When they entered the Grand Burial Valley, because they were searching around and exploring, Yang Kai and Yang Yan hadn’t moved very fast and could only travel on foot, but now that they were simply trying to leave, Yang Kai had directly summoned his Star Shuttle, so naturally, they were travelling much faster.
Just as Yang Kai was hurrying along with Yang Yan though, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt and turned his head in a certain direction, letting out a slight expression of surprise.
“What happened?” Yang Yan asked curiously, wondering why Yang Kai had suddenly stopped.
“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai replied faintly, “I just sensed someone from that group we met before, but her condition seems to be a bit off.”
By some kind of coincidence, there was a figure who was rushing towards Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s position hurriedly, and under the pair’s observation, they quickly discovered that it was the young woman named Lu Ying who had been together with Chen Shi Tao.
However, at this moment, she looked quite panicked and her Saint Qi was fluctuating unstably.
Another strange point was that Lu Ying was by herself; Chen Shi Tao of Clear Sky Sect, and Chen Fan Lei and Wang Yu Han of Extreme Path Sect were all nowhere to be seen.
The other party had obviously encountered some kind of trouble. If it had been a stranger, Yang Kai would have immediately left; after all, he had just provoked all of the powerful monsters in the Corpse Cave not long ago, so how could he stupidly remain here?
But the one who was approaching in a state of distress was someone he knew, so Yang Kai could not just pretend like he never saw her. If he were to leave just like this, it would leave a bitter after taste.
On top of that, it was thanks to Chen Shi Tao that he had learned that this was Grand Burial Valley, so however minor it was, he owed her a favour.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai grit his teeth and flew his Star Shuttle down to meet Lu Ying.
Lu Ying was sweeping her eyes over her surrounding as she was fleeing, seemingly looking for something so when she suddenly noticed someone approaching, she could not help feeling a bit startled. However, glancing over and noticing that it was Yang Kai, she showed a joyful expression and the vigilance and panic on her face disappeared and she raced over to meet them.
Before she even got close, she shouted, “Senior Brother Yang!”
“Sister Lu Ying!” Yang Kai returned the greeting as he came to a stop in front of her before asking curiously, “Why are you so flustered?”
“Senior Brother Yang, please help me rescue Senior Sister Chen! She is currently being attacked by a Ninth-Order Monster Beast.”
“A Ninth-Order Monster Beast?” Yang Kai’s face sank, “How could there be Monster Beasts here? And a Ninth-Order one at that.”
Ninth-Order Monster Beasts were equivalent to Human Race Origin Returning Realm masters, but in this strange Grand Burial Valley, such a Monster Beast existing was quite unexpected.
“I don’t know, but it was indeed a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. Senior Sister Chen and the others were trapped by it, but they found a way for me to escape so I could look for help. Senior Brother Yang, I beg you, please come with me before it’s too late.”
“Sister Lu Ying must be joking,” Yang Kai didn’t immediately agree, putting on a frown as he said, “I am just a Second-Order Saint King, even lower than Sister Chen and Brother Wang. If even they were trapped by that Monster Beast, if I come with you, wouldn’t I just be seeking death?”
Hearing this, Lu Ying’s expression went blank as she did not know how to respond.
Just now, she had been incredibly anxious to find help, but with so few people in this Grand Burial Valley, when she finally met Yang Kai, she had immediately asked him for assistance. Now though, after receiving Yang Kai’s reminder, her beautiful face suddenly lost colour.
Lu Ying had experienced firsthand how powerful that Monster Beast was. Even with all four of them together, they had barely been able to resist it, so even if she brought Yang Kai back with her, with his low cultivation, what help could he provide them? Most like he would only wind up as another victim.
For a time, Lu Ying froze up as her thoughts were in complete chaos.
Although Yang Kai did not readily agree, he still asked, “What type of Monster Beast was it? How strong was it exactly?”
Lu Ying replied subconsciously, “It is a Thunder Attribute Monster Beast that has strength equal to a First Order Origin Returning Realm master; however, it was able to use the Thunder Pond where it lives to create a barrier and raise its strength, otherwise Senior Sister Chen and the others wouldn’t have been trapped and would have already escaped. Even if they could not defeat it, running away shouldn’t have been a problem.”
“Thunder Pond?” Before Yang Kai could say anything, Yang Yan’s eyes lit up as she called out in interest.
“En, there is a Thunder Pond here that not many people know of. This time, Senior Sister Chen’s younger brother, Chen Fan Lei, wanted to use that Thunder Pond to break through a bottleneck he was facing with his Secret Art, but that Monster Beast suddenly appeared,” Lu Ying quickly explained.
Yang Kai glanced over at Yang Yan only to have her voice reach his ear, “I want the Thunder Liquid in that Thunder Pond!”
Yang Kai sighed, knowing that this time he would have to take a detour. Without even mentioning that, in the first place, he had not intended to stand by and do nothing. Since Yang Yan was interested in that Thunder Liquid, it was definitely a good treasure she had an important use for.
His objections just now were just Yang Kai’s way of acting cautiously.
Having reached this point, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and said, “Sister Lu Ying should lead the way then. Although this Yang’s strength is not high, since Sister Chen is in danger, I cannot just remain indifferent; however, I cannot promise you anything, only that I will try my best to help.”
“Ah?” Lu Ying’s face turned from worry to happiness when she heard this. From how Yang Kai was speaking just now, she had assumed he was unwilling to get involved, but somehow, in the blink of an eye, his attitude had changed entirely. With great joy, she immediately nodded and led the way.
However, she did not seem to have much faith in Yang Kai’s abilities as along the way, she would release her Divine Sense from time to time, trying to see if there were any other more powerful cultivators nearby.
But to her disappointment, she found no one.
On the way, through a series of questions, Yang Kai also learned that the main purpose of Lu Ying’s group’s visit to Grand Burial Valley this time was the Thunder Pond. Originally, everything had gone according to plan; after finding the Thunder Pond, Chen Fan Lei entered it and began circulating his Secret Art to absorb the Thunder Attribute energy into his body while the other three stood guard. But a few days later, a Silver Night Thunder Beast suddenly rushed out from the depths of the Thunder Pond, causing Chen Fan Lei’s breakthrough to fail. This Silver Night Thunder Beast seemed to possess quite a high level of intelligence as it was able to stimulate an ancient Spirit Array around the Thunder Pond, activating a barrier that trapped their group of four inside. This Monster Beast was obviously intent on killing the four cultivators who had broken into the Thunder Pond it perceived as its domain.
Because Lu Ying had an artifact which was specially designed to help her escape, Chen Shi Tao joined forces with Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei to forcefully tear open a part of the barrier and let her out.
Unfortunately, the barrier that was activated by the Thunder Pond could draw power from it to repair itself, so the other three did not have time to escape and were still trapped inside.
It had been a full day and a night since Lu Ying escaped to find help, so she currently could not tell what the situation was back there.
“After such a long time, I don’t think things are optimistic,” Yang Kai sighed slightly.
“No,” Lu Ying quickly shook her head, “Senior Sister Chen has a powerful defensive artifact, so even if they can’t defeat that Monster Best, holding out for some time shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
Lu Ying took the initiative to explain, “Actually, it’s all thanks to Senior Brother Yang. Last time, in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, we collected a lot of Saint Crystals, and after returning, we handed most of them over the Sect. As a reward, the Elders gave all of us some rare artifacts. Senior Sister Chen was given a Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol, an Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact. Senior Sister Chen had long ago finished refining it so she can control it with ease. The escape artifact I used was also granted to me by the Elders, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to flee with just my strength.”
“I see!” Hearing this, Yang Kai also relaxed slightly. Since she had an Origin Grade High-Rank’s defensive artifact, Chen Shi Tao should not have any major problems in a short span of time. If this were not the case, the only thing Yang Kai would be able to do when he arrived, would be to collect Chen Shi Tao’s corpse.
The Thunder Pond was not close to the position their group of three met, so it took some time to travel to it.
Yang Kai constantly kept an eye on their surroundings for fear that Corpse Soldiers or Corpse Generals would suddenly emerge to chase him down. After all, he could not be sure those creatures back in the Corpse Cave would simply let him go. Agreeing to rescue Chen Shi Tao involved a certain amount of risk.
When they approached to within ten kilometres of the Thunder Pond, Lu Ying pointed ahead and said with pleasant surprise, “It’s over there, and it looks like Senior Sister Chen and the others are still safe and sound!”
There was no need to remind Yang Kai of this as he could tell there was a disturbance up ahead. In front of them, there was a patch of blue clouds, and among those clouds, there were bolts of lightning flickering back and forth. From time to time, a bolt or two of lightning would crack, carrying with it amazing momentum. With the blue clouds covering the region, even with the glow from the lightning, it was impossible to get a clear picture of what was happening; however, judging from the sounds of battle, it was obvious Chen Shi Tao and the others hadn’t died yet. However, Yang Kai noticed that the three auras inside the cloud bank were somewhat weak, so even though they had managed to endure until now, they were likely approaching their limit.
Seeing this, Yang Kai said without hesitation, “Let’s move.”
In an instant, Yang Kai rushed out a distance of nearly a thousand metres while Lu Ying followed close behind. At the same time, she let out a sweet voice like that of a chirping bird. Each chirp contained information that outsiders couldn’t detect.
When she heard this voice, Chen Shi Tao, who was struggling to support herself beside the Thunder Pond, exclaimed, “It’s Junior Sister Lu Ying! She brought help, so we’re saved.”
Hearing this, Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei’s spirits were roused and they began urging the defensive artifacts in their hands even harder to resist the lightning attacking them.
Thanks to the three of them cooperating, focusing only on defending themselves and not even counterattacking, they had managed to persist until now.
“Senior Sister Chen!” A moment later, Lu Ying’s voice came from outside the barrier.
Chen Shi Tao quickly turned her head and with a joyful voice called out, “Junior Sister Lu Ying, you found help?”
“En, I didn’t fail Senior Sister’s expectations. I brought Senior Brother Yang back with me,” Lu Ying nodded quickly.
“Senior Brother Yang?” Chen Shi Tao was stunned and looked behind Lu Ying to see Yang Kai standing there solemnly, observing the situation without saying a word.
“Little Brother Yang…” Chen Shi Tao did not know whether to laugh or cry, she had never thought that the helper Lu Ying found was actually Yang Kai. Although she recognized him as a man of great destiny, good luck would not help in the current situation. Relying on destiny and luck here would likely just end up with all of them dying.
After learning that the helper Lu Ying had found was Yang Kai, Chen Shi Tao’s mood immediately became somewhat complicated as her lips curled into a bitter smile. Although she was interested in establishing a friendship with Yang Kai so she could invite him to adventure and travel with her in the future, if they could not overcome their current crisis, what point was there in planning for the future?
Yang Kai was only a Second-Order Saint King, so how was he supposed to break the barrier and rescue the three of them?
However, despite all of this, he had still come to help them, so while Chen Shi Tao was disappointed in her heart, she still sent out some words of gratitude. Wang Yu Han of Extreme Path Sect, on the other hand, shouted angrily, “What use is there in bringing him here? The three of us struggled desperately to let you escape yet he was the best you could find? It’s like you’re looking forward to us dying sooner!”
Although he had not cursed directly, his words were nothing short of harsh.
Lu Ying’s small face turned somewhat pale as she directed a guilty and uneasy look towards Wang Yu Han.
Chen Shi Tao’s pretty face also sank though as she harshly rebuked, “Senior Brother Wang, don’t you think you’ve said too much? Did you forget just where we are? Ordinarily, no one will come to this Grand Burial Valley, Junior Sister Lu Ying being able to find and bring back Little Brother Yang is already a stroke of good fortune, what more do you want?”
Chen Shi Tao reprimanding him without any trace of politeness caused Wang Yu Han’s face to become sullen. Although he did not refute her argument, it was obvious he did not agree with her either.
Yang Kai, who was standing outside the barrier, finally shifted his gaze from what he was staring at to Wang Yu Han for a moment before silently turning away again. Although Yang Kai didn’t appreciate Wang Yu Han’s tone or words, he was disinclined to bother with him so he simply ignored him.
What Yang Kai was currently focused on was the barrier and Silver Night Thunder Beast in front of him.
There was no need to wonder why there was a sealing Spirit Array here. The Thunder Pond’s presence here clearly indicated that this was once a Restricted Area of Ancient Yang Sect. It was probably developed for cultivators who cultivated Thunder Attribute Secret Arts or Martial Skills. However, what method the Silver Night Thunder Beast had used to deploy this barrier and trap Chen Shi Tao and her group inside was a mystery.
The Silver Night Thunder Beast was a pure Thunder Attribute Monster Beast, so with control of the local barrier and the Thunder Pond, it occupied a great advantage and was able to display strength far in excess of its own, just as Lu Ying had described.
