With the addition of the Firebird Artifact Spirit and giant dark green dragon, the Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect cultivators’ already bad situation immediately worsened.
When Yang Kai first acquired the Firebird, its strength wasn’t too great; however, over the past few years, it had refined three wisps of Sun’s True Fire and two Heaven Scorching Thunder Fires, all of which contributed significantly to its growth.
Today’s Firebird had no trouble defeating a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator on its own.
What’s more, the Firebird possessed a high level of sentience and had its own consciousness, so it understood how to wait for openings and opportunities to defeat its opponents without needing help or commands from Yang Kai.
Although the giant dark green dragon transformed from the Dragon Bone Sword was no match for the Firebird Artifact Spirit in terms of sentience and intelligence, it was refined from the bones and Soul of an Ancient Divine Spirit, so the Dragon Pressure it exuded alone was enough to suppress most opponents. With Yang Kai controlling it, the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword became a fearful opponent.
Moreover, this artifact could grow further. Whether it was an innate or acquired Divine Ability, the Dragon Bone Sword was able to swallow and refine the vitality of any cultivator it killed to increase its power.
Giant fireballs spewed from the Firebird’s mouth and flaming feather blades shot from its wings in all directions while the giant dark green dragon opened its giant maw and spat out a dense poisonous mist. This poisonous mist was so deadly that even Origin Returning Realm Masters did not dare despise it.
Pitiful screams sounded one after another as enemies died in rapid succession under the attacks of the Firebird and Dragon Bone Sword.
“Sect Master Yang, this old master wishes to negotiate!” Liang Yong’s expression changed dramatically as sweat dripped down his face while he desperately urged his artifacts to protect him from three Ninth-Order Cloud Beasts. Seeing his companions die one by one before his eyes, Liang Yong had finally begun to panic as he realised death was approaching.
If it was just Yang Kai, they could have won with ease considering the strength they had brought with them.
But with so many powerful auxiliary methods, this idea was no longer realistic.
Liang Yong did not want to die here.
“What more is there to say now?” Yang Kai’s sneering voice echoed from all around. Liang Yong tried to find traces of him but was unable to achieve anything. Seeing the Firebird Artifact Spirit fly straight towards him after killing one of his companions, Liang Yong trembled and quickly shouted, “Do you think my Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect wanted to deal with you like this? If so, you are completely mistaken.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai was really taken aback.
“Liang Yong, if you dare leak these secrets, you’ll die like a dog!” From a short distance away, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Vice Sect Master Si Tu Hong quickly shouted.
As soon as these words sounded though, more than a dozen Golden Threads strangely appeared, tangled together, and soon condensed into a giant golden spear that shot towards Si Tu Hong.
Si Tu Hong was already in a desperate situation, trying to resist the torrential attacks of the Cloud Beasts surrounding him, so how could he possibly have the spare capacity to guard against this golden spear now?
With a great roar, Si Tu Hong pushed his Saint Qi as hard as he could to form a protective barrier around his body, hoping to block the blow.
Unfortunately for him, he had greatly underestimated the power of Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads. The Golden Blood Threads already possessed unrivaled sharpness, and after Yang Kai gained the ability to transform them into various weapons, this sharpness only increased.
The golden spear quickly struck Si Tu Hong, punctured through his Saint Qi guard with ease, and proceeded to pierce a gaping hole into his body.
Fortunately, at the last moment, Si Tu Hong managed to twist his body and avoid taking a critical hit. Although this blow was extremely powerful, it failed to outright kill him.
But his luck ended here.
The Cloud Beasts that had been besieging him pounced at that moment and completely overwhelmed him.
Screams rang out, causing the few people who remained to drip cold sweat. After only three breaths, the sounds from the Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Vice Sect Master stopped abruptly, and his life aura completely disappeared.
“Now you can talk!” Yang Kai’s voice sounded again.
Liang Yong turned his head and suddenly found that Yang Kai had already appeared, standing not far away, looking at him with a gloomy expression. The Cloud Beasts that had been attacking him seemed to have received some kind of order and ceased for the moment, but they all remained close, baring their fangs as they carefully stared at him.
Two more screams rang out as two more of Liang Yong’s companions fell.
Liang Yong scanned his surroundings and quickly discovered that only two people remained alive in this strange world, him and Yang Kai. Everyone else who accompanied Liang Yong had died a miserable death, not only having their bodies torn to shreds and then consumed, even their Remnant Souls had been consumed.
Their Souls had been extinguished in the truest of senses!
One had to know that a cultivator who reached the Origin Returning Realm would have their Spiritual Energy leak out from their Knowledge Sea and dissipate into the world after death. This dispersion happened quite violently and was easily noticeable, but at this moment, Liang Yong was unable to detect any signs of this natural process occurring.
He had no idea what was going on.
But the strangeness of the situation only caused him greater fear.
Gulping unconsciously, Liang Yong felt a sense of fear he had not experienced in nearly a hundred years.
“Are you going to talk or not?” Yang Kai asked impatiently.
“Things have reached this point, so this old master naturally has no reason to conceal anything. If Sect Master Yang wishes to know something, this old master is willing to divulge everything he knows!” Liang Yong took a deep breath, his expression seemingly calm, but only he knew how much he was suffering on the inside.
“Then tell me what your words meant,” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
Liang Yong flashed a wry smile, “If this old master speaks, can Sect Master Yang give this old master a chance to live?”
“What do you think?” Yang Kai grinned.
Liang Yong shook his head, “Whether I live or die is completely up to Sect Master Yang, but since Sect Master Yang wishes to know some secrets that this old master can explain, why should I speak if this old master can’t obtain any kind of advantage?”
Yang Kai squinted slightly as a cold glow flashed across his eyes, only after a long silence nodding, “Good, if the value of the information you tell me is high enough, I can spare your dog life; after all, you’re only acting on orders here and there is no personal grudge between us. However, if you are just trying to stall for time, I’ll deliver you a fate worse than death!”
“Rest assured, what this old master has to say will definitely be of great interest to Sect Master Yang; however, verbal statements aren’t guarantees, how is this old master supposed to trust Sect Master Yang?”
“You have no choice!” Yang Kai snorted coldly and took a step forward.
At the same time, the Cloud Beasts that were gathering around Liang Yong also let out a low growl, as if they were eager to pounce and only waiting for Yang Kai’s order to tear this enemy to pieces.
Liang Yong’s complexion darkened as he quickly raised his hands and said, “I understand… people under the eaves have to bow, this old master will talk.”
“Seems you’re not completely stupid!” Yang Kai sneered.
“This time…” Liang Yong frowned, as if deliberating what words to use before slowly continuing, “This time, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect were ordered to act.”
“Ordered?” Yang Kai was surprised, “By who?”
“This…” Liang Yong hesitated as a hint of fear flashed across his face, “Even if this old master does not say, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Sect Master Yang to guess with your intelligence, yes?”
Yang Kai looked at him suspiciously but quickly understood, “You mean Star Emperor Mountain?”
Yang Kai was no longer a Saint Realm cultivator who knew nothing about this Cultivation Star; he had been on Shadowed Star for many years now and naturally understood the power and influence Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect wielded. Ordering these two great forces to team up and deal with him was something only Star Emperor Mountain was capable of.
“This old master never said anything, everything is just Sect Master Yang’s own speculations,” Liang Yong quickly drew a line between them, but Yang Kai could tell his guess was correct from his manner and tone.
However, he didn’t have any kind of interaction with Star Emperor Mountain, right?
“Is it because of my Starship?” Yang Kai asked coldly.
“Partially, the other reason is because of a certain person,” Liang Yong was also considered to be a high-level officer of Heaven Battling Union, so naturally he understood some of the deeper reasons behind this time’s action.
“Elder Ye!” Yang Kai immediately thought of Ye Xi Yun.
She was the former Sect Master of Star Emperor Mountain but Yang Kai didn’t know why that was the case. Now, however, it seemed Ye Xi Yun and the current Star Emperor Mountain had some grievances between them.
[Right, she was poisoned before we met, but anyone who could poison her must have extraordinary strength. Could it have been Star Emperor Mountain’s doing?]
Seeing Yang Kai sink into contemplation, Liang Yong stood in place anxiously and waited, only after a long silence tentatively asking, “Sect Master Yang, this old master has already said everything he knows, is it enough to satisfy you?”
“You’re certain you’re not omitting anything?” Yang Kai glared at him coldly, “You must know by now that even if there are more than a dozen people outside, you cannot stop me from leaving. If I later find out that you’ve concealed something from me here, heh heh, I wonder if Elder Liang has any descendents who would be willing to pay him filial piety when he is gone?”
Liang Yong’s face changed as a look of struggle flashed across his eyes, gritting his teeth eventually before saying, “Sect Master Yang should be careful of the old man with grey hair wearing brown robes!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai looked at him with a smile, before nodding his head, “Alright, many thanks for Elder Liang’s warning!”
Liang Yong could not help gasping for breath, this feeling of his life hanging by a thread was simply too terrifying.
“Sect Master Yang, this old master really knows nothing else, so…
“Rest assured, I always mean what I say,” Yang Kai gently nodded. As he said just now, he had no grudge with Liang Yong, so it didn’t matter to him whether he killed him for not.
With a flash of Divine Sense, the surrounding Cloud Beasts once again transformed into white clouds that floated back up into the sky.
The strange Spirit Array world also seemed to distort and blur at that moment and soon shattered.
When Liang Yong regained his composure, he realised he had reappeared outside the palace with his remaining dozen or so companions all looked over in his direction.
In the next moment though, these dozens or so masters showed looks of shock.
There were scattered bones all over the ground, without the slightest trace of flesh, blood, or vitality left on them, as if they had been exposed to the elements for countless years, leaving behind only bleached remains.
The vital essence of each of these fallen cultivators had been swallowed by the Dragon Bone Sword, leaving nothing behind.
Surrounded by these bones, Yang Kai stood with a smug look upon his face, with only Liang Yong still left alive a short distance away.
The remaining people who had fallen into his Spirit Array had all fallen.
Everyone could hardly believe their eyes.
How long had it been? Since Yang Kai took out the Array Plate until now, less than an incense stick of time had passed, yet a dozen Origin Returning Realm masters had actually been killed by Yang Kai in such a short time.
What happened inside that Spirit Array?
No one knew, but none of them dared to underestimate Yang Kai.
“It’s good to see that you’re still alive!” Qu Zheng stared at Yang Kai with red eyes, murderous intent pulsing from his body. Seeing the culprit who had murdered his son, Qu Zhen was unwilling to let him escape and declared, “You really didn’t disappoint this old master, this old master must personally take your life!”
As soon as he spoke these words, Qu Zheng’s body flashed and he shot towards Yang Kai like a charging tiger.
“Union Master must not!” Shouts rang out from all directions. Half of their group had died at Yang Kai’s hands, so it was apparent that this boy’s strength wasn’t trivial. Qu Zheng was enraged right now and charged without thinking about the consequences, but regardless of the outcome of this fight, Qu Zheng would ultimately be the one to suffer.
If he failed to win, he would definitely be injured.
But if Yang Kai was killed, Star Emperor Mountain would definitely hold him accountable.
As such, as soon as Qu Zheng acted, many tried to stop him.
However, their efforts were to no avail. Qu Zheng only wanted to put Yang Kai to death to avenge Qu Chang Feng now, so how could he bother listening to others’ dissuasions?
Halfway to his target, Qu Zheng brought his palms together and condensed so much Saint Qi onto them it became visible before he struck towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai simply looked at him with a sneer, not showing the slightest bit of fear as he too pushed out his palm, condensing a massive palm print that seemed to completely cover the space in front of Qu Zheng, even temporarily obscuring the sun’s light from reaching him.
Heaven Covering Hand!
Qu Zheng’s expression became solemn. Although he was livid right now, as a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, he had experienced countless battles across his life and accumulated a wealth of combat experience, so he immediately noticed the huge danger this palm print posed.
But he still had no intention of withdrawing, instead pushing his Saint Qi even harder.
The two palms collided and a thunderous rumbling resounded as raging energy fluctuations and powerful gusts of wind spread out.
Qu Zheng was sent flying while Yang Kai was also forced back more than a dozen steps.
This confrontation actually resulted in a draw!
Fang Peng saw this and paled.
Being able to repel Qu Zheng’s anger-filled strike meant that Yang Kai’s strength wasn’t inferior to his opponent’s! In other words, the two of them were equally matched.
This boy was a true monster.
“Brother Qu, calm down!” Fang Peng roared, “Those who have died cannot be brought back, losing your temper here will not help matters. If you want the enemy to suffer, there are other ways than simply killing him.”
Qu Zheng heard this and the crimson hue in his eyes dissipated a little, seemingly recovering his composure as he glared coldly towards Yang Kai and inhaled lightly before nodding his head and saying, “What Brother Fang said is right, this Qu acted impulsively.”
Finally responding, it was only now that Qu Zheng remembered that this time’s action was not to simply kill Yang Kai but rather to capture him alive.
