This was actually a precious Dragon Flame Purple Marrow Pill! Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling excited once more.
This Dragon Flame Purple Marrow Pill was an Origin King Grade Low-Rank Spirit Pill, and the materials needed to refine it were numerous, reaching as many as sixty in total. However, its role was very straightforward and simple for cultivators.
Improving one’s strength!
Once a cultivator broke through to the Origin King Realm, it became very difficult to cultivate. The World Energy produced in an ordinary Earth Vein or High-Rank Saint Crystals couldn’t meet the requirements of Origin King Realm cultivators, so in previous ages, Dragon Flame Purple Marrow Pills were a means that Origin King Realm masters relied upon to enhance their cultivations.
Refining and absorbing medicinal efficacies from pills were helpful to the growth of a cultivator’s cultivation, but this method had its advantages and disadvantages compared to ordinary meditative cultivation.
The positive effects were that as long as one had enough pills, the speed they could increase their strength would be fast, far more so than meditative cultivation at least.
The negatives were that strength gained in this way was somewhat unstable, and if one took too many pills, it would cause a certain unhealthy load on the cultivator’s body.
As such, no cultivator’s growth depended entirely on using such pills. Even if they used pills to cultivate, they would only do so occasionally and not as their primary method.
Yang Kai had barely ever taken pills to cultivate, so his foundation was extremely solid and his Saint Qi was incredibly dense and pure.
Understanding the purpose of this Origin King Grade Spirit Pill, Yang Kai suddenly felt somewhat emotional!
This was a Spirit Pill designed specifically to increase the strength of an Origin King Realm master. On top of that, the mountain valley master had managed to refine such a pill with Pill Clouds, after which it had experienced at least ten thousand years of accumulation, so Yang Kai couldn’t even begin to estimate how amazing the medicinal energies inside of it were.
Yang Kai could only vaguely guess that if he had the ability to take this pill and refine it safely, his strength would very likely reach the Origin King Realm in a single bound!
This was an extremely terrifying growth rate that saved him countless years of hard work.
However, this was just a guess and Yang Kai had enough self-awareness to understand that he could not withstand refining this Spirit Pill right now.
With some reluctance, Yang Kai put away the Dragon Flame Purple Marrow Pill again before dispelling the gloom in his heart, quieting his mood, and taking out two different items from his Space Ring.
One was a blood-red stone the size of a heart while the other was a pitch-black round stone.
Two strange stones.
One was the Blood Essence Stone he had accidentally obtained in the Emperor Garden while the other was the second Stone Puppet embryo that Yang Kai had held onto for many years.
Yang Kai had two Stone Puppet embryos, both of which he acquired in Tong Xuan Realm. When he first came to Shadowed Star, one of the stone embryos merged with the Blood Essence Stone and hatched the Stone Puppet that Yang Yan named Xiao Xiao.
Although the other stone embryo had also reached maturity, it had not been able to hatch because Yang Kai could not find another Blood Essence Stone to serve as its heart.
Only after this trip to the Emperor Garden did Yang Kai accomplish this.
Yang Yan had been very envious of Yang Kai’s Stone Puppet, so Yang Kai had always wanted to hatch this second Stone Puppet and give it to her.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai didn’t know if Yang Yan needed it anymore given her current situation, so he couldn’t help smiling somewhat bitterly. Nevertheless, whether Yang Yan wanted it or not in the end, it was more important to let the Blood Essence Stone and the stone embryo merge right now.
Thinking about it this way, Yang Kai put the two strange stones together.
Strangely enough, the stone embryo which had been completely unresponsive inside the Black Book Space immediately sent out countless black threads the moment it came into contact with the Blood Essence Stone, wrapping up the latter tightly.
In the blink of an eye, the two stones became closely linked together; however, it appeared it would take quite some time before they fully merged.
This scene surprised Yang Kai, but after thinking about it for a moment, he sent out a Divine Sense Message silently.
Shortly after, the Stone Puppet Xiao Xiao appeared in front of him mysteriously, staring up at Yang Kai with a pair of clear and innocent eyes.
“Can I leave this in your care?” Yang Kai pointed to the partially fused black and red stones in front of him and asked.
Although the Stone Puppet’s intelligence wasn’t very high, he could still understand Yang Kai’s commands to a certain extent, so after looking in the direction Yang Kai pointed, his eyes suddenly widened and filled with joy and excitement.
Obviously, it could feel that a companion of its own was being bred in the partially fused black and red stones.
Nodding repeatedly, the stone puppet wore a look of clear desire.
“Good, take it with you, remember to report if any changes happen,” Yang Kai gave a light command, after which the Stone Puppet immediately picked up the fusing stones and disappeared in a flash.
Yang Kai estimated that it wouldn’t be long before a second Stone Puppet would be born, something he was looking forward to.
The next item to check was Demon Blood Temple’s glamorous Temple Master’s Space Ring.
That woman and Jin Shi both fell inside the Emperor Garden on the ice road. Jin Shi’s Space Ring had been banished to The Void as a result of Yang Kai’s Space-Force-infused Shi and could no longer be retrieved, so only Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master’s ring remained.
However, as the leader of a great force, this woman’s wealth was naturally astonishing.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and wiped it over her Space Ring before pouring out everything which was inside.
There were at least tens of millions of Saint Crystals, artifacts of various grades, hundreds of jade bottles containing pills, and some materials used for Alchemy and Artifact Refining.
The wide variety of treasures was simply dazzling and somewhat dizzying to see.
Yang Kai’s brow couldn’t help furrowing slightly; although most of the things here couldn’t even enter his eyes, it was still a vast amount of wealth, so he began to patiently organize it into what was useful to him and what wasn’t. He would keep what he needed while using the rest to fill High Heaven Sect’s storehouses.
Although the number of people in the Sect was still small, because High Heaven Sect’s headquarters was almost completely isolated from the outside world, they had to be self-sufficient in terms of cultivation resources. Even if most of these things couldn’t cause Yang Kai to give them a second glance, they were still incredibly precious to the Sect’s disciples.
This kind of sorting didn’t take Yang Kai too long to complete.
“Hm? This is…” Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly flashed as he picked up a certain animal skin book with a curious expression.
This animal skin book had also been placed inside the Space Ring of Demon Blood Temple’s gorgeous Temple Master. Yang Kai hadn’t taken notice of it at the beginning and only came across it as he was finishing up taking inventory.
The animal skin book wasn’t very big, but the pages were all dyed red, as if they had been soaked in blood, and a scent of iron was still wafted from it.
[This couldn’t be…]
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s heart jumped as he quickly opened this book. When he saw the words written at the top of the first page, he gawked for a moment before bursting into laughter.
It really was a case of wearing out iron shoes while seeking one’s feet.
What was recorded in this animal skin book was the complete Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique!
Since Yang Kai obtained the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from Deng Ning, he had been diligently cultivating it and it had provided him with a huge boost in strength, becoming one of the methods he relied upon most heavily.
Although the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique was very difficult for Demon Blood Temple cultivators to practice, this Secret Technique was almost tailor-made for Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was uniquely suited to cultivating this Secret Technique, far more so than anyone from Demon Blood Temple because he possessed his pure Golden Blood!
Unfortunately, what Yang Kai obtained from Deng Ning was only the first half of this Secret Technique!
After successfully cultivating his Golden Blood Thread, Yang Kai instinctually felt that there should be more flexibility to this Secret Technique, and his guess was confirmed after seeing Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master in action.
Sadly, Yang Kai had no idea how to obtain the second half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique.
But now, to his surprise and glee, he had found what he was looking for in the Space Ring of Demon Blood Temple’s Temple Master.
It wasn’t actually that surprising when Yang Kai thought about it. Demon Blood Temple was in a constant state of internal strife and even advocated murdering fellow Sect members. Since that beautiful woman had managed to become the Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple, she naturally would have carried all her treasures on her as that was the safest place for them; unfortunately for her, they ended up as Yang Kai’s spoils after she died.
Yang Kai was ecstatic and immediately began studying this book carefully, soon confirming that it not only included the first half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique but also the second half, explaining the more advanced methods of manipulating the Demon Blood Thread.
There was also the method to refine Blood Fusion Pills!
The Blood Fusion Pill was a special type of pill created by Demon Blood Temple which could increase the vital essence of a cultivator. Everyone that cultivated the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique was eager to obtain this kind of pill because stronger vitality meant they could condense a stronger Demon Blood Thread.
Deng Ning had been rewarded with the first half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique and a single Blood Fusion Pill for the merits he brought back from the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It was as if he had received a supreme treasure.
After all, the Blood Fusion Pill was normally for the exclusive use of Demon Blood Temple’s top Elders and its Temple Master; lower disciples essentially would never even see such a treasure.
Yang Kai carefully studied the refining method of the Blood Fusion Pill for a moment, but after understanding it in its entirety, he immediately lost interest.
This could not be helped as it was truly an evil refinement method, actually requiring the collection of large quantities of fresh blood, preferably human blood!
If Yang Kai wanted to increase his vitality, he had a far simpler option, taking drops of the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream. During this trip to the Emperor Garden, he obtained a large quantity of pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, so how could he even place this Blood Fusion Pill recipe in his eyes?
However, the advanced manipulation methods contained in the second half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique manual were of great interest to Yang Kai; after all, his Golden Blood Thread’s current abilities were somewhat limited, so if he could learn to control them more delicately, the role they would play in the future would be greater.
After studying this manual for a time but not obtaining any significant gain, Yang Kai set it aside for the time being, not feeling a significant rush to cultivate.
Next, he took out the stone tablet which he had collected after the Stone Monument engraved with the profound Artifact Refining Method exploded during his battle with Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce.
When she saw the stone tablet at that time, Xue Yue’s expression had changed dramatically and she had even gone so far as to beg Yang Kai to give it to her. After a brief negotiation, Yang Kai had intended to comply; after all, he didn’t know what value this stone tablet held, but before he could complete his agreement with Xue Yue, the Emperor Garden suddenly closed and sent him to the Limitless Ocean.
Yang Kai imagined that Xue Yue was furiously stomping her foot in frustration even now.
In all honesty, Yang Kai was also quite curious about this stone tablet that Xue Yue attached so much importance to, so after taking it out, he planned to study it.
The stone tablet wasn’t very big, only about the size of a palm, and there had been no signs of it being hidden inside the Stone Monument. In fact, if it was not for the fierce fight that caused the Stone Monument to break, this stone tablet might never have been found.
All in all, it was just a huge coincidence.
What was more coincidental though was that it flew straight over towards Yang Kai, allowing him to obtain it with ease.
Regardless of what it was, Xue Yue had determined it was useless to any Origin Realm cultivator and was only of worth to Origin Kings at a glance, a fact that only further piqued Yang Kai’s curiosity.
After half a month, the doors of First Heavenly Palace suddenly opened and Yang Kai stepped out with a calm expression.
After half a month of research, he finally figured out what mysteries were hidden inside this stone tablet.
Star Refining Art! This was not a Secret Art, nor was it a Martial Skill, but rather a Secret Technique that allowed a cultivator to refine a Star Source!
When he figured this out, Yang Kai was taken aback, never having expected the stone tablet to contain such an incredible secret.
Refining a Star Source was extremely difficult and only Origin King Realm masters were qualified to even attempt it. Once one successfully refined the Star Source of a Cultivation Star though, they would become that Cultivation Star’s Star Master!
Yang Kai learned of the powers of a Star Master soon after entering the Star Field. The Star Field itself was incredibly vast, but there were very few Star Masters. The reasons for this were quite simple: First, it required extremely high cultivation. Second, there were significant risks involved.
A Star Source was the core essence of a Cultivation Star, so refining it meant linking one’s destiny to that star, sharing both benefits and risks. If one managed to succeed, they would naturally gain unimaginable benefits, but if they failed, the only possible result was death.
Throughout the ages, innumerable masters wanted to conquer Cultivation Stars and refine their Star Sources. Each of these masters was a shocking character, geniuses among geniuses, masters among masters.
However, those who successfully managed to refine Star Sources and become Star Masters were a rarity!
It was difficult to imagine just how many powerhouses had fallen in the process of refining a Cultivation Star’s Star Source.
Of the Star Field’s super forces, Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was the one Yang Kai was most familiar with and he was aware that it controlled some seven or eight Cultivation Stars while also possessing more than a dozen Origin King Realm masters, but for Star Masters, it only possessed one!
None of the others dared to refine a Star Source.
After all, this was no different from trying to balance oneself on a knife’s edge. If they managed to succeed, it would be a glorious feat that earned them the admiration of the entire Star Field, but the slightest mistake in the process would result in death and disgrace. These powerful Origin King Realm masters would not dare treat their lives so casually.
No wonder Xue Yue said that this stone tablet was useless for Origin Realm masters and was only useful for Origin Kings.
Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was a super force in the Star Field and had several masters capable of becoming Star Masters, so it had a method for refining Star Sources; however, their method was no doubt vastly inferior to the Star Refining Art recorded in the stone tablet.
The Star Refining Art could be considered the highest-grade Secret Technique possibly for refining Star Sources.
Xue Yue entering the Emperor Garden this time was entirely to acquire the Star Refining Art. Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s President Ai Ou’s cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the Second-Order Origin King Realm for many years and he was unable to make any further progress, but if he could refine a Star Source, he would easily break through his current bottleneck and reach the Third-Order.
It was unknown how Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce learned that such a powerful Secret Technique resided inside the Emperor Garden, but they apparently had enough confidence to have Xue Yue personally lead a group of elites in search of it. If this was not the case, how could Xue Yue have engaged in such a risky venture considering Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s wealth and resources?
Unfortunately for her, when the Star Refining Art finally appeared, Xue Yue had failed to acquire it.
Yang Kai did not recognize the three ancient words engraved on the stone tablet, but Xue Yue did, which explained why she was so willing to compromise at the time.
It would be a long time before Yang Kai could make use of this Star Refining Art; without even mentioning his lacking cultivation realm, even if he was strong enough, he wouldn’t dare try to refine a Star Source without complete assurance.
As such, after studying it for a while, Yang Kai simply put it away.
Outside First Heavenly Palace, before Yang Kai could even take a few steps, he encountered several High Heaven Sect disciples. After seeing Yang Kai, these disciples hurriedly bowed, “Greetings, Sect Master!”
“En, is everything well in the Sect?” Yang Kai asked casually.
“Reporting to Sect Master, there have been no changes in the Sect since Sect Master entered retreat. All disciples are currently cultivating diligently and Great Elder has returned from the sixth layer.”
“Oh? She’s back?” Yang Kai was a little surprised at first but soon understood. Yang Yan would likely be asleep for at least ten more years, so there was no point in Ye Xi Yun remaining there the entire time. It was only natural to return to High Heaven Sect under the circumstances.
After all, she was instructed by Yang Yan to assist Yang Kai with all her strength, and how was she supposed to do so if she simply remained in the sixth layer? To say nothing of how inconvenient it was to simply meet like that, even communication across the fifth layer Flame Area was extremely difficult.
“Alright!” Yang Kai nodded lightly before ordering, “Tell Huang Juan to bring Lin Yun’er and meet me at the Great Elder’s residence.”
“Yes!” Although the few disciples did not know why Yang Kai wanted to see Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er, they didn’t ask any questions and immediately went about their assigned task.
Hundred Flowers Peak, where Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun lived before.
Although the flowers here were still blooming in all their beauty, Hundred Flowers Peak now only had Ye Xi Yun living on it. When Yang Kai arrived, he found Ye Xi Yun sitting outside the stone pavilion as if she was lost in thought, so much so that she didn’t even notice him at first.
It was not until Yang Kai gave a light cough that Ye Xi Yun suddenly woke from her reverie up, looked up, and said lightly, “So Sect Master has come, subordinate greets Sect Master.”
Saying so, she elegantly got up.
“There’s no need to be too polite,” Yang Kai waved his hand before walking over and sitting opposite her. Pouring himself a cup of fragrant tea and taking a sip, Yang Kai asked casually, “How is Yang Yan?”
“En, Madam is fine, but she will continue to sleep for some time. Sect Master need not worry about her.”
“That’s good,” Yang Kai nodded lightly before suddenly asking, “What does Great Elder plan to do from now on?”
Ye Xi Yun glanced at him suspiciously for a moment before brushing her hair behind her ear and replying, “What is Sect Master referring to?”
“Why must Great Elder ask something she already knows the answer to? You remain here only because of the Great Emperor’s existence. I don’t know why you are so devoted to the Great Emperor but I’d like to confirm if you plan on simply waiting here until she awakens.”
“That’s right,” Ye Xi Yun gently nodded, “Is there any problem with that?”
“There’s no problem,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “I was only wondering if Great Elder is willing to idle here instead of trying to take a step further beyond the Origin Returning Realm?”
“A step further?” Ye Xi Yun’s eyes shrank slightly as they flashed a strange brilliance, “If Sect Master has something to say, why speak in riddles to this subordinate?”
“You’re still my Senior, please stop referring to yourself as a subordinate, it’s disconcerting,” Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, “Alright, it’s like this. The current High Heaven Sect does not need to worry about being attacked as its defences are nigh impregnable. As long as the disciples don’t go out, they won’t be at risk. On top of that, there are plenty of cultivation resources here for everyone to use, so I was planning on leaving this place.”
“Leaving this place?” Ye Xi Yun frowned slightly, not understanding what Yang Kai was talking about.
“On a long-distance voyage away from Shadowed Star!” Yang Kai stared at her.
Ye Xi Yun could not help sitting up, “Sect Master means…”
“I just wanted to ask if you wish to leave with me!” Yang Kai grinned, “You should have reached the limit of the Origin Realm, no? The reason you have not yet broken through to the next realm is simply because of the suppression of Shadowed Star’s World Principles. If you were to free yourself from these shackles though, with your strength and aptitude, breaking through to the Origin King Realm should not be difficult. What’s more, we now have the ability to fulfil these conditions, so what does Great Elder think?”
“Leave this place…” Ye Xi Yun’s beautiful eyes filled with anticipation, but they soon regained their tranquillity as she turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Will Sect Master return here?”
“Of course I will return,” Yang Kai nodded, “To be honest with you, my desire to leave is primarily to find some people. After I find them, I will come back. Although the Star Field is big, wanting to find a place to stay and establish a home is not easy, so I have no plans to abandon High Heaven Sect.”
“So that’s it!” Ye Xi Yun said with some relief, “Although Sect Master’s offer is tempting, please forgive this subordinate for refusing.”
“Can you tell me your reason?” Yang Kai looked at her with a smile.
“Madam is still asleep, so I can’t leave. Besides, if Sect Master and I both leave at the same time, there will be no one here who can preside over the overall situation if something happens in the Sect.”
“Yeah, as I thought.” Yang Kai nodded lightly, seemingly knowing this was the response he would get.
Ye Xi Yun rolled her eyes and said in amazement, “Sect Master making this offer yet knowing my response must mean you weren’t really asking me to accompany you, yes?”
“Heh heh…” Yang Kai chuckled, “The choice is yours, whether you decide to go or not. I will not try to convince you. After all…”
Yang Kai did not continue as his expression suddenly turned solemn. With a serious tone, he spoke up once again, “Thank you.”
Being able to resist the temptation of reaching the Origin King Realm and insisting on staying to defend High Heaven Sect while Yang Kai was away, Ye Xi Yun was deserving of his sincere gratitude.
Both understood the other’s unspoken meaning here, so Ye Xi Yun didn’t make any attempt to deny it and simply nodded lightly.
Suddenly, she looked over in a certain direction and asked softly, “Did Sect Master call those two?”
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and soon nodded, “Yes.”
The two Ye Xi Yun spoke of were naturally Huang Juan and Lin Yun’er. The little girl was being led by Huang Juan, but when she saw such a large field of beautiful flowers, Lin Yun’er’s wild instincts took over and she rushed into the garden.
Huang Juan was shocked and quickly ran to catch Lin Yun’er before half-dragging her over to the stone pavilion.
Caught like this, Lin Yun’er looked unhappy as her mouth pursed into a flat line.
“Greetings Sect Master, greetings Great Elder,” Huang Juan saluted while quietly observing Ye Xi Yun. It had been some time now since Huang Juan had arrived at High Heaven Sect, so she knew who the Great Elder was, but it wasn’t until she received Yang Kai’s summon today that she had the honour of actually meeting Ye Xi Yun.
“Sit down!” Yang Kai motioned before beckoning to Lin Yun’er in a friendly manner.
The little girl, however, just narrowed her eyes slightly before hiding herself in Huang Juan’s embrace, shooting Yang Kai a vigilant look every now and then, causing the latter to become speechless for a while.
“Have you gotten used to living here yet?” Yang Kai turned to Huang Juan and asked.
“Many thanks for your concern, Sect Master, subordinate and Yun’er are doing well here.”
“Great, if you lack for anything just tell Wu Yi, she will take care of everything. Remember, you’re not outsiders here, so do not hesitate.”
“Many thanks, Sect Master,” Huang Juan said with a moved look.
“Right, this is an Origin Condensing Pill, take it and enter retreat for a while and you should be able to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Remember to use one of the cultivation rooms in Rising Dragon Hall for your breakthrough; the Ten Thousand Year Incense and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree are placed there and can help you overcome heart demons while sensing the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, which will greatly improve your odds of success.”
“Yes.” Huang Juan responded, taking the Origin Condensing Pill from Yang Kai’s hand and carefully storing it while trying to control the surging emotions she felt in her heart.
Two months ago, she had been rushing about, struggling just to make enough to maintain her livelihood yet unable to even afford a Hundred Spirits Pill; but now, not only was she living in the beautiful cultivation paradise known as High Heaven Sect, but she also didn’t need to worry about cultivation resources and even had access to supreme treasures like the Ten Thousand Year Incense and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree which could assist her in breaking through to the next realm.
The difference between the two positions was as wide as the gap between Heaven and Earth. Huang Juan still could not believe that this was now her everyday life, and the gratitude she felt towards Yang Kai grew even stronger. After all, if Yang Kai hadn’t brought her back, her and Lin Yun’er’s future was something she didn’t even want to imagine.
“Did Sect Master summon this subordinate for some specific reason today?” Huang Juan looked at Yang Kai respectfully.
Yang Kai smiled slightly but did not answer, instead turning to glance at Ye Xi Yun.
Since Huang Juan brought Lin Yun’er here, Ye Xi Yun had been observing this little girl, her powerful Divine Sense silently sweeping over Lin Yun’er’s body while seemingly aware of something, her beautiful eyes bursting with both astonishment and surprise.
“Has Great Elder noticed it?” After waiting for a while, Yang Kai asked.
Ye Xi Yun gently nodded before turning to Lin Yun’er and beckoning, “Little girl, come over.”
Strangely enough, although Ye Xi Yun had a serious and meticulous look upon her face, Lin Yun’er wasn’t afraid of her at all, and upon hearing her summon, Lin Yun’er only hesitated for a moment before walking over to Ye Xi Yun and standing tall.
“Don’t be afraid,” Ye Xi Yun flashed a beautiful smile before stretching out her jade white hand to hold Lin Yun’er’s wrist and gently sending her Saint Qi into the little girl’s body to inspect her more carefully.
As time passed, the expression on Ye Xi Yun’s face became even more shocked.
After a long time, she took a deep breath, let go of Lin Yun’er, and revealed a look of pure amazement.
By now, Huang Juan was completely on edge as she stood nearby, watching Ye Xi Yun nervously while wondering if she had found something wrong. Since Yang Kai had told her about Lin Yun’er’s strange condition that day, Huang Juan had also paid more attention and found that, just as Yang Kai said, Lin Yun’er’s tiny body actually contained a brute strength which should have been impossible for her age and size.
What’s more, this was pure physical strength.
Huang Juan was worried Lin Yun’er had some kind of strange disease! After coming to High Heaven Sect, she had asked a few of the Elders, but none could give her a clear explanation, so seeing Ye Xi Yun now wear such a thoughtful expression, Huang Juan immediately pinned her hopes on her.
After all, it was rumoured that this Great Elder was once the Sect Master of Star Emperor Mountain, so there was no question that she was incredibly knowledgeable. However, it was a mystery why such a woman had suddenly left Star Emperor Mountain to live a life of seclusion or why she had suddenly decided to join High Heaven Sect.
“Great Elder, Yun’er, is she…” Seeing Ye Xi Yun remain silent, Huang Juan became even more nervous.
“Don’t worry,” Ye Xi Yun comforted her and said lightly, “This little girl is perfectly fine, but her physique seems to be a little strange.”
“A Special Constitution?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
“En, there isn’t any other logical explanation for why the vital essence in her body is so strong; however, I don’t know what kind of Special Constitution she possesses. I’ll have to consult some ancient books first,” Ye Xi Yun frowned slightly.
Yang Kai gently nodded as Ye Xi Yun’s opinion coincided with his own judgment.
He had also guessed that Lin Yun’er possessed a Special Constitution. Although Special Constitutions were rare and hard to come across, it did not mean they did not exist in this world.
Yang Kai had met several Special Constitution possessors. The Sacred Spirit Medicine Body of Little Senior Sister Xia Ning Chang, the Poison Widow Body of Beguiling Demon Queen Shan Qing Luo, and the Dragon Marrow Phoenix Body of Xue Yue all belonged to the category of Special Constitutions.
Special Constitutions were an innate gift and granted their possessor all kinds of incredible effects.
For example, Xia Ning Chang’s Sacred Spirit Medicine Body allowed her unmatched aptitude and ability in Alchemy. To her, Alchemy was basically an instinct that did not require others to teach her about. On top of that, she could use Alchemy to enhance her cultivation.
