Li Rong’s brow furrowed slightly as she asked, “What kind of Demon characters were they?”
“Something like this…” Great Senior said as he moved his power to his fingertip and portrayed the characters on the table in front of him.
A moment later, a few profound and complicated lines of text were written on the table, shining brightly.
Yang Kai studied these characters for a moment and discovered that they had a kind of unique rhythm and pattern to them but were unlike anything he had ever seen before. Helpless, he could only turn to Li Rong.
Li Rong stared at these words for a moment before speaking in a dignified tone, “These are indeed Demon characters, a very ancient script at that.”
“What do they mean?” Great Senior saw that she recognized this language and couldn’t help asking enthusiastically.
“It’s similar to a sign a Sect would put up in front of one of its restricted areas, it literally means ‘warning, those who enter will die!’”
Great Senior gently nodded, seemingly agreeing with this explanation.
“Since these are ancient Demon characters, shouldn’t they only exist in a place where the Demon Race lives? Why could they appear in the Monster Domain?” Yang Kai frowned, not quite understanding.
Great Senior chuckled, “In the past, the Demon Land was much larger than it is today. Much of the current Monster Domain and your Human Territory used to belong to the Demon Race, but after the Great Demon God left, the Demon Race was gradually forced to surrender a lot of their territory and retreat until all that was left is the current Demon Land.”
“So it’s like that…” Yang Kai nodded.
“Although I don’t know which Demon Race force the ruins inside that Void Corridor belong to, without a doubt it was an extremely powerful one. The one who wrote these words was a top-class master, even Old Ox and I could feel a thick murderous intent from them when we read them. That was a murderous intent that had not faded even after thousands of years!”
Yang Kai paled, “Since it is so dangerous, why do you insist on exploring it?”
“If such a strange phenomenon appeared inside your Nine Heavens Holy Land’s territory, wouldn’t you investigate it?” Great Senior replied.
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before nodding, “Yes!”
Even if he didn’t explore the mysteries inside it, at the very least, he would have to make sure it wouldn’t bring harm to his Sect or his disciples.
“Exactly, the Monster Domain isn’t that large, and that Void Corridor actually appeared right between Old Ox and my territories. If some kind of accident occurred because of it, we might have to give up the Beast Sea Jungle and retreat to other places, shrinking our already small living space,” Great Senior explained before turning his eyes towards Li Rong, “Therefore, This King wished to ask this Lady to join our next expedition. Would you be willing?”
“You’ll have to ask Master,” Li Rong smiled, “I don’t have the authority to accept your request.”
Great Senior immediately turned his attention to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai chuckled, “Even two Monster Race Great Senior’s feel that place is dangerous, obviously it’s not somewhere to be stepped into lightly! This Junior is weak, I’m afraid if I went I would only end up dead.”
Great Senior couldn’t help rolling his eyes, “I never asked you to come along, I only want the lady behind you to come with us. You can stay here in Thunder Tree Palace, I’ll make sure my clan entertains you well. If you don’t want to remain, you can always return to Nine Heavens Holy Land now, no one will stop you.”
“What are you talking about?” Yang Kai grinned, “Li Rong came out with me, naturally we have to go back together.”
“Why you little brat…” Great Senior grumbled, helplessly sighing, “Speak, what are your conditions? You’re really not willing to let off even the slightest bit of opportunity!”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Your Monster Race’s territory is quite barren. Besides some rare spirit grasses and spirit medicines, there’s nothing worth talking about, and right now I don’t even lack spirit herbs.”
Seeing Yang Kai look like he was getting ready to shave off the biggest piece of meat he could, Great Senior felt both frustrated and helpless as he sat on edge, wondering just what kind of excessive demand this greedy human boy would propose. Turning towards Li Rong, he half desperately made an appeal, “Do you not want to go in?”
Li Rong pursed her lips and softly declared, “I’ll follow Master’s decision.”
Yang Kai gave her a deep look before nodding lightly, “Then you can go.”
He could tell that Li Rong was quite concerned about these ancient Demon characters and wanted to explore whatever mysteries were hidden beyond them.
Naturally, he had no intention to stop her.
“What are your conditions?” Great Senior asked anxiously.
“If I said there are no conditions, would you believe me?”
Great Senior shook his head decisively.
“Alright then,” Yang Kai frowned and thought for a moment before suddenly wearing a big smile and glancing towards Cai Die who was standing behind Great Senior and said, “Then I want a smile from her.”
Cai Die was stunned for an instant but soon a bone-chilling light flashed across her beautiful eyes as she directed a piercing glare towards Yang Kai.
“Why you…” Great Senior was speechless, not sure what he should do next.
“Hahaha, just a little joke. Ms Cai Die doesn’t have to take it so seriously,” Yang Kai stood up, “Since we’re going, hurry up and lead the way. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can settle things.”
Seeing that he really didn’t want to ask for more, Great Senior seemed quite surprised and his evaluation of Yang Kai rose a few points.
“Good, then let’s go!” Great Senior also stood up, releasing his Monster Qi to wrap up Yang Kai before flying off with him, Li Rong hurried to keep up while Cai Die stood there for a moment directing her frigid glare towards Yang Kai’s back before also reluctantly following.
“Boy, don’t tease Cai Die so much, or she’ll really snap at you,” As he was speeding along, Great Senior whispered.
Yang Kai grinned helplessly as he nodded, “I get that, the murderous intent behind me is hard to ignore.”
“Serves you right,” Great Senior grinned, taking pleasure in his misfortune for a moment before sighing, “There are sometimes even this King has no way to handle her. In this King’s impression, it’s difficult to recall if she has ever smiled.”
“How can you stand being around such an ice woman?”
“It’s you who are too weird, receiving such loyalty from your subordinates,” Great Senior spoke, intentionally or unconsciously glancing towards Li Rong.
A Second-Order Saint Realm master docilely taking orders from a Third Order Transcendent Realm boy, Great Senior really couldn’t figure out how it was possible.
“Hmph, what do you know? Naturally, I conquered them with my own charisma,” Yang Kai spat disdainfully.
“Shameless boasting!” Great Senior laughed.
As he interacted more with Yang Kai, Great Senior found that this little brat was essentially the exact opposite of the old Holy Master’s in terms of personality, and although he was always somewhat unreasonable and difficult to handle, when he was around Yang Kai, Great Senior couldn’t help feeling a bit younger.
Time passed slowly. Yang Kai allowed Great Senior to carry him along, as if he was too lazy to use his own strength to fly.
However, as they approached their destination, the strange aura flowing through the air became more and more obvious.
It was the aura of The Void!
The Void Energy that was leaking out seemed to be affecting the entire Beast Sea Jungle, causing Yang Kai to wonder just how massive this Void Corridor was to be able to cause such a pervasive change.
There was nothing of note along the way, but after three days, a small, narrow crack on the horizon appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision.
When he saw this dark crack, Yang Kai’s face changed suddenly as he shouted, “Is that the entrance to the Void Corridor?”
“Yes, that’s the entrance!”
“So big?” Yang Kai exclaimed.
Although he couldn’t judge its size precisely from his current position, Yang Kai estimated that the thin crack in the distance was actually at least a thousand metres in length. Rather than an entrance to the Void, it looked more like someone had torn the entire sky apart.
Moreover, this crack was clearly unstable, twisting and distorting as it spewed out random Void Energy fluctuations, folding in on itself repeatedly as if one moment it would collapse only to rapidly expand in the next.
There was a group of Monster Race masters standing by about ten kilometres from the void crack.
Great Senior flew straight over with Yang Kai.
Noticing the aura of Great Senior, a particularly burly man opened his closed eyes and turned to stare at him.
A moment later, the burly man shouted, “Thunder Dragon, why did you take so long? This Old Ox was growing impatient.”
Great Senior smiled lightly, “It took some time to find someone who can help us. On top of that, it’s only been seven or eight days, what’s there to be so anxious about?”
As the two spoke, the group of four landed.
Yang Kai looked at the man who had just been yelling and couldn’t help feeling his heart clench slightly, realizing this man was another Great Senior of the Monster Race, Earth Splitting Divine Ox!
Like most Monster Race masters, even in human form, he still retained some of his Beast Form’s features, the two dark red horns extending from the sides of his head exuding a faint energy fluctuation.
Yang Kai had no doubt that these two horns were no less sturdy or sharp than a top-grade artifact.
Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s dress was much rougher than Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon’s, a few pieces of animal skins covering his body with his thick legs and arms almost completely exposed to the air.
“Are these the helpers you went to look for?” Old Ox squinted his eyes as he stared back and forth between Yang Kai and Li Rong, faintly nodding, “This woman is alright, but what is this kid doing here?”
Pointing one of his thick fingers towards Yang Kai, he couldn’t help saying, “A brat that hasn’t even reached the Saint Realm yet, did you bring him here just to die?”
It was clear he was looking down on Yang Kai, as if he was some fly he could swat with a single slap, causing Li Rong’s expression to become cold as she directed an unfriendly glare towards Earth Splitting Divine Ox.
Anyone who dares say such words to Yang Kai, Li Rong would not give any face to, if not for her having scruples about Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon being here, Li Rong would have already attacked.
Yang Kai just smiled lightly, his expression remaining unchanged.
Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon didn’t show any intention to mediate the situation, simply smiling as he said, “He really hasn’t reached the Saint Realm yet, but if you look carefully, perhaps you’ll discover something interesting.”
“Something interesting?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox frowned, stroking his chin as he swept his eyes over Yang Kai unceremoniously, soon releasing his Divine Sense to probe the Human boy in front of him.
Suddenly, his face changed as he stepped back unconsciously, his eyes overflowing with shock, seemingly unable to believe what he was seeing.
“Did you notice it?” Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon chuckled.
“Who is he? Why does he possess such pure Monster Qi?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox muttered.
The Monster Qi coming from Yang Kai was faint, almost imperceptible, but it had an incomparable purity, surpassing even his and Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon’s!
The presence of such pure Monster Qi indicated an incredibly noble bloodline from a peak lineage.
But there was no doubt Yang Kai was human, greatly confusing Earth Splitting Divine Ox.
“I don’t understand as well.” Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon shrugged his shoulders, “It might be related to the Beast Soul Skill he cultivated.”
Before, Great Senior really had no clue as to why Yang Kai possessed Monster Qi, but a few days ago, when he saw him display his Beast Soul Skill, he finally found a reasonable explanation.
However, whether this was the actual reason or not, Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon wasn’t sure.
“Beast Soul Skill? What kind of Beast Soul Skill?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox asked, “Let this Old Ox take a look.”
He completely didn’t treat Yang Kai like an outsider; apparently, his character was quite open-minded. Yang Kai smiled lightly and didn’t decline, immediately executing his White Tiger Seal and Divine Ox Seal.
After seeing the mighty White Tiger and Divine Ox phantoms, this Monster Race Great Senior’s eyes bulged as a look of excitement filled his face.
Now that the Divine Ox Seal had appeared, Old Ox could clearly feel the aura of his ancestor from Yang Kai’s Beast Soul Skill. Naturally, he was very excited.
Wrapping his hand around Yang Kai’s shoulder, Earth Splitting Divine Ox patted his back firmly in a friendly manner, “Little friend, when you have time, you must come to visit this Old Ox’s territory so we chat.”
Yang Kai almost spat blood from how hard his back was patted.
Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon grinned deeply as he said, “His Beast Soul Skill truly contains the remnant will of your ancestor, so if you carefully observe and emulate it, you indeed might gain some unexpected harvest; however, this little brat is always concerned about profits so Old Ox, you best be ready to lose a pound of flesh, hahaha!”
Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s face immediately went black as he muttered a few curses under his breath before releasing Yang Kai.
Listening to Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon’s words, Yang Kai finally understood why this other Great Senior’s attitude had suddenly changed so dramatically, even wanting to become friends with a human was a ploy to dig up his ancestral inheritance from Yang Kai’s Beast Soul Skill.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior deliberately speaking out like that was obviously to remind Yang Kai not to be taken advantage of.
“Alright, enough idle chit-chat. Whatever deal you want to strike can be worked out after we finish this matter,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior said, putting on a serious expression as he continued, “Old Ox, let me introduce you, this kid is the one I told you about before, the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, Yang Kai!”
“Oh? So you’re the new Holy Master,” Hearing this, Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s expression also became a little more serious as he took another look at Yang Kai.
“The lady next to him is his subordinate, Demon Race’s Li Rong. This time we’ll have to rely on her strength to resolve the mysteries of this place. Old Ox, when we enter this time don’t act recklessly.”
“I know,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox nodded firmly.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior then turned to look at Yang Kai again and solemnly asked, “Kid, are you sure you want to enter along with us? There’s no way of knowing what is waiting inside and there may very well be life-threatening dangers and crisis. If you find yourself in mortal danger, neither I nor Old Ox may not be able to save you, at that time, you’ll only drag this lady beside you down with you, possibly dooming you both.”
