After half an hour, Yang Kai took back the Blood Essence Stone and said to the Ancient Demon clansman, “See if there’s anything out of place.”
The clansman quickly clenched his fist and swung his arm around, soon bursting into a joyful shout as his face filled with excitement, “It’s really connected!”
Li Rong and the others all looked on in shock, somewhat unable to believe their eyes.
The severed arm had been reconnected, something that should have been impossible had just happened right before their eyes, making all of them realize just how extraordinary the Blood Essence Stone was.
“The flesh has been fully connected, but your bones will need some time to mend, don’t use too much force in the near future and rest up so you can heal,” Yang Kai ordered.
The Ancient Demon clansman nodded firmly, his face filled with extreme gratitude, “Many thanks Master, many thanks!”
Although he didn’t care much about losing his arm originally, but seeing his body become complete again, naturally he was happy.
“En, go,” Yang Kai smiled and dismissed him.
The man respectfully bowed before excitedly running off.
Yang Kai inspected the Blood Essence Stone in his hand and was keenly aware that the energy contained within it had been noticeably consumed.
This was an amazing treasure, it seemed able to transform ordinary blood into this wondrous energy which had incredible healing and enhancing effects.
The products of the Starry Sky were really extraordinary.
After observing it for a moment, Yang Kai tossed the Blood Essence Stone to Li Rong and said, “See if any of the clansmen need treatment. There’s still a lot of blood energy left inside it so there’s no need to be stingy.”
“Yes,” Li Rong replied quickly before rushing off with the other Great Commanders.
There were only a thousand or so Ancient Demon Clan clansmen, so each one that died was one less, Li Rong, therefore, attached great importance to each and every one of them.
After they left, Wu Jie slowly swept his eyes over the Ancient Demon clansmen and muttered, “They are a very powerful clan.”
Yang Kai glanced at him and nodded gently.
“Sir Holy Master, do you really intend to take them with you?”
“Yes.”
Wu Jie frowned slightly, “Is it that Sir Holy Master is unwilling to give up such power?”
“Why should I give it up?”
“Taking them with you will lead to much trouble, unless Sir Holy Master brings them to the Demon Land or the neutral territory.”
Yang Kai shook his head and said bluntly, “I will bring them back with me to Nine Heavens Holy Land!”
Wu Jie couldn’t help feeling complicated when he thought about Nine Heavens Holy Land and this group of Demons coexisting.
Also, if they really went to Nine Heavens Holy Land, they would become his Netherworld Sect’s neighbours.
“To be honest, this Wu would rather not get involved in any of this, Sir Holy Master,” Wu Jie said with a forced smile.
Yang Kai glanced at him and said leisurely, “I won’t force anyone to be involved with me. You coming forward to reconcile with me has nothing to do with this situation, you are free to make your own decisions. Of course, I also won’t hold this against you, and your Netherworld Sect has no need to worry about itself.”
Wu Jie nodded, suddenly grinning meaningfully as he whispered, “In light of all this, this Wu really should stay far away from Sir Holy Master, but… This Wu’s instincts are telling him that Sir Holy Master won’t fall so easily and instead will become an important figure in the future. I very much want to see what kind of height you will grow to in the future; will it be glory or destruction!”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed, “If I am destroyed, you probably won’t be able to escape either, but if I can reach the peak of this world, Sect Master Wu will also obtain great benefits.”
“This Wu only asks for his Sect to survive!”
“That much I can promise you.”
The two looked at each other and grinned.
“Sir Holy Master should get some rest, there’s still time until dawn when you planned to set out. Nine Heavens Holy Land is not a short distance from here, so there will likely be much trouble for you on the road.”
Saying so, Wu Jie took his leave.
…..
A few thousand meters up, a black cloud could be seen flying forward. Inside this black cloud were figures, about a thousand in total.
These were all the Ancient Demon clansmen.
Leaving the Snow Mountain Range while heading for Nine Heavens Holy Land, they had to pass through the territory of many Human forces; such a large group of Demon Race masters naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Yang Kai didn’t want to have any conflicts with these people and neither did Li Rong, so they could only choose to fly high up in the sky while trying to avoid the sight of outsiders.
In front of the black cloud, Wu Jie scouted the road with the people from Netherworld Sect, searching for uninhabited places to traverse.
In Soaring Heaven Sect, atop Serene Resplendent Peak, Cang Yan and the others gazed towards the rolling black cloud as it flew past, each of them unable to stop themselves from chuckling.
“That little brat…” Cang Yan shook his head slowly.
“I hope his journey is safe,” Fei Yu said worriedly.
“There are so many powerful masters among that group of Demons, how could he possibly be harmed?” Li Wan laughed, “I think the ones we should be worried about are the people who try to get in his way. Little Martial Nephew’s temper isn’t very good, if someone tries to pick a fight with him, they might just end up dead.”
Once he killed anyone though, Yang Kai’s position would become even more difficult.
“Worrying about it is useless. Since Martial Nephew made this choice, he naturally has a plan to handle it. It’s really interesting, as the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, actually leading such a powerful group of Demon Race cultivators… just what is Little Martial Nephew planning on doing?”
The few of them all guessed what Yang Kai was thinking but eventually gave up, shaking their heads helplessly as they watched the black cloud quickly depart.
Inside the dark cloud, Li Rong showed a look of surprise when she learned what their destination was, “So we are heading to Nine Heavens Holy Land and Master is actually the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land? Amazing.”
“Oh? Despite being trapped in that Mysterious Small World you actually know about Nine Heavens Holy Land?” Yang Kai glanced over at her curiously.
“I read about it in the clan’s ancient records,” Li Rong smiled, “It was said to have been a very powerful Sect. In the era when Great Demon God was still alive, Nine Heavens Holy Land was one of the strongest forces in this world and the Holy Master of that time seemed to have also fought with Great Demon God once. The records say that man ultimately lost but he still managed to wound Great Demon God. It was one of the few times Great Demon God had suffered serious injuries in battle.”
Yang Kai expression changed as he nodded slightly.
Li Rong had read about this from the Ancient Demon Clan’s ancient books, but Yang Kai had actually seen some scattered fragments of that earth-shaking battle when he refined the drop of Demon God Golden Blood back in the Holy Tomb.
The thousand or so Ancient Demon clansmen were all quite excited; although they didn’t know where they were headed, for them, simply being able to leave that Mysterious Small World and see the vast world outside was the greatest gift.
As such, each of them was constantly looking around, trying to take in their surroundings.
For a dozen or so days everything went smoothly.
Wu Jie exploring the road ahead saved Yang Kai a great deal of trouble.
After a dozen days though, Li Rong suddenly frowned as she stared down at a spot below.
At the same time, Yang Kai also noticed something. A group of people down below had noticed them and several Transcendents were now following them, seemingly examining them.
“Master, do you want to send someone to deal with them?” Li Rong asked.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before and nodding slightly, “Don’t kill them, just make them stop following us.”
“En, Yin Ya!” Li Rong called out.
Great Commander Yin Ya quickly separated from the group and flew down.
A moment later, a brief battle took place.
Soon, Yin Ya caught up with them and reported, “They aren’t injured but they also won’t be moving around for the next three to five days.”
Li Rong nodded, “En, well done, our clan has just re-entered the world so we should avoid provoking trouble.”
And so the group continued forward.
However, as time passed and the distance they travelled grew, the aura released by the Ancient Demon clansmen alarmed more and more people.
Each time someone got too close, Yin Ya or Xue Ji would go down and handle the situation, making it so these pursuers would be unable to continue following them in short order.
Although they always held back and never hurt much less killed anyone, word of such a large number of Demon Race people passing through the Human Territory still rapidly spread out.
This caused the road ahead of Yang Kai’s group to constantly be filled with waiting parties.
Most of these people were Transcendents who wisely kept their distance. Upon realizing how many powerful masters were among the Ancient Demon Clan, few dared to approach them, most simply following from a distance while observing them.
Of course, there were the occasional few with eyes above the top of their heads who openly intercepted them while shouting impertinent remarks, forcing the masters from the Ancient Demon Clan to shut their mouths.
These people were like flies to honey though and by the time they expelled one batch another had shown up.
Although Yang Kai was quite annoyed by all this, he was powerless to do anything about it.
The hatred between the Human and Demon Races could not be resolved overnight so it was inevitable that some people would show up to monitor the Ancient Demon Clan. It was impossible to simply kill them for doing this as it would only lead to them becoming enemies of the entire Human Race.
After two months, the group arrived just outside Nine Heavens Holy Land’s territory.
By now, the number of pursuers behind them had reached the hundreds, almost all of them Transcendents with more than a dozen of Saints.
This kind of force was not something Yang Kai could simply ignore.
The time had come to have a chat with them.
Instead of rushing forward with the Ancient Demon Clan to Nine Heavens Holy Land, Yang Kai had them settle down at the base of a nearby mountain and set up a temporary camp while he took Li Rong with him and flew over to the place where their pursuers had gathered.
A dozen or so kilometres away, after discovering that the Ancient Demon Clan had stopped moving, this group of human masters also came to a halt, all of them releasing their Divine Senses to monitor the other side’s movements.
The face of each of these masters was extremely solemn.
“Old Chu, there seems to be someone coming over from that side…” Someone suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone else nodded as they detected the auras of Yang Kai and Li Rong approaching.
“A Third Order Transcendent and a Second-Order Saint, neither of them trying to conceal their movements… do they want to talk to us?” Someone guessed.
If not, how could only two of them come here?
“Like we can talk to some Demon Race bastards! As soon as they get here we should kill them directly!” An old man shouted, his face filled with hostility.
“En, this would be a perfect opportunity to ambush them.”
p.s- last week of the month so those who are thinking of joining the Patreon, do so after the start of the month.
The hundreds of Human masters had come from some twenty to thirty different forces, and although most of them had never met one another before, having reached their level of strength, they were not nameless and unrecognizable.
In particular, the few Second-Order Saints were quite famous.
The one called Old Chu was one of them.
Ignoring the clamouring of the ones who clearly bore hatred towards Demons, the man called Old Chu sank into contemplation for a moment before nodding slightly, “If they wish to talk, we should talk… this old master is also quite curious about what their objective and destination are, the direction they are headed is not towards the Demon Land but rather the Monster Domain.”
A look of doubt filled his old face.
“I agree, we should at least hear them out. So far, they haven’t killed anyone, obviously, they don’t want to stir up too much trouble,” Another scholarly looking man said. Although this man looked middle-aged, he was actually older than almost everyone present as he too was one of the few Second-Order Saints.
Since these two had spoken their opinions, no one else dared say anything more, everyone simply taking a step back to observe the situation.
These several hundred Human Race masters thus waited silently.
After about the time it would take to burn a stick of incense, two figures appeared and walked towards the crowd.
Seeing the appearance of these two, everyone felt surprised.
Because the one in the lead was actually a young man wearing a common black robe that could be found in any cheap shop.
Behind this young man was a beautiful mature woman with a noble temperament.
The beautiful woman clearly possessed a Second-Order Saint Realm cultivation, but before she even arrived in front of them, every single one of the gathered Human Race masters felt a sense of pressure from her, attracting all of their attentions.
Old Chu, however, was surprised about something else. Although the woman, whether it was in terms of strength, looks, or demeanour, was clearly the most eye-catching, the seemingly ordinary young man had a certain aura about him that made him difficult to ignore.
In fact, this youth’s presence faintly overshadowed that of the beautiful woman.
What’s more, the beautiful woman always remained a half step behind him, following him as if she was a common escort.
This was clearly an action one would take only if they were following their superior.
Old Chu and several of the top masters in the crowd glanced around at each other, each of them noticing the doubts in the other’s hearts, wondering just what the relationship between these two people was.
A moment later, the young man and beautiful woman came to a stop ten or so meters in front of the crowd.
Looking at them from such a close distance, Old Chu and a number of the others quickly discovered that the young man’s eyes shone like stars and contained not the slightest hint of anxiety. Even facing a few hundred powerhouses, this youth was clearly still relaxed without any fear, his clear eyes slowly sweeping over the people in front of him, seemingly examining their respective cultivations.
The beautiful woman stood behind him, motionless, faint ripples of power gently pulsing from her body.
Old Chu and the other leaders secretly took a breath to steady themselves.
As soon as Yang Kai came to a stop, he felt countless Divine Senses land upon him, unscrupulously inspecting his cultivation. Sensing this as well, Li Rong frowned, her pretty face flashing a cold light, but before she could open her mouth to say something Yang Kai waved his hand to stop her.
Grinning, Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Following us across such a great distance must have been quite strenuous. Now that we’ve reached this point though, this Junior wishes to make some things clear. Would it be convenient for us to have a discussion?”
Old Chu and the others frowned slightly as they turned their gazes towards Yang Kai, only now determining that this beautiful woman was really just this youth’s follower, otherwise it would not be possible for him to be the one to speak.
“Good!” The person called Old Chu steadied himself and smiled, “This old master and these many friends had such intentions.”
As he spoke, along with the middle-aged scholar and the belligerent old man who was clamouring to ambush Yang Kai earlier stepped forward.
