Hearing what he said, the lead man frowned and said in a displeased tone, “I don’t want to be too far away from Domain Stone Mountain. What kind of benefits can we gain if we’re too far? We need to secure a position in the innermost layer.”
“Then we’ll need to snatch one!” Cai Feng grinned.
“Do you have a target in mind?”
“I do,” Cai Feng nodded as he glanced over at the location of Yang Kai and his group and laughed lowly, “Their spot looks good.”
The lead man glanced over towards where Yang Kai was sitting and showed a satisfied expression, nodding as he said, “That spot is indeed good, it’s settled then.”
“It doesn’t seem like they’ll give it up willingly though,” Cai Feng chuckled as he had been noticing Yang Kai observing them. Sending a cold glare towards Yang Kai, Cai Feng snorted, “That little brat seems to have been paying attention to us.”
“Since we’ve settled on their spot, they have no choice but to give way. It doesn’t matter if they agree or not!” The lead man declared before meeting Yang Kai’s gaze unhesitatingly and striding forward.
The other five people in this group followed closely behind, making no qualms about their intentions as they wantonly released their auras.
A moment later, this group of six stopped a hundred metres away from Yang Kai and the lead man arrogantly spat, “Boy, where are you from?”
Yang Kai grinned and replied lightly, “Shadowed Star.”
“Shadowed Star?” The leading man frowned for a moment before curling his lips and saying, “Never heard of it. This King has taken a fancy to your place, leave now or don’t blame us for being impolite.”
Continuing to sit on the ground, Yang Kai picked some wax from his ear indifferently before blowing it towards this aggressive group and declaring lightly, “Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said, can you say it again?”
The leading man sneered, “Boy, you should learn to appreciate kindness. This King doubts you’re deaf. This King won’t repeat himself; you should scram now if you don’t want to die!”
The five people behind him grinned mockingly as they released a threatening aura.
“What is this? If you have something to say we can discuss it in a civilized manner, why immediately resort to threats?” Zhao Tian Ze stood up with a helpless expression.
Although Yang Kai had said he would stand guard and allow him and the others to comprehend the mysteries of Domain from Domain Stone Mountain, how could Zhao Tian Ze rest assured leaving his life in Yang Kai’s hands? No matter how much Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao trusted this boy, to Zhao Tian Ze, Yang Kai was still just a stranger.
What’s more, this boy was just a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator! So Zhao Tian Ze had not dared to immerse himself in meditation and naturally immediately noticed this commotion, swiftly jumping out to mediate the situation.
“This one is Green Mountains Star Green Water City’s City Lord, Zhao Tian Ze. Greetings several friends, may I have your honoured names?” Zhao Tian Ze said with a hollow laugh as he bowed in a submissive posture.
The lead man on the opposite side looked at Zhao Tian Ze, completely ignoring Yang Kai as he felt that Zhao Tian Ze was the one truly in charge here. As for Yang Kai with his weak cultivation, this man figured he was just following orders. With a relaxed and confident expression, the lead man said, “This King is Scarlet Wave Star Brilliant Flame Sect’s Zhang Qing, these are my fellow brothers from Scarlet Wave Star!”
“Scarlet Wave Star? Brilliant Flame Sect?” Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, finally understanding why this group’s robes seemed familiar to him.
When he had met Xu Ding Yang, who was killed by the first Domain Vortex Yang Kai came across, the former said he had come from Scarlet Wave Star. At that time, Yang Kai had felt a vague sense of familiarity with this Cultivation Star’s name.
Now hearing this Zhang Qing’s introduction, Yang Kai immediately understood.
In the Emperor Garden, he had met several cultivators from Scarlet Wave Star.
Specifically, he had met two groups of people.
One group was from Brilliant Flame Sect while the other was from Ice Heart Valley. These two groups were fighting over possession of an ancient secluded home that Yang Kai happened to pass by on accident.
At that time, through a series of twists and turns, Yang Kai had gotten himself involved in this dispute and ended up assisting the women from Ice Heart Valley to kill the cultivators from Brilliant Flame Sect.
The True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture and the Purple Origin Furnace were both treasures Yang Kai had obtained from that ancient secluded home.
[No wonder this Cai Feng’s uniform is so familiar, turns out I’ve dealt with his Sect before!] Yang Kai grinned, a slightly playful light flashing across his eyes.
“So several friends are from Brilliant Flame Sect!” Zhao Tian Ze’s face changed slightly and he quickly bowed deeper, “Please pardon my disrespect.”
He had obviously heard the name ‘Brilliant Flame Sect’.
Zhang Qing’s expression grew smugger and he nodded lightly, “Since Friend has heard of my Brilliant Flame Sect, this matter can be settled easily. Tell your partners to clean up and give way. This King won’t be unreasonable, as long as you withdraw, this King can guarantee he won’t harm you.”
“This…” Zhao Tian Ze wore a bitter look and hesitated before saying, “Brother Zhang, forgive me, but I can’t decide this matter alone, please let this Zhao discuss it with his companions.”
“There’s nothing to discuss, this place is off-limits. Find yourselves another one,” Lin Yu Rao’s soft voice sounded.
She and Qian Tong were well aware of what was happening and had been staring over with cold eyes for some time, but when Zhao Tian Ze seemed to be caving to outside pressure, they naturally couldn’t remain silent.
She shared Qian Tong’s deep yearning towards the Origin King Realm!
“Don’t you think you’re going too far here?” Qian Tong’s complexion also sank as he glared at Zhang Qing and his group.
“Going too far?” Zhang Qing sneered, “This King is doing no such thing. This King has given you a way out, but it is up to you whether you can grasp it or not.”
“If you dare talk back again, we’ll just kill you all!” Cai Feng shouted, his expression becoming impatient.
“Everyone, calm down, calm down,” Zhao Tian Ze called out anxiously as he motioned to Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao not to speak before turning to Zhang Qing. “Brother Zhang, please wait a moment, I will explain this matter to them and give you a prompt reply!”
“Fine! Since this is your home star, this King will give you some face, but you do not have much time, I want an answer within half a cup of tea’s time!” Zhang Qing reminded him coldly.
Zhao Tian Ze bitterly nodded before quickly approaching Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao and helplessly said, “Friends, do you really refuse to compromise?”
Qian Tong looked at him faintly, “What’s wrong, does Brother Zhao want to withdraw?”
Zhao Tian Ze slowly shook his head, “If it were possible, how could I be willing to just back down? However, they outnumber us greatly and if we don’t agree to their demands, the end result will not be good.”
Qian Tong frowned slightly before asking in a somewhat surprised tone, “Brother Zhao’s courage isn’t this small, right? Regardless of anything else, you are also a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator who has weathered many great storms before, yes? Is it this Brilliant Flame Sect that you dread? What kind of background do they have to make you so fearful?”
Zhao Tian Ze’s face twitched slightly as he showed a bitter smile, “Elder Qian noticed? Yes, to be honest, I do fear their background somewhat. Brilliant Flame Sect is based on Scarlet Wave Star so it is reasonable to say that as a native of Green Mountains Star, there is no need to be wary of them; however, their Supreme Elder seems to have a close relationship with the Star Master of Green Mountains Star! We can’t afford to offend this group of people!”
“The Star Master of Green Mountains Star!” Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao both narrowed their eyes.
After living on Green Mountains Star for three years now, they naturally knew that there was a powerful Star Master here, one at the Second-Order Origin King Realm.
“If I explain until here, do you two understand?” Zhao Tian Ze looked at them worriedly.
“I understand, but whether we give way or not will be up to Sect Master. If Sect Master chooses to withdraw I will withdraw, if Sect Master tells me to remain, I will remain!” Lin Yu Rao raised her eyes to Yang Kai.
“Up to him…” Zhao Tian Ze’s face sank, never having expected that the final decision would still rest in Yang Kai’s hands.
“Yang Kai, you decide whether we should stay or go!” Qian Tong also looked over, “This old master will follow your lead!”
“Why should we withdraw?” Yang Kai curled his lips, “Naturally we’re staying, how could we miss such a good opportunity? As for those people… rest assured, if they want to court death, I’ll grant their request!”
“If you say so, this old master can rest assured,” Qian Tong grinned fiercely while Lin Yu Rao also flashed an excited look.
“You…” Zhao Tian Ze was truly speechless as he stared at Yang Kai in a daze. “Have you not figured out our situation? If you want to court death, why bother pulling Elder Qian and Elder Lin down with you? They put their lives in your hands so you are responsible for their wellbeing. If you boast so shamelessly, in the end you’ll be the one to suffer.”
Obviously, he had become a little angry and no longer spoke politely to Yang Kai.
“If City Lord Zhao does not wish to remain, you can leave by yourself,” Yang Kai looked at him lightly, “I’m not forcing you to remain and share life and death with us!”
Zhao Tian Ze became enraged and pointed at Yang Kai viciously but was unable to say a word.
Zhang Qing and his group naturally saw this scene and couldn’t help laughing.
They suddenly felt that these four were quite interesting. A disaster was looming over them but not only could they not show unity, they instead had a falling out, truly the height of ignorance and stupidity.
“This old master won’t bother arguing with you!” Zhao Tian Ze was thoroughly irritated with Yang Kai and quickly turned to Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao and said, “Friends, leave this place with me, otherwise they will definitely not be polite.”
Qian Tong, however, just sighed, “Brother Zhao, we have worked together for several years so this Qian understands your character. This Qian understands that you are doing what you believe is for the best, but there is no need. You leave first!”
Lin Yu Rao pursed her lips and smiled, “You shouldn’t leave too far though, perhaps you’ll be back soon.”
Zhao Tian Ze was stunned.
He naturally understood the meaning of Lin Yu Rao’s words, but he simply couldn’t believe it.
Shooting a cold glare at Yang Kai, Zhao Tian Ze sighed, “I don’t know why Elder Qian and Elder Lin are so confident in you, but I hope you know what you are doing.”
After leaving these last words, he flew outwards.
He had given it his best effort but Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao were unwilling to listen to his advice, so he had no other choice.
He didn’t have the confidence to remain and help Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao against this enemy, so he could only choose to leave in low spirits.
Zhang Qing and others looked at him coldly. Without him needing to explain, they already knew the result.
Sure enough, they didn’t try to embarrass Zhao Tian Ze and instead just directed their attention towards Yang Kai’s group of three.
“It looks like you won’t regret it unless you see your coffin?” Zhang Qing sneered, his eyes flashing a cold, sharp light, “Don’t blame this King for not giving you a chance, you brought this on yourselves.”
Saying so, an extremely potent Shi suddenly spread from his body and swiftly engulfed Yang Kai’s group!
Beside Domain Stone Mountain, Brilliant Flame Sect’s Zhang Qing wore a fierce look as he released his Shi to envelop Yang Kai’s group of three.
His Shi seemed to be mixed with a special force that made anyone who fell into it feel as if they had been thrown into a volcanic crater. The ambient heat was astonishing and seemed capable of roasting everyone it touched.
Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao’s faces changed slightly and they quickly released their own Shi to resist.
Yang Kai simply raised his brow and showed a look of interest, however.
This Zhang Qing really had enough capital to back up his arrogance. Obviously, his Shi had reached the minor accomplishment stage!
Shi was a special power that as long as one reached the Origin Returning Realm they could condense. After that, as one’s cultivation increased, the power of their Shi would also grow stronger.
However, if one wanted to cultivate their Shi to the minor accomplishment stage, they needed to integrate their own unique energies into it to strengthen it further.
For example, Yang Kai had integrated his Space Force into his Shi!
As for this Zhang Qing, he had accomplished a similar feat by integrating his understanding of the Flame Attribute into his Shi.
Among all Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, only about twenty percent of cultivators could accomplish this, and Zhang Qing was undoubtedly one such cultivator.
Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao had also made similar achievements in Shi, so they had no trouble resisting the oppression of Zhang Qing’s Shi. This was the fundamental reason why Zhao Tian Ze was not as strong as Qian Tong and the others.
In front of Yang Kai’s group of three, there seemed to be an invisible barrier that was blocking Zhang Qing’s Shi from advancing any further.
Zhang Qing couldn’t help showing a look of shock at this sight.
If it was just Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao who could resist his Shi, he would still be able to accept it; after all, these two had reached the Third-Order Origin realm like him, but what was going on with this boy? Obviously, he was just a Second-Order so why was his Shi also at the minor accomplishment stage? In fact, this boy seemed to have an even easier time resisting his Shi than the two behind him.
This boy was treating his Shi as if it were a light breeze, completely unworthy of attention!
Zhang Qing stared at Yang Kai in amazement as shock filled his heart.
“Minor accomplishment stage Shi!” Yang Kai nodded lightly, a playful smile on his face, “Not bad!”
