One day, if Yang Kai could successfully refine an Origin King Grade pill, it would mean his Alchemy skills had reached the peak of the Star Field!
He already had a number of Origin King Grade herbs on hand, all of which were essentially collected from the floating continent he had been stranded on after first entering the Star Field, but he had not touched them all these years because his Alchemy skill had been insufficient.
However, no one would dislike having more of such treasures.
In particular, an Origin Grade High-Rank Alchemist who wanted to become an Origin King Grade Alchemist would no doubt suffer great difficulties and consume a large number of herbs. Considering all this, Yang Kai began collecting the herbs in front of him with even greater zeal.
Time passed by, and although there were several large Medicine Gardens in this mountain valley with several thousand spirit grasses and herbs planted here, the group of four was by no means slow with their collection. Half a day later, Yang Kai stood up and looked around, quickly discovering that almost all of the herbs had now been harvested. As for the few that were left, the three young women from Ice Heart Valley were busy collecting them.
With a slight smile, Yang Kai showed no intention to interfere, instead standing back and calmly waiting.
Now idle, Yang Kai began examining the mountain valley more carefully. This place was no doubt a secluded home leftover from ten thousand years ago, and since that was the case, there should be some traces of someone living here. Just now, the four of them had all their attention attracted by the bountiful spirit herbs though, so they hadn’t taken the time to investigate their surroundings meticulously.
But now that Yang Kai was taking a look around, to his puzzlement, he didn’t find any traces of habitation here, not even a house.
[Could it be…]
Yang Kai began scanning the sides of the valley with a look of scrutiny. After some careful observation, he soon made a discovery and walked over to a smooth section of a mountain wall.
Reaching out and knocking on this mountain wall, he didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but Yang Kai was not a naive, inexperienced boy anymore, so how could he be deceived by such a simple trick? Rapping on the mountain wall a few more times with his fingers, Yang Kai paid close attention to the sounds which came from inside it while also releasing his Divine Sense to scan its interior.
After a while, Yang Kai smiled happily and without hesitation palmed the mountain wall.
Yang Kai didn’t use his Saint Qi for this palm, but when he hit the mountain wall, a rumbling sound rang out and it immediately began to crumble, exposing a long, dark tunnel.
Yang Kai raised his brow and swiftly stepped inside.
This corridor leading into the mountainside was not very spacious, less than two metres across, barely spacious enough for two people to walk side by side through it.
Yang Kai proceeded a kilometre or two before finally spotting some faint rays of light up ahead!
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai smiled even wider and sped up his pace.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived at a mid-sized stone room about a hundred metres or so in diameter. The layout and decoration of this room was very simple. One table, one chair, one bed, all made from stone, nothing more, nothing less.
However, when Yang Kai arrived here, his eyes were instantly attracted to a certain location.
Before Yang Kai’s eyes was a metre-high pill furnace quietly sitting on the ground. This pill furnace looked extremely simple and gave off a desolate aura, clearly indicating how ancient it was; however, from its markings, it was clearly an Origin King Grade Alchemy furnace!
Next to this Alchemy furnace was a skeleton that maintained a cross-legged sitting posture, and looking from its posture, before dying, this skeleton’s owner seemed to have been pouring their Saint Qi into this pill furnace!
In other words, as this person died, he was still performing Alchemy!
Yang Kai was instantly able to deduce the truth of this matter. With so many spirit grasses and medicines planted in the mountain valley outside, this person’s identity was quite obvious.
An Alchemist!
Only an Alchemist would plant so many herbs in his secluded home, and inferring from the posture this man assumed before death, it was quite clear they were a character completely obsessed with Alchemy, otherwise, they would not have still been refining a pill while dying.
The only question was whether they succeeded or not…
Thinking like this, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense curiously and swept the inside of the Alchemy furnace. After a quick scan, he discovered that there truly was a pill inside.
This Alchemist had actually succeeded! Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling some admiration. Although he didn’t know whether the master of this secluded home died from exhaustion due to Alchemy, or because they wanted to refine one last pill before dying, such determination was worthy of Yang Kai’s respect.
Yang Kai was also an Alchemist so he somewhat understood; whether this person was good or evil, male or female, there was no doubt they considered Alchemy to be more important than even their own life, otherwise this scene would not have appeared.
Just as he was sighing with emotion though, Yang Kai heard light footsteps coming from the tunnel behind him and frowned. Without even thinking about it, he immediately leapt forward, reached into the pill furnace, took out the pill inside, threw it into a jade bottle, and stuffed it into his Space Ring.
During this lightning-quick process, Yang Kai didn’t even stop to examine what kind of pill it was.
Just after Yang Kai finished this, a beautiful figure appeared behind him.
“Little brother, is this the cave mansion of the owner of this place?” The young female leader of Ice Heart Valley’s group arrived and began glancing around in shock.
“It should be,” Yang Kai gently nodded, remaining calm and composed on the surface.
“Oh, there’s an Alchemy furnace here, does that mean that the owner of this place was an Alchemist?” The young woman looked overjoyed and hurried over to Yang Kai’s side as she carefully scrutinized her surroundings. Not seeing any signs of things being disturbed, she next focused her gaze on the Space Ring on the skeleton’s hand with great interest.
“Please go ahead, Sister!” Yang Kai could easily tell what this woman had in mind so he smiled lightly and gestured to her.
Although she wore a slightly embarrassed look on her face, the young woman didn’t refuse and simply nodded, “In that case, this Mistress won’t stand on ceremony.”
Saying so, she quietly condensed her Saint Qi to protect herself before reaching out and grabbing the Space Ring.
Unexpectedly, there was no danger at all and the young woman easily collected the Space Ring from this skeleton’s hand. Sweeping the contents of this ring with her Divine Sense, she immediately became extremely happy.
A moment later, she tossed the Space Ring to Yang Kai somewhat reluctantly and said, “Little Brother should also take a look!”
Yang Kai caught this ring and also released his Divine Sense to inspect it. After withdrawing his Divine Sense, he pondered for a moment before turning to the young woman and saying, “Does Sister have any objections to dividing the things inside evenly as well?”
“Hehe, since we reached an agreement in advance, this Mistress naturally has no objections,” The young woman said through a forced smile.
“Good, since that’s the case, let’s first inspect the things inside.” Saying so, Yang Kai began casually taking out the contents of the Space Ring.
First, there were many Saint Crystals, at least tens of millions, all of them High-Rank.
Such a fortune would be quite extraordinary for an average cultivator, but considering the identity of this Space Ring’s owner, it wasn’t all that surprising; after all, Alchemists were always wealthy.
These Saint Crystals were very easy to allocate, with Yang Kai and the young woman each quickly taking half.
However, what came next was the real highlight, because inside this ring there were a hundred or so jade bottles of varying shapes and sizes.
Yang Kai took out the jade bottles one by one and placed them on the floor. During the whole process, the young women stared at them without blinking, obviously guarding against Yang Kai engaging in mischief.
As for what was inside these jade bottles, that was obvious.
Since the owner of this place had been an Alchemist before their death, these jade bottles surely contained pills! So when the hundred or so jade bottles were laid out in front of them, the young woman’s breathing became noticeably more rapid.
Yang Kai on the other hand just smiled lightly and said, “Sister, although these bottles are certainly filled with pills, after so many years, it’s hard to say how many of these pills are still usable. There’s even a chance that all of them have degraded into trash, so it’s probably best to not get your hopes up too high.”
Listening to Yang Kai’s words, the excitement on the young woman’s face immediately converged and she nodded lightly, “What Little Brother said is true, let’s check them first.”
“Please go first!” Yang Kai reached out and gestured.
After nodding her head, the young woman picked up one of the jade bottles in front of her, unsealed it, and poured eight pills out from it onto her palm. However, when these pills appeared before her eyes, the young woman couldn’t help showing a disappointed look.
Because all eight of these pills had turned into blackened misshapen pellets with only a weak residual fragrance and absolutely no medicinal efficacy!
These pills were clearly all scrap.
“Seems my luck isn’t very good!” The young woman laughed helplessly before turning her beautiful eyes to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai picked up another jade bottle, opened it, and poured out another seven pills; however, as soon as they saw these pills, the two people present both became excited.
Because one of the pills was exuding a fragrant aroma and had a bright, fiery red colour. Most noticeably though, this pill had many fine lines across its surface that resembled human meridians.
Pill Veins!
Only when a pill formed Pill Veins could it be stored indefinitely. Without Pills Veins, no matter how carefully a pill was stored, its medicinal properties would still fade with time.
Although only one of the seven pills had formed Pill Veins, this was still a good start; after all, even though the young woman couldn’t recognize what kind of pill this was, it was clear its grade was not low.
“A Grand Yuan Fusing Pill!” Yang Kai raised his brow and revealed a look of shock.
“What?” The young woman’s complexion changed abruptly, “Little Brother, are you certain this is a Grand Yuan Fusing Pill?”
Obviously she had heard of this pill.
“Yeah, I’m certain because I’m an Alchemist myself, so I understand more about pills than ordinary cultivators. This is indeed a Grand Yuan Fusing Pill!” Yang Kai explained casually.
The young woman’s eyes swept over Yang Kai again in shock upon hearing this before hurriedly saying, “This Mistress’s vision was insufficient, failed to recognize that Little Brother was actually an Alchemist, and acted rudely previously, I hope little brother will not take offence.”
After learning that Yang Kai was an Alchemist, the young woman’s attitude towards him changed quite noticeably; after all, an Alchemist’s status was far higher than an average cultivator’s.
“Haha, Sister is too serious. This one has only dabbled a bit in Alchemy and only has some minor accomplishments, nothing worthy of note,” Yang Kai said in modest.
The young woman from Ice Heart Valley didn’t intend on discussing this matter any further; after all, even if Yang Kai was an Alchemist, since he wasn’t from Scarlet Wave Star, his status had nothing to do with her. Instead, her attention was drawn back to the Grand Yuan Fusing Pill as she spoke, “If what Little Brother says is true, then this pill is an Origin King Mid-Rank pill that can improve efficiency in cultivation by double when taken?”
“Three times. Don’t forget this is a pill which has formed Pill Veins, so its effects are far better than an ordinary Grand Yuan Fusing Pill!”
The young woman’s eyes lit up with happiness! This type of pill, which could increase one’s cultivation efficiency, was extremely rare. The reputation of the Grand Yuan Fusing Pill had widely circulated throughout the Star Field, but few people ever managed to obtain one. After taking such a pill, for at least half a year, one would be able to obtain twice the results from secluded cultivation that they normally would. This kind of pill was incredibly tempting to this young woman, but unfortunately, only one of the seven pills from this particular bottle was still usable while the others had all lost all efficacy.
As she was lost in thought, Yang Kai put aside this Grand Yuan Fusing Pill.
“Let’s take a look at the rest.” With such a good start, the young woman’s mood immediately became better as she reached out and picked up another jade bottle before pouring out its content.
The hundred or so bottles of pills didn’t take much time to inspect, and half an hour or so later, Yang Kai and the young woman had managed to sort the useful pills from the degraded ones.
Grand Yuan Fusing Pill, Ascending Dragon Pill, Bamboo Nature Pill, Soul Enhancing Pill, Congealing Jade Pill…
The grades and uses of these pills varied greatly. There were healing pills, cultivation pills, pills useful for breaking through bottlenecks, ones for increasing strength, and so on and so forth; also, each and every one of the useful pills had formed Pill Veins!
Just from examining these pills, it was clear that the owner of this place had been an Origin King Grade Alchemist while they were alive; what’s more, they were obviously an Origin King Grade High-Rank Alchemist!
Alchemists of this grade, even considering the entire current Star Field, were a rare existence. Yang Kai couldn’t even be certain there was an Alchemist that had reached such a height in this era.
On top of that, the Alchemist who lived here definitely possessed astonishing skill because almost every jade bottle contained a pill that had formed Pill Veins, some bottles even had two, with the most in a single bottle being three!
Unfortunately, there was no pill which had formed Pill Clouds, a fact that made Yang Kai sigh slightly. Pill Veins were extremely rare, but Pill Clouds were an even higher level, Heaven-defying existence compared to Pill Veins. Even with the skills and accomplishments of this ancient Alchemist, it was likely he or she was unable to produce Pill Clouds with any kind of consistency.
“Sister, there are a total of a hundred and thirty-five pills here, each of them with differing values. If you are willing to trust me, I can distribute them,” Yang Kai turned to the young woman from Ice Heart Valley and proposed.
