With these three supplying it their True Qi, the Five Dragon Entangling Seal’s strength rose dramatically, after all, Leng Shan’s strength wasn’t low and the Hu Sisters together were even stronger, incomparable so to the three Treasure Instrument Sect disciples.
As the five dragons re-appeared, thick white beams of light shot from their mouths towards the Soul Type Evil Spirit.
In the next instant, the Soul Type Evil Spirit was once again bound in place!
Knowing that the Five Dragon Entangling Seal wouldn’t be able to hold it for a long time, Yang Kai went all out.
Forming a set of hand seals, Yang Kai activated his White Tiger Seal and Divine Ox Seal and summoned two crimson red beast phantoms composed completely of True Yang Yuan Qi which swiftly attacked.
One hand slashed out with his Yang Liquid sword while the other sent out a Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast. Yang Kai threw everything he had at the Soul Type Evil Spirit.
It was a ferocious offensive, which completely disregarded his own defence!
Watching this scene, everyone sucked in a cold breath!
This way of fighting, it was simply overwhelming and gave those watching a soul stirring feeling. The Soul Type Evil Spirit’s body once more rapidly dimmed, but even as it faded it continued to use various Soul Skills and viciously attacked Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea over and over again.
Why were True Element Boundary cultivators always helpless before Soul Type Evil Spirits? Because they had no way to defend themselves against Soul Skills!
Even ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary masters would do their best to avoid such attacks, so Soul Type Evil Spirits inside the Evil Cavern had always been a very troublesome existence.
On top of that, even if one could ignore its Soul Skill attacks, Soul Type Evil Spirits were also significantly more powerful than average Evil Spirits of the same colour.
With the piercing pain in his head getting more and more intense, veins and cold sweat began to appear on Yang Kai’s forehead, but despite all this his onslaught never slowed, as he continued to bombard the Soul Type Evil Spirit with every attack in his arsenal.
As the old man watched this spectacle, a stunned light flashed across his eyes.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected Yang Kai to possess such outrageous strength. This True Element Boundary Fifth Stage youth’s combat effectiveness had far exceeded anything he had ever heard of.
If this continued, he really could kill that Soul Type Evil Spirit, and… the time it would take would definitely be less than if he had taken action himself!
Thinking so, the old man quietly shifted more and more of his attention to this battle.
Sure enough, after the time it would take to drink half a cup of tea, the Soul Type Evil Spirit let out a final anguished howl before its purple radiance dissipated completely.
Seeing Yang Kai’s overwhelming abilities, everyone from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect involuntarily cheered. The Hu Sisters also covered their mouths, and their beautiful eyes teared up in joy.
When the Soul Type Evil Spirit faded from existence, it left behind a large lump of sparkling pure white Evil Spirit Essence which even to the naked eye obviously contained a massive amount of energy.
The crowd hadn’t even finished celebrating Yang Kai’s triumph before this lump of essence caught their eyes, and all of them exclaimed, “A Special Evil Spirit Essence!”
The old man across the way also had his eyes light up, and a greedy look was apparent on his face.
Special Essences were many times more valuable than ordinary Evil Spirit Essences, after all, who knew what kind of wondrous treasures were hidden inside? However, when the old man probed this particular group of essence, he clearly felt his Divine Sense being attracted to it, like a cat smelling a fish. This was a kind of instinctual desire!
At that instant, the old man understood that this Special Evil Spirit Essence contained something which could increase the strength of one’s Soul and their total amount of Spiritual Energy.
This made sense as it was left behind by a Soul Type Evil Spirit which specialized in Soul Skills.
Knowing this, the old man’s greed increased greatly!
If it was an ordinary Evil Spirit Essence, or even another kind of Special Evil Spirit Essence, the old man wouldn’t be so tempted, but treasures which could increase one’s Spiritual Energy were simply too rare and were worth him fighting for.
Not hesitating at all, the old man shouted towards Yu Qing, “Protect yourselves!”
The next instant, he shot out like a meteor towards Yang Kai.
“This shameless old dog!” Chen Yi raged.
“Yang Kai, watch out!” Everyone shouted.
Yang Kai was still dazed, although with the help of the Soul Warming Lotus he had somehow withstood the torrent of attacks on his Soul, he had still suffered a great deal of damage, so after killing the Soul Type Evil Spirit, he hadn’t even checked its essence to see what it had left behind and instead quickly withdrew a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid from the Black Book space and swallowing it.
But upon hearing these shouts, Yang Kai instinctively pushed his True Qi, stretched out his hand towards the Evil Spirit Essence before him, and circulated his Secret Art to absorb it directly into his palm.
“Courts death!” The old man no longer had any scruples, and since he had already completely torn face with Yang Kai, he didn’t need to bother being polite any more. Grimacing fiercely, he sent out a full powered strike towards Yang Kai.
The enraged strike of an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth level definitely wasn’t something Yang Kai could withstand unharmed, even if he could reluctantly resist it.
In the limited time he had, the best he could do was to extract a drop of Yang Liquid from his dantian and shape it into a shield.
*Peng…*
With a loud crash, Yang Kai’s shield was shattered, and he was subsequently sent flying by the old man’s strike, which hurled him into the sea of Evil Qi below, and he disappeared instantly!
Seeing this, the old man hovered mid-air, grumbled under his breath for a moment before letting out a sigh, and turned around to head back to his former position.
He was obviously upset that he failed to snatch that Special Evil Spirit Essence from Yang Kai.
“Yang Kai!” Hu Mei Er cried out in despair and instantly became pale, like she had lost her soul, as she leapt without any hesitation off the platform towards the place where Yang Kai had fallen.
But after taking only a few steps, she felt someone grab hold of her.
Looking back, Mei Er saw her elder sister shaking her head in panic.
“Let me go…” Hu Mei Er entreated Jiao Er with a whimper.
But Hu Jiao Er still just shook her head, and her eyes gradually becoming red.
Ever since they began cultivating the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art, the two sisters had gradually started to share their thoughts and emotions, so how could Hu Jiao Er not feel the intense sorrow and confusion in her sister’s heart at this moment?
Even Hu Jiao Er was also grief stricken, but even so, she wouldn’t allow these rampant emotions to cloud her judgement and let her little sister jump into the jaws of death.
Atop their pillar, whether it was the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples, all of them stood silently and were unable to process their shock.
None of them had thought that this old man would not give any consideration to his face and act so shamelessly.
A moment later, Leng Shan suddenly shouted, “We fight!”
Spitting out these words, she quickly formed a set of seals. Her cold eyes were now filled with unparalleled anger and madness, and she did not hesitate to activate her Ghost King Seal.
With a ghastly howl, she launched a fierce assault towards the other platform.
With her strike as the trigger, all of the Ghost King Valley disciples also used their strongest Martial Skills while the four from Treasure Instrument Sect hurriedly took out their artifacts and sent a flurry of attacks at the old man and the Free And Unfettered Sect disciples.
Doing their best not to damage the True Yang Yuan Qi defensive shield Yang Kai had left for them, their group ruthlessly vented their rage.
On the opposite side, as they received this barrage from the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect groups, the old man’s group fell into an even more precarious situation.
Yu Qing’s look distorted greatly, and he shouted out in anger, “Leng Shan! Do you even want to attack my Free And Unfettered Sect people? Free And Unfettered Sect and Ghost King Valley have always been friendly neighbors and besides, we had nothing to do the attack on that little brat! Why must you act so indiscriminately!?”
However, Leng Shan’s cold piercing gaze remained indifferent. She sneered as she ignored Yu Qing’s overtures and instead pushed her True Qi even more.
“Impudent Juniors!” The old man raged, immediately discovering that he had underestimated this group of young people. In their anger, they held nothing back, which caused their attacks to become powerful and sharp. If it were just one or two he wouldn’t care, but with so many of them acting together coupled with the continued attacks from the Evil Spirits around him, the old man suddenly found himself being pushed to his limit.
In particular, a few of the artifacts that their side used were extremely powerful, which made even him pale slightly.
“If you brats don’t stop messing around, this old master won’t hold back any longer and directly crush your light shield!” The old man roared, if he wasn’t in such a precarious situation, instead of trying to negotiate he would have just directly taken action.
In his heart he secretly held regret. Although he was upset at not being able to grab that Special Evil Spirit Essence, he shouldn’t have gone so far as to kill that little brat. Even a rabbit would bite if cornered, much less this group of youths.
“Wait wait, stop!” Tao Yang suddenly shouted, as his his vision fixed on a spot down below them. Then he cried out in surprise, “Brother Yang didn’t die!”
Hearing this shout, everyone froze, and their True Qi suddenly stagnated as they all gazed in the direction Tao Yang was looking, and indeed amongst the torrent of Evil Qi they saw a vague figure exuding a flickering black light.
Yang Kai! Not only did he not die, but he was also leisurely standing there inside the Evil Spirit Spring.
Suddenly, all the scattered Evil Spirit Essences in his surroundings were drawn towards him and soon disappeared into his body.
“Brother Yang …” Tao Yang shouted half excitedly half worriedly.
“Hah… haha…” Amongst the turbulent flow of Evil Qi, Yang Kai suddenly began to laugh. His voice somewhat ominous and sent shivers down the spines of those who heard it.
Gradually, this laughter became bigger and bigger and grew louder and louder.
“Brother Yang … what happened?” Tao Yang expression sank slightly as he stared below nervously.
Quickly, from within Yang Kai’s body emerged a pitch black energy; even inside the Evil Spirit Spring, this blackness was quite conspicuous, like a void in the universe had opened up and instantly devoured all light within its range to plunging the world into darkness.
After waking from their shock, the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples realized that the only light within this abyssal darkness was a pair of scarlet eyes which exuded an overwhelming madness.
“Devil’s Practices!” The old man shouted, thinking that Yang Kai had swallowed up too many Evil Spirit Essences and failed to refine them before they corrupted his mind and plunged him into the Devil’s Practices.
Given the circumstances, the old man’s thoughts were reasonable. With such a massive influx of Evil Qi into one’s body, even if it were him he wouldn’t be able to withstand it, so although he knew Yang Kai cultivated a potent Yang attribute True Qi which could suppress these Evil Spirits, it was difficult to imagine him being spared.
Hearing the old man’s shout, the relief Yang Kai’s comrades had felt suddenly gave way to anxiety again.
Only Leng Shan’s eyes flashed brilliantly, as she stared towards Yang Kai suspiciously with serious doubts floating about her thoughts.
Of everyone here, only she knew that in addition to his True Yang Yuan Qi, Yang Kai could also use a different, extremely overbearing Evil Qi.
When she and Zi Mo had traveled together with him in that Isolated world, she too had thought Yang Kai had succumb to the Devil’s Practices, but in the end it turned out that the whole time he remained completely unaffected. The only difference now was this darkness was much more profound than last time.
[Has he really fallen into the Devil’s Practices?] Leng Shan asked herself, somewhat unsure of herself.
“Mei Er, go back, I’m fine!” Yang Kai’s voice came from below, his tone as frigid and ice but still quite calm.
Hearing his voice, Leng Shan couldn’t help but smile happily, now knowing that Yang Kai was really alright.
Hu Mei Er was stunned, but under Hu Jiao Er’s urgings the two sisters fell back to the centre of the light curtain. Nonetheless, both of them still gazed below, unable to hide their surprise.
As they stood atop the high pillars, staring down below, everyone noticed that the Evil Qi erupting from the Evil Spirit Spring had already risen to a very high point.
This Evil Qi wasn’t actually a liquid or gas, but instead only had the appearance of pitch black water, almost akin to sludge with an aura of malice and danger radiating from it.
The Evil Spirits relished below as they continued to swim through the Evil Qi and greedily absorbed this energy to enhance their strength, but if a cultivator were to fall into it, they would certainly suffer horrific torment followed closely by a gruesome death.
But now, Yang Kai, who was wrapped in an even more profound layer of darkness, was not only un affected by this Evil Qi at all, but he had essentially become a fish swimming through water.
Wherever he went, all the scattered Evil Spirit Essences in his immediate surroundings were sucked into his body.
Occasional he would encounter an Evil Spirit, but it was as if these demonic creatures were blind to his presence, and they totally ignored him as if he was part of the ambient Evil Qi.
Everyone watched with their mouths agape and were completely dumbstruck!
The same was true even of the old man atop the opposite plateau, and his mouth twitching because he was unable to believe what he was witnessing.
This little brat was in a very strange state right now. The aura he released was completely different from the one he had previously displayed, and instead of a radiant burning light, he seemed akin to a lump of cold malicious darkness now, like a crazed murderous great devil lord, who struck fear into the hearts of all who gazed upon him.
What was even more shocking to the old man though was how many Evil Spirit Essences Yang Kai was harvesting. Down below, the Evil Spirits continued fighting one another, so the number of scattered unclaimed Evil Spirit Essences was enormous, and in just a few breaths worth of time, that little brat had inhaled some ten odd lumps of essence, which provoked a maddening amount of jealousy from all who saw this scene.
What’s more, he inhaled all of these Evil Spirit Essences directly, as if he didn’t need to worry at all about the inherent dangers hidden within them.
“Ha ha ha ha ha…” Yang Kai kept laughing merrily, as if he was taking a leisurely stroll through this Evil Spirit Spring while casually eating a snack.
Contained within his laughter was madness, surprise, but most of all excitement.
Both his body and mind were stimulated to an abnormal level, and even his blood felt like it was boiling, as if he was embracing a supreme beauty stripped naked, his hands wandering up and down her exquisite body as he tasted her wondrous flavour.
His Unyielding Golden Skeleton also seemed to be trembling with joy, as it relished in the taste of the many Evil Spirit Essences he had just swallowed while simultaneously gulping down the surrounding Evil Qi which gushed from the Evil Spirit Spring at an astounding pace. This Evil Qi seemed to very much suit the Golden Skeleton’s taste.
