In front of the cave, Yang Kai waved his arms a few time and quickly discovered that there seemed to be some kind of invisible threads entangling him, restraining his actions, not only making it difficult to move about, but also impeding the flow of his Saint Qi. This was a very disconcerting feeling that kept him from exerting his full strength and forcing him to summon his purple shield to defend himself against Hong Zhen punch.
Although the purple shield had not been fully refined and couldn’t display all its functions, it was made from the carapace and Monster Core of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast along with various Origin Grade ores, so it was extremely strong and easily able to withstand Hong Zhen’s attack.
“What kind of power is this?” Yang Kai couldn’t detect the power that was suppressing him so he could only ask Hong Zhen.
Hong Zhen laughed, “Ignorant child, you don’t even know what Shi is, yet you dare act so wild?”
“Shi?” Yang Kai frowned, “As in fighting spirit? I have that too.”
Saying so, Yang Kai released his aura and killing intent, but to his disappointment, his Shi is seemed completely different from Hong Zhen. It wasn’t that his will to fight was weak, on the contrary, to objective observers, Yang Kai’s imposing manner was simply earth-shattering. On the contrary, Hong Zhen’s Shi seemed inferior.
But Yang Kai could tell that the Shi Hong Zhen was referring to was something completely different from mere fighting spirit. The two things seemed to have nothing to do with each other. The fighting spirit Yang Kai just sent out couldn’t directly interfere with his opponent, while Hong Zhen’s Shi was able to greatly suppress Yang Kai’s strength.
Was this what it meant to be an Origin Returning Realm master? It was indeed impressive and caused Yang Kai’s eyes to burn, instead of becoming discouraged it only caused his fighting intent to soar.
Shaking his head to dispel his excitement, Yang Kai held up his purple shield towards Hong Zhen and shouted, “Come, let me see what this Shi you speak of is all about!”
Yang Kai dismissed his Demonic Flame sword and put everything he had into his defence.
Although he had only traded blows once, Yang Kai already understood that as it was currently impossible to kill an Origin Returning Realm master. Even if he brought out his Golden Blood it might not necessarily be possible. This power called Shi was too mysterious, but on the other hand, it was absolutely impossible for Hong Zhen to kill him. With his purple shield and ability to tear space, even Third Order Origin Returning Realm masters couldn’t kill Yang Kai.
Looking at Yang Kai’s stance, Hong Zhen immediately understood what this young man wanted to do, infuriating him greatly.
Origin Returning Realm cultivators had the ability to completely suppress those in the Saint King Realm, but this young man who was just a First Order Saint King wanted to use him to study Shi. This was nothing less than a huge insult to Hong Zhen, causing murderous intent to burst from his body as he began mercilessly attacking. Sending wave after wave of wind blades, enough to blot out the sky, Hong Zhen acted as if he wanted to rip apart space itself.
“Ahahaha! shred him to tiny little pieces!” Xie Hong clapped and laughed, completely forgetting about his earlier clamouring of stepping on Yang Kai and urinating on his face.
Wu Yi’s face turned pale, and she could not help screaming, but this only made Xie Hong feel even more excited.
Many cultivators who had followed Wu Yi couldn’t bear to watch so they turned their heads away, thinking that Yang Kai would die for sure under this attack.
Only Yang Yan spat disdainfully while muttering under her breath, “If the artefact I refined can’t even block the attack of a First-Order Origin Realm, after today I won’t ever refine artefacts again.”
The voice was so low that no one heard her, even Wu Yi who was standing right beside her.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A series of violent explosions rang out and the spot where Yang Kai was standing was immediately filled with flying dirt and stones, blocking him from everyone’s view. Yang Kai was pushed backwards again, smashing into and blowing apart a giant stone, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood.
The power of the wind blades hadn’t injured Yang Kai at all, but the huge impact had still caused his organs to shift.
Hong Zhen’s eyes narrowed, seemingly not having expected this shield’s defensive ability would be so outstanding. Not waiting for Yang Kai to steady himself, Hong Zhen’s figure flickered and in the blink of an eye arrived in front of Yang Kai, sending out a fist towards the young man’s forehead.
Hong Zhen’s Shi, which was already fettering Yang Kai’s strength, suddenly became stronger, prohibiting Yang Kai from taking any kind of defensive action before Hong Zhen’s attack landed.
Out of desperation, Yang Kai attacked with his half-finished Space Blade.
A space crack swiftly flew towards Hong Zhen’s chest, and although Hong Zhen didn’t know what this attack was, he instinctually perceived danger from them and immediately condensed a thick layer of Saint Qi around himself for protection while still pushing his fist forward.
However, Hong Zhen’s short delay allowed Yang Kai to raise his purple shield once more.
A loud bang rang out and Yang Kai was sent flying again like a paper kite whose strings had been cut.
Hong Zhen’s brow furrowed deeply as he stared down at the spot on his body which had just been attacked. But try as he might, he couldn’t discover anything, and there was no trace of him being injured, so he simply shook his head and wondered why he had suddenly felt danger just now.
Looking back towards Yang Kai, Hong Zhen was speechless.
Although this First Order Saint King youth seemed quite battered, in reality, he hadn’t suffered much damage. All of Hong Zhen’s attacks had been blocked by the purple shield and Yang Kai’s injuries were only some minor traumas caused by being thrown about.
Also, at this moment, not only did this young man not show any signs of fear or intention to escape, he instead wore a look full of interest with a happy smile on his face as he beckoned to Hong Zhen.
“You court death!” Hong Zhen was furious. As an Origin Returning Realm master, being unable to kill a mere Saint King in short order while also suffering provocations again and again made Hong Zhen feel like he was being treated like some kind of entertainment; or a sideshow, further enraging him.
Hong Zhen pushed his Shi out once more to cover Yang Kai, but in the next instant, he showed a look of shock, because, from this young man’s body, an aura similar to his own Shi appeared, and although it was very incredibly light and weak, Hong Zhen was certain this was an embryonic form of Shi. As long as this kid was given enough time, he could definitely form his own Shi!
How could that be? A couple dozen breaths ago this kid was still asking him what Shi was, so how could he achieve such a feat now?
Did he figure all this out from just their brief fight? Considering this, Hong Zhen felt some cold sweat on his back. If this was really the case, then this kid was nothing less than a monster. Even Hong Zhen had taken ten years after breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm to gradually understand the mysteries of Shi, and that was with the guidance and assistance of his Sect Elders. In terms of Shi, Hong Zhen was still just a novice, far from reaching the Minor Accomplishment Stage.
More importantly though, only those who reached the Origin Returning Realm could touch the threshold of Shi. Without reaching the Origin Returning Realm, there was no such thing as Shi.
How did he do it? How did this little brat achieve even a vague understanding of what Shi was?
“Come again!” Yang Kai saw Hong Zhen’s expression fluctuate wildly as he just stood there, so he couldn’t help calling out and urging, “What are you gawking at? Weren’t we going to fight?”
Not only was Yang Kai egging him on, Xie Hong Wen was also constantly clamoring for Hong Zhen to kill Yang Kai.
How could Yang Kai care about him now though? All Yang Kai wanted right now was to have an all-out fight with Hong Zhen now.
If he could figure out this Shi thing, what did it matter if he was beaten up a bit?
Hong Zhen let out a light breath and didn’t rush to attack Yang Kai, instead suddenly turning his head and shouting, “Senior Brother, let’s do this together. His artefact is too powerful, I can’t break his defence alone.”
He didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed. If it was anyone else, Hong Zhen wouldn’t have asked his Senior Brother for help, but Yang Kai was just too frightening. If this boy wasn’t beheaded today, once he grows up, he would become a true nightmare.
As such, he didn’t hesitate to ask his Senior Brother for help.
The other Origin Returning Realm who was protecting Xie Hong Wen heard this and couldn’t help showing a look surprise, but he didn’t ask anything and just nodded, “Sure!”
Saying so, he too went forward.
Everyone was stunned!
A First-Order Origin Realm master, while facing a First-Order Saint King, actually asked for help, and the one he asked was also a First Order Origin Realm master…
Yi En felt the world spinning around him. Although he didn’t understand the situation, he was at least able to tell that Yang Kai was truly dangerous and suddenly developed began feeling anxious. He didn’t know whether thoroughly offending Yang Kai this time was a blessing or a curse.
Seeing both Origin Returning Realm masters come towards him, Yang Kai frowned as a hint of disappointment flashed across his face before he swiftly returned to the cave entrance.
He could dance around with One Origin Returning Realm Master, but two of them? Once the fight began, unless he tore space and escaped, Yang Kai was certain he would be killed.
“Start it!” Yang Kai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, put away his purple shield, and called out to Yang Yan.
“Finally!” Yang Yan nodded, forming a few strange hand seals that quickly activated the Spirit Array outside the cave. Suddenly, the surrounding space rippled slightly before becoming calm once again.
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother’s faces both became restless, releasing their Divine Senses all around them but to their surprise, were unable to discover anything. Before the Spirit Array was started, they could feel a vague sense of danger, but now that it was active, they couldn’t sense anything, their Divine Senses moving about seemingly unobstructed, but despite all this, they knew that if they fell into the Spirit Array’s range, they were bound to suffer.
“What are you standing around staring at, quickly break this Spirit Array and grab those two women for me!” Xie Hong Wen shouted.
The two Origin Realm masters were helpless, so they summoned their artefacts and began fiercely attacking the open space in front of the cave.
The artefacts these two carried weren’t low quality, both of them Origin Grade Low-Rank. A set of twelve flying knives was used by Hong Zhen, each one of them a Saint King Grade High-Rank artefact on their own, but combined together, their grade was promoted. Forming a straight line, these twelve knives constantly bombarded a specific location of the Spirit Array.
The artefact used by Hong Zhen’s Senior Brother was even more imposing, a great war-hammer that shook the Spirit Array every time it struck.
Ordinarily, the Spirit Array arranged by Yang Yan couldn’t even be detected, but once it was attacked it would reveal some traces. Those who weren’t proficient in Spirit Arrays could only use brute force to break them. About ninety-nine percent of people fell into this category. When such cultivators encountered a Spirit Array, they would attack it until it broke. This method of breaking through an array was both laborious and time-consuming. Sometimes, even if one broke a Spirit Array by force, they would still encounter backlash upon its destruction. Only a few people who understood Spirit Arrays would search for weaknesses and steadily unravel them.
Outside Dragon Cave Mountain, the two First-Order Origin Realm masters fiercely pushed their Saint Qi to bombard the surrounding space in an effort to wear down Yang Yan’s Spirit Array.
Wu Yi clenched her fists nervously as she shouted, “Yang Yan, stop them, quickly.”
Last time, Yang Yan operated the Spirit Array in order to assist Yang Kai in killing the Xu Family’s Saint King Realm masters, and as a result, none of the Xu Family managed to survive. Wu Yi naturally thought Yang Yan could do the same here again.
However, Yang Yan shook her head and said, “If they enter the Spirit Array, I can guarantee they won’t escape, but if they don’t go in, there’s nothing I can do.”
Spirit Arrays had such a disadvantage. Although they were profound and powerful, if others were careful and avoided entering their scope, Spirit Arrays had no way of displaying their might.
“Then what do we do?” Wu Yi panicked.
Yang Yan smiled lightly, “Don’t worry, that Spirit Array is for them to break.”
Yang Kai glanced over at her in surprise, but immediately understood that there was far more to the Spirit Array than meets the eye. Yang Kai was certain that if Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother broke the Spirit Array they were currently attacking, they would immediately charge forward, after which they would find themselves trapped in an even more powerful Spirit Array.
The timidest of them all, Yang Yan, was perfectly at ease at this moment, so how couldn’t Yang Kai see that she had something up her sleeve? What was truly ridiculous was that the two Origin Returning Realm masters had no idea about this and thought they were successfully breaking the Spirit Array apart.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
Hong Zhen’s twelve flying knives and the other Origin Realm master’s war-hammer constantly bombarded the Spirit Array, soon resulting in cracks forming, an indication it was on the verge of collapse.
Xie Hong Wen seemed to be tired of shouting and had decided to just wait expectantly, his eyes moving back and forth between Yang Yan and Wu Yi, the obscene look causing both of them to feel uncomfortable.
Patriarch Yi En and the other Hai Ke Family Elders and Foreign Elders stood side by side, sneering with derision, causing Wu Yi’s stomach to turn.
While the Spirit Array was being attacked, more than a dozen kilometres away, another group was rapidly approaching.
“Hm? Why do I hear sounds of combat?” Among this group, an Origin Realm master muttered in confusion. Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother attacking the Spirit Array had raised quite a ruckus, so even more than a dozen kilometres away others could easily hear the fallout.
“It must have been that boy provoking someone he should not have,” A middle-aged man following behind glanced in the direction of the cave and secretly rejoiced, whiling continuing to maintain a desolate look upon his face as he cried out, “Senior Luo, that little bastard is simply insane, a few days ago he murdered more than ten of my Xu Family’s masters, including our Patriarch and Young Master. My Xu Family has suffered unbearable losses. I beg Senior Luo to seek justice for my Xu Family!”
Luo Qing nodded lightly, “I know, Xu Family’s Patriarch also helped me with some small matters in the past. This time I will help settle this matter for your Xu Family. If that boy understands his limits then so be it, if he does not, I will teach them to him.”