“Little Brother is too polite, since you are an Alchemist, it is only natural for you to distribute these pills. This Mistress has no objections!” The young woman spoke generously, but this was no surprise as, every time they found a usable pill, Yang Kai had told her what it was and what use it had. As such, although there were many pills in front of them right now, the young woman already had a rough estimate of each one’s value, so she wasn’t worried Yang Kai would try to cheat her.
Seeing her agree, Yang Kai gently nodded and began to distribute the pills.
A hundred and thirty-five was not an even number, but if it was only based on value, it wasn’t hard to divide these pills equally.
However, when Yang Kai finished dividing the pills into two parts, the young woman couldn’t help giving him a suspicious look and asking, “Little brother, did you make a mistake? The number of pills on my side is obviously greater, and their value is also higher. You…”
Yang Kai grinned, “There’s no mistake. Did sister forget that there is something else of value here other than these pills?”
“Something else?” The young woman glanced around the room for a moment before her eyes landed on something and she understood what Yang Kai was referring to.
The Origin King Grade Alchemy furnace!
When Yang Kai was dividing these pills, he obviously included this Origin King Grade Alchemy furnace as well, which was why the distribution of pills looked a little unequal.
“So, Sister may choose first,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “If sister wants more pills, then this Alchemy furnace will belong to me, otherwise, the Alchemy furnace will belong to you!”
The young woman couldn’t help showing a hesitant look.
Her vision was obviously not bad, so she naturally recognized the grade of this Alchemy furnace, but the way Yang Kai divided things up just now was quite fair. Everything depended upon her choice; if she wanted more pills, she needed to give up on that Alchemy furnace, but if she wanted the furnace, she would have to take fewer pills.
Presented with these two choices, the young woman felt somewhat conflicted.
But soon, she made up her mind, smiled, and said, “Then this Mistress will take the larger number of pills! Since little brother is an Alchemist, this Alchemy furnace will certainly be more useful to you. This Mistress taking it would be somewhat of a waste.”
Saying so, she swept the larger pile of jade bottles into her Space Ring.
Yang Kai didn’t raise any objections and also collected his spoils. In fact, for him, it didn’t really matter what choice this young woman made; although the Origin King Grade Alchemy furnace was useful to him, it wasn’t necessary by any means.
However, to this young woman, obtaining more pills was definitely a better choice. While she could take this Alchemy furnace back to her Sect and obtain some merits for it, or give it to an Alchemist in exchange for some favours, both were far less practical than obtaining immediate benefits in the form of pills.
Her making this choice was quite practical.
Just as the two finished dividing up the pills, the other two Ice Heart Valley women walked in. When the lead woman told her companions about the harvest she obtained here, they were naturally quite excited.
The spirit grasses from the Medicine Garden outside had all now been picked as well so they were the next thing to be divided up.
A few thousand herbs each with medicinal ages exceeding ten thousand years had been collected by the group of four so it took them about half a day to distribute them.
In the end, regardless of who it was, they were extremely satisfied, even Yang Kai. With so many herbs, he wouldn’t need to worry about having enough practice materials for Alchemy in the near future. Becoming an Origin King Grade Alchemist was only a matter of time.
After concluding their business here, everyone prepared to depart.
“Little brother, there should be nothing else here, would you like to accompany this Mistress out?” The young woman turned to Yang Kai and asked.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before slowly shaking his head, “Several sisters should go on ahead, I still have something to do here.”
“Oh?” The young woman was surprised to hear this and immediately wondered why Yang Kai wanted to remain. Feeling slightly suspicious, she swept the entire area with her Divine Sense again, not even letting off the sitting skeleton nearby.
She thought that Yang Kai had discovered some other benefits here and was waiting for them to leave so he could take them all for himself, but her Divine Sense was unable to discover anything else of value here.
Naturally, Yang Kai understood what she was thinking and calmly explained, “I just want to bury these remains.”
“Uh…” The young woman’s face went blank.
“I’m an Alchemist, and he or she was also an Alchemist, that makes him or her my Senior. Since I’ve obtained this Alchemy furnace, I should naturally perform some final rites.”
“So that’s how it is, hehe, in that case, we will take our leave,” The young woman said with great embarrassment, feeling like she had just been being overly suspicious just now. Laughing awkwardly before bidding Yang Kai farewell, she led her two companions out.
Of course, Yang Kai didn’t try to stop them. He had cooperated with the three of them out of convenience just now, but in the end, they were neither friends nor close acquaintances; moreover, this woman was quite scheming and had clearly had ill intentions towards him before.
Cooperating once was enough, Yang Kai had no interest in becoming close to such people.
A few moments later, outside the mountain valley, the three young women from Ice Heart Valley swiftly flew forward. Two of them felt quite happy while their leader wore a look of struggle and annoyance on her face, releasing a long sigh after a while.
“Senior Sister, what’s wrong?” The First-Order Origin Returning Realm woman asked curiously.
“It’s nothing, I was just thinking that that young man is a little strange,” the young woman shook her head slowly.
Just now, in that stone room, with its narrow walls and limited room to manoeuvre, and with two other people on her side, it was undoubtedly the best place to launch a sneak attack. The young woman indeed had such thoughts and had intended to join forces with her two Junior Sisters and subdue Yang Kai there.
After all, there were so many pills that had formed Pill Veins and so many herbs with medicinal ages over ten thousand years, naturally, she did not want to split such treasures with anyone else.
But the moment such a thought crossed her mind, a feeling of alarm gripped her heart as her instincts screamed out to her that if she and her Junior Sisters were to attack, the ones who would suffer a loss would be them.
It was this instinctual fear that caused the young woman to ultimately back down.
After the fact though, she couldn’t tell if her decision had been right or wrong.
No matter what, being forced to give half of the benefits from that secluded home to a mere First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy made her very uncomfortable.
It was too late to regret now though, and the young woman could only do her best to suppress the faint unwillingness she felt while trying not to think about it any further.
At the same time, inside the hidden cave mansion, Yang Kai let out a light sigh.
He had not been lying to the women from Ice Heart Valley, he really stayed behind to look for a burial place for this late Alchemy Grandmaster. These were the remains of a top-level Origin King Grade High-Rank Alchemist, one who had died still pursuing the Alchemic Way, so as an Alchemist, Yang Kai truly respected him.
After taking away the Origin King Grade Alchemy furnace, Yang Kai released his Saint Qi and carefully wrapped up the skeletal remains before walking outside.
Yang Kai planned on burying this Alchemist in the mountain valley’s Medicine Garden.
Such a burial place should be what this Senior would have wanted.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived atop the Medicine Garden, waved his hand to release his Saint Qi, and opened up a deep pit in the ground before carefully laying the late Alchemist’s bones inside.
There was no carelessness in this process, with Yang Kai leaving the skeleton perfectly intact, just the way he found it.
However, when Yang Kai withdrew his Saint Qi from the skeleton, without this layer of protection, the robes on this skeleton disintegrated into dust and were blown away by the wind.
*Reflection Reflection Reflection*
*Thinking emoji*
In the end, this Grandmaster had died over ten thousand years ago, so it was not a surprise that, after all this time, their clothes could not withstand even a slight test of the elements.
Not only that, but their bones as well.
With a clatter, the skeleton also collapsed into ashes. Yang Kai frowned at this sight and released his Saint Qi to surround the freshly dug grave and prevent the wind from reaching it.
Even if this Senior’s clothes had been turned to dust and blown away, Yang Kai couldn’t allow the same to happen to their remains. If that were to happen, this Senior would truly have died without burial, a miserable fate.
Waving his Saint Qi about, Yang Kai quickly carried over some nearby soil to fill in this grave.
Before filling the grave though, Yang Kai’s brow rose as he stared towards a certain spot, a trace of suspicion flashing across his face. A moment later, a Golden Blood Thread flashed out.
After withdrawing this Golden Blood Thread, Yang Kai held a small piece of bone in his hand.
This should be a finger bone from the Grandmaster’s skeleton, but unlike all the other bones, this one had not disintegrated and was instead perfectly preserved. Although there were no energy fluctuations coming from this fingertip, when Yang Kai observed it closely, he could not help showing a look of surprise that soon turned to shock as he muttered aloud, “This is…”
This finger bone was covered with many complicated lines and runes, seemingly hiding some incredible secrets within them.
Injecting a little of his Saint Qi into this finger bone though, Yang Kai was unable to observe any kind of reaction. With a puzzled expression, Yang Kai was at a loss as to how to access the mysteries contained in this finger bone.
Setting this matter aside for the moment, Yang Kai carefully stored this finger bone away before filling up the grave.
A moment later, the grave was filled. Finished with this task, Yang Kai bowed once before turning around and quickly leaving this mountain valley.
This was all he could do for this Senior. As for the finger bone, Yang Kai planned on studying it carefully later as he was certain this Grandmaster had sealed something important in it. Otherwise, there would be no reason to refine it to not degrade even after ten thousand years.
Flying along at lightning-quick speeds, Yang Kai carefully observed his surroundings as he rushed towards the Emperor Garden’s main palace.
The journey was quite calm, with no other unexpected situations occurring along the way. For Yang Kai, the exploration of the mountain valley had wasted a little time, but compared to the massive gains he obtained, such a delay was still acceptable.
However, he had also made up his mind that even if he encountered anything else of interest, he would not stop to investigate and focus entirely on reaching the main palace.
As he got closer to the Emperor Garden’s main palace though, Yang Kai increasingly felt the atmosphere becoming tense. There were clearly many cultivators lying in ambush around the periphery of the main palace, targeting both those who were coming to explore the main palace and those who were leaving it.
As time passed, Yang Kai even began seeing many cultivators engaged in fierce battles with one another.
Some tried to intercept Yang Kai as well, but he was easily able to throw such ambushers off.
Thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai immediately understood what was going on.
According to Min Sha of Azure Tree Star, the Emperor Garden’s main palace was filled with crisis, forcing his group to escape after they suffered heavy losses, and look for opportunities outside instead. It seemed the cultivators lying in ambush outside the Emperor Garden’s main palace knew about the situation inside and had decided to wait for gains without pains instead, robbing those who were coming and going.
This way, not only could they easily obtain some benefits, but they also would not have to risk their lives inside the main palace. What could be better?
This was why the surroundings of the Emperor Garden’s main palace were filled with thick murderous intent.
It took Yang Kai some effort to break through this encirclement region.
Three days later, Yang Kai stood atop a mild slope, looking at a magnificent and majestic palace.
The Emperor Garden!
He finally saw the true Emperor Garden with his own eyes. This was the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s private residence and it was suspended in mid-air. Looking around, Yang Kai could not see where this palace ended, as if it went on for tens of thousands of kilometres.
The previous time Yang Kai came to the Emperor Garden, the feeling it had given him was far less profound than the one he was experiencing right now. At this moment, even from a thousand kilometres away, the main palace of the Emperor Garden radiated an ancient and desolate aura, making one feel as if they had been transported back in time, a wondrous yet unnerving sensation.
[Where’s the entrance?] Yang Kai frowned, but soon, he found what he was searching for.
From a certain position, multi-coloured light was flashing, and violent energy fluctuations filled the air as many small black spots collided with one another.
Obviously, this was the scene of many people fighting.
The closer one got to the Emperor Garden’s main palace, the more chaotic it became. The Emperor Garden had opened to the entire Star Field, so with cultivators arriving here from every major Cultivation Star, a great deal of friction naturally occurred.
If Yang Kai was not mistaken, the location of the fiercest battle should be where the main palace’s entrance was located.
Thinking so, he did not hesitate and flew over towards the fighting.
After half an incense stick of time, Yang Kai stood at the edge of the battlefield and was thoroughly shocked by the massive melee he was witnessing. There were at least hundreds of cultivators involved in this battle, most of them Origin Realm masters. There were also some Saint Kings present, but none were below the Third Order and had obviously been led here by their Elders.
These people all wore different robes and their cultivations were equally varied but every one of them was deeply immersed in this hot-blooded battle. Some people wanted to slaughter a path to the Emperor Garden, some wanted to flee this place, some even wanted to kill others and rob them of their possessions, it was nothing short of chaos.
From time to time, a pitiful scream would ring out and in a splash of blood, a body would fall from the sky.
It was obviously impossible to pass through such a heated battlefield safely.
Yang Kai’s expression became extremely solemn. Although his strength was truly out of the ordinary, even surpassing some Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators, he was not confident he could slip through this melee without getting caught up in the chaos.