Yang Kai’s body had become akin to a huge whirlpool, drawing in all the energy around him.
However, this didn’t give Yang Kai the slightest uncomfortable feeling, and instead brought him a deep sense of happiness and satisfaction.
He had no idea why his Golden Skeleton enjoyed this Evil Qi so much, but for the moment, he didn’t bother trying to figure it out and instead just focused on absorbing as much as he could.
After inhaling this Evil Qi and numerous Evil Spirit Essences, Yang Kai suddenly had a feeling of saturation.
It was not that his Golden Skeleton had been sated. The Golden Skeleton was a bottomless pit, so no matter how much energy it absorbed it would never reach saturation. Rather, he had reached his current realm’s limit.
If he didn’t break through again, even if the Golden Skeleton absorbed more energy, it would only become a burden to Yang Kai instead of a boon.
Aware of this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel some helplessness.
During this brief crazy period of absorption, not only had Yang Kai greatly added to his Golden Skeleton’s reserves, he had also stored nearly a hundred Evil Spirit Essences in his dantian. Right now, Yang Kai didn’t have time to refine all of these essences, so he could only temporarily store them as such.
Likewise, this was the limit of what he could currently store.
In particular, the essence left behind by the Soul Type Evil Spirit was of special concern to Yang Kai as he could clearly feel that it had some distinctive differences compared to the others.
Since he needed to spend some time refining these essences in order to make space to gather more, he could also take this opportunity to break through his current realm.
Thinking so, Yang Kai’s dampened mood quickly lifted.
Turning around, he saw his comrades worried looks from atop the high pillar. Especially the Hu Sisters, both of them had undisguisable concern filling their beautiful eyes.
Suddenly feeling his heart warm, Yang Kai quickly made his way to the base of the pillar and waved to them as he shouted out, “Give me all the Purifying Spirit Bottles you have on you.”
“Haha…” Chen Yi’s eyes flashed delighted light as he grinned, “I always knew Brother Yang was a great man!”
Smiling happily, all of them hurriedly took out their Purifying Spirit Bottles and tossed them down to Yang Kai.
Between them they only had five Purifying Spirit Bottles, three of them were brought by the Treasure Instrument Sect group while two belonged to the Ghost King Valley disciples. The Hu Sisters who had simply escaped here obviously and didn’t have any Purifying Spirit Bottles.
Although there was only five bottles, each one could hold up to twenty Evil Spirit Essences; that meant he could collect a hundred in total!
Such a large number was enough to tempt anyone.
Receiving these bottles, Yang Kai continued to swim through the Evil Spirit Spring, wantonly collecting the essences dropped by these Evil Spirits and soon filled up one bottle before taking out the next.
Only moments later, all five Purifying Spirit Bottles had been filled.
On the other pillar, the old man and the Free And Unfettered Sect disciples all watched this scene with greedy eyes.
Even though they had been constantly killing these Evil Spirits, they had never had time to collect their essences. Now seeing Yang Kai wander through this thick Evil Qi casually harvesting over a hundred Evil Spirit Essences, how could they not feel extremely jealous?
Between their two situations, how could they not be envious?
The old man now regretted so much his intestines went green, and a cramped expression was plastered all over his face, while his heart twisted in discomfort.
If he had only known that this little brat had so many strange and powerful methods, how could he have continuously provoked him over such minor issues? But now, after having witnessed all these profound abilities being displayed one after another, even if he regretted, it was useless.
That last sneak attack he had launched had completely ruined any hope he had of cooperating with Yang Kai.
Even if he couldn’t get Yang Kai to help put up that magical light defensive curtain, simply letting him help them collect a few bottles of Evil Spirit Essence would have been a huge harvest! Right now, it was obvious that, for Yang Kai, collecting essences was as simple as picking melons!
[Fuck! Such dog shit luck! Ruining such a good opportunity!]
At that moment, the old man ground his teeth in frustration and his guts ached as his stomach churned. His breath became slightly rapid as he felt extremely unwell.
After finishing his melon picking, instead of hurrying back, Yang Kai took the five filled bottles and tossed them back up to his group and then turned around, hovering slightly above the sea of Evil Qi as he glared maliciously towards the old man.
The old man felt his heart jump when his eyes met Yang Kai’s.
He saw Yang Kai’s lips curl into a grin as he stared at him with his scarlet eyes filled with cold murderous light as he slowly flew towards where he stood.
Everyone atop the old man’s pillar readied themselves to counterattack as their nerves began to fray. They were already overwhelmed just handling the Evil Spirits around them, so if Yang Kai were to take the chance to add insult to injury now, it would all be over.
This was really a case of when it rains, it pours.
Yu Qing was also secretly blaming the old man’s recklessness, doing his best to smile towards Yang Kai as he called out, “Fellow brother, we Free And Unfettered Sect bare you no grudge against you, please think twice before acting hastily!”
Seeing Yu Qing lower his head like a beat dog, all the Ghost King Valley disciples couldn’t help but secretly grin, thinking Yang Kai didn’t look like an evil demon right now, but instead like a dark domineering hero.
Without needing to say anything, without taking any action, simply by standing there he could make his enemies dread and fear him.
“Brother Yang is a real man!” Chen Yi voiced his thoughts with a bit of worship apparent on his face.
Leng Shan just snorted as she rolled her eyes, though if one looked closer they would notice a slight blush upon her face.
“This friend, I have something to say.” Yu Qing seeing Yang Kai remain silent, he became more and more nervous about what his aims were and was only able to dryly laugh as he continued his overtures.
Next to him, the old man’s face had turned sour. Listening in silence as he let Yu Qing whimper, hoping to use his cheap mouth to probe Yang Kai’s intentions.
“I want something!” While Yu Qing nervously laughed, Yang Kai finally spoke.
Yu Qing heart clenched, quickly replying, “What is it that this friends wants? Please say, as long as we Free And Unfettered Sect brothers can we will certainly offer it to this friend!”
“I want all your Purifying Spirit Bottles!” Yang Kai said flatly, grinning maliciously as the profound darkness swirled around him.
“Good, by all means, please!” Yu Qing didn’t hesitate, quickly taking out all of their Purifying Spirit Bottles and tossing them over.
Yang Kai knew these Free And Unfettered Sect disciples had two Purifying Spirit Bottles, and inside these two bottles there were already several Evil Spirit Essences.
Casually putting these bottles away, Yang Kai shifted his gaze towards the old man and sneered as he slowly narrowed his eyes. Then he snickered, “Do I need to repeat myself?”
The old man coldly snorted, and his expression was extremely unpleasant.
He was an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage master! Although he knew that Yang Kai possessed many amazing methods and had strength far beyond what his realm suggested, it was still not enough for him to fear him, but under these circumstances while still needing to protect his four juniors, without being certain he could kill Yang Kai in short order, the old man didn’t dare to act rashly again.
Yang Kai so blatantly ‘asking’ for something from him in front of his juniors, the old man obviously felt like he had lost a great amount of face.
Glaring back and forth at each other, the old man finally decided that he didn’t want to stir up Yang Kai any more, so snorting as he did his best to hold back his anger, “Give them to him!”
“But…” One of the old man’s juniors hesitantly objected, obviously unwilling to hand over their bottles so easily.
“I said give them to him!” The old man coldly ordered.
“Yes!” The young man glared at Yang Kai bitterly, then gritted his teeth as he took out two Purifying Spirit bottles and tossed them to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai caught these two bottles and stored them away, while always maintaining his aloof indifference.
“I’ll remember you, watch yourself from now on!” The young man threatened, as he stood beside the old man and sneered towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression became even colder. His scarlet eyes flashed a murderous intent.
But before he could take action, the old man actually gave a slap to this young man’s face.
*Pa….*
With a crisp bang, the young man was thrown several meters away and flipped through the air a few times before crashing onto the ground. His cheek swelled up greatly.
“Will you die if you stop talking?” The old man glared at him coldly.
[Fuck!, this old master didn’t want to stir up this strange little brat, but now you can’t even hold back your damn grumblings. If he really decided to go all out right now, none of you damn brats would see tomorrow’s sun!]
The young man who had his face slapped was dumbstruck, and his eyes were full of humiliation and anger. Never having thought that his own teacher would strike him across the face to support some unknown junior. His face changed from red to green, but he didn’t dare to say anything and swallowed down the blood and rage in his mouth.
“Is little friend satisfied now?” The old man glazed coldly towards Yang Kai.
“Ha ha ha ha!” Yang Kai laughed wildly and unscrupulously and nodded firmly, “Satisfied!”
“Then please draw back!” The old man quickly said. Yang Kai standing next to their platform always gave the old man a feeling of having a blade hanging over his head, which forced him to divert a portion of his attention in case Yang Kai all of a sudden decided to attack, which made it even more difficult for him to handle the surrounding Evil Spirits.
“There’s no rush!” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, his demeanor extremely relaxed.
The old man’s expression sank, and he did his best to hold in his anger.
Yang Kai then brought out one of his newly acquired Purifying Spirit Bottles and began slowly absorbing the Evil Spirit Essence floating above their platform.
These essences were precisely the ones that had condensed from the Evil Spirits the old man’s group and the Free And Unfettered Sect disciples had killed. The fruits of their life and death labour, but because they had no spare time to absorb them they had simply been left floating there.
Watching Yang Kai strut around in front of them while casually collecting Evil Spirit Essences made Yu Qing smile as hard as he could, occasionally opening his mouth, but eventually not saying anything.
The old man’s face was also quite ugly, and he was also doing his best to resist his urge to spit blood.
After what seemed like a long time, Yang Kai glanced around at the remaining Evil Spirit Essences floating near the plateau and nodded as he smiled happily, “Keep it up, I’ll be back soon!”
Hearing these words almost made everyone die from rage.
Although his four newly acquired Purifying Spirit Bottles weren’t full yet, Yang Kai decided to first return to his group’s side before continuing his collection.
Landing amongst his comrades, Yang Kai offhandedly threw the four Purifying Spirit Bottles to the Hu Sisters, “Take however much you want.”
“En.” Both Hu Sisters smiled sweetly, like they were staring at their sweetheart.
Although all four of these Purifying Spirit Bottles were given to Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er, none of the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples complained.
Both of their groups had already harvested two full bottles of Evil Spirit Essence.
The debt Yang Kai owed Ghost King Valley had been paid back ten times over with some extra as gifts.
As for Tao Yang and the other Treasure Instrument Sect disciples, their four Brothers and Sisters had only come here because their Master wanted to try using Evil Spirit Essence to refine an artifact.
Their original plan was to kill a few red Evil Spirits and then leave having completed their task, but now they had forty purple Evil Spirit Essences, a huge harvest. Thus, how could they have any complaints?
What’s more, they had all seen how Hu Mei Er did not hesitate to jump into the Evil Spirit Spring to find Yang Kai, so it was obvious that the relationship between these two sisters and Yang Kai wasn’t simple. At the very least, they weren’t recently acquainted strangers.
If so, it was no wonder that Yang Kai had been able to convince them to join their group so easily, even though they had a prior enmity.
Thinking till here, all of them glanced back and forth between Yang Kai and the Hu Sisters, and an ambiguous and snide look appeared on their faces.
“Sure enough, he’s really just a no good playboy!” Leng Shan secretly gnashed her teeth as a strange bitterness rose in her heart.
Originally, in that isolated world, this little bastard gained so many cheap advantages from both her and Zi Mo. Had it not been for an enemy showing up at the last moment, he and Zi Mo would have already…
At that time, if Zi Mo had really been eaten by him, Leng Shan was certain she wouldn’t have escaped his grasp either.
She had never thought that this trip to the Evil Cavern would reunite them, and that they would then run into a pair of country destroying beauties, twins at that, who also happened to be his sweethearts!
Just how many women did he have? For them to run into them in this random forsaken place, what kind of probability was that?
As these thoughts rampaged about her head, Leng Shan became more and more confused and secretly decided to do her absolute best to avoid entangling herself with Yang Kai in the future. Although she truly felt he was a good person, her intuition was constantly warning her not to get involved with him.
She felt, if she kept walking near him, she’d one day find herself lacking her purity without even knowing how it happened.
Even she had dreams of wanting to marry into a good family. Feeling a sense of kinship with the Hu Sisters, she wanted to say something to them and thus opened her mouth to speak.
But after a moment, no words came to mind, and instead she just flapped her lips before sighing and turning away.
Atop the pillar, Yang Kai sat cross-legged on the ground and withdrew the evil energy back into the Unyielding Golden Skeleton while allowing the True Yang Yuan Qi in his dantian to re-fill his meridians.
The Evil Qi that erupted out of the Evil Spirit Spring could be swallowed directly into the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, but the Evil Spirit Essences first had to be refined with his True Yang Yuan Qi before he could truly absorb them.
Carefully inspecting the essences stored in his dantian, Yang Kai found that there were exactly one hundred, and one of which was distinctly different from the others.
It was the essence left behind after the Soul Type Evil Spirit’s death.
After considering for a moment, Yang Kai decided to refine this unique essence last.
The best things should always be enjoyed at the end of one’s meal.
Extracting the other essences from his dantian into his meridians, Yang Kai began using his True Qi to refine them all while meditating over his own Martial Dao.
As he cultivated, Yang Kai felt his understanding of the world’s principles being shackled by some ethereal force, but he remained unconcerned. This was, after all, a normal occurrence when a cultivator attempted to make a breakthrough.
After breaking free of these shackles and surmounting this layer of resistance, a cultivator’s strength would increase once more, and if they failed to do so, their cultivation could only halt where it was. The higher one’s strength became, the more intense this resistance would be.
This was one of the reasons why the growth of a cultivator slowed as their realm rose.
Sometimes a cultivator would sink into a meditative state all year round precisely because the limitations of their aptitude prevented them from reaching a higher realm.
