What was shocking to the five Grandmasters was not Xia Ning Chang’s great strength.
Although she was already a Third Order Transcendent at such a young age, that was irrelevant to the Grandmasters. They simply assumed she was like Yang Kai, a genius in the Martial Dao.
The key point was that the nature of her body’s strength, it wasn’t of the Flame Attribute or the Yang Attribute.
Whether it was Alchemy or Artifact Refining, one needed to use burning power in order to melt, purify, and then blend the various essences of herbs or minerals in order to refine pills or artifacts. Only by applying such heat could one bring out the true potential of their raw materials.
As such, Alchemist and Artifact Refiners had to cultivate either Fire Attribute or the Yang Attribute Secret Arts, causing the True Qi in their bodies to always be scalding hot.
However, the True Qi sent out by Xia Ning Chang was extremely gentle, with an aura that exuded one close to that of the natural world.
How was this Alchemy? The five Grandmasters were all stumped.
But the next moment, all of them were simultaneously dumbfounded.
The Saint Grade herbs that were wrapped in invisible power gently floated in front of Xia Ning Chang and under her gentle, natural force, began to break down, their medicinal essences congealing together into droplets of incomparable pure medicinal liquid while the remaining dregs were discarded.
Xia Ning Chang’s body remained motionless, only a constant stream of power flowed out from her as her two jade hands formed a number of profound seals that she sent towards the purified herbs.
The Grandmaster’s expression all became solemn, each of them wearing a look of shock as they stared fixedly towards Xia Ning Chang, none of them even blinking for fear they might miss one of her actions.
With the eyesight of the five Grandmasters, they could instantly tell that this little girl in front of them had a deep understanding and possessed profound skills in Alchemy. The way she condensed and processed these drops of medicinal liquids was exquisite, to the point that even they would not have been able to do any better than her.
The efficacy of each herb was perfectly extracted without the slightest waste, and through her incredible methods, all of them were condensed and gradually gathered together.
Drops of medicinal liquid floated like pearls in front of Xia Ning Chang.
Pointing a single jade finger out, Xia Ning Chang pushed the gentle force from her body out once more, taking her finger as a pen and her True Qi as ink to draw a delicate Spirit Array mid-air.
The speed at which she portrayed this Spirit Array was astonishing.
The observing Grandmasters keenly realized that the Spirit Array she was using was nearly identical to the one used by Yang Kai. Clearly, they had been taught by the same Master.
Gradually, the five Grandmasters became enthralled by her performance, none of them even daring to breathe loudly lest they accidentally disturb Xia Ning Chang.
None of them doubted whether Xia Ning Chang could perform Alchemy anymore. The fantastical scene playing out before them was the clearest proof of all.
If it was not someone with profound achievements in Alchemy, it would be impossible for them to understand these Alchemic Spirit Arrays or to so perfectly condense medicinal liquids.
On top of that, Xia Ning Chang’s Alchemy technique contained a kind of fascinating beauty that drew them in, allowing them to forget everything around them, including their own existences as they followed each one of her movements. All five Grandmasters suddenly felt like they had entered into a magical world, one filled with the purest essence of Alchemy.
The path beneath their feet was firm and the view of the horizon was clear.
At this moment, each of them felt as if their souls had been baptized, allowing their hundred years of study in the Alchemic Way to receive a kind of sublimation.
Gradually, the complex Spirit Array took form, its overlapping lines shimmering with light as they gradually drew in the surrounding drops of medicinal liquid, gathering them in its centre.
Right before their eyes, the medicinal liquids began merging with one another, undergoing a special metamorphosis which led the appearance of the embryonic form of a pill.
The five Grandmasters stared at this process with excited faces.
They had immersed themselves in Alchemy for so many years but never once before had they so clearly seen the formation of a pill.
Every pill they had ever refined or seen refined was formed inside a pill furnace, so the process could not be seen by the naked eye. Only after the pill was refined successfully would they be able to see its true appearance…
It wasn’t until this very moment that they all realized that the formation of a pill was so mesmerizing and soul-stirring; it was like watching the birth of a new life as the pill sent out a vigorous energy aura.
The Grandmasters’ hearts pounded as they found themselves unable to speak, all of them stretching their necks out, seemingly wanting to get even the slightest bit closer to more carefully observe.
As the pill slowly began to take shape, the Grandmasters’ poured in their Divine Senses, their tension shooting up as if it was their own child being born.
After a long time, a pill fragrance suddenly began wafting out, filling the nostrils of the Grandmasters, finally allowing all of them to breathe a sigh of relief and relax as they felt a giant weight lift from their hearts.
Xia Ning Chang reached out grabbed the pill in front of her, pinching it between her jade white fingers as she stared at it for a while, a slight frown forming on her brow, seemingly somewhat unsatisfied with this result, placing the pill into a prepared jade bottle a moment later.
At the same time, Yang Kai also finished refining the Saint Pill he was working on, tapping his pill furnace and causing it to fly out and accurately land inside a jade bottle he was holding, sealing it in the next instant.
Two pill fragrances with some subtle differences filled the room, making people feel refreshed.
The room fell so silent one could hear a pin drop, only the heavily pounding hearts of the five Grandmasters resounding.
Xia Ning Chang slowly extricated herself from the world of Alchemy and when she looked up; she saw five pairs of eyes staring at her like starving wolves who had just encountered the finest of prey.
“Several Seniors…” Xia Ning Chang was frightened and quickly turned her eyes towards Yang Kai, silently praying for rescue.
Yang Kai grinned, understanding well the Grandmasters’ shock but still refusing to give them enough time to pull themselves out of their delirium as she called out, “Several Grandmasters, do you now believe this Junior’s words?”
Du Wan glanced over at him and nodded with a forced smile, “Seeing is really believing.”
The five Grandmasters all came back to their senses upon hearing these words, with Chang Bao frowning deeply as he asked in confusion, “But I still can’t figure out how she managed to refine this pill without Flame or Yang Attribute True Qi… Even without mentioning her not using a pill furnace, her True Qi shouldn’t even be suited to Alchemy.”
“I’m also can’t understand. Could it be that one actually doesn’t need burning hot True Qi to perform Alchemy?” He Feng also kept shaking his head. Although watching Xia Ning Chang perform Alchemy even once had brought him a huge harvest, it had simultaneously subverted almost everything he knew about Alchemy, leading him to doubt even his most fundamental knowledge.
Kong Ruo Yu wore a pensive look upon her face and only after a long time did she venture a guess, “Have you ever heard about a special constitution that was born specifically for Alchemy?”
“A special constitution?” Du Wan gasped as he suddenly recalled something, “Do you mean…”
“The Sacred Spirit Medicine Body?” Hong Fang called out in alarm.
“En, the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body!” Kong Ruo Yu eyes lit up as she gazed towards Xia Ning Chang, “This little girl might just possess the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body.”
“If that’s the case, then it can explain why she can perform Alchemy without a pill furnace or burning True Qi,” Du Wan nodded.
As top-level Alchemist, the five Grandmasters had naturally heard about the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body and upon comparing what they knew about this special constitution with Xia Ning Chang’s performance, they grew even more certain about their speculation.
“Little brat, does this Senior Sister of yours have a special constitution?” Chang Bao called out to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
“No wonder! It turns out she possesses the legendary constitution.”
The eyes of the Grandmasters shone even brighter as they now stared at Xia Ning Chang as if they were staring at the greatest treasure of Alchemy, fascination and worship filling their faces.
“You Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair really know how to attack people;” Du Wan smiled bitterly, “This old master now constantly doubts his own competency in Alchemy.”
“En, I also suspect that I’ve been living in vain all these years,” He Feng also wore a depressed look and sighed.
“But if you compare them, this kid really isn’t as fierce as this little girl,” Hong Fang laughed, “Simply judging them based on time spent to refine Saint Pills, it’s clearly this little girl’s win.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, “What can I say, Senior Sister’s accomplishments in Alchemy have always been better than mine.”
“No, Junior Brother seems to only have been studying Alchemy for a short time, the last time we met he wasn’t even able to refine pills,” Xia Ning Chang quickly waved.
“Alright, you don’t need to go praising each other, let’s continue with the refinements; after all, we need to finish thirty pills today,” Chang Bao couldn’t wait to witness the previous magical scene again and quickly urged.
“En, but let’s say this first, after suffering a blow from you two, we old fogies won’t be refining any pills together so we don’t waste herbs,” He Feng added.
“Good, today’s thirty pills will be handed over to me and Little Senior Sister,” Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang glanced at each other and smiled before no longer saying anything and immersing themselves in Alchemy.
Time flew by.
The five Grandmasters had all gathered around Xia Ning Chang, focusing their eyes on every detail of her movements, completely throwing Yang Kai to the wayside.
They had already observed Yang Kai Alchemy for quite some time so now that there was Xia Ning Chang here, naturally, they weren’t willing to miss witnessing her methods.
Yang Kai was happy to see this, while Xia Ning Chang was even more excited than him.
Before now, she didn’t have access to many Saint Grade materials to practice with, but now that she was in Nine Heavens Holy Land, she didn’t have to worry about this issue anymore and could instead focus all her attention on her Alchemy.
On top of that, with her Sacred Spirit Medicine Body’s special constitution, performing Alchemy was the fastest method Little Senior Sister possessed to improve her strength.
Xia Ning Chang herself had once said that to her, Alchemy was cultivation, so while to others, refining pills was an exhausting task, it actually had the opposite effect on her.
After bustling about all day, when evening rolled around, and the thirty pills had finally all been refined, Yang Kai felt quite tired, but Xia Ning Chang was still bursting with energy, even looking somewhat regretful that they were already finished.
Xu Hui came soon after, accepted the thirty pills, and delivered them to the Holy Land’s customers who were waiting outside the nine peaks.
These cultivators instantly began praising the Holy Land’s Grandmaster. After ten days of rest, this mysterious Grandmaster had greatly increased the number of pills he refined in a single day.
This made those who were waiting in line for pills extremely happy.
The more pills the Holy Land’s Grandmaster refined per day, the shorter the time they would need to wait for their turn.
At this moment, Yang Kai, Xia Ning Chang, and the five Grandmasters had all returned to their individual rooms and were engaged in meditation and introspection.
On the second day, they repeated the process.
It was not until three days later that the five Grandmasters started performing Alchemy again, putting into practice their recent insights.
Inside the pill room, pill fragrance filled the air as Spirit Grade and Saint Grade pills emerged one after another.
Time flew by and soon a month had passed. The Holy Land disciples sent out by Xu Hui to inquire about recent events had returned and after listening to their reports, the Great Elder also vaguely realized that the world seemed to have undergone a subtle change and immediately rushed to the Holy Master Court to see Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had been long anticipating this report so he did not even go to the pill room today.
Inside the main hall, Xu Hui wore a solemn expression and said, “Holy Master, the disciple sent out travelled around for a month, taking note of various events they encountered along the road and found a very strange phenomenon.”
“What?”
“Throughout the entire world, many entrances to different Mysterious Small Worlds had appeared!”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as his expression tightened.
After seeing the Holy Tomb, the door to the Starry Sky, and the entrance to the Mysterious Small World which appeared two thousand kilometers away from the nine peaks all open on their own, Yang Kai had a bad premonition so ordered Xu Hui to send out disciples to explore the situation.
The results of this investigation were basically the in line with his assumptions, only deepening his unease.
Xu Hui continued, “The disciples’ investigations found that the entrances to these Mysterious Small Worlds seemed to all opened on their own, and at the exact same time. Currently, all the world’s cultivators are caught up in a fever of Mysterious Small World treasure hunting, with countless people rushing in and out of different Mysterious Small Worlds. The disciples reported that most of these Mysterious Small Worlds were empty, without any signs of even the most basic life, only occasionally did one of them contain some Ancient Ruins and treasures.”
“Were they able to determine exactly when these entrances opened?”
Xu Hui nodded, “It seems to have occurred a month and a half ago.”
One and a half months ago… Hearing this, Yang Kai’s suspicions were all but confirmed as that was exactly around the time when he rescued Meng Wu Ya and Xia Ning Chang.
[Was that strange space and Great Demon God’s Soul Clone really related somehow to these Mysterious Small Worlds suddenly opening up?]
Great Demon God had said that those eight stone pillars were the keystone to the entire world and if it was destroyed, there would be unimaginable consequences.
Was the current situation related to these words?
Was it because the keystone of Tong Xuan Realm was destroyed that all the hidden Mysterious Small Worlds around the world reappeared? However, if that was the case, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing, so why did Great Demon God’s Soul Clone issue such a dire warning?
From the tone of his speech at the time, it was like a catastrophe would occur once the stone pillars were destroyed, causing Yang Kai a great deal of concern.
Seeing Yang Kai’s fluctuating expression, Xu Hui did not dare to speak and simply stood by and waited for further instructions.
After a long silence, Great Elder tentatively asked, “Holy Master, do you want to send out teams from the Holy Land to explore these Mysterious Small Worlds? Perhaps there will be some unexpected gains. Recently, all the disciples have been spending their time in secluded cultivation so going out and moving about will do them some good.”