Looking around though, a look of delight soon returned to Yang Kai’s face as he confirmed his theory to be correct; the Emperor Garden’s main palace’s entrance was indeed located nearby. A massive gate several dozen metres in height leading into the magnificent palace stood just beyond the chaotic battlefield. This gate was covered with a kind of light barrier that prevented anyone from seeing what lay beyond it, stimulating the desires of these cultivators to enter through it.
Just as Yang Kai was hesitating about using his full speed to try to break through this region, he sensed some kind of disturbance and turned his head to investigate.
In the direction he turned, a bright green stream of light was rapidly approaching, and although it was still a fair distance away, the pressure coming from it was difficult to ignore.
Every cultivator who was engaged in battle was shocked by this new arrival and paused their fight to investigate.
A moment later, the green stream of light reached the edge of the chaotic battlefield, dispersed, and revealed seven figures that had been hidden inside.
After sensing the cultivation of these seven people, everyone’s expression became dignified!
This group consisted of males and females, young and old, but only one of them was a Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator while the rest were all Third-Order!
Although this group could not singlehandedly sweep away all the cultivators involved in this chaotic battlefield, forcing everyone to give way was not an issue. Clearly this group was from an elite great force and challenging them would not be wise.
After seeing the robes worn by those people, someone even exclaimed, “Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce!”
Hearing this cry, everyone showed a terrified look.
Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was famous throughout the entire Star Field and was one of only a handful of super forces. It controlled multiple Cultivation Stars and had more than a dozen Origin King Realm masters at its command.
What’s more, it was rumoured that President Ai Ou, the current leader of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, had reached the peak of the Second-Order Origin King Realm and was only one step away from breaking through to the Third-Order.
He was an existence that the entire Star Field had to look up to.
Upon realizing these people were from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, every cultivator present withdrew their hostility and stepped back, none of them daring to show the slightest disrespect.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was greatly shaken as he stared towards one of the people in this group, his heart nearly leaping up into his throat.
This person’s face seemed to be carved from the finest jade, with perfect red lips, a slim but handsome figure, and skin that seemed just a shade too fair, almost the colour of pure snow. Adorning his face was an amiable smile that involuntarily made anyone who saw it feel a sense of intimacy.
He was the only Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator amongst this group, making him the weakest, but it was also clear he was its leader as all the others surrounded him like stars around a bright moon. These six Third-Order Origin Realm powerhouses were all somehow overshadowed by this man’s presence.
Any woman would adore him, not just for his outstanding appearance, but also because of his innate temperament which was like a bright light that could draw in any moth.
Xue Yue!
The Star Field’s famous Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce Xue Yue Third Young Master!
Yang Kai had been hoping to meet Su Yan here, but instead, it seemed that enemies often met along narrow roads.
This was an unwelcome coincidence.
Yang Kai was arriving here quite late as when the Emperor Garden opened, he had spent ten days condensing his Shi, but why had Xue Yue not arrived here until now?
Yang Kai did not know what Xue Yue had come here for, but he absolutely did not want to be noticed by ‘him’.
The reason was simple, Yang Kai and Xue Yue had many grievances between them, and he also knew Xue Yue’s greatest secret.
This suave-looking, jade-faced Xue Yue Third Young Master whom millions of the Star Field’s young women fawned over was, in fact, a woman herself!
If this news were to leak out, who knows how many young girls would be heartbroken and how many young women would cry?
The grievances between the two of them were not just about Yang Kai knowing her secret though. The two of them had many awkward and bitter experiences together; for example, atop an unnamed Dead Star, the two of them had fought one another in a life or death struggle while completely naked, clinging to one another, rubbing their bare skin against each other, all while trying to murder their enemy. Forced into a stalemate during that absurd situation, Xue Yue had used a Secret Technique which tethered their two lives together, allowing both to survive.
Because of this Secret Technique, however, Yang Kai had been forced to find a way to save Xue Yue’s life after she encountered a fatal accident, causing him a great deal of trouble and almost resulting in his death.
Also, I’m pretty sure some of these girls that are in love with Xue Yue would think: I don’t mind.
Xue Yue had a special constitution, the Dragon Marrow Phoenix Body! This physique was something even Origin King Realm masters would covet because any man who could obtain her Primordial Yin would be able to dramatically improve his cultivation with absolutely no adverse consequences.
It was for this reason she had lived as a man with Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce dedicating great effort to concealing her true gender. Throughout the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, only a handful of people actually knew this secret.
Outside the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, only Yang Kai knew it.
Knowing this, how could Yang Kai allow Xue Yue to see him? The moment he saw this woman, Yang Kai immediately hid away in the crowd while also concealing his aura as much as possible.
On the other side, guarded by six Third-Order Origin Realm masters, Xue Yue wore her usual dazzling smile, one that in her male form was enough to make any woman scream out crazily.
“Is this the Emperor Garden?” Xue Yue muttered as she swept her gaze over the magnificent palace.
“Replying to Third Young Master, according to the information we managed to acquire, this is indeed the Emperor Garden’s main palace,” A beautiful woman next to Xue Yue respectfully answered.
“Good, since we’ve arrived, let’s head inside,” Xue Yue didn’t bother with any nonsense, simply declaring so before leading the team of Origin Realm masters towards the main palace’s gate.
No one dared to bar the way!
Without even mentioning the strength of Xue Yue’s group, just the name Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was enough of a deterrent. Who would dare to fight against them here?
As such, Xue Yue and her party swiftly and easily crossed the battlefield to arrive in front of the main palace before stepping through the gate and disappearing.
After their figures disappeared, many whooshing sounds rang out as several cultivators tried to take advantage of this brief period of calm to rush into the main palace.
There were actually quite a number of these people, twenty or thirty at least, each of them using their movement skills to transform into streams of light that shot forward at incredible speed.
Yang Kai also mixed in with this group. Such an opportunity would likely not present itself again, so how could he not seize it? Although rushing into the main palace now might cause him to run into Xue Yue, this was no doubt his best chance to avoid trouble. Once the fight started up again, it would be very difficult for Yang Kai alone to cross this divide.
What’s more, with the crowd of others also rushing into the main palace at this moment, there should be enough people to conceal himself.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai rushed to the front entrance of the Emperor Garden’s main palace and, together with a swarm of other cultivators who also wanted to enter the interior, stepping through the door of light.
A flash blinded Yang Kai in the next moment as he felt some subtle Space Force fluctuations around him. After Yang Kai’s sight returned, he found himself inside a large complex with many white pavilions spreading out before him.
[I’m in!] Yang Kai celebrated.
The last time he had entered the Emperor Garden, this was the scene he had seen, so he was now certain he had arrived.
However, before Yang Kai could even show a happy look, he hastily had to shrink his neck and hide his face.
Because Xue Yue, who was the first of this group to enter, hadn’t gone far, and instead was standing nearby sweeping her eyes around, as if observing something.
This group from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce hadn’t left, causing the cultivators who had taken advantage of their presence to sneak into the main palace to not dare act rashly. After everyone came inside, they simply stood stiff with slightly anxious looks on their faces.
Yang Kai squeezed into the middle of this crowd while trying his best to suppress the pounding of his heart, silently praying that Xue Yue would not find him.
Trying to make himself invisible, Yang Kai lowered his head and did not move.
However, what Yang Kai feared ultimately came to pass. Xue Yue seemed to grow bored with what she was doing and decided to sweep her pair of beautiful eyes across the crowd of cultivators who had followed her group inside.
Yang Kai’s face sank, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hide here any longer; and so, before Xue Yue could see him, he quickly leapt out and ran away.
Naturally, this rapid move immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Xue Yue also turned her eyes towards Yang Kai, and after seeing a vaguely familiar profile, a blank look flashed across her face before she immediately became ecstatic and furiously shouted, “Halt for this Young Master!”
How could Yang Kai listen to her though? Not only did he not listen, he instead ran even faster, crossing a thousand metres in the blink of an eye, leaving Xue Yue and her group far behind.
“Third Young Master?” The beautiful woman turned to Xue Yue suspiciously.
“Capture him for this Young Master!” Xue Yue commanded coldly with a gloomy look upon her face.
Although the beautiful woman didn’t understand why Xue Yue would care about a mere First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, she didn’t bother asking anything and simply flew off in pursuit of Yang Kai.
After the beautiful woman dashed out, Xue Yue frowned and began to ponder, the look on her face fluctuating somewhat. Although it was just a glimpse, that profile had given her an extremely familiar impression, one of a hateful man whose face kept her tossing and turning at night!
However, in this wide world, there were too many similar people and Xue Yue had failed to see his full face, so she couldn’t be sure it was really him.
Most importantly, the person who just ran off was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator!
When she had separated from that bastard, he was only a Third-Order Saint. Could he have possibly grown to such a level in just ten years? Xue Yue wasn’t certain. After all, she was Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s Third Young Master and had a special constitution, as well as unlimited cultivation resources and the best cultivation environments, yet she had only been able to progress from the Third-Order Saint King Realm to the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm in the same period of time.
On top of that, her breakthrough to her current realm was so recent that she hadn’t even had time to consolidate it yet.
If it really was him, then rather than just astonishing, his aptitude was nothing less than Heaven defying.
Therefore, it was the other party’s First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation that brought Xue Yue the most doubt.
However, Xue Yue would not forget that man even if hundreds of thousands of years passed! Whenever she fell asleep at night, Xue Yue would grind her teeth in frustration just dreaming about how he had refused to follow her without any hesitation back then.
Was she not beautiful? Did she not have immense status?
In the end, that was not it. Xue Yue was confident that when it came to beauty, aptitude, or status, she would not lose to anyone in the entire Star Field; but even so, she had failed to retain a trivial Third-Order Saint realm man.
At that time, when she had earnestly asked him to follow her, that bastard had actually refused without even considering it!
This was nothing less than a great shame to Xue Yue! Since that day, she had secretly resented him and had sworn that one day she would capture and imprison him. She would force him to accompany her wherever she went, show him all the wondrous sights and scenes she’d seen to make him thoroughly regret his original decision! She would let him know what it truly meant to have eyes but fail to see!
Although Xue Yue played the part of a humble, polite, and generous man in front of outsiders, her heart was still that of a woman.
And the thoughts of women were sometimes unreasonable and incomprehensible.
“We’ll also follow,” Xue Yue declared, unable to calm herself down and simply wait. After taking a moment to determine her bearings, she immediately chased after the beautiful woman who was pursuing Yang Kai. The Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters who were guarding her all exchanged a quick, confused glance, wondering just what kind of snake oil their Third Young Master was trying to sell here.
However, none of them dared to violate Xue Yue’s order, so they quickly followed after her.
On the other side, not long after Yang Kai escaped, he sensed a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master chasing after him. Although he wasn’t afraid to face such a master with his current strength, his pursuer was not alone and if he were to get tied down by her, Xue Yue and the rest of her group would definitely be able to catch up.
When that happened, he would definitely be in trouble. Yang Kai’s impression of Xue Yue was extremely complicated. He did not actually have any kind of bitter hatred toward her and he could even be considered to be her saviour. After all, when Xue Yue was poisoned by the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, it was Yang Kai who had refined the pill which saved her life.
However… he had also taken advantage of her greatly. On that Dead Star, he had hugged and tossed about with her completely naked, touching everything there was to touch, seeing everything there was to see.
Although the situation at that time forced him to act in such a manner or die, the way he behaved towards Xue Yue and treated her was really not appropriate.
Even if it was an ordinary woman, they would certainly want to skin him alive, not to mention Xue Yue, who possessed immense status and had incredibly high pride.
Without any kind of explanation, he had run away, so naturally, she would be bearing a grudge.
Simply put, if Yang Kai was caught by her, his end would be miserable.
So after learning that there was actually a master chasing after him, Yang Kai went all out to escape towards the Emperor Garden’s inner depths!
As Yang Kai flew forward, a golden light shone from his left eye as he constantly scanned his surroundings.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was one of Great Demon God’s Divine Abilities and was able to see through all illusions, so it was of great help to Yang Kai in this situation.
He needed to search for a functioning Spirit Array.
There were many barriers and Spirit Arrays inside the Emperor Garden, and when he had accompanied Fei Zhi Tu and the others to this place last time, Yang Kai had deeply experienced these things’ might. However, this time the Emperor Garden had opened to the entire Star Field and there were many cultivators inside it now, so no matter how many barriers and Spirit Array there were, they would eventually all be cracked or broken through.