As he said so, he glanced around casually. Since Zhang Qing and his group approached them, there had been countless eyes looking towards this place, seemingly waiting for a battle to begin. Many of them had sharp eyes and unreadable expressions, as if they were plotting something and just waiting for an opportunity to act.
Yang Kai naturally didn’t miss these hidden intentions and knew that if he didn’t put on a strong enough display this time, even if he could force Zhang Qing’s group to retreat, others would come to provoke them afterwards, creating an endless cycle.
After all, their group having so few people was an obvious weakness.
Sneering to himself, Yang Kai lifted his hand, pointed to a cultivator behind Zhang Qing, and asked, “I heard you say just now that you met an enchantress on the way here, right?”
This cultivator was startled, wondering why Yang Kai was suddenly asking about this, but with a cold expression he replied in a deep voice, “So what?”
“Was that enchantress wearing a red dress?”
“Yes!”
“Did you wound her?” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous light flashing across her eyes.
“You’re wrong! It was I who managed to wound her, but unfortunately, it was just a single palm so I couldn’t take her life!” The cultivator sneered.
“Very well!” Yang Kai nodded, his figure flickering in the next instant and without any prior signs of moving, disappeared completely.
Although this happened suddenly, Zhang Qing and his group still reacted swiftly. Which master that had cultivated to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm had not experienced countless life or death battles? Hurriedly, their eyes widened as they searched for Yang Kai.
However, there was nothing to find! There was absolutely no trace of Yang Kai anywhere around them.
The next instant though, Yang Kai’s figure appeared in the middle of Zhang Qing and his group like a ghost. With a cold expression, he reached out his hand and grabbed towards the head of the cultivator who had spoken just now.
“Watch out!” Someone nearby shouted.
The cultivator was furious and was about to strike back, but Yang Kai had already clasped his hand around this man’s head and released a burst of Saint Qi into his body. This Saint Qi smashed through this unfortunate man’s defences like they were wet paper and sank into his five viscera and six organs before Yang Kai swung his arm violently.
The man was tossed out by Yang Kai with great force.
As this man flew through the air, he let out a terrible howl, as if he was suffering the most cruel and inhuman torture. A moment later, the man hit the ground with a thud and his body suddenly burst apart.
Blood and hashed meat flew everywhere as a rich smell of iron rose to the sky!
“I should have mentioned this first, that enchantress is my woman!” Yang Kai declared fiercely.
Everyone was stunned.
Looking over at the blood and flesh which was raining down from the sky, everyone suddenly felt they had stumbled into a tiger’s den and stared at Yang Kai fearfully, many even forgetting to breathe at this moment.
With one blow, this boy had instantly killed a Third-Order Origin Realm cultivator. No Third-Order Origin Realm cultivator should be able to do this.
Only an Origin King should be capable of such a feat!
However, the one who was responsible for this astonishing display was clearly just a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, a boy who should be the weakest cultivator present!
The gap between this boy’s cultivation realm and the intense visual he had just created had formed an extremely sharp psychological contrast, stunning everyone silent.
Those who had been secretly eyeing Yang Kai and his group before now couldn’t help breaking out into cold sweat, secretly rejoicing that they hadn’t been the first to challenge them otherwise they might have been the ones who ended up in such a miserable state.
“Boy, you dare!” Zhang Qing finally reacted, roared, and threw a rage filled punch towards Yang Kai as he pressed his burning Shi towards him.
Zhang Qing’s fist seemed to burn so hotly that the surrounding space distorted as his punch passed through it, his flame-like attack rushing straight towards Yang Kai’s head.
The moment Zhang Qing took action, his companions also summoned their artifacts and pushed their Saint Qi into them, causing them to light up in a dazzling display of light.
At that moment though, an extraordinary Shi suddenly broke through Zhang Qing’s Shi and suppressed all of them in place.
In an instant, Zhang Qing’s entire group found their Shi fiercely suppressed, to the point where they couldn’t even release it outside their bodies.
Not only that, the space around them solidified greatly, making it difficult for them to even walk while at the same time, the circulation of their Saint Qi inside their bodies was noticeably impeded, causing the brilliance of their artifacts to rapidly dim.
Shi suppression!
They knew better than anyone what the reason was. They had been trapped inside Yang Kai’s Shi, unable to free themselves. They had used this method when dealing with enemies with lower cultivation than themselves many times before as it was extremely effective.
However, now they were the ones being suppressed by someone at a lower cultivation.
If they weren’t personally experiencing it, they would likely have never believed it possible, but their current reality was undeniable!
Their faces pulled taught and their muscles bulged as they desperately pushed their Saint Qi, trying to get rid of Yang Kai’s suppression.
Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao did not give them a chance to breathe though.
Qian Tong roared and summoned a coin-like artifact to his hand, one that exuded a dazzling golden light and had a distinct hole in its centre. As soon as it appeared, Qian Tong tossed it into the air where it split into two, then four, then eight…
In an instant, the sky was filled with golden coins with and at their empty centres a sharp, bolt-like attack formed and shot out towards the enemy in a terrifying barrage.
Lin Yu Rao figure flickered as a coloured ribbon appeared in her hand and lashed towards the frozen Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators, wrapping around one of them and rapidly constricting to the point where the sound of broken bones rang out and blood spewed from his mouth.
By the time the coloured ribbon flew back to Lin Yu Rao’s hands, the enemy she had targeted was already lying limply on the ground, barely alive.
Yang Kai laughed wildly and didn’t pay any attention to any enemies except Zhang Qing. The others could be dealt with by Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao. Neither of them was weaker than Zhang Qing, so when they joined forces, dealing with four enemies who were suppressed by Yang Kai’s Shi wouldn’t be any trouble.
Yang Kai on the other hand was splitting his attention to combat Zhang Qing’s Shi with his own while at the same time sending out a silent order.
Accompanied by the high-pitched cry, the Firebird Artifact Spirit soared out from Yang Kai’s body.
“Kill him!” Yang Kai shouted as he charged towards Zhang Qing. At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit flapped its wings and crashed down like a meteor from Nine Heavens, opening its giant mouth and constantly spitting out scorching hot fireballs towards Zhang Qing’s head.
Zhang Qing’s complexion changed drastically. He hadn’t expected the situation to become like this at all. The miserable screams of his companions filling his ears sent shivers up his spine as he struggled to deal with Yang Kai and the Firebird Artifact Spirit’s joint assault.
In less than three breaths, Zhang Qing was pierced through his lower abdomen by Yang Kai’s Heaven Punishing Spear while the Firebird took advantage of this opening to land a fireball on his forehead.
Zhang Qing’s hair singed, leaving him incredibly dishevelled. Gritting his teeth Zhang Qing glared at Yang Kai with pure hatred as he suddenly released a terrifying aura. At the same time, a sharp sound of thunder rang out as flashes of lightning streaked across his figure.
A golden light suddenly appeared at that moment as Yang Kai sent out a Golden Blood Thread from his fingers that captured Zhang Qing after catching him off guard.
Looking at him mockingly, Yang Kai smiled and said in a low voice, “Do you think I don’t know about your Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire? Did you want to use this Secret Technique to drag me down with me?”
“How did you know?” Zhang Qing’s face changed slightly.
“Because I killed a few of your Brilliant Flame Sect’s people in the Emperor Garden,” Yang Kai snickered before swiftly constricting the Golden Blood Thread that was binding Zhang Qing.
*Snap*
The extremely sharp Golden Blood Thread sliced through Zhang Qing Saint Qi’s defence and cut him into countless pieces, leaving a hashed up pile of meat scattered across the ground.
The battle thus ended…
From start to finish, only ten breaths had passed, causing many who were watching to still not catch up with what had happened.
The group of six headed by Brilliant Flame Sect’s Zhang Qing had been wiped out.
On the other hand, Yang Kai and his group of three were unscathed.
The audience was thoroughly shocked!
All the cultivators present stared at Yang Kai as if he was some kind of monster, astonishment filling their gazes.
They had witnessed the entire course of this battle and naturally understood how important Yang Kai’s role in it was.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he alone suppressed Zhang Qing’s entire group of six. If not for his Shi being so overpowering, Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao would not have been able to kill the enemy like they were chopping up melons and vegetables!
Among this group of six, besides Zhang Qing’s Shi, which he could only release slightly, the other five were unable to use their Shi at all as it was completely suppressed inside their bodies, unable to play any role.
Could an Origin Realm master who couldn’t use their Shi even be called an Origin Returning Realm master?
It was as if Zhang Qing and his group weren’t facing a Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator, but a genuine Origin King…
Around Domain Stone Mountain, all eyes focused towards Yang Kai solemnly.
Everyone realized that this young man was an extremely terrifying opponent!
Many groups closer to Yang Kai retreated backwards, subconsciously distancing themselves from Yang Kai like they were trying to avoid a god of plague.
A mass of purple Thunder Fire floated above Zhang Qing’s corpse. This Thunder Fire not only contained scorching heat but also violent lightning. It was a kind of Secret Technique that Brilliant Flame Sect’s most powerful cultivators could cultivate.
Last time, in the Emperor Garden, the beautiful woman named Tan Ting He from Ice Heart Valley had told Yang Kai that Brilliant Flame Sect had a Heavenly Thunder Fire in their possession that served as the foundation of their Sect and contained astonishing power.
If a cultivator of Brilliant Flame Sect was strong enough, they could use the power of this Heavenly Thunder Fire to cultivate the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire Secret Technique.
Obviously, Zhang Qing was one such qualified individual.
As soon as this mass of Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire belonging to Zhang Qing appeared, the Firebird Artifact Spirit swooped down as if it smelt a delicious delicacy and swallowed it whole before letting out a satisfied cry.
“Come back,” Yang Kai called out, and the Artifact Spirit immediately turned into a flame that flew into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.
Turning his head and looking around, Yang Kai found that the crowd had yet to recover from their shock; however, many of them swiftly avoided his gaze when it swept past them, as if they were afraid to meet eyes with him.
Seeing this, Yang Kai just chuckled and shouted loudly, “Rest assured, if others don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them. I just want to occupy a little space here, as for everyone else, you can do whatever you want.”
Hearing what he said, the vigilant cultivators breathed a sigh of relief and their nervous expressions gradually eased.
With the overwhelming strength Yang Kai just displayed, things would definitely not end well if he were to focus on any of their groups. There were six masters in Zhang Qing’s group, but all of them had died without even being able to put up a fight. On the other hand, the strongest team here only had nine people, so no individual group was confident they could survive Yang Kai’s violent attack or resist his powerful Shi!
“Continue your comprehension, I don’t think anyone will bother us from now on,” Yang Kai motioned to Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao lightly.
The two exchanged a stunned glance and were somewhat at a loss, unable to believe what had just happened.
Just now, they had seen Yang Kai take action and joined in without hesitation, but they had never expected that victory would be so easily achieved. The two of them had thought there would be a bitter battle and perhaps one or all of them would end up falling here.
However, the result was them slaughtering the enemy without any difficulty.
When they killed their opponents, they clearly felt their helplessness.
As a result, once the battle was over, the two of them wound up in a kind of daze.
“Yang Kai, you seem to have grown a lot. Did you make a lot of gains in the Blood Prison already?” Qian Tong looked at him suspiciously.
He had participated in the attack on the three giants of Shadowed Star with Yang Kai, but at that time, Yang Kai had not been this strong. Back then, Qian Tong had felt that Yang Kai had unlimited potential, but had still yet to fully mature and thought that his own strength should be comparable to Yang Kai’s.
But now, it seemed Yang Kai had reached a height he could only look up to.
Yang Kai’s breakthrough in cultivation was only a small part of the reason though, while Yang Kai’s accomplishments in Shi were clearly his strongest capital. Qian Tong vaguely felt that Yang Kai’s trip through the Blood Prison had yielded significant gains.
“Something like that,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, without explaining too much.
Qian Tong gently nodded, calming his mind and no longer thinking about this issue, but just as he was about to sit back down, he suddenly said, “Right, Yang Kai, about Brother Zhao, he…”
“You can decide,” Yang Kai smiled lightly before sitting down cross-legged himself.
Qian Tong nodded, thought about it for a moment, then walked over to a nearby spot where Zhao Tian Ze was standing dumbstruck and talked to the latter in a low voice.
A short time later, Zhao Tian Ze returned with a shameful expression, looked for an open spot, then sat down cross-legged, all the while looking at Yang Kai with a complicated expression.
He was indeed ashamed. Before, he had coveted life and feared death, not daring to remain to share difficulties with Qian Tong and the others, but now that the enemy has been extinguished, he had been allowed to come back and reap benefits without contributing any effort, a situation that made Zhao Tian Ze feel rather embarrassed.
If it were anything else, Zhao Tian Ze would most likely have refused as he still wanted to maintain some of his dignity.
But Domain Stone Mountain’s temptation was simply too great. Even if he felt extremely embarrassed doing so, he still grit his teeth and returned. Now that he was sitting down though, he couldn’t help feeling his old face burning up with shame.
