After listening to Yang Kai’s rampant words, the old man simply laughed aloud, “Little brat who doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth, this old master’s name shook the world before you were even born, yet you dare boast so shamelessly!? Enough nonsense, let this old master teach you how you should speak to your elders!”
As soon as the old man made this declaration, he shot out another scarlet ray of light. Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he instinctively felt danger approaching, but he had not seen the old man take any obvious actions and was unable to figure out how he made this attack.
While Yang Kai felt suspicious, he had no time to analyse the situation, so he swiftly summoned his Purple Shield and protected himself.
*Hong…*
A loud bang echoed as the violent attack struck, forcing Yang Kai to retreat several steps as he felt the blood in his chest roil. Although he had not been injured, this strange attack still caused Yang Kai’s wariness to rise because the force behind it was too great. If it had been someone with a weaker physique, even with the Purple Shield’s protection, they would have suffered greatly from this blow.
When the old man saw Yang Kai’s Purple Shield, his eyes flashed with greedy light as he exclaimed, “An Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact?”
His vision was sharp, so he quickly saw how extraordinary this Purple Shield was. When it was first refined, the Purple Shield was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank artifact, but after several improvements and modifications, Yang Yan had raised its quality to Origin Grade High-Rank.
Artifacts of this grade were extraordinarily rare on Shadowed Star. This old man’s status in Myriad Beast Mountain was not low and his cultivation reached the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm, but the best artifact he currently owned was just Origin Grade Mid-Rank, something he had found in an Ancient Ruin by chance.
A trivial Saint King Realm Junior like Yang Kai taking out an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact, a defensive one at that, made this old man seethe with jealousy and aroused greedy thoughts in his heart!
As long as he could kill this boy, this artifact would belong to him! Elder Jin Shi only wanted that Profound Gold and had not said anything about this brat’s property; moreover, the fight had just begun yet the other party had already taken out such a precious artifact, so who knows what other treasures he had on him?
Considering all this, the old man’s eyes filled with desire and murderous intent as he once again released his Divine Sense and sent out another burst of scarlet light towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not try to dodge this time either, but it wasn’t because he was trying to act tough. He wanted to know what this old man’s strange attack was, so he pushed his Divine Sense to its limits and stared towards the approaching scarlet light unblinkingly.
A moment later, Yang Kai could not help showing a look of surprise.
Because he discovered that the true form of this scarlet light was not some method the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain used, but was actually the tongue of the Blue Eyes Blood Toad!
With the Blue Eyes Blood Toad being a Ninth-Order Monster Beast, it was no surprise this attack carried such great force. This Monster Beast’s tongue was probably one of the strongest and most elastic muscles it possessed, so a blow from it being able to force Yang Kai back was understandable.
Just as Yang Kai realized the nature of this attack, the scarlet tongue hit his Purple Shield again, but this time, Yang Kai had already braced himself, so despite feeling a strong impact which shook his body, he wasn’t forced to retreat again. When he was about to fight back though, he saw a smug grin appear on the old man’s face as he stretched out his hand and patted the Blue Eyes Blood Toad beneath him. Pouring his Saint Qi into his Monster Beast, the old man shouted, “Come!”
At the same time, Yang Kai felt a huge force pull on the shield in his hand, dragging him forward.
Looking down, Yang Kai’s brow jumped as he discovered that the long scarlet tongue of the Blue Eyes Blood Toad now actually had countless tiny suction cups on its end and these suction cups had attached themselves to his Purple Shield.
[Does this old dog want to take away my artifact?] Yang Kai instantly understood the other party’s intentions and sneered, condensing a burning hot Demonic Flame in his hand, and directly grabbing the scarlet long tongue.
“Boy, you court death!” Seeing this scene, the old man not only was not angry but instead felt overjoyed. This Blue Eyes Blood Toad was a Monster Beast he had raised from its birth and he was well aware of how hard and thick its skin was. Not only was it resistant to physical harm though, its entire body had strong toxins flowing through it.
A trivial Saint King Realm Junior wanting to grab the poisonous tongue of his Blue Eyes Blood Toad was nothing less than suicide in the old man’s opinion.
*Ci la…*
A sizzling sound rang and the smell of something burnt filled the air as Yang Kai tightly grasped the Blue Eyes Blood Toad’s poisonous tongue with his Demonic Flames.
The eyes of the Blue Eyes Blood Toad bulged as it felt great pain, its cheeks swelling up as it croaked pitifully.
“How is that possible?” The old man was horrified. Never had he imagined that this brief confrontation would cause harm to his Monster Beast. Staring at the opposing youth simply standing there and sending black flames running down his Monster Beast’s tongue, like a fire consuming a dry grassland, the old man finally realized the situation was different from what he had anticipated. These black flames were clearly unordinary and could not only resist his Monster Beast’s poison but were also extremely difficult to extinguish.
Immediately, the old man sent a command to his Monster Beast and the Blue Eyes Blood Toad swiftly released the Purple Shield and recovered its long tongue.
In a blink of an eye, the long poisonous tongue disappeared but the Blue Eyes Blood Toad’s cheeks continued to bulge several times before it opened its mouth wide and spat out a stream of black blood.
“How dare you hurt my Monster Beast!” The old man roared. He intended to kill this boy and take his treasures, but not only had he failed to steal a chicken, he had lost his rice in the process. The old man could tell that his Companion Monster Beast had been seriously injured.
Furious, the old man pointed his finger towards Yang Kai while at the same time countless warts on the Blue Eyes Blood Toad burst, releasing spurts of multicoloured toxic venom. These masses of venom condensed into hundreds of tiny arrows in the next instant and shot towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai showed a dignified expression upon seeing this. Even without personally experiencing it, he could tell that this venom was not to be taken lightly. With a cold glare, Yang Kai summoned out a small furnace.
The Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace!
As soon as this Artifact Refining Furnace appeared, it exuded a monstrous heat and with a great gust of wind, this furnace expanded to over a dozen metres in size and released a piercing bird cry. The Firebird Artifact Spirit flew out from the furnace in the next instant and spat out a fiery red glow from its beak to intercept the countless poison arrows.
The jet of flame and the venomous liquid collided and for a moment seemed evenly matched.
The old man’s expression changed once again as he stared at the Firebird Artifact Spirit with greed and fear, not certain how he should proceed.
On the other hand, Yang Kai remained calm and relaxed, even wearing a faint grin on his lips. The strength of the Artifact Spirit was far greater than when he first acquired it and should have no trouble dealing with a Ninth-Order Monster Beast.
A shocking, malevolent aura suddenly rushed towards Yang Kai at that moment. The old man saw his Monster Beast become entangled with the Firebird and would be unable to withdraw any time soon so he took the initiative to attack Yang Kai himself, using his one handed hatchet to send out an ominous black wave.
Realizing the power of his opponent’s artifact, Yang Kai naturally did not dare underestimate this attack. Although this old man’s Saint Qi flow would be somewhat suppressed when fighting in this place, he was still a Second-Order Origin Realm master, in the end. This would be Yang Kai’s first time confronting an enemy of this level.
Waving his hand, Yang Kai condensed numerous balls of Demonic Flame and under the control of his Divine Sense, he transformed them into bird-like shapes before sending them out to intercept the old man’s attack.
“Yuan Control Mastery?” The old man’s brow jumped, never having imagined he would see such a skillful display of Yuan Control Mastery from a Third-Order Saint King Realm cultivator. Even he did not possess such fine control over his Saint Qi, so he felt that a mere Saint King achieving such a feat was impossible.
However, with reality in front of him, he had no choice but to believe it.
The Demonic Flame birds collided with the black wave in the next instant and after a great rumbling sound, both completely dissipated.
“So what if you’ve achieved Yuan Control Mastery? In front of this old master, you can still only be slaughtered, little brat!” The old man shouted sullenly before releasing an invisible force centred on him that instantly spread out and directly engulfed Yang Kai.
An incredible sense of suppression suddenly befell Yang Kai, making it hard for him to even move his fingers.
Shi! This was the Shi of a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, and it was far stronger than that of a First-Order master.
However, just suppressing Yang Kai wasn’t enough for this old man, so he quickly poured his Saint Qi into his one handed hatchet before tossing it out and shouting, “Go!”
After absorbing the old man’s Saint Qi, the malevolent aura of this one-handed hatchet was exuded increased explosively and the axe itself transformed into a black python dozens of metres in length.
This python shook its head and flicked its tail, appearing extremely fierce as it opened its mouth and shot towards the place where Yang Kai stood, as if it intended to swallow him whole.
The old man grinned viciously as he saw this. As a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm dealing with a Third-Order Saint King, he had actually been forced to go all out, something which greatly annoyed him. Nevertheless, compared to obtaining this little brat’s wealth, the old man felt this shame was worth it.
With a look of utter confidence filling his face, the old man watched in anticipation of Yang Kai’s body being broken to pieces.
At that moment though, several golden lights suddenly flickered and in an instant, golden radiance filled the air. As these golden lights rapidly swung back and forth, the old man actually felt like his Shi, which had just now been like the calm surface of a lake, had innumerable stones thrown into it, turning it chaotic and no longer able to suppress the other party.
[This brat can even destroy the Shi of an Origin Realm master?]
Oddly enough, these golden lights looked vaguely familiar, but the old man simply could not remember where he had seen them before.
It was not that this old man was ignorant and uninformed, it was just that the difference between Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads and Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Threads was too great. Although they both originated from the same source, Demon Blood Temple’s own Secret Technique did not have the advantages that Yang Kai’s did. In order to condense Demon Blood Threads, Demon Blood Temple cultivators needed to use some tricks to increase their own vital essence or absorb and refine the vital essence of their enemies.
Although doing so allowed them to enhance the power of their Demon Blood Threads, this process added impurities to the Secret Technique that resulted in their Demon Blood Threads giving off a gloomy and somewhat disordered aura.
But Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads were condensed entirely from the Golden Blood in his body, making them far purer than even the original Demon Blood Thread! If it was Wu Xun from Demon Blood Temple here, he might have been able to see through the true nature of Yang Kai’s attack, but this old man did not possess such insight.
With the old man’s Shi broken, Yang Kai was immediately freed from its suppressive effects. Pouring his Saint Qi into the Purple Shield, Yang Kai tossed it forward and activated its special ability, instantly creating a yellow sandstorm that filled the air and swiftly enveloped the one-handed hatchet that had transformed into a jet black python.
From inside the sandstorm, the indistinct screams of the python rang as its giant figure thrashed about; however, it naturally wasn’t a simple matter for it to escape as the Purple Shield was a higher grade artifact than the one-handed hatchet and its sandstorm ability was focused on defence, allowing it to trap the python inside it.
Artifacts didn’t fight on their own of course, so this entanglement between the Purple Shield and the one-handed hatchet was actually a confrontation between Yang Kai and the old man’s Divine Senses, which was being played out through their artifacts.
Soon, the look on the old man’s face changed dramatically because during this battle he discovered that, in terms of foundation, Yang Kai Divine Sense wasn’t any weaker than his own, possibly even stronger and far exceeding what should be possible for a mere Saint King Realm cultivator.
“Who the hell are you!?” The old man exclaimed in alarm. He did not believe that a little brat without a powerful Sect behind him could possibly have such strength. Forget about the elite Saint King Realm disciples of his Myriad Beast Mountain, even Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect could not possibly cultivate such a monstrous talent.
On Shadowed Star, there was only one place where this kind of cultivator might be found: Star Emperor Mountain!
Could this little brat have come out from Star Emperor Mountain for life experience? Recalling all the information he knew about Yang Kai; the old man felt his heart clench tight.
If this was not the case, how could this young man continuously reveal methods which were able to restrain him at every step?
“You spout too much nonsense!” Yang Kai showed no intention of answering. Just now, he had remained on the defensive not because he was not confident in his strength, but because it was his first time dealing with this level of cultivator. Even if he had favourable conditions and an advantageous position, he did not immediately use them as he wanted to try his opponent’s strength first. Now that he had a fair idea of this old man’s abilities, Yang Kai naturally planned to go on the offensive.
Having tested the waters enough, Yang Kai condensed a massive amount of Saint Qi into a giant Demonic Flame sword that seemed to suck in all the light around him before holding it up high and cleaving forward fiercely.
A several-dozen-metre long black sword wave tore through the sky towards the old man.
Feeling the lethality contained in this sword wave, the old man let out a shout and hurriedly dodged to the side, but before he could stand firm, another sword wave swept towards him, as if the young man in front of him didn’t care how much Saint Qi he wasted.
The old man’s complexion went pale as he realized that he could not evade this blow. Gritting his teeth, he summoned out a small square shield from his Space Ring and spat a mouthful of blood onto it. This square shield lit up and began to rotate rapidly, creating a golden light curtain filled with flowing ruins in front of him.