All along the way, Yang Kai was unable to find any usable barriers or Spirit Arrays, instead just ones which had been destroyed.
As time passed, and his pursuer drew closer and closer, Yang Kai became more and more anxious.
Fortunately, just in time, under the observation of his Demon Eye of Annihilation, Yang Kai found a very powerful Spirit Array up ahead that covered a large region in his path.
Yang Kai rushed towards it without hesitation, flying just past the Spirit Array’s edge.
A moment later, when the beautiful woman rushed to this place, she failed to notice anything out of the ordinary, fell into this Spirit Array and was instantly trapped inside of it.
Yang Kai stood in place and listened for a moment. Hearing tender shouts and feeling some weak energy fluctuations, he immediately knew that his strategy had succeeded.
Smiling smugly, Yang Kai quickly changed direction and flew off.
For the time being, he should be safe.
The Emperor Garden’s main palace was incredibly large, so as long as he was careful, he shouldn’t run into Xue Yue again. Thinking so, Yang Kai calmed down, but he still did not relax his vigilance, lest he fall into a Spirit Array trap too.
After Yang Kai left, less than half a cup of tea’s worth of time passed before Xue Yue led her group of masters over, and after hearing the beautiful woman’s shouts, all of them worked together to break open the Spirit Array and rescue her.
Listening to the report of the beautiful woman, Xue Yue’s face turned ugly.
She hadn’t expected that her luck would be so bad, the master she sent to pursue that boy accidentally fell into a Spirit Array, allowing him to escape.
“Third Young Master, this subordinate has failed in her mission, please punish me,” The beautiful woman’s complexion was also very poor, a look of shame filling her face.
“Forget it,” Xue Yue waved her hand, “It’s nothing important, I only suspected that person was an old acquaintance of mine, but I wasn’t certain. Since we could not catch him, this matter will end here.”
Worthy of the Third Young Master of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, Xue Yue acted magnanimously. After learning that Yang Kai had run away, she didn’t insist on pursuing him again.
“Third Young Master is wise. Our most important task right now is to find that Secret Art. This matter is closely connected with the President’s future. As long as he can obtain this Secret Art, the President will be able to reach the Third-Order Origin King Realm and become a peak level existence,” An old-looking man commented. Although his looks were old, he had a ruddy complexion and exuberant vitality.
“Yes, what Old Chu said is correct. Unfortunately, we have too little information at this point and aren’t even certain if that Secret Art is here or not. In any case, to accomplish our mission, we first need to explore around and investigate,” Xue Yue did not refute, instead agreeing with the old man surnamed Chu. Obviously, this old man’s status in the group was not low.
Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was the wealthiest force in the Star Field, so although the Emperor Garden’s reputation was indeed great, there were very few things that could interest them. Despite that, Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce had still sent an elite team this time, consisting of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters as well as Xue Yue to serve as the leader. Obviously, they had an important objective to achieve here.
As for the so-called Secret Art they spoke of, even they had little clue as to what it was, just that it could allow a peak Second-Order Origin King to break through to the Third-Order Origin King Realm.
Elsewhere, after Yang Kai escaped from his pursuers, he quickly found his bearings and flew deeper into the Emperor Garden.
Along the way, Yang Kai spotted traces left over from battles as well as the destroyed remnants of various Spirit Arrays and barriers. There were also many cultivator corpses lying around, which clearly illustrated how dangerous this place was.
At the very least, it had become more dangerous since the last time he was here.
Yang Kai even passed by the wreckage of a number of ancient puppets. These ancient puppets varied in size and appearance, but without exception, they had been destroyed by the cultivators who broke into this area.
The last time Yang Kai came here, although there were some puppets, their number was definitely not so exaggerated.
It seemed that after the Emperor Garden officially opened, the internal dangers also increased dramatically. It was no wonder Min Sha and his group had fled outside, not daring to remain in the main palace for long. The competition here was simply too fierce and there were far too many hidden dangers along the way.
But arriving here late had some benefits. Yang Kai had spent quite a while outside before entering the Emperor Garden, but now that he had, he didn’t need to worry about triggering most of the Spirit Arrays. By simply following the path of destruction, he was generally quite safe.
Countless people had opened the way ahead.
Of course, there were positives and negatives to this. While Yang Kai could progress faster, almost all the benefits here had also been taken away.
Along the way, the various pavilions and lofts had been broken into and tossed for loot. These buildings must have all been thoroughly searched and it was impossible to know what kind of treasures had been pilfered from them.
However, Yang Kai did not care, he had come to the Emperor Garden this time specifically for two things.
He had discovered these two treasures the last time he came here and was determined to acquire them.
One of the treasures he was searching for was the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters, which was famed for its ability to restore a withered old cultivator to their youthful prime.
To Yang Kai, however, the attraction of this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was that, by taking it, he could condense new drops of pure Golden Blood. The last time he came here he had obtained some diluted Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, and he had managed to reap a huge harvest after swallowing it all. If he could acquire pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, Yang Kai wasn’t even able to estimate how much benefit it would be to him.
Yang Kai’s goal was to replace all of his blood with pure Golden Blood! If he could achieve this, both his vitality and physical resilience would be greatly increased, perhaps not to the degree of his body becoming immortal and indestructible, but at least on the level of being able to heal from grievous wounds with ease.
The second treasure Yang Kai had come for was naturally the World Spirit hidden in the ice road.
That World Spirit was a manifestation of the pure World Energy which over countless years had obtained sentience and was the favourite food of Ancient Divine Spirits. It was rumoured that in ancient times, there were many World Spirits, but after being preyed upon by Ancient Divine Spirits, they had gradually dwindled in number.
The World Spirit from the ice road was naturally formed from Ice Attribute Energy which perfectly suited the appetite of the Ice Phoenix, so if the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul were able to consume it, it would obtain massive nourishment.
Considering what this would mean for Su Yan’s future, Yang Kai was determined to seize this thing.
As long as these two things could be obtained, Yang Kai would consider his gains from this trip to the Emperor Garden a bumper crop and wouldn’t concern himself with anything else.
Thinking so, Yang Kai kept observing the surrounding terrain, but after a full day, he still found himself lost.
This couldn’t be blamed on him however as scenery inside the Emperor Garden was all too similar so it was impossible for him to even know where he was right now, let alone where to look for the World Spirit or Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
Through his journey, Yang Kai had not encountered any trouble, or any other people for that matter. Obviously, the cultivators who had entered this place had already fallen or ventured deeper, making it impossible for him to find anyone to inquire about news or ask for directions.
Inside the Emperor Garden’s main palace, unlike outside, Divine Sense could not be spread out far to explore one’s surroundings, a hundred metres or so was Yang Kai’s limit.
Yang Kai again took out his communication artifacts and tried to contact Yang Yan and Qian Tong, but to his disappointment, there was still no response.
With a sigh, Yang Kai reluctantly put these two artifacts back into his Space Ring before continuing to fly deeper.
About half a day later, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and perked up his ears as he could vaguely hear what sounded like the sounds of fighting coming from nearby. After listening carefully for a moment to determine the appropriate direction, Yang Kai took off towards the sound of this disturbance.
Yang Kai’s guess was correct, there were indeed people fighting nearby, and as he got closer, the sounds only became more and more obvious.
When he arrived at the battlefield, a rather large palace, Yang Kai was able to make out a number of people, at least seven or eight, each with not low strength. From what he could tell, there were two groups fighting here and they had fallen into a kind of stalemate. Even if one side had the upper hand, it was by no means obvious or decisive.
Yang Kai did not hurry to reveal himself, instead concealing aura and quietly hiding outside the palace, peering through a window to get a better look at the situation.
Looking inside, Yang Kai saw flashes of light from artifacts and Martial Skills as the cultivators inside flew about, sometimes fighting one on one, or in large melees of four or five, seemingly completely absorbed in this battle.
There was also another person inside, a young woman, who was lying on the floor, possibly alive, possibly dead.
“It’s them!” Yang Kai looked for a moment but was soon stunned.
He hadn’t expected that the first group he encountered after diving into the depths of the main palace would actually be people he knew.
It was actually Great Elder Mo Yu, Sect Master Gu Zhen, and Chen Shi Tao of Clear Sky Sect.
Although Mo Yu and Gu Zhen were both Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters and could be considered top masters even here in the Emperor Garden, Chen Shi Tao had just recently broken through to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm. What’s more, Chen Shi Tao had only managed to break through with the help of a Secret Technique executed by the Elders of Clear Sky Sect, as such she was still unable to properly display the strength of an Origin Realm cultivator.
She had yet to even condense her Shi.
On the other hand, the enemy had four people, two Third-Order and two Second-Order Origin Realm masters. Facing such a force, the battle was obviously not proceeding in Clear Sky Sect’s favour.
Chen Shi Tao was in imminent danger, and if not for her Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol, a powerful defensive artifact given to her by Mo Yu, she would likely have already been captured or killed.
Gu Zhen and Mo Yu had no choice but to divert a part of their attention to protect her while fighting their own enemies.
In the end though, Gu Zhen and Mo Yu were not ordinary masters, the artifacts and methods they displayed all revealed shocking might, so although the scene looked a little precarious, they should still be able to hold out for a while.
From the looks of it, this battle had been raging for some time before Yang Kai arrived.
Since he had run into acquaintances, Yang Kai was naturally not going to stand idly by. Without even mentioning that he had a good impression of Mo Yu, Yang Kai was friends with Chen Shi Tao.
However, Yang Kai was somewhat unable to understand why the trio from Clear Sky Sect had decided to fight it out with these four people here, was there some kind of treasure to be had here?
Thinking so, Yang Kai glanced around the palace, and after a moment, his eyes landed on a certain object and a look of joy filled his face.
Because in the very centre of this palace, there was some kind of altar atop which there was a strange-looking blood-red stone about the size of a heart.
Blood Essence Stone!
Yang Kai recognized what this thing was at a glance.
It was actually a piece of Blood Essence Stone!
This was nothing less than a case of wearing out iron shoes while seeking one’s feet.
Blood Essence Stones were heavenly treasures to most cultivators as it was able to absorb the blood of dead cultivators and transform it into pure Blood Qi which was extremely useful for healing wounds or replenishing vitality at critical moments.
However, to Yang Kai, it is even more useful as he could use it as the heart of a Stone Puppet.
On Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai managed to obtain a total of two Stone Puppet eggs, but he had only found a single Blood Essence Stone, so after arriving on Shadowed Star, he could only hatch one Stone Puppet. However, in his Black Book Space, there is another Stone Puppet egg which had as of yet been unable to break out of its shell.
This was all because it was missing a piece of Blood Essence Stone.
As long as Yang Kai could obtain this Blood Essence Stone, he would be able to hatch the second Stone Puppet. The strength and ability of the Stone Puppet was something Yang Kai knew of better than anyone. Yang Yan could use it for Artifact Refining, and it also possessed incredible fighting ability. During the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, the Stone Puppet’s performance had been extremely eye-catching.
Yang Kai already had a Stone Puppet, so if he were to give the second one to Yang Yan, she would certainly be extremely happy. That girl had been deeply envious of Yang Kai about this for a long time now.
Yang Kai had once asked Qian Tong to keep an eye out for news of a Blood Essence Stone, but unfortunately, even with the power of Shadow Moon Hall, he had been unable to find one. Now, without even diving that deep into the Emperor Garden’s main palace, Yang Kai had found a piece.
How could he not rejoice?
In an instant, Yang Kai regarded this Blood Essence Stone as his!
However, he first needed to find a way to resolve Clear Sky Sect trio’s crisis. Considering all this, Yang Kai turned towards the battlefield again.
There were three people from Clear Sky Sect while their opponents consisted of four Origin Realm masters. With this disadvantage in numbers, the reason Clear Sky Sect’s group had been able to last until now was entirely due to Gu Zhen and Mo Yu’s high strength.
Gu Zhen, as the master of a great Sect, naturally couldn’t be underestimated. At this moment, he was fighting two enemies all on his own, one Third-Order and one Second-Order. Meanwhile, Mo Yu was fighting the other Third-Order.
As for Chen Shi Tao, she was sticking close to Mo Yu while tying down the last Second0-Order Origin Realm enemy. Unfortunately, she did not have any power to fight back and could only use her Nine Palace Heavenly Silk Parasol to defend against her opponent’s attacks, her pretty face was filled with anxiety.
Yang Kai observed the situation for a moment before quickly deciding that the key to this battle was Mo Yu. As long as he could free up Mo Yu, this battle would be decided.
