“Madam?” After waiting for some time, Ye Xi Yun overcame her hesitation and called out anxiously.
*Ka…*
A soft sound came from the White Jade Crystal Coffin, and immediately after, a terrifying pressure centred on it burst forth, spreading like a great wave. At first, this pressure wasn’t too strong, but in the blink of an eye, it reached an intensity that even Ye Xi Yun was unable to bear. She couldn’t help dropping to her knees and falling onto the ground, without even the ability to lift her head.
Emperor Pressure!
At the same time, in the place where Qian Tong had been trapped, the battle between Yang Kai, Shan Qing Luo and the masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce continued.
Strictly speaking, the six Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce were not weak, and their respective artifacts were also quite powerful. On top of that, they were all familiar with one another and were able to exert even greater combat effectiveness by cooperating.
However, neither Yang Kai nor Shan Qing Luo was ordinary either.
One regarded fighting across realms to be commonplace and had many external helpers on hand while the other had obtained a Heaven-defying opportunity to absorb the Source Strength of a Heavenly Moon Demon Spider, neither could be judged by common sense.
Therefore, even if Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s side had an advantage in numbers, they were unable to take Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo.
In the beginning, they were afraid of hurting Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo, so each of them had held back their strength somewhat, but after discovering that the situation had far exceeded their estimations they realized if they did not use their full power, they would be the ones defeated.
As such, they quickly went all out, but even so, they were still unable to triumph.
The entire palace was filled with chaos as the light of various Martial Skills and artifacts bloomed while the surrounding World Energy aura violently churned. Even the Stone Monument containing the profound Artifact Refining method was not spared. Although Yang Kai had tried to avoid the area where it was located during the battle, the others present had no idea of its value, so it soon cracked and, at the rate things were going, it would not be long before it broke entirely.
This caused Yang Kai to feel a great deal of regret as he understood that the Artifact Refining method inscribed on this Stone Monument was incredibly profound, a rare treasure.
But with things having gotten to this point, Yang Kai was helpless to change the outcome.
“Yang Kai, it’s not too late for you to pledge allegiance to this Young Master, otherwise, this Young Master will definitely make you regret it for the rest of your life!” Xue Yue saw that the situation had become tricky and couldn’t help calling out.
“In your dreams!” Yang Kai laughed boisterously, refusing to even entertain the idea.
“Then you force my hand,” Xue Yue ground her teeth and steeled herself, forming a series of complicated signs with her hands as she began drawing in the nearby World Energy.
The face of the beautiful woman and the other masters who were fighting Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo changed greatly, all of them exchanging a look of amazement, as if they knew what Secret Technique Xue Yue was planning on using. Immediately, all of them used feints to open up some distance with the opponents before shooting looks of pity back at Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo.
Yang Kai’s expression also became serious; although he knew that Xue Yue had become angry out of shame and was probably not thinking logically anymore, whatever method she was about to use was not trivial. Unfortunately, in this place, trying to run was basically impossible, so he could only resist it head-on.
He didn’t believe that Xue Yue could display some kind of Divine Skill capable of killing him in one fell swoop.
What’s more, he sensed no murderous intent coming from this woman, so clearly she just wanted to see him suffer some pain.
As these thoughts flashed across his mind, Yang Kai prepared his defences.
A moment later, Xue Yue let out a low shout and the surrounding World Energy madly poured into her. The next instant, a strange Monster Beast phantom suddenly appeared above her head.
This Monster Beast’s body was covered with thick dark hair, had bright energetic eyes, and a long single horn extending from its forehead.
When Yang Kai saw this creature, his eyes unconsciously narrowed.
For some reason, he actually felt threatened by this Monster Beast illusion, something he had not experienced since entering the Emperor Garden.
Shan Qing Luo, on the other hand, called out in alarm, “Xie Zhi!”
She seemed to recognize what this Monster Beast was, but that wasn’t surprising since the Monster Emperor Star she was transported to was a Cultivation Star whose population was ninety percent Monster Beast and Monster Race. After so many years in such an environment, there were likely few Monster Beasts Shan Qing Luo did not recognize.
“Woman, your eyesight isn’t bad, actually able to recognize this Young Master’s Symbiotic Monster Spirit, but what of it? If you surrender now, this Young Master would be willing to forgive your former slights and will settle for just torturing that bastard. As for you… you can remain by this Young Master’s side as a concubine. En, your beauty isn’t bad so you can barely qualify to serve this Young Master,” Xue Yue still wanted to persuade them to surrender. Obviously, she knew how powerful this Divine Skill of hers was and that she was not fully able to control it, causing her some concern about injuring Yang Kai and Shan Qing Luo badly.
“A Symbiotic Monster Spirit!” Shan Qing Luo’s beautiful eye shrank for a moment before she let out a pleasant giggle again, “It seems I’ve underestimated your Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, you’re even able to obtain this kind of thing, but so what? You want this Queen to serve as your concubine? You should keep such nonsense to yourself.”
But Yang Kai just frowned. Even he had heard about Symbiotic Monster Spirits. One needed to take the Blood Essence of a powerful Monster Beast and refine it into their body with a profound Secret Technique, then after a long period of accumulation, one would be able to use that Monster Beast’s abilities and even summon a phantom image of it to oppose enemies.
This too was a type of external boost, but ordinary cultivators were generally incapable of using it because even if they had the aptitude to cultivate such a technique, finding a suitable Monster Beast’s Blood Essence was impossible. The might of this Secret Technique depended entirely on the level of the Monster Beast Blood Essence used.
The Xie Zhi was a kind of Variant Ancient Divine Spirit that had exceptional fighting prowess. Of particular note was its longhorn which was no less powerful than an Origin King Grade artifact. Using its Blood Essence to cultivate this Secret Technique was more than appropriate, and from the aura Xue Yue gave off, it was clear she had been cultivating it for many years. With this Symbiotic Monster Spirit assisting her, even if she was just a Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator, she could be considered invincible in the entire Origin Realm, so her confidence was not without reason.
Yang Kai only wondered when she had successfully cultivated this technique though since he had never seen her resort to it when they were together all those years ago.
When Shan Qing Luo’s cynicism reached her ears, Xue Yue’s expression darkened as she muttered, “You really insist on opposing this Young Master?”
“Opposing?” Shan Qing Luo covered her mouth and smiled, winking coquettishly, “Little Young Master seems to take himself far too seriously. It seems Elder Sister will have to teach you a lesson, lest you fail to understand the immensity of Heaven and Earth.”
The tone Shan Qing Luo took, like an Elder scolding a Junior, truly annoyed Xue Yue.
With the two women fighting like this, Yang Kai couldn’t even insert a word and was relegated to standing back and watching helplessly. As for the masters from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, they too had strange expressions.
Their Third Young Master was competing with this enchantress over a man. If word of this ever spread out… it would be an astonishing scandal! Many of these masters even considered whether they should commit suicide here and now to avoid future trouble.
“Fine then, please let this Young Master see who of us doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and who is the one shamelessly boasting!” Xue Yue was thoroughly angered now and with a wave of her hand sent the nearly corporeal Xie Zhi phantom roaring forward towards Shan Qing Luo.
Yang Kai’s complexion sank and wanted to intervene, but in the next instant, he saw Shan Qing Luo’s tender body flicker and step forward as a massive eight-legged phantom appeared behind her.
Heavenly Moon Demon Spider!
Without gathering the surrounding World Energy, without using any kind of technique, this phantom image had mysteriously appeared before everyone’s eyes, its entire body a flawless silvery-white with a half-moon mark adorning its forehead.
Although it was objectively a terrifying and hideous sight to behold, everyone who saw this spider at this moment was unable to think so, instead feeling like this giant spider was extremely beautiful.
This contradictory feeling caused everyone to feel quite uncomfortable.
Monster Qi soared to the Heavens, causing the surrounding world to tremble and quake.
“This is…” Xue Yue’s complexion changed dramatically as she stared towards this massive white spider in a daze, an uneasy feeling gripping her heart. However, the arrow had left the string now, and with the Xie Zhi phantom already pouncing towards Shan Qing Luo, even if Xue Yue wanted to take it back, she couldn’t.
“Go!” Compared to Xue Yue, Shan Qing Luo was undoubtedly calmer, and with a light wave of her hand, the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider phantom behind her moved its eight legs and quickly met the Xie Zhi phantom head-on.
One was an Ancient Divine Spirit while the other was a Variant Ancient Divine Spirit. Although the difference between the two wasn’t exactly small in terms of grade, they weren’t living creatures, after all, so the strength they could display was more dependent on the abilities of their controller.
Therefore, in terms of momentum, the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider phantoms were basically on par.
In the blink of an eye, the two illusory figures collided, one black, one white, neither one able to overwhelm the other. Indistinct roars and whining noises could be heard as the two creatures clashed, releasing shocking energy fluctuations all around. Almost everyone present became unstable on their feet, as if they were riding aboard a small boat in a great storm, only able to drift with the ocean’s flow.
Yang Kai, however, remained perfectly calm and steady.
The aura that his Verdant Dragon Bone Sword was invisibly radiating was able to resist the terrifying coercion coming from this intense battle, allowing Yang Kai to stay unaffected.
At a rate visibly to the naked eye, the black and white phantoms clusters shrank, obviously a result of the amazing consumption they were experiencing during this battle.
After only a dozen breaths or so, the two opposing coloured light halos merged and the figures of the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider were no longer visible.
The next moment, a terrifying burst of energy spread out, carrying with it a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering force.
Everyone’s complexion changed drastically and they all hurriedly summoned their defensive artifacts to resist the fallout from this blast. Even so, one after another, figures were thrown out and tumbled through the air before crashing to the ground in extremely embarrassing states.
No one had imagined that the battle between the Xie Zhi and Heavenly Moon Demon Spider would be so violent and end with a kind of mutual destruction.
Xue Yue’s face was pale while Shan Qing Luo’s vitality also seemed somewhat unstable.
*Kacha…*
The sound of something shattering suddenly rang out at that moment and the Stone Monument containing the profound Artifact Refining method at the centre of the hall was finally unable to bear the impact of the chaotic energy waves and burst apart.
Amidst its fragmented remains, however, something else was mixed in and flew out towards Yang Kai’s direction.
“Hm?” Yang Kai wrinkled his brow, and with a quick flick of his wrist grabbed the object which was flying over towards him. When he examined this item, he found that it was a palm-sized stone tablet with some complicated ancient text engraved upon it.
At first glance, Yang Kai was unable to recognize what this thing was.
Inside this Stone Monument which contained a profound Artifact Refining method, there was something else hidden, a discovery that surprised Yang Kai greatly.
Nearby, however, Xue Yue, who was still somewhat pale-faced, suddenly showed a look of pleasant surprise when she spotted this stone tablet, her eyes instantly fixing onto it and refusing to move.
“Yang Kai, give that thing to me!” Xue Yue suddenly called out.
“Why?” Yang Kai shot a glance over at her before quickly stuffing the stone tablet into his Space Ring. Although he did not know what this stone tablet was, since it had been so deeply hidden here, obviously it was no small matter.
Xue Yue should have also understood this, and possibly even recognized the ancient text engraved on it. Otherwise, she would not have been so excited.
“Just give it to me!” Xue Yue said anxiously, “That thing is of no use to you!”
“How do you know it’s of no use to me?” Yang Kai declared indifferently.
“Give it to me first, and I’ll explain when I have a chance later. As long as you hand that stone tablet over, this Young Master will withdraw and no longer trouble you. The grievances between you and I will also be wiped clean!” Xue Yue stared at Yang Kai sincerely.
Yang Kai’s expression finally changed, becoming more and more curious.
How valuable must this stone tablet be that it could make Xue Yue offer such concessions? Although Yang Kai was certain that whatever secrets this stone tablet held were incredibly shocking, he did not suspect that Xue Yue was deceiving him.
Since she said it was useless to him, it almost certainly was. Although Xue Yue was extremely possessive and possessed astonishing means and abilities, she was not someone who liked to lie. Because of her innate arrogance, she simply disdained to deceive others.
About this point, Yang Kai believed his judgment.
In all fairness, it would not be a loss to exchange this stone tablet of unknown purpose for Xue Yue’s promise.
Seeing Yang Kai become tempted, Xue Yue hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and said, “This Young Master is always true to his word, about this you don’t need to doubt, everyone here can testify to this!”
“Can I ask what use this thing has?” Yang Kai tilted his head and looked at her.
A hint of embarrassment appeared on Xue Yue’s face, but after a short pause, she opened her lips and sent a quiet message directly to his ear, “I can’t tell you exactly what it’s for, but I can tell you that not only is it useless to you, it’s also useless to me and every other cultivator in the entire Emperor Garden!”
Yang Kai’s eyes shrank!
Although Xue Yue did not explain anything directly, her remarks were intriguing enough.
Most of the cultivators in the Emperor Garden were Origin Returning Realm masters, many of whom had reached the Third-Order, so this stone tablet being useless to all of them could only mean one thing.