Every cultivator had at least one defensive artifact, and this old man was naturally no exception; after all, there were always times when one would be unable to dodge and deflect an attack in battle.
Although this square shield was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank defensive artifact, it was still a masterpiece refined by Myriad Beast Mountain’s Origin Grade Artifact Refiner. Ordinarily, this old man was reluctant to use it as he considered it one of his most precious possessions.
But now, he had no choice but to take it out.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the giant black sword wave smashed onto the centre of the golden light curtain, causing the runes on its surface to tremble but ultimately failing to cause any damage.
The old man trembled as he was forced back several steps, but his face was still filled with joy because he had managed to completely resist this sword wave, filling him with satisfaction about his defensive artifact.
But in the next moment, his joyful smile on his face went stiff as his eyes bulged in shock.
Coming straight at him were dozens of sword waves, each one as powerful as the first. Each of them dozens of metres long, these black flame sword waves seemed to cover half the sky as they closed in on him.
The old man’s heart clenched.
Was this little brat insane? How could a cultivator burn through so much Saint Qi in the middle of a fight? Wasn’t he afraid he would run out and fall into a state of weakness?
No matter what realm a cultivator had achieved, everyone would carefully preserve their strength during battle; after all, no one could guarantee whether they would end up in a protracted battle. If one exhausted all their Saint Qi, wouldn’t they be easily slaughtered by their enemy?
This kind of reckless attack by Yang Kai was something this old man had seen multiple times, but only when an enemy had become cornered and felt they had no way out and no hope of survival. It was a kind of deadly, last-ditch attempt to drag their enemy down with them and, fortunately for the old man, no one had succeeded in dragging him down with them so far.
This little brat suddenly fighting as if he wanted to kill him at the cost of his own life, had he gone mad?
All kinds of stray thoughts flashed across the old man’s mind in that moment. Having just taken one of these blows head-on, the old man had yet to regain his stance before the next wave of attacks approached. He had no other choice but to desperately pour his Saint Qi into his small square shield and pray that it would be able to withstand the incoming barrage.
The glow of the golden light curtain suddenly increased greatly.
In the next moment, a rumbling collision sound echoed, and the old man was continuously forced backwards. Each black sword wave crashed upon the golden light curtain and was dispersed, but it was instantly followed by another.
*Kacha…*
Hearing a clear, crisp, cracking sound, the old man went pale as he looked forward and discovered that the golden light curtain protecting him had begun to break. At first, it was just a small crack, but it had spread out across the entire golden surface like a spider’s web in the blink of an eye.
No matter how solid a defence was, it could not withstand an endless bombardment. Even Dragon Cave Mountain’s extraordinary Mountain Defending Array was no exception to this rule, so what did a trivial Origin Grade Low-Rank defensive artifact count for?
[Not good!] The old man exclaimed in his heart as he quickly threw the small square shield forward while simultaneously darting to the side.
In this critical moment, he could only choose to abandon the small square shield he so greatly treasured; after all, this small shield did not have a special power like Yang Kai’s Purple Shield.
Without the old man’s continuous infusion of Saint Qi, the small shield instantly became a dead item, so even if its grade was high, it was quickly swept up in Yang Kai’s sword wave bombardment and shattered. The scattered fragments of this shield were instantly incinerated by the Demonic Flames and turned to ashes, but by blocking a couple of sword waves, it had bought the old man enough time to withdraw to three hundred metres to relative safety.
Coldly staring towards the position, the old man had retreated, Yang Kai’s empty left hand grabbed towards the air as he condensed a black spear from his Saint Qi.
“Go!” Yang Kai shouted as he tossed this spear, making it race forward at phenomenal speed. The spear disappeared for a moment and, by the time it reappeared, it was already right in front of the old man’s face.
The Heaven Punishing Spear from the Nine Heavens Divine Skills was an attack Yang Kai had reached an incredible level of proficiency with, so the power it could display was now quite extraordinary.
Before the old man had time to recover from the exchange just now, he once again found himself in imminent danger. His heart filled with rage, he let out a great roar as he lifted both his hands and condensed a massive amount of Saint Qi into a light curtain in front of his head and managed to block the Heaven Punishing Spear’s fatal blow.
But this assault had not ended yet. The sky above the old man’s head suddenly distorted as a giant palm appeared and proceeded to slam down towards him, causing the old man’s eyes to bulge.
This palm seemed to obstruct the entire sky, sealing off all escape routes while imposing a sense of despair as it fell.
Heaven Covering Hand, one hand covers the Heavens!
With a loud bang, the palm ruthlessly struck, and the ground trembled violently. A several-dozen-metre-wide pit was opened up and, if one looked down from above, they would be able to clearly make out the shape of a palm.
However, Yang Kai just frowned and turned his eyes to a nearby spot.
At some point, the old man had somehow managed to move to this position, his face pale as he coughed lightly, seemingly quite unsteady.
Yang Kai could not help showing a look of surprise.
He did not know what Secret Technique his opponent had used but it had allowed this old man to escape from his blow just now. It seemed that no Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator could be underestimated.
“Boy, do you really want to force this old master to perish together with you?” The old man glared at Yang Kai with both anger and fear as he coldly asked.
Having arrived at this moment, he no longer dared to underestimate Yang Kai. Even without the suppression of the Spirit Arrays here, he estimated he could not kill Yang Kai and may only be an even match for him.
But now, with the suppression of these strange Spirit Arrays and unable to display even seventy percent of his full strength, this old man realized that he was completely not Yang Kai’s opponent. Besides the first few attacks he managed to land, the rest of the time he had been on the defensive, leading to his current distraught condition.
The exchange just now was especially frightening, causing the old man to sweat just remembering it. If he had not taken the initiative to escape using a Secret Technique that damaged his vitality in order to dramatically increase his speed, he likely would have suffered a severe injury.
If he suffered a grievous wound in this forsaken place, the old man could easily guess what kind of fate would befall him.
However, that Secret Technique was not one he could use casually, and after this battle, whether he emerged victoriously or defeated, he would need to spend a few years recuperating to return to his peak.
The old man was already determined to withdraw from this battle. While the allure of precious treasures was great, one needed to have their life to enjoy them. As for how to placate Elder Feng, that was not a matter he had the luxury of considering right now.
“Perish together with you?” After hearing his words, Yang Kai showed a look of naked contempt and spat, “Depending on you?”
The sarcasm and ridicule in his tone couldn’t be more obvious, and if it were any other time, this old man would certainly not let such an insult slide; after all, he had never been so ridiculed by a Saint King Realm cultivator before, but at this moment…
“You think this old master is already a fish on the chopping block? Boy, this old master admits that you are extraordinary, but the price you pay if you want to kill this old master will not be small! Why not let this matter end here. As long as you let this old master leave, this old master can swear to never disturb your Dragon Cave Mountain again, what say you?”
“You think you’re still qualified to discuss conditions with me?” Yang Kai grinned and said coldly, “If I want to treat you like a fish on the chopping block, what can you do?”
“Boy, when it’s possible to let people off, one should spare them. If you insist on biting this old master to death, you’d best be careful you don’t break your teeth in the process!” The old man said in a fierce tone while inwardly feeling anxious.
“Oh? Then I’d like to see whether your bones are hard enough to break my teeth,” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed sharply, refusing to make any concessions.
These people invaded his home and tried to murder and rob him, so how could Yang Kai just compromise and let this old man leave safely? Yang Kai had made up his mind to kill all the people who dared step onto Dragon Cave Mountain. Showing mercy here would only lead to others thinking he was weak and easily bullied; now was the time for Dragon Cave Mountain to show its fangs.
Hearing Yang Kai’s answer, a ruthless light flashed across the old man’s eyes as he grit his teeth and muttered, “Do you really insist on acting ruthless?”
Instead of replying, Yang Kai simply condensed another Demonic Flame sword in his hand and slashed out, letting his actions speak for themselves.
“You’ve compelled me to do this!” The old man suddenly wore a fierce expression as he stood firm without moving, paying no heed at all to the approaching sword wave, as if he wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of it.
Yang Kai raised his brow as a solemn look filled his face. He didn’t think the other party was seeking death. Judging from this old man’s words just now, it was clear he had some kind of trump card that he had yet to use and was absolutely confident it could block this blow.
Understanding this, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate anymore, lifting his finger and slashing the space in front of him, silently sending out his Space Blade towards the old man.
Yang Kai intended to end this battle with his Space Blade before the old man could reveal his trump card.
With his Demonic Flame sword wave in front, and his Space Blade following close behind, the former concealing the latter, the old man didn’t even notice this hidden blow and simply stood in place, taking a jade box out of his Space Ring.
Opening this jade box, the old man took out a longan-sized pill from inside.
The old man picked up this pill and threw it directly into his mouth before swallowing it with a grunt.
He didn’t know if it was a misconception, but when this old man took out this pill, Yang Kai thought he saw a look of nostalgia and struggle in his eyes, making him wonder what it was this old man was reminiscing about at this time.
In the next instant, the giant Demonic Flame sword wave got to within a dozen metres of the old man.
However, before this sword wave could hit its mark, a giant figure fell from the sky and hit the ground with a thunderous bang, blocking the old man from this blow.
*Ci la…*
The black sword wave struck this giant figure and sent out a grating sound, after which a painful croak rang out.
It was the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad!
At the critical moment, the old man had actually summoned his Blue-Eyed Blood Toad back. Although it was a Ninth-Order Monster Beast, this toad wasn’t as strong as the Firebird Artifact Spirit, its only advantage being its thick skin and strong flesh.
During its battle with the Artifact Spirit, the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad’s body had suffered numerous serious injuries and was now covered in cuts and burns. Nearly every one of its original warts had been popped and was leaking foul-smelling toxins at this moment.
Even so, it still hadn’t died. If it had been a different, less resilient type of Ninth-Order Monster Beast, it would likely have long since perished.
Already at death’s door, when it was struck by Yang Kai sword wave, the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad suffered another grievous wound, one that was bone-deep.
Strangely, the old man remained completely indifferent, as if this Monster Beast wasn’t one he had personally raised for countless years from infancy to maturity. Reaching out, the old man placed his hand on the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad’s back and began desperately infusing it with his Saint Qi.
Silently, Yang Kai’s Space Blade slashed into the abdomen of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad right where his Demonic Flame sword wave had struck and greatly deepened the wound.
Anything Yang Kai’s Space Blade cut through was instantly banished to The Void, making it impossible for damage done by his Space Blade to be restored.
While the power of Yang Kai’s Space Blade wasn’t small, the toughness of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad’s body also couldn’t be underestimated. Yang Kai’s Space Blade cut through most of its target’s body but ultimately failed to slice it apart completely before disappearing.
Seeing this, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. If his Space Blade could have advanced another metre, perhaps he could have killed the old man together with his toad in one fell swoop.
Now was not the time to worry about such things though.
No matter how resilient the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad was, after suffering such a serious wound, it would definitely die, and as its owner and life companion, the old man would surely receive some kind of backlash when it did. Busy injecting his Saint Qi into his Blue-Eyed Blood Toad, the old man suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and couldn’t help his eyes from bulging in shock.
Realizing that the vitality of his Companion Monster Beast was rapidly dissipating, the old man pushed his Saint Qi even more violently, causing the body of his Blue-Eyed Blood Toad to expand rapidly and soon become round, as if it might burst at any time.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed when he saw this and silently issued an order to the Firebird Artifact Spirit. With a crisp bird cry, the Firebird transformed into a streak of red light and shot forward.
But before the Artifact Spirit could rush over, a loud bursting noise rang out and the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad exploded into a blood mist, its bones disintegrating and leaving behind only a cloud of multicoloured poison.
Frightened by this unexpected development, the Artifact Spirit rapidly soared up into the sky to avoid being affected by this explosion.
Simultaneously, the old man wore a fierce look upon his face as he stood in place, seemingly enjoying this toxic baptism while executing some kind of Secret Art or Secret Technique to rapidly absorb the poison mist.
At the same time, the old man stretched out his hand and grabbed the Monster Core of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad before throwing it into his mouth and swallowing it.
This series of events happened instantaneously and dumbfounded Yang Kai.
After absorbing this poison mist and the Monster Core from his Blue-Eyed Blood Toad, the old man’s appearance underwent a dramatic change, his exposed skin filled with warts that emitted a foul toxic odour, making him look exactly like the now deceased Blue-Eyed Blood Toad.
This old man had been ugly before, but now his appearance was even worse.
The changes didn’t end there as his two eyes turned blue and assumed a more animalistic look.
The most obvious change was that his cheeks actually swelled up greatly, just like a frog, making him look a little amusing.
But Yang Kai wasn’t able to laugh at this scene because after this old man underwent this transformation, his aura also dramatically increased and gave off a very dangerous feeling.
“Great! This is just the best!” The old man cackled wildly as he fixed his Blue-Eyes on Yang Kai and coldly declared, “Forcing this old master to use his Monster Transformation, you can die contented!”
