were a few transparent clusters of mist, and each of them seemed to contain some residual Evil Qi suspended mid-air.
[Evil Spirit Essence!] Yang Kai quickly concluded.
All of the cultivators who came to Evil Cavern essentially came for this Evil Spirit Essence as absorbing and refining it would yield a variety of benefits.
However, these groups of green Evil Spirit Essence looked a bit weak and apparently weren’t very rich in energy.
When he discovered this, Yang Kai quickly became disinterested.
Noting Yang Kai’s calm and indifferent behaviour, the four cultivators relaxed slightly as they secretly nodded to themselves. One of the youths who appeared relatively calm quickly faced his female teammate, “Rong Mei, quickly collect the Essence.”
“En!” The girl nodded, pulled out a small bottle from her waist pocket, and pointed it at the green Evil Spirit Essences while inputting a bit of her True Qi.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
After the small bottle sucked in all of the Evil Spirit Essences, the girl gently shook the bottle as she revealed a smile. Her pair of clear eyes stared at it with a very satisfied look.
Yang Kai raised one of his brows, curiously observing the entire process.
The youth who had just spoken seemed to be aware of this, quickly cracking a smile as he cupped his fists towards Yang Kai and greeted, “This one’s name is Tao Yang, may I ask who this Fellow Daoist is?”
“Yang Kai!”
“So it is Brother Yang.” Tao Yang laughed, raised his sword-like brows, and bluntly asked, “From Brother Yang’s reaction, it seems like you’re not quite familiar with this place, correct?”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded. Though Shan Qing Luo had told him about the dangers and opportunities in the Evil Cavern, he had never heard her mention anything about a bottle that could collect Evil Spirit Essence, so he was quite curious about this.
“Is it Brother Yang’s first time here?”
“Indeed.”
“No wonder.” Tao Yang showed a friendly smile, which neither displayed the least bit of malicious intent, nor did he give off an arrogant aura in an attempt to bully him with their superior numbers.
From this point alone, Yang Kai thought to himself that he needed to re-examine his previous prejudices towards cultivators from the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land. It would appear that the rumours and hearsay about the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land in the outside world were a bit too biased. Those who lived here weren’t all unreasonable bloodthirsty devils and monsters.
Wicked and good seemed to both exist no matter where one went.
As Yang Kai and Tao Yang were talking, the other three youths examined Yang Kai with great interest, and each of them had some thoughts of curiosity and ridicule. They had never thought that someone would dare to enter the Evil Cavern all by themselves, yet there was one such reckless fool right in front of them now.
[Really doesn’t know how to write the word ‘dead’.]
“What is that bottle?” Yang Kai asked as he glanced towards the bottle in the girl’s hand. Since he sensed no malice from this Tao Yang, naturally he thought of gathering some information from him.
“This thing…” Tao Yang took the bottle from the girl’s hands and shook it in front of Yang Kai. If one looked carefully they could see a dense clump of green light inside, like a drop of turbid water, “This is a Purifying Spirit Bottle, it’s a type of artifact that’s used by those who come here for life experience.”
“What’s it used for?”
Seeing this newcomer really not know anything, Tao Yang couldn’t help be grin helplessly, rubbing his forehead slightly as he patiently explained, “Brother Yang, you that when an Evil Spirit is killed it leaves behind its essence, right?”
“En.”
“Well, this essence contains all kinds of wonderful things that are very beneficial to cultivators after they absorb and refine them, but… This essence isn’t that easy to absorb because it contains a lot of residual malevolence which requires a cultivator to refine out, the more powerful the Evil Spirit, the more powerful the malevolence left in its essence after it dies.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, he too could also detect the residual evil aura hidden in the Evil Spirit Essence. No one could directly absorb this malevolence into themselves, and doing so would only lead to a backlash against their mind and Soul.
“Since it takes time to refine it, and inside this Evil Cavern there is crisis around every corner, you can’t absorb the Evil Spirit Essence on the spot. Doing so would leave you vulnerable while you attempt to refine it, only a fool would do that.” Tao Yang said with a light chuckle, “That’s where these Purifying Spirit Bottles comes in handy, they allow you to store Evil Spirit Essence until you can find a place to safely absorb and refine it.”
“I see!” Yang Kai suddenly understood. He never had thought that things would be so complicated when he had rushed here on his own. Apparently in the future, he needed to be more careful.
“Also, the Purifying Spirit Bottle also had a purifying effect on the residual evil aura, the longer it remains in the bottle the easier it is for one to refine the essence, but doing so can also damage the Purifying Spirit Bottle, so it’s best not to store it for too long. Best to find an opportunity to quickly refine it to avoid such a situation while also increasing your own strength, haha!”
“Many thanks for your guidance Brother Tao!” Yang Kai cupped his fists in thanks.
“Brother Yang is too polite.” Tao Yang faintly smiled. Finished with his explanation, he wrinkled his brow for a moment and seemed to struggle and hesitate but soon turned to his female companion, “Junior Sister, give me one of our bottles.”
Not thinking too much about it, the girl quickly took out another bottle and passed it to Tao Yang.
