Immediately afterwards, a sound like someone drinking water could be heard. A red colour, like fresh blood, started to seep into the vines while the cultivator that had been impaled and wrapped up went silent.
Not only that, but this man’s body also rapidly began to shrivel up, as if the life was being drained out of him.
“It’s swallowing his vitality!” Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically.
Naturally, he could see what happened to this cultivator. His blood and vitality was being drained away by the vines that had pierced him, leaving him dry and dead within just two breaths.
This man was an Origin King, but facing these strange vines, he was as vulnerable as a three-year-old child!
“Wood Spirit! It’s a Wood Spirit! To think there was a Wood Spirit sealed underground!”
At that moment, Mo Xiao Qi suddenly screamed, terror apparent in her voice. This was the first time Yang Kai had ever seen her in such a panic. Even when she was facing off against the infant Luan Feng on Clear Jade Mountain that day, she had remained completely calm and composed, but after seeing these strange vines, she went completely pale.
“Big Brother Yang, we need to flee, we’re definitely not this thing’s opponent. It can quickly restore itself by absorbing the blood and vitality of any living creature!” After Mo Xiao Qi finished speaking, she waved her hand and a flawless jade-white chariot appeared before her.
Dragging Yang Kai along, the two boarded the chariot at the same time.
Immediately, Mo Xiao Qi poured her strength into a Spirit Array on the chariot and multiple thick and powerful light barriers formed around it with a hum.
Without hesitation, the chariot started to tremble and quickly began to accelerate away.
Before it could get up to speed, however, countless vines shot towards it from the cracks down below, whipping the chariot madly with its thorns.
The light shields around the chariot flashed wildly, but fortunately, this artifact seemed to be extremely high grade, so its barriers were also quite strong. The vines which were able to kill an Origin King in an instant could not break through these shields immediately.
However, under this wanton bombardment, the chariot couldn’t leave this space.
After only a brief delay, the chariot was tightly wrapped up in vines.
Mo Xiao Qi’s face paled even further.
“Moon Blade!” Yang Kai snorted and swung his hand, sending out a giant Moon Blade to cut the vines that were entwining the chariot.
Although his attack had some effect, Yang Kai’s expression remained extremely solemn because he found that he had underestimated the defensive power of these vines. His massive Moon Blade was only able to cut through four vines before it exhausted its strength and dispersed.
As for the vines that were cut apart, in just a blink of the eye, they had re-grown and wrapped around the chariot even tighter than before.
“Big Brother Yang, we need to use Fire Attribute, other attacks are unable to destroy these vines,” Mo Xiao Qi shouted while at the same time she tapped one of the cloth bags on her waist. Out of this cloth bag, a creature that resembled a Fire Qilin appeared. Covered in crimson scales and exuding the aura of a peak Tenth-Order Monster Beast, this Fire Qilin quickly opened its mouth and spit out a fierce jet of flames.
Wherever these flames passed, the vines would shrink back, as if they had suffered a serious blow.
When Yang Kai saw this, he quickly adapted and pushed his Five Elements Indestructible Fire Sword Qi, condensing a long sword of flames in his hand as he slashed towards the surrounding vines.
This time, the vines that were chopped off did not instantly regenerate. It seemed Fire Attribute attacks were extremely effective against this vine.
Mo Xiao Qi was not idle either. After releasing the Qilin-like beast, she summoned a crimson ribbon and poured her Source Qi into it, transforming it into a cloud of burning flames.
The two people and one beast were somehow able to push back the vines from the chariot.
Without waiting for those vines to regroup and surround them again, Mo Xiao Qi stamped her foot hard, sending the chariot shooting out like an arrow from the string.
Behind them, countless vines flailed and whipped as they chased after them, but the chariot soon left them behind.
After ten breaths, the chariot finally escaped from the danger zone and the vines stopped their pursuit.
Only now did Mo Xiao Qi let out a gasp of relief.
Looking back, countless vines were flying around like tentacles within a several-dozen-kilometre range, a disturbing sight to see.
“Xiao Qi, what is a Wood Spirit?” Yang Kai finally had time to ask.
“It’s a type of plant which has gained sentience, possessing its own will and intelligence, and it is an extremely difficult opponent to face. Depending on what type of plant it evolved from, Wood Spirits all possess different innate abilities. It is difficult to say what exactly the ability of this Wood Spirit is, but regardless, all Wood Spirits are extremely difficult to kill because they have extremely strong Wood Attribute Strength, granting them enormous vitality and regenerative capabilities. Even if a Wood Spirit is severely damaged, as long as it is given enough time and nutrients, it can restore itself. Not all Wood Spirits are bad though, some of them even have extremely wondrous uses, but that Wood Spirit is an extremely dangerous existence. I don’t know how long ago it was sealed, but its strength must have fallen significantly, otherwise, it would have been impossible to escape with our current strength.”
“Are Wood Spirits that frightening?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“Of course! Big Brother Yang must not underestimate it. There are plenty of records of even Emperors being killed by Wood Spirits. Right now, this Wood Spirit has just been released, so its priority is to restore its strength. The best way to do that would be to swallow the vitality of cultivators like us… Oh no, the entire second layer may no longer be safe…” Mo Xiao Qi said after suddenly realizing something.
“What? Isn’t that impossible? The second layer is so vast; shouldn’t we be able to find a place to avoid it?”
“And if it happens to find us?” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai, worried.
“Then what should we do? Go back to the first layer?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Once inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, one can only go up, not down. We can’t return to the first layer…” Mo Xiao Qi frowned before her eyes flashed, “En… let’s go to the third layer.”
Yang Kai was stunned, “How? Aren’t only the first and second layers of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda open now?”
“It’s worth a try. If we really can’t reach the third layer, we’ll just have to make do. Let’s hope our luck is good,” Mo Xiao Qi laughed happily before recalling the Qilin-like beast and releasing her Heaven Escaping Bat again, ordering it to search for the entrance to the third layer.
…
Three days later, the pair stood in front of a Five Coloured Light Pillar.
This Five Coloured Light Pillar was exactly the same as the one that Yang Kai saw before. Obviously, it was the entrance to the third layer, but when Yang Kai tried entering it just now, he got no response. This was vastly different from his previous experience where simply stepping into the light pillar had transferred him to the second layer.
He looked over at Mo Xiao Qi helplessly, but the latter just smiled mysteriously as she took out a long, shuttle-like artifact from her Space Ring.
As soon as this artifact appeared, Yang Kai’s complexion changed.
Because he felt a distinctive aura from this artifact, one that no Origin King Grade or even Dao Source Grade artifact could possess.
[An Emperor Artifact!]
This long shuttle-like artifact was definitely an Emperor Artifact!
Emperor Artifacts were infused with Principle Strength, a fact Yang Kai was familiar with because he possessed several Emperor Artifacts of his own. It was for this reason that Emperor Artifacts could display such enormous power. What Mo Xiao Qi possessed was obviously an Emperor Artifact.
Although Yang Kai was shocked, after thinking about it carefully, he realized this was an expected outcome and did not try to ask anymore.
“This Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle is an artifact that Aunty Feng gave me. It specializes in breaking through all kinds of barriers. Although I cannot exert all its might with my current strength, with Big Brother Yang’s help, we should be able to break open the seal here and enter the third layer,” Mo Xiao Qi took the initiative to explain.
“What do I need to do?” Yang Kai asked.
“Simple,” Mo Xiao Qi briefly explained to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai carefully noted all Mo Xiao Qi’s instructions, and after going over it in his mind a few times, he nodded to her.
Mo Xiao Qi stretched out her hand to tap the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle. In the next moment, the artifact grew in size and became ten meters long.
After jumping aboard the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle first, Mo Xiao Qi waved to Yang Kai.
After both of them had entered the shuttle, Mo Xiao Qi closed the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle’s hatch before turning to Yang Kai and nodding. The two of them then began to form a specific series of seals.
As time passed, the pair continued to pour their strength into the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle, causing the star-shaped patterns on its surface to flicker.
Suddenly, on the surface of the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle, a star pattern was lit.
After a while, another star pattern was lit.
Then a third.
By this time, both Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi had reached their limits and their strength was fluctuating chaotically as their expressions became extremely difficult.
In the end, this was still an Emperor Artifact, so even bringing out half its power was impossible for the two of them.
Mo Xiao Qi’s expression turned solemn as she changed her hand seal and shouted, “break!”
The next moment, the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle shook slightly and shot into the Five Coloured Light Pillar before disappearing.
The pair aboard the shuttle felt a sense of weightlessness at the same time, and both could not help smiling happily. However, neither of them relaxed just yet as they continued to pour their strength into the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle to maintain its operation.
Soon after, the sense of discomfort they felt disappeared.
The two looked at each other and Mo Xiao Qi opened the Nine Stars Seal Breaker Shuttle expectantly before jumping out first. Her cheers came a moment later, “Big Brother Yang, we made it to the third layer!”
Yang Kai was also incredibly pleased. When he came out, he found that although this place looked similar to the second layer, there were some noticeable differences, the biggest of which was the density of the Shattered Principles floating about.
“That wasn’t so hard,” Mo Xiao Qi smiled proudly.
“It’s important we restore ourselves first. The third layer is supposed to be much more dangerous than the second,” Yang Kai reminded her before releasing his Divine Sense to check their surroundings.
After confirming that there was no danger in the immediate area, he sat down cross-legged and took out a bottle of Spirit Pills from his Space Ring, popped one into his mouth, then began adjusting his breathing.
Mo Xiao Qi did the same, but before she did, she released her Silver Maned Liger, Heaven Escaping Bat, and the Fire Qilin Monster Beasts to have them stand guard.
One day later, Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi opened their eyes one after another, each of them smiling lightly, apparently having completely recovered.
Mo Xiao Qi recalled her Monster Beasts and asked Yang Kai, “Big Brother Yang, now that we’ve reached the third layer, we certainly can’t miss out on the benefits here. Should we act together or separately?”
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before deciding to ask, “What do you want to do?”
Mo Xiao Qi giggled, “If we want to be safe, I think it’s better to act together, but if we want more benefits, we should act separately. Big Brother Yang probably doesn’t know, but the biggest benefits in the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda aren’t actually the various precious treasures that are scattered about, nor the artifacts which have been left behind, but the shattered World Principles and Star Sources!”
“I’ve heard something about this before, but I’ve yet to really experience it. Why is that?” Yang Kai frowned.
Mo Xiao Qi smiled and said, “Of course, it’s because the first and second layers don’t have a high concentration of such things, but the third layer is different. What’s more, there are only two of us here, so no one will compete with us for these benefits! If we can acquire some shattered World Principles and Star Sources, it will be of great help to us in breaking through to the Dao Source Realm.”
Yang Kai nodded and smiled, “So what you mean to say is, you want to act separately?”
Mo Xiao Qi spat out her tongue cutely and replied, “En, after all, if the two of us travel together, even if we encounter such benefits, we’ll need to divide them up between us… Big Brother Yang, it’s not that I don’t want to split things equally with you, it’s just…”
“I understand, since you are confident enough in yourself, then we’ll act separately,” Yang Kai interrupted her with a smile.
“Then Big Brother Yang must be careful, there are Eleventh-Order Monster Beasts in the third layer.”
“You as well,” Yang Kai nodded.
Yang Kai was not actually worried about Mo Xiao Qi. With her methods and the artifacts she was wearing, even if she actually encountered an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to protect herself.
As for himself, he was not worried either. If things got dangerous, he could just release his Monster Insect Queen. As long as he wasn’t besieged by several Eleventh-Order Monster Beasts, Yang Kai was confident he could safely traverse the third layer. He might even be able to take this opportunity to condense more Blood Beasts.
His current Blood Beast Army was composed entirely of Monster Beasts from back in his native Star Field, and was naturally no longer useful in the Star Boundary, so the time to raise a new generation had come.
After the pair finished their discussion, they chose different directions and headed out.
With the two of them moving in opposite directions, it was almost certain they would not run into each other again until the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda closed. This way, they would have plenty of space to search for their own opportunities.
A day later, Yang Kai stood on a large open plain, waving his hands lightly as he sent out one Moon Blade after another.
Not far in front of him, the Monster Insect Queen drew blue and purple arcs with its dual swords, causing a gentle fall of snow to fill the air as it brought out the full power of these Origin King Grade High-Rank artifacts.
Around the Monster Insect Queen, an icy domain had formed where rich Ice Principles had turned the surrounding thousand-metre radius into a frozen wasteland.