As these two talked, Yang Kai looked on indifferently, but out of the corner of his eye, he stole a glance towards an old man with grey hair in a brown robe.
This old man should be the one Liang Yong warned him about.
At first glance, this person seemed inconspicuous as he stood casually among the crowd, but when Yang Kai inspected him carefully, he couldn’t help feeling an uncomfortable aura coming from it.
This aura actually made Yang Kai somewhat anxious.
Not daring to observe too carefully so as not to startle this snake, Yang Kai was unable to figure out what kind of skill this old man possessed that could cause him concern.
However, if his guess was right, this old man should be from Star Emperor Mountain. This time, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect had teamed up to deal with him because Star Emperor Mountain had ordered them to. As the mastermind behind this operation, Star Emperor Mountain would naturally send someone to observe and participate.
[He has hidden perfectly.] Yang Kai would not have noticed this old man if Liang Yong hadn’t warned him as Qu Zheng and Fang Peng’s presence completely overshadowed him.
“Sect Master Yang is truly a hero among the younger generation, this old master is deeply impressed!” Fang Peng waved his hand lightly, a trace of regret and anger flashing across the depths of his eyes; after all, half of the masters Yang Kai had trapped and killed inside that Spirit Array just now belonged to his Thunder Typhoon Sect, and many of them were Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators.
Having so many top-level masters die for no reason naturally caused Fang Peng’s heart to bleed.
After this battle, although its foundation would not be shaken, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s strength would definitely take a hit. Moreover, if this news were to ever leak out, Thunder Typhoon Sect’s prestige would plummet.
“Sect Master Fang still thinks he can capture me with just the people you have left?” Yang Kai smiled and looked at him lightly.
“Haha, this Fang thought this operation was foolproof before, but after seeing Sect Master Yang’s methods, this Fang doesn’t dare think like that anymore,” Fang Peng slowly shook his head, looking helpless.
“Sect Master Fang thinking so is naturally for the best,” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Although this Fang had no intention of being enemies with Sect Master Yang, after you killed so many of my subordinates, I cannot simply let you go like this. En, please wait a moment Sect Master Yang, there are two friends here who would like to see you.”
“Two friends?” Yang Kai frowned and suddenly realized something was wrong.
“Bring them here!” Fang Peng clapped his hands as he shot a triumphant look towards Yang Kai.
Following his order, two streaks of light suddenly appeared not far away and rapidly flew over. After these lights faded and the figures inside revealed themselves, Yang Kai couldn’t help his eyes from shrinking as a stern look appeared on his face.
The figures that appeared were none other than Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu who had been accompanying him just a few days ago!
These two had obviously experienced a difficult battle and were now bloodied and dishevelled. At this moment, the two of them looked quite miserable, with Qian Tong’s left arm twisted and broken while Fei Zhi Tu had several small holes in his chest and abdomen which seemed to be the result of him being stabbed with a bladed weapon.
Being dragged here, both of them smiled bitterly and helplessly towards Yang Kai.
They hadn’t expected to be plotted against here, moreover to be used against Yang Kai! Both Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had underestimated Qu Zheng and Fang Peng’s courage.
It was known that Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had high enough status that even Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect would not offend them easily, but being commanded by Star Emperor Mountain, how could Qu Zheng and Fang Peng care what Shadow Moon Hall thought?
“We were ambushed,” Qian Tong pursed his mouth and said dryly.
Although they were sneak attacked, the winner was the king while the loser was the villain, and this was shown by his ugly complexion.
If not for them being caught by surprise, given their strength, how could he and Fei Zhi Tu have been captured alive? Even if they couldn’t win, couldn’t they run away? Both of them were Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, but it was precisely because they weren’t wary of their surroundings that they had been successfully ambushed. After falling into a disadvantage at the start of the fight, they were unable to run away.
Moreover, in order to deal with the two of them, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect had sent out six masters of their own; facing such odds, the result was obvious.
“I can see that,” Yang Kai gently nodded. “Are you two alright?”
“We won’t die at least, we’ve just had our Saint Qi sealed,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned, seemingly not in terrible shape.
“That’s good!” Yang Kai took a breath before turning his head and squinting towards Fang Peng, “Sect Master Fang, what’s the meaning of this?”
“Nothing much,” Fang Peng chuckled with an amiable expression, “I just heard that Sect Master Yang has some special skills so we decided to take precautions early. I never expected those precautions would actually come in handy. Sect Master Yang seems to have quite a good relationship with Elder Qian and City Lord Fei, yes? I wonder if you would be willing to surrender without a fight for them?”
“You want me to surrender?” Yang Kai sneered, “Is Sect Master Fang sleep talking? If this matter were to spread out, what would the world think of your Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union?”
Fang Peng shook his head gently, “It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, the key is what Sect Master Yang chooses. Sect Master Yang has also killed a lot of us, so how about we end today’s matter here? As long as you don’t resist, this old master will guarantee no more harm will come to Elder Qian and City Lord Fei. Everyone here is a famous figure on Shadowed Star so this old master would like to avoid completely tearing face between all of us, otherwise, it would become awkward when we meet in the future, don’t you think?”
His words were spoken benignly, as if he was only persuading Yang Kai to give up some unimportant trifles.
“And if I say no?”
“Haha…” Fang Peng laughed and pondered for a moment before saying, “It seems that Sect Master Yang hasn’t figured out the seriousness of this matter yet.”
“Since he doesn’t understand, this old master will make him understand!” Qu Zheng suddenly spoke up.
Saying so, his figure flickered and instantly arrived in front of Fei Zhi Tu. Under Fei Zhi Tu’s stunned gaze, Qu Zhen summoned a short spear-like artifact into his hand and without any hesitation stabbed towards Fei Zhi Tu’s chest.
With a gruesome sound, blood splashed out.
Fei Zhi Tu’s body was pierced through, with the short spear coming out his back covered in red blood.
“Old Fei!” Qian Tong was shocked, never having expected that Qu Zheng would be so decisive and ruthless.
*Cough cough…*
Fei Zhi Tu coughed up a blood mist towards Qu Zheng, but the latter did not even try to evade, letting the blood mist stain him red, causing his already hideous face to look even more hysterical.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
Under the investigation of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could tell that although the blow just now didn’t directly kill Fei Zhi Tu, it had grazed his heart. As long as the blow had been shifted slightly, Fei Zhi Tu would have instantly died.
Such a serious injury, even with the foundation of a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, would not be easy to heal.
“Haha, Union Master Qu has just experienced the pain of losing his son, so although this old master has managed to persuade him not to act rashly, Sect Master Yang should probably avoid irritating him at this moment,” Fang Peng leisurely said. “Sect Master Yang doesn’t want to see Elder Qian and City Lord Fei die here because of you, right? Whether they live or die is entirely up to you to decide.”
“Yang Kai, you have ten breaths, consider carefully. If you can’t provide this Union Master with a satisfactory answer, I will immediately kill them!” Qu Zheng growled.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu wore resentful looks as they were being treated as bargaining chips to threaten Yang Kai. Both of them felt terrible, but unfortunately, the seal in their bodies made it so their Saint Qi couldn’t circulate at all, making it impossible for them to help Yang Kai.
“Good, I’ll go with you. Release Elder Qian and City Lord Fei!” To everyone’s surprise, Yang Kai agreed immediately, but his face was extremely ugly.
“Yang Kai, you…” Qian Tong looked at him with bitter guilt, “You don’t have to do this!”
Qian Tong was blaming himself for being careless and falling into his enemy’s hands, but most of all for dragging down Yang Kai in the process.
“Haha, Elder Qian is being too distant. Since this Junior came to Shadowed Star more than ten years ago, he has received much care from both of you. Now that the two Seniors are in trouble, this Junior will not stand idly by, let alone that this matter is mainly my fault. How could I just ignore your plight?” Yang Kai grinned brightly.
“Excellent! Excellent!” Fang Peng laughed while clapping, “Sect Master Yang is a man of deep sentiment, understanding how to show gratitude, this old master is ashamed of his inferiority!”
“Enough nonsense, you’ve obviously been planning this a long time and have even taken such extreme measures all to capture this Sect Master. Let those two go and this Sect Master will go with you!” Yang Kai turned a glare back towards Fang Peng.
“Haha, this old master is grateful for Sect Master Yang’s cooperation. Naturally, we will release these two, but before then, I must ask Sect Master Yang to allow this old master’s subordinates to place some seals to avoid any accidents. This is good for both you and us, what does Sect Master Yang think?” Fang Peng looked at Yang Kai with a smile, a trace of vigilance flashing across the depths of his eyes.
Yang Kai had given up far too easily.
This made Fang Peng suspect something was wrong.
He had ordered the capture of Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu to coerce Yang Kai into surrendering, but he hadn’t really expected this boy to just surrender without a fight. Was this boy so righteous and benevolent? Fang Peng was a little skeptical.
If it was him, he would never do this, his life was more important than anyone else’s, why would he give it up for others?
As long as Yang Kai’s strength wasn’t sealed, Fang Peng wouldn’t be able to relax.
“No problem!” Yang Kai still agreed easily though, “Sect Master Fang can act at will.”
Fang Peng’s brow furrowed before immediately giving a signal. Two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters then approached Yang Kai from left and right, both of them remaining highly vigilant of Yang Kai suddenly going back on his word, but even when they approached to within half a metre of him, Yang Kai still didn’t move, instead just sneering towards them.
This made the two of them blush from their overly cautious behaviour.
It was truly embarrassing for them to be so on edge when facing a mere Junior.
There was no need for Fang Peng to issue any orders; the two masters both formed a series of hand seals before placing their palms on Yang Kai one after another.
A seal instantly formed inside of Yang Kai’s body, causing his aura to rapidly deflate.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this. No matter how Heavenly defying Yang Kai’s methods were, he could not make any more waves without the ability to use his Saint Qi.
Fang Peng was overjoyed.
Although he had lost a lot of manpower during this operation, in the end, they had succeeded.
However, at that moment, a mutation suddenly occurred.
A scorching power suddenly rose from where Yang Kai stood, and in the next moment, dark Demonic Flame enveloped Yang Kai, making him look like a burning ball of black fire.
Yang Kai’s aura, which just disappeared, suddenly surged upwards again.
“Impossible!” The two masters who had placed the seals on Yang Kai just now exclaimed in shock, their eyes fully rounded.
When they had applied the seals, they had used their full strength, so even a cultivator in the same realm as them would not be able to break through them in short order, yet the Saint Qi in Yang Kai’s body was actually so pure and vigorous that he was instantly able to free himself.
With horrified gazes, the pair quickly tried to retreat, lest Yang Kai suddenly attack.
However, Yang Kai did not try to stop them at all. Instead, his body flickered, as if he were about to escape.
“You’re not the only one who is proficient in the Dao of Space here! This old master long expected you to try this, halt for this old master!” An angry shout came out and the figure of Heaven Battling Union’s Great Elder Mo Xiao Sheng appeared strangely beside Yang Kai. At the same time, a strange energy fluctuation spread from his body, covering Yang Kai.
Space Force!
While everyone else relaxed, Mo Xiao Sheng still paid close attention to Yang Kai’s movements so he could react to any move the boy made.
He had full confidence he could stop Yang Kai! Although he knew that Yang Kai also cultivated the Dao of Space, he had been immersed in this field for countless years and was certain he would not lose out to a mere brat. His pride could not be so easily trampled.
He wanted to prove to everyone who was superior here.
Space Force swirled around Yang Kai, disturbing The Void, and creating an invisible shackle that forced Yang Kai’s disappearing body to re-materialize.
Mo Xiao Sheng smiled proudly.
But in the next moment, his smile stiffened and was quickly replaced with a dumbfounded expression.
“Showing off meagre skills before an expert!” Yang Kai coldly snorted before his figure disappeared again.
“How?” Mo Xiao Sheng stood there dumbfounded, unable to even understand how Yang Kai had broken through his blockade or even when he had done so. At that moment, a terrifying thought suddenly flashed across his mind, causing him to lose his ability to think calmly.
[Can it be? This little brat’s comprehension of the Dao of Space is greater than my own?]
Frightening energy fluctuations suddenly surged as a short, pitch-black arrow suddenly appeared out of thin air and shot towards Qu Zheng like a bolt of lightning.
No one dared to underestimate the horrific killing power behind this small arrow.
The middle-aged Second-Order Origin Returning Realm woman from Heaven Battling Union had died tragically after being hit by this attack, unable to even put up any resistance, dying in an instant, so Qu Zheng was well aware of how powerful this short arrow was.
Flurried, he didn’t dare resist this arrowhead on and quickly used his movement skill to dodge.
*Xiu…*
The short, pitch-black arrow scratched Qu Zheng’s body as it flew past, but another Origin Returning Realm master not far away was not so lucky. In the next instant, the short arrow pierced his chest and he instantly died.
“Where is he?” Fang Peng yelled, releasing his Divine Sense without reservation. Soon, he found traces of Yang Kai. He did not know when, but Yang Kai had actually rushed over towards Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu and was rapidly approaching them now.
