After all, Yang Kai was just a Third-Order Saint King, and although this bucktoothed man was only a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, it was not an exaggeration to say most Second-Order Origin Realm masters were not his opponent, so naturally, he felt a sense of superiority.
Without sparing Yang Kai a second glance, he turned his eyes to Yang Yan.
In that instant, the face of this bucktoothed cultivator changed dramatically, as if he had just seen something impossible, causing him to stumble backwards involuntarily, directly bumping into the door he just walked through with a loud thud. With a look of shock and fear, his slit eyes shot open as he lifted his finger and pointed at Yang Yan while muttering, “You… you you…”
“Nephew Ge, what’s wrong?” Yan Pei looked at him in amazement before glancing back at Yang Yan, not knowing why he suddenly looked like he had seen a ghost.
Yang Kai was also suspicious and quietly asked Yang Yan, “Do you know him?”
Yang Yan shook her head blankly and replied, “I’ve never seen him.”
“Could he have mistaken you for someone else?” Yang Kai became even more confused. Although Yang Yan had reached an astonishing height in the fields of Artifact Refining and Spirit Array arranging, she had always maintained a temperate personality and shouldn’t have made any enemies. However, from the reaction of this bucktoothed cultivator, it was clear that the other party was absolutely terrified of Yang Yan, as if he had suffered a massive loss at her hands before, ingraining fear of her into his very soul.
“Nephew Ge!” Yan Pei called out loudly, sending an invisible pulse of Spiritual Energy to the bucktoothed cultivator which forcefully shook him out of his shock.
Under the effects of this pulse, the fear in the eyes of this cultivator surnamed Ge faded significantly, but his forehead was still saturated with cold sweat and his face visibly turned from blue to white.
[What is this all about?] Yang Kai muttered to himself unhappily. Even if this person had suffered some kind of loss at Yang Yan’s hands before, did he need to act so miserably when simply meeting her again? What’s more, Yang Yan clearly said she didn’t recognize this man, so it was quite likely the other party had simply mistaken her for someone else.
Acting so frightened for such a reason, it seemed this bucktoothed man was just an embroidered pillow. Yang Kai coldly snorted and could not help looking down on this man.
Finally recovering somewhat, the cultivator surnamed Ge continually wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hands. Unfortunately, both his hands quickly became soaked, he next resorted to using his sleeves, soaking them in short order as well.
While wiping his sweat, he kept glancing over at Yang Yan, but he never stared at her for more than a moment, quickly looking away in fear and awe.
Seeing this, Yang Yan pursed her lips and smiled, suddenly finding this person quite interesting. Immediately grinning widely, she stared at this man fixedly with her pair of beautiful eyes, and under her intense gaze, this cultivator surnamed Ge’s legs slowly began trembling and his eyes began darting around, as if he couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into or a way to quickly flee from this place.
Seeing this disgraceful display, Yan Pei did not know whether to laugh or cry and quickly called out, “Nephew Ge, we should continue our discussion.”
The cultivator surnamed Ge seemed like he wanted to laugh but was only able to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than if he had been crying and stutteringly asked Yang Yan, “Dare I ask this young lady’s high… no no, honoured name!”
Just speaking this sentence alone seemed to use up all his strength and after he finished, he anxiously began gulping.
Yan Pei rubbed his forehead seeing this, as he was struck speechless.
He knew a little bit about this disciple of his old friend and understood that this bucktoothed man had secluded himself from the world along with his master, but although that meant his life experience wasn’t great, his cultivation aptitude was Heaven defying. It was for this reason that even as a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator, this bucktoothed man could defeat enemies above his realm, making him an elite amongst the elite.
This time, his old friend had assigned this task to his disciple, and any troubles this bucktoothed man had encountered along the way were solved with overwhelming force.
This cultivator surnamed Ge was by no means a timid person. Despite his appearance being somewhat dreadful, he was without a doubt bold and imposing. Yan Pei even intended to ask his old friend to let this cultivator surnamed Ge take up an important position in Treasure Trove Pavilion.
All of this was why the scene Yan Pei was seeing was so unbelievable. Even if this little girl was hiding some kind of astonishing methods, there was no need for this bucktoothed man to act so scared, was there? What’s more, this little girl appeared harmless to humans and animals alike.
“Me?” Yang Yan smiled lightly and charmingly, making this cultivator surnamed Ge not dare look at her directly, “My name is Yang Yan. Is there something Your Excellency would like to say to me?”
“Yang Yan…” The cultivator surnamed Ge trembled visibly and nearly collapsed onto his butt, muttering this name repeatedly to himself before suddenly straightening himself up, cupping his fists, and bowing deeply, “This one doesn’t dare. My name is Ge Qi, but please just call me Xiao Qi.”
As he spoke, Ge Qi put on his best flattering smile, but with his great buck teeth it only made him look more dreadful than before.
“Xiao Qi!” Yang Yan gently nodded, hiding her smile and replacing it with a noble expression as she lightly called out, “Xiao Qi.”
“Yes!” Ge Qi responded quickly, bowing nearly parallel to the floor.
“Am I that ugly?” Yang Yan seemed to ask casually.
This remark boomed like a thunderbolt on the sunny day in Ge Qi’s ears, causing his face to pale greatly as he frantically waved his hand, “No, no, Young Lady’s appearance shames the moon and flowers alike, in no way related to the word ugly.”
“Is that so?” Yang Yan raised her brow and pressed the issue, “Then why did it seem like you saw a ghost when you first laid eyes upon me? I began to think my appearance was frightful.”
Ge Qi became more and more terrified as he teetered on the verge of crying, “That’s not true, Young Lady is, is…”
“Is what?” Yang Yan asked in a forceful manner as she suddenly gave off a dignified and majestic aura.
This scene caused both Yang Kai and Yan Pei to stare in shock, because the majesty Yang Yan was suddenly radiating was not something one could simply fake, but instead carried with it a kind of overwhelming pressure that made one unconsciously wish to submit. At that moment, even Yan Pei felt as if Yang Yan stood at a height far beyond his own.
Under this invisible coercion, Ge Qi became even more miserable as his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, before he could hit the floor, Yan Pei waved his hand and managed to hold him up before lightly coughing and turning to Yang Kai. “Little Friend Yang, this…”
Yang Kai gently nodded and glared at Yang Yan, “Don’t make trouble!”
Regardless of anything else, Ge Qi was still a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, so although Yang Kai did not know why he was so afraid of Yang Yan, he couldn’t allow her to continue playing tricks on him.
Yang Yan spat out her tongue playfully and pouted, “Who asked him to be so timid?”
[Timid…] Yan Pei smiled wryly, this disciple of his old friend could not be described as timid, it was just today that he had acted in such a strange fashion. As for why this was all happening, Yan Pei had no ideas.
“Brother Ge!” Yang Kai stood up and cupped his fists slightly to Ge Qi, putting a smile on his face as he said, “My Senior Sister is a bit mischievous and likes making jokes, I hope Brother Ge will not take offence.”
“Senior Sister?” Ge Qi froze for a moment before the look he directed towards Yang Kai swiftly changed, all of the contempt and disdain vanishing as he nodded vigorously, “I wouldn’t dare. This friend is too polite.”
Yang Kai scratched his forehead helplessly. He could see that in front of Yang Yan this Ge Qi was like a mouse that ran into a cat. Pondering for a moment, Yang Kai proposed, “Yang Yan, could you go out first? I want to speak with Brother Ge about something.”
“Oh?” Hearing this, Yang Yan pouted with displeasure.
“There’s no need!” Ge Qi quickly waved his hand again, as if making Yang Yan wait outside for him was a sin worthy of death.
Yang Yan also secretly began feeling a headache. She had just wanted to tease this person a little bit, but now seeing him act so submissive and frantic, even she felt a bit apologetic.
Seeing Ge Qi looking at him with an almost imploring look, Yang Kai smiled bitterly and gave a glance at Yang Yan. Yang Yan understood what he meant and quickly concealed her face with her black robe and sat back quietly.
Seeing this, Ge Qi exhaled heavily.
“Brother Ge, please sit down,” Yang Kai greeted with a smile.
Ge Qi looked at Yan Pei for direction, and seeing him nod gently, he hesitantly sat down. His appearance remained that of a Junior meeting his Elders, and even though he was sitting, his muscles were taut, fully illustrating his continued anxiety.
Yang Kai and Yan Pei both saw this clearly but neither of them commented on it.
“From what Senior Yan has said, it seems that the Star Emperor Token that appeared earlier was brought here by Brother Ge, yes?” Yang Kai asked Ge Qi.
“Yes,” Ge Qi nodded bitterly while quietly glancing over at Yang Yan before for some reason taking the initiative to explain, “If not for having no choice, my Martial Ancestor would never have taken this Star Emperor Token to use in an exchange, but currently, we simply have no other options. Please understand this, Brother Yang, Sister Yang Yan.”
After hearing this, Yang Kai seemed to suddenly understand something that, if true, would explain Ge Qi’s inexplicable actions up until now.
“And what Brother Ge wants in exchange for this Star Emperor Token is a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or the whereabouts of Soul Cleansing Divine Water?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Yes!” Ge Qi nodded cautiously.
“Although this Yang made Senior Yan call Brother Ge here, I should mention up front that I have neither a Flowing Flame Flying Fire nor information about Soul Cleansing Divine Water.”
“That’s fine,” Ge Qi said completely earnestly, “If Brother Yang wants this Star Emperor Token, please just allow this Ge to report about this matter to my Martial Ancestor. If Ancestor agrees, delivering it to Brother Yang… and Sister Yang Yan should not be a problem.”
“Eh…” Yang Kai looked at Ge Qi in amazement before quickly waving his hand, “This Yang did not mean to imply that. Although this Star Emperor Token’s Divine Ability has already been used, it is still a treasure refined personally by the Starry Sky Great Emperor and is of extraordinary value. This Yang has no intention of receiving it for free. What I wished to ask from the start was, could Brother Ge’s Martial Ancestor have a problem with their Knowledge Sea?”
After listening to Yang Kai’s inquiry, Yan Pei’s eyes flashed in surprise, finding it quite astonishing that Yang Kai was able to make this kind of connection. As an old friend to this mysterious master, Yan Pei naturally knew why the other party would resort to trading this Star Emperor Token at this time.
More surprising though was that Ge Qi openly admitted this with a nod, “Brother Yang is correct. My Martial Ancestor was plotted against by a wicked enemy half a year ago and had her Knowledge Sea poisoned, which is why I need a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or Soul Cleansing Divine Water, because according to Martial Ancestor, only these two things are capable of detoxifying this poison.”
“So, that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded confidently before reaching out, touching his Space Ring, and taking out a jade bottle which he handed to Ge Qi, “Although I do not have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or information on a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Brother Ge may wish to see if this pill meets the requirements of your Martial Ancestor.”
Even after conversing a bit, Ge Qi’s expression was still filled with caution, but his emotions had at least stabilized somewhat, so after directing a somewhat suspicious look towards Yang Kai, he nodded and accepted the jade bottle.
Ge Qi carefully opened the bottle and was instantly hit with a delicate medicinal fragrance that caused his furrowed brow to stretch as a look of surprise filled his face because the moment he inhaled this pill fragrance, he felt his soul become somewhat refreshed.
Pouring out the pill from its bottle, Ge Qi’s eyes instantly bulged.
“This is…” Yan Pei, who was sitting to the side, also straightened up, his eyes fixed on this pill, his expression filled with shock and disbelief.
Although Ge Qi had secluded himself from the world with his Martial Ancestor for many years, he was still an Origin Realm cultivator and was able to judge the quality of treasures.
Meanwhile, as the chief auctioneer of Treasure Trove Pavilion, Yan Pei had seen many valuables during his life, so his vision was naturally quite extraordinary.
The two of them instantly recognized how extraordinary this pill was.
“An Origin Grade High-Rank pill?” Yan Pei called out in alarm, paying no heed to his age or status as he quickly snatched the pill from Ge Qi’s hands and held it in his own to investigate it.
“It really is an Origin Grade High-Rank pill?” Ge Qi asked in disbelief.
“Yes! It is indeed an Origin Grade High-Rank pill! This colour, this fragrance, the medicinal efficacy stored inside it, there’s no doubt it is an Origin Grade High-Rank pill!” Yan Pei shouted.
Yan Pei could not be blamed for his extreme reaction as, on Shadowed Star, Origin Grade High-Rank pills were legendary existences. Here, the highest grade of Alchemist was Origin Grade Low-Rank; it was impossible to advance beyond that. It was also well known that when an Alchemist refined pills, there was a high chance of failure, so even those Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists didn’t dare claim they had a one hundred percent chance to refine an Origin Grade Low-Rank pill.