Yang Kai nodded secretly, knowing that these three were the most powerful amongst this gathering of masters, each of them a genuine Second-Order Saint. These three obviously came from different forces, but standing together they really could represent everyone else here.
Old Chu began by introducing himself, “This old master is Chu Yi of Veiled Heaven Palace.”
Saying so, he pointed to the middle-aged scholar and continued, “This is Fang Yue Bai of Mist Lock Tower.”
Finally, addressing the red-faced old man, “This is Wu Zheng of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple!”
Yang Kai nodded to each of them in turn, a genial look upon his face.
“How should we address little brother?” Chu Yi looked towards Yang Kai with sharp eyes and asked.
“Some of your group already know my identity. Senior Chu may wish to ask them, obtaining an answer should prove quite simple,” Yang Kai smiled, not answering the question directly and instead glance towards the back of the crowd.
In the direction he was looking stood a few familiar figures, ones he had seen the last time Zhang Ao and Cao Guan had crusaded against Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Of course, Yang Kai didn’t know their names.
After Yang Kai appeared, these people all showed looks of shock which quickly transformed into terror, seemingly recalling the bloody massacre Yang Kai had initiated back at the Nine Peaks two to three years ago.
“Trying to act mysterious? Who do you think you are? Old Chu asked you a question, answer him!” The red-faced Wu Zheng coldly snorted, as if he was quite unhappy with Yang Kai, his eyes filled with disdain.
Yang Kai felt quite puzzled, wondering if he had offended this old man somewhere.
“Might as well!” Chu Yi chuckled, looking back, “Do any of you know this little brother’s identity?”
Several people immediately walked out from the crowd and came over to Chu Yi, whispering a few words to him.
Hearing what these people said, Chu Yi wore a look of surprise as he turned back to Yang Kai and exclaimed, “So little brother is the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land! Please forgive my disrespect.”
Fang Yue Bai and Wu Zheng were also taken aback.
“Senior Chu is too polite,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Chu Yi’s expression suddenly became serious as he narrowed his eyes slightly, “Since you are the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, am I correct in assuming you are human?”
“Naturally.”
“Then why is Holy Master Yang travelling together with so many Demon Race people? And from what this old master can see, your relationship with this lady is not simple!”
“Not simple how?” Yang Kai chuckled.
“It is almost as if you have a master and servant relationship, and… you are the master, while she is the servant!” Chu Yi frowned, boldly speculating.
Thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai simply nodded, “Senior Chu has good eyes, this Junior is impressed. This group of Demon Race people are indeed my subordinates. They obey only me!”
Although he had his speculations, Chu Yi still couldn’t help feeling stunned, a look of disbelief filling his face.
Fang Yue Bai and Wu Zheng also gawked as they turned dumbfounded gazes towards Li Rong, trying to glean some clues from her response, but to their shock, not only did she not refute this claim, she even wore a happy smile as if serving this young man was an honour for her.
Those that saw this found it quite difficult to accept!
Although Second-Order Saints weren’t the very peak of this world, they were still incredibly rare masters.
If she wanted to, this beautiful woman could establish her own Sect and become an overlord who ruled over a vast territory.
She had such qualifications.
But such a master was actually content to be a mere servant of the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land? What kind of shocking and amazing means did this kid named Yang Kai possess that allowed him to subdue a Second-Order Saint and allow her to willingly serve him?
After a moment, a number of people began directing ambiguous stares towards Yang Kai and Li Rong, thinking this youth’s ‘abilities’ must be quite fierce to allow him to conquer a woman like Li Rong.
Their gazes contained both admiration and envy.
Noticing the strange look in the eyes staring towards her, Li Rong’s expression became cold as she released the full force of her Divine Sense onto them, causing all of them to look away while a cold chill ran up their spines.
*Ahem ahem…* Chu Yi coughed twice, his old face looking slightly embarrassed. A moment ago, such a thought had also crossed his mind, but he had quickly denied it.
It was impossible to subdue such a splendid woman so simply.
What’s more, there were nearly a thousand other Demons nearby, with several Saints among them; they couldn’t all have been subdued by Yang Kai through mere personal relations.
Fang Yue Bai suddenly laughed, “Although what Holy Master Yang says is difficult for us to believe, since that lady does not refute, we must take your claim seriously; however… Holy Master Yang appearing before us with just her accompanying you, are you not looking down on all of us too much?”
The way this statement was worded quickly provoked a response from many of the gathered human masters, causing them to glare towards Yang Kai, as if they wanted to immediately attack to show they were not to be underestimated.
In response, Yang Kai remained as calm as ever and simply smiled back at Fang Yue Bai, “It is not that I do not put all of you in my eyes; on the contrary, coming here with just the two of us was to show my sincerity. If I had really brought a large number of masters along with me, it would indeed prove I respected your collective strength, but I’m afraid we wouldn’t have been able to talk like this and would instead have immediately fought.”
Fang Yue Bai was slightly shocked by this response but soon burst into laughter, “Holy Master Yang is really extraordinary, no wonder you were able to become the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land!”
“Now can we talk?” Yang Kai smiled lightly, directing his full attention to the three masters in front of him.
Fang Yue Bai nodded while Chu Yi and Wu Zheng did not express any objections.
Yang Kai then began, “All of you following behind us for so long was all because you were concerned about the sudden appearance of so many Demons in our Human Territory, yes? Because you felt unease about their presence and didn’t understand their intentions, you pursued us just in case, correct? “
“Indeed,” The three nodded, “So many Demons travelling through my Human Race’s land while possessing such incredible strength, it is hard for us not to become suspicious. The friends gathered here today have all come because of such concerns.”
“Then all of you may feel relieved as our destination is right before us, once we arrive there, we will not take any actions which will harm our Human Race.”
“Your destination is close?” Chu Yi frowned and looked ahead, his expression suddenly changing, “Does Holy Master Yang intend to bring this group of Demons to Nine Heavens Holy Land?”
“They are my people now, naturally I plan to arrange a place for them in Nine Heavens Holy Land. Is there any problem?”
“Of course there is a problem!” Wu Zheng shouted, “Although you are now the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, Nine Heavens Holy Land is also part of my Human Race’s domain, placing so many vile Demons there is highly improper!”
“That is my business, not something Senior Wu needs to trouble himself with,” Yang Kai glanced over at him indifferently, “Does Senior Wu always try to meddle in other Sect’s affairs?”
“You will face universal condemnation for this and sooner or later be destroyed!” Wu Zheng sneered.
“If such a day comes, Junior will only have himself to blame,” Yang Kai glanced over at Wu Zheng with a hint of impatience.
This guy seemed to specifically be opposing him, naturally annoying Yang Kai somewhat, wondering why this old man was sticking his nose into his business.
Chu Yi hesitated a moment before saying, “Holy Master Yang, your Nine Heavens Holy Land is one of the leading forces of our Human Race. It has stood and prospered for thousands of years. This old master has even read that when we openly fought the Demon Race many centuries ago, Nine Heavens Holy Land made many meritorious contributions! Great Elder Xu Hui’s reputation is known quite well by this old master. Now, Nine Heavens Holy Land is indeed yours to command but this old master must ask, why are you willing to take in and shelter so many from the Demon Race? Since ancient times, Humans and Demons have been intractable enemies… Surely Holy Master Yang understands this, yes?”
“Naturally I am aware of our two races’ history,” Yang Kai nodded gently, “But these Demon Race subordinates of mine were actually imprisoned inside a Mysterious Small World for thousands of years and it was only by accident that I managed to discover them and then bring them out. They haven’t been in contact with the outside world for millennia and have long forgotten about the hatred which exists between Humans and Demons, about this, I ask that all of you feel relieved. This Junior can guarantee that they will not bring any harm to our Human Race or its interests.”
“A Mysterious Small World?”
“Imprisoned for thousands of years?”
“Is that true?”
A burst of chatter erupted from the crowd, many people directing looks of envy towards Yang Kai, secretly wondering why it had not been them who had found that Mysterious Small World? If they had found it, perhaps they would have been the ones to conquer so many powerful Demons.
Yang Kai turned his eyes to Li Rong who quickly followed up, “Good, our clan had been trapped inside that Mysterious Small World for thousands of years and it was only two months ago that we finally returned to the outside world. At that time we swore a vow in the name of Great Demon God that in this life we would only give our loyalty to Young Master. As for the hatred between you Human and my Demon Race, we have no interest. Now we only seek for a place to live peacefully.”
Hearing these words, Chu Yi’s expression changed noticeable as he stared deeply towards Li Rong.
He knew what kind of status Great Demon God had in the hearts of the Demon Race. No one from the Demon Race would dare swear a vow in the name of Great Demon God lightly.
Li Rong speaking so seriously allowed Chu Yi to feel much more relieved.
“There must be places for you to live in the Demon Land. Is it really necessary to settle down in Nine Heavens Holy Land?” Fang Yue Bai frowned, “Since you are all from the Demon Race, isn’t it obvious that you should return to the Demon Land? In a sense, it is your home.”
“They can’t go there,” Yang Kai chuckled.
“Why?”
“Because a few days ago they got into a fight with Demon General Xue Li, the latter suffering a serious injury and being forced to flee back to the Demon Land. If they try to go to the Demon Land, what difference is that with courting disaster?”
“Demon General Xue Li?”
“She was injured?”
“When did this happen?”
“Who injured her?”
Another round of chatter began as many people were once again left in shock and disbelief.
Yang Kai just shrugged his shoulders, “They have become enemies with Xue Li, so it is impossible for them to return to the Demon Land… Moreover, since they are capable of starting a fight with a Demon General, even though they too are Demons, it means they are enemies with the Demon Race! The enemies of our enemies are our friends, are they not?”
Fang Yue Bai and Chu Yi exchanged a glance with one another before gently nodding.
The latter said, “If things are indeed as you have said, then all of this is understandable. This old master very much wants to believe Holy Master Yang’s words, but I’m afraid I must inquire about the details of those events more carefully before coming to a final decision.”
“If you wish to inquire about what I have told you, I suggest you go to Soaring Heaven Sect. That night, when the fight with Xue Li occurred, Soaring Heaven Sect’s Martial Ancestor, Chu Ling Xiao, was also present, it was he who wounded Xue Li.”
“So Soaring Heaven Sect was involved!” Chu Yi’s eyes lit up, suddenly understanding as he nodded repeatedly, “In that case, this old master will certainly pay a visit to Soaring Heaven Sect!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Very good. Just one last thing, I have sworn that my Demon Race subordinates will not act in any way to endanger our Human Race, but if anyone comes looking for trouble with them or with me, do not blame this Holy Master for responding in kind.”
Wu Zheng coldly snorted, his face unpleasant, feeling that Yang Kai was acting far too arrogant and was simply unaware of how high the Heavens were.
“En, have I satisfied your doubts? If so, please feel free to disperse, you have been chasing after us for many days now and must be tired. Oh, you may also come to my Nine Heavens Holy Land for some time; in any case, you’ve traveled all the way to our doorstep, you might as well step inside.”
Hearing this, Chu Yi shook his head and smiled wryly, “No, I’ve heard that your Nine Heavens Holy Land is currently being occupied by a Monster Race Great Senior. Holy Master Yang should first think about how to solve your immediate troubles. But Holy Master Yang, this old master must give you one last word of advice!”
“Senior Chu, please speak freely…”
“Those Demon Race subordinates of yours, they may not be as peaceful as they seem. If they stir up any kind of trouble, it will greatly damage your Nine Heavens Holy Land’s reputation!”
“Many thanks for your reminder, I will look after them well.”
“En,” Chu Yi gently nodded, directing a somewhat complicated look towards Yang Kai, then Li Rong before turning around and leaving.
Fang Yue Bai also paused for a moment before bidding his farewells to Yang Kai and following after Chu Yi.
As soon as these two left, more than half of the several hundred Human Race masters also departed.
Only Wu Zheng lingered, staring coldly towards Yang Kai and Li Rong, a look of resentment filling his face; the Human Race masters who stayed behind had similar looks upon their faces.
Yang Kai understood that those like Chu Yi and Fang Yue Bai were reasonable individuals, so after dispelling their fears they would naturally leave.
But Wu Zheng and the others who remained were obviously far less willing to compromise, all of them seemingly unable to accept the idea of Demons residing in a Human Sect.
Even though Nine Heavens Holy Land had nothing to do with them.
Putting it nicely, they were standing up for the world’s common people, putting it crudely, they were acting out of prejudice and spite.
“Boy, I hope you can really restrain them well, otherwise the consequences will be serious,” Unable to stir up any trouble on his own, Wu Zheng simply left behind this thinly veiled threat before angrily storming off.
The rest of the remaining Human masters also drifted off. Yang Kai turned to Li Rong and smiled, “Let’s go back.”
Li Rong nodded and kept up.
Not far away, a group of Human Race masters who still seemed unwilling stared at this scene, one of them walking up to Wu Zheng and whispering, “Senior Wu, are we really going to allow those Demon Race bastards to stay in Nine Heavens Holy Land? They’re nothing but a scourge, if we leave them alone, they’ll sooner or later lead to disaster.”