The short arrow just now was just a way to force Qu Zheng to withdraw while Yang Kai’s ultimate goal was clearly to rescue Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu.
“This is bad!” Fang Peng’s face darkened, and he shouted sharply, “Stop him!”
“Those who stand in my way will die!” Yang Kai roared, raising his hands, and releasing two pitch-blade blade-like attacks that instantly cut towards the heads of the two enemies escorting Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu.
These two saw Yang Kai as a tiger descending from the mountain and their hearts filled with panic. The two of them wanted to avoid these two bladelike attacks, but having received Fang Peng’s order, they had to grit their teeth and stand their ground while summoning their artifacts.
A golden light suddenly blossomed and before these two had time to move, they suddenly noticed that Yang Kai’s left eye was covered in a golden halo and was releasing an irresistible majesty.
Within this golden light, there was a faintly lingering multi-coloured glow.
The golden light and multi-coloured glow seemed to possess a magical power that made it seem like their Souls were being pulled into an endless abyss, causing them to freeze up, unable to move or even speak.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was Great Demon God’s Divine Ability, which Yang Kai had inherited and combined with the Coloured Glass Bead that Dai Yuan had given him. The current Demon Eye of Annihilation combined with Coloured Glass Divine Light was even more powerful than before.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was capable of suppressing Souls while the Coloured Glass Divine Light had the power to restrain one’s body and Soul, the two naturally complemented and enhanced one another.
Although these two people could quickly break through this kind of suppression and restraint, a short pause was all Yang Kai needed.
The pitch-black Space Blade accurately passed through the two of them and silently left crescent-like cuts on their bodies.
Their flesh, blood, bones, five viscera, and six organs which were touched were all banished to The Void!
Everything happened in a flash, from Yang Kai using his Feather Spirit Arrow to repel Qu Zheng to releasing his Space Blades to kill the two who were escorting Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu all occurring in the blink of an eye.
In the next moment, he was already in front of Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, grabbing each of them with one hand and pushing his Space Force again to leave this place.
But at that moment, an angry shout rang out.
“Wishful thinking!” From the crowd, an old man with grey hair wearing a brown robe stepped forward as Saint Qi surged from his body and a longan sized bead appeared in his hand.
As soon as this bead appeared, everyone paled.
Because the aura which was pulsing from this bead made everyone tremble with unease. Regardless of the strength of this aura, its feel was all too familiar.
“Emperor Pressure!” Fang Peng’s eyes narrowed as he called out in surprise.
It was indeed Emperor Pressure, the same power which was released by the Emperor Garden; however, this Emperor Pressure was nowhere nearly as strong. Still, this coercive force made any who felt it feel humble and small, as if by the pressure alone was able to grind them down into dust.
The grey-haired old man’s Saint Qi surged as it poured into the bead he was carrying and with a great roar, it transformed into a stream of light that shot towards Yang Kai at phenomenal speed.
Mid-air, this bead split into two, then into four, then into eight…
Soon, the sky was filled with identical beads that all but enveloped the space around Yang Kai. This was not the end though; each of these beads seemed to be real, nothing like an illusion, and each one was releasing terrifying arcs.
The sound of thunder was deafening as these arcs of lighting flew out like silk threads towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed, his expression never looked more solemn.
He felt the touch of death coming from these lightning bolts and instantly understood that if he could not find a way to handle them, he would immediately die.
With his heart pounding violently, Yang Kai did not dare hold back, summoning his Purple Shield and activating its sandstorm ability before releasing his Firebird Artifact Spirit and transforming it into a fiery red light that wrapped around him, Qian Tong, and Fei Zhi Tu.
Next, Yang Kai released nearly a hundred Golden Blood Threads from his hands before weaving them together to form an airtight net around them.
Even after successively deploying three powerful layers of protection, Yang Kai still felt uneasy.
But there was no more time for him to react as the countless lightning arcs had already reached him.
*Kacha…*
The outermost layer of defence, the sandstorm, instantly collapsed and the Purple Shield reappeared, its light halo severely dimmed, obviously having suffered a severe loss of spirituality. On the contrary, the myriad bolts of lightning remained undiminished as they struck towards the net woven of Golden Blood Threads.
Being struck by the lightning arcs, the brilliant golden radiance coming from the Golden Blood Threads suddenly dimmed and Yang Kai couldn’t help coughing up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.
His Golden Blood Threads were existences that straddled the line between Secret Techniques and artifacts that were directly connected to his body and Soul. As such, when his Golden Blood Threads took damage, Yang Kai would also suffer. This was the only drawback of his Golden Blood Thread Secret Technique.
Yang Kai suffered a small loss at this moment.
Fortunately, this minor flaw did not detract from the Golden Blood Thread’s power, and as they passed through the golden net, the seemingly unstoppable lighting arcs finally lost some of their power.
Immediately after, the remaining lighting arcs hit the Firebird Artifact Spirit’s light curtain.
Crisp bird cries rang out as the curtain of extremely hot flames distorted greatly, warping space itself within the surrounding thousand metres. The imposing flames and overbearing lightning formed a kind of violent stalemate, clashing fiercely with one another as Yang Kai looked on anxiously.
However, Yang Kai’s face soon became extremely gloomy.
As the owner of the Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai could naturally feel just how much pressure it was under at this moment.
[It can’t stop them!]
If Yang Kai allowed this to continue, the Firebird Artifact Spirit would almost certainly be destroyed entirely, disappearing from this world.
Just what kind of artifact was that bead? How could it possess such power and why was it giving off Emperor Pressure?
Within a short moment, the Artifact Spirit’s light curtain was on the verge of breaking and the intense heat it was giving off was quickly dispersing, as if it was being doused with water. At the same time, the crisp bird cries were rapidly becoming noticeably fainter.
Yang Kai grit his teeth and took back his Firebird Artifact Spirit.
He didn’t want to let the Artifact Spirit fall here.
A crimson-red ray of light flew into Yang Kai’s body, but without the Firebird’s protection, the countless lightning arcs once again charged towards him unhindered like the sharpest of blades.
Yang Kai’s face was pale, but in this moment, he could only push his Saint Qi to its limits to protect himself.
“Yang Kai, this old master will help you!” Fei Zhi Tu’s voice suddenly came from the side. Using some unknown Secret Technique, Fei Zhi Tu had regained the use of his sealed Saint Qi and hurriedly summoned his Blue Jade Bowl.
A faint blue light poured out from the bowl like gently falling moonlight, quickly transforming into a tangible barrier that blocked the path of the incoming lightning.
A series of loud sizzling noises rang out as the lightning arcs hit this faint blue barrier, causing it to rapidly dim.
After only three breaths, Fei Zhi Tu coughed up a mouthful of red blood and his face turned as pale as paper, his aura rapidly diminishing in the process.
The Blue Jade Bowl he relied on the most also let out a loud cracking sound before breaking apart and scattering to the ground.
This powerful Origin Grade High-Rank artifact was actually destroyed by the lightning arcs after a single encounter!
This caused Fei Zhi Tu’s already bad condition to further worsen!
“Old Fei!” Qian Tong’s expression changed drastically as he looked over at him nervously. Fei Zhi Tu just shook his head slowly, not even having the strength to speak. He suffered heavy injuries when they were captured, and was later pierced through by Qu Zheng’s short spear. Now an artifact which was closely connected to his Soul had been destroyed, so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say he was completely drained at this moment.
However, his efforts weren’t in vain. After being blocked by the Blue Jade Bowl, the lightning arcs weren’t nearly as powerful as before, and although they were still quite strong, Yang Kai no longer felt a deadly threat from them.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
The charging lightning arcs plunged into Yang Kai’s body like steel needles, causing countless tiny holes to appear on his body and spilling a copious amount of his blood.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and in the next moment his Saint Qi burst out, enveloping Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, his face extremely gloomy.
Everyone’s eyes bulged when they saw this. All of them asked themselves if they would have been able to survive the violent attack just now, and the answer all of them arrived at was ‘no’, but Yang Kai had managed to accomplish this. Although Fei Zhi Tu’s desperate assistance was also a factor, Yang Kai had taken the entire remaining force of the lightning arcs with his body. But instead of his aura fading, it was madly increasing.
Was this boy even still human? Was he really just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator?
Fang Peng and Qu Zheng’s faces were filled with shock, and even the grey-haired old man showed a look of dread on his face.
“Yang Kai, we need to leave here first. Old Fei…” Qian Tong shouted anxiously.
Yang Kai’s rapidly swelling aura stagnated abruptly, as if he had suddenly regained his composure and he gently nodded, biting the tip of his tongue before spitting out a drop of Golden Blood from his mouth. This drop of blood flickered slightly before seemingly disappearing into thin air.
Immediately after, a strange wave of power surged in front of Yang Kai and a small black crack suddenly appeared.
Initially, this crack was small and insignificant, but soon it expanded, as if two invisible hands were tearing it open.
Inside this crack was a pitch black chaotic was nothingness, as if anything that fell into it would be swallowed and disappear forever.
“Impossible!” Mo Xiao Sheng’s eyes trembled violently as he exclaimed, “Impossible, this is absolutely impossible, there’s no way! That’s a Void Crack!”
“What?” Fang Peng was shocked, “A Void Crack?”
Everyone was stunned as they stared blankly at the crack which led to The Void, all of them unable to believe their eyes, but when they sent their Divine Senses into the black nothingness, they really couldn’t sense anything.
Only Yang Kai stood calmly in front of the Void Crack, guarding Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu as he swept his eyes around coldly with a vicious expression on his face, “This Sect Master will remember the gracious gift he was bestowed today and will be sure to return it a hundred times over in the future!”
His voice was like the frigid wind of the Nine Nether Purgatory, causing everyone to shiver from head to toe.
As soon as his voice fell, his figure flickered and dove into the Void Crack!
“Stop him!” The grey-haired old man was the first to recover from his shock and shout.
But by that time, there was no trace of Yang Kai left, and the attacks everyone released on instinct simply submerged into The Void like stones sinking into the sea, not even creating any ripples.
After a breath, the Void Crack automatically closed and disappeared.
Everyone’s expressions turned ugly as their faces paled.
“Impossible! That is absolutely impossible!” In front of the silent palace, only Mo Xiao Sheng’s muttering echoed.
Having suffered a thorough defeat in the field he was proudest of, Mo Xiao Sheng’s pride had been ripped to shreds.
Qu Zheng and Fang Peng looked at each other and could only see annoyance and dread in each other’s eyes. Qu Zheng turned to look at Mo Xiao Sheng and quickly asked, “Great Elder, are you certain that was a Void Crack?”
“Haha…” Mo Xiao Sheng’s eyes remained unfocused as he said with a sad smile, “This old master wishes he was mistaken, but that was without a doubt a Void Crack! He can actually tear space. At such a young age he has achieved this kind of mastery over Space Force? It is over, it’s all over, no one on Shadowed Star can capture him. If he wishes to leave, no one can stop him! All this time, he was just toying with us! “
“No one can stop him?” Qu Zheng complexion turned ugly.
Mo Xiao Sheng slowly shook his head with a look of despair, “Union Master, you don’t understand just how difficult it is to deal with someone who cultivates Space Force, but this old master understands… After failing to kill him this time, we will never have a second chance.”
Qu Zheng frowned deeply.
Recalling the threat Yang Kai gave before he left, his heart could not help but clench up.
High Heaven Sect was located deep inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, a land that none could trespass, and Yang Kai himself was so difficult to handle, even capable of tearing space. Having thoroughly offended him this time, it would likely be difficult to sleep peacefully in the future!
“Old Bai, this…” Fang Peng, who had remained silent until now, turned his head to look at the grey-haired old man in brown robes.
The old man’s aura was quite feeble at this moment. It seemed that it cost him a great price to use the bead-like artifact. Hearing someone call out to him, this old man surnamed Bai coldly snorted and said, “Even the Annihilation Thunder Bead couldn’t force him to remain. This is no longer a matter this old master can handle, I must return to the Mountain and report to the Sect Master. Any further action will be coordinated by him, this old master will take his leave.”
After he said this sentence, he did not care what other people thought. He summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off.
Fang Peng wasn’t even able to get a word off and could only watch in annoyance as the old man flew off, cursing under his breath once he was certain the old man was out of hearing range.
The reason why he and Qu Zheng offended Yang Kai this time was because of the orders they received from Star Emperor Mountain, resulting in their two forces suffering heavy losses. Yet now that everything failed miserably, the other side was actually abandoning all responsibility?
What was this? Dismantling a bridge after crossing the river? Disposing of trusted allies after they outlived their usefulness?
Failing to obtain any benefits while provoking a dangerous entity, Fang Peng felt the impulse to cough up blood.
However, when he thought about Qu Zheng, he suddenly felt better. Although Thunder Typhoon Sect had also suffered a loss this time, Fang Tian Zhong was still alive, unlike Heaven Battling Union’s Young Union Master Qu Chang Feng.
