Nearby, the Annihilating Poison King went all out, constantly sending out swaths of poisonous gas, but under the siege of so many masters, his efforts were somewhat insufficient. Panting for breath, he laughed miserably and muttered, “En, Sir Demon Lord doesn’t care about ours lives; why else in this situation would he have not tried to help us yet? I’m afraid he’s already made his escape.”
“Bullshit!” The Force King roared hysterically, “How could sir Demon Lord run away? He must be preparing a decisive strike that will utterly destroy these Central Capital dogs!”
“Idiot!” The Poison King and Ghost King both snickered at once.
Anyone capable of sitting in the position of Evil King was not a simple character. Each of them was meticulous, cunning, and crafty in their own way. The only exception was the Tyrannical Force King, who had no redeeming qualities besides his brute strength.
Even now, he was still convinced that Demon Lord Yang Bai was engaged in some kind of strategy to destroy the Central Capital.
Not only did these five Evil Kings not know where Yang Bai was hiding at the moment, even the Eight Great Families had lost track of him.
Many people were actively searching for Yang Bai’s figure, but no one caught a single glimpse of him. If a Third Order Transcendent master wanted to conceal himself, no one here was capable of discovering him.
Many even thought that Yang Bai had seen that the situation was hopeless and had really escaped.
However, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of foreboding, as if something big was about to happen.
Halting his absorption of the Spiritual Energy remnants for the fallen Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, Yang Kai quickly sought out the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families.
After fighting a few rounds in this intense battle, these old Patriarchs were currently meditating to recover their strength in preparation to cope with the final confrontation where they would completely smash the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. When Yang Kai arrived, they were finishing up their final preparations.
“Great Uncle,” Yang Kai walked directly up to Yang Ying Hao and with a dignified expression asked, “Do you know why Yang Bai suddenly decided to launch this invasion into the Central Capital? What is his purpose?”
Yang Ying Hao was slightly startled and asked back, “What do you mean?”
Yang Kai took a long breath and continued, “On the surface, it looks like because the Eight Great Families encircled the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land some time ago, Yang Bai and the Six Great Evil Kings are counter-attacking for the sake of revenge. This reason also makes some sense; after all, after all these years, the Eight Great Families’ and the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s mutual hatred have reached an irresolvable level. However, I always get the feeling that Yang Bai wouldn’t attack the Central Capital for such a reason. He should know that even if he succeeds, victory will come at a significant cost. If it’s not simply because he is bored and is seeking entertainment through slaughter, then there must be something here that the Eight Great Families have that he wants badly enough to make all these sacrifices worthwhile.”
Listening to his argument, the eight old men fell into contemplation as they glanced around at each other, Ye Kuang Ren eventually postulated, “The secret of your Yang Family is probably the only thing we have that could peak his interest.”
“En, although our Eight Great Families’ heritages are all quite deep, nothing else that we own could possibly arouse Yang Bai’s attention.”
Yang Kai’s brow deeply furrowed, of course he knew they were referring to the Soul Foundation Temple.
If Yang Bai’s objective was the Soul Foundation Temple, it could barely explain his actions, but soon Yang Kai shook his head, “No, if what he wanted was my Yang Family’s secret heritage, he would not have invaded from the north but instead directly attacked from the south!”
The Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s early offence was overwhelming, no matter where they attacked, no family was able to offer any resistance.
If Yang Bai wanted to seize the Yang Family’s Soul Foundation Temple, he would definitely not have invaded from the north.
What’s more, the secrets of the Soul Foundation Temple were only known to the Yang Family’s Patriarchs and the powerful Transcendent Realm Grand Elders who were about to die, where would Yang Bai have even inquired about its existence?
“Please think about it once more, is there anything in any of your respective families that he would covet.” Yang Kai swept his eyes over the eight former Patriarchs.
All eight of them wore dignified expressions and carefully considered the issue again, but in the end they still couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation.
With the situation having reached this point, if there was anything in their families that would interest Yang Bai, they would not continue concealing it. Watching everyone’s expression Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
Could it be that his own assumptions were wrong? What exactly was the purpose of Yang Bai’s invasion of the Central Capital?
At this moment, Yang Bai’s aura which had disappeared quite some time ago, suddenly re-emerged.
Everyone looked up with surprise and, sure enough, Yang Bai was quietly standing midair, his cold eyes overlooking the entire Central Capital, a burst of laughter like rolling thunder escaping from his lips.
Everyone involuntarily stopped their movements and stared towards the source of this laughter.
“It’s time!” Suddenly, Yang Bai restrained his laughter and shouted.
Yang Kai’s heart clenched, the sense of uneasiness he had been feeling becoming much palpable. He didn’t know what Yang Bai was talking about, but since he dared to show up now, obviously he had already achieved his goal.
“Eight Great Families… such pitiful existences dare to call themselves by such a lofty title, utter nonsense. Martial Nephew, although you are a rare genius, but your vision is not long-term enough, instead of worrying about such small matters you should be striving for greater heights instead. Martial Uncle will tell you today, that this world, and all you think you know, is insignificant, there are many, many things you don’t know about or understand. But regardless of all that, Martial Uncle really must thank you. If not for your sudden rise, I’m afraid that today’s war would not have resulted in so many casualties. Ensuring enough of these ants were slaughtered caused your Martial Uncle quite a bit of headache.”
Yang Bai appeared extremely calm and arrogant as he hovered above the battlefield, not placing this world or anyone in it into his eyes.
Yang Kai expression changed as he stared fixedly at Yang Bai. From what he just said, Yang Kai was able to gleam some key information.
Did Yang Bai know about the mysteries of this world and what lay beyond it?
Not giving him any time to ponder the issue, Yang Bai suddenly shouted, “Evil Kings, come to me!”
The Tyrannical Force King rushed toward Yang Bai without hesitation.
As for the Poison King, Ghost King, Shadow King, and Beast King, they showed some hesitation, as if they didn’t know what they should do.
Yang Bai gave them a faint look and chuckled, “What’s wrong? Do you want to defy my orders?”
The Poison King smiled gloomily and replied, “Sir Demon Lord, I just want to ask, why haven’t we seen you since the beginning of the battle yesterday? The Holy Land’s forces have suffered a great deal of casualties in your absence.”
“Because I needed them to die! If they didn’t die, how could I achieve my goal?” Yang Bai replied casually.
“I understand,” The Poison King nodded, suddenly cupping his fists, “Sir Demon Lord, you take care. We won’t be accompanying you any further.”
The four Evil Kings had followed Yang Bai to attack Central Capital because they truly wanted to destroy it. Now that there was no chance of them succeeding and seeing Yang Bai acting so indifferently to their situation, how could these Evil Kings still be willing to remain?
Each of them was selfish, insidious, and sinister. Loyalty and honour had nothing to do with them.
Finished with what they had to say, the Poison King, Ghost King, Shadow King, and Beast King turned to leave. Since Yang Bai didn’t care whether his subordinates lived or died, they naturally would care about his life or death either. As long as they could survive, everything else didn’t matter.
However, Yang Bai suddenly sneered, “None of you can get away! Stand guard for me!”
Just as his voice resounded, the four Evil Kings who were preparing to make their escape suddenly froze in place, a look of pain emerging on their face, like they were desperately resisting something. A moment later, their looks all slowly eased and then once more turned and flew to Yang Bai and began tightly guarding him.
The masters from the Eight Great Families all paled.
Although none of them were clear what just happened to the four Evil Kings, all of them understood that Yang Bai had used some kind of tyrannical method to forcibly control them!
Yang Bai finally took action, waving his hands as a mysterious energy spread through the air, quickly covering the entire Central Capital.
“Stop him!” Yang Kai shouted, it didn’t matter what Yang Bai’s true purpose was, what was most important right now was to stop him.
As soon as this order was given, all the Transcendents who could still fight charged into the sky, targeting Yang Bai and the Six Great Evil Kings.
“You’re too late!” Yang Bai laughed, “From the moment I appeared, there was nothing you could do.”
As he spoke, the blood of all the people who died throughout the Central Capital in this battle and all the blood which had seeped into the earth since the beginning of this war sunk into the ground, seemingly drawn down by a vague and mysterious energy.
Witnessing this, Yang Bai’s face filled with joy as his eyes turned towards a certain place and his hand waved.
The blood that had penetrated into the ground was all rushing towards that place.
A shocking bloody aura suddenly erupted.
Old Demon, who was next to Yang Kai, suddenly wore a dignified expression and quickly said, “Young Master, this should be some kind of blood sacrifice ritual.”
Old Demon was also a master when it came to blood sacrifices, so naturally he could see some clues from this situation; although his methods were different from Yang Bai’s, what was the same was the need for many people to die in order to gather a massive amount of blood.
The Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and the Central Capital’s forces had suffered massive casualties these past few months and the blood of the fallen flowed like a river. Yang Bai now using all this blood to perform some kind of blood sacrifice ritual was really quite luxurious; at least, it was many times grander than when Old Demon used his Demon Specter Saint Technique of Old Demon.
From deep underground, a loud boom resounded, shaking the entire Central Capital shook.
Everyone’s face was filled with shock.
Yang Ying Hao suddenly seemed to think of something and exclaimed, “Oh no, could Yang Bai be after what’s buried beneath the Central Capital?”
“What’s down there?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
Yang Ying Hao hurriedly explained, “This is a matter only mentioned in the ancient records of our Eight Great Families. No one has ever confirmed it really exists, but it is said that there is a huge Earth Vein that runs beneath the Central Capital. It is because of the existence of this Earth Vein that my Eight Great Families took root here. Not only does the Yang Family have records of this, the other seven families should also have them as well.”
Qiu Shou Cheng thought about it and nodded, “En, this old master has also seen this matter mentioned in my family’s ancient books.”
“However, it is said that many generations of our ancestors sought out this Earth Vein, yet after many years they never found anything. Could it be that it really exists and we were just unable to discover it all this time?” Meng Xi Ping asked with an ugly expression.
The Eight Great Families had already resided in the Central Capital for countless years and although they all had records of the existence of this Earth Vein, no one had ever seen it, so Demon Lord Yang Bai being able to accurately determine its location made him somewhat uncomfortable.
“An Earth Vein?” Yang Kai was stunned.
Yang Kai had encountered an Earth Vein before and had even absorbed a great deal of energy from it.
On Endless Sea Islands’ Hidden Island, there was a tiny Earth Vein that was all but exhausted and dried up, yet even that pitiful remnant contained enough energy for him to greatly improve his strength in a very short period of time.
Obviously the Earth Vein beneath the Central Capital was not only far grander in size, but was completely intact. If one could find it and enter it, they would be able to obtain an indescribably amount of benefits from it.
“There’s at least an eighty percent chance this is what he was after all along.” Yang Kai nodded gently.
Yang Bai was already a Third Order Transcendent; he had reached his limit, and if he wanted to further improve his strength, he would have to rely on external forces. The huge energy contained within this Earth Vein was his best option.
Although it was still only a guess, it shouldn’t be far from the truth.
The entire Central Capital trembled violently as buildings large and small collapsed, and dust and smoke were thrown into the air. It was as if the apocalypse was happening right before everyone’s eyes.
Even those who didn’t understand what was happening realized that this place was no longer safe.
The masters from the Eight Great Families and Yang Kai’s mansion all increased the ferocity of their attacks towards Yang Bai again, attempting to interfere with his actions, but the six Great Evil Kings were closely guarding him, as long as they couldn’t break through the defence of these Evil Kings, the Central Capital’s forces were powerless to stop Yang Bai.
With the exception of Shan Qing Luo, the remaining five Great Evil Kings were all Second Order Transcendents and the Shadow King and Force King had even reached the peak of the Second Order, with them desperately guarding Yang Bai, disregarding their own safety, their defence was incredibly solid.
Shan Qing Luo also couldn’t be underestimated. Unceasingly pouring her True Qi into her fan shaped Mysterious Grade artifact, she waved it back and forth in a complex pattern, sending out bursts of fluorescent light.
Atop her fan were lifelike portraits of various beautiful women, and as she wielded her weapon, these paintings seemingly leapt from her artifact, each of them barely half-clothed, constantly sending out a rich, amorous appeal, creating a beguiling scenery.
Enticing whispers drifted through the air into people’s ears, stimulated their deepest hidden desires, driving them to distraction as it brought forth their animalistic instincts.
This Mysterious Grade artifact was an heirloom of the Beguiling Demon Queen lineage, coupled with the profound Seduction Technique of the Beguiling Demon Queen, few people were capable of maintaining their sanity when targeted by it.
Even the strongest Transcendent masters would instantly become absent-minded if they lost focus for a moment, falling into an illusory world filled with temptation from which they would be unable to extricate themselves.
And at this moment, Shan Qing Luo targets were actually the other five Great Evil Kings and Yang Bai.
The Force King, who was without a doubt the most simple minded of the batch, suddenly had bloodshot eyes as he breathed hot air from his nose, his lower half clearly pitching a giant tent.
The other four Great Evil Kings’ brows were all deeply furrowed as well, obviously affected by this sudden attack.
“Cheap slut!” The Force King suddenly woke up. The combination of his great strength and simple thoughts had allowed him to escape from Shan Qing Luo’s Seduction Technique relatively quickly, roaring angrily as he sent out a devastating punch towards Shan Qing Luo.
The Beguiling Demon Queen’s beautiful face instantly went pale, and knowing she was incapable of resisting this strike head on, she hurriedly dodged as she withdrew, but half of her body was still struck by the force of the Force King’s punch, sending her screaming through the air as she plummeted towards the ground.
Yang Bai glanced over at the fallen Shan Qing Luo indifferently and shook his head, “Qing Luo, is this your choice? You disappoint me.”
Shan Qing Luo also glared back indifferently, shouting as she allowed herself to fall, “I told you, I am already his woman! Naturally it’s impossible for me to help you deal with him!”
“You’ll regret it.” Yang Bai sighed slightly, “It seems like the peak of the Martial Dao is really a cold and lonely place.”
As he spoke these words, the movement on his hands never once stopped.
The masters of the Eight Great Families moved to take Shan Qing Luo’s life directly, but they were quickly overtaken by Tang Yu Xian.
