Inside the dungeon, Ji Meng faintly stared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai laughed back at her, “Since he won’t believe me easily, how does he plan on winning me over? I can promise him anything now, but that won’t stop me from reneging on those promises the moment I leave here.”
“En, so I need to do something to ensure you keep your word,” Ji Meng smiled reluctantly, “I am a disciple of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, the Sect raised me so I must contribute to it, I hope you don’t blame me.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly.
He didn’t have any grounds on which to accuse or blame Ji Meng, but from his perspective, this woman now had to be counted as an enemy.
And regarding his enemies, Yang Kai had never been soft-hearted.
Seeing the coldness in Yang Kai’s eyes, Ji Meng felt bitter in her heart and softly advised, “Why do you insist on doing this? Although I don’t know what Elder Duan wants to obtain from you, as long as you are willing to cooperate, he will certainly not mistreat you, from the fact that he has simply imprisoned but has not tortured or killed you should be enough to prove his sincerity”
“He truly is sincere,” Yang Kai snickered sarcastically.
“Won’t you please compromise? If you compromise, whether it is you, Elder Duan, or me, there will be advantages,” Ji Meng continued her attempts to persuade him.
“Oh, there are advantages for you too?” Yang Kai spoke curiously, “Has Duan Hai promised you some attractive benefits?”
Ji Meng didn’t answer, instead just taking out a green jade bottle from her sleeve and opening it, allowing a faint white mist to escape from it.
Ji Meng waved the jade bottle lightly and the white mist quickly flooded the dungeon cell, enveloping Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stared at her vigilantly and held his breath, but the white mist still passed through his pores and penetrated his body.
Vaguely, Yang Kai felt that something was not right, his blood flow became faster and more turbulent while his heartbeat was stronger than before, there even seemed to be a faint haziness coming over his mind.
Ji Meng blushed and explained, “This is the Seven Emotions Six Pleasures Mist, a potent aphrodisiac.”
“What do you want to do?” Yang Kai laughed, “Are you planning on forcing yourself on me then using that as an excuse to control me?”
A beautiful woman using an aphrodisiac to for a man to sleep with her, it really was a ridiculous story.
“En, Elder Duan said that as long as I can have a child with you, you can leave this place,” Ji Meng replied to Yang Kai faintly.
Yang Kai’s face sank as he instantly understood Duan Hai’s sinister intentions.
He knew he couldn’t control Yang Kai, so he had come up with this trick.
Even a cruel tiger will not abandon its cubs, as long as he held Yang Kai’s child, Duan Hai would need to worry about Yang Kai not obeying him.
Although this kind of investment wouldn’t yield any benefits in the short term, Duan Hai could afford it.
A moment later, the white mist had been completely absorbed into Yang Kai’s body and gradually, his eyes became red and his breathing became heavy as he stared aggressively towards Ji Meng outside the cell.
Being stared at by him like this, Ji Meng couldn’t help blushing shyly, squirming slightly, her whole body feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but she didn’t make any moves yet, still waiting for the drug to take full effect.
“Do you like me? Are you willing to entrust your life to me?” Yang Kai strived to maintain his rational state of mind as he stared towards Ji Meng coldly.
“What I feel for you is far from what you could call love,” Ji Meng slowly shook her head, “We are nowhere near that close, but it shouldn’t be a bad choice to entrust myself to you. You’re an Alchemist with a bright future while I am just a Common Disciple of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, if I want to rise above my current situation, I can only choose to rely on someone powerful like you.”
“You think too highly of me,” Yang Kai grinned fiendishly, “Even if I want you now, perhaps I won’t be good to you later. Maybe I’ll just hit and curse you whenever I see you!”
Ji Meng’s tender body trembled, a forlorn look flashing across her face, “I can also accept that.”
“How disappointing,” Yang Kai shook her head and muttered under his breath, the last trace of respect he had for her shattering in that instant.
“You shouldn’t be able to resist anymore, right?” Ji Meng bit her lower lip and called out gently, “Elder Duan, open the door.”
Suddenly, there were a few faint flashes of light on the cell door and a whole in the barrier keeping Yang Kai in opened. Ji Meng walked inside slowly and then leaned down on top of him.
With an intoxicating fragrance filling the air and with a beautiful woman offering herself up to him, Yang Kai’s face seemed to show signs of madness as the light in his eyes flickered like that of a wild, starved beast.
Seeing this, Ji Meng was a little scared, but she firmly resisted the discomfort in her heart, closed her eyes, and pressed her red lips towards Yang Kai’s.
Her mood in chaos, Ji Meng slowly closed her eyes as her face blushed bright red.
Just before their lips met though, Ji Meng suddenly let out a muffled yelp and her eyes shot open.
Before she knew what was happening, Yang Kai’s hand had grabbed her neck, his eyes were calm and his breathing was steady, no longer showing any signs of intoxication.
His gaze was filled with disgust and disdain and his expression was cold and callous.
“Women should have more self-respect,” Yang Kai muttered icily.
Ji Meng struggled and quickly freed herself from Yang Kai’s grip, hurriedly darting out of the cell, gasping for breath as she stared towards Yang Kai with incredulity.
“I’ve been exposed to too many women who cultivate Seduction Techniques, wanting to use a trivial aphrodisiac to confuse my mind, your methods are a bit too disappointing, Elder Duan,” Yang Kai sneered as he stared in a certain direction.
Outside the dungeon, Duan Hai, who was using his Divine Sense to monitor the situation, had his expression sink.
“Yang Kai, I…” Ji Meng opened her mouth, stammering as she tried to explain herself.
“If you don’t want to die, get the hell out!” Yang Kai stared at her indifferently, without the slightest trace of warmth.
Ji Meng suddenly became somewhat absentminded, struggling for a while before she eventually lowered her head and quickly left.
“Senior Brother, isn’t this little brat a bit too strange? The Seven Emotions Six Pleasures Mist I arranged can even cause Transcendents to lose all sense of reason, how can be he be perfectly fine?” Outside the dungeon, Xu Qi showed a surprised expression.
Duan Hai on the other hand just looked sullen as a deep sense of frustration came over him.
Yang Kai so steadfastly resisting them made him feel somewhat helpless.
“Senior Brother, we might as well take him to the Wind Eye!” Xu Qi proposed in a low voice.
“The Wind Eye?” Duan Hai frowned, “Do you want to wipe away his Soul with the power of the Wind Eye?”
“Exactly!” Xu Qi nodded, “From the looks of things, we really have no way to get him to talk, so we might as well directly wipe his Soul clean. Even without mentioning the memories he has of the Coffin Carrying Man, just being able to obtain his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea will be of big use to us. If we can preserve it and allow one of our people to refine it, perhaps one of our Spirit Religion disciples will be lucky enough to obtain a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea…”
Duan Hai’s eyes lit up as he carefully considered it, soon feeling that this method was indeed feasible.
With such a plan in mind, Duan Hai didn’t hesitate and nodded firmly, “Then we’ll do that, but in order to use the Wind Eye like this, we should first inform the Religion Master.”
“It won’t be too late to inform the Religion Master after we succeed, and once we do, he’ll certainly be nothing but happy.”
“En, very well, you make the preparations and I’ll go bring out that little brat,” Duan Hai waved.
Xu Qi nodded, and with a look of excitement on his face, flew away.
After spending a moment thinking outside the dungeon, Duan Hai pushed open the door, walked inside, and grabbed Yang Kai.
Yang Kai just shot him an indifferent glance before closing his eyes again.
“Honoured Guest Yang, since you fail to appreciate kindness, then this old master will not give you any face,” Duan Hai said while flying towards the Wind Eye.
Yang Kai grinned in response, “Where is Elder Duan planning to take me now?”
“My Bright Thunder Spirit Religion has several profound heritages; we are now headed to one of them. The Wind Eye is an accumulation of wind energy and many of our disciples who cultivate Wind Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills choose to cultivate nearby to it in order to comprehend the mysteries of the wind. In addition to the Wind Eye, my Bright Thunder Spirit Religion also has a Thunder Eye which is similar in nature. Even this old master doesn’t dare to approach either of these eyes too closely because the power they exude is not something humans can resist; inside the Wind Eye, even a Third Order Transcendent’s Soul can be wiped away.”
Yang Kai’s face sank, suddenly realizing the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
“It’s not too late now for you to regret. As long as you give Ji Meng a child, I will admit that you are a disciple of my Spirit Religion and will definitely provide you with the best cultivation resources and environment in the future,” Duan Hai made one last attempt to persuade, “What do you think?”
“Forget about it!” Yang Kai shook his head while secretly sighing, considering whether or not he should take advantage of this opportunity to display his Demon God Transformation, break free from Duan Hai’s grasp, and flee.
However, still deep inside his enemy’s territory, Yang Kai didn’t have much confidence he could successfully escape and once he failed, he would never have a second change to try.
While hesitating, Yang Kai felt that there was suddenly a different kind of energy permeating his surroundings.
Naturally it was wind energy!
As he felt this rich wind energy, Yang Kai felt a throbbing sensation from his shoulder-blades that carried with it a sense of pain and excitement.
Yang Kai’s expression changed but he quickly suppressed while he stared with rapt attention towards the distance.
Up ahead, there was a huge visible vortex that was slowly rotating that was formed completely by natural wind energy; the closer one approached it the stronger that energy became.
“Spectacular, isn’t it?” Duan Hai’s face showed a proud look, “It is because of the Wind Eye and Thunder Eye that my Bright Thunder Spirit Religion put down roots here. These two places are listed as restricted areas of my Spirit Religion and with the exception of some talented disciples, no one can set foot near this place. Those disciples who cultivate here can achieve twice the results with half the effort.”
Yang Kai nodded secretly, this kind of Heavenly Manifestation was truly spectacular. This wasn’t something man had created but was instead some kind of natural phenomenon that had coincidentally formed and persisted for many years uninterrupted.
As Duan Hai explained, the two quickly approached the Wind Eye’s location.
Xu Qi was already waiting there and upon seeing Duan Hai bringing Yang Kai, he quickly said, “Senior Brother, the disciples who were cultivating here have all been dispersed, we can begin at any time.”
Duan Hai slowly nodded before turning his gaze towards Yang Kai, “Honoured Guest Yang, this is your last chance, once you enter the Wind Eye, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“There’s nothing left to be said,” Yang Kai sneered.
“Seeking your own end!” Xu Qi coldly snorted.
Duan Hai let out a long sigh and nodded, “Very well, you leave me no choice.”
Saying so, he dashed forward with Yang Kai and soon, the two approached the centre of the Wind Eye. Even someone as strong as Duan Hai had to furiously circulate his True Qi in order to resist the negative side-effects of the Wind Eye.
For those that are unable to read on Patreon, do check that your transaction has been processed. This month had a large number of declined payments.
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Duan Hai came to a stop approximately a thousand meters from the Wind Eye’s core, glanced over at Yang Kai and was about to open his mouth when Yang Kai suddenly turned to him and shouted, “This time, if I survive this, I will definitely take my revenge against your Bright Thunder Spirit Religion!”
Duan Hai’s face went cold and no longer hesitated, throwing Yang Kai into the huge Wind Eye.
At the last moment though, Duan Hai wasn’t sure if his eyes playing tricks on him, but when Yang Kai’s figure disappeared into the Wind Eye, the latter seemed to have a sneer on his face.
Xu Qi quickly followed and landed beside Duan Hai, staring towards the Wind Eye with excitement.
“Senior Brother, are you still worried about something?” Xu Qi asked suddenly.
“En,” Duan Hai nodded slightly, “I still can’t forget about what Old Man Du said before…”
“That brat shouldn’t have any kind of formidable background, if he did, with the situation reaching this point, he would definitely have reported it to us. He’s not a fool after all. Old Man Du must have been mistaken,” Xu Qi advised.
“En, fair enough,” Duan Hai smiled faintly, “But it is true we have destroyed a rare talent, so it’s important we think up a way to explain this to Old Man Du.”
“If anyone asks about him, we can just say he’s in retreat. Given the identity and status of Old Man Du, he would rarely, if ever, pay a visit to our Spirit Religion personally. After a few years, when things have settled down, Old Man Du will also forget about this person.”
“I suppose so,” Duan Hai sighed slightly, “In any case, we’ll need to wait a few days. This little brat’s Soul is extremely strong, at least comparable to an ordinary First Order Transcendent’s, even inside the Wind Eye, he should be able to support himself for a while. Once his Soul has been purified, we’ll collect it and spy on his hidden secrets.”
“Agreed. We’ll do as Senior Brother says,” Xu Qi replied excitedly.
However, only an hour or so had passed since the two threw Yang Kai into the Wind Eye when Duan Hai suddenly frowned, turning around and staring towards the distance, “How come there’s a disciple approaching?”
Xu Qi also wore a dissatisfied expression, “I already announced that this place would be temporarily closed off so no one should arbitrarily have entered, is this disciple deaf or blind?”
Saying so, he impatiently muttered, “I’ll go have a look.”
Duan Hai nodded slightly.
Xu Qi activated his movement skill and a moment later returned with an odd look upon his face, saying to Duan Hai, “Senior Brother, Religion Master is summoning you, that disciple just now came to deliver the order.”
“Religion Master?” Duan Hai heard this and couldn’t help feeling startled, hurriedly composing himself and nodding, “Very well, I’ll go see what Religion Master needs, you wait here.”
“Please feel relieved, Senior Brother, I will strictly guard this place.”
Duan Hai quickly left and after wrapping the messenger in his True Qi, soared towards a certain peak of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion; naturally this peak was the residence of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master. This was a quiet place with rich World Energy, the best cultivation environment in Bright Thunder Spirit.
“Did Religion Master say anything to you about why he suddenly needed to see me?” As he sped along, Duan Hai asked the disciple.
“Disciples doesn’t know, Religion Master only said to summon Great Elder to see him as soon as possible,” The disciple replied respectfully.
“Has Religion Master finally broken through to the Saint Realm?” Duan Hai suddenly remembered a possibility and asked excitedly.
“Not likely, disciple did not feel any of signs one would expected from such a breakthrough.”