Monster Transformation! Yang Kai raised his brow. Although this was the first time he heard of such a strange technique, he figured it was one of Myriad Beast Mountain’s Forbidden Techniques. After all, the cultivators from Myriad Beast Mountain handled Monster Beasts for most of their lives, controlling them to fight, so developing such a technique shouldn’t have been impossible.
It wasn’t difficult for Yang Kai to tell that this old man was now no longer completely human and should instead be regarded as half-man, half-Monster Beast.
Moreover, at this moment, there weren’t just Saint Qi fluctuations coming from this old man, but Monster Qi as well. The two forces terrifyingly superimposed on one another!
This Forbidden Technique certainly had catastrophic side effects! Yang Kai immediately judged that there might not be any way to undo the transformation; otherwise, the old man wouldn’t have hesitated so long to use it. Saint Qi and Monster Qi were two completely different types of strength, so it was impossible for them to coexist inside a human body.
Yang Kai’s guess was correct. Myriad Beast Mountain’s Monster Transformation Technique indeed had serious consequences, and there wasn’t any way to reverse it. Even if he somehow managed to successfully suppress the Monster Qi rampaging through his body right now, the old man would lose most, if not all of his cultivation in the process, rendering him crippled. However, if he couldn’t suppress this Monster Qi, the backlash he suffered would kill him.
The old man had truly reached a dead end, otherwise he would not be burning his boat like this.
Even though this old man’s aura had dramatically increased, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid, instead exchanging a brief look with the Firebird Artifact Spirit before the two of them regrouped to confront this enemy.
The old man didn’t plan to waste time. As soon as his Monster Transformation technique was complete, his cheeks swelled up before he seemingly casually exhaled, spitting out a green poisonous arrow towards Yang Kai.
After using this Monster Transformation, the old man was actually able to use the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad’s abilities.
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows and immediately dodged to the side.
As Yang Kai dodged though, the poison arrow approaching him suddenly burst mid-air and turned into countless tiny poison darts that soared in every direction.
Caught off guard, Yang Kai was only able to condense his Saint Qi to form a protective barrier around his body.
*Ci la la…*
When these poison darts struck Yang Kai’s Saint Qi protection, they quickly began eroding holes in his Demonic Flames. After undergoing this Monster Transformation, it seemed this poison had become even stronger.
Before Yang Kai could steady himself, a dangerous aura suddenly pressed down on him from above.
Yang Kai reacted instinctively by condensing his Saint Qi on his palm and thrusting upwards.
A strong force struck from above, causing Yang Kai to sink to the ground, but when he looked up, there was no trace of his enemy. Only after releasing his Divine Sense all around did Yang Kai notice the old man jumping around him at an unbelievable speed, seemingly looking for a flaw in his defence to exploit.
This kind of speed was not something a Human could possess. It seemed that after the old man used his Monster Transformation, he had also inherited the leaping abilities of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad.
The situation had become a bit troublesome! With his opponent moving so fast, Yang Kai would have a hard time hitting him; however, Yang Kai wasn’t fighting alone here, he had his Artifact Spirit to help him as well as the support of Yang Yan’s powerful Spirit Arrays. Not panicking, Yang Kai quickly used his Divine Sense to send an instruction to the Artifact Spirit.
Receiving this command, the Firebird immediately burst into countless tiny versions of itself that swarmed outwards to fill the surrounding space.
In the next instant, several of these tiny birds cried out as they exploded into balls of flame.
From the direction of these cries, the old man’s figure reappeared with a look of helplessness and hatred filling his face.
He hadn’t expected Yang Kai to actually use the Artifact Spirit to set up an inescapable net to track his movements.
Several Golden Threads suddenly shot out at that moment, filling the sky with golden light as they cut towards the exposed old man.
These Golden Threads each gave off an incredibly sharp aura and the old man understood that once he was cut by them he would definitely suffer greatly. With a solemn look appearing on his face, the old man suddenly glared towards Yang Kai with his sharp Blue-Eyes.
An invisible force burst into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and shook his mind.
A Spiritual Energy Toxin! After using his Monster Transformation, apparently the old man’s Knowledge Sea had also mutated, allowing him to release toxic Spiritual Energy. This was a powerful method that was extremely difficult to defend against or purge as this poison would sink into one’s Knowledge sea like maggots on rotting bones.
Seeing the old man glare fixedly towards him, Yang Kai did not panic. Instead, he rejoiced, his glint in his left eye suddenly becoming deep and profound as a golden pupil appeared.
Demon Eye of Annihilation!
This pure golden pupil gave off a majestic and daunting aura, as if it could see through and command everything in this world.
Lingering about this golden pupil, however, was also a kind of inexplicable haze.
Coloured Glass Divine Light!
After refining the Coloured Glass Bead that Dai Yuan gave to him, Yang Kai had successfully managed to merge some of its power with his Demon Eye of Annihilation, and although this fusion wasn’t yet complete, it could already display some effect.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was one of Great Demon God’s innate Divine Abilities, not something Yang Kai cultivated himself but had instead inherited. Even so, as Yang Kai’s strength grew, the power of this eye also grew; as such, although Great Demon God was just a Saint King when he died, it seemed this Demon Eye of Annihilation would continue to be of use to Yang Kai in the future.
An invisible vortex appeared in this golden pupil, and from this vortex, a powerful suction emerged. The old man was shocked by this as, in the instant he met eyes with Yang Kai, he felt his Soul become disturbed, like it was being sucked away from his body.
This discovery terrified the old man and he quickly circulated his Secret Art to suppress the palpitations of his heart.
But things did not end there as the multi-coloured light that lingered about this golden eye actually began exerting another strange power, one that caused the old man’s Soul, which he had just barely managed to stabilize, to become turbulent again, to the point that he was unable to even control it anymore.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation already had the ability to draw out and absorb a cultivator’s Soul, an ability Yang Kai had relied upon to increase his comprehension of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao far beyond his current realm. This allowed him to break through at remarkable speeds without destabilizing his foundation or mood.
The Coloured Glass Divine Light, on the other hand, had a powerful suppressive effect on a cultivator’s Soul and could not be blocked by the power of the five elements. When the two effects were superimposed, the might they displayed could not be underestimated.
However, Yang Kai’s strength wasn’t very high at present, so the effect of this technique on this old man was greatly weakened, not to mention that this old man had already used his strange Monster Transformation skill, making him far stronger than an ordinary Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator.
As such, after just one breath, the old man managed to shake off the deterrence of the Demon Eye of Annihilation and Coloured Glass Divine Light.
However, this was enough. During this one breath of time, Yang Kai had sent out a dozen Space Blades from his fingertips to attack the old man. By the time the old man regained his freedom, these pitch black blades had already arrived right in front of their target.
The old man saw this approaching attack and let out a great roar, condensing two layers of light curtains in front of himself. The first of these layers was condensed of his own Saint Qi, while the second was formed from the Monster Qi of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad.
Unfortunately for the old man, these two layers of protection were unable to stop the advance of Yang Kai’s Space Blades!
Silently, the more than a dozen Space Blades passed through where the old man stood and after slicing through his body, flew out a hundred metres before gradually fading out of existence.
The old man froze up in shock as he stared towards Yang Kai in horror. Immediately after, he lowered his head and saw many blade-shaped cuts across his body. Through these cuts, he could clearly see his destroyed organs and red blood flowing out.
“Space Force!” The old man muttered in shock as his body fell to pieces, turning into a mound of broken flesh. On his old face, his two eyes were still bulged, as if even in death, he couldn’t believe he had died in such a place.
Looking at this broken corpse, Yang Kai exhaled slightly. This battle had not been easy for him. Although Yang Yan was controlling the local Spirit Arrays to suppress the strength of this old man, after displaying his Monster Transformation Secret Technique, this old man’s strength had soared to a level far beyond what his cultivation should have allowed.
If Yang Kai had been facing this old man alone, he might not necessarily have been able to kill him.
The suction force from the Demon Eye of Annihilation pulled in the Remnant Soul of the old man a moment later. This was the Soul of a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master and would be immensely helpful to Yang Kai when it came to comprehending Shi, so he naturally was not going to miss this opportunity.
After this battle, Yang Kai had a vague understanding of his current combat effectiveness. Right now, he should not have a problem fighting Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators, but whether he could kill one or not would mostly depend on their other party’s abilities. As for Third-Order Origin Realm masters, Yang Kai felt like his strength was still insufficient, but he would need to fight one to confirm his speculations.
Nearby, without the Divine Sense control of the old man, the one-handed hatchet which had transformed into a black python returned to its original appearance and fell to the ground.
Yang Kai flicked his wrist and first collected his Purple Shield before picking up the one-handed hatchet and playing with it for a moment before tossing it into his Space Ring.
Standing on the spot and silently investigating for a moment, Yang Kai quickly understood Dragon Cave Mountain’s current situation.
The intruders were all basically dead, but at a place about ten kilometres away there was a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master locked in a bitter battle against three First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators.
From the fluctuations of these auras, Yang Kai quickly judged that the enemy should be a master from Demon Blood Temple while the three First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators were, needless to say, Chang Qi, Hao An, and Ning Xiang Chen.
Although this trio’s cultivation was one Minor Realm lower than the middle-aged man from Demon Blood Temple, inside Dragon Cave Mountain’s grounds they should not have a problem defeating him. Yang Kai could tell that the battle was quite one-sided and figured it was only a matter of time before the enemy fell.
Ning Xiang Chen wading into these muddy waters and openly siding with Dragon Cave Mountain, however, was an unexpected development for Yang Kai.
After all, he did not have any kind of deep friendship with this Senior and had only spoken to him a few times during their expedition inside the Emperor Garden. Although Yang Kai knew that Ning Xiang Chen taking such actions today were in order to borrow his Firebird Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai was not offended in the slightest. The other party did not have any malicious intentions and simply wanted to request Yang Kai’s help with something, so Yang Kai had readily agreed.
This coincidence had brought a powerful reinforcement for Dragon Cave Mountain just when it needed it, so Yang Kai naturally felt grateful.
If not for Ning Xiang Chen’s presence, Chang Qi and Hao An alone would not be able to kill this master from Demon Blood Temple.
Of course, whether or not Ning Xiang Chen helped Dragon Cave Mountain did not make too much of a difference, but this unexpected surprise still pleased Yang Kai greatly.
No longer paying attention to that side, Yang Kai turned his gaze to another position and flashed a cold grin before walking over.
Inside a strange illusion, where there was no sun, moon, or stars, only a barren plain that seemed to stretch out forever, Xie Li sat cross-legged on the ground, as tranquil as an ancient well. He had tried multiple methods but was unable to even disturb the Spirit Array trapping him, allowing him to conclude that he was unable to escape with just his ability, so he decided to not waste anymore of his strength and simply wait while recuperating.
By now, Xie Li knew that this Illusion Array had no lethality, so if the enemy wanted to kill him, they would have to show up.
As the Xie Family’s strongest master, Xie Li’s mental fortitude was exceptional, but the few Saint King Realm Juniors who had followed him were a different story, all of them fixedly staring towards Xie Li, hoping that he would be able to save them.
But since Xie Li remained silent, they were helpless to do anything, none of them daring to disturb him nor try to escape on their own, so right now they felt like ants on a hot pot, anxious to the extreme.
Suddenly, Xie Li stood up and stared towards a spot not far in front of him, his eyes flashing a cold light.
As Xie Li stood up, the space in front of him visibly distorted and a moment later, a figure mysteriously appeared, as if it had passed through a transparent curtain of water and stood in front of the small group from the Xie Family.
Looking at this person’s face, Xie Li’s eyes narrowed as many thoughts quickly flashed across his mind.
Naturally, he recognized Yang Kai; after all, his son, Xie Hong Wen, had died at Yang Kai’s hands. The enmity for the murder of his child was something Xie Li had wanted to repay since the moment he learned of it, but Xie Li was also a man who knew how to read the situation and had thus not risked coming to Dragon Cave Mountain before now to find trouble with Yang Kai. With Qian Tong standing behind Yang Kai all this time, all the satisfaction Xie Li would derive from killing this boy would soon be buried with him. Since that was the case, the gains simply did not equal the losses.
And so, he had suppressed himself, looking for an opportunity to exact his revenge.
Luckily, after an infuriatingly long wait, his opportunity had finally come.
Now that he had met the target of his enmity, Xie Li naturally felt explosive anger! But Xie Li did not lose control of himself and simply stared at Yang Kai, not rushing forward to attack him recklessly.
After entering this Illusion Array, Yang Kai glanced around for a moment before casually summoning his Artifact Spirit. The Firebird spread its wings wide and condensed several fireballs the size of washbasins before shooting them towards the few Saint Kings present.