As for what kind of physique Lin Yun’er possessed, that was unknown for the moment, but seeing how it seemed to grant her immense physical strength, it should be one related to battle.
Yang Kai could not help looking at her as if she was a giant piece of uncut jade!
The little girl was so young and her body was so thin, yet she already possessed such incredible force, so if she were to fully mature, it was likely even the strongest from the Monster Race would be nothing compared to her in a contest of strength.
“Great Elder, if you have nothing else to attend to in the meantime, why not accept the little girl as a disciple? Not only will you have a way to relieve your loneliness, but there will also be someone to give you filial piety in the future, killing two birds with one stone,” Yang Kai suddenly said with a smile.
Ye Xi Yun glanced over at him and said faintly, “So this is what Sect Master had been planning all along by introducing this little girl to me.”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and openly admitted, “Great Elder is also aware of the Sect’s current situation. Other than you, no one else has the qualifications to teach her. This little girl possesses a Special Constitution, so if others were to instruct her they would only delay or impede her progress. Only Great Elder would have the necessary skill to avoid such a mishap.”
Hearing what Yang Kai said, Huang Juan’s eyes lit up and she immediately began pleading as well.
Although she could not bear the thought of separating from Lin Yun’er, she was also aware of her limits. Lin Yun’er cultivating under her guidance would naturally result in vastly inferior results compared to the little girl studying under Ye Xi Yun. Considering Lin Yun’er’s future, Huang Juan felt she could tolerate a short separation.
What’s more, the Great Elder lived in High Heaven Sect, so she and Lin Yun’er would still have many opportunities to meet in the future.
Huang Juan and Yang Kai singing the same tune caused Ye Xi Yun to smile bitterly, rubbing her forehead gently as she said, “If I were to flatly refuse, wouldn’t that be too unreasonable?”
“Subordinate would not dare think so, if Great Elder has difficulties then Subordinate will naturally withdraw her request,” Huang Juan said hurriedly.
“Ha…” Ye Xi Yun sighed, “It’s not that this Queen doesn’t want to accept her as a disciple, it’s just that before I figure out exactly what this little girl’s Special Constitution is, even I would not feel confident formally instructing her; however, just providing a little guidance shouldn’t be an issue.”
Huang Juan was immediately overjoyed.
“But everything will depend on her own will,” Ye Xi Yun smiled slightly before turning to Lin Yun’er and asking her gently, “Yun’er, are you willing to cultivate under this Queen’s direction?”
“Yes,” Unexpectedly, Lin Yun’er replied crisply without even a moment of hesitation.
Ye Xi Yun was slightly startled by this and could not help asking curiously, “Why?”
“Because you should be very fierce.” Lin Yun’er tilted her head and replied.
Yang Kai and the others could not help but laugh. Although this little girl was ignorant of worldly affairs, she possessed her own intuition and was able to instinctively understand who here had the highest cultivation.
Ye Xi Yun put on a dignified expression and quickly said, “It will be very hard to follow this Queen. If you don’t cultivate well, this Queen may hit and scold you, do you understand?”
“Yun’er will cultivate well so she won’t need beating or scolding.”
“Good.” Ye Xi Yun nodded with satisfaction, “Then from today, you will stay here on Hundred Flowers Peak.”
Seeing Ye Xi Yun accept, Huang Juan’s eyes filled with excitement and she offered her sincere thanks.
Ye Xi Yun simply waved her hand and said, “I’m simply going to give her a little advice regarding her cultivation, not formally accepting her as a disciple. Please remember this.”
“Subordinate will remember, Yun’er being able to receive Great Elder’s advice is already a great blessing, it doesn’t matter whether she has the status of a disciple or not.”
“En, as long as you can have such a mentality. Also, you need not move to Hundred Flowers Peak, I will let Yun’er come visit you,” Ye Xi Yun exhorted before immediately turning to Yang Kai, “Sect Master, please return if there’s nothing else.”
[Another eviction order…]
Yang Kai’s expression became a bit depressed as he scratched his nose and stood up. Not wanting to disturb Huang Juan who was giving Lin Yun’er a tearful reminder of things she needed to pay attention to, he left on his own.
Five days later, outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, inside the palace housing High Heaven Sect’s Space Array, a light flashed and Yang Kai appeared. Without saying anything to the disciples on guard duty, Yang Kai simply summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off towards the horizon.
Now that matters in High Heaven Sect had been settled, and Yang Kai had no worries inside or outside the Sect, he needed to prepare for his impending long-distance voyage.
Twenty to thirty years had passed since he entered the Star Field and just thinking about everyone back on Tong Xuan Realm was enough to stimulate his worries and desires. Now that he had an Origin King Grade Starship in High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai felt that it was time for a trip back home.
Of course, he also wanted to look for Su Yan and Shan Qing Luo if possible.
Many people were out there waiting for him, so he could not just remain on Shadowed Star forever.
But before setting off, he needed to procure some cultivation resources; after all, this voyage would not be a matter of just one or two years. High Heaven Sect did not have any contact with the outside world and was not self-sufficient in terms of various cultivation resources, so before leaving, Yang Kai wanted to make sure the Sect disciples and Elders had plenty of reserves on hand.
Saint Crystals were the least of his worries as there was a massive Saint Crystal lode in the second layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field that would be enough to supply the Sect’s needs for thousands of years; however, there was a noticeable lack of pills available.
Although Yang Kai was an Alchemist, he could not refine so many pills in short order, so his only recourse was to purchase some and stockpile them.
Based on this consideration, Yang Kai did not choose to use Space Arrays to hurry along and instead used his Star Shuttle to fly from city to city, purchasing various pills and herbs as he went.
The direction he chose to head was towards Shadow Moon Hall!
For this long-distance voyage, Yang Kai certainly wanted to invite Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu. The two of them had made their desire to set sail with him known long ago, Yang Kai hadn’t picked a departure date until recently, so he had not been able to give them a positive answer.
Now that even Clear Sky Sect had obtained a travel quota, Yang Kai would certainly not forget Shadow Moon Hall; after all, Qian Tong had taken care of him in many ways since arriving on Shadowed Star and his friendship with Fei Zhi Tu was also not shallow.
If Yang Kai were to just leave without informing them, that would be too unreasonable.
—
At the same time, on a vast plain in Shadowed Star’s east, a massive city stood that stretched thousands of kilometres in every direction. At the centre of this city, there were many beautiful, enormous palaces arranged close together.
This was the headquarters of Heaven Battling Union, Heaven Battling City.
Inside one palace at the centre of the city, two people were discussing important matters, one of them was an old man with a youthful complexion while the other was a burly middle-aged man.
If Yang Kai were here, he would recognize the old man as Heaven Battling Union’s Great Elder Mo Xiao Sheng, a fellow cultivator of the Dao of Space.
At this moment though, this prestigious Great Elder was respectfully addressing the middle-aged man.
The identity of this man was easy to discern just from this, Heaven Battling Union’s Union Master, Qu Zheng!
Qu Zheng, like Mo Xiao Sheng, was a master at the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but he had been in retreat these past years to try to comprehend the mysteries of the Origin King Realm and thus rarely showed himself. Mo Xiao Sheng mostly handled all of the Union’s day-to-day matters.
This situation was quite common on Shadowed Star.
Because of the constraints of the World Principles here, the limit any cultivator could achieve was the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but all masters who reached this level would naturally not be content with the status quo and would strive to achieve the legendary Origin King Realm.
No one had succeeded, but that didn’t hinder these masters’ determination and enthusiasm to explore greater heights in the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way.
When the Emperor Garden opened, Qu Zheng had also entered, but the trip had not been very rewarding. At this time, what was being discussed with Mo Xiao Sheng was an after-action report on the Emperor Garden.
Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps from outside the hall and a disciple’s voice called out, “Reporting to Union Master and Great Elder, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Fang Peng is here to request a meeting.”
“That Old Ghost Fang?” Qu Zheng frowned as he muttered with displeasure, “That old dog dared to come to my Heaven Battling City? Does he not put this Qu in his eyes?”
Mo Xiao Sheng also showed a look of suspicion. One had to know that Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect were the two giants of Shadowed Star. Although they weren’t blood enemies, they did have some small skirmishes between them with several disciples from both forces perishing at the other’s hands each year.
However, showing up at the other force’s headquarters was nothing short of a great taboo!
Moreover, Fang Peng’s identity was extraordinary: he was none other than the Sect Master of Thunder Typhoon Sect, making his status equivalent to Qu Zheng’s.
With his high status and sensitive identity, arriving at Heaven Battling City unannounced was likely to cause friction and possibly even disputes between the two giants. At worst, it might result in an all-out war, so after hearing the disciple’s report, Qu Zheng couldn’t help becoming angry.
“Union Master, please calm yourself,” Although Mo Xiao Sheng also had many doubts, his wit was sharper than Qu Zheng’s, and he hurriedly said. “Fang Peng must have something important to discuss with Union master since he dares to arrive in Heaven Battling City. If that’s the case, you might as well hear what he has to say; it won’t be too late to decide how to respond afterwards.”
Hearing this proposal, Qu Zheng felt it was somewhat reasonable; moreover, as this place’s master, he wasn’t afraid of a lone Fang Peng, so he nodded lightly after he pondered for a moment, “Very well, then we’ll act per Great Elder’s intention, but if that old dog really came here to provoke my Heaven Battling Union… Hmph! This old master will let him know what the price of overconfidence is!”
Just after these words were spoken, a loud laugh came from outside the hall, and a hearty voice called out, “I’ve not seen you for many years, but it seems Brother Qu’s temper is as short as ever.”
At the same time this voice sounded, a figure appeared outside the hall. The Heaven Battling Union disciple was thoroughly shocked by this person’s appearance and hurriedly tried to block him, but he was easily kicked aside and unable to get up. Immediately after, the uninvited guest walked into the hall directly, wearing a carefree smile, without the slightest trace of politeness, as if this place was his own private courtyard.
Qu Zheng’s expression turned gloomy as Mo Xiao Sheng frowned, a clear look of displeasure appearing on both their faces.
The man who walked in was Fang Peng, the Sect Master of Thunder Typhoon Sect, but neither of the two seated inside had expected that this guy would be so thick-skinned.
After entering the hall, Fang Peng found a place to sit down for himself before turning to Qu Zheng and saying, “Brother Qu, I’m a guest from afar, so why don’t I see tea being served? Is Heaven Battling Union really so stingy?”
“Hmph, if it were someone else who had arrived, this Qu would definitely welcome them, but you… we have no tea for the likes of you,” Qu Zheng snorted coldly.
Fang Peng just curled his lips, not bothering to dwell on this seemingly irrelevant topic.
“Old Ghost Fang, instead of taking care of your Thunder Typhoon Sect you’ve run tens of thousands of kilometres to my Heaven Battling City. Why?” Qu Zheng got straight to the point, “Cheng Peng Xuan fell in the Emperor Garden, so if you leave Thunder Typhoon Sect rashly, aren’t you afraid someone will take the opportunity to stir up trouble?”
“Who would dare?” Immediately after Qu Zheng’s mentioned Cheng Peng Xuan falling, Fang Peng’s face became gloomy and he coldly snorted, “Although Great Elder Cheng’s demise is unfortunate, my Thunder Typhoon Sect is no pushover; who would dare court death by challenging us?”
“Your courage isn’t small,” Qu Zheng sneered, his eyes faintly flashing, “If this old master were to make you remain here forever, I think your Thunder Typhoon Sect would be nothing more than a flock of chickens waiting to be slaughtered.”
“Make me remain here?” Fang Peng pointed to himself with a grin, “Don’t try to boast shamelessly, Brother Qu! If you have such confidence, you are welcome to try burying this Fang in Heaven Battling City.”
Hearing this taunt, a dangerous light flickered across Qu Zheng’s eyes as if he really wanted to take action.
This couldn’t be helped though, since Thunder Typhoon Sect would likely collapse if Fang Peng was beheaded here, leaving only Heaven Battling Union to lord over Shadowed Star.
However, Fang Peng remained utterly calm and relaxed, as if he had something to rely on, causing Qu Zheng some confusion and stopping him from acting ruthlessly.
Mo Xiao Sheng also felt confused. Although Fang Peng’s strength was indeed exceptional, since he had entered the heart of Heaven Battling City, his life was no longer his to control. This old dog couldn’t have lost his mind and taken the initiative to deliver his head, could he?
“En, enough nonsense,” After a long, silent stalemate, Fang Peng waved his hand and said, “Truth be told, this Fang daring to come to Heaven Battling Union alone this time was simply because he was ordered to.”
“Ordered?” Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng were both startled, “To do what and by who?”
Fang Peng was Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Sect Master, who could order him to do anything? Both of these men’s hearts clenched when they realised the answer to this question.
“Who do you think?” Fang Peng squinted at them.