The opponent of the Monster Insect Queen was a Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, another Eleventh-Order Monster Beast that resembled a wolf and a jackal. It was small in size and had extremely flexible movement as well as a mastery over Thunder and Fire attribute strength, making it a powerful opponent.
The Monster Insect Queen could now exert power on par with a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, but even after fighting this Blue Flame Thunder Wolf for some time, it was unable to kill it, emphasising the latter’s prowess.
Yang Kai did not dare to intervene in the battle between them rashly and instead took some distance from the fight while using his Space Secret Arts to hinder and harass the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s movements.
As time passed, more and more wounds appeared on the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, its movements becoming slower and slower due to the invasion of the Monster Insect Queen’s Ice Attribute Energy.
This was the true terror of the icy domain as it could slowly and silently weaken an enemy, causing them to gradually freeze in place, losing their life without even noticing.
Two more hours passed when finally, accompanied by a miserable howl, the Monster Insect Queen’s dual swords pierced into the enemy’s vital spots, bringing forth a giant splash of red blood. The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf struggled viciously, forcing the Monster Insect Queen to retreat again and again.
Unfortunately, this was nothing but a futile last struggle.
Soon, the eyes of Blue Flame Thunder Wolf lost their lustre and it fell to the ground, no longer moving anymore.
Only then did Yang Kai step forward.
The Monster Insect Queen opened its mouth and swallowed the dual swords into its body before immediately crawling over to Yang Kai and nuzzling him affectionately.
Normally, Blood Beasts could not show such life-like behaviour, but because the Monster Insect Queen had its own chaotic sentience, it was able to show such mannerisms.
Squatting in front of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, Yang Kai thought for a moment before deciding to condense a new Blood Beast from it. Taking out a Golden Blood Thread, Yang Kai pierced it into the corpse of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf before sitting down cross-legged and forming a series of seals with his hands, executing his Blood Beast condensing method.
Half a day later, the already dead Blue Flame Thunder Wolf shook and stood up again, but there was no light in its eyes or expression on its face. Instead, a faint Blood Qi was pulsing from its frame.
This was the most distinctive feature of Blood Beasts.
Yang Kai examined his work for a while and was satisfied to find that this new Blood Beast had not fallen to the level of an Origin King but retained its Dao Source Realm strength.
Now, Yang Kai had two Blood Beast guardians, the Monster Insect Queen and this Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, so he did not need to fear traversing the third layer in any sense.
Immediately, Yang Kai took back his two Blood Beasts and continued to explore.
…
Two days later, Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged somewhere in the third layer with a happy expression on his face, circulating his Secret Art silently.
At the same time, from the sky above, streams of light were continuously flowing towards him and disappearing into his body.
These streams of light were actually shattered World Principles from this ancient battlefield.
Just as Mo Xiao Qi had said, these were the most precious treasures within the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
Yang Kai happened to pass by here and sensed a high concentration of Shattered Principles, so he immediately sat down and began absorbing them.
By absorbing these streams of light into his body, he was able to clearly perceive Principle Strength and lay a good foundation for his future breakthrough to the Dao Source Realm.
But soon, he discovered something strange.
That is, after these streams of light entered his body, the concentration of Shattered Principles was far too large for him to immediately absorb, but instead of escaping, they flowed towards his Sealed World Bead and quickly disappeared.
From the Embodiment, Yang Kai learned that these Shattered Principles had flooded into the Small Sealed World and been absorbed by it.
The Sealed World Bead was undergoing tremendous changes at the same time.
The space in the Sealed World Bead that had so many Shattered World Principles poured into it was rapidly becoming more and more complete, transforming from a mere contained storage space to a real world. There were also other subtler changes occurring in the aura of this Small Sealed World due to the influx of Principle Strength.
Yang Kai originally did not quite understand why all of this was happening.
But after careful consideration, a possibility came to mind.
The Sealed World Bead was, in the end, an Emperor Artifact, a powerful storage artifact that an Emperor Realm master had refined using profound methods. As such, its own World Principles were imperfect, so, even though people could live and cultivate inside of it to an extent, it was still not a real, independent world.
Right now, though, the Shattered World Principles from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda were pouring into the Sealed World Bead and helping to make up for the flaws in its own Principles.
Once the Principles inside the Sealed World Bead reached a certain level of perfection, it might become indistinguishable from a real world!
Yang Kai could not prove his hypothesis was correct, but he knew his guess was not far off from the truth.
As such, he did not try to stop this process and simply allowed it to continue. In any case, no matter how many Shattered Principles the Sealed World Bead absorbed from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, it would not hurt him.
This absorption process took more than half a day, and when no more streams of light appeared in his surroundings, Yang Kai opened his eyes and heaved out a sigh.
After a moment of contemplation, Yang Kai found that his understanding of Principle Strength had indeed improved, and he now vaguely understood some of the mysteries of the Dao Source Realm, but this was far from comprehensive. Moreover, the Sealed World Bead was far from satisfied, and it seemed that it would need to absorb a great deal more of these Shattered Principles to become complete.
Standing up, Yang Kai continued his search.
What Yang Kai didn’t know was that the place he had just cultivated in should have had enough Shattered World Principles for a dozen or more Origin Kings to reach a level of comprehension where they would be capable of breaking through to the Dao Source Realm, but because the Sealed World Bead had actually absorbed the vast majority of these World Principles, it not only drastically shortened the time he could personally absorb them, it had also rendered this stretch of land a barren place that would no longer have any cultivation value for at least a hundred years.
If this matter was known to the Star Soul Palace, they would definitely not let him off easily.
To a certain extent, this kind of cultivation spot was part of Star Soul Palace’s foundation. A person ruining the foundation of a Sect was no small matter.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai kept searching for locations similar to the previous one, but unfortunately, there seemed to be very few such places so he was unable to find another.
Over the past few days, he had encountered some Monster Beasts, but with the protection of his two Blood Beasts, the Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, these attacking Monster Beasts naturally were unable to harm Yang Kai.
Either these attackers tragically died under the siege of the two Blood Beasts, or they fled.
Yang Kai did not condense any new Blood Beasts and instead processed the dead Monster Beast bodies, taking out their Monster Cores and any valuable parts in preparation to use or sell them in the future.
From his previous experiences in his native Star Field, Yang Kai understood that having too many Blood Beasts was more of a burden than a benefit. Having to control too many at once drained his Spiritual Energy too rapidly and condensing more Blood Beasts meant consuming more of his Golden Blood Threads while at the same time giving up on the valuable materials in these Monster Beasts’ bodies. It was not worth it.
After several days of searching without results, Yang Kai was feeling a bit disgruntled.
He did not know when the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda would close, but he did know it would not be long before it did. This was a rare opportunity he would likely never have again, so Yang Kai could not help becoming anxious in his search for more Shattered World Principles to absorb.
On this day, Yang Kai was flying close to the ground when suddenly he stopped and looked up at the distant sky.
At a point far off into the distance, there were an uncountable number of light streaks gathering towards the ground below, like a gorgeous meteor shower.
Each of these streams of light was surprisingly a wisp of Shattered World Principles, the very ones Yang Kai had been searching for all this time. However, the number of them gathered at that spot vastly exceeded the number he had encountered last time.
Overjoyed, Yang Kai did not hesitate to rush over.
Three hours later, Yang Kai came to a mountain valley.
What he saw immediately stunned him.
At the center of this mountain valley, there was a mass of swirling light that was only continuing to brighten as more and more light poured into it from every direction
This mass of light was surprisingly an aggregation of all the light streams coming from above.
“So many!?” Yang Kai had prepared himself before arriving here but still could not help feeling shocked.
The total amount of Shattered World Principles he and the Sealed World Bead had absorbed previously was probably less than one percent of what was gathered here. Yang Kai had benefited infinitely from just that small amount of Shattered World Principles and his Sealed World Bead had also undergone a significant transformation, so he knew that if he could absorb all the light streams in this place, his comprehension of Principle Strength would rise to the level of a Dao Source Realm master and breaking through in the future would not be a problem.
Even the Small Sealed World inside the Sealed World Bead would be able to fundamentally evolve.
Smiling happily, Yang Kai jumped out directly, stopping at a spot about three hundred meters away from the mass of light.
It was not that he didn’t want to get closer, but rather that the power contained within this mass of light was too intense so he could not approach any closer. If he rushed in, he would likely be crushed into dust by the chaotic Principles.
The light ball in front of Yang Kai hummed while contorting, possibly because it was unstable.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and released the Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, letting them stand guard nearby, before he sat down and began circulating his Secret Art.
Suddenly, as if being drawn in by some invisible force, a stream of light emerged from the giant mass and shot towards where Yang Kai sat. This river of light quickly began pouring into Yang Kai’s body and disappearing.
And at the moment this profound light poured in, Yang Kai felt that he could clearly sense the mysterious World Principles around himself.
At that moment, he no longer hesitated and fully immersed himself into his comprehension.
Yang Kai was just an Origin King so there was no way he could absorb that much Shattered World Principles, so just like last time, when his physical limits were about to be exceeded, the streams of light would flow into the Sealed World Bead and integrate with it, perfecting the Principles of the Small Sealed World.
Time passed slowly.
Yang Kai’s expression fluctuated endlessly, sometimes frowning, sometimes relaxed, sometimes black, sometimes contemplative…
As more and more light was drained away from the primary mass, the glow surrounding Yang Kai only became denser and denser.
However, once he was done comprehending what he absorbed, Yang Kai started again and was like a bottomless pit. No matter how much light he drew out, he had no trouble absorbing it.
Time flew by and soon, three days had passed.
After Yang Kai’s wanton absorption, the mass of light had shrunk significantly and the glow it emitted was no longer as strong as before; however, the amount of light which was being drawn away from it and pouring into Yang Kai’s body did not decrease in the slightest.
At a certain moment, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
After pondering for a moment, he suddenly stretched out his hand and slashed it through the space in front of him. An inexplicable force lingered at his fingertips, causing a dark Void Crack to appear in the path his fingers traced.
Yang Kai had not actually used his Space Force at this moment, but he was still able to achieve this feat thanks to his enhanced comprehension of Principle Strength.
The hallmark of a Dao Source Realm cultivators was the ability to mobilize the World Principles around them to enhance their own Secret Techniques.
Yang Kai had already touched upon this realm at this moment, something only possible thanks to the massive amount of Shattered Principles he had absorbed over the past few days.
However… his comprehension of Principle Strength was still quite superficial, so before he even finished tracing the air, the tiny Void Crack he had managed to open had already begun returning to its normal state.
Looking inward with this Divine Sense, Yang Kai examined his Origin Essence Crystal.
He saw that his Origin Essence Crystal, which had originally been completely black, at this moment now had a hint of light coming from its surface.
Yang Kai’s Origin Essence Crystal was the condensation of all his perceptions and experience in Space Force and greatly enhanced his ability to perform Space Secret Techniques. Now though, it had a trace of Principle Strength surrounding it as well, further strengthening it while also adding a layer of profundity.
From now on, as long as Yang Kai was willing to, he could use this comprehension to slightly mobilize the Principles around him.
Moreover, the Principles he would be manipulating were the mysterious and powerful Space Principles!
This was a qualitative and fundamental change. Although he wasn’t able to display much strength related to Space Principles with his current cultivation, once he broke through to the Dao Source Realm, the situation would be completely different.
Closing his eyes with satisfaction, Yang Kai once again began absorbing the wisps of light in front of him into his Sealed World Bead.
Two days later, the mass of light had shrunk to a tenth of its original size, and the light it was emitting had even become a little dim. If Yang Kai continued at this pace, it would not be long before nothing more would be left.
Yang Kai was unaware of this, however, as he was completely immersed in his own comprehension.
Suddenly, a slight groan came from in front of him.
Although this voice was quite soft, it was extremely clear.
Yang Kai originally thought he was hearing things, but when a second moan sounded, his expression changed dramatically, and he hurriedly opened his eyes.
At the same time, affected by the changes in his mood, the Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf that had been standing guard nearby also quickly returned to protect him.
Yang Kai’s eyes widened at this moment as he stared stupidly in front of himself, only after a long-time muttering, “There’s someone inside?”
Only now did he realize that there was a figure inside the light ball in front of him.
The light ball had been too bright before, and with so many chaotic Principles lingering about, Yang Kai had not been able to probe its interior. It was only now that the light mass had shrunk to a certain extent that the figure inside was revealed.
[Was this person there from the beginning or had they entered it at some point?]
[Also, who is she?]
Yang Kai was at a complete loss.
