In front of Yang Kai who had activated his Demon God Transformation, the beautiful mature woman who led the Ancient Demon Clan also couldn’t summon the slightest bit of her strength, but she still maintained her calm appearance.
“I’m not an outsider?” Yang Kai pointed to himself with a blank expression.
Li Rong gently nodded, “As for the specific reason, please allow me to explain it to you later. This is not a place to talk.”
Yang Kai swept his eyes around and nodded, the erupting volcano and the thunder and lightning shooting across the sky seemed to be growing more and more intense. Soon, it would begin to negatively affect Li Rong and the other Ancient Demon Clan masters even at this distance.
“You’re a perceptive person, so you should know by now that I have never had any malice against you since the first time we met,” Li Rong said gently, “Now, could you please lift your Demon God Transformation so we can leave this place?”
Saying so, she stared at him expectantly with her beautiful limpid eyes.
Behind Li Rong, the other Ancient Demon Clan members also looked towards Yang Kai, waiting for his reply.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that their lives were currently completely in Yang Kai’s hands, as long as he wished for it, they would all die.
Deeply staring at the beautiful woman in front of him, Yang Kai thought for a moment before nodding, “I believe you.”
Li Rong let out a sigh of relief and her expression relaxed, smiling light as she said, “You’ll be glad you made such a wise decision.”
Yang Kai showed neither approval nor disapproval to this statement but still restrained his surging evil power. The Demon Crests that covered his body also quickly faded and the potent Demonic Qi quickly receded.
All the Ancient Demon Clan masters regained control of their strength and bodies at that moment.
“Hua Mo, protect him. Let’s go!” Li Rong softly order, her tender body flickering and arriving next to the unconscious Han Fei, gently picking her up before turning and shouting towards Chen Jian’s surviving subordinates, “Chu Jian is dead, if you still wish to remain loyal to him, I won’t stop you, but if you choose this path, there will be no place for you in this Mysterious Small World in the future. If you choose to follow me instead, as long as sincerely pledge your loyalty to Demon God Citadel, I will not hold you responsible for what has happened here.”
Chu Jian’s henchmen all glanced around at each other briefly before quickly falling to the ground and shouting in unison, “We are willing to obey Senior Li’s commands!”
Chu Jian was already dead. There was no benefit to remaining loyal to him, right now their first priority was to stay alive.
Li Rong nodded with satisfaction before quickly flying off with Han Fei.
A large group of people quickly evacuated from the volcanic region.
Hua Mo had a complex look upon his face mixed with a bit of nervous panic as he stuck close to Yang Kai in order to protect him.
After half an hour, the group of masters had traveled a fair distance from the volcano.
Looking back, the sky behind them had turned a brilliant red and orange colour. The aftermath of the volcanic eruption was still apparent even this far away, the ground beneath them even trembling lightly.
Everyone couldn’t help feeling some lingering fear in their hearts.
After taking a moment to stabilize Han Fei’s injuries, the group set off towards Demon God Citadel.
Yang Kai remained vigilant the whole way and quickly noticed that every member of the Ancient Demon clan was unconsciously staying away from him, as if they were very fearful of him. Only Li Rong continued smiling the whole time, seemingly very happy. While she held Han Fei close, she would occasionally whisper to Yang Kai about various trivial topics.
Most of what she talked about were the incredible feats Great Demon God had accomplished that were recorded in her clan’s ancient book, some of these tales were things even Hua Mo and her clansmen hadn’t heard before.
Everyone listened to these stories with great enthusiasm.
One day later, Han Fei woke up, and although her injuries had not healed yet, they didn’t cause her any significant difficulties.
She was in a coma when Yang Kai had used his Demon God Transformation, so she wasn’t aware of what had happened afterwards, but now seeing Li Rong holding her, she naturally assumed that Li Rong had dealt with Chu Jian and didn’t bother asking much.
Two days later, everyone returned to Demon God Citadel.
Yang Kai returned to his stone room and waited for Li Rong to arrive and finally tell him what was going on.
There were a great many things he didn’t understand so he was quite anxious for Li Rong to dispel his doubts, but she had said that that the volcano was not the place for such a discussion and had promised to explain everything later.
Demon God Citadel was still in a state of tranquility, apparently the news that one of the four Great Commanders had fallen had not been made public yet.
Overall, Yang Kai was quite satisfied with the results of this trip, the amount of Yang Liquid he had accumulated in his dantian was quite significant and as long as he didn’t waste it, he estimated he wouldn’t have to worry about having enough for around ten years or so.
On top of that, he had harvested the unimaginable amount of Crystal Stones which was an incredible amount of wealth.
However, what made Yang Kai happiest was that he now knew his Devil Transformation, which was referred to as Demon God Transformation by the Ancient Demon Clan, can be used to suppress them.
He had been here for more than a year now and during this time Li Rong had been quite good to him, neither imprisoning him nor restricting his freedom, allowing him to relax and pursue his studies of the Alchemic Way, and even sending a Third Order Transcendent master to secretly protect him.
However, Yang Kai always felt like he was under a kind of house arrest which made him quite uncomfortable.
But that feeling had disappeared as Yang Kai now had confidence to stand on equal footing with the Ancient Demon Clan and even restrain them in certain circumstances.
With this change in perspective, Yang Kai managed to finally relax somewhat.
Over the next few days, everything was tranquil. Li Rong had not appeared yet, but Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry. He knew that with Chu Jian’s death, Li Rong must have a lot to deal with, so he simply continued studying Alchemy quietly while he waited.
The door of the stone room was suddenly pushed open and Guan’er rushed in with an excited look upon her face. Arriving in front of Yang Kai, her pair of beautiful eyes filled with wonderment as she hurriedly asked, “Yang Kai, I heard that you killed Chu Jian, is that true?”
“Who told you that?”
“Senior Li told me, is it true?”
“What do you think?” Yang Kai chuckled.
“What do I think?” Guan’er blinked before letting out a snort, “With only your insignificant strength, it’s impossible for you to have accomplished that, but since Senior Li said so, it’s definitely the truth,” Saying so, she suddenly hugged Yang Kai’s arm and shook it like a spoiled child, “Come on, tell me, how did you manage to kill the bastard? Even Senior Li had always had a big headache about how to deal with him.”
As Guan’er swung back and forth, Yang Kai clearly felt a couple of amazingly soft yet elastic mounds press against his arm.
Noticing Yang Kai’s vision unconsciously being drawn downwards to where they were connected, Guan’er suddenly became alert, leaping backwards as she used her arms to cover her chest, grinding her teeth, “You hoodlum, what are you looking at.”
Yang Kai’s face went black, “Why are you asking a question you know the answer to already?”
Guan’er snorted, “You humans are really not good things! I’m going to tell Senior Li that you are trying to harass me!”
“Don’t try to slander me!” Yang Kai shot back angrily.
Guan’er’s eyes narrowed slightly as a cunning smile appeared on her face, “Then tell me honestly how you killed Chu Jian, I’m quite curious.”
“Can’t you just ask Senior Li yourself?” Yang Kai felt a slight headache.
“Senior Li has been taking care of Great Commander Han Fei these past few days and has also been dealing with the members of our clan that were close to Chu Jian. She’s very busy, how can I bother her with such trivial things?” Guan’er pouted, her red lips puckering attractively.
“I’m also quite busy,” Yang Kai sternly replied.
“How are you busy?” Guan’er swept her eyes over his lazy figure before shouting, “Good, then I’ll just go find Senior Li now and tell her that you’re a rogue who was blinded by my beauty and tried to force yourself onto me!”
“Guan’er, you mustn’t be rude!” From the void, a light scolding voice rang out.
The air distorted and Li Rong, Han Fei, and Hua Mo appeared on the scene.
Guan’er’s expression became slightly awkward as she quickly waved her hands, “Senior Li, I was just joking with him, he didn’t really do anything to me.”
Knowing her little argument with Yang Kai was heard by Li Rong, Guan’er was apparently worried that she would believe her and really punish Yang Kai.
“I know,” Li Rong gently nodded, “But don’t say he didn’t do anything to you, even if he really did do something, it would be your honour!”
Guan’er’s jaw couldn’t help dropping as she carefully digested the words her respected Senior Li had just said, becoming completely dumbstruck in the process.
Although officially she was just an ordinary clansman, she had always been together with Li Rong, so her status in Demon God Citadel was not low. Plus, Guan’er was quite beautiful and her aptitude was good, thus many young men in the citadel had intentions towards her, similar to Pan Lang who was thrashed by Yang Kai a while ago.
However, no matter how those people begged, Li Rong never showed the meaning of betrothing Guan’er to them, because Li Rong felt that none of those young men were worthy of Guan’er. Li Rong had always said that she would find a suitable candidate for Guan’er to marry or wait for the one in question to find someone she was interested in herself.
But now, Li Rong had actually said such words, how could Guan’er not be shocked?
How was being together with this human possible a good thing?
“Sorry I’ve made you wait a few days, I really couldn’t get away,” Li Rong nodded to Yang Kai gently.
“No problem, it gave me a chance to relax anyways,” Yang Kai laughed.
Guan’er’s brow wrinkled slightly as she noticed that Senior Li had a different attitude towards this human this time. She couldn’t tell why, but Guan’er now felt like Senior Li was actually somewhat cautious and respectful when she was addressing him.
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Guan’er couldn’t help feeling a bit scared.
Not only her, Han Fei and Hua Mo also didn’t understand and thus had suspicions of their own.
Even if this human boy was able to use the Demon God Transformation and restrain their Ancient Demon Clan, was that really reason enough to act respectfully towards him? Them not executing him for stealing their Demon God Transformation was already showing him great benevolence.
“Han Fei, Hua Mo, I know that you have doubts in your hearts, just like Sir has.”
“Sir?” Besides Li Rong, everyone else inside the stone room gasped in unison and stared towards Yang Kai.
“Don’t look at me, I’m just as confused as you are,” Yang Kai said.
“I’ll explain everything now,” Li Rong smiled, “Please sit down.”
Saying so, she sat in front of Yang Kai.
Han Fei and Hua Mo glanced at one another and saw each other’s helplessness, but in the end they decided to trust Li Rong and also sat down beside her.
Li Rong looked at Yang Kai gently for a moment before lightly saying, “Please lower your Soul’s defences, we need to enter your Knowledge Sea.”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this request, “Enter my Knowledge Sea?”
“Yes, only there can I explain everything clearly and allow Han Fei and Hua Mo to believe what I say.”
“You’re not afraid?” Yang Kai stared towards Li Rong meaningfully.
Li Rong slowly shook her head, “As long as we have no malicious intent towards you, it won’t hurt us. Wasn’t that also the case last time?”
Han Fei and Hua Mo both wore confused looks upon their faces, neither of them understanding what Yang Kai and Li Rong were talking about.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Fine, I’ll allow you to enter my Knowledge Sea, but don’t try to look through my memories, if any of you dares do so, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
“Of course,” Li Rong nodded heavily, “None of us has such poor taste.”
“Who would want to spy on your memories,” Han Fei spat disdainfully.
Hua Mo also laughed, “This old man doesn’t have such bad hobbies.”
“Then come in,” Yang Kai nodded, closing his eyes and sinking his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea, his Soul avatar soon appearing and lowering all of his Knowledge Sea’s defenses.
The next moment, he noticed that three powerful Spiritual Energy masses poured into his Knowledge Sea, and immediately, the Soul avatars of the three Great Commanders of the Ancient Demon Clan appeared in front of him.
At that moment, everyone in the stone room become motionless. Guan’er stood the side, a mix of anxiety and curiosity plastered on her face as she glanced around at the figures before her, suddenly waving her fist towards Yang Kai and snorting cutely.
She knew that the three Great Commanders and this human brat were discussing some secrets at the moment and that she was not qualified to intervene. Naturally she didn’t dare to try to sneak into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea so all she could do was sit around outside and wait.
Inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, wisps of flame whipped about.
Whether it was Li Rong, Han Fei, or Hua Mo, none of them could help instinctively using their Spiritual Energy to protect themselves from this uncomfortable feeling.
The Ancient Demon Clan all hated this blistering aura.
Li Rong was even more surprised than the other two though. The last time she was here, Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was far less powerful than it was now; now, the scotching heat here was now able to give even her some faint pressure.
Suddenly she understood; after all, Yang Kai had swallowed more than a dozen Conflagrated Knowledge Seas so obviously his Soul had experienced some growth.
“Can you please clear a place for us to speak more comfortably?” Li Rong suggested.
Yang Kai thought about it and knew that these three were truly a bit uncomfortable here so he quickly pointed to an island in the distance, “Let’s go there, that place isn’t affected by my Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.”
In the direction he was pointing, the three Great Commanders saw a five coloured island that seemed to be floating atop the flaming sea.
Their eyes sparkling slightly, they quickly followed Yang Kai to the island.
As soon as their Soul avatars set foot on this five coloured island, the three Ancient Demon Clan Saints were all shocked.
“How can my Soul be gaining strength inside your Knowledge Sea?” Han Fei stared at Yang Kai in amazement.
“I can also feel my Spiritual Energy growing slightly,” Hua Mo said with a look of shock.
“What is this five coloured island?” Li Rong smiled happily and asked curiously as she glanced around. She naturally felt that the reason their Spiritual Energies were being strengthened even thought they were inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was entirely because of this strange treasure island.
“Did you come here to discuss such things?” Yang Kai said indifferently, showing no intention to answer them.
The Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus was able to nourish and repair all things related to one’s Soul, so the three Great Commanders’ Soul avatars were obviously able to obtain some benefits by being around it, though these benefits were incredibly small.
Yang Kai on the other hand was different. As the owner of the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, over many years the small yet steady stream of enhancement he received had accumulated into a significant advantage.
“En, I’ve spoken a bit carelessly,” Li Rong gently nodded, “However, it seems like you have many good things on you.”
“Every man has a secret or two,” Yang Kai said faintly, “Now, I think it’s about time you start explaining what exactly is going on. I’m quite curious to know the truth, and I believe Hua Mo and Han Fei are the same.”
Hearing these words, Hua Mo and Han Fei also quickly turned their attention to Li Rong.
Li Rong smiled and nodded, lifting her jade hand and pointing to an object gently floating high up in the sky, “Look over there.”
Turning their eyes in direction of her finger, Hua Mo and Han Fei stared attentively.
Floating above Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was a single tightly closed eyeball. The moment they laid eyes on this eye though, Hua Mo and Han Fei couldn’t help feeling an overwhelming desire to kneel down and submit themselves to it.
Neither of them could explain why they suddenly had this feeling, both of their Soul avatars trembling lightly.
“Can you open it like last time?” Li Rong turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and conveyed his thoughts to the golden eye.
The closed eye slowly opened, and through a narrow crack, a majestic golden light appeared and flooded the three Saint’s eyes. It was as if a supreme master who was aloof from the world they lived in was staring down at them indifferently.
Under such an intense gaze, all of them suddenly felt tiny and insignificant, as if this gaze was capable of turning them all into dust and erasing them from the world if it so chose to.
Hua Mo and Han Fei shuddered even more and even Li Rong’s tender body couldn’t help trembling slightly.
“Do you two… recognize this?” Li Rong asked, a look of excitement on her face as her breathing became somewhat quick, her gaze locked solidly on this golden eye, completely unwilling to look away from it despite the intimidating feeling it gave her.
“The Demon Eye of Annihilation?” After a brief moment of silence, Hua Mo suddenly exclaimed.
Han Fei also shivered, her face filling with excitement as she turned to Li Rong and asked, “Is this really the Demon Eye of Annihilation?”
“Without a doubt, it is exactly as it is described in the records left behind by our ancestors. Also, the last time I experienced its golden light, I could feel a terrifying power of destruction, besides it being the Demon Eye of Annihilation, I can think of no other possible explanation,” Li Rong’s proud chest heaved up and down, highlighting her lack of inner calm despite her attempts to speak coherently.
“The Heaven’s have eyes! In this old man’s lifetime, I am actually able to bear witness to the Demon Eye of Annihilation!” Hua Mo couldn’t help calling out in joy, immediately kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to the giant golden eye.
Following his example, Li Rong and Han Fei also kneeled down and solemnly worshiped the floating eye.
Yang Kai’s brain froze up for a moment as he stared dumbfounded at this scene.
At that moment, three beams of golden light suddenly shot out from the Solitary Golden Eye and precisely struck the three kneeling Soul avatars.
Yang Kai expression changed dramatically but he quickly managed to regain his composure.
Because he found that after being illumined by the golden light, the three Saint’s Soul avatars not only didn’t disappear, remaining completely unharmed, but instead showed looks of incredibly joy, as if some kind of shackle which had bound them had been lifted, closing their eyes as they immersed themselves in this wondrous feeling.
Yang Kai carefully observed them and quickly discovered that they were receiving something from the golden light so he did not attempt to interrupt them, standing to the side and waiting quietly.
A moment later, the Solitary Golden Eye closed once more.
After waiting for a long time, the three Great Commanders opened their eyes again. At that moment, Yang Kai clearly noticed that their three Soul avatars were much stronger than before.
It seemed like the benefits they received weren’t small.
Yang Kai became pensive, at this moment, he also realized that the Solitary Golden Eye had a deep connection with the Ancient Demon Clan, but what exactly this relationship was, he wasn’t clear.
The three people all were aware of the changes they had undergone as well, looks of excitement appearing on their faces as they quickly exchanged a glance before turning towards Yang Kai and respectfully cupping their fists. “Greetings, Master!”
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled deeply and a forced smile crept onto his face, “Ahem, what exactly is the situation, do all of you have some kind of misunderstanding?”
“No, there is no misunderstanding or mistake. Starting today, you are the leader of my Ancient Demon Clan!” Li Rong stared towards Yang Kai with a burning gaze.
Surprisingly, Hua Mo and Han Fei made no attempt to refute her, instead nodding solemnly in agreement.
“Is this some kind of big joke?” Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled even further, “I’m just an ordinary human while all of you belong to the Demon Race. The blood flowing in our veins is completely different. How can I suddenly be the leader of your Ancient Demon Clan?”
“Please be patient, Master, I will explain everything in detail,” Li Rong smiled and pointed towards the sky, “May I ask, where did master acquire the Demon Eye of Annihilation?”
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, “It’s not convenient for me to disclose that.”
Although he could make up a random explanation, trying to use such a petty trick in front of three Saint Realm masters was pointless. Since they seemed to be treating him completely sincerely, Yang Kai also didn’t want to deceive them.
“En, then I won’t ask about it any further,” Li Rong didn’t mind, laughing lightly, “Master surely has some suspicions about us right now, which is only natural. You acting with such prudence is appropriate. If you were to suddenly expose all of your secrets, we would have to consider whether handing our Ancient Demon Clan over to such an incompetent person was appropriate. However, your performance is indeed worthy of one chosen by Sir Great Demon God!”
“The Great Demon God?” Yang Kai’s brow rose, “What does any of this have to do with him?”
“The Demon Eye of Annihilation was the eye of Sir Great Demon God!” Li Rong replied.
Yang Kai was stunned.
“Master, you have lived in Demon God Citadel for more than a year now and should have heard a lot of rumors about Sir Great Demon God.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly. On the way back from the volcano, Li Rong had also talked at length about the Great Demon God. It turned out that her bringing him up wasn’t just her making conversation, but her deliberate attempt to inform him about the Great Demon God.
“Good, that makes it easier for me to explain,” Li Rong exhaled lightly and continued, “Sir Great Demon God was a supreme powerhouse who was able to shake the entire Tong Xuan Realm. According to the records of our ancestors, no one was worthy to stand side-by-side with Sir Great Demon God. During his time, the Demon Race’s dominion was unchallenged and all other races were but vassals of our Demon Race. Among the clans of the Demon Race, my Ancient Demon Clan had the noblest of bloodlines and were the direct servants of Sir Great Demon God.”
When Li Rong spoke about this glorious past, a look of pride appeared on her face and even Han Fei and Hua Mo showed looks of longing.
“Sir Great Demon God’s cultivation was tyrannical. No one was his opponent, but because his strength was so strong, and there was no one here who could challenge him, he broke from off this world’s shackles and set out alone in search of greater heights on the Martial Dao. According to many of our ancient records, he successfully left this realm, but where he went, no one knows. There are also some ancient books that say he failed, his soul was destroyed, and he was never seen again. No one knows the whole truth.”
“However, it now appears that Sir Great Demon God indeed failed to ascend to a higher plane, otherwise he would not have left behind his Demon Eye of Annihilation!” Li Rong said, suddenly wearing a forlorn expression. “Sir Great Demon God sealed my clan inside this Mysterious Small World before leaving because he knew once he departed, the Demon Race would be greatly weakened and the other races would surely take the opportunity to counterattack. As the closest servants of Sir Great Demon God, we would be facing the threat of extermination, which is why my clan was sent here. However, Sir Great Demon God did not mean to imprison us here forever and deliberately left a solution. When we finally succeeded in leaving this place, the world would have mostly forgotten about our Ancient Demon Clan and would no longer target us because of our role as servants of Sir Great Demon God.”
“Although Sir Great Demon God may no longer be among us, even if it is just one of his eyes, it is not something an ordinary person can acquire. Since you can possess the Demon Eye of Annihilation, it means that Sir Great Demon God has already recognized your ability, and as the servants of Sir Great Demon God, our Ancient Demon Clan will naturally recognize you as well! So, from now on, you are the master of my Ancient Demon Clan and we will serve you faithfully like our ancestors served Sir Great Demon God. You were certainly sent here by Sir Great Demon God to save my clan from their long imprisonment here!” Li Rong declared solemnly.
After listening to Li Rong’s ‘explanation’, Yang Kai was speechless for a long time.
If what this woman said was true, Yang Kai could understand why her attitude towards him had suddenly changed. It would only be natural for such a change to occur after she recognized the Great Demon God’s Demon Eye of Annihilation.
But that was just her side of the story, not enough to fully convince Yang Kai.
“This is all one big coincidence. The reason why I am here is because I was accidentally captured by the Coffin Carrying Man, are you certain that what is in my Knowledge Sea is really the Demon Eye of Annihilation?”
“Absolutely,” Not only did Li Rong nod, but even Hua Mo and Han Fei showed a look of certainty, “We are the blood descendants of the Ancient Demon Clan, our ancestors were the closest servants of Sir Great Demon God, we will not be mistaken about this, and who is to say that you being sent here wasn’t the result of Sir Great Demon God’s guidance?”
“Even so… you don’t have to follow the example of your ancestors, pledging your fealty to me, this kind of thing… Heh, honestly, I’m not too interested,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head.
Li Rong was stunned, but after thinking about it for a moment, she suddenly understood what Yang Kai was hesitant about.
Although he had been able to suppress all of their Ancient Demon Clan when he used his Demon God Transformation, his cultivation right now was still only Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage. Without the Demon God Transformation, many of her clansmen could easily put him to death.
If he wanted their clan to truly submit to him, it would be impossible without him having absolute strength.
“If master is concerned about his own strength not being sufficient, then there’s no need to worry. The three of us expressing our opinion to you right now is not because of your current strength, but your future potential! I believe that since the Demon Eye of Annihilation chose you, your future accomplishments will not be worse off when compared to Sir Great Demon God.”
“You seem to have a great deal of faith in me,” Yang Kai shook his head and smiled, his expression quickly becoming solemn, “Let’s not talk about this for now, for the moment, I am interested in other things.”
“If that is what Master wishes, then please do say,” Li Rong did not want to force Yang Kai to agree now. She knew if she pushed too hard it would only be counterproductive; for now, this human boy was still suspicious of her Ancient Demon Clan.
“I heard that Demon God Citadel has many Martial Skills and Secret Arts that are related to your Demon God Transformation?”
Li Rong smiled lightly, “If it’s about that, there’s no need for you to ask, you will have free access to all of those techniques. Master’s Demon God Transformation should have been obtained directly from the Demon Eye of Annihilation, correct? If so, then it is the most orthodox Demon God Transformation. Since the power of Sir Great Demon God flows through Master’s body, it is reasonable to understand it as such.”
Yang Kai didn’t say anything.
Li Rong’s speculation was actually wrong. He had no idea about what the Demon God Transformation was before he came to this Mysterious Small World, and his Devil Transformation technique wasn’t obtained from the Demon Eye of Annihilation, but rather from the mysterious Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
“Master, I am only trying to speak the truth, I hope you won’t be angry,” Li Rong giggled as she observed Yang Kai’s reactions.
Yang Kai just shrugged his shoulders in response.
“Master’s Demon God Transformation is too overbearing and although it already has the ability to restrain all of my clan, your understanding of the technique seems to be very shallow so you are unable to exert its full power. Right now, Master’s Demon God Transformation is still only at the initial stage.”
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment but quickly became pleasantly surprised and asked, “You mean, my Demon God Transformation can still be further strengthened?”
“Indeed,” Li Rong nodded, “If not so, then how would my Ancient Demon Clan be able to guard and fight alongside you?”
Currently, when Yang Kai displayed his Demon God Transformation, everyone from the Ancient Demon Clan around him would be paralyzed. If they tried to fight an enemy in that state, they would only die in vain. Even a master like Li Rong would be easily killed by a cultivator far weaker than her if she was incapable of defending herself.
“At the very least, you must cultivate your Demon God Transformation to the second level. Only by achieving the second level will you be able to freely control your ability to restrain my Ancient Demon Clan, allowing us to fight together,” Li Rong quickly said.
“Interesting,” Yang Kai smiled. Before he had enough strength to convince the Ancient Demon Clan to submit to him, Yang Kai was not interested in Li Rong and the other’s announcing their desire to serve him, because his ability was definitely not enough to convince the general public. Even if these three leaders swore an oath to him, he wouldn’t accept, because if he couldn’t display enough competence in the role, it would only lead to their dissatisfaction and cause them to slowly despise him.
During the Inheritance War, Yang Kai had already had a similar experience with the Yang Family, so he had some understanding of these matters.
But studying the Demon God Transformation was something he was interested in.
Yang Kai would never let go of any opportunity to increase his strength.
“You can look for me at any time to read those ancient books,” Li Rong gently nodded.
“Then let’s do so tomorrow, you’ve told me so much today that I need some time to digest all of it,” Yang Kai said.
“Very well, your servants will calmly await Master’s arrival.”
“Also, don’t call me that way, it feels awkward,” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, the more this woman who was a hundred times stronger than him called him Master the more uncomfortable he felt.
“Then… how should we address you? We’ll do as you like.”
“Just call me like you did before,” Yang Kai smiled, “Your clansmen, if they hear you calling me Master, well, I’m not sure what they’d think, at the very least it would provoke some unnecessary disputes.”
