It was extremely frustrating being unable to fly. Having descended several thousand meters, even if Yang Kai climbed as fast as possible, it would still take him about half an hour to reach the surface. Fortunately, he had the benefit of being in a good mood at the moment.
After half an hour, Yang Kai finally returned to the ground again. Standing in place, he took a light breath before pulling the Yuan Magnetic Compass out from his Space Ring to determine which direction led deeper into the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
But before he could move forward again, an incredible sense of crisis suddenly gripped his heart.
This feeling was like death was upon him.
Hurriedly, Yang Kai pushed his Saint Qi and tried to leap to the side.
An astonishingly quick bolt of red light suddenly shot out from a nearby location and pierced through the right side of Yang Kai’s chest.
The huge force behind this blow sent Yang Kai flying as every bone in his chest cried out in pain. Suffering this unexpected attack, Yang Kai discovered that he had actually been injured, and seriously at that!
Before his body even landed, Yang Kai’s powerful Divine Sense spread out madly and instantly locked onto the source of the attack.
The moment he saw who his attackers were, Yang Kai’s killing intent erupted!
It was that idiot Xie Hong Wen and his two Third-Order Saint King guards Yang Kai had seen earlier. These two had obviously been sent by the Xie Family to protect this delinquent Young Master but at this moment, one of them was kneeling on the ground exhausted as he held a crossbow-shaped artefact. This artefact gave off a strange aura and seemed to be madly absorbing the man’s Saint Qi, causing his aura to become more and more unstable. Yang Kai also clearly saw that the cultivator holding this strange crossbow artefact was leaking blood from his hands and lips, blood that was actually flowing down into the crossbow. This strange crossbow was like a fierce beast and was actually swallowing all of this fresh blood, giving it a blood-red colour.
The other Third-Order Saint King saw this and quickly took out several pills from his Space Ring before shoving them into the mouth of the weakened cultivator.
As for Xie Hong Wen, seemingly thinking Yang Kai had been killed, he leapt to his feet and stood atop the hidden hill in excitement, looked towards the site of the deed while joyfully dancing and applauding loudly.
However, after seeing Yang Kai hit the ground but not actually fall down, Xie Hong Wen froze up.
Yang Kai didn’t immediately try to counterattack. Xie Hong Wen wasn’t worth worrying about and the cultivator that had used that powerful crossbow artefact to launch a sneak attack on him was clearly an arrow at the end of its flight, possibly unable to even move. In Yang Kai’s eyes, these two were already dead. As for the remaining Third Order Saint King, Yang Kai believed that he wouldn’t have any difficulty killing him.
Right now, it was more important for him to check his injuries.
Right now, in his right chest, there was a small but sharp arrow that gave off a powerful aura. This sharp arrow had sunk ten centimetres into his chest and probably punctured his lung, making it feel like he was breathing fire every time he inhaled.
In his heart, Yang Kai was secretly shocked while at the same time thankful. He was shocked that the other party actually possessed such a strange artefact that could send out such a powerful attack, but thankful as well that he had sensed danger in advance and managed to avoid a fatal blow.
It was obvious to Yang Kai that his enemy had aimed at his heart, but because he had dodged at the last instant, this arrow had only managed to hit his right chest and injure his lungs.
It was mainly thanks to his tough physical body that Yang Kai was able to resist this attack. If not for his physique being so intrepid, such a blow would have blown a hole straight through his chest!
Yang Kai’s face became gloomy as murderous intent permeated the air around him. He stretched out his hand wanting to remove the arrow inserted into his right chest, but before he could, it actually disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a gaping wound out of which his Golden Blood flowed. The incredibly vitality contained in his Golden Blood soon began to repair the wounded at a rate visible to the naked eye.
He then turned his eyes towards the nearby hilltop and walked step by step towards it.
Xie Hong Wen fell to the ground as his legs gave out, his face completely pale as he called out, “Xie… Xie…”
Even after all this time, he actually didn’t know the names of either of these two cultivators who had been sent to protect him.
Xie Yun thought he was worried about his weakened appearance and reluctantly smiled, “Young Master does not need to concern himself about it, I’ll be fine after a month or two of rest and recuperation. This is simply the price I must pay to use this artefact!”
It was because of this strange artefact that he had absolute confidence in assassinating Yang Kai.
As soon as Xie Yun finished these words, the strange crossbow artefact that had been pulling blood from his wounds finally stopped and fell from his hands.
Hearing this, Xie Hong Wen wanted to curse Xie Yun out. [How could this Young Master care about you, even if you died? What difference did it make to this Young Master?]
Filled with anxiety, he turned his head back and called out in fright, “He’s here.”
“What?” Xie Yun and Xie Yong’s looks both changed greatly as they too turned to look in the direction Xie Hong Wen was staring. The moment they did so though, they saw Yang Kai slowly walking towards them, a malevolent aura radiating from his form. With every step he trod, it felt like he was stepping on their hearts, causing the trio’s frail nerves to all but break.
“Impossible!” Xie Yun’s eyes stared in horror and disbelief, “He couldn’t possibly have survived that!”
He knew better than anyone about the power of his artefact’s attack.
Moreover, he had timed his attack perfectly. Although he didn’t quite understand how Yang Kai was able to escape from that crevice alive, the other party had been fighting non-stop for more than a day so his Saint Qi should have been completely exhausted. On top of that, Yang Kai’s clothes were tattered and his body scarred all over, looking thoroughly dishevelled, so Xie Yun had launched his attack without hesitation.
Facing such a powerful blow, Xie Yun was confident no one below the Origin Returning Realm could resist! Even if it was an Origin Realm master, if they weren’t skilled enough in the use of Shi, they would also die to such a sneak attack. The only thing that could resist this crossbow’s strike was the condensed Shi of a powerful Origin Returning Realm master!
However, no matter how much he didn’t believe what he was seeing, the facts in front of him wouldn’t change. Yang Kai was indeed alive, and the wound he suffered didn’t even seem that significant.
This made Xie Yun, who was already so weak, suddenly lose all strength and collapse to the ground.
[What kind of existence had this stupid pig Xie Hong Wen provoked? Xie Hong Wen had wanted to exact revenge upon a monster that even my certain kill strike couldn’t defeat? Even if Xie Hong Wen wanted revenge, why did he have to drag me down with him?]
“Xie Yong… what are you doing?” Xie Hong Wen suddenly called again.
Xie Yun turned his head weakly to the side and smiled miserably.
Xie Yong had actually escaped without a word. It seemed that he also understands that this guy named Yang Kai wasn’t someone he should be messing with, so he had decisively fled. When one’s strength reached a certain height, their ability to sense crisis became quite strong. Xie Yong must have realized this and taken off.
“Xie Yong, you get back here!” Xie Hong Wen didn’t dare to face Yang Kai, but he had no reason to act polite to Xie Yong, he just wanted to get him to stay behind so he could seek some sense of security, thus he shouted vigorously, “If you dare to escape, when this Young Master gets back he will tell his father and you will face the Family Law’s punishment!”
Xie Yong ignored him and ran even faster.
“Don’t waste your energy. If you want to survive, run away quickly, if you can that is,” Xie Yun said lightly. He knew he would die here no matter what, so he immediately calmed down greatly and even began to snicker, “En, I’d say it’s impossible for you to run away actually. You’ll die here without a doubt. Hahaha, I didn’t expect that I, Xie Yun, would have to accompany a stupid pig like you to the Underworld. It’s really a shame!”
In the original plan, after Xie Yun used his certain kill strike, he would depend on Xie Yong’s protection to survive, but now that Xie Yong had fled, even if by some miracle Yang Kai didn’t kill him, there was no way he could survive alone in such a state in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Naturally, he didn’t expect Xie Hong Wen to take care of him.
Xie Hong Wen froze up upon hearing this before turning to look at Xie Yun in a rage, “What do you call me? You dare call this Young Master a stupid pig? You…”
Suddenly, Xie Hong Wen couldn’t say anything more, because he saw this Xie Family disciple, who had always been deferential and obedient toward him was at this moment, staring at him with a look filled with mockery and disdain, it was almost like… he was looking at an ant crawling around the ground, unworthy of even a passing glance.
A whistling sound suddenly rang out, causing Xie Hong Wen to scream and fall to the ground. When he looked up, he suddenly found Yang Kai standing quietly in front of himself, the pressure coming from him as heavy as a mountain.
The atmosphere in the Flowing Flame Sand Field was incredibly hot, but right now, all Xie Hong Wen could feel was an infinite chill, as if he had fallen into a frozen hell that could even freeze his soul, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
A loud dragon roar suddenly filled the air and Xie Hong Wen’s eyes widened as he saw a black dragon leap out from Yang Kai body and soar off in the direction of the escaping Xie Yong.
A short while later, Xie Yong’s shouts and the sounds of battle reached Xie Hong Wen’s ears.
Gradually, the fallout from this battle became smaller and Xie Yong’s shouts grew weaker, eventually disappearing.
The black dragon then swiftly returned and disappeared inside Yang Kai’s body.
There was no need to even think about it, Xie Hong Wen knew that Xie Yong was gone. Xie Hong Wen suddenly began weeping as he stared at Yang Kai with an imploring look. His lips wriggled a few times, seemingly wanting to beg for mercy but unable to make any sound.
His courage had been completely drained at this moment.
Yang Kai stared back at Xie Hong Wen, his eyes ice-cold, like he was staring at a disgusting piece of garbage, angry this kind of waste had actually brought people to ambush him and had even managed to wound him.
“You managed to survive last time only because of Qian Tong’s mercy, but unfortunately you didn’t cherish that gift. Since you court death, I’ll help deliver it to you!” Yang Kai was too lazy to continue staring at Xie Hong Wen’s disgusting face and simply sent out a burst of Demonic Flame to engulf him, burning him to ashes in the blink of an eye.
From the beginning to the end, Xie Hong Wen had never thought about putting up some kind resistance, it was really a wonder why he had even bothered cultivating all these years.
The Demonic Flames were capable of burning everything in existence, so even Xie Hong Wen’s Soul was burnt down, literally destroying him in body and soul.
Yang Kai then turned to Xie Yun. This person was actually a bit interesting. Even knowing he would die, he didn’t show the slightest bit of fear, only some slight shock when Xie Yong had died.
He hadn’t expected that Yang Kai would be able to kill Xie Yong without even having to make a move personally.
The difference in strength between them was even bigger than he had imagined!
Inside the mountain valley, Yang Kai looked down indifferently at Xie Yun. Instead of killing him immediately though, he said, “Tell me, how did you know I was here? It’s impossible you found me by chance. The Flowing Flame Sand Field is so big that if you didn’t use some special method, there’s no way you could have traced my location. If you can give me a satisfactory answer, I’ll leave you a whole corpse.”
His expression then turned frigid as he continued coldly, “But if you dare try to conceal anything, I’ll let you know what it means to beg for death. Believe me, I can ensure you recover and torture you slowly!”
Xie Yun smiled bitterly as he panted for breath before replying, “It’s quite simple actually, we just had one of the Shadow Moon Hall disciples inform us about where you entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Everyone here follows the guidance of their Yuan Magnetic Compass as they proceed further, as long as we could determine where you entered, it wasn’t difficult to track your movements. Xie Yong who you killed was a master in this field!”
Yang Kai nodded slightly, thinking this explanation matched with his expectations.
After discovering that Xie Hong Wen was the one who had attacked him, Yang Kai had some speculations.
He had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field by himself, and so far, had only encountered two other people, the pair he had met when he first came in. One of those two was wearing the uniform of Shadow Moon Hall while the other was a disciple from some other Sect. Yang Kai didn’t know who that other person was but his voice was somewhat familiar.
In order to pursue Yang Kai so quickly and accurately, Xie Hong Wen had to have received word from someone about his position, and that person must have been one of the two he had met when he first entered this place.
Now it turns out that it was really the case. No wonder that Shadow Moon Hall disciple, after noticing Yang Kai, had immediately shown a weird expression. It must have been that Xie Hong Wen had sent word to him in advance, which was also why he so anxiously left. Obviously, he had reported to Xie Hong Wen at that time.
Yang Kai was also certain that Xie Hong Wen had not only sent word to that person. There were seventy disciples from Shadow Moon Hall who had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so there were definitely a lot of people who could be tempted with money.
Since ancient times, money was what had moved people.
“Let me die in peace.” After Xie Yun finished speaking, he lay on the ground indifferently without moving.
Yang Kai nodded and, using a precise burst of strength, puncture Xie Yun’s forehead.
Yang Kai was a man of his word. Since he said he would leave the other side a whole corpse, he naturally wouldn’t burn him down with his Demonic Flame.
