Central Capital, where north and south could not see one another, the first under Heaven City!
Looking from far away, the gigantic Central Capital City was like an ancient beast slumbering quietly on the ground, giving off an aura of intimidation that made all who saw it tremble in awe.
A streak of blue light came to a halt some twenty-five kilometres away from the Central Capital and the figure of Yang Kai, Li Rong and Han Fei appeared.
“There’s actually such a massive city here?” Li Rong was shocked and exclaimed.
A city the size of the Central Capital, even in Tong Xuan Realm, was rare; Li Rong couldn’t even imagine how many years it had taken for the natives of this world to build it.
“There seems to be some traces of destruction,” Han Fei wrinkled her brow.
“En, more than a decade ago, the Earth Vein below the Central Capital exploded, essentially destroying the entire city. When I left this place, everyone was focused on rebuilding the Central Capital. Although more than a decade has passed, it seems they haven’t finished with the reconstruction yet,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
At this moment, the entire Central Capital seemed a bit too calm, although they were still twenty-five kilometres away, Yang Kai could still make out some people moving about, but far fewer than normal.
A burst of light suddenly appeared above a certain place in the Central Capital, immediately catching Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Master, there seems to be someone fighting there,” Li Rong stated.
“Let’s go take a look!” Yang Kai once again activated the Flying Heavens Shuttle and shot forward.
At the south gate of the Central Capital, a group of Transcendent Realm cultivators wore grim expression as she hurriedly fled.
The Central Capital’s South Gate was for the exclusive use of the Yang Family. When any Yang Family members returned home, they would enter through this gate. When Yang Kai returned to Central Capital to participate in the Inheritance War, he too had walked through this gate.
The Transcendent Realm cultivators who were fleeing right now were almost all masters from the Yang Family’s Blood Warrior Hall.
They were going all out to escape from the Central Capital.
But behind them were two invincible enemies pursuing them.
“You rats can flee but I’d like to see where you can run now!” A single-eyed middle-aged man who was following the Blood Warriors at a seemingly leisurely pace called out called out mockingly, showing no intention of immediately attacking, his eyes filled with scorn, just like a cat toying with a pack of mice, “A trivial group of Transcendent Realm trash dares act presumptuously in front of me? Run, run, keep running! Don’t let yourselves get caught or your fate will be more miserable than you can imagine.”
Everyone who was fleeing felt enraged as their visions were dyed red, but they were well away of how tyrannical these enemies were so they didn’t dare to stop and fight, only using a few Martial Skills every now and then as they ran forward in an attempt to delay the pace of this man.
However, the Martial Skills they used against this one-eyed man were completely ineffective, each of them being blocked by a faint barrier which seemed to surround his body. It was as if their attacks all sunk into an endless sea, disappearing without even a trace.
This reality made the group of escaping Transcendents sink further into despair.
“Chou Xu, stop fooling around. Temple Master Wu is waiting for us to return, just grab them quickly,” From a different direction, a beautiful woman with a luscious figure called out to the middle-aged man lightly.
Chou Xu shot her an annoyed glance and snorted, “You don’t need to remind me.”
Cursing under his breath in the next instant, “Little slut, thinking that after obtaining some favour from Wu Zheng you can order me around like some servant, completely not placing me in your eyes. Fuck, so annoying.”
As he muttered, Chou Xu’s expression became even crueler, shouting a moment later, “Run, run! The first one of you I catch I will make taste the world’s most brutal torture! Seeing that you had a bit of strength and might have some use, we spared your lives, yet you actually dared disregard our mercy and try to escape? You really don’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!”
The conversation between the man and woman clearly reached the ears of the fleeing Transcendents, causing their expression to become even uglier.
Among the crowd, one burly man shouted, “Brothers and Sisters, spread out, let destiny decide who lives and who dies. If any of us can escape, you must survive and find Little Lord; tell him about this matter!”
Everyone nodded and shouted, “Good luck!”
The next moment, all of them shot off in different directions.
The man and woman chasing after them saw this scene but showed not the slightest bit of concern, the one-eyed man named Chou Xu grinning viciously as he said, “Seems you’re not complete idiots. I thought at least one of you would stop and fight with me.”
“Don’t make trouble, if we let them run too far it’ll just become more of a hassle. Cut them off while I block their retreat!” The woman shouted, a torrent of power welling up from her body, creating an invisible barrier that blocked off the area behind the fleeing Transcendents, leaving their only option to press on, effectively sealing off their movements.
Seeing that she had already started to act, Chou Xu also no longer delayed, displaying a similar technique that blocked the path ahead of the group of cultivators.
*Peng peng peng…*
The group of Transcendents collided with this invisible barrier that had emerged out of thin air and were all forced back, their expressions turning gloomy.
Two fearful auras engulfed them, forcing them back together, their backs against one another as they glared up at the man and woman standing mid-air above them.
No door to Heaven, or path to Hell, in the face of absolute strength, they could only dance on the palm of the enemy’s hand.
“Xiu Li, if I kill them, will it matter?” Chou Xu turned his one eye to the woman and asked.
Xiu Li frowned and spoke in a dissatisfied tone, “Their strength isn’t high, what’s the point in killing them? The reason Temple Master Wu let them live was to let them submit and work for us. As long as this group of people surrenders, the others will be easier to deal with. The World Energy aura here is not rich and there’s no resources worth exploiting, but there are quite a few people we can bring back to use as slaves and labourers.”
“Of course, I understand Temple Master Wu’s intentions, but… without killing them, I won’t be able to soothe my anger,” Chou Xu slowly shook his head.
Seeing his appearance, Xiu Li felt a deep sense of loathing in her heart, but not wishing to waste any more time arguing with him, she reluctantly nodded, “Fine, but you can only kill one. If you dare to kill more, I’ll report it back to Temple Master Wu.”
“I know you’ve built a ‘good relationship’ with Temple Master Wu, but you don’t keep using his name to suppress me, I am Seeking Heavens Pavilion’s Sect Master, not his subordinate.”
“If you want to kill one then hurry up, stop spouting nonsense,” Xiu Li impatiently shouted.
Chou Xu snorted before turning his one eye to the group down below, glancing around the couple dozen Transcendents while ignoring their angry glares. Suddenly, he pointed to one of them and declared, “Her, I most enjoy killing women, especially beautiful women!”
Saying so, he shot a glance over towards the woman called Xiu Li, the latter snorting disdainfully, knowing what he was implying but refusing to go along with his provocation.
The selected woman paled.
“Yu Xian…” The others called out desperately.
Tang Yu Xian however just smiled miserably, “Let destiny decide who lives and who dies. Don’t try to fight, the place they come from should be the place where Little Lord went, you all have to go there and do everything possible to find Little Lord so he can take revenge for our fallen Brothers and Sisters!”
All of them shook their heads unwillingly.
“Woman, if you have any last words, I’ll give you ten breaths of time to speak them,” Chou Xu stood mid-air and laughed wildly.
“They’ve gone too far, I’ll fight them!” Tu Feng shouted angrily, his Blood Qi madly rising as he tried to display the Blood Warrior’s Mad Tyrant Blood Skill.
“If we must die, then we’ll die together! No matter what, we can’t just stand here and watch as you’re killed!” Ying Jiu’s figure flickered, as he prepared to use his Flickering Shadow Strike.
At that moment though, an invisible pressure descended and completely suppressed all of them, forcefully canceling Tu Feng’s Mad Tyrant Blood Skill while locking Ying Jiu’s shadowy figure in place.
Chou Xu laughed and taunted, “I told you not to act so presumptuous. A group of trash with no self-awareness, how can mere Transcendents possibly fight with a Saint? I’ll let you all see right now the insurmountable gap between us, killing any of you is as simple as crushing an ant.”
Saying so, he stretched out his hand and grasped towards them.
Tang Yu Xian cried out as she found herself bound by an invisible force that slowly pulled her up into the air.
A moment later, she was floating tens of meters above the ground.
The invisible force that shackled her body grew stronger and stronger, making it difficult for Tang Yu Xian to breathe. Her face turned red and her eyes flashed with unwillingness but no matter how much she wished to resist, she was incapable of even struggling.
Sad and shrill cries rang out from down below.
Cracking sounds burst out from Tang Yu Xian’s body as her bones seemed to break under the strain.
Feeling death beckoning to her, Tang Yu Xian’s heart suddenly became calm as she directed a cold glare towards the one-eyed man named Chou Xu, and the indifferent woman Xiu Li.
*Xiu…*
A sword-like attack suddenly flashed and cut through the air between Chou Xu and Tang Yu Xian.
At the same time, the sound of something being cut apart resounded.
Tang Yu Xian, who had just been imprisoned, breathed in a deep breath as the enormous pressure on her body instantly disappeared, freeing her and allowing her to fall back down to the ground.
A blue light flashed and three figures suddenly appeared, seemingly out of thin air, their bodies wrapped in an ice cold aura.
“Who goes there?” Chou Xu and Xiu Li’s expression changed dramatically as they shouted.
The Transcendents down below also turned their eyes towards these newcomers.
All of them froze up.
In the next moment though, shouts of surprise and joy escaped from their lips.
“Little Lord!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly as he swept his gaze down below.
Familiar faces appeared one after another in front of his eyes.
Tu Feng, Tang Yu Xian, Ying Jiu, Ji Li, Xiao Shun, Yan Ling Xing, Wu Ju…
Most of Yang Family Blood Warrior Hall’s masters were present.
“Yu Xian, are you alright?” Yang Kai asked softly.
Tang Yu Xian’s beautiful eyes filled with excitement as she nodded, “Just some minor injuries, Little Lord doesn’t need to worry.”
“That’s good,” Yang Kai let out a sigh of relief.
“Who are you?” Chou Xu frowned as he stood together with Xiu Li and shouted.
Although he didn’t know why, when these three people suddenly appeared, Chou Xu felt a sense of fear grip him, as if their arrival heralded the coming of his death, causing him to shudder unconsciously.
Without standing next to Xiu Li, he simply couldn’t feel a sense of security.
“You just said that Transcendents have no way to fight with Saints didn’t you?” Yang Kai spoke flatly as he stared coldly at Chou Xu.
“En, who might I ask is Your Excellency?” Chou Xu frowned.
“Do I need to announce my name to a dead man?”
“Your Excellency is quite bold. Who are you?” Chou Xu coldly shouted, realizing the situation had become unfavourable and quietly shot Xiu Li a glance, hinting for her to act when she saw an opportunity. In response, she nodded.
Yang Kai didn’t bother responding to him and simply told Li Rong, “You two deal with that woman, I’ll handle him.”
Li Rong nodded, “Be careful.”
She didn’t attempt to stop Yang Kai because she understood just how angry he was. She knew Yang Kai wanted to kill this one-eyed man himself, for the crimes the man had just committed. With her and Han Fei watching nearby, even if Yang Kai ultimately couldn’t win, it was impossible for his life to be in any danger.
Two pairs of beautiful eyes fixed on Xiu Li and an invisible pressure crashed down on her.
The enchanting woman named Xiu Li instantly went stiff, unable to move or even circulate the strength within her body, as if she had been sunk into a mire that completely suppressed her.
Shock filled Xiu Li’s heart as she instantly understood how terrifying these two women who suddenly appear in front of them were, her tender body trembling uncontrollably.
Chou Xu’s expression also paled. The instant Li Rong and Han Fei used their strength, he realized he was severely outmatched. Refusing to even bother with the group of Transcendents he had been chasing, Chou Xu fled towards the centre of the Central Capital.
He needed to find Wu Zheng!
Although he was dissatisfied with the distribution of spoils Wu Zheng had set up, he didn’t doubt that Wu Zheng was the strongest among them, the latter’s Second Order Saint Realm cultivation towering above his own.
Just as he tried to flee though, the figure of the young man who seemed to not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth appeared in front of him and blocked his path.
A Third Order Transcendent!
Chou Xu understood Yang Kai’s real cultivation at a glance and was overjoyed, secretly thinking that the Heavens had not abandoned him yet, shouting loudly as charged forward, “Boy, come here!”
Saying so, he reached out and grabbed towards Yang Kai.
He wanted to capture Yang Kai and use him as a hostage in order to preserve his life.
Yang Kai didn’t try to dodge and just stared back at Chou Xu coldly, his expression completely indifferent. When the big hand reaching towards him landed on his shoulder, before it could even exert any strength, Yang Kai pushed his strength fiercely, sending out a burst of True Qi from his body.
A scorching hot wave of energy erupted, causing Chou Xu to cry out in pain and hastily take back his hand, his face pale and was filled with disbelief.
The young man in front of him was truly just a Third Order Transcendent, but the power he emitted from his body just now was even more potent than his own; despite him being a genuine First Order Saint.
From his palm, the burning True Qi penetrated deep into Chou Xu’s meridians, rushing through his body and infiltrating his five viscera and six organs in an attempt to destroy his vitality.
Not daring to neglect, Chou Xu hurriedly circulated his own Saint Qi to suppress this scalding energy, his body’s temperature rapidly rising as his flesh turned red and began to let off steam as if he was being boiled alive from the inside
Before he could compose himself, a golden spear that gave off a shocking pressure flew through the air towards him, seemingly tearing space itself as it ignored the distance between them and rapidly expanded in his eyes.