These Saint King Realm cultivators were truly quite pitiful. They had been trapped here for what seemed like an eternity, spending every moment on edge, and now they had suddenly been attacked by the Firebird whose strength was comparable to an Origin Realm master. How could they be expected to put up any resistance?
All of these Saint Kings’ hurriedly summoned defensive artifacts were unable to resist the fierce attack of these fireballs and shattered on contact, their broken fragments quickly melting under the intense heat. Next, the Saint Qi these cultivators used to protect their bodies was easily burnt away, followed by their bodies which were swiftly reduced to ashes.
In the blink of an eye, the few Saint King Realm cultivators accompanying Xie Li all died without even being able to put up a fight.
Xie Li’s expression did not change in the slightest as this happened, as if the cultivators who just died were not disciples from his family, his full attention remaining fixed on Yang Kai.
After a long silence, Xie Li took a deep breath and said, “This is our first meeting is it not? This old master’s name is Xie Li. Presumably, you know who I am.”
Yang Kai curled his lips slightly as he replied, “I know who you are, and I know why you’re here. I just have one question for you.”
“Good, before you die, this old master can satisfy your wish,” Xie Li coldly snorted, seemingly completely confident in his own strength and methods.
“Shameless boasting!” Yang Kai snickered, “Forget it, I’ve no interest in wasting time with you, just tell me where Lu Ye is, and I’ll leave you with a complete corpse.”
“Lu Ye?” Xie Li frowned, apparently not having expected this would be Yang Kai’s question, but after a complicated look flashed across his eyes, he just shook his head and replied, “I don’t know, he’s probably dead.”
“Dead? Him? …” Yang Kai muttered flatly.
It was impossible for Lu Ye to die so easily; after all, Yang Kai was certain he cut off one of the other party’s arms in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but when next he saw him that arm had actually grown back.
This was something beyond Yang Kai’s ability to comprehend.
A man who could regenerate a severed arm could not possibly die so easily. Yang Kai vaguely felt that this Lu Ye was not simple.
But at this moment, the only invaders left alive on Dragon Cave Mountain were Xie Li in front of him and the middle-aged man from Demon Blood Temple to his left. If Lu Ye had come here, there was no reason he could not be found with Yang Yan and Wu Yi constantly monitoring the situation.
That bastard was quite astute and didn’t come here in person, causing Yang Kai to grind his teeth in frustration.
“Is that your only question?” Xie Li glared at him impatiently.
“Yes,” Yang Kai grinned back at him.
“Then you can die!” Xie Li shouted sternly as he began releasing a terrifying Saint Qi aura from his body, one that was visible to the naked eye. At the same time, his muscles began to bulge and take on a strange bronze-coloured glow as he shot towards Yang Kai like an arrow from a string.
Yang Kai revealed a look of surprise as he had not expected Xie Li to want to engage in close-quarter combat with him; however, he didn’t think too much of this. With how much Xie Li hated him, fighting hand to hand would naturally be a better way for him to vent his anger.
Thinking so, Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin as he stood his ground and stared indifferently at the approaching Xie Li, waving his hand, and releasing several Golden Threads into the air in front of him.
Xie Li did not even try to dodge this blockade and instead punched forward, his fist seeming to move slowly as it exuded a powerful aura and golden glow that struck towards Yang Kai’s Golden Threads.
In the blink of an eye, this fist collided with Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads, and to Yang Kai’s surprise, his extraordinarily sharp threads failed to cut this fist. On top of that, an inexplicable force was transmitted through his Golden Threads back to him, causing his vital essence to tumble.
After this single exchange, Yang Kai understood that this Xie Li would be more difficult to handle than the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain.
Worthy of being the master of a powerful family from Shadow Moon Hall, Xie Li’s heritage and foundation were extraordinary. If Xie Li had fought that old man one on one, the old man would not have been his opponent.
Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he prepared to resort to other means to stop Xie Li, but suddenly, an unexpected mutation occurred.
Xie Li, who had charged towards Yang Kai with a thick murderous intent and incredible momentum, suddenly let out a strange cry, as if something had happened to him, his face contorting in pain and confusion, followed immediately by his eyes going completely bloodshot.
Yang Kai frowned as he subconsciously thought that his opponent was playing some kind of trick on him, but immediately after, he felt something was not right and for a moment, he became confused as to how to react.
In that brief moment of indecision, Xie Li managed to close to within ten metres of Yang Kai, his murderous intent so thick it was nearly substantive, cutting into Yang Kai’s skin like a blade.
Immediately after, Xie Li’s body glowed a strange bloody red colour and his vitality violently surged, becoming extremely disordered. Simultaneously, his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears all began bleeding profusely as he glared towards Yang Kai, making for a terrifying picture.
“This is…” Yang Kai stared at this scene in confused shock, but soon he remembered something, and his expression went pale. Waving his hand, he summoned his Purple Shield and immediately activated its sandstorm ability to protect himself.
At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit swooped down from the sky and transformed into a flaming light curtain, adding another layer of protection.
Just as Yang Kai finished all this, Xie Li smashed into the transformed Firebird Artifact Spirit.
The searing hot flames turned Xie Li into a fireball in an instant, but he seemed to be completely unaware of this as he continued to fearlessly charge towards Yang Kai, incoherent words leaking from his lips.
Still, the flame light curtain flexed under this impact and hindered Xie Li’s forward momentum, slowing his advance significantly.
Xie Li’s body also seemed to reach its limit at that moment, his skin cracking all over his body as blood oozed out continuously before rapidly evaporating under the intense heat.
With a terrifying bang, Xie Li’s body, and the huge Saint Qi reserves contained inside it, suddenly burst apart, creating an extraordinary shockwave centred on his location that sent everything, from dirt and rocks to plants, flying in all directions.
The surrounding space flickered violently as the Illusion Array arranged here was unable to bear the impact of such an explosion, lasting only a breath before shattering and revealing the original scenery of this place.
The flame light curtain which had originally been wrapped around Xie Li’s body was also torn apart by this explosion. Fortunately, the Artifact Spirit wasn’t a physical entity, so, even though it was torn apart like this, it wasn’t significantly damaged. After gathering itself together, it quickly restored its original appearance, but a look of fear was apparent now on its face.
All of Dragon Cave Mountain shook violently because of this explosion, and the World Energy aura became severely distorted. Even the layers upon layers of protective barriers were unable to conceal this blast.
“What!” Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, who were fifty kilometres away, both stood up and stared towards Dragon Cave Mountain in shock.
“Old Fei, was that…” Qian Tong muttered in a dignified tone.
“Someone self-destructed?” Fei Zhi Tu spoke in astonishment.
“Yeah… and from fluctuations released, it seems to be Xie Li.”
“It couldn’t be, Xie Li is a Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator. Even if he fell into some kind of Spirit Array, he couldn’t have been forced into such an action.”
“Let’s go see, some kind of accident must have happened!” Qian Tong concluded before soaring off towards Dragon Cave Mountain. Fei Zhi Tu frowned before smiling bitterly and following.
Currently, Shadow Moon Hall was in a precarious situation, and it was not a good time for them to be taking such overt actions, but after seeing the Remnant Soul of that Ancient Divine Spirit Yang Kai possessed, Fei Zhi Tu was no longer able to treat him as an ordinary Saint King Realm Junior, even subconsciously thinking he should maintain a good relationship with him.
In addition, Qian Tong obviously favoured Yang Kai heavily and naturally hoped that nothing tragic would befall him or his Dragon Cave Mountain.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er exchanged a quick glance before following without hesitation.
Their group of four hurriedly flew through the air, but even before they reached Dragon Cave Mountain, they saw from all directions countless rays of light moving towards the same goal as them. Obviously, these were the masters who had been sitting on the sidelines to watch.
After feeling the strange movements just now on Dragon Cave Mountain, these masters were all surprised and ran over to investigate.
Over on Coloured Glass Sect’s side, Gong Ao Fu, along with Dai Yuan and Yin Su Die were also flying forward, but unlike Gong Ao Fu and Yin Su Die, Dai Yuan’s face was filled with anxiety, and after hesitating for a while, she couldn’t suppress her worries, grit her teeth, and asked, “Honoured Master, what happened just now? Why was there such a terrible energy fluctuation?”
Gong Ao Fu’s brow slightly wrinkled, seemingly unhappy that Dai Yuan cared so much about Dragon Cave Mountain. She did not want to answer this question, but upon seeing Yin Su Die also staring at her curiously, she quietly replied, “Someone self-destructed, it’s the only explanation for this kind of explosion.”
“Self-destructed? Who self-destructed?” Yin Su Die raised her delicate brow as she excitedly asked, “Could it be that Dragon Cave Mountain was overwhelmed and that Yang Kai had no other way out?”
Listening to her say this, Dai Yuan could not stop her pretty face from going white as her heart clenched tight.
However, Gong Ao Fu slowly shook her head and declared, “No, that boy couldn’t have produced such a powerful explosion. The one who self-destructed was definitely one of the highest-ranking masters who went in.”
“A Second-Order Origin Realm master self-destructed? How could that be?” Yin Su Die gasped, “There were only three Second-Order Origin Returning Realm masters that entered Dragon Cave Mountain, each one of them a famous and powerful figure, how could one of them have chosen to explode themself?”
“How do you expect your Master to know? Don’t you see everyone rushing over to investigate now? Perhaps no one knows for sure what just occurred, but these aura fluctuations… they seem similar to those from Shadow Moon Hall.”
“Shadow Moon Hall… how could…” Yin Su Die’s pretty face filled with shock.
“Honoured Master, is that really the case?” Dai Yuan asked, clearly pleasantly surprised.
Gong Ao Fu turned her eyes to Dai Yuan upon hearing this and coldly said, “Whether that is the case or not, what does it have to do with you? When this is all over and we return to Coloured Glass Sect, you will enter secluded retreat and not come out without my express permission!”
“Yes…” Dai Yuan bit her red lips and lightly nodded.
Although Gong Ao Fu was very unsatisfied with her disciple’s current attitude, she was also quite curious right now, wondering just what kind of danger this small Dragon Cave Mountain was concealing. How could they have forced a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator into a situation where there was no other choice but to self-destruct?
At the same time, inside Dragon Cave Mountain’s cave mansion, Yang Yan’s face was also quite pale. Even if she had been taking shelter inside the cave mansion, she still clearly felt the violent energy fluctuations coming from outside. At this moment, the entire cave mansion was in disarray, with many things being knocked over and the walls themselves cracking somewhat. Yang Kai had essentially been at the centre of that explosion, so who knows what kind of harm he had suffered.
Quickly pouring her Saint Qi into the gold and silver array control plate, Yang Yan quickly breathed a sigh of relief when she detected Yang Kai’s aura.
Yang Kai had not died, and only his aura had become somewhat unstable. Just when Yang Yan wanted to examine Yang Kai’s situation more closely though, Wu Yi exclaimed, “Elder Sister Yang Yan, there are many masters coming towards Dragon Cave Mountain, what should we do?”
Yang Yan narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the control plate and sure enough, she saw many points of light rapidly approaching Dragon Cave Mountain, and a number of these lights were very bright, indicating they belonged to Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
A rough count showed that at least a dozen such masters were on their way.
[So many?]
Yang Yan’s face sank. With so many masters gathering, even if Shadow Moon Hall wanted to intervene, it would not be able to do much. Although Qian Tong and Yang Kai had a good relationship, he would not be able to become enemies with so many different forces.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Yan’s expression turned solemn as she shouted, “Activate all of our remaining Spirit Arrays, if anyone dares invade Dragon Cave Mountain, kill them!”
Wu Yi gawked briefly before nodding firmly, waving her hands as she poured her Saint Qi into her control plate. Soon, entire Dragon Cave Mountain was covered with an even thicker layer of mist than before as a threatening aura began pulsing from inside its outermost barrier.
“Qian Yue, lead the others down to the storehouse,” Yang Yan declared coldly.
“Are we going to use that?” Qian Yue heard this and her beautiful eyes brightened.
Yang Yan smiled bitterly, “I hope not, but it’s best to prepare just in case. You assisted in its refinement, so you should understand what to do now.”
“Understood,” Qian Yue nodded firmly before immediately setting out. A moment later, all the cultivators hiding inside the cave mansion followed Qian Yue towards a separate location on Dragon Cave Mountain.
“Xiao Xiao!” Yang Yan called out softly, and in the next moment, the little stone puppet appeared in front of her. Standing there silently, it stared up at Yang Yan curiously.
“You go too!” Yang Yan waved, after which the Stone Puppet’s figure flickered and disappeared again.
Here is the official title: Self-Destructed
But dang. That Cliff Hanger!
Yang Kai’s brow was furrowed deeply as he stood at a certain spot on Dragon Cave Mountain, covered in blood and looking quite embarrassed, staring blankly at the strange scene not far in front of him.
There was a massive pit in the ground as well as countless pieces of hashed meat scattered about.