On occasion, with extremely good luck and some auxiliary methods, these Alchemists could refine an Origin Grade Mid-Rank pill, each one of them selling for an incredible price or more often hidden away by the force which refined it to ensure the outside world never learned of its existence
But an Origin Grade High-Rank pill… To put it bluntly, with the level of Alchemy on Shadowed Star, no one was capable of refining one.
Over its many years of existence, Treasure Trove Pavilion had managed to obtain a handful of pills of this grade, but without exception, they were found in Ancient Ruins and had already lost most of their medicinal efficacies. Only once had one such pill which was still in relatively good condition been taken to auction and Yan Pei vividly remembered how all the great forces on Shadowed Star had competed madly for it, almost resulting in war.
During that Treasure Trove Pavilion auction, many had almost lost their lives, and whenever he thought back to that day, Yan Pei could not help trembling.
Now, after so many years, another Origin Grade High-Rank pill had appeared in front of his eyes. No matter what kind of effect this pill had, its value was inestimable.
However, since Yang Kai had taken this pill out at this time, Yan Pei had a fairly good idea about what effects it had.
“This is a Soul Cleansing Pill, perhaps Senior Yan has heard of it,” Yang Kai smiled lightly before taking a sip of his tea.
“Soul Cleansing Pill, it really is a Soul Cleansing Pill!” Yan Pei exclaimed, “This is the perfect pill for this situation!”
“Senior Yan, do you mean…” Ge Qi turned to look at Yan Pei and asked hesitantly.
“Take it,” Yan Pei poured the Soul Cleansing Pill in his hand back into its jade bottle and threw it to Ge Qi, “This Soul Cleansing Pill is enough to resolve Nephew Ge’s crisis. Although its effects are not as profound as Soul Cleansing Divine Water or a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, it is actually better suited to your need.”
“Really?” Ge Qi was overjoyed.
“You think this old master will deceive you?” Yan Pei snorted, “The reason why Nephew Ge didn’t try to exchange for such a pill was presumably because you didn’t believe an Origin Grade High-Rank pill would exist in this world and thus settled on using a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or Soul Cleansing Divine Water, but this pill’s effects are perfect to your Martial Ancestor’s condition. Nephew Ge is truly lucky.”
Ge Qi heard this, and his face filled with joy, quickly and carefully storing this Soul Cleansing Pill into his Space Ring before profusely thanking Yang Kai.
“Brother Ge is too polite, we both simply exchanged for what we wanted,” Yang Kai smiled and waved his hand. This Soul Cleansing Pill was, of course, something he refined during his last retreat. During his last seclusion, Yang Kai had refined many pills, but only a few of them were Origin Grade High-Rank, one of them just so happened to be this Soul Cleansing Pill though.
During the auction, when Yan Pei said that the owner of this Star Emperor Token wanted to exchange it for a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or the whereabouts of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Yang Kai had guessed that the other party was suffering some kind of problem with their Knowledge Sea, and if that was the case, this Soul Cleansing Pill would no doubt be the best solution to use.
Accepting the Soul Cleansing Pill, Ge Qi naturally handed the Star Emperor Token over to Yang Kai. Examining it slightly, Yang Kai found that it was no different from the Star Emperor Token he obtained in the Flowing Flame Sand Field last time and simply tossed it into his Space Ring.
Having completed his task, Ge Qi could not wait to leave this place and return to his Martial Ancestor to deliver the Soul Cleansing Pill.
Before leaving though, Ge Qi solemnly cupped his fists and said, “If Martial Ancestor recovers, we will surely come to express our gratitude. At that time, I hope Sister Yang Yan will not refuse our visit!”
Having said what he needed to say, he nodded to Yan Pei before hurrying off.
Inside the room, Yang Kai rubbed his nose as he turned a somewhat confused look towards Yan Pei. Ge Qi’s words before leaving had been quite meaningful, imply that his Martial Ancestor would pay a visit to Yang Yan rather than Yang Kai; it was all quite intriguing.
“Senior Yan, this Brother Ge…”
“Little friend does not need to inquire, if my old friend really comes to visit, you will naturally understand at that time. If they do not, then this old master will not reveal their identities. However, Little Friend Yang should know that although my old friend has been in seclusion for many years, she has an incredibly resounding name and status!” Yan Pei smiled lightly and inscrutably before suddenly asking in a low voice, “Yes, Little Friend Yang, about that Soul Cleansing Pill…”
Yang Kai, of course, knew what Yan Pei was thinking and quickly shook his head, “That was the only one.”
Obviously, Yan Pei would not believe him so easily, but instead of continuing to struggle, he gave Yang Kai a thoughtful look, “Was this pill something Little Friend Yang obtained by chance?”
“Yeah,” Yang Kai nodded, “Senior Yan should know about my origins, but even in the outside world, Origin Grade High-Rank pills are rare treasures, so I’m afraid I must disappoint you.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yan Pei sighed and smiled, “Very well, if Little Friend Yang ever finds such a good pill again, please consider bringing it to Treasure Trove Pavilion to auction, I guarantee the price will definitely satisfy you.”
“Certainly,” Yang Kai replied casually.
Yan Pei chuckled, got up, and said, “Alright then, this old master will also do his best to search for the thing Little Friend Yang asked about. If I do find an Earth Attribute treasure of appropriate grade, I will inform you as soon as possible.”
“Many thanks, Senior Yan.” Yang Kai also stood up, “This Junior will take his leave then.”
After exiting Treasure Trove Pavilion, Yang Kai cast a curious look towards Yang Yan, secretly wondering what this mysterious woman had done before he met her and why Ge Qi seemed to be so frightened and cautious around her.
However, he truly had no clues to work with. Yang Yan had always been quite a mystery, and the more he was around her, the more Yang Kai was unable to see through her.
The one thing Yang Kai could be sure of though was that Yang Yan had no malicious intent towards him, allowing him to relax.
“Yang Kai, it seems that someone is observing us,” Yang Yan suddenly whispered once they left Heavenly Fate City.
“Oh?” Hearing this, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense immediately and soon realized that there was indeed someone hidden nearby, but the cultivation level of this person was not too high, only reaching the First-Order Origin Returning Realm. On top of that, it was not just one person but a group of people.
Although it was clear these people didn’t have good intentions, Yang Kai couldn’t sense any murderous intent from them, so after a little bit of thought, he immediately understood who they were and smiled lightly as he said, “Don’t worry about them, this area is still within Heavenly Fate City’s jurisdiction, they won’t dare attack us. Let us head back first.”
Saying so, he flew off towards Dragon Cave Mountain with Yang Yan.
A moment later, the two landed outside the Mountain Defending Array and Yang Kai said to Yang Yan, “You go back first, I’ll talk to them here.”
“Understood,” Yang Yan nodded, not saying another word as she walked forward. The defensive array obviously could not block Yang Yan in the slightest and it wasn’t long before her figure disappeared completely.
After Yang Yan left, Yang Kai turned around with a smile on his face and called out loudly, “After following me all this way, you’re still not coming out?”
No response came.
Yang Kai was not surprised by this though and just continued smiling, “Since you don’t want to come out, I will say goodbye here.”
Seeing that Yang Kai really intended to leave, the cultivators who had hidden finally could not contain themselves. On his left, with a series of ripples, a group of six people appeared while on the right, in a flash of light, another group roughly the same size appeared.
As soon as these two groups appeared, they began directing fierce glares laced with hostile intent at one another.
The group on the left were contaminated with a faint Monster Qi and their robes were embroidered with various birds and beasts. Needless to say, these people were from Myriad Beast Mountain as only disciples from Myriad Beast Mountain, who dealt with Monster Beast all day, would themselves have persistent Monster Qi on them.
As for the group of people on the right, although their cultivations were about the same as the group of the left, the vitality they exuded was clearly stronger, and a faint bloody smell lingered about their bodies.
Demon Blood Temple!
Yang Kai’s eyes fell on one person in particular on his right. Raising his brow slightly, Yang Kai cupped his fists and smiled, “Brother Deng, long time no see.”
This man smiled bitterly and showed a helpless look before returning the greeting, “Brother Yang is doing well it seems!”
The words spoken between these two clearly indicated that they were familiar with one another, causing the group from Myriad Beast Mountain on the left to frown slightly while Origin Returning Realm master who led the group of the right smiled and asked, “Do you know this little brother?”
“En,” Hearing his Elder’s question, the cultivator surnamed Deng nodded helplessly.
“Oh?” The Origin Returning Realm master grinned. “Since you know him, this will be easy to handle. Deng Ning, explain to this little brother here carefully about how Elder Jin Shi needs that Profound Gold. See if you can make him see reason.”
This Demon Blood Temple disciple was none other than Deng Ning, whom Yang Kai had met once before. When Yang Kai emerged from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he happened to encounter this Deng Ning being chased down by two of his fellow Sect Brothers. After helping him conveniently, Yang Kai had acquired the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from Deng Ning. This Secret Technique’s power was immense and had helped Yang Kai quite a lot.
Later, Deng Ning had also brought Yang Kai to Demon Blood City, where he used a mixture of personal connections and contribution points to allow Yang Kai to use the Space Array to teleport to a city nearby Heavenly Fate City.
From their brief interaction, Yang Kai’s perception of Deng Ning was quite good. Although the Demon Blood Temple that Deng Ning belonged to had a rather poor reputation, that was not a problem when it came to private relationships.
Yang Kai had not expected Deng Ning to come to Heavenly Fate City this time though; but seeing how he was just part of a group from Demon Blood Temple, Yang Kai wasn’t about to blame him for following orders.
What’s more, the relationship he shared with Deng Ning wasn’t even on the level of friendship, so a minor event like this didn’t matter much, to begin with.
Receiving orders, Deng Ning turned a helpless look to Yang Kai, but before he could speak, Yang Kai simply raised his hand to stop him and declared, “Brother Deng need not say any more since this Profound Gold is of great use to me. I will not hand it over to anyone, please withdraw!”
The expression on the face of the Origin Realm master leading Demon Blood Temple’s group instantly became gloomy, but just as he was about to say something, a burly man over on Myriad Beast Mountain’s side let out a laugh, “Boy, don’t be in such a hurry to make a decision, you should first hear the price we’re offering. Although my Myriad Beast Mountain is not quite on par with Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect, it is still a first-class Sect. I’m certain we can make you an offer you won’t be able to refuse.”
This man spoke casually, but the meaning of threat in his voice was not lost on anyone present.
The Demon Blood Temple Origin Returning Realm master immediately sneered, “Your tone is quite bold, what are you planning on offer? If you had enough capital from the beginning, why did you shrink back during the auction?”
The burly man leading Myriad Beast Mountain’s group just coldly snorted, not bothering to address the Demon Blood Temple man and instead stared directly at Yang Kai, his lips wriggling as he used his Divine Sense to send a message, “Boy, I can see you don’t lack Saint Crystals, otherwise you wouldn’t have offered such a high price back at the auction, but my Myriad Beast Mountain has our own unique means of bargaining. I can take responsibility here to offer you thirty Seventh-Order Monster Beasts and ten Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, with a method of controlling them of course, as long as you hand over that Profound Gold. En, your little hill here is not very broad, so if you were to have these Monster Beasts to help you guard it, it would become far more secure. I cannot make any guarantees, but such a force would be more than enough to deter most troubles. How about it?”
Objectively, this price was neither high nor low, but it was definitely not equal to the amount of Saint Crystals Yang Kai had paid; after all, Seventh-Order Monster Beasts were only equivalent to Saint Realm cultivators while Eighth-Order ones were on par with Saint Kings.
Myriad Beast Mountain clearly wanted to pick up a bargain here, but with all the layers of protection around Dragon Cave Mountain, what use would Yang Kai have for these few Monster Beasts?
So even if the other party had shown some slight sincerity, Yang Kai decisively shook his head.
The lead man from Myriad Beast Mountain frowned slightly but continued to bargain, “I can add five more Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, but that is as high as my Myriad Beast Mountain is willing to go, you best think hard about your answer!”
“I already said, this Profound Gold is mine now, I won’t be selling it for any price. Please withdraw,” Yang Kai looked at him lightly.
“Little brat, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Don’t think I don’t dare flatten your tiny hill right here and now!” The burly man flew into a rage seeing Yang Kai bluntly refuse his face-saving offer.