“What else can we do? Since the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land accepts them, what are we outsiders supposed to say? At most we can call for others to not associate with Nine Heavens Holy Land in the future in order to isolate them somewhat,” Wu Zheng grumbled, knowing that most of those gathered here already had little to no contact with Nine Heavens Holy Land, clenching his teeth as he muttered, “Chu Yi and Fang Yue Bai don’t want to meddle in this, could it be you can’t even see that much?”
“Senior Chu and Senior Fang may not see them for the threat they are, but Senior Wu is obviously different. If you really want to deal with those Demons, this humble one actually has a suggestion, perhaps it will yield some positive results,” One person grinned treacherously.
“Oh?” Wu Zheng raised his brow, “Let’s hear it!”
“The reason Senior Chu and Senior Fang don’t want to interfere is because those Demons have not yet caused any trouble, but given the temperament of those Demon Race bastards, they will cause trouble sooner or later. Instead of waiting for that day then, why don’t we help the situation along? As long as they dare to kill some people, will our Human Race’s powerhouses be able to sit back and watch? At that time, not only will Senior Chu and Senior Fang be forced to confront them, even stronger experts will be drawn in as well!”
Wu Zheng’s eyes brightened, thinking that what this man was saying made sense, quickly urging him, “Explain carefully.”
The man eagerly continued, “There are many people who bare hatred towards the Demon Race, as long as we spread the news of so many Demons settling here, will we even need to worry about no one coming to seek trouble with them? They may deal with it patiently once or twice, but that brat surname Yang will probably also try to restrain them somewhat. If it continues to happen, once they find it intolerable… heh heh!”
Someone else chimed in, “Right, Nine Heavens Holy Land is now occupied by a lot of rare Monster Beasts, their skin, blood, claws, and bones are all excellent Artifact Refining materials… I believe there will be many interested in such information.”
Wu Zheng raised his brow as he stared at the two men who had just spoke, a smirk soon filling his face, “You’re certainly treacherous enough!”
“Senior Wu’s praise is too kind,” The two men grinned slyly.
“Good, then spread the news quickly. Also, make sure to conceal how many masters and what their true cultivations are, we don’t want to frighten everyone into not coming,” Wu Zheng sneered.
“Senior Wu is wise!”
…..
Returning to the place where the Ancient Demon Clan was staying, Han Fei, Hua Mo, and the other leaders immediately gathered around and asked about the situation.
“Just a group of people with too much free time, no need to pay them any mind!” Li Rong said indifferently before turning to Yang Kai and asking, “However, Master, that Monster Race Great Senior seems to still be over there. How do you plan to deal with him? Every Monster Race Great Senior is not to be underestimated.”
“En, the rest of you continue to wait here, I’ll go have a chat with that Great Senior,” Yang Kai knit his brow.
Asking them to come and asking them to leave were two very different things. The last time, Yang Kai had no other choice but to invite the Monster Race Great Senior over, but now that he wanted them to get out, things might not go so smoothly.
If things didn’t go well, the situation could become ugly.
Although the power Yang Kai currently had at his disposal allowed him to not fear the Monster Race, he also wasn’t keen on the idea of starting a large scale conflict; after all, when all was said and done, the two of them were neighbours with the Beast Sea Jungle right next door.
After taking a quick rest, Yang Kai brought Li Rong with him and headed for Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Half a day later, inside a great palace in Nine Heavens Holy Land, the Monster Race Great Senior was silently contemplating the Heavenly Way when he suddenly opened his eyes and stared off into the distance.
Soon, as if his eyes were capable of piercing space itself, the Monster Race Great Senior’s gaze landed on Yang Kai and Li Rong.
Yang Kai, who was walking along, paused at that moment and directed a grin towards a certain place in the distance.
Li Rong’s pretty face also became dignified as she too stared off towards the horizon, the Demonic Qi in her body surging up.
After a brief moment, the Great Senior back in the palace hall took back his vision and slowly shook his head.
“Great Senior, what happened?” From one of the nearby rooms, Cai Die walked in and asked.
“That smelly brat is back,” Great Senior grinned, “It looks like he wants to claim Nine Heavens Holy Land back.”
Cai Die’s beautiful brow furrowed slightly, “You mean… Yang Kai?”
“Who else besides him could it be?” Great Senior nodded lightly.
“He’s back so soon? It’s been less than three years,” Cai Die frowned, “This place’s World Energy aura is much denser than in the Beast Sea Jungle, and there are so many pills and Crystal Stones here. These past few years our clan’s strength has grown rapidly. Great Senior, I really don’t want to give up this place.”
Great Senior smiled at her and said, “Then what do you want to do? I made an agreement with him before to temporarily take care of Nine Heavens Holy Land rather than seizing it by force. Now that he’s back, naturally we should return it to its original owner. Not to mention our Monster Race owes him a great graciousness, if not for him, the problem with the Beast Transformation Pond would never have been solved.”
“Is there any other way?”
“You can act shamelessly!” Great Senior laughed, seemingly cracking a joke and waving his hand as he said, “Go greet him.”
Cai Die nodded her head and disappeared.
On the outskirts of one of the nine peaks, a burly figure descended from the sky in front of Yang Kai and Li Rong, the ground shaking from his landing as he shouted, “Who dares approach my Monster Race’s territory? Turn back now or grandpa here won’t act polite!”
Saying so, this figure puffed out his chest and lifted his head, his hair blowing in the wind, putting on the pose of a great and powerful master, but when his eyes landed on Yang Kai and Li Rong, his expression suddenly changed to one of shock and surprise.
“Monster Race territory?” Yang Kai also smiled, “Brother Kuang, I think you’ve made a mistake, this place is my Nine Heavens Holy Land, since when did it become part of your Monster Race’s territory?”
“Yang Kai?” Kuang Shi called out in surprise while rushing over. Li Rong’s eyes narrowed slightly but seeing Yang Kai not give any instructions, she simply stared at this wild-looking man vigilantly without immediately taking action.
As he ran over, Kuang Shi laughed loudly, “Haha, I was wondering what arrogant fellow had wandered over, turns out it was you. Why didn’t you send a message in advance that you were coming?”
“Aren’t I greeting you now? It’s been a few years since we last met but it seems Brother Kuang has grown quite a lot.”
“Thanks to you, thanks to you!” Kuang Shi couldn’t help grinning, “With so many Crystal Stones to mine and pills those Alchemists refined, it’s only natural my strength has grown… but compared to you, it seems that my progress isn’t worth mentioning. How is your cultivation already on par with mine?”
The last time he saw Yang Kai the latter’s cultivation was much lower than his own, but now both of them were Third Order Transcendents.
Kuang Shi thought that his recent progress was fast but seeing Yang Kai now, he couldn’t help feeling envious.
“I say, brother, you coming back so soon wouldn’t be because you’re planning on taking this place back, right?” Kuang Shi asked bitterly.
“Good, it’s already been two or three years since I had to hand it to you guys, I’m sure you’ve already exploited those Crystal Stone lodes a lot by now.”
“More like only two or three years…” Kuang Shi appeared quite dispirited, “Forget it. In any case, it’s not my job to worry about these matters. Are you going to see Great Senior? Great Senior should be in the palace atop the centre peak right now. Unfortunately, I can’t accompany you there, Senior Cai Die sent me here to guard this entrance.”
“No need to accompany me, someone has already come to greet us,” Yang Kai chuckled, turning his eyes towards a seven coloured stream of light which was rapidly approaching.
A moment later, the beautiful sight of Cai Die’s multi-coloured wings appeared in front of Yang Kai.
After casting Yang Kai a faint look, she quickly turned her attention to Li Rong.
Even as a master at the Second Order Saint Realms, Cai Die felt a sense of pressure from Li Rong. This feeling was quite inexplicable, making her faintly sense that this woman’s strength was superior to her own.
“Miss Cai Die!” Yang Kai smiled and cupped his fists.
Cai Die took back her eyes from Li Rong and focused her attention on Yang Kai, directly asking, “What are you doing here?”
Yang Kai heard these words and couldn’t help feeling a bit dumbfounded, quickly recovering though and smiling, “Naturally I am here to see Great Senior and ask him to honour our agreement.”
Cai Die’s brow furrowed slightly as she solemnly asked, “If it’s about these nine peaks… how about allowing my clan to use them for a few more years?”
“Isn’t that somewhat inappropriate?” Yang Kai said somewhat helplessly and gently shook his head, “My people are also waiting to settle down here.”
“Just a few more years… After a few years, we will definitely withdraw from here!”
Yang Kai became slightly disgruntled as a frown appeared on his face, “Is this the meaning of Great Senior or your personal request?”
“Great Senior is not a person who fails to keep his word, this is entirely my own intentions! If you agree, I can give you some benefits.”
“And if I don’t agree?”
“I will make you agree!” Cai Die stared at Yang Kai stubbornly.
Yang Kai sighed and waved his hand in annoyance, “I’m too lazy to deal with you, Li Rong, help me block her!”
“Yes!” Li Rong shouted, her tender body flickering as she charged directly towards Cai Die.
Cai Die ignored her, fluttering her wings as she sent out a seven coloured beam towards Yang Kai. This shroud of light contained a soft yet potent strength that instantly wrapped around Yang Kai, seemingly trying to bind him.
However, in the next instant, Cai Die’s beautiful brow furrowed, because she had actually lost all trace of Yang Kai, her seven coloured light grasping onto nothing but air, Yang Kai seemingly having vanished like a ghost. Swiftly spreading out her Divine Sense, Cai Die found that Yang Kai had at some point bypassed her and was already more than a dozen kilometres behind her.
Cai Die was dumbfounded by this unexpected development, but before she could figure out how Yang Kai had managed to shake off a Second-Order Saint like her, Li Rong had already arrived in front of her and she had no choice but to defend herself.
In front of the main hall, Yang Kai leisurely appeared and walked straight inside.
Upon stepping into the hall, Yang Kai saw the Monster Race Great Senior looking at him with a smile.
“Great Senior, it’s been too long,” Yang Kai offered greetings and walked toward him.
Great Senior simply shook his head, “It hasn’t been long at all. It feels like it was just yesterday when we last met.”
“Great Senior must be joking, it has already been almost three years since we last stood here together. En, good, I’ve come to retrieve my domain,” Yang Kai countered.
“Don’t worry, I won’t try to hold on to this place,” Great Senior laughed somewhat wryly, “Cai Die was acting on her own, I’ll reprimand her for that. However, who is that woman you brought with you? How come her aura is so strange?”
“Hm? Strange how?”
“Like you, although her cultivation realm is apparent at a glance, her true combat potential cannot be judged from that alone, it seems like she’s able to fight across realms!” Great Senior quickly said.
“Heh heh, how much time does Great Senior need?” Yang Kai shook his head, showing no intention of discussing this topic.
“Good, give me half a month, I’ll have my clan withdraw from here by then,” Great Senior’s look suddenly became serious again, “I hope that after this time, we can still be on good terms.”
“Of course, of course. I also hope we can continue to obtain rare herbs and ores from your side, just like when the old Holy Master was alive. We can exchange what we both need from each other.”
“En, very good!” Great Senior nodded with satisfaction.
Yang Kai was also very satisfied. Originally, he had thought things would not be so simple, but Great Senior seemed like he had no desire to bargain back and forth, a true man of his word.
Working with such people made Yang Kai feel relieved.
Great Senior suddenly furrowed his brow and asked, “Kid, there’s one thing that has been bothering me though, can you explain it to me?”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Why do I feel Monster Qi from you? Although it is very weak, there is no doubt a trace of Monster Qi within your body… and this Monster Qi doesn’t seem to be ordinary, it carries with it a noble and majestic aura, even some similar to this King’s!”
Yang Kai expression fluctuated, understanding that what Great Senior was sensing was the Dragon Emperor’s aura within him.
The true body of Great Senior was that of the Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon, a distant relative of the True Dragons.
He was truly worthy to represent the Monster, in Monster Beast. His senses far surpassed anyone’s expectations.
“The last time I saw you, you didn’t have this kind of aura, what exactly did you encounter these past few years?” Great Senior stared at Yang Kai, sincerely asking.
“I haven’t encountered anything unusual, I just wandered about here and there.”
Great Senior dumbly laughed and shook his head, knowing that Yang Kai didn’t want to say anymore, deciding not to pursue the issue.
After reaching an agreement with Great Senior, Yang Kai departed satisfied. In just half a month he would be able to recover Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Leaving the nine peaks, Yang Kai quickly noticed that Li Rong and Cai Die were still fighting high up in the sky.
Although it wasn’t a life or death struggle, two masters at such a high level fighting was still an earth-shaking scene.
The fluctuations from their battle had attracted many Monster Race masters over, Kuang Shi amongst them.
“Who is fiercer?” Yang Kai landed next to Kuang Shi and asked as he stared up into the sky.
“The woman you brought with you! She seems to still be holding back while Senior Cai Die is already somewhat flustered,” Kuang Shi replied full of enthusiasm, continuing to run is mouth as he sloppily grinned, “Fights between beautiful women are really quite attractive, Senior Cai Die’s torn clothes are really a sight to behold.”
“Be careful what you say, lest Cai Die hear and pull out your tongue!” Yang Kai warned.