“Brother Zhao, don’t think too much about it, in the situation just now, anyone who didn’t know about Yang Kai’s details would probably have made the same choice. There is nothing for you to apologize for. Brother Zhao, I know your temperament well.” Qian Tong comforted.
Zhao Tian Ze smiled bitterly, glanced over at Yang Kai with dim eyes, but upon seeing the latter just sit motionlessly, not showing any intention to speak, he simply sighed and said sincerely, “This Zhao is deeply grateful!”
He was even embarrassed to speak too many words.
Qian Tong patted him on the shoulder, trying to reassure him that everything was alright.
Around Domain Stone Mountain, hundreds of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators gathered in large and small groups, each one occupying their own position.
Yang Kai and his group, however, occupied the largest spot, and even though there were only four of them, no one dared to approach. The fresh corpses and blood that still stained the ground were the best evidence of the battle which had happened earlier.
All around Yang Kai’s small group, there was a large open space that no one dared trespass upon.
From time to time, a cultivator who heard about Domain Stone Mountain’s appearance would arrive, and when they saw the open space on both sides of Yang Kai’s group, their eyes always lit up and thoughts of occupying these spots would fill their heads. However, once they saw the broken corpses nearby, their expressions all inevitably darkened and they would eventually give up.
Half a day later, Domain Stone Mountain was surrounded by two full layers with the number of cultivators now reaching as high as two hundred. What’s more, there were still other cultivators constantly arriving from afar.
Conflict inevitably occurred as more people came.
Teams with larger numbers always wanted to seize better positions while the groups that arrived here earlier naturally didn’t want to give up their spot, and if the two sides couldn’t work out some kind of agreement, a fight would naturally break out.
From time to time, dying cries would ring out.
The area around Domain Stone Mountain quickly transformed into a burial ground for Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters. Each of the fallen here was a famous character from a major Cultivation Star, making for an extremely intense scene.
However, no matter how intense the fighting became, Yang Kai’s group of four didn’t encounter any kind of provocation again.
Yang Kai’s group occupying such a good position, with no one around them for quite some distance, was a telling sign. Anyone with a little bit of intelligence would understand that this small group was not to be trifled with and naturally wouldn’t go test their luck.
Qian Tong, Lin Yu Rao, and Zhao Tian Ze seemed to have become completely immersed in the wondrous aura being emitted from Domain Stone Mountain.
Yang Kai, however, didn’t enter a meditative state, instead just sitting cross-legged on the ground, supposedly guarding his group against anyone who dared make trouble for them, but the entire time, there was a strange grin that never left his face as he stared towards Domain Stone Mountain.
It was as if he was staring at something that was already in his pocket!
A day later, many cultivators who were cultivating faintly discovered something wrong.
As more time passed, the miraculous aura emanating from Domain Stone Mountain seemed to be diminishing. In the beginning, everyone felt they were just over-thinking things, but after a closer inspection, they found that this decrease in aura was really happening.
Domain Stone Mountain was slowly losing its effect!
This discovery left everyone at a loss as they wondered why Domain Stone Mountain, which had existed for thousands of years, had suddenly undergone such a change.
After two days, more and more cultivators discovered this phenomenon and soon, everyone became aware.
Whispers sounded one after another.
“What happened? It’s only been a few days, how come Domain Stone Mountain’s aura has weakened so greatly?”
“You noticed as well? I thought I was just imagining things.”
“Could it be that there are too many people here so all the power from Domain Stone Mountain is being absorbed?”
“Nonsense! When has the appearance of Domain Stone Mountain not attracted so many people? In the past, even more people had come to cultivate here but there had never been any kind of problem. Why is it happening this time?
“Could it be that Domain Stone Mountain is losing its function?”
“Stop speculating and take advantage of what little effect is left! If Domain Stone Mountain loses its aura entirely, it will become completely useless.”
The strange change in Domain Stone Mountain made every cultivator who came here feel a sense of crisis and everyone went all out to try to comprehend whatever mysteries from it they could in order to gain the most benefits in the little time they had.
By the third day, the cultivators in the outer periphery of Domain Stone Mountain actually couldn’t feel any kind of aura at all. Only those cultivators who occupied a spot in the inner layer could still gain something.
By the fourth day, however, it became difficult for even those in the inner circle to comprehend anything.
The effect of Domain Stone Mountain seemed to have reduced to a bare minimum. This was something which had never happened before. Domain Stone Mountain was the treasure of the Blood Prison and had existed for over ten thousand years, so no one was able to understand what was happening here.
Only Yang Kai continued to grin wider and wider as time passed.
Suddenly, a soft cracking sound came from a certain position.
Although the noise was extremely slight, it attracted the attention of many people.
Focusing on the source of this sound, in an instant, many cultivators’ eyes bulged in surprise.
“A crack!? There’s a crack in Domain Stone Mountain!” Someone exclaimed, as if something extraordinary had been discovered.
“What? There’s a crack in Domain Stone Mountain? Impossible!” Some people refused to believe it.
What was Domain Stone Mountain? In essence, it was a single, massive Domain Stone, one that had remained undamaged for millennia, so how could it possibly crack all of a sudden?
However, just as some were trying to refuse this claim, more cracks appeared on Domain Stone Mountain. These tiny cracks soon spread out like a spider’s web, leaving a dense, criss-crossing pattern across the mountain’s surface.
*Kacha…*
“Not good, Domain Stone Mountain is going to be destroyed!”
“Is it really going to break apart? Hahaha, such good fortune! Father here was worried he wouldn’t be able to gain anything from this place but now it’s actually going to break apart! The Heavens are helping me.”
All kinds of shouts rang out at that instant as all the cultivators got up one after another, either with solemn or excited expressions as they focused all their attention on Domain Stone Mountain, each of them having different ideas in their hearts.
A tense atmosphere suddenly spread as the many cultivators who had been living in peace with one another now began eyeing everyone around them as if they were enemies.
Everyone was thinking about how to gain the most from Domain Stone Mountain’s collapse.
“Yang Kai, we…” Qian Tong gulped hard as he stared at Domain Stone Mountain with fiery eyes.
But Yang Kai just frowned as he released his Divine Sense all around, his face suddenly changing a moment later as he called out in alarm, “Get back!”
“Withdraw?” Qian Tong was taken aback, wondering why Yang Kai was suddenly so anxious.
“Go now! It will be too late if you don’t,” Yang Kai didn’t explain, letting out one last shout before swiftly retreating, grabbing Lin Yu Rao on his way.
Lin Yu Rao was confused but did not resist, allowing Yang Kai to drag her away as he quickly flew hundreds of metres back.
“Brother Qian…” Zhao Tian Ze turned a bewildered look towards Qian Tong, asking for some clarification.
“Listen to Yang Kai,” Qian Tong turned into a stream of light without hesitation and followed Yang Kai.
Qian Tong did not know why Yang Kai would make such a choice, but he chose to trust Yang Kai unconditionally.
Perhaps Yang Kai had a profound reason!
Seeing that the three of them had already retreated, Zhao Tian Ze hesitated for a moment before slapping his thigh in annoyance and following them.
The scene quickly became chaotic.
As the cracks on Domain Stone Mountain continued to increase, countless cultivators rushed forward, trying to snatch the fragmented Domain Stone.
There were also some among the crowd who were quite shrewd, however, and upon hearing Yang Kai’s shout they noticed that something was wrong and withdrew quietly instead of wading in the muddy waters.
Something inexplicable was happening, and there was no way to tell what would happen when Domain Stone Mountain truly broke apart.
However, there were not many such people, only about a tenth of the total population. Everyone else lost to the temptation in front of them and ignored Yang Kai’s loud warning.
*Kacha…*
The cracking noises continued to grow louder as Domain Stone Mountain seemed to teeter on the verge of collapse. Before everyone’s eyes, the cracks on its surface grew longer and bigger at an increasing rate.
Soon after, Domain Stone Mountain collapsed and broke into innumerable Domain Stones over varying sizes.
What everyone felt was strange, however, was that the broken Domain Stones were not the same as those which appeared in Domain Vortices. Each piece of Domain Stone was as thin as a cicada’s wings.
“Impossible, was Domain Stone Mountain actually hollow the entire time?” Someone yelled in disbelief.
These paper-thin Domain Stones served as proof that Domain Stone Mountain was hollow inside. If not, how could its broken fragments be as thin as a cicada’s wing? The scene before everyone was similar to what would happen if a porcelain pot fell to the ground and broke.
This was an unacceptable reality for many people.
However, even these extremely thin Domain Stones were Domain Stones.
After a few breaths of surprise, the crowd rushed forward madly again as they began trying to seize these pieces of Domain Stone.
The scene instantly became chaotic!
The light from artifacts and Martial Skills was so blinding that an area with a radius of nearly a hundred metres became impossible to see into. Screams sounded; blood splashed…
Suddenly though, a ripple visible to the naked eye surged outwards at an astonishing speed from the centre of where Domain Stone Mountain once stood.
All the cultivators covered by this ripple involuntarily stopped their actions, their expression changing from ones of frenzy to ones of terror.
When this ripple swept across their bodies, they all felt a dangerous but familiar aura, Domain!
On top of that, it was an extremely powerful Domain!
The invisible Domain Stone Mountain’s unique Domain seemed to suddenly reappear at that moment.
“Not good, run!” A somewhat smarter cultivator shouted.
No one bothered trying to snatch the scattered Domain Stones anymore as every cultivator desperately pushed their Saint Qi and tried to flee outwards.
However, it was too late!
After the first wave appeared, a second followed, then a third… each wave propagating faster than the one before it.
In an instant, countless ripples visible to the naked eye filled a nearly one-thousand-metre radius around the ruins of Domain Stone Mountain.
Space distorted as the true power of Domain Stone Mountain’s overbearing Domain finally revealed its hideous appearance, like a wild and ravenous beast, opening its jaws wide as it swallowed nearly two hundred Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators into its belly.
Screams sounded in all directions, causing the skin of those who heard them to crawl. No Origin Returning Realm cultivator could withstand the crushing force of this violent Domain and the vigorous vitality of all those caught inside of it were swiftly extinguished, disappearing in a flash.
After being struck by this series of ripples, everyone caught in their range exploded into beautiful yet ghastly red blossoms.
Yang Kai and his group of four, standing a few thousand metres away from Domain Stone Mountain, instantly turned pale upon witnessing this sight.
Zhao Tian Ze shivered unconsciously as his teeth began to chatter.
He could easily imagine what would have happened to him if he had given in to his greed just now. He would certainly have been caught in that explosion of Domain just like everyone else and died a miserable death. Turning to look at Yang Kai, his heart filled with gratitude.
Had it not been for this young man who stood higher and saw further, this trip to the Blood Prison would have been over for him.
The complexions of Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao were not much better.
So many cultivators at the same realm as them, so many powerful masters who had the qualifications to strive for the Origin King Realm, had fallen here without being able to resist.
These people had been crushed as if they were ants…
Their mood was subtle and complicated.
At the same time, in the stone pavilion outside the Blood Prison, Luo Hai, who had been sitting peacefully, got up quickly, his expression suddenly turning ugly.
“Sir Luo Hai, what happened?” Seeing such a look on Luo Hai’s face, the old woman surnamed Lei asked nervously.
“Yes, Brother Luo Hai, what has happened to make you so anxious?” An old man also asked curiously.
Any master who had reached the Origin King Realm possessed exceptional control over their mental state and it was extremely rare for them to show shock, not to mention that Luo Hai was no ordinary Origin King. He was the Star Master of Green Mountains Star and a Second-Order Origin King. Even considering the entire Star Field, apart from a few old hidden dragons who never showed their faces anymore, not many people could claim to be stronger than him.
Luo Hai’s face suddenly turning so distraught made everyone realize that something terrible must have happened.
“Domain Stone Mountain has been destroyed!” Luo Hai quickly said.
“What? Are you certain?”
“Yes, how could Domain Stone Mountain be destroyed?”
“Who did it? Those little Juniors shouldn’t have such ability, right?”
Everyone began clamouring. If it had not been Luo Hai who was saying this, none of them would have believed it.
Even if Luo Hai said so, they still had doubts.
How could Domain Stone Mountain possibly have been destroyed?
“Sir Luo Hai, is this really true?” The old woman looked at Luo Hai solemnly.
“Why would this King make such a bad joke with you?” Luo Hai frowned, “As for how it was destroyed, this King is not clear, but it was definitely destroyed!”
Everyone looked at each other but didn’t question Luo Hai’s judgment.
He was this place’s Star Master, so since he said it happened, he must be completely certain.
No one present was able to just accept such a result, however.