Chou Xu was panic-stricken when he felt the destructive force contained within this spear and desperately threw himself to the side to dodge it.
*Xiu…*
The Heaven Punishing Spear just barely missed its mark and flew out of several dozen kilometres before disappearing across in a flash of light.
One Heaven Punishing Spear after another was condensed in Yang Kai’s hand as he stood mid-air and threw them out.
Like bolts of lightning, a storm of golden spears flashed across the sky.
Chou Xu was immediately forced into a difficult situation, only capable of dodging the exquisite Nine Heavens Divine Skill, unable to hit back, his face looking deathly pale.
“Run, run, let’s see how long you can keep this up!” Yang Kai called out in a relaxed tone with an indifferent look upon his face, casually throwing Heaven Punishing Spears from a dominant position, as if he had yet to even use all his strength, taunting Chou Xu in the same way the latter had just been taunting the fleeing Central Capital Transcendents.
Chou Xu couldn’t even shout back as it was taking all his strength and concentration to avoid the storm of attacks coming towards him, causing his expression to become even uglier.
“Aren’t you an all-powerful Saint? Stop acting so pitifully and fight back, or are you saying you’re actually afraid of a mere Transcendent like me? Come, show me everything you’ve got. Today, this Young Master will show you what a Transcendent killing a Saint looks like,” Yang Kai sneered coldly, using his Profound Heavenly Sword and Imprisoning Heaven Chain in addition to his Heaven Punishing Spears, displaying all the Nine Heavens Divine Skills in all their glory.
Down below, Tu Feng and others were dumbstruck and fell into a daze they could not extricate themselves from for a long time.
Thanks to the training and resources Yang Kai granted them in the past, they had all broken through to the Transcendent Realm before the former departed and were able to stand at the top of this world.
During the more than ten years Yang Kai had been away, all of them had been diligently cultivating and now basically every Blood Warrior saw hope of breaking through to the Second-Order Transcendent Realm.
However, a few months ago, a group of enemies they couldn’t match suddenly appeared and quickly subdued the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families.
Just now, even with just the one-eyed man named Chou Xu chasing them, they had been driven into a hopeless situation and were on the verge of witnessing Tang Yu Xian being crushed to death right before their eyes without even being able to fight back.
Suddenly though, their Little Lord had arrived and instantly suppressed the very same Chou Xu they were powerless against to the point where the latter was unable to even talk back.
The Blood Warriors’ spirits rose as a deep sense of pride filled their chests, all of them elated to see the previously domineering and arrogant Chou Xu forced into such a distressed state.
Li Rong and Han Fei’s eyes also lit up as they exchanged a look filled with pleasant surprise.
Although both of them knew that Yang Kai was very strong, since they had begun following him, they had never seen him truly fight with any powerful master, so they didn’t know where his bottom line was.
Just now, the two women had secretly decided that if Yang Kai showed signs of being overwhelmed they would immediately help.
But the situation was actually completely different from what they were worried about. A First Order Saint Realm master actually couldn’t even fight back in front of Yang Kai.
The two of them could even determine that Yang Kai could easily kill the other party if he wanted to.
This is because Yang Kai had yet to use his Demon God Transformation and was still only fighting against the one-eyed man with his raw strength.
At this moment, they finally put down their last worries and, while completely suppressing Xiu Li so she couldn’t interfere, observed Yang Kai’s fight.
“Father will fight with you!” A burst of light flashed as Chou Xu suddenly screamed and summoned a large bell. The bell swung and released a thunderous sound, sending out a powerful shockwave in all directions.
The Heaven Punishing Spear and Profound Heavenly Sword that were flying towards him suddenly weakened.
Down below, the Transcendents all felt like their heads were splitting when they heard the tolling of the bell, looks of pain filling their faces as they felt their blood flow become disturbed, threatening to burst from their bodies at any time.
Li Rong waved her hand and dispelled the pressure surrounding them, allowing the Transcendents to recover, each of them sending her a gratefully look.
Chou Xu’s Spiritual Energy burst out as he controlled his large bell artifact, releasing its full power, using it as a shield to block Yang Kai’s attacks as he charged forward.
Obviously, he wanted to launch a desperate counter-attack in the hopes of creating a mutual loss. If at that moment he could capture Yang Kai, it would be even better.
“A Spirit Grade Top-Rank artifact?!” Yang Kai snorted, ignoring the impact of the sound wave from the bell and not only not retreating, but moving forward to meet it.
True Yang Yuan Qi erupted and like a giant fireball, Yang Kai slammed into the large bell head-on.
A moment later, a loud bang rang out.
The sound of the bell echoed throughout the entire Central Capital, causing everyone’s vitality to uncomfortably tumble.
Chou Xu, who had been hiding behind the large bell, was struck by a terrifying impact and sent flying like a paper kite, blood gushing from his wounds as his face paled and his eyes filled with shock.
Despite feeling it with his own body, he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
The Third-Order Transcendent Realm young had actually used his flesh and blood body to not only block his artifact’s all-out attack but even forcefully repelled it, sending Chou Xu flying.
On the other hand, the young man was only forced back a dozen steps before he stabilized his footing.
Just how tyrannical did one’s flesh have to be to stop an artifact with their body?
It wasn’t until this moment that Chou Xu fully understood how monstrous the combat strength of the young man before him was. Although this youth’s cultivation realm was lower than Chou Xu’s, he was actually the kind of monster that could easily fight above his own level.
Chou Xu’s eyes dimmed as he tumbled through the air, a moment later screaming out, “Wu Zheng!”
Yang Kai grasped the large bell in his hand for a moment before tossing it aside and disappearing, his figure flickering and quickly re-appearing in front of Chou Xu, a ferocious grin forming on his face as he stated, “It doesn’t matter who you call for now, you’re still going to die!”
A blast of pure True Qi crashed into Chou Xu and despite his best efforts he was unable to resist.
Scotching heat flooded Chou Xu’s body, boiling his blood and turning the surface of his skin bright red.
*Hong…*
Chou Xu’s body burst open like a blossoming blood-red flower, his death extremely miserable.
Xiu Li’s tender body trembled fiercely as her heart filled with fear. She had witnessed the entire battle from start to finish but was still unable to understand just how a Saint Realm master was so easily killed by a mere Transcendent Realm youth.
This scene had completely subverted her perception of a cultivator’s strength.
Staring at this terrifying youth’s imposing back, Xiu Li couldn’t help feeling terrified.
“Master, how should we deal with this woman?” Li Rong asked softly.
“Kill her!” Yang Kai responded faintly.
“Understood!” Han Fei nodded, her figure flickering and appearing beside Xiu Li in the next instant before sending out a few light palms.
In the blink of an eye, Xiu Li’s body was covered in a layer of ice, transforming her into an incredibly life-like ice sculpture, the fear on her face perfectly preserved.
This ice sculpture fell down right after and shattered into a million pieces.
Xiu Li had died, leaving not a single trace of her corpse.
“Who dares commit murder here?” A roar echoed from far away and a moment later a red-faced old man leisurely appeared, his face filled with anger as he swept his eyes over the surrounding.
After clearly seeing Yang Kai though, his face paled, “Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Holy Master?”
As Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple’s Temple Master, Wu Zheng naturally recognized Yang Kai; after all, he and Chu Yi of Veiled Heaven Palace as well as Fang Yue Bai of Mist Lock Tower had pursued the Ancient Demon clansmen across half of the Human Territory to the nine peaks.
Wu Zheng also harboured hatred towards this young man who colluded with Demons, as well as a deep sense of envy.
The reason for this was quite simple. Yang Kai was nothing but a young man yet he was already the master of one of the world’s greatest forces and was even able to subdue so many powerful Demon Race masters.
The power he held in his hands was enough to make anyone jealous.
Wu Zheng didn’t know where he was worse than him and why this kind of good deed hadn’t landed in his lap instead.
“Wu Zheng!” Yang Kai grinned as he stared faintly at the old man.
“Holy Master Yang… it’s been a long time,” Wu Zheng looked around and frowned, “Might I ask, why has Holy Master Yang has come to this place? Also, have you seen Chou Xu and Xiu Li? I just heard Chou Xu’s cry a moment ago and sensed the fallout of battle from this place, it couldn’t be that Holy Master Yang…”
“If you’re referring to that one-eyed man and a middle-aged and that beautiful woman, they’re already dead.”
“Dead?” Wu Zheng expression darkened as he stared deeply at Yang Kai, “Could it be they died at Holy Master Yang’s hand?”
“Indeed,” Yang Kai admitted frankly.
Wu Zheng brow furrowed as a cold light flashed across his eyes, “Why did you kill them? What enmity did they have with Holy Master Yang?”
“Can I not kill people without there being enmity between us?” Yang Kai laughed and narrowed his eyes at Wu Zheng, lifting his hand and pointing at him while grinning fiercely, “Not only them, but you too must die today!”
Wu Zheng’s face cramped as he glanced cautiously towards Li Rong and Han Fei, saying with a smile, “What does Holy Master Yang mean by all this? Is there someplace where this Wu has offended you?”
He had just heard Chou Xu’s pitiful scream and immediately realized that something was wrong. When he rushed over, he first saw Yang Kai, but without understanding what the situation was, Wu Zheng didn’t feel much sense of crisis.
After all, Yang Kai was the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land so it was impossible for him to kill someone for no reason at all, not to mention that Wu Zheng was also the master of a force not too inferior to Yang Kai’s.
He had taken it for granted that they were of equal status and could sit down and talk things out if there was some kind of issue.
Little could he have imagined that Yang Kai had no intention of discussing anything with him and responded to his words with murderous intent.
“How have you offended me?” Yang Kai’s eyes grew ice-cold as he gloomily said, “This place is my home, yet you and your lackeys invaded, humiliating my friends and family…”
Before Yang Kai even finished talking, Wu Zheng understood that the situation was beyond saving.
Whether his words were true or not, it was a fact that Chou Xu and Xiu Li were already dead. Since Yang Kai dared to kill them both, perhaps he would be willing to kill him too.
Wu Zheng was a decisive person, and after hearing just part of Yang Kai’s explanation, he immediately summoned out a shield artifact, transforming it into a light barrier around himself and flew away from the Central Capital as quickly as possible.
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled as he turned to look in the direction Wu Zheng had fled, waving his hand a moment later.
Without saying a word, Han Fei immediately pursued.
There was no need to speculate about Wu Zheng’s fate, he would die without a doubt!
Once an Ancient Demon Clansmen used their Demon God Transformation, they could fight opponents above their own realm. Li Rong had fought Xue Li to a draw when she was just a Second-Order Saint. The current Han Fei was also a Second-Order Saint, so killing Wu Zheng was just a matter of time.
“Li Rong, sweep the Central Capital, clean up anyone brought here by Wu Zheng.”
“Yes,” Li Rong responded promptly before disappearing, her immense Divine Sense spreading out like a tide in the next instant, covering the entire Central Capital.
Yang Kai then flew down to the ground.
“Little Lord!” The Blood Warriors looked all stared at him with excitement and shouted.
Yang Kai glanced at them and nodded, “Everything’s alright now, let’s go back first before we talk.”
“Good.”
By the time Yang Kai arrived at the Yang Family, Li Rong had already completed the mop-up work and the majority of the people brought over by Wu Zheng had been gathered in the Yang Family to begin with, allowing her to easily take care of them.
After hearing the whole story from Li Rong, many Yang Family members had assembled in anticipation of Yang Kai’s arrival.
The Yang Family Fourth Master husband and wife pair were both waiting eagerly, Dong Su Zhu constantly wiping the tears from her eyes.
A moment later, when Yang Kai and the numerous Blood Warriors appeared in their field of vision, Dong Su Zhu rushed out to Yang Kai despite the Fourth Master trying to hold her back.
“Mother!” Yang Kai shouted happily.
Dong Su Zhu grabbed hold of his shoulders and began looking him over from head to toe, wanting to see if he was in good health. After determining that her son was uninjured, she tightly embraced him.
Yang Kai immediately felt like it had become difficult to breathe.
Li Rong stared strangely at this mother and son reunion. If Yang Kai hadn’t taken the initiative to call out a moment ago, Li Rong would have assumed that this young woman was Yang Kai’s Elder or possibly even Younger Sister. She never would have expected her to actually be her Master’s mother.
“Isn’t that enough, everyone is waiting, why are you hugging Kai’er as if he’ll disappear if you let go?” Yang Ying Feng finally stepped forward to remind her after seeing his wife show no signs of letting their son go.
“Who cares about them… This is my son,” Dong Su Zhu tears continued to pour out, acting like she was suffering some intolerable grievance, as if someone was trying to snatch Yang Kai away from her.
“Father!” Yang Kai grinned and greeted the Yang Family Fourth Master.
“En, good, very good!” Yang Ying Feng nodded heavily, a hint of relief appearing on his face as the corners of his eyes began to water up too.
Yang Kai had been away from home for more than ten years with no news about whether he was even alive or dead, so of course the ones who were most worried were Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu. Now though, not only were they able to determine their son was safe and sound, Yang Kai had also once again rescued the Central Capital; naturally, a sense of pride rose in the Fourth Master’s heart.
After some time, Dong Su Zhu’s mood gradually calmed down and she reluctantly released Yang Kai.
