This Secret Technique of Demon Blood Thread could cut through the Shi of Origin Returning Realm masters and its attack strength was impressive. Such a powerful Secret Technique naturally came with limitations. The number of Demon Blood Threads one could condense was this Secret Technique’s biggest limitation!
However, this glamorous Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple managed to condense two Demon Blood Threads, and from the auras they released, their power was essentially identical. On top of that, the woman did not seem to lack in vitality at all; it was a mystery how she accomplished this feat.
From this alone, it was understandable that her occupying the Temple Master position was due to real skill.
The two Demon Blood Threads distorted greatly the moment she sent them out, soon transforming into a large blood-red mist before condensing back into two blood-red snakes.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up when he saw this, showing a look of excitement.
His Golden Blood Threads were incapable of such transformations which only reaffirmed his belief that this Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique still had great untapped potential.
Yang Kai had been able to cultivate his Golden Blood Thread technique completely because, after emerging from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had helped a Demon Blood Temple disciple named Deng Ning and received the first half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from him. Although it was only the first half, it still allowed Yang Kai to cultivate it to a point.
Yang Kai had long ago guessed that the second half of this Secret Technique’s manual described how to flexibly manipulate Demon Blood Threads.
Now it seemed his guess was correct! Unfortunately, the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique was one of Demon Blood Temple’s core inheritance techniques, so an outsider like Yang Kai couldn’t obtain its second half.
Seeing the myriad changes, the Demon Blood Thread could achieve at this moment made Yang Kai quite delighted.
Since he began cultivating his Golden Blood Thread technique, it had provided Yang Kai with great assistance and played a vital role in many battles he had fought. If he could obtain the second half of this Secret Technique’s manual, the power it would be able to display would undoubtedly grow even further.
All sorts of thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as the two blood-red snakes rushed over to the writhing white rabbit, flashing their fangs as one bit into its head while the other bit into its tail, firmly grasping it.
From these fangs, blood-red energy poured into the body of the white rabbit, seemingly wanting to corrupt its Spiritual Energy.
Having suffered a sneak attack, the World Spirit was taken by surprise, and after it recovered from Jin Shi’s attack, it suddenly found itself being restrained and became enraged, but regardless of how it struggled, it was unable to break free of the entanglement of the two blood-red snakes.
Instead, as time passed, the two blood snakes poured more blood-red energy into the white rabbit’s body, dulling its consciousness.
The World Spirit also realized the situation was rapidly deteriorating and no longer dared to remain. Ceasing its struggles, the white rabbit’s body trembled for a moment before bursting into an icy aura and immediately tried to flee.
Tender laughter rang out at that moment, one that seemed capable of bewitching one’s soul. Everyone present could not help their blood from boiling slightly as their states of mind became unstable.
Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master stood mid-air and simply pointed her finger lightly. In response, and without any kind of visible force, the two blood snakes transformed once more, reverting to their Demon Blood Thread form before twisting together and then splitting into multiple small blood-red silk threads.
These blood-red threads wove together to form a giant net that shot out at an incredible speed towards the World Spirit.
This time, the World Spirit was completely unable to dodge and was swiftly enveloped by the blood-red net.
“Seal!” The glamorous Temple Master lightly shouted, causing the blood-red net to rapidly shrink, trapping the World Spirit inside. No matter what the World Spirit tried now, it was unable to escape.
In an instant, it became the beautiful woman’s possession.
The beautiful woman smiled enchantingly as a slightly smug look appeared on her face. Curling her outstretched finger, the blood net flew back to her along with its prize.
At that moment though, a sudden change occurred as a sharp phoenix cry rang out. Immediately, a terrifying pressure filled the air, and whether it was the two women from Ice Heart Valley who were lying on the ground, or Jin Shi and the beautiful woman, they all turned pale and glanced behind themselves.
Behind an ice pillar in the direction these four turned, a several-dozen-metre tall flawless white bird appeared, seemingly carved out of ice jade. This bird had no physical body and seemed to simply be an illusory phantom; but even so, its eyes contained a majesty that seemed to overlook and disdain the entire world.
Anyone who was gazed upon by these eyes could not help unconsciously feeling as small and insignificant as an ant.
“Ice Phoenix!” The eyes of the two women from Ice Heart Valley nearly popped out of their sockets as they both shouted out the name of this giant bird with near fanaticism.
This was not surprising though as Ice Heart Valley cultivated Ice Attribute Secret Arts and the Ice Phoenix was the pinnacle Ancient Divine Spirit regarding the Ice Attribute in this world. The Ice Phoenix was a divine symbol which all disciples of Ice Heart Valley worshipped.
However, no Ice Heart Valley disciple had ever witnessed a true Ice Phoenix and had at best-seen illustrations of them drawn in ancient records of their Sect. As such, although the Ice Phoenix before these two now might not be a true Ancient Divine Spirit, it was a being worthy of their utmost respect and adoration.
In just a short moment, these two women had experienced intense highs and dramatic lows. First, they thought they would be killed by the World Spirit’s vicious attack, then a pair of strangers had appeared at the last moment and used powerful Secret Techniques to subdue the Ice Attribute World Spirit, but before these newcomers could recover their prize, an Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul had manifested before them.
The feelings of the two women at this moment were extremely complicated. Never had they imagined that there were so many outsiders spying on them while they were fighting against this World Spirit.
Although their hearts were pounding with anxiety, they were also secretly rejoicing as, for the moment, they had managed to survive.
When their beautiful eyes stared at the Ice Phoenix however, a marvellous glow spread across their cheeks.
As the Ice Phoenix’s cry rang out, it suddenly vanished from the place it was hovering, leaving behind an afterimage with its incredible speed. The moment it reappeared, the Ice Phoenix had already arrived in front of the beautiful Temple Master from Demon Blood Temple, opened its beak, pecked towards the blood-red net which was currently suppressing the Ice Attribute World Spirit.
It was as if it was just pecking a trivial bug while displaying an elegant yet carefree posture.
The beautiful woman was stunned for a moment; after all, an Ice Phoenix was not something one could normally encounter throughout their entire lifetime, but soon she recovered and cried out in anger, “You court death!”
Regardless of whether this thing was a true Ice Phoenix or not, since it had ideas about her prey, this beautiful woman was naturally not going to tolerate it. Letting out this shout, the woman waved her hand and summoned a bracelet-like artifact which flew towards the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul.
As soon as the bracelet shot out, it suddenly split into two copies of itself, then into four. In the blink of an eye, the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul was surrounded by an overwhelming number of these bracelets.
The Ice Phoenix actually turned a blind eye to this attack; although it was just a Remnant Soul, it could not be eliminated so easily.
Just as the swarm of bracelets swooped in to attack, the Ice Phoenix swallowed the blood net into its belly while spreading its wings wide and drawing in the rich Ice Attribute Energy in the surrounding air, transforming it into an incredible number of ice blades that swirled around its form.
*Ding ding dang dang…*
A continuous clinking sound rang out as bracelets broke apart and ice blades collapsed. After the bracelet returned to the beautiful woman’s wrist, the Ice Phoenix remained unharmed while her pretty face went pale.
This could not be helped though as the Ice Phoenix had not only swallowed the World Spirit into its belly but even her Demon Blood Thread as well.
Even now, the Temple Master felt the connection between her and her Demon Blood Threads growing weaker. If she allowed this to continue, she might lose her Demon Blood Threads altogether.
“You dare swallow my possessions? Let us see if you can digest it!” The beautiful woman shouted angrily before forming a series of signs with her hands, seemingly urging her Demon Blood Thread to launch an attack from inside the body of the Ice Phoenix.
Although they had only exchanged a single blow, this beautiful woman’s vision was quite sharp, so she was naturally able to see that this Ice Phoenix was only outwardly impressive but lacking in true power. It was not a true Ancient Divine Spirit otherwise how could she dare to remain here? She would have already run as far away as possible if this was not the case.
A true Ancient Divine Spirit was an opponent that even an Origin King Realm master could not face.
As the Temple Master urged her Demon Blood Threads, the Ice Phoenix let out a pained cry and its pure white body began leaking a faint red light, obviously suffering greatly inside.
Seeing this, Yang Kai could not remain hidden anymore. When the Ice Phoenix rushed out, he was already preparing to act, so when he saw it cry out in pain, he naturally brought Bi Luo and charged forward.
“Sure enough, this is your doing, boy!” Jin Shi flew over, taking the initiative to meet Yang Kai head-on, directly blocking his way, glaring at him with clear anger and cruel, malicious intent.
Yang Kai halted in place as he glared towards Jin Shi coldly before glancing over at the Ice Phoenix again.
Yang Kai had no way to direct the Ice Phoenix to do anything. The Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul was simply using his body as a temporary vessel. If he could at least communicate with this Ice Phoenix, Yang Kai would not be so anxious, worrying about whether it would have an accident here.
Fortunately, although the Ice Phoenix was just a Remnant Soul, it also understood when to compromise.
After a sharp cry, it opened its mouth and spat out a violent blood-red ball of light. As soon as this blood-red light appeared, it immediately separated into two Demon Blood Threads and raced back to the beautiful woman’s hand.
In the end, this was a Secret Technique that she had spent innumerable years cultivating, so it was naturally not easy to digest.
After spitting out the Demon Blood Threads, Ice Phoenix let out a long cry before transforming into a ray of white light that directly flew into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.
Having devoured the World Spirit, it was quite satisfied, eager to refine it and strengthen itself as soon as possible. As for the battle which was about to take place, it did not care.
The moment the Ice Phoenix entered his body, Yang Kai couldn’t help shivering slightly as he felt a chill pulse through his body; fortunately, this chill didn’t have any noticeable effect on this condition otherwise he might have had to turn around and flee at that moment.
Although shocking, this series of accidents happened so quickly almost no one present had time to react.
Lying in a pool of their own blood, the two Ice Heart Valley women could not help showing looks of interest when they saw the Ice Phoenix fly into Yang Kai’s body of its own accord. They did not know what kind of opportunity this man had in the past which allowed him to obtain this thing.
On the other hand, if they could acquire that Ice Phoenix from him…
Meanwhile, Demon Blood Temple’s glamorous Temple Master was completely indignant as she ground her teeth and glared furiously at Yang Kai.
The World Spirit was already in her hands, but it had been snatched away by Yang Kai’s Ice Phoenix just like that. This was a serious loss, so it could easily be imagined what the Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master’s mood was right now. Right now, all she wanted to do was skin Yang Kai then burn his corpse to ash to soothe the hatred in her heart.
However, after taking in the situation around her for a moment, the beautiful woman suddenly withdrew her dreadful anger and instead smiled enchantingly as she called out, “Little Brother, it seems we are fated to be together, meeting again so soon.”
As she spoke, she stared towards Yang Kai with excitement, her pink tongue licking her red lips as if she was staring at a rare delicacy, her appetite on full display.
“Fated indeed,” Yang Kai grinned and gently nodded.
Bi Luo raised her brow and shot a glare towards Yang Kai as she asked in a low tone, “You know this loose woman? Is she some loose debt you racked up outside?”
Bi Luo instantly found herself disliking this woman and thought Yang Kai had been seduced by the other party’s feminine wiles.
Hearing Bi Luo ask this, Yang Kai only spared her a light glance before ignoring her, too lazy to explain.
“Little Brother, we’re all cultivators from Shadowed Star so we should be cooperating with one another by all rights. Why did you find it necessary to spoil this Temple Master’s good deed?” The beautiful woman still flashed a seductive smile, exuding a kind of mysterious charm as she lithely stepped forward, her red lips parting slightly as she said, “If you obediently hand over that World Spirit, this Queen is willing to overlook this unfortunate incident, what do you say?”
“Sounds good, after returning to Shadowed Star, come to the Flowing Flame Sand Field to find me and I’ll happily return that World Spirit to you,” Yang Kai replied with a smile, as if he was having a friendly chat with this woman, not showing a trace of nervousness.
The beautiful woman’s pretty face instantly became cold as the perfunctory meaning in Yang Kai’s words could not be more obvious. If they returned to Shadowed Star like this, even if she possessed great strength and skill, it was impossible for her to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field to find him, much less get him to return that World Spirit.
This brat was making it clear that he intended to snatch that World Spirit from her.
Letting out a sigh, a trace of forlorn sadness flashed across this woman’s eyes, as if she was a woman who had been used and then tossed away by Yang Kai, slowly pining, “Little Brother, this Queen has no intention of being enemies with you, but if you insist on acting so besotted, this Queen doesn’t mind teaching you a little lesson. You should think carefully now, if you force this Queen to act personally, you and that little girl may not be able to leave this place safely.”