“Haa, what a pity, Domain Stone Mountain is the treasure of the Blood Prison. It has existed for over ten thousand years but now it has been destroyed,” After a long silence, the old man who had spoken before sighed. Although Domain Stone Mountain existed on Green Mountains Star, it could be said to be a treasure to the entire Star Field. Now that it was ruined, everyone felt some regret.
Perhaps its destruction would result in far few Origin Kings rising in the Star Field!
“Sir Luo Hai, with Domain Stone Mountain being destroyed, what about the people who had been cultivating around it just now?” The old woman suddenly thought of a more serious problem.
When the others heard this, they all focused their attention anxiously.
“There were many deaths! The exact number of auras that vanished is impossible for this King to tell, but this King estimates that at least two hundred died.”
“Two hundred!?” The old woman’s face changed drastically, a bitter smile forming on her face after some time, “It seems all the great forces have suffered heavy losses then.”
The Blood Prison Trial always resulted in high casualties because the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators who entered didn’t fear each other and in order to gain a greater chance to reach the Origin King Realm they would even resort to killing others who stood in their way.
Today, however, the sudden change in Domain Stone Mountain had actually killed around two hundred cultivators who had entered the Blood Prison all at once. It was likely this tragedy had resulted in the participants from various great forces being completely wiped out.
Everyone quickly realized the seriousness of the problem.
“Fortunately, Third Young Master didn’t come this time, otherwise…” The old man from Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, a look of fear filling his face.
If Xue Yue Third Young Master had also come to participate in the Blood Prison Trial this time and gone to Domain Stone Mountain…
The old man did not even want to imagine it!
Third Young Master Xue Yue was Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s greatest hope for the future.
…..
Inside the Blood Prison, after just a few breaths of time, the chaotic scene calmed down again, but all the cultivators who had not withdrawn ahead of time had been reduced to ash. Only about thirty people survived this catastrophe.
These people had all heard Yang Kai’s warning and retreated immediately, saving their lives.
After recovering from their bout of terror, all of them cupped their fists towards Yang Kai, expressing their gratitude.
Domain Stone Mountain was now gone, so no one would remain here anymore. Everyone began splitting up and flying off in different directions, going deeper into the Blood Prison to continue searching for opportunities.
Soon, only Yang Kai and his group of four were left in this wide-open area.
“Sect Master Yang, this old master is eternally grateful for your life-saving efforts. After leaving the Blood Prison, this Zhao earnestly wishes that Sect Master Yang come to Green Water City so this Zhao can offer his utmost thanks and hospitality!” Zhao Tian Ze said sincerely as he displayed genuine and profound respect for Yang Kai.
Yang Kai smiled faintly and said, “City Lord Zhao is too polite, I didn’t do anything, but I will certainly pass through Green Water City when all of this is over. I hope I won’t be inconveniencing City Lord Zhao then.”
Qian Yue was still searching for information about Su Yan back in Green Water City, so Yang Kai was certainly going to go pick her up.
“Certainly not!” Zhao Tian Ze waved his hand quickly as a smile appeared on his face, “Sect Master Yang visiting is this Zhao’s honour, how could it possibly be any inconvenience?”
Yang Kai gently nodded before turning to Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao and saying, “Be careful from here on out.”
Hearing these words, Lin Yu Rao flashed a slight look of disappointment, “Sect Master won’t be joining us?”
“No, I still have something I need to do,” Yang Kai shook his head. He had yet to obtain the Origin Essence Crystal Chi Yue requested of him, and with the other half of the Monster Transformation Art in Yu Xiong’s hands, Yang Kai really had no other choice.
The Source strength of the Golden Divine Dragon in his body was something Yang Kai was extremely eager to develop.
“Then you should also be careful out there. I am confident that no one here is your opponent, but you still need to remain wary of the scattered Domains here as they are very powerful. Don’t push yourself too hard,” Qian Tong warned
“I know, I won’t overexert myself,” Yang Kai grinned, “Then let’s separate here. When this is over, we’ll rendezvous in Green Water City.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists briefly after he finished speaking, turned around, and flew off in a streak of light, quickly disappearing from Qian Tong and the other’s sight.
“Let’s go too,” Qian Tong said, “With so many people dying this time, the competition in the Blood Prison will probably be reduced greatly. We can’t miss this chance to look for opportunities.”
“It is just as Brother Qian says!” Zhao Tian Ze’s eyes lit up, his gloomy mood swiftly giving way to excitement and anticipation.
Somewhere, hundreds of kilometres away from Domain Stone Mountain where no one else was around, Yang Kai landed, double-checked his surroundings, then grinned and whispered, “Come out.”
The next moment, a rustling came from the ground in front of him and a small head with two beady eyes popped out. After this creature leapt out of the ground, it rushed over to Yang Kai.
It was the Stone Puppet, Xiao Xiao.
Yang Kai had secretly released his Stone Puppet while fighting against Zhang Qing’s group while everyone was distracted by his shockingly strong Shi.
Everything had gone according to plan.
“How’s the harvest?” Yang Kai asked, looking down at Xiao Xiao.
The Stone Puppet didn’t show any reaction, simply opening its mouth and spitting out a fist-sized Domain Stone from his mouth.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand, grabbed the Domain Stone, and felt it for a moment before bursting into laughter and patting Xiao Xiao’s small head, praising him liberally, “Good job!”
He didn’t know exactly how many Domain Stone’s were resting in Xiao Xiao’s stomach right now, but the quantity was clearly so great it would cause any Origin King to become jealous.
It could be said that the destruction of Domain Stone Mountain was entirely due to Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao had silently snuck below Domain Stone Mountain and then slowly hollowed it out with no one being the wiser. This was the reason the cultivators felt that the effects of Domain Stone Mountain were getting weaker and weaker as time passed, and why Domain Stone Mountain had suddenly collapsed and turned out hollow inside.
Everything was thanks to the Stone Puppet!
Domain Stone Mountain was indeed extremely hard, but the Stone Puppet’s innate talent allowed it to swallow any and all kinds of ores. The Coloured Glass Sect’s treasure, Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain, had a gaping hole excavated from it, and Domain Stone Mountain wasn’t a problem either.
The first time he saw Domain Stone Mountain, Yang Kai already had such crooked thoughts.
He hadn’t anticipated that allowing the Stone Puppet to do so would destroy Domain Stone Mountain and trigger such a terrifying Domain explosion, however.
This was why, when he noticed something was wrong, he shouted loudly to warn everyone.
Unfortunately, most of the cultivators present were blinded by the treasures in front of them and paid no attention to his reminders. Only a few people retreated with him, but this swift action had saved their lives.
After ordering the Stone Puppet to follow him, Yang Kai took it to a more remote location and let it spit out all the Domain Stones in its stomach.
After checking his haul, Yang Kai was overjoyed.
There were roughly three thousand Domain Stones!
This was an extremely terrifying number, as could be seen from the fact that Yang Kai’s gains since entering the Blood Prison were just three Domain Stones until now. Others may not have even gained that many.
However, at this moment, Yang Kai had managed to obtain three thousand Domain Stones!
This was probably more Domain Stones than had been collected by cultivators since Blood Prison was created!
There was now no need to worry about comprehending Domain in the future. With so many Domain Stones in hand, Yang Kai could unscrupulously absorb the magical energy inside them to gain insight into Domain and spy upon the mysteries of the Origin King Realm.
His future path was looking smoother and brighter!
Yang Kai’s mood was great.
The main purpose of the cultivators who entered the Blood Prison was to use Domain Vortices to polish their Shi, but their secondary objective was to find Domain Stones.
Yang Kai had cleared both goals handily.
Without even mentioning the massive number of Domain Stones he had now, the various Domain Vortices could no longer slow down Yang Kai’s pace either as his understanding of Shi had reached a new height. Even if he had yet to reach the grand accomplishment stage, he wasn’t far off.
Perhaps, one day, when he broke through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, Yang Kai would be able to instantly achieve the grand accomplishment stage in Shi and possess the capital to break through to the Origin King Realm!
Yang Kai didn’t plan on wasting any more time. He was now going to find the Origin Essence Crystal left behind by the Monster King who died here over ten thousand years ago to complete the task assigned to him by Chi Yue.
On Monster Emperor Star, there were Ten Great Tribal Lords, but no Tribal Lord was qualified to be called a Monster King.
To become a Monster King, one needed to possess a Third-Order Origin King cultivation. Therefore, only a handful of Monster Kings had been born on Monster Emperor Star since ancient times.
There was one over ten thousand years ago, but unfortunately for him, he had gotten involved in the war on Green Mountains Star and wound up falling in the Blood Prison.
The specific location where this Monster King fell had already been given to Yang Kai by Chi Yue. Monster Emperor Star had been secretly sending Monster Race rising stars to the Blood Prison Trial for many years now, so they had already managed to scout out a good deal of information; unfortunately, until now, there had never been an opportunity to retrieve that Origin Essence Crystal.
Yang Kai flew towards his destination without pause.
He wasn’t certain if it was because of the changes in Domain Stone Mountain that killed so many people, but along the way, Yang Kai felt that the number of cultivators in the Blood Prison had indeed decreased a lot. After flying for a few days, he didn’t notice any other auras around him anymore.
There was a bare hill ahead, no more than a thousand metres high, with not even a blade of grass growing upon it, only gravel and mud.
However, this hill exuded a very strange aura, one that made it difficult to approach.
Monster Qi! And a very powerful Monster Qi at that.
Even a cultivator at the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm wouldn’t dare set foot upon this hill easily, because the omnipresent Monster Qi was not something they could bear. If a cultivator stayed for a long time on this hill, the Monster Qi would begin invading their bodies.
The Monster Qi here was naturally a leftover from the fallen Monster King and could not be purged by mere Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators. Eventually, not only would this Monster Qi corrode their meridians and physique, it would trigger a kind of Monster Transformation, creating dissonance in their cultivation.
Therefore, whenever the Blood Prison opened, this strange hill had always been regarded as a Restricted Area that no one dared to enter at will. Most would even go out of their way to avoid it lest they be inadvertently affected by the potent Monster Qi.
“This should be the place!” Yang Kai looked up at the bare hill and muttered to himself softly. The hill in front of him perfectly matched the description given to him by Chi Yue about where that ancient Monster King had fallen.
After scanning the area for a moment, Yang Kai stepped forward towards the hill.
A short time later, Yang Kai came to the foot of the hill and as soon as he stepped onto it, the ambient Monster Qi reacted like a cat smelling fish, rushing towards him from all directions, drilling into his pores and flooding into his meridians.
Yang Kai pushed his Saint Qi to resist the invasion of this Monster Qi.
It was a bit troublesome! Worthy of the Monster Qi left over by a Monster King level master, it couldn’t easily be resisted even after more than ten thousand years.
Fortunately, Yang Kai possessed the power of Golden Divine Dragon Source, so even if the Monster Qi forced its way into his body, it wouldn’t affect him much. If Yang Kai were any other Human Race Origin Returning Realm cultivator, he would likely have to withdraw immediately.
After confirming that there was no serious threat to him here, Yang Kai strode upwards step by step.
Soon, he came to the top of the mountain and looked around. The surroundings were empty, however, which made him frown.
The information Chi Yue gave him only said that the Origin Essence Crystal was somewhere on this barren mountain, but even she didn’t know exactly where it was.
If it wasn’t on top of the mountain though, it should be somewhere nearby. Silently sweeping the area with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai soon detected something and moved towards a certain direction.
After a stick of incense worth of time, Yang Kai arrived at the back of the hill and stood looking into a dark cave.
The cave was pitch black and didn’t seem out of the ordinary, but when Yang Kai’s Divine Sense tried to penetrate into it, it bounced back.
If his guess was correct, the Monster King should have fallen in this cave, because the Monster Qi was densest in this location.
Unafraid, Yang Kai took out a luminous stone from his Space Ring and stepped into the cave.
The deeper he went in, the richer the Monster Qi became, indicating that its source was up ahead!
A short time later, Yang Kai arrived at the deepest part of the cave.
Here, the cave showed signs of being artificially excavated. It was narrow on the outside while wide on the inside, and the innermost cavern was actually several dozen metres across.
Inside this innermost cave, there was a massive object that an amazing Monster Qi was spreading from.
Yang Kai took out a few more luminous stones and with a wave of his hand sent them all into pre-arranged grooves in the surrounding stone walls.
In the blink of an eye, the entire dim cave became bright.
Looking forward again, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as they shined with shock.
He surprisingly discovered that the massive object lying in front of him was a giant skeleton!
A huge Monster Beast skeleton!
This skeleton was over twenty metres long and had the appearance of a giant ancient crocodile. Even if it was now just bones, it still exuded an amazing level of energy.
This corpse should be the true body of the Monster King level master. It seemed this Monster King had reverted to his Monster Beast form before death, otherwise, his corpse would not have appeared in this manner.