Only Origin King Realm masters could use this stone tablet!
No wonder Xue Yue was willing to make such a promise, this thing’s value was not small. Any treasure that was exclusively for Origin Kings must have inestimable value, but… Yang Kai had only just broken through to the Origin Returning Realm and was still extremely far away from the Origin King Realm. What’s more, he had so many rare treasures already, as well as an incredibly rich background, so he may not even care about the secrets hidden in this stone tablet.
Considering all this, Yang Kai began leaning towards accepting Xue Yue’s offer and hesitantly asked, “Can I believe your words?”
“Yes!” Xue Yue declared solemnly.
“Good, I hope you mean what you say!” Yang Kai nodded gently and was just about to toss the stone tablet to Xue Yue, but at that moment, a change suddenly took place.
All of a sudden, an abnormal energy fluctuation filled the air like an invisible ripple, sweeping over everyone and everything in an instant.
Yang Kai was quite awfully familiar with this kind of energy fluctuation by now and it caused his complexion to change dramatically when he felt it. Rushing towards Shan Qing Luo at that instant, he called out loudly, “Qing Luo!”
Shan Qing Luo hadn’t realized what was going on yet but seeing Yang Kai rushing over to her so eagerly, she couldn’t help smiling and stretching out her jade white hand towards him.
But in the next moment, her expression changed sharply because she saw a huge palm formed of ambient World Energy suddenly appear behind Yang Kai. This palm should belong to a woman, because although it was massive, it had a slender and beautiful appearance, like a flawless jade carving that had been enlarged thousands of times over.
Swooping down from above, it grabbed towards Yang Kai!
“No!” Shan Qing Luo’s beautiful face lost all colour as she screamed out in panic.
The moment her voice rang out though, the flawless jade hand grabbed hold of Yang Kai and burst into particles of light, disappearing along with Yang Kai before everyone’s eyes.
Before she could figure out what happened, Shan Qing Luo heard panicked screams from all directions. Looking around, she could not help gawking for a moment because right now, everyone was facing the same fate as Yang Kai. Giant palms formed by the ambient World Energy were grabbing hold of everyone, bursting, then as space distorted, figures were vanishing.
Shan Qing Luo instinctually raised her head to the sky and found that even her situation was the same…
By the time she recovered her wits, Shan Qing Luo realized she had returned to Monster Emperor Star!
Somewhere on Shadowed Star, Yang Kai stood in a daze, staring down at his palm.
On his fingertips, there seemed to be a touch of Shan Qing Luo’s lingering heat and the tip of his nose still smelt a whiff of her enchanting fragrance, stimulating his emotions even now.
Only after some time did he raise his head and sigh. Although they had been forcefully separated again so soon after they reunited, at least Yang Kai was certain that Shan Qing Luo was alive and well, which for now was enough.
Yang Kai did not know what happened in the Emperor Garden to cause its World Principles to suddenly eject him, but since he had been sent out, everyone else must have as well.
Considering all this, Yang Kai looked up and found that high in the sky, the massive and majestic Emperor Garden was still present, appearing just as it always had with the exception of the jade platforms which had now disappeared.
Yang Kai estimated that it would be impossible to re-enter the Emperor Garden again.
Yang Kai did not know exactly what happened in the Emperor Garden, but he figured it was somehow related to Yang Yan. She had said that on the day the Emperor Garden opened, the true body of the Great Emperor would awaken, so presumably, everything had gone well with her and Ye Xi Yun.
If all had gone well, then the body of the Great Emperor should have awoken!
Thinking so, Yang Kai’s heart suddenly clenched and his expression became gloomy.
Yang Yan was the Soul Clone of the Great Emperor, so if the true body of the Great Emperor awoke, what would happen to her? Yang Kai had not considered this point before and Yang Yan had never mentioned it to him, but now, the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.
No more dawdling, Yang Kai quickly released his Divine Sense to try to find out where he currently was, as well as what direction to travel to reach the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
This quick investigation, however, only made Yang Kai’s face even uglier.
He discovered that he was on a deserted island. This island was not very large, only about a dozen kilometres in diameter, and the resources here were quite poor. There were no spirit grasses or spirit medicines to speak of and no trace of any living people, the only thing above and around him was blue sky and blue sea.
[It can’t be…] Yang Kai frowned.
When bad luck struck, it never did so gently, [I can’t have been sent to the Limitless Ocean, right?]
Yang Kai had arrived on Shadowed Star many years ago, so he was well aware of the existence of the Limitless Ocean. Shadowed Soul Island, one of the Three Great Forbidden Zones, was situated above the Limitless Ocean. Unfortunately, no one had ever seen Shadowed Soul Island and lived to tell the tale.
The environment around Yang Kai right now was remarkably similar to the descriptions he had heard about the Limitless Ocean before!
If this was truly the case, his situation was a bit troublesome; after all, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was incredibly far from the Limitless Ocean. If Yang Kai were to try to fly the whole way back, he could not even begin to estimate how much time it would take him.
Of course, this was just his guess and he would need to find someone to ask to be certain.
Having formulated a plan, Yang Kai summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off as quick as lightning from the deserted island.
Atop the expansive sea, five cultivators wearing matching robes were fighting with a giant octopus-like sea beast. Brilliant artifact attacks and Martial Skills blossomed, filling the air and sea with vivid and colourful light.
The cultivation of these five was not high, each of them only having reached the Saint Realm.
On the other hand, the aura emanating from the octopus’s body was peak Seventh-Order.
If it were anywhere else, this group of five would be more than enough to take down this sea beast, but in the water, this octopus occupied a distinct territorial advantage and could easily use the abundant Water Attribute Energy around it to fight. It would condense barrages of water arrows to overwhelm the five cultivators while mixing in its black ink to blind and disorient them.
Additionally, the long and thick tentacles of this sea beast were not to be underestimated. Every time it struck with one of its limbs, the five cultivators would pale and hurriedly evade.
Although wounds accumulated on the sea beast’s body as time passed, the group of five were also becoming exhausted and each of them was now obviously panting for breath.
After another incense stick worth of time, a scream suddenly resounded. It was a woman wearing green robes. She and her companions had been trying to land a killing blow on the eye of this sea beast when suddenly they had been enveloped by a thick black mist.
Obviously, the octopus had sprayed out a large amount of its ink to form this black mist. Not only could this mist hinder sight and Divine Sense, but it also seemed to suppress the power of artifacts and impede the flow of Saint Qi in any cultivator caught inside of it.
This woman had the lowest cultivation out of this group, so she was the first to be affected. At the exact moment she noticed her Saint Qi was no longer circulating smoothly, a giant tentacle whipped towards her.
The woman’s beautiful face turned pale as she instinctively tried to defend herself but unfortunately discovered that she was powerless to do so. Seeing the tentacle approaching closer and closer, she could not help screaming, thinking she was doomed this time.
The other four people in this group also saw this but they too were suffering the effects of the black mist and were unable to render assistance, causing them immense anxiety and regret.
However, at the last moment, a golden light suddenly flashed before their eyes. This golden light at first seemed quite weak, but amidst the black mist, it shined as dazzlingly as the sun, dispelling the darkness which was engulfing the group of five.
With a soft slicing sound, the tentacle of the giant octopus which the group of five had been helpless against was instantly cut off, resulting in dark green blood splashing out in the next instant.
The sea beast’s pained cries rang out as it whipped its seven remaining tentacles about chaotically, stirring up the surrounding sea.
The golden light reappeared immediately after and all the octopus’s remaining tentacles were severed and flew away from the octopus’ main body with a series of slicing sounds, green blood instantly overflowing into the sea.
In the blink of an eye, the originally dominant octopus was killed, its massive body miserably chopped into pieces.
Having just escaped from death, how could this woman from an unknown force not understand that she had been lucky, and a passing master had saved her? Calming herself down, she hurriedly raised her voice and shouted, “May I ask which Senior has arrived here? Profound Heaven Sect’s Xiao Luo thanks Senior for this life-saving grace.”
The other four also recovered and offered their thanks, looking around to find the figure who had rescued their Junior Sister.
A gust of wind blew in and the dark mist covering the area was blown away, revealing a stalwart looking young man standing nearby, his expression somewhat strange as a look of nostalgia flashed across his eyes.
[So young?] The group of five were all quite surprised. They had thought that whoever it was who killed this peak Seventh-Order beast must be an old master, but it turned out that their saviour looked no older than themselves.
However, age could not be judged according to appearance alone as the higher a cultivator’s strength, the slower their vitality would pass. As a result, many extremely powerful masters retained youthful looks.
Thinking so, the five Saints became even more respectful. Led by a sturdy-looking man, they flew over to Yang Kai and bowed again to thank him.
“A minor matter, there’s no need for such politeness,” Yang Kai said lightly as he observed the dishevelled looks of these five people and the Seventh-Order sea beast’s corpse down below, recalling the past where he too was weak, like they were. Now, however, a peak Seventh-Order Sea Beast couldn’t even last a breath against him.
[Time really flies by! Now… I’m the Senior.]
Yang Kai suddenly felt the urge to laugh.
As such thoughts swirled around Yang Kai’s head, the expressions of the five Saints in front of him remained taut and cautious. Understanding why these five were acting this way, Yang Kai simply asked, “Is this the Limitless Ocean?”
The five people glanced at each other before the man leading their group nodded and replied, “Reporting to Senior, this is indeed the Limitless Ocean.”
“So… It’s true,” Yang Kai’s face sank. Although he had guessed as much, he had not expected that he would really be sent to the Limitless Ocean from the Emperor Garden.
“Is Senior from inland?” The woman named Xiao Luo suddenly asked.
“Luo’er!” The lead man’s face changed drastically as he called out in alarm. Although he did not know what kind of cultivation Yang Kai possessed, judging from the method he used to kill the sea beast just now, if he wanted to kill them, it would not take any effort.
It was one thing to be grateful for a life-saving grace and another to remain wary. Before they were clear about this passing Senior’s temperament, if they were to suddenly begin asking questions it would likely irritate him.
What’s more, this man currently had two beautiful Junior Sisters in his group. If this Senior were to be a lascivious man, interacting with him would likely lead to trouble. The lead man’s expression became tense as he raised his eyes to look at Yang Kai, but to his relief, he found that Yang Kai was not angry and instead just staring at his Junior Sister with interest.
“How did you know I came from the inland?”
“Because those who live on the Limitless Ocean all-year-round have darker skin tones and a unique kind of moisture in their auras. Senior doesn’t have either of these,” The girl named Xiao Luo explained naturally.
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, glanced around, and discovered it was just as this woman said. These five indeed had a kind of moisture mixed in with their auras, one that was so light that wouldn’t be noticed if one didn’t specifically look for it. The skin tone of these five was also slightly darker than the ones of people from the inland. With someone guessing his origins, and never having any intention to conceal them in the first place, Yang Kai simply nodded in acknowledgement, “Yeah, I came from the inland but I seem to have gotten lost. Do you know which way I need to go to return to the inland and about how long it will take?”
…..
After a half cup of tea’s time, Yang Kai summoned his Star Shuttle again and flew off in a certain direction.
After asking these five disciples of Profound Heaven Sect for directions, Yang Kai realized that his luck had not been so terrible. He was currently at the edge of the Limitless Ocean, not its depths, so he was not too far from the inland. With his speed, it would only take him about three to five days to reach land.
However, flying back to the Flowing Flame Sand Field was a bit unrealistic; after all, the distance was too far. If he relied on his own power, it would take Yang Kai at least half a year to return!
Yang Kai was not interested in wasting so much time on the road.
As such, he was planning to find a city where he could use a Space Array.
Fortunately, there was a city called Sea Side City not far from where he was at that was regarded as a way-station between the inland and the Limitless Ocean. Many cultivators would enter and exit Sea Side City, so the Space Array was open to the public; of course, one would need to pay enough Saint Crystals to use it.
For each use of the Space Array, depending on the distance one wanted to travel, the charge would be different. The minimum cost was 10,000 Saint Crystals while the maximum was 300,000.
Such a price would be difficult for an average cultivator to bear, but it was nothing to Yang Kai.
Five days later, Yang Kai arrived at Sea Side City. The scale of this city was not small, about twice as large as Heavenly Fate City, and the cultivators coming and going seemed to form a human river that never stopped flowing.
This was not surprising as, although the inland and ocean both belonged to Shadowed Star, the various resources they produced were vastly different due to differences in geography and climate. Many cultivation resources that were not available inland could easily be found on the ocean while the opposite was also true.
As an interchange between the two, Sea Side City had become the most famous commercial city in the surrounding million-kilometre radius.
Yang Kai did not plan on staying here for very long though, so after some quick inquiries, he learned the location of the Space Array and rushed over to it.
The streets of Sea Side City were spacious enough to accommodate several carts driving side by side and each street was lined with rows upon rows of shops, enough to make a person dizzy.
As he was rushing towards his destination though, a loud noise suddenly caught Yang Kai’s ear.