Li Rong laughed in spite of trying not to, “You’ve thought things through quite thoroughly. The Ancient Demon Clan has always taken the four Great Commanders as their leaders, as long as we three recognize you, everyone will recognize you, but since you insist, I won’t insist. Good, I’ll let you get some rest, we’ll retire first.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Li Rong and Hua Mo nodded back and their Soul avatars quickly withdrew.
Han Fei hesitated for a moment, a complicated expression flashing across her face.
“Is there something else?” Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly.
“No, I just wanted to thank you for saving me back at the volcano.”
“You also saved me, so neither of us owes the other,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head.
“Even so, a few days from now I’ll send you something; perhaps it will be of use to you.”
“Send me something? What?”
“You’ll understand when you see it,” Han Fei said before also withdrawing from Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea.
When Yang Kai opened his eyes again, he discovered that the three Great Commanders had yet to leave his room and were instead standing in front of him, Li Rong smiling as she said, “I forgot to ask, do you want to change your room? This place was originally only meant as an Alchemy room.”
Before she was certain about the speculations she had about Yang Kai, Li Rong hadn’t wanted to offer him too much in terms of accommodations and privileges, lest it draws suspicions from her subordinates, but now that she was certain, naturally she wanted to provide him with better living conditions.
“No need, I’ve grown used to this place. I can practice Alchemy here whenever I want,” Yang Kai shook his head.
“About our Alchemy request…” Li Rong smiled awkwardly, “Before now it was just trade between you and my clan, but now that circumstances have changed, if you no longer want to…”
“You don’t have to worry about that, I was sincere when I originally told you I wanted to study Alchemy, I should really be thanking you for providing me with such a good opportunity to do so.”
Hearing this, Li Rong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as she directed a grateful look towards Yang Kai.
Now, Li Rong naturally couldn’t demand Yang Kai to continue pursuing the Alchemic Way, if he were to strongly refuse, she would have no choice but to acquiesce.
“Would you like us to send you a few maidservants to take care of your needs? The young girls from my clan, whether it is their beauty or temperament, are no less outstanding than those from your Human race…” Li Rong bit her lip and asked blushingly.
Hua Mo’s expression remained indifferent, seemingly thinking that all human males were lascivious by nature.
However, Han Fei couldn’t help but cough a little, her expression a bit unnatural as she averted her gaze.
“Just Guan’er is fine, there’s no need to send anyone else,” Yang Kai knew what Li Rong was referring to. He was, after all, a young man. The need to relieve himself was normal, and now that more than a year had passed since he had come here, Li Rong was obviously taking into consideration his needs with respect to women as well, although her having other motives as well could not be ruled out.
If Yang Kai became involved with one of the girls from her clan and developed feelings for her, tying him to the Ancient Demon Clan would become much simpler.
“As you wish,” Li Rong gently nodded, a meaningful light flashing across the depths of her eyes as she turned to Guan’er and seriously told her, “Just like before, you will be responsible for his care, be sure to meet any request he has.”
“Any request? What about if he…?” Guan’er asked in confusion.
“Even that; his words are your orders from now on!” Li Rong firmly declared.
Guan’er was dumbfounded. When she had first been sent to take care of Yang Kai, Li Rong had told her that as long as it wasn’t excessive, she was to do her best to fulfil this human boy’s requests, but now, in front of his face, she had been told to fully satisfy any request he made!
Senior Li’s attitude towards this human boy had really changed dramatically.
As Guan’er stood there absentmindedly, Li Rong and the other Great Commanders left, and by the time she had come to her senses, only she and Yang Kai remained inside the stone room.
Snorting lightly, she waved her fists threateningly towards Yang Kai like a young female tiger, ready to pounce, as she ground her teeth and accused, “You bastard, what did you say to my Mistress? Why is she so attentive to you now?”
“I didn’t say anything really, we just talked casually.”
“Your Human Race really is sinister and deceitful!” Guan’er glared back at him, obviously not believing a word he said, snorting as she continued, “Mistress said I am I am to meet any of your requests, you won’t ask anything shameless of me will you?”
“I won’t.”
“You really won’t? I don’t believe you, you have to swear to me.”
Yang Kai let out a long sigh, feeling a slight headache coming on from listening to this girl’s incessant chatter. Thinking about it for only a brief moment, he took out a big piece of Crystal Stone and tossed it to Guan’er, “Play with that for a while and stop bothering me!”
Guan’er put on a disdainful look and shot back, “You want to buy me off with a single Crystal Stone? Aren’t you looking down on me a bit too much?”
Yang Kai quickly took out another piece and handed it over.
Nodding righteously, Guan’er took it turned around to leave, a big joyful grin on her face.
The stone room had finally become quiet again.
Reflecting back on the conversation he just had with the three Great Commanders inside his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai still couldn’t quite believe it had happened.
Although he had been studying Alchemy for the past year, he had never stopped thinking about his future plans; after all, it was impossible for him to accept being imprisoned here by the Ancient Demon Clan forever.
Now, unexpectedly, due to a series of accidents and coincidences, he had somehow managed to seize the initiative.
Now, assuming all of this was real, he didn’t have to worry about whether he would be imprisoned here. Whether Li Rong’s words were credible, Yang Kai couldn’t be certain, but he felt that this beautiful mature woman wasn’t deceiving him, because lowering her status and showing such goodwill towards him really didn’t have any advantage to her.
Yang Kai subconsciously trusted her somewhat.
However, as a result of their conversation, many things that had puzzled Yang Kai for many years had finally become clear!
At the very least, he understood that the original owner of his Wordless Black Book was the Great Demon God!
The Wordless Black Book had been inadvertently obtained by Yang Kai, and he had initially been using it as a pillow.
However, after a strange dream and accepting its unyielding will, the Wordless Black Book had opened a whole new world to him.
Yang Kai was able to confirm that the original owner of this Black Book was the Great Demon God from the story Han Fei had told him below the volcano.
She had said that Great Demon God had obtained a massive piece of Soulstone at some point, and although it was unknown what he had used it for, the scraps leftover when he was done had been forged into the four Void Rings that were currently worn by the four Great Commanders of the Ancient Demon Clan.
It seemed like that large block of Soulstone that Great Demon God obtained in the past had been used to create the Wordless Black Book, which meant that the Black Book and the four Void Rings Li Rong and the other Great Commanders had originated from the same source!
If that was the case, then the owner of his Unyielding Golden Skeleton was also likely the Great Demon God.
In the past, the Great Demon God had wanted to break free of this world’s shackles and explore a higher realm, but the result was his failure and the destruction of his body; however, he had somehow managed to preserve his bones. Because the Unyielding Golden Skeleton originally belonged to the Great Demon God, it was only natural for it to be filled with demonic energy.
The Unyielding Golden Skeleton, Incense Burner, True Yang Secret Art, Myriad Drug Liquid, and Demon Eye of Annihilation were legacies that had been passed down to him by the Great Demon God.
However, Yang Kai’s growth had also deviated somewhat from Great Demon God’s expectations.
When he visited Medicine King’s Valley, Yang Kai had obtained the entire True Alchemic Way, which was not something the Great Demon God had intended him to inherit.
Perhaps Great Demon God wanted his successor to wholeheartedly pursue the Martial Peak and not be disturbed by the Alchemic Way.
Thinking about it, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he suddenly remembered something.
Guan’er had once told him that the Ancient Demon Race had produced a top-notch Alchemist, one that all the Alchemy Grandmasters couldn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with.
Had that Supreme Grandmaster Alchemist been the Great Demon God? If not, where would he have obtained the True Alchemic Way?
Although it was just a guess, it was a very likely possibility!
Yang Kai eyes flickered brilliantly, his mind rapidly turning as he carefully sifted through all the information he had and all the things he had experienced over the past few years, gradually becoming clear about many things that had once confused him.
…..
“Senior Li, although he has the Demon Eye of Annihilation, isn’t it too much to just hand over total control of our clan to him?”
Once they had left the stone room, Hua Mo suddenly said, a touch of worry surfaced on his face. Although when he first saw the Demon Eye of Annihilation, Hua Mo had been overwhelmed with excitement, after calming down and carefully considering the big picture, he couldn’t help feeling that Li Rong’s decision was not quite appropriate.
“En, there are quite a few questionable points, like how he acquired the Demon Eye of Annihilation in the first place; of course, the most important issue is that he is human…” Han Fei nodded and agreed with Hua Mo.
Li Rong just smiled lightly and replied, “The Demon Eye of Annihilation choosing him, is equivalent to Sir Great Demon God choosing him. We only need to follow the teachings of our ancestors. As for him being human, that’s only for now, as for later… we’ll have to wait and see.”
Hearing all this, Hua Mo and Han Fei went silent for a moment.
“Well, his performance is still satisfactory,” Hua Mo took a step back and nodded, “I thought a young man like him would act impulsively, and upon hearing our Ancient Demon Clan swear loyalty to him would immediately accept it. I hadn’t expected him to actually decisively refuse.”
Not only had Yang Kai refused, from start to finish he hadn’t even shown any excitement.
It seemed like for him, whether he obtained the Ancient Demon Clan’s allegiance or not was irrelevant.
If he wasn’t extremely foolish or overconfident, then he must have already experienced a great many storms and possessed a deep understanding of his own capabilities and abilities.
However, it was impossible for this young man to be an arrogant fool. The scene where Yang Kai had killed Chu Jian still flashed across Hua Mo’s thoughts from time to time, sending chills down his back.
As such, the only explanation left was that he knew very clear about his own weight and would not make a rash decision before he has absolute certainty.
Such people often relied on their own ability to do things rather than allow their fate to be controlled by others.
“That’s why I said Sir Great Demon God’s vision was not wrong,” Li Rong smiled happily, “Just you wait, within five years, our clan will obtain its freedom from this Mysterious Small World and once again return to the world our ancestors came from.”
Hua Mo and Han Fei’s visions trembled lightly, a look of expectation flashing across their eyes.
It had been thousands of years at least since they were sealed inside this Mysterious Small World by Sir Great Demon God, the world would have long forgotten about this clan that served as his most loyal servants and trusted right arm. The sun, moon, and stars, the grand rivers and vast endless seas, such scenes were things that their clansmen had only been able to dream of for generations.
The lifelong dream of each of their clansmen had been to leave this place and finally see these wondrous sights.
“I hope that in my lifetime, such a day will come to pass,” Hua Mo took a deep breath and slowly regained his composure.
…..
Demon God Citadel was an octagonal shaped building. This building wasn’t very tall but it had its own unique sense of architectural beauty. Each of its eight walls had been decorated with ornate carvings of ancient birds and beasts that seemed to fly and swim from window to window.
Under the leadership of Guan’er, Yang Kai walked into the octagonal building.
After a night of contemplation, Yang Kai had sorted out most of his thoughts.
Regardless of what the Ancient Demon Clan was planning, his ultimate goal was still to improve his strength; that had never changed. Only when he was stronger than anyone else could he truly live freely in this world and not be bound by others.
Therefore, how the Ancient Demon Clan treated him was irrelevant, he just needed to stick to the path he had decided upon.
“Mistress is inside, you can go in,” Guan’er reached out and opened the door, standing aside once she was done.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and walked in.
Inside the room, Li Rong was sitting on a chair beside a small table. Upon seeing Yang Kai come in, she quickly stood up and politely greeted him with a smile, “You’ve come?”
“En,”
“Good, the things you requested have been prepared,” Li Rong gently waved towards several old books on the table beside her, “These are all the manuals regarding the Demon God Transformation, you can look through them freely.”
“En, thank you for all your hard work.”
Li Rong’s eyes flickered slightly as she pursed her lips and said, “I am willing to not call you Master in accordance with your request, but in return please don’t act so polite towards us, it feels like you are treating us like outsiders.”
Yang Kai stared indifferently for a moment before finally nodding, “Then we’ll both act a bit more casual.”
Li Rong showed a faint smile.
Yang Kai stepped forward and picked up one of the ancient books before sitting down on the chair Li Rong had been occupying until now.
These secret manuals were indeed all about the Demon God Transformation, instructions for the Ancient Demon Clan’s clansmen on how to cultivate the Demon God Transformation, how to control and develop their Demon Crests, even some notes about how to improve their efficiency and combat strength while in their transformed state.
Every book here was quite precious and contained secrets that not many of the Ancient Demon Clan was privileged enough to access.
Yang Kai had only just begun looking through them yet his eyes were already growing brighter and more excited.
These ancient books all contained profound knowledge about the Demon God Transformation. Without exception, these secret manuals recorded the very essence of the Demon God Transformation.
As if he had found some invaluable treasure, Yang Kai quickly became immersed in the study of these ancient records.
Seeing him enter this kind of focused state so quickly, Li Rong smiled and left Yang Kai’s side, poured herself a cup of fragrant tea, and sat down quietly and waited.
Immersing one’s consciousness into their Demon Crests, guiding these Demon Crests to spread across their body, inspiring the power contained within these Demon Crests with one’s own Demonic Qi to enhance oneself.
In their initial form, the Demon Crests only spread across one’s body, just like when Yang Kai currently used his Devil Transformation.
In their second form, his Demon Crests would become integrated into his physique, so even if he activated his Demon God Transformation, his outward appearance wouldn’t undergo any changes.
What Li Rong wanted Yang Kai to do was to quickly achieve this second form. At that point, even if he activated the Demon God Transformation in front of the Ancient Demon Clan’s clansmen, they would not be negatively affected and retain their combat strength.
The third form would allow his Demon Crests to completely merge with his bones, bringing about an even greater boost in strength.
Yang Kai was fascinated by all of this, because he had already experienced the Demon God Transformation many times. After learning everything recorded in these ancient manuals, his understanding of this technique would increase many fold.