Luo Qing emphasized the words ‘small matters’ to remind everyone here that he would not go all out to help them this time.
“Many thanks, Senior Luo, many thanks, Senior Luo!” Under the leadership of the middle-aged man, a group of people continued to thank Luo Qing.
This group of people were cultivator from Xu Family, who when they heard about the annihilation of their Patriarch, Elders, and Foreign Elders, feared the Xu Family would soon be destroyed. They immediately knew that there was no way for them to seek revenge with their paltry strength, so they instead rushed to Heavenly Fate City for help.
The middle-aged man in the lead was Xu Zhi Bing, the cousin of the Xu Family Patriarch Xu Zhi Kun, and was just a Second-Order Saint King, yet he had managed to invite Luo Qing, an Origin Realm master, to help them this time.
Xu Zhi Bing understood his own worth and knew that with his strength and wealth, it would be impossible to move City Lord Fei Zhi Tu to support them, and the facts had proved him right. Even Patriarch Yi En of the Hai Ke Family, who brought extremely generous gifts with him, could not get Fei Zhi Tu to take him seriously.
How could such a great man bother to meddle in the grievances between small families? If Yi En didn’t happen to meet Xie Hong Wen, he would still be waiting for news from the City Lord’s Mansion.
Xu Zhi Bing didn’t even go to the City Lord’s Mansion, but instead went directly to Luo Qing, because he knew Luo Qing owed Xu Zhi Kun a small favour and wouldn’t be able to just stand idly by.
Sure enough, when Xu Zhi Bing invited Luo Qing, the latter had agreed and quickly led a righteous crusade towards Dragon Cave Mountain, but before they had even arrived, they heard sounds of fighting.
The group sped up and soon reached the cave, looking but forward, Luo Qing was quite startled and immediately flew over to Xie Hong Wen and saluted, “Greetings, Young Lord Xie.”
Xie Hong Wen was busy urging Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother to break through the Spirit Array quickly, so when he heard Luo Qing, he too was quite surprised, “Aren’t you one of Treasure Trove Pavilion’s guards? What are you doing here?”
Luo Qing quickly replied, “Young Lord Xie, I had some friendship with the Xu Family Patriarch who died here, so I have come here today to seek justice from his killer.
Xie Hong Wen nodded, “So you’ve also come here to enforce justice. Nice. You’ve come at just the right time, go over and help Hong Zhen and I’ll see to it your rewarded appropriately. Hmph, those two wastes are really useless, taking so long to break through a simple Spirit Array.”
Although Luo Qing was a guard at Treasure Trove Pavilion, he was also a Shadow Moon Hall disciple, so naturally, he didn’t dare disobey Xie Hong Wen’s words and immediately nodded, “I will respectfully obey Young Lord Xie’s command.”
Saying so, Luo Qing also summoned his own artefact and walked over to join forces with Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother who were still attacking the Spirit Array.
On the other side, Yi En saw Xu Zhi Bing had also brought an Origin Realm helper so he walked over and greeted him with a smile. Xu Zhi Bing greeted him with a few words but was more puzzled about why the Hai Ke Family had brought masters here to deal with Yang Kai. On top of that, Yi En had apparently arrived here even before Xu Zhi Bing had. Although Xu Zhi Bing didn’t understand what was happening, he didn’t ask any questions. The Xu Family was no longer what it used to be. Under the watchful eye of Shadow Moon Hall, the Hai Ke Family would not openly annex the Xu Family. However, slowly encroaching upon their territory and demanding some benefits from them was inevitable. Facing such a neighbour, Xu Zhi Bing could only show humility and hope that Yi En would show some restraint.
Yi En was naturally very happy. Although he felt a little uneasy before, with Xu Zhi Bing bringing another Origin Returning Realm master, Yang Kai’s death was no assured.
This time, Yi En could eliminate Yang Kai while satisfying Xie Hong’s obscene desires, possibly even allowing the Hai Ke Family to soar upwards in the near future. If Xie Hong Wen brought Wu Yi back with him, so long as Yi En used her appropriately, the Hai Ke Family’s status would naturally rise and joining Shadow Moon Hall’s inner circle wouldn’t be just a dream. Yi En just preyed that Xie Hong wouldn’t kill Wu Yi in anger.
While thinking about this bright future though, Hong Zhen’s dissatisfied voice rang out, “What are you doing?”
Hearing this angry shout, everyone turned their heads to the source and suddenly saw a strange scene.
Luo Qing, the Origin Realm master Xu Zhi Bing brought with him, was actually staring dumbly towards the cave entrance, holding his artefact in his hand but not pouring any of his Saint Qi into it. Seeing his appearance, it seemed that he had not attacked the Spirit Array.
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother both looked disgruntled and immediately rebuked, “If you aren’t going to help then step aside, the two of us will be enough. Hmph, this Spirit Array will soon be broken anyways, whether you help or not is irrelevant!”
Just now, Xie Hong Wen disparaging their strength had caused Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother to feel indignant. At this moment, when the Spirit Array was about to break, they were naturally not willing to share credit with Luo Qing.
“Wait, wait!” Luo Qing suddenly shouted as if he had just discovered something important and with a hint of dread flashing across the depths of his eyes, he quickly went forward to prevent Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother from continuing their attack.
“Luo Qing, we just told you to back down and now what? What are you trying to do?” Hong Zhen shouted furiously.
“What happened?” Xie Hong Wen’s face also darkened.
“Young Lord, this guy not only didn’t help but is actually obstructing us now. His brain must be damaged!” Hong Zhen shouted, “I suspect he’s on the same side as this youth.”
“Is that true?” Xie Hong looked sternly at Luo Qing.
“Young Lord Xie, please listen to me,” Luo Qing was shocked and quickly waved his hands, swiftly walking over to Xie Hong Wen and whispering something in his ear.
No one knew what was said, but Xie Hong Wen’s face expression changed dramatically when he heard it and swiftly asked, “Really?”
“It’s true,” Luo Qing nodded repeatedly before saying in a low voice, “Young Lord Xie, please be patient, I will notify Elder Qian immediately.”
Having said so, without waiting for Xie Hong Wen to react, Luo Qing swiftly took out his communication type artefact and poured his Divine Sense into it.
“Bastard!” Xie Hong knocked Luo Qing’s communication artefact to the ground while sending a gloomy look towards him before shooting a glare towards Yang Kai in the distance.
Hong Zhen and the other Origin Realm master didn’t know what was happening and just looked at each other blankly.
“What are they doing?” Yang Yan tilted her head curiously, muttering somewhat anxiously, “I have to wait for them to break in.”
“They seem to be having some kind of disagreement.” Yang Kai also couldn’t figure out what was happening. He only knew that Luo Qing had been staring at him a moment ago and seemed to recognize him. However, Yang Kai was sure he had never met this person before.
Yang Kai’s memory was quite good, so if he had met this person before, he would definitely have some kind of impression of him.
This sudden change not only confused Yang Kai, but also Yi En. The feeling of crisis in his heart that had all but disappeared a moment ago was now roaring back stronger than ever. Yi En shot a glance over at Xie Hong Wen and actually discovered an extremely ugly look on this reckless evildoer Young Lord’s face, as if he was struggling with a very difficult decision.
Yi En was incredibly frightened. Could it be that this young man named Yang Kai had some kind of incredibly strong background? If that wasn’t the case, how could Xie Hong Wen show such a distressed look? If Yang Kai didn’t have some kind of powerful backer, with Xie Hong Wen’s temper and character, he would definitely not relent, but Yang Kai didn’t seem like someone with any background.
Yi En’s heart was in turmoil.
But soon, Xie Hong Wen made his decision and sternly yelled at Hong Zhen, “Why are you stopping? Did this Young Lord tell you to stop? Continue!”
“Yes!” Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother responded immediately and once again attacked the Spirit Array.
“Young Lord Xie must not!” Luo Qing was shocked and hurriedly tried to intervene.
Xie Hong Wen however just ignored Luo Qing’s words and even kicked him rudely, “Get away!”
Xie Hong Weng’s strength wasn’t high, but in the face of his kick, Luo Qing didn’t dare to evade, allowing himself to be struck before taking a few steps backwards, standing firmly, and hurriedly said, “Young Lord Xie, Elder Qian is on his way. Please wait a moment Young Lord Xie, otherwise, if Elder Qian becomes angry, this disciple will not be able to withstand it!”
“Impudence!” Xie Hong Wen was completely irritated by Luo Qing and glared at him with a sullen expression, “What this Young Lord wants to do cannot be dictated by you, if you dare spout any more nonsense, I’ll have you die too!”
Luo Qing’s expression went cold and he really didn’t open his mouth to speak again. Although he was a Shadow Moon Hall master at the Origin Returning Realm, he didn’t have much of a background, so he opposes fight against Xie Hong Wen.
He could only turn around and yell to Yang Kai, “Friend, hold on for a while, as long as you can resist for a short time everything will be fine.”
Yang Kai frowned, unable to understand what this man was thinking, and soon shouting, “Do we know each other?”
Luo Qing shook his head, “No.”
Yang Kai sneered, “Since we don’t know each other, why would you help me?”
Luo Qing’s expression became awkward, knowing that his actions only made Yang Kai feel suspicious, thinking about it for a moment before saying, “Friend has not met me before, but I have seen you. Elder Qian Tong spread your image throughout Heavenly Fate City to all the shops which are associated with Shadow Moon Hall, we were told that if we meet you, we must treat you well. I am Luo Qing, a guard assigned to Treasure Trove Pavilion, so I have seen friend’s image.”
“Qian Tong?” Yang Kai gawked for a moment, then soon realized what was going on. Qian Tong must have taken notice of him due to his last two transactions. Both times Yang Kai had purchased a large amount of materials while at the same time selling a number of high-quality Saint King Grade artifacts, making him a high priority client.
After all, the highest-level Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star were just Origin Grade Low-Rank. Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts were incredibly valuable and there was no need to worry about finding buyers for them.
However, that wasn’t enough to explain this situation. Qian Tong didn’t need to act so prudently if this was all he was concerned about. Yang Kai even felt that these actions had signs of flattery behind them! Qian Tong had even gone so far as to deliberately spread his image throughout Heavenly Fate City to all shops owned by Shadow Moon Hall and instructed them to treat him as a VIP. If this wasn’t flattery, what was?
Yang Kai was a loner, a mere Third-Order Saint, so why would someone of Qian Tong’s status feel the need to flatter him?
Yang Kai wasn’t stupid, and though his mind wasn’t the sharpest out there, after thinking about it for a moment, he understood that Qian Tong wasn’t trying to flatter him, but rather the one who was refining those artefacts.
In other words, he was actually trying to flatter Yang Yan!
However, Qian Tong shouldn’t know about the existence of Yang Yan and probably just assumed there was a powerful Artifact Refining Grandmaster standing behind Yang Kai.
Considering all this, Yang Kai nodded slightly before cupping his fists to Luo Qing and saying, “I appreciate friend’s kind intentions, but there is no need to trouble Senior Qian Tong over this matter, we can handle it ourselves.”
Yang Kai didn’t like owing other favours, even if Qian Tong didn’t have any malicious intentions, if he were to own him a favour, in the future, it would be difficult for Yang Kai to refuse a request. This was especially true since Qian Tong seemed to want to recruit him.
The conversation between these two people was not done in secret so it naturally entered everyone else’s ears. When he heard these words, Xu Zhi Bing fell to the ground limply while the other Xu Family members went pale and began trembling.
Xu Zhi Bing hadn’t expected that taking advantage of a past grace to invite Luo Qing here would result in such a situation. With Yang Kai being related to Elder Qian Tong, what did his trivial Xu Family count for? If Xu Zhi Bing had known this beforehand, he wouldn’t have invited Luo Qing here at all. Although the Patriarch, Elder, and Foreign Elders had all died, the Xu Family still had a lot of members left in it, including many direct descendants, so there was still a chance for them to stage a comeback, but now, that chance had been thoroughly destroyed by him.
It was simply laughable; the other party hadn’t come to destroy them while he could while they had sought revenge when they weren’t capable of doing so! At this moment, Xu Zhi Bing wished to simply commit suicide here on Dragon Cave Mountain.
After learning that Yang Kai and Elder Qian Tong were acquainted, it wasn’t just the Xu Family people who began panicking, everyone from the Hai Ke Family wore equally forlorn looks, with Ba Qing Yan once again wiping his forehead with his soaking wet handkerchief. Yi En’s face was ashen as both his heart and body were spasming non-stop.
He finally understood why he had been feeling so uneasy this whole time, it turns out it was because of this.
He thought that when he boarded Xie Hong Wen’s ship, the Hai Ke Family would experience nothing but smooth sailing, but what was Xie Hong Wen in front of Qian Tong?
The former was just a second-generation ancestor, relying on his father being a Deacon of Shadow Moon Hall to bluff and bluster all day long, but Qian Tong was a genuine Elder of Shadow Moon Hall! Even Xie Hong Wen’s father wouldn’t dare speak loudly in front of Qian Tong, let alone Xie Hong Wen.
[It’s over, it’s all over!] Yi En’s eyes filled with gloom as he struggled to remain standing, his face going from white to blue.