“If you think you have the skill, you’re welcome to try!” Yang Kai sneered.
“Arrogant boy!” Jin Shi furiously shouted, “Temple Master, there’s no need for any nonsense with him, we should simply capture him and be done with it. A trivial First-Order Origin Returning Realm brat dares to act pretentious before us? He really doesn’t know how high the Heavens are!”
“En,” Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Lord nodded lightly, a predatory glint flashing across her eyes as she giggled with delight, “When we capture him, this boy will belong to me. This Queen has never encountered a man with such strong vitality, he will be able to provide me with a great deal of vital essence!”
When they entered the Emperor Garden that day, she and Jin Shi had passed by Yang Kai, who was condensing his Shi. At that time, this woman had witnessed Yang Kai resist the crushing Emperor Pressure with his flesh alone, shocking her greatly. Realizing how intrepid Yang Kai’s body was, she had naturally taken a strong interest in him.
The stronger the physique a man possessed, the greater use they were to her. Demon Blood Temple’s vicious Temple Lord had been ‘consuming’ many strong men over the years, but no male she had tasted had ever compared to Yang Kai.
Even if the incident with the World Spirit had not happened just now, having bumped into Yang Kai inside the Emperor Garden, this woman had no plans on letting him escape her grasp. Her pleasant speech just now had simply been a ploy to get Yang Kai to relax his vigilance.
But since they had now torn face, there was no need for any more words.
“This old master wants these three women then!” Jin Shi laughed, not only regarding Bi Luo as his prize but also including the two women from Ice Heart Valley who were seriously injured and unable to act here.
When these words reached their ears, the two women from Ice Heart Valley paled involuntarily as they silently cursed in their hearts. If they had been at their peak, they would not fear Jin Shi or Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master, but now…
At this moment, the two of them could at best display twenty or thirty percent of their peak strength, so they had no choice but to pin their hopes on Yang Kai, but what chance did a trivial First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy who was dragging along a heavily wounded woman stand against these two Third-Order Origin Realm masters?
The two from Ice Heart Valley were extremely anxious as they stared fixedly towards the other side, worried Yang Kai would instantly be defeated.
If that were to happen, they too would not be able to escape. Although they did not want to admit it, they and Yang Kai were now grasshoppers on a rope, if one of them suffered, all of them suffered.
“Boy, this old master knows you possess a powerful Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit, but in this place, do you dare use it to fight?” Jin Shi sneered as he pointed out Yang Kai’s weakness.
The Artifact Spirit was currently protecting Yang Kai and Bi Luo from the frigid cold here. If he released it, Yang Kai could likely support himself for a short time, but Bi Luo would likely immediately fall.
Jin Shi instantly determined that the Firebird Artifact Spirit would be useless in the following battle and at most would be able to play some minor protective role.
“What about it?” Yang Kai stared back at him coldly, not seeming to care.
“Seems you won’t show regret unless you see your coffin!” Jin Shi coldly snorted before drawing in a deep breath and releasing a dazzling golden light in the next instant which covered his figure. Behind this dazzling golden light, a vague cicada shaped phantom image appeared. This giant cicada was also a brilliant golden colour and, in a flash, it dove into Jin Shi’s body. The instant the two merged, Jin Shi’s aura underwent a massive transformation and a feeling of uncomfortable hostility began leaking from his form, one that seemed to stimulate the violence and killing intent in everyone’s heart.
Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art!
Jin Shi’s hatred for Yang Kai ran deep. Losing an arm to this boy’s machinations had caused Jin Shi many tortured, sleepless nights, so now that he had a chance to seek revenge, he did not hesitate to use this Secret Art he had grown famous for on Shadowed Star. Obviously, Jin Shi was planning to end this battle in one fell swoop.
When the golden light dissipated, scales seemed to have formed on Jin Shi’s bare skin and a pair of extremely thin cicada’s wings had sprouted from his back.
Jin Shi’s cheeks had also swollen up and when he breathed a cicada-like cry rang out, creating a sound wave that was visible to the naked eye which propagated towards Yang Kai.
The casual look on Yang Kai’s face quickly grew solemn. When Jin Shi used this trick to deal with the World Spirit just now, Yang Kai had seen its effects so he understood how strange and powerful this Secret Technique could be; naturally, Yang Kai couldn’t act carelessly.
Pushing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai released a tide of Spiritual Energy from his Knowledge Sea to surround and protect himself, creating a halo of fiery red energy which stung the eyes of anyone who saw it.
“Divine Sense Manifestation?” Jin Shi’s eyes bulged as he called out in shock, a look of utter disbelief filling his face.
Although Divine Sense was usually intangible, when it became powerful to a certain degree, it could also become visible to the eye. This phenomenon was known as Divine Sense Manifestation!
No one on Shadowed Star could accomplish this, or at least Jin Shi did not know of any master capable of displaying Divine Sense Manifestation. This ability was something which supposedly required at least an Origin King Realm cultivation.
This boy in front of him had just broken through to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm though, so how could he possibly have such a powerful Divine Sense?
On top of that, just from the colour of the barrier which Yang Kai condensed with his Spiritual Energy, it was obvious he did not possess an ordinary Divine Sense but rather a mutated Conflagrated Divine Sense!
[Damn!] Jin Shi’s thoughts flashed as he cursed to himself. Just now he had done his best to overestimate this boy’s strength, but now, it seemed he was still underestimating him.
The sonic attack launched by Jin Shi reached Yang Kai but it was completely blocked by the fiery red halo, having as much effect as a rock being tossed into the sea, creating essentially no disturbance at all.
Fortunately for Jin Shi, he was not fighting alone. At the same time he attacked, Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master also took action, sending out her bracelet-like artifact again, having it multiply and crash towards Yang Kai, its momentum quite frightening.
Facing this situation, Yang Kai’s expression remained unsurprised, as if everything was proceeding as he had expected. Flicking his wrist, a dark green bladeless metre long sword-shaped artifact appeared in his hand.
Dragon Bone Sword, Verdant!
As Yang Kai madly poured his Saint Qi into it, the Verdant Bone Sword instantly released a dazzling green light halo and seemed to come alive, releasing a thunderous dragon roar as it transformed into a several-dozen-metre-long giant dark green dragon before striking out towards the Demon Blood Temple Master with its sharp teeth and claws.
Dragon Pressure filled the air, creating terrifying coercion even more intense than the one which accompanied the appearance of the Ice Phoenix just now.
Before the barrage of bracelets hit Yang Kai, it was swept away by the giant dark green dragon which proceeded to open its great maw and spray out a green jet of mist towards the beauty from Demon Blood Temple. This green mist carried with it a rancid and disgusting smell and was quite clearly extremely toxic. Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master cried out in panic and hurriedly dodged this poison jet, her beautiful eyes flashing violently.
She had not participated in the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain but she had received a detailed report from Jin Shi so she knew that Yang Kai possessed this strange dragon-like artifact.
When she heard Jin Shi’s report, she hadn’t paid it much attention though, thinking he was just exaggerating the facts to save face after being defeated; after all, artifacts were dead while people were alive, so even if an artifact’s grade was high, if the person using it wasn’t strong enough, it shouldn’t be able to display much power.
But after seeing this artifact with her own eyes, she no longer dared think this way.
The giant dark-green dragon transformed artifact looked almost as if it had a true flesh and blood body, as though a true Ancient Divine Spirit had suddenly appeared in this place, making her not dare to underestimate it.
This kind of result was surprising as, during the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, although Yang Kai had summoned his Dragon Bone Sword, it was extremely difficult for him to control it as the Dragon Soul did not cooperate with him and was even actively trying to resist Yang Kai’s commands.
Now, however, the Dragon Soul inhabiting the Dragon Bone Sword had completely surrendered to Yang Kai and established a connection to his soul, which meant it could display far more power than it had back on Dragon Cave Mountain. With her attack being easily broken, the beautiful Demon Blood Temple Master could only fall back to recover her stance, flying about the ice road at high speed while trying to fend off the giant dark green dragon.
Seeing this, Jin Shi was not at all distraught. Instead, he was overjoyed!
This was understandable. Yang Kai’s Artifact Spirit was currently busy blocking the frigid chill of the ice road and his Dragon Bone Sword was now being entangled by the beautiful Temple Master, which meant that this boy’s two trump cards had already been played, leaving him with nothing that Jin Shi needed to fear!
Jin Shi was confident that he could twist off Yang Kai’s head in the blink of an eye with his strength.
As long as Yang Kai was killed, the giant dark green dragon would naturally become useless. Not only that, but Jin Shi also thought he could get back that piece of Profound Gold and use it to cultivate his Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art to the grand accomplishment stage. At this point, his strength would exceed that of the Temple Master and taking over Demon Blood Temple wouldn’t be impossible.
The key point though was killing Yang Kai of course.
Considering all this, Jin Shi’s blood began to boil and he no longer hesitated, quietly summoning a needle-shaped artifact as thin as a hair and shooting it towards Yang Kai. This type of artifact didn’t have significant lethality, but because it was difficult to see and guard against, it was extremely useful for launching sneak attacks. On top of that, even if its lethality wasn’t strong, getting hit by it would deal a great amount of damage.
After all, this needle-shaped artifact had a faint green and black glow to it, clearly indicating it was coated in a violent poison.
Seeing the needle-shaped artifact coming towards himself, Yang Kai casually lifted his hand and summoned his Purple Shield. The next moment, a metallic ring sounded from the face of the Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact. The needle-shaped artifact was completely unable to break through his defence or cause any damage to Yang Kai.
However… it had served its purpose.
Jin Shi throwing this needle-shaped artifact was not to kill Yang Kai, but rather to attract his attention.
Jin Shi’s cicada wings fluttered rapidly in that instant and his figure disappeared from where he was standing, appearing again only ten metres away from Yang Kai’s side, displaying a truly astonishing speed!
With a fierce, smug grin on his face, Jin Shi sneered and shouted, “Boy, you’re too naive to fight this old master!”
As soon as his words fell, his Shi burst forth and an invisible quagmire was formed around Yang Kai, causing his actions to freeze. Although Shi was always condensed through a similar process, there were always slight differences between different individuals.
Jin Shi’s Shi contained a faint bloody aura and those who were engulfed by it would feel as if they had been sunk into a pool of blood, not only making it difficult for a person to move and inhibiting their ability to circulate their Saint Qi, but also making it difficult to breathe due to being submerged in this bloody aura. This bloody aura would then begin drilling into the pores of those caught in Jin Shi’s Shi, stimulating the violent tendencies in their heart and causing their mental state to become unstable.
After being surrounded by this Shi, Yang Kai’s eyes quickly turned red and his expression became pained as he tried with great difficulty to breathe. Bi Luo standing next to him was even worse and she audibly moaned and her body limply fell into his arms.
She hadn’t healed from her previous heavy injuries, so even moving around was difficult, so how could she withstand Jin Shi’s Third-Order Origin Returning Realm Shi?
“A brat who just broke through to the Origin Realm dares act so arrogant! This old master will let you know what a real Origin Realm master is!” Jin Shi said with great self-satisfaction, stretching out his hand towards Yang Kai as he spoke. The scaled armour which covered his hand at this moment looked grotesque, but it was undeniable that this hand possessed extremely terrifying power.
Jin Shi’s plan was very simple, he was going to use his Shi to subdue or kill Yang Kai in one fell swoop!
After all, during the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, he saw that Yang Kai was only a Third-Order Saint King, so although this boy had already broken through to the Origin Realm, Jin Shi was certain he had not had time to condense his Shi. In other words, aside from his realm having changed from Saint King to Origin Returning, Yang Kai’s strength should not have undergone any kind of growth.
Jin Shi’s strategy of using his advantage to attack his enemy’s weakness was no doubt correct.
Although his plan was good, Jin Shi couldn’t possibly have imagined that in such a short time, Yang Kai had already condensed his Shi to the minor accomplishment stage and was no worse than any Origin Returning Realm master who had been immersed in this realm for many decades.
Just as the big hand was about to capture him, Yang Kai’s lips suddenly curled upwards as a mocking grin flashed across his face, the look of panic in his eyes completely disappearing and being replaced with incomparable calmness.
Noticing this change, Jin Shi’s instincts suddenly warned him something wasn’t right and an unprecedented sense of crisis struck his whole body.
Before he had a chance to figure out whether Yang Kai was simply bluffing or actually had some card up his sleeve, a strange force suddenly burst forth, not only wrapping around Jin Shi but also sweeping across his Shi.
*Kacha…*
A cracking sound which seemed to echo in the depths of the heart caused Jin Shi’s complexion to change dramatically. When this strange force suddenly emerged, Jin Shi was terrified to discover that his Shi was disintegrating and could not maintain any semblance of cohesion.