Hearing his intimidation though, Yang Kai simply grinned, “Sure. I look forward to seeing how you plan to flatten my Dragon Cave Mountain!”
“You court death!” A murderous intent flashed across the eyes of the burly man, but soon, as if remembering something, he suddenly glanced over to his side to see the people from Demon Blood Temple staring at him happily, as if they couldn’t wait for him to attack.
This burly man immediately realized that once he took action, he would only be helping this group from Demon Blood Temple. Quickly pressing down his anger, the burly man sneered and stepped back, as if he was preparing to watch a good show.
He was unable to obtain the Profound Gold, but he was not going to help the Demon Blood Temple group obtain it by acting rashly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Elder Feng when he returned.
Moreover, this place was too close to Heavenly Fate City, so he could not just kill at will. If this were not the case, how could he have been here in the first place? Old Woman Feng or Jin Shi would have already personally dealt with Yang Kai if they could settle things by force.
Because this area was technically still under Heavenly Fate City, and because they didn’t want to lower themselves to deal with a Junior, these two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters had sent their respective disciples to negotiate with Yang Kai about this Profound Gold, hoping he would understand his limits and turn it over to one of them.
The Demon Blood Temple Origin Returning Realm master saw the man from Myriad Beast Mountain snickering towards him but didn’t back down, declaring out loud, “I don’t know what price this friend from Myriad Beast Mountain has offered you, but my Demon Blood Temple is willing to offer you twenty virgin Blood Slaves in exchange for that Profound Gold, what do you think?”
Having said this, he looked down at Yang Kai smugly, as if he could not imagine this young boy refusing such an offer.
When the group from Myriad Beast Mountain heard this, all of their faces changed greatly, with the burly man even drawing in a sharp breath as he shouted, “Twenty virgin Blood Slaves, your Temple is willing to go that far?!”
After he finished speaking, he turned a rather nervous look towards Yang Kai, worrying he might agree; after all, the temptation of twenty Virgin Blood Slaves was too great for most to refuse.
If Demon Blood Temple was willing to give himself such benefits, he would immediately betray Myriad Beast Mountain and join them instead.
“Heh heh, compared to allowing Elder Jin Shi’s Secret Technique to advance, what do twenty Blood Slaves count for?” The leader of the Demon Blood Temple’s group smiled slightly as he looked towards Yang Kai and said, “Only my Demon Blood Temple has the ability to train Blood Slaves on Shadowed Star, but by following a few special rituals, these Blood Slaves can be made to faithfully and whole-heartedly serve you until death. Each of the Blood Slaves you receive would also have their Primordial Yin intact which can help you significantly enhance your vitality.”
Saying so, he suddenly turned his eyes to a woman standing behind him and flashed an evil grin, “This is one of my Blood Slaves!”
Immediately after declaring so, he issued a stunning command, “Take off your clothes!”
The woman froze for a moment, her face turning pale and her tender body trembling lightly.
This woman’s face was beautiful and her figure was enchanting; moreover, probably due to cultivating some kind of Charm Technique, she gave off a kind of seductive aura that drew men’s eyes to her.
This woman’s cultivation was not low either, reaching the First-Order Saint King Realm; however, after listening to the orders of this Demon Blood Temple man, in full view of the public, she began to undress.
Biting her thin lip strongly, this woman’s face was completely white, making it obvious she was extremely unwilling, but she seemed incapable of disobeying this man’s orders.
As the sound of rustling clothes echoed through the air, the male disciples of Myriad Beast Mountain stared dumbfounded as they constantly made audible gulping noises while the few female disciples present eyes them with extreme scorn.
Finished removing her dress, the woman was soon left with just her undergarments covering her most sensitive places. Her skin was pure white, like warm jade, and there was an attractive lustre on her face, causing a primal reaction to stir in the men present, making it hard for them to keep their composure.
Seeing that she was actually on the verge of removing her undergarments as well, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown while revealing a look of impatience as he said, “I’ll only say this one last time, I won’t hand this Profound Gold over to anyone, there’s no room for negotiation.”
Demon Blood Temple’s Origin Returning Realm master’s complexion changed slightly as he stared at Yang Kai and muttered in a low voice, “Do you really want to act so stubbornly, boy? You won’t even consider my offer?”
Yang Kai looked at him indifferently, too lazy to say anything more.
“Hmph, good, kids nowadays all think they are mightier than the Heavens, I hope you don’t regret your rashness!” The man sneered as he left his ruthless remark, no longer interested in engaging in any discussion with Yang Kai. Waving his hand, he quickly led the other Demon Blood Temple disciples away.
Before leaving, the female Blood Slave gently nodded to Yang Kai as she flashed a look of gratitude, grabbing her clothes which were on the ground and disappearing in the next moment.
Deng Ning also cupped his fists to Yang Kai somewhat apologetically before following after the others.
After the group from Demon Blood Temple withdrew, the burly man leading Myriad Beast Mountain’s group chuckled, “Boy, you’d best reconsider our offer. My previous offer still stands, once you’ve cleared your head, come find me in Heavenly Fate City.”
His face flashed a temperate look, as if all the unpleasantness from a moment ago had not happened.
Finished here, he too took his people away.
After temporarily resolving this issue, Yang Kai secretly frowned. He found that he had been making more and more enemies recently, but there was nothing he could do about it; after all, this Profound Gold had an important use to him, there was no way he could easily hand it over.
Dragon Cave Mountain was situated near Heavenly Fate City, so naturally, it fell under Shadow Moon Hall’s protection, and although they had agreed to not get involved in Yang Kai’s grievances with the Xie Family, if Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple were to openly attack Dragon Cave Mountain, Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t just stand idly by.
As such, Yang Kai could ignore these two forces for the time being; however, a method to handle the Xie Family needed further consideration.
Originally, Yang Kai planned to handle the Xie Family after coming out of his latest seclusion, but now that he learned that Lu Ye was currently staying with the Xie Family and even Sea Heart Sect’s people had joined them, it was a bit difficult for Yang Kai to immediately take action.
The strength of Dragon Cave Mountain’s defence was unquestionable, but in terms of offensive power, it was indeed somewhat lacking. This matter needed further consideration. Yang Kai still dreaded Lu Ye, especially after seeing the other party had some mysterious method which allowed him to regrow his severed arm. Before he was able to completely understand Lu Ye’s capabilities, Yang Kai felt it was unwise to openly challenge him.
Thinking so, Yang Kai turned and walked into the Mountain Defending Array.
Yang Yan had not gone inside to rest but instead waited for him. Seeing Yang Kai return safe and sound, Yang Yan did not seem too surprised, instead just beckoning to him to walk towards the cave mansion.
Yang Kai smiled faintly before leisurely following after her.
Inside the cave mansion, the two sat face to face and Yang Yan reached out and said, “Show me that Star Emperor Token.”
Seemingly having known Yang Yan would say so, Yang Kai smiled slightly and handed the Star Emperor Token he obtained from Ge Qi to her.
Yang Yan accepted it and a slightly complex look appeared on her face as she gently stroked it. Her expression changed constantly as her eyes revealed a look of reminiscence.
Yang Kai sat to the side without interrupting.
After half an hour, the strange look upon Yang Yan’s face completely faded and she let out a long sigh, returning the Star Emperor Token to Yang Kai as she said, “Keep this thing safe, it may be of great use in the future.”
“Great use?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “What kind of use?”
“I don’t know,” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, “This is just my feeling, I can’t give you anything more than that; however, I can confirm that there is some secret hidden within this thing. It’s rumoured that the Great Emperor refined ten of these Star Emperor Tokens, so perhaps one needs to gather all ten pieces together to unravel that mystery.”
Saying so, Yang Yan let out a wry laugh, “But doing so is far too difficult. Obtaining a single Star Emperor Token can already be considered a once in a very lucky lifetime opportunity, how is one supposed to obtain all ten?”
“Really?” Yang Kai smiled strangely, “I have others.”
“What?” Yang Yan stared at him in amazement, her beautiful eyes going wide in the next moment as she stared at another Star Emperor Token that appeared in Yang Kai’s hands.
This Star Emperor Token was basically identical to the one exchanged by Ge Qi, with the Divine Ability which had been sealed inside already having been used. Both of these tokens had faint Emperor Pressure lingering on them, so it was clear they were genuine.
The surprise hadn’t ended yet though as Yang Kai raised his other hand and summoned another Star Emperor Token to it.
When Yang Yan saw this third Star Emperor Token, she couldn’t help covering her mouth as her beautiful eyes bulged in shock, hesitantly asking, “Could this be…”
This third Star Emperor Token was obviously different from the first two. Although their appearances were identical, this third one gave off a terrifying energy fluctuation, and with Yang Yan being so knowledgeable, how could she not understand what this implied?
“Yeah, this in an unused Star Emperor Token!” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he tossed it over to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan hurriedly caught it.
Just as she did though, something unexpected happened.
When that unused Star Emperor Token was caught by Yang Yan, a ripple of energy visible to the naked eye burst from it. At the same time, a resonant cry rang out, like the piercing call of a bird. Immediately after, an exotic looking cyan coloured bird with long feathers suddenly emerged from the Star Emperor Token.
In the next instant, Yang Yan’s Saint Qi fluctuations and the energy contained in the Star Emperor Token resonated with each other and both floated up involuntarily.
A pulsing noise so great rang out that the entire cave mansion was thrown into disorder and a pressure which caused Yang Kai to pale suddenly emerged.
Yang Kai didn’t understand what was going on so he hurriedly summoned his Purple Shield and circulated his Saint Qi to protect himself. Only once this was done did he release his Divine Sense to check Yang Yan’s situation.
After a brief investigation, Yang Kai was shocked by what he discovered.
He found that Yang Yan hadn’t received any ill effects and instead seemed to be receiving some kind of information from the Star Emperor Token. Her beautiful eyes were shut with her lashes fluttering slightly, her brow sometimes tightened while sometimes relaxed.
This scene didn’t last long, only about ten breaths. Just as Yang Kai was wondering what to do, Yang Yan suddenly opened her eyes and caught the Star Emperor Token floating in front of her before lightly descending to the ground, a thoughtfully look filling her face.
“What happened?” Yang Kai asked hurriedly.
Yang Yan glanced over at him lightly before completely changing the subject, “You haven’t refined this yet.”
“This thing can be refined?” Yang Kai was shocked.
Yang Yan smiled lightly, “This is also a kind of artifact, a single-use one, so naturally it can be refined. Fortunately you’ve only been hiding it so far and hadn’t tried to use it at all, otherwise you would have died.”
Yang Kai didn’t show any surprise or shock at this comment. Gui Zu had warned him about this earlier, so even though he had encountered many dangerous situations over the years, Yang Kai had never thought of using this Star Emperor Token. Currently, this token was only a way to drag down an enemy with him, so of course Yang Kai wasn’t going to use it easily.
“You seem to know a lot about this,” Yang Kai stared at her with a slight frown.
“What are you trying to say?” Yang Yan pursed her lips lightly, her expression slightly uneasy.
“Since you fell into a coma for no reason last time, I feel like you’ve changed a lot, what exactly is it that you’re hiding? Is there anything you can tell me?” Yang Kai finally decided to express his doubts. He had become incredibly curious after he saw Ge Qi react to meeting Yang Yan, as if the former had seen a ghost yet Yang Yan claimed to have never met him. And now, this Star Emperor Token actually resonated with Yang Yan. All of this pushed Yang Kai to the point where he could no longer just ignore the situation.
He wanted to speak with Yang Yan openly.
“It’s not that I want to hide anything, it’s just…” Yang Yan showed a hesitant look on her face.
“Just what?”
“It’s just that I’m not sure either, so I didn’t want to say anything. When I am certain, I promise I’ll tell you, okay?” Yang Yan looked at him, nearly begging.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before suddenly smiling, “Tell me how to refine this thing, I’ve studied it a few times before but was never able to learn anything about it.”
Seeing Yang Kai not continue to press to issue, Yang Yan felt relieved and smiled happily, “I can do that, hehe.”
Saying so, she condensed a ray of Saint Qi at her fingertip and with a quick stroke made a small cut on her wrist, allowing her fresh blood to immediately flow out. Yang Yan next presse the Star Emperor Token against this new wound.
Yang Kai heard a terrifying suction force, like a starving ghost was feasting, as the Star Emperor Token began absorbing the blood from the wound on Yang Yan’s wrist.
In the blink of an eye, the Star Emperor Token became blood red.
After finishing this, Yang Yan seemed a bit tired as she tossed the Star Emperor Token to Yang Kai and sat down cross-legged.