This was the result of Xie Li self-destructing.
But even though he saw it with his own eyes, Yang Kai was still unable to believe what had just happened!
How could Xie Li have chosen to self destruct? Even if the grudge between them was deep, Xie Li did not strike Yang Kai as the type who would sacrifice his own life in order to avenge his son. What’s more, their battle had just begun. Could Xie Li not have had any confidence in triumphing?
Only those who were driven into hopeless situations would make the extreme choice to perish together with their enemy; after all, if they were to self destruct and their enemy survived, wouldn’t they have died in vain?
Yang Kai suspected that all of this was some part of some kind of plot, and that the scene of Xie Li exploding just now was all part of some illusion.
However, the huge crater in front of Yang Kai and the fierce impact he had just experienced were clear evidence that a powerful master had self-destructed. On top of that, within the perception range of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai couldn’t find any trace of Xie Li’s aura, as if he had really disappeared.
[Was he insane?] While Yang Kai cursed to himself, a trace of fear flashed across his eyes.
A Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator self-destructing less than ten metres away from him had resulted in a terrifying explosion, and if Yang Kai had not realized something was wrong and taken action in advance, he would very likely have fallen here together with Xie Li.
The double layer of protection from his Firebird Artifact Spirit and Purple Shield reduced the impact Yang Kai suffered from Xie Li’s self destruction by about sixty percent; but even so, when the remaining forty percent of this explosive force struck Yang Kai, it felt as if he was a small boat caught in a great storm upon the sea, in danger of dying at any moment.
Fortunately, his physical body was incredibly strong and his Golden Blood had astonishing restorative powers. On top of that, Yang Kai had opened a Void Crack to swallow most of the remaining impact at the last moment.
As a result, although he was quite dishevelled at the moment, Yang Kai hadn’t suffered much harm.
In other words, Xie Li really had died in vain!
But still, Yang Kai frowned, not excited in the slightest as he vaguely felt something was still wrong.
Unless Xie Li had lost his mind, he wouldn’t have made such a stupid choice. Xie Li had been a Deacon in Shadow Moon Hall for many years and his cultivation was quite high; such a person was undoubtedly quite smart and would never use this kind of reckless suicide attack.
Yang Kai simply couldn’t understand.
Reviewing everything that had happened in their fight up until Xie Li exploded, Yang Kai only became more confused.
Before Yang Kai could unravel this mystery though, a sudden change occurred. Inside the huge pit, a piece of Xie Li’s broken body suddenly wriggled strangely and a blood-red ray of light burst out from it.
At the same time, four other identical blood-red rays of light appeared from the positions where Yang Kai had killed the Xie Family Saint King Realm cultivators.
As soon as these blood-red rays appeared, they silently shot towards Yang Kai at incredible speed.
By the time Yang Kai noticed these blood-red rays, they had already reached him!
Yang Kai’s face changed dramatically, and although he didn’t know what these blood-red rays were, he could tell they were dangerous. Waving his hand, Yang Kai condensed several Grand Heavenly Shields around him while simultaneously releasing his Golden Blood Threads to cut towards these blood-red rays.
A slicing sound rang out as Yang Kai’s incredibly sharp Golden Blood Threads cut apart one of these blood-red rays hundreds of times in the blink of an eye.
However, all this managed to accomplish was dimming the blood-red ray of light enough to reveal its original appearance as a strange worm-like insect. In the next second, it restored itself though and continued its approach.
The remaining insects also rushed towards Yang Kai even faster than before.
Yang Kai was stunned and quickly retreated, but the speed of these insects was even greater than his own and they pierced through his Grand Heavenly Shield in the next instant, as if it wasn’t even there and charged towards him.
A number of these blood-red insects crashed into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea immediately after, his defences unable to even hinder them.
[Shit!]
Yang Kai’s face sank and he immediately closed his eyes and sent his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea. The next moment, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar appeared inside his Knowledge Sea and quickly scanning his surroundings, he found the intruders.
It was exactly the same as what Yang Kai had just seen, four strange-looking blood-red insects were quietly hovering somewhere above his Knowledge Sea.
Just as Yang Kai spotted them, these four strange insects merged towards one another and in the blink of an eye combined into one.
At the same time, a somewhat familiar aura emerged from this insect.
“Lu Ye!” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed. Although he had only fought against Lu Ye once, Yang Kai made a point to remember this mysterious enemy’s aura.
Yang Kai hadn’t anticipated that these strange blood-red lights were actually Lu Ye’s doing.
[Could it be that Xie Li self-destructing was also because Lu Ye had somehow controlled him? Why else would a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master choose such an extreme method at the beginning of a battle?]
Indeed, one of these blood-red rays had clearly flown out of a remnant piece of Xie Li’s body.
Thinking back to the expression on Xie Li’s face just before he self-destructed, Yang Kai vaguely felt that his guess was correct. If this was the case, then Lu Ye’s methods were simply astonishing, to even be able to control the life or death of a Second-Order Origin Realm master!
[Who the hell is he?] At that moment, Yang Kai raised his evaluation of Lu Ye to a completely new level, not daring to underestimate him again.
Staring at the blood-red, worm-like insect in front of him, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed. This thing should be condensed out of Spiritual Energy and wasn’t an actual physical entity, but Lu Ye was just a Saint King Realm cultivator, so how was his Spiritual Energy so powerful?
Yang Kai simply couldn’t understand it.
Yang Kai’s guess was not wrong. Xie Li had indeed been controlled by Lu Ye. As a peak level figure tens of thousands of years ago, even though Lu Ye was forced to swim in shallow waters and his current cultivation wasn’t great today, the Secret Techniques he had at his disposal were far from what an ordinary Origin Returning Realm master could contend with. Even if Xie Li’s sense and instincts were sharp, he still could not have imagined that Lu Ye had planted a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect in him.
By using this method, Lu Ye had secretly controlled the fate of the Xie Family, Sea Heart Sect, and Flowing Cloud Valley, subduing many cultivators to use for his own ends.
Lu Ye had not planned on letting Xie Li get his revenge on Yang Kai or even kill Yang Kai at all; his plan was to control Yang Kai through this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect in order to retrieve his most precious treasure.
In the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had obtained his greatest treasure, something Lu Ye had always wanted to take back, and now he had finally found an opportunity.
Lu Ye’s original intention was not to kill Yang Kai by having Xie Li self-destruct, but just to cause heavy losses to him so Yang Kai would lose all ability to resist.
However, even after all his careful scheming, Lu Ye had failed to anticipate that Xie Li would choose to engage Yang Kai in melee combat. If not for Yang Kai’s strength being far greater than average cultivators in his realm, Lu Ye’s plans might all have been for nought. If Yang Kai died, he would never be able to retrieve his treasure.
The Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect was not an actual poisonous insect, but rather the product of a Divine Sense Secret Technique. It was incredibly strange and unpredictable. Now, several of Lu Ye’s Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects had combined into one, allowing it to display far greater strength, so controlling a mere Third-Order Saint King should be a simple matter.
Above his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai stared at this worm-like insect suspiciously.
Although he did not recognize this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, Yang Kai knew it wasn’t anything good. With a single thought, the rolling flames down below swelled up and shot towards the invading insect.
This insect didn’t even try to resist, allowing the sea of flames to wash over and engulf it.
Yang Kai’s powerful Conflagrated Spiritual Energy kept burning this insect, but it remained completely unresponsive, its red glow still as strong as ever, as if it wasn’t affected in the slightest.
Yang Kai’s face sank when he saw this, secretly feeling he had underestimated this strange thing. After realizing his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea wasn’t able to cause any significant harm to this insect, he waved his hand and had the flames retreat.
Just as he was about to try a different method, this blood-red insect flickered, transformed into a ray of light, and shot towards Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar.
Naturally, Yang Kai wasn’t about to just let it succeed. Inside his Knowledge Sea, he was the master, everything here was under his control!
Coldly snorting, a fiery red spear condensed from pure Spiritual Energy materialized and shot towards the approaching threat; however, this blood-red insect was extremely nimble and with a light swaying it actually managed to avoid Yang Kai’s attacks.
[So difficult?] As a stern countenance flashed across Yang Kai’s face, the Demon Eye of Annihilation suspended above his Knowledge Sea suddenly opened and sent out a beam of radiant golden light.
The red insect managed to evade this light several times but was eventually enveloped.
The rapidly moving Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect immediately came to a halt, as if it had been locked in place, its fat body writhing about as strange squeaking noises rang out from it as if it was extremely uncomfortable.
Lu Ye’s method was exceptional. Using these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects, he had been able to control many Origin Returning Realm masters, but it seems he had underestimated Yang Kai, believing he could do the same to him.
Inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was this incredible Demon Eye of Annihilation, its greatest ability being the Golden Light that could purify any kind of foreign Spiritual Energy, and since the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect was essentially a condensed mass of Spiritual Energy, it was no exception.
A sizzling sound emerged as the blood-red aura surrounding the strange insect began evaporating, and no matter how it struggled, it was unable to free itself from the golden light.
Yang Kai stared at this scene with cold eyes, neither happy nor sad; however, he felt quite surprised in his heart. He didn’t know why Lu Ye’s Spiritual Energy was so strange, to the point where even his Demon Eye of Annihilation’s Golden Light was unable to instantly purify it, but if he wanted to solve this problem once and for all, it seemed he’d have to put in some more effort.
Delaying leads to problems, so after hesitating for just a moment, Yang Kai sent out a command with his mind and in the next moment, from the seven-coloured island floating in his Knowledge Sea, a buzzing sound rang out, as if countless tiny mosquitoes had woken up and were flying over. At the same time, a black cloud quickly approached.
Soul Devouring Insects!
These Soul Devouring Insects were Exotic Ancient Insects Yang Kai had been cultivating for years, and after recently devouring the Profound Insect Stone, they were now able to display strength far greater than before.
They could easily devour the Spiritual Energy of Saint King Realm cultivators and could even cause a certain amount of trouble for Origin Returning Realm masters.
However, they were rarely used by Yang Kai because enemies weak enough to be killed by them were no threat to Yang Kai, and against powerful foes, these Soul Devouring Insects couldn’t play much of a role.
However, this did not mean his Soul Devouring Insects had become useless, their true power lay in their ability in large scale battles.
At this moment, it seemed they had yet another use.
Soul Devouring Insects’ favourite food was Spirit Energy, so Lu Ye could only blame himself for using a Divine Sense Secret Technique condensed of his own Spiritual Energy. Yang Kai’s Demon Eye of Annihilation and Soul Devouring Insects were essentially both predators for this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
In the blink of an eye, the Soul Devouring Insects swarm flew over. Even suppressed by the Demon Eye of Annihilation’s Golden Light, the red insect had continued struggling, but when the Soul Devouring Insects appeared, it seemed to understand it had met its natural enemy and began to tremble.
The Soul Devouring Insects naturally did not care about this, however, and they threw themselves at the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect under Yang Kai’s control.
Gnawing sounds immediately rang out.
The Soul Devouring Insects left as fast as they had come, a moment later heading back to the seven-colour island, but the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect which had been surrounded by golden light was nowhere to be seen.
It had been clearly devoured by the Soul Devouring Insects.
Yang Kai swept his Knowledge Sea to confirm there were no hidden dangers before gently nodding and sending his consciousness back to his body.
At the same time, more than two hundred kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain, inside the Xie Family’s main residence, a youth with delicate features who was sitting cross-legged in meditation suddenly turned pale and coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face quickly filling with shock as he cried out in disbelief, “How is that possible?”
This person was naturally Lu Ye.
He was incredibly calculating and cautious, so he had not gone to participate in the siege of Dragon Cave Mountain, but instead waited calmly at the Xie Family’s residence for news; after all, if things went well, it wouldn’t matter if he was there or not, and if things didn’t go well, his presence wouldn’t make a difference.
Based on this consideration, Lu Ye decided to wait at a distance from beginning to end.
But just now, a fierce backlash occurred as one of the Thousand Poison Evil Insects he relied on the most had been killed! This Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect had been planted on the Xie Family’s Xie Li, which had taken a great deal of effort for Lu Ye. After all, Xie Li was a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master and wanting to plant a hidden hand on him without his knowledge was no simple task.
To accomplish this, Lu Ye even sacrificed part of his own Soul Essence.
But now, this Soul Essence had been erased, and Lu Ye had received a certain degree of backlash as a result. This injury was not serious, but it was also not light, probably requiring him one or two months of meditation to recover from.
Lu Ye’s complexion instantly became fierce. He had thought that his plan this time was foolproof, yet it had actually failed miserably. However, from the last bit of feedback he received from this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, Lu Ye knew it had been extinguished by Yang Kai.
As for what method Yang Kai used to achieve this, Lu Ye could not tell. No matter how strong his Secret Technique was, he could not actually monitor the situation inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea.