This bondage was especially noticeable when one reached Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary.
It was because of this, that in this world very few cultivators could make the breakthrough to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary, so anyone who made the breakthrough to Above Immortal Ascension Boundary was considered an overlord! At the very least, they would be the head of a first-class force.
There was only one obvious exception, Ling Tai Xu, after all, High Heaven Pavilion was only a second-class Sect, although now it had been disbanded.
As Yang Kai meditated, he used his Soul and Spiritual Essence to constantly impact this layer of shackles.
Time passed by slowly.
After who knows how long, the restraints holding Yang Kai back suddenly ruptured, and his whole body immediately emitted rays of light, and like a caged beast that had suddenly broke free, his mind, body, and soul all experienced an indescribable sense of freedom.
It seemed like this world’s rules could no longer stop his ascent to the peak of martial arts.
An intangible aura, with Yang Kai as its center, exploded outwards and sent out waves of visible ripples above the pillar.
Those around him who were still laughing and smiling about their amazing good fortune were shocked by this unexpected movement and quickly turned to look towards Yang Kai.
When they realized that these vibrations had come about because Yang Kai was making a breakthrough, all of them are exposed strange expressions.
Daring to break through in this dangerous environment, Yang Kai really had guts!
True Element Boundary, Sixth Stage!
Even though he had successfully broken through, Yang Kai didn’t immediately get up. He still circulated his Secret Art as he continued to refine the remaining Evil Spirit Essences and absorb them into the Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
Since Yang Kai had just make a breakthrough, the Unyielding Skeleton no longer felt saturated, which resulted in a whirlpool like suction that quickly inhaled the purified Evil Spirit Essences.
Although he had only broken through a moment ago, but because of this devouring of pure energy, his realm was quickly consolidated.
However, within his dantian, there was still a single Evil Spirit Essence left.
It was the Special Essence he had obtained from killing the Soul Type Evil Spirit.
Yang Kai grinned and unconsciously became excited as he stared at this Special Essence, and he was anxious to see what kind of benefits it would bring him.
As he drew this essence into his meridians, Yang Kai instantly used his True Qi to smelt it.
Slowly removing the impurities, the essence became more and more sublime.
This lump of energy lived up to its name as a Special Evil Spirit Essence; Yang Kai actually spent a whole hour purifying it.
After finally refining this Special Essence, it began to circulate throughout Yang Kai’s meridians and brought a strange euphoric feeling with it wherever it went, which once again clearly distinguished it from other ordinary Evil Spirit Essences.
Then, suddenly, this mass of pure energy quickly flowed through his meridians straight to his head, and then disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The next moment, Yang Kai noticed that his Spiritual Energy had grown significantly.
This Evil Spirit Essence could actually increase his total amount of Spiritual Energy!
Not only that, but as he continued to observe the changes in his body he noticed he had also gained something more.
Yang Kai’s eyes shot open as lightning seemingly flashed across them and then sparkled as he stared off into the distance, like he was lost in thought, and then his mouth slowly curled in a strange grin.
As he slowly got up, Yang Kai turned his gaze towards the old man atop the other pillars.
“Brother Yang, are you okay?” Chen Yi hurriedly asked.
“En, I couldn’t be any better.” Yang Kai nodded firmly, while still staring towards the old man with a dangerous light that slowly crept into his gaze.
Seemingly detecting Yang Kai’s hostile gaze, the old man couldn’t help but turn around to meet eyes, and he wrinkled his brow after a moment.
He found that this strange youth had somehow undergone some kind of subtle change. Compared to just before, he now seemed to be more confident, more arrogant, and more domineering.
[Only having promoted a single Minor Realm and now wanting to hit back against this old master?] The old man sneered to himself and really wondered what gave this brat the confidence to act so presumptuously before him.
Yang Kai really was thinking about dealing with this old man.
This old dog, in order to snatch that Special Evil Spirit Essence, had struck to kill Yang Kai a moment ago. If it weren’t for Yang Kai’s physique being far more tenacious than an average True Element cultivator, and the True Qi within his body being exceptionally pure, which allowed him to condense a Yang Liquid Shield at that last moment, he really would have ended up dead.
Although he had already extracted a bit of interest right now, the original debt had still yet to be paid, and fully collecting on what he was owed had always been Yang Kai’s philosophy. Enduring such a slight was simply not in his nature.
But as his eyes flashed, Yang Kai gradually withdrew his hostility.
Right now, he still wasn’t completely confident he could kill this old man. After all, the other party’s realm was much higher than his own, so even with the new ability he had just acquired, he didn’t have a hundred percent grasp of success.
[Seems that I still have to use strategy.]
“Brother Yang.” Tao Yang interrupted his train of thoughts, and his expression was dignified as he looked at Yang Kai, “All of us just discussed a moment ago; we think staying here long-term isn’t a solution.”
“En.” Yang Kai thought so too. Before they couldn’t escape because all the nearby Evil Spirits had come flooding towards here, which forced them into a situation where they could only seek refuge atop these giant stone pillars, but now that all of the surrounding Evil Spirits had gathered here, no doubt it would be safer outside rather than continuing to wait here, “What do you want to do?”
“All of us want to leave here,” said Chen Yi, his brow quickly furrowing, “But once we leave this plateau, all of the surrounding Evil Spirits will likely attack us, making it very dangerous to move about.”
“Then what do you propose?” Yang Kai had undoubtedly become the core of this group, so it was natural for them to place their hopes upon him.
“Brother Yang, can you fly while still maintaining such a large defensive shield?” Chen Yi asked somewhat embarrassedly. Wanting Yang Kai to shelter all the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples along with the Hu Sisters was a rather excessive request.
On top of that, they didn’t even know if Yang Kai had enough True Qi to accomplish such a feat right now.
“I’ve never tried something like that, but I should be able to manage it.” Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, thinking that maintaining such a wide area shield would cost him a lot of True Qi, but he calculated that he should still have enough Yang Liquid in his dantian to accomplish it.
“If so, then we’d like to take a chance,” Chen Yi nodded.
*Dong dong…*
Just as their group was deliberating their escape plans, suddenly, from nearby, a series of deep powerful thumps, like the beating of a huge heart, rang out.
Everyone suddenly wore the same expression and turned their gaze towards the direction from where the sound originated.
After waiting for a moment, the pounding sound came again.
This time, everyone had clearly seen where the sound had come from The epicentre of the Evil Spirit Spring, the place where all of this turbulent Evil Qi had erupted from.
*Pu pu pu…*
The thick turbulent Evil Qi below them suddenly seemed like it was boiling. One giant bubble after another emerged from its surface, only to burst a moment later and release large amounts of Evil Qi into the air.
As these bubbles began bursting, the entire sea of Evil Qi actually surged and roiled more violently than ever before.
At that moment, the thick black Evil Qi began to rise at an incredible rate, like it was exploding.
Watching this, everyone couldn’t help but turn pale.
After three short breaths, this raging sea of Evil Qi had already started to approach the top of the pillars where they stood and showed no sign of slowing.
“Bad!” Tao Yang shouted, his expression completely aghast.
Everyone quickly retreated towards the centre of the plateau, fearing they might accidentally be contaminated by this potent Evil Qi.
With the Evil Spirit Spring suddenly becoming so unstable, even if they wanted to go now it was likely too late, and all of them nearly fell into a panic, having no idea what to do now.
Even the old man was also frightened by this sight; although he knew about the existence of the Evil Spirit Spring, this was still the first time he had encountered it, so, now that the situation had exceeded his knowledge, he was also at a loss about what he should do.
Seeing that the Evil Qi would sooner or later engulf them, the old man knew that staying put and waiting this crisis out was no longer an option, roaring angrily as he cursed his rotten luck, he quickly glanced around at his juniors and the remaining Free and Unfettered Sect disciples and loudly shouted, “If you don’t want to die, follow me!”
Done talking, the old man unleashed a vicious palm strike, forced open a gap in the surrounding Evil Spirit’s, quickly wrapped his True Qi around his four juniors, and then shot off the pillar towards Yang Kai’s direction.
The few Free And Unfettered Sect males also hurried to keep up, using all kinds of Martial Skills and artifacts to protect themselves and temporarily safeguard their lives.
Yang Kai remained indifferent. Narrowing his eyes as he watched the old man rapidly approach them, his eyes flashed a ruthless light.
The purpose of the old man flying in their direction was self-evident.
A moment later, this entire space would be flooded by the Evil Spirit Spring’s Evil Qi, by that time, the high pillar where Yang Kai and his group were located would be the only safe haven.
With the Light Curtain formed from twenty overlapping layers of True Yang Yuan Qi, it would hopefully be enough to resist the Evil Qi’s corrosion.
In this life or death crisis, the old man took decisive action.
Flying right up beside them, the old man did not immediately take action and instead called out to Yang Kai and plead, “Little friend, although there are many unpleasant matters between this old master and yourself, but at this time, the old master still must ask you if you can open a few spaces for us?”
Yang Kai just gazed at him cynically, lightly quipping, “Old man, don’t you see that our side is full?”
The old man’s expression immediately sank, as he hurriedly said, “That’s why this old master is asking you to open up a few seats! With the Evil Spirit Spring acting up like this, no one here knows what will happen next. If you have this old master, an Immortal Ascension Master’s help, you’ll have a higher chance of survival, right? The strength of the different members of your group varies greatly, you should simply kick out a few of the weaker ones! In this life or death crisis, one should know who they can use and who they can discard!”
“Senior…” Yu Qing urgently cut in, clearly understanding what the old man’s meaning was. He had likely not planned to allow all of their Free And Unfettered Sect disciples to remain, which naturally sent him into a panic.
Of course, no one here was a fool, and all of them understood, as they quickly directed angry glares towards the old man. How could they not figure out that this old dog was intending to sacrifice some of them so he could live?
However, Yang Kai just sneered and lightly shook his head, “I’m fine with the way things are right now, so I’ll have to reject Senior’s gracious offer!”
“Arrogant Junior! You’ve brought this upon yourself!” The old man angrily shouted.
With the Evil Qi still rising higher and higher, he had no more time to waste.
“This old master by himself is insufficient! You Free And Unfettered Sect brats help this old master drive them out then we can all occupy this light shield! It’s our best chance to survive!” The old man commanded
“Good!” Yu Qing replied overjoyed, not hesitating in the slightest as he readily agreed.
Everyone gathered atop the platform’s expression became dignified. Even if this old man was a shameless bastard, he was still an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage master, none of them knew if they, with their True Element Boundary cultivations, could repel him.
Only Yang Kai continued smiling lightly, as he stared back scornfully at the old man, seeming to ridicule him with his gaze.
*Boom … * A fire dragon phantom suddenly sprang up from the pillar, and flew towards the old man, which seemed to signal the start of their battle.
Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi curtain atop the high pillar had now become the only safe haven in this entire cavern, and obviously no one was willing to surrender it, so facing the old man’s rampant aggression, naturally no one held back their strength.
The next moment, a variety of Martial Skills and artifact strikes illuminated the dark cave.
The old man’s group didn’t back down either and stuck out fully as well.
But after only a single confrontation, everyone atop the platform frowned.
The old man, the sole Immortal Ascension Boundary master here, had single handedly intercepted all of their attacks.
Although this caused the old man no small amount of effort, he nevertheless had successfully blunted their full assault.
Meanwhile, the True Element cultivators behind him remained free to attack and quickly suppressed Yang Kai’s group.
Everyone atop the pillar couldn’t help paling; with an Immortal Ascension Boundary defending before them, even if they wanted to kill the weaker ones behind him they were unable to.
In a short time, the sea of Evil Qi had again risen a lot and would soon swallow up anyone outside the Light Curtain.
The old man’s four juniors and the Free And Unfettered Sect disciples also went all out, pushing their True Qi to the limit as they relentlessly attacked.
As for the old man himself, he was like a hovering hawk, with his gaze firmly locked onto Yang Kai. His intuition told him that this unusual young man was still concealing his full strength and would certainly use his hidden methods soon.
If it were normal circumstances, he would proceed carefully, probing this kid’s depths once or twice lest he find himself suddenly taken by surprise, but in this moment of crisis, how could he still have the leisure to do so?
Condensing his True Qi while pushing his hand forward, the old man sent out a huge palm towards Yang Kai in an attempt to end things with this single strike.
Yang Kai coldly snorted and pointed his finger forward to condense a flaming red shield in front of himself.
*Boom…*
As the old man’s palm landed on the Yang Liquid shield, although the shield instantly fragmented, it still managed to block the blow.
Not waiting for the old man to recover, an invisible wave of energy burst out from Yang Kai’s mind. Silent and undetectable, it bypassed the old man’s blockade and arrived at the crowd of juniors behind him instantly.
The old man’s expression stiffened, in that moment, he had faintly perceived a foreign Divine Sense sweep past him.
Not understanding what had happened, he quickly turned back only to see a burst of purple light suddenly appear behind him.
This purple fan-shaped halo immediately engulfed the old man’s four disciples and the Free And Unfettered Sect disciples.
Having been struck by this silent strike, these True Element Boundary juniors suddenly trembled, and their faces contorted in pain.
In the next breath, another burst of purple light emerged…
Followed by a third …
“AH!!” Yu Qing clutched his head and screamed in pain as he staggered. His True Qi’s circulation was thrown into disorder, which sent him plummeting from the air.
When Yu Qing’s body fell into the sea of Evil Qi, a burst of sizzling noises burst out as his body was quickly corroded. His flesh and blood festered as it melted, and soon only bleached bones were left behind.
In addition to Yu Qing, all of the other Free And Unfettered Sect disciples and the old man’s four juniors also shared similar fates. Some of them fell to their deaths while others were ripped apart by nearby Evil Spirits.
In the blink of an eye, the old man’s group had been reduced to him alone. A look of absolute shock was plastered all over his face.
