Chapter 2031

“Sir Vice City Lord, may I ask if this Spirit Pill came from the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda?” Someone among the audience asked aloud.

Drunkard nodded and replied, smiling, “Exactly! And this Spirit Pill isn’t one placed inside by the major Sects just after it opened, it is a true Ancient Spirit Pill. Everyone can also see that the medicinal efficacy of this Spirit Pill had been perfectly preserved because of the Pill Veins. If this was not the case, even the most potent of Spirit Pills would have been reduced to ashes after so many years.”

After a Spirit Pill had been refined, it would be stored in a jade bottle to preserve its medicinal efficacy.

But even high-grade Spirit Pills would have their medicinal efficacy dissipate with time, becoming useless eventually.

But if the Spirit Pill formed Pill Veins, there was no need to worry about this issue. Pill Veins could absorb World Energy autonomously, thereby maintaining the pill’s medicinal efficacy. Pill Clouds, which were above Pill Veins, were even more remarkable. Spirit Pills with Pill Clouds would have their medicinal efficacy grow stronger over time.

The longer such a pill was preserved, the more terrifying its medicinal efficacy would become.

If an Origin King Grade pill formed Pill Clouds, its medicinal efficacy might even be comparable to an Emperor Grade pill after thousands of years of accumulation.

Yang Kai had even seen such a pill before.

When he obtained the Purple Origin Furnace in the Emperor Garden, there was a Purple Veins Dragon Flame Pill that formed Pill Clouds inside. This pill was refined by the owner of the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture and only the Heavens knew why it was still in the Purple Origin Furnace. Ultimately, Yang Kai had picked up a bargain when he obtained it.

The Emperor Garden had been sealed off for over ten thousand years, so this Purple Veins Dragon Flame Pill was nourished by its Pill Clouds for an equal length of time. As such, even though it was only an Origin King Grade Mid-Rank pill, even an ordinary Emperor Grade pill could not compete with it in terms of medicinal efficacy.

Such a pill was extremely useful, even to Emperor Realm masters.

This was the reason why Yang Kai didn’t dare to take it; he was worried its medicinal efficacy was too powerful and he could not withstand it.

He dared not make its existence public either as such a pill was extremely unique. There could be no more than ten such pills in the entire world, so one could imagine just how valuable it was.

Even with his current strength, Yang Kai didn’t dare to take this Purple Veins Dragon Flame Pill easily and could only wait for his strength to improve until he could withstand its potency.

“Sir Vice City Lord, what is the grade of this Spirit Pill? What are its uses?” A cultivator on the lower floor asked the question that was running through everyone’s mind.

Drunkard smiled and replied, “You don’t have to ask, this old man was about to explain. After many Alchemists studied this pill together for several days, they finally came to the conclusion that this Spirit Pill is a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank pill, and its function is very attractive.”

Having heard Drunkard’s reply, the cultivators in the auction hall suddenly grew energetic and looked up at the stage with rapt attention.

“What the exact name of this pill in ancient times was, no one knows for sure, and its pill recipe has long been lost. Sir City Lord decided to name it the Marrow Washing Pill, and as for its specific purpose… heh heh, you can tell it by its name. It can wash one’s marrow and cleanse their physique, allowing one to be reborn and thereby enhancing that cultivator’s aptitude.”

Just as Drunkard’s voice fell, many cultivators in the audience suddenly exclaimed, all of their gazes turning sharp and hot.

Even the masters in the various private rooms released their Divine Senses to investigate this Spirit Pill.

It was no surprise everyone showed such a reaction, though. After all, how rare and valuable was a Spirit Pill that could wash one’s marrow and cleanse one’s physique to increase one’s aptitude? Besides a few legendary pills and treasures, no such pill existed in the Star Boundary.

But this Marrow Washing Pill indeed had such a Heaven-defying effect.

Who would dislike having better aptitude? This was something all cultivators dreamed of. Why were some Third-Order Origin Kings unable to break through to the Dao Source Realm? Some might be unable to because of their Secret Art, or due to old injuries, or some other reason.

But the most common reason by a large margin was simply because their aptitude was insufficient!

If they could improve their aptitude just a little bit, they might be able to remould themselves and reach the Dao Source Realm.

And the Marrow Washing Pill before them obviously represented hope for such a future, so everyone coveted it.

“No, something’s wrong, isn’t it, Sir Vice City Lord?” A man’s voice suddenly spread from a private room. It was the Jiang Family master who had bid many times before. “If this pill really had such a magical effect, how could anyone be willing to put it up for auction instead of just taking it for themselves? This Jiang does not believe that any cultivator with even the slightest bit of brains would make such a decision. Sir Vice City Lord, there’s more to this pill than that, isn’t there?”

Hearing this, those coveting cultivators with fiery eyes were instantly shocked as they felt that the Jiang Family master made a lot of sense. If this Marrow Washing Pill really had such amazing effects, which fool would put it up for auction? It could even be said that City Lord Duan Yuan Shan would immediately have taken it upon learning of its effects.

Just now, Drunkard’s elaborate description had made everyone subconsciously ignore this concern, but now that they were reminded by the Jiang Family master, they immediately woke up and asked Drunkard to give a clear explanation.

Drunkard, looking at the Jiang Family private room, grinned meaningfully and said, “Brother Jiang is correct. Although this Marrow Washing Pill has a Heaven-defying effect, it does have some drawbacks as well!”

“Oh? I’d like to hear the details!” The Jiang Family master immediately asked.

“First, although this pill is able to wash one’s marrow and cleanse one’s physique, it can only be taken for cultivators at or below the Saint King Realm, becoming completely ineffective to those above the Saint King Realm. Secondly, the effects will only last until its user has cultivated to the Origin King Realm. Once the consumer breaks through to the Origin King Realm, their physique and aptitude will return to their previous level. Of course, except for these two points, this pill has no other side effects and will not have any harmful after-effects, of this everyone may rest assured.”

“There’s actually such a strange pill in this world?” The Jiang Family master was taken aback for a while.