Duan Hai couldn’t help feeling puzzled, wondering what kind of urgent matter had come up that would require the Religion Master to suddenly summon him.
Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master, Xia Cheng Yin, was a powerful Third Order Transcendent master; however, he had encountered a bottleneck which had halted his cultivation at this level for the past hundred years, unable to comprehend the mysteries of the Saint Realm. For more than a decade, he had constantly been in secluded cultivation and he would only come out once every few months to half a year and even then he would not always speak with Duan Ha, yet now he had urgently summoned him.
[Could it be because of that little brat’s matters?]
Duan Hai’s suddenly though, his heart clenching up for a moment before relaxing again, thinking to himself that such a scenario was too ridiculous and he was simply too nervous, no longer asking anything and simply speeding along with the disciple who came to summon him.
Atop a mountain with the most abundant World Energy in Bright Thunder Spirit Religion stood a solitary palace constructed of the finest gold and jade that gave off a magnificent aura.
This was the place where Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master Xia Cheng Yin lived.
At that moment, Xia Cheng Yin sat at the head of a table with a big smile upon his face as he enthusiastically welcomed two people. Even if these two had interrupted his retreat, Xia Cheng Yin did not dare to show any unhappiness and instead treated both of them with great courtesy and politeness.
After offering these two guests wine and fruit, Xia Cheng Yin asked, “Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan arriving together is truly an honour for my humble home.”
“Religion Master Xia is too polite, bothering you while you were in secluded cultivation really makes this old man feel embarrassed,” Du Wan replied apologetically, smiling reluctantly as he reached out and picked up a spirit fruit handing it to Mi Na who was standing behind him.
Mi Na had also come together with Old Man Du this time and was curiously looking around, as if she was searching for someone or something.
Xia Cheng Yin carefully observed his unexpected guests while secretly harbouring many doubts. He didn’t know why Old Man Du had suddenly decided to pay him a visit and had even come together with Soaring Heaven Sect’s Cang Yan. Silently making plans in his head, he laughed frankly and said, “Old Man Du is the one being too polite, obviously Old Man Du is more than welcome to visit my Bright Thunder Spirit Religion any time he wishes! Forget about if I am cultivating, even if I was dead, I would certainly climb out of my coffin to welcome you with a grand banquet!”
Du Wan wore a forced smile and didn’t say anything. With his identity as a Saint Grade Alchemist, he really didn’t need to act politely towards Xia Cheng Yin.
Although Xia Cheng Yin was Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master, a mere Third Order Transcendent was truly not qualified to exchange greetings with Old Man Du.
Xia Cheng Yin then glanced over at Cang Yan, who sat there silently, and felt a big headache coming on.
Although Old Man Du had an extraordinary status and could not be seen by ordinary people, his temperament and demeanor were quite amicable so he was not difficult to interact with, but the madmen from Soaring Heaven Sect were another story all together. Xia Cheng Yin couldn’t think of any reason why this troublesome fellow had suddenly come to his Spirit Religion.
If couldn’t be that someone from his Spirit Religion had offended him, could it? If that was really the case, then Xia Cheng Yin had to prepare himself for things to become difficult.
Soaring Heaven Sect’s four madmen each had Third Order Transcendent cultivations and were all comparable to Xia Cheng Yin in strength; on top of that, there was their Saint Realm Ancestral Founder behind them as well. It could be said that even throughout all of Tong Xuan Realm, Soaring Heaven Sect was a big force, stronger than Bright Thunder Spirit Religion by several times.
If they offended such a force, Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s only end would be total destruction!
Even if it was just in single combat, Xia Cheng Yin couldn’t guarantee he could beat Cang Yan.
Gently coughing, Xia Cheng Yin asked, “Brother Cang Yan, recently, could it be that someone from my Spirit Religion had no eyes and accidentally offended you?”
“No,” Cang Yan cherished the words like gold and simply responded so.
“Then may I asked why Brother Cang Yan…” Xia Cheng Yin brow wrinkled slightly as he turned his gaze towards Old Man Du and asked.
Old Man Du laughed and replied before he could finish, “There’s nothing for Religion Master Xia to worry about; this time, I came with Cang Yan to handle some important matters.”
“If Old Man Du has anything to ask of my, please don’t hesitate!” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression became serious.
“We’re here to find someone.”
“Find someone?”
“Good, a young Spirit Grade Alchemist. Your Grand Elder, Duan Hai, should know where he is. Two months ago, Duan Hai recruited him from my Alchemist Guild to serve as an Honored Guest of your Bright Thunder Spirit Religion.”
“So that’s it,” Xia Cheng Yin suddenly realized why these two had requested to meet Duan Hai the moment they arrived here. Apparently, Xia Cheng Yin had been on edge for no reason. After understanding the cause of this incident, Xia Cheng Yin couldn’t help but relax, smiling as he nodded, “This kind of minor matter is no trouble at all, since he is my Spirit Religion’s Honoured Guest, Duan Hai will surely treat him with courtesy and not harm him in any way.”
“It’s best if that is true, I have been looking for him for almost two months now,” Cang Yan nodded with satisfaction.
Over the past two months, Cang Yan had searched through all of Grand Boulder City for Yang Kai relying only on the vague image his Martial Ancestor had given him but hadn’t found anything. Finally, by complete coincidence, he had asked around the Alchemist Guild and finally understood that Yang Kai was no longer in Grand Boulder City.
Cang Yan was quite annoyed when he learned this. His Martial Ancestor had asked him to do such a small task, yet he had failed to accomplish it after two whole months, so he immediately blamed all of this on Bright Thunder Spirit Religion for taking Yang Kai away. Although he didn’t say this out loud, Cang Yan still gave off a cold aura and anyone could tell from his harsh gaze that he was in a foul mood.
“Soaring Heaven Sect’s heritage is strong, how can there be a lack of Spirit Grade Alchemists? Brother Cang Yan, if you’ve come here intending to snatch someone from me, this Religion Master can’t agree,” Xia Cheng Yin smiled and shook his head. He had no malicious intent in saying so, but he had to show such an attitude.
Hearing this, Cang Yan simply replied coldly, “I’m not here to grab him from you, it’s just that my Martial Ancestor wants to see him!”
Xia Cheng Yin’s courage suddenly deflated.
Du Wan also shook his head and sighed, feeling slightly annoyed.
Although he had long guessed that Yang Kai had a very powerful background, he had not expected that even Soaring Heaven Sect would pay attention to him. When Cang Yan came to the Alchemist Guild to inquire about Yang Kai, Old Man Du couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into.
If he knew that Yang Kai had a relationship with Soaring Heaven Sect, how could he have recommended Bright Thunder Spirit Religion to him.
Doing so was really far too stupid.
It seemed that Soaring Heaven Sect had some kind of connection to this little brat’s Master, so when their Ancestral Founder learned Yang Kai had come out for life experience, he had wanted to look after him a bit, or at least that was what Old Man Du thought secretly to himself.
“Why hasn’t he come yet, how can be so slow?” Mi Na finished the spirit fruit, stared at the door, and pouted with dissatisfaction.
Xia Cheng Yin just laughed lightly, “Little girl, don’t worry, Duan Hai should be here soon.”
“Who wants to see Duan Hai, I want to see Yang Kai. That bastard is so cruel, leaving me all alone in the Alchemist Guild, this time I must teach him a harsh lesson!” Mi Na snorted cutely.
Xia Cheng Yin’s lips twitched but wisely said nothing.
“Mind your manners!” Old Man Du saw Xia Cheng Yin’s embarrassment and quickly reprimanded Mi Na, who proceeded to pout even more.
At that moment, an aura quickly approached from afar.
“He’s here!” Xia Cheng Yin smiled.
A moment later, from outside the door, Duan Hai’s voice called out, “Religion Master, Duan Hai has come as ordered.”
“Enter,” Xia Cheng Yin shouted.
Duan Hai replied firmly and walked inside. Just as he was about to salute though, he suddenly saw Cang Yan and Du Wan sitting nearby.
Duan Hai’s heart clenched up once more and couldn’t wait to turn around and leave.
Cang Yan appearing here was very unusual. As one of the four madmen of Soaring Heaven Sect, Duan Hai had a good understanding of this man’s brutal methods and powerful cultivation. Regarding this man, Duan Hai had always maintained a respectful distance.
However, Old Man Du being here as well brought him even greater surprise.
Du Wan was an extremely rare Saint Grade Alchemist. For more than a decade, he had stayed in Grand Boulder City but had almost never left the Alchemist Guild branch. Each of the four major Sects nearby had extended him warm invitations, hoping he could give their Alchemists some pointers, but besides Soaring Heaven Sect which had succeeded merely twice in their efforts, whether it was Luo Sheng Sect, Ancient Moon Cave Heaven, or Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, Old Man Du had never graced them with his presence.
Of course, what Duan Hai was really worried about was the fact that he brought Yang Kai back to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion from Du Wan’s place.
Just now, Xu Qi had said to him that someone of Old Man Du’s status was unlike to ever visit Bright Thunder Spirit Religion in person, but only an hour later Du Wan had appeared in front of him
Duan Hai’s heart pounded as he tried his best to maintain his composure, somehow forcing out a big laugh as he stepping forward and politely bowed, “Greetings, Old Man Du.”
He then turned to Cang Yan and cupped his fists, “Brother Cang Yan.”
Du Wan nodded slightly in response while Cang Yang said nothing.
Xia Cheng Yin quickly picked up the conversation, “Elder Duan has worked hard, sit down.”
Duan Hai took a seat, his expression a bit unnatural because Cang Yan of Soaring Heaven Sect’s pair of sharp eyes had been staring at him the whole time, an aggressive light flashing across them, making him feel a bit uneasy.
As if realizing Duan Hai’s inner turmoil, Cang Yan’s glare became even more intense.
Letting out a dry cough, Duan Hai asked, “May I ask what matter Religion Master has summoned me for?”
“Nothing important,” Xia Cheng Yin smiled, “Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan just came here to find someone in our Spirit Religion.”
“Find someone?” Duan Hai’s uneasiness grew even stronger, his face twitching slightly as he forced himself to keep smiling and asked, “Who might they be looking for?”
He had a premonition things were about to become bad.
“The young man you brought here from the Alchemist Guild two months ago,” Du Wan said in a friendly tone.
Duan Hai desperately wanted to cry but was unable to shed any tears while in his heart he was cursing Xu Qi’s eighteen generations of ancestors, saying that a man of Old Man Du’s status would never come to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. A powerful sense of helplessness overcame Duan Hai.
Although he was greatly flustered inside, Duan Hai didn’t reveal anything on his face as his thoughts turned quickly, trying to find a way to resolve the immediate problem.
“Elder Duan?” Old Man Du quickly noticed that Duan Hai seemed to be somewhat disturbed and quickly asked.
“Eh, ah…” Duan Hai quickly adjusted his expression.
“How has my little friend been since coming to your Spirit Religion?” Du Wan asked with concern.
“Very good, I have sent a young female disciple with excellent aptitude and good looks to attend to any of his needs these past two months. Honored Guest Yang has also produced a lot of high quality Spirit Grade pills for my Spirit Religion.”
“En, naturally, in some places, little friend Yang’s understanding of the Alchemic Way and his techniques are far superior to even this old master.”
As soon as this was said, Xia Cheng Yin and Cang Yan both stared towards Du Wan in shock.
“This old master isn’t exaggerating. The truth is, I believe little friend Yang’s Alchemy technique was taught to him by an incredibly powerful master.”
Duan Hai face nearly drained of all colour. From the words of Du Wan, he realized that he had made a big mistake. [How did that little brat really have a strong background? Which top Alchemist was he the disciple of? Otherwise, how could Old Man Du have given him such a high evaluation?]
In an instant, Duan Hai felt his hands and feet go numb as cold sweat dripped down his back.
“Is this Honoured Guest so incredible?” Xia Cheng Yin also showed a look of interest, “Being able to hire such an outstanding character, it is my Spirit Religion’s good fortune indeed! Duan Hai, you must not be negligent with his treatment, offer him the very best conditions, otherwise, Brother Cang Yan might very well snatch him from us.”
The corner of Duan Hai’s mouth twitched violently as he let out a strained laugh and nodded, “Subordinate will do his best.”
“En, where is he now? Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan both wish to see him. Duan Hai, quickly invite him here,” Xia Cheng Yin wore a look of anticipation, very much wanting to see Yang Kai, wondering what kind of person he was to receive such high praise from Old Man Du.
Duan Hai’s forehead couldn’t help leaking a drop of sweat as he sat in place, not moving.
“Why are you just sitting there?” Xia Cheng Yin asked slightly unhappily.
“Religion Master…” Duan Hai’s expression cramped as he stammered with great difficulty, “Right now… I’m afraid… it’s slightly inconvenient for him to come here.”
“Why isn’t it convenient?” Cang Yan, who had not spoken since Duan Hai’s arrival, suddenly asked coldly, his expression extremely unfriendly.
Duan Hai trying to shirk responsibility like this in such an unnatural tone made Cang Yan quickly realize something wasn’t right, focusing a sharp glare on Duan Hai as he coldly interrogated, “It couldn’t be, he’s had some kind of accident?”
“No, no, he hasn’t been involved in any kind of accident,” Duan Hai quickly waved his hand, “It’s just, it’s really not convenient for him to come here right now.”
“Duan Hai!” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression also became somewhat disgruntled, “What are you trying to say? Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan traveled all this way specifically to see this Honoured Guest, how can you stubbornly refuse them? This is not how my Spirit Religion shows hospitality.”
“Religion Master…”
“Where is he now?” Xia Cheng Yin asked impatiently.
Knowing that trying to avoid the subject any further would only make things worse, Duan Hai grit his teeth and replied, “The Wind Eye.”
“Why would he be at the Wind Eye?” Du Wan’s expression changed dramatically.
Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Wind Eye and Thunder Eye, naturally Du Wan had heard about them. The two restricted areas were holy lands for those who cultivated Wind or Thunder Attribute Secret Arts or Marital Skills, but what would an Alchemist like Yang Kai need to visit the Wind Eye?
“Earlier, he said he wanted to refine a pill with the help of the power of the Wind Eye, so I brought him there,” Duan Hai’s mind flashed, thinking up a good excuse.