Yang Kai raised his head and hesitated for only a moment before suddenly nodding, “Good, allow the Holy Land’s disciples to go out and explore these Mysterious Small Worlds, but let them pay attention to one thing in particular.”
“Holy Master, please advise us!”
“If they come across or hear about a Mysterious Small World that contains places called ‘Central Capital’, ‘Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land’, or ‘Tian Lang Dynasty’, they must report back to the Holy Land immediately!”
“Yes!” Xu Hui didn’t ask what these names meant but from the look on Yang Kai’s face along he could tell that they were definitely important to him.
“In addition, send a message to Wu Jie. Tell him I have something to ask of him!” Yang Kai also said.
Great Elder nodded and respectfully retired.
Sitting on a chair in the main hall, Yang Kai heart raced.
Although this incident was quite unexpected, it may also provide him with an opportunity to return to the Central Capital.
Yang Kai had always been concerned about his friends and relatives back in the Central Capital, but he had so far not been able to find his way back there. When he first came to Tong Xuan Realm, he had been a wanderer with low strength, but now he had settled down and was the master of a giant force; naturally, he wanted to bring his loved ones here so that they could enjoy a better cultivation environment.
The entrances to all the Mysterious Small World which had been hidden throughout the world had opened by themselves, so one of them definitely lead to the world he was seeking.
Because, strictly speaking, the world Yang Kai originated from was a Mysterious Small World.
But unlike other Mysterious Small Worlds, the world containing the Central Capital was much bigger.
If a Saint Realm powerhouse with malicious intentions found their way to the Central Capital, the Eight Great Families would be unable to put up any resistance.
As such, he had to find his way home as soon as possible lest someone beat him there and cause harm to his friends or family.
An hour later, Wu Jie arrived.
Yang Kai asked him to let the disciples of Netherworld Sect seek out any news about the Central Capital. Wu Jie immediately agreed and left to make arrangements.
Since aligning himself with Yang Kai, Wu Jie’s Netherworld Sect had experienced great growth, so he would not refuse Yang Kai’s request.
After doing this, Yang Kai said a few words to Xia Ning Chang before summoning the Flying Heavens Shuttle and flying off alone in a blue streak of light.
One day later, Yang Kai appeared in Soaring Heaven Sect.
Atop Serene Resplendent Peak, he found Fei Yu and asked her to use the power of Soaring Heaven Sect to help him pay attention to any new as well.
Without delay, Yang Kai left again.
Two days later, inside Dragon Phoenix Palace.
Inside the Dragon Pavilion, Sun Yu, the Dragon Emperor, sat cross-legged and cultivated the most precious Martial Skills and Secret Arts available in Dragon Phoenix Palace.
Since Sun Yu successfully entered the Dragon Valley a few years ago and obtained the Dragon Emperor’s inheritance, he became the most eye-catching existence in the entire Dragon Phoenix Palace.
Palace Master Chen Zhou and all the Elders also regarded him as the greatest hope for revitalizing their Sect, providing him with the best possible environment and cultivation resources.
It had been a year and a half since he safely emerged from Dragon Valley and during this time, Sun Yu had made some progress in his cultivation, but not enough to satisfy himself.
When Sun Yu entered Dragon Valley in the past, he spent just two years to grow from the True Element Boundary Seventh Stage to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage, crossing an entire Great Realm.
But now, after a year and a half in the outside world, he had only managed to cultivate to the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary. A somewhat slow and disappointing rate of progress.
However, because of his identity as Dragon Emperor, the Palace Master and Elders did not say anything and simply waited patiently for the day he would one day soar.
Only Sun Yu knew the truth though, he was not the real Dragon Emperor.
The reason his strength increased so rapidly those two years inside Dragon Valley was all thanks to that Senior’s guidance. After that Senior left though, during this past year and a half, Sun Yu’s diligent cultivation was only able to guarantee that his strength grew faster than ordinary people.
However, even this rate of growth certainly left Palace Master Chen and the other Elders somewhat disappointed.
On top of that, Palace Master Chen had been constantly trying to help him choose a Phoenix Empress, forcing Sun Yu to constantly declare he needed to enter secluded retreat in order to avoid the issue.
Thanks to Sun Yu entering seclusion, the search for a Phoenix Empress finally came to an impasse.
While sitting in meditation, Sun Yu’s heart suddenly clenched as he felt as if someone was staring at him and the aura surrounding his room change subtly.
His eyes shooting open, Sun Yu shouted, “Who goes there?”
Standing right in front of Sun Yu was a young man who was staring at him with a friendly smile as he applauded, “Your senses have become quite sharp. It seems your growth has not been small.”
Hearing the voice of this person and then looking at his appearance, Sun Yu was overjoyed, quickly got up, and shouted, “Senior Yang?”
Yang Kai gently nodded.
“How did you come here? When did you arrive?” Sun Yu asked excitedly as he rushed over to Yang Kai.
“I just got here,” Yang Kai replied casually, “Speak softly; there are two Transcendents outside guarding this place.”
“En,” Sun Yu glanced outside and couldn’t help but shrink his neck, lowering his voice before retrieving a nearby chair, “Senior Yang, please have a seat.”
After waiting for Yang Kai to sit down, Sun Yu respectfully poured him a glass of water and then stood straight nearby, a big smile upon his face, as if he was welcoming his closest family member.
Sweeping Sun Yu with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai gently nodded, “Your cultivation has progressed well; you’ve been practising hard.”
Sun Yu wore a bitter expression and shook his head, “Senior Yang, please don’t make fun of me; although this kind of progress may be better than an average person, compared to the expectations of Palace Master Chen and Master, it’s actually quite disappointing. Even I’m not satisfied with myself.”
“There’s no need to rush, growing steadily is always for the best.”
“Senior Yang, when can you explain everything to Palace Master? the pressure I’ve been under all this time has been quite difficult to bear,” Sun Yu asked helplessly.
“I understand how you feel,” Yang Kai replied, “But now is not the time.”
In the beginning, after transforming from an ordinary disciple to the hope of the entire Sect, Sun Yu quite enjoyed the attention and praise, but after truly coming to understand the burden that had been placed on his shoulder, he began to realize just how difficult being in such a position was.
Enormous pressure and expectations were now part of everyday life for him.
“Wait a little longer,” Yang Kai comforted. He was planning on waiting to first reunite with Su Yan and bring her here to accept the Phoenix Empress’ inheritance from the Phoenix Nest before revealing the truth to Dragon Phoenix Palace. With the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress appearing before them, presumably, they would happily accept.
“Then did Senior Yang come here this time because he needs something from me?”
“En, I do have something I’d like your help with,” Yang Kai’s expression became serious as he made the same request to Sun Yu as he did to Wu Jie and Fei Yu.
Sun Yu naturally did not decline.
Half a day later, many elites from Dragon Phoenix Palace were dispatched in all directions under the command of Palace Master Chen Zhou.
Yang Kai said goodbye to Sun Yu and left Dragon Phoenix Palace, standing atop the Flying Heavens Shuttle as he released his Divine Sense into his surroundings, observing the area all around him as he flew forward.
He had used all of his personal relationships in order to seek out news about Central Capital as soon as possible.
Originally, he also planned on paying a visit to Water Spirit Temple as well, but after thinking about it, Shui Ling knew about his origins so if Water Spirit Temple really found a Void Corridor leading to his previous world, Shui Ling would definitely send word to Nine Heavens Holy Land about it.
As he rapidly flew through the sky, Yang Kai constantly scanned the ground below and as soon as he noticed any trace of Void Energy fluctuations nearby, he would immediately investigate. If it turned out to be the entrance to a Mysterious Small World, he would directly enter it in order to check if it led home.
Unfortunately, each time Yang Kai was met with disappointment, causing him to feel a sense of anxiety and impatience.
The Central Capital’s Eight Great Families were second to none in his old world, but compared to the forces of Tong Xuan Realm, they weren’t even worth mentioning. If they were discovered by some powerful force from this world, things would turn bad very quickly.
One day, two months later, Yang Kai returned back.
After returning to the Holy Master Court, he immediately summoned Xu Hui to ask if any of the disciples had found anything during this time, but the answer he received was no.
Yang Kai was inevitably disappointed.
Two months ago, he had used all his interpersonal relationships to move several forces to search for news about the Central Capital while also deploying a large amount of manpower from Nine Heavens Holy Land as well, but they still hadn’t found leads yet.
For the past two months, Yang Kai had been flying about searching for entrances to Mysterious Small Worlds.
In total, he had investigated thirty-two Mysterious Small Worlds but none of them had led to the Central Capital.
The speed of the Flying Heavens Shuttle was a big help at this time, allowing Yang Kai to cover almost half of the Human Territory.
Every three days he would return to the Holy Land to avoid missing any useful information.
But so far there had been nothing at all.
Xu Hui drew back and a moment later, a fragrant wind brushed past Yang Kai’s face. Looking up, he saw Xia Ning Chang’s veiled face and graceful figure standing in front of him. Seemingly sensing the anxiety in Yang Kai’s heart, her beautiful eyes flashed a deep sense of concern.
Yang Kai reached out and pulled his Little Senior Sister into his arms, sitting her down on his lap as he asked, “Did you finish Alchemy for today?”
“En,” Xia Ning Chang nodded lightly, “Thanks to all the Mysterious Small Worlds appearing recently, fewer and fewer people have been coming to request Alchemy services, so each day there aren’t many pills to be refined.”
Because of the sudden emergence of so many Mysterious Small Worlds, most cultivators were currently busy treasure hunting, leaving the nine peaks to seek for opportunities, leading to a sharp decline in the number of people standing around waiting in line outside the Holy Land.
This development inadvertently freed up Xia Ning Chang and the five Grandmasters.
The Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair held each other close, gently inhaling each other’s scent, calming their hearts.
“Junior Brother, are you looking for a way back to the Central Capital?” Xia Ning Chang suddenly asked.
“Did you ask Great Elder?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
Xia Ning Chang shook her head, “I can see it myself. Strictly speaking, our previous world was a Mysterious Small World, before we couldn’t find a Void Corridor leading back, but now that entrances have opened up all by themselves, it shouldn’t be long before one that leads home is discovered. Because there hasn’t been any news yet though, Junior Brother is certainly feeling quite anxious and have been spending most of your time outside.”
“En, I keep searching but unfortunately nothing has been found yet.”
“There will always be clues, Junior Brother doesn’t need to worry so much,” Xia Ning Chang softly comforted as she took the initiative to tightly hold Yang Kai’s hand and say, “At such a critical time, I wonder where Master has gone. If he was here, there would be someone else who we can discuss this matter with.”
“Treasurer Meng… he probably has something important to take care of,” Yang Kai was also not clear where Treasure Meng had disappeared.
But since he decided to leave Nine Heavens Holy Land almost immediately after arriving, even entrusting Xia Ning Chang to Yang Kai’s care, he definitely had something critical to deal with.
Yang Kai even wondered if he had really gone to the Demon Land.
After all, he had suffered a huge loss at the hands of the current Demon Commander, now that he had restored his strength, going to find trouble with the Demon Commander wouldn’t be impossible.
If that really was the case though, Treasurer Meng’s situation really might be worrying.
*Deng deng deng deng…* A flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
Like a frightened rabbit, Xia Ning Chang leapt out of Yang Kai’s arms, her face blushing bright red as she stood awkwardly nearby.
When no one was around, she could behave intimately towards Yang Kai, but in front of outsiders, she couldn’t bring herself to act so improperly.
The person who came in was Xu Hui, a somewhat flurried expression on his face.
Yang Kai turned a curious gaze towards him and asked, “What’s the matter, Great Elder?”
Xu Hui had just reported to Yang Kai about the information the disciples had collected over the past few days, yet now, after having only left for a short time, he had actually rushed back here. Obviously, he had something important to say.
“Holy Master, there are two women outside who asked to see you directly,” Xu Hui glanced over at Xia Ning Chang cautiously and lightly coughed as he reported.
“Women?” Yang Kai frowned, “What kind of women?”
“Em… they’re quite young and beautiful,” Xu Hui didn’t beat around the bush and spoke frankly, clearly thinking that these two women had some kind of emotional debt with Yang Kai and had now come looking for him to collect.
Xia Ning Chang also thought so and couldn’t help giggling lightly, shooting a light glance towards Yang Kai as she softly whispered, “Junior Brother, I’ll return to my room first.”
Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he hurriedly declared, “I don’t know any beautiful young women from the outside… Wait, is it Yun Xuan and Ruan Xin Yu from Bold Independent Union, the two who came to the Holy Land a while ago? Great Elder also met them at that time.”
“It’s not them,” Xu Hui shook his head, his eyes flashing for a moment, seemingly remembering something, “Right, the two girls who have come this time should be twins, their appearances are basically identical but their temperaments are slightly different, one of them charming while the other is lively
… En, they’re a rare pair.”
His look clearly showed he was thinking that Yang Kai was lucky in love, basically having determined that the two who had come had some kind of intimate relationship with Yang Kai.