Yang Kai stooped and picked up the strange crossbow artefact. After probing it for a moment, he couldn’t help raising a brow. This artefact was really quite powerful, it had even managed to directly wound him, but it definitely had drawbacks as well. Just seeing Xie Yun’s state after using it once, Yang Kai could infer that this crossbow not only consumed a massive amount of Saint Qi from its user but also a large quantity of their blood.
This was no doubt an evil artefact.
Yang Kai wasn’t interested in it as using it was nothing less than harming oneself to kill another. This artefact could only be used when there were others around to protect them after the fact.
Tossing it into his Space Ring, Yang Kai then picked up Xie Hong Wen and Xie Yun’s Space Rings. After some investigation, he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
The two of them had nothing but a few pills and Saint Crystals use to restore strength.
However, that was only to be expected. Unlike Yang Kai, who had brought along all of his valuables, other cultivators who entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field would leave their precious items outside, otherwise, once something happened, the loss suffered would be overwhelming.
Among the pills, the only thing that made Yang Kai a bit happy was a single bottle with five Snow And Ice Pills.
All of his Snow And Ice Pills had been given to Chang Qi and Hao An, and there had been no time since he entered this place to refine more, so picking some up now was actually quite handy. Perhaps he would have a use for them at some point.
After seeing how poor Xie Hong Wen and Xie Yun were, Yang Kai didn’t even have the heart to find Xie Yong’s Space Ring, so he simply turned and walked deeper into the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Without the obstruction of the Fire Spirit Beasts, Yang Kai took advantage of the speed boost his Wind and Thunder Wings provided to leave the mountain valley completely in just over two days.
The further forward he went, the greater the ambient heat of the Flame Area became. Yang Kai physique was different from ordinary cultivators, and his Saint Qi was incredibly pure and dense; additionally, he had formerly cultivated a Yang Attribute Secret Art and now the powerful and abstruse Demonic Flames coursed through his body, so he only had to slightly circulate his Saint Qi to resist the invasion of the fire poison.
He didn’t know how vast the Flame Area was, so Yang Kai simply continued forward, not once encountering even a shadow of another person. His harvest along the way was also quite desolate. After half a month, all he had managed to collect was a few Seventh-Order Fire Spirit Beast’s Fire Crystal Stone and ten or so Fire Attribute spirit herbs.
Only now did Yang Kai realize the preciousness and scarcity of Fire Crystal Stones. He happened to have killed an Eighth-Order Fire Spirit Beast before and harvested a Fire Crystal Stone the size of a pigeon egg, and in the strange mountain valley, he had obtained one the size of a plate. It could be said that in terms of Fire Crystal Stones, Yang Kai’s harvest had already outstripped all others who had ever entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field before.
Because of the scarcity of Fire Spirit Beasts above Seventh-Order, Fire Crystal Stones were incredibly valuable.
The Fire Crystal Stones from Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Fire Spirit Beasts were too small to serve any kind of Alchemy or Artifact Refining purpose, so they could only be absorbed by cultivators to cultivate.
Those dozen or so Fire Attribute spirit herbs also weren’t too precious, most of them Saint King Grade with one or two reaching the Origin Grade. There were so few of them mainly because very few types of herbs could even grow in the Flame Area. The only thing that made Yang Kai somewhat satisfied was that their medicinal properties were quite potent. No one had entered this place for over four hundred years, so naturally, these herbs had plenty of time to grow and mature.
One day, as Yang Kai was hurrying along, a flash of light suddenly rushed past him, like a shooting star soaring across the sky. It moved at such phenomenal speed that even though Yang Kai spread out his Divine Sense the instant he noticed it, he still failed to capture its movement.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared entirely from Yang Kai’s field of vision.
“Flowing Flame Flying Fire?” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he instantly understood what it was.
Wei Gu Chang had mentioned to him about the oddity of Flowing Flame Flying Fires. Yang Kai also wanted to capture one of these Flowing Flame Flying Fires in order to strengthen his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but Wei Gu Chang had told him that these things were extremely rare. Even with over ten thousand people entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field, most would never even catch a glimpse of a Flowing Flame Flying Fire for the entire half a year they were inside. Some people who encountered them wouldn’t even be able to realize it.
Yang Kai didn’t think Wei Gu Chang had been exaggerating at the time, but now he discovered that he was still greatly underestimating the speed of these Flowing Flame Flying Fires.
Almost instantly, Yang Kai chased after it, the sound of wind and thunder echoing behind him as he pushed his Saint Qi to the limit, promoting his running speed so high it was as if he had transformed into lightning.
He wanted to see if he could catch up to that Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
Yang Kai was quickly disappointed though, after chasing it for half an hour, he discovered that the Flowing Flame Flying Fire had completely vanished, causing him to stop and stand on the spot with a bitter smile.
With such speed, who could possibly capture one of them?
Yang Kai didn’t know how the cultivators on Shadowed Star came to know that a Flowing Flame Flying Fire could allow one’s Knowledge Sea to mutate, but since such information had become widespread, someone must have tried it before, that is to say, someone had managed to catch a Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
How did they do it? Yang Kai couldn’t think of any other way than some accident or opportunity.
Yang Kai didn’t believe that anyone else in this Flowing Flame Sand Field could match his speed, so if he couldn’t catch up with a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, it was certainly impossible for others as well.
Standing there dejected for a while, Yang Kai reluctantly took out his Yuan Magnetic Compass, found his bearings, then continued deeper into the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Six days later, Yang Kai stood in a certain position, looking at a few red weeds in front of him with a strange look upon his face.
He then went up and reached out to touch these weeds and found that they were indeed hard and sharp, just like blades.
He had seen this kind of weed once three days ago, and they were extremely similar in appearance to the ones in front of him now, practically identical in fact. Even if they were weeds, the fact that they could survive in the Flowing Flame Sand Field at all indicated that they weren’t a simple as they appeared. Previously, Yang Kai had wondered what spirit grass or spirit medicine he had run into, but after investigating them for a while, he discovered they really were just weeds with no Alchemy value at all, so he simply moved on.
However, their sharpness and toughness surprised Yang Kai.
He had seen them three days ago and now he was seeing them again.
Did he get lost? Yang Kai frowned and took out his Yuan Magnetic Compass again and confirmed he was heading in the right direction; he had taken out his Yuan Magnetic Compass every now and then to check his direction these past few days, so becoming lost would have been quite a feat.
Chuckling to himself as he shook his head, Yang Kai continued to move forward.
Before he left though, he made a mark next to these strange weeds just in case.
Three days later, Yang Kai stood in front of the same patch of weeds again with a gloomy complexion, his expression extremely ugly.
Only now did he understand that it had not just been his imagination a few days ago, he really was lost!
The mark next to the weeds was untouched, just as he had left them before on the remote possibility his hunch back then was right.
However… how did he become lost? Wei Gu Chang had said that as long as he followed the direction indicated by the Yuan Magnetic Compass, he would be able to arrive at the Treasure Area.
Was this Yuan Magnetic Compass broken?
Yang Kai didn’t believe such an artefact could be so easily damaged. There had to be some other reason why he was continuing to wander around in a giant circle, wasting nine days of time already.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he was filled with confusion, standing still while contemplating what was happening.
Suddenly, he thought of a possibility and brought his thumb to his mouth, bit it, then wiped it across his left eye.
The golden blood dripped into his left eye and instantly, it became a brilliant golden colour and was filled with a sense of immense majesty, making anyone who saw it shudder in fear.
Demon Eye of Annihilation!
Yang Kai looked around and immediately found a flaw. The world seen by his two eyes now showed some subtle differences. His right eye saw the same scenery as before, but his left eye now saw an almost imperceptible flow of energy in the air. Some of the hills and soil banks in the distance also became illusory and indistinct.
A Spirit Array?
Yang Kai was quite frightened when he saw this and his heart clenched up tightly.
His Demon Eye of Annihilation can see through all illusions in this world, and although Great Demon God only managed to cultivate to the Saint King Realm, this Divine Ability of his obviously far exceeded the level of Saint Kings.
As soon as Yang Kai used his Demon Eye of Annihilation, he immediately understood what was going on. He had accidentally stepped into the range of a Spirit Array, most likely a naturally formed Bewildering Array.
Yang Yan was extremely proficient in arranging Spirit Arrays, and Yang Kai had been around her for some time now, so he had learned some knowledge about them.
The only Spirit Array that could lead him around in circles like this was a Bewildering Array. On top of that, a Spirit Array appearing in this kind of place could not have been artificially arranged.
This Bewildering Array was incredibly large; the Saint King Realm cultivators who entered this place didn’t have the ability to arrange such a vast and profound Spirit Array, so it being naturally formed was the only possibility.
After understanding this, Yang Kai secretly felt bitter.
Yang Yan had said that artificially arranged Spirit Arrays were very different from naturally-formed Spirit Arrays. Those that were artificially arranged would always have traces one could follow and exploit while naturally-formed Spirit Arrays were like solid walls without vulnerabilities, that is, they did not have things like cores, nodes, or flaws. It was basically impossible to break a naturally-formed array by searching for its core.
Not to mention, Yang Kai wasn’t very familiar with Spirit Arrays in the first place.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation could illuminate all falsehoods and help him see through the essence of this place, but it didn’t provide him with any help breaking it.
If he wanted to break through this array, he could only rely on himself!
This was the reason why Yang Kai was feeling bitter. If Yang Yan was here, based on her understanding of Spirit Arrays, it would be easy for her to break free from this one, but by himself, Yang Kai would find this exercise far more difficult.
After a short bout of frustration, Yang Kai calmed down. Since he had stumbled into this place, his only option was to find a way out.
The most effective and appropriate way to do this was of course to tear space!
Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, so tearing space would be the best way for him to escape.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai tore a crack in space and leapt inside. Immediately after Yang Kai disappeared, the Void Crack disappeared.
A moment later, in the exact same location, another Void Crack appeared and Yang Kai emerged.
Glancing around at his surroundings, Yang Kai’s face turned black.
After tearing space and entering The Void, Yang Kai knew something was wrong, because the normally turbulent Void was actually incredibly calm and quiet. And sure enough, after tearing space to return from The Void, he found himself back where he started.
This Bewildering Array not only had the effect of misleading the senses of those who fell into it, it was even capable of blocking space! In other words, Yang Kai could not escape by tearing space.
Thinking it over for a while, Yang Kai came to the conclusion that the only way for him to escape this array now was through brute force. Since there is no other suitable method, he could only break this array forcibly; Yang Kai only hoped he had enough strength to do so otherwise he might be trapped here forever.
Making up his mind, Yang Kai opened his eyes and looked around carefully. Half an hour later, he settled on a specific location where the scenery looked a bit more illusionary than the everywhere else, hoping it was a weak spot in this Spirit Array where he could successfully break out.
Taking out the Hundred Mountains Picture, Yang Kai summoned ten peaks in one breath and smashed them against that position.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A fierce rumbling echoed as the entire world seemed to shake.
Yang Kai paid close attention to the place he attacked with the Hundred Mountains Picture, and after a short while, he wore a pleased look. He found that under the attack of the Hundred Mountains Picture, the scenery there became even more distorted and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
[It’s possible!] Yang Kai thought to himself as he condensed more of his Saint Qi.
But before he could attack again, his expression stiffened before filling with disappointment.
Because the illusory region had been restored to its original state almost instantly, rendering his previous attack useless.
This Bewildering Array could even repair places which were broken all on its own! This was simply a deathtrap for anyone who fell inside it.
Yang Kai grit his teeth and pushed the power of the Hundred Mountains Picture to the limit, gathering together twenty phantom mountain peaks and smashing them down all at once.
……
Half a day later, Yang Kai stared at the scenery in front of himself in dismay, clear resentment flashing across his eyes.
The resilience of this Bewildering Array far exceeded his original expectations. No matter how much strength he used or what kind of attack he launched, it would immediately repair itself. The Hundred Mountains Picture had already been taken back into his body. Twenty phantom mountain peaks were his current limit, so there was no need to try using it any further, doing so would just waste his energy.
If he couldn’t put out a single decisive attack, there was no way Yang Kai could break open this weak spot. In other words, he needed to unleash a single powerful blow, like the one Xie Yun’s launched from his evil artifact, to tear through this weak point in the Bewildering Array with absolute strength.
Yang Kai didn’t have the time to sit and refine that strange crossbow artifact, nor did he even want to refine it. Not to mention, Yang Kai estimated that even with that artifact, it would be impossible to break the Spirit Array in front of him.
He could only use his Golden Blood.
Yang Kai sighed deeply. A drop of Golden Blood was the sum total of three months of cultivation, so he was unwilling to use it unless it was absolutely necessary.
After being encased in the blood-red crystal and spending several years in deep sleep while drifting through the Starry Sky, Yang Kai had amassed a total of nearly a hundred drops of Golden Blood. Now, after having used those drops intermittently several times, and without consciously trying to replenish them, Yang Kai had about ninety drops left.