Cang Yan turned his eyes to Du Wan questioningly.
Du Wan nodded slightly in response, “It’s possible, some Alchemists can take advantage of the powers of Heaven and Earth to perform some special Alchemy techniques, often allowing them to gain twice the result with half the effort, but doing so requires profound skill and methods. Little friend Yang’s abilities are really worthy of praise.”
Duan Hai couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief, realizing that the random excuse he came up with was at least somewhat reasonable.
“Since he is currently making use of the Wind Eye, perhaps you two would like to stay a few days in my Spirit Religion while we wait for that Honoured Guest comes out?” Xia Cheng Yin asked Old Man Du and Cang Yan.
Old Man Du smiled lightly, “This old master doesn’t mind, Cang Yan, what’s your opinion?”
“I want to see him now!” Cang Yan declared firmly, his expression indifferent as he spoke this unreasonable request without any hesitation.
Xia Cheng Yin laughed awkwardly, “Brother Cang Yan, you must have heard that the Wind Eye and Thunder Eye are both restricted areas of my Spirit Religion. Outsiders are not allowed to step inside them, and if we were to all suddenly show up there, it may disturb that Honoured Guest’s Alchemy. Why not wait a few days instead?”
“What bullshit restricted area!” Cang Yan sneered disdainfully, in the next moment fully releasing his Divine Sense, obviously not willing to speak any more nonsense with these two from Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. After searching for a moment, he stood up, shot out of the palace, and flew directly towards the location of the Wind Eye.
“Hey, Brother Cang Yan!” Duan Hai was shocked and wanted to stop him but he was a step too late.
“This uncle really has an anxious temper,” Mi Na, who feared that the world would not be chaotic, saw Cang Yan fly off and showed an excited look, quickly urging Du Wan, “Old Man Du, let’s go too.”
Du Wan shot a glance over at Xia Cheng Yin and saw that the latter’s expression was quite unpleasant. Cang Yan not giving him any face had obviously made him somewhat annoyed, but since the former was already gone, it was pointless for him to get angry so he just nodded and said, “We might as well all go take a look.”
Saying so, Xia Cheng Yin also stood up.
“If so, then I’ll thank Religion Master Xia in advance,” Du Wan apologized.
“Old Man Du is too polite,” Xia Cheng Yin naturally dared not accuse this Saint Grade Alchemist.
And so, this group of people hurriedly pursued Cang Yan quickly towards the Wind Eye.
Duan Hai’s face was, by now, a pale shade of white, as his mind was a complete mess. He thought that he could delay things for a day or two and then use that time to escape from Bright Thunder Spirit Religion to avoid this disaster, but he hadn’t expected to fall short at the last moment.
If he tried to leave now, it would only draw more suspicion towards him.
Behind Xia Cheng Yin and Du Wan, Duan Hai’s mood was complex as he thought to himself that he had quite possibly made a grave mistake.
A short time later, everyone arrived at the location of the Wind Eye, Cang Yan landing first.
Staring at the floating whirlpool filled with rich Wind Attribute energy, Cang Yan couldn’t help revealing a hint of dread. Such concentrated destructive power was enough to cause even him to shrink back slightly.
Glancing around the surrounding area and not noticing any trace of Yang Kai, Cang Yan’s expression quickly became ugly.
Xu Qi, who had been standing there the whole time, was somewhat shocked, unable to understand what was going on. After seeing Xia Cheng Yin and Du Wan though, Xu Qi’s heart jumped, quickly pretending to be calm and stepped forward to politely greet them, asking Duan Hai in the next moment, “Senior Brother, what’s all this about?”
“Old Man Du and Cang Yan are here to observe Honoured Guest Yang’s Alchemy,” Duan Hai replied casually.
Xu Qi blinked a few times and instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Duan Hai’s words.
As fellow brothers, the two of them had worked together for many years, and although they couldn’t say they understood everyone the other was thinking without any words, this brief eye contact and set of simple words had allowed Xu Qi to understand what Duan Hai really wanted to say.
“Where is he?” Cang Yan turned his head and stared gloomily towards Duan Hai.
Duan Hai opened his mouth but didn’t know how to answer, quickly turning to look at Xu Qi, “Junior Brother, where is Honoured Guest Yang? When I left a moment ago, wasn’t he right here?”
Xu Qi understood immediately and replied, “He entered the core of the Wind Eye, saying it was more convenient for him to perform Alchemy there.”
“Entered the core?” Everyone’s cried out in shock, their expressions going pale.
“How could he enter the core?” Old Man Du’s lips trembled, “Forget about him only being at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, even if he was a Third Order Transcendent, entering the Wind Eye’s core would still be a death sentence! How could you let him do that!?”
Xu Qi smiled awkwardly and replied, “I couldn’t stop him, Honoured Guest Yang said not to worry and that he had his own method of protecting himself.”
“This…this…” Du Wan wore a look filled with anxiety.
Cang Yan on the other hand didn’t say anything, releasing his powerful Divine Sense again, piercing it into the raging Wind Eye, a moment later letting out a painful roar and stumbling back a few steps, his face pale.
He wanted to use his Divine Sense to explore the inside of the Wind Eye and inevitably suffered some damage as a result.
Cang Yan’s eyes flashed as he turned to stare coldly at Duan Hai and Xu Qi, “Did he enter on his own, or was he thrown in?”
Xia Cheng Yin frowned and angrily said, “What does Brother Cang Yan mean? Do you think my Spirit Religion’s Elder will harm an Honoured Guest?”
Cang Yan smiled coldly, his eagle-like eyes glaring towards Duan Hai and Xu Qi as his aura became dangerous.
Duan Hai and Xu Qi didn’t dare return his stare, shifting their eyes away awkwardly.
Du Wan also noticed this and his old face couldn’t help sinking, seeing Duan Hai continuously try to avoid responsibility really was suspicious.
The people here were all powerful and experienced masters, naturally none of them was an idiot; although Duan Hai and Xu Qi sang the same tune, the lie they had woven was by no means perfect, everyone had seen some clues by now.
“What exactly happened?” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression became sullen as he questioned the two Elders coldly, “Brother Cang Yan is accusing my Spirit Religion of impropriety, so you two should give me a clear explanation and rebuttal!”
“Religion Master, please understand!” Duan Hai shouted, “Honoured Guest Yang’s Alchemy skill is outstanding, we could not favour him enough! How could we possibly harm him?”
Xu Qi also chimed in, “That’s right, it really was he who wanted to enter the Wind Eye, I strongly discourage him but he simply wouldn’t listen!”
Cang Yan’s mouth twitched a few times before putting on a false smile, “That would be best, otherwise, your Bright Thunder Spirit Religion should prepare for its complete destruction.”
Xia Cheng Yin shot him a cold stare, “Brother Cang Yan, this is my Spirit Religion’s territory, please take care how you speak.”
“Enough,” Du Wan snorted. After learning that Yang Kai had entered the Wind Eye, Old Man Du was feeling particularly unhappy, but he knew that regardless of what the truth was, Yang Kai was currently in real danger. What’s worse, he was the one who recommended Yang Kai to go to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion to become an Honoured Guest in the first place.
“What’s more important now is to confirm little friend Yang’s safety; Cang Yan, what did you sense just now?” Du Wan turned to look at Cang Yan.
“He’s still alive, but his aura is a bit chaotic, nothing like it should be if he was performing Alchemy,” Cang Yan replied succinctly.
Du Wan’s face became even uglier, shooting an unfriendly glance towards Xia Cheng Yin, “Religion Master Xia, it seems that entrusting him to your Spirit Religion was not a wise decision. If he is lucky enough to survive this incident, I will be bringing him back to Alchemist Guild with me. I trust Religion Master Xia will not raise any objections.”
Xia Cheng Yin’s face contorted somewhat but still nodded. With Du Wan saying so, even if he tried to retain Yang Kai, the likelihood he would succeed was almost zero; glaring at Duan Hai and Xu Qi, he ground his teeth and shouted, “Such a good deed you’ve done! Even unable to look after a single Honoured Guest, I don’t think my Spirit Religion needs such ‘competent’ Elders!”
“It was his own…” Xu Qi still tried to argue.
However, Duan Hai just shook his head and sighed, feeling that everything was now beyond his control.
If Old Man Du and Cang Yan had come a few days earlier, this situation wouldn’t have ever occurred, but they just had to arrive right after he and Xu Qi took action. Was it their own luck that was too bad or was Yang Kai’s fortune just that good?
Everyone stood around watching, none of them speaking, the atmosphere quite strained.
Xu Qi and Duan Hai’s eyes continuously met, both of them well aware of how just how thorny a situation they had gotten themselves into.
That little brat would definitely not be able to leave the Wind Eye alive, the question now was if he was to die, what would Du Wan and Cang Yan do?
They really didn’t know why Cang Yan was even here; this whole situation seemed to have nothing to do with Soaring Heaven Sect.
Meanwhile, inside the Wind Eye, Yang Kai was currently enduring a great deal of pain, the omnipresent wind blades constantly slicing into his body, quickly shredding his clothes and dying him in blood.
With his True Qi imprisoned, Yang Kai couldn’t use it to protect himself from these wind blades and could only rely on the strength of his flesh to insist.
Instead of rushing to use his Demon God Transformation though, he was focusing all of his attention on his shoulder blades where the Wind and Thunder Wings he received from Han Fei back in Demon God Citadel resided as they seemed to currently be undergoing some unexpected changes.
The rich Wind Attribute energy in the surroundings was constantly being channeled into his body and absorbed by the Wind and Thunder Wings.
Fierce waves of pain erupted constantly, causing Yang Kai’s face to twist in agony.
The Wind Qi he was absorbing was rampaging inside his body, tearing apart his flesh, causing every part of his physique to ripple.
Through all the pain and hardship though, Yang Kai grit his teeth and did not utter a single sound, allowing the Wind and Thunder Wings to swallow the surrounding Wind Qi.
He faintly felt that this was the opportunity he was searching for that would truly allow him to refine the Wind and Thunder Wings!
Han Fei and Li Rong once told him that they didn’t know where this pair of Wind and Thunder Wings came from or who the original owner was and only after many twists and turns did it fall into Han Fei’s hands. Also, no matter how many times they tried to refine them, neither of them had succeeded.
When Duan Hai and Xu Qi brought him to the edge of the Wind Eye, Yang Kai felt the Wind and Thunder Wings transmit a vague sense of yearning to him, so he had not made any attempt to resist and simply allowed Duan Hai to throw him inside.
Now, it seemed his gamble had paid off.
The dust-laden Wind and Thunder Wings seemed to have been greatly moisturized by this environment and were showing signs of coming back to life, the speed at which they swallowed the surrounding Wind Qi increasing with every passing moment, reaching a point where even Yang Kai’s powerful physique couldn’t withstand the side effects.
As his flesh was constantly being destroyed, the Wind Attribute energy continued flooding into him like a raging torrent.
Not daring to hesitate, Yang Kai quickly took out a drop of Myriad Drug Milk from the Black Book space and swallowed it.
A moment later, a warm sensation appeared in his abdomen and quickly spread throughout his body.
The powerful restorative properties of the Myriad Drug Milk and the destructive power of Wind Eye both battled one another inside Yang Kai’s body, forming a kind of excruciating tug of war.
As Yang Kai’s body was constantly being torn apart and then repaired, it became tougher and more robust.
After enduring this cycle of destruction and restoration over and over again, Yang Kai gradually became numb to it and no longer felt any pain.
Simultaneously, the Wind and Thunder Wings swallowed the surrounding Wind Attribute energy at a horrifying speed. On Yang Kai’s left shoulder, there seemed to be some kind of invisible vortex that constantly drew in the surrounding Wind Qi, filling the Wind and Thunder Wings, and as more Wind Attributes energy was drawn into them, they became more and more energetic.
From the outside, it appeared like there was a small whirlpool inside the huge swirling Wind Eye. This small whirlpool was like a bottomless pit that was slowly drawing in the surrounding Wind Attribute energy and swallowing it.
The people outside who were at first concerned about whether Yang Kai was dead or alive now all wore amazed expressions, wondering how such a change had come about.
The Wind Eye was a restricted area of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion as well as one of its foundations. Since it was first discovered, it had already been countless years and over these centuries, innumerable disciples who cultivated Wind Attribute Martial Skills and Secret Arts had practiced here. And while all of them obtained many benefits from this place, no matter how many people absorbed the Wind Qi here, the Wind Eye never showed any changes.
But now, everyone here could clearly feel that the Wind Attribute energy that filled this place was slowly been consumed and was rapidly decreasing in density.
This discovery made the several members of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion pale.
If the Wind Eye was weakened, it would be a huge loss to their Spirit Religion.
“Duan Hai, did Honored Guest Yang say what kind of pill it was he wanted to refine?” Xia Cheng Yin now believed the words of his two subordinates and thought that the changes in the Wind Eye were related to Yang Kai’s Alchemy.
“He didn’t say,” Duan Hai grit his teeth and replied.
“Old Man Du, what do you think?” Xia Cheng Yin turned to look at Du Wan.
Du Wan’s face was quite gloomy as he muttered, “There is no pill that needs to consume such a huge amount of energy, this isn’t like Alchemy at all, rather, it seems like he’s cultivating!”
“Cultivating?” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression froze, “He entered the Wind Eye to cultivate? Isn’t he only at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary?”
“Don’t ask this old master, I don’t know any more than you do!” Du Wan shouted, apparently quite disgruntled because of Yang Kai’s current situation.
Xia Cheng Yin looked awkward and dared not say anything more.
The destructive power inside the Wind Eye made it impossible for any of them to release their Divine Sense to investigate, so all they could do was wait quietly.
As more time passed, the small vortex within the Wind Eye seemed to gradually grow larger and even showed signs of beginning to devour the Wind Eye entirely. Even the Wind Attribute energy in the surrounding region was not as dense as it was before.
“Religion Master, at this rate, the Wind Eye will be destroyed!” Duan Hai screamed hurriedly.
Xia Cheng Yin’s complexion became pale as he stared at the Wind Eye without saying a word. How could he not understand what the consequences would be if this situation continued? If the Wind Eye was destroyed, it would be the equivalent of destroying a large part of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s foundation.
