Ba Qing Yan felt quite bitter. He was putting forward his best offer in an incredibly straightforward manner. If it had been anyone else, how could he have spoken so frankly? He was an old fox with a silver tongue and knew what should be said and what should not be said during a negotiation.
But when facing Yang Kai, Ba Qing Yan had no choice but to flatly list all the conditions the Hai Ke Family was willing to offer, because he found that this young man’s temper was short and his patience even shorter. Perhaps it also had something to do with Wu Yi that Yang Kai’s opinion of the Hai Ke Family was so poor. No matter the case, Ba Qing Yan knew if he turned around and left now, he wouldn’t get another chance.
Presenting his offer so sincerely, Ba Qing Yan secretly thought that as long as Yang Kai wasn’t a fool, he would certainly accept the proposal.
As such, he directed a look of anticipation towards Yang Kai.
“You only have five breaths left!” Yang Kai remained indifferent though, not showing the slightest interest whatsoever.
Ba Qing Yan’s expression cramped up as he cursed in his heart while grinding his teeth, “Little friend, my Hai Ke Family and the Xu Family are both peripheral forces of Shadow Moon Hall. Although there is some friction between us, we are still considered allies. There is an agreement between us to go forward and retreat at once, to live and die together. If not for this, small forces like ours may have already been eaten up by Shadow Moon Hall. Has little friend Yang not considered this?”
These words carried a clear threatening undertone to them, implying that if Yang Kai did not accept the Hai Ke Family’s asylum, once the Xu Family decided to act against him, he might have to face aggression from the Hai Ke Family as well.
Yang Kai nodded indifferently, “You’re all welcome to come together, just see if you’re able to leave the same way!”
Saying so, without waiting for Ba Qing Yan to react, Yang Kai turned around and walked back towards the cave.
Ba Qing Yan was trembling with anger. Although his strength wasn’t too high, he was still an Elder of the Hai Ke Family. He had been ordered to recruit Yang Kai, but how could he have known this little brat would be so uncompromising? Arrogant to the point of disregarding him altogether.
Did he really think so highly of himself? Even if his combat power was unreasonably high, as a single trivial Saint King, did this boy really think he could block the entire Xu Family? He was simply overreaching himself!
“Little friend Yang!” Ba Qing Yan had become exasperated with Yang Kai’s attitude and shouted out coldly, “Dragon Cave Mountain is the property of my Hai Ke Family, outsiders are not welcome here, little friend Yang must find somewhere else to live!”
Yang Kai, who had just arrived at the entrance of the cave, heard this and turned back to glare coldly at Ba Qing Yan.
Ba Qing Yan, however, wasn’t afraid and simply sneered, “I know this place was supposedly given to you by Wu Yi before, but now that Wu Yi has announced she is leaving the family, she has no right to this Dragon Cave Mountain unless she returns to the family to receive discipline from the Family Law! Even if she does though, my Hai Ke Family still cannot accept outsiders loitering on our land. Anyone found doing so will be punished accordingly!”
“Scram!” Yang Kai snorted as he sent out a powerful burst of Spiritual Energy.
Ba Qing Yan let out a pitiful scream as he was sent flying backwards, his face going pale as he vomited a mouthful of blood mid-air. By the time he landed, his expression was filled with fright.
He was a Third-Order Saint King master, but in terms of Soul strength, it was apparent he was vastly inferior to Yang Kai, a newly promoted First Order Saint King, as his Knowledge Sea was currently shaking uncontrollably.
If this boy wanted to take his life right now, how easy would it be?
“I won’t kill you this time because I need you to deliver a message to your Hai Ke Family for me. If you dare try to make trouble for me, I’ll slaughter everyone in your Hai Ke Family down to the chickens and dogs! Wu Yi and her followers are my people now, and Dragon Cave Mountain is mine as well. Without my consent, anyone who sets foot within fifty kilometres of here will be considered my enemy and I will handle them as such!”
“You…” Ba Qing Yan pointed at Yang Kai, his finger shaking, extreme rage filling his heart, almost coughing up blood again, but ultimate not daring to say anything more, summoning his Star Shuttle and swiftly flying away.
Outside the cave, when they heard Ba Qing Yan say that everyone here would be punished, the cultivators who had followed Wu Yi here gave her low-spirited looks. All of them were well aware of the punishments meted out under the Family Law and that it was not something most could bear. Of those who had suffered the Family Law’s punishment, seven out of ten had become cripples, two would directly die, and the last would be permanently bed-ridden, unable to even take care of themselves in the future.
But in the blink of an eye, Ba Qing Yan, the Elder they all feared and respected, had been injured so severely he spat blood and fled, not even daring to bring up the Family Law again.
None of them understood what had just happened, but after a moment of stunned silence, they all directed looks filled with admiration and worship towards Yang Kai. They had all left the family because of the unfair treatment Wu Yi had suffered, including Ba Qing Yan’s intentions to punish her with the Family Law, so now they were all quite happy to see the same Ba Qing Yan suffer a loss.
These low-level cultivators only feared Elder Ba, none of them respected him, so naturally, they didn’t care if he lived or died. The only one they cared about was Wu Yi.
Back inside, Yang Kai found a very dispirited Wu Yi and quickly comforted, “Don’t worry, as long as you don’t want to return to the family, they won’t be able to force you back.”
“I’m not worried about myself, it’s you I’m worried about. Yang Kai, you went too far this time. Although Elder Ba’s words weren’t said in good faith, the agreement between the Hai Ke Family and the Xu Family really does exist. Once the Xu Family openly takes action, even if the Hai Ke Family is unwilling, they will have no choice but to ally themselves with them. On top of that, after how you treated Elder Ba today, I’m afraid the family will only pull closer to the Xu Family.”
“I have a sense of discretion. In any case, this place won’t be seized by others and none of you will be harmed as long as you stay here!”
Yang Kai truly didn’t fear these two small families. He still had nearly a hundred drops of Golden Blood, and if he really found himself ganged up on, after summoning a drop of Golden Blood, he could kill as many Saint Kings as he wanted.
Yang Kai had already verified the power of the Golden Blood and was confident than an ordinary Saint King wouldn’t be able to put up any resistance when facing it; after all, a drop of Golden Blood was equal to three months dedicated cultivation. It was just that the Golden Blood was too precious, so Yang Kai was unwilling to use it unless absolutely necessary.
“That’s right, as long as I’m here, forget about the Xu Family, even if a few Origin Returning Realm masters were to come, they’d have no way to take us,” Yang Yan suddenly interjected.
Yang Kai and Wu Yi both turned surprised looks towards her, neither of them having realized when she had appeared.
Yang Yan smiled mysteriously, “Three days, just wait three days and you’ll see!”
Seeing her confident look, Yang Kai also felt a sense of anticipation. He wanted to know just how powerful the defensive Spirit Array Yang Yan arranged would be after consuming all those precious materials.
Seemingly infected Yang Yan’s confidence, the haze between Wu Yi’s brow was swept away and she became cheerful and lively as well.
Although there were only a few people here on Dragon Cave Mountain, everything was quite stable. The money and materials were under Wu Yi’s management and with the help of her forty subordinates and the Stone Puppet, Yang Yan was quickly able to arrange a grand Spirit Array.
Yang Kai returned to his stone room again only to discover that a new stone door had been added to the entrance. This stone door was thin but incredibly solid, so much so that when closed it, Yang Kai was surprised to find that no sound from the outside could reach him. The stone door seemed to have a sound insulation effect as well as a shielding effect that prevented outside Divine Senses from penetrating it. However, his own Divine Sense was able to extend beyond the stone room if he wanted to see what was happening outside.
This stone door was quite a good piece of work and Yang Kai was certain it had stemmed from Yang Yan’s hand. With this stone door, when he wanted to go into seclusion in the future, it would be much simpler. At least people outside wouldn’t be able to disturb himself when they were passing in and out of the cave and no one would be able to see what he was up to either.
Yang Yan had asked him to find a way to earn some more Saint Crystals, not just to arrange the Spirit Array around Dragon Cave Mountain, but also to supply everyone here with cultivation resources. Although these people didn’t really have anything to do with Yang Kai, they had all left their family to support Wu Yi and were currently helping him out with a number of tasks he didn’t have time to attend to. As such, Yang Kai couldn’t treat them poorly. In the future, they would need Saint Crystals for cultivation while pills and artefacts would all cost money to acquire.
If he wanted to accumulate a large amount of Saint Crystals in a short period of time, selling Space Spirit Crystals was the most efficient method, but it was also the stupidest choice he could make, so naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t do this.
Once a large number of Space Spirit Crystals flowed out from here, it would surely attract others’ attention.
Since he couldn’t sell Space Spirit Crystals, Yang Kai could only rely on Alchemy.
Yang Kai was a high-grade Alchemist, so he never really needed to worry about money.
There were countless spirit grasses and spirit medicines inside his Black Book Space, so of which he had acquired from the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce branch warehouse on Rainfall Star, some of which he had collected on the floating continent, and some of which he had seized from others like Gui Che.
The number of spirit grasses and spirit medicines owned by Yang Kai was almost equivalent to the reserves of a medium-sized force, and they were of very high grade, including Origin and Origin King Grade.
Taking out some herbs and his pill furnace, Yang Kai began performing Alchemy in his stone room.
Now that his strength had improved again, he could break through the current bottleneck in his Alchemy level as well. Yang Kai tried refining several Saint King Grade High-Rank pills and found that he could do so without any difficulty. Although the probability of forming Pill Veins wasn’t too high, it still reached about twenty percent.
And with the passage of time, that percentage chance gradually increased, soon becoming twenty-five, then thirty percent…
Yang Kai estimated that he should now be an Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, that is to say, he could successfully refine Origin Grade Low-Rank pills! However, if he forces himself to refine such a pill now, there was a decent chance he would fail and waste a set of Origin Grade materials.
Yang Kai didn’t need to force himself right now and was performing Alchemy right now mainly to earn money. A Saint King Grade High-Rank pill that formed Pill Veins was even more valuable than the ordinary Origin Grade Low-Rank pill, so he there was no need for him to take risks with the precious Origin Grade materials.
Forgetting about sleeping or eating, Yang Kai totally immersed himself in the world of Alchemy, and by performing Alchemy, he was able to further consolidate his new Saint King Realm cultivation.
Saint King Grade pills were refined in an endless stream, with jade bottles soon pilling up all around his stone room.
For other Alchemists, they would need to take some time to restore themselves after such an intense period of Alchemy, but Yang Kai didn’t need to do so. He had an incredible amount of Spiritual Energy and with the constant nurturing of the Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Divine Sense intensity was on a completely different level to others in the same realm. The rate at which Yang Kai’s Alchemy consumed his Spiritual Energy was basically equivalent to the rate his Soul Warming Lotus would restore it.
Three days later, Yang Kai was still immersed in Alchemy when he suddenly heard Yang Yan called out excitedly, “Start!”
The next moment, the ground shook and some dust fell from the roof of the stone chamber, but soon, everything stabilized again, and a huge cheer rose from outside.
[What happened?] Bewildered, Yang Kai put away his pill furnace, herbs, and refined pills, and went outside to investigate.
Just outside the cave, Yang Kai saw several dozen people standing around cheering, seemingly having encountered something worth celebrating. Even Wu Yi, who had been somewhat depressed these past few days, had a big smile on her face. As for Yang Yan, she was wearing an even more amazing look, standing there triumphantly as if beneath the Heavens only she was supreme. Yu Feng was standing nearby as flattery flowed from his lips like a river, causing Yang Kai to frown deeply, unable to understand how these two could act so shamelessly.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai walked over to Wu Yi’s side and asked.
“Oh, Yang Yan just finished arranging the defensive Spirit Array,” Wu Yi replied with a smile.
“Finished?” Yang Kai turned to look around but was unable to discover anything out of the ordinary, it could even be said that nothing was different from half a month ago. Despite that, Yang Kai could somehow sense that this place had undergone some kind of change, but what the change was, he couldn’t say.
Yang Kai’s expression immediately became dignified as he discovered that he had still been underestimating Yang Yan’s accomplishments in Spirit Arrays. The defence Spirit Array she had arranged couldn’t even be detected by him.
“Yang Yan, how powerful is this defensive array?” Yang Kai called out to her.
“Would you like to give it a try?” Yang Yan’s beautiful eyes flashed a sly light as she encouraged Yang Kai, “Go on in, I’ll let you clearly understand.”
Yang Kai stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, “If I go in, wouldn’t I lose a lot of face?”
“That’s not certain. Aren’t you very fierce? Can’t you kill Third Order Saint Kings? Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to easily break my Spirit Array,” Yang Yan shook her head, pretending to be mysterious.
Yang Kai just smiled and observed more intently.
Spirit Arrays couldn’t be judged with conventional knowledge. While Yang Kai was indeed capable of killing Third Order Saint King cultivators, once he fell into a profound Spirit Array, he might still have no way to escape.
Although Yang Yan was speaking ambiguously, anyone would be able to see how confident she was, and Yang Kai was certain that once he entered this Spirit Array, all he would be able to do was embarrass himself.
With so many eyes watching, he wasn’t about to do something so foolish.
Seeing Yang Kai go back to observing, Yang Yan spat disdainfully but didn’t pay it much mind. She had enormous self-confidence in the Spirit Array she had arranged. If someone not proficient in Spirit Arrays were to fall into it, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t be able to stir up any trouble.