“Is that it?” Yang Kai stared at Star Emperor Token in amazement, finding that only its colour had changed while everything else seemingly remained the same.
“En,” Yang Yan nodded seriously.
Yang Kai observed this token with some suspicion. If refining this thing required blood, it should be the one attempting to refine it that provides it. Why would Yang Yan need to provide her blood?
“You’ll understand if you try it now,” Yang Yan smiled before standing up and walking towards the exit, “Make sure you keep these three Star Emperor Token safe.”
“Got it,” Yang Kai nodded helplessly.
After Yang Yan left, Yang Kai held the bright red Star Emperor Token in his palm curiously and tried pouring his Saint Qi into it. Surprisingly, his Saint Qi easily infiltrated it, without the slightest hindrance. There was no sign of the Divine Ability inside being triggered but the Star Emperor Token at this moment was like a bottomless pit that constantly swallowed Yang Kai’s Saint Qi, establishing a kind of vague connection with him.
This was clearly the first sign of an artifact being refined, causing Yang Kai to feel overjoyed and immediately understood that what Yang Yan said was right. This Star Emperor Token could really be refined, so he spared no effort to do so.
At the same time, in a jungle about four hundred kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain.
A young man seemed to be carefreely flying forward, his speed neither fast nor slow.
If Yang Kai were here, he would have immediately attacked this person for a very simple reason: it was none other than Lu Ye of Flowing Cloud Valley. Yang Kai hated Lu Ye greatly, and from the direction he was flying, it seemed he was headed to the Xie Family.
Lu Ye’s face was filled with a meaningful grin as he quickly changed the direction his Star Shuttle was flying and flew deeper into the jungle, gently landing on the ground with his hands behind his back a moment later.
It was silent all around, with only the breeze blowing and the noise of swaying branches and leaves.
“What? You all waited here in ambush for this Lu did you not? This Lu has now arrived, yet you haven’t actually shown yourselves. Why hide your head and show your tail?” Lu Ye tilted his head slightly as he glanced around at the thick trees surrounding him.
No one answered and no one showed up, as if it really was just Lu Ye here.
However, Lu Ye wasn’t discouraged and sneered, “A group of cowardly rats actually dares to ambush this Lu? Good, since you refuse to show yourself, don’t blame this Lu for being rude.”
“Little brat, your sight is quite good, even able to see through my concealment methods. What a pity your life has come to an end!” A loud voice sounded, and the next moment, several people suddenly jumped out from behind the nearby trees.
Immediately afterwards, there were clamouring noises all around, from left and right, as more figures emerged one by one, all of them staring towards Lu Ye with malicious intent.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Ye was surrounded on all sides, with no way to escape.
At the auction just now, Lu Ye had been too high-profile and had naturally drawn the attention of countless people. Although he had quietly withdrawn during the last moments of the auction, he had still been followed by many people in secret.
Knowing that he was going to return to the Xie Family, many had set up an ambush in this jungle in advance, waiting for gains without pains.
Sure enough, Lu Ye did pass through here, but what these conspiring people didn’t expect was that Lu Ye would truly not know how to fear the Heavens and was willing to step into this ambush.
The one who spoke just now was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator with short stature and a big forehead. This ugly looking man stared at Lu Ye with an evil grin on his face and nodded, “Not bad, you’ve got some guts. I haven’t met a brat as brave as you for many years.”
“Brother Cheng, enough nonsense, just hurry up and do it,” On the other side of the ambush, an elderly man with a long beard urged impatiently. Although on the surface, this man looked far older than Cheng Dong, the two didn’t differ in age much.
“Good, a long delay only creates more troubles. This little brat is worth a lot of money so our gains this time will definitely not be small.”
“What’s the rush?” Cheng Dong coldly snorted, “We can take care of this brat at any time, I think we should first discuss how to allocate his wealth, what do you say?”
There were a total of three Origin Returning Realm masters here while the others were just Saint Kings or Saints. Altogether, there were a total of sixteen people.
In this situation, none of these three groups placed Lu Ye in their eyes; after all, under the investigation of their Divine Senses, he was just a Third-Order Saint King, discussing how to divide up his wealth seemed more troublesome than actually killing him.
Anyone capable of spending more than 40 million Saint Crystals at an auction should have some Saint Crystals left over. Not to mention, the things he won at the auction were all excellent treasures, enough to divide amongst all of them.
These three groups did not have strong backgrounds, each of them at most representing a force on par with Flowing Cloud Valley, where Lu Ye was from. Only such small forces would engage in this kind of blatant banditry as cultivators in great forces, because of concerns about face and regulations, would act with more self-discipline.
With such a fat sheep in front of them, everyone from these three groups was practically drooling, each of them trying to use their own strength to lay claim to a bigger portion of his wealth. The three Origin Returning Realm masters quarrelled quite vehemently, with spit flying between them, none of them willing to compromise.
Lu Ye stood in place indifferently, with no look of panic on his face, as if these people were not even talking about him; however, his expression gradually became impatient.
Glancing between the three masters, who were only becoming noisier and noisier, Lu Ye finally could not help coldly snorting, “Just a bunch of incompetent wastes!”
As soon as this remark came out, all three Origin Returning Realm masters looked at him in amazement, Cheng Dong cupping his ear and asking in a thuggish manner, “Boy, what did you just say? If you have the courage, say it again.”
“I called you a bunch of incompetent wastes. Before you even kill the person you want to rob, you start bickering over how to distribute the benefits? Simply ridiculous. You think you’re capable of killing this Lu?” Lu Ye snapped sarcastically as he flashed a disdainful smile.
Cheng Dong’s face sank as he let out a hollow laugh, “Brothers, this little brat seems impatient to die. Since he is asked for it, we might as well fulfil his last wish before sitting down to discuss how to split his wealth.”
The other two masters were also incensed by Lu Ye’s rampant words and naturally had no reason to disagree.
Cheng Dong grinned, waved his hand, and shouted, “Cut him to pieces, I want him to regret being born into this world!”
Receiving this order, the many Saint Kings and Saints present summoned their artifacts and were just about to launch an attack when Lu Ye’s expression suddenly changed and became extremely ghastly, letting out wicked laughter, “You want these wastes to take the life of this Senior? You are the most ridiculous wastes this Senior has met in ten thousand years!”
“Huh?” The three Origin Returning Realm masters were dumbfounded as a faint sense of uneasiness welled up inside them, as if something bad was about to happen.
After Lu Ye let out this wild laughter, he waved his hand and sent out bolts of blood-red light towards the cultivators surrounding him.
There was a strange noise coming from these blood-red lights, as if they were living creatures, causing everyone’s expression to change dramatically as they quickly tried to resist, but regardless of what kind of offensive or defensive action they took, none of them were able to stop these blood-red lights from approaching. Forget about the various Saint King Realm and Saint Realm cultivators, even the three Origin Returning Realm masters like Cheng Dong failed to stop these red lights.
The blood-red lights only flickered slightly before passing through these cultivators’ Saint Qi protection as if it were nothing, digging into their flesh in the next instant before disappearing.
“What is this?!” Cheng Dong screamed in horror as he stumbled back a few steps, his face going pale as he hurriedly used his Divine Sense to examine himself.
What surprised him though was that he did not find anything wrong. His Saint Qi was still circulating smoothly, his meridians were unobstructed, and his Divine Sense hadn’t been affected in any way, so what did that blood-red light just do?
Even after so many years of cultivating, this was the first time Cheng Dong had encountered something so strange. Suspicious, he glanced over at the other two Origin Realm masters and found that they were in the same condition as he was, making it impossible for him to learn anything from them.
After releasing those blood-red lights, Lu Ye didn’t move, just standing in place with a contemptuous look on his face, coldly snorting with dissatisfaction, “Originally I thought that I would be able to draw out a number of useful people, but all I got was three wastes! Whatever, you still might have some use; from now on, you take orders from this Senior!”
“Draw out?” Cheng Dong heard these words and frowned slightly, but after a moment of contemplation, his face changed greatly, “You deliberately acted so boldly at the auction to tempt people into trying to rob you?”
The other two Origin Returning Realm masters heard this and instantly understood what happened, the two of them turning somewhat fearful looks towards Lu Ye.
No matter what this person had planned, just this intention alone was suspicious enough. On top of that, none of them could figure out what those blood-red lights from a moment ago were for.
“You’re not qualified to ask questions. Obey this Senior’s orders and I may let you live, otherwise…”
“Otherwise, what?” Cheng Dong was obviously not willing to sit here waiting for death, and he did not believe that the blood-red light just now had any mysterious use; after all, he didn’t feel any kind of discomfort.
Perhaps the other party was just bluffing! Or at least that was how he comforted himself.
“Otherwise your end will be quite miserable!” Lu Ye grinned incredulously. Just as his voice fell, Cheng Dong suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and screamed loudly, terrifying everyone present.
In less than a breath of time, Cheng Dong’s clothes had been soaked with sweat and he had collapsed to the ground as he writhed in pain. The beast-like roars he was releasing showed just how much agony he was in and it was not long before his skin turned bright red, as if he was about to explode.
“What did you do to Brother Cheng!? What was that thing just now?” Another Origin Returning Realm master’s eyes bulged as he asked in horror.
Cheng Dong was not the only one hit by that blood-red light just now, everyone present was! Seeing Cheng Dong tortured like this, naturally, these cultivators felt a deep sense of fear.
“This Senior simply gave him a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, why raise a fuss?” Lu Ye sneered.
“Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect?” Everyone heard this and exchanged an aghast look with one another. Although none of them had heard of this thing before, just from Cheng Dong’s performance, it was obviously something sinister.
The elderly Origin Realm master’s expression flickered before he suddenly pointed his hand and a jet-black sword strangely appeared. This sword was shrouded in black Qi and there was a faint bloody aura about it. In an instant, this black Qi surged up and condensed into a several metre-long snake that opened its fanged mouth and shot towards Lu Ye.
He planned to kill Lu Ye directly!
This plan was not a mistake. It did not matter what Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect was. Even if it could cause Cheng Dong to be reduced to this state, it was still only able to do so through Lu Ye’s command. Since the elderly man had also been invaded by the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, the only way for him to escape was to kill Lu Ye by surprise.
In this old man’s opinion, Lu Ye was just a Third-Order Saint King, and the only reason he could stand here so calmly was because of his strange Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
But even if he had a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect inside him now, if the one controlling it died, wouldn’t it become useless?
The elderly man was a decisive person, so the moment he came to this conclusion, he immediately attacked. Without any kind of shout or warning, this elderly man acted ruthlessly, summoning and using his most powerful artifact without hesitation.
The black snake arrived in front of Lu Ye in an instant and a cruel smile appeared at the corner of the elderly man’s lips.
But in the next moment, his eyes bulged.
Because Lu Ye reached out and grabbed the black snake without any apparent effort. Lu Ye held the black snake in his hand while it tried to struggle, but ultimately it was unable to break free.
“How can this be?” The elderly man’s face changed greatly. His artifact was extremely malevolent, so let alone holding it, any Saint King that came into contact with its black Qi would immediately be rendered unconscious, allowing them to be casually slaughtered without even being able to fight back.
This scene shocked the elderly man, but as an Origin Realm master with extremely rich battle experience, he immediately composed himself and commanded the black snake being held by Lu Ye to open its mouth and spray out venom.
“Let’s see if you can survive this!” The elderly man chuckled sullenly, but after saying this, his jaw dropped and was unable to close anymore.
He was shocked to find that even after being sprayed with this venom, Lu Ye was completely unharmed, his expression gradually becoming violent as his eyes grew extremely cold.
Facing these two eyes, the elderly man shivered as a chill ran from his head all the way down to his feet.
He felt the chill of death.
Lu Ye reached out his free hand and slowly wiped the venom from his face, sneering in a low tone, “I originally wanted to spare your life, but if you wish to die, this Senior will accommodate you.”
Saying so, he shot a piercing glare towards the elderly man.
The next instant, the elderly man’s blood began to boil as his skin turned red like soldering iron and his body began to swell.
“No… no! Merc…” The elderly man shouted in horror before bursting apart into a blood mist before he could even finish his words, not even his bones remaining behind.
The smell of blood filled the air!
The last Origin Realm master standing saw this scene and was frozen in place, as if he had been plunged into a frozen world.
What kind of monster had they tried to ambush? Clearly, this boy was just a Third-Order Saint King, yet he was able to completely ignore the attacks of the elderly man and make him explode with a single thought. Could such a feat be accomplished by a mere Saint King?
