However, perhaps because it had absorbed a drop of his Golden Blood, these Blood Sword Grasses showed no hostility towards Yang Kai. Even if Yang Kai passed through them, they didn’t react at all.
But except for Yang Kai, any living creature that entered this field would instantly be assailed and their bodies sliced apart. The sharp golden blades of grass seemed to give off a cold light that made any who saw it shudder.
After this unexpected development, Yang Yan adjusted her attitude and immediately arranged a Spirit Array around the Blood Sword Grass region, preparing to turn it into a Restricted Area and even using these Blood Sword Grasses to create a huge trap.
With such a field of Blood Sword Grass, even if an Origin Returning Realm master that broke into it did not die, they would surely be severely injured.
Three days after Yang Kai returned, Shadow Moon Hall’s Qian Tong personally brought Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er to Dragon Cave Mountain to confirm that Yang Kai had really returned safely.
Qian Tong also learned from Wei Gu Chang that in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had saved his and Dong Xuan’er’s lives, so now, regardless of any other intentions he had towards Yang Kai, just this grace was enough for Qian Tong to be genuinely grateful towards him.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were the most talented disciples of Shadow Moon Hall’s younger generation; if the two of them had fallen in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the loss would have been immeasurable.
No one asked why Yang Kai only returned so long after the Flowing Flame Sand Field had closed, all of them just vaguely guessing that Yang Kai had run into some other kind of opportunity. In this way, Qian Tong was even more optimistic about Yang Kai and his attitude became friendlier.
On top of that, Dragon Cave Mountain and Shadow Moon Hall were cooperating closely now. Yang Yan and the others had continued to purchase a massive amount of materials from Shadow Moon Hall, allowing Shadow Moon Hall to gain a hefty profit. So, for various reasons, Qian Tong now regarded Dragon Cave Mountain as a partner and ally.
As they chatted, Yang Kai learned from Qian Tong that about the gains and losses the major forces on Shadowed Star had after the opening of the Flowing Flame Field.
More than ten thousand cultivators had originally entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but less than seventy percent of them had returned safely. The various forces losing thirty to forty percent of their elite disciples was nothing less than tragic.
Although this kind of loss saddened every force greatly, the harvests brought back by their surviving disciples were enough to make up for the loss. Almost everyone had some gains, and this was especially true of those Sects’ disciples who managed to obtain a piece of the Red Candle Fruit and all of them received rich rewards from their respective Sects.
The appearance of the Red Candle Fruit set out a great storm on Shadowed Star. Several Alchemy Grandmasters from Medicine Pill Sect had frequently run out to visit the various forces which had obtained pieces of this Heaven defying spirit fruit, offering vast amounts of money and even free pill refinements to acquire these Red Candle Fruit pieces.
But no one felt relieved handing over this incredible treasure to another, even if the other party were Medicine Pill Sect, so after running about for half a year, the Alchemy Grandmasters of Medicine Pill Sect could only return in defeat.
This was probably the first time that the major forces on Shadowed Star had refused to give face to the Medicine Pill Sect and this incident caused quite a bit of disturbance for half a year.
There were even several traitors in Shadow Moon Hall who attempted to steal the Red Candle Fruit piece, all of whom were exposed and executed.
The situation in the other Sects which obtained a piece of the Red Candle Fruit was roughly the same, but after half a year, these disturbances gradually subsided. As for how the major Sects decided to deal with those Red Candle Fruit pieces, no one knew.
After talking about this, Yang Kai took the opportunity to ask Qian Tong a lot of questions about the Saint King Realm and how one should cultivate. Qian Tong did not conceal anything and freely shared his cultivation experience with Yang Kai as Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, and many of the others listened attentively nearby.
Half a day later, Qian Tong and his party left.
Before leaving, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er told Yang Kai that after they returned to the Sect, they would enter retreat to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Both had experienced growth in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so now was the best time for them to attempt a breakthrough.
Yang Kai knew in his heart that if they were not waiting for news of his safe return, they would have entered retreat long ago and it was only because of their concern for his wellbeing that they had actually missed their best opportunity to break through.
However, despite being aware of the truth, Yang Kai did not bring it up.
Before Dong Xuan’er left, she suddenly wore a mysterious smile, leaned over to Yang Kai, and whispered, “Senior Brother Yang, Big Sister Dai Yuan repeatedly sent messages to me over the past six months asking about your situation. Unfortunately, you had not shown up all this time so I could not give her any exact news. Now that you have returned safely though, I’m sure Big Sister Dai Yuan will feel more at ease.”
“Dai Yuan…” Yang Kai froze for a moment as an extremely ugly face flashed across his thoughts, his expression suddenly becoming weird.
Why would she be so concerned about him? Although the time they had spent together was not long, Yang Kai could feel that with Dai Yuan’s personality, it would be impossible for her to care so much about his wellbeing for no reason. Moreover, when they separated in the fourth layer, Dai Yuan seemed to want to say something to him but had stopped herself, piquing Yang Kai’s interest.
She had also said at that time that she would come to say her thanks personally, and now it seemed she was not just speaking politely.
While Yang Kai was contemplating this issue, Wei Gu Chang could not help chuckling, apparently misunderstanding what was going on and what had happened between Yang Kai and Dai Yuan in the Flowing Flame Sand Field
Yang Kai did not bother trying to explain.
Forget about the fact that there was really nothing between him and Dai Yuan, even if Dai Yuan was an incredibly beautiful woman, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been moved by her.
He had seen many beauties in his life, and since entering the Star Field, only two had always been on his mind, so he didn’t have any thoughts about womanizing.
Dong Xuan’er suddenly bit her lip and whispered softly, “Actually, Big Sister Dai Yuan isn’t what she seems!”
After leaving this perfectly unclear statement behind, Dong Xuan’er hurriedly caught up with Wei Gu Chang who had gone on ahead.
Only Yang Kai remained standing there, having no clue what Dong Xuan’er wanted to say. After not being able to figure anything out for a while, Yang Kai simply shook his head wryly and returned to his cave mansion. Over the next month, Yang Kai refined a large number of pills before calling Yang Yan and Wu Yi over and informing them that he would be entering retreat for a period of time and if it wasn’t something serious, not to disturb him. All other matters regarding Dragon Cave Mountain would be up to them to decide.
As for the pills he had refined, Yang Kai naturally handed them over to the pair to let them distribute. There were a massive number of pills and many of them were designed to assist with cultivation. With these pills to assist them, everyone in Dragon Cave Mountain should be able to quickly increase their strength.
Yang Yan and Wu Yi quickly nodded.
Immediately after they left, Yang Kai entered his stone room and went into secluded retreat.
He had too many things to do, such as seeing if the Flowing Flame Flying Fires could enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, studying the Demon Blood Thread technique, and consolidating his newly promoted Second-Order Saint King cultivation. Each of these tasks was time-consuming and not something that could be accomplished in just a day or two.
However, in order to refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, Yang Kai first had to fully refine the Artifact Refining Furnace.
Yang Yan is right, one had to sharpen their tools before going to work. Yang Kai had to thoroughly refine the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace first, in order to save himself a great deal of time in refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead. Moreover, this Artifact Refining Furnace had an Artifact Spirit, so it could also be used as an offensive artifact.
After carefully sorting out the things he needed to do, Yang Kai got to work.
The first thing he did was to refine the Artifact Refining Furnace.
Although in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, he had subdued the Artifact Spirit, doing so and refining the Artifact Refining Furnace were two different things and could not be confused. However, conquering the Artifact Spirit would help him refine the Artifact Refining Furnace more efficiently.
Taking out the Artifact Refining Furnace and placing it in front of himself, Yang Kai closed his eyes and poured his Saint Qi into it, covering the furnace in his Demonic Flame, allowing his aura to soak into it.
Time passed by slowly, but cultivation knew no years, and in a flash, six months had gone by.
Yang Kai had not once left his stone room since he entered this retreat, and no one knew what he was doing inside.
Even Chang Qi and Hao An, who both successfully broke through to the Origin Realm inside the cave mansion, did not see Yang Kai when they emerged. The two of them had taken an Origin Condensing Pill each, and with the assistance of the Ten Thousand Year Incense and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, they broke through without any difficulties, emerging from their respective stone rooms only half a month after they entered.
After their breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm, Shadow Moon Hall actually sent over some information about the Origin Returning Realm to help them cultivate, causing Chang Qi and Hao An to become overjoyed.
Both had originally belonged to a small family force and obviously didn’t have access to such valuable materials, but taking Yang Kai’s face into consideration, Qian Tong had actually taken the initiative to assist them. Naturally, the two of them were extremely grateful and soon returned to their own houses to enter retreat and study the mysteries of Shi that only Origin Returning Realm cultivators could comprehend.
After half a year, everything in Dragon Cave Mountain remained in good order with Wu Yi handling most of the administrative tasks such as the relationship with Shadow Moon Hall while Yang Yan remained in charge of arranging the various Spirit Arrays and barriers that protected Dragon Cave Mountain, improving its defence once again. As for the cultivators originally from the Hai Ke Family, all of them were immersing themselves in their own cultivation.
If not for Yang Yan needed to continuously perform Artifact Refining and arranging Spirit Arrays to unlock the knowledge in her mind, with Dragon Cave Mountain’s current state, there was not really any need for anyone to do anything other than cultivate.
Over the past six months, Yang Kai had also completely consolidated his cultivation. After refining two drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water, his realm has risen to the peak of the Second-Order Saint King Realm and now that his foundation was stabilized, as long as he could prepare appropriately, he could attempt to break through to the Third-Order Saint King Realm.
The Artifact Refining Furnace had also been completely refined by him. After refining the Artifact Refining Furnace, the Firebird Artifact Spirit could even freely enter and exit Yang Kai’s body and no longer need to perch on his shoulder as it had before.
This little thing and the Stone Puppet seemed to have an inborn dislike of one another and every time they met they would get into a fight.
For the first time, Yang Kai understood that the Stone Puppet’s combat effectiveness was not to be underestimated. Its natural armour was not afraid of the Artifact Spirit’s intense flames and though it looked lumbering and awkward, once it began fighting, its speed was actually quite astonishing. If not for the Artifact Spirit being able to fly, the Stone Puppet would not have been any less nimble. Regardless of this though, every battle the Stone Puppet and Artifact Spirit fought ended with a tie, neither one able to defeat the other.
During this past half a year, the Artifact Spirit and Stone Puppet fought at least a dozen times, and each time ended with a draw. Yang Kai was naturally too lazy to manage them though and never intervened in their fights. These two eventually seemed to form a bond through these battles and would sometimes get together and seemingly discuss something.
In addition to consolidating his Second-Order Saint King cultivation and refining the Artifact Refining Furnace, Yang Kai also began refining the dragon bone and Dragon Bead. Yang Kai had placed the dragon bone and Dragon Bead into the Artifact Refining Furnace, then took the Artifact Refining Furnace into his body. This way, even if Yang Kai didn’t deliberately refine it, the Artifact Spirit could use Yang Kai’s Saint Qi and its own pure Fire Attribute energy to actuate the Artifact Refining Furnace and continuously refine the dragon bone and Dragon Bead.
However, these two treasures were worthy of being materials from a True Dragon. The Artifact Spirit had been refining them for two months already yet there was not much progress, with only a slight bit of Yang Kai’s aura penetrating them. It seemed that if he wanted to completely refine them this way, it would take at least four or five years. Only if Yang Kai consciously mobilized his Saint Qi in combination with the Artifact Refining Furnace would it be possible to speed up the process.
However, Yang Kai was not in a hurry and instead took this opportunity to learn, studying the Demon Blood Thread technique given to him by Deng Ning.
Originally, Yang Kai had simply wanted this technique to have an excuse to deal with Ye Yang Rong while also making sure that Deng Ning wouldn’t betray him. He did not have any expectations for this secret technique at all, but during the month he used to return to Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai discovered that this Demon Blood Thread was actually an amazing technique and suited his cultivation perfectly.
This greatly shocked Yang Kai.
Demon Blood Temple was an extremely evil force, which put it in opposition to many forces on Shadowed Star. On top of that, it had a small internal war every five years and a big one every ten. The only reason why this Sect had yet to be destroyed was actually thanks to this Demon Blood Thread technique. The Elders and Protectors of Demon Blood Temple all cultivated this mysterious technique and when using it to fight others could often display shocking and unpredictable power. As such, most people intentionally avoided finding trouble with Demon Blood Temple and decided that: ‘so long as they didn’t provoke us, we would do the same’, allowing Demon Blood Temple to endure through the years.