As soon as Tao Yang grasped this bottle, he offered it to Yang Kai while letting out a friendly laugh, “It’s best to bring one of these with you Brother Yang, otherwise I’m afraid it would be quite troublesome.”
“Senior Brother!” Seeing him so easily offer a Purifying Spirit Bottle to a stranger they had just me, the other three youths couldn’t help but object.
A Purifying Spirit Bottle, though not a particularly precious artifact, was still quite troublesome to refine. As such, they had only brought three of them with them this time.
But now, their Senior Brother wanted to give one away just like that?
“Those who come here for life experience should help one another out and support one another.” Tao Yang quietly glanced at his three juniors, indicating with his eyes that they should keep quiet.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled slightly as he held the Purifying Spirit Bottle he was given.
This was an instinctive reaction to this unusual situation. Since he had arrived here, although he hadn’t sensed any malicious intent from Tao Yang’s group, in the end, they were still strangers who had met by chance, and seeing them act so generously was surprising, to say the least.
This act of generosity couldn’t help but make him feel suspicious, thinking that perhaps there was something they wanted his help with!
But they had just met, what could it be they wanted in exchange?
Holding the bottle, Yang Kai hesitated to simply refuse. When someone gifted you something in friendship, directly rejecting them wasn’t polite, doing so would instead give the opposite party a bad impression, like you were distrustful of them or looking down on them.
The question is, what to give them in exchange? Yang Kai thought to himself.
Sweeping the Black Book space with his Divine Sense, in terms of treasures, besides the Myriad Drug Liquid, Milk, and Cream, there was only the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng.
Other than that there were the artifacts he’d obtained from the Great Sects of the Endless Sea Islands, as well as the Asura Sword and the Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia.
Obviously, he couldn’t give these things away.
All that he had besides that were some pills. These pills were the ones originally prepared for him by Ling Tai Xu. There were also the two bottles of Heaven Grade pills which he had taken from Shan Qing Luo’s Treasure House.
Searching his possessions like this, Yang Kai suddenly felt that he was actually quite poor.
After considering for a moment, he decided to exchange a bottle of Heaven Grade pills with these four.
A bottle of Heaven Grade pills was also worth a great deal of money, and this particular bottle also happened to come from Shan Qing Luo’s Treasure House. A bottle of Heaven Grade Top-Rank pills was worth at least 20,000 to 30,000 silvers.
That should be enough to offset the cost of a Purifying Spirit Bottle.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled slightly as his Divine Sense wandered about the Black Book space. Although it was only for a moment, but in the eyes of others, it seemed like he had suddenly gone into a daze.
Although his three juniors didn’t agree with Tao Yang giving Yang Kai one of their precious Purifying Spirit Bottle but because he was their Senior Brother they begrudgingly endured.
However, none of them could help but think their Senior Brother was being too generous, even somewhat reckless. All of them had only just met for the first time, and even if for some reason he wanted to show goodwill here, why did he have to go that far?
Then, when they all saw Yang Kai suddenly fall into a stupor, actually putting on an ignorant expression, all of them couldn’t help feeling more annoyed.
The girl named Rong Mei suddenly glared harshly as she coldly snorted, “When someone sends you something, you don’t even bother to offer some thanks? Did you suddenly become a mute?”
The other two were also cold-faced and did not bother to hide their dissatisfaction in the slightest.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment before quickly turning to them and then lightly said, “I apologize, I was thinking about something and became distracted.”
“Finished?” Rong Mei quipped angrily and seemed unwilling to let the matter drop until Yang Kai offered at least some works of thanks.
“En.” Throwing a bottle of pills towards Tao Yang, Yang Kai cupped his fists and said, “Until we meet again!”
Done what needed to be done, Yang Kai turned and casually walked away.
“Hey…” Rong Mei chased after him a few steps, but seeing him quickly disappear from sight, the anger she had been holding back burst out, “This brat…”
“All of you… haa…” Tao Yang looked at his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, shaking his head. Although he didn’t go so far as to accuse them, the disappointment on his brow was obvious.
“Senior Brother!” The taller, thinner of Tao Yang’s Junior Brothers spoke up questioningly, “Is he worth all of this?”
“Right right, he doesn’t seem like anyone important, even his robes were ordinary, why did you feel the need to give him a Purifying Spirit Bottle?” Rong Mei couldn’t help but ask with a puzzled light in her eyes before softly muttering, “Such an ungrateful brat. Not even bothering to say thank you.”
“Why does he need to thank us? It’s not like he received that Purifying Spirit Bottle for nothing.” Tao Yang’s gaze finally shifted to the pill bottle in Rong Mei’s hands and casually urged, “See for yourself.”
“Fine!” Rong Mei pouted, pulling a face like an unhappy child, “Isn’t it just a bottle of pills, could these possibly be equal in value to a Purifying Spirit Bottle? Hmph!”
While complaining, she casually uncapped the bottle and gently sniffed. Her beautiful face instantly paled, as she turned a shocked gaze towards Tao Yang.
Seeing this, Tao Yang sighed lightly.
