In this white void, everyone was like headless flies, so the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess had once again come over to talk to the only person she knew, Yang Kai.
Yang Kai slowly shook his head before suddenly turning to look at her and chuckling.
“What are you laughing at?” The Saintess frowned, “I suddenly found that you’re quite hateful.”
“Then why do you keep trying to talk to me?”
“I don’t know anyone else here, and if they were to recognize me as a Saintess…” Since she came here, she had been hiding her identity, not daring to show her true face to anyone here; After all, the masters of the Seven Family Alliance had all come to welcome her when she first appeared in this island chain and would definitely remember her appearance.
As a Saintess, she had been held up as a symbol of nobility and purity, if today’s matter were to be spread out, not only would it damage her reputation as a Saintess, but even the majesty of Nine Heavens Holy Land would be tarnished.
Therefore, she was quite worried someone would recognize her, and even if she didn’t have a particularly good opinion of Yang Kai, he was really the only one her she could consult with.
“We probably can’t exit this place,” Yang Kai continued to shake his head as he let out a sigh.
“We can’t?” The Saintess’ beautiful face paled slightly, “Could it be we’ll be trapped in here for the rest of our lives?”
“Most likely!” Yang Kai nodded sternly.
“Don’t frighten me, I still haven’t found the next Holy Master yet…” The Saintess really began panicking. Through their few brief contacts, Yang Kai had realized that this silly girl was relatively naive and didn’t understand the cruel and sinister nature of the world; it was probably a result of her status and upbringing.
She was the exact opposite of Yang Kai, who from very young had become accustomed to trials and tribulation and could now face situations like this with a kind of calm indifference.
“I heard that the Holy Masters of your Nine Heavens Holy Land are all found outside your borders by you Saintesses, do you all have some special method of choosing who becomes your Holy Master?” Yang Kai suddenly asked curiously.
“Why would you ask that now? Naturally I have my methods!” The Saintess suddenly becomes somewhat vigilant, “This is something only we Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintesses can achieve, even if you ask me I won’t tell you anything.”
“I was just curious!” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
The Saintess secretly breathed a sigh of relief, apparently quite worried that Yang Kai would continue to inquire about the secrets of the Holy Land. Nonetheless, she took the initiative to slightly distance herself from him.
Time passed and the more than a hundred cultivators continued to constantly search their strange environment, but none of them was able to uncover anything.
Gradually, anxiety, panic, and uneasiness began to set in and the cultivators became increasingly agitated as they wandered aimlessly around the white space.
The masters from the Seven Family Alliance also had ugly expressions.
They were well aware of the seriousness of the problem.
The light sphere everyone had been seeking had actually forcibly pulled all their Souls into this inexplicable space which seemed to have no way out; that meant their fate was die in this place!
Those who were present had cultivations of at least the Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage. Although their Souls being separated from their bodies wouldn’t be a problem for a short time, once a certain period had passed, without any care, their physical bodies would wither and die.
Once their physical bodies perished, their Souls would become rootless wood, and if they couldn’t find an appropriate vessel to inhabit, they would soon disappear.
Panic and fear of this eventuality began to subtly spread throughout the crowd.
Yang Kai stood back and observed; having felt the rising tension, he had quietly slipped out of the crowd and put some distance between him and everyone else, raising his vigilance as he did so.
The Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess also noticed the strange atmosphere and attached herself to Yang Kai; wherever he went, she would follow, keeping a not too close yet not too far distance from him.
Yang Kai paid her actions no mind and simply allowed her to do as she pleased.
After an unknown period of time, everyone had finally given up exploring their surroundings because there was simply nothing to find!
Everyone sat down where they were to take a break, though, their dark and gloomy expression said otherwise.
Suddenly, a quarrel broke out, it seemed like two cultivators had gotten into an argument and things had begun to escalate. They began shouting and cursing one another, their voices growing louder very quickly. This verbal spat was like a spark in a dry field, igniting the irritability of everyone around.
“Old bastard, if you hadn’t insisted on breaking that damn barrier, none of us would have fallen into this mess! Now that we’ve all been trapped in here, how are you going to compensate us for this?” Someone suddenly shouted towards Old Man Cheng.
With this man taking the lead, many other foreign cultivators began levying condemnations, all of them believing that this disaster was all Old Man Cheng’s responsibility.
There were even many people from the Seven Family Alliance who were giving Old Man Cheng unfriendly looks.
Old Man Cheng’s expression became grim as he sneered audibly, “Aren’t all of you being a bit unreasonable? Although it’s true I summoned all of you here, before breaking the barrier, none of you raised any objections or were forced to accompany us. Didn’t you all want to search the palace behind the barrier for treasure? Yet now that this has happened, you want to push all the blame onto this old Cheng’s head? ”
“No matter what, it was you who caused all of this, if you can’t find a way out of this place, you must pay with your life!”
“That’s right! You Cheng Family bastards are responsible for this mess, so you have to clean it up, otherwise we’ll make you pay the price!”
“The Seven Family Alliance has this responsibility!”
“Since we’re all going to die anyways, we’ll make sure you suffer for this first!”
Everyone seemed to be filled with righteous indignation and were now openly denouncing the Seven Family Alliance, putting on an aggressive stance as if a fight would break out at any moment.
Seeing the tide turn against him, Hai Wang Gu’s face became sullen, “Before coming here, this old master had said that benefits and risks coexist and that whether you live or die is your responsibility. All of you knew this yet still chose to come. My Seven Family Alliance has no obligation to protect your safety, what do your lives have to do with me?”
These words, at this time when emotions were running high, did not calm the crowd and instead inflamed the situation, Hai Wang Gu shirking all responsibility at this point only made him appear even less sympathetic.
However, this was exactly what the sly Old Man Cheng wanted, soon wearing a smile and turning to the first cultivator who had yelled at him and coldly declaring, “Wanting me dead with such meager skill? Foolishness!”
As he spoke, a sharp blade of Spiritual Energy shot out from Old Man Cheng’s Soul Avatar and instantly slashed into the foreign cultivator’s figure.
A scream rang out and the cultivator didn’t even have a chance to fight back before his Soul Avatar directly broke up.
This man was only was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage cultivator, against the Second Order Transcendent Old Man Cheng, how could he possibly resist?
The crowd suddenly went silent, and the rioters from before all trembled in fear as they stared towards the spot where the previous cultivator had disappeared.
None of them had expected Old Man Cheng to act so ruthlessly, suddenly killing someone without any prior warning.
But soon, the people standing nearby where the unlucky cultivator had died wore strange expressions, their faces showing a look of unexpected happiness, as if they had just tasted the finest wine, the aura of their Soul Avatars even becoming slightly stronger.
“Hm?” Hai Wang Gu raised his brow as he stared at this scene fixedly.
At the same time, all the Transcendents present seemed to notice something surprising.
The Soul Avatar of the dead cultivator had broken up and transformed into strands of Spiritual Energy which had then been absorbed by the several nearby cultivators. Because they had absorbed this Spiritual Energy from the deceased cultivator, their own Souls had grown visibly stronger.
Yang Kai also saw this scene, and his mouth couldn’t help curling into a strange smile, quietly muttering under his breath, “It seems things are about to get interesting!”
“What’s going on?” The Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess asked nervously, she was just following Yang Kai around at this point and hadn’t seen much of the scene just now, so Yang Kai suddenly making such a comment was a bit incomprehensible to her.
“It seems most people here are going to die!” Yang Kai smiled menacingly.
Even as he spoke these words, the Seven Family Alliance’s Transcendents quickly exchanged a glance and instantly understood what each of them was thinking.
An average cultivator found it many times more difficult to cultivate their Spiritual Energy than their physique or True Qi. If they didn’t possess a high grade Soul type Secret Art, they could only use pills to slowly nourish their Souls; such a process took many years to yield results though.
However, in this strange space, there seemed to be some inexplicable law that allowed the residual Spiritual Energy of any Soul Avatar that was destroyed to be swallowed up by others!
This was extremely tempting for anyone.
However, this situation was also accompanied by risks, when another’s Soul collapsed and scattered, the remnants would contain fragmented memories and experiences from that cultivator’s life. If one absorbed too many of these fragmented thoughts, their own personality and memory would likely be affect. In the most serious of cases, one might lose their sense of identity all together or even go completely insane.
Yang Kai had devoured the Soul remnants of many other cultivators before, but only after using his Demon Eye of Annihilation to purge these impurities from them, leaving behind only the pure Spiritual Energy and sentiment. If not for this, he would already have become a madman.
The benefits to his overall Spiritual Energy density were much smaller than directly swallowing these remnants, but the enlightenments about the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao could be completely preserved in this manner, something Yang Kai needed far more than simply improving his cultivation.
But everyone else present obviously didn’t have so many reservations. They had never seen a Secret Art that allowed a cultivator to directly devour the Spiritual Energy of others, even if there was one, it would be far too rare and precious for them to ever get their hands on.
After seeing the people around the dead cultivator receive such benefits, the Seven Family Alliance’s masters were inevitably tempted.
Glancing around at each other, they all quickly wore fierce grins.
The Spiritual Energy of many Transcendents suddenly erupted without any warning and. Since they didn’t possess their flesh and blood bodies here and couldn’t use any of their respective Martial Skills or artifacts, the only thing anyone here could use to attack another was Soul Skills!
Various Soul Skills landed upon the crowd, and before the many foreign cultivators had a chance to respond, more than a dozen of them were instantly killed, their Soul Avatars breaking apart.
The masters from the Seven Family Alliance rushed over to where these cultivators had died and madly devoured the Spiritual Energy which had been left behind.
Whether it was Old Man Cheng or Hai Wang Gu, their old wrinkled faces were filled with exhilaration and excitement.
In that moment, they felt themselves becoming stronger, absorbing the Spiritual Energy remnants of these dead cultivators’ Souls had saved them one or two years of cultivation!
They didn’t care one bit about these foreign cultivators’ lives and instead were eager to have all of them die; this way, not only could they strengthen their Souls, all the treasures obtained in the Ancient Ruins would belong to them.
Facing such temptation, naturally, they had no qualms about slaughtering everyone!
In this white world, the conditions and temptations present had awakened the darkest impulses in the hearts of all the Seven Family Alliance’s masters. These people did not even hesitate to kill their way through dozens of people.
After feeling the benefits of this wanton slaughter, these masters only became more eager.
The foreign cultivators were briefly taken aback but soon reacted, some of them roaring angrily, “I have long seen through your greedy intentions. Brothers, fight with them!”
In an instant, the Soul Avatars of more than a hundred people were divided into two large camps, the Seven Family Alliance was one party while the other was comprised of all the foreign cultivator. In this Soul Battle Hall, a desperate struggle began.
Without artifacts, Martial Skills, or even flesh and blood, the only thing everyone could rely on was their own Soul’s strength and any Soul Skills they may have cultivated.
The cultivators of the two camps collided, and Soul Avatars from both sides continuously collapsed, breaking up into strands of Spiritual Energy that were absorbed by others nearby.
After consuming the Soul remnants of others, these cultivators become even more irritable and murderous, seemingly wanting to kill everyone in front of them in order to obtain the most benefits.
It soon became apparent that the Seven Family Alliance’s was the stronger of the two camps; after all, each family had one or two Transcendents here, easily allowing them to reap the lives of the disordered foreign cultivators.
However, among the foreigners there were also several Transcendents, who soon rallied together and were able to hit back, inflicting considerable damage to the Seven Family Alliance.
Everyone’s eyes had gone red and screams of insanity and fear constantly filled the air.
The cruelty and madness of this scene dumbfounded the Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Saintess, her tender body trembling in terror as she watched this bloody melee play out. Even when someone began approaching her, she failed to take notice of them.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled but decided to sit on the sidelines, interested to see just what kind of skill this young woman possessed.
Finally feeling the approaching crisis, the Saintess woke from her daze and a destructive wave of Spiritual Energy instinctually pulsed from her Avatar, flinging the nearby cultivator far away.
Coming to her senses and glancing around at the Soul remnants that were seemingly scattered all around the world, the Saintess frowned deeply and, unlike everyone else, chose not to absorb them, instead moving away as quickly as possible, a look of disgust filling her pretty face.
Yang Kai nodded secretly, feeling that this woman had decent skill and sense. She instantly understood that these benefits came at too high a cost.
As if sensing Yang Kai was observing her, the Saintess glanced over at him, a trace of vigilance flashing across her eyes.
She didn’t know if Yang Kai would act like everyone else here and suddenly try to attack her; if he did, she wasn’t sure she could resist.