However, judging from the graceful outline of this figure, the one inside the light mass was clearly a woman.
Yang Kai immediately thought of Mo Xiao Qi.
After all, in this third layer, besides him and Mo Xiao Qi, there should not be another living cultivator; however, after thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai realized he was wrong. He had clearly travelled in the opposite direction as Mo Xiao Qi, so how could she have gotten here ahead of him and hidden inside this mass of light.
Moreover, the curve of this figure was also somewhat different from Mo Xiao Qi’s.
[Could it be that some old monster was sealed here?] Yang Kai remembered the Wood Spirit he had encountered in the second layer and could not help guessing, some cold sweat instantly forming on his forehead.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that the woman opposite him had opened her eyes and was now staring at him through the light ball.
Yang Kai frowned, got up quickly, and looked forward vigilantly.
But what he did not expect was that the other party just glanced at him before closing her beautiful eyes again, as if she didn’t even perceive his existence.
But soon, Yang Kai understood why she acted this way.
Not long after this woman closed her eyes, the surrounding wind began to swirl and all around her, piles of high-quality Source Crystals burst apart and transformed into pure and rich World Energy.
Immediately afterwards, thunder began to rumble as large black clouds appeared seemingly out of nowhere. There were even flashes of lightning dancing across the blackened sky.
The World Energy formed by the bursting Source Crystals gathered madly towards the Heavens and in the blink of an eye, an extremely terrifying vision was formed.
“Breakthrough!” Yang Kai could not help stepping back a few steps, his expression changing dramatically.
This woman was here to make a breakthrough to the next Great Realm and the scene before him was clearly the initial signs of a World Energy baptism that would accompany such a breakthrough.
At this time, Yang Kai also noticed the woman’s true cultivation, which was actually the same as his own: Peak Third-Order Origin King. If she succeeded in her breakthrough, she would become a Dao Source Realm cultivator.
Yang Kai quickly judged that this woman was likely not an old monster who had been sealed here for countless aeons but was instead like him, a cultivator from Maplewood City.
It was a mystery how she managed to enter the third layer though.
As these thoughts flashed across his mind, Yang Kai felt immense surprise.
No matter who this woman was, since she could arrive here on the third layer, her background and strength were obviously extraordinary. Her being here on the third layer was also likely intentional so she could make this breakthrough.
As for the huge mass of light from before, she had obviously been the one gathering it. In other words, Yang Kai had been snatching benefits from her this entire time.
Considering this, Yang Kai sweat more and more.
Regardless of the truth, this was not a place he could stay!
The very first thing this woman would do after she broke through would undoubtedly be to settle accounts with him…
Although Yang Kai was not afraid of a newly promoted Dao Source cultivator, if he could avoid dealing with trouble, he would, so he quickly decided to flee.
At that moment, the woman seemed to realize Yang Kai’s intentions and suddenly called out, “Stand there obediently and don’t move, otherwise I’ll make you pay!”
The sound was clear and sweet, extremely pleasant to the ear.
But since Yang Kai had already decided to run, how could he care about this woman’s threats?
Immediately, he waved his hand, took back his Blood Beasts, and turned to fly away.
The woman coldly snorted, raised her jade white hand, and condensed what looked like a mass of starlight onto her palm. The starlight transformed into an arrow and shot out towards Yang Kai in the next breath.
As the sound of something breaking through the air sounded, Yang Kai felt a chill behind his back.
Without hesitation, he turned around and threw out two punches.
In an instant, a violent explosion rang out as Yang Kai’s fists collided with the starlight arrow, sending out a shockwave of wind.
Yang Kai used the resulting force to propel himself forward though and hurriedly fled.
From beginning to end, he did not even say a word.
“Fast!” Inside the mass of light, the woman ground her teeth as her brow furrowed, muttering to herself, “Strange, how could there be anyone here on the third layer? And that man… didn’t seem to be an ordinary Origin King.”
The woman was no ordinary Origin King either and she was on the verge of a breakthrough right now, so the power of her attack was extraordinary, not something an average Origin King should be able to resist.
Yet Yang Kai had managed to resist it without any difficulty, even taking advantage of the brief confrontation to boost his fleeing speed, so the woman was able to faintly understand his real strength.
“Does this tiny Maplewood City actually have such a genius?” The woman frowned, expressing surprise.
But soon, she set this matter aside because the World Energy baptism which accompanied her breakthrough to the Dao Source Realm was about to fall and she could not afford to be distracted.
Not long after, from the sky above, a massive amount of energy fell down like lightning towards the spot where she was sitting.
…
Yang Kai flew a hundred kilometres before slowly coming to a stop.
He did not know who this woman was, or how she had managed to enter the third layer, but since he had robbed so many benefits from her, it was better for him to withdraw first.
The other party was also at a critical point in their breakthrough, so it would obviously be impossible for her to chase after him, allowing Yang Kai to relax.
From the distance behind him, Yang Kai heard the sound of booming thunder, and looking back, he could still see the swirling black clouds filling the sky, which signified that the woman he encountered was already receiving her World Energy baptism. Once she succeeded, she would break through to the Dao Source Realm.
And judging from the woman’s previous state, it was obvious that she had been preparing for this moment for a long time, so her chances of success were likely quite high.
Thinking so, Yang Kai stepped forward again and flew away from this place.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai’s harvest was quite good. He also encountered some dangers. At one point, he found himself being pursued by a Monster Beast at the peak of Eleventh-Order. A peak Eleventh-Order Monster Beast was equivalent in strength to a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, not an opponent Yang Kai could handle with his current strength. If it had not been for his Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, as well as comprehension of the Dao of Space, Yang Kai would likely have been in much greater peril.
After spending some time throwing off his pursuer, Yang Kai found a place to rest and recover, but after just half a day, he suddenly felt the surrounding space tighten, a vague force coming from the surrounding world seemingly constricting and immobilizing him.
Yang Kai’s face changed drastically, but before he could even attempt to resist, a mysterious circular array suddenly appeared below his feet.
This array spun rapidly and produced an irresistible suction force, holding Yang Kai in place for a moment before sucking him in.
A familiar feeling of weightlessness came over Yang Kai and allowed him to relax.
Because he understood that this sensation meant the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was closing and all the living cultivators inside were being teleported out. Realizing this, Yang Kai stopped resisting and simply allowed the array to do its work.
Sure enough, when Yang Kai’s vision was restored, he was already back in the square of the City Lord’s Mansion.
A dense crowd surrounded him, standing shoulder to shoulder, all of them with somewhat dizzy or disoriented looks on their faces, a result of the long-distance teleportation.
To avoid appearing suspicious, Yang Kai pretended to feel some discomfort as well as he slowly shook his head.
Noise came from all around as the cultivators of Maplewood City who entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda this time began to mull about. Some had obtained great opportunities while others came back empty-handed, so there was naturally much discussion to be had.
Now that everything was over, the scene was a big mix of joy and sorrow.
While tens of thousands of Maplewood City cultivators entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, only about half returned while the rest were buried inside. It could be seen from this alone that although the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda had many benefits and opportunities, it was also extremely dangerous.
The Emperor Realm masters who had been sitting on the high platform when the pagoda opened looked as if they had not moved at all, with Xiao Yu Yang who sat in the centre position sweeping his eyes around and quickly fixing on a graceful-looking woman with a blue gauze veil.
The woman’s eyes met with Xiao Yu Yang’s and she nodded lightly, allowing Xiao Yu Yang to let out a hearty laugh, appearing to be incredibly happy.
“Senior Xiao seems to be in a good mood,” Chen Wen Hao, sitting on the right-hand side of Xiao Yu Yang, gave him a suspicious look.
Xiao Yu Yang smiled, “And if so, does Brother Chen have some objection?”
“I would not dare,” Chen Wen Hao’s face twitched as he quickly backed down. Although he was a master from Heavenly Martial Holy Land and had a powerful First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, Xiao Yu Yang was a Silver Star Envoy of Star Soul Palace and had an even stronger cultivation, so in front of Xiao Yu Yang, how could Chen Wen Hao dare act presumptuously?
“However, it is surprising that there are so many cultivators from this small Maplewood City who managed to come out of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda alive,” Feng Ming of Orthodoxy Temple glanced back and forth across the crowd, as if trying to find some good seedlings, mentioning to the side, “City Lord Duan must be quite pleased his Maplewood City is so full of talents. Although the loss this time was not small, those who survived will definitely be able to support Maplewood City in the future.”
“Sir is too polite, this is all thanks to the blessing of Seniors!” Maplewood City’s Lord Duan Yuan Shan smiled from ear to ear, his tone very humble.
As Feng Ming said, although many Maplewood City cultivators lost their lives inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda this time, the ones who came back would no doubt have bright futures and would be able to enhance the city’s strength by several levels if given enough time to mature.
Looking out into the crowd, Duan Yuan Shan saw his son Duan Tian Ci and noticed the bright smile on his face. Obviously, his son had gained much so how could Duan Yuan Shan not be happy?
At that moment though, Duan Yuan Shan frowned as he suddenly took out a communication artifact from his sleeve and poured his Divine Sense into it, his expression changing drastically in the next moment.
Quickly turning his eyes towards Duan Tian Ci in the crowd, he saw his son nod solemnly to him.
At that moment, several other messages were passed out to the various communication artifacts of the Patriarchs of the major families in Maplewood City, all of them saying the same thing.
“City Lord Duan, is something wrong?” Feng Ming looked at Duan Yuan Shan suspiciously and asked.
“Seniors, something has indeed gone seriously wrong,” Duan Yuan Shan heard this and hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.
Feng Ming smiled, “City Lord Duan need not be so worried, with the few of us here, how could anything be too serious?”
It was not surprising he spoke with such confidence; after all, there were five Emperors present, one of them Second-Order. As long as it was not on the level of one of the Ten Great Emperors coming to lay waste to the city, they could handle practically anything.
Duan Yuan Shan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and explained, “It is like this, my Maplewood City cultivators broke a seal at the second layer of the pagoda and released an ancient Wood Spirit from inside!”
“What?” Feng Ming heard this, and his face changed abruptly, standing up as he questioned, “Are you serious?”
“It is absolutely true, this Duan has just received reports from all the Patriarchs of the big families in Maplewood City.”
“A Wood Spirit… there was actually a Wood Spirit sealed on the second layer of the pagoda?” The young woman who had not spoken until now frowned and asked in surprise.
This young woman was impressively Gao Xue Ting of Azure Sun Temple, another powerful First-Order Emperor who could stand on equal footing with Feng Ming and the others.
“Wood Spirits are not easy to deal with, and this one is actually an ancient Wood Spirit. Senior Xiao, why didn’t you warn us about this earlier?” Chen Wen Hao glanced at Xiao Yu Yang and complained.
Xiao Yu Yang, though, just rolled his eyes, “The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is not as simple as you think. The internal space is something that not even the Great Emperor himself fully grasps. There are many seals and barriers that are extremely well hidden, to the point that even if the Great Emperor searched for them, he would not be able to find them. This Wood Spirit was likely hidden in one such restriction.”
With him explaining it this way, there was nothing more the others could say.
“This Duan must ask Seniors to take action to purge this Wood Spirit, otherwise it will be a great disaster for my Maplewood City,” Duan Yuan Shan looked at the six Emperor Realm pleadingly.
“It is just a trivial Wood Spirit, what does City Lord Duan have to fear? Moreover, it has been sealed for countless years, so its strength has undoubtedly fallen greatly. Even if we did not take action, City Lord Duan would be able to solve the problem himself,” Feng Ming wore a face of disinterest.
However, Duan Yuan Shan said with a bitter face, “Senior Feng perhaps does not know, but according to the news this one has received, this Wood Spirit is able to swallow the essence and vitality of cultivators to quickly restore its strength and can also implant cultivators with its own Wood Seeds, letting them lie in wait until the time is right to burst from their shell, occupy that cultivator’s body, and spread itself further. Among the cultivators of my Maplewood City, this Duan is afraid some have already been parasitized.”
“Is that true?” At this moment, the six Emperors could not help becoming more serious.
“Undoubtedly. This news was passed to me by my son, who was nearly killed by such a cultivator who had been infected with a Wood Seed,” Duan Yuan Shan replied quickly.
“If that’s the case, then this situation is indeed a bit serious,” Xiao Yu Yang pondered for a moment before ordering. “Alright. Since the Wood Spirit came out of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, it is partially my Star Soul Palace’s responsibility, so this Xiao will not just sit back and watch. First, open Maplewood City’s Protective Array and close the city gates. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Also, ensure no one can leave the square! We will eliminate the problem here and now!”