Generally, if a Monster Race cultivator was born in human form, they would also die in human form, but some cultivated Secret Techniques that could stimulate their Monster Beast bloodlines and allow them to resume their Monster Beast forms to gain additional strength.
This giant skeleton appearing must have been a result of the ancient Monster King assuming his Monster Beast form.
This was the most orthodox type of Monster Race master, one that possessed an extremely pure bloodline!
What’s more, this Monster Beast was a Third-Order Origin King! Even after ten thousand years, its bones were still lifelike, each one looking extremely strong. These were definitely excellent Artifact Refining materials.
Yang Kai’s eyes instantly became fiery.
Chi Yue only said that he needed to hand over the Origin Essence Crystal to Yu Xiong, she never mentioned handing over the Monster King’s skeleton. In other words, Yang Kai was free to claim these bones for himself.
High Heaven Sect was currently in its development phase, and there were some highly accomplished Artifact Refiners among its members. These Artifact Refiners had come from Star Emperor Mountain, and although they were incomparable to Yang Yan, they were still second to no one else on Shadowed Star. If these bones were taken back and given to them for Artifact Refining, Yang Kai believed that they could definitely refine a large number of Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts!
Even this, however, was something of a careless waste of Heaven’s treasures as, in principle, the bones of an Origin King Realm Monster Beast were precious materials that could be refined into Origin King Grade artifacts.
As such wild thoughts crossed his mind, Yang Kai cast his gaze towards the chest of the Monster Beast skeleton.
In an instant, his eyes grew hotter.
He clearly saw that there was a dark red round crystal about the size of a melon there.
The Origin Essence Crystal! It could also be called the core of this Monster King!
Two different names, both referring to the same thing.
Only a master at the Third-Order Origin King Realm could condense an Origin Essence Crystal, not even Second-Order Origin Kings had the qualifications.
An Origin Essence Crystal contained its master’s perceptions of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, as well as their understanding of Domain. Its value was simply inestimable!
The biggest reason Chi Yue wanted to acquire this Origin Essence Crystal was to use it to break through to the Third-Order Origin King Realm and become a true Monster King.
Looking at the entire Star Field, how many Third-Order Origin Kings were there? Their number could likely be counted on a single hand, and most were hidden dragons who never showed their faces. Hardly anyone knew where these peak level masters resided and meeting one was as difficult as ascending to the Heavens.
Yet now, the remains of such a master were lying in front of Yang Kai, and not only was its skeleton intact, but its Origin Essence Crystal was also present.
Yang Kai’s breathing inevitably became a bit rapid as he stared at the Origin Essence Crystal hotly.
Carefully releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai extended it forward slowly, but before he could touch the Origin Essence Crystal, the dark red circular crystal suddenly flashed brilliantly.
Yang Kai frowned, and quickly retracted his Divine Sense, not daring to spy on it at will.
Chi Yue was right. This Origin Essence Crystal still retained a strand of the Monster King’s Remnant Soul. Any attempt to meddle with it would provoke resistance. If this were not the case, how could this Origin Essence Crystal and skeleton still linger here? It would have been taken away long ago.
The only way to safely obtain the Origin Essence Crystal was to suppress that strand of Remnant Soul.
But the cultivators who entered the Blood Prison had at best reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, so who among them would have the ability to suppress the Remnant Soul of a Monster King?
Only Yang Kai’s Golden Divine Dragon’s Source had such power!
Exhaling lightly, Yang Kai calmed his mind and focused his attention on the Origin Essence Crystal, remaining motionless for a time.
In the darkness, however, an almost imperceptible black shadow cautiously approached Yang Kai. This black shadow clung to the ground, as if it had no substance, not even emitting any aura. Even Yang Kai, with his unusually sharp senses, did not notice it.
The black shadow approached little by little and soon came to a position less than five metres behind him. Slowly, this black shadow condensed into a tiny snake-like object and aimed itself at Yang Kai’s back.
At that moment though, Yang Kai’s body shook slightly and a thunderous dragon roar rang out, filling the cave with an irresistible coercion.
On Yang Kai’s right arm, golden scales suddenly strangely appeared, wrapping his entire right arm. Not only the right arm but even the back of his hand was covered in scales while his five fingers began bursting with golden light, his nails growing longer and releasing a cold glow as they slowly took the form of a claw.
Dragon Transformation!
After cultivating the first half of the Monster Transformation Secret Art, Yang Kai could just barely manipulate the power of the Golden Divine Dragon Source inside his body to transform his right arm into that of a dragon’s.
Swiftly, Yang Kai’s entire right arm transformed beyond recognition, taking on a terrifying aura.
The black shadow that was five metres behind Yang Kai was obviously taken aback by this development and quickly flattened itself to the ground again and retreated.
In a flash, Yang Kai moved, pushing his right arm forward in a thrust that seemed to break through the barrier of space to close in on the Origin Essence Crystal.
Light flashed wildly around the Origin Essence Crystal and a vague restless aura surged from it as if it was about to burst.
Yang Kai snorted coldly and grabbed the Origin Essence Crystal in his hand before squeezing it hard. At the same time, he madly poured his Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy towards the crystal.
A soft noise seemed to echo from the Origin Essence Crystal and the restless aura gradually subsided.
The golden scale armour on Yang Kai’s right arm gradually faded and the terrifying right arm returned to its normal state.
Opening his fist, Yang Kai observed the Origin Essence Crystal in his hand and grinned.
The Remnant Soul wisp which remained in the Origin Essence Crystal had now been wiped away by him. Now, anyone could hold this Origin Essence Crystal in their hand without worrying about it self-destructing.
The entire process was far simpler and easier than Yang Kai had expected.
Chi Yue had warned him repeatedly of the dangers he would encounter so Yang Kai had thought he would encounter at least some hardships, but it actually turned about to be no trouble at all.
“Hm?” Yang Kai looked at this Origin Essence Crystal up close with a strange look on his face.
He vaguely felt that this Origin Essence Crystal seemed a bit familiar, as if he had seen it before.
After thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai suddenly realized that he indeed had encountered an Origin Essence Crystal before.
It was when he first entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field!
Inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, in the pool filled with Soul Cleansing Divine Water, he managed to obtain a strange crystal-like object. At that time, Yang Kai did not know what it was, only that when he used his Divine Sense to investigate it, the crystal had strangely disappeared and entered his Knowledge Sea.
In the end, the mysterious crystal was completely absorbed by the Six Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, resulting in it successfully evolving into its Seven-Coloured form. Yang Kai also comprehended his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique at that time.
[So that thing was an Origin Essence Crystal!] Yang Kai finally understood.
No wonder the effect it had on his Soul Warming Lotus was so great it allowed for an evolution. The only pity was he was unable to comprehend anything about Domain from that Origin Essence Crystal. It seems that the master who fell where the Soul Cleansing Divine Water pond was at least a Third-Order Origin King.
Such events happened many years ago though, so Yang Kai didn’t have any plans to investigate it carefully. After understanding all this, he lightly stored the Origin Essence Crystal away.
Although this thing was precious, Yang Kai was more interested in obtaining that Monster Transformation Secret Art!
In the end, he still had to hand it over to Chi Yue.
What’s more, Chi Yue was still Shan Qing Luo’s adoptive mother. If she became stronger, the shelter she could give Shan Qing Luo would be stronger.
Yang Kai understood this well so he never thought about keeping the Origin Essence Crystal for himself. He also believed that, with his own ability, he would one day break through to the Third-Order Origin King realm and reach the peak of the Martial Dao even without relying on this Origin Essence Crystal.
Turning around, Yang Kai stored the Monster King skeleton next. Of course, the Monster King’s Space Ring was not left by Yang Kai either. Although he did not know what was inside of it, the wealth of a Third-Order Origin King would obviously not be small.
This was his biggest gain from this trip.
After checking the cave carefully one last time to confirm he had left nothing behind, Yang Kai left.
The cave wasn’t too deep, so it didn’t take long for Yang Kai to emerge once more.
“You finally came out!”
Just as he stepped out of the cave, however, a somewhat familiar voice sounded from a nearby spot under the ground nearby and a blood-red figure suddenly shot up into the sky, landed in front of Yang Kai, and unleashed a violent storm of attacks.
Yang Kai’s face became cold and Golden Blood Threads shot out from his fingers, dancing through the air as they formed an airtight barrier in front of him.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
There was a violent burst of energy, and all the attacks performed by the blood-red figure were stopped by the Golden Blood Thread barrier.
“Xue Lian!” Yang Kai finally saw who it was that launched this sneak attack and could not help letting out a shout filled with murderous intent.
“That’s right, it’s your grandpa Xue Lian!” Xue Lian roared furiously. He had already used his Flood Dragon Transformation and his entire body was covered in strong looking blood-red scales. Not even pausing for an instant, he desperately bombarded Yang Kai with attacks.
“Seems you’ve come to court death!” Yang Kai sneered, his thoughts flashing as he sent two Golden Blood Threads out that suddenly transformed into Thunder Flame Flying Lizards then proceeded to bare their fangs and pounce towards Xue Lian.
“How could mere lizards compete with my Blood Flood Dragon’s power?” Xue Lian seemed to have completely forgotten the harsh lessons he had received at Chi Yue’s palace and attacked Yang Kai without any fear. His fists, covered in thick scales, threw out two punches, condensing two blood-coloured dragons from his Monster Qi. Shaking their heads and wagging their tails, these two blood-coloured dragons met the two Thunder Flame Flying Lizards head-on and entangled them without losing any momentum.
At the same time, Xue Lian raised his hand and summoned a giant axe to it, which he slashed towards Yang Kai viciously.
An astonishing axe light that seemed capable of smashing anything in its path flew towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered as he dodged this blow.
At that moment though, another figure flew out from the ground and pushed both his palms forward, condensing a strange, giant flower that resembled an enormous beast’s mouth that bit towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s face became gloomy as he pushed his Space Force and mysteriously disappeared from his position only to reappear a few dozen metres away.
The strange flower failed to play any role and immediately flew back to the hands of the second attacker, its petals opening and closing just like it was breathing, releasing a sweet fragrance into the air.
“Mi Tian!” Yang Kai grinned as he revealed a playful look, “Great! You’re both here! It seems you knew I would come here; were you lying in ambush?”
“Indeed,” Mi Tian smiled lightly, his expression calm and temperate. “You possess a Divine Dragon Source, and the Origin Essence Crystal’s existence here is not a secret amongst my Monster Race. After you suddenly joined the group our Monster Emperor Star sent to the Blood Prison, how could we not know what you were planning? Was it Senior Chi Yue who asked you to come?”
“Not bad, it seems like your intellect isn’t lacking!” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“And the Origin Essence Crystal?” Mi Tian’s breathing became a little quick.
“Since I came out, what do you think happened to that Origin Essence Crystal?” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
“You really succeeded!” Mi Tian took a breath, the greed on his face obvious to any who looked.
“You want it?” Yang Kai looked at him sarcastically, “With only you two, I’m afraid you don’t have such ability. You’d best be careful not to overestimate yourselves!”
Seeing the naked contempt Yang Kai had for them, neither Xue Lian nor Mi Tian felt comfortable.
Although they did not want to admit it, both of them knew that when it came to a one on one fight, neither of them was Yang Kai’s opponent. Back at Chi Yue’s palace, Yang Kai had already proven his strength.
“Whether we have enough ability, we’ll see after we fight,” Mi Tian coldly snorted.
Yang Kai was about to laugh when he suddenly frowned and fully released his Shi, creating a hundred-metre zone around himself where space began to warp and innumerable tiny Void Cracks swam about like snakes.
In the collapsed and chaotic space, a cold light suddenly appeared. It seemed that this light had originally tried to attack Yang Kai’s back; however, the twisted space affected its accuracy, causing it to miss and become swallowed by The Void.
With a soft thud, a third figure appeared like a ghost, frowning as it leapt back. Wearing a solemn expression, this newcomer shook his head and sighed, “He is truly difficult to deal with!”
Yang Kai stood tall, like a mountain, glanced back coldly, and said with some surprise, “Lie Feng! You’re also here!”
He had not expected that the third person who attacked him would be Lie Feng from Wild Lion Territory.
Three rising stars of the Monster Race from three territories had gathered!
Mi Tian and Xue Lian’s ambush Yang Kai could understand; after all, there was some friction between him and these two so how could they possibly give up such an opportunity? But Lie Feng being involved in this matter was really a surprise. When Yang Kai first entered the Blood Prison, Lie Feng had invited him to act together, but now, only a few days later, he turned into an enemy who launched a sneak attack on him.
On Monster Mountain, the Monster Qi was quite thick, so it was not difficult for these three Monster Race rising stars to hide themselves perfectly. If Yang Kai’s senses had not been unusually sharp, Lie Feng’s sneak attack may really have succeeded.
“Lie Feng, I have no grievances with you, right?” Yang Kai looked at him coldly and asked calmly.