From Yang Kai, she felt a vague sense of pressure, and the burning aura coming off his Avatar made her particularly uneasy.
Yang Kai no longer paid any attention to her and instead re-directed his attention to the melee, an indifferent look upon his face.
The battle had become lopsided. Under the coordinated attack of the Seven Family Alliance masters, the foreign cultivators, who were essentially loose sand, had no choice but to cooperate with each other to fight back. Although this achieved some results in the beginning, in the face of an absolute gap in power, they were quickly being defeated.
After the foreign Transcendents were killed, the remaining Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator became helpless.
Many who were fighting violently only moments ago were now begging for mercy, but the masters of the Seven Family Alliance ignored them and continued reaping their Souls in order to gain more benefits.
Gradually, only a dozen or so people remained, all of them Transcendent Realm masters from the Seven Family Alliance.
If seems that because they swallowed excessive amounts of remnant Souls, side effects were finally beginning to break out. Each of these masters appeared on edge, their Soul Avatars giving off a somewhat chaotic aura.
After only a brief pause, the survivors of the previous carnage began to fight again.
“What should we do?” As Yang Kai was watching, the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess came over to him for the third time, her face filled with anxiety and helplessness, causing Yang Kai to chuckle slightly.
“What do you mean ‘what should we do’?” Yang Kai asked back
“What should we do if they suddenly attack us?” The Saintess was clearly frightened. Although she was a First Order Transcendent, there were still so many masters left from the Seven Family Alliance. Once they began targeting her, she wouldn’t be able to resist, so even though she was still somewhat wary of Yang Kai, she decided to approach him in an attempt to tie their fates together.
“You deal with your problems, I’ll deal with mine!” Yang Kai shooed her away, keenly aware of her intentions.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll die here?”
“This is a blessing not a curse, and even if it is a curse, it couldn’t be avoided, what use is there in being afraid?” Yang Kai sneered, his complete indifference to everything dumbfounding the Saintess once again. As she was staring at him though, Yang Kai also began looking her over.
“What do you want to do?” The Saintess immediately became alert, Yang Kai’s unrestrained gaze gave her chills and she quickly said, “Don’t forget, I rescued you once before, you should show a little gratitude.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders in response, “Rest assured, I don’t have any intentions towards you, there’s no need for you to be nervous.”
The Saintess wore a somewhat distrust look upon her face, staring straight into Yang Kai’s eyes, as if trying to see through his thoughts, her expression relaxing a moment later.
She could feel that Yang Kai really bore no malicious will towards her, but as for his true thoughts, she had no idea, causing her to feel slightly uneasy.
If she had known this little adventure of hers would be so dangerous, she wouldn’t have fooled her guards and snuck off to dive to the bottom of the sea!
The Saintess desperately wanted to cry but was unable to shed any tears.
Yang Kai no longer cared about her and instead focused his Divine Sense on the battle occurring a short distance away.
The Seven Family Alliance’s dozen masters were all familiar with each other, so the fight between them was quite heated. On top of that, under the influence of the Soul remnants they had swallowed, these dozen or so masters had basically lost their ability to reason and were only interested in slaughtering one another. After an hour or so, the outcome of this war was decided.
Of the dozen or so masters who had fought, almost all of them had died, only two of them survived.
One of them was the Hai Family’s Hai Wang Gu and the other was Old Man Cheng who had gathered everyone here in the first place. Both of these two were Second Order Transcendents so in this battle they undoubtedly had the greatest advantage in terms of strength.
However, after such a fight, their Soul Avatars had become somewhat weak. After battling each other for a while, they apparently could no longer persist and both sat down to recover their stamina and a little of their sanity.
Seeing this scene, the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess immediately motioned to Yang Kai, apparently encouraging him to take this opportunity to attack and kill these two old guys.
However, Yang Kai kept shaking his head, indicating that he didn’t have the courage or strength to do so, causing the Saintess no small amount of frustration.
From beginning to end, Yang Kai hadn’t shown the slightest bit of fear, or even concern, instead he even seemed to be enjoying himself as he watched these people fight.
This kind of performance either indicated his absolute confidence or ignorance.
The Saintess didn’t think it was the latter, so she couldn’t understand why he would give up such a good opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
If she were to attack on her own, she didn’t have confidence she could win, thus she could only hesitantly remain where she was.
It wasn’t difficult for Yang Kai to kill Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng, it could even be considered quite easy, but he didn’t want to expose his true strength in front of outsiders. If it is someone else, the solution would be simple, he just needed to silence the witness to the crime and that would be that, but this Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess had previously extended a helping hand to him, although he didn’t really need it.
Killing this woman in cold blood just to keep his secrets was something Yang Kai couldn’t bring himself to do.
He had his own code of conduct, and killing someone who had once helped him ran counter to that code.
Yang Kai had a fair headache now, and mused about how it would be nice if he could find a way to stun this young woman for a while.
As he was mulling over such impractical thoughts, Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng finally seemed to have discovered that there were still two outsiders left here.
Yang Kai and the Saintess had remained far from the battle since it began and had simply been quietly observing the whole time, but now that almost everyone else had been eliminated, it was impossible for them to hide anymore.
Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng both glanced at one another before suddenly letting out a laugh.
“Brother Cheng, how about we solve this small problem first before deciding who the ultimate victor between us is?” Hai Wang Gu suddenly proposed.
Old Man Cheng frowned and pondered for a while before nodding, a malicious grin appearing on his face in the next instant, “I just happen to need to supplement my Spiritual Energy.”
Saying so, the two of them stood up at the same time and glanced over towards the two outsiders, neither of them showing any signs of anxiety as they calmly strode over towards them, a look of absolute confidence upon their faces.
When they had approached to within a short distance, the two old men glanced over at their prey and couldn’t help feeling stunned, apparently recognizing the young woman as the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess.
“You…” Hai Wang Gu pointed at the young woman, his brow wrinkling deeply, “Are you not Your Royal Highness the Saintess?”
Old Man Cheng also wore a completely stupefied expression.
Their murderous intent and unruly demeanors both disappeared upon recognizing the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess.
“It is I!” The Saintess nodded lightly.
“How come you are here?” Hai Wang Gu frowned and asked, seemingly coming to a conclusion and asking in amazement, “Could it be you came here as a member of my Seven Family Alliance’s exploration group?”
“En, I had wanted to come take a look at the scenery down here, but I never expected such a thing to happen,” The Saintess replied, looking extremely calm and composed.
“This is…” Hai Wang Gu looked suspiciously towards Yang Kai.
The Saintess hesitated for only an instantly before replying, “He is my servant!”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed, shooting a somewhat stunned glance towards the Saintess. Her words just now indicated her intent to use her status to shield him by tying them together.
Any servant of a Saintess would obviously be a disciple of Nine Heavens Holy Land. With such an identity, it was likely Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng would be more hesitant to act against Yang Kai.
Sure enough, upon hearing the Saintess’ words, the expressions of the two old men became grim, showing both hesitation and reluctance.
Their moods were completely reflected in the aura fluctuations of their Soul Avatars though. These fluctuations were sometimes rapid, sometimes calm, sometimes dangerous while sometimes nervous. Obviously, they weren’t as respectful as their expressions indicated and were weighing the pros and cons of their next actions.
Perceiving the malice directed towards them, the Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Saintess’ beautiful face changed slightly, lifting her hand slightly and releasing a subtle force from her Soul Avatar.
This force was quite mysterious, and did not carry the slightest murderous intent or maliciousness, but when it appeared, it was like a gentle rain that lightly washed over Yang Kai, Hai Wang Gu, and Old Man Cheng’s forms, seeping into their Soul Avatars before disappearing.
All three of them frowned, unsure of what the Saintess was trying to do.
A moment later though, Yang Kai suddenly felt that his state of mind had calmed greatly and his Soul felt a sense of comfort, it was like a spring breeze had swept away all of his troubles, and the idea of secluding himself away from the world and no longer caring about anything became quite prominent in his mind.
Secretly surprised, Yang Kai quickly shook off such escapist thoughts before turning to look at Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng, surprised to see that the irritability their two Soul Avatars were just giving off seemed to have been soothed. The two of them no longer showed the same violent aggression and were obviously thinking more clearly now.
The Soul Skill the Saintess had just used must be one that helps clear others’ hearts and minds.
Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng looked at each other with their brows wrinkled and hesitated for a while before Hai Wang Gu asked, “What happened just now, Your Royal Highness Saintess saw, correct?”
The Saintess’ pretty face changed slightly as she wore a faint smile, “Yes, but you can rest assured that I will not disclose this matter to anyone, I also do not wish for others to know I was here. What we need to do now is to find a way out of this place, don’t you agree?”
Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng both remained silent, their brows still deeply wrinkled, apparently weighing their options.
The Saintess was a little uneasy; although she used her special Soul skill to help Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng temporarily stabilize their moods, these two men were not good people to begin with. Once malicious thoughts took root in their minds, even her Soul Skill couldn’t dissuade them.
Quickly shooting a glance over towards Yang Kai, she saw him pretending he wasn’t involved.
The Saintess bit her teeth, trying not to say anything but was about to explode!
After a while, Hai Wang Gu suddenly said, “Brother Cheng, what do you think?”
Old Man Cheng took a deep breath and quickly replied, “Since things have come this far, we should see it through to the end!”
Hai Wang Gu smiled and nodded, “Sure enough, Brother Cheng and I are of the same mind.”
Saying so, he directed a sharp glance towards the Saintess and coldly snorted, “So what if you’re a Saintess? No one cares about your status here, and no one will know it was us who killed you.”
The Saintess’ face finally became gloomy as she realized these two old men were determined to silence the witnesses to their crime.
With so many foreign cultivators dead and the Seven Family Alliance having lost so many masters, if the truth of this incident were to spread out, it would be extremely damaging to the Hai Family and Cheng Family.
On top of that, this was the perfect place to make someone disappear.
As they spoke, the two old men’s Soul Avatars once again revealed a hostile and violent aura, in the next instant the two of them launching Divine Sense attacks towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s strength seemed to be relatively low, so Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng naturally wanted to quickly dispatch him first then find a way to deal with the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess together.
Yang Kai’s face became cold and the moment these attacks were about to hit he swiftly dodged them.
“Hm?” Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng were both shocked by this unexpected development.
“I’ll help you stall one, you should be able to beat them one on one right?” Yang Kai said to the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess before beckoning to Hai Wang Gu, “Old fart, show me what you’re made of!”
“Little brat, I’ll kill you!” Hai Wang Gu shouted angrily, easily being drawn in by Yang Kai’s cheap taunt and charging towards him.
Normally, it would be impossible for Hai Wang Gu to act so recklessly, but right now, whether it was him or Old Man Cheng, both of them had swallowed too many Soul remnants so their consciousness were somewhat unstable. It can be said that most of their actions right now were being driven by their more base impulses, so when Yang Kai insulted him, Hai Wang Gu had immediately lashed out.
“Wai…” The Saintess hurriedly tried to say something to Yang Kai but before she could, Old Man Cheng came flying towards her and she had no choice but to quickly use a Soul Skill to defend herself.
Yang Kai has led Hai Wang Gu far away but had no intention of fighting him and was only constantly avoiding the latter’s Divine Sense attacks while taking the opportunity to observe the situation of the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess.
He was planning on letting this Saintess kill Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng so he didn’t need to expose his strength or the existence of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai felt that with her background, this Saintess should have the ability to accomplish this.
Although her cultivation was slightly lower than that of Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng, Nine Heavens Holy Land and the Seven Family Alliance couldn’t even be placed in the same category in terms of heritage. From the Soul Skill this young woman just displayed, Yang Kai estimated her true combat strength should be greater than these two old men.
But after watching for a while, Yang Kai discovered that something was wrong.
Under the constant attack of Old Man Cheng, this woman seemed to only know how to evade and defend herself and showed no intention of fighting back.
From Yang Kai’s perspective, this Saintess had multiple opportunities to take advantage of her opponent’s openings to launch a counterattack, but she never once acted upon them.
It wasn’t even that she couldn’t see these openings but that she didn’t seem to have any will to fight Old Man Cheng.
“What are you doing?” Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling annoyed and shouted out towards her, “Fight back, what do you plan on accomplishing by simply running away?”
“I…” Saintess desperately wanted to cry but was unable to shed any tears, trying to get a word out only to be interrupted again by Old Man Cheng’s assault.
“Little brat, you should be more worried about yourself!” Hai Wang Gu chased behind Yang Kai while laughing maniacally.
