“Good, this is the Blood Fusion Pill the Elders gave me, the one that helps us our Demon Blood Temple disciples purify our blood and assist in breaking through bottlenecks! Do you want it?” Deng Ning asked as a dangerous smile appeared on his face. Immediately after, he wound up and hurled the Blood Fusion Pill towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field while laughing wildly, “If you want it, go pick it up for yourselves! If you can, that is!”
He knew that there was no way he could keep this Blood Fusion Pill facing his two fellow Sect Brothers, so he decided to destroy it instead.
“Stop him!” Ye Yang Rong yelled, seemingly making a move to attack Deng Ning but stopping halfway and chasing after the Blood Fusion Pill.
An Zhi’s pulled a similar move and chased after the Blood Fusion Pill at the same time, the two’s goals at this surprisingly consistent.
However, Deng Ning had used his full strength to throw the Blood Fusion Pill, so it flew out extremely fast and in just a blink entered the dark red energy curtain covering the Flowing Flame Sand Field and disappeared. By the time Ye Yang Rong and An When Zhi began chasing after it, it was already too late.
For a time, both of them wore aggrieved looks on their faces before turning around and glaring angrily at Deng Ning. Murderous intent burst out and any trace of benign demeanour these two had a moment ago disappeared as they both wished to shred Deng Ning’s corpse into ten thousand pieces.
The Blood Fusion Pill had been thrown into the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so it was impossible to obtain it now. Even as Third-Order Saint Kings, neither of them had confidence they could enter this Forbidden Zone and survive. The Flowing Flame Sand Field was nothing less than a certain-death trap right now.
The moment Deng Ning threw the Blood Fusion Pill, he turned around and tried to escape; however, Ye Yang Rong soon let out a fierce shot and his body transformed into a blood cloud that rapidly overtook Deng Ning and engulfed him.
Inside this blood cloud, Evil Qi soared to the Heavens and the smell of blood was stifling.
In the next instant, Deng Ning let out a terrified shout, “Demon Blood Body! Since when did you cultivate this skill?”
He seemed to have been shocked by the method Ye Yang Rong displayed and in the next moment, fierce sounds of battle and Deng Ning’s stuffy snorts could be heard coming from the blood cloud.
Ye Yang Rong’s sneering voice soon sounded, “Senior Brother isn’t very talented, he actually began cultivating this skill over three years ago and only recently managed to master it. Now is actually the first time anyone has seen me use it. Junior Brother Deng, let’s see where you run this time!”
After saying so, he shouted, “Junior Brother An, go kill that other bastard then come help me. The Blood Fusion Pill is gone, but as far as I know, Junior Brother Deng also managed to obtain the Demon Blood Thread technique’s cultivation manual. If you want it, you’d best act quickly.”
Originally, when Ye Yang Rong transformed into a blood cloud and enveloped Deng Ning, An Zhi’s expression became heavy. He had never anticipated that his Senior Brother Ye had hidden his skills so deeply, actually not exposing a technique this powerful for three years. Fear had filled An Zhi’s face.
Now that the Blood Fusion Pill was gone, An Zhi had considered withdrawing; after all, even if he teamed up with Ye Yang Rong to kill Deng Ning, he wouldn’t obtain much benefit.
But now that he knew Deng Ning actually had Demon Blood Thread cultivation method on him, he became quite excited, but he still hesitated to act.
How could Ye Yang Rong not understand what An Zhi was worried about though? Realizing this, Ye Yang Rong shouted loudly, “Junior Brother An, Senior Brother’s Demon Blood Body consumes a massive amount of Saint Qi but is still only able to deal with Junior Brother Deng reluctantly, so there’s no need for you to worry I will betray you afterwards. I know Junior Brother An’s means, Senior Brother won’t do anything to embarrass himself.”
An Zhi pondered sullenly for a while before finally making a decision, his fluctuation expression becoming firm as he nodded, “Good, then Junior Brother will join forces with Senior Brother once more!”
Saying so, he turned around and stared at Yang Kai coldly.
At that moment, a flash of red light rushed out from the Flowing Flame Sand Field and disappeared into Yang Kai’s robes, causing An Zhi who saw this scene to frown slightly, “What was that?”
“Nothing,” Yang Kai sighed before asking, “If I were to say I have nothing to do with your Junior Brother and am not a helper he asked to meet here, would you believe me?”
“What do you think?” An Zhi snorted coldly.
“If it was me, I wouldn’t believe it,” Yang Kai said helplessly. Forget about Deng Ning showing a happy expression when he first saw him, as if two of them knew each other, although this was the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, it was still extremely hot and barren, so Yang Kai just appearing here for no reason was incredibly suspicious. If he wasn’t a helper Deng Ning arranged for earlier, would he have appeared in such a remote place?”
No one was willing to get close to the Flowing Flame Sand Field except for when it was open.
This time, if Ye Yang Rong and An Zhi hadn’t been chasing Deng Ning, how could they have come to this place? Deng Ning also had no way out which was why he decided to come here, hoping he could lose his Senior Brothers here. How could he have known that the Blood Fusion Pill was too tempting to them, causing them to be relentless in their pursuit?
Yang Kai getting involved in this dispute was just bad luck.
“Are you going to kill yourself or do you want me to do it?” An Zhi didn’t put Yang Kai in his eyes at all, glancing over at the battle in the blood cloud nearby as he spoke. He wasn’t in a hurry to fight Yang Kai, as the longer he delayed, and the more intense the other battle became, the better things were for him. If possible, An Zhi hoped that Deng Ning and Ye Yang Rong could both cause heavy losses to each other so he could fish all the advantages for himself.
“What’s the difference?” Yang Kai grinned, not showing any fear.
“There’s a big difference. If you do it yourself, you can die happy, but if you ask me to do it… heh heh.”
“I don’t think there’s a difference.” Yang Kai shook his head slowly, a sneer creeping onto his face as he said lightly, “No matter what, you’ll be the one to die!”
An Zhi gawked for a moment, but upon understanding what Yang Kai said, his expression suddenly became sullen as he spat, “You’re tone isn’t small, no wonder Deng Ning asked you for help. Good, let’s see how you make me die!”
As he spoke, blood seemed to flow out from his body and his originally plain aura took on the scent of iron.
Yang Kai frowned slightly. Although he hadn’t dealt with anyone from Demon Blood Temple before, from what he could sense of Ye Yang Rong and this An Zhi’s auras, he could tell they both cultivated evil Secret Arts. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have possessed such malevolent auras.
When one cultivated this kind of aura to the extreme, simply releasing it when facing an enemy would be enough to intimidate them. Those who had weak wills would also be affected by this Evil Qi and malevolent aura, causing their fighting spirit to dampen, giving its user an edge in combat.
But likewise, this kind of Evil Qi was easily restrained. As long as one had powerful enough Yang Attribute Saint Qi, they could suppress it.
The Unyielding Golden Skeleton in Yang Kai’s body previously stored this kind of evil power, so he was naturally quite familiar with it.
After An Zhi released his aura, he didn’t immediately take action but instead stared at Yang Kai with great interest, as if he was hoping to see this boy cower in fear under the influence of his Evil Qi.
The other party’s cultivation was lower than his own by a Minor realm, so naturally An Zhi had full confidence in suppressing Yang Kai, and once the latter lost the will to resist, he could spend his time torturing him.
Unexpectedly though, after releasing his Evil Qi and projecting his malevolent aura towards this youth, far from showing fear, a look of disdain actually appeared on his face. An Zhi had never encountered anything like this before and it greatly stunned him, pulling a nod from him in the next moment, “Good good good, seems you have some skill after all. I underestimated you.”
As he spoke, he took back his imposing manner and transformed the blood which was leaking from all over his body into a kind of crimson mist. This blood mist twisted and morphed into a giant palm which rapidly thrust towards Yang Kai.
Asura Blood Hand!
This was one of Demon Blood Temple’s Secret Techniques and could only be cultivated by Demon Blood Temple cultivators. Although its power wasn’t overwhelming, the evil aura contained within this blood mist was strange and unpredictable, causing an enemy’s blood to boil if they became contaminated with it, an incredibly painful experience.
All the secret techniques of Demon Blood Temple generally had such an effect, so on Shadowed Star, most people who encountered Demon Blood Temple cultivators would try to avoid fighting them because doing so would generally mean having to suffer quite a bit regardless of if they won or lost.
At the same time as the Asura Blood Hand was launched, An Zhi lifted his hands and shot out ten blood red light darts from his fingers that stealthily followed behind the blood hand to act as a sneak attack.
He didn’t believe he could kill Yang Kai with just a casual blow as, judging from the other party’s performance just now, he wasn’t weak. As such, An Zhi was using this attack as a way to probe Yang Kai’s depths.
As the bloody hand flew towards him, Yang Kai simply punched out, sending out a black flame fist that radiated a scorching hot aura.
The instant the two attacks met, the bloody hand melted like snow under the hot sun. The bloody hand was instantly broken by the black flames, and even its crimson light was smothered by darkness. The blood darts which followed behind this Asura Blood Hand suffered the same fate as they harmlessly impacted on several Grand Heavenly Shields Yang Kai had condensed around himself.
Witnessing this, An Zhi wore a dull look of shock and quickly realized that the combat power of this Second-Order Saint King wasn’t inferior to his in the slightest. Not daring to underestimate his opponent again, An Zhi summoned a blood-red axe into his hand. This axe was oddly shaped, appearing like a cross between a hatchet and a machete. Its whole body was blood red in colour and it gave off a potent Evil aura.
Lifting this axe, An Zhi released his aura completely and slashed out ruthlessly.
A blood red ray blasted out from the axe, morphing into a flying blade that rushed towards Yang Kai. Immediately after, An Zhi slashed again, then again, sending out one blood red blade after another. In an instant, a storm of red blades were ferociously descending upon Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he realized that his opponent was going all out. Not intending to underestimate his enemy, Yang Kai directly summoned his purple shield to defend himself.
Although the purple shield’s spirituality had suffered significant damage during his fight with the Artifact Spirit and Yang Kai was unable to summon a sandstorm with it, its defensive strength hadn’t been impacted greatly.
Yang Kai had just summoned his shield when the countless blood blades arrived in front of him, impacting on its surface like a bloody rain, raising an earth-shattering clatter and even forcing Yang Kai to retreat backwards.
When An Zhi saw this though, he didn’t show the slightest joy but instead wore an even more solemn expression. The purple shield his opponent had summoned looked dim and dull, but it was actually capable of blocking his blood blades, so it was obviously a high-quality Origin Grade artifact. Realizing this, An Zhi began swinging his axe even more vigorously.
As he swung his axe, it seemed to have an effect on the already condensed blood blades, causing them to fly in different directions away from the purple shield, spin around mid-air, then head towards Yang Kai from all sides.
“Yuan Control?” Yang Kai frowned, but quickly rejected this idea because it was obvious to him that this An Zhi didn’t understand Yuan Control Mastery. These blood blades being able to change direction should be related to this strange artifact.
Understanding this, Yang Kai let out a light sigh.
He had only been defending himself because he wanted to see what kind of means this Demon Blood Temple disciple would display; after all, he had to continue living on Shadowed Star for the foreseeable future, so the more he knew about the cultivators of the local forces, the better he could prepare himself to face them.
How could he have known that this An Zhi, who was a genuine Third-Order Saint King, would actually have such weak, impure Saint Qi? Although the methods he used were a bit strange, they couldn’t pose any threat to him at all.
Realizing this, Yang Kai lost all interest in probing this enemy and put away his purple shield, exposing his body directly to the countless blood blades.
An Zhi saw this and a pleased expression filled his face. Although he didn’t understand why Yang Kai had given up defending himself, he knew that this was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to miss. As such, he waved his axe fiercely, driving the countless blood blades around Yang Kai to all impact him at once.
Yang Kai stared at him indifferently. The moment the blood blades were about to hit him, Yang Kai condensed Demonic Flame all over his body. These Demonic Flames were extremely hot, and as soon as they appeared, the temperature in the surrounding hundred-metre range shot up dramatically.
The blood blades barely touched the Demonic Flame before burning to ash, none of them even able to cut into this layer of protection.
An Zhi was greatly shocked by this scene, but before he could make his next move, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and appeared directly in front of him. The moment Yang Kai reappeared, the black Demonic Flames around his body welled up and engulfed An Zhi directly.
Calling out in fright, An Zhi tried to fight back as panic filled his mind and voice.