*Deng deng deng deng…*
The old man backpedalled hurriedly and stared at Yang Kai in horror, “A Soul Skill!”
Yang Kai simply smiled back at the old man brightly.
“Impossible!” The old man’s face looked like he had seen some kind of unfathomable monster, and he was absolutely unable to believe what was happening even though it was right in front of his eyes.
This youth was no doubt a True Element Boundary Sixth Stage cultivator, yet just now he had definitely used a Soul Skill! Moreover, this Soul Skill was quite familiar to the old man; it was clearly the attack the Soul Type Evil Spirit had used just now, and the only difference between them was that scope of this youth’s attack was somewhat narrower.
“Correct, a Soul Skill!” Yang Kai stared at the old man provocatively. “From that Special Evil Spirit Essence. Old dog, face your death!”
“No… that’s impossible!” The old man still hadn’t recovered from his shock. Although the three halos hadn’t affected him much, nevertheless his Soul had taken some minor damage, which caused a faint lingering pain in his head, “Even if you obtained that Soul Skill from that Special Essence, without first cultivating out your Divine Sense you couldn’t have used it!”
Muttering these words, the old man’s eyes flashed brilliantly, and he pointed towards Yang Kai as he stuttered, “Could it be… that lump of essence allowed you to awaken your Divine Sense!?”
“Well, something like that.” Yang Kai snickered and didn’t bother to explain any further.
In truth, Yang Kai had begun cultivating his Divine Sense a long time ago, and by now his Soul and Spiritual Energy were by no means weak, or else he wouldn’t have been able to use this new Soul Skill of his three times in a row while still looking calm and relaxed
Even if it was an ordinary initial stage Immortal Ascension Boundary master it would normally be impossible to cast such a powerful Soul Skill three times consecutively.
Atop the high pillar, all of Yang Kai’s comrades also couldn’t hide their shock, and none of them thought that at this critical moment Yang Kai would pull out such unbelievable methods to once again turn the tide.
Although most of them had only encountered Yang Kai recently, but in this short period of time they had traveled and fought together, they had watched him repeatedly reveal unfathomable skills and phenomenal strength over and over again, as he frequently produced what could only be described as miracles one after another.
Everyone knew that if they hadn’t come across Yang Kai on this trip to the Evil Cavern, they all would have likely died a long time ago.
Even if he wasn’t their life’s benefactor, Yang Kai’s immense and profound strength alone was enough for everyone present to secretly swear to themselves to befriend him, or at the very least never become his enemy.
The old man stared down at the Evil Spirit Spring painfully for a moment; the four juniors he had so desperately protected all this time had all just died like that, naturally his hatred towards Yang Kai had reached an extreme level now.
His expression becoming incomparably cold. He hesitated for a while before suddenly turning away and roaring, “Little brat, you better survive this so that one day this old master can flay your skin and crush your bones!”
Even if Yang Kai had somehow mastered a Soul Skill, the old man still didn’t fear him.
In the old man’s opinion, the only thing here worthy of his attention was the Evil Spirit Spring below!
Unable to quickly occupy the Light Curtain atop Yang Kai’s pillar, the old man decided to make a run for it, hoping that now he was alone he would be able to escape with his life.
“Want to leave? You think you can get away so easily?” Yang Kai coldly shouted and directly soared off the plateau. Catching up to the old man quickly, a burst of Spiritual Energy shot out from his brow, but this force and the one he had released earlier were somewhat different, instead of an invisible wave, it was more akin to a ray of purple light that immediately sank into the old man’s head.
This was the other Soul Skill the Soul Type Evil Spirit had used before; instead of a wide range dispersed attack, this one was a focused strike. While the two were similar in nature, their uses were quite different.
Obviously, the old man hadn’t expected Yang Kai to give chase, much less use a second, more potent Soul Skill against him, which caught him off guard. As the purple light struck his soul, the old man’s body crumpled and fell, and half of his body immediately submerged into the thick roiling Evil Qi below.
A fizzling sound resounded; it was like the old man’s lower half had fallen into a burning hot pot of oil. The Evil Spirit Spring had an unparalleled corrosive effect, so although it had only been a moment, it had already eaten away a large part of the old man’s body.
The old man screamed in pain and circulated his True Qi furiously as he tried to resist the Demonic Qi that invaded his body.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the thick black Demonic Qi continued to spread unabated.
Still, the old man gritted his teeth and persevered, doing his best to fly upwards to escape, but it was as if the Evil Spirit Spring was exuding an enormous suction, like an invisible hand that was fiercely trying to pull him down into the depths.
It was almost as if he had fallen into a demonic swamp. The harder he struggled, the faster he was pulled under.
Yang Kai didn’t waste this opportunity and flew straight above the old man’s head before sending out a double palm strike, exerting a mountain like pressure on him in an attempt to force him down.
With a combination of his Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast and his newly acquired Soul Skill, the two palm prints sent out brilliant crimson purple hue.
A Heaven shaking blow!
Although the old man had the power of an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage master, right now he was nothing more than a caged tiger unable to display any of his strength. With an extremely unwilling roar, he was helplessly submerged into the sea of Demonic Qi by Yang Kai’s attack.
Along with a series of pitiful howls, the old man’s faintly visible outline could still be seen struggling beneath the Demonic Qi’s surface, but unable to break free of the Evil Spirit Spring’s shackles, he simply continued to sink deeper and deeper before he gradually disappeared.
Only a few breaths later, the old man’s voice disappeared, silenced forever.
Even Yang Kai’s expression was a bit grim as he watched this scene. He hadn’t expected that this Evil Spirit Spring’s corrosive power would be so overwhelming, even able to dissolve the body of an Immortal Ascension Boundary master within mere seconds. With his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, he could swim freely through this demonic sea, but if anyone else were to fall into it, they would only have one fate, death!
[Can my True Yang Yuan Qi shield on the platform… really withstand this?]
With a dignified expression upon his face, Yang Kai hurriedly returned to his group.
Using his Spiritual Energy so many times had really exhausted him, but outwardly Yang Kai didn’t show any signs of fatigue.
Landing back atop the pillar, Yang Kai noticed that everyone was gawking at him, obviously unable to believe that he had managed to kill an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage master, let along accomplish the feat so easily.
Although they all knew that this was not Yang Kai’s own ability, and most of the credit belonged to the Evil Spirit Spring, it was still an extremely shocking matter.
“Ahem… well, it appears that we’re the only ones left here,” Chen Yi said lightly after awkwardly coughing, which woke the crowd of youths from their stupor.
“Yeah, everyone else died…” Leng Shan glanced over at the empty platform opposite them, not completely convinced she wasn’t dreaming.
The matter of her Ghost King Valley seriously offending Free And Unfettered Sect this time worried Leng Shan greatly, and she feared that when they returned her master would punish all of them, but she had never expected that Yu Qing and his group, who was the only ones who knew about this, would all die here. It was quite a favourable result.
If no one from Free And Unfettered Sect made it back alive, naturally nobody would report what had transpired here.
“It’s reached us!” Tao Yang suddenly shouted, his eyes fixedly stared outside the Light Curtain.
With the Evil Spirit Spring erupting even more violently now, the Demonic Qi sea had now finally exceeded the height of their refuge and continued upwards at an astounding pace until it had completely flooded the Evil Cavern.
As they gazed around, the only thing Yang Kai and his group could see was an endless ocean of darkness, a think black liquid that blotted out all light, which churned restlessly about them.
Outside the Light Curtain, they occasionally spotted some Evil Spirit wandering about aimlessly within the Evil Qi.
Everyone couldn’t help but thank the Heavens that they hadn’t rashly tried to escape from this cavern, or else once they had left this defensive shield, they would have soon been swallowed up by this sea of Evil Qi.
*Fssst…* As the Evil Qi scraped past Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi shield, a constant sizzling sound rang out as the two energies collided and rapidly consumed one another.
As time passed, everyone’s nerves became taught as they stared at the Light Curtain and prayed it held.
Now, if this Light Curtain were to fail, everyone here knew that except for Yang Kai, all of them would certainly die.
*Dong dong…*
An even more violent sound echoed from the Evil Spirit Spring as its eruption became more and more intense, which caused everyone’s heart to pound even faster and all but sent them into a panic, terrified of what might happen next.
*Pu…* Suddenly, the sound of something breaking reached everyone’s ears.
Zhao Rong, the first to notice, immediately went pale as she called out in fright, “The outermost layer just broke!”
“Are you sure?” Cheng Ying’s face also turned green as he quickly questioned.
It had only been so long yet a layer of the Light Curtain had actually been shattered. That meant if this pace kept up, it wouldn’t be long before this platform was no longer safe!
“It’s true, I just saw it!” Zhao Rong cried out in a trembling voice.
Sometimes death was not so terrible, like when someone was suddenly slashed by a sword and died before realizing it.
What was truly terrifying was the feeling of waiting for death, the kind of long drawn out suffering, anxiety, and helplessness that grated against one’s will.
“What happens if all of them break?” Cheng Ying asked with a mournful face.
“Shut your mouth!” Leng Shan reprimanded loudly.
Immediately everyone turned and looked at Yang Kai.
All of them hoped he could once again create a miracle and save them from this crisis.
Yang Kai took a deep breath before saying, “I can condense more of these defensive shields!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Chen Yi letting out a happy laugh, “See, didn’t I say Brother Yang would surely have a way, hahaha! With this there’s nothing for us to worry about.”
As long as they hid behind this Light Curtain, aside from it being unnerving, they were actually quite safe.
However, Tao Yang’s brow slightly wrinkled, as he looked at Yang Kai thoughtfully and quietly asked, “How many layers can Brother Yang put up?”
Quickly checking the amount of Yang Liquid in his dantian, Yang Kai lightly said, “Fifty layers shouldn’t be a problem.”
Hearing this, Tao Yang coughed as he choked up and stared at Yang Kai like he was some kind of monster.
The True Qi contained in a single layer of this defensive shield was enormous, as for fifty layers… Tao Yang simply couldn’t fathom how much True Qi Yang Kai had within him.
But immediately after, his brow furrowed again, and he muttered with worry, “Regardless, the problem is how long it will take before this Evil Spirit Spring eruption ends. Even if Brother Yang goes all out, I’m afraid that this shield will only last about half an hour, if the Evil Qi hasn’t receded by then…”
Yang Kai’s brow also wrinkled. This was the point he was worried about as well.
Although he didn’t have to worry about his own safety, but the Hu Sisters were still here, and there was no way he could simply sit back and watch them die.
This pair of twin sisters had been very good to Yang Kai even back when he was still a weak little brat, so they no doubt held a special place in his heart.
Fifty additional layers was actually Yang Kai’s most conservative estimate.
If they really arrived at a critical point, he would shield the Hu Sisters in his remaining True Qi and fly the two of them out of here.
The reason he chose to stay here for now was because Yang Kai was trying his best to get along well with everyone from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect.
But ultimately, he was just one man and was unable to take on the responsibility for everyone here. Although escaping at the end was somewhat selfish, in a life or death crisis Yang Kai would still prioritize those closest to him.
For a time, everyone on the platform’s mood was tense and restless.
Hu Mei Er quietly looked at Yang Kai, but seeing no signs of worry on his face, she subconsciously leaned towards him.
Hu Jiao Er, aware of her little sister’s thoughts, simply smiled and glanced elsewhere.
“That’s right, do you have any news about my Grand Master?” Relatively unconcerned with their current situation, Yang Kai decided to inquire about his other worries and softly asked Hu Mei Er about any news related to his Sect.
“Your Grand Master?” Hu Mei Er looked at him in confusion before quickly blushing and averting her gaze as their faces were too close.
“Ling Tai Xu.”
“Oh.” Hu Mei Er nodded softly and quickly collected her thoughts, “We don’t know much, only that one night a great battle erupted inside High Heaven Pavilion. It seemed like the Qiu Family lead a group of people to seize control of your Sect and then a fight broke out. I heard daddy say that Sect Master Ling seemed to have made the breakthrough to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary. Sect Master Ling is really amazing!”
“What was the outcome of that war?” Yang Kai nervously asked.
“Sect Master Ling used his incredible strength along with your four Elders to push back all of the Qiu Family’s masters, but after that, Sect Master Ling and the four Elders seemed to have disappeared.”
“That’s good.” Yang Kai couldn’t help but breath easier, though he knew that his Grand Master wouldn’t have any issues escaping that situation, but after such a long time of not hearing any news about Ling Tai Xu, he inevitably had some worries.
“While your High Heaven Pavilion people might have been able to get away, those of us from the Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall didn’t have such luck.” Hu Mei Er stared at Yang Kai, and her tone was slightly harsh but without any real sense of blame.
“What happened?”
“The Demon Lord came from High Heaven Pavilion, then the team sent by the Qiu Family to suppress your Sect was knocked back, on top of that it seems a very important figure from the Qiu Family went missing during the battle with no contact from them as of yet. So the next group that came were extremely overbearing, shifting the blame onto our Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall after they couldn’t discover any traces of your Sect, therefore the members of our Sects were forced to come to the front lines of the battle against the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land to prove our innocence, or else, why would Elder Sister and I be here?” Hu Mei Er softly explained.
Listening to her story, Yang Kai finally understood why these two treasured daughters of Heaven would suddenly appear in the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land. They had been forcefully conscripted to fight in this war and had apparently been separated from their Sect at some point.
Unfamiliar with this place, they inadvertently moved deeper and deeper into these lands and eventually came across those Free And Unfettered Sect scum, fleeing until they wound up here at the Evil Cavern.
“I’m just joking with you, I don’t blame High Heaven Pavilion for all of this, it was the Qiu Family that were being too unreasonable!” Hu Mei Er frantically explained after she saw Yang Kai go silent and worried that he was upset.