Exchanging a glance, both Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng turned severe, and only after a long silence did Qu Zheng hesitantly ask, “Could it be them?”
“En, it’s them. Who else could order this Fang into action personally?” Fang Peng grinned meaningfully, “Or do you think this old master would willingly come here to die? While this old master may not be young, he still hasn’t lived nearly enough. How could I waltz right into this tiger’s den without something to take advantage of?”
Although his words weren’t pleasant to the ear, Qu Zheng and Mo Xiao Sheng could only look at each other and suppress the murderous intent in their hearts.
Since the other party had come here under ‘their’ orders, they could not do anything to him. Although Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect were the two giants of Shadowed Star, their strength was insignificant compared with that side.
Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Yang Sect was comparable to Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, but because it had offended that side, it had been uprooted overnight, showing just how terrifying their power was.
Usually, their people were completely indifferent to worldly affairs, so why would they suddenly order Fang Peng to contact Heaven Battling Union at this time?
“Brother Fang, if you have something to say then get to the point, you and I know that while Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect can lord over Shadowed Star, we still fall short of their power. Since they’ve begun to move, the Heaven Battling Union and I naturally won’t just stand by,” Qu Zheng took a deep breath and his attitude became much more easygoing.
“Brother Qu really understands what must be done!” Fang Peng laughed before he too assumed a solemn expression, “That little brat from High Heaven Sect has left the Flowing Flame Sand Field.”
Qu Zheng was taken aback, and quickly reacted, “You mean that boy called Yang Kai?”
“Indeed!” Fang Peng nodded lightly, “And from his movements, it seems he wants to go to Shadow Moon Hall!”
“Shadow Moon Hall?” Qu Zheng frowned, “What does this have to do with us?”
“Why does Brother Qu try to play dumb?” Fang Peng sneered, “Although High Heaven Sect is nothing of importance itself, since it is located inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, no one can pose any threat to it. If it’s given enough time to develop, will Shadowed Star still have a place for you and me?”
“Brother Fang’s meaning is to strangle this danger in its cradle?”
“Exactly!” Fang Peng nodded sincerely, “If he had remained hidden inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, I’m afraid no one would have any way to deal with him, but since he’s decided to come out on his own, he no longer gets to decide whether he lives or dies.”
“That being said, I heard that this boy’s strength and means are extraordinary. No average person would be able to do anything to him.”
“So what? No matter how great his strength might be, he’s still a boy who just broke through to the Origin Returning Realm. You and I have countless masters at our disposal, could it be that you think we have no way to take him?”
“En,” Qu Zheng nodded lightly, feeling like he had been making a bit too much of a fuss, but he still suspiciously asked, “But what does any of this have to do with ‘them?’”
“A great deal!” Fang Peng grinned meaningfully, “High Heaven Sect has an Origin King Grade Starship. Hasn’t Brother Qu heard?”
“This Qu has heard such rumours, but is it truly an Origin King Grade Starship?” Qu Zheng was a little sceptical.
“Whether or not it is real, you might as well ask Elder Mo. Elder Mo has seen it with his own eyes.”
Qu Zheng shot a look over at Mo Xiao Sheng who nodded solemnly and said, “En, there’s no doubt that it is an Origin King Grade Starship; however, I have no idea how they made it or where they found it.”
“It doesn’t matter where they got it. The key is that as long as we can obtain that Starship, we can leave the Shadowed Star and go to another Cultivation Star to break through to the Origin King Realm!”
As soon as this statement came out, both Mo Xiao Sheng and Qu Zheng’s eyes lit up with desire.
The Origin King Realm was something they always dreamed of reaching but could never achieve; however, with an Origin King Grade Starship, it might just be possible.
“Presumably, Brother Qu understands what this means, moreover… Ye Xi Yun has joined High Heaven Sect and currently holds the status of Great Elder. Do you think that side will just let High Heaven Sect off?” Fang Peng grinned deviously.
“So that’s how it is!” Qu Zheng nodded lightly, finally comprehending the whole picture. Whether it was because of that Origin King Grade Starship or Ye Xi Yun, it was impossible for ‘them’ to sit by and watch High Heaven Sect develop. That side would definitely be looking for any opportunity to wipe High Heaven Sect out.
And their Sect Master Yang Kai’s little outing was one such opportunity!
“Is this matter to be undertaken by just our two forces?” Qu Zheng asked.
“For the time being, but that side seems to be sending people as well.”
“Hmph, manipulative bastards.” Qu Zheng snorted coldly. It was almost inevitable that that Origin King Grade Starship would fall into their hands if High Heaven Sect was really eliminated. At that time, Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union would only get some leftover soup to drink.
“Their fist is bigger, after all.” Fang Peng smiled helplessly, “I’ve delivered their message, but as for the specifics, that is for you and me to discuss. Because this is related to that Starship and Ye Xi Yun, we can’t just kill Yang Kai but must capture him alive instead to use as a bargaining chip to force High Heaven Sect to surrender.”
Yang Kai knew nothing about Fang Pang and Qu Zheng’s conspiracy. At this moment, he was still flying in the direction of Shadow Moon Hall, stopping by each city he came across, buying up pills and herbs like crazy.
The number of Saint Crystals in his Space Ring shrank at an extreme speed, but the number of cultivation resources increased at the same time.
His harvest was massive.
Three months later, Yang Kai stood mid-air, looking towards a city not far away.
Heavenly Fate City!
Glancing to the side, Yang Kai saw a small devastated mountain: Dragon Cave Mountain, which sat just fifty kilometres from Heavenly Fate City!
This small ruined mountain was Yang Kai’s first stopover on Shadowed Star and was where he had made many friends and enemies, and grown to his current height. It was a pity that this unique small mountain range managed by Wu Yi, Yang Yan and all the others had been destroyed in that great battle.
Only a little time had passed, but when Yang Kai looked at the desolate Dragon Cave Mountain, it almost felt like he could see his rapid growth over the past decade.
After a brief silence, Yang Kai slowly shook his head, collected his mood, and flew straight to Heavenly Fate City.
He had flown all the way here from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although it had taken him three full months, he hadn’t wasted his time on the road. Although cultivating on the move was impossible, studying the various gains he had from the Emperor Garden wasn’t an issue.
Yang Kai had fully grasped the second half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique now, so all that remained was for him to take the time to experiment and enhance his control over his Golden Blood Threads to increase their battle power.
He had also studied the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture from time to time, obtaining new harvests each time he did.
These three months had been quite fulfilling.
In front of the majestic City Lord’s Mansion, Yang Kai was stopped by the cultivators on guard. After taking a good look at Yang Kai though, the lead guard suddenly paled and solemnly cupped his fists, “Heavenly Fate City’s Chen Qi greets Sect Master Yang.”
“Oh? You recognise me?” Yang Kai smiled and looked at this man with some surprise.
The man called Chen Qi scratched his head and respectfully said, “When Sect Master Yang raised a big fuss in Heavenly Fate City, this Chen was able to see Sect Master Yang from a distance, so…”
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai gently nodded. Since this man knew him, that made things easier, “Is City Lord Fei here? I want to discuss something with him.”
Saying so, Yang Kai prepared to walk inside.
Chen Qi quickly stood in front of him though and wore an awkward expression as he said, “Reporting to Sect Master Yang. Sir City Lord is not in the city right now.”
“Not here?” Yang Kai was stunned. Unexpectedly, after travelling a few million kilometres, one of the people Yang Kai had come to see was out, causing him to feel somewhat depressed. After collecting himself, Yang Kai asked, “What about Elder Qian?”
“Elder Qian is not here either,” Chen Qi’s look became even more embarrassed.
“Uh…Where did they go?” Yang Kai was speechless. It hadn’t been long since the Emperor Garden had closed, yet these two old men hadn’t even bothered checking their gains before leaving once more.
“Great Elder and Sir City Lord went to Fallen Emperor Mountain together,” Chen Qi replied quickly.
“Why would they go to Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Yang Kai frowned.
Chen Qi asked back, “Hasn’t Sect Master Yang heard about Fallen Emperor Mountain’s mutation?”
“Mutation?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai left Heavenly Fate City, summoned his Star Shuttle, and set out in the direction of Fallen Emperor Mountain.
From Chen Qi, he had learned something quite shocking.
The ruins of a large number of secluded homes and cave mansions of ancient cultivators had appeared in Fallen Emperor Mountain, and there was even a rumour that the ruins of a great Sect had been discovered! This news was simply unbelievable. After the news spread, it immediately attracted a large number of Shadowed Star cultivators who wanted to explore and treasure hunt.
Moreover, this was no mere rumour; it was all confirmed fact.
Some people had already managed to obtain Heaven defying Secret Arts and Secret Techniques from these ruins, along with other valuable artifacts and treasures.
It was even said that an Origin King Grade artifact had appeared.
Of course, this last point may have been an exaggeration. Regardless of which Cultivation Star one was on, Origin King Grade artifacts were rare treasures because too few Artifact Refiners were capable of refining such masterpieces.
But it was undeniable that Fallen Emperor Mountain had become the focus of attention for all of Shadowed Star.
Yang Kai had been to Fallen Emperor Mountain once before when he had joined Fei Zhi Tu’s group to rescue Qian Tong. The reason why this mountain range was called Fallen Emperor Mountain was precisely because of rumours that the Starry Sky Great Emperor had fallen there.
The omnipresent Emperor Pressure in Fallen Emperor Mountain added to the credibility of this rumour.
The deeper one went, the stronger the Emperor Pressure became!
Before the Emperor Garden manifested, Shadowed Star’s cultivators that had recently broken through to the Origin Returning Realm would enter Fallen Emperor Mountain to make use of the Emperor Pressure to condense their Shi.
Unfortunately, no cultivator could enter the depths of Fallen Emperor Mountain because none could bear the intensity of the Emperor Pressure there.
However, after the Emperor Garden appeared, the Emperor Pressure that pervaded Fallen Emperor Mountain disappeared.
The reason for this was obviously due to the Emperor Garden.
The Emperor Garden originally existed many thousands of metres below Fallen Emperor Mountain, which allowed Emperor Pressure to cover this mountain range. But when the Emperor Garden rose into the sky, the Emperor Pressure emitted by it no longer affected Fallen Emperor Mountain.
No one had ever been able to travel deep into Fallen Emperor Mountain before, so many couldn’t resist the temptation to explore.
Initially, just a few cultivators who were curious about what was inside Fallen Emperor Mountain had banded together to explore its depths, but some kind of falling out occurred after they discovered an ancient cave mansion and obtained many benefits, leading to word of the existence of treasures leaking out.
If it weren’t for an unequal distribution that led to infighting and even killing, news of this discovery probably wouldn’t have spread as quickly.
Previously, all of Shadowed Star’s cultivators were paying attention to the Emperor Garden’s movements, so no one paid much heed to the changes of Fallen Emperor Mountain.
But now, the world’s attention had shifted from the Emperor Garden to Fallen Emperor Mountain.
This focus only became more pronounced when word spread of a large number of secluded homes and cave mansions of ancient cultivators and even Sect ruins being discovered. Now, countless cultivators from all over Shadowed Star were rushing to Fallen Emperor Mountain.
This happened three or four months ago. Yang Kai had already left High Heaven Sect on a purchasing spree while immersing himself in the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture and Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, so he had naturally not received word about this strange phenomenon.
It was only after arriving in Heavenly Fate City that he came to learn of this news.
Of course, Yang Kai was quite interested in these secluded homes, cave mansions and Sect ruins. Now that he knew of them, he didn’t mind taking a trip there to find Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, saving him from wasting time just waiting in Heavenly Fate City for them to return.
After obtaining some relevant information, Yang Kai flew straight to Fallen Emperor Mountain.
Along the way, Yang Kai noticed that many cultivators were also travelling in the same direction as him, rushing towards Fallen Emperor Mountain. Apparently, the news of hidden treasures being found wasn’t groundless; otherwise, it would have been impossible to attract so many people.
Yang Kai naturally remembered the location of Fallen Emperor Mountain as it wasn’t too far away from Heavenly Fate City.
Ten days later, a streak of light arrived outside Fallen Emperor Mountain and came to a halt. When this light dissipated, Yang Kai’s figure appeared.
Looking at the countless cultivators down below, Yang Kai couldn’t help wrinkling his brow.
He hadn’t expected it to be so lively outside Fallen Emperor Mountain.
A rough estimate put the number of cultivators in the mountain range’s periphery at several tens of thousands with widely varying cultivations.
There were cultivators at the True Element Boundary, Immortal Ascension Boundary, Transcendent Realm, Saint Realm, etc.
There were even some Separation and Reunion Boundary cultivators who had yet to even reach the True Element Boundary.
[What are they doing here?] Yang Kai observed with consternation. With such strength and cultivation, rushing into such a dangerous place was courting death.
But after thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai suddenly understood.