“Excellent!” Lu Ye grinned wickedly, “It seems this Senior has looked down on you. A trivial Saint King Realm cultivator actually being able to wound this Senior, there will apparently be more interesting times ahead.”
After muttering to himself for a while, Lu Ye’s expression became gloomy and he let out a cold snort, “A bunch of wastes, unable to accomplish something so simple and instead ruining everything. If not for this Senior having need of you in the future, what use would you be? It seems I shouldn’t remain here much longer…”
Saying so, Lu Ye stood up and left quietly from the Xie Family, casually picking a direction, and flying off.
Although he was technically Flowing Cloud Valley’s Young Master, he did not put such an identity in his eyes at all. After seizing this body and returning to Flowing Cloud Valley, he had completely subdued the Sect and sacrificed over ninety percent of its population in order to cultivate a certain evil technique, including the original Lu Ye’s family.
Currently, Flowing Cloud Valley was nothing but an empty shell, so Lu Ye naturally had no plans to return there.
In any case, he could go anywhere on Shadowed Star with his means. What was important right now was to find a good place to recover his cultivation. As for Yang Kai, there would always be another chance for him to settle their grudge. Lu Ye never believed that his treasure had been refined by Yang Kai; after all, Yang Kai’s cultivation was too low. Even if it was an Origin King Realm master, it would be impossible to refine that thing without several years of effort.
He must have been concealing it somehow!
Lu Ye had never even considered that Yang Kai had a supreme treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus! While Yang Kai truly did not have the ability to refine that thing, the Soul Warming Lotus had easily absorbed it and used the massive amount of energy contained within to evolve into its final seven-coloured form while allowing Yang Kai to comprehend the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique at the same time.
On the other side, Yang Kai opened his eyes and spread out his Divine Sense to confirm Dragon Cave Mountain’s situation. He soon realized that the battle on Chang Qi’s side had also ended, with the three old men now sitting in meditation adjusting their breathing.
These three had faced the middle-aged man from Demon Blood Temple, and although their opponent was a genuine Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master, his strength had been greatly suppressed on Dragon Cave Mountain. As such, after a hard-fought battle, Chang Qi, Hao An, and Ning Xiang Chen eventually defeated him, with assistance from Yang Yan and her Spirit Arrays.
At this point, all the enemies that had invaded Dragon Cave Mountain had been killed, not even one remained.
Dragon Cave Mountain only sent out four people to fight, three First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators and one Third-Order Saint King. Although they dared not say such a feat would never happen again in the future, it was still an unprecedented victory. If word of this matter were spread out, it was likely no one would believe it to be true.
Standing in place, Yang Kai thought for a while before quickly changing out of his ragged clothes into clean ones and wiping off the blood from his body before walking over to where Chang Qi and the others were sitting.
After absorbing the Remnant Soul of the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain with his Demon Eye of Annihilation, and Xie Li’s after the latter self-destructed, Yang Kai was certainly not going to let off the one from the Demon Blood Temple cultivator.
Presumably, after refining the Spiritual Energy of these three people, Yang Kai could attempt a breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived in front of Chang Qi and the others, glanced down at the broken body of the master from Demon Blood Temple and quietly absorbed his Remnant Soul into his Knowledge Sea.
His arrival had not been missed by the three old men, all of whom opened their eyes, stood up, and showed joyful looks upon seeing Yang Kai.
“Old Ning, it seems I’ve troubled you this time,” Yang Kai quickly cupped his fists to Ning Xiang Chen in thanks. This old man had not hesitated to stand together with Dragon Cave Mountain and killed many invading enemies for them, causing Yang Kai’s opinion of him to soar.
Regardless of what other intentions he had, the assistance he provided was indisputable.
“Haha!” Ning Xiang Chen laughed heartily. Although he had just experienced a great battle, his complexion was excellent as he was obviously not injured. “Little Friend Yang is too polite. Even in this old master’s long life, he has rarely experienced such a grand event. If anything, this old man must thank Little Friend Yang, engaging in such a hot-blooded struggle after so long has made this old man feel many years younger!”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “Old Ning Lao is too polite. In the future, if Old Ning has free time, please feel free to visit Dragon Cave Mountain. You will always be welcome here!”
Ning Xiang Chen’s eyes lit up and smiled even more heartily. Yang Kai’s words obviously meant he was no longer an outsider, and he felt that all the effort he put in this had paid off, but he was not satisfied with just this and asked tentatively, “Instead of visiting often, I believe taking up residence would be better. What does Little Friend Yang say?”
“Hm?” Yang Kai gave him a surprised look; after all, Ning Xiang Chen’s words just now were essentially a request to officially join Dragon Cave Mountain.
Thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai understood why he had made this choice. This time, he had helped Dragon Cave Mountain kill many enemies, but had offended Myriad Beast Mountain, Demon Blood Temple, Sea Heart Sect, and Flowing Cloud Valley in the process. Although he was an Origin Returning Realm master, he had no Sect or family who could shelter him, so in the future, he might be hunted down by these forces.
Since that was the case, directly joining Dragon Cave Mountain was a better choice.
This was indeed the case. Although Ning Xiang Chen had wandered free all his life, now that he was old, he had found himself feeling somewhat alone and isolated. When he wanted to find someone to chat with and exchange experiences in cultivation with, he had no place to go. After witnessing Dragon Cave Mountain’s power today and earning their favour, he naturally had ideas of joining in order to seek a place to settle down.
Moreover, there were only two Origin Returning Realm masters in Dragon Cave Mountain and both had similar strength and backgrounds to him. Both were also open and friendly so he wouldn’t need to worry about being excluded if he joined.
Based on all kinds of considerations, Ning Xiang Chen had made this request. It was not a kind of spur of the moment decision but one that was carefully thought out and considered.
He wasn’t a young man anymore and wouldn’t make impulsive decisions.
After he asked, Ning Xiang Chen looked towards Yang Kai a little nervously, wondering if the other party would accept or reject him.
“Since Old Ning has such intentions, Junior wholeheartedly welcomes him!” Yang Kai replied, but wearing a solemn expression he continued, “However, Old Ning may wish to think twice. Right now Dragon Cave Mountain isn’t exactly a peaceful place to live. Perhaps soon…”
Before Yang Kai could finish speaking, Ning Xiang Chen smiled and waved, “What little friend wants to say, this old man can naturally guess, but this old man already has one foot in the grave so he has nothing left to fear other than dying alone without anyone realizing it, leaving a corpse in the wilderness to rot unattended to. If I can die here on Dragon Cave Mountain, it would still be my blessing, this is a good spot to be laid to rest.”
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly hearing this. Since the other party was willing to go so far, he naturally had no reason to refuse anymore, nodding firmly, “Good, then from now on Old Ning will hold the status of Foreign Elder on my Dragon Cave Mountain and enjoy the same treatment as Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao!”
“Haha, this Ning gratefully accepts!” Ning Xiang Chen laughed and cupped his fists.
Chang Qi and Hao An quickly offered their congratulations. Although the three of them had only met a short time ago, they had experienced fighting side-by-side already and formed a bond of friendship. As they chatted, Chang Qi and Hao An gave a brief description of what kind of treatment a Foreign Elder of Dragon Cave Mountain could enjoy, causing Ning Xiang Chen’s eyes to shine and his blood to boil.
When they were fighting Wu Xun from Demon Blood Temple just now, Ning Xiang Chen had seen what kind of benefits Chang Qi and Hao An enjoyed and realized it was far greater than a wanderer like him could hope to obtain.
Every artifact Chang Qi and Hao An possessed, whether it was offensive or defensive, was Origin Grade High-Rank, and the pills they used were of a quality that filled Ning Xiang Chen with envy.
Having spent most of his life poor, Ning Xiang Chen had scraped together to purchase a single Origin Grade Low-Rank artifact, and in order to repair it, he had to search for a year to find the appropriate materials.
Chang Qi had even given him a few pills to help him restore his strength just now, but he had been unwilling to eat them and had instead quietly stored them away.
Thinking he might soon be able to own such things, Ning Xiang Chen felt more confident that his choice today was right.
As these laughs and cheers were ringing out though, Yang Kai suddenly frowned and his expression sank again.
Chang Qi noticed this and quickly asked, “What happened?”
“A lot of honoured guests have come to visit, we should go out and greet them together,” Yang Kai sneered.
“Honoured guests?” Chang Qi and the others exchanged a confused glance but soon understood, immediately frowning as they followed Yang Kai outside.
The dense fog covering Dragon Cave Mountain tumbled again and soon revealed a passageway to outside the formation. A moment later, four figures, led by Yang Kai, emerged from this opening.
In an instant, countless eyes fixed on their group of four, and after noticing that Yang Kai and the others were completely unscathed, everyone was startled, and their expressions changed to ones of surprise, suspicion, and disbelief.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, however, just raised their brows, their reactions differing greatly from all the others. Both of them let out nearly imperceptible sighs of relief as they nodded to Yang Kai, not greeting him openly.
“Such a grand lineup!” Ning Xiang Chen stood behind Yang Kai and exclaimed as he swept his eyes around.
Outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array, countless masters were hovering mid-air or rapidly approaching, all of them observing the situation curiously. Even without mentioning Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, Ning Xiang Chen recognized a number of these masters such as Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Cheng Peng Xuan, Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple, Myriad Beast Mountain’s Old Woman Feng, Coloured Glass Sect’s Gong Ao Fu, as well as Elder level characters from Grand Fire Temple, Clear Sky Sect, Twin Heart Valley, Sea Temple, and others. Even Yan Pei and Ren Tian Rui, the Black-Faced Master and Disciple duo from Treasure Trove Pavilion, were here.
These masters each brought disciples from their respective Sects and had formed a kind of loose encirclement around Dragon Cave Mountain, exerting a crushing sense of pressure from their mere presence.
In terms of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, there were around twenty, while Second-Order and First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters were even more numerous.
It was as if Dragon Cave Mountain had suddenly become a delicious piece of meat everyone wanted a piece of!
Ning Xiang Chen could not help drawing in a sharp breath as he felt quite terrified in his heart.
The masters who were gathered here right now could represent essentially all Shadowed Star’s great forces.
Of note were Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng, who were staring at Yang Kai angrily, as if they wanted to burn holes in his body with their gaze alone.
After all, many of their Sect’s disciples had participated in the attack on Dragon Cave Mountain this time, including two Second-Order Origin Realm masters. Yang Kai being able to appear here safe and sound while their own subordinates were nowhere to be seen made it easy to guess what kind of fate had befallen them.
However, did Dragon Cave Mountain really have such great ability? Could it really have killed all the enemies which intruded just now?
Not only did Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng have their suspicions, everyone present was thinking about this issue. But if those people weren’t dead, how could Yang Kai be standing in front of them right now?
What had happened inside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array? Everyone was confused, and although each of the people who had come here was a master, none dared to underestimate Dragon Cave Mountain again. Nevertheless, no one could resist directing fiery eyes towards Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array and the subsequent Spirit Arrays it was concealing.
This was only natural as the profoundness of these barriers and Spirit Arrays was truly astonishing. If they could find an opportunity to snatch up the master responsible for arranging these Spirit Arrays and bring them back to their Sect, they would surely be able to greatly improve the quality of their own Sect’s Spirit Arrays.
“Junior Yang Kai greets the many Seniors!” Yang Kai shouted aloud, his expression neither humble nor overbearing, “So many Seniors arriving today is quite unexpected, causing this Junior’s reception to be somewhat lacking. If I have been negligent in my hospitality, please forgive me.”
The masters from the various great forces either narrowed their eyes or raised their brows, but no one answered. After all, not many people had a friendship with this Dragon Cave Mountain or Yang Kai. Most of them had come here simply because they were curious, while a few had their own concerns about the situation.
As for Yang Kai, a trivial Saint King Realm Junior, none of them paid him any attention.
Only Qian Tong chuckled and said heartily, “There’s no need for you to concern yourself with us, we old folks were simply idle and bored, so we’ve come over to see what was happening here.”
Qian Tong’s one sentence swept everyone up into this category, causing many masters to glare at him fiercely.
“Oh… So it’s like this,” Yang Kai grinned and said indifferently, “Then I’m afraid I must disappoint several Seniors. Dragon Cave Mountain is but a small humble place with nothing of interest to see.”
Such an obvious eviction could be heard by a deaf person as Yang Kai was essentially telling them all to leave.
However, since these masters had taken the trouble to come here, how could they just walk away now? Others might not care, but Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng would not be willing to give up and leave. At this point, most of the cultivator’s eyes fixed on Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng, waiting for them to reply.
In this situation, Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng were naturally unable to back down, so the former coldly snorted and with an aloof look questioned Yang Kai impatiently, “Boy, this old master must ask you. Where are those people who entered your mountain before?”