After killing the elderly man, Lu Ye casually dropped the black snake in his hand to the ground. Without its owner operating it, the black snake reverted into a black sword. Lu Ye took out a cloth and wiped his face clean before turning to the last standing Origin Returning Realm master.
This cultivator was not a fool and realized immediately that he only had one chance to escape this disaster. Seeing Lu Ye looking towards him, this man immediately knelt down and knocked his head to the ground, “This humble one is willing to serve Master through flame or ice, never refusing a single command on pain of death!”
With an Origin Returning Realm master kowtowing for his life, the Saint Kings and Saints all exchanged a knowing glance before also kneeling on the ground and swearing allegiance.
Meanwhile, Cheng Dong, who had been brutally tortured, was now terrified of Lu Ye, so how could he possibly choose to rebel? He also hurriedly got on his knees and expressed his willingness to serve Lu Ye.
The reaction these people had obviously satisfied Lu Ye greatly. Even if he knew that their words carried no sincerity, Lu Ye didn’t need it.
In the face of absolute strength, what did unwillingness matter?
Grinning wickedly, Lu Ye nodded, “Good, since you are so sincere, it’s not a bad idea to spare your lives, but… the Saints are too weak, they’re useless to me. Kill them all!”
Hearing this, the faces of everyone present changed dramatically, especially those of the few Saint Realm cultivators who began to panic. None of them had expected that even after kowtowing and pledging allegiance to this man, they would still be unable to escape death, so they immediately began begging for mercy.
The two Origin Returning Realm masters also wore incredulous looks; after all, these Saints were their Juniors. How could they just kill them?
Lu Ye was unimpressed by this sight, however, and coldly uttered, “Do I have to do it myself?”
Cheng Dong and the other Origin Realm master were dazed when they heard this, but remembering what the fate of the elderly man and exchanging a knowing glance, they steeled themselves and pushed their Saint Qi towards the few Saint Realm cultivators.
With a series of cracking noises, all the Saints had their heads crushed and died on the spot.
“En,” Lu Ye gently nodded, satisfied with this and commanded, “This Senior has a task for you all.”
“Please command us, Master!” Cheng Dong said reverently.
“No matter what method you use, whether through force or temptation, find some more Origin Realm masters for this Senior. Their strength should not be lower than yours. Find some more Saint Kings as well.”
“Yes,” Cheng Dong heard this and immediately understood what Lu Ye was going to do. This young man clearly wanted to use the same method he had used on them to gather subordinates, something Cheng Dong felt no reluctance to do.
A person’s psychology was usually like this. After suffering a loss, they were quite happy to see others suffer with them.
“But Master, where should we bring these people?”
“The Xie Family!” After Lu Ye finished, he summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off towards the Xie Family residence.
After he left, Cheng Dong gasped for breath. When he was tortured by Lu Ye just now, he was certain he was about to die, but unexpectedly he had survived, so he felt naturally somewhat fortunate.
“Brother Cheng, do we really have to take orders from that little brat?” The other Origin Realm master stared in the direction Lu Ye disappeared and frowned, his face filled with unwillingness. Although he was the first one to kneel down and pledge allegiance, he was clearly still unconvinced.
Lu Ye’s cultivation was lower than his, and Flowing Cloud Valley, which he belonged to, wasn’t any more powerful than his own background, so what skill or ability did he have to command his loyalty?
“What else can we do? Would Brother Ren like to try the pain of that Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect?” Cheng Dong recalled the torture he had just suffered and couldn’t help shivering in fear.
Ren Zhu’s face turned ugly as he hesitantly said, “But this little brat…”
“It’s strange, right?” Cheng Dong said thoughtfully, “Flowing Cloud Valley isn’t a very strong force, so how could they produce such an extraordinary character? His methods are simply extraordinary, even that Black Snake Sword was unable to harm him. Brother Ren, do you have confidence that you could withstand a sneak attack from that Black Snake Sword?”
Ren Zhu shook his head slowly, the Black Snake Sword was elderly man’s most powerful artifact so Ren Zhu didn’t dare take a hit from it, but Lu Ye did. Now, in retrospect, there were many strange aspects to this brief confrontation, but Lu Ye’s strength was obviously not low.
“Neither you nor I would be a match for him alone, yet he’s only a Third-Order Saint King. If he reached the Third-Order Returning Realm one day, heh heh, Brother Ren, don’t you understand the concept of finding shade under a great tree?”
Hearing this, Ren Zhu’s eyes flashed.
“Furthermore, both of our families aren’t very powerful, and now that the Emperor Garden has appeared, everyone wants a cup of soup from it. If we join hands with that little brat, perhaps we can obtain some benefits. Most importantly, this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is too strange, I’ve never even heard of it before, so there obviously aren’t many people who would be able to remove it.”
“What Brother Cheng says makes sense; it seems we might as well take orders from that kid for now. In any case, the future is still far away.”
“En, my thoughts exactly!” Cheng Dong nodded.
Now that the two of them had reached an understanding, they quickly started planning how to carry out the task assigned to them by Lu Ye: Finding some Origin Returning Realm masters and luring them to the Xie Family to let them be implanted with the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
…..
Half a month later, inside his cave mansion on Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai stared at the blood-red Star Emperor Token in his hand with a look of joy on his face.
After half a month, he had finally finished refining this intact Star Emperor Token and could now take it into his body. He had heard of one-time use artifacts before and understood that each one was incredibly powerful, but because of the limited number of uses, ordinary Artifact Refiners wouldn’t easily refine them.
Yang Kai never expected to obtain one, much less an incredibly famous one like this Star Emperor Token!
Sealed inside of this token was one of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s Divine Abilities, one powerful enough to make him invincible on Shadowed Star; however, the consequences for using it were equally great. The Starry Sky Great Emperor’s Divine Ability was not something ordinary, and if one didn’t possess enough strength to withstand the backlash from using it, they would very likely die together with the enemy he used it on.
Yang Kai couldn’t withstand such backlash currently, and even if he reached the Origin Returning Realm, he would have to think twice about it. Perhaps he would need to reach the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm just to be capable of using it.
After happily playing with this token for a while, Yang Kai took it into his body. Just as he was about to begin cultivating his Golden Blood Thread Secret Technique though, his expression suddenly changed as he turned to stare in a certain direction, a look of surprise on his face.
A moment later, Yang Kai got up and disappeared like a ghost from his cave mansion, concealed his aura, and silently flew out of Dragon Cave Mountain.
With it being night time and with Yang Kai deliberately hiding his whereabouts, no one on Dragon Cave Mountain noticed he had left.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai’s figure landed in a patch of wilderness about three hundred kilometres from Heavenly Fate City.
Not far away stood a graceful figure, seemingly waiting for him. Aware of his arrival, this figure glanced over at him and helplessly said, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide from you.”
“Of course not!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “You gave me a control token for the Mountain Defending Array, of course I’ll notice if you activate it!”
It was Yang Yan who had quietly left Dragon Cave Mountain in the middle of the night!
“What did you come out here for?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
“I want to go somewhere,” Yang Yan didn’t conceal anything.
“Where do you want to go? Why didn’t you tell me first?” Yang Kai looked at her with dissatisfaction. Nowadays dragons and snakes mixed together all around Heavenly Fate City. Every great force on Shadowed Star had masters here to monitor the Emperor Garden, but the Emperor Garden hadn’t done anything for quite some time, so many had become idle and were now beginning to stir up trouble; after all, many of the forces gathered here had grudges between them.
Every day, fights occurred near Heavenly Fate City and many people died each time.
Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t interfere casually with these grievances, so the situation near Heavenly Fate City had become more and more chaotic.
Yang Yan leaving alone at this time was very dangerous, so Yang Kai would naturally be angry.
“Didn’t you follow me anyways?” Yang Yan pouted.
“Tell me, where do you want to go by sneaking out?” Yang Kai looked at her helplessly.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Yang Yan grinned, and before Yang Kai could ask any questions, she continued, “When I get there, I’ll know much more and I may be able to answer all of your questions. Don’t ask now, because I currently don’t have those answers.”
Yang Kai frowned, but still nodded gently after a long silence, “Let me explain to everyone back on Dragon Cave Mountain, then we can set out.”
“No need, I already sent a message to Wu Yi and Qian Yue,” Yang Yan spat out her tongue, causing Yang Kai to realize that she never had any intention of leaving alone.
Unable to stifle it, Yang Kai let out a laugh.
Yang Yan next wiped her Space Ring and took out a shuttle-like artifact.
Tossing it up, in an instant, a brilliant light flashed and this shuttle-like artifact rapidly began expanding, growing to a length of ten metres in the blink of an eye while quietly floating in front of the pair, looking like a long shark.
“This is…” Yang Kai stared in shock.
“My improved flight type artifact, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle. This should be a good test for its maiden voyage,” Yang Yan smiled lightly before injecting some of her Saint Qi into the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, causing a door in its side to open.
Yang Yan flew up to the door and beckoned to Yang Kai before hurriedly disappearing inside.
Still in a state of shock, Yang Kai flew up and circled the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle several times before following Yang Yan inside.
Upon entering, Yang Kai abruptly froze because, from the outside, this so-called Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was only ten metres long, but inside it actually had the appearance of a ship with several rooms, and although the space wasn’t too large, it wasn’t small either.
A familiar power fluctuation came from all around Yang Kai, allowing him to realize what was happening.
[Space Force!]
After briefly examining the interior of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, Yang Kai located Yang Yan and walked over to her, arriving at a room filled with a variety of Spirit Arrays.
The entire room was filled with a dense aura and many objects that resembled Saint Crystals were densely placed in various grooves.
Saint Crystal Sources!
These were Saint Crystal Sources that only the Stone Puppet could condense, existences on a higher level than High-Rank Saint Crystals.
At this moment, Yang Yan was fiddling with an array in front of her. When Yang Kai looked over her shoulder, he found that this array actually displayed a giant map with many glowing points on it, similar to a Star Chart.
Yang Yan chose one of these glowing spots and in the next instant, Yang Kai noticed that the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle jerked slightly and shot off like a bolt of lightning.
Releasing his Divine Sense to check, Yang Kai was again dumbfounded.
He found that the flying speed of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was several times greater than that of a Star Shuttle, reaching quite a terrifying level.
“A while ago, you had me infuse Space Force into a number of objects, were they used as components for this thing?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a surprised light.
“En.”
“You can even refine something like this?” Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.
This Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was nothing short of a miniaturized Starship, one of an extremely high grade at that.
One had to know that Starships on Shadowed Star were not very high grade and the total number of them was also quite small, with only a few big Sects possessing them.
The Starship the Hai Ke Family sent to the Star Field last time had been rented from Shadow Moon Hall for an exceedingly high price.
If one wanted to refine a Starship, it was no simple process. Ordinarily, it required dozens or even hundreds of skilled Artifact Refiners working together for many years to complete a single one.
Yet, Yang Yan had actually achieved something of this level with just her own strength.
Although it was small compared to normal, in the end, it was still a Starship.
“This is nothing, I can refine a bigger one,” Yang Yan stated proudly as she puffed out her chest and threw her head back.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded and suddenly felt his mouth go dry as he stared at Yang Yan fixedly.
Why was Shadowed Star isolated from the outside world and unable to communicate with other stars in the Star Field? It was because its location was too remote, several years’ journey from the nearest Cultivation Star. Travelling across such a distance meant encountering many crises and difficulties; the Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star were unable to refine a Starship capable of undertaking such a long-range, high-risk voyage.
If there were an Origin King Grade Starship, or even just an Origin Grade High-Rank Starship, Shadowed Star’s cultivators could completely restore contact with the outside world.
The time Yang Kai had spent on Shadowed Star was not short, so he also knew that there were only two ways to leave Shadowed Star. One was by using the power of his own cultivation. Yang Kai could ignore many of the various dangers in the Star Field with his special strength, and cross the vast distance required if his cultivation were to reach a high enough realm. The second way to leave Shadowed Star was to rely on a high-grade Starship.
However, neither of these methods could be easily used. Forget about Shadowed Star’s World Principles which made it impossible for cultivators to break through to the Origin King Realm, just refining a Starship that could withstand the hazards of the Star Field was impossible.
But now, Yang Yan had actually refined such a Starship. This Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was definitely a powerful artifact that could support travelling across the Star Field.
This gave Yang Kai hope of leaving Shadowed Star!
Suddenly, he felt that he had taken a giant step closer to reuniting with the beauties he yearned for. Before obtaining news of Su Yan’s whereabouts, Yang Kai did not spend too much time thinking about this issue, but after confirming that Su Yan was alive and well somewhere in this Star Field, he couldn’t wait to find her.