The Blood Warriors knew about the relationship between Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo so naturally they wouldn’t embarrass her; Tang Yu Xian charging towards Shan Qing Luo was purely to protect her.
Seeing Tang Yu Xian catch Shan Qing Luo and escort her from the battlefield, Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
A huge and unparalleled energy suddenly erupted from the ground. This pulse of World Energy was far greater than anything anyone present had ever felt before. It was so potent that it was actually visible to the naked eye, akin to a great geyser of light that burst from beneath the earth, quickly covering the entire Central Capital.
If one were to stand back and observe, the chaotic and fragmented Central Capital City would actually appear to be engulfed in a beam of light, radiating a Heaven shaking amount of World Energy that shot straight up into the sky.
Yang Bai laughed joyously before his image flickered as he shot off towards the source of this eruption, quickly disappearing into the ground below, leaving behind the five Great Evil Kings to protect this place with their lives.
“There really is an Earth Vein here!” Yang Ying Hao called out in shock.
Seeing this scene, the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families suddenly knew that the speculations in their ancient records were not unfounded. Under the Central Capital there was indeed a huge Earth Vein.
Today, this Earth Vein has been found and exposed by Yang Bai.
“No matter what he wants to do with the Earth Vein, we can’t let him succeed!” Yang Ying Hao said with a dignified expression, shooting off after Yang Bai with the other seven old men, diving underground at the source of the light beam.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled, “We’re going as well.”
Old Demon hurriedly kept up.
Inside Yang Kai’s mansion.
Since arriving in the Central Capital, Meng Wu Ya had remained inside Yang Kai’s house in order to maintain the Heavenly Palace. When the eruption of light occurred though, he suddenly wore a surprised and excited look on his face. Leaping into the air, he swept his eyes over the Central Capital, his smile growing broader with every passing breath, finally exclaiming, “An Earth Vein!”
Soon after, he let out a great burst of laughter, “It’s really wearing out iron shoes while seeking one’s feet, such great fortune suddenly landing in my lap! Ning Chang, come with me. It’s finally time your teacher unlocked the first layer of his seal!”
Xia Ning Chang was shocked upon hearing these words and quickly nodded.
Since the day she became Meng Wu Ya’s apprentice, she had been vigorously cultivating in order to help her Master break through the shackles that were sealing his true strength.
Xia Ning Chang also knew that in order to break the first layer of the seal on Meng Wu Ya, a massive supply of energy was required. It wasn’t important what the source of this energy was. As long as the amount was great enough, she could use her Special Constitution to guide it into Meng Wu Ya’s body and refine the seal inside his body like it was a spirit herb inside a human furnace, thus breaking it down and shattering it.
Treating a person as a furnace, and the myriad energies within them as medicinal ingredients, this was something only the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body was capable of.
The Master and Apprentice duo quickly sought out a crack from which the underground light was erupting and under the guardianship of Meng Wu Ya, broke into the ground.
Above the Central Capital, the masters from the Eight Great Families and Yang Kai’s mansion were still encircling the remaining cultivators from the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. From their originally uncountable number, the overwhelming majority had suffered severe injuries or been killed directly until now, only a hundred or so Evil Land cultivators remained along with some scattered Monster Beasts.
The five Great Evil Kings, although still putting up a fierce struggle, were now completely surrounded by dozens of Transcendent Realm masters, with not path to the sky or gate into the ground; their deaths were all but inevitable.
The situation was gradually becoming clear.
Below the Central Capital, Yang Kai and Old Demon both continually descended towards the source of the light column. It seemed as if there was no end to the underground tunnels and although they were now essentially bathing in World Energy, giving them a pleasant sensation, diving into the an unexplored abyss inevitably caused their nerves to tighten somewhat.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the pair landed on solid ground once more.
Neither of them knew exactly how far underground they were, but without a doubt they have delved a great distance as the sounds of battle were no longer audible and the fluctuations of energy from Martial Skills and artifact attacks were indescribable. As they scanned the area around themselves, Yang Kai and Old Demon could only see a pure, rich, flow of energy, as if they were swimming in a river of World Energy.
This river of World Energy was visible, tangible, and gave off a faint glow, so even though they were deep underground, there was no lack of illumination.
“Where did those eight go?” Old Demon glanced back and force but was unable to spot Yang Ying Hao or any of the other seven former Patriarchs.
“That way.” Yang Kai noticed a cluster of footprints on the ground and pointed towards a certain direction.
Quickly spreading out his Divine Sense, Yang Kai was surprised to discover that he was only able to senses things in the surrounding three hundred meters or so.
The rich World Energy here was obviously limiting the scope of his Divine Sense.
Walking forward for a short time, Yang Kai suddenly came to a fork in the road, causing him to frown.
The Earth Vein under the Central Capital extended in all directions and these underground passages twisted and turned randomly, essentially forming a giant labyrinth. With his Divine Sense severally restricted down here, Yang Kai knew it would be difficult to seek the trail of the old Patriarchs and Yang Bai.
The only thing he could do right now was rely on the shallow footprints on the ground in front of him.
After passing through several more tunnels and taking a few different forks, even the footprints of the eight former Patriarchs they were tracing disappeared.
Yang Kai and Old Demon had now completely lost track of everyone they were seeking, so Yang Kai could only walk forward randomly.
Suddenly, Yang Kai came to a stop and turned his eyes back the way they came.
“Young Master, what happened?”
Yang Kai didn’t say anything, just remaining in place until after a short time. A slender figure dashed out from behind them. Old Demon was shocked and wanted to block this newcomer, but was quickly stopped by Yang Kai.
When the figure approached closer, Old Demon discovered that this person was actually his Young Master’s Senior Sister, Su Yan.
“How come you came down here as well?” Yang Kai hurriedly pulled Su Yan over.
Su Yan and all of the other members of High Heaven Pavilion had been staying inside the Heavenly Palace and had not participated in this final battle against the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, so when Yang Kai saw her appear at this moment, naturally he was a bit surprised.
“I came down here chasing after Treasurer Meng and Junior Sister Xia,” Su Yan explained, “Once I reached this place, I suddenly felt your aura and decided to meet up with you.”
“Are Treasurer Meng and Little Senior Sister down here too?” Yang Kai was stunned, “What about the house?”
“The house is fine, the Heavenly Palace’s barrier is still protecting it.”
Yang Kai nodded gently, unavoidably feeling some confusion, “Why would Treasurer Meng suddenly decide to come down here? He actually even brought Little Senior Sister with him.”
This set of actions puzzled Yang Kai greatly. Although Meng Wu Ya was capable of temporarily relieving the seal place on him and regaining the strength of a Transcendent, doing so would also result in a sever backlash afterwards; therefore, Yang Kai had not wanted to let Meng Wu Ya participate in this battle.
Ideally, Meng Wu Ya would remain inside the mansion and keep the Heavenly Palace running.
Never had Yang Kai thought Treasure Meng would take the initiative to run out and come to this underground labyrinth.
“Since you’re here, we’ll go together.” Yang Kai smiled.
Su Yan nodded lightly.
The group of three people continued their underground exploration, carefully scanning and examining their surroundings, but despite their efforts, they were completely unable to detect the auras of anyone else. Su Yan was able to sense Yang Kai’s location down here because of their Union of Heart and Soul, but this method was obviously only applicable between Yang Kai and Su Yan.
While Yang Kai was walking about randomly, he suddenly felt that the flow of World Energy inside the Earth Vein suddenly undergo a mutation.
The energy that was seemingly freely drifting randomly was now all rapidly surging towards a specific point.
It was as if a great vortex had appeared and was madly swallowing the World Energy in the Earth Vein.
“Let’s go take a look.” Yang Kai stared in the direction the World Energy was gathering and quickly stepped forward.
After roughly half an hour, Yang Kai suddenly sensed two familiar auras.
Startled by this discovery, he once again increased his pace.
In a nearby cavern with multiple tunnels connected to it, Yang Kai came across Meng Wu Ya and Xia Ning Chang.
Meng Wu Ya was sitting cross legged on the floor, his eyes closed and a joyful grin plastered on his face while Xia Ning Chang was standing in front of him, her hands uninterruptedly forming a series of mysterious seals. With each new seal she formed, the World Energy in the Earth Vein would surge towards Meng Wu Ya and enter his body.
As if noticing someone approaching, Meng Wu Ya glanced over nervously and even Xia Ning Chang’s movements became somewhat rough, no longer fluidly flowing from one hand seal to the next.
After seeing Yang Kai’s face though, the pair let out a sigh of relief.
“Treasurer Meng, what are you doing down here?” Yang Kai looked at him in surprise, asking curiously.
“Unlocking my seal!” Meng Wu Ya replied lightly.
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brilliantly. Although Treasurer Meng hadn’t said much, it hadn’t stopped the former from understanding.
There was a profound seal placed on Meng Wu Ya that limited the cultivation he could display to the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary. If he can unlock this seal, he could instead maintain a Second Order Transcendent cultivation.
“Congratulations Treasurer Meng,” Yang Kai was also quite happy that Meng Wu Ya was able to find an opportunity to unlock this seal. Evidently Demon Lord Yang Bai’s schemes had brought about some unexpected benefits.
“Has Treasurer Meng seen Yang Bai or the Eight Great Families’ former Patriarchs?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
Meng Wu Ya shook his head and said, “I haven’t, but if you want to find them, Ning Chang can help you.”
Yang Kai quickly turned his attention to his Little Senior Sister.
Xia Ning Chang didn’t speak, simply nodding lightly and waving her hand gently, releasing a wisp of every that shot off like lightning into a section of underground tunnel Yang Kai had yet to explore.
After waiting for a short while, this wisp of energy returned.
Receiving this wisp of energy, Xia Ning Chang closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and pointing towards a certain direction. Smiling gratefully, Yang Kai turned and walked towards the direction she pointed without the slightest hesitation.
“Yang Kai, I’ll stay behind here to protect Treasurer Meng and Junior Sister Xia,” Su Yan hesitated before saying.
She really wanted to travel together with Yang Kai, because so far, she had sat out almost every major battle undertaken by Yang Kai, but with Meng Wu Ya and Xia Ning Chang currently in such a delicate situation, without someone here to stand guard for them, she couldn’t feel at ease.
If Su Yan stayed, at the very least she could ensure the safety of these two people if any ordinary danger appeared.
Yang Kai nodded, “Be careful!”
“You as well.” Su Yan smiled warmly.
Bidding farewell to Meng Wu Ya and Xia Ning Chang, Yang Kai and Old Demon rushed off in the direction Little Senior Sister had pointed while constantly sweeping the surroundings with their powerful Divine Senses.
Soon, a cluster of auras appeared inside Yang Kai’s perception range. Homing in on to these auras, Yang Kai quickly led Old Demon towards them.
Soon, in front of the pair, nine figures appeared.
Eight of them were the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families who had been tracking the Demon Lord while the other one was none other than Yang Bai.
When Yang Kai and Old Demon arrived, the two sides were facing off against each other.
Although the eight old Patriarchs were also Transcendents and had a large numerical advantage, against a master like the Demon Lord they still didn’t dare act rashly. Yang Bai’s aura at the moment still gave them great pressure.
Yang Bai on the other hand was quite calm, though a light of excitement could be seen in the depths of his eyes. Although his methods were exceptionally powerful and he had absolute confidence in his own strength, he wasn’t eager to take action and was instead just staring at the eight people surrounding him with a slightly teasing gaze.
Seeing Yang Kai and Old Demon suddenly appeared here, Yang Bai smiled even brighter and called out warmly, “Martial Nephew is also here! Good, good, Martial Uncle was worried no one would be here to witness this moment, but it seems that my concerns were unwarranted, the more that comes the better.”
Yang Kai coldly snorted as he stepped forward, staring at Yang Bai with a dignified expression, “Martial Uncle, you spent all this time and effort and even sacrificed the lives of all the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s masters just to find this Earth Vein under the Central Capital? “
“Precisely!”
“Why?” Yang Kai couldn’t help asking, “This Earth Vein is fixed below the Central Capital, even if you’ve found it, there’s no way you’ll be able to absorb the energy contained here in short order, so in the end, most of it will be taken away by the Eight Great Families. Martial Uncle couldn’t possibly be so short sighted as to do something so unprofitable, could he?”
Yang Bai however just stared back at Yang Kai with a temperate expression and nodded gently, “It looks like Martial Nephew is smarter than these eight old fogies. They all think that my purpose here is to absorb the World Energy from this Earth Vein when in fact, they couldn’t be more wrong. Even I don’t have the ability to absorb this Earth Vein under the eyes of the entire Central Capital, nor did I ever have any intention of doing so.”
Yang Ying Hao and the other Patriarchs all wore puzzled expressions when they heard this.
All of them had thought that Yang Bai was eyeing the World Energy contained in this Earth Vein so they hadn’t expected him to openly admit he wasn’t interested in it.
But if he wasn’t after this World Energy, why had he done all of this?
“No matter what your purpose is, today, this will be your burial ground!” Yang Ying Hao coldly shouted, interrupting Yang Bai’s monologue.
Yang Bai simply chuckled, “With just you people, you don’t have the ability to bury me. If I wanted to, I could take your lives at any time.”
“If Martial Uncle is so confident, why are you just standing there spouting nonsense?” Yang Kai sneered sarcastically.
“Like I said when Martial Nephew arrived, I need someone to witness this event. Originally Shan Qing Luo was my preferred candidate, I was also prepared to share this moment with her, but she didn’t appreciate my kindness and has instead missed such a good opportunity.” Yang Bai slowly shook his head, a look of disappointment spreading across his face
“Martial Uncle’s interests are really quite distasteful.”
“It matters not,” Yang Bai shrugged his shoulders and continued casually, “Because I must leave this place soon and travel to a higher world.”
“A higher world?” The eight old Patriarchs were all stunned, not able to comprehend what Yang Bai was talking about.
Old Demon and Yang Kai on the other hand suddenly looked pensive.
“Ignorant fools,” Yang Bai muttered, a trace of pity appearing on his face, “Do you think that the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary is the pinnacle of the Martial Dao? Wrong. The Above Immortal Ascension Boundary is nothing. This realm isn’t even called the ‘Above Immortal. Ascension Boundary’, it’s just the name you all haphazardly call those of us who had reached this realm.”