The only thing Yang Yan felt was a pity was that she was a bit short on time and materials, so the Spirit Array she just finished arranging could only be used for defence and had no lethality to it. If she had enough time and materials though, she was confident she could transform the entire Dragon Cave Mountain into a fortress that would slaughter anyone who tried to enter without her permission like helpless lambs.
Yang Kai obviously didn’t understand this type of Spirit Array, but with his experience, he could obviously see how profound it was, so Yang Yan wasn’t worried in this regard.
Yang Kai truly couldn’t see through this Spirit Array. Every time he sent out his Divine Sense, he would feel like he was tossing rocks into the ocean, unable to create any waves, surprising him greatly. It was as if this space was capable of devouring his Divine Sense!
One had to know that Yang Kai’s Soul was far different from that of an ordinary cultivator. Although in terms of cultivation he was just a newly promoted First Order Saint King, the intensity of his Divine Sense was definitely not lower than an average First Order Origin Returning Realm master. If even his Divine Sense was unable to detect anything here, it was obvious how amazing this Spirit Array was.
His complexion became even more dignified upon realizing this and Yang Kai quickly condensed a drop of blood on his fingertip before wiping it across his left eyelid.
Since completely refining Great Demon God’s Demon Eye of Annihilation, Yang Kai had only used it once. It was during the final battle with the Bone Race’s leader back on Tong Xuan Realm. Yang Kai hadn’t expected the next time he would use it would be to spy on Yang Yan’s Spirit Array.
As the Golden Blood dissolved into his pupil, Yang Kai’s left eye suddenly turned a brilliant golden colour and took on a majestic aura which made it seem capable of swallowing Souls. Yang Yan and Wu Yi, who were standing close beside Yang Kai, both shrank back instinctively as they felt a cold chill wash over them.
Using the Demon Eye of Annihilation, Yang Kai was finally able to discover some traces of the Spirit Array.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was one of Great Demon God’s Divine Abilities and was said to be capable of seeing through all forms of illusion. Yang Yan’s Spirit Array arrangement was indeed brilliant and subtle, but it was not completely traceless.
When Yang Kai swept his eyes around, he could see various hidden energy streams forming a barrier roughly a thousand meters outside the cave. These energy ripples weren’t visible to the naked eye or even the Divine Sense, but it could not escape the perception of the Demon Eye of Annihilation.
Yang Kai felt a dangerous aura coming from those hidden energy ripples!
While Yang Kai could now perceive the existence of the Yang Yan’s Spirit Array, he still had no clue how he would go about opening or bypassing it, astonishing him greatly. His evaluation of Yang Yan immediately rose again as he realized he hadn’t just picked up a treasure, but a priceless treasure!
“Yang Kai, are you going in or not? Hurry up and decide, I also want to know how powerful the Spirit Array is,” Yang Yan saw Yang Kai still not moving and couldn’t help urging him.
Yang Kai dismissed the Demon Eye of Annihilation, smiled, and shook his head, “There’s no need for me to go in, some people to test this Spirit Array’s might are about to deliver themselves.”
Saying so, he turned his gaze towards a certain spot on the horizon.
“Who’s come?” Yang Yan asked curiously.
“It’s the Xu Family’s people!” Wu Yi pretty face sank as she too discovered a group of cultivators rapidly approaching from afar. After seeing the appearance of the leaders, she couldn’t help calling out in alarm, “Xu Family Patriarch Xu Zhi Kun, their five Elders, and four Foreign Elders have all come!”
“Quite the luxurious lineup,” Yang Kai sneered.
Yang Kai has essentially stumbled into this dispute with the Xu Family. It all started when he had gone to Heavenly Fate City to buy and sell a few things. While he was away, Yang Yan had caught the eye of the Xu Family’s waste of a Young Master, leading to a series of events that culminated in the current situation.
However, since they were his enemies now, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid to face them.
“Yang Kai, don’t underestimate these people. Although Xu Zhi Shen’s strength in the Xu Family was good, he wasn’t the strongest. I’ve heard that the Xu Family Patriarch, Xu Zhi Kun, is on the brink of breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm, so he is definitely much stronger than Xu Zhi Shen. Those Elders and Foreign Elders are all also Third Order Saint Kings, facing all of them at once…” Wu Yi warned in a worried tone.
Although she knew that Yang Kai was very strong, a lone tiger could not defeat a pack of wolves. The Xu Family had deployed all of their strongest masters, so they were obviously prepared to fight a decisive battle.
“I’m not underestimating them. The Hai Ke Family’s people have also come, interesting!” Yang Kai stared coldly towards a different direction.
From the direction Yang Kai was staring, another group of people were rapidly flying over. This group’s strength was no less than the Xu Family’s, every member a Saint King with several of them having reached the Third Order.
Wu Yi followed his gaze and her face paled as she muttered, “The Patriarch has also come…”
The two families had clearly reached an agreement to come together. The Xu Family clearly had hostile intent towards Yang Kai, but the intentions of the Hai Ke Family weren’t apparent yet.
Last time, Yang Kai had chased away Ba Qing Yan, causing the Hai Ke Family to lose face. When that happened, Ba Qing Yan had threatened him that the Hai Ke Family would ally themselves with the Xu Family.
If this was really the case, then whether they were members of the Wu Yi’s family or not, Yang Kai wouldn’t show mercy. Yang Kai was thankful to Wu Yi, but he did not have any warm feelings towards the Hai Ke Family at all.
The masters from the two families quickly gathered together and began discussing something, but neither side immediately moved forward.
After a moment, it became apparent the two sides were having some kind of disagreement as their discussion was becoming quite heated. The Xu Family Patriarch Xu Zhi Kun eventually waved his sleeve angrily before leading the Xu Family masters towards Yang Kai’s side while the people from the Hai Ke Family stood in place without moving.
Seeing this, Wu Yi couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief.
She really didn’t know what to do if her former Patriarch and Elders acted against them as well. No matter what had happened, she was once a member of the Hai Ke Family, so seeing her former family’s Elders and Foreign Elders led by the Patriarch arrive here with ill intentions left a bad taste in Wu Yi’s mouth. Fortunately, they seemed to not want to immediately get involved.
This was the best result that Wu Yi could hope for right now.
Even Yu Feng and the couple dozen cultivators visibly relaxed when they saw this scene, as if a great stone had been lifted from their hearts.
“Qing Yan, you know the strength of that Yang Kai the best, what do you think his end will be this time?” Patriarch Yi En of the Hai Ke Family turned to the slightly pale Ba Qing Yan and asked.
A few days ago, Ba Qing Yan had been injured by Yang Kai and returned to the Hai Ke Family. The Elders and Foreign Elder were all surprised when they learned about this. They had been trying to overestimate Yang Kai as much as possible but hadn’t imagined they were actually still underestimating him.
According to Ba Qing Yan’s description, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was no weaker than that of an Origin Returning Realm master. None of them understood how Yang Kai achieved this, but it was just one more example of how this young man wasn’t simple.
Yang Kai’s attitude towards them and their attempt to recruit him had upset the Hai Ke Family greatly, so this time they had joined forces with the Xu Family to find trouble with him. However, Yi En did not make their stance clear and wasn’t willing to immediately send his forces forward. He was content to stand by and watch from the sidelines, allowing the tigers to fight amongst themselves.
Hearing Yi En’s question, Ba Qing Yan looked gloomy and said, “Although he is very strong, I don’t believe he can emerge victorious this time. For the Hundred Mountains Picture, almost all the top masters from the Xu Family have arrived here today. He can probably kill one or two of them, but two fists can’t block four blows. He will definitely die.”
“Good!” Yi En’s eyes flashed, seemingly quite satisfied.
“Patriarch, why don’t we join in now? Since that Yang Kai is certain to die, and his attitude towards my family is extremely bad, there’s no need for us to try to recruit him anymore. Fighting him now will allow us to sell a favour to the Xu Family. We might also have a chance to snatch the Hundred Mountains Picture from Yang Kai when he dies!” Elder Wa Lun asked in a low voice.
“That’s right, Patriarch, the Xu Family has already lost the Hundred Mountains Picture, so if we snatch it now, even if we can’t hold onto it, we can demand a lot of compensation from the Xu Family for it. For the Hundred Mountains Picture, I think the Xu Family will be very generous,” Foreign Elder Huang Juan also added, obviously thinking a good opportunity had been served up to them.
“Patriarch wouldn’t be thinking of waiting for one side to be defeated then reaping the fisherman’s benefits, right?” Someone with more flexible thoughts suddenly asked.
The Hai Ke Family and Xu Family had always been comparable in strength, but with Xu Zhi Shen’s death, and the loss of the Hundred Mountains Picture, the current Xu Family was undoubtedly weaker in compared to the Hai Ke Family.
If Yang Kai could kill a few more of the Xu Family’s Saint King masters, perhaps the Hai Ke Family could wipe them out completely and annex the rest of the Xu Family!
Considering all this, many of the Hai Ke Family’s masters felt their blood begin to boil while at the same time thinking their Patriarch was worthy of his high position, his eyes could clearly see further than their own. They had just wanted to snatch the Hundred Mountains Picture and reap some benefits from the Xu Family, but why bother with that when an even greater opportunity lay before them?
Yi En didn’t pay them any mind though and simply said, “Do all of you only think about immediate benefits?”
“Patriarch means…” Everyone looked at Yi En with suspicion.
Yi En sighed, “Why is my Hai Ke Family just a peripheral force of Shadow Moon Hall? Because we aren’t strong enough and because we don’t have a powerful master of our own, if we had an Origin Returning Realm master, I believe Shadow Moon Hall would have to reconsider our status!”
Many of the Elders and Foreign Elder frowned, wondering what Yi En was implying, but Chang Qi actually wore a thoughtful expression.
“What Patriarch wants to say is, if we recruit this Yang Kai into the family, with his aptitude, we can make him break through to the Origin Returning Realm?”
“Ah? Does Patriarch still want to solicit him? But that little brat is too unruly!” Wa Lun exclaimed, shaking his head, “I think it will be difficult to recruit such a wild junior.”
“That’s right Patriarch, on top of that, he’s only a First Order Saint King now, it will be many decades before he can break through to the Origin Returning Realm, who knows what will happen after such a long time?” Ba Qing Yan also added. He had lost face twice because of Yang Kai, so although he knew he was not Yang Kai’s opponent, he was still unwilling to so easily accept such insults, how could he be in favour of trying to recruit him again?
Yi En shook his head and quickly said, “According to Qing Yan, this time Yang Kai will surely die, but he will definitely be able to pull a few people from the Xu Family down with him. We only need to take action at a critical moment to save his life. If that brat has any common sense, he will understand what he needs to do and submit to family. Once he pledges allegiance to my Hai Ke Family, wouldn’t the Hundred Mountains Picture be ours as well?”
Everyone’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Chang Qi, who had not spoken yet, thought about it for a moment before asking, “Patriarch, what if he refuses to surrender?”
Yi En simply sneered, “He won’t refuse, when forced to choose between life or death, he will definitely pick the former.”
“But Patriarch, by doing that, wouldn’t we heavily offend the Xu Family?” Ba Qing Yan asked with some worry.
“The Xu Family?” Yi En flashed a look of disdain, “So what if we offend the Xu Family? After today, there will be no Xu Family.”
Upon hearing this, everyone Elder Foreign Elder instantly understood what Yi En thought, and couldn’t help taking a breath.
The Patriarch did not just plan to save Yang Kai in his moment of crisis to force him to submit, he also wanted to take this opportunity to destroy the masters of the Xu Family! Yi En wanted Yang Kai, the Hundred Mountains Picture, and the Xu Family.
For a moment, many of the Hai Ke Family masters felt a sense of awe.
“As long as this little brat is willing to surrender, we can dedicate all the clan’s reserves to buy pills for him. With his aptitude, as long as there are enough pills, he should be able to break through to the Origin Returning Realm in less than ten years!” Yi En continued to explain, seemingly able to see a beautiful future stretching out in front of his eyes, his face becoming more youthful and radiant in the process. “Once he breaks through to the Origin Returning Realm, my Hai Ke Family’s status will soar and we will be able to enter Shadow Moon Hall’s inner circle, at that time, how could we not recover our losses?”
Everyone gasped.
They naturally knew the consequences of a cultivator using pills in such a manner. While it would indeed be possible to break through from the Saint King Realm to the Origin Returning Realm within ten years this way, anyone who did so would destroy their foundation, turning even the greatest of geniuses into wastes.
But that didn’t matter to them, Yang Kai was just an outsider, a loner Wu Yi had plucked from the Starry Sky. Even if he was an unparalleled talent, he was not a member of the Hai Ke Family, if he turned into a waste then that was that. As long as he could bring some benefits to their family, what happened to him in the future was of no consequence.
“Patriarch is far-sighted, worthy of our admiration!” Ba Qing Yan bowed deeply. He really admired his Patriarch’s strategy which would kill three birds with one stone. If they succeeded, not only would they be able to preserve their family’s reputation, but also annex the Xu Family and acquiring Yang Kai at the same time. Then, ten years later, their family would rise up and no longer need to struggle for scraps at the bottom of society.
The Elders and Foreign Elders also quickly praised their Patriarch’s wicked scheme. Only Chang Qi and Hao An, who had some interaction with Yang Kai, looked at each other and sighed.
On the other side, under the leadership of Xu Zhi Kun, the Xu Family’s masters had approached to within a couple hundred meters of the cave’s entrance, but as soon as they stepped into the area covered by Yang Array’s Spirit Array, all of them frowned deeply.
At that moment, they collectively felt a sense of anxiety rise in their hearts and began scanning their surroundings, but none of them could detect anything out of the ordinary.