But if one wanted to cultivate this secret technique, they needed to use their own Blood Essence as a foundation.
A cultivator’s Blood Essence was extremely precious, and once used in battle it would severely damage their foundation. It could be said that after using a single drop of Blood Essence, a cultivator would need to spend several months to years to restore themselves. But Demon Blood Temple had created this Demon Blood Thread technique which allowed one to use their Blood Essence in combat without seriously harming themselves.
Once cultivated successfully and used against an enemy, an individual’s combat power would soar because the Demon Blood Thread was condensed from one’s own powerful Blood Essence. On top of that, it would be incredibly flexible to use because it was closely tied to one’s life and vitality, making it like an artifact, yet not one at the same time.
Blood Essence was also precious to Yang Kai and he dared not use it easily, but Golden Blood was something he could spare. Additionally, his Golden Blood contained an immense amount of vitality which made it perfectly suited as a base material to cultivate this Demon Blood Thread.
When Yang Kai realized this, he was barely able to contain his joy, and from that point on he had been thinking about the pros and cons of cultivating this Demon Blood Thread constantly. Only recently had he decided to try it out.
With this secret technique, the more Blood Essence one used, the stronger the Demon Blood Thread they would be able to condense, and the more power it would be able to display!
This secret technique was simply tailored for Yang Kai! How could he just give up on it?
Currently, when he found himself against enemies, Yang Kai mainly relied on his Nine Heavens Divine Skills and his own ability to control Saint Qi. This resulted in a certain lack of variety in his combat abilities though. If he could successfully cultivate the Demon Blood Thread technique though, he could greatly broaden the scope of his offensive and defensive skills.
Successfully cultivating this secret technique would give Yang Kai a big boost in strength. On top of that, the Demon Blood Thread he cultivated would undoubtedly be stronger than the Demon Blood Thread a Demon Blood Temple disciple could produce, because the root of this secret technique was Blood Essence, and his Golden Blood was far stronger than any Demon Blood Temple disciple’s Blood Essence.
Yang Kai had actually spent most of his time during this six-month retreat cultivating the Demon Blood Thread technique and was now showing some signs of reaching he minor accomplishment stage.
Inside the stone room, with a single though, Yang Kai condensed a tiny golden filament at the tip of his finger. This golden filament seemed like a radiant silk thread and could stretch to several tens of metres in length. Under the control of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, this golden thread flickered back and forth, making a slicing noise as it seemingly cut through the air, like Yang Kai was whirling around a thin golden whip.
Experimenting with the power of this Demon Blood Thread, Yang Kai was quite satisfied; after all, it was something that cost him a drop of Golden Blood to cultivate. On top of that, it was able to display this much power after only partially comprehending the technique, if Yang Kai were to fully master this technique, its power would increase greatly.
This was a single Demon Blood Thread, if Yang Kai was able to cultivate several dozens of them, he could hardly imagine how difficult it would be for his enemies to contend with.
Yang Kai realized that the master who created this Demon Blood Thread was a true genius, thinking up a way to use his own Blood Essence to create a pseudo-artifact. However, the creator of this technique probably never imagined someone like Yang Kai would exist in this world who would be able to condense Demon Blood Threads using his Golden Blood. If given enough time, Yang Kai would surely be able to bring this Demon Blood Thread to a new height.
However, this thing couldn’t really be called a Demon Blood Thread any longer, it was more appropriate to call it a Golden Blood Thread.
Yang Kai grinned and took back this Golden Blood Thread into his body before continuing to cultivate.
During this period, Yang Kai also refined Space Spirit Crystals to enhance his Space Force.
Three more months passed but Yang Kai still showed no signs of exiting his retreat. Thankfully, Dragon Cave Mountain did not need him to do anything, so there was no problem with him remaining in retreat.
On this day, as Yang Kai was cultivating his Golden Blood Thread technique, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes opened in surprise. Immediately closing his eyes again, Yang Kai sent his consciousness into the Black Book Space where he quickly manifested his Soul Avatar.
After seeing the scene in front of him, what Yang Kai was about to say was swallowed back down his throat and he instead stared dumbfounded at the tree exuding a potent Yang Attribute aura.
This big tree was none other than the Divine Tree which had been taken into the Black Book Space by Yang Kai many years ago.
Some time ago, it had swallowed two drops of Yang Kai’s Golden Blood before falling into a deep sleep to undergo an evolution. Now, three years later, it had woken up and sent Yang Kai a message, resulting in the latter sending his Soul Avatar into the Black Book Space.
The Divine Tree’s new appearance was a little strange though. Yang Kai remembered that it had been a towering tree before its evolution, with dense leaves atop its crown and rich Yang Attribute energy coursing through its body.
But now, after this most recent evolution was completed, it had become several times smaller, only about twenty metres in height or so. All of its branches and leaves now had a dazzling golden light about them, appearing quite eye catching. Among its leaves, there were also some small longan sized fruits. If these fruits were mature, they would surely be a great supplement for people like Yang Kai, but it was obviously they had only just begun budding.
What surprised Yang Kai the most though were not these changes but rather the face which appeared at the centre of the Divine Tree’s trunk.
It was a very strange face, with eyes, a nose, a mouth, but no eyebrows. On top of that, this face was quite large and appeared somewhat wrinkled, like that of an old man
On both sides of its trunk, there were even two forks like arms with branches sticking out that gave the appearance of fingers.
At first glance though, it was obvious that the Divine Tree’s two arms and two hands contained great power.
The Divine Tree’s roots had also transformed into a large number of tentacles which were supporting its huge body, as if it had grown countless long legs. When Yang Kai came in, the Divine Tree seemed to be adapting to its own changes and its tentacles were moving slowly as it walked about the Black Book Space.
After noticing that Yang Kai had come in, it immediately stood still, turned its two huge eyes towards him, and seemingly smiled.
“You…” Yang Kai looked at it in amazement, not knowing what to say for a while.
“There’s no need for concern…” What made Yang Kai even more surprised was that the Divine Tree spoke to him. However, the voice it used was quite loud and somewhat hoarse. It seemed that this was its first time speaking and it was not quite used to it yet.
In the past, the Divine Tree had communicated with Yang Kai exclusively through Divine Sense Messages. This was the first time Yang Kai heard its voice, causing him to stare blankly again for a moment.
After a long pause, the Divine Tree continued, “Although I do not quite understand why I’ve become like this after my evolution, I can feel that it is a good thing. It seems that your Golden Blood has helped me a lot, helping me grow into something different from what I used to be.”
Yang Kai heard this and finally felt a bit relieved, asking with some concern, “Is nothing wrong?”
“Nothing at all, I feel wonderful actually.” The Divine Tree’s voice gradually became clearer, as if after speaking a few words it had begun to master the trick to communicating verbally. As it spoke, it also began slowly walking about the Black Book Space again, “If there is anything wrong, I feel that this place is no longer suitable for me to remain in. It’s quite empty and no longer conducive to my growth.”
Yang Kai was startled for a moment but immediately understood what was going on.
Before the Divine Tree’s latest evolution, it could only be regarded as a sentient World Spirit Treasure, so there was no problem with it remaining inside the Black Book Space. But now, it had evolved into a kind of living unique life-form, resulting in the Black Book Space no longer being appropriate for it to live in. It may be fine for a while, but if it stayed in this space for too long and was no longer able to adapt to the outside world’s principles, and it may result in some unpleasant consequences. Withering away was also not out of the question. If that were to happen, Yang Kai would be at fault.
Considering all this, Yang Kai apologized, “I’ve wronged you all these years. When I brought you out from that Mysterious Small World, I promised that I would find a place for you to settle down, but after so many years, I’ve constantly been running around and failed to find anywhere for you to roam about freely.”
The Divine Tree heard him say this and waved its giant hands slowly, “I know, don’t worry about it.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded gently before suddenly grinning, “But things are different now. I finally have a place where you can put down roots. If you want, I can let you out now. If I ever leave this place in the future, I can take you with me again at that time, of course, if that’s what you want.”
The Divine Tree stopped in place and turned to Yang Kai with a look of expectation upon its withered face, “I can go out?”
It seems that it missed the sunshine of the outside world after being stuck in the Black Book Space for so long.
“En.” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly.
“Then I’d like to go out. If you ever leave this place, of course I’ll go with you.”
After discussing it properly, Yang Kai immediately walked out of his cave mansion and found it was fairly quiet outside. The several dozen former Hai Ke Family disciples seemed to be cultivating independently and even Chang Qi and Hao An were nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Yang Kai emerge from the cave, many people were surprised but they quickly offered polite greetings.
Although they separated from the Hai Ke Family in order to follow Wu Yi, they all knew who the true master of this place was.
“Where’s Yang Yan?” Yang Kai turned his head and looked around but was not able to find any trace of Yang Yan. Even using his Divine Sense, he couldn’t detect her, or Wu Yi’s presence.
“Lady Yang Yan and Young Lady went to Black Sea City together.” One of the sharper cultivators quickly replied.
“Black Sea City? Why did they go there? What force controls that city?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“Black Sea City is under the jurisdiction of Clear Sky Sect. The two Young Ladies went there to participate in Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction.”
“Another auction?” Yang Kai raised a brow and showed a puzzled look. The cultivator quickly explained, and after listening to his explanation, Yang Kai realized what was going on. The last time there was an auction, Yang Kai had brought many good things to sell, drawing the attention of Treasure Trove Pavilion’s Yan Pei. As such, before this auction, he had sent Qian Tong a personal invitation to deliver to Yang Kai.
Dragon Cave Mountain also happened to be lacking Saint Crystals to purchase materials, so Yang Yan had taken several artifacts she had recently refined to auction in hopes of raising some funds.
After learning this, Yang Kai frowned. Yang Yan spent Saint Crystals far too quickly. He had brought back millions of Saint Crystal and a massive amount of materials less than a year ago, yet that all seemed to have been exhausted by her already. Yang Kai was not upset about this though as Yang Yan wasn’t wasting any of these Saint Crystals or materials, all of it went into enhancing Dragon Cave Mountain’s protection.
What Yang Kai cared about was that auctioning off artifacts like this was not a good long-term way to raise Saint Crystals.
Yang Yan could take the artifacts she refined to auction once or twice in order to raise some funds, but if this continued, it would only bring them problems. In the same sense, Yang Kai could not take out his refined pills to raise Saint Crystals too frequently. After all, Dragon Cave Mountain did not have a stronger background or protector. Although Shadow Moon Hall had a good relationship with them currently, that was almost exclusively because of Qian Tong’s prestige. This did not guarantee that other factions inside Shadow Moon Hall would not start having ideas about them.
If too many high-end artifacts and pills were to flow out from here, it would certainly attract unwanted attention.
Forget about any others, Yang Kai was certain that Xie Hong Wen’s father had Dragon Cave Mountain under surveillance. Xie Hong Wen had died in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although Xie Hong Wen’s father did not know who killed his son, he would certainly not give up investigating. Once he had an excuse, he might come to Dragon Cave Mountain to find trouble.
“When did they leave?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Three days ago. They should be returning any time now. Does Young Master Yang need us to find them? If so, we can set out immediately.”
“No.” Yang Kai waved his hand, “Go about your own business.”
“Yes.” The few people gathered around responded and began to disperse, only to have Yang Kai call out suddenly, “Right, after they come back, tell them not to take artifacts to auction again.”
After issuing this order, Yang Kai soared up into the sky and flew around Dragon Cave Mountain. He had the token given to him by Yang Yan, which not only controlled all the Spirit Arrays and barriers in his cave mansion, but also the ones arranged around Dragon Cave Mountain. With this token, there was nowhere on Dragon Cave Mountain Yang Kai could not go.
Yang Kai saw all sorts of amazing Spirit Arrays arranged by Yang Yan, even one that used the Illusion Stone he brought back as its core. If not for the token Yang Yan had given him, Yang Kai would probably still have stumbled into that Illusion Array and gotten trapped.
Also, the area where the Blood Sword Grass was located had also been concealed inside a profound Bewildering Array, hiding it from anyone outside. However, if anyone were to break into this array, they would surely encounter a vicious attack from the Blood Sword Grass.
There was also an area that seemed bland and unremarkable, but Yang Kai quickly discovered that the huge Fire Crystal Stone had been set up as an Array Core of a giant Spirit Array here.