This Silver Night Thunder Beast’s appearance was quite weird. It had an ox head, deer body, and leopard tail, while sparks of lightning constantly ran across its skin, which itself was covered in a thick layer of extremely tough protective scales.
There were two curved horns extending from its forehead between which sparks of lightning bounced. Every time it swung its giant head, the blue clouds around it seemed to respond by releasing a bolt of lightning towards its horns. After absorbing these bolts of lightning, the Silver Night Thunder Beast would then release a bolt of thunder towards Chen Shi Tao and her companions down below; however, the attack released from its two horns was clearly even stronger than the natural lightning it had pulled down from the sky above.
From time to time, this beast would also open its maw and spit out a ball of thunder. When this thunder ball struck Chen Shi Tao and the others, it would burst into a myriad of lightning snakes that twisted about in unpredictable patterns.
Chen Shi Tao’s trio were currently hiding behind an umbrella giving off strong energy fluctuations that had created a ten-metre diametre light curtain. Across this umbrella’s surface there were flowing runes and glowing lines. It was clearly the Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact Lu Ying had told Yang Kai about on their way here.
When any Thunder Attribute attack came into contact with this Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol’s defensive shield, their power would be dramatically reduced.
Yang Kai observed for a moment and immediately knew that if it were not for this defensive artifact, Chen Shi Tao’s trio would have long ago perished.
AlthoughChen Shi Tao was able to intercept most of the attacks from the Silver Night Thunder Beast with this excellent defensive artifact, the trio were still in quite a distressed state. A multi-coloured screen that floated in front of Wang Yu Han was clearly another defensive artifact and he was using it to block any attacks that Chen Shi Tao failed to stop. When any lightning arc hit this screen, it would mysteriously vanish, disappearing to some unknown place.
Lastly, Chen Fan Lei, like the Silver Night Thunder Beast, had arcs of lightning rippling across his body. He was not making any obvious defensive movements but was instead swallowing the scattered lightning into his mouth.
Among the three, he seemed to be the most relaxed. It seemed the scattered lightning was not only unable to hurt him but could even enhance his strength.
This drew Yang Kai’s attention and he quickly speculated that this young man either had some kind of Special Constitution or cultivated a very profound Secret Art as, even now, his eyes were bright and full of energy.
The three of them each stood with their backs to one another to defend against the Silver Night Thunder Beast’s assault, and there didn’t seem to be any immediate risk to their lives, but if this situation dragged on, it would only be a matter of time until Chen Shi Tao and Wang Yu Han’s Saint Qi was exhausted, at which point, all three of them would die. At that point, even if Chen Fan Lei had a Special Constitution or cultivated a profound Secret Art, he would not be spared.
“Little Brother Yang,” Chen Shi Tao shouted out during a break in the Silver Night Thunder Beast’s attacks, “If you have any way means to help us, please hurry, we won’t be able to last much longer!”
She saw that since he arrived, Yang Kai had simply been standing still, neither taking action nor showing any intention to leave, causing her to grow a bit anxious.
However, Yang Kai just said, “Wait a moment.”
Chen Shi Tao’s expression immediately became bitter, but she did not urge him anymore. On the other hand, Wang Yu Han glared at Yang Kai coldly, as if silently telling him to scram if he was not going to help.
Lu Ying entered the battle without any hesitation, but blocked by the barrier, she was only able to attack from the outside in hopes of being able to break it.
Besides Yang Kai, no one else noticed that Yang Yan had secretly begun to crack this Spirit Array. Yang Kai had naturally handed this matter over to Yang Yan, which was why he had not taken action yet.
This barrier was clearly quite extraordinary, and with the Thunder Pond as an energy source, it clearly couldn’t be broken through brute force in a short time, so why would Yang Kai waste his energy trying?
A moment later though, Yang Yan suddenly whispered, “You can begin. It will take me a certain amount of time to crack this barrier completely, it will be quicker if you just attack it directly; but I’ve already removed the connection between the Thunder Pond and the Barrier. Without its energy source, you should be able to destroy now.”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded and once again summoned his Hundred Mountains Picture, but this time was different from when he rescued Chen Shi Tao previously. As soon as the Hundred Mountains Picture appeared, Yang Kai summoned out twenty phantom peaks, each one bigger than the last; then, under Yang Kai’s urging, these peaks slammed towards the barrier mercilessly.
“Hmph, I was wondering if he had some kind of profound skill, but in the end, he’s still just relying on brute force. Sister Chen, we can’t rely on this little brat, we have to find a way to overcome this crisis on our own!” Seeing Yang Kai use the exact same method as last time, Wang Yu Han couldn’t help snorting disdainfully, “Can’t he see that with this Thunder Pond here as an energy source, trying to break this barrier by force is pointless?”
Chen Shi Tao also couldn’t help frowning slightly as she thought Yang Kai’s actions were indeed a bit rash, but the way Wang Yu Han was speaking also made her quite uncomfortable, so for a moment, her pretty face became complication and she didn’t know how to answer.
As the two of them spoke though, the illusionary mountains smashed onto the barrier, causing it to creak under the impact, but in the next moment, Thunder Attribute Energy welled up to seek the Thunder Pond to replenish the energy of the barrier.
Chen Shi Tao and Wang Yu Han had witnessed this countless times, and it was precisely because of this that they had not wasted their energy attacking the barrier. With the Thunder Pond supplementing any loss the barrier experienced, it was all but impossible for them to break it.
However, to their surprise, this time, for some unknown reason, the Thunder Attribute Energy from the Thunder Pond didn’t flow into the barrier but instead rushed out of it towards a certain direction, failing to supplement the losses it had just suffered.
Looking outside the barrier, Chen Shi Tao and Wang Yu Han spotted a piece of seemingly dead wood that was absorbing the Thunder Attribute Energy and channeling it harmlessly into the earth.
This surprised and delighted them while it also caused them to wonder how this trivial piece of dead wood was able to play such a magical role.
Yang Kai also had no idea what was happening, but he had absolute confidence in Yang Yan. Seeing that this method to divert the Thunder Pond’s energy was effective, Yang Kai spared no effort to urge the power of the Hundred Mountains Picture and continued to smash the barrier.
Yang Kai truly did not want to delay here for long, so he didn’t hold back his strength, causing the power the Hundred Mountains Picture displayed to be several times greater than last time. Seeing this, Chen Shi Tao could not help feeling shocked as she realized that Yang Kai had been concealing much of his strength until now.
With Yang Kai smashing the barrier from the outside, the Silver Night Thunder Beast inside obviously was not going to just sit back and ignore him. Releasing a roar that sounded like a cross between an ox and a tiger, it condensed a bolt of lightning as thick as a human leg atop its two horns and blasted it towards Yang Kai.
“Little Brother Yang, watch out!” Chen Shi Tao shouted hurriedly as she knew just what kind of power this attack contained. Without her Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol, she would not dare to take this attack head on. Yang Kai was only a Second-Order Saint King though, so if he was hit by this attack, he would likely be killed.
What surprised her though was that although Yang Kai heard her warning, he just stood there without moving. Instead, in front of him, a shield that emitted a purple glow suddenly appeared. In a flash of light, a sandstorm appeared from this purple shield.
With a loud crackling, the lightning bolt plunged into this sandstorm and was quickly scattered by the swirling wind and sand, soon disappearing without a trace.
“Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact!” Wang Yu Han shouted as a greedy light flashed across his eyes.
He was an Extreme Path Sect disciple and had a Third-Order Saint King cultivation, but so far, he hadn’t been able to obtain a single Origin Grade Mid-Rank or above artifact. Chen Shi Tao had been given her artifact by her Sect’s Elders, but where had this brat surnamed Yang gotten his?
And just from a cursory glance, the defensive power of this purple shield seemed no worse than the Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol.
Comparing these artifacts with his own, Wang Yu Han suddenly thought he was quite poor and unavoidably felt resentful.
While Wang Yu Han was eyeing Yang Kai’s shield artifact, the Silver Night Thunder Beast roared loudly, as if enraged because its attack had failed. Suddenly, it began using only half of its energy to deal with Chen Shi Tao’s group while focusing the other half of its energy on Yang Kai. The two curved horns atop its forehead flashed brilliantly as it opened its great maw and sent out crackling booms of thunder.
This development caused Chen Shi Tao’s trio to rejoice because the pressure they were facing suddenly eased greatly and the almost non-stop attacks that had originally been solely targeted on them were now being split between them and Yang Kai. The three of them exchanged a quick glance and quickly took advantage of the situation; Chen Shi Tao continued using her Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol to defend their group while Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei both summoned their offensive artifacts and began bombarding the barrier.
For a time, the area around the Thunder Pond became quite lively, with assorted burst of Saint Qi exploding and many artifacts displaying great might.
Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei both had some status in Extreme Path Sect, so the artifacts they owned weren’t low quality. While they weren’t qualified to own Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts, both of them had one or two of Origin Grade Low-Rank. Under their combined attacks, the barrier quickly became unstable.
Seeing this, the two knew that they were having an effect and didn’t dare have any reservations, instantly pushing their strength even harder. Even Lu Ying seemed to be encouraged by this and increase the strength of her attacks.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier, protected by his Purple Shield, Yang Kai was naturally unafraid of the Silver Night Thunder Beast’s long range attacks, and after seeing that he had managed to attract the majority of this Monster Beast’s attention, he urged the power of the Hundred Mountains Picture even further, smashing the phantom peaks down with even greater force.
With everyone cooperating from inside and outside, the Thunder Attribute barrier which originally left Chen Shi Tao and her group helpless grew dim within ten breaths and spider web like cracks began to form across its surface. Obviously, it was on the verge of collapsing.
Seeing this, Wang Yu Han knew that it was a good opportunity to show off and immediately summoned a blue long sword into his hands. Holding this sword in front of himself, he bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood mist onto it, causing the blue long sword to buzz loudly and take on a radiant glow. It was as if this blue long sword had come to life and was desperately struggling to free itself from Wang Yu Han’s grasp.
After Wang Yu Han sprayed out this blood mist, an abnormal blush flashed across his face. Obviously, the technique he was about to use had cost him a considerable price.
As the long sword cried out, Wang Yu Han’s aura rapidly inflated. Lifting his sword up high, a dazzling glow burst for as he leapt straight towards the barrier.
Wang Yu Han himself was wrapped up in this sword glow and it seemed as if he had almost merged together with it. In an instant, Wang Yu Han reached the barrier and as he slammed into it, countless small lightning arcs exploded forth, seemingly trying to smother the brilliant sword glow.
A cold snort suddenly sounded as a fierce buzzing from the sword glow competed with the crackling lightning arcs, the two completely different forces seemingly falling into a kind of stalemate as an ear piercing grating sound rang out.
This stalemate only lasted a moment though before Wang Yu Han suddenly roared, “Break!”
As soon as he uttered these words, the sword wave surrounding him suddenly inflated and sliced a large hole through the barrier. Thunder Light exploded out in all directions but after a crisp crackling resounded, the barrier surrounding the Thunder Pond was finally completely broken.
Since Yang Kai first took action until now, only about twenty breaths of time had passed.
This result was because Yang Kai didn’t want to waste time here and had gone all out, but it was also because Chen Shi Tao and her companions weren’t ordinary Saint King Realm cultivators. They were the elites of their respective Sects, so whether it was in terms of purity or density, the Saint Qi flowing through their bodies was far greater than that of average cultivators in the same realm.
In addition, the barrier here was only opened by the Silver Night Thunder Beast, and although it was still unknown how it accomplished this, it was obvious that it didn’t understand how to manipulate it, resulting in a failure to use its full might. If it had been able to skillfully manipulate this Thunder Attribute Spirit Array, even if everyone had been working together, breaking it would have been quite difficult.
The moment the barrier was broken, Chen Shi Tao and her brother rushed out of it, neither of them willing to remain where they were a moment longer.
Clearly, they were still feeling some lingering fear.
Wang Yu Han fell from the sky with a laugh, a proud look upon his face, flourishing his blue long sword before assuming an aloof pose, seemingly waiting for others to praise him.
Chen Fan Lei looked at him with admiration and said sincerely, “Senior Brother is amazing!”
Receiving the cooperation of his Junior Brother, Wang Yu Han was naturally quite pleased and even spoke a few humble words while constantly shooting Yang Kai a somewhat provocative gaze.
“Isn’t it a bit premature to be celebrating?” Chen Shi Tao splashed cold water on Wang Yu Han in the next instant though as she stared solemnly towards the extremely angry Silver Night Thunder Beast floating nearby.
It seemed that because the barrier was destroyed, the Silver Night Thunder Beast was releasing an even more ominous Monster Qi and the blue clouds up above were emitting stronger pressure than before.