Realizing this, Yang Kai no longer hid and flew inside the palace through the open window.
As he rushed inside, Yang Kai released his Firebird Artifact Spirit, instantly causing the temperature inside the palace to soar upwards.
All the cultivators who were inside the palace paled when they felt this and couldn’t help turning sideways. They were already engaged in a fierce struggle, so how could they not dread another person suddenly intervening now? Everyone was worried that this newcomer was their opponent’s reinforcements.
Glancing over, all of them saw a strange yet gorgeous Firebird composed entirely of flames swoop down from above, releasing a piercing cry from its beak before spewing a washbasin sized fireball towards them which radiated a frightening might and heat.
“This is…” Mo Yu’s eyes narrowed, but soon a look of pleasant surprise filled his face.
He had participated in the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain that day so he naturally had a deep impression of the Firebird Artifact and was immediately able to infer that Yang Kai was the one who had just appeared.
[It’s not the enemy’s reinforcements, but our own!] Mo Yu was overjoyed and was able to finally relax and go all out without any reservations.
On the other hand, the four unidentified cultivators wore solemn expressions as they noticed the power of the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
As for Yang Kai, who flew in behind the Firebird, none of them even placed him in their eyes.
In an instant, the fireball released by the Firebird rushed to the top of Mo Yu’s opponent’s head. The terrifying power contained in this fireball caused this man’s face to drain of all colour and forced him to hurriedly withdraw and release a white mist from his body that swiftly engulfed a dozen metre radius space.
It was unknown what method this was, but at first glance, it was clearly a strong defensive ability.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The fireball struck in the next moment and easily blew apart this ball of white mist, exposing the figure of the cultivator that had been hiding inside of it. The other party was completely unharmed, however, and the white mist which had been scattered away actually began to re-condense.
Before the white mist could coalesce again though, a flash of golden light suddenly shot out from behind the Firebird Artifact Spirit Firebird and rushed towards the man’s chest.
Yang Kai had attacked. He had released his Firebird at first to attract the enemy’s attention while he concealed himself behind it in order to land a fatal strike, so he definitely was not about to miss this opportunity.
Although he didn’t know what kind of profound defensive technique the other party had exhibited, he knew better than to allow this white mist barrier to repair itself.
Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread had unparalleled sharpness, extreme speed, and strong concealment, so it wasn’t until the golden light was right in front of his opponent that the latter realized he was being attacked. Letting out a panicked shout, this man waved an axe in his hand to try to intercept the Golden Blood Thread.
But he was a step too late.
With a loud bang, the Golden Blood Thread directly penetrated into this man’s lower abdomen and flew out the other side before wrapping around and binding him tightly.
The Firebird Artifact Spirit also struck at this moment, spreading its wings and releasing a stream of flames from its beak towards the captured man’s head.
Mo Yu, who was the one originally fighting this man, sent out a palm strike which rapidly enlarged as it slammed towards his opponent’s head.
This man was unable to move, much less dodge as a monstrous wave of flame and giant palm print rapidly closed in, only able to let out a pitiful scream before abruptly being silenced.
After the palm print dispersed and the Firebird stopped releasing its flames, only a charred corpse remained.
A Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master had instantly fallen!
Yang Kai’s sneak attack was a pivotal point in this strategy, but the powerful killing blows from the Artifact Spirit and Mo Yu were the main cause of this man’s demise. If not for them, Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread alone wouldn’t have been able to kill this person so quickly.
After eliminating one enemy, Yang Kai didn’t delay for a moment, moving together with his Firebird to attack the two people Gu Zhen was fighting while Mo Yu dealt with the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master who was fighting Chen Shi Tao.
In an instant, Clear Sky Sect’s momentum soared as they went from being on the defensive to the offensive.
The other party, on the other hand, was in a state of shock. The still-living Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master was extremely decisive, and after realizing the might of the Firebird Artifact Spirit, despite a trace of unwillingness on his face, he loudly shouted, “Retreat!”
However, it was clearly too late to simply leave at this point.
At the very least, the two Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators would definitely be unable to escape. Mo Yu was completely suppressing one of them and with his higher cultivation, this person’s death was only a matter of time.
The other Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator was being tied down by Yang Kai and the Artifact Spirit and was also in a critical situation.
Only the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, who was the strongest, had an opportunity to withdraw from this battle. After taking a blow from Gu Zhen, this man found an opportunity to escape and swiftly flew off, but Gu Zhen was obviously not willing to just let him go and hurriedly pursued him.
After Yang Kai joined the battle, in less than half a cup of tea’s time, everything had been settled with Clear Sky Sect being the undisputed victory. Such an outcome really surprised Mo Yu.
Seeing Yang Kai take back his Artifact Spirit, Mo Yu quickly brought Chen Shi Tao over to thank him.
“Sect Master Yang, I didn’t expect to meet you here, this Mo is truly ashamed. This great grace will always be remembered in my heart.”
“Elder Mo doesn’t have to be so polite; my being here is nothing but a coincidence. It seems you’ve consumed a great deal of Saint Qi, you should quickly restore yourself. I’ll stand guard for you,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
“What Sect Master Yang said is correct! Then I’ll be troubling Sect Master Yang!” Mo Yu wasn’t a stiff person and understood the importance of maintaining one’s Saint Qi’s reserves in this place, so he immediately brought Chen Shi Tao with him, sat down cross-legged, swallowed a pill, took out some Saint Crystals, and began adjusting his breathing.
Gu Zhen hadn’t returned yet, but Yang Kai had no intentions of being polite, rushing over to the altar-like thing where the heart-sized Blood Essence Stone was.
This treasure was not something which could simply be taken, however, as whatever this altar was it had multiple layers of barriers around it. Even the Blood Essence Stone itself had a protective light barrier around it, so if Yang Kai wanted to obtain it, he would first need to break through its shield.
Since Yang Kai wanted this Blood Essence Stone though, he didn’t hesitate and immediately used his Golden Blood Thread to attack the protective barriers.
The light curtain flickered for a moment before returning to its original state. This seemingly flimsy barrier was actually very strong, something that surprised Yang Kai greatly.
But in the end, it was still just a static barrier, so no matter how strong it was, it was unable to resist Yang Kai’s persistent attacks. After an incense stick worth of time, the barrier shattered, and Yang Kai immediately grabbed the Blood Essence Stone. Examining it closely, Yang Kai found that it was almost identical to the Blood Essence Stone he accidentally obtained on Tong Xuan Realm.
Thinking about how his second Stone Puppet could now be hatched, Yang Kai grinned broadly and laughed as he stored it into his Space Ring.
Turning his head to look around, Yang Kai saw Mo Yu and Chen Shi Tao were still adjusting their breathing while Gu Zhen had still yet to return.
The sounds of Yang Kai taking the Blood Essence Stone had obviously reached Mo Yu’s ears, but the latter didn’t say anything about it. After all, if Yang Kai hadn’t shown up when he did, the future of the Clear Sky Sect trio would have been worrying. At the very least Chen Shi Tao would have fallen here, so there was absolutely no way they would have obtained this treasure.
As far as he was concerned, Yang Kai was perfectly justified in pocketing this piece of Blood Essence Stone.
After sweeping his eyes around the palace, Yang Kai’s gaze eventually landed on a corner of the hall where the unknown young woman was lying down.
When he had peeped inside from outside the palace a moment ago, Yang Kai had noticed this woman, but he hadn’t been sure whether she was dead or alive and even until now he wasn’t because she hadn’t moved at all this whole time.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling curious. Clear Sky Sect’s group should only consist of three people, so was this woman an associate of the previous group?
Thinking so, Yang Kai walked over towards the woman, releasing his Divine Sense to examine her.
As soon as he did though, Yang Kai was stunned.
This woman hadn’t died, but she had obviously suffered heavy injuries and was now panting laboriously. Her cultivation also wasn’t very high, the same as his own, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm.
[With this kind of cultivation, how could she dare enter this place?] Yang Kai shook his head secretly, thinking it was a case of men, or rather women, dying for wealth just as birds die for food.
When he arrived in front of this woman, Yang Kai took a closer look and saw that her face was extremely pale and that there was blood dried at the corners of her lips. There were no other signs of any external injuries though, so it was likely her five viscera and six organs which had taken damage.
Even though this woman’s long black hair was covering her face right now, it was clear she was quite a beauty.
“This old master was originally studying how to crack the barrier around the altar together with Elder Mo when this woman ran inside in a panic. Those four just now were directed here by her,” Gu Zhen said as he returned, but from the annoyed look on his face, he obviously hadn’t managed to catch the last enemy. This wasn’t too surprising though as the other party had the same cultivation as Gu Zhen.
“So she’s not in the same group as those four?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
Gu Zhen shook his head lightly, “She was probably being chased by them.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai was surprised. Originally he thought that this woman was a companion of those four and was preparing to take advantage of the fact that she couldn’t resist to finish her off, but now that he knew the truth of the matter, he could not just act ruthlessly.
There was no injustice or hatred between them, and Yang Kai wasn’t a cold-blooded person who felt the urge to kill innocents indiscriminately, so he didn’t plan on attacking this woman anymore; however, even if he didn’t kill her, in her current condition, she likely wouldn’t survive long.
In truth though, Clear Sky Sect’s trio falling into such a dangerous situation was this woman’s fault. If not for this woman trying to use them to deal with her four pursuers, the Clear Sky Sect group wouldn’t have found themselves in mortal danger just now.
Considering all this, Yang Kai squatted down until his face was almost at the same height as this woman’s before reaching out and moved the black hair covering her face to the side.
When this woman’s face appeared before his eyes, Yang Kai’s face filled with a dumbfounded expression before it quickly changed to one of shock and disbelief as he muttered out loud, “How can this be?”
It was as if he had suddenly seen something impossible.
“What’s wrong? Does Sect Master Yang know this woman?” Gu Zhen was a worldly master and immediately had a guess.
Yang Kai didn’t answer immediately as his expression fluctuated erratically and he continuously swept his eyes over this woman’s face. The more he looked, the more shocked he became though, because this woman’s appearance was nearly identical to another young woman in his memories, and despite not having seen this woman from his past for two or three decades, Yang Kai’s impression of her was still quite vivid.
However… was she really the same woman from his memories?
If she wasn’t, this would be too much of a coincidence. The world was indeed vast, but even if there were people with similar appearances, it was impossible for there to be two different people who had the exact face. But if it really was her, how could she have appeared here?
For a time, Yang Kai’s thoughts flashed as many different scenes from his past appeared in his head.
What most kept Yang Kai from confirming this woman’s identity was that she was all alone. If she was who he thought she was, where was the other young woman who was always together with her? Her singular presence made no sense.
“Sect Master Gu, I need to help her heal, I’ll have to trouble Sect Master Gu to stand guard for me!” Yang Kai didn’t have time to think; although this woman’s eyes were closed and she was clearly in a comatose state, from how her brow furrowed and twitched, it was clear she was still experiencing deep pain. Her vitality was also rapidly passing, so if Yang Kai didn’t act fast to save her, she would likely soon pass away.
Whether she was who he thought she was, Yang Kai could only first wake her up then ask carefully.
“Sect Master Yang may rest assured; this old master swears on his life that no one will disturb you!” Gu Zhen declared solemnly.
“Many thanks!” Yang Kai didn’t say anything more, instead propping up this injured woman against the wall carefully before sitting down cross-legged in front of her. Reaching out, Yang Kai grabbed this woman’s wrist and began gently pouring his Saint Qi and Divine Sense into her body to investigate her condition carefully.
As he investigated, Yang Kai’s expression gradually became ugly.
This woman’s injuries were much worse than he had originally thought. Her five viscera and six organs had all suffered a heavy impact and there was some kind of rampaging energy inside her meridians, probably the effects of some kind of powerful attack she had been struck with.
This kind of injury was nothing less than severe, and if it had been any other cultivator here, they would have been absolutely helpless to help her, likely only able to use their own Saint Qi to try to maintain her life.
Even for Yang Kai, this was a difficult problem. Whether or not he could save her, even he didn’t know, but he could only make an attempt now regardless of his chances.
Thinking so, Yang Kai touched his Space Ring and took out a jade bottle, opened it without hesitation, and poured out a pink coloured pill.
This pill instantly released a fragrant and refreshing scent and was clearly not low in grade.
Although Gu Zhen was standing a short distance away, fulfilling his role as a protector, he was also paying attention to Yang Kai’s movements, so the moment this pill appeared, he couldn’t help showing a look of shock because according to his judgement, it was actually an Origin King Grade Low-Rank healing pill!