His opponent’s black flames seemed capable of greatly suppressing his malevolent Saint Qi. The moment he was enveloped by his opponent’s black flames, An Zhi lost the ability to exert the majority of his strength, and if it weren’t for the two defensive artifacts he was currently wearing, he estimated he would already be dead.
Was this young man really a Second-Order Saint King? An Zhi’s thoughts became confused. Could it be he was an Origin Returning Realm master in disguise?
While Yang Kai and An Zhi were fighting, Ye Yang Rong and Deng Ning were also engaged in a life or death battle. Deng Ning was still trapped inside Ye Yang Rong’s blood cloud, and even though he was using every method at his disposal, it was only enough to barely protect himself. Unfortunately, he could keep this up for at most an incense stick worth of time. This Senior Brother of his had clearly cultivated his Demon Blood Body to a very high level; he was unable to resist.
While Deng Ning was feeling terrified in his heart, Ye Yang Rong suddenly received some of the power of his blood cloud, greatly relieving the pressure Deng Ning felt. Overjoyed, Deng Ning pushed his strength even harder to try to regain the initiative.
Ye Yang Rong’s voice suddenly spread from the blood clouds at that moment, “Junior Brother An, what are you doing? Quickly kill that brat and come help me!”
Although he heard An Zhi’s shouts, Ye Yang Rong thought that An Zhi was deliberately stalling so that he and Deng Ning would both end up badly injured, but what he didn’t know was that An Zhi simply had no time to reply to him at the moment because he was being completely suppressed by Yang Kai.
Because Ye Yang Rong was suspicious of An Zhi, he didn’t go all out to deal with Deng Ning, preparing to leave some energy to compete with An Zhi for Deng Ning’s valuables.
For a moment, the two battlefields entered into a strange stage. On one side, Ye Yang Rong was unwilling to use his full strength, while on the other side, An Zhi was being overwhelmed to the point where he couldn’t hit back.
But soon, this strange situation came to an end.
An Zhi fought with Yang Kai for less than half a cup of tea’s time before letting out a blood-curdling scream. At that moment, his figure flew out after suffering a heavy blow, coughing up a mouthful of blood, his face completely ashen and his eyes flashing with horror.
As An Zhi flew through the air, Yang Kai’s figure appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to his chest.
An Zhi cried out pitifully as his chest caved in completely and his eyes gradually lost their light. In the next instant, his body exploded into a bloody fog.
On the other side, Ye Yang Rong heard An Zhi’s pitiful cries and was startled. Turning his head, he was just in time to see the tragic scene of An Zhi’s body exploding, pulling a cry of shock from his lips, “How is that possible?”
The shock he felt caused the blood cloud to tremble and Deng Ning took this opportunity to escape, standing aside in an embarrassing condition as he stared at the blood cloud, gasping for breath. Glancing over to the side a moment later, he saw Yang Kai receive his fist and a look of incomprehension, joy, and fear filled his face.
An Zhi had died without a complete corpse and Deng Ning had escaped from his blood cloud, so Ye Yang Rong knew that the situation had taken a turn for the worse. As such, he withdrew his blood cloud and re-condensed his body, knitting his brow as he stared over at Yang Kai silently.
“If you dare move I’ll kill you!” Yang Kai flicked the blood off his fist before raising his eyes and glancing over at Ye Yang Rong lightly, showing an expression a butcher would use when looking at a helpless lamb, causing Ye Yang Rong to shiver as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar.
Although the other party had only made a verbal threat, Ye Yang Rong somehow felt that he really had this ability, so feeling this fear in his heart, he didn’t dare to move.
Opening his mouth, he tried to say something, but before he could, Deng Ning cut him off, cupping his fists to Yang Kai and saying with a forced smile, “This friend, many thanks for rescuing me!”
His expression was sincere, and he was obviously earnest in his thanks; after all, even if he was a disciple of Demon Blood Temple, he still knew how to be grateful to someone who saved his life.
“It has nothing to do with you!” Yang Kai replied indifferently. He didn’t have a good impression of this Deng Ning. After all, when this guy was being chased by his two Senior Brothers, he still flew towards Yang Kai, so it was clear he planned on dragging him into this mess on purpose.
And before, when Ye Yang Rong and An Zhi suspected that Yang Kai was a helper Deng Ning had arranged to meet here, the latter didn’t make any attempt to deny it. If it were any other Second-Order Saint King, how would they still be alive at this moment? He would have been easily killed long ago.
But thinking about it for a moment, if Yang Kai found himself in the same situation as this Deng Ning, he figured he would have done the same thing, so although he didn’t like this Deng Ning’s approach, he didn’t intend to blame him for it. The other party just wanted to save his life, where would he have the time to debate the finer points of morality?
Choking on Yang Kai’s words, Deng Ning’s face filled with embarrassment, but he tactfully didn’t try to explain himself, instead putting on a serious expression and shouted, “Friend, can I ask you to make a move once more? If you help me kill this person, this Deng will generously compensate you afterwards!”
As soon as this remark came out, Ye Yang Rong’s complexion changed greatly. Only now did he realize that this young-looking Second-Order Saint King was really not a helper arranged by Deng Ning, causing his stomach to turn green in a flash.
If he had only known earlier, how could he have let An Zhi find trouble with Yang Kai? It would have been fine to simply let him leave, but such regret was useless now. An Zhi had been killed by this youth who was now eyeing him dangerously. Clearly, after being inexplicably caught up in this dispute, this young man had become annoyed. On top of that, given that this youth had the strength to kill An Zhi in half a cup of tea’s time, if he really worked together with Deng Ning, how could Ye Yang Rong survive?
Ye Yang Rong’s heart pounded as he stared at Yang Kai nervously, secretly worrying about what answer he would give.
To his surprise though, Yang Kai just rolled his eyes before staring at Deng Ning and shaking his head, “I have no interest in intervening in your grudges.”
Ye Yang Rong’s expression finally loosened, thinking he had just escaped death, but Deng Ning quickly followed up, “Friend, we are the Demon Blood Temple disciples. You killed my Senior Brother, so if you let Ye Yang Rong go back, he will definitely expose what has happened here. Once that happens, it will surely be troublesome for you.”
“So you think I should kill all of you to silence the witnesses to the crime?” Yang Kai grinned as he glanced back and forth between Deng Ning and Ye Yang Rong, making both of their hearts jump as they sweat uneasily.
Ye Yang Rong cursed out Deng Ning in his heart viciously, hating the fact that he couldn’t just shut up, but thinking about what this unknown youth had just said, he quickly thought up a plan and spiritedly asked, “Junior Brother Deng, this friend doesn’t seem to be the affable type, why don’t we put aside our internal grudges temporarily and work together to deal with him?”
Deng Ning simply sneered at this offer and refused without thinking, “Sorry, I’m not interested in joining hands with people like you.”
After rejecting Ye Yang Rong’s offer, he turned back to Yang Kai and said, “Silencing the witness to the crime sounds about right, and if friend kills me too, I won’t utter any complaint; after all, if you had not intervened just now, I would have died anyway. But even if I must die here, I refuse to let this bastard feel any better!”
Saying so, he glanced over at Ye Yang Rong and grinned fiercely. Being forced to abandon that Blood Fusion Pill had made Deng Ning lose all restraint.
“You’re insane!” Ye Yang Rong was shocked and tried to retreat.
However, the moment he took a single step back, an intense Divine Sense pressure descended upon him, instantly breaking through his Knowledge Sea’s defence but stopping just before it did any real damage.
Ye Yang Rong began dripping with sweat, knowing that if he moved again, his Knowledge Sea would be attacked again. The strength of the Divine Sense just now wasn’t inferior to that of a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master’s and was not something he could possibly resist.
Immediately, Ye Yang Rong didn’t dare to move as he glanced over at Yang Kai with intense fear, trembling uncontrollably as he stood there stiffly. He couldn’t believe that such a powerful Divine Sense attack had been sent out by this person.
After tearing this person’s Knowledge Sea defences to give him a warning, Yang Kai didn’t rush to kill Ye Yang Rong and instead glanced over a Deng Ning with amusement and asked, “It’s not like I can’t help you, but what reward can you give me?”
Yang Kai understood what it meant to cut weeds and pull out roots better than most. At first, he planned to kill Deng Ning as well, but hearing the latter say he didn’t care if he died as long as Ye Yang Rong did as well improved Yang Kai’s opinion of him slightly.
A man who was truly indifferent about whether he lived or died could be believed.
Asking Deng Ning for some kind of reward was really just an excuse. Yang Kai didn’t want to act for no reason and had only killed An Zhi just now because the other party had attacked him.
As for what Deng Ning could pay him, regardless of whether it was valuable or not, Yang Kai didn’t care.
Surprisingly though, after Yang Kai said this, Deng Ning wore a smile and after thinking about it for a moment, said solemnly, “The Demon Blood Thread technique, I don’t know if this friend is interested?”
“Deng Ning!” Yang Kai couldn’t even answer before Ye Yang Rong roared angrily, his face filled with shock and disbelief, “You dare allow an outsider to study our Sect’s Secret Technique? Do you know what kind of end you’ll have if the Elders ever learned of this?”
Deng Ning turned his head leisurely and smiled coldly at him, “It’s just my Soul being extracted and tormented while my body is refined into meat paste, what’s the big deal?”
His completely uncaring expression caused Ye Yang Rong to be speechless for a while.
Deng Ning shook his head again and sneered, “Besides, Senior Brother Ye, as long as you die here, who will know that I leaked this technique?”
Ye Yang Rong’s face suddenly turned pale, only now realizing the extent of Deng Ning’s hatred for him, even willing to violate Demon Blood Temple’s Sect Laws and use the Demon Blood Thread Secret technique to lure this man into helping him. If the other party really agreed to this deal, Ye Yang Rong knew he would die, so he hurriedly called out to Yang Kai, “This friend, don’t believe Deng Ning, the Demon Blood Thread technique is certainly a powerful Divine Ability, one that only Core Disciples of the temple have the right to cultivate, but you don’t cultivate my Demon Blood Temple’s Secret Arts, so the Demon Blood Thread technique is useless to you. Furthermore, if you obtain this top-level technique, it absolutely won’t be ignored by the Sect. Once news of you possessing it reaches the Elders, you will certainly have no way to escape their pursuit!”
Saying so, a thought crossed Ye Yang Rong’s mind and he suddenly seemed to understand something, his face turning much paler as he stared at Deng Ning and tremblingly said, “This was your plan all along!”
Deng Ning grinned meaningfully as he saw Ye Yang Rong finally understand, no longer trying to cover anything up and instead saying to Yang Kai, “Friend, I don’t know your name, nor your origin, but right now I don’t care, I just want this bastard here to die. Giving you the Demon Blood Thread technique has certain risks for you, but the same is true for me. Once this trade is exposed, I will be the one who endures endless torture, so I will never betray you. About this, you can rest assured.”
This Deng Ning’s mind was quite sharp, he seemed to have noticed from the start that Yang Kai wanted to kill both of them off, so he had used the Demon Blood Thread technique as a way to tie their two fates together.
As long as Yang Kai agreed to this trade, Deng Ning would never be able to betray him, because doing so would be the same as sentencing himself to death. This was a thinly veiled display of goodwill on his part. As for whether the Demon Blood Thread technique was useful to Yang Kai, how could Deng Ning care about that?
Seeing Yang Kai’s hesitant look, Deng Ning steeled his heart and prepared to increase his offer, “If friend is not satisfied, I can…”
“No, that Demon Blood Thread technique will do.” Yang Kai interrupted his words, he also saw through Deng Ning’s intentions, but he didn’t care about such trivial means. As for Deng Ning gambling everything on a single throw of the dice, Yang Kai was completely indifferent.
Seeing Yang Kai nod, Ye Yang Rong’s face went ashen while Deng Ning was overjoyed.
“You start.” Yang Kai suddenly urged Deng Ning.
Deng Ning looked stunned, but thinking Yang Kai would help him, he didn’t ask any questions, pushing his Blood Qi madly before biting his tongue and spitting out a blood mist. This blood mist was like a living creature that twisted and morphed, quickly transforming into a short spear. Deng Ning grabbed the short spear in one hand and rushed towards Ye Yang Rong, his expression stern and determined.
What happened next shocked him. He clearly saw Ye Yang Rong try to avoid his attack, but just as he did, a look of pain appeared on the face of this Senior Brother of his. At the same time, Ye Yang Rong’s Saint Qi seemed to seize up and his body froze in place.