“You cheap bitch, with just two thousand Saint Crystals you want to buy a Hundred Spirits Pill? Are you insane? If you do not leave this instant, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
“But I only have two thousand Saint Crystals on me right now. Shopkeeper Cheng, you and I have done many transactions these past few years, and although none of those were of great value, you know I am a credible person. Can’t you make an exception and sell me that pill on credit? I swear that I will pay back the Saint Crystals I owe you in the future! I have to earn a living here in Sea Side City in the future, so you know I won’t simply run away.”
“Nonsense, I’m running a business here! People pay money and I sell them goods, this isn’t a charity! If you do not have enough Saint Crystals, then get the hell out, you must be dreaming if you think I’ll just give you a Hundred Spirits Pill!”
“Shopkeeper Cheng I’m begging you.”
“Shut up! I’m warning you one last time, if you don’t leave, you’ll face the consequences!”
The source of this disturbance was a nearby man and woman. The man was the shopkeeper of a pill store while the woman, who seemed to be about forty years old, was a prospective customer. From her appearance, it was clear that this woman must have been quite beautiful in her youth, but right now her skin was a bit pale and her figure was a bit thin. Clearly, she was quite impoverished. She was imploring this shopkeeper surnamed Cheng but the other party remained completely unmoved.
Yang Kai stared at this woman’s profile for a long time before suddenly raising his brow, a thoughtful look flashing across his face.
He felt that this woman was familiar, but he couldn’t be sure he was right; after all, the two of them weren’t familiar with one another and it was just her voice and profile that seemed similar to the ones in his memory.
Thinking so, Yang Kai decided to step forward.
The shopkeeper, who was just fiercely berating the women, saw Yang Kai approach and immediately put on a friendly business smile and asked, “May I help you, Sir? Although this shop is small, we have a wide selection of high-quality pills available. Whether it is for healing or cultivation, we carry pills for every need, please have a look for yourself.”
Yang Kai glanced at this shopkeeper for a moment without showing any intention to respond before turning to the woman and examining her carefully. After a while, he asked tentatively, “Are you Foreign Elder Huang?”
The woman who appeared to be on the brink of breaking down and crying was just about to leave but heard Yang Kai’s voice and could not help looking up in surprise to see him staring curiously at her.
In that instant, her tender body trembled as she showed a startled and somewhat amazed look on her face.
“It truly is you, Foreign Elder Huang!” Yang Kai gently nodded. Although this woman looked quite dishevelled, she was indeed someone he knew; after all, she would not have reacted this way had she been a stranger to him.
Huang Juan! In the past, she had been one of the Hai Ke Family’s Foreign Elders, an old acquaintance of Chang Qi and Hao An’s so to speak.
During the struggle between Yang Kai and the Hai Ke Family, Huang Juan had been ordered by Patriarch Yi En to go to the City Lord’s Mansion for help. Unfortunately for them, Fei Zhi Tu had no interest in intervening and refused to see her, so Huang Juan had no choice but to return in failure, soon after which she quietly left the Hai Ke Family.
Yang Kai had heard from Chang Qi and Hao An about her so he had some faint impression of Huang Juan. Understanding that she was unwilling to become enemies with Wu Yi and the others, she had chosen to leave the Hai Ke Family without hesitation.
She apparently had a good personal relationship with Wu Yi, and when Chang Qi and Hao An spoke about their old friends over the years, Huang Juan was the one they mentioned most often.
As for why she had come to Sea Side City and why she seemed so down on her luck, Yang Kai didn’t know.
However, it wasn’t too difficult to imagine what happened. With only a Third-Order Saint King Realm cultivation, while she might have been able to receive some good treatment from the Hai Ke Family, it was nothing worth mentioning in relation to the great forces on Shadowed Star. With no strong backing and no background to speak of, a lone Third-Order Saint King would indeed have a difficult time surviving, especially if she were a woman.
“Are you Yang Kai?” Huang Juan obviously remembered Yang Kai, “Why are you here?”
“It’s a long story,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly, not planning to explain in detail, “Rather than that, why are you here, Foreign Elder Huang?”
“I came here many years ago,” Huang Juan’s expression flickered slightly before continuing awkwardly, “What happened back then, I was simply acting on orders, so…”
“I know, don’t worry about it. I didn’t come here to find trouble with you. Are you poisoned?” Yang Kai frowned as he observed a faint black Qi between Huang Juan’s brows.
Huang Juan wore a stunned look hearing this, as if she did not expect Yang Kai to be able to see through her condition so easily.
“No wonder you want to buy a Hundred Spirits Pill,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
“I’ve shown you something embarrassing,” Huang Juan said as her face blushed. Having such an awkward condition exposed was something to feel ashamed about.
Seeing Yang Kai and Huang Juan conversing, apparently quite familiar with one another, the shopkeeper of the pill store could not help showing a touch of impatience. He subconsciously thought that anyone who was friends with a poor woman like Huang Juan would not be wealthy.
What’s more, Yang Kai had just come out from the Emperor Garden where he fought several battles, after which he flew nonstop over the open ocean to reach Sea Side City, so he currently had quite the dishevelled look himself.
The shopkeeper’s face sank immediately and all the flattery in his voice disappeared as he quickly snorted, “If you two want to reminisce, find somewhere else to do it, don’t hinder my shop from doing business.”
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai glanced over at him casually and understood that this man had a habit of acting snobbish. Feeling somewhat annoyed at being treated like this, Yang Kai coldly snorted, “How many Saint Crystals for a Hundred Spirits Pill?”
“What? You want to buy one?” The shopkeeper surnamed Cheng swept his eyes over Yang Kai suspiciously.
“What? Can’t I buy one?”
“Of course you can, but this is a business after all, only after you pay money will we deliver goods…”
As soon as the shopkeeper spoke these words though, a cloth bag flew over to him which he quickly caught. Sweeping the inside of this bag with his Divine Sense, the look on shopkeeper Cheng’s face immediately changed as he smiled widely, “Oh! Please wait a moment dear customer.”
Saying so, he quickly went to the back of the shop and took out a Hundred Spirits Pill before handing it over to Yang Kai.
After taking the Hundred Spirits Pill, Yang Kai did not bother with this man any further. The other party was just a Saint Realm cultivator, so although his character was a little rotten, Yang Kai would not lower himself to deal with him, simply waving to Huang Juan and saying, “Let’s go.”
“En,” Huang Juan replied blankly before following after Yang Kai in something of a daze.
Not long after, the two entered an inn under the leadership of Yang Kai and, after renting a courtyard, he handed the Hundred Spirits Pill to Huang Juan to refine.
After a day and night, Huang Juan had fully recovered.
Although the Hundred Spirits Pill was just a Saint King Grade Low-Rank pill, it was excellent for detoxification. The poison Huang Juan was afflicted with was not too strong, with the only problem being that she had been suppressing it forcefully for some time now. As such, after she swallowed the Hundred Spirits Pill and spent some time adjusting her breathing, she was completely cured and would not need to worry about the poison’s effects in the future.
Opening her eyes again, the woman said to Yang Kai with a somewhat complicated expression, “This Mistress must thank Sect Master Yang for his help, I will not forget this graciousness for the rest of my life.”
As she spoke, she choked up a bit. If it were not for her coincidentally running to Yang Kai here, what fate she might have met was completely uncertain. Although she couldn’t die from such a poison, if she were unable to detoxify herself for too long, her strength would have been affected and her realm might have even fallen. Such consequences were unacceptable for any cultivator.
“Just a trivial matter,” Yang Kai waved his hand faintly, “But it seems that Foreign Elder Huang has had a difficult time these past few years.”
Hearing this, Huang Juan brushed her tattered hair back behind her ear and smiled bitterly, “Far more than difficult, times have been extremely hard.”
Only after she left the Hai Ke Family did she realize how difficult it was for a cultivator to be alone in this world. She had not noticed at first because she had built up some savings after spending so many years as a Foreign Elder in the Hai Ke Family.
However, when her savings ran out, her nightmare began.
Without any status or backing, she could only depend on herself. Moreover, she was a woman who, despite not being young anymore, was still somewhat charming, so she had often faced the coveting of unscrupulous men, leading to many dangerous situations.
She had wanted to find another Sect or small family to join, but no one was willing to admit a cultivator like her that had unclear origins.
As a last resort, she could only partner with a few other cultivators in similar situations to her in Sea Side City and go out to sea to hunt sea beasts for a living. However, this kind of work was accompanied by huge risks. Huang Juan had witnessed many cultivators she worked with die on the ocean in recent years, including cultivators from the team she belonged to. Fortunately, her luck hadn’t been too bad, and she was able to return alive each time.
That was until a Sea Beast managed to poison her, after which no one wanted to partner with her anymore. To cure this poison, Huang Juan had sold off all her belongings, but unfortunately, she still hadn’t managed to gather enough Saint Crystals to afford a Hundred Spirits Pill. She had gone to the previous pill store several times, but each time she begged, the shopkeeper surnamed Cheng would ruthlessly reject her.
It was not until today when she met Yang Kai that things had changed.
After listening to her story, Yang Kai gently nodded, pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Have you ever thought of going back?”
“Going back?” Huang Juan looked at him for a moment, a trace of nostalgia flashing across her face before she gently shook her head and said with a wry smile, “I can’t go back, this Mistress already left the Hai Ke Family, so how could I shamelessly return now? Not to mention, I heard that the family already dismissed all its Foreign Elders a few years ago and now only allows those with blood ties to become Elders. Even if I were to go back, they won’t accept me.”
“No, no, no, I don’t mean to return to the Hai Ke Family, I mean return to Wu Yi, Chang Qi, and Hao An!” Yang Kai raised a finger and shook it.
“You mean… to High Heaven Sect?” Huang Juan’s eyes lit up.
“Oh? You know of High Heaven Sect?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“Sect Master Yang must be joking,” Huang Juan’s eyes flashed brilliantly, “High Heaven Sect is now extremely well-known. Although this Mistress has lived in Sea Side City for many years now, how could I not have heard of it? What’s more, the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain is a famous event that is still widely talked about across Shadowed Star. I’m afraid there is no one on Shadowed Star that does not know about High Heaven Sect and Sect Master Yang.”
“Am I so famous?” Yang Kai raised his brow. He didn’t think Huang Juan was trying to fawn over him; after all, this place was truly far from the inland, so what she said about being able to hear about the Battle of Dragon Cave Mountain and High Heaven Sect was likely the earnest truth.
“Forget it, such things aren’t important. I’ll just ask you this, what do you think of my proposal?”
A touch of excitement appeared on Huang Juan’s face, but she did not immediately respond. Instead, hesitation crept into her expression before she lowered her head sadly, “This Mistress naturally wishes for such an opportunity, but this Mistress’ cultivation is so low, how could I be worthy of joining High Heaven Sect?”
“What does having low cultivation have to do with anything? There are many people in the Sect whose cultivation is inferior to yours. You must be familiar with the skills of the Hai Ke Family’s disciples, most of them are still just Saints, and while a number have broken through to the Saint King Realm they are still far worse than you,” Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter.
“But…”
“No buts, are you willing or not, it’s only a matter of a few words,” Yang Kai’s expression turned serious as he cut her off.
Huang Juan bit her red lip, but after a long pause, she nodded her head solemnly, “This Mistress is willing!”
“Very good.” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “Then from today onwards, you will be a member of High Heaven Sect.”
As the Sect Master, it was not a problem for Yang Kai to receive someone like this.
“Subordinate thanks Sect Master for granting this one shelter!” Huang Juan was also a decisive person. If not, she would not have left the Hai Ke Family in advance all those years ago. Since she had made a decision, she would not act hesitant anymore and immediately bowed respectfully.
“There’s no need for such formalities,” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and helped Huang Juan up. Seeing some lingering doubts and confusion still adorning her face though, Yang Kai took the initiative to explain, “Being able to meet you here must be some kind of fate. Over the years, Wu Yi, Chang Qi, and Hao An would often speak about you, and besides, the Sect is currently in need of more Origin Realm masters, so my offering you an invitation is not something you need to think too much about.”
“Yes!” Huang Juan nodded lightly, “But Sect Master, your subordinate is currently just a Third-Order Saint King.”
She thought Yang Kai had made a mistake.
“For now you are a Third-Order Saint King, but you will be an Origin Realm master shortly,” Yang Kai grinned confidently. Huang Juan’s situation was the same as Chang Qi and Hao An’s, who had been stuck at this realm for many years, unable to take the next step in their cultivation. However, since Chang Qi and Hao An were able to break through, Huang Juan should also be able to.
High Heaven Sect’s reputation was truly quite resonant right now, and there was no need to worry about coming under attack inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but the power of a Sect was always inseparable from the number and strength of its masters, so it would be improper to sit back and become complacent.
Considering the current High Heaven Sect, apart from Ye Xi Yun and Yang Kai, the cultivation levels of the others were too low. There was especially a lack of Origin Realm masters.