The eight old Patriarch wore shocked expressions. This was something they had never once heard of before, all of them suddenly somewhat looking forward to Yang Bai continuing to speak, hoping to gain a greater understanding of what kind of realm the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary truly was.
“This boundary is known as the Transcendent Realm, the point at which one transcends the realm of mortals.” Yang Kai said in a snide tone, interrupting Yang Bai’s boasting, shaking his head as he continued, “Martial Uncle, I thought you were a man of great power and ambition, but listening to you now, it seems like you’re just a pitiful fool as well.”
Yang Bai’s eyes suddenly became cold, seemingly not having anticipated that Yang Kai had some understanding of this realm, but quickly recovering and nodding, “Did the man standing behind Martial Nephew tell you all this?”
Old Demon just grinned evilly, neither confirming nor denying this conjecture, simply staring towards Yang Bai sarcastically.
Yang Bai flaunting his understanding of the Transcendent Realm in front of Old Demon was akin to showing off meager skills before an expert.
Seeing Old Demon’s reaction, Yang Bai said sincerely, “My dear brother, when all things are said and done, the two of us share common roots. My achievements all stem from your current body so the two of us should be able to understand one another. If you are willing, why do we not join hands?”
“No thanks,” Old Demon grinned meaningfully, “This old master thinks sticking with Young Master sounds more promising.”
“Do you really think so?” Yang Bai asked somewhat disappointedly yet not giving up, “Although my Martial Nephew’s aptitude is extraordinary, I’m afraid that is only limited to this place, if you come with me, I can show you a broader world.”
Saying so, Yang Bai suddenly reached out, touched the cave wall behind him, and fiercely poured his True Qi into it. At the same time, the energy of the entire Earth Vein instantly rushed towards this place as well.
A moment later, in the position Yang Bai’s hand was placed, a small black spot suddenly appeared and began to expand rapidly. Within three breaths of time, this small black spot had grown into a black hole a few meters in diameter.
A profound and terrifying pressure radiated from this black hole that seemed like it was capable of swallowing everything in this world whole.
The old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families’ expressions all filled with shock as they hurriedly retreated, staring at this unknown black hole, wondering just what it was they were witnessing.
On the other hand, both Yang Kai and Old Demon’s eyes bulged as they involuntarily shouted, “A Void Corridor?”
This time, it was Yang Bai’s turn to be surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone here to be able to recognize this thing, slowly nodding, “Correct, a Void Corridor, one that leads to a higher world, one far grander than our own. Compared to there, this place is nothing more than a backwater land inhabited by barbarians. Here, the World Energy is thin and scare, but on the other side everything is different. On the other side, World Energy is much more abundant, it’s far more suitable for cultivators to sense the Heavenly Way and study the Martial Dao, allowing one to grow to much greater heights than in this place. My dear friend, as long as you nod, I am willing to let you enter with me and share in the resources of that land.”
“So that’s it!” Old Demon suddenly understood, “It seems like you not only inherited this body’s cultivation, but its memory as well.”
“Yes!” Yang Bai did readily acknowledge.
The body of the Devil Lord under High Heaven Pavilion’s Coiling Dragon Stream was currently being used by Old Demon, but earlier on, Yang Bai had obtained the original owner’s inheritance and memories which allowed him to understand the mysteries of the Transcendent Realm and promote his strength so quickly.
It was also likely that the memories of this Devil Lord’s body were what guided Yang Bai to the Earth Vein under the Central Capital and allowed him to pinpoint the location of this Void Corridor.
His purpose wasn’t to destroy the Central Capital, nor obtain this Earth Vein. Everything Yang Bai had done was to reach this Void Corridor.
He wanted to leave this place and enter a higher world, allowing him to pursue greater heights of the Martial Dao.
“However… it seems the memories you obtained aren’t very complete,” Old Demon suddenly smirked.
“Why do you say that, my dear friend?” Yang Bai frowned slightly.
“Jie jie jie… Do you really think that the resources over there can be obtained so easily? Do you think that the masters over there are easily bullied? Hah, laughable! Although this is place is truly a barbaric land compared to that place, the dangers over there are also far greater than here. Your cultivation isn’t bad. In this place you can reign as a king, but over there, at the very most you’ll be some unimportant deacon of a major Sect or possibly an Elder of a minor one. If I were you, I’d choose to stay here and live well rather than go there and slave away for some small profits.” Old Demon replied calmly.
“How do you know so much?” Yang Bai finally realized that something was wrong, “Impossible. The memories that remained in that body were all inherited by me, there’s no way you could obtain them again.”
“This old master indeed didn’t obtain any memories from this body, nor do I need them, because this old master… came from the world over there in the first place!” Old Demon smirked and pointed to himself arrogantly, “The original owner of this body, if you really want to nitpick, is at least 2 generations younger than me!”
Yang Bai suddenly became pale as the stared towards Old Demon like he was looking at a terrifying ancient monster, the depths of his eyes filling with a profound fear and yearning.
All of his current strength and achievements were related to the inheritance he had obtained from this corpse, but now Old Demon had proclaimed disdainfully that this Devil Lord was nothing more than one of his far flung younger generation, throwing Yang Bai into confusion, completely overturning his understanding of what was happening.
“You dare deceive me?” Yang Bai coldly declared, “I won’t be fooled by such obvious lies! Regardless of who you are, now that things have reached this point, I’ll just have to see what the world over there is like with my own eyes.”
Old Demon slowly shook his head, “Truly nothing but another ignorant fool.”
“That’s not something you can decide!” Yang Bai roared, his aura suddenly becoming dangerous, a rich Demonic Qi erupted from his body and his usual temperate expression warping into an ugly visage, as if he had suddenly become a completely different person, a true demon.
“Devil Transformation!” Yang Kai brushed his finger across his forehead and immediately summoned forth the massive energy stored within his Unyielding Golden Skeleton. As a complex series of black tattoos covered him, the intensity of the Demonic Qi he released was actually no less potent than that of Yang Bai, in fact, it was even more dense and pure.
A trace of surprise flashed across Yang Bai’s eyes as he stared at Yang Kai, his expression slowly becoming dignified, “Martial Nephew, you having such strength is impressive, even if you are borrowing it from some outside source, but with only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage cultivation, you can’t change anything here.”
“Really?” Old Demon took a step forward and guarded Yang Kai, a powerful Demonic Qi that had the exact same aura as Yang Bai’s emerging from his body.
At the same time, the eight old men also pushed their True Qi to their maximum, their expression cold and menacing, preparing to go all out against Yang Bai.
However, Yang Bai simply laughed, “You think you can defeat me simply because you have more people? You’re all too naive; before I leave I’ll let you all experience the might of a Third Order Transcendent. My dear friend, I have given you a chance, but it seems you intend to stubbornly refuse; the Demonic Qi in your body, I will gladly accept today.”
These last words were directed towards Old Demon.
When Yang Bai escaped from the Coiling Dragon Stream previously, he had not absorbed all of the Demonic Qi inside the deceased Devil Lord’s body. He had originally planned to consolidate his foundation and then return to absorb what remained at a later date, but this had inadvertently allowed Old Demon to take it for himself instead.
Now that another opportunity to refine this Demonic Qi had presented itself, Yang Bai naturally wanted to take it.
Finished speaking, Yang Bai waved gently and a thin membrane of multicoloured light appeared around his body, covering his form like armour.
The Martial Skills and artifact strikes of the Eight Great Families former Patriarchs simultaneously appeared and flew towards Yang Bai. Unfortunately, this heavy bombardment was only able to cause Yang Bai’s barrier to tremble slightly. Even attacking all together, they were unable to break his defence.
Although all of them knew Yang Bai was incredibly powerful, after witnessing this scene, the eight old Patriarchs still couldn’t help feeling surprised, each of them wearing a clear look of shock.
Old Demon also quickly attacked, a bloody light shooting out from his body, transforming into a blood fog that engulfed Yang Bai in the next breath. This blood fog contained all of Old Demon’s many years of insights into the Martial Dao, a technique that was difficult to defend against, capable of eroding anything in this world.
However, Yang Bai only flexed his muscles once and broke through this blood fog.
Old Demon coldly snorted and took three steps backwards, staring at the man with a solemn expression.
The absolute gap in realm was not something that mere experience could make up for. If there was a lot of fresh blood here, perhaps Old Demon could also use his Demon Specter Saint Technique to enhance his strength, but all the blood from the dead and wounded had already been used by Yang Bai. One couldn’t make bricks without straw.
A fierce dragon’s roar suddenly resounded as a huge black dragon appeared behind Yang Kai, shaking its head and swinging its tail as it opened its great maw and bit towards Yang Bai.
“A Flood Dragon?” Yang Bai didn’t spare this apparition a second glance, casually waving his left hand, summoning a huge seven coloured poisonous python out of thin air. This poisonous snake bared its fangs and rushed towards the black dragon, opening its mouth and spraying out a seven coloured light that contained a terrifying evil energy that instantly smashed the approaching dragon phantom.
“Mediocre!” Yang Bai sneered dismissively, calmly taunting, “Go on, release all the strength you can, I must see if any of you are capable of stopping me. I, Yang Bai, only seek the pinnacle of the Martial Dao! Good? Evil? As long as it can improve my strength, why would I not take advantage of it? Anyone who dares block my path, I will show no mercy!”
“Even if it is the Honored Master who raised you?” Yang Kai stared at him with ice cold eyes. Although the situation was extremely dangerous, there was not the slightest panic present in his eyes, only an infinite indifference.
Old Demon also calmly observed the situation. Although he didn’t know what Yang Kai had to rely on, after following him for so long, Old Demon understood that Yang Kai would never act unless he was confident of his success. Quickly pressing down his impulse to escape, he quietly guarded Yang Kai in case any accident occurred.
“Honoured Master?” Yang Bai sneered, “I don’t have an Honored Master.”
Even as he was speaking, Yang Bai never stopped pushing the evil energy within his body, causing the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families to pale and fall to their knees, each of their faces quickly changing colours, their True Qi and vitality quickly leaking out and converging toward Yang Bai’s body.
This absolute repression of the realm gave them a deep understanding of the terrifying strength Yang Bai possessed and made them realize that simply relying on the people gathered here, they had no way to defeat him.
“Yang Kai, quickly leave this place, I’m afraid that the eight of us can no longer escape…” Yang Ying Hao suddenly said, his voice becoming faint and slowly trailing off.
If they had known Yang Bai’s strength was so horrible, they would never have only come by themselves.
Originally they had thought that with their eight people, even if they had to sacrifice themselves in battle, they would at least be able to bury Yang Bai to along with them, but now they realized that their previous idea was nothing but a ridiculous fantasy.
Now all they could do was put their lives on the line to save Yang Kai.
“No one will escape here today!” Yang Bai declared calmly as he faintly shook his head, lifting his finger, a burst of Demonic Qi shot out and pierced Yang Ying Hao’s shoulder, causing a burst of blood to spray out.
“Yang Bai, you attacked and killed your Elders and brought shame to the High Heaven Pavilion; today, on behalf of Grand Master, I will clean up the Sect!” Yang Kai suddenly roared angrily, his cold indifference rapidly transforming into righteous fury.
Yang Bai was temporarily stunned and couldn’t help glancing over at him, soon wearing a sneering expression, “A trivial Immortal Ascension Boundary Fifth Stage ant dares to speak to me like this, the young really don’t understand how high the Heavens are or how deep the Earth is! Martial Nephew, you’ll soon be dead, are you planning to clean up the Sect for that old fart as a ghost?”
Although they came from the same Sect, Yang Bai looked down on Yang Kai quite a bit. He thought that this Martial Nephew of his only had his current strength because he was borrowing it from some external source.
“Haha…” Yang Kai laughed loudly before his grinning face became solemn, shouting loudly, “Old Demon!”
Old Demon responded immediately and without any hesitation rushed towards Yang Bai.
Yang Bai looked on disdainful, simply waving his hand towards Old Demon, sending out a violent burst of Demonic Qi. Old Demon’s defence was instantly broken through and was sent tumbling through the air before crashing into the ground, but in the next instant, he climbed up indifferently.
He was unharmed!
This scene not only stunned the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families, even Yang Bai was shocked; however, he quickly collected himself and nodded, “That body is truly quite good.”
Old Demon laughed wickedly, “Although this old master can’t beat you now, you also can’t beat this old master; this body is not something you can destroy.”
Old Demon’s current body had not only not degraded after lying at the bottom of the Coiling Dragon Stream for hundreds of years, but instead had become even more tempered with age.
With Yang Bai’s current cultivation alone, he really wasn’t capable of destroying it.
“I was wondering what it was you had to take advantage of, it turns out to only be this.” Yang Bai sneered, “If that’s all you have to show me, then I’ll stop playing around with you now.”
Old Demon snorted and charged toward Yang Bai again.
Yang Bai curled his lips cruelly and spat disdainfully, “Nothing but a brute, even if your body is tough, you still can’t defeat me, you might as well just return that which belongs to me.”
As he spoke, Yang Bai released an even more ominous aura that before and stretched out his hand to grasp Old Demon’s head.
But to his surprise, Old Demon didn’t even try to evade, simply allowing himself to be grabbed.
“Hmph, seeking your own death!” Yang Bai was overjoyed, instantly circulating his Demonic Secret Art and madly absorbing the Demonic Qi inside Old Demon. Because their Demonic Qis had the same source, Yang Bai could freely assimilate Old Demon’s strength into his own and once he was finished, his own cultivation would definitely improve again.
He could even use some forbidden methods to refine Old Demon’s current body into a puppet.
“Young Master!” Old Demon cried out. He was desperately resisting but was unable to stop the outflow of strength from his body.
Regardless of what Yang Kai was planning, now was the best opportunity for him to act; it was only because of his unconditional trust in Yang Kai that Old Demon dared to act so recklessly.
Suddenly, a golden chain appeared, and with it a blazing aura akin to the shining sun burst forth. Whether it was Old Demon or Yang Bai, when this aura swept over them, the Demonic Qi in their bodies trembled fiercely.
This chain was not long, nor was it particularly eye catching, but it radiated a power that could not be ignored as it shot forth towards Yang Bai.