On top of that, Xia Ning Chang was still living in the Tong Xuan Realm! Yang Kai very much wanted to go back and see how she was.
Seeing Yang Kai staring blankly towards herself, how could Yang Yan not know what he was thinking? Snickering lightly, she continued, “Okay, okay, after this matter is over, when we return, I’ll let you see it. The ship itself has already been refined and is being stored in the Secret Storehouse under Dragon Cave Mountain; however, some improvements are still needed so I’m a bit reluctant to use it right now.”
“Dragon Cave Mountain has an underground Secret Storehouse?” Yang Kai was even more shocked.
Yang Yan could not help laughing, “You spend all day in secluded retreat or wandering around outside, so of course you wouldn’t know about it.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt embarrassed. Although he was technically the owner of Dragon Cave Mountain, he never cared much about what happened on the mountain. The only thing he would ask about was the need for more Saint Crystals or materials. When a shortage came up, he would think of a way to collect the required resources, as for what happened to them afterwards, he did not really know.
He used to think that Dragon Cave Mountain spent money like running water because Yang Yan was constantly arranging new Spirit Arrays, but now he knew that Yang Yan had been refining a Starship.
It was no wonder it wasn’t enough, no matter how many Saint Crystals and materials he collected. Thinking about the scale of the Starships he had previously seen on Water Moon Star at Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, Yang Kai understood just how expensive refining one must be.
As the pair talked, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle continued flying forward at an incredible speed, almost faster than Yang Kai’s Divine Sense could track.
“I’m going to do an experiment. If something goes wrong, remember to save me,” Yang Yan suddenly said.
“What?” Yang Kai was stunned but quickly recovered when he saw Yang Yan flash a strange grin. Covering his entire body with a layer of Saint Qi, Yang Kai saw one of the large Spirit Arrays inside this control room light up. With a loud humming noise, all the Saint Crystal Sources which were installed in the room’s slots began glowing brilliantly and a shocking amount of energy began gathering from them towards a certain spot.
Yang Kai turned to look at these Saint Crystal Sources and was shocked to discover that they had all grown dim, as if all the energy inside had been drawn out.
Roughly calculating the amount of energy which the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle had just consumed, Yang Kai could not help going slightly pale.
*Hong…*
With a muffled thud that sounded like thunder from the Heavens above, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle began to tremble violently.
In the next moment, Yang Kai saw a beam of energy, so dazzling it nearly blinded him, shoot out from somewhere on the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle’s hull and smash towards the front.
Like snow under a scorching sun, the space in front of the shuttle began to melt and transform into a chaotic vortex of nothingness that slowly rotated while emitting strong Space Force fluctuations.
“A Void Corridor!” Yang Kai’s eyes bulged.
Yang Yan steered the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle towards the newly opened Void Corridor before Yang Kai could stop her, her joyful, silver bell-like laughter filling the control room the whole time.
A familiar feeling he had experienced many times before overcame Yang Kai in the next instant, the kind of unique sense of weightlessness that only occurs when you pass through a Void Corridor or use a Space Array.
This feeling disappeared as soon as it came, and after everything calmed down, Yang Kai found that he and Yang Yan were already in a different place as the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was slowly exiting from a large vortex.
With no time to remain shocked, Yang Kai hurriedly released his Divine Sense to investigate his surroundings and in the next moment, his face sank.
Because not far away, there were two groups of people fighting each other. The strength of these two groups was not high, with each one being led by Second-Order Saint Kings while most of the rest were merely Saints.
The total number of people in these two groups added up to around forty but there were also a few corpses nearby, each one of them appearing to have died quite terrible deaths.
Nearby, there was also an Eighth-Order Monster Beast corpse. Just from looking at this scene, it was obvious that these two groups were fighting over this dead Monster Beast. Most likely, these two parties had joined forces to kill it, but after succeeding, their cooperation had broken down for some reason.
This kind of situation was all too common, and Yang Kai was able to guess what had happened almost immediately after sweeping the area with his Divine Sense.
“Aiya…” Yang Yan muttered, showing an apologetic look on her face. She had not expected the first time the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle tore space in order to perform a long-distance jump, it would emerge not in a deserted wilderness but nearby two groups of people.
“What are you gawking for? Let’s hurry up and leave, unless you enjoy being stared at like an odd monkey,” Yang Kai snorted to her wickedly.
“Ah, en,” Yang Yan immediately recovered and tapped on a control panel in front of her, causing the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle to buzz and shoot off like a stream of light once more.
Down below, the two groups who had been fighting all stared up in shock.
“Senior Brother, what was that?” A young woman approached one of the leading Saint King Realm cultivators and asked, her beautiful eyes flashing somewhat. She was not young, but she had been properly maintaining her appearance, so she remained charming. It could be seen that when she was young, she must have been a beauty, but now, her pretty face was full of confusion, obviously because she had no idea what had just happened.
“I’m not clear either,” The Saint King Realm man shook his head in something of a daze.
It was not as if these people were ignorant, it was just that what transpired was too shocking. A Void Corridor appeared out of nowhere, then a giant shark flew out of it, as if it was leaping out of the sea. Even if an Origin Returning Realm master was here, they would likely be stunned, not to mention these people.
“From the looks of it, it should be a Starship, right?” The man murmured again.
“Is there such a small Starship?” The young woman was obviously sceptical. “Junior Sister was lucky enough to see one of Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Starships set sail a few years ago, but it was several dozen times larger than that one.”
Just as the two were talking, a scream rang out, causing the young man and woman’s faces to go cold as they turned their heads and suddenly found that one of the cultivators on their side had suffered a severe wound and was now crying out in pain while bleeding profusely.
The man was furious, “Old Xu San, launching a sneak attack now, have you no shame?!”
Saying so, he once again urged his artifact and sent a blast towards the other group. The brief silence was instantly broken, and the two groups began fighting again; as for what they just saw, it was thrown beyond the furthest Heavens as they once again drowned themselves in a sea of blood.
Above a piece of grassland thousands of kilometres away, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle quietly came to a stop.
Inside, the shock on Yang Kai’s face had still yet to fade while Yang Yan was busy changing the Saint Crystal Sources.
Yang Kai never thought that this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle could tear space! Although the consumption was enormous, requiring the complete energy of hundreds of Saint Crystal Source for a single use, this was still not a simple feat.
Moreover, the distance covered by the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle just now was much farther than Yang Kai could cross on his own. At the very least, Yang Kai was unable to find their initial position with his Divine Sense anymore.
Moments later, after Yang Yan finished replacing the Saint Crystal Sources, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle began moving forward again.
“How far can this thing cross in a single jump?” Yang Kai asked.
“Just now we should have crossed about a hundred thousand kilometres,” Yang Yan replied casually, frowning slightly a moment later as if she was still a bit dissatisfied.
“A hundred thousand kilometres…” Yang Kai gasped.
“En, but the consumption is too great and I’m unable to determine our destination accurately; after all, I only applied the principles of a Space Array to the shuttle, so it seems that it needs to be improved still,” Yang Yan stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“This thing’s existence can never be leaked out, otherwise it will cause great trouble,” Yang Kai said seriously.
“Hehe, it doesn’t matter if word of this leaks,” Yang Yan stated confidently, “Even if others get hold of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, they can’t use it.”
“Why?” Yang Kai looked at her in surprise.
“Because others don’t have Saint Crystal Sources! High-Rank Saint Crystals are insufficient to drive this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, only the Saint Crystal Sources condensed by Xiao Xiao can supply its needs,” Yang Yan explained.
Yang Kai suddenly understood, “So that’s why you’ve constantly been keeping the Stone Puppet with you?”
“En,” Yang Yan nodded happily.
[The poor Stone Puppet…] Yang Kai’s mouth twitched slightly as he paid silent tribute to the Stone Puppet.
The Flying Shark Battle Shuttle flew forward at an unimaginable speed while Yang Kai sat cross-legged and cultivated alone in one of its rooms. As for Yang Yan, she was still busy in the control room.
This kind of special flight type artifact was far superior to an ordinary Star Shuttle.
First, this Battle Shuttle had separate rooms that weren’t small or cramped, allowing Yang Kai to seclude himself without the worry of being disturbed, something Star Shuttles couldn’t compare to.
Secondly, when using a Star Shuttle, in order to resist headwinds, one needed to open the protective barrier which would consume Saint Qi, but this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle didn’t have such a drawback as its power was provided entirely by Saint Crystal Sources, so a cultivator wouldn’t experience any consumption.
Thirdly, the speed of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle refined by Yang Yan was far greater than any Star Shuttle.
Yang Kai had spent the last ten days in cultivation but hadn’t felt the slightest bit of disturbance, as if the cultivation room he was in could block out everything outside.
Yang Kai was currently a Third-Order Saint King, one step away from the Origin Returning Realm where he could condense his own Shi; however, breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm wasn’t a simple matter. At least, Yang Kai could not currently see an immediate path to breaking through. Secretly, he felt that in order to break through, he couldn’t just rely on hard work but needed some kind of opportunity or external stimulus.
It was similar to how he broke through to the Third-Order Saint King last time. When he heard the news about Su Yan from Qian Yue, it had led to an opportunity for him to break through.
Yang Kai wanted to find such an opportunity through cultivating his various Secret Techniques, so these days he had been busy cultivating his Golden Blood Thread, assimilating the Coloured Glass Bead with the Demon Eye of Annihilation, and had even refined his last few Flowing Flame Flying Fires.
The intensity of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea had increased a lot, allowing him to improve his Alchemy. At the same time, the power of his Divine Sense also greatly improved. If he were to use his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique now, it would definitely show even greater might.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai couldn’t find an opportunity to experiment with it.
On this day, while Yang Kai was using his Golden Blood to condense a new Golden Blood Thread, he suddenly felt the Battle Shuttle tremble slightly and come to a stop.
Yang Kai opened his eyes, got up, and walked out, soon arriving in the control room next to Yang Yan.
“We’re almost there, so we should use our Star Shuttle’s to fly the rest of the way,” Yang Yan glanced over at him and said.
Naturally, Yang Kai had no objections. He had been quite curious where Yang Yan was taking them all this time and now that he was about to get an answer, he couldn’t help looking forward to it.
After the pair left the Battle Shuttle, Yang Yan waved her hand and caused it to quickly shrink down. Taking the miniaturized Flying Shark Battle Shuttle into her Space Ring, Yang Yan summoned her Star Shuttle together with Yang Kai and flew off.
The further they flew, the clearer Yang Kai could feel Fire Attribute aura in the air, causing his expression to gradually become somewhat thoughtful.
Two hours later, standing atop a barren ground that was filled with cracked earth and dried up ravines, with a fiery red sky hanging overhead, Yang Kai couldn’t help muttering, “The Flowing Flame Sand Field? The place you wanted to go was the Flowing Flame Sand Field?”
Yang Kai was quite familiar with this scene. Throughout all of Shadowed Star, only the Flowing Flame Sand Field had such a harsh environment.
As far as Yang Kai could tell, even if one continuously used a Star Shuttle, it should take three months or so to go from Heavenly Fate City to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but this time he and Yang Yan had covered that distance in just ten days.
This was a testament to how terrifying the speed of the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was.
Facing Yang Kai’s inquiry, Yang Yan didn’t answer and instead stared at the fiery red wall in front of herself, a complex look flashing across her beautiful eyes, seemingly remembering something, but at the same time being slightly worried.
As the pair stepped closer, Yang Yan’s expression became clearer and clearer, seemingly afraid of something, her face slightly pale.
Yang Kai walked up and gently held her hand.
Yang Yan was startled by this, but after turning her head to look at Yang Kai, she managed to wear a forced smile.
“What are we doing here? Can you tell me now?” Yang Kai stared into her eyes.
“Confirming something,” Yang Yan hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully.
“Oh? What do you want to confirm by coming to the Flowing Flame Sand Field?” Yang Kai was confused. The last time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, Yang Yan didn’t even bother thinking about it. She never showed any interest in coming together with him, but now, several years after it had closed, Yang Yan had suddenly taken the initiative to come here.
One had to know, there was no way to enter this place now, unless one had a Star Emperor Token to protect them and open the way.
Yang Kai had been stranded inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field a few years ago and had to use a Star Emperor Token to return safely from it, wasting him a good deal of time.
“Yang Kai, do you believe in reincarnation?” Yang Yan suddenly asked.
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned.