It would take at least ten or twenty years for Wu Yi and the others to fully mature and reach the Origin Realm, but Huang Juan was different, she could make a breakthrough in short order. It could be said that she was a ready-made Origin Returning Realm master candidate whose origins and temperament Yang Kai had full knowledge of.
This was why Yang Kai had the idea of taking her back with him.
If it had been a stranger with unknown origins, how could Yang Kai act so carelessly?
In the future, High Heaven Sect would definitely face many setbacks and hardships, so it was naturally important to plan ahead and use any means possible to strengthen it right now.
“Do you have anything to pack here? If not, we can set off now,” Yang Kai looked at her and asked.
“I have no possessions to pack, it’s just…”
“Just what?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.
“It’s just that there is another person I want to bring with me, I hope Sect Master will permit it!”
“Another person?” Yang Kai frowned, “Who?”
He was willing to take Huang Juan into High Heaven Sect, but that did not mean he would accept others as well, so hearing Huang Juan make this kind of request, he immediately felt a little displeased.
[Wasn’t she acting a bit too presumptuous?]
Huang Juan couldn’t help showing a look of panic as she deeply bowed her head and said, “Please calm your anger, Sect Master. Subordinate humbly requests Sect Master to accompany her to meet this individual before making a decision.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding, “Fine, lead the way.”
“Many thanks, Sect Master,” Huang Juan was overjoyed and hurriedly guided him.
Huang Juan led Yang Kai to a small, crude-looking house in a remote corner of Sea Side City. This kind of house could be described as a shack. After arriving at the door, Huang Juan entered a kind of code into what seemed like a lock before pushing it open and entering.
Yang Kai followed her inside, and upon glancing around, he could not help letting out a sigh.
Not only was this house small and narrow, it was also damp and gloomy with an extremely simple layout. Besides some minimal furniture, there was literally nothing else here.
“You lived here all these years?” Yang Kai frowned, the anger in his heart dissipating greatly.
“Reporting to Sect Master, Subordinate has only lived here for the last three years,” Huang Juan smiled awkwardly. She had been a Foreign Elder of the Hai Ke Family, and although the Hai Ke Family was not very strong, they were able to at least provide her with a comfortable residence, one infinitely better than this shack.
“It’s been hard for you these years,” Yang Kai sighed slightly, “Where is this person you spoke of?”
He didn’t see anyone here.
“She’s here,” Huang Juan smiled lightly before gently pulling out a small figure, squatting down, and saying in a coaxing tone, “Yun’er, come greet Sect Master Yang!”
Yang Kai looked down and couldn’t help showing a look of astonishment, “A child?”
He never expected the person Huang Juan wanted to bring along would be a child!
Seeing her appearance, this little girl was only six or seven years old. She was less than a metre tall, fairly thin, and had a somewhat pale-yellow complexion, a clear sign she was malnourished. The clothes she was wearing were also made from coarse linen, but despite their poor quality, they were neat and tidy, free of dirt and grime. Overall, this little girl had a young, somewhat naive look appropriate for her age, but her eyes were quite bright and energetic.
This little girl clearly was not Huang Juan’s child because the two had no similarities in their faces, and as far as Yang Kai knew, Huang Juan had never given birth.
So where did this little girl come from?
The little girl seemed to be a little shy but also somewhat curious, quickly hiding behind Huang Juan while looking towards Yang Kai with her wide sparkling eyes, not saying a word.
Huang Juan tried persuading her a few times to give her greetings, but this little girl stubbornly refused to come forward and simply kept shaking her head as she glanced towards Yang Kai vigilantly. This scene caused Yang Kai to frown slightly and a kind of bitterness to creep into his heart.
A child of this age should be completely ignorant for worldly affairs, but this little girl was actually showing wariness towards him, which could only mean that she had encountered something traumatic before making her not dare get close to any strangers.
“Please forgive me, Sect Master, Yun’er is still young and does not understand etiquette, I hope Sect Master won’t take offence,” Huang Juan stood up and apologized to Yang Kai with a forced smile.
“It’s fine,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, releasing his Divine Sense in the next instant to examine this little girl, saying in surprise a moment later, “She’s already reached the peak Initial Element Stage? Were you the one who taught her?”
“En,” Huang Juan nodded lightly, “Yun’er insisted on learning so I directed her a little bit.”
“Not bad,” Yang Kai expressed his approval. A little girl like this reaching the peak Initial Element Stage was something impossible to achieve unless she possessed excellent aptitude. And considering Huang Juan’s financial resources, it was more than likely this little girl had not had any kind of decent cultivation resources or environment. In other words, the aptitude of this little girl was exceptional.
After hesitating for a while, Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense and asked, “Where are her parents?”
“They fell three years ago,” Huang Juan replied sadly.
Huang Juan then briefly explained about this little girl’s past.
The little girl’s surname was Lin, with her full name being Lin Yun’er. Her father was originally a wandering cultivator while her mother was a disciple from Sea Temple. Sea Temple was considered a great force on the Limitless Ocean, and its reputation there was equivalent to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect’s inland.
Lin Yun’er’s mother seemed to possess some status in Sea Temple, so she had several suitors as well as Elders who wanted to marry their descendants to her; however, love was not something one could predict or control. After meeting Lin Yun’er’s father, her mother fell deeply in love and was unable to extricate herself. In the end, the two confessed to one another and secretly swore to become life partners.
When this matter was discovered by the upper levels of Sea Temple, they expelled Lin Yun’er’s mother in a fit of anger.
Although she was technically banished, Sea Temple didn’t want to excessively embarrass her so they silently acquiesced to her living in Sea Side City. Since then, Lin Yun’er’s parents lived quite poor lives, but with their affection for one another, they did not have any complaints.
However, cultivators not only needed to live, but also to cultivate.
The two of them were both only Saint Kings, similar to Huang Juan, so without the support of a Sect, they could only go to sea to hunt sea beasts to procure Monster Cores and materials they could exchange for cultivation resources.
It was because of this that Huang Juan had met them and formed a small team with the husband and wife duo.
Unfortunately, on a hunt three years ago, the trio had encountered a peak Eighth-Order sea beast and Lin Yun’er’s parents had been killed, with only Huang Juan managing to escape back to Sea Side City. From that point on, she had taken it upon herself to raise Lin Yun’er.
At that time, Lin Yun’er was only three or four years old and had only just begun to form coherent memories.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that most of Lin Yun’er’s memories were of Huang Juan, and the knowledge she had was all taught to her by Huang Juan. The relationship between the two was essentially mother and daughter!
This situation was also related to why Lin Yun’er was wary of strangers. Her parents had borrowed some Saint Crystals from some unscrupulous individuals just before they died, so after the news spread that they had fallen, creditors came to their house and wanted to take Lin Yun’er away to pay off the debt. Fortunately, they were blocked by Huang Juan who had paid the debt for her.
In summary, Lin Yun’er’s life experience was incredibly miserable. At an extremely young age she had lost both her father and mother and if not for Huang Juan taking her in three years ago, it was highly questionable whether Lin Yun’er would even still be alive today.
This simple house was where Lin Yun’er’s parents used to live; after their death, Huang Juan had stayed here in order to take care of Lin Yun’er.
“So that’s the story!” After listening to Huang Juan’s narration, Yang Kai gently nodded with pity filling his heart.
It was at that moment that Lin Yun’er, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly said, “Are you here to take Yun’er away?”
This voice was crisp and pleasing to the ears and her eyes were crystal clear when she asked this question to Yang Kai, without the slightest impurity clouding them.
Yang Kai heard her words and said with a grin, “Yes, I’m here to take you away.”
Lin Yun’er unexpectedly didn’t show any fear, instead tilting her head and thought for a moment before asking, “Can you come back in a few years?”
“Oh, why?” Yang Kai was curious about how this child’s thoughts regarding this problem.
“Yun’er will grow up very quickly, then after a few years, she will be able to go out to hunt sea beasts, then she will be able to give you a lot of Saint Crystals. So many you won’t be able to spend them for your entire life!”
She obviously thought Yang Kai had come to collect debts again.
Yang Kai was taken aback and couldn’t help laughing.
Huang Juan’s expression also cramped up slightly as she watched.
“Hahaha, very good. She may be small, but her spirit is good,” Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction.
“Please don’t take Yun’er away, Yun’er doesn’t want to be separated from Aunty Huang now!” Lin Yun’er said clearly.
As soon as this statement came out, Huang Juan’s eyes immediately became wet. Although Lin Yun’er was not her real child, she already regarded her as her daughter after caring for her these past few years. Now that she heard such words, how could she not feel moved? Gently bending down again, she tenderly hugged the little girl.
“Hm, I’m not only here to take Yun’er away, but also your Aunty Huang, so what am I supposed to do?” Yang Kai put on a fake awkward appearance.
“Oh! You’re a bad person!” Lin Yun’er suddenly realized, lifting her little hand and pointing towards Yang Kai as she firmly declared.
In the eyes of children, things were either black or white, those who wanted to harm them were bad people.
Yang Kai just smiled and didn’t explain.
“Sect Master…” Huang Juan looked at him hesitantly.
“It’s fine. Of course, you can bring her with us,” Yang Kai smiled lightly as the situation was very different from what he previously suspected. Since it was just a child Huang Juan wanted to bring with them, he had no objections.
“Many thanks, Sect Master!” Huang Juan was overjoyed. Although she also felt that Yang Kai would agree to her request in the end, if Yang Kai had really refused her, she could only have chosen to stay here and take care of Lin Yun’er.
“Yun’er, quickly thank Sect Master,” Huang Juan unwrapped Lin Yun’er from her arms and pointed to Yang Kai.
“No, he’s a bad person, he wants to take Yun’er away!” Lin Yun’er insisted on her opinion. Not only did she not relent though, she even stepped forward and threw a fist towards Yang Kai.
Her form seemed good, but her figure was clearly a bit unsteady.
Yang Kai simply smiled and stretched out a hand, blocking this tiny fist.
Seeing this scene, Huang Juan also showed a helpless wry smile. She naturally understood that Yang Kai would not become angry over such childish words and would not hurt Lin Yun’er because of them, so she didn’t try to intervene.
*Peng…*
With a thud, the small fist hit Yang Kai’s palm.
Yang Kai’s brow couldn’t help rising at the moment on contact though, his expression filling with surprise as if he had discovered something incredible. Gently pushing Lin Yun’er back, he intentionally provoked her, “Too weak, try again.”
“Hmph!” Lin Yun’er was a newborn calf who didn’t know how to fear tigers yet, so she pursed her lips and punched again.
After a while, Lin Yun’er was exhausted and could only look up at Yang Kai with a gloomy face. This couldn’t be helped though; how could a little girl at the peak Initial Element Stage even shake Yang Kai? After throwing several punches, she had no choice but to accept this helpless reality.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, had bright eyes as he stared at Lin Yun’er as if he had found a treasure, his face was full of excitement.
“What’s wrong, Sect Master?” Huang Juan looked at Yang Kai suspiciously.
“Have you never tried her skill before?” Yang Kai asked instead of answering.
“No,” Huang Juan shook her head slowly, “I only taught Yun’er how to cultivate, I have yet to spar with her.”
“No wonder,” Yang Kai mused.
“Sect Master, Yun’er, is she… is there something wrong with her?” Huang Juan suddenly became nervous.
“There’s nothing wrong, you don’t have to worry about that,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, the corners of his mouth slightly rising as he looked back at Lin Yun’er and said, “It’s just that this girl’s strength is very high.”
“Her strength is very high?” Huang Juan was stunned.
“Yeah, we can discuss this further when we return to the Sect, it’s not something that can be explained so simply, and I too am not certain about the specific reason,” Yang Kai didn’t intend to explain as he thought back upon his brief fight with Lin Yun’er. The power behind this little girl’s fists was somewhat unusual.
Although Lin Yun’er already had a peak Initial Element Stage cultivation, she was far too young to know how to use her Yuan Qi to fight, so her fists just now were only thrown with her raw physical strength.
However, each of her punches was almost comparable to that of an ordinary, full-grown brawny man who had never cultivated!
This was incredible. How could a six or seven-year-old girl with a thin, malnourished body have such strength? Was this some kind of innate gift? Unfortunately, Yang Kai wasn’t very knowledgeable about such matters and couldn’t immediately identify the cause. He was only able to press down his doubts and prepare to go back to further investigate.
“Yes,” Huang Juan naturally wouldn’t press the matter after receiving such a response and obediently nodded.
Although Lin Yun’er had instinctively judged Yang Kai to be a bad person, after Huang Juan carefully explained the situation, the little girl no longer resisted.
There was nothing to clean up or pack as the two women’s house could only be described as empty, so immediately after, Huang Juan took Lin Yun’er’s little hand and followed Yang Kai towards the centre of Sea Side City.
Huang Juan had lived here for several years and could barely be regarded as a half-native, so she knew where the Space Array was located. With her and Lin Yun’er, Yang Kai managed to arrive at the palace housing the Space Array without any effort.