However, now was not the time to care about such things.
With a dignified expression, Yang Kai held out a finger and slowly condensed a drop of pure Golden Blood at its tip.
Suddenly, a terrifying surge of vitality from this drop of Golden Blood was revealed.
This Golden Blood was far more pure and gave off a more brilliant light than the ordinary golden blood which flowed through Yang Kai’s veins. It quietly condensed at Yang Kai’s fingertip, trembling slightly like a small golden bean.
Yang Kai thoughts flashed, and this drop of Golden Blood swiftly transformed into a small, sharp arrow that without any pause, shot out, seemingly breaking through the constraints of space, and rushed towards the weak spot in the Bewildering Array.
A golden radiance erupted; one so bright Yang Kai could barely keep his eyes open.
He was forced to close his right eye and squint his left while nervously watching the scene in front of him.
The sound of something being torn apart rang out as Yang Kai clearly saw the weak spot in the Bewildering Array pierced directly by the small golden arrow. The drop of Golden Blood then exploded and torn open this small crack, rapidly expanding it.
At the same time, the illusory scenery around Yang Kai violently twisted, the many hills and mounds of earth flickering before disappearing.
The entire Bewildering Array seemed to have been greatly affected.
Yang Kai’s face was full of joy and he was just about the rush forward when a fiery red light suddenly rushed towards him from all directions, covering up the golden radiance. On top of that, this fiery red light was rapidly repairing the tear in the Bewildering Array and it was showing signs of closing completely. It seemed this red light was specifically repairing the damage to this natural Spirit Arary.
Yang Kai immediately became anxious, he had already used a drop of Golden Blood to get this far, so how could he just stand back and allow the Bewildering Array to repair itself again?
Acting decisively, he forced out another drop of Golden Blood.
With the additional explosion of a second drop of Golden Blood, the red light was finally pushed back and melted like snowflakes under the sun, soon disappearing altogether.
Where the weak spot in the Bewildering Array once stood, a golden entrance took shape.
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate anymore and leapt through it.
After he left, the golden light gradually weakened, and the Bewildering Array repaired itself again.
Leaving his original position, Yang Kai found that he had suddenly set foot on a straight pathway. This pathway was paved with small, smooth, stone blocks. Both sides of this pathway were filled with the same fiery red weeds that Yang Kai had encountered before, but these weeds were a little different from the ones he had previously come across. The ones inside the Bewildering array seemed somewhat ill, as if they were near death, but the ones surrounding Yang Kai now had more vibrant colour and seemed to have a slight bloody air to them. Yang Kai scanned his surroundings and soon noticed many bones among these weeds.
Startled, Yang Kai immediately understood that these bones should have belonged to cultivators who had previously entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, accidentally stumbled upon this place, became trapped and eventually died.
As for why these bones had appeared here and not inside the Bewildering Array, Yang Kai didn’t know.
While he was immersed in his shock, Yang Kai suddenly saw the weeds on both sides of the passage actually grow at a rapid pace, in the blink of an eye going from less than a meter tall to several dozen meters in height…
These long, blade-like leaves appeared soft and flexible, like long whips, and all of them swiftly struck towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was startled. He didn’t expect these weeds could exhibit such behaviour. A few days ago, he had taken note of the hardness and sharpness of these weeds, so even he didn’t dare block these blades of grass head on as doing so would inevitably leave scars on his body. On top of that, these blades of grass were incredibly elastic and difficult to sever, making them even more difficult to deal with.
If not for the difficulty of handling them, Yang Kai would have liked to take some of these weeds back for Yang Yan to see. Yang Yan was a strange woman who seemed to have an infinite fountain of knowledge, perhaps she would be able to recognize what these weeds were.
But now, the countless weeds on both sides of the passage had transformed into ten thousand sharp whips, setting off alarms in Yang Kai’s head.
However, before Yang Kai could even put up his defenses, a strange energy film appeared on both sides of the path and blocked all the sweeping grass blades from reaching him.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai’s expression became strange.
He had thought that the Bewildering Array he was trapped inside of was naturally formed, and if not for his current encounter, he would still be thinking so; after all, that Bewildering Array was far too profound, to the point where even his Demon Eye of Annihilation couldn’t discover its core.
The scene in front of him though had shaken his original conjecture. It was impossible for an energy barrier that only protected this small paved channel to be naturally formed.
This was definitely artificially arranged. It was even possible that Bewildering Array was artificially arranged!
Who possessed such great ability though?
Only Saint King Realm cultivators could enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Was there a cultivator of such realm capable of arranging such a profound Spirit Array? Only someone with knowledge and skill comparable to Yang Yan could accomplish that!
But what reason would someone have for arranging such Spirit Arrays here?
While Yang Kai walked forward at a leisurely pace, he contemplated this mystery, ignoring the weeds which were still trying to attack him as if they weren’t even there.
It didn’t take long for Yang Kai to reach the end of the path where he discovered a small house.
Figuring that since he had come all this way he might as well see things through to the end, Yang Kai stepped into the small stone house.
Now he is certain that this path and everything he had encountered before was artificially arranged because it was clear that they were here to protect this stone house.
When he entered, Yang Kai raised his vigilance, condensing his strength in case he needed to quickly react, or in case he countered someone or something inside the stone house that was against him. But soon, Yang Kai found that this stone house was actually empty, and there weren’t any decorations much less treasure, besides a stone table in the centre of the house, there was literally nothing else.
Yang Kai frowned slightly and searched the stone house carefully a few times but ultimately failed to discover anything worthy of note. It was as if after breaking the Bewildering Array and walking through the stone path, one’s only option was to enter this stone house and wait for death.
Using his Demon Eye of Annihilation again still yielded nothing.
In the end, all Yang Kai found inside the house was a small seed which was laid upon the stone table.
Reaching out and picking it up to have a closer look, Yang Kai found that this seed was blood red and contained a strange aura inside it. This aura was quite similar to the one possessed by the rioting weeds outside.
He didn’t know how many years this thing had sat here, but Yang Kai could still clearly feel a rich vitality coming from it. If he were to plant it somewhere, it should be able to sprout and thrive.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai tossed it into his Space Ring. Having paid the price of two drops of Golden Blood to break through the weak spot in the Bewildering Array to arrive here, he couldn’t just leave empty-handed.
This seed provided a modicum of comfort in that respect.
Next, Yang Kai checked once more around the stone house before finally determining there was no way out.
Was it necessary for him to go back the way he came and delve deeper into the Bewildering Array to find another way out? When thinking about the self-restoring function of the Bewildering Array, Yang Kai wanted to curse.
Although reluctant, Yang Kai had to accept this cruel reality and dejectedly walked out of the stone house.
But as soon as he stepped out of the stone house, a flash of light appeared in front of his eyes and the weeds and stone pavement disappeared, leaving behind only an empty red expanse.
In the air, there was a constant flow of flame auras and nothing but reddish-brown dirt stretched out beneath his feet.
Flame Area!
Yang Kai was shocked and, out of fear he had fallen into another illusionary Spirit Array, he quickly used his Demon Eye of Annihilation for the third time. After confirming that he hadn’t been sent into another Bewildering Array, Yang Kai scanned his surroundings carefully but was unable to find any trace of the stone house. All he could see were barren hills and plains, as if everything he had encountered before was just an illusion.
However, Yang Kai knew that it was not an illusion, because that fiery red seed was still inside his Space Ring.
In any case, after finally coming out of that damned place, Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If he had been trapped back in that Bewildering Array again, his only option would be to find another weak link and blow it open. If it had been any other Saint King, once they fell into that trap, only if they were extremely proficient in Spirit Arrays would they stand a chance of survival, otherwise their only option would be to sit there and wait for death.
Word about this Bewildering Array had never spread out, probably because anyone who fell into it didn’t have the ability to escape and died inside. If that was the case, it made sense why no one knew about it, and since this Bewildering Array could even isolate space, blocking messages from being sent out wouldn’t be a problem.
Therefore, Yang Kai estimates that the great forces on Shadowed Star were completely unaware of this Bewildering Array’s existence.
Yang Kai hoped Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, Chang Qi and Hao An hadn’t travelled the same way as he had, otherwise they would undoubtedly fall into this death trap.
Just as Yang Kai was secretly feeling thankful, he suddenly discovered a few figures travelling at great speed a few kilometres away from his position. It seemed these people were in a rush to get somewhere.
Yang Kai gawked for a moment before suddenly remembering that he had been trapped by the Bewildering Array for a number of days, so the lead he had managed to obtain with his Wind and Thunder Wings may have already disappeared and elites like Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er should have already overtaken him.
Taking out his Yuan Magnetic Compass and checking it, Yang Kai found that the direction this group of people was travelling wasn’t towards the Treasure Area.
Now, there was no meaning in rushing ahead. Yang Kai had been planning to arrive at the Treasure Area first so he could search for treasures before anyone else arrived, but after being delayed for so long by the Bewildering Array that was no longer possible.
This group of people must have found something good, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in such a hurry.
Yang Kai thought about it for a while before deciding to follow after this group of people.
Following others inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field was quite easy because there wasn’t much vegetation here. Except for barren hills and cracked earth, there really was nothing else, so although Divine Sense was greatly suppressed here, the distance one could see with their eyes was quite far, so there was no need to worry about losing sight of someone.
The further he went, the more cultivators Yang Kai discovered travelling in the same direction as him. It was as if everyone had gotten news about something and were converging towards a certain place.
Yang Kai became more curious. If something valuable hadn’t been discovered, it would be impossible for some many cultivators to gather together; after all, when many people came together, there would naturally be conflicts.
Not far away from where Yang Kai currently was, there were two cultivators at the Second Order Saint King Realm. These two wore matching uniforms, but Yang Kai didn’t recognize which force they belonged to. Thinking these two didn’t look particularly vicious or wicked, Yang Kai immediately turned towards them with the hope of inquiring about what was happening. If there wasn’t something good up ahead, he wouldn’t bother going.
This pair noticed Yang Kai’s actions and quickly raised their vigilance, a middle-aged man among them frowning as he swept his eyes over Yang Kai, but after discovering he was just a First Order Saint King, he relaxed.
There was no need to fear a single First Order Saint King so the vigilance on his face quickly converged.
“Two friends,” Yang Kai rushed to them, cupped his fists, and smiled, trying to look as friendly as possible.
The pair didn’t turn Yang Kai away, simply nodding lightly as they continued running forward, the middle-aged man asking, “Is there something wrong?”
“I just wanted to ask why everyone is running this direction. Have you found something good?” Yang Kai asked bluntly.
The middle-aged man was slightly surprised but still smiled and replied, “We’re not completely clear about the situation up ahead and only heard some rumours, but those rumours say that someone found some Brilliant Fire Crystal. Whether it’s true or false we can’t say.”
“Origin Grade High-Rank Brilliant Fire Crystal?” Yang Kai’s eyes brightened.
“Right, it seems that friend has a clear understanding of the grade of this material,” The middle-aged man looked at Yang Kai with some surprise.
“En, I heard about it from a Senior before,” Yang Kai replied casually. Brilliant Fire Crystal was indeed a good material, not only could it be used for Artefact Refining, it could also be used by those who cultivated Fire Attribute Secret Arts and even as a material in some special types of Spirit Arrays.
Yang Yan should be interested in these things. Yang Kai himself didn’t care either way, but since he was already here, it was fine to take a look. If there really was some Brilliant Fire Crystal, he wouldn’t mind collecting some; after all, Origin Grade High-Rank materials were hard to find and often couldn’t be purchased even if you had money.
Yang Yan had often complained that the grade of materials she had to arrange Spirit Arrays was too low and although the materials sent by Qian Tong were all Origin Grade, there were too few at the High-Rank. As for Origin King Grade materials, there were even fewer.
“Although there may be good things up ahead, one must have the skill to obtain them,” The middle-aged man spoke somewhat ambiguously before stating clearly, “There are many people rushing over to that side now, so its likely conflicts will start occurring soon. Friend, are you sure you want to go?”
He seemed to think that Yang Kai’s cultivation realm was too low so he was trying to persuade him against taking such risks.
This man spoke without any malice or ill intent, he was simply acting out of goodwill.
This middle-aged person had an upright character, Yang Kai thought secretly, but without stopping he simply chuckled, “Naturally I must go take a look, even if I can’t obtain anything in the end, gaining some experience shouldn’t be too hard.”
Seeing Yang Kai insist on this, the other party didn’t say anything anymore. He had simply met Yang Kai by chance and spoke to persuade him out of good intentions, but since the other side paid it no heed, why would he waste his breath?
None of the three gave their names, seemingly not planning on associating with each other for long.