Lie Feng gave a dry laugh and quickly said, “Naturally not.”
“Then why are you doing this?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
“Brother Yang, please forgive me,” Lie Feng said slightly apologetically, cupping his fists and saying calmly. “To be honest, I don’t want to be enemies with Brother Yang if possible, but since this matter involves that Origin Essence Crystal, I cannot stay out of it.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Understood.”
“Now that Brother Yang understands, this Lie can relax. Every Tribal Lord is aware of the Origin Essence Crystal here and wants to obtain it; however, there was no way to do so. Now that Brother Yang has achieved this, I cannot simply let you leave with it. If Brother Yang can hand over the Origin Essence Crystal, I think Xue Lian and Mi Tian should let you go safely though.”
“Do you think I’ll hand it over?” Yang Kai sneered softly.
Lie Feng thought about it for a while, then said seriously, “No. If I was in your place, I wouldn’t hand it over either.”
“Why are you bothering with all this nonsense? Let’s just kill him quickly! No matter how strong he is, he is all alone, so why should we fear him when there are three of us joining forces?” Xue Lian was the most hot-tempered here, and seeing Yang Kai and Lie Feng chat idly, he felt extremely worked up. After shouting out loud, Xue Lian put strength into his legs and rushed towards Yang Kai.
Releasing all his strength, Xue Lian condensed a huge Blood Flood Dragon phantom behind his back.
Xue Lian clearly knew Yang Kai’s strength so he went all out right from the start!
Mi Tian did not bother with any nonsense. The moment Xue Lian acted, he also roared and sent the strange flower atop his head into a whirl, its petals flying out, disappearing into thin air as they shot forward.
Lie Feng’s figure also faded away again and disappeared without a trace, his figure completely hidden from view.
The three Monster Race rising stars launched an all-out assault all at once.
“Good! Since all of you are courting death, I’ll satisfy you!” Yang Kai, in a one versus three, not only remained fearless but rather his expression became fierce. Five-coloured rays of light suddenly covered his whole body and scrapings sounds seemed to ring out from his body as tiny, nearly invisible Five Elements Sword Qi emerged from every pore on his skin. This extremely sharp Sword Qi provided an extremely strong barrier, but also greatly enhanced his offensive strength.
Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi was originally for both offence and defence!
With his muscles pulling taut, filled with explosive power, Yang Kai threw out three punches to meet Xue Lian’s wild attack.
A violent explosion broke out between the two parties, causing space itself to tremble.
Yang Kai remained unmoved while Xue Lian’s sturdy body recoiled sharply three times before his arms fell weakly to his sides.
In a head-on collision, he was obviously not Yang Kai’s opponent!
Without giving Xue Lian a chance to react, Yang Kai clenched his fist and gathered a dozen Golden Blood Threads together, condensed them into a golden spear, then thrust it towards Xue Lian at phenomenal speed.
Xue Lian’s complexion changed drastically as his eyes filled with shock.
The instant they clashed, he realized that Yang Kai was now much stronger than when they had fought back at Chi Yue’s palace!
At that time, Yang Kai was only a bit stronger than him, but now, Xue Lian was feeling completely suppressed, unable to think of any way to resist. Yang Kai’s imposing offensive smashed his confidence as if it were rotten wood.
This situation could only be explained two ways. One was that Yang Kai had not used his full strength previously, and the other was that Yang Kai had experienced significant growth in the Blood Prison!
Xue Lian’s courage completely shattered!
Perceiving the terrifying power contained in the golden spear, Xue Lian didn’t dare neglect it and hurriedly summoned a defensive artifact in front of him while at the same time crossing his arms across his chest, gritting his teeth, and roaring fiercely, preparing to meet this attack.
*Guangdang…*
A sound like metal pounding metal echoed throughout Monster Mountain.
The protective artifact that Xue Lian hurriedly summoned failed to play any role and was directly pierced by the golden spear, allowing it to stab towards him without any reduction in momentum.
On Xue Lian’s arms, the blood-coloured scales were easily punctured, leaving behind a bone deep wound that sprayed out blood as his body was sent flying into the dark cave.
A clattering rang out from the depths of the cave that did not stop for some time. No one knew where Xue Lian finally landed or how badly he was wounded.
Yang Kai turned around without stopping and waved his hand, creating a massive crescent-shaped Void Crack behind him that immediately began swallowing everything around it.
Lie Feng’s panicked cry rang out as his embarrassed figure re-appeared and hurriedly retreated. Staring at the crescent-shaped Void Crack with a solemn expression, he did not dare approach and could only avoid it.
He had been forced out by Yang Kai without even being able to launch an attack.
Strange flower petals suddenly appeared around Yang Kai, spinning like sharp blades as they scythed toward him from all directions. While these petals spun, however, they also scattered an intoxicating fragrance that seemed to affect one’s consciousness.
This attack by Mi Tian was timed perfectly to catch Yang Kai off balance after he forced Lie Feng back.
In an instant, the countless petals engulfed Yang Kai and re-formed the strange flower from before.
Yang Kai’s figure disappeared at that moment! It was as if he had been swallowed by this strange flower.
Mi Tian did not celebrate, though, and instead frowned tightly as he looked around nervously.
He could perceive that his attack had no effect and that Yang Kai somehow escaped at the critical moment.
“You want to kill me? The three of you are not enough!” A sarcastic voice came from nearby, causing Mi Tian’s eyes to shrink as he quickly looked up to see Yang Kai mid-air completely unscathed.
His face suddenly became gloomy.
Lie Feng quietly appeared beside Mi Tian and also stared coldly, without saying a word.
Three Monster Race rising stars teaming up may not have been enough to face a genuine Origin King, but at the very least they should have been invincible in the Origin Returning Realm.
None of them were ordinary Origin Returning Realm cultivators, all of them being the top elite from Monster Emperor Star!
But the result of this brief battle caused their blood to turn cold!
Without any significant effort, Yang Kai had managed to resolve all their attacks and even send Xue Lian flying. Even now, there was no sign of Xue Lian moving, or even if he was still alive. Meanwhile, the remaining two rising stars had been completely suppressed.
“Is this bastard really human?” Lie Feng brow twitched, deeply regretting wading into these muddy waters.
He knew that Yang Kai was very powerful, otherwise he would not have been able to teach Xue Lian a lesson at Chi Yue’s palace, so when he first entered the Blood Prison, he had invited Yang Kai to act together.
But after he learned about the Origin Essence Crystal from Mi Tian and Xue Lian, he could not just sit idly by.
The Origin Essence Crystal was simply too valuable, enough so that he had to take some risks if it meant he could obtain it.
He had thought that by working with Xue Lian and Mi Tian, Yang Kai would be outnumbered and overwhelmed, but judging from their brief confrontation now, Lei Feng realized it was their side that was in danger!
This human was simply too Heaven-defying! With only a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, he must be a unique existence across all of history for being able to achieve this degree of strength.
“Lie Feng, stay focused. There’s no medicine in this world for regret, now it is either he dies or we die!” Mi Tian glanced at him with a gloomy expression, his determination to kill Yang Kai not wavering.
Lie Feng slowly shook his head, “There is no turning back an arrow already released from a bow, I naturally understand this. Alright, once Brother Xue Lian returns, we’ll attack all at once, only then will we have a chance!”
Mi Tian did not refute. When facing Yang Kai, he had no choice but to throw away his pride.
The two stood side by side, their eyes wandering between Yang Kai and the cave nearby anxiously.
Xue Lian remained silent, however, as if he had really been killed by Yang Kai with a single move.
But that should have been impossible. No matter how powerful Yang Kai was, Xue Lian had displayed his Flood Dragon Transformation and had extremely solid defence, so how could he have died so easily?
Mi Tian and Lie Feng did not understand what Xue Lian was doing and were silently cursing him for screwing up at such a crucial moment.
Suddenly though, a terrible roar rang out from inside the cave, one that was both thunderous and deafening.
“It’s Xue Lian!” Mi Tian frowned, his expression becoming uncertain. He did not know why Xue Lian was crying out so madly. Even if he were enraged and unwilling, his normal response would have been to rush out and challenge Yang Kai again, so what was he doing?
“Something’s not right!” Lie Feng suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of crisis grip his heart, an instinctual warning telling him to retreat immediately if he wanted to preserve his life.
This feeling made him extremely uncomfortable!
Like Mi Tian and Lie Feng, Yang Kai also looked towards the cave with dignified eyes, faintly aware that something was wrong.
However, he was more curious than concerned. He did not know what Xue Lian was doing, or whether he was about to use some earth-shattering Secret Technique, but he wasn’t afraid either.
After a while, Xue Lian’s roars suddenly subsided, as if someone had pinched his throat and forcibly silenced him.
But while his roars had ceased, the rich Monster Qi surrounding Monster Mountain suddenly became turbulent, as if it had received some kind of summoning and rushed towards the cave.
The cave was like the open maw of a giant beast, sucking in the massive amount of Monster Qi around it. Less than ten breaths later, the rich Monster Qi that had pervaded Monster Mountain for over ten thousand years disappeared.
Yang Kai frowned.
Mi Tian and Lie Feng looked at each other and seemed to be confused about the situation.
Inside the cave, a fierce aura slowly swelled, its strength causing Yang Kai to feel a little uncomfortable.
*Sha sha sha…*
The sound of footsteps came from the cave, and soon after, Xue Lian’s figure emerged from the entrance. At this moment, he no longer looked disheveled or even angry, instead displaying a thoughtful look on his face as he stretched his hands out in front of himself and seemed to be examining them carefully.
In the depths of his eyes, a joyful light flashed.
“Xue Lian, what are you doing?” Mi Tian yelled with an angry look. Right now, while they were facing off against Yang Kai, Xue Lian had suddenly begun acting so unnaturally, upsetting Mi Tian greatly.
Yang Kai was too strong, and even with three of them there was no guarantee they could kill him, so they could not afford to make any mistakes now.
“He seems different from just now,” Lie Feng squinted as he stared at the entrance to the cave.
“We need to kill Yang Kai first! We can talk about other things later!” Mi Tian coldly snorted and once again sent his strange monster flower to attack Yang Kai.
Although Lie Feng felt there was something off about Xue Lian, he also knew that this was not the time to worry about such things, his figure fading away as he quietly approached Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, however, had most of his attention focused on Xue Lian.
The current Xue Lian was completely different from just now, and Yang Kai felt a strong pressure coming from him!
Xue Lian also seemed to come back to his senses at that moment, his two blood-red eyes glancing light towards a certain spot before a strange lustre flashed across them and he called out, “Shadow Eagle lineage? Interesting, I didn’t expect to meet a descendant of my old friend right after I saw the sun again!”
After saying this inexplicable sentence, Xue Lian took a step forward.
Ignoring the barriers of space, he appeared a hundred metres away in an instant. No one saw how he moved, and even Yang Kai, who had been paying close attention to him, only noticed some clues.
It was not that Xue Lian had leapt over space, his speed had simply been too fast, so much so that his Divine Sense was unable to keep up.
Xue Lian stretched out his hand and grabbed towards empty space seemingly at will.
With a grasp, space suddenly solidified.
A flurried figure appeared at that moment: Lie Feng, who had just disappeared.
Lie Feng’s expression was both startled and angry. He never thought that Xue Lian would ruin his good deed and hurriedly tried to withdraw and ask what was going on.
However, Xue Lian did not give him such an opportunity. Inexplicably, his blood-red, scale-clad hand clenched Lie Feng’s neck!
Yang Kai’s face changed, while Mi Tian was equally surprised.
Unable to care about attacking Yang Kai anymore, Mi Tian glared at Xue Lian and shouted sharply, “What are you doing?”
The three of them had joined forces to ambush Yang Kai, but now, while their enemy was unharmed, Xue Lian had targeted one of their own side. This was simply intolerable!
But Xue Lian didn’t pay any attention to Mi Tian’s interrogation and instead lifted Lie Feng up high, as if he was holding a child. Staring at him with indifferent scarlet eyes, he asked, “Who is that old bastard Tian Jiu to you?”
Lie Feng finally noticed that something was terribly wrong and desperately pushed his Monster Qi to free himself from Xue Lian’s control, but no matter how hard he tried, his Monster Qi seemed to be imprisoned inside his body, unable to circulate.
“You’re not Xue Lian!” Lie Feng exclaimed in shock.
It was absolutely impossible for Xue Lian to have the ability to subdue him like this. Combined with the changes in Monster Mountain’s Monster Qi, Lie Feng immediately understood what was going on.
“Soul possession!” Yang Kai and Mi Tian also reacted at the same time, calling out in shock.
“You brats have decent eyesight!” Xue Lian gave a weird laugh, not trying to deny it. Instead, he stared deeply at Yang Kai as a look of greed flashed across his eyes.