“Devil Sealing Chain!?” Yang Bai’s face instantly went pale as he shouted in surprise, quickly releasing Old Demon as he hurriedly tried to escape.
Yang Kai sneered and used his Divine Sense to guide golden Devil Sealing Chain forward like a snake, instantly entangling Yang Bai.
*Ci la la…*
A burst of sound like salt hitting hot oil came out as Yang Bai pushed his Demonic Qi furiously, trying to free himself, but ultimately he was unable to break free of from Devil Sealing Chain and a constant stream of black smoke leaked from his body.
On the other hand, the golden Devil Sealing Chain, as if it was without physical form, gradually disappeared into Yang Bai’s body, leaving behind only a faint brilliance.
“Martial Uncle, you’re far too negligent.” Yang Kai sneered sarcastically, “Since we acquired the body of the Devil Lord, obviously the Devil Sealing Chain that was used to bind it fell into my hands as well. This thing should be your nemesis.”
Yang Bai’s face twisted with rage and anger as he glared hatefully towards Yang Kai.
Devil Sealing Chain, an artifact designed specifically to suppress Demonic Qi.
It was capable of sealing the original Devil Lord so the current Yang Bai was obviously not its match. On top of that, regardless of whether it was Yang Bai or Old Demon, their current strength was almost entirely inherited from original Devil Lord’s body.
As if it too was being suppressed by the Devil Sealing Chain, Yang Bai’s arrogant aura quickly converged and the vast majority of his strength was locked inside his body.
The situation had taken a dramatic turn and everyone, aside from Yang Bai, was pleasantly surprised, none of them having anticipated such an outcome.
Old Demon gazed towards Yang Kai both happily and slightly panic-stricken, musing to himself that trusting this Young Master of his was the right decision.
Even he had forgotten about the existence of the Devil Sealing Chain, so when Yang Kai suddenly brought it out this time he was also caught off guard.
“Martial Uncle, how much of your strength can you use now?” Yang Kai took a step forward imposingly, “Because of you, High Heaven Pavilion is now in a very miserable state, Grand Master was nearly killed by you, and my father was forced to endure years of suffering because of your treachery. Putting aside your wanton destruction of the Central Capital, for the damage you did to High Heaven Pavilion alone you must pay a heavy price and the time has come to settle your debts.”
“In your dreams!” Yang Bai roared hysterically, “Do you think this trivial Devil Sealing Chain can hold me? Perhaps if you were a bit stronger you might be able to threaten me, but with your current cultivation, you have no chance! The prestige any artifact can display is directly related to the strength of its wielder, didn’t you ever learn something so basic?”
Saying so, Yang Bai’s hands both stretched out and a seven coloured radiance bloomed once more, wreaking havoc like a great storm. At the same time, a figure shot out and jumped towards the Void Corridor.
Obviously Yang Bai was planning to leave here first and worry about seeking revenge later.
“Where are you trying to run to?” Yang Kai’s shouted, his body flickering as he increased his speed to the limit. Arriving at the entrance of the Void Corridor, he glared coldly towards Yang Bai as he pushed his True Qi fiercely.
“Get out of my way!” Yang Bai roared, raising his hand to strike Yang Kai’s chest. The hand was moved like a serpent, striking with blinding speed and power.
*Hong…* With a bang, Yang Kai’s body was forced back and a trace of blood leaked from his mouth, but Yang Bai was also forced to retreat several steps.
“Ha ha ha!” Yang Kai laughed loudly, “Martial Uncle, you can only display the strength of a First Order Transcendent now, let’s see how you try to escape!”
As he shouted, a huge pulse of Divine Sense welled up and the small sword inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and, under the urging of his vast Spiritual Energy, exuded a cold chill as it rushed towards Yang Bai.
Yang Bai was shocked by this sudden attack and didn’t dare to face it head on, hurriedly retreating.
Old Demon laughed wickedly and transformed into a bloody light, launching his own attack towards Yang Bai.
Having recovered slightly, the Eight Great Families; old Patriarchs also contributed what strength they had to this battle.
In an instant, Yang Bai was surrounded and became badly battered from all sides.
With the Devil Sealing Chain suppressing him, Yang Bai was only able to display strength equivalent to a First Order Transcendent. Obviously, he was no longer the opponent of Yang Kai’s group.
Every time he tried to escape into the Void Corridor, he would be swiftly intercepted.
Yang Bai’s face became sullen. He had been anxiously awaiting the moment he would step into the higher world since the moment he obtained the Devil Lord’s inheritance and memory below the Coiling Dragon Stream. He had conquered the entire Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and invaded Medicine King’s Valley all in preparation to battle the Eight Great Families.
He had been planning and plotting for so long and now that he was mere steps from achieving his goal, he was suddenly tied down by the Devil Sealing Chain and repeatedly beaten back. The madness and unwillingness that filled his heart could easily be imagined.
But in the end, he still had the foundation of a Third Order Transcendent, so although he was in the midst of a crisis, Yang Bai would not easily be defeated, continuously using a variety of profound and mystical means to repel his attackers.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as the battle dragged on, eventually not colliding with Yang Bai head on anymore, instead focusing all his attention on controlling his Soul type artifact as he carefully observed the trapped and enraged Yang Bai.
Suddenly, a tyrannical aura from far away quickly approached. Perceiving the particular fluctuations of this aura, Yang Kai immediately smiled and turned his eyes towards this newcomer.
Sure enough, Meng Wu Ya’s figure appeared a moment later, a look of joy and excitement filling his face, the imposing aura radiating from his body incomparably stronger than in the past, even more so than when he had released his seal several months ago.
Behind him, Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang also quickly appeared.
Obviously Meng Wu Ya had broken through the shackles that were sealing his strength and had restored his Transcendent Realm cultivation. Yang Kai estimated that Treasure Meng was now a peak Third Order Transcendent.
Although he could only vaguely sense this, Yang Kai was still convinced his judgement was correct.
When Meng Wu Ya arrived, he didn’t speak any nonsense and immediately held out his hand, causing an invisible pressure to press down on Yang Bai’s body like a great mountain, making it difficult for the latter to even lift his arms.
Seizing this opportunity, the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families and Old Demon launched an all out attack, quickly riddling Yang Bai’s body with bloody wounds.
“How can this be?” Yang Bai stared towards Meng Wu Ya who had just appeared in complete disbelief. He couldn’t believe that this person who he had never even heard of several months ago could have the same cultivation and strength as him at his peak.
“Martial Uncle, your time of death has arrived.” Yang Kai coldly declared.
Yang Bai face was ashen as madness filled the depths of his eyes. Having reached a dead end, he suddenly let out a crazed laughter and roared, “Ignorant fools! If I am destined to die here today, all of you will be accompanying me to hell!”
Shouting so, Yang Bai’s Demonic Qi and aura suddenly fluctuated wildly and his body rapidly bloated, his complexion turning bright red as blood gushed out from his seven orifices.
The ominous pressure pulsing through the air instantly sent chills down everyone’s back.
Meng Wu Ya expression immediately became solemn as he hurriedly shouted, “Stop him! He’s trying to detonate all the True Qi in his body.”
Yang Kai’s face also changed greatly, injecting all of his Spiritual Energy into his small sword Soul type artifact and striking towards Yang Bai’s head. Unfortunately, Yang Bai’s Spiritual Energy was too powerful and Yang Kai failed to break the former’s Knowledge Sea’s defense.
Meng Wu Ya twisted his hand and manipulated the pressure he was exerting on Yang Bai to snap the latter’s neck.
Yang Bai’s insane laughter abruptly halted and the light in his eyes quickly dissipated, but the violent Demonic Qi still exploded fiercely.
*Hong…*
The Eight Great Families’ old Patriarchs who were all in close proximity to Yang Bai coughed up blood as they were flung out while Old Demon cried out in pain and was actually thrown into the Void Corridor.
In the next moment, the huge amount of World Energy contained in the Central Capital’s Earth Vein began fluctuating violently, as if reacting to the violent explosion of Yang Bai’s Demonic Qi.
At the same time, a strange force swept over.
Feeling this odd sensation, Meng Wu Ya was stunned and glanced around, quickly fixing his eyes on the open Void Corridor and exclaiming, “How can there be a Void Corridor here!?”
Seeing this, even the incredibly powerful Meng Wu Ya suddenly went pale with fright.
Recovering from his initial shock, Meng Wu Ya quickly shot towards Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, pushing his True Qi furiously to protect them while shouting, “Yang Kai, follow me, quickly!”
As he spoke though, his figure shot into the Void Corridor.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know why Treasurer Meng was so panicked, it didn’t stop him from understanding that the situation was bad.
Yang Bai exploding his Demonic Qi had caused a change in the Central Capital’s Earth Vein that would ultimately lead to a devastating disaster, one that even Meng Wu Ya had no confidence in withstanding.
If he wanted to survive now, the only option was to enter the Void Corridor and travel to the world on the other side.
Hearing the urgency in Meng Wu Ya’s shout, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate and flew over towards the Void Corridor as he called out, “Eight Seniors, you come too.”
As he shouted, Yang Kai dove into the Void Corridor.
At this moment, the pitch black Void Corridor seemed to become unstable and numerous cracks began to appear in it.
A strange power soon began flooding out from the Void Corridor.
Yang Kai had once before witness the horrifying power of a collapsing Void Corridor. When the Void Corridor below the Coiling Dragon Stream became unstable and shattered, many Qiu Family and Purple Fern Valley Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were literally vaporized by the power of the void while one was even less fortunate and survived long enough to watch himself be sliced in half.
Half of his body was sent to the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, while the other half was swallowed by the void; the scene was extremely horrific and terrifying.
The power of the void was not something people could resist.
And right now, the Void Corridor in front of him was collapsing under the impact of Earth Vein’s unstable World Energy.
Yang Kai’s expression went blank as he quickly summoned his bone shield and poured in every last bit of True Qi he could to protect himself.
An anxious voice called out to him from in front of him front. Naturally it came from Meng Wu Ya, but Yang Kai was unable to see him.
A strong burst of energy suddenly swept over Yang Kai like a great wave, blinding his sight. In the darkness, all he was able to feel was a huge impact followed by many sharp blades smashing against his bone shield that forced him back repeatedly.
Overwhelmed by the severe pain, Yang Kai’s consciousness rapidly blurred and he quickly passed out.
…..
Since the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’s defeat where four Great Evil Kings died and Demon Lord Yang Bai disappeared without a trace, six months had passed.
Over these past six months, the entire Central Capital had lain in ruins.
At the end of that great battle, some kind of shocking explosion occurred deep underground and the entire Central Capital collapsed down several dozen to several hundred meters. Now looking at it, the once grand Central Capital city had seemingly been transformed into a deep valley.
Nearly every building in the city collapsed and the number of people injured or killed was simply uncountable.
Only Yang Kai’s mansion, still protected by the Heavenly Palace, remained completely intact.
In that battle, the old Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families had also disappeared and to this day, no one knew where they had gone, but everyone knew that they had likely met an untimely end.
What made the Eight Great Families even more aggrieved though was that Yang Kai had also disappeared.
This rising star of the Central Capital had surged to prominence during the Inheritance War, repeatedly creating miracles leading his allies to fight against the other Yang Family Young Lords, force back the Eight Great Families, and finally even destroying the invading Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land forces.
Although he was only twenty years old, he was already a legendary figure.
With both the previous and current Yang Family Patriarchs disappearing, Yang Zhao, the Yang Family’s Second Young Lord, assumed the role of leader and together with the other seven young Patriarchs and set about restoring the Central Capital.
But given the immense scale of the Central Capital, if they wanted to completely rebuild it, more than a decade would be required.
The only upside in all of this was that after the war, the entire Central Capital became a cultivation paradise where the World Energy was several times denser than average. For this reason, disciples of countless Sects and Families also flocked to the Central Capital to help with the reconstruction work and cultivate.
Standing silently amongst the ruins, Qiu Yi Meng swept her gaze around slowly, a deep sadness apparent in the depths of her eyes as.
Behind her was the famous Central Capital Wolf.
Huo Xing Chen seemed to have matured a lot these past few months and stood quietly by Qiu Yi Meng, only speaking after a long while, “Good people don’t live long while a scourge lasts a thousand years. Don’t worry too much, Young Lord Kai must be hiding somewhere while quietly watching us scurry about.”
Qiu Yi Meng muttered, “Really? Then why hasn’t he appeared yet? It’s been half a year already.”
Huo Xing Chen remained silent.
If Yang Kai was really okay, he should have shown himself long ago, but now half a year had passed and no one had so much as caught of glimpse of him.
Not only was Yang Kai’s whereabouts unknown, but the mysterious powerhouse Meng Wu Ya, Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang of the High Heaven Pavilion, and even Old Demon had also yet to surface.
It was almost as if during that great upheaval they had all just vanished into thin air.
Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t even find someone to ask about what had happened.
“Xing Chen, do you think he already died?” Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes began filling with tears as she bit her lower lip and ask.
“Yang Kai, die?” Huo Xing Chen laughed, “If Young Lord Kai really died, everyone in this place would probably had already died as well. Don’t worry about him, just protect yourself well and wait for him to come back one day, then you can give yourself to him as a welcome home present.”
“Shameless!” Qiu Yi Meng glared angrily at him.
Huo Xing Chen grinned meaningfully and stared out across the ruins in front of him, his eyes also flashing a trace of loss and confusion.
[Young Lord Kai, Young Lord Kai, where are you? If you really died, then so be it, everyone will certainly mourn your passing greatly, but if you haven’t died, hurry up and show yourself! Many people here are worried about you.]
Even the eyes of the Huo Family Young Lord became slightly damp as his mood became somewhat gloomy.
Early morning, on the Ancient Cloud Island.
Ancient Cloud Island was one of a few first-class forces in the Endless Sea Islands. The Sect spanned more than a dozen islands, large and small, each one rich in World Energy which allowed countless Precious Treasures to be produced. As long as its disciples cultivated diligently, they would not lack prospects.
Although Ancient Cloud Island was not comparable to Supreme Solitary Sect, the only thing it was truly missing in order to become a super force was a Transcendent powerhouse.