If he had only known, how could he have possibly offended Yang Kai, even having thoughts of killing him as soon as possible? The Hai Ke Family had countless chances to make friends with Yang Kai, but they rejected them at every turn, none of them capable of seeing the bigger picture. Only Wu Yi and Yu Feng were able to make the right choice in this situation.
But those two had already chosen to separate from the Hai Ke Family!
“What are all of you wastes doing? It’s like your parents just died or something,” Xie Hong Wen spat angrily, trampling Yi En and Xu Zhi Bing with his fat feet before stepping on them ruthlessly.
*Kacha…*
At that moment, the Spirit Array outside the cave finally broke.
Xie Hong Wen smiled happily and shouted, “Kill that little brat for me at any cost!”
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother were stunned for a moment, but soon understood Xie Hong Wen’s idea. In for a penny, in for a pound, he wanted to kill Yang Kai before Elder Qian Tong arrived.
If Yang Kai was alive, they would definitely be punished by Elder Qian Tong and even possibly be expelled from Shadow Moon Hall, but if Yang Kai died, even if they were punished, the consequences wouldn’t be too bad.
After all, the dead had no value, Elder Qian Tong wouldn’t kill two Origin Realm masters for a dead boy, not to mention, if the sky really fell, Xie Hong Wen and his father would be there to hold it up, they were just following orders.
Considering all this, Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother didn’t hesitate to unleash their killing intent and rush towards the cave, staring at Yang Kai as if he was already a dead man.
“You dare!” Luo Qing was shocked. He never expected Xie Hong Wen to be so ruthless and by the time he realized it was too late for him to do anything about it, he could only watch as Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother short forward.
With a sneer on his face, Xie Hong Wen coldly snorted said, “Want to fight with me? Naive!”
Yi En also felt like he had just gotten a second lease on life and showed a pleasant expression. Xie Hong Wen’s approach really surprised him, but it was definitely the result he most wanted to see.
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother were as fast as lightning, and before they even reached the cave, their powerful Shi burst forth and covered the entire region, obviously intending to kill Yang Kai in one shot!
Yang Kai however just showed them a cold, meaningful grin, causing Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother’s hearts to clench tight.
“Not good, there’s another Spirit Array!” Hong Zhen suddenly saw the woman in black robes form another set of seals and suddenly realized that he and his Senior Brother had fallen into a trap. The two of them tried to retreat, but they were a step too late as a sound rang out that caused his courage to completely break.
“Start!” Yang Yan shouted aloud, and the scenery in front of the cave suddenly changed dramatically. A thick fog bank appeared, blocking everyone’s vision and engulfing Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother in an instant.
Yang Yan next formed a new set of hand seals while sending out her Saint Qi. Shouts and violent energy fluctuations soon erupted from the fog.
The last time the Xu Family came here, Yang Yan’s Spirit Array could only be used for defence, but now, she had added a Killing Array as well.
These Spirit Arrays alone however wouldn’t be able to kill two Origin Returning Realm masters, but if Yang Kai were to enter as well, Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother would definitely suffer.
Luo Qing saw this and suddenly understood why Yang Kai had said such words before. It turned out that he really didn’t need help from him, this profound Spirit Array could completely trap Origin Realm Masters and even wound them.
As for killing these two Origin Returning Realm masters, Luo Qing wasn’t optimistic about Yang Kai’s chances. The Origin Returning Realm and Saint King Realm couldn’t be put on the same level. Even if they were a true genius, it would be impossible for a Saint King to kill an Origin Realm master.
“You can start.” Yang Yan said lightly.
Yang Kai nodded, condensing a new Demonic Flame sword.
But before he could rush into the Spirit Array, a loud voice shouted, “Everyone stop!”
Hearing this voice, Xie Hong Wen shuddered and a look of panic appeared on his face.
Qian Tong had arrived!
Yang Kai also frowned; he hadn’t expected Qian Tong to arrive so quickly. Not even hesitating, Yang Kai dove into the Spirit Array.
The moment his body entered the fog, Yang Kai dispersed the Demonic Flame sword in his hand and replaced it with a drop of Golden Blood. This drop of Golden Blood exuded a shocking vitality that even Yang Yan’s Spirit Array was not able to completely conceal.
Before Qian Tong arrived, Yang Kai had to quickly end this battle. Originally, he did not have such plans because the power Origin Returning Realm masters called Shi had piqued Yang Kai’s interest greatly. Now that there were two Origin Realm masters trapped in this Spirit Array. So long as he could kill them, he would be able to absorb their insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao and perhaps learn about this Shi thing.
Once he was able to comprehend this mysterious force, Yang Kai’s strength would definitely increase. How could he let such a rare opportunity slip through his fingers?
As for how Qian Tong would react, Yang Kai didn’t care, as long as Qian Tong wanted to forge a relationship with the Artifact Refining Grandmaster behind him, he wouldn’t fall out with Yang Kai, not to mention, this time Yang Kai was the one forced to fight back, it wasn’t like he killed these two masters for no reason.
For these reasons, Yang Kai immediately used a drop of Golden Blood, transforming it into a thousand golden blades that he launched towards where Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother were.
These golden blades shot out at extreme speed, but in the next instant, as if they had sunk into a quagmire, their advance rapidly slowed.
Yang Kai knew that this was the two masters’ Shi affecting his attack.
Yang Kai hadn’t expected that the Shi of these two Origin Realm masters would be so difficult to deal with. Although Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother had fallen into Yang Yan’s Spirit Array, that did not prevent their Shi from hindering Yang Kai’s Golden Blood powered attack.
However, this only strengthened Yang Kai’s determination to kill both of them.
Dashing after the storm of golden blades, Yang Kai condensed another Demonic Flame sword and prepared to strike.
Those outside the Spirit Array were shocked when they saw Yang Kai dive into the fog bank, but soon, they heard the screams of Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother and immediately after, a powerful energy fluctuation burst forth, sending a figure flying out from inside the fog.
The one who had been thrown out was, of course, Yang Kai. Currently, he was spitting blood and his body was covered in a number of dazzling golden wounds. His face was extremely pale and the Demonic Flame sword in his hand was greatly distorted as if it would collapse at any moment.
Everyone could see that his chest had sunk in deeply.
“Yang Kai!” Wu Yi’s face turned white as she rushed over to catch Yang Kai. The force of their collision forced her back a dozen steps before she barely managed to stand firm.
Yang Kai spat another mouthful of Golden Blood as he staggered unsteadily. Waving to Wu Yi to indicate he was fine, Yang Kai took out a healing pill and stuffed it into his mouth before sitting down cross-legged and restoring his injuries at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The scene went quiet, with the only sounds coming from the fog bank where Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother were moaning in pain. The two of them hadn’t died! But besides Yang Yan, no one could see their current condition.
“Who dares disobey this old master’s command!?” A figure soon fell from the sky, exuding a terrifying pressure. As this old man’s eyes swept his surroundings, all who fell into his line of sight couldn’t help shivering; even Xie Hong Wen was trembling violently, unable to even speak.
“Elder Qian!” Luo Qing hurried forward and cupped his fists to Qian Tong.
“En, Nephew Yang?” After Qian Tong landed, the first thing he inquired about was Yang Kai’s condition, but before Luo Qing could answer, Qian Tong found Yang Kai who was currently healing. Sweeping him with his Divine Sense, Qian Tong immediately understood that Yang Kai had suffered serious injuries and his old face became even more ferocious, as if he was a volcano about to erupt.
Behind Yang Kai was an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner. Grandmaster Ge Lin of Shadow Moon Hall didn’t have much time left to live, and if a suitable replacement couldn’t be found before his death, Shadow Moon Hall would lose its ability to refine or maintain Origin Grade artefacts, forcing them to request services from other great forces instead.
This wasn’t just about a single Origin Grade Artifact Refiner; it was related to Shadow Moon Hall’s ability to stand in line with other top tier forces. If they needed to depend on others for all their Origin Grade Artifact Refining and maintenance, Shadow Moon Hall would have to pay an unimaginable price.
As such, as soon as Qian Tong received word from Luo Qing about this incident, he had immediately rushed over to see who dared stir up trouble for Yang Kai. He had clearly distributed Yang Kai’s image to everyone of importance in Heavenly Fate City, yet someone still brought people to attack him, what kind of bear hearts and leopard galls these people eat?
Now, seeing Yang Kai injured, he had to step forward, but before he could move more than a single pace, Qian Tong paused once more and stared towards the still active Spirit Array in shock, his eyes narrowing as he called out hoarsely, “A Grandmaster level Spirit Array?”
Qian Tong’s strength was higher than that of Hong Zhen and the other Origin Realm masters present, and his knowledge and experience were also far greater, so at a glance, he was able to see that this Spirit Array could not have been arranged by an ordinary master. Even with his Divine Sense and cultivation, Qian Tong wasn’t able to peer through it.
There were many people surrounding Yang Kai at the cave entrance, all of them staring vigilantly towards Qian Tong. Seeing this, Qian Tong immediately realized that they were very wary of him and understood that now may not be the best time to approach. Considering all this, he quickly shouted, “Nephew Yang, this old master has a Wild Rose Pill on him, its healing effects are quite good. If you’d like, please take it!”
Saying so, Qian Tong tossed a jade bottle over.
He understood that Yang Kai couldn’t answer him, or even respond at the moment, but Qian Tong had to do this in order to make his position clear to everyone.
Sure enough, after listening to his words, Wu Yi, Yang Yan, and the others all relaxed noticeably, with Wu Yi reaching out and taking the jade bottle while saying politely, “Many thanks, Senior.”
As Wu Yi spoke, she showed no emotion on her face, but in her heart great storms were raging.
The Wild Rose Pill was a Saint King Grade High-Rank pill whose main ingredient was the Saint King Grade High-Rank Scarlet Wild Rose. This material wasn’t difficult to find, but it was extremely difficult to refine. An ordinary Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemist who refined ten furnaces of Wild Rose Pills would be lucky to succeed three times.
The difficulty of refining this healing pill was no less than that of an Origin Grade Low-Rank pill.
How could Qian Tong treat Yang Kai so attentively? What was the relationship between them that even a Wild Rose Pill could be freely gifted? If she hadn’t brought back Yang Kai from Starry Sky personally, and knew that he came from the outside world, Wu Yi would definitely think Yang Kai was the son of some Shadow Moon Hall Elder.
Just as she was about to take out the Wild Rose Pill and feed it to Yang Kai, Yang Kai’s weak voice called out, “No need.”
Naturally Yang Kai wouldn’t use Qian Tong’s pill. Firstly, the healing pill he had just taken was one he had personally refined, and although the grade was slightly worse than the Wild Rose Pill, it was still quite good. On top of that, even without any auxiliary pills to help him, with his incredibly resilient physique, Yang Kai would still be able to quickly recover after a short period of cultivation.
The second, and main reason Yang Kai didn’t take this pill though, was that he wasn’t sure what side Qian Tong would stand on. If he stood in opposition to him, he would soon have to fight again.
Fortunately, Qian Tong had shown goodwill towards him the moment he arrived, raising Yang Kai’s opinion of him. Regardless of his true purpose for showing him favour, Yang Kai didn’t feel any malicious intent from Qian Tong at least.
“What happened, explain everything to me carefully,” Qian Tong’s face became gloomy again as his eyes went from the still trembling Xie Hong Wen to the still active Spirit Array as he asked Luo Qing.
Luo Qing didn’t dare to conceal anything and immediately explained what had happened before Qian Tong arrived.
After hearing that Xie Hong Wen had dared try to kill Yang Kai after being informed of his order, Qian Tong became enraged and immediately slapped Xie Hong Wen in front of everyone’s eyes, sending him tumbling through the air several dozen meters before smashing into the ground.
“Elder Qian…” Xie Hong Wen’s courage completely broke. Several of his teeth fell from this mouth and his cheek swelled up fat, but he didn’t dare issue a single complained and just called out pitifully.
“If your father wasn’t a Deacon, you’d be dead already!” Qian Tong glared over at him coldly.
Hearing this, hatred flashed across the depths of Xie Hong Wen’s eyes but he still quickly kowtowed, “Many thanks, Elder Qian, for showing mercy!”
Since Qian Tong’s words indicated he didn’t intend on killing him, Xie Hong Wen was able to regain his composure and quickly discovered that his clothes were soaked with sweat.
“Don’t hurry to thank me. I won’t kill you, but that doesn’t mean others won’t. Whether you live or die will be up to Nephew Yang!” Qian Tong coldly snorted.
Xie Hong Wen froze up once more. He had never imagined that this little brat he had been looking down upon so arrogantly just a moment ago would now be in control of his life. When he thought about his attitude and approach just before, Xie Hong Wen desperately wanted to cry but was unable to shed any tears.
If his fate landed in the hands of this little brat, was there any way he could survive? Just what kind of origin did he have that would cause Elder Qian Tong to show such favouritism towards him?
Not only was Xie Hong Wen unable to figure this out, everyone from the Xu Family and Hai Ke Family were just as lost. Wu Yi, Yu Feng and all the others on their side were also confused, but although they didn’t understand everything, they did know that they had passed through this crisis and all wore excited smiles.
“Xu Family?” Qian Tong set his sights on Xu Zhi Bing, who had collapsed on the ground, and declared firmly, “From now on, there is no more Xu Family!”