At the same time, the surrounding space seemed to twist and distort, giving Jin Shi the illusion he had been banished to the Void and his body itself was folding over itself unnaturally.
That boy Yang Kai had been right in front of him a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, he now seemed incredibly far away.
“Impossible!” Jin Shi cried out in panic as his eyes bulged in disbelief.
With Jin Shi’s vision, he was naturally able to see that Yang Kai had also released his Shi and that it was stronger and sharper than his own, otherwise, it would be impossible to break through his Shi.
[What kind of power is integrated into this Shi? Why is it causing space itself to warp?] Jin Shi wondered to himself as the hand which was just about to seize Yang Kai was unable to advance any further. In Jin Shi’s eyes, Yang Kai’s position relative to himself had changed dramatically and he was no longer certain he could kill this boy with this strike.
Space Force!
Yang Kai’s Shi had his Space Force integrated into it, so whenever he released his Shi, the nearby space would undergo some changes.
This was something Yang Kai had conceived and accomplished with the help of the Emperor Pressure before entering the Emperor Garden. Delaying his entry for ten days had not been a wasted effort. The intensity of the Emperor Pressure outside had been so great that it allowed Yang Kai to merge his Space Force into his Shi, and although he had yet to fully integrate the two and master their use, there was no doubt that right now, Yang Kai’s Shi was far more powerful than that of an ordinary cultivator’s.
The current situation was a perfect example. This was the first time Yang Kai had used his Shi in a fight and he had great expectations for it. He was not disappointed, its effects were truly remarkable.
In all fairness, Jin Shi’s strength was also incredible. He had been a famous figure on Shadowed Star for many years and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm. If Yang Kai were to fight him openly under ordinary circumstances, killing Jin Shi would no doubt be incredibly difficult. Especially in this special environment where he had to take care of Bi Luo while being mindful of his opponent’s equally powerful ally.
The various difficulties he faced in this fight made Yang Kai choose to first show Jin Shi weakness, deliberately drawing him close. When facing Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master’s first attack, Yang Kai had intentionally summoned the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword to get Jin Shi to relax his guard.
Jin Shi clearly thought too highly of himself and was certain that without the Dragon Bone Sword and Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai was a soft persimmon that could be easily pinched. It was because Jin Shi saw Yang Kai unable to use these two cards that he decided to act directly!
How could Yang Kai miss such an opportunity? Yang Kai’s figure flickered and by using his Space Force, he silently disappeared only to reappear directly behind Jin Shi.
This wasn’t some kind of illusion caused by Yang Kai moving extremely fast but rather a true instantaneous movement.
Within the scope of his Shi, Yang Kai could easily accomplish this; unfortunately, at present, his Shi could only cover about a three hundred metre radius. In other words, it was only within this limited range that Yang Kai could freely teleport. Still, this in itself was an amazing ability.
Jin Shi was still maintaining his grasping posture, seemingly not having recovered from this shocking turn of events.
Yang Kai waved his hand and sent out a jet black blade-like attack towards Jin Shi at astonishing speed.
Space Blade!
With his opponent being a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, Yang Kai was naturally not planning to conserve his strength and was instead intending to end this in one decisive blow.
His Space Blade lived up his expectations and directly sliced right into Jin Shi’s back, emerging from the other side an instant later.
“Hm?” Yang Kai wasn’t happy seeing this though, and instead wore a look of surprise as he immediately turned to look towards a nearby spot. In the direction he was staring, a distressed figure appeared. It was Jin Shi, but at this moment, his face wore a look of fear as his heart pounded loudly, seemingly having suffered some serious damage.
At the same time, the Jin Shi who had been sliced through from back to front still remained; however, there was no blood flowing out from the wound.
*Huala yisheng…*
The wounded Jin Shi collapsed into dust and scattered away.
“Some kind of moulting escape technique?” Yang Kai raised his brow in surprise.
Yang Kai made a casual guess; after all, this old dog’s cultivation technique was called the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art, but what he hadn’t expected was that his guess was spot on.
This technique of Jin Shi’s was called the Golden Cicada Molting and was a specialized escape art. Since he began cultivating the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art, Jin Shi had used this technique to avoid death several times.
Just before Yang Kai’s Space Blade struck, Jin Shi instinctively sensed a fatal threat and immediately used this Secret Technique, thereby preserving his life.
Although this technique worked incredibly well, there were several harsh restrictions to using it, a severe loss of stamina for one. On top of that, after being used once, it could not be used again for some time.
If this was somewhere else, Jin Shi may have successfully escaped.
But on this ice road, confined in such a narrow space, even if he wanted to escape, he couldn’t run far.
What made Jin Shi even more depressed though was that, inside of Yang Kai’s Shi, he was unable to accurately judge his position. He thought he had escaped further away from Yang Kai and only needed to look for an opportunity to join forces with the Temple Master to combat this boy, but after using his moulting technique, he discovered that he had only managed to get about a dozen metres away from Yang Kai.
Jin Shi almost failed to stop himself from cursing out loud. He had never before encountered such a strange Shi.
“Interesting!” Yang Kai grinned treacherously, increasing the intensity of his Shi even further. In an instant, the warped space around him began to slowly collapse. Centred around Yang Kai, within the range of three hundred metres, innumerably tiny Void Cracks began to appear. These Void Cracks were as fine as hairs, and although they would soon be repaired by the World Principles here, they were appearing at an equally fast rate.
Looking at the pale-faced, helpless Jin Shi, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and immediately clenched his fist, shouting, “Condense!”
The Void Cracks, as if following his order, gathered towards the location of Jin Shi, surrounding him like countless tiny snakes, a truly shocking sight to behold.
Jin Shi was in an incredibly pitiful state; Demon Blood Temple’s Great Elder, a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, forced into a desperate situation as a million tiny Void Cracks wrapped around him from all directions. Knowing there was no way he could run from or evade what was to come, Jin Shi’s expression finally became panicked and he quickly shouted, “Wait, Sect Master Yang, please show mercy!”
From all directions, the innumerable Void Crack approached, horrifying Jin Shi, him begging for mercy was an inevitable outcome.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be afraid of these unstable Void Cracks and would only need to apply some strength to collapse them and escape, but currently, he was extremely weak after using his Golden Cicada Molting. Right now, Jin Shi could at most use thirty percent of his strength. So, he was strong in will but weak in strength.
[Why would I listen to your nonsense?] Yang Kai always adhered to the principle of beating the snake to death to avoid future calamity, so Jin Shi was truly out of luck today.
The dense Void Cracks soon engulfed Jin Shi and a horrible howling scream rang out. Jin Shi managed to condense his remaining Saint Qi to protect his body, but this did little to improve his situation. The Saint Qi Jin Shi released to protect himself was banished to The Void the instant it contacted the Void Cracks, swiftly followed by his skin, then his flesh, his bones…
Soon after, Demon Blood Temple’s Great Elder had been sliced into tiny pieces of meat with at least half of his corpse disappearing forever.
The two women from Ice Heart Valley stared dumbfounded at this scene.
They had thought that this fight would be one-sided with Yang Kai possibly even being killed instantly and had already made preparations for such a worst-case scenario.
How could they have anticipated that the seemingly ordinary Yang Kai would possess such extraordinary means?
The Verdant Bone Sword that transformed into a giant dark-green dragon had instantly entangled the beautiful woman, making it impossible for her to worry about anything else, while Yang Kai’s Shi alone was enough to allow him to oppress the other enemy master to death.
Which Cultivation Star did this young man come from? Why had they never heard of him before? Possessing such strength and such a strange Shi, the other party should not be some unknown person. Instead, it was almost certain he was some rising star of a great force.
However, neither of them had ever heard of such a young man in the Star Field.
While they celebrated though, they also felt some uneasiness; after all, the two of them didn’t have the strength to fight back at this moment and they weren’t clear on what Yang Kai’s nature was. If Yang Kai won this battle and decided to kill them, it was likely they wouldn’t even be able to resist.
For a moment, the two women from Ice Heart Valley felt incredibly depressed. Being no better than a fish on a chopping block really was an unpleasant situation, but they also dared not act at will, worried they would draw Yang Kai’s attention to themselves.
On the other side, Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master was also in a state of shock. She had witnessed Jin Shi’s tragic death and it had thrown her heart into a state of chaos for a time. She had never expected Yang Kai’s combat power to be so astonishing. Even the Great Elder from her Sect was unable to last long in front of him. Didn’t this boy just recently break through to the Origin Returning Realm? How did he have such powerful Shi?
Could it be that Jin Shi’s information was wrong and this boy had been playing the pig to eat a tiger?
Thinking so, the beautiful Demon Blood Temple Master began cursing the recently deceased Jin Shi while secretly regretting that she had provoked such a monster. At this moment, it was taking all her strength just to deal with the giant dark-green dragon, so she had no extra energy to deal with Yang Kai.
The giant dark-green dragon was a product of a bone fragment from a true Ancient Divine Spirit and also incorporated a remnant wisp of a true Dragon Soul and Dragon Bead which gave it a certain level of self-awareness and sentience. So, although it couldn’t be compared to the wisdom of the Firebird Artifact Spirit, not able to understand strategy or tactics, its power was unquestionable.
Coupled with the guidance provided by Yang Kai Divine Sense, it was fully capable of fighting the Demon Blood Temple Master one-on-one.
The beautiful Demon Blood Temple Master was constantly complaining in her heart. Her prided Beguiling Techniques had absolutely no use against this giant dark-green dragon and her bracelet-like artifact had suffered severe damage from the dragon’s green mist. The green mist was extremely toxic and corrosive, so although the grade of this bracelet artifact wasn’t low, it was unable to resist constant exposure.
This woman didn’t even dare to release her Demon Blood Threads, lest they be corroded by the dark-green dragon as well. At the same time, she had used a portion of her Saint Qi and Spiritual energy to resist the terrible chill in this place, making her already bad situation worse.
The moment Jin Shi died, she immediately had thoughts of retreat.
But Yang Kai wasn’t about to give her a chance to withdraw. Carrying Bi Luo’s limp figure, he flew over while controlling his Dragon Bone Sword with his mind to tie this beautiful Temple Master down so he could submerge her in his Shi.
Demon Blood Temple’s glamorous Temple Master’s face flashed a look of horror as she barely managed to dodge a just of poisonous mist before squeezing out a forced smile and calling out, “Little Brother, there’s no need to take things too far here is there? We’ve only just met, so why must you act so ruthless? If you can leave a way out for this Lady, she will surely repay you the next time we meet.”
Aware of how dire her situation was, she immediately changed how she spoke, no longer referring to herself as ‘this Queen’ in front of Yang Kai, but instead acting humble and subservient.
“There’s no need for me to leave you a way out,” Yang Kai sneered, “Because we won’t see each other again.”
Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master’s complexion sank as her eyes filled with hatred and panic but she continued to force herself to wear a lovely smile, “Don’t say that, Little Brother. If you can let this lady off, she is willing to become your slave, obeying your every command and ensuring your every desire is fulfilled, yes? Regardless of anything else, I am a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, I will be very useful to you.”
As she spoke these words, her eyes flashed a coquettish light and she pouted her luscious lips attractively.
“Slut!” Bi Luo ground her teeth and cursed, a look of disdain flashing across her face.
“Sorry, I have no interest in you,” Yang Kai shook his head and declared with a straight face, “You can die!”
As he spoke, the space around Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master filled with countless Void Cracks that swarmed towards her according to Yang Kai’s will.
“If you want to kill me, don’t think you’ll feel any better!” The look on this woman’s face changed dramatically, the seductive and sincere look she just had being replaced with a hysterical frenzy as she sent out her two Demon Blood Threads and immediately formed a seal with her hands while shouting, “Explode!”
An astonishing energy fluctuation suddenly radiated from the two Demon Blood Threads and a blinding red light began overflowing from them, like the most beautiful of flowers about to display its final blossoming.
However, beneath this beauty lay an endless murderous intent.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed dramatically and without any hesitation, he summoned his Purple Shield and used its sandstorm ability to protect himself and Bi Luo.
*Hong Hong…*
Two loud explosions rang out, deafening everyone in the vicinity for a moment while causing the entire ice road to tremble violently.
The aftermath of this violent pair of explosions destroyed Yang Kai’s Shi in an instant and even sent the giant dark-green dragon, which had been tying down the beautiful Temple Master flying.
Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master’s two Demon Blood Threads had been cultivated and refined by her for many years, absorbing an unimaginable amount of vital essence, so the power of their detonation was naturally enormous.
Everything within a thousand metres was essentially destroyed.