A few years ago though, after Ancient Cloud Island recovered its Broken Moon Transformation Art, the supreme Secret Art it had lost three hundred years ago, the Island Lord Gu Feng began vigorously cultivating both himself and the Sects elite disciples in hopes that out of these core members, some of them with exceptional aptitude and opportunities could reach the Transcendent Realm and elevate Ancient Cloud Island to the same level as Supreme Solitary Sect.
Although this goal is very ambitious and could not be accomplished in short order, Gu Feng believed that with the help of the Broken Moon Transformation Art, there would come a day when this dream would be fulfilled.
Today, the sea breeze gently blew, carrying a natural and refreshing taste with it.
Ancient Cloud Island Elite Disciple, Zhong Miao woke up from a night of meditation, jumped out of bed lightly, opened her door, and walked out.
After leaving her simply dwelling, she walked over to a nearby hut and gently knocked on the door while calling out, “Junior Brother, Junior Brother, time to get up!”
When the door opened, a young man’s face appeared from inside.
Glancing into the opposite parties weather-beaten and tempered eyes, Zhong Miao couldn’t help feeling slightly lost.
She couldn’t understand why this Junior Brother of hers who was less than twenty years old seemed so mature and experienced. Whether it was his demeanor or the way he carried out his work, there was no trace of the usual frivolous markings a young man should have, and when he spoke, his words were often profound and thought-provoking.
“Senior Sister, good morning.” The young man said with a smile pleasant smile.
Zhong Miao nodded gently nodded, her rich twin peaks undulating slightly, creating fascinating scene, smiling gently, “I thought you were still asleep. Quickly get ready, Elder Han is coming to see his peacocks today so we have to help those little guys get washed up. Otherwise, when Elder Han arrives he’ll punish us.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded and returned to his room to get ready.
In this remote corner of Ancient Cloud Island, Zhong Miao’s job was to look after a few noble peacocks.
These peacocks were not precious animals or even Monster Beasts, they were simply ordinary peacocks that were owned by Elder Han Chao of Ancient Cloud Island.
Han Chao was an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage master, which was neither strong nor weak in Ancient Cloud Island, but he was quite famous around the Sect.
Because these peacocks were raised by his late wife, after her death, Han Chao treated them like true treasures and had specially arranged for some of the Sect’s disciples to care for them.
Together with Zhong Miao, Yang Kai came to the place where the peacocks were located and, with the fresh water they brought, began cleaning the stains from their delicate feathers.
Glancing around at this somewhat familiar island, Yang Kai couldn’t help chuckling to himself.
He hadn’t expected that when the Void Corridor collapsed it would actually send him here.
Half a year ago, when Zhong Miao was out for a walk, she had fished him out of the sea near Ancient Cloud Island.
When the Void Corridor collapsed, the power of the void had almost shredded his body to pieces and if it had not been for his bone shield’s protection, he would certainly have died.
After being rescued by Zhong Miao, it had taken half a month for his injuries to slowly stabilize.
But Yang Kai was in no hurry to return to the Central Capital. The situation had been decided and it didn’t matter if he returned or not, so he took this opportunity to stay here and relax his tightened nerves.
Out of a pure innocent kindness, Zhong Miao begged Elder Han Chao to arrange a status for Yang Kai in Ancient Cloud Island, allowing him to become a sort of trial disciple who was responsible for taking care of the peacocks.
[It seems we’re really predestined friends!] Yang Kai secretly thought as he reflected on the last time he had visited Ancient Cloud Island.
“Senior Sister, you’re an Elite Disciple in the Sect, right? You should be able to live in a better place to cultivate, so why are you staying here to take care of the peacocks? Isn’t that a little odd?” Yang Kai asked Zhong Miao as he busied himself cleaning the bird in front of him.
“En,” Zhong Miao nodded gently. She wasn’t a great beauty, her face was slightly freckled, but she was no doubt tall and graceful and her twin peaks were proud and tall, so spending time with her was in no way boring. Most importantly though, this Senior Sister of his was especially kind. This was apparent from the way she had saved Yang Kai from the sea and even used her personal relationships to arrange a place for him on Ancient Cloud Island.
As for Yang Kai, he simply told her he was a fisherman who inadvertently fell into the sea and had been carried away from his boat.
“Although Island Lord and several of the Elders wanted me to move to Shen Feng Island where the World Energy is much more abundant, I don’t want to go.”
“Why not? People seek greater heights as surely as water flows to the sea, could it be that Senior Sister is simply reluctant to part with these peacocks?” Yang Kai teased.
“No, that’s not the case,” Zhong Miao slowly shook her head, her eyes suddenly gazing off into the distance as if she was recalling some far off memories, only speaking after a long time, “I chose to remain here in the hope that one day I can repay a debt of gratitude.”
“Repay a debt of gratitude?” Yang Kai was astonished.
“Did I tell you that your Senior Sister used to have quite a low place in the Sect before? Not only was my status poor but others would often bully me.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“One day thought, all of that changed,” Zhong Miao said fondly, standing up from her work and wiping away the sweat on her forehead as she recalled, “One day, I woke up, and as I was preparing to feed the peacocks, I found a dagger stuck into my door; attached to that dagger was a letter.”
“A letter?” Yang Kai raised an eyebrow, “What was written on it?”
“There was a single line of text written on the letter itself and inside of it was a single old yellowed parchment.” Zhong Miao smiled faintly, “The text told me to hand over the contents of the letter to Island Lord and the Island Elders.”
Hearing this, the look on Yang Kai’s face suddenly became strange, suddenly feeling like this story was familiar to him.
“After glancing at the yellowed parchment, I immediately complied with the letter’s request.” Zhong Miao grinned, “After that, by following the instructions inside the letter, inside Red Cloud Sect, Island Lord and the Elders actually found our Sect’s Broken Moon Transformation Art that had been lost more than three hundred years ago! Because of this great merit, Island Lord allowed me to take a large amount of pills from the Pill Hall and even arranged for me to cultivate in the Cloud Spirit Cave for more than a year! It was because of this generous reward that I have my current cultivation!”
As Zhong Miao spoke of these events, her voice grew louder and more excited and her eyes seemed to flash a brilliant light, holding her hands over her slightly heaving chest, she continued, “If it weren’t for that letter, I would still be the past me, a nobody who was constantly bullied by others. I don’t know who put that letter on my door, but I know that because of him, my status, my whole life changed dramatically, and for that, I want to thank him, thank him from the bottom of my heart!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help coughing awkwardly, his face slightly twitching, “That all seems like such a big coincidence.”
“En,” Zhong Miao can be nodded repeatedly, “It really was all just a coincidence, after all, Ancient Cloud Island is so big, yet he left that letter here, with me. So even though I’ve become an Elite Disciple, I don’t want to leave this place. I want to stay here and wait for that person to reappear.”
“Wait for him to reappear?” Yang Kai’s face twitched even more awkwardly.
“En, I want to personally offer him my thanks,” Zhong Miao said confidently before her voice suddenly became quiet and her cheeks blushed, “And if he wants… I’d also like to marry him.”
“Wha…?” Yang Kai was shocked, hastily saying, “But you don’t even know if that person was a man or a woman, do you?”
Taking a moment to calm herself down, Zhong Miao thought about it for a while before saying, “If she is a woman… Then I’ll become her sworn sister, and follow her lead for the rest of my life, but if he’s a man… hehe…”
As she spoke these words, her face became incomparably gentle and her eyes flashed a warm light.
Now leaking a bit of cold sweat, Yang Kai hurriedly objected, “But what if he’s a man with three wives and four concubines already and is an incurable womanizer? Of what if he has an evil and wicked personality and a disfigured face? A man who cruelly kills others like flies without batting an eye…”
“Junior Brother! You’re not allowed to say anything bad about him!” Zhong Miao turned around and glared at Yang Kai, “No matter what his personality is, or what he looks like, he is my life’s benefactor! He gave me this opportunity! To me, he is the best person in the world! As long as he appears again before me, I will definitely go with him!”
Yang Kai once again wiped the cold sweat from his brow and muttered, “Then he probably won’t ever appear in front of you again.”
“Junior Brother, what do you mean?” Zhong Miao’s aura suddenly became dangerous as she aggressively stepped towards Yang Kai, her expression quite gloomy, “Do you mean that Senior Sister can’t enter that man’s eyes?”
“I didn’t say that,” Yang Kai cried out, silently complaining in his heart.
“Then you mean that Senior Sister is too ugly! Hmph! Even if Senior Sister isn’t a big beauty, is she not even worthy to be a maidservant?”
“En, en, Senior Sister is pretty enough!” Yang Kai nodded his head vigorously, like a chicken pecking rice.
“That’s right, hehe!” Zhong Miao smiled happily and stopped looking for trouble with Yang Kai, lightly saying, “Hurry up and finishing washing them. Elder Han will be here soon.”
Yang Kai was about to nod, but suddenly his expression cramped. Turning his eyes towards the sky for a moment, he quickly wore a bitter smile.
“Senior Sister!” Yang Kai called out.
“What?” Zhong Miao looked over in confusion but upon meeting eyes with Yang Kai, she suddenly saw a glint a light and became incredibly drowsy, her tender body slowly slumping over.
Yang Kai flickered over and caught her, lifting Zhong Miao in his arms, gently carried her into her room, and then returned.
Two slender figures quickly appeared in front of Yang Kai, the leading one an enchanting beauty that seemed to be the epitome of charm and grace. It was none other than the Beguiling Demon Queen, Shan Qing Luo, who was naturally followed by Bi Luo.
Silently staring at Yang Kai for a while, Shan Qing Luo gnashed her teeth and spat, “Little bastard, everyone in the entire Central Capital is worried sick about you, searching all over for any trace of your whereabouts, but you’re actually hiding out here, shaking up with some unknown woman, enjoying a carefree and pleasant life free of worries! Hmph, no matter where you go it seems you never change!”
As she spoke, a thick meaning of blame spread across her face.
“What? Nonsense!” Yang Kai retorted furiously, “How dare you slander me so viciously!?”
“Hmph, Mistress, just kill him directly. Death ends all troubles!” Bi Luo snorted while gesturing threateningly like a little tiger, glaring hatefully at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai glanced over at her and unconsciously fixed his eyes on her thin, luscious lips, grinning strangely as he said, “I haven’t touched a woman for a very long time. Don’t try to rile me up, doing so won’t end well for you!”
Bi Luo’s beautiful face instantly went pale and she quickly hid behind Shan Qing Luo, bullying the weak by relying on the strong, “With Mistress here, you won’t dare act so impudently with me!”
“Enough.” Shan Qing Luo cut in and stepped forward, staring straight at Yang Kai and saying, “They all thought you died; only I knew that you were still alive. You little bastard, you really know how to make others worry about you.”
Yang Kai was still marked by Shan Qing Luo’s Soul Seeking Seal, and although with his current cultivation, Yang Kai could easily smash it, he hadn’t done so, so Shan Qing Luo was naturally able to find him.
“What’s with that little girl?” Shan Qing Luo asked as her beautiful eyes peered around the building.
“Her and I have some complicated origins. She was the one who saved me a while ago.” Yang Kai explained casually.
“Have you made a move on her yet?” Shan Qing Luo squinted slightly, her mouth curling into an ambiguous smile.
“What do you think I am some kind of beast?” Yang Kai rolled his eyes, his expression quickly becoming serious, “How is the Central Capital?”
“Everything is fine, except for the fact that you are missing. Moreover, a few people who are close to you also disappeared. Many people wanted to find them in order to ask about your situation but when they were unable to find any of them they became concerned.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, this situation had apparently developed within his expectations.
Seeing Yang Kai’s expression not containing much sadness, Shan Qing Luo quickly understood. The others who had close relationships with him likely hadn’t died and were simply missing, otherwise Yang Kai’s demeanor wouldn’t be so relaxed.
“That day… What happened beneath the Central Capital? What happened to Yang Bai?” Shan Qing Luo hesitated before asking nervously.
“It’s a long story,” Yang Kai replied with a forced smile, not wanting to say any more right now, “As for Yang Bai, he’s already dead.”
“Dead?” Shan Qing Luo’s pair of enchanting eyes flashed with joy and excitement.
“Good, I watched him die with my own eyes.” Yang Kai grinned.
Bi Luo clenched her hands into fists and excitedly shouted, “Wonderful!”
“Since Yang Bai died and you survived, why didn’t you return to the Central Capital this past half a year but instead stayed here?” Shan Qing Luo stared towards Yang Kai faintly, “What are you trying to avoid?”
“I’m not avoiding anything,” Yang Kai shook his head and stated calmly, “If I went back to the Central Capital right away, everything there would fall under my command. Qiu Yi Meng and the others would regard me as their leader without any question and wouldn’t step up to express their own opinions. But if I’m not there, all of them can display their own abilities to the fullest as the new leaders of the Eight Great Families.”
Moreover, Yang Kai also needed some time to sort through his own thoughts and decide his next course of action, so he had been idling here in the Endless Sea Islands for half a year.
“Do you want to fade out the sights of those in the Central Capital?” Shan Qing Luo asked thoughtfully, understanding some of the meaning in Yang Kai’s words.
“You could say that,” Yang Kai didn’t deny it, “Because I’m afraid I’ll be leaving this place soon, so I don’t want them to become too reliant on me. Once I’m gone, such dependence won’t do them any good.”
“Where do you plan on going?” The Beguiling Demon Queen suddenly became nervous. She didn’t know why, but she instinctively felt that when Yang Kai left this time, she would never be able to meet him here again, causing her heart to fill with sorrow and grief.
“When the time comes, I’ll tell you,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, “But since you’ve found me today, I should go back to the Central Capital and take a look at it.”
Saying so, he suddenly turned his eyes to the side and called out, “Elder Han, since you’ve already come, you might as well show yourself.”
Shan Qing Luo also flashed an enchanting smile as she turned her beautiful eyes towards the same direction and stared calmly.
Han Chao had been here for quite some time having arrived at almost exactly the same time as Shan Qing Luo; however, a breathtakingly stunning woman like Shan Qing Luo suddenly appearing on Ancient Cloud Island undetected had caused Han Chao to become a little vigilant, so he secretly hid himself nearby in order to spy on her.