Xu Zhi Bing completely fainted while the other Xu Family cultivators went deathly pale.
They were originally a small family attached to Shadow Moon Hall, so let alone an Elder like Qian Tong, even Xie Hong Wen would be able to destroy their Xu Family if he wanted to.
The Xu Family’s hearts were filled with regret. If they hadn’t tried to seek revenge, they could have at least preserved the last remnants of their foundation and possibly even made a comeback in the future, but after Qian Tong made this declaration, they knew there would not be a Xu Family here ever again.
“Yes, Disciple will see to it!” Luo Qing nodded before turning to the remaining Xu Family cultivators and saying, “Follow me.”
The Xu Family cultivators knew their future would be bleak, but none of them dared to disobey, two of them going forward and picking up the unconscious Xu Zhi Bing before all of them followed behind Luo Qing.
“Hai Ke Family?” Qian Tong turned his head to look at Yi En.
Yi En’s whole body shivered as he hurried went forward and shouted, “Yi En greets Elder Qian. Please show mercy, Elder Qian, Yi En was muddled before, mercy, Elder Qian!”
Qian Tong smiled coldly, “You’ll keep your life for a little while longer. As for how to process you, that will be up to Nephew Yang.”
Revenge was best exacted by oneself. With a single sentence, Qian Tong had destroyed the Xu Family, so if he were to completely destroy the Hai Ke Family now, where would Yang Kai vent his anger? If Yang Kai didn’t have somewhere to vent his anger, how could Qian Tong discuss anything else with him?
Listening to Qian Tong’s words, Yi En’s face went pale, he felt that falling into Yang Kai’s hands would definitely not end well for him.
At this moment, Yang Kai stood up, and although his face was still pale, his Saint Qi aura was at least somewhat stable.
“Stop the Spirit Array,” Yang Kai called out to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan nodded, and in the next moment, the thick fog dispersed, revealing the empty space in front of the cave to everyone’s eyes. After seeing the tragic state of Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother, everyone drew a sharp breath.
Just now, when Yang Kai had been blown out of the fog bank, he had looked seriously injured, so everyone thought that Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother would be fine, but now it was obvious that these two’s injuries were far more serious than Yang Kai’s.
Their bodies were covered with blood, and it could be said that there wasn’t an unscarred placed on them. Hong Zhen had lost and arm while his Senior Brother had lost a leg. The two sat together, their faces pale and filled with dread as they kept glancing around.
With a sigh, Yang Kai knew that he had still underestimated these Origin Returning Realm cultivators. He had thought that by using his Golden Blood and Yang Yan’s Spirit Array, he would be able to kill them, but the moment he launched his attack, he realized that he was wrong.
The power of their Shi was amazing and with their two Shis overlapping, they were able to interfere with Yang Kai’s movements, slow down his attack, and even sense what direction he was attacking from.
Without using his Golden Blood, Yang Kai wouldn’t have even been able to injure them.
Yang Kai had used a drop of Golden Blood, but thanks to their Shis, he was only able to cut off one of their arms and one of their legs; this poor return on investment filled him with annoyance.
A drop of Golden Blood was equivalent to three months of dedicated cultivation, not something he could casually waste.
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother shouldn’t have much fighting strength at this moment, to the point where any Saint Realm cultivator could easily kill them, but with Qian Tong here, it was naturally impossible for Yang Kai to kill them as, regardless of the circumstances, they all belonged to Shadow Moon Hall.
Shooting Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother a glance laced with regret, Yang Kai walked towards Qian Tong.
“Nephew Yang, this old man is ashamed he arrived late and allowed you to experience something frightening,” Qian Tong welcomed him and said with a look of fear.
While speaking, he was quietly glancing over towards the cave, worried the Origin Grade Artefact Refiner behind Yang Kai would be dissatisfied with his attitude. Qian Tong was extremely annoyed with himself right now, he had tried so many ways to forge a friendly relationship between Yang Kai and Shadow Moon Hall, but this waste, Xie Hong Wen had actually ruined all his previous efforts.
Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t seem to have suffered any mortal wounds or even too serious injuries. On top of that, the Origin Grade Artifact Refiner behind him had still yet to show themselves, allowing Qian Tong to slightly relax. If the Artifact Refining Grandmaster really became angry with Shadow Moon Hall, he would surely appear personally to speak, but since he hadn’t shown up yet, it was obvious he was incredibly confident in Yang Kai’s ability to handle this situation.
This all only made Qian Tong more certain of his previous conjectures and caused him to act with greater prudence.
It wasn’t surprising that Qian Tong couldn’t see through the truth of this matter though, Yang Yan’s existence was simply too unbelievable. Qian Tong would never be able to imagine that she was the Origin Grade Artifact Refiner he wanted to win over.
“Elder Qian is too serious, Junior wasn’t affected in any major way,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and replied. Qian Tong gave him a good impression, so even if he was showing goodwill with some selfish intentions, that was simply the way of the world. Qian Tong hadn’t plotted against him or used dishonest means to entrap him, and since Yang Kai had to establish a presence on Shadowed Star, forging a friendship with this Shadow Moon Hall Elder wasn’t a bad idea. As such, Yang Kai lowered his posture greatly and assumed the stance of a Junior in front of him, allowing Qian Tong’s heart to calm down further.
“Good, very good,” Qian Tong nodded.
“I’ll return Elder Qian’s Wild Rose Pill back; Junior has some healing pills on him already so I temporarily have no need of it. Elder Qian’s intentions are enough,” Yang Kai said before handing back the Wild Rose Pill.
Qian Tong’s eyes flashed and he immediately understood that Yang Kai was unwilling to owe him a favour, so he didn’t press the issue, retrieving the Wild Rose Pill with a big laugh. In Qian Tong’s opinion, Yang Kai had an Artifact Refining Grandmaster behind him, so he obviously wouldn’t lack good things. How could he care about a trivial healing pill?
“Nephew Yang, I have already settled the issue of the Xu Family, Luo Qing will handle the matter in a way that will surely satisfy you. As for the Hai Ke Family, seeing how they seem to have some relationship with you, I’ll let Nephew Yang deal with them personally,” Qian Tong was an old fox so he naturally knew how to handle such situations. He hadn’t acted too forcefully just now because he had seen many cultivators of the Hai Ke Family standing beside Yang Kai. While he didn’t recognize most of them, Qian Tong had some slight impressions of Wu Yi as she was one of the best disciples of the Hai Ke Family.
Yang Kai nodded to express his thanks before glancing over at Yi En, the latter going pale and unsteadily walked forward and bowed, “My family and I had eyes but failed to see. When Your Excellency arrived, not only did my Hai Ke Family fail to show hospitality, but also committed several serious offences, I request Your Excellency mete out an appropriate punishment!”
Yang Kai coldly snorted, thinking this Yi En was only harming himself by trying to act clever. If he had apologized sincerely and begged for mercy, out of consideration for Wu Yi and her follower’s faces, Yang Kai may have not tried to hold him accountable, but Yi En claiming he had failed to show hospitality was obviously him implying that Yang Kai was a guest on Dragon Cave Mountain while the Hai Ke Family was his host, and a guest embarrassing the host in his home was never appropriate.
Qian Tong could also read the hidden meaning of this old man’s words and couldn’t help sneering before closing his eyes, apparently disinterested in watching this cheep performance.
“Although your Hai Ke Family never acted directly against me, those who dare to threaten and annoy me are not worthy of me showing mercy,” Yang Kai looked at Yi En coldly, causing the latter’s knees to weaken and nearly give out.
“However…” Yang Kai continued, “Your lives mean nothing to me either way, so if you want to survive, ask Wu Yi yourself.”
Yi En gawked for a moment before a surge of joy welled up inside him as he kneeled down and kowtowed, “Many thanks, Your Excellency, for sparing our lives!”
Yi En immediately understood that the Hai Ke Family would not perish today as no one knew Wu Yi’s temperament better than him. As long as he asked, Wu Yi would definitely not kill them; after all, she still had attachments to the family.
“Go away!” Yang Kai shouted impatiently.
“Yes yes yes!” Yi En quickly got up and walked over to Wu Yi’s side, trying to come up with the best way to speak to her.
“Nephew Yang’s forgiving heart is admirable! En, if it was this Elder, he would directly kill them all, death ends all troubles,” Qian Tong commented.
Yang Kai smiled slightly but didn’t say anymore.
It was impossible for him to really kill Yi En in front of Wu Yi. If it was during a battle, then that was another story, but with Yi En not able to put up any resistance, killing him became unimportant. No matter how clever Yi En tried to be, with his current strength, Yang Kai had no reason to fear him.
“Nephew Yang, how do you want to handle this little bastard? No matter what decision you make, this old master will support you unconditionally,” Qian Tong stretched out one of his hands and grabbed the swollen faced Xie Hong Wen before tossing him in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stared down at Xie Hong Wen with an indifferent look.
However, Qian Tong was keenly aware that there was a thick murderous intent flashing in the depths of Yang Kai’s eyes, causing the former to feel somewhat startled. Yang Kai had not revealed any murderous intent towards Yi En just now, but facing Xie Hong Wen, it seemed he really wanted to murder him.
Xie Hong Wen dying wasn’t a big deal, but with his father being a Deacon in Shadow Moon Hall, once Yang Kai killed him, there would still be some trouble.
The subtle expression on Qian Tong’s face was not missed by Yang Kai. If Qian Tong was truly indifferent, Yang Kai wouldn’t hesitate to kill Xie Hong Wen here and now; after all, one should beat a snake to death to avoid future calamity. The performance of the Xu Family these past few days perfectly illustrated this point. But reading the meaning behind Qian Tong’s words and expressions, Yang Kai understood that killing Xie Hong Wen would cause problems even for him.
How powerful could a Deacon be though? Could he even cause problems for an Elder?
Yang Kai quickly realized that Qian Tong wasn’t afraid of Xie Hong Wen’s father, but rather the person behind Xie Hong Wen’s father, similar to how he didn’t want to become friends with Yang Kai, but the powerful Grandmaster Artifact Refiner behind him.
Understanding this, Yang Kai fell into a dilemma.
Xie Hong Wen had brought two Origin Realm masters here to cause trouble, and if not for Yang Yan’s Spirit Array, even if Yang Kai was confident he could still escape, Wu Yi and Yang Yan would have ended up in a terrible situation, this matter couldn’t just be brushed aside.
Seeing Yang Kai’s murderous intent growing stronger by the moment, as if he would strike in the next instant, Qian Tong kicked Xie Hong Wen’s stomach and sent with a rolling while cursing, “You little animal, tarnishing my Shadow Moon Hall’s face wherever you go, do you think just because your father is a Deacon you can act however you please? Do you think this old master doesn’t dare to clean up Shadow Moon Hall’s mess by killing you right now?”
Xie Hong Wen’s face changed greatly as he hurriedly crawled back, latching onto Qian Tong’s thigh and crying, “Elder Qian, please show mercy, disciple knows his wrong! Disciple won’t dare commit such acts again. After today I will certainly return to Shadow Moon Hall to enter secluded penance, please spare my life, Elder Qian!”
Qian Tong quietly glanced over at Yang Kai’s face and found that his murderous intent had not diminished at all, causing him to sigh in his heart knowing that if he couldn’t satisfy him quickly, Xie Hong Wen would definitely die, raising his voice in anger and shouting, “A mere Saint King dares to act so wantonly, thinking himself invincible in the world? It was clearly a mistake to allow you to have two Origin Realm masters as guards, it was definitely them who gave you the courage to dare oppose this old master’s words! Since that’s the case, I’ll kill those two bastards first!”
Saying so, Qian Tong raised his hand and sent out two Saint Qi blades towards Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother who were even now unable to catch their breath.
Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother had managed to escape from the clutches of death just now, and although one had lost an arm, and one had lost a leg, they were simply glad to be alive, but when Qian Tong’s words rang out, by the time they reacted, the former’s strike had already arrived in front of them.
“Elder Qian, mercy!” Hong Zhen was terrified and called out in panic, but by the time his words ended, there was a new hole in his forehead and the forehead of his Senior Brother. As their eyes quickly grew dim, the two Origin Realm masters died.
Xie Hong Wen froze up, a foul smell overflowing from the ground beneath him, his face as pale as paper.
Yang Kai was also dumbfounded.
He hadn’t expected Qian Tong to actually kill these two Origin Realm masters. From Qian Tong’s words just now, Yang Kai had at first thought he was subtly reminding him that Xie Hong Wen’s background was strong and that he should show mercy where possible. Yang Kai had also made up his mind to take a step back and extract some compensation out of Xie Hong Wen in exchange for not killing him, but in the blink of an eye, two Origin Returning Realm masters had actually been killed.
After gawking for a moment, Yang Kai became overjoyed, and quickly used the power of his Demon Eye of Annihilation to stealthily absorb the two remnant Souls into his Knowledge Sea then using the golden light to purify them.
Even after using a drop of Golden Blood and Yang Yan’s profound Spirit Array, Yang Kai had been unable to kill these two, causing him a lot of annoyance as it meant losing a great opportunity to learn about Shi, but now Qian Tong had finished them off for him.