Wang Yu Han’s face twitched slightly before he spoke confidently, “Junior Sister Chen need not worry, it was only because we were somewhat negligent before that we fell into the trap laid by that thing, causing us to be unable to display our full power. Now that we’ve escaped from that barrier though, naturally we won’t give it any chance to fight back. Junior Brother, join me in testing its might!”
“Yes!” Chen Fan Lei wore an eager look on his face and nodded repeatedly without thinking.
Before Chen Shi Tao could persuade them otherwise, the two Sect Brothers from Extreme Path Sect rushed up.
Yang Kai frowned, but was too lazy to stop them. He had taken this little trip firstly because he owed Chen Shi Tao a favor. To fulfill that, he resolved Lu Ying’s plea for help. Secondly, it was because Yang Yan needed the Thunder Liquid from the Thunder Pond. With debts repaid, as for whether the others lived or died, that was none of his concern.
However, Yang Kai couldn’t help wondering whether this Wang Yu Han simply overconfident or flat out foolish, actually underestimating a Monster Beast equivalent to an Origin Returning Realm master. From Yang Kai’s perspective, it looked like Wang Yu Han was the kind of cultivator who only remained inside his Sect and never experienced any real life or death fights in the outside world.
Such people generally had high cultivations but were ultimately unable to display their strength in real combat, often resulting in them suffering losses or even dying as they couldn’t adapt to situations were rules no longer existed.
Yang Kai thought Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei would definitely suffer a big loss!
To Yang Kai’s surprise though, after recklessly charging the Silver Night Thunder Beast, Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei actually launched a coordinated and efficient campaign. No cultivator without real combat experience could accomplish this.
Wang Yu Han proved himself quite flexible in combat and was able to make rational judgements even while engaged in a dangerous fight, so although he and Chen Fan Lei had no way to easily kill this Silver Night Thunder Beast, they had no trouble fighting with it by taking advantage of their mobility, artifacts, and Martial Skills.
For a time, the Silver Night Thunder Beast was unable to cope with the two of them.
Yang Kai’s brow rose as he realized that these two rushing forward was not just due to recklessness but because of confidence.
After observing anxiously for a while, Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying’s two pairs of beautiful eyes flashed with fierce light as they too began having thoughts of killing this beast and obtaining its core.
A Ninth-Order Monster Beast’s Monster Core, especially one from this Thunder Attribute Silver Night Thunder Beast, was incredibly valuable. Whether it was used for Alchemy or Artifact Refining, there would be many people who wanted it. On top of that, the materials from this Monster Beast’s body were also good things.
It seemed that because they had previously been trapped and suppressed inside that barrier, Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei were feeling quite indignant, so now that they had escaped, their killing intent towards this Silver Night Thunder Beast was quite strong. The two fellow Sect Brothers cooperated flawlessly, one of them attacking while the other defended and soon showing signs of suppressing the Silver Night Thunder Beast. Without the barrier to rely on, the Silver Night Thunder Beast actually fell into a slight disadvantage in this battle, and if it weren’t for its thick scales, it would likely have already been injured. This development made Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei pleasantly surprised and they began acting even more fiercely.
Yang Kai didn’t pay any attention to the thoughts of these four, instead shoot Yang Yan a slight glance. Yang Yan saw this and nodded lightly, quickly rushing over to the Thunder Pond and taking out a special container. As soon as she began pouring her Saint Qi into this bottle, it began drawing in the Thunder Liquid from the Thunder Pond.
This Thunder Pond was only about a hundred metres or so in diameter, but it was deep enough that one was unable to see its bottom. The liquid it was composed of was also not ordinary water, but instead a kind of liquefied Thunder Attribute energy.
This kind of Thunder Pond could be artificially manufactured as long as there was something that could attract the natural Heavenly Thunder to this place and some powerful Spirit Arrays were set up to trap and condense it into Thunder Attribute energy. With this kind of setup, after a hundred years or so, the embryonic form of a Thunder Pond could be created. If other Thunder Attribute treasures or spirit herbs were added during this time, they would also speed up the formation of the Thunder Pond.
Of course, some Thunder Ponds were naturally produced.
Regardless of their type, Thunder Ponds were quite scarce, but they were of great benefit to cultivators who cultivated Thunder Attribute Secret Arts or Martial Skill. This Thunder Pond in Grand Burial Valley was originally owned by Ancient Yang Sect, and many cultivators knew of its existence, hence why Chen Shi Tao and her group had come here.
But they hadn’t anticipated that a Silver Night Thunder Beast actually lived at the bottom of this Thunder Pond and would suddenly appear while Chen Fan Lei was cultivating. Fortunately, this Silver Night Thunder Beast seemed to have only reached the Ninth-Order recently, otherwise the situation would have been far more dangerous.
Even so, Chen Shi Tao’s group being able to escape this crisis was mostly thanks to Yang Kai’s arrival.
Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei entangling the Silver Night Thunder Beast gave Yang Yan the perfect opportunity to collect Thunder Liquid, so Yang Kai was happy to let them do as they pleased. After gathering up this Thunder Liquid, whether these four stayed here to fight the Silver Night Thunder Beast, Yang Kai couldn’t care less.
He only wanted to escape as far away from this dangerous place as quickly as possible!
The battle up above grew fiercer by the moment and at a certain point, the Silver Night Thunder Beast let out a great roar and released a giant thunder ball from its mouth that exploded between Chen Fan Lei and Wang Yu Han. Although this attack wasn’t able to hurt them, it did force them to focus on defending themselves.
The Silver Night Thunder Beast took advantage of this opportunity to suddenly fall motionless mid-air, lift its huge beast head to the sky, and let out a grand roar filled with unparalleled rage.
As the Thunder Beast roared, it seemed that the blue clouds up above were drawn to it, and under the astonished gazes of everyone present, a great funnel formed high in the sky and drew the surrounding Thunder Attribute Energy into the body of the Silver Night Thunder Beast madly.
In just three breaths of time, the blue clouds that once filled the sky completely disappeared, all of them being sucked into the body of the Silver Night Thunder Beast.
Yang Kai saw this and his eyes couldn’t help but shrink as his hair suddenly stood on end. Although the Silver Night Thunder Beast did not seem to change at all, he now felt a slightly dangerous aura coming from it.
At that moment, Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei, who originally saw the Silver Night Thunder Beast come to a halt, wanted to rush in and land a fatal blow. But before they could even approach it, the Silver Night Thunder Beast suddenly turned its giant eyes towards them while flashing a look of disdain and ridicule on its face.
Suddenly, a terrifying coercion burst from the Silver Night Thunder Beast. After absorbing all the blue clouds just now, it seemed its strength had dramatically increased.
It was not until he felt this sudden increase in pressure that Wang Yu Han finally realized what was happening and exclaimed, “Not good!”
Abruptly turning around, a multi-coloured prism the size of a palm flew out from Wang Yu Han’s body and immediately transformed into a protective shield around him. Chen Fan Lei also realized the situation had become perilous and quickly summoned a powerful looking Battle Armour comprised of Lightning to cover his body.
However, the Silver Night Thunder Beast ignored their attempts to defend themselves and its figure flickered in the next moment, as if transforming into a bolt of lightning that disappeared from sight. In the next instant, both Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei let out pitiful cries as they were swatted from the sky, seemingly having suffered heavy losses.
The multi-coloured barrier protecting Wang Yu Han’s body had shattered while Chen Fan Lei’s Lightning Battle Armour had gone completely dim. Both of their faces had gone pale and they simultaneously coughed up blood. Clearly, they were severely injured.
This change happened in the blink of an eye, and Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying, who had been standing to the side until now, could not help going pale as they called out in alarm. All thoughts of joining in this battle disappeared from their minds as they each rushed out to rescue their companions and inspect their injuries.
Back up in the sky, the previously disappeared Silver Night Thunder Beast reappeared, but this time its cold gaze was focused on Yang Yan, who was standing beside the Thunder Pond collecting Thunder Liquid. A trace of anger flashed across this beast’s eyes as its body flickered and vanished once more.
Sure enough, after absorbing the blue clouds, its strength had increased significantly.
Yang Yan stood in place, not moving, but with her instincts telling her that danger was approaching, she swiftly activated a protective artifact, creating a red-light barrier around herself. Almost as fast as this barrier formed, however, it was shattered as the Silver Night Thunder Beast appeared before her at a speed so great that she was barely able to see it.
Yang Yan’s face went pale, but she quickly calmed down.
Just as the Silver Night Thunder Beast was about to kill her, Yang Kai suddenly appeared in front of her, his fist wrapped in Demonic Flame as he sent out a punch.
There was a loud bang as a shockwave rippled outwards. Yang Kai couldn’t help being knocked backwards, but as he flew back, he made sure to grab hold of Yang Yan who was still standing in place. The Silver Night Thunder Beast, which had disappeared, also appeared with a low growl. It also seemed a bit unsteady as its huge body backpedalled, its four strong claws seemingly gripping at the air to stabilize itself.
As soon as it stood firm, the Thunder Beast let out a great roar and condensed a huge ball of thunder in its mouth. With a flick of its head, the ball of thunder shot forward towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he released a golden thread from his fingertips and instantly transformed it into a giant golden net. Engulfing the thunder ball with his golden net, Yang Kai forcefully cut it to pieces, causing it to explode into hundreds of individual pieces and dissipate.
The re-formed golden thread then shot out of the surging area of thunder and arrived right in front of the Silver Night Thunder Beast, stabbing at it like a spear.
A clinking sound rang out as dazzling sparks burst from the point where the golden thread impacted the Silver Night Thunder Beast. The incredibly sharp gold thread failed to completely penetrate the Silver Night Thunder Beast’s scales, only managing to sink a finger’s length in before it lost its forward momentum.
Yang Kai had seemingly anticipated this result though and stared coldly at the Silver Night Thunder Beast as a lotus flower mysteriously formed in his eyes. This Silver Night Thunder Beast was quite extraordinary and its realm was also higher than Yang Kai’s by a large amount, so Yang Kai decided to end the fight quickly by immediately using one of his trump cards.
When the Silver Night Thunder Beast saw this lotus, it instinctually felt danger and unease flashed across its pupils. It did not dare meet eyes with Yang Kai again and immediately dove into the Thunder Pond, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Ripples spread across the Thunder Pond for a moment before it once again calmed down.
His opponent fleeing without a fight surprised Yang Kai greatly.
However, Yang Kai also could not help feeling relieved. To be honest, he was unwilling to fight a life or death battle with this Silver Night Thunder Beast right now, so the other party retreating on its own was an ideal outcome. Ordinarily, Yang Kai would not have been willing to let this Ninth-Order Thunder Beast leave.
Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying had only just picked up the injured Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei and glanced over to see the Silver Night Thunder Beast flee in a panicked state. This scene dumbfounded them and caused them to wonder just what Yang Kai had done to scare off this formidable Monster Beast.
Exchanging a glance, the two women could see the suspicion in the other’s eyes.
At that moment, Yang Yan quietly handed Yang Kai a certain object and whispered something softly into his ear.
Hearing what she had to say, Yang Kai cast a thoughtful look towards the pale Wang Yu Han and flashed a meaningful grin. Wang Yu Han happened to cast a glance towards Yang Kai at that moment too, but facing him, he did not show the slightest bit of timidity, instead wearing a rather gloomy look upon his face.
“Little Brother Yang…” Chen Shi Tao walked over towards him while occasionally looking towards the Thunder Pond in surprise, asking after a short pause, “Was that Silver Night Thunder Beast injured?”
“I’m not sure, it just suddenly retreated on its own.”
Chen Shi Tao was stunned and immediately smiled bitterly, “It looks like Little Brother Yang has hidden his abilities quite well. You’re even able to scare off this Silver Night Thunder Beast, it seems this Young Lady has looked down on you.”
“Sister Chen thinks too highly of me, it retreating has nothing to do with me, all the credit belongs to Brother Wang and your little brother. That Monster Beast probably realized it wasn’t their opponent, so it decided to escape while it had the chance.” Yang Kai responded faintly, not trying to take any credit.
“Exactly!” Wang Yu Han shouted out with no trace of politeness, “Obviously, it used some kind of forbidden technique to dramatically increase its strength temporarily but doing so clearly came at a very high cost. On top of that, it only recently reached the Ninth-Order, so it likely wasn’t able to suppress the backlash from its technique and took the initiative to retreat.”
Hearing this, the others present thought about it for a moment but no one raised any objections, implying that they tacitly approved of Wang Yu Han’s guess.
“Brother Wang seems to understand this Monster Beast’s situation quite clearly,” Yang Kai suddenly said with a smile.
“What?” Wang Yu Han frowned.