“Impossible…” Rong Mei’s face was filled with surprise, and she seemed afraid to believe what was happening. Quickly she poured out one of the pills from the bottle onto her small trembling hand and carefully observed it before her other two Brother Disciples also came up to sniff the rich pill incense, and they all exclaimed in shock, “Heaven Grade pills?”
“Look more carefully.” Tao Yang’s eyesight was obviously higher than his three Juniors and at one glance saw the actual quality of this pill.
“This is… a Heaven Grade Top-Rank pill!?” His three Junior’s faces no longer showed any complaint and instead were filled with joy.
“Heaven Grade Top-Rank True Qi restoring pill!” Tao Yang grinned helplessly, “Tell me, can these offset the value of a Purifying Spirit Bottle?”
Rong Mei’s face instantly blushed with embarrassment, “En.”
These four had come to the Evil Cavern for life experience, so naturally, they had brought some True Qi supplementing and healing pills, but the pills they brought with them were only Heaven Grade Low-Rank at best. This bottle of pills that Yang Kai easily threw to them was a whole two ranks higher in quality.
Although it was only two ranks, the difference in value was worlds apart!
Sometimes, a good bottle of pills’ value couldn’t be measured with money. In crucial situations, they could mean the difference between life and death!
“Just who was that kid? So generous!” That slimmer Junior Brother gasped, his face still filled with shock.
None of them could understand. Their Senior Brother and that youth had definitely just met for the first time, but both of them had delivered extremely precious gifts to the other like they were competing to see who could be more generous.
“I gifted him a peach and he returned the favour in kind, that’s all.” Tao Yang said, his mouth twitched slightly as he cast a blaming gaze towards his three Juniors, “No matter what his real identity is, your Senior Brother wanted to befriend him, but now you three wasted my efforts.”
Tao Yang’s Juniors couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty being scolded as such.
Curious, Rong Mei soft asked, “Senior Brother, how did you know he was someone worthy of befriending? People come here from all different walks of life with many different personalities, what if he was a sinister person?”
Tao Yang grinned helplessly, “If he had any malicious intentions, he wouldn’t have deliberately made noise to alert us to his presence.”
The three suddenly realized that what they thought was Yang Kai carelessly making noise when he had arrived was actually something he did on purpose.
Doing so was likely so they wouldn’t misunderstand his intentions.
Acting so, it was clear he didn’t want to stir up trouble, so obviously his demeanour wasn’t bad.
“Besides,” Tao Yang continued, and his eyes flashed a light of caution, “Just now, his speech and attitude revealed that he really didn’t know much about this place, yet still had the confidence to come here alone. No doubt he is quite strong.”
“Maybe not, he was clearly a little younger than us.” Rong Mei obviously did not quite believe Tao Yang.
“Age doesn’t mean everything to a cultivator. Didn’t you notice that although he was facing us alone, he wasn’t nervous at all, not even raising his guard? What does that mean? It shows that he didn’t fear us taking action against him, possibly even confident he could defeat all of us should he need to. That’s the main reason I wanted to befriend him.”
“How can that be?” The three exclaimed repeatedly, shaking their heads, “I don’t believe it!”
Tao Yang cast a disappointed gaze at his three Juniors, “All of you can’t be so short-sighted, alright? The geniuses of this world are numerous. Powerful talents can appear anywhere, you have to judge things from a long-term perspective.”
However, Rong Mei simply laughed, “Even though Senior Brother said so, I still don’t believe it. Hehe, even though I admit there are many geniuses in this world, but someone his age being able to kill all four of us? That’s not a genius, that’s a monster!”
The other two nodded, not taking their Senior Brother’s words to heart.
“Haa…” Tao Yang only felt like he was wasting his time by trying and failing to educate his Junior Sister and Junior Brother, so sighing heavily, “You three… remember my words. In order to survive in this world, you cannot lack strength, but more so you absolutely cannot lack judgement! You must be able to see clearly who you cannot offend and who you can befriend. If you can do that, you’ll be able to live longer.”
“Fine, fine, I know Senior Brother likes his clichés. We should get moving, that guy is already one step ahead of us.” Rong Mei walked over and began pulling on Tao Yang’s sleeve, “We should move a bit faster, if we catch up to him we can see if he really has such great ability, Senior Brother continuing to talk about it is useless now. “
“Good.” Tao Yang nodded and also accelerated his pace.
In truth, he too wanted to know what exactly Yang Kai was relying on to dare to come here alone.
Several kilometres away.
Yang Kai frowned as he stared in front of himself at a floating ghost-like creature, obviously one of these so-called Evil Spirits.
Carefully observing it again, he found that this Evil Spirit was really just a semi-solid entity, with neither hands nor feet and only vague facial features, truly ghastly to look at.
After a moment, Yang Kai walked towards it.
Evil Spirits had no sentience but were quite sensitive to living being’s vitality. As long as a living creature entered within a certain range them, they would violently attack and would not give up until either they or their prey was dead.
Once Yang Kai approached to within a few dozen meters, the Evil Spirit discovered him.
Immediately it let out a howl and quickly fluttered towards Yang Kai.