“Brother Qu, this matter will end here. This Fang will also take his leave,” Fang Peng said with a light cough.
“Brother Fang wants to leave just like that?” Qu Zheng raised his eyes and glared at him.
Fang Peng snickered, “Brother Qu, you also heard what that boy said before he left, he’s clearly not going to let today’s matter drop. This Fang is going to return as quickly as possible to make some arrangements before entering retreat for a few years. Even if that boy is strong, he won’t dare attack my Thunder Typhoon Sect’s headquarters, right? If he were to do that, he would truly be too arrogant. Brother Qu, I advise you to go back as well. Quickly order your disciples to return to your Sect and not go out unless necessary to avoid them being picked off one by one before the situation calms.”
“Is Brother Fang really such a coward? After being threatened once you actually intend to make like a turtle?” Qu Zheng stared at him contemptuously.
“When did I say anything like that…” Fang Peng spat disdainfully, “This Fang simply wishes to gain the most while losing the least. In any case, this matter is Star Emperor Mountain’s responsibility now, I don’t want to stick my nose into it unnecessarily.”
“Hmph, if I cannot obtain vengeance for the murder of my son, this old master would not be a man! If Brother Fang wishes to act like a turtle and cower, so be it, but this old master and that brat are absolutely irreconcilable. If he dares to attack my headquarters, this old master must make him never return!” Qu Zheng roared, his expression grim.
“Then I hope Brother Qu can fulfil his wish as soon as possible!” Fang Peng cupped his fists slightly before waving his hand and quickly leaving with the rest of the surviving Thunder Typhoon Sect masters.
“Coward!” Qu Zheng looked at Fang Peng’s disappearance and spurned contemptuously, but soon his expression became sad again as he looked towards a certain spot, his heart filling with pain, “Collect the Young Union Master’s corpse, we’re returning!”
“Yes!” Someone walked over and immediately picked up Qu Chang Feng’s headless corpse before the remaining Heaven Battling Union Masters followed after Qu Zheng and left.
How did you guys feel? What are the more memorable fights for you?
A few tens of thousands of kilometres away from the Ancient Sect Ruins, there was a barren mountain with such thin World Energy aura that there was hardly any vegetation, making it look extremely desolate.
In such a place, cultivators could rarely be found because no herbs, treasures, or anything of value could be found here, making it unattractive to explore.
The mountain wasn’t big and only stretched a dozen kilometres or so, similar to the old Dragon Cave Mountain, but it was far worse in terms of scenery and aura.
A streak of light swiftly approached from a distance, and as it passed through this barren mountain, it suddenly came to a halt before flying down and rushing into a natural cave halfway up the cliff.
When the light dispersed, three figures appeared.
Everyone looked quite dishevelled, with blood staining all of their clothes as if they had just experienced a very difficult battle and barely escaped with their lives.
These three were Yang Kai, Qian Tong, and Fei Zhi Tu.
A few tens of thousands of kilometres was a safe enough distance. It wasn’t that Yang Kai didn’t want to travel further; it was just that Fei Zhi Tu’s state wasn’t optimistic now. He didn’t dare delay any longer, and this barren mountain was a decent spot to hide and rest.
After rushing into the cave, Yang Kai immediately put Fei Zhi Tu down, allowing him to lean against the cave wall before placing his fingers on his wrist and using his Saint Qi to examine his injuries.
Fei Zhi Tu’s injuries were by far the most serious among the trio, with his aura extremely weak and chaotic, as if he was a lamp running out of oil.
After a moment, Yang Kai frowned, his face gloomy.
“Yang Kai, Old Fei…” Qian Tong was as anxious as an ant on a hot wok, not even caring to deal with his own injuries as he asked Yang Kai nervously.
“His situation isn’t good,” Yang Kai replied in a deep voice, immediately raising his eyes to stare into Fei Zhi Tu’s as he asked, “City Lord Fei, what kind of Secret Technique did you use to cause such harm?”
“Haha…” Fei Zhi Tu gave a miserable laugh, his face as pale as paper as he slowly shook his head, “It wasn’t a Secret Technique, this old master hasn’t cultivated such a Heaven-defying Secret Technique.”
“If it wasn’t a Secret Technique, could it be…” Qian Tong’s expression changed when he heard this, as if he suddenly remembered something.
“En, when they captured us, this old master took out that Yuan Burst Pill and hid it under his tongue while they weren’t paying attention!”
“A Yuan Burst Pill?” Yang Kai’s expression changed dramatically. As an Alchemist, he had naturally heard about this pill as well as the terrible side-effects it caused. Although a cultivator’s strength would be greatly increased for a short time after taking it, the backlash would cause unimaginable damage to a cultivator once the medicinal efficacies passed.
This pill granted a burst of strength by overdrawing a cultivator’s vitality!
This kind of pill was rarely refined by Alchemists and was even more rarely used because one needed to be prepared to perish after taking it!
It was no wonder Fei Zhi Tu had been able to instantly break through the seals placed on him and restore his strength, it turns out he had hidden such a pill in his mouth in advance.
Yang Kai instantly understood what had transpired.
While the trio spoke, the medicinal efficacies of the Yuan Burst Pill seemed to have completely disappeared and the true backlash began to appear.
Fei Zhi Tu’s black hair turned white at a speed visible to the naked eye and even his skin began to shrivel and dry up, leaving many deep wrinkles on his face.
In mere breaths, it seemed he had aged hundreds of years.
Fei Zhi Tu originally looked like he was only in his early forties, the prime of his life, but now he had the appearance of an old man who was approaching his death.
Even his cultivation gradually began to drop, from Third-Order Origin Returning Realm to Second-Order, then First-Order before teetering on the brink of dropping to the Saint King Realm.
“Old Fei…” Qian Tong was heartbroken. The friendship between him and Fei Zhi Tu was hundreds of years old, so he knew better than anyone where that Yuan Burst Pill had come from.
When the two of them were young, they had gone out together for life experience and had found a single Yuan Burst Pill in some ancient ruins. Qian Tong had scoffed at it but Fei Zhi Tu decided to keep it. Unexpectedly, Fei Zhi Tu had found an opportunity to use it after close to three hundred years.
For a moment, Qian Tong felt deep pain and guilt wrack him.
If it was he who had been the one to keep that Yuan Burst Pill, then he would be the one suffering from its backlash today rather than helplessly watching his old friend pass away before his eyes.
Fei Zhi Tu was already seriously injured, and now that the backlash from using the Yuan Burst Pill surfaced, in addition to the shock his Soul received after the Blue Jade Bowl was destroyed, it was clear he wouldn’t survive long.
“Old Qian, why do you look like your father and mother just died?” Fei Zhi Tu grinned, “I understand my own situation best, this time it was you and I who failed to pay attention to our surroundings and caused such a huge mess. My old bones aren’t worth feeling sad about. Old Qian, listen, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect actually dared to risk public condemnation by attacking both of us, so there’s a good chance that they have someone backing them they can rely on.”
“Someone to rely on? You mean…” Qian Tong frowned.
“This is just my own guess, but whether it’s true or not, I’m not certain. In any case, don’t rush to take revenge, our Shadow Moon Hall isn’t any stronger than those two forces, and if all of this was plotted by ‘them’, we will be the only ones who suffer in the end.”
“Just leave the matter of revenge to me, City Lord Fei need not worry about this,” Yang Kai reassured.
“Haha, you’re too thoughtful Yang Kai. If that’s the case, this old master won’t say anymore,” Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded before falling silent.
Qian Tong’s eyes became wet as tears appeared at the corners of his eyes.
“Why are the two of you acting like this is a lifelong separation?” Yang Kai couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, “Although the damage to City Lord Fei’s foundation is quite grave, it’s not like all hope is lost.”
Hearing this, Qian Tong’s eyes lit up.
Fei Zhi Tu also looked over at Yang Kai in amazement.
As he said just now, he understood his own situation the best. If he had just been seriously injured this time, it wouldn’t be a major problem, all he would need to do is enter retreat for a few years to recuperate and he would be able to recover, but after taking that Yuan Burst Pill, things were different. His vitality had been severely overdrawn and he could no longer stop his foundation from crumbling. He would definitely die within a few days, possibly even a few hours.
“Yang Kai, please don’t make jokes at a time like this. If you really have a way to pull Old Fei back from the gates of death, please use it quickly. This old master will certainly remember this gratitude for the rest of his life!” Qian Tong said anxiously, as if he was a drowning man grasping at straws.
Fei Zhi Tu also looked at Yang Kai expectantly.
If they could live, who would choose to die? However, did Yang Kai really have a way to save him from this kind of situation or was he just trying to comfort him?
“Junior is naturally not making a joke with two Seniors,” Yang Kai nodded before putting on a serious look, flipping his wrist, and taking out a jade bottle from his Space Ring. Uncapping this bottle, a strong, refreshing aroma instantly diffused.
When this fragrance entered his nose, Fei Zhi Tu’s pale face suddenly became a little ruddy and even his extreme weariness was slightly dispelled.
“What is this?” Qian Tong was an experienced man and at a glance could tell that whatever was inside this jade bottle was something extraordinary, but unfortunately he couldn’t identify it at all.
From its colour, white and flawless, it almost looked like some kind of milk.
“Two Seniors should be familiar with the Three Great Divine Waters, yes?” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“What? The Three Great Divine Waters?” Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were shocked.
“En, this bottle contains one of them, Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” Yang Kai said before flicking his wrist and extracting a drop of the pure white Life Revitalizing Jade Cream from the bottle, wrapping it in his Saint Qi, then floating it towards Fei Zhi Tu.
“It’s actually Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” Qian Tong was ecstatic. If this was really one of the rumoured Three Great Divine Waters, then Old Fei really could be saved.
The biggest reason for his current state was his overdrawn vitality which made it impossible for him to suppress his other injuries. However, if he could restore his vitality, it wouldn’t be a problem to suppress his physical wounds with his cultivation.
The greatest function of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters, was to replenish vitality.
It was the perfect medicine for this situation.
Qian Tong was overjoyed!
“City Lord Fei, please accept this!” Yang Kai said seriously.
Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched slightly with excitement and he didn’t hesitate to open his mouth and swallow the small drop of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
As he swallowed this drop of liquid, Fei Zhi Tu felt a stream of warmth flow from his mouth straight down to the abdomen before a wave of vigorous vitality began spreading out inside his body. Feeling this, Fei Zhi Tu was shocked and couldn’t help closing his eyes and circulating his Saint Qi to refine the raging medicinal efficacies.
Seeing Fei Zhi Tu’s aura stabilizing at an extremely rapid pace and that there was no longer any worry about him losing his life, Qian Tong couldn’t help shedding some tears as he celebrated his old friend escaping from the gates of death.
“Yang Kai, the weight of this gift is simply too great!” Qian Tong wiped the corners of his eyes as he looked towards Yang Kai gratefully.
“Elder Qian is too polite, Senior Fei was implicated by me and even forced to take that Yuan Burst Pill to help this Junior resist that last attack. This Junior has nothing but gratitude in his heart, so a trivial drop of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream is not even worth mentioning. Actually, Elder Qian, your injuries…”
“This old master is fine, I can break the seal placed on me on my own, I simply need to meditate for a few days. As for this arm… haha, it’s not an issue, although this old master is getting on in years, he’s still strong and healthy, a mere broken arm won’t be a problem to fix.”
“Alright, if that’s the case, Elder Qian should focus on his own recovery. I have some healing pills here, they should help Elder Qian achieve twice the results in half the time,” Yang Kai said, taking out a few bottles from his Space Ring and pouring out a pill from each before handing them to Qian Tong.
Qian Tong originally wanted to refuse; after all, as a Shadow Moon Hall Elder, how could he not have healing pills on him? But when he saw what kind of pills Yang Kai took out, he swallowed the words which came to his lips back down and accepted them with a smile, “Kid, you really have many good things on you, it would be impolite for this old master to refuse.”
“This is what I should do, this Junior will stand guard for two Seniors, so two Seniors can concentrate on healing!”
“Yeah. You should also deal with your own injuries, don’t allow any hidden dangers to remain behind.”
And so, the three each found a spot in the cave, sat down cross-legged, and began meditating.
Fei Zhi Tu’s injuries were the most serious, but at least he no longer had to worry about losing his life. As for how much of his strength he could restore, that would depend on his own ability. Qian Tong’s injuries weren’t a big problem and neither were Yang Kai’s.
With his Golden Blood, Yang Kai’s restorative ability was many times stronger than average and his physical body was also quite resilient, so even if he was hit by those lightning arcs, he hadn’t suffered much damage. All he needed to do now was restore himself and he would be fine.
Half a month later, three rays of light shot out from the cave and soared towards the horizon, soon disappearing.
After such a long period of recuperation, Qian Tong and Yang Kai had basically recovered but Fei Zhi Tu had not.
Although Yang Kai had managed to save him from the gates of death and essentially negate the backlash from the Yuan Burst Pill, Fei Zhi Tu was still unable to return to his peak. His face was ruddy and his hair, while still white, had a healthy sheen to it, no longer making him appear sickly.