“I humbly request Religion Master to allow me and Junior Brother Xu Qi Junior to stop this disaster!” Duan Hai took the initiative to say.
“How do you plan on stopping it?” Xia Cheng Yin glanced at him strangely.
“Our only option now is to quickly kill Honoured Guest Yang inside the Wind Eye, he must have used the excuse of performing Alchemy to ruin the foundation of our Spirit Religion!” Duan Hai lied through his teeth, trying to turn this disaster to his advantage.
“Little friend Yang is not such a person!” Du Wan coldly snorted.
“You can try it if you dare!” Cang Yan also stared at him with a thick murderous intent.
“This is my Spirit Religion’s internal matter, isn’t Brother Cang Yan overstepping his bounds?” Duan Hai questioned in a disgruntled tone.
“This old man will not permit any reckless behaviour here, if little friend Yang encounters any accident as a result of your actions, this old man can guarantee that no Alchemist will ever refine pills for your Sect from now on!” Du Wan stared deeply towards Duan Hai.
Duan Hai suddenly felt a big headache.
He could still barely ignore Cang Yan’s aggressive attitude, but Du Wan’s words were not something dismiss. Given Old Man Du’s status, he could really accomplish what he just said. With a single order from a Saint Grade Alchemist, all the Honoured Guest Alchemists would not hesitate to cut all ties with Bright Thunder Spirit Religion and never return.
“Old Man Du, please calm your anger, Duan Hai was simply speaking thoughtlessly,” Xia Cheng Yin hastily stated, angering a Saint Grade Alchemist would bring about severe consequences.
At that moment, the huge Wind Eye underwent a noticeable change, and the once small vortex that had appeared inside it suddenly expanded.
A huge energy fluctuation erupted, almost knocking everyone off balance, forcing them to use their True Qi to stabilize themselves as they all turned their full attention back to the Wind Eye.
Inside the Wind Eye, Yang Kai suddenly felt the seal Duan Hai had planted on him shatter, and the True Qi which had been locked inside his meridians once again began rapidly circulating.
Not only that, the his flesh and blood around his shoulder blades began throbbing intensely, as if something was trying to break free from them.
He had experienced this feeling once before when he first obtained his Flaming Yang Wings.
His state of mind relaxing, not showing the slightest signs of fluster, Yang Kai let out a long breath and allowed these changes to take place without resisting.
*Hua…*
In the next instant, a pair of grand, beautiful wings suddenly unfurled behind Yang Kai. As it opened, all the pressure he felt inside and outside his body instantly vanished and was replaced by a kind of joyful sensation of freedom.
The Wind Attribute energy swirling around him no longer seemed capable of injuring him and instead gave Yang Kai a strange feeling of intimacy.
This nimble Wind Attribute energy lingered around Yang Kai and gave him the illusion that he had integrated himself into the wind itself.
Shifting his gaze to his side, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed.
He discovered that his Flaming Yang Wings had undergone a noticeable change as well.
The wing on his right side, as always, burned like a raging fire.
However, the wing that stretch from the left side of his back now not only contained his blazing hot True Yang Yuan Qi, but also a swift and sharp Wind Qi, causing both its shape and form to become more dazzling and breathtaking.
The remaining Wind Attribute energy in the Wind Eye continued flowing into Yang Kai’s left wing and he could clearly sense that it was rapidly becoming more powerful. As he swung his wings, the wind around him swirled and whipped, quickly transforming into massive wind blades that rushed towards the centre of the Wind Eye with incredible momentum.
These swirling wind blades not only contained the wind’s swiftness but also the burning heat of Yang Kai’s True Yang Yuan Qi; the combination of the two complementing one another and multiplying their destructive power.
Inside the restricted area of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, where the Wind Eye was located, a loud bang suddenly rang out and immediately, the surrounding World Energy became chaotic. Almost all the Spirit Religion disciples heard this disturbance and couldn’t help turning to stare in its direction, wondering what exactly had happened.
Soon, a violent wind blew outwards from the direction of the restricted area, uprooting trees and collapsing buildings. Everything within a radius of fifty kilometers of the explosion became a complete mess.
Many Bright Thunder Spirit Religion masters wore shocked expressions, an icy chill shoot up their spines.
As for those who were inside the restricted area, they were even more stunned when they felt the destructive power that was bursting forth from this natural formation.
The power that erupted from the Wind Eye not only contained blades of sharp Qi but also an invisible energy which sheared away at one’s Soul.
All of the energy which was normally contained inside the Wind Eye was exploding outwards at that moment.
None of the masters closest to the Wind Eye had expected that this disaster would suddenly befall them.
Duan Hai and Xu Qi both let out pitiful cries as the Soul destroying winds impacted them, causing their Knowledge Seas to become turbulent and their consciousnesses to become unstable and hazy.
Xia Cheng Yin didn’t dare show any neglect, immediately displaying his own means to guard his Soul.
Cang Yan first thought was to protect Old Man Du and Mi Na and give them a chance to retreat, but when he glanced over, he saw Old Man Du not show any signs of panic as he quickly took out a cyan stone and pour his True Qi into, producing a cyan coloured light barrier.
“Cang Yan, come inside!” Old Man Du waved to him.
Cang Yan quickly rushed into the light barrier and as soon as he did, the pressure on his Soul disappeared.
“Refined Bluestone?” Cang Yan’s eyes lit up as he uttered the name of this cyan stone, “Old Man Du’s heritage is impressive!”
“Now is not the time to say this,” Old Man Du smiled bitterly, “The wind blades are coming.”
Cang Yan nodded lightly and didn’t dare lower his guard, quickly gathering his strength and intercepting the wind blades that were approaching.
He knew that this cyan light barrier created by the Refined Bluestone could only resist attacks against one’s Soul and had no defensive effect on physical and Qi based attacks.
Cang Yan had also heard some rumors about Refined Bluestone and knew that it was incredibly expensive as it was a product from the Starry Sky that could defend against Divine Sense attacks of Saint Realm masters. It could be said that as long as one possessed a piece of Refined Bluestone, they wouldn’t need to worry about ever receiving injuries to their Soul.
Unfortunately, this treasure had a low resilience, meaning it could only be used a few times before it would crumble into dust.
Old Man Du taking it out at this time was also because he had no other option. He was a Saint Grade Alchemist, but not a Saint Realm master; in fact he was just a First Order Transcendent. On top of that, Du Wan was immersed in the study of the Alchemic Way all year round so his actual combat strength was basically equivalent to a Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator.
“Old Man Du!” Xia Cheng Yin cried out urgently, as he struggled to make his way towards them.
Old Man Du frowned for a moment but eventually nodded lightly, increasing his True Qi output and expanding the light barrier allowing Xia Cheng Yin to squeeze inside.
With two Third Order Transcendents working together, the managed to completely shield Old Man Du and Mi Na behind them from all the incoming wind blades.
Duan Hai and Xu Qi were now both completely dazed by the Soul damaging winds, stumbling around like headless flies trapped in the violent storm and both of them were soon covered with bloody scars. Seeing this, Xia Cheng Yin anxious called out, “Old Man Du, can you let them in too?”
“This old man is also helpless, if I increase the output of power any further, I’m afraid this small stone will break,” Old Man Du slowly shook his head.
Knowing that Du Wan is not lying, Xia Cheng Yin could only sigh dejectedly.
Duan Hai and Xu Qi were both Elders of his Spirit Religion, he naturally couldn’t bear to see them buried in this place while he hid safely behind this light barrier. Unfortunately, all Xia Cheng Yin could do for them was try to offset as many wind blades that were approaching them as possible while constantly calling out to them in an attempt to stimulate their consciousnesses.
However, his efforts were futile, when the power that should have been contained within the Wind Eye suddenly erupted, Duan Hai and Xu Qi, two Second Order Transcendent masters, were completely incapable of resisting and both collapsed in pools of blood only a moment later. Although they were still alive, if they were exposed to this strange wind for too long, their Souls would sooner or later be sheared off completely.
Xia Cheng Yin was anxious but there was nothing he could do to help them now.
Suddenly, after a violent pulse of energy, everything suddenly calmed down, as if that final explosion contained all the remaining power of Wind Eye.
The cyan stone in Old Man Du’s hand also seemed to sense its mission was complete at that moment and shattered into dust that fell through his fingers.
“Yang Kai!” Mi Na suddenly shouted in surprise, pointing her jade finger towards the front.
Everyone couldn’t help feeling shocked when they heard Mi Na’s cry, all of them turning their eyes in the direction she was pointing only to see a scarlet Yang Kai. Although his body had innumerable wounds, his expression was still light and carefree. Another strange point was that his fresh blood seemed to radiate a terrifying destructive energy.
Cang Yan’s eyes narrowed, grinning slightly as he silently smiled.
The appearance of Yang Kai was quite consistent with the vague image in his mind, which means that the person his Martial Ancestor was looking for was him!
“The Wind Eye?” Xia Cheng Yin was dumbfounded, he discovered quickly that the Wind Eye which had existed since before the founding of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion had now disappeared.
There was not even a trace of Wind Attribute energy here anymore.
This realization turned Xia Cheng Yin’s face ashen.
The Wind Eye was essential to the prosperity of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, without it, all the future disciples who cultivated Wind Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills would no longer be able to take advantage of it to comprehend the mysteries of the wind.
“Can’t you put on some clothes you bastard!?” Mi Na cupped her hands over her mouth and called out, her face blushing bright red as she swept her eyes over Yang Kai’s impressive figure.
Seemingly awakened by Mi Na’s shout, Yang Kai slowly blinked and turned his head towards her.
Immediately, his brow furrowed slightly, as he discovered four people standing there, the familiar Old Man Du and Mi Na, and two others he didn’t recognize.
However, these two strangers undeniably gave him greater pressure than Duan Hai and Xu Qi, meaning they were definitely stronger.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yang Kai suddenly spotted Duan Hai and Xu Qi lying in a pool of their own blood and sneered menacingly.
His figure flickering, Yang Kai suddenly arrived in front of Duan Hai and Xu Qi at a speed several times faster than he was previously capable of.
“So fast!” Cang Yan and Xia Cheng Yin couldn’t help but exclaim. At that moment, the two of them seemed to have faintly felt a burst of swift Wind Qi. What’s more, despite their extremely high strength, both of them almost lost track of Yang Kai’s figure when he moved.
Before the two masters had even finished calling out, Yang Kai had already unleashed a decisive strike to Duan Hai’s neck.
With a snapping sound and a splash of blood, Duan Hai’s head flew out.
Seeing this, Xia Cheng Yin nearly went crazy.
Looking at the head that still had a pained expression on its face fly through the air, Xia Cheng Yin couldn’t turn his eyes away for a while, never had he imagined that a person his Spirit Religion had hired to be an Honoured Guest would actually kill his Sect’s Grand Elder.
Moreover, he had acted without the slightest hesitation.
“Hm?” Cang Yan secretly smiled a little as he stared at Yang Kai appreciatively, snickering under his breath. He found that this brat, whom his Martial Ancestor had tasked him to find, matched his temperament.
Seeing Yang Kai’s murderous intent not decrease at all as he turned to start at Xu Qi, who was currently unable to put up the slightest resistance, Xia Cheng Yin roared, “Boy, you dare!”
As he shouted, he shot out like lightning towards Yang Kai.
No matter what, he couldn’t let Yang Kai kill two of his Sect’s Elders right before his eyes.
Cang Yan grinned meaningfully and also shot out, arriving in front of Xia Cheng Yin in a flash.
“Cang Yan, what do you mean by this?” Xia Cheng Yin glared at Cang Yan as he coldly questioned; although both of them were Third Order Transcendents, facing Cang Yan, he wasn’t confident he could prevail in a direct conflict.
“I have no other meaning, but if you want to hurt him, you have to go through me first,” Cang Yan replied faintly.
“He has nothing to do with your Soaring Heaven Sect, Cang Yan, don’t go too far!” Xia Cheng Yin’s face twisted, shouting out somewhat hysterically.
“Little friend Yang, please show some mercy!” Du Wan also hurriedly shouted, bringing Mi Na with him as he rushed towards Yang Kai.
Upon hearing Old Man Du’s shout, Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled, quickly examining Xu Qi’s current state, his determination not wavering but still reluctantly standing down for the moment.
Soon, Old Man Du and Mi Na arrived beside Yang Kai, Old Man Du sighing softly as he direct a complex stare towards Yang Kai.
During the time he had spent at the Alchemist Guild, Yang Kai had given Old Man Du a very good impression, not like an ordinary reckless youth who flaunted their strength and status, but now he couldn’t understand why this mild mannered boy had suddenly decisively tried to kill two Elders of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion.
“Old Man Du,” Yang Kai greeted indifferently before nodding lightly to Mi Na.
Mi Na’s neck was dark red, shooting a glance towards Yang Kai before pursing her lips and quickly averting her eyes again.
Yang Kai thought nothing of her reaction and instead turned to stare at Cang Yan. He didn’t know why this person would suddenly help him as he had no memory of ever meeting him before. Naturally the two of them had no prior friendship.
While observing the situation, Yang Kai also took out a set of clothes and put them on, his movements calm and collected.
Xia Cheng Yin was also no longer arguing with Cang Yan and instead just glaring at Yang Kai with hatred. Although this youth may be a rare talent in Alchemy, it was also an indisputable fact that he had just killed Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Great Elder; no matter what the circumstances were, Xia Cheng Yin had to seek justice for Duan Hai.
“Little friend, what is this all about, if it’s convenient, can you tell me?” Old Man Du inquired in a dignified tone.
“These two wanted to harm me and threw me into the Wind Eye in an attempt to wash away my Soul,” Yang Kai explained it faintly.
“Bullshit, as far as I know, you are an Honoured Guest Duan Hai personally invited to my Spirit Religion, why would he and Xu Qi suddenly want to kill you?” Xia Cheng Yin obviously couldn’t accept such an explanation.
For no reason at all, how could two Second Order Transcendent masters have ill intentions towards a little brat?
“Who are you?” Yang Kai turned to look at this person indifferently, feeling a palpable hostility and resentment from his stare.