He wanted to at least uncover the identity of Shan Qing Luo before showing himself.
However, obviously she had long ago noticed his presence.
Han Chao was shocked, immediately realizing that the strength of this young woman was actually much higher than his own; how else would she have easily detected him? Without any hesitation, he leapt from his hiding spot and tried to escape.
At the same time, he loudly shouted, intending to send out a warning to the rest of the island.
Yang Kai looked helplessly towards Shan Qing Luo and nodded.
Giggling lightly, Shan Qing Luo gently lifted her hand and pointed a delicate finger towards Han Chao, sending out a thread of silk that instantly wrapped around him as he tried to fly away.
*Peng…* Han Chao quickly fell to the ground, his True Qi completely sealed. Scrambling up from the dirt in the next moment, his eyes trembled violently as they stared towards Shan Qing Luo in terror, crying out in a hoarse voice, “Above Immortal Ascension Boundary?”
Han Chao was an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage cultivator, so even a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary master wouldn’t be able to completely disable him with a single attack. Only someone who had broken through to the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary could accomplish this!
Han Chao wasn’t stupid so he immediately guessed what Shan Qing Luo’s true cultivation was.
His heart quickly flooded with fear, he had no idea what reasons this incredibly powerful otherworldly beauty had for suddenly coming to Ancient Cloud Island.
Yang Kai walked over and stood a good ten meters away from him, staring towards him casually.
“Let him go.” Yang Kai calmly asked the Beguiling Demon Queen.
Shan Qing Luo smiled charmingly and with a quick flick of her wrist untied the spider silk that was binding Han Chao.
Han Chao stared towards Shan Qing Luo with a stern look for a moment, but not sensing any hostility from her he relaxed slightly and politely asked, “Your Excellency, what brings you to my Ancient Cloud Island?”
“She came here looking for me,” Yang Kai replied, “Elder Han doesn’t need to be nervous. She won’t bring any harm to Ancient Cloud Island.”
“Looking for you?” Han Chao was dumbstruck, sweeping his eyes over the seemingly common youth in front of him, unable to wrap his head around the situation for quite a while.
Since entering Ancient Cloud Island, Yang Kai had always seemed like a common mortal with no trace of cultivation so Han Chao had readily believed he was just an ordinary fisherman. It was only because Zhong Miao begged him that he allowed Yang Kai to live on Ancient Cloud Island while taking care of his peacocks, so he had never imagined that such a person would suddenly be sought out by an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master.
And right now, this Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master even seemed to be quite obedient towards him!
[Who is he?] Hao Chao couldn’t help asking himself
As he stared towards Yang Kai, Han Chao suddenly felt as if he saw a grand mountain shrouded in mist behind him, simultaneously exuding a suffocating pressure and air of mystery.
Just as he was about to open his mouth again to speak, the sound of clothes flapping in the wind resounded. Han Chao’s earlier shout had alerted many others on Ancient Cloud Island and Island Lord Gu Feng and several other Elders had rapidly rushed over.
Gu Feng was a tall, burly man with a strong physique and a valiant face. He was a Peak Immortal Ascension master while the other Elders who accompanied him were mostly Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth or Ninth Stage cultivators.
These people were the most powerful masters on Ancient Cloud Island and were its true foundation.
“Elder Han, what happened?” Gu Feng landed quickly and immediately asked, the other Elders also wearing faces filled with curiosity and vigilance.
But before Han Chao could reply, Gu Feng suddenly caught sight of Shan Qing Luo and cried out in shock, “Can such a beautiful woman truly exist?”
Not only was Gu Feng thoroughly stunned, all the other Elders also felt like they were hit by a wave of vertigo, such was the power of Shan Qing Luo’s charm, as long as it was a man, he would be unable to resist.
After blurting out these dumbstruck words, Gu Feng laughed heartily, “Where did Elder Han find her? This Island Master will gladly accept her into his room as his concubine.”
Saying so, he rushed over towards Shan Qing Luo.
“Island Master, you must not!” Han Chao’s face instantly drained of all colour and desperately tried to stop Gu Feng.
*Peng…*
A muffled sound rang out and before anyone could react, Gu Feng was sent hurtling through the air, a panic stricken scream leaking from his lips all the way until he fell into the nearby sea, causing a great splash as he hit the surface.
No one understood how Gu Feng was attacked, all they had seen was Shan Qing Luo’s hand flicker slightly before he was sent flying.
“Above Immortal Ascension Boundary!?” The other gathered Elders cried out in shock, their dazed looks suddenly filling with fear, none of them daring to underestimate the young woman standing before them anymore.
Han Chao’s mouth remained open as he stared towards the point where Gu Feng fell into the water, cold sweat once again pouring down his forehead.
Finished! Their Island Lord had actually sexually harassed an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary master. Today, Ancient Cloud Island would see rivers of blood flow to the Endless Sea.
“Several Seniors, if anyone here dares to harbor improper intentions towards my woman again, they won’t simply be sent flying!” Yang Kai stepped forward and glared at the other Ancient Cloud Island masters coldly.
Through his violently chattering teeth, Han Chao somehow managed to regain his senses and hurriedly said, “We understand!”
At the same time, the doubts in his heart became even more intense; this seemingly ordinary youth had actually declared that this woman who was both a stunning beauty and a top level powerhouse was actually his woman and the other party didn’t make any attempt to deny it, what exactly was this situation?
Quietly stealing a peak at Shan Qing Luo, Han Chao discovered to his amazement that she was actually beaming with happiness.
“If this old Han may ask, for what reason has Your Excellency come to my Ancient Cloud Island?” Han Chao pushed down his fear as best he could and asked. This youth had already quietly lingered on Ancient Cloud Island for six months and had only revealed his true identity now. What was he planning? What did Ancient Cloud Island possess that could attract such great characters?
The other Elders were also quite perturbed and extremely worried about Yang Kai’s purpose here. They were so nervous that they didn’t even have the courage to rescue currently drowning Gu Feng from the sea.
“After suffering some serious injuries, I simply ended up on Ancient Cloud Island by coincidence, so Elder Han can rest assured I have no ill intentions here.” Yang Kai replied, hesitating for a moment before continuing, “En, well now that things have developed to this point, I need to see Li Yuan Chun, who among you can help me send him a message?”
“Li Yuan Chun?” Han Chao knit his brow for a moment before calling out in surprise, “Supreme Solitary Sect’s Senior Li?”
“En, he should have already returned to Supreme Solitary Sect. Or had he not?” Yang Kai asked.
“One month after the end of the war, when no trace of you could be found, Li Yuan Chun and the others from the Endless Sea Islands left the Central Capital.” Shan Qing Luo replied softly.
“En, good.” Yang Kai nodded slightly and turned his eyes towards Han Chao.
Han Chao quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead and nervously said, “Your Excellency, please forgive this Han’s disrespect but without even knowing your true identity, how are we to get Senior Li to meet with you? What’s more, Supreme Solitary Sect is the greatest force in the Endless Sea Islands as is not somewhere any of us can enter freely, and amongst all the members of Supreme Solitary Sect, Senior Li had the highest of ranks, I’m afraid… I’m afraid it would be difficult for anyone from Ancient Cloud Island to even be granted an audience with Senior Li. If Your Excellency already has a relationship with Senior Li, why not go to Supreme Solitary Sect in person?”
Although he was speaking politely, his intent to send Yang Kai away as quickly as possible was obvious.
“Just tell him that Yang Kai wants to see him! Whether he decides to come or not is his business.”
“Not leaving yet?” Shan Qing Luo glanced at him and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
“Yes yes, right away…” Han Chao broke into a sprint before leaping into the air and soaring off towards Supreme Solitary Sect.
The sense of oppression he received here was too strong and everything that was being said was far beyond Han Chao’s ability to understand so given the option to flee, he naturally took it.
Speeding along, the cold wind blowing against him made Han Chao realize just how soaked with sweat his clothes were.
After Han Chao left, the remaining Elders all quickly exchanged glances with one another, one of the more eloquent ones soon stepping forward, “Before Elder Han returns, perhaps Your Excellency would like to rest a while in the main temple hall? It will give us an opportunity to fulfill our responsibilities as hosts.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded gently.
“Please lead the way!”
Yang Kai sat at the head of the table with Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo standing behind him next to each other, like a pair of maidservants, adding a rich colourful scenery to the refreshments plated before them.
The Elders of Ancient Cloud Island all sat nervously as they did their best to show respect for this mysterious young man.
The real maids offered fragrant tea and various delicacies while the Elders sent out various greetings and regards; unfortunately, Yang Kai only replied briefly to their overtures before once again becoming silent, causing the entire hall to be filled with a strange atmosphere.
The awkward silence cause all of the Elders here to feel a great sense of pressure, each of them unconsciously glancing towards the door or spreading out their Divine Sense as they prayed Han Chao would return quickly.
After waiting for two hours thought, Han Chao had still not appeared.
The several Elders in the hall felt like they were sitting on pins and needles, the palms of their hands wet with sweat, yet they continued to steel themselves and wait.
Outside the temple hall, Gu Feng glanced around nervously, a complex expression adorning his face, one that contained fear, hesitance, and regret.
Earlier, he had made an impertinent move towards Shan Qing Luo only to end up being knocked away like an annoying fly, almost falling into a stupor on the spot and drowning in the Endless Sea. After struggling back to Ancient Cloud Island, Gu Feng quickly learned that the young woman who had sent him flying was now a guest in his own Sect’s main hall.
Unable to guess her true identity or background, Gu Feng didn’t dare to go in, causing him to feel a great deal of anxiety, secretly cursing himself for having eyes that failed to see, actually daring to make a move against such a woman.
A short time later, Gu Feng suddenly felt two auras rapidly approaching.
Raising his head, he quickly spotted Han Chao and Li Yuan Chun of Supreme Solitary Sect.
Gu Feng was immediately overjoyed, a look of worship and respect flashing across his face, but before he could even offer greetings to Li Yuan Chun, the latter roared angrily towards him, “Gu Feng, you have some guts!”
“Ah?” Gu Feng was dumbfounded, he didn’t understand why the respected Senior Li, a Grand Elder of Supreme Solitary Sect, would suddenly scold him.
In the blink of an eye, Li Yuan Chun landed in front of him, lifted his hand and slapped Gu Feng across his face, stunning the latter as his face began to swell up.
“Hmph! This is just a small lesson,” Li Yuan Chun said coldly, “As for how you’ll be dealt with, that will all depend on the Young Lord’s mood. You better pray that you can live to see the sunrise tomorrow!”
“Senior Li…” Gu Feng touched his swollen cheek and looked at Li Yuan Chun in shock. In his mind, since Li Yuan Chun had come to Ancient Cloud Island, naturally he would stand on his side; after all, everyone was a resident of the Endless Sea Islands.
With Li Yuan Chun here to manage the situation, that enchantress shouldn’t be able to make any waves.
However, the first thing Li Yuan Chun did upon arrival was curse and beat him, this was all too much for Gu Feng to take in at once.
Even if treated like this though, Gu Feng didn’t dare show any grief, because in the Endless Sea Islands, Supreme Solitary Sect was the one true overlord, their three Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were all legendary characters who dominated over all other cultivators. It was difficult for ordinary people to even catch a glimpse of these supreme characters so Li Yuan Chun now taking the initiative to set foot on Ancient Cloud Island was already giving Gu Feng a great deal of face.
Han Chao silently watched this seemingly funny scene, but he couldn’t bring himself to smile, his heart still pounding furiously.
Just now when he had gone to Supreme Solitary Sect to seek out Li Yuan Chun, as he had expected, he was stopped outside the main entrance and told by the disciples on guard duty he could not go in.
Out of desperation, Han Chao could only force his way in and as a result was captured by Supreme Solitary Sect’s elite protectors.
However, the noise he stirred up caught the attention of the Elders of Supreme Solitary Sect and when Han Chao explained why he was there and who had sent him, he was immediately released and several of the Elders hurriedly left to inform Li Yuan Chun.
Among the group from the Endless Sea Islands who traveled to the Central Capital, there was no one from Ancient Cloud Island, because their Hallowed Treasure, the Broken Moon Transformation Art, had already been found, so there was naturally no reason for them to send out an envoy. But that was not the case for Supreme Solitary Sect.
The people of Ancient Cloud Island were unclear about the identity of Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo, but those from Supreme Solitary Sect knew them well.
After Li Yuan Chun heard that Yang Kai had come, he immediately set out for Ancient Cloud Island, unceasingly reprimanding Han Chao along the way to the point of near incoherence, cursing him for not making things clear the moment he arrived and delaying this important matter.
Seeing Li Yuan Chun’s incredibly intense reaction, Han Chao realized just how unusual the identities of Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo were.
At this moment, Li Yuan Chen had even slapped Ancient Cloud Island’s Island Lord, showing just how much importance the former placed on this young man and woman.
Just how profound was their background that even Senior Li had to treat them so seriously?
“Follow this old master inside you useless thing!” Li Yuan Chun shouted angrily as he walked towards the temple.
Gu Feng rubbed his cheek but didn’t say a word, simply following behind Li Yuan Chun while choking down the distress in his heart.
Han Chao also took a deep breath and followed.
Inside the hall, everyone had heard the commotion outside and although some of Ancient Cloud Island Elders had ugly expressions, the one who had hit their Island Lord was none other than Li Yuan Chun, so they naturally held their tongues.
Glancing over at Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo again, their expression inadvertently became more dignified and respectful.
On the other hand, Yang Kai grinned helplessly. Li Yuan Chun scolding Gu Feng so furiously was obviously his way of venting grievances for Yang Kai, but also his way of protecting Gu Feng. Because Li Yuan Chun understood Yang Kai’s personality well, he knew that if he didn’t handle things well here, Ancient Cloud Island might very well be destroyed.
Although being slapped would make one lose face, it was far better than being killed.
Yang Kai shook his head and felt that Li Yuan Chun was being too sensitive, he didn’t really care about such trivial matters.
A hearty laughter came from entranceway as Li Yuan Chun walked into the hall, and after seeing Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo, he couldn’t help smiling happily, “It really is Young Master Yang! This old master knew that with Young Master Yang’s Heaven defying methods it was impossible that you’d die young. Now seeing Young Master Yang alive and well, this old master can feel at ease.”