However, Yang Kai soon understood why Qian Tong had acted so decisively. Both Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother had been crippled, so even though they hadn’t died, their futures were incredibly bleak. There was no pill in this world that could completely regenerate broken limbs. By sacrificing these two essentially worthless Origin Realm cultivators, Qian Tong could calm Yang Kai’s anger and save Xie Hong Wen.
And sure enough, after the death of Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother, the haze clouding Yang Kai’s face finally eased, allowing Qian Tong to breathe a sigh of relief. What he didn’t know was that Yang Kai’s expression had relaxed only because he was able to obtain the two remnant Souls of these Origin Realm masters, allowing him to finally learn about Shi.
Lightly coughing while suppressing the joy and excitement in his heart, Yang Kai said lightly, “Since the culprit has suffered a grave punishment already, I’ll let this matter end here. I’ll only advice Young Lord Xie to consider his actions more carefully in the future.”
“Yes yes yes, many thanks Elder Brother, many thanks Elder Qian,” Xie Hong Wen wept as he continued offering his thanks.
“Why haven’t you scrammed yet?” Qian Tong shouted angrily, resulting in Xie Hong Wen quickly standing up and flying off unsteadily, not daring to stay here any longer, afraid he might lose the life he had barely managed to hang onto just now.
After the dispute was resolved, everyone was satisfied.
Yang Kai obtained the Soul remnants from two Origin Returning Realm masters, allowing him to absorb their sentiments of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao while studying Shi. Naturally, he was quite happy. As for Xie Hong Wen, Yang Kai had no choice but to give Qian Tong face. If he had really insisted on killing Xie Hong Wen, Qian Tong would probably have become disgruntled with him, the cost wasn’t worth it.
On the other hand, Qian Tong managed to save Xie Hong Wen and was very satisfied. Although Yang Kai was young, he at least understood how to advance and retreat, an admirable quality.
All in all, it ended with a win-win situation.
“Elder Qian, many thanks for your efforts here. Junior will not forget this,” Yang Kai thanked him with cupped fists. He knew that if Qian Tong hadn’t arrived so quickly, he would definitely have killed everyone here, including Xie Hong Wen, and if Xie Hong Wen died, he wouldn’t have been able to remain here any longer. There was still a lot of Space Spirit Crystals beneath Dragon Cave Mountain, so if for nothing else, Yang Kai had to thank Qian Tong for giving him more time to mine it clean.
“Nephew Yang is too polite,” Qian Tong laughed, “This old master didn’t do anything. On the other hand, Nephew Yang is a true dragon among men, severely wounding Hong Zhen with just a First Order Saint Realm cultivation, Nephew Yang’s future achievements will certainly be limitless.”
“I cannot take credit for this, I was simply relying on the power of this Spirit Array,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Qian Tong had a clear understanding of the situation as he had taken quite a few looks at the Spirit Array already. However, because the Spirit Array was currently inactive, Qian Tong couldn’t examine its mysteries at all, shocking him greatly. Now, he guessed that the master behind Yang Kai was not only an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner but also a powerful Array Master.
His guess was, of course, correct, but Qian Tong was completely off about this master’s identity. The artefacts were refined by Yang Yan, and the Spirit Array here was also arranged by her. The master he was looking for was right in front of his eyes, but unfortunately, Qian Tong had no way of knowing this.
“Does Nephew Yang have a place to settle down?” Qian Tong asked, “If not, this old master can recommend you to Shadow Moon Hall. With Nephew Yang’s aptitude, after entering Shadow Moon Hall, you will surely become a Core Disciple. Is Nephew Yang interested?”
Yang Kai, of course, knew what Qian Tong was thinking and immediately shook his head, “No thank you, I quite enjoy living here. Junior is used to living freely and doesn’t understand proper etiquette. If I were to really enter a Sect, I’m afraid I would just end up embarrassing myself.”
Qian Tong smiled faintly and immediately put aside this issue. He knew if he were to continue pestering here, the efforts he just made would be squandered. Instead, Qian Tong made several glances towards the cave while remaining in place, waiting for Yang Kai to invite him inside to sit.
The Origin Grade Artefact Refiner and Array Master behind Yang Kai must currently be resting in the cave, so if Qian Tong could get invited in, he might be lucky enough to meet this man.
Qian Tong didn’t speak, but Yang Kai also remained silent. Right now, Yang Kai was anxious to enter retreat to research this strange thing called Shi, so how could he have to mood to say anything further. The problem was he also didn’t make it clear he wanted Qian Tong to leave.
The two of them both glanced back and forth at one another, the situation quickly growing somewhat awkward.
“Wu Yi greets Elder Qian,” At the critical moment, Wu Yi arrived with Yang Yan and politely offered her greetings, breaking the awkward air.
“Good good good,” Qian Tong smiled and nodded, “Are you a disciple of the Hai Ke Family?”
“Yes, but I have separated from the family and now only follow Senior Brother Yang,” Wu Yi replied softly.
“Very good. Following Nephew Yang will definitely give you a more promising future than remaining in the Hai Ke Family. You have good vision little girl, work hard; it would be best if you can tie down Nephew Yang in body and mind.”
[This damn old fart, spouting off unnecessary nonsense!] Yang Kai cursed to himself.
Wu Yi’s face turned red as she pursed her lips and smiled helplessly, “This Wu Yi’s future is quite limited, not worthy of being joined to Senior Brother Yang.”
She didn’t mean to belittle herself, but after seeing Yang Kai’s abilities, she truly felt that very few women would be worthy of Yang Kai, and she was definitely not one of them. Moreover, she currently wasn’t interested in pursuing matters between men and women. Qian Tong had spoke casually just now, so she responded in kind.
“This is…” Qian Tong then set his sights on Yang Yan. Since she could follow Wu Yi here, her position in Yang Kai’s circle was certainly not low, so Qian Tong would not neglect her.
“This is my Junior Sister,” Yang Kai did not wait for Yang Yan to speak and took the initiative to introduce her as such.
Wu Yi and Yang Yan both turned looks of surprise to him.
“Oh, so she’s Nephew’s Junior Sister, very good.”
“She is a Saint Grade Artefact Refiner,” Yang Kai added specifically.
Qian Tong’s eyes brightened, seemingly very happy, letting out a big laugh as he nodded, “So young yet already a Saint Grade Artefact Refiner, en, it seems Nephew’s Junior Sister’s achievements won’t be lower than your own in the future.”
“Naturally, Junior Sister is truly amazing,” Yang Kai nodded quickly.
“This old master thought the disciples in my Sect were already quite good but seeing your Senior Brother and Junior Sister’s talents today, my eyes have been opened. It’s unfortunate that Nephew Yang and your Junior Sister don’t want to join my Shadow Moon Hall.”
“Afterwards, if we must join a Sect, Shadow Moon Hall will be our first choice.”
Qian Tong laughed and nodded with satisfaction, “Good, this old master will wait for good news from Nephew Yang then!”
Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t intend to welcome him inside, Qian Tong didn’t press the issue, talking about a few other minor things before saying goodbye and flying off.
Before he could go far though, Qian Tong suddenly turned back.
“What else does Elder Qian wish to discuss?” Yang Kai looked at him curiously.
Qian Tong quickly asked, “Does Nephew Yang want to attend the Treasure Trove Pavilion’s upcoming auction?”
“Auction?” Yang Kai frowned. He had never participated in auctions before and currently he didn’t have any interest in doing so. What he wanted to do right now was study Shi. Just as he was about to refuse though, Yang Kai saw Wu Yi and Yang Yan wearing looks of anticipation, so he quickly changed what he was about to say, “When will the auction take place?”
Qian Tong took out a golden invitation from his Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai, “The time and place are written above. If Nephew Yang has the time to go and see, even if you don’t purchase anything, it will still be a nice way to relax. Naturally, if Nephew Yang has anything good to sell, it will be a good opportunity to earn some Saint Crystals, things often sell for more at auctions after all.”
Yang Kai accepted the invitation but didn’t look at it, simply handing it over to Wu Yi before saying, “If I have time, I’ll attend.”
“Good, when the time comes, this old master will also attend. Nephew Yang can simply report this old master’s name at the event if you need anything,” Qian Tong said before leaving once more.
After Qian Tong had truly left, Yang Kai glanced around and discovered that the Hai Ke Family had disappeared. Yang Kai didn’t know what happened to them, but it was obvious Wu Yi had not embarrassed them.
“Yang Kai, why did you say I was your Junior Sister?” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai with a puzzled look.
“Let’s go back first,” Yang Kai beckoned to her, not explaining right away.
Outside the cave, Yu Feng and the former Hai Ke Family disciples all stared at Yang Kai with admiration and worship.
Seriously wounding two Origin Realm masters, even with the assistance of a powerful Spirit Array, was not something any ordinary man could accomplish. There were too many outsiders around just now, so all of them could only behave calmly, but now, they were free to reveal their shock and reverence.
“Go back and cultivate,” Yang Kai waved at them before leading Wu Yi and Yang Yan to his own stone room and closing the doors behind him.
Seeing Yang Kai’s solemn appearance, Wu Yi and Yang Yan couldn’t help becoming serious themselves, understanding he had something important to say, otherwise he wouldn’t be showing such a face.
“Aren’t you wondering why Qian Tong is so partial to me?” Yang Kai asked the biggest question the two of them had.
“Yes,” Wu Yi nodded.
“He naturally has a reason for it,” Yang Kai turned his eyes to Yang Yan, “That reason is you!”
Wu Yi asked thoughtfully, “Because of Yang Yan’s Spirit Array abilities?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Because Yang Yan is an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner!”
“What?” Wu Yi called out in fright. After Wu Yi came here, Yang Yan had never refined any artefacts, spending all her time arranging the Spirit Arrays around the cave, so she was completely unaware that Yang Yan possessed such ability. But now that Yang Kai had explained the situation, Wu Yi immediately understood why Qian Tong showed such an attitude towards Yang Kai.
“Qian Tong knows that there is an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner behind me, but he doesn’t know that person is Yang Yan. He also probably thinks that this imaginary Artifact Refiner is my master!” Yang Kai spoke his guess.
“I see, him treating you favourably is because he wants to forge a friendship with that imaginary master,” Wu Yi nodded.
“Right. I didn’t know that the best Artefact Refiners on Shadowed Star were just Origin Grade Low-Rank. If I had known, I would not have sold those artefacts before. Now it’s too late to try to conceal all of this. Fortunately, Qian Tong doesn’t dare to offend an Artefact Refiner of this level and can only try to win them over, so we’re not in any immediate danger,” Yang Kai said before staring deeply at Yang Yan and saying, “From now on, you can’t publicize the fact that you’re an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner. Your strength is too low, once you’re found out, others will definitely try to capture you!”
Yang Yan muttered, “Even if I tell everyone, none of them will believe me.”
She had worked at the Artefact Refining Pavilion in Heavenly Fate City for a time and was constantly advertising her true Artefact Refiner grade, but no one had ever believed her or provided her with Origin Grade materials to perform Artifact Refining.
“In any case, you can’t say that anymore, otherwise it will be a disaster for us,” Yang Kai said solemnly, “Understood?”
“I understand,” Yang Yan nodded.
Yang Kai was helpless, thinking that he and Yang Yan were total opposites. He wished to conceal his Alchemy skill from the world and looked forward to others underestimating him. Yang Yan, on the other hand, seemed to want everyone to know about her abilities, but in the end, she too was still perfectly fine. The world was a strange place.
“No wonder you specifically told Qian Tong that Yang Yan was a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner and that she was your Junior Sister. So it was like this,” Wu Yi said thoughtfully, understanding Yang Kai’s intentions.
“Yes, with Qian Tong thinking there’s an Origin Grade Artefact Refiner behind me, it’s only normal I have a Junior Sister who is a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner.”
Yang Kai believed that Qian Tong would believe the words he said, and as long as Qian Tong didn’t doubt him, he would be absolutely safe here. With Qian Tong’s protection, incidents like with the Xu Family wouldn’t occur again.
“I see!” Wu Yi nodded.
“If you understand then go about your own business, I must enter retreat,” Yang Kai waved to them.
“Big Brother Yang, about the Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction…” Wu Yi bit her lip and asked.
“You want to go?” Yang Kai knit his brow.
He hadn’t expected that not only Wu Yi, but even Yang Yan would nod, the two of them seemingly quite looking forward to this event.
“If you want to go then just go.” There was no need for Yang Kai to stop them. In his opinion, this auction would be an eye-opening experience for these two, a chance for them to see the broader world. Wu Yi came from a small family, so even if she had some worldly wisdom, she couldn’t compare to those disciples with great backgrounds. As for Yang Yan, she had seemingly been quite miserable and poor her whole life, so what she had seen was definitely not much, it was only natural for her to take interest in this auction.
“What about you?” Wu Yi asked.
“If I haven’t exited my retreat then I won’t attend, just be careful by yourselves.”
“En,” Wu Yi nodded before leaving with Yang Yan.
Yang Kai closed the stone room, sat down cross-legged, and sank his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea.
Inside his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar appeared before two masses of pure Spiritual Energy and stared at them excitedly.
This was the first time Yang Kai had managed to collect the remnant Soul of an Origin Returning Realm master. Never before had any Origin Returning Realm master died close enough to him for Yang Kai to do this. As such, Yang Kai had never been able to refine an Origin Realm master’s perceptions of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, causing him to not know much about this new realm or the power called Shi. If it wasn’t for his battle with Hong Zhen today, Yang Kai likely wouldn’t have had an opportunity to learn about Shi for a long time. This mysterious strength held great attraction for him.