The air became chilly as an icy wind burst forth as ear piercing cries echoed about.
As the Evil Spirit rushed towards him, Yang Kai sent out a palm strike infused with his True Yang Yuan Qi.
Being struck by this palm, the Evil Spirit suddenly staggered back, and from the point of contact, a blazing flame spread out, incinerating it.
Although this invading True Yang Yuan Qi was quickly offset by the evil energy of the Evil Spirit, this one palm seemed to have caused it heavy losses, and the green radiance which made up its incorporeal body dimmed significantly.
Coming to a halt and ceasing its howls, the Evil Spirit seemed to be momentarily stunned before turning around and suddenly fleeing in the opposite direction.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, faintly feeling that something was not quite right, but quickly pursued.
Though this Evil Spirit didn’t appear to be a complete entity, its speed was actually quite fast, forcing Yang Kai to chase after it for a long time before finally catching up with it. After Landing a few more strikes on its transparent body, soon all that was left was a lump of Evil Spirit Essence.
The entire process had been relaxed, far more so than Yang Kai had imagined it would be.
From his prior observation of Tao Yang’s group dealing with an Evil Spirit, Yang Kai had estimated that defeating one would be quite troublesome on his own.
Not proceeding forward, Yang Kai sunk into contemplation, feeling that this entire situation was abnormal.
He had been told that an Evil Spirit would fight till its dying breath, so why did this one all of a sudden turn and flee? On top of that, why did it only take him four or five strikes to kill it?
[Are these Evil Spirit’s suppressed by my True Yang Yuan Qi?]
Pondering for a while, this was the only reason Yang Kai could think of.
His True Yang Yuan Qi had always been his greatest advantage against demonic beings. Yang Kai had even relied upon it to suppress the potent evil energy contained within his Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
Thinking so, Yang Kai was startled and quickly became excited.
Undoubtedly this meant he held a great advantage within this Evil Cavern, and not taking advantage of this point to reap a great harvest would be too wasteful.
Pulling out the Purifying Spirit Bottle, Yang Kai imitated Rong Mei’s actions and injected a small amount of his True Qi into it, which instantly caused the Purifying Spirit Bottle to suck up the Evil Spirit Essence in front of him.
Nodding in satisfaction, Yang Kai let out a small laugh.
Putting away his Purifying Spirit Bottle, he quickly continued on his way.
There didn’t appear to be many signs of recent cultivator activity in this area, only some scattered traces of a few individuals, so Yang Kai simply walked forward while leisurely killing any Evil Spirit he came across. After meeting one, Yang Kai would attack ruthlessly, not giving any of these Evil Spirits any chance to flee again and instantly destroyed them with overwhelming force.
In less than half a day, the Purifying Spirit Bottle was packed with over twenty Evil Spirit Essences, but Yang Kai could feel that the energy contained in these Evil Spirit Essences wasn’t all that strong, so even if he absorbed all of them, they wouldn’t provide him much benefit.
More than a dozen kilometers behind Yang Kai, Tao Yang and his group had been walking forward carefully, but after quite some time, they still had not encountered a single Evil Spirit, which caused them no small confusion.
“Why is it so peaceful here?” Rong Mei muttered under her breath as she frowned slightly.
Tao Yang also looked about suspiciously before suddenly wearing an aghast expression and quickly said, “I’m afraid all the Evil Spirits here have already been cleared.”
“In this outermost section of the Evil Cavern with a number of Evil Spirits lurking about and few people, who could have swept away all of them already?” Rong Mei laughed dismissively but suddenly thought of something. Then she turned to Tao Yang in shock, “Senior Brother, you mean…”
“En. We haven’t encountered others coming back from the inner section so these Evil Spirits must have been killed by someone in front of us.” Tao Yang’s gaze became sharp, “It seems like I still underestimated his ability. It seems like not only is he very strong, he also cultivates some powerful Martial Skills that can greatly restrain these Evil Spirits, otherwise, even if his strength was incredible he wouldn’t have been able to clear all of them out so quickly.”
Tao Yang’s three Juniors all wore shocked expressions, and none of them dared to underestimate Yang Kai anymore. Some dread even welled up in their hearts.
Yang Kai held his Purifying Spirit Bottle in front of a group of Evil Spirit Essences for a long time and slowly injected his True Qi, yet it failed to inhale it.
He wrinkled his brow in confusion for quite some time.
Observing carefully for a long time, he suddenly understood. His Purifying Spirit Bottle had apparently reached full capacity, so it was impossible for it to absorb any more Evil Spirit Essence.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai shook his head as a wry smile appeared on his face. He reached out and sucked the Evil Spirit Essence in front of him into his palm before absorbing it directly into his meridians.
Using his pure True Yang Yuan Qi to refine it, this Evil Spirit Essence was soon purified and turned into a lump of pure energy, which was quickly devoured by his Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
[Seems easy enough…]
Swallowing this batch of energy, his Unyielding Golden Skeleton suddenly let out a strange feeling. Like it was extremely hungry for this energy, and it seeked more in dissatisfaction.