“Yes! Many thanks for your assistance, Seniors!” Duan Yuan Shan was overjoyed when he saw this and quickly turned around, raising his voice as he shouted, “In accordance with Sir Star Envoy’s command, everyone here is to remain where they are. Several Seniors have a matter they must process immediately, and only once this matter is completed will you be allowed to leave. Please cooperate.”
As soon as he said this, the noisy square down below instantly became silent while everyone turned to look at Duan Yuan Shan in amazement.
Yang Kai, who was using the Communication Bead to contact Mo Xiao Qi, could not help raising his head, frowning slightly, wondering why Duan Yuan Shan and the six Emperors were making such a move.
However, the command of an Emperor could not be ignored, so even if the cultivators who were in the square were a little bit dissatisfied, none dared show any dissatisfaction and simply stood obediently.
The next moment, the six Emperors on the high platform seemed to exchange a few words before four of them suddenly shot off in different directions, leaving only Xiao Yu Yang and Gao Xue Ting still in place.
Next, a hum sounded across Maplewood City as the sky was immediately covered in a thin, translucent barrier of light, forming a dome over the top of it.
This change made the expressions of the many cultivators who were standing in the square quite difficult, but awed by the strength of these Emperors, none dared act disrespectfully.
Most people were completely confused as to what was happening.
As soon as the barrier went up, Xiao Yu Yang and Gao Xue Ting, who were sitting on the high platform, looked at each other and stood up together.
The next moment, two immense Divine Senses swept forth, covering the entire square.
Almost everyone went stiff at that moment; after all, being scanned by the Divine Senses of two Emperors would naturally feel quite uncomfortable. In front of these powerful Divine Senses, all the secrets they tried to hide seemed to be exposed.
But soon, these two Divine Senses were taken back, allowing everyone to feel relieved.
“It seems that many have been infected,” Xiao Yu Yang narrowed his eyes before stretching out his hand and sending a streak of light out from his fingertip.
The speed of this bolt of light was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, it pierced towards the abdomen of a man wearing blue robes down below.
The blue-robed cultivator had a Second-Order Origin King cultivation, so after witnessing an Emperor Realm master attack him, he could not help paling and calling out, “Sir Star Envoy, you…”
He couldn’t figure out how a tiny, insignificant Origin King like himself had provoked a Silver Star Envoy of Star Soul Palace into personally attacking him.
Before he finished speaking, the bolt pierced his lower abdomen. The blue-robed man could not help letting out a grunt as he was sent stumbling back from the huge impact force.
At the same time, from his back, the bolt of light shot out, but now it clearly was wrapping around something.
Everyone looked carefully and was surprised to find that this thing was an oval-shaped cyan-coloured seed.
*Pa…*
There was a soft pop as the steam of light burst, and the seed was vaporized.
At the last moment, a shrill shriek seemed to come from the seed.
Seeing this scene, everyone’s expression changed drastically as they realized that something had invaded this blue-robed man’s body, and that Xiao Yu Yang had attacked him in order to get rid of it.
Turning their heads back, the crowd saw that the man in blue, who had been pierced by the bolt of light just now, was quite pale, as if his foundation had been damaged, but there was no immediate concern about his life.
Xiao Yu Yang did not even spare this man a second glance as he instead waved his hand, sending out a storm of light bolts.
One after another, these streams of light shot out and hit different cultivators in the crowd.
At the same time that Xiao Yu Yang moved, Gao Xue Ting also took action.
With a solemn look on her face, this woman traced a rune pattern in the air which quickly condensed into a small net. This net then multiplied before shooting out in all directions.
These small nets seemed to have a mind of their own and swiftly arrived at their targets, enveloping them.
All the cultivators shrouded by these small nets let out a gasp of fear, but surprisingly, these nets actually passed right through them. However, when these nets re-emerged, they had cyan seeds in them.
Gao Xue Ting formed a seal with her hands and instantly the small nets burst apart, shattering the seeds inside them to pieces.
“What was that?” A cultivator yelled in horror as he stumbled backwards.
Although they now understood these two Emperors were not trying to take their lives, many people were still shocked to see such strange seeds being extracted from the cultivators around them.
At that moment, inside the square, pitiful screams suddenly sounded from all directions.
Immediately afterwards, a violent force surged upwards.
Among the crowd, suddenly there were several strange trees. At first glance, these things were no different from ordinary trees, but they were exuding an extremely evil aura and at the center of their trunks, there were clear and obvious faces.
Yang Kai was also taken aback at that moment.
He saw with his own eyes a cultivator next to him undergo a tremendous and extremely rapid transformation.
This cultivator had been laughing with his companions and discussing his adventures inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda only a moment ago with a look of excitement on his face, but all of a sudden, a look of pain had filled his expression.
At the same time, a blue light shone from his abdomen and his skin cracked, spilling out blood from his physique as if something was trying to emerge from inside of him.
In the blink of an eye, the cultivator had transformed into a tree-like existence with a human face on its trunk. From his lips a terrifying howl, filled with vicious hunger sounded.
*Chi chi chi…*
Green vines shot out from the inside these trees and began madly flailing about.
Several nearby cultivators who were not paying attention were caught off guard. One of them was pierced by a vine and as a guzzling sound rang out, like someone was rapidly drinking down a glass of wine, the pierced cultivator rapidly shrivelled up.
“Wood Spirit!” Yang Kai called out in shock.
How could he not recognize what was happening before him? This scene was identical to the one he encountered when the Wood Spirit appeared on the second layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
However, Yang Kai never expected that he would see it again in the square of Maplewood City.
As he shouted, Yang Kai swiftly backed away while at the same time condensing his Fire Sword Qi from his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art to chop down the vines that were stabbing towards him.
With a loud thumb, the severed vines fell to the ground and burned as Yang Kai kicked off the ground and took some distance.
By now, many cultivators also recognized what was happening, and in an instant, the name ‘Wood Spirit’ spread across the square.
“Circulate your strength to protect yourselves, don’t allow the Wood Seeds to invade your body, otherwise your fate will be the same as theirs!” Xiao Yu Yang roared loudly from the high platform.
Yang Kai heard this and immediately understood something, hurriedly circulating his strength to cover his body and avoid being accidentally infected.
Other fast-reacting cultivators followed Yang Kai’s example while those who reacted slower either escaped by luck or were unfortunate enough to be invaded by the tiny Wood Seeds and quickly degenerated into Wood Spirit Clones.
Atop the high platform, Xiao Yu Yang coldly snorted as he pushed his strength wildly, pointing his hand and swiftly killing several of the Wood Spirit Clones.
Gao Xue Ting did not lag behind and similarly began to act. Seeing that the scene could no longer be contained with gentle methods, she did not show any mercy and began executing all the Wood Spirit Soul Clones in range.
At the same time, the other four Emperors followed suit throughout Maplewood City.
When the cultivators returned to the square from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda before, many had left immediately, and among these people, some had been infected by the Wood Spirit’s Wood Seeds. Somehow, the Wood Spirit realized it had been exposed so it immediately caused all of its seeds to sprout.
And so, the six Emperors began cutting down the Wood Spirit Clones like they were cutting melons and chopping vegetables.
After realizing the danger of the Wood Spirit, the cultivators of Maplewood City also began using their strength to protect themselves.
Soon, all of Maplewood City was caught up in a chaotic battle, but the overall situation was still manageable. These Wood Spirit Clones weren’t very powerful, and their methods weren’t varied. The Wood Spirit’s greatest advantage was that it could spread its Wood Seeds silently and infect other cultivators.
But as long as a cultivator was on guard, the chance of them being infected was almost negligible.
With the cooperation of many cultivators, the Wood Spirit crisis seemed like it would soon be resolved.
Half a day later, the corpses of Wood Spirit Clones lay everywhere in Maplewood City. These corpses were originally Maplewood City cultivators, but after being infected by Wood Seeds, they had all transformed into completely different existences.
The six Emperors did not take any chances and split up to perform a thorough inspection of Maplewood City.
During this inspection, they found a few hidden Wood Seeds.
This situation lasted for two days before the chaos in Maplewood City gradually subsided.
Within these two days, the number of Maplewood City cultivators that died reached into the thousands. This fully illustrated how terrifying this Wood Spirit was. It did not even need to take overt action, simply spreading its Wood Seeds was enough to raise a calamity.
If it had really been allowed to mature and grow, all of Maplewood City would likely have been wiped out.
Yang Kai finally realized just how horrible an enemy this was and felt that Mo Xiao Qi saying Emperors had even fallen to Wood Spirits in the past was not groundless.
Over the past two days, he had also been actively cooperating with other cultivators to seek out and destroy Wood Spirit Clones. After all, all of Maplewood City was participating in this effort, so if he did not stand with them, he would quickly become a target of public criticism.
During this time, both Mo Xiao Qi and Kang Si Ran had sent messages asking whether he was safe numerous times, only feeling relieved after receiving word from him that he was in good condition.
After all the dust settled, Yang Kai went to Spirit Pill Plaza to meet with Kang Si Ran and agreed on the date for him to resume his Alchemy work. Finished with this, he returned to the secluded home he had rented.
Yang Kai needed to sort out his harvest from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
At the same time, inside the City Lord’s Mansion.
The six Emperors gathered together with Duan Yuan Shan still standing to the side respectfully.
However, the expressions on these Emperors’ faces were not as relaxed as before, even seeming a bit solemn.
“Seniors, has the Wood Spirit really been wiped out?” Duan Yuan Shan hesitated for a long time before asking cautiously.
He had personally had to execute two of his once-loyal subordinates during this clean-up operation, so he fully realized just how difficult the Wood Spirit was to destroy, leaving him quite anxious and distressed.
“Even if I said it was wiped out completely, you would definitely not believe me,” Xiao Yu Yang raised his head and glanced over at him.
“Senior means…” Duan Yuan Shan’s face paled slightly.
Xiao Yu Yang sighed and explained, “There are many types of Wood Spirits, and their innate abilities are all different. This Wood Spirit… has indeed been more troublesome than this King had anticipated, so this King does not dare to guarantee it is really gone. Out there, there are perhaps some well-hidden Wood Seeds which we were unable to find.”
Duan Yuan Shan looked horrified and asked, “Even with the methods of several Seniors, you cannot be certain?”
Gao Xue Ting replied, “We cannot be sure unless we gather every single cultivator in Maplewood City and thoroughly inspect them one by one with our Divine Senses.”
“How could this one dare ask such a thing from my Seniors,” Duan Yuan Shan was taken aback and hurriedly waved his hands.
How many cultivators were there in Maplewood City?
This time alone, tens of thousands of Origin Kings and Origin Realm cultivators had entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, and there were still all the cultivators in lower realms as well. Although there was no exact statistics, the number of cultivators in Maplewood City was somewhere between 500,000 to 1,000,000.
With so many cultivators, even if the six Emperors worked tirelessly to check each of them one by one, the amount of time it would take was absurd.
What’s more, during such a long period of time, many unexpected events could occur.
So, this approach was completely impossible to achieve.
“Although we cannot be sure whether the Wood Spirit is dead, you may rest assured that after losing so many of its Wood Seeds, even if it is not dead, its foundation is likely severely damaged, so it won’t cause any trouble in the near future. You only need to instruct the cultivators in the city to inspect themselves regularly while taking some preventive measures,” Gao Xue Ting said lightly.
“This Duan will respectfully carry out Senior Gao’s orders!” The matter was done, and Duan Yuan Shan knew that there was no good way except this method, so he could only nod in agreement.
“Good, you should head out. We still have something to discuss!” Xiao Yu Yang suddenly waved his hand and said.
Duan Yuan Shan complained again and hurried back, not daring to be disrespectful.
Although this was his City Lord’s Mansion, the Emperors present were all from the most powerful forces in the Southern Territory, and he could not afford to provoke any of them. It was extremely rare to meet even one such master, much less six, so Duan Yuan Shan did not dare to disobey.
After Duan Yuan Shan left, Xiao Yu Yang suddenly stretched out his hand and waved, forming an invisible barrier around the group of six.
Vice President Ceng Yuan of Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce narrowed his eyes and asked with some surprise, “What is it that Senior Xiao wants to discuss that warrants such caution?”
“Is it because of the Wood Spirit?” Vice President Lou Chi of Violet Source Chamber of Commerce also asked in surprise.