At the same time, Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master had disappeared; she had used the chaotic fallout from this explosion to escape.
A golden light flashed across Yang Kai’s left eye as he scanned the surrounding ice fog, quickly catching sight of the fleeing woman’s figure. Her speed was quite astonishing as in the brief moment she had managed to escape about a thousand metres and was still desperately fleeing towards the end of the ice road.
Seeing this, Yang Kai simply grinned and didn’t bother to chase after her, instead standing in place while taking pleasure in her misfortune, waiting quietly as if a good show was about to start.
Realizing that she wasn’t being pursued, the beautiful Temple Master was overjoyed. She thought that Yang Kai had been injured in the explosion just now and was unable to chase her and secretly rejoiced that she had acted decisively enough. Otherwise, it really would have been difficult for her to escape.
Just as she thought this though, she spotted a grey figure suddenly appeared in her field of vision. This figure wasn’t very big, only about a metre tall, and it had a strange appearance, like a stone sculpture.
However, what made her suspicious was that this stone sculpture was too lifelike. Its eyes showed a clear look of intelligence and it was carrying a strange black stick while standing motionless atop a small ice mound like a small stone carving.
[What is this?] Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master stared at it suspiciously and wondered.
At that moment though, what she thought was a stone sculpture actually stood up from the ice mound and stared towards her while raising its black stick and seemingly swinging it down at her lightly.
This action undoubtedly looked hilarious, because the beautiful Temple Master was unable to feel any threat from it.
In the next instant, however, her face changed wildly.
The originally small black stick began extending and suddenly took on an unstoppable momentum, making the Temple Master feel like a mountain was pounding down towards her.
An unprecedented sense of crisis filled her heart, making it difficult for Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master to even breathe.
It was as if in front of this stick, even Heaven and Earth could be crushed.
However, she was a master who had experienced many storms and fought countless battles throughout her life, giving her rich combat experience, so she was instantly able to understand that this stone man was something that boy had arranged here ahead of time.
She then recalled that Jin Shi had mentioned the appearance of a massive stone giant during the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain!
[Could this be…]
Demon Blood Temple’s glamorous Temple Master didn’t dare to waste any time thinking about it and swiftly bit her tongue to spray out a cloud of blood mist. This blood mist morphed like it had a mind of its own and immediately formed a protective barrier around her. In the next instant, a blood-red Artifact Armour with seemingly high defensive strength appeared on her tender body.
She did not stop at this and quickly summoned a mirror-like artifact which transformed into an invisible barrier directly in front of herself.
It was only after she completed these movements that the black stick fell.
With a clatter, the invisible barrier was shattered like ordinary glass the instant it made contact with the black stick, reverting to its original form and losing all its radiance before falling to the ground, clearly having suffered catastrophic damage.
Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master went completely pale, but before she could react, the black stick landed on her head.
The world suddenly went black, and Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master’s thoughts completely ceased.
Even though she was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, after taking a direct hit from the Stone Puppet’s Heaven Shaking Pillar, there was no chance of her surviving.
Her whole head burst apart and what remained of her body flew out like a meteor from the terrifying force, smashing against the hard ice a few hundred metres away before exploding in a gorgeous blood flower.
Seeing this, Yang Kai curled his lips and showed a satisfied smile.
The Stone Puppet had naturally been released by him in advance. Although it was incredibly cold in this place, the Stone Puppet wasn’t affected at all. Yang Kai’s original intention was to let the Stone Puppet find a chance to launch a sneak attack, which would allow him to end the battle swiftly, but now it had played an unexpected role.
Regarding this, Yang Kai was naturally quite happy. If not for the Stone Puppet standing in the direction Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master had chosen to flee, it would have taken Yang Kai a lot more effort to kill her.
Although, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid of any Origin Returning Realm master with his current combat power, if Demon Blood Temple’s beautiful Temple Master were to put her all into fleeing, he wouldn’t have had any way to kill her unless he sealed up all her escape routes in advance.
Fortunately, her plan had failed.
A moment later, the Stone Puppet jumped up, ran over to Yang Kai, and handed him a Space Ring. Obviously, this ring belonged to Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master. Yang Kai took it, swept it with his Divine Sense briefly, then nodded with satisfaction before storing it away.
As the Master of a great force, this beautiful woman was naturally quite wealthy. Unfortunately, Yang Kai didn’t have time to perform a thorough count of the ring’s content right now, so he could only set it aside and wait until after he left the Emperor Garden to inspect it. Looking around though, Yang Kai couldn’t find Jin Shi’s Space Ring, so he figured it had been banished to The Void by accident, making it impossible to recover.
This was not too big a loss however, it was enough to simply win this battle. At the very least, Yang Kai’s original objective here had been achieved.
Waving his hand, Yang Kai took the Stone Puppet back into his Black Book Space before saying lightly, “Let’s go.”
“Ah, en,” Bi Luo seemed a little distracted and simply nodded before following after Yang Kai as they moved towards the end of the ice road, a strange expression filling her face the whole way forward.
She felt that her previous thoughts were too mistaken!
When she met Yang Kai earlier and noticed that his cultivation was the same as her own, Bi Luo subconsciously felt that Yang Kai wasn’t quite qualified to receive her Mistress’ affection and even felt a sense of indignation that Yang Kai hadn’t worked hard enough to close the gap between them these past few years, instead allowing it to expand. However, after witnessing this battle, she realized that although Yang Kai’s cultivation realm was two Minor Realms lower than her Mistress’, he was probably comparable to her in terms of true combat strength. In fact, if it had been her Mistress here instead, she may not have been able to handle this situation as cleanly as Yang Kai had.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai used too many external forces, and although this could also be considered part of his strength, it was still a bit unsatisfactory in Bi Luo’s opinion. One’s own strength was fundamental; after all, external forces could not continue to support a person in the long-term.
No one is perfect, however. Even the most beautiful jade had flaws, so even though this smelly man still had some gaps with his Mistress, they weren’t too big and he was barely qualified.
Thinking so, Bi Luo’s mood inexplicably became better.
With the dangers of this ice road completely eliminated, the two naturally didn’t face any obstacles as they moved forward. Soon, Yang Kai brought Bi Luo to a familiar large hall at the end of the ice road.
However, he didn’t continue immediately and instead turned his gaze back with a slight frown.
A short time later, two figures emerged from the ice road, the two women from Ice Heart Valley.
After leaving the ice road and seeing Yang Kai waiting here, the two women were slightly stunned and a look of vigilance appeared on their faces. The older of the two women stepped forward at that moment and politely asked, “Might I ask for Little Brother’s honoured name? This Mistress is Scarlet Wave Star’s Ice Heart Valley’s Tan Ting He and would like to offer her sincere thanks for little brother’s life-saving grace.”
Yang Kai observed them lightly for a moment before casually replying, “If you chased after me simply to offer your thanks, it was unnecessary. I had a grudge with those two people from long before, killing them had nothing to do with you.”
Tan Ting He smiled bitterly and said, “Although that may be the case, it was clear at a glance that those two weren’t anything good. If Little Brother had not killed them, this Mistress and her Junior Sister would probably have met a miserable end, so no matter the circumstances, I ask Little Brother to please accept this Mistress and her Junior Sister’s thanks.”
Saying so, she unexpectedly bowed her head together with the other elegant woman.
Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent and he didn’t bother trying to stop them. Although he didn’t have any intention of saving them, his actions ultimately ended up having that effect. If Yang Kai hadn’t intervened when he did, given Jin Shi’s personality and behaviour, these two women would have lost more than just their lives.
Them bowing in thanks was also reasonable.
After they expressed their gratitude and didn’t see Yang Kai respond, however, the two women’s expressions became somewhat awkward as they exchanged glances with one another, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating to do so.
“Is there anything else?” Yang Kai frowned, showing a little displeasure. Given this pair’s situation, it would be best for them to find a hidden place to meditate and recover, so why were they insisting on pestering him?
Could it be possible that after seeing his strength they wanted to join forces? Or perhaps they wanted to rely on him to protect their safety? Yang Kai had such guesses, but if this was the case, these two were bound to be disappointed.
Although these two were quite beautiful, Yang Kai wasn’t interested in offering kindness to strangers. Bi Luo alone was enough of a burden for Yang Kai so he had no plans on taking care of two more wounded women.
“It’s like this,” Tan Ting He brushed her hair behind her ear and looked directly into Yang Kai’s eyes as she asked, “May I ask Little Brother if the thing which swallowed that World Spirit just now was the legendary Ice Phoenix Ancient Divine Spirit?”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as a cold glint flashed across his eyes, his expression noticeably darkening.
Aware of his displeasure, Tan Ting He quickly waved her hand and continued, “Please don’t misunderstand Little Brother, my Junior Sister and I have no hostile intentions towards you nor are we in any condition to fight right now, we simply wanted to ask you some questions.”
“So, what if it is?” Yang Kai coldly snorted. Could these two women really be so lacking in propriety? Did they not understand what should and should not be said? If he was a more ill-tempered person, Yang Kai might have killed her for even asking such a question.
Hearing his answer, Tan Ting He smiled happily and asked anxiously, “If it truly is an Ice Phoenix… Would little brother be willing to sell it to my Ice Heart Valley? We can meet any requirement you might have!”
“Sell?” Yang Kai was stunned to hear this but instead of getting angry he just smiled mockingly, “Are you sleep-talking? Even asking such a thing?”
Even Bi Luo, who was an outsider to this situation, looked at Tan Ting He sarcastically.
This proposal was the funniest joke she had ever heard. What kind of noble existence was an Ice Phoenix? Yang Kai being able to obtain a wisp of its Remnant Soul was nothing less than a Heaven defying opportunity, how could he possibly just sell it?
Facing Yang Kai’s disdainful words, Tan Ting He wasn’t discouraged, however, and instead continued her appeal, “I won’t hide anything from little brother, my Ice Heart Valley exclusively cultivates Ice Attribute Secret Arts, and the Ice Phoenix is the Divine Symbol which all our disciples worship. Therefore, that Remnant Soul is of unimaginable value to my Ice Heart Valley.”
“So what?” Yang Kai began to become impatient.
“If this Mistress’ perception was not mistaken, Little Brother should not cultivate an Ice Attribute Secret Art! So while an Ice Phoenix is indeed incredibly rare and valuable, it should not be very useful to you. Since you cannot realize its full potential, if you can instead agree to sell it, I can promise you here, on behalf of my Sect, that any condition you raise we can fulfil!” Tan Ting He spoke quickly about her intentions while the other Ice Heart Valley woman nodded beside her.
If Yang Kai agreed to this deal, Ice Heart Valley would be willing to pay any price to complete it, which was why they dared make such a declaration without first consulting with the Elders of the Sect. These two firmly believed that if the Elders were to learn about this, they would only rejoice, not complain.
“What you said just now I’ll pretend I never heard, but if you dare speak one more word, I’ll make sure both of you remain inside the Emperor Garden forever!” Yang Kai gave them a cold look and threatened with no trace of politeness before pulling Bi Luo and walking off.
“Little brother, please consider my offer carefully, if you ever change your mind, come to Scarlet Wave Star’s Ice Heart Valley!” Tan Ting He didn’t seem to want to give up and shouted at his back.
As soon as her voice sounded though, a golden light flashed towards her, changing halfway from a piercing stab to a whip-like sweep, knocking Tan Ting He several dozen metres through the air before she pounded heavily onto the ground.
By the time she looked up, Yang Kai and Bi Luo had disappeared.
“Senior Sister!” The other Ice Heart Valley woman was shocked and hurriedly ran over to help Tan Ting He.
“I’m fine,” Tan Ting He shook her head slowly, a trace of unwillingness appearing on her face, wanting to chase after Yang Kai, but remembering the strength of the blow she just suffered, not daring to act rashly.
She understood that her words had really aroused Yang Kai’s murderous intent and she had only been spared because the other party wasn’t innately malicious.
It would be unwise to anger such an opponent at this moment as doing so would be no different from courting death.
However, watching a young man who did not even cultivate an Ice Attribute Secret Art carry an Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul in his body made her extremely reluctant. If that Remnant Soul could be won by her Ice Heart Valley, it could surely play an incredible role.
“Why is that man acting so unreasonably?” The younger woman pouted indignantly.
“It’s us who were not acting appropriately,” Tan Ting He smiled bitterly.
“But Senior Sister, are we just going to watch such a big opportunity slip away from us?” The other woman had obviously not lost heart.
“What else can we do? Now we can only hope he someday changes his mind. In any case, I’ve told him what Cultivation Star Ice Heart Valley is based on, so if there comes a day when he is willing to exchange it, he can find his way to the Sect,” Tan Ting He shook her head, “Forget it, this matter will end here for now, Junior Sister. Let’s find a place to recover first.”