“Patriarch, he’s the one who killed Third Elder!” One of the Saint Kings who had come together with Xu Zhi Kun pointed at Yang Kai distantly.
Xu Zhi Kun’s eyes narrowed as a palpable murderous intent overflowed from his body; sweeping the young man in front of him with his Divine Sense though, Xi Zhi Kun frowned, “Didn’t you say he was just a Third Order Saint? Why does he look like a First Order Saint King then?”
“Ah?” The man who just spoke exclaimed, “But that day…”
“Waste! If you can’t even tell what cultivation your enemy has, what use do you have?” Although Xu Zhi Kun was viciously reproving this man, in his heart he was actually relaxing somewhat.
He had received a report from several of his family’s masters saying that a Third Order Saint Realm boy had killed Xu Zhi Shen and snatched the Hundred Mountains Picture. Obviously, he didn’t believe that to be possible, and now that he found that this little brat was clearly a First Order Saint King, Xu Zhi Shen’s heart calmed greatly.
Because they wanted to take advantage of the conflict between Yang Kai and the Xu Family, Yang Kai’s breakthrough and wounding of Ba Qing Yan had been kept secret by the Hai Ke Family. As a result, Xu Zhi Kun naturally thought that the information he had first received was simply inaccurate.
Although the possibility that this young man had broken through in these past few days existed, the chances of that were too low.
A Third Order Saint killing a Third Order Saint King wasn’t something Xu Zhi Kun was willing to accept, but if Yang Kai had been a First Order Saint King all along, him emerging victorious was barely within the realm of possibility.
Xu Zhi Kun instinctively felt that the cultivators who had escaped at that time and returned to the family has simply been too panicked and failed to notice Yang Kai concealing his cultivation.
“You’re the scoundrel named Yang Kai who hurt my nephew Tian Ze and killed my third brother?” Xu Zhi Kun shouted sharply, “Who gave you the courage to kill my Xu Family’s Elder?”
When Xu Zhi Kun roared, the dozens of cultivators behind Wu Yi wore stern expressions and summoned out their artefacts, raising their vigilance as high as it could go. Even Wu Yi and Yu Feng began to silently condense their Saint Qi, preparing to take action at a moment’s notice.
Yang Kai stepped forward with a sneer on his face and asked back, “Are you the Xu Family’s Patriarch?”
“I am!”
“Before I could go see you, you’ve decided to deliver yourself to me. En, good, since you’ve come, you must be prepared to remain forever.”
The cultivator who had just spoken to Xu Zhi Kun a moment ago shivered and immediately took a few steps back.
He could clearly remember that when Xu Zhi Shen came here last time, this young man had uttered similar words, and the result was that Xu Zhi Shen had really died. These words were enough to bring up that trauma and if it weren’t for his family’s Patriarch, Elders, and Foreign Elders all standing nearby, he would have already run away.
Realizing the unusual behaviour of this man, Xu Zhi Kun glared him coldly and grit his teeth before turning back and shouting, “Bold Junior! Hand over my Xu Family’s Hundred Mountains Picture and cripple your dantian, then this old master will spare your life, otherwise don’t blame this old master for bullying the weak!”
Xu Zhi Kun couldn’t wait to shred Yang Kai’s corpse into ten thousand pieces, so how could he allow him to die so easily? Only after torturing this young man till he begged for death could he comfort his brother’s soul in heaven.
“Enough nonsense, if you want to fight, then fight, father here doesn’t have time to waste on you!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Good good good!” Xu Zhi Kun, seeing Yang Kai still bluffing and blustering, smiled angrily and shouted, “As you wish!”
As soon as his words fell, he leapt forward and charged Yang Kai with amazing momentum. The dozen or so Xu Family Elders and Foreign Elders, all of whom were Third Order Saint Kings, followed close behind Xu Zhi Kun, apparently preparing to kill Yang Kai in a single decisive blow.
No matter what Yang Kai’s true cultivation was, him being able to kill Xu Zhi Shen meant his combat strength was astonishing, so how could Xu Zhi Kun dare despise him? The plan had always been to swarm Yang Kai with all their forces, not giving him any chance to resist.
The Hai Ke Family, who were watching from in the distance, saw the Xu Family all act simultaneously and gawked.
“Isn’t this too shameless?” Wa Lun cried out. Just now Xu Zhi Kun had openly declared he didn’t want to bully the weak, yet in the blink of an eye, he was not just bullying the weak in terms of strength but numbers as well. Apparently the Xu Family’s skin was far thicker than they had imagined.
“Like this, that little brat will have no way to preserve his life, Patriarch, what shall we do?” Huang Juan’s brow furrowed, obviously not optimistic about Yang Kai’s future.
Yi En’s expression also became gloomy. To be honest, he had not expected the Xu Family to launch such a fierce offensive right at the onset of the battle. Now it seemed they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the situation so he could only sigh and console himself, “If Yang Kai can’t escape this calamity, he’s not worthy soliciting, but… let’s just observe for now. Perhaps he won’t immediately die.”
After hearing this, all the Hai Ke Family masters present turned their attention back to the battle with stunned expressions.
Because they found that even as the dozen or so Xu Family Third Order Saint Kings rushed towards him, Yang Kai actually remained motionless with a clear sneer on his face.
In the next moment, everything within three thousand meters of the cave entrance was suddenly submerged in a thick bank of fog, completely concealing the dozen Xu Family masters as well as Yang Kai.
Dozens of Divine Senses from the Hai Ke Family group were simultaneously released to probe this fog bank, but none of them could even penetrate the outer layer of this fog, much less sense anything inside!
“A Spirit Array?” Yi En exclaimed in shock, his body trembling slightly as the other Elders and Foreign Elders all felt a slight chill wash over them.
The existence of a Spirit Array wasn’t they were worried about, it was the fact that this Spirit Array could completely block their Divine Senses that the Hai Ke Family masters found terrifying. The master who arranged this Spirit Array must have incredibly profound attainments in the field of Spirit Arrays.
Did a profound Array Master actually live here?
As soon as Yang Yan Spirit Array activated, Yang Kai knew that the Xu Family was doomed.
The fog bank completely enveloped the surrounding three thousand meter radius and although his own sight was somewhat obstructed and his Divine Sense was unable to probe the inside situation, Yang Kai could at least still see the Xu Family masters.
On the other hand, the dozen or so Xu Family Third Order Saint King masters all wore blank expression. They were all standing near to each other but seemed to be unable to see one another. Soon, looks of horror-filled their faces as some began flying around like headless flies.
“Yang Kai, the current Spirit Array doesn’t have any offensive ability, if you want to kill them, you have to do it yourself,” Yang Yan’s voice suddenly sounded from the side, eliciting a grin from Yang Kai as he nodded, “Got it.”
As soon as he said so, and a dark cloud of fire burst from his figure and condensed into the shape of a roaring fire dragon before soaring towards the closest Xu Family Elder to Yang Kai.
That Xu Family Elder was still in a dazed state, and although he was being extremely vigilant of his surroundings, he was still unable to notice the fire dragon until it was right on top of him, leaving him only enough time to recklessly push his strength in an attempt to protect himself.
Unfortunately for him, the Saint Qi he sent out was like fuel for the black flames, failing to weaken them in the slightest and instead actually increasing their intensity and momentum. In the next instant, the giant Demonic Flame dragon swallowed its prey whole.
“Black flames…” The Xu Family Elder yelled out in horror before he died.
He had heard from the few cultivators who had fled back to the Xu Family that Xu Zhi Shen had been burned to death by these black flames, and that even the Hundred Mountains Picture was unable to resist their might.
His strength wasn’t as high as Xu Zhi Shen, and he didn’t have a powerful artefact like the Hundred Mountains Picture, so how was he supposed to resist?
In less than a single breath, the Xu Family Elder was burnt to cinders, the Saint King Grade Mid-Rank Artefact Armour on his body not providing any protection at all.
“Fifth Elder, what happened?” Just a few meters away, a middle-aged man shouted. He had heard the Fifth Elder’s cry just now, but when he called out, the Fifth Elder didn’t respond.
A thick sense of unease rose in this middle-aged man’s heart and when he turned around, he suddenly saw a young man standing right in front of him, a deep sneer filled with mockery and disdain upon his face.
“It’s you!” He recognized Yang Kai at a glance, and without thinking, immediately summoned a long whip artefact to his hand and sent out countless strikes towards this young man.
Yang Kai lightly stepped back, but to this middle-aged man’s amazement, that was all it took for him to lose sight of Yang Kai. The countless whip strikes also seemed to sink into the fog, all of them failing to connect with their intended target.
He had instantly exerted his full strength but was unable to even scratch his opponent. The middle-aged man suddenly felt his chest heave and a metallic taste filled his mouth. He wasn’t sure if the cause was the backlash from his failed attack or excessive panic in his heart, but before he was able to stabilize himself, he suddenly felt a great hand filled with burning strength grip his neck. Terror filling him, the middle-aged man felt his body being rapidly consumed by the flames and he only had time to let out one panic filled scream before he too died.
Yang Kai released the dead body from his hand and turned to stare at another nearby Xu Family master before casually strolling over to him.
A few breaths later, another blood-curdling scream rang out.
It was easy. Too easy!
Although Yang Kai believed that with his current strength, he could quickly win a battle against an ordinary Third Order Saint King, it would certainly not be as easy as this. The masters trapped inside Yang Yan’s Spirit Array seemed to be unable to even notice him, so all he needed to do was fly up to them and harvest their lives.
Was this the Spirit Array’s true might? The Spirit Array protecting Nine Heavens Holy Land was worse than trash compared to this.
What exactly was Yang Yan? She is so young, so how could she be both an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner and an Array Master of such astonishing ability?
It was always others who were stunned and amazed by Yang Kai’s skill, but this time it was Yang Kai who was shocked by Yang Yan. And according to Yang Yan, this was just a defensive Spirit Array, one that had been hastily arranged and was still incomplete. If she had completely finished it, would there even be a need for Yang Kai to take action? Wouldn’t all the Xu Family people have died inside the Spirit Array without even realizing what had happened?
This little girl was too terrifying. She was a little timid and didn’t understand how to fight, but her other abilities were beyond outrageous.
Yang Yan must have a profound story behind her, but Yang Kai didn’t have any interest in investigating her, if she wanted to explain one day, she would naturally do so.
Inside the Spirit Array which spans a three thousand meter radius area, the screams of the Xu Family masters rang out one after another, each scream representing the death of another person. Yang Kai strolled casually through the Spirit Array and wherever he passed, fog which could blind both sight and Divine Sense would separate on its own accord, guiding him towards the next enemy.
Yang Kai knew that this was due to Yang Yan assisting him.
The Xu Family Patriarch, Xu Zhi Kun, at this moment, had none of the previous confidence and arrogance left in his eyes. His face was incredibly pale as he swung a long staff in his hand around randomly, fiercely bombarding his surroundings while five of the Xu Family masters gathered tightly around him, not daring to separate by even a step.
But no matter how they attacked the fog, it continued enveloping them without scattering in the slightest.
Although this fog didn’t pose any direct threat to them, the Xu Family masters were still like frightened rabbits, each scream they heard in the distance sending chills up their spines.
In the beginning, they could still hear the calls of many masters as they launched attacks or screamed for help.
But over time, such sounds and screams gradually diminished, eventually disappearing.
An Elder following Xu Zhi Kun kept shouting the names of the other Xu Family masters, but he received no responses.
“They’re all dead… they’re all dead…” The man paled and mumbled repeatedly.
The remaining six masters couldn’t restrain the fear in their hearts as they unconsciously shivered in fright.
Death itself wasn’t terrifying, waiting for death to come was what was terrifying! When they came here, they had brought more than a dozen Third Order Saint Kings. They were the strongest elites of the Xu Family, but now more than half of that group had died without being able to put up any resistance.
The few survivors hadn’t even figured out how the enemy was attacking them.
“I can’t take it anymore! I want to leave!” One of the Xu Family masters snapped under the pressure and while waving the giant machete in his hand madly, he dove into the fog in an attempt to escape.
“Foreign Elder Liu, don’t run!” Xu Zhi Kun shouted as he stretched out his hand and grabbed towards Foreign Elder Liu’s back. Unfortunately, his outstretched hand grabbed only air for with a single step, Foreign Elder Liu’s figure disappeared right before everyone’s eyes.
Xu Zhi Kun’s face became even gloomier as he knew Foreign Elder Liu was certain to suffer a disaster
Before he could even complete this thought, Foreign Elder Liu’s scream echoed from nearby for a moment before it was cut off; apparently Foreign Elder Liu had been instantly killed.
Xu Zhi Kun’s eyes filled with unparalleled resentment and powerlessness. Inside this Spirit Array, he was unable to exert any of his strength. If he had fought Yang Kai face to face like his Third Brother had and ultimately suffered defeat, he would have nothing to say, it would simply mean his skill was inferior to his enemy, but to die like this was completely unacceptable to him.
There was another master from the Xu Family who wanted to rush out like Foreign Elder Liu. Although it had only been about half a cup of tea’s worth of time since they had entered this Spirit Array, it felt like a year has passed and he could simply not bear with it any longer.
But when he heard the forlorn scream of Foreign Elder Liu, he was glad he had hesitated just now; otherwise, he would be following in Foreign Elder Liu’s footsteps right now.
“Everyone stay close!” Xu Zhi Kun, as the head of the family, was quicker to analyze the situation, and after passing through the initial turmoil, he immediately realized several important factors. “This Spirit Array can only trap and mislead us, it has no lethality, so we must not separate from one another! Once we become separated, we will fall into that brat’s evil clutches. Everyone follow me, we will definitely find a way out, I don’t believe this Spirit Array can trap us forever!”