Deng Ning’s short spear easily passed through Ye Yang Rong’s heart and came out his back.
Blood splashed out as a horrified look filled Ye Yang Rong’s face. Holding the bloody short spear in his hand, he seemed to want to pull it out, but his strength slipped away far too quickly. In the blink of an eye, his vitality completely dissipated.
Deng Ning was dumbfounded by this sequence of events and it wasn’t until Ye Yang Rong’s body hit the ground with a loud thud that he awoke from his daze.
Deng Ning was certain that the reason his Senior Brother had not had a chance to fight back against his blow just now was because of this mysterious Second-Order Saint King young man.
Did this youth possess such skill?
Deng Ning didn’t think of himself as weak, but he couldn’t even understand what had happened just now or how he had won this battle so easily. All he knew was that if this youth could allow him to easily defeat his Senior Brother, couldn’t he also kill him just as easily?
Thinking so, cold sweat leaked from Deng Ning’s body and, for some reason, he felt somewhat depressed.
When he saw Yang Kai kill An Zhi, he knew that this youth was probably an elite from some great force, but it wasn’t until now that he understood that this person was a true monster.
Various thoughts crossed his mind, and only after a short silence did Deng Ning turn around, a calm look on his face but fear still flashing across the depths of his eyes, flew down, wore as big a smile as he could, and cupped his fists to Yang Kai, “Friend, many thanks! When I saw you in Flowing Flame Sand Field, I thought there was something extraordinary about you, now it seems I was right!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly and said nothing.
Unable to read Yang Kai’s mood, Deng Ning’s heart clenched up; after all, he didn’t know what kind of temperament this person had. Fearing he would say something to upset Yang Kai, Deng Ning hurriedly remembered their previous agreement and quickly took out a scroll made from some kind of beast skin from his Space Ring and extremely politely handed it over, “This is the Demon Blood Thread technique’s cultivation manual. Because I did not have enough merits though, this is only the first half of the technique; moreover, it is just a copy of the original. I may have copied it, but I guarantee it is no different from the original…”
As he spoke, Deng Ning carefully observed Yang Kai’s expression.
After all, the remuneration he was giving now wasn’t quite the same as what they had previously agreed upon, so he was naturally a bit worried.
Yang Kai stared at him for a moment before silently accepting the scroll; then, without looking at it, tossed it into his Space Ring. To Yang Kai, half the Demon Blood Thread technique was the same as the complete thing; after all, he had no intention to cultivate it so he didn’t care about Deng Ning’s little concealment.
Seeing Yang Kai put away the scroll and not show any intention to question him, Deng Ning couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
“Does your Demon Blood Temple allow disciples to make copies of their secret techniques?” Yang Kai asked, looking at Deng Ning with a smile.
Deng Ning chuckled, “Naturally not, but since I was a kid my memory has always been good, so… friend understands.”
Yang Kai nodded.
“May I know friend’s honoured name?” Deng Ning asked solemnly.
Yang Kai frowned, but still reported his name.
Deng Ning nodded and followed up, “This one is Demon Blood Temple disciple Deng Ning, presumably Brother Yang already knows this though. En, Brother Yang may rest assured, what happened here will never be known to a third person. If this Deng reveals it to anyone, may he suffer from heart demon backlash and never break through to the Origin Returning Realm!”
Hearing such a poisonous oath, Yang Kai gave a surprised look. Although this kind of oath may have just been casually spoken, if he really failed to uphold it, it would create a small, invisible flaw in his heart and very well may lead to him suffering from a heart demon when trying to break through in the future.
As such, it could be believed in.
“I’m not worried about that, but you… two of your Sect Brothers died here, won’t that cause you trouble?” Yang Kai glanced over at the nearby corpses.
When Deng Ning heard this, his expression became slightly strange as he stared at Yang Kai strangely before asking tentatively, “Is this the first time Brother Yang has heard of my Demon Blood Temple?”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned.
Deng Ning didn’t dare act mysterious and quickly said, “It seems this really is the first time Brother Yang has heard about Demon Blood Temple. No wonder. Brother Yang need not worry, it’s nothing important if these two died here. In Demon Blood Temple, brothers killing one another isn’t forbidden; in fact, it’s encouraged. On top of that, there are many disciples in the temple, so no one will notice if one or two die.”
Yang Kai’s eye bulged greatly after hearing this.
Sure enough, the world was wide. Even a Sect that encouraged its disciples to kill one another existed. What’s more, this Sect had actually endured the test of time, which Yang Kai felt was incredible.
Deng Ning seemed to be the chatty type, so even without prompting, he continued, “The Temple basically has a small internal war every five years, and a big one every ten. Each time such a war occurs, rivers of blood flow through the temple and many people die. Because of this, the Sect is quite famous on Shadowed Star.”
“Then why hasn’t your Sect been destroyed?” Yang Kai asked strangely.
“Brother Yang doesn’t mince words…” Deng Ning’s mouth twitched. “Because the Secret Arts of the temple encourage slaughter, these internal fights actually lead to many disciples’ strength increasing. After each war, countless disciples break through to the next realm, so a complete annihilation of the temple’s population has never occurred.”
Smiling reluctantly, Deng Ning patiently explained.
The more Yang Kai heard the harder he found it to believe so he didn’t continue inquiring about it and instead asked, “I assume your Demon Blood Temple is nearby then, yes?”
“Yes.”
“How far is Heavenly Fate City from here?”
“Heavenly Fate City?” Deng Ning heard this name and was quite startled, suddenly realizing something and saying, “It turns out that Brother Yang is a Shadow Moon Hall disciple! No wonder your means are so profound. En, this Ding is deeply impressed.”
Hearing Yang Kai ask about Heavenly Fate City, Deng Ning apparently misunderstood and thought he was a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall. Yang Kai didn’t bother to correct him.
After some small flattery, Deng Ning remarked, “Heavenly Fate City is quite far away from here. If you fly by Star Shuttle, it will take you at least half a year to arrive.”
“So far away!” Yang Kai frowned. He knew that Shadowed Star itself was massive because he had once sent a drop of Golden Blood to circle the star, but even at its ridiculous travel speed it had still taken quite some time. However, taking six months to fly back to Heavenly Fate City from here was something Yang Kai wasn’t willing to do.
Six months was enough time to do many things.
Seeing the expression on Yang Kai’s face, Deng Ning went silent for a moment, but after a brief struggle, he grit his teeth and said, “If you use the Space Array in Demon Blood City about ten thousand kilometres from here, it will save you a lot of time. Demon Blood City’s Space Array isn’t directly connected to Heavenly Fate City’s, but it can teleport you to a place called Bluestone City, which is under the jurisdiction of Grand Fire Temple. From Bluestone City to Heavenly Fate City, it’s only about a month’s journey. Of course, if Brother Yang knows a Core Disciple of Grand Fire Temple who can act as a guarantor, you should be able to use Bluestone City’s Space Array to directly transfer to Heavenly Fate City.”
“Demon Blood City’s Space Array is connected to Bluestone City’s?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Yes, because Demon Blood Temple does a lot of trade with Grand Fire Temple, the disciples from the two Sects are quite familiar with one another and often cooperate on excursions or in cultivation,” Deng Ning explained with a smile, inquiring right after, “If Brother Yang wants, you can accompany me to Demon Blood City. This Deng is also a Core Disciple of Demon Blood Temple, so it won’t be a problem to allow you to use the Space Array.”
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised and secretly felt that allowing Deng to live was the right choice as he had some use. On his face though, Yang Kai maintained an indifferent expression as he asked, “What’s the cost of using your Space Array?”
Deng Ning quickly waved his hand, “Brother Yang doesn’t need to worry about that. This time, it was thanks to Brother Yang that I was able to survive. This Deng was worried about how to repay Brother Yang for this grace, but now that there’s an opportunity to do so, what does such a small cost count for? Not to mention, using the Space Array only costs some Saint Crystals, it’s really not a problem. If Brother Yang intends to travel through Demon Blood City, this Deng will be glad to cover the expense.”
Deng Ning thumped his chest as he made this guarantee. It seemed that Yang Kai killing An Zhi and helping him kill Ye Yang Rong had made Deng Ning want to establish a friendly relationship with him, so the offer he made just now was without an pretentiousness.
Yang Kai pondered for a while, knowing that if it wasn’t on orders from a Sect Elder or for some kind of mission, disciples of a Sect wouldn’t be able to use their Space Array for just some Saint Crystals. There were definitely other costs involved, but since the other party had already made the offer, Yang Kai saw no reason to refuse, smiling and nodding, “Then I shall trouble Brother Deng.”
“Brother Yang is too polite!” Deng Ning saw Yang Kai’s attitude towards him change, causing his mood to lift greatly. He felt he was not suffering a loss in this deal. Not only was he able to return this life-saving favour, he had even profited a bit.
“Brother Yang, please wait a moment, I’ll go process that shameless bastard’s body first,” Deng Ning said before hurrying off.
After killing, it was natural to destroy the corpse. This kind of thing was something Yang Kai was also familiar with so he didn’t say much; however, after Deng Ning left, Yang Kai reached into his robes stealthily.
Nestled in his chest was the tiny Artifact Refining Furnace, but now, inside of it was a red pill that radiated a potent Blood Qi.
It was the Blood Fusion Pill that Deng Ning threw into the Flowing Flame Sand Field!
Yang Kai was naturally curious about what these three Saint King brothers from Demon Blood Temple were fighting over, so when Deng Ning threw the Blood Fusion Pill away, Yang Kai immediately let the Artifact Spirit quietly go retrieve it.
No one being able to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field when it was closed didn’t mean the Artifact Spirit couldn’t. This Artifact Spirit was born from the pure Fire Attribute energy of the Earth Lung Fire Pond and had been absorbing that very energy for tens of thousands of years, so how could it care about the heat of the Flowing Flame Sand Field?
The red streak An Zhi saw flying into Yang Kai’s chest was naturally the Artifact Spirit returning after it succeeded.
Although he hadn’t checked it carefully, just from the intense Blood Qi this Blood Fusion Pill gave off, refining it must have involved something similar to a blood sacrifice. Yang Kai’s theory was supported by the strong evil aura this pill gave off and it was obviously that only Demon Blood Temple disciples would have much use for it. This malevolent aura wouldn’t harm Demon Blood Temple disciples but instead would be helpful to their cultivation.
Yang Kai asking the Artifact Spirit to retrieve it was simply in accordance with his Alchemic curiosity, he had no others thoughts that pure curiosity.
Just as Yang Kai was pondering over this pill, Deng Ning rushed over to Ye Yang Rong’s body. Rather than directly destroying this corpse like Yang Kai imagined, however, Deng Ning sat down cross-legged with a delighted look upon his face. Beside this corpse, Deng Ning formed a series of hand seal and used some kind of secret technique that caused a series of howls and shrieks to ring out while Blood Qi rose sharply.
About half an hour later, Ye Yang Rong’s body had become nothing more than bleached bones while in Deng Ning’s hand there was a red pill similar to the Blood Fusion Pill. Deng Ning stared at this pill with great satisfaction before storing it away in his Space Ring, smiling happily as if he had obtained a treasure before smashing the leftover bones.
He then collected Ye Yang Rong and An Zhi’s Space Rings before walking back over to Yang Kai.
When he saw the strange look on Yang Kai’s face, Deng Ning smiled and explained, “I’ve shown Brother Yang something embarrassing. I won’t lie, for Demon Blood Temple’s disciples, fellow Sect Brothers are also living cultivation materials. It’s another reason why the internal fights never stop.”
Yang Kai stroked his chin and said, “So I destroyed a potential pill like that?”
He had exploded An Zhi’s body, so obviously Deng Ning couldn’t refine the corpse into a pill.
“It’s not important, this Deng is already very satisfied with his current harvest. Although the Sect encourages internal fighting, killing another disciple in the same realm is extremely difficult and dangerous. There are countless disciples who die when they attempt to kill another, so even if Sect encourages it, most won’t easily try to find trouble with others.” Deng Ning didn’t dare bother Yang Kai with the details so he quickly changed the subject, “These are the Space Rings of my two Senior Brothers; there should be some good things in them, but most are probably useless for Brother Yang. However, there are a few hundred thousand Saint Crystals.”
Yang Kai glanced at him and waved, “No need, you can keep those two Space Rings for yourself. Just consider it payment for helping me use your Demon Blood City’s Space Array.”