Facing an Origin Realm expert had caused Yang Kai some alarm. He had always been fighting against opponents in higher realms than his own. He was able to defeat Immortal Ascension masters when in the True Element Boundary, Saints in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and Saint Kings in the Saint Realm. Now that he had reached the Saint King Realm, Yang Kai had assumed he would be able to defeat First Order Origin Realm cultivators, but reality turned out far different from how he expected.
The Origin Returning Realm and Saint King Realm were fundamentally different, and it was all due to Shi!
Sitting down cross-legged, Yang Kai drew these two Soul remnants towards himself and carefully began to absorb the insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao contained within them. If the way he absorbed Souls remnants before was like stuffing his face, Yang Kai’s current behaviour was more akin to slowly savouring these two Souls’ taste. This was a rare opportunity, and if he didn’t take full advantage of it, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to comprehend what this Shi thing was and the next time he faced an Origin Realm masters, he would be unable to resist it.
Time passed by as Yang Kai slowly but steadily absorbed these two Souls, delicately squeezing every essence out of them.
Two days later, when he had finished consuming the two pure Soul remnants, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes.
He now vaguely understood what Shi was, but due to the strength of Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother not being very high, only First Order Origin Returning Realm, they only had a basic comprehension of Shi and its application. Since Yang Kai’s understanding of Shi was based on these two people’s, naturally it too wasn’t in any way complete.
An Origin Realm Master’s Shi wasn’t something intangible like fighting spirit, imposing manner, or killing intent, things masters honed and developed over years of cultivation and killing and would erupt almost involuntarily during the battle.
However, these invisible auras were a component of Shi.
The Shi of an Origin Realm master was a combination of their fighting intent, Saint Qi, and Spiritual Energy, woven together into a physical phenomenon which could be used directly in combat. A cultivator’s understanding of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way had to reach a certain height before they could condense Shi.
Shi was invisible, but it had physical presence as well as formidable suppression ability and lethality. Why could Origin Realm masters easily kill Saint Kings? It was because of the absolute suppressive strength of Shi. The reason Yang Kai wasn’t able to kill Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother with a drop of Golden Blood wasn’t because that drop was lacking strength, but rather because the overlapping Shis of those two had greatly impeded the speed of the Golden Blood’s attack. With the Golden Blood blades greatly slowed, the two Origin Realm masters were able to perceive where they would be struck and move to avoid suffering fatal wounds.
If not for this, they would have died.
Comprehending Shi was very difficult. Hong Zhen had broken through to the Origin Returning Realm more than ten years ago but had only just begun to condense his own Shi. His Senior Brother was slightly stronger than him, but not by much.
On top of this, Yang Kai also learned a certain truth. Only after one’s Shi reached the grand accomplishment stage could they attempt to break through to the Origin King Realm!
Even though Qian Tong was already a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, Yang Kai estimated that his comprehension of Shi had not reached the grand accomplishment stage. This meant that no matter how hard he cultivated or how much he managed to enhance his Saint Qi by, before he completely condensed his own Shi, it would be impossible to advance his cultivation realm again. This was the biggest obstacle obstructing his path and once that could not be crossed easily.
This was probably an important reason why the number of Origin King Realm masters was so low throughout the Heng Luo Star Field. Achieving such a cultivation not only required great strength but a comprehensive improvement in all aspects.
After understanding this, Yang Kai immediately started his own research on Shi. He discarded the dregs in Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother’s comprehension of Shi while inserting his own insights and opinions, doing his best to coalesce his will, Saint Qi, and Spirit Energy.
During his battle against Hong Zhen, Yang Kai had faintly touched upon the mysteries of Shi, but that touch was fleeting and light. Now, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t recall or replicate the sensation he felt at that time, causing Yang Kai to feel a little annoyed.
Yang Kai tried again and again but always felt something was wrong. Ten days later, Yang Kai gave up his current attempt to study Shi.
He feels that his strength was still a bit too low. If he reached the Second or Third-Order Saint King Realm, the process should become much smoother. After all, this profound force belonged to the Origin Returning Realm. Being able to superficially understand it already was already quite remarkable.
Yang Kai wasn’t one to plow the air, so after considering all this, he immediately got up and decided to wait for his cultivation to improve before trying again. If he could absorb a few more Origin Returning Realm Soul remnants during this time, Yang Kai was sure he could achieve twice the results with half the effort.
Just after opening his stone door, Yang Kai saw Wu Yi run over while shouting happily, “Big Brother Yang, you came out just in time.”
“Why do you seem so excited?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.
“It’s time for the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction,” Wu Yi answered quickly.
“It’s today?” Yang Kai was surprised, thinking it was a bit too coincidental.
“En,” Wu Yi nodded and leaned closer to Yang Kai, whispering in his ear, “Yang Yan refined an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact and an Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact to sell at the auction.”
“Is she insane?” Yang Kai was frightened and exclaimed, “Where is she?”
“I’m here,” Yang Yan’s figure appeared behind him.
“What are you thinking?” Yang Kai looked at her with a stern face, “Didn’t I just tell you not to go around showing off? Are you really worried others won’t have their eyes on you? How could you have forgotten so quickly?”
Yang Yan just grinned though and said, “As long as the three of us don’t say anything, who will know I was the one who refined these artefacts?”
“It will still attract too much attention,” Yang Kai shook his head, “Shadow Star’s best Artefact Refiners are only Origin Grade Low-Rank, how are you going to explain the sudden appearance of an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact?”
“Big Brother Yang doesn’t need to worry about that,” Wu Yi smiled slightly, “Although the Artefact Refiners on Shadowed Star don’t have such skill, there are still a number of Origin Grade Mid-Rank and even High-Rank artefacts present, so the appearance of an Origin Grade Mid-Rank artefact won’t cause too much trouble.”
Yang Kai frowned for a moment but soon understood that while the current levels of the Artifact Refiners and Alchemists on Shadowed Star were low, that didn’t mean it was always so. Good artefacts could be kept in storage for thousands or even tens of thousands of years without degrading, and Shadowed Star definitely had such legacy items. There may even be Origin King Grade artefacts somewhere on this Cultivation Star, but if there were, they would definitely be treated as foundational pillars of great Sects, things not easily taken out and used.
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s expression relaxed greatly and nodded, “Although that may be the case, there’s no need to sell artefacts of this grade. Why not keep them for our own use?”
“Where are we going to get Saint Crystals to buy material to enhance the Spirit Array without selling artefacts?” Yang Yan snorted, “We’re dirt poor now; this auction is a rare opportunity to earn some money.”
Yang Kai also suddenly recalled this point. Yang Yan arranging Spirit Arrays was indeed equivalent to burning money, but thanks to her Spirit Array, Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother had been blocked last time, so this matter couldn’t be treated haphazardly, rather it was of utmost priority.
“What artefacts did you refine? Let me see!”
Seeing Yang Kai no longer object, Wu Yi was very excited to quickly took out two offensive artefacts, one was a soft whip while the other was a pair of twin daggers. Yang Kai knew at a glance that these two artefacts were refined using the Ninth-Order Monster Beast Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s stinger and pincers. Both sent of potent energy fluctuations and had extremely beautiful designs, ones that were particularly suited for women to use.
Yang Yan was really black-bellied, deliberately refining artefacts like this was almost like asking men to bleed money, wasn’t it? Yang Kai secretly shook his head.
“More importantly, Big Brother Yang, the reason why I support Yang Yan selling these two items is to completely convince Elder Qian Tong that your non-existent master exists! Others won’t know where these artefacts came from, but Elder Qian Tong will definitely think they were refined by your master. Once he thinks so, he will only treat us better in the future,” Wu Yi explained.
Yang Kai nodded slightly, applauding, “Your thoughts are quite meticulous. En, since that’s the case, let’s go.”
Seeing Yang Kai agree, Wu Yi and Yang Yan smiled at each other.
“How long before the auction starts?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“Three hours, but that’s okay. I went to Heavenly Fate City to deliver a message to Elder Qian Tong, saying that we will have something to auction, so we only need to deliver the items and Elder Qian will take care of the rest.”
“En, good. Right, Wu Yi, do you know what pill is the most expensive on Shadowed Star?” Yang Kai suddenly asked
Yang Kai asked this question out of nowhere, but Wu Yi still responded promptly with the names of a few precious pills.
“The Strong Cloud Pill which can repair one’s meridians, the Soul Returning Pill that can patch a wounded Soul, and Wild Rose Pill that Elder Qian Tong brought out last time are all quite valuable, but if I had to name the most expensive pills on Shadowed Star, then it would have to be the Origin Condensing Pill and Origin Nirvana Pill. The latter can be said to be nearly priceless because it can help increase the chances a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master breaks through to the Origin King Realm. On Shadowed Star, there is no such master, but there are many stuck at the Third-Order Origin Realm. Those big forces wouldn’t hesitate to exchange several cities for a single Origin Nirvana Pill,” Wu Yi replied, her breath quickening slightly.
“No need to even consider it then,” Yang Kai shook his head decisively.
The Origin Nirvana Pill was an Origin King Low-Rank pill, forget about Yang Kai not having the appropriate materials, even if had the required ingredients, he couldn’t refine such a high-grade pill. The Origin Condensing Pill, on the other hand, could be refined because it was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank pill.
“Big Brother Yang, why do you ask?” Wu Yi looked at Yang Kai curiously.
“It’s nothing, wait here a moment, I’ll be right back,” Yang Kai said before turning around and returning to his stone room.
Although Yang Yan and Wu Yi were confused, they waited patiently, and roughly half an hour later, Yang Kai emerged once more and nodded, “Let’s go.”
The three of them then flew off towards Heavenly Fate City.
After the previous incident where Qian Tong came over and openly displayed his attitude, Yang Kai believed that no one would come to find trouble with Dragon Cave Mountain, so he could go out with peace of mind.
On the other hand, letting Wu Yi and Yang Yan take two Origin Grade artefacts to participate in the auction worried Yang Kai deeply, naturally, he needed to escort them there and back.
Yang Kai also wanted to know what price these two artefacts would sell for. Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts were worth between thirty thousand and fifty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, so an Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact should be sold for between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand, right? Yang Kai vaguely estimated that after selling these two artefacts, they would be able to purchase enough materials to furnish the cave’s Spirit Array.
Along the way, after listening to Wu Yi and Yang Yan talking non-stop, Yang Kai learned that Treasure Trove Pavilion didn’t belong to Shadow Moon Hall at all.
Treasure Trove Pavilion was its own force, one even more powerful than Shadow Moon Hall!
Treasure Trove Pavilion was similar to Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce in that it focused on conducting business. It had branches all across Shadowed Star and everyone once in a while, it would gather together treasures from all over the world and hold a grand auction.
The location of this auction wasn’t fixed and was instead held in turns all over Shadowed Star. This time, Treasure Trove Pavilion was hosting its auction in Heavenly Fate City.
The Treasure Trove Pavilion auction could be considered a grand event for all of Shadowed Star because, before every auction, Treasure Trove Pavilion would widely publicize a number of the precious objects to be auctioned, sending out pamphlets with exquisite illustrations to draw in expectant crowds.
The Treasure Trove Pavilion auction was attended by all the major powers on Shadowed Star and was a pseudo battle of financial resources and heritage. It was a lively occasion each time it was held, and many Heaven defying treasures had appeared over the years. Once, there was even a defensive artefact of Origin King Grade!
Rumour had it that this artefact was auctioned for over five hundred million High-Rank Saint Crystals plus fifteen flourishing cities!
Even the always calm Yang Kai was shocked by this number. Shadowed Star was too backwater so there were very few artefacts above Origin Grade Low-Rank, resulting in such an outrageous price being possible.
Yang Kai believed that on other Cultivation Stars, even if Origin King Grade artefacts were expensive, it was impossible for them to be sold for such a price.
“An Origin Nirvana Pill also appeared once and was apparently bought by a great Senior from Thunder Typhoon Sect. Unfortunately, after taking that Origin Nirvana Pill, that Senior failed to break through to the Origin King Realm and even had his cultivation realm fall as a result of some kind of backlash. I don’t know if that’s true or not though,” Wu Yi sighed softly.
Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent. Although he didn’t say anything, he was basically sure that what Wu Yi said was true.
After all, such pills were only auxiliary means. While such pills could help promote the chances of a cultivator breaking through to the next Great realm, and they were thus extremely expensive, they weren’t guarantees of success. If one’s understanding of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way hadn’t reached the appropriate level, no pill would be able to make them take another step forward.
Conversely, if one’s comprehension of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way were enough to exceed the bottleneck a cultivator was facing, even if they didn’t take an auxiliary pill, when the time came, they could still break through.
Yang Kai fell into the latter category as his understanding of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao always greatly exceeded his current realm. As such, he had never used pills that helped with breaking through to the next realm, saving him a lot of expense.
That Senior from Sir of Thunder Typhoon Sect had definitely not reached the grand accomplishment stage in the use and comprehension of Shi, as such, that precious Origin Nirvana Pill had essentially gone to waste.