However, hearing Xu Hui’s words, Yang Kai’s expression changed greatly as his eyes lit up, jumping to his feet as he shouted, “Twins? Did you say twins?”
“Ah… en,” Xu Hui didn’t know why Yang Kai reacted so strongly, giving him a strange look as he continued, “And according to this old master’s observations, those two girls should be cultivating a very Secret Art, one that connects their two life auras together, even their individual energy fluctuations are exactly the same. Both of their cultivations seem to be only at the First Order Transcendent Realm, but when they stand together their innate auras are difficult to ignore. It’s really quite strange, even if they are twins, there should be differences in their life auras and True Qi fluctuations.”
Yang Kai’s expression gradually brightened and became radiant while Xia Ning Chang had also covered her small mouth with her delicate hands, a look of shock and joy flashing across her beautiful eyes.
The Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair exchanged a glance, both of them having thought of a certain possibility.
“Where are those two now?” Yang Kai asked quickly, at the same time spreading out his Divine Sense.
“They are waiting just outside the nine peaks.”
“Take me to see them!”
“I’m also coming!” Xia Ning Chang hurriedly declared.
“Eh…” Xu Hui was struck speechless again, freezing in place, secretly feeling anxious for Yang Kai, wondering if this Senior Sister of the Holy Master was tagging along to make things difficult for the two young women outside.
However, from what Xu hui had seen of her, Xia Ning Chang didn’t seem like such a person.
“What are gawking at?” Yang Kai shouted before flying out together with Xia Ning Chang.
Xu Hui quickly collected himself while silently deciding to flee at the first signs of trouble between these three women, leaving the Holy Master to deal with the resulting headache.
Being loved by beautiful women is not exactly all good.
As a seasoned person, Xu Hui naturally knew how terrifying women could become once sparks began to fly.
Outside the nine peaks, the two young women with graceful figures stood quietly, both of them great beauties with full peaks and slim waists, but despite their similar looks, their temperaments were very different, the one on the left exuded charm while the one on the right seemed more playful. The two of them standing there together was quite an eye-catching sight.
Many of the Holy Land’s disciples who were stationed here as guards were frequently sneaking glances towards these two.
None of them dared stare too long though, only taking a quick peek every now and then when it seemed like they wouldn’t be noticed, satisfying their hearts desires before turning away again.
“Elder Sister, these people are really annoying, they won’t stop peeking at us,” The young woman on the right bit her lip and whispered to her sister to the left.
“Just ignore them,” The young woman on the left shook her head and smiled softly, “How many people have already taken a look at us? In any case, we don’t lose anything from their stares. Men are all like this, and there are plenty who are even more annoying than this lot.”
“But that person is different…”
“That person…” The Elder Sister’s facial expression suddenly became serious as she revealed a reminiscent look, “That person left more than ten years ago and we haven’t heard a single word from him since, we don’t even know if the one we came to find here is really him.”
“I think he is!”
The Elder Sister glanced over at her little sister and smiled mirthlessly, “Although I also hope that’s the case, I’m afraid that it’s unlikely. According to others, the Holy Master of the Nine Heavens Holy Land is a Third Order Transcendent. We sister obtained a profound inheritance allowing us to posses our current cultivation but even if he is fiercer than us, it still seems impossible that his strength could so greatly exceed our own; after all, our cultivation rate is nearly twice as fast as that of ordinary people.”
“Elder Sister, have you forgotten all the miracles that he created in the Central Capital and War City that year? There shouldn’t be anything impossible for him.”
“I hope so, but if it really is him, how was he able to become the master of this place after just ten years? This force is in a completely different league compared to the Eight Great Families,” The Elder Sister sighed, though she was desperately clinging to hope, her rational mind was telling her it was hopeless.
“I wonder what the Sect’s situation is over there…” The younger sister said worriedly.
“No matter what is happening over on that side, there’s no way we can return right now. Our only hope is to find him quickly and let him find a solution… En, some people are coming,” As she was speaking, the Elder Sister looked up towards the distance and saw three figures quickly flying over.
The speed of these three was extremely fast and even with her cultivation, she was only able to see a blurry afterimage.
When the three arrived in front of them, the two sisters’ eyes lit up as they stared forward in a state of disbelief while feeling like a great burden had finally been lifted from their shoulders.
“Disciple greets Holy Master, greets Great Elder!” The Holy Land disciples guarding the place bowed respectfully. Great Elder waved his hand and didn’t speak, simply standing behind Yang Kai and watching.
He found that when Yang Kai saw these two girls, he wore a big smile, and although he remained silent, his happiness was obvious as if he had just reunited with long-separated friends.
“It really is you!” Xia Ning Chang exclaimed.
“Yang Kai!” The two sisters seemed to be extremely excited, both of them shouting in unison and then, under the dumbstruck gaze of Great Elder, leapt forward and hugged Yang Kai.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if their thoughts were linked!
Surrounded by beautiful women, his arms and chest experiencing an amazingly soft yet elastic sensation, Yang Kai could only stand there, obviously overcome with shock.
Too warm!
After ten years of separation, this pair of sisters had become so warm that they had taken the initiative to embrace him, causing Yang Kai to feel somewhat overwhelmed.
Xia Ning Chang meanwhile just stood nearby and giggled, not showing the slightest bit of unpleasantness.
Great Elder turned his eyes towards the sky as if he was admiring the vastness and mystery of the Heavens.
Outside the nine peaks, Yang Kai was being hugged by two identical twin beauties while the veiled Little Senior Sister stood nearby and smiled.
The Holy Land disciples who were responsible for guarding this place all starred with looks of pure admiration on their faces, all of them thinking that their Holy Master was a real man with deep and profound methods, even capable of conquering these two beautiful sisters.
“Alright, haven’t you two had enough yet?” Yang Kai was on the verge of suffocating while the amazing softness he felt on his chest was making him feel awkward so he quickly pinched the two young women’s waists playfully to get them to release him.
The two sisters swiftly released Yang Kai and directed bitter stares towards him.
“What?” Yang Kai asked vigilantly, “You delivered yourselves on your own, it’s not like I was trying to take advantage of you.”
“After not seeing you for so many years, I see you’re still as good at annoying others as always,” The charming woman snorted, “All this time we’ve been thinking and worrying about your safety but it turns out you’ve become a big shot Holy Master here, it seems all our worries were in vain.”
“You were worried about me?” Yang Kai stared at her with a stunned look upon his face, “I’m honored.”
“That’s wrong… I didn’t… it was Mei’er who was always thinking of you,” The woman’s face turned bright red as she let fly a flurry of denials.
“Elder Sister was too.”
“Was not!”
“Good, you don’t want to start quarrelling as soon as you meet each time, let’s go inside to talk,” Xia Ning Chang also regained her composure and softly interjected.
Yang Kai grinned and beckoned to the two sisters, “Come with me, there’s no need for you to feel like an outsider here.”
“No thanks,” The Elder Sister snorted, pulling her little sister and Xia Ning Chang’s hands as she lead them into the nine peaks.
Yang Kai shook his head wryly as he stared at their backs, his face gradually becoming serious.
The two sisters were none other than the Blood Battle Gang’s famous Hu Sisters, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er.
Because Yang Kai had constantly been seeking for information about the Central Capital during this time, when he heard Great Elder report that a pair of twins had come to see him, he couldn’t help thinking about the Hu Sisters.
Then, as the Great Elder described them, Yang Kai all but confirmed his guess.
Back in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave, Yang Kai and Su Yan obtained the ultimate inheritance, the one which belonged to Dragon Phoenix Palace.
The Hu Sisters also obtained a profound inheritance called the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art. After cultivating this Secret Art, the two sister’s auras and True Qi fluctuations had become exactly the same.
The Hu Sisters being here meant that the Central Capital and Tong Xuan Realm really had been connected, and perhaps something had happened to them.
“Holy Master… these two girls…” Xu Hui, who had been on the sidelines the whole time, hesitantly spoke, wanting to probe what the relationship between the twins and Yang Kai was but also feeling like he was acting too nosy.
“It’s not what you think!” Yang Kai shot him a glance.
“I understand,” Xu Hui nodded quickly.
Inside the nine peaks, the two sisters walked around and explored their surroundings, constantly exclaiming. Even in Tong Xuan Realm, Nine Heavens Holy Land was considered a top force, so the scenery and aura within the nine peaks were obviously incomparable to anything the Central Capital had.
Arriving here immediately broadened the two sister’s horizons, making them appear like two country girls who had never seen the big city before.
Back in the Holy Master Court, Xia Ning Chang helped the two sisters settle in while Yang Kai personally poured tea for them. An Ling’er also soon came bringing with her a tray of rare spirit fruits.
The Hu Sisters seemed to have not had a good rest for a very long time, the look of exhaustion on their pretty faces apparent to all and their True Qi auras showing signs of overdraft. Upon smelling the spirit fruits, the two of them gulped unconsciously.
Hu Jiao Er reached out and unceremoniously took two pieces of fruit, handing one to Hu Mei Er before biting into the one she kept.
Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang sat down next to each other and waited for the Hu Sisters to restore themselves.
After eating several spirit fruits in succession, the two seemed to recover some of their vigour and Yang Kai asked, “Judging from your travel worn looks, it seems you’ve been on the road for quite some time, yes?”
The Hu Sisters nodded together, “It’s been almost three months.”
Yang Kai took a soft breath, “It’s been hard for you.”
Both of them were First Order Transcendents, so three months of constant travel had no doubt been extremely draining, it was inevitable that they were exhausted.
“Yang Kai, you have to hurry back, there may be something happening on that side,” Hu Jiao Er suddenly frowned as she spoke anxiously.
“I know,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
“You know?” The Hu Sisters stared blankly at him.
“To be honest, some things have happened here in the recent period and I have been searching for a way back, it’s just that until now I haven’t been able to discover any clues so your arrival is really fortuitous. Tell me carefully about how you got here.”
The Hu Sisters exchanged a look before Hu Jiao Er began explaining, “Do you still not remember where the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave opened? That mine that belonged to my Hu Family.”
“Of course I remember,” Yang Kai nodded.
“It was three or four months ago when a strange phenomenon occurred in that place.”
After listening to Hu Jiao Er’s remarks, Yang Kai realized how the two sisters had come to Tong Xuan Realm and also why they trekked tens of thousands of kilometres to find Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Three or four months ago, in the place where the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave once opened, a dark hole suddenly appeared. After receiving notification about this event, the Hu Sisters went in to investigate.
Currently, in the Blood Battle Gang, and even throughout their entire world, the Hu Sisters’ strength ranked among the highest.
Because they had confidence in their own strength, the Hu Sisters weren’t afraid of any dangers and boldly entered the dark hole, planning on carefully exploring what lay on the other side.
After all, they had already experienced the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave and mistakenly thought that this dark hole was quite similar to the entrance which had appeared that time. Little did they know that the Void Corridor that appeared this time was actually a pathway leading to Tong Xuan Realm.
And so, the two of them accidentally arrived in Tong Xuan Realm.
The two sisters searched around for two days and soon discovered that they had come to a completely different place than they had expected. They also discovered many traces of cultivator activities and even noticed several masters they could not see through.
At that moment, they realized they had arrived in an entirely different world.
While preparing to return to Blood Battle Gang though, the sisters discovered to their horror that the entrance they had passed through was already surrounded by cultivators from a certain force.
Among the cultivators guarding the entrance, there were many powerful masters. All alone, the two sisters understood they could not approach this place easily and whenever they tried they were forced to retreat.
Under the circumstances, the two of them could only wait nearby hoping to find a chance to sneak through.
However, such an opportunity never arrived.
At that time, they remembered Yang Kai who had left the Central Capital ten years ago and with the mentality of using medicine to treat a dead horse, went around inquiring about him, hoping that perhaps he too was in this world and that if he was, he could help them return home.
Neither of them held out much hope but they still went around asking.
Throughout Tong Xuan Realm, Nine Heavens Holy Land’s reputation had reached an unparalleled height and Yang Kai as the master of the Holy Land was equally well known.
After inquiring for a while, the sisters found that the age and appearance of Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Holy Master were quite similar to the young man they knew so they immediately rushed over to Nine Heavens Holy Land.
The reason why the two sisters were so excited when they saw Yang Kai was that because he was the Yang Kai they knew. With all the tension and burden weighing down on them for the past few months finally lifted, they even momentarily lost their self-control and clung on to him.
“I didn’t expect that you really were the Holy Master of this place, but seeing how you are, things should be simple to resolve. Since you command the Holy Land, you must be able to communicate with that force to ensure they don’t harm Blood Battle Gang and the other people on that side, right?” Hu Jiao Er looked at Yang Kai eagerly, pinning all her hopes on him.
“Do you still remember the way back? Also, what was the name of the force that drove you away?”
“I don’t remember the way back…” Hu Jiao Er slowly shook her head, “This place is far too vast, but I heard from some cultivators back there that the force occupying the way back was called Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple.”
“Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple?” Yang Kai frowned, vaguely feeling like he had heard that name somewhere before.
“That place is not close,” An Ling’er, who had been sitting and listening the whole time, spoke up, “These two must have taken a roundabout path, otherwise they should have been able to reach the Holy Land within two months from that location.”