“Please feel relieved, Great Senior. I will take care of myself, there’s no need to concern yourselves with me.”
Thunder Dragon frowned upon seeing Yang Kai still insist on tagging along, but after a moment of thought he simply sighed and no longer tried to persuade him, “So be it.”
Closing his mouth, Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox both turned to stare at the void crack ten kilometres away, their eyes narrowing as they searched for a suitable opportunity to enter it.
This thousand-meter long void crack was like a great beast’s open mouth, twisting and turning while sending out unstable energy fluctuations, if they didn’t choose the right time to enter it, they would only be bringing harm to themselves.
Yang Kai quietly released his Divine Sense towards the void crack, attempting to probe what was inside it.
Unlike the two Monster Race Great Seniors, Yang Kai had a deep understanding of the mysteries of space, was able to tear space himself, and had even spent a long time immersed in the turbulent Void.
Soon, Yang Kai was surprised to discover that just inside the void crack, there were traces of void turbulence; it was because of these turbulences that the Void Corridor’s entrance had become so unstable.
Using his Divine Sense like a giant hand, Yang Kai gently smoothed out these turbulences, gradually allowing the fluctuating void cracks to stabilize.
Seeing this, Thunder Dragon’s eyes lit up and he immediately shouted, “Go!”
As he shouted, his figure flew towards the void crack.
The others hurriedly followed.
A few breaths later, the group of six dove into the void crack.
Of these six, besides Yang Kai who was a Third Order Transcendent, the remaining five were all Saints.
The two Monster Race Great Seniors each brought a Second-Order Saint Realm subordinate and Yang Kai brought Li Rong.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior was followed by Cai Die while Earth Splitting Divine Ox was followed by a Monster Race master named Jin Ni. Yang Kai guessed that Jin Ni’s Beast Form was that of a Nine Nether Golden Beast, a Monster Beast known for its ability to pierce even the toughest of defences with its claws.
This lineup was incredibly strong, so it was obvious at a glance just how much importance the two Great Seniors placed on this matter.
After leaping into the Void Corridor, the group immediately found themselves surrounded by darkness. Sending out their Divine Senses, everyone felt like they had fallen into a muddy swamp, greatly hindering their forward momentum as if they were constantly being sucked down into a mire.
Chaotic energy fluctuations surrounded them, pressing down on them like a mountain.
After entering this place, all the Saints began circulating their strength to withstand the external pressure.
Only Yang Kai appeared carefree as he strolled about, as if he wasn’t affected by this environment in the slightest.
This was because he discovered that this place was exactly the same as the Void he would enter every time he tore space.
Yang Kai had spent a great deal of time in this environment so he was far more familiar with how to handle it than anyone else in this group.
“Old Ox, do you remember which direction we went after we entered last time?” Standing still, Thunder Dragon Great Senior didn’t dare act rashly and asked.
“Even if you ask me, how the hell am I suppose to know? There’s nothing here to use as a reference, even this Old Ox is completely helpless,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox flatly declared.
“Cai Die, Jin Ni, what about you two? Can you remember anything?” Thunder Dragon asked the other two.
Both of them quickly shook their heads, indicating they were also lost.
“Space here is quite chaotic. Even if you remember what direction you went last time, it isn’t necessarily the correct direction now,” As everyone was worried about what to do, Yang Kai suddenly spoke.
Hearing this, Thunder Dragon’s heart sank. The last time they had come here, there was a bright light in the distance which they had been able to move towards, entering a strange space after they arrived at it.
He had thought that this time would be the same, but the reality was completely different from his expectations.
Just after entering this void crack, they had already encountered a problem, causing the faces of Thunder Dragon and Divine Ox to twist, thinking to themselves that this exploration would be fraught with even more crises than they imagined.
“Follow me!” Yang Kai suddenly stepped forward and beckoned to everyone while walking in a certain direction.
Li Rong said nothing and immediately followed, using her Demonic Qi to shield Yang Kai in order to guarantee his safety.
The four Monster Race masters were dumbstruck as the stood in place, not sure whether they could believe and follow Yang Kai or not.
“What should we do?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox turned to Thunder Dragon and asked, “You brought him, so whether we follow or not I’ll leave up to you. If not, we should still be able to leave this place.”
Thunder Dragon Great Senior’s expression hardened as he hesitated to make a decision.
He didn’t know where Yang Kai was getting all his confidence from, picking a direction and walking off like that. Just like Yang Kai had said, space here was very chaotic, so if they couldn’t find an exit, they may find themselves trapped here, unable to escape for the rest of their lives.
“Say something!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox apparently didn’t have much patience, so seeing Thunder Dragon unable to make a decision, he couldn’t help shouting.
“Follow him!” Thunder Dragon Great Senior grit his teeth and said, “That kid seems quite confident about this so he must have discovered something.”
Saying so, he and Cai Die chased after Yang Kai.
Earth Splitting Divine Ox snorted, hesitated for a moment, and then followed after them while shouting, “Damn it, if I die this time, it’s all your fault Thunder Dragon you bastard!”
Yang Kai and Li Rong, who were leading the way, had deliberately slowed their pace so it only took a moment for the two Monster Race Great Seniors and their subordinates to catch up.
“Kid, what kind of confidence do you have here? You’re not leading us into a dead-end are you?” Thunder Dragon asked without hesitation.
“Haha, I’m just trying my luck,” Yang Kai replied with a smile.
Thunder Dragon’s face went black, feeling like he had just been swindled, his guts turning green from regret.
However, now that things had gotten to this point, it was impossible to return the way they came as space here was too twisted and difficult to navigate.
His spirit slumping, he had no choice but to follow after Yang Kai while preparing for the worst.
But soon, he discovered something odd. Space here was very chaotic as if it had been shattered and was now overlapping and folding in on itself as strange turbulence swirled about.
However, wherever Yang Kai passed, all the chaotic energy in the surroundings would become calm, allowing the group of six to advance as if they were walking on flat ground, no longer feeling like they were stepping through a swamp.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior’s eyes couldn’t help glowing, thinking that Yang Kai wasn’t just trying his luck but instead was truly confident about which direction to go.
How did he understand this though? Inside this chaotic space, even the five Saints were completely helpless. What kind of mysterious skill did this Third Order Transcendent kid posses that allowed him to navigate it?
Behind Yang Kai, through the faint light Li Rong was generating, the more Thunder Dragon observed him and more assured in his conclusion he became.
After half an hour, Yang Kai suddenly came to a stop and turned towards a certain spot.
“What happened?” Thunder Dragon’s heart tightened once more as he asked.
“Is he one of your Monster Race’s people?” Yang Kai pointed to the side.
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw a broken corpse with a great deal of flesh and blood, as if it had been chopped into a million pieces, scattered about inside one of the turbulent flows.
A faint bloody smell reached each of their noses.
“It’s one of my subordinates!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox said gloomily, “The last time we came here, both Thunder Dragon and I brought a number of our subordinates with us, but some of them got swept away in the strange turbulence and disappeared.”
“But how come their bodies appeared here?” Thunder Dragon looked puzzled.
“As I said before, space here is very chaotic. Even the entrance is constantly shifting. It may seem like we entered from the same place, but that’s wrong,” Yang Kai faintly explained, “The position you all entered last time is probably somewhere around here.”
Hearing this, Earth Splitting Divine Ox couldn’t help but ask, “Does that mean the exit is also nearby?”
“It should be.” Yang Kai nodded.
Everyone looked around but couldn’t find anything that resembled the bright entrance from last time, yet just as they began to suspect the authenticity of Yang Kai’s claims, the latter called out, “It’s this way!”
Saying so, he changed his direction once more and walked off.
“Thunder Dragon, this kid looks quite relaxed. Has he been here before?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox quietly asked.
“I don’t know,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior slowly shook his head, “In any case, we should follow him for now. Originally I thought bringing him along would be a burden, but now we’re actually having to rely on his strength. It’s really quite interesting…”
“Could it just be a blind cat hitting a dead mouse?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox wondered out loud.
Thunder Dragon glanced over at him but didn’t say anything, instead turning to quickly follow after Yang Kai.
He had noticed that while the places Yang Kai stepped became smooth and free of turbulence, if he waited too long that sense of smoothness would collapse. If they didn’t follow closely after Yang Kai, they would have to use their own strength to resist the strange pressure around them instead.
Feeling the turbulent flow that seemed like it was just waiting for a chance to tear them apart, none of them dared take it lightly.
Half an hour later, a faint ray of light suddenly appeared in front of the group.
“It’s the exit!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox cheered, hurriedly sprinting ahead past Yang Kai and leaping into the light, disappearing in the next instant.
After him, Thunder Dragon Great Senior and Cai Die also rapidly moved towards the exit.
Yang Kai still maintained his original pace together with Li Rong. After arriving at the exit, he quickly confirmed the other side didn’t have any danger before stepping through.
A blinding light stole his vision for a moment but after his eyes adjusted, Yang Kai saw a strange space spread out before him.
There were no sun, moon, or stars up above, just a thick, chaotic swirl of energy with the occasional black clouds drifting back and forth erratically. Every now and then a bolt of black energy would flicker across the sky.
This was actually quite standard for a Mysterious Small World.
However, Yang Kai couldn’t help knitting his brow as he felt that this Mysterious Small World was somehow subtly different from any of the others he had encountered before.
The four Monster Race masters who had entered slightly earlier were waiting for Yang Kai and Li Rong to arrive safely before they took back their gazes from the entrance to The Void.
Standing inside this Mysterious Small World, Yang Kai swept his eyes around, his brow furrowing even deeper as he did so.
He quickly discovered that this place was extremely barren, without the slightest trace of vitality, as if this entire Mysterious Small World was a desolate wasteland.
Looking around, all Yang Kai could see was a grey desert, while his Divine Sense seemed to be restricted by some invisible force, unable to spread out too far.
“Be careful, this place is quite strange. The last time Old Ox and I arrived here we only managed to explore about ten kilometres before we were forced to withdraw,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior warned.
Yang Kai nodded. There was no need to remind him, in such a strange environment there was no way he wouldn’t remain vigilant.
“Over there was where the Demon characters were engraved,” Thunder Dragon pointed to the road ahead, his expression showing a trace of dread, “But I advise you to only glance at it, don’t stare for too long otherwise you might die!”
Yang Kai was shocked, turning his head in the direction that was pointed out only to see a large stone pillar. This stone pillar seemed to have been placed here for many years, its surface worn down by time as it seemed a bit fail and rickety.
This stone pillar was made of ordinary stone that could be found anywhere.
But the few Demon characters engraved on it revealed a thick murderous intent.
When Yang Kai looked at these words, he clearly felt that cold murderous intent, causing a chill to grip his heart.
These Demon characters appeared vigorous and powerful; at first glance it was obvious they were left behind by a powerful master.
However, the faint aura that appeared around was what truly caught Yang Kai’s attention, causing him to stare at it for a while.
After only a few breaths of time, the profound Demon characters, as if coming to live, began to transform into a sharp blade that leapt off the stone pillar and flew towards Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Kid, you court death!” Thunder Dragon Great Senior shouted as he hurriedly pulled Yang Kai away, stepping forward to take his place as he rapidly pushed his Spiritual Energy. At that instant, a huge yet silent explosion took place, forcing Great Senior back several steps, his expression extremely solemn.
“Kid, didn’t I just tell you not to stare for too long?” Thunder Dragon scolded strongly.
Yang Kai knew that just now was his mistake so he didn’t say anything back, simply letting out a hollow laugh before turning to face Li Rong, the two of them both seeing the look of surprise in each other’s eyes.
Although these Demon characters had obviously been written countless years ago, there was still a faint aura remaining around them, and that faint aura belonged to Great Demon God!
Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox obviously would not recognize this, but there was no way Yang Kai and Li Rong didn’t.
Moreover, a mere set of words left behind countless years ago being able to make two Monster Race Great Seniors act so cautiously, in this world, besides Great Demon God, it was likely no one else could accomplish such a feat.
These words were definitely left behind by Great Demon God! Yang Kai was instantly able to affirm this point.
Being able to see the original writings of Great Demon God in this lifetime came as a great surprise to Yang Kai, but what concerned him more was why Great Demon God had left such a warning here?
Yang Kai suddenly thought that his insisting on coming along this time was truly the right choice.
Perhaps he would be able to harvest some unexpected gains.
Li Rong’s expression also filled with anticipation; obviously she too had become interested in the mysteries of this place.
“Don’t stare at it again,” Thunder Dragon said solemnly. Seeing Yang Kai’s somewhat reserved behaviour and thinking he had learned his lesson he quickly added, “The murderous intent contained in those words is something even Old Ox and I don’t dare to disregard. With your Third-Order Transcendent cultivation, if you get hit by it, you’ll definitely die!”