Xiao Yu Yang smiled, “Naturally not, how could this King pay so much attention to a trivial Wood Spirit? What this King has to discuss with you is about the Shattered Star Sea.”
“Shattered Star Sea?”
As soon as this statement came out, the other five Emperors could not help turning solemn.
Feng Ming of Orthodoxy Temple thoughtfully asked, “Senior Xiao means… The Shattered Star Sea is about to open?”
The others also looked at Xiao Yu Yang excitedly, as they cared very deeply about the Shattered Star Sea.
“A few days ago, according to a message from the Great Emperor, the entrance to the Shattered Star Sea is indeed about to open, but as for exactly when it will happen, the Great Emperor has still yet to determine. I am simply informing all of you now,” Xiao Yu Yang turned to the south and slightly cupped his fists.
Everyone naturally knew who the Great Emperor he spoke of was.
In the entire Southern Territory, the only one of the Ten Great Emperors was the Sect Master of Star Soul Palace: Bright Moon Great Emperor!
“Since the Great Emperor has said so, it should not be wrong,” Gao Xue Ting said, lightly nodding. “Senior Xiao, may we inform our respective Sects about this matter?”
Xiao Yu Yang smiled, “Junior Sister Gao need not worry, the Great Emperor has already dispatched messengers to each of your Sects to inform them about this. Since we have all gathered here though, I am simply taking this opportunity to discuss it with you.”
“So that’s how it is!” Chen Wen Hao nodded and said, “Although we all belong to the same Southern Territory, it is still a rare occurrence to gather together like this, especially for our six great forces. Taking this opportunity to discuss some matters is truly a great idea.”
“That was the Great Emperor’s intention. This way, we will save some time and effort,” Xiao Yu Yang smiled and said, “All of you know that the reason why this Shattered Star Sea was born is related to the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. Back then, the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was so arrogant that he dared to swallow all things in creation in order to enhance his strength. Even the sun, moon, and stars could not escape his clutches. In the end, however, he aroused the anger of the Heavens and was thus purged by the world itself.”
“Ahem…” Feng Ming lightly coughed, and said, “Senior Xiao, there’s no need to mention such falsehoods with us.”
Xiao Yu Yang chuckled, “Naturally. This is only the story the average cultivator knows of, while those of us here understand the real truth of this matter. However, during that battle, it is true that worlds collapsed, and the order of Heaven and Earth was shattered, leading to the creation of the Shattered Star Sea, a broken, but Self-Contained World. Unfortunately, although the Shattered Star Sea is vast, only Dao Source Realm juniors may enter it. If an Emperor were to rashly try to intrude, it may destabilize the pathway to the Shattered Star Sea and force it to close. One must know that there are many Shattered and even complete Star Sources inside that place, which are of great benefit even to us.”
As soon as this statement came out, the other five Emperors also showed a look of yearning.
Quickly though, everyone sighed again.
Gao Xue Ting followed up, “For that reason, we Emperors have never been allowed to enter the Shattered Star Sea since it first formed. If that were not the case, I would have liked to enter it to explore.”
“If Junior Sister Gao is interested, you can try,” Feng Ming chuckled.
Gao Xue Ting coldly snorted, “I’d rather not be killed by the Great Emperor. If Senior Brother Feng does not take his life seriously, he is free to make an attempt.”
Feng Ming tapped his nose and grinned, not saying anything more.
“Although we cannot enter, the disciples from our forces can, and they are more than capable of bringing back Star Sources with them, so why should we worry? If any of you wish to sell some Star Sources when the time comes, my Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce will purchase all of them, regardless of the cost!” Ceng Yuan smiled lightly.
“I will second that notion. My Violet Source Chamber of Commerce has vast business dealings and can definitely afford to buy a few Star Sources,” Lou Chi quickly added.
The Vice Presidents of the two big chambers of commerce glanced at each other and smiled, sparks seemingly flying between them.
“The two of you must be sleep talking,” Xiao Yu Yang chuckled. “But enough about this, we do not even know when the specific opening time of the Shattered Star Sea will be, so discussing how to divvy up the gains from it is a bit premature. Regardless, the opening of the Shattered Star Sea is a great event in my Southern Territory, so once the news spreads, there is certain to be some chaos, especially with the limited number of entry quotas. What we need to discuss now is exactly these quotas, or more precisely, how many quotas each Sect may occupy.”
…..
Inside his secluded home, with all the barriers open, Yang Kai left the Sealed World Bead on the floor and entered inside.
Inside, he transplanted the spirit grasses and medicines he obtained from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda into his medicine garden one by one.
He could only recognize less than half of these herbs and was unable to even tell what their purpose was.
The few multicoloured fungi, which were constantly changing colours, were the first harvest he obtained inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda when he appeared above that swamp. Judging from the aura they emitted, these were Dao Source Grade herbs and should be worth a lot of money.
Although this fungus had been sitting around for a number of days already, they still possessed most of their vitality and rapidly adapted after being transplanted into the medicine garden.
This was not a surprise though as the medicine garden inside this Small Sealed World now had five Earth Vein Crystals supplying World Energy as well as a massive amount of Heavy Earth. The spirit grasses and medicines which were planted here would undoubtedly grow faster and stronger than in any great force’s medicine garden.
Yang Kai believed it would not be long before these spirit grasses and medicines vigorously matured.
As for the five Golden Crystal Grass, Yang Kai knew what they were for, but if he wanted to refine them into Golden Crystal Pills, he would need to acquire several other herbs first, so for the time being, Yang Kai simply transplanted them into the medicine garden.
In addition to these gains, Yang Kai also had a lot of materials from various Monster Beasts.
Yang Kai sorted through these materials as he prepared to sell some of them at a later date.
In any case, he did not have a need for artifacts for now, so these Monster Beast materials were useless in his hands. It would be better to just exchange them for Source Crystals.
There was also a Dao Source Fruit which Yang Kai took out and examined for a while before storing it away again.
He wasn’t too concerned with finding a Dao Source Fruit before, but now that he had one, he would not just let it go to waste. Yang Kai believed that as long as this fruit was refined into a Dao Source Pill, it would help him reach the Dao Source Realm even faster.
Of course, the prerequisite for this breakthrough was that he finished transforming his Saint Qi into Source Qi.
Next, Yang Kai took out another jade bottle and stared at it solemnly.
If one asked what Yang Kai’s biggest gain during his exploration of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda this time was, aside from the massive amount of Shattered World Principles he acquired in the third layer, which not only gave him some preliminary insights into Principle Strength while also promoting the evolution of his Sealed World Bead, it would be this jade bottle.
This jade bottle was surprisingly obtained on the first layer from the Soaring Dragon Altar.
The dozen or so treasures on the Soaring Dragon Altar had basically all been fake, mere illusions, but whatever was contained inside this jade bottle was undoubtedly real.
At that time, Yang Kai had used his Demon Eye of Annihilation, which was capable of seeing through all illusions.
While checking through the dozen or so treasures on the Soaring Dragon Altar together with Duan Tian Ci and Zong Zi Jin, Yang Kai had quietly hidden this jade bottle and exchanged it for another.
At that time, everyone was immersed in their disappointment and fooled by this little trick.
Only Qin Yu from the Qin Family seemed to have noticed something.
Later, when she had come to ask Yang Kai about whether all the treasures had been fake, Yang Kai had initially thought he had been discovered, but after thinking about it carefully, he concluded that Qin Yu was only suspicious, not certain.
Yang Kai did not know exactly what was inside this jade bottle.
During those days inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, he had not taken this bottle out to investigate.
However… he vaguely guessed that the contents of this jade bottle should be related to actual Dragons, because whether it was back then or right now, the Dragon Scale on his chest felt slightly hot, like it was resonating somehow with the contents of the jade bottle.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai lifted the jade bottle in front of his eyes and then slowly opened its cap.
At that moment, an abrupt change occurred.
A high-pitched dragon roar suddenly rang out from the jade bottle while Yang Kai stared in surprise. Before he could figure out what was happening though, he saw something small rush out from the bottle.
This little figure was only one finger long and had the appearance of a tiny snake.
At this moment, its whole body seemed to be exuding burning hot flames as it shook its head and flicked its tail, rushing straight up into the sky.
After getting rid of the shackles of the jade bottle, this tiny snake immediately tried to escape!
Yang Kai didn’t expect such a thing to happen at all. If he were outside, this little snake might have actually escaped.
But this was the Small Sealed World of the Sealed World Bead after all.
So, Yang Kai just froze for a moment before stretching out his hand and grabbing towards it.
The World Energy in the Small Sealed World moved according to his will and the tiny figure, now about ten metres away, was instantly held in place by an invisible power. Even so, this little snake was still struggling restlessly and soon released a loud roar.
Only now was Yang Kai able to see clearly what it was.
It was like a Dragon that had been shrunk down countless times, a red Fire Dragon covered in flames!
Yang Kai was taken aback and muttered in amazement, “A baby dragon?”
But soon, he discovered that this was not the case as the ‘baby dragon’ transformed into a single red drop about the size of a fingernail. However, this small drop was like boiling magma, giving off a scorching heat Yang Kai could clearly feel even from ten metres away.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed as he quickly seemed to think of something, calling out in alarm, “Dragon blood! A drop of true Dragon blood!”
What was inside the jade bottle was not a baby dragon, but a drop of true Dragon blood.
Judging from the previous scene, this was a drop of Fire Dragon blood! If a cultivator who cultivated a Fire Attribute Secret Art could obtain this drop, they would definitely receive enormous benefits.
However, that did not mean it didn’t have significant value to Yang Kai.
Although Yang Kai did not primarily cultivate the Fire Attribute, he could still use his Monster Transformation Secret Art to fuse other Dragon artifacts into his body, like the Dragon Scale he had integrated into his physique that was now covering his heart.
Yang Kai had been planning to integrate his Dragon Bone Sword into his body for some time now as well.
His Dragon Bone Sword was refined from an authentic Dragon’s bone and bead. Previously, he had only roughly refined it into an artifact but not fundamentally damaged or transformed it, so there would be no problem fusing with it.
Fusing with the Dragon Scale had given Yang Kai huge benefits, and he had never once forgotten about doing the same with his Dragon Bone Sword, but suffering from insufficient strength, he had been unable to carry out his plans. Later, his strength had improved dramatically but he had not had enough time to carry out this plan.
At this moment though, he obtained a drop of true Dragon blood.
If he could integrate it properly, he might be able to exert a portion of a Dragon’s power! After all, he had a Golden Divine Dragon Source in his body already.
Yang Kai’s expression beamed as he felt a great sensation of surprise and happiness.
He had not realized until this moment that the plain-looking jade bottle that had held this drop of Dragon blood was actually covered in dense seals and Spirit Arrays and contained an extremely cold aura. This kind of cold was extremely peculiar, as Yang Kai could not feel it on his hand, but when he tried to probe it with his Divine Sense, his Spiritual Energy quickly froze.
Only this kind of unique storage container could hold a drop of dragon blood.
Wearing a solemn expression on his face, Yang Kai did not immediately try to fuse with this drop of blood.
In the past, using his Monster Transformation Secret Art to fuse with the Dragon Scales had caused him to suffer greatly, so Yang Kai planned to make appropriate preparations first before proceeding. After making up his mind, he carefully put away the drop of dragon blood before his figure flickered and he left the Sealed World Bead.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai wandered around all the major shops in Maplewood City, and even went to the black market a few times.
The Monster Beast parts he obtained from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda were sold out for Source Crystals, and after spending many of those Source Crystals on a variety of ancient books, Yang Kai returned to his secluded home to do some reading.
His experiences since entering the Star Boundary made him realize how limited his knowledge was, so although these books were somewhat haphazardly collected, they were precisely what he needed right now.
Among these books were introductions to the Star Boundary’s major Sects, forces, geography, famous landforms, and alchemy.
Such widely-known information was not difficult to find or complicated to comprehend, so after Yang Kai spent a few days reading them, he finally gained a basic understanding of the Star Boundary.
Yang Kai also obtained some ancient books that recorded a variety of secret information, but whether the contents of these books were true or not, Yang Kai had no way of knowing. Unfortunately, he did not find many records about the Dragon Clan, only that the Star Boundary had a place called Dragon Island, on which many authentic Dragons seemed to live.
He did find some information about fusing Dragon artifacts into his body, though.
Most of these records said that a certain special Secret Art was required to begin the process, and that the fusion process was different from person to person. There were even some accounts of people succeeding in the initial fusion, but because their physique was not powerful enough, they were ultimately killed by backlash afterwards.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai felt that he should be fine.