As for the rest, like how to actually apply these techniques, that could only be obtained through continued cultivation.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai put down the last ancient manual in front of him and closed his eyes. After a while, his eyes opened and he stared towards Li Rong with enthusiasm, “Is there a suitable place inside Demon God Citadel for me to enter secluded retreat and cultivate the Demon God Transformation?”
“I’ve already prepared an appropriate room,” Li Rong smiled, “Come with me.”
Saying so, she stood up and walked over to a nearby bookshelf, pushing on a few of the old books to activate a mechanism which opened the shelf, revealing a passageway behind it that lead deep underground.
Li Rong walked in and Yang Kai followed.
The sides of this passageway were lined with torches, so it wasn’t dark and down below there should be some kind of secret room.
After descending for quite some time, the pair arrived at a large empty room, even wider and taller than the stone room Yang Kai had been using to study Alchemy.
Around the edges of the room were a number of black stones that Yang Kai faintly perceived were emitting a strange kind of energy fluctuation.
“This is where I usually cultivate. Here, you can boldly activate the Demon God Transformation without worrying about affecting my clansmen,” Li Rong softly explained, next pointing to the black stone pillars, “These are Energy Sealing Stones, they are naturally able to block the transmission of all kind of energy, once you enter, I will activate them to erect a barrier around you.”
“Understood, let’s get started,” Yang Kai couldn’t wait, instantly leaping forward and landing in the centre of the room.
Seeing this, Li Rong smiled and shook her head, whispering softly under her breath, “So impatient!”
Saying so, she calmly began pouring her Demonic Qi into a nearby panel, activating the Energy Sealing Stones which soon erected a hemispherical transparent barrier.
Yang Kai glanced over at Li Rong to confirm everything was prepared, the latter nodding back at him gently.
Taking off his shirt and sitting down cross-legged, Yang Kai lifted his right hand to his forehead.
“Devil Transformation!”
As the Heavens and Earth shook, the barrier formed by the Energy Sealing Stones swayed as ripples propagated across its surface.
On Yang Kai’s upper body, a large number of Demon Crests began to appear, these Demon Crests were like snakes, climbing up his chest and back, forming a complex and imposing pattern.
His strength and Blood Force rose rapidly as his combat power soared…
Yang Kai clearly felt how powerful he was at the moment.
In the distance, Li Rong’s beautiful eyes flashed brilliantly as she stared at this sight and muttered, “Sure enough, it really is different.”
Despite the similarities between Yang Kai’s and the Ancient Demon Clan’s Demon God Transformations, Li Rong was still aware of certain differences.
It was impossible for an ordinary Ancient Demon clansmen’s Demon God Transformation’s Demon Crests to cover such a large area of their body, even when a master as powerful as Li Rong used her Demon God Transformation only her abdomen, chest, neck, and face would be covered by Demon Crests; however, from what Li Rong could see, this human boy’s Demon Crests covered his upper half, back and front, and were it not for his pants covering his lower half, she suspected she would see Demon Crests extending downwards from his waist as well.
In other words, his Demon Crests covered his entire body!
This was, without a doubt, the most orthodox form of the Demon God Transformation.
This discovery even made Li Rong somewhat jealous.
Inside the barrier, Yang Kai carefully felt the changes in his body before attempting to immerse his consciousness into his Demon Crests in an attempt to control them and integrate them into his physique.
Once he had successfully combined his Demon Crests with his physical body and merged their essence into his bloodstream, he would have successfully reached the second form and the strength he could display would increase again.
This was a difficult process, but Yang Kai was both meticulous and dedicated in his efforts.
Time passed by quickly.
After a dozen days, a beautiful figure appeared in the underground secret room. Li Rong, who had been paying attention to Yang Kai’s progress here, turned and look at Han Fei.
Gently nodding, Li Rong then turned her attention back to Yang Kai.
“Why did he take off his clothes?” Han Fei glanced over at Yang Kai inside the barrier, her face blushing slightly as she muttered in dissatisfaction.
“It’s easier for him to observe the progress of integrating his Demon Crests this way, haha,” Li Rong laughed lightly, “What are you embarrassed about? Both of us are many times his age, what’s wrong with seeing him topless?”
Han Fei looked a little unnatural and asked softly, “How is his progress?”
“Good,” Li Rong nodded with satisfaction, “He can already merge some of his Demon Crests into his body. I would guess that after at most a month he will achieve the second form.”
“So fast?” Han Fei was quite surprised.
“En, Sir Great Demon God’s vision is indeed outstanding. If his aptitude wasn’t so high, how could Sir Great Demon God feel relieved allowing him to inherit the Demon Eye of Annihilation?”
“It seems I’ve still looked down on him,” Han Fei narrowed her eyes slightly; “I used to think it was only his luck that was good.”
“Then you should take some time to re-examine him. Later, our clan will probably become his servants,” Li Rong smiled, suddenly turning her attention to a small jade box in Han Fei’s hand, “What’s that?”
Han Fei replied, “What I promised to give him a few days ago.”
Saying so, Han Fei opened the jade box for a moment before quickly closing it again.
Li Rong couldn’t help covering her mouth in amazement as she muttered, “Isn’t that the Wind and Thunder Wings? Why are you gifting him that?”
“He may be able to refine this thing,” Han Fei smiled and replied.
“Why do you say that? Even we haven’t been able to refine them,” Li Rong asked curiously.
The Wind and Thunder Wings was a pair of strange wings formed from a Heavenly Dao Law. It was unknown which Senior from their Ancient Demon Clan had originally obtained it, but after changes owners a number of times, it had eventually ended up in Han Fei’s hands.
Han Fei had been trying to refine the Wind and Thunder Wings for many years, but each time she had failed.
This pair of Wind and Thunder Wings was extremely valuable, and was one of the most remarkable of the Ancient Demon Clan’s treasures.
Li Rong had also tried refining it a number of times, but just like Han Fei, she had been rejected by them and finally had to give up.
But now, unexpectedly, Han Fei had actually taken them out and was preparing to give them to Yang Kai.
“Even though we can’t refine them, he may be able to, because he already has a pair of wings formed by a Heavenly Dao Law.”
“He also has one?” Li Rong was shocked.
“En,” Han Fei nodded lightly, briefly describing what had happened below the volcano.
As Li Rong listened, her beautiful eyes glistened, only collecting herself after a long silence and asking, “If what you say is true, then he really might be able to refine them, but are you willing to up such a precious treasure? I didn’t think you were so optimistic about him, were you?”
Han Fei smiled faintly, “There’s no harm in giving this to him. If he can’t refine them, it just means his ability is insufficient. On the other hand, if he can refine them, it will serve as my thanks for him saving my life. Also, because of him, our clan managed to obtain so many Crystal Stones. Compared to the development of our clan, this pair of dust laden Wind and Thunder Wings is nothing of importance.”
“Fair enough,” Li Rong nodded lightly, “From the looks of it, he won’t stop until he has successfully achieved the second form.”
Han Fei smiled lightly and no longer said anything, standing beside Li Rong as the two of them quietly watched Yang Kai from a distance.
One mature, one icy, two beautiful women standing together like this made for quite an alluring sight.
However, Yang Kai actually paid no attention to this marvellous sight, his entire mind completely immersed in studying his Demon Crests, trying to integrate them into his body, causing his flesh and blood to tremble.
Cultivation knew no years, this statement was not unwarranted.
Yang Kai only paid attention to the progress of his Demon God Transformation and had completely lost track of how much time had passed.
Although his progress seemed slow, it still made Yang Kai quite happy.
He was finally able to effectively control his Demon Crests.
Nearly a month had passed and Li Rong and Han Fei were still quietly waiting outside the barrier, not showing the slightest sign of anxiousness, instead just staring dumbfounded at Yang Kai’s performance.
The Demon God Transformation was capable of bringing great strength to an Ancient Demon clansman’s body, but it was also placed an incredible load on them.
Only the Ancient Demon Clan, with their incredibly strong bodies, could stand using it.
An ordinary clansman could only maintain their Demon God Transformation for about an hour.
Even someone as strong as Li Rong could not maintain her transformed state indefinitely.
However, Yang Kai apparently could. Since he initially activated his Demon God Transformation a month and a half ago, he had not once dismissed his Demon Crests. The strength of his physical body had far surpassed any other Li Rong or Han Fei had ever heard of. Even their Ancient Demon Clan physique was incomparable to it.
“A real monster!” Han Fei slowly shook her head.
Suddenly, there was a humming sound inside the barrier, and the last Demon Crests covering Yang Kai disappeared. His momentum and the intensity of his Blood Force not only did not fall though, but instead improved a grade.
Li Rong’s beautiful eyes flashed brilliantly as she exclaimed, “Success!”
After a month and a half of uninterrupted cultivation, Yang Kai finally managed to achieve the second form of the Demon God Transformation, fully integrating his Demon Crests into his body!
Saying so, Li Rong waved her hand and opened the barrier.
A wild and violent pressure suddenly descended upon them, causing Li Rong and Han Fei to instinctively resist.
However, although this pressure was tyrannical, it no longer had the effect of suppressing their Ancient Demon Clan’s strength and would only do so if Yang Kai intended it to.
In other words, Yang Kai now truly had the power to bargain with the Ancient Demon Clan.
When he noticed that the barrier had disappeared, Yang Kai turned to see Li Rong and Han Fei in the distance, smiling lightly before jumping up and walking towards them.
“How are you feeling?” Li Rong resisted the slight discomfort she felt and asked softly.
“Very good, although it’s still somewhat difficult for me to control,” Yang Kai nodded slightly, glancing down at his bare skin where a number of his Demon Crests seemed to fade in and out.
“Being able to achieve this much in such a short time is already remarkable, with time and practice you’ll become familiar with controlling them,” Li Rong smiled, “Hold out your hand.”
Yang Kai frowned slightly but although he didn’t know what Li Rong wanted to do, he still extended his hand to her.
Faster than Yang Kai could blink, Li Rong’s jade white hand swiped at his palm, opening a small cut.
Blood began leaking out.
Because he didn’t sense any malicious intent from Li Rong, Yang Kai made no effort to dodge this strike but instead just looked at her suspiciously.
“Take a look at your blood carefully, do you notice anything different from before?”
Hearing this, Yang Kai looked down at his palm and was immediately startled.
He discovered that there were some faint golden rays in his blood, almost like the golden light which shone from the Demon Eye of Annihilation; however, these golden streaks were incredibly subtle, if he didn’t pay close attention to it he wouldn’t have noticed them at all, but he could tell that these golden lights contained an enormous amount of power.
“Demon God Golden Blood?” Han Fei’s eyes lit up as she called out in alarm.
“Indeed, Demon God Golden Blood!” Li Rong nodded solemnly, “This is the most prominent sign that one has cultivated the second form of the Demon God Transformation. In our ancient books, only those who possess the golden blood of Sir Great Demon God can be considered part of the noblest lineage.”
Having said so, Li Rong also reached out and cut her palm.
Yang Kai stared carefully and quickly found there were some faint golden rays in Li Rong’s blood as well, and although the golden lights she possessed weren’t as brilliant as his own, they were significantly more abundant.
“This is the ultimate symbol and proof of my Ancient Demon Clan’s relationship to Sir Great Demon God!” Li Rong proudly stated.
Yang Kai’s look became slightly strange, “Do you want to say that I too am a member of your Ancient Demon Clan now?”
“In a manner of speaking, although you were born human, your blood has now undergone a transformation because you obtained Sir Great Demon God’s inheritance.”
“Then in the future will I be human, or demon?”
“That’s up to you. It’s not really that important whether you’re human or demon, what matters is how you perceive yourself,” Li Rong smiled lightly, “But from now on, as long as you continue cultivating the Demon God Transformation, your Demon God Golden Blood will become purer and purer. When your blood becomes completely golden, it will mean you have achieved mastery of the second form and when even your bones turn golden, you will have reached the peak of the third form.”
Yang Kai’s brow knit and didn’t respond.
Because of the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, his bones were already golden.
“Good, you’ve been cultivating for such a long time you should relax for a while. Maintaining the Demon God Transformation for so long must have placed a great burden on your body. When one cultivates, rest is also important,” Li Rong sincerely advised.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, it was true he felt a little exhausted and the ache he felt in his body was quite intense. After dispersing his Demon God Transformation, he felt much more relaxed.
“Han Fei also brought you something good,” Li Rong smiled warmly.
“Oh, what is it?” Yang Kai turned to look at Han Fei.
Han Fei stepped forward and handed Yang Kai the jade box she was holding, “Take a look yourself, maybe it will be of some use to you, maybe it won’t, don’t get your hopes up too high though.”
Hearing her speak so ambiguously, Yang Kai suddenly became curious, accepting the jade box and quickly opening it.
Inside the jade box, there was a pair of tiny wings only the size of his palm. This pair of wings was transparent, and didn’t seem to be forged out of physical material; it was unlike any artifact he had seen. Atop these wings, there were flashes of light and swirling currents. Yang Kai felt the strong powers of wind and thunder from this pair of wings.
As he held the jade box, Yang Kai revealed a surprised expression as he hurriedly asked, “What is this?”
“The Wind and Thunder Wings!” Han Fei replied lightly, “It’s a kind of profound treasure. No one knows what material it was created from but both I and Li Rong have tried to refine it numerous times over the past many years yet have never succeeded. When I saw that you already had a pair of wings that contained a Heavenly Dao Law, I thought I should let you try refining this.”