“Good, I understand.” Yang Kai replied listlessly before suddenly asking, “Su Yan? Have you heard anything about Su Yan after that?”
“No.” Hu Mei Er shook her head lightly, apparently not knowing that Su Yan and the other High Heaven Pavilion Sect members had passed through the Void Corridor and had escaped some ten thousand kilometers away, “There’s been no word about where your High Heaven Pavilion disciples and elders have gone now, and that important figure in the Qiu Family is also still missing, so the ones who came to later to investigate took out their anger on your High Heaven Pavilion… all that’s left now is charred ruins.”
Yang Kai sighed deeply and nodded, “A-alright.”
“Um… well… don’t mind it…” Hu Mei Er couldn’t bear seeing Yang Kai looking so depressed, but not knowing how to comfort him, she simply leaned against him and gently held his hand.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but glance over in surprise.
Hu Mei Er lowered her head in silence. In her mind she thought to herself: [We are about to die anyway. Since I already have him by my side, I don’t want to let go. At least, not now. After cultivating the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art, I began to get influenced by my Elder Sister’s perception and way of living. Ah… in the past, when I first met him, I can’t believe I was so bold as to try and seduce him! To think I would feel embarrassed now…]
Time seemed to pass by extremely slowly.
Facing the pressure of death made everyone’s mood incredibly serious, and all of their hearts raced as cold sweat dripped down their brows.
All of them maintained a heightened state of vigilance and constantly monitored the True Yang Yuan Qi shield’s situation.
Every time one of the Light Curtain layers ruptured, a shiver was sent up everyone’s spine.
Not long after the Evil Qi Sea had enveloped them, all twenty layers of the defence shield had broken. Fortunately, Yang Kai had pre-emptively put up a new set of shields, for which everyone was immensely grateful.
As the Demonic Qi swirled around them, Evil Spirits constantly wandered about just outside the shield as massive bubbles of frigid Yin Qi welled up from below.
The temperature dropped rapidly.
Everyone inside the Light Curtain was a True Element Boundary cultivator, so with their True Qi protecting their bodies a simple chill wouldn’t affect them in the slightest. However, now those with slightly lower cultivations soon had frost developing on their hair as they began shivering from the cold, and even their breath became a visible, fine white fog.
Even the strongest of them also couldn’t help but feel chilly, and aside from Yang Kai who was indifferent to this cold, no one else could ignore it.
Outside the Light Curtain, the sea of Evil Qi had seemingly transformed into an icy hell, capable of freezing the soul of anyone who had the misfortune of straying into it.
*Dong dong…*
The pounding sound that originated from the core of Evil Spirit Spring never stopped, and instead only increased in magnitude with time until eventually every pulse shook and rattled the pillar upon which everyone stood.
*Pa pa pa…*
The giant bubbles of Yin Qi continued to burst around them one after another, stirring up all kinds of cold black evil energy.
As each True Yang Yuan Qi layer burst, Yang Kai’s expression gradually became heavier.
A little later, a series of loud thumps echoed from the Evil Spirit Spring’s core.
After this burst of sound though, everything went silent.
Everyone glanced back and forth at one another with anxiety and confusion apparent on their faces.
However, before they could figure out what was going on, a sudden surge of cold energy crashed towards them, like the frigid winds from an eternally snow-capped mountain, carrying a bone-chilling Yin Qi that seemed to originate from the ninth level of purgatory, which instantly caused everyone who felt it to shudder.
*Kacha…*
In an instant, the True Yang Yuan Qi shield was covered in a layer of ice, which was a seemingly impossible occurrence that left all who saw it aghast.
This frigid Yin Qi, coupled with the Demonic Qi, both smashed against the Light Curtains and doubled the pace at which they were being shaved away.
“Not good!” Cheng Ying muttered with his mouth agape and his eyes full of bitterness. Everyone was already on edge but had somehow managed to hold out hope through all of these hardships, but now this sudden change was almost like a sign that the Heavens had abandoned them.
His voice had hardly fallen through when suddenly all the Evil Qi began to flood backwards towards the core of the Evil Spirit Spring, and even the numerous Evil Spirits who floated nearby were drawn in as well.
Instead of an erupting spring, it now seemed like a giant whirlpool had formed, which devouring everything inside the Evil Cavern.
Countless piercing howls rang out as all of these Evil Spirits struggled desperately.
Even Yang Kai’s group atop the platform were also attracted by this suction, but fortunately, the Light Curtain offsets a large portion of this force or all of them would have already been drawn into this whirlpool.
As long as they circulated their True Qi slightly, they could offset the remaining suction force.
“What’s happening?” Chen Yi frowned as he glared towards the outside and noticed a ghostly light now pulsating a short distance away from where the Evil Spirit Spring’s core once was.
This light was not bright, but in this profound darkness, it seemed to emit a penetrating radiance.
Evil Spirit Essence! No doubt this was the Evil Spirit Spring’s Essence!
It was the Precious Treasure the old man had wanted before, a pity he had died before even being able to see it for himself.
As everyone observed this giant Evil Spirit Essence, they noticed that it was actually beating like a heart and was rapidly absorbing the surrounding energy with each pulse.
Slowly, this light disappeared, seeming to drown in the darkness of the Demonic Qi rushing towards it.
*Pa…*
Atop the pillar, another layer of the Light Curtain shattered.
Just as Yang Kai was about to spend another twenty drops of Yang Liquid to enhance the Light Curtain, Leng Shan cried out in surprise, “The Evil Spirit Spring is receding!”
At these words, everyone suddenly became ecstatic and turned their eyes towards the direction she was gazing, and sure enough, they saw a faint light shining in from the opposite side of the Evil Cavern.
With all the Demonic Qi rapidly flowing towards the Evil Spirit Spring’s core, naturally, there was a place it would drain from.
“Hahaha! The Heaven’s haven’t abandoned us after all!” Chen Yi shouted happily, just as everyone had felt death’s cold embrace wrapping around them, this light in darkness had once again ignited their hope for survival.
At the rate at which the Evil Spirit Spring was draining, it would only be a few dozen breaths before the Demonic Qi engulfing the high pillar receded.
Yang Kai, however, frowned and called out to everyone hastily, “The moment it’s clear we need to leave, this place is about to become extremely dangerous.”
“What do you mean?” Leng Shan asked, somewhat startled.
“Something or someone incredibly powerful is forming!” Yang Kai said with an intensely profound expression as he stared towards the Evil Spirit Spring’s core.
The others couldn’t yet use their Divine Senses, so all they could feel was the massive energy fluctuations radiating from the core, but Yang Kai could sense much more than they could.
All of the remaining Evil Spirits, as well as all of the Demonic Qi, was being sucked into the Evil Spirit Spring’s core and transformed into a single massive lump of energy, and as this energy gathered it was condensing into a coherent form.
The massive Evil Spirit Essence that had appeared in the centre of the spring was actually shaping into a body!
With so much energy being used to form this unknown entity, once it was finished forming its strength would be absolutely terrifying!
A moment later, the Demonic Qi had finally drained enough for them to leave.
“Go!” Yang Kai shouted, as he leapt off the platform and shot towards the Evil Cavern’s exit. Everyone else followed closely behind as well.
Now that a chance to escape had finally appeared, whether it was the Ghost King Valley or Treasure Instrument Sect disciples, everyone scampered as quickly as rabbits, cursed the fact that they were only born with two legs, and pushed their True Qi to the limit, not hesitating to use their Movement Skills and even their auxiliary artifacts to gain even the slightest bit more speed.
In terms of speed, Yang Kai was the fastest and led the way. The Hu Sisters used some kind of mystical ability that seemed to link their True Qis together and followed right behind him, effortlessly keeping pace.
But after only escaping some ten or so kilometers a terrifying roar resounded from somewhere behind them.
This roar caused the entire Evil Cavern to shudder like a slumbering beast had awoken after a long imprisonment.
A powerful blast of wind brushed past them a moment later. If they hadn’t already escaped this far, they would have been swept away by this shockwave.
Now acutely aware of just how outrageously powerful this unknown creature was, everyone’s faces drained of all colour, and they desperately channelled more of their True Qi in an attempt to increase their speed.
With such single-minded effort, everyone was naturally travelling quite quickly.
“Over there! The exit is over there!” Cheng Ying who had been serving as a scout before now and was the most familiar with the Evil Cavern’s terrain quickly pointed towards the exit.
In the direction he indicated, Yang Kai really could see a faint point of light different from the Evil Cavern’s gloomy illumination; not hesitating, Yang Kai quickly led the crowd towards the light.
Seeing this faint trace of sunlight, everyone couldn’t help but feel relieved, and all of them were eager to escape from this hellish experience.
However, when they were just about two kilometers from the exit, a group of Immortal Ascension Boundary masters suddenly appeared and flew towards them.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, and he secretly increased his level of vigilance.
These Immortal Ascension Boundary masters all possessed a dense Evil Qi, and an undisguised malicious and murderous aura radiated from their bodies. These people were definitely nothing good.
Of course, with such a large scale event happening inside the Evil Cavern it was only natural that it would attract nearby Immortal Ascension experts, but what depressed Yang Kai was that these people obviously realized he and his group were coming out of the Evil Cavern and would thus have information regarding what had happened.
The distance between the two groups rapidly shrunk as these Immortal Ascension Boundary masters locked their sights on Yang Kai and his group and called out to them as soon as they approached, “You brats over there, stop for this old master!”
Listening to this shout, which was nothing short of a command, made everyone’s heart sink.
After experiencing such a crisis and now finally seeing the path to escape within reach but being blocked at the final step, of course, they wouldn’t feel good.
“They’re the Ghost King’s Four Monsters and Demons!” Leng Shan’s expression darkened as she quickly whispered to Yang Kai, “All of them have reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage. We absolutely can’t fight them!”
She was afraid that Yang Kai might accidentally offend these four without knowing who they were, so she hurriedly explained their identities. Moreover, these four individuals were regarded as real devils who had committed all kinds of atrocious acts, and they had extremely notorious reputations even amongst those who inhabited the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land.
The four of them were very proficient in group combat, so even though they were only Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage masters, together they could hold their ground against even Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary masters for some time, so even though their enemies were incredibly numerous, they still lived relatively rich and indulgent lives.
What’s more, the four of them had close ties to the Profound Yin Ghost King!
Their temperaments were also ruthless, and if they were displeased in any way, they wouldn’t hesitate to massacre people in cruel and vicious ways.
Yang Kai naturally understood what to do, so when the man shouted out to them, although he was anxious and unwilling in his heart, he had no choice but to quickly stop.
The four old men flew side by side while wearing similarly designed robes that only differed in colour, which allowed each one of them to be easily identified.
These Four Monster and Demons wore blue, green, yellow, and purple respectively.
All of these old men stood above Yang Kai and looked down upon them in an arrogant manner, and then the blue-robed one started to interrogate them in a commanding tone, “Who are you? What happened here?”
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed lightly as he replied, “Seniors, we are disciples from Ghost King Valley who came here for life experience, as for what just happened, we don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” The blue-robed old man coldly snorted, clearly believing that Yang Kai was lying.
“Enough nonsense, just make him spit out what he knows on the way.” The green-robed old casually said.
“Good.” The blue-robed old man nodded and arrived in a flash beside Yang Kai.
Yang Kai instinctively began circulating his True Qi for a moment but quickly suppressed this urge. In the face of a single Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage master, he had no hope of resisting, let alone four of them.
Acting rashly would only make things worse!
The blue-robed old man easily seized Yang Kai, not even bothering to seal his cultivation before flying forward again, seemingly extremely confident this kid wouldn’t be able to resist him in the slightest.
“All of you exit first! When I come out I’ll find you.” Yang Kai shouted towards his comrades just before he and the four old men disappeared from sight.
“Yang Kai!” Both Hu Sisters paled in fright; they had been so close to escaping this forsaken place, yet now, how could this have happened?
The blue robed old man dragged Yang Kai along as the four Immortal Ascension masters quickly raced towards the interior of the Evil Cavern.
The green robed old man however couldn’t help but glance backwards, and then he grinned evilly, while his eyes flashed with a wicked green light, akin to a snake which had found its prey.
The two Hu Sisters’ delicate bodies that were reflected in the green robed man’s eyes trembled and suddenly began to give off a faint green glow.
Immediately, the two sisters discovered this change and hurriedly examined themselves, but soon found that they had not suffered any injuries, nor was their True Qi circulation obstructed in any way.
Leng Shan’s expression however became extremely ugly as she involuntarily muttered, “Shadow Marking!”
In fact, everyone from Ghost King Valley couldn’t help glancing sympathetically towards the Hu Sisters.
“Shadow Marking? What is this?” Hu Jiao Er asked nervously.
Leng Shan face was filled with a mix of worry and helplessness, and she hesitated for a while before finally explaining, “Of those Four Monsters And Demons, the one wearing green robes is extremely lascivious, and unfortunately, it looks like you two have caught his interest. This Shadow Marking is his unique technique, once he’s hit you with it, he’ll be able to sense your position and use it to influence your thoughts and emotions. If you’re close enough he’ll even be able to exert a certain amount of control over you directly.”
Listening to this, the two Hu Sisters’ beautiful faces suddenly lost all colour.
“What’s worse, the faint green aura your bodies are radiating right now signify that you’ve been marked by that old man’s technique. As long as you go outside, anybody who sees this colour will know that you’ve been hit by that bastard’s Shadow Marking,” Leng Shan suddenly continued, “Right now, he’s occupied with figuring out what happened inside the Evil Cavern, but since he’s left his Shadow Marking on you now, once they’re done he’ll definitely seek you out.”
“Even if he doesn’t come find you in person, some people will no doubt capture you and bring you to him in order to gain his favour. In short, you’re situation right now is quite grim!” Chen Yi followed up, his expression extremely dignified.
“Is there any way to break this technique,” Hu Jiao Er asked, her expression visibly distressed.