Old Man Du coughed, “This is the Religion Master of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, Xia Cheng Yin!”
Yang Kai gently nodded, his doubts abating somewhat before turning to look at Cang Yan, “And this is?”
“Soaring Heaven Sect, Cang Yan!” Cang Yan took a step forward and introduced himself.
“Do we know each other?” Yang Kai smiled at him temperately, his attitude neither warm nor cold.
“No,” Cang Yan smiled, “However, I have something to ask of you.”
“Something to ask of me?” Yang Kai’s asked curiously, shooting a glance towards Du Wan who quickly said, “Cang Yan has no malicious intentions towards you, I can guarantee this!”
“Alright. We can discuss about your matter later,” Yang Kai nodded to Cang Yan.
Noticing the confidence and indifference Yang Kai spoke with, Cang Yan smiled even wider.
[This little brat really fits well with my own temper! Ha Ha!] Cang Yan chuckled in his heart.
After killing a Great Elder, he was able to face Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master without the slightest trace of fear.
[Having such courage even in this situation, what exactly was this little brat’s background?] Cang Yan thought as he sized up Yang Kai thoughtfully.
His Martial Ancestor had asked him to find this person and he had spent two months doing so, causing Cang Yan to feel somewhat depressed and annoyed, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that these two months were worth it.
“Little brat, if you don’t give me an explanation today, don’t dream of leaving here in one piece!” Xia Cheng Yin’s complexion change from red to blue as he grit his teeth and angrily shouted.
“What more do you want me to explain?” Yang Kai smiled, “I think I made things clear already.”
“That’s just your side of the story, do you think this Religion Master will just smile and believe you?”
Du Wan knit his brow but still kindly asked, “Little friend, is what you said really the truth?”
Yang Kai nodded sternly.
“Then why? What advantage would they gain by throwing you into the Wind Eye to wash away your Soul?” Du Wan asked carefully, knowing that this time, if he couldn’t give Xia Cheng Yin a reason he could accept, it would be impossible for the latter to let things go.
Yang Kai hesitated, as if he was unwilling to answer.
If anything related to the Coffin Carrying Man was revealed, it would be extremely detrimental to him.
“Little friend can rest assured, if what you said is the truth and you weren’t in the wrong, this old master can guarantee that you will leave here unharmed. Cang Yan will also lend his assistance,” Du Wan said, glancing over at Cang Yan.
Cang Yan was even more straightforward, “Even if you are in the wrong, no one can hurt you in front of me.”
Yang Kai looked at him curiously, really unable to understand why this stranger was so adamant about trying to protect him.
After a long silence, Yang Kai turned to Xia Cheng Yin with a cold look and muttered, “Bright Thunder’s Religion Master, is it? If I can prove that Duan Hai and Xu Qi acted with intent to harm me, how do you plan on compensating me?”
“Compensate you?” Xia Cheng Yin eyes went red, “You killed my Great Elder and then expect me to compensate you? Are you not mistaken, little brat? Now we should be discussing how to make up for my Spirit Religion’s losses!”
“He only has himself to blame, this time, if it weren’t for my luck, I would have died inside the Wind Eye. Me killing him is only natural.”
Du Wan nodded, “If it is true that Duan Hai and Xu Qi conspired to kill little friend Yang, their deaths aren’t worth pitying. Religion Master Xia, what do you think? It was this old master who recommended little friend Yang enter your Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, this old master naturally has a responsibility to maintain his interests and security.”
Du Wan’s tone was calm, but anyone could hear that he was not happy.
As a Saint Grade Alchemist, it was a rare occurrence for him to recommend a rising star to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, but now Yang Kai had actually encountered such misfortune. This incident would bring great damage to Old Man Du’s prestige and face.
Although Xia Cheng Yin was angry, he didn’t dare vent his frustrations in front of Old Man Du, nodding as he said, “What Old Man Du said is fair, if this is really the truth of the matter… there’s no need for outsiders to intervene, this Religion Master will clean up his Sect personally and give Old Man Du a proper account!”
Du Wan nodded with satisfaction and turned back towards Yang Kai, “Now little friend, can you explain everything?”
“I still insist on compensation!” Yang Kai smiled slightly, “This matter can’t be settled so casually.”
“This Religion Master has given Old Man Du face, but what do you count for? Don’t overestimate your own worth!” Xia Cheng Yin glared at Yang Kai resentfully, wishing he could immediately pound this insolent brat into meat paste.
“I agree with you!” Cang Yan nodded repeatedly to Yang Kai, “If Religion Master Xia doesn’t compensate you appropriately, within one month I will let his Bright Thunder Spirit Religion disappear from this world permanently.”
“Uncle, really knows how to talk!” Mi Na said to Cang Yan with a look of excitement and respect on her face.
[Uncle…] Cang Yan’s mouth twitched slightly, his expression sinking somewhat, unable to completely maintain his cold indifferent demeanor after suffering such an unexpected attack.
Yang Kai on the other hand only became more doubtful as he stared towards Cang Yan, really unable to understand what this master’s intentions were, but now was not the time to get to the bottom of things, for the moment Yang Kai could feel that this person was truly well-meant towards him, allowing him to feel relieved.
“Cang Yan!” Xia Cheng Yin clenched his fists, his True Qi surging up as he glared at Cang Yan coldly.
“You wanna fight? I’m more than happy to accompany you,” Cang Yan sneered dismissively.
“Please have some patience you two,” Old Man Du said helplessly, having no choice but to play peacemaker in this situation, “Religion Master Xia, this old master also hopes that if what little friend Yang said is true, you can offer him some compensation.”
“Old Man Du also has this intention?” The hatred in Xia Cheng Yin’s eyes increased once again, hesitating for a moment before somehow managing to mutter, “Good, this Religion Master can accept his impolite request, but Old Man Du, if we find out that things are not as he said, then don’t blame me for not giving you face.”
“As you like,” Du Wan nodded lightly, turning back to Yang Kai once more, “You can speak freely.”
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before wearing a helpless expression and replying, “The two of them wanted to collect my Knowledge Sea!”
Saying so, Yang Kai released his Spiritual Energy slightly and followed up, “Because I have a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea!”
Everyone else became dumbstruck, almost unable to believe what they had just heard.
However, feeling the blazing hot aura in Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy, they had no choice but to believe him.
Old Man Du’s eyes gradually brightened, even becoming somewhat excited as he stared towards Yang Kai as if he had just discovered an incredible treasure.
Cang Yan was also showing signs of excitement. For a master at his level, there were very few things that could disturb his mood, but when he learned about Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, he nearly lost his self-control.
Laughing wildly in his heart, he now understood why his Martial Ancestor had let him search for this little brat, it turns out he was an Alchemist with a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea!
Didn’t that mean he was at the same starting line as the famous The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep? That also meant he might one day reach the same height as The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep? A man widely admired by Human, Demon, and Monster Races alike!
Conflagrated Knowledge Seas were rare existences, and even if one or two cultivators who had Conflagrated Knowledge Sea appeared now and then, it was not guaranteed they would also be proficient in Alchemy as these two traits weren’t necessarily mutually associated.
Xia Cheng Yin was also dumbfounded as he stared towards Yang Kai, his face filled with annoyance and remorse.
“I told Duan Hai that it was impossible for me to remain in Bright Thunder Spirit Religion so he and Xu Qi plotted to use the power of the Wind Eye to extract my Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, that’s the truth,” Yang Kai faintly explained.
Although this was not the most fundamental reason, it was also part of reason Duan Hai and Xu Qi acted against Yang Kai this way, so technically he wasn’t lying.
As he couldn’t disclose information about the Coffin Carrying Man, Yang Kai could only expose his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
“So that’s how it is,” Old Man Du nodded slightly, after feeling Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, naturally believed his words. Taking a deep breath, Du Wan turned to look at Xia Cheng Yin and said, “Religion Master Xia, what else do you want to say? Or could it be that you still don’t believe what little friend Yang said?”
“I have nothing to ask,” Xia Cheng Yin slowly shook his head as he stared at Yang Kai in a complicated manner. If he continued to make things difficult here, he would only end up offending both Old Man Du and Cang Yan, that was something he couldn’t afford.
Moreover, this Yang Kai was very likely to become an exceedingly influential character in the future, if he were to thoroughly offend him now, Bright Thunder Spirit Religions future days may not be peaceful.
“En, very good,” Old Man Du nodded with satisfaction, his expression quickly becoming solemn, “Today’s events should only be known to those present here, if anyone dares to leak any news of it, don’t blame this old master for being rude to him.”
“Agreed,” Cang Yan and Xia Cheng Yin both nodded firmly.
A Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was a rare treasure that would draw covetous eyes from all over the world, once word of its existence leaked out, it would only lead to countless troubles.
*Xiu…*
Together with a swift breeze, Xu Qi’s vitality disappeared, causing Xia Cheng Yin’s eyes to flash, never having expected Yang Kai to act so decisively. Unfortunately for him, even if he was angry, there was nothing he could do about it.
“Good, now we can talk about my compensation,” Yang Kai grinned.
Xia Cheng Yin’s face twitched slightly, but despite feeling extremely unwilling inside, he had no choice but to ask, “What compensation do you want? As long as it is something my Spirit Religion has, I can comply, but don’t try to force my to offer something I am not capable of, you must ask for something I can achieve.”
“Naturally,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “I want to go to the Thunder Eye to cultivate, so I must ask Religion Master Xia to open the way.”
As soon as this statement came out, everyone once again stared at him in astonishment.
“Go to the Thunder Eye?” Xia Cheng Yin was somewhat stunned, “You also cultivate a Thunder Attribute Secret Art?”
“That’s my business, does Religion Master Xia want to pry into my private affairs?” Yang Kai shook his head.
“Is the disappearance of the Wind Eye related to you?” Xia Cheng Yin watched Yang Kai vigilantly.
“Possibly, possibly not, I’m not entirely sure.”
“Does that mean, if you go to the Thunder Eye, will it also disappear?”
“It shouldn’t, please rest assured, Religion Master Xia.”
Inside the Wind Eye, Yang Kai had intentionally stimulated it, breaking it from the inside which had led to its ultimate destruction. At the time, Yang Kai had just wanted to seek revenge, if he hadn’t done this, the Wind Eye wouldn’t have disappeared; of course, the Wind Eye would definitely be much weaker than before.
“Does Religion Master Xia want to go back on his word? If so, you’ll have to ask if I agree,” Cang Yan looked at Xia Cheng Yin aggressively.
“The Wind Eye and Thunder Eye are the foundations of my Spirit Religion. Now that one of them has disappeared, very likely because of him, how can I so easily allow him to visit the other? Do you take this Religion Master as a fool?”
“If you intend to comply, then comply, but even if you don’t intend to comply, you must comply!” Cang Yan sneered, grabbed Yang Kai, and flew off.
“Cang Yan, don’t go too far!” Xia Cheng Yin shouted furiously and quickly pursued.
“Haa…” Du Wan sighed deeply, looking helpless, hesitating for a while before also following after them with Mi Na in tow.
Cang Yan’s speed was so incredible that Yang Kai could barely open his eyes, only able to vaguely see the surrounding scenery retreating backwards. After less than the time it would take to burn half a stick of incense, the pair arrived at the location of the Thunder Eye.
Here, there was still a large number of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion disciples gathered, cultivating quietly while feeling the ambient Lightning Qi in the air.
The stronger the disciple was, the closer they were to the Thunder Eye, and while the weaker one was the further away they sat.
Floating in the sky was a huge vortex of lightning that was constantly shooting off and drawing in sparks. The sound of thunder continuously burst out as the surrounding atmosphere was filled with violent Thunder Attribute energy.
When Cang Yan arrived here with Yang Kai, the Spirit Religion disciples who were in meditative cultivation all woke up and showed expressions of surprise and amazement as they looked up at them.
“Kid, are you sure you want to go in? This place is no joke, one misstep and your entire Soul will be blown away,” Cang Yan warned as he stared at the raging Thunder Eye with a dignified expression.
The violent energy contained within the Thunder Eye was stronger than that which was inside the Wind Eye. Cang Yan had dared to release his Divine Sense to spy on the Wind Eye, but he did not dare do so with the Thunder Eye.
Comparing the two, the Thunder Eye was definitely more dangerous.
“Bright Thunder’s Religion Master is pursuing us, please let me go in, Senior,” Yang Kai glanced back and saw Xia Cheng Yin rushing towards them, the latter’s face filled with a mix of anxiety and rage, howling towards them to stop.
Cang Yan obviously didn’t put Xia Cheng Yin in his eyes as he grinned and casually said, “You’re a strange one kid. Good, I’ll help you; however, don’t you dare die, or I’ll have no way to explain things to my Marital Ancestor!”
Having said what he needed to say, Cang Yang tossed Yang Kai towards the Thunder Eye.
Cries of shock rang out from all the surrounding Bright Thunder Spirit Religion disciples who saw Yang Kai disappear into the Thunder Eye, all of them wondering how this brat had offended Cang Yan, causing the latter to throw him to his death.
Xia Cheng Yin arrived a moment later, but was helpless to do anything but watch.
Inside the Thunder Eye, when Yang Kai first came in, he felt tremendous pressure, many times stronger than what he had felt inside the Wind Eye.
The power of lightning instantly surged through his entire body, causing all of his hair to stand on end and his Soul to tremble fiercely, his skin soon giving off a scorched smell.
Taking another drop of Myriad Drug Milk, Yang Kai quickly sat down inside the Thunder Eye and while ignoring his own injuries, allowed the Wind and Thunder Wings to extract the Thunder Qi around him.
After his previous experience, Yang Kai was much more relaxed, understanding exactly what it was the Wind and Thunder Wings were craving.
From Yang Kai’s back, at the position of his right shoulder blade, as expected, a huge suction force erupted, rapidly pulling the surrounding Thunder Attribute energy into his body.
*Hua…*
As Yang Kai’s wings opened once more. Wind danced freely to his left, while lightning arced back and forth on his right.
Yang Kai soon entered into a meditative state as he comprehended the mysteries of thunder and lightning.