However, his cultivation could only be restored to the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm.
It seemed it would be impossible for Fei Zhi Tu to return to his peak in short order, and he estimated that it would be ten or twenty years before he would see hope of breaking through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm again. While this result was no doubt frustrating, it was still within the realm of acceptable.
Moreover, this kind of increase in cultivation was just restoration, not a real breakthrough, so Fei Zhi Tu would not encounter any kind of bottleneck, all it would take is time.
In time, he will surely be able to fully restore himself.
With all three of their conditions being fine, they travelled together towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect had used their full strength to deal with Yang Kai this time and Yang Kai had not concealed anything from Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu. After learning that the entire incident was arranged by Star Emperor Mountain, whether it was Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu, they were deeply disturbed.
Neither of them dared return to Shadow Moon Hall, for fear of being found there and captured to threaten Yang Kai again.
Fortunately, only the two of them had some friendship with Yang Kai in Shadow Moon Hall, so as long as they weren’t there, Star Emperor Mountain would obviously not attack Shadow Moon Hall.
Going to the impenetrable Flowing Flame Sand Field was their best choice. Even if Star Emperor Mountain set out in full force, there was no way they could reach them there.
When Yang Kai came here originally, he had flown the entire way, entering one city after another to purchase cultivation materials in bulk, but now he chose not to waste so much time on the road.
Taking advantage of several Space Arrays, it only took Yang Kai’s group ten or so days to reach the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Over the past ten days, the three of them had also inquired about the news, but unfortunately, they were not able to learn anything of importance.
What had transpired in Fallen Emperor Mountain that day was completely concealed from the rest of Shadowed Star.
On the contrary, news of Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect suddenly increasing the defences around their headquarters to their highest level spread out like wildfire.
No one knew why these two giants suddenly reacted like this, no one other than Yang Kai and the other two beside him that is. Obviously, these two great forces were worried that Yang Kai would seek revenge and were already making preparations.
[But could they do anything to stop me?] Yang Kai thought to himself and sneered.
He didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble, and there really hadn’t been much hatred between him and Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union, but since they took the initiative to attack him this time, Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t just let it go.
Before leaving Shadowed Star for a long voyage, he would need to settle this problem first, otherwise he would not be able to be at ease. After all, this voyage could not be completed in a short time and once he left, only the Heavens knew how long it would be before he returned.
Outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, in front of the palace where the Space Array that connected the inside and outside was located, Yang Kai wore a gloomy expression.
This could not be helped, as the palace where the Space Array was arranged had been destroyed and was now completely unusable. There was also a lot of dried up blood staining the surrounding area which clearly indicated there had been a battle here.
The High Heaven Sect disciples who generally guarded this place had low strength, so Yang Kai could not say for sure whether they were dead or alive.
Unable to directly use the Space Array to enter High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai could only take out his communication artifact and send a message inside.
Although he could also use one of his Star Emperor Tokens to enter and exit safely, the protection granted by a Star Emperor Token was limited to a single person, which meant he couldn’t bring Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu through the Flame Area with him safely.
After waiting for less than an hour, a small yet exquisitely designed Starship flew out from the Flame Area and stopped in front of Yang Kai’s trio.
It was the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle previously refined by Yang Yan.
When the hatch opened, Wu Yi’s figure appeared.
“Yang Kai, you finally came back,” Wu Yi’s expression was a little anxious, but after seeing Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, she quickly offered her greetings.
“We’ll talk inside,” Yang Kai gently nodded before ushering Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu into the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle. The shuttle hatch closed a moment later and with a slight shake, returned the way it came at an incredible speed.
“Who destroyed the Space Array? Did the disciples guarding it suffer any casualties?” Yang Kai asked after entering it.
“We’re not clear who it was that attacked, but the disciples who were on guard duty during that time were only slightly injured, so there’s no major problem. A dozen or so days ago, a group of uninvited guests suddenly appeared outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field and attempted to capture the Space Array. Fortunately, the disciples reacted quickly and triggered the self-destructing Spirit Array arranged by Yang Yan before evacuating to the Sect.”
“En, that’s good,” Yang Kai gently nodded, High Heaven Sect had very few disciples, essentially all of them cultivators who had followed Wu Yi to leave the Hai Ke Family. They had supported each other from that day until today, so if there had been casualties among them because of this attack, they would certainly feel forlorn.
“Yang Kai, do you know who tried to attack our High Heaven Sect?” Wu Yi asked angrily.
“Probably Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect,” Yang Kai said lightly.
“Them?” Wu Yi’s pretty face changed slightly, “Why would they suddenly try to attack us? Did we offend them somehow?”
“Little girl, an ordinary man is innocent, but treasures can make him guilty, you should understand such a truth. You really have not offended those two forces, but since they covet your possessions, they would naturally take action. This time, while Yang Kai was out, he was also ambushed by them,” Qian Tong sighed.
“Their courage isn’t small!” Wu Yi shouted, her pretty face turning stern, “My High Heaven Sect simply wishes to reign over our little domain and has no interest in stirring up conflicts with the world, but do they really think we’re so easily bullied? It seems that if we don’t make them suffer, they won’t know what’s good for them.”
Yang Kai and the others all looked at her in amazement.
Fei Zhi Tu even began clapping as he smiled, “You may be young, but your spirit certainly isn’t small, little Girl! Worthy of someone who follows Yang Kai, your courage is commendable!”
Wu Yi’s pretty face blushed slightly upon receiving such praise as she quietly replied, “Junior was just speaking casually, how we act will all depend on Sect Master’s intentions. The two Seniors must not laugh.”
“Naturally, we must teach them a lesson,” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “Every grudge must have its revenge, it’s as simple as that.”
Wu Yi’s expression instantly brightened.
After an hour, the battle shuttle arrived atop High Heaven Sect’s Main Square and the group inside exited. Yang Kai asked Wu Yi to arrange a place for Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu to rest while he walked to Hundred Flowers Peak alone.
He wanted to find Ye Xi Yun and ask for advice.
Atop Hundred Flowers Peak, Ye Xi Yun was tending to the various flowers calmly. Her cultivation had reached the apex of this world, so she no longer bothered cultivating. With the suppression of Shadowed Star’s World Principles preventing her from breaking through to the Origin King Realm, no matter how she tried to cultivate, it would not help her in any way.
So usually, she would tend to trivial matters while disciplining her heart and mind, hoping that one day she would obtain a chance to break through to the Origin King Realm.
As a result, her temper has always remained indifferent.
“Sect Master has returned?” Ye Xi Yun called out lightly before Yang Kai even walked over; obviously, she had noticed his presence.
“En.” Yang Kai gently nodded, walking straight over to her as he observed her pruning a certain plant.
“Did your trip go smoothly?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh?” Ye Xi Yun finally turned to face him, “What happened?”
“I was ambushed!” Yang Kai brow twitched slightly as he briefly recounted what happened in Fallen Emperor Mountain.
“You mean Star Emperor Mountain was stirring up things from behind the scenes?” Ye Xi Yun’s elegant face went slightly cold.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter. No matter who the enemy is, if they dare to provoke me, I’ll make them regret it.”
“Sect Master naturally understands how to separate gratitude and grievances.”
“I came here this time to ask you if Star Emperor Mountain possesses some kind of bead-like artifact that can split into innumerable copies of itself and release powerful bolts of lightning.”
“Does Sect Master mean the Annihilation Thunder Bead?” Ye Xi Yun frowned slightly, “Were you attacked by this artifact?”
“En, I almost died!” Yang Kai still felt some lingering fear from that incident. When he remembered the power of that artifact, he could not help his heart from pounding. He had never encountered such a powerful artifact before. “Is that so-called Annihilation Thunder Bead an Origin King Grade artifact?”
“It’s not Origin King Grade,” To Yang Kai’s surprise, Ye Xi Yun slowly shook her head before putting down the pruning shears in her hand, straightening herself up, and sinking into contemplation, seemingly digging through her memories. It was a while before she began moving again, walking over towards the nearby stone pavilion while beckoning, “Let’s talk over here, Sect Master.”
Yang Kai followed closely.
Inside the stone pavilion, the two took seats across from one another. Ye Xi Yun personally poured a cup of tea before pushing it gently over to Yang Kai. Brushing her hair back lightly, she finally continued, “Sect Master being able to withdraw even after taking a strike from the Annihilation Thunder Bead is no small accomplishment, this Queen seems to have underestimated you yet again.”
“I was just lucky. That Annihilation Thunder Bead has such great power, how could it not be an Origin King Grade artifact?” Yang Kai took a sip of the tea as he glanced at Ye Xi Yun suspiciously.
“It is one of Star Emperor Mountain’s most precious treasures and has surpassed the Origin King Grade. It is an Emperor Artifact!”
“An Emperor Artifact?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “An artifact used by the Great Emperor?”
“Precisely,” Ye Xi Yun gently nodded.
“How could that be?” Yang Kai was dumbstruck. He had seen an Emperor Artifact before, namely the Three Blazing Flame Rings! Unfortunately, Yang Yan was only capable of collecting a single one of these three flame rings while the remaining two still lay on Shadowed Star, forming the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the strongest shield which protected High Heaven Sect.
“The Annihilation Thunder Bead is indeed an Emperor Artifact, but with the strength of the people from Star Emperor Mountain, they can barely use it at all. Even if I use it personally, I am still unable to draw out even ten percent of its power!”
“Is it really that terrifying?” Yang Kai paled in amazement.
“En, the power of an Emperor Artifact is not something you or I can fathom. Moreover, forcefully activating an Emperor Artifact with such a low cultivation is extremely taxing. Wasn’t the aura of the person who attacked you with the Annihilation Thunder Bead weak and chaotic after the fact?”
“Indeed!”
“En, if he was capable of drawing out the full power of the Annihilation Thunder Bead, let alone Sect Master, even an Origin King could easily be killed.”
Yang Kai was now thoroughly shocked.
If it were not for Fei Zhi Tu sacrificing his Blue Jade Bowl at the critical moment to block those lightning bolts, Yang Kai would have been severely injured. This time, he had managed to escape by luck, but what about the next time?
“Sect Masters doesn’t need to worry too much. Although an Emperor Artifact’s power is unfathomable, because of the limits of the user’s cultivation, it is not as dangerous as you might think. After using it to deliver a single blow, it essentially cannot be used again in quick succession. You have experienced it personally, so you should understand this better than anyone else,” Seeing the anxious look on Yang Kai’s face, Ye Xi Yun comforted him lightly.
“That’s true,” Yang Kai gently nodded, the fear on his face greatly dispersing as he felt relieved.
The power an artifact could display was always linked to its wielder’s strength, so even if the artifact’s grade was high, if the cultivator using it wasn’t strong enough, it wouldn’t be able to display much might.
The Verdant Dragon Bone Sword was like this. Although Yang Kai could use it quite flexibly now, he could tell that it had great untapped potential.
The reason he could not access this potential wasn’t because of the Dragon Bone Sword, but rather because of himself.
His strength was limiting the performance of the Dragon Bone Sword.
“If Sect Master plans on acting, you might as well bring this Queen along. Star Emperor Mountain has already strayed from its proper path, so this Queen cannot just stand idly by, and… I also want to meet with a few old friends and settle our accounts.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brows, suddenly becoming somewhat curious.
He had always wondered why Ye Xi Yun had left Star Emperor Mountain all those years ago; after all, she had been the Sect Master of the greatest power on Shadowed Star, possessing the pinnacle of status and respect. If not for extreme difficulties, she definitely wouldn’t have given such a position up to live in seclusion for a hundred years.
However, this kind of issue was quite difficult to ask about. If Ye Xi Yun was willing to explain, Yang Kai would certainly be willing to listen, but if she didn’t, no good would come of prying.
The only thing Yang Kai could be sure of now was that there was deep grievance between Ye Xi Yun and Star Emperor Mountain.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai didn’t bother dwelling on the subject and instead said in a serious tone, “I have a plan, but I’d like Great Elder to listen and give her input if she notices any errors or deficiencies…”
And so, Yang Kai explained his battle strategy.
After an hour, Yang Kai left Hundred Flowers Peak and returned to First Heavenly Palace.
Inside the silent palace, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and took out the Feather Spirit Arrow before beginning to pour his Saint Qi into it to recharge it.
This artifact he obtained in Fallen Emperor Mountain was extremely powerful, and although it could only be used a limited number of times in any single battle, that did not detract from its utility. With this artifact’s power, a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator could instantly be killed, while even a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master like Qu Zheng would not dare take its strike head-on.
During the battle in Fallen Emperor Mountain, Yang Kai had exhausted the Feather Spirit Arrow’s energy, so he needed to recharge it now.
Half an hour later, the Feather Spirit Arrow was fully recharged.
Yang Kai carefully put away this strange artifact, but just as he was about to start making some other preparations for the upcoming action, his expression suddenly changed as he turned his gaze towards a certain spot on the ground and grinned, waiting quietly.