Since they had chosen the path of cultivation, these people weren’t afraid of taking risks. Yang Kai had also passed through these Great Realms and deeply understood that the more dangerous the place, the higher the benefit it was hiding and the more those benefits could help a cultivator grow.
If these cultivators were lucky enough to find an unclaimed secluded home or cave mansion of some ancient cultivator, perhaps they would never have to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of their lives.
And now that there was no trace of Emperor Pressure remaining in Fallen Emperor Mountain, it could be said that even ordinary mortals who hadn’t begun to cultivate could enter without worrying about their safety.
Fallen Emperor Mountain was also different from other mountain ranges because the omnipresent Emperor Pressure that shrouded it in the past had made it impossible for any kind of creature to live inside. As such, there was no need for cultivators entering to worry about encountering vicious or powerful Monster Beasts.
The only thing one needed to care about was other cultivators.
Killing people and plundering their treasures was something that happened frequently, but as long as one didn’t venture too deep into the mountains, the risk of this happening wasn’t too high.
Various thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as he quickly came to an understanding of why these seemingly weak cultivators had gathered here.
Not only that, some cultivators didn’t even seem like they were planning to enter Fallen Emperor Mountain and were here to take advantage of this opportunity to do some business instead. In this crowded place, countless stalls and pop up shops had appeared, selling a dazzling array of goods and services.
The business at some stalls seemed to be pretty good, with many people gathering around and bargaining with the stall owners, making for a lively market atmosphere.
Seeing this, Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter.
In the end, he didn’t need to care too much about other people’s affairs. This trip to Fallen Emperor Mountain was just a coincidental opportunity. What Yang Kai had to do now was see if he could find Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu while casually exploring.
If he had some gains, he would be happy, but if not, he wouldn’t care.
Considering all this, Yang Kai descended to the ground.
Just after he collected his Star Shuttle, several cultivators rushed over to him, all of them wearing flattering smiles as they greeted Yang Kai with cupped fists from afar.
Yang Kai frowned, not knowing what these people were up to, but he wasn’t about to just attack random people, so he stood in place and looked at them faintly while asking, “Do you have something you want to discuss with me?”
“Extreme Heaven Sect’s Wu Chang greets this friend,” One of the more astute looking cultivators quickly introduced himself.
Others followed suit.
Interestingly, these cultivators were all just Saint Kings.
After listening to their self-introductions, Yang Kai raised his brow as he discovered that these people all belonged to different forces, some of which even seemed to have grudges between them.
This left Yang Kai a little at a loss, wondering what they wanted from him.
“It’s like this, Friend,” The man named Wu Chang took the lead, putting on a friendly smile that felt entirely fake to Yang Kai but made the others present scowl somewhat unhappily. “From the looks of it, Friend came alone to enter the depths of Fallen Emperor Mountain to treasure hunt, yes?”
“Indeed!” Yang Kai gently nodded, “So what?”
Wu Chang chuckled, “Friend doesn’t need to be so vigilant, this one has no malicious intentions and simply wishes to invite you and to enter with him.”
“With you?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Exactly,” Wu Chang nodded quickly before stretching out his hand and pointing in a specific direction. “Friend must be able to tell that this Wu is nothing more than a Second-Order Saint King, and although such cultivation is not low, it is also not high. In fact, the disciples of Extreme Heaven Sect currently here do not have an Origin Realm master to assume command, so if we were to encounter a powerful enemy while exploring the Fallen Emperor Mountain…”
Although he didn’t finish his words, Yang Kai still understood why this man extended an invitation. Looking in the direction this Wu Chang was pointing, Yang Kai noticed a group of cultivators wearing similar robes, about a dozen or so in total and all of them Saint Kings. There was no trace of an Origin Realm master in sight.
It seemed that Extreme Heaven Sect wasn’t a very powerful force.
“You want me to protect your safety?” Yang Kai asked.
“Talking with someone smart makes things so much easier. Rather than just protection, this Wu would rather call it cooperation, it all depends on whether this friend is willing or not,” Wu Chang nodded quickly.
“Is there a difference?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“Naturally there is a difference,” Wu Chang saw that Yang Kai seemed a bit interested and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot. “If Friend just protects my Extreme Heaven Sect, we will simply pay Friend a satisfactory price, but whatever we discover in Fallen Emperor Mountain will then belong exclusively to my Extreme Heaven Sect. If we cooperate, however, friend and I can discuss the terms of how to distribute the treasures we find. Of course, this Wu would earnestly like to cooperate with this friend.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, finally figuring out why the other party was acting so enthusiastic. It turned out that this Wu Chang’s Sect lacked any powerful masters, and since Yang Kai hadn’t bothered to conceal his cultivation, even if Wu Chang was just a Saint King, it wasn’t hard to realise Yang Kai was an Origin Realm master.
“The same goes for all of you?” Yang Kai swept his eyes over the others gathered around him.
These cultivators nodded quickly, one-by-one introducing their own families or Sects.
“I understand,” Yang Kai chuckled before asking meaningfully, “Aren’t you worried I’ll go back on my word and silence the witnesses if we discover something truly good?”
Hearing this, Wu Chang and the others present went somewhat stiff, their expressions becoming uncomfortable, but soon, Wu Chang composed himself and said, “Friend must be joking.”
“Whether I’m joking or not, since I can enter the Fallen Emperor Mountain to explore on my own, why would I bother cooperating with you and be forced to share the profits?” Yang Kai sneered. He wasn’t so idle or bored to help these people. The only reason he even bothered talking to these people was because he had only just arrived and was hoping to gleam so information from them about Fallen Emperor Mountain’s current situation.
“En… it’s like this, Friend. The ancient secluded homes and cave mansions in Fallen Emperor Mountain are all extremely well hidden. Many cannot even be found with Divine Sense, so if there are more people to search, there is a higher chance to discover opportunities. Moreover, most of the barriers protecting these secluded homes and cave mansions cannot be opened by individuals and instead require the cooperation of many, which is why most people choose to form groups to explore. There are very few who decide to enter all on their own.”
“From what you said, I guess it does make sense,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Wu Chang and the others were overjoyed hearing this, but just as they were about to continue pressing their advantage, Yang Kai waved his hand and said, “But I only just arrived here and don’t plan on immediately diving in, so you’d all best look for someone else to cooperate with.”
Saying so, Yang Kai left.
He never had any intention to cooperate with these people.
Although Wu Chang and the others were unwilling, they were unable to continue blocking Yang Kai, so they turned their attention back to their surroundings instead, hoping to spot other lone Origin Realm masters they could win over.
After getting rid of those few people, Yang Kai didn’t rush to enter Fallen Emperor Mountain but instead walked around the random stalls while taking out his communication artifact and pouring his Divine Sense into it.
Unfortunately, there was no response, so Yang Kai could only shake his head and put it away.
It seemed that Qian Tong was too far away. Otherwise, he would have been able to make contact.
Yang Kai wasn’t actually investigating these stalls for treasures. There were a lot of goods at these stalls, and many of them weren’t bad in terms of quality, but how could these things possibly enter Yang Kai’s eyes? Moreover, who would be willing to display any kind of real treasure here? After obtaining something precious, anyone’s first thought would be to hide it from public view.
It could be said that the items on sale here were all just common goods.
Of course, some people couldn’t judge the real value of things and treated treasures like garbage, but such instances were scarce.
Yang Kai continued to wander around since he wanted to gather information. At the very least, he could get a rough understanding of the situation inside Fallen Emperor Mountain through the conversations of the cultivators around him.
There were countless people here, so it wasn’t tricky for Yang Kai to glean some valuable news.
The ancient Sect ruins actually existed! Apparently, it was located at the innermost part of Fallen Emperor Mountain. Now, many masters had already rushed there; however, the Sect Defending Array of that ruin seemed quite sturdy, so it probably wouldn’t be easy to break through in short order. As such, the masters who first discovered it were at a loss and could only wait for more people to arrive so they could join forces to crack it.
If Yang Yan were here, with her abilities, breaking through that Sect Defending Array wouldn’t be any trouble at all, but unfortunately, she had already fused with the Great Emperor’s true body and was now still in a state of deep sleep.
Thinking of Yang Yan, Yang Kai sighed unconsciously.
This woman was the closest friend Yang Kai had made since he arrived on Shadowed Star. She had followed him through many ups and downs, sharing joys and sorrows, but how could Yang Kai have known her actual life experiences would be so astonishing?
Just as he was reminiscing, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed lightly before he collected himself and walked off towards a sparsely crowded place.
After a while, he suddenly turned around with a smile on his face and called out, “Friend, why are you following behind this Yang so stealthily? How about you come out and show yourself?”
A surprised outburst rang out before a figure strangely appeared not far away, its eyes sweeping over Yang Kai in shock as it called out, “You can actually see through this Jiang’s concealment technique?”
Yang Kai snorted as he swept his Divine Sense across his opponent and found that this man was a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator who appeared to be about fifty years old with slightly greying hair and a short stature. This older man’s Saint Qi also seemed somewhat obscure.
Although this old man was one Minor Realm higher than him, Yang Kai showed no signs of fear at all.
He had killed a few of the cultivators at the Third-Order Origin Realm before, so why would he fear a mere Second-Order old man? Moreover, looking at the other person’s expression, it seemed that there was no malice contained in it, so Yang Kai didn’t plan an act before he understood this old man’s true intentions.
“Don’t take offence, Little Brother. This Jiang had no ill intentions,” The cultivator surnamed Jiang quickly expressed his attitude; after all, it was something of a taboo to follow after someone secretly. Although Yang Kai’s cultivation was lower than this old man’s, this place was currently a great mixing pot of dragons and snakes, so he didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary conflict with Yang Kai only to benefit others.
“I can see that,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, not seeming to pay it any mind, “But I still want to know why you were following me.”
“Hehe, then this old man will be succinct with Little Brother.” Although this man looked far older than Yang Kai, since both of them were Origin Realm cultivators and were unfamiliar with one another, he didn’t dare assume an air of seniority. “En, if Little Brother doesn’t mind, may this old man inquire as to what attribute Saint Qi you cultivate?”
“What attribute?” Yang Kai frowned, his face growing solemn, “Why should I tell you?”
“If it’s convenient, would little brother mind indulging this old man? This old man is searching for a companion who cultivates a specific attribute of Secret Art. Of course, if Little Brother is unwilling, then just pretend this old man never asked. This Jiang can always search for others to cooperate with,” The man surnamed Jiang asked sincerely.
Yang Kai frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, “See for yourself.”
Saying so, he stretched out his hand and released a dark Demonic Flame atop his palm which gave off a scorching heat.
The cultivator surnamed Jiang saw this and his face lit up, “Fire Attribute, finally!”
“Hm?” Yang Kai frowned, “You were looking for a cultivator that specifically cultivates Fire Attribute Saint Qi?”
“Indeed!” The expression of the cultivator surnamed Jiang turned serious again, “This old man has already spoken to more than a dozen people, but none of them could meet my requirements. If Little Brother doesn’t mind, can we move elsewhere to discuss the situation in detail?”
Saying so, he looked at Yang Kai eagerly.
Seeing Yang Kai hesitating though, the old man surnamed Jiang grit his teeth and quietly sent a Divine Sense Message to Yang Kai.
“Oh? Is there such a good deal?” Yang Kai asked in surprise before nodding immediately, “In that case, please lead the way, Brother Jiang.”
“Please, please!” Jiang Shan saw Yang Kai agree and was overjoyed, hurriedly turning and walking off in a certain direction.
Yang Kai followed him away from the crowds and towards a more and more deserted area; however, having complete confidence in his strength, Yang Kai wasn’t worried this old man was up to anything nefarious.
After a while, the two arrived at a small slope about ten kilometres away, where three other people were sitting cross-legged in meditation, seemingly adjusting their breathing.
Yang Kai was surprised and quickly swept this group with his Divine Sense, immediately discovering that these three were all Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators comparable to the old man whose name he now knew was Jiang Shan.
Of these three people, two were men while one was a woman. One of the men appeared similar to Jiang Shan, about fifty or sixty years old, while the other man and the woman looked much younger. Of this younger-looking pair, the man had a wild look about him as well as burly muscles while the woman had a delicate appearance with an impressive pair of jade peaks and a thin, enchanting figure.
From how the younger-looking man and woman were meditating close to each other, it seemed that they were husband and wife. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have appeared so intimate; however, their appearances gave a strong sense of visual conflict, like a beautiful woman and a burly beast.
Perceiving someone had arrived, the three cultivators opened their eyes at the same time. When they saw that Jiang Shan had brought someone back with him, they all began examining Yang Kai.
“Brother Jiang, what took you so long? This old master thought something happened to you,” The old man meditating in the back asked impatiently.
“Haha, a minor matter, it just took more time to find a suitable candidate than I anticipated; fortunately, this old man managed to find this little brother,” Jiang Shan explained.