A smile appeared on Drunkard’s lips as he said, “No one knows what the ancient world was like. This old man has no idea why this kind of pill was created in ancient times, but there are so many capable and eccentric people in history, so it’s not surprising that such a pill appeared.”

“This Jiang understands. Many thanks, Sir Vice City Lord, for your explanation.”

“Good, this is what this old man ought to explain. Now that everyone has understood the purpose of this Marrow Washing Pill, let’s start with the auction. The starting bid is 100,000 Source Crystals and each raise shall not be less than 5,000.”

“100,000!”

“150,000!”

“200,000!”

Although this Marrow Washing Pill had many limitations, like being useless to cultivators above the Saint King Realm and having the boosted aptitude return to its original level after breaking through to the Origin King Realm, it still aroused the interest of many people.

This was only natural as all the cultivators participating in the auction had their own juniors and heirs. This pill might be useless to them personally, but it could still be given to their descendants. There was a massive gap of two Great Realms between the Saint King Realm and Origin King Realm, so if one’s aptitude was improved even for that short span, it could greatly shorten their cultivation time. 

However, its various restrictions doomed this pill to not have too high a price.

The bids soared upwards, quickly breaking through the 200,000 mark.

In the B9 private room, Yang Kai’s brow rose as he too began bidding.

Kang Si Ran looked at him with amazement and asked, “Alchemist Yang, do you have a little friend in need of this thing?”

Yang Kai, pondering for a moment before nodding, “You could say that. Furthermore… since I have come to this auction, I can’t just go back empty-handed, can I?”

“En, I suppose so,” Kang Si Ran nodded. He had also bid on a few useful items before that were relatively cheap, but this was actually Yang Kai’s first time bidding for anything.

“Alchemist Yang, don’t hesitate to bid, if you don’t have enough Source Crystals, this old master will assist you,” Kang Si Ran generously said.

“Then I will thank Shopkeeper Kang in advance,” Yang Kai smiled and continued to raise. “250,000!”

The reason why he participated in bidding for this Marrow Washing Pill was naturally because of Zhang Ruo Xi. This Zhang Family Young Lady just so happened to be a First-Order Saint King and was a prime candidate for taking this Marrow Washing Pill.

He might have no friendship or feelings for this little girl, but he still wanted her help to unlock the secrets of the Space Spirit Jade at the end of the day. Perhaps he would be with Zhang Ruo Xi for a long time in the future, so it wouldn’t hurt him to help her grow up quickly. It would also lighten the burden on him if she was stronger.

Most importantly though, Yang Kai had accepted her while having such plans for her which he had not revealed from the outset, so he felt that giving her a little compensation would relieve the guilt in his heart.

As the price soared, fewer and fewer people participated in the bidding as even though it was a rare Ancient Spirit Pill, it was useless to them. Except for some cultivators who were interested in cultivating their descendants, others had already withdrawn.

When Yang Kai offered 300,000, only a single woman continued to compete with him. This woman was sitting in the lower hall and didn’t seem to be too wealthy. She was also only a Second-Order Origin King.

She hesitated for a while before continuing to increase the price.

Naturally, Yang Kai did not give up.

After Yang Kai called out 320,000, the woman let out a sigh and seemed to have given up.

Seeing this situation, Drunkard immediately stepped forward and declared, “320,000 going once, going twice, going three times, and sold. Please go backstage to pay and finalize the deal!”

Yang Kai smiled upon hearing this before promptly standing up and saying to Kang Si Ran, “I’ll be right back.”

“Alchemist Yang, please return as soon as possible. If I’m right, the Dao Source Fruit is about to appear,” Kang Si Ran looked towards the stage with great expectation.

Yang Kai nodded and left the room.

Walking backstage, he paid 320,000 Source Crystals, and obtained the Marrow Washing Pill.

Spending so many Source Crystals to buy a Spirit Pill was indeed a little extravagant for Yang Kai today; after all, this was almost a third of the Source Crystals he had on hand, and more importantly, it was useless for him.

But in the long run, it was fine.

Furthermore, Yang Kai could also study the ingredients of this Marrow Washing Pill himself, and if he could derive its recipe, it would be of great use to him. Regardless of anything else, this was an Ancient Spirit Pill that had been lost to history, so if Yang Kai could learn its pill recipe, he could refine more in the future and sell them himself. At that time, he wouldn’t need to worry about making back his investment.

Chapter 2032

When Yang Kai returned to the private room again, it seemed that another item had been auctioned off for some unknown price.

“They still haven’t reached the finale, the Dao Source Fruit?” Yang Kai asked in astonishment as he took his seat.

Kang Si Ran shook his head, smiling wryly, “There seems to be a lot of items to be auctioned this time, but it should appear soon.”

Yang Kai nodded and didn’t make a comment, instead casting his gaze towards the stage.

There, a mysterious smile appeared on Drunkard’s face again as he looked around and spoke, “The next item is an extraordinary one indeed; in fact, it wasn’t an item that was supposed to be auctioned today, but it was submitted by a certain friend who suddenly came today. Although it is something of a violation of policy, Sir City Lord judged that this item was indeed worthy enough to be auctioned today, so it has been allowed to appear. Hehe, everyone, if you cultivate Fire Attribute Secret Arts or have a Fire Attribute Artifact, please pay close attention.”

As he said this, he gestured toward the back and immediately a maid walked out, carrying a round bowl in her hands.

Inside the auction hall, all the cultivators focused their gazes on this bowl curiously, especially those cultivators who cultivated Fire Attributed Secret Arts, Secret Techniques, or had a Fire Attribute Artifacts, they were particularly interested.

Judging by its appearance, it was quite apparent that this bowl was a sealing artifact, and the runes on its surface continued to flash and pulse as they swam across its surface like fish in a pond.

Most of the cultivators present here had sharp insight so they naturally understood that the item to be auctioned wasn’t the bowl itself, but whatever was sealed inside it.

“Interesting! I wonder what it contains,” Kang Si Ran smiled lightly as he paid even closer attention.

Yang Kai, on the other hand, furrowed his brow the moment the bowl appeared.