With Deng Ning’s intentionally reminding him that the things in these Space Rings were useless to him, how could Yang Kai not know what he was thinking? A couple hundred thousand Saint Crystals were nothing to Yang Kai, so he didn’t mind giving them to Deng Ning.
Sure enough, Deng Ning was overjoyed and, after trying to humbly decline a few times, he eventually agreed, happily wearing the two Space Rings on his hand, seemingly not minding if anyone knew he had killed two of his Sect Brothers.
Finished here, Deng Ning and Yang Kai summoned their Star Shuttles and flew towards Demon Blood City.
Along the way, Deng Ning deliberately talked to Yang Kai, trying to probe what his position in Shadow Moon Hall was, but Yang Kai never let anything slip.
It didn’t take much for Yang Kai to change the subject.
After some conversation, Yang Kai finally understood why when he saw Deng Ning in the Flowing Flame Sand Field he felt like he had heard his voice before.
It turned out that both of them had participated in the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction held in Heavenly Fate City before the opening of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. At that time, Deng Ning had bid on behalf of the Demon Blood Sect Elders several times.
When the topic of the grand auction came up, Deng Ning prattled on endlessly about the rare treasures which had appeared with a longing expression upon his face. Little did he know that most of those treasures were things Yang Kai had brought to auction.
Time passed quickly as the two chatted and soon, a magnificent city appeared in Yang Kai’s vision.
Deng Ning took the initiative to introduce Yang Kai and told him that Demon Blood City was located about a thousand kilometre s away from the mountain range where Demon Blood Temple was situated. Although Demon Blood Temple itself was an evil Sect, cultivators from all over Shadowed Star came and went through Demon Blood City, so it appeared very lively on the surface, not any different from other major cities.
The only noticeable difference was that many cultivators walking in the city had malevolent auras about them.
Sure enough, after entering Demon Blood City, Yang Kai noticed many such people, most of them wearing cold, indifferent looks and emitting gloomy auras from their bodies. When anyone else saw these cultivators, they would busy themselves with their own business, doing their best to avoid them.
In Demon Blood City, there were many shops and prosperous businesses. Many other forces had their own industries here, first to facilitate communication with Demon Blood Temple, and second to inquire about news from this region.
Deng Ning took Yang Kai into Demon Blood City and guided him along the wide streets in a familiar way, constantly introducing him to the local sights and customs in a warm and sociable manner.
After walking for half a day, the two arrived at a massive palace.
“We’re here. Demon Blood City’s Space Array is inside,” Deng Ning stopped and pointed to the front.
Yang Kai looked up and found that the defences around here were far tighter than those around the hall where Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array was located. Around the perimeter, there were seven or eight Demon Blood Temple disciples wearing cyan Artifact Armour standing straight like spears, each one of them a Second or Third-Order Saint King. At the same time, from inside the palace, the unconcealed aura of an Origin Returning Realm master could be felt.
“Brother Yang, please wait a moment while I go inform the Elder in charge. When I’ve finished making the arrangements, I’ll come back to welcome Brother Yang,” Deng Ning said politely.
Yang Kai nodded before walking into the palace’s main hall under the eyes of the surrounding Demon Blood Temple disciples.
The seven or eight Demon Blood Temple disciple guarding this place seemed to be curious about the relationship between Deng Ning and Yang Kai, and after Deng Ning walked further inside, they continually glanced at Yang Kai, speculating about his identity.
However, that was all, none of them came up to question him.
About half an hour later, Deng Ning’s figure appeared from the inner hall, but at this moment there was a clearly pained and bitter look upon his face.
Yang Kai saw this and immediately understood that his previous guess was right. It was definitely not a simple matter to allow an outsider to use the Space Array of this Sect. Deng Ning had obviously paid a great price.
Seeing other party go so far, Yang Kai felt a little guilty; after all, just half a day ago, he had been thinking about whether to kill Deng Ning in order to silence all witnesses. Now though, Deng Ning had gone to great lengths to allow him to use this private Space Array. It seemed that making friends with this person from Demon Blood Temple wasn’t such a bad idea.
Yang Kai thought about such things silently.
Walking out of the inner hall, Deng Ning’s expression quickly returned to normal as he let out a big laugh and called out, “I’ve let Brother Yang wait. Please follow me, everything has been handled properly.”
“Alright!” Yang Kai nodded, his attitude much better than before. Since the other party had done him a favour, he secretly decided that if he met this Deng Ning again in the future, he wouldn’t mind helping him out.
Under Deng Ning’s lead, the two entered the inner hall without obstruction. A large circle-array that was essentially the same as Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array stood quietly in the centre of the inner hall. Several grooves at the base of this circular platform were filled with High-Rank Saint Crystals already, indicating that it was ready to be opened at any time.
Additionally, inside this hall, there were three Origin Returning Realm masters standing guard as well as a dozen or so Saint King Realm masters. The three Origin Returning Realm masters each looked like they had good strength, and two of them sat on opposite sides of the hall in meditation, completely ignoring the arrival of Yang Kai and Deng Ning.
One of the Origin Realm masters though, an old man with silver hair, stood beside the central platform, his falcon-like eyes staring at Yang Kai for a moment before he turned to ask Deng Ning, “Martial Nephew Deng, is this the person you wish to guarantee?”
“Yes, Martial Uncle Liu, this is a friend that Martial Nephew made before,” Deng Ning answered quickly and respectfully.
“A friend… heh!” The old man surnamed Liu wore a fierce grin, as if the word ‘friend’ touched one of his nerves, “You’re from Shadow Moon Hall?”
Yang Kai looked indifferent, knowing that this old man surnamed Liu had probably inquired about his information from Deng Ning already, so he didn’t bother denying and simply cupped his fists, “Greetings Senior Liu.”
Seeing Yang Kai understand proper etiquette, the old man surnamed Liu nodded slightly and said, “Although my Demon Blood Temple and Shadow Moon Hall don’t share any kind of relationship, since Martial Nephew Deng is willing to act as a guarantor, it’s permissible for you to use the temple’s Space Array; however, just what kind of ‘friendship’ do you have with Martial Nephew Deng that would make him willing to pay thirty contribution points to allow you to travel to Bluestone City? Those thirty contribution points aren’t something that can be earned without risking one’s life several times.”
Deng Ning’s complexion changed slightly as he quickly glanced over at Yang Kai, but seeing the other party not show any kind of reaction, Deng Ning just laughed and said, “Martial Uncle Liu’s curiosity is well-founded, but it’s actually quite simple. Martial Nephew owes Brother Yang a life-saving grace, so thirty contribution points aren’t worth mentioning.”
“A life-saving grace?” The old man surnamed Liu’s eyes flashed suddenly, a cold light creeping into them as he scoffed, “A Second-Order Saint King saved your life? Is your Third-Order Saint King’s cultivation fake?”
Deng Ning’s complexion turned white, as a lot of sweat began forming on his forehead.
“And as far as I know, you’ve had no chance to make friends with any Shadow Moon Hall disciples besides when you went to Heavenly Fate City to participate in the auction. Heh, could you have met at that time?” The old man surnamed Liu seemed to have a lot of doubts and asked several questions in succession.
Deng Ning didn’t know how to answer for a while.
Yang Kai saw that Deng Ning was being pressured by his Martial Uncle and couldn’t come up with a good explanation, so he stepped in and said, “Senior should not misunderstand. I did not become acquainted with Brother Deng in Heavenly Fate City but rather in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. While inside, I coincidentally saved him once. It had nothing to do with personal strength, Junior very much admires Brother Deng’s strength actually.”
“Flowing Flame Sand Field! You also entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field? Why didn’t you go back with Qian Tong then and instead stuck around here for so long?” The old man surnamed Liu was surprised.
“There were some small reasons that delayed Junior so he failed to return with Elder Qian,” Yang Kai replied lightly.
“Oh?” The old man surnamed Liu smiled meaningfully, “It seems that you had quite a good harvest in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.”
Yang Kai’s brow rose imperceptibly. Although he was vigilant in his heart, he wasn’t too nervous, thinking about it for a moment before saying, “Junior did have some gains, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to enter Senior’s eyes.”
Saying so though, he waved his hand and took out five pigeon-egg-sized Fire Crystal Stones from his Space Ring before quietly delivering them to the old man, “This is Junior’s first meeting with Senior, but he has failed to prepare any appropriate gifts. In place of that, I hope Senior will accept these few small tokens of goodwill.”
When the old man surnamed Liu saw these Fire Crystal Stones, his eyes lit up and he felt that Yang Kai was truly a promising young man. He was making things difficult here to obtain some benefits from Yang Kai in the first place, so with the opposite party understanding his intentions so quickly, it made everything easier. Waving his sleeve, the old man surnamed Liu accepted the five Fire Crystal Stones and a big smile appeared on his face as he nodded, “Good, good, no wonder Martial Nephew Deng made friends with you. It seems you’re a generous and understanding young man with a promising future. Alright, since you are a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall, this old master won’t say anymore. The reason why I asked so much just now was simply in case you were using a false identity to cause trouble. You can proceed now.”
After receiving five Fire Crystal Stones, this old man’s demeanour instantly changed, as if he had become a different person.
“Many thanks, Senior!” Yang Kai cupped his fists politely.
On the other side, Deng Ning saw the old man surnamed Liu finally let go and couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief, carefully reminding in the next moment, “Martial Uncle Liu, make sure to give Brother Yang a temporary token, or else when he arrives in Bluestone City, the disciples of Grand Fire Temple won’t allow him to pass through freely.”
“You think it’s necessary to remind me of this?” The old man surnamed Liu coldly snorted, waving his hand to send out a crimson token to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai caught this token and saw that it had a somewhat gruesome and terrifying head stamped onto it.
The old man surnamed Liu explained, “This is a temporary token of my Demon Blood Temple. It’s proof that you can pass through the Space Array and will allow you to avoid being questioned by Grand Fire Temple. Of course, since it’s just a temporary token, it can only be used for three days, but three days should be enough for you to return to Heavenly Fate City.”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Great, step up and I’ll open the array,” The old man surnamed Liu waved at Yang Kai and Yang Kai immediately stood atop the circular platform.
Deng Ning stood aside and cupped his fists with a smile to Yang Kai, “I hope Brother Yang’s journey goes smoothly. If there is an opportunity for Brother Yang to come to Demon Blood City again in the future, don’t hesitate to look for this Deng to share a drink.”
“Sure, if Brother Deng ever comes to Heavenly Fate City, he should come find this Yang. This Yang will definitely do his best to entertain Brother Deng,” Yang Kai replied.
Hearing this, Deng Ning smiled happily, knowing that his efforts had not been in vain. Spending thirty contribution points had really made his heart bleed, but he felt it was all worthwhile to become friends with this person. In the future, he may very well need to seek help from Yang Kai.
After the two finished speaking, the Space Array gave off a dazzling light, and surrounding space immediately warped.
Yang Kai’s vision filled with white light and after a brief moment, he found himself inside another grand hall guarded by several cultivators.
In an instant, several tyrannical Divine Senses landed on Yang Kai and he heard the sound of clothes swishing all around him as several Saint King Realm cultivators vigilantly surrounded him.
Seeing this, Yang Kai didn’t panic and took out the temporary token from Demon Blood Temple and tossed it to the most powerful Origin Returning Realm master present. The man caught it as he remained unmoving.
The Origin Returning Realm master swept his eyes over the token for a moment before knitting his brow, “Someone from Demon Blood Temple!”
Saying so, he tossed the token back and said lightly, “This token is good for three days. If you don’t return here before time is up, this Space Array will not be open to you!”
“Junior understands!” Yang Kai nodded.
The Origin Returning Realm master simply waved his hand and the hostile aura in the room disappeared. The Grand Fire Temple disciples returned to their posts immediately, none of them caring about Yang Kai again.
Yang Kai was pleased with this result and, after leaving the palace, blended into the flowing crowds of Bluestone City.
He had no intention of staying here, and after an hour or so, a blue streak of light flew out from Bluestone City and disappeared across the horizon a moment later.
Yang Kai had gotten directions to Heavenly Fate City from Bluestone City and then set off because he didn’t have any contacts in Grand Fire Temple, so there was no way he could use their Space Array.
Fortunately, it was only one month from Bluestone City to Heavenly Fate City, which was several times closer than from Demon Blood City. This much of a delay was acceptable.
His Star Shuttle was extremely fast, so Yang Kai simply sat cross-legged atop it, controlling its flight easily while starting to inspect his harvest from the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Since entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had encountered many opportunities and obtained many good things, but how he should go about using all of them was something he hadn’t considered yet.