A moment later, a small head appeared strangely from the ground, its body filled with rough edges and a bulky build; however, this creature’s two eyes were extremely bright and flexible.
Stone Puppet.
When Yang Kai went out this time, he had not brought the Stone Puppet with him and instead left it in the Sect.
For one thing, Yang Kai hadn’t expected that there would be so many twists and turns on this trip or any kind of great battle; if he had expected a fight, he would have brought the Stone Puppet along to help him.
Secondly, the Stone Puppet currently had another task.
The Stone Puppet was now responsible for caring for the stone embryo of the other Stone Puppet. After leaving the Emperor Garden last time, Yang Kai merged the Blood Essence Stone he found with the stone embryo, hoping to give birth to a second Stone Puppet. He had left Xiao Xiao the duty to watch over the stone embryo at that time.
Now that Yang Kai had returned to Sect, Xiao Xiao noticed his presence and immediately rushed over to First Heavenly Palace.
Not knowing what kind of progress the second Stone Puppet had made, Yang Kai was full of expectations.
However, when he observed the Xiao Xiao closely, Yang Kai could not help frowning and quickly asked, “What happened?”
The Stone Puppet’s originally clear and bright eyes were now showing signs of panic. As soon as he rushed out of the ground, he immediately scrambled over in front of Yang Kai with his hands and feet before reaching out and pulling on his shirt, letting out some incomprehensible sounds as he eagerly tried to drag Yang Kai out.
“What happened?” As Xiao Xiao’s owner, Yang Kai could naturally feel his anxiety and restlessness; however, the Stone Puppet had a low level of sentience to begin with. Yang Kai had only given him a single drop of Golden Blood when it was born, so he couldn’t clearly tell what he was thinking.
“You want me to come with you?” Yang Kai asked again, to which the Stone Puppet nodded repeatedly.
“Lead the way!” Yang Kai gently nodded, letting the Stone Puppet drag him outside.
Soon, the Stone Puppet brought Yang Kai outside High Heaven Sect’s headquarters and to the depths of the continuous mountain range.
High Heaven Sect’s headquarters stood where the ancient Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins were. The Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins covered an extremely wide range though, so High Heaven Sect, with its tiny population, only occupied a small portion of it.
The place the Stone Puppet took Yang Kai could also be regarded as the headquarters of the Supreme Profound Sect, just a different, far away peak.
This peak was extremely tall, towering up into the clouds, and had extremely beautiful scenery.
An hour later, the Stone Puppet led Yang Kai to the top of this mountain, where a spacious platform like a square and a gorgeous palace stood.
Obviously, this palace had been built by Supreme Profound Sect before, but it was now empty.
As soon as they entered the palace, Yang Kai spotted a strange blood-red stone about the size of a washbasin sitting on the floor. There were visible wisps of World Energy being absorbed into this stone.
There were even loud, rhythmic thumping sounds, similar to the beating of a heart, coming from the blood-red stone.
Naturally, it was the second Stone Puppet stone embryo!
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
The stone embryo had been well taken care of by Xiao Xiao, and after integrating the Blood Essence Stone, it now possessed its own life force, but strangely, the creature inside, despite clearly being alive, had yet to break through its shell. From the strength of the aura it was emitting, Yang Kai estimated it should have been born some time ago.
Yang Kai frowned.
With his eyesight, he could naturally see that something was wrong with the stone embryo, it was no wonder Xiao Xiao had become so frantic.
After arriving here, Xiao Xiao rushed over to the stone embryo, circling it anxiously, scratching his ears and cheeks, making him look like a monkey that had an itch he just couldn’t scratch no matter how hard he tried.
“Let me see, don’t worry,” Yang Kai comforted. Hearing these words, Xiao Xiao became obedient and immediately sat aside, watching eagerly.
The birthing process for the stone embryo is the same within its kind, so even if Xiao Xiao’s intelligence was not great, he could still understand how to care for members of his own race.
Yang Kai walked up to the stone embryo and scanned it with his Divine Sense, his face changing slightly as he did.
An unimaginable amount of energy had been condensed inside the stone embryo, and it was actually constantly being strengthened. It seemed like because the World Energy here was so rich that the stone embryo was simply continuing to draw it in without reserve.
The heartbeat sound became more and more obvious as well, but no matter how Yang Kai probed it, the unborn creature inside still showed no signs of trying to emerge from its shell. Yang Kai was not even able to sense any kind of Soul fluctuations.
The absence of Soul fluctuations meant that this life-form had yet to achieve sentience.
Yang Kai was confused.
He did not know how to handle this situation.
It was only because Yang Yan had explained the strange Stone Puppet race to him that Yang Kai even understood this kind of creature existed, but as for how to ensure it could be born safely, he had no clues.
Perhaps if Yang Yan was here, she could provide some assistance.
Unfortunately, Yang Yan had now merged with the Great Emperor’s true body and had fallen into a deep slumber since returning from the Emperor Garden. Even if Yang Kai went to her, he would not be able to get any help.
After thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai reached out and touched the stone embryo.
In any case, the energy stored inside the stone embryo at this moment was simply too immense, to the point where it was dangerous. The stone embryo failing to be born smoothly or produce sentience was likely related to this.
Too much of a good thing was dangerous.
Yang Kai wanted to guide away some of the energy inside so as not to cause any further harm to the fragile stone embryo.
However, when his hand touched the stone embryo, a complicated pattern suddenly appeared on its surface. This pattern began whirling and glowed brilliantly as a terrifying burst of energy began to surge from inside.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed drastically, and he hurriedly withdrew.
With a thunderous bang, the burst of energy erupted and shot directly into the sky.
After a few breaths, a hole appeared in the clouds up above, as if a hole had been pierced through the sky.
Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked and did not dare act rashly anymore.
Xiao Xiao stared at him and began uttering some inexplicable words again, as if begging him to do something, his eyes filled with sadness.
Yang Kai could only shake his head slowly though.
At this point, he was truly helpless, only able to allow nature to take its course.
As if understanding Yang Kai’s thoughts, Xiao Xiao’s expression became despondent as his head drooped down, just sitting there stupidly and staring at the stone embryo in front of him.
As time passed slowly, the energy contained in the stone embryo became greater and greater, and the throbbing heartbeat became more and more rapid, so rapid that it even began to cause Yang Kai’s own heart to throb.
This heartbeat, despite being rapid, was extremely regular, like someone beating a drum in a steady rhythm; however, the light patterns on the stone embryo’s surface were now flickering randomly.
This situation continued for a full five days, only changing on the fifth day.
The blood-red light coming from the stone embryo suddenly increased in intensity and at the same time, a sensational energy fluctuation burst out from the stone embryo.
Yang Kai opened his eyes wide and stared at this strange phenomenon.
In the next moment, the light patterns on its surface began to dim and the rapid heartbeat also fell silent. At the same time, the terrifying energy fluctuations contained inside the stone embryo seemed to instantly disappear.
Yang Kai’s heart sank, and he released his Divine Sense to probe the stone embryo, but doing so only caused his expression to darken.
Even the strong life aura which had been coming from the stone embryo had now vanished, now making it seem like any ordinary rock one would find by the roadside.
Xiao Xiao was also aware of this and quickly rushed over to the stone embryo, patting it gently with both hands, crying out incoherently. Quickly, he picked up the stone embryo and rushed over to Yang Kai, lifting his arms up, obviously begging him to think of something.
Yang Kai opened his mouth to say something, but unable to find any words, he could only let out a deep sigh.
As Xiao Xiao’s owner, Yang Kai could naturally feel his irritability and anxiety, and if he could, he would definitely not refuse Xiao Xiao’s request.
However, Yang Kai knew next to nothing about Stone Puppets and had no idea what had gone wrong at this moment, causing the second Stone Puppet to not only fail to break out of its shell but also lose its vitality.
Even if he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do.
The master and servant were connected, so Xiao Xiao was aware of Yang Kai’s helplessness, causing the light in his eyes to gradually dim.
Sniffling lightly, Xiao Xiao was like an aggrieved child.
After a long time, Xiao Xiao gently placed the stone embryo in front of Yang Kai, treating it extremely carefully, as if he was afraid that acting roughly would cause damage to the stone embryo.
Immediately after, Xiao Xiao rushed to the edge of the cliff that was ten thousand metres high and began banging his chest with his hands, making a drum-like sound, his small body quickly growing bigger, in the blink of an eye becoming a stone giant several tens of metres high.
Like a huge gorilla standing on the top of the peak, straightening up his rickety waist, Xiao Xiao turned his face towards the Heavens.
A long cry, like a billowing dragon roar, came from his mouth.
This howl spread across the sky, containing unimaginable force that stirred up the sea of clouds around the peak.
This howl was filled with indelible pain and sorrow.
Drops of some kind of crystal-clear jade slipped from Xiao Xiao’s eyes and fell to the ground, clinking as they hit the hard earth.
Xiao Xiao wept!
Yang Kai never imagined there would come a day when he would witness a Stone Puppet crying. He could not imagine just how significant this second Stone Puppet’s stone embryo was to Xiao Xiao, but from the sadness the latter showed now, it was obvious just how depressed and lonely he felt.
It was as if he was the only one of his kind in this world, destined to be alone for his entire life.
Yang Kai watched this for a moment before his expression changed suddenly and he swiftly moved to the stone embryo, stretched out his hand, and cut open his wrist with one of his Golden Blood Threads.
A long, bone-deep wound instantly appeared and Yang Kai’s golden blood began leaking out drop by drop onto the stone embryo.
[It should not be like this!] Xiao Xiao’s birth had gone extremely smoothly, but Yang Kai had also been quite stunned and confused at that time. It was Xiao Xiao who had merged with the Blood Essence Stone inside the Black Book Space and then broke out of the shell easily almost entirely on his own.
[Why is the second time so different?] Even at this moment, the life fluctuations inside the stone embryo had disappeared.
Regardless of why, this was one of Xiao Xiao’s own kind, and regarding its birth, Xiao Xiao obviously had a thousand times more expectations than Yang Kai himself.
Yang Kai did not believe that a creature with such strong vitality could really just die like this.
He had to try everything, then leave the rest to fate!
With a dripping sound, drop after drop of pure Golden Blood fell onto the stone embryo.
There was an unimaginable amount of vitality contained in Yang Kai’s Golden Blood, and when Xiao Xiao was born, Yang Kai had only needed to give it one drop to form a connection between them.
But now, Yang Kai did not concern himself about costs.
Perceiving Yang Kai’s movements, Xiao Xiao immediately turned around and ran over, squatting in front of Yang Kai, looking at him with gratitude, often glancing over at the stone embryo, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation filling his face.
As time passed, the stone embryo was completely dyed golden, but to Yang Kai’s disappointment, his Golden Blood did not seem to play any role as the stone embryo showed no signs of absorbing it.
This saddened him.
Xiao Xiao was also as anxious as an ant on a hot wok, fidgeting about unceasingly.
Suddenly, a faint pulse came from the stone embryo. Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly when he felt this, not certain if it were just his imagination, but after carefully using his Divine Sense to investigate, he couldn’t help smiling joyfully.
There was a weak fluctuation coming from the stone embryo.
A fluctuation of life!
Like a single spark setting fire to an entire prairie, this extremely weak fluctuation, which seemed like it would be snuffed out at any time, rapidly began to strengthen and the stone embryo began to absorb the pure Golden Blood dripping on its surface.
*Dong dong…*
A heartbeat-like sound echoed against from the top of the peak, signifying the rhythm of life.
Yang Kai grinned and the sadness in the Stone Puppet’s eyes disappeared, replaced with tension and worry.
*Dong dong…*
The heartbeat grew louder and the interval between each beat grew shorter and shorter. Life fluctuations once again spread from the stone embryo and the faded light patterns glowed brightly once more. However, different from before, instead of a pure blood-red colour, there was now a tinge of golden light mixed into this radiant halo, giving it a more mysterious and profound appearance.
Each of the elaborate patterns on the surface of the stone embryo flashed as if they had a life of their own.
Yang Kai was surprised when he saw this. When Xiao Xiao was born, nothing like this had happened, making him wonder just what differences there were between this second Stone Puppet and Xiao Xiao.
Three days passed by.
Yang Kai had already stopped dripping Golden Blood onto the stone embryo, and after absorbing twenty or thirty drops of pure Golden Blood, the stone embryo regained its original brilliance.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Xiao Xiao were both waiting anxiously next to each other.
A soft cracking sound suddenly rang out, causing Yang Kai’s expression to lift as he quickly stared at the stone embryo.
With just a glance, Yang Kai could not help becoming overjoyed as he saw a small crack appear on the stone embryo.
Not long after this crack appeared, more cracks began to form one after another, and soon the stone embryo was covered with dense, criss-crossing cracks, like a giant cobweb.
*Kacha…*
In the next moment, the stone embryo broke apart, revealing the life-form inside.
The second Stone Puppet!
Just like a chick breaking through its shell, it pushed its way out of the stone embryo with difficulty before glancing around at this new and unfamiliar world.