It truly was hard to find a suitable candidate. What he was looking for was someone who cultivated Fire Attribute Saint Qi and had an appropriate level of strength. If he found someone who was too strong, he wouldn’t be able to control the situation, but if he found someone too weak, they wouldn’t be of any help.
As such, a First or Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator was the best choice.
What’s more, most of the cultivators who arrived outside Fallen Emperor Mountain were now appearing in groups, so it had been hard to find a lone cultivator. Jiang Shan had wandered for two or three days and asked ten people in total, but only Yang Kai met his requirements.
“A First-Order Origin Realm brat?” The wild-looking brawny man coldly snorted, “With his low strength, won’t it be more difficult to break open the barrier? If this boy drags our heels, wouldn’t we have wasted a lot of time?”
Although he was just a Second-Order Origin Realm master, barely any higher than Yang Kai, this burly man’s tone was quite condescending.
But Yang Kai just smiled lightly and paid it no mind.
Jiang Shan quickly spoke up, “First-Order is fine, although this little brother’s cultivation is slightly lower, he only needs to take enough pills to supplement his Saint Qi when the time comes. Moreover, cracking the Spirit Array isn’t difficult. As long as we have the right number of people with the appropriate attributes, it will simply be a matter of time; there’s no requirement for individual strength.”
“If Brother Jiang says so,” The brawny man didn’t continue to haggle over the issue.
“Good. Old Jiang, shouldn’t we head out now that everyone is here? Although you said that place is quite remote and it’s unlikely to be discovered, with so many people pouring into Fallen Emperor Mountain, it’s probably best if we move quickly,” The elegant woman opened her lips lightly and said in a crisp, pleasant-sounding voice that still retained a hint of immaturity. If one were to simply listen to her voice, they would have difficulty thinking she was an Origin Realm master.
“Sister Yi is right, now that everyone is here, we should go.” Jiang Shan didn’t object, simply beckoning to everyone as he summoned his Star Shuttle and flew towards the depths of Fallen Emperor Mountain.
The other four exchange a glance before hurrying to keep up.
Along the way, everyone introduced themselves; after all, they were about to collaborate, so it wasn’t a good idea to know nothing about one another. Of course, no one went into too much detail about their origins. Yang Kai only learned that besides Jiang Shan, the other old man was He Wei, the burly man was called Chen Li, and the elegant lady was Yi Lin.
Yang Kai opted only to give his surname when asked.
After all, his current reputation on Shadowed Star was quite loud, so if he reported his full name, these people would have some questions. But since he only gave his surname, no one cared too much.
The reason Jiang Shan gathered five people to enter Fallen Emperor Mountain was because he accidentally discovered the hidden cave mansion of an ancient cultivator a few days ago. Unfortunately, a powerful Spirit Array was guarding this cave mansion that, even after several days of effort, he was unable to crack. As such, his only recourse was to exit Fallen Emperor Mountain and look for helpers.
Fortunately, he had dabbled in Spirit Arrays during his long life and, although he had failed to crack the protective array outright, he had been able to associate it with a specific Spirit Array he had read about in some ancient books called the Five Elements Scattering Array.
This Spirit Array had very distinct strong points and weak points. Its strong point was it provided excellent camouflage and was incredibly difficult for individuals to crack; however, as long as one could gather five cultivators that had Saint Qi of the Five Elements, they would be able to work together to break it.
If this Spirit Array had been in peak condition, then five Origin King Realm masters would need to be assembled to destroy it; however, after more than ten thousand years of neglect, its power had significantly reduced, and five Origin Realm masters were all that was needed.
After leaving Fallen Emperor Mountain, Jiang Shan found three suitable candidates, with Yang Kai being the last one.
Jiang Shan had mentioned the ancient cultivator’s hidden cave mansion to Yang Kai at that time, which was why Yang Kai had bothered following him.
In any case, Yang Kai had to enter the depths of Fallen Emperor Mountain, so this diversion was technically along the way for him. If he managed to obtain some benefits that would be best, if not, it didn’t matter, so Yang Kai’s enthusiasm was far lower than the other four.
“Let’s get the unpleasant business out of the way first.” After Jiang Shan finished explaining about the ancient cave mansion and the Five Elements Scattering Array, he wore a solemn look and said, “When the barrier is broken, if there really is a hidden cave mansion, this old man wants forty percent of whatever we find while the remaining sixty will be shared amongst everyone else equally.”
“Forty percent?” Hearing Jiang Shan’s words, He Wei raised his brow, but after a moment of thought, he nodded, “Good, Brother Jiang’s distribution is fair, this old man has no objections!”
Chen Li and Yi Lin naturally had no objections either.
Although the five of them were acting together, the ancient cave mansion was discovered by Jiang Shan, and he had also provided the method to crack its protective barrier while the rest of them were simply contributing some strength. Jiang Shen monopolising forty percent of the rewards wasn’t unjust.
Yang Kai rarely went out exploring with others, but he still understood such basic distribution etiquette. Ordinarily, Jiang Shan declaring he wanted half of the gains wouldn’t be considered taking the lion’s share, so now that he only wanted forty percent, everyone was naturally quite satisfied.
“What if there isn’t a way to evenly distribute the gains we find?” Yang Kai asked.
“If there aren’t enough gains to be distributed, we will naturally convert them to Saint Crystals or auction them off on the spot, the highest price winning the treasure while the rest receive some Saint Crystals,” Yi Lin looked at Yang Kai with a smile, “Little Brother, you must rarely go out treasure hunting with strangers, yes?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded with slight embarrassment as he vaguely realised that such rules must be reasonably standard things that everyone knew.
“No wonder!” Yi Lin giggled.
Jiang Shan also smiled kindly, “Judging from Little Brother Yang having reached the First-Order Origin Returning Realm at such a young age, you must come from some famous force, so it’s only natural that you don’t know of such rules.”
“Hmph, flowers grown in a greenhouse can’t stand up to wind and rain. Little Boy, don’t you dare screw things up for us when the time comes,” Chen Li seemed to look down on Yang Kai’s strength and distrust him quite a bit.
Saying so, he turned his attention back to Yi Lin and ignored Yang Kai.
Yang Kai simply scratched his cheek awkwardly and remained silent.
After experiencing so many ups and downs on his life’s journey, overcoming innumerable hardships to reach his current strength, he was now being treated as a greenhouse flower by strangers, but no matter how he tried, he knew he wouldn’t be able to explain, nor was he interested in doing so. All of them had just met and would only be working together once before going their separate ways, thus explaining anything was meaningless.
The group of five continued on their way. At first, they would encounter all kinds of cultivators near the outskirts of Fallen Emperor Mountain; however, after these people sensed the energy fluctuations emanating from this group of five, all of them quickly avoided them.
This wasn’t surprising as a group of five Origin Realm masters was not one to be trifled with. Who knows what kind of temperament these five had? Wouldn’t it be courting death if they had wicked personalities or were easily angered?
However, as time passed and the group dove deeper and deeper into the mountain range, fewer cultivators could be seen until there were not any in sight.
Fallen Emperor Mountain was massive, and although there were now tens of thousands of people exploring this place, once they dispersed, there was rarely a chance of encountering others.
Just one day after Yang Kai entered Fallen Emperor Mountain, a team of several dozen people suddenly descended to the periphery.
A strong sense of oppression radiated from this group and the noisy crowd around Fallen Emperor Mountain’s periphery suddenly fell silent as everyone turned to look at these newcomers.
Among this large group, two people stood out as leaders. One was a middle-aged man in a blue robe who appeared both burly and sturdy while the other was wearing green robes and didn’t seem as visually imposing, but whose aura was not inferior to the blue-robed man.
After sweeping the surrounding hundred-kilometre radius with his Divine Sense, the blue-robed man frowned and muttered, “He’s not here.”
The man in the green robe smiled lightly as he took out a communication artifact and poured his Divine Sense into it, seemingly contacting someone. After putting away the artifact, he said, “Brother Qu, that little brat seems to have entered Fallen Emperor Mountain a day ago.”
“He went inside?” The blue-robed man frowned, his eyes gleaming brightly in the next moment as he slowly nodded, “Fine, this matter cannot be delayed so we should enter as well.”
“Good, I didn’t expect Fallen Emperor Mountain to experience such a great change, but it makes things more convenient for us to act; otherwise we would need to take the trouble to conceal our whereabouts and movements,” The man in the green robes grinned.
The group of several dozen only remained on the outskirts for a moment before they directly rushed into Fallen Emperor Mountain and disappeared.
After they left, the tens of thousands of cultivators on the outside of Fallen Emperor Mountain gasped.
“Heaven Battling Union’s Union Master Qu Zheng and Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Sect Master Fang Peng! Why did they come here together? Weren’t they rivals?” Someone exclaimed, apparently recognising the identities of the previous two.
“What’s so strange about that? Fallen Emperor Mountain is now rich with opportunities and many treasures are waiting to be excavated. Those two forming a temporary alliance to reap more benefits isn’t unprecedented.”
“What Friend says makes sense, but for so many masters from those two forces to suddenly run over, it seems the Sect Defending Array of the ancient Sect ruins is about to be broken.”
“Then why are we still hesitating? We need to hurry up and follow them!” A man said enthusiastically, quickly putting away his storefront and rushing into Fallen Emperor Mountain behind the Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect group.
These two giants would undoubtedly be eating meat, but there should still be some soup leftover for others to drink. Opportunities and risks always coexisted, so as long as one was careful, they may be able to take advantage of this situation to reap some unexpected harvests.
On Fallen Emperor Mountain Range, in front of a particular mountain, Yang Kai and his group of five people finally came to a stop after three straight days of flying.
This was already considerably far into Fallen Emperor Mountain. Before the Emperor Garden appeared, no creature was able to set foot into this place because prolonged exposure to the overwhelming ambient Emperor Pressure would grind them to dust.
However, after the Emperor Garden appeared, the Emperor Pressure which pervaded Fallen Emperor Mountain disappeared, making it possible to explore these previously desolate regions.
The group of five managed to arrive here without any kind of incident along the way.
“Here?” He Wei glanced around with a deep frown on his face while the others wore similarly confused looks.
Although the World Energy in this place was quite abundant, none of their Divine Senses could detect the slightest trace of a Spirit Array barrier, let alone the cave mansion of an ancient cultivator.
“Yes, it’s here,” Jiang Shan said with confidence and a smile on his face, “If not for this Jiang having gotten into a scuffle here that led to some unusual energy fluctuations, I might not have been able to discover anything either. It was a lucky coincidence.”
“Old Jiang, enough with the suspense, where’s the ancient cave mansion hidden?” Chen Li asked with a mixture of impatience and eagerness.
“It’s right in front of you,” Jiang Shan smiled lightly, “Brother Chen might as well attack this spot at will to see some clues.”
“Oh?” Chen Li raised his eyebrows and looked in the direction Jiang Shan was pointing, but all he could see was a smooth rock wall. Even using his powerful Second-Order Origin Returning Realm Divine sense, he was unable to detect anything out of place.
However, since the other party was so confident, he likely wasn’t lying, so Chen Li didn’t hesitate and immediately sent out a punch.
Saint Qi surged forward as the fist pressure condensed to the point where it was visible to the naked eye. A golden fist shadow flew out of and blasted directly towards the rock wall.
Chen Li’s Saint Qi actually had a Gold Attribute, making its sharpness and might unmatched.
Yang Kai raised his brows as he watched while gently nodding. Although he didn’t know which great force this Chen Li came from, from the density and purity of his Saint Qi, it was apparent this burly man was a fair bit stronger than an average Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator.
Yi Lin stood to the side with a bright smile, obviously satisfied with her husband’s strength and imposing manner.
A fantastic scene happened next. Just as the fist shadow was about to hit the rock wall, a series of ripples suddenly appeared in the air. It seemed that there was an invisible layer blocking this region, and when the threatening fist shadow struck it, it just sank into this invisible wall like a stone being thrown into the ocean, creating no noticeable effect before swiftly vanishing.
However, in the next moment, the golden fist shadow which had just disappeared strangely reappeared and flew straight back towards Chen Li.
This sudden change caused the burly man to cry out in surprise as he hurriedly dodged.
*Hong…*
With a series of booming sounds, the golden fist shadow flew out a few thousand meters as it burst through rocks and trees.
“This thing can actually reflect attacks?” He Wei called out in surprise, his eyes flashing a brilliant light.
“Yes, this is one of the Five Elements Scattering Array’s strong points and why this old man had no choice but to search for help to crack it!” Jiang Shan gently nodded.
Although Chen Li embarrassed himself slightly just now, he did not become irritated and instead just said, “This Spirit Array is a bit interesting. Old Jiang, tell me, how do we crack it?”
Jiang Shan chuckled, “This old man doesn’t have any great talent, but he does know how to crack this particular Spirit Array. As long as everyone works together, it should not be a problem.”
Hearing what he said, the crowd gathered around quickly.
The look on Jiang Shan’s face became serious as he began explaining how they needed to cooperate to crack this Spirit Array.