After some inspection, Yang Kai state of mind fluctuated as even he was somewhat startled by his harvest.
Finished with his harvest from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai began inspecting the Blood Fusion Pill he had just obtained.
After some investigation, Yang Kai was surprised.
This Blood Fusion Pill was truly as he expected; although it contained a strong Blood Qi and vitality, it also contained a massive amount of malevolent energy. If an ordinary cultivator took such a thing, it would cause them serious harm. Only a cultivator who came from a Sect like Demon Blood Temple could use this Blood Fusion Pill to enhance their cultivation.
But to Yang Kai, this kind of Evil Qi was not something that could harm him; after all, he had used and still used a similar type of energy.
After carefully checking the materials of this Blood Fusion Pill, Yang Kai was secretly shocked. Although he failed to recognize all the ingredients, he was able to deduce most of them and found that there were many rare spirit herbs involved. It was clear now why Deng Ning and his fellow Sect Brothers, who were all Third-Order Saint Kings, would fight for this Blood Fusion Pill.
Yang Kai figured that in Demon Blood Temple, the number of pills produced wasn’t large and they would only be awarded to a disciple who have made big contributions to the temple. Deng Ning had obviously obtained many benefits in the Flowing Flame Sand Field and given them to the Elders of Demon Blood Temple in exchange for this Blood Fusion Pill.
Then, at some point, news must have leaked out to Ye Yang Rong and An Zhi.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai no longer bothered himself with such matters; instead, he hesitated for a moment before tossing the Blood Fusion Pill into his mouth and swallowing.
Transforming his Demonic Flame into a pure Yang attribute, Yang Kai quickly refined the Blood Fusion Pill’s medicinal efficacies, sending a wave of cold energy coursing through his veins. However, under the scorching heat of his Demonic Flame, this cold energy was forced out of his body as wisps of black smoke, all of which left via his pores and dissipated into the air.
All that remained was the massive amount of vitality contained in the Blood Fusion Pill that circulated through Yang Kai’s body and merged into his physique.
Not paying attention to the effect of this Blood Fusion Pill, Yang Kai turned to investigate the Demon Blood Thread technique given to him by Deng Ning.
Yang Kai was not planning on cultivating this Demon Blood Temple secret technique and instead just wanted to learn about it in preparation for when he ran into high level members of Demon Blood Temple. When fighting against others, understanding how their skills and techniques worked would give him an advantage.
But after beginning to read this scroll, Yang Kai let out a cry of surprise and soon became completely immersed in studying this secret technique, unable to extricate himself. As he continued investigating this technique, Yang Kai’s expression gradually began to change, sometimes surprised, sometimes frowning, sometimes thoughtful.
…..
One month later, in the skies nearby Heavenly Fate City, a blue streak of light dashed forward and rushed towards Dragon Cave Mountain. A moment later, this azure light arrived at its destination and Yang Kai’s figure appeared.
Looking around Dragon Cave Mountain though, Yang Kai was shocked and surprised, completely forgetting to move.
It had only been about a year since he departed for the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but during this short time, Dragon Cave Mountain had changed dramatically.
From the air, the few peaks that had originally existed here had become completely invisible and were replaced by a beautiful picture of rolling fog and clouds. Among the clouds there was a remarkable World Energy aura, and through them Yang Kai was able to vaguely see the original cave he had sat in meditation in along with some small scattered buildings. Although there were not many of these buildings, they seemed well constructed.
There were also some blurry figures shuttling back and forth inside the fog bank.
[Is this really Dragon Cave Mountain?] Yang Kai suspected that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere and arrived outside the Spirit Peak of some Sect; however, this place was indeed fifty kilometres from Heavenly Fate City. Yang Kai was certain of this because as he passed by the city, he had wondered whether he could drop in to see Qian Tong so the latter would know he was alright.
Although the scene in front of him was not on the level of a grand Sect’s headquarters, Yang Kai couldn’t believe such drastic changes had taken place in just one year.
This change was definitely thanks to Yang Yan! The Aura Gathering Spirit Array she had arranged here earlier was playing its role perfectly and under the exploration of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, he could tell that all of Dragon Cave Mountain was surrounded by a powerful Spirit Array. As he used his Divine Sense, he frequently encountered obstructions and there were even some places he was unable to probe at all, including the original mountain cave.
Yang Kai’s current Divine Sense was no weaker than that of a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master, yet even he could not see through this barrier. Yang Kai estimated that even the strongest masters on Shadowed Star would not be able to do any better than he did.
[Yang Yan has actually done it!] Yang Kai could not help feeling a bit stunned. Before he went to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Yan told him she intended to arrange an incredible defensive Spirit Array around all of Dragon Cave Mountain, but how could he have known she would complete it to such a degree in such a short period of time.
Yang Kai also didn’t know whether this Spirit Array had been fully arranged. If it weren’t complete yet, that would only be more frightening.
However, how many of the hundred million Saint Crystals he left behind were left? Arranging such a huge Spirit Array must have consumed an extraordinary amount of material and resources. When he thought of this, Yang Kai’s face could not help twitching.
Just as Yang Kai was exploring this barrier from the outside, from inside it, a few weaker Divine Senses emerged, but they withdrew quickly after contacting Yang Kai.
Immediately, a beam of colourful light radiated from inside Dragon Cave Mountain and opened a kind of passageway through the fog bank right in front of Yang Kai. The view down this passageway was still obscured but it should lead to the centre of Dragon Cave Mountain.
Yang Kai smiled as he understood that those inside had discoverer him; so, without hesitation, he flew inside.
Landing a moment later, the surrounding scene changed dramatically.
For a moment, Yang Kai could not help sighing in admiration. The changes to Dragon Cave Mountain were so great that he barely recognized it.
Before long, several figures rushed over, with Yang Yan, who was still wrapped in her customary black robe, in the lead. Because she was running so fast, her great peaks undulated up and down and her head wrappings flapped in the wind. On her face was a big smile and a look of relief, as if she had just put down a heavy load.
Immediately behind Yang Yan were Wu Yi and Yu Feng.
Chang Qi and Hao An were also present.
Yang Kai even saw Shadow Moon Hall’s First-Order Origin Returning Realm disciple Luo Qing.
Everyone smiled broadly and all of them seemed to be breathing sighs of relief from the bottom of their hearts.
It seemed that Yang Kai not returning even half a year after the Flowing Flame Sand Field had closed had worried them greatly.
Yang Yan worrying about Yang Kai was out of a genuine sense of friendship. If not for Yang Kai taking a chance on her, she might still have been sitting in Heavenly Fate City’s Refining Pavilion claiming to be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner while only being able to help some untrusting cultivators refine trivial items, unable to use any of her amazing talents. It was not an exaggeration to say that Yang Kai gave her the freedom to display her skills while simultaneously providing her unimaginable funds. The same was true of Wu Yi, Yu Feng and the others from the Hai Ke Family. As for Luo Qing, he should have been ordered to come here by Qian Tong to inquire about Yang Kai.
“You’re back!” Yang Yan ran up to Yang Kai with small steps and looking him over from top to bottom, her pair of beautiful eyes were making sure that he was not missing any limbs, patting his shoulder heartily as she nodded in approval.
Next, Wu Yi, Yu Feng and the others all came up one after another and greeted Yang Kai joyfully.
Yang Kai’s heart warmed, and he suddenly felt a sense of trust and belonging. Since he entered the Star Field, his heart had constantly felt empty, because in this vast Star Field, there was no one who would worry for his safety, care about where he was, or even pay any attention to if he was alive or dead. No one would think about him while he was out or ask him if he was well when he returned, completely different from back in Tong Xuan Realm.
But at this moment, he once again felt such feelings. For a time, it was as if he had returned home and was facing Little Senior Sister, Meng Wuya, Ling Tai Xu, Chu Ling Xiao and the rest of his friends and family.
“I’m back!” Yang Kai said lightly, but his empty heart was warmed and filled greatly even so.
“It’s good that you’ve come back, en, particularly good. During these past few months, everyone was so worried not hearing from you, wondering if something had happened to you outside.” Wu Yi stepped forward and smiled lightly, her beautiful eyes glancing over at Luo Qing next and explaining, “You probably don’t know, but after the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, Elder Qian ordered some people to remain there to wait for you for half a year, unfortunately, they never saw any trace of you. It wasn’t until recently that they returned to Shadow Moon Hall.”
[Half a year?!] Yang Kai’s brow twitched. Most likely, Shadow Moon Hall’s disciples had left just days before he had come out.
Feeling Qian Tong’s concern, Yang Kai quickly cupped his fists to Luo Qing and said, “Greetings Brother Luo, I must trouble you to express my gratitude to Elder Qian for his concern. After the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, I had a certain matter that needed to immediately be attended to, so I quickly found a place to enter retreat and only recently came out. It seems not sending any messages back made Elder Qian worry.”
Luo Qing laughed, “Brother Yang doesn’t need to act so distantly. Elder Qian will be incredibly happy as long as he knows you’ve returned safely. Since you are safe now… oh, Brother Yang has broken through to the Second-Order Saint King Realm, amazing! Congratulations!”
As Luo Qing exchanged greetings and pleasantries with Yang Kai, he noticed that the latter’s cultivation had risen a Minor Realm and quickly offered his congratulation as a touch of envy flashed across his face.
Because Luo Qing was an Origin Returning Realm cultivator, he could not enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field this time, causing him some small regrets. He had heard that many of the cultivators who returned safely from the Flowing Flame Sand Field had reaped great harvests and many had achieved breakthroughs in their bottlenecks. Seeing Yang Kai now, it seemed these rumors were true.
Hearing Luo Qing’s words, everyone else also showed a sunny expression.
In truth, all of them are gathered because of Yang Kai, so Yang Kai was the real leader here. Now that Yang Kai cultivation had risen, they would naturally be excited.
After a few more casual words, Luo Qing insisted on departing.
Luo Qing was sent here by Qian Tong and had stayed in case there was any news about Yang Kai. Now that Yang Kai had returned safely, he naturally had to send back word to Elder Qian as quickly as possible to put him at ease.
Yang Kai did not try to stop Luo Qing and simply sent him off politely.
After Luo Qing left, Yang Kai said, “Let’s also go back, the changes here are so extensive, you’ll have to explain everything to me, or I may accidentally touch some Spirit Array in the future.”
Yang Yan smirked, “Naturally I’ll tell you about all them, but you can rest assured that none of the arrays will react to you.”
The group chatted happily as they walked back to the centre of Dragon Cave Mountain.
Yang Yan, Wu Yi, Yu Feng, Chang Qi, and Hao An gathered outside the cave where Yang Kai originally used to meditate at a table that had been specially set up. On top of this table was a circular disk that showed a complete picture of Dragon Cave Mountain in astonishing detail. Every tree, every blade of grass was present. On this disk there were also a few dozen bright and dark spots, some of which were moving, some of which were stationary. These spots represented the people moving about inside Dragon Cave Mountain.
This thing was a combination of Yang Yan’s Artifact Refining and Spirit Array techniques. The Heaven’s Eye Plate was a special artifact with no attack and defense capabilities, it could only be used to monitor the movement around Dragon Cave Mountain.
It was by using this Heaven’s Eye Plate that Yang Yan was able to determine Yang Kai had returned.
Yang Kai seemed like a country bumpkin who had just come to the big city for the first time. He was very curious about this Heaven’s Eye Plate and kept pointing at things and asking about how they related to Dragon Cave Mountain’s current condition. Yang Yan and the others explained to him patiently and after about an hour or so, Yang Kai gained a comprehensive understanding of the current Dragon Cave Mountain.
At the same time, he was truly shocked by the huge changes Dragon Cave Mountain had undergone this past year.
Dragon Cave Mountain now had countless offensive and defensive Spirit Arrays arranged around it. Even if an Origin Returning Realm cultivator broke into this place, they would not be able to easily leave. According to Yang Yan, unless several Third Order Origin Realm masters collaborated, it would be impossible to break through Dragon Cave Mountain’s grand Spirit Array.
But how could a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master suddenly run over to attack Dragon Cave Mountain, much less several of them? No one would waste so much effort for so little gain. Moreover, the Dragon Cave Mountain’s grand Spirit Array was still only in its prototype phase and had yet to be perfected. If there was enough financial support, Yang Yan was confident she could enhance it further.