Regarding special Secret Arts, he had his Monster Transformation. In terms of physique, he felt his was more than strong enough. His biggest advantage though, was his Golden Divine Dragon Source, giving him a unique edge when it came to fusing with these Dragon artifacts.
Ultimately, this was not a matter to be rushed. His top priority at the moment was to break through to the Dao Source Realm!
The advancement to a new Great Realm would bring about a dramatic increase in his strength.
Time flew by, and soon, half a month had passed.
Yang Kai walked out of his secluded home and came to Spirit Pill Plaza to fulfil his previous agreement with Kang Si Ran.
Ten days later, when Yang Kai had refined enough Spirit Pills and exited his Alchemy retreat. Kang Si Ran was already standing outside the Pill Room waiting with a smile on his face.
“Shopkeeper Kang,” Yang Kai greeted and cupped his fists slightly.
“Alchemist Yang, many thanks for your efforts this time,” Kang Si Ran seemed to be in a good mood and smiled through his wrinkled old face.
“I simply fulfilled my obligations, Shopkeeper Kang doesn’t need to be so polite,” Yang Kai smiled and said. “Judging from Shopkeeper Kang’s look, could there perhaps be some kind of happy event happening?”
“Not at all, however… the two Alchemists sent from the headquarters arrived five days ago.”
“So, that’s how it is,” Yang Kai knew that Kang Si Ran had been worrying about the pill supply problem of Spirit Pill Plaza for some time now. Previously, all the Alchemists of Spirit Pill Plaza had been poached by his nemesis, and if not for Yang Kai suddenly appearing, Spirit Pill Plaza would have been forced to close down long ago. Now that the Alchemists dispatched from Violet Source Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters had finally arrived, Kang Si Ran could put down his labour shortage worries.
“Congratulations to Shopkeeper Kang, then,” Yang Kai smiled.
Kang Si Ran chuckled, “If Alchemist Yang would be willing to remain in the employ of Spirit Pill Plaza, this old master…”
Yang Kai waved his hand and said, “Shopkeeper Kang, I’m afraid this will not work. I told you before that I do not pursue Alchemy as my primary profession. The reason I agreed to assist you last time was because I needed pill recipes. Now, since your chamber of commerce has sent two Alchemists to alleviate your situation, I will not be offering my Alchemy services again in the future.”
Kang Si Ran heard this and sighed, “It’s a pity. In fact, with Alchemist Yang’s ability, if you were to focus on Alchemy, your future achievements will probably be no worse than Grandmaster Huang Fu at the headquarters.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly.
“Since Alchemist Yang has no intention of pursuing the Alchemic Dao though, this old master will not try to persuade you anymore. The number of Spirit Pills Alchemist Yang refined during this time is quite large, but this old master has carefully calculated the appropriate remuneration and will have the Source Crystals delivered to your secluded home shortly.”
“Many thanks,” Yang Kai nodded, “Then I shall take my leave.”
Kang Si Ran nodded and walked out together with Yang Kai.
As they were returning to the surface, Kang Si Ran suddenly spoke, “Alchemist Yang, this old master will take the liberty to ask, do you require more pill recipes?”
“Oh, does Shopkeeper Kang have a way for me to acquire more?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “If Shopkeeper Kang has additional pill recipes that I do not currently know, I can purchase them for a satisfactory price.”
Kang Si Ran smiled, “Alchemist Yang has done a great benevolence for this old master. If this old master really had more pill recipes, he would have handed them over long ago for free.”
“So, Shopkeeper Kang does not have additional pill recipes?” Yang Kai looked confused.
Kang Si Ran smiled mysteriously, “Although this old master does not have them, this old master knows where some might be found. What’s more, in that place, not only would there be a number of pill recipes, perhaps… There will be a complete inheritance of an Alchemy Grandmaster!”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Come with me, I will explain carefully,” Kang Si Ran thought for a moment before leading Yang Kai to a secluded room.
After a short while, the two entered the room, and Kang Si Ran asked one of the shop-hands to prepare tea before he began.
After listening for a long time, Yang Kai realized that Kang Si Ran had knowledge of a cave mansion that was likely the secluded home of an Alchemy Grandmaster.
As for how he obtained this information, it seemed that he had learned of it many years ago, but due to the limits of his strength, he was unable to explore it. However, after much research and inquiry, he had basically confirmed what this cave mansion was.
“Are you certain it’s the cave mansion of a fallen Alchemy Grandmaster?” Yang Kai became quite eager and asked urgently, “Do you happen to know which Grandmaster it belonged to?”
“Gong Sun Mu! I wonder if Alchemist Yang has heard of this man,” Kang Si Ran replied slowly.
“Gong Sun Mu?” Yang Kai frowned as he began recalling the records, he had just reviewed a few days prior. He vaguely seemed to recall coming across such a name but could not remember in detail.
Seeing his expression, Kang Si Ran smiled slightly and said, “Even if Alchemist Yang has never heard of Gong Sun Mu, he must certainly know that among the Ten Great Emperors, there is one that excels in the Alchemic Dao.”
“The Wondrous Pill Great Emperor?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Indeed, among the Ten Great Emperors, only Wondrous Pill Great Emperor reached his supreme status by relying on his talent and accomplishments in the Alchemic Dao.”
“So, what Shopkeeper Kang means to say is that there is some kind of relationship between Gong Sun Mu and Wondrous Pill Great Emperor?” Yang Kai asked thoughtfully.
“Gong Sun Mu was Wondrous Pill Great Emperor’s Third Disciple!” Kang Si Ran smiled slightly.
Yang Kai could not help gasping.
“Originally, this old master was not qualified to know such secrets, but I have been inquiring about that cave mansion for many years, so I have learned more than is generally known to the public. Gong Sun Mu was Wondrous Pill Great’s Third Disciple and was quite favoured by the Great Emperor, but… for some reason I have yet to uncover, Gong Sun Mu seems to have offended Wonderous Pill Great Emperor and was expelled as a disciple three thousand years ago. Later, Gong Sun Mu settled in seclusion in the Southern Territory, ultimately losing his life in this foreign land, a truly sad fate.”
“Gong Sun Mu has such astonishing origins, so how did Shopkeeper Kang determine this cave mansion belonged to him?” Although Yang Kai was shocked, he still asked cautiously.
Kang Si Ran smiled and said, “Naturally, this old master has a reason for his confidence. Let’s put it this way, when Gong Sun Mu was expelled by Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, he brought a servant with him, and that servant was only responsible for tending to his daily life, but was later driven away by Gong Sun Mu, whose temperament underwent a dramatic change at some point. This information was obtained by this old master from a descendant of that servant.”
Gong Sun Mu had a prominent identity in his day, so even his servants would have impressive strength. After being driven away by Gong Sun Mu, this servant lived in seclusion in the Southern Territory, married a wife, and had children, creating his own family.
Unfortunately, as the generations passed, his descendants’ aptitude was somewhat unremarkable and the family eventually declined.
A hundred years ago, only one heir to the family remained. That heir, by chance, was rescued by Kang Si Ran when he was being hunted down by his enemies, but unfortunately, he suffered severe injuries from which he could not recover.
Before his death, that heir, out of gratitude, informed Kang Si Ran about his family’s greatest secret.
This was also the reason why Kang Si Ran was able to obtain such intimate information about Gong Sun Mu’s hidden cave mansion.
As Yang Kai listened, most of his doubts were assuaged.
Having gotten to know Kang Si Ran over the past two months, Yang Kai felt that he was a good person, not a villain, and saw no reason for Kang Si Ran to deceive him here. Secondly, Yang Kai knew that such opportunities and coincidences truly occurred in this world as he had experienced several himself.
After mulling the information for a while, Yang Kai spoke, “If it is truly the cave mansion of Gong Sun Mu, exploring it really would be a great opportunity, but in that case… Why is Shopkeeper Kang coming to me with this offer? Your chamber of commerce is full of talents who are far stronger than I, why not ask them for assistance and improve the odds of success?”
Kang Si Ran chuckled, “What Alchemist Yang says is reasonable, the headquarters of my chamber of commerce is indeed full of talented individuals, with countless Dao Source Realm masters as well. If this old master invited them to participate, the chances of success and safety would be much improved, but then… how many benefits would this old master obtain? Alchemist Yang must know that this is a private action, unrelated to the chamber of commerce. If the masters from headquarters were to learn about such a golden opportunity, this old master most likely would not even obtain some leftover soup. In order to carry out this plan, this old master has been searching for a reliable partner with similar strength, please understand this, Alchemist Yang.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly, “I understand Shopkeeper Kang’s concerns.”
“Alchemist Yang is considerate, it is truly this old master’s good fortune to have met him. Now, about Alchemist Yang. After hearing this much…”
Yang Kai smiled, “Since it is related to an Alchemy Grandmaster like Gong Sun Mu, I am very interested in participating.”
Kang Si Ran was overjoyed and nodded, “Very good! However, this old master must make something clear.”
“Shopkeeper Kang, please speak!”
Kang Si Ran wore a serious look and said, “If there is a Dao Source Pill inside the cave mansion, this old master has the first rights to it!”
“Alright,” Yang Kai didn’t even think about it and readily agreed.
Kang Si Ran was startled seeing Yang Kai agree so quickly, a trace of gratitude appearing on his face, “Many thanks for Alchemist Yang’s understanding. This old master knows that his aptitude is low, and without something like a Dao Source Pill, he will never reach the Dao Source Realm, but just how rare are Dao Source Pills? When the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was opened this time, this old master did not even hear rumours about the appearance of those three Dao Source Fruits. If not, this old master would not be in a rush to explore that hidden cave mansion. But Alchemist Yang may rest assured, regardless of whether there is Dao Source Pill in there or not, all materials related to Alchemy will belong to Alchemist Yang, as for other things, you and I can discuss the distribution when the time comes.”
“That’s fine,” Yang Kai nodded, “When will we leave?”
“Tentatively, after one month. One month from today, this old master will be waiting for Alchemist Yang at the pill shop. This old master has to make some preparations and in addition, there will be an auction soon in the city, so this old master wants to join in the fun and see if he can gain something good. I wonder if Alchemist Yang is interested in participating?” Kang Si Ran asked.
“There’s going to be an auction held in the city?” Yang Kai was startled.
“Yeah,” Kang Si Ran chuckled, “This time, Maplewood City’s cultivators obtained many good things from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, so Sir City Lord plans to host an auction where everyone could exchange some of the rarer treasures they acquired but do not need. Perhaps in this auction, this old master will even see a Dao Source Fruit. Alchemist Yang is now a Third-Order Origin King, so wouldn’t now be a good time to prepare a Dao Source Pill?”
“Indeed. When and where will this auction be held?” Yang Kai asked.
…
After half an hour, Yang Kai walked out of Spirit Pill Plaza.
Regarding the auction, Yang Kai did not say he would certainly attend, only telling Kang Si Ran that if he had time, he would go and join in the fun. Kang Si Ran of course made no objections.
After leaving Spirit Pill Plaza, Yang Kai thought for a while before turning towards a certain direction and heading out of the city instead of returning to his secluded home.
A short while later, outside Maplewood City, Yang Kai adjusted his bearings before flying due north.
At a location about thirty kilometres away from Maplewood City, there was a manor-like complex filled with houses and buildings covering a vast area. There were small bridges built of pristine rivers, making for a peaceful and elegant environment.
Yang Kai flew down and swept the manor with his Divine Sense for a moment as he muttered, “It should be here.”
The reason why he came to this place was naturally to fulfill his previous agreement with the man named Zhang Gao Xuan he had encountered in the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. The Zhang Family was also a somewhat famous family in Maplewood City, so after just a few inquiries, Yang Kai had found where it was located.
The Zhang Family’s foundation was not located inside Maplewood City, but outside Maplewood City. After all, a bit of land inside Maplewood City was worth an immense sum of money, and even building a simple house would be a great expense. Outside the city was different though, and although the World Energy would not be as abundant, that was not a problem for a small family.
Yang Kai glanced around and immediately understood that someone from the Zhang Family should have a little understanding of Spirit Arrays, as there were some simple ones arranged around the manor to gather World Energy.
Having received a Dao Source Fruit from the Zhang Family Patriarch, Zhang Gao Xuan, Yang Kai had a reason to come here and have a look while at the same time deliver Zhang Gao Xuan’s other possessions and final words.
He had been busy until now, so his visit had been slightly delayed.
When he arrived at the front entrance, Yang Kai prepared to call out, but before he could even say a word, two streams of light shot out from the inside of the complex.