The spirits of the few remaining masters rose as they all nodded and followed after Xu Zhi Kun, making sure to not leave his side.
As the remaining five Xu Family masters rushed to and fro inside the Spirit Array, the couple dozen masters from the Hai Ke Family watched from the distance.
A moment ago, they had all been waiting for Yang Kai to fall into a hopeless situation before they went up and offered to save his life in exchange for his servitude, but how could they have anticipated that after less time than it would take to boil a cup of tea, the situation would undergo such dramatic changes.
Although none of them could see the situation inside the fog bank, they were able to infer what was happening from the screams they heard.
The Xu Family was finished!
Of more than a dozen Third Order Saint Kings, the entire elite of the Xu Family, only four or five possibly remained, but whether these four or five could escape was highly questionable.
The strength of the Hai Ke Family and the Xu Family had always been similar. Now, the Xu Family had no way to handle this strange Spirit Array, so didn’t that mean that if the Hai Ke Family were to fall into it, they would find themselves in the same hopeless situation?
Ba Qing Yan had at some point pulled out a handkerchief and was constantly wiping the sweat on his forehead. The handkerchief was already soaking wet, but he was too distracted to even notice and simply continued wiping himself with it.
The expressions of Wa Lun, Huang Juan, and all the other Elders and Foreign Elders weren’t much better and each of them couldn’t stop themselves from shivering.
None of them had ever imagined that their family’s Dragon Cave Mountain, a trivial piece of land no more than ten thousand meters in radius, would one day turn into the burial ground of all the Xu Family’s masters. Xu Zhi Shen had been killed here less than a month ago, and now more than a dozen Third Order Saint Kings from the Xu Family had died one after another in this place. The Xu Family had all but been destroyed.
Patriarch Yi En’s expression also became pale as he secretly rejoiced, he had not acted rashly and agreed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Xu Family when they launched their attack against Yang Kai. If he had brought all the Hai Ke Family masters into the strange Spirit Array in front of them, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
It was laughable that a moment ago he had still been thinking about how to reap the benefits from this conflict. The roots of the Xu Family had been wiped out without any need for their help, so what benefit could the Hai Ke Family possibly harvest?
This Spirit Array filled Yi En with envy!
No matter who arranged this Spirit Array, if they could arrange a similar one for the Hai Ke Family, wouldn’t their family’s defence now be as solid as gold?
“Patriarch…” Wa Lun called out in a trembling voice, “What should we do now?”
“Just watch, just watch…” Yi En replied wryly. In any case, his Hai Ke Family had not gone to embarrass Yang Kai directly, and Wu Yi, Yu Feng, and several dozen of their disciples were also on the other side. Yi En was certain Yang Kai wouldn’t come to find trouble with them as long as they didn’t make any aggressive moves, so it didn’t matter if they stayed here to watch. Yi En also wanted to know if any of the Xu Family masters would escape today’s tribulation or if they would wind up completely exterminated.
Inside the fog bank created by the Spirit Array, the last five Xu Family masters were panicking.
They all knew that this Spirit Array only encompassed a three thousand meter radius area, but no matter how they ran about or attacked it, they were still unable to escape.
It was obvious they were constantly moving around in circles!
What made them even more desperate though was they couldn’t use their Star Shuttles and there was no way for them to fly too high. There was some kind of mysterious force permeating this fog that suppressed their ability to fly more than ten meters high.
“Coward! Come out and fight this old master! Is your only skill hiding!?” Xu Zhi Kun roared angrily; his eyes completely bloodshot.
Being led around by the nose inside this fog had caused the irritation in his heart to soar to the point where he only wanted to immediately fight with Yang Kai, regardless of whether he lived or died, anything was better than being trapped in this fog.
“Old dog, do you think you’re worthy to fight against me?” Yang Kai laughed while snickering disdainfully.
To be honest, Yang Yan’s Spirit Array had also deeply shocked Yang Kai and right now he was in a wonderful mood. How could he care about Xu Zhi Kun’s taunts?
“Little friend, I surrender, I surrender! I’m not from the Xu Family, I was only hired by them as a Foreign Elder! Please let me go!” An old man with a yellow complexion shouted through his tears.
Stuck inside this Spirit Array for what seemed like forever, his will had long ago collapsed and understood that staying here meant certain death. Although he knew that his actions here would be despised and he would forever be branded as a coward and traitor, with his life on the line, what did any of that matter?
“Foreign Elder Huo, you…” Xu Zhi Kun’s anxious voice called out, “You disappoint me! My Xu Family has treated you well for so many years yet now, in our hour of need, you dare utter such disgraceful words?”
The Foreign Elder surnamed Huo wore an embarrassed look, but despite that, he still shouted loudly, “Starting today, I am no longer a Foreign Elder of the Xu Family and have nothing to do with the Xu Family! Little friend, please let me go, I can serve you in the future. I am also a Third Order Saint King, my strength isn’t bad. “
“Good, let me consider it!” Yang Kai’s voice rang out.
“You court death!” Xu Zhi Kun roared and violently pounding his long staff towards Foreign Elder Huo. Xu Zhi Kun knew that what he most had to avoid now was disunity. If the five remaining masters held fast together, they would still have a chance of surviving, but if they were to fracture, they would only be picked off one by one by Yang Kai.
For someone like Foreign Elder Huo, who coveted life and feared death, Xu Zhi Kun had not the slightest pity and naturally wanted to immediately kill him.
“Patriarch, don’t force me. This Huo has contributed greatly to the Xu Family these years, now I simply want to leave!” Foreign Elder Huo was obviously no pushover though and quickly fought back against Xu Zhi Kun, hoping to express his loyalty to Yang Kai in hopes the latter would let him go.
The remaining three Xu Family masters froze up, uncertain of what they should do in this situation.
Just as they were hesitating though, Yang Kai’s voice called out again, “Whoever kills Xu Zhi Kun, I will let go!”
As soon as this remark was made, two of the three remaining masters wore ruthless looks and leapt forward, “I will help you, Brother Huo!”
The last person remaining masters was a direct Elder of the Xu Family and naturally wouldn’t be led astray by Yang Kai words, immediately jumping into the fray, teaming up with Xu Zhi Kun against the three Foreign Elders.
Suddenly, the Spirit Array’s fog tumbled as the surviving Xu Family masters split into two camps, summoning their respective artefacts and engaging in a desperate life or death battle.
Yang Kai sneered and calmly left the Spirit Array.
A vomiting sound reached his ear as soon as he left though, and when Yang Kai looked over at the source, he was struck speechless.
Yang Yan clearly couldn’t withstand this brutal killing scene. Although the others couldn’t see the situation inside the fog bank, how could Yang Yan, the one controlling the Spirit Array, not see everything clearly?
Yang Kai didn’t know how long she had been vomited, but Yang Yan’s face right now was ghastly pale, and Wu Yi was next to her, gently patting her back to comfort her.
Seeing Yang Kai step out, Wu Yi shot him a wicked glare, “If you must kill people, can’t you do it a bit more cleanly? Is there any need to create such a disgusting scene?”
“Even this is called disgusting…” Yang Kai didn’t know what to say. He had only swiftly burned a few people to death. What was he supposed to have done? Cut them apart and have their broken limbs and internal organs splash out on the ground? If Yang Yan were to see such a scene, would she even still be able to retain her soul?
“You’re really quite insidious, actually manufacturing an internal conflict between them,” Wu Yi suddenly smiled, revealing an enchanting look that all the nearby men couldn’t help staring at.
Wu Yi didn’t have any affection for the Xu Family, so whether they lived or died didn’t matter to her.
“Those who provoke me never have good ends,” Yang Kai coldly snorted before turning to look at Yang Yan’s face, taking out a pill, and shoving it into her mouth.
“I… don’t care…” Yang Yan swallowed the pill before looking over at Yang Kai weakly, “Hurry up and collect enough materials for me so I can arrange a killing array. I don’t want to control the Spirit Array anymore while you kill people…”
“Got it, Wu Yi, help her inside so she can rest, there’s nothing more for her to do here.”
“En,” Wu Yi nodded, helping Yang Yan walk back towards the cave.
“Brother Yang, how many of them are left inside?” Yu Feng rushed over and asked with excitement while the several dozen cultivators who originally belonging to the Hai Ke Family also turned expectant eyes towards him.
This time, the Xu Family had turned out in full force, so everyone here had thought they would have to fight a desperate battle and all of them had prepared themselves to die here today.
How could they have imagined that before they even had a chance to fight, almost all of the Xu Family’s masters would die? All of them were very excited and profoundly felt that staying here was far more promising than staying in the Hai Ke Family. They were all rejoicing that they had boldly decided to abandon the family and follow Wu Yi.
How could living in the family even be compared to here?
In the family, they all had to pay a certain amount of Saint Crystals to enter cultivation rooms. If they didn’t have enough Saint Crystals, they needed to pay contribution points. Those contribution points could only be obtained by completing tasks for the family.
But here, there were hundreds of stone chambers, each with its own small Aura Gathering Spirit Array. In each of these Aura Gathering Spirit Arrays, there were many Saint Crystals allowing them to cultivate in their own private chambers without any need to worry about resources.
Whether it was in terms of efficiency or speed, these stone rooms were far better than the family’s cultivation rooms.
Each stone room was also equipped with a brilliant isolation Spirit Array that guaranteed that as long as the stone door was closed, no noise or Divine Sense would be able to disturb them.
The future was bright!
On top of everything, there was a large scale Aura Gathering Spirit Array arranged around Dragon Cave Mountain, so as long as enough time passed, the World energy aura here would become richer and more abundant. The several dozen cultivators’ hearts were filled with joy and the lingering fear and regret they had about having to leave the family had completely disappeared, the treatment here was incomparably better than what they could receive in the family.
Now, even if they were driven away, none of them would be willing to leave. All of them were even more determined to stay here and follow Wu Yi for the rest of their lives.
They also understood that Wu Yi had chosen to follow Yang Kai, so them following Wu Yi was equivalent to following Yang Kai.
Of all these people, Yu Feng was the proudest, because it was he who had fished Yang Kai out from the Starry Sky. If he hadn’t accidentally found that blood-red crystal, how could there have been such a scene today?
Hearing Yu Feng’s question, Yang Kai replied casually, “Five.”
As soon as he said this though, a scream rang out from inside the fog.
“Make that four,” Yang Kai corrected.
With the Xu Family’s Patriarch Xu Zhi Kun and the only remaining Xu Family Elder confronting the three former Foreign Elders, neither side could afford to hold back, and soon after the battle began, one of the Foreign Elders, the one surnamed Huo who had first tried to escape, was beheaded.
Such traitorous cowards were exactly the kind of people Yang Kai hated the most, so he felt no pity for him after he died.
However, the strength of this Xu Zhi Kun was truly quite good, much higher than Xu Zhi Shen at least, it was clear that what Wu Yi said about him soon breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm was true. From the looks of it, if Xu Zhi Kun were given another couple of years, he might really make such a breakthrough.
Unfortunately, he would never get that chance.
A moment later, another scream came out. It was the last Xu Family Elder. Although Xu Zhi Kun was strong, he had not yet reached the Origin Returning Realm after all. This last Elder was killed under the combined pressure of the two Foreign Elders.
Xu Zhi Kun was furious and spat a mouthful of Blood Essence from his mouth, causing his strength to rapidly increase and his momentum to soar. Waving his staff wildly, he repeatedly forced back the two Foreign Elders.
Without Yang Yan’s control, the battle inside the fog couldn’t be seen clearly even by Yang Kai and its progress could only be judged by the sounds that rang out. Although his Demon Eye of Annihilation could see through this Spirit Array, Yang Kai did not use it because he didn’t find it necessary.
Moreover, after Yang Yan entered the cave to rest, the fog covering the surrounding three-thousand-meter radius gradually dissipated.
A moment later, when the fog had completely disappeared, Yang Kai, Yu Feng, and the others just happened to witness Xu Zhi Kun knocking down the last remaining Foreign Elder with his staff.
Corpses were spread all around. The Xu Family had brought more than a dozen Third Order Saint Kings, but in the end, only Xu Zhi Kun was left, standing proudly amidst all the blood and gore, one of his arms missing, looking extremely miserable.
Only after a short silence did Xu Zhi Kun realize that the Spirit Array that had been tormenting him this entire time had disappeared. Looking around at the corpses around him, Xu Zhi Kun eyes went red. Turning to Yang Kai, he rushed out and shouted hysterically, “Little bastard, surrender your life!”
A ferocious aura erupted from Xu Zhi Kun, causing Yu Feng, who was standing next to Yang Kai, to pale and stumble backwards a few steps.
Yang Kai remained motionless, pushing his own imposing manner forward to meet Xu Zhi Kun’s. When these two auras collided, it was as if an invisible storm had been stirred up as crackling noises spread through the air. Xu Zhi Kun’s rushing figure suddenly came to a halt, but after spitting another mouthful of Blood Essence, his stagnant figure rushed towards Yang Kai at even greater speed.
“Hmph!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, sending out a burst of Spiritual Energy that instantly tore through Xu Zhi Kun’s Knowledge Sea defences. At the same time, he stepped out and threw a heavy punch.
With a massive eruption of energy, Yang Kai’s punch flew out and struck Xu Zhi Kun’s flying body. The Xu Family’s Patriarch’s figure came to halt mid-air, as if he was blocked by an invisible wall and could no longer move forward.