For some reason, he felt a mysterious connection to whatever was inside the bowl, but because it was surrounded by multiple barriers, this feeling was very weak, almost imperceptible. If not for the throbbing and restlessness in his heart, even he wouldn’t be certain it was real and not just his imagination.

Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to investigate, but he couldn’t break through the barriers to investigate the situation inside and he did not dare to use force, so he could only frown deeply.

“Alchemist Yang, do you know what’s inside?” Kang Si Ran, noticing that Yang Kai’s expression didn’t seem right, asked curiously.

Yang Kai subconsciously shook his head, but his eyes remained completely glued onto the bowl.

The next moment, Drunkard started giving an introduction, “This item was submitted by a Dao Source Grade friend, but because that friend happened to cultivate a Water Attribute Secret Art, this item wasn’t useful to him, so he could only reluctantly part ways with it. If that was not the case, it would have been put up for auction.”

“Sir Vice City Lord, don’t leave us in suspense, it doesn’t suit your personality,” some impatient cultivator urged.

Drunkard let out a chuckle as he said while nodding, “En, but I will still have to provide some explanation. There were rumours a few months ago in Maplewood City that a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit had appeared in the nearby Clear Jade Mountain. Many cultivators went to search for that Artifact Spirit, but ultimately it was determined that it wasn’t a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit but an infant Luan Feng. My Maplewood City’s cultivators competed for this baby Luan Feng, leading to many casualties but no result. At the last moment, a mature Divine Spirit Luan Feng appeared and breathed out its World Extinguishing Black Flame, incinerating everything within a hundred kilometres to ashes. Those flames are still burning at Clear Jade Mountain to this day. The might of a Divine Spirit is truly horrifying.”

He sighed for a moment, as if he really saw those World Extinguishing Black Flame with his own eyes.

“Sir Vice City Lord, could the item here being auctioned really be… an infant Divine Spirit?” A cultivator on the floor of the hall, upon hearing Drunkard, make an excited guess.

The same guess happened to be running through the minds of many others, and in an instant, rapid breathing spread across the hall as everyone stared greedily towards the bowl.

Drunkard just chuckled, however, and spoke, “An infant Divine Spirit? You guys really think we’d keep an infant Divine Spirit here? Forget about whether anyone would dare to bid on it, my Maplewood City wouldn’t even dare to auction it. If anyone here dared to provoke a true Divine Spirit, Clear Jade Mountain’s present situation would be Maplewood City’s future. Who could bear responsibility for bringing about the death of everyone present today?”

As these words echoed in the hall, a chill ran down the spines of everyone present, and after giving it a second thought, they all realized it was indeed true. In this world, who would have the courage to put the descendant of a Divine Spirit on auction? That was no different from courting death.

“Then, Sir Vice City Lord, why do you speak of this…”

Drunkard grinned and continued, “The main point is not about the infant Divine Spirit, but the Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit! I really don’t know what you all were listening to. Good, this old master will let you see what it is that is being auctioned today!?”

As he said this, he formed some seals with his hands and struck the bowl lightly. The seals around the round bowl began to flash as a crisp and resonant cry suddenly came from inside it. Immediately after, a fiery red light shot out.

*Chi…*

Suddenly, a three meter tall burning flame appeared above the auction stage and rapidly condensed into the appearance of a flaming bird similar to a Divine Spirit Phoenix. Amidst this firebird’s flames though, purple arcs of lightning could also be seen flashing.

To everyone’s surprise, this strange bird actually possessed the power of two attributes, lightning and fire.

Furthermore, the aura it was emanating was extraordinary, equal to that of a Third-Order Origin King. Its flaming body appeared quite majestic and with its wings spread, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Raising its head, it let out a long cry, one that was filled with stubbornness, anger, and resistance.

“Liu Yan!”

Yang Kai in room B9 immediately stood up as his pupils shrank and he cried out in surprise.

“Alchemist Yang?” Kang Si Ran turned a strange look to Yang Kai, having no idea why Yang Kai showed such a big reaction, but when he noticed the look of pleasant surprise mixed with fury on Yang Kai’s face, he suddenly seemed to understand.

Yang Kai had never expected to meet Liu Yan in this kind of situation.

In the Starlight Channel back then, he and his two companions, as well as President Ai Ou, Red Moon Tribal Lord, and the others had been separated. To this day, he still had no idea where any of them were.

Leaving aside President Ai Ou and Chi Yue, Yang Kai had always been deeply worried about Xiao Xiao and Liu Yan because one of them was a Stone Puppet with low intelligence and the other was an Artifact Spirit. No matter which one was discovered, they would certainly face grave danger. This was especially true for Liu Yan as she was particularly attractive to cultivators who cultivated Fire Attribute Secret Arts or had Fire Attribute Artifacts.

If Liu Yan’s Artifact Spirit body could be refined by a cultivator cultivating a Fire Attribute Secret Art, that cultivator’s strength would increase dramatically, and if she were to be integrated into a Fire Attribute Artifact, it would raise the grade of that Fire Attribute Artifact significantly.

What Yang Kai was afraid of had come true. It had been apparent now that Liu Yan had really been caught by a master and put on for auction. It was rather clear that many cultivators would be fighting to get their hands on her next.

Fortunately, Yang Kai was also at this auction, so there was some room to manoeuvre. It was a blessing in disguise!

This also explained why when the bowl was first brought out, Yang Kai felt a kind of spiritual connection to the sealed object inside.

When Liu Yan didn’t have much sentience, Yang Kai had left a Soul Imprint on her natal body, so naturally there was a connection between their two Souls which had not been cut off.

And as soon as Yang Kai stood up, Liu Yan on the high stage also seemed to become aware of his presence and her pair of fiery eyes turned towards private room B9 where he was. Immediately, she let out even more resonant cries as she flapped her wings hard, trying to fly to him.

But Drunkard noticed this and promptly formed another hand seal, causing some chain-like seals to appear on Liu Yan’s body, restraining her wings and forcing her back down.

“Stop!” Yang Kai couldn’t help shouting out in anger when he saw this.