“En, I know,” Yang Kai nodded.
“I really wonder which profound master left these writings here. His methods are simply astonishing,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox spoke fervently.
“Although this King can’t say for certain, he is no doubt a Demon Race master of the highest order, quite possibly the legendary Great Demon God himself,” Thunder Dragon frowned and boldly guessed.
Though a casual remark, he was unaware that his guess was absolutely correct.
“Let’s move on and see what mysteries are hidden up ahead,” Thunder Dragon waved his hand as he volunteered to lead the way.
The last time he and Earth Splitting Divine Ox came to this place, after passing this stone pillar, they only advanced about ten kilometres before they encountered some profound dangers and decided to temporarily withdraw.
Remembering that there were a number of powerful Demon Race masters around Yang Kai, Thunder Dragon Great Senior had sent Cai Die to invite him.
One more Saint Realm master may not completely eliminate the danger in this place, but if they were to encounter any other Demon writings they could at least have Li Rong translate them for them.
Along the way, as Thunder Dragon was explaining what had occurred the last time he and Earth Splitting Divine Ox came here, he suddenly asked, “Kid, what do you think of this place?”
“I don’t know,” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders.
“If you notice anything or have something to say, don’t hesitate to speak up,” It seemed that because of Yang Kai’s strange performance back in the void crack, Thunder Dragon became much more interested in Yang Kai’s thoughts and opinions.
Thunder Dragon even secretly thought this Human kid might have been here before.
About that, Thunder Dragon was obviously wrong; Yang Kai’s ability to navigate and smooth the Void was only because it was something he was already used to doing. He really knew nothing about this Mysterious Small World.
“If I notice anything, I’ll tell you,” Yang Kai nodded.
After walking forward for about ten kilometers, Thunder Dragon suddenly paused and pointed to the front, “This is where Old Ox and I drew back last time.”
“There’s something strange about this place, an unusual energy flowing about that I can’t identify,” Old Ox shook his head and said.
Looking towards the front, Yang Kai’s expression also couldn’t help distorting.
The path their group of six had been following was suddenly cut off by a deep canyon.
Inside this canyon, there was a strange green liquid that was pulsing with a strange energy. This green sea was thick so it was impossible to see to the bottom of the canyon and every now and then a cry or a howl would echo from down below, making this place seem extremely eerie.
Standing at the edge of the cliff and looking down, all that could be seen was a green viscous sea, as well as a few twisted faces that would float up and down, struggling against the flow but seemingly unable to escape.
Every now and then, something would bubble to the surface and burst, sending out a loud yet gloomy cry.
Cai Die and Li Rong’s faces both paled.
The expressions of Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox were not much better, both of them circulating their strength to resist the seething resentment that was seemingly overflowing from this green sea.
The distorted faces were constantly sending out invisible waves of resentment which impacted the minds of the six people.
“Remember, you’d best not use your Divine Sense to probe what’s beneath this place,” Thunder Dragon warned solemnly, “If I am not mistaken, the floating faces here are all Soul Spirit Bodies.”
“Soul-Spirit Bodies?” Yang Kai parroted.
“Indeed!” Thunder Dragon nodded repeatedly, “Each face is the Soul of a deceased master that was somehow exiled here. Last time we arrived here, I carelessly used my Divine Sense to investigate this place and almost had my consciousness pulled under by them.”
As he spoke about this experience, Thunder Dragon’s face flashed with a lingering fear, “When they were alive, the masters of these Soul-Spirit Bodies were not inferior to me. Although their physical forms had been destroyed, their Souls have actually been imprisoned here, so once you are contaminated by them, it is almost impossible to escape and you will eventually become one of them.”
“You said that the masters these Souls belonged to were not inferior to you when they were alive?” Yang Kai was shocked.
“There’s so many of them!”
“Just where did so many masters come from? Across the entire world today, how many Third Order Saint are there? Fifty? Fewer? If the present age is so, it should be like that for previous ages too.”
However, even a quick glance at the green sea revealed over a thousand disembodied faces; even if only a small part of them were masters on par with Thunder Dragon, it would still be an astonishing number.
According to what Yang Kai knew, no previous age had seen such prosperity in the Martial Dao.
Yet he did not doubt the strength of these Soul-Spirit Bodies down below either. Many of them were incredibly powerful.
“I don’t know either, perhaps a very, very long time ago masters of this level were common throughout the world,” Thunder Dragon shook his head, unable to offer a proper explanation.
“If we want to move on, we can only use those stone platforms,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior shifted his gaze and said.
There was no path leading left or right along the canyon, but suspended a short distance above the strange green sea there was a stone platform roughly three metres wide and three metres long.
After the first platform there was a second, then a third, then a fourth, and so on, each one floating slightly higher than the last, almost like a staircase that stretched on without end.
Above the green sea, a strange, fierce wind blew, containing an ominous energy, causing everyone present to not dare try to fly.
“Do we go on?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox asked, somewhat uncertain if they should continue this exploration.
Although there was a way forward consisting of these stone platforms, no one could guarantee that there wouldn’t be more dangers ahead.
“This is already our second time here. Before this King can make clear what this place is, I won’t go back,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior said firmly before stepping onto the first stone platform.
Cai Die followed without hesitation.
“Kid, you follow Thunder Dragon closely, this Old Ox will bring up the rear!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox nodded to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai nodded back and stepped onto the stone platforms with Li Rong.
Each stone platform was not too far apart from the next, easily reachable by simply lifting one’s foot, forming a path that seemed to lead straight up into the endless sky.
Thunder Dragon walked very slowly as he vigilantly observed his surroundings in case any unexpected danger suddenly appeared, acting extremely cautiously.
Initially, as they ascended the stone platforms, nothing happened, so the group couldn’t help relaxing somewhat.
However, after advancing forward a fair distance, the green sea down below suddenly seemed to boil and numerous floating faces rushed to the surface and began letting out terrifying howls
A moment later, the innumerable Soul-Spirit Bodies broke free from the shackles binding them to the green sea, and like predators smelling their prey, they surged towards Yang Kai’s group.
The disembodied howls and piercing cries mixed together with the whipping winds as the transparent Soul-Spirit Bodies flew towards the group of six from all directions.
Everyone instantly went pale, not understanding how this had suddenly happened.
In the blink of an eye, the stone platforms the group of six were standing on were surrounded by the Soul-Spirit Bodies and wave after wave of potent Spiritual Energy attacks rained down on them.
Even Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox couldn’t help feeling like their very will to live had been crushed, almost completely disabling them.
A great roar rang out and a blue arc of lightning flew out from Thunder Dragon Great Senior, quickly forming into a thin light curtain.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
This lightning curtain flashed brilliantly as the torrent of Spiritual Energy blasts continued pelting it from the outside, a few moments later showing signs of cracking.
Earth Splitting Divine Ox quickly followed up, forming a second light barrier around them, cooperating with Thunder Dragon Great Senior to shield the group from this omni-directional attack.
Cai Die’s seven coloured wings fluttered, releasing numerous rays of light that shot through and pushed back the closest Soul Spirit Bodies.
Li Rong and Jin Ni also acted, both of them displaying their own powerful means.
However, the attacks released by the surrounding Soul Spirit Bodies did not decrease in the slightest, creating a tight encirclement that allowed for no escape.
“Run!” Thunder Dragon shouted, immediately increasing his pace, the other five following right behind him, each of them leaping up the stone platforms as fast as possible.
*Pu…*
Even though the light curtain created by the two Great Seniors was incredibly powerful, facing so many attacks, it still only lasted a few breaths before shattering, barely long enough for the group to advance three hundred meters.
The Soul Spirit Bodies that were flitting about became even more violent seeing this, swarming over like locusts descending upon a field.
These warped Souls, even though they had degenerated into mere beasts, seemed to understand the concept of bullying the weak while fearing the strong. Instinctually understanding that Thunder Dragon and the other Saints possessed tyrannical methods, they all began aiming their attacks towards Yang Kai who seemed the weakest and had yet to even fight back.
The transparent Soul-Spirit Bodies flew about randomly, and although most of them were blocked by the five Saints, a few of them still slipped through and rushed towards Yang Kai.
Not even slowing down, the Soul Spirit bodies plunged into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.
“Master!” Li Rong’s beautiful face went pale as she desperately rushed towards Yang Kai, even forgetting about the Soul Spirit Bodies that were charging towards her.
A flash of lightning shot over from nearby, resolving Li Rong’s crisis, but failing to change the fate of Yang Kai who had been invaded by multiple Soul Spirit Bodies.
In an instant, Yang Kai’s expression became pained, his eyes turning bloodshot as he trembled uncontrollably.
Everyone present felt a cold chill grip their hearts, understanding he was being influenced by the thick resentment contained inside these Soul-Spirit Bodies. Each of these Soul-Spirit Bodies was formerly a master that had at least reached the Saint Realm. After spending countless years trapped inside the green sea, even though they had not been destroyed, their accumulated hatred and resentment was not something a cultivator of Yang Kai’s strength could resist.
Perhaps his Soul was already being obliterated while his body was being taken over.
Thunder Dragon was temporarily thrown into a state of shock, not knowing how to handle this situation.
A moment later though, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brilliantly and then became tranquil once more, as if he had received some kind of extrication, his breathing becoming steady as he let out a sigh of relief, “What are you all gawking at, we need to keep moving!”
“You… are you alright?” Thunder Dragon asked in astonishment.
From the time the Soul Spirit Bodies crashed into Yang Kai’s body until he seemingly recovered, only a single breath had passed. Everything had happened so fast that no one was able to react. Most importantly though, Thunder Dragon couldn’t understand how Yang Kai was able to emerge from this crisis unscathed.
There had been multiple Soul Spirit Bodies that drilled into Yang Kai’s body just now, each one containing the full strength of a Saint Realm cultivator’s Soul.
“If we don’t get moving, none of us will be alright!” Yang Kai said solemnly.
Thunder Dragon also understood that now was not the time for questions and immediately focused, pushing his strength to its limits to open up a path ahead. With arcs of lightning swirling around his body, the Soul-Spirit Bodies did not dare approach rashly, allowing the group of six to continue rushing up the stone platforms.
Li Rong came up beside Yang Kai to assist him in resisting the attacks of the Soul-Spirit Bodies while quietly observing him, a moment later her beautiful eyes lit up, understanding why even after he had been invaded by so many resentful Souls he was safe and sound.
Inside his Knowledge Sea, there was Great Demon God’s Demon Eye of Annihilation!
The Demon Eye of Annihilation’s golden light was able to absolutely restrain all forms of Spiritual Energy, the Soul Spirit Bodies that had crashed into Yang Kai’s body might as well have been leaping to their deaths.
After this incident, the remaining Soul-Spirit Bodies seemed instinctually feel some kind of threat and didn’t dare to approach the group of six again, only surrounding them and wailing as if to vent their unwillingness.
Thunder Dragon and the other Monster Race masters were puzzled by this but weren’t about to complain about being able to easily pass through the stone platforms.
After roughly the time it would take a stick of incense to burn, the group of six finally saw the end of the stone platforms.
Stepping off the final stone platform, everyone couldn’t help showing a confused look.
Because the place they had arrived at was not the chaotic sky, but instead another field.
It was almost as if they had returned to where they had entered from, a barren land stretched out before them, but instead of a grey swirling sky above them, a myriad of strangely coloured lights flickered about.
These lights seemed to almost be within reach, yet they were impossible to grasp.
“This place is really strange!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox shook his head.
Thunder Dragon carefully released his Divine Sense, and upon not discovering any danger in their immediate surroundings he proposed, “Let’s take a break for a while.”
In order to pass the stone platforms, all of them had expended a great deal of power. In this crisis-ridden place, they could not afford to miss any chance to restore themselves to their peak.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior didn’t dare to act rashly here.
Of course, no one objected to this suggestion and all of them immediately sat down cross-legged to restore their physical and spiritual strength.
The two Great Seniors sat next to each other and began discussing something in whispered voices, occasionally glancing over towards Yang Kai as they spoke.
Although he was meditating with his eyes closed, their actions did not escape Yang Kai’s perception.
Opening his eyes and smiling wryly, Yang Kai took the initiative to ask, “Do two Great Seniors suspect that I’ve been taken over?”
Thunder Dragon frowned for a moment but decided to not hold back and nodded, “En, both Old Ox and I had such thoughts, but from the tone of your voice, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been supplanted by one of those Soul-Spirit Bodies.”
“Of course I haven’t,” Yang Kai nodded.
“What evidence can you show us to prove that?” Thunder Dragon asked solemnly, “Kid, this King really can’t figure out what method you could possibly possess to withstand the invasion of so many Soul Spirit Bodies, if you can’t prove to us somehow that you are who you say you are, then This King will have no choice but to seal your strength, I hope you can understand.”