After understanding the changes of Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai sighed to himself as he once again realized bringing Yang Yan back from Heavenly Fate City was one of the best decisions he had ever made.
She was able to turn this small Dragon Cave Mountain into an inviolable fortress, so if Yang Kai was to ever bring his friends and family out from Tong Xuan Realm and establish a proper Sect, would the role she could play be even bigger?
“However, arranging all of this cost quite a few Saint Crystals,” Wu Yi said while frowning and complaining slightly to Yang Kai, “The hundred million Saint Crystals you gave us before you left have been completely spent, and even the thirty million Saint Crystals brought back by Foreign Elder Chang have been used up. After purchasing so many materials from Shadow Moon Hall though, Dragon Cave Mountain has become Shadow Moon Hall’s most valuable customer.”
“Foreign Elder Chang brought back thirty million Saint Crystals?” Yang Kai raised his brow as he turned to look at Chang Qi, but he quickly remember how Chang Qi acquired so many Saint Crystals, he must have mined all of them from the underground lode in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It seems that after Yang Kai left him there, Chang Qi had been mining non-stop until the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, otherwise he would not have been able to obtain such an amazing amount.
“Junior will have to borrow these Saint Crystals from Foreign Elder Chang for now, but he will surely repay them in the future.”
Chang Qi put on a frown and pretended to be annoyed, “Yang Kai, you saying such things makes it seem like this Chang is an outsider. If you had not brought this old man to find that Saint Crystal Lode, how could he have ever obtained those thirty million Saint Crystals? At least half of these Saint Crystals should belong to you in the first place, not to mention that without you, this old man and Old Hao would not be homeless. So, what if I had so many Saint Crystals? With my strength, it would only bring disaster to myself. I would have no way to protect such a fortune regardless of the circumstances. In the end, I would have to join some other force to protect myself, at which point I would be forced to hand over those Saint Crystals.”
Hao An also echoed, “Indeed, Yang Kai, you accepted this old man and Old Chang before the opening of Flowing Flame Sand Field, giving us brothers a place we can return to and call home. Extending your hand to us when we were at our lowest point is something, we brothers will always be grateful for; it is more than enough. These Saint Crystals are Old Chang’s way of showing his thanks, so do not try to refuse. In any case, we brothers cannot live much longer and have neither children nor family, so what use would we have for so many Saint Crystals anyways? Now, Dragon Cave Mountain has become a famous treasure land that many cultivators without Sects or families dream of entering, yet Old Chang and I were able to join it without any effort, that much is already enough to satisfy us, there’s no need for you to say anymore.”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly, knowing that if he were to try to refuse again it would only have the opposite effect, so he cupped his fists and nodded, “Then I will offer my thanks for two Foreign Elders’ consideration.”
Chang Qi laughed, “Very good. We brothers being able to live out our last years in peace here, dying in a warm bed, is our final wish.”
To this though, Yang Kai shook his head and said, “I’m afraid that your wish won’t be realized for some time. After you break through to the Origin Returning Realm, your lifespan will naturally increase.”
“Origin Returning Realm…” Chang Qi’s eyes lit up, suddenly remembering about the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, but he soon sighed sadly, “Even if there is that thing, Old Hao and I may not be able to break through.”
“Leave everything up to this Junior. Two Foreign Elders should rest for the next few days and adjust your conditions to their optimum state,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.
Chang Qi and Hao An glanced at each other, their hearts unavoidably growing inspired but not saying much as they just silently began looking forward to the future.
With Dragon Cave Mountain’s finances being so tight, Yang Kai naturally would not be stingy, handing over the few million Saint Crystals he had mined in the underground lode to Wu Yi for distribution.
The ordinary Artifact Refining materials he had found in the stone chambers of the Earth Lung Fire Pond were also taken out by Yang Kai and handed over to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan was delighted when she saw these materials and quickly swept all of them into her Space Ring.
With this injection of funds, in the short term, Dragon Cave Mountain would not need to worry about Saint Crystals or materials. If Yang Yan did not continue spending so wantonly, it should be enough to support them for a long time.
Because Yang Kai had just returned from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, even though everyone had much they wanted to discuss, they didn’t want to disturb him for too long so after chatting about Dragon Cave Mountain’s future development issues, everyone departed.
Yang Kai returned to the stone room where he lived.
The original cave of Dragon Cave Mountain had become a Restricted Area now with Yang Yan and the Stone Puppet remodeling it into a massive secluded cave mansion.
There were numerous stone chambers specifically constructed for Yang Kai’s exclusive use. The cultivators from the Hai Ke Family lived in the newly constructed buildings outside, satisfying everyone greatly.
The World Energy aura was naturally strongest inside this cave mansion.
Soon after Yang Kai sat down cross-legged, the nearby ground bulged slightly, and a small head popped out from underground. This head was sharp and angular, and its nose and mouth looked slightly strange. Only its eyes seemed lively and intelligent.
“Stone Puppet!” Yang Kai’s thoughts flashed, and he beckoned to it, causing the Stone Puppet to leap up from its newly dug hole and scramble over, climbing up Yang Kai sit on his shoulder, displaying a kind of innocent affection.
Yang Kai took a closer look at the Stone Puppet and quickly noticed that after not seeing it for a year, this little fellow had also changed a lot.
When it was born, its surface was grey and it looked like an ordinary rock, but now, its surface was a solid crystal-like structure, as if it were wearing an exquisite layer of natural armour.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to inspect this armour and was secretly shocked to discover that the Stone Puppet’s skin had become incredibly tough. Even if Yang Kai were to punch this armour with his full strength, it likely wouldn’t break.
Did the Stone Puppet evolve on its own or was this change also thanks to Yang Yan?
Just when Yang Kai was pondering over this matter, the Stone Puppet seemed to remember something, scratched its head before opening its mouth and spitting out a stream of Space Spirit Crystals.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of pieces of Space Spirit Crystal were piled up in a hill in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not know where the Stone Puppet had stored all these things. Yang Yan had said before that Stone Puppets had a natural ability to store minerals in their stomachs so they could continuously devour and refine more. It was an innate ability.
“These are the last of the Space Spirit Crystals produced by that underground Space Spirit Crystal lode.” A pleasant voice came from the side. Yang Yan had appeared inside the stone chamber at some unknown point.
Yang Kai was not bothered or surprised by her presence as he had sensed her arrival a while ago. Nodding, he put these Space Spirit Crystals into the Black Book Space.
“I took about a third of them for myself, hehe,” Yang Yan came over with a grin and sat cross-legged in front of Yang Kai.
“You have some use for Space Spirit Crystals?”
“Naturally, I have a use for them!” Yang Yan smiled sweetly, trying to be mysterious by not answering directly.
Yang Kai does not pursue the issue. In any case, these Space Spirit Crystals should be enough for him to cultivate his Space Force for some time.
“What did you call me over for? Did you obtain some good things that aren’t convenient to show everyone else?” Yang Yan’s eyes showed a hint of cunning as she speculated.
“Exactly. There are some things I prefer not many to know about,” Yang Kai nodded, but instead of taking out his gains, he stared fixedly at Yang Yan for a moment before abruptly saying, “Yang Yan, I have a question to ask you. Please answer honestly.”
This was the first time she had seen Yang Kai act so seriously, so Yang Yan could not help feeling a bit stunned, but after thinking about it for a moment, she nodded, “Alright.”
“Are you the true master of this body?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared deeply into Yang Yan’s, as if he was trying to see into her soul.
Hearing Yang Kai’s question, Yang Yan froze up for a moment before suddenly covering her small mouth as her shoulders trembled, leaning backwards as a peal of delightful laughter spread from her lips.
“What’s so funny?” Yang Kai asked in exasperation.
Yang Yan kept waving her hand to indicate it was nothing, but she completely failed to stop her laughter, tears even gathering in the corners of his eyes.
Yang Kai rolled his eyes and asked again, “Then have you mastered some kind of beauty preserving technique so you appear young but are actually an old woman who has lived for thousands of years?”
This time, Yang Yan acted like a cat whose tail was stepped on, her laughter ceasing and her smile disappearing as her beautiful eyes glared fiercely at Yang Kai, grinding her teeth as she spat, “I can answer definitively that I am not some several-thousand-year-old woman!”
“Makes sense…” Yang Kai gently nodded. If Yang Yan really had lived for thousands of years, her worldly experience couldn’t possibly be so poor. The various behaviours Yang Yan exhibited up until now made her seem like a young, naive girl rather than a long-lived master.
Yang Yan’s expression also became serious, her thoughts unreadable but the look on her face somewhat pale. After a long time, she finally asked, “You want to know if I seized this body, right?”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded frankly. Only a forceful take-over by a powerful master could explain why Yang Yan was so young yet so proficient in Artifact Refining and arranging Spirit Arrays.
One person’s time and energy were limited. Although Yang Kai’s attainments in Alchemy were quite good, he couldn’t afford to put any effort into studying another craftsmanship field unless he gave up his cultivation path.
Yang Yan, however, had great attainments in both Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays. The artifacts she refined and the Spirit Arrays she arranged so far even exceeded Shadowed Star’s level in terms of subtlety and practicality. How did she accomplish this?
There was no shortage of geniuses in this world, but even if Yang Yan was an extraordinary talent, given her age, it was impossible for her to have reached her current height, prompting Yang Kai to ask this question.
“Have you suspected so for a long time?” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai and asked.
“Since I learned you were an Array Master I had some suspicions. But you can rest assured, whether you seized this body or not means nothing to me. The one I know is you, as for the previous soul of that body, I don’t care,” Yang Kai said lightly.
Yang Yan laughed bitterly and went silent for a while before saying, “It’s not just you who has had such doubts. Sometimes, I can’t understand who I am either… But I don’t believe I seized this body from another because I can clearly remember all of my experiences from childhood up until now. There are no gaps or inconsistencies in my memories, like a second person’s thoughts suddenly took over at some point, so I don’t think a forced possession took place.”
“Then did you worship a supreme master who taught you about Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays?” Yang Kai continued asking, not showing any doubt about Yang Yan’s words.
Yang Yan shook her head slowly, biting his red lips lightly as her two little hands fiddled anxiously with her black robes. A look of hesitation and fear appeared on her face for a while before she lifted her eyes and whispered, “If I told you the reason I understand Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays is because I was born with that knowledge, would you believe it?”
“How is that possible?” Yang Kai looked shocked.
Yang Yan smiled bitterly, “I know that it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. My knowledge really seems to be something I was born with. It’s almost as if my Artifact Refining and Spirit Array skills were sealed into my memories, and as I continue to refine artifacts and arrange Spirit Arrays, those skills are slowly unseal, allowing me to comprehend more profound Artifact Refining techniques and Spirit Arrays. On top of that, sometimes, when I see rare or precious items I have obviously never heard of or encountered before, I am able to recognize them. Do you think it’s strange?”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
This wasn’t on the level where it could be merely described as strange. No one was born proficient in Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays for no reason. There must be some reasons for this, but these reasons may not even be clear to Yang Yan herself.
It was precisely because of these strange circumstances that Yang Yan sometimes felt afraid of herself.
Yang Yan didn’t have any reason to lie to herself, she what she said was probably the truth.
This was something Yang Kai couldn’t help her with. Although he knew that Yang Yan was odd, he had not expected her to be this strange. He did not continue to force this issue though; for Yang Kai, whether Yang Yan’s current self was one that had seized this body, or somehow possessed vast innate knowledge others couldn’t hope to master for a lifetime, that had nothing to do with him. He only knew the current Yang Yan, that was enough for him.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai asked, “What grade of artifact can you refine now?”
“Origin Grade High-Rank shouldn’t be a problem. As long as I have a lot of materials to practice with, sooner or later I should be able to refine Origin King Grade artifacts.” When speaking about her field of expertise, Yang Yan’s spirits lifted noticeably and a natural look of pride once again filled her face.
“Great, help me enhance this again.” Yang Kai took out the purple shield with a slightly awkward look.
The shields original purple hue had becoming incredibly dim and dull, indicating its spirituality had suffered a great loss.
As soon as Yang Yan saw it, a look of concern appeared on her pretty face. Picking up the shield and stroking it gently, she quickly asked, “Did you run into some kind of intense fire-type Spirit Array? A single strike actually reduced this Origin Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact to such a state.”
“En, but I was ultimately able to emerge safely.” Yang Kai grinned.
“Good, with the materials you gave me, it should be fine to enhance this to an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact.” Yang Yan said before taking the purple shield into her Space Ring. Brushing her hair behind her ear, she restored her previous cheerful expression as her eyes glowed with joy, asking curiously, “What good things did you obtain on this trip? Please let me see.”