“Do you know about that force?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
An Ling’er smiled, “Saintesses learn many things, naturally that includes the strength and location of the world’s important forces. Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple is a relatively powerful force with several Saint Realm masters, the most powerful one probably having reached the Second Order.”
“Basically on par with the Holy Land!”
“You could say that,” An Ling’er smiled and nodded, “However, in terms of reputation and prestige they are absolutely incomparable with the current Holy Land. Still, they shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Listening to her, the Hu Sisters’ faces became dignified.
In their eyes, this Nine Heavens Holy Land was quite tyrannical, but if it was only equal in strength with Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, it was uncertain if they could rely on this place’s influence to resolve the other side’s crisis.
“Then we’ll have to see if they know their limits, if they’re willing to back down, naturally we won’t embarrass them, but if they aren’t…
“What then?”
“Just wait and see!” Yang Kai grinned, his eyes flashing a cold light, like a sharp blade.
The Hu Sisters’ beautiful eyes light up as they filled with expectation.
This man was just as domineering as he was in the past!
Anyone who dared look down on or act hostile towards him would pay a heavy price.
The hearts of the two sisters relaxed once again, feeling that as long as Yang Kai acted, they wouldn’t need to worry about their Sect at all.
Yang Kai immediately sent out a Divine Sense Message and a moment later, the sound of rushing wind filled the hall.
The Holy Land’s six Elders and the four Ancient Demon Clan leaders simultaneously appeared.
“Holy Master.”
“Master!”
All of them bowed as they stared towards Yang Kai seriously. They didn’t know why he had suddenly summoned all the high-level members of the Holy Land together, but they faintly smelled an unusual aura.
Feeling the tyranny strength of these ten people, the Hu Sisters suddenly found themselves having difficulty breathing.
Back in their old world, their strength was top-notch, and if they collaborated together, they were nearly invincible, but at this moment they were shocked to discover that even together they were not the match of any single person here.
At the same time as they felt shocked, they also felt excited seeing the strength Yang Kai commanded.
“Master, what matter have you convened all of us here for?” Inside the hall, Li Rong asked while taking a glance towards the Hu Sisters, her beautiful eyes flashing a curious light.
With her strength, she could see that although this pair of sisters weren’t very strong, but the Secret Art they cultivated was rather odd. Even if they were twins, they should still have differences in their life auras and True Qi fluctuations.
The Saint Realm masters all noticed this peculiar phenomenon and couldn’t help taking a second look at the Hu Sisters.
“I need to go out,” Yang Kai swept his eyes over the crowd and said casually, “Li Rong and Han Fei will accompany me.”
The two Great Commanders from the Ancient Demon Clan both immediately nodded.
“In addition, I need another Elder who is familiar with the road to act as a guide,” Yang Kai declared as he turned to face the Holy Land’s six Elders, “Who among you knows the way to Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple?”
“Subordinate knows the way,” Shi Kun stepped forward.
“Then Elder Shi Kun will also come with me, everyone else will remain in the Holy Land.”
“Holy Master, do you have some kind of dispute with Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple?” Xu Hui frowned and asked. Yang Kai’s expression was unusually solemn and his tone was cold, causing Xu Hui to realize something was wrong.
“There is no dispute between us as of yet, but there may be in the future, so I need to bring a few masters with me.”
“Then this subordinate will also…”
“Great Elder cannot,” Yang Kai interrupted him before he could finish, “There must always be someone to assume command in the Holy Land. Great Elder must remain here to handle the Sect’s matters.”
Xu Hui thought about it for a moment and agreed that what Yang Kai said made sense, so he no longer insisted.
“Little Senior Sister, you also remain here,” Yang Kai turned to Xia Ning Chang and said, “Treasurer Meng may come back soon.”
“En, I’ll stay here and continue with the Alchemy services while waiting for Master to return,” Xia Ning Chang nodded cleverly.
“We must go with you!” The Hu Sisters declared simultaneously.
Yang Kai looked at them and upon noticing the determined look on their faces nodded.
Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er smiled in response.
“This matter must not be delayed. We leave immediately,” Yang Kai waved his hand and walked out.
Outside the Holy Master Court, Yang Kai gave some simple instructions to the Elders and Great Commanders before summoning the Flying Heavens Shuttle. After the group of six people boarded it, the shuttle transformed into a streak of blue light and shot off into the distance.
The Flying Heavens Shuttle was about ten meters in length and did not have a problem accommodating seven or eight people. On top of that, because of the protective barrier of the Flying Heavens Shuttle, even at extreme velocities those aboard wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of wind.
However, Yang Kai clearly felt that carrying so many people caused the amount of strength he needed to consume to operate the shuttle to increase dramatically.
Shi Kun stood at the forefront of the shuttle and gave directions while the other five sat behind him.
Along the way, Yang Kai gave a simple explanation to Li Rong and Han Fei about the Hu Sisters’ origins as well as the purpose of this trip to Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, allowing them to understand why he was acting so urgently and prudently.
The land where Yang Kai grew up was naturally of great importance to him. Since the door to this Mysterious Small World was now open, Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple was free to enter that world and take advantage of the disparity in strength, wantonly oppressing and enslaving the cultivators on the other side.
These people were Yang Kai’s friends and relatives; how could he allow such a thing to happen?
As they flew forward, Shi Kun looked back every now and then, his brow furrowing slightly each time.
“Shi Kun, do you have something to say?” Yang Kai saw his hesitant appearance and couldn’t help asking.
Shi Kun smiled and replied, “It’s nothing important, I just thought the aura of these two girls is quite consistent.”
“Naturally, it’s because they have cultivated a very special Secret Art.”
“So it’s like that,” Shi Kun scratched his head, “If it weren’t for what Holy Master had said about their origins, I would have thought they were disciples of Twin Spirit Pavilion.”
“Twin Spirit Pavilion?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, vaguely recalling this force.
Back in Dragon Phoenix Palace, when Sun Yu had left Dragon Valley, his Master, Ling Jian, once said that they would take refuge in Twin Spirit Pavilion for a while, saying that Dragon Phoenix Palace and Twin Spirit Pavilion had always been on good terms.
“Senior, why would you think we came from Twin Spirit Pavilion?” Hu Jiao Er asked.
“Because in Twin Spirit Pavilion there are many twins like you,” Shi Kun smiled and explained, “That force is very special. The disciples they recruit are exclusively twins, so their Sect is not very large, but because of their special cultivation technique, each pair of twins, when fighting together, can fight opponents above their individual cultivation realms. When they cultivate their Secret Art to the extreme, even their life auras and Qi fluctuations gradually become similar to one another; however, it’s not to the extent of you two young ladies where there is essentially no difference at all. When I was young, I went out for life experience and met a pair of brothers from Twin Spirit Pavilion so I know a little something about their Sect. It was because of this that I thought you two were from there.”
“We’ve never heard of that Sect before,” Hu Jiao Er smiled and shook her head. The two sisters had only arrived in Tong Xuan Realm a few months ago and had been constantly travelling since then. Naturally, they didn’t know much about this world and its various forces.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he thought about something, asking a moment later, “Elder Shi Kun, did Twin Spirit Pavilion used to be very powerful?”
“They’re not too formidable. Although they have a Saint Realm master assuming command, their overall strength is not very high… Oh, yes, those two brothers I once met said that many, many years ago, Twin Spirit Pavilion was a top force, but for some reason, their core inheritance was lost and they slowly declined as a result. As for whether those words are true or not, I do not know.”
“Their inheritance was lost?” Hu Jiao Er exclaimed, her beautiful eyes shining a profound light, apparently also thinking of something.
Yang Kai also had basically determined that the Twin Qi Shared Spirit Divine Art the Hu Sisters were cultivating originated from Twin Spirit Pavilion.
Their situation was quite similar to that of Su Yan and his own, having obtained an ancient inheritance.
This would also explain why Dragon Phoenix Palace and Twin Spirit Pavilion had always had a close relationship. The two Sects were once top forces in Tong Xuan Realm that had close ties, but at a certain point, they both lost their core inheritances. Naturally, they felt a sense of camaraderie.
“If there’s a chance, we’ll have to visit this Twin Spirit Pavilion,” Hu Jiao Er whispered, obviously curious about this force.
“When we’ve finished dealing with that side’s matters, I’ll bring you there,” Yang Kai said.
“En,” Hu Jiao Er nodded before suddenly leaning over and whispering into Yang Kai’s ear, “Right, Yang Kai, these people you’ve brought with you, what is their cultivation realms? Why can I not see their depths at all.”
“The Saint Realm.”
“Saint Realm?” The Hu Sisters stared at him blankly.
“Above the Transcendent Realm, is the Saint Realm,” Li Rong explained with a smile, “You two are now First Order Transcendents, en, it also seems you’re not far away from the Second Order. From there the next step is the Third Order, and upwards from there is the Saint Realm. It looks like the world in which Master was born there are no Saint Realm masters.”
“Forget about Saints, until recently we didn’t even know the proper name of the Transcendent Realm. Ten years ago it was only known as the Above Immortal Ascension Boundary,” Yang Kai said with some slight embarrassment.
“What is above the Saint Realm?” Hu Mei Er asked, her bright, beautiful eyes filled with curiosity.
“Above the Saint Realm?” Li Rong and Yang Kai glanced at each other and shook their heads slowly, Li Rong smiling as she said, “We don’t know, no one has ever exceeded the Saint Realm.”
The Hu Sisters both fell silent.
It seemed that learning about the existence of Saint Realm had given them quite a shock, so they needed some time to slowly digest this information while trying to adjust their world view.
Back in their previous world, when the two of them joined forces, they were nearly invincible, but after coming here, they were shocked to discover that there were many masters they could not match.
This change in perspective, going from strong to weak, had a huge impact on their perception.
They had to carefully re-examine themselves from the perspective of the Tong Xuan Realm.
For most of the journey, everyone remained silent with the exception for Yang Kai asking Shi Kun about Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s details.
Two days later, the Flying Heavens Shuttle came to a stop and Yang Kai spread out his Divine Sense to carefully examining their surroundings.
Hu Jiao Er called out a moment later, “I remember that town down below. Mei’er and I arrived here two days after we first set out.”
“What direction did you walk from?” Yang Kai asked.
Hu Jiao Er looked around carefully before pointing a certain direction, “That way!”
The blue light flashed again.
After an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai saw a Void Corridor entrance floating a few meters off the ground up ahead. Around the Void Corridor, there were many cultivators waiting and watching the entrance while guarding their surroundings. Once anyone got close, these guards would immediately expel them.
“It’s here,” Hu Mei Er bit her red lips and shouted, “Elder Sister and I came from here.”
Yang Kai gently nodded and landed the Flying Heavens Shuttle, allowing the group of six to disembark before they walked the rest of the ways.
“Master, there are five Saint Realm masters guarding this place, but all of them are only at the First Order, so there is nothing to worry about,” Li Rong spread out her Divine Sense and instantly determined the number and realm of the masters present.
“It looks like it’s not just Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple here,” Shi Kun said thoughtfully, “They should have brought in some helpers. I see at least three different forces here.”
Yang Kai nodded, “That side is a big piece of meat, no single force would be able to eat it all.”
“What do we do?” Li Rong inquired quietly.
“First use courtesy then use force!” Yang Kai quickly said.
The group of six’s arrival obviously attracted the attention of the cultivators guarding the entrance, all of them turning their gazes towards these newcomers.
Among the cultivators scattered around, five people narrowed their eyes and secretly began condensing their strength, preparing to strike at a moment’s notice.
One of them hesitated a moment before slowly walking out and blocking the way, raising his hand and shouting, “Stop, this Mysterious Small World was discovered by my Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple. Please look elsewhere.”
Because the entrances to all the world’s Mysterious Small Worlds had opened, basically every force and every cultivator had been out searching for them, hoping they got lucky.
Quite often, the Sects that first discovered such a Void Corridor would send disciples to guard the entrance and prevent outsiders from approaching.
Powerful forces naturally wanted to obtain all the benefits inside the Mysterious Small World’s they discovered and Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple had such ability.
The entrance the Hu Sisters had come through was not far from Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, so naturally the latter was the first to lay claim to it. As for the small families and Sects nearby, they could only enviously eye this Void Corridor as none of them dared infringe upon Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple.
Facing the shouting of the Saint Realm cultivator, Yang Kai and others paused. Before determining what the situation was on the other side, Yang Kai did not intend to stir up trouble.
The Saint Realm cultivator slightly nodded, seemingly quite satisfied by their response, crossing his arms as he called out, “Please withdraw, this is my Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s territory, if you wish to enter Mysterious Small Worlds to seek for opportunities, I suggest you search elsewhere. I apologize for the inconvenience but that is how it is.”
As he spoke, he paid special attention to use polite language, apparently aware of the great strength Li Rong and the others possessed thus treating them with respect. If not for this, he would have simply shooed them away.
Shi Kun stepped forward and cupped his fists politely, “How may I address this friend?”
Sizing up Shi Kun, the Saint Realm masters frowned and replied somewhat unwillingly, “Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s Yu Chun.”