His face pale, Xu Zhi Kun stared at Yang Kai with wide eyes and growled, “Shadow Moon Hall will not let you off!”
After those words left his lips, Xu Zhi Kun’s body burst open, his blood and flesh scattering through the air in a great explosion.
Outside the cave, stunned silence resounded!
The several dozen cultivators who had followed Wu Yi and the masters from the Hai Ke Family all stared at this terrifying scene.
Although the last time Yang Kai had killed Xu Zhi Shen, they had also watched the whole process and knew Yang Kai was powerful, but now they all discovered that he had become significantly stronger since then.
Even if Xu Zhi Kun had been injured, he was a cultivator close to breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm, but in the end, after overdrawing his vitality and burning his Blood Essence, he was still unable to take a single punch from Yang Kai.
Was this guy a real monster? Yu Feng stared towards Yang Kai’s back and shivered slightly.
Or was it perhaps that cultivators from the outside world were all this incredible? If all cultivators from the outside were like Yang Kai, what had their Shadowed Star cultivators been wasting their time for?
As the crowd stood in shock, Yang Kai walked out calmly and collected the artefacts and Space Rings of the dozen or so fallen masters that were scattered on the ground. Sweeping these rings with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai scoffed disdainfully before tossing them all over to Yu Feng.
“Turn the Saint Crystals and raw materials over to Wu Yi then divide the rest amongst yourselves.”
“Ah?” Yu Feng was startled, “What about you?”
“I don’t need anything.”
Yang Kai really didn’t have any interest in the Xu Family masters’ treasures. Only the Hundred Mountains Picture and artefacts on that level could draw Yang Kai’s attention, but such things were clearly few and far between.
“Many thanks, Brother Yang,” Although Yu Feng was quite startled, he still nodded politely while expressing his gratitude before running back cheerfully to sort through the dozen or so Space Rings with a big grin. The others quickly gathered around and soon began shouting and cheering.
The Xu Family wasn’t very strong, but it was still an established force. Among the dozen or so Space Rings, Patriarch Xu Zhi Kun’s had the most artefacts, pills, and other valuables. There were also around twenty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, more than forty thousand Mid-Rank Saint Crystals, and a hundred thousand or so Low-Rank Saint Crystal.
Seeing such wealth, Yu Feng’s eyes went red.
Although he had long known that killing others and plundering their wealth was the fastest way to make money, their Hai Ke Family was among the lowest-level forces, so who could they annoy or kill freely? Seeing this scene today though, Yu Feng immediately realized that this saying was true.
Yu Feng and over a hundred of his brothers had risked their lives out in the Starry Sky for nearly two years to collect a Starship full of ore, but when they returned to the family, they had only received about ten thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals. On top of that, those Saint Crystals had been given to them by Wu Yi from her own pocket.
But today, Yang Kai had spent less than half an hour to kill a dozen or so people and harvested more than their several dozen brother could hope to gain in a lifetime. This huge gap made all of them feel both excited and bitter.
The artifacts and pills weren’t of very high level, mainly Saint Grade while a handful were Saint King Grade; however, these were perfectly suitable for these dozens of people who had chosen to follow Wu Yi.
Most of them were only in the Saint Realm, with just four of five of them having reached the First Order Saint King Realm. Saint Grade artefacts and pills were just right for them.
“King Transformation Pills, ten of them at that!” Yu Feng screamed suddenly, his big hands trembling as he held up a jade bottle.
Upon hearing these words, many people wore excited looks.
Although Yang Kai had never refined a King Transformation Pill, he knew what its function was. Saint King Pills could help consolidate one’s cultivation after they broke through to the Saint King Realm, but King Transformation Pills could increase the chance of one successfully breaking through from the Third Order Saint Realm to the Saint King Realm, thus this Saint King Grade Low-Rank pill was always in high demand.
Many cultivators would become stuck at the peak of a Great Realm and find themselves unable to break through to the next realm. The Third Order Saint Realm was a huge bottleneck, and it could be said that nine and a half out of ten cultivators would encounter difficulties crossing this Great Realm. People like Yang Kai who never encountered bottlenecks were extremely rare.
Yang Kai, however, managed to achieve this with the help of the Demon Eye of Annihilation. Without the Demon Eye of Annihilation, he would have been like any other cultivator that needed to refine certain pills when preparing to break through to a new Great Realm.
This King Transformation Pill could increase the chance of breaking through to the Saint King Realm by thirty percent. It could be said that as long as their aptitude wasn’t terrible, with the help of this pill, a cultivator would have a ninety percent chance of reaching the Saint King Realm.
Of the dozens of people who had chosen to followed Wu Yi, nearly twenty were Third Order Saints, so the value of these King Transformation Pills was self-evident.
The Hai Ke Family also had King Transformation Pills, but those were all reserved for disciples who had good aptitude and were closely tied to the family. The few dozen people who had followed Wu Yi weren’t qualified to even sniff such pills. The nearly twenty cultivators on the edge of a breakthrough had all become stuck at this bottleneck, but if they could refine a King Transformation Pill, becoming Saint King Realm cultivators was almost guaranteed.
Seeing the fierce look his brothers and sisters eyes, Yu Feng’s expression immediately became serious as he stored the jade bottle into his sleeve and quickly shouted, “This will be given to Young Lady; she will come up with a reasonable distribution plan!”
The crowd nodded together without objection.
Seeing this, Yang Kai suddenly felt that he should refine some pills for this group’s cultivation. He had never used pills to assist him with breaking through, but that didn’t mean such pills weren’t useful for others. On top of that, with his current level of skill, refining King Transformation Pills was quite easy.
After having decided so, Yang Kai shot a cold glare towards the distance.
He naturally knew that the people from Hai Ke Family had been standing there without moving. The Hai Ke Family masters had arrived together with the Xu Family forces, but unlike the latter, they had not made any aggressive moves, so Yang Kai didn’t see a reason to deal with them right now.
Perceiving Yang Kai’s eyes landing on them, Ba Qing Yan suddenly trembled and anxiously said, “Patriarch, I forgot to report something. Last time I was here, Yang Kai said that anyone who approaches to within fifty kilometres of the cave will be regarded as an enemy.”
When Yang Kai said this last time, Ba Qing Yan hadn’t taken him seriously; after all, Dragon Cave Mountain belonged to the Hai Ke Family, so wasn’t it Yang Kai who was occupying their land, not the other way around? But now, with the dead Xu Family master as an example, Ba Qing Yan didn’t dare to dismiss Yang Kai’s warning.
If Yang Kai used this as an excuse to attack them, it wasn’t certain if the Hai Ke Family could resist.
“What?” Yi En panicked, “Fifty kilometres?”
Forget fifty kilometres, where they were standing right now was not even five kilometres from the cave.
“Fall back!” Yi En didn’t dare to remain and immediately shouted before hurriedly retreating, the other Elders and Foreign Elders swiftly following behind him.
After retreating to outside the fifty-kilometre zone, the Hai Ke Family masters noticed that Yang Kai didn’t show any intent to pursue them. The group all stopped and stared at each other, all of them feeling somewhat embarrassed that they had panicked and fled like stray dogs from a youth far younger than them.
But now was not the time to think about such things. After seeing the dozen-plus Saint Kings of the Xu Family annihilated, all of them had come to realize how huge Yang Kai’s value was.
Yi En gave Ba Qing Yan a vicious look.
Ba Qing Yan obviously understood that Yi En was blaming him and he quickly took a step forward, cupped his fists, and said, “Patriarch, this time I failed to clearly understand the situation, I never expected Yang Kai to possess such enormous potential or for that woman to have such profound accomplishments in the field of Spirit Arrays. If I had known earlier, I would have stopped Xu Zhi Shen from coming here to seek trouble with them and of course never allowed Wu Yi to separate from the family, leading to this…”
“Enough, it’s useless to say this now,” Yi En waved his hand impatiently.
“Patriarch, are we going to earnestly try to earn his favour now?” Huang Juan asked anxiously, “His potential is too terrifying, and that woman’s skill in arranging Spirit Arrays is too profound, being on good terms with them will be very beneficial to us.”
“En, what Foreign Elder Huang says is right, we should really try to become friends with those two talents while trying to win them over,” Wa Lun nodded in agreement.
“We cannot become friends with them now!” To everyone’s surprise, however, Yi En decisively shook his head.
“Why?” Huang Juan didn’t understand. If they hadn’t witnessed the abilities of this young man and the woman, there really would be no need to become friends with them, but now that they had seen their true skills, how could they be willing to pass up such a good opportunity? Had the Patriarch become muddled?
“Have you all forgotten what Xu Zhi Kun shouted before he died?” Yi En coldly snorted.
Everyone thought back carefully, but before long, they all showed grim expressions.
“Patriarch means Shadow Moon Hall will…” Huang Juan asked hesitantly.
Yi En sneered, “Although my Hai Ke Family and the Xu Family are just the lowest level of attached force and mean nothing to Shadow Moon Hall, since we officially hang Shadow Moon Hall’s name next to ours, this matter concerns their honour. Killing so many masters from the Xu Family, including their Patriarch, is nothing short of slapping Shadow Moon Hall’s face. If they don’t come to manage the situation, how could any family like ours rely on them in the future? Shadow Moon Hall will definitely act. We also must report everything we saw here today to them, otherwise things will become troublesome when they come to investigate.”
“It is as Patriarch says, but by doing so, aren’t we going to offend that young man? Weren’t we trying to recruit him?” Wa Lun asked in a confused tone.
“Recruit him?” Yi En sneered, “Even if we managed to do that, could we make him submit to us? Since we can’t subdue him, what use is there in recruiting him? With his potential and aptitude, plus that woman’s accomplishments in Spirit Arrays, once they are allowed to mature, what room will there be here for my Hai Ke Family? By that time, this place will be surnamed Yang.”
Previously, Yi En had been very interested in Yang Kai and wanted to subdue him, but that was before he had witnessed this young man’s strength and ability and thought with his own years of experience and the power of the Hai Ke Family he could control this youth.
But after seeing the last moment of today’s battle, where Yang Kai had exploded Xu Zhi Kun apart with a single punch, Yi En realized he didn’t have the ability to tame such a person. Since he couldn’t control Yang Kai, there was no need to even think about soliciting him, doing that would only be inviting in a ravenous wolf that would sooner or later swallow the Hai Ke Family, bones and all.
Although Yi En’s attitude towards Yang Kai had changed extremely quickly, becoming completely opposite what it was a moment ago, no one present felt uncomfortable with this and instead admired Yi En’s decisiveness.
The thoughts of one who became Patriarch really weren’t comparable to those of ordinary people.
The Hai Ke Family masters swiftly returned to their manor and immediately sent someone to Heavenly Fate City to report the events of today to the City Lord’s Mansion.
Heavenly Fate City was located within Shadow Moon Hall’s sphere of influence. The city itself was owned by Shadow Moon Hall, so naturally the City Lord’s Mansion was occupied by a master from Shadow Moon Hall.
The one who was sent by the Hai Ke Family to report was Huang Juan.
However, she hadn’t expected that after arriving outside the City Lord’s Mansion, she would be firmly stopped by the guards. These guards all grinned and directed obscene and unscrupulous gazes towards her, making Huang Juan very uncomfortable.
Although Huang Juan wasn’t young anymore, she retained her beauty and now looked like she was only in her thirties. She gave off a mature aura and her figure was equally ripe, with tall twin peaks, a full rounded bottom, long straight legs, a slender and graceful waist, and skin that while jade white had a constant pink hue to it. Such a beautiful woman naturally aroused the guards’ attention.
“Big Brothers, I am an Elder of Hai Ke Family and have something important to report to City Lord Fei Zhi Tu,” Huang Juan forced a smile out while she scolded Yi En like a dog in her mind.
Yi En had sent her here alone to deliver this message precisely because she was a woman. He apparently thought that a beautiful woman would have an easier time dealing with the City Lord.
However, before she even entered the City Lord’s Mansion, she had caught the attention of these Saint Realm guards, causing her to feel both angry and helpless. If this was anywhere else, with Huang Juan’s Third Order Saint King cultivation, she could easily butcher these rude men, but this was the City Lord’s Mansion under Shadow Moon Hall, so unless she didn’t want to live any longer, she couldn’t act out.
“Hai Ke Family?” One man with a face as long as a horse wore a sneer and shook his head, “Never heard of it, do any of you know it?”
Immediately, another guard chimed in, “It’s a small peripheral family under the Sect.”
“A peripheral family,” The horse-faced cultivator nodded casually, “No wonder I’ve never heard of it. So, what does someone from a mere peripheral family need here?”
His attitude couldn’t be any clearer, he didn’t even place Hai Ke Family in his eyes at all, making Huang Juan secretly grit her teeth. But regardless of how she really felt, all she could do was smile and says, “Big brothers, I really need to meet City Lord Fei Zhi Tu, if you could please pass on this request on my behalf, I would be very grateful.”
The horse-faced guard coldly snorted and said, “Sir City Lord is busy with many things, how could he have time to see someone like you? Go back to wherever you came from.”
Shadow Moon Hall had many peripherally attached forces, each one of them was extremely weak and unimportant. Although these guards were only Saint Realm cultivators, they could use their status as Shadow Moon Hall disciples to bluff and bluster about while having eyes higher than the top of their heads, so even if Huang Juan’s cultivation was far higher than their own, they didn’t give her the slightest bit of respect.
Listening to the horse-faced guard say this, Huang Juan grit her teeth even harder for a moment but suddenly flashed an enchanting smile and beckoned to him, “Big brother, can you come a little closer so we can speak?”