Yang Kai glanced at him coldly before his image flickered and shot towards the direction of the Saintess.
Arriving a moment later, Yang Kai came up beside the Saintess and grumbled, “What’s going on? Why aren’t you fighting back?”
The Saintess grit her teeth and shot back angrily, “Why are you asking about something you already know?”
“Why would I be asking about something I know?” Yang Kai asked back.
“I’m a Saintess of Nine Heavens Holy Land!”
“I know that, what about it?” Yang Kai suddenly found that he couldn’t understand this woman’s words.
“You don’t know what Saintesses can’t do?” Blocking another attack, the young woman shot Yang Kai a blank look.
Yang Kai shook his head.
“What backwater countryside did you crawl out from!?” The Saintess saw that he wasn’t lying and her eyes filled with shock before she shouted, “A Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess, before death, cannot kill!”
“Says who?” Yang Kai’s face went black as he began to realize his clever plan was likely going to fail.
“This has been the case since ancient times!” Saintess hurriedly explained, “We can’t kill, once we violate this taboo, a flaw will develop in our Secret Art!”
“What bullshit Secret Art has such a dumb flaw!?” Yang Kai was furious, he had never heard of a Secret Art with such a ridiculous restrictions.
However, with such an unreasonable condition, the Secret Art she cultivated must be quite formidable.
“Then why aren’t you making a move?” The Saintess fled together with Yang Kai as she shot him a sharp glance, “Even in this situation you seem to be quite relaxed, why are you trying to make me do all the work?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help cursing under his breath, feeling somewhat helpless; it seems he couldn’t kill these two old men with a borrowed a knife after all. But, before he did anything, the Saintess voice once again rang out.
“Although I can’t do it myself, I can help you. With my assistance you don’t need to worry whether you’re their opponent or not,” The Saintess hurriedly said.
“How do you plan on helping me?”
The Saintess said nothing and instead poured some kind of Soul Skill into Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar.
Yang Kai’s face changed slightly; when this Soul Skill penetrated into his body, he couldn’t help but feeling a strange sensation, as if a connection had been made between him and this Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess. It was as if she possessed something within her that was now flowing into Yang Kai, rapidly enhancing the strength of his Spiritual Energy.
On top of that, a vast amount of information began appearing in his mind and all sorts of mysterious Secret Arts and Martial Skills were rapidly being imprinted in his consciousness.
Yang Kai immediately felt as if he could freely use these skills!
This feeling was fantastical and unfounded but Yang Kai was fully convinced it was the truth.
His rapid footsteps halting, Yang Kai quickly came to a halt, standing his ground while taking a deep breath, his eyes filling with light.
The Saintess of Nine Heavens Holy Land also hurriedly stopped, standing not far behind Yang Kai, her beautiful eyes staring at him nervously.
“Little brats, let’s see where you can run now!” Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng roared. Although these two juniors weren’t as strong as they were, they were quite quick, so if they hadn’t stopped on their own, it was possible these two old men wouldn’t have been able to catch them.
Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng, their stomachs full of grievances, were both releasing a thick murderous intent.
Yang Kai slowly turned and stared at them, his brow furrowed, seemingly puzzled by his current condition.
A moment later, Yang Kai slowly raised his hand, and his Spiritual Energy burst out, quickly condensing into a huge golden sword that hovered above his head.
This giant sword was comprised purely of Spiritual Energy and was more than a dozen meters long. From this golden body, a burning hot aura pulsed, seemingly capable of incinerating anything it touched.
An unparalleled sense of oppression fell from the sky, and Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng’s faces became stiff as they stared towards Yang Kai. Under this pressure, they felt as if a mountain was pressing down on them and a deep sense of fear penetrated all the way to their bones. In that instant, they felt as if death was upon them and any resistance was futile.
As for the Saintess of Nine Heavens Holy Land, she too was trembling, her pretty face filled with a look of amazement. As she stared towards Yang Kai, a different kind of light flashed across her beautiful eyes, as if she had just discovered something incomprehensible, her spirits rising greatly!
Yang Kai stared at the giant sword above him, somewhat lost in thought for a moment flicked his wrist. In the next instant, the giant sword descended from the sky directly towards Old Man Cheng.
A violent wave of wind swept past and before Old Man Cheng could make a sound, his Soul Avatar disintegrated under the giant sword. Hai Wang Gu, who was standing nearby, was also thrown through the air from the aftermath, landing nearby somewhat unsteadily.
“This is the Profound Heavenly Sword?” Yang Kai frowned and turned to look at Saintess, the latter unconsciously nodding.
“Yes!”
Old Man Cheng was killed with a single blow and Hai Wang Gu had been flung away like a stray dog and was currently scrambling frantically to escape from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai glanced over at the fleeing Hai Wang Yu faintly before his moving his hand slightly, the giant sword that had just crushed Old Man Cheng transforming into a rope and shooting off, capturing the fleeing old man instantly and immobilizing him.
Yang Kai gently tugged his hand and the rope that was binding Hai Wang Gu dragged him back towards the former.
“This is the Imprisoning Heaven Lock?” Yang Kai asked the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess.
“En!”
“Interesting, why am I suddenly able to use these Soul Skills?” Yang Kai looked at her suspiciously, “And my Spiritual Energy seems to have strengthened significantly. What exactly did you do to me?”
“Can we talk about this later?” The Saintess’ eyes flickered, apparently somewhat reluctant to answer.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and didn’t ask any further.
The two Soul Skills Yang Kai had just used were skills he had never even heard of until just now, yet now he seemed to have a comprehensive understanding of them as well as a complete mastery of their usage, as if he had cultivated them for many years.
If was impossible for this odd situation to occur spontaneously and the only explanation was that this woman had done something to him.
If Yang Kai had to guess, it was like she had directly transferred these two Soul Skills into Yang Kai’s consciousness, allowing him to instantly comprehend and use them.
On top of that, the amount of Spiritual Energy Yang Kai just used wasn’t that great; at most, it was equivalent to what Hai Wang Gu and this Saintess could use, but that not powerful strength had been enough to easily obliterate Old Man Cheng.
Yang Kai’s heart and head were filled with doubts and confusion!
“What are you going to do with this person?” The Saintess asked, pointing to the tied up Hai Wang Gu.
“What else can I do?” Yang Kai snorted, and the rope tied to Hai Wang Gu suddenly burst into flames. With a scream of despair, Hai Wang Gu’s Soul Avatar was incinerated, leaving behind not even a trace of ash.
Throughout the entire Soul Battle Hall, only Yang Kai and the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess remained.
Facing each other, under Yang Kai’s focused gaze, the Saintess seemed somewhat uncomfortable and averted her eyes.
“What is your name?” Yang Kai asked.
“An Ling’er… what about you?”
“Zhang San!”
An Ling’er’s pretty face turned sour. Yang Kai’s perfunctory attitude really annoyed her, but right now wasn’t an appropriate time to vent her grievances so she could only swallow her anger.
“Now can you tell me what you did just now?” Yang Kai asked solemnly, “Whatever it was, it was quite unusual.”
“Do you have to know?” An Ling’er bit her lip lightly but Yang Kai just nodded firmly, “If I don’t understand what just happened, how can I be sure it won’t bring me harm?”
“You can rest assured that what I did was absolutely harmless to you, moreover, I have no reason to harm you.”
“I still hope you can explain it to me clearly.”
“Good!” An Ling’er took a deep breath, “Since you insist on this, I’ll tell you.”
After she said that, she fell silent for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts, a moment later continuing, “Even you should know some basic information about my Nine Heavens Holy Land. Every Holy Master is found by us, the Saintesses from the outside world. We have some special methods with which to seek out appropriate candidates, and if one of them passes our test, they will become the next Holy Master of the Holy Land. As for what kind of methods we use to seek out such candidates, please forgive me, I can only tell you that it is related to my Secret Art.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“I think you should have heard that before being named as Holy Master, each of these people came from different walks of life and their aptitudes varied greatly, but once they enter my Holy Land and become the Holy Master, they are reborn and become extraordinary existences. This actually had a lot to do with us, the Saintesses.”
“Oh? How so?”
“We… since birth were raised as the Holy Master’s cultivation furnaces! All our cultivation and experiences are strictly prepared for the Holy Master, so that upon finding him and bringing him back to the Holy Land, we can instill them into him; this is the greatest responsibility of us Saintesses. Moreover, because there is more than one Saintess in the Holy Land, the benefits each Holy Master can obtain are massive, which is why every Holy Master can become an extraordinary powerhouse, because it is not just him cultivating on his own. Depending on various circumstances, the number of Saintesses can range from three or four to up to seven or eight, all of them assisting the Holy Master in his cultivation. With so many cultivation furnaces all providing assistance to him, it is difficult for the Holy Land’s Holy Master to not become strong.”
“Something like that really happens?” Yang Kai was shocked.
“This is the greatest secret of my Holy Land, do not tell anyone else about it,” An Ling’er warned seriously.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have loose lips,” Yang Kai nodded, becoming slightly pensive as he muttered, “So, my being able to master the Soul Skills of your Nine Heavens Holy Land is simply because you learned them yourself and you then instilled that knowledge into me?”
“En, what you mastered are the skills I am proficient in. A Saintess, before death, does not kill, but we can use our special methods to assist the Holy Master, and the benefits we bring to the Holy Master are not limited to just this. You should have felt just now, with my assistance, your Spiritual Energy became stronger.”
Yang Kai’s expression couldn’t help being strange at this point, “But I’m not your Holy Master, how come you were able to assist me so?”
An Ling’er sighed and bit her lip before saying, “Although I don’t want to admit it, you probably have the aptitude to become the next Holy Master.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“It’s true. Just now, I only wanted to help boost your Spiritual Energy so that you could fight against those two and had no intention of imparting the Holy Land’s Divine Skills, but somehow you managed to comprehend them all on your own. Can I ask you, how many of the Divine Skills did you manage to learn just now?”
“Just those two!”
“Those two skills are both incredibly difficult to comprehend, even with the help of us Saintesses. If a new Holy Master wants to master the Holy Land’s Divine Skills, it is not so easy. It is very likely that it will take many tries before a new Holy Master can thoroughly master any of the Divine Skills. You being able to not only grasp but utilize two of them in an instant, you should be able to understand the implications,” An Ling’er narrowed her eyes slightly.
Yang Kai’s eyes also narrowed slightly, “How many Divine Skills have you mastered?”
“Nine!” An Ling’er smiled lightly, “Want to learn?”
“Meh!” Yang Kai replied casually, putting on an uninterested expression.
“I can teach all of them to you right now actually, but there is a condition you have to promise me.”
Yang Kai’s face sank; he didn’t like it when people bargained back and forth with him.
“Follow me back to the Holy Land. When the times comes, not only will you be able to obtain my enlightenments but also those of my three sisters, we will help you grow in the shortest time possible.”
“You want me to go back with you to become your Holy Master?” Yang Kai grinned.
“Yes! I feel like you are an appropriate candidate, even though… you’re somewhat hateful,” An Ling’er replied truthfully.
“Not interested!” Yang Kai smiled and shook his head slowly.
“You…” An Ling’er almond coloured eyes bulged, a look of pure surprise spreading across her face. Never had she imagined that Yang Kai would refuse her offer so bluntly.
Who didn’t want to be the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land? The entire archipelago occupied by the Seven Family Alliance had become incredibly lively, with cultivators coming from near and far, all just for the chance of being selected by the Saintess. After all, if they were really chosen, it would be like leaping over the Dragon Gate and soaring into the sky in a single bound!
No matter where An Ling’er went, each island was the same: All the men, young and old, would flock to her with expectant looks.
But now, when she took the initiative to invite someone she believed worthy of receiving this honour, she was actually rejected! An Ling’er couldn’t help feeling like she was dreaming, staring dumbfounded at Yang Kai, unable to speak.
“If I want strength, I’ll cultivate it myself, why should I depend on women for it?” Yang Kai sneered, “What difference is there between that and being a gigolo?”
“Are you still not clear about the benefits of becoming a Holy Master?” An Ling’er frowned, “Becoming a Holy Master not only means you will become one of this world’s hegemons in the future, you will also receive things most people will never be able to obtain in their lifetimes. Whether its wealth, status, fame, even beauties, all of it will be yours.”
“Does that also include you?” Yang Kai looked at her evilly.
An Ling’er’s expression suddenly became a bit unnatural, but she soon nodded, “Yes, I was originally born to be the Holy Master’s cultivation furnace, not only me, but also my three sisters. As long as you desire it, regardless of what it is, we sisters will give it to you; you can openly enjoy the pampering of four wives!”