Such a treasure wasn’t something that could be refined on Shadowed Star, so obviously it had been obtained through some other means.
After a cultivator fails to break through a bottleneck, they would inevitably suffer some type of backlash; this could range from strength regression like with that Thunder Typhoon Sect Senior, or in more serious cases, even death was possible.
As such, if a cultivator didn’t have enough confidence in their ability to overcome it, even if they reached a bottleneck, they wouldn’t dare attempt to break through to the next realm.
This kind of result was more difficult to see when a cultivator’s strength was low, which was why such cases basically didn’t exist in Tong Xuan Realm. Even in rare cases where failed breakthroughs occurred, the backlash was generally not strong. However, once one’s strength was high enough, such situations were more common.
In fact, it wasn’t until Yang Kai entered the Star Field that he slowly understood this information.
The group of three, while talking and laughing, quickly arrived at the Treasure Trove Pavilion branch in Heavenly Fate City.
Standing in front of the towering palace, Yang Kai realized just how prestigious this place really was! Treasure Trove Pavilion occupied almost half the street of the most prominent area in Heavenly Fate City. There were people coming and going in front of the building in an endless flow, but that could not distract from the giant plague emblazoned with three golden words that was hung above Treasure Trove Pavilion’s doors.
A vigorous and tyrannical aura overflowed from Treasure Trove Pavilion, secretly stunning Yang Kai.
There were at least a hundred Origin Returning Realm masters inside this building. Fortunately, these people were all here to participate in the auction and were not deliberately targeting anyone, allowing Yang Kai to feel less uncomfortable.
In front of Treasure Trove Pavilion, two First Order Origin Returning Realm masters stood tall, their eyes as sharp as eagles as they observed the passing crowds. Yang Kai and his group of three had only just arrived when one of the guards, wearing a light cyan robe, stepped forward and raised his hand, “Guest, please halt, Treasure Trove Pavilion is about to hold its auction, it will not be open for normal business for the time being. If you wish to buy or sell something, please come back tomorrow!”
“We’re here to attend the auction,” Yang Kai said lightly before turning to Wu Yi.
Yang Kai knew that in order to participate in this level of auction, invitations were necessary. The invitation Qian Tong passed them last time was obviously for this and should currently be in Wu Yi’s hands.
Wu Yi seemed to be immersed in the magnificent of Treasure Trove Pavilion though, never before having had the opportunity to participate in this grade of auction. Her heart was filled with excitement and her face flushed a light shade of red. It wasn’t until Yang Kai looked at her that she suddenly remembered about the invitation and began scrambling to find it in her Space Ring.
“Haha, you think a cat or dog can attend Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction?” A laugh rang out nearby, one filled with scorn and derision.
Yang Kai frowned and looked towards the source of this voice, wanting to see who it was that was acting so arrogantly. Being ridiculed as stray cats or dogs for no reason naturally made him unhappy.
A young man in white robes soon walked over, his eyes sharp and seemingly possessed a brilliant light. Although his face was smiling, anyone could see the disdain in his eyes. He had a sturdy, handsome figure that perfectly complemented his shimmering eyes, a young man capable of fascinating thousands of women.
What stunned Yang Kai though wasn’t any of this, but the fact that this young man actually had a Third Order Saint King cultivation and that in front of him, Yang Kai felt a faint sense of oppression. This youth’s aura was no less imposing than Xue Yue of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce.
Behind this young man were two masters who despite perfectly restraining their auras, were obviously of higher strength than the Hong Zhen Yang Kai faced before. These two masters wore black robes embroidered with soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes as well as a single large character.
War!
“Heaven Battling Union!” Wu Yi exclaimed, and quickly gave way.
[So he’s from Heaven Battling Union, no wonder he can have such strength despite not being very old,] Yang Kai thought to himself. He wasn’t to Shadowed Star anymore and had naturally heard about Heaven Battling Union as it was one of the biggest forces.
Among the younger generation of Heaven Battling Union, there was one extremely high aptitude genius named Qu Chang Feng. It was also said that he possessed incredibly piercing eyes.
If Yang Kai wasn’t mistaken, this young man should be that Qu Chang Feng, a talent famous across all of Shadowed Star.
Sure enough, after the guard who had stopped Yang Kai saw this young man, he respectfully cupped his fists and greeted, “Young Lord Qu, please enter!”
“En,” Qu Chang Feng nodded faintly then glancing over at Wu Yi and Yang Yan, pausing for a moment before smiling, “Do you two young ladies want to enter Treasure Trove Pavilion?”
Neither Wu Yi nor Yang Yan answered.
Qu Chang Feng continued talking though, “Entry right now is restricted because the auction is about to take place, these two guards won’t allow anyone inside without an invitation, but if you really want to go in, you can come with me, what do you two young ladies think?”
The smile he wore while offering this invitation seemed innocent and harmless, but Yang Yan and Wu Yi weren’t the types of women who would be fooled by such false humility; they naturally understood Qu Chang Feng’s intentions.
“Qu Chang Feng, I haven’t seen you for a few years but you still like showing off your superiority in front of the weak it seems. Do you really think being able to attend this auction is something noteworthy, or is it your Heaven Battling Union that is so great?” A deep voice sounded, and when Qu Chang Feng, who was still offering an invitation to Wu Yi and Yang Yan heard this voice, he couldn’t help frowning bitterly, as if he’d just swallowed a fly, the spring-like smile on his face disappearing in a flash as he turned his sharp eyes in the direction of this voice.
A short distance away, a young man in simple grey robes was walking over. He wasn’t putting on airs like Qu Chang Feng and instead appeared rather plain and unimpressive, but Qu Chang Feng didn’t dare despise him as a serious light flashed across his sharp eyes.
Yang Kai also turned his head to look at this newcomer, wondering who dared act so arrogant in front of Qu Chang Feng.
At first glance, Yang Kai was a little surprised. The clothes this young man wore weren’t anything special, and could even be described as crude, but the aura he gave off was even stronger and forceful than Qu Chang Feng’s; on top of that, this aura was filled with sharpness. Yang Kai even faintly felt a surge of lightning coming from him.
This young man obviously cultivated some kind of Thunder Attribute Secret Art and had already achieved high accomplishments in it. He wasn’t a robust figure, but he was definitely a master. This was because, like Qu Chang Feng, he was also Third Order Saint King!
This young man was also followed by two Origin Returning Realm masters, both dressed in azure robes with a distinctive lightning bolt emblazoned on their chests. This lightning bolt was quite lifelike and radiated a shocking presence.
“I was wondering who it was, turns out it was Brother Fang of Thunder Typhoon Sect. Long time no see! I see you still dress so shabbily, aren’t you afraid your appearance will damage Thunder Typhoon Sect’s face?” Qu Chang Feng chuckled without a smile.
Yang Kai’s brow rose as he immediately understood who this simply-dressed man was.
Fang Tian Zhong of Thunder Typhoon Sect! Like Qu Chang Feng, he was also one of Shadowed Star’s famous young talents, the first genius of Thunder Typhoon Sect’s younger generation.
Geniuses always had extremely high pride and refused to sit on par with others. These two young men were the greatest talents of their respective Sects, so naturally, there was friction between them. Once they encountered one another it would always result in a tit-for-tat mockery match.
The two guards of Treasure Trove Pavilion stood helplessly next to each other. If ordinary people dared act so wildly in front of Treasure Trove Pavilion, they would have already taught them a lesson, but Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong weren’t characters they dared to offend.
Even Yang Kai, who was standing nearby, became nothing but a foil.
“What I cultivate is the Martial Dao, what I study is the Heavenly Way. I’m not like you who worries about dressing up and showing off all day long,” Fang Tian Zhong said coldly.
Qu Chang Feng also let out a snort as he pushed his fighting intent towards Fang Tian Zhong. Fang Tian Zhong naturally refused to back down and also released his aura.
As if two storms had suddenly appeared and collided with one another, the atmosphere in front of Treasure Trove Pavilion suddenly descended into chaos and many masters already inside the building who noticed this released their Divine Senses to probe the situation. However, after learning that this was a conflict between Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong, all of them quickly took back their Divine Senses and no longer interfered.
Seeing these two geniuses confront each other with no regard to their surroundings, Yang Kai’s eyes grew cold, and his originally good opinion of Fang Tian Zhong shattered. Yang Kai had felt that this guy wasn’t pretentious like Qu Chang Feng, but now that trace of goodwill had completely disappeared.
If the one standing here had been an ordinary First-Order Saint King, they would definitely have gotten caught up in this invisible conflict and even if they hadn’t been injured, they would certainly be quite uncomfortable.
These two obviously didn’t care about him or Wu Yi and Yang Yan, all they wanted was to put the other one down.
When their two imposing manners reached a peak, Yang Kai let out a cold snort and waved his hand casually.
A sound as if something was torn apart resounded and Yang Kai stood in place like a mountain, not a single ruffle apparent on his clothes or hair. Yang Yan and Wu Yi hiding behind him also felt nothing.
“Em?” Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong converged their own imposing manners at the same time and turned to look at Yang Kai, both of them showing a tinge of surprise.
Although they had not been aiming their fighting intent towards Yang Kai just now, it was still not something a First-Order Saint King should have been able to resist, but now, this unknown youth had actually easily broken apart their conflict, shocking them slightly.
However, it was just a bit of surprise; in their opinions, Yang Kai’s current cultivation wasn’t worthy of their attention.
“Two Senior Brothers have such a good relationship, whenever you meet you get along so well, it’s really quite enviable,” A clear and sweet laughter like the sound of a silver bell rang out as a young woman stepped forward. Her creamy white skin and tender features, paired with her aura that seemed delicate, caused anyone who laid eyes on her to give birth to the desire to protect and care for her. The woman’s figure, however, was enchanting and her lavender dress perfectly outlined her luscious curves, contrasting and amplifying her graceful bearing.
When she approached, a fragrant scent wafted about, making people feel refreshed while at the same time causing their pulses to race.
Although her words were clearly mockery, neither Fang Tian Zhong nor Qu Chang Feng showed any anger, with the latter even smiling happily as he stared at this young woman with a burning look.
“Su Die greets two Senior Brothers,” The woman elegantly greeted, her face filled with a light blush that made her cheeks seem so soft one couldn’t help wanting to reach out and caress them.
“So it is Junior Sister Yin, it’s been too long since we last met, it makes Elder Brother here sad,” Qu Chang Feng no longer had any interest in Fang Tian Zhong and said with a laugh.
Fang Tian Zhong also nodded slightly to this young woman, offering his greetings.
These three were all geniuses on Shadowed Star, so naturally they knew each other.
“I didn’t expect Junior Sister Yin to come to this auction, it looks like my coming this time was the right decision. Would Junior Sister care to accompany me today? We can sit down and have a nice chat; Senior Brother isn’t talented but recently I have been diligently studying Shi and obtained some slight insights,” Qu Chang Feng enthusiastically invited, an obvious flavour of pride apparent in his last words.
Yang Kai secretly curled his lips when he heard this; he knew how difficult it was to comprehend Shi, and even after absorbing the insights of two Origin Returning Realm masters, he hadn’t been able to grasp anything about this profound type of strength. Qu Chang Feng may have a higher cultivation than Yang Kai, but it was still impossible for him to have comprehended anything of significance about Shi before entering the Origin Returning Realm. Qu Chang Feng saying all this was obviously just an excuse to get close to Yin Su Die.
Yin Su Die was naturally clearer about this than Yang Kai and simply flashed an enchanting smile while saying, “Although Junior Sister also wishes to talk more with Senior Brother Qu, Junior Sister came today as a representative of her Honoured Master. With such an important task at hand, Junior Sister must politely decline Senior Brother Qu’s invitation.”
“Of course. Of course, we both have long futures ahead of us, there’ll be plenty of other opportunities to chat,” Qu Chang Feng smiled freely, not showing any signs of annoyance at Yin Su Die’s rejection. It was clear he had bumped into such resistance from her more than once or twice already and built up a tolerance for it.
The three young talents stood in front of the door for some time, gathering the attention of many people who had come to attend the auction, but with them not entering, all the other Young Masters and Ladies could only stand by and wait.
Compared with these people, Yang Kai found that he, Wu Yi, and Yang Yan all seemed quite shabby. These Young Masters and Ladies were all dressed in exquisite robes, dazzling dresses, or powerful Artifact Armours.
Yang Kai on the other hand just wore plain clothes while Yang Yan was even more out of place, wearing her signature black robe with which she was trying to cover her face, seemingly feeling embarrassed. Wu Yi wasn’t as bad as these two, but she was still just wearing ordinary clothes, unable to compare with the high fashion of those around her.
These three stuck out like chickens among cranes and were obviously also drawing attention from the crowd.
Fortunately, the three talents didn’t continue chatting for long as the auction was about to start. They also wanted to go in early. After the Young Masters and Ladies offered greetings to Fang Tian Zhong’s trio, they quickly filed inside and quickly disappeared.
Before leaving, Fang Tian Zhong shot a brief glance over towards Yang Kai, but didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t until Treasure Trove Pavilion’s calmed down once more that Wu Yi was able to let out a sigh of relief and whispered to Yang Kai, “That woman just now was Yin Su Die of the Coloured Glass Sect. She is a famous character and also the first beauty of Shadowed Star, countless young men are pursuing her.”