Seems like this refined Evil Spirit Essence had very great appeal to his Unyielding Golden Skeleton. Aware of this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but grin happily.
The time he had refined Le Yu’s Purple Demonic Spirit Fire also gave him a similar feeling, so Yang Kai had guessed that this place would be a paradise for his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, and now it seemed like it really was so.
In any case, since refining this Evil Spirit Essence was very easy for him, Yang Kai simply went ahead and inhaled all twenty of them from his Purifying Spirit Bottle into his meridians.
Less than half a quarter of an hour later, he had completely refined these twenty Evil Spirit Essences.
Immediately, a joyous feeling welled up from the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, which gave Yang Kai a slight sense of euphoria.
The only disappointment was that these essences only increased his strength and nothing else, no enlightenment, Martial Skills, or even an increase in Spiritual Energy.
Even so, Yang Kai grinned, quite satisfied with this result. After all, he knew that special Evil Spirit Essences were quite rare inside the Evil Cavern, so finding one was essentially a matter of one’s luck.
Just as he was about to continue his exploration, Yang Kai felt a fluttering in his mind, and he turned to stare in a particular direction, his brow furrowing.
Frowning in thought for a moment, Yang Kai quickly rushed back in that direction.
Half an hour later sounds of battle reached his ears. Up ahead he could see flashes of light from Martial Skills.
Looking towards these flashes, Yang Kai saw a number of young men and women gathered together fighting a few Evil Spirits under the leadership of one of one young girl.
The Martial Skills these people were using had a certain evil aura to them, and all of their hands were unusually pale, akin to ghost claws that seemed to give off a deep chill. Observing, Yang Kai noticed that each time one of these people launched a Martial Skill a piercing howl was emitted as it tore through the air towards the Evil Spirits.
These Martial Skills, to a certain extent, were similar to the Evil Spirits themselves, creating a semi-transparent ghost like phantoms with unclear features, giving off a grim and menacing auras.
What truly caught Yang Kai’s attention though was that the Evil Spirits this group was facing were not the same as the ones he had encountered before.
Until now, the Evil Spirits he came across were all green coloured, but the ones here now were bright blood red, which gave them a more malevolent appearance.
Moreover, these red Evil Spirits’ strength was undoubtedly stronger than the green ones. Even their bodies had a more corporeal look.
Therefore, even though the number of people here was larger than Tao Yang’s group, they would still take quite some time to achieve victory.
Four or five red Evil Spirits gathered around, screaming and howling, seeming to resonate and communicate with one another, before taking unified action, advancing and retreating in a half-organized fashion, making them far more formidable and troublesome than green Evil Spirits.
However, this group of young cultivators still clearly held the advantage. After a while, one of the red Evil Spirit’s gradually dimmed and was quickly defeated, which cemented the battle’s balance in favor of the cultivators.
Repeatedly unleashing various grim Martial Skills, the group attacked the red Evil Spirits with overwhelming force.
Unexpectedly, one of the red Evil Spirits on the verge of dying actually bypassed the crowd and rushed directly towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai frowned but did not dodge, interested to see just how strong these red Evil Spirits were. Lifting his hand, he sent a True Qi infused palm towards this oncoming enemy.
Striking it head on, the red Evil Spirit shrieked and instantly collapsed, leaving behind a group of Evil Spirit Essence that floated in front of Yang Kai.
This group of Evil Spirit Essence was clearly superior to the ones Yang Kai had previously obtained.
Yang Kai had no intention of collecting this Evil Spirit Essence but perhaps because it had just recently tasted such energy, his Unyielding Golden Skeleton acting without restraint and immediately inhaled this Evil Spirit Essence.
Yang Kai couldn’t help being stunned, feeling slightly helpless.
Nearby, the group of cultivators who had originally seen Yang Kai use a single move to kill an Evil Spirit were somewhat shocked and were equally surprised when he had unscrupulously absorbed the Evil Spirit Essence.
“Hey, my friend, don’t you think you’re acting a bit unruly?” A gloomy youth stood out and quipped while glaring gloomily at Yang Kai.
“En, apologies, it was unintentional.” Yang Kai knew there was no point trying to talk his way out of this so he frankly admitted his wrong.
“Unintentional?” The young man sneered, “After blatantly absorbing our Evil Spirit Essence you still want to claim you didn’t mean to?”
Although Yang Kai’s previous strike had surprised him a moment ago, he wasn’t afraid. After all, they had seven or eight people on their side. What’s more, Yang Kai’s argument really wasn’t very convincing.
What wasn’t intentional about plundering other people’s treasures in front of their faces?
Listening to their comrade, the others of this young man’s group also moved forward and coldly glared at Yang Kai, clearly unwilling to let the matter drop.
Only the young girl who seemed to be their leader remained still. Her beautiful face gawked towards Yang Kai, her eyes flashed a trace of panic, and her tender body involuntarily shivered slightly.
She quickly remembered that terrible torture and unbearable suffering.
“Friend, you should consider your situation well, although our Ghost King Valley isn’t a supreme power, we’re also not so easily bullied.” The same youth glared at Yang Kai as a sneer appeared on his face.