Yang Kai felt a shiver up his spine when he saw this, unsure what this gaze meant.
Xue Lian did not pay much attention to him after that though, retracted his gaze, and continued to ask, “Who is Tian Jiu to you?”
“My ancestor!” Lie Feng flushed and answered through clenched teeth.
“Is he still alive?” Xue Lian tilted his head.
“Ancestor fell many years ago, doesn’t Senior know?” Lie Feng asked in a deep voice.
When Tian Jiu was alive, he was a peak-level master on Monster Emperor Star, an extremely powerful Monster King with a Third-Order Origin King cultivation. Unfortunately, he fell thousands of years ago. Lie Feng was currently the strongest of Tian Jiu’s descendants.
“He actually died, such a pity, this King still had some old accounts to settle with him,” Xue Lian seemed a little disappointed, but soon grinned widely. “But that doesn’t matter, it’s all in the past. Since this King has bumped into one of that old dog’s descendants, he can just take his anger out on you.”
“May I ask who Senior is?” Lie Feng asked in a trembling voice. He could feel Xue Lian’s big hand squeezing harder and harder, to the point where he could barely breathe.
“This King and Tian Jiu were born in the same era, and have a lot of grievances between us; who do you think this King is?” Xue Lian laughed lowly.
Lie Feng’s face turned pale as he said, tremblingly, “You are Mad Crocodile King, the one who fell here!”
Lie Feng was naturally familiar with his family’s history. Over ten thousand years ago, when Heavenly Eagle King was still alive, the Shadow Eagle clan was amongst the strongest forces and almost dominated all of Monster Emperor Star. Unfortunately, there was another powerful Monster King who could fight against Heavenly Eagle King.
That was Mad Crocodile Monster King!
Hearing Xue Lian’s words, Lie Feng immediately realized his identity.
The one who had seized Xue Lian’s body was the bloody and brutal Mad Crocodile Monster King!
Rumour had it that his cultivation was earth-shaking, and due to his incredibly brutal nature, the number of Monster and Human Race masters who had died at his hands was uncountable. All of Monster Emperor Star despised him, so they called him Mad Crocodile Monster King.
Tian Jiu had tried to kill him many times, but never succeeded, instead just creating a deeper and deeper enmity between them.
One day, however, Mad Crocodile Monster King suddenly disappeared from Monster Emperor Star, with most not knowing where he had gone.
Chi Yue and the other Tribal Lord level characters knew that Mad Crocodile King had fallen in the Blood Prison, but the younger generation was not privy to such knowledge.
Now that he knew the truth, Lie Feng lost all hope!
Having been caught by such a Monster Race master, how could his end be good?
“Good, this King fell here, but this King can make a comeback starting today! Heh heh, since you are the descendant of Tian Jiu, you can only blame your bad luck for meeting this King,” Xue Lian sneered as he tightened his grip around Lie Feng’s neck viciously. With a crack, Lie Feng’s body went limp and his head fell to the side, the light in his eyes quickly dimming!
Lie Feng died!
Xue Lian was now far stronger than before!
Mi Tian gulped hard as his face paled.
Even facing Yang Kai, he had never felt so powerless, but Mad Crocodile Monster King’s terrifying reputation rendered him incapable of summoning the will to resist.
The moment Lie Feng died, Mi Tian did not hesitate to flee, wanting to escape from this place above all else.
“Without this King’s permission, you think you can leave?” Xue Lian suddenly turned to look at the location of Mi Tian and casually reached out his hand, sending out a burst of strange, ethereal power.
The space in front of Mi Tian seemed to solidify into an iron wall, one Mi Tian slammed into and was stopped by.
Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he watched this scene, a vague sense of understanding suddenly coming to him.
The power Xue Lian used was naturally Domain! Although Xue Lian’s current aura was still just at the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, Mad Crocodile Monster King was a genuine Third-Order Origin King! It was understandable that he could still use Domain to a certain extent.
[So you can use this power in such a manner!] Yang Kai’s eyes shone brilliantly, seeming extremely interested in Xue Lian’s methods.
Mi Tian could not escape this way, so he immediately changed direction, but Xue Lian simply snorted coldly and sent out a phantom Blood Flood Dragon with a wave of his hand, which swiftly transformed into a kind of rope and flew towards Mi Tian.
Mi Tian roared furiously, spun around, and shot his strange flower artifact’s thousands of petals towards Xue Lian.
At the same time, his eyes suddenly flashed a strange brilliance as he stared directly towards Xue Lian.
Xue Lian showed no fear and instead just sneered contemptuously, “Soul Swallowing Evil Eye! You dare use such pathetic means to deal with this King? Boy, your overconfidence is shocking!”
Saying so, his scarlet eyes became deep and dark, like bottomless pits, and pulled in all of Mi Tian’s eye power.
A terrifying wave of Spiritual Energy also burst forth.
Mi Tian screamed, as if he was subjected to intolerable pain, and his entire aura rapidly deflated.
Not only had Mi Tian’s Evil Eye failed to play any role, Xue Lian had counterattacked and greatly damaged his Soul.
The blood-red rope tied around Mi Tian tightly in that instant, preventing him from escaping.
Xue Lian grinned, raised his hand up high, and slowly clenched his fist.
The blood-red rope that bound Mi Tian, following the movement of this fist, slowly tightened around Mi Tian’s body.
“No!” Mi Tian yelled, but to no avail. The blood-red rope quickly began crushing his physique and breaking his bones.
With a resounding crack, Mi Tian’s body was crushed, his flesh and blood spattering out!
With just a few light gestures, he had killed two of the Monster Race’s rising stars. Xue Lian looked down at his hands and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face, “Not bad, the ancient Blood Flood Dragon lineage really has its own uniqueness.”
He seemed to be quite satisfied with his new body.
But soon, he slowly shook his head, raised his eyes, and stared at Yang Kai with a fiercer gaze. His eyes were filled with greed. To him, Yang Kai’s existence seemed even more attractive!
“Aren’t you going to run?” Xue Lian asked in a somewhat stunned voice. He had been paying attention to Yang Kai’s movements when he killed Mi Tian and Lie Feng to ensure Yang Kai did not have a chance to escape.
However, from start to finish, this human boy simply stood there, observing everything indifferently, not showing any intentions to flee, a fact that surprised Xue Lian greatly.
“Why should I run?” Yang Kai stood there with a grin and asked with his brow casually raised.
“You’re not afraid of death? Are you not worried this King will kill you?” Xue Lian showed an expression of interest.
“It is uncertain who will be the victor or deceased. Senior should be careful not to speak too confidently,” Yang Kai chuckled.
Xue Lian narrowed his eyes as he stared at Yang Kai earnestly for a moment before nodding, “Although I don’t want to admit it, you’re much better than those brats from my Monster Race, human. It seems my Monster Race is on the decline now.”
“Senior’s praise is unnecessary,” Yang Kai still remained indifferent. “But Senior does not need to keep up this act. Even if you were a Monster King ten thousand years ago, how much strength can you display right now after just seizing that body? If Senior were to suddenly come up short here, your death will be quite ugly.”
Xue Lian was startled briefly but soon burst into laughter, nodding in approval, “Good good, even if you know this King’s identity, you still don’t show the slightest fear and are even able to talk back in such an arrogant tone. Human boy, I praise you for your confidence. It is to the point that this King feels a little bit reluctant to kill you. Good, this King has just seized this body, and after ten thousand years of decay, cannot display anywhere near his peak strength, but… it’s still more than enough to kill you. What’s more, you must die as this King has taken a liking to the Golden Divine Dragon Source in your body. However, if you obediently hand it over, this King can grant you a swift death!”
“Golden Divine Dragon Source?” Yang Kai frowned, revealing a faint look. “It turns out that Senior wanted to attack me in the cave just now, no wonder I felt that something was wrong.”
“Your senses are sharp too!” Xue Lian snorted coldly, “Enough nonsense, surrender without a fight and this King can show mercy, but if you dare to resist…”
“So what if I resist?” Yang Kai snorted back, his figure flickering the moment he spoke, disappearing strangely from where he stood.
“This is…” Xue Lian frowned, revealing a dignified look. The moment Yang Kai disappeared, he noticed a strange power fluctuation, one that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him, but soon he identified it and exclaimed, “Space Force!”
Xue Lian’s eyes burst with a terrifying blood-red light as his expression twisted into one filled with excitement.
He hadn’t expected that this human boy’s body would contain so many treasures worth coveting.
Without even mentioning the Golden Divine Dragon Source, a treasure any Monster Race master would desire, just this boy’s ability to use Space Force was not something ordinary cultivators could achieve.
As long as he could seize this human boy’s body, whether it was the Golden Divine Dragon Source or his understanding of the Dao of Space, he could claim it all! Although his original body also inherited an ancient bloodline, it was only a diluted Variant bloodline, incomparable to a Golden Divine Dragon’s. Xue Lian felt that if he could seize Yang Kai’s body and occupy all these advantages, he may be able to reach a cultivation even higher than his previous peak!
“Excellent! The Heavens have graced this King!” Xue Lian laughed, his blood-red eyes filled with greed.
A tearing sound suddenly rang out as a half-moon-shaped Void Crack suddenly appeared a dozen or so metres in front of Xue Lian. This Void Crack was ten metres long and as soon as it formed began releasing a chaotic aura, one that made those who felt it extremely uncomfortable, as if an invisible force was trying to draw them in and exile them to the endless Void.
“Your mastery of the Dao of Space Force has actually reached such a level!” Xue Lian exclaimed in excitement.
Still, standing on the spot without moving or even evading, Xue Lian simply stretched his hand forward.
As he clenched his fist, the rapidly advancing crescent-shaped Void Crack suddenly seemed to be restrained by an invisible force and stopped mid-air, unable to advance any further.
Xue Lian frowned at that moment and pushed his Monster Qi madly, roaring angrily, “Break!”
After this shout, the crescent-shaped Void Crack was crushed by him and the surrounding distorted space began to twist and repair itself.
*Huala…*
A slight noise came from the soles of Xue Lian’s feet, and a small grey figure leapt out of the ground before swinging down a jet-black stick it was carrying.
“What’s this?” Xue Lian was taken aback. Even with his sharp senses, he was unable to notice any trace of this creature approaching him. It wasn’t until this figure emerged from the ground that Xue Lian was even aware of its presence.
Looking at this newly appeared figure, it was clear it wasn’t a creature but instead a human-shaped rock.
It was quite small, only about half the size of any ordinary person.
However, the black stick it held in both hands had a force behind its swing that frightened Xue Lian greatly!
If this stick hit him, Xue Lian was certain he would suffer.
His face sank and a cold snort left his throat as Xue Lian released a blood-red mist from his body that seemed to have a mind of its own and rapidly condensed into a protective layer around him.
The pitch-black struck in the next instant.
A loud crack sounded as Xue Lian’s defence was unable to withstand the power of this blow and broke, allowing the black stick to slam down at him unabated.
Xue Lian’s complexion finally changed as he once again displayed his Flood Dragon Transformation to cover his arms in blood-red scales and throw out a fierce punch to meet this stick. This punch not only contained enormous physical power but also a strange aura.
Domain!
*Hong…*
Blood-coloured and black light collided to create a dazzling explosive halo. Xue Lian’s figure was directly smashed into the ground while Xiao Xiao was also sent flying, landing with a thud some distance away. Quickly shaking his head though, Xiao Xiao stood up, as if nothing had happened.
A sharp bird cry rang out at that moment as a strange giant flaming bird manifested high up above.
Flapping its wings, the Firebird Artifact Spirit opened its beak and sprayed out a barrage of burning hot fireballs towards Xue Lian’s position.
Xue Lian’s roar instantly sounded along with the echoes of exploding fireballs!
Yang Kai’s figure appeared like a ghost at this time and dove straight down from the sky. The Verdant Dragon Bone Sword was already in his hand and a giant dark green dragon appeared as he poured his Saint Qi into it, opened its gaping maw, and rushed towards Xue Lian, as if it wanted to swallow him whole!
Yang Kai had used almost all his cards at this moment, not showing any intention of holding back.
His opponent’s strength was unfathomable and Yang Kai would naturally not regard him as a common Origin Returning Realm master.
The giant dark green dragon ferociously hit the ground, sending out a massive shockwave. Yang Kai then ejected hundreds of Golden Blood Threads to madly slice through the surrounding space.
“Boy, you court death!” Xue Lian roared furiously. He never expected he would suffer such a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands just after seeing the sun again after thousands of years.
He thought Yang Kai was no different from Mi Tian or Lie Feng, who he had easily killed just now. He had severely underestimated Yang Kai’s abilities.
Releasing his Domain, Xue Lian stopped all the fireballs dropping towards him ten metres outside his body, causing all of them to burst. At the same time, he punched away the giant dark green dragon, sending it flying. As for Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads, they didn’t have much effect, leaving only shallow scars on the surface of Xue Lian’s body.