Origin King Grade pills could not be found on Shadowed Star at all, and even taking the entire Star Field into consideration they were rare treasures; after all, only Origin King Grade Alchemists could refine such pills.
If it was just this though, Gu Zhen wouldn’t be too shocked; the key was that this pink pill had actually formed Pill Veins!
Gu Zhen’s eyes bulged so much they nearly popped out of his skull and he immediately realized that the relationship between Yang Kai and this woman was probably not simple. If this wasn’t the case, how could Yang Kai not hesitate to take out such a valuable pill to help her heal?
There were likely not many pills like this in the entire Star Field, and if it were brought back to Shadowed Star, countless masters would likely go all out to obtain it.
What kind of identity did this woman have that would actually make Yang Kai go so far to save her life? Gu Zhen suddenly became curious.
This Origin King Grade pill was naturally something Yang Kai obtained in the hidden mountain valley before, but he hadn’t expected that it would come in handy so quickly. With his current Alchemy technique, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to refine such a pill.
When distributing the pills with the young woman from Ice Heart Valley back in the hidden cave mansion, Yang Kai had deliberately divided the pills by their various purposes, including healing pills.
Origin King Grade pills had extremely powerful medicinal efficacies, but given this woman’s current condition, Yang Kai couldn’t be sure whether taking it would be a blessing or a curse. If she was unable to withstand its potency, it would likely kill her before her injuries.
Considering this, Yang Kai took a deep breath and forced out a drop of pure Golden Blood from his finger before quickly pinching this woman’s cheeks and dropping it into her mouth.
This drop of pure Golden Blood would greatly supplement her vitality, so there wouldn’t be a need to worry about the damage the pill’s efficacies might cause.
All that was left was to help her refine the pill itself.
Yang Kai didn’t shy away, simply reaching out and holding her two jade white hands and pouring his pure, rich Saint Qi into her body in order to promote the circulation of her own Saint Qi.
As time passed, both Mo Yu and Chen Shi Tao also finished restoring themselves and after asking Gu Zhen what was happening, they learned about the situation happening in front of them and also stood by quietly.
On the other side, with Yang Kai continuously assisting her to refine the medicinal efficacies of the Origin King Grade healing pill, the complexion of the woman who had been severely injured was obviously getting better and the damage to her five viscera and six organs was gradually being repaired while the rampaging foreign energy in her meridians was being driven out.
After two full hours, the woman suddenly coughed and spat out a mouthful of black blood straight towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai reacted quick enough though to flick this mass of black blood aside.
Only now was he able to relax.
Through his efforts, he had managed to bring this woman back from the gates of death, but if she wanted to fully recover, it would definitely require her a long time, and the combat power she could display right now would probably be less than half of her peak. Inside the Emperor Garden, this kind of condition was undoubtedly very dangerous as once something happened, she would have no way to fight back.
After expelling the mass of black blood, the woman’s eyelashes fluttered as she seemed to wake up.
Yang Kai was overjoyed.
A moment later, the other party opened her beautiful eyes, but it seemed she was still in a daze as her gaze was somewhat blank. After seeing the man sitting cross-legged in front of her though, she wore a stunned look and stared while Yang Kai remained silent.
Yang Kai did not dare to voice his thoughts, for fear that the answers he received would not be the ones he wanted to hear.
It took a long time and great effort, but eventually, the woman lifted her hand and stretched it out, seemingly wanting to touch Yang Kai’s cheek. There was a flash of excitement in Yang Kai’s eyes seeing this so he didn’t try to avoid her.
“They really know each other!” Chen Shi Tao saw this and couldn’t help calling out, “And it seems that their relationship isn’t shallow.”
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land was undoubtedly a joyful matter, so Chen Shi Tao was also quite happy for Yang Kai and felt deeply moved by this touching long-awaited reunion.
The next moment, however, an unexpected scene occurred.
When the woman’s delicate hand was only a palm length away from Yang Kai’s cheek, she suddenly pushed it forward swiftly, as if she wanted to slap him, but lacking in strength and energy, her actions came off far more ambiguous, as if she was trying to flirt with him.
“Bastard, why is the first person this young lady sees after dying actually you? Mistress truly pined for you for all these years for nothing! Why did you die? Weren’t good people not supposed to live long while scourges last for a thousand years?”
Scolding like this, tears began flowing out from her beautiful eyes, dripping down her face, making her look extremely sad and pitiful.
“Bi Luo?” Yang Kai’s face twitched as he forced this name out from his throat.
At this moment, he could finally confirm the identity of the woman in front of him. There was no need to guess, she was the one he knew, otherwise it would have been impossible for her to recognize him at a glance.
Beguiling Demon Queen Shan Qing Luo’s personal maidservant, Bi Luo!
The last time he had seen either of these two was back in the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land nearly thirty years ago, but Yang Kai never expected that he would meet Bi Luo here.
Fate is truly unpredictable!
He longed for reunion with Su Yan in the Emperor Garden, but he encountered Xue Yue instead, then met Bi Luo who he thought he would never see again.
It wasn’t like he could think any other way though; after all, all these years he had been unable to reunite with Su Yan, but at least he had some clues about her location and knew that she was alive, but he had no idea where Beguiling Demon Queen Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo had gone.
When he left the Great Han Dynasty and travelled to Tong Xuan Realm, he said goodbye to Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo.
Nearly ten years later, when he returned to the Central Capital from Tong Xuan Realm, he had once gone to visit the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land to find Shan Qing Luo, but by then, she had long disappeared. After some inquiries, he learned from the Lightning Flash Shadow King that Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo had last been seen heading to the Spider Mother’s Den. After Yang Kai arrived at Spider Mother’s Den, he only found an ancient altar with some bloodstains on it; as for Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo, there was no way to tell if they were even alive or dead.
Since then, Yang Kai had been convinced he would never be able to see Shan Qing Luo or Bi Luo again.
Who could have imagined such a dramatic reunion would take place in the Emperor Garden though?
For a time, Yang Kai couldn’t help wondering if he was dreaming.
When Yang Kai fell into a daze, Bi Luo seemed to come out of hers and realized she wasn’t dead. For a moment she felt embarrassed, but she mostly felt joyful.
She too had not expected to meet Yang Kai again here.
Although this bastard had bullied her all those years ago, and even caused her Mistress to feel incredibly sad and lonely for so long, it was undeniable that being able to reunite at this time in this place made Bi Luo happy. Her pair of beautiful eyes glowed with radiant splendour and even her vitality seemed to be somewhat restored.
“Sister Chen, can I trouble you to comfort her? Her emotions seem to be a bit unstable,” Yang Kai asked, fearing that once Bi Luo restored enough of her strength, she would really slap him. Regardless of the circumstances, allowing himself to get slapped twice for no reason was highly improper.
“En,” Chen Shi Tao responded positively and hurried over before sitting down next to Bi Luo and allowing the latter to lean on her while offering some comforting words.
Yang Kai got up and briefly communicated with Mo Yu and Gu Zhen. From talking with these two, Yang Kai learned that after entering the Emperor Garden through the Space Array on floating platforms, the three of them had been split up, but fortunately, they weren’t teleported too far apart so it only took them a short time to regroup.
As for the whereabouts of everyone else, they had no clue.
“So that’s how it is,” After listening to their explanation, Yang Kai gently nodded, not revealing any kind of disappointment on his face. He had originally intended to investigate the situation of Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun, but since Gu Zhen and Mo Yu were just as lost as he was, Yang Kai could only drop the matter. In any case, with Ye Xi Yun following Yang Yan, the latter should not have run into any danger.
Glancing back at Bi Luo, Yang Kai’s brow twitched involuntarily.
At this moment, Bi Luo had all but buried her head into Chen Shi Tao’s soft mountains and, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she had placed her mouth atop one of the latter’s pointed peaks. Bi Luo’s breathing had become heated as she inhaled Chen Shi Tao scent, causing the latter’s face to flush bright red. Although Chen Shi Tao was definitely embarrassed and uncomfortable, she found it difficult to raise any objections because the other party was still heavily injured.
What’s more, Bi Luo even went so far as to hold Chen Shi Tao’s jade white hand tightly while rubbing and playing with it, as if enjoying a new toy that she had just acquired.
Yang Kai’s face went black.
There was no doubt this woman was Bi Luo. As the saying goes, wolves had the instincts of wolves while dogs had the instincts of dogs! Bi Luo had such inclinations all those years ago, and it seemed that even after thirty years had passed that had not changed. A person’s interests apparently could not be altered so easily.
Seeing Chen Shi Tao growing more and more uncomfortable, Yang Kai could not stand it anymore, walked over to grab Bi Luo’s collar, and yanked her up.
Bi Luo glared fiercely at him, seemingly wanting to snap at him, but before she could her injuries seemed to flare up and she could only cough weakly.
“Sect Master Yang, what do you plan to do next? If you would like, how about accompanying this old master and Elder Mo?” Gu Zhen looked over at Yang Kai and asked sincerely, the dangers inside the Emperor Garden had far exceeded his original estimates. It was not just the numerous barriers and Spirit Array traps which were scattered about, there was also the threat of cultivators from other Cultivation Stars, so having even one more person to work with would increase their chances of survival.
Especially if that person was Yang Kai. Gu Zhen knew about Yang Kai’s phenomenal abilities; while on the surface this boy was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, his performance in the battle just now was enough to shock anyone who witnessed it.
Gu Zhen very much hoped to cooperate with Yang Kai to explore this place.
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking his head and saying, “Thank you for the invitation, Sect Master Gu, but this Yang will have to politely decline. If it was just me, I’d have no objections to working together, but now…”
Saying so, he glanced over towards Bi Luo.
This woman had just been rescued from the gates of death and was now more a burden than an asset, so how could Yang Kai allow her presence to hamper Gu Zhen and Mo Yu’s progress? On the other hand, Yang Kai couldn’t ignore Bi Luo since he had many things to ask her still.
What’s more, it would not be convenient for outsiders to know about the actions he was about to take.
“Since that’s the case, this old master won’t insist,” Gu Zhen clearly understood Yang Kai’s concerns, so he raised no objections. To be honest, he and Mo Yu were already struggling with just Chen Shi Tao, so if they were to add Bi Luo now, the road ahead would surely become even harder to pass. With a light smile, Gu Zhen said, “This old master is planning to explore around this area for a few more days before heading outside. If Sect Master Yang feels that his strength falls short, this old master encourages him to quit while he is ahead. This old master has heard that there are also many opportunities and benefits outside the Emperor Garden’s main palace.”
“Junior will keep that in mind,” Yang Kai gently nodded before suddenly seeming to remember something and asking, “Right, the three of you have been here for more than ten days, correct? Have you by chance come across a place with an ice road?”
“Ice road?” Gu Zhen and Mo Yu exchanged a glance before slowly shaking their heads, “We haven’t seen such a place.”
“Is that so? En, alright, I was just asking casually,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Although they were curious about why Yang Kai was asking about an ice road, neither Gu Zhen nor Mo Yu had any intentions of investigating this matter. The two parties exchanged a few more words with each other before the Clear Sky Sect trio said their goodbyes.
Before leaving, Chen Shi Tao glanced over at Bi Luo with some slight wariness, and after finding that the latter was still staring at her with a bright smile on her face, Chen Shi Tao couldn’t help shivering slightly, apparently having suffered some psychological trauma.
After the three from Clear Sky Sect left and it was only Yang Kai and Bi Luo, he turned towards her with a complicated expression on his face for some time before finally asking, “Can you move?”
“I still need to rest for a while,” Bi Luo said with a pale face.
“Sure. I had some things I wanted to ask you about anyways, so staying here temporarily isn’t a problem.”
Saying so, the two found a corner in the palace to rest while they talked.
Yang Kai was naturally curious why Bi Luo was here, where Shan Qing Luo was, and where the two of them had gone after they left the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land.
Asking these questions one by one, Bi Luo did not try to hide anything and explained briefly.
Her story was actually incredible though. Two or three years after Yang Kai separated from Shan Qing Luo and headed off to Tong Xuan Realm, Shan Qing Luo took Bi Luo to search for his trail.
Although she had heard about where he was going from Yang Kai before, and that as long as she could find a Void Corridor, she could reach that place, even after Shan Qing Luo travelled to various lands and places, she was unable to achieve her wish. She had found several Void Corridors in fact, but none of them led to Tong Xuan Realm, most of them turning out to be unstable or only transmitting a person over short distances.