“How does Great Senior propose I prove myself?” Yang Kai frowned, thinking that Thunder Dragon and the other’s concerns were reasonable so not taking any offence.
“Just show us something that can prove you are that body’s original owner.”
“There’s no need for that, I can guarantee that he is still who he claims to be! I won’t mistake the person I serve for an impersonator,” Li Rong suddenly declared.
Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox exchanged a glance with one another before turning their eyes to Yang Kai then to Li Rong, a moment later the two of them nodding, “Good, we will believe in the lady’s vision for now. To be honest, we also do not hope your body was seized by another.”
“Two Great Seniors are well-intentioned, I understand,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
With the matter temporarily resolved, everyone continued to restore themselves.
After half a day, the group began exploring again.
After passing over the green sea, it seemed as if they had arrived in a completely different world.
From time to time, high up in the sky, a meteor-like ray of light would fly by quickly, appearing and disappearing before anyone could actually capture its image.
However, what surprised everyone was that even after a long time, forget about dangers, nothing even worth noting occurred.
Everyone slowly began to feel like they were walking on a never ending path, a loop that had no beginning or end.
This strange sensation caused everyone’s heart to sink.
Soon, the group of six lost track of time in this truly desolate wasteland where the scenery seemed to never change.
The one with the shortest temper, Earth Splitting Divine Ox, had long ago become impatient and spent all day grumbling.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior was also feeling some regret. If he had known that it would end up like this, he wouldn’t have insisted on exploring this place. However, even if he wanted to turn back, he couldn’t, so all he could do was move forward and hope they would eventually discovering something of interest.
While the Monster Race masters’ moods had dampened, Yang Kai and Li Rong were actually filled with expectations.
When they first entered this strange Mysterious Small World, they had already confirmed that this place was somehow related to Great Demon God. Just knowing this they were not going to become discouraged halfway.
Even if they hadn’t discovered anything of note yet, perhaps that just meant they hadn’t arrived at their destination yet, so the two of them never stopped looking for clues.
Both Yang Kai and Li Rong were filled with confidence.
One day, as they were continuing to walk through this seemingly boundless world, Yang Kai suddenly noticed an unusual aura behind him.
Astonished, he quickly turned back only to see Li Rong gazing up at the sky with a thoughtful look upon her beautiful face. A kind of strength circulated through her body, fluctuating every now and then.
When one of the strange meteor-like lights soared across the sky and disappeared beyond the horizon, Li Rong tender body shivered, her beautiful eyes shining as the energy fluctuations coming from her body became more and more powerful.
Thunder Dragon, who was leading the way, also noticed this abnormality and turned back to see what was happening, a look of shock soon appearing on his face.
Yang Kai’s expression also greatly changed at that moment. In the beginning, he wasn’t sure what was happening with Li Rong, but after seeing to look of bliss and clarity on her face, he suddenly understood, muttering under his breath, “An epiphany?”
Not daring to disturb her, Yang Kai quickly rushed back, beckoning to Earth Splitting Divine Ox and Jin Ni who were bringing up the rear.
The two Monster Race masters also understood what was happening and carefully kept their distance from Li Rong.
“She’s showing signs of a breakthrough,” Thunder Dragon stared fixedly at Li Rong, quietly confirming Yang Kai’s observations and speculations.
Li Rong had reached the Second Order Saint Realm many years ago.
On top of that, when Yang Kai brought the Ancient Demon Clan out from their Mysterious Small World, the moment they had set foot on Tong Xuan Realm, as if they were liberated from some kind of shackle restraining them, they had all received a great boost in strength.
Han Fei and Hua Mo had even directly broken through to the next Minor Realm.
At the time, Li Rong’s strength also increased but it was not enough for her to break through.
Today though, she had obviously realized something and was now finally going to take another step forward in her cultivation.
Once she broke through, she would be a Third Order Saint! That was the highest level a cultivator could reach in this world.
Realizing this, Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox both couldn’t help having their attention glued to her.
Yang Kai smiled broadly as he waited silently.
The stronger Li Rong was, the more help she could provide him. Now, if they were to meet Xue Li again, Yang Kai estimated that she would only be able to escape from them.
When Li Rong was a Second-Order Saint, after using her Demon God Transformation, she was able to fight evenly with Xue Li. After breaking through to the Third Order, she would no doubt be able to defeat her with ease.
“I’ll have to ask all of you to wait here for a while,” Yang Kai turned and bowed his head slightly to the two Monster Race Great Seniors.
“No problem, in any case, we’re lost and have no idea which way to go, there’s no harm in taking a break here for a while,” Thunder Dragon smiled, thinking for a moment before asking, “Why did she suddenly break through at this time? Could it be she discovered something that helped her strength growth here?”
Earth Splitting Divine Ox thought for a while before mumbling, “Over the past few days, I’ve seen her frequently staring up at the sky. Perhaps there is some mystery contained within those strange lights that occasionally flash by?”
“The sky?” Thunder Dragon mumbled, turning his eyes towards the Heavens just in time to see one of the strange meteor-like lights streak across, nodding a moment later, “It’s possible. At her level of strength, often even an inadvertent discovery can lead to a huge improvement in strength.”
“Then this Old Ox must also take a look, perhaps I’ll discover something to improve my strength too. When that happens, Old Thunder Dragon will have to bow down before me!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox declared happily before immediately sitting down and staring upwards.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior simply smirked, not making any attempt to dissuade him but rather choosing to follow Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s example, sitting down cross-legged and peering towards the sky, hoping to uncover the mysteries of the strange lights.
Since Li Rong was able to discover something from it, and there was nothing else for them to do while they waited, there was no reason for them not to try.
Cai Die and Jin Ni also sat down and began observing.
Yang Kai shook his head and ignored them, closing his eyes and entering a meditative state.
Li Rong’s epiphany lasted quite some time, and although there was no way to calculate the exact passage of time, Yang Kai estimated that at least ten days had passed. During this time, Li Rong did not move a muscle, only her beautiful eyes grew brighter and brighter as they observed the strange lights high up in the sky.
Finally, her tender body shivered and a violent force erupted from her body, forming a great torrent of wind that rapidly spread out around her.
The aura belonging to a Third Order Saint overflowed from Li Rong.
High up in the sky, a massive amount of World Energy began to gather and a moment later crashed down onto Li Rong’s head.
Besides letting out a low grunt, Li Rong showed no other reaction, simply standing there while enduring the World Energy baptism.
The look on Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s faces quickly became serious.
Both of them had experienced this step and knew well just how terrifying the force of Heaven and Earth was and how difficult it was to endure.
When they had broken through in the past, both of them had been forced to return to their Beast Forms in order to resist this devastating power, but even taking advantage of their original physique’s superior toughness, they had suffered great trauma and took a long time to recover afterwards.
However, Li Rong, a woman who should have possessed a weaker physique than either of them, was actually taking an even crazier approach to this baptism than they had, causing the eyes of both Great Seniors to bulge in shock.
The storm of World Energy continued to fall and it was not long before blood began leaking from the side of Li Rong’s mouth, her tender body shuddering, seemingly somewhat unable to bear this pressure but still gritting her teeth and steadfastly enduring in order to allow her flesh and blood to absorb as much of this baptism as possible and convert it into her own strength.
As time passed, the four Monster Race masters were all on the edge, Cai Die biting her thin lip as her jade hands clenched, secretly worried for Li Rong.
“Kid, this isn’t good…” Thunder Dragon suddenly came over and whispered into Yang Kai’s ear, “If she continues to resist head-on like this, there’s a good chance she’ll be destroyed by the World Energy storm.”
“En,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox nodded, “My Monster Race’s physiques are the strongest in the world, but even Thunder Dragon and I wouldn’t dare absorb all of that World Energy like this. What she’s doing right now is nothing short of digging her own grave.”
Li Rong, from the beginning, had made no attempt to shield herself with her Demonic Qi from the World Energy baptism and instead completely opened her mind and body to it. Naturally, this caused both Great Seniors great concern.
“Heh heh, don’t worry, she can withstand it,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, not showing the slightest sign of worry.
Thunder Dragon couldn’t help but look at him strangely, not understanding what gave him such great confidence in Li Rong.
“If such a good subordinate were to fall here, you’ll really have no place to cry,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox reminded him.
“She has a sense of discretion,” Yang Kai shook his head and stopped explaining.
Thunder Dragon and Earth Splitting Divine Ox exchanged a glance and no longer said anything, turning their attention back to Li Rong, a look of suspicion and curiosity flashing across their faces, wanting to see just how she was going to endure this baptism.
As time went by, the strength of the World Energy storm only grew, even causing the surrounding space to tremble, seemingly pushing Li Rong to the very edge, as if she could die at any moment.
But still, she insisted, motionless.
The four Monster Race masters all had solemn expressions upon their faces. Regardless of anything else, the courage and will Li Rong displayed enduring all of this with only her flesh was a great shock to them.
The swirling of the World Energy gathered high up in the sky suddenly calmed down but became even more concentrated, as if it was preparing to strike one final blow.
Li Rong’s expression finally became dignified, her beautiful eyes filling with an indomitable will as they stared up at the sky.
*Hong…*
The world roared and a destructive power that made everyone present go pale suddenly crashed down through the air and enveloped Li Rong.
At that moment, everyone else present felt as if their heart had stopped beating as all of their attention focused towards the spot where Li Rong was standing.
Inside the raging blast of World Energy, the only thing they could see was a blurry shadow that, despite trembling greatly, was still standing tall.
Gradually, the violent downpour of World Energy converged, as if it was being absorbed into Li Rong’s tender body. The winds that were whipping about slowly died out and a pair of bright eyes flashed as they shot open inside the fading storm.
A moment later, Li Rong slowly stepped out towards the five spectators, gasping for breath, her chest heaving up and down.
“This…” Earth Splitting Divine Ox couldn’t speak properly as he stared dumbfounded at the woman in front of them.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior also narrowed his eyes as he fixed his gaze on Li Rong’s face.
At this moment, numerous strange dark tattoos had appeared all over her pretty face, painting a fierce yet profound picture. As Li Rong approached though, these lines seemingly receded, the dreadful momentum pulsing from her body disappearing along with them.
Seemingly thinking of something, Thunder Dragon Great Senior’s expression changed slightly as he directed an extremely dignified look towards Li Rong.
Arriving in front of everyone, Li Rong stood firmly and smiled towards Yang Kai.
Her aura was now as vast as the sea and her eyes were filled with a kind of divine light. Her skin looked like the finest white jade as it gave off a radiant lustre yet simultaneously appeared as soft and tender as newborns. Her strength had obviously undergone earth-shaking changes.
“Master, I’ve become a Third-Order Saint,” Li Rong looked calm and she reported to Yang Kai.
“Good,” Yang Kai nodded firmly, “It seems we didn’t come here in vain!”
“Many thanks for patiently waiting for me,” Li Rong turned to the Monster Race masters and nodded lightly.
“A minor matter, nothing worth mentioning,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior waved his hand, “Rather, it is we who should congratulate Madame for arriving at this plane.”
Li Rong smiled and modestly said, “In the future, I must trouble two Great Seniors to provide me with some guidance.”
“No need to be so polite, if Madame has free time in the future, you are always welcome to visit my Thunder Tree Palace so we may exchange pointers,” Thunder Dragon nodded lightly. Li Rong had just broken through to the Third Order Saint Realm, the same realm as him. Naturally, she was qualified to communicate with him so they could share their cultivation experiences.
“Haa, unfortunately even after sitting here for so long, this Old Ox hasn’t been able to discover anything special, let alone reach an epiphany,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox shook his head, looking a little dissatisfied before suddenly asking, “However, though you’re a woman your physique is quite tyrannical, you even fully accepted that World Energy baptism with only your flesh. It is the first time I’ve seen anything like that. What were those black patterns that appeared on your face just now? Why did feel like your momentum and vitality soared when those things appear?”
Hearing him ask these questions, Li Rong turned her gaze towards Yang Kai first, not certain whether she should answer or not.
Yang Kai was also somewhat unsure what to do and hesitated for a moment, but before he could answer, Thunder Dragon cut in, “What are you doing trying to pry into other’s secrets? That’s going too far Old Ox.”
Earth Splitting Divine Ox laughed awkwardly, “I was just curious and asked thoughtlessly. If you don’t want to answer then that’s fine.”
“I think we’re lost,” Thunder Dragon suddenly came to a stop and said bitterly.
Amidst this endless grey world, where the range of both their sight and Divine Sense was limited, the group of six couldn’t help coming to a stop and slumping over.
It had already been a long time since Li Rong broke through to the Third-Order Saint Realm. How long exactly, none of them knew, but it had been at least long enough for Li Rong to completely consolidate her cultivation.