“Yeah.”
On the other side, Yang Kai and Bi Luo had left the hall. Although Tan Ting He’s proposal had been rejected by him, and he had even given her a small lesson, Yang Kai’s mood was still quite gloomy.
This could not be helped, as this Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul was not his but Su Yan’s! It was an invaluable part of Su Yan’s inheritance yet now some outsider wanted Yang Kai to sell it to them, the very notion of it filled him with annoyance and anger.
If not for him having no enmity or hatred with those two women, Yang Kai would not have hesitated to kill them the moment they made such a ridiculous proposal.
Along the way, Bi Luo remained silent and obedient. She also understood that her being able to walk safely through this crisis-ridden Emperor Garden was completely because of Yang Kai, so she didn’t dare to disturb him.
Soon, the two arrived in front of a maze, at which point Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he sank into contemplation.
He had been to this place once before.
When he and Fei Zhi Tu’s group had come here that day, they had wandered about inside this maze for a while and gotten lost many times, but thanks to Lian Guang’s mouse puppets, finding their way out of the maze hadn’t been too much trouble.
Now that there were no puppets to use however, Yang Kai could only rely on his memory.
Fortunately, he was barely able to remember the route they walked that day, so even if he was somewhat uncertain, he figured he would be able to recall what choices to make as he progressed through the maze.
After a moment, Yang Kai took a deep breath and stepped into the maze, Bi Luo following without a word.
This kind of maze-like terrain often contained numerous barriers and Spirit Arrays, and now that the Emperor Garden had officially opened, the degree of internal danger had greatly increased, so Yang Kai didn’t dare act carelessly and continuously used his Demon Eye of Annihilation to check the surrounding environment to avoid accidentally triggering any kind of trap.
Two days later, Yang Kai brought Bi Luo out from the other side of the labyrinth, the two of them showing exhausted and somewhat anxious expressions.
Being able to navigate the maze successfully was largely thanks to Yang Kai’s memory and a little bit of good luck.
Unlike the Spirit Array traps which had filled the maze previously, Yang Kai and Bi Luo had encountered many ancient puppets this time. These ancient puppets all had different shapes and strengths, but none were weaker than ordinary Origin Returning Realm Masters, the strongest even rivalling peak Third-Order Origin Realm powerhouses and able to cause Yang Kai a lot of trouble.
Fortunately, Yang Kai was not an ordinary Origin Realm cultivator and managed to smash his way through with the help of his Dragon Bone Sword, Firebird Artifact Spirit and Stone Puppet.
The Stone Puppet, in particular, was able to suppress these ancient puppets.
After passing the labyrinth, two arched gates appeared in front of the pair, one black, one white, both looking very strange. The white gate seemed to be refined from the finest of white jade while the black one gave off a dark, ominous feel.
Beyond the two gates was a chaotic void, one that Divine Sense could not perceive anything from. The surfaces of these gates looked like the calm surface of a lake, completely impossible to read.
Bi Luo stared in shock for a moment before calling out in alarm, “A Space Array Gate!”
Yang Kai shot her a surprised look and nodded, “Yup. It’s good that you actually recognize this.”
“En, I’ve seen one before,” Bi Luo’s expression became dignified, “Which one should we enter?”
“I’ll tell you a bit later, we should restore ourselves first,” Yang Kai smiled lightly. When Yang Kai came here last time, he, Fei Zhi Tu and the others had a long debate over which of these two Space Array Gates to enter. It was a difficult problem, to say the least; after all, most people would be inclined to choose the white gate because black often meant danger and death.
However, facts showed that no matter which Space Array Gate was chosen, there was not any immediate danger, only the destination was different.
Fei Zhi Tu and several others had entered the white Space Array Gate that day and had followed a path that led them to a jade coffin where they accidentally triggered one of the Emperor Garden’s Spirit Arrays. Inside that jade coffin, however, there was the figure of a person lying quietly.
The Starry Sky Great Emperor!
Ten thousand years ago, the Great Emperor had fallen into a deep sleep, and this Emperor Garden was her resting place. Yang Kai had heard all this information from Yang Yan; after all, Yang Yan was the Great Emperor’s Soul Clone, so she had some understanding of these secrets.
Yang Kai, Cai He and Du Si Si, on the other hand, entered the black Space Array Gate together with the Origin Returning Realm old lady. It was from there that Yang Kai acquired the Heaven Shaking Pillar.
After half an hour, Yang Kai and Bi Luo finished restoring themselves and stepped towards the black Space Array Gate. Looking at the vague nothingness contained within this gate, Bi Luo could not help feeling nervous and frightened, stretching out her hand and grabbing hold of Yang Kai’s clothes.
Yang Kai could not have been calmer as he stepped through the black gate. An indescribable sense of falling while floating enveloped the pair before the sight in front of them blurred. When they recovered, they had arrived at a completely different place.
Looking around, Yang Kai smiled happily.
They had been transported to the same place he and the old woman had come to after being pulled into the black Space Array Gate that day.
“Come with me!” Yang Kai called out to Bi Luo before lightly strolling forward, seemingly searching for something.
Bi Luo was bewildered but did not ask anything.
This was a garden-like area that was filled with flowers, streams, small bridges, and decorative rockeries; a rather unique scenery. Yang Kai paid special attention to the rockeries, shaking his head after examining each one.
After searching for some time though, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly lit up and he rushed towards the location of a certain rockery. There was a faint smell wafting from the direction he ran, one that made anyone who sniffed it feel relaxed and refreshed. Even the heavily injured Bi Luo seemed more energetic after inhaling some of this scent.
Soon, Yang Kai reached the rockery, looked down, and saw a familiar-looking shallow pool. Grinning, Yang Kai could not help muttering to himself, “Found it.”
Bi Luo was now quite curious. A quick glance was all she needed to see that this pool was almost completely dry, with only a few drops of milky white liquid settled at its bottom.
The pleasant fragrance from before, however, was coming from this milky white liquid.
“What is this?” Bi Luo asked curiously.
Yang Kai did not reply directly and instead reached down and dipped his finger into the milky white liquid before calling out to Bi Luo, “Open your mouth!”
Bi Luo opened her mouth subconsciously, just long enough for Yang Kai to poke his finger into it.
In the next instant, Bi Luo’s eyes went wide, and she couldn’t help using her little tongue to wrap around Yang Kai’s finger and lick off all of the strange liquid.
At a rate visible to the naked eye, Bi Luo’s complexion became rosier, and not due to shyness. At this moment, she felt the strength of her vital essence increased dramatically and the vitality which she had lost due to her injuries quickly being supplemented.
“Sit down, meditate, and start refining it, don’t waste any of it,” Yang Kai ordered her with a strange smile on his face.
“En,” Bi Luo nodded obediently as she looked for a spot to sit down, shooting Yang Kai a rather angry look before she walked off.
Both of them were obviously remembering the incident brought on by the impetuousness of their youth which transpired back in Fragrance City inside Shan Qing Luo’s palace.
Although it had been almost thirty years since then, that experience was so vivid and unique, how could they forget it? Especially Bi Luo’s delicate little mouth, her thin tender lips, and her pearl white teeth she revealed when she smiled. A lethal combination to those who saw it.
After Bi Luo sat down cross-legged and began refining the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, Yang Kai excitedly turned his eyes back to the rockery.
When he came here that day, Yang Kai vaguely guessed that pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream should be hidden somewhere inside this rockery and what he and the other obtained was just a diluted bi-product. Now, it seemed that his guess that day was indeed correct.
After all, between Yang Kai, the two Array Masters, and the old woman, they had completely cleaned out the shallow pool here, leaving nothing behind, but when he arrived here today, a few drops of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream appeared, which was enough to explain everything.
If Yang Kai alone wanted to find where the pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was hidden in this place, it may be a little difficult to do, but fortunately, he had come fully prepared.
With a thought, Yang Kai released the Stone Puppet from his Black Book Space, took out a container specially used to hold liquid, and handed it to him before pointing to the rockery.
The Stone Puppet immediately understood Yang Kai’s instructions and in the next instant it ran over to the rockery.
A strange scene happened next. When the Stone Puppet’s body touched the rockery, it seemed to become intangible and directly integrated into it, disappearing in an instant.
However, Yang Kai was still able to vaguely perceive the location of the Stone Puppet and could feel it burrowing deeper and deeper into the rockery, soon advancing more than a thousand metres away from him. Sensing this, Yang Kai simply stood in place, waiting in anticipation.
The Stone Puppet could even tunnel a hole through Coloured Glass Sect’s Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain, so it had no trouble with this rockery.
After the time it took a stick of incense to burn, the figure of the Stone Puppet suddenly emerged from the rockery and happily jumped in front of Yang Kai before opening its big mouth and spitting out the container.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and took the container before sweeping it with his Divine Sense, a grin forming on his face a moment later.
There was a small amount of milky white liquid inside the container, about enough to fill a washbasin. Although it was a liquid, it was extremely thick, at least ten times more viscous than the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream Yang Kai had obtained from the shallow pool.
This was no doubt the purest Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, not some half-diluted existence. One of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters!
Yang Kai’s mood was incredibly good at this moment.
He had not expected this trip to go so smoothly.
For this excursion to the Emperor Garden, Yang Kai had two goals: one was the World Spirit, while the other was this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream. Although obtaining the former took a little bit of effort, he had ultimately obtained it. As for the latter, Yang Kai was able to collect it without encountering any trouble.
This was mainly due to the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet. Without its help, Yang Kai estimated that it would have taken him quite some time to find and then retrieve the pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
But everything was good now. With so much pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, Yang Kai did not have to worry about having enough pure Golden Blood anymore, even replacing all of his blood with pure Golden Blood wouldn’t be impossible.
After celebrating for a while, Yang Kai carefully put away the container of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
Bi Luo opened her eyes at that moment and showed a joyful look on her face.
“How do you feel?” Yang Kai asked casually.
“A lot better, I should be able to fight somewhat now,” Bi Luo exhaled softly. She had been together with Yang Kai for a few days now but she was being protected by him the whole time, causing her to feel quite anxious. Although Yang Kai had displayed astonishing strength, this was still the Emperor Garden after all, where crisis lay at every turn; one more person’s strength was always welcome.
Although Bi Luo did not dare say she had fully recovered, at least she would no longer just be a burden.
“Where do we go now?” Bi Luo got up and asked.
“Follow me. There is something good over there,” Yang Kai grinned and said calmly.
The good thing he was referring to was naturally the Stone Monument in the place where Qian Tong had been trapped previously. The reason why Qian Tong had brought a young Artifact Refiner to this place to begin with was to allow that man to study the Stone Monument which contained an incredibly profound Artifact Refining technique.
After being ejected from the Emperor Garden that day, that Artifact Refiner had entered secluded retreat and not long ago, news spread out that he had become an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, which in turn showed just how valuable the Stone Monument was.
Since he had arrived at this place, Yang Kai was certainly not willing to just ignore this treasure; if possible, he wanted to take away this Stone Monument.
Moreover, if Yang Kai was going to find Yang Yan, he needed to leave this place, so he had to pass by the Stone Monument anyway. Since it was on his way, it should not take him much time to collect it.
The place where Qian Tong was trapped that day was not too far from where he was now, so Yang Kai simply followed the path in his memories to leave the garden-like paradise he was currently in, then walked down a short thousand-metre corridor before successfully reaching a grand hall.
This was the place where Qian Tong had been trapped, and the Stone Monument was still standing right where Yang Kai last saw it.
Yang Kai had thought that no one else would have made it this deep into the Emperor Garden, but when he arrived here, he realized he was mistaken.
Not only had someone else made it here, there were a number of people who had.
A short distance in front of Yang Kai stood a group of seven people all staring in a particular direction. Each of these seven people exuded a powerful aura. There were men and women, old and young, with one youth who stood out from the rest.
This young man had a face seemingly carved from the finest jade, luscious red lips, and pearl white teeth. His skin was so flawless that it would make any woman jealous. At this moment, this young man was showing off a noble demeanour while holding a folding fan. He was the epitome of a Young Master from a great force who had brought his servants out for a stroll, looking completely relaxed and carefree.
Compared with him, everyone else from this group was eclipsed, and Yang Kai’s eyes could not help landing on him involuntarily.
The moment he saw this young man, Yang Kai could not help shrinking his neck and wishing he had never come to this place!
This was understandable though as this Young Master-like character was none other than the one-person Yang Kai tried to avoid like a viper, Xue Yue.
[Why is she here?!] Yang Kai could not help silently screaming to himself. Although there had been many twists and turns on his journey here, in general, things had gone smoothly for Yang Kai, but now to his chagrin, he had met Xue Yue in this place!