Outside the Thunder Eye, the Bright Thunder Spirit Religion disciples had all scattered as Cang Yan and Xia Cheng Yin engaged in an earth shaking battle. It wasn’t until Old Man Du caught up and came forward to mediate that their fight ceased.
It was not easy to decide a victor in a contest between two Third Order Transcendent masters, but just from observing the two of them, Xia Cheng Yin was obviously in worse shape than Cang Yan.
If the battle had continued, undoubtedly Xia Cheng Yin would have eventually lost.
After realizing this, Bright Thunder’s Religion Master decisively took advantage of Old Man Du’s intercession to draw back.
As time went by, the small group of people outside the Thunder Eye noticed that the Thunder and Lightning Attribute energy in the surrounding atmosphere was gradually weakening. Even the most intuitive manifestation of this, the amount of lightning strikes falling from the Thunder Eye, had become noticeably sparser.
Xia Cheng Yin’s expression turned incredibly ugly.
Today, two Elders had died, the Wind Eye had been destroyed, and the power of the Thunder Eye was severely weakened. The only question now was whether it would disappear entirely like the Wind Eye.
The loss to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion was simply incalculable!
One day later, the intensity of the Thunder Eye was less than half what it originally was. By now, Xia Cheng Yin’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he stared at the Thunder Eye like a crazed beast, his resentment nearly palpable.
Although Old Man Du felt like destroying the foundation of a Sect was somewhat immoral, thinking about how Duan Hai had tried to kill a young genius he had recommended to him, he still chose to say nothing.
Inside the Thunder Eye, Yang Kai took a deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes as sparks of lightning flashed across them.
After one day of absorption, he realized that the Wind and Thunder Wings had perfectly integrated into his body.
From this moment on, this pair of wings had truly been refined by him and become a part of his strength.
The wings behind him were still filled with blazing hot Yang Attribute energy, but the left half now also contained sharp Wind Attribute energy while the right half contained wild Thunder and Lightning Attribute energy.
Wind, Thunder, and Yang Qi all came together to form a strange kind of balance while undergoing some subtle changes. These three different attribute energies were no longer in their most elementary forms; they combined into something new. The power of wind and thunder now containing a burning heat, creating a kind of Flame Wind and Flame Lightning, multiplying their lethality compared to ordinary wind and thunder.
His Flaming Yang Wings had not been completely replaced by the Wind and Thunder Wings.
The only thing that Yang Kai had difficulty with was determining what exactly this pair of wings was; it was somewhat like an artifact, but also somewhat like a Martial Skill.
However, what was undeniable was that Han Fei had sent him a big gift!
The reason why Han Fei and Li Rong failed to refine the Wind and Thunder Wings was likely because they had not had an opportunity like the one Yang Kai experienced.
Everything was a coincidence, but it still subtly felt like an inevitable result.
Withdrawing his Wind and Thunder Wings, Yang Kai stepped out from the greatly weakened Thunder Eye.
The group who had been waiting outside for a long time now saw Yang Kai coming out and couldn’t help smiling. Xia Cheng Yin also breathing a sigh of relief.
In the end, the Thunder Eye did not disappear, and although it was not as powerful as it used to be, it was at least intact.
Staring at Yang Kai, Xia Cheng Yin felt extremely complicated, annoyance, hatred, and doubt all swirling about his thoughts.
“Kid, you sure surprised us!” When Yang Kai appeared, Cang Yan immediately laughed, “Kid, your aura has changed a lot, did you reap a big harvest?”
“En, something like that,” Yang Kai nodded slightly, “Although my cultivation hasn’t increased, sensing the mysteries of thunder took some time. Sorry for making you wait.”
“Little friend Yang is too polite,” Du Wan smiled and shook his head.
“Since you’re done here, let’s go,” Cang Yan waved.
Yang Kai shot a glance over at Xia Cheng Yin, who although still looked sullen, eventually didn’t say a word or try to stop them from leaving.
With Cang Yan here, even if Xia Cheng Yin wanted to stop them he couldn’t. The losses suffered by Bright Thunder Spirit Religion over these past two days was already big enough, if he were to now completely offend Cang Yan and end up in a conflict with Soaring Heaven Sect, Bright Thunder Spirit Religion really wouldn’t be able to afford the consequences.
Soaring Heaven Sect’s four madmen were each no worse than him. Once a fight started, Bright Thunder Spirit Religion would definitely be destroyed.
Xia Cheng Yin had no choice but to swallow this insult.
“Religion Master Xia, many thanks for your hospitality this time,” Old Man Du nodded to Xia Cheng Yin.
“Leave, I won’t see you off!” Xia Cheng Yin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, unwilling to watch anymore.
Cang Yan just coldly snorted and wrapped Yang Kai, Du Wan, and Mi Na in his True Qi before soaring off into the sky.
After they left, Xia Cheng Yin’s face twisted as he stared at their fading backs for a moment before suddenly activating his movement skill and flying towards where the Wind Eye was formerly situated.
He still had numerous doubts about Yang Kai’s story. At that time, Du Wan was watching closely so he had not pressed the issue, but now that he had a chance, he naturally planned to investigate further.
Although Xu Qi and Duan Hai had been dead for a day, Xia Cheng Yin still had confidence he could gather some of their scattered Souls together and spy on their memories to unravel exactly what kind of grudges they had with Yang Kai.
Arriving at the spot where the two Elders died, Xia Cheng Yin quickly chanted some profound words while circulating a mysterious energy.
A moment later, a barrier encompassing the surrounding thirty kilometer radius formed. Xia Cheng Yin had to blockade this area in order to collect the broken fragments of Xu Qi and Duan Hai’s Souls.
He believed that given the strong cultivation of these two, even though their bodies had died, their Souls would not have been completely dispersed so quickly.
However, what made Xia Cheng Yin depressed and even more doubtful was that no matter how he tried, he couldn’t gather the slightest bit of residual Spiritual Energy. It was as if the two Elder’s Souls had been completely erased, surprising him greatly.
…..
Above Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, a group of four people flew forward.
When they passed by a certain mountain peak, Yang Kai inadvertently glanced down and saw a tall, beautiful woman standing there.
The other party seemed to also notice him, her beautiful eyes flashing with a guilty light as traces of amazement and sadness flickered past her face.
Suddenly, she leapt up and used her full strength to try to chase after them, her pretty face filled with anxiety.
But how could her speed compare with Cang Yan? After a few breaths, she had fallen out of sight.
“Hey, you big bastard, there was a young miss chasing after you just now,” Mi Na suddenly shot Yang Kai an accusatory look.
“Oh, where?” Yang Kai feigned ignorance.
“Trying to play dumb?” Mi Na snorted, “She called your name, I’m sure you heard. Did you thoughtlessly have your way with her only to abandon her after? Hmph, I didn’t think you were such a beast, but now it seems I should keep my distance from you in the future.”
“Can you not make wild accusations? I’m nothing if not a gentleman, I wouldn’t do something like that,” Yang Kai replied seriously.
Mi Na spat disdainfully, obviously not convinced.
She had stayed inside the Alchemist Guild for a long time so her desire for gossip was stronger than most. Not having caught wind of Yang Kai’s salacious scandal, obviously she was not about to let the subject drop so easily.
Yang Kai ignored her though and instead turned a puzzled look towards Cang Yan.
Even until now, he didn’t understand why this person had helped him for no reason, not even hesitating to offend Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Religion Master in the process!
After hesitating for a long time, Yang Kai finally asked, “Senior, can you tell me why you helped me? What advantage does any of this bring you?”
Cang Yan glanced at him as they continued to fly forward, a smile slowly appearing on his cold face, “You’re quite vigilant.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded forthrightly.
Old Man Du chuckled, “Little friend Yang doesn’t need to be suspicious of Cang Yan. Although I admit recommending you go to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion was wrong, this time I can guarantee that he will not act disadvantageously towards you.”
“I naturally believe Old Man Du’s words,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “But that still doesn’t clear up my confusion, since Senior does not have any malicious intentions towards me, can you tell me what reason you have for assisting me?”
“There’s really nothing for me to tell you, I’m just completing the task assigned to me.”
“Task?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“En, I can’t tell you anything else, you’ll have to figure that out when we reach our destination; after all, I don’t know much either.”
“Who gave you this task?”
“My Martial Ancestor.”
“Soaring Heaven Sect’s Sect Master?” Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
Cang Yan didn’t answer, only continuing to fly forward. Yang Kai asked him a few more times but never received any response so he could only give up, turning to Old Man Du instead and asking, “What kind of person is Soaring Heaven Sect’s Sect Master?”
“A Saint Realm powerhouse,” Du Wan replied, “As to which Order he is, I’m not certain. When you meet you might as well ask him yourself.”
Cang Yan suddenly came to a stop at that moment and said, “Old Man Du, let’s separate here, I need to bring him back to the Sect as soon as possible!”
“Good,” Du Wan gently nodded, turning to look at Yang Kai and saying, “Little friend Yang, this time I have caused you to endure some unpleasantness, this old man is truly sorry, just know that the Alchemist Guild’s doors are always open to you, if you are free, please do stop by to say hello.”
The kindness and sincerity in Old Man Du’s voice gave Yang Kai a warm feeling in his heart and he nodded, “This was not Old Man Du’s mistake, Old Man Du doesn’t need to take it to heart. En, I will definitely visit the Alchemist Guild in the future.”
Old Man Du showed a faint smile before saying to Cang Yan, “Give my regards to your Martial Ancestor, this old man is getting on in years so I won’t be visiting him this time.”
“I will certainly deliver Old Man Du’s sentiments,” Cang Yan replied firmly, “We’ll be taking our leave then.”
Saying so, he took Yang Kai and shot off in a different direction.
“Yang Kai, remember to come back soon!” Mi Na called out to Yang Kai as she waved goodbye.
Soaring Heaven Sect was one of the four major forces in the vicinity of Grand Boulder City.
However, although they were called the ‘four forces’, in reality, the other three Sects were not comparable to Soaring Heaven Sect. Whether it was in terms of heritage or the level of masters, Soaring Heaven Sect was far ahead of the other local Sects.
There were no Saint Realm masters in Ancient Moon Cave Heaven, Luo Sheng Sect, or Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, but it was rumored that there were at least two such powerhouses in Soaring Heaven Sect.
Beneath the Saint Realm though, Soaring Heaven Sect had four famous Third Order Transcendents.
These four all had tyrannical strength, and Cang Yan was one of them.
But in the eyes of the uninformed, Soaring Heaven Sect was on the same level as the other three forces because it had very few disciples, inferior to forces such as Bright Thunder Spirit Religion by several fold.
Yang Kai was carried the whole time by Cang Yan and was constantly asking questions about Soaring Heaven Sect as they traveled.
Cang Yan seemed to be a person who cherished words like gold, but to Yang Kai’s inquiries he still responded patiently.
At the same time, Cang Yan was also observing Yang Kai.
Why his Martial Ancestor had asked him to find this boy, Cang Yan was also confused.
Half a day later, when they were approaching Soaring Heaven Sect’s borders, Cang Yan suddenly paused and stared forward with a suspicious look, seemingly having discovered something.
Soon, Yang Kai also noticed that a powerful aura was rapidly approaching them. This aura was no weaker than Cang Yan’s, but unlike Cang Yan’s imposing pressure, this new aura felt softer, like the slowly flowing water in a vast river.
Yang Kai couldn’t help showing a curious expression and didn’t ask much, simply deciding to wait quietly and observe.
A moment later, a blue light appeared over the horizon and quickly flew over, stopping just in front of Cang Yan. When the blue light faded, a beautiful woman dressed in an unusually bold fashion appeared in front of Cang Yan.
This beautiful woman’s skin was snow white and her eyes were pure and watery, seemingly containing ten thousand kinds of charm. There was a tiny black mole at the corner of her mouth which only added to her appeal.
On her face was a lazy smile, and her upper body’s robes were quite messy and exposing, revealing her pair of round, white half-moons and the deep valley between them that seemed to unconsciously draw people’s eyes. As for her lower half, her skit had an extremely long slit which reached almost all the way up to her hips, allowing one to see the whole length of her slender legs, including her tender white thighs.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck and couldn’t help staring for a moment.
The beautiful woman didn’t evade his gaze, nor show the slightest bit of shyness, instead turning a glamorous smile towards Yang Kai as she too began evaluating him with an interested look.
Cang Ya’s brow wrinkled, “Fei Yu, how did you come out, didn’t Martial Ancestor punish you with half a year of confinement? Don’t tell me you snuck out.”
“I didn’t sneak out,” Fei Yu replied curtly as she lightly bit her lip. In the next instant, without even seeing how she moved, she suddenly appeared in front of Yang Kai and extended a jade hand, gently lifting Yang Kai’s Chin, “Where did you find this little brother? Why does he look somewhat familiar?”
Yang Kai didn’t quite know why but he felt his hair stand slightly on end at that moment.
Cang Yan quickly pulled Yang Kai behind him, like a mother hen guarding its newborn chick, blocking him from Fei Yu as he frowned, “Don’t make trouble, this is the person Martial Ancestor is looking for.”
“Martial Ancestor?” Hearing this, Fei Yu’s beautiful eyes flashed brilliantly as she pondered, “Why does Martial Ancestor want to see him?”
“I don’t know,” Cang Yan shook his head, “But he’s not your toy.”
“Fine,” Fei Yu frowned slightly and muttered impatiently.
“Enough about that. Why aren’t you staying quietly in the Sect and have instead run out here?”
“Martial Ancestor sent me out,” Fei Yu giggled, “If I didn’t receive an order from the old man, how could I dare to go out?”
Suddenly, her beautiful eyes flickered as she said, “En, Martial Ancestor told me to redeem myself with good works, saying that if I can resolve this problem he will cancel my half-year confinement.”
“What matter do you need to solve?” Cang Yan asked curiously, but the moment these words left his mouth he felt the impulse to slap his own face, raising his hands and waving them, “Forget I asked, I’ll be returning to the Sect first. You carry on.”
“Don’t go!” Fei Yu swiftly grabbed Cang Yan’s arm, smiled warmly and said, “Since you asked, naturally I should tell you.”
Saying so, she didn’t dare give Cang Yan an opportunity to refuse, happily explaining her assigned duty.