“Nothing,” Yang Kai waved his hand before turning to Chen Shi Tao, “Sister Chen, since everything here has been settled, I’ll say goodbye first.”
“Where do you want to go?” Chen Shi Tao asked.
“Away from here naturally,” Yang Kai replied casually, but upon seeing Chen Shi Tao’s awkward smile and somewhat disappointed expression, he let out a laugh and explained further, “After we separated last time, my companion and I became lost for a while, but we finally found the right direction to leave, so we shouldn’t have that issue again.”
The last time they parted ways, Yang Kai told Chen Shi Tao that he was going to leave this place, but after so many days had passed, him still being here made it seem like he had lied to her.
Chen Shi Tao did not show any intention to pursue the issue. Glancing around at her companions for a moment, she quickly declared, “We should leave too.”
“But Junior Brother still hasn’t completed his cultivation yet,” Wang Yu Han immediately objected, subconsciously not wanting to act together with Yang Kai. The seemingly offhanded comment Yang Kai had just made had caused Wang Yu Han to become wary and made him wonder if this brat had discovered something.
“Since there is a Ninth-Order Silver Night Thunder Beast here, it is naturally impossible for him to continue cultivating. We were lucky to escape from it this time, but if we continue to linger…”
“That Silver Night Thunder Beast is clearly injured now; with our combined strength, it shouldn’t be a problem to kill it,” Wang Yu Han suggested, clearly still having ideas about the Silver Night Thunder Beast.
Listening to him say this, Chen Shi Tao also felt a bit conflicted, but after a moment of pondering, she turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Little Brother Yang, what do you think? Do you think that if we remain, we can kill that Silver Night Thunder Beast?”
Yang Kai frowned slightly at this question. He could tell that while Chen Shi Tao seemed to be asking for his opinion, she was actually subtly inviting him to act together with them. If Yang Kai agreed to stay, Chen Shi Tao might really decide to stay and deal with the Thunder Beast, after all, she and her team all thought the Silver Night Thunder Beast was suffering from a severe backlash and as long as they could find a way to force it out of the Thunder Pond, they may be able to kill it.
Understanding this, Yang Kai immediately shook his head, “I don’t know if it can be killed, but I believe this isn’t a place to linger for long; after all, something unexpected may happen at any moment. If Sister Chen is willing to trust me, I’d suggest you leave quickly.”
He did not mention anything about the Corpse Cave, so his words came off a bit mysterious.
Wang Yu Han looked displeased upon hearing this and was about to say something when Chen Shi Tao suddenly nodded and said, “Since Little Brother Yang thinks so, let’s depart quickly. Fan Lei, your Secret Art does not necessarily require you to cultivate in this Thunder Pond, correct? Although it might have some lesser effect, it should still be possible for you to make a breakthrough with an appropriate Thunder Attribute pill. Just wait until we return to Black Crow City, I’ll help you buy one.”
She seemed to believe quite strongly in Yang Kai’s judgment.
“Alright,” Chen Fan Lei had no objections and simply agreed with his big sister’s decision.
Chen Shi Tao nodded before turning an elegant smile to Yang Kai, “Since that’s the case, let’s leave this place together, it will allow us to take care of one another along the way.”
It was impossible for Yang Kai to refuse her at this point so he simply nodded, and while Wang Yu Han was reluctant, he alone could not make a decision for everyone so he could only hold his nose and comply.
And so, the group of six people began heading out of Grand Burial Valley together.
Along the way, Chen Shi Tao finally remembered to inquire about Yang Kai’s background. As such, she learned that Yang Kai was not a Shadow Moon Hall disciple, or even the disciple of some big family force, but instead a lone cultivator who lived on a remote hill called Dragon Cave Mountain.
To put it simply, Yang Kai was a cultivator with no backing or support, someone who had to depend entirely on himself to continue advancing. There were many such cultivators in this world, and their path was always quite difficult. Firstly, they did not have any Elders or masters to teach them, so they would inevitably run into problems during their cultivation that they could not solve. Secondly, they often lacked good cultivation environments and resources, resulting in their rate of advancement becoming slow. On top of these issues, if they ever encountered bullying or oppression, they did not have anyone who would help them. So, these kinds of cultivators had grim futures and despite there being a great many of them, those who succeeded were incredibly few, and those who did achieve success were often recruited by major Sects and families.
A lone cultivator being able to reach the Second-Order Saint King Realm like Yang Kai was already quite impressive.
When she learned about this, Chen Shi Tao felt a great sense of admiration towards Yang Kai, but Wang Yu Han only showed disdain. Obviously, from his perspective, while Yang Kai might be able to reach the Third-Order Saint King Realm, it was definitely impossible for him to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.
Not only did Chen Shi Tao admire Yang Kai greatly, her younger brother Chen Fan Lei also became quite interested in him. This young man was very open-minded and good-natured. On top of that, even though he was injured, he still seemed quite energetic and would constantly keep asking Yang Kai about what had happened in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Kai chose some insignificant stories to tell but even these were listened to by the young man with relish, prompting him to ask even more questions.
The atmosphere was quite harmonious as this group travelled together. The four people from Chen Shi Tao’s group, with the exception of Wang Yu Han who inherently disliked Yang Kai, were relatively easy to get along with.
Half a day later, the group of six finally left Grand Burial Valley. Until now, Yang Kai had not noticed any trace of those special existences from the Corpse Cave, something that made him feel relieved as he concluded that this matter was over, at least for now.
Another day later, a small mountain range appeared in front of the group; and although the World Energy aura here was not too rich, it also was not too thin. Seeing this place, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly and he quickly came to a stop and called out to Chen Shi Tao, cupping his fists as he said, “Friends, although I do not know where you plan on going from here, I believe we’ll have to part ways here. My companion and I have some things to deal with, so we’d like to stay here for a few days.”
“How long do you plan to stay?” Chen Shi Tao’s eyes lit up, “It just so happens we’re also in need of a few days of rest. As I am sure you can see, Fan Lei and Senior Brother Wang haven’t had an opportunity to restore themselves or treat their injuries properly, so resting here for a moment would be a good idea.”
“You want to rest here too?” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong? Could it be Little Brother Yang doesn’t welcome us?” Chen Shi Tao shot Yang Kai a slight look of rebuke.
“Nonsense, this place isn’t my property, it’s just an unclaimed mountain, naturally everyone can freely rest here.”
“That’s good,” Chen Shi Tao smiled, “And since Little Brother Yang came from Heavenly Fate City, he must intend to return there, correct?”
“En, of course.”
“Hehe, this place isn’t close to Heavenly Fate City. If you fly by Star Shuttle, it will take at least two or three months, and if you encounter something along the way, it may take even longer.”
Yang Kai gave her a thoughtful look and asked, “Does Sister Chen have a suggestion that could save us this time?”
“I do indeed. Little Brother Yang might not know, but five days from here is a city called Black Crow City that has a Space Array which is directly linked to Heavenly Fate City.”
“Is there such a thing?” Yang Kai could not help turning his head to look at Yang Yan, only to find that she had a blank face. Obviously, she didn’t know this either.
“Do you think this Young Lady would deceive you about something so simple?” Chen Shi Tao smiled, “Black Crow City is a neutral city that doesn’t belong to any force, so the Space Array doesn’t have as many usage restrictions as other places. Of course, not everyone can use it, but… Fan Lei seems to know a Senior who is responsible for guarding that Space Array, so it shouldn’t be an issue to let Little Brother Yang use it if he acts as a guarantor. It would just be a matter of having enough Saint Crystals for the transfer fee then.”
“As long as we can use it, Saint Crystals aren’t a problem,” Yang Kai looked at Chen Fan Lei with a happy expression.
Chen Fan Lei grinned in response, “Brother Yang may rest assured, I helped that Senior who guards the Space Array with a small matter so he owes me a favour. It won’t be a problem obtaining his permission regarding this, not to mention, Brother Yang isn’t some unknown person.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll leave this matter to Brother Chen,” Yang Kai quickly thanked him before glancing down at the small hills below, “Then let’s stay here for a few days before continuing on to Black Crow City.”
Chen Shi Tao and her group naturally had no objections and quickly descended to the small mountain range.
Although Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying weren’t injured in the battle with the Silver Night Thunder Beast, they had consumed a great deal of their Saint Qi and had not had an opportunity to restore themselves until now, so even they needed some time to adjust their condition. As for Chen Fan Lei and Wang Yu Han, they needed to treat their injuries and restore themselves, so the four of them quickly found a small mountain peaks and soon vanished inside it.
Yang Kai and Yang Yan flew to another remote mountain.
After a while, the two arrived at their destination, and Yang Kai immediately used his Saint Qi to open a temporary residence in the hillside.
With Yang Kai’s current cultivation, opening such a cave mansion required little effort, and in just the time it would take a boil a cup of tea, he had carved out a simple hollow.
Entering this cave, Yang Kai’s face became solemn. Yang Yan also seemed to sense something and hurriedly followed him without saying a word.
After making their way inside, Yang Kai suddenly sat down cross-legged down.
“Is there something wrong with Xiao Xiao?” Yang Yan asked anxiously.
After swallowing the Sun’s True Essence, the Stone Puppet had been taken away by Yang Kai, so Yang Yan didn’t know what its current condition was, but she knew that Yang Kai suddenly wanting to rest here must be related to this matter.
“It’s not a major problem yet, but if we continue on like this, the Stone Puppet won’t be able to bear it,” Yang Kai sighed.
“I figured so. Even if you didn’t say anything, I would have asked you to find a spot and stop for a few days to process Xiao Xiao and the Sun’s True Essence,” Yang Yan commented before quickly taking out a few items from her Space Ring and arranging a simple Spirit Array inside the cave mansion.
She didn’t dare take the matter of the Sun’s True Essence lightly, so before letting the Stone Puppet come out, Yang Yan intended to arrange an Isolation Array; otherwise, once this supreme treasure’s aura leaked out, it would likely attract unwanted trouble.
With her mastery of Spirit Arrays, it was quite easy for Yang Yan to arrange a barrier to conceal all their auras. After half a day, the entire cave mansion was enveloped by an invisible barrier that even an Origin Returning Realm master would not be able to see through.
Only after this was completed did Yang Kai wave his hand and release the Stone Puppet from the Black Book Space.
As soon as the Stone Puppet appeared, the temperature in the entire cave mansion shot up. The Stone Puppet itself had become crimson red and the heat radiating from it was distorting the air around it. There were even signs of its body melting.
A look of unbearable pain filled the Stone Puppet’s face and its eyes had become extremely red.
The violent heat of the Sun’s True Essence was not something it could resist. The Stone Puppet even being able to persist until now was all thanks to its innate talents.
Seeing its situation, Yang Kai did not dare to hesitate and immediately took out the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, causing a profound chill to ripple through the cave mansion and restore the temperature to a somewhat ordinary level.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to communicate with the Stone Puppet who, having received these instructions, stood up unsteadily and opened its mouth. A moment later, the Stone Puppet spat the Sun’s True Essence Ice out on top of the Ice Jade Pedestal.
Seeing this, Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and beckoned to the Stone Puppet. After it arrived in front of him, Yang Kai began to carefully investigate its condition.
Fortunately for Yang Kai, although the Stone Puppet had suffered some damage, it was not too serious. As long as it rested for a while, it should be able to restore itself to its original condition. This made Yang Kai feel both relieved and optimistic about the Stone Puppet’s future potential.
Using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai told the Stone Puppet to refine the precious ores in its belly to repair itself before he took it back into the Black Book Space.
Previously, in the Corpse Cave, the Stone Puppet had devoured seven or eight hills of Saint Crystals and rare ores. Yang Kai did not know if Saint Crystals would provide the Stone Puppet with any benefits, but those rare ores would definitely be useful to its growth, so Yang Kai naturally would not be stingy with it. He also believed that after absorbing the mineral essence from those ores, the Stone Puppet would be as good as new, if not better.
Obtaining this piece of Sun’s True Essence was far more valuable than obtaining a few more pieces of ore.
Having processed the Stone Puppet, Yang Kai next turned to Yang Yan, “What should we do now? If the Stone Puppet cannot carry it for extended periods of time, how will we take it back to Dragon Cave Mountain with us?”
“It will be fine as long as I refine a special container for it,” Yang Yan seemed to have a plan in mind already and replied lightly.
“What materials do you want?”
“Naturally, I’ll need Ice Attribute materials, and that Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal would be best. Relax, I know what kind of vessel will be appropriate, the only problem is that refining it will be a bit troublesome. I’ll need at least ten days to finish.”
“Ten days… En, that shouldn’t be a problem. They won’t be able to heal themselves so easily,” Yang Kai smiled slightly before getting up and setting out. Before he left, he gave the four Space Rings he collected from the Corpse Cave to Yang Yan as he believed the materials inside would meet the requirements for the special container Yang Yan planned to refine.