Without any clear direction or goal, the group could only move about randomly, which obviously led them nowhere at all.
Listening to Thunder Dragon, Earth Splitting Divine Ox asked suspiciously, “The scenery here is all the same, how can you be sure we’re lost?”
“Look over there,” Thunder Dragon Great Senior pointed towards a spot not far away. When everyone looked in the direction he pointed, they all noticed a set of bleached bones lying in the wasteland.
“We passed through here some time ago, but somehow, we’ve actually returned to this place, those broken bones are the best proof.”
Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly as he thought back.
The last time they had passed by, he hadn’t paid much attention to this pile of bones, but if Thunder Dragon’s observation wasn’t wrong then their group might have actually walked in a giant circle and returned to their original position.
“Seriously? What should we do then?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox was dumbstruck, “How could we have gotten lost in the first place?”
“I don’t know. Do any of you have any bright ideas about how we should find the exit to this place? Rather than trying to uncover this place’s mysteries, we should first concern ourselves about being able to leave. The time we’ve spent here already isn’t short.”
“You’re the one who has been leading us, if you don’t know where we are or how to get out, how are we supposed to know?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox all but shouted.
“It wasn’t until just now that this King noticed that something was wrong! What? Are you trying to push all the blame for this onto me?” Thunder Dragon Great Senior snapped back.
It had truly been quite a long time since they entered this place and besides Li Rong who managed to grasp some kind of opportunity and break through to the Third Order Saint Realm, no one else had gained anything; obviously even the two Great Seniors weren’t in a good mood.
Seeing that they were on the verge of quarrelling, Yang Kai quickly interjected, “We need to remain calm, before we entered this place, we had already anticipated it would be this strange, but now that we’re stuck in this, rather than blaming one another, we should focus on finding a way out.”
“How do you propose we do that? Have you noticed something about this place kid?” Thunder Dragon asked Yang Kai.
Yang Kai could only shake his head.
“If my guess is correct, someone has set up a very profound Bewildering Array here…” Li Rong thoughtfully said, “Those bones we’ve encountered so far are probably from cultivators who inadvertently entered this place and became trapped, eventually perishing as a result.”
“Agreed,” Thunder Dragon nodded.
During this time, every now and then their group would encounter a skeleton or two which were obviously left behind by cultivators who accidentally entered this place.
“A Bewildering Array?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s eyes widened, “Who could possibly set up a Bewildering Array that could completely mislead three Third-Order Saints?”
Even if they hadn’t purposefully studied Spirit Arrays, with their Third Order Saint Realm cultivations there shouldn’t be any kind of Spirit Array they couldn’t at least detect, but the three top-level powerhouses among their group of six had actually not discovered anything out of the ordinary from beginning to end. From this alone, it was obvious whoever arranged this Spirit Array possessed incredible methods.
“This King is becoming more and more convinced that this place is somehow related to the legendary Great Demon God,” Thunder Dragon snorted and said, “No one else but him could have created such an arrangement.”
Yang Kai and Li Rong exchanged a glance but chose to remain silent.
“Should we split up and try to find a way out?” Cai Die suggested hesitantly.
Both Thunder Dragon and Yang Kai shook their heads, the former declaring, “This place is too strange, if we split up, we may never find each other again.”
“There’s been nothing but bad luck since the start of this little trip. This Old Ox will never haphazardly enter any Mysterious Small World again,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox grumbled.
Yang Kai smiled wryly and shook his head, but while he was contemplating what to do next, he suddenly realized that the Divine Tree was sending him a Divine Sense Message.
His brow furrowing slightly, Yang Kai quietly informed Li Rong before sending his consciousness into the Black Book space.
“What is it?” Yang Kai asked, wondering why the Divine Tree would suddenly call out to him at this time.
“Something strange happened,” Divine Tree replied.
“Did something happen with those two black stones?” Yang Kai asked, quickly taking a look towards the two pitch-black round stones only to discover that they were the same as always, steadily absorbing the essence of the rare ores he had placed nearby, glowing slightly brighter but nothing worth noting.
“Not them, something else. Wait a moment, you’ll understand when you see it!” The Divine Tree replied.
Yang Kai no longer asked anything and quietly waited.
After a while, somewhere in the Black Book space, a glimmer of light flashed.
“Hm?” Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling confused, quickly sending his Soul Avatar towards the source of the flash. The moment he identified what was flashing though, he found himself somewhat dumbstruck.
Of the things Yang Kai had stored in the Black Book space, the most precious were the Myriad Drug Liquid series, the Divine Tree, and the Shimmering Moon Grass.
There were also a lot of artifacts and scrolls he had picked up from here and there along his travels but none of them was particularly valuable so Yang Kai never concerned himself with them much.
In addition to those, there was really only the two strange pitch-black round stones left, as well as the various ores he had obtained from the Starry Sky.
But at this moment, the thing intermittently flickering was something Yang Kai had all but forgotten about.
The Heavenly Palace!
This was the mysterious artifact which belonged to Meng Wu Ya.
Many years ago, during the final moments of the Yang Family’s Inheritance War, the Ash Grey Cloud Evil Land led by the Devil Lord Yang Bai and the Six Great Evil Kings had invaded War City en mass on their way to the Central Capital.
In an instant, War City had been razed to the ground and transformed into a wasteland.
However, among the ruins, only Yang Kai’s Mansion survived, and completely unscathed at that.
This was all thanks to the artifact that Meng Wu Ya had summoned.
The Heavenly Palace transformed into a great barrier that enveloped the entire periphery of Yang Kai’s Mansion, rendering all attacks by Yang Bai and the Evil Kings useless.
After the decisive battle in the Central Capital, at the end of his rope, Yang Bai had chosen to self-destruct, causing the Earth Vein below the city to explode. At that critical moment, Meng Wu Ya had sheltered Xia Ning Chang and Su Yan while bringing them through the Void Corridor to Tong Xuan Realm.
The Heavenly Palace had been left behind at Yang Kai’s mansion and was eventually collected by him and placed inside the Black Book space.
Because this was Meng Wu Ya’s artifact, Yang Kai had never planned to refine it or even erase the Soul brand and aura imprint from it. He was simply holding on to it until he met Meng Wu Ya again.
It had been collecting dust in the Black Book space since then and if not for the Divine Tree’s reminder just now, Yang Kai would never have given it a second thought.
But now, why was the Heavenly Palace shining? Although it was flickering at a very slow pace, it was indeed flashing, as if it had detected something a great distance away.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai thought of a possibility and couldn’t help feeling shocked.
There was a chance that Meng Wu Ya was also in this Mysterious Small world. Even if he wasn’t, he might have at least come here before!
The Heavenly Palace was his artifact and it still had his Soul brand on it. If it detected Meng Wu Ya’s aura, it would certainly explain its current reaction.
According to Yang Kai’s investigations, he could infer that Meng Wu Ya had gone to Ice Sect with Xia Ning Chang and Su Yan, entrusted Su Yan to Ice Sect’s Sect Master Qing Ya, and then left.
Afterwards, the master and apprentice pair had stopped in Nine Heavens Holy Land for a time.
Nine Heavens Holy Land was not far from here. If Meng Wu Ya’s destination had actually been this place and had simply stopped by Nine Heavens Holy Land along the way rather than intentionally going there to meet with the old Holy Master, everything would line up.
The more Yang Kai thought about it, the more he thought his guess was correct, causing him to feel very excited.
If Meng Wu Ya was here, that means Little Senior Sister was too…
Li Rong’s softly called out to him at that moment, so Yang Kai quickly returned his consciousness to his body, his eyes now filled with a bright light.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior did not miss this sudden change and asked, “Kid, did you discover something?”
“I’m not sure,” Yang Kai grinned and quickly took the Heavenly Palace out of the Black Book space and placed it in the palm of his hand, “It’s just that this thing suddenly started acting up.”
“An Artifact?” Thunder Dragon frowned as he observed the Heavenly Palace. “The shape of this artifact is rather unusual, it actually resembles a palace. In fact, it’s quite similar to another artifact I’ve seen before.”
This time it was Yang Kai’s turn to be curious as he asked, “Which artifact?”
“One that was owned by one of your Human Race’s masters, but unfortunately that man was killed a few hundred years ago. Forget about it,” Thunder Dragon waved his hand, seemingly dismissing the thought, but as he continued to inspect the artifact on Yang Kai’s palm, he couldn’t help narrowing his eyes, eventually mumbling under his breath, “This artifact, could it be…”
The artifact was of a very high grade, most likely Saint Grade Top-Rank, and the remaining aura on it did not belong to Yang Kai, but rather to another person.
The aura, while a little faint, was quite profound, so Thunder Dragon was easily able to conclude that its owner was a top master.
“Is this the Heavenly Palace?” Thunder Dragon wore a solemn expression as he asked hesitantly.
Artifacts shaped like palaces were extremely uncommon, accompanied by its grade, it was difficult for Thunder Dragon to not think of such a possibility.
Was it really possible? The expression of Thunder Dragon Great Senior became dignified as it seemed to silently say as such.
Yang Kai raised his brow, “Is Great Senior familiar with it?”
“This really is the Heavenly Palace?” Thunder Dragon’s body shook as he stared at Yang Kai in amazement, “Kid, where did you obtain it?”
“Thunder Dragon, is this artifact so shocking?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox stared at it curiously.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior took a breath before explaining, “This artifact is impressive, but what is more impressive is who its original owner was.”
“And who would that be?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox was apparently less informed about worldly matters than Thunder Dragon so he had never heard anything about the Heavenly Palace.
“Its original owner was the Human Race’s former first expert, Meng Wu Ya!” Thunder Dragon smirked, turning an inquisitive gaze towards Yang Kai, wondering if he was somehow related to Meng Wu Ya.
Earth Splitting Divine Ox scratched his head, “This Old Ox seems to recall hearing that name somewhere before.”
“Of course you’ve heard it before,” Thunder Dragon snorted, “Do you remember Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior?”
“Of course I remember,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox nodded repeatedly, “Before this Old Ox had even achieved human form, Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior was a renowned master of our Monster Race, but at some point, he died. Right, Thunder Dragon, you were once Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior’s subordinate weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Thunder Dragon nodded, “I was one of Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior’s subordinates. Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior’s death is actually related to the original owner of this artifact.”
“Was he killed by that guy named Meng Wu Ya?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox exclaimed.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior slowly shook his head, “Not exactly. When the two of them fought, Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior was defeated after only a stick of incense worth of time and suffered serious wounds, wounds he eventually succumbed to. It was only after Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior died that This King was able to rise to the position of Great Senior and become a leader of the Monster Domain.”
Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s eyes bulged, as he shouted out in disbelief, “Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior’s strength should be comparable if not greater than yours or mine, yet someone was actually able to beat him half to death in the time it would take to burn a stick of incense?”
“En, it was really just a stick of incense worth of time. When the two of them fought, this King was present! The means of that Meng Wu Ya… they were truly earth-shattering. It was only later, when this King investigated about him that I learned he was actually the Human Race’s strongest master, an opponent no one dared offend.”
As Yang Kai listened to this glorious tale, all that came to mind was Treasurer Meng’s lazy old demeanour and perverted grin, causing his face to twitch unceasingly. His back shivered at the thought…
Did Treasurer Meng really have such a brilliant past?
Although Yang Kai had long guessed that Meng Wu Ya’s strength was not low, it appeared he was still underestimating his ability.
It wasn’t until today that Yang Kai finally had a clearer understanding of Treasurer Meng’s background.
“And this Heavenly Palace was one of Meng Wu Ya’s signature artifacts…” Thunder Dragon Great Senior stared at the artifacts in Yang Kai’s hand, a complex expression appearing on his face as he sighed slightly, “Because of the death of Blood Flood Dragon Great Senior, This King had been paying attention to that guy’s movements and whereabouts, but unfortunately I heard that he later ran to the Demon Land to challenge the current Demon Commander and ultimately died as a result…”
After a pause, he furrowed his brow and said, “That guy was also quite eccentric. He didn’t belong to any Sect and seemed to have been self-taught, there were no rumours at all about where he originated from or how he obtained his phenomenal strength. On top of that, he didn’t seem to have a legacy disciple, leaving This King no one to seek revenge from. Kid, where exactly did you get this artifact?”
“Heh heh, if I said that he left it with me, would you believe it or not?” Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh.
Thunder Dragon frowned and asked, “What do you mean? Are you trying to say he’s actually still?”
“En.”
“Impossible, there hasn’t been any news about him for at least a hundred years! If he was still alive, how could he have not made a single sound after so long?” Thunder Dragon seemed unable to believe his ears, staring somewhat suspiciously towards Yang Kai, “Why is this Heavenly Palace continuously flickering now?”