However, as soon his voice escaped his mouth, he realized that he had acted a little recklessly. Liu Yan might have belonged to him originally, but now she had been captured and put up for auction.

He did not have the power or status to force Drunkard to show mercy to Liu Yan; on the contrary, his actions might let others see through their relationship.

As this thought flashed across his mind, Yang Kai took a deep breath and calmly said, “Sir Vice City Lord, please act gently, this one is very interested in this Artifact Spirit, please don’t hurt it.”

Drunkard had a friendly temperament, so after hearing this, he glanced in Yang Kai’s direction and said with a smile, “Rest assured, this old master has a sense of discretion and will not harm it. En, as everyone just saw, this Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit is the item to be auctioned now, and it is no ordinary Artifact Spirit at that! It has already achieved a high degree of sentience! If it can be refined into an artifact, it will be extremely useful.”

On the stage, Drunkard worked hard to promote Liu Yan, introducing her various unusual features, weaving an extravagant and colourful description that immediately piqued the interest of countless cultivators.

In his private room, Yang Kai sat back on his chair as a gloomy look covered his face.

In the current situation, if he wanted to snatch Liu Yan back, he could only do so by winning this auction, or forcing the thousands of Origin Kings and dozens of Dao Source Realm masters present to submit while he seized her by force.

The latter obviously was impossible of course. Although Yang Kai was a Third-Order Origin King and had several Emperor Artifacts on him, if he really tried to use force here, he would only be courting death.

However, he didn’t have many Source Crystals on him either. At the very least, there weren’t enough for him to win Liu Yan at auction.

He was extremely distraught for the moment.

Kang Si Ran seemed to have gotten some hints about what was going on and after a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice, “Alchemist Yang, do you have any relationship with that Artifact Spirit?”

Yang Kai nodded and explained, “Since Shopkeeper Kang has noticed already, I won’t hide it from you. Her name is Liu Yan, she was originally my Artifact Spirit!”

“Oh? She was Alchemist Yang’s Artifact Spirit?” Even though Kang Si Ran had long ago guessed, he was still greatly shocked when he heard Yang Kai’s confirmation.

“She is not just an Artifact Spirit though! To me, she is a friend as well!”

“A friend…” Kang Si Ran looked at Yang Kai with surprise, unable to wrap his head around his words; after all, could someone actually regard their Artifact Spirit as a friend? He found the whole concept hard to imagine.

Chapter 2033

Confounded, Kang Si Ran didn’t ask any more questions about it and instead just said, “So it seems Alchemist Yang wants to participate in this auction?”

“Yes, but I don’t have many Source Crystals on hand,” Yang Kai furrowed his brow, wondering whether he should take out something to leverage for more.

[Perhaps… I can take out a piece of Heavy Earth? I don’t need to take out much of it, just a thumbnail-sized piece should be enough to pay for this auction.]

[But once the Heavy Earth appears, it will cause a lot of trouble.]

“Haha, since this Artifact Spirit has such a relationship with Alchemist Yang, Alchemist Yang should bid for it without restraint. Don’t worry about Source Crystals, this old master can pay for them on your behalf. Alchemist Yang can pay me back when he has enough Source Crystals of his own,” Kang Si Ran generously offered.

Yang Kai turned to Kang Si Ran and asked with a frown, “But Shopkeeper Kang, don’t you need those to bid for the Dao Source Fruit?”

Kang Si Ran waved his hand and smiled. “At first, this old master indeed had some plans for the Dao Source Fruit, but now, this old master does not expect to win it with the few Source Crystals he has on him. I had not expected so many Dao Source Realm masters to appear at this auction, and their wealth is undoubtedly far superior to this old master’s. Since Alchemist Yang is in such urgent need, this old master will offer his assistance. As for the Dao Source Fruit… heh heh, we’ll just have to go and explore that cave mansion. Who knows, there might even be a Dao Source Pill inside!”

“Shopkeeper Kang, how many Source Crystals do you have?” Yang Kai asked in a solemn tone.

Kang Si Ran raised his palm and stretched out his fingers, “I don’t have more than this, I hope it will be enough to help Alchemist Yang.”

“Excellent! Many thanks, Brother Kang, I will not forget this kindness,” Yang Kai earnestly thanked.

Kang Si Ran’s generosity had touched Yang Kai’s heart and he secretly decided that if Kang Si Ran didn’t get the Dao Source Fruit this time, or find a Dao Source Pill in the cave mansion they were planning to explore soon, he would give Kang Si Ran a Dao Source Pill when he refined them in the future to repay today’s favour.

Having been in contact with Kang Si Ran these days, Yang Kai felt that he was a good man and someone worth making friends with.

With Kang Si Ran’s assistance, Yang Kai confidence had been greatly boosted; after all, the earlier Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank Alchemy Furnace only sold for 6 million Source Crystals, and obviously, Liu Yan’s value was not higher than that of the Black Jade Furnace. Even if she was an Artifact Spirit that had gained sentience, she was still only at the Third-Order Origin King level, so the assistance she could provide for real masters was limited.

However, there was still something else to worry about.

Just as Yang Kai was considering this, on the stage, Drunkard continued to speak, “This Artifact Spirit seems to have had many fortuitous encounters and not only possesses rich, pure Fire Attribute energy, but it can also control Thunder Attribute energy. Everyone should not underestimate this Artifact Spirit; an ordinary Third-Order Origin King would certainly not be its opponent in a one-on-one situation, only a Dao Source Realm master could possible subdue it, so even if some friends out there don’t cultivate Fire Attribute Secret Arts, obtaining this Artifact Spirit will still be of great use as it could act as a powerful assistant!”

Yang Kai’s face turned even blacker when heard Drunkard singing Liu Yan’s praises, cursing in his heart as he wished he could rush up to the stage and sew Drunkard’s mouth shut.

The more he praised Liu Yan, the more enthusiastic the bidders would be and the worse things would be for Yang Kai.