“Masters at the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage aren’t necessarily able to remove it. You only have two options, kill him or find someone of even higher strength!” Leng Shan bit her lip and replied.
Hearing Leng Shan’s conclusion, both the Hu Sisters’ hearts instantly sunk.
The Hu Sisters’ exact situation wasn’t known to Yang Kai, but the obscene light which had flickered past the green robed man’s eyes was clearly seen by him.
Immediately, Yang Kai’s expression became both sharper and colder.
The green robed old man pulling this little trick was apparently something commonplace, so it hadn’t even drawn the attention of the other three Monsters and Demons.
All of them had treated it simply like the passing breeze.
With the extremely fast speed of Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, it wasn’t long before the Four Monsters and Demons and Yang Kai had flown from the Evil Cavern’s entrance back to the room with the high pillars.
When they arrived nearby the two high platforms, the Four Monsters And Demons all narrowed their eyes and looked forward with a dignified expression.
At this moment, the Evil Spirit Spring has completely receded, and in its place was an exceptionally dark cocoon.
Atop this chrysalis were numerous blood red lines, like human veins, that pulsed with a kind of inexplicable energy.
However, this cocoon like object was incomparably massive and stood some fifteen to twenty meters tall, radiating a profound icy aura that seemed to even freeze one’s soul. Swirling about outside of it were tentacle like filaments composed of rich Demonic Qi.
*Dong dong…*
The sound of a heart beating inside the cocoon pounded one’s ears and produced shockwaves that caused the Souls and Divine Senses of the four Monsters And Demons and Yang Kai to tremble.
The blue robed old man, who was still gripping Yang Kai, furrowed his brow and waved his hands a few times before himself to block these residual waves.
“What is this?” The yellow robed old man muttered, as his expression switched between being confused and concerned.
All four of them had lived long lives and possessed vast experience and keen insight, but although they could feel just how enormous the pressure radiating from the cocoon in front of them was, and that it was definitely not something to be provoked lightly, none of them actually knew what it was.
The Evil Qi it gave off was so potent it was actually visible to the naked eye.
The four of them had only ever witnessed a similar phenomenon once before.
When they had met the new Demon Lord!
A few months ago, when the four of them were accompanying the Profound Yin Ghost King, they had the privilege of witnessing the new Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord’s Evil Qi had similarly reached this kind of height. The Profound Yin Ghost King had even told them that he was an actual Demon, a real Devil!
All of their so called Devil Path cultivators were only cheap imitations before him.
“Little brat, I’ll ask you once more, what exactly transpired here? If you dare say you don’t know again, this old master will cripple you and leave you here to die. Only if you tell me everything you know will this old master let you leave.” The blue robed old man spoke in a cold tone as he looked down at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression was ugly when he heard the old man’s threat, but eventually chose to answer, “This thing appeared from inside the Evil Spirit Spring.”
“The Evil Spirit Spring?” The Four Monsters And Demons’ expressions all changed, and even the blue robed old man’s voice suddenly became more animated.
The words Evil Spirit Spring were undoubtedly quite attractive to them.
“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded, as he simply described what had happened earlier while omitting a few key details.
The more the four old men listened, the more excited they became, and their originally unfriendly and ugly expressions were slowly replaced with looks of greed as they gazed towards the cocoon radiantly.
When Yang Kai had finished, these four old men no longer bothered to keep up appearances, and clear looks of avarice were plastered all over their faces.
“What do we do?” The other three looked nervously and expectantly at the blue robed old man while waiting for him to make a decision.
The blue robed old man was obviously also very excited. The Evil Spirit Spring rarely appeared, but every time it did it would bring forth many wondrous treasures. Things that even high level Immortal Ascension Boundary masters like themselves would be desperate to snatch.
However, this time the Evil Spirit Spring had actually bred such an unusual thing, something completely beyond their knowledge and understanding.
Given this unknown situation, the blue robed old man hesitated to make a hasty decision that might implicate his life.
“All of us aren’t far from breaking through the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage, but until now we have yet to find a suitable source of energy to assist us. If we miss this opportunity, who knows when we’ll have to wait till.” The purple robed old man obviously wanted to take the risk, eagerly trying to convince his comrades.
“Agreed.” The green robed old man and the yellow robed old man both nodded as well.
With all three of them clearly expressing their intentions, the blue robed old man couldn’t flatly reject them. What’s more, he himself also felt that the potential reward outweighed the risks and was only holding back because his intuition was faintly warning him things weren’t as simple as they seemed.
After silently hesitating for a moment, the blue robed old man’s eyes flashed and his expression became firm, and he nodded firmly, “Good!”
Having made his decision, the old man casually threw Yang Kai away, tossing him some thirty meters or so.
Before he had even landed though, Yang Kai felt an overwhelming force surge through his body. This force was filled with malicious intent so strong that even his True Yang Yuan Qi couldn’t fully offset it.
With a loud thud, Yang Kai smashed onto the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood. Several of his bones were. clearly broken, and his face was completely pale.
Seeing this, the blue robed old man simply sneered, “Hey, this old master kept his words, you’re free to go!”
Yang Kai glared back silently, and his eyes were filled with undisguised hatred.
How was this letting him leave? If not for his True Yang Yuan Qi being unusually dense and pure, simply that malicious Qi, which was injected into his meridians, would have been enough to crush Yang Kai’s dantian, completely wasting his cultivation and transforming him into a cripple.
If he was left here with the strength of an ordinary mortal, the only end he would have was death!
Fortunately, having been tossed this far and with the blue robed old man not paying him any mind, he didn’t discover that Yang Kai hadn’t actually been crippled. If the old man were to know, considering his wicked nature, it was more than likely he would come finish what he started.
Not daring to waste a single moment, Yang Kai hurriedly struggled up into a meditative position and adjusted his breathing while quietly extracting a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid and swallowed it.
A moment later, that sounds of a fierce battle erupted.
Each of the Four Monsters And Demons was powerful on their own, and when the four of them worked together, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say they were invincible in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and right now they were engaged in combat with the odd dark cocoon.
A loud roar came from inside the cocoon and then the sound of something breaking rang out.
Immediately, the blue robed old man cried out in a shocked and excited voice, “Sure enough! It’s a real devil, a real devil!”
After this shout, the battle became fiercer. Obviously whatever was inside that giant dark cocoon had been forcibly awoken by these four old men and was now fighting back.
Soon after the entire cavern was seething with Demonic Qi, and the faint traces of light were blotted out, like they had been drowned in darkness.
Yang Kai did his best to ignore all of this though and concentrated on recovering.
However, Yang Kai noticed that there was something in his body that was pulsing incessantly, even causing his True Qi circulation to become somewhat turbulent.
Surprised, Yang Kai hurriedly investigated his body and soon discovered that something within him was reacting in response to something.
Stunned for a moment, Yang Kai quickly decided to split some of his attention to observe the outside situation.
The battle scene was fierce. Although Yang Kai couldn’t see exactly what was happening, just the sounds that reverberated from the Four Monsters And Demons’ attacks was enough to tell that even if the creature that had emerged from the dark cocoon hadn’t fully matured, it was still not a foe that could be easily killed.
This devil was obviously much stronger than they had anticipated.
Even if the Four Monsters And Demons now understood that they had underestimated their opponent, it was too late for them to withdraw, and their only option was to grit their teeth and fight it out.
As time passed, Yang Kai’s injuries were quickly restored.
Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from the other side. It seemed like that devil had suffered a big loss, but at the same time, the Four Monsters And Demons also cried out; however, two of their voices were abruptly silenced.
Died!
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as a chill gripped his heart.
“Retreat!” The blue robed old man shouted in a panic-stricken voice, and sounds of exhaustion were apparent in his tone.
Immediately afterwards, two streaks of light flashed by, obviously the two remaining old men had decided to flee.
However, the devil didn’t pursue and instead just let out an unwilling roar as it remained nearby.
Yang Kai tensed up, and a myriad of thoughts flashed through his head as his heart pounded.
That unknown something in his body was still pulsing, almost like it was urging him forward.
After hesitating for a while, Yang Kai steeled his will, stepped out, and quickly walked in the direction of the devil.
More than a dozen kilometers away, the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples along with the Hu Sisters all were flying back.
“Why are all of you here?” Hu Jiao Er grinned as she asked, all while continuing to race forward.
“Same to you, why did you come back?” Leng Shan shot back.
“Our relationship with him is different than yours!” Hu Jiao Er replied, but when she realized exactly what she had just said, and how many awkward stares it had earned her, she quickly followed up, “We sisters met him a long time ago, our Blood Battle Gang and his High Heaven Pavilion were neighboring sects.”
Listening to her hurriedly explain herself, all of them finally understood why the Yang Kai seemed to be so intimate with them. They actually had such a past.
“It’s likely you’ll all die if you go back!” Hu Jiao Er said solemnly.
However, Leng Shan simply spat disdainfully, “If you two can go back there then so can we! We’re all disciples of Ghost King Valley who belong to the Profound Yin Ghost King’s dominion; those Four Monsters And Demons won’t necessarily kill us for no reason.”
Chen Yi nodded in agreement, “That’s right, but brother Tao, you should consider carefully first before joining us.”
Tao Yang calmly smiled though and said, “We four are from Treasure Instrument Sect’s, there’s no way we’ll die. As long as those four old guys have any sense, they’ll not affront us too seriously.”
“All of you…haa…” Hu Jiao Er sighed but eventually said nothing. She knew that this group of people were simply making excuses for themselves when in fact they just wanted to help.
After all, Yang Kai had saved their lives numerous times already, so now that he found himself in dire straits, if they were to simply abandon him, it would definitely go against their consciences.
Unfortunately, what were all of them in the face of those four masters?
Nothing more than ants trying to shake a tree!
As they all flew towards the Evil Cavern’s entrance, suddenly an enormous roar rang out in front of them. Immediately afterwards, the faint green hue that was radiating from the Hu Sisters’ bodies faded and disappeared.
All of them staggered slightly as they came to an abrupt halt, staring at this unexpected phenomenon curiously.
“What happened?” Hu Jiao Er muttered, also quite puzzled, “Didn’t you say that this Shadow Marking would only break if that old bastard died?”
Everyone was stunned, suddenly recalling everything that had just transpired, glancing back and forth in shock.
“It can’t be, right? It’s barely been a quarter of an hour…” Chen Yi almost couldn’t believe what was happening in front of his eyes.
Since they had separated from those Four Monsters And Demons, hadn’t it been less than half an hour? But if it wasn’t really like that, why else would the Shadow Marking on the Hu Sisters suddenly disappear?
Exactly what kind of danger did those four old men who were said to be invincible in the Immortal Ascension Boundary encounter? How could they lose their lives in such a short period of time?
*Shua shua…*
Hearing two gusts of wind, the crowd quickly looked up and saw two of the Four Monsters And Demons quickly approaching them.
One of them was the blue robed old man who had taken Yang Kai away while the other was the purple robed old man. The old men wearing yellow and green were nowhere to be seen.
Moreover, the two men no longer carried the same arrogant and aloof air, both of them were incredibly pale at the moment, and traces of blood leaked from the corners of their mouths, as a residual black gas lingered around their bodies. These residual wisps of black gas were like venomous snakes that coiled around the two old men, a ghastly sight to behold.
It was clear that both of these two were heavily wounded, one of the blue robed old man’s arms hanging limply by his side, apparently broken, while the purple robed old man had a fresh wound upon his chest. If one looked carefully they wound notice that this wound was actually a set of five bloody holes, like someone had sunk their hand into him; as he gasped for breath, the five punctures continued to ooze blood.
When all of them noticed that Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen, all of them felt their hearts sink.
The two old men whizzed past them, not even bothering to spare this group of youngsters a single glance; from their expressions it was obvious that they were extremely frightened of something.
Seeing these two masters fleeing in panic, the crowd of youths couldn’t help but feel their nerves go taut.
In less than half an hour, two of these four famous old masters had died while the other two were heavily injured and forced to flee whatever danger had arisen. Ahead of them was something that was far beyond the scope of these youth’s ability to handle, so continuing forward would certainly lead to their deaths.
Whether Yang Kai was still alive was also unknown, but having just witnessed the state of these two old men, it was highly likely that Yang Kai had already died.
“Big Sister…” Hu Mei Er gently whispered, as her gaze became firm.
“En.” Hu Jiao Er nodded, her expression extremely solemn, not saying anything more before she and her little sister both shot forward towards the Evil Cavern’s entrance like lightning.
The Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples all exchanged a quick glance before not hesitating to follow them.
Yang Kai circulated his True Qi rapidly as he slowly walked forward, cautiously approaching the battlefield.
Not long ago, the bodies of the green robed old man and yellow robed old man had appeared before him. Seeing these two old men already dead, Yang Kai couldn’t help but shiver.
Although these two didn’t posses unmatched individual strength, they were still Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage masters whom Leng Shan had specifically acknowledged as very powerful.
This so called ‘real devil’ being able to break these Four Monsters and Demons’ formation and kill two of them in such a short amount of time proved beyond any doubt how frightening its strength was.
The deaths of the green robed old man and the yellow robed old man were both miserable. One of them was beaten to a pulp while the other was literally ripped apart. Just seeing their injuries, it was clear that they were killed by that devil extremely swiftly, without the ability to respond at all.
Not far ahead, the sound of heavy breathing could be heard, which caused Yang Kai to quickly look up.
Only a few dozen meters away, a burly, naked, wild-looking man was nailed to the ground by a several meters long spear.
True Devil!
This was the demon that was born from that dark cocoon; it was the amalgamation of all the thick Demonic Qi that had erupted from the Evil Spirit Spring as well as hundreds of Evil Spirit Essences.
However, unlike those Evil Spirits, this devil already had a complete body with four limbs and five features, in fact he appeared almost no different from an ordinary person.