“Probably because it senses its owner’s aura!” Yang Kai also stared at Heavenly Palace. After taking it out of the Black Book space, the Heavenly Palace began flashing more frequently, which only increased Yang Kai’s suspicion that Meng Wu Ya was here.
“He’s really still alive?” Thunder Dragon Great Senior exclaimed.
“Do I look like someone who would lie about this?” Yang Kai looked at him with seriousness.
“No.”
“Exactly.”
Thunder Dragon’s expression fluctuated before suddenly realizing something, his eyes lighting up as he shouted, “So, as long as we follow the guidance of this Heavenly Palace, we’ll be able to find Meng Wu Ya and subsequently leave this Bewildering Array?”
“I think so,” Yang Kai nodded heavily, pouring his True Qi into the Heavenly Palace.
Back when Meng Wu Ya wrapped Yang Kai’s mansion with the Heavenly Palace, it had saved him and his allies from being destroyed by the Devil Lord and his minions. Later on, in order to facilitate Yang Kai entering and exiting the barrier, Meng Wu Ya had set it up so that the Heavenly Palace could be driven to a certain extent by Yang Kai.
This artifact ultimately did not belong to Yang Kai so it was impossible for him to display all of its power.
However, it was enough!
As he poured his True Qi into it, the Heavenly Palace began to tremble and Yang Kai immediately noticed some signs of it wanting to escape from his grasp and fly off.
Immediately, Yang Kai’s spirits rose as he shouted, “Follow me!”
Holding onto the Heavenly Palace and feeling the direction it wanted to fly, Yang Kai began rushing forward.
The crowd followed close behind.
As he was walking, Yang Kai’s mood fluctuated wildly.
He wasn’t sure if Meng Wu Ya was here or if he had simply left a trace of himself behind before leaving, if it turned out like that, then this time to he would be unable to find Treasurer Meng and Little Senior Sister.
However, this was without a doubt a clue in his search, so there was still hope.
Yang Kai had already found Su Yan, and he wasn’t worried about Old Demon, so as long as he could find Xia Ning Chang, he would have finally accomplished what he came to Tong Xuan Realm to do.
Since leaving the Central Capital and coming to this world, it had already been more than a decade. Over the past ten years, his strength had undergone earth-shaking changes, but this worry of his had never left heart, often causing him to sigh helplessly.
[When I finally find Meng Wu Ya, I swear I’ll pluck out every last hair from that old fart’s beard!] Yang Kai secretly grumbled to himself as he flew forward as quickly as he could.
After an unknown amount of time, the barren grey landscape actually began to change.
In front of Yang Kai, there seemed to be some kind of landmark sticking up from the ground.
After arriving here, the light from the Heavenly Palace also became much stronger.
Yang Kai couldn’t help getting his hopes up as he rushed towards this landmark but upon seeing what it was, his brow furrowed deeply.
The other five people also came to a stop, each of them staring forward with a solemn expression.
Twenty meters or so in front of their group of six stood a gigantic stone pillar at least five meters thick and was so tall that they were unable to see its top.
On the stone pillar, there were a few large Demon characters written by the same hand as the ones which they first saw upon entering this Mysterious Small World.
“Li Rong, what’s written on it?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
Li Rong quickly observed the characters before taking her gaze back, not daring to stare at it for too long, quickly replying, “Tong Xuan Pillar!”
“Tong Xuan Pillar?” Yang Kai frowned, not knowing what these words meant.
However, there was indeed an extraordinary force surrounding this stone pillar, one that caused everyone present to feel fearful and apprehensive.
Following the guidance of the Heavenly Palace, they had not found Meng Wu Ya but instead discovered this strange stone pillar, disappointing each of them somewhat.
But Yang Kai could still feel the Heavenly Palace pulling him in a certain direction so obviously this was not their last stop.
“Let’s keep moving, in any case, we’ve at least managed to leave the Bewildering Array,” Yang Kai said.
The other five nodded gently and continued to keep up.
The group began advancing more carefully now, each of them on high alert in case they encountered any unforeseen danger.
After half an hour, Yang Kai suddenly slowed down and sniffed the air before asking, “Have you all noticed as well?”
“En, it smells like blood!” Thunder Dragon replied immediately, his eyes glancing around vigilantly, “There’s a bloody scent coming from nearby.”
“En, it seems to be growing stronger too,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Wait, there’s movement up ahead,” Thunder Dragon declared.
Everyone came to a stop and perked up their ears.
Some subtle sounds came from afar, almost like the rolling sound of waves on the ocean.
The sound rapidly grew louder as whatever was causing it seemed to be closing in on them at great speed. A moment later, at the edge of their sight, a dark red light appeared in the originally grey world.
Gradually, the dark red light grew larger and the rhythmic sound of the tide resounded even clearer than before.
Before any of them could react, the entire world in front of them was dyed blood red.
“Not good!” Thunder Dragon Great Senior roared, instantly pushing his strength and throwing up a blue light curtain around their group.
At the same time, from right in front of them, a thick and boundless blood red sea crashed down on them, as if a dam somewhere up ahead had broken, turning this barren wasteland into a floodplain and in an instant. Completely enveloping the six of them.
A rich bloody smell filled all of their noses and all they could see now around them was a thick bloody red liquid. It was as if they had suddenly fallen into the middle of blood sea and lost all sense of direction, unable to find the way out.
The blood sea vaporized on contact with the light barrier and quickly began seeping inside. The Heavenly Palace in Yang Kai’s hand had only been slightly contaminated by this blood fog yet the glow it had been giving off had greatly diminished, as if it had almost lost all spirituality.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai threw the Heavenly Palace back into the Black Book space.
*Ci la la…*
A sizzling sound burst out from all around. It seemed like the blood fog that managed to infiltrate the light barrier was extremely corrosive, causing a painful burning sensation upon contact with everyone’s skin.
Yang Kai grit his teeth and began circulating his strength to resist the effects of this blood fog, rapidly consuming his True Qi in the process.
“What the hell is this stuff?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox cursed as he enveloped his body in a brown light. Unfortunately, under the erosion of the blood fog, even his light defence quickly became dim, forcing him to exert even more strength to compensate, draining his reserves at a rapid pace.
The blood sea and blood fog seemed to be able to even dissolve various kinds of energy.
“It should be some kind of trap we accidentally triggered, we need to find our way out of this blood sea first before figuring out what to do about it,” Thunder Dragon roared as he resisted the pressure from the surrounding blood sea, pushing his defenses to the limit.
“Great Senior, watch out!” Cai Die suddenly exclaimed, waving her seven coloured wings and shooting out a beam of light.
Looking towards the direction of her attack, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed.
He found that amidst the vast blood sea, there were innumerable figures wandering about that seemed to be condensed entirely from blood. These blood people seemed to have no facial features or even solid figures; Cai Die’s attack passed right through a few of them and scattered them into blood fog.
In the blink of an eye though, several more of these blood people rushed threateningly towards Thunder Dragon Great Senior.
Thunder Dragon’s pupils shrank as he unleashed a bolt of purple lightning towards these figures, smashing a number of them into the bloody fog.
However, one of them managed to avoid getting hit, closed in, reached out, and grabbed the wrist of Thunder Dragon Great Senior.
As if he had molten metal poured onto his flesh, a scalding sound burst out and Thunder Dragon revealed a look of pain, quickly waving his arm to shake off the bloody hand.
On his wrist, a bright red handprint remained along with a deep bruising.
Seeing this, everyone’s face paled.
Thunder Dragon was a supreme master and a Monster Beast on top of that, his flesh was extremely strong yet after only being gripped by this blood man he had actually suffered a serious wound. It was clear from this just how terrifying the corrosive strength of the surrounding blood was.
However, what made everyone truly feel desperate was that the blood people that were smashed apart by Thunder Dragon Great Senior a moment ago actually gathered together and stood up again, completely unharmed.
It was like they were immortal and indestructible.
Enveloped by the blood sea, the group of six fully displayed their skills to fight back against the blood people as they pushed their way forward, trying their best to escape from this dangerous place.
However, no matter how they fled, the blood sea remained as thick as ever.
It was as if this blood sea was endless, or perhaps was following them, denying them any chance of escape.
Gradually, Thunder Dragon Great Senior had to stop and exert his full strength to resist the attacks of the blood people.
In the surrounding thousand meters, streams of lightning flew about in an attempt to destroy the blockade of the blood sea and find a way out.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior’s true form was a Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon. He was proficient in both Fire Attribute and Thunder Attribute attacks and possessed phenomenal strength, but even he was beginning to feel helpless in this situation.
Brown light halos emerged one after another from Earth Splitting Divine Ox, but each of them only managed to expand for a short time before growing dull under the erosion of the blood sea and flickering out.
The piercing yellow Qi from Jin Ni’s body also gradually began to dim.
Cai Die’s seven coloured light and Li Rong’s pitch black Demonic Qi all surged into the blood sea, but as if it was a bottomless pit, the blood sea simply devoured all of their power, making them unable to see any hope of escape.
The blood people who were formed from the blood sea were not individually strong and their bodies were actually quite frail, each of the Saint Realm masters present only needed to use the most basic of attacks to reduce a number of them to puddles of blood.
However, even if they smashed these blood people apart, a few breaths later they would reconstitute, stand up, and continue to attack.
At the same time, the blood fog which had seeped past their defence barriers was constantly sapping their strength.
This barrier that was arranged here by Great Demon God possessed a terrifying resilience and destructive power.
Yang Kai’s strength was the lowest among this group of people and it was precisely because of this that he was currently being surrounded by the five Saints, temporarily allowing him to not have to worry about his safety.
As the five Saints were struggling to resist this onslaught, Yang Kai was carefully observing the energy fluctuations of the blood people and blood sea.
While using his Divine Sense to probe the surrounding, he suddenly pushed his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy towards a blood person who was approaching Li Rong.
A scalding hot burning energy erupted, creating a kind of domain that could incinerate everything it touched.
Everyone was currently feeling a cold chill gripping them, but after sensing this domain they all suddenly felt as if their skin had been lit on fire, causing the four Monster Race masters to freeze up for a moment and stare at Yang Kai with amazement.
At the same time the saw the blood person who had rushed Li Rong boil up.
The blood person was composed entirely of blood, it had no bones or flesh to speak of so as it boiled, bubbles of gas appeared all over its body and quickly evaporated, leaving nothing behind.
Seeing this, everyone’s eyes lit up.
“Nice one kid!” Earth Splitting Divine Ox shouted.
This was the first time any of them had managed to completely destroy one of the blood people since they became trapped in this blood sea.
“Great Senior, use fire!” Yang Kai quickly turned to Thunder Dragon.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior didn’t need Yang Kai’s reminder and had already begun to act, taking back all of his Thunder Attribute attacks and in their place unleashing a stream of hot flames from his body.
The blood men’s offensive instantly came to a halt, it seemed they were quite wary of the burning flames. Their figures continued to boil even at a distance and their fuzzy facial features seemed to almost reveal a look of pain.
Thunder Dragon let out a great roar and summoned forth a giant Fire Dragon-like attack that he smashed into the blood sea. Yang Kai immediately cooperated, pushing his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy to its limits, engulfing the nearby blood people, eliminating many while pushing the rest back, opening up some breathing room for their group of six.
“This isn’t a long-term strategy, we need to take this opportunity to think of a way out of this!” Thunder Dragon Great Senior shouted.
Even after sending out their Divine Senses, no one in their group could determine the extent of the blood sea; meanwhile, the blood fog that continued to linger around them was still draining their strength and it was obvious they were rapidly growing weaker. At this rate, they would all definitely die before they could evaporate the entire blood sea.
“Can you and the kid charge forward and burn a path out?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox suggested.
“Impossible, this blood sea is very strange, it seems to be following us as we move, we won’t be able to escape, or rather, it won’t let us escape,” Thunder Dragon slowly shook his head, pushing his Fire Attribute Qi to the extreme, evaporating a large amount of the blood sea together with Yang Kai.
Hearing him say this, everyone was also at a loss and began to feel desperate.
“That’s right!” Yang Kai suddenly thought of something and shouted excitedly.
Seeing his expression, Thunder Dragon immediately shouted, “Kid, did you find a way to escape? If you thought of something, don’t hesitate, doing anything right now is better than waiting here to die!”
“I do have an idea,” Yang Kai nodded, quickly turning to Li Rong and asking, “Do you still have that Blood Essence Stone?”
Li Rong was stunned but soon her beautiful eyes lit up, quickly understanding what Yang Kai was thinking.
Taking the Blood Essence Stone out, she quickly handed it over to him.
This piece of Blood Essence Stone was a product from the Starry Sky and had the power to extract fresh blood and transform it into Blood Qi that anyone was capable of using.
It had originally belonged to Shattering Mystical Palace’s Zhang Ao, but after the incident in the Snow Mountain Range, where Zhang Ao was killed, the Blood Essence Stone had ended up in Yang Kai’s hands.