Within a short time, the trio finally arrived at the place they were searching for and began looking around.
In front of them was a giant hill, at least a hundred meters tall and several thousand meters in diameter. At this moment, there were at least thirty cultivators scattered across the hill, all of them seemingly have received word of there being treasure here. These cultivators were all digging around the hill currently.
Every now and then, someone would let out a laugh after digging up a chunk of red crystal.
Yang Kai could clearly see that it was indeed Brilliant Fire Crystal.
This hill was quite inconspicuous, but it actually contained a deposit of Brilliant Fire Crystal. It was really a wonder who the first person to discover this place was and also how word about it leaked out.
However, it was clear that the excavation work had been going on here for more than a few hours. The hill was already full of pits and caves, with the figures of cultivators moving in and out of them.
Some people wore happy expression while others wore sad ones. Some cultivators found nothing in the spots they were looking and would change location frequently.
Although the scene was lively, there were no conflicts. Everyone coexisted in peace. They each found a place to look for Brilliant Fire Crystal and went about their task in a relaxed manner. The great fight Yang Kai had imagined occurring over these Brilliant Fire Crystals was nowhere to be seen.
“Let’s go to that side!” The middle-aged man who arrived with Yang Kai suddenly pointed to an empty spot and quickly moved towards it with his fellow Sect Brother, the two of them summoning out their artefacts and actually using them like shovels to dig through the dirt.
Yang Kai sighed slightly and walked over as well, looking for a place that was empty to try his luck.
If the Stone Puppet was here, Yang Kai wouldn’t need to do anything, he could simply release it and all the Brilliant Fire Crystal hidden in this hill would surely fall into his hands.
However, Yang Yan needed the Stone Puppet for various important tasks so Yang Kai had not brought it with him.
After searching around for less than an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai leapt out of the hole he had been digging with a frown on his face.
He had determined that finding Brilliant Fire Crystal here was all a matter of luck.
Because the Fire Attribute energy was too rich here, the aura given off by Brilliant Fire Crystals were completely covered up. It was impossible to search for them using one’s Divine Sense, so one could only dig blindly and hope for the best. This reality greatly reduced Yang Kai’s interest.
While other cultivators would be enthusiastic about an Origin Grade High-Rank material, Yang Kai wasn’t. There was no need for him to waste time here for a few pieces of Brilliant Fire Crystal.
It would be better for him to head straight for the Treasure Area. Considering all this, Yang Kai didn’t bother digging anymore.
Before leaving, Yang Kai took a casual look over at the middle-aged man he had arrived with and discovered that he had actually struck it lucky, both he and his fellow Sect Brother were celebrating that they had some gains.
Not thinking of disturbing them, Yang Kai left the hill alone. As he walked further, he would occasionally run into cultivators who had obtained word of the Brilliant Fire Crystals, many of whom would call out to him and ask if the news was true, annoying him somewhat.
These people clearly saw that Yang Kai was and his cultivation wasn’t high, so they didn’t consider him a threat; otherwise, how could so many have pulled him aside?
However, these people were just asking him a few questions, so Yang Kai didn’t feel it was right to kill them. The best he could do was try to avoid others while continuing forward.
Yang Kai didn’t use his Wind and Thunder Wings at this time because they were too conspicuous, if they were seen by other people, it might cause him some unnecessary trouble. Yang Kai wasn’t afraid of trouble, but he didn’t want to be delayed by it either, so he used his own two feet to hurry along.
Two days later, Yang Kai was still walking along when suddenly he heard the sound of clothes swishing behind him. It seemed as if someone was running at full speed towards him.
On top of that, from what Yang Kai could tell, this person was coming from the direction he just left, causing him to frown, look back to check.
Turning around, Yang Kai saw a figure jumping down from the undulating hills he had just passed and land right in front of him.
When their four eyes met, Yang Kai immediately recognized this person. It was actually the middle-aged Second-Order Saint King who had a jade pendant hanging from his hat he had met a few days ago. This middle-aged man had given Yang Kai a fairly good impression; after all, the other party had tried to persuade him to not take risks purely out of goodwill when they met.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but chuckle and was about to say hello, but suddenly his face sank.
He found that there was something wrong with the other party. This middle-aged man’s Saint Qi was chaotic and he wore a tense look upon his face. He also seemed to be injured heavily on his shoulder, his wound still bleeding, staining his clothes red.
On top of that, this man’s eyes were bloodshot and full of anger and unwillingness.
After seeing Yang Kai, the middle-aged man froze slightly, as if he hadn’t expected to run into someone here. A hint of guilt and annoyance flashed across his eyes as he stomped his foot and hurriedly said, “Hurry up and run if you don’t want to die!”
Having said this, he dashed off in a different direction.
Yang Kai was confused, but soon he understood what was going on. Thirty breaths after the middle-aged man ran off, a group of six cultivators wearing dark green robes appeared behind Yang Kai.
The one leading this group was a young man who looked almost the same age as Yang Kai; however, his true age wasn’t clear. This young man’s complexion was cold and he made no attempt to conceal his Third Order Saint King cultivation. The men and women following this young man were all Second-Order Saint Kings.
As soon as he saw this young man, Yang Kai found that the other party seemed very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Just as he was wondering about this, the young man arrogantly called out, “Tell me which way that man went.”
Yang Kai’s face went cold. This person’s impolite way of questioning made him quite upset. Forget about Yang Kai having a good impression of that middle-aged man, even if it was a complete stranger, being asked so rudely about their whereabouts, Yang Kai wouldn’t have answered.
“Senior Brother Meng, that way!” A young woman among the group suddenly pointed to one side, the direction in which the middle-aged man had escaped. It was easy to tell because there were a few conspicuous drops of blood leading off in that direction.
“Hmph!” The young man called Senior Brother Meng coldly snorted before leading everyone off to chase after that man. Before he left though, he waved his hands and a golden radiance suddenly shot towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was furious, lifting his hand and condensing a Grand Heavenly Shield in front of himself to block this attack.
However, the Grand Heavenly Shield Yang Kai condensed actually failed to completely resist the golden radiance, cracking and nearly shattering on impact.
Yang Kai was shocked, but by the time he had recovered, the other party had already run off. As for Senior Brother Meng, he too seemed surprised he had failed to kill Yang Kai, a mere First Order Saint King, turning a cold glare back toward him as if he was trying to remember his appearance.
However, chasing after that middle-aged man right now seemed to take precedence in his mind so he didn’t bother with Yang Kai any further.
Within moments, the group of six had disappeared in the direction the middle-aged people fled.
Yang Kai stood in place, thinking back carefully. He was certain he had met that young man somewhere before, otherwise, he wouldn’t have felt such a strong sense of familiarity. After a while, he finally remembered, and couldn’t help raising his brow before quickly chasing after this group.
Whether it was because of that young man’s actions, or his slight relationship with that middle-aged man, Yang Kai wasn’t prepared to simply let things end like this.
The middle-aged man was truly a righteous character. Earlier, he had persuaded Yang Kai to not take risks with his life, and just a moment ago, when he met Yang Kai again, he had again warned him to quickly flee. The look of guilt in his eyes at that time was clearly because he had run into Yang Kai and involved him accidentally. If that had not been the case, he wouldn’t have changed the direction he was escaping.
Having been shown such goodwill, Yang Kai naturally wanted to reciprocate.
Chasing after them for a short time, Yang Kai was easily able to catch up.
The middle-aged man was already an arrow at the end of its flight, so he wasn’t able to run far. At this moment, that Senior Brother Meng and his several Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters had gathered around this man and were attacking him. The middle-aged man’s cultivation wasn’t high, but the defensive Artifact Armour he was wearing was actually quite good and was prevented him from suffering any fatal injuries so far.
Unfortunately, this Artifact Armour had also reached its limit and its aura was now quite dull, its protective effects had diminished severely.
Senior Brother Meng was acting aloof, not even participating in this battle and instead standing aside with his arms crossed and a sullen look of ridicule on his face as he watched.
It was fortunate he hadn’t taken action personally, otherwise the middle-aged man would already have fallen.
“Meng Hong Liang, you will die like a dog!” The middle-aged man spat blood and roared in anger as he suffered a blow from the young woman who had spoken a moment ago.
These words made the young man named Meng Hong Liang wear an even colder look as he commanded, “Don’t rush to kill him, play with him until he’s completely broken so he understands the fate those who dare offend my Imperial City Sect must suffer.”
“Yes!” The Imperial City Sect cultivators besieging the middle-aged man heard this and immediately lightened their attacks, intentionally adding wounds to this middle-aged man like cats playing with a corner mouse. Each of their attacks was designed to cause him the maximum amount of pain while not fatally wounding him.
“Meng Hong Liang, I already surrendered that Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence to you, why must you act so ruthlessly? What need is there to kill me and my Junior Brother?” The middle-aged man was doing his best to avoid these attacks but the number of wounds he suffered was still gradually increasing. His face was also growing pale from excessive blood loss.
“Hmph!” Meng Hong Liang coldly snorted, “Do you have the qualifications to possess a treasure as valuable as that Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence? As for why you must die, the fewer people who know about such a treasure the better, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself and your Junior Brother for having the good fortune to dig up such a good thing and the misfortunate of having me learn of it. Haha, this Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence can only be owned by me, but don’t worry, you and your Junior Brother can accompany each other on the road to the next world, so that he isn’t lonely.”
“Even if I must become a ghost I won’t let you off!” The middle-aged man roared as the last ray of light from his Artifact Armour faded and crumbled.
This Artefact Armour had been thoroughly destroyed and could no longer be repaired.
“Kill him, any delays now would only leads to more problems!” Meng Hong Liang wasn’t in the mood to play with this middle-aged man anymore and ruthlessly commanded.
The other Imperial City Sect disciples surrounding the middle-aged man simultaneously pushed their Saint Qi and unleashed killing blows upon hearing this.
The middle-aged man also seemed to feel he could no longer escape this calamity and did not put up any pointless resistance. Before dying, he simply stared at Meng Hong Liang with bloodshot eyes, seemingly wanting to engrave his figure into his soul so that after he reincarnated he could find him to seek revenge!
Just when the middle-aged man was about to die though, a number of shields formed from jet black flames appeared all around him, blocking all of the fatal strikes.
One of the Imperial City Sect disciples saw this and was unwilling to relent and slammed his palm onto the black flame shield. The shield remained unscathed under this attack while the cultivator leapt back like a frightened rabbit and as he shrieked loudly.
The crowd all stared dumbstruck at this scene, their eyes immediately filling with fear and terror.
The black flames were rapidly spreading from this man’s palm up to his arm and towards his body. Wherever this flame passed, everything was reduced to ash, and it was obvious that as soon as it reached his chest, he wouldn’t be able to survive.
“Senior Brother Meng, save me!” The cultivator realized that he wasn’t strong enough to resist these black flames and immediately begged for rescue from Meng Hong Liang, hoping the latter had some method that could save him.
But how could Meng Hong Liang allow this man to get any closer to him? Those black flames were simply too frightening.
Seeing his fellow Sect disciples rushing over towards him, Meng Hong Liang’s expression became cold as a ruthless light flashed across his eyes. Retreating a few steps, he raised his hand and shot a golden ray of light towards the head of the approaching cultivator. This cultivator immediately fell to the ground after having his brow pierced by this golden light, a look of complete shock covering his face, seemingly never having imagined his Senior Brother would act so callously towards him.
In the blink of an eye, this man’s body was completely devoured by the Demonic Flames.
The remaining young men and women paled, partly because of the incredible power of Demonic Flame, and partly because they had witnessed Meng Hong Liang coldly killing a fellow member of their sect. For a moment, all of them stared at this Senior Brother of theirs in shock and disbelief.
“Cruel and merciless, friend has some good methods,” Yang Kai stepped forward with a smirk as he stared coldly at Meng Hong Liang. He too had not expected this person to turn such a poisonous hand against his fellow Sect Brother. Clearly, he wasn’t anything good.
When Yang Kai came up to the middle-aged man, he simply nodded to him lightly.
The middle-aged man was dumbstruck. Just when he thought he would die without a doubt, someone had unexpectedly run out to save him.
On top of that, the person who had saved him was actually Yang Kai, a stranger he had only met twice, making the whole situation seem even more surreal.
“You stand aside and heal yourself first,” Yang Kai said as he looked at the miserable state this man was in, tossing him a healing pill and saying casually.
“But you…” The middle-aged man caught the pill and looked hesitant. Yang Kai’s cultivation was too low, so he was afraid that this young man who rushed out to save his life would suffer disaster; after all, Meng Hong Liang wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
But when he remembered about the power of the black flames and upon seeing Yang Kai’s calm look, the middle-aged man suddenly nodded, “Understood!”