“And, last but not least, this Artifact Spirit… heh heh, also has another form,” A meaningful grin suddenly appeared on Drunkard’s face as he gazed out across the crowd before forming another seal, causing the chain-like seals around Liu Yan to tighten again. Liu Yan cried out in pain as she was forced to transform into a charming and graceful woman wearing fiery-red robes.

“Si…”

“She can take on a human form!?”

“What kind of chance did this Artifact Spirit encounter!”

“Good good, her body is almost completely corporeal, this has gone far beyond the range of a mere Artifact Spirit. I wonder just what it would feel like to touch her?”

When the many cultivators saw Liu Yan show her human form, they couldn’t sit still and started shouting and clamouring over one another.

Liu Yan, who stood on the stage, had an extremely cold look on her face, her expression saying she would not let anyone approach within a thousand kilometres of her, but this coldness only added to her beauty, and many male cultivators began howling like wolves under the gaze of her phoenix eyes.

What’s more, all of Liu Yan’s beautiful curves were particularly emphasized now that she was bound by the chain-like seals, causing obscene thoughts to surface in many men’s hearts.

Yang Kai face-palmed and heaved a heavy sigh.

Kang Si Ran, who happened to be taking a sip of tea just now, couldn’t help spitting it out awkwardly before he hurriedly wiped his mouth and turned an odd look to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang… this old master now understands what you meant when you said she was your ‘friend’.”

“Brother Kang, it’s not what you think…” Yang Kai tried to defend himself, helplessly.

“We are both men, I understand,” Kang Si Ran grinned meaningfully.

Yang Kai just rolled his eyes and closed his mouth as any argument he made was useless.

“Everyone, as you’ve seen, this Artifact Spirit is not only a very powerful companion, but even just walking next to her will bring you great prestige and face. To be honest, the first time this old master saw her beauty, he was quite tempted to keep her for himself. Unfortunately, this old master is already too old for such things. If that were not the case, I would be competing with you as well,” Drunkard laughed, “Good, enough nonsense. A Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit, the starting bid is 1 million Source Crystals and each raise cannot be less than 50,000. Everyone, please begin!”

The starting bid of Liu Yan was the same as that of the Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank Alchemy Furnace, causing Yang Kai to frown as he was struck with a bad premonition.

Sure enough, just as Drunkard finished speaking, everyone started to call their bids one after another.

Just ten breaths later, the bids had broken through the 2 million mark.

“3 million!” Suddenly, a clear voice came from a private room in A Block, dumbfounding everyone and forcing the cultivators who were just about to increase their own bid to fall silent.

A direct increase of 1 million had happened once before, and from this same person no less.

“It’s that Senior!” Someone couldn’t help but cry out loud when he recognized that the voice belonged to the Dao Source Realm master who had won the Black Jade Furnace.

“Wow, this Senior is really rich, he just bought the Black Jade Furnace for 6 million and now he’s bidding for this Artifact Spirit again.”

“What do you know? If he can obtain both, they will complement each other perfectly! By integrating this Artifact Spirit into the Black Jade Furnace, he might be able to raise it to a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact. It might even be able to touch the level of an Emperor Artifact.”

“So that’s how it is! It seems this Senior is determined to win this Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit.”

“Heh heh, then let’s see how good this Senior’s financial resources are; after all, there are many people interested in this Artifact Spirit.”

When he heard the voice calling 3 million, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a headache coming on.

He naturally knew who the owner of the voice was and why the other party was interested in Liu Yan. Naturally, it was all because this man had just won the Black Jade Furnace. It was just as the cultivators in the hall were discussing, this man probably wanted to integrate Liu Yan into that Alchemy Furnace to improve its grade.

The other party was clearly quite wealthy, and was also very powerful, so as soon as he called his bid, many people who were preparing to call their own bid shut their mouths, causing the auction hall to sink into dead silence for a moment, with no one seemingly willing to compete.

Yang Kai was left with no choice but to make a move seeing this and loudly shouted, “4 million!”

It was only Liu Yan, he couldn’t give up! Even if meant going bankrupt, he would not hesitate for an instant.

Just as Yang Kai’s voice echoed through the hall, the cold expression on Liu Yan’s face, which had remained like ice the entire time, couldn’t help shivering slightly and whether consciously or unconsciously, she glanced towards room B9 before turning her gaze away, the corners of her lips curling upwards ever so slightly.

She knew in her heart that Yang Kai would not let her fall into somebody else’s hands.

“Apparently there’s another fierce expert here.”

“Haha, things have become interesting now, I wonder who will be the final winner.”

“It will depend on who has more Source Crystals.”

Yang Kai raised the bid from 3 million to 4 million in one breath, matching the previous up-bid of 1 million Source Crystals. This way, his momentum wouldn’t be inferior to the other party. In the A Block private room, a lean man who looked like he was in his forties with a slightly rugged physique couldn’t help frowning for a moment, releasing his Divine Sense towards B9.

Although there were barriers around these private rooms to isolate the general Divine Sense investigation, as these had only been set up recently, they weren’t that powerful, and the lean man’s Divine Sense instantly broke through them to press down on Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran.

Kang Si Ran immediately let out a grunt, his face turning pale as he felt like he was being suffocated.

Yang Kai felt the same, but as soon as he circulated his Spiritual Energy, he recovered unharmed.

[A Second-Order Dao Source Realm!] Yang Kai’s heart sank, clearly inferring the other party’s strength from the intensity of his Divine Sense.

“Brother Han!” As the host of the auction, Drunkard naturally could not let a powerful master suppress other competitors using force or status, so he immediately shouted, “Please stop!”

He directly called out the surname of the lean man, clearly indicating he knew his identity from the start.

Upon hearing this, the lean man surnamed Han let out a sneer and said, “This Han meant no harm, he just wanted to take a look at his competition. Vice City Lord doesn’t need to pay it any mind.”

Drunkard furrowed his brow and said in a calm manner, “If that is the case, that would be best. Brother Han is an honoured guest, so you know the rules of the auction.”

“You don’t need to remind me,” The man surnamed Han let out a cold snort, clearly quite unhappy.