Shi Kun wore a smile and let out a laugh, “So it is Brother Yu, my sincerest greetings.”
Yu Chun gently nodded and asked, “Who are you, why have you come to my Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s territory?”
“This one is Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Shi Kun!”
“Nine Heavens Holy Land!?” A burst of exclamations rose from the nearby cultivators, all of them turning their attention towards here as Yu Chun carefully scrutinized Shi Kun once again, trying to determine if he was lying.
Nine Heavens Holy Land’s current reputation was world-shaking so it was difficult for all of them to not care.
When the old Holy Master passed away, a new one soon succeeded him; however, this new Holy Master was little more than a brat who colluded with Demons but before he could be put in his place, a profound Alchemy Grandmaster suddenly emerged from the Holy Land…
All kinds of rumours swirled about raising the Holy Land’s fame to never before seen heights.
Yu Chun suddenly turned his eyes to Yang Kai and asked, “Could this be the new Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land?”
When he saw Shi Kun walking over, the latter had stood behind Yang Kai and his attitude was very respectful, so naturally Yu Chun had some suspicions.
“This is indeed our Holy Master,” Shi Kun nodded.
“So it is Holy Master Yang, no wonder you looked so familiar,” Yu Chun smiled strangely.
“Have we met somewhere?” Yang Kai knit his brow as he stared at him.
“Holy Master Yang is a lofty character so it is only natural you do not remember a minor person like me, but Holy Master Yang should at least remember my Sect’s Temple Master, Wu Zheng, yes?”
“Wu Zheng?” Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled even more, but after thinking about it for a time he suddenly remembered, “That Wu Zheng I saw outside the nine peaks at that time?”
More than a year ago, Yang Kai had brought the Ancient Demon Clan from the endless Snow Mountain Range to Nine Heavens Holy Land. This large group of Demons flying through the Human Territory had attracted a great many Human Race masters, all of whom had gathered together to tail Yang Kai and his group. It was outside the nine peaks that Yang Kai and Li Rong went to negotiate with this group of masters. At that time, there were three people who stepped forward to speak with Yang Kai, one was Chu Yi from Veiled Heaven Palace, another was Mist Lock Tower’s Fang Yue Bai, and the last one was Wu Zheng of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple.
These three were all Second-Order Saints.
Yang Kai still remembered that when Chu Yi and Fang Yue Bai heard the Ancient Demon Clan swear on Great Demon God’s name to not commit any atrocities, they had quickly left while only Wu Zheng looked unwilling.
Yang Kai naturally had some impression of him.
“Indeed,” Yu Chun nodded, “It seems that although Holy Master Yang is still young, his memory is quite good. I had thought Holy Master Yang would feign ignorance here, but it seems you do still remember my Sect’s Temple Master.”
Listening to him, Shi Kun’s face expression became gloomy.
He didn’t know what happened, but as soon as Yu Chun learned about Yang Kai’s identity, it seemed as though he was intentionally trying to provoke him.
“Of course I remember you,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, “Speaking of which, the Holy Land should thank your Temple Master for his care, even before my Holy Land’s Alchemy Grandmaster became famous we were indebted to your for promoting our reputation.”
“What is Holy Master Yang referring to?” Yu Chun complexion paled for an instant before he composed himself and shook his head, “I don’t understand.”
“Oh? I believe you’re quite clear about what I mean,” Yang Kai smiled coldly.
Some time ago, many cultivators had inexplicably been loitering just outside the Holy Land with the excuse of trying to find artifacts. Obviously someone had been pulling strings to make this happen.
Yang Kai had suspected that it was Wu Zheng who was plotting behind the scenes and seeing Yu Chun’s reaction just now, he immediately affirmed his guess.
However, for such a minor matter, Yang Kai was disinclined to further investigate.
Yu Chun seemed to sense there was no need to continue discussing this issue and immediately changed the subject, “Tell me, Holy Master Yang, why have you brought your Holy Land’s Elder to my Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s land? Also, if I am not mistaken, this woman should be a Demon, yes?”
“A Demon?” The cultivators guarding the entrance to the Void Corridor all paled as they turned their attention to Li Rong.
Yu Chun laughed loudly, “Holy Master Yang is quite courageous, daring to collude with evil Demons and even openly associating with them. Do you really look down on my Human Race so?”
As Yu Chun shouted indignantly, the other four Saints present also wore unfriendly expressions.
Humans and Demons could not co-exist, no matter whether they and Li Rong had any personal hatred between them; the simple fact that she was a Demon who appeared in Human Territory was enough for them to wish to condemn her to death.
Yang Kai’s expression became impatient as he declared, “I didn’t come here to embarrass you, I only wish to enter that entrance.”
“So just because you say you want to enter we must let you?” Yu Chun waved his hand dismissively, “Strong dragons don’t press local snakes, do not think my Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple fears your Nine Heavens Holy Land. Don’t you think you’re acting too arrogantly, Holy Master Yang?”
“Whether you fear me or not is none of my concern, I must enter that Void Corridor. If you dare to block my path, I’ll remove you by force,” Yang Kai coldly snorted, taking a big step forward towards the pitch-black entrance.
Yu Chun’s face also grew cold as he shot a glance to the other four Saints on his side. The five masters all stepped forward as we well, lining up in front of Yang Kai, pushing their strength as Yu Chun shouted, “Holy Master Yang, if you dare proceed any further, don’t blame us for…”
Halfway through his words though, Yu Chun’s expression contorted, as if a giant invisible hand was gripping his throat, causing him to be unable to speak. Shuddering in fear, cold sweat began dripping down his forehead.
As his eyes filled with panic, Yu Chun hesitantly glanced over at the nearby Demon Race woman.
Before she took action, Yu Chun only knew that this Demon woman was somewhat strong, but as soon as she began targeting him with her aura, Yu Chun discovered that against her, he was completely incapable of resisting.
Even if he joined hands with his four comrades, they wouldn’t even be capable of laying a finger on her.
This woman was no doubt a top-ranked Third Order Saint!
Realizing this, Yu Chun’s complexion went from blue to white.
Yang Kai continued stepping forward and just as he passed by Yu Chun, he glanced over and flatly said, “If I proceed further, you’ll what?”
Yu Chun couldn’t move or even speak, so how was he supposed to answer?
Hu Jiao Er laughed happily, a smile of satisfaction appearing on her face, quite enjoying the feeling of the fox taking advantage of the tiger. When she and Hu Mei Er wanted to return from here for a few months ago, they had been mercilessly expelled by these Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples, making her feel quite indignant.
Seeing Yang Kai act so domineering like this now allowed her to dispel a fair bit of suppressed anger.
Powerful men always had a unique appeal to them, causing her eyes to flash subtly.
Not long after, Yang Kai’s group arrived in front of the Void Corridor, the cultivators gathered around barely having the composure to remain standing, much less oppose them.
At that moment though, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he stared towards the Void Corridor a few meters up in the air.
The Void Corridor entrance suddenly flashed a bright light and distorted slightly with a number of figures soon emerging from it.
The ones in the lead were disciples of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, all of them quickly gathering around near the Void Corridor’s entrance, each of them wearing a delighted expression, seemingly in a very good mood.
A moment later, more people emerged from the entrance one after another.
However, this group of people was clearly distressed and dispirited, their strength obviously having been sealed.
After coming out of the Void Corridor, these prisoners didn’t even bother looking around, dim and helpless expressions on their face, as if they had lost all hope.
“Hurry up, what are just standing around for?” The Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples who had come through first immediately began shouting and reprimanding them, reaching over and tossing their prisoners to the ground unceremoniously.
*Peng peng peng…*
One by one, these imprisoned cultivators hit the ground and let out screams of pain.
The Hu Sisters covered their mouths and shouted, “They’re Storm Hall’s disciples!”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as his expression quickly became frigid.
“This bitch is quite nice, hahaha,” Another woman walked out from the Void Corridor, her stature petite but her curves quite luscious, drawing the attention of a Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple who leered at her obscenely.
A young man who was following right after the young woman heard this and quickly stepped out in front of her, glaring back at the laughing Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple.
“Du Yi Shuang, Fang Zi Ji!” Yang Kai shouted.
The young woman who came out first was actually Storm Hall’s Junior Sister Du.
Back inside the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave, Yang Kai and her had worked together for a time. Naturally, the one protecting her was the first disciple of Storm Hall, Fang Zi Ji.
After so many years, Fang Zi Ji had also reached the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary; however, such cultivation was still not enough to contend with the disciples of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, not to mention his strength was currently still sealed.
Fang Zi Ji’s attitude obviously annoyed the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple, who quickly reached out and grabbed him before ruthlessly tossing Fang Zi Ji away, causing the latter to tumble several times before slamming into the ground.
“Barbarian disciples, don’t get too cocky!” The Free and Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple acted as if this was all just a trivial matter, turning around in the next instant and rushing over towards Yu Chun and respectfully cupping his fists, “Elder Yu, Religion Master order me to bring this group of prisoners back first and told me to let you arrange their placement. Religion Master said that although these people’s cultivation is poor, they will still make decent slave labourers for digging in the mines and carrying goods. On top of that, there are a lot of beautiful women who can be given to the more outstanding disciples as rewards.”
“Elder Yu?”
The Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple made his report but soon discovered that Elder Yu wasn’t making responding, or for that matter moving at all, so he couldn’t help feeling something was off; when he looked up though, he saw Elder Yu sweating profusely, appearing quite distressed, causing the disciple to wonder what exactly had happened.
At the entrance of the Void Corridor, the Storm Hall disciples who had been imprisoned and brought through all had dim eyes, each of them feeling intense shame and disgrace.
At the same time, the disciple of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple stood in front of Yu Chun but found that this Elder showed no reaction at all, causing him quite a bit of confusion.
“Your Religion Master said all that?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and stared at this disciple.
“Who are you?” The disciple turned his eyes towards Yang Kai but failing to recognize him wrinkled his brow.
Yang Kai simply grinned, “Who I am doesn’t matter, I asked you, did your Religion Master order you to capture and bring back this group of people?”
“That’s right, is there something wrong with that? This group of barbarians is quite unruly, they even foolishly tried to resist, but after killing some of them they became obedient,” The disciple replied calmly. He saw Yang Kai standing here and simply assumed he was a guest of his Spirit Temple, so naturally he spoke a few words.
“Is that so,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, his eyes filling with sharp, cold light.
“Master…” Seemingly feeling his murderous intent, Li Rong’s expression also became icy as she asked for instructions.
“Kill them all!” Yang Kai shouted.
Li Rong and Han Fei nodded and without a word, pushed their Demonic Qi emerged and shrouded the entire surrounding in pitch black darkness.
Everyone suddenly felt the cold grip of death reach out and grasp them in that instant, their hearts tightening in their chest and nearly stopping all on their own.
There were no sounds of fighting and no one screamed in terror.
Ten breaths later, the darkness which seemed to obscure all light dissipated, returning everyone’s stolen vision but now, all the cultivators associated with Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple stood stiff, their vitality completely gone, each of them staring blankly into space, fear plastered all over their faces as if they had witnessed the most terrifying nightmare just before they died.
The five First Order Saints were far stronger than the rest and managed to survive, winding up being imprisoned by Li Rong.
When he came to his senses again, Yu Chun stared towards Yang Kai and grit his teeth, “You really…”
It seemed as if he had not realized how vicious Yang Kai was until this moment, refusing to exchange any words before decisively ordering all of their deaths.
*Kachacha…*
A cracking sound rang out as the five Saints, one by one, were frozen, instantly transforming into ice sculptures.
Han Fei waved her hand a moment later and the five life-like ice sculptures shattered into millions of tiny pieces that scattered in the wind.
The disciples of Storm Hall who had just come out of the Void Corridor were all terrified by this scene, each of them staring on with pale faces.
They fully understood the power of these cultivators who had captured them; but now, these seemingly irresistible enemies had actually been effortlessly slaughtered by this new group, as if they were mere ants.
How astonishing was the strength of these new people?
In their panic, they all unconsciously turned their gazes towards Yang Kai and his group.
Soon however, many of the Storm Hall disciples eyes flashed with amazement.
“It’s the Hu Family sisters!”
“Then are these people helpers they’ve found?”
“Hey, that young man in the lead, doesn’t he look familiar…”
“En, I also think he’s somewhat familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before…”
Whispers began spreading around the Storm Hall disciples as some of them vigorously bowed towards the Hu Sisters, thanking them earnestly while many others stared at Yang Kai suspiciously, some of them even recognizing his identity, causing great storms to rage in their heads and hearts.
Nearby, Du Yi Shuang supported Fang Zi Ji and slowly helped him up.
Yang Kai walked over to the pair with a smile on his face.
After finally seeing his appearance, Junior Sister Du couldn’t help covering her mouth and crying out in shock while Fang Zi Ji stood dumbstruck, his jaw falling slack as he stared straight at Yang Kai like he was seeing a ghost.
“Brother Fang, it’s been a long time,” Yang Kai came up to him and nodded, waving his hand lightly to unlock Fang Zi Ji’s sealed True Qi.