Roughly a hundred kilometers outside Soaring Heaven Sect, it seemed a disciple had found a hidden cave. There was a barrier set up around this cave to conceal it so it should have been a blessed land that some powerful master had left behind many years ago. The disciple couldn’t break open this barrier so he had quickly returned to the Sect and gathered together a group of Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers, a dozen people in total, to open up and explore the blessed land, hoping they could find some opportunities. But unexpectedly, there was a hidden trap in the blessed land, and before any of them noticed, they had all been incapacitated.
All the disciples who had entered were attacked by a swarm of Exotic Ancient Insects called Soul Devouring Insects. When this news was sent back to Soaring Heaven Sect, the Sect Master had dispatched Fei Yu to handle it.
“Soul Devouring Insects?” Cang Yan’s expression changed greatly, “Wasn’t that Exotic Ancient Insect supposed to be extinct?”
“Who knows,” Fei Yu shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know which despicable bastard left these troublesome bugs near our Soaring Heaven Sect, but if I find his bone, I’ll definitely trample them into dust!”
“Martial Ancestor sent you to handle this matter, but what are you planning on doing? This isn’t something that ordinary cultivators can deal with, even if it’s you, if you’re not careful, your life might be endangered.”
“En,” Fei Yu wore a pitiful expression that could make anyone who saw it sympathise with her as she whispered, “Therefore, Cang Yan, you have to help me.”
“How am I supposed to help you? I don’t have any method to handle this kind of Exotic Ancient Insect.”
“You cultivate Fire Attribute Secret Arts, you should be able to incinerate them.”
“Do you think flames created from True Qi can burn them? You must be dreaming,” Cang Yan coldly snorted, but as he said these words, he suddenly glanced over at Yang Kai, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
“But no one other than you can help me! Those two bastards Li Wan and Fei Jian went into hiding the moment they learned I had accepted this task! Hateful!” Fei Yu gnashed her teeth.
“I also should have hidden from you,” Cang Yan muttered, feeling a big headache. Had he only known in advance he would not have spoken to her in the first place. After spending so many years together with this woman, Cang Yan couldn’t even remember how many times he had been deceived by her appearance and roped into dangerous situations like this.
“It’s too late,” Fei Yu glared at Cang Yan coldly and declared, “If you want to help me, then just help me already, but even if you don’t want to help me, you still have to help me!”
Cang Yan sighed, “It’s really not a convenient time for this, I have to bring this kid back to see Martial Ancestor as quickly as possible.”
“You’ve been searching for him for two months already, who cares if you wait another day or two. Just come with me to take a look, if we really can’t handle the situation, I won’t make things difficult for you,” Fei Yu continued.
Cang Yan’s brow wrinkled, seemingly weighing this decision carefully. Seeing that there might be hope, Fei Yu quickly struck while the iron was hot, continuing her attempts to persuade him.
After a long time, Cang Yan nodded slightly, “Good, I’ll help you out this time, but… whether we can ultimately succeed, I can’t guarantee.”
Fei Yu was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, “I knew you wouldn’t abandon me! You’re the best! Li Wan and Fei Jian, the two bastards, they should just go die in a ditch somewhere.”
“However, can I make a request?”
“What request?”
Cang Yan coughed lightly, “I remember fifty years ago, you brewed a batch of Thousand Safflower Wine, right?”
Fei Yu elegant face sank, gritting her teeth as she muttered, “Do you make a habit of remembering things from fifty years ago?”
“I always keep good things in mind,” Cang Yan nodded slightly, replying in a natural tone, “En, if we succeed, give me half of them.”
“No! I crossed the whole continent in order to collect the thousand different rare flowers to brew that Thousand Safflower Wine before waiting fifty years for it to ferment! Even I haven’t had a sip of it myself, yet now you open your mouth and demand half of it from me? I take back my words, you’re no better than Li Wan and Fei Jian! No, you’re even worse! If that’s your price, I’d rather not have your help at all!”
Yang Kai stared blankly at this beautiful woman, faintly thinking that this so-called Thousand Safflower Wine seemed to be more important to her than her own life.
“You brewed twenty bottles at that time, even if you give me half, you’ll still have ten jars left!”
“At most I can give you one bottle, don’t even dream you can get half a jar more.”
“Eight bottles!”
“One!”
“Five!”
…..
After an intense round of bargaining, Cang Yan finally could only pinch his nose and accept, “Fine, one bottle, one bottle.”
“That’ll depend on your performance!” Fei Yu spat disdainfully, curling her lips into a grin, “If you can’t help, I won’t give you a single drop.”
Saying so, she suddenly turned her gaze towards Yang Kai, “Smelly brat, what are you smiling about, you think this is funny?”
“No, but it is interesting,” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, seeing these two Third Order Transcendents quarreling like this, the obvious friendship between them, it unconsciously gave him a warm feeling.
It had been quite some time since Yang Kai had experienced such a feeling, ever since he came to Tong Xuan Realm, he had always felt somewhat isolated and alone.
“Let’s go, where is that blessed land?” Having reached an agreement on price, Cang Yan was not willing to waste any more time.
“Follow me,” Fei Yu said, leading the way.
As this beautiful woman flew forward, her perfectly rounded hips swayed back and forth in a kind of hypnotising rhythm, enchanting one’s heart as her exquisite jet black hair danced lightly in the wind, revealing her slender white neck that seemed to be crafted from the finest porcelain.
“Don’t stare at her, if you’re not careful, she’ll dig out your eyes,” Cang Yan whispered into Yang Kai’s ear.
“For just that?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“Not long ago, because an Elder from Luo Sheng Sect had an obscene glint in his eyes as he stared at her, she…” Cang Yan didn’t say anymore but instead made a chopping motion with his hand as he glanced towards Yang Kai’s lower half.
Yang Kai’s face instantly went black.
“That’s why Martial Ancestor gave her half a year of solitary confinement,” Cang Yan nodded, “Actually, despite the flirtatious way she dresses and acts, she’s actually still…”
Before he could finish his words though, a delicate jade white fist landed on his face, sending Cang Yan flying over a thousand meters.
The air around Fei Yu seemed to freeze as an ice cold light flashed across her face as she stared towards the miserable Cang Yan, snorting as she scolded, “Do you think I’m deaf?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help gulping while secretly worrying about Cang Yan.
“Little brother, come here, you can travel together with Elder Sister.” Fei Yu suddenly smiled and rushed over to Yang Kai and waved her hand, not waiting for him to answer before directly wrapping him in her True Qi and flying off.
Being pulled close and involuntarily sniffing the enchanting fragrance that lightly wafted from this beautiful woman, Yang Kai’s face became slightly unnatural, but he wisely kept a serious expression on his face, not daring to show the slightest signs of impropriety.
“Don’t listen to that bastard’s nonsense, he’s just slandering me,” Fei Yu whispered as she exhaled a warm breath laced with a unique scent of flowers, tickling one’s heartstrings, “It doesn’t matter if you take a look, Elder Sister won’t punish you for just that, I’m quite gentle.”
Cang Yan, Fei Yu, and Yang Kai landed halfway up a lonely mountain peak and after spending a moment carefully examining the surroundings, the two Third Order Transcendents honed in on their target.
Yang Kai also faintly noticed that there was some kind of subtle energy overflow at the position Cang Yan and Fei Yu indicated.
However, even up close, Yang Kai couldn’t see any difference between it and the surrounding area. If he didn’t know any better he would swear it was just an ordinary piece of land.
“It should be some kind of camouflage, and it’s quite ingenious at that, no wonder so many people hadn’t discovered this place even after so many years,” Cang Yan revealed a solemn expression as he looked around.
“The Spirit Array probably degraded after such a long time which allowed the Sect’s disciples to inadvertently discover it,” Fei Yu also agreed, “Let’s go, we shouldn’t waste any more time.”
Cang Yan stamped his foot on the ground and spread out a scalding hot aura, after which Yang Kai quickly noticed some mysterious glowing runes on the ground.
These runes seemed to be floating within the earth like tadpoles in a pond, struggling for a moment before being burned to ashes under Cang Yan’s technique.
Cang Yan cultivated a Fire Attribute Secret Art, so his True Qi flames were extremely potent, and with his Third Order Transcendent cultivation, it was naturally easy for him to crack this old, damaged, concealing Spirit Array.
A dark hole appeared on the ground, only big enough for one person to enter or exit at a time.
Fei Yu didn’t say anything and jumped straight in, disappearing in the next instant.
Cang Yan waved, “Go in.”
“I’m going in as well?” Yang Kai was surprised. He had thought he would be waiting outside for Cang Yan and Fei Yu to finish; after all, with over a dozen Soaring Heaven Sect disciples having met tragedy inside, this was definitely a crisis ridden place, if he were to recklessly follow these two masters, the only thing he would accomplish would be to slow them down.
“Of course you’re going in,” Cang Yan smiled meaningfully, “This time I’m afraid we’ll have to rely on you.”
“Rely on me?” Yang Kai became even more confused, “Senior must be joking.”
“I’m not joking at all. If it was just me here, I would never have agreed to Fei Yu’s request, but with you here, things are different. Good, once you enter you’ll understand.” Saying so, Cang Yan directly threw Yang Kai into the hole.
With that said, Yang Kai was helpless and could only quietly circulate his True Qi and gather his strength while increasing his vigilance.
This hole seems to be quite deep, and Yang Kai fell for almost as long as it would take for a stick of incense to burn before finally touching solid ground again. Standing firm, he quickly sidestepped and Cang Yan soon landed as well.
“So slow!” Fei Yu pouted, somewhat dissatisfied.
Cang Yan said nothing, summoning a bright fireball above his head, illuminating their surroundings.
“It really is a blessed land. I wonder which Senior’s secluded Cave Mansion this was!” Feeling the rich World Energy inside this place, Cang Yan’s eyes shined.
Fei Yu also seemed somewhat encouraged, “Since it’s a blessed land, there must be treasures as well.”
“Most likely!” Cang Yan nodded, “Let’s go.”
Saying so, he took the lead, with Fei Yu and Yang Kai following closely behind, all three of them on high alert.
As they walked forward, Fei Yu suddenly approached Yang Kai and whispered quietly into his ear, “Don’t use your Divine Sense to investigate, the favourite food of the Soul Devouring Insects in this place is Spiritual Energy, once your Soul and Knowledge Sea become infested with them, you’ll die just like the dozen disciples who first came here.”
Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he quickly nodded, suddenly thinking of something, “Since all the disciples who came to search this place suffered misfortune, how did you receive news of them, did one of them manage to send a message before falling?”
“No,” Fei Yu shook her head, “It was my Martial Ancestor that discovered their situation. With Martial Ancestor’s supreme strength, he can monitor everything within a five hundred kilometer radius.”
Yang Kai was shocked.
Soaring Heaven Sect’s Martial Ancestor was truly awe-inspiring. Yang Kai’s current Divine Sense was also quite powerful and allowed him to perceive things within a hundred kilometers of himself, but the further away he tried to investigate something, the more Spiritual Energy he would consume and the less clear his perception would be. On the other hand, Soaring Heaven Sect’s Marital Ancestor was able to clearly sense and investigate anything within five hundred kilometers of his position, the gap between them was as far apart as Heaven and Earth.
Cang Yan suddenly stopped, because in front of him there was a cultivator dressed in Soaring Heaven Sect’s robes lying face up on the ground, his eyes dull and unmoving. Sweeping his eyes over this disciple, Cang Yan slowly shook his head.
This person was obviously dead.
Fei Yu no longer whispered to Yang Kai, her pretty face also becoming dignified as she summoned a bell-shaped artifact and poured her True Qi into it, forming an invisible protective barrier around the two of them before immediately following behind Cang Yan.
This bell-shaped artifact was clearly a Soul type artifact and was at least Spirit Grade. As soon as this artifact was activated, Yang Kai felt like he was being soaked in a warm pool of water, his whole body relaxing somewhat.
“Be careful not to stray too far from me. With your limited cultivation, once those Soul Devouring Insects target you, you’ll die,” Fei Yu warned solemnly.
Yang Kai nodded sternly, not daring to show the slightest bit of carelessness.
Because Cang Yan was confident in his strength, he took on the role of leading the group. From time to time, they would meet one or two Soaring Heaven Sect disciples, most of them already dead; however, there were still a few who were simply unconscious, their faces showing signs of struggle.
These comatose disciples were all fed some pills by Cang Yan as the trio passed through.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the group of three suddenly came across a large bronze cast door.
The moment the trio arrived in front of this bronze door though, a black fog suddenly burst forth from it. This black fog, which was composed of countless tiny objects that could not be clearly seen by the naked eye, immediately rushed towards the three people.
Cang Yan’s complexion changed dramatically, hastily retreating as he sent out a blast of scorching hot True Qi. Unfortunately, this blast of True Qi unable to incinerate the black fog it and was only capable of slightly impeding its momentum.
“Soul Devouring Insects!” Fei Yu cried out, her beautiful face also paling slightly, hurriedly pushing her True Qi, sending out a barrage of water arrows into the black fog.
“How can there be so many of them?” Fei Yu’s voice was slightly unsteady, continuing to attack as she called out, “Cang Yan, we need to retreat!”
Although she and Cang Yan were both Third Order Transcendents and could be considered powerful masters, facing this swarm of Exotic Ancient Insects, their abilities were still somewhat insufficient.
In this situation, all they could do was escape from here and report back to their Martial Ancestor.
Cang Yan however didn’t panic, falling back to Fei Yu and Yang Kai’s side as he stared at the rapidly approaching black fog, shouting out to Yang Kai, “Burn them with your Divine Sense!”
Yang Kai was momentarily stunned but quickly collected himself and sent out a burst of Spiritual Energy towards the swarm.
*Hu…*
A blistering hot aura filled the air as a burst of flames exploded in midair, easily incinerating the black fog that had left both Cang Yan and Fei Yu incapable of resisting.
“A Conflagrated Knowledge Sea?” Fei Yu’s beautiful eyes flashed brilliantly as she turned a surprised look towards Yang Kai.
She had not expected this young man to actually be the possessor of a rare Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
“Without a card to play, do you think I would have accompanied you here just to die?” Cang Yan snorted, a gloating look appearing on his face.