“There’s no way, right?” Kuang Shi said with a frightened look, “I spoke very quietly, she couldn’t have heard me.”
“The forest has ears…” Yang Kai grinned as he glanced over towards the side.
Following his gaze, Kuang Shi’s eyes landed on Mao Niang who was standing nearby, her ears perked up, clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.
After discovering she had been discovered, Mao Niang smiled sweetly and stuck out her hand to Kuang Shi, “If you want me to not tell Senior Sister Cai Die, hand over all your Crystal Stones.”
“Great Aunt, mercy! I only have ten Crystal Stones left!” Kuang Shi wore an extremely bitter look and begged, “Please find it in your generous heart to pretend your honourable self never heard anything, this Kuang Shi will surely remember this great graciousness for the rest of his life.”
“Not interested, just give me however many you can, even ten is better than nothing.”
Yang Kai smiled wryly and shook his head. No longer paying attention to these two, he called out towards the sky, “Li Rong, let’s go.”
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s call, Li Rong immediately pulled back and gently brushed her hair back, shooting a relaxed glance towards Cai Die before quickly flying down and accompanying Yang Kai off.
Floating mid-air, Cai Die gasped for breath, her milk-white peaks heaving up and down as a lingering fear gripped her heart.
She had never expected that a fellow Second-Order Saint could actually overpower her so easily. Throughout the entire fight, she had been completely suppressed, never once able to seize the initiative.
On the other hand, her opponent was calm and relaxed the whole time.
[That woman… so fierce!] Cai Die unwillingly admired.
Not making any attempt to pursue, Cai Die silently watched Yang Kai and the mysterious woman leave before turning around and flying back towards the main hall.
Looking at Yang Kai’s appearance, it seemed that he had finished negotiating with Great Senior and had obtained favourable results. Cai Die didn’t want to give up Nine Heavens Holy Land, but she would never do something to damage Great Senior’s face. If it was Great Senior’s order, she would obey it no matter what.
“Master, is everything alright?” Li Rong asked quietly on the way back.
“En, Great Senior was easy to speak to and agreed to honour our previous agreement,” Yang Kai nodded.
“That’s good!” Li Rong also looked relieved. Following behind Yang Kai, she opened her mouth once in a while, seemingly wanting to say something but always hesitating at the last moment.
Perceiving this, Yang Kai smiled and said, “Whatever you want to say, even if it’s just something trivial, feel free to say it.”
Since leaving the Mysterious Small World, Yang Kai had noticed that all of the Ancient Demon Clan’s members had changed their attitude towards him and become extremely respectful and obedient.
Their attitude revealed just how high Yang Kai’s position in the Ancient Demon Clan was.
However, Yang Kai was somewhat unable to adapt to this kind of treatment.
“I just wondered if my clan had brought too much trouble to Master!” Li Rong apologized with a smile, “The hatred between Humans and Demons is very deep. Us following Master will certainly create some unnecessary incidents in the future. That crowd of Human masters following us all the way here is a perfect example. If it had really turned into a fight with them today, whether we won or lost, it would definitely affect Master negatively…”
“Such is the price I must pay in order to obtain your strength. You don’t need to concern yourself about it,” Yang Kai shook his head, “Also, I don’t care about how others view me, those who support me are my friends, those who dare oppose me, are my enemies. Plain and simple. The hatred between Humans and Demons means nothing to me.”
Li Rong’s beautiful eyes flashed as she was secretly taken aback by Yang Kai’s open-mindedness.
Even if they had been sealed inside that Mysterious Small World for thousands of years, the Ancient Demon Clan still had a deep-rooted mentality of rejecting outsiders, unable to accept or approve of those who did not belong to their race.
Yang Kai on the other hand seemed to have no concept of racial discrimination.
Yang Kai openly accepted the Ancient Demon Clan and had friendly dealings with a Monster Race Great Senior, he even address one Monster Race master as brother… It seemed as though he really didn’t care about the differences between them, something Li Rong honestly found amazing.
“Please rest assured Master, after everything is settled, I and the other Great Commanders will ensure our clansmen behave and will make sure they do not have any conflicts with the original inhabitants of Nine Heavens Holy Land. We will definitely not cause any difficulties for Master,” Li Rong solemnly promised.
“You don’t need to feel so restrained, to me, you are my people and Ning Heavens Holy Land’s people are also my people, there are no distinctions between you.”
“Many thanks, Master,” Li Rong said, obviously feeling grateful.
Yang Kai not having any prejudice against them despite being Human made Li Rong secretly feel that the Ancient Demon Clan had chosen to follow a good master.
Returning to the location of the Ancient Demon Clan once more, Yang Kai informed the other Great Commanders that after half a month he would bring them to Nine Heavens Holy Land, then let them make arrangements for the clansmen to live here until the time arrived. Receiving this order, the Great Commanders got to work.
They had no problem living here for half a month. The Ancient Demon Clan had just re-entered this world, so any place was fresh and new to them; they could take this opportunity to explore their surroundings and familiarize themselves with it
After all, from now on they would be living in the nearby nine peaks.
The Ancient Demon clansmen were dispatched in groups of three or four to scout out the local region.
Those who stayed behind began to build some simple accommodations and search for some food, all of them keeping busy.
It was a bustling sight.
A slight sound of footsteps suddenly came from nearby as Yang Kai was relaxing in the shade. Gazing towards the source of the sound, Yang Kai saw Wu Jie wrapped in his familiar black robe walking over towards him.
Arriving, Wu Jie nodded lightly, “Sir Holy Master!”
“Your Netherworld Sect’s disciples?” Yang Kai asked, not seeing anyone else from Netherworld Sect around.
“I had my Vice Sect Master take them back first. En, I also ordered them prepare some living supplies and have them brought here.”
“Many thanks for that.”
“Sir Holy Master is too polite,” Wu Jie smiled, “Everyone here will be neighbours in the future, such minor things are no trouble at all.”
After a pause, Wu Jie asked, “How does Sir Holy Master plan to handle Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple?”
“What are your thoughts?” Yang Kai asked.
Wu Jie hesitated a moment before seriously saying, “Zhang Ao, Cao Guan, and the other leaders of their Sects perished back in the Snow Mountain Range, so there are very few Transcendent Realm masters left; however, there are still many disciples around. Each of the two sects should have somewhere between three to four thousand disciples. There aren’t many powerful masters among these three to four thousand but they are still the foundations of their respective Sects.”
“Slaughtering them…” Yang Kai began.
Wu Jie shivered, his face going pale.
Yang Kai smiled and continued, “Isn’t very realistic, but simply driving them away is also not possible. It will be too difficult to ensure they don’t linger around and stir up chaos.”
“It is exactly as Sir Holy Master says,” Wu Jie nodded in agreement, “Moreover, they definitely don’t know that Zhang Ao, Cao Guan, and their other leaders have already lost their lives. Once they learn of this though, there will definitely be turmoil inside the two sects. If we let things progress to that point without interfering, it will be impossible to clean the situation up.”
“Tell me about your idea,” Yang Kai looked deeply at him.
“The best solution is to absorb them! The two Sects have so many disciples between them, so there’s bound to be some with excellent aptitude who with enough cultivation can become masters in the future.”
“Absorb them… good, you can handle that yourself,” Yang Kai waved his hand and nodded
Wu Jie was somewhat stunned, “Does Sir Holy Master not want to participate?”
“I have no interest in those people, and it is well known that I now have a large number of Demon Race subordinates. Making such an aggressive move is not a good idea,” Yang Kai chuckled, continuing meaningfully, “Sect Master Wu can take this opportunity to expand the strength of Netherworld Sect. Absorb what can be absorbed, expel that which cannot! Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple are both strong forces, so they’re bound to have many good things stored away.”
Wu Jie expression changed. Thinking about it for a moment before excitedly cupping his fists, “Many thanks, Sir Holy Master!”
The three forces near Nine Heavens Holy Land had always lived in its shadow. Shattering Mystical Palace was the most powerful thanks to the Second Order Saint Zhang Ao while War Spirit Temple came second. Netherworld Sect was actually the weakest existence.
Now that Wu Jie had been presented with such an incredible opportunity, how could he not feel excited?
There were no masters left in either of these two Sects capable of fighting him. If Wu Jie still could not handle this, he had simply cultivated to the Saint Realm in vain.
Wu Jie seemed to already be able to see his Netherworld Sect rapidly expanding after absorbing all the wealth and talent from these two Sects.
Although excited, Wu Jie also felt a slight sense of guilt.
If not for Zhang Ao and Cao Guan acting so unscrupulously, how could Wu Jie have obtained such great fortune? Wu Jie had only secretly made a deal with Yang Kai because he felt the latter had incredible potential, and he had been proven right in short order. A golden opportunity had landed in front of him without the need for him to even do anything, all thanks to his foresight.
Excited, Wu Jie bowed and said that he would return to his Sect immediately, extending an invitation to Yang Kai to visit Netherworld Sect for a few days.
In any case, it would still be another half a month before the Monster Race Great Senior withdrew, so Wu Jie naturally wanted to take this opportunity to improve his relationship with Yang Kai.
Regretfully, Yang Kai declined his invitation.
“Your Netherworld Sect is only a few hundred kilometers from here. When I have time, I’ll send a message to you about patronizing your Sect,” Yang Kai glanced around at the bustling Ancient Demon clansmen and felt that leaving them right now was not a good choice.
Wu Jie did not insist, simply excusing himself and flying off.
One day later, a number of disciples from Netherworld Sect arrived, bringing with them a batch of living materials, enough for a thousand people to use for half a month.
Li Rong and the others were quite pleased with Wu Jie’s gesture.
Finished building enough temporary huts amidst the jungle, the Ancient Demon clansmen began exploring their surroundings curiously, keeping themselves busy.
Inside the largest hut, Yang Kai sits cross-legged on top of thick piles of furs, his consciousness immersed in his Knowledge Sea as he concentrated on probing the Soul remnant which belonged to Zhang Ao.
Two months ago, after Zhang Ao’s death, Yang Kai had used the Demon Eye of Annihilation to extract this Soul remnant and store it in a corner of his Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai mainly wanted to spy on his memory to see if he could uncover the secret related to the Starry Sky Zhang Ao was speaking about just before his death.
Yang Kai had intentionally not used the Demon Eye of Annihilation to purify this remnant and was instead carefully combing through its content, trying to extract as much information from it as possible.
After a person’s physical body died, their Soul would retain all of their feelings and experiences for a time. If left alone though, all of this would dissipate in short order.
Of course, the Souls of powerful masters could remain behind longer, some of them even powerful enough to retain their sense of self and if they could find an appropriate body, even possible seize control of it in order to revive themselves.
Examining another Soul remnant like this was a complex and dangerous task, even those with incredibly powerful Souls and Spiritual Energy didn’t dare read others’ residual thoughts lightly, because one moment of carelessness could lead to one’s own nature, memories, and even identity becoming distorted, sometimes leading directly to them lose all sense of self and going insane.
It was only thanks to his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea which had some innate resistance to such occurrences that Yang Kai dared act so recklessly.
Still, Yang Kai acted very cautiously while scanning these memories, not letting Zhang Ao’s residual thoughts affect his own. Once he felt any sign of contamination, Yang Kai would immediately stop and purge it.
Slowly, various scenes appeared before Yang Kai’s eyes, all of which were from Zhang Ao’s pre-death memories.
These scenes were intermittent and very inconsistent, most of which Yang Kai only briefly examined before ignoring and moving on.
His Spiritual Energy was being rapidly consumed, forcing Yang Kai to stop and rest every two hours or so.
Only after completely restoring his strength would he continue his examination.
It wasn’t until five days later that Yang Kai finally caught a glimpse of the Starry Sky secret Zhang Ao had mentioned amongst his chaotic memories.
Vaguely, Yang Kai could see a stone forest that had various stone pillars jutting out from a grass filled field. It was here that Zhang Ao had discovered a number of exotic stones.
The Blood Essence Stone was also found here.
From this brief memory, Yang Kai saw Zhang Ao fumble about for a while, taking some indistinct actions before suddenly opening a Void Corridor. Only after hesitating for a long time did Zhang Ao step through it.
The next moment, what appeared before Zhang Ao’s eyes was the vast Starry Sky, with millions of points of light from distant twinkling stars in the background and a terrifying destructive energy brushing against his flesh. All of this was a familiar experience to Yang Kai.
Just as Yang Kai wanted to take a closer look, the scene was suddenly interrupted.
Yang Kai sighed as he took back his consciousness. Although he couldn’t see where the stone forest was, he knew it should be somewhere in Shattering Mystical Palace’s territory, so it wouldn’t take too long for him to find it.
Having found what he was looking for, with a single thought, Yang Kai opened the Demon Eye of Annihilation and used it to completely purify Zhang Ao’s remnant Soul.
After he obtained Zhang Ao’s memories related to the Starry Sky, Yang Kai refined his Soul remnant directly.
In the process, as always, Yang Kai obtained Zhang Ao’s insights and understandings of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao.
His own comprehension was subtly enhanced, but not significantly improved.