The only distinctive trait he possessed was a set of black tattoos that covered his entire body. Each one of them seemed to contain a horrifying amount of Demonic energy.
When he noticed the arrival of Yang Kai, this devil only glanced at him lightly, clearly not considering this youth to be any kind of threat.
At the same time, the demonic aura which drifted about him surged towards Yang Kai.
As this Devil Qi surged forth, Yang Kai stood firmly, stretched out his hands and condensed a True Yang Yuan Qi shield to defend himself.
*Pu pu pu…*
As the Devil Qi crashed against this barrier, it pushed Yang Kai back a few step but ultimately did not break through his defense.
The devil once again glanced towards Yang Kai, apparently surprised that this weak little brat had somehow withstood his casual strike. Freezing for a moment, he quickly let out a grim chuckle.
Immediately after, his hand strongly gripped the spear, which was impaling his chest, and slowly began to pull it out.
This spear was an artifact that belonged to the Four Monsters and Demons. The four of them had relied on this high level artifact to pin this devil to the ground in order to gain them a chance to escape, unfortunately for them only two of them succeeded.
As the spear was pulled out bit by bit, the devil didn’t show any signs of discomfort, instead his face showed clear traces of excitement, even as blood flowed from the wound. What was noticeable was that the blood that leaked from this devil’s injuries wasn’t red, but instead a deep shade of purple, which gave it an eerie and unsettling appearance.
Not waiting for this devil to free himself, Yang Kai quickly took action.
The clinking sound of a chain rang out as Yang Kai tossed an artifact towards the devil, and the air suddenly filled with a pure radiant heat.
Affected by this hot energy, the devil actually trembled, and the wisps of black Demonic Qi swirling about him immediately shrank back into his body.
*Tsss…*
This chain artifact instantly let out a loud and crisp sizzling noise which seemed to contain some kind of magical power that greatly disturbed the devil.
In an instant, the chain had completely unraveled. It was less than a meter long and was attached to a metal collar. It was quite simple in shape, almost resembling an ordinary dog collar.
Devil Sealing Chain! Yang Kai had long ago obtained this artifact from the bottom of the Coiling Dragon Stream and had been tempering it with the True Yang Yuan Qi in his dantian ever since. It had never shown any signs of awakening until a moment ago when it all of a sudden began to pulse.
Had it not been for the existence of the Devil Sealing Chain, there was no way Yang Kai would have stepped forward this time.
The Devil Sealing Chain was an artifact left behind by High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder. It had been used to seal the Devil Qi of a Devil Lord at the bottom of the Coiling Dragon Stream, so naturally it could be used on this devil as well.
When the Devil Sealing Chain fully emerged, the devil suddenly became frightened as he immediately became wary of Yang Kai, and his expression warped madly as he shouted, “A pure Yang artifact! One designed specifically to suppress Devil Qi!”
While the devil roared out in panic, his hand, which was gripping the spear type artifact, suddenly jerked, pulling the rest of the spear out directly, then, disregarding his own injury and using all of his remaining strength, he hurled the spear at the Devil Sealing Chain.
With a loud cracking sound space was shattered as the spear shot forward so quickly it appeared to teleport and instantly arrived in front of the Devil Sealing Chain.
But although this blow was enough to shake the Heavens, it was still a pointless struggle.
The Devil Sealing Chain suddenly radiated a brilliant golden light, which allowed the spear to pass through it without the slightest hindrance. Then in the next moment, this golden light flashed and before anyone could see what happened, the Devil Sealing Chain had already appeared on the neck of the demon.
Instantly a loud hissing noise rang out as the devil suddenly appeared like he’d been splashed with boiling hot oil, and his body continuously emitted white smoke. Whatever black Devil Qi remaining outside of his body was immediately suppressed.
As this sizzling continued, the devil’s huge body staggered about. Both his hands gripped the Devil Sealing Chain, as he desperately tried to pry it open, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to remove it. Instead, all he managed to accomplish was to burn his palms.
The Devil Sealing Chain flickered brilliantly.
The black Demonic Qi surrounding the Devil’s body also surged and waned.
Both of these opposite forces were obviously struggling fiercely for supremacy.
Yang Kai reacted swiftly and quickly receded, while curiously observing this unusual battle.
He hadn’t expected that this devil could communicate, much less speak the same language as him.
After all, he had witnessed the birth, or rather formation of this devil with his own eyes, so as far as he knew it was an amalgamation of the Evil Spirit Spring’s energy and hundreds of Evil Spirit Essences.
Such a creation shouldn’t posses a broad knowledge base and intellect, and instead it should be akin to a blank slate that only acted based on instinct.
However, this devil had only taken one glance to recognize that this Devil Sealing Chain was the bane of all Demonic Qi! The situation was obviously more complex than he had imagined.
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed, and he was unsure of how to explain everything that was happening in front of him.
The battle between the devil and the Devil Sealing Chain didn’t last long. After about the time it would take to burn a stick of incense, the victor was decided.
The Devil Sealing Chain had completely suppressed the Demonic Qi, which caused the devil to stop struggling in vain. Instead, this devil sat cross-legged on the floor with white smoke spewing out gently from his body and smirked as he glared towards Yang Kai.
There was no panic or fear of death apparent in his expression, but rather a deep sense of curiosity and interest surfaced on his face.
“Little brat, I am Devil General Meng Ge, since you’ve dared harm my Soul Clone, this lord will definitely not forget you! If there is a chance in the future, my main body will personally make you experience a fate worse than death! Hahahaha!”
When the Hu Sisters arrived at the scene of the battle, both of them couldn’t help but gasp. The residual rubble and scars stood as a testament to just how intense this conflict was, and the mangled bodies of the green-robed and yellow-robed old men on the ground nearby only served to emphasise this fact.
As the two beautiful sisters trembled nervously, they suddenly spotted Yang Kai in a place not far away.
He seemed to be holding some kind of chain in his hand and was just standing there completely motionless, as a cold and terrifying energy fluctuated around him.
*Shua Shua Shua…*
Soon after the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect crowd also arrived, and all of them quickly took note of the strange atmosphere surrounding Yang Kai, which sparked all of their curiosities.
However, the situation at the moment was much better than everyone had expected, at the very least, Yang Kai did seem to have any obvious injuries and his aura was calm and steady. Obviously, he wasn’t anywhere close to dead.
After observing this point, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The arrival of these people hadn’t gone unnoticed by Yang Kai, but he still couldn’t stop pondering the last words the devil had spoken to him before he had disappeared.
Although it was just a few sentences, but the amount of information it contained was incredibly substantial.
Devil General Meng Ge! This was what the devil called himself. From that point alone it wasn’t difficult to infer from this title was something that belonged to a person of great status and origin, definitely not a newly formed entity.
Moreover, this devil had said that he was only something called a Soul Clone.
The Four Monsters and Demons working together had failed to last a stick of incense worth of time against this devil before two of them were killed and two were forced to flee. They had managed to pin him to the ground by driving their spear type artifact through his chest, yet afterwards, this devil had pulled this spear out like it was nothing.
This Soul Clone already possessed such awe-inspiring power, if instead, it had been this devil’s main body, just how terrible would he be?
This devil’s true strength was beyond the limits of Yang Kai’s knowledge, and even far surpassed anything he had ever imagined! This caused no small amount of shock to him.
Fortunately, this entity just happened to be a true devil so his Devil Sealing Chain had been able to play a role, if not, even if Yang Kai was ten times stronger he still would have been utterly unable to resist.
After Devil General Meng Ge finished his final sentence, he seemed to know that his Soul Clone wouldn’t last much longer and resolutely chose to give up all resistance and simply disintegrated.
All that was left behind was something that resembled a massive frigid Evil Spirit Essence.
This essence was precisely the treasure condensed from the Evil Spirit Spring.
Right now this essence had already been sucked into Yang Kai’s meridians.
The Devil Sealing Chain in his hands also seemed to have lost its spirituality in this battle, and now only appeared like a dull iron chain; however, Yang Kai could still feel a hidden trace of vitality within it, so as long as he continued to temper it with True Yang Yuan Qi it would surely be restored again eventually.
After all, this was a treasured artifact left behind by High Heaven Pavilion’s Ancestral Founder, and despite its old age, there was no way it would be so easily damaged.
Letting out a faint sigh of relief, Yang Kai suddenly felt a fire burn in his chest. Today he had seen Devil General Meng Ge’s Soul Clone, a being who possessed the strength that greatly exceeded the boundaries of this world, and it had once again inspired him to seek the peak of martial arts.
Clenching his teeth, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as his gaze firmed.
“Yang Kai…” Seeing him not respond to them for a long time, the Hu Sisters finally couldn’t help calling out to him worriedly.
“I’m alright.” Yang Kai let out a long breath and stowed the Devil Sealing Chain back into his dantian, turning to the crowd and saying, “I need to find a secluded place to cultivate.”
“I know the perfect place, it’s not far from here!” Cheng Ying hurriedly said.
“Good, lead the way.”
Inside a hidden cave within the Evil Cavern, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged, alone and began to refine the energy in that giant essence.
This hidden cave was inadvertently discovered by Cheng Ying while he had been scouting, it was indeed the perfect place to rest and recuperate within the Evil Cavern as almost no Evil Spirits ever ventured close to it.
Both the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples knew that Yang Kai had surely obtained some kind of significant harvest, and since they were also in no hurry to leave, all of them sat down and finally got some rest.
During this idle time, everyone also began refining the Evil Spirit Essences Yang Kai had gathered for them.
Both the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect groups had obtained two full Purifying Spirit Bottles, a total of forty essences each! Therefore, after dividing them up equally amongst themselves, all of them obtained at least five.
The Hu Sisters, on the other hand, obtained a full five bottles.
Both the sisters kindly offered both the other groups a full Purifying Spirit Bottle each but were firmly rejected.
The various youths had already gained significantly more than they could have hoped for, how could they possibly accept even more from the Hu Sisters now? What’s more, those were things Yang Kai had given them.
After facing such strong opposition, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er no longer tried to force the issue. The two sisters sat down and circulated their Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art to refine these essences. The speed at which they absorbed these Evil Spirit Essences was several times faster than the others, and although it couldn’t be compared to Yang Kai’s freakishly abnormal pace, it was still much quicker than an average cultivator.
As everyone sat and refined these Evil Spirit Essences, Yang Kai was similarly processing the essence he obtained.
However, the giant essence Yang Kai was refining had significant differences from these ordinary Evil Spirit Essences.
Even the essence left behind by the Soul Type Evil Spirit paled in comparison to this Evil Spirit Spring Essence.
During the refining process, the Unyielding Golden Skeleton would shiver and pulse as it relished in the vast amount of energy is absorbed.
His True Yang Yuan Qi completely receded into his dantian, and Yang Kai was currently enveloped in black Demonic Qi, incredibly similar to how Devil General Meng Ge appeared.
However, there was still a distinct difference between the two, Meng Ge could obviously completely control his strength and restrain his Devil Qi, but Yang Kai was unable to do so, so instead he appeared as a human shaped cloud of darkness, and only when he blinked would one be able to notice a red glow radiating from his eyes.
A frigid demonic aura spread out from Yang Kai as bursts of crackling noises echoed throughout the cave. The walls quickly frosted over and became encased in a thick layer of ice.
The people outside quickly noticed something was odd. This intense cold soon seeped out from the cave’s inner reaches and rapidly advanced towards them.
With a series of loud exclamations, all of them hurriedly fled, backing off almost a thousand meters. Looking back, their hearts couldn’t help but clinch as they watched all the moisture in the air condense and freeze as ice rapidly expanded across the cave floor and walls.
It was like they had suddenly been thrown into a frozen primordial world.
Even though they had retreated so far from this strange phenomenon, all of them couldn’t help shivering as the chill seemed to penetrate deep into their souls.
“What’s happening?” Chen Yi muttered in confusion, “Why does this chill feel so similar to what we experienced inside the Evil Spirit Spring?”
Before, when they were stranded atop that high pillar, everyone had acutely felt this frigid sensation, but compared to that time, what was happening before them right now was even more frightening.
“Is Yang Kai going to be okay?” Hu Mei Er whispered to her big sister.
Hu Jiao Er nodded her head calmly, “This situation should be something he caused, as long as it continues like this he shouldn’t have any issues.”
In fact, Jiao Er was also uncertain about Yang Kai’s condition, but she could only speak such words to soothe her little sister.
Leng Shan nodded in agreement, “Good people don’t live long but a scourge lasts a thousand years, how could he possibly die from this.”
“Hmm…” Chen Yi narrowed his eyes as he quipped, “Junior Sister, how come your words sound so bitter?”
“Will you die if you shut up?” Leng Shan glared angrily at him.
“Hey hey…” Chen Yi simply laughed.
Inside the cave, Yang Kai’s expression remained temperate, completely indifferent to the frigid air around him. This icy coldness seemed to perfectly conform to his current condition, not only did it not cause him any discomfort, it instead gave him a pleasant sensation.
When he had used the energy stored inside the Unyielding Golden Skeleton in the past, Yang Kai had always felt it had a distinctly evil aura, now though, it had both an evil and a frigid air to it. These two energies mutually complemented one another and amplified their already tyrannical power.
Inside this cave is hidden from the sun and the moon, an unknown amount of time passed by.
When the last drop of energy from the giant essence was refined, it was like a spark had been lit, which awakened the Unyielding Golden Skeleton from its innumerable years of slumber.
At that moment, the bonds that had imprisoned the Unyielding Golden Skeleton were completely shattered.
A furious Demonic Qi burst forth spreading out across the entire cave, plunging it into darkness. As this Demonic Qi churned and billowed, it was like a soaring dragon had risen, sending out ferocious howls and terrifying roars.
Yang Kai’s eyes jerked open, and the crimson hue within them quickly receded, returning to their original black and white.