Yang Kai frowned, lightly replying, “I’ll compensate you.”
“Compensate? How do you place to compensate us?” That youth snorted.
“No need,” Yang Kai didn’t have enough time to reply before the young girl hiding behind the crowd walked up and said. Her eyes contained a faint trace of panic as she said towards Yang Kai, “You don’t need to compensate us.”
“Junior Sister…” The young man looked towards the young girl in surprise, as he did not understand why she would suddenly say so.
“I know him! Don’t quarrel over such small matters.” The young girl said indifferently, although a tinge of red appeared on her face as she stared towards Yang Kai. More memories of the absurd acts she and Zi Mo had done to ‘seduce’ this youth before suddenly popping up in her mind.
[That stupid woman Zi Mo, she really convinced me he had some kind of disability but in the end we just ended up allowing him to take advantage of us for free!]
“Junior Sister knows him?” The young man couldn’t help but feel surprised as he glanced back and forth between her and Yang Kai.
“En, he saved my life once.” The girl finally showed a light smile, but this cold woman’s smile somehow seemed a bit stiff.
“Young Miss Leng, we meet again.” Yang Kai smiled back at the girl.
This girl, shockingly, was Ghost King Valley’s Leng Shan!
Zi Mo and Leng Shan both had marks left on their Souls by Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, so Yang Kai could feel their presence as long as they were close enough, still, Yang Kai didn’t expect to meet Leng Shan here.
“En, we meet again.” Leng Shan nodded slightly, relieved in her heart that it seemed that this brat didn’t intend to say anything about their past encounter, nor did he intend to torture her.
Although she had understood long ago that Yang Kai wasn’t actually malicious in nature, Leng Shan still couldn’t help but be on edge around him.
Seeing how both of them were really familiar, the other Ghost King Valley disciples relaxed, and the hostility of the gloomy youth also reduced significantly.
“You should first refine that Evil Spirit Essence, once that thing is absorbed into the body, if you don’t quickly refine it, it will lead to problems.” Leng Shan whispered, then turned to her fellow disciples, “Quickly collect the other essences but keep your guard up, don’t let other Evil Spirits take us by surprise.”
The crowd quickly nodded and set about their tasks.
Yang Kai also chuckled lightly then began to circulate his True Yang Secret Art.
The red Evil Spirit’s Evil Spirit Essence was really different. It contained significantly more energy than one left behind by a green Evil Spirit.
A short moment later, Yang Kai let out a light breath and said, “Done.”
“Done?” The gloomy young man exclaimed and furrowed his brow at Yang Kai, “Friend, an Evil Spirit Essence isn’t so easily refined, is it? Are you sure you’ve purified it completely? This thing is not a joke, if it’s not refined completely it will most likely leave behind some hidden dangers.”
The youth’s reminder had been well intentioned. Apparently, because Leng Shan had said he was her life’s benefactor, his opinion of Yang Kai had improved dramatically or it would have been impossible to speak so.
“It’s alright, I cultivate a True Yang Secret Art, so refining these things is quite simple for me,” Yang Kai said lightly.
“I see, I was wondering why this friend was so easily able to kill that red Evil Spirit. On top of having great strength, you also can restrain them with your True Qi’s attribute!” The gloomy youth smiled as he let out a carefree laugh.
“Good, my name is Chen Yi, if I had offended this friend just now, I hope you will not take it to heart.”
“Good, I’m Yang Kai!”
Since the other party was willing to reconcile, naturally he wouldn’t reject, nor would Yang Kai actually care about such minor slights. After all, it really was his own fault.
In a secluded spot inside the Evil Cavern, the disciples of Ghost King Valley sat together in meditation. Having just undergone a fight, they also needed a moment to restore themselves.
In these Ominous Grounds, one’s safety could only be guaranteed if one maintained their peak condition.
Despite entering a meditative state, none of them relaxed their vigilance and closely monitored their surroundings for any signs of movement lest any red Evil Spirits suddenly appeared.
Yang Kai looked around and nodded while curiously observing Leng Shan in particular. After nearly a year apart, this icy girl had grown a lot.
Leng Shan was neither the strongest nor the oldest in this group, but it was clear that she was in command. Almost everything that was done was in accordance with her orders, allowing this group to have a high degree of organization.
Her high status in the Ghost King Valley was one reason for this, but more importantly she commanded everyone’s respect because she had accumulated a great deal of life experience in various trails and Forbidden Zones.
The gloomy youth Chen Yi also smiled and sat down nearby, smiling well-meaningly towards Yang Kai.
He seemed unaware that Yang Kai had killed two Elite Disciples of Ghost King Valley and that Leng Shan had a significant grudge against him.
“Why are you here?” Yang Kai asked curiously, surprised that on his visit to the Evil Cavern he would run into an acquaintance.
Although in that Isolated World Yang Kai’s relationship with Zi Mo was closer than the one he had with Leng Shan, but due to his Divine Sense Brand remaining on her Soul he still had a faint connection with her.
It was just that this link was unilateral. Yang Kai could feel Leng Shan’s presence but she couldn’t feel his.