As Yang Kai’s strength grew, the benefits he harvested from refining these Soul remnants were decreasing correspondingly; however, thanks to this particular method, Yang Kai had never had to worry about bottlenecks while he cultivated. As long as he could kill some high-level cultivators from time to time and absorb their sentiments, Yang Kai’s future cultivation path would be free of obstacles. Of course, this was all under the premise that his True Qi and physique could keep up.
With Yang Kai’s current comprehension, he wouldn’t encounter any kind of bottleneck before breaking through to the Third Order Saint Realm.
Collecting his thoughts, Yang Kai returned his consciousness to his physical body and slowly got up, preparing to inquire about current events when suddenly he heard Han Fei’s shout in the distance, “Who goes there?”
In the next instant, a blast of cold air erupted and the sound of something cutting through the air rang out. It seemed that Han Fei was pursuing someone or something.
Yang Kai frowned, walked out of his tent, and saw a lot of Ancient Demon clansmen gathered around, all of them staring off in a certain direction.
“Master!” Li Rong rushed over to ensure Yang Kai’s safety. Her hut had been set up next to Yang Kai’s for this explicit purpose, the two of them living no more than five meters apart.
“What happened?” Yang Kai asked, releasing his Divine Sense into the surroundings to examine the situation.
“It seems that someone has been spying on us for the past few days but we have so far been unable to find them. Han Fei apparently caught a trace of whoever it was and immediately gave chase.”
“Even you haven’t been able to discover their identity?” Yang Kai was amazed.
“En, that person’s ability to hide their aura is very profound, it’s almost as if they can make themselves completely invisible, shielding themselves from all our senses,” Li Rong’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Oh? Interesting,” Yang Kai grinned. Outwardly, Li Rong was only a Second-Order Saint, but her true strength was not inferior to that of a Demon General, yet even she was unable to track down this elusive enemy.
The only one nearby capable of such a feat should be the Monster Race Great Senior!
However, Yang Kai had already reached an agreement with him and it was impossible for that Great Senior to be so bored to run over here to spy on them.
Waiting for a while, Han Fei flew back, her expression dim.
“That person?” Li Rong asked.
Han Fei shook her head, “Their speed is too fast, and their movement skill is quite exquisite. I wasn’t able to catch up with them!”
“Did you manage to see what kind of appearance they had?” Yang Kai asked.
“It was a woman,” Han Fei frowned, “But her appearance was quite strange. All her clothes seemed to be tattered and her hair was a complete mess, almost like she was a lunatic. She never said a word. As soon as she discovered me, she immediately fled. Oh, right, I also didn’t feel any vitality from her, instead… there was Death Qi lingering about her!”
“Death Qi?” This time it was Li Rong’s turn to be shocked.
“En, it was definitely Death Qi, only someone who has already died would have such an aura around them!” Han Fei nodded.
Hearing all this, Yang Kai expression changed as his brow rose, his figure flicking, leaving behind an afterimage where he was previously standing, coming to a stop a moment later and asking, “Did her movement skill look like this?”
Han Fei nodded, “En, her movement skill gave off this kind of feeling, it was quite profound.”
“I know who she is,” Yang Kai stared off into the distance and sighed.
The several Ancient Demon Clan Great Commanders exchanged glances, none of them knowing why Yang Kai showed a low-spirited look.
“Master, is that woman an old acquaintance of yours?” Li Rong asked carefully.
Yang Kai shook his head, “I don’t know her, but she is related to me, she is Nine Heavens Holy Land’s previous generation Saintess!”
Yang Kai then told the Ancient Demon Clan’s leaders the story of Saintess Nan, surprising all of them quite seriously.
“Before death not killing one person, after death slaughtering millions…” Li Rong spoke thoughtfully, “She is somewhat similar to Coffin Slave Senior, but the opposite!”
Coffin Slave and Saintess Nan were both living corpses! It’s just that after death, one of them caused a massive number of casualties while the other never directly killed anyone. Both of them had a powerful obsession in their hearts which allowed their body to continue moving even after death.
Because she was a living corpse, Saintess Nan gave off no life aura, which was why Li Rong and the others had such difficult tracking her.
If they wanted to deal with such a person, the only options were to completely destroy her physical form or somewhat erase her heart’s obsession. Once this last will of hers was crushed, her dead body would naturally stop moving.
“I suppose it’s time to deal with this issue,” Yang Kai stated calmly.
Regardless of what she had become, Saintess Nan was still a member of the Holy Land, if Yang Kai allowed her to continue to roam free; it would only lead to a repeat of the troubles from a few years ago.
Moreover, her lingering presence did nothing for the stability of the Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Her appearing here at this time was obviously because she was tracking him, so as long as Yang Kai acted as bait, Saintess Nan would surely show herself.
Explaining his thoughts to the Great Commanders, Li Rong and the other Ancient Demon Clan Saints made no objections.
In order to ensure things went well, Yang Kai brought both Li Rong and Han Fei with him to a remote location in the jungle.
Saintess Nan was still a powerful Second-Order Saint, even if she was already dead she was not to be underestimated.
A hundred kilometres away, Yang Kai came across a mountain valley and stopped, swiftly sweeping his eyes over the area before nodding lightly.
Li Rong and Han Fei immediately hid and concealed their auras, lying in ambush.
Yang Kai walked leisurely into the mountain valley, picking a few spirit herbs he came across along the way. Unfortunately, he only found a few Heaven Grade and Mysterious Grade herbs, not even a single Spirit Grade item appeared.
It wasn’t until after he circled the entire mountain valley once that Yang Kai felt a sense of inconsistency.
It was as if someone was staring at him from nearby.
Turning his head in the direction he sensed this gaze coming from, Yang Kai saw Saintess Nan appear. Dressed in white, her hair dishevelled, swaying back and forth like an evil spectre, she faintly stared at him while maintaining a short distance between them.
Her white dress had been significantly worn due to the many fights she had been in as she had obviously never changed or washed them these past few years, giving her an even more ghastly look.
Yang Kai didn’t know when she had appeared and wasn’t even clear how long she had been staring at him, all he could tell was that there was a hint of tenderness and nostalgia which flashed across the depths of her eyes as she fixed her gaze on the Holy Master Spirit Ring on his hand.
The Holy Master Spirit Ring was a symbol of every Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land. The old Holy Master had also worn it on his hand before he died. Saintess Nan was the old Holy Master’s life companion, so when she saw this ring, naturally she would show some reaction.
However, the tenderness in her gaze quickly faded and was replaced with endless killing intent as she shot forward towards Yang Kai without so much as a word.
Before Saintess Nan even arrived in front of him, a huge pressure had already descended upon Yang Kai.
A giant sword appeared in the sky and slashed down towards Yang Kai.
Profound Heavenly Sword!
Yang Kai simply stood in place, not making any attempt to evade.
“World of Ice and Snow!” Suddenly, a cold yet melodious voice rang out from the jungle.
In an instant, the entire mountain valley’s temperature plummeted! With a crackling sound, a thin layer of ice quickly covered the lush vegetation while a sky blue barrier appeared above the mountain valley, sealing it off from the outside world.
The dramatic change in climate was accompanied by snowflakes falling from the sky.
These seemingly dainty snowflakes each contained an enormous amount of power and each time one fell it would explode in a burst of light, sending out an uncountable number of tiny attacks towards Saintess Nan.
The Profound Heavenly Sword was instantly crushed.
Saintess Nan, who had been rushing towards Yang Kai, instinctively stopped, leapt back and summoned a Grand Heavenly Shield to protect her body, a great spear then appearing in her hand which she proceeded to throw towards Han Fei’s hiding place.
*Xiu…*
Like it was breaking through space itself, the Heaven Punishing Spear instantly appeared in front of Han Fei, causing her eyes to bulge.
A chill rising from the bottom of her heart, Han Fei’s pretty face was immediately covered in her Demon Crests as she extended her jade hand and grabbed towards the approaching spear.
Red blood dripped from her hand as she somehow managed to block this strike.
At the same time, Li Rong has quietly arrived behind Saintess Nan. A red light blossomed as a huge flower appeared beneath Saintess Nan’s feet.
This blooming flower was quite beautiful, its petals gently rotating almost like a lotus platform as it sent out a strange energy wave that engulfed and drew Saintess Nan towards it.
The petals gradually began to close, trying to wrap up and trap Saintess Nan inside them.
A hoarse, nearly inhuman roar escaped Saintess Nan’s lips as her body flickered, leaving behind a fuzzy afterimage as she seemingly teleported a short distance away.
Standing firm, Saintess Nan directed a murky glare towards Li Rong and Han Fei, like a wounded beast.
Li Rong and Han Fei also gathered together, their eyes flashing with a mix of pity and dread as they looked towards Saintess Nan, both of them realizing just how difficult an opponent they were facing.
“You don’t have to hold back. Try to capture her, but if you can’t… destroy her directly!” Yang Kai faintly said.
“Yes!” Li Rong and Han Fei shouted together, both of them taking action again.
*Chi chi chi…*
Ice blades swirled about.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Bright red flower petals danced through the air.
Two Ancient Demon Clan leaders joining forces to fight against the Second Order Saint Saintess Nan, naturally, there was no suspense.
The mountain valley had been surrounded by Han Fei’s barrier so Saintess Nan could not escape.
If not for them having scruples about her being from Nine Heavens Holy Land, Li Rong and Han Fei would have already beaten her.
Half an hour later, Saintess Nan was finally overpowered and bound by Li Rong’s red flower.
A brilliant red light burst out and when it faded, the flower petals seemed to have sunk into Saintess Nan’s skin, leaving behind petal tattoos all across her body.
Her True Qi had been sealed and her movements had been restricted. Saintess Nan had been caught.
Walking up to get a close-up look at Saintess Nan, Yang Kai, who had been entangled by her for several years couldn’t help feeling somewhat complicated.
The person in front of him, when she was young, was a peerless beauty. Even after she died, her face still retained its youthfulness.
But at this moment, she was now a dishevelled corpse driven only by the desire to slaughter.
If the old Holy Master was still alive and saw this scene, it was difficult to imagine what he might think.
In fact, if Su Yan or Xia Ning Chang ever ended up like this, Yang Kai would have felt more aggrieved than if they had just died.
Wanting to destroy her directly, yet somehow not able to bear doing so, Yang Kai eventually let out a sigh and said, “Take her back with us and watch over her carefully.”
He decided to hand over Saintess Nan to Xu Hui and the others to handle.
Li Rong and Han Fei glanced at each other and nodded gently, the former wrapping Saintess Nan in her Demonic Qi before both of them followed Yang Kai back the way they came.
Time passed by quickly and soon, it had been half a month. It was the date the Monster Race Great Senior had agreed to complete his withdrawal by.
The Ancient Demon Clan was packed and ready to go, just waiting for Yang Kai to give the order to move to the nine peaks.
Because of their relationship with Yang Kai, the Ancient Demon clansmen already saw the nine peaks as their new home, so it was only natural for them to be filled with expectations and curiosity towards what kind of paradise it was.
The crowd of Demons gathered together, pointing towards the nine peaks, whispering amongst themselves.
Yang Kai spread out his Divine Sense as he explored the situation of the nine peaks. Starting from last night, many Monster Beasts and Monster Race masters had been streaming out until now there were only a few living auras left.
Those who still stood among the nine peaks were the Alchemists and Artifact Refiners who originally belonged to Nine Heavens Holy Land.
A few years ago, Yang Kai and Great Senior had made an agreement to leave these Alchemists and Artifact Refiners behind to provide Alchemy and Artifact Refining services. Today, when the Monster Race left, Great Senior had kept his word and not tried to take these people away.
Yang Kai nodded, feeling that Great Senior had maintained his upright character.
A ray of coloured light glistened and flew towards Yang Kai, Cai Die’s pretty face and fluttering wings soon appearing before him. Sweeping her eyes over this crowd, her eyes quickly landed on Yang Kai as she spoke coldly, “My entire clan has left, you can return home now. Great Senior wanted me to pass a message to you, thanking you for providing my family with such a good opportunity to develop these past few years and extending you an open invitation to visit the Beast Sea Jungle!”
“Many thanks for your hard work, Ms. Cai Die, please give my regards to Great Senior and tell him I will definitely visit when I have time,” Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
“I’ve said what I needed to, goodbye!” Cai Die snorted, turned around, and flew off.
“That little girl… her temper is quite short,” Yin Ya muttered in a somewhat dissatisfied voice.
“Her strength is good though, higher than our own by a Minor Realm. She’s also quite pretty!” Xue Ji grinned villainously as he stared in Cai Die’s direction.
“Be careful how you speak. Remember that indiscriminate remarks only bring about trouble!” Li Rong reprimanded, “My clan has just reappeared in this world, try not to cause problems.”
Yin Ya and Xue Ji nodded quickly, expressing their understanding.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai waved, leading the way.
The nine peaks were lush and verdant, filled with a beautiful and refreshing spring-like air. The Nine Peaks Spirit Array was also still operating, enhancing the ambient World Energy density.
The Ancient Demon Clan immediately took a liking to this place upon entering it, many of them glancing around excitedly.
The conditions and environment here were infinitely better than the ones back in that Mysterious Small World. Living here would no doubt feel comfortable for both their minds and bodies.