Although he did not know what kind of Spirit Array had been arranged in this area, Yang Kai knew it was not a place one would want to fall into.
There were many other Spirit Arrays and barriers set up all over the place, causing even Yang Kai, the owner of Dragon Cave Mountain, to feel shocked by how many layers of protection and hidden dangers there were here.
Yang Yan had turned this place into a multi-layered impenetrable fortress! However, Yang Kai knew that she was arranging all these Spirit Arrays mainly to unlock the memories sealed in her mind, so even if this seemed a bit extravagant and wasteful, he didn’t have a problem with it.
As long as Yang Yan continued unlocking her memories, her future Spirit Arrays and barriers would only become stronger.
Yang Kai flew for a while around Dragon Cave Mountain before arriving at a relatively open space where there were no signs of any kind of Spirit Arrays being arranged.
After landing, Yang Kai contacted the Divine Tree inside his Black Book Space before releasing his Divine Sense like a tide.
In the next moment, Spiritual Energy rapidly flooded out from Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and in a flash of golden light, the twenty-metre-tall Divine Tree suddenly appeared in front of him.
Yang Kai was secretly startled as surprise filled his expression. He found that he had greatly underestimated the Spiritual Energy required to bring the Divine Tree out.
When he first took the Divine Tree into the Black Book Space, he had completely exhausted his Spiritual Energy, drying up his Knowledge Sea entirely. If it were not for the Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Soul would have suffered severe damage, but even with it, he had to cultivate for quite some time before his strength returned to normal.
Now that his strength far exceeded what it was back then though, Yang Kai thought it would be an easy task to bring out the Divine Tree, but contrary to his expectations, it took almost half of the Spiritual Energy in his Knowledge Sea to accomplish this feat, frightening him somewhat.
But after thinking about it, Yang Kai smiled lightly. His strength had grown greatly over the years, but hadn’t the Divine Tree grown as well? The Spiritual Energy required to bring it out would naturally be far greater than before.
As soon as the Divine Tree appeared, the face on the trunk showed a happy expression, its two eyes slowly sweeping over its new surroundings. After feeling the richness of the World Energy here, it showed a look of comfort on its wrinkled face and seemingly let out a happy sigh, “Wow, amazing. This place is simply amazing.”
Yang Kai knew that this was the Divine Tree’s first contact with the World Energy aura of the Star Field, so naturally it would be happy. Compared to the Mysterious Small World where it had lived before, the difference in aura was like a person on the ground gazing up at the Heavens.
“I’m glad you like it,” Yang Kai chuckled, “I don’t have a specific place for you to stay so you can just walk around by yourself, feel free to go wherever you like, but I have to tell you in advance, there are many places here that are covered in barriers and Spirit Arrays. If you rush into one of those areas, it will likely be dangerous, so be careful where you step.”
“Alright. Don’t worry, I can feel traces of those Spirit Arrays you mentioned and won’t intrude into any of them,” The Divine Tree promised, using its tentacle-like roots to burrow into the ground and, in the blink of an eye, actually took root. Letting out another comfortable sigh, the Divine Tree’s eyes lazily half-squinted.
Yang Kai did not disturb it, simply allowing it to enjoy the feeling of the outside world again.
After a while, Yang Kai suddenly remembered something and asked, “Right, the two drops of Golden Blood I gave you allowed you to evolve. What if you had more?”
The Divine Tree opened its eyes wide and revealed a look of longing, but it quickly said, “Your Golden Blood should be extremely valuable, and although it has helped my growth significantly, I had only just evolved, so swallowing any more of it would only serve to increase my strength somewhat, but I’m not in a hurry to do that. After you have an abundance of Golden Blood, you can spare me a few drops.”
Yang Kai grinned, “Although I don’t have much, it’s not problem to give you a drop right now.”
Saying so, Yang Kai extracted a drop of Golden Blood before flicking his wrist and sending it slowly over to the Divine Tree. The Divine Tree swallowed this drop of Golden Blood and its mouth made a wriggling motion, as if it was savouring the taste.
After a while, the Divine Tree opened its eyes and said, “Okay! I’ll need a few days to adapt to this new environment, you don’t need to wait here with me.”
“Alright.” Yang Kai nodded, told the Divine Tree a few things to watch out for, then departed.
Calling the cultivators of the Hai Ke Family, Yang Kai told them to take good care of the Divine Tree and to inform Yang Yan and Wu Yi about it when they came back so they could make any further arrangements necessary.
After completing all this, Yang Kai entered retreat again.
Whether it was luck or coincidence, a month after the Divine Tree awoke from its slumber, a sound came from the Profound Insect Stone in the stone room next to Yang Kai’s. This big piece of Profound Insect Stone had finally been used up and disappeared, causing the Soul Devouring Insects to awaken. After this long hibernation, the Soul Devouring Insects seemed to have experienced great growth as well. It was nothing less than two blessings descending upon the house.
Inside the cave mansion, Yang Kai sat cross-legged within a stone room, his eyes opened but seemingly empty, his body’s aura tumbling violently as a riotous storm seemingly raged around him.
Not far away, from a hole in the ground, the Stone Puppet stuck its small head out, an uncertain look upon his face. It seemingly did not understand what was happening to Yang Kai. As for the Artifact Spirit, it had already snuck into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.
After meeting Yang Kai’s two empty eyes, the Stone Puppet seemed to be frightened and shrank back into its hole, fleeing several dozen metres into the ground.
At this moment, if someone were standing in front of Yang Kai and staring into his eyes, they would see seven coloured light flashing across their depths, and if one observed carefully enough, they would discover that this seven coloured light actually took on the form of a lotus bud.
Yang Kai sat perfectly still as time passed by, the seven-coloured glow in the depths of his dull eyes slowly growing stronger.
Gradually, above Yang Kai’s head, a beautiful phantasmal lotus flower appeared, one that emitted dazzling seven coloured light. This lotus rotated slowly while releasing an astonishing Spiritual Energy fluctuation.
As the illusionary lotus continued releasing Spiritual Energy, its multicoloured petals began to gently blossom, as if it was a shy lady ever so slowly removing her robes to reveal her pure self.
The whole process was extremely slow, but Yang Kai himself was unaware of it as his consciousness was completely immersed in his Knowledge Sea, comprehending the profound mysteries that arose from the Soul Warming Lotus’ blossoming.
Yang Kai did not know how much time had passed, but by the time the phantom seven coloured lotus fully bloomed atop his head, it had expanded to almost fill the entire stone room. The moment it finished blossoming, this illusionary lotus shattered into tiny points of light that filled the air like fireflies before immediately being drawn into Yang Kai’s body by some unseen force and disappearing.
Yang Kai’s body shook, and his eyes regained their clarity, but his expression remained tight as he continued sitting in meditation.
When the Soul Devouring Insects finished their evolution half a month ago, Yang Kai had immediately tested out their power and had been greatly satisfied with their performance. Soon after though, the Soul Warming Lotus also completed its evolution to its final seven coloured form!
However, Yang Kai had not imagined that after his Soul Warming Lotus evolved, he would comprehend a mysterious Soul Skill from it!
Although the Soul Warming Lotus was an unparalleled treasure and could infinitely nourish one’s Soul, according to the records Yang Kai had read, it did not allow a cultivator that possessed it to comprehend any kind of Soul Skills. But Yang Kai did not have time to think too much about this as he immediately began comprehending this newly acquired technique.
Now that the Soul Warming Lotus had completed its evolution and he had thoroughly comprehended this new Soul Skill, Yang Kai had a moment to puzzle over this unexpected development.
If it was not the credit of the Soul Warming Lotus, it most likely had something to do with the colourless crystal cube he had acquired in the pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water. Yang Kai had inadvertently obtained that crystal, after which his Soul Warming Lotus quickly swallowed it, allowing it to begin its process of evolution. Now, that colourless crystal had completely disappeared, and his Soul Warming Lotus had successfully evolved into its seven coloured form.
Yang Kai hypothesised that the Soul Skill he had obtained this time was somehow related to that colourless crystal. Perhaps there was some kind of mysterious force that allowed Yang Kai to acquire this new Divine Ability by chance.
Although he had no way to experiment with this new Soul Skill, Yang Kai could understand that it was an extraordinary ability, one worthy of being called a certain kill strike.
Recently there had been too many happy events. The Divine Tree had woken from its deep sleep, the Soul Devouring Insects had finished their evolution, and now the Soul Warming Lotus had transformed into its ultimate seven coloured form. It was as if all these good things had decided to spring themselves on Yang Kai at once.
Yang Kai had been worrying about where to place the evolved Soul Devouring Insects a few days ago, but now this problem had been solved.
Considering all this, Yang Kai waved his hand and summoned a mass of gray fog to it. This fog twisted about randomly, appearing extremely strange.
Although this fog was difficult to notice, if one observed it closely, they would notice that it was a cloud of small insects that were almost invisible to the naked eye!
Yang Kai’s Soul Devouring Insects were originally invisible to the eye, but after their recent evolution, once they gathered in one place, they formed this gray fog. The lethality of each Soul Devouring Insect had greatly increased, and Yang Kai estimated that they could not easily kill ordinary Saint Kings, and even an Origin Realm master that was infested with them would have trouble quickly purging them.
Yang Kai was naturally not afraid of them at all, however, and after releasing his Divine Sense, he simply wrapped them up and moved them into his Knowledge Sea
The swarm of Soul Devouring Insects traveled straight to island the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had transformed into in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and quickly settled into their new home.
After such a long retreat, Yang Kai had accomplished everything he intended to.
He had refined the Artifact Refining Furnace, begun refining the dragon bone and Dragon Bead, refined the Flowing Flame Flying Fires to enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, and comprehended the Demon Blood Thread technique…
The dragon bone and Dragon Bead refinement was something Yang Kai knew he could not rush and was resigned to wait for it to finish on its own so he could make use of them. As for the Golden Blood Thread he had adapted from Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread technique, while he had successfully comprehended it, he was still in the process of cultivating it. Although he had not used it against an enemy yet, Yang Kai knew it was a very powerful technique as the pseudo-artifacts he could refine using his Golden Blood were far more flexible and handier than any weapon.
Of the eight Flowing Flame Flying Fires, Yang Kai refined six. As he had guessed, these Flowing Flame Flying Fires could allow a cultivator to obtain a Mutated Knowledge Sea and enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
However, after refining the fifth Flowing Flame Flying Fire, the enhancement Yang Kai received was no longer obvious, so Yang Kai left two, thinking they might come in handy for something else later.
After a year in secluded retreat, Yang Kai’s cultivation realm hadn’t actually changed much, but his combat effectiveness had actually improved significantly, now all he needed was an opportunity to verify the power of his Golden Blood Thread and newly realized Soul Skill.
It was time to go out. Cultivation could not be done by completely cutting oneself off from the outside world. Although doing this could help one quickly enhance their realm, their fighting power would not be able to keep up with their cultivation. Yang Kai’s cultivation path had been filled with fighting, so naturally he understood this simple truth.
Moreover, he now had to exit his retreat because a guest had come to Dragon Cave Mountain a month ago and was currently waiting for him outside. The only reason he had not gone to see them yet was because the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had just completed its evolution and he needed to spend some time to comprehend the Soul Skill he obtained in the process.
Thinking of who this guest was, Yang Kai frowned slightly, wondering why she had specifically come here looking for him. From the level of friendship they shared, it was strange for her to care so much about his wellbeing.
Even so, Yang Kai got up and left his cave mansion.
A short time later, Yang Kai appeared outside and unscrupulously released his Divine Sense, quickly locating Yang Yan and Wu Yi and sending them a message before flying straight over to one of the open lofts.
A moment later, while Yang Kai was sitting in this loft sipping a spirit tea that Yang Yan and the others had obtained from somewhere, two beautiful young ladies appeared at the entrance. Naturally it was Yang Yan in her signature black robe and Wu Yi in a green dress
The two women were both smiling broadly, as if something good had happened, and after spotting Yang Kai, they hurried over.
“You’ve finally come out,” Yang Yan swept his eyes over Yang Kai but upon not finding any signs that he had become stronger, furrowed her brow slightly.
“En, what happened? Why do both of you seem so happy?” Yang Kai asked again while sipping his tea.
Wu Yi smiled and explained, “Our Dragon Cave Mountain is becoming more and more famous. Many cultivators without Sects or families have been asking to join us. Earlier, not many people would even pass by this place, but over the past few months, more than a dozen would show up every day asking. One day there were as many as thirty people requesting to join us, including one who was an Origin Returning Realm master. Elder Sister Yang Yan and I were discussing whether to found a small Sect here.”