Yang Yan smiled bitterly, “Do you remember when I told you that my knowledge of Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays is all innate and that no one has ever taught me any of it? All of it was simply buried in my memories and would appear out of thin air.”
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed deeper. Not knowing what Yang Yan wanted to express, he could only offer some faint comfort, “Nothing simply appears out of nowhere; perhaps you encountered some kind of accident which damaged your memory a bit.”
“Perhaps,” Yang Yan smiled bitterly, not trying to argue.
As the two talked, they arrived at the periphery of the first layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Staring at the dark, tumbling flame barrier, even though Yang Kai’s strength had greatly increased since he was last here, he still felt somewhat anxious.
The terrifying power coming from this flame barrier was something even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master couldn’t withstand; entering it would only lead to certain death.
Yang Kai also didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but when Yang Yan arrived here, the flames seemed to become even more powerful.
“Over the years, I’ve often dreamed I was another person. That person… was someone who commanded the wind and clouds, could cover the Heavens with one hand, and held dominion over the entire world!” Yang Yan stared forward without showing any signs of panic, just quietly mumbling to herself.
“Do you think you were that person?” Yang Kai looked at her serious face wanting to laugh but couldn’t bring himself to as he faintly felt something wasn’t quite right.
“Before, I didn’t think so, but since the Emperor Garden appeared, those hazy dreams have become much more vivid. Sometimes, when I meditate or refine things, these inexplicable scenes will also appear. After experiencing such things so frequently, I can no longer just dismiss them as my imagination.”
“So you came here to confirm everything?” Yang Kai finally cleared his head and asked curiously, “How do you plan on confirming things? Is there something special here that will help you do that?”
“En, it’s actually quite simple!” Yang Yan smiled widely before her tender body flickered, disappearing from the place she stood and instantly rushing straight into the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of exquisite Movement Skill Yang Yan executed, but he was completely unable to stop her.
Yang Kai’s face changed drastically as he turned his eyes to the Flowing Flame Sand Field just in time to see Yang Yan’s figure plunge into the flame barrier.
Hurriedly taking out one of his Star Emperor Tokens, Yang Kai was about to use its power to chase after Yang Yan, but before he could, the first layer’s flame barrier roared violently and began to tumble. Suddenly, an irresistible force burst forth from the barrier and formed what seemed to be a giant invisible hand that shoved Yang Kai several thousand metres away.
Yang Yan’s intrusion into the flame barrier was like sprinkling a handful of salt in hot oil, causing the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area to boil over.
The world shook and the already red sky became an even deeper shade, as if it was weeping blood. The dried-up crisscrossing ravines on the ground cracked apart, creating even bigger gaps and heaving up and down in all directions, causing Yang Kai’s footing to become unstable.
Looking ahead, the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area had become completely unstable, with all the World Energy and Fire Attribute energy within a few thousand-kilometres of the flame barrier suddenly gathering towards it madly, creating a tidal wave of energy that was so thick it became visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai stared at all of this blankly.
Facing such a violent gathering of energy, let alone Yang Yan, even the most powerful masters on Shadowed Star would be unable to resist it and would quickly be ground to death.
However, when he saw a graceful figure standing quietly in midair, Yang Kai’s nervousness completely dissipated.
Yang Yan was actually fine!
Although Yang Kai couldn’t clearly see her face or movements, he could infer from the vague figure in front of him that Yang Yan was forming a series of hand signs and the Fire Attribute Energy and World Energy which composed the first layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field was all gathering towards her.
The resulting momentum was absolutely terrifying.
Such a massive disturbance had naturally drawn the attention of many people, with cultivators tens of thousands of kilometres away from this place still able to clearly feel it.
Immediately, many azure lights shot up into the sky and began racing over towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field, wanting to investigate what had happened.
Yang Kai stood on the spot and watched anxiously.
He never imagined that Yang Yan’s courage would be so great that she would directly rush into the Flame Area. She only wanted to confirm something to herself, so was there any need to risk her life? While Yang Kai felt some anger and anxiety, he mainly felt helpless. Every time he wanted to get closer, he would be pushed away by that invisible force.
Yang Kai deeply realized at this moment what powerlessness felt like!
*Hong long long…*
A loud noise suddenly echoed from all directions as the heat and energy of the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area began flowing towards Yang Yan, as if she had become a bottomless hole able to accept all of it.
As time passed, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the Fire Attribute energy of this first layer Flame Area was rapidly becoming thinner and thinner, its power greatly reducing.
Within half an hour, Yang Yan’s tender body was clearly revealed and the first layer Flame Area had almost ceased to exist. Yang Kai stood in place and saw Yang Yan standing with a solemn look upon her face, her eyes closed, her black robe and long black hair fluttering in the wind, and a large red ring held in both her hands.
This red ring was only about the size of a collar, but it gave off a terrifying Fire Attribute energy fluctuation. All the Fire Attribute aura and energy from the Flame Area was pouring into this ring and being absorbed.
Yang Kai had never seen this ring before, and he was certain Yang Yan did not possess such an artifact before. It was as if this artifact appeared out of thin air, and as for its grade, Yang Kai was unable to tell, something which shocked him greatly.
With his current vision, Yang Kai could clearly identify Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts, so could this ring be an Origin King Grade artifact?
Thinking so, Yang Kai was taken aback.
A moment later, everything suddenly became calm, and the chaos in the surrounding world completely disappeared.
At the same time, the First-Layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, a famous Forbidden Zone on Shadowed Star that all cultivators dared not enter, had ceased to exist, leaving behind only an expanse of dark red ground in its place.
Yang Yan slowly opened her eyes and Yang Kai was about to call out to her, but before he could, he noticed a strange light coming from her beautiful eyes and immediately squinted.
Yang Yan played with the ring in her hands for a moment before a smile appeared on her face, as if she had just recovered something precious to her, making her extremely happy.
Holding up her hands, the ring she was holding quickly shrank down and wrapped around her wrist, fitting perfectly in place. Yang Yan flashed another happy smile as she revealed a look of satisfaction.
“Yang Kai!” Standing mid-air, Yang Yan suddenly raised her head and called out loudly.
Yang Kai didn’t respond immediately and instead just stared at her more and more intensely because the current Yang Yan, although identical in appearance, gave him a completely different feeling compared to before, as if she had become a different person, making him feel a bit uneasy.
Although he did not know why Yang Yan had undergone this kind of change, Yang Kai was certain it had something to do with the strange event that had just transpired. Rather than why the First-Layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field had disappeared though, Yang Kai was more interested to know what had happened to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan did not mind Yang Kai staying silent, instead just brushing her hair back behind her ear and saying softly, “I know who I am.”
“Who are you?” Yang Kai asked aloud.
“I am the Starry Sky Great Emperor!” Yang Yan flashed a proud look on her face, lifting her head up slightly, revealing a majestic and noble aura. This kind of temperament shouldn’t have appeared on this timid woman at all, but at the moment it seemed completely natural for her, as if it was part of Yang Yan’s innate nature. This caused anyone who gazed upon her to feel lowly and humble.
Even an Origin King Realm master may not necessarily possess such a temperament.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed and he nodded lightly, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as his figure suddenly flickered, disappearing from where he stood and appearing again beside Yang Yan a moment later.
Under her stunned gaze, Yang Kai lifted his finger and flicked Yang Yan’s forehead.
With a light thump, Yang Yan let out an alarmed cry and used her hands to cover her forehead, her beautiful eyes watering up as she directed a grievance-filled stare towards Yang Kai. The graceful and majestic temperament she had been exuding had seemingly been instantly defeated by this finger and disappeared without a trace.
“So your name is Starry Sky Great Emperor, is it?” Yang Kai grit his teeth and stared at Yang Yan for a moment before reaching out his hand, pinching her cheek, and pulling it out.
“What are you doing?” Yang Yan seemed to be dumbstruck as she called out, her speech somewhat unclear as her cheek was being pulled.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Yang Kai grinned wickedly as he pulled even harder.
“Let go of me!” Yang Yan shouted as she glared at Yang Kai, “Hurry up and let go, don’t think I don’t dare fight back! Just you wait for my true body to awaken, then I’ll make you pay!”
“Wait for your true body to wake up, right?” Yang Kai reached out his other hand and pinched Yang Yan’s free cheek, twisting her face into funny shapes. Yang Yan responded by waving her hands angrily and trying to break free, but regardless of how she struggled, Yang Kai remained unmoved and continued playing with her.
It was not long before tears welled up at the corner of her eyes.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s expression changed and he turned his head to look into the distance. At the same time, Yang Yan’s struggles also stopped, the two of them exchanging a knowing glance before their figures flickered and disappeared.
Both of their Divine Senses had detected a large number of people rapidly approaching their location, obviously attracted here by the massive disturbance that had just occurred.
About a cup of tea’s worth of time after Yang Kai and Yang Yan disappeared, dozens of different coloured lights flew over from various directions. When these people landed at the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field and saw the surroundings, all of them were dumbstruck as looks of disbelief filled their faces.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field’s First-Layer Flame Area had existed on Shadowed Star for tens of thousands of years, yet now it had suddenly disappeared. These cultivators rubbed their eyes involuntarily, wanting to confirm whether or not they were seeing things.
However, to their shock, the First-Layer Flame Area really seemed to have strangely disappeared.
After a long, stunned silence, these cultivators began quickly taking out their communication artifacts and sending out messages, and as time passed, more and more cultivators rushed to this place, all of them wearing blank looks of shock.
After several hundred cultivators had gathered, everyone reached a simple agreement to explore the situation together; after all, the First-Layer Flame Area had disappeared, which meant the Second-Layer Treasure Area had become exposed, so there were perhaps gains to be had.
What disappointed everyone though, was that after several days of searching, no one was able to discover anything of value in the Second-Layer Treasure Area. It was as if all the spirit herbs which should have existed had disappeared without a trace together with the Flame Area.
While these people were searching through the Second-Layer Treasure Area, Yang Kai and Yang Yan had already penetrated the rolling mountains of the Fourth Layer.
Yang Kai did not have to use his Star Emperor Tokens to reach this place. Instead, all he needed to do was follow behind Yang Yan.
The Third-Layer Flame Area had much more intense heat and Fire Attribute energy than the First-Layer, but for some reason, whenever Yang Yan passed through it, the heat and flames separated on their own, as if they had spirituality and didn’t dare bar her path.
The pair continued deeper this way, but didn’t encounter any danger.
Looking at the expansive palatial pavilions shrouded in mist, Yang Yan revealed a look of reminiscence as she stated, “These are the ruins of the Supreme Profound Sect.”
“The Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins?” Yang Kai frowned as he turned to look at her and asked, “Is it related to you?”
“Yes and no,” Yang Yan’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the Sect the Starry Sky Great Emperor conveniently created in the past.”
“Aren’t you the Starry Sky Great Emperor?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched slightly.
Yang Yan curled her lips, “I am me, the Starry Sky Great Emperor is the Starry Sky Great Emperor. Although we are somewhat related, I cannot represent the Great Emperor.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai became even more interested. He never doubted what Yang Yan had said; after all, he had suspected that there might be some connection between the Flowing Flame Sand Field and the Starry Sky Great Emperor ever since he obtained a Star Emperor Token in the loft in the sixth layer.
When Yang Yan fell unconscious after the Emperor Garden appeared and Yang Kai had broken into her Knowledge Sea to awaken her, he had seen many incredible things.
Now Yang Yan had easily been able to enter and even take away part of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, combined with all the information he had gathered before, Yang Yan declaring herself the Starry Sky Great Emperor wasn’t actually too shocking.
Even though there was some uneasiness and hesitation in his heart, Yang Kai still chose to believe Yang Yan.
After a long silence, Yang Yan asked, “Have you heard of Soul Clones?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded.
“I am a kind of Soul Clone of the Starry Sky Great Emperor. For some reason, the true body of the Great Emperor is in a deep sleep. My Artifact Refining and Spirit Array knowledge have also been inherited from the Great Emperor.”
“Why is she in a deep sleep?” Yang Kai frowned and asked. He was not too curious about Soul Clones because he had cultivated a Soul Clone technique that he comprehended after refining a drop of Golden Blood from Great Demon God. Yang Kai had used his Soul Clone back on the floating continent when Gui Zu was testing out his Space Array. As a result, it had been severely damaged and nearly destroyed.
However, after so many years of cultivation, Yang Kai’s Soul Clone had been restored and was now even more powerful than before.
It was just that Yang Kai was unable to find a vessel to fuse his Soul Clone with so it could act independently.