Not wanting to disturb Yang Yan, Yang Kai walked to the outermost part of the cave mansion and sat down cross-legged.
After thinking for a while, he took out his Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace and used his Divine Sense to inspect it, receiving a pleasant surprise as he did.
Before collecting the Sun’s True Essence, Yang Kai had used his Artifact Spirit to face the Fire Dragon it produced to protect itself; however, the Artifact Spirit had been unable to handle the Sun’s True Essence and was wounded in the fight.
Yang Kai had thought that the situation would be quite troublesome to deal with, but after examining the Artifact Spirit, he discovered that it had fallen into a kind of deep sleep inside the Artifact Refining Furnace. Although it still appeared somewhat weak and injured, it wasn’t as serious as Yang Kai had imagined, and there even seemed to be a trace of the Sun’s True Fire now circulating through its body, as if it was refining and absorbing it.
This Sun’s True Fire was visible to the naked eye and swam through the Artifact Spirit’s body like a tiny fire snake, but no matter how it struggled, it was incapable of escaping and was gradually being assimilated.
It seemed the Artifact Spirit had turned this misfortune into a blessing.
This made Yang Kai overjoyed; after all, in order to gather the Sun’s True Essence this time, both of his little assistants had suffered significant damage, making him quite depressed. Now that he knew that the Artifact Spirit was fine and the Stone Puppet’s injuries were not serious, Yang Kai was able to relax somewhat.
With the Artifact Spirit like this though, it was likely impossible for Yang Kai to use the Artifact Refining Furnace to continue refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead. So instead, he simply sat on the spot, adjusting his breathing while taking inventory of the harvest from this trip.
In addition to the four Space Rings he had tossed to Yang Yan, there was a lot of Saint Crystals and rare minerals currently stored inside the Stone Puppet’s belly. There were also a few Secret Arts and Secret Books along with artifacts that originally belonged to the Ancient Yang Sect that Yang Kai had managed to collect.
It was needless to say that the artifacts would all be left to Yang Yan to handle as many of them would need to be repaired before they could be used. Moreover, Yang Kai did not need other artifacts to enhance his combat effectiveness, so he didn’t concern himself with these things greatly.
As for the Secret Arts and Secret Books, however, Yang Kai was at least interested in browsing through them.
After all, two thousand years ago, the Ancient Yang Sect was a force not inferior to Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, so the Secret Arts and Secret Books owned by them must not be bad. What’s more, since these were placed in that Secret Cave, they were likely related to the core inheritance of the Ancient Yang Sect.
After a cursory inspection, Yang Kai found himself quite startled.
He found that, as he guessed, these Secret Arts and Secret Books were all profound works. If any of these manuals were to appear in the outside world, they would draw the interest of countless cultivators. Several of the Secret Arts and techniques in this collection were reserved for only the core members of the Ancient Yang Sect and were thus extremely high-grade. Many of these techniques were also quite profound and esoteric, to the point that even Origin Realm masters would be joyful to obtain one.
With Yang Kai’s current abilities and capital, there was no need for him to waste time and energy cultivating these things, but if he were to find some spare time, cultivating one or two sets of secret skills would increase his combat effectiveness and also increase the number of life-saving techniques he had at his disposal.
At the very least, Yang Kai was quite interested in several of these secret manuals.
However, when he remembered that he still had to cultivate his Golden Blood Threads, refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, cultivate Space Force, and refine the Coloured Glass Bead Dai Yuan had given him, Yang Kai could only set this matter aside for the moment and make a note to revisit these Secret Arts and Secret Books in the future.
Although he had the intention of cultivating many of these texts, reading through some of these Secret Arts and Secret Books still broadened Yang Kai’s knowledge and provided him with some inspiration for his cultivation. In particular, there was a set of Body Tempering Secret Arts that Yang Kai was very much interested in.
It was the first time he had encountered a Secret Art specifically dedicated to tempering one’s physique and refining their body.
The reason why Yang Kai’s physique was so powerful was thanks to his Unyielding Golden Skeleton, which had allowed him to store and use large quantities of Demonic Qi before, giving him some Demon Race physical qualities. On top of that, Yang Kai had various opportunities over the years which allowed him to enhance his physical strength.
However, now that he thought about it, when he first began cultivating and obtained the Unyielding Golden Skeleton, the Tempered Body Record he used should have also been a kind of Body Tempering Secret Art. However, this Secret Art was created by Great Demon God and obviously could not compare with the techniques of the Ancient Yang Sect.
It was not that Great Demon God’s aptitude was poor, but that he had only managed to reach the Saint King Realm before he died and had not been able to truly step out from Tong Xuan Realm. Naturally, a technique he created wouldn’t be a match the millennia-long inheritance of a great Sect.
Yang Kai did not know what grade this Ancient Yang Sect Body Tempering Secret Art was, but after studying it for a time, he concluded that it wasn’t low. In fact, it was quite likely a priceless treasure. With his ability as an Origin Grade Alchemist, Yang Kai could also refine some Body Tempering pills that would presumably allow him to obtain twice the results with half the effort when he did begin cultivating this Secret Art, allowing him to save a great deal of time.
Deciding so, Yang Kai sat cross-legged in place and continued to refine his Golden Blood Threads while occasionally finding some time to review the mysteries of this Body Tempering Secret Art.
In the blink of an eye, eight days passed by.
During this period, the small mountain range remained completely calm, with nothing out of the ordinary happening, but this was not much of a surprise as this place was quite close to Grand Burial Valley so no one would come here usually. If it was a thousand years ago, the situation would definitely be different as many cultivators would be passing through to go treasure hunting in the Grand Burial Valley.
But now, although some would still occasionally dive into Grand Burial Valley, their numbers had decreased sharply, and unless they had some kind of specific purpose, like Chen Shi Tao’s group, only fledgelings who wanted to quickly make their mark on the world or adventurous little brats would come here to try their luck. Most of these people, however, would not return safely after entering the Grand Burial Valley.
On this day, Yang Kai was meditating at the front of the cave mansion when his expression suddenly changed, and he looked up to see a blue streak of light quickly approaching. This person was not trying to conceal their presence at all, so Yang Kai was able to determine it was Chen Shi Tao riding her Star Shuttle.
Slowing the Saint Qi circulating through his body, Yang Kai waiting quietly for her to arrive.
A moment later, Chen Shi Tao floated down from above and landed not far away from Yang Kai, looking at him with a smile.
After a few days of meditation, Chen Shi Tao had apparently completely restored herself. At this moment, her complexion was like that of peach blossom and the shimmering quality of her eyes gave her a unique and enrapturing charm. After she landed, a faint aroma wafted from her body towards Yang Kai, causing his spirit to shake slightly.
“Sister Chen,” Yang Kai greeted her with a polite nod, raising his brow a bit as he commented, “Looking at Sister Chen’s complexion, it seems you’ve recovered completely, yes?”
Chen Shi Tao smiled, “Thank you for worrying, Little Brother Yang. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured, just somewhat exhausted, so after a few days of meditation my Saint Qi and strength had been restored.”
“En, that’s good. Does Sister Chen have something she needs to discuss? Or perhaps you are ready to leave?”
“Not yet,” Chen Shi Tao shook her head slowly, “While Fan Lei’s injuries were not too serious this time, they also were not light, so I’m afraid we’ll need to stay here for a few more days.”
“Oh? Good, I also happen to need a few days to finish a little something here.”
“This Young Lady came here this time specifically to thank Little Brother Yang for assisting us twice. Although the first time there was no risk to our lives, without Little Brother Yang coming to our aid the second time, I’m afraid it would have been difficult for us to leave Grand Burial Valley alive. I will not forget this graciousness. If Little Brother Yang ever needs this Young Lady’s help in the future, just come to Clear Sky Sect to call upon me, I will certainly not refuse!”
When she said these words, her face was serious and sincere.
Yang Kai smiled lightly and waved his hand, “I only helped you out a little bit. You being able to survive was all thanks to your own strength; after all, that Silver Night Thunder Beast took the initiative to retreat after it saw it couldn’t kill you without the help of that barrier.”
“Is that so?” Chen Shi Tao frowned, seemingly a bit puzzled. If that was really the case, the Silver Night Thunder Beast should not have taken the initiative to provoke them. During these past few days of meditation, Chen Shi Tao had been going over their encounter carefully but was still unable to understand why the Silver Night Thunder Beast had suddenly retreated.
Thinking it over though, she felt that it had something to do with Yang Kai, but under her subtle probe, Yang Kai had categorically denied her assumption, making her wonder if the Silver Night Thunder Beast’s retreat really was for the reason he gave.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to discuss this issue further and simply said, “As for your thanks, there’s no need to go so far. When cultivators go out into the world, they will always encounter difficulties, and since we are not strangers, it is only natural for us to support one another. Perhaps next time this Yang will need Sister Chen’s assistance with something.”
On Chen Shi Tao pretty face, a fascinating smile appeared as she narrowed her eyes happily, “Being able to meet Little Brother Yang is really this Young Lady’s good fortune.”
“Because you believe I’m a person of great destiny?” Yang Kai laughed jokingly.
“Hehe…” Chen Shi Tao giggled, “Although I have no way to prove such a thing, this Young Lady has faith in her intuition. If not for me taking advantage of your luck, how could I be standing here with you now, speaking casually like this?”
“Alright. Sure, think whatever you’d like,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly, not trying to argue with her.
“Actually…” Chen Shi Tao began to say something but suddenly hesitated.
Yang Kai immediately knew that she should have something she felt awkward about asking him and immediately assumed the pose of a conscientious listener.
Noticing this, Chen Shi Tao slowly continued, “Actually, this time, this Young Lady came here first to thank you, but second to ask Little Brother Yang if he has any intention to join a Sect?”
“Join a Sect?” Yang Kai raised his brow slightly before smiling, “Could it be that Sister Chen wants to invite me to enter Clear Sky Sect?”
“Talking to smart people like Little Brother Yang really saves a lot of trouble,” Chen Shi Tao smiled and nodded, “I certainly had such an idea; after all, you are a lone cultivator with no Elders to guide you and no Sect to protect you. At present, you might not notice any significant drawbacks, but as your cultivation continues to grow, there will definitely be some situations that Little Brother Yang won’t be able to cope with on your own.”
Yang Kai gently nodded as he knew what she said made sense.
For example, Shi, the unique power Origin Returning Realm master’s possessed, was something Yang Kai had next to no knowledge about. When he had fought against the cultivator brought by Xie Hong Wen to Dragon Cave Mountain, because there were no Elders or Seniors to inform him about Shi, Yang Kai had fallen into a disadvantage during that fight.
After seeing Yang Kai’s thoughtful appearance, Chen Shi Tao became encouraged and hurriedly continued, “And, since you were able to cultivate to the Second-Order Saint King Realm all on your own, obviously your aptitude isn’t low, so entering Clear Sky Sect shouldn’t be difficult. Half a year later, Clear Sky Sect will hold a recruitment open to all of Shadowed Star. At that time, anyone who passes will be allowed to enter the Sect.”
“Of course, when you first enter the Sect, your status and treatment certainly won’t be too high, but given your cultivation state, as long as you complete a few tasks for the Sect, becoming an Inner Disciple won’t be a problem. If Little Brother Yang has any interest in participating in the trial, this Young Lady can give you a participation token.” Saying so, Chen Shi Tao looked at Yang Kai eagerly, seeming to really look forward to him joining her Sect.
After all, Yang Kai’s strength wasn’t low, and once they become fellow Sect disciples, she could openly invite him to travel together with her in the future.
Under her expectant eyes, Yang Kai couldn’t help sighing to himself and not immediately refusing. This made Chen Shi Tao feel like there was a chance of success so she decided to strike while the iron was hot, but Yang Kai quickly cut her off, “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline Sister Chen’s good intentions; temporarily, I have no plans to enter any Sect.”
Chen Shi Tao’s expression drooped at Yang Kai’s surprise answer.
Yang Kai proceeded to explain with a smile, “If I was really alone, I wouldn’t mind entering a Sect, but Sister Chen has seen that I have my own companions.”
“You mean that Sister Yang Yan?”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Not only her, but there are several dozen as well.”
“Several dozens…” Chen Shi Tao was stunned.
“Yeah, and their cultivations vary greatly. There are a few Origin Returning Realm masters, some Saint King Realm, but also a number who are just Immortal Ascension, Transcendent, and Saint Realm cultivators,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“This…” Chen Shi Tao mutter to herself for a moment before smiling, “No wonder you would refuse. Since Little Brother Yang has such concerns, this Young Lady won’t say anymore.”