The Space Array of Sea Side City was open to anyone as long as they could pay enough Saint Crystals, but there weren’t many destinations that could be reached from it.
After some consideration, Yang Kai chose Black Crow City as his next destination.
It was not that Black Crow City was the closest option to Flowing Flame Sand Field, but rather that Yang Kai had been to this city once before and knew that it was close to Clear Sky Sect. As long as he could reach Black Crow City, he could use his connections with Clear Sky Sect to easily teleport to the city closest to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
This was a somewhat convoluted plan, but it was also the most efficient.
After paying a total of 600,000 Saint Crystals, Yang Kai and his party of three stood atop the Space Array, and when the light flashed, the three had disappeared without a trace.
Yang Kai had once visited Black Crow City together with Chen Shi Tao, Lu Ying and a few others. In this city, Yang Kai had found Qian Yue and gotten into a fight with Joyous Union Pavilion while trying to redeem her.
Yang Kai had no intention to linger in this city though, so after asking for directions, he took Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er and flew off in a certain direction.
Three days later, in front of another city several times larger than Black Crow City, Yang Kai landed.
“Sect Master, why did we come here?” Huang Juan looked at the three large characters above the huge city gate with a dazed expression.
“I have some acquaintances in this city, so it will be more convenient to transfer to our final destination from here,” Yang Kai explained faintly before glancing towards Huang Juan’s back where Lin Yun’er was sleeping with a big smile on her face.
Although this little girl had not exerted any strenuous effort during this three-day journey, she was naturally quite exhausted.
This couldn’t be helped as it was the first time since she was born that she had left Sea Side City. After leaving that day, she was simply curious about everything around her.
The rapid speed at which they flew also caused her to cheer happily, and when she saw a field of wildflowers she couldn’t help dancing amongst them before discovering birds and butterflies and chasing after them, hoping to catch and hold them in her tiny hands.
Such excitement was followed by fatigue, so she was currently sleeping soundly.
“Let’s go,” Yang Kai beckoned before leading the way towards the city.
Black Sea City! This city was adjacent to Clear Sky Sect’s headquarters and played essentially the same role as Heavenly Fate City did to Shadow Moon Hall. Naturally, Black Sea City was completely controlled by Clear Sky Sect.
Chen Shi Tao had invited Yang Kai to be a guest here many times, but he had never had a chance before, so this was his first visit.
Not long after, Yang Kai arrived at Black Sea City’s City Lord’s Mansion.
This City Lord’s Mansion could be regarded as one of the signature features of Black Sea City. It was a magnificent and majestic palace that was guarded by numerous guards wearing matching black leather armour and holding identical silver spears, each one showing a stern, imposing expression.
As Yang Kai and his group of three approached, these guards all focused their attention on them as one of them, who seemed to be their leader, called out, “Halt! This is Black Sea City’s City Lord’s Mansion, random passersby may not approach!”
This person had a Third-Order Saint King cultivation and immediately blocked Yang Kai’s path with a vigilant look.
Yang Kai smiled and cupped his fists slightly, “Hello friends, this one’s name is Yang Kai and I’ve come to discuss a matter with your City Lord, could you inform him of my arrival?”
“You’ve come to see Sir City Lord?” The man frowned, his expression a little impatient. Everyone who came here was looking to see the City Lord so it wasn’t a surprise that this was also Yang Kai’s purpose; however, just because someone came to see the City Lord, did that mean the City Lord would see them? If this guard were to report this matter without first clarifying this person’s identity, he would certainly be punished.
However, Yang Kai was clearly an Origin Realm master, so this guard did not dare act negligently. If it had been someone with lower strength, on the other hand, he would have already been driven away.
“Do you know Sir City Lord?” The man asked.
“Uh… No, I don’t,” Yang Kai shook his head honestly.
“You don’t know Sir City Lord?” The man’s face filled with astonishment.
“But I do know your Sect Master Gu Zhen,” Yang Kai added.
“You know the Sect Master?” This time this man was completely taken aback, the impatience on his face quickly receding and being replaced with one of shock. The Sect Master was essentially in secluded retreat all year round and not someone a random individual could see. Even this guard leader had never met face to face with the Sect Master, yet this man named Yang Kai claimed to know the Sect Master. Could he just be making things up?
“Yeah. I also know your Great Elder Mo Yu.”
The man could not help drawing in a sharp breath as he looked Yang Kai over once again, as if trying to re-examine him. Being able to know both the Sect Master and the Great Elder meant that this young man named Yang Kai must have a very high status, so why had he never even seen or heard of him before?
Although the guard leader felt quite puzzled, he didn’t dare to delay any more. The impatience on his face had already been discarded and he respectfully cupped his fists, “Please wait here for a moment while I report this matter to Sir City Lord. “
“En,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
After the guard leader entered the City Lord’s Mansion, within a half a cup of tea’s time, a petite figure suddenly raced out and appeared in front of Yang Kai.
After seeing Yang Kai’s face, the person who had leapt out could not help pointing and saying, “Ah, it’s really you, Yang Kai! Why are you here?”
“Sister Lu Ying?” Yang Kai was also a little surprised. He had not expected that the first person to greet him from this City Lord’s Mansion would be Lu Ying and what’s more, Chen Shi Tao, who she seemed inseparable from, was not here.
But since he had met an acquaintance here, things were easier to handle. Yang Kai was still thinking about how to prove his identity to the City Lord he had never met before.
“I was just passing through and wanted to borrow the city’s Space Array, but why is Sister Lu Ying here? Where’s Sister Chen?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Senior Sister Chen has been in retreat since returning from the Emperor Garden. As for why I’m here, hehe… Black Sea City’s City Lord is my father,” Lu Ying replied with a grin.
Yang Kai was stunned. He had not expected Lu Ying’s status to be so high. Usually, she would follow behind Chen Shi Tao, as if she were a little sister or subordinate of some kind, so Yang Kai had thought she was just an ordinary disciple of Clear Sky Sect with decent aptitude. Now, however, it seemed her background was actually quite big; since Lu Ying’s father could become the City Lord of Black Sea City, he was definitely a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master.
“Dissolute!” As the two were talking, a majestic voice boomed from within the City Lord’s Mansion. Immediately after, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression appeared and scolded, “Sect Master Yang is a Sect Master, how can you speak to him with such disrespect?”
This person was obviously Lu Ying’s father, the City Lord of Black Sea City.
Hearing her father’s reprimand, Lu Ying could not help spitting out her tongue playfully.
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Sir City Lord need not be so serious. I have known Sister Lu Ying for a long time now and we are friends from the same generation. That relationship didn’t just disappear after this Yang founded a small sect.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s eyes lit up, seemingly very satisfied with Yang Kai’s humility and demeanour, but he still shook his head and said, “That may be, but courtesy must be observed! Ying’er, greet Sect Master Yang properly.”
As soon as Lu Ying heard this, her lips formed into a pout, but she did not dare disobey her father’s command, so she saluted Yang Kai again with an unhappy expression.
Yang Kai was also helpless. Although he had only spoken a few words with this City Lord, he could see that this man had a relatively rigid personality.
After Lu Ying bowed, the middle-aged man also cupped his fists and said, “Greeting, Sect Master Yang. This one’s name is Lu Xuan and I have the honour of serving as Black Sea City’s City Lord.”
“Sir City Lord is too polite, this one has arrived here unannounced so I hope Sir City Lord will not take offence,” Yang Kai hurriedly replied.
“Sect Master Yang is too serious, you visiting Black Sea City is this City Lord’s honour. Please come inside first, this Lu has already sent a message to the Sect Master and Great Elder, but it will take the two of them about half an hour to arrive, so I’m afraid I must ask Sect Master Yang to wait a moment.”
“It’s fine,” Yang Kai lightly nodded, not finding this situation the slightest bit odd. He had saved Gu Zhen and Mo Yu in the Emperor Garden, so the two of them coming here to see him after receiving word he was here was not unexpected.
Once inside, Yang Kai found the atmosphere within the City Lord’s Mansion to be extremely lively.
Seeing the appearance of Yang Kai and his group, Lu Xuan arranged rooms where they could bathe and change their clothes. Yang Kai naturally did not decline this offer. It didn’t matter much to him what his appearance was, but allowing Lin Yun’er and Huang Juan to continue looking so dishevelled and downtrodden was really not appropriate.
Yang Kai only took a short time to refresh himself, but Gu Zhen and Mo Yu had already arrived before he was finished. After meeting once more in the main hall of the mansion, an enthusiastic exchange of greetings took place once again.
After a while, the host and guests were seated, with Lu Xuan having already prepared a lavish banquet. Exquisite dishes and spirit fruits were presented one after another, causing Lin Yun’er, who had never experienced this kind of life before, to swiftly move her hands to gobble up everything in sight.
The frankness of this little girl’s performance was not frowned upon, instead becoming a point of interest. Lu Ying sat next to Lin Yun’er and kept serving her various delicacies, apparently quite taken with this little girl.
On the contrary, Huang Juan was acting extremely cautiously. She had never thought that one day she would be able to sit at the same table with the senior leadership of Clear Sky Sect. After all, she had been so poor that she could not even scrape together five thousand Saint Crystals to buy a Hundred Spirits Pill a few days ago, yet now she had essentially been reborn.
She deeply understood that being able to receive such treatment was completely because of Yang Kai, so her feelings were understandably somewhat complex for a while.
A few hours later, the sky turned dark and the banquet wound down. Lin Yun’er, who was now filled to the brim with food and drink, was taken to rest by Huang Juan, leaving behind just Yang Kai and the leaders of Clear Sky Sect.
“Sister Chen also returned safely?” Yang Kai took a sip of some fragrant spirit tea and asked with concern.
“Thanks to Sect Master Yang, all three of us managed to come back unscathed,” Gu Zhen replied gratefully. This trip to the Emperor Garden was indeed filled with crisis, the most dangerous of which was the one where they had met Yang Kai. If not for Yang Kai arriving to rescue them at that critical moment, Gu Zhen and Mo Yu might have survived but Chen Shi Tao, who had the lowest strength of the group, would not have escaped unharmed.
However, after coming back, Chen Shi Tao had immediately entered a state of retreat. She had some gains in the Emperor Garden and had only recently broken through to the Origin Realm without even condensing her Shi yet, so she didn’t dare delay any longer, which was also why she had not exited to see Yang Kai this time.
“That’s great news.” After learning about Chen Shi Tao’s current situation, Yang Kai felt relieved.
“So what brings Sect Master Yang here?” Mo Yu asked Yang Kai curiously.
“The usual bad luck!” Yang Kai smiled wryly before giving a brief explanation of how he arrived in Black Sea City while Gu Zhen and Mo Yu nodded repeatedly.
Regarding this issue, Mo Yu and Gu Zhen actually had better luck than Yang Kai and emerged from the Emperor Garden relatively close to Clear Sky Sect, so they had no difficulty returning on their own.
“This expedition to the Emperor Garden was filled with unexpected surprises. With it opening to the entire Star Field, my Shadowed Star suffered heavy losses,” Gu Zhen sighed deeply.
“Oh? Which great forces suffered losses?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested.
“We’ve yet to get a full tally of the losses, but according to the news this old master managed to obtain since returning, it seems the Great Elder and Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple fell inside the Emperor Garden.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, his expression remaining perfectly calm.
The two Demon Blood Temple leaders were killed by him, so he wasn’t surprised by this news.
Gu Zhen and the others didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary with Yang Kai’s reaction and simply assumed this pair from Demon Blood Temple had fallen at the hands of a different Cultivation Star’s masters inside the Emperor Garden. Without any pause, they continued, “Besides them, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Great Elder Cheng Peng Xuan also fell. Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union suffered heavy losses but managed to escape. Gong Xing He of Coloured Glass Sect also failed to return. All of the other great forces seemed to have suffered losses as well. My Clear Sky Sect being able to return unharmed is a stroke of good fortune.”
“Even Cheng Peng Xuan and Gong Xing He died?” Yang Kai was shocked.
“En, although the news has not yet spread, that much is certain,” Gu Zhen nodded sincerely. Yang Kai didn’t doubt this information because he knew that each of these great forces would place spies amongst the others, allowing them to gain some information that was not publicly known.
“What about Shadow Moon Hall? Are Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, and Wei Gu Chang alright?” Yang Kai asked nervously.
“Sect Master Yang doesn’t need to worry, those three are all fine,” Mo Yu smiled lightly, “Old Ghost Qian is really quite shrewd; he seems to have insisted that they remain outside the Emperor Garden’s main palace during this trip.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief while secretly feeling impressed with Qian Tong’s intuition. Qian Tong was by no means timid and Yang Kai estimated that if not for Wei Gu Chang being with them, he and Fei Zhi Tu would certainly not have missed the opportunity to dive deep into the Emperor Garden’s main palace. However, since Wei Gu Chang was with them, the two old men must have decided to not take unnecessary risks.