“Wait until tonight, our family can have a good chat then,” Yang Kai patted her hand and comforted.
“En.”
Yang Kai walked forward and swept his eyes over the faces of the Yang Family Elders as well as his seven brothers, greeting them one by one.
Speaking in a friendly tone with all of them.
“Ninth Brother!” The brothers also greeted him calmly. Yang Kai was the youngest of the nine brothers, but now he was without a doubt the one with the highest achievements. Comparing him with themselves, each of them couldn’t help feeling a bit distraught while at the same time happy for him.
“Second Brother, how is life as the Patriarch?” Yang Kai laughed loudly as he turned to Yang Zhao.
Yang Zhao just let out a long sight, “One doesn’t understand the burdens of being in charge until he finds himself in a position of power. Second Brother was far too naive before, if I was given another chance, I would never have participated in that damn Inheritance War.”
Among the Yang Family’s nine brothers, next to Yang Kai, the most suitable one to become Patriarch was Yang Zhao. Although Eldest Brother Yang Wei had great personal strength, he was obsessed with pursuing the peak of the Martial Dao and cared little for anything else, so the family’s Elders did not feel relieved passing the position to him.
As such, after Yang Kai left, responsibility for the family’s affairs had fallen to Yang Zhao.
After ten years apart, all of the brothers had already established their own families, each of them having gotten married and some of them even fathering children.
“Let’s go inside first. We brothers have not been reunited for a long time,” Yang Zhao said and ushered everyone inside.
Under the insistence of Yang Ying Feng, Yang Kai first stopped by the Yang Family’s Ancestral Burial Hall to burn a stick of incense.
According to the words of the Fourth Master, the reason why they could turn danger into safety was all because of the ancestors’ blessings and had nothing to do with Yang Kai. Yang Kai was just following the fate his ancestors were guiding him towards.
After worshipping his ancestors, Yang Kai walked out of the hall and followed the Fourth Master to the Yang Family’s Elder Hall.
At this moment, the hall was filled with people, and upon noticing Yang Kai enter, all eyes turned to stare at him.
“Grand Master!” Yang Kai spotted Ling Tai Xu amongst the crowd and quickly rushed over.
Ling Tai Xu smiled and nodded, but he seemed to be seriously injured, his face pale as paper as he stood there unsteadily.
Yang Kai’s heart clenched as he asked quickly.
“It’s nothing serious, I just took a palm strike from a man named Wu Zheng. Fortunately, he didn’t have any intention of taking my life or I would not be standing here right now,” Ling Tai Xu comforted.
Yang Kai couldn’t help reaching out and grabbing Ling Tai Xu’s wrist, carefully examining him.
After a while, Yang Kai’s expression slightly relaxed.
The wounds Grand Master had suffered were heavy but there was no risk to his life, such injuries would be easy for Yang Kai to treat with his current means.
“Grand Master, take this pill,” Yang Kai took out a pill and handed it to him.
Ling Tai Xu didn’t hesitate and swallowed the pill directly before patting Yang Kai’s shoulder, “You and the others talk, I’ll first go and refine this pill.”
“Good.”
“Master, let me see you out!” The Yang Family Fourth Master hurried to help Ling Tai Xu.
“Senior Ling was injured trying to save us from that person,” Tu Feng suddenly said, “This time, if not for Ling Tai Xu attracting the attention of those people, we would not have been able to escape from the Yang Family.”
“Unfortunately, we were almost captured, it is only thanks to Little Lord’s punctual arrival that we did not waste Senior Ling’s efforts,” Tang Yu Xian said in low spirits, hanging her head.
“Don’t worry about it, Grand Master acting so was surely because he had carefully considered the situation, and in the end didn’t everything work out” Yang Kai smiled, “Come in and sit down so we can talk.”
Inside the hall, everyone sat down in their own position while those who didn’t have an assigned seat just stood around nearby, all of them turning their eyes to Yang Kai, apparently waiting for him to talk.
“Second Brother, how serious are the family’s losses?” Yang Kai found a random spot to sit down before turning to Yang Zhao and asking.
Hearing his question, everyone’s expression became low-spirited, causing Yang Kai’s heart to sink.
“The biggest losses were from the Blood Warrior Hall,” Yang Zhao sighed heavily, “When those people arrived, we knew nothing about their strength which resulted in Hall Master Feng Sheng and Deputy Hall Master Zhou Feng both dying in battle. The entire Blood Warrior Hall was hit hard.”
The Blood Warrior Hall was filled with the most loyal guardians of the Yang Family, it was the place where the Yang Family specifically raised its protectors.
When danger arrived, naturally they were the first to resist.
Yang Kai had a faint impression of Hall Master Feng Sheng and Deputy Hall Master Zhou Feng; after all, he had also interacted with them before a few times, but he hadn’t expected that both of them would be killed during this invasion.
Tu Feng clenched his fists and his body trembled as he sobbed, “Qu Gao Yi, Ji Li, Xiao Shun, Luo Hai, and Fu Cong… also died.”
Yang Kai shook.
The Blood Warriors that Tu Feng named just now had all followed Yang Kai during the Inheritance War. During the final stages of the Inheritance War, Yang Kai had brought together thirteen Blood Warriors and used various resources to transform them into thirteen Transcendent Realm masters.
In particular, Qu Gao Yi, along with Ying Jiu, was the first to follow Yang Kai; they were the loyalist and most talented members of the Blood Warrior Hall.
Hearing that all these old friends had passed away caused stabbing pain in Yang Kai’s heart.
The Blood Warrior Hall had suffered terrible losses, leaving all the Blood Warriors who survived sad and solemn.
In addition to the casualties from the Blood Warrior Hall, several of the family Elders had also died.
Even Yang Zhen, the Great Elder, had died at the hands of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple.
It could be said that since this catastrophe struck, half of all the Yang Family’s high-level masters had been killed, making this by far the greatest blow the family had ever experienced.
Not only the Yang Family, but every one of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families had suffered such a fate.
Fortunately, Wu Zheng hadn’t acted completely ruthlessly as he had absolute confidence in his own strength. He believed that the cultivators from the Central Capital wouldn’t be able to revolt against his subordinate. After the initial slaughter, he had sealed strength of many of the masters of the great families, forcing them to submit and work for him.
Wu Zheng’s goal was the human resources of this world.
Whether it was bringing these people back to Tong Xuan Realm to serve as labourers or to be sold as slaves, they would be a great asset.
For this reason, the Central Capital Eight Great Families had not been completely exterminated.
“Ninth Brother, that Wu Zheng’s strength and methods are earth-shattering, can the people you brought with you really oppose him?” Yang Zhao asked somewhat nervously.
“En, I never thought anyone could possess such terrifying strength,” Some of the other Elders chimed in.
“Is that what you’re worried about? Well, seeing is believing,” Yang Kai chuckled, turning his head in a certain direction and nodding after a moment, “They’re back.”
“Who’s back?” Yang Zhao was confused.
Outside the main hall, a beautiful figure appeared, wrapped in an ice-cold aura; naturally, it was Han Fei.
Holding a bloody head in her hand, she walked straight inside and tossed it onto the ground before bowing to Yang Kai, “Master, fortunately, I have not failed my mission!”
“En, good work,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Inside the hall, everyone’s eyes turned to the severed head that was slowly rolling on the ground, their eyes bulging in the next breathe with Yang Zhao jumping out of his chair and shouting, “It’s Wu Zheng!”
“He’s really dead?”
“Good good!” Many of the Yang Family member’s eyes lit up as their faces filled with joy.
Turning towards Han Fei, each of them showed her a look filled with respect and gratitude.
Before, when Li Rong had appeared and eliminated the masters brought by Wu Zheng, she had received many thanks, but that was all. From their perspective, the disciples of Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple had all just died inexplicably, none of them had been able to see Li Rong’s methods so they were unable to judge just how tyrannical her strength was.
But now that the saw Wu Zheng’s head being brought in by Han Fei, all of them fully understood how astonishing this cold beauty’s power was.
For a moment, everyone in the hall couldn’t tell if they were dreaming or seeing some kind of illusion, many of them even getting up off their seats to take a closer look at Wu Zheng’s head to confirm if it was real or not.
After confirming it was though, all of them shook with excitement.
“Ninth Brother, this Lady is…” Yang Zhao directed a hesitant and somewhat strange look towards Han Fei.
“We are Master’s subordinates,” Han Fei took the initiative to explain, lest everyone misunderstood.
“Subordinates…” Yang Zhao’s face twitched visibly, for a while not knowing how to respond.
Ninth Brother had been away for more than a decade without the slightest bit of news, yet he had suddenly returned, bringing with him incredibly powerful subordinates, swept away the seemingly invincible enemies that had invaded their homes, and saved the entire Central Capital. In comparison, he, the Patriarch of the Yang Family, was actually helpless to resist while the enemy had killed so many from his family. The gap between the two of them caused Yang Zhao to feel somewhat dejected.
“Very good, with these two madams here, our Yang Family will not have to fear being bullied again.”
“That’s right, Ninth Brother, you’ve come back to stay, right?”
The brothers inquired eagerly.
However, Yang Kai shook his head.
Dong Su Zhu, who was sitting next to Yang Kai, instantly went pale and instinctually grabbed hold of Yang Kai’s hand, tearfully calling out, “Kai’er, are you planning to leave again?”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “I have to leave, but this time I must take all of you with me.”
“You want us to go with you?” Yang Zhao knit his brow.
“Indeed. I hope that everyone can come with me to Tong Xuan Realm.”
The hall suddenly fell silent. The Central Capital was where their roots were, the birthplace of their ancestors. Yang Kai asking them to abandon it inevitably gave them pause.
Yang Kai naturally understood what they were feeling and stood up to speak, “Before, my Yang Family was the strongest amongst the Eight Great Families, one of the greatest powers in this world, but now, the situation is different. This world and Tong Xuan Realm have become connected. This time it was Wu Zheng, the next time it might be someone else, possibly even someone worse. It is no longer safe to remain here in the Central Capital.”
“More people will come?” Many people’s faces went white, none of them having realized how serious the situation was until now.
They had thought that with Wu Zheng dead, they would have nothing else to worry about, but now it appeared that was not the case.
According to Yang Kai’s words, this place had become a piece of meat that many powerhouses and forces would want to take a bite of.
“If that’s the case, naturally we should not sit idly by and wait,” Yang Zhao’s expression became dignified as he sank into contemplation for a moment before suddenly looking at Yang Kai, “Ninth Brother, Second Brother must ask you a few questions.”
Yang Kai nodded.
“If we leave the Central Capital and follow you back to that Tong Xuan Realm, can you guarantee we’ll be able to survive with just our strength? Second Brother doesn’t want to be demeaning, but after this incident, our weakness and short-sightedness has become painfully obvious.”
“I can. On that side, I have a certain amount of influence, and it will be enough to safeguard all of your lives.”
Yang Zhao expression brightened as he continued, “Is there a place for us to stay? Somewhere we can establish a new home?”
“Yes, I’ve already found such a place, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Yang Zhao asked again, “What about materials? Here we can support ourselves, but we are not familiar with how things work on the other side, will there be any issue securing enough cultivation resources?”
Yang Kai smiled meaningfully, “What I most do not lack now is cultivation materials. There are more Crystal Stones than could ever be used up along with an abundance of Spirit Grade and Saint Grade materials, far more than you could even imagine, I guarantee that you will not have any worries about having enough resources on that side.”
Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded.
Tu Feng hesitantly asked, “Little Lord, we have heard of Spirit Grade, but what is this Saint Grade you speak of?”
“The tier above Spirit Grade,” Yang Kai explained.
“What is a Crystal Stone?” Tang Yu Xian also asked.
“This is a Crystal Stone,” Yang Kai said, tossing something over to her. After Yu Xian caught this thumb size object, all the Blood Warriors began crowding around curiously, like a group of country bumpkins who had never seen the world, each of them revealing looks of surprise.
“Heavens! There’s so much pure energy contained inside this thing.”
“And it seems like it can be directly absorbed and transformed into True Qi.”
“If one had such an item, couldn’t they quickly restore themselves in the midst of a battle?”
Exclamations rang out as the Blood Warriors excitedly examined the Crystal Stone.
“En, the World Energy aura here is incomparable to the one over there, any ordinary place in Tong Xuan Realm has richer World Energy than even the best cultivation paradises here, so the rate of cultivation on that side is much faster than here.”
Yang Kai happily described the various aspects of Tong Xuan Realm, causing the Yang Family members’ eyes to flash and fill with expectation.
Denser World Energy, absolute safety, abundant resources, a comfortable living environment… Yang Kai had taken care of everything, all they had to do was follow him.
“Of course, I hope you can all come with me to Tong Xuan Realm, but if there are those of you who wish to remain, I won’t insist,” After speaking, Yang Kai clarified his standpoint, “If anyone wants to stay here, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Not everyone is as hateful as Wu Zheng, it’s also possible the powerhouses who come here later won’t abuse their strength to bully you, everything is up to you to decide.”
“My Qiu Family is willing to follow you, I just wonder if Little Lord is willing to bring us?” From outside the hall, a melodious voice called out.
Yang Kai raised his brow and turned his head towards the entrance.