Yang Kai glanced over at her, a look of hesitation appearing on his face, feeling like he had somehow acquired something he hadn’t deserved to and was just about to refuse, but at that moment, his shoulder blades suddenly gave off a dull ache, as if something was restlessly stirring, trying to break free from his body.
Yang Kai expression changed and before he could regain control of them, his Flaming Yang Wings actually opened all on their own.
It was as if his Flaming Yang Wings and the Wind and Thunder Wings shared some kind of subtle connection.
Yang Kai couldn’t help clenching the jade box and stretching out his free hand towards the Wind and Thunder Wings.
The exquisite Wind and Thunder Wings transformed into a flash of light the moment he touched them and instantly sunk into Yang Kai’s chest. At the same time, Yang Kai expression cramped and as he suddenly felt an unbearable pain seemingly passing through his back, as if his shoulders were being ripped out of his body.
His face instantly went pale and great beads of sweat began forming on his forehead, his entire body trembling violently.
Li Rong and Han Fei glanced at each other but were both powerless to help, so all they could do was watch anxiously, praying that Yang Kai would be successful.
After what seemed like an eternity to him, Yang Kai slowly stood up, panting heavily, his shoulder blades still in intense pain but now at least somewhat bearable.
Seeing this scene, Li Rong couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief, letting out a light laugh, “It seems like you and the Wind and Thunder Wings really are fated for one another.”
“I haven’t refined them yet!” Yang Kai knit his brow, clearly feeling that there were two tyrannical energies hidden within his shoulder blades, constantly wreaking havoc on his body, the power of wind and thunder erupting from time to time, causing him a great deal of misery.
It was only thanks to his incredible perseverance and resilience that he wasn’t still showing a pained expression on his face.
“I know,” Li Rong smiled, “But when Hand Fei and I attempted to refine them before, without exception, after taking them into our bodies, we had to force them out within an hour, or else both of us would have died long ago. I don’t know how long you must persist for in order to subdue them entirely and fully refine them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
He already discovered that refining the Wind and Thunder Wings was similar to refining an artifact, he would need to supply it with a steady stream of True Qi in order to allow it to adapt to him and eventually surrender.
Before he refined it, the Wind and Thunder Wings was similar to a foreign object inside of him. Not only was it unusable, it was also causing harm to his body.
“I’ll send you back to rest. You have many things to do, but you shouldn’t be anxious, just handle them one at a time. No one can grow strong all at once,” Li Rong gently reminded, taking Yang Kai’s hand and silently using her profound movement skill.
Upon returning to the stone room, Yang Kai didn’t bother attending to anything else and quickly sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and began meditating.
In the octagonal building, Li Rong and Han Fei both sipped on fragrant cups of tea.
After a long silence, Li Rong suddenly asked with a serious expression, “Han Fei, what do you think of him?”
Han Fei put down her teacup and also wore a solemn face, “Whether it’s his aptitude, perseverance, boldness, or courage, all of them are far superior to any of our clan’s juniors or even ourselves when we were his age. If he does not die young, his future will definitely be bright.”
Li Rong also put down her teacup and gently tapped the tabletop with her jade fingers, her elegant face showing a slightly complicated expression, “Unfortunately he was born human. If it was our Ancient Demon Clan’s blood that had originally flown through his body everything would have been perfect.”
Han Fei’s look changed, “Li Rong, you…”
Li Rong laughed and shook her head, “What are you imagining? I’m not so vicious, I was just thinking out loud. I am not the kind of person who fails to keep her word.”
Han Fei’s expression loosened. After hearing Li Rong’s words just now, she couldn’t help thinking Li Rong was having some crooked thoughts.
Li Rong suddenly smiled meaningfully, “How come you seem so protective of him all of a sudden?”
“He saved my life beneath the volcano. If it weren’t for him sheltering me, I would already be dead,” Han Fei replied lightly.
Li Rong’s smile deepened as she continued, “It doesn’t seem that simple to me. You even sent him your precious Wind and Thunder Wings.” Saying so, she stared at Han Fei meaningfully.
“You’re thinking too much, he’s just a child!” Han Fei averted her eyes.
“He’s no mere child!” Li Rong shook her head, “Good, let’s put that aside for now, I was just feeling a bit helpless. Even though we’ve made our position clear and fully intend to be on good terms with him, he still seems to see our Ancient Demon Clan as outsiders. He has little sense of belonging here; much less dependence. His self-confidence and will to improve himself on his own are both very strong.”
“That’s only natural, he has enough ability to warrant his confidence; moreover, he was captured and sent here by Coffin Slave Senior and we have yet to really have any deep graciousness towards him. How is he supposed to have a sense of belonging here?” Han Fei said somewhat bitterly.
Both she and Li Rong understood that all of their Ancient Demon Clan’s hopes and dreams were dependent on Yang Kai now, but the other side had no sense of belonging or closeness to their clan. Without a certain degree of attachment and mutual trust, he would always have a sense of wariness towards them and at the very least wouldn’t fully exert all his efforts to help them.
If he could leave, Han Fei and Li Rong were almost certain he would not hesitate to do so and would not look back.
“Do you want to make him develop some kind of fondness towards our clan?” Han Fei suddenly realized Li Rong’s plan.
“That’s what I intended,” Li Rong did not deny it as she gently rubbed her forehead in frustration, “Unfortunately he hasn’t cooperated in that respect. Our ancient books all said that young human men had lascivious natures and constantly sought after beauties, so why does he seem so disinterested? I’ve had Guan’er accompany him for more than a year now yet aside from the occasional joke he hasn’t even attempted to approach her.”
“Is Guan’er simply not in line with his preferences?” Han Fei also felt confused.
She had lived her entire life inside this Mysterious Small World so her understanding of the Human Race was limited to what was recorded in her ancestors’ books. All of those records had said that humans were cunning, sinister, and insidious, and that their desire to possess beautiful woman had no limit!
“Then what kind of woman does he like? There are many young girls in Demon God Citadel with all kinds of temperaments and looks, but I’ve never seen him act anything but politely to any of them.” Li Rong muttered.
“Come to think of it, when we were together below the volcano, despite being in complete control he was still quite well-mannered towards me…” Han Fei said thoughtfully.
“Would you like to test him again?” Li Rong looked at Han Fei with a smile.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Han Fei’s face went red.
“I’m actually not entirely joking,” Li Rong expression became awkward, “We have to let him feel at least some kind of attachment to our clan, no matter what method we use, as long as it doesn’t hurt him.”
Han Fei stared at Li Rong in shock, seeing that she really was serious about what she had just said.
“I won’t go,” Han Fei’s brow furrowed deeply. Letting her seduce Yang Kai was beyond what she was capable of tolerating.
Li Rong smiled and was no longer forced the issue, just letting out a deep sigh while trying to deal with her headache. With the situation being what it was currently, she could only come up with this kind of harebrained scheme.
This method made her feel quite ashamed in her heart and if she hadn’t been forced into a corner now, she would never have considered trying to honey-trap Yang Kai.
…..
Although the pain on his shoulders was still severe, Yang Kai’s expression now turned to indifference. He had grown accustomed to this severe pain, and it no longer interfered with his ability to circulate his True Qi or refine pills.
Focusing his attention and making full use of his ever improving skill, Yang Kai dedicated himself to his study of Alchemy, and after half a day’s time, a fresh pill emerged from his furnace.
Examining the quality of this pill, Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, it was a Spirit Grade Mid-Rank pill!
Now, even without relying on supplementary Spirit Arrays, he was able to refine Spirit Grade Mid-Rank pills.
If he were to use a supportive Spirit Array and add a drop of Myriad Drug Liquid to the ingredients, it was even possible for him to refine Spirit Grade Top-Rank pills, meaning he was just one step away from becoming a Saint Grade Alchemist.
Taking out a piece of Crystal Stone and holding it in his palm, Yang Kai meditated for a moment. After restoring himself, Yang Kai walked out of the stone room and walked to the octagonal building that Li Rong had brought him to before.
Heading down to the secret room below the octagonal building, Yang Kai used his Devil Transformation and continued cultivating the second form of the Demon God Transformation.
It had been several months since Chu Jian’s death. Over the past few months, Yang Kai had lived a peaceful life, splitting his time between the stone Alchemy room and the secret room below Demon God Citadel.
Half his time was spent studying Alchemy while the other half was spent cultivating the Demon God Transformation, not a moment was wasted.
The Wind and Thunder Wings were hidden inside his body and were also constantly being nourished and refined by his True Qi, displaying a gratifying level of progress.
Yang Kai had also made great strides in his control of the second form of the Demon God Transformation. More and more golden lights were apparent and now at least a third of his blood had a golden hue. This golden blood contained an amazing amount of destructive power.
In addition to that, after a few months of hard work, Yang Kai’s strength had reached the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary!
His foundation was incredibly solid and his physical body was also many times stronger than an average Peak Immortal Ascension human master while his perception of the Martial Dao was not inferior to a Saint Realm master.
After all, he had swallowed up the sentiments of many masters into the Heavenly Way contained within the remnants of their Souls after their deaths.
But even though this life was quite relaxed and fulfilling, Yang Kai always felt like something was missing, and to his surprise, after reaching the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, the progress of his cultivation became slower and slower.
The gap between the Immortal Ascension Boundary and the Transcendent Realm was massive!
Back in the Central Capital, Transcendents were top masters. Because of the shackles of that world, very few people were capable of reaching such a height and even the Eight Great Families only had three or four such masters each while first-class forces had one or two at most, the vast majority of which were First-Order.
But even in Tong Xuan Realm, with its rich and abundant World Energy, most cultivators would spend their entire lives at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, forever unable to step into the Transcendent Realm.
But overall, the number of Transcendents in this realm wasn’t small. Since he arrived here, Yang Kai had seen several dozen Transcendents and even a few Saints.
Today’s Yang Kai was currently stuck at the door to the Transcendent Realm and was having difficulties pushing past it.
In the underground room of the Octagonal Building, Yang Kai maintained his Demon God Transformation while he felt his Demon Crests faintly pulsing, causing his blood flow to accelerate, and raising his momentum to an astonishing height.
In the distance, the three Great Commanders of the Ancient Demon Clan all observed his movements with great interest, each of them repeatedly nodding in approval.
Yang Kai’s growth these past few months had all been witnessed by them and each of them was quite impressed with Sir Great Demon God’s successor.
The only thing that still gave Li Rong a headache was the fact that even until now, she had not found any way to instill a sense of belonging to the Ancient Demon Clan into Yang Kai.
*Hong…*
A loud bang rang out, and with Yang Kai at its center, a violent wave of energy burst forth. The three Great Commanders who had been passively observing all quickly acted, injecting their energy into the Energy Sealing Stones to reinforce the room’s barrier.
The wild energy fluctuations rampaged about inside the barrier and Yang Kai looked like he was having trouble controlling the power inside his body. It was not until sometime later that everything gradually stabilized.
Li Rong and others exchanged a quick glance before quickly flying over to Yang Kai, a worried expression upon each of their faces as they asked, “How are you?”
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled and only after a short silence did he finally shake his head, “I’m fine, just feeling a bit restless.”
“Restless?” Li Rong was stunned. She never would have imagined that someone was calm and deliberate as Yang Kai would also have an impetuous side.
“It’s nothing important, I’ll end my cultivation here for today and head back first,” Yang Kai said, getting up and walking out.
Staring at Yang Kai’s slowly disappearing back, the three Great Commanders were speechless for a while.
“Haa, he’s not the type of person who is suitable for growing up in a greenhouse,” Hua Mo sighed deeply.
“I’m afraid that staying here is giving him a feeling of restriction,” Han Fei gently nodded. Although since the death of Chu Jian, the three Great Commanders had not placed any limitations on Yang Kai’s freedom, and had even done their best to help make him feel comfortable, being stuck in this Mysterious Small World probably still made him feel like a prisoner.
The living Ancient Demon Clan people grew up here, so even though they all longed to leave this place, none of their clansmen felt a particular sense of repulsion towards it.
But Yang Kai was different, suddenly being snatched from an incredibly vast world and then being tossed into this small place would inevitably make him feel uncomfortable.
The three Great Commanders weren’t stupid, so they naturally understood what was making Yang Kai feel so restless.
“It seems we won’t be able to keep him here much longer,” Li Rong smiled bitterly.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Han Fei suddenly grit her teeth and said.
“Alright. Be sure to see if there is some other reason as well. If it is something we can help him with, make sure he knows he’s free to ask,” Li Rong reminded.
Han Fei gently nodded.
Back inside his stone room, Yang Kai took out a bunch of herbs and held them in his hands, but for a long time simply couldn’t bring himself to continue, seemingly having lost interest in practicing Alchemy.
Suddenly, a fragrant scent brushed past the tip of the nose. Yang Kai looked up and saw Han Fei standing there silently with her usual cold expression.
“Do you have some worries you’d like to talk to me about?” Han Fei asked softly.
“Worries?” Yang Kai was stunned, soon smiling lightly, “What worries could I have?”
“Then why are you feeling restless?”
“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, apparently unwilling to discuss the matter.
“You don’t want to talk about it?” Han Fei stared at him fixedly.
Yang Kai put on a curious expression as he asked, “What is this? Is Great Commander Han Fei now also responsible for enlightening me? I’m afraid you can’t handle such matters, if someone really wants to provide spiritual guidance, I’d say Li Rong is more appropriate.”
“Am I really no good?” Han Fei immediately became a bit disgruntled.