Everyone present was an Origin Realm master, and although none of them was a top-level expert, they each had some experience with such Spirit Arrays after cultivating for so many years. After listening to Jiang Shan’s remarks, everyone nodded lightly, indicating they understood what needed to be done.
“Alright, since you now understand the cracking method, we should first restore ourselves to our peak state.”
No one had any objections and immediately sat down cross-legged to supplement their Saint Qi consumption with some Saint Crystals.
After about half a day, everyone opened their eyes and exchanged looks filled with expectation.
“By the way, Little Friend Yang, do you have pills on you which can quickly replenish your Saint Qi?” Jiang Shan asked somewhat anxiously. Although he had vaguely guessed that Yang Kai’s background wasn’t shallow, this was a matter of great importance, so he didn’t dare act carelessly.
“En, Old Jiang need not worry,” Yang Kai replied lightly.
With the massive reserves of Saint Qi stored in his body, Yang Kai did not need to take any kind of pills to restore himself. Even if his Saint Qi was exhausted, he only needed to burst a drop of Golden Blood, and he would instantly be back at full strength.
Throughout Yang Kai’s life as a cultivator, he had very rarely run into the problem of Saint Qi exhaustion.
“Very good. You should all keep some restorative pills where you can easily reach them as well. Although the Five Elements Scattering Array isn’t difficult to crack, it has high requirements for the continuous output of Saint Qi. This is an ancient cave mansion so none of us should underestimate it.”
“We are well aware of such things. Stop wasting time Old Jiang, let’s get started,” Chen Li urged.
“Good, take your place and follow the plan this old man laid out,” Jiang Shan said seriously before rushing over to a specific spot.
The other four also rushed to their assigned positions, soon forming a kind of star-shaped pattern with each of them at one of its points, equidistant from one another, as if they had measured the spacing with a ruler.
“Everyone, begin!” Jiang Shan yelled as he immediately poured his Saint Qi into the space in front of him.
The others didn’t lag behind. After seeing Jiang Shan act, all four of them also sent their Saint Qi out into the space in front of themselves.
In an instant, the five energy fluctuations with entirely different attributes appeared, and although these fluctuations weren’t too overpowering, they were steady and continuous.
Among them, the Saint Qi of Yang Kai was naturally Fire Attribute. Although the Secret Art he cultivated was technically Yang Attribute, with the improvement of his strength and the transformation of the Saint Qi in his body, his Demonic Flame could now be transformed into a pure Fire Attribute strength.
Of course, the nature of his Demonic Flame could freely change between hot and cold, making it difficult to classify or resist.
Chen Li, who had taken action once before, naturally possessed the Gold Attribute, Yi Lin possessed the Water Attribute, Jiang Shan the Wood Attribute, and He Wei the Earth Attribute.
The five elements gathered together, and five different colours of Saint Qi poured into the air. Strangely though, this Saint Qi did not dissipate but instead began collecting towards a central position, as if there was some kind of invisible well pulling it in.
The Five Elements Scattering Array was both strong and weak. It could rebound all forms of attack and at its peak could even resist the bombardment of an Origin King Realm master. One needed to make use of all five elements to crack it safely.
If one wanted to rely on brute force, they would need to be at least a Third-Order Origin King with a powerful artifact or Secret Technique.
However, the Five Elements Scattering Array in front of the group was over ten thousand years old and was no longer in peak condition.
Even so, it wasn’t something that could be broken by ordinary means.
As the group of five continued pouring their Saint Qi into the Spirit Array, they didn’t encounter any kind of backlash for a couple reasons. First, they weren’t technically attacking the barrier, and second, everyone was observing Jiang Shan and adjusting their Saint Qi output to match his. If anyone used just slightly more or slightly less, this cracking method wouldn’t work since a balance between the five elements needed to be maintained. Once this balance was broken, the Spirit Array would immediately reflect their Saint Qi towards them.
Things were somewhat tricky in the beginning, but Jiang Shan let out a sigh of relief and relaxed after seeing the other four adjust their Saint Qi appropriately. This was a collaboration between five strangers where if any of them failed to play their role, all of them would be affected, so how could he not feel somewhat anxious?
Seeing that things were going smoothly, Jiang Shan slowly began increasing his output of Saint Qi.
The others naturally followed suit, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
Time passed slowly, and the surrounding forest was so quiet one could hear a leaf drop. Soon, the Saint Qi flowing from each of the five people gradually flooded the central space and began intertwining, mutually reinforcing and restraining one another in a kind of endless cycle.
And with the flow of Saint Qi, a hole vaguely began to appear in the originally smooth, mirror-like rock wall.
It was the entrance to the ancient cave mansion!
Five pairs of eyes lit up when they saw this scene.
However, this entrance was still quite illusory and seemed like it would disappear at any moment. Everyone knew that this was because the Spirit Array hadn’t been broken yet, so they immediately took out restorative pills and stuffed them into their mouths to replenish themselves as they continued to pour their Saint Qi into the space before them.
Yang Kai was no exception. His current cultivation was just First-Order Origin Returning Realm, so to not stand out, he casually took a few pills and pretended to restore himself.
In the blink of an eye, another two hours passed.
All five were now sweating profusely after having to output their Saint Qi for such a long time continuously. No cultivator can afford to do this even with good pills to supplement their Saint Qi as there was simply no way for restoration to keep up with their consumption.
However, the entrance of the cave mansion had still yet to fully reveal itself. Although it was now much clearer than before, the protective Spirit Array here was still far from being broken.
Realising this, everyone’s expressions became quite difficult.
“Everyone, the situation doesn’t look promising,” Yi Lin exclaimed first.
“Boy, you better be able to hold on, if you drop out now, father here won’t let you off!” The burly Chen Li turned his head and shouted at Yang Kai. He saw Yang Kai looking somewhat unsteady and clearly feared that his Saint Qi would not be able to last, causing them to fall short here.
“It’s not a problem!” Yang Kai said lightly.
Jiang Shan frowned as he also glanced over at Yang Kai with some worry, secretly regretting looking for a First-Order Origin Returning Realm like Yang Kai. At that time, he had miscalculated the power of this Five Elements Scattering Array and thought that merely gathering five appropriately attributed cultivators could crack it. How could he have known it would take so long to break this Spirit Array though? Even worse, it seemed they would need to keep this up for at least a few more hours.
Sustaining this kind of output for such a long time would be difficult even for him, not to mention Yang Kai, who was a Minor Realm weaker than everyone else.
Jiang Shan secretly felt anxious about Yang Kai, worrying that he would be unable to last till the moment the Spirit Array was broken.
However, they were all now riding a tiger. Five people’s worth of Saint Qi was now condensed at the centre of this Spirit Array, so once they tried to withdraw, the consequences would likely be unbearable.
Especially considering this Spirit Array could reflect attacks. Once such a massive amount of Saint Qi rebounded, all of them were at risk of death.
Jiang Shan immediately began to frown.
“You need not worry, although this Yang’s cultivation is slightly lower, I don’t believe I have less Saint Qi than the rest of you. Just concentrate on yourselves.” Seeing everyone on edge as they observed him, how could Yang Kai not understand what they were thinking? As such, he immediately offered some reassurances.
“Bold words!” Chen Li snorted coldly, but soon grinned, “But I appreciate them!”
“If you say so, then good!” Jiang Shan also relaxed before his eyes flashed a determined light and he grit his teeth, “Since Little Brother Yang has so much confidence in himself, this old man will increase his Saint Qi output again, be sure to keep up!”
Saying so, he snorted and began pouring out a much larger amount of Saint Qi from his hands, obviously intending to finish this task in one fell swoop.
He had incorrectly estimated the sturdiness of this Five Elements Scattering Array before and didn’t expect it would take so long to crack. Now, if he wanted to end this troublesome situation as quickly as possible, he had to increase his output of Saint Qi to saturate the Spirit Array and break it down.
Seeing this, everyone naturally didn’t object and one after another increased their output of Saint Qi as well.
The same was true for Yang Kai.
In an instant, the five elements Saint Qi being poured into Spirit Array increased dramatically, and the rate of convergence at its centre became twice as fast as before.
Seeing that Yang Kai hadn’t exaggerated his strength and was able to keep up with everyone’s pace, the other four couldn’t help putting down their last worries. Jiang Shan was even more appreciative and gave him a slight nod.
However, the pleasant mood didn’t last long. Even with the incredible influx of five elements Saint Qi, the Spirit Array in front of the group still showed no signs of breaking.
Everyone soon became anxious.
After a moment, Jiang Shan suddenly bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mist of blood from his mouth, his pale face suddenly becoming much ruddier.
Clearly, he had used some kind of Secret Technique to enhance his strength.
He Wei, Chen Li, and Yi Lin also used their own methods, either taking precious pills they had been reluctant to use or using powerful Secret Techniques that caused damaging side-effects to maintain the output of their Saint Qi.
Only Yang Kai remained the same. He appeared somewhat pale and unsteady, but the Saint Qi flowing from his body was not weakened as a result.
The other four couldn’t help but look at him with some admiration. None of them could understand how a mere First-Order Origin Returning Realm youth possessed so much Saint Qi.
The nervous and uneasy atmosphere gradually spread as everyone began regretting rushing to this place and trusting Jiang Shan’s words. Now, such regrets were not helpful.
Seeing that even if he exhausted himself, there might not be enough Saint Qi to crack the Spirit Array here, He Wei’s eyes gave off a sharp glint as he suddenly shouted, “Everyone, it seems we cannot crack this Five Elements Scattering Array with our strength. This old man has a family and wife waiting at home, so he will be taking his leave. I wish the rest of you the best of luck!”
Everyone’s face changed drastically!
Jiang Shan even opened his mouth and shouted, “Brother He, what are you thinking?”
“You dare!” Chen Li also shouted sharply.
However, the old man surnamed He turned a deaf ear to their calls and fiercely pushed his Saint Qi as he assumed a retreating posture, clearly intending to escape.
If he continued to remain, only death awaited, so instead of lingering, He Wei decided to escape promptly and hope he could survive.
Of course, he also had to guard against the Spirit Array’s violent rebound after giving up.
However, the first person to flee should have more time to escape, while the others would bear the brunt of the rebound as they would need to protect themselves as well.
In this group of five, besides Chen Li and Yi Lin who were husband and wife, everyone was a stranger who had only temporarily joined forces to break through this Spirit Array. There was no friendship between them at all, so how could they care about other’s lives more than their own?
Even husbands and wives would flee when disaster struck, let alone five strangers who barely knew one another.
This small alliance was broken the moment the old man surnamed He uttered these words!
While the others were shocked, they quickly understood He Wei’s plan and also began making preparations to escape.
But in the next moment, everyone’s expression changed dramatically, including Yang Kai who had up until this point been hiding his strength.
None of them could move! There was some kind of strange force literally holding them in place. Not only that, but the Saint Qi they were pouring out of their bodies into the Spirit Array continued to do so despite their efforts to stop it.
The energy of the five elements continued to intertwine, seemingly generating a huge suction force from its rotation that not only fixed everyone in place but also continuously swallowed the power in their bodies.
Before now, everyone had taken the initiative to output their Saint Qi, so they hadn’t noticed this phenomenon; but now that they were trying to escape, they immediately discovered this frightening reality.
“What’s happening?” He Wei paled in horror as he struggled violently but was still unable to move, his expression paling as an ominous feeling came over him.
“Old Jiang, what’s the meaning of this?” Chen Li’s temper was the hottest, so when he noticed something had gone wrong, he immediately began accusing Jiang Shan, apparently thinking this old man had lured them into some kind of trap.
Not only did Chen Li think so, even Yang Kai also had such thoughts as he narrowed his eyes towards Jiang Shan, only to see that the old man’s face also pale and filled with panic.
Clearly, Jiang Shan was also caught off guard by this sudden accident.
“This old man doesn’t know!” Jiang Shan declared in a wronged tone.
“You don’t know?” Chen Li obviously did not believe him and continued to roar, “You discovered this place, brought all of us here, and provided the method to crack this Spirit Array! Now that we’re in this mess, you dare say you don’t know what’s happening? Didn’t you set up this trap beforehand and wait for us to jump in?”
“Hmph, Brother Chen’s accusations are unfounded! This old man can barely protect himself right now, what good would setting up a trap like this do me?” Although Jiang Shan was mild-tempered, being slandered so by Chen Li forced out a sharp rebuttal from his lips.
“I don’t care what you say! No matter what, this is all your fault! If you don’t find a way out of this for us, even if this Chen dies he won’t let you off!”
“Stop quarrelling!” Yang Kai shouted firmly, “Is there any point in arguing now? I believe Old Jiang didn’t intend for this to happen!”
“You believe him?” Chen Li sneered, “Who knows if you and this old bastard are working together?”