A graceful figure gently landed and walked inside, her beautiful eyes quickly landing on Yang Kai as she pursed her red lips. Although she was doing her best to appear calm, it was obvious to everyone that she was filled with excitement and joy.
“Qiu Family Matriarch, welcome,” Yang Zhao got up and greeted.
“Beauty, long time no see,” Yang Kai also stood up and stared at the young woman who was stepping into the hall.
Qiu Yi Meng!
Similar to how she decisively chose all those years ago, before anyone else made their decision, she was willing to entrust her and her family’s interests to Yang Kai without the slightest hesitation.
“En, it’s been a long time,” Qiu Yi Meng’s lashes fluttered as a look of resentment flashed across her face for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and returned the greeting.
“Miss Luo,” Yang Kai next greeted the woman who was standing behind Qiu Yi Meng.
This woman, with great, towering peaks, was none other than Luo Xiao Man of Purple Fern Valley; Qiu Yi Meng’s closest friend.
Even after more than a decade, Luo Xiao Man’s fear of Yang Kai had not disappeared, returning his greeting with a small nod before she quickly hid behind Qiu Yi Meng.
She didn’t know why, but every time she saw Yang Kai, Luo Xiao Man couldn’t help remember that time back in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, when that girl named Bi Luo had appeared in front of her, a milky white liquid was dripping from the corner of her mouth…
“My Qiu Family wishes to accompany you, is Little Lord willing to lead us over to that side?” Qiu Yi Meng stared at Yang Kai seriously.
“There’s no need for you to act like an outsider,” Yang Kai grinned, “I never planned to just bring my Yang Family with me this time, since you wish to come too, that would be for the best.”
“Seems like you still have some conscience!” Qiu Yi Meng shot him an angry glare before her expression relaxed and she let out a burst of sweet laughter, instantly brightening the hall.
“I heard that Young Lord Kai is back, is that true?” Another loud voice filled with excitement called out from outside, and as soon as the sound fell, Huo Xing Chen flew inside the hall like a gust of wind, his eyes darting about as he shouted, “Where is Young Lord Kai?”
The next moment, when he saw Yang Kai standing not far away, he ran up and gave him a great bear hug and strongly patted his back, “Brother, it’s good that you’ve come back. Qiu Yi Meng was dying of loneliness without you.”
Qiu Yi Meng pretty face instantly became frigid as she grit her teeth, “Huo Xing Chen, you want me to rip out your tongue?”
The Huo Family Young Lord laughed riotously before releasing Yang Kai, his smiling face filling with happiness, “I’ve also missed you, Brother.”
“Why you, after not seeing you for more than ten years, how have you fallen so far behind?” Yang Kai also smiled upon seeing this familiar face.
During the Inheritance War, everyone who followed Yang Kai obtained great benefits. Little Senior Sister Xia Ning Chang had used the Myriad Drug Liquid and a large number of medicinal herbs to create a pool of medicinal liquid which cleansed their bodies and improved everyone’s aptitude by varying degrees.
Huo Xing Chen, Qiu Yi Meng and other important people obtained even greater benefits than this.
It could be said that their future achievements were guaranteed to not be low; even if they remained in the Central Capital for the rest of their lives, breaking through to the Transcendent Realm was a certainty.
After ten odd years, Qiu Yi Meng had already reached the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, but Huo Xing Chen was still stuck at the Sixth Stage, greatly surprising Yang Kai.
He couldn’t understand why Hou Xing Chen’s cultivation had fallen behind so much.
Hearing Yang Kai’s words, many people inside the Yang Family Elder Hall couldn’t help chuckling, revealing knowing looks.
Even Qiu Yi Meng had to cover her mouth in order to stifle her laughter.
Huo Xing Chen’s face instantly became bitter as he helplessly complained, “Young Lord Kai, you don’t know how much misfortune has befallen me…”
Saying so, he began telling his story.
As he silently listened, Yang Kai’s expression became more and more awkward.
The Huo Family was one of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, but the previous generation’s Patriarch, Huo Zheng, only had one son, Huo Xing Chen, while on the other hand, he had a great many daughters who he treated as treasures, taking care of them in every possible way.
After Huo Xing Chen assumed the position of Patriarch, the Huo Family Elders, having learned a painful lesson from the previous generation’s Patriarch, immediately began arranging marriages for Huo Xing Chen to ensure he fathered a large number of descendants.
Over the past decade, the Huo Family had added more than a dozen women to Huo Xing Chen’s harem, and under the intimidation of the Elders, Hou Xing Chen had diligently fulfilled his duty to expand the Huo Family.
Having to satisfy so many ‘demands’ had consumed Huo Xing Chen’s time and stamina greatly, so it was only natural his cultivation had not advanced.
“Haa… if I count them all, this Young Lord had a full fifteens concubines and wives,” Huo Xing Chen stared at Yang Kai, his face filled with a look of suffering as he grabbed his shoulders and sobbed, “If some day there is a chance, I’ll introduce them to you. Although each of them is a rare beauty, facing their combined might, this Young Master is really incapable of fighting back.”
Yang Kai looked at him with sympathy but didn’t know what to say, thinking about it for a long time before finally muttering, “My condolences…”
Inside the hall, everyone burst into laughter.
It seemed that the news of Yang Kai’s return had already spread out. Immediately after Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen arrived, the other young Patriarchs of the Eight Great Families appeared.
Meng Family Patriarch Meng Shan Yi, Liu Family Patriarch Liu Qing Yao, Kang Family Patriarch Kang Jian, Gao Family Patriarch Gao Ren Xian, Ye Family Patriarch Ye Jing Li…
Of these five people, Yang Kai was only somewhat familiar with Meng Shan Yi and Liu Qing Yao. The other three he had barely even spoken to before.
All of them had come together after hearing that Yang Kai had returned and swept away all the Free And Unfettered Spirit Temple invaders, wanting to inquire about what was to happen next.
Upon learning that Yang Kai wanted to bring the Yang Family away from the Central Capital and take them to Tong Xuan Realm, the five young Patriarchs couldn’t immediately make a decision.
Relocating their entire family was not something they could decide at will.
They also had other concerns.
During the Inheritance War, the Huo Family and Qiu Family were by far the closest to Yang Kai, with Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen having assisted him directly. Them following Yang Kai was a given, but the other five had mostly fought against Yang Kai in the past. Now that circumstances had changed so dramatically, they weren’t certain how to position themselves.
Yang Kai extended an invitation to them casually, asking them to join him in Tong Xuan Realm.
As for what had transpired between them in the past, Yang Kai had long ago stopped caring about it. These five were also people from his homeland and helping them required very little effort for the current Yang Kai, so he didn’t hesitate to ask.
However, all five young Patriarchs said they needed to go back and negotiate with their family’s Elders before making a decision.
After these five left, before they could have a moment of calm, a steady stream of people began arriving.
All of these visitors were friends of Yang Kai who had participated in the Inheritance War.
Han Xiao Qi, Ye Han, Liu Qing Ru, and Hua Ruo Yin of Ten Thousand Flower Palace.
Feng Qian Hen of Water Moon Hall.
Zuo Fang, Li Xin Yuan of Pure Heart Palace.
Reflecting Moon Sect’s Chen Xue Shu and Su Xiao Yu.
Treasure Instrument Sect Tao Yang and Zhao Rong.
Leng Shan, Chen Yi, and Chen Ying of Ghost King Valley…
These people had all been helping to rebuild the Central Capital after Yang Kai left, causing the Yang Family to feel quite grateful and fostering close ties with each of their respective Sects. Each of them had mutually taken care of the others these past ten years and eventually, the young leaders who had been among the first ones to support Yang Kai were chosen as representatives of their respective Sects to the Yang Family and thus remained in the Central Capital all this time.
Fortunately, during the most recent disaster, none of them had suffered tragedy, all of them managing to survive.
With so many old friends meeting, the atmosphere became jubilant, the four Ten Thousand Flower Palace girls had even matured into great beauties, adding a layer of colour to the scene.
After enthusiastically exchanging greetings, Yang Kai told them about his future plans, all of them saying they would immediately return to their Sects to inform their Elders.
After they left, Yang Kai said, “Second Brother, you discuss with the Elders whether you plan to follow me or not. Please give me a reply as soon as possible though as I won’t be able to stay here for too long.”
“There’s no need to discuss anything, Ninth Brother. Since you’ve already arranged everything, the Yang Family will naturally follow you,” Yang Zhao readily agreed.
Everyone else also nodded, not a single objection being raised, the Blood Warriors all showing excited looks, openly displaying their happiness that they would be able to follow their Little Lord once more.
“Good, then have everyone pack their things, tell them to only take with them their most precious possessions. As for any cultivation materials or resources, you can leave them behind, they won’t be worth anything in Tong Xuan Realm,” Yang Kai urged them before turning his eyes to Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen.
The Huo Family Young Lord quickly stated, “Whatever Qiu Yi Meng decides to do I will follow along with, her vision is far better than mine.”
“I must bring the Qiu Family to Tong Xuan Realm,” Qiu Yi Meng stated decisively as she shot him a glance.
Huo Xing Chen shrugged his shoulders, “Then I’ll go back and inform my old man and let our people hurry up and pack.”
Saying so, he quickly left.
“We will also get to work,” Yang Zhao stood up and ordered to the rest of the Yang Family members in the hall, “Just as Ninth Brother said, only take with you what you cannot bear to part with, the rest can be left behind.”
“Yes!” Numerous people shouted and dispersed.
Inside the hall, only Yang Kai, Li Rong, Han Fei, Qiu Yi Meng, and Luo Xiao Man remained.
“Master, we’ll be waiting outside if you need us,” Li Rong pursed her lips and smiled before walking out with Han Fei. With her eyesight, how could she have not seen the way the young girl named Qiu Yi Meng looked at Yang Kai?
It was the look of a maiden that could not hide her longing and infatuation.
Her deliberately staying behind was obviously in order to see Yang Kai alone.
“Elder Sister Qiu, I’ll also go on ahead,” Luo Xiao Man whispered before quickly following after Li Rong and Han Fei.
Inside the Elder Hall, silence fell and the atmosphere became a bit tense as Qiu Yi Meng just stared at Yang Kai without saying a word.
Yang Kai finally broke the silence in a slightly embarrassed tone, “Seeing your current appearance, you don’t seem to have gotten married yet. You’re not young anymore.”
“I was waiting for you,” Qiu Yi Meng raised her eyes, revealing her long, slender white neck.
“Don’t joke with me,” Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh.
“Do you think I’m joking?” Qiu Yi Meng coldly snorted, suddenly grinding her teeth, “I know that there are other women in your heart, and I don’t expect you to like me back… Even I know that the current gap between us is too big. I have some self-awareness!”
Yang Kai could only stare back at her helplessly.
“But you rarely come back, so I need to clearly express myself. You said to me before… You will not speak about love to me but having fun is alright!”
“I really said such feral words?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“You did!” Qiu Yi Meng angrily bit her lip as she glared at him, “You realize now what an animal you were? I thought you were still ignorant!”
“Ah… er… That was all in the past, I was young and frivolous…”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. Since you want to play, then let’s play! I don’t expect to wait for you forever, I know that’s not realistic, I don’t want to spend every day suffering like this, I just hope that I can turn your head at least once.”
“Eh…” Yang Kai was dumbstruck by Qiu Yi Meng’s bold words, unable to even answer back.
“I don’t care what you think about me, but just you wait, after we arrive in Tong Xuan Realm and everything has calmed down, I’ll let you know how fierce I can be!” Saying so, Qiu Yi Meng’s tender body flashed, appearing right in front of Yang Kai and completely disregarding whether he was willing or not, stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.
In the next instant, Yang Kai let out a pitiful yelp as he stumbled back feeling a burning pain from his lips.
Qiu Yi Meng turned around gracefully and gradually drifted away, her silver bell-like laughter ringing through the air, “That’s just a little bit of interest, when we get to the other side I’ll find an opportunity to get the rest of it from you as well as the capital you owe me.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help staring dumbly.
After an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai walked out of the hall with a blank expression.
Li Rong and Han Fei, who were waiting outside, glanced over at him, then quickly turned their eyes away, their shoulders trembling lightly as they desperately tried to stifle their laughter.
“Go on, laugh, haven’t you seen a woman bite before?” Yang Kai touched his lip helplessly, feeling he had no face left at all.
“That young lady is actually quite good,” Li Rong said in a serious manner, “If she had been born in Tong Xuan Realm, her cultivation would be much higher.”
“En, this world has fettered their development!” Han Fei also agreed.
“That’s why I want to take them away from here, so they can see a wider world;” Yang Kai said profoundly, “This world is too small. Although there are more dangers over there, the conditions are still far better.”
Both women nodded in agreement.
A moment later, Yang Kai ordered, “You two temporarily remain here in the Yang Family to guard this place in order to avoid any unexpected situations.”
Li Rong was startled, “Is Master going somewhere?”
“There are still two places I need to visit.”
“Then allow either Han Fei or myself to accompany you.”
“No need, I’ll be fine on my own, with the Flying Heavens Shuttle, I’ll be perfectly safe. No one can catch up with me, especially not in this world.”
Li Rong thought about it for a moment and didn’t insist on it, only saying, “Then Master must be careful.”