Behind these two streams of light, two figures also rushed out, each one tightly gripping their fists, their eyes bloodshot and red, as if they had some kind of absolutely irreconcilable hatred with Yang Kai and their only wish was to kill him.
Yang Kai was stunned.
However, he did not put the attacks of the other party in his eyes as these two were just a Second-Order and First-Order Origin Returning Realm. Even if both used their full strength, how could they possibly harm Yang Kai?
So, he simply stood in place and waved his hand lightly.
With that wave, the two streams of light that had shot towards him shattered.
Seeing this, the two people who had rushed out froze in place, but soon, a grim look filled their faces as they used some kind of Secret Technique, coughed up mouthfuls of Blood Essence, and forced their auras to rapidly inflate.
Yang Kai’s brows suddenly wrinkled, and without waiting for these two people to summon their artifacts, he casually released his Domain.
In that instant, the two attackers felt as if mountains had been placed on their backs, causing them to go stiff, unable to move. However, this did nothing to diminish the anger on their faces as they continued to glare at Yang Kai hatefully, fire nearly spewing from their eyes.
“Is this the Zhang Family?” Yang Kai maintained the power of Domain, suppressing the two, and asked faintly.
The pair were both male and seemed to be about thirty years old. One was fat while the other was thin. Hearing Yang Kai’s question, the fat man coldly snorted and snapped, “Why ask something you already know? If you are here to kill, just kill, why bother with so much nonsense!”
Although the thinner man did not speak, the stern look that came out of his eyes clearly indicated his attitude.
“Has something happened to the Zhang Family?” Yang Kai was no fool, so seeing these two’s attitude, he had a faint guess about what had transpired, causing him to frown.
“You sure like running your mouth! Since you are here to do the Lu Family’s dirty work, why bother acting pretentious?” The fat cultivator snapped with a look of contempt.
The thin man sneered, “Lu Bai Chuan is nothing but an old bastard, so the people he hires are naturally the same, why is Third Brother so surprised?”
The fat cultivator laughed, “You’re right, it was Third Brother’s mistake.”
As he spoke, he spat towards Yang Kai fiercely.
Yang Kai sighed, “I am afraid that the two of you are misunderstanding something. I don’t know any Lu Bai Chuan or Lu Family, I only fought back because you suddenly attacked me.”
“You don’t know that old dog Lu Bai Chuan? Then why have you come to meet the Zhang Family?”
At that moment, an aged voice suddenly called out from inside the manor and soon, an old woman with silver hair and a wooden walking staff stepped out with the help of a young girl.
Behind this old woman were a few other people.
The old woman had a face full of wrinkles and her complexion was clearly somewhat sallow, but her eyes still contained a sharp light as she stared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense swept out and he immediately understood that this old woman was a First-Order Origin King, but it seemed she had suffered a serious wound recently that damaged her foundation, so her Saint Qi aura was somewhat disordered.
However, what puzzled Yang Kai was that the people who followed this old woman were all women, some middle-aged, some young, several of them even just little girls and young children.
The only males present were the fat and thin cultivators who had attacked him before.
It was like all the men in this family were dead except for the fat and thin pair.
Yang Kai waved his hand, dispersed his Domain, and freed his two assailants.
The two men also had some sense and understood that there was a massive gap in strength between them and Yang Kai, so they did not act rashly again and instead retreated to the old woman’s side, standing before her in a defensive stance as they stared at Yang Kai vigilantly.
“Junior Yang Kai greets old madam. Dare I ask if this is the Zhang Family?” Yang Kai cupped his fists politely.
“Yes, this is the Zhang Family,” The old woman replied in a deep voice while supporting herself with her cane.
“Good,” Yang Kai smiled slightly and pondered before asking, “Old madam, is there some kind of misunderstanding here? Why was I sneak attacked the moment I arrived?”
“Misunderstanding?” The old woman sneered, “Whether it is a misunderstanding or not depends on what business you have here. You say you don’t know Old Dog Lu Bai Chuan?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’ve never heard of him.”
“Grandmother, don’t listen to his nonsense, if it weren’t for Lu Bai Chuan asking him, why would he have come to our Zhang Family at this time!?”
Before the old woman could speak, the fat cultivator who had been imprisoned by Yang Kai sharply accused.
Yang Kai could only smile bitterly.
The old woman glared at the fat cultivator and scolded harshly, “Since when did I need you to tell me how to handle myself?”
The fat cultivator’s neck shrank as he did not dare to argue back.
The old woman turned her gaze back to Yang Kai again and released her Divine Sense; after realizing that Yang Kai’s cultivation was much higher than her own, her expression changed slightly, “Your Excellency’s cultivation is profound. If you were truly sent here by Lu Bai Chuan, there would not be any need for conversation. Alright. I will believe you, but that still does not explain why Your Excellency has come to the Zhang Family.”
“I’m here because I was entrusted to come by another. Please have a look at this, old madam,” As Yang Kai spoke, he took out a Space Ring and tossed it over to the old woman.
The old woman stretched out her hand to catch it, taking a deep look at Yang Kai for a moment before she poured her Divine Sense into the Space Ring.
The next moment, the old woman’s face turned pale, and her body trembled violently, as if she had suffered a heavy injury, even going so far as to open her mouth and cough up a mouthful of blood, causing her old face to suddenly become even older.
“How dare you use a sneak attack!?” The fat cultivator exclaimed furiously.
It was natural for him to misunderstand the situation; after all, the old woman had suddenly had such a response after catching the Space Ring. Anyone would think that Yang Kai had done something to the Space Ring and used it as a way to attack the old woman secretively.
The women who were standing behind the old woman also turned fierce as they glared towards Yang Kai with indignation. Each of them began pushing their strength while some bolder ones even summoned their artifacts and immediately began to attack.
Facing this group of women’s attacks, Yang Kai couldn’t help but feeling a bit anxious as he hurriedly retreated to open up some distance between them.
“Stop!” The old woman suddenly shouted.
These women clearly respected the old woman greatly, so although they were very upset with Yang Kai’s behaviour and deeds, when the old woman gave a command, all of them obeyed.
“Grandmother, are you alright? Does it hurt?” At that time, the young girl who had been supporting the old woman asked with a worried look, her hand reaching out to stroke the old woman’s back.
The old woman shook her head to indicate she was fine before turning her eyes back to Yang Kai, all the hostility from before being replaced with desolate sorrow as she asked, “Dare I ask this Little Brother, this Space Ring… From whom did you obtain it?”
Yang Kai’s lips moved slightly as he sent his voice directly to the old woman’s ears.
As soon as the old woman heard his words, she staggered again, but soon, a mirthless smile covered her face as she mourned, “Such cruel fate! Although this old woman had expected it, I had still prayed it would not be true.”
“Mother, what happened?” A beautiful middle-aged woman with a First-Order Origin King cultivation asked.
“See for yourself,” The old woman handed the ring in her hand to the middle-aged woman.
The woman took it, and after inspecting it closely, her pretty face also turned white. After scanning its content with her Divine Sense, tears suddenly flowed down her cheeks.
As Zhang Gao Xuan’s family, they recognized the items in his Space Ring. Now that Zhang Gao Xuan’s Space Ring was here, but he was nowhere to be seen, even a fool could guess what had happened.
Looking at this scene, Yang Kai felt a sense of sympathy and did not try to rush them, instead just standing by quietly while the Zhang Family digested the news that Zhang Gao Xuan had died.
Although they did not know the specific story, seeing the reactions of the old woman and the middle-aged beauty, it was apparent that they had already speculated things were like this, but that did not stop them from feeling sorrow.
After a long time, the old woman took a deep breath and turned to Yang Kai, “Honoured Guest, this old woman has been rude, please come inside.”
“Very well, I still have something I need to give you,” Yang Kai nodded.
Under the leadership of the old woman and the middle-aged beauty, Yang Kai was led to a meeting hall in the manor.
Everyone else was ordered to wait outside while only the old woman, the middle-aged woman, and the young girl who was assisting her Grandmother were allowed to enter, the latter curiously directing her eyes towards Yang Kai.
After ordering tea to be served, the old woman spoke, “Little Brother, regarding the misunderstanding from before, I hope that Little Brother can appreciate the traumatic circumstances my Zhang Family has experienced and not take our offence to heart.”
“It’s fine, old madam. I am sorry for your loss,” Yang Kai nodded.
“You said just now that you have something else to deliver to us, may I ask what that is?” The old woman asked.
“This,” Yang Kai took out another jade slip and handed it to the old woman while explaining, “Before your Zhang Family’s Patriarch died, he left a message in this jade slip and asked me to deliver it. Old madam will understand everything after she reads it.”
The old woman accepted the jade slip and poured her Divine Sense into it. A short time later, she passed it to the middle-aged woman in a calm manner.
When the middle-aged beauty finished reading the contents of this jade slip. however, she ground her teeth angrily and shouted, “As I thought! It was that old dog Lu Bai Chuan’s poisonous hand that killed my husband! Mother, I must seek revenge for my husband!”
Hearing what she said, Yang Kai realized that this woman was Zhang Gao Xuan’s wife, and it seemed that this old woman was Zhang Gao Xuan’s mother.
Losing one’s child, being forced to bury them rather than being buried by them, it was a fate no parent ever wished to endure, but this old woman was actually able to adjust her mood in such a short time, causing Yang Kai to admire her.
“Naturally, this enmity must be settled, but do you have the ability?” The old woman gave the middle-aged woman a cold look.
“Daughter-in-law is indeed not the opponent of that old dog, but even if she dies, she must still carve a piece of his flesh out!” The middle-aged beauty clenched her teeth as her eyes filled with hatred.
“Bold words,” The old woman sneered, “But I’m afraid that death will not be your fate. If you go now, only humiliation will await you!”
As soon as this statement came out, the middle-aged beauty could not help paling.
“If you understand, then sit down!” The old woman stamped her cane severely and ordered.
The middle-aged woman did not dare to disobey and fell back onto her seat feebly, her eyes seemingly losing their lustre.
Yang Kai saw this and sighed, “Old madam, might I ask what tragedy has befallen your household in addition to Brother Zhang’s misfortune inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda?”
The old woman heard this, and her expression darkened, nodding as she replied, “It seems Little Brother is already aware of this family’s misfortune.”
After a moment of silence, the old woman narrated what had happened to the Zhang Family recently.
Having both settled around Maplewood City, the Zhang Family and Lu Family had always had a close friendship, because the Old Ancestors of the two families had come to Maplewood City together and worked hard to establish themselves. After several hundred years of time, the two families could be called close relatives that had shared friendship for multiple generations.
For the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda this time, the two Patriarchs, Zhang Gao Xuan and Lu Bai Chuan, had entered together.
Additionally, just after the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, the juniors of the two families also travelled together to a certain Restricted Area for life experience.
However, everything turned out to be a conspiracy by the Lu Family.
In that dangerous Restricted Area, all the heirs of the Zhang Family were killed, while everyone from the Lu Family returned safely. This created the situation the Zhang Family was in now, where only women remained, as well as fat and thin male cultivators who had been in secluded retreat at the time. Now, they were the only men left in the Zhang Family.
After the closure of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, only Lu Bai Chuan returned, while Zhang Gao Xuan had disappeared.
Lu Bai Chuan’s attitude also changed dramatically from before. After returning, he frequently tried to pressure the Zhang Family into marrying a girl from the younger generation, Zhang Ruo Xi, to his son.
The Zhang Family Patriarch had disappeared suddenly, and everyone was naturally quite worried, so how could they possibly agree to such a request at this time? What’s more, the old matriarch had many doubts about the Lu Family, so she immediately refused.
How could she have known that Lu Bai Chuan would directly tear face with her and try to take away Zhang Ruo Xi forcibly, even starting a fight with the Zhang Family?
Lu Bai Chuan, like Zhang Gao Xuan, had a Third-Order Origin King cultivator. The current Zhang Family was clearly not his opponent. At that time, the old matriarch had used their family’s Secret Technique and taken a forbidden pill to dramatically boost her strength. Cooperating with the rest of the family, she had managed to temporarily force Lu Bai Chuan back, otherwise, there would be no Zhang Family anymore.
Now that she had obtained this jade slip from Yang Kai, which contained the message left by Zhang Gao Xuan before his death, the old woman could finally confirm that her son’s death was indeed caused by Lu Bai Chuan.
All her previous doubts were cleared up.
The sadness and hatred in the heart of the old woman could be imagined.
Yang Kai listened and remained silent.