“You prefer to keep to yourself, how are you supposed to get others to open up to you?” Yang Kai argued back.
Han Fei suddenly grinned, “This and that are different issues. It’s normal for young people to have troubles and regardless of anything else, I have at least lived many more years than you so my life experience is far more abundant. As long as you’re willing to discuss it with me, there’s nothing I can’t guide you about.”
“In that case, do you understand the relationships between men and women?” Yang Kai asked jokingly.
Han Fei was suddenly stunned and unable to speak, her tender body trembling lightly. She had never had feelings for any man throughout her life so naturally she had no idea about love. If that was really what Yang Kai was troubled about she really couldn’t help him.
“You just want to leave this Mysterious Small World don’t you?” Han Fei suddenly asked coldly.
“When did I say that?” Yang Kai felt inexplicable.
“What else could it be? The reason you feel restless is entirely because you feel like this world is imprisoning you!”
“Somewhat,” Yang Kai admitted calmly, “I really do feel a bit restrained here.”
“Even though we treat you so sincerely?”
“It has nothing to do with you, it’s just that I have things I need to do, people I need to find,” Yang Kai shook his head as he replied, unable to understand why Han Fei was suddenly so upset.
“I understand,” Han Fei took a deep breath, her rich chest rising and falling dramatically, exhibiting an amazing ripple of elasticity, “But you don’t have to worry, you won’t have to stay here much longer. In a little while you’ll be able to leave.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai suddenly looked happy.
Han Fei stared back at him coldly, “Coffin Slave Senior sent you here because you have a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, which is necessary for you to refine the Saint Grade pill we require, but the rate at which your skill in Alchemy has improved is too fast, leading to a shortage of herbs in this Mysterious Small World. It won’t be long until our supply is completely exhausted. Without herbs, you can’t continue improving your Alchemy skill so the only solution is for you to leave this place and seek out resources yourself.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s eyes gradually brightened and the shackles that had been binding him suddenly felt like they had shattered, giving him a renewed sense of freedom.
“Happy?” Han Fei glared at him scornfully, “Whether it is Li Rong, Hua Mo, or I, none of us ever planned on limit your freedom, if you wanted to leave, we would have arranged for it immediately. The only reason you’re still here is because you’re still suspicious of us and didn’t dare to make such a request.”
Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t help feeling awkward.
He indeed did have such concerns. The Ancient Demon Clan had placed all their hopes on him, so he didn’t dare to ask them if he could leave. Even if they respected him and had sworn to follow him, Yang Kai didn’t know if they would suddenly go back on their word if he were to make such a request.
But now Han Fei had bluntly exposed his thoughts and suspicions.
“I just wanted to tell you, no matter what you think or do, since you are the inheritor of Sir Great Demon God, my Ancient Demon Clan will follow the teachings of our ancestors and faithfully serve you and obey your orders for the rest of our lives. If you can’t realize at least that much, then I’m afraid my clan’s only fate will be to be buried in your hands!” Han Fei spat out these words angrily before turning around and leaving.
Yang Kai scratched his head for a while, feeling quite uncomfortable.
Recalling everything that had happened since Chu Jian’s death, especially Li Rong and the other Great Commander’s attitudes towards him, Yang Kai suddenly felt somewhat ashamed.
They had truly been treating him with complete sincerity, but in return he had always kept his distance from them.
After some time, the air in front of Yang Kai distorted and the three Great Commanders appeared together. Yang Kai looked up and noticed that the three of them all wore serious expression on their faces, seemingly having made some kind of important decision.
Li Rong first hurriedly apologized to Yang Kai, “What Han Fei just said to you is was a bit harsh, but she only said them because she was thinking about our clansmen, I hope you can understand.”
Han Fei also stepped forward, a somewhat awkward look upon her face as she stammered, “Sorry.”
“The one who should apologize is me,” Yang Kai shook his head, “I’m the one who was over-thinking things and disappointed your sincerity.”
“We also prioritized the future of our clansmen, so it is not just your fault,” Li Rong smiled bitterly, “But from now on, we will do our best to consider things from your perspective. Good, do you really want to leave here?”
As soon as she asked this question, all three Great Commanders couldn’t help staring at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai nodded.
Han Fei couldn’t help feeling somewhat lost while Hua Mo’s expression did not hide his disappointment.
Li Rong’s expression remained unchanged though as she smiled lightly, “You wanting to leave is also reasonable. Good, then we’ll send you out as soon as possible. You’re not one of our clansmen so you won’t be subject to this Mysterious Small World’s restrictions, so you are free to come and go as you please.”
“I didn’t say I would leave right away,” Yang Kai shook his head.
The faces of the three couldn’t help brightening upon hearing this, doing their best to calmly wait for him to continue.
“Han Fei mentioned earlier that your supply of herbs is nearly exhausted, correct?”
“En,” Li Rong nodded, “Demon God Citadel’s supply was actually consumed some time ago but after collecting the herbs Chu Jian had privately stored away, we managed to stretch things until now. But at the speed you perform Alchemy, I’m afraid that within a month even that will be used up.”
“Then I’ll use all the remaining herbs to refine pills that will be useful to you and once supplies run out I’ll leave.”
“Fair enough,” Li Rong smiled faintly, “We’ve been fortunate to receive your contributions this past year and a half, my clan now has many good pills to use so our overall strength has improved significantly. On behalf of them, I sincerely thank you.”
“You say that as if I’m an outsider.”
“You think of yourself as an outsider anyways so what does it matter?” Han Fei said bitterly. Although she had apologized just now, that didn’t mean she wasn’t still angry about Yang Kai being so determined to leave.
“Since all of your herbs are gone, it’s pointless for me to stay here, you can’t possibly want me to wait here for dozens of years until your supplies are replenished in order to continue studying Alchemy, right?” Yang Kai smiled lightly towards her, “That would be a big waste of time. When I leave here, I can seek out my own herbs to continue improving my skill in Alchemy so I can become a Saint Grade Alchemist sooner.”
His expression suddenly becoming dignified, Yang Kai solemnly declared, “I promise you that when my Alchemy level meets your requirements, I will definitely return here and bring all of you out!”
The three Great Commanders couldn’t help trembling as the turned joyful and excited looks towards Yang Kai.
“Can we take your statement seriously?” Li Rong asked urgently.
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded firmly, “I have never sworn an oath to anyone about anything before, this is the first and I do not intend on breaking it!”
Li Rong looked at him seriously and realized that he was being sincere, her pair of beautiful eyes suddenly becoming slightly wet as she whispered, “Thank you.”
Han Fei and Hua Mo also quickly thanked him, feeling a deep sense of gratitude in their hearts.
“You can rest assured that my clan also takes places the highest of importance on our commitments and ancestral teachings. Even after we gain our freedom, we will still faithfully follow you!” Li Rong quickly added, her expression incomparably firm.
“That’s a discussion we can have later,” Yang Kai smiled, “For now, give me the rest of your herbs.”
“I’ve already brought them,” Li Rong said, reaching out and swiping her Void Ring, dumping a heap of herbs in front of Yang Kai’s eyes.
“These are all the herbs we have left.”
“I’ll finish using these up as soon as possible,” Yang Kai gently nodded, his mind and body feeling much more relaxed.
Amidst towering snow-capped mountains, under layers of ice that were several hundred meters thick and thousands of years old, a great blizzard that seemed as if it would never end raged, making it impossible for one to see more than a hundred meters in front of their face.
The temperature here was extremely low. Even powerful cultivators, without special reason, would not be willing to step into this place. If one stood high up in the sky and scanned their surroundings, the only thing they would be able to see all around them was an endless world of snow and ice
Half-way up one of these snowy mountainsides was a hidden cave that led deep into the mountain’s belly, the interior of which was covered in pure, translucent ice that exuded a profound chill.
The power of the void suddenly filled the air, and immediately after, a red light burst forth, illuminating the entire cave, making everything inside seem extremely gloomy.
A figure emerged from the void, and as if unable to control his strength, crashed face first into the ice.
After picking himself up and established his foothold, Yang Kai immediately sent out his powerful Divine Sense to check his surroundings, a moment later his expression relaxing as he took back his Divine Sense.
“Sure enough, I’m really in the snowy mountains,” Yang Kai had used his Divine Sense to examine the terrain around here and couldn’t help muttering to himself.
Before exiting the Mysterious Small World, Li Rong told him that Coffin Slave Senior was most likely hiding in an extremely cold and desolate environment.
It seemed that her speculation was correct.
Coffin Slave Senior had been dead for innumerable years now, but even so, before his death, he was a powerful Saint Realm master and a member of the Ancient Demon Clan, so his body possessed incredible physical strength. Nevertheless, over the centuries, rot and decay would still occur and the only viable way to preserve his body would be to spend most of his time in a frozen, isolated area.
A cave deep inside a snowy mountain in the middle of a glacial dessert was undoubtedly the ideal location.
Li Rong had said that Coffin Slave Senior would go out once every ten years to search for cultivators that possessed Conflagrated Knowledge Seas, continuing until he either found one or could no longer maintain his strength before return to his resting place to restore himself.
Then, a decade later, he would set out again.
Li Rong didn’t know how many times Coffin Slave Senior had repeated this cycle, but he had sent in more than a dozen cultivators with Conflagrated Knowledge Seas over the years she knew about.
Turning his head to the side, Yang Kai immediately saw Coffin Slave Senior sitting cross-legged, his body exuding an unbearable rancid smell that made his stomach turn, his skin filled with old wounds, sores, scabs, and pus.
It wasn’t clear how much longer his body would be able to last.
Seeing him like this, Yang Kai instinctually understood that although he didn’t know what kind of obsession Coffin Slave Senior had that compelled him to loyally carry out this mission millennia after his death, such a person was worthy of respect!
Behind Coffin Slave Senior was the blood red coffin.
The world didn’t know what was hidden inside this coffin or what mysteries it concealed, but Yang Kai knew that in fact what was inside was the Mysterious Small World he had been a guest in for the past year and a half.
After reaching an understanding with Li Rong and the other Great Commanders, it took Yang Kai only half a month to refine all the remaining herbs into pills and after taking a day to recover, and the three leaders worked together to break the void of the Mysterious Small World and send Yang Kai out.
[I wonder if they found the gift I left them yet?] Yang Kai thought to himself, a smiling appearing on his face as he slowly stepped forward, keeping a watchful eye on Coffin Slave Senior.
He definitely didn’t want to wake up this living corpse Saint Realm master from his meditation.
Although he could use his Demon God Transformation to suppress Coffin Slave Senior, if there were any powerful masters nearby that detected his aura it would expose this hiding place.
Fortunately, Coffin Slave Senior seemed to be in a deep sleep and showed no signs of waking up.
After a long climb, Yang Kai finally exited the cave.
The bone-chilling wind blew past Yang Kai’s skin, alerting him to just how cold and unforgiving the surrounding environment was. Shivering from the cold, Yang Kai couldn’t help circulating his True Yang Secret Art to dispel the chill around him.
Seeing the blowing snowstorm all around him, Yang Kai gave up the idea of trying to find his bearings.
Although he had been in Tong Xuan Realm for more than a year and a half now, he had spent most of that time in the Mysterious Small World, so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say he was completely unfamiliar with this world. Even if he could figure out his bearings, he still wouldn’t know where to go next.
With no better option available, Yang Kai simply decided to set out, shooting off into the snowstorm like a lighting bolt, quickly disappearing.
…………
Above Demon God Citadel, the three Great Commanders stared up at a slowly closing crack in the sky.
“He’s gone,” Han Fei muttered.
“En,” Li Rong nodded, “But he’ll be back.”
Hua Mo hesitated but was unable to stop himself eventually, “It’s not that I wish to play the gentlemen while thinking like a villain but, Senior Li, why are you certain he will honour his oath?”
“Instinct!” Li Rong smiled faintly, “That day, when he swore to us, the look in his eyes was very sincere, so I chose to believe in him. Just wait, he will definitely come back and lead us out of this world as he promised.”
Hua Mo’s brow furrowed but he no longer said anything.
Although he also wanted to believe Yang Kai’s promise, the idea that humans were cruel, cunning, and untrustworthy was deeply ingrained in his mentality, so who knew if Yang Kai had just said such words in order to deceive them.
“Mistress, Mistress!” At that moment, Guan’er suddenly ran over in a fluster.
“What’s happened?” Li Rong turned her head and gently brushed her hair back behind her ear.
“Look at this,” Guan’er said, reaching out and holding up something in her hands to the three Great Commanders.
“A Crystal Stone?” Li Rong was surprised, “Where did you get it?”
Although Han Fei had brought back a lot of Crystal Stones last time, compared to the demand of their entire clan it still wasn’t enough, so these Crystal Stones were currently being strictly managed by the three Great Commanders and were only given out at certain times to those who could truly make the best use of them.
Guan’er had also received a few pieces during the last distribution but she had quickly used them up and shouldn’t have any extra on her hands now.
“I found it in the stone room Yang Kai was using to study Alchemy! You should come and take a look, there’s still a lot of them there!” Guan’er’s face was filled with excitement as she quickly urged them.
Li Rong and Han Fei exchanged a dumbfound look before hurriedly flying off.
Soon, the three Great Commanders came to Yang Kai’s stone room, and after seeing the situation inside, they couldn’t help feeling stunned.
In the corner of the stone room, there was a mountain of Crystal Stones, the number too great to estimate!
“These…” Li Rong could hardly speak, her tender body shivering as she stared excitedly.
“These should be the ones he collected beneath the volcano last time,” Han Fei explained.