“A small Sect?” Yang Kai shot her a disapproving look, “You’re thinking is too simple. We do not have any powerful masters here, so how could be found a Sect? On top of that, we can only stay here safely because of Qian Tong. If one day Qian Tong were to lose power or fall in battle, do you think Shadow Moon Hall would just sit by and watch us grow stronger right on their doorstep?”
Listening to Yang Kai’s words, the smile on Wu Yi’s face retreated and after hesitating for a while argued, “That shouldn’t be, Elder Qian has an incredibly high position in Shadow Moon Hall, second only to the Sect master.”
“Anything is possible, especially in such a big force. Although things usually proceed in a predictable manner, once something does happen, the fallout is generally quite large, and those who are in power may lose their influence or unexpectedly fall. On top of that, although Qian Tong is good to us, I do not want to constantly depend upon his prestige and shelter behind him, otherwise we’ll find ourselves constantly lacking the initiative. If there is no Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to assume command, don’t even think about trying to found a Sect here.”
Wu Yi frowned, thought for a moment, but soon nodded, “What you said makes sense, I really wasn’t thinking far enough ahead.”
Yang Kai also had the idea to found a Sect because he wanted to pave the way for his friends and family back on Tong Xuan Realm, but he had no intention to do so any time soon. This idea was proposed by Wu Yi. Yang Yan only thought about Artifact Refining or arranging Spirit Arrays and would not consider such things, but Wu Yi had managed many things for the Hai Ke Family before now and would have such ambitions. However, as someone who had only experienced things in a small family force, her way of thinking was too simple. She had thought that so long as they had Qian Tong’s shelter, Dragon Cave Mountain could be worry free.
“Did you refuse those who came?” Yang Kai asked somewhat nervously.
“Naturally I refused them. You were in retreat, so we didn’t dare make such a big decision,” Wu Yi nodded.
“That’s good,” Yang Kai touched his chin, suddenly raising his head and asking, “Did that Dai Yuan from Coloured Glass Sect say why she wanted to see me?”
After listening to Yang Kai’s question, Wu Yi smiled and gave him an ambiguous look, “I don’t know. She has not spoken much since she arrived here, it seems she does not like communicating with others. I’ve visited her a few times, but she hardly speaks, aside from inquiring about you, that is, hehe…”
Like Wei Gu Chang, it seems Wu Yi had some kind of misunderstanding.
Yang Kai was too lazy to explain and instead just said, “Forget it, I’ll go and see her. If it isn’t something important, she wouldn’t have come here in such a hurry.”
Saying so, Yang Kai went straight out.
Yang Kai wanted to get some information from Wu Yi and Yang Yan so he could prepare himself in advance, but he had not expected that after an entire month, Dai Yuan hadn’t even disclosed her purpose in coming here.
Yang Kai secretly felt a headache coming on. Dai Yuan was not the kind of person to simply visit someone on a whim. Since she had come here, she must have something she wanted to ask of him. If it was just another stranger here to ask him a favour, Yang Kai would refuse to even meet them, but this woman was very close to Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er, and Yang Kai had spent time fighting by her side in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. To simply refuse her outright would be too boorish.
He could only ask her what she wanted and then take things from there.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived at another exquisite loft about a thousand meters away from the one he had been sitting in. He had checked with his Divine Sense in advance and naturally knew that Dai Yuan was currently staying here. At this moment, Dai Yuan’s aura seemed quite tranquil, probably indicating she was in meditative cultivation.
Yang Kai could only call out, “Sister Dai Yuan, it’s Yang Kai.”
There was a momentary fluctuation in the tranquil aura and then Dai Yuan’s surprised voice called out from the loft, “Junior Brother Yang, please come in. I was just meditating so it is a bit inconvenient for me to welcome you right now. I’ll be down after I finish this last cycle.”
Yang Kai gently nodded and strode in.
This loft was divided into two floors. When Wu Yi and the others built it, they had taken into consideration that anyone who lived here might need to receive guests, so the first floor was set up for entertainment purposes while the second floor was for the owner to cultivate.
Yang Kai entered the first floor of the loft and found a chair to sit down on. If one were to really think about it, this was his site, making Dai Yuan the guest, therefore Yang Kai saw no need to act overly polite.
After waiting quietly for a short time, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs and Dai Yuan walked down from above in a light blue dress, a smile upon her face.
Her dress vividly outlined her perfect figure, emphasizing her rich peaks and slender waist. Looking at her though, Yang Kai could not help a look of pity flashing across his face, because if not for her disfigured face, this woman would definitely be a great beauty. Unfortunately, this one shortcoming destroyed her charms.
Although this look only flashed across the depths of Yang Kai’s eyes for an instant, it was still noticed by Dai Yuan. This woman was both beautiful and intelligent, so how could she not understand what Yang Kai was regretting? In her heart, she felt hurt, but on her face she maintained her warm smile, offering a light apology for making him wait before sitting down on a chair across from Yang Kai. Next, with a wave of her jade white hand, she summoned a plate of delicate spirit fruits and placed them onto the table between them.
“This is the Purple Mist Fruit I picked from Purple Mist Mountain in Coloured Glass Sect. No place on Shadowed Star grows this spirit fruit other than my Coloured Glass Sect. Although it is not comparable to the spirit fruits and spirit medicines which grow in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, this Purple Mist Fruit is of great help to cultivators who wish to purify their Saint Qi. Please have a taste, Junior Brother Yang,” Dai Yuan introduced it with a smile as she wore a look of anticipation.
Yang Kai grinned, “Since Sister Dai Yuan has offered, this Yang will not refuse.”
Although he was muttering to himself that this woman was looking for a favour from him, Yang Kai still picked up one of the small purple fruits and observed it slightly.
This was the first time he had heard of the Purple Mist Fruit, but from its crystal-like appearance and the sweet fragrance it gave off, Yang Kai could tell that this was not something ordinary disciples of Coloured Glass Sect could ever taste. Since Dai Yuan had specially brought it here though, naturally Yang Kai would sample it.
Tossing the little purple fruit into his mouth, he chewed it a few times, releasing a sweet juice which caused his brow to rise.
The taste of this fruit was excellent, and the sweetness seemed to penetrate directly into one’s mind, making anyone who consumed it feel very comfortable.
After swallowing this Purple Mist Fruit into his belly, Yang Kai felt heat spread from his abdomen and spread out to his limbs. Although the purification effect on his Saint Qi was not great, it also wasn’t insignificant.
Yang Kai said nothing as he picked up another Purple Mist Fruit and ate it, eating a third after that before offering some words of praise.
Dai Yuan was very pleased seeing this.
Next, Yang Kai talked happily with Dai Yuan about what happened after they separated in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
However, what frustrated Yang Kai was that Dai Yuan really seemed intent on just chatting with him, never once mentioning her true purpose in coming here. Regardless of what Yang Kai said, she would have some kind of follow up, allowing the conversation to continue on harmoniously, as if the two were old friends who had not seen each other in years and were now revelling in their long life experiences. Dai Yuan’s pleasant laughter that rang out from time to time made the time pass by quickly.
After two hours, Yang Kai finally could not help it any longer, coughed, and asked, “Did Sister Dai Yuan come to Dragon Cave Mountain for something specific? If you have something you need my help with, please speak clearly. As long as I am able to, I will definitely not refuse.”
Yang Kai did not make too grand of a promise. If it were just some minor matter that wouldn’t cost him much time, he was willing to help her, but if Dai Yuan wanted to ask him to do something dangerous, Yang Kai wasn’t prepared to accept.
He did not want to make too many enemies on Shadowed Star, that Lu Ye from Flowing Cloud Valley was more than enough to give him a headache.
Yang Kai really could not figure out why Lu Ye seemed to have a grudge against him, even going so far as to secretly then openly attack him back in the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Although Yang Kai cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms with his Space Blade, without killing this strange enemy, Yang Kai could not rest easy.
When Yang Kai asked this question, Dai Yuan immediately fell silent, nibbling her red lips as if hesitating.
Yang Kai did not urge her, instead just sitting and waiting quietly while at the same time raising his wariness. Dai Yuan hesitating like this obviously meant the favour she wanted to ask was not something small.
In fact, Yang Kai was already thinking about what to say to reject her.
Finally, Dai Yuan raised her head, stared into Yang Kai’s eyes with her own, and asked a shocking question, “Junior Brother Yang, are you an Origin Grade Alchemist?”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as sharp light flashed across their depths, but he quickly let out a laugh, “Why would Sister Dai Yuan ask such a thing?”
Him being an Origin Grade Alchemist was something that no one on Shadowed Star knew. Even Yang Yan and Wu Yi did not know about it. Yang Kai had told them once, but neither of them had taken him seriously and simply wrote it off as a bad joke.
So how could Dai Yuan know?
There was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner on Dragon Cave Mountain, which was enough to draw people’s attention, so if not for there being a profound protective Spirit Array here and Qian Tong sheltering them so doggedly, how could Dragon Cave Mountain have remained so tranquil? If news that an Origin Grade Alchemist also resided here were to leak out, it would cause a massive uproar.
“Junior Brother Yang does not need to deny it. Since I’ve made such an assertion, I naturally have enough confidence to back it up.” Dai Yuan smiled slightly, reaching out and brushing her hair loose back behind her ear as she stared at Yang Kai confidently, “But Junior Brother Yang may rest assured, no one other than me knows about this. If Junior Brother Yang does not feel at ease though, you can kill me to silence me. En, I didn’t tell anyone where I was going before I left Coloured Glass Sect and tried my best to conceal my movements along the way, so even if I die here, no one other than the few people here will know anything so you don’t have to worry about Coloured Glass Sect coming to seek revenge.”
Silencing her by killing her was obviously impossible for Yang Kai. If Dai Yuan was an enemy, he wouldn’t care about such things, but there was neither enmity nor resentment between them, so how could he kill her simply for finding out that he was an Origin Grade Alchemist?
Moreover, since she had brought this up on her own, and even proposed silencing the witness to the crime, Dai Yuan had shown enough sincerity.
Yang Kai’s expression became indifferent as he pondered for a while before knitting his brow and asking, “How did you find out?”
“You really are?” Dai Yuan’s eyes remained calm, but a flash of surprise still appeared in their depths as she stared at Yang Kai for a moment.
Yang Kai gawked for a moment before smiling bitterly and cupping his fists, “Sister Dai Yuan is sinister enough, this Yang admits defeat!”
How could he have not understood what had just happened? Dai Yuan’s words had all been a trap! Seeing her act so confidently, Yang Kai thought he had really been exposed and had not imagined that she was simply just suspicious.
Yang Kai estimated that if he had vigorously denied the charge and refused to admit it, Dai Yuan would not have suspected him.
Dai Yuan smiled awkwardly, stood up, and bowed to Yang Kai elegantly before offering an apology, “Forgive me, Junior Brother Yang, I could only use this small deception to confirm my theory. If you feel that to be intolerable, feel free to curse me.”
“There’s no need for that,” Yang Kai shook his head, knowing that Dai Yuan wanted to resolve his grievances, but he was the one who had walked into a trap because he let his guard down, so how could he scold her?
“Many thanks for your magnanimity, Junior Brother Yang,” Dai Yuan expressed her deep gratitude before sitting down once more.
“How did you come to suspect I was an Origin Grade Alchemist?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“I only knew that you were an Alchemist, but as for what grade you were, I couldn’t be certain,” Dai Yuan looked her head slightly and smiled, seemingly in a good mood.
“That alone is quite strange, though,” Yang Kai looked at her, hoping she could explain further.
“It’s quite simple actually. Because of some special reasons, I am overly sensitive to the medicinal fragrances of pills, and Junior Brother Yang always had a variety of pill fragrances about him, so I knew you were an Alchemist. Even now, you have a light pill fragrance on you. If I were to guess, I would say you refined an Origin Condensing Pill and Jasmine Blood Pill correct? And the refinement should have been about half a year ago or so.”
This time, Yang Kai was truly shocked!
Yang Kai had heard of other people being able to smell the scent of a woman on a man, but he had never heard of someone being capable of smelling a medicinal or pill fragrance on another person. What’s more, Dai Yuan had just said was incredibly accurate. Half a year ago, he really had refined some Origin Condensing Pills and Blood Jasmine Pills. Of course, there were other pills he had refined before then, but perhaps because it was too long ago or the scent had dissipated, Dai Yuan didn’t smell them or didn’t bother mentioning them.