“A tempting offer!” Yang Kai licked his lips, an obscene expression appearing on his face which seemed to be particularly wretched.
“Then you…”
“Nope!” Yang Kai sneered, his expression changing faster than flipping the page of a book, shaking his head and saying, “There must be demerits, becoming Holy Master has so many advantages, so the price one has to pay shouldn’t be small, right?”
An Ling’er pretty face froze up as she stared deeply at him and nodded, “Yes, there is a rumor in the Holy Land that, although there is no basis, I believe is the price each Holy Master needs to pay!”
“Let’s hear it!”
“Every Holy Master doesn’t live long… It seems that the one who lived the longest was only three hundred years old.”
Nine Heavens Holy Land was a powerful Sect and the Holy Master, with the assistance of so many Saintesses as cultivation furnaces, definitely increased his strength rapidly. Yang Kai estimated that each Holy Master became a Third Order Saint after only several dozen years.
Third Order Saints had long since transcended the level of mortality and their life expectancy was greatly extended, to only live to three hundred years was obviously dying young.
Even Third Order Transcendents from certain forces could live for hundreds of years.
Upon hearing the price, Yang Kai completely discarded any intentions to become the so-called Holy Master had. Three hundred years seemed like a long time, but for those who pursued the Martial Dao, such a period of time was but a fleeting moment.
Yang Kai firmly believed that even if he didn’t become a Holy Master, in three hundred years he would still be living well, perhaps traveling around with Su Yan and Little Senior Sister, freely exploring the world.
“However, if you think about it, in exchange for such benefits, it’s a small price to pay; after all, this isn’t something many people can pursue in their lifetime,” An Ling’er continued trying to persuade Yang Kai.
But Yang Kai simply snickered and said confidently, “After thirty years, I will be able to stand on equal footing as your nonsense Holy Master.”
“Thirty years…” An Ling’er stared at him doubtfully, “You certainly know how to talk big.”
To stand on equal footing with the Holy Master meant at least being a Third Order Saint.
An Ling’er didn’t believe Yang Kai was capable of this and only thought he was an overconfident youth.
“Believe what you like,” Yang Kai smiled, his face filled with confidence.
“You really won’t reconsider?”
“No,” Yang Kai shook his head, “But I have to say, the way you choose your Holy Master is too sloppy. How can you decide the next leader of such a big force so casually?”
“It’s not sloppy!” An Ling’er retorted vigorously, “Our Secret Art is based entirely around finding the next Holy Master. As long as there is a suitable candidate within a certain radius, we Saintesses can perceive them. A situation like yours is the actually the alternative method to finding a candidate. If we Saintesses cannot find an appropriate candidate within the allotted time, we can only let the Holy Land recruit as many young people with high aptitude and pass them knowledge of the Holy Land’s Divine Skills to see if they can comprehend them. Although today’s event was an accident, you have indeed passed my test and are eligible to enter the Holy Land. En, in fact, your performance is exemplary, so you’re definitely qualified!”
Yang Kai laughed back at her, “Can you guarantee that the person you choose is loyal to your Holy Land and doesn’t have any ulterior motives?”
“We can!” An Ling’er nodded firmly, “After entering the Holy Land, the new Holy Master’s mindset will change.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes at this comment. Although he wasn’t quite clear about the details, from what he could gather, it seems the Nine Heavens Holy Land would use some special method to brainwash their new leader.
“Fine fine, let’s put this aside for now,” Yang Kai didn’t want to continue inquiring into the secrets of Nine Heavens Holy Land. The more he knew, the less helpful it was to him. Having said so, Yang Kai released a subtle stream of Spiritual Energy from the Soul Avatar and before An Ling’er could respond, wrapped her in it.
“What are you doing?” An Ling’er’s pretty face changed as she suddenly found herself unable to move. Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy was far stronger than she had estimated before and also contained a burning hot aura that caused her Soul Avatar a fair amount of discomfort.
Yang Kai looked her over, a complicated look flashing across his eyes as he nodded slightly, “En, considering everything that’s happened, the safest course of action would be to kill you.”
“Kill me?” An Ling’er’s beautiful face paled slightly, “You think I’ve seen too much?”
“That’s one of the reasons,” Yang Kai nodded calmly, “With the things you know, I can imagine that once you go back, your Nine Heavens Holy Land won’t leave me alone and will try to force me to go back with you, either to force me to take the position of Holy Master or to kill me in order to protect the secrets of your Holy Land. I don’t want to deal with either of these situations.”
“Aren’t you being a bit paranoid?” An Ling’er frowned as she stared at him faintly, “As long as I don’t tell anyone, who will know what happened here today? And don’t forget, I saved you once before, don’t tell me you’re going to repay that kindness with enmity.”
“You don’t need to remind me,” Yang Kai spat disdainfully, “In fact, I don’t know what I should do with you right now. If I killed you, I would definitely regret it for the rest of my life, at worst it may become a kind of heart demon, but if I just let you go, I won’t be able to feel relieved.”
Listening to him, An Ling’er nervousness couldn’t help diminishing greatly as she quietly asked, “So what do you need me to do?”
“Nothing much! But this was something I wished to avoid as well.” Yang Kai sighed as he reached out his hand and grabbed towards her Soul Avatar.
An Ling’er was frightened and wanted to struggle but was still unable to move.
Yang Kai’s hand hadn’t even touched An Ling’er before he clenched his fist and pulled it back towards himself.
An irresistible attraction seemed to emerge all of a sudden and An Ling’er’s vision became hazy, her Soul Avatar collapsing to the ground softly a moment later.
Struggling to raise her head, she directed a hate-filled glare towards Yang Kai and spat angrily, “So you learned more than just two Divine Skills!”
“Sorry, I actually learned three of them!” Yang Kai smiled, “This one is called Great Heavenly Attraction, right?”
An Ling’er bit down hard on her lips and refused to answer.
“Profound Heavenly Sword, Imprisoning Heaven Chain, Great Heavenly Attraction…” Yang Kai muttered, “Your Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Divine Skills are really quite convenient and practical.”
“Convenient? Practical?! You’re only able to use them because of my ten years of hard work!” An Ling’er listened to his evaluation and suddenly couldn’t help snapping back at him.
Yang Kai simply ignored her and instead stared at the small piece of Spiritual Energy in his hand. This thread was something he had pulled out from An Ling’er’s Soul Avatar and actually looked like a miniature version of her, sitting cross-legged atop Yang Kai’s palm, solemn and motionless.
This was An Ling’er Soul brand!
With this brand in hand, Yang Kai could control whether An Ling’er lived or died at will.
“As a safety precaution, I’ll be accepting your Soul brand, and I hope from now on our paths will never cross again. En, well, when one day I am able to match your Holy Master, I’ll go to your Nine Heavens Holy Land and return this brand to you,” Yang Kai said, storing away her Soul brand into his own Avatar.
An Ling’er looked as if she had suffered a great injustice, but was helpless to resist.
Although she too was proficient in the Great Heavenly Attraction, her Divine Sense was not nearly as powerful as Yang Kai’s, so even though she wanted to fight back, she couldn’t.
This man was simply abhorrent to the extreme, she had clearly just offered him fame, riches, power, and women, yet not only did he refuse her, but he was also now trying to control her as well.
“Hey, I’m not really trying to act maliciously towards you, stop looking at me like I’m so kind of monster,” Yang Kai said to her as he shook his head.
“You bastard!” An Ling’er gnashed her teeth, seemingly trying to vent her anger.
“Yes yes yes, I’m a big bastard, the most hateful person in the world. Anyways, you should calm yourself down and cultivate quietly for a bit,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively. Now that he was in possession of her Soul brand, he felt much more relaxed.
Although extracting her Soul brand had caused some damage to An Ling’er’s Soul, it would be fine as long as she cultivated for a while, Yang Kai had made sure of that just now.
An Ling’er pursed her lips and ignored him, wandering a short distance away and sitting down, looking very pitiful.
Yang Kai watched her for a moment before helplessly shaking his head and flying off.
This white world was indeed inside a Soul type artifact. As for this artifact’s purpose, Yang Kai wasn’t quite clear. All he knew was that it was capable of forcefully extracting others’ Soul Avatars and dragging them into this strange space.
This was something quite useful for Yang Kai nonetheless.
His Soul was actually much more powerful than his physical body, so once he encountered a powerful enemy, with this artifact, he could force them into a confrontation between Divine Senses.
In such a battle, Yang Kai would have a lot of advantages.
As such, he really wanted to collect this artifact for himself.
However, the more than a hundred people who had been drawn into this white space had already searched it several times over and found nothing of note. In fact, the only thing that was at all different in this place was the glowing ‘Soul Battle Hall’ words hanging up in the sky.
Flying up to the position where the words were written, Yang Kai carefully inspected them, his expression turned stern.
As time passed, An Ling’er also recovered from the damage she had suffered and turned her eyes towards the sky, a while later also flying up and standing next to Yang Kai, asking, “Are you looking for an exit, or do you perhaps want to refine this artifact?”
“Not angry anymore?” Yang Kai glanced over at her curiously, he found that this woman was quite forgiving. Before now, Yang Kai had repeatedly pushed her away, but each time, after a short bout of pouting, she would come over to him again.
“Of course I’m still angry!” An Ling’er firmly stated, “But I’ve decided to put that aside for now. The most important thing right now is to find a way out of here.”
“Clever girl!” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “You’re right, I want to refine this artifact. Since it’s a Soul type artifact, it should be possible to refine it using my Spiritual Energy, but I don’t know how I should go about doing that, what do you think? Any suggestions?”
An Ling’er swept her eyes around carefully and thought for a moment before replying, “You should try refining these three words, it may be the core of this artifact. Pour your Spiritual Energy into these words and you should be able to take possession of this artifact!”
“Seems we’re in agreement,” Yang Kai nodded before saying, “You should stand farther away.”
An Ling’er narrowed her eyes slightly, and although she felt a little confused by his suggestion, she still obediently moved away, landing back where the two of them had just had their last fight.
Looking up, she saw Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar sitting cross-legged and motionless mid-air, seemingly concentrating on something.
All of a sudden, an astonishingly hot burning aura spread out from his Soul Avatar as a brilliant, golden light filled the entire white space, the Soul Battle Hall seeming shaking in response.
Instantly, the three words were directly wrapped in blazing flames.
An Ling’er’s jaw went slack as she saw this, her tender body trembling slightly.
Originally she had thought that Yang Kai had cultivated some kind of special Soul Skill or possessed a powerful Soul type artifact which gave his Soul Avatar that faint burning aura, but after witnessing this scene, she realized that neither of these was the case. The truth was that his Soul Avatar gave off a burning hot aura because of its innate nature!
[A Conflagrated Knowledge Sea?] An Ling’er was completely shocked.
Moreover, from what she could tell, Yang Kai’s use of his Spiritual Energy had reached a very high standard.
No wonder he had taken her Soul brand, it wasn’t just because he had learned some of the Holy Land’s secrets from her, but also because he possessed such a secret!
He obviously didn’t want her to tell anyone about this.
However, with this, the two of them might really be saved. The power of a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was far greater than an ordinary Knowledge Sea, and it seemed Yang Kai’s raw strength was also quite considerable. This Soul type artifact, even if its grade wasn’t low, probably wouldn’t be able to withstand being refined by such hot, violent Spiritual Energy.
An Ling’er suddenly felt a bit joyful as she made up her mind to do whatever it took to convince Yang Kai to return to the Holy Land with her!
A Holy Master with a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea! This was unprecedented even in the Holy Land’s entire history. With such aptitude and capital, as long as he became the next Holy Master, he would certainly be the most powerful one in history!
The seabed, somewhere in the Ancient Ruins.
In this place, within a thousand meters, there were more than a hundred cultivators lying on the ground, most of them already dead. Only a man and a woman still showed any signs of life, but they were both comatose.
In front of these cultivators there was a glowing light sphere that was continuously emitting some subtle energy fluctuations. As these fluctuations rose and fell, the light from the sphere also pulsed, sometimes brilliant and blinding, other times seemingly on the verge of being extinguished.
Suddenly, a golden radiance bloomed from the light sphere. When this golden aura appeared, the nearby space gradually became hot.
This golden aura began expanding outwards and soon encompassed the entire region, turning the light sphere into a miniature golden sun, the burning sensation in the air become more and more intense.
*Kacha…*
The sound of something shattering rang out.
At the same time, two Souls shot out from the light sphere, circle a few times, and then slowly landed on two of the bodies lying down below.