“So it is Senior Jin Shi!” Yang Kai said, as if he only noticed him just now, putting on a respectful look, but saying in a casual tone, “Does Senior mean the group of people from the Xie Family?”
Jin Shi lightly coughed, “Yes, this old master is referring to the Xie Family people, where are they now?”
Although everyone knew that cultivators from Demon Blood Temple had participated in this siege, Jin Shi was not stupid enough to admit this because this time’s incident was a simple dispute between Dragon Cave Mountain and the Xie Family on the surface. In other words, those who participated in this battle all belonged to the Xie Family disciplines, there were no outsiders.
“If Senior cares so much about those Xie Family people, I’m afraid I must disappoint you,” Yang Kai’s mouth curled upwards.
“Why do you say so?” Jin Shi’s heart sank.
“Heh heh, why does Senior Jin Shi insist on asking a question he knows the answer to? Since those people dared to break into my Dragon Cave Mountain, intent on finding trouble with this Junior, naturally this Junior has sent them to their deaths; after all, Junior is not a mild-tempered person,” Yang Kai’s expression gradually turned cold.
Several gasps could be heard as everyone’s expression filled with shock.
Although everyone had such speculations before, secretly thinking that the group that had broken into Dragon Cave Mountain must have suffered a disastrous fate, when this was confirmed by Yang Kai himself, they still found it difficult to believe.
Even Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu almost had their eyes pop out of their sockets, their expressions not much calmer than the other masters present, as if they had all seen a ghost.
Among the group of people who had participated in the raid just now, there had been more than thirty Origin Realm masters, including three who were Second-Order, as well as some two hundred Saint King Realm cultivators. Such a force had invaded this tiny Dragon Cave Mountain, yet had been completely wiped out?
How could that be?
Did Dragon Cave Mountain really have such hidden power? If that was the case, then this small hill could already be considered a second-class force.
“With just your pitiful strength? Hmph, shameless boasting,” Old Woman Feng’s temper had always been short, so seeing Yang Kai act so rampant, a trace of anger emerged on her old face as she stamped her dragon-head walking stick mid-air. Obviously, she didn’t believe Yang Kai and instead thought he had used some kind of Spirit Array to trap the invasion force.
“Senior Feng doesn’t believe me?” Yang Kai cast a sidelong glance towards her.
“Ignorant boy, this old woman’s life has been long but she has never before heard such a terrible joke,” Old Woman Feng had barely finished her words when her face changed wildly because she saw Yang Kai suddenly take out an ominous looking one-handed hatchet and casually play with it.
“Grandmother, that’s…” The face of Feng Yan, who was standing beside Old Woman Feng, also changed dramatically because she too recognized this Origin Grade Mid-Rank one-handed hatchet artifact as the most prized weapon of the old man who had led Myriad Beast Mountain’s forces here. Considering that the old man was reluctant to even show others this artifact, other than him being dead, what other explanation could there be for Yang Kai now possessing it?
It seems that the old man had really died!
If even a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master had died, there was no hope anyone else had survived.
With the facts laid bare in front of her face, Old Woman Feng was no longer able to deceive herself.
Yang Kai simply sneered and declared coldly, “Although my Dragon Cave Mountain isn’t some great force, it is also not a place that can be casually bullied. Since several Seniors are here today, Junior will bravely say this, if any blind fool dares have ideas about my Dragon Cave Mountain in the future, they will share the Xie Family’s fate.”
“Boy, are you threatening us?” Jin Shi stepped forward and asked fiercely.
“Old Ghost Jin!” Qian Tong coldly snorted, “Did you hear Yang Kai threaten you? He only referred to blind fools seeking trouble with him. Or what, does your Demon Blood Temple have a policy of using strength to bully the weak?”
Qian Tong could naturally see that Jin Shi wanted to use Yang Kai’s words as a pretext to launch an attack, so how could he give him the chance? Even without mentioning that Qian Tong always stood on Dragon Cave Mountain’s side, Shadow Moon Hall’s current embarrassing situation had caused him a stomach full of grievances, so now that an opportunity to ridicule and vent had come up, Qian Tong planned on taking full advantage of it.
After hearing these words, Jin Shi glanced over at Qian Tong and frowned, but didn’t press the matter any further; after all, this was still technically Shadow Moon Hall’s domain so it wasn’t wise for him to stir up too much trouble.
“You certainly are bold!” On the other side, Old Woman Feng grit her teeth and shouted, “Sure enough, heroes emerge from the younger generation, it seems this old woman has greatly looked down on your courage.”
Yang Kai grinned, “Many thanks for Senior Feng’s undeserved praise. Many people have said similar things in the past, but this Junior still has yet to figure out where the limits of his courage lie.”
*Puchi…*
A stifled laugh rang out from nearby as Dai Yuan of Coloured Glass Sect was unable to hold herself back.
In response, Gong Ao Fu shot her a stern glare.
Yin Su Die also wore a displeased look as she muttered, “Hmph, just some meaningless self-satisfaction, just looking at this little brat’s lawless appearance it’s clear that he’ll meet a terrible end sooner or later. Senior Sister, it’s best if you don’t involve yourself with him any further.”
“Junior Sister need not concern herself with my affairs, just attend to yourself,” Dai Yuan replied flatly.
“What your Junior Sister said is right,” Gong Ao Fu snorted, “A Junior revealing such potential is not a good thing. The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be toppled by the wind. If this boy does not fix his character, he will certainly meet an untimely death. From now on, your Master forbids you to have any further contact with him so as not to implicate my Coloured Glass Sect in any future trouble.”
“Honoured Master!” Dai Yuan was shocked and wanted to say something, but before she could Gong Ao Fu glared at her solemnly, “What’s wrong, are you refusing to listen to your Honoured Master’s command?”
Dai Yuan silently bit her lip, and only after a long pause did she respond, “Disciple will obey Honoured Master’s instructions.”
Seeing this, Gong Ao Fu turned away with satisfaction.
At a different location, two young women stood together staring at Yang Kai, one of them exuded a seductive charm while the other radiated a sense of purity and innocence. But currently, both were frowning, seeming somewhat worried.
These two were not strong, just Saint Kings, and they were standing amongst this big crowd, so it was natural for Yang Kai not to have noticed them. If he were to spot them though, he would be able to recognize them as they were none other than Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying from Clear Sky Sect.
Yang Kai had several encounters with Chen Shi Tao in the past and she had even extended an invitation to him to join Clear Sky Sect, an invitation Yang Kai had politely refused.
It was also thanks to Chen Shi Tao that Yang Kai was able to meet Qian Yue in Black Raven City, redeem her, and bring her back to Dragon Cave Mountain.
These two Clear Sky Sect disciples had followed their Master to Heavenly Fate City to participate in the recent auction and had originally planned on visiting Yang Kai at Dragon Cave Mountain, but had been delayed due to various other matters. Today, they followed their Master to see what all the excitement was about only to discover that Yang Kai was at the centre of this commotion.
Seeing the worrying situation of Dragon Cave Mountain, Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying naturally felt anxious.
Both of them had a very good impression of Yang Kai as he had even saved their lives back in Grand Burial Valley, but despite feeling immense gratitude towards him, their strength was too low so they didn’t possess the right to speak in this situation.
“Senior Sister, it seems he’s in big trouble this time,” Lu Ying said softly.
“En,” Chen Shi Tao nodded unconsciously. She possessed more foresight than Lu Ying, so she understood that if Dragon Cave Mountain did not handle this matter well, it would result in disaster.
“Do you think he can escape this catastrophe?” Lu Ying asked again.
“How am I supposed to know?” Chen Shi Tao smiled bitterly. If she had enough strength, she would not hesitate to help Yang Kai, but as a mere Saint King, she was unable to provide him with any assistance at this time. Nibbling her red lips, she remarked thoughtfully, “His luck has always been good, so perhaps he will again be able to escape unscathed.”
Although the two young women spoke softly, they were still clearly heard by the middle-aged man standing in front of them. This man’s cultivation was exceptional, a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master like Qian Tong and the others present. His distinctive features were his long black hair that would make many women jealous, robust figure, and short cut robes, all of which combined to give him a bit of a wild and uninhibited style.
Turning around with a gentle smile on his face, he beckoned to both Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying.
The two girls exchanged a glance before quickly stepping forward and saluting respectfully, “Honoured Master!”
This man was Clear Sky Sect’s Great Elder Mo Yu, a well-known figure on Shadowed Star comparable in fame to Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu. Originally, Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying were not eligible to worship him as their Master, but after achieving great merits in the Flowing Flame Sand Field and bringing immense benefits to the Sect in the form of over a hundred million Saint Crystals, Mo Yu had made an exception and accepted them as disciples. This was a great good fortune for them as the short time Mo Yu spent directing their cultivation had allowed both to rapidly improve their strength.
In fact, the defensive artifact Chen Shi Tao used in Grand Burial Valley, the Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol, was something Mo Yu had given her.
“Do you know that young man?” Mo Yu inquired benignly.
Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying exchanged a nervous glance but didn’t dare lie to their Honoured Master so the former promptly replied, “Yes, Honoured Master. He is the friend I mentioned to you before, the one with blessed with good luck.”
“Oh? Is he the one you mentioned having a great destiny?” Mo Yu raised his brow, showing a look of interest.
“Yes, it’s him!”
“Haha, interesting. Luck and destiny are ethereal concepts, not something a person can decide. Every person encounters good and bad fortune, and it is impossible for one to continuously experience only good luck, similar to how one believes it to be darkest before dawn. Such things are simply frames of mind,” Mo Yu seemed to be speaking to himself but also educating Chen Shi Tao, the latter not daring to interrupt, listening respectfully from the side.
Mo Yu glanced at her lightly and chuckled, “Do you want your Master to speak a few favourable words for him?”
Chen Shi Tao’s tender body shook, but she quickly denied, “Disciple does not dare. Although disciple is a woman, she understands propriety and would not dare ask Honoured Master to interfere in this turbulent situation.”
“Good, very good,” Mo Yu nodded lightly, “The present situation is indeed quite tense, so this old master naturally will not easily wade into these muddy waters.”
While Mo Yu looked middle-aged, he had lived many years longer than that, so claiming to be an old master was not inappropriate. Mo Yu soon said with a smile, “But this old master is quite curious. If his luck is as good as you claim, perhaps he will be able to turn danger into safety here. If he can accomplish it, this old master will believe he really holds a great destiny, and you can interact more frequently with him in the future.”
“Yes,” Chen Shi Tao smiled happily, but when she remembered how dire the current situation was, her pretty face could not help showing a trace of worry.
Regardless of anything else, she owed Yang Kai a live-saving grace, but now she was only able to stand back and wait while he was in danger, causing her to feel both uneasy and ashamed.
“However, if he is unable to overcome this calamity… En, there’s not much more to say. For now, just stay here and watch the situation with your Master.” Mo Yu chuckled.
Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying looked at each other helplessly, only able to do as Mo Yu said.
In Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai stood behind the outermost layer of the Mountain Defending Array and cupped his fists slightly, “With several Senior arriving here today, in principle, Junior should invite you inside to offer some hospitality, but my small mountain has just experienced a battle so Junior has many things he must deal with. Therefore, I will have to ask the many Seniors to forgive my lack of courtesy. Please leave!”
Yang Kai didn’t want to bother with any more nonsense, so he directly told everyone who had gathered here to leave.
Everyone understood what he meant, but none of them had any intention of moving, especially Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng, both of whom were glaring at Yang Kai as if they wanted to tear him to pieces. In fact, if not for having scruples about Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, the two of them would likely have immediately attacked.
Still, it was impossible for them to simply leave like this; after all, their two Sects had suffered heavy losses this time. If they were to back down now, what face would they have in the future? Yang Kai also understood this truth, but he had to make his situation and intentions clear regardless, and that was, if these two moved rashly, he would occupy the righteous position and Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu would be able to intervene without damaging Shadow Moon Hall’s reputation.
Seeing that no one left, Yang Kai sneered and said out loud, “What’s wrong? Could it be that the several Seniors have taken a liking to this Junior’s little hill, like the Xie Family?”
“Boy, don’t try to make false accusations. Since we old masters have gathered here, shouldn’t you invite us inside, as a Junior? That is the appropriate way to treat guests,” Jin Shi coldly snorted.
Many masters hearing this also nodded lightly.
Although they had no grievances with Yang Kai or Dragon Cave Mountain and had purely come here to seek some entertainment this time, after learning about the power of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Spirit Arrays, they all wanted to go in and take a closer look.
So even if Jin Shi had ulterior motives, they were willing to agree with him for now.
As long as they entered Dragon Cave Mountain, with just Yang Kai’s ability, could he stop them from examining the various Spirit Arrays and barriers? As for whether Dragon Cave Mountain would be allowing disaster into their home, why should they care?