Drunkard nodded solemnly before speaking, “Then, let us continue with the auction. The friend in room B9 has bid 4 million, will Brother Han raise his bid?”

After Drunkard finished speaking, before the man surnamed Han could even make a sound, a loud laugh suddenly reverberated from another A Block private room. “This Young Lord bids 4.5 million!”

This laughter was filled with arrogance and his tone gave off an aloof, disdainful impression, causing anyone who heard it to instinctually feel disgusted. Even Drunkard up on the stage furrowed his brow upon hearing this voice.

The man surnamed Han’s face turned even grimmer as the Divine Sense he had just withdrawn swept towards this new competitor.

Chapter 2034

The man surnamed Han was a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, a man who could stand shoulder to shoulder with City Lord Duan Yuan Shan, so even if he was warned by Drunkard just now, he still didn’t care about it. Obviously, he wanted to repeat the same threat he just used to put a little pressure on the bidder in the next room, forcing him to retreat.

Swiftly, the powerful Divine Sense of a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master broke through the barrier of the private room.

But what the man surnamed Han didn’t expect was that before he could exert any kind of pressure, a burst of Spiritual Energy that was in no way inferior to his own immediately surged out of the room, blocking his Divine Sense.

The man surnamed Han’s pupils instantly constricted. but he was still too late to withdraw his Divine Sense so he could only grit his teeth and meet his opponent head-on.

An invisible clash happened inside the auction hall as the Divine Sense of the man surnamed Han was pushed back, causing him and the other master to let out stifled grunts. 

This collision of Spiritual Energy had ended in a draw.

“Second-Order Dao Source Realm!” The man surnamed Han’s face turned black as he now understood why the man who had just placed a bid, sounded so arrogant. It was because he had the protection of a true master. Obviously whoever was in this room did not have a small background.

The man surnamed Han couldn’t help looking gloomy.

“Haha, this Young Lord had already bid 4.5 million, is there anyone willing to offer more? If not, then this Artifact Spirit will belong to this Young Lord,” the man who made the last bid didn’t seem to care about the contest between the two Dao Source Realm masters and began shouting arrogantly.

Inside that private room, a middle-aged man slightly furrowed his brow as he gently rebuked, “Young Palace Master, this Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit isn’t worth 4.5 million Source Crystals. Buying it for that much will only result in a loss. What’s more, you do not cultivate a Fire Attribute Secret Art and you don’t own any powerful Fire Attribute Artifacts, so why do you want to buy it? If this matter came to be known by the Palace Master, I’m afraid…”

“You only know shit!” Opposite the middle-aged man was a handsome young man holding a folding fan. He was dressed like a Young Lord and when he heard the middle-aged man’s rebuke, he just pursed his lips and said, “This Young Lord indeed doesn’t cultivate a Fire Attribute Secret Art, nor does this Young Lord have a Fire Attribute artifact, but… don’t you think that this Artifact Spirit is very beautiful? Besides, this Young Lord is curious about one more thing, what will she feel like? Would she feel any different from a human? If that’s the case, heh heh, no matter how many Source Crystals are spent, this Young Lord is willing.”

The middle-aged man momentarily frowned upon hearing this, but he knew he couldn’t interfere much in the end. All he could do was shake his head and smile wryly as he knew this Young Lord of his was obsessed with women, especially the cold, mature beauties. In other words, this Artifact Spirit’s figure was perfectly in line with his Young Lord’s tastes.

“5 million!” Yang Kai in room B9 raised the bid without a change in his expression.

“Bastard!”

As soon as Yang Kai made his bid, the Young Lord quickly stood up and shouted, completely discordant with the occasion, “Do you dare to try to snatch something that this Young Lord is interested in? Are you trying to oppose my Flying Saint Palace? This Young Lord bids 5.1 million!”

Everyone immediately understood his identity when he said this.

The bidder was impressively the Young Palace Master of Flying Saint Palace, Ning Yuan Cheng!

Yang Kai was also taken aback. [No wonder I found this guy’s voice a little familiar, so it’s that Ning Yuan Cheng.] 

Yang Kai had dealt with this arrogant young master more than once. The first time was when he helped Mo Xiao Qi escape from Ning Yuan Cheng’s encirclement and the second was in the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. But as his mind was completely preoccupied with Liu Yan, Yang Kai didn’t pay any attention to him and as such had failed to recognize his voice immediately.

[In that case, the Divine Sense that clashed with that man surnamed Han must be Ning Yuan Chen’s guard, Liu Yi Zhi.]

“What thing is Flying Saint Palace? If your father Ning Bo Yang was here, this Han might give him some face and give up on this Artifact Spirit, but you… hmph, you’re not worthy! 5.2 million!” The man surnamed Han shouted from his private room with a sneer.

“And who might Your Excellency be?” Ning Yuan Cheng’s face turned gloomy as he interrogated.

The man surnamed Han simply cackled, “Go back and ask your father, he will tell you who I am.”

“Damn you, how dare you look down on this Young Lord!?” Ning Yuan Cheng’s face turned livid in anger.

“Young Palace Master, this is someone else’s territory and that man surnamed Han is not someone to be taken lightly, we should… give way,” Liu Yi Zhi persuaded.

“Give way!? Why should I!? This Young Lord cannot swallow this insult. So, he dares to look down on this Young Lord? Good, we will see who has more Source Crystals then, he must be seeking death to try competing with this Young Lord!” Ning Yuan Cheng appeared to have lost his mind and immediately lashed out, “5.5 million!”

“5.6 million!” The man surnamed Han calmly raised his bid.

“6 million!”

“6.1 million!”

…..

Unlike before, Yang Kai couldn’t even find the chance to intervene in the later bids, and when the price soared past 6 million, he knew that he had no hope.

Kang Si Ran only had 5 million Source Crystals, and Yang Kai only had a few hundred thousand, so in total he had less than 6 million. Unless he really took out some Heavy Earth as leverage, he didn’t have enough.

However, the Heavy Earth was far too precious and would only attract endless trouble if he brought it out now, so upon realizing he had no hope of winning this bidding war, Yang Kai simply fell silent.