Its movements were awkward as it had just been born and it took it quite some time before it fully emerged from the stone embryo and sat on the ground.
However… instead of grey, it was actually a golden Stone Puppet, a fact that surprised Yang Kai quite a bit. This Stone Puppet’s body was completely golden in colour, possibly as a result of it absorbing so much of Yang Kai’s Golden Blood.
Just like when Xiao Xiao was born, after this golden Stone Puppet sat upright, the first thing it did was swallow all the fragments of the stone embryo into its belly at a speed so fast it didn’t even look like it was chewing.
After it finished its first meal, it simply sat there foolishly, motionless.
On the contrary, Xiao Xiao jumped up and down, his joy beyond any words.
Quickly, Xiao Xiao rushed up to its new companion, reached out, picked it up, placed it on his shoulders, and then began running around the mountain peak in frantic circles, over and over again, seemingly unaware of the meaning of fatigue.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter as he watched this scene, but soon his brow slightly furrowed.
Stone Puppets naturally had low levels of sentience and intelligence, even Xiao Xiao was the same. Right now, Xiao Xiao was simply acting happily as a result of the safe birth of his companion, probably joyful he would have company in the future, but Yang Kai faintly felt something was wrong.
There seemed to be something amiss with this new golden Stone Puppet.
After some time, Yang Kai called out for Xiao Xiao to stop frolicking and put down the Stone Puppet.
Xiao Xiao always obeyed Yang Kai’s orders, so he complied immediately.
Yang Kai then began to perform a careful examination.
After a while, his brow furrowed further.
Sure enough, this golden Stone Puppet, although appearing much stronger than Xiao Xiao had when he had first been born, clearly had lower sentience than Xiao Xiao. In fact, saying this golden Stone Puppet’s intelligence was completely chaotic was not an exaggeration.
After Xiao Xiao put it down, it just stood there, far less active than Xiao Xiao.
Yang Kai tried to give it a few orders, but it did not respond at all.
[Incomplete sentience!] Yang Kai’s complexion sank.
Although the sentience of Stone Puppets wasn’t high, it still possessed full awareness of itself, but this golden Stone Puppet essentially had no sentience, possibly as a result of the strange circumstances of its birth.
The current golden Stone Puppet, although a living creature, was all but brain dead.
Realizing this, Yang Kai turned silent.
Fortunately, Xiao Xiao couldn’t perceive such matters, otherwise, Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of grief he would be showing now.
As Yang Kai was deep in thought, Xiao Xiao already opened his mouth and spat up several pieces of rare unrefined ore and eagerly offered them to his new friend.
Although the golden Stone Puppet didn’t have complete sentience, its instincts were apparently still intact, so it did not hesitate to accept these raw ores and began gnawing on them, crunching a few times before swallowing them into its stomach and then continuing to stand still.
Xiao Xiao didn’t seem to understand how he had offended this new companion of his, making it so indifferent to him, so after scratching his head in confusion, he could only take out a few more ores.
The latter did not reject, accepting everything it was given.
Looking at the golden Stone Puppet, Yang Kai sighed. Although this situation was better than when he first arrived, it was far from perfect. Even after giving his all, the end result was that this golden Stone Puppet was born without a conscience, giving Yang Kai a feeling of powerlessness.
After staring at it for a while though, Yang Kai’s expression changed and he suddenly remembered something, his brow furrowing and un-furrowing in rapid succession.
Soon, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he began studying the golden Stone Puppet carefully, a hint of excitement creeping onto his face as he did.
He suddenly remembered how he could make this golden Stone Puppet act on his own.
The golden Stone Puppet was unresponsive now because it had incomplete sentience, so if he could solve this problem, all other problems would be solved as well.
Yang Kai could not repair its incomplete sentience, but he could implant a different one!
This was the perfect situation to use his Soul Fission technique!
Soul Fission was a Divine Ability created by Great Demon God. On Tong Xuan Realm, Great Demon God was a legendary figure, the strongest cultivator to ever emerge.
Back in Nine Heavens Holy Land, when Yang Kai had first entered the Holy Tomb, he had managed to obtain a drop of Great Demon God’s original orthodox Golden Blood, and after refining it, comprehended this Divine Ability from Great Demon God.
Although he cultivated it at that time, Yang Kai had never found a suitable host body, so his Soul Clone had sat idle in his Knowledge Sea.
Later, after entering the Star Field and getting trapped on the floating continent, Yang Kai had been forced by Gui Zu to test his experimental Space Array, and instead of risking his true body, had opted to use his Soul Clone. After sending his Soul Clone into the unstable Space Array, it had been greatly damaged and almost destroyed, but after allowing it to recover for so many years, it had now been fully restored.
Not only that, but it was also many times stronger than before.
This Soul Clone was a very special existence because Yang Kai had cultivated it artificially, meaning it wasn’t tethered to his own Soul. Therefore, it wouldn’t bring any harm to him even if it were destroyed.
When he cultivated Soul Fission, Yang Kai understood that he would be able to create a physical, sentient clone of himself as long as he found a suitable host body for his Soul Clone, one he could send into places that were inconvenient for his true body to go, and do things that were inconvenient for his true body to do.
An example of this was Yang Yan; she was the Great Emperor’s Soul Clone.
Great Demon God was only a Saint King, but he was a true genius that managed to create the Soul Fission Secret Technique that was on par with the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s own Secret Technique. It wasn’t difficult to understand how Great Demon God became a legendary figure whose name lasted through the ages.
The golden Stone Puppet had no sentience, but it had an incredibly powerful physical body, so wasn’t it the most suitable carrier possible?
Yang Kai stroked his chin as he stared at the golden Stone Puppet, silently contemplating this issue.
After a long silence, Yang Kai decided to give it a try. He didn’t know if he could succeed, but it was better than simply leaving the golden Stone Puppet in a brain-dead state.
Ordering Xiao Xiao to stand guard nearby, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged in front of the golden Stone Puppet and released a tidal wave of Spiritual Energy, soon after which a fuzzy figure suddenly shot out of his forehead.
This figure was somewhat illusory and unstable, but if one looked closely, they would find that it was somewhat similar to Yang Kai in appearance.
Naturally, it was the Soul Clone Yang Kai had cultivated inside Knowledge Sea all these years.
The Soul Clone then rushed into the golden Stone Puppet’s forehead and disappeared.
…..
Inside High Heaven Sect’s grand discussion hall, all the Sect’s Origin Returning Realm masters had gathered, headed by Great Elder Ye Xi Yun. Wu Yi and Qian Yue were also present as they held important administrative positions.
Not only that, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu also sat here.
The hall was all but silent, with cups of tea placed in front of everyone that were frequently replaced by attending disciples when they became cold.
“Where did Sect Master go? Why haven’t we seen him for over a month? We sent some disciples to check up on him but he doesn’t seem to be in First Heavenly Palace either,” Chang Qi turned to Ye Xi Yun and asked with some worry, “Great Elder, do you know where Sect Master is now?”
“He’s still inside the Sect, but this Queen doesn’t know where exactly he’s gone. He seems to be cultivating some kind of Secret Technique, and a powerful one at that, so this Queen doesn’t dare to disturb him. We’ll just have to wait,” Ye Xi Yun replied lightly.
With her powerful cultivation, she had sensed the abnormal movements coming from one of the farther mountain peaks a few days ago, so she was able to determine Yang Kai’s location, but it was also true that he seemed to be immersed in cultivating some kind of Secret Technique, so she had no plans to spy on him.
“I’m certain Sect Master will return shortly. Before he left though, he already discussed the details of our upcoming action with this Queen and I feel there are no issues with the plan. En, all the Elders gathered here will be accompanying us while Deacons Wu Yi and Qian Yue will be left to take care of the Sect.”
“Yes,” Wu Yi and Qian Yue nodded.
“Elder Huang Juan is in the process of breaking through, so you must also look after her to make sure no one disturbs her retreat. Also, that little girl Yun’er has far too much energy, once this Queen leaves, she may not be willing to settle down. The two of you will have to make sure she cultivates properly.”
“Great Elder may rest assured, Elder Sister Qian Yue and I will take care of everything in the Sect, it is all of you who must promise to return safely,” Wu Yi said in a solemn tone.
“En, with the Starship Madam previously refined, I think there shouldn’t be any difficulty with this time’s action. Right, have all the necessary personnel and materials been loaded onto the Starship?”
“Everything is in order!”
“Very good,” Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly before turning to look at Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, “I’ll have to ask two Junior Brothers to contribute this time as well.”
“Senior Sister Ye is too polite,” Qian Tong chuckled, “Old Fei and I were caught after being sneak attacked last time. If not for Yang Kai turning the tables and rescuing us, we would both likely have been killed to silence any witnesses to that incident! This time, both of us are duty-bound to assist.”
Fei Zhi Tu also nodded in agreement. If Fang Peng and Qu Zheng hadn’t used such insidious means that day, how could he have fallen into his current pitiful state? Not only had his hair gone grey, but his cultivation had also fallen by a Minor realm. Whenever Fei Zhi Tu thought about this, his anger burned fiercely.
“Hm? Sect Master is back,” Ye Xi Yun’s expression suddenly changed as she glanced towards the entrance to the hall.
Hearing this, the others also turned around to look.
Sure enough, a moment later, a streak of light flew over from afar, and when it scattered, Yang Kai’s figure appeared. Although he seemed slightly tired, his eyes were bursting with radiant energy.
“Has Sect Master had some kind of opportunity?” Ye Xi Yun seemed to have noticed something.
“That’s right,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, not explaining anything, his eyes instead sweeping around the hall before he asked solemnly, “Has everything been prepared?”
“Yes!”
“Then let us depart!” Yang Kai smiled brilliantly.
With these words, everyone rose from their seats and walked out.
In the square outside, the Origin King Grade Starship had already docked and its hatch was wide open. A group of people filed inside and, a moment later, the Starship lifted off and then shot out like a bolt of lightning, accompanied by a low hum, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.
…..
Heaven Battling City was enormous and covered a very wide area with tens of millions of cultivators living inside, tending to and frequenting a great number of shops and other establishments.
This was the headquarters of Heaven Battling Union. As one of the two giants of Shadowed Star, Heaven Battling Union’s illustrious name was enough to attract countless cultivators from far and wide.
Some of these cultivators hoped to join Heaven Battling Union while others were searching for opportunities. Still others came to set up shops in order to earn Saint Crystals.
Heaven Battling City was one of the largest cities on Shadowed Star and was divided into two regions, the Inner City and the Outer City.
The Outer City was where Heaven Battling Union interacted with foreign cultivators. Various shops were also scattered about here. As for the Inner City, only disciples of Heaven Battling Union could enter and exit. Intruders were killed without mercy.
Heaven Battling City had existed on Shadowed Star for thousands of years and had only grown more prosperous with time. This was inseparable from the rising strength of Heaven Battling Union. Every great force had its ebbs and flows, and Heaven Battling Union was no exception. Although its name resounded like thunder, it too had its enemies.
Over the past few thousand years, Heaven Battling City had suffered numerous attacks from powerful enemies, but every time, it had endured. Even when Heaven Battling Union was at its weakest, and the number of masters that it had at its command was at its lowest, it had still managed to survive.
The most dangerous of these events was when the Ancient Yang Sect launched a full-scale assault a few thousand years ago.
At that time, in addition to Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect on Shadowed Star, the Ancient Yang Sect was also on the same level, even somewhat stronger than the other two. It had long been forgotten why, but at that time, the Ancient Yang Sect and Heaven Battling Union were locked in a feud which one day erupted into a full-scale conflict.
At that time, Heaven Battling Union was the weakest of the three great forces, and had the least number of masters, so it had no choice but to pull all its forces back and defend.
The Ancient Yang Sect deployed all of its elites, and when its grand army reached the gates of Heaven Battling City, Heaven Battling Union was at great risk of falling.
However, after a great battle, although Heaven Battling Union suffered heavy losses, it managed to repel the Ancient Yang Sect by employing a strategy of mutual annihilation. In desperation, the Ancient Yang Sect could only retreat.
At that time, Heaven Battling Union relied on its Myriad Ice Spirit Sealing Grand Array to stubbornly defend its Inner City.
Ordinarily, Sects did not set up their headquarters inside cities, most of them choosing to occupy vast mountain ranges instead; after all, with so many people living inside a city, there would be an excess demand on the ambient World Energy that was not conducive to the cultivation of the Sect’s disciples.
It was rumoured that the reason Heaven Battling Union chose to establish its headquarters in Heaven Battling City was because there was a Frozen Jade Ice Spring in the Inner City. The endless chill which radiated from this Frozen Jade Ice Spring was what allowed Heaven Battling Union to arrange the Myriad Ice Spirit Sealing Grand Array and it also served as its Array Core.
After that battle, the Myriad Ice Spirit Sealing Grand Array became famous, known to all across Shadowed Star.
Later, the Ancient Yang Sect offended Star Emperor Mountain and was wiped out; its original headquarters becoming the now famous Grand Burial Valley.