“I can naturally be here,” Leng Shan grinned, “Don’t you know where this is?”
“The Evil Cavern.” Yang Kai frowned before suddenly understanding, “This place is in the Profound Yin Ghost King’s territory… Ghost King Valley, so Ghost King Valley was originally from this region of the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land.”
“En,” Leng Shan nodded lightly.
Yang Kai suddenly thought, “Does Ghost King Valley and the Profound Yin Ghost King have some kind of relationship?”
“Although both have ‘Ghost King’ in their titles, we don’t actually have any kind of deep connection, we just happen to belong to the same jurisdiction is all.” Chen Yi interjected with a smile, “It looks like Brother Yang isn’t very familiar with the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land.”
“En,” Yang Kai muttered.
Chen Yi simply laughed however and said, “Never mind, if you don’t understand anything, feel free to ask me. Since you’re Junior Sister’s savior, then you are a friend of my Ghost King Valley, and that naturally makes you my friend as well. Out of curiosity, where does Brother Yang come from?”
“Senior Brother!” Leng Shan shouted. Obviously, she knew which Sect Yang Kai came from, but because she knew, she felt it wasn’t something to be discussed casually.
Before, High Heaven Pavilion was a relatively unknown Sect, but now it was world-famous because it was the birthplace of the current Demon Lord.
Because of its relationship with the Demon Lord, the entire High Heaven Pavilion had essentially been destroyed, and not only did the outside world know about this, it was even news in the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land!
The Demon Lord’s arrival had brought war to the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land, which was not something everyone wanted to see.
After noticing Leng Shan’s sudden change in demeanor, Chen Yi grinned awkwardly and waved, “Well, just treat it like I hadn’t asked. Brother Yang doesn’t need to mind.”
However, in his heart his curiosity grew. Where exactly did this Yang Kai come from?
Yang Kai could only faintly smile in response.
“But, how come you are here?” Leng Shan asked inquisitively. She knew that High Heaven Pavilion was tens of thousands of kilometers from here.
“I heard that this place was interesting so I came to play!”
Chen Yi and Leng Shan were both dumbstruck and were unable to hold back a wry grin.
“You certainly have some big guts. A lone person actually daring to come here to play…” Leng Shan reluctantly shook her head, but when she thought back on just how terrifying Yang Kai’s strength was, she also wasn’t too surprised.
[Maybe he really is qualified to come here just to play…]
“Oh right, how come the Evil Spirits you’re dealing with here are red? All the ones I’ve come across so far were green.” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Ha ha ha.” Chen Yi laughed loudly after realizing that Yang Kai really may have come here for fun. Why else would he have basically no knowledge about the Evil Cavern?
Leng Shan’s brow twitched slightly, as she tried to stifle her laughter.
The other disciples of Ghost King Valley also couldn’t help but look at Yang Kai with funny expressions.
Looking around, Yang Kai couldn’t help but scratch his head awkwardly.
“Ahem,” Leng Shan lightly coughed and straightened out her expression as she asked, “What is the difference between the green Evil Spirits and the red Evil Spirits?”
“Well, the red ones are undoubtedly stronger.”
“It’s like this: inside the Evil Cavern, the further one progresses, the more powerful the Evil Spirit’s they encounter become. It’s relatively easy to deal with green Evil Spirits which is why you mostly find them in the cavern’s periphery, As one dives further into the cavern, they encounter red, purple, and eventually black Evil Spirits. As the strength of these Evil Spirits’ grows, their bodies become more and more solid, to the point that a black Evil Spirit basically has a complete physical body. Even if it is a low level Immortal Ascension Boundary master, they have no choice but to retreat when they encounter one. For those at the True Element Boundary like ourselves, if we work together, at most we can deal with purple Evil Spirit. If we were to encounter a black Evil Spirit, our only choice would be to flee, and if we weren’t able to escape fast enough, we would most likely lose our lives.”
Yang Kai’s brow twitched upon hearing this. Obviously, it was from one of these purple Evil Spirits that Le Yu had obtained his Demonic Purple Qi Body and Purple Demonic Spirit Fire.
“I understand now.” Yang Kai nodded slightly.
“Moreover, in addition to these ordinary four different coloured Evil Spirits, there is a special type of Evil Spirit that Brother Yang should be extra wary of in this Evil Cavern.” Chen Yi said seriously, and his expression became exceptionally serious.
“Oh?” Yang Kai, noticing how solemn Chen Yi’s expression became, had his interest piqued and was unable to hold back his curiosity and asked, “What kind of Evil Spirit?”
“A Soul type Evil Spirit!” Chen Yi replied. His voice was filled with a tone of warning, “They look exactly the same as any other Evil Spirit, so they’re quite hard to differentiate, but if you come across one, I advise you, do everything in your power to flee!”
“Why is that?”