This special ability greatly surprised Yang Kai.
“Of course, if that was all the evidence I had, I wouldn’t have suspected that Junior Brother Yang was an Origin Grade Alchemist. There may have simply been a powerful master here that Junior Brother Yang was around frequently and picked up those pill fragrances from, but…” Dai Yuan smiled mysteriously, “Since I came here one month ago, I didn’t discover any such powerful master. On top of that, the last time you gave the Shadow Moon Hall disciples a few healing pills in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, I noticed that they had only been recently refined so I made a bold guess that Junior Brother Yang was an Alchemist. Those pills were all also of extraordinary quality, so the level of the one who refined them was obviously not low.”
Yang Kai did not try to make any denials.
With Dai Yuan possessing such a peculiar ability, even if he were to deny it, it would be useless. However, at the same time, Yang Kai felt relieved; after all, this ability was probably unique to Dai Yuan so it was impossible for other to use such a method to infer that Yang Kai was an Origin Grade Alchemist.
Dai Yuan also seemed like a trustworthy person, so Yang Kai was not worried she would betray him.
Taking all this into consideration, Yang Kai calmed down and smiled gently, “Does Sister Dai Yuan first confirming my identity as an Alchemist mean you want my help with Alchemy?”
He could only make such a conjecture, as it was the only way to explain everything.
How could he have anticipated that Dai Yuan would shake her head though, “It’s not about Alchemy, but it is related to Alchemy, otherwise I wouldn’t have come here.”
Yang Kai showed a faint smile, “Although I don’t know what it is you want me to do, but there should be others who can help you on Shadowed Star. I will not conceal it from Sister Dai Yuan, I am currently just an Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemist. Your status in Coloured Glass Sect should not be low; isn’t there an Origin Grade Alchemist in your Sect? Even if Coloured Glass Sect does not have one, couldn’t you ask the Grandmasters from Medicine Pill Sect to take action? I cannot match any of them in terms of Alchemy accomplishments.”
Last time Yang Kai had also learned that there were five Origin Grade Alchemists in Medicine Pill Sect, each of whom was a highly respected master. Besides, Coloured Glass Sect was one of Shadowed Star’s most powerful sects, it was impossible for them to now have at least one Alchemist of this level.
Dai Yuan running over to Dragon Cave Mountain to find him was like going around the sun to reach the moon, raising Yang Kai’s curiosity.
“If that were possible, why would I embarrass myself in front of Junior Brother Yang?” Dai Yuan had a bitter smile on her face, “There is indeed a Grandmaster Xiao in my Sect who is an Origin Grade Alchemist, but there are inconvenient issues with me asking for Grandmaster Xiao’s help.”
“Grandmaster Xiao…” Yang Kai raised his brow as the old kind face of Medicine King’s Valley Xiao Fu Sheng surfaced in his mind. He did not expect that the Grandmaster Alchemist of Coloured Glass Sect would also be surnamed Xiao.
“As for the Grandmasters from Medicine Pill Sect…” Dai Yuan frowned, “Four of them are difficult to ask for the same reason as Grandmaster Xiao. The last one is actually a suitable candidate, but the price to hire them is too high, I don’t have the ability to pay it.”
Yang Kai gave her a stunned look.
This woman’s cultivation and strength were not low, and her means were quite good, so he thought that she must hold a high position in Coloured Glass Sect, but from her words, Yang Kai sensed that things were more complicated than that.
She probably did not have the ability to summon the wind and rain in Coloured Glass Sect as he had previously suspected.
Thinking back on what happened at the mountain valley in the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field while waiting for the Red Candle Fruit to mature, the nearby Coloured Glass Sect disciples all clearly saw Dai Yuan, but none of them had gone to greet her. From beginning to end, she had been acting alone while all the other Coloured Glass Sect disciples stuck together with Yin Su Die, their treatment as different as Heaven and Earth… Yang Kai suddenly felt like he had understood something.
“Therefore, I could only look for Junior Brother Yang for help,” Dai Yuan suddenly said while staring at Yang Kai earnestly, her star-like eyes showing a pleading intention.
Yang Kai brow furrowed as he pondered for a while before asking, “Can you tell me what it is you want me to do for you?”
Dai Yuan bit her red lips and embarrassedly said, “Before Junior Brother Yang agrees, telling you is somewhat inconvenient.”
Yang Kai’s face sank as a touch of annoyance filled his expression. This woman came here to ask for his help but refused to tell him what it was she wanted him to do, so even though Yang Kai had a good impression of her, he would not just stupidly agree.
Just as he was about to refuse though, Dai Yuan hurriedly said, “But I can guarantee that it is something Junior Brother Yang can do, and it will not take very much time or effort. If everything goes well, just three days of time will be enough. After it is finished, I will also be sure to compensate Junior Brother Yang.”
Yang Kai naturally didn’t care about whatever compensation she could offer. Dai Yuan already admitted she could not afford to move one of the Grandmasters from Medicine Pill Sect, so how could she have anything good to offer him as payment? However, if whatever it was would only take three days, he could still consider it.
“But…” Dai Yuan looked at Yang Kai cautiously, as if even she didn’t have confidence in persuading him, and weakly said, “If Junior Brother Yang agrees, he will need to accompany me back to Coloured Glass Sect.”
Yang Kai raised his eyes and stared at Dai Yuan, who fell silent and bit her lip, waiting for his reply.
After a moment, Yang Kai smiled calmly and said, “Let me consider this matter. Dragon Cave Mountain has some nice scenery, so if Sister Dai Yuan wishes, she can take a walk around and enjoy it. As for your request, I will give you a reply three days from now.”
Dai Yuan’s eyes dimmed, knowing that Yang Kai had not directly refused her purely out of politeness. How could she have missed the perfunctory tone in his voice though?
Him saying he would reply three days from now was almost as good as him saying no.
Sighing faintly, although she felt quite forlorn, Dai Yuan still squeezed out a smile, “Then Dai Yuan will wait for good news from Junior Brother Yang.”
Having finished their discussion, Yang Kai said goodbye and left.
After Yang Kai left, Dai Yuan turned around and walked back up to the second floor with an anxious look upon her face. She knew that she was acting unreasonably here. Since she had come to ask for a favour, naturally she should make the details of her request clear, but some things were not easy to discuss, making her feel quite troubled.
Dai Yuan even thought about quietly leaving, so as not to make things difficult for Yang Kai; after all, sticking around for three days just to get rejected would only make things awkward for both of them, but strangely, Dai Yuan couldn’t bring herself to leave and decided to wait out these three days.
Perhaps she was still holding out some faint hope in her heart.
Yang Kai left the loft and walked back to the original building he had come from, a slight frown upon his face. Yang Kai had not rejected Dai Yuan on the spot to avoid embarrassing her; if it had been someone else, he would not have bothered acting polite.
Returning to the original loft he had tea in, Yang Kai was surprised to find that Wu Yi and Yang Yan had not left yet, the two of them smiling at the entranceway, seemingly having waited for him to return.
Yang Kai thought that the two women would immediately ask him what had happened, but to his surprise, they simply watched him pass between them silently.
After Yang Kai entered the loft, Yang Yan and Wu Yi followed him inside. Immediately, Yang Yan took out a token identical the one she had given Yang Kai, and after pouring her Saint Qi into it, a ray of light shot out from it and in the next moment, the entire loft seemed to be wrapped by the invisible barrier which not only cut off the sound and sight from the outside, even Divine Sense was blocked.
“What are you doing?” Yang Kai asked in amazement.
Yang Yan walked over with a big grin on her face, sitting in a chair nearby, exchanging a glance with Wu Yi before asking him, “Are you going to agree to her request?”
Yang Kai’s expression now turned to shock. He looked at Yang Yan, then at Wu Yi, then back again. After noticing the twinkle in the eyes of these two women, he immediately understood, “Were you eavesdropping?”
Wu Yi’s face turned red and did not deny the charge, silently admitting her guilt.
Yang Yan, on the other hand, said frankly, “Eavesdropping? Nonsense, I was just testing out the power of a newly researched Spirit Array.”
“What kind of effects does this new Spirit Array of yours have?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
When he was talking with Dai Yuan just now, he had not noticed anyone trying to eavesdrop on them, but now it seems their entire conversation had been heard by these two. The Spirit Arrays arranged by Yang Yan were simply too mysterious.
“You wouldn’t understand if I explained it to you, it’s better for you to see for yourself,” Yang Yan said before taking a large plate side disc. This disc was made from some unidentifiable black material, but when Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to examine it, he could not help calling out in surprise as he was able to hear Dai Yuan’s sighing coming from it.
However, besides this, there was no other information coming from this disc, so obviously it was connected to a Spirit Array that was monitoring the sounds inside Dai Yuan’s loft.
Yang Kai really didn’t know when Yang Yan had arranged this, but he could guess that she had set it up a long time ago and was simply waiting for some foreign guests to arrive before experimenting with this Spirit Array.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s complexion changed as he stared at Yang Yan and asked, “Is there something like this in my cave mansion?”
“No!” Yang Yan denied flatly, her small head shaking like a rattle, “Why would I need to arrange something like this in your cave mansion?”
“Good,” Yang Kai nodding in satisfaction before his expression suddenly became strict, “Highly improper! Don’t do this kind of vulgar matter again, if it were to be noticed, it would be a great disgrace!”
Yang Yan and Wu Yi looked at each other before sticking out their tongues playfully.
Yang Kai saw this, rubbed his forehead, and moved the conversation forward, “But since you overheard, you should understand why I didn’t agree to her request, so why does it look like you have a different opinion?”
Yang Kai was full of doubts. According to Wu Yi, since Dai Yuan came here, even if Wu Yi took the initiative to visit her several times, they hadn’t conversed much, but after this brief chat he had, Yang Yan seemed to have taken a deep interest in this matter and was eager for him to agree.
Yang Kai could tell that Yang Yan wanted him to go to Coloured Glass Sect with Dai Yuan, but the two women in front of him didn’t have any kind of friendship with Dai Yuan so there was no need for them to lobby on her behalf.
Yang Yan hearing this, nodded without hesitation, “If it is possible, I want you to agree to her request.”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Yang Yan fixedly. After a while, he asked, “This isn’t about being sympathetic to her, you must have some reason for this. What are you scheming?”
Yang Yan smiled mysteriously, “It’s not an exaggeration to say that I’m scheming something, but let us talk about the pros and cons of you agreeing to her request first. She said that it would only take three days to complete this matter and that it was within your ability. If what she said is true, then no matter what this matter is, it should not be difficult for you. The only troublesome part will be you needing to take a trip to Coloured Glass Sect.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, without interrupting, motioning her to continue.
Seeing that Yang Kai was still disinterested, Yang Yan wasn’t discouraged and continued, “She said that afterwards, she would compensate you, but with your current net worth, I doubt anything she could offer would be of interest to you.”
“That’s right, therefore there’s no benefit in me doing her a favour, and it’s also not appropriate to run over to someone else’s Sect. If Dai Yuan’s status there was the same as that of Yin Su Die’s, it would not be an issue, but I somehow get the impression that she isn’t very popular within Coloured Glass Sect,” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
Yang Yan smiled, “About her, I was curious, so Wu Yi and I did some digging. Guess what we found?”
“What?” Yang Kai looked at them faintly.
Wu Yi was the one to speak this time, “Just as you guessed, Dai Yuan doesn’t seem to be very popular in Coloured Glass Sect, but that only became the case about ten years ago. Back then, do you know which disciple had the most resounding reputation in Coloured Glass Sect?”
“Dai Yuan?”
“Indeed! Previously, in Coloured Glass Sect, Dai Yuan’s fame exceeded Yin Su Die’s, but for some unknown reason, Dai Yuan suddenly faded from the sight of Coloured Glass Sect’s leaders. Yin Su Die replaced her in that position, allowing her to become the representative of Coloured Glass Sect’s younger generation and enjoy worldwide fame. As for what transpired, we were not able to find out, but the Elders of Coloured Glass Sect seem to have a strange love-hate relationship with Dai Yuan. The cultivation resources and residence she is given aren’t inferior to Yin Su Die’s, but she isn’t being deliberately cultivated by them either, a very strange situation.”
“That really is strange!” Yang Kai was also puzzled. He had not fought with Yin Su Die, but he had seen Dai Yuan fight and felt that she was an elite among Saint Kings. Although she had been oppressed by a disciple from Heaven Battling Union in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, that was because her heart had been disturbed and she was unable to display her full strength. If she were to have fought calmly, Dai Yuan would not have been afraid of that man.