Many clansmen couldn’t help feeling like they were dreaming. Even if they had left that Mysterious Small World almost three months ago, they still found themselves wondering from time to time if they were actually still back in that world without a sun, moon, or stars.
The only way to dismiss these concerns was to immerse themselves in the excitement outside.
At the base of the central mountain peak, in front of the main hall Great Senior had been occupying, stood a few hundred people, silently waiting.
These people were none other than the Holy Land’s Alchemists and Artifact Refiners. These men and women had varying ages while the strongest among them was only a Second-Order Transcendent.
When Yang Kai led the thousand or so Ancient Demon clansmen over, the waiting crowd hurriedly bowed, “Greetings Holy Master. Holy Master has finally returned.”
“You’ve all worked hard,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “Having all of you work for the Monster Race for nearly three years was truly an unavoidable choice, please forgive me.”
“Not at all!” The most powerful and senior figure stepped forward and shook his head, “The Monster Race did not mistreat us; in fact, they were always quite polite. Holy Master need not concern himself over this matter.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, brightly calling out, “Since I have returned today, the Holy Land will also return to its former glory. Furthermore, from this day forward, anyone who dares trample on my Holy Land’s majesty and invade its lands will be swiftly destroyed!”
The group of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners all cheered excitedly.
The leading old man then turned his attention to the Ancient Demon clansmen and furrowed his brow. Although he didn’t understand why Yang Kai had brought this group of Demon Race people here, he knew well enough not to ask any question, setting the matter aside and instead asking, “What about Great Elder Xu Hui and the others? Why have I not seem them return as well?”
“They are already here in the Holy Land,” Yang Kai chuckled, “You wait here first, I’ll go retrieve Great Elder and the others.”
Glancing back, he said to Li Rong, “You all wait here too.”
Li Rong and the others nodded lightly.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered and a few breaths later he arrived in front of the Holy Tomb.
Lifting the Holy Master Spirit Ring on his finger into the slow on the giant stone slab and filling it with his True Qi, Yang Kai opened the hidden Void Corridor and stepped into it.
Inside the Holy Tombs, the thousands of disciples of Nine Heavens Holy Land all sat silently.
After spending a few years inside this dark and desolate space, everyone had gradually become accustomed to it.
Although some would occasionally become frustrated and impatient, the Elders and Saintess would quickly comfort them and settle the situation.
The Elders and Saintess continued to tell the others that the new Holy Master would surely return to bring them out of this place and that their most important task right now was to improve their own strength so that they would never again have to experience the shame of abandoning their home.
Xu Hui and the others regarded their failure three years ago as the greatest disgrace of their lives.
In recent years, all of them had spared no effort in their cultivation.
The Holy Tomb was the place where every generation of Holy Master and his Saintesses would enter secluded retreat to cultivate. Although the environment was harsh to inhabit, the World Energy was very rich.
Also, it was seemingly inexhaustible.
No cultivator who wished to quickly improve their strength would be willing to miss such a great opportunity.
Over the past three years, almost everyone had achieved significant growth, so besides not being able to leave, everything was actually proceeding in a good direction.
Thousands of people meditated silently, drawing the dense, nearly visible World Energy around them into their physiques, creating a spectacular scene.
Although there were so many of them, it was still deathly silent. Even if someone stood up and moved around, they would tread extremely lightly for fear of disturbing others.
In one corner, An Ling’er, who was also closing her eyes and cultivating, suddenly noticed an unusual aura suddenly appear inside the Holy Tomb. Frowning suspiciously for a moment, her eyes suddenly burst open in the next as she stood up and began looking back and forth, a pleasantly surprised expression filled her face.
An Ling’er knew this aura better than anyone because she was the one who first instilled Yang Kai with the knowledge of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.
In that instant, she realized that Yang Kai had appeared nearby.
“Ling’er, what happened?” Yu Ying also opened his eyes and asked softly.
“He came in!” An Ling’er continued looking around and shouted.
“Who?” Yu Ying asked, in the next breath covering her mouth in shock and exclaiming, “You mean…”
An Ling’er nodded vigorously.
The dialogue between the two alarmed the other Elders, all of whom hurriedly opened their eyes and also began searching their surroundings.
A moment later, everyone’s eyes fixed on a certain spot.
From the direction they were staring, the all saw a figure approaching and although the lights here were dim and they could not see this person’s exact appearance. Upon feeling this newcomer’s familiar life aura, all of the Elders couldn’t help becoming excited.
“Holy Master?” Xu Hui trembled as this name escaped his lips.
“Is it really Holy Master who came in?” Cheng Yue Tong’s beautiful eyes stared at the approaching figure, not daring to blink.
After a short pause, the young man they had been longing to see appeared in front of them, a light smile upon his face.
“It really is Holy Master!” Xu Hui excitedly shouted, immediately bowing together with the other Elders, “Subordinate greets Holy Master!”
“No need to be so polite,” Yang Kai chuckled.
“You finally came!” An Ling’er looked at Yang Kai faintly, “We’ve been waiting for a few years already…”
As she spoke, her eyes became somewhat watery. During these seemingly endless days of waiting, many had inevitably had thoughts about being trapped inside this place forever. If it weren’t for Xu Hui and the other leaders appeasing them from time to time, the situation could have rapidly deteriorated.
“En, I’ve kept you waiting for too long, I’m truly sorry!” Yang Kai said seriously as he sincerely apologized.
“Holy Master is too serious…” Xu Hui’s leaked a few tears from his wrinkled face, not knowing what to say.
The disciples who were all meditating had also been awakened by the movements here, and as soon as they became aware of Yang Kai’s arrival, cheers broke out and soon spread throughout the entire Holy Tomb.
After letting them indulge for a moment, Xu Hui quickly quieted them down.
However, everyone still gathered around and stared silently, all of them wondering if Yang Kai was here to bring them out.
The several Elders also had similar expectations.
Yu Ying asked, “Holy Master, since you’ve come, does that mean that everything outside has been processed?”
“Yes, everything has been settled. The Monster Race masters have withdrawn already so it’s time to return home.”
Listening to him say so, everyone was overjoyed, all of them extremely eager to leave this place and return to the nine peaks.
“I’ll go open the exit while the Elders arrange the disciples,” Yang Kai said with a smile.
“Good,” Xu Hui nodded quickly and began organizing the others.
As they hurriedly prepared to leave, Yang Kai opened the exit and left with An Ling’er.
From inside the Holy Tomb, one disciple after another came out in an orderly fashion. Upon seeing the sky again after several years, many of them could not contain their joy and began shouting and cheering.
Outside the Holy Tomb, Yang Kai silently observed the exiting disciples as he pondering how he should explain about the Ancient Demon Clan to Xu Hui.
Although Yang Kai was nominally in charge of Nine Heavens Holy Land now, he wasn’t sure whether Xu Hui and the others would object to him settling a large group of Demon Race people here.
[If they were to strongly oppose, how would I be able to deal with it?]
“Your strength seems to have improved greatly again,” An Ling’er suddenly said, “What realm is your cultivation at now?”
“Third Order Transcendent Realm,” Yang Kai replied casually.
An Ling’er couldn’t help covering her mouth, her beautiful eyes flashing with shock as she stared at him.
She still remembered that when she first met Yang Kai, he was only a First Order Transcendent drifting atop the endless sea, yet in only four or five years, he had become a Third Order Transcendent, spanning two Minor Realms and now only a step away from the Saint Realm.
At that moment, An Ling’er suddenly believed the bold claim Yang Kai had made to her before.
He had said a long time ago that even if he didn’t become join Nine Heavens Holy Land, as long as he was given thirty years, he would still be able to stand on equal footing with the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land.
At that time, An Ling’er didn’t believe him, feeling his arrogance was simply higher than the sky, but now, An Ling’er had to believe him.
According to his current momentum, he could indeed achieve what he said he would.
In fact, he might not even need thirty years to reach that height…
After bustling about for half a day, all the disciples had come out from the Holy Tomb.
Confirming that there was no longer anyone inside, Yang Kai once again closed the Holy Tomb and gathered the Elders and An Ling’er together.
Seeming aware that he had something important to discuss with them, everyone remained silent and waited for Yang Kai to speak.
“There is something I must tell you,” Yang Kai brow furrowed, still sorting out exactly how to broach this matter.
“If Holy Master has something to say, please speak freely. We subordinates will certainly listen closely!” Xu Hui chuckled, not sure why Yang Kai was acting so awkwardly.
“As long as you don’t say you wish to leave the Holy Land and give up the position of Holy Master, we can promise you anything else,” Yu Ying interjected with a smile.
“En, en, exactly!” The Elders all nodded, obviously still somewhat concerned that Yang Kai would try to cast off his position just as he had attempted to do a few years ago. At that time, Yang Kai acted like a rouge, not displaying any of the poise a Holy Master should at all.
“I won’t,” Yang Kai laughed dumbly despite trying not to, quickly gathering his thoughts and saying, “Before I met all of you, I actually ran into a group of people. It was back when I was still quite ignorant and weak. That group had been imprisoned in a Mysterious Small World for some special reasons and they pleaded with me to find a way to save them; in exchange for freeing them, they pledged to serve me for the rest of my life.”
“Oh?” Xu Hui’s brow rose, “Making such a promise when Holy Master was still weak, if they weren’t speaking irresponsibly, then they must have recognized Holy Master’s potential, in which case they belong to?”
Xu Hui seemed somewhat uneasy. What lay in the heart of an individual was difficult, much less an entire group of people, so hearing Yang Kai’s words he couldn’t help probing.
“They were not speaking casually. During the years when all of you were hiding inside the Holy Tomb, I happened to save them and brought them out of that place just a few months ago. Since then, they have faithfully honoured their pledge and obeyed my commands.”
“This group of people is quite upstanding then,” Cheng Yue Tong smiled warmly, “Those who keep their word are trustworthy. So does Holy Master want to absorb them into the Holy Land?”
Cheng Yue Tong saying this enlightened the other Elders, all of them thinking this was a case, directing curious and somewhat expectant looks towards Yang Kai.
“They can’t be absorbed into the Holy Land… I just wish to have them settle down on one of the nine peaks. I don’t know if the Elders are willing to comply?”
“Can’t be absorbed?” Xu Hui’s brow furrowed but soon relaxed, “If they can’t be absorbed then so be it. Since they are Holy Master’s subordinates, living in the Holy Land is only a matter of course. The Holy Land is quite large, accommodating a group of people isn’t an issue…”
“En…” Luo Sheng and Meng Tian Fei also nodded, agreeing with Xu Hui’s sentiments.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to agree, I haven’t finished explaining everything yet. You should reserve your decision until after hearing all I have to say!” Yang Kai smiled and continued, “There are about a thousand people in this group.”
“Hm, that is certainly not a small number, but the Holy Land should have more than enough capacity to accommodate them,” Xu Hui nodded lightly, asking casually, “What kind of strength do they possess? How strong are their top masters?”
“There are five Saints!”
“Ah… what?” All of the Elder were instantly dumbfounded, An Ling’er covering her mouth in shock.
This group of people had promised to serve Yang Kai back when he was very weak, so Xu Hui and the others mistakenly thought that the strength of this group wasn’t very high; otherwise how could they have made such a promise?
All of them had assumed that these thousand people were some small Sect or family with a few Transcendents serving as leaders at most.
None of them had expected Yang Kai to tell them that there were actually five Saint Realm masters among this group!
That was only slightly fewer than the number of Saints Nine Heavens Holy Land had…
“Holy Master, are you perhaps kidding?” Xu Hui simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Does it look like I’m telling a joke?” Yang Kai’s expression became serious, “Three of them are Second Order Saints while two are First Order!”
Everyone was once against stunned silent.
Three Second Order Saints and two First Orders; although this was one fewer Saints than Nine Heavens Holy Land, if a conflict broke out between the two groups, obviously Nine Heavens Holy Land would be the one to lose!
Xu Hui and the others immediately understood why Yang Kai had unexpected asked for their opinions.
Without knowing for certain what the disposition of this group was, if a conflict occurred inside the Holy Land in the future, Xu Hui and the others wouldn’t be able to fight back.
The joy of leaving the Holy Tomb was suddenly replaced with deep concern.
“On top of that, they are not ordinary people…” As if thinking the Elders weren’t shocked enough already, Yang Kai finally brought up the most important concern, “They’re Demons!”
“Demons?” Yu Ying screamed.
Cheng Yue Tong’s pretty face also went pale.
Xu Hui didn’t say anything immediately, but anyone would be able to see the shock and inner turmoil he was experiencing.
Yang Kai saying all this had left him not knowing what to say.
“If you consider it carefully and decide you cannot accept them in Nine Heavens Holy Land, tell me honestly and I will find another place to settle them,” Yang Kai said faintly, not showing any intention to force them to agree, waving his hand in the next moment, “For now, we should first finish arranging the disciples. My telling all of you about this was simply to give you a chance to mentally prepare yourselves.”
Everyone stared towards Yang Kai, none of them making any moves.
“Don’t concern yourselves too much, even if they can’t stay in Nine Heavens Holy Land, I have a place to put them,” Yang Kai grinned, seeing the complex looks on all of their faces.