Kang Si Ran snuck a glance at Yang Kai and couldn’t help but sigh as he tried to comfort, “Brother Yang, please accommodate change.”

Yang Kai gently nodded but didn’t speak anymore.

At this point, anyone could tell that the current competition had become something more than just trying to secure interests. If the man surnamed Han was bidding to use Liu Yan for his Black Jade Furnace, then Ning Yuan Chen was bidding to not lose his face.

And even if the man surnamed Han had amazing financial resources, he had just spent 6 million Source Crystals to buy the Black Jade Furnace, so he might not have too many left now.

When the bids rose to 7 million, the man surnamed Han’s voice sank and his face turned gloomy.

Finally, when Ning Yuan Chen shouted 7.5 million, the man surnamed Han finally fell silent.

“Ha, before you try to rob something from this Young Lord, you should consider your own worth first! This Young Lord has never missed anything he has set his eyes upon!” Ning Yuan Cheng loudly mocked.

“Young Lord, it’s best to be lenient whenever possible,” the nearby Liu Yi Zhi suggested in a whispering voice.

“And why should I? That man didn’t put this Young Lord in his eyes, so must this Young Lord kneel down and lick his feet? Nonsense!” Ning Yuan Cheng flicked open his fan and began fanning himself triumphantly.

Liu Yi Zhi sighed in resignation, knowing it would be useless to say anything more.

“Flying Saint Palace’s Young Palace Master has bid 7.5 million, does anyone have a higher bid? 7.5 million going once, going twice, going thrice, and sold. The Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit now belongs to Young Palace Master Ning, please send someone backstage and pay the Source Crystals and collect your item.” A smile appeared on Drunkard’s wrinkled face. As he was hosting the auction, he would naturally get greater benefits for selling items for better prices.

After he finished speaking, a serious look appeared on Drunkard’s face as he solemnly said, “We have arrived at the finale of the auction and at the item all of you have been waiting for. En, this old man will say nothing more and will simply present it.”

As he spoke, a maid immediately carried out a jade tray from the back.

This was the final item, the Dao Source Fruit that had been contributed by Heavenly Martial Holy Land to this time’s opening of the Five-Coloured Treasure Pagoda. For a moment, everyone’s eyes fixed onto the tray.

Many cultivators had never seen a Dao Source Fruit before, so even if they knew there was no chance for them to obtain it here, they still wished to satisfy their curiosity by taking a good look at it, perhaps giving them something to boast about in the future.

Many people came to this auction just for this Dao Source Fruit, and all of the Dao Source Realm masters in A Block private rooms had purposefully not made any bids before to save their resources, not even participating in the auction for the Black Jade Furnace or Liu Yan.

These masters came for a single purpose, the Dao Source Fruit!

On the off-chance that they could obtain this Dao Source Fruit and refine it into Dao Source Pills, they may be able to obtain five to six pills if they were lucky. In other words, they would be able to create five to six Dao Source Realm masters for their force, a massive temptation for any Sect or family.

This last auction was doomed to be a fierce competition between the big forces present.

As for Yang Kai, his mind was no longer on the auction at all.

The Dao Source Fruit might be attractive to others, but as far as he was concerned, it wasn’t even worth a glance; after all, he already had a Dao Source Fruit in his possession. More importantly, he didn’t have the financial resources to partake in this auction.

At this moment, Yang Kai’s focus was on silently sensing Liu Yan’s position.

Although there was only a subtle connection between Liu Yan and him because of the seals around the bowl she was trapped in, he could still sense her general position, allowing himself to remain calm.

Since he couldn’t compete for Liu Yan openly because of his meagre wealth, he could only choose to snatch her.

Fortunately, Ning Yuan Cheng eventually won the bid for Liu Yan, so Yang Kai would not feel the least bit burdened after robbing him. He had some grievances to settle with Ning Yuan Cheng anyway, and had even gotten into a fight with him at the entrance to the second layer of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda.

Yang Kai didn’t care about the other members of Flying Saint Palace’s delegation, but the Second-Order Dao Source Realm Liu Yi Zhi was a bit tricky to deal with.

A Second-Order Dao Source Realm master wasn’t someone Yang Kai could face on his own currently. Fortunately, he had his two Blood Beasts, the Monster Insect Queen and the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, one of which had the strength of a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, while the other had strength on par with a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. As such, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to tie down Liu Yi Zhi if they worked together.

As long as Liu Yi Zhi was taken out of the picture, Yang Kai could easily snatch Liu Yan from Ning Yuan Cheng, who was clearly just an embroidered pillow, impressive looking on the surface, but soft and weak on the inside.

Having made up his mind, Yang Kai now had to plan carefully to limit any outside variables that could interfere with his mission.

While Yang Kai’s mind was elsewhere, the auction hall was already in full swing because of the Dao Source Fruit.

Even Kang Si Ran joined the bidding, but with his limited resources, he could only make two bids before the price soared past the point he could afford, forcing him to give up.

After someone shouted 8 million, Kang Si Ran slumped down on his chair and heaved a long sigh.

However, Yang Kai could not afford to care about this at the moment as he was focused on sensing Liu Yan’s aura which was already inside the private room of Flying Saint Palace. Apparently, the deal had already been settled with the City Lord’s Mansion; however, Ning Yuan Cheng didn’t seem to be that anxious to leave and instead stayed where he was to spectate the fierce struggle for the Dao Source Fruit.

Chapter 2035

The bidding for the Dao Source Fruit was extraordinarily fierce. At the beginning, Origin King Realm cultivators could participate, but in the later stage, only Dao Source masters were eligible to bid.

While they were calling their bids, they were fighting openly and covertly, clashing with each other with Divine Senses all over the auction house. From time to time, a stifled groan would be heard from some private room, obviously the result of someone suffering a loss.

And the host of the auction, Drunkard, seemed to have already expected it and didn’t care one bit. As for the City Lord’s Mansion, no one stepped out to stop the chaos, simply allowing them to fight amongst themselves.