However, there was still a certain gap between her and Qu Chang Feng, Fang Tian Zhong, Wei Gu Chang, and the other geniuses of Shadowed Star, something Yang Kai was able to see clearly.
“If I help her, what do I have to gain or lose? I don’t seem like I’ll lose anything, but it also doesn’t seem like there’s anything to gain,” Yang Kai gave Yang Yan a strange look.
Wu Yi grinned, “It would be enough to not lose anything, but as for what you can gain… Hehe, having someone owe you a favour is a harvest on its own. After all, even if she is not looked upon favourably right now, that doesn’t mean she won’t be in the future, by that time, having the gratitude of a woman like her would be helpful to our future development. On top of that, Big Sister Yang Yan seems to have her own plans.”
Yang Kai could not help turning his eyes to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan gently nodded and asked, “Have you heard of the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain of Coloured Glass Sect?”
Yang Kai shook his head. He was not too familiar with the major forces on Shadowed Star nor their special backgrounds or heritages, but since Yang Yan had specifically mentioned this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain, it seemed it was a big deal.
“The Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain is treasure naturally formed from Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass and is in the heart of Coloured Glass Sect. Coloured Glass Sect was established because of the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain. Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass is a rare and valuable Artifact Refining material that has self-repairing properties. I need this material, and lots of it!” Yang Yan said seriously.
Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a hearty laugh, “Even if that’s the case, I can’t help you. Since Coloured Glass Sect was established there because of this Coloured Glass Mountain, it would be impossible for its Elders to give me some of that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, right?”
“Naturally, that’s impossible. On top of that, we can’t afford it!” Yang Yan snorted. “You don’t know, Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain is an existence that is famous all over Shadowed Star. Coloured Glass Sect uses it as an Array Core to release Coloured Glass Divine Light which actually as an innate ability to restrain others’ Souls. I have heard that several crises that befell Coloured Glass Sect were resolved by them using Coloured Glass Mountain. Moreover, this mountain is a single massive block, so cutting a piece of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass from it is extremely difficult. Even Coloured Glass Sect is only able to harvest a tiny bit of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass per year, most of which it uses for itself while the rest is sold out for an astonishing price. Even so, all the other great forces go all out to purchase this tiny portion, pushing the price to an outrageous height. We’re currently completely broke, so obviously we can’t afford to buy any from them!”
“We’re completely broke again?” Yang Kai was shocked. He remembered that when he came out last time, he heard from the former Hai Ke Family cultivators that Yang Yan and Wu Yi had gone to auction off some artifacts. Although Yang Kai didn’t know how many Saint Crystals they raised at that time, he was certain it wasn’t a small number. How could they now be broke?
Yang Yan suddenly wore a look of embarrassment on her face as she admitted, “The amount of materials used to arrange Spirit Arrays is too large. You forbid us from continuing to sell artifacts, so we have no source of income.”
“Even if we’re poor, you can’t sell artifacts anymore,” Yang Kai said seriously before letting long sigh, “At least before we become strong enough.”
“I know,” Yang Yan said with a disgruntled and unwillingly look. She had actually refined a hundred and eighty high-grade artifacts and was planning on holding an auction of her own to sell all of them to alleviate their current poverty-stricken situation, but with Yang Kai’s order and Wu Yi’s persuasion, she eventually gave up implementing this crazy plan.
“Tell me more about this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass.” Yang Kai looked at her with a smile, “What do you actually want to do? How do you want me to ‘acquire’ that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass right under Coloured Glass Sect’s eyes?”
Yang Yan grinned meaningfully, clapped her hands, and called out, “Xiao Xiao!”
As soon as she called it, a grey figure popped up from underground and stood motionlessly in front of the trio, it’s long hands drooping down as it stared up at Yang Yan innocently.
Naturally, it was Yang Kai’s Stone Puppet!
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and immediately understood what Yang Yan was thinking.
“Xiao Xiao can see through all the barriers and Spirit Arrays I’ve arranged, so it should easily be able to break into Coloured Glass Sect’s Restricted Areas, I don’t believe that the Spirit Arrays arranged by Coloured Glass Sect could be better than mine. If you bring it into Coloured Glass Sect with you, hehe, carving out Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain will be a cinch.”
When Yang Kai heard Yang Yan’s plan, he could not help feeling a bit of cold sweat drip down his back.
Coloured Glass Sect was doomed! They just had to have a treasure like the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain. They probably thought that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain was safe under their multiple barriers, and that not even a fly could slip past their watch.
But how could they have anticipated a creature like the stone puppet existed in this world?
As the saying goes, those who do not fear thieves stealing from them should still fear thieves thinking about their treasure. The Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain was constantly being eyed by Yang Yan.
The Stone Puppet had an innate ability to devour rare minerals, and since Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass could be used for Artifact Refining, it would definitely be a delicacy to it. The Stone Puppet could come and go without leaving any trace and it did not give off any life aura, so presumably even a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master wouldn’t be aware of its existence. Wouldn’t it be easy then to release the Stone Puppet and have it harvest some Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass?
Yang Kai could probably leave Coloured Glass Sect with the Stone Puppet without the Elders of Coloured Glass Sect ever even noticing that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain had been hollowed out.
“I’ve wanted to acquire Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass since long ago, but unfortunately I’ve never had a chance, but now someone has actually come and invited you in. This is simply the best opportunity.” Yang Yan concluded as she stared into Yang Kai’s eyes.
“What do you want to refine with that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass?” Yang Kai was still hesitant as he frowned and asked. After all, this was nothing short of running over to another person’s Sect and stealing their most precious treasure. Once this incident came to light, an irresolvable grudge would be formed. If what Yang Yan wanted to refine was not something important, Yang Kai didn’t want to take on such a risk.
“I want to refine a very special treasure!” Yang Yan smiled mysteriously but didn’t clarify her intent, simply saying, “It’s inconvenient to say it now, because I’ve not yet fully finished its design, mainly because I don’t have enough Artifact Refining and Spirit Array knowledge, but I can tell you that this thing is also of great use to you and will certainly not disappoint you. When it’s finished, you will definitely be thankful for your choice now.”
“Inconvenient to say, is it?” Yang Kai shook his head bitterly. Today, it seemed all the women around him had contracted an illness which made them refuse to tell him anything, causing him some non-negligible annoyance.
“You have to go to Coloured Glass Sect!”
“I’ll think about it again,” Although Yang Kai was also somewhat eager to give it a try, this was not some trivial matter so careful consideration was still necessary.
“Please please please.” Yang Yan pleaded while pulling out something from her Space Ring and shaking it in front of Yang Kai, “We can also make a stop on our way to look for this. If we are lucky, it might be able to ease our current financial crisis!”
Seeing what she was holding in her hand, Yang Kai couldn’t lean towards agreeing.
“Big Brother Yang, you should agree to Big Sister Yang Yan’s proposal. This time you’ve been in retreat for quite a while, so it would be best to go out and move about to relax. Perhaps you will gain something unexpected from this trip,” Wu Yi also persuaded, but her approach was far more ingenious, emphasising how this would benefit Yang Kai’s cultivation rather than directly pleading like Yang Yan.
In a loft in Dragon Cave Mountain, Dai Yuan sat by the second-floor window and gazed out across the scenery, resting her head on her hand as she breathed lightly.
Dragon Cave Mountain was always quiet and peaceful because there were not many cultivators living here, only a few dozen people. Although each of their cultivations was not very high, they were all extremely hard working and spent most of their time in secluded retreat. Only those who were responsible for maintaining and guarding Dragon Cave Mountain could be seen walking around from time to time.
Today was the day Yang Kai had agreed to give her a response, so Dai Yuan had woken up from her meditation at dawn and sat here uneasily, hoping to see Yang Kai’s figure.
Although she knew that this would likely not turn out how she hoped, she could not bring herself to give up.
The sun had risen, and the warm sunshine had made Dragon Cave Mountain look even more beautiful than normal. This place was indeed a paradise for secluded cultivation, not much worse than Dai Yuan’s Thousand Illusion Peak back in Coloured Glass Sect.
She really could not figure out how these few people had changed a barren mountain into something like this. Dai Yuan had heard that there was no one interested in this land before but now it had become famous as a local cultivation holy land with many people clamouring to join it.
However, the cultivators here did not accept outsiders, nor did they show any intention to grow or develop their forces, they all simply live and cultivated here.
This was a wise approach. After all, this place was inside Shadow Moon Hall’s jurisdiction. If they really tried to establish a force here, Shadow Moon Hall would not just sit back and ignore them.
Considering all this, Dai Yuan laughed lightly. With Yang Kai in charge here, given his intelligence and means, he would certainly not engage in this kind of self-destructive practice, making her worries superfluous.
After indulging in some flights of fancy for a while, Dai Yuan found her mood much calmer, raising her head up to observe the early morning sky. Bringing her gaze back down though, she still saw no trace of the figure she was waiting for.
Dai Yuan sighed, knowing that she was waiting here for nothing; however, she did not have any feelings of resentment or unwillingness and only a slight bitter smile crept onto her face while her heart filled with helplessness. Just as she was preparing to leave though, her expression suddenly changed, and she looked back out the window again.
In that instant, Dai Yuan’s eyes brightened, shock and joy flashing across their depths as she stared down below at the approaching figure.
“Sister Dai Yuan, good morning!” Yang Kai stood outside with a smile on his face and waved up at her.
Dai Yuan was stunned for a while but soon adjusted her expression and gently nodded to Yang Kai, “Good morning to you as well, Junior Brother Yang. Please wait a moment, I’ll be right down!”
Saying so, she quickly turned around and walked down to the first floor of the loft. Although her expression was calm and steady, her swift gait showed her inner tension.
She did not know what kind of answer Yang Kai would give her, but if he was simply planning on rejecting, was it necessary to show up so early in the morning? On the other hand, his perfunctory manner the other day was obvious, so even if Yang Kai refused her, Dai Yuan wouldn’t be surprised.
But if he was here to agree to her request, what had changed? Dai Yuan did not believe she had done anything to convince him at all.
As conflicting thoughts filled her heart, Dai Yuan soon reached the first floor of the loft but after meeting eyes with Yang Kai, she suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
“Sister Dai Yuan, do you have anything to clean up? If not, we should set off!” Yang Kai smiled to her warmly.
“Ah?” Dai Yuan froze for a moment, too startled to respond.
Yang Kai chuckled and continued, “What’s wrong? Didn’t Sister Dai Yuan want me to accompany you back to Coloured Glass Sect? Perhaps Dragon Cave Mountain’s scenery has captivated you and you do not want to leave right away? If so, why not stay a few days longer.”
“No no, it’s not that!” Dai Yuan responded hastily while waving her hands, her eyes filled surprise, “Although the scenery here is quite beautiful and I admire it greatly, it’s just…”
“It’s just that Sister Dai Yuan is wondering why I’m agreeing to go with you?” Yang Kai looked at Dai Yuan with a smile, laying bare her doubts.
Dai Yuan couldn’t help looking a little embarrassed. She originally asked Yang Kai to go with her to Coloured Glass Sect, but now that he had agreed, she was acting suspicious which came off as a bit rude.
“It’s simple actually,” Yang Kai had already prepared an excuse and fluidly said, “After returning from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, I’ve been in secluded and I felt that now was a good time to go out and move around. I have reached a bottleneck in my progress so just remaining in seclusion won’t be of help to me. You are also clear about my origins, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m curious about the various great Sects on Shadowed Star. Now that I have such an opportunity to observe one up close, naturally I don’t want to miss it.”
Hearing this, Dai Yuan’s doubts were easily dispelled, and she smiled warmly, “I understand. My Coloured Glass Sect is not weak on Shadowed Star, but it is also not comparable to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect. Another day, when Junior Brother Yang has an opportunity to look at Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, you will understand that my Coloured Glass Sect is still a bit lacking. However, Junior Brother Yang having reached a bottleneck in his cultivation really emphasizes your amazing aptitude.”
Dai Yuan’s words were completely heartfelt. When she and Yang Kai had traveled together in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he was just a First-Order Saint King. Although she did not know what happened to him after they separated, obviously Yang Kai had been able to break through. It wasn’t too surprise for him to have reached the Second-Order Saint King Realm, but now, apparently, he had reached the peak of the Second Order.