Huang Juan could still be regarded as a worldly woman who was proficient in human affairs, how could she not understand how to handle a little brat like this?
“Oh?” The horse-faced guard chuckled indifferently, “Is there something little sister wants to say that’s difficult to discuss in public?”
As he laughed, he shook his head and stepped towards Huang Juan.
After he approached close enough, Huang Juan took a couple Saint Crystals out of her Space Ring and quietly shoved them into his hand, whispering softly, “Big Brother, I hope you can be a bit accommodating.”
The horse-faced guard didn’t even glance down as he silently stuffed the Saint Crystals into his own Space Ring before suddenly grabbing Huang Juan’s small tender hand and rubbing it wantonly, as if he had never held a woman before, an obscene look appearing on his face as he whispered back, “Little sister, it’s not that I don’t want to be accommodating, it’s really just that Sir City Lord has no time to spare…”
Being touched so roughly by this man, Huang Juan’s tender body suddenly trembled and goosebumps popped up all over her skin. She wished she could tear this man’s corpse into ten thousand pieces right now, but she had no choice but to hold back her anger as she took out a big handful of Saint Crystals and gave them to him while continuing to beg, “Please go in and notify Sir City Master, if he refuses to see me, I will have no complaints.”
After receiving so many Saint Crystals, the horse-faced guard finally showed a satisfied smile as he continuing rubbing Huang Juan hand and said, “Good, it seems coming here hasn’t been easy for you, so I’ll especially pass a message along for you, but you shouldn’t get your hopes up, Sir City Lord is very busy.”
“En, I know, many thanks, Big Brother,” Huang Juan exhaled secretly. She was afraid that this bastard would continue taking advantage of her.
Seeing the horse-faced guard walk into the City Lord’s Mansion, Huang Juan stood outside and waited anxiously.
After a short while, the horse-faced guard came out again, this time with a gloomy expression. When Huang Juan saw this, her heart sank as she knew the situation wasn’t good and hurriedly asked, “What did Sir City Lord say?”
The guard, having obtained some benefits from Huang Juan, didn’t shout angrily but just said, “He won’t see you, not only that, he reproved me for wasting his time.”
“En…” Huang Juan sighed, feeling a sense of powerlessness deep in her heart. She had no true relatives in this world and had relied on her own effort to cultivate till the Third Order Saint King realm. It was only a dozen or so years ago that she entered the Hai Ke Family and obtained the status of Foreign Elder. Huang Juan had wanted to use the Hai Ke Family as a springboard to join Shadow Moon Hall. She had been looking forward to one day joining Shadow Moon Hall, but now she realized that in Shadow Moon Hall’s eyes, the Hau Ke Family was nothing. A Foreign Elder like her coming here couldn’t even see the City Lord.
Deep down, she scolded Yi En who had sent her here to the City Lord’s Mansion thousands of times.
Inside the Hai Ke Family, there were several Elders who had ideas about her, and coming here to the City Lord’s Mansion, she had been taken advantage of by someone far weaker than herself. Lacking strength backing made living in this world truly difficult.
Suddenly, Huang Juan felt discouraged and wondered if it was time for her to leave the Hai Ke Family. This family had no future at all, continuing to stay with them would only waste her time.
“Little sister, why don’t you wait here for a few days and if a chance comes up, I can pass a message along for you again?” The horse-faced guard didn’t seem to be satisfied with the advantages he’d gained so far and asked with a grin.
“No need,” Huang Juan’s expression became cold as she turned around and left.
“Can’t appreciate kindness!” The horse-faced guard coldly snorted.
After Huang Juan returned to the Hai Ke Family and Yi En learned she was unable to complete this seemingly simple task, he became furious and scolded her severely before preparing several precious gifts and hurrying off to Heavenly Fate City in person.
Huang Juan felt incredibly aggrieved as she became increasingly disappointed with the Hai Ke Family.
Yang Kai stepped out of his stone room and immediately heard a commotion coming from outside. Walking towards the source of the noise, he soon came to a huge stone room.
This stone room should have been excavated by the Stone Puppet on Yang Yan’s request at some point to be used as a conference room of sorts. At this moment, nearly twenty people were gathered inside, many of them with bloodshot eyes and looks of indignation on their faces as they shouted over one another.
Yu Feng was the loudest of the bunch as he stood on a stone table in the centre of the room and shouted while pointing at one cultivator after another, scolding them viciously as spittle flew from his mouth.
Yang Kai frowned and suddenly felt a little displeased.
He thought that those who followed Wu Yi were making a fuss because of an uneven distribution of resources. If that was the case, Yang Kai wouldn’t want them to remain here any longer. Even if they had followed Wu Yi here, he would still need to expel them. Those who didn’t understand how to compromise and share with their fellow Brothers and Sisters and simply cared about how many benefits they could snatch would only cause instability in the future. But after listening to the shouting for a while, Yang Kai discovered that things weren’t as he had initially thought.
Although this really was an argument about distributing materials, it wasn’t about Saint Crystals or artefacts, but pills.
Specifically, the ten King Transformation Pills that would improve the chances of breaking through to the Saint King Realm!
Most importantly though, no one here was making a fuss because they couldn’t obtain one of the King Transformation Pills, but instead were trying to push these precious King Transformation Pills onto others.
It had been three days since this argument began yet they still weren’t able to come up with a reasonable distribution plan yet. Wu Yi was also standing in the stone room, her pretty face full helplessness but also happiness.
“Damn it, Liu Ping, I remember that you broke through to the Third-Order Saint nine years ago, and now you’ve reached the Peak of this realm, why don’t you want to take one of these King Transformation Pills? Are trying to not give the Young Lady any face? Is that it? If you don’t give the Young Lady and this Yu Feng face, don’t blame father here for punching your face!”
The cultivator named Liu Ping cracked into a grin and said calmly, “Yu Feng, this Liu Ping is almost sixty years old this year, and my aptitude is quite low, what point would there be for me to take a King Transformation Pill? There’s a great possibility that me taking one would simply waste it and still not be able to break through to the Saint King Realm. Instead of wasting this treasure on me, it would be better to give it to Ge Wu Sheng. His aptitude is much better than mine and he’s also a Third-Order Saint. If he obtains one, he can definitely break through.”
Ge Wu Sheng, a middle-aged man in a blue shirt, heard this and shook his head immediately, “I don’t want one, just give me another two years and I’ll be able to break through on my own. There’s no need to waste a King Transformation Pill. Yu Feng, give it to Xiao Ya instead.”
A young woman wearing a beautiful dress quickly waved her hands, “I don’t want it either, I can break through on my own.”
Yu Feng’s forehead filled with blue veins as let fly another flurry of curses, but after some time, still unable to find a solution, he could only look to Wu Yi for help while complaining, “Young Lady, I can’t do this job. All of these bastards keep stubbornly refusing, how am I supposed to divide up these pills like this?”
Wu Yi sighed and was about to say something when she spotted Yang Kai standing at the door with a smile on his face and hurriedly walked over to him.
“These people are very good,” Yang Kai said with sincere admiration. He had wandered about outside for many years and had become accustomed to men and women mistrusting and using each other. Men die for wealth as birds die for food, yet in front of these King Transformation Pills which could help them break through to the Saint King Realm, saving at least one or two years of hard work, none of these people were willing to accept them, all of them insisting their fellow Brothers or Sisters take them. Such a harmonious atmosphere was something Yang Kai had not seen for a long time and if gave him a sense of warmth.
“I’ve let Big Brother Yang see something embarrassing,” Wu Yi blushed, “They’re just a group of people who haven’t seen the world; ten King Transformation Pills actually let them quarrel for three whole days yet we still haven’t been able to decide how to distribute them. Did we disturb Big Brother Yang?”
Having witnessed Yang Kai’s abilities, Wu Yi had changed how she addressed him; on top of that, it was clear she had matured greatly after having made the decision to separate from her family.
“It didn’t disturb me, the Spirit Arrays arranged by Yang Yan are excellent, I didn’t even hear anything until I left my room,” Yang Kai smiled and asked curiously, “Is it difficult to obtain King Transformation Pills?”
Wu Yi nodded, “King Transformation Pills are Saint-King Grade Low-Rank pills and their price isn’t low, at least two thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals per pill. It’s not something an ordinary cultivator can afford. The price is only secondary though, the key is that no one sells them. There are too many people who need this kind of pill and not many Alchemists are capable of refining them. Shadowed Star’s Artefact Refining and Alchemy standard is far below the rest of the Star Field; apparently, the most powerful Artifact Refiner sand Alchemists are only Origin Grade Low-Rank.”
“So low?” Yang Kai was taken aback. If that was the case, wouldn’t it mean that he and Yang Yan stood at the pinnacle of Shadowed Star in their respective fields?
Yang Yan may have even exceeded that peak as last time she had said that with the help of the Stone Puppet, she would be able to raise his purple shield to the Origin Grade Mid-Rank. This meant she was at least an Origin Grade Mid-Rank Artifact Refiner.
“En, it’s that low, as for why that’s the case, I don’t know why. In any case, Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, and even Chart Master and Array Masters grow much slower here on Shadowed Star,” Wu Yi laughed helplessly. She knew Yang Kai came from outside and from his tone, she could infer that this was not the case out there.
After listening to Wu Yi’s words, Yang Kai felt that using Alchemy to earn Saint Crystals was a good idea.
His Alchemy had already reached the pinnacle of Shadowed Star, so what worry would he have about raising enough Saint Crystals? He could even look for those great forces to directly trade pills for precious materials.
Yang Yan’s arrangement of Spirit Arrays was similar to him cultivating the Dao of Space, both burned money at an astonishing rate. Without enough Saint Crystals and supplies, they simply couldn’t continue advancing.
“Why does the Xu Family have ten King Transformation Pills then?” Yang Kai asked. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be a Saint King Grade Alchemist working for the Xu Family, but without such an Alchemist, King Transformation Pills couldn’t be refined.
“They should have obtained them from Shadow Moon Hall,” Wu Yi explained, “The small families attached to Shadow Moon Hall all have the opportunity to purchase some more precious pills and artefacts from the Sect, but they have to pay an enormous price to do so. The Hai Ke Family acquired some King Transformation Pills this way; en, the Saint King Pill they sent last time was also purchased from Shadow Moon Hall.”
“I see, Yang Kai nodded before tossing two jade bottles over to Wu Yi, “Give them these and tell them not to quarrel.”
“What are these?” Wu Yi asked curiously.
“See for yourself,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Wu Yi opened one of the bottles suspiciously and peered inside. In the next instant, her beautiful face changed colour as she exclaimed, “King Transformation Pills? More than twenty of them? And so many of them have formed Pill Veins?”
She was really shocked.
The ten King Transformation Pills obtained from Xu Zhi Kun’s Space Ring were just ordinary pills, but the ones Yang Kai had just given her had a large number which had formed Pill Veins. Wu Yi couldn’t even imagine where Yang Kai was able to obtain these pills.
Ordinary King Transformation Pills could increase the chance of a cultivator being able to break through to the Saint King Realm by thirty percent, so King Transformation Pill that formed Pill Veins would improve upon that even further!
“Big Brother Yang, where did you get these?” When Wu Yi lifted her head and asked, only to realize that Yang Kai was already gone. Immediately, Wu Yi felt a bit dizzy. A single King Transformation Pill was worth more than two thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, so this bottle along was worth more than forty thousand!
Wu Yi only now realized just how generous Yang Kai was.
Her delicate hands trembling slightly, Wu Yi opened the other jade bottle and once again called out in alarm, “Saint King Pills!”
And many of these Saint King Pills had formed Pill Veins. Wu Yi was absolutely certain that these two bottles of pills were refined by the same Alchemist, but… the percentage which had formed Pill Veins was too astonishing.
From infancy till now, Wu Yi had only ever seen a single pill which formed Pill Veins, and it was just a Spirit Grade High-Rank pill.
Even if Wu Yi had some worldly experience, she still felt like these two jade bottles were as heavy as mountains. King Transformation Pills would allow her brothers and sisters to easily break through to the Saint King Realm while Saint King Pills would help them quickly consolidate their cultivations. Yang Kai had prepared everything for them, all they needed to do now was take these pills.
“Thank you, Big Brother Yang!” Wu Yi shouted loudly before turning around and walking back into the noisy stone room, raising the two jade bottles and happily announcing, “Don’t quarrel, there are enough King Transformation Pills for everyone. Not only that, everyone will receive a Saint King Pill as well!”
The noisy stone room immediately calmed down as nearly twenty pairs of eyes simultaneously stared towards Wu Yi.
Outside the cave, Yang Yan was arranging a new Spirit Array. Aside from a few necessary for cultivation, all the Saint Crystals that Yang Kai handed over to Wu Yi last time had been exchanged for various materials. In her large black robe, Yang Yan busied herself arranging a Killing Array.
“Help me!” Yang Yan called out and Yang Kai immediately walked over to assist her according to her instructions.
After some time, Yang Kai suddenly asked, “Yang Yan, will the Spirit Array you arranged previously have any effect if Origin Returning Realm masters come?”
“Yes!” Yang Yan replied affirmatively, “But it won’t be like last time. Origin Realm cultivators are far more powerful than Saint Kings after all. If a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master comes, the Spirit Array will only be able to trap them for ten breaths.”
Yang Kai nodded in understanding.
Yang Yan’s action suddenly stopped as she turned and looked at Yang Kai seriously, “What are your plans for the future?”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai asked in confusion.
“Do you plan to stay here long term or leave after the mineral lode down below is mined clean?”