Fang Zi Ji didn’t say anything and simply stared back at Yang Kai for a moment before suddenly whispering, “Shuang’er, pinch me.”
“Why do you want me to pinch you?” Du Yi Shuang asked back in confusion.
“I want to know if I’m dreaming right now!”
Du Yi Shuang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Senior Brother, you’re not dreaming…”
“So what you mean to say is, the person standing in front of me is really Yang Kai?”
“Who else would I be?” Yang Kai happily quipped, his previous gloomy mood instantly being swept away as he let out a hearty laugh.
“Brother Yang, you’ve finally returned!” Fang Zi Ji couldn’t help revealing a relieved expression, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, reaching out and firmly grasping Yang Kai’s shoulders in the next instant as he hurriedly said, “You must return back to High Heaven Pavilion quickly! Our three Sects are even now being oppressed.”
Yang Kai nodded as he narrowed his eyes, “That’s exactly why I came. We can talk later, it’s not safe here, you’ll all have to come back with me.”
Fang Zi Ji nodded heavily as he clenched his teeth, “En, I truly must go back!”
Li Rong waved her hand and a gentle force spread out around her, unshackling all the Storm Hall disciples and allowing them to regain the use of their strength.
“Han Fei, you and Elder Shi Kun bring up the rear, Li Rong and I will go on ahead,” Yang Kai said before flying towards the Void Corridor together with Li Rong.
Another Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciple flew out from the Void Corridor but before he could grasp the situation, his vision was filled with a giant palm and in the next instant, he directly burst into a bloody fog.
Bathed in fresh blood, Yang Kai’s murderous intent flared up as he plunged into the Void Corridor.
After feeling the familiar sense of vertigo, a light flashed before their eyes and Yang Kai and Li Rong found themselves above a small mine.
It was Blood Battle Gang’s old Yang Flame Stone mine.
There were many people gathered around, divided into three general groups.
Standing midair, Yang Kai swept his eyes around and immediately confirmed that these three groups were composed of cultivators from the Three Sects.
All of them had their True Qi and Spiritual Energy sealed. The closest ones to the Void Corridor was the cultivators from Storm Hall who were even now being unwillingly corralled towards the black entrance by the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples.
The cultivators from Blood Battle Gang and High Heaven Pavilion were waiting nearby.
Yang Kai saw many familiar faces among the High Heaven Pavilion group.
The disciples from Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple had very poor attitudes towards the cultivators from the Three Sects. At this moment, several Elders of the High Heaven Pavilion seemed to be loudly shouting towards several Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples, but the only response they received were spiked whips across their chest and faces.
The several Elders were shielding a young man behind them. The treatment of this young man seemed to be somewhat different from the others. Not only had his strength been sealed, he was also physically tied up and countless wounds covered his body as he sat on the ground. Despite all his cuts and bruises, the young man was glaring back at the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples, his eyes bloodshot but apparently unable to hit back.
Su Mu!
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed upon seeing him. Although he didn’t know why Su Mu was receiving such harsh treatment, that didn’t stop his blood from boiling as he rapidly condensed his strength into a great spear that he immediately threw out.
*Xiu…*
Before the sound even reached him, the Heaven Punishing Spear had directly impaled one of the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples who were lashing the High Heaven Pavilion Elders. The violent power of the spear tore this disciple’s body apart, splattered his flesh and blood all over while also sending out a wave of destructive energy.
The other Spirit Temple disciples were unable to react to this sudden and unexpected development and were instantly hit by this shockwave, all of them falling over dead without even knowing how they died
This burst of noise caused everyone in the surroundings to fall silent as all eyes turned upwards.
In the dark of night, a giant full moon hung high up in the sky.
In front of this silver moon stood a tall figure, the cold wind blowing through his clothes while a silent and oppressive pressure radiated from him.
“Who goes there?” Several voices called out as a number of Transcendent Realm cultivators flew up into the sky, soaring towards Yang Kai.
*Pu pu pu…*
A few muffled thuds rang out as the Transcendents who had flown up were knocked down hard to the ground, all of dying instantly.
From the Void Corridor, Fang Zi Ji flew out and immediately stood next to Yang Kai, his True Qi surging up as he shouted, “Yang Kai has come back! Brothers and Sisters, kill these bastards!”
As he shouted, he released his own Martial Skill towards a nearby enemy.
One Storm House cultivator appeared from the Void Corridor behind Fang Zi Ji, each of them like a rampaging wild beast as they launched fierce attacks all around.
“Yang Kai came back?”
The Three Sect’s cultivators were momentarily stunned but were quickly awoken by the sound of fighting erupting all around them, turning burning gazes towards the young man in front of the moon, trying to use their own eyes to confirm whether this person was really the Yang Kai who had disappeared ten years ago.
After a brief moment, cheers resounded as the Three Sect’s cultivators all leapt madly towards the Spirit Temple disciples around them. With their True Qi and Spiritual Energy still sealed, they simply used their fists and feet like ordinary mortals to attack the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple Disciples.
“Li Rong, help them!” Yang Kai shouted before his figure flickered and he condensed his True Qi, rushing into the enemy camp.
The Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple disciples were dumbstruck, none of them able to understand why this crowd of barbarians had suddenly gone berserk after hearing that ‘Yang Kai came back’.
Who was this Yang Kai to them?
There weren’t many cultivators from Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple here, and the only Transcendents among them had been killed in Yang Kai’s opening attack. The rest were nothing but ordinary disciples with insignificant strength.
After less than thirty breaths, before Shi Kun and Han Fei who were bringing up the rear had even arrived, all the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple cultivators had been killed.
Bodies were strewn everywhere and blood flowed like a river but the Three Sect cultivators all wore ecstatic expressions as their eyes darted around the crowd, seemingly looking for someone.
A moment later, everyone’s eyes were cast in one direction. On the other side of their vision was Yang Kai who as walking towards the Elders of High Heaven Pavilion.
Great Elder Wei Xi Tong, Second Elder Su Xuan Wu, Third Elder He Bei Shui, Fifth Elder You Zi Zai. Except for Fourth Elder Zhou Fei, who had been killed by the Demon Lord, all the Elders were present.
Each of the Elders had a look of shock and disbelief on their faces, and it wasn’t until Yang Kai stood right in front of them and greeted them that they came to their senses and nodded strongly.
Wei Xi Tong teared up as he said, “Good, good, since you’ve returned, the Sect can be saved.”
Yang Kai stared at him deeply and replied in a dejected tone, “Disciple has arrived late, forcing several Elders and the Sect to endure much injustice.”
“No no, you’re not too late, not at all. You’re just in time,” Su Xuan Wu wiped his eyes and said gratefully.
In their darkest moment, Yang Kai had crossed worlds and appeared before them, instantly helping them resolve the crisis, just like more than a decade ago. The memory of those events all resurfaced in everyone’s mind, and although much had changed since then, all of them still held absolute confidence in Yang Kai.
It was as if as long as he was here, even if the sky was to fall they wouldn’t need to worry about anything.
“Brother-in-law!” Su Mu, with his hands still bound, stood up unsteadily as he grinned widely towards Yang Kai, obviously a little embarrassed but more excited than anything else.
After slightly more than a decade, Su Mu had actually reached the First Order Transcendent Realm!
Yang Kai’s expression brightened as he patted Su Mu on his shoulder, laughing happily as he nodded, “It’s been too long. It seems your strength has grown well since we last met.”
As Yang Kai said so, he swiftly cut the ropes binding Su Mu and broke the seal on his cultivation.
Su Mu’s growth was even more rapid than Fang Zi Ji’s, probably a result of the benefits he obtained in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave.
Su Mu also encountered some kind of opportunity in the Inheritance Heaven’s Cave, but no one knew exactly what that opportunity was.
Moreover, Yang Kai had given Su Yan a large quantity of Myriad Drug Liquid so, as her little brother, Su Mu clearly received a portion as well, which helped him improve his physique and aptitude. Given all this, growing to such a height in ten years was not unexpected.
“What about Elder Sister? Did she come back with you?” Su Mu looked around but not discovering Su Yan’s figure among the crowd, he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
“No, but don’t worry, Su Yan is now in a very safe place,” Yang Kai reassured him.
Hearing this, Su Mu nodded.
As Yang Kai spoke to these old acquaintances, Li Rong and the other Saints lifted the seals from all the Three Sects’ cultivators, restoring their strength. Many people showed looks of pleasant surprise and excitement.
Li Yun Tian and Zhao Hu, who were also familiar with Yang Kai, couldn’t help shouting happily.
Their strength had not risen by much, not even reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary yet, still lingering around the True Element Boundary; after all, they didn’t obtain the opportunities or possess the aptitude of Su Mu and Yang Kai, so their lifetime prospects were somewhat limited.
“What about Grand Master?” Yang Kai frowned upon noticing that Ling Tai Xu was nowhere to be seen, asking worriedly.
“Former Sect Master went to the Central Capital to request reinforcements a few months ago, but the situation in Central Capital is probably also…” Su Xuan Wu explained.
“Former Sect Master?” Yang Kai raised a brow, “Who is Sect Master now?”
Su Mu laughed and pointed at himself.
Yang Kai looked at him with amazement but soon gently nodded.
With Su Mu’s current strength, he was indeed qualified to become Sect Master of High Heaven Pavilion; after all, none of the other Elders had arrived at the Transcendent Realm yet.
Su Mu said with a bitter face, “You don’t know how troublesome this has been, brother-in-law. Since you left, Sect Master started travelling around the world, not paying any attention to the Sect’s matters, but he suddenly came back a few years ago and passed the position of Sect Master to me without even asking if I agreed or not… haa…”
“No wonder you were tied up and beaten black and blue, your special treatment was a result of your special status,” Yang Kai laughed.
“Don’t you laugh at me, Brother,” Su Mu scratched his head, “How could I even compare with you. Right, Brother-in-law, what is your cultivation level now? Why is it I feel like I can’t completely understand you.”
“Third Order Transcendent.”
“What!?”
Everyone who heard this called out in shock.
Ling Tai Xu was now only a Second-Order Transcendent, a true hidden dragon who showed his tail but never his face. In recent years, the Hu Sisters had actually become known as the world’s first masters, but even they were just First Order Transcendents, yet now Yang Kai had actually arrived at the Third-Order Transcendent Realm.
When he had left the Central Capital ten years ago, he was only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage cultivator. This rate of growth was simply horrifying.
“Then what about my Elder Sister? She shouldn’t be any worse, right?” Su Mu asked excitedly.
“She too should be a Third Order Transcendent,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, “But I haven’t seen her for a number of years so I can’t say for certain.”
After a brief pause, Yang Kai asked, “What is the situation right now in the Sect? Has it been occupied?”
“En,” Su Mu said with a bitter smile, “Not only has High Heaven Pavilion been taken over, the nearby Blood Battle Gang and Storm Hall has also been occupied. There weren’t many people who come, a few hundred at most, but there were a number of extremely powerful masters among them. We couldn’t even put up a resistance…”
Everyone began chaotically explaining the current situation.
Similar to Yang Kai’s guess, the entrance to this world appeared near Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple, so naturally, they had sent people to investigate. When they discovered the vastness and potential wealth of this place, they immediately sent a large number of cultivators, led by a few masters to suppress the nearby forces, capturing all the cultivators of High Heaven Pavilion, Storm Hall, and Blood Battle Gang.
In order to ensure that they could fully swallow this big piece of meat, Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple also invited two or three other forces to help out.
Then, using this place as a beachhead, they began spreading out.
All this occurred more than a month ago, so the Central Capital’s current situation was unknown. The people here had not heard any useful news, but given the strength of these enemies, it was likely the Central Capital would be unable to put up any kind of resistance.
If that was not the case, Ling Tai Xu would have already returned. The most likely scenario was that Ling Tai Xu has also encountered some kind of misfortune.
The Three Sects had revolted several times, but each time they tried to fight back, many of them would be killed as punishment.
“They don’t even see us as human beings, killing or torturing us is all a matter of their mood. Many people were slaughtered by them without any reason at all, like they were butchering pigs or dogs for sport…” Su Mu ground his teeth angrily.
“Many female disciples from Blood Battle Gang were also humiliated by those damn animals!” Hu Man also cursed indignantly. His words immediately caused the Hu Sisters’ mood to turn gloomy.
Fortunately, when the Void Corridor first opened, they had gone in to explore it, otherwise, forget about finding Yang Kai and bringing back reinforcements, it was quite likely they would have suffered such a terrible fate.
“Nephew Yang, what are you planning to do? We’ll follow your lead,” Storm Hall’s Master, Xiao Ruo Han came up to and said to Yang Kai.
“Are they so despicable?” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “Good, I didn’t want to make too big a deal out of this but since they choose to act so inhuman, there’s no need to have any scruples, Li Rong!”
“Master!” Li Rong shouted, feeling a tinge of anger as well listening to everything that had happened, her shoulders rising and falling menacingly.
“You and Han Fei sweep the surrounding area, kill all the enemies in the three nearby forces, and don’t let a single one off.”