“Alright!” Yang Kai nodded before searching through his Space Ring. There were quite a lot of good things he had obtained from this, and he had called Yang Yan here to show them to her, hoping that she would be able to help him identify some of the things he couldn’t recognize.
Soon, Yang Kai waved his hand and a plate sized fiery red crystal that gave off an intense burning aura appeared between the two.
“This is…” Yang Yan’s two eyes immediately flashed brilliantly as she stared fixedly at this fiery red crystal.
“It should be a Fire Crystal Stone!” Yang Kai stroked his chin. “It’s just that I don’t understand why it’s so big, and the process I went through to obtain it was also quite strange. It wasn’t from a Fire Spirit Beast…”
Yang Kai briefly talked about his experience in that strange mountain valley and how he obtained this huge Fire Crystal Stone, his first big harvest in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Yang Yan had been staring at the Fire Crystal Stone while Yang Kai was talking about these things, gently stroking it with her hand.
After Yang Kai finished speaking, Yang Yan nodded, “It should be a Fire Crystal Stone like you said, but this Fire Crystal Stone has a formed a Natural Spirit Array inside of itself, allowing it to create those Fire Spirit Beasts which blocked your path.”
“A naturally formed Spirit Array?” Yang Kai expression changed. He had not checked at the time.
“Yeah, it’s a naturally generated and very profound Spirit Array.” Yang Yan smiled, “This thing is exceptionally good, but using it for Artifact Refining would be wasting the Heaven ‘s precious gifts. Give it to me, it can be used as an Array Core for a powerful Spirit Array.”
“Okay.” Yang Kai nodded, handing the giant Fire Crystal Stone over to Yang Yan freely. In any case, she would be using it to arrange a Spirit Array to protect Dragon Cave Mountain, so the one to benefit in the end would still be him.
“What else?” Yang Yan put the huge Fire Crystal Stone into her Space Ring before returning her beautiful eyes to Yang Kai, seemingly looking forward to what he would bring out next.
“There’s this!” Yang Kai took out a blood-red bead that looked a bit like a grass seed but exuded a strange bloody aura.
“A Blood Sword Grass seed!” Yang Yan saw this thing and her beautiful face instantly lost colour as she exclaimed.
She was able to recognize this seed at a glance.
“Blood Sword Grass… a fitting name,” Yang Kai nodded thoughtfully, recalling what he had experienced after falling into that strange Bewildering Array. When he broke free of that Spirit Array’s constraints and walked out onto the narrow passage, there were many blood red blades of grass growing on either side of the path that seemed to come to life and attacked him.
Those blood-red blades of grass were incredibly hard and sharp. Even with his intrepid physique, Yang Kai didn’t dare let them cut him at will.
“The Flowing Flame Sand Field actually had this kind of thing?” Yang Yan’s face paled.
“Is this thing quite famous?” Yang Kai saw Yang Yan acting so fearful and couldn’t help feeling curious.
“I don’t know if it’s famous or not, but I do know how terrifying it can be. It can grow infinitely as long as it’s supplied with enough flesh and blood. Its power will also continue to increase and when it reaches its limit, it is even capable of slicing through the body of an Origin King.”
“Is it really so frightening?” Yang Kai a touch of fear washing over him as well as a sense of relief.
If Yang Yan’s words were true, then the Blood Sword Grass he encountered shouldn’t have been fully grown, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to escape unharmed.
“This thing had an ominous reputation in ancient times and many large Sects would plant it around Restricted Areas to protect them,” Yang Yan gently pinched the blood-red seed and examined it carefully.
“Unfortunately there’s only one seed, if there were more…” Yang Kai not only wasn’t concerned but instead felt it was a pity.
“Unfortunately?” Yang Yan snickered, “No such thing, a single Blood Sword Grass seed is more than enough as it can multiply on its own. As long as it’s fed enough blood it can grow without limit.”
Yang Kai heard this and his eyes lit up.
“What do you want to do?” Yang Yan seemed to be aware of the dangerous glint in Yang Kai’s eyes and asked hurriedly.
“Nothing,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully before taking the Blood Sword Grass seed back from Yang Yan and storing it away carefully.
“Let me tell you this first, if you want to plant it, you have to tell me in advance. However, there’s no need to worry too much about it, as long as you don’t feed it fresh blood, it won’t grow bigger or pose any threat.”
“I understand.” Yang Kai nodded before taking out two more things from his Space Ring.
One of the items Yang Kai brought out was a metre-long crystalline bone that was about as thick as a baby’s arm. At first glance it was clear to see that this thing was extraordinary. The second item was a round bead the size of a pigeon egg. This bead was perfectly clear but there seemed to be a tiny green snake swimming about inside it, almost as if it was a living creature.
This little green snake also exuded a Soul fluctuation that while very weak contained an oppressive presence.
As soon as this round bead appeared, a resonant dragon roar came from Yang Kai’s body and at the same time, a different kind of pressure spread out from him.
Yang Yan looked up in amazement as she stared at Yang Kai, but soon her attention was attracted to the bone and round bead in front of her.
Looking closely, her expression changed once more as a series of extremely complex looks flashed across her face; sometimes there was surprise, sometimes there was suspicion, still other times there was shock…
After a long time, she took a deep breath, raised her eyes, and looked straight at Yang Kai.
“Were you able to see what these two things are?” Yang Kai felt that his lips had become a bit dry. Even though these things had been in his Space Ring for quite some time now, after taking them out again, he still could not help feeling a bit excited.
“Your luck is really amazing! You even managed to obtain a piece of Dragon Bone and a Dragon Bead. I really don’t know where you could have found these things inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field,” Yang Yan bit her red lips lightly. It was obvious that she too, was extremely excited, but she was forcefully suppressing her raging emotions.
“It really is a Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead?” Yang Kai looked overjoyed. Although he had suspected as much when he obtained these two things in the underground Saint Crystal lode, when Yang Yan confirmed it, he was still finding it difficult to believe.
“This is indeed a Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead!”
Yang Kai could not help grinning from happiness. Yang Yan also seemed to be happy, as if Yang Kai’s Heaven defying opportunities were her own, accompanying him in his foolish laughter for a time.
A while later, after Yang Yan and Yang Kai calmed down, the former asked, “What are you going to do with them?”
“Can they be refined into an artifact? I happen to be missing an offensive artifact!” Yang Kai already had a plan in mind, so he naturally asked immediately. Yang Kai didn’t care for offensive artifacts, even an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact may not necessarily be able to produce a more powerful attack than he could produce himself; as for Origin King Grade artifacts, with his current strength, he couldn’t properly active them, but now that he had obtained a piece of Dragon Bone and a Dragon Bead, if they could be refined into an offensive artifact, Yang Kai knew his combat effectiveness would rise greatly.
The Hundred Mountains Picture was not bad, but Yang Kai always felt a bit unsatisfied when using it.
“That.. would be difficult…” To Yang Kai’s surprise though, Yang Yan, who always seemed omnipotent in such matters, heard his request, and actually shook her head.
This made Yang Kai, who was looking forward to it, suddenly show a disappointed expression.
“I’m not saying that I can’t refine them into an artifact, but rather that doing so would reduce their value instead of promoting them.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned and asked.
“This piece of Dragon Bone is from a True Dragon and has incredible power already within it. From the colour of the Dragon Soul in this Dragon Bead, it and the piece of bone should come from a Wood Attribute True Dragon. I don’t what kind of innate powers are stored inside these two things, but it can be said that they are already superb artifacts as is. If you let me refine them, it would only contaminate their natural auras and impede the flow of their power, reducing their overall might. Of course, if I were an Origin King Grade High-Rank Artifact Refiner, I would not have such concerns. Unfortunately, with my current level of skill, it would be exceedingly difficult to refine these two things perfectly!”
“So what should I do?” Yang Kai’s burning heat seemed to have been doused with a pot of cold water, calming him down in an instant. “Do I have to wait for you to grow into an Origin King Grade High-Rank Artifact Refiner?”
Yang Yan knit her brow and fell silent, seemingly immersed in thought for a while.
Some time later, she looked at Yang Kai and smiled, “Is the Saint Qi in your body Yang Attribute?”
“Not exactly, but it used to be,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly. Now that his Saint Qi had been transformed into the black Demonic Flame, Yang Kai could not quite tell what its attribute was, so he didn’t quite know how to answer Yang Yan’s question.
“Push your Saint Qi so I can see,” Yang Yan asked as her beautiful eyes stared at him.
Yang Kai quickly pushed his Saint Qi while transforming his Demonic Flame into a pure hot nature.
Yang Yan’s eyes lit up when she saw this and smile, “If it’s like this then there’s no problem. It seems your luck is really good, if this Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead had been obtained by another cultivator, they might have had to wait for me to grow into an Origin King Grade High-Rank Artifact Refiner before they could be processed into something useful, but since your Saint Qi is hot in nature, you can just refine it yourself.”
“Refining it myself?” Yang Kai stunned.
“En, refine it yourself. Doing so will result in great benefits, actually. With your current strength, although you can’t fully refine this thing, nor can you exert all of its power, as time passes and your cultivation grows, the power this Dragon Bone will be able to display will increase proportionally. When the time comes, it can even become an artifact connected directly with your Soul and life,” Yang Yan explained with excitement.
“But I’m not an Artifact Refiner, how am I supposed to refine it?” Yang Kai was still confused.
“There’s no need for you to be an Artifact Refiner because it is already a complete artifact that doesn’t require any enhancement. You only need to warm and nourish it. Here, I’ll give you a set of Secret Arts to use.”
“Just like that?” Yang Kai was overjoyed as his mood rose once more.
“Yeah, and you also have a Dragon Bead with a real Dragon Soul, if you can also refine the Dragon Soul and Dragon Bead into the Dragon Bone, hehe… I really can’t imagine what this Dragon Bone will look like at that time,” Yang Yan’s beautiful eyes shimmered brilliantly as a hint of obsession flashed across them. It seemed that she could not wait to see the scene after the Dragon Bone had been refined.
Finished what she had to explain, Yang Yan quickly passed the refinement method to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai listened and took down what Yang Yan said carefully, asking immediately when there was something he did not understand. Yang Yan explained everything patiently.
This refinement method was not difficult, so it only took Yang Kai two hours to memorize it. Now all he needed to do was spend some time to slowly comprehend it after which he could begin refining the Dragon Bone.
After teaching Yang Kai this Secret Art, Yang Yan thought for a while and said, “If you want to speed up things, I can let you borrow my Artifact Refining Furnace. Although my Artifact Refining Furnace is not very good, it will still be able to assist in the refinement process.”
“Artifact Refining Furnace?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, revealing a weird look, “I have one.”
“You have an Artifact Refining Furnace?” Yang Yan was stunned and quickly asked, “You’re not an Artifact Refiner, so why do you have an Artifact Refining Furnace?”
“En, I obtained it in the Flowing Flame Sand Field; moreover, it’s not an ordinary one,” Yang Kai said while taking out the tiny Artifact Refining Furnace.
When Yang Yan saw this little Artifact Refining Furnace, she did not show too much surprise, only feeling that the strange bird pattern on it was a little unusual. But while she was inspecting the quality of this Artifact Refining Furnace, the strange bird pattern came to life, swam across the surface of the furnace, then leapt off its surface and transformed into the Scarlet Firebird.
Immediately, the temperature in the stone room shot up as a pure Fire Attribute aura filled the air.
“An Artifact Spirit!” Yang Yan called out in alarm, covering her mouth as her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at the Artifact Spirit. Along with great shock, her face also showed nearly obsessive interest.
The Artifact Spirit also seemed to realize Yang Yan’s hot intentions and, after flying a quick circle, landed on Yang Kai’s shoulder. Its three long tail feathers trailed behind its body as it used its pointed beak to comb its wings, occasionally using its small eyes to cautiously observe Yang Yan, excluding its intelligence.
Yang Yan was stunned speechless and her eyes flashed with undisguised longing.
She suddenly realized that it was truly a loss for Yang Kai to not to be an Artifact Refiner.
He had an appropriate Saint Qi attribute and an extremely powerful Soul. On top of that, he had the best assistant in the form of the Stone Puppet and now even possessed an Artifact Refining Furnace with an Artifact Spirit. This Artifact Refining Furnace was also Origin King Grade…
It was so unfair!