“She seems to have been injured,” Yang Yan spoke an astonishing truth.
“The Starry Sky Great Emperor can also be injured?” Yang Kai was startled.
“Why can’t a Great Emperor be injured? She also has enemies, enemies that possess strength on par with her own. However, I do not know the specific situation as the memories I’ve inherited from her are somewhat incomplete. I didn’t even know about any of this until I arrived here; although, from what I can gather, it seems that after fighting a great battle, the Great Emperor fell into a deep sleep, and now tens of thousands of years have passed,” Yang Yan slowly shook her head, “My strength is too low, so I can’t recall too much. Only after my strength improves will I be able to remember everything.”
“What about that enemy?” Yang Kai asked.
“They’re probably dead,” Yang Yan replied uncertainly.
“And that bracelet…” Yang Kai asked thoughtfully as he glanced towards the red ring on her wrist.
“One of the three Blazing Flame Rings. Since it was one of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s artifacts, I can also use it,” Yang Yan smiled lightly, “The Third Layer and Fifth Layer are both parts of the Three Blazing Flame Rings, but with my current strength, I can’t recall them for now, nor can I use much of the first ring’s power.
Yang Kai secretly panicked. While he had been able to tease and toy with Yang Yan a moment ago, that was only because he had been friends with her for many years now, but if the one standing before him was the true Starry Sky Great Emperor, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare act so dissolute.
The Great Emperor’s majesty could not be easily offended.
Moreover, the so-called Three Blazing Flame Rings was just one of the Great Emperor’s artifacts, yet it had become a famous Forbidden Zone on Shadowed Star for tens of thousands of years. So how strong was the Great Emperor herself?
To think that such a person had actually been severely injured though. Who was her enemy?
But what shocked Yang Kai even more was that the Starry Sky Great Emperor famous throughout the Star Field was actually a woman!
If such knowledge were to be spread out, many men would likely feel so ashamed they would want to die.
Fortunately, many things became clear to Yang Kai with this.
No wonder when the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, the hand which appeared to remove everyone clearly belonged to a woman, and when the Emperor Garden appeared, that same jade-white hand appeared for a second time. Obviously, this was some kind of technique left behind by the Great Emperor; after all, whether it was the Flowing Flame Sand Field or the Emperor Garden, they belonged to the Great Emperor, strictly speaking.
With the Great Emperor’s strength and methods, being able to accomplish these feats should not have been difficult.
Although Yang Kai’s heart was tumbling and it felt as if a chaotic storm was blowing in his mind, he remained extremely calm on the surface. While chatting with Yang Yan, he learned all kinds of information about the Starry Sky Great Emperor; after all, Yang Yan’s memory was slowly being restored and after learning she was the Soul Clone of the Great Emperor, she herself must have become quite flustered. Therefore, if Yang Kai didn’t maintain composure, the situation would only get worse.
What Yang Kai was most curious about was why the Great Emperor had chosen to enter a deep sleep on Shadowed Star. Were the World Principles here restricting cultivators from breaking through to the Origin King Realm somehow related to her?
After chatting for a while, Yang Kai learned that the place where the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s true body was currently sleeping was inside the Emperor Garden.
This reminded him of something.
Fei Zhi Tu had said that he and his group had come across a jade coffin that held a woman inside a palace in the Emperor Garden.
Fei Zhi Tu and the others accidentally touched a barrier near this jade coffin at that time, causing the Emperor Garden to appear after sending Yang Kai, Qian Tong, and the rest out.
Could it be that the woman lying inside that jade coffin was the Starry Sky Great Emperor? On this isolated and backward Shadowed Star, a supreme master was actually in deep sleep? Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling that all of this was too shocking.
While contemplating these issues and examining Yang Yan, Yang Kai was still unable to connect her with the Starry Sky Great Emperor, a figure famous across the entire Star Field.
“Let’s go,” Yang Yan looked at the fog covered ruins of the Supreme Profound Sect for a long time before seemingly losing interest and moving on.
“Don’t you want to go in and see?”
“No,” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, lightly stepping away.
“Where are you going now?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“To the Sixth Layer to retrieve something,” Yang Yan smiled lightly, not bothering to explain further.
The Sixth Layer was where that small loft was located, the place Yang Kai had found the Ten Thousand Year Incense. It seemed that the Ten Thousand Year Incense belonged to the Great Emperor. In other words, it was Yang Yan’s.
Yang Kai wrinkled his nose for a moment before relaxing, not showing any kind of embarrassment. In any case, Yang Yan was his friend, so there was no need to worry about such minor issues.
The speed of the pair wasn’t too fast, but because Yang Yan was leading the way through the Flowing Flame Sand Field, they didn’t encounter any danger. The pair quickly arrived at the Fifth-Layer Flame Area and, similar to the Third Layer, the heat and flames all spontaneously separated in front of Yang Yan, revealing a path leading to the Sixth Layer.
A piercing cry suddenly came out and the Firebird Artifact Spirit leapt out from Yang Kai’s body on its own initiative.
Flapping its wings, it circled above Yang Kai’s head for a moment, communicating with him. Yang Kai smiled lightly as he understood its intentions and nodded, not making any attempt to stop it.
The Artifact Spirit cried out happily before immediately transforming into a flame and flying off into the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye. From the direction it was flying, it was obviously headed towards the Earth Lung Fire Pond.
The Earth Lung Fire Pond was the Artifact Spirit’s birthplace, and although it had been there for tens of thousands of years, it was unable to continue to draw more power from Earth Lung Fire Pond due to its growth limitations. But now, it was different from the past. After absorbing several wisps of Sun’s True Fire, the Firebird Artifact Spirit was significantly stronger compared to when Yang Kai first obtained it.
Now, it wanted to go to the Earth Lung Fire Pond to devour the pure Fire Attribute aura there to further strengthen itself.
For something beneficial, how could Yang Kai prevent it?
Half a day later, the pair crossed the Fifth-Layer Flame Area and reached the delicate loft hidden in the bamboo forest.
Looking at this humble loft, Yang Yan’s eyes flashed a nostalgic light, seemingly recalling many memories of this place. Seeing this, Yang Kai didn’t disturb her, instead just waiting outside the bamboo forest silently.
These bamboos were extremely hard. Yang Kai had spent half a year here cutting them with his Space Blade, but had only managed to harvest twenty pieces. These cuts still appeared fresh when Yang Kai spotted them.
“These are Black Gold Bamboos. Although they are an excellent material for refining sword-type artifacts, that’s nothing compared to their other uses so don’t cut down any more of them,” Yang Yan suddenly spoke.
“Other uses?” Yang Kai heard this and asked. He knew the strength of these bamboos so, naturally, he understood they were a rare artifact refining material.
“En, after these Black Gold Bamboos blossom, they produce Black Gold Bamboo Shoots which contain highly concentrated and extremely pure World Energy. These shoots can be easily absorbed by any cultivator to raise their cultivation without any hidden dangers.”
Yang Kai was startled and quickly asked, “Is that true?”
“You think I’d lie to you?” Yang Yan shot him an unhappy glare.
“When will they blossom and produce shoots?” Yang Kai asked eagerly.
“From the looks of it, somewhere between ten and twenty years,” Yang Yan smiled, naturally knowing what he was thinking.
“Ten or twenty years…” Yang Kai showed an ugly expression. Who could tell what would happen over the next ten or twenty years? By that time perhaps he would no longer even be on Shadowed Star.
With a chuckle, Yang Yan ignored Yang Kai and walked towards the loft. Letting out a reluctant sigh, Yang Kai hurriedly followed after her.
After entering the first floor of the loft, the first thing Yang Kai saw was the picture hanging directly in front of him. There was nothing else depicted in this picture other than a woman’s back. When Yang Kai first came here, he had studied this picture for a while, but was unable to discover anything out of the ordinary with it. This picture seemed to only be a common painting, without the slightest energy fluctuations.
At that time, Yang Kai had felt this back was faintly familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Now that he saw it again though, everything became clear.
This back was exactly the same as Yang Yan’s!
Yang Kai simply hadn’t connected the two at that time because Yang Yan was always wearing a loose black robe, making it difficult to see her profile; however, with Yang Yan currently standing in front of the picture staring at it intently, Yang Kai could clearly see the similarity between them.
While thinking this way, the picture seemed to be shaken by the breeze, trembling slightly before an incredible scene appeared.
The figure in the picture actually turned around slowly, and her beautiful eyes met Yang Yan’s directly as a smile formed on her lips.
Yang Kai stared at all this in amazement, too shocked to move for a while.
When the woman drawn in the picture turned around completely, it was clearly Yang Yan, the only difference was that she was wearing very different clothes. The Yang Yan that Yang Kai knew was always wearing a long black robe, but the woman in the picture wore all white, giving her an icy and pure look.
This strange scene looked like Yang Yan was standing in front of a mirror, causing Yang Kai to feel somewhat at a loss for what to do.
What shocked him even more though was that the woman in the picture actually glanced over at him, as if she had her own sentience and consciousness.
If Yang Kai had any doubt about Yang Yan’s identity before, now that doubt had been completely erased. Forget about anything else, just the extraordinariness of this picture alone was beyond Yang Kai ability to understand.
One person and one portrait stared at each other for a long time before Yang Yan suddenly let out a gentle sigh, “I’ve already awoken, so you no longer need to remain here. Come out, you’ve worked hard all these years.”
“I am you and you are me, why try to draw distinctions now?” The same voice as Yang Yan’s sounded from the picture and immediately, the woman in it smiled slightly before transforming into a stream of light and leaping off the canvas before diving into Yang Yan’s forehead and disappearing.
Yang Yan herself shivered slightly, showing a hint of pain on her face, but she quickly calmed down and closed her eyes, seemingly sensing something.
Yang Kai didn’t disturb her. This trip with Yang Yan to the Flowing Flame Sand Field had allowed him to witness many things that exceeded the scope of his understanding. The Great Emperor’s means were not something a cultivator of his level could possibly comprehend.
After the portrait of the Great Emperor disappeared, the canvas it was drawn upon suddenly ignited and was burnt to ash in an instant, disappearing from the world entirely.
Yang Yan remained immersed in her perception with her eyes closed, so Yang Kai also remained silent and waited.
After about two hours, Yang Yan exhaled suddenly and slowly opened her beautiful eyes before turning to Yang Kai and smiling.
Although he still found it impossible to determine Yang Yan’s cultivation, Yang Kai felt that after receiving the portrait from the picture, some changes had taken place in Yang Yan’s aura, making her seem more powerful than before.
“This place was left here as a failsafe by the Great Emperor. If I hadn’t appeared and regained my memories, she would have taken up my role,” Yang Yan explained softly.
“And what role is that?”
“To awaken the Great Emperor!” Yang Yan replied, “You should be thankful that you aren’t a woman. If you were, your body would already have been taken over when you arrived at this place.”
Yang Kai’s face sank as he was struck speechless, but soon his curiosity re-asserted itself, “So what you mean to say is you now have the duty of awakening the Great Emperor?”
“Yes,” Yang Yan nodded.
“How are you going to accomplish that?”
“Wait for the Emperor Garden to open then travel to its innermost sanctum,” Yang Yan looked up towards the location of the Emperor Garden but, unfortunately, nothing could be seen through the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s red flame barrier.
Yang Kai didn’t ask any more questions, as he knew sometimes knowing too much was not a good thing.
“That’s how it is, let’s head back,” Yang Yan said with satisfaction.
“Yeah, just wait a moment,” Yang Kai nodded while sending out a command with his Divine Sense before standing in place and waiting.
A moment later, a blazing wisp of fire flew over. It was the Firebird Artifact Spirit which had left Yang Kai a few hours earlier.
In the blink of an eye, the Artifact Spirit arrived in front of Yang Kai as violent flames and heat surged around its body.
It seemed that although it had not spent much time in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, the Artifact Spirit had still gained many benefits. After being summoned back by Yang Kai, the Artifact Spirit showed a look of reluctance and continued to tweet its displeasure.
Yang Kai just waved his hand helplessly and the Artifact Spirit obediently entered his body.
Finished with their business here, Yang Kai and Yang Yan began walking out.
In order to avoid being seen, the two proceeded very carefully. Fortunately, the Emperor Garden had attracted the attention of most cultivators, so the number of people who rushed to investigate the changes in the Flowing Flame Sand Field wasn’t too high. Concealing themselves properly, the two finally left the Flowing Flame Sand Field without incident.
Once they were a fair distance from this Forbidden Zone, Yang Yan immediately summoned the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle and the pair set out towards Heavenly Fate City.