“Yes!” Li Rong responded firmly before she and Han Fei shot off, disappearing in the blink of any eye.
The surrounding crowd of people were all dumbfounded and before they could respond Li Rong and Han Fei had already left.
“Nephew Yang, you mustn’t act rashly!” Xiao Ruo Han was shocked and quickly tried to object. He hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be so hot-headed, not even bothering to inquire about the enemy’s strength before directly ordering an attack, “Among those people there are a number of extremely powerful masters.”
“That’s right, they have more than a dozen Transcendents, a many of whom are Second or Third-Order. I even heard that there was a master among them who has reached the Saint Realm, some kind of level beyond even the Transcendent Realm,” Hu Man also advised, “You letting those two young women go out on their own is too rash.”
“Saint Realm?” Yang Kai grinned and shook his head, “Don’t worry, even if there is a Saint Realm master among them, he certainly won’t be a match for those two.”
“What is the cultivation of those two ladies?” Wei Xi Tong trembled as he stared at Yang Kai expectantly.
“Both of them are also Saint Realm cultivators, but they’re significantly stronger than the enemy. Forget about one enemy Saint, even if there were a hundred they wouldn’t necessarily be those two’s opponents.”
Everyone was stunned silent again, each and every one of them staring towards Yang Kai as if he was some kind of monster.
Without even mentioning his own cultivation, which had grown from the Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage to Third Order Transcendent Realm in just over ten years, a miracle in and of itself, he had actually brought back these two unfathomable women as well.
From how the woman who spoke addressed Yang Kai and from her attitude towards him, it was obviously Yang Kai held an absolutely superior position and was able to order them about at will.
However, not only did neither of them complain, they even obediently followed his commands.
Wasn’t their strength much higher than Yang Kai’s own? Why were they willing to obey his orders like this?
This strange phenomenon confused everyone, leaving them unable to even guess what was happening.
“Clever daughters…” Hu Man quietly came up to the Hu Sisters and whispered, “From the looks of it, you two have a hard path ahead of you.”
“Why’s that?” Hu Mei Er turned a suspicious look towards her father.
Hu Man continued, “Those two ladies are both incredibly strong and beautiful. On top of that, they obey whatever they’re told, there’s no place where you’re comparable to them right now.”
“Why do we need to compare ourselves with them?” Hu Mei Er became more and more confused.
Hu Jiao Er thoughts turned quickly and soon understood, ruthlessly glaring towards Hu Man and she said, “You talk too much.”
Hu Man chuckled and said, “Isn’t it normal for a father to worry about his two daughter’s lifelong happiness? Such a good opportunity shouldn’t be missed, en, Father will support you no matter what, so make sure you find an opening and seize the initiative, you mustn’t act too passive. Men like him never lack women around him!”
Hu Mei Er finally clued in and coyly muttered, “W-what are you talking about?”
Hu Jiao Er wore a smile that didn’t reach her eyes as she flatly said, “If you still want someone to take care of you in your old age, I suggest you shut your mouth.”
“Fine, fine. Pretend I didn’t say anything,” Hu Man immediately sighed and kept silent, wondering how, after all the hard work he and his wives had done, he had only been granted these two daughters. Why couldn’t he have been blessed with a son like Yang Kai too, instead of just these two unfilial daughters?
“Everyone,” Yang Kai finished his reunion with his old acquaintances from High Heaven Pavilion and suddenly called out, “You can all return to your Sect’s now. If you still feel unsafe though, you can come to High Heaven Pavilion temporarily. Su Mu, will there be any problem accommodating the Three Sects’ populations for a while?”
Su Mu thought about it seriously and replied, “It shouldn’t be a problem to squeeze everyone in, but the living conditions may be somewhat bad.”
“That’s fine, Hall Master Xiao, Sect Master Hu, I’ll leave the decision about coming to High Heaven Pavilion up to you. I’ll advance first with the Pavillion’s Elders,” Yang Kai declared before heading towards High Heaven Pavilion.
Hu Man and Xiao Ruo Han exchanged a quick glance before quickly keeping up.
The invasion of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple had left them traumatized and the only way they could feel at ease right now was to follow Yang Kai.
p.s- anyone who can read Japanese interested to translate Live Dungeon!? please contact me on discord.
All the foreign enemies inside High Heaven Pavilion, Blood Battle Gang, and Storm Hall were swept away.
Facing Li Rong and Han Fei, how could these ordinary Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple cultivators resist? Before they even figured out what was happening, they had been violently killed.
In the face of absolute strength, all resistance was futile.
Just before they died, these cultivators might have been humiliating the disciples of High Heaven Pavilion, Blood Battle Gang, and Storm Hall these past few months.
If they were to face such torture, no path to Heaven or road to Hell, only endless despair and the earnest wish for death to come even a moment sooner.
At this moment, Li Rong and Han Fei stood on an empty field in the middle of High Heaven Pavilion, curiously looking around, wondering if this was really the land where their Master grew up.
They couldn’t see anything special about this place, so it was really a mystery how a monstrosity like Yang Kai emerged from here.
Not all of High Heaven Pavilion’s disciples were taken to the Void Corridor entrance. A large part still remained behind in the Sect. Li Rong and Han Fei struck like lightning and eliminated all the Free And Unfettered Spirit troops, shocking all the remaining disciples, leaving them wondering who these mysterious women who saved and freed them were.
A moment later, a large group of people rushed in from the Sect’s main entrance, and upon seeing the ones in the lead, the remaining High Heaven Pavilion disciples started shouting excitedly, “It’s Sect Master and the Elders!”
“They came back.”
“Hey, isn’t the guy walking next to Sect Master Junior Brother Yang Kai?”
“It really is Junior Brother Yang Kai!”
“…”
Cheers resounded as all the High Heaven Pavilion disciples who had only a moment ago been in the midst of despair rushed over from all directions, tears streaming down their faces as they greeted these people.
Su Mu spoke in a firm yet gentle voice to calm the excitement of his many fellow Brothers and Sisters.
“Brother-in-law… En, Senior Brother Yang has returned, so there’s no need to worry about that pack of animals anymore! Instead it is their turn to fear. Together, we’ll kill them all!”
“Kill them all!” Many disciples echoed Su Mu’s call.
Among the spirited crowds though, there was one person whose face paled as he quickly tried to hide himself, preparing to sneak away.
Su Mu’s eyes suddenly glanced over at that moment and he shouted, “Senior Brother Xie, where do you want to go?”
The High Heaven Pavilion disciples all fell silent upon hearing these words and turned their eyes in the direction Su Mu was staring, their gazes all landing on Xie Hong Chen.
Looks of despise and revulsion were cast towards Xie Hong Chen, causing his face to fill with shame and embarrassment.
The several Elders of High Heaven Pavilion also shook their heads and sighed, all of them revealing disappointed look.
“Senior Brother Xie?” Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly as he glanced over at Xie Hong Chen.
Senior Brother Xie had originally been the second strongest member of the Sect’s younger generation, only surpassed by Su Yan. He had also had many conflicts with Yang Kai long ago.
However, as Yang Kai grew stronger and stronger, he had gradually forgotten about this person.
Right now though, seeing the looks in the eyes of the Sect Elders, Brothers, and Sisters, Yang Kai faintly understood he had committed some kind of unforgivable sin.
After so many years, Xie Hong Chen had also grown to the Immortal Ascension Boundary Sixth Stage, not too low, nor too high.
“Senior Brother Xie!” Su Mu sneered lightly as he slowly walked towards him, gnashing his teeth audibly, “My High Heaven Pavilion’s Brothers and Sisters are deeply indebted to all the ‘care’ you’ve shown us these past few months!”
“Junior Brother Su, if you’ll let me explain…” Xie Hong Chen retreated step by step as he felt the murderous intent pouring out of Su Mu’s body, wrapping him in a cold chill like the icy grip of death.
“Does trash like you think yourself worthy to call me Junior Brother?” Su Mu shouted.
“Sect Master!” Xie Hong Chen’s legs went soft and he immediately kneeled on the ground, pleading miserably, “Senior Brother has not forgotten where his loyalties lie! I only surrendered to those bastards and agreed to work for them, enduring such great humiliation, to show the enemy weakness while searching for a way to rescue everyone.”
“Endured humiliation?” Su Mu suddenly laughed, “All I saw was Senior Brother Xie obeying the orders of those bastards like a loyal dog, offering up all the Sect’s secrets of your own will while even ruthlessly killing your Junior Brother Wei to prove your loyalty. Junior Brother Sun also died at your hands did he not? Don’t even try to deny it, many people here witnessed your despicable betrayal with their own eyes!”
“I…” Xie Hong Chen was struck speechless and aware of Su Mu’s increasing murderous intent, he began to panic. Quickly turning to the Elders, Xie Hong Chen kowtowed and cried, “Elders, disciple knows his wrong; please spare this disciple’s life.”
In response, the Fourth Elder just stared back at him coldly, with Wei Xi Tong shouting, “Spare your life? I, more than anyone, wish I could cut you into a thousand pieces! Xie Hong Chen, you have disappointed this old master far too much. This old master once regarded you as the Sect’s future hope, but you turned out you’re nothing but a vicious, spineless, ungrateful traitor! This old master was truly blind.”
The other three Elders also began emitting killing intent.
In a sense, the person in front of them was even more hateful than those foreign enemies, he had to die!
“Junior Brother Yang, Junior Brother Yang…” Xie Hong Chen saw none of the Elders take a stand to help him so he decided to pin his last hope on Yang Kai, “I know you have the greatest say here. Please save me! After this, I, Xie Hong Chen, swear to serve you with absolute loyalty in order to repay this grace!”
Yang Kai stared back at him indifferent and lightly said, “Senior Brother Xie… you talk too much.”
Xie Hong Chen’s expression went blank.
“I, Su Mu, as Sect Master of High Heaven Pavilion, formally declare that when the Sect was exposed to danger, disciple Xie Hong Chen, for his own selfish desires, killed his Junior Brothers in order to live on dishonourably, mistaking enemies for friends. The punishment for his crime is death. As Sect Master, I will now personally right the wrongs done to this Sect! Fellow Brothers and Sisters, please take heed of this warning, work hard so that you will not disgrace my High Heaven Pavilion’s name as he has!” Su Mu shouted in a clear and resolute voice as he stared down at Xie Hong Chen, his eyes filled with cold light as he lifted his hand, condensed his True Qi into a great swirl of wind.
The palm strike gradually enlarged in Xie Hong Chen’s eyes and soon the tornado engulfed him.
None of the spectating High Heaven Pavilion disciples showed the slightest hint of sympathy or compassion, many of them instead even wearing happy expressions.
As the powerful winds wrapped around him, Xie Hong Chen was swept up and tossed around, his body soon ripping apart and bursting into a bloody fog.
“Master’s Junior Brother makes a decent Sect Master,” Li Rong pursed her lips and chuckled as she glanced towards Su Mu with some surprise.
Su Mu looked quite young, probably even more so than Yang Kai, but just now he displayed a bearing appropriate for a Sect Master.
Yang Kai also gently nodded.
“Sect Master Su, we’ll let you decide the placement of our two Sects’ disciples,” Hu Man and Xiao Ruo Han walked up to Su Mu and said.
Su Mu nodded, first ordering several Junior Brothers to process Xie Hong Chen’s bones before leaving to discuss with the Elders about how to settle the other Sects disciples.
While everyone was busying themselves, Yang Kai walked around High Heaven Pavilion alone.
High Heaven Pavilion had been destroyed once before when the First Young Lady of the Qiu Family, Qiu Yi Meng brought a number of experts here and fought with Grand Master and the Elders. It was after that incident, when Qiu Yi Meng had gone missing, that the Sect had been burned down.
High Heaven Pavilion was re-built some time later, after the incident was resolved.
However, history had repeated itself.
Yang Kai arrived at the small wooden house he had once called home.
This wooden house carried a lot of his memories, it was the place he had lived when he was still weak and helpless.
He could still vividly remember his days as a Trial Disciple of High Heaven Pavilion, when even filling his belly each day was a challenge.
It was inside this cabin that Yang Kai first opened the Wordless Black Book, drastically altering his destiny.
The wooden house had been refurbished since that time, but the tables and chair were actually the same ones Yang Kai had originally used, but since this place had been left unattended for many years, everything was now covered with a thick layer of dust.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling the night when he returned from the outside to discover Little Senior Sister Xia Ning Chang fast asleep on his bed, the gentle moonlight streaming in from the holes in the roof, startling Yang Kai greatly.
It was from that moment on that her beautiful figure had been permanently engraved in his heart.
Every time he remembered that scene, his heart would fill with a tender warmth. It was a precious memory he would never be able to forget.
After sitting inside his wooden house for a while, Yang Kai left to visit Su Yan’s small house.
It was inside this small house that Yang Kai inadvertently saw the scene of Su Yan changing her clothes, the smooth, graceful curve of her back seizing his soul at the time, her charm and beauty robbing him of all ability to even breathe.
At that time, Su Yan was furious and used her frigid True Qi to freeze Yang Kai into a block of ice. It was only a few days later that Yang Kai thawed out after comprehending the profound Martial Skill, Unyielding Will.