After being taken over, Xue Lian’s strength had massively increased.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and stretched out his hand, summoning his Purple Shield to defend his body.
The next moment, a blood-red giant fist bombarded the shield.
*Bang…*
After following Yang Kai for many years, the Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact that had been repaired and refined several times by Yang Yan was completely shattered.
The destruction of the Purple Shield slowed the destructive power of Xue Lian’s punch, allowing Yang Kai a chance to intercept it with one of his own.
When the two fists collided, Yang Kai only felt an incredible impact he was unable to resist. As hot liquid filled his throat, Yang Kai was sent flying a few thousand metres before managing to stabilize his figure.
After standing firm, Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of blood before staring forward fixedly.
In the direction he stared, with the dust clearing, Yang Kai saw a dishevelled Xue Lian glaring back at him with a hideous and terrifying expression.
He seemed to have become truly enraged.
Yang Kai grinned widely as his nerves settled.
Just now, although he seemed to be going all out, Yang Kai was actually making a careful but forceful probe.
Now that he obtained the desired result, he was naturally happy.
Xue Lian wasn’t invincible!
He was wary of the Heaven Shaking Pillar held by Xiao Xiao, Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Threads, the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword, and the Firebird Artifact Spirit!
All of Yang Kai’s means could cause him harm!
This was enough. Yang Kai had been worried that no matter how hard he tried, Xue Lian would remain unharmed. If that was really the case, he would have immediately fled. If he couldn’t break his opponent’s defences, what point would there be in fighting?
As Yang Kai’s mind turned sharply, Xue Lian’s furious expression abated significantly, as if he became aware of something and a look of dread flashed across his eyes.
He finally understood the situation he was in clearly. Yang Kai was very different from Lie Feng and Mi Tian and not an existence he could kill at will.
This little brat was oddly strong!
Sweeping his eyes solemnly over the Firebird, Stone Puppet, and giant dark green dragon, Xue Lian suddenly shouted, “Boy, you are truly impressive! Since you cultivate Space Force, this King is not confident he can kill you! En, how about we make a deal? Leave behind this King’s Origin Essence Crystal and we can shake hands and make peace, from now on not interfering with one another!”
“You want that Origin Essence Crystal?” Yang Kai grinned.
“Yes, that is this King’s core, this King naturally cannot give it away.”
“In your dreams!” Yang Kai laughed, “The Origin Essence Crystal is mine now, there’s no way I will return it. If you want it, come get it yourself.”
“Boy, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! This King appreciates your talent and does not want to bully the weak, don’t make the mistake of embarrassing yourself here.”
“Really? Why does it sound more like Senior is lacking in confidence? Don’t you want my Golden Divine Dragon Source? If you kill me, everything is yours, why bother wasting so much breath here?”
Xue Lian’s face sank, “Boy, are you really not going to give this King face?”
“What thing are you?” Yang Kai smiled contemptuously.
“Good, you are one of the few who dare talk to this King like this other than that old ghost Tian Jiu, but you will die here today so, it matters not!” Xue Lian roared and released a blood-red mist from his body, enveloping him to the point where his figure disappeared and only a cloud of blood remained.
Immediately, this blood cloud flew forward at an extremely fast speed and enveloped Yang Kai.
Inside this blood mist, a terrifying and astonishing energy fluctuation broke out as blood-red rays shot towards Yang Kai like a living creature, trying to entangle him.
At the same time, a mysterious power surged around him.
Yang Kai suddenly felt that moving became difficult and the Saint Qi in his body was slightly suppressed.
Domain!
Yang Kai released his Shi madly, causing the surrounding space to twist and collapse.
However, his Shi was completely suppressed by Xue Lian’s Domain and could only extend a finger length outside his body.
“Your Shi is close to the grand accomplishment stage!” Xue Lian commented in surprise, “You have the capital to back up your arrogance, boy. A mere Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, yet Shi condensed to such a level, however… you’re still not good enough!”
With a wide grin, Xue Lian released a large amount of Blood Qi filled with malice from his body, transformed it into flood dragons, and sent them hurtling towards Yang Kai from all directions.
This Evil Qi was filled with Mad Crocodile Monster King’s malevolent aura, and an average cultivator that was contaminated with it would immediately become deranged.
Although Yang Kai did not completely understand the mysteries behind this attack, how could he just stand there and allow it to get close?
Hundreds of Golden Blood Threads flew out from his body, like hundreds of tiny arms, waving and shuttling about his figure.
The pressure from Xue Lian’s Domain was instantly reduced!
Golden Blood Threads had the miraculous ability to cut apart Shi. Domain was an evolved form of Shi, so these Golden Blood Threads were able to restrain it somewhat. One or two may not have been enough to make a difference, but with hundreds working together, they could display some positive effects.
Yang Kai’s Shi spread a metre beyond his skin in an instant.
With a wave of his hand, the giant dark-green dragon transformed into a green glow and flew back to his hand, assuming its normal Dragon Bone Sword shape.
A loud dragon roar sounded from the sword as Yang Kai held it in one hand, poured his Saint Qi into it, and swung it forward.
A green sword wave tore through space and ripped the blood-red aura around him in half before soaring towards Xue Lian who was still hidden inside the blood mist.
Xue Lian could not ignore this attack and was forced to dodge, but before he could regain his stance, a burly figure suddenly emerged from the ground.
Stone Puppet!
The Stone Puppet at this moment suddenly transformed into a stone giant while the Heaven Shaking Pillar in its hand also grew to a terrifying size, nearly five metres long. The jet-black stick carried a Heaven destroying and Earth-shattering momentum with it that caught Xue Lian off guard as it smashed towards him.
Xue Lian was stunned and did not dare take a blow from the Heaven Shaking Pillar, so with a flicker of his figure, he dodged once more while simultaneously sending out a fierce punch.
There was a terrifying power contained in the fist that struck the Stone Puppet’s chest.
With a bang, Xiao Xiao was forced back several steps and several stone chips blew off from his chest.
The Stone Puppet was obviously taken aback.
Since its birth, it had never been hurt by anyone; today was the first time!
Even if it was only a few stone chips, it was still an injury.
Xiao Xiao’s round eyes suddenly filled with a ferocious light as it stretched out its free hand and pounded its chest loudly. Immediately after, the Stone Puppet’s body filled with a shocking, blazing hot energy.
A hot aura burst from Xiao Xiao’s body, one seemingly capable of burning all creation.
The body of the Stone Puppet also seemed to melt, and its entire figure turned fiery red!
Yang Kai was dumbfounded, not knowing what happened to Xiao Xiao. He had never seen such a change in the Stone Puppet before and fell back in a flurry to avoid a frontal confrontation with Xue Lian so he could pay close attention to Xiao Xiao’s condition.
He was not sure whether this sudden change was good or bad for the Stone Puppet.
Soon, the Stone Puppet’s body had become covered in a molten magma-like substance.
At a glance, it appeared like Xiao Xiao was now wearing a lava armour! The heat radiating from this lava armour was so intense that even Yang Kai did not dare to approach easily.
“Sun’s True Fire!” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
He felt the aura of the Sun’s True Fire coming from this lava armour!
In a flash, Yang Kai suddenly understood.
Xiao Xiao had swallowed the Sun’s True Essence many years ago, but since then, he had never used this power; as a result, even Yang Kai did not know he was capable of this.
But today, Xue Lian’s punch undoubtedly infuriated the Stone Puppet and forced him to utilize his full strength!
Wearing his lava armour, Xiao Xiao suddenly transformed into a lava giant, and while carrying the unbelievably heavy Heaven Shaking Pillar in one hand, he clenched his other into a fist as a fiendish grin appeared on his always simple and honest looking face, a strange sight indeed.
*Deng deng deng…*
Xiao Xiao charged forward into the cloud of blood mist without fear, swinging his huge burning fist towards Xue Lian.
Xue Lian let out a strange roar as the thick blood mist rapidly became thin, as if it was being evaporated by the power of the Sun’s True Fire.
After a couple dozen punches, Xue Lian’s figure was exposed again.
His complexion was blue as he stared at the lava giant that was constantly approaching him with great dread, and his eyes filled with a look of shock.
Even with his vast knowledge, he had never even heard of a creature like the one in front of him now.
The first time it attacked him, it was only half the height of a regular person, looking quite small and delicate. The second time it attacked it had suddenly grown into a mighty giant. Now, it seemed to have transformed again into a giant made from molten lava.
Xue Lian retreated again and again, not daring to meet Xiao Xiao head-on.
The Firebird took advantage of this situation to launch a new barrage of fireballs
These fireballs not only contained scorching heat but also arcs of lightning.
The Firebird had also swallowed several Sun’s True Fire wisps, allowing it to achieve incredible growth. It had also swallowed several Heaven Scorching Thunder Fires, which let its flames take on a violent Thunder Attribute aura.
Its flames were even more terrifying than the Stone Puppet’s, and what it lacked compared to Xiao Xiao’s sheer power, it made up for in agility and flexibility.
Yang Kai’s two great helpers, one on the ground and the other in the sky, joined forces to completely suppress Xue Lian.
Yang Kai could not help grinning.
With the Firebird and Stone Puppet alone, Xue Lian could not act freely. Even if he had been a Monster King ten thousand years ago and could even still use a bit of his Domain, his current body greatly limited his strength in the end.
If he had been at his peak, Xue Lian would have been able to deal with Yang Kai with a wave of his hand.
Any Third-Order Origin King was not to be trifled with.
However, a great dragon trapped in a shallow pond could not create any big waves.
“Scram!” In a distressed state, Xue Lian roared and sent a fierce punch towards the Stone Puppet, the huge force behind it forcing Xiao Xiao back a hundred metres or so.
However, Xue Lian’s fist was also severely burnt as a result.
In the next instant, he charged forward, dodging the Firebird’s bombardment, and leapt straight towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was the key to this battle. So long as Yang Kai was killed, the Stone Puppet and Firebird that listened to his orders wouldn’t be able to cause Xue Lian any trouble. As such, he made up his mind to launch an attack with his full strength in hopes of executing Yang Kai in a single blow.
Domain surged forth, consuming Yang Kai as Xue Lian pounced forth.
Yang Kai pushed his Shi madly to resist this Domain, but it was clearly being overwhelmed and was soon suppressed back into his body.
Xue Lian closed in, a fiendish look upon his face as he roared madly.
This roar was piercing like a sword that sank into the heart of anyone who heard it, penetrating Yang Kai’s Soul and causing his movements to freeze up.
“Boy, you’re dead!” Xue Lian yelled frantically as he reached out to grab Yang Kai.
“Oh really?” A strange smile suddenly appeared on Yang Kai’s face as his body suddenly shook and a low growl erupted from his throat, “Dragon Transformation!”
A glorious golden light burst forth as golden scales suddenly emerged from Yang Kai’s right arm, covering his skin in a kind of impenetrable armour.
Golden light flashed from his hand as it transformed into a giant dragon claw.
The overwhelming aura of a Divine Dragon filled the air.
Xue Lian’s eyes instinctively flashed with fear and his seemingly unstoppable momentum rapidly deflated.
The pressure of an Ancient Divine Spirit had a suppressive effect on any Monster Race, let alone the ruler of those Divine Spirits!
Whether it was Xue Lian’s body or Mad Crocodile Monster King’s Soul, both were distant descendants of Variant Ancient Divine Spirits, incomparable to a Golden Divine Dragon.
Yang Kai struck with his right hand; his five fingers grouped together like a sharp sword he thrust out fiercely.
A splash sounded.
Xue Lian’s body, which seemed as solid as iron, was directly pierced by Yang Kai’s right hand like it was tofu.
A beating sound echoed from Xue Lian’s chest as Yang Kai’s right hand gripped his heart.
Xue Lian froze in place, his big hand which was grabbing towards Yang Kai’s head stopped motionless mid-air, his eyes trembling violently.
“Let me send you on your way!” Yang Kai grinned and squeezed his right hand, directly crushing Xue Lian’s heart.
“Boy, you’re still too naive!” Xue Lian laughed strangely before he died, the light in his eyes fading after his heart was crushed.
Yang Kai’s complexion darkened as he faintly realized that something was wrong. Just as he was about to pull out his arm though, he saw a blood-red light suddenly fly out from Xue Lian’s forehead and without pause, rush directly into his head.
This blood-red light radiated an extremely strange aura, one that broke through Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea defences as easily as crushing dry weeds or smashing rotten wood.
“So that’s what you were plotting!” Yang Kai immediately understood and immediately sent his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea.
Inside his Knowledge Sea, the flames of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea tumbled.
A strange figure stood mid-air, looking at everything around him in shock and surprise.
He found that his situation was a little different from what he had imagined!
“If you planned on seizing my body, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you,” Yang Kai looked at the strange figure and sneered.