Saying so, he stepped back, swallowed the pill, and began meditating silently.
He didn’t know what Yang Kai was relying on to face so many people from the Imperial City Sect, but since the other party had dared to reveal himself, he must not put Meng Hong Liang and the others in his eyes.
Subconsciously, he thought Yang Kai was the son of some important Elder from a great Sect or force. If this was the case, he only needed to report his name and Meng Hong Liang wouldn’t dare to provoke him.
Although Imperial City Sect wasn’t bad, it wasn’t even a first-class force on Shadowed Star, barely in the high second-class level actually. Meng Hong Liang was the type who only knew how to bully the weak and naturally wouldn’t dare provoke strong opponents.
Sure enough, Meng Hong Liang’s look became uncertain as he stared at Yang Kai carefully. Comparing this young man’s face and demeanour to the well-known young talents on Shadowed Star in his heart, he still couldn’t find a matching figure. In addition, his fellow Sect disciples were also wearing uncertain looks, so Meng Hong Liang quickly shouted, “What intentions does Your Excellency have by suddenly killing my Junior Brother?”
Yang Kai sneered and slowly shook his head, “I think you’re mistaken there. I didn’t kill him, you did… En, well, even if you didn’t kill him, he would still have died, but regardless of what might have happened, the truth was he died at your hand, it has nothing to do with me.”
Meng Hong Liang’s face went from blue to red as he ground his teeth and shouted, “If you had not used such despicable methods to sneak attack him how could I have been forced to act so?”
After saying this, his expression calmed down and he nodded, “That’s right, I killed Junior Brother Qi, but only because I couldn’t bear to see him slowly burn to death. I simply ended his suffering.”
Having unexpectedly found a justification for his actions, Meng Hong Liang did not hesitate to make use of it, causing the remaining men and women from Imperial City Sect to secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Although all of them still felt it wasn’t appropriate to kill someone from their Sect, as soon as this reason was spoken, they felt a lot better in their hearts. All of them had witnessed their Junior Brother Qi’s condition with their own eyes and knew that even if Meng Hong Liang hadn’t acted, he would have died without a doubt. Having settled their disturbed hearts, they all gathered towards Meng Hong Liang.
Meng Hong Liang secretly sneered as he had managed to escape from the crime of killing his fellow Sect Brother so easily. Although it was mere sophistry, he could now overlook Yang Kai from a superior position and coldly declare, “Which Sect does this friend come from, can you tell me if it’s convenient? Although my Imperial City Sect isn’t a great force, many of the Sect’s Elders have a wide range of friends. If your Sect is a friend of mine, I hope you can not involve yourself in this matter.”
“Senior Brother Meng, I know who this person is,” The same young woman from before called out with a slight frown between her brow. Moving closer to Meng Hong Liang, her beautiful eyes remained focused on Yang Kai with a slight look of dread.
After hearing what she said, Meng Hong Liang immediately asked her in a low voice.
The young woman did not conceal anything, explaining how before the Flowing Flame Sand Field had officially opened, there was a conflict between Yang Kai and Blue Sparrow Sect’s Yin Jian. At that time, this young woman had been nearby and observed the entire matter, so after a moment she was able to recognize Yang Kai.
“Shadow Moon Hall?” Meng Hong Liang was startled, his brows wrinkling slightly, an ugly look appearing on his face.
Although Shadow Moon Hall wasn’t a true top power, it was still far superior to Imperial City Sect. There were many Third Order Origin Returning Realm masters in Shadow Moon Hall, something Imperial City Sect could not hope to match.
The two Sects were separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometres, and usually had no interactions, but when the young woman said that the first genius of Shadow Moon Hall, Wei Gu Chang, had stood up personally for Yang Kai, Meng Hong Liang suddenly had to consider acting cautiously lest he stir up unwanted trouble.
If he were to anger Wei Gu Chang and the latter ran over to Imperial City Sect to seek retribution, he wouldn’t get off easy.
However, now that things had reached this point, and his Junior Brother had died by his own hand, Meng Hong Liang couldn’t just withdraw, not to mention he didn’t want news of the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence leaking out. It was for this reason that even after obtaining this treasure he had decided to kill both this middle-aged man and the latter’s Junior Brother.
Dead people don’t reveal secrets!
“But at the time he said he wasn’t from Shadow Moon Hall,” The young woman’s expression became puzzled as she murmured.
“Not from Shadow Moon Hall?” Meng Hong Liang’s expression lightened.
“That’s right, I’m not from Shadow Moon Hall,” Yang Kai stood there defiantly, as if he was unafraid of death. He hadn’t interrupted Meng Hong Liang and the young woman’s conversation until now but decided to speak up at last, “I only have some small friendship with Wei Gu Chang, so you don’t have to worry about him seeking trouble with you when this is all over.”
Meng Hong Liang’s thoughts being seen through so easily by Yang Kai caused his eyes to grow cold, but he was still hesitating whether to act or not.
As for the middle-aged man who was meditating to restore his wounds, he nearly spat blood when he heard Yang Kai speak these words!
The situation had been all but resolved, and the middle-aged man was secretly rejoicing that his guess had been right. The young man who had come to save him really had a powerful background. If this young man didn’t say anything more, with Meng Hong Liang’s personality, he would definitely become more cautious in his actions and likely withdraw in the end.
If that was the case, he and this young man who came to save him would be able to escape safely. As for seeking revenge, that would naturally have to wait for later.
But now, in one breath, this young man had actually gone and destroyed his cover. How could Meng Hong Liang let him go now? Without a strong backer, and with just a First Order Saint King cultivation, there was no doubt Yang Kai would have died here.
For a moment, the middle-aged man became anxious and angry, he really didn’t know why he had to run into such a stupid kid.
However, the other party had indeed come to save him, he had been dragged into this by him, so the middle-aged man could only sigh and secretly decided to restore as much of his strength as soon as possible. Once Meng Hong Liang decided to act, he would do his best to delay him to let Yang Kai escape.
On the other side, Meng Hong Liang, whose ace had been constantly changing, finally made a decision, and his expression gradually became firm, staring at Yang Kai coldly he declared, “So what if you have a connection to Shadow Moon Hall, so what if you know Wei Gu Chang? Today, I must kill you, so you won’t live to see tomorrow! “
As soon as these words fell, he waved his hand and shouted, “Be careful of his black flame, don’t give him a chance to send out a message!”
Meng Hong Liang had decided to dispense will all pretence and silence the witness to the crime. It had to be said that he was a cautious man, so when he ordered his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister to attack, a golden light also appeared in his hand.
Meng Hong Liang was extremely fearful of the Demonic Flame and was planning on using his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister to draw Yang Kai’s attention while he stood back and shot him while denying him an opportunity to take out his communication type artefact. If he couldn’t accomplish this, all his previous efforts would go to waste.
Receiving Meng Hong Liang’s order, the four Second-Order Saint Kings rushed towards Yang Kai aggressively, pushing their Saint Qi as the summoned their defensive artefacts to guard their bodies.
Of those who dared to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field, most wore Artefact Armour, and these Artefact Armours were naturally designed to resist the ambient fire poison while also having a strong defensive strength. At the very least, while fighting cultivators of the same level, they could rely on these Artefact Armours to prevent some injuries.
The black flames were too terrifying though, so although all four of these cultivators rushed forward, none of them dared to approach Yang Kai too closely, the young woman among them summoning a long whip artefact and cracking it, sending it out a cyan light towards Yang Kai, a ruthless expression filling her pretty face.
The other three also used long-range attack artefacts or Martial Skills to bombard Yang Kai’s location.
At the same time these four attacked, the golden light which had been brilliantly shining in Meng Hong Liang’s hand vanished. It was impossible to tell what kind of trick he had used, but the moment he released the golden shot, it had stealthily concealed itself.
Four Second-Order Saint Kings and one Third Order Saint King attacked a First Order Saint King together. How it would turn out, anyone would be able to tell.
After releasing his attack, Meng Hong Liang’s mouth curled into a grin.
But in the next instant, the smile on his face stiffened.
He saw a sword condensed from black flame appear in the hands of the besieged young man chop forward and seemingly devour all light in its path. Not only did this sword swing destroy two of his Junior Brother’s attacks as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, it also cleanly sliced through them as well.
Their Artefact Armour seemed as fragile as paper and the Saint Qi they had been using to protect their bodies weren’t able to play the slightest defence role.
The bodies of his two Junior Brothers were cut in half instantly.
It wasn’t over yet though as a black spear then appeared in this young man’s hand and was immediately tossed out, piercing through the whip of the young woman without even slowing down before puncturing a hole through her abdomen.
From start to finish, the young woman didn’t even have time to react.
Simultaneously, a purple shield appeared next to Yang Kai and with a metallic ping and a series of sparks, the golden light bounced off the shield without even leaving a scratch on it. The golden light faded greatly as it flew back to Meng Hong Liang’s location.
Yang Kai frowned seeing this, realizing that the artefact Meng Hong Liang was using was really quite extraordinary. He had been attacked by this golden light before and almost had his Grand Heavenly Shield broken as a result. Yang Kai naturally didn’t dare underestimate this artefact and had immediately used his purple shield to defend himself.
Glancing over leisurely at it, Yang Kai realized that this golden light was actually a flying needle artefact as thin as a cow’s hair.
This type of artefact was quite rare because flying needles generally had very little power. An Artefact Refiner needed to continuously refine and enhance one in order for it to have any killing potential, and this series of refinements made them difficult to produce.
Flying needle artefacts were rare, but it was undeniable that they were the best choice for breaking through defensive artefacts and cultivators’ Saint Qi protections.
Yang Kai realized why this golden light had almost broken through his Grand Heavenly Shield upon seeing its true form.
This brief moment of shock was enough to allow the only Imperial City Sect disciple that had not been killed to react. Four of them had attacked Yang Kai, but three of them had been instantly killed, and if it wasn’t for Senior Brother Meng’s sneak attack, the one survivor knew he too would be dead.
How could this man dare to remain? Immediately, he withdrew a hundred meters bit before he was able to breathe a sigh of relief, a black rope suddenly descended upon him, sealing off all avenues of retreat, rendering him unable to flee.
In the blink of any eye, the black rope had entangled him and he could finally clearly tell that rather than some kind of physical material, this rope was actually condensed from pure black flame. Suddenly remembering the fate of his Junior Brother Qi, this man’s face went pale.
Opening his mouth to scream, the man was unable to make a sound before the Demonic Flame burned his body into slag along with his Soul.
The Imprisoning Heaven Chain from the Nine Heavens Divine Skills already had the ability to restrain one’s Soul, it was a skill specially used to capture fleeing enemies. When it was displayed with Yang Kai’s unique Saint Qi though, the Imprisoning Heaven Chain’s power rose to a whole new level.
In a flash, without exception, the four who had besieged Yang Kai had been wiped out.
Meng Hong Liang’s eyes shrank violently as an expression of disbelief and panic filled his face.
The middle-aged man who had been meditating to restore his injuries had rushed over to Yang Kai at this time.
The moment the four Imperial City Sect disciples launched their attack, this man had also taken action in hopes of saving Yang Kai, but how could he have known there was simply no place for him in this battle? By the time he ran over, all four attackers were dead and even Meng Hong Liang’s sneak attack had been dealt with.
The expression of the middle-aged man wasn’t much better than Meng Hong Liang’s, the only difference being he wasn’t afraid of Yang Kai; however, that didn’t stop him from staring at this young man as if he was some kind of monster.
Only now did he understand that Yang Kai wasn’t acting thoughtlessly, nor did he need to rely on Shadow Moon Hall’s name to protect himself, from the beginning, he had the ability to kill everyone present.
“You… could you be…” Meng Hong Liang suddenly went completely white, half forming a sentence before failing to complete it. Yang Kai didn’t know what he wanted to say, but after saying these few words, Meng Hong Liang hurriedly cupped his fists and bowed deeply, “This Meng has offended this friend greatly but begs Friend to not take offence. What happened today, no one else will ever come to know, this Meng swears to not disclose it to another person! I only ask that friend be willing to spare this Meng’s pour life!”
Saying so, he didn’t even wait for Yang Kai to reply before immediately turning around and running off, avoiding Yang Kai like a viper, his face still filled with terror.
“You think you can just leave?” Yang Kai sneered as he thrust out his palm. With things having gotten to this point, how could he simply allow Meng Hong Liang to walk away? Whether it was because of his previous attitude and murderous intent towards him, or because he wanted to silence the witness to the crime afterwards, Yang Kai had already marked Meng Hong Liang for death.
Meng Hong Liang was the one who provoked him, he had only himself to blame.
A huge palm print fell from the sky, seemingly covering the Heavens themselves as it threatened to engulf Meng Hong Liang.