[What rotten luck!] After entering the main palace of the Emperor Garden, Yang Kai had obviously managed to throw this woman off his trail, but now it seemed enemies truly met often along narrow roads.
If Yang Kai had known that Xue Yue would be here, he would never have come. Unfortunately, inside the Emperor Garden’s main palace, Yang Kai could not extend his Divine Sense more than a hundred metres or so, making it impossible to scout out the situation in front of him in advance.
What made Yang Kai curious, however, was why Xue Yue had come this deep into this place?
After seeing this woman, Yang Kai quickly pulled Bi Luo and wanted to take her away quickly.
But Bi Luo refused to move and instead stared towards a certain spot, a look of pleasant surprise and relief filling her face as she called out loudly, “Mistress!”
As soon as she spoke these words, Bi Luo’s tender body flickered and flew forward, leaving behind a pleasant floral fragrance in her wake.
Yang Kai was stunned when he heard this and quickly turned his eyes to discover a woman in a red dress who was staring back at him.
When their four eyes suddenly met, these two suddenly froze up.
This young woman seemed to be innately blessed with irresistible charm, her image capable of driving men to madness, her beautiful shimmering eyes capable of enchanting any man’s mind, sending them into a spiral of desire they were incapable of extricating themselves from.
Her tender body was slim and graceful while her twin peaks were rich and bountiful; her fiery red dress completely incapable of disguising her seductive figure and instead further outlining it.
Upon seeing Yang Kai, this enchanting woman seemed to be struck with disbelief and her body unconsciously began to tremble.
“Qing Luo?” Yang Kai murmured.
Although Yang Kai knew that Shan Qing Luo had also entered the Emperor Garden after meeting Bi Luo, he never expected that his meeting with her would be so dramatic. Under any other circumstance, Yang Kai would be elated, but right now…
Yang Kai turned his head to the other side and sure enough found Xue Yue staring at him, her pair of beautiful eyes flashing a kind of rage that stemmed from a complicated feeling of love and hate.
Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he realized that wanting to retreat now was impossible. Forgetting about the fact that Shan Qing Luo was here so he could not just leave, even if he tried to, Xue Yue would certainly not let him go.
Although he had not spent long together with this woman, Yang Kai knew she had an incredible desire for control, to the point where what she couldn’t subdue, she would destroy.
Since Yang Kai desired neither of these outcomes, he had decisively left Rainfall Star, causing the two of them to become enemies.
The situation right now was very delicate. Yang Kai could not tell exactly what had happened between Shan Qing Luo and Xue Yue’s group before he arrived here, but it was obvious they were on opposite sides. Shan Qing Luo was currently standing in front of the Stone Monument containing the Artifact Refining technique though, so she was probably the first to arrive here and had been studying it.
“Haha…” Yang Kai laughed dryly, “Third Young Master, such a coincidence, running into you here.”
“En, we meet again,” Xue Yue smiled towards Yang Kai. Although she had the image of a man right now, her smile still contained an enchanting style which was not much worse than Shan Qing Luo’s, “So I take it the one who followed this Young Master into the Emperor Garden was you after all, yes?”
“If I said it wasn’t, would Third Young Master believe me?” Yang Kai shrugged.
“What do you think?” Xue Yue ground her teeth lightly.
“Third Young Master, do you know this person?” An old man with a distinctive looking beard asked Xue Yue while directing a suspicious look towards Yang Kai.
“En, I know him, he’s an old friend,” Xue Yue’s lips curled upwards slightly, her words sounding so pointed it was obvious to everyone she had a grudge with Yang Kai.
The old man nodded slightly as his eyes filled with ill intentions. Regardless of where this boy came from, a trivial First-Order Origin Realm cultivator daring to offend the Third Young Master was destined to die without burial.
The old man did not put Yang Kai in his eyes at all and was simply waiting for his Third Young Master to order him to remove his head.
“Ahem…” Yang Kai lightly coughed before directing a slightly embarrassed look towards Xue Yue and saying, “Can Third Young Master wait a moment? I actually have another acquaintance here that I haven’t seen in many years and would like to say a few words to first.”
“Another acquaintance? You mean this enchantress?” Xue Yue’s eyes flashed with a strange light before letting out a laugh, “I never knew you actually had friends among the Monster Race, but no matter, be my guest!”
Saying so, Xue Yue opened her folding fan and gently fanned herself, seemingly completely at ease.
Yang Kai gently nodded and without using any kind of movement skill walked over towards Shan Qing Luo.
The Beguiling Demon Queen had yet to recover from her initial shock, or perhaps this unexpected reunion had caused her to lose the ability to respond; whatever the case, she stood on the spot, staring towards Yang Kai, her red lips opening a few times, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t dare to, lest she awaken from this dream and he disappeared from in front of her eyes again.
Her mood fluctuated wildly as she only became more and more lost.
At the same time, Bi Luo had already buried herself in Shan Qing Luo’s arms and was continuously shedding tears as if she had been extremely wronged.
Perhaps infected by Bi Luo’s mood, Shan Qing Luo’s beautiful eyes also gradually became somewhat moist.
With only a few dozen metres having originally separated them, it didn’t take long for Yang Kai to arrive in front of Shan Qing Luo, and as he got closer, her breathing gradually became more rapid and the trembling of her body became more obvious, her face and even her neck dying a deep shade of pink.
The sentiment that Yang Kai had inadvertently planted into her soul all those years ago suddenly exploded, making it impossible for her to remain calm in front of him. If there was anyone in this world who could so captivate her, it was undoubtedly Yang Kai.
Even when she saw the Red Moon Tribal Lord that day, she had not felt this helpless; at that time, even if the Red Moon Tribal Lord had been her enemy, at worst she would have died, but now, Shan Qing Luo felt as if her soul was about to melt. The dull sound of Yang Kai’s steps felt as if it was pounding on her heart, causing it to beat out of control.
“All these years… have you been well, Qing Luo?” Yang Kai finally asked the question he had been wanting to for so long.
He had always harboured some regret towards Shan Qing Luo in his heart; after all, since he left the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land to travel to Tong Xuan Realm, he had never been able to see her again, unlike Su Yan and Little Senior Sister.
He thought he would never see Shan Qing Luo again in his life.
He thought his path would forever be separated from this enchanting woman.
But fate was truly unpredictable and it somehow allowed the two of them to reunite out here in the vast Star Field.
A thousand words came to mind, making Yang Kai not know where to start.
Hearing this familiar voice she had dreamed about for nearly thirty years once more, Shan Qing Luo could no longer restrain her emotions and tears began silently dripping down her cheeks as she haltingly spoke, “Tell me, is this a dream?”
“It’s not!” Yang Kai smiled, reached out, and gently wiped her tears away.
Shan Qing Luo closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, but Yang Kai was still standing in front of her, his big, rough hand still caressing her cheek.
This feeling was undoubtedly real, without the slightest trace of illusion.
“Little bastard!” Shan Qing Luo grit her teeth and scolded before, in a burst of fragrant wind, leapt forward and plunged into Yang Kai’s arms.
With such a beauty surrendering to him, even though he was still in a critical situation, Yang Kai could not help feeling somewhat smug, especially when it was a woman like Shan Qing Luo. Once she showed any sign of weakness, the temptation she exuded was enough to destroy any man’s sense of reason.
But in the next moment, Yang Kai’s expression changed dramatically as his face twisted in pain.
This couldn’t be helped though as Shan Qing Luo at that moment had suddenly gone crazy and viciously pinched his waist and twisted with all her might while she clenched her free hand into a fist and pounded on Yang Kao’s chest, seemingly wanting to vent all of the grievances and longing she had suffered all these years.
To the eyes of onlookers, this was undoubtedly Shan Qing Luo flirting with Yang Kai, but only he knew how heavy-handed this devilish woman was being. Although she had not really hurt him, the pain he felt was quite real.
[This little enchantress…]
Yang Kai could not help feeling both dumbfounded and helpless.
Things had not ended yet. After silently beating him for a while, Shan Qing Luo actually lifted herself onto her tiptoes as her eyes flashed with endless bitterness, like an abandoned wife who was only seeing her philandering husband after several years, opened her mouth, and bit down on Yang Kai’s neck.
Everyone was dumbfounded!
The six Origin Realm masters surrounding Xue Yue all shook their heads one by one, muttering words like ‘scandalous’ and ‘highly improper’.
In front of everyone’s eyes, such shamelessness and immorality, this woman was indeed an enchantress, simply without any sense of propriety! And this little brat who was entangled with her was clearly not a good thing either, that much was clear at a glance. These masters could not help wondering how Young Master Xue Yue knew such a person.
Their Third Young Master had always had a discerning eye and would not make friends with any stray cat or dog, so this type of person should not be placed in his eyes.
“Enough!” Suddenly a loud voice rang out as Xue Yue was unable to watch anymore. If she were to allow these two to continue openly flirting like this, it was clear their actions would only become more excessive; how could Xue Yue tolerate such a display?
Although Xue Yue and Yang Kai had once embraced one another naked atop a Dead Star, that was in a barren place without an audience, so how could it compare to this public display of affection?
What’s more, seeing Yang Kai not resisting and letting this enchantress act as she pleased caused a deep rage to explode inside Xue Yue, her body trembling with anger as her knuckles whitened. As such, Xue Yue couldn’t bear it and loudly shouted to end this farce.
After shouting out like this though, Xue Yue also realized that her reaction had been a bit excessive so she quickly added some righteous sounding words, “Embracing each other in front of so many people, you really know no shame!”
As she spoke such accusations, she ground her teeth and glared at Yang Kai as if she wanted to slowly peel his skin.
“My, how frightening…” Shan Qing Luo patted her well twin peaks exaggeratedly, her relaxed expression slowly turning to one of anger as she cast a side-long glance towards Xue Yue before giggling and turning back to Yang Kai, exhaling an orchid scent as she whispered, “We’ll ‘talk’ more later.”
“Yeah!” Yang Kai nodded seriously as he felt relief in his heart. From what he saw, he could tell that Shan Qing Luo’s mood had calmed down after this little episode. However, after not seeing this enchantress for so many years, it was also clear that her innate charm had become even more astonishing. When she had been staring at him with such pitiful yet fiery eyes, Yang Kai nearly felt his soul get taken away by her.
After taking a moment to settle his mood, Yang Kai asked lightly, “Do you have some kind of grudge with them?”
“Not at all, it’s just… this androgynous boy and I are somewhat incompatible,” Shan Qing Luo chuckled, “Since you came here with Bi Luo, I assume you’ve heard my story, yes?”
“Indeed.”
“That’s good,” Shan Qing Luo giggled lightly before giving him a brief summary of her experiences in the Emperor Garden. It was a series of coincidences, starting with her vaguely perceiving that Yang Kai had also entered the Emperor Garden, then her searching for him, leading to her arriving at this deep part of the main palace. After discovering this Stone Monument, she had paused to study its mysteries, soon after which Xue Yue and her group had arrived.
Yang Kai and Bi Luo followed right afterwards though, so she and Xue Yue’s people hadn’t even had time to fight yet.
“This…” Yang Kai finished listening to her story and gently nodded while thinking to himself that since these two sides had no hatred between them, it shouldn’t be necessary to fight here. Considering all this, he turned to Xue Yue and grinned before proposing, “Third Young Master, as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as an irresolvable grudge. You and I meeting here can be considered a matter of fate, how about we let matters drop for today?”
“Good!” Unexpectedly, Xue Yue agreed immediately, causing Yang Kai to be stunned, but soon, his brow furrowed. Xue Yue being so accommodating here was extremely unusual, so Yang Kai couldn’t help thinking she was planning something.
Sure enough, Xue Yue stared at Yang Kai with a smile on her face and continued, “Out of consideration for our previous ‘friendship’, this Young Master won’t try to embarrass you so as to avoid others spreading rumours that my Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce uses its strength to bully the weak, but…”
“But what?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t be so nervous,” Xue Yue chuckled as a smug look appeared on her face, “I have a simple request, I want one of you to come with me.”
“One of us?” Yang Kai’s complexion sank, “Who do you want?”
Yang Kai glanced over at Shan Qing Luo, subconsciously thinking Xue Yue wanted to vent her anger on this bewitching woman.
Everyone present had similar thoughts, including Shan Qing Luo herself; after all, she was quite clear on just how powerful her charms were. There had never been a man who could remain completely calm in front of her, so when she heard these words, she couldn’t help a smile from blossoming on her face as she let out a burst of pleasant laughter and said, “I apologize Young Master, but if you want me, then I’m afraid I must disappoint you. This Lady already has a precious man, who completely fills her heart, and after dozens of years, we have finally been reunited. So from now on, I refuse to be separated from him.”