“Of course I plan to stay long term,” Yang Kai replied immediately. He was not familiar with Shadowed Star at all, and now that he had a place to stay, he wouldn’t leave easily.
“That’s good, I also like it here. If we want to stay here long term, I will put my best into arranging powerful Spirit Arrays,” Yang Yan smiled faintly, “If you give me more advanced materials in the future, I can arrange a formation that will completely trap Third Order Origin Returning Realm masters!”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and his evaluation of Yang Yan rose even higher.
While the two were talking, Wu Yi rushed out of the cave suddenly, her face somewhat flushed, obviously very excited.
“Finished?” Yang Kai smiled at her.
“En, all of them have now entered secluded retreat. It won’t be long before they can become Saint Kings. Thank you, Big Brother Yang,” Wu Yi nodded, and then said, “I just forgot to tell you something a moment ago.”
“What?”
“Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao sent a messenger over to say that the Patriarch brought a lot of gifts to the City Lord’s Mansion in Heavenly Fate City three days ago.”
“Foreign Elder Chang, Foreign Elder Hao?” Yang Kai frowned but soon recalled these two. Foreign Elder Chang naturally referred to Chang Qi, the one Yang Kai had met back on the Starship. Foreign Elder Hao should refer to Hao An, the one who had come to greet them when the Starship returned to Shadowed Star.
Apparently, the relationship between these two Foreign Elders and Wu Yi was quite good, otherwise, they would not have sent someone to deliver such a letter.
“Foreign Elder Huang Juan also sent someone to deliver a letter say9ing the same thing,” Wu Yi frowned, obviously not understanding why Huang Juan had suddenly decided to help her this time. Also, from what she wrote in the letter, it seemed like Huang Juan planned on leaving the Hai Ke Family and was advising her to leave Dragon Cave Mountain as soon as possible.
Yang Kai wasn’t familiar with Huang Juan, but he didn’t care either way, simply asking, “Did your former Patriarch go to Heavenly Fate City to seek assistance from Shadow Moon Hall?”
“En. Big Brother Yang, what should we do now? Once Shadow Moon Hall learns that you have killed so many of the Xu Family’s masters, they definitely won’t sit idly by and will likely send out Origin Returning Realm masters.”
“Origin Returning Realm!” Yang Kai frowned, to be honest, he didn’t know how his current strength compared to Origin Returning Realm cultivators, but with each new Great Realm crossed, the strength of a cultivator would change dramatically. Right now, Yang Kai could easily kill Third Order Saint Kings, but that didn’t mean he could face a First Order Origin Returning Realm master.
However, Yang Kai soon knit his brow and became suspicious, “Strange, why is your family the one rushing to report this situation, shouldn’t it be the Xu Family doing so?”
Wu Yi thought for a moment before biting her lower lip and saying, “It may be that the Patriarch feels since he can’t control you or drive you away, he needs to rely on the power of Shadow Moon Hall.”
It had to be said that Wu Yi mind was quite sharp; taking what she knew about Yi En’s character, she was quickly able to arrive at the truth of the matter.
Yang Kai nodded, “No need for concern, just continue going about your day like normal, if an Origin Returning Realm master really comes, we can still block them.”
“En,” Wu Yi nodded lightly; although didn’t have much confidence in this matter, since Yang Kai had said so, she wouldn’t raise any objections.
After Wu Yi left, Yang Yan said lightly, “Don’t expect my Spirit Array to kill an Origin Realm masters, without higher-grade materials, the Killing Array I’m arranging won’t have that kind of power.”
“I wasn’t planning on relying on your Spirit Array for that,” Yang Kai grinned. As long as Yang Yan’s Spirit Array could keep an Origin Returning Realm master trapped for a while, and as long as it wasn’t a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master who came, Yang Kai felt he could handle the situation.
Since this concerned the giant Space Spirit Crystal lode, forget about Origin Returning Realm masters, even if an Origin King was to arrive, Yang Kai would still choose to fight. This treasure must not be given away.
Instead of helping Yang Yan continuing arranging the Spirit Array, Yang Kai immediately returned to his stone room to enter retreat. Holding a Space Spirit Crystal in his hand, and drawing energy from it, he began adding to his own Space Force.
The Dao of Space was very esoteric, but also extremely powerful. Yang Kai felt that if he had to fight against Origin Realm masters, using Space Force was his best option.
Previously, Yang Kai had used his comprehension of the Dao of Space to enhance or manipulate his Saint Qi attacks, allowing them to leap across space and strike from otherwise impossible directions, making them difficult to predict or block. This approach could strengthen the power of a Saint Qi attack, but wasn’t really making use of the Dao of Space’s full potential.
If he could use his Space Force directly to attack, Yang Kai believed his combat power would increase greatly and become even more difficult to counter.
Yang Kai didn’t know when people from Shadow Moon Hall would come for him, but it was safe to say that it would be sooner rather than later. As such, Yang Kai dedicated himself to comprehending the Dao of Space while trying to develop his new method of attack.
After refining so many Space Spirit Crystals, Yang Kai’s understanding of the Dao of Space had reached new heights and he could no longer be considered someone with only superficial knowledge of it.
Yang Kai believed that with his current level of comprehension, if he was back on the floating continent, he could easily find his way out.
Tearing Space was a means of escape and couldn’t be used to kill an enemy, but from all his experienced tearing space, Yang Kai was able to conceptualize a method to use this principle to attack. Running many simulations in his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai refined his hypothesis over and over again until he came up with an initial prototype, his eyes shooting open in the next instant.
Lifting his right hand, Yang Kai made a slicing motion and created a finger-length long thumbnail-sized space crack in front of himself. This space crack overflowed with the aura of The Void and seemed akin to a bottomless hole in space.
However, unlike before when Yang Kai tore space, after this crack appeared, it didn’t remain in place but began slowly moving forward.
Wherever this tear in space passed, everything from air to World Energy was completely swallowed up.
After moving forward about a meter, the tear suddenly closed and disappeared.
Inside his stone room, Yang Kai looked happy.
He didn’t expect that the idea he had come up with on something of a whim, a small moving tear in space, could actually be realized so easily.
Although the space crack was only a finger long, a thumbnail wide, disappeared after travelling less than a meter, and moved quite slowly, Yang Kai believed that as long as he practised hard and strengthened his own ability to manipulate Space Force, he would definitely be able to use this method in combat.
Once the speed of this space crack increased, who could stop it? The tear in space could devour everything, it was not something ordinary cultivators could resist.
His heart roused, Yang Kai immediately began experimenting, creating one finger long space crack after another and pushing them forward. Gradually, the speed of these space cracks increased, along with the distance they could travel before disappearing.
Yang Kai soon forgot the passing of time, completely immersing himself in the study of this new attack method.
Finally, the travelling space cracks managed to reach the stone room’s wall, silently erasing a narrow strip of rock from existence, as if someone had carefully dug out a small strip of the rock wall.
Yang Kai knew, however, that this stone hadn’t really vanished, but had been sent to The Void.
Examining the traces on the stone wall, Yang Kai nodded slightly. This attack could inflict serious injuries if it hit, but it moved far too slowly and could easily be avoided. Also, it wasn’t powerful enough, probably due to the space crack itself being unstable. Yang Kai believed if he could stabilize this space crack enough, he would be able to open a hole straight through the stone wall.
This moving tear in space couldn’t be used in combat in its current form. Any cultivator at the Saint King Realm would be able to use their Saint Qi to interfere with its stability and disperse it, rendering it useless. However, this didn’t dim Yang Kai’s enthusiasm.
Its shape was similar to a wind blade, so after some slight though, Yang Kai decided to name this new method of attack the Space Blade!
Yang Kai could almost foresee that once his Space Blade reached a high level of proficiency, it would be even easier for him to fight and kill opponents above his own realm. The might of this esoteric strength was extremely difficult to block.
Yang Kai studied Space Blade in his stone room for three days straight, and its power greatly increased over that time, but as he was deeply immersed in his work, his brow suddenly frowned, and his face became cold.
He noticed a large number of masters were rapidly approaching the cave, and he was quite familiar with many of their auras; they were the masters from the Hai Ke Family.
Releasing his powerful Divine Sense to probe the situation, Yang Kai’s expression became somewhat dignified. He found that these visitors weren’t just the Hai Ke Family masters, there were even two First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
Recalling what Wu Yi said before, Yang Kai immediately realized that these two Origin Returning Realm masters were helpers that Yi En had managed to invite from Shadow Moon Hall.
This old bastard was really ruthless! There wasn’t any kind of irreconcilable grudge between him and the Hai Ke Family; at most, there were some bad feelings about Wu Yi and the others having separated from the family. There wasn’t any spilt blood between them. Yet, the Hai Ke Family had actually moved even faster than the Xu Family to try to oppress him.
At this moment, Yang Kai was already certain Wu Yi’s guess was correct.
His performance had been too intimidating, and with him occupying Dragon Cave Mountain, it made the Hai Ke Family unable to sleep peacefully. Dragon Cave Mountain was part of the Ke Family’s territory and wasn’t far from their main manor, so clearly, they feared Yang Kai would continue to rise up and one day threaten their existence.
Just because of this though, they had decided to exterminate him and everyone else here. Realizing this, Yang Kai coldly snorted and silently decided to not show the Hai Ke Family any kind of mercy regardless of whether they were Wu Yi’s former family. If they dared to challenge him, he would ensure they never leave.
Standing up, Yang Kai opened the stone door to his room and immediately spotted Wu Yi and Yu Feng standing there with nervous expressions.
“Big Brother Yang…” Wu Yi called out, her face somewhat pale.
“I know, make sure no one leaves the cave. These past few days, Yang Yan has improved the Spirit Array greatly, so as long as you don’t go out, they won’t be able to touch you.”
“No, I must face them together with you.” What Yang Kai didn’t expect was that Wu Yi would flatly reject his suggestion. She probably wanted to take this opportunity to make a clean break with the Hai Ke Family.
Yang Kai glanced at her for a moment before nodding gently, “Then don’t act rashly. Even if the situation becomes critical, don’t leave the cave entrance.”
“En,” Wu Yi responded quickly.
Yang Kai then led them to the entrance of the cave where he found Yang Yan was still furiously working on the Spirit Array, apparently not willing to withdraw until the very last moment.
After discovering that Yang Kai had come out, Yang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and her movements became even faster and more fluid.
Inside the cave, the cultivators who had chosen to follow Wu Yi also realized what was happening and ran out one by one to stand solemnly behind Yang Kai and Wu Yi.
“Hmm… how did that little dwarf come? He really sticks out no matter where he goes,” Yang Kai suddenly said with some surprise. Among the group approaching them, like a crane among chickens, was the one Yang Kai had met when he first arrived on Shadowed Star, the incredibly short and equally arrogant, Xie Hong Wen.
At that time, Xie Hong Wen had shown up just after Wu Yi and the others had returned to Shadowed Star and confiscated the precious ore they had mined. Yang Kai also knew that this little dwarf, Xie Hong Wen was interested in Wu Yi and last time had even boldly declared that one day her surname would be Xie. His presence here now should be related to Wu Yi.
Xie Hong Wen may have been short, but he was actually the one leading this group, all the Elders and Foreign Elders of the Hai Ke Family following behind him along with the two First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters who were presumably from Heavenly Fate City’s City Lord’s Mansion.
Listening to Yang Kai’s comments, Wu Yi couldn’t help giggling, but she quickly composed herself, knowing that this was no time to laugh. The masters from the City Lord’s Mansion had come, Xie Hong Wen had also come, it looked like her former family were dead set on eliminating Yang Kai today, causing Wu Yi’s expression to become gloomy.
Just like Yang Kai discovered Xie Hong Wen, Xie Hong Wen discovered him. Glancing over and seeing Wu Yi standing so close to Yang Kai, Xie Hong Wen’s eyes nearly shot flames as he clenched his fists and cursed, “Bitch, always acting like an innocent maiden. Turns out you’re just another slut!”
Knowing Xie Hong Wen was growing irritated, Yi En quickly reminded, “Young Lord Xie, that young man named Yang Kai cannot be underestimated. Although his realm isn’t high, his combat strength is unimaginable, the Xu Family…”
“Enough! Father’s ears will soon go deaf from hearing you say that nonsense over and over again! Now that this Young Lord has come forward though, he will die without a doubt, just stand there and watch!” Xie Hong Wen waved his hand impatiently, interrupting Yi En’s words.
The two Origin Returning Realm masters that were following behind Xie Hong Wen shot disdainful looks towards Yi En, in their minds thinking that small families were really small families. Whenever they encountered a cultivator who could fight above their realm, they were instantly astounded.
Inside Shadow Moon Hall, there were many disciples who could fight above their own realm, any Second-Order Saint Realm disciple there could beat an ordinary Third-Order Saint Elder or Foreign Elder of a small family.
Let alone, this time two Origin Returning Realm masters had come out, so it was certain that this place would soon be razed to the ground.
Yi En let out a sigh but didn’t dare to say anymore, lest he annoy Xie Hong Wen further, but in his heart, he felt quite bitter.
He hadn’t expected to bring Xie Hong Wen here. A few days ago, Yi En had taken a lot of gifts to the City Lord’s Mansion. He had actually managed to see City Lord Fei Zhi Tu and reported what had happened with the Xu Family; however, Fei Zhi Tu didn’t seem to take the matter seriously. If not for Yi En accidentally meeting Xie Hong Wen at that time, he would likely still be waiting for an official response from the City Lord’s Mansion.