“Many thanks for Senior Li’s concern, I was fortunate enough to escape with my life.” Yang Kai stood up and greeted.
“Ms. Shan!” Li Yuan Chun turned to Shan Qing Luo and cupped his fists.
“Senior Li is too polite.” Shan Qing Luo elegantly returned the gesture.
Seeing Yang Kai and Li Yuan Chun interact as if they were two old friends, the Elders of Ancient Cloud Island all wore strange expressions. Li Yuan Chun’s identity in the Endless Sea Islands was highly respected; even if it was a character like Gu Feng who was meeting him, he would have to do so with the utmost respect, but this young man was actually speaking to him on equal terms.
Just who was this youth and what was his background? Everyone desperately wanted to know.
“You group of bastards with blind dog eyes!” Li Yuan Chun suddenly wore an angry expression as he yelled at everyone else in the hall, “Do you know who this Young Lord is?”
“Please enlighten us, Senior Li!” Everyone respectfully asked.
“This is the Young Lord of the Central Capital’s Yang Family, the current Yang Family Patriarch!”
“Central Capital Yang Family?” An exclamation sounded as everyone turned shocked gazes towards Yang Kai.
“Your Ancient Cloud Island’s people did not participate in the recent excursion to the Inland region so you don’t understand the details of the Great Han Dynasty, so this old master won’t blame you for being slightly ignorant, but you should have at least heard about the phenomenal genius of the Central Capital’s Yang Family, and that person, is the Young Lord in front of you now!” Li Yuan Chun smiled strangely, “The leader of a super force that commands more than twenty Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters was actually made into a janitor disciple responsible for taking care of peacocks… Just how noble are these peacocks that they can actually be tended to by Young Master Yang? Han Chao, do you understand the weight of your crime!?”
Han Chao leaked cold sweat from every pore on his body and quickly stepped forward, shivering as he tried to explain, “Senior Li, I did not know that Young Master Yang had such an exalted status. I thought he was just an ordinary fisherman!”
“You thought?” Li Yuan Chun sneered, “Such short-sightedness!”
“Senior Li, please calm your anger,” Han Chao said as a look of pain flashed across his face, slumping his shoulders as he said, “This Han will immediately go and kill those peacocks.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Yang Kai shook his head faintly, “I intentionally hid my name and status in order to live in peace these past six months, Elder Han has not committed any mistake.”
“Many thanks, Young Master Yang, many thanks!” Han Chao shouted gratefully. Although these peacocks were indeed not precious, they were as important to Han Chao as his own life, so he really could not bear to kill them. Hearing Yang Kai speak to maintain them naturally earned his gratitude.
“Since Young Master Yang has said so, then I will not investigate the matter any further. Gu Feng, get over here.” Li Yuan Chun turned his head and glared at the Island Lord of Ancient Cloud Island.
“Junior Gu Feng knows his crime.” Gu Feng did not wait for Li Yuan Chun to berate him and took the initiative to admit his mistake, “Whatever punishment Senior Li deems necessary, this Junior will utter no complaints.”
As he spoke, he shot a glance over at Shan Qing Luo, trembling lightly before quickly averting his eyes.
“Damn bastard!” Li Yuan Chun shouted, “Do you think a few insincere words can put an end to this? Nonsense! A solemn Island Lord daring to spout such a line. Good! If that’s how you really feel, then as long as Young Master Yang gives the word this old master will personally send you on your way to the next life.”
Gu Feng trembled violently at this threat but didn’t dare utter any more words.
“Senior Li, such minor matters don’t need to be pursued.” Yang Kai waved his hand, not wanting to make things too embarrassing. In the end, it was he who had hidden himself and idled around Ancient Cloud Island for half a year, and although Gu Feng had eyes but failed to see, it hadn’t reached the level where Yang Kai thought any further punishment was warranted.
Li Yuan Chun wore a hesitant look for a moment before nodding gently, “Since Young Master Yang says so, then let big things become small and small things become nothing.”
Gu Feng also hurriedly said, “Many thanks, Young Master Yang, for showing mercy.”
Yang Kai nodded casually, no longer dwelling on the subject, instead looking at Li Yuan Chun and saying, “Senior Li should understand why I summoned you today, correct?”
Li Yuan Chun smiled happily and nodded quickly, “Indeed! When this old master heard that Young Master Yang had come to my Endless Sea Islands, I already guessed what your intentions were. Young Master Yang has a truly just and upright character, on behalf of all the Endless Sea Islands great Sects, this old master deeply thanks Young Master Yang!
“Senior Li is too polite, since I said before that after we weathered the difficulties, I would return everything, I will naturally keep my word.”
Li Yuan Chun’s face filled with joy as he laughed heartily, “Then the old master must ask Young Master Yang to wait here a moment. Before coming here, this old master sent out his disciples to contact the other Endless Sea Islands’ great forces. Within less than half a day I assure Young Master Yang they will arrive here.”
“No hurry!” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
After resolving the previous little grievances, the atmosphere in the hall became far more relaxed. The Elders of Ancient Cloud Island also realized the terrifying power Yang Kai wielded and no longer dared to belittle him in any way, throwing a great banquet for him where they repeatedly toasted him.
Yang Kai did not refuse and let loose, filling himself with good food and drink.
Soon, everyone found that this Yang Family Young Lord didn’t have the arrogance a youth of his age and status normally possessed and as long as you treated him respectfully he would reciprocate in kind.
This discovery greatly pleased everyone present as all of them hoped to build a good relationship with Yang Kai.
2 – Monday and Tuesday
1 – Wedneday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Drinks were poured, toasts were made, and festivities ensued.
Even Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo joined in on the fun and after drinking a few glasses of wine, the Beguiling Demon Queen’s face took on a slight intoxicated blush, making her even radiant and enchanting that caused everyone present to be unable to look directly into her eyes.
After three rounds of wine, envoys from all of the Endless Sea Islands’ great Sects finally arrived.
Asura Sect’s Ye Fang, Falling Blossom Temple’s Hua Duan Hun, Scarlet Tradition Sect’s Xu Qian Xi, Cloud Dragon Island, Gemini Island…
One by one they gathered on Ancient Cloud Island, all of them renowned elites of the Endless Sea Islands, most of whom had been part of the original excursion to the Central Capital
Gu Feng quickly noticed that all of these famous figures, each of whom shook the Endless Sea Islands when they stomped, showed incredibly respectful faces towards Yang Kai.
Witnessing this, he felt both fear and relief as the last remnants of dissatisfaction in his heart vanishing into thin air.
In the Endless Sea Islands, every one of these individuals had comparable status to Gu Feng, some of them were even more powerful and respected, yet all of them acted politely in front of this Young Master Yang, so naturally Gu Feng had no reason to feel ashamed.
After conversing for a while, Gu Feng learned that Ancient Cloud Island being able to find the Broken Moon Transformation Art was also thanks to Yang Kai, greatly improving Gu Feng’s impression towards the latter.
The Sect’s Hallowed Treasure, it’s most precious Secret Art, lost over three hundred years ago, was returned to them by Yang Kai, this was nothing less than a giant favour being gifted to Ancient Cloud Island.
Yang Kai proceeded to take out one Hallowed Treasure after another, Supreme Solitary Sect’s Supreme Solitary Seal, Falling Blossom Temple’s Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia, Asura Sect’s Asura Sword, Tradition Sect’s Sect Master’s Token, Cloud Dragon Island’s Cloud Dragon Pendant, Gemini Island’s Reincarnation Chart.
As these Hallowed Treasures appeared, the audience’s breathing suddenly sped up and as they stared in excitement.
Yang Kai didn’t say anything and simply returned these things to their respective owners.
“The Asura Sword and Thousand Blossoming Blood Begonia were refined once by me while everything else I have left untouched since obtaining them, if any of you do not feel at ease, feel free to examine them.” Yang Kai smiled and glanced around the crowd.
“No need! With Young Master Yang’s word why would we not feel at ease?” Li Yuan Chun laughed. Although these things were precious to them, their grades weren’t too high so they likely couldn’t even enter Yang Kai’s eyes, about this point, Li Yuan Chun was quite confident.
Everyone else also said that they did not need to inspect their Hallowed Treasure, completely assured of Yang Kai’s trustworthiness.
After receiving their respective Hallowed Treasures which had been lost for more than three hundred years, everyone bowed politely and offered their sincere thanks to Yang Kai.
“Young Master Yang, all of our Endless Sea Islands’ great Sects are indebted to your generosity. If you have any need of us in the future, do not hesitate to inform us and we will do anything within our power to render you aid,” Li Yuan Chun said sincerely. Not only was he truly thanking Yang Kai for returning the Endless Sea Islands’ Hallowed Treasures, he was also making such a declaration because of Yang Kai’s immense potential.
Although the Endless Sea Islands had little contact with the Inland Families and Sects, being able to form a friendship with Yang Kai would only have benefits.
“If such a time really comes, I won’t be polite.” Yang Kai laughed.
“Very good.”
“Since our business is complete, I will take my leave,” Yang Kai said succinctly and stood up, preparing to leave.
Li Yuan Chun was surprised and hurriedly said, “Young Master Yang, must you leave so soon? This old master also wanted to invite Young Master Yang to go to Supreme Solitary Sect for a few days.”
“I appreciate Senior Li’s kind invitation, but since the end of the war, I have not yet returned to the Central Capital, so I should not delay any further.”
“Is that so…” Li Yuan Chun showed a look of regret, “Then this old master will not insist. I will see you off today. If Young Master Yang has a chance in the future to visit the Endless Sea Islands, please make sure to visit my Supreme Solitary Sect.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded casually.
As a large group of people, headed by Yang Kai, exited the temple, the surrounding disciples of Ancient Cloud Island all glanced around at each other and whispered, wondering just what had transpired to actually attract so many powerhouses.
When these disciples noticed Yang Kai standing at the front of the crowd, like a bright moon surrounded by stars, all of them couldn’t help wearing strange expressions.
No small number of them had met Yang Kai before as the latter was often taking care of Elder Han Chao’s precious peacocks, so they were deeply confused about how this trial disciple had suddenly become an honoured guest of all the Endless Sea Islands’ great forces.
Moreover, from the looks on these great people’s faces, they were actually quite polite and respectful towards Yang Kai, smiling and laughing as they accompanied him.
Not far away, a young girl with a slightly freckled face stared at this scene in utter confusion. After she noticed the commotion here, she ran over to see what all the excitement was about but upon arriving, she immediately became dumbstruck.
Right before her eyes, she watched the Junior Brother who had been together with her for the past half a year now calmly talking and laughing with a crowd of famous masters from the Endless Sea Islands. On top of that, he seemed perfectly at ease in this situation, chatting casually with these powerhouses as he calmly strolled forward.
The young girl shook her head and rubbed her eyes a few times but the scene in front of her did not change.
When this group of people approached the place she was standing, the young girl rushed out of the crowd, blocked their path, and stared at Yang Kai.
Li Yuan Chun’s brow furrowed slightly, not know what this young female disciple of Ancient Cloud Island had rushed out to do, glancing over at Gu Feng somewhat accusingly.
Gu Feng reacted quickly, loudly shouting, “Do not block the path! Make way!”
Zhong Miao however was in a daze, unable to understand the current situation, and with the Island Lord suddenly reprimanding her, she only become more confused, tuning to look at Yang Kai, her tender body shivering as she muttered, “Junior Brother… This is… What happened? How… Why are you…”
For quite a while, she fumbled for the right words but could never quite figure out what to say.
Shan Qing Luo smiled charmingly as she glanced over at Yang Kai calmly, secretly wondering how he would handle the situation.
“Impudence!” Gu Feng angrily roared. Before, when they were unaware of Yang Kai’s true identity, they had regarded this Central Capital’s Yang Family Patriarch as an ordinary mortal and had reluctantly registered him as a trial disciple in charge of tending to Han Chao’s peacocks. This was a grave error on the part of Ancient Cloud Island. Now that they knew Yang Kai’s true identity and status, Gu Feng was anxiously waiting for the moment he left in order to eliminate all information regarding his time on Ancient Cloud Island, so as not to avoid becoming a laughing stock in the eyes of the other Endless Sea Island Sects, but at this critical moment, Zhong Miao had actually dared to block their path and call Yang Kai ‘Junior Brother’!
How could this be covered up now?
“Someone, quickly capture this girl and feed her into the Blue Flame Cave!” Gu Feng shouted ruthlessly.
Hearing these words, Zhong Miao’s knees became soft and nearly fell to the ground.
Blue Flame Cave was a volcanic pit which burned all year round; even Immortal Ascension Boundary masters found it difficult to survive there, so once a disciple like her was tossed inside it, she would likely be burned to death within three days.
Never had she imagined that this unintentional move of hers would so greatly infuriate the Island Lord, even causing him to severely punish her.
The young girls’ heart was suddenly consumed with fear and sorrow.
Two disciplinary hall disciples from Ancient Cloud Island quickly walked over and grabbed Zhong Maio.
Some of the disciples in the crowd who used to look down on Zhong Miao and bully her wore expressions of taking pleasure in other’s misfortune at this moment.
If not for that random opportunity several years ago, Zhong Miao would still be nothing but a low level Common Disciple, but because of the letter that Yang Kai gave her, she had made a great contribution to the Sect and was instantly promoted to the rank of Elite Disciple.
This had aroused a great deal of jealousy and many people felt that with her aptitude and talent, she was not worthy of being an Elite Disciple.
Now that she had encountered such a disaster, there were naturally some who were happy in their hearts.
Yang Kai of course observed all of this and felt quite disgruntled. Over the past six months, Zhong Miao had given him a very good impression. This young miss was kind-hearted and didn’t like stirring up trouble. Aside from diligently cultivating, she preferred to spend her time tending peacocks in a remote corner of Ancient Cloud Island.
Although it was true her aptitude and talent weren’t anything special, she was far more diligent and hardworking than others her age.
Even though Yang Kai felt some anger in his heart, in another’s domain, it wasn’t a good idea for him to suddenly lash out, so instead he pushed down his more impulsive thoughts and quickly said, “Island Lord Gu, please wait a moment. She and I truly knew each other as Junior Brother and Senior Sister, so her calling me so is not wrong, there’s no need to punish her.”