“This many?” Hua Mo almost bit his tongue as his face twitched awkwardly.
When they came back from the volcano last time, Han Fei had told them about the experience she and Yang Kai had under the volcano and also that Yang Kai had acquired a huge amount of Crystal Stones, but none of them had ever mentioned the issue again, much less asked him for them.
But apparently, before he left, he had decided to leave behind such a massive fortune to them.
The amount of Crystal Stones here was at least four times as many as the amount Han Fei had brought back.
“After giving us so many, he probably doesn’t have much left for himself,” Han Fei muttered, her pretty face showing a grateful look, her eyes suddenly fixing on a couple dozen crystal blocks that were placed in a more conspicuous position and gave off a much stronger aura, “He even left behind these Saint Crystals, he…”
When she recalled the little Crystal Stone mining episode she shared with Yang Kai under volcano, and how she had even conned him into giving her his shirt so she could carry more, Han Fei suddenly felt her cheeks become slightly hot.
“Senior Li…” Hua Mo took a deep breath, calming his excitement, and quickly said, “This old man also believes that he will definitely come back now.”
“En, definitely,” Li Rong smiled happily, tears of joy welling up at the corners of her eyes as she spoke her heartfelt thoughts.
If Yang Kai didn’t plan on returning, he would never have left them such a tremendous gift.
The reason he had left them such wealth was obviously because he hoped these Crystal Stones would be able to help the Ancient Demon Clan improve their strength, so when they finally left here, they would be better able to protect themselves.
[We can’t let down his expectations!] Li Rong secretly thought. Now, if anyone in Demon God Citadel wanted pills, they could have pills, if they wanted Crystal Stones, they could have Crystal Stones. Within a few years, these would lead to a comprehensive improvement in their Ancient Demon Clan’s strength.
When Yang Kai returns next time, the Ancient Demon Clan would also give him a big gift! Li Rong took a deep breath and reaffirmed her commitment.
…..
Above the snowy mountains, Yang Kai continued his lonely journey. This glacial field was simply too big and the bone-chilling wind was relentless, he could only fly for so long before becoming physically and spiritually exhausted.
Yang Kai landed and started walking to conserve his strength, yet no matter how far he went he didn’t see another living soul, no humans, demons, or even Monster Beasts.
It was as if he was the only person in this endless white world.
The density of World Energy in this place was quite extraordinary, but the environment was completely desolate. Even cultivators skilled in Ice Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills would find it extremely difficult to endure such harsh conditions.
Yang Kai showed neither joy nor sadness, simply trudging along indifferently across the snow-capped mountains and fields of ice. The only time his expression changed was when he occasionally felt an unbearable burst of pain from his shoulder blades, the result of the Wind and Thunder Wings rampaging inside his body.
It had been some time now since he first absorbed the Wind and Thunder Wings and his progress in refining them was still progressing, but Yang Kai instinctually felt that refining the Wind and Thunder Wings was not as simple as nourishing them with his True Qi and that he needed some special method to truly complete the process.
After a few days in the snow-capped mountains, the wind and snow gradually began to weaken.
Atop a particularly high mountain, Yang Kai stood motionless, basking in the warm sunlight he had not seen or felt in many, many days, feeling particularly refreshed.
“Hm?”
All of a sudden, he noticed several auras a few dozen kilometers away.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but smile happily. Currently, he had no idea where he was, so naturally, he wanted to seek out someone to ask for directions. After walking for several days though, he had yet to come across a single person, but now he had finally found someone.
Inferring from the strength of these people’s auras, they should not be Transcendent Realm masters, allowing Yang Kai to relax somewhat.
Smiling lightly, Yang Kai didn’t act hastily, leaving his perch atop the snowy mountain and slowly flying towards this group.
Several dozen kilometers away, atop the snow, a group of three people, one man and two women, all of whom were Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh or Eighth Stage, were slowly walking along. The male was handsome while the females were beautiful, all three of them wearing matching golden robes which appeared particularly eye-catching above the pure white snow. Obviously, they were from the same Sect or family.
At the moment, the two women were walking in front with linked arms. Even in such a cold environment, one of the women’s clothes was still very thin, showcasing her slender figure and well-developed curves, drawing the heated eyes of the young man following behind her as her graceful waist and round hips swayed back and forth attractively.
The other woman was a little shorter and her pretty face contained a trace of curiosity and wonderment, once in a while pointing in various directions and giggling happily, seemingly innocent and cute.
As the three marched forward, they constantly released their Divine Senses into the surrounding snow and after a while, the face of the woman wearing thin clothes lit up as she pointed in a certain direction, “There should be spirit medicines over there!”
Saying so, she hurriedly led the other two over.
After crossing several hundred meters, the three worked together to clear a couple meters of snow, slowly revealing a plant which resembled fine ice crystals, it’s stem and leaves all glittered in the afternoon sun, giving it a beautiful and dazzling appearance.
Atop the plant were a few thumbnail-sized snow-white fruits which gave off a light appealing fragrance.
“Senior Sister Ji is amazing, you even managed to find White Jade Fruit buried so deep under the snow!” The younger woman happily applauded.
Ji Meng smiled as she glanced over at Zhu Ying Yue and warmly said, “You should pay closer attention to your surroundings and I’m sure you’ll also be able to find some.”
Zhu Ying Yue pursed her lips and pouted, “I’ve tried my best but every time Elder Sister Ji finds them first, even Senior Brother Qi isn’t your match.”
Qi Chao Wen felt a little disgruntled hearing these words and shot back, “Are you implying that I’m weak?”
Zhu Ying Yue just snorted, “You’re at least worse than Senior Sister Ji.”
Ji Meng tapped the young girl’s head gently, “When we go back you’ll have a share too, so don’t be discouraged.”
The latter innocently nodded her head.
Qi Chao stepped forward at that time and said, “Let’s pick these first. Make sure not to hurt the roots or stem. After a few years, it will bear more White Jade Fruit.”
Ji Meng nodded and stretched out her jade hand, carefully picking the small fruits and storing them into her Universe Bag.
For these kinds of spirits medicines that could continuously bear fruit, cultivators would generally not collect the whole plant as this was akin to killing an egg-laying chicken, reducing the overall amount of spirit grasses and spirit medicines in the world.
Obtaining this harvest, the three people looked very happy but suddenly, Qi Chao and Ji Meng frowned, both of them turning to stare at a spot in the distance, a look of vigilance appearing on their faces.
The two of them had just noticed that someone was quickly approaching them.
A vague figure appeared on the horizon and after a short moment, a young man appeared in front of them, stopping a couple dozen meters away from them.
Yang Kai saw the wariness in these three’s eyes but didn’t pay it any mind. In this wilderness, anyone who suddenly met a stranger would become somewhat vigilant.
It was the same for him, before he had approached them, he had determined their strength wasn’t enough to threaten him so he had decided to appear in an upfront manner.
If the other party had a Second Order Transcendent member among their ranks, Yang Kai would naturally have avoided them.
These three weren’t too old, at least not much older than he was, so communicating with them should be relatively easy.
Yang Kai nodded slightly, revealing a friendly smile.
“Who are you?” Qi Chao stepped forward, putting himself between Yang Kai and Ji Meng and Zhu Ying Yue, asking coldly, “Why are you here in the Snow Mountain Range Range?”
“I’m just a traveller who was passing through this place and accidentally lost my way,” Yang Kai replied honestly.
“A passing traveller?” Qi Chao frowned and swept his eyes over Yang Kai, his face expression with suspicion “You don’t look like a simple passerby. What purpose do you have for entering the Snow Mountain Range?”
This young man’s attitude wasn’t just vigilant but was bordering on outright hostile, which made Yang Kai feel somewhat puzzled, wondering what he had done to offend him. Not losing his temper, he quickly tried to explain, “I really was just passing through when I lost my way. When I noticed your auras I decided to come and speak with you hoping you could tell me how to leave this place, I’ve been stuck in this Snow Mountain Range for many days now after all.”
As he was explaining, Yang Kai noticed the small White Jade Fruit tree behind the trio, its beautiful appearance bringing a look of appreciation to his face.
Qi Chao carefully stared at Yang Kai, observing all of his movements and changes in demeanour; meanwhile, Yang Kai remained perfectly calm, not showing the slightest signs of anxiousness.
He wasn’t lying. Now that he had now left the Mysterious Small World, his current goal was really just to find his bearings and leave this seemingly infinite Snow Mountain Range.
After a short period of silence, Qi Chao slowly retrained his hostility and slowly nodded, “I’ll believe you for the time being, but this Snow Mountain Range is not something that outsiders can intrude upon. If you want to leave, just walk that way.”
Saying so, he pointed in a certain direction.
Yang Kai glanced in that direction before cupping his fists, “Thank you, perhaps one day I can return this favour.”
Having offered his thanks, he quickly used his movement skill and left.
“Wait!” Qi Chao suddenly shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai paused, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Have you collected any spirit herbs or spirit medicines in these snowy mountains? If so, please hand them over. This is my Spirit Religion’s territory, everything here belongs to my Spirit Religion, outsiders aren’t permitted to take even one blade of grass from here!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help wearing a disdainful frown, feeling slightly impatient in his heart. Don’t say that he didn’t collect anything, even if he really had, with this man trying to order him about like this, he definitely wouldn’t hand anything over. This Snow Mountain Range was incredibly vast, it was impossible that it was the private property of a single force.
Glancing over at the two women behind this young man, Yang Kai was too lazy to stir up trouble and just bluntly replied, “No.”
The next moment, Yang Kai felt a Divine Sense unscrupulously searching for him.
Was this youth really so bold? Yang Kai was dumbfounded, wasn’t this guy worried about suddenly being retaliated against and being heavily injured?
But after thinking about it briefly, Yang Kai still decided not to bother with him and simply let him investigate.
After a moment, Qi Chao nodded with satisfaction, “You can go.”
Yang Kai said nothing, turned around, and walked away.
After he left, Zhu Ying Yue asked softly, “Senior Brother Qi, over there…”
“Shh!” Qi Chao raised a finger to his lips and slowly shook his head, glancing around before leading the two young women in a different direction.
Zhu Ying Yue stared at him doubtfully but still obediently followed, occasionally glancing back in the direction Yang Kai had walked, a trace of worry and regret flashing across her eyes.
After walking for an hour or so, Zhu Ying Yue finally couldn’t help asking again, “Senior Brother Qi, why did you point him in the wrong direction?”
Ji Meng also chimed in, “I’d also like to know what you’re thinking, Qi Chao,”
“That man is very suspicious don’t you think?” Qi Chao glanced at them and declared, “The words he spoke are clearly not credible.”
Ji Meng was struck speechless and slowly shook her head, “Even if he is suspicious, there was no reason to intentionally harm him, what you did just now is no different than sending him to his death! The direction you pointed him in is a region where Monster Beasts are active! If he encounters a powerful one how is he supposed to survive?”
“His life or death is none of our business,” Qi Chao coldly snorted, “Whenever you’re out in the field, you must always be on alert. His strength seems to be higher than ours, I only acted to ensure our safety.”
“How do you know that? I couldn’t tell at all,” Zhu Ying Yue asked curiously.
“Because he discovered us first,” Qi Chao explained briefly, “He is not one of our Spirit Religion’s disciples, so he either came to this Snow Mountain Range to collect spirit medicines or because he has some other hidden agenda. Didn’t you notice that when he saw the White Jade Fruit Tree he showed a greedy look? If I didn’t quickly send him away, maybe he would have killed us in order to seize our treasures. I’d be fine, death would be the end of it, but if you two fell into such a person’s hands, hah…”
Zhu Ying Yue’s pretty face went white, her tender body trembling somewhat, faintly recalling Yang Kai’s appearance and thinking his face did indeed look somewhat like a rogue.
Ji Meng’s face, on the other hand, became somewhat disgruntled as she argued back, “Why did you automatically assume he was someone nefarious? What if he really was just a traveller who lost his way? Getting lost in this Snow Mountain Range isn’t abnormal.”
“Then you can go back and tell him that the way we pointed to him is a dead end,” Qi Chao snorted.
Ji Meng became somewhat annoyed, “How am I supposed to find him?”
“When I lied to him, did you say anything? Why are you pestering me about it now, standing up for a mere outsider?” Qi Chao also became irritated.
“We’re all disciples from the same Sect, I didn’t want to say anything that would cause you to lose face in front of an outsider!”
“Stop arguing,” Seeing how these two were becoming more and more heated, Zhu Ying Yue quickly interceded.
“Let’s go, whatever happens, isn’t our concern. If he’s a good person he won’t die,” Qi Chao said indifferently while striding forward.
Ji Meng sighed helplessly, turning to look back somewhat reluctantly but after a while just shaking her head and following behind Qi Chao.
“Senior Sister Ji, will he die?” Zhu Ying Yue asked softly.
“Probably.”
“Did Senior Brother Qi do the wrong thing?”
“No, he also has his own reasons,” Ji Meng smiled slightly. However, when they had met, that young man had intentionally released his Divine Sense before making an appearance to alert them to his presence, so he shouldn’t have had any malicious intent.
If he really nefarious intentions, he could have just concealed himself and launched a sneak attack.
Ji Meng really couldn’t understand why Qi Chao had pointed him in the wrong direction so she felt a bit guilty towards this stranger.
…..
Yang Kai panted heavily, his expression quite gloomy as he stared down at the fresh corpse of a Seventh-Order Monster Beast beneath his feet.
Fresh blood still dripping from his wounds, the battle just now had not been an easy one.