“Tell my parents that after I finish my errands I’ll have lots of time to accompany them,” Yang Kai said before summoning the Flying Heavens Shuttle and soaring off in a blue flash of light, disappearing across the horizon in the blink of an eye.
After gazing in the direction of his disappearance for a moment, Li Rong and Han Fei’s figures flickered and also disappeared, the two of them flying over to the Fourth Master’s house to accompany Yang Kai parents in his place.
Medicine King’s Valley, Hidden Cloud Peak, in a flash of light, Yang Kai appeared.
He didn’t fly in directly, but stopped just below the peak and walked up.
This was the holy land in the hearts of this world’s Alchemists, where the first under Heaven Alchemy Grandmaster Xiao Fu Sheng lived. All who came here would pay special attention to etiquette as they ascended the mountain.
In the past, Yang Kai had spent some time in Medicine King’s Valley, and although he never studied the Alchemic Way under Grandmaster Xiao, the old man had taught Yang Kai many valuable lessons.
On the path that Yang Kai trod, these lessons had helped him many times.
Yang Kai genuinely respected the kind Grandmaster and the two beautiful women who served him; they had provided the best resources and support for him without the slightest reservation.
Yang Kai was extremely grateful for their generosity and the assistance they freely gave him.
This time, Yang Kai was preparing to bring the three of them to Tong Xuan Realm.
Xiao Fu Sheng’s lifelong aspiration was to refine a Spirit Grade pill, but he was shackled by this world, unable to achieve this simple wish.
However, as long as he travelled to Tong Xuan Realm, it would not be difficult to refine such a pill given Xiao Fu Sheng’s means.
Yang Kai began to walk slowly towards the summit of Hidden Cloud Peak, glancing around at the herbs which were growing beside the path, recalling the two months that he had lived there.
Reminiscing, he couldn’t help smiling.
Medicine King’s Valley had not changed much since he was last here. Wu Zheng had led his group from High Heaven Pavilion to the Central Capital, committing all kinds of outrage along the way, but it seems he had yet to reach this place.
A moment later, Yang Kai reached the peak.
As always, there were only a few simple huts scattered around.
Two mature beauties were sweeping the leaves and dust in front of one of the huts, their hair wrapped in silk scarves lest they be dirtied while they worked.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s footsteps, the two women raised their heads and wiped the thin trace of sweat from their foreheads as they stared at him suspiciously.
“Aunt Xiang, Aunt Lan!” Yang Kai smiled widely and shouted.
“You’re…” Aunt Xiang gawked for an instant before her beautiful eyes filled with pleasant surprise, gently putting down the broom in her hands and hurriedly asked, “Yang Kai?”
“En, it’s me.”
Aunt Lan also hurried over and gently nodded as she looked him over, pursing her lips and smiling, “After so many years, I could hardly recognize you.”
“En, you look much stronger than before. You used to be just skin and bones,” Aunt Xiang greeted warmly, “Come in and sit down.”
“En.”
Inside the hut, at a simple table, Yang Kai, Aunt Xiang, and Aunt Lan sat down with three cups of light tea set before them.
Aunt Lan said, “We don’t have much to entertain with, but make yourself at home.”
“Aunt Lan is too polite,” Yang Kai drank the tea in front of him and smiled, “Although I haven’t seen you two for many years, Aunt Lan and Aunt Xiang haven’t changed at all; you’re both as young as ever.”
The two women looked at each other and smiled.
“On the other hand, your tongue has grown slick and learned to sweet talk others,” Aunt Xiang directed a teasing look towards him, “Have you cheated many young misses with it?”
“How could that be?” Yang Kai waved his hand.
“I heard that you left the Central Capital more than ten years ago for unknown lands. Did you just return?”
“En, I came back a few days ago.”
“It’s good that you’ve safely returned. Before, Grandmaster would often mention you, saying you were a rare Alchemy talent yet you clearly didn’t know anything about the Alchemic Way. All those years ago, when you first arrived, it was like you had cheated him.”
“At that time… I really didn’t understand anything. Why haven’t I seen Grandmaster? Is he in retreat underground performing Alchemy?” Yang Kai asked.
The faces of Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan suddenly became gloomy as the smiles on their faces converged.
Yang Kai’s heart sank as a bad feeling rose within it.
“Grandmaster, he… he passed away five years ago,” Aunt Xiang spoke haltingly, her eyes becoming slightly wet as she whispered.
Yang Kai was startled and froze up, the discomfort in his heart increasing notably.
It was only at that moment that he recalled that the reason Grandmaster Xiao had suddenly decided to recruit disciples was because he realized that he did not have many years left, causing him to act so anxiously.
Even so, it was a shock to Yang Kai that he had already departed from this world five years ago.
“Grandmaster…” Yang Kai opened his mouth.
“He achieved his wish!” Aunt Xiang resisted her sadness and gently took out a jade box from her pocket, “Seven days before he passed on, he consumed the last of his vitality to successfully refine a Spirit Grade Pill. This was the last work he had left behind.”
Yang Kai accepted the jade box, feeling as if he was holding a great weight in his hands, like it was not a pill but a newborn life instead.
When he opened it, he saw a pristine Spirit Grade Pill with a rich fragrance and a potent medicinal efficacy. Even an excellent Spirit Grade Alchemist may not be able to produce such a good pill.
“Grandmaster’s departure was very serene,” Aunt Xiang wiped the cover of her eyes and somehow squeezed out a smile, “Therefore we don’t need to feel sad for him. Before he passed on though, Grandmaster said that Spirit Grade was not the peak of Alchemy, and that there must be a grade above Spirit Grade.”
Yang Kai’s body shook as he was secretly surprised by Xiao Fu Sheng’s astonishing vision.
At this moment, Yang Kai seemed to understand why Xiao Fu Sheng was so determined to refine a Spirit Grade Pill. His goal wasn’t to increase his own Alchemy skills, but rather to break through the shackles of this world with his own power.
And he had succeeded.
A Spirit Grade pill, which had never been seen in this world, had been refined by him.
“Where is Grandmaster buried?” Yang Kai looked up and asked.
Aunt Xiang got up and said, “Come with me.”
In a secluded area of Hidden Cloud Peak, not far from the summit, stood a small mound of earth.
It was hard to believe that such a simple grave was actually the burial place of this world’s greatest Alchemist.
“Everything was done in accordance with Grandmaster’s wishes. Grandmaster’s bones are not here, instead he was cremated and his ashes scattered across the nearby rivers and lakes, returning him to nature. There are only a few of his memorabilia buried here.”
Yang Kai knelt in worship as Aunt Xiang stood behind him and explained.
“Grandmaster would certainly be very happy if he knew you, his in-name disciple, had come here,” Aunt Xiang covered her mouth and spoke through the tears she could no longer hold back, Aunt Lan also sobbing nearby.
“This is what I should do,” Yang Kai nodded gently.
……
Half a day later, atop Hidden Cloud Peak, Yang Kai said goodbye to Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan.
“Will the two of you really not consider it? From now on it may not be peaceful here anymore. This world has already been connected to a place called Tong Xuan Realm. In the future, there may be many masters with strength beyond anything you can imagine arriving here,” Yang Kai made one last attempt to persuade.
He wanted to bring these two women who had taken such good care of him in the past back to the Central Capital and then on to Tong Xuan Realm, but they had actually refused his kindness and insisted on staying here.
“No, we have lived here all our lives and don’t wish to move anywhere else… Grandmaster is here too, we should remain here to accompany him. If we were to leave, he would be all alone.”
“You thinking so much of us is more than enough.”
Yang Kai could only sigh helplessly.
The determination of these two was firm, Yang Kai could tell. He knew that it was useless to try to persuade them anymore so he simply said, “Then in the future, when I have time, I’ll certainly come back here to visit you. Right, if someone dares to come here looking for trouble, report my name to them, perhaps it will be useful.”
“En, we know,” Aunt Xiang smiled and nodded.
“Then do take care!” Yang Kai sincerely cupped his fists and bowed before turning and descending the mountain.
“You too must act carefully. Don’t become overconfidence,” Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan waved to him from the top of the peak.
Below Hidden Cloud Peak, Yang Kai carefully placed the jade box containing the Spirit Grade Pill refined by Xiao Fu Sheng inside the Black Book space before summoning the Flying Heavens Shuttle and flying off towards the west.
His next destination was the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land.
He had left the Central Capital this time mainly to visit two places, one was Medicine King’s Valley and the other was the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land.
He was going to see Shan Qing Luo.
This bewitching woman had always been very good to Yang Kai, and during the final battle with the Demon Lord, she had provided him much assistance.
The most important point though was that Yang Kai had engraved himself on her heart, forging a bond between them that could not be erased.
Since he had finally come back, naturally Yang Kai wanted to bring her to Tong Xuan Realm, lest she be bullied here.
As for what she wanted to do once they reached Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai did not plan on restraining her.
Two hours later, Yang Kai arrived outside Fragrance City.
This city was arguably the most prosperous place in the entire Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land and was the territory under Shan Qing Luo’s direct jurisdiction.
When the Demon Lord and most of the six Great Evil Kings died, the entire Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land had been plunged into chaos; only Fragrance City was not affected because the Beguiling Demon Queen returned.
The stability of this city stood in stark contrast to the rest of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land which was filled with slaughter and death.
Many cultivators who didn’t want to spend all their time fighting or running would come to Fragrance City to seek a different way of life, creating great prosperity which in turn attracted more people to come.
Upon arriving here, Yang Kai began to drag his feet as he pondered about what kind of attitude to use when he saw this enchantress again.
This seductress was simply too alluring. If she behaved affectionately and spoiled him, Yang Kai wasn’t certain he would be able to endure. If he couldn’t resist her charms, his ‘innocence’ would be at great risk.
Moreover, Yang Kai knew she would not hesitate to act this way.
After a short delay, Yang Kai arrived in front of Shan Qing Luo’s palace in Fragrance City.
At the entrance to the palace, there was a ragged beggar who was leaning against the wall, clasping his hands in front of him as he closed his eyes. His image was quite awkward, his hair was messy and his beard unkept, as if he had not groomed himself for many years.
Everyone who passed by pretended to not see him, clearly feeling it would troublesome to get involved with him.
Yang Kai glanced at him casually before his mouth curled into a strange smile. Slowly walking over while ignoring his stench, Yang Kai soon arrived in front of him.
When the noon sunlight was obscured by Yang Kai’s figure, the beggar opened his eyes slightly and looked up for a moment before soon closing them again and ignoring him.
It was as if he didn’t even see Yang Kai or was just pretending he didn’t exist.
Yang Kai however just grinned and lightly spoke, “Hello, Shadow King!”
The beggar’s body trembled as his eyes shot open, a trace of profound light flashing across the depths of his pupils. It seemed like it wasn’t until this moment that he recognized Yang Kai, his expression changing greatly and lightning surging up from his skinny body. In the next instant, his figure flickered and disappeared.
Yang Kai didn’t react excessively, simply turning his gaze in the direction the beggar disappeared, lightly sneering before shooting off in pursuit.
In the sky above Fragrance City, the beggar rapidly sped along, turning his head back anxiously in the direction of the palace but failing to find any trace of the young man. While desperately looking around for a trace of the youth, he suddenly noticed another person flying right beside him, his eyes bulging in shock.
“You…” The beggar stared dumbfounded, his face going completely pale as if he had just seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe that someone could actually surpass his speed.
He was proudest of his instant acceleration and rapid speed and truly thought that no one in the world could match him. Even the Demon Lord, Yang Bai, who was acknowledged as the strongest cultivator in this world, had nothing but praise for his speed.
However, this young man, even after giving him a head start, had instantly caught up with him, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t even using his full strength.
How could he not be shocked?
“Shadow King, don’t waste your energy, it’s impossible for you to escape!” Yang Kai coldly snorted as a burning power erupted from his body and surged out like an invisible punch, slamming into the beggar’s body, sending the latter miserably tumbling through the air.
After managing to stabilize himself, the Shadow King stood mid-air, his expression fluctuation as he stared at Yang Kai with dread, a deep sense of unwillingness flashing across his face.
He hadn’t expected that not only would he be inferior to the other side in terms of speed, but also in terms of strength. The casual blow just now had made him painfully aware of the huge gap between them, causing his will to escape to dampen significantly.
It was just like the other party had said, in the face of absolute power, any resistance was futile.
The energy fluctuations that spread out alarmed all of Fragrance City’s cultivators down below, each of them raising their heads to see what was happening.
After catching sight of the two figures floating high up in the sky, many people called out in surprise.
“Hey, isn’t that the beggar who is always in front of the Demon Queen’s palace?”
“Yeah, he sits there in front of the door all day; I don’t know how Lady Demon Queen endures him.”
“If it was me, I would have driven him away long ago.”
“Looking at him now though, it’s obvious he’s no simple beggar… How could someone so powerful have fallen into such a destitute state?”
“Rather, who is that young man with him. Doesn’t he seem even more powerful?”
“…”
The exclamations continued as Fragrance City’s cultivators moved closer to the pair, wanting to see more clearly, and soon, the streets below and the nearby roofs were full of people. There were even some more courageous cultivators who flew up into the air and gathered around, hoping there would be a good show to watch.