Gu Feng suddenly looked slightly awkward and hurriedly cupped his fists, “Young Master Yang surely jests. Before, my Ancient Cloud Island had eyes but failed to see, but now that we are aware of Young Master Yang’s true identity, how could we dare think of you as an Ancient Cloud Island disciple? But since Young Master Yang has spoken so, we will let this matter drop.”
Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction.
Gu Feng was not an idiot so although Yang Kai had only spoken a single sentence, he could easily see that the latter’s intended to shelter Zhong Miao.
“Senior Sister, come over here,” Yang Kai said with a warm, friendly smile on his face, beckoning to Zhong Miao lightly.
Zhong Miao’s pair of limpid eyes teared up slightly, a tinge of fear still apparent on her pretty face as she was summoned by Yang Kai, but after hesitating for a moment she obediently walked over. Looking around at all the famous masters surround them, she couldn’t help shrinking her neck and shuffling closer to Yang Kai in attempt to find shelter, whispering quietly, “What’s happening?”
“There’s no need to be afraid, Senior Sister.” Yang Kai said comfortingly before turning to Li Yuan Chun. “Senior Li, this is the Senior Sister who I lived with for the past six months.”
“Oh?” Li Yuan Chun’s brow rose slightly, a slightly ambiguous look flashing across his face.
Yang Kai quickly continued, “It’s not what you think. Half a year ago, during the war, I was heavily injured and cast adrift in the nearby sea and was rescued by Senior Sister. As such, I owe Senior Sister a life-saving grace.”
Li Yuan Chun was stunned, not having expected that this seemingly ordinary girl was actually Yang Kai’s saviour. Turning to look at Zhong Miao again, this time with an expression filled with gratefulness, he nodded and said, “Not only is she Young Master Yang’s saviour, she is also the benefactor of all my Endless Sea Islands’ great Sects!”
“Good!” Ye Fang nodded as well. If not for Zhong Miao rescuing Yang Kai, they would likely never have seen their Sect’s long lost Hallowed Treasures again.
“This little girl has done all of us a great favour,” Hua Duan Hun giggled happily, her tender body swaying gently as she walked over to her and asked, “Young miss, what is your name?”
“Zhong Miao…”
“En, a good name,” Hua Duan Hun praised liberally, not having thought that this seemingly ordinary girl would have such a pleasant sounding name, “Are you willing to come to my Falling Blossom Temple? As long as you nod, I can confer you the title of Falling Blossom Saint.”
“Ah?” Zhong Miao was stunned and stared at Hua Duan Hun in shock.
Falling Blossom Temple had four Falling Blossom Saints, each of whom had an incredibly lofty identity, second only to the Religion Master in status. Several years ago, one of the Falling Blossom Saints accidentally fell and the position had remained unfilled until now. Countless Falling Blossom Temple disciples had done everything within their power to snatch this position for themselves, but no one had managed to succeed.
Yet today, Hua Duan Hun had actually offered up such a rich condition to Zhong Maio simply to attract her to join Falling Blossom Temple.
Hua Duan Hun pledging such a condition not only shocked Zhong Miao, it also made the faces of everyone else present twitch.
Ye Fang and Xu Qian Hao contemplated what had just happened and quickly understood, silently cursing Hua Duan Hun’s cunning and boldness as the two of them swiftly using their positions as high ranking Elders of their respective Sects to offer Zhong Miao rich benefits in the hopes she would join Asura Sect or Scarlet Tradition Sect.
The Elders from Cloud Dragon Island and Gemini Island also made similar invitations.
In an instant, Elders from more than five major Sects all extended olive branches to Zhong Miao, their eyes flashing with hope and anxiety, as if this ordinary young girl in front of them had suddenly transformed into a peerless talent. All of these Sects flung open their doors to her at this moment.
Zhong Miao was dumbfounded, while the disciples of Ancient Cloud Island who had just been sneering at her misfortune had their moods flipped and became filled with envy and jealousy.
Why, why was this unremarkable disciple being so vigorously courted by all of these Sects?
“Island Lord…” Han Chao quietly whispered to Gu Feng, silently hinting with his eyes.
Gu Feng immediately understand and quickly composed himself, wearing a cold expression as he shouted, “Several friends, do you not think this is somewhat inappropriate? Zhong Miao is my Ancient Cloud Island’s discipline, trying to snatch my Sect’s disciple right in front of me; do you think that you can just ignore this Gu Feng?”
“Hehe…” Hua Duan Hun tittered charmingly as she quipped back in a teasing tone, “Does Island Lord Gu really mean that? Weren’t you just about to toss this little girl into the Blue Flame Cave? Since you don’t seem to care whether she lives or dies, then you might as well be accommodating and her to follow me back to Falling Blossom Temple. I’ll make sure she is cultivated properly so as not to ruin her bright future.”
“En, Island Lord Gu should be generous in this regard.” Xu Qian Hao said with a big bring.
“No no, as long as she lives, Zhong Miao will be a disciple of my Ancient Cloud Island, and when she dies, even when she dies, her ghost will belong to Ancient Cloud Island, no one may take her away!” Gu Feng swung his head like a rattle and refused to compromise.
At this moment, he could also see that Zhong Miao had a fair amount of weight in Yang Kai’s mind, grasping Zhong Miao would almost be equivalent to grasping Yang Kai’s friendship.
“We should allow this little girl to express her own thoughts, Island Lord Gu. Just because she is a disciple of your Ancient Cloud Island, that does not give you the right to decide her future for her,” Hua Duan Hun objected with a light snort, turning a gentle look towards Zhong Miao and softly saying, “Little girl, don’t be afraid, tell us which Sect you’d like to enter. You can rest assured that whichever one you choose, no one here will embarrass you.”
“Good, we will all respect your decision!” Ye Fang nodded firmly while the others all expressed their agreement.
By now, Zhong Miao was completely flustered, lowering her head awkwardly as she shivered timidly, not daring to answer, all she could do was lean closer to Yang Kai seemingly seeking for some sense of safety.
She had spent most of her life taking care of peacocks in a remote corner of Ancient Cloud Island while quietly cultivating on her own. Where would she have ever encountered such a major event? Obviously it was taking her some time to adapt.
Especially in the face of all these Sects extending her invitations, Zhong Miao really didn’t know what she should do or who she should choose.
“There’s no need to struggle!” Li Yuan Chun said suddenly in a dignified voice, “This old master has been looking for a Direct Disciple these past few years but unfortunately there has never been a suitable candidate. Today though I have finally met one so none of you should think of robbing her from this old master.”
“Senior…” Gu Feng and the others were dumbfounded, all of them turning to stare at Li Yuan Chun in shock.
Listening to Li Yuan Chun’s words, it was as if he was intending to make Zhong Miao his personal disciple.
This was a big deal, a massive deal!
Supreme Solitary Sect’s three Above Immortal Ascension Boundary masters were essentially Ancestor level characters to all the Endless Sea Islands and two of them already had their own Direct Disciples, only Li Yuan Chun did not. It was well know that these years he had indeed been seeking for such a disciple, but unfortunately a candidate able to enter his eyes had not yet appeared in the Endless Sea Islands.
But today, unexpectedly, Zhong Miao was suddenly given this chance.
“En, this old master wants to accept her as his Direct Disciple!” Li Yuan Chun gently nodded.
When this sentence came out, not only were the eyes of the other disciples of Ancient Cloud Island red with envy, even Gu Feng and the other Elders present couldn’t help staring at Zhong Miao jealously.
With an Above Immortal Ascension Boundary as her master, all of them could see just how bright and broad Zhong Miao’s future would be.
“Little girl, are you willing to become this old master’s disciple?” Li Yuan Chun kindly asked Zhong Miao.
Zhong Miao face flushed bright red and was clearly extremely excited, but suddenly remembering something she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, replying haltingly, “But this Junior is already a disciple of Ancient Cloud Island…”
“Gu Feng!” Li Yuan Chun turned to look at Gu Feng and said with a cold grin, “This old master wants to accept her as a disciple, do you have any opinion?”
Gu Feng quickly waved his hands, “Junior doesn’t dare! Senior Li wanting to accept her as a disciple is her blessing, how could this Gu Feng have any objections?” Saying so, he turned to Zhong Miao and hurriedly said, “As of this moment, you are no longer a disciple of Ancient Cloud Island. From now on you must follow Senior Li faithfully and not bring shame upon your master, do you understand?”
“Disciple will take Island Lord’s words to heart!” Zhong Miao nodded her head seriously.
Li Yuan Chun laughed heartily.
When these people rushed to recruit Zhong Miao, Yang Kai had stood back and quietly watched. When the dust settled, he finally stepped forward and said, “Senior Sister, congratulations for meeting your Master! Junior Brother will give you a little gift to mark the occasion.”
“There’s no need.” Zhong Miao quickly waved her hands.
“Since Young Master Yang wishes to give you a gift, you must accept it or Young Master Yang will lose face!” Li Yuan Chun quickly interjects, afraid that Zhong Miao would really refuse.
Yang Kai smiled slightly, took out a small jade pot and handed it to Zhong Miao, gently saying, “Take one drop of this every day from now on until it is finished and make sure to have Senior Li hold on to it when you are not using it, consider this my thank you for rescuing my life.”
“En,” Zhong Miao held the small jade pot in her hand and stared at it somewhat curiously, wondering what exactly it was and why when Yang Kai gave it to her he had spoken so seriously.
However, when she looked up, Zhong Miao was once again shocked as she saw a great many of the Elder level characters around her staring greedily at the small pot in her hands, as if they were seeing some kind of other-worldly treasure.
“Young Master Yang can rest assured, since you’ve delivered this gift to my disciple, this old master can guarantee that no one besides her will have a chance to use it.” Li Yuan Chun declared solemnly.
“En, very good.” Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, Li Yuan Chun’s behaviour at this moment made him feel quite relieved. Declaring so in front of so many people had clearly indicated his position.
“En, you all remain here, this Junior will take his leave!” Yang Kai cupped his fists and then nodded to Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo gently, the three of them lifting off into the air and shooting away like lightning.
Staring at his fading back, and remembering everything that had transpired in the Central Capital, many of the Endless Sea Islands powerhouses sighed lightly.
“Senior, who exactly is my Junior Brother?” Zhong Miao’s eyes were still slightly blurred. Until now she hadn’t understood why the Junior Brother who she had lived with for half a year had suddenly become a character who needed to be respectfully greeted by all the Endless Sea Islands’ masters.
“Still calling me Senior?” Li Yuan Chun stroked his beard gently and grinned.
“Master…” Zhong Miao replied, slightly embarrassed.
“Good, you’re Junior Brother is actually the head of the Central Capital Eight Great Families, the Yang Family’s current Patriarch. Half a year ago, under his leadership, the Central Capital successfully resisted the invasion of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and wiped out their vile forces.”
“Is he so fierce?” Zhong Miao wasn’t very experienced so upon listening to Li Yuan Chun’s story, she only made a small exclamation.
“Right,” Gu Feng suddenly inserted a sentence, “You and him seem to share a great deal of fate. A few years ago, it was he who inserted the dagger and letter into your door that told us of the Broken Moon Transformation Art’s location. Then, six months ago you actually saved him from the sea, perhaps this is a cycle of karma?”
“Ah?” Zhong Miao’s elegant face changed dramatically as she called out in shock, “It was him?”
“Indeed. Didn’t he tell you?” Gu Feng asked strangely.
Zhong Miao nearly broke out into tears, her shoulders trembling lightly as she stared towards the direction Yang Kai had disappeared, her heart filling with a huge sense of loss.
…………
Flying forward swiftly, the surrounding scenery quickly whizzed past.
Yang Kai, Shan Qing Luo, and Bi Luo, a group of three people, rapidly flew towards the Central Capital.
Behind Yang Kai, looking at his broad back, Shan Qing Luo’s eyes became slightly blurred and her breath gradually became hot.
Noticing this abnormality, Bi Luo quickly stepped forward and gripped her hand.
Shan Qing Luo slowly shook her head and signaled that she was fine, averting her eyes and not daring to focus on Yang Kai any more.
However, in her heart she was slightly surprised. This little man was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage cultivator yet his speed was actually faster than hers. The purity and density of his True Qi also seemed to be superior to her own.
Shan Qing Luo didn’t feel upset though, instead just somewhat proud.
And so the trio flew forward for three days in relative silence.
Suddenly, Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo, who were following behind Yang Kai, stopped.
Perceiving this, Yang Kai also paused and turned around to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Shan Qing Luo breathing a long sigh and said, “We’ll separate here. You are going back to the Central Capital, but I am the Beguiling Demon Queen, one of the last remaining remnants of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. Naturally, I should head back to Fragrance City instead.”
Yang Kai frowned slightly and said, “The Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land is no more, why bother yourself over such minor issues? No one there will embarrass you.”
But Shan Qing Luo shook her head firmly.
Yang Kai hesitated for a while before finally relenting, “In that case, I won’t insist. Good, when I finish arranging things in the Central Capital, I will come to see you so we can resolve the issues between us once and for all.”
“I’ll be waiting for you!” Shan Qing Luo smiled and nodded.
Yang Kai returned the gesture before quickly turning around a leaving.
Shortly after Yang Kai disappeared across the horizon, Bi Luo sighed faintly, “Mistress, is this really alright?”
“Of course this is alright, as long as he’s fine it’s alright.”
“But the sentiment planted in your heart…” Bi Luo’s eyes instantly turned red, “Can you still suppress it now? Once you can’t suppress it, you’ll be seeking death! He clearly doesn’t care one bit about you so why are you still so concerned with him? You should just release your inhibitions and take his life and ends all this trouble!”
“Bi Luo!” Shan Qing Luo shouted, panting for breath as her face flushed red, “Don’t say that, the fate of my Poison Widow Body’s lineage should end with me instead of being passed down from generation to generation. Otherwise, I will be forcing my daughter to suffer from this kind of pain as well, this tragic curse!”
Bi Luo’s tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at Shang Qing Luo in grief, her heart filled with extreme hatred towards Yang Kai.