A Seventh-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to Human Race’s Transcendent. Fortunately, this Seventh-Order Monster Beast wasn’t too strong and thus he could still somehow deal with it.
Following the directions given to him by the man in yellow robes, Yang Kai walked for three days but actually suffered seven or eight Monster Beast attacks.
These Monster Beasts, without exception, were all quite strong and posed grave threats to him. If it were any other Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator, facing such powerful Monster Beasts in their home territory in such a harsh environment, who knows how many times they would have died?
And as time passed, Yang Kai found that the snowstorms were becoming stronger and stronger, as if he had gone back to where he had first emerged from the Mysterious Small World.
This discovery made his expression quite ugly.
By now, he also realized that he had been cheated by that man.
They had met by chance and he had only asked them for direction, never once revealing any malicious intent, so after receiving an answer Yang Kai naturally didn’t have any reason to suspect him, how could he have known that he would be so sinister?
Taking out the Monster Beast’s core and breaking off its two horns, Yang Kai turned around and with a cold look in his eyes began retracing his steps.
As he trekked along the towering Snow Mountain Range, a world of pure white surrounding him, Yang Kai’s mood was obviously not very good.
Three days later, Yang Kai suddenly stopped.
Hearing a commotion up ahead, he released his Divine Sense to investigate and his expression suddenly became strange.
A dozen kilometers or so in front of him were two familiar auras, they belonged to the group of three who he had bumped into earlier. However, these two auras were somewhat unstable at the moment and were seemingly being chased by something. Right now, they were actually fleeing in his direction.
Soon, Yang Kai noticed a powerful aura chasing behind the two which obviously belonged to a Seventh-Order Monster Beast.
[The world is really small!]
Yang Kai revealed a weird smile and stopped in place, quietly waiting.
A great howl rang out and shook the earth, sending snow flying behind them as Ji Meng and Zhu Ying Yue fled for their lives. They no longer had the calm, carefree look they had when they first met Yang Kai, their clothes ripped in multiple places and blood leaking from numerous wounds, their exposed white skin now stained red.
Feeling the cold wind on her face, Zhu Ying Yue couldn’t help trembling.
“Hurry!” Ji Meng shouted as she ran.
“Senior Brother Qi, he…” Zhu Ying Yue cried out while glancing back, but seeing the ferocious Monster Beast chasing them, her beautiful face drained of all colour and fear flashed across her eyes.
“He’s dead, don’t look back.” Ji Meng did her best to sound calm, but her heart was already a mess. She had never thought they would suddenly encounter an Ice Crystal Wolf here.
Ice Crystal Wolves were authentic Seventh-Order Monster Beasts, their whole body covered in thick fur that was as strong as steel. Ordinary artifacts and Martial Skill could only leave shallow traces on it.
On top of that, it was extremely fast and its four claws and fangs were incredibly sharp.
The three of them had only confronted this Ice Crystal Wolf for a few breaths before Qi Chao was shredded to pieces before their eyes.
They had explored this region of the Snow Mountain Range numerous times and had never had any problems, but this time they had encountered such a terrible accident.
Compared with Ji Meng’s apparent calm, Zhu Ying Yue was completely flustered. Under the threat of death, she couldn’t even exert half of her Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage strength, only able to flee with all her might. If it weren’t for Ji Meng using her artifact from time to time to impede the Ice Crystal Wolf, Zhu Ying Yue would have been caught by it long ago.
“Senior Sister Ji!” Zhu Ying Yue wept as she shouted.
“If you don’t want to die, don’t cry!” Ji Meng shouted to her in a solemn tone.
Having been scolded, Zhu Ying Yue nodded hastily.
Through the wind and snow up ahead, Ji Meng suddenly saw a stationary figure, her beautiful eyes lighting up as she quickly called out, “Friend up ahead, can you help us?”
At this moment, it was like she had suddenly caught a glimpse of hope.
The other party was clearly waiting here so they obviously weren’t afraid of the Ice Crystal Wolf, perhaps it was a Senior from their Spirit Religion, if that was the case, Zhu Ying Yue and her might really be saved.
Just as she spoke though, a burst of True Qi shot towards her.
Accurately striking right in front of her, Ji Meng noticed a hostile aura from this person and quickly pulled Zhu Ying Yue closer to her, stopping in place.
“What a coincidence!” A sarcastic voice called out to them as the man slowly approached.
Ji Meng immediately became vigilant, her brow furrowing deeply as she gazed forward.
A moment later, Ji Meng’s expression froze up as she stared dumbfounded at Yang Kai. Zhu Ying Yue also couldn’t help covering her small mouth and exclaiming in shock, “You’re alright?”
“Were you hoping I wouldn’t be?” Yang Kai sneered lightly.
“No, we didn’t mean…” Zhu Ying Yue quickly waved her hands, her face filled with anxiety.
“What about that guy?” Yang Kai glanced around but didn’t see any signs of Qi Chao.
“He died!” Ji Meng protected Zhu Ying Yue behind her, replying icily, “He was killed by the Ice Crystal Wolf chasing us.”
“He’s dead?” Yang Kai was a bit surprised.
“I admit that we didn’t act appropriately last time. Qi Chao should not have pointed you in the wrong direction and I should not have stood idly by and allowed him to, but can we discuss that later?” Ji Meng hurriedly said, “If we don’t leave now, it will be too late. The Ice Crystal Wolf that is chasing us is a Seventh-Order Monster Beast, none of us can resist it!”
Yang Kai frowned and shook his head, “It’s already too late!”
Just as he said so, a whooshing sound burst from behind the two young women.
Feeling a cold murderous intent lock onto her, Ji Meng’s expression changed greatly as she quickly turned around, her hands waving as they sent threads of silk, blocking a number of ice blades that were approaching her
*Hong Hong Hong…*
Countless ice blades were smashed, creating a fog of white powder. Ji Meng grunted as her delicate shoulder was sliced through by one of the blades, immediately sending out a stream of fresh blood.
A huge figure suddenly landed in front of the trio, and the Ice Crystal Wolf bared its fangs, spewing a foul stench from its mouth, its two giant eyes staring towards Ji Meng and Zhu Ying Yue, drops of saliva leaking from its jaw, giving it a particularly fierce appearance.
The moment the Ice Crystal Wolf appeared, Yang Kai leapt up into the sky and stared down. He quickly noticed that this Monster Beast was actually crystal clear, like a jade carving, its smooth fur coat giving off a soft radiance. If it weren’t for the cruel murderous aura it gave off, it would look actually be quite beautiful.
Ji Meng and Zhu Ying Yue both went pale, knowing that the brief delay they had suffered dealing with Yang Kai meant they could no longer escape the scope of the Ice Crystal Wolf’s attack. Unwilling to simply lie down and die, Ji Meng summoned a Lightning Attribute artifact in the shape of a whip, poured her True Qi into it, and attacked the Ice Crystal Wolf.
At the same time, although she was still shuddering, Zhu Ying Yue summoned her own artifact, a small fan, and waved it frantically, sending out a stream of visible wind blades towards the Monster Beast.
When the two joined forces, the strength of the combined attacks was actually quite good.
But against the Ice Crystal Wolf’s thick fur, these attacks were nothing more than an irritant.
After a series of sparks bounced off its fur, the Ice Crystal Wolf stood in place, completely unscathed. Opening its mouth, the beast let out a loud roar and a giant ice spear quickly formed, shooting towards Ji Meng and Zhu Ying Yue in the next instant.
The two women were sent tumbling and were inevitably injured. The smell of fresh blood further stimulated Ice Crystal Wolf’s brutality and it became more and more aggressive.
Before the pair could steady themselves, another wave of ice blades condensed around the Ice Crystal Wolf and was sent towards them, forming an inescapable net. Facing this crisis, the two women could only focus all their efforts on dodging and defending themselves
Snow flew up and the entire scene became chaotic.
Ji Meng suddenly looked up, anxiety plastered all over her face as she shouted to Yang Kai who was still standing high up in the sky, “Please help us!”
Yang Kai however just stared back at her coldly and slowly shook his head.
Although Qi Chao, the one who had actually maliciously tricked him before, had already died under Ice Crystal Wolf’s claws, these two women not speaking up at the time had made Yang Kai quite disgruntled.
Their little deception had delayed him six or seven days and caused him to fall into danger numerous times.
Seeing Yang Kai’s decisive rejection, Ji Meng suddenly knew that he was still holding a grudge against them for their previous actions and quickly shouted, “We were certainly wrong to deceive you. Even though Qi Chao was the one who lies, we also share some responsibility, but are you really just going to stand there and watch us die?”
“Why should I save you? I also almost died because of you,” Yang Kai said indifferently.
The Ice Crystal Wolf charged at that moment, forcing Ji Meng to quickly retreat, but she was still scratched by one of its claws, tearing open her clothes and revealing her flat belly and delicate navel.
More fresh blood flowed out from this new wound but all Ji Meng could do was clench her teeth and endured the pain while trying to open some distance between her and the Ice Crystal Wolf.
Seeing this, Zhu Ying Yue quickly used her fan artifact to try to help.
The two women worked together to resist the Ice Crystal Wolf’s attacks but quickly noticed that this Seventh-Order Monster Beast wasn’t treating them seriously at all. Apparently, it had no intention to take their lives immediately and was instead treating them as toys, tormenting them like a cat playing with a mouse, its eyes flashing a hint of disdain.
Seventh-Order Monster Beasts already had a high degree of sentience and if they could obtain enough resources and meet certain conditions, they were even qualified to take on human form and join the Monster Race.
Realizing this truth, Ji Meng once again called out to Yang Kai, “We are disciples of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. If you can save us, we will certainly compensate you for your losses after we return. Qi Chao is already dead, can you really not put down your grudge and help us?”
“Bright Thunder Spirit Religion?” Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly, feeling like he had heard of this Sect somewhere before but even after thinking about it for a while he couldn’t remember where.
When Ji Meng saw his thoughtful expression and realized he might have some kind of relationship with their Sect, she suddenly became excited, “Are you acquainted with my Spirit Religion?”
“Nope, I’m not,” Yang Kai shook his head.
“You bastard!” Ji Meng cursed, her heart filled with bitterness as she clenched her teeth in anger, wanting nothing more than to slap this shameless man across his face. She had felt quite guilty about deceiving him before but now seeing his abominable and petty character, she really thought he should have just died in the Snow Mountain Range to spare her some grief.
“Seeing two young women in danger and doing nothing to help, are you really a man!?” Ji Meng shouted.
Yang Kai still stood still, “Saving you isn’t difficult, but I’m still quite upset about our previous encounter, and since I’m upset, I don’t want you to feel happy either. Well, if you somehow manage to survive, I’d be happy to show you if I’m a man or not.”
As Yang Kai spoke, the two women fell into even greater danger, receiving more and more attacks from the Ice Crystal Wolf. Ji Meng clenched her jaw so tightly her teeth nearly shattered yet she didn’t give up trying, “How can we make amends? State your requests, if I can, I will fulfil them!”
“I don’t want anything,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, folding his arms pretentiously and putting on an amused expression, like he was enjoying a good show.
Ji Meng was so angry that she coughed up blood!
Yang Kai’s calm attitude made her realize that he certainly had the strength to deal with the Ice Crystal Wolf. At the very least, he could escape from this Seventh-Order Monster Beast, otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to just stand there and being tormented to death, making Ji Meng feel even more helpless.
“Is it really no good, even if I beg you?” Ji Meng bit her lip so hard it bled, feeling a deep sense of resentment in her heart but still somehow managing to lower her attitude.
“This Senior Brother, I’m also begging you!” Zhu Ying Yue stared up at Yang Kai pitifully, his eyes completely wet, doing her best to hold on despite her obvious fear.
Staring into this pair of beautiful limpid eyes, Yang Kai’s expression couldn’t help softening slightly, the coldness in his eyes gradually converging.
Seeing this young woman’s clear and innocent eyes, without the slightest trace of impurity, he was suddenly reminded of Xia Ning Chang.
Yang Kai suddenly went silent but also didn’t show any intention of helping them, so Ji Meng couldn’t help thinking he was really cold-blooded and was just going to stand by and watch them die.
Feeling a cold chill in her heart, she smiled bitterly and said, “Ying Yue, don’t bother asking him anymore, I’m afraid we’re really going to die here. Before I die, I just want to remember what he looks like, so when I die I can become an evil spirit and haunt him for the rest of his miserable life!”
As she spoke, she turned her head and glared towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai couldn’t help chuckling dumbly, “Woman, you’re really a vicious cunning snake!”
“Takes one to know one!” Ji Meng retorted sarcastically.
Yang Kai expression suddenly became serious as he asked, “With your strength, can’t you just run away?”
It wasn’t the two women differed that much in strength, but that in this dangerous situation Ji Meng was able to remain calm and exert her full strength. Even though the Ice Crystal Wolf was a Seventh-Order Monster Beast, with her Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage cultivation, if he wanted to escape, it should still be possible.
Unfortunately, the other young woman was different, she was really frightened so her attacks had become chaotic and her combat ability had sharply decreased. At first glance, it was obvious she was someone who had lived under others’ protection all the year round. Obviously, her status within her Sect wasn’t low thus she had very little practical experience, much less life or death experience.
“If I were to run, what would happen to Ying Yue? I’m not as despicable as you!” Ji Meng shouted as she clenched her fists.
“Seems you have some righteousness after all!” Yang Kai nodded gently, suddenly grinning, “I’ve changed my mind, I’m willing to save you!”