It was precisely because of this caution that Qian Tong and the others from Shadow Moon Hall managed to avoid taking any losses though. Even masters like Cheng Peng Xuan and Gong Xing He had fallen inside, so no matter how strong Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were, it was conceivable they might have suffered similar fates had they acted recklessly.
Although the opening of the Emperor Garden had resulted in many people obtaining great gains, it had also caused many Sects to suffer heavy losses. Before entering, no one would have thought that this trip to the Emperor Garden would be so dangerous.
If they had known about the risks earlier, perhaps there would have been fewer people rushing to enter the Emperor Garden.
“Compared with other Cultivation Stars, my Shadowed Star still has a noticeable disparity. Because of the suppression of the World Principles here, no one can spy on the mysteries of the Origin King Realm and all of us are only able to linger at the peak of the Origin Realm. In the end, we lack the guidance of an Origin King Realm master and our artifacts and pills are also inferior in grade and quality to those outsiders. Fighting with foreign masters under such circumstances is like trying to battle with an arm tied behind our backs,” Gu Zhen sighed in exasperation.
“Indeed, if only an Origin King Realm master could have risen on my Shadowed Star, this situation might not have happened,” Mo Yu nodded in agreement.
“Even so, how could it be that easy to break through to the Origin King Realm?” Lu Xuan wore a sad look and shook his head slowly, “In these past ten thousand years, no Origin King Realm master has appeared on Shadowed Star. The last time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, that Red Candle Fruit appeared, but although Old Ghost Tang from Floating Mist Palace obtained a piece of it and swallowed it, he apparently didn’t gain anything, completely wasting that good piece of spirit fruit.”
“Not just Old Ghost Tang, Coloured Glass Sect also obtained a piece of Red Candle Fruit which Gong Xing He swallowed and refined, but he too didn’t see any gains, otherwise he wouldn’t have fallen this time.”
“Actually, making a breakthrough to the Origin King Realm isn’t impossible,” Mo Yu seemed to say thoughtfully, “On Shadowed Star, we may be suppressed by the World Principles, but as long as we can leave Shadowed Star and go to another Cultivation Star that does not have such suppressions, we will have a chance to break through.”
Hearing this, Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan all were inspired.
Yang Kai glanced around at the three of them and couldn’t help laughing, “Three Seniors, there’s no reason to use such indirect language, if you have something to say, just say it directly.”
With Yang Kai being so straightforward, Mo Yu and the others couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed; even so, after a brief pause, Mo Yu lightly coughed and asked, “It’s like this, Yang Kai, we would like to know if your noble Sect plans to use its Origin King Grade Starship’s to conduct a long-distance voyage?”
[I knew it!]
Yang Kai smiled knowingly. Hearing these three old men muse on and on about the Origin King Realm, he was naturally able to guess what they were trying to imply. Now, after making a slight probe, it turned out exactly as Yang Kai suspected.
These three apparently intended to request he grant them passage on his Origin King Grade Starship to leave Shadowed Star and go to another Cultivation Star to spy on the mysteries of the Origin King Realm.
This was simply how humans are.
“And if I were to say I have such plans…?” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
All three of the old men’s expressions lit up as they could barely contain their excitement.
“Not only do I have this idea, but I might implement it soon,” Yang Kai added to everyone’s surprise.
“Is that true?” Mo Yu stood up, with Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan showing equal excitement.
“It is,” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
“Excellent! Excellent!” Mo Yu muttered twice before suddenly rubbing his big hands together and directing a look filled with expectation towards Yang Kai, “Sect Master Yang, since things have gotten to this point, this Mo won’t beat around the bush any further; dare to ask, how many people can travel aboard your Starship?”
“Several dozen people should be fine.”
Mo Yu’s eyes lit up as he grit his teeth and quickly said, “Could you grant my Clear Sky Sect two… no, one of those spots?”
On the other side, Gu Zhen and Lu Xuan also looked over expectantly, with Gu Zhen quickly adding, “Of course, we won’t occupy this precious spot for nothing. We can pay an appropriate price.”
“Is one enough?” Yang Kai asked them with some surprise.
“It is,” Gu Zhen nodded sincerely, “If possible, we certainly hope that more of us can leave Shadowed Star, but if all of Clear Sky Sect’s masters were to suddenly depart, there will be no one left to assume command, not to mention, breaking through to the Origin King Realm will obviously not be a simple matter, so having a quota to try for will be enough.”
“If that’s all, then I can agree,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Hearing this, the trio from Clear Sky Sect were overjoyed. As for who this quota would be given to, that was something for Clear Sky Sect to figure out, Yang Kai did not need to concern himself with it.
Afterwards, Yang Kai told them that when he finalized plans to use the Starship to leave Shadowed Star, he would inform them, so for now, they should just wait patiently. The three old men had no objections.
After a night’s rest, Yang Kai said his goodbyes to the Clear Sky Sect masters and brought Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er away.
Although Gu Zhen and the others wanted him to stay a while longer, they also understood that Yang Kai had just come out from the Emperor Garden and must have many things to attend to, so they didn’t try to stop him, instead just personally seeing him off from Black Sea City’s Space Array.
Yang Kai’s next destination was Demon Blood City!
Demon Blood City was a city controlled by Demon Blood Temple, and it was very close to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
When Yang Kai first came out from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had encountered a Demon Blood Temple disciple named Deng Ning whom he obtained the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from. Later, Deng Ning brought him to Demon Blood City to use its Space Array.
This plan was not wrong, but before departing, Gu Zhen had warned Yang Kai to act carefully as Demon Blood City was currently in a state of upheaval.
After arriving, Yang Kai discovered that Demon Blood City was in chaos.
When Yang Kai and his group of three teleported to Demon Blood City’s Space Array, they immediately noticed that the city seemed to be a little turbulent and that many people were currently fighting.
This couldn’t be helped though as the Great Elder of and Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple had both fallen in the Emperor Garden. Now that no one was currently in control of the temple, the various Elders were naturally fighting for the right to take over.
On top of that, Demon Blood Temple was a strange great force that encouraged infighting, so for this reason, all of Demon Blood Temple had become chaotic at this moment, with Demon Blood City following suit.
Even the hall where the Space Array was located was unguarded. All of Demon Blood Temple’s disciples were caught up in this internal strife so the city itself had become something akin to a battlefield.
After arriving in Demon Blood City, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and quickly grasped the situation inside the city. Not discovering anything he felt warranted his concern, he simply wrapped Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er in his Saint Qi and flew towards the city’s edge.
Some people tried to block their path, but all of them were quickly subdued by Yang Kai.
With his current strength, even if he encountered a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm Master, he wouldn’t feel any concern, let alone these stray cats and dogs.
Soon, the disciples of Demon Blood Temple realized how tyrannical Yang Kai’s strength was and no one dared to court death by trying to stop him again. What’s more, Yang Kai seemed to just be passing through, so who would bother trying to stop him? Wouldn’t that be self-defeating?
As such, less than a dozen breaths later, Yang Kai’s group left Demon Blood City and flew straight towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field which was some hundred thousand kilometres away.
One day later, Yang Kai landed at a beautiful palace somewhere outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field and walked inside.
This was the first time Yang Kai had entered this palace. Naturally, this place belonged to High Heaven Sect and there was a Space Array specially arranged here by Yang Yan to make it convenient for the disciples of High Heaven Sect to pass in and out.
After all, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was simply too vast, and if they had to rely solely on flying, it would take at least a day or two to reach High Heaven Sect’s headquarters from this point. With this dedicated Space Array, however, the disciples could come and go freely and quickly.
At this moment, there were only two High Heaven Sect disciples inside the palace on guard duty. The cultivation of these two were not worth mentioning, only Third-Order Saints. Such strength was nothing special on Shadowed Star, but High Heaven Sect’s name was extremely loud right now and no one dared provoke it, so there was no need to worry about security issues here. Moreover, there was a powerful Spirit Array arranged by Yang Yan around this palace, one strong enough to stop anyone who wanted to invade High Heaven Sect via the Space Array. At the very least, it would provide enough time for the disciples on guard duty to retreat and destroy the Space Array.
With the Space Array outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai easily reached High Heaven Sect’s headquarters.
When they appeared in the palace on the other side, several disciples on guard duty instantly assumed a defensive posture, but after seeing that it was Yang Kai, they became overjoyed and bowed quickly.
“Have Yang Yan and Elder Ye come back?” Yang Kai asked hurriedly.
“Reporting to Sect Master, Vice Sect Master Yang and Great Elder Ye returned five days ago,” A disciple who seemed brighter than the others replied quickly.
Yang Kai couldn’t help heaving a sigh of relief. Although he didn’t think Yang Yan or Ye Xi Yun would have encountered any problems, he had always been a bit on edge until he was able to confirm their condition. Now that he knew they had returned safely, Yang Kai was naturally able to put down his worries.
“However, when they returned, it seemed Vice Sect Master Yang had fallen into a coma and had to be carried by Great Elder Ye,” The disciple added carefully.
“What?” Yang Kai was shocked and quickly asked a few more questions; unfortunately, the disciples didn’t know what caused Yang Yan to fall unconscious or whether she had suffered any serious injuries.
“I understand, continue with your duties here,” Yang Kai had no choice but to leave this place and quickly head for Hundred Flowers Peak where Yang Yan lived before.
On the way there, they ran into Wu Yi and Qian Yue who had received word of Yang Kai’s return.
The anxiety on the faces of the two women was obvious, so they wasted no time calling out after seeing Yang Kai.
“I heard about the situation, do you know how Yang Yan was injured? Is it serious?” Yang Kai flew over to them and asked.
Both women shook their heads with Qian Yue explaining, “Since they returned, Great Elder has not appeared in front of anyone, so we were unable to learn anything more.”
“Understood, I’ll go see them myself.” Yang Kai frowned.
“They’re not on Hundred Flowers Peak now,” Wu Yi quickly stopped Yang Kai from flying off.
“Then where are they?” Yang Kai asked.
“The sixth layer…”
“Sixth layer!” Yang Kai frowned even more. Naturally, he understood what she was referring to when she said the sixth layer. It was the centre of the Flowing Flame Sand Field where the small bamboo forest and loft were situated. It was also the former residence of the Great Emperor on Shadowed Star, but why would Ye Xi Yun bring Yang Yan there? Could the Great Emperor really have awoken?
An uneasy feeling suddenly surged in Yang Kai’s heart.
Standing on the spot for a long while, Yang Kai finally took a deep breath and said, “I’ll go take a look. By the way, Wu Yi, you remember Foreign Elder Huang right? This time I met her by chance on the way back and invited her to join High Heaven Sect. She is now one of us so make the proper arrangements.”
“Yes!” Wu Yi nodded quickly. She obviously saw Huang Juan just now, but concerned about Yang Yan’s safety, she hadn’t found time to greet her yet. Now, after hearing Yang Kai’s instructions, she would naturally have a chance to do so.
In the next instant, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared, heading straight towards the sixth layer.
High Heaven Sect was located in the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and was separated from the sixth layer by a Flame Area which was far more powerful than the outer fourth layer; however, Yang Kai had a Star Emperor Token to protect himself from these dangers so there was nothing for him to worry about.
It took only half a day for Yang Kai to arrive in front of the loft in the centre of the sixth layer.
As if knowing that Yang Kai would arrive sooner or later, Ye Xi Yun was already waiting for him. After seeing Yang Kai, a complex look flashed across her beautiful eyes before she said, “Subordinate greets Sect Master.”
“Is Yang Yan inside?” Yang Kai asked as he walked inward.
Before he could go far though, Ye Xi Yun actually moved and blocked Yang Kai’s path forward, as if trying to stop him from entering the loft.
“What are your intentions here?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, staring deeply at Ye Xi Yun with a somewhat gloomy look upon his face.
“Please forgive me, Sect Master, but Madam gave me strict instructions to not allow anyone to see her now,” Ye Xi Yun replied while maintaining a tranquil expression.
“Not even me?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Yes!” Ye Xi Yun nodded slightly, “Subordinate is only executing Madam’s orders and requests Sect Master not to embarrass me.”
“Embarrass you?” Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter, “Interesting… I simply want to see her, how could that embarrass you? It’s not that I’ve never met with her before.”
“Sect Master, please forgive me!” Ye Xi Yun stubbornly refused to back down.
Yang Kai frowned as he stared at her indifferently for a moment before asking in a solemn tone, “Since Yang Yan was able to give you such an order, can I assume she is unharmed? If that’s the case, why did the disciples on guard duty say she was in a coma when she returned with you?”
“En, Madam is indeed in a coma, but she is unharmed. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
Ye Xi Yun fell silent, her look becoming somewhat awkward.
After observing Ye Xi Yun’s demeanour and behaviour all this time, Yang Kai had a faint guess and narrowed his eyes, “I’ll only ask one question then, and I hope Great Elder can reply truthfully without concealing anything.”
“Please ask, Sect Master,” Ye Xi Yun raised her head and brushed her hair back behind her ear.