It seemed that the opportunities Yang Kai obtained in the Flowing Flame Sand Field were not small. How else could his cultivation have grown so fast? Dai Yuan thought secretly.
But when one reached a bottleneck, going out for a walk was the right course of action.
Understanding all this, Dai Yuan smiled and said, “I have nothing to clean up, so we can set out immediately. Coloured Glass Sect isn’t close so even if we make use of a Space Array, the journey will take about a month.”
“That is fine, my main objective for going out is to relax, so time isn’t a problem. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, I’m not the only one who will be going with you, Yang Yan will also be joining me. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“Sister Yang Yan? Naturally, there’s no problem for her to come.” Dai Yuan heard this and immediately agreed, turning her head, and seeing the black robed Yang Yan standing nearby like a dark yet delicate flower.
Yang Kai took the initiative to explain, “My Junior Sister is very interested in Spirit Arrays so she was hoping to come with me to see some of the grand Spirit Arrays of your noble Sect and try to learn something from them. You understand don’t you, woman are… ahem, I couldn’t convince her otherwise so I can only take her with me.”
Yang Kai originally wanted to say that women never stopped nagging, but just as the words were leaving his mouth he realized he had made a critical mistake and hastily choked them back down, causing Dai Yuan to give him a somewhat accusatory look.
He had forgotten for a moment that Dai Yuan was also a woman.
Yang Yan’s external identity was Yang Kai’s Junior Sister, which Yang Kai had previously mentioned to Qian Tong.
With Dai Yuan easily agreeing, Yang Kai did not hesitate and beckoned to Yang Yan, all three of them summoning their own Star Shuttles and rushing out of Dragon Cave Mountain soon after.
With both Yang Kai and Yang Yan out of Dragon Kai Mountain, Wu Yi was left in charge, but with the token to control all the Spirit Array’s Yang Yan had arranged in advance, Wu Yi shouldn’t have a problem defending this place unless a truly powerful enemy came to attack. But this was unlikely, as Dragon Cave Mountain simply had no great enemies.
Soon, the trio arrived in Heavenly Fate City.
When Dai Yuan came here, she had flown directly from Coloured Glass Sect without using any Space Arrays. Her saying to Yang Kai three days ago that no one knew she had come here was not a lie. In fact, not even Wei Gu Chang or Dong Xuan’er who were in retreat had any idea Dai Yuan had come to Dragon Cave Mountain.
It was because she had flown all the way from Coloured Glass Sect that it took her so long to arrive.
Fortunately, Shadow Moon Hall had good relations with Coloured Glass Sect and Dai Yuan held a certain amount of status, so it was not too difficult for the three of them to use Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array. After paying a certain amount of Saint Crystals, the Space Array was opened to the three of them.
After passing through the Space Array of several cities in succession, Dai Yuan lead Yang Kai and Yang Yan the rest of the way via Star Shuttle.
The trio’s pace was as swift as lightning, but the journey itself was quite dull.
Dai Yuan was not one for conversation in the first place. If she had not been seeking help from Yang Kai, she would not have tried to make friends with him in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Yan, on the other hand, seemed to be innately timid, afraid of being seen or talking to others, so as a result, these two women remained silent most of the time, only speaking a few words to Yang Kai now and again as they rushed forward.
Realizing this, Yang Kai also turned silent and focused on continuing to cultivate his Golden Blood Threads while secretly urging the power of the Artifact Spirit and the Origin Grade Artifact Refining Furnace to speed up the process of refining the dragon bone and Dragon Bead.
Along the way, he did not waste any time, making full use of every moment.
The more he refined his Golden Blood Threads, the more interested Yang Kai became in Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread technique. This Divine Ability seemed to be tailored specifically for him, so it was a shame he had only managed to obtain the first half of it.
However, he had established a relationship with the Demon Blood Temple disciple Deng Ning before, so in the future, he might have an opportunity to obtain the second half of this technique, but that was something to consider only after he became much stronger.
A month quickly passed by as the trio hurried along with their journey being smooth and unremarkable.
On this day, while Yang Kai was sitting on his Star Shuttle, silently refining his Golden Blood Threads, and urging the power of the Artifact Refining Furnace, Dai Yuan, who was leading the way, slowed her Star Shuttle to a stop.
Seeing this, Yang Kai stopped what he was doing and brought his Star Shuttle to a halt as well with Yang Yan following suit. The two of them hovered shoulder to shoulder as they stared towards the distance where they saw the vague outline of a vast mountain range. Yang Kai’s anticipation rose as he knew that Coloured Glass Sect should be situated amongst these mountains.
“We’re almost there, the main entrance to Coloured Glass Sect is just a thousand kilometres ahead. Please follow me,” Dai Yuan turned around and urged, immediately flying her Star Shuttle forward, but instead of travelling in a straight path, Dai Yuan would change directions from time to time, seemingly to avoid some kind of barrier.
Yang Kai wasn’t surprised by this; after all, Coloured Glass Sect was a great force, so it was natural for them to arrange a grand Spirit Array within the surrounding thousand-kilometre radius of their Sect. Only a great Sect would have the financial resources and strength to arrange such a Sect Protecting Array, but when Yang Kai glanced back at Yang Yan, he noticed a trace of disdain on her face. Obviously, she didn’t take this barrier seriously.
Of course, this was only the case for Yang Yan. Although Yang Kai could also notice some subtle energy fluctuations around him, he was not able to see any of this Spirit Array’s finer details, meaning that if he wanted to break it, he could only use brute force.
A thousand kilometres was not far, and after half an incense stick worth of time, the trio arrived at the rolling mountain range Yang Kai had seen before.
Having arrived here, Dai Yuan seemed to become a lot more enthusiastic and began treating Yang Kai as a guest, flying side by side with him, and actively explaining, “This is the Grand Crystal Mountain Range controlled by my Coloured Glass Sect. It stretches across more than a hundred thousand kilometres and has no less than a thousand big and small Spirit Peaks. The various peaks are assigned to Sect Elders and disciples based on their strength and status. Naturally, some of the mountains here are vacant or for other purposes. The heart of Grand Crystal Mountain Range is where the greatest number of Coloured Glass Sect’s disciples congregate to trade or exchange cultivation experiences. It is also there that the Sect or its disciples put up tasks for the others to take on like searching for materials or forming groups to travel together with. It’s normally a lively scene.”
When Dai Yuan talked about these things, a look of longing appeared on her face.
Yang Kai did not show anything on the surface, but from the strange behaviour Dai Yuan was exhibiting, he realized that this woman seemed to have difficulties communicating with others, and was even somewhat envious of their community life.
Perhaps in Coloured Glass Sect, she felt isolated.
Yang Kai felt somewhat sorry for her, but he wisely held his tongue.
Dai Yuan quickly composed herself and smiled, “I live on Thousand Illusion Peak. Although it’s a rather remote peak, it’s calm and peaceful. Thousand Illusion Peak is not very big, but it’s more than large enough for me to live on by myself. On top of that, the World Energy aura is not thin, so it can be regarded as quite a high-grade mountain in the Sect.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. As Dai Yuan flew forward, he swept his eyes left and right to get a broader view of Coloured Glass Sect’s scenery. Many of the mountains they passed over had traces of activity with Coloured Glass Sect disciples moving to and fro or practising various Martial Skills or techniques. There were many people socializing with one another or comparing notes, bringing a sense of vitality to the mountains, with grand buildings standing proudly among all the peaks, exuding a noble and magnificent atmosphere.
Yang Kai couldn’t help sighing to himself as he felt this scene was worthy of one of Shadowed Star’s great forces. The kind of power and prestige that permeated the air was incomparable to that of Dragon Cave Mountain. Although Dragon Cave Mountain was not bad right now and could be considered a prosperous land, compared to this Grand Crystal Mountain Range it seemed a bit quaint.
If even Coloured Glass Sect had this kind of atmosphere, what would the other, more powerful Sects on Shadowed Star be like?
Yang Kai had not seen Shadow Moon Hall’s headquarters, but he estimated that it wouldn’t be worse than this place.
“I heard that your noble Sect has a famous landmark called the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain and that it is an amazing sight to behold. Where would it be?” Yang Kai asked seemingly casually. Since he was targeting Coloured Glass Mountain, naturally he had to determine its location first. Yang Kai had been observing his surroundings since they arrived, but he had yet to discover anything special about the mountains he had seen, so he concluded that none of them could be Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain.
“Junior Brother Yang actually knows about our Coloured Glass Mountain?” A look of surprise flashed across Dai Yuan’s eyes.
“Sister Dai Yuan must be joking, although this Yang is a newcomer to this place, I’m not completely ignorant. Your noble Sect’s Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain’s reputation is quite resounding, so I have naturally heard a bit about it. I heard that the entire mountain is made from Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, is that really true?”
Listening to Yang Kai ask about Coloured Glass Mountain, Dai Yuan’s eyes seemed to take on a somewhat complex look but she quickly adjusted her expression and after pondering for a moment, gently nodded and said, “En, my Sect’s Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain is indeed a single giant piece of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass. Its weight and value are simply inestimable. Although Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass is extremely valuable, and everyone knows that my Coloured Glass Sect has such a treasure mountain, all of them find us quite laughable as we cannot even make use of a tiny fraction of its might. On top of that, it is impossible to collect large quantities of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass. Only a small amount of it can be harvested through a special method every dozen year or so.”
This information was basically the same as what Yang Yan had previously told Yang Kai, so Yang Kai was not surprised.
“There’s some kind of special method necessary to collect it?” Yang Kai asked seemingly unintentionally.
An awkward look appeared on Dai Yuan’s face when she heard this question.
Yang Kai laughed and waved his hand, “It seems that I’ve asked something I should not have. En, Sister Dai Yuan can pretend like you never heard me.”
Dai Yuan smiled apologetically, “It’s not that I don’t want to explain, but this method is listed as one of the core secrets of the Sect, so no one can disclose it to outsiders. Once someone leaks this information, they will suffer unimaginable punishment, so I can only ask for Junior Brother Yang’s understanding.”
“It’s fine, it was I who was being indiscreet.”
It seemed that because of this incident, Dai Yuan felt a sense of guilt and after thinking about it, she proposed, “Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain isn’t nearby, but if we take a longer route, we can see it from a distance. If Junior Brother Yang does not mind, how about we make a slight detour?”
Apparently, she wanted to use this as a kind of apology, and Yang Kai actually couldn’t have asked for a better outcome, but on the surface, he maintained a hesitant look and asked, “Is that alright? Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain is the most precious treasure of your noble Sect, if this will cause any trouble for Sister Dai Yuan, then there is no need for us to go. In any case, I was simply curious and felt it would be an eye-opening experience… heh heh.”
As Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh, Yang Yan, who was quietly standing behind him, reached out and pinched his waist, clearly blaming him.
Naturally, this small gesture was not missed by Dai Yuan and after a bit of thought, she turned her beautiful eyes to Yang Yan and said with a smile, “There’s nothing wrong with it, we’ll just be taking a glance at it from a distance. Naturally, my Martial Uncles standing guard there won’t blame us for something so minor. This way, Brother Yang.”
Saying so, Dai Yuan immediately changed direction.
Yang Kai turned his head, glared at Yang Yan, then hurried to keep up. Yang Yan curled her lips meaningfully as an aloof expression appeared on her face.
The group of three had only flown a short distance though before several azure streaks of light soared up to intercept them.
A moment later, these blue lights arrived in front of Yang Kai and the others. Three of them were men while two were woman, all of them with somewhat low cultivations, two Saints and three Transcendents.
This kind of cultivation would be second to none in Tong Xuan Realm, but on Shadowed Star it really did not count for anything.
After seeing Dai Yuan’s face clearly, the five people could not help revealing a trace of surprise before hurriedly cupping their fists and offering polite greetings, “So it is Martial Aunt Dai Yuan, Juniors greet Martial Aunt!”
Martial Aunt… Hearing the way they addressed Dai Yuan, Yang Kai could not help his brow from rising slightly.
But after thinking about it for a bit, he understood.
Although Dai Yuan was a disciple in the younger generation of Coloured Glass Sect, that was only compared with the top masters at the Origin Returning Realm. With her cultivation and status, she was indeed qualified to be addressed as Martial Aunt by these five.
After offering their greetings, the young man who spoke first turned his attention to Yang Kai and Yang Yan. Seeing Yang Yan did not elicit much of a reaction, but Yang Kai’s presence cause a look of surprise to surface on this young man’s face.