Xia Ning Chang and Su Yan, the two most important women in his life, it was here that Yang Kai had met and grown close to them.
As his heartbeat steadied, a flurry of emotions washed over him.
High Heaven Pavilion was filled with so many of Yang Kai’s memories and emotions.
Walking along the familiar paths, it was like he had returned to the time he was a simple High Heaven Pavilion disciple so many years ago, the sights and scenes from that time all coming back to him.
The Contribution Hall was still the same as before, Yang Kai even felt like he could see Treasurer Meng lazily sitting behind the front desk, his eyes darting around, staring lewdly at the beautiful female disciples passing through, commenting on the height of their chests and the fullness of their bottoms.
The Martial Skill Pavilion was also unchanged, still housing the many Secret Arts and Martial Skills of High Heaven Pavilion.
Of course, for the current Yang Kai, these things had no value other than for nostalgia.
Soon, Yang Kai arrived at the Coiling Dragon Stream. Standing at its edge, he could hear the wind whistling as it blew through the seemingly bottomless canyon.
Several fruit trees stood nearby, swaying gently in the wind. These were the fruit trees Yang Kai had planted in the past. Originally they were only slightly taller than him, but now they had grown high enough for their thick leaves to provide shade for those who stood beneath them.
Stepping off the edge, Yang Kai allowed his body to fall into the Coiling Dragon Stream.
Part-way down, Yang Kai came to a halt and stepped into the secluded cave he had worked so hard to carve all those years ago.
Inside this secluded cave, there were a number of plants that Xia Ning Chang had planted as decorations still growing. After the Demonic Qi had been purged from the canyon down below, these plants had flourished and covered the surrounding area in a thick bed of green leaves.
There were even a few delicate flowers next to the cave’s entrance.
The cave even retained a faint trace of Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang’s fragrances.
This secluded cave was the secret place for the three of them. Several times, while Yang Kai and Su Yan were happily flirting with one another, Little Senior Sister would be ‘sleeping’ on the stone bed nearby.
Yang Kai sat cross-legged at the cave’s entrance and closed his eyes, completely relaxing his mind and body. After revisiting all these memories, he suddenly felt as if his soul had received a kind of sublimation. This indescribable feeling gave him an incredible sense of comfort.
A burst of humming sounds rang out as Yang Kai’s physique began to tremble and the True Qi inside his body seemed to burst forward, flowing like a mighty river through his meridians.
Two days later, Yang Kai opened his eyes and a profound light flashed across their depths.
A moment later, a hint of confusion appeared on his face.
He was somewhat puzzled by the current condition.
After returning to High Heaven Pavilion and walking through all its familiar paths, he had suddenly fallen into a strange state. Initially, Yang Kai had thought he was experiencing a breakthrough and had simply allowed nature to take its course, but after waking up, he discovered that he had not advanced to the Saint Realm at all.
He was still a Third Order Transcendent, but the True Qi that was flowing through his body seemed somewhat different from before.
Closing his eyes and examining himself with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai discovered that the True Qi in his meridians had increased in purity and density. If his previous True Qi was akin to water in a river, his current True Qi now showed subtle signs of crystallization.
When it was not in use, it no longer flowed freely, but once Yang Kai pushed it, it was not only stronger, it also contained a greater destructive force with it.
The Yang Liquid stored in his dantian also seemed to be undergoing a change, becoming more akin to dazzling golden jewels rather than drops of molten gold.
Yang Kai was confused and didn’t know what was happening to him.
After thoroughly investigating his physical condition, Yang Kai couldn’t find anything wrong with himself. On the contrary, he felt quite refreshed, as if the strange change in his True Qi not only wasn’t harmful to him but had instead brought him great benefits.
At the very least, Yang Kai instinctually felt he had become stronger.
Sending out a Divine Sense Message, it was not long before Li Rong and Han Fei flew over and entered the secluded cave, both of them saluting politely as they asked, “What is Master’s command?”
These past two days, Li Rong and Han Fei were treated as guests in the High Heaven Pavilion and they occasionally helped with the cleanup effort around the Sect. Both of them noticed that Yang Kai had entered a state of meditative cultivation and naturally did not come to disturb him until Yang Kai took the initiative to summon them over.
“I have some questions to ask you both,” Yang Kai signalled to them to sit down.
The two women smiled, even Han Fei was showing a warm look quite in contrast to her normally ice-cold temperament.
In their impression, Yang Kai seemed almost omnipotent, but this time he had actually called them to ask their advice, surprising them.
The two sat down and Li Rong asked, “Is there anything Master is unclear about regarding his cultivation?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, relaxing his defences, “Use your Divine Senses to examine the True Qi in my body to see if there is anything wrong with it.”
“Something wrong with it?” Han Fei was shocked.
“Very well, excuse us,” Li Rong didn’t speak any nonsense and began sweeping Yang Kai with her powerful Divine Sense.
After a moment, her beautiful eyes lit up as she muttered, “True Qi Sanctification?”
Han Fei also showed a pleasant expression as she smiled happily towards Yang Kai and said, “Congratulations Master, with Master’s cultivation speed, I’m afraid it won’t be long before you officially break through to the Saint Realm.”
“En, since you’ve already reached the point of True Qi Sanctification, and considering the pace at which Master’s cultivation advances, I would estimate that within two to three years you will become a Saint. If there are some opportunities or epiphanies along the way, that time will only be shorter.”
“Stop!” Yang Kai reached out his hand and knit his brow, staring blankly at the two women for a moment before asking, “First explain to me, what is this True Qi Sanctification you’re talking about? Why are you so sure that I am not far from reaching the Saint Realm?”
Li Rong and Han Fei shot an astonished glance at each other upon hearing these questions, but soon the two of them burst into laughter, their voices resounding like delicate silver bells in the secluded cave.
Yang Kai instantly felt uncomfortable.
Li Rong’s laughter was extremely carefree while even Han Fei, who always wore an icy expression, was doubled over, the two of them clearly finding this whole situation incredibly funny, and clearly he was the cause.
Yet Yang Kai, as the butt of this joke, actually knew nothing.
“Have the two of you laughed enough yet?” Yang Kai glared at them.
Noticing that Yang Kai seemed to be becoming angry out of shame, Li Rong and Han Fei hurriedly restrained their laughter, but the two of them still couldn’t help covering their mouths with their hands as their shoulders trembled lightly.
Yang Kai could only rub his forehead, feeling quite helpless.
Sometime later, Li Rong and Han Fei finally composed themselves and the former asked, “Master, have you ever received any formal instruction regarding cultivation?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because if someone had given you formal instruction, you should know what True Qi Sanctification is and understand that it is a checkpoint on the path to the Saint Realm.”
“A checkpoint before reaching the Saint Realm?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested, “Go on.”
Li Rong and Han Fei, one after another, began to explain.
“In this world, there are a lot of Transcendent Realm cultivators, but of these many Transcendents, those who can successfully break through to the Saint Realm probably number less than one percent. Why are there so many Transcendents who fail to grasp the mysteries of the Saint Realm? The main reason is their inability to achieve True Qi Sanctification.”
“A cultivator, from when they first begin to cultivate until they reach the Saint Realm, must walk step by step and experience many breakthroughs, each one more difficult than the last. It can be said that every breaking through to each new Great Realm results in a kind of rebirth where one receives both internal and external baptisms. However, over this entire process of growth, a cultivator will also experience two fundamental changes in their internal strength.”
“One time is when they break through from the Separation and Reunion Boundary to the True Element Boundary, when the Yuan Qi in their meridians is transformed into True Qi. The great difference in power between these two types of Qi, I believe Master is quite well aware of.”
Yang Kai lightly nodded.
Before the Peak Separation and Reunion Boundary, Yuan Qi was what flowed through a cultivator’s meridians, but after they broke through to the True Element Boundary, it was replaced by True Qi.
The two Qis were fundamentally different. Disregarding the change in realm and only examining it from the perspective of pure power, when Yuan Qi transformed into True Qi, a cultivator’s combat potential would dramatically increase.
“The second great change occurs when one breaks through from the Transcendent Realm to the Saint Realm!” Li Rong declared in a spirited tone, “Because the energy which flows through a Saint Realm master’s body is not True Qi.”
“Not True Qi?” Yang Kai’s brow rose, somewhat unable to process what he was hearing.
No one had ever told him anything regarding this matter.
“Yes, what flows through a Saint Realm master’s meridians is Saint Qi, and its strength is incomparable to that of True Qi.”
Yang Kai was shocked and could not speak for a long time.
Han Fei thought about it for a moment before continuing, “For example, a block of Low-Rank Crystal Stone contains significantly less energy a block of Top -Rank Crystal Stone of equivalent volume, but the amount of energy in a block of Saint Crystal is incomparable to a block of Top-Rank Crystal Stone of equal size. Yuan Qi is like Low-Rank Crystal Stone, True Qi like Top-Rank Crystal Stone, and Saint Qi like Saint Crystal.”
Such a basic fact was something Yang Kai actually knew nothing about.
“Because Master has had some kind of opportunity, the True Qi in your body has begun to transform into Saint Qi. When this transformation is complete, Master will only have to fully comprehend the mysteries of the Saint Realm and he will be able to smoothly break through,” Li Rong looked at him with excitement, feeling sincerely happy about his rapid growth.
“Before now, hasn’t anyone ever spoken about this matter to Master?” Han Fei asked in amazement.
The reason they had never mentioned anything about the True Qi Sanctification process to Yang Kai was because they had assumed he was aware of it already, as that was common sense. Never had they anticipate he was actually completely ignorant about it.
“It’s only to be expected that no one has told Master about this,” Li Rong smiled, “Master’s rate of growth is simply too fast! The Elders around him probably did not anticipate he would already be experiencing True Qi Sanctification and were simply planning on mentioning it to him at some point in the future. At the very least, the Holy Land’s Great Elder would have eventually explained about this process to you.”
Yang Kai gently nodded; after learning about his current situation and understanding it was not a misdemeanor, he finally relaxed.
“What should I do now?” Yang Kai asked hesitantly.
“There’s nothing to do, just go about your life as before,” Li Rong smiled and replied.
“Is there any way to speed up the progress of this True Qi Sanctification?” Yang Kai knit his brow, “I remember when it was time to convert my Yuan Qi to True Qi, there were certain medicines that could be used as auxiliaries to improve the purity and refinement rate of my True Qi.”
“That was because your foundation was yet to be fully established, so it was possible to improve and increase the conversation rate, but True Qi Sanctification takes place after one’s foundation has already been established, so there is no way to speed it up. One can only let nature take its course.”
“I understand,” Yang Kai sighed lightly but still felt quite excited in his heart.
After his True Qi was completely converted into Saint Qi, and he fully comprehended the mysteries of the Saint Realm, he would be able to step into that realm.
Yang Kai wasn’t concerned at all about comprehending these mysteries; for others, this might be a difficult task, but for him, it was nothing.
He had absorbed so many Saint Realm cultivators’ perceptions and insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, transforming them into his own strength, so breaking through to the Saint Realm would not be an issue for him.
Now he just had to wait for the Qi in his body to finish transforming, so the time it would take for him to reach the next Great Realm would probably be much shorter than what Li Rong estimated.
After spending a moment lost in his own thoughts, Yang Kai collected himself and set aside the matter of the Saint Realm, stood up and asked, “What is the situation in High Heaven Pavilion?”
“Things have mostly been settled,” Li Rong replied.
“Good, then we should set out,” Yang Kai said, leaping out of his secluded cave and flying up.
He had planned to travel to the Central Capital immediately after securing High Heaven Pavilion, but this unexpected opportunity had delayed him two days.
High Heaven Pavilion was now fully occupied with the disciples and Elders from all of the Three Sects gathered here. Su Mu was only temporarily place people around the Sect’s grounds, forcing many of them to simply sit outside, taking the sky as their blankets and the ground as their beds.
Inside the main hall, Su Mu and the Pavilion Elders sat around a large table along with Hu Man of Blood Battle Gang, the Hu Sisters, Xiao Ruo Han of Storm Hall and Fang Zi Ji.
When Yang Kai arrived, they seemed to be discussing something.
The moment he entered the room, all eyes landed on Yang Kai, expectant and excited looks upon all their faces.
“Brother-in-law, are you going to the Central Capital?” Su Mu asked.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Then I wish you a swift victory and triumphant return!” Su Mu declared.
Yang Kai stared at him with a look of surprise.
Su Mu just grinned back at him, “We have self-knowledge. We’d be nothing but a burden to you if we went, but brother-in-law, you have to teach those dogs an unforgettable lesson, you mustn’t show any mercy.”
Yang Kai smiled and nodded sincerely, “Relax, I’ll make sure not a single one of them returns alive!”
Saying so, he turned around and shouted, “Shi Kun!”
“Reporting!” Shi Kun appeared.
“You stay here and help me take care of this place. If anyone dares try to invade, directly report to them the Holy Land’s name. I’d like to see if anyone dares challenge my Holy Land.”
“Yes!”