“The first beauty?” Yang Kai laughed, “You two aren’t any worse than her, her title is clearly undeserved.”
“How can I compare with her?” Wu Yi blushed. Regardless of whether Yang Kai was behind honest or not, such praise still made her very happy. No woman didn’t care about her appearance, but Wu Yi knew there was a huge difference between her and Yin Su Die, their backgrounds alone weren’t comparable.
“Let’s go in too,” Yang Kai said lightly. He came to the auction today to protect Wu Yi and Yang Yan, but he hadn’t expected to run into so many young geniuses here as well.
Whether it was Qu Chang Feng, Fang Tian Zhong, or Yin Su Die, none of them could be despised. Yang Kai realized he still had a long way to go and that he was far from invincible in this world.
The appearance of these three people reminded Yang Kai that even opponents in the same realm as him mustn’t be underestimated. They were the representatives of their respective Sects, so who knows what kind of profound skills or astonishing treasures they had on them? If they were to fight, who would win and who would lose wasn’t a certainty.
Wu Yi finally found the invitation in her Space Ring and handed it to the guard outside. The guard seemingly didn’t expect that three people like Yang Kai could actually obtain this invitation, but although he was surprised, he didn’t try to embarrass them and quickly ushered them inside.
Entering Treasure Trove Pavilion, the loud bustle of the crowd immediately washed over the trio as countless people gathered in groups, discussing various different topics.
“So this Treasure Trove Pavilion?” Wu Yi’s pretty face was filled with shock as her eyes darted back and forth, filled with curiosity and wonder. It was the first time she had ever entered this place.
The sight which greeted them was a huge circular half-arc hall with a dome roof lined with the most brilliant of light stones, all of which were emitting a soft glow that made the entire interior of Treasure Trove Pavilion no less bright than the outside.
At the lowest level of the hall, rows of seats were neatly arranged. Nearly eighty percent of these seats were already filled while the higher floors still had a large number of people walking back and forth.
At the front centre of the main floor was a high platform at least two meters above ground; it was clearly the stage on which the auctioning items would be presented.
This design allowed everyone participating in the auction to clearly see the items being auctioned.
When Yang Kai arrived here, he first tried to find where Qian Tong was, but he soon discovered that in this place it was very difficult to find a particular individual. If he was a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master, he wouldn’t need to have any scruples and could just search the premises with the help of his Divine Sense. However, in this place where so many masters had gathered, Yang Kai didn’t dare use his Divine Sense at will, lest he cause misunderstandings and draw unnecessary trouble to himself.
Just as Yang Kai was wondering what to do, a figure ran over to him and bowed politely, “Luo Qing greets Young Master Yang, greets the Young Ladies.”
Yang Kai looked over at this newcomer and discovered that he was the same Origin Realm master who had been invited by the Xu Family to deal with him but had recognized Yang Kai in time and reported to Qian Tong.
Grateful to Luo Qing for his efforts back then, Yang Kai politely greeted, “So it is Brother Luo. Where is Elder Qian now?”
“Elder Qian is currently attending to some matters and cannot step away, so he ordered this disciple to wait here for Young Master Yang. Young Master Yang may rest assured that Elder Qian has made all necessary arrangements for you, if you will just follow me.”
“Understood. Lead the way,” Yang Kai nodded.
Since Treasure Trove Pavilion was holding an auction in Heavenly Fate City, and Qian Tong was one of the senior Elders in charge of in Heavenly Fate City, it was normal for him to have many things to deal with, so Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t think much about this.
Follow Luo Qing, the trio went straight up to the third floor. Pushing open the door to a certain room, Luo Qing walked inside and explained, “Young Master Yang, this is the private room Elder Qian arranged for you, is it to your satisfaction?”
Yang Kai entered the room and found that although it was a bit small, it was well furnished with comfortable chairs to sit on and good-quality spirit fruits laid out on a decorative table. A pot of hot spirit tea was brewing and there were two beautiful maidservants standing by. These two maids had bright eyes and slender figures and upon seeing Yang Kai and the two young women enter, they immediately welcomed them.
Yang Kai didn’t know if other private rooms came with maidservants, but he was certain these two had been specially arranged by Qian Tong, because both were wearing Shadow Moon Hall uniforms, indicating their status as disciples.
“Elder Qian’s arrangements are quite attentive, I’m very satisfied,” Yang Kai nodded with a smile.
“Young Master Yang being satisfied is good,” Luo Qing seemed relieved. He had heard about Qian Tong killing Hong Zhen and his Senior Brother in order to become maintain a friendly relationship with Yang Kai, so although he still didn’t know what made Yang Kai worthy of such efforts, having received Qian Tong’s orders Luo Qing dared not show any neglect.
“I beg your pardon Young Master Yang, but Elder Qian instructed this disciple to bring the items you wish to auction off today to him as soon as possible so that Treasure Trove Pavilion can evaluate their starting price and where to position them in today’s lineup.”
“En, understood,” Yang Kai sent a wink to Wu Yi, who immediately took out two beautifully packaged jade boxes from her Space Ring and handed them to Luo Qing. These two jade boxes naturally held the two Origin Grade artifacts Yang Yan had refined.
“This as well,” Yang Kai said as he took out a jade bottle and handed it to Luo Qing.
“Thank you. Please feel free to relax here for the moment, Young Master Yang, the auction should start in about half an hour, this Luo Qing will take his leave first,” Luo Qing bowed and turned around to leave, ordering the two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples to attentively entertain Yang Kai, to which the two girls nodded respectfully.
“Seems we’re in room C13,” Wu Yi walked over and closed the door, instantly blocking out all the noise from outside.
“The Spirit Arrays here are well arranged,” Yang Yan walked around, examining a few places, seemingly quite interested in the Spirit Arrays inside the room. “Others’ Divine Senses won’t be able to penetrate this room, the only downside is that it’s a little far from the auction stage.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “This is Treasure Trove Pavilion after all. It probably took Elder Qian a great deal of effort to even get us this private room. Looking at the people who came here today, all of them seem to be powerful characters with famous names.”
As Yang Kai spoke, the two female Shadow Moon Hall disciples couldn’t help smiling even more brightly, as if they were pleased to hear Elder Qian receive such high praise.
“You two don’t need to act restrained, just sit down. We’re not wealthy or influential people, we’re just here to watch the fun this time,” Yang Kai said to the two maids as he saw them acting slightly nervously.
The two women quickly waved their hands frantically, saying they didn’t dare.
Yang Kai did not force them after seeing them refuse, instead sitting down on one of the chairs and pouring himself a cup of tea, tasting it slowly as he waited.
Wu Yi still couldn’t believe what was happening here. She had never imagined she would one day be able to participate in this grade of auction. Let alone her, even Patriarch Yi En of the Hai Ke Family wouldn’t be eligible to attend this auction or even enter Treasure Trove Pavilion at such a time.
But now, she was actually sitting in a private room, enjoying treatment reserved for powerful masters from first-class Sects, making her feel quite complicated in her heart. The gap between people was really too big. Her biggest wish before was to work hard make Yi En look at her with high esteem so that she may later inherit the position of Matriarch and take command of the Hai Ke Family; but now, she no longer had such thoughts.
So what if she became Matriarch? The Matriarch of such a small family wasn’t even worth as much as a common disciple of Shadow Moon Hall. Take for instance the two maids who were current standing nearby, waiting to serve them. Although these two only had Third Order Saint Realm cultivation, if they had arrived at the Hai Ke Family, Yi En would still have to treat them with the utmost respect and courtesy.
This was the insurmountable gap between the great forces and small families.
A few days ago, when Yang Kai was still in retreat, Yi En had come to the cave once more along with many of the family’s Elders and Foreign Elders to request Wu Yi return and assume the position of Patriarch, but Wu Yi had immediately declined. Since she had chosen to separate from the family, she would not go back.
Suddenly feeling something flying towards her, Wu Yi’s eyes quickly shifted to the side and she lifted her hand to catch this object. Upon grasping it, she noticed that it was one of the spirit fruits from the table.
Yang Kai laughed, “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” Wu Yi shook her head, picking up another spirit fruit before standing up and giving them to the female disciples of Shadow Moon Hall.
The two girls didn’t refuse this time, thanking Wu Yi politely as they received the fruits in a graceful manner.
The auction wouldn’t start for some time but the atmosphere in the private room was already quite harmonious. The two female disciples of Shadow Moon Hall also seemed to understand that Yang Kai, Wu Yi, and Yang Yan didn’t possess great backgrounds and were quite kind to others; Yang Yan even chatted with them like they were little sisters. Yang Kai couldn’t even get in a word, so he simply picked up the illustrated catalogue on the table and browsed through the items being auctioned today.
At the same time, in a back room of Treasure Trove Pavilion, a black-faced old man with a short goatee spat at Qian Tong with dissatisfaction, “Old Qian, things are about to start, when are those things you want to sell going to arrive?”
Qian Tong glanced towards the door and said hesitantly, “They should be delivered soon, just wait a moment.”
“Wait a moment? Treasure Trove Pavilion has its own rules. If not for the two of us sharing some friendship, do you think I would break those rules and allow you to insert items just moments before the auction starts?”
“Not at all, not at all,” Qian Tong met this rebuke with a smile, but in his heart, he was muttering uncomfortably. Wu Yi had come to him a few days ago and said that they would be bringing some items to auction, but she had not said what these items would be, only that they were artefacts. Out of consideration for Yang Kai’s face, Qian Tong had assured Wu Yi that as long as the items were delivered before the auction he would take care of the rest, but how could he have anticipated the items to not be delivered even now? With no other choice, he could only eloquently persuade, “Brother Yan Pei, just a bit longer, the items will definitely come.”
Yan Pei’s black face became even darker, like the bottom of a pot, and he grumbled for a moment before nodding, “Don’t say that this brother didn’t show you any consideration. Half an incense stick, if your items aren’t delivered in the next half an incense stick, no matter how precious they are, I won’t include them in the auction.”
“I know, I know, I’ll have to trouble Brother Yan Pei with this,” Qian Tong smiled helplessly, Treasure Trove Pavilion really had its own rules so he couldn’t argue any further. Just after he’d reached this agreement though, Qian Tong’s communication artefact vibrated and a Divine Sense Message reached him. It was from Luo Qing, causing Qian Tong to smile and say, “They’re here.”
Saying so, he immediately left the room.
A moment later, holding a jade bottle and two jade boxes, Qian Tong returned.
Yan Pei spat unhappily, “Are these the things you want to auction?”
“They should be,” Qian Tong hadn’t opened the boxes to see what was inside as time was short. He had simply accepted them from Luo Qing and brought them inside.
“Open them so we can have appraise their value and see if they’re even worthy auctioning,” Yan Pei said coldly, waving his hand and summoning in a number of Origin Realm masters who proceeded to circle around the jade boxes and jade bottle which were now laid out on a nearby table.
Seeing Qian Tong still somewhat on edge, Yan Pei sneered, “Brother Qian, don’t tell me you’ve brought some worthless items to be auctioned? If that’s the case, you’d best take them back now.”
“How could that be,” Qian Tong sneered, “Are Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts not worthy of being auctioned?”
Because it was Wu Yi who had spoken to him earlier, Qian Tong was somewhat lacking in confidence. If Yang Kai had met with him personally, Qian Tong won’t be worrying about anything. Behind Yang Kai was an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, protecting him from the shadows, that was also the reason Qian Tong thought Saint King Grade High-Rank artifacts would be sent because he couldn’t imagine a powerful Artifact Refining Grandmaster intentionally damaging his own face by putting out anything less.
“Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts…” Yan Pei’s complexion immediately became better but he still said solemnly, “Naturally such items are worth auctioning; but Brother Qian, this is not a precedent, if items arrive this late again even I won’t be able to take responsibility for adding them to the auction, if such things were discovered by others it wouldn’t be easy to explain.”
Although Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts weren’t too valuable, they could still be considered the most mainstream high even artefacts on Shadowed Star. There weren’t many Origin Grade Artifact Refiners so most Saint Kings and even Origin Realm cultivators would use this grade of artefact. As such, Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts were easy to sell. Treasure Trove Pavilion had also prepared many such artefacts for this time’s auction, so having two more wouldn’t change things much.
While the two old men were talking though, a cry of surprise rang out from the side.
“What happened?” Yan Pei turned his head and looked over.
“Sir, this is an Origin Grade Low-Rank offensive type artefact!” An Origin Returning Realm master immediately came over and showed the twin daggers inside the jade box to Qian Tong and Yan Pei.
Qian Tong’s eyes narrowed and suddenly felt his heart clench slightly.
Although he had long guessed that the master behind Yang Kai was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, he hadn’t expected him to actually bring out this grade of artefact to the auction. If Qian Tong had known, he would have directly bought it from Yang Kai. He had already bought artefacts from Yang Kai twice before, and each time both sides had left happy, but now that this precious Origin Grade artefact was in Treasure Trove Pavilion’s hands, if Qian Tong wanted it, he could only participate in the auction.
Buying this artefact in the auction would obviously be much more expensive than directly purchasing it from Yang Kai, and it wasn’t even a certainty he could obtain it. Those who attended this Treasure Trove Pavilion auction didn’t lack wealth or influence, so it would be a bloody battle to acquire such a good treasure.