The golden radiance coming from the light sphere gradually dimmed and after a while, the entire orb went dark.
A moment later, An Ling’er slowly struggled to open her eyes and arduously picked herself up off the ground. After finally managing to stand upright, she looked around and spotted Yang Kai a short distance away.
As the pair met eyes, they couldn’t help grinning slightly.
Inside the Soul Battle Hall, in order to refine the artifact, Yang Kai had been persistently burning the three glowing words with his powerful Spiritual Energy, and just now, after who knows how long, he finally managed to succeed.
After overcoming such hardship together, An Ling’er suddenly felt that Yang Kai was somewhat good but still in most cases, bad. However, still quite bearable to be around. Yang Kai also thought that this young woman wasn’t so bad either, even if she was a bit naive. When he was refining the artifact, she had not tried to disturb or hinder him in any way and had instead just waited quietly while keeping her distance.
After successfully refining the Soul type artifact, it was easy to leave; Yang Kai simply summoned an exit and the two of them stepped through it.
Their Souls having been separated from their bodies for quite some time, a sense of discomfort was unavoidable. Yang Kai’s condition wasn’t too bad; after all, his Soul was significantly more powerful than An Ling’er’s, while the latter was still struggling to adjust. After confirming that Yang Kai had also returned, she promptly sat back down and began circulating her Secret Art while re-adjusting herself.
Yang Kai also sat down and carefully confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his body before standing up and walking over to where the Soul type artifact was.
Now that he had finished refining it, this artifact naturally belonged to Yang Kai.
Standing beside it, with a single though, Yang Kai stored it into his Knowledge Sea.
After inspecting the artifact for a while, Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised. This was a rare treasure left behind by the ancient Sect which once stood here and was definitely Saint Grade. Even after experiencing endless years idling in this place, this artifact had actually not lost much of its strength.
After nourishing it within his Knowledge Sea for some time, Yang Kai believed he could restore it to its original strength.
Yang Kai was very satisfied and felt that this trip had been worthwhile. Earlier he had obtained a Pill with a Pill Cloud, making it difficult for him to contain his excitement, and now he had acquired a Soul type artifact that was perfectly suited to him, it could be said that his harvest here had been bigger than anyone else.
Taking back his consciousness, Yang Kai looked around and found that An Ling’er was still meditating while Hai Wang Gu and the others had already died. Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before walking over the bodies and sifting through the various Universe Bags, taking anything he found useful while discarding the rest.
Half a day later, An Ling’er slowly opened her beautiful eyes; after this short adjustment, she had basically made a full recovery.
Seeing Yang Kai seemingly looking after her, the Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess smiled, an inexplicable sweetness welling up in her heart.
Getting up and gently stepping over to Yang Kai, she asked, “Are we going back now or continuing to explore?”
“I want to continue exploring this place. There is at least one place I need to investigate, as for you… well, do whatever you want,” Yang Kai replied bluntly before walking off.
Seeing Yang Kai acting somewhat cold towards her again, An Ling’er pursed her lips and quickly followed after him without a word.
Arriving in front of a grand palace, Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning slightly.
This palace was the one originally guarded by the Soul Battle Hall, the one Hai Wang Gu and Old Man Cheng had gathered over a hundred cultivators together to break into, hoping to discover more treasures.
Unexpectedly though, after breaking the barrier around this palace, everyone’s Soul had been pulled into the Soul Battle Hall, thoroughly disrupting their initial plans.
Now though, when Yang Kai and An Ling’er inspected this place, they discovered signs that other people had already been here recently. The palace had essentially been ransacked and anything of value had already been taken.
“Did someone else come here later and discover this place?” An Ling’er guessed.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, agreeing with her analysis.
Although more than a hundred people had been dragged into the Soul Battle Hall, there were still many others who had entered these Ancient Ruins.
Yang Kai didn’t know how much time had passed, but he estimated that by now, the entire Ancient Ruins had been looted clean.
Realizing this, Yang Kai no longer wasted time, left the palace directly, and headed straight towards the source of the Yang Attribute fluctuations he felt.
Although it may have already been a month or two since they arrived at this place, the Yang Attribute aura that had first drawn Yang Kai here was still present.
Yang Kai wanted to know just what it was.
An Ling’er didn’t say anything to provoke or question Yang Kai and simply followed behind him step by step.
Yang Kai knew that she had still not given up on persuading him to return with her to Nine Heavens Holy Land so he deliberately ignored her.
After some time, Yang Kai felt he was drawing closer to the source of the Yang Attribute energy, but along with the Yang Attribute energy, Yang Kai also felt another kind of special fluctuation.
Void force!
Yang Kai suddenly realized that something was wrong and a sinking feeling told him he wasn’t likely to gain anything for his troubles here.
Sure enough, after passing over a small ridge, Yang Kai’s steps came to a halt and a helpless frown appeared on his face.
An Ling’er saw his expression droop and quickly looked over in the direction he was staring, covering her mouth in shock in the next instant and shouting “A Void Corridor?”
A short distance ahead, a roughly five-meter pitch black hole appeared in the ground. Naturally, it was a Void Corridor.
The Yang Attribute energy and the force of the void that Yang Kai felt were both coming from this black hole.
“How come there is a Void Corridor here?” An Ling’er couldn’t help feeling surprised. Void Corridors weren’t very common. It was said that a long time ago, masters tore holes in space as they fought which resulted in the formation of Void Corridors. There was also a theory that these Void Corridors were natural formations that had coincidentally formed on their own.
Through researching the mysteries of Void Corridor, some masters in the current world could use their own great strength to manipulate the force of the void to create Void Corridor-like existences, allowing them to cross ten thousand kilometres in a flash.
Chu Ling Xiao of Soaring Heaven Sect possessed such ability!
However, doing this consumed a great deal of time and energy, so even a master as powerful as Chu Ling Xiao was not willing to do so if not absolutely necessary.
However, the pseudo-Void Corridors these masters constructed and legitimate ones were worlds apart in terms of stability and distance of transmission.
There being a Void Corridor in this Ancient Ruin came as quite a surprise to An Ling’er.
It was a mystery what lay on the other side, it may be somewhere else in Tong Xuan Realm, or it may be a separate Mysterious Small World.
“Let’s head back!” Yang Kai said after a short silence. Although the source of the Yang Attribute energy was of great interest to him, he wasn’t about to rush head long into a Void Corridor. If it transported him to a distant part of the Starry Sky, it might be impossible for him to find his way back.
Saying so, he didn’t even wait for An Ling’er to reply before soaring straight up.
“Ah, wait for me!” An Ling’er shouted and quickly chased after him.
A moment later, the two of them arrived at the barrier of the Ancient Ruin, passed it, and plunged back into the sea.
Instantly, Yang Kai felt an enormous pressure from all directions, seemingly trying to crush even his bones.
Feeling this tremendous pressure, Yang Kai quickly pushed his True Qi and opened up a bubble around himself.
An Ling’er’s eyes flashed and dove into Yang Kai’s True Qi bubble, standing close by with a relaxed smile on her face.
“Why you…” Yang Kai glared at her.
“What?”
“Isn’t a Saintess supposed to be pure and noble? Sticking so close to an unfamiliar man, is that something you should be doing?”
“Unfamiliar man?” An Ling’er argued back, “Didn’t I tell you, you are fully qualified to become the next Holy Master. If you didn’t have such qualification, I wouldn’t even approach you.”
“If you dare mention that again just see if I don’t kill you!” Yang Kai shouted fiercely.
“You say that but you don’t have any intention of acting on it,” An Ling’er seemed to have seen through Yang Kai’s nature and was no longer frightened by him so easily.
Yang Kai ground his teeth as he stared at her wickedly, a devious smiling soon forming on his face, “You like provoking me? Do you really think I don’t have a way to tidy you up?”
“Try it if you dare!” An Ling’er stared back at him defiantly.
Yang Kai’s grin became even wider as he slowly began taking back his True Qi, shrinking the bubble around the two of them greatly.
An Ling’er let out a slight yelp upon seeing this and quickly leaned in towards Yang Kai, fearing she would be exposed to the outside sea if she didn’t.
Yang Kai continued to withdraw his True Qi, shrinking the bubble more and more.
The noble and holy Saintess soon had no choice but to squish up against Yang Kai, her delicate little hands grabbing tightly onto his clothes as her chest met his, her pretty face fluctuating between bright red and pale white, secretly gnashing her teeth but not daring to say anything more.
Soon, An Ling’er’s face had become a deep shade of crimson.
As the defensive barrier shrank, she could wrap her arms and legs around Yang Kai, her two proud peaks greatly deforming as the pressed against his strong chest.
Even though she was extremely unwilling, she had no choice but to maintain this humiliating posture.
“You pervert! Criminal! Demon!” An Ling’er bit her lips and pouted pitifully to Yang Kai, exhaling hot, fragrant breath next to his face.
Looking at An Ling’er’s half angry, half ashamed expression, Yang Kai couldn’t help laughing wickedly, “Your Majesty the Saintess, how do you feel?”
As he spoke, he deliberately breathed right next to her delicate earlobe, causing An Ling’er already blushing face to dye even redder and her heart to pound, something Yang Kai could feel due to their ‘close’ contact.
The Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess had grown up since birth in the Holy Land and spent almost all of her time cultivating and being instilled with a certain mentality.
That was that she was born to serve the Holy Master and everything she possessed and obtained was for the Holy Master’s sake.
In Nine Heavens Holy Land, the Saintesses were symbols of nobility and holiness, so they were never allowed close contact with any man.
Now, wrapped around this essentially unknown man’s body, An Ling’er’s thoughts were in a state of confusion, the only thing she was certain of was that she deeply regretted provoking such a hateful bastard.
What was worse though was that this wicked person had not only passed her test but was even able to instantly comprehend three of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.
[The Heavens must really be blind!] An Ling’er bit her lip hard in an effort to stop herself from shouting something unladylike.
Seeing her truly aggrieved appearance, Yang Kai no longer bothered teasing her and simply maintained the status quo as he swam upwards.
A while later, the two youths burst out of the sea and returned to the surface.
An Ling’er, quickly separated herself from Yang Kai like a frightened rabbit, gasping for a breath while glaring at him with a look of resentment.
“I’ll say this to you now, everything you saw down there, you must not mention in front of anyone from Nine Heavens Holy Land, or else I won’t hesitate to permanently silence you. In exchange, I assure you that I will never do anything to harm your Nine Heavens Holy Land, nor will I tell another soul about your Sect’s secrets! Good, from now on, it would be best if we never meet again, both for our sakes,” Yang Kai said seriously.
“I understand, you don’t need to mention that again,” An Ling’er nodded lightly.
“Very good, I hope you find your new Holy Master soon!” Yang Kai smiled before quickly departing.
Staring at his disappearing back, An Ling’er’s expression became complicated.
She had never thought that someone would refuse such a good deed which was practically handed to him on a platter; she always thought that when she found someone qualified to become the next Holy Master, that person would be in utter joy. He would not be able to contain himself, and ask when he will be able to arrive back to the Holy Land with her. A place filled with wealth and riches. However, Yang Kai’s reaction and attitude had completely shattered her previous preconceptions.
When he left, he didn’t show the slightest regret; it was obvious he was completely unwilling to become the Holy Master.
“Oh no!” An Ling’er suddenly cried out, only now remembering that she had been missing for so long. Uncle Qian and the others were probably losing their minds with worry by now.
Above the archipelago, a think sense of tension filled the air.
The people from the Seven Family Alliance and the disciples of Nine Heavens Holy Land had almost turned the nearby islands inside out over the past one and a half months.
But to this day, the whereabouts of the Saintess were still unknown.
Facing the ever increasing anger of Nine Heavens Holy Land, each member of the Seven Family Alliance trembled in fear.
The masters of the Seven Families were currently all gathered together in a giant palace originally reserved for the Nine Heavens Holy Land delegation, each of them leaking cold sweat from the their brows.
Qian Ning’s face was gloomy to the extreme as he stared at these people and muttered angrily, “After more than a month, none of you has been able to find the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the Saintess. I will give you three more days, if I can’t see the Saintess standing in front of me within three days, I will personally flatten all your islands!”
“Protector Qian, please calm your anger, we will assign more people to the search and will definitely find Her Highness the Saintess!” A First Order Transcendent cultivator continually wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted.
Nine Heavens Holy Land visiting their territory was a great honour for their Seven Family Alliance, but who could have predicted such a crisis would befall them.
“Protector Qian, is it possible Her Highness the Saintess accompanied the exploration group from some time ago?” Someone guessed.