This was what he had expected would happen.
At that moment, Xu Hui seemed to wake from his confusion and wore a dignified expression, “Holy Master, I will only ask one question. Has this group of Demons truly submitted to you or could it be that in order to escape that Mysterious Small World they have temporarily deceived you and are just waiting for the right opportunity to escape from your control?”
“You don’t have to worry about this,” Yang Kai smiled confidently, “As long as I live they won’t dare betray me!”
The Elders were stunned by the firmness of Yang Kai’s response.
Xu Hui took a deep breath and nodded, “Then there is no problem. You are the Holy Master of the Holy Land, and you have complete authority over who to admit and settle here. The Elders and I are only here to advise you, we have no decision-making power! Holy Master seeking our council is already giving us enough face…”
Yang Kai grinned, sweeping his eyes over the others.
Luo Sheng, Shi Kun, Meng Tian Fei, Yu Ying, and Cheng Yue Tong all nodded. Although they obviously had some concerns, the looks they directed towards Yang Kai were filled with trust and goodwill.
“Then on their behalf I offer you my thanks,” Yang Kai nodded firmly, “Good, the Holy Land has nine peaks, they only need one. They will prepare their own living materials and will not burden the Holy Land. I will also ensure that they not cause any conflicts with the Holy Land’s disciples.”
“Which peak does Holy Master intend to settle them on?” Xu Hui asked.
“The peak where Reflecting Moon Pond is located.”
Because of the current state of Reflecting Moon Pond, that particular peak was now in a perpetual state of deep winter and everyone who had once lived there had moved away. It was the only one of the nine peaks that was completely devoid of occupants.
However, the Ancient Demon clansmen were all endowed with powerful physiques, so living there wouldn’t be an issue for them as long as they didn’t get too close to Reflecting Moon Pond.
Also, there were already houses and other facilities on that peak so there would be no need to build new ones them.
“They won’t have any complaints? Are you sure you don’t wish to have them settle on a different mountain?” Xu Hui couldn’t help but worry.
“There’s no problem, the environment inside the Mysterious Small World where they used to live was far worse than here, they’ll be more than satisfied,” Yang Kai chuckled.
“En…” Xu Hui didn’t say anymore.
After learning that the group of Demons had already arrived inside the Holy Land, Xu Hui immediately said he wanted to meet with them.
After all, everyone would be neighbours in the future, so even if they didn’t technically belong to the same force, they would be living together. Building a good rapport was essential to ensure future conflicts could be resolved smoothly.
Fortunately, both Nine Heavens Holy Land and this group of Demons were Yang Kai’s subordinates.
With such a common point, Xu Hui felt that as long as there were no major incidents, most issues could be worked through.
Leaving Meng Tian Fei and Shi Kun to see to the disciples, Xu Hui and the others followed Yang Kai back to the main peak.
The hundreds of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners stood around with the Ancient Demon Clan, silently waiting. Although Yang Kai had been gone for half a day now, the Ancient Demon clansmen had not caused any issues, most of them still just looking around curiously.
Acting as a host, Xu Hui immediately came forward and welcomed Li Rong and the others.
Li Rong and the other Great Commanders smiled and returned the courtesy, exchanging greetings for a while. After talking amongst themselves for a while, each of them discovered that the other party wasn’t difficult to get along with.
This was especially true for Xu Hui; he felt that Li Rong was quite reasonable and friendly, nothing at all like the arrogant and brutal Demons he was used to. She was more like a refined lady from some big family or powerful Sect.
Xu Hui’s mood immediately brightened.
Yu Ying and Cheng Yue Tong also soon got close to Han Fei. All of them were beautiful women, but Han Fei’s cultivation was higher than their own by a minor Realm and her temperament was both cold and noble. The two of them felt they could learn a thing or two from her.
Having found common topics of interest, the two parties soon immersed themselves in their own discussions.
Yang Kai had essentially been relegated to the background and was now idly watching.
After a while, Li Rong suddenly said, “Right, together with Master we captured a certain person a few days ago, she seems to be your Nine Heaven’s Holy Land’s previous generation’s Saintess. I believe Master called her Saintess Nan!”
“Saintess Nan?” Xu Hui exclaimed as he hurriedly looked around, “Where is she now?”
Li Rong lightly clapped her hands and immediately had a group of Ancient Demon clansmen bring over the bound Saintess Nan.
Seeing the previous generation’s Saintess’ miserable appearance, Xu Hui and the others couldn’t help wearing sad expressions.
An Ling’er was even worse off, tears freely streaming from her eyes as she rushed over and held Saintess Nan.
The previous generation Saintess and the current Saintess had very close ties. Saintess Nan had always treated An Ling’er as her own daughter, but after Saintess Nan died, she had personally killed the other three Saintesses, and if not for a stroke of luck, An Ling’er would have died at her hands too.
Seeing her again now, how could An Ling’er continue to suppress the grief in her heart?
Xu Hui wiped the corner of his eyes and turned his gaze away.
Li Rong and the others seemed infected by the mood and also let out slight sighs.
After a while, Yang Kai stepped forward and gently patted An Ling’er’s shoulder, “However you wish to handle Saintess Nan, I leave up to you.”
An Ling’er nodded as she continued to sob, slowly lifting up Saintess Nan and gradually walking off.
Being bound and sealed by a master like Li Rong, Saintess Nan wouldn’t be able to escape no matter how heaven-defying her abilities were, so there was no need to worry about any harm coming to An Ling’er.
The sun was gradually setting, but all of Nine Heavens Holy Land was still bustling with activity.
The several thousand Holy Land disciples returning from the Holy Tomb all had many things to do.
The Ancient Demon Clan followed Yang Kai and Xu Hui to the mountain where they would later be living.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
Exactly one month later, the flurry of activating inside the Holy Land gradually calmed down.
The mess left behind when the Monster Race withdrew had been processed and Nine Heavens Holy Land once again entered into a steady state of development. On the mountain where the Ancient Demon Clan had settled, rows of new and refurbished houses were neatly lined up, making for an exquisite sight.
As the Ancient Demon Clan was constructing their new residences, Xu Hui had made sure to provide them with any resources and assistance they required, earning him Li Rong’s sincere gratitude.
After spending more than a month getting along together, Xu Hui and the other Elders couldn’t help changing some of their preconceived notions and instinctual repulsion to the Demon Race.
They had found that this group of Demons who had chosen to serve Yang Kai, besides being from a different race with a different kind of energy flowing through their bodies, were, in every other way the same as themselves.
None of them had seen or even heard of any of them running amok or causing trouble and were instead very cordial and law-abiding.
Gradually, a peaceful coexistence formed between the Holy Land disciples and the Ancient Demon Clan.
Yang Kai was very satisfied with the current situation. This past month, he had not had a moment’s rest as he had to deal with a myriad of issues big and small regarding Nine Heavens Holy Land and the Ancient Demon Clan, causing him to feel quite exhausted and wishing he could clone himself to split his workload. He hadn’t even had a spare moment to communicate with the Divine Tree.
Now that he had obtained a stable foothold, Yang Kai wanted to let the Divine Tree out of the Black Book space.
However, considering the difficulty of doing so and the presence of the Ancient Demon Clan, he decided to put off this idea for now.
The Yang Attribute energy aura released by the Divine Tree was so potent that even the Ancient Demon Clan may be adversely affected by it. On top of that, even with Yang Kai’s current strength, trying to remove the Divine Tree from the Black Book space would likely completely exhaust his strength.
For now, the best he could do was to occasionally send his Soul Avatar into the Black Book space and spend some time with the Divine Tree to appease its loneliness.
During one of these visits, Yang Kai also learned from the Divine Tree that the two pitch-black round stones were still absorbing the essence from the rare ores he had piled up. By now, almost all the minerals and ores in the Black Book space had been consumed, leaving behind only a large pile of dust and impurities.
After such a long time, the meridian like traces on the surface of the pitch-black round stones had become far more prominent.
Yang Kai faintly thought there was something unusual about these two stones and couldn’t help wondering just what kind of change they would undergo after absorbing so much mineral essence.
One day, as Yang Kai was discussing some matters with Li Rong and Xu Hui, a Holy Land disciples suddenly entered the hall and reported, “Holy Master, there is someone outside the Sect who requests an audience.”
“What person?” Yang Kai knit his brow.
“Netherworld Sect’s Sect Master, Wu Jie!” The disciple responded.
“Wu Jie?” Hearing this name, Xu Hui pounded the table with his fist and shouted, “The nerve! This old master hasn’t gone to settle accounts with him for his previous offence yet now he dares to show up outside my Holy Land’s nine peaks? This time there will be no road to Heaven or path to Hell for him to escape! How many people has he brought with him?”
The disciple quickly answered, “Sect Master Wu is alone, but he seems to have caught two unfamiliar people and is currently holding on to them.”
Xu Hui coldly snorted, “He actually dares come here alone? Does that green bastard really think he can not place my Holy Land in his eyes? Holy Master, please permit this old master to teach him a harsh lesson!”
Yang Kai just smiled wryly, “No need, Wu Jie is an ally.”
Xu Hui was stunned, unable to understand why Yang Kai would say such a thing.
Three years ago, that hateful fellow had followed Zhang Ao and Cao Guan to crusade against the Holy Land. Naturally, Xu Hui still bore a deep grudge for this and couldn’t wait to peel Wu Jie’s skin, tear his flesh, and drink his blood to vent the hatred in his heart.
Yang Kai did not hurry to explain and simply said to the waiting disciple, “Go invite him here.”
The disciple bowed politely before leaving to complete his task while Yang Kai slowly explained the situation to Xu Hui.
After learning that Wu Jie had taken the initiative to make peace with Yang Kai three years ago and, in recent times, had actually followed him around and offered his assistance, Xu Hui couldn’t help furrowing his brow and muttering, “I had heard that Wu Jie’s forte was building and managing interpersonal relationships while accurately analysing the overall situation. It seems his reputation is well-deserved.”
“Him being able to show goodwill towards Master a few years ago proves his vision is better than most,” Li Rong smiled, “Not everyone can see the potential of Master, like that Zhang Ao and Cao Guan. They had only their own lack of foresight to blame for their deaths.”
“Zhang Ao and Cao Guan are dead?” Xu Hui was extremely surprised.
“Ah right, I have forgotten to tell you about that,” Yang Kai nodded offhandedly, “The leadership of Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple have both basically been destroyed. By now, Wu Jie has probably finished handling their dismantlement.”
“Hmph, they got what they deserve!” Xu Hui still seemed somewhat angered and aggrieved, “This old master was still thinking about when to settle accounts with them, but now it seems there is no need for that. They got lucky, if they had fallen into this old master’s hands, I would surely have let them know what a life worse than death tastes like!”
Xu Hui cursed as he ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
Li Rong pursed her lips as she glanced over at Yang Kai, doing her best not to laugh.
A short while later, Wu Jie came in from the outside, still dressed in his trademark black robe, carrying with him two unconscious cultivators just like the messenger disciple had reported earlier.
Both these cultivators didn’t have a single scratch on them and simply seemed to be sleeping, their auras uniform and undisturbed, quite the mysterious sight.
Walking over, Wu Jie dropped the two unconscious men onto the floor and cupped his fists, “Greetings Sir Holy Master, greetings Senior Li… En, Great Elder as well.”
Yang Kai and Li Rong smiled and nodded while Xu Hui wore a gloomy look on his face and coldly snorted, obviously not happy to see Wu Jie, secretly thinking to himself that this person lacked honour and simply went where the wind blew, a sinister villain who was only concerned with benefits.
However, Wu Jie did not mind this reaction one bit.
“Have a seat!” Yang Kai gestured.
Wu Jie gently nodded and sat down at the table.
A pretty female disciple immediately served tea.
After sipping the tea for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “Sect Master Wu appearing here must mean you have finished processing those two Sects, yes?”
Hearing this question, Wu Jie couldn’t help grinning happily as he said, “I must thank Sir Holy Master for that. After a month or so of work, this Wu managed to absorb two thousand talented new disciples. The rest who only had average aptitude were given some cultivation resources and then dismissed. Now, within the surrounding thousand-kilometre radius, besides Nine Heavens Holy Land, only Netherworld Sect is left.”
“How much did it end up costing you?” Yang Kai chuckled.
“It didn’t cost much at all; after killing a few recalcitrant leaders, everything else was easy to handle,” Wu Jie replied casually.
“En, that’s certainly encouraging. It seems it is only a matter of time before your Sect rises. All that’s left is for Sect Master Wu to break through to the Second Order Saint Realm.
Wu Jie immediately looked awkward upon hearing this, smiling bitterly, “Sir Holy Master must not make fun of this Wu too much. What my aptitude is, this Wu is crystal clear, in this life, without some great opportunity, I’m afraid my current cultivation is my limit. “
“Seems you still have some self-knowledge!” Xu Hui snickered, his eyes filled with disdain.
Wu Jie let out a hollow laugh, knowing that Xu Hui was just venting his anger, quickly getting back to the discussion, “So my hopes will instead be placed on the next generation. In the future, Netherworld Sect will follow only Nine Heavens Holy Land’s lead, I only hope Sir Holy Master and Great Elder will show my Netherworld Sect some consideration in exchange for our loyalty!”