Although she failed to invite Yang Kai to participate in the trial, causing Chen Shi Tao to be slightly disappointed, since he had such a reason, she wouldn’t try to force the issue. After chatting with Yang Kai for a while, she left to return to the small mountain she had occupied a short distance away.
After she left, Yang Kai smiled slightly, seemingly pondering something before turning his eyes and staring at a certain spot up in the sky and calling out lightly, “Did you see something interesting after looking for so long?”
As soon as he spoke these words, a slight aura fluctuation appeared where Yang Kai was looking at, but in the next moment everything became calm once more, as if nothing had happened.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “What’s wrong? Since Brother Wang has already come, does he want this Yang to offer an invitation before showing up?”
Listening to Yang Kai address him by name, a ripple suddenly appeared in the sky and a figure soon revealed itself. Staring down somberly at Yang Kai, this newly appeared person asked solemnly, “How did you discover me?”
As he spoke, he took back a cloak-like artifact and stared at Yang Kai, quickly adding, “My Concealing Aura Coat is an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact, it’s impossible for someone like you to notice any flaws.”
“An Origin Grade High-Rank artifact!” Yang Kai raised his brow as he grinned slightly, “Brother Wang actually possess such a good artifact. En, but despite this artifact not being low grade, with your strength, it seems you can’t activate it completely, and this Yang has always been quite sensitive to other peoples’ prying eyes, heh heh!”
“Seems you have some skill!” Wang Yu Han snorted coldly, not showing the slightest embarrassment after having been exposed.
“Shouldn’t Brother Wang be concentrating on recovering right now? Why stealthily stalk her? If I hadn’t realized it was Brother Wang’s aura nearby, I might just have attacked,” Yang Ka smiled faintly.
“Hmph, my injuries are already healed; moreover, I didn’t come here with any malicious intent, I was simply curious,” Wang Yu Han replied bluntly.
“If it was just curiosity, then I suppose it can’t be helped. If Brother Wang has something he’d like to say to me, you might as well say it directly. If I can do something to alleviate some worry for you, I certainly will. If not… Brother Wang need only be patient for a few more days.”
“Why would I need anything from you?” Wang Yu Han’s complexion suddenly sank as he said meaningfully, “But you rejecting Sister Chen’s proposal was a wise move. Although your strength isn’t too low, it’s still not enough to enter a great force like Clear Sky Sect. If you had made an attempt, it would have only disappointed Sister Chen’s good intentions. At that time, it would certainly be awkward to face her.”
“Such matters are my concern; Brother Wang does not need to trouble himself over them. En, if Brother Wang has nothing else to say, please go back, my companion and I simply wish to use the Space Array in Black Crow City, so we will naturally leave when the time comes.”
“That would be for the best!” Wang Yu Han nodded flatly before cupping his fists and turning to leave.
At that time, Yang Kai suddenly called out, “Right, I should remind you that I dislike being spied upon by others. This time I will let the matter go, but if it were to happen again…”
“You’ll what?” Wang Yu Han turned back to Yang Kai and snorted disdainfully.
Yang Kai smiled mysteriously as he released a pulse of Spiritual Energy from his Knowledge Sea to envelope Wang Yu Han.
Wang Yu Han’s face changed greatly as at that moment, he felt the aura of death sudden descend upon him. Just as he was about to fight back though, he discovered that the ominous feeling had disappeared. Meanwhile, Yang Kai was simply standing exactly where he had originally been, looking at him with a smile, as if what just happened had nothing to do with him.
Wang Yu Han’s expression immediately became suspicious as he felt some cold sweat drip down is back, but after a short silence, he turned his head and flew off into the distance.
“Suddenly treating me like a love rival for no reason, how annoying!” Yang Kai muttered to himself.
Yang Kai had long since realized why Wang Yu Han was constantly opposing him and why he had stealthily snuck over to observe him. However, Yang Kai really had no intentions towards Chen Shi Tao; after leaving Black Crow City this time, they might never even meet again, so Wang Yu Han’s worries were completely unnecessary.
Although Yang Kai could tell that Wang Yu Han wasn’t a good thing, there was no need for him to remind Chen Shi Tao; after all, he was disinclined to meddle in such troublesome matters. On top of that, Chen Shi Tao was not some naive young girl who didn’t know how the world worked, so there was no need for him to warn her about something she clearly already knew.
For Yang Kai, as long as he could gain access to Black Crow City’s Space Array, he wasn’t interested in intervening in these matters, but Wang Yu Han spying on him in secret had touched Yang Kai’s nerves, so he had given him a small warning. Although the Soul pressure Yang Kai used just now didn’t appear to do any immediate harm to Wang Yu Han, he had actually planted a kind of Divine Sense mark deep in his opponent’s Knowledge Sea. With this seed of fear laid down, in the future, if they really came to blows, all Yang Kai would need to do is trigger it and Wang Yu Han would degenerate into a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
With the current power of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, pulling this kind of small trick on a Third-Order Saint King was a simple matter, and unless a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master or someone stronger were to carefully probe Wang Yu Han’s Knowledge Sea, it would be impossible to discover and destroy this Divine Sense seed.
The probability of this happening was minimal though, and Yang Kai wasn’t worried even if it did happen.
After a moment of contemplation, Yang Kai felt that he hadn’t exposed his strength or means a moment ago, so he closed his eyes and nodded with satisfaction before continuing to focus on his own affairs.
Three days later, Chen Fan Lei and the others had finished healing from their wounds and recovering their strength. Yang Yan had also handed a ring-like object to Yang Kai already. This ring had a bitter cold chill about it and one could tell at first glance that cold materials had been used to refine it. Yang Kai even noticed some traces of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade’s aura.
Sweeping it with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found that Sun’s True Essence, which had rendered him helpless to even touch it, was stored inside with multiple layers of barriers surrounding it, gathering Ice Attribute Energy in order to restrain the Sun’s True Fire.
This ring was somewhat similar to a Space Ring, but its capacity was extremely small, only about ten square metres. It was obviously an artifact refined by Yang Yan specifically to store the Sun’s True Essence.
With such a thing, Yang Kai didn’t need to worry about the Sun’s True Essence’s aura being exposed and he could easily transport it from place to place. After investigating this ring slightly, Yang Kai put it away while liberally praising Yang Yan’s skills, declaring that she was unparalleled under the Heavens.
Of course, Yang Yan only shot Yang Kai a disdainful look.
Finished with what they needed to do here, Yang Kai and Yang Yan met up with Chen Shi Tao’s group and learned that they too were ready to depart.
After a brief discussion, the group of six set out for Black Crow City. On the way, Wang Yu Han’s former incessant chatter gave way to silence and he also seemed to intentionally or unintentionally distance himself from Yang Kai, often shooting him strange looks.
Chen Shi Tao and the others seemed to not notice this change and instead busied themselves telling Yang Kai in detail about the situation of Black Crow City.
Through their explanations, Yang Kai learned that because the geographical location of Black Crow City was a bit special, it didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of any single great force. Three mid-sized forces, Extreme Path Sect, Imperial City Sect, and Honoured Oath Pavilion, all had their headquarters roughly the same distance from Black Crow City, and as a result had competed with each other for many years and lost many disciples to gain control over it. However, in the end, no single Sect was able to triumph over the others.
In the end, the three Sects came to some kind of agreement where all of them swore not to interfere with Black Crow City any further.
After this agreement was reached, Black Crow City itself began to rise in strength, with its City Lord recruiting a number of powerful cultivators to guard and protect it. With the help of some nearby mineral lodes, over time, Black Crow City managed to survive even though it was caught between these three Sects.
There were actually many cities like Black Crow City on Shadowed Star, most of them achieving a degree of independence because the local Sects were unable to agree on who would take ownership of it. As a result, these cities would often grow into sizeable forces.
This kind of independent city force was very attractive to lone cultivators, and through some solicitation, these cities would occasionally be able to attract some powerful masters to join them.
These cities were generally referred to as Free Cities, and even if there weren’t a thousand of them on Shadowed Star, there were are least eight hundred. Because these Free Cities didn’t have strict constraints like formal Sects, and their management was relatively loose, the City Lord position would often change hands. Essentially, whoever’s fist was biggest would become the City Lord, so although these Free Cities had some strength, they were never able to form large, cohesive forces. As a result, the surrounding Sects wouldn’t pay much mind to these Free Cities, instead maintaining cooperative relationships with them.
However, there were always exceptions. On Shadowed Star, there were a few Free Cities that weren’t inferior in strength to great Sects. Such cities were often controlled by a single, extremely powerful family or governed by several families that were relatively united with each other. Although infighting was unavoidable, it was restrained to an acceptable range, and once outside enemies invaded, they would band together to repel them.
After thousands of years of prosperity, these super cities obtained status and strength no worse than other great forces on Shadowed Star.
Black Crow City couldn’t be compared to that kind of super city, so even though Chen Fan Lei was only a Saint King Realm disciple of Extreme Path Sect, he has some personal relationships with a Senior responsible for guarding the city’s Space Array. Having once been entrusted by that person with a certain task, that Senior now owed Chen Fan Lei a favour and would have to give him some face. Learning this, Yang Kai calmed down as he understood that gaining access to the Space Array shouldn’t be a problem, unlike back in Demon Blood City.
In general, moving about Shadowed Star was a hassle. Even just being able to use the Space Arrays in each city was a headache.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had good luck and was able to obtain help from others to use these Space Arrays twice.
Yang Kai began wondering if there was some kind of token or pass that would allow him to use any of the Space Arrays on Shadowed Star at will. If there was such a thing, it would undoubtedly make his life more convenient.
Of course, Yang Kai didn’t expect such a convenient item to exist, but after casually mentioning it to Chen Shi Tao, he learned there really was such a thing! This surprised Yang Kai greatly and he hurriedly asked her for more details.
Chen Shi Tao seemed to know what he was thinking so she freely shared everything she knew.
After listening to Chen Shi Tao’s explanation though, Yang Kai could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
Although this kind of access pass existed, and would be recognized and accepted by about eighty percent of the forces on Shadowed Star, obtaining it was akin to trying to ascend to the Heavens. There were two ways to acquire this pass; the first was to perform some kind of meritorious deed that brought great benefit to all of Shadowed Star. While this condition sounded simple, it was essentially impossible to complete.
There were as many forces on Shadowed Star as there were hairs on an ox, and although many of them would cooperate with each other, there was also no end to the conflicts and struggles between them. Something that was beneficial to one party would undoubtedly be detrimental to another. Trying to accomplish something that improved everyone’s lives was nothing short of a fool’s dream.
The second method was actually much simpler than the first method. One simply needed to receive the joint approval of ten first-class Sects. With that, they could get this free entry pass to all of Shadowed Star’s Space Arrays!
Although this second method was simpler, that was only compared to the first method. There were only about twenty first-class Sects on Shadowed Star, so collecting the support of ten of them was basically impossible.
Yang Kai had a fair amount of contact with Shadow Moon Hall, Clear Sky Sect, and Coloured Glass Sect, which were all first-class Sects, but only famous Elders of such Sects could act as guarantors for the pass.
Either of these methods could be used to obtain the pass Yang Kai wanted, but after listening to Chen Shi Tao, he extinguished such thoughts completely as he couldn’t achieve either of them with his current abilities.
Chatting along the way, time passed quickly and five days later, the group of six arrived at the outskirts of Black Crow City. After paying some Saint Crystals, the guards allowed them through the city gates without incident.
After entering the city, Yang Kai looked around and saw many wide and narrow winding roads, all of them lined with many shops on both sides. Although Black Crow City couldn’t be called crowded with people, it was still quite lively and bustling.
“Little Brother Yang, are you planning to stay here for some time or are you anxious to depart?” Chen Shi Tao suddenly looked back at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before replying, “If possible, I naturally want to leave here quickly, as there are still some things I have to attend to.”
After acquiring so many materials and Saint Crystals, and with the Stone Puppet having stolen so much Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, Yang Yan was naturally eager to continue her Artifact Refining, and from what Yang Kai heard from her it seemed she would be refining a truly shocking treasure this time. As for what she was working on specifically, Yang Yan insisted on keeping it a secret, making Yang Kai helpless.
On top of Yang Yan’s desire to return, the fact that the Stone Puppet and Artifact Spirit were currently wounded left Yang Kai unwilling to remain outside. Only after he returned to Dragon Cave Mountain would he be able to provide his two assistants with a safe environment to recuperate.
Hearing this, Chen Shi Tao’s eyes flashed with some disappointment, but she didn’t insist anymore and said, “Since that’s the case, Fan Lei will go to the Space Array now to see if that Senior is in. If everything goes well, before the night falls, Little Brother Yang should be able to leave.”
Yang Kai naturally had no opinion and simply thanked Chen Fan Lei politely before finding a spot out of the way to wait quietly with Chen Shi Tao and the others.