“That group that went treasure hunting at the bottom of the sea?” Qian Ning coldly snorted, “How could Her Highness the Saintess do something so ridiculous?”
“But in with the exception of the seabed, we have searched everywhere…”
“Didn’t those who went to explore the seabed return three days ago? There was no trace of Her Highness the Saintess among them, if she really had been with them, she would have returned by now.”
“But… down there, there were many casualties, perhaps Her Highness the Saintess…”
“Impudence!” Qian Ning roared furiously, “What kind of characters is Her Highness! Even those low born vagabonds could come back alive, how could she possible have had an accident? I don’t care what method you use, or how many people you need to call, if I don’t see the Saintess within three days, you know the consequences! Get out!”
The leaders of the Seven Family Alliance were secretly annoyed at being treated this way but they didn’t dare show so on their faces. Their small alliance was really not worth mentioning in front of Nine Heavens Holy Land so they naturally couldn’t provoke Qian Ning.
However, before they could even leave the palace, a maid suddenly rushed over with a giant smile upon her face as she shouted, “Protector Qian, Protector Qian, Saintess, she… she’s returned!”
“She’s back?” Qian Ning raised his head and rushed out to meet the maid, eagerly asking, “Where?”
The maid quickly led the way, followed closely by Qian Ning, and soon arrived in front of An Ling’er.
Qian Ning’s face filled with tears and was so happy he was unable to speak, the great stone which was weighing on his heart this whole time finally lifting.
When An Ling’er walked over, everyone in the palace quickly bowed, “Greetings, Saintess!”
An Ling’er nodded lightly before somewhat guiltily saying, “Uncle Qian, this time I’ve caused you to worry, I’m truly sorry.”
“No no, as long as Saintess is safe, all it well,” Qian Ning smiled, obviously much more relaxed then just now, “Have you been hurt in any way?”
An Ling’er shook her head slowly.
“May I ask, where has Saintess been these days?”
“While I was out, I suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment, so I found a secluded place to retreat, I didn’t think I would be in seclusion for more than a month,” An Ling’er whispered, her attitude seemingly unnatural if one were observing closely.
Qian Ning did not miss this point and narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing that she was likely lying, but since the Saintess didn’t want to explain and she was safe and sound, he decided to simply count it as a blessing and let it pass, nodding happily as he shouted, “Good, very good!”
Turning around he said to the nearby maid, “Bei’er, take Her Highness to have a good rest.”
“En,” The maid, Bei’er nodded quickly.
The leaders of the Seven Family Alliance all exchanged glances upon seeing this scene play out and breathed a sigh of relief.
…..
On one of the island in the archipelago, Yang Kai found a cultivation room for rent, paid a few Crystal Stones, and stepped inside.
This room was owned and operated by the Seven Family Alliance and was designed for cultivators to use when they needed retreat and the cost to use it was far higher than an average inn’s room.
However, this cultivation chamber came with many isolation barriers that allowed a cultivator to avoid any kind of external interference; on top of that, the Seven Family Alliance placed guards around the area who would ensure the safety of those cultivating here, so it was worth the additional expense.
As such, these rooms were quite popular with foreign cultivators.
Cultivation rooms like these existed in most large cities; after all, there were always cultivators who suddenly gained insights into their practice and would need a place to retreat.
Inside the cultivation room, Yang Kai first inspected the various barriers, quickly determining that their quality wasn’t bad and could withstand a certain amount of impact as well as serve as alarms against outside intrusion. Finished with his inspection, Yang Kai sat down and took out the Pill Cloud pill and placed it atop his palm.
He wasn’t in a rush to leave this place partly because he couldn’t wait to see how this pill was refined and partly because he wanted to stay and monitor An Ling’er’s movements.
It wasn’t that he wanted to think the worst of her, but there were some things that required him to exercise an abundance of caution.
In the unlikely event that An Ling’er sold him out, he would probably become an enemy of Nine Heavens Holy Land. Such a colossus, once provoked, would bring him endless trouble.
Yang Kai had learned three of the Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Divine Skills in that inexplicable situation. These Divine Skills belonged to Nine Heavens Holy Land’s core inheritance and obviously couldn’t remain in the hands of outsiders. Once they knew the truth, they would have only two options, kill Yang Kai or force him to become their new Holy Master.
Taking An Ling’er’s Soul brand was something he was helpless about.
Although he had her Soul brand now, it didn’t allow Yang Kai to know everything she did, but he could at least notice any big changes in her mood, so it was possible to monitor her somewhat as long as they were close by.
Without thinking about it any further, Yang Kai immersed himself in studying the pill before him.
It was a Saint Grade Pill! A Saint Grade Mid-Rank pill to be more exact.
Alchemist who could refine Saint Pills were uncommon in any age.
Du Wan was a famous figure throughout Tong Xuan Realm and was still only a Saint Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, with his methods, he couldn’t refine a Saint Grade Mid-Rank pill unless he was extremely lucky.
Among the people Yang Kai had met, only The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep, Li Rui, could easily refine Saint Grade pills.
An excellent Alchemist could infer the level and skill of another by observing the traces left behind on one of the latter’s pills.
Staring at the Saint Pill in his hand, Yang Kai was deeply impressed.
Although Yang Kai’s experience was not incredibly rich, he could still see that the one who refined this pill had done so in a smooth and natural matter, with no rough traces left behind from either the purification or condensing stages of Alchemy. The skill of this Alchemist had obviously reached a superb height, possibly even comparable to that of Old Man Li’s.
However, too much time had passed. It was impossible to determine which ancient force those ruins belong to so obviously it was unrealistic to discover the identity of this Alchemist.
The most valuable thing about this Saint Pill though was obviously the Pill Cloud which enshrouded it. The rich aura from this cloud not only maintained the medicinal efficacies of this pill but also continuously gathered the surrounding World Energy to nourish it, strengthening its properties as time passed.
After so many thousands of years of accumulation, the energy contained inside this Saint Pill was simply immeasurable.
Yang Kai estimated that even if a top Saint Realm master were to swallow this pill, they would likely be unable to bear the energy contained within it.
A pill like this was simply something from legend.
Yang Kai immersed himself in studying this pill, savouring the technique used by the Alchemist who had refined it.
While doing so, it was as if he could see a scene from countless years ago, yet at the same time the finer details were hazy, covered in clouds.
Time flew by and several days passed. During this time, Yang Kai had constantly been in retreat in his cultivation room, spying on the mysteries of the Pill Cloud Saint Pill, reaping some small gains.
Yang Kai had also been monitoring An Ling’er these days and so far, everything seemed to be proceeding uneventfully. Apparently she had not taken the risk to sell him out. However, for reasons Yang Kai couldn’t understand, the delegation from Nine Heavens Holy Land had not yet departed.
Perhaps they were concerned after the disappearance of their Saintess that they didn’t have enough security and were waiting for reinforcements.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai no longer paid much attention to An Ling’er’s situation and fully concentrated on studying this ancient Saint Pill.
A few more days passed but Yang Kai still couldn’t glean much information regarding the Pill Cloud pill, so he was now left with only one option. This method had a number of risks associated with it, on top of which there was a chance he wouldn’t be able to learn anything from it, so it was a gamble.
He simply had to swallow it!
By feeling the effects of the pill with his body, he could possibly learn some of the secrets of the Pill Cloud while uncover the process by which this Saint Pill was refined!
Yang Kai hesitated for a long time, deciding whether he should take this rather extreme step.
A pill with a Pill Cloud was simply too rare; what’s more, this was a Saint Grade Mid-Rank pill, a valuable treasure all on its own. Once he swallowed it, it would be gone.
On top of all that, because of the Pill Cloud that surrounded the Saint Pill, Yang Kai couldn’t tell what this pill’s purpose was. Whether it was a healing pill, a supplementary cultivation pill, an enhancement pill, or a detoxification pill, Yang Kai had no clue.
Everything was a mystery, the only thing he was certain of was that it wasn’t a poison pill.
The other big risk was that after such a long period of time, the energy accumulated in this pill by its Pill Cloud was too large, causing Yang Kai to worry if he could even withstand taking it.
Although he had his Unyielding Golden Skeleton which could accept an unimaginably huge amount of energy, the capacity of his meridians and physique was still limited. If the massive amount of energy contained in this pill were to fill his meridians faster than his Unyielding Golden Skeleton could absorb it, his body may be damaged or even directly explode!
After weighing his options for a long time though, Yang Kai gradually firmed his resolve.
[I will risk it!]
With such a great opportunity in front of him, he had to at least try. Instead of pondering and hesitating over it forever, he might as well take action and deal with the consequences whatever they may be. Once he absorbed the medicinal efficacies, everything would become clear.
After making up his mind, Yang Kai left his cultivation room once to pay for an extension of ten days and told the Seven Family Alliance guards on duty that without his permission, no one was to disturb him. After accepting several Crystal Stones, the person in charge of the cultivation room happily agreed.
Returning to the cultivation room again, Yang Kai activated all the isolation barriers at their maximum setting before sitting down cross-legged, taking a deep breath, and preparing himself.
After achieving his peak condition, Yang Kai tossed the ancient Saint Pill into his mouth and swallowed it down.
Not daring to show the slightest bit of carelessness, Yang Kai immediately began circulating his True Yang Secret Art while waiting for the pill’s effects to appear.
Three breaths later, Yang Kai felt heat well up in his lower abdomen and began to rapidly spread outwards. This heat was like bubbling magma, burning Yang Kai’s five viscera, six organs.
When this heat first appeared, it was like a small stream and not too strong, but in the blink of an eye it transformed into a flowing creek, then a raging river, and finally a vast ocean.
Yang Kai could even hear the movement of this massive amount of energy from his chest, it was like a violent storm that whipped and howled as it sent out one violent torrent after another.
Yang Kai’s face went white, then red, as if it was on fire, his True Qi surging up and down as every pore on his skin involuntarily opened and countless streams of energy began leaking out, evaporating into the air.
Even circulating his True Yang Secret Art as fast as possible, Yang Kai felt his meridians close to bursting as the energy contained within the pill continued to flow out.
The effects of this pill rapidly flowed along Yang Kai’s meridians and penetrated every in of his physique.
At this moment, it was as if Yang Kai had opened a mysterious space filled with explosive energy and while receiving this energy’s violent baptism, he also had to focus his attention in order to explore the secrets hidden within.
With one mind, trying to do two nearly opposite tasks was no simple matter.
Soon though, Yang Kai noticed something was wrong, while the medicinal efficacies of the pill were indeed flowing through his meridians and physique, even though he was rapidly circulating his True Yang Secret Art, none of this energy was being absorbed into his Unyielding Golden Skeleton. Instead, it was all gathering towards his forehead.
As soon these streams of energy reached his forehead though, they would disappear like they had been swallowed by an invisible vortex.
Yang Kai was shocked and quickly reacted by immersing his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea.
The moment his Soul Avatar opened its eyes, Yang Kai saw a torrent of energy pouring into his golden red Knowledge Sea, like great waterfalls being burned and assimilated by the sea of flames below.
Yang Kai stared blankly for a moment before suddenly understanding.
It turned out that Saint Pill was not a healing pill, nor a pill for cultivating, but one meant to nourish one’s Soul!
In the instant it took Yang Kai to comprehend this, a nearly overwhelming amount of energy flooded in, causing his entire Knowledge Sea to toss violently, the Soul Battle Hall and Demon Eye of Annihilation floating in the sky seemingly becoming somewhat unstable.
The small Heaven Grade Top-Rank Soul sword had been swept away in this raging storm and disappeared altogether.
Realizing he was in grave danger, Yang Kai couldn’t help cursing vehemently. Originally, he had thought that no matter how much energy this Saint Pill contained, his unique Unyielding Golden Skeleton would be able to safely absorb it, greatly reducing the risk of taking this Pill Cloud pill.
However, he hadn’t anticipated that this ancient Saint Pill was meant to cultivate one’s Spiritual Energy, rendering his Unyielding Golden Skeleton useless.
Although Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was much vaster than an ordinary First Order Transcendent’s, there were still limits to it. With this massive amount of energy continuing to pour in, his Knowledge Sea would exploded sooner or later.
Yang Kai’s expression was incredibly ugly, and the only thing he could do now was try to stabilize his turbulent Knowledge Sea while desperately trying to think of a way to resolve the crisis before him.
Unable to think of any way out of this predicament, Yang Kai was just about to start panicking when suddenly, his entire Knowledge Sea was flooded with a brilliant five coloured radiance. When this aurora appeared, the massive amount of energy that was still pouring into his Knowledge Sea began to rapidly flow towards something and disappear.