Saying so, she stretched out her arms and linked them with Yang Kai’s, pressing her tender body up against his intimately.
A strange light flashed across Xue Yue’s eyes before she folded her arms and laughed, directing a sarcastic look at Shan Qing Luo before saying, “Enchantress, don’t try to put on a coy act in front of this Young Master. When did this Young Master say the one he wants is you? Your skin must truly be thick!”
She didn’t know why, but Xue Yue did not want to let go of any chance to ridicule Shan Qing Luo even though it would have been impossible for her to think this way just a moment ago.
“Uh…” Shan Qing Luo’s cultivation and mental fortitude were quite good, but even she couldn’t help blushing in embarrassment at this moment, asking in a somewhat awkward tone, “Then who do you want?”
As she said so, she glanced suspiciously towards Bi Luo, but the latter quickly waved her hands to indicate that she had never met Xue Yue before.
“The one this Young Master wants is the man beside you!” Xue Yue glared coldly towards Yang Kai, her mouth twitching slightly as she snapped shut her folding fan and pointed it at him, “If you stay, I won’t embarrass these two women, this Young Master lives up to his words!”
Everyone’s eyes turned towards Yang Kai, all of them wondering what kind of grievance there was between these two men to cause Xue Yue to abandon this beautiful flower-like beauty and instead choose to keep Yang Kai.
As long as one was a man, he obviously should have chosen to keep the woman.
It seemed this grudge was quite deep, probably on the same level as killing one’s father or taking one’s wife… The masters around Xue Yue thought this way, but were even more curious about when their Third Young Master formed such a grudge? Why hadn’t they heard anything about it before?
“You want me to stay?” Yang Kai’s expression became strange.
“You don’t dare?” Xue Yue held her white chin, her face filled with arrogance and aggressiveness. “Or, could you be afraid?”
“Nonsense, me? Afraid? I’ve not stolen from or shamed you in any way.”
“You dare say you haven’t stolen from or shamed me!?” Xue Yue instantly became agitated upon hearing these words, her brow tightly furrowing as she glared towards Yang Kai.
Realizing the meaning of what he just said, Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh as he faced Xue Yue across a distance of several dozen metres, not knowing what he should say next. Only after a long silence did he sigh and try to persuade, “Third Young Master, a forcefully picked melon is not sweet, why act like this? You can walk along the high road while I cross the low bridge, well water not mixing with river water, each of us living in peace with one another. If you insist on forcing the issue, it will only result in everyone suffering a loss and leaving unsatisfied.”
“Everyone suffering a loss?” Xue Yue seemed to have heard the world’s funniest joke and mockingly narrowed her eyes, “You think you’re qualified to say such words now?”
“Whether or not I’m qualified, you can try if you like,” Yang Kai smiled deviously, “Moreover, it’s just a matter of speaking a few words; do you think you can prevent me?”
Xue Yue’s complexion changed dramatically when she heard this and shouted, “You dare!”
She was an incredibly sharp and intelligent woman, so how could she not understand the threat in Yang Kai’s words. The other party’s words implied he was willing to reveal her greatest secret, so how could she not become nervous?
“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Yang Kai smiled smugly, “In any case, it won’t cost me anything, but Third Young Master, you… heh heh.”
His laughter was so meaningful that Xue Yue couldn’t help feeling terrified, “If you dare do that, you’ll certainly regret it!”
“Then everything depends on your attitude, Third Young Master,” Yang Kai said in a perfectly composed manner, as if victory was already within his grasp.
“I…” Xue Yue became speechless for a moment, her pretty face filling a cold gloominess. The many masters around her also could not help exchanging glances with one another, all feeling incredibly shocked by the situation. They all knew how fierce their Third Young Master’s methods were, but now he was being cornered so thoroughly by some unknown First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy’s words, as if the other party was just casually toying with him.
This had never happened before.
Just what kind of hold did this boy have on their Third Young Master that would make the latter so cautious about acting lest innocents be hurt? At that moment, the six Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters also became curious, all of them secretly hoping that Yang Kai would blurt out whatever this secret was so they could soothe their curiosity.
The Third Young Master was a perfect person in their minds, yet such a person apparently had a fatal weak point; others would become interested in such information.
Suddenly, the tense situation came to a stalemate, with Xue Yue’s mood fluctuating up and down.
This was the first time she had found herself unable to make a choice. She was completely unwilling to let Yang Kai and this enchantress leave here. Because of how Yang Kai had saved her life, she had not prevented him from leaving Rainfall Star, but afterwards, she had deeply regretted this choice.
She felt that no matter what method she used, she should have tied this boy to her and make him become her servant.
In this world, except for a few of her closest relatives, only he knew her secrets, so whether it was because of logic or emotion she didn’t want to let him out of her sight. What’s more, Xue Yue had complete confidence in her charms, so as long as they were together for long enough, how could she not make him fall for her? At that time, not only would the possibility of her secret being exposed disappear, but she could also firmly capture his body and mind, killing two birds with one stone.
So she didn’t want to let Yang Kai leave. If she missed this opportunity, she didn’t know when she would see this bastard again.
But facing Yang Kai’s blatant threat, Xue Yue didn’t dare to act lest she really forced him into a hopeless situation and he let out her secret in desperation.
Thoughts flashed like lightning across her mind, but soon, Xue Yue’s eyes lit up and she smiled lightly towards Yang Kai, “Don’t say things just to frighten me, you won’t do it.”
“Nonsense!” Yang Kai declared.
“Is it?” Xue Yue sneered, “Then go ahead, say it if you have the courage! However, the consequences that will happen afterwards, I hope you can live with them!”
Xue Yue suddenly began acting like a rogue, even shooting a casual glance towards Shan Qing Luo as she spoke.
Yang Kai frowned slightly, and after pondering for a moment, his face sank.
He hadn’t considered what fallout would occur if he were to disclose Xue Yue’s secret here, but after being reminded by her, he understood. If he really talked, then Xue Yue would have no choice but to silence all the witnesses. In other words, Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo would be regarded as targets to be killed and even the masters beside her might have to die!
After all, to keep such a secret, Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t care about the lives of a few Origin Returning Realm masters.
“Seems like you’ve become much more shameless in the several years I haven’t seen you!” Yang Kai quipped at Xue Yue sarcastically.
“You as well!” Xue Yue chuckled, “Don’t think you’re any better.”
“However, do you truly think this is enough to make me hesitate?” Yang Kai looked at her with a sneer, “You’re too naive.”
Hearing this, Xue Yue’s expression changed wildly as she stared at Yang Kai in shock, “You wouldn’t…”
Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin as he coldly snorted, “I said that if you push things too far, at worst everyone will suffer a loss, but it’s not too late. Let us leave here in peace, otherwise…”
Xue Yue’s face suddenly turned blue as she never expected Yang Kai to be stubborn to such a degree! For a time, she felt aggrieved in her heart and her tender body shivered. She just wanted him to come with her. She had no intention to hurt him and instead wanted to grant him a great opportunity, so why was he refusing her to this extent?
Xue Yue couldn’t even count the number of people who wanted to follow her, but the one man she was actively extending an invitation to was now rejecting her outright. Why couldn’t he understand her pain?
Since Xue Yue was born, she had never been forced into such a passive situation besides when facing her father, President Ai Ou.
A woman was a woman in the end. Even if she wore the appearance of a man now, she couldn’t help being influenced by her feelings. Seeing Yang Kai display an attitude of dying with honour rather than living on in shame, her mood finally settled and she let out a sneer, “Do as you please, just remember, once you do, everyone here but you and me must die!”
As soon as this remark came out, the looks on the six Origin Returning Realm masters’ faces beside Xue Yue changed dramatically as they stared towards Yang Kai nervously.
“Good, good, good!” Yang Kai also smiled angrily, waving his arm wildly as he stepped forward and glared at Xue Yue fiercely, opening his mouth and declaring loudly, “Listen to me, your Third Young Master Xue Yue has a huge secret that I will reveal to you now!”
He was now riding a tiger, so he could only continue forward.
Xue Yue closed her eyes slowly and took a deep breath, not showing any intention to stop him, seemingly allowing Yang Kai to do as he wished.
On the other hand, the Origin Returning Realm masters around her all wore strange expressions, each of them suffering in silence. The conversation between Xue Yue and Yang Kai had not been hidden, so each word had been heard by them.
By now, they obviously understood that once Yang Kai exposed this secret, they would become implicated. Sometimes, even if a certain thing had nothing to do with oneself, just knowing about it could invite trouble, especially when it came to behemoths like Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce which had many secrets that could not be leaked out.
However, these people’s curiosity still somewhat won out over their fear.
Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo were the same, the two of them both opening their ears and eagerly anticipating what would be said next.
Seeing Yang Kai truly want to expose this so-called huge secret, the lead old man who stood beside Xue Yue couldn’t help crying out in anger, “Shut up!”
How could he just stand by and watch this happen? He needed to stop Yang Kai before he could say anything, so as he shouted, his body flickered and he flew towards Yang Kai, swooping down on him like a great Phoenix, his aura full of imposing might.
Yang Kai didn’t even glance at this old man though, instead gritting his teeth and shouting, “Your Third Young Master Xue Yue is in love with me, en, deeply in love!”
When this astonishing revelation came out, the entire world seemed to shake!
Everyone was stunned. Shan Qing Luo and Bi Luo couldn’t help covering their mouths with their hands as they glanced between Yang Kai and Xue Yue, a strange light flashing across their beautiful eyes.
The old man who was flying towards Yang Kai actually staggered and fell to the ground, his immense killing intent instantly evaporating, his eyes bulging as he landed.
Everyone else was no better off, their faces filled with utter shock.
This… this news was simply explosive!
“Impudence!” The beautiful woman beside Xue Yue cried out furiously, “What kind of honoured person is Third Young Master? Beautiful women surround him wherever he goes, how could he… could he…”
As the beautiful woman shouted, she cast a glance towards Xue Yue secretly, but what she saw was a pale face that was showing a look of total surprise, but there was also a hint of embarrassment and shame present, as if something that never should have been known had been exposed.
[It… it can’t be, right?] The beautiful woman’s heart clenched.
“Beautiful women surround him wherever he goes?” Yang Kai sneered, “Tell me then, which beautiful woman has he ever shown affection towards? What beauty has he ever shared a night with?”
After hearing Yang Kai say this, the six Origin Returning Realm masters all became dumbfounded. Thinking back carefully, they discovered that this was indeed the case! The Third Young Master always acted humble and courteous to everyone with a smile more refreshing than a spring breeze, his mere presence was enough to fascinate any young woman or girl. He was simply the most desired man in the entire Star Field.
He never lacked for women; in fact, there would always be beauties trying to win his affection no matter where he went.
But never once did he have any intimate contact with any of these women, let alone spend the night with one.
All of them had thought the Third Young Master simply had excellent self-control and was staunchly defending his righteousness, but now…
Thinking again about the conversation between the Third Young Master and Yang Kai just now, about how a forcefully picked melon was not sweet, and how their Third Young Master had insisted on Yang Kai remaining while giving up on the beautiful enchantress standing next to him, everyone became at least seventy to eighty percent certain what Yang Kai said was the truth!
Could the Third Young Master really have such special tastes?
Glancing over at Xue Yue, and seeing his face flushed bright red, a clear look of guilt covering his expression, the beautiful woman was unable to say anything more, simply feeling deep regret in her heart.
How could such a superb young man like other men?
The expressions of the other masters were basically the same. These people had each lived many years and were incredibly observant and insightful, so Xue Yue’s current expression and attitude were enough to illuminate the truth.
A peal of breathless laughter suddenly rang out as Shan Qing Luo could no longer help herself. When this laughter entered Xue Yue’s ears though, it only made her feel even more awkward and ashamed, making her want to find a hole in the ground, crawl inside, and never appear again.
Although she was a woman in truth, the outside world only knew of her as a man, so such words being said by Yang Kai were incredibly disgraceful to her; however, she was unable to refute them either, causing her tender body to shiver uncontrollably as her blood boiled.
Yang Kai’s move just now had exceeded her expectations. She had never expected him to be shameless to this extent, not even caring about his own reputation.
“You… you’re actually so wicked!” Xue Yue’s face twitched as veins became visible on her forehead. Ground her teeth, she glared at Yang Kai and screamed. “You dare slander this Young Master!”
“Whether it’s slander or not, you know, I know, and the Heavens know,” Yang Kai laughed like a wily rascal.