“Old Ghost Jin, you still want to act shamelessly? The other side has already said that they have many things to process and it is inconvenient to entertain guests right now, even going so far as to apologize for their lack of hospitality, so how is your insistence anything but trying to bully others with your status? If you are really so desperate for entertainment, Heavenly Fate City is just fifty kilometres from here, this old master will host you there,” Qian Tong shot Jin Shi a disgruntled look as he spat.
This place was still well inside Shadow Moon Hall’s jurisdiction, so Jin Shi not giving Yang Kai any face was equivalent to not putting Shadow Moon Hall in his eyes, an idea that greatly annoyed Qian Tong.
“Naturally, I will visit Heavenly Fate City, but this boy’s pretentious attitude bothers me greatly. It’s like he doesn’t put us in his eyes at all,” Jin Shi shot back, seemingly unwilling to give up.
“Stop trying to find a pretext to act. If you’re intent on causing trouble, this old master will accompany you!” Qian Tong snorted, his expression becoming gloomy.
Perceiving how resolute Qian Tong’s stance was, Jin Shi could not help frowning. He did not know what kind of relationship Qian Tong and Yang Kai had that would make the former not hesitate to offend him, but it seemed that if he continued to push the issue, it would end poorly for him.
However, leaving like this was also inappropriate.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Jin Shi glanced over at Old Woman Feng and saw that the other party’s face was gloomy, and her eyes were filled with murderous intent as she stared at Yang Kai. But just as he was about to drag Old Woman Feng into this dispute, a shocking aura suddenly appeared on the horizon and rapidly closed in on their position.
Jin Shi’s complexion changed dramatically, and he hurriedly choked down his words as he turned to face this newcomer.
Everyone else also did the same.
Of the masters present, nearly twenty of them had reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but even with their great strength, they could tell that the approaching master was not someone affable, causing them to reveal looks of amazement and wariness.
Only Old Black-Face Yan Pei showed a confused look on his face as he muttered to himself, “Why did she come?”
He would have never thought this person would show her face here.
In the distance, a blue light quickly approached, and a moment later, this blue light flashed and stopped a dozen or so metres from the gathered crowd, dispersed, and revealed two figures.
One male, one female.
The woman was clearly the leader of this pair and wore a deep green dress. Her long hair was done up in a delicate bun, revealing her slender white neck, giving her graceful and elegant bearing while her pair of sharp phoenix eyes exuded an innate, commanding majesty, making others not dare stare into them for too long.
This woman had the aura of a mature thirty or forty-year-old, but that did not make her any less alluring. Although slightly older, she had maintained her appearance impeccably with delicate white skin, slender figure, and an enchanting body line that could easily provoke the hidden desires of any man.
But at this time, none present dared belittle or blaspheme this woman, because the pressure she gave off alone was enough to deter such thoughts.
Compared to an ordinary Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, this woman was clearly far more powerful.
Behind this awe-inspiring woman was a man who had an extremely peculiar appearance. He had big rounded ears, narrow, slender slit-eyes, and a mouthful of buckteeth, making anyone who saw him want to laugh.
This dreadful buck-toothed, monkey-faced man standing beside this alluring mature woman formed a striking visual contrast, further increasing the woman’s beauty while at the same time making the man appear uglier.
However, it could be seen from the positions of these two that this man was a Junior or Disciple of this noblewoman because he stood behind her with a respectful air about him while the woman only looked forward, not back towards him. This buck-toothed man was also a First-Order Origin Returning Realm, but the Saint Qi fluctuations coming from his body were far denser and purer than ordinary.
When he saw this woman, Yang Kai’s expression sank, not knowing who she was or what she had come here for; however, if she was an enemy, the situation would perhaps become more difficult to handle this time. Facing this woman, Yang Kai faintly felt pressured, a feeling Jin Shi, Old Woman Feng, and all the other masters here were unable to bring him.
This showed that this woman’s strength far exceeded that of all the other masters present.
However, when he saw the monkey-faced man behind this woman, Yang Kai could not help feeling surprised again.
Because he knew this person. This buck-toothed man was Ge Qi, the one who had exchanged a pill with the Star Emperor Token after the last auction at Treasure Trove Pavilion!
Yang Kai had a particularly strong impression of him for various reasons, especially how terrified he was the moment he saw Yang Yan. But it was more than just fear, this man also seemed to be in awe of Yang Yan, even insisting that she called him Xiao Qi!
After meeting such a strange-looking and acting person, how could Yang Kai easily forget him?
Yang Kai also quickly recalled that after he had traded a pill for the Star Emperor Token, the other party had said that his Martial Ancestor would come personally to meet Yang Yan if it was possible. Obviously, the mature beauty standing in front of Ge Qi was this Martial Ancestor.
[Is she an enemy or a friend though?] Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he felt uncertain.
However, the appearance of these two people had succeeded in attracting everyone’s attention, allowing the tense atmosphere to relax somewhat.
Additionally, when the masters from the various great forces clearly saw this woman’s face, they all unconsciously displayed shocked, and even panic-stricken looks, as if they were all afraid of her.
Even Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union and Cheng Peng Xuan of Thunder Typhoon Sect were the same, the two of them exchanging a glance that contained both dread and frustration.
Being from the most powerful Sects on Shadowed Star, no one ordinary was worthy of their attention; the only exception was the mysterious Star Emperor Mountain. Mo Xiao Sheng and Cheng Peng Xuan were both high ranking Elders of their respective forces, commanding immense power and respect, so in order to deter even them, it was clear that the identity and status of this woman were extraordinary.
Yang Kai carefully observed the situation, and although he wasn’t clear who this woman was or what background she had, he could at least tell that she was a famous figure.
“How could it be? Her?” Over on Shadow Moon Hall’s side, Qian Tong also looked like he had seen a ghost, rubbing his eyes twice to confirm he wasn’t seeing things.
Fei Zhi Tu’s jaw had also gone slack, his expression no better than Qian Tong’s.
“Elder, who is this Senior?” Wei Gu Chang asked curiously. This woman had suddenly appeared and said nothing, but still managed to suppress every master present with her mere presence, a feat that inevitably made Wei Gu Chang very curious and somewhat excited.
This was how a true master should be!
“Who is she? She’s the previous Sect Master of Star Emperor Mountain…” Qian Tong replied casually with a hint of bitterness in his tone.
Wei Gu Chang trembled in shock as he stared towards this newly arrived woman with awe and reverence. He had not been expecting this Senior’s origin to be so astonishing.
Star Emperor Mountain was the most mysterious and powerful force on Shadowed Star. No one knew how many masters it possessed or how deep their heritage was, but it was rumoured that Star Emperor Mountain had obtained a piece of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s Inheritance, so even the two other giants of Shadowed Star, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, fell short in terms of power and prestige when facing Star Emperor Mountain.
Fortunately, Star Emperor Mountain never involved itself in external affairs, rarely even making an appearance on Shadowed Star. If this was not the case, how could there be room on Shadowed Star for other Sects to develop? Star Emperor Mountain would have unified Shadowed Star under its rule long ago.
Although Qian Tong’s words were light, they still reached the ears of the woman, who turned her head slightly and directed her pair of phoenix eyes towards him. Being stared at by this woman, Qian Tong could not help feeling his scalp go numb and just barely managed to squeeze out a smile.
The cultivators of the younger generation may not recognize this woman, but all the masters above the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm on the scene were well aware of her name and her terrifying means. Recalling events from when this woman still wielded Star Emperor Mountain over a hundred years ago, Qian Tong became more and more anxious.
Why had she appeared here though?
“This Queen has not appeared in so long, but I never expected to see so many old friends gathered together the moment I came out,” The woman suddenly opened her lips and spoke, the sound of her voice crisp and clear like a gentle spring breeze, relaxing the minds and bodies of those who heard it, “Xiao Qian, Xiao Fei, you two have also reached this boundary. It seems you’ve not been wasting away the years.”
The woman already created a stir when she was silent, but the moment she spoke, it was as if the earth shook.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were both high-level Elders of Shadow Moon Hall, but to this woman, they were just ‘Little Qian’ and ‘Little Fei’.
Countless Saint King Realm cultivators’ eyes lowered to the ground and many could not help laughing secretly.
On the other hand, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu could not laugh, both of them exchanging a glance before quickly bowing and cupping their fists, “Greetings, Senior Sister Ye. After one hundred years, Senior Sister Ye is as majestic as ever, truly worthy of celebration!”
“En,” The woman surnamed Ye waved her hand lightly, expressing neither joy nor sorrow on her pretty face, “I am simply passing through life now, what kind of majesty could I command?”
Saying so, she next turned to another side and beckoned, “Little Black, come here!”
Over on Treasure Trove Pavilion’s side, Ren Tian Rui, known as Little Black-Face, heard this and responded unconsciously, wondering why this Senior had suddenly called out to him, but in the next moment, he actually saw his master Yan Pei stride forward with a smile on his face and rushed over to the woman.
Ren Tian Rui was stunned for a moment but soon understood.
It turns out that his Master has gradually grown from Little Black-Face to Old Black-Face…
This Senior had not been calling him out but was instead summoning his Master.
“Yan Pei greets Senior Sister Ye. What instructions does Senior Sister Ye have?” Yan Pei asked respectfully.
“What’s going on here? Why are there so many people gathered?” The woman surnamed Ye furrowed her brow as she inquired lightly.
“It’s like this…” Yan Pei was naturally an eloquent speaker as the chief auctioneer of Treasure Trove Pavilion, so in the least amount of words necessary, he concisely explained the situation without omissions or embellishments of any kind.
Although this brief explanation wasn’t comprehensive, with the wisdom and insight this woman surnamed Ye possessed, she was able to fully understand what had transpired.
After listening to Yan Pei’s narrative, she coldly snorted, “Thinking themselves strong and bullying the weak, they deserved their deaths!”
Saying so, she shot a cold glare towards Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng. These two were already top-ranked masters on Shadowed Star, so being talked down to like this caused both to frown in displeasure. They were both concerned about this Ye woman’s power and prestige, but that was mainly concerning her from more than a hundred years ago. Now, they had both reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm as well, so the other party not giving them any face naturally annoyed them.
What’s more, this woman no longer represented Star Emperor Mountain as she had gone missing more than a hundred years ago. It seemed she had some kind of falling out with Star Emperor Mountain and had disappeared and not been heard from since then.
In other words, she was now just a lone cultivator, so no matter how powerful or famous she was, could she compete against an entire first-class Sect?
Although they felt angry and annoyed, Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng didn’t immediately lash out; after all, they had yet to determine what the other party’s intentions were.
After clearing up what the reason for this gathering of masters was, the woman surnamed Ye suddenly directed her beautiful eyes to Yang Kai and asked the buck-toothed man behind her, “Xiao Qi, is he the one you mentioned?”
Ge Qi nodded respectfully, “Yes, Martial Ancestor. He is the one.”
“And where is that Senior?” The woman surnamed Ye frowned slightly as she whispered to herself, speaking so softly that none of the other cultivators present could clearly hear her, otherwise an uproar would surely have occurred. After thoughtfully glancing at Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array though, the woman surnamed Ye understood that the one she had come here to find was behind this grand Spirit Array.
Thinking so, she showed a warm smile and greeted Yang Kai with a light nod, “Are you called Yang Kai?”
Yang Kai was very on edge, but he managed to maintain an expression which was neither humble nor overbearing as he cupped his fists and replied, “Junior’s name is indeed Yang Kai. May I ask what instructions Senior has that brings her to my humble mountain?”
“It is nothing so exaggerated,” The woman surnamed Ye smiled, her and enchanting style causing everyone to stare at her dumbfounded while those with weaker mental strength and those who had lower cultivation found themselves unable to look away, as if this woman had some kind of invisible attraction which drew in their eyes, “This Queen simply came to see a person this time, and if this Queen is not mistaken, that person should currently be residing in this mountain area. If it is convenient, could Little Brother open this barrier and allow this Queen to enter?”
Her attitude was gentle and temperate, without the slightest trace of hostility, and the tone she used was not one of authority but entreaty, but Yang Kai still frowned, unable to make a decision immediately.
Yang Kai had a fairly good idea about who this woman wanted to meet. In fact, it couldn’t be anyone other than Yang Yan; after all, Ge Qi’s exaggerated reaction when he saw Yang Yan at Treasure Trove Pavilion last time had precipitated this woman’s arrival here.
These two had no interest in him, they were simply here to see Yang Yan.
However, the origins of this woman were still unknown to Yang Kai and he could not be certain whether she was an enemy or a friend. If this woman had some kind of enmity with Yang Yan, wouldn’t he be leading a wolf into a flock of sheep if he opened the barrier?
With this woman’s strength and means, if she were really to enter Dragon Cave Mountain, no one would be able to resist her, giving Yang Kai serious pause.
Seeing this woman surnamed Ye actually speak to Yang Kai in such a genial manner, even using polite words to make a request, Qian Tong and the other masters were dumbstruck.