When Yang Yan compared her possessions with Yang Kai’s, she suddenly found herself greatly discouraged.
This Artifact Spirit had obviously been conquered by Yang Kai, so even if she wanted this Artifact Refining Furnace, it was out of her reach. Once an Artifact Spirit was subdued, it was impossible for it to surrender to a second person unless the first died.
“With such an Artifact Refining Furnace to assist you, you’ll get twice the results with half the effort when refining the Dragon Bone, Dragon Bead, and Dragon Soul,” Yang Yan said sourly, glaring at Yang Kai with grudge filled eyes.
“Ahem… I actually collected a lot of Artifact Refining Furnaces on this trip, and several of them are even Origin King Grade.”
“Really?” Yang Yan’s spirits immediately lifted.
“En, but they all seem to be a bit damaged,” Yang Kai said while taking out the Artifact Refining Furnaces, he had collected in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, scattering them about the room.
Yang Yan’s jaw dropped and refused to close for quite some time, but after checking these Artifact Refining Furnaces one by one, a look of annoyance filled her face as she shouted, “How is this a ‘bit’ damage? It’s more like they’ve all be scrapped! How could they have been so recklessly burned?”
“Can they still be used?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll try my best to fix them,” Yang Yan waved her hand and put all the Artifact Refining Furnaces into her Space Ring.
Next, Yang Kai took out all his other gains from the Flowing Flame Sand Field one by one and handed all of them over to Yang Yan.
For example, a huge number of Fire Crystal Stones, the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, etc.
Yang Kai had collected a total of nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires, so after giving one to Yang Yan, he had eight left. He wanted to know whether refining one of these would enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
The ancient map fragment Yang Kai obtained by killing Meng Hong Liang was also given to Yang Yan. As a result, she now had two of these map fragments in her possession, and although this was not enough to form a complete map, putting them together and researching them might yield some results.
The piece of crystal that Yang Kai obtained in the sixth layer which caused him to hallucinate was also recognized by Yang Yan. She said it was a naturally formed treasure called an Illusion Stone. She also received this crystal as it was the best material to arrange an Illusion Array with.
The twenty pieces of bamboo which took Yang Kai half a year to collect were also given to Yang Yan so she could find a way to make use of them.
As for the spirit grasses and spirit medicines Yang Kai collected in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, such as the Emerald Silk Grasses, Purple Fine Jade Fruits, Golden Sun Fruits, and other herbs which could be used for Alchemy. Naturally, he wouldn’t give them to Yang Yan.
Yang Kai kept the Red Candle Fruit, Red Candle Stalk, Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, Golden Sun Fruit Tree, Ten Thousand Year Incense, and a number of other rare items as he had his own plans for them.
After receiving so many materials, Yang Yan happily left. With her talent and skill, along with so many treasures, she could let loose and refine whatever she wanted. Before leaving though, she handed Yang Kai a big token.
On this token were numerous profound seals and patterns.
With the help of this token, Yang Kai could freely enter and exit his cave mansion as well as open the independent barrier around the cave. Once this barrier was opened, no one in Dragon Cave Mountain would be able to access this cave mansion except for Yang Kai. Even Yang Yan wouldn’t be able to come in unless she broke the Spirit Array.
Yang Kai was very satisfied with this. Yang Yan had obviously taken his privacy into account and had used many methods to create a Restricted Area for him.
Yang Kai had no intention to live in one of the newly built houses outside as this stone mansion was much more in line with his preferences. Perhaps this was because he had once dug his own cave mansion into the walls of the Coiling Dragon Stream back in High Heaven Pavilion. For his own dwelling, Yang Kai quite liked this kind of cave mansion; it was quiet and somewhat lonely, but that just made it well suited to sitting in meditation by himself.
Yang Yan had paid great attention to the layout of this cave mansion. This place had the most barriers and Spirit Arrays of any location in Dragon Cave Mountain and also possessed the most rigorous defence. The World Energy aura here was also the strongest. When Yang Kai first returned and tried to explore Dragon Cave Mountain with his Divine Sense, this cave mansion was one of the locations he couldn’t read anything from.
After Yang Yan left, Yang Kai sat cross-legged in place, lost in thought for a while. He had already noticed that not just Yang Yan, but also Wu Yi, Yu Feng, Chang Qi, Hao An, and the several dozen former Hai Ke Family disciples had come to regard this place as their own home and had put in a great amount of care to build it up.
Yang Kai appreciated such sentiments.
After pondering for a while, he took out his Alchemy furnace, the Emerald Silk Grasses, and some other herbs to refine several Origin Condensing Pills. Perhaps because the trip to the Flowing Flame Sand Field had made him grow a lot, this time it was much easier for Yang Kai to refine the Origin Condensing Pills. Among the ones he refined, more than half had formed Pill Veins.
These Origin Condensing Pills were naturally for Chang Qi and Hao An. Both of them had been stuck at the bottleneck of the Third-Order Saint King Realm for so many years, so with an Origin Condensing Pill, they should be able to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.
However, after he finished refining these pills, Yang Kai didn’t rush to deliver them but instead began to arrange his own cave mansion.
In one of the stone rooms, Yang Kai used a large number of Saint Crystals and even his Myriad Drug Liquid to create a place with an extremely dense World Energy. The aura in the cave mansion was already quite good, and with the addition of these Saint Crystals and the Myriad Drug Liquid, it quickly rose to an incredible level.
Inside this stone room, Yang Kai opened a small medicine garden and carefully took out the Red Candle Stalk, planting it in a diluted pool of Myriad Drug Liquid. He believed that with so much spirit water and World Energy, the Red Candle Stalk, with is extremely tenacious vitality, would not wither.
After this was done, Yang Kai took out the small piece of Red Candle Fruit. Although this small piece of Red Candle Fruit had lost much of its value and could not be restored, Yang Kai still carefully placed it atop the Red Candle Stalk, thinking that since the two were connected to one another, the Red Candle Fruit would be able to maintain and possibly even strengthen its medicinal efficacy.
Yang Kai could not use the Red Candle Fruit now, nor could he use it to refine a pill, but that did not mean he could not need it in the future.
After finishing this, Yang Kai used the token Yang Yan gave him to open all the barriers in this particular stone chamber. A light curtain appeared quickly, then began rippling, causing everything inside the stone room to disappear, concealing all trace of the spirit liquid pool made from diluted Myriad Drug Liquid, the Red Candle Stalk, and the Red Candle Fruit. Even using Divine Sense there was no way to tell anything was here.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about this place now except for an abnormally rich World Energy aura.
Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, and after completely sealing off this stone room, he moved to the next one to make further arrangements.
In the second stone room, he took out the Ten Thousand Year Incense and incense burner from the sixth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field and placed it the centre of the chamber. In a flash, the whole stone room was filled with a faint yet clear fragrance. As soon as this fragrance reached his nose, Yang Kai suddenly felt calm, as if all his troubles and worries had disappeared Even his Knowledge Sea became calm and peaceful, like an ancient well.
The effects of the Ten Thousand Year Incense were worthy of their reputation. Meditating while inhaling this scent for a long time would undoubtedly be extremely helpful to anyone.
Using the token in his hand, Yang Kai sealed off this second stone room completely as well.
The Ten Thousand Year Incense’s scent could drift about inside the cave mansion for now, but Yang Kai was certain Yang Yan could think up some way to let it permeate throughout Dragon Cave Mountain, allowing all the cultivators who lived here to benefit from it at any time.
Keeping this matter in mind, Yang Kai went to the third stone room.
A moment later, he placed the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree inside the third stone room. In this way, as long as someone entered retreat in this stone room, they could use the mysterious aura released by the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree to spy on the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, assisting them in breaking through their bottlenecks.
With the Origin Condensing Pills and the Ten Thousand Year Incense as auxiliaries, Chang Qi and Hao An may not even be able to take advantage of the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree’s effects.
After finishing all this, Yang Kai walked to an isolate stone room where he found a strange rock full of holes.
This strange stone was the Profound Insect Stone that Yang Kai spent many Saint Crystals to win at the last auction.
After purchasing it, Yang Kai had put his Soul Devouring Insects into it. Yang Yan had said that the Profound Insect Stone was perfectly suited to growing Exotic Insects. Before departing for the Flowing Flame Sand field, Yang Kai had told Yang Yan to not let anyone near this Profound Insect Stone, and sure enough, it was lying quietly in the corner he had left it.
Under the investigation of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found tens of thousands of tiny Soul Devouring Insects, invisible to the naked eye, sleeping peacefully inside the Profound Insect Stone.
The inside of the Profound Insect Stone also seemed to have been hollowed out greatly.
The Soul Devouring Insects were still growing and evolving, so they were temporarily unavailable to Yang Kai. They would only become active again after the Profound Insect Stones disappeared completely.
The Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was also evolving, so the Soul Devouring Insects didn’t have a place to stay anyways. As such, Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry to wake them up.
Yang Kai had great expectations for the evolution of the Soul Devouring Insects. He didn’t know what kind of change they would undergo after their evolution. After observing for a while, Yang Kai picked up the Profound Insect Stone and placed it in the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree’s stone room.
Leaving his cave mansion, Yang Kai called over Chang Qi and Hao An and handed each of them an Origin Condensing Pill before telling them to pick a free stone chamber to enter retreat.
Yang Kai believed that it wouldn’t be long before Dragon Cave Mountain had its first two Origin Returning Realm masters.
Although they would only be First-Order, they would still be Origin Realm masters. When Yang Kai went out in the future, the two of them could coordinate with all the profound Spirit Arrays here to ensure Dragon Cave Mountain’s safety.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai kept himself busy. No one knew what he was up to, but soon, all of them were surprised to find that a Golden Sun Fruit Tree had suddenly appeared in Dragon Cave Mountain. Although there was no ripe fruit on this tree, it was no doubt a high-grade Spirit Fruit Tree. In addition to brightening the scenery around Dragon Cave Mountain, it also gave everyone something to look forward to in the future.
Regarding the transplanting of the Golden Sun Fruit Tree, Yang Kai was given a long and harsh lecture by Yang Yan. After listening to her scoldings, Yang Kai realized that he had been far too naive before.
The requirements for the Golden Sun Fruit Tree’s growth environment were extremely harsh. If Yang Kai hadn’t possessed a treasure like his Black Book Space, he would definitely not have been able to take it out of the Flowing Flame Sand Field as it would have already died inside any Space Ring he tried to use. Even though it had now been replanted here, the chances this Golden Sun Fruit Tree would survive was less than thirty percent. Yang Yan spent a lot of effort to arrange a number of Spirit Arrays to gather and transform the surrounding World Energy for it to use, but even so, whether it would be able to live or not was questionable.
However, it was the changes the Blood Sword Grass seed underwent that shocked Yang Kai and Yang Yan the most.
Originally, Yang Yan had taken the Blood Sword Grass seed and found a suitable place to casually plant it. Because she didn’t provide it with any fresh blood or flesh, she didn’t expect it to germinate or grow immediately so she hadn’t paid too much attention to it. As long as some overconfident fool dared to attack Dragon Cave Mountain and was injured or died near this Blood Sword Grass seed, it could absorb the vital energy of those people, break through the ground, and hit the enemy by surprise.
On a whim though, Yang Kai dropped a drop of Golden Blood onto the spot where the Blood Sword Grass seed had been planted.
The result was in the blink of an eye, the Blood Sword Grass seed germinated and rapidly grew, reaching nearly thirty metres in height before stopping. This wasn’t the end though, as all around the primary Blood Sword Grass stalk, a great forest of them also began sprouting. These offshoots weren’t as tall as their parent, but many still reached almost ten metres in height.
In less than half an hour, centred on the position where the Blood Sword Grass seed was planted, a thousand-metre radius had been covered in sword-like grasses. Yang Yan screamed and her beautiful face discoloured when she saw this.
What’s more though was that these Blood Sword Grasses weren’t the same as the ones Yang Kai encountered before. They weren’t blood red anymore but instead had a faint reddish-gold colour to them, making them particularly eye-catching.
This change not only left Yang Yan dumbfounded, but Yang Kai as well.
He hadn’t expected that a single drop of his Golden Blood would cause the Blood Sword Grasses to undergo such a big change. The only reason he had fed it a drop like this was because he thought it might have some small effect.
But instead, it had nearly caused several of the cultivators who had been wandering about nearby to fall into grave danger. Fortunately, Yang Kai was able to rescue these helpless Hai Ke Family cultivators before they were cut down by the Blood Sword Grass.