Moreover, Xie Hong Wen hadn’t come here to support the Hai Ke Family, nor to uphold justice for the Xu Family, he was simply here for Wu Yi.
Listening to Yi En saying that the woman he had his eye on was now mingling with a man of unknown origins who was just a First-Order Saint King, Xie Hong Wen flew into a rage and immediately brought two masters with him to kill Yang Kai.
Regardless of the process, he had managed to invite some powerhouses to handle the situation, which gave Yi En some psychological balance. Unfortunately, today, Wu Yi was going to die. One shouldn’t look just as the lewd look in Xie Hong Wen’s eyes, it was his personality that was truly twisted and deformed like his figure. Once he found a woman he wanted, he would stop at nothing to obtain her, and anyone who got in his way would suffer unspeakable consequences.
He once spotted the Young Lady of a small family and stated clearly that the next day he would come to her home to bring the bridegroom’s gifts to the family. But in order to escape this fate, this Young Lady went and slept with her favourite man to lose her innocence.
The Young Lady thought that by doing this, she could escape Xie Hong Wen’s poisonous hands, but Xie Hong Wen instead killed that man then brought the Young Lady back to his home, tortured and humiliated her for a month, then stripped her naked and tossed her out into the crowded streets of Heavenly Face City.
The Young Lady could not bear the humiliation and immediately committed suicide, but afraid of what would happen to them, no one dared to remove her body until her corpse had thoroughly rotted.
One month later, the family of that Young Lady was inexplicably destroyed. Although there were no clues to the perpetrators, as long as one had any sense, they would understand that it was Xie Hong Wen’s doing.
It could be said that Xie Hong Wen’s personality had been distorted to an incurable degree.
Yi En didn’t know what kind of fate was waiting for his Hai Ke Family and could only pray that Wu Yi had kept her innocence, unlike that other Young Lady. If she still had her innocence, there might be room to bargain, but if not, Yi En couldn’t even imagine what kind of storm the Hai Ke Family would have to face.
The Elders and Foreign Elders of the Hai Ke Family also didn’t have very good looks on their faces, all of them trembling as they clearly recalled all of Xie Hong Wen’s previous crimes, worrying that they would be implicated because of Wu Yi’s actions.
With the gloomy look on Xie Hong Wen’s face, no one dared breathe loudly.
After arriving in front of the cave though, Xie Hong Wen’s gloomy complexion suddenly dissipated as he stared towards Yang Yan who was still arranging her Spirit Array, his eyes flashing with slight surprise as he let out a wild laugh, “Amazing, there’s another beauty here. Seems taking this trip was the right call.”
Although Yang Yan was wearing a large black robe, her incredible curves were still clearly visible. On top of that, her small, exquisite face perfectly matched Xie Hong Wen’s appetite. His eyes fixed on Yang Yan as his blood began to boil. He wished he could immediately grab Yang Yan and Wu Yi now and leave to have his way with them.
With this in mind, Xie Hong Wen actually rushed out to snatch these two, but he only managed to take a few steps before he was stopped by one of the two Origin Returning Realm masters.
“Young Master, there’s something strange in front of us, it should be a powerful Spirit Array,” The cultivator frowned as he stared at the large open space in front of the cave, his Divine Sense sweeping it repeatedly.
On their way here, Yi En had explained to them how the Xu Family’s dozen Third-Order Saint Kings had been annihilated, but they hadn’t taken his words seriously, thinking that even if a Spirit Array existed, it would have limited power and be unable to stop an Origin Returning Realm master. However, after arriving here, these masters discovered that this Spirit Array was not to be underestimated.
“Something strange?” Xie Hong Wen wasn’t stupid and quickly nodded, “I see. Then this Young Lord won’t rush matters.”
At this moment, Yang Yan had finished her task and swiftly returned to the cave. Hiding behind Yang Kai, her tender body shivered slightly, causing Wu Yi to take her hand and pat it gently.
Xie Hong Wen withdrew his eyes which had been following Yang Yan and instead squinted towards Wu Yi, smiling deviously as he wore a ruthless look upon his face and shouted, “Wu Yi, don’t say this Young Lord didn’t give you a chance. As long as you know your limits and obediently come back with me, this Young Lord won’t haggle over your past indiscretions. If you refuse my kindness though, don’t blame this Young Lord for being ruthless.
Although Wu Yi’s complexion was quite pale, she still managed to shout, “Stop dreaming! If you want me to follow you, you’ll have to kill me first!”
“Good!” Instead of becoming angry, Xie Hong Wen laughed. When he first learned that Wu Yi had gotten together with Yang Kai, he had truly been enraged, but now that he discovered the even more beautiful Yang Yan here, his gloomy mood dissipated greatly. This time, not only could he obtain Wu Yi, he could also acquire this, curvaceous beauty, killing two birds with one stone; naturally Xie Hong Wen was overjoyed.
No longer caring about Wu Yi, he instead turned to Yang Kai and snorted, “Little brat, your courage isn’t small, daring to have ideas about this Young Lord’s woman. No matter who you are, or what backer you have, you must die here today! Obediently kowtow and apologize to your Grandpa a few times and perhaps I will make your death painless. If you can give me that woman too, heh heh, this Young Lord may even spare your worthless life!”
Yang Kai frowned. He had seen plenty of rich second generations, but never had he encountered one as arrogant as Xie Hong Wen. It was almost as if this midget thought that so long as he spoke, others would have to obey him. First, he wanted Wu Yi to surrender to him, then he wanted Yang Kai to kowtow and beg for his life? Who did he think he was?
“Does this idiot only know how to talk big?” Yang Kai turned to ask Wu Yi.
Wu Yi sneered, “His brain is rotten.”
“En, seems so, his brain really must be rotten. It’s probably a mental condition caused by his physical deformity,” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
Seeing his calm and relaxed look, the tension Wu Yi and the rest of the crowd were feeling seemed to abate.
On the other side, when he heard Xie Hong Wen saying he might let Yang Kai off, Yi En hurriedly called out, “Young Lord Xie, this person has no background but still forcefully seized Dragon Cave Mountain from my Hai Ke Family, usurping the roll of host while being just a guest! Please uphold just and put this man to death, Young Lord Xie!”
Since he had decided to strangle Yang Kai to death in the cradle, lest he grow up and threaten the interests of the Hai Ke Family, Yi En would not easily let Yang Kai off. As for Wu Yi, she had already left the family, so whatever fate was in store for her after Xie Hong Wen carried her off was no concern of his.
“Do you want to interfere in this Young Lord’s business?” Xie Hong Wen glanced over at Yi En, causing the latter to flinch and shut his mouth.
Immediately after, Xie Hong Wen yelled towards the cave, “Little brat, your courage isn’t small, not only having ideas about Father’s woman, but daring to occupy another’s territory. It seems you don’t put my Shadow Moon Hall in your eyes! Could it be you don’t know this Hai Ke Family is attached to my Shadow Moon Hall?”
“If you want to fight, just fight, stop spewing nonsense!” Yang Kai was too lazy to talk with him anymore. This dwarf’s head wasn’t normal, so trying to talk to him was just a waste of breath, the result would be the same no matter what.
“Good, this Young Lord will let you understand the consequences of offending are today! You can rest assured; I won’t kill you immediately. That woman is yours, right?” Xie Hong Wen pointed to Yang Yan, “Since you’ve dared lay your hands on this Young Lord’s woman, this Young Lord will seize yours instead! I’ll let you watch as I satisfy her so you know just how inferior you are!”
Saying so, he lightly ordered, “Hong Zhen, capture that boy for me. Fuck, daring to offend me, I must make him suffer.”
The First Order Origin Returning Realm master called Hong Zhen frowned, hesitating for a moment before saying, “Young Lord, there’s a Spirit Array over there!”
“So what if there’s a Spirit Array? Is a trivial Spirit Array enough to stop you? If that’s the case, what use are you?” Xie Hong Wen shouted, “If you’re not enough then both of you go, I don’t believe it some trash Spirit Array can block both of you. Hurry up and grab him, Father here needs to step on his head and piss on his face.”
Hong Zhen’s expression drooped and became gloomy.
A First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator was considered a powerful master on Shadowed Star; after all, the highest realm achievable here was Third Order Origin Returning Realm. But since Hong Zhen’s orders were to protect Xie Hong Wen, so he could not refuse his orders.
The other Origin Realm master glanced over at him and seemed to want to say something, but Hong Zhen waved his hand first and said, “I’ll test it, if I can’t break it, we’ll do it together.”
“Good,” The man nodded.
Hong Zhen walked step by step towards the cave, fully releasing his Divine Sense to scan his surroundings, but the more he searched, the more frightened he became. The space around him was like a quagmire; as soon as his Divine Sense fell into it, it seemingly disappeared. Immediately, Hong Zhen realized he had underestimated the power of this Spirit Array.
It was too late to retreat though as he had clearly entered the Spirit Array’s range, but what stunned him was it seemed the other party had no intention of activating it, making him wonder if it could be opened at all.
It was then that the young First Order Saint King actually started walking over towards him, surprising and delighting Hong Zhen.
“Sister Yang Yan, start the Array,” Wu Yi grabbed Yang Yan’s small hand nervously. Last time, more than a dozen people from the Xu Family were easily killed by Yang Kai because they fell into the Spirit Array, but now he was facing an Origin Returning Realm master, so naturally, Wu Yi was worried.
First Order Origin Returning Realm and First Order Saint King Realm were an entire Great Realm apart. Even if Wu Yi had great confidence in Yang Kai’s strength, she didn’t think he could defeat this Hong Zhen in a head-on confrontation.
Yang Yan shook her head though, “Yang Kai said not to open the Spirit Array right away.”
“Why not?”
“I do not know either.”
However, Yang Yan soon learned why Yang Kai didn’t want her to open the Spirit Array immediately, because Yang Kai actually made the first move, condensing a jet-black Demonic Flame sword and slashing it down towards Hong Zhen.
Yang Kai clearly wanted to test the limits of his combat effectiveness.
“Overconfident brat!” Hong Zhen sneered, pushing his fist forward. However, this seemingly casually thrown punch actually caused the space within a several hundred meters of him to undergo a strange mutation, as if something had been added to it.
Yang Kai’s expression changed greatly. Although he knew there was a huge gap between Third-Order Saint King Realm and First Order Origin Returning Realm, he hadn’t expected the attack of an Origin Returning Realm master to be so weird.
The power behind this fist wasn’t too strong, but when Hong Zhen punched out, Yang Kai felt a strange sensation, as if he was wrapped in an invisible force, causing the speed at which he could circulate his Saint Qi to drop noticeably. At the same time, Yang Kai felt his physical body become more difficult to move and the speed at which his black sword was falling also dropped precipitously.
His strength was instantly suppressed.
What kind of power was this? Yang Kai was startled. He had met a lot of Origin Returning Realm masters, but he had never once fought against one of them. This was the first time.
Yang Kai suddenly discovered that Origin Returning Realm cultivators seemed to posses some special type of power that could suppress those in lower realms, what he didn’t know was whether this power was unique to Hong Zhen or was something all Origin Realm masters could use.
He was eager to know what this power was.
Back in Tong Xuan Realm, if Yang Kai ever encountered some problem with his cultivation, he could speak to Meng Wu Ya or one of the other masters to help him, but out here, there was no one Yang Kai could rely on. If he wanted to comprehend this strange strength, he had to kill an Origin Returning Realm cultivator and absorb their sensibilities about the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao.
While his thoughts churned about quickly, a great wind blade burst forth from Hong Zhen’s fists, shattering Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame sword in an instant.
If his strength wasn’t suppressed, Yang Kai would still be able to dodge this blow, but now that his movements were much slower than usual, he wasn’t able to dodge the approaching wind blade.
There was an extremely violent power contained with this wind blade, and Yang Kai believed that even if his physique was strong, he would definitely be injured if he was hit.
Wu Yi called out in alarm as worry filled her eyes.
“Cheap slut!” Xie Hong Wen scolded once again. Wu Yi’s worrying about Yang Kai upset him greatly and he secretly decided that he would tear off her clothes and devastate her ruthlessly in front of everyone here before tossing her away like a piece of trash so she would know the price for offending him.
On the other hand, Yang Yan expression remained indifferent and she didn’t show any intention of opening the Spirit Array.
*Hong…*
The huge wind blade hit Yang Kai, forcing him back several meters.
“Eh?” Hong Zhen thought Yang Kai was dead for sure, but he quickly found that at some point, this young man had summoned a purple shield in front of him. A purple hue surrounded this shield and the aura it released was quite astonishing. At first glance, it was obviously a very high-grade defensive artefact; his wind blade hadn’t even left a scratch on it.
“An Origin Grade artefact?” Hong Zhen’s eyes lit up, and a look of greed appeared on his face.
With his eyesight, it was easy for him to tell what grade this artefact was, and he also could tell that this artefact hadn’t been completely refined so it shouldn’t have been long since this young man obtained it.
If he could snatch this Origin Grade artefact, his strength would definitely increase.
“Fierce!” Yang Kai glanced at his purple shield before shaking his body a bit and calming the rolling blood in his chest, praising Hong Zhen without hesitation.
“You’re not bad yourself, boy!” Hong Zhen sneered, but on the inside, he was actually quite surprised, because if it was an ordinary First-Order Saint King cultivator, even if they had such a powerful defensive artefact, they would have at least been injured just now. However, it was clear that this young man wasn’t the slightest bit affected; no wonder he was able to fight opponents above his realm and even kill Third Order Saint Kings. From his performance in this exchange, it was clear he had such ability.