Yang Kai glanced over in the direction of the flow and quickly discovered the source of this phenomenon, grinning dumbly a moment later.
What was helping him swallow this massive amount of energy, thus saving his life, was actually the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
When he had first obtained his incredible Soul nourishing treasure, Old Demon had told him that the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus could grow and if given enough time would evolve to have six colours and eventually seven colours!
This process of evolution was very long, possibly thousands of years to tens of thousands of years.
Once it reached the Seven Coloured state though, the assistance the Soul Warming Lotus would bring to its possessor was simply immeasurable.
Yang Kai had already gained unimaginable benefits from the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Spiritual Energy and Soul being significantly stronger than his body’s True Qi cultivation was mainly due to it.
So Yang Kai could imagine how miraculous the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus would be.
Old Demon had also said that although the Soul Warming Lotus’s growth was slow, it could be artificially accelerated by allowing it to absorb pills and Precious Treasures that nourished one’s Soul.
In a way, doing this was an investment. After a cultivator took these elixirs, pills, or treasures, they would need to share some of their efficacies with the Soul Warming Lotus, which would reduce the immediate benefits they would obtain but once the Soul Warming Lotus evolved, it would pay back that investment many times over.
In the past, Yang Kai had intentionally diverted a great deal of Spiritual Energy to the Soul Warming Lotus every time he took Soul nourishing medicines, but so far he had seen no noticeable response from it, so Yang Kai hadn’t paid it much mind.
But now, with this unimaginable amount of energy flooding into his Knowledge Sea, the Soul Warming Lotus had instinctively reacted and begun absorbing it.
As the Soul Warming Lotus madly swallowed this energy, the pressure Yang Kai felt reduced dramatically.
At the very least, his Knowledge Sea had become somewhat stable.
Immediately coming to his senses, Yang Kai consciously directed the energy pouring into his Knowledge Sea towards the Soul Warming Lotus while allowing his Knowledge Sea to absorb whatever excess remained.
But even so, the amount of energy he needed to absorb personally was still nearly overwhelming, frightening Yang Kai.
Without any hesitation, Yang Kai began using Spiritual Energy to spy on the mysteries of the True Alchemic Way.
This was the most intensive way Yang Kai knew to consume Spiritual Energy and was his only recourse to handle this emergency situation.
The energy flowing in was thus divided into two major streams, one of which was absorbed by the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus while the other was assimilated by Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, supplementing his constant consumption.
The Soul Devouring Insects, which had taken up residence on the five coloured island in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, also played a role in consuming this endless torrent of energy, all of them seemingly celebrating this unexpected feast.
After employing every means at his disposal, Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea finally calmed down, the inflow and consumption reaching a fragile balance.
Yang Kai couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. This time, not understanding the nature and role of this Saint Pill yet still taking it had nearly resulted in him killing himself.
Without having to focus all of his attention on his Knowledge Sea’s situation now, Yang Kai began exploring the mysteries of the Saint Pill itself.
Right now, Yang Kai’s lower abdomen felt like it was home to a small sun which was constantly throwing out massive amounts of heat and energy.
After a quick investigation, Yang Kai was flabbergasted. He discovered that the total efficacy of the Saint Pill had barely been consumed, less than one percent of it having been absorbed by him at this point.
However, while the Pill Cloud was dissipating and the medicinal efficacies were being absorbed into his meridians, Yang Kai could indeed comprehend some things about its nature he had formerly been unable to.
The pill’s ingredients, how the flames were controlled to refine it, what kind of Spirit Arrays were used during the Alchemy process, the Alchemy Grandmaster’s various supplementary techniques, all kinds of information was slowly being revealed to Yang Kai.
Vaguely, Yang Kai’s thoughts began tracing the mysteries of this pill which was refined so many millennia ago and a brand new world of Alchemy began to appear in front of him.
Within this new world, all kinds of Alchemy insights were shown to him.
Entering a state of enlightenment, Yang Kai became intoxicated in this world as bits and pieces of information were absorbed into his consciousness and his comprehension of Alchemy slowly began improving.
Compiling all these various insights together, Yang Kai gradually began to unravel their mysteries, as if the original scene of this Saint Pill being refined and its Pill Cloud forming were re-appearing before his eyes, a magical experience.
9 Chapters this week. Though the Patreon dropped below the 2K mark, I already scheduled when it was still 2.4K, which was like a few hours before it took a nose dive. So, all good.
On a certain island in the local archipelago, once again, Qian Ning arrived on Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess quarters. He was currently requesting that she prepare for another trip.
Unfortunately, ever since the Saintess had returned, An Ling’er firmly rejected both of his requests.
This time was no exception.
Qian Ning couldn’t help feeling somewhat annoyed. Although in the Holy Land, the Saintess had a higher rank than him, during this expedition, he was the one who was responsible for An Ling’er and the entire crew’s mission and safety.
“Young Lady, looking for the next Holy Master is your mission, we shouldn’t stop over in such a place for too long, no matter what reason you may have!”
“I know,” An Ling’er frowned, her pretty face slightly pale, “But I don’t know why, recently, I always had a feeling of restlessness, as if something terrible is about to happen.”
“Something terrible?” Qian Ning’s expression became even more solemn, “What do you mean?”
An Ling’er slowly shook her head and murmured, “I don’t know, I can’t explain it…”
Qian Ning’s brow furrowed as he gazed at An Ling’er suspiciously, a moment latter simply nodding, “If so, then we will stay for a while longer. When Young Lady believes we should depart, please let me know.”
“En.”
Staring at Qian Ning’s receding figure, An Ling’er’s forehead suddenly oozed large drops of sweat. What she had said just now was not to deceive Qian Ning, but was indeed what she was currently feeling.
She didn’t know what had happened, or what was about to happen, but these past few days, An Ling’er had always felt anxious and on edge.
Initially she had thought it had something to do with Yang Kai seizing her Soul brand, but after some careful investigation, she found that there was no connection between that and her current mood.
…..
Inside a certain cultivation room, Yang Kai had been in secluded retreat for ten straight days and had at last absorbed the entire efficacy of the ancient Saint Pill.
He had managed to comprehend a few of the mysteries of this Saint Pill and its Pill Cloud and although it was not much, it could still be considered a rich harvest, so he was greatly satisfied. Even his understanding of Alchemy techniques had improved somewhat.
When the effects of the ancient Saint Pill finally fading completely, Yang Kai felt as if his entire being had transformed.
His body felt light and his Soul felt clear; on top of that, his Spiritual Energy had become much stronger than before and a strange, pleasant sensation now filled his Knowledge Sea.
This indistinct sensation also allowed him to use his Spiritual Energy faster and more freely than before.
His brow furrowing slightly, Yang Kai quickly immersed himself in his Knowledge Sea and began examining it carefully.
Though Yang Kai had just begun its investigation, he immediately froze up, completely stunned.
During this period of retreat, he had been constantly spying on the mysteries of the Pill Cloud and, aside from the initial moments, had not paid any attention to the situation in his Knowledge Sea. Currently, when his Soul Avatar stoop above his Knowledge Sea and saw how greatly it had changed, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of shock.
Naturally, his Soul and Spiritual Energy were greatly enhanced, and the heat from the scattered flames had grown even more intense. Though, the Demon Eye of Annihilation and Soul Battle Hall were also still suspended in midair, apparently not having undergone any great change.
However, the island which was formed from the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had evolved.
At this moment, the island was bursting with multi-coloured light, making it appear even more radiant and beautiful than before.
As Yang Kai carefully examined it, he soon discovered that the island, which had once shone with only five colours, now had an additional shade to it, making it six coloured!
This new colour was a bit thinner than the other five, but it was nevertheless there.
Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus!
After recovering from his shock, Yang Kai let out an uproarious laughter.
He had never thought after obtaining the Soul Warming Lotus he would get to see it evolve in his lifetime; after all, according to Old Demon, the process was exceptionally long.
Who could have thought that after absorbing the ancient Saint Pill’s medicinal efficacies, the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus would actually evolve a grade? Now there was only one more step before it would become its ultimate seven coloured form.
For every extra colour, the benefits received from the Soul Warming Lotus would double.
Yang Kai could feel that the nourishment his Soul obtained from the Soul Warming Lotus right now was much more potent than before, and this effect was permanent and persistent. As long as Yang Kai owned the Soul Warming Lotus, it would continue to strengthen his Soul and increase his Spiritual Energy.
His harvest this time was simply unimaginable.
From five coloured to six coloured had taken nearly a decade. Over that period of time, Yang Kai had taken a massive amount of elixirs and pills, and that didn’t even count the nutrients that the former owner of the Soul Warming Lotus had fed it.
Yang Kai didn’t know if he could see the Soul Warming Lotus evolve into its final form before he died.
However, he was still satisfied. Watching the now six coloured island gently radiate light, Yang Kai found himself smiling uncontrollably.
Just then though, a strange vibration disturbed his Soul.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled and quickly searched for the source of this disturbance, a moment later, his expression becoming solemn.
It wasn’t that his Soul had been disturbed, but rather the Soul brand belonging to An Ling’er was all of a sudden giving off some violent fluctuations. It seemed like this woman had encountered something that deeply scared her and was currently feeling a great sense of uneasiness.
[What kind of danger could she possibly have encountered?] Yang Kai thought to himself.
Although her cultivation wasn’t too high, only a First Order Transcendent, but she was a Saintess of Nine Heavens Holy Land. She was someone with an untouchably high status. In this small island chain, who would dare disrespect her, much less threaten her?
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Yang Kai opened his eyes and got up to leave his room.
Deactivating the various barriers around the cultivation room, Yang Kai stepped outside, but the moment he did, he heard screams of fear and panic all around him. Not far away, thunderous explosions resounded and the whole world seemed to tremble as a terrifying pressure pressed down upon the entire island.
Yang Kai instantly went pale and quickly began circulating his True Qi in order to resist this violent pressure.
Sweeping his eyes around, Yang Kai saw that the entire island was in a state of chaos and countless people, as if they were being pursued by some kind of monster, were doing their best to flee.
*Hong…*
A loud bang resounded, causing Yang Kai to stumble, and behind him, the cultivation room he had just exited exploded into splinters.
Yang Kai looked around but didn’t find any traces of an enemy anywhere nearby. It wasn’t until releasing his Divine Sense that Yang Kai found, in the sky a short distance away, an aura that caused him to tremble.
Turning his eyes in the direction of this aura, Yang Kai saw a giant sword almost a thousand meters in length floating high up in the sky. This giant sword struck with a destructive force that seemed capable of flattening islands and tearing space!
“Profound Heavenly Sword?” Upon seeing this sword, Yang Kai immediately recognized it as one of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.
He had learned this skill from An Ling’er and was even capable of using it quite proficiently, but the Profound Heavenly Sword he had once summoned was a Soul Skill while the one he was witnessing right now was no doubt a powerful Martial Skill which was formed from a vast amount of True Qi. The essence and power were both worlds apart.
*Kacha…*
Under the giant sword’s strike, the island below was directly sliced into two.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he shifted his gaze to a beautiful figure that floated high up in the sky.
It was this person who had just displayed the Profound Heavenly Sword.
It was a woman wearing a long white dress which perfectly complemented her graceful figure. She had a kind of divine aura around her that was somewhat similar to An Ling’er’s, exuding a sense of nobleness and holiness, but she also carried with her a faint trace of Death Qi!
It seemed like she had already passed away and right now was just a walking corpse.
Yang Kai was shocked by this strange situation.
Grasping the huge Profound Heavenly Sword in her small hand, the woman chopped and sliced randomly, soon demolishing the entire nearby island, causing it to break up and sink into the sea.
The people on that island, under this tyrannical assault, were unable to even try to resist, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.
The surrounding azure water was dyed bright red in an instant.
This scene, straight from the apocalypse, was truly terrifying.
The woman then soared towards the next island in the chain and began waving her Profound Heavenly Sword again.
In an instant, another island was destroyed.
In less than ten breaths of time, three islands were destroyed by her hands.
Yang Kai’s blood ran cold as he saw this avatar of destruction wantonly destroy all the islands around her. Not daring to stay here any longer, he quickly used his movement skill to escape in the opposite direction.
Yang Kai’s movement seemed to have caught the attention of this woman though and a ray of light, like a vicious snake, shot towards him.
“Imprisoning Heaven Chain!” Yang Kai was shocked as he confirmed that this woman was someone from Nine Heavens Holy Land, and very likely a high-level figure at that, otherwise how could she be using various Nine Heavens Divine Skills so freely?