“Is the one who is inside the loft behind you the Yang Yan I know, or… your Madam?”
“Both,” A wry smile appeared on Ye Xi Yun’s face.
“I understand,” Yang Kai gently nodded, a look of understanding flashing across his face, “Since that’s the case, it must be related to waking the Great Emperor, I understand.”
Yang Yan had said that after the Emperor Garden officially opened, the Great Emperor would awaken. At that time, Yang Kai had felt somewhat puzzled and suspicious, but he didn’t inquire carefully, perhaps subconsciously afraid to ask about the specific process, worried the answer he received would not be the one he wanted to hear.
In his heart, he had already guessed what would happen.
Today, his speculations had obviously been confirmed.
Since the Great Emperor’s true body had awakened, naturally Yang Yan, as a Soul Clone, could no longer exist independently. The two had been merged into one, which was why Ye Xi Yun gave him such an answer.
“Sect Master is an intelligent person so you should understand what the situation is now,” Ye Xi Yun said indifferently.
“En, I just want to know, what will happen to Yang Yan?”
“She is Madam and Madam is she, therefore nothing will happen to her.”
Yang Kai gently nodded; matters here weren’t so bad he couldn’t accept them. Although the result was not ideal, it also wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
Considering all this, Yang Kai closed his eyes and released his Divine Sense towards the loft to see how Yang Yan was doing at this moment. Ye Xi Yun opened her mouth seeing this but ultimately didn’t try to stop him.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense easily penetrated the loft and soon found Yang Yan inside a room on the third floor. She was lying quietly on a bamboo bed at the moment, motionless, as if in a deep sleep.
Her appearance was no different from the Yang Yan in his memories, but her temperament had undergone an astonishing change.
The moment Yang Kai’s Divine Sense swept over her, he felt a deep sense of terror, as if he were an ant that had unwittingly spied upon a slumbering dragon!
In that instant, Yang Kai’s very Soul shuddered and an inexplicable sense of crisis surged up from the bottom of his heart.
The next moment, a tearing pain filled his head and Yang Kai’s eyes shot open, his body stumbling backwards involuntarily as his face went extremely pale.
“Sect Master, are you okay,” Ye Xi Yun’s beautiful face paled slightly as she called out.
“I’m fine!” Yang Kai waved his hand, his expression still full of lingering fear; was this the majesty of the Great Emperor? Even in a comatose state, no one was allowed to violate it. Yang Kai had experienced this personally.
If she had been awake, just what kind of power and prestige would she radiate?
Yang Kai’s state of mind fluctuated for a moment before his eyes shined with a colour of yearning.
After a while though, his mood returned to normal and after rubbing his forehead for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “Did she say when she will wake up?”
“Madam said that she had fallen into a deep sleep for too long, over ten thousand years, so waking up will also be a very long process. Only when her Soul and body fully integrate will she be able to awaken, something that could take ten, twenty, dozens, or even a hundred years. Subordinate is also uncertain.”
“So long,” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
“Yes,” Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly, “Madam told me before departing to do everything in my power to assist Sect Master, so if Sect Master has any instructions, please do not hesitate to give them; subordinate will surely act with all haste.”
“Yang Yan ordered…” Yang Kai mused, finally understanding why Ye Xi Yun was now referring to herself as his subordinate as she had never done so before. It turns out there was this kind of reason.
“There’s nothing for you to do. For the time being, you can just remain here to take care of Yang Yan.”
“Yes, Subordinate will live up to Sect Master’s trust, please depart freely then!” Ye Xi Yun gave a slight bow.
Saying so, she pointed towards the exit.
Feeling the words he was about to say get caught in his throat, Yang Kai simply walked off with an angry snort.
In any case, he had determined that Yang Yan was not in any danger, and although her Soul Clone had not been integrated with the Great Emperor’s true body, her memories and emotions would not be erased and would instead be inherited by the current slumbering body.
That was enough.
Yang Kai may not have the qualifications to have an equal dialogue with the Great Emperor right now, but one day, as long as he could stand at her height, he could once again interact with Yang Yan as he always had!
A burst of ambition arose in Yang Kai’s heart.
After returning to High Heaven Sect, nothing much changed; however, the arrival of Huang Juan made Wu Yi, Chang Qi, Hao An, and the other former Hai Ke Family disciples quite happy. Lin Yun’er also quickly won the unanimous affection of all of High Heaven Sect’s members.
This little girl’s presence brought a kind of joy and laughter to the Sect’s headquarters, and after a brief time familiarizing herself with her new environment, Lin Yun’er fell deeply in love with this beautiful place. Everyone here treated her extremely well, as if she was a family member, allowing Lin Yun’er to feel a long-lost sense of warmth, gradually allowing her to let down her guard.
She could often be seen wearing beautiful new clothes, running and jumping all over the Sect with seemingly endless enthusiasm.
Huang Juan, on the other hand, was always in a state of exhaustion chasing after her.
Inside First Heavenly Palace, Yang Kai’s private residence.
Inside a cultivation room, Yang Kai closed his eyes and meditated. He had been in this state for half a month now. When he used his Divine Sense to spy on Yang Yan in the small loft, he had suffered a small wound to his Soul from the invisible Emperor Pressure she naturally released.
This kind of wound wouldn’t cause any problems with day to day life, but if he were to encounter a strong enemy, it would definitely affect his combat strength somewhat.
As such, after Yang Kai returned to the Sect, his first order of business was to recover!
Fortunately, the problem was not serious, so Yang Kai only needed half a month to deal with it properly.
The next thing to do was take account of his gains from the Emperor Garden.
Yang Kai reached out, touched his Space Ring, and in a flash of light, a massive number of herbs appeared in front of him. These herbs were naturally collected in the hidden mountain valley together with the women from Ice Heart Valley.
At that time, Yang Kai did not have time to deal with them properly, so he simply placed them into his Space Ring. Now that he was free, he naturally had to organize and process these herbs, otherwise, their medicinal efficacies would be lost.
As an Alchemist, Yang Kai obviously understood how to properly preserve spirit grasses and spirit medicines, so he took out various boxes refined from different materials from his Space Ring and carefully began storing the various herbs according to their unique characteristics. Those that were suited to preservation in jade were loaded into jade boxes while those that needed Wood Attribute containers were thusly placed. Many herbs had special storage requirements, but this could not baffle Yang Kai.
After finishing up this process, Yang Kai put away all the boxes with a smile on his face.
There were hundreds of spirit herbs, and although they varied in grade greatly, each one was invaluable; after all, these spirit grasses and spirit medicines had all grown inside the hidden mountain valley for at least ten thousand years, meaning their medicinal ages were at least this high as well.
Pills refined from such herbs would have far greater medicinal efficacies than ones refined from ordinary spirit grasses and medicines. Additionally, they would allow Yang Kai to promote his Alchemy technique.
Along with the herbs he had collected from the floating continent when he first entered the Star Field, Yang Kai felt like he had enough materials to support him becoming an Origin King Grade Alchemist, after which, he would still likely have an abundance of materials he could use to practice his skills.
The next thing Yang Kai took out was the Alchemy Furnace he found in the hidden cave mansion of the mountain valley.
This was the Alchemy Furnace the mountain valley’s owner had used when he was alive and was naturally Origin King Grade, an extremely rare and precious treasure.
Yang Kai now had two high-grade furnaces. One was the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace which was the root of the Firebird Artifact Spirit, and the other was the Alchemy Furnace in front of him, but regardless of which one it was, they were not something that would be commonly seen.
If an Artifact Refiner or Alchemist had a good furnace, they could save a lot of time when performing Artifact Refining or Alchemy and could refine better quality artifacts and pills. There was a saying that, to produce fine work, one must first sharpen their tools; this saying had great truth to it.
Unfortunately, Artifact Refining Furnaces and Alchemy Furnaces were far more difficult to refine than ordinary artifacts, so Artifact Refining Furnaces and Alchemy Furnaces were far more valuable and expensive than other artifacts in the same grade.
The young Third-Order Origin Returning Realm female leader from Ice Heart Valley also knew of the value of this pill furnace, but because she had many of her own thoughts and concerns, she still chose to give it to Yang Kai in exchange for a larger allocation of pills.
This choice was not a loss for her, but it was a profit for Yang Kai.
Yang Kai could refine various high-grade pills, and even refining pills which formed Pill Veins was not a difficult task for him, but an Origin King Grade Alchemy Furnace was still something he hadn’t expected to get his hands on so easily.
This pill furnace was slightly less than a metre tall and had a simple appearance while giving off an ancient feel. Its entire body was a dark purple shade and had a tripod design. There were two large words emblazoned on the furnace’s lip which Yang Kai had not initially checked, but now that he was carefully examining it, he could see the two words were ‘Purple Origin.’
This was obviously the name of this Alchemy Furnace.
Purple Origin, not a bad name.
With this Alchemy Furnace to assist him, refining pills would be easier and their quality would also be higher in the future.
Alchemy Furnaces were different from other artifacts in that one did not need to spend a long time refining them. One only needed to leave their Soul Brand on an Alchemy Furnace to make it their own. However, this Purple Origin Furnace had a master previously, so Yang Kai had to first erase the previous mark before leaving his own.
This was not difficult as the owner of that hidden mountain valley had been dead for ten thousand years, so the mark he had left on it was now extremely weak. Yang Kai easily erased this remnant mark and then took just a few days to leave his own on the Purple Origin Furnace, claiming it as his own.
After playing with the furnace happily for a while, Yang Kai put it away. Since he was not planning on performing Alchemy any time soon, he naturally had no reason to keep it out.
Immediately after, Yang Kai took out another treasure.
What he held now was a pill! This was not one of the pills Yang Kai obtained together with the young woman from Ice Heart Valley, but rather the one he snatched out of the Purple Origin Furnace.
When he discovered this Purple Origin Furnace, Yang Kai had scanned the interior with his Divine Sense and noticed that there was a pill inside. According to the posture that the skeleton assumed before dying, it was apparent that the mountain valley’s owner had spent his last moments refining this pill.
Fortunately, that Grandmaster had succeeded.
But before Yang Kai had time to investigate carefully, the young woman from Ice Heart Valley had joined him inside the hidden cave mansion, so Yang Kai had to quickly hide it from her and did not know what kind of pill it was to this day.
If it was just an ordinary pill, no matter what the quality it was, the internal medicinal efficacies must have dispersed after ten thousand years and it could no longer be used, rendering it a scrapped pill.
Only pills that formed Pill Veins could keep their medicinal efficacies intact over an extended period. Pill Veins were like shackles that firmly restrained a pill’s medicinal properties inside of it.
At that time, the pills split between Yang Kai and the young woman from Ice Heart Valley in the hidden cave mansion all had Pill Veins. Such pills were rare, however, while most of the ones they found had turned into waste.
As for whether the pill inside the Purple Origin Furnace actually formed Pill Veins, Yang Kai wasn’t sure, but that didn’t dampen his anticipation; after all, this was a pill that an Alchemy Grandmaster had exhausted the last of his life force to refine.
But the moment Yang Kai looked at the pill in his hand, his complexion changed dramatically as he immediately revealed a look of ecstasy and cried out, “Pill Clouds?”
He never expected that the pill he fished out of the Purple Origin Furnace would have formed Pill Clouds!
On the surface of this pill, there was a layer of dense, swirling clouds, as if a mass of seven coloured clouds had been shrunk down innumerable times and wrapped around it, giving it an incredibly beautiful look.
There was no doubt these were Pill Clouds! Yang Kai was stunned and checked several times to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.
Pills that formed Pill Clouds weren’t something Yang Kai had never seen before; he had even swallowed one and refined another personally.
The first pill that formed Pill Clouds he swallowed had allowed his Five-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to evolve into its Six Coloured form and dramatically improved his strength.
The pill he refined, on the other hand, was a Burning Flame Pill used to save Xue Yue’s life.
The one he ingested was found in an Ancient Ruin on the seabed of Tong Xuan Realm while the one he refined had been done on Rainfall Star.
Yang Kai deeply understood the difficulty of refining a pill that formed Pill Clouds! This was not something ordinary masters could achieve. Currently, the probability Yang Kai could refine a pill that formed Pill Veins was actually quite high, on average about twenty to thirty percent, but after so many years refining pills, only that single Burning Flame Pill had ever formed Pill Clouds.
That pill had been refined under extreme conditions by cornering himself to break through his limits and had nearly exhausted him to death.
Judging from the other pills obtained inside the hidden cave mansion, Yang Kai also knew that the owner had been an extraordinary Alchemy Grandmaster when they were alive, otherwise they would not have produced so many pills that formed Pill Veins.
Yang Kai originally thought that the pill this Grandmaster had exhausted his remaining life essence to refine had formed Pill Veins, but now he discovered that the truth of the matter was far more shocking than he expected.
This Grandmaster refined a pill that formed Pill Clouds!
And judging from the medicinal efficacies and energy fluctuations that emanated from this pill, it was undoubtedly an Origin King Grade pill.