Last time, Yang Kai had used the Blood Essence Stone to absorb a great deal of blood which he then used to treat the heavily injured Ancient Demon clansmen. Afterwards, he had left it with Li Rong.
It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai suddenly remember about it.
“Blood Essence Stone?” Thunder Dragon shouted, “You mean the Blood Essence Stone from the Starry Sky?”
Yang Kai grinned, “Great Senior is quite knowledgeable.”
“You even have one of those?” Thunder Dragon’s mood quickly lifted as he let out a great laugh, “It seems we can be saved then.”
“It’s worth a try at least,” Yang Kai didn’t delay and began pouring his True Qi into the Blood Essence Stone. The strange object from the Starry Sky immediately let out a brilliant light and began emitting a powerful suction force. The blood people who were caught up in this invisible force let out a terrified roar as they desperately tried to flee into the blood sea.
However, it was too late, the Blood Essence Stone’s ability to attract blood was not something these blood people could resist.
One blood man that was relatively close to the group melted into a stream of blood and shot towards the Blood Essence Stone.
The Blood Essence Stone drew in this stream of blood, not letting off a single drop.
Within a single breath, a ten meter radius around the group of six had been drained of all blood, all of it having been completely absorbed by the Blood Essence Stone.
But this was only the beginning as the huge attractive force was still drawing in both the blood people and surrounding blood sea.
Seeing this scene, all of them who had been on edge couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
They knew that they had survived this crisis.
As time passed, the bloody glow coming from the Blood Essence Stone grew stronger and stronger as the stone only the size of a fist continued to suck up the surrounding blood, eventually turning a deep crimson colour that garner both awe and fear from the surrounding audience.
The amount of Blood Qi contained inside the Blood Essence Stone now was simply unimaginable.
Yang Kai, who was holding it in his hand, could even feel a rhythmic pulse coming from the Blood Essence Stone, like he was holding an actual beating heart!
After an hour, everyone’s field of vision gradually began to clear up as the blood sea that had engulfed them became noticeably thinner.
Another hour later the blood sea had completely disappeared.
At that moment, the Blood Qi emanating from the Blood Essence Stone was strong enough to shock even the two Monster Race Great Seniors.
Even if they were to burn through their blood essence, it was unlikely they would be able to display such strong Blood Qi.
“This is an amazing treasure, where did it get it from?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox inquired, seeming quite interested in the Blood Essence Stone.
Thunder Dragon laughed and shook his head, “Don’t even bother, this thing is a product of the Starry Sky, it can only be obtained through chance. This King had only heard of it before, today was my first time actually seeing it.”
Saying so, he directed a thoughtfully look towards Yang Kai, “Kid, your luck is really astonishing, you even managed to obtain this Blood Essence Stone.”
“It’s nothing much,” Yang Kai chuckled, playing with the Blood Essence Stone in his hand, thinking more and more that it resembled a real heart, even possessing its own powerful heartbeat.
“How about selling it to me? This King can offer you a satisfactory price,” Thunder Dragon asked.
Yang Kai quickly stored the Blood Essence Stone into the Black Book space as he shook his head decisively.
Thunder Dragon rolled his eyes at Yang Kai’s behaviour, “If you don’t want to sell it, just say so, what are you acting so wary for? You think This King will try to snatch it from you?”
“Thunder Dragon, why would you want to buy that thing?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox asked, not understanding the purpose of the Blood Essence Stone.
“What do you know?!” Thunder Dragon spat disdainfully, “This thing absorbs fresh blood and transforms it into the purest kind of Blood Qi. That Blood Qi can then be used to heal almost any kind of wound, cultivate any kind of Blood Qi technique, or eve to supplement your vitality in the middle of a fight to boost your strength. On top of that, it has absolutely no side effects or drawbacks.”
“Is it so amazing?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he turned to stare at Yang Kai with some enthusiasm.
“Don’t look at me like that, no matter what kind of price you put up, this Blood Essence Stone isn’t for sale,” Yang Kai swung his head like a rattle, “The thing this Holy Master does not lack the most is money.”
Saying so, he promptly ignored the two Great Seniors and once again took out the Heavenly Palace from the Black Book space, feeling the direction it tried to fly before beckoning to the group, “This way.”
“This little brat…” Thunder Dragon was speechless, shaking his head wryly before taking out some Qi restoring pills and swallowing them down.
As time passed, the light pulsing from the Heavenly Palace grew even stronger.
Yang Kai was also growing more and more excited as he became convinced that Meng Wu Ya was here in person.
If Treasurer Meng had simply left behind some kind of aura mark here, the Heavenly Palace would not continue showing changes as it approached.
The Heavenly Palace’s current reaction was the best proof that Meng Wu Ya was really here!
Yang Kai’s heart filled with expectation and he couldn’t help increasing his pace as a result.
A few hours later, the glow from the Heavenly Palace became nearly blindingly bright and suddenly escaped from Yang Kai’s grasp, transforming into a stream of light and shooting off, disappearing into the distance a moment later.
When the Heavenly Palace flew out and turned into a stream of light, disappearing before everyone’s eyes, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling startled.
“It flew away… what does that mean?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox asked as he stared in the direction the Heavenly Palace disappeared.
“Meng Wu Ya is over there!” Thunder Dragon’s eyes narrowed and he declared decisively.
Yang Kai immediately picked up his pace and followed after the Heavenly Palace, feeling both excited and nervous.
Thunder Dragon Great Senior also waved his hand and shouted, “Follow it, the previous strongest master of the Human Race might be nearby.”
“The Human Race’s strongest master, a sight worth seeing,” Earth Splitting Divine Ox’s eyes also lit up.
Anyone who could obtain the title of the first master of an entire race was decidedly not ordinary. This guy named Meng Wu Ya must have some impressive abilities, or else he would not have been recognized as such.
Atop a spacious field, a number of rocky outcroppings and stone pillars were scattered about, many of them broken or lying in ruins.
In the middle of this field, there was a set of intact stone pillars, eight in total, arranged in an octagonal formation, each of them giving off powerful energy fluctuations.
Moreover, these energy fluctuations each had different attributes, one of them burning hot, one frigid cold, another violently poisonous while another rippling with lightning…
All of these different energies melded together to form a strange and imposing domain.
At this moment, on one of the eight pillars, a white-haired old man was bound by some kind of invisible force. He was completely immobilized, not even able to open his mouth to speak, his head hanging limply as his clothes were nothing but tatters and his life aura unstable; clearly he was on the verge of death.
A crackling sound would emerge from time to time as the eight pillars sent out a shocking pulse of energy towards the old man.
Each time this overbearing pulse of energy whipped the old man, although it seemed like he was on his dying breath, he always somehow managed to cling to life, stubbornly refusing to die.
Flames burned the old man’s body, singing his flesh while thunder and lightning coursed through his veins, charring his insides. At the same time, the poisonous toxins invaded every inch of his physique, causing his skin to switch back and forth between black and green.
Just outside the eight stone pillars, a young veiled woman, with beautiful eyes that seemed devoid of the slightest impurity, sat limply on the ground, a strange power constantly pouring out from her tender body towards the energy being released from the stone pillars, her hands constantly swaying, desperately trying to resolve at least some of the terrifying damage directed towards the old man.
The woman’s figure was petite, and her veil completely concealed her visage. Her forehead was dotted with a small blue sapphire, complimenting her beautiful crystal clear eyes.
There were clear tear stains running down her face, and her eyes were puffy and swollen, but it seemed like all her tears had dried up, so she was not currently crying.
Her tender body shivered as she constantly pushed what little strength she had left, trying to save the old man from the octagonal stone pillar formation, but nothing she did seemed to make any difference.
Stuffing a pill into her mouth, the young woman did whatever she could to keep her strength up.
*Hong…*
Another lightning bolt came from one of the stone pillars. It was as thick as a thigh and it instantly landed on the old man, ripping open his skin and causing blood to splash out. Seemingly jolted awake by the pain of this impact, the old man’s pair of old muddy eyes opened as he creakily lifted his gaze towards the young woman, opening his lips as if trying to say something but unable to make any sound.
The young woman clearly understood what the old man was trying to convey, but she resolutely kept shaking her head.
The old man’s eyes filled with a thick sense of regret, as well as a strong unwillingness and obstinacy.
Suddenly, the old man noticed a familiar aura rapidly approaching and somehow managed to turn his exhausted eyes to the side to see what it was.
There, in the direction he stared, was a stream of light that in the next instant, crashed into his body.
The old man’s body shook, and his face revealed a look of astonishment, his originally dim eyes suddenly flickering with light.
The next moment, a palace shaped barrier appeared, enveloping the old man’s body and blocking the destructive energy surges that were bombarding him from all directions.
It seemed like because of the stream of light’s return, the old man’s face became a bit rosier and his vitality was slightly restored.
The young woman sitting outside the eight stone pillars let out a shout as he beautiful eyes opened wide, turning her head in the direction the stream of light had come from in the next instant, just in time to see a familiar figure quickly rushing towards her.
Four eyes suddenly met and the tears the young woman had thought had completely run dry once again began pouring down her cheeks.
Yang Kai also stared back at her, feeling as though all the blood in his body was boiling up, trembling lightly as he somehow put on a smile and in the gentlest voice he could manage called out to her, “Little Senior Sister, I finally found you.”
The young woman in front of him was none other than the one he had arrived in Tong Xuan Realm ten years ago to find: Xia Ning Chang!
Just like when he last saw her back in the Central Capital, Xia Ning Chang had seemingly not changed in the slightest. Her demeanour and actions were all kept unchanged. With age, this naive girl had grown even more, now displaying more womanly charms than before.
“Junior Brother?” Xia Ning Chang somewhat couldn’t believe what she was seeing, muttering hesitantly, “Is this… is this a dream?”
Yang Kai shook his head as he walked towards her.
Xia Ning Chang’s tender body trembled terribly until Yang Kai wrapped his arms around her and she felt the warmth of his chest, finally confirming that everything in front of her right now was not a dream, nor an illusion.
The Junior Brother who she had longed for every day had really come to this place and found her!
In an instant, Xia Ning Chang’s state of mind stabilized, feeling as though in her time of greatest need, she had finally found someone to rely on.
As tears containing his Little Senior Sister’s warmth drenched Yang Kai’s clothes, he couldn’t help inhaling a soft breath before turning his eyes towards the old man who seemed to be nailed to the nearby stone pillar.
What entered his sight almost caused Yang Kai to cry out in shock.
Treasurer Meng!
The Meng Wu Ya who, when Yang Kai was incredibly frail and weak had lent him so much help, now appeared like a dry oil lamp, his body injured and emaciated to the point where it was nothing short of a miracle he was even still alive.
Yang Kai couldn’t imagine just how much suffering and pain Meng Wu Ya had endured to end up like this.
“How did this happen?” Yang Kai asked in a solemn manner.
In his impression, Meng Wu Ya was always calm and steady, exuding a kind of innate confidence that seemed to say that nothing under the Heavens could impede him.
He had always worn an air of invincibility, often giving those who dared to challenge him a terrifying surprise, causing them endless regret.
But now, that same Meng Wu Ya, who was always wearing a calm smile while easily accomplishing what seemed to be impossible, was now a breath away from death, making Yang Kai feel a deep sense of incongruity.
“Master and I entered this strange Demon Race Mysterious Small World, and then we unknowingly triggered some kind of trap which sent us here. By the time I woke up, Master had already been shackled to that stone pillar. I don’t know what purpose these eight stone pillars serve, but they are constantly releasing power to torture Master. I kept trying to save him, but nothing I did had any affect… Junior Brother, please, you have to save Master. If we don’t get him out of here soon, he really will die,” Xia Ning Chang pleaded through her tearful sobs.
When she was very young, she had been picked up by Meng Wu Ya. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say Meng Wu Ya was the one who raised her. On top of that, the one who granted her strength and taught her how to survive was Meng Wu Ya. Rather than a Master, she regarded him as her most important relative.
Seeing Meng Wu Ya suffering in agony every day, Xia Ning Chang felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded as he lifted his hand and gently stroked Xia Ning Chang’s head, injecting a subtle power into her body as he softly declared, “Rest assured, since I’ve come, I will definitely save him. Just rest now.”
Xia Ning Chang’s eyelids grew heavy, as if Yang Kai’s words contained some kind of hypnotic power causing her to feel extremely drowsy.
Xia Ning Chang was also a lamp without oil, something Yang Kai could not bare to see any further.
Neither of them knew how long they had been trapped in this place, but during this time, it was certain that Little Senior Sister had never once rested as she constantly continued to push her strength, likely causing all kinds of damage to her body in the process.
Before anything else, he had to make her rest!