In the meantime, Chen Shi Tao tried to invite Yang Kai to participate in the Clear Sky Sect recruitment trial once more, but Yang Kai still politely refused. Seeing this, Chen Shi Tao chose not to pester him about the issue and instead began chatting with him about other topics with a smile.
After about an hour, Chen Fan Lei returned.
However, the look on his face was a bit awkward, as if he had failed to accomplish the task he had been assigned.
Upon seeing his expression, Yang Kai couldn’t help clenching his fist slightly, secretly wondering whether the other party was unwilling to bend the rules. If this was the case, then he could only choose to take two or three months to fly back to Dragon Cave Mountain from here.
Chen Shi Tao obviously also had similar speculations and after her little brother arrived, she hurriedly asked, “Fan Lei, did things not go smoothly?”
Chen Fan Lei smiled mirthlessly as a guilty look appeared on his face, shaking his head as he said, “Things really didn’t go smoothly.”
“What happened?” Chen Shi Tao asked.
“The Senior I know just happens to be out of the city. From what I heard from the others, it seems he was assigned some kind of task outside the city.”
“He’s out of the city?” Chen Shi Tao stunned, “How could he be out of the city at this exact moment? Could it be they were just trying to deceive you?”
“No, no!” Chen Fan Lei quickly waved his hand, “I found some others to ask about this matter and confirmed that the Senior I know is indeed on a mission. He just left the city a few days ago and it seems the soonest he’ll return is in three days.”
“Three days…” Chen Shi Tao murmured, turning her head to look at Yang Kai and smiling apologetically, “Little Brother Yang, I’m sorry, it seems that things won’t be as easy as I anticipated.”
“It’s fine, accidents are bound to happen,” Yang Kai replied faintly.
Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t show a displeased look, Chen Shi Tao calmed down and said, “But that Senior will be back in three days at the soonest, can you wait that long? You may rest assured, as soon as that Senior returns, we will definitely arrange for you to leave here.”
“It’s not a problem, even if I have to wait ten days it’s still fine; after all, it’s better than taking two or three months to fly back by Star Shuttle. But Brother Chen, are you certain that Senior won’t be delayed too long? If he doesn’t return for some time, it may not be worth waiting.”
“There’s no need to worry!” Chen Shi Tao smiled brightly, “If that Senior hasn’t returned after three days, we can go to another place, whether it’s Extreme Path Sect’s Gale City or Clear Sky Sect’s Black Sea City, both are only ten to fifteen days from here and both have Space Arrays which are directly connected to Heavenly Fate City. Here we have to rely on my personal connections, but in Gale City or Black Sea City we will have full authority to access the Space Array.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up slightly as the last trace of concern faded from his mind, nodding as he agreed to Chen Shi Tao’s proposal.
Since they had decided to wait for three days here, it was necessary to find a place to stay. Fortunately, there were many inns in Black Crow City, while both Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying were wealthy Young Ladies worth more than a million Saint Crystals each, so the place they chose naturally wasn’t bad.
A short time later, the group of six arrived at a top-level inn called Flying Spirit Palace.
Flying Spirit Palace was a well known establishment in Black Crow City and was among the highest quality lodgings available. Generally, the cultivators who stayed here were either rich or held extremely high status, as a single night would cost three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals.
This kind of price was quite exorbitant. One had to know that the best rooms at an average inn would only cost hundreds of Saint Crystals a night, making the price of this Flying Spirit Palace over a dozen times higher.
If it weren’t for Yang Kai helping them out twice, one of which could be counted as a life-saving grace, Chen Shi Tao wouldn’t have spent so lavishly. After all, although she had a lot of Saint Crystals now, she had never been one to waste it on frivolous luxuries. This time could only be considered her borrowing Yang Kai’s favour as an excuse to spend somewhat freely.
Although the price was ridiculously high, after seeing their accommodations, everyone felt it was a worthwhile cost.
The reason was simple, every guest staying here was given a separate three-story loft. The first floor was for entertaining guest, the second for meditating, and the third for Alchemy or Artifact Refining.
Each floor was equipped with at least seven or eight different Spirit Arrays that not only shielded against outside Divine Sense intrusions but also provided other types of protection.
On top of that, each loft came with two beautiful young maidservants. These maids were also cultivators, but their cultivations weren’t high, most of them just True Element Boundary or even Separation and Reunion Boundary cultivators; however, all of them had received careful training to greet and entertain guests. Of course, some excessive requests wouldn’t be met.
According to the cultivator who received Chen Shi Tao’s group, Flying Spirit Palace was actually the private industry of the City Lord and several other powerful Elders from the city, so safety was guaranteed as no one would dare come here to make trouble.
The cultivator who welcomed them seemed to unintentionally reveal this news, which was obviously meant as a subtle warning for Yang Kai and the others to not underestimate the background of this inn, or worse, try to stir up trouble themselves.
A group of six people, of course, didn’t need six whole lofts, so Chen Shi Tao only booked three, one she would share with Lu Ying, one that Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei would stay in, and one for Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
After all the arrangements were complete, everyone dispersed to their respective loft.
The loft where Yang Kai and Yang Yan were staying in had an ornate design and a very impactful name, the Floating Snow Moon Pavilion.
Seeing this building, Yang Yan licked her lips happily while Yang Kai held no opinions of it. The two of them quickly chose a room for themselves before sitting in meditation to rest.
An uneventful night passed, and the next day Yang Kai and Yang Yan took advantage of this opportunity to wander around Black Crow City; after all, it was their first time here, so they wanted to see if there were any local special products. If they were lucky, they might even find some useful materials.
A day of shopping with Yang Yan yielded some good results as the pair was able to buy some materials and ores that were difficult to come by in Heavenly Fate City.
The price they paid was naturally not a discounted one like when they purchased from Shadow Moon Hall, but inside Grand Burial Valley, Yang Kai and Yang Yan had obtained quite a few Saint Crystals, so naturally, they wouldn’t care about such small expenses.
By the end of the day, Yang Yan had purchased nearly fifty million Saint Crystals worth of Artifact Refining materials.
Although Yang Kai did not object, he was still shocked to witness this. At the rate Yang Yan was spending, the Saint Crystals they harvested this time may not be able to last very long; however, judging from the materials she purchased, Yang Kai vaguely felt that she really wanted to refine something astonishing.
While panicking slightly inside, Yang Kai was also quite looking forward to what the end result would be.
If not for Yang Kai worrying about drawing unwanted attention, Yang Yan would have continued dragging him around, buying up everything she was interested in. Yang Kai had not failed to notice several people paying attention to them already, quite interested in both him and Yang Yan.
This was not a surprise though, as they were clearly just a young man and woman but had spent tens of millions of Saint Crystal in a single day. This would inevitably cause some people to get ideas about them. Fortunately, these people were only curious at the moment and did not make any moves, simply following them around stealthily.
In the evening, Yang Kai and Yang Yan returned to Flying Spirit Palace, but as soon as they entered the Floating Snow Moon Pavilion, Yang Yan went straight to the third floor and secluded herself in the Artifact Refining Room there.
Helpless, Yang Kai went to the second floor to meditate.
After about two hours though, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and looked outward with a slight frown. Waving his hand, the door was opened silently by a beautiful young girl in a green dress standing outside. She was one of the two maidservants responsible for this Floating Snow Moon Pavilion.
She first greeted Yang Kai elegantly before softly explaining, “Young Lord, you have a guest. Would Young Lord like to meet with them?”
“Who is it?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“He said he was your companion and that his surname was Chen!”
“Chen?” Yang Kai was surprised, pondering for a moment before asking, “Is he by himself?”
“Yes,” The maidservant nodded gently.
Yang Kai’s lips curled into a slight smile hearing this and without waiting for the maidservant to ask again, he waved his hand lightly, “I understand, let him wait downstairs for a while, I’ll be down in a moment.”
The maidservant bowed gracefully before turning around and gracefully walking downstairs.
Yang Kai did not get up immediately, but instead sat on the spot, his eyes flashing slightly as his thoughts turned. Only after a moment of contemplation did he stand up and walk out.
On the first floor inside the hospitality room, Chen Fan Lei sat with his back straight like a sword, his well-groomed brow and bright eyes highlighting his face. Although he could not be considered incredibly handsome, he seemed to have been born with a heroic temperament, especially his eyes which always seemed to burst with life.
The two maidservants of this Floating Snow Moon Pavilion seemed quite taken with him and would casually sneak glances at his face from time to time, blushing slightly as they did so.
Chen Fan Lei had apparently noticed this but pretended not to, instead choosing to sit up straight with a serious look upon his face. However, one did not need to look too closely to notice that he was constantly fidgeting, as if he was sitting on pins and needles.
Sometime later, when Yang Kai finally came down from upstairs, Chen Fan Lei felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders and quickly got up, cupped his fists, and said, “Brother Yang, I’ve taken the liberty to pay you a visit but it seems I’ve disturbed your cultivation, I hope Brother Yang won’t take offence.”
Hearing him say this, Yang Kai wore a stunned look but soon smiled warmly and said, “Brother Chen is too polite. I was also just filling the time, so you haven’t disturbed me at all.”
Saying so, he ordered the two maidservants to prepare some tea.
The maidservant in green who had gone upstairs to inform Yang Kai of Chen Fan Lei’s arrival nodded and immediately got to work.
Not long after, not only was tea served, put a platter of exquisite spirit fruits was laid out as well.
Yang Kai didn’t know why Chen Fan Lei had suddenly run over to see him, so he didn’t rashly inquire; however, it seemed Chen Fan Lei didn’t want to explain his purpose directly and instead began talking about random things.
But Yang Kai could clearly feel that Chen Fan Lei was acting very different from usual, and for some reason the presence of the two maidservants seemed to be stressing him. Instead of his usually free and unfettered speech, Chen Fan Lei was now picking his words carefully, even speaking somewhat incoherently at times.
Whenever he would trip over his words, the two maidservants would let out a light giggle, embarrassing Chen Fan Lei even further.
Seeing this, Yang Kai seemed to understand something and lightly instructed the two maidservants, “There’s no need for you to remain here, you may go back and rest. I will call for you if I require your service.”
The two maidservants glanced at each other and, although they were a little disappointed, politely nodded before reluctantly departing, both secretly casting Chen Fan Lei a sincere glance before they left.
Yang Kai saw this and laughed dumbly despite trying not to.
After the two maidservants left and Chen Fan Lei and Yang Kai were alone, the former was obviously relieved, and his usual demeanour was instantly restored. No longer embarrassed or anxious, he began chatting freely with Yang Kai, sometimes laughing joyfully while at other times acting quite seriously as he argued over different topics related to cultivation that he disagreed with Yang Kai over.
This chat lasted for two hours, but even then, Chen Fan Lei showed no signs of saying goodbye or revealing his true intentions, so Yang Kai had no choice but to raise the subject.
[He couldn’t have forgotten why he came here, right?]
At this point, Yang Kai lightly coughed and asked, “Does Brother Chen have some specific purpose for coming to see me this time?”
Hearing this, Chen Fan Lei showed a stunned expression before immediately smacking his forehead.
[He really had forgotten!]
Seeing this, Yang Kai smiled bitterly but remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
“Actually, it’s nothing important, it’s just that Brother Yang rescued us twice in Grand Burial Valley, but after arriving here in Black Crow City, I’ve barely been able to reciprocate the favour, so I thought I should try to entertain Brother Yang.”
“Entertain?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
“Yes,” Chen Fan Lei nodded repeatedly, “I’ve heard there is a very interesting place in Black Crow City. This Chen has long been curious about it but has never had an opportunity to patronize it, but now that we are in this situation, I thought I’d invite Brother Yang to accompany me. I wonder if Brother Yang is interested?”
“An interesting place?” Yang Kai suddenly became curious, “What kind of place is it?”
Chen Fan Lei’s face suddenly showed a hint of embarrassment, but that soon disappeared and with a meaningful grin, he said, “Allow this Chen to keep that a secret for now. When we arrive, Brother Yang will naturally understand.”
Yang Kai looked at him with a smile and pondered for a while before nodding, “Sure, since Brother Chen has come to invite me, then I will accompany you. Should we also call Sister Chen and the others?”
“Absolutely not!” Chen Fan Lei’s complexion changed as he waved his hands frantically, “This matter can never be known by her, otherwise she’ll skin me alive! I wouldn’t have come to visit so late at night if it weren’t specifically to avoid her noticing.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai’s thoughts flashed, suddenly guessing what kind of place Chen Fan Lei wanted to go to, but after thinking about it for a moment, he asked, “What about Brother Wang?”
“Senior Brother Wang, he went out during the day and said that he was visiting one of his family Elders here. I do not know when he will return. We don’t have to wait for him.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “Since that’s the case, let’s go.”