Yang Kai turned a blind eye to this, the strength of these Fragrance City cultivators was nothing to him.
“Yang Family little brat, do you really insist on ruthlessly killing to the last?” The beggars face filled with grief and indignation as he sorrowfully shouted.
“It’s not that I want to act ruthlessly,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “I’m just curious why the Lightning Flash Shadow King, one of the six Great Evil Kings, is actually dressed up as a beggar and loitering around Fragrance City.”
“Lightning Flash Shadow King?” Many of the spectators called out in shock upon hearing this name.
“It couldn’t be, right?”
“That beggar is actually Lightning Flash Shadow King?”
“Now that I look at him, he does bear some resemblance…”
“It really is Lightning Flash Shadow King that disappeared more than ten years ago! We all thought he was dead but it turns out he’s alive and living in Fragrance City!”
“Oh shit, when I passed by him a few days ago, I actually spat on him… Isn’t that no different from killing myself?” One man shouted, paling with fright.
“I also kicked his foot once… Do you think Lord Shadow King will find me to settle accounts?” Someone else stuttered.
The nearby cultivators all cast these people sympathetic looks, as if they were paying tribute to the dead, causing those who had just spoken to become even more terrified.
“Fortunately, when I passed by him last time, I tossed him some money! It seems my charitable heart has finally won me some good fortune, hahaha!” While some people were panicking when the beggar’s true identity was revealed, others were actually celebrating, the peoples’ moods varying greatly among the crowd.
Lightning Flash Shadow King, together with Thunderbolt Beast King, Annihilating Poison King, Profound Yin Ghost King, Tyrannical Force King, and Beguiling Demon Queen were known as the Six Great Evil Kings.
Before the appearance of the Demon Lord, the entire Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land had been ruled by the six of them, with the Central Capital as their common enemy.
During the Central Capital’s catastrophe a decade ago, the six Great Evil Kings, led by Demon Lord Yang Bai, had turned out in full force to crusade against the Eight Great Families.
However, at the end of the battle, Yang Bai died and the Six Great Evil Kings suffered heavy losses. Besides Shan Qing Luo who managed to escape without a scratch, the other five Evil Kings suffered terrible losses, four of them dying while only Lightning Flash Shadow King managed to flee.
Since then, no one had heard anything about him.
Many people said that he had died from his wounds, while others thought he had secluded himself in some remote mountain to hide.
After all, the Central Capital had many powerful masters left, if he dared to show up, he would no doubt be targeted.
No one could have imagined that he had actually disguised himself as a beggar and hidden inside Fragrance City, enduring humiliation every day in order to live on dishonourably.
If Yang Kai had not come to Fragrance City today to find Shan Qing Luo, it was quite possible his identity would never have been exposed.
He might have been able to deceive others, but there was no way he could conceal himself from Yang Kai’s senses.
A Second-Order Transcendent was already the highest level of master in this world; it would have been strange for Yang Kai to not notice him.
“Yang Family little brat, I am already no longer the Lightning Flash Shadow King and am no longer an enemy of your Central Capital Eight Great Families. I only want to live out the rest of my life in peace, why must you act so aggressive towards me?” Shadow King shouted.
“If that’s true, why are you disguising yourself while sitting outside Shan Qing Luo’s palace? What exactly are you plotting against her?” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Plotting against her?” Shadow King gawked before grumbling, “Aren’t you misunderstanding things? The reason I can stay in front of her palace is because I reached an agreement with her. Why else do you think I would be sitting here?”
“She agreed to let you stay here?” Yang Kai frowned before waving his hand, sending out a golden rope that directly tied up the Shadow King, “Whether or not that’s true, we’ll soon see. If it turns out you’re lying to me, today you will die without a doubt.”
Shadow King tried to struggle, but quickly discovered that this True Qi rope was not something he could break; on top of that, his own True Qi was being sealed, causing him a great deal of panic, as if he hadn’t imagined that Yang Kai’s strength had already reached such a frightening height.
Realizing this, he urgently called out, “You won’t find her here, she’s no longer in Fragrance City.”
“Not here?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed even deeper as he released his Divine Sense across the entire city, soon discovering there really was no trace of Shan Qing Luo’s aura, a hint of loneliness welling up in his heart.
“Where did she go?”
“There are still a few people inside the palace, you can ask them,” Lightning Flash Shadow King grumbled unhappily.
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded, pulling the Shadow King along as he flew into Shan Qing Luo’s palace.
Fragrance City’s cultivators were left dumbfounded by everything they had just witnessed and were unable to calm down for quite some time.
The Evil Kings were the greatest powerhouses of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, each one of them synonymous with ‘supreme’; but now, some unknown youth that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere had actually defeated and captured one of those Evil Kings.
What’s more, he had accomplished this feat as easily as if he were pinching a turtle.
This made all of them feel as if they were dreaming, many cultivators rubbing their eyes or even pinching themselves to determine if all of this had been some kind of dream or illusion.
However, all they saw the gradually disappearing Yang Kai and Lightning Flash Shadow King.
Inside the palace, several of the maids had overheard the ruckus outside and rushed out just in time to see Yang Kai enter.
When they saw who this intruder was, all of them called out in shock.
The mature beauty Yun Li and the maid sisters Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing, the three Shan Qing Luo had sent to attend to Yang Kai, were the ones who had come out.
“Young Master Yang?” Yun Li covered her mouth and cried out.
Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
“Senior Shadow King… how did you…” Yun Li looked over at the distressed Lightning Flash Shadow King with a confused expression.
“I’ll have to trouble you to explain to this Yang Family little brat that it was your Mistress who agreed to to let me stay in Fragrance City,” Lightning Flash Shadow King grumbled unhappily.
Yang Kai turned to Yun Li and said, “You don’t need to fear him, just speak the truth.”
Yun Li smiled helplessly and nodded, “Young Master Yang, it was indeed Demon Queen who agreed to him staying here on the condition that he guarded the palace. Since Mistress left all those years ago, Senior Shadow King has been secretly guarding all of Fragrance City ensuring that no turmoil occurs. Outsiders don’t even know that Mistress Demon Queen is gone, all of them believe she is just in secluded retreat.”
Yang Kai was somewhat surprised and knit his brow, but since Yun Li had said so, it meant that Shadow King had not lied to him. Releasing the Imprisoning Heaven Chain casually, Yang Kai continued, “You said a moment ago that Shan Qing Luo left Fragrance City a long time ago, yes? Where did she go?”
Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing all shook their heads, “We don’t know where Mistress went, but before she left, she seemed to mention something to Senior Shadow King, so he should have some idea.”
Yang Kai glanced over at Lightning Flash Shadow King indifferently.
Shadow King seemed to mutter a few curses under his breath before angrily reporting, “Shan Qing Luo said that she was going to look for you. As for what her exact destination was, she didn’t say.”
“Looking for me? She should have known I wasn’t in the Central Capital anymore, how did she intend to find me?”
“She didn’t go to the Central Capital to find you. Before she left she spoke some strange words, something about a higher level world, similar to what Yang Bai said in the past.”
Yang Kai trembled, suddenly remembering that when he had left he had told some things to Shan Qing Luo.
“When did she leave?”
“Two years after you disappeared. She said that you still had her Soul Seeking Seal on you, so as long as she could arrive in the world you had gone to, she would be able to easily find you.”
Yang Kai nodded, confirming that what Shadow King was saying was true.
Shan Qing Luo placing her Soul Seeking Seal on him was something only the two of them knew about, so the only way Shadow King could have learned about it was if Shan Qing Luo had mentioned it to him.
“What about Bi Luo?”
“She also left with Mistress.”
Yang Kai sighed helplessly.
He hadn’t anticipated that this seductress would actually leave the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land in order to search for him, even seeking a way into the higher world.
He didn’t know if she succeeded either. If she did, that would mean she was also in Tong Xuan Realm; but if that was the case, why hadn’t she come to see him after so long?
Yang Kai had completely lost any clues about her.
Understanding the depths of this devilish woman’s emotional entanglement with him, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling somewhat moved. At first, when she was constantly pestering him, Yang Kai couldn’t wait to shove her away, but now that he was actually unable to see her, he actually felt somewhat desolate.
At that same time, Yang Kai felt a sense of guilt towards her.
“There, I’ve told you everything I know. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with,” Shadow King coldly snorted, seemingly resigned to his fate.
Inside the Beguiling Demon Queen’s palace, Lightning Flash Shadow King proudly stood with an unyielding look filling his face.
Glancing over at him, Yang Kai simply waved his hand and said, “Go, I have no interest in killing you.”
Shadow King was stunned by this and stared towards Yang Kai, seemingly not having imagined he would let him go.
Over the past decade, he had constantly been disguising himself as a lowly beggar because he was afraid that the masters from the Central Capital would seek him out. Now that he had accidentally fallen into Yang Kai’s hands, did he really have a chance to survive?
“Haven’t left yet?” Yang Kai snorted.
Shadow King grit his teeth as the veins on his forehead throbbed. He was once a supreme ruler, the Lightning Flash Shadow King who struck fear into the hearts of this entire world’s common people, yet now he was actually so despised by the young man in front of him, deemed not even worth the effort to kill. Never before had he felt so humiliated.
In his heart, the idea of going all out with Yang Kai began to rise.
But in the end, he endured it and coldly snapped, “Shang Qing Luo went to the Spider Mother’s den before leaving, apparently she found something of interest there. If you’re planning to search for her, you might find some clues there.”
After saying so, Shadow King shot off like lightning and disappeared.
“The Spider Mother’s Den…” Yang Kai muttered to himself. Naturally, he remembered this place. It was where the Seventh-Order Monster Beast, the Spider Mother lived.
The Spider Mother was the only Seventh-Order Monster Beast in this entire world.
Shan Qing Luo’s Poison Widow Body special constitution originated from her, as did the life threatening toxin which plagued her lineage. The only cure to this poison was the Spider Mother’s monster core.
“Young Master Yang…” Yun Li called out, “Are you going to find Mistress Demon Queen?”
“I’ll go take a look. She’s not necessarily there, en, she should be long gone in fact.”
“En, then Young Master Yang must take care along the way,” Yun Li, Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing nodded lightly, not making any attempt to dissuade him.
Yang Kai swept his eyes over them and suddenly asked, “Your Mistress is no longer here, so why do you remain?”
Yun Li smiled mirthlessly, “Where can we go? As long as we stay here at least we don’t have to worry about having a place to sleep, but if we were to leave, with our appearances and strength, Young Master Yang should be clear of the consequences.”
This mature woman and two young girls were all quite beautiful and their strength wasn’t very high, if they left the safety of this palace and travelled outside, they would no doubt degenerate into playthings for unscrupulous men.
“If I offered to take you away, would you accept?” Yang Kai asked on the spur of the moment.
Yun Li eyes brightened as she exchanged a quick glance with Ruo Yu and Ruo Qing before all three of them nodded, “Yes, we would happily accept Young Master Yang’s offer. If we travel with you, perhaps one day we may reunite with Mistress and continue to serve her.”
“Then go tidy up your affairs and pack, I’ll return as soon as possible to pick you up. Right, if I recall correctly, there should be other maids besides you three, yes? Ask them if they wish to come as well,” Yang Kai instructed before departing.
Half an hour later, above the Spider Mother’s Den.
Yang Kai stood high up in the air and overlooked the giant spider statue down below.
He had never thought about it before, but staring at it now, more than a decade later, he couldn’t help wondering how this giant spider statue came to exist, suddenly feeling like something was unusual about it.
There used to be countless giant spiders here as well as the Spider Mother herself, but in the end, they were just Monster Beasts, so it was impossible for them to have built such a statue.
Moreover, this statue seemed to be quite ancient, staring at its weather worn traces, Yang Kai estimated that it was at least ten thousand years old.
At this moment, there were no signs of activity inside the Spider Mother’s lair. After the death of the Spider Mother, the giant spiders who lived here had apparently scattered, so when Yang Kai arrived, he did not see any traces of life at all.
Landing, Yang Kai walked up to the front of the statue and entered into its giant maw.
Inside the statue, there was a huge space, covered in spider webs with a thick layer of dust spread across its floor. Obviously no one had come here for many years.
Yang Kai was looking around when something suddenly caught his eye. Turning towards a certain location, he saw a kind of altar with a strange chart or formation carved onto its surface. In addition, there were some dark stains in various places atop the alter.
Yang Kai instantly recognized the dark stains as dried up old blood.
This altar was not very big, at most large enough to accommodate two or three people standing on top of it. Yang Kai examined it carefully and quickly discovered two distinct sets of footprints that, because of the dried bloodstains had not been erased by time.
Were these two sets of footprints left behind by Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo?
Yang Kai couldn’t be certain about these footprints, but he was certain that there were traces of Void Energy lingering about this alter.
The altar had been damaged, with many cracks running across it. When Yang Kai reached out and touched it, even though he didn’t use any strength at all, the alter actually crumbled to pieces.
Staring blankly at the scene in front of him, Yang Kai heart pounded.
From the strange chart engraved onto it and the remnant Void Energy aura, it was not difficult for Yang Kai to conclude that this was once the entrance to a Void Corridor.
If the two pairs of blood-stained footprints were really left behind by Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo, they must have left this world through that Void Corridor.
But where did they go?