At the same time, all kinds of profound mysteries about the Golden Skeleton were thoroughly comprehended by Yang Kai, greatly enlightening him.
Within this roiling Demonic Qi, Yang Kai’s eyes shined.
Slowly lifting his gaze, Yang Kai stretched out a finger and gently drew it across his forehead as he softly chanted.
“Devil Transformation!”
Suddenly, his body became akin to a bottomless pit and madly swallowed the black Demonic Qi surrounding him.
All of this Demonic Qi condensed to the point it could be seen with the naked eye and quickly covered Yang Kai.
In just a breath worth of time, all the Demonic Qi in the air had disappeared and instead a series of black tattoos had appeared on Yang Kai’s skin.
These tattoos were densely arranged in various strange patterns, occupying almost ninety percent of his skin, and only his face was exempted.
Slowly standing up, Yang Kai’s expression and aura remained indifferent. No joy or sadness was apparent on his face, and his eyes exuded a deep ice like chill.
However, he could clearly feel that his current state was very different from just before.
Instead of being wrapped in and surrounded by that thick black Demonic Qi, his form and face were completely unobstructed. Now if Yang Kai didn’t remove his robes, he would simply appear no different from usual.
The biggest difference though was his combat effectiveness had greatly increased compared to his normal state.
Although his cultivation hadn’t changed, his realm had not risen at all, but refining the massive Evil Spirit Essence from the Evil Spirit Spring had seemingly unlocked the hidden potential of his Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
As Yang Kai stood the world seemed to shudder, and ripples spread out through the air around him. All of this gave the illusion that everything around him would collapse.
An unparalleled demonic aura also radiated from him, which clearly alerted everyone who stood watching a thousand meters away. Their eyes widened as they trembled unconsciously in fright.
Gently thrusting his fist out, a crisp bang resounded.
It was like this casual punch contained the power to shatter the Earth.
Standing there, Yang Kai was filled with an intense self-confidence; he felt that if an ordinary Immortal Ascension Boundary master were to stand before him right now, he could send them flying with a single blow.
Flicking his wrist, a bolt of Demonic Qi flew out like a striking snake, drilling a perfectly round hole into the frozen wall in front of him. Using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai followed the bolt as it drilled several dozen meters through solid rock before finally dissipating.
[Such power!] Yang Kai grinned, extremely pleased with this newfound strength.
In addition, Yang Kai felt that his vitality and Blood Force had also reached an unprecedented height! If his estimate were correct, it was at least four or five times stronger than before.
The most potent benefit of a stronger Blood Force was that his restorative and healing powers would correspondingly increase. Physical strength and speed were also inextricably linked with the strength of one’s Blood Force.
After entering this Demon Transformation state, it seems that all the Blood Forces in his body had entered an extremely active state and had even been amplified!
Outside the cave’s entrance, the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples along with the Hu Sisters silently waited with an air of anxiety lingering about them.
Since Yang Kai had begun his retreat it had already been half a month, yet he had still yet to appear. Instead, an area stretching out tens of meters from where he was secluding himself was now completely covered in a thick layer of ice.
“How come Brother Yang still hasn’t emerged yet? He couldn’t have had an accident, right?” Cheng Ying paced back and forth as he nervously muttered.
However, as soon as he had spoken these words, Cheng Ying felt three cold piercing gazes fall upon him, which caused his neck to shrink up before an awkward sneer appeared on his face.
Chen Yi helplessly grinned, “Unfortunately, none of us has reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary. If someone amongst us could use their Divine Sense we could find out what happened inside.”
Tao Yang in reply just shook his head and said, “No, even if one of us could use their Divine Sense I’m afraid whatever thread they sent out would be frozen solid before discovering anything.”
Listening to this remark, everyone couldn’t help but feel shocked, and all of them grew more and more worried.
After what seemed like an eternity, all of the ice around the Yang Kai’s cave suddenly began to crack. Immediately afterwards, the entire ice-field shattered and transformed into a burst of brilliantly shimmering crystals which fluttered about the cavern.
Seeing this, everyone wore a smile and hurriedly called out.
“You finally came out; if you’d stayed in there much longer we wouldn’t have been able to stop ourselves from barging in!” Chen Yi saw Yang Kai and let out a burst of laughter.
Yang Kai smiled lightly, after taking a quick look around the crowd, and said, “Sorry, I’ve worried you all.”
“Since you’ve come out, we should leave here quickly. The situation around the Evil Cavern is a bit uneasy right now.” Leng Shan said, a hint of urgency apparent in her voice.
Tao Yang also nodded in agreement.
With such a powerful energy fluctuation having emanated from the Evil Cavern, two of the Four Monsters and Demons having fallen inside, and the news of the emergence of a true devil, numerous Immortal Ascension Boundary masters had arrived to investigate the situation while Yang Kai had been in retreat.
Staying here any longer would undoubtedly be troublesome.
Thirty kilometers away from the Evil Cavern’s entrance.
A group of youths stopped to rest.
Chen Yi finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, “Brother Yang, the Four Monsters and Demons all wound up heavily wounded or dead, so how come you managed to emerge unscathed? On top of that, it looks like you even profited quite a bit.”
Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but turn their eyes towards Yang Kai. They too wanted to know exactly what had happened.
Yang Kai simply grinned and said, “A just managed to pick up some small benefits after those four old guys and that devil fought. Both sides were severely injured, so I got lucky and managed to gain something after they both retreated.”
“Uh…” Chen Yi stuttered, and a wry grin spread across his face, “Sure enough, Brother Yang’s luck is too good, seems like such ridiculous things can actually happen in this world.”
Tao Yang chuckled and added, “It looks like those Four Monsters And Demons taking you in with them was actually them sending you a gift. Those old bastards went to steal a chicken but ended up losing their rice, haha!”
“How come they didn’t pick me to go?” Cheng Ying grumbled, clearly envious.
Leng Shan snickered, “Besides Yang Kai, if any one of us had been captured, they’d have certainly died. Do you really think gaining such a chance is that easy?”
Cheng Ying simply laughed, “I just said it casually.”
How could anyone not understand that Yang Kai obtaining such benefits was more difficult than ascending to the Heavens? Although he didn’t elaborate, everyone knew he must have faced numerous unknown dangers, and even keeping his life after falling into the Four Monsters And Demons’ hands could be considered as astonishingly good fortune.
During their brief time together, all of them had witnessed Yang Kai’s formidable strength and shocking methods many time,s and knew that he was by no means an ordinary True Element Boundary cultivator.
“Anyways,” Chen Yi smiled warmly and patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “During this time’s trip to the Evil Cavern, my Ghost King Valley owes Brother Yang many lives. In the future, if there is ever something that Brother Yang needs, although I can’t guarantee anything else, my fellow brothers and I will offer our utmost to help, even if it means laying down our lives!”
All the other Ghost King Valley disciples also nodded firmly.
Tao Yang also laughed and said, “Count us in as well! Although we brothers and sisters aren’t the strongest fighters, when it comes to artifacts, heh… If Brother Yang ever needs an artifact refined, just come to Treasure Instrument Sect and look for me.”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded happily.
“We’re not far from Ghost King Valley right now. If it’s convenient, why doesn’t Brother Yang come join us for some fun for a few days?” Chen Yi enthusiastically invited.
“He can’t come.” Leng Shan stated neither warmly or coldly.
“Junior Sister, you’re being too cold.” Chen Yi sighed, suddenly suffering from a headache. He wanted to communicate more with Yang Kai to deepen their friendship, but he hadn’t thought Leng Shan would suddenly not give him the slightest bit of face.
“What do you know? I’m saying this for his own good.” Leng Shan glared back at him, “Master knows him, if he goes to Ghost King Valley, he won’t live to see the sun rise tomorrow.”
Chen Yi was startled for a moment but quickly remembered that their elder Gui Li and High Heaven Pavilion’s Sect Master had a massive grudge between them.
Thinking so, he dared not bring Yang Kai back with them. He shook his head and turned to Tao Yang instead, “How about you, what are Brother Tao’s plans?”
Tao Yang laughed, “Isn’t Brother Chen going to invite us to travel with you? I’m also a bit curious about what kind of place Ghost King Valley is. I wonder if it would be possible for us to visit?”
“I’d like nothing more.” Chen Yi laughed heartily.
“Then I guess we’ll be separating here, you take care of yourself.” Leng Shan glanced towards Yang Kai and said.
Yang Kai simply smiled and nodded.
“Let’s go. Brother Yang, two Young Ladies, may we meet again!” Chen Yi called out on behalf of everyone and cupped his fists towards Yang Kai and the Hu Sisters.
“En, take care of yourselves.” Yang Kai cupped his fists in return as he watched his new friends from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect leave together.
“These so-called devil’s path cultivators aren’t all bad,” Hu Mei Er suddenly said once it was just the three of them left, “At least, these people from Ghost King Valley are very good.”
Hu Jiao Er also nodded deeply and remarked, “Good or bad is only a matter of perspective.”
Yang Kai glanced towards her with a dull smile, causing Hu Jiao Er’s face to blush slightly as she glared back at him, “Smelly brat! I haven’t forgiven you yet.”
“Forgiven me? For what?” Yang Kai was suddenly confused.
Looking at him bitterly, Hu Jiao Er didn’t have the nerve to bring up his previous slights towards her and simply shook her head, “Never mind, where do you plan to go now?”
Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t help but feel somewhat hesitant and stood there awkwardly for a moment wondering where he should go.
Looking at his vacant, confused eyes, the Hu Sisters couldn’t help feeling a twang of pain in their hearts.
This powerful and mysterious young man in front of them was no longer the domineering and confidant warrior who stood before them inside the Evil Cavern but was more like a lost child, not knowing where he was or which road he should take next.
Affected by his change in mood, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er also felt somewhat lost.
“We should leave the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land first.” Hu Jiao Er hurriedly broke the silence, somewhat unable to bear the sight of Yang Kai being so dispirited.
“Good!” Yang Kai’s eyes soon restored their former clarity and firmness. Although he didn’t know where he would go next, what he could affirm was that he must keep growing stronger. Seeking the peak of the martial dao was something he had always been clear about, and nothing that happened would ever cause him to falter in his pursuit of it.
Pausing for a moment, he then asked, “Where are you two going? Back to Blood Battle Gang’s territory?”
“No,” Hu Jiao Er smiled wryly, “We can’t go back until the war is over. If we do, things will become difficult.”
Their Blood Battle Gang and the nearby Storm Hall were both implicated because of the incident regarding High Heaven Pavilion and were forced by the Great Han Dynasty’s various great forces to participate on the frontlines of the war. If they went back at this time they would only cause more trouble for Blood Battle Gang.
“Then let’s find the others from the gang.” Hu Mei Er suggested, “Fifty or so of our members were deployed to the same region where we were fighting, they should still be there now.”
“What about you?” Hu Jiao Er glanced over at Yang Kai.
“I’ll follow your lead.” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulder. He also wanted to find a place with people he could ask about High Heaven Pavilion’s current situation, especially about Ling Tai Xu and Su Yan.
Glancing at the Hu Sisters, he suddenly grinned, “But before that, you two should disguise yourselves.”
“Hm, what do you mean?” Hu Jiao Er wrinkled her brow.
“Haven’t you learned your lessons yet after being targeted by those guys from Free and Unfettered Sect?”
Suddenly understanding, Hu Jiao Er first blushed then angrily glared at Yang Kai, “Being beautiful isn’t our sister’s fault! If there weren’t so many horny men like you out there how could we be so troubled!? All of you going about provoking us sisters, bothering us no matter where we go, it’s all so annoying!”
In spite of their resentment, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er still followed Yang Kai’s suggestion.
After all, this was the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, the number of unscrupulous characters was definitely higher than in the outside world.
A short while later, the two beauty’s stunning faces were covered up a lot. Although they didn’t have any suitable tools on the hand and couldn’t do a perfect job, the sisters had at least made it so they wouldn’t be coveted on first sight.
The elder sister now looked something like a dirty villager, her hair a mess and her clothes quite sloppily arranged, while the younger sister’s face was now full of pockmarks, no doubt deterring most people’s appetites.
Finished with their disguises, the two sisters looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.
Although their enchanting faces were now covered up, it was still difficult not to notice the exquisite lines of their perfect figures.
The three proceeded cautiously as they traversed the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, doing their best to avoid contact with people.
Yang Kai’s greatly enhanced Spiritual Energy played a huge role at the moment, allowing him freely use his Divine Sense to scout an entire thirty kilometer radius around them in a single breath. By periodically sweeping the area around them, Yang Kai could almost always detect danger long before encountering it, which gave him and the Hu Sisters plenty of time to either hide or avoid.
Without him, the Hu Sisters would never have been able to escape the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land so easily.
After an entire month of time, having traversed several thousand kilometers, the trio finally left the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land.
One month of constant running, fighting, and hiding had pushed Yang Kai and the Hu Sisters to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion.
Although this trip had its fair share of perils, fortunately, the most dangerous incident was only meeting an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage expert. Using Yang Kai’s Soul Skill to catch this expert off guard, the trio managed to deal a heavy blow to him, and then quickly fled, escaping relatively unscathed.
During that battle, Yang Kai was also seriously injured; however, under the care of the two sisters and after consuming a number of drops of Myriad Drug Liquid, he managed to make a full recovery after only two or three days.
Having passed this one month together with him, the Hu Sisters gradually became more dependent on Yang Kai, believing in and trusting him almost absolutely.
Even the more aggressive Hu Jiao Er didn’t dare to treat Yang Kai like the little brat she had met two years ago. After witnessing him not hesitate to stand before them and protect her and her sister, creating one miracle after another, her perception of this youth had slowly changed.
Without his protection, Hu Jiao Er couldn’t imagine what kind of horrible fate would have befallen her and her little sister.