What made Yang Kai feel especially uneasy though was the other party’s cultivation. This mysterious woman was definitely a Saint Realm master.
The Imprisoning Heaven Chain chasing him was so fast and contained such dense True Qi that in his normal form Yang Kai had no hope of escaping it.
Not daring to hesitate, Yang Kai unfurled his Wind and Thunder Wings, boosting his speed several levels and shot off like a bolt of lightning.
When the Imprisoning Heaven Chain arrived, all it was able to grasp was Yang Kai’s afterimage.
Across the distance, the mysterious woman’s beautiful eyes stared at Yang Kai’s retreating figure, a slight trace of what could be interpreted as suspicion appearing on her pretty face, her tender body flickering in the next instant and disappearing.
When she reappeared, she was already not far behind Yang Kai.
Feeling the cold murderous intent behind him, all the hair on Yang Kai’s body stood on end and before his pursuer could launch another attack, he hurriedly concealed his aura and snuck off in a different direction.
The woman stopped mid-air and tilted her head somewhat, her eyes slowly sweeping around, apparently searching for Yang Kai’s position.
Although she quickly found Yang Kai, she didn’t appear to be in a hurry and instead turned in a different direction, her brow wrinkling slightly as a look of pain crept onto her expression.
Yang Kai was annoyed, unclear as to why such a powerful master was pursuing him, but he figured An Ling’er should know something about it. The most important thing for him to do right now was find that somewhat naive young woman and find out from her what was going on!
In front of an ornate palace, the masters from Nine Heavens Holy Land had all gathered together and were currently staring up absentmindedly at the woman floating high up in the sky.
“Aunt Nan?” An Ling’er shouted in a slightly hoarse tone, her tender body shuddering as tears suddenly began leaking from her beautiful eyes and a forlorn whimper escaped from her lips.
“Saintess Nan being here like this… does that mean… Holy Master has passed away?” Qian Ning’s lips trembled and his face drained of all colour.
Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus
Just as everyone was silently staring at the carnage before them, Yang Kai suddenly rushed over and landed straight in front of An Ling’er, frowning deeply as he stared at her.
Calling out in surprise, An Ling’er came back to her sense and stared at Yang Kai, hurriedly asking, “How come you’re still here? Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I can’t!” Yang Kai calmly shook his head, “That woman’s Divine Sense is locked onto me.”
“Ah…” An Ling’er covered her small mouth and her beautiful eyes trembled, directing a look of sympathy and apology towards Yang Kai.
“Who is she and why is she targeting me? How are you related to all of this?” Yang Kai asked several questions at once, his voice filled with annoyance.
“You are… that little brat we plucked from the sea before?” Qian Ning turned to look at Yang Kai, his expression quite ugly, obviously quite unhappy with this unexpected visitor. Their Nine Heavens Holy Land delegation already had enough headaches, so Yang Kai suddenly appearing here and asking a bunch of nonsense questions caused Qian Ning’s anger to rise to the surface, the latter waving his fist and shouting, “Go away, you think this is a place you can speak?”
Saying so, he sent a burst of True Qi towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai shot him a gloomy look and didn’t bother trying to hide his strength anymore, easily countering Qian Ning’s attack, his body not even flinching, his expression completely indifferent.
“Hm?” Qian Ning was shocked and promptly re-examined Yang Kai, as if he couldn’t believe this weak little brat could actually easily resolve his strike.
“I have no intention of becoming enemies with you, I just want to figure out why that woman is after me,” Yang Kai said with some impatience, coldly declaring his standpoint and attitude to Qian Ning before turning his attention back to An Ling’er.
“Uncle Qian…” An Ling’er raised her hand and stopped Qian Ning from retorting before looking back at Yang Kai with a bitter smile, “Her targeting you is your own fault.”
“Why?”
“Probably because you learned the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.”
Hearing this, the several Transcendent Realm masters of Nine Heavens Holy Land’s expression all changed dramatically as the stared at Yang Kai with a look of disbelief. Qian Ning was even more stupefied as stared back and forth between Yang Kai and An Ling’er, hoarsely asking, “He… how could he have learned the Nine Heavens Divine Skills?”
Only the very top characters of Nine Heavens Holy Land were qualified to learn the Nine Heavens Divine Skills, even Qian Ning has never studied them.
“Girl! Are you courting death?!” Yang Kai’s face suddenly filled with anger.
He had never expected An Ling’er to reveal such an important secret in front of so many people all of a sudden, forcing him into an oppositional relationship with Nine Heavens Holy Land.
“It doesn’t matter,” An Ling’er smiled bitterly and shook her head, “We’re going to die anyways, letting them know now is irrelevant.”
“Young Lady, what happened?” Qian Ning hurriedly asked, his face filled with suspicion, apparently having a few speculations in his heart.
“It’s just as you think,” An Ling’er wiped the tears from her eyes and whispered, “The man in front of you, after passing my test, was able to comprehend three of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills!”
Everyone’s jaw dropped upon hearing this, their eyes all bulging so much they might pop out at any moment.
It was only after quite some time that Qian Ning returned to his senses and asked, “So… isn’t he the perfect candidate to become the next Holy Master?”
“En,” An Ling’er nodded lightly.
The looks Qian Ning and the others directed at Yang Kai changed greatly, becoming respectful and expectant.
“But it’s too late now, Aunt Nan has already arrived here…” An Ling’er smiled helplessly and said, the expression of Qian Ning and the others also falling upon hearing her words.
“I don’t care one bit about any nonsense Holy Master, explain to me what’s happening right now. Who is that woman? You should at least know that, right?” Yang Kai temporarily pressed down the murderous intent in his heart and pointed back towards the woman who was still floating mid-air, directing a cold stare towards them.
An Ling’er had already exposed everything and holding her responsible right now wouldn’t help matters so Yang Kai set that aside and focused on trying to understand why this strange woman was wantonly slaughtering people and now apparently targeting him specifically.
“She is my Aunt Nan!” An Ling’er replied softly.
“Aunt Nan?”
“The only remaining Saintess of the last generation’s Holy Land!”
Yang Kai was stunned and surprised, “Does your Nine Heavens Holy Land have some kind of intense internal strife? Is the previous generation’s Saintess hostile towards you?”
An Ling’er shook her head with a pained expression, “Aunt Nan has always been very good to me, how could there be any kind of infighting? En, do you remember the words I said to you once regarding Saintesses?”
“Huh?”
“A Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess, before death, cannot kill!”
“What does that have to do with the current situation?” Yang Kai was genuinely puzzled.
“That is only the first half of the saying, there is another half after it…” An Ling’er’s voice trembled, clearly demonstrating the horror in her heart, slowly muttering in her next breath, “Before death, cannot kill, after death, slaughter one million corpses.”
Yang Kai’s expression became sluggish as he frowned deeply, “What does that mean?”
“A Holy Land Saintess doesn’t kill any sentient being during her lifetime, but once she dies, if her body is not promptly destroyed, her corpse will fall onto the Asura’s path and begin slaughtering all living creatures. This is probably our Secret Art’s greatest malpractice!” An Ling’er let out a soft breath, “As such, after each Saintess’ death, her body will be burned quickly to avoid the situation Aunt Nan is currently in. Before we set out, Aunt Nan was in good health, how could she suddenly…”
Yang Kai suddenly understood, no wonder he could feel a faint trace of Death Qi in the woman. According to what An Ling’er just said, this previous generation’s Saintess named Aunt Nan should already be dead.
The dead still being able to move wasn’t something unfamiliar to Yang Kai.
The Coffin Carrying Man was also a living corpse. He had passed away many, many years ago, but the obsession in his heart and his tyrannical cultivation allowed him to continue moving. Even after his death, he had continued to fulfil his mission of searching for an individual capable of rescuing the Ancient Demon Clan.
As such, this Saintess named Aunt Nan probably had a similar obsession in her heart, and a very powerful one at that, or else it wouldn’t be enough to support her current actions.
“Saintess Aunt Nan and Holy Master were deeply connected, so assuming the Holy Master fell, Saintess Aunt Nan also…” Qian Ning sighed heavily.
“Are all of you Nine Heavens Holy Land people total dumbasses? Why would you set such a dangerous person loose!?” Yang Kai roared furiously, being stared at by a Saint Realm masters was akin to be stared at by death itself, obviously his mood wouldn’t be good.
“What use is saying all this now?” An Ling’er shot him a bitter look, “Because I cultivate the same Secret Art, Aunt Nan was able to quickly find me. Anyone in the local archipelago that can’t resist her I’m afraid will die, then after killing me and everyone else here, she will seek out and kill my three sisters. Until someone comes forward and completely destroys her body, she will continue slaughtering everyone she comes across.”
The most powerful individual in the nearby archipelago was just Qian Ning, but even he, a Third Order Transcendent, was just as powerless to resist the previous generation’s Saintess who was a genuine Saint Realm powerhouse.
“No matter what, Young Lady and the future Holy Master cannot die here!” Qian Ning suddenly turned to face Yang Kai and said solemnly, “Little brother, although you haven’t entered the Holy Land yet, since you’ve already passed the Young Lady’s test, you can be considered half our Holy Master. Please take the Young Lady with you and leave quickly, if worst comes to worst, even if you have to sacrifice the Young Lady, you must ensure your survival.”
Yang Kai stared back indifferently; although Qian Ning’s rhetoric made him feel slightly touched, it was still impossible for him to accept becoming the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land!
Qian Ning’s act just now was completely casting pearls before swine.
“You two leave quickly, we will try to buy you some time!”
“Don’t act so presumptuous!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “Buy time? You’re just throwing your lives away! Besides, where the hell are we supposed to escape? There’s nowhere anywhere near here that we could…”
Before he finished speaking though, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly flashed as he remember a certain place nearby that might just work, turning his gaze towards the seabed as he quickly contemplated their odds of success.
An Ling’er also seemed to have thought of this possibility, quickly exchanging a glance with Yang Kai and confirming the two of them were thinking the same thing.
During the several breaths it took for this conversation to finish, Saintess Aunt Nan had been floating mid-air, watching them, not taking any action, her face showing a look of hesitation, apparently the last remnants of her consciousness from before she died was holding her back, but obviously this situation wouldn’t last long as it was apparent the cold murderous intent around her body was becoming more and more dense.
“Little brother, if you die here, then that is simply the fate the Heavens have bestowed, but if you survive, please go to the Holy Land and assume the position of Holy Master, the Holy Land… must not go one day without a Holy Master!” Qian Ning declared heavily to Yang Kai as he tightly held the latter’s shoulders.
Yang Kai said nothing in reply.
“Go now, quickly!” Qian Ning took a deep breath before raising his head towards the still hovering Saintess Aunt Nan.
The expression of the other party was constantly changing, but gradually the hesitation on her face was being replaced with cold indifference as the murderous intent around her became thicker. As this murderous intent overflowed, the temperature of the entire archipelago seemed to plummet as fierce winds began howling like shrieking ghosts.
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate any further, immediately grabbing An Ling’er, summoning his Wind and Thunder Wings and shooting off into the sky.
At the same time he moved, Saintess Aunt Nan waved her hand towards his direction, releasing an imposing wave of pressure.
Qian Ning took the few masters of Nine Heavens Holy Land and with steadfast determination moved to intercept this attack.
“Uncle Qian, everyone…” An Ling’er turned back and shouted out anxiously.
“They’re dead,” Yang Kai said in a dignified tone, pushing his speed even further, a moment later plunging into the sea along with An Ling’er. Quickly wrapping the two of them in his True Qi, Yang Kai began to rapidly descend towards the bottom of the sea.
Just as they entered the water, Yang Kai shot a glance behind him and just caught the scene of Qian Ning and the others bursting into blood fog.
The masters from Nine Heavens Holy Land didn’t manage to last more than three breaths against Saintess Nan!
After killing Qian Ning and the others, Saintess Nan still refused to give up, waving her hands and slashing her Profound Heavenly Sword down towards the island below her, rapidly cleaving it in half, sending large chunks of it into the sea, killing or injuring countless civilians in the process.
In the next instant, the huge Profound Heavenly Sword was thrown out by Saintess Nan and like a bolt of lightning broke through the sea’s surface and chased after Yang Kai and An Ling’er.
Yang Kai’s blood ran cold as he pushed his True Qi to its limit, increasing his speed to the extreme but still failing to escape from the approaching danger, the giant sword behind him seemed completely unimpeded by the sea, splitting apart the water as if it were no thicker than air as it raced forward.