“En, are the five of you responsible for guarding this area?” Dai Yuan nodded and asked faintly.
“Reporting to Martial Aunt, the surrounding fifty-kilometre region is our five’s responsibility,” The young man in the lead continued to answer, hesitating for a moment before asking cautiously, “May I ask Martial Aunt, these two are…”
“They are my guests, you don’t need to concern yourselves about them. If the Elders ask, just answer them so.”
“Yes!” The lead young man did not dare to ask anything more and immediately made way.
Dai Yuan also did not say another word and simply lead Yang Kai and Yang Yan away.
After the figures of Dai Yuan, Yang Kai, and Yang Yan disappeared, the five young cultivators exchanged looks of surprise and uncertainty.
“Was that Martial Aunt Dai Yuan who lives on Thousand Illusion Peak?” Asked one of the women who looked around twenty years old and was wearing a light-yellow dress.
“Yes, that was her.”
“I’d heard that she was an astonishing beauty, so how could…”
“Hush!” The lead young man suddenly shot a harsh glare at this young woman before quickly glancing around nervously. After not finding anyone around though, he scolded harshly, “You dare comment on this matter? Are you in a rush to die?”
The woman’s face went pale, as if she suddenly remembered something, fear gripping her heart.
The lead young man let out a forlorn sigh, “All of you only entered the Sect recently so you’ve only heard rumours about certain things, but you need to remember that not everything you hear is true, and that some things cannot be spoken about rashly. Make sure you don’t commit any taboos, otherwise you’ll never be able to lift your head inside the Sect again, understand?”
“En,” All four of the others nodded, their expressions serious.
“However, for Martial Aunt Dai Yuan to actually invite guests here, it certainly is quite unusual,” The young man seemed to say to himself as he shook his head.
Those who occupied Thousand Illusion Peak seldom left the Sect and rarely interacted with others, there were not even rumours about Dai Yuan being close to any of the Sect’s female disciples, much less any males!
Yet now, she had brought back a male friend; naturally, it was suspicious.
Of course, this young man only thought about this matter for a moment before putting it aside. This was not an issue he could stick his nose into. If the Elders were to ask him anything, all he could do was report the truth and leave any follow-up to them.
Thinking so, he waved his hand and continued to lead the other four members of his team on their patrol.
It was a two-hundred-metre-tall hill that was completely grey and barren, with not a single blade of grass or tree on it, as if it was completely composed of dull rocks.
This hill was in a mountain valley, surrounded by several other taller peaks. At first glance, there was nothing noteworthy about it, but when Yang Kai swept it with his Divine Sense, he was shocked to discover that it was like peering into a bottomless sea. The hill which was clearly in front of him seemingly did not exist and could not be probed or detected at all with Divine Sense.
Not only that though, but there was also a strange power that pulsed from this hill that seemed to pull on one’s Soul, giving a frightening feeling that it was being drawn out and swallowed.
As such, after only slightly using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately withdrew it.
Right now, the trio was standing nearly ten kilometres away from this hill, gazing at this most precious treasured mountain of Coloured Glass Sect.
“Is that your noble Sect’s famed Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain?” Yang Kai asked with a slightly puzzled look upon his face.
“En, this is Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain. Hehe, I have shown Brother Yang something embarrassing. Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain is indeed famous across all Shadowed Star, but most of the time it has this appearance and looks completely unremarkable, totally different from in the rumours. As such, whenever someone from outside the Sect sees it, they find themselves disappointed,” Dai Yuan smiled and explained softly.
“It appears like this ‘most of the time’?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
“Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass has many unpredictable and mysterious abilities, so what we see right now is probably just one of the forms of this Coloured Glass Mountain,” Yang Yan, who had almost not spoken since the trio left Dragon Cave Mount, suddenly spoke up here.
Dai Yuan gave her a surprised look and nodded, “It seems that Sister Yang Yan knows a lot about our Coloured Glass Mountain. En, this humble state is just one of its forms. There are times when it will spontaneously emit thousands of dazzling rays of light, making it seem like an exceptionally beautiful object not from this world. Other times, it can change its own size. It’s all very strange.”
“Such things actually happen!?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested.
Yang Yan’s lips curled slightly and didn’t explain further, instead asking casually, “The Spirit Array arranged here is quite amazing. Does it have some kind of suppressive effect?”
Dai Yuan heard this and gently nodded, “Yeah, one of the effects of the Spirit Array here is to suppress Coloured Glass Mountain. While it truly is our Sect’s greatest treasure, we actually cannot completely control it, so our only option is to suppress it here, otherwise, if it underwent some strange change it might just disappear, resulting in us losing it forever.”
Explaining until here, Dai Yuan smiled and said, “En, we can’t stay here any longer. The several Seniors who are responsible for guarding Coloured Glass Mountain have already noticed us, if continue to linger, they may come to question us. It’s best we leave now.”
Yang Kai had also felt that since the three of them stopped here, several Divine Senses belonging to Origin Returning Realm masters had been sweeping them from various directions. However, these Divine Senses were only monitoring them and did not show any signs of acting.
As such, he was not surprised by Dai Yuan’s suggestion.
Dai Yuan turned around and flew off in a different direction than they had come. Yang Kai and Yang Yan followed her, the two of them exchanging a glance with Yang Yan nodding lightly.
It seems she had determined that the Spirit Arrays here would not pose a problem to the Stone Puppet. All they needed to do now was go to Thousand Illusion Peak with Dai Yuan, then find an opportunity to release the Stone Puppet and wait to collect their harvest.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know what Yang Yan wanted to refine with this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, or what was so great about this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass in the first place, seeing Coloured Glass Sect treat that strange hill so seriously, how could he not at least understand that it was incredibly valuable?
Along the way, the trio met a lot of Coloured Glass Sect disciples, but Yang Kai soon noticed something strange. Whenever these Coloured Glass Sect disciples saw Dai Yuan, they would show a myriad of complicated expressions.
Some people showed looks of dread, while others showed looks of panic, still others showed looks of sympathy, and so on…
On top of that, almost every one of these Coloured Glass Sect disciples recognized Dai Yuan.
This point was one that Yang Kai cared about in particular. After all, according to Dai Yuan’s character, she should rarely interact with others, yet her name seemed to resound quite loudly though Coloured Glass Sect and it was obvious that she was well known by these people. From all of this, Yang Kai secretly felt that Dai Yuan’s position in Coloured Glass Sect was much more complicated than he first imagined.
Following Dai Yuan, the trio flew over the Grand Crystal Mountain Range for about half an hour before arriving at a relatively remote peak.
Seeing this three-hundred-metre-tall mountain from afar, Dai Yuan’s tense expression finally relaxed, as if she had returned home after a difficult journey. Pointing to the peak, she enthusiastically introduced it to Yang Kai and Yang Yan, “This is Thousand Illusion Peak, where I live. It’s a bit crude, but I hope Junior Brother Yang and Sister Yang Yan won’t mind.”
“Sister Dai Yuan is too polite,” Yang Kai laughed heartily before following her towards the mountain.
Before arriving at this peak, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to scan it and quickly discovered that there was no one else present. It seemed that only Dai Yuan lived on this Thousand Illusion Peak, without even any maidservants to help her.
Not long after, the trio landed on a kind of boardwalk that was built on the mountainside of Thousand Illusion Peak. This boardwalk was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass through at a time and seemed quite unsteady, the planks it was made from wobbling as if it might collapse at any point.
Yang Kai and Yang Yan obviously would not care about such minor details though and simply enjoyed the scenery as they walked this path.
While this Thousand Illusion Peak was indeed somewhat remote, the scenery here was eye-catching. Beautiful and refreshing like a spring day with lush verdant greenery and moderate temperatures. The World Energy aura was also not thin, even better than Dragon Cave Mountain.
Such a place was only considered a high-grade Spirit Peak in Coloured Glass Sect, so what would the best quality peaks be like?
Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t help remembering the ruins of the ancient sect in the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Shouldn’t the World Energy aura there be even denser?
The boardwalk was not very long and after a few twists and turns, the trio came to its end and found themselves facing a stone wall. This stone wall was perfectly smooth, as if someone had used a sharp weapon to cleanly slice it.
Arriving here, Dai Yuan suddenly came to a halt.
Yang Kai looked around suspiciously.
Yang Yan, however, was actually able to see something more and whispered, “There’s a Spirit Array here. You can enter this stone wall by opening the Spirit Array. The layout is quite exquisite so it must have been arranged by a true Array Master.”
Yang Yan didn’t try to conceal her voice so after Dai Yuan heard her, she turned back and smiled, “Sister Yang Yan seems to be very proficient in Spirit Arrays, if you want to, you can study this Spirit Array at will. In any case, my Thousand Illusion Peak doesn’t usually have any visitors, so you need not worry about being disturbed.”
Throughout their journey together, Yang Yan had only taken the initiative to speak twice, and both times it had been related to Spirit Arrays. Naturally, Dai Yuan could tell that Yang Yan was quite interested in this profession, so she allowed Yang Yan to freely study the Spirit Arrays here, which was akin to selling Yang Kai a favour.
Yang Yan did not show anything on her face or make a reply, but Dai Yuan was not bothered by this. Summoning a jade token into her hand in the next moment, Dai Yuan poured her Saint Qi into it before tossing it forward.
A strange scene took place next as the jade token turned into a green light, shot into the smooth stone wall, and disappeared. Immediately, a slight buzzing sound rang out and a platform extended from the smooth stone wall. Beyond this platform a tunnel had appeared leading into the interior of the mountain. This tunnel was lined with glowing stones, so it didn’t appear even the slightest bit dim.
“Junior Brother Yang, Sister Yang Yan, please come inside,” Dai Yuan smiled slightly before flying up and landing on the stone platform.
Seeing this, Yang Kai jumped up as well and peered into the tunnel before him, wondering to himself if he should get Yang Yan to arrange such a Spirit Array for his own cave mansion, but thinking about it a bit, he felt doing so was a bit superfluous and shook his head.
Just as Dai Yuan was about to lead Yang Kai and Yang Yan into the belly of the mountain, she suddenly stopped and looked off into the distance, her expression growing cold, gloomy, and displeased in the next instant.
Seeing this, Yang Kai also looked over to where she was staring and saw an azure streak of light rapidly approaching. Clearly someone was flying over on a Star Shuttle.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was incredibly powerful so after a slight investigation, he was able to learn who the owner of this Star Shuttle was, but this only caused a strange expression to appear on his face.
“Junior Brother Yang, Sister Yang Yan, please wait a moment, it seems someone has come looking for me,” Dai Yuan smiled reluctantly while standing in place and quietly waited.
A moment later, the azure streak arrived directly to the front of the stone platform and the person standing atop this Star Shuttle let out a silver bell-like laughter. The one who appeared was an incredibly beautiful young woman with a graceful figure and a pair of beautiful eyes that seemed capable of drawing out the souls of any who gazed into them. She exuded a kind of infinite charm that coupled with her pleasant laughter made it impossible for others not to admire her.
Yin Su Die! The one who had suddenly rushed over had turned out to be the most famous disciple of Coloured Glass Sect, Yin Su Die.
Yang Kai had met this woman a few times, so naturally, he was able to recognize her. Also, inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had noticed that there was unpleasantness between her and Dai Yuan. What she had suddenly come here to do though was a complete mystery to him.
Moreover, her timing was too perfect to be a coincidence. Dai Yuan had only just returned to Thousand Illusion Peak when Yin Su Die rushed over.
Yin Su Die’s beautiful eyes glanced around lightly and seemed to contain a kind of innate attraction, causing men to be instinctually drawn to her. After sweeping Yang Kai and Yang Yan for a moment, she turned her attention to Dai Yuan, “Senior Sister, you’ve returned?”
Dai Yuan did not give her any face and bluntly asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Can I not come here?” Yin Su Die covered his mouth and smiled tenderly, “Although this Thousand Illusion Peak is Senior Sister’s residence, it is also part of the Sect’s territory. I am the first Core Disciple of the Sect’s younger generation, so besides a few Restricted Areas, I can naturally go wherever I please. Moreover, Little Sister heard that Senior Sister had just come back so I immediately rushed over to welcome you home. I did not want to delay as that might upset Senior Sister. Could it be Senior Sister does not welcome Little Sister?”
As she spoke like this, a forlorn look appeared on her face, one that could elicit great pity from any who saw it. It was to the point where even if she had committed some great wrong, others would find it impossible to blame her.