When he last separated from this devilish woman, she was only a First-Order Transcendent! That kind of strength was nothing in Tong Xuan Realm.
After inspecting it for a while, yet not discovering any other useful clues, Yang Kai left the giant spider statue and flew up into the air, lifting his palm towards the sky.
Heaven Covering Hand!
A huge palm descended from the sky and landed on the spider statue, shattering the rocks and collapsing it entirely, dust flying as it was buried underground forever.
Yang Kai’s mood was quite complicated
When he left the Central Capital earlier today, he had planned to visit two places and bring the people there back with him to Tong Xuan Realm, but Xiao Fu Sheng of Medicine King’s Valley had passed away and Aunt Xiang and Aunt Lan were unwilling to leave him, while Shan Qing Luo had actually left Fragrance City long ago and was nowhere to be found.
He had failed to achieve anything he had set out to do.
Helpless to do anything about all this, Yang Kai returned to Fragrance City just as Yun Li and the other maids finished their preparations. In addition to Ruo Yu, and Ruo Qing, there were indeed two other maids staying in the palace, all of whom Yang Kai brought back with him to the Central Capital.
After half a day, he once again returned to the Yang Family.
Seeing Yang Kai bring back five beauties, the expressions of Li Rong and Han Fei suddenly became strange.
Yang Kai was too lazy to explain to them and simply asked his father to make arrangements for Yun Li and the others. Before finding Shan Qing Luo again, these five women would serve as Yang Family maids.
Yang Ying Feng easily agreed.
“Yang Kai!”
“Cousin!”
Two voices suddenly called out and when Yang Kai turned around to see who it was, he found Dong Qing Han and Dong Qing Yan running over towards him.
Fatty Dong wasn’t fat anymore; having lost what seemed to be several dozen kilograms, leaving behind a tall and imposing figure.
Dong Qing Yan on the other hand had matured into a woman. What should be big was big, and what should be small was small, making for quite a pretty picture.
Yang Kai’s mood instantly brightened as he smiled warmly.
When he came back a few days ago, he had met many old friends, but he had not actually seen anyone from the Dong Family. It wasn’t until today that his two cousins had appeared in front of him.
Dong Qing Yan rushed over, her beautiful eyes looking Yang Kai over as she smiled, “Cousin, after ten years of not seeing you, you’ve become more handsome.”
“And your mouth has become quite sweet,” Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, but how could he have imagined that Dong Qing Yan would grin mischievously and stretch out her hand towards him, “So what kind of gift does cousin have for me to commemorate our reunion?”
Yang Kai was stunned.
Fatty Dong just laughed as he stared at Yang Kai, clearly taking pleasure in his misfortune.
“I’ll give you this,” Yang Kai took out a single piece of Crystal Stone and handed it over to Dong Qing Yan, saying in a serious tone, “This is a rare and precious treasure. It contains a lot of pure energy that can be directly absorbed and transformed into True Qi, it is extremely beneficial whether it is used to restore oneself or to cultivate.”
Dong Qing Yan’s eyes lit up as she tightly gripped the piece of Crystal Stone and praised liberally, “This thing is so pretty, just like a huge gem. Is cousin really giving this to me?”
“Do you think cousin will try to take back the gifts he sends out?”
“Thank you, cousin!” Dong Qing Yan cried out happily, carefully storing the Crystal Stone into her purse, a look of satisfaction on her face.
Seeing this, Li Rong and Han Fei, who were standing nearby, didn’t have the heart to see this young girl deceived by Yang Kai and quickly explained to her that Crystal Stones were just ordinary items, slowly shaking their heads as they laughed lightly.
“Little sister, go outside the play for a bit, I have something to discuss with Yang Kai,” Dong Qing Han shot Dong Qing Yan a meaningful glance.
“Hmph, trying to be mysterious, obviously you’re not going to discuss anything good,” Dong Qing Yan snorted and quickly dashed off.
When it was just the two cousins, Dong Qing Han’s expression became serious as he stared at Yang Kai and asked, “I heard that you want to bring the entire Yang Family to a place called Tong Xuan Realm.”
“En, what does your Dong Family intend to do? My mother should have passed on the relevant information to you, yes?”
“After receiving Aunt and Uncle’s message, I hurried over. The rest of the Dong Family is currently packing up and preparing to accompany your Yang Family,” Dong Qing Han asked solemnly, “Is this information really reliable?”
“Do you believe I’d let my entire family go with me if it weren’t? I’m not one to play such distasteful pranks,” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Naturally I understand that, it’s just… Suddenly having to leave our homes and travel to some unknown place is really somewhat nerve-wracking.”
“You’ll slowly get used to it,” Yang Kai comforted, “When I first arrived on the other side, I also felt quite lost, but there were many more wonderful things and opportunities over there for us young people.”
“Haha!” Dong Qing Han laughed, “I was just asking casually. Since Qiu Yi Meng decided to go with you, there shouldn’t be an issue. Frankly speaking, I believe in the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady’s vision more than cousin’s words.”
Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
“When does your Yang Family plan to depart?”
“As soon as possible, the journey will be quite long. From here to our destination, it will be at least three to four months. If there are delays on the road, it could take even longer.”
“So long?” Dong Qing Han gawked.
“The vastness of Tong Xuan Realm is far beyond your imagination. Since that’s the case, there’s no need for your Dong Family to meet up with the Yang Family in the Central Capital; it would be best if you sent them a letter telling them to head to High Heaven Pavilion after they finish packing. I will be bringing the Yang Family people there as well.”
“Good.” Dong Qing Han nodded firmly, “I’ll go arrange it.”
The Central Capital quickly became busy, with the Yang Family, Qiu Family, and Huo Family all packing their things in preparation to depart. Although Yang Kai had told him to pack lightly, the simple act of trying to organize so many people was quite time-consuming.
Yang Kai waited for ten days in the Central Capital before everyone was ready to set out.
With one order, three great families, nearly a thousand people, marched out of the Central Capital towards High Heaven Pavilion.
Of course, there were more than these three families consisted of more than a thousand people, but there were naturally some who were unwilling to leave the Central Capital and others who volunteered to stay behind. The Yang Family had the most departing, with approximately ninety percent of the family following Yang Kai. Only some of the elders and their families who weren’t willing to travel such long distances remained.
As for the Huo Family and Qiu Family, only about half of each decided to leave, only the younger generation and those who were willing to follow Huo Xing Chen and Qiu Yi Meng joined the caravan.
Yang Kai’s close friends were also part of this team. They had already sent word back to their Sects. As for how their forces would decide to act, that was up to their respective leaders and Elders.
Yang Kai had told them that anyone who was willing to follow him back to Tong Xuan Realm could go directly to High Heaven Pavilion. He was planning on waiting in High Heaven Pavilion for a while so there was no great rush.
Outside the Central Capital, a long stretch of people streamed out of the gates, with many people gathering around, watching them leave, complex looks upon their faces.
Most of these people were members of the other five great families in the Central Capital.
“Brother Meng, was it really the correct choice for us to stay?” The Kang Family Patriarch, Kang Jian asked, a hesitant and slightly envious look upon his face as he watched the thousand-person convoy gradually drift away.
These people were headed to a higher world, where they would surely achieve greater things, yet they chose to stay behind in the Central Capital and not get involved.
The Meng Family Patriarch, Meng Shan Yi shook his head and sighed, “I don’t know if staying here is the correct choice or not, it’s just… We don’t have much friendship with Yang Kai. Following him to the other side might not be any better than us remaining here. If he has access to good resources and treasures, he will definitely give priority to the Yang, Qiu, and Huo Families while perhaps not minding about our five families at all. There’s even a chance he might intentionally exclude or forcefully annex us.”
“What Brother Meng said is right,” The Ye Family Patriarch, Ye Jing nodded, “It was because we had such concerns that we refused his invitation, I believe he understands this too, which is why he did not insist.”
“Could it be that we’re just thinking too much? Since that place is a higher-level world, couldn’t it be that our strength and resources now mean nothing to Yang Kai?” Kang Jian hesitated, “Perhaps he invited us this time simply because it didn’t matter to him whether we accepted or not.”
“What use is wondering about such things? We’ve already rejected his offer, or what, do you want to chase after him now?”
“Brother Liu, what do you think?” The Gao Family Patriarch, Gao Rang Xian turned his eyes to Liu Qing Yao and asked.
Liu Qing Yao had once been the strongest master among their generation in the Central Capital, so his opinion still carried some weight.
“I have no opinion,” Liu Qing Yao slowly shook his head, refusing to say any more.
…..
Ten kilometres outside the Central Capital, Yang Kai, Huo Xing Chen, and Qiu Yi Meng were walking side by side.
Huo Xing Chen suddenly glanced back and asked, “Young Lord Kai, are you just going to ignore those people?”
“What do you want me to do? If they don’t want to follow me, am I supposed to force them? People have their own paths; just let them do as they please.”
“En, this is their choice, why take it to heart?” Qiu Yi Meng shot a glance over at Huo Xing Chen.
Huo Xing Chen let out a hollow laugh, “I just had their best interests at heart. All of us lived together for so many years, yet now we’re suddenly separating, I guess I was feeling a bit reluctant is all… En, anyways, enough about them, Young Lord Kai, let me introduce you to my fifteen wives and concubines. All of them are quite interested in meeting you and have been asking me to introduce them.”
Yang Kai’s face went black, “That’s all right.”
Meeting more than a dozen young ladies was nothing but a hassle for him, and if they were expected him to deliver gifts on first meeting…
“How could you say that? If you don’t greet them, they’ll definitely find me tonight to settle accounts!” Huo Xing Chen shouted.
Helpless, Yang Kai prepared to handle this mess when suddenly, his brow furrowed and he turned his eyes towards a certain direction, his expression gradually becoming dignified.
“Master!” Li Rong called out solemnly.
“I know,” Yang Kai nodded before hurriedly saying, “Brother Huo, Qiu Yi Meng, you two continue leading the group forward, I’ll be right back!”
Saying so, his figure flickered and disappeared.
Li Rong and Han Fei exchanged a glance before quickly keeping up.
Qiu Yi Meng and Huo Xing Chen were both startled and remained in place, not knowing why Yang Kai had suddenly run off.
“Where did Kai’er go?” Dong Su Zhu walked up and asked.
“I don’t know, it was as if he suddenly discovered something,” Qiu Yi Meng replied pensively.
“Could it be some kind of danger?” Dong Su Zhu asked worriedly.
“Please relax Aunty, Yang Kai has those two masters with him. Although I’m not entirely clear on those two’s strength, they should both be very powerful,” Qiu Yi Meng smiled and comforted.
Listening to her, Dong Su Zhu also relaxed slightly.
Yang Ying Feng laughed and nodded, “Our son is a grown man now, will you always keep worrying about him? Whatever it is he left to do, Kai’er has his own sense of discretion.”
The convoy continued moving forward, and besides the few people who were nearby who saw Yang Kai leave, no one else realized anything had happened.
A hundred kilometres away.
A blood-red light and a black light were rapidly approaching the caravan.
The speed of these two lights was extremely high, and it was obvious their strength was not low. As they sped along, they unscrupulously exuded a shocking malevolent aura, causing the vegetation beneath them to wilt, as if they had experienced long years of decay, their vitality rapidly draining.
All those who perceived the horrifying Demonic Qi from this pair froze up in fear, their wills nearly collapsing just from their mere presence.
Such terrible Demonic Qi was not something this world’s cultivators could withstand.
“Oh…” An exclamation came out and immediately after the black shadow came to a halt, revealing a tall and sturdily built man that gave off an imposing aura like that of a great mountain.
The blood-red shadow also came to a halt beside him, revealing a graceful woman.
“Did someone beat us here?” The grand man frowned, showing a curious expression, “Moreover, it seems to be someone from my Demon Race, could it be Gou Che?”
The woman shook her head, “Unlikely, if Gou Che wanted to come here, he would definitely have moved together with us, how could he act alone?”
“It’s not Gou Che? Then who else among my Demon Race has such a cultivation?” The man showed a confused look, but soon after his brow furrowed, “No, that’s not all, there’s also a human approaching… But this human’s aura, why do I feel like it’s somewhat familiar?”
Muttering to himself, the man sunk into thought but couldn’t remember where he had met this human before.
Just as he was beginning to doubt himself, the expression of the graceful figured woman beside him changed greatly, “I know who’s coming.”
“Who?”
The woman sneered softly, “The road of life is truly narrow… it turns out to be her.”
“Explain clearly!” The man shouted impatiently.
The woman glanced over at him coldly and snorted, “Do you still remember the incident two or three years ago where I was injured?”
The man’s lips curled into a sneer, clearly taking pleasure in the woman’s misfortune, “You mean when you ran off to the Human Territory without authorization and were injured by one of those Human Race masters? Naturally, I remember, but so what? What does that have to do with the person approaching?”
The woman gnashed her teeth, “How is it related? The person who I was fighting with at that time was her! Clearly, she belongs to my Demon Race yet she actually pledged allegiance to a mere human boy, it’s an utter disgrace!”
The man’s brow rose as he grinned fiendishly, “Looks like today you’ll have a chance for revenge!”
The woman’s tone dropped as she bluntly stated, “She’s not weak. At the time, she was only a Second-Order Saint yet she was able to fight evenly with me.”