This palm contained Heaven Destroying and Earth Shattering power, causing Meng Hong Liang to go absent-minded for a moment, but as the aura of death approached, he let out a desperate cry and shot the golden light from his hand once more.
Countless thin flying needles as thin as an ox’s hair were summon, each releasing a grating sound.
Immediately after the golden light was released, the numerous flying needles converged and condensed into a long sword, its tip vibrating violently as it stabbed towards Yang Kai’s Heaven Covering Hand.
*Hong…*
An eruption of golden light occurred and the Heaven Covering Hand was seemingly punctured by the radiance, the irresistible pressure it was exerting suddenly dispersing, allowing Meng Hong Liang to free himself from its restraint and quickly escape.
He had only gone ten steps however, before scalding hot yet simultaneously frigid cold aura suddenly appeared behind him. Turning his head, Meng Hong Liang was shocked to discover that before he knew it, the enemy had closed the distance between them and had already stabbed a sword condensed of black flame through his chest.
His body felt like it was invaded by a scalding heat and a icy cold all at once, and Meng Hong Liang finally realized why his Junior Brother Qi had panicked so much before dying.
Looking down, he could only see the tip of the black flame sword emerge from his chest, but centring on that position, the black flames were rapidly spreading out across his body…
Before Meng Hong Liang’s body was completely incinerated, Yang Kai snatched his Space Ring and impatiently searched it with his Divine Sense, immediately letting out a great laugh, seemingly very happy.
Similar to the ones Yang Kai had taken from the Xie Family trio before, there weren’t many good things in Meng Hong Liang’s ring, only some pills and Saint Crystals as well as a dozen or so Fire Crystal Stones of varying size.
However, Meng Hong Liang’s ring also contained a different kind of crystal that was emitting scorching hot flames.
This wasn’t a Fire Crystal Stone from a Fire Spirit Beast, but rather a piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, an Origin King Grade material. Brilliant Fire Crystal was only an Origin Grade material, and depending on its innate quality, it could be High, Mid, or Low-Rank.
Beneath the hill Yang Kai visited before, there should be a Brilliant Fire Crystal lode.
That Brilliant Fire Crystal lode should have had a very small chance to produce Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, a material an entire grade higher.
From the aura this Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence gave off, it should only be Origin King Grade Low-Rank, but even so, such a treasure was rarely seen on Shadowed Star. No wonder Meng Hong Liang had decided to snatch it from this middle-aged man and even silence the witness to the crime.
Yang Kai threw this piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence into his own Space Ring before next taking out an old map fragment.
This was what really made Yang Kai happy as it was the same ancient map fragment that had appeared in the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction!
At that time, this map fragment had been won by a random Second-Order Saint King who before the auction ended had tried to quietly slip away. Unfortunately for him, he was followed by a large number of people and was eventually robbed of this fragment by a young man. That young man was none other than Meng Hong Liang.
When Yang Kai saw Meng Hong Liang a short time ago, he hadn’t remembered where he had seen him before, only feeling that he was familiar, but Yang Kai soon remembered what had happened outside Heavenly Fate City that day.
At that time, after the map fragment was taken away by Meng Hong Liang, Yang Kai did not make any attempts to search for it; after all, could whatever this ancient map led to be found with just a fragment or two? It was impossible to know if this map even led to anything good at all. With so many unknowns, Yang Kai felt there wasn’t any need to waste energy and effort to retrieve it.
He hadn’t expected though that this map fragment would eventually land in his hands.
Yang Yan had another fragment of this map, so if Yang Kai put the two pieces together, he might be able to find some clues about where it led. If he found some free time in the future, he could follow those clues and perhaps obtain some kind of opportunity.
While Yang Kai was searching through the Space Ring, on the side, the middle-aged man couldn’t hide his surprise, as the young man in front of him was completely behaving like an experienced bandit.
However, this middle-aged man also didn’t see anything wrong with this. It was all too normal for people to kill others and take their treasures in this world. After Yang Kai finished his pillaging, the middle-aged man walked up to him weakly and cupped his fists, “Extreme Path Sect Huang Xi Ran thanks this friend for rescuing him. If it weren’t for this friend, this Huang would not have been able to escape death today, please accept my deepest gratitude.”
Saying so, he bowed deeply to Yang Kai.
“Brother Huang is too polite,” Yang Kai waved his hand with a smile.
Although Huang Xi Ran’s face showed some hints of joyfulness, the large majority of his expression was bleak as he said in a dull tone, “It is only how I should be, if this friend had not taken action, my Junior Brother would never have obtain revenge and perhaps no one in this world would have known Meng Hong Liang killed my brother and I.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “How could you be so careless to reveal the existence of that piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence?”
Speaking of this matter, Huang Xi Ran’s face grew darker as he smiled bitterly, “It is not that we weren’t careful enough. My Junior Brother and I had good luck as the place we started digging happened to have a lot of Brilliant Fire Crystals, and shortly after Friend left, we even managed to obtain a piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence. Naturally we hid is carefully and my Junior Brother and I immediately left, but how could we have expected to encounter Meng Hong Liang along the way? He had seen many people digging through the hill and decided to stop and rob people who tried to leave. He demanded we hand over our Space Rings, but with the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence in his ring, my Junior Brother naturally refused. Once he refused though, Meng Hong Liang immediately killed my Junior Brother and the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence fell into his hands. This Huang knew he was not their opponent and could only shamefully escape.”
“I see!”
This is the kind of thing was beyond anyone’s ability to predict, it was just a matter of bad luck for Huang Xi Ran and his Junior Brother really.
“I haven’t asked for this friend’s honoured name!” Huang Xi Ran cupped his fists once more and said. Yang Kai had rescued him and allowed him to exact his revenge, so Huang Xi Ran was naturally grateful. On top of that, it was obvious Yang Kai was no ordinary cultivator so Huang Xi Ran wanted to make friends with him.
“Yang Kai.”
“So it is Brother Yang! En, is Brother Yang…” Huang Xi Ran suddenly paused before letting out a laugh, “Haha, no, this Huang was too disrespectful, Brother Yang doesn’t need to pay it any mind.”
Yang Kai looked at him strangely, completely confused.
Meng Hong Liang had also started to say something a moment ago, and now Huang Xi Ran was also hesitating over something. Did the two of them have the same misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding was it?
Whatever misunderstanding it was, Yang Kai wasn’t interested, so he simply said, “Does Brother Huang have any plans now?”
Huang Xi Ran thought about it seriously before replying, “I need to find a place to heal my wounds first, in my current state, I cannot proceed deeper into the Flame Area, going forward recklessly will only worsen my injuries. I’ll decide what to do next after recovering, Brother Yang doesn’t need to mind about me. I can also contact some of my other Sect members, perhaps some of them are nearby.”
“Good,” Yang Kai nodded before cupping his fists and saying, “If that’s the case, I’ll be going on ahead.”
“Please do so, Brother Yang! If there is a chance in the future, Brother Yang should visit Extreme Path Sect, this Huang will surely welcome you!”
With a slight smile, Yang Kai turned around and walked towards the Treasure Area.
Looking at the back of Yang Kai, Huang Xi Ran was inexplicably excited. Like Meng Hong Liang, he had determined that Yang Kai was a person from that place. Besides that place, who could cultivate a First Order Saint King capable of easily killing five cultivators who had higher cultivations than his own?
This kind of monstrous talent could only have come from that place, which was why Meng Hong Liang had panicked so much at the last moment.
It was rumoured that people from that place always acted indifferently towards everyone else, but now it seemed that it is not the case, at least this guy named Yang Kai was quite approachable.
It seems that rumours were just rumours after all.
Regarding the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, Yang Kai didn’t mention it, and Huang Xi Ran didn’t ask, both of them silently reaching an agreement.
For Huang Xi Ran, it was enough to be able to get revenge, how could he then reach out for a yard after taking an inch and ask Yang Kai for the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence? After all, he had already lost it to someone else, so he had no right to it anymore.
When Yang Kai’s figure disappeared, Huang Xi Ran hurriedly picked up the few Space Rings scattered around, stuffed all the Saint Crystals and pills inside into his own, then quickly left this place, preparing to find a hidden place to heal himself. Along the way, he also tried to contact his fellow Sect members to help guard him.
Five days later, Yang Kai passed through the Flame Area and arrived at a place where World Energy was extremely rich. There was no omnipresent heat like in the Flame Area, and there was no fire poison which threatened to invade his body at all this time. Instead, the scenery here was beautiful and refreshing like a spring day, the air was clean and crisp, it was nothing short of a paradise.
Treasure Area!
Yang Kai was somewhat shocked as he stepped from the First-Layer Flame Area and into the First-Layer Treasure Area.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field was truly strange, the boundary between the first Flame Area and the first Treasure Area was clearly defined and the environments were extremely different. None of the heat or fire poison from the Flame Area spilled into the Treasure Area at all.
After separating from Huang Xi Ran of Extreme Path Sect, Yang Kai had constantly moving for five days.
As he advanced inward, he had encountered several cultivators from, most of them in small groups who were searching for Fire Spirit Beasts in the Flame Area or Fire Attribute spirit grasses and spirit medicines. Of course, if they were able to find something precious like the Brilliant Fire Crystal, these people would be extremely happy.
Basically, most of the cultivators who entered would remain in the Flame Area to carry out this kind of task while the rest would enter the Treasure Area to search for spirit grasses and spirit medicines. Those who were eligible to enter the Treasure Area were elites from big Sects.
It didn’t seem fair on the surface, with those possessing low aptitude and poor strength forced to fight outside while those with high aptitude and good strength treasure hunted in the Treasure Area, but that was simply the way things were. Those with high aptitude and high strength always received better treatment than their cohorts.
The rich became richer while the poor became poorer for this exact reason.
To obtain good resources, one needed to first improve their strength.
Yang Kai had nothing to do along the way as he didn’t run into anyone like Meng Hong Liang who was looking for trouble with him. Everything was fine with the exception of the strange looks all the other cultivators kept giving him.
Those cultivators could all see Yang Kai’s low cultivation and the fact that he was walking around alone in the Flame Area and could only conclude he was a reckless kid who didn’t know how to write the word death. Most people simply took the attitude of aloof observers or interest spectators; however, there was one young woman who actually ran over to Yang Kai and tried to persuade him to turn back and stop courting destruction.
In fact, due to this person’s kindness, Yang Kai simply gave a few perfunctory replies. The young woman soon saw that Yang Kai was determined to continue forward and no longer wasted her breathe, simply shaking her head and sighing as she thought this world really had a lot of fools in it.
The Flame Area, which he should have been able to cross in about ten days, had taken Yang Kai a month to traverse thanks to the delays he suffered in the strange mountain valley and the Bewildering Array.
There were certainly quite a few people already inside the Treasure Area by now, so Yang Kai didn’t act impatiently, releasing his Divine Sense all around him as he began searching for spirit grasses and spirit medicines.
Wei Gu Chang had said that although there were no Fire Spirit Beasts in this Treasure Area, there were many Monster Beasts here so he had to remain vigilant.
For the first few days, Yang Kai did not meet anyone.
His harvest was also not great, possibly because others had rushed here ahead of him. Whatever the case was, over the past few days, Yang Kai’s expectations for this place have gradually diminished; after all, he had already experienced the great bounty of the floating continent.
The floating continent was a place where materials incredibly abundant, with spirit grasses and spirit medicines everywhere one looked, many of them Origin Grade or even Origin King Grade.
The herbs Yang Kai harvested in the Treasure Area were mostly Saint King Grade High-Rank with a few being Origin Grade. Such a harvest would be huge for anyone else, but Yang Kai was indifferent to it.
Worst of all, he couldn’t find the herbs he wanted.
After the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed this time, he planned to refine some pills for Wu Yi, Yu Feng, and the others because their strength was simply too weak.
On this day though, Yang Kai was walking when he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.
He smelled a familiar aroma that while fresh and a hint of bitterness to it.
Emerald Silk Grass! Yang Kai’s eyes brightened.
Obtaining Emerald Silk Grass was one of Yang Kai’s objectives for this trip. It wasn’t that Emerald Silk Grass wasn’t found elsewhere on Shadowed Star, but once it appears, it would be snatched up by the major forces because it was the primary ingredient required to refine Origin Condensing Pills.
Although the highest level of Alchemist on Shadowed Star was only Origin Grade Low-Rank, these people could still attempt to refine Origin Condensing Pills, possibly even succeeding once or twice out of ten attempts. Any success, however, represented a great chance of producing an Origin Returning Realm master.
Because of this, Emerald Silk Grass simply wasn’t available on the market at all as it was one of the most sought-after herbs.
Yang Kai could only place his hopes on this trip to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
However, he didn’t expect he would actually find some.