“Argh!” Xue Yue’s body trembled slightly as she ground her teeth and waved, “Capture them, especially that shameless bastard! This Young Master must rip his mouth off and let him taste the world’s most brutal torture!”
The Origin Returning Realm masters heard this and gawked before silently complaining to themselves.
The Third Young Master had never given out such benevolent orders before. Usually, he only called for his enemies to be killed ruthlessly, but he wanted them to capture these three alive today, so he obviously wasn’t willing to hurt them.
It seemed the words this little brat spoke really were not slander. Otherwise, why else would the Third Young Master allow them to live after being angered to such a point?
Furthermore, if it was truly just slander, given the Third Young Master’s demeanour, he would not have even paid it any mind, much less gotten angry.
The six Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters looked at each other and all felt that this matter had become a bit tricky, but the lead old man eventually collected himself and shouted, “Pardon our offence!”
Saying so, he along with the other masters swarmed towards Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo, summoning their artifacts and releasing their Secret Techniques. Although their manner was fierce, they did not display any murderous intent, simply trying to complete Xue Yue’s order and capture these three alive.
Originally, they thought that with their numbers and strength, capturing these three wouldn’t be the slightest bit difficult, with only the Third-Order Origin Realm enchantress possibly giving them some trouble.
However, as the fight progressed, these masters discovered that their thinking had been too naive.
This enchantress was quite extraordinary and cultivated some kind of profound Secret Art that allowed her to use the surrounding World Energy in combination with her own Saint Qi to form a massive spider web which covered the entire hall. She was able to easily move about this web, but for others each time they touched even a strand of its silk they would immediately be restrained, greatly impeding their mobility. In fact, just after the fight began, one of them had been caught up in this web and transformed into a giant dumpling, unable to escape even now.
This woman having such strength however could be accepted; after all, she did possess such cultivation.
The young man named Yang Kai, however, was the truly astonishing one. Obviously, he was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, but every move he made had incredible power behind it, especially the golden silk threads that shot from his hand and were capable of cutting through Shi. He also had a giant fiery red bird which circled overhead, a stone giant which swung around a jet black stick, and a sword which transformed into a giant dark green dragon…
All on his own, Yang Kai was fighting three Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters evenly.
This young man was extraordinary! No wonder Third Young Master Xue Yue was willing to abandon gender distinctions and hold affection towards him.
On the other hand, Bi Luo was the most inconspicuous, hiding behind the layers of spider threads the moment the battle began and concealing her aura to the point where no one could find her. At most, she would occasionally launch sneak attacks from her hiding place before quickly disappearing once more.
Xue Yue observed all this from a distance with a bitter smile on her lips. Giving praise where praise was due, while Yang Kai’s words just now had thoroughly angered her, she was still somewhat thankful to him for not revealing her actual secret.
It was for this reason that Xue Yue did not want to take things too far.
At this moment, standing back and watching, she found that Yang Kai’s growth after more than a decade had actually been more terrifying than she imagined, causing her to become excited and strengthening her desire to bind him to her side.
Such a talent could only be trained properly if they joined Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce and accompanied her. Only then would he have a broader, brighter future.
As for that enchantress… Xue Yue’s eyes turned to Shan Qing Luo and a look of unwillingness filled her face.
During the time she was with Yang Kai, she had learned that he had other women in his heart, so she mistakenly thought that Yang Kai leaving Rainfall Star was because of Shan Qing Luo at this moment.
Xue Yue wanted very much to fight Shan Qing Luo one-on-one right now so that she could show Yang Kai who was the better woman, but if she were to do this, it was quite likely that his opinion of her would only become poorer, causing Xue Yue to hesitate while bitterness filled her heart.
While Yang Kai, Shan Qing Luo and the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce masters engaged in an extremely fierce battle, episodes of bloodshed and murder also continued throughout the Emperor Garden.
Even Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters were unable to guarantee their safety.
Although everyone knew that there were many crises spread throughout the Emperor Garden, compared to such dangers, the hidden opportunities here still motivated them to explore. Countless cultivators from numerous Cultivation Stars entered the Emperor Garden, and when they encountered strangers from foreign lands, fights were inevitable, often leading to situations where one group triumphed while the other was exterminated.
Elsewhere, great, inextinguishable flames roared, flames so hot that even Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters could not easily resist them; however, none of these flames were real, instead just part of a profound Illusion Array.
Regardless, the cultivators trapped inside this Illusion Array felt that these flames were all real. At this moment, three Origin Realm masters were sitting cross-legged in this place, releasing their Saint Qi in unison to form a protective shield to resist the terrifying flames.
They had been trapped here for four or five days but were still unable to escape from this Illusion Array. They had consumed countless Saint Crystals and pills during this time but were unable to keep up with the consumption. Meanwhile, the flames around them continued to gather like vicious snakes, and as time passed, their situation became more and more critical.
Finally, one of the three completely ran out of Saint Qi and the section of the protective shield he had been supporting for the past few days burst like a bubble.
This man’s complexion changed drastically while the other two let out panicked shouts while desperately urging their own strength to try to repair the gap in the barrier. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain. The three of them working together had barely been able to protect themselves, but now that one of them had been thoroughly exhausted, the surrounding flames instantly drowned them like a raging tide.
Screams rang out but soon subsided. After the flames dissipated, only three skeletons remained. There were no obvious wounds on these skeletons, but there was also not a trace of their vitality either, this was the danger of an Illusion Array.
Back in the labyrinth that Yang Kai had passed through before, a group of cultivators from a certain Sect huddled together as they fought a fierce battle.
They weren’t fighting living creatures, however, but were instead facing a group of ancient puppets unique to the Emperor Garden. The energy fluctuations emitted by each of these puppets was equivalent to a master in the Origin Returning Realm, with some even matching masters of the Third-Order.
Even if these puppets weren’t sentient, and the way they fought was quite clumsy, their numbers were shocking.
In all fairness, this Sect’s force also had a large number of cultivators, five in total, each with considerable strength, but in this strange maze-like terrain, surrounded by countless puppets, there was simply no way for them to survive.
Their battle lasted for half a day, with the ground being littered with fragments of various defeated puppets and numerous bloodstains.
One after another these cultivators were killed off by the puppets, and after half a day, the labyrinth fell silent. This unknown Sect’s cultivators had been wiped out. After not detecting the aura of any living people, the puppets silently dispersed, as if they had never appeared in the first place.
Many cultivators died to the various Spirit Arrays and ancient puppets in the Emperor Garden.
However, the number of people who died due to fighting other cultivators was even higher.
Often, the appearance of a certain treasure could trigger a bloody storm. In the Emperor Garden, there were no rules or morals at all, only the strong had the right to speak. Whoever’s fist was biggest was safest as cruel and bloody battles happen almost constantly.
If a powerful master could fly over the Emperor Garden and look down though, they would notice that it was a huge octagonal-shaped palace with the buildings inside it all being placed following some mysterious law, as if they were small parts of a greater whole.
At this time, in the very centre of the Emperor Garden, two women stood quietly. One was wearing a black robe and seemed quite mysterious while the other radiated a noble and dignified air. This noblewoman also pulsed with an astonishing aura that identified her as a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, but she stood three hundred metres behind the black-robed woman with a look of utmost respect on her face.
Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun!
No one knew when they came to this central palace, let alone what they wanted to do here, but judging from their neat clothes and calm expressions, it was apparent they hadn’t encountered any danger on their journey here, much less engaged in any fighting.
The Emperor Garden seemed to not guard itself against them, allowing them to come and go as they pleased.
The palace they stood inside was extremely spacious, with a radius of more than a thousand metres.
There was only one thing in this palace, a small White Jade Crystal Coffin without any kind of power or aura, but this White Jade Crystal Coffin was floating mid-air, a very strange phenomenon.
Yang Yan stood in front of the White Jade Crystal Coffin, staring into it silently with a complicated expression.
A person was lying inside this crystal coffin, and from its figure, it was clearly a woman, one whose face was identical to Yang Yan’s. If Yang Kai had been here, he would instantly be able to recognize the identity of the woman lying in this crystal coffin.
The Starry Sky Great Emperor!
The powerful existence that ten thousand years ago unified the entire Star Field and whose legend still resounded today. The Star Emperor Tokens she refined were treasures that every great force coveted and any force which obtained one would regard it as a part of their foundation, not daring to use it easily. Only if their force was met with a life or death crisis would they bring out their Star Emperor Token and release the Divine Ability sealed inside of it by the Great Emperor.
She was supreme, able to cover the Heavens with a single hand, the strongest in all the Star Field!
However, no one knew that the famous Starry Sky Great Emperor was a woman. Perhaps her gender had been lost to the long river of history, or perhaps no one had ever seen her true face, but that did not impede the spread of her legend.
Looking at the woman in the crystal coffin, Yang Yan felt as if she was looking into a mirror. Their bodies and appearances were identical, with only their temperament being different.
Even in deep sleep, the face of the Great Emperor revealed a kind of inviolable and overwhelming majesty that made one feel it was a sin to even gaze upon her.
“So this is what I looked like,” Yang Yan whispered softly.
“Madam!” Ye Xi Yun called out, thinking Yang Yan had something she needed to tell her.
“It’s nothing!” Yang Yan replied lightly, “I was just talking to myself.”
Ye Xi Yun didn’t dare to say anymore, lowering her head and standing in place.
Yang Yan inhaled gently before sweeping her eyes around and sighing lightly, “This Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array should almost be ready to activate.”
At this moment, inside this huge palace, on its floor and walls, complex and esoteric runes continued to flash. As these runes lit up, the entire palace gradually flooded with a mysterious power. Where Ye Xi Yun stood, she could faintly hear a beautiful rhythm brush past her ears, seemingly calling out to her; in fact, she even felt the urge to have her Soul Avatar leave her body to chase after this entrancing music.
Having this thought, Ye Xi Yun couldn’t help breaking out into a cold sweat.
One’s Soul Avatar was extremely fragile and was generally hidden inside their Knowledge Sea. A cultivator would generally not have their Soul Avatar leave their body unless they encountered an extremely dangerous situation, because once they did so, if they could not find a suitable carrier, their Soul Avatar would dissipate and disappear from the world within half a day.
This Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array was something Ye Xi Yun had never heard of before, and she didn’t know what kind of magical use it had, but she was able to infer from her current situation that it was somewhat related to awakening the Great Emperor.
When a cultivator fell inside the Emperor Garden, the number of illuminated runes in the palace where Yang Yan was located also increased, as if the Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array here was somehow fueled by the deaths of the cultivators outside.
Yang Yan couldn’t have done such a thing, but the Great Emperor could have.
The Emperor Garden had been opened to the entire Star Field, but any cultivator who entered this place did so with the foreknowledge that they may fall. They had come here seeking great treasures, so they naturally understood there would be risks proportional to such rewards.
No one forced them to enter the Emperor Garden, everything was voluntary, so if they fell here and became the source of power for the Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array, they had nothing to complain about.
What did it matter if some people died so she could recover? In the eyes of the Great Emperor, these Origin Returning Realm masters may not even be any different from ants.
Seeing that there were a dozen runes left inside the palace that were not lit, Yang Yan couldn’t help turning her head and glancing at the entrance once more.
Unfortunately, it remained empty, with no sign of anyone coming.
Even seeing him one last time had become impossible…
Yang Yan had never felt that time was passing so quickly, like it was just the blink of an eye before all the runes in the palace lit up and the Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array arranged here burst into motion.
One rune after another leapt out from where it was engraved and in a brilliant and dazzling display rushed towards Yang Yan’s tender body.
When this happened, Yang Yan couldn’t help showing a pained look.
Ye Xi Yun obviously saw this, but she knew there was nothing she could do to help as even moving her fingers under the immense pressure was incredibly difficult. She had become nothing but an observer who could only bear witness to this thrilling, historic moment.
“Elder Ye…” Yang Yan’s shout suddenly echoed.
Ye Xi Yun responded quickly, “Yes!”
“No matter what I become in the future, make sure you assist Yang Kai well!”
Ye Xi Yun was startled, but immediately grit her teeth and replied, “This subordinate will obey Madam’s command!”
Yang Yan’s order was equivalent to that of the Great Emperor, so Ye Xi Yun would unquestioningly execute it.
Vaguely, in the dazzling white light, Ye Xi Yun seemed to see a joyful smile before the brilliant radiance completely engulfed Yang Yan’s form in a ball of light that in the next instant, shot directly into the White Jade Crystal Coffin, leaving no sign of Yang Yan behind.
The next moment, the entire palace returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened before.
All the lit runes dimmed, and the Transcendent Soul Summoning Grand Array also stopped. Only Ye Xi Yun remained inside the palace with the crystal coffin suspended mid-air.