Yang Kai glanced at him coldly but didn’t bother trying to convince him any further. This man was a simple-minded muscle brain, so now that he was trapped and in imminent danger, continuing to quarrel with him would only make the situation worse rather than better.
“Old Jiang, does the Five Elements Scattering Array have this kind of property?” Yang Kai frowned and looked at Jiang Shan.
“No!” Jiang Shan shook his head decisively, “The Five Elements Scattering Array is simply a protective Spirit Array; apart from its ability to reflect all types of attacks, it doesn’t have any independent killing effects, it shouldn’t be able to exhibit this kind of behaviour unless….”
“Unless what?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
“Unless this Spirit Array has been transformed into a different type of Spirit Array!” Jiang Shan secretly guessed and began carefully going over his knowledge of Spirit Arrays.
Since he was able to find the way to crack the Five Elements Scattering Array, obviously he had dabbled in the field of Spirit Arrays, so even if he was far inferior to Yang Yan, Jiang Shan was still far more knowledgeable than the other four present.
After thinking about it for a moment, Jiang Shan’s complexion changed again as he called out in alarm, “Is this the Five Elements Devouring Array?”
“Five Elements Devouring Array?” Yi Lin muttered as she asked curiously, “It’s only one word different from that Five Elements Scattering Array, is there anything to worry about?”
“Haha…” Jiang Shan gave a wry smile, “Although it is only one word different, its power and effects are vastly different. Sister Yi can also see our current situation. Once this Spirit Array has been activated, it will not stop until it drains all of the Saint Qi in our bodies as well as our vitality.”
“What?” Everyone paled greatly as they fell into shocked silence.
“This cave mansion’s master is truly insidious,” Jiang Shan’s expression became gloomy as he spat bitterly, “He actually used a Five Elements Scattering Array to conceal a Five Elements Devouring Array. This old man was too careless.”
“What meaning is there in saying all this now? Father doesn’t want to die here!” Chen Li roared as he desperately pushed his Saint Qi, trying to free himself from the constraints of the Spirit Array in front of him, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no effect. On the contrary, it only caused him to grow more panicked.
“Don’t struggle recklessly. Once one is trapped by the Five Elements Devouring Array, it’s like falling into a quagmire, the more you struggle, the faster your Saint Qi will be drained,” Jiang Shan hurriedly shouted.
“Then what should we do?” Yi Lin’s beautiful face went white as she hurriedly tried to calm her husband’s rampage.
Jiang Shan smiled bitterly but remained speechless.
“Could it be that we can only wait here to die?” He Wei muttered in exasperation.
“This old man is truly sorry,” Jiang Shan wore a look of guilt. He thought he was bringing everyone here to treasure hunt and had even settled on a generous distribution plan for the benefits, but instead, he had put all of them in life-threatening danger. Now, not only could they not escape, they could only sit here waiting to die.
“There’s really… no solution at all? Brother Jiang, you know the most about Spirit Arrays here, please try to think up a way,” The beautiful woman begged.
Jiang Shan didn’t even have the heart to meet her eyes, obviously unable to save the situation with his skills.
While he had dabbled in Spirit Arrays, wanting to crack the double-layered Spirit Arrays in front of him in this situation was something he wasn’t capable of doing.
Only if his knowledge of Spirit Arrays was as profound as someone like Yang Yan could he accomplish this seemingly impossible feat.
Yang Kai also looked depressed. Although the Saint Qi reserves in his body were enormous, as long as this Spirit Array remained, he could only remain stranded here with no hope of escape.
Yang Kai cultivation of the Dao of Space should be useful in this situation though. He just needed to find the right moment to tear space and he may be able to escape, as such, compared to the other four, Yang Kai was relatively calm.
However, there was also a significant risk to this option. Once the Void Crack he tore encountered too strong of an impact, it was very likely to become unstable or even collapse. Moving through an unstable Void Crack was dangerous even for Yang Kai.
This would be his last resort.
The five people were facing grave danger together, but they had no solution at all; they could only stand on the spot and wait to die. A kind of deep despair shrouded everyone’s heart, causing them to become panicked.
But a moment later, He Wei suddenly cried out in surprise, as if something had changed again.
Accompanied by his exclaiming, the whirlpool of energy in front of them which was composed of the intertwining five elements energy suddenly accelerated again, and the entrance to the cave mansion in the rock face became clear, as if it had stabilised and could be entered or exited at will.
The Five Elements Scattering Array seemed to be on the verge of breaking!
In this desperate situation, this discovery made everyone excited, but in the next moment, they all cried out in panic.
Along with the increased rotational speed of the energy vortex, an incredible suction force also appeared, draining out the remaining strength of the group of five as if a dam had burst, entirely beyond their control.
At a rate visible to the naked eye, everyone became unsteady, with one or two of them even turning as pale as paper. Even Yang Kai was not feeling very good at this moment because he felt the Saint Qi in his body rapidly depleting.
The amount which had already been drawn out was almost equivalent to the sum total of what a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator would possess.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had a vast reserve of Saint Qi, so he was not worried about his life; however, the story was different for Jiang Shan and the other four. The last remnants of Saint Qi in each of their bodies were rapidly drained away, and now their vitality was being stripped.
All four of them began to dry up as streams of red noticeably started leaking out of all their orifices only to be swiftly sucked into the swirling vortex in front of them.
Naturally, this red energy was their life force, the basis for their lives!
Their bodies shrivelled at a terrifying speed and their faces became as dry as tree bark, as if hundreds or thousands of years were passing in the blink of an eye. Even the hair of these four turned grey, then white.
Silently, in just ten breaths of time, the four Second-Order Origin Returning Realm masters had been doomed to death, their auras flickering out entirely.
At this moment, the Five Elements Scattering Array seemed to be just about saturated and turned into a mass of energy that struck towards the cave mansion entrance.
However, without the assistance of the other four, Yang Kai alone could not maintain the balance of the five elements.
Once this balance was broken entirely, all the energy contained within the Five Elements Scattering Array would surely explode.
That combined vitality of the four Second-Order Origin Returning Realms, as well as all their Saint Qi reserves, was something even Yang Kai couldn’t guarantee he would survive being hit by. Even if he did not die, he would inevitably suffer severe injuries.
Nevertheless, he would most likely die!
Was he going to fall short here? Unwillingness flashed in Yang Kai’s eyes. The five of them had joined forces to hunt for treasures, but now the other four had died in front of him. Although all of them had only just met and did not share any kind of friendship, for their endeavour to fail here when they were so close to success would make all of their deaths worthless.
Yang Kai did not feel any kind of sympathy for their encounter. Cultivators were all like this, living their lives accompanied by enormous risks, even inexplicably falling, but still, he was not willing to just give up here.
It was impossible to maintain the balance of the five elements on his own though.
Was his only option to tear space and try to run away?
As this thought flashed across his mind, Yang Kai prepared to condense his Space Force to tear space, but in the next instant, his eyes suddenly flashed as he thought of something. Immediately suppressing his Space Force, Yang Kai stuck out his hand and summoned five balls of different coloured light onto his palm.
Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi!
The Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was a Body Tempering Secret Art with extremely high requirements for cultivation. Not only would a cultivator already need a physique far more intrepid than average, they would also need an incredibly powerful Divine Sense and supreme treasures from all five elements.
Yang Kai had spent a lot of time and effort to collect five supreme treasures of the appropriate elements and had only begun cultivating this Secret Art.
The Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi in his hand was the result of that cultivation, but because he had only been cultivating it for a short time, his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi wasn’t powerful enough to be used against powerful enemies yet.
However, it may be helpful to his current situation.
Sun’s True Essence, Profound Yin Sunflower Water, Thunder Wood, Profound Gold, Divine Nullification Sand, which one was not a heaven-defying treasure? These were rare items that could not be found elsewhere on Shadowed Star so the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi condensed from them, even if weak in power, would still be quite high in quality.
Moreover, this Five Element Indestructible Sword Qi belonged exclusively to Yang Kai, so there was no need to worry about them being balanced properly like when the group of five had been using their Saint Qi just now.
The Five Elements Scattering Array in front of Yang Kai was almost broken now, so it should not take much more energy to destroy it.
Perhaps his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi could act as the last grain of rice to tip the scale!
Thinking so, Yang Kai immediately waved his hand and transformed the five balls of light into five different coloured short swords that then flew off into the air to the positions where the five people had stood just now before quickly merging into the swirling, terrifying mass of energy.
After doing all of this, Yang Kai did not hesitate to immediately tear space and dive into The Void.
A loud noise and huge impact pounded him from behind.
The Void Crack was instantly destroyed, and at the same time,Yang Kai crossed the fifty-kilometre distance Yang Kai was thrown out from The Void just fifty kilometres away, his face filled with a look of lingering fear.
He had not escaped too far; after all, he had done everything within his power and could only entrust his fate to the Heavens, so there was no point in trying to escape any further.
A fiery pain filled his back. Although he had run quickly just now, the impact which hit him was still quite intense. Using his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could tell that his back was bloody and filled with deep wounds.
This kind of injury was not light, but fortunately, Yang Kai had an excellent physique and his Golden Blood had incredible restorative properties so it shouldn’t be difficult for him to recover.
Circulating his Saint Qi, Yang Kai staunched the blood flowing away from his wounds before he flew back across the fifty-kilometre gap he just crossed.
The explosion just now had been quite intense, so if there was anyone nearby, they would highly likely have been alerted and come to investigate. Yang Kai did not want to end up being robbed of his gains at the last moment after investing so much effort.
The fifty-kilometre distance was crossed by Yang Kai in just a few breaths, and when he returned to his original position, he could not help showing a joyful look.
He had succeeded.
Although the rock wall and the area in front of it was now a smouldering mess, the bodies of Jiang Shan and the others had disappeared, and random leftover energy fluctuations were rampaging about, a hole leading deeper into the mountain was now visible.
The ancient cultivator’s cave mansion!
Yang Kai did not hesitate to dive into the cave.
Of course, he didn’t relax his vigilance and was constantly using his Divine Sense to investigate his surroundings, but this cave mansion didn’t seem to have any additional dangers other than the one at its entrance, so Yang Kai was able to move about essentially without hindrance.
Soon, a dozen or so stone chambers appeared in front of Yang Kai.
Not hesitating at all, Yang Kai directly entered the leftmost stone chamber to explore.
After a few breaths, Yang Kai darted out of the stone room and rushed into the second, immediately after which he moved to the third.
After inspecting more than a dozen stone chambers, all Yang Kai gained was a few bottles of pills whose content was now nothing but slag.
[Am I going to end up leaving empty-handed?] Yang Kai’s mood was somewhat gloomy. If that were the case, then Jiang Shan and the others would have died in vain, and his expectations would be for nothing.
This wasn’t impossible, after all, not every ancient cave mansion contained treasure. Sometimes others had gotten to the good things inside first, and sometimes there was nothing good inside to begin with.
With only one room left, Yang Kai wrinkled his nose and stepped inside.
The next moment, however, his eyes lit up and he instantly rushed over to a stone table with a big grin on his face.
There were two things on this stone table. One was an artifact shaped like a short arrow, but Yang Kai could not identify what material it was made of. This arrow also had two pure white jade stones in its shaft, giving it a somewhat unusual appearance.
This arrow-shaped artifact didn’t emit any kind of strong energy fluctuation, but after Yang Kai picked it up, he couldn’t help frowning because he was unable to determine its grade.
Logically speaking, since the barrier in front of this ancient cave mansion was so powerful, the cultivation of its owner should not have been low, so why was there such a strange artifact here?
Before he could inspect this arrow further, Yang Kai suddenly raised his head and looked towards a particular direction as his expression sank.
Although he had assumed the huge explosion just now would attract the attention of nearby cultivators, he had not anticipated someone would arrive so quickly.
Two hundred kilometres away, a cultivator’s aura had appeared and it was now speeding over towards Yang Kai’s location.
Perceiving this, Yang Kai naturally discarded any thoughts of remaining here, stuffed the short arrow and the jade box which was still on the stone table into his Space Ring, then hurried away.
After about a cup of tea worth of time, a group of three people appeared in front of the ancient cave mansion. All three of these cultivators were Origin Realm masters and from their matching robes, it was clear they belonged to the same Sect. Everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw the open cave mansion and immediately rushed inside.
However, after checking around, the three of them could not help showing looks of disappointment.
There were originally only two things here, the short arrow and the jade box, so after Yang Kai took those two things away, there was nothing for these three newcomers to gain.
These three were obviously unwilling to give up just like that, so they performed a thorough search of the stone chambers, but they ultimately found nothing.
By this time, Yang Kai was already a thousand kilometres away.
In terms of speed, he was no worse than any Origin Realm master, especially after summoning his Wind and Thunder Wings which provided him with a giant boost in this regard.
In an out-of-the-way, naturally formed cave, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and released his powerful Divine Sense across a wide area. After confirming that there was no one else within a thousand kilometres of his location, he then took out his harvest and prepared to examine it more carefully.