“How can that be? Were you sleepwalking at the time or something?” The man’s expression changed greatly, “You are a Demon General, how could you possibly be matched by an opponent an entire Minor Realm below you?”
“That woman is different from other people. If I’m not mistaken, she should be a member of ‘that’ clan.”
“Which clan?”
The woman glanced at him faintly and solemnly said, “The clan which directly served under the Great Demon God!”
The man paled as a look of hesitation appeared on his face; it seemed the mere mention of that clan was enough to illicit dread, “Are you sure she belongs to that clan?”
“You think after fighting her I wouldn’t be able to tell? The Divine Ability she used was definitely the Demon God Transformation that Great Demon God passed to that clan!”
“This is really strange, does that clan’s bloodline actually still exist?” The expression of the man is gradually brightened, as if he had just discovered a rare treasure, his eyes filling with greed.
“Meng Ge, are you interested in her?” The woman shot him a glance and asked seemingly casually.
“I have no interest in her, but I am interested in that Demon God Transformation!” The man named Meng Ge smiled lowly.
“I also have some interest in it,” The woman chuckled, “How about this, you and I will collaborate. There are three people coming, two of them belong to that clan while the last one is a human boy, the two of us can each take one of those two, as for the human…”
“You’re also interested in that human?” Meng Ge was looking at her with surprise before suddenly becoming vigilant, “Xue Li, what kind of wicked scheme are you up to? What is it about that human that makes him worthy of your attention?”
With his understanding of this snake woman, if this human didn’t have something special about him, it was impossible for her to even bother with him. This human was only a Third Order Transcendent, in front of two Demon Generals, he was no different from an ant, someone that could be casually slaughtered at will.
Xue Li laughed pleasantly, “Meng Ge, you’re thinking too much. Actually, that human was the one who escaped from my Sand City that year, causing this Queen to lose a great deal of face, I want to take him back with me and torture him well to sooth the hate in my heart.”
Meng Ge was startled by her response but soon recalled such an incident.
In the past, a human boy had actually managed to escape from Sand City which was governed by Xue Li. This matter had made noise around the Demon Land for a while, causing Xue Li to become a laughing stock amongst the other Demon Generals. Every time they met, they would taunt her about it, annoying her to no end.
“Do as you like,” Meng Ge waved impatiently, “As long as you don’t harm my interests, I don’t care what you do. If you do though, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Xue Li nodded with satisfaction, a cunning light subtly flashing across the depths of her beautiful eyes.
While it was true that Xue Li was annoyed over the fact that this human brat had escaped from Sand City, her real objective was the Demon God Golden Blood in his body! This secret was one Xue Li had not told anyone.
As long as she could catch him and absorb the Demon God Golden Blood in his veins, Xue Li had confidence she could defeat the current Demon Commander and become the ruler of the Demon Land, the first female ruler of the whole Demon Land.
How glorious would that be?!
When she thought about this bright future, Xue Li’s blood began to boil.
“They’re coming right to us, it seems their courage isn’t small,” Meng Ge lightly sneered, standing mid-air in a relaxed stance, not showing any intent to escape.
With two Demon Generals here, they had nothing to fear.
“It’s Xue Li!” Yang Kai muttered as the distance between the two groups shrank and he determined the identity of one of the unknown masters, his brow slightly wrinkling in the next moment, “But the other master… His aura is somewhat familiar, where have I seen it before?”
Both he and Meng Ge simultaneously felt a sense of deja vu upon sensing one another.
“Master, when we reach them, you must act carefully.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, his thoughts turning quickly. Earlier, Yang Kai had noticed a pair of powerful masters rapidly approaching their group, causing him some concern, so he had left with Li Rong and Han Fei to investigate.
After confirming that one of the approaching masters was actually Xue Li, Yang Kai’s heart couldn’t help sinking.
This world was not small, so there was definitely more than one passage connecting it to Tong Xuan Realm, he had come here from High Heaven Pavilion, but where had Xue Li come from?
A moment later, Yang Kai’s group of three arrived in the two Demon Generals’ fields of vision.
Coming to a stop, the two groups stared at each other across a thousand-meter distance.
“Little human brat, I didn’t expect to see you again in such a place, enemies truly meet often along narrow roads,” Xue Li’s pair of beautiful eyes seemed ablaze with anger, as if she couldn’t wait to burn down the entire world as she sneered gloomily.
“Enemies do often meet along the narrow road. Last time you managed to run away, but this time you won’t be so lucky,” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Your tone is not small!” Meng Ge laughed happily as he sized up Yang Kai with great interest, frowning a moment later, “Boy, have we met before somewhere? Why do you look somewhat familiar?”
“Who are you?” Yang Kai frowned, also feeling like this man’s face was familiar.
He had absolutely met him somewhere before.
“This King is Demon Commander’s subordinate, Demon General Meng Ge!” Meng Ge replied proudly.
“Meng Ge?” Yang Kai was startled, his expression becoming strange as he snickered, “No wonder you seemed so familiar, it turns out it’s you!”
Meng Ge looked at him suspiciously.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you remember me?” Yang Kai said dismissively as he laughed, “Perhaps you recall who it was that killed your Soul Clone in the past?”
Meng Ge expression changed greatly as he carefully stared at Yang Kai’s face, finally recalling where he had seen it before, shouting loudly, “So it’s you! You really wear out iron shoes while seeking one’s feet, what a stroke of good fortune!”
Meng Ge had once transferred his Soul Clone to the Evil Cavern of the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. At that time his Soul Clone’s strength was great but it had actually been destroyed by Yang Kai with the help of the Demon Sealing Chain.
This was an event from many years ago, so not only had Yang Kai’s impression of it faded, so had Meng Ge’s, leading to the two of them to only feel the other was somewhat familiar when they finally met face to face again.
With Yang Kai’s reminder though, Meng Ge’s anger suddenly erupted as he grinned ferociously, “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, but I never expected you’d deliver yourself to me today! Good, today I will exact my revenge for that past slight and finally relieve the hatred in my heart!”
As he spoke, his murderous intent condensed so much it almost materialized and struck towards Yang Kai.
Xue Li’s complexion changed greatly and with a wave of her hand, sent out a blood-red light to block Meng Ge’s strike, shouting as she did, “Meng Ge, you and I had an agreement, this human brat belongs to me! If you dare to kill him, you’ll have to answer to me!”
Meng Ge didn’t care at all about her threat and simply sneered, “Today, he must die, no one can stop me! Xue Li, if you dare to interfere, don’t blame me for ignoring our years of friendship.”
What had happened to his Soul Clone was an incredible humiliation to Meng Ge, one which had been like a bone stuck in his throat for many years. Now that he had finally come across the culprit responsible for it, how could he allow him to leave alive? Meng Ge couldn’t wait to flay Yang Kai living before reducing his corpse to ash.
That Soul Clone had taken him an enormous amount of time and effort to cultivate, yet the moment it had been born, it was destroyed, and even after so many years, Meng Ge had been unable to cultivate a second one.
Yang Kai’s past actions had made him suffer a huge loss!
“If you want to kill him, you’ll have to get past me first!” Xue Li refused to back down and openly displayed her determination.
Yang Kai just snickered as he watched the two Demon Generals fight amongst themselves and even Li Rong and Han Fei could only shake their heads in amazement.
They hadn’t even begun to fight yet the two Demon General had already had a big falling out, it was really quite laughable.
Xue Li and Meng Ge stared at each other, neither of them willing to give in, but suddenly, after they seemingly reached some kind of agreement, their anger disappeared.
Meng Ge nodded, “We can decide what to do with this human after we first deal with these two women.”
“That was my intention too,” Xue Li nodded lightly and turned her eyes towards Li Rong and Han Fei.
The two Ancient Demon Clan Great Commanders stared back at them, not showing the slightest fear.
“Go, there’s no need to show any mercy,” Yang Kai lightly ordered.
Li Rong and Han Fei both nodded.
Meng Ge laughed loudly, “Boy, your courage is simply enormous. You actually dare not put we Demon Generals in your eyes? Do you really think these two women can defeat us?”
“The last we met, I acted too hasty and was unable to ask for some proper advice, this time we’ll have to compare notes carefully,” Xue Li coldly declared as she stared towards Li Rong, calling her out directly.
“Good!” Li Rong gently nodded, her tender body suddenly disappearing, leaving behind a trail of afterimages and reappearing right beside Xue Li, her palm gently patting towards the latter’s chest.
The relaxed look on Xue Li pretty face rapidly distorted and she hurriedly sent out a powerful burst of Blood Qi from her body.
Demon Crests appeared on Li Rong’s face at the same time and the force behind her exquisite palm multiplied, easily smashing through Xue Li’s Blood Qi defence and landing directly on her chest.
Calling out in alarm, Xue Li managed to avoid taking a critical hit as she retreated back a thousand meters.
Li Rong didn’t pursue Xue Li, instead choosing to just silently stand in place and indifferently stare towards her.
“Your cultivation…” Xue Li’s expression sank, a thick sense of disbelief apparent in her tone.
Last time, only after Li Rong used her Demon God Transformation and went all out could she fight Xue Li to a standstill, but this time, a single palm strike from Li Rong was enough to cause Xue Li to feel great pressure.
This kind of pressure was something only the Demon Commander could give her.
This left Xue Li somewhat dumbfounded.
She couldn’t help giving birth to the idea that if the two of them were to fight again, the only possible result would be her death.
As this thought flashed across her mind, Xue Li’s tender body shivered as she shouted, “Did you break through to the Third Order?”
Li Rong nodded, “Yes!”
The blood drained from Xue Li’s face and she turned pale.
As a Demon General, she understood better than anyone the great strength of the clan that directly served Great Demon God. With the Demon God Transformation they received from Great Demon God, each of them was capable of fighting opponents above their own realm.
When she was a Second-Order Saint, this woman named Li Rong was able to fight her to a draw. Now that she had reached the Third Order, Xue Li simply had no hope of victory.
Xue Li hurriedly glanced over towards Meng Ge, but what she saw caused her to suck in a cold breath, almost not daring to believe what she was witnessing.
During her and Li Rong’s exchange, the other woman had engaged Meng Ge, creating an icy domain that covered a dozen kilometre radius where everything, even the earth and sky, seemed to be freeze over as seemingly delicate snowflakes gently drifted down, blanketing the ground in pure white.
Against this kind of frigid cold, even the two Demon Generals had to fully push their Saint Qi in order to resist.
The previously arrogant Meng Ge was now in a state of confusion, thick Demonic Qi constantly emerging from his body only to be frozen by the surrounding environment, traces of frost appearing on him, hampering his movements as he fought against this female, quickly becoming frustrated.
Even if the strength of this woman was inferior to Meng Ge’s, the difference wasn’t great.
Meng Ge wanting to capture or even kill her was all but impossible.
Xue Li’s heart clenched as she immediately realized that obtaining victory here was nothing but a dream. She and Meng Ge had completely underestimated the other side’s combat effectiveness, causing them to lose the initiative and fall into a disadvantage.
The other party daring to come here so unscrupulously was not because of arrogance but rather because of confidence
“Xue Li, we need to withdraw,” Meng Ge also realized this point as he stared bitterly and angrily towards Han Fei.
“Let’s go!” Xue Li acted decisively, shouting as she surrounded herself in bloody light and soared off towards the distance.
Meng Ge also wrapped himself in a black cloud and like a malevolent ghost, followed after Xue Li.
The two Demon Generals arrived like a great thunderstorm but failed to deliver any rain, fighting for less than ten breaths before deciding to retreat.
“There’s no need to pursue,” Yang Kai shouted, causing Li Rong and Han Fei to come to a halt and withdraw their Demon God Transformations, restoring their original appearances.
The other two were top-level Third-Order Saints. If they escaped wholeheartedly, there was no way Li Rong and Han Fei could stop them.
Returning to Yang Kai’s side, all three of them stared off in the direction the two Demon Generals had disappeared.
“There should be a place called the Great Yan Dynasty in that direction,” Yang Kai frowned as he pondered.
In this world, he was only familiar with the Great Han Dynasty as well as the nearby Tian Lang Dynasty, he had never been to the Great Yan Dynasty.
“Master, two Demon Generals showing up here, could it be…” Li Rong asked worriedly.
“They shouldn’t have come from High Heaven Pavilion, there are definitely other passages in this world that lead to Tong Xuan Realm; moreover, one of them actually leads to the Demon Land… Knowing the methods of the Demon Race people, I’m afraid that side has already suffered terrible losses.”
“What should we do now?”
“Nothing. Them coming here at this time was probably to explore the Central Capital, but they unexpectedly ran into us halfway. After suffering such a loss, I doubt they’ll try to approach this place again,” Yang Kai took a breath, “Let’s head back. This world is big, everyone has their own lives, and I only have enough ability to take care of my own loved ones and friends. Bringing them back to Nine Heavens Holy Land is the priority.”
“En, it is as Master says,” Li Rong gently nodded, agreeing with him.
A short time later, the group of three returned to the caravan where Yang Ying Feng asked him a few simple questions, all of which Yang Kai skillfully dodged.
After a month’s long journey, the thousand-person convoy finally arrived at the High Heaven Pavilion where they met up with the people from the Three Sects.