Meng Wu Ya, who was still trapped on the stone pillar, sent a look of gratitude towards Yang Kai with his gloomy eyes, sending him a faint Divine Sense message in the next instant telling him to take Xia Ning Chang and quickly leave.
As long as Yang Kai safely led Xia Ning Chang away, Meng Wu Ya could die without regret.
He had endured this inhuman torture for so long while desperately clinging to life only because he could not bear the thought of leaving his treasured apprentice trapped here all alone.
After staring into each other eyes for only a moment, Yang Kai did not say anything and simply picked up the unconscious Xia Ning Chang, turned around, and walked back the way he had come.
At that moment, the four Monster Race masters and Li Rong had also arrived nearby and were all silently observing the situation, unsure exactly what had transpired here.
“Master, this girl…” Li Rong saw Yang Kai’s expression was somewhat off and quickly asked.
“She’s my Senior Sister,” Yang Kai answered, setting Xia Ning Chang down nearby in a safe place.
“Master’s Senior Sister?” Li Rong couldn’t help taking a closer look at Xia Ning Chang, quickly noticing that this veiled young woman’s strength was somewhat unstable due to excessive use, but that her cultivation realm was actually the same as Yang Kai’s, Third Order Transcendent!
This point was also noticed by the four Monster Race masters, causing the two Great Seniors to exchange a shocked glance.
They had thought that this world producing a freak like Yang Kai who had reached the Third Order Transcendent Realm at such a young age was already shocking enough, but now it seemed like this mysterious Senior Sister of his was no worse than him!
Yang Kai was from Soaring Heaven Sect, could this young woman also be from Soaring Heaven Sect then?
Was that Sect really capable of producing one monstrous talent after another like this?
After setting down Xia Ning Chang, Yang Kai turned around and continued to stare at Meng Wu Ya a short distance away, a moment later quickly saying, “Thunder Dragon Great Senior, I know Treasurer Meng and your Monster Race have some grievances between you, but I hope you won’t try to find trouble with him right now.”
“Is that guy really Meng Wu Ya?” Thunder Dragon frowned as he stared forward.
If it wasn’t for Yang Kai’s reminder just now, he wouldn’t have been sure, but after observing him carefully for a while, Thunder Dragon did notice a slight resemblance between the old man trapped on the stone pillar and the one he had seen all those years ago.
“Is this the Human Race’s strongest? How did he end up like that?” Earth Splitting Divine Ox also frowned, Meng Wu Ya’s current state was really something that was difficult to look at.
“Yes, he is Meng Wu Ya!” Yang Kai nodded, “I have to free him. I won’t ask you Monster Race masters to help; I only request that you not try to disturb me!”
Hearing this, Thunder Dragon snorted, “Little brat, who do you think this King is? Do you believe this King is the kind of villain who would hit an opponent when he is down? Blood Dragon Great Senior really died because of Meng Wu Ya, and this King would like nothing more than to challenge him, but that will only have meaning if he is in his peak state, naturally, that all depends on if you can rescue him from this place in the first place.”
If a character like Meng Wu Ya could be trapped here, the mysterious force contained within these eight pillars was no doubt extraordinary, Thunder Dragon Great Senior was honestly not optimistic about Yang Kai’s chances.
This kid was full of surprises and had shocked them a number of times since coming to this place, but in the end, he was still just a Third Order Transcendent.
“Whether or not I can save him, I’ll know once I try,” Yang Kai took a deep breath before fully releasing his Divine Sense towards the eight pillars.
This was Yang Kai’s first time here so he did not know what Treasurer Meng had encountered that led to him being tethered to the stone pillar, so he had to first investigate.
Yang Kai moved extremely carefully so as not to accidentally trigger any traps.
Seemingly noticing Yang Kai spreading out his Divine Sense, although still bound to the stone pillar, Meng Wu Ya tried to shake his head and shout something, anxious to stop him, but unfortunately, he was only capable of the making the slightest of movements and sound.
He had also inexplicably become trapped here because he tried to probe these eight pillars.
The speed at which Yang Kai’s Divine Sense expanded though was nearly instantaneous, so there was no time to stop it.
The instant his Divine Sense touched the eight stone pillars, Yang Kai’s expression changed dramatically.
The power contained within these pillars was far beyond what he had imagined, on a true world-shaking level.
In the next breath, the world trembled and pressure that terrified everyone present fell from the sky.
The five Saint Realm masters all felt as if their hearts were about to stop as they painfully gasped for breath.
None of them had ever thought such a terrible pressure could exist in this world, one that they couldn’t even summon the will to resist.
Golden light blossomed and from the void, a giant incorporeal hand stretched forth like lightning and seized Yang Kai.
Immediately after, the five golden fingers transformed into coils of rope, bound Yang Kai, and dragged him forward.
Yang Kai was completely incapable of resisting. After being captured by the golden ropes, Yang Kai felt as if all of his strength had been sealed and he was unable to even twitch.
His eyes darting around, Yang Kai found that all the masters who had come here had also been captured, none of them able to escape, each of them calling out in alarm as they were dragged forward; obviously they had all used their Divine Senses to investigate the stone pillars.
Only Xia Ning Chang, who was currently unconscious, was lucky enough to escape.
Seeing this scene, Meng Wu Ya’s eyes dimmed and knew that it was late.
*Peng peng peng…*
The four Monster Race masters, along with Li Rong and Yang Kai for a total of six, became chained to the stone pillars, unable to move.
The next moment, blood-curdling screams rang out one after another.
Even the two Monster Race Great Seniors were unable to bear the horrifying torture they were suddenly subjected to, their faces warping in pain, Cai Die and Li Rong also crying out in agony.
A wild strength suddenly erupted from everyone as the Monster Race masters attempted to transform into their Beast Forms, hoping to break free from the pillars.
Scarlet Flame Thunder Dragon, Earth Splitting Divine Ox, Nine Nether Golden Beast, Seven Coloured Illusory Butterfly, each of them had a noble and powerful lineage amongst Monster Beasts. Seeing any one of them was a rare phenomenon but now all of them had actually gathered together in one place.
Li Rong also used her Demon God Transformation, the profound black Demon Crests quickly covering her face, adding a wild flare to her beauty.
However, no matter how they struggled, in front of these eight pillars, they were still as weak as ants.
Yang Kai’s face has also drained of all colour.
The moment he became bound to the stone pillar, he finally realized just how much pain Meng Wu Ya was enduring.
Each of the eight stone pillars contained a different energy attribute, these eight different energies then gathered together to form a terrible killing array that continuously lashed each of their bodies and minds.
What truly frightened Yang Kai though was that the stone pillars also seemed to be rapidly leeching their strength and vitality.
Each of their individual vitalities and auras was gradually weakening.
“Master, use your Demon God Transformation!” Li Rong suddenly shouted.
Yang Kai was clenching his teeth in order to bear the terrifying pain but upon hearing her words he did not hesitate to display the Divine Skill he obtained from the Great Demon God inheritance.
The world trembled as billowing evil energy surged out from Yang Kai’s Unyielding Golden Skeleton, replacing the Yang Yuan Qi which was flowing through his meridians and physique. Demon Crests flickered and then disappeared into his physique, forming a profound pattern which could not be seen by the naked eye.
In the next moment, Yang Kai suddenly felt relaxed.
After using his Demon God Transformation, the devastating destructive energies which were ravaging his body all disappeared, and although he was still shackled to the pillar, it was no longer extracting his strength.
At the same time, he also felt an unusual aura flowing through the octagonal stone pillar array.
His eyes widening, Yang Kai muttered under his breath, “Is this one of Great Demon God’s method?”
Li Rong nods.
Like Yang Kai, she had become safe after displaying her Demon God Transformation; because she had noticed this abnormality, she had anxiously reminded Yang Kai.
These eight stone pillars stemmed from Great Demon God’s hand while the Demon God Transformation and Ancient Demon Clan shared deep roots with Great Demon God, so it made sense that by using the Demon God Transformation, they could gain some leeway.
Although all of this was only Yang Kai’s guess, it should be close to the truth.
Looking around, the four Monster Race masters were still gritting their teeth to endure; soon they became unable to maintain their Beast Forms and were once again returned to human form.
Each of them was now wearing a soulless look as they stared in a daze towards Yang Kai, knowing that it was now just a matter of time before they were reduced to the same state as Meng Wu Ya.
Yang Kai struggled as he tried to escape from the shackles of the stone pillar, but his efforts were ultimately in vain.
Just as he was becoming anxious, Li Rong shouted again, “Master, there’s movement.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared in front of himself.
In the center of the eight stone pillars, and illusory figure was slowly condensing, gradually taking the form of a man.
This man had a sturdy and majestic physique, with a heroic bearing and a pair of sharp eyes. He was currently staring slightly curiously towards Yang Kai and Li Rong.
Seeing this person’s appearance, Yang Kai suddenly grinned and remained silent.
Li Rong’s beautiful eyes went wide as the figure in front of her slowly overlapped with the one in her memories, calling out in shock a moment later, “Great Demon God?”
The figure in front of her that seemed to fade in and out of reality was clearly the same as the statue in front of Demon God Citadel.
The statue in front of Demon God Citadel was carved by the ancestors of the Ancient Demon Clan, the ones who had directly served under Great Demon God and knew his true appearance.
When they heard this name leak out from Li Rong’s lips, the faces of the four Monster Race masters went even paler.
Even if he had fallen thousands of years ago, Great Demon God’s prestige was world-shaking, a legendary existence without equal from his generation until today.
“Sure enough, it’s you!” Yang Kai shouted lowly.
“But… Didn’t Sir Demon God fall long ago?” Li Rong couldn’t believe that the strange figure in front of her was really Great Demon God, but the overbearing aura that pulsed from him was not something that could be faked.
“He’s not the true Great Demon God, he’s only a Soul Clone. Can’t you see that he doesn’t have a physical form?” Yang Kai stared at the figure in front of him fixedly.
“A Soul Clone? What’s that?” Li Rong exclaimed.
Yang Kai shook his head and did not explain.
He had earlier obtained a drop of pure Demon God Golden Blood and learned this Soul Fission Divine Ability.
Yang Kai had also cultivated this Soul Fission and his own Soul Clone was currently still being nourished inside his Knowledge Sea, unfortunately this was a long process so it would not be useful to him for quite some time.
But obviously Great Demon God was different; since this Divine Ability originally belonged to him, naturally he had a fully formed Soul Clone, one that was nearly as powerful as his main body.
When Yang Kai saw the figure in front of him, he instantly understood its origins.
“Oh? You seem to know a great many things little boy, worthy of this Senior’s true body’s inheritor!” Great Demon God’s Soul Clone stared at Yang Kai and smiled faintly, his voice seemingly sounding direction into Yang Kai’s mind.
Yang Kai smiled and shot back, “It seems that you also know many things about me.”
The Soul Clone of Great Demon God snorted, “How could I have so easily shown myself if I did not sense the bones of my true body? Is this woman a descendant of the clan which served me many years ago? The Demon God Transformation is not something just anyone can learn.”
“You really are Great Demon God?” Li Rong was so shocked she was barely able to speak, her beautiful eyes filling with a kind of fanatical worship and excitement. As a descendant of the Ancient Demon Clan, she had fantasized countless times about what kind of existence Great Demon God was, but it was only today that she learned just how pale her imagination was.
She was now a top master, a genuine Third Order Saint, but she had still been instantly captured and imprisoned without any ability to resist by a method Great Demon God had laid down millennia ago.
If the other party had not shown himself, it was quite likely she and Yang Kai would be facing the same miserable fate as the four Monster Race masters.
She could hardly even dream about what the kinds of strength and means Great Demon God possessed when he was still alive.
“Since we share such a relationship, is it possible for us to sit down and have a discussion?” Yang Kai looked at him.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Is it possible to release my friends? They were all just implicated because of me. The old man who came in before also has close ties to me.”
Great Demon God stared at him for a moment before suddenly sneering, “Little boy, are you perhaps under a mistaken impression? Do you think that just because you are this Senior’s inheritor, you have the qualifications to bargain back and forth with me? If you really think so, then I’m afraid you will be quite disappointed.”
“Why did you capture them? Why did you set up this formation here?” Yang Kai frowned, faintly thinking that things weren’t as simple as he originally thought.
“It is not that I wished to capture them, it is that they trespassed upon a place they never should have!” Great Demon God slowly shook his head, “Anyone who enters this place must give up any idea of leaving alive, this place… is the keystone of the entire world.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai asked anxiously.
“It is still too early to tell you this. Since you possess the skeleton of this Senior’s main body, you will one day reach the same height as he once did and will naturally understand the significance of this place,” Great Demon God said, a somewhat impatient look appearing on his face, “In deference to the fact that you are this Senior’s true body’s inheritor, I can allow you and this woman to leave here but you must never come here again, or next time I will show you no such mercy.”