This faint bitterness could only be emitted by Emerald Silk Grass, and judging from the richness of this scent, there seemed to be quite a few stalks, otherwise, it would have been impossible for the fragrance to travel so far.
Yang Kai didn’t even need to use his Divine Sense, all he had to do was breathe in to quickly determine where the medicinal fragrance was coming from, dashing off in that direction as soon as he had.
About half an hour later, Yang Kai finally arrived, but instead of rushing out to collect the Emerald Silk Grass, he concealed his aura and scanned his surroundings.
Because he knew that where there was Emerald Silk Grass, there was likely one or more special of Monster Beasts lurking nearby.
He decided to see if there were any traces of such Monster Beasts here.
Looking around though, Yang Kai’s heart leapt wildly, and he was barely able to contain his joy.
Because in front of him were more than a dozen green stalks, each with seven small leaves, spread out across a wide area.
When an Emerald Silk Grass grew seven leaves, it meant they were fully mature and had medicinal ages of at least five hundred years. In Yang Kai’s hands, that means it could make more than a dozen Origin Condensing Pills.
Not far from the dozen or so Emerald Silk Grasses though, there was a large cave that had a foul odour wafting from it as well as some traces of sticky looking slime around a wide entrance.
Seeing this, Yang Kai understood exactly what type of Monster Beast was guarding these Emerald Silk Grasses.
Silver Horned Lightning Python!
The Silver Horned Lightning Python was a Seventh-Order or Eighth-Order Monster Beast. When it reached its peak, it could evolve further into a species of Flood Dragon which was a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. Silver Horned Lightning Pythons liked the bitter aura given off by Emerald Silk Grass so it wasn’t a surprise one had chosen to live here.
Yang Kai knew this information because he had seen it in the ancient books Zong Ao had given him back on Rainfall Star, otherwise, he wouldn’t have known so much about herbs in the Star Field.
Whether it was a Seventh-Order Monster Beast or an Eighth-Order Monster Beast though, Yang Kai didn’t care much. He believed that with his speed, he could quickly leave here after collecting those Emerald Silk Grasses.
Using his Divine Sense to sweep the cave, Yang Kai immediately noticed that there were two Silver Horned Lightning Pythons inside, both of them were Eighth-Order!
These two Monster Beasts had clearly lived here for many, many years, so them reaching the Eighth-Order wasn’t unexpected.
However, what made Yang Kai a little bit concerned was that there were actually two other cultivators here as well.
Obviously, the other two knew the Monster Beasts inside the cave weren’t to be trifled with so even though they had arrived here earlier than Yang Kai, they hadn’t dared to act rashly and were even now seemingly discussing how to collect those Emerald Silk Grasses.
The best way would naturally be for one person to lead the pythons out from the cave, pulling the tiger away from the mountain, while the other person collected the spirit herbs.
But these two were both just Second-Order Saint Kings. Even if they couldn’t defeat a single Silver Horned Lightning Python, running away wouldn’t be a problem, but if either of them had to deal with two of these beasts, they would face great danger, therefore they were still debating.
However, before these two could resolve their discussion, they saw a man in black robes walk straight out from nowhere and quickly approach the dozen or so Emerald Silk Grass stalks.
The two of them gawked slightly but soon realized that someone was trying to snatch their prize.
The man in black robes seemed to now be aware of the danger he was in and simply rushed out with a happy smile on his face.
After a short pause, the two hiding cultivators couldn’t hold back anymore. Whether this person could collect the Emerald Silk Grass or not, once he stepped forward and alerted the two pythons, all hope they had of succeeding would disappear.
As such, both of them swiftly rushed out.
Yang Kai frowned after he noticed the movements of these two men, and he too raced out, faster than anyone else, and immediately arrived at the Emerald Silk Grasses.
Quickly plucking the dozen or so stalks of Emerald Silk Grass, Yang Kai tossed them directly into his Space Ring.
Only then did the two Silver Horned Lightning Pythons seem to realize something was wrong and two faint blue bolts of lightning shot out from the cave directly towards Yang Kai.
At the same time, a washbasin size python head emerged from the cave and two triangular snake eyes stared towards Yang Kai coldly, crackling lightning dancing around a single silver horn atop its head.
With a rumble, this Silver Horned Lightning Python’s huge and imposing body slithered out from the cave. Yang Kai plucking the Emerald Silk Grass had obviously enraged it.
The other Silver Horned Lightning Python swiftly followed suit.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered as he avoided the first bolts of lightning and was about to run away when he suddenly heard a rage-filled voice shout, “Leave the Emerald Silk Grass if you don’t want to die!”
As soon as these words rang out, Saint Qi erupted, condensed into a majestic tiger head, and bit towards Yang Kai.
How could something he had snatched for himself be so easily given away? Yang Kai knew that these two were quite anxious, otherwise, they would not have rushed out so suddenly, but Yang Kai’s response was simply to casually dodge this tiger head attack.
The tiger’s head coincidentally continued forward and attacked the second Silver Horned Lightning Python which was crawling out of the cave. Lightning flashed atop this Silver Horned Lightning Python’s horn, and although it hadn’t been injured, suffering this attack had angered it further.
With a crackling sound, a dark ball of lightning appeared atop the horn of the angered Silver Horned Lightning Python. With a flourish of its head, the python sent out this black ball of lightning towards the cultivators at a speed barely visible to the eye.
One of them paled and hurriedly dodged while the other seemed to have all his attention focused on Yang Kai who was about to run away, but in his distracted state, he was unable to avoid the lightning sphere and was instantly enveloped by it.
Lighting flashed about as this unfortunate cultivator twitched, his hair standing on end. In a panic, he pushed his Saint Qi to resist the current from invading his body.
However, a massive whip-like object suddenly struck him, nearly knocking the soul from his body.
Having been struck by the lightning ball, this man had already been paralyzed and had no way to avoid this blow, so he was struck dead on and flung out several dozen meters.
The sound of bones shattering rang out as this man was sent flying, his chest caving in and blood spurting from his mouth as his face became unnaturally pale. Only now was he able to tell what it was that had struck him, it was the Silver Horned Lightning Python’s tail!
After hitting the ground, he convulsed a few times but somehow managed to get to his feet before staggering and falling over again, this time not getting up.
Suffering a direct hit from an Eighth-Order Monster Beast’s lightning attack, followed by a heavy tail whip, this Second Order Saint King cultivator only had death to look forward to.
The remaining cultivator’s face changed greatly as he had never imagined the situation would end up like this. In his head, after his first attack killed Yang Kai, he would snatch his Space ring then take advantage of the Silver Horned Lightning Pythons attacking Yang Kai to escape with his companion, allowing them to reap all the gains without facing any of the danger.
However, the course of events deviated greatly from his expectations.
Yang Kai remained unharmed while his companion had suffered calamity and died on the spot.
Now he had no thoughts of finding trouble with Yang Kai because he was in the same boat. Both of them were being entangled by one of the Silver Horned Lightning Pythons, and with only a Second-Order Saint King cultivation, facing an Eight-Order Monster Beast, he was barely able to protect himself. He didn’t dare to remain and fight, so he decisively chose to withdraw, drawing one of the Silver Horned Lightning Python’s out of Yang Kai’s sight.
Before leaving, however, the glare filled with resentment he shot towards Yang Kai let the latter know he had contracted an inexplicable and irresolvable grudge.
The other side had attacked first, attempting to kill him and steal his treasures, yet now Yang Kai was the one being blamed for everything. Naturally, Yang Kai had no plans to let this situation end so simply. Besides settling this grudge, Yang Kai also needed to silence this man otherwise once word of these Emerald Silk Grasses spread, he would only have more trouble to deal with.
Here wasn’t a good place to silence witnesses to the crime though as the Silver Horned Lightning Python was quite difficult to deal with. Yang Kai found that his Demonic Flame didn’t actually cause this python much damage because its scales were as hard as armour and were resistant to the elements.
This Monster Beast was clearly at the peak of the Eighth-Order, on the verge of evolving to the Ninth-Order and becoming a Flood Dragon.
If it were given a dozen years or so, it would definitely succeed.
On top of that, this Silver Horned Lightning Python seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation and was not only capable of using Thunder Attribute Divine Abilities like shooting lightning bolts from its horn, it was also able to spit a green poisonous mist from its mouth which caused Yang Kai much headache.
Yang Kai would have to expend a lot of effort to kill it!
Contemplating it for a moment, Yang Kai gave up the idea of killing it. Even if he killed such a Monster Beast, all he would get was an Eighth-Order Monster Core plus some low-grade Artefact Refining materials, it really wasn’t worth it.
Eliminating the fleeing source of trouble took precedent.
Thinking so, Yang Kai immediately withdrew from the fight and dashed off in the direction the other cultivator escaped, soon losing the Silver Horned Lightning Python far behind.
Along the way, Yang Kai saw the other Silver Horned Lightning Python which had gone to chase the fleeing cultivator returning to the cave. Seeing this, Yang Kai understood that his target had, like him, managed to shake off this difficult opponent.
In the jungle, a certain Second-Order Saint King leaned against a huge tree, his Divine Sense spread out around himself, panting heavily as he guarded against anyone or anything that tried to approach, cursing under his breath the whole time.
More than a dozen Emerald Silk Grasses had been within his grasp, but it seemed the Heavens had other plans; not only had he failed to pick those precious spirit herbs, his companion had also died.
He directed all his hate towards Yang Kai, feeling that if it weren’t for Yang Kai, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state. If it weren’t for Yang Kai suddenly jumping out and snatching his things, how could he have acted so hastily?
That was a dozen Emerald Silk Grasses! If he could have handed them over to the Elders of his Sect, he would have received a massive reward, but now he had less than nothing.
He simply couldn’t let this matter stand, no matter what, he needed to snatch those Emerald Silk Grasses from that bastard.
Taking out his communication artefact from his Space Ring and pouring his Divine Sense into it, this man wanted to notify his fellow Sect Brothers and Sister of what had just happened when suddenly a hot and cold, good and evil aura descended upon him from above.
Looking up blankly, all this man could see was a giant black palm that was patting towards him ruthlessly.
With a scream, he immediately summoned his defensive artefact while at the same time forcing his body to retreat a dozen meters, trying to avoid the attack of this huge palm print.
Someone was attacking him!
This man was astonished, he had spread out his Divine Sense but still failed to notice any trace of this person’s approach, which showed that the other party’s cultivation realm was far higher than his own. However, if that was the case, why would he suddenly be attacking him?
The next moment though, as a black flame enveloped him, he understood. Staring at Yang Kai who appeared not far from him, he couldn’t help calling out in shock, “You…”
He didn’t have the hard skin of the Silver Horned Lightning Python, so after being contaminated with the Demonic Flame, he was unable to put up any meaningful resistance and a moment later was reduced to a pile of ashes.
His Space Ring and communication artefact both dropped to the ground.
Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing this communication artefact as he knew his previous assumptions had been correct. This man really was planning on contacting his friends as soon as he escaped from the Silver Horned Lightning Python. Fortunately, Yang Kai had arrived in time, otherwise, he would have been in for a lot of hassle.
Bending down, Yang Kai picked up the Space Ring and checked its content. Unsurprisingly, there were some Saint Crystals and pills, but in addition to this, there were several Saint King Grade High-Rank herbs and a few bean-sized Fire Crystal Stones, obviously things this man had acquired along the way.
Indifferent to these things, Yang Kai stored them away in his own Space Ring before picking up the communication artefact.
While preparing to also throw this into his Space Ring, Yang Kai sensed a pulse of Divine Sense from this communication artefact.
Someone was sending a message!
Yang Kai was startled, wondering if he had been one step too late. Had the other party managed to contact someone before he arrived?
Frowning, Yang Kai sent his Divine Sense into the artefact, his expression turning strange in the next instant.
While it was true that someone had sent a message, it had nothing to do with Yang Kai or what had just happened now. Instead, it seemed whoever was sending the message was trying to gather together all of his companions as he had seemingly found something extraordinary.
Yang Kai didn’t want to meddle in this affair; after all, he had just killed someone from the Sect which was now gathering together, so avoiding this group was the sensible choice, but the four words ‘Soul Cleansing Divine Water’ were actually mentioned in this Divine Sense Message!
This startled Yang Kai.
He had read many of Zong Ao’s ancient books back on Rainfall Star and learned about many different treasures, not just information about herbs and pill recipes.
Soul Cleansing Divine Water was one of the treasures he had learned of.
This treasure wasn’t a natural product but was instead formed through a series of chance coincidences.