“We’re all one family, no need to act so humble!” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Xu Hui’s expression softened somewhat hearing this. Wu Jie, being able to utter such words as a Sect Master, had largely dispelled Xu Hui’s remaining grievances.
“Right, these are the cultivation materials collected from Shattering Mystical Palace and the War Spirit Temple. This Wu left behind thirty percent for himself while the remaining seventy percent have been brought over. Please feel free to inspect it, Sir Holy Master,” Wu Jie said as he took out a few Universe Bags and handed them over respectfully.
Xu Hui looked over questioningly towards Yang Kai and received a slight nod.
Standing up, Xu Hui walked over and accepted the Universe Bags Wu Jie had brought. Sweeping them with his Divine Sense, a joyful expression soon filled his old face.
The Universe Bags sent by Wu Jie were all full of valuable materials, and from the amount, it was easy to tell he had really only kept about thirty percent for himself.
The treasury of Nine Heavens Holy Land was currently empty, and just when they were in need of resources, Wu Jie had delivered them, giving Xu Hui the impression of receiving charcoal in a snowstorm.
Xu Hui was very satisfied and finally smiled, “Sect Master Wu is too polite, I hope that our two Sects will be good friends in the future and never again experience such unpleasant misunderstandings.”
“No no, Great Elder may rest assured that this Wu is not as short-sighted or petty as Zhang Ao and Cao Guan.”
“Very good!” Xu Hui nodded firmly, his attitude finally easing.
“En, there is one more thing I must report to Sir Holy Master!” Wu Jie’s expression suddenly became serious again.
“About these two people?” Yang Kai asked.
“Indeed,” Wu Jie nodded, “When this Wu came to the Holy Land today, I accidentally discovered a rather large number of people wandering around outside your nine peaks… they all seemed to be searching for something so this Wu conveniently grabbed two of them to inquire about their motives.”
“Could they be disciples that were expelled from Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
“No,” Wu Jie shook his head firmly, “These two are both First Order Transcendents. If they belonged to Shattering Mystical Palace or War Spirit Temple, this Wu would definitely have some kind of impression of them, but I have never seen either of them before.”
“Hmm… wake them up and ask them what they came here for,” Yang Kai suddenly felt a bit disgruntled. At this time, so many foreign cultivators linger around outside the Holy Land was definitely something he had to investigate.
Yang Kai smelled a conspiracy behind all of this, making him feel uncomfortable.
Wu Jie got up, walked over to the two sleeping cultivators, and gently tapped their heads. A moment later, the two people who were soundly sleeping leapt up, their True Qi surging as they swept their eyes around at Wu Jie, Yang Kai, and the others in the hall.
Seeing these two’s reaction, Wu Jie simply snickered and without even moving, pressed his aura down on them, causing the two men to instantly go pale as they realized the massive gap in power between themselves and Wu Jie. All thoughts of resistance disappeared and only fear and panic remained in their eyes.
One of them trembled as he managed to ask, “Who are you and why did you capture us?”
Wu Jie didn’t answer, his green glowing eyes staring menacingly towards the pair of now terrified cultivators.
It was only after thoroughly intimidating them that Wu Jie coldly spoke, “I have something to ask you, your free to answer or not to answer, but if you fail to satisfy me, I’ll strip your Souls from your bodies and search your memories myself. If you’d prefer to not suffer the pain of having your Souls torn apart, I suggest you cooperate honestly.”
“Strip our Souls….” The two Transcendent Realm cultivators shivered uncontrollably, all colour draining from their faces.
Their strength was not too low, so they naturally understood what kind of pain and suffering would accompany their Souls being forcefully searched. Such inhuman torture almost always resulted in one first going insane from the pain and then dying a miserable death. Generally, only the vilest of cultivators would use such means.
However, the man in front of them with his eerie green aura and ghastly eyes seemed to perfectly fit the description of an evil master…
The pair hastily nodded, “Please ask, whatever you wish to know, we will definitely answer.”
Wu Jie grinned wickedly, nodding in satisfaction before beginning, “Do you know where this is?”
The two cultivators both glanced at each other and nodded, one of them replying, “This should be somewhere inside Nine Heavens Holy Land, yes?”
“Correct, this is indeed Nine Heavens Holy Land; yet knowing that, you still dared wander around outside?” Wu Jie eyebrow slightly lifted, “Explain yourselves, what are you doing here?”
The other man quickly replied, “We came here to search for artifacts.”
“Search for artifacts?” Wu Jie frowned, “On the ground outside?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you there were artifacts out there?”
“A lot of people have been discussing rumours like that…” One of the men hurriedly explained. Listening to his story, Yang Kai quickly understood that some unknown party was spreading false information that after the war that was fought around Nine Heavens Holy Land three years ago, countless powerful cultivators had died and left behind many artifacts. This rumour had attracted a great many people who wanted to try their luck to see if they could pick up a treasure or two.
“There are a lot of people outside, are you all looking for artifacts?” Wu Jie asked.
“There are some who are looking for artifacts, others seem to be hunting for Monster Beasts… We heard that many Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order Monster Beasts had run over here from the Beast Sea Jungle. Those Monster Beasts are good sources of refining materials.”
The other man quickly added, “It seems that there are also some people who have come here to kill Demons. Word is the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land has accepted a group of Demons as subordinates and settled them in the nine peaks. Those people came here to clean up those vile Demons!”
“Depending on just you?” Wu Jie looked at this pair with utter contempt and no small amount of pity, “Since you have heard there are Demons here, did you not hear about what kind of strength the posses?”
“It’s said that there were only a few masters among that group of Demons, a small number of Transcendents at most…”
“Hahaha…” Wu Jie cackled wryly, nodding repeatedly, “Indeed, there aren’t many masters among them… En, only five or so.”
Naturally, he was referring to five Saint Realm masters, three of whom had reached the Second Order!
Wu Jie had seen with his own eyes Li Rong fight Demon General Xue Li to a standstill and well understood how incredible the Ancient Demon Clan’s combat strength was. They were not a force one or two big Sects could take on.
If someone really wanted to exterminate them, they would need to gather together at least three or four forces on the same level as Soaring Heaven Sect to do so, and that was only if they were willing to suffer massive losses in the process.
Relying on these pitiful weaklings to clean up the Ancient Demon Clan was akin to hoping a bunch of ants cold shake a mighty tree.
After questioning them for a bit longer and determining they knew nothing else of importance, Wu Jie knocked the two foreign cultivators out again.
Turning his attention back to Yang Kai, Wu Jie frowned, “Sir Holy Master, it seems like someone is deliberately spreading some unfavourable rumours about you while guiding these hapless cultivators towards Nine Heavens Holy Land.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, not knowing why but suddenly recalling the Human Race powerhouse called Wu Zheng he had met recently.
If there weren’t some high-level Human Race masters working behind the scenes, there was no way these false rumours would have spread out so quickly across the Human Territory and deceived so many people. Only someone with a certain amount of prestige could do this otherwise no one would believe such obvious lies.
Wu Zheng obviously had such capabilities.
“What is the mastermind behind all this hoping to achieve? He must know that these riff-raff can’t possibly bring any harm to the Holy Land,” Xu Hui asked curiously.
“Some people don’t want Li Rong and her clan to remain in Nine Heavens Holy Land,” Yang Kai snorted, “They don’t want to see us getting close to the Demon Race as they consider such actions a great shame for the Human Race.”
Wu Jie’s eyes narrowed, seemingly thinking of something, a moment later conjecturing, “What Sir Holy Master means to say is that the one inciting these cultivators to come to Nine Heavens Holy Land is hoping to force a conflict to arise?”
“Something to that effect,” Yang Kai nodded, “Once we take action, no matter who moves, they can shift all the blame onto Li Rong. At that time, the person behind all of this will use that as an excuse to lead the Human Race’s forces against Li Rong and her clan. If they attack Li Rong, naturally I will not be able to sit back and watch, but once I step in, it will mean involving the Holy Land. When that happens, the Holy Land will become enemies with the entire Human Race and will have no chance of survival.”
“Are they so sinister?” Xu Hui expression changed.
“En, truly a bunch of despicable villains…” Wu Jie pondered, “If it was any other force, having so many foreign cultivators wandering around right outside their door, they would definitely choose to immediately drive them off. This Wu believes that the ones behind all this have hidden some pawns amongst these people who will be responsible for fanning the flames the moment Sir Holy Master tries to expel them.”
Yang Kai glanced over at him and couldn’t help grinning, his thoughts aligning perfectly with the latter.
“Holy Master, how should we deal with this?” Xu Hui asked, seemingly understand that although the situation was current not so bad, if they waited too long, more cultivators who were deceived would swarm to Nine Heavens Holy Land.
This situation needed to be resolved as swiftly as possible.
Nine Heavens Holy Land had just managed to return to a steady-state of development, if a conflict with many external forces were to suddenly occur, it would definitely have a large negative impact on its future.
Especially now that Yang Kai had not yet fully matured.
“What does Great Elder think?” Yang Kai looked at him and asked for his opinion.
Xu Hui respectfully replied, “Subordinate thinks that we should first announce the truth of this matter to the cultivators who have been deceived so they can withdraw of their own accord. The rumours of artifacts being leftover from that battle are completely ridiculous. If such things really existed, how could my Holy Land have not already collected them? As long as they can’t find anything they will eventually leave. As for the Monster Race and Monster Beasts, they have already returned to the Beast Sea Jungle, if those people have the courage to hunt Monster Beats, they might as well go to the Monster Domain, there’s no need for them to idle around outside the Holy Land… As for the cultivators who came here to fight Demons, we can just deny the existence of Senior Li and the others, they can’t enter and inspect the nine peaks anyways. As long as Senior Li and her clan remain inside the nine peaks and waits for this storm to pass, everything should be fine.”
Xu Hui was reluctant to go to war right now, that much was obvious to Yang Kai.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai nodded and agreed, “Then we will first act in accordance with Great Elder’s plan, bring some people and tell those foreign cultivators who are idling outside the Holy Land to disperse; however… do not appear too accommodating or amenable, lest they think they can make like of our Holy Land. En, we must let the world know what fate awaits those who offend us! Entering our Holy Land’s territory without permission is more than enough reason for us to kill!”
“It is exactly as Holy Master says!” Xu Hui nodded firmly.
In the past, if these people had dared to wander freely outside Nine Heavens Holy Land, Xu Hui would have already sent them packing, how could he waste time speaking with them? Anyone who refused to obey would be immediately killed, but the current Holy Land was no longer the same as before, so Xu Hui had to act more prudently.
“Good, give them three days to withdraw a hundred kilometres from the Holy Land, anyone who dares to remain past that deadline is surely a placed agitator here to stir up trouble. Such people need not be reasoned with, execute them on the spot!” Yang Kai ordered.
“Yes, subordinate will handle this matter!” Xu Hui said and immediately retired, bringing along with him the two cultivators Wu Jie had brought over.
Li Rong’s beautiful eyes flashed brightly as she stared at Yang Kai, a slight smile forming on her lips.
She suddenly found that after only a few years, Yang Kai had finally shown the temperament of a leader.
Back when he had first been sent to Demon God Citadel by Coffin Slave Senior, he was just a wary young man, but now he was able to make appropriate judgements and issue decisive orders based on the overall situation.
This was something Li Rong was very happy to see, secretly feeling once more that the Ancient Demon Clan’s future would be bright under his leadership.
“Sir Holy Master, this Wu will also take his leave, there are still a great many things to attend to in the Sect. If Sir Holy Master ever has free time, know that you are welcome to visit my Netherworld Sect at any time!” Wu Jie asked to be excused.
“One moment, Sect Master Wu,” Yang Kai stood up.
“Is there something else, Sir Holy Master?” Wu Jie asked curiously.
“I want to take a look around Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple and would like to request Sect Master Wu to lead the way.”
“Of course of course!” Wu Jie smiled.
“Li Rong, come with me,” Yang Kai called out.
“En,” Li Rong gently nodded, also standing up.
After leaving the palace, the trio transformed into streaks of light that flew out of Nine Heavens Holy Land like bolts of lightning.
There had originally been four forces which had occupied this region but now only Nine Heavens Holy Land and Netherworld Sect remained.
These four forces weren’t located very far apart, each one only two or three hundred kilometres from its neighbours.
Such a distance would only take a moment for the current Yang Kai to cross, let alone now with Li Rong using her Demonic Qi to carry him along.
Soon, the three arrived above a group of mountains that had a large number of palatial structures arranged around it.
“This is the War Spirit Temple. Among the three forces, it was the closest to the nine peaks which resulted in them receiving the most benefits from the Holy Land; unfortunately, Cao Guan was far too short-sighted and brought ruin to his Sect,” Wu Jie explained.
Yang Kai nodded as he swept his eyes over the scene down below. The buildings were all neatly arranged, like pieces on a chessboard, but many of them had actually collapsed and there were some places where dark red bloodstains remained.
This should be a result of when Wu Jie’s came here to absorb War Spirit Temple’s disciples and resources.