All of this seemed like a plot to annex the Zhang Family by the Lu Family. With so few males left in the family, how could the Zhang Family continue its bloodline? As long as the Lu Family seized this opportunity to marry a young lady from the Zhang Family, they could slowly begin to assimilate what was left, ultimately wiping the Zhang Family from Maplewood City.
However, Yang Kai had some doubts about this.
As the saying went, men die for wealth just as birds die for food. The Zhang and Lu Families had been allies for hundreds of years, so how could such a drastic change have so suddenly occurred? Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of secrets were hidden below the surface here, but he also didn’t care to ask.
“Old madam, since you have read the information in the jade slip, you should already know about the agreement between your Zhang Family’s Patriarch and myself,” Yang Kai suddenly said.
The old woman nodded, “Gao Xuan made everything clear in the jade slip, saying that as long as the little brother still lives in Maplewood City, he will fulfil three requests for my Zhang Family within his ability, and… After the Dao Source Fruit has been refined into a pill, the Zhang Family will be given one Dao Source Pill!”
“Dao Source Fruit?” The middle-aged beautiful woman heard this and could not help asking in shock, “Did my husband manage to obtain a Dao Source Fruit?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, not trying to conceal the truth. “Patriarch Zhang did obtain a Dao Source Fruit inside the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, which is now in my hands. This is all in accordance with the agreement we made.”
The old woman glanced at the middle-aged woman’s face and coldly snorted, “An ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make him guilty. My Zhang Family now does not have the ability to protect a treasure like the Dao Source Fruit, not to mention, it is now rightfully this Little Brother’s property.”
The middle-aged woman shook slightly before nodding solemnly, “It is as mother says, I understand.”
The old woman turned her head back to Yang Kai, “Little Brother, you may rest assured, only the four people inside this room will ever know about that Dao Source Fruit. Little Brother coming to the Zhang Family to honour this agreement is already more than this old woman could have asked for. Little Brother is a man of character and credibility. This old woman will surely not cause any more trouble for you.”
Hearing what the old woman said, Yang Kai nodded, “That would be best.”
Although his attitude towards the Dao Source Fruit was indifferent, that was not the case for other Origin Kings. Once news spread out, it was likely that countless Origin Kings would hunt him down, and even Dao Source Realm masters might take action.
A Dao Source Fruit was useless to a Dao Source Realm master, but which Dao Source Realm master didn’t have descendants or Juniors?
The old woman spoke again, “Little Brother, if it is not inconvenient, please spend a few days here in my Zhang Family so this old woman can provide some appropriate hospitality.”
Yang Kai frowned and considered this proposal, feeling that it might be wrong for him to leave now. Although he did not have much friendship with this Zhang Family, he did reach an agreement with Zhang Gao Xuan after all. Now that the Zhang Family was facing a crisis, if he left and Lu Bai Chuan came, this group of orphans and widows would likely be unable to resist.
Perhaps it would be best if he used this situation to his advantage, making the Zhang Family use up one of their requests.
Just as he was thinking, Yang Kai heard a strange sound suddenly ring in his ears.
“What’s that sound?” The beautiful woman’s expression changed as she perked up her ears.
Yang Kai smiled, “It seems to be the sound of gongs and drums.”
The beautiful woman was startled and had a blank look on her face, but the old woman seemed to have thought of something and exclaimed in an enraged voice, “Lu Bai Chuan you little bastard! You’re going too far!”
Although Lu Bai Chuan’s cultivation was higher than hers, this old woman was Lu Bai Chuan’s senior by a generation, so it was not a problem for her to scold him like this.
The beautiful woman’s face changed when she heard this, “Could it be that old dog…”
The old woman glanced at the young girl who had been standing by her side, serving her attentively, and gently patted the back of her hand, “Don’t be afraid, while Grandma is still here, the Lu Family will not take you away.”
The girl was very well-behaved, and although it seemed she had a vague idea of what was transpiring, she did not look flustered and instead shook her head and spoke, “Grandma, if Ruo Xi can save the family, Ruo Xi is willing to.”
“What are you saying!” The old woman snapped and stamped her cane loudly, “Your grandfather, father, and brother all died at the hands of the Lu Family! The enmity between the Lu Family and my Zhang Family is absolutely irreconcilable! How could your grandma push you into such a fiery pit? Rest assured, grandma will guarantee your safety.”
Hearing them speak, Yang Kai immediately understood that the little girl who had been serving the old woman, Zhang Ruo Xi, was who the Lu Family wanted.
Earlier, Yang Kai had used his Divine Sense to investigate her cultivation and found she was only a First-Order Saint King, not even an Origin Returning Realm cultivator. Such cultivation could only be described as average for a fourteen or fifteen-year-old in the Star Boundary.
Moreover, although she was indeed quite pretty, she was not a country destroying beauty. It was a mystery what she possessed that caused the Lu Family to care so much about her.
Perhaps she was just an unlucky pawn that the Lu Family had randomly chosen in order to annex the Zhang Family with.
Yang Kai frowned slightly as he felt a little uncertain.
At that moment, the old woman turned her gaze to Yang Kai and said in a solemn tone, “Little Brother, this old woman must ask you something…”
Yang Kai nodded, “Please speak, old madam.”
The old woman nodded, “Little Brother’s cultivation is profound, but Lu Bai Chuan’s cultivation is comparable to yours so a fight with him would surely be difficult. This old woman will not ask you to kill him and avenge my Zhang Family, only that when the time comes, you step forward to safeguard my Zhang Family today!”
“Is this a request?” Yang Kai asked with a smile.
“Yes!” The old woman nodded solemnly while the middle-aged beauty and the young Zhang Ruo Xi also looked at Yang Kai with entreaty. After all, the only two people with any real strength in the Zhang Family at this moment were the old woman and the middle-aged woman, who were First-Order Origin Kings. However, the old woman had damaged her foundation recently by using a forbidden technique and medicine, so she was in no condition to fight.
If Yang Kai were to wipe his hands of them now, the Zhang Family would surely face calamity.
However, Lu Bai Chuan’s cultivation was on par with Yang Kai’s, so they were not certain whether Yang Kai would uphold his agreement with Zhang Gao Xuan to assist the Zhang Family; after all, what cultivator would be willing to offend another just as powerful as themselves for a mere verbal promise?
For a time, they were all very worried but did not dare to say anything.
“This request…” Yang Kai chuckled, making the three people in the hall feel like their hearts were stuck in their throats, “It’s fine with me!”
The old woman let out a sigh of relief, as did the beautiful woman and the young girl, all three of their eyes flashing with gratitude.
“But old madam, I just so happened to be in the Zhang Family this time, so keeping you safe once is not an issue, but what will happen if next time I am not here? What do you plan to do if the Lu Family comes to provoke you again? It is impossible for me to simply remain here indefinitely,” Yang Kai said lightly.
The old woman furrowed her brows and sighed forlornly, “We can only take one step at a time.”
Yang Kai quickly said, “Old madam has not thought about simply cutting weeds and pulling out roots?”
“Cutting weeds and pulling out roots!?” The old woman’s muddy eyes lit up suddenly as she asked quickly, “Is Little Brother sure? There are many people in the Lu Family, not just Lu Bai Chuan.”
“I can try!” Yang Kai declared.
The old woman was stunned and swept her eyes over Yang Kai, as if she was re-examining him. Hesitating for a moment, she ultimately spoke, “If it can be done, the Zhang Family will regard Little Brother as our greatest benefactor, ensuring that for generations to come we light incense and bow thrice in the morning and evening to pray for Little Brother’s good fortune and safety.”
“That’s not necessary…” Yang Kai smiled, “But we have to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.”
“The terms?” The old woman was startled, but immediately said with a wry smile, “I don’t know what the little brother wants? I’m afraid my Zhang Family has nothing of interest to you.”
“Old madam misunderstands, I don’t want compensation,” Yang Kai waved his hand. “However, doing this will carry a certain amount of risk for me. More importantly though, I do not like being fettered, so my proposal is, if I can eliminate the Lu Family for you, you will consider my previous agreement with Brother Zhang to be fulfilled and will no longer be able to make requests of me in the future. What do you say?”
“Little brother means…” The old woman asked cautiously.
“Either this time I ensure your safety and it will be considered a single request of the three fulfilled, meaning you still have two left, or I seek complete revenge for you and we consider all three requests fulfilled. You are free to choose.”
The old woman heard this and declared, “Naturally this old woman will choose the second option. If Little Brother can really avenge my Zhang Family, we will not seek you again in the future and will regard the agreement between you and Gao Xuan to be fulfilled. Not only that. This old woman will offer my sincere and generous gratitude.”
“Alright. Since you said it, you better mean it.” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, in an exceptionally good mood as he stood up, “Just wait here for the good news.”
Saying so, he turned and walked out the door.
“Little Brother, this Mistress will accompany you!” The middle-aged beauty volunteered.
As these words fell, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared.
“Help me up so I can also observe,” The old woman stood up excitedly and said to Zhang Ruo Xi who was beside her.
Outside the Zhang Family Manor, a festive scene had appeared.
A procession, beating the gongs and drums, had arrived at the entrance of the manor in a mighty manner while eight strong-looking men were hoisting a sedan chair on their shoulders as well as many boxes covered with red cloth.
It was obvious at first glance it was a bridal procession and that the contents of the boxes were a dowry.
At this moment, the team had stopped outside the manor and a man who looked to be roughly forty years old and had a trimmed moustache stood at its fore. This man had sharp eyes and a powerful Third-Order Origin King cultivation.
Behind this middle-aged man, there is another young man wearing red robes, standing there with a smile, his cultivation not too high, only Third-Order Saint King. He did not seem to be very old, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, but his face was clearly drunk with happiness.
This bridal procession was now confronting the orphans and widows of the Zhang Family.
Everyone from the Zhang Family was glaring at the people of this procession with obvious rage, their strength tumbling and their auras flashing with hostility. Were it not for the vast gap in strength, these women would likely have already attacked!
“Lu Bai Chuan, you still have the face to come to my Zhang Family?” The fat cultivator who attacked Yang Kai before gritted his teeth and shouted at the lead man. “My Zhang Family has been on good terms with your Lu Family for generations, but it was all in vain! Your greed and cruelty are simply without limits! I must avenge the enmity of killing my Zhang Family’s disciples or I will not be a man!”
Lu Bai Chuan glanced at the fat cultivator faintly and said, “Junior, this old master is here today to welcome a bride into his family, so he will let you off for your rudeness this once. Call Aunt Cheng out at once.”
“You still have the face to address her as Aunt Cheng?” The thin cultivator couldn’t help but sneer, “Lu Bai Chuan, Father here has been enlightened today! Only now have I learned that your Lu Family’s skin is thicker than a city wall, impressive indeed!”
“Junior, you court death!” Regardless of anything else, Lu Bai Chuan was a Third-Order Origin King, so two Origin Returning Realm juniors clamouring and insulting him so wantonly was more than he could bear, causing an immediate and visceral response, “In front of whom are you calling yourself ‘Father’? Such impudence!”
As he shouted, he reached out to grab towards the thin cultivator.
The thin cultivator’s complexion changed as he desperately pushed his Saint Qi and Shi while at the same time trying to retreat in order to avoid Lu Bai Chuan’s blow.
But no matter how hard he tried; he was unable to escape.
The difference in strength between a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator and a Third-Order Origin King was just too big. To put it bluntly, Lu Bai Chuan could crush him to death with a casual snap of his fingers.
Seeing that the big hand was about to grab his head, the thin cultivator steeled himself as a trace of madness flashed across his face, “Lu Bai Chuan, even if I die today, you won’t feel any better!”
As he spoke, he formed a seal with his hands and the suppressed power in his body suddenly began to riot.
“You are planning to self-destruct?” Lu Bai Chuan’s eyes narrowed slightly before he coldly snorted and said, “In front of this old master, you think you’ll have the opportunity to blow yourself up? Good, today is Tao’er’s wedding day, so we should add some excitement. Boy, surrender your life!”
Saying so, he waved his hand and a black curtain of energy suddenly enshrouded the thin cultivator.
The thin cultivator’s face went ashen with shock as he realized that he would not be able to self-destruct before this black curtain crushed him.
At that moment, the thin cultivator suddenly saw a burst of light and the black curtain which was covering him shattered like a mirror. At the same time, the pressure which was suppressing him suddenly disappeared.
Overjoyed, he charged forward instead of trying to escape while at the same time pushing his strength even more violently, determined to finish what he had started.