Three years later, she and Bi Luo returned to Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land. Each generation of Beguiling Demon Queen bore the sad fate of their inherited Poison Widow Body. Shan Qing Luo’s mother and grandmother both had similar lost love experiences, something which was inevitable with this special constitution.
However, Shan Qing Luo was different from them in that her loved one had only gone to a place she was unable to follow instead of dying at her own hands.
One day, feeling nostalgic, Shan Qing Luo had taken Bi Luo to the Spider Mother’s Den. This was the place where she and Yang Kai were held captive by the Seventh-Order Monster Beast Spider Mother. It was there that the two shared a life or death experience and it was also there that they came to know each other. Just prior to that experience, through a series of accidents, Yang Kai had left an indelible mark on her mind.
If Shan Qing Luo wanted to reminisce, there was no better place than here.
Since the Seventh-Order Monster Beast Spider Mother had been killed by Yang Kai, the Spider Mother’s Den had become an abandoned lair. Yet, after arriving, Shan Qing Luo discovered a small hidden altar that seemed to be summoning her. Shan Qing Luo was unable to resist this call and after arriving at the altar cut her wrist and poured her fresh blood onto it.
In an instant, a brilliant light appeared from the altar and engulfed her and Bi Luo.
When she woke up with Bi Luo, Shan Qing Luo suddenly found herself in an entirely different place.
Initially, Shan Qing Luo rejoiced, thinking she had finally come to the higher world Yang Kai had told her about, but her joy was quickly replaced by terror as when she examined her surroundings, she discovered a massive silver spider looming over her. Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo were nearly scared to death when they saw this spider, and both thought this would be where they died.
However, after careful examination, they discovered that this several hundred-metre-tall silver spider was nothing more than a corpse which had died countless years ago.
But what Shan Qing Luo found even more shocking was the subtle connection she felt with this giant spider, and when she circulated her Secret Art, she discovered that she was actually able to absorb some kind of mysterious power from its body.
This mysterious energy not only changed her Poison Widow Body physique but also greatly improved her aptitude and rapidly increased her cultivation.
If one survives long enough, they will eventually encounter great fortune! As a member of the Beguiling Demon Queen lineage, Shan Qing Luo deeply realized this point and understood that this was her greatest opportunity, so she did not hurry to leave and instead began cultivating in this place.
A few years later, after the giant spider’s corpse crumbled to dust and the mysterious power inside of it had all been absorbed by her, Shan Qing Luo found that her strength had climbed from the Second-Order Saint Realm straight to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm!
Bi Luo had also obtained many gains from this place. Although she could not absorb the mysterious energy from the spider’s body like Shan Qing Luo, the ambient energy was of great benefit to her.
At this point, the two women left from the strange place they had arrived at.
After some inquiries, the pair realized they had entered the Star Field and were currently on a certain Cultivation Star.
The Monster Emperor Star!
On this Cultivation Star, ninety percent of the sentient inhabitants were Monster Beasts or belonged to the Monster Race. This Cultivation Star was enormous, however, so there were also some Human and Demon Race cultivators around, but their numbers were scarce and their living environments were also quite bad; after all, Monster Emperor Star was ruled by the Monster Race.
After the master-servant pair spent a period exploring Monster Emperor Star, they coincidentally encountered an opportunity, Shan Qing Luo had been discovered by Chi Yue, one of the Ten Great Tribal Lords, and was taken in as her adopted daughter, granting her and Bi Luo status and a stable residence. As one of the Ten Great Tribal Lords on Monster Emperor Star, Chi Yue was naturally an Origin King Realm master, so as her adopted daughter, Shan Qing Luo’s position could be described as below one, above all others.
After listening to Bi Luo’s story, Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
He had many encounters and experiences over the years, but never had he expected Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo’s experiences to be no less astonishing than his own; however, their luck was undoubtedly better than his. Over the past decades, Yang Kai had faced many life or death dangers.
He had entered the Star Field step by step through Tong Xuan Realm as a stepping stone.
Meanwhile, Shan Qing Luo had made the same trip in a single leap by passing through that strange altar to reach the Star Field.
“That Chi Yue is not only an Origin King Realm master but also one of the Ten Great Tribal Lords… Why would she suddenly take a liking to Qing Luo, even going so far as to accept her as her adopted daughter?” Yang Kai asked curiously; after all, Chi Yue belonged to the Monster Race while Shan Qing Luo was human, normally the two different races were at odds with one another.
Yang Kai could not help thinking that Chi Yu had some kind of hidden intention.
Hearing Yang Kai ask this, Bi Luo naturally understood what he was worried about and smiled slightly, “Because Mistress inherited the Source of a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider!”
“Heavenly Moon Demon Spider?” Yang Kai’s face changed slightly.
“Oh, you’ve heard of it?” Bi Luo also looked at him with some curiosity.
Yang Kai nodded lightly. The Heavenly Moon Demon Spider was one of the Ancient Divine Spirits, strictly speaking, it was an existence at the same rank as Dragons and Phoenixes but which was weaker or stronger was difficult to say; after all, no one living had witnessed a battle between Ancient Divine Spirits.
Yang Kai knew about the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider because of the relatively large amount of contact he had with Ancient Divine Spirits recently. Whether it was the Golden Dragon’s Remnant Soul he possessed or the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul which belonged to Su Yan, both could be classified as Ancient Divine Spirits.
“How did Qing Luo obtain a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider’s Source?” Yang Kai frowned, but suddenly thinking of something, he asked, “Could it be the giant spider you met when you first arrived on Monster Emperor Star…”
“En, it was the corpse of a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider,” Bi Luo cast him an appreciative look, “Mistress spent a great deal of time examining and researching it yet ultimately couldn’t figure out what it was, but the reason Red Moon Tribal Lord decided to accept Mistress as her adopted daughter was for this reason. Why else would Red Moon Tribal Lord give Mistress so many benefits for no reason?”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded gently. If this was the case, then things made sense.
Shan Qing Luo possessing the strength of the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider’s Source was because she had absorbed the mysterious energy from the body of a true Heavenly Moon Demon Spider, causing her bloodline to transform.
Yang Kai even suspected that Shan Qing Luo being able to reach Monster Emperor Star directly through that strange altar was related to the dead Heavenly Moon Demon Spider. The altar itself might have been created by that Heavenly Moon Demon Spider.
Shan Qing Luo’s lineage and her Poison Widow Body were probably inherited from it as well.
Everything was connected!
“Then where is your Mistress now? Did she enter the Emperor Garden as well?” Yang Kai asked urgently.
Hearing this question, Bi Luo’s expression immediately darkened and nodded, “We both entered this place, but I was separated from Mistress after arriving here, so I don’t know where she is now.”
Obtaining such a response, Yang Kai could not help but sigh.
“Seems you have a little bit of conscience,” Bi Luo pursed her lips upon seeing Yang Kai worried about Shan Qing Luo, thinking he was a bit more pleasing to the eye, “But you can rest assured, even if Mistress is alone she shouldn’t be in any danger, she’s already a Third-Order Origin Realm master and is almost invincible amongst cultivators in her realm.”
“She’s become that strong?” Yang Kai was taken aback.
Being invincible in the same realm wasn’t that surprising; after all, Shan Qing Luo now possessed the Source Strength of a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider so her strength no longer conformed to common sense; however, her cultivation reaching the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm was what truly shocked Yang Kai.
He believed that his own cultivation speed was incredibly quick, but he had not expected that Shan Qing Luo’s would be more exaggerated than his. However, this too wasn’t unacceptable after he thought about it carefully; after all, according to Bi Luo, when Shan Qing Luo absorbed the mysterious energy from the corpse of the Ancient Divine Spirit, she had broken through from the Second-Order Saint Realm to First-Order Origin Returning Realm directly in only a few years.
“Heh heh, if you don’t work harder, Mistress will certainly fall in love with someone else, you little bastard; no woman is willing to be with a man who can’t protect her,” Bi Luo’s quipped while taking pleasure in Yang Kai’s misfortune.
In the past, Shan Qing Luo’s cultivation had been higher than Yang Kai’s, but after so many years, not only had the gap not narrowed, it had instead expanded. This made Bi Luo subconsciously think that Yang Kai wasn’t worthy of her Mistress’s affection, and feel a complicated sense of smugness as well as pity towards Yang Kai mix with a tinge of disappointment.
“Mind your own business!” Yang Kai snorted. When he thought about that enchantress Shan Qing Luo, while feeling some pain in his heart, he did not feel any kind of fear. However, that woman’s charm was somewhat incomprehensible; Yang Kai was easily able to resist the temptations of other women, even when Yin Su Die used her Charm Technique on him he was able to casually ignore it, but when it came to Shan Qing Luo…
Yang Kai honestly was not sure he would be able to remain calm in front of her. If he were to accidentally be captivated, mind and body, by her, his upright reputation would instantly be ruined.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. The Emperor Garden is so massive that it may not necessarily be possible for us to even meet,” Yang Kai seemed to be talking to Bi Luo, but also consoling himself. Although Shan Qing Luo had used a Secret Technique on him long ago called the Soul Seeking Seal which she could use to perceive his position, after so many years, even if he hadn’t deliberately tried to erase this Soul Seeking Seal, it had still almost disappeared.
It would probably be impossible for Shan Qing Luo to find him through this Soul Seeking Seal.
“En, in any case, after this Emperor Garden closes, I’ll be returned to Monster Emperor Star and tell Mistress all about your situation,” Bi Luo smiled lightly. Her Mistress had been worried about Yang Kai for so many years, so if she knew he was doing just fine and had already entered the Star Field, she would definitely be very happy, “Which Cultivation Star are you on now?”
“Shadowed Star, but you can’t travel there,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly before explaining Shadowed Star’s situation briefly. Bi Luo listened intently while preparing to report to Shan Qing Luo in detail.
“By the way, are you looking for an ice road?” After they finished catching up, Bi Luo suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Yang Kai to ask.
“Yeah, have you seen it?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“En, I came across something that might be what you’re seeking, but I can’t be certain,” Bi Luo said hesitantly. When she was being chased after by those four cultivators, she had not been able to choose which direction she ran and had once fled down a long corridor. Originally, she thought about entering this passageway to find a place to hide and throw off her pursuers, but after realizing how profound the chill was inside of it, she had given up on this idea and escaped. It was after that incident that she ran into the trio from Clear Sky Sect and dragged them into her predicament.
Listening to her description, Yang Kai was overjoyed and anxiously asked, “Do you remember the specific location?”
If the description Bi Luo gave was accurate, that place was certainly the ice road he was looking for.
“I should, I’ll take you there,” Bi Luo said as she stood up.
Although she was still feeling a little weak, her cultivation wasn’t low, so after such a period of rest and restoration. As long as she didn’t have to exert herself greatly, moving about shouldn’t be a problem, so Yang Kai didn’t try to stop her. Carefully releasing his Divine Sense to monitor their surroundings, Yang Kai followed Bi Luo.
Their destination was not too far, so it only took Yang Kai and Bi Luo less than half a day to arrive.
“This is it,” Looking at the familiar environment around him, Yang Kai showed a happy expression. Although the scenes inside the Emperor Garden’s main palace were not exactly the same as the last time he came, the differences were quite subtle.
Since that was the case, and because he had been here once before, how could Yang Kai not recognize this ice road?
Feeling the bitter chill which pulsed from the ice road, Bi Luo’s face turned pale. Even if she was at full strength, if she were to enter this place, she would definitely die, not to mention now that she was severely wounded.
“Should I wait for you outside?” Bi Luo asked.
“No, you should come with me!” Yang Kai shook his head. After crossing the ice road, he had to look for the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, so he was not planning on coming back. As such, he would not feel assured leaving Bi Luo alone here.
“You want me to follow you in?” Bi Luo frowned, obviously feeling uneasy.
“Don’t worry, I’ve walked along this road once before so protecting your safety won’t be an issue,” Yang Kai grinned.
“Alright… I hope I won’t die without realizing why,” Bi Luo sighed helplessly. Although her words were filled with anxiety, she did not try to put up an argument, so it was quite obvious she deeply trusted Yang Kai.
“En, let’s go!” Yang Kai nodded before walking towards the ice road.
As soon as they stepped onto the ice road, frigid energy wrapped around them, making it seem as if even their souls would soon freeze.