Yang Kai and Yang Yan had visited that place once and obtained the Sun’s True Essence and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, two supreme treasures. The Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was also obtained from there.
Without the suppression of the Ancient Yang Sect, Heaven Battling Union flourished, otherwise, it was uncertain whether there would even be a Heaven Battling Union today.
Originally, as one of the two giants of Shadowed Star, Heaven Battling Union did not put anyone in its eyes and acted in a blatantly superciliously fashion.
But since two months ago, some rumours had begun spreading through the Outer City.
The rumours said that Heaven Battling Union had offended someone they couldn’t afford to and was now in a horrendous situation, akin to walking on thin ice.
When this news spread, nine out of ten people sneered.
Who could Heaven Battling Union offend that would warrant them worrying? It would be enough for others to not come looking for trouble with them instead, who would dare pluck this tiger’s beard? Besides Star Emperor Mountain, no other force could suppress Heaven Battling Union. Not even Thunder Typhoon Sect had such ability.
However, where there was smoke there was fire, and it wasn’t long before Heaven Battling Union began contracting its forces and limiting traffic in and out of Heaven Battling City, causing much speculation to arise among the common people.
Heaven Battling Union had been a dominant force for countless years and always acted arrogantly and domineeringly. Many Sect families that had been unwilling to submit to their authority had been destroyed in retaliation.
Many even began to wonder if Heaven Battling Union had actually offended Star Emperor Mountain and was going to follow in the footsteps of the Ancient Yang Sect.
If that was the case, it would be quite interesting at least.
In any case, the atmosphere in the city had become different from the past. Heaven Battling Union disciples were constantly rushing about, buying up materials in bulk, as if they were making war preparations.
At this moment, two First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators were flying slowly over the city, both of them wearing Heaven Battling Union uniforms. However, unlike the ordinary disciples, these two had an additional overlapping sword crest on their uniforms and were radiating a potent murderous intent.
Law Enforcers!
Heaven Battling City was a massive city, so naturally, there was a need for some law enforcers to patrol and monitor people’s movements. If anyone was found to be violating the rules and making trouble, they would be punished by the Law Enforcers.
A minor offence would often result in a Saint Crystal fine while a serious offence could result in execution.
As a result, the cultivators in Heaven Battling City were always wary of cultivators wearing this particular uniform and were always cautious to not draw their attention.
At this moment, the two Law Enforcers both had concerned looks upon their faces.
“Brother Huang, do you know what happened? Since Union Master and Great Elder returned last time, they have been constantly issuing inexplicable instructions, and now they are even making the Sect’s disciples buy up supplies like crazy. Could it be that Heaven Battling Union is really going to war?” The short-haired man on the left asked suspiciously.
“Brother Chu is asking the wrong person, this Huang is just a lowly Law Enforcer like you, how could this Huang know something Brother Chu doesn’t know?” The other elderly man on the right shook his head slowly and smiled.
The short-haired man chuckled, “Brother Huang is too modest. Although we’re both Law Enforcers, Brother Huang is different from this Chu who joined the Union from the outside. I’ve long heard that Brother Huang and Great Elder Mo are related, so how could Brother Huang not have heard anything yet?”
The elderly man heard this and smiled proudly as he replied, “Although this Huang and Great Elder Mo have some relationship, it can barely be described as distant relatives, if the relationship really was close, this Huang would have long ago been serving as a Deacon in the Inner City, why would he still be out here as a Law Enforcer having to deal with lowly city merchants and trivial matters all day long?”
“That being said, Brother Huang still has more opportunities to visit the Inner City. With Brother Huang’s aptitude, if he remains in the Inner City for a few years, he will definitely break through to the Second-Order. This Chu is quite envious. One day, if Brother Huang rises to glory, he must not forget to help this Chu out a little.”
“Naturally, naturally. You and I have shared a friendship for several dozen years already and you’ve been quite good to me, so how could I simply forget about you?” The elderly man laughed, seemingly in a good mood. Looking around and seeing nobody else nearby or anyone paying attention to them, he turned his eyes forward unassumingly and lowered his voice to say, “Brother Chu, although this Huang is not sure what happened in the Union, when I went to ask Great Elder about a certain matter a few days ago, I accidentally overheard him talking to Union Master about that boy named Yang Kai.”
“Yang Kai?” The short-haired man frowned, faintly feeling that the name was familiar. After thinking about it carefully, a look of surprise filled his face as he muttered, “That High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master?”
“Exactly. The High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master!” The elderly man nodded lightly.
“Oh, why were Union Master and Great Elder talking about him? Could it be that this matter is related to him?”
“En, it seems that the last time Union Master and Great Elder took a group of the Elders out, it was to deal with him. Unfortunately, that little brat is a cunning fox and managed to escape. Before fleeing though, that boy uttered some kind of threat about retaliating against our Heaven Battling Union.”
“Hmph, a fool who doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!” The short-haired man sneered, “The boy is a mere Junior, yet he dares say such things. He must be courting death.”
“This Huang thinks so too.”
“But… even if he was sure to get revenge, why are Union Master and Great Elder reacting so dramatically? Could it be that our Heaven Battling Union has some reason to fear him?”
“Don’t take the situation too lightly, Brother Chu!” The elderly man said with a solemn expression, “That little brat truly does not have much ability as he’s just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, the same as you or I. Being able to cultivate to such a degree at such a young age proves he has a good aptitude, but if we were to fight with him, either of us could easily kill him. However, don’t forget that High Heaven Sect has an Origin King Grade Starship!”
Hearing this, the short-haired man’s face darkened and he nodded, “I’ve also heard the rumours saying High Heaven Sect has such a Starship, but whether they are true or not, no one will confirm. Even if he has an Origin King Grade Starship, what does that matter? Our Heaven Battling City is not some weak vegetarian, if he dares bring that Starship here, it will be no different from trying to smash a stone with an egg. The tens of thousands of elites of our Union will ensure he never leaves this place!”
“Haha, what Brother Chu says is true, it’s just a Starship, and it seems that it’s actually quite small as well, nothing worthy of fear. Union Master and Great Elder are simply being too cautious,” The elderly man laughed in a disapproving manner.
Suddenly though, his laughter stopped, and he fell silent.
“What happened?” The short-haired man looked at him suspiciously, not understanding why his demeanour suddenly changed.
The elderly man did not answer though, instead just staring towards the distant horizon, only after a long silence asking, “Brother Chu, look over there, is there something approaching?”
“Something approaching?” The short-haired man looked in the direction his partner was pointing and quickly spotted a small black spot quickly approaching Heaven Battling Union.
This black spot was originally quite inconspicuous, and because the distance between them was too far they were unable to identify what it was.
But soon, a vague outline of the object appeared in the vision of the pair.
It was actually a long, shuttle-shaped, black Starship.
In the blink of an eye, the Starship had arrived fifty kilometres outside Heaven Battling City and, in a flash, came to a halt.
“A Starship!” The short-haired man and the elderly man exclaimed at the same time.
A profound energy fluctuation pulsed from this Starship, and although it was not large, only a hundred metres or so in length, facing this smooth, black Starship, the two of them couldn’t help feeling like they were in the presence of a terrifying beast that caused a feeling of terror to well up in their hearts.
“The Origin King Grade Starship!” The short-haired man exclaimed again, “Could it be…”
He had just been gossiping about the Origin King Grade Starship of High Heaven Sect with his partner, but could it be the same one that now appeared in front of them? After all, with the limited ability of Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star, no Origin King Grade Starship had ever appeared before. Let alone Origin King Grade, there were not even any Origin Grade Mid-Rank Starships.
Then there was only one explanation.
This was the High Heaven Sect’s Starship.
This Starship could be considered small, and suspended in the sky above Heaven Battling City, it only seemed smaller compared to the massive city; however, its sudden arrival had caused quite a stir.
Countless eyes were now cast towards this Starship, and countless people were now staring at it, wondering what it was and what it was doing here.
The next moment though, the answer to all these questions became clear.
A dazzling light suddenly appeared on the Starship’s hull and gradually brightened until it was as dazzling as the sun.
As the intensity of this light increased, sensational energy fluctuations also began radiating forth.
“A Crystal Cannon!” The short-haired man and the elderly man stared dumbfounded at this scene. Under the pressure of the massive energy buildup, both of them felt their bodies become heavy, their Saint Qi stop circulating properly, and even moving became difficult.
They could feel how much power this Crystal Cannon was building up. Such an attack, not to mention hitting them, even if it grazed them, they would instantly be vaporized, Soul and all.
But… there had never been anyone who used a Starship to attack the headquarters of another great force.
The Starships on Shadowed Star were at best Origin Grade Low-Rank. Such a Starship did not have extraordinarily strong offensive or defensive capabilities, and on top of that, it was massive, making it not ideal to use in a tangled battle between cultivators. If one found its way into a tangled melee, it would only become a massive target that would swiftly be destroyed before being able to play any significant role.
Today though, the tens of millions of cultivators living Heaven Battling City bore witness to this historic event.
A Starship arrived outside of Heaven Battling City and began charging its Crystal Cannon, announcing their malicious intent.
Just as everyone was still stunned, a bright beam of light blazed from the Starship and silently shot forth with a force that seemed to crush everything in its path like dry weeds and rotten wood, transforming a swath of buildings into dust while visibly distorting space in its wake.
*Hong long long…*
A moment later, sounds of explosions resounded inside of Heaven Battling City. The path the Crystal Cannon passed through was now devoid of any structures and violent energy still chaotically rampaged about. It seemed that even the World Principles could not repair the damage caused by Crystal Cannon in short order.
There were no casualties, fortunately, as this Crystal Cannon volley only destroyed a lot of buildings inside Heaven Battling City. Apparently, it was only meant as a demonstration.
“Not good, we need to return to the Inner City and report this to the Elders!” The short-haired man and the elderly man both dripped cold sweat as they shouted, neither of them daring to remain, using their Star Shuttles to rush at full speed to the Inner City.
The extravagant and boastful words the two of them had just been spewing were tossed from their minds completely as, in the face of such a powerful enemy, they could only run away.
There was no need for any kind of reminder from these two as, after the Crystal Cannon strike, all of Heaven Battling City had been thrown into chaos and countless people ran about in panic, some even being injured and trampled in the stampede.
A tender voice suddenly called out from the Starship in the next moment. This voice was not loud, but it was clearly transmitted to everyone’s ears, allowing all to clearly hear it.
“This Queen’s name is Ye Xi Yun and has the honour of serving as Great Elder of High Heaven Sect. On orders from our Sect Master, I have an announcement to everyone in Heaven Battling City. High Heaven Sect has no quarrel with the world and simply wishes to peacefully develop itself, but Heaven Battling Union trampled upon that simple wish with its treacherous means and attempted to bring harm to our Sect. Today, we are here to settle our grievances with Heaven Battling Union and do not wish to involve the innocent. Please withdraw from Heaven Battling City within a quarter of an hour if you have nothing to do with this matter. My honoured Sect and Heaven Battling Union’s battle will commence after that brief grace period, and anyone who remains will be considered an enemy and shown no mercy!”
With these words, the whole city flew into an uproar.
Basically no one had heard of Ye Xi Yun, and only some old Origin Returning Realm masters recognized her name and knew of her incredible strength.
But it did not matter who she was, her desire to attack Heaven Battling Union’s headquarters was incredible enough.
Was Heaven Battling Union a force that was easily bullied? Bringing only a small Starship to attack a behemoth like Heaven Battling City, were the people from this High Heaven Sect all fools?
Such boastful conduct was truly laughable.
Most people present thought that High Heaven Sect was simply overreaching themselves.
However, some well-informed people knew about the mysteries of High Heaven Sect and the tyrannical power of this Starship, so after some slight hesitation, they didn’t dare remain in the city, packing up their belongings and quickly withdrawing.
Regardless of what grievances there were between High Heaven Sect and Heaven Battling Union, and no matter who won or lost in the end, once the two sides fought, it would be a disaster. When the city was on fire, the fish in the moat would also be affected, so if they did not leave now, they would surely get caught up in the chaos.
For a time, Heaven Battling City became a flurry of chaotic activity as many cultivators flew outwards.
Most people chose to remain though; after all, packing up all their valuables was no simple task. Many people who had opened shops in the city had a massive quantity of supplies on hand, how could they just abandon them here?
These people also knew that Heaven Battling Union would not sit back and watch idly, so they took the mentality of waiting and seeing how the situation developed.
If this High Heaven Sect was just an embroidered pillow, imposing to behold but weak in true strength, then there was nothing for them to worry about. If they proved they could really compete with Heaven Battling Union though, it would not be too late to pack up and leave at that point.
Heaven Battling Union truly did not sit back and watch. With High Heaven Sect arriving and smashing their front gate, if Heaven Battling Union did not provide an appropriate response, wouldn’t their prestige take a fatal blow?
Immediately, more than a dozen streaks of light rushed out from the Inner City and arrived at the outskirts of the Outer City, stopping a thousand metres away from the newly arrived Starship.