“Because they possess a Soul Skill!” Chen Yi grimaced, “I’m just a True Element Boundary cultivator, so if I were to encounter a Soul type Evil Spirit, I wouldn’t be able to even defend myself. Brother Yang, do you have a Soul defence type artifact?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
“Then it seems you’ll have trouble defending yourself as well,” Chen Yi said, frowning slightly, “Those who come to this place usually carry artifacts that can defend against Soul Skill attacks, if they’re high enough quality, they may be able to block some of the effects from a Soul type Evil Spirit. Well, Brother Yang cultivates a True Yang attribute Secret Art, so perhaps that will provide you with some limited protection as well.”
“It doesn’t matter, I doubt I’d be so unlucky to come across one.” Yang Kai grinned.
Although he had no Soul defence type artifact, he did have his Soul Palace Soul Skill, and the level of his Soul defense shouldn’t be too bad.
So in reality Yang Kai didn’t take this warning too seriously.
“Good, it’s true that Soul type Evil Spirits rarely appear.” Chen Yi nodded.
After a few casual words, the atmosphere had become much more relaxed.
Just as they were chatting, a weird voice suddenly rang out from a short distance away. The sound was sharp and shrill, like a mix of whistling winds and howling ghosts.
All of the Ghost King Valley disciples heard this voice and turned their heads towards the direction of its origin.
“There’s movement.” Chen Yi’s vision became sharp as he muttered under his breath.
“En, let’s go take a look.” Leng Shan nodded firmly.
Yang Kai didn’t ask any questions, but looking at the faces of these people he seemed to guess that there was more going on than simple Evil Spirit hunting.
“Move out.” Chen Yi quickly ordered and glanced over towards Yang Kai briefly, “Brother Yang, if you don’t mind, how about traveling together with us?”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded immediately. He had just accidentally received an Evil Spirit Essence from them, and since he had yet to compensate them, traveling together with them for the time being was only to be expected.
It wasn’t his policy to receiving graciousness from others for free.
As the group walked forward, Leng Shan deliberately hung back and eventually walked side by side with Yang Kai.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything like that to you again.” Yang Kai stated clearly, thinking she might still be worrying about their previous encounter.
“I know you won’t,” Leng Shan shook her head, “I just wanted to tell you some things.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
Leng Shan laughed lightly, “I wanted to tell you why we’ve come this time to the Evil Cavern.”
“Hmm? What is it that you’re trying to accomplish here?” Yang Kai puzzled.
“Actually, we’re looking for someone.”
“Looking for someone?”
“En, there are a few outsiders who have recently killed a lot of disciples from Free And Unfettered Sect, and then fled here. Our Ghost King Valley isn’t far from Free And Unfettered Sect, so we were pulled into this situation to help them.”
At a glance, Yang Kai could tell from her expression that she was rather resentful about helping this Free And Unfettered Sect.
Chuckling lightly, he asked, “Does that Free And Unfettered Sect often bully your Ghost King Valley? You don’t seem very willing to be here this time, do you?”
“Hmph, of course I don’t want to be here!” Leng Shan glared harshly, all but confirming Yang Kai’s speculations, before she continued, “I’m telling you in advance because I know you don’t belong to the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land, and the ones Free And Unfettered Sect are hunting are cultivators from the outside. I’m just worried that if you see your fellow comrades in danger you’d be put in a difficult position.”
“Fellow comrades?” Yang Kai sneered, “My Sect is gone, exactly what comrades do I have?”
Leng Shan’s expression became a bit dim, and she whispered, “About High Heaven Pavilion’s situation… my condolences!”
Yang Kai simply snorted.
Perhaps influenced by Shan Qing Luo or perhaps because of High Heaven Pavilion’s misfortune, Yang Kai no longer cared too deeply about concepts like righteousness or evil. The so called beliefs of the world in his opinion had nothing to do with him.
“Who is it that Free And Unfettered Sect is chasing?” Yang Kai was a bit curious.
“Other than a woman, who else could it be?” Leng Shan scoffed, “Free And Unfettered Sect’s favourite pastime is acting without restraint, not a night goes by they don’t do their best to vent their desires, understand?”
“Ah… I understand.” Yang Kai suddenly felt awkward, never having thought the cold and indifferent Leng Shan would actually speak so bluntly.
“But this time it’s not just a single young woman but a pair of twins. Both of them are extraordinarily beautiful and exceptionally strong to boot, and the two of them have actually razed quite a storm around here.” Leng Shan’s eyes secretly shone a light, obviously taking some pleasure in others’ misfortune, “The two of them have killed more than a dozen Free And Unfettered Sect disciples, but unfortunately it seems they finally came up against more than they could handle and were forced to escape here.”
“You seem to hold quite the grudge against that Free And Unfettered Sect.” Yang Kai looked her up and down, then chuckled, “Did someone from their Free And Unfettered Sect try to ‘vent their desires’ on our little beauty here too?”
“Hmph!” Leng Shan angrily snorted and turned her face away, not directly answering his question, but her meaning was clear enough.
“Heh heh…” Yang Kai chuckled and suddenly thought of something, “If you really were to find those two women, what are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know either,” Leng Shan shook her head. “I didn’t want to get involved in this in the first place. Even my Master said that we can just superficially cooperate and we don’t need to put in any real effort if we happen to catch them… we’ll think about it then.”
“Good.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.