[The Grandmaster was truly extraordinary!] Yang Kai was secretly praised.
Any Origin King Grade pill was already incredibly valuable, let alone an Origin King Grade pill that had formed Pill Clouds.
On top of that, this pill was already at least ten thousand years old!
Yang Kai took a deep breath to calm his raging emotions. The value of such a pill could no longer be judged with common sense. Even Yang Kai, who prided himself on his ability to remain composed, suddenly found his face twitching unconsciously as his hands refused to stop shaking.
Once a pill formed Pill Veins, as long as it was stored properly, it would retain its medicinal efficacies indefinitely and would also have twice the potency of an ordinary pill. However, if a pill formed Pill Clouds, not only would its effects be at least four times that of an ordinary pill upon refinement, as time passed, the layer of Pill Clouds would continuously absorb the surrounding World Energy to nourish the pill, increasing its potency over time.
The longer the time such a pill was left untaken, the greater its potency would be.
The pill that Yang Kai took at that time allowed his Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to evolve precisely because of the vast amount of energy it had accumulated over thousands of years. When Yang Kai had taken that pill, he had nearly exploded and died because of the flood of energy; fortunately, his Soul Warming Lotus had absorbed most of the medicinal efficacies in the end.
However, when compared with the one in front of him, that pill was simply trash. Not to mention, the vast gap in the two pills’ grades, just the number of years it had been left to absorb World Energy was unmatched.
What kind of concept was ten thousand years?
Suddenly, Yang Kai felt that his mind could not keep up with the situation somewhat. His luck was simply too good, being able to obtain this Heaven-defying pill.
Everything he had obtained in that hidden mountain valley was instantly eclipsed by this Origin King Grade pill in front of him.
After feeling shock and excitement, Yang Kai wore a bitter smile.
Just how astonishing was the amount of medicinal energy contained within this pill? Regardless of what purpose it had, it was basically impossible for Yang Kai to take it with his current cultivation realm.
Swallowing this thing haphazardly would only result in a single outcome: death by explosion!
Even an Origin King Realm master may not be able to withstand the immense medicinal energy contained within this pill.
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s excitement gradually calmed down. The most urgent thing right now was for him to figure out what this pill’s purpose was.
Squinting at this pill, Yang Kai found that its interior was crystal clear and had some kind of translucent wisp of energy flowing through it, like a fine hair that was freely swimming about like a living creature.
[Impossible…] Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked once more.
It seemed this pill was about to achieve sentience!
The thin, gossamer-like existence was obviously formed after years of accumulation. If this pill was given some more time, perhaps it really could achieve sentience and become a completely different kind of life form.
A sentient pill was just a theory, not even the stuff of legends. Yang Kai had not expected that he would be able to witness poof of such an outlandish theory one day.
Unfortunately, since it had fallen into his hands, it was destined to only fulfil its original role with no possibility of it truly obtaining sentience.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai let out a helpless, somewhat defeated sigh.
Even with his knowledge and experience in Alchemy, he was unable to identify the pill he was holding and could only vaguely judge through its medicinal fragrance that it was used for cultivation.
Was this a type of pill that had been lost to history? Yang Kai frowned as he secretly guessed. If that was the case, it would be understandable that he didn’t recognize it; after all, the pills refined by Alchemists over ten thousand years ago were definitely different from those that were refined now.
Since Yang Kai did not recognize it, and he wasn’t in a hurry to take it, he simply stored away this Origin King Grade pill, planning to study it further when he had the chance.
In any case, he would not be using such a pill carelessly, so there was plenty of time for him to figure out what it was later.
Considering all this, Yang Kai took out another item and began studying it.
This time, it was the finger bone.
Regarding his trip to the Emperor Garden this time, the gains Yang Kai obtained from the hidden mountain valley alone were tremendous. There were thousands of herbs with medicinal ages exceeding ten thousand years, several dozen high-grade pills that had formed Pill Veins, an Origin King Grade Alchemy Furnace, and an Origin King Grade pill that formed Pill Clouds; each of these items was extremely valuable.
This finger bone was also something Yang Kai obtained from the hidden mountain valley and it was the only part of the valley owner’s remains that remained after his death.
Yang Kai had only meant to show his respect to the Alchemy Grandmaster whose Alchemy Furnace he was inheriting by burying his remains, but that simple act had accidentally led him to discover this piece of finger bone which, despite all the years of weathering, had not degraded in the slightest. It was truly a reward for a good deed.
Yang Kai did not know what kind of secrets were hidden in this finger bone, so he could only start by studying it.
Holding the finger bone, Yang Kai carefully observed it and discovered that, although it was over ten thousand years old, it still felt like warm, white jade that was pure and flawless, like it had been specially refined using some kind of profound Secret Technique while its original owner was alive.
Realizing this, Yang Kai immediately became excited.
He had never seen a cultivator treat a part of their body as an artifact before, but since they had done so, it must have been for an incredibly important reason. Perhaps this finger bone really did hide some great secret.
Condensing his Saint Qi, Yang Kai tried pouring his strength into the finger bone, but to his great disappointment, it did not accept his Saint Qi and showed no visible changes at all.
After a few failed attempts, Yang Kai figured that Saint Qi was not the answer to unlocking this finger bone’s secrets.
Since it did not respond to Saint Qi then, what about Divine Sense?
Thinking so, Yang Kai quickly mobilized his Spiritual Energy a vast, mist-like Divine Sense enveloped the finger bone and in the next moment.
Divine Sense Manifestation!
Only when a cultivator’s Spiritual Energy reached a certain standard would their normally invisible Divine Sense undergo this magical transformation and become an existence which was visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai’s Soul had been nourished by the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus for decades now, so even if he did not deliberately cultivate his Soul, his Knowledge Sea, Spiritual Energy, and Divine Sense was constantly being enhanced. As such, although his cultivation was still just First-Order Origin Returning Realm, the strength of Divine Sense was just about able to meet the standard to undergo manifestation!
This was something that even ordinary Origin King Realm masters could not do, and Yang Kai had every right to be proud of!
Moreover, he possessed a rare Conflagrated Knowledge Sea that gave his Spiritual Energy a burning hot attribute, resulting in his Divine Sense Manifestation possessing a fiery red colour.
This time, Yang Kai’s guess was right; the finger bone had not accepted his Saint Qi, but it had an immediate reaction to his Divine Sense.
When the fiery red Divine Sense wrapped it, a dazzling white light burst out from the finger bone. Immediately, an astonishing suction force was transmitted from the finger bone, wanting to pull Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, and his consciousness by extension, into itself.
Yang Kai remained calm, however. Although he did not know what to expect next, he did not sense any danger from this suction force and also felt like he could resist it and even take back his Divine Sense if he wanted to.
Realising this, Yang Kai did not put up a fight and simply allowed his Divine Sense to sink into the finger bone.
In an instant, Yang Kai seemed to have arrived in another world.
Under the investigation of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai discovered that other than a vast grey void, there were only an enormous number of mysterious glowing runes swimming around him like fish.
“This is…” Yang Kai looked around in astonishment.
He could feel an emission of some kind of Spiritual Energy from each and every one of these runes. They were produced by a kind of advanced form of Divine Sense Manifestation. This was proof that these runes were condensed from the Divine Sense of that unknown Alchemy Grandmaster.
Unexpectedly, that Grandmaster not only possessed extremely high attainments in the Alchemic Way, but also had a profound cultivation. Being able to condense such runes with their Divine Sense indicated that the Alchemy Grandmaster was at least a Third-Order Origin King before dying!
After sensing the arrival of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, the mysterious runes seemed to come alive and rushed towards his Soul Avatar, instantly blending with his Divine Sense.
Yang Kai’s body shivered and his eyes went blank, but he did not try to stop the runes from mixing into his Divine Sense and instead began studying them to uncover whatever secrets they held.
At first, Yang Kai was completely confused by what he learned, but as time passed and more runes merged with his Divine Sense, he gradually began to comprehend the inheritance left behind in the finger bone.
After condensing and combining these runes, then deciphering them, what Yang Kai was left with was an Alchemic Record that had been passed down from ancient times!
The True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture!
Yang Kai had read many different Alchemic Records, such as the True Alchemic Way he had obtained in Medicine King’s Valley which had started him down the path of Alchemy.
But no Alchemic Record or manual he had ever seen could compare to this True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture. The knowledge of Alchemy techniques contained in the True Alchemic Way and the Spirit Arrays to be used in Alchemy were all like child’s play in front of this True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture.
This Alchemic Record was not created by the owner of the mountain valley, but rather was obtained by them from some ancient ruin. It was with this True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture that the owner of the hidden mountain valley managed to bring his Alchemy technique to a pinnacle and become the most famous Alchemy Grandmaster of their time.
Realizing that their time of death was approaching though, this Grandmaster was unable to bear the thought of this wondrous Alchemic Record being buried along with him, but also couldn’t stand the idea of some ignorant Junior obtaining it and ruining its reputation, so he used the last of his Spiritual energy to transform his finger bone and record everything about the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture in it.
He refined his finger bone into a semi-artifact with a Secret Technique so that it would not degrade with the passing of time.
This way, even after he died, the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture would be inherited in this special way.
If some ignorant treasure-seeking Junior found his remains, they would ignore it and thus miss out on the opportunity to obtain the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had the idea of burying this Alchemy Grandmaster, resulting in him obtaining this finger bone and the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture contained within it.
After seeing the personal insights left behind by the Alchemy Grandmaster, Yang Kai felt quite surprised and thought that his luck was astounding, but soon he set aside these distracting thoughts and immersed himself in the vast ocean of Alchemy knowledge now flooding his mind.
Although the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture came from ancient times, long before the age the mountain valley owner lived through, what Yang Kai obtained was not its orthodox version as it also contained the unique comprehensions, teachings, and theories of the mountain valley owner, making it even more valuable than the original True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture.
It could be said that the mountain valley owner had integrated his life’s Alchemy experience into the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture.
Yang Kai quickly became fascinated by this Alchemic Record, finding many answers to the unsolvable problems he had encountered in Alchemy contained inside it.
Although Yang Kai had an exceptional aptitude in terms of the Alchemic Way, he had essentially been groping his way forward on his own from when he first set foot on this path until now, with very few people ever giving him any kind of formal instruction in this field. Back in Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai could occasionally ask for help from The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep, Li Rui, but since he entered the Star Field, he had only himself to rely upon.
What’s more, Yang Kai didn’t dare to expose his proficiency in Alchemy at will.
As such, with the improvement of his strength, he faintly realized that his Alchemy technique and understanding of Alchemy had reached a kind of bottleneck. This was not his limit by any means and as long as he continued to work hard, he would eventually be able to break through it.
However, to achieve this, it might’ve taken him ten years, twenty years, or possibly even longer.
Now, things were different. With the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture, Yang Kai had essentially obtained a master who could teach him about Alchemy anywhere, anytime.
In just a moment, Yang Kai felt his comprehension of Alchemy become slightly more profound.
Yang Kai became more and more obsessed with this True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture and soon became lost in it, unable to perceive the passage of time, constantly absorbing the Alchemic knowledge contained within it.
Only after half a month passed did Yang Kai let out a long sigh and retract his Divine Sense from the finger bone with a look of exhaustion.
Using his Divine Sense at such intensity for an entire half a month had thoroughly exhausted him.
However, Yang Kai’s eyes still shined brightly, revealing extreme excitement and brilliance.
Yang Kai was unable to fully comprehend the entirety of the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture in just half a month’s worth of effort; in fact, he had only been able to browse through its contents roughly. Even so, his gains had been so massive that it was difficult to comprehend. If he could one day thoroughly understand the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture, his Alchemy technique would surely reach an unprecedented height.
“Only after pills obtain a level of spirituality can they be called Spirit Pills?” Yang Kai murmured while stroking his chin, a thoughtful look upon his face.
There were many different ideas and methods contained inside the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture, all of which had given him numerous inspirations. The concept of pill spirituality alone resulted in a qualitative leap in his comprehension of Alchemy.
After pondering carefully for a while, Yang Kai slowly shook his head and set his musings aside.
Yang Kai was not in a hurry, and the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture could be studied carefully in the future; however, the Origin King Grade Spirit Pill which had formed Pill Clouds was now identified by Yang Kai.
The True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture not only contained all kinds of wondrous ideas, but also the life experience of the mountain valley owner and many pill recipes that had long been lost.
All of this knowledge was extremely precious, especially the lost recipes.
Through these pill recipes and descriptions, Yang Kai had vaguely understood what this Spirit Pill was and what its purpose was.
Yang Kai took out the Origin King Grade Spirit Pill again and placed it on the palm of his hand, observing it for a moment before a look of excitement filled his face.
If his analysis was correct, judging from the colour and scent of this Spirit Pill as well as the various medicinal energy traces inside of it, this Spirit Pill should be a Dragon Flame Purple Marrow Pill!
Just a Theory! A Martial Peak Theory!