Yang Kai did not panic though and instead pushed his Saint Qi to condense a flame halo around himself and Bi Luo, instantly isolating them from the surrounding cold. His burning hot Demonic Flames had a strong protective effect against the Ice Attribute Energy of this place.
“Oh? Has someone else been here already?” Yang Kai looked around and could not help but raise his brow in surprise.
This ice road showed clear signs of someone traversing it. Many of the surrounding icicles were damaged or destroyed while the frozen corpses which had been scattered about were also smashed, so it was clear that a battle had taken place here. From the lingering energy fluctuations, it seemed this fight had taken place recently as well.
Soon, Yang Kai even heard some faint explosions up ahead, indicating that someone was still fighting.
Yang Kai and Bi Luo exchanged a glance before silently concealing their auras and heading towards the place where the battle was taking place.
The deeper the pair went, the more terrible the cold became. Soon Yang Kai’s Saint Qi defence alone wasn’t enough to resist the chill, so with no other choice, he could only summon his Firebird Artifact Spirit and have it transform into a flame light curtain to protect him and Bi Luo.
“Is this an Artifact Spirit?” Bi Luo’s beautiful eyes widened in wonder, “You possess such a powerful Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit?”
At that moment, she could not help raising her evaluation of Yang Kai a bit.
“Shh…” Yang Kai shot her a glare before continuing to move forward.
Although he was deliberately concealing his aura, the energy fluctuations of the Firebird Artifact Spirit could not be covered up, so Yang Kai couldn’t be sure whether the people fighting up ahead would be able to detect them. Regardless, Yang Kai felt he and Bi Luo needed to act even more carefully now.
After the time it would take for an incense stick to burn, Yang Kai arrived at the periphery of the battlefield. Hiding behind a small ice pillar and secretly observing, Yang Kai saw two women wearing white dresses desperately fighting against a white rabbit-like beast.
This white rabbit looked quite small and exquisite, as if it was carved from pure, flawless white jade; however, every one of its actions affected the Ice Attribute Energy in the air. In other words, this white rabbit could control the chill here and use it to perform terrifying attacks.
The two women who were fighting against this rabbit had powerful cultivations at the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm and had clearly cultivated Ice Attribute Secret Arts, because the Martial Skills and artifact attacks they used all exuded a frigid aura. Fighting in this environment no doubt allowed them to exert greater strength for a longer period than they normally could.
But even so, these two women still could not gain the upper hand and instead were slowly being suppressed by the white rabbit, causing anxious looks to fill their faces.
As for what this white rabbit was, that was obvious.
[The World Spirit!] Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
When Yang Kai entered the Emperor Garden last time, he had encountered this little thing and knew that it could transform its body into any form it wanted, so even though it currently looked like a pure, exquisite little rabbit, it was very fierce.
Although the two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm women had very high strength, and fighting in this special environment allowed them to display their power to an extraordinary extent, the white rabbit-shaped World Spirit could also take advantage of this environment.
Moreover, the advantage it gained here was obviously greater than the one these two women could obtain!
This was not a surprise though as the World Spirit was itself pure condensed Ice Attribute Energy from this place that after innumerable years of accumulation had obtained sentience. This ice road was akin to its birthplace and home.
So even though the two women joined forces, they were still helpless to defeat this World Spirit and instead were being steadily suppressed at every turn.
“What a coincidence,” Yang Kai grinned lightly as he observed the two women and murmured.
“You know them?” Bi Luo asked curiously.
“I don’t, but I know where they come from,” Yang Kai replied casually, only deepening Bi Luo’s confusion.
Yang Kai truly hadn’t met these two women before, but judging from the symbols embroidered on their robes, he could tell they were masters from Scarlet Wave Star’s Ice Heart Valley. Yang Kai had worked together with several women from Ice Heart Valley only a few days ago, so how could he not recognise these women’s origins?
It seemed that Ice Heart Valley’s cultivators had divided into two groups, one to explore outside of the Emperor Garden’s main palace while the other entered it. A wise decision that didn’t place all their assets on a single bet.
Ice Heart Valley’s cultivators all cultivated Ice Attribute Secret Arts and Secret Techniques, so their interest in this World Spirit was understandable. Yang Kai estimated that even though they knew it would be risky, they had decided to capture this white rabbit, but now they were riding a tiger and were unable to get off, only able to grit their teeth and persist.
Yang Kai’s current situation was akin to sitting on a mountain top, watching the tigers fight. The strength of these two women from Ice Heart Valley wasn’t low, so even if they were inferior to this World Spirit, they could still cause some trouble for it. Yang Kai simply had to wait for an opportunity to take action and capture the World Spirit in one fell swoop; either that or let the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul directly devour it.
As for whether these two women lived or died, it did not matter to Yang Kai as he shared no friendship with them. Yang Kai was not in the habit of saving strangers from danger for no reason.
Making up his mind, Yang Kai signalled to Bi Luo to wait patiently.
Bi Luo understood what he was planning and gently nodded. Although she appeared calm on the surface, in the depths of her heart she was feeling extremely tense. This could not be helped though as stealing meat from a tiger’s mouth was quite exciting. She had not expected Yang Kai’s courage to be so great; daring to plot against two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters in secret!
[But, since he was the man her Mistress had taken a liking to, if he did not even have this much courage, he was not worthy of her.] With such a thought in mind, Bi Luo began anticipating what would happen next.
The fighting continued as Yang Kai and Bi Luo hid behind the ice pillar carefully so as not to reveal their presence. Fortunately, the two women from Ice Heart Valley were completely focused on the World Spirit so they did not have time to watch their surroundings?
As time passed, the battle grew fiercer and fiercer, with the two women from Ice Heart Valley essentially risking their lives in an attempt to break free. By this time, they were deeply regretting rushing in and provoking this World Spirit in its domain. At this rate, not only would they fail to obtain it, they were in real danger of falling here.
Unfortunately, regrets were not of any help to them. In the face of the unceasing attacks caused by the White Rabbit manipulating the Ice Attribute Energy in the surroundings, the two women were rendered only able to passively defend themselves.
As the situation grew worse, the two women both began showing signs of anxiety as their pretty faces paled.
Yang Kai watched all this with indifferent eyes from nearby, still waiting for an opportunity to act. But suddenly, his brow furrowed as if his instincts were warning him about something.
This feeling… was as if someone was staring at him.
Thinking so, Yang Kai quickly calmed down, frowned, and took another look around; however, his eyes failed to discover anything suspicious. What was worse was that Yang Kai couldn’t release his Divine Sense too far from his body, rendering it useless in this situation.
However, he did not believe his instincts were mistaken, perhaps… there was someone else hiding nearby.
Considering all this, Yang Kai lowered his head slightly and a golden light suddenly flashed from his left eye as he activated his Demon Eye of Annihilation.
This time, Yang Kai finally found something.
Behind another ice pillar less than three hundred metres away, there were two figures next to each other. Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of profound treasure this pair had used, but it was capable of completely concealing their figures and auras. Even Yang Kai’s Demon Eye of Annihilation was unable to reveal their true appearances, only their figures.
However, from their physiques, Yang Kai judged that these two should be a man and a woman, with the man having only one arm.
[Jin Shi and Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master?]
A face immediately crossed Yang Kai’s mind, causing his expression to sink. Although it was only his guess, it should be right; after all, a male and female pair with the man only having a single arm really pointed to them being the pair from Demon Blood Temple.
If it was them though, this was too much of a coincidence.
It was truly a case of enemies often meeting along narrow roads. Yang Kai cursed his misfortune thinking so; after all, there was nothing harmonious about his relationship with Demon Blood Temple. Before entering the Emperor Garden, Jin Shi even tried to kill him once, unfortunately for Jin Shi, he had greatly underestimated the power of the ambient Emperor Pressure and had wound up injuring himself instead.
Still able to recall the exact threatening words Jin Shi had spoken back then, Yang Kai knew that this man would not give up on killing him.
The other pair should have discovered him already and they were the ones his instincts warned him about a moment ago. Fortunately, Yang Kai had used his Demon Eye of Annihilation to quietly find them. Since Jin Shi and that beautiful Temple Master were unaware of his knowledge, it could be said that he now occupied an advantageous position.
As the praying mantis stalks the cicada while the oriel watches, who is the hunter in the end?
The current situation could only be described as delicate and complicated, causing Yang Kai to not dare rush out rashly otherwise he would likely fail to achieve his objectives.
Two tender shouts suddenly rang out from nearby. Although the cultivation of the two women from Ice Heart Valley was not weak, and their artifacts were very powerful, fighting against the World Spirit in this place was still not easy.
All of their artifacts had been damaged by the overwhelming Ice Attribute attacks of the World Spirit and even the Saint Qi these two were using to protect themselves was in danger of failing.
On the other hand, the white rabbit World Spirit had a look of satisfaction on its face, its crimson eyes filling with playful light. Jumping back and forth, it displayed extreme agility as it continued to condense the Ice Attribute Energy around itself into spear-like projectiles that it shot in waves towards the two women from Ice Heart Valley.
A constant sound of the air being sliced through rang out, causing the two women’s faces to change greatly. In an instant, they used some kind of mysterious Secret Technique to temporarily link their Saint Qi together and jointly defend themselves.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The sound of a massive explosion filled the entire ice road as the surrounding World Energy whirled about chaotically, as if it was the end of the world.
Two screams rang out as two graceful figures flew backwards through the air, coughing up blood as they did, dying their white robes red, making them appear extremely miserable.
At that moment, the two women from Ice Heart Valley showed looks of despair. They had almost completely consumed their Saint Qi and had been severely injured by this World Spirit, so right now they lacked any power to fight back and could only close their eyes and wait for death.
Suddenly, two new figures emerged from behind a nearby ice pillar. Their appearance was completely unexpected, as if they had materialized out of thin air, instantly transforming into two blood-red streaks as they quickly shot towards the World Spirit.
Simultaneously, Yang Kai discovered that his guess had been correct, these two were none other than Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master and Elder Jin Shi.
These two choosing to act at this moment was naturally not out of kind intentions to save the two women, but rather because the World Spirit would be most off guard, making it vulnerable to a sneak attack.
Although this Ice Attribute World Spirit was of no use to them, if they could acquire such a treasure, they could exchange it for many other treasures they desired.
As for Yang Kai and Bi Luo, Jin Shi and the beautiful Temple Master didn’t even put them in their eyes, planning to deal with the World Spirit first before looking for trouble with them after.
The timing these two picked to take action was perfect. Mid-air, Jin Shi’s cheeks swelled up before he released a cicada-like cry from his mouth, creating a terrifying wave of sound ripples visible to the naked eye.
This wave of ripples quickly spread out and wrapped around the World Spirit.
The World Spirit, which was just about to rush to finish off the two women from Ice Heart Valley, was caught off guard and wasn’t able to immediately respond.
Ordinary attacks were useless against this World Spirit as it was essentially intangible, but Jin Shi’s Secret Technique which took the form of a sound wave was an exception. Jin Shi’s Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art, which was an ancient Secret Technique, had immense power and was mainly used to attack an opponent’s Soul.
Although the World Spirit had sentience, it was by no means on the same level as a human cultivator and what it was most vulnerable to attack like this. Jin Shi’s attack was the perfect counter and the effect it showed was significant.
The white rabbit World Spirit showed a clear look of extreme pain in the next instant and its entire body began to fluctuate, as if it was on the verge of breaking apart. Falling to the ground, it used its two front paws to cover its head as it flailed around in agony.
Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master quickly followed up, waving her jade white hand and sending two blood-red silk threads flying towards the white rabbit.
Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique!
This Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple had managed to cultivate two Demon Blood Threads.
All of Demon Blood Temple’s senior figures cultivated the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, but their technique was very different from Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread, for which he used drops of pure Golden Blood to condense. As long as Yang Kai had enough Golden Blood, it didn’t matter how many Golden Blood Threads he condensed as doing so caused him no harm.
But the Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique was different. The Demon Blood Threads condensed by Demon Blood Temple’s senior figures were all condensed using their vitality and Blood Essence, which was the foundation of their physiques and something which could only be formed and enhanced through years of accumulation. As such, each Demon Blood Temple was extremely precious to its owner.
When cultivating the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, one would have to greatly damage their vitality, which meant that after succeeding, one would need to find a way to make up for the losses, otherwise they would leave behind immense hidden dangers.
A single cultivator could basically cultivate one Demon Blood Thread in their lifetime, and if they forcibly tried to cultivate a second one, it would produce a huge load on them, possibly even leading to their death.
The consequences of such actions were dire!