Yang Kai on the other hand was completely focused. After seeing that his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was actually the nemesis of these Exotic Ancient Insects, his anxiety faded completely, stepping forward towards the sealed bronze door.
He could sense that hidden inside this door there were still countless tiny lives.
They were obviously more Soul Devouring Insects.
This bronze door was no doubt the source of the dozen Soaring Heaven Sect disciples’ misfortune.
Under the continuous assault of Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Divine Sense, these Soul Devouring Insects didn’t have any chance to escape back into the bronze door and were all burned to death.
Seeing this, Cang Yan and Fei Yu both wore joyful expressions.
Sometime later, Yang Kai took back his Divine Sense and nodded to the two, “They should all be dead now.”
“Good job, little brother!” Fei Yu swayed her hips mesmerizingly as she walked over and patted Yang Kai’s shoulder intimately, “Elder Sister especially likes young promising kids like you. In the future, we must get better acquainted.”
“Haha…” Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh.
Cang Yan also came over and stared at the closed bronze door, an adventurous light flashing across his eyes.
Since this was likely and ancient cave mansion of some great expert, there was bound to be some treasures beyond this bronze gate.
“Do you want to go in and take a look?” Cang Yan turned to ask Fei Yu.
“After coming all this way, we can’t just turn back without investigating, right?” Fei Yu grinned.
Yang Kai’s eyes flickered before decisively saying, “I’ll wait for you here.”
Cang Yan and Fei Yu both turned to stare at him curiously, but Yang Kai quickly explained, “There may be other traps inside; me coming with you will only slow you down.”
“Fair enough,” Cang Yan nodded, “Then you wait here, we’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful, don’t let your guard down,” Fei Yu sincerely urged.
Yang Kai nodded, after which Cang Yan and Fei Yu pushed open the bronze door and rushed inside, soon disappearing.
After they left, Yang Kai slowly stepped in front of the bronze door and stared at it, his mouth slowly curling into a grin.
Releasing his Spiritual Energy in a clever manner, a moment later a black flog once more emerged from the bronze door.
The Soul Devouring Insects weren’t all dead!
Yang Kai was well aware that Cang Yan and Fei Yu did not dare to release their Divine Senses in this environment so he took advantage of this to successfully deceive them.
He didn’t know why Soaring Heaven Sect’s Martial Ancestor wanted to see him, or what the latter had planned for him, but Yang Kai realized clearly that in the Tong Xuan Realm, his own strength was currently too weak. However, these Soul Devouring Insects which could even force Third Order Transcendents back could act as a powerful trump card for him.
Perhaps he was acting somewhat overly suspicious, but Yang Kai still had to make some plans for his future regardless.
This was also why, even though he knew perfectly well that there would be treasures hidden behind this bronze door, Yang Kai had not gone to seek them and instead had elected to collect these Soul Devouring Insects. On top of that, he was not willing to provoke any kind of dispute between himself, Cang Yan and Fei Yu.
If they obtained any treasures and didn’t apportion him anything, Yang Kai would definitely feel somewhat uncomfortable. At least this way, what he didn’t see or know about, he wouldn’t be upset over not obtaining.
Continuing to emit Spiritual Energy, Yang Kai carefully guided the Soul Devouring Insects into his Knowledge Sea.
Soul Devouring Insects were living creatures, but unlike the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng, they couldn’t be stored inside the Black Book space.
Under the influence of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy, these Soul Devouring Insects seemed to have become incredibly obedient, all of them orderly flying into his Knowledge Sea as he wished.
Yang Kai expertly controlled the Spiritual Energy contained in his Knowledge Sea, preventing his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea from injuring his new ‘guests’ before placing them all on island formed by his Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
Inside Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, this was the only place where there was no burning flames, and it was also the most suitable place to house the Soul Devouring Insects.
Soul Devouring Insects fed on Spiritual Energy, and the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus was constantly emitting a gentle yet indescribably pure Spiritual Energy, nourishing Yang Kai’s Soul.
As soon as these Exotic Ancient Insects landed on the five coloured island, they immediately fell in love with this place and were longer willing to leave.
This result was not within Yang Kai’s calculations, but it was by no means a misdemeanour.
As long as he could carefully tame and control these Exotic Ancient Insects, not only would they not cause any damage to him, Yang Kai could even use his unlimited supply of Spiritual Energy to cultivate them, strengthen them, and use them to confront his enemies when need be.
Receiving the Soul Devouring Insects added another powerful card to Yang Kai’s hand.
Although his physical body and cultivation were still only at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, not even having reached the Transcendent Realm, if it came down to a pure confrontation between Souls, Yang Kai now felt that he wouldn’t even fear Saint Realm masters.
His Conflagrated Knowledge Sea and the Soul Devouring Insects could be used to handle external threats, and although the Solitary Golden Eye could only display its might internally, any overconfident master that rashly rushed into Yang Kai Knowledge Sea would never return.
Having acquired this additional layer of protection, Yang Kai felt slightly more relieved.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai did not immediately sit down to cultivate but instead walked back along the path they had entered from.
He wanted to collect all of the Soul Devouring Insects still attacking the surviving Soaring Heaven Sect disciples’ Knowledge Seas.
Of the original dozen or so, only four or five were still alive, and if they were left as is, they would certainly die. Even Soaring Heaven Sect’s Marital Ancestor may not be able to do anything about their situation.
Although Yang Kai was essentially acting in his own self-interest, if he succeeded, he would still be saving their lives, which would no doubt earn him some favour with Soaring Heaven Sect’s masters. It was a win-win situation.
With nothing to worry about, either way, Yang Kai acted decisively.
Beyond the bronze door, after Cang Yan and Fei Yu rushed inside, they had searched the entire cave mansion for hidden treasures.
Both of them had some gains so they were obviously quite happy.
“Cang Yan, I suddenly thought of something. Marital Ancestor sending me to handle this task me just now and then my running into you and that little boy… is all of this really just a coincidence?” Fei Yu seemed to have noticed something and spoke her doubts as the pair continued searching for treasures.
“It really shouldn’t be a coincidence,” Cang Yan nodded, “Martial Ancestor probably wanted to use this opportunity to find out what that kid’s disposition was.”
“Did you know from the beginning?” Fei Yu looked at Cang Yan with a sweet smile.
“Naturally, as soon as I heard about the Soul Devouring Insects, I understood Martial Ancestor’s intentions. Soul Devouring Insects can only be dealt with by those with Conflagrated Knowledge Seas, so how could it be a coincidence that I just happened to be bringing back a person with such a rare Knowledge Sea mutation?” Cang Yan quickly said, “If it weren’t for me bringing him back, Martial Ancestor would never have sent you to deal with this situation.”
“If that’s so though, it would seem like Martial Ancestor isn’t that familiar with that little boy, but then why did Martial Ancestor ask you to find him?”
“That’s what I want to know. Two months ago, Martial Ancestor suddenly summoned me and told me to find him. After that, it took me quite a bit of effort to track him down,” Cang Yan’s brow knit slightly, “Moreover, I’m certain that kid doesn’t know Martial Ancestor.”
“Strange, but Martial Ancestor has always been unpredictable,” Fei Yu curled her lips meaningfully, “However, even though you already understood the idea of Martial Ancestor, you still dared to bargain with me for advantages. You’re too shameless! Don’t even dream of getting that bottle of Thousand Safflower Wine.”
Hearing this, Cang Yan’s expression turned bitter.
“A Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, interesting…” Fei Yu muttered with a smile.
“He’s also a Spirit Grade Alchemist,” Cang Yan suddenly added.
Fei Yu’s tender body trembled, “Really?”
“I think that may be the reason why Martial Ancestor asked me to find him. This kid’s future is boundless; I’m really looking forward to seeing if he can stir up a storm throughout all of Tong Xuan Realm, becoming an existence no less renowned than The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep.”
“If that’s the case, then I really should try to get closer to him. Such outstanding geniuses are incredibly rare,” Fei Yu said in a rare dignified tone, it was only now that she realized she had still been somewhat looking down on Yang Kai.
“Also… I have a feeling his potential is far from just that. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding that kid. Judging from his current performance, if he was to receive dedicated training, he would likely overwhelm all the young talents from the top forces across the realm and quickly become Tong Xuan’s most dazzling star.”
“Someone who could attract Martial Ancestor’s attention is certainly not ordinary,” Fei Yu agreed.
The two masters secretly decided that before Yang Kai fully revealed himself to the world, they would definitely establish a good relationship with him. When he was able to summon the wind and rain in the future, there would definitely be benefits for them.
Roughly one day later, Yang Kai saw Cang Yan and Fei Yu re-emerge from the bronze door.
Both of them wore big smiles on their faces; it seems their harvests weren’t small.
When they saw Yang Kai sitting cross-legged, quietly waiting for them with five Soaring Heaven Sect disciples lying down nearby, Cang Yan and Fei Yu couldn’t help showing amazed expressions.
“En, I was idle anyways so I tried to scatter the Soul Devouring Insects in their Knowledge Seas, I didn’t expect it to actually be so easy. They should be able to fully recover after a year or so of cultivation,” Yang Kai explained
“Impressive,” Cang Yan’s eyes flashed brightly as he complimented.
Earlier, he and Fei Yu could only give these disciples some pills to temporarily alleviate their conditions because they had no idea how to go about saving them. They had thought there was no hope for these disciples but now, unexpectedly, Yang Kai had given them a big surprise.
“Elder Sister is liking you more and more,” Fei Yu smiled warmly, “Good, you are these disciples’ saviour, in the future, you don’t have to worry. Elder Sister will not treat you unjustly.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, indicating it was just a minor matter, “How did things go on your end?”
“Good,” Cang Yan showed a faint smile before suddenly pulling out a number of items and showing them to Yang Kai as he said firmly, “This is everything I and Fei Yu found inside; unfortunately, most of the treasures had already turned to dust after such a long time. In any case, take a look, if you want anything, feel free to take it.”
“I also have a share?” Yang Kai pointed at himself and asked in surprise.
“Of course you have a share. Do you think we would horde everything for ourselves?” Fei Yu giggled lightly, “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even been able to pass this door, let alone search for treasures. You also saved several of our disciples. For this trip, you definitely contributed the most.”
“Then I won’t hold back,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, turning his attention to the items laid out in front of him.
Cang Yan and Fei Yu glanced at each other and nodded secretly, both of them thinking this kid firm character while being neither servile nor arrogant.
If it was some other junior, in front of the two of them, they wouldn’t dare act so. Instead, they would certainly choose to give up these immediate interests in exchange for leaving a good impression on both of them.
When he needed to act, he acted decisively!
In front of Yang Kai were five things, three artifacts, a Secret Art, and a black fist-sized stone.
This was indeed everything that Cang Yan and Fei Yu had found inside, they hadn’t concealed anything.
Among the three artifacts, one of them was Spirit Grade Top-Rank while the other two were actually Saint Grade, their values immeasurable.
Even masters like Cang Yan and Fei Yu had never owned Saint Grade artifacts.
The Secret Art was also a rare treasure, actually reaching the Spirit Grade Top-Rank.
After examining these five items for a while, Yang Kai’s eyes finally fixed on the black stone. The stone was round and he couldn’t see what kind of material it was comprised of. Yang Kai poured his True Qi into it but there was no reaction, he also tried probing it with his Divine Sense but couldn’t glean anything from it once again.
“What is this?” Yang Kai asked the two masters.
Both Cang Yan and Fei Yu shook their heads, they also knew nothing about this stone, only that it had been placed in a very covert location, so they had conveniently brought it with them.
“Then I want this,” Yang Kai said with a smile.
Cang Yan frowned and said sternly said, “You should choose an artifact to defend yourself. Although you can’t use Saint Grade artifacts as your cultivation level is too low and may even harm yourself if you tried to, but this Spirit Grade Top-Rank artifact is still quite good.”
“That’s right, you don’t have to be so modest,” Fei Yu was also confused, wondering how this boy’s personality had changed so much after acting so decisive just a moment ago.
She was somewhat uncomfortable seeing this.
Choosing a stone that none of them knew how to use, it seemed like he was intentionally suffering a loss.
“I’m not trying to act modest!” Yang Kai laughed, “Since even you two can’t see what this thing is, it can only mean one of two things, either it’s worthless or it’s priceless, if I choose it, there’s a chance I’ll gain even more than you.”
“You want to gamble?” Cang Yan somewhat disapproved, “The benefits that one holds in their hands are the only real benefits.”
“True, but the very fact that it is here means you intentionally brought it out, which indicates there’s a great possibility of it being something valuable. The two of you aren’t blind after all,” Yang Kai smiled and grabbed the black stone, “I have no need for these artifacts and I can’t use this Secret Art, so I might as well take this.”
“Since you insist, we won’t say anymore, if some day you discover you’ve lost this bet, don’t come crying to us,” Fei Yu snorted and no longer tried to dissuade him, quickly carving up the other four items with Cang Yan.
Each of them took one of the Saint Grade artifacts and then divided up the remaining Spirit Grade Top-Rank artifact and Secret Art.
Having reaped a full harvest, Cang Yan and Fei Yu were both exceptionally happy.
“Let’s go, Martial Ancestor must be waiting for us,” Cang Yan said, grabbing two unconscious disciples and taking the lead.
Fei Yu also grabbed two, before turning to Yang Kai and grinning, “The last one is yours. I specially reserved a beauty for you. Don’t worry too much, she should be an unpicked flower. Feel free to take full advantage of this opportunity while she’s still unconscious.”
Saying so, she gave him a sly smile, silently egging him on.
Yang Kai laughed dumbly despite trying not to, carried the last female disciple of Soaring Heaven Sect on his back, and followed after Cang Yan and Fei Yu.
On their trip back, all three of them showed their movement skills and quickly returned to the outside world.
After taking a moment to find his bearings, Cang Yan simply flew off towards the direction of Soaring Heaven Sect without saying an extra word.
Yang Kai and Fei Yu hurriedly kept up.
After an hour or so, the three arrived above a huge mountain valley. Taking a look around, there were many scattered houses below as well as a good number of cultivators going about their business.