Three conditions had to be met for Soul Cleansing Divine Water to be created. First, the location where it was formed needed to be extremely rich in World Energy, preferably an Earth Vein or Spirit Spring. Second, an Origin King Realm master had to have died there. Third, after the death of this Origin King Realm master, their Spiritual Energy must not have dissipated and instead perfectly integrated with the Earth Vein or Spirit Spring. If all these conditions were met, there was a slim chance Soul Cleansing Divine Water would be formed.
Of these conditions, the third condition was without a doubt the most difficult to achieve, because no matter how powerful a cultivator was, once they died, their Spiritual Energy would escape from their body and soon dissipate into the surrounding atmosphere. This was essentially unavoidable.
However, there were some exceptions.
For example, a Soul Warming Lotus had the ability to completely preserve a cultivator’s Spiritual Energy. When Yang Kai found the Soul Warming Lotus, it had been surrounded by a massive amount of Spiritual Energy.
If Yang Kai accidentally died, his Spiritual Energy would also likely not dissipate but instead be preserved by the Soul Warming Lotus.
The birth of Soul Cleansing Divine Water was another such exception.
A person’s Soul contained their entire life’s experiences and memory, something no one dared to absorb at will. Yang Kai was only able to refine remnant Souls after purifying them with his Demon Eye of Annihilation.
However, Soul Cleansing Divine Water was different, it was actually a mixture of Spiritual Energy and a massive amount of World Energy. Because of the special conditions required for its formation, all of the dead cultivator’s memories and life experiences were washed away, leaving behind only a pure form of energy.
Soul Cleansing Divine Water could not only quickly improve a cultivator’s Soul cultivation, but if one was lucky enough, one would even be able to gain some of the insights in the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao of the fallen Origin King Realm cultivator.
Of course, the chance of this was even smaller than the chance of Soul Cleansing Divine Water being formed.
Zong Ao’s ancient books had recorded all of this, but Soul Cleansing Divine Water was too scarce. Origin King Realm cultivators already stood at the pinnacle of the Star Field, each of them possessing long life spans, so how could any of them die casually, much less die in a land where there was abundant World Energy?
As such, Zong Ao had only heard about this treasure and hadn’t actually seen it before.
What truly surprised Yang Kai about this Soul Cleansing Divine Water though was the fact that it had appeared here given the conditions required for its formation!
If it was really was the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, wouldn’t that mean that at one point, an Origin King Realm master died on Shadowed Star? Since there was an Origin King herein the past, why weren’t there any now? Also, why was the overall level of Alchemy and Artefact Refining on Shadowed Star so low?
While Yang Kai was contemplating all this, many more Divine Sense messages reached the communication artefact in his hand as people asked questions in amazement and also tried to determine where they would rendezvous.
[Should I take a look?] Yang Kai frowned. If it really was Soul Cleansing Divine Water, it was worth the risk. Even if it turned out to be something else, he wouldn’t suffer any loss other than wasting a bit of time.
Considering all this, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and while secretly paying attention to the information coming into the communication artefact, he ran towards the gathering point indicated.
It took Yang Kai some time to determine his exact destination. Fortunately, the location where the Soul Cleansing Divine Water had been found wasn’t too far away, otherwise, this communication artefact would not have even connected.
When Yang Kai finally arrived, he discovered that it was actually a stalactite cave. The inside of this cave was quite dark and seemed to be filled with a layer of mist, making it difficult to see ahead. Even Divine Sense seemed to be suppressed quite severely here.
Was the Soul Cleansing Divine Water in this place?
Moments after Yang Kai arrived, a team of three people quickly approached from a different direction.
Yang Kai glanced over at them casually to discover that these three wore the same robes as the two men who had tried to rob the Emerald Silk Grass from him. This could only mean that these three belonged to the same great force as those two.
Yang Kai secretly paid attention to them and soon came to know which force they came from.
They were actually from Heaven Battling Union!
This fact became apparent to Yang Kai when he saw that the one leading this group of three was actually Qu Chang Feng!
The entrance Heaven Battling Union used to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field was not the same one as Shadow Moon Hall. As Yang Kai crossed the Flame Area, he had not met anyone from Heaven Battling Union, but now that he had reached the Treasure Area, it seemed that the chances of meeting cultivators from various forces had increased. This made sense as the further one travelled into the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the less space there was.
At this moment, Qu Chang Feng’s face was filled with excitement as he led his two Sect Brothers over with great momentum. Obviously, he too had received that Divine Sense Message and was eager to investigate.
Soul Cleansing Divine Water had a huge appeal to all cultivators. This wasn’t something good for just Saint Kings, even Origin Realm and Origin King Realm masters could benefit from it. Fortunately, only Saint Kings could enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field, otherwise, none of them would have been able to enjoy this grade of treasure.
With his complete attention focused on the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Qu Chang Feng didn’t seem interested in Yang Kai at all, simply shooting him a passing glance before rushing into the Stalactite Cave.
After his figure disappeared, two or three other cultivators also raced over from different directions.
Seeing this, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and dove after behind Qu Chang Feng into the stalactite cave.
The treasure was right in front of him, those with fast hands would grab some while those who were slow would get nothing, so Yang Kai naturally couldn’t fall behind.
Drops of milky white liquid dripped from the hanging stalactites, giving the entire cave a fresh aura that was rich in World Energy. This place truly had incredibly dense World Energy, as if a spring of it was hidden deeper inside.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai nodded to himself. One of the conditions for the formation of Soul Cleansing Divine Water was satisfied by this place. The World Energy aura here was indeed strong, and this was just the periphery. If one went in further, the aura would only become richer.
Inside the cave, only the sound of water droplets falling to the ground resounded.
Yang Kai made his way inside, and the further he went, the more potent the World Energy aura became. After walking for around a stick of incense worth of time, he arrived at a large stone cavern.
Looking around, Yang Kai couldn’t help staring for a moment.
There were actually a lot of people gathered here in this stone cavern, twenty at least. Qu Chang Feng was also here and was currently staring greedily at a certain place. Besides him, there were five other Saint Kings, surrounding him like stars around a bright moon. These people were naturally Heaven Battling Union disciples.
Besides the six from Heaven Battling Union, the other dozen or so cultivators were split up into four groups, each group with three to five people in it.
On top of that, there was a stern-faced man who, like Yang Kai, stood all alone, his aura extremely calm and reserved.
However, when Yang Kai saw this person, he instinctually felt a sense of danger. This fellow wasn’t weak, a Third-Order Saint King without a doubt.
Yang Kai was used to killing enemies in higher realms than his own, and he had even killed a number of Third-Order Saint Kings. An ordinary Third-Order Saint King wouldn’t give him such a feeling of danger, so that could only mean that this person was incredibly powerful.
Even facing Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong, Yang Kai didn’t feel this way; who was he?
Sure enough, when Qu Chang Feng took back his greedy gaze and glanced towards this man, he frowned slightly, a tinge of dread and annoyance flashing across the depths of his eyes.
Yang Kai was surprised once more.
He had already experienced just how arrogant and unruly Qu Chang Feng was, he never put anyone in his eyes, not even Fang Tian Zhong, yet when he faced this stern-looking young man, Qu Chang Feng actually revealed such a timid appearance.
Just as Yang Kai was thinking like this, Qu Chang Feng suddenly shot him a glare, his eyes flashing with anger and ridicule, silently implying Yang Kai was in over his head, actually daring to come here all alone with just a First-Order Saint King cultivation. According to Qu Chang Feng’s nature, right now he would normally be clearing everyone unrelated to him out of this place, and Yang Kai had become his primary target; after all, who didn’t want to have sole possession of good things. However, for whatever reason, despite his anger and unwillingness, he gradually restrained himself.
Seeing Qu Chang Feng not try to seek trouble with him, Yang Kai turned his eyes forward, wanting to see if the Soul Cleansing Divine Water really existed.
Everyone eyes were currently fixed on a pool of water roughly fifty meters in diameter; however, the water in this pool was golden in colour. The aura wafting from this pool of water was incredibly thick and had a calming effect on one’s soul. All the cultivators who stood nearby were affected by this aura and couldn’t help feeling spirited and refreshed, as if their Souls were already being nourished.
Was this really Soul Cleansing Divine Water? Yang Kai frowned.
Feeling the aura coming from this pool of water, Yang Kai immediately confirmed it was the legendary Soul Cleansing Divine Water, but what made him somewhat confused was that this Soul Cleansing Divine Water was golden.
According to Zong Ao’s ancient books, Soul Cleansing Divine Water was milky white, and if its quality was high enough and it condensed for long enough, it may become a pure silver colour.
Golden Soul Cleansing Divine Water hadn’t been recorded in those ancient books, and it seemed no one had ever seen such a phenomenon before. Did that mean this Soul Cleansing Divine Water was of even higher quality than the silver one?
Was there something wrong with it? Yang Kai frowned deeper as he contemplated this issue, from time to time glancing around at the others in the cavern, hoping to discover some clues from their faces.
But soon, Yang Kai was disappointed. The cultivators standing here only showed two expressions, either a deep desire for this Soul Cleansing Divine Water or fear of Qu Chang Feng. Only the stern-faced Third-Order Saint King who stood alone maintained a look of completely indifferent.
These people obviously didn’t know much about Soul Cleansing Divine Water so there was no use trying to pry information from them.
With such a treasure right in front of them, no one wouldn’t be tempted, but the reason no one had tried to jump straight into this pool of water to cleanse and purify their Soul was because of a thin, golden, hemispherical dome which was covering it.
Obviously, some of the people here had tested the power of this barrier before and determined that no one could enter the pool before it was broken.
On the other side of the pool, there was a cross-legged skeleton sitting on the ground. It was impossible to tell just how many years had passed since this master passed away, but it must have been incredibly long as even the Artefact Armour worn on his body had become faded and tattered.
He didn’t have a Space Ring on his hand, but whether he never had one or it had simply been taken away a long time ago could not be determined.
This person must have been an Origin King before he died. Only when an Origin King Realm master died could their Spiritual Energy combine with the rich Spirit Spring here to give birth to a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water.
Everyone wore a sad look when they glanced at this skeleton because the Artefact Armour worn by an Origin King would definitely not be low-grade, perhaps being even higher-end than any artefact on Shadowed Star.
However, this Artefact Armour was clearly damaged beyond repair. It was really quite a mystery how many aeons ago this Origin King Realm master had died.
After Yang Kai arrived, more than ten others followed one after another, all of them clearly having gotten word of this place and quickly come to investigate. With each new person who came, Qu Chang Feng’s expression grew gloomier and gloomier; clearly, he was dissatisfied that so many people had come here to snatch his treasure.
However, there was nothing he could do about hid dissatisfaction. There were already cultivators here from eight forces, so even if Heaven Battling Union was among the most powerful Sects on Shadowed Star, Qu Chang Feng wouldn’t be able to withstand the public anger were he to try to monopolize this place. On top of that, there were only eight cultivators from Heaven Battling Union here with him, they couldn’t afford to become hostile with everyone present.
“Why haven’t Junior Brother Fu and Junior Brother Liu come yet? They should have been around here and couldn’t have missed the message we sent out,” A thin man next to Qu Chang Feng mutter softly as he glanced towards the entrance to the stone cavern, obviously hoping this Junior Brother Fu and Junior Brother Liu would quickly appear. Although the strength of those two wasn’t very high, if they came, they could still add some power to Heaven Battling Union’s lineup, so when it came time to divide up this treasure, they would be able to snatch more advantages. Now though, not only had they not come, they hadn’t even sent a reply to the original message.
“If they haven’t shown up yet, they probably never will,” Qu Chang Feng coldly snorted.
The skinny man’s face changed when he heard Qu Chang Feng’s words. Indeed, if those two could come, they would have, but since they hadn’t, it could only mean they had suffered something unexpected.
The Treasure Area wasn’t a safe zone, it still contained many dangers.
However, none of the disciples from Heaven Battling Union could have thought that one of their Junior Brothers had died under the lightning attack and tail whip of a Silver Horned Lightning Python and the other hand been burnt to ash by Yang Kai. Naturally, it was impossible for them to appear here.
Seeing more and more people showing up, the cultivators who had already come here couldn’t sit still any longer. If they continued waiting, they would only be decreasing the number of benefits they could obtain.
A scholarly looking man from one of the teams with five members suddenly walked out and cupped his fists to Qu Chang Feng, “Young Master Qu, what should we do now? Shouldn’t we begin?”
His words and demeanour were polite and respectful. He had asked Qu Chang Feng because he knew that in terms of status, Qu Chang Feng was higher than everyone else present. Not only was Qu Chang Feng the number one talent of Heaven Battling Union’s younger generation, of all the people here, he was likely also the strongest. His opinion was essential in determining how they would handle this Soul Cleansing Divine Water.
Acting rashly here would only draw everyone else’s hostility.
Given the current situation, the only option was to reach a compromise and then distribute the benefits.