Chen Fan Lei saw Yang Kai agree and his spirits lifted, immediately nodding before leading the way.
Together, the pair left Flying Spirit Palace and quickly blended into the crowds of Black Crow City.
At night, Black Crow City seemed livelier than during the day as even more cultivators were now coming and going. Chen Fan Lei had apparently made preparations before, so he quickly led Yang Kai down a series of roads with great familiarity.
Soon, the pair arrived at a seemingly inconspicuous mansion. At the door of this establishment were two Saint Realm cultivators in black armour holding spears, their eyes coldly glancing around their surroundings.
At first glance, there was nothing special about this place, and it truly seemed to be an ordinary mansion, but when Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to investigate it, he was surprised to find that many barriers had been arranged here and he was actually unable to learn anything about its internal situation.
However, from time to time, some cultivators would swaggeringly enter this building. These cultivators had uneven cultivations, but regardless of their strength, the two guard-like cultivators at the door turned a blind eye to them, without even asking any questions.
This inevitably aroused Yang Kai’s curiosity as he wondered what exactly this place was for it to be so lively.
After arriving here, Chen Fan Lei did not proceed any further, his eyes staring at this mansion seriously, but also with a faint feeling of excitement. Yang Kai clearly noticed that Chen Fan Lei’s temperature had risen slightly, and his pulse had become faster.
Casting him a suspicious glance, Chen Fan Lei simply smiled back at Yang Kai and said, “This is the place, let’s go inside.”
Saying so, just like the cultivators who had entered previously, the two of them walked right inside, the two guards out front not trying to block or interrogate them in the slightest.
Upon entering the mansion and crossing a short black stone path, then turning a few corners, the pair were suddenly greeted by a very lively scene with a strong fragrance of wine and women lingering in the air. Bursts of crisp and sweet laughter echoed about as a wondrous melody played in the background.
There was actually an earthly paradise inside this place!
Yang Kai looked around in amazement and quickly saw an open-air courtyard with countless banquet tables where guests where constantly coming and going while drinking and celebrating. Most notably though was that on the arms of each of these guests were charming young women who were clearly flattering and flirting with them. These women all had different styles and temperaments, and they were all dressed quite diversely as well, some wearing tight-fitting highly exposing dresses while others were dressed up as noble young ladies, but without exception, all of them were great beauties.
This scene stunned Yang Kai as he realized that the ‘interesting place,’ Chen Fan Lei wanted to bring himself was just as he had guessed.
This was clearly similar to the brothels in cities where ordinary mortals lived!
However, this place was countless times bigger than an average brothel, because the people who came and went from here were all cultivators, and the women who accompanied them were also cultivators. At the very least, when Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to sweep the crowd in front of him, he found no one with a cultivation lower than the True Element Boundary. The women, however, did not have very high strength, the strongest being just Immortal Ascension Boundary Third or Fourth Stage.
While it was slightly different for the male guests, no one had a cultivation higher than the Saint Realm, which was only slightly higher than the cultivations of the women accompanying them.
Chen Fan Lei being interested in this kind of place surprised Yang Kai.
Turning his head and glancing at him, Yang Kai could not help feeling dumbstruck once again.
The current Chen Fan Lei seemed like he had lost his soul, his jaw dropped as he stared at the exaggerated scene in front of him, the mere visual impact apparently having been enough to make him lose the ability to think or act. On top of that, his face was now a bright shade of crimson.
Yang Kai shook his head wryly and was just about to wake him up when a young woman suddenly walked over to them. This woman wore a gorgeous formal dress and had a face the colour of peach blossoms. Her beautiful eyes shimmer like stars and her twin peaks were rich and full, contrasting greatly with her slim, graceful waist and long slender legs. Arriving in front of the two young men, this young woman bowed elegantly and spoke, “This Mistress greets two Young Lords.”
After she spoke, she glanced over at Chen Fan Lei lightly, covered her mouth with her hand and tittered sweetly.
However, it was obviously not the first time she had witnessed such a reaction so she didn’t pay him much mind, instead quickly continuing, “Two Young Lords look unfamiliar, could it be this is your first time visiting our Joyous Union Pavilion?”
Yang Kai shot a glance over at Chen Fan Lei and saw that he was still in a daze. Sighing slightly as he realized he couldn’t expect anything from him for a while, Yang Kai gently nodded and replied, “Yeah, we are indeed the first time patrons, but we have long heard rumours of your famous establishment, so as we were passing through Black Crow City, we specially came here to see it for ourselves.”
“So that’s how it is,” The young woman heard these words and nodded lightly, brushing her hair behind her ear in what seemed to be an unintentionally flirtatious manner before smiling and saying, “I hope we have not disappointed two Young Lords’ expectations. If you are satisfied, would you like this Mistress to arrange a private room for you?”
She could tell that Yang Kai and Chen Fan Lei had strong cultivations and knew they would not be content to simply remain in this open square, so she took the initiative to make such a proposal.
Of course, Yang Kai had no objections, nodded, and allowed her to make appropriate arrangements.
The young woman responded with a nod and quickly led the two through the square and into an exquisite loft a slight distance away.
At the same time, in a chamber deep inside the Joyous Union Pavilion, an old man and a young man sat cross-legged across from each other. The old man had a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation while the young man was a Third-Order Saint King.
The old man sat calmly as he quietly circulated his Secret Art, not showing the slightest signs of anxiousness; however, the well-dressed young man seemed to be distracted and would frown from time to time, looking outside.
“Yu Han, you need to temper your heart and mind again,” The old man’s eyes did not open but he still spoke authoritatively.
The youth opposite him trembled slightly and showed a look of embarrassment on his face, respectfully nodding as he said, “What Seventh Grandfather said is correct, Yu Han is still too immature.”
The old man smiled slightly and opened his eyes to look at the youth opposite him, “You don’t have to rebuke yourself too harshly; after all, this matter is related to your future, naturally you should act careful about it. Although our Wang Family is not a small family, it is not a big one either. In the current younger generation, you are the most talented and the only one able to join Extreme Path Sect. Now that you have cultivated to the Third-Order Saint King Realm, as long as you have enough opportunity, breaking through to the Origin Returning threshold is not impossible. When that time comes, you and I will be the pillars of our Wang Family. Additionally, your background is also much better than this old master’s, so you will probably be able to go further than this old master in the future.”
“Seventh Grandfather thinks too highly of me. Yu Han was only able to have his current achievements thanks to the family’s great blessings. If I can rise up in the future, I certainly will not bring shame to our Wang Family.”
“Hearing you say so makes me feel reassured. If it were not you but some other clansman who asked this old master for such a favour, I would have immediately refused. Although I was able to become a manger of this Joyous Union Pavilion, you should also know that this place is secretly supported by Imperial City Sect and has the backing of the City Lord. If some kind of accident were to happen here, the consequences would not be something my Wang Family could afford.”
“Yu Han understands, but this time the one I need to deal with is just a Second-Order Saint King and there is no need to confront him directly, just tarnishing his reputation will be enough. There should be no problem.”
“If not for this, how could I have agreed to your request?” The old man snorted before shifting the topic with a chuckle, “Does that woman you fancy truly come from a big force like Clear Sky Sect?”
“Yes!” The youth opposite him nodded as his spirit seemed to rise, immediately following up, “Not only does she come from Clear Sky Sect, she also has extremely high status and possesses a great amount of wealth. At least a million Saint Crystals!”
“A million?” The old man was truly surprised, and a hint of greed flashed across his eyes, “She is just a trivial Third-Order Saint King, how can she possess such wealth?”
“Her luck was incredibly good. When she entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, she discovered an underground Saint Crystal lode where she spent five months collecting several tens of millions of Saint Crystals. After returning to Clear Sky Sect, most of those were handed over to the Sect, but she was still allowed to keep a portion of them.”
“I see!” The old man’s doubts were cleared instantly, and he nodded, “If that’s the case, then you absolutely cannot let go of her easily. You must do whatever it takes to win over that woman; as long as you can obtain her heart, your future cultivation path will be smooth and you will never need to worry about having enough resources.”
“Yu Han also thinks so, otherwise I would not have had to deal with that little brat surnamed Yang. I know that little brat also has his eyes on Sister Chen, but as long as I can expose him coming to this place, Sister Chen will definitely disdain to see him again.”
“This method is truly good, but are you certain he will come here?” The old man asked again.
The young man smiled and declared, “I cannot say I am absolutely certain, but I am at least eighty percent confident.”
“Let me hear the details then…” The old man asked with interest.
The young man proceeded to explain his scheme, with the old man nodding from time to time, showing his approval.
A moment later, a soft voice suddenly came from outside and the old man’s eyes flashed. After listening to this message, the old man muttered, “They’ve come.”
“Really?” The young man asked joyfully.
“Yes!” The old man looked at the young man with a smile and tossed him something, “Your plan is sound. You can now carry out the next step. You can handle this yourself. This is my manager token. So long as you have it, others here will cooperate with you for most minor matters. “
The young man caught the token and quickly bowed, “Many thanks, Seventh Grandfather!”
…..
In a separate lost inside Joyous Union Pavilion, Yang Kai and Chen Fan Lei had sat down casually while the young woman who had led them here had taken her leave. There was no one else inside this building except Yang Kai and Chen Fan Lei.
There was a pot of spirit tea set on the table, and while Yang Kai didn’t drink a drop, Chen Fan Lei had already poured himself several cups, seemingly wanting to use this spirit tea to extinguish the flames in his body.
While he was drinking this tea, Yang Kai just observed him with a smile.
After a while, Yang Kai suddenly said, “Brother Chen, could this be your first time visiting this kind of place?”
“En…” Chen Fan Lei nodded with a deep look of embarrassment on his face, a moment later suddenly looking up at Yang Kai and asking, “Looking at Brother Yang’s relaxed expression, could it be you’re very experienced with this type of thing?”
“Nonsense!” Yang Kai put on a serious face, “This is also my first time visiting such a place.”
“Haha…” Chen Fan Lei let out a dry laugh, not knowing whether to believe Yang Kai or not.
Yang Kai suddenly stared at Chen Fan Lei solemnly, “Brother Chen should not have wanted to visit this place for no reason. You do not seem like the type who indulges in these kinds of activities. Do you have a specific objective for coming here tonight? Could you explain to me?”
Chen Fan Lei smiled bitterly, “Did Brother Yang see through me?”
“I was simply speculating,” Yang Kai said in a non-committal tone.
“Since that’s the case, this Chen won’t try to act mysterious,” Chen Fan Lei took a breath and calmed himself down greatly before explaining, “Does Brother Yang believe this place is purely for seeking entertainment and pleasure?”
“It’s not?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Naturally, it isn’t. If it was just about seeking pleasure, there are plenty of other places to do so in Black Crow City, there’s no need to specifically come here,” Chen Fan Lei said while quickly regaining his normal condition; after all, he was still a Saint King Realm cultivator so he had at least that much mental discipline.
“Oh? Is there something special here that can attract Brother Chen’s attention?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“Actually, this is an open secret. Anyone who visits Joyous Union Pavilion should have the same purpose as I. Although there is also a pure entertainment and pleasure seeking business here, there are also a number of specially cultivated women here who had trained in a special Dual Cultivation Technique that is said to be quite helpful for males hoping to break through bottlenecks!”
“A Dual Cultivation Technique used to break through bottlenecks?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as immediately understood what Chen Fan Lei wanted to do here.
“Yeah,” Chen Fan Lei nodded lightly, “Last time I was going to take advantage of the Thunder Pond to break through my bottleneck, but unfortunately I was disturbed by that Silver Night Thunder Beast which resulted in my attempt failing. However, I was still able to soak in the Thunder Pond for several days and I can tell that I am just half a step away from breaking through. If I were to rely only on my own hard work, I don’t know how long it will take me to succeed, so I decided to take a chance here. If my luck is good, I will be able to save a lot of time, effort, and pills, and even if I wind up unlucky, it won’t cause any harm and I can simply return to the Sect and continue practicing.”
“So that’s it,” Yang Kai suddenly realized why when Chen Fan Lei first came to his loft and was being observed by those two maidservants he had seemingly felt intense stress. Originally, he wanted to come to this kind of place to try to break through his bottleneck.
“Did Brother Chen learn about this method on his own?” Yang Kai asked seemingly casually.
“No, it was actually Senior Brother Wang who told me about this secret place in Black Crow City when I was discussing with him about how to break through my bottleneck earlier today. I was hoping to come together with Senior Brother Wang but unfortunately he went out and didn’t inform me when he would return, so I could only ask Brother Yang to accompany me as I was too embarrassed to come by myself. I hope Brother Yang won’t blame me,” Chen Fan Lei said apologetically.