With the rising bids being called out one by one, the atmosphere of the auction hall grew more and more intense, making the cultivators sitting in the lower hall flabbergasted.

Yang Kai also gained some insights from this mess, learning about how deep the heritages of these masters backed by their powerful families and Sects really were.

The auction lasted for more than an hour, and the Dao Source Fruit was eventually won by the Dao Source Realm master in the A Block private rooms for the steep price of 11 million.

Throughout the Star Boundary, most second and third-class Sects would find it difficult to spend 11 million Source Crystals all at once, but if they could create a few Dao Source Realm masters in exchange, raising the overall strength of their force, it was well worth the price.

Finally, the auction had come to an end.

Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran left the auction house together, with many other cultivators also leaving in groups of twos or threes, excitedly chatting about what they had seen just now.

“Brother Yang, I will go back for a few days to make preparations before we set off. I hope that place… will not disappoint me,” Kang Si Ran whispered to Yang.

Yang Kai naturally knew what place he was referring to exactly and promptly nodded, “Good! Then I will wait for Brother Kang’s message.”

“I will take my leave then, goodbye,” Kang Si Ran cupped his fists before he turned around and left.

After he had left, Yang Kai also turned around and headed off.

After a while, he arrived at a certain street and casually found a tavern to enter. Sitting down next to a window, he ordered some wine and food and began enjoying himself.

The reason why he didn’t return to his rented secluded home was that he wanted to track Liu Yan. It wasn’t easy to make a move inside Maplewood City, so he could only wait for the Flying Saint Palace group to leave the city.

The Flying Saint Palace could also be considered a great force in the Southern Territory, and naturally because of the appearance of Luan Feng last time and the opening of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda as well as the later auction fair, the Flying Saint Palace delegation had remained inside Maplewood City for some time.

However, according to Yang Kai’s calculations, they should not be staying for too much longer, so he waited patiently for the right opportunity.

But Yang Kai didn’t expect he would have to wait two whole days.

During this time, the Flying Saint Palace group had been staying inside their inn; never leaving. Yang Kai could still vaguely perceive Liu Yan’s aura and wasn’t worried about losing sight of her or worried about being discovered by the Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, Liu Yi Zhi.

Yang Kai reckoned that the people from Flying Saint Palace were staying in Maplewood City because Ning Yuan Cheng wanted to subdue Liu Yan.

His guess wasn’t wrong.

At this moment, in a room on the upper floor of the inn, Ning Yuan Cheng was angrily staring at the bowl in front of him as he formed some seals, causing a strange flaming red bird to immediately emerge from the bowl.

Liu Yi Zhi was standing by Ning Yuan Cheng’s side, seemingly never having left that spot.

“Slut!” Ning Yuan Cheng seemed to be fuming for some reason and was now lashing out in anger at Liu Yan, “Hurry up and show your human form, don’t pretend to be ignorant! Don’t think for a moment that this Young Lord doesn’t know that your intelligence is high and you can understand all of my words.”

Liu Yan, who had been trapped under many seals, just kept flapping her wings while quietly hovering mid-air, not making a single cry or trying to cause any trouble.

And just when Ning Yuan Cheng showed an opening though, she swiftly opened her beak and shot out a ball of thunder fire towards him.

This scene had apparently happened many times so Ning Yuan Cheng wasn’t surprised by it. He didn’t even dodge as Liu Yi Zhi, who had been guarding him, simply waved his hand at the thunder fireball and erased it.

“Heh heh, your temper is fiery! Excellent, this Young Lord likes that about you, but since you are reluctant to show your human form, don’t blame this Young Lord for being ruthless. Deacon Liu, get ready, we are returning to the Saint Palace!”

The nearby Liu Yi Zhi was overjoyed after hearing this and immediately confirmed, “Young Palace Master, are we going back?”

“En, I have tried for two days, but I still can’t make this bitch submit, so there’s no reason to remain here any longer. Let’s return to the Saint Palace first where I can seek assistance from Lord Father. At that time, I’d like to see how she refuses to bow to me,” Ning Yuan Cheng let out a cold snort before he formed some new seals and forced Liu Yan back into the bowl.

After half an hour, the team from Flying Saint Palace checked out of the inn and walked towards the city gate.

Yang Kai, who had been meditating in a room in the same inn, suddenly opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, “They’re finally leaving.”

If Flying Saint Palace didn’t leave, he would really be troubled; after all, he had promised Kang Si Ran that he would go with him to explore that cave mansion soon, so he really didn’t want to draw out this conflict any longer.

While it wouldn’t be a big deal to explain to Kang Si Ran that he needed a few more days, doing so would still break the trust between them.

At this moment, the Flying Saint Palace disciples were walking towards the city gate to leave Maplewood City as Yang Kai had expected.

He didn’t immediately follow them, however, and instead waited for a while before also leaving his room and making his way towards the same city gate.

Sometime later, on a plain millions of kilometres away from Maplewood City, Yang Kai hurriedly flew forward.

Because of his subtle connection with Liu Yan, he had a clear idea about the location of Flying Saint Palace’s group so he wasn’t worried about losing them.

However, he didn’t have a suitable flight type artifact on hand, so he was also unable to catch up with the opposite party, making him a little impatient.

While rushing forward at full speed, Yang Kai suddenly felt a powerful and overbearing Divine Sense sweep past him. This sudden situation made Yang Kai’s expression change and he forced himself to stop.

That Divine Sense was devoid of murderous intent, but it was still extremely cold, and after sweeping over Yang Kai, it casually withdrew.

Yang Kai stood in his place, a little confused, only a moment later realizing something and muttering under his breath, “There’s someone else chasing after Flying Saint Palace? This feeling… it’s that man surnamed Han.”

During the previous auction, a man surnamed Han had used his Divine Sense to pressure Kang Si Ran and Yang Kai. This memory was still fresh in Yang Kai’s mind so he was immediately able to identify the other party.

It was just that he hadn’t expected that someone else would be eyeing Flying Saint Palace’s group, just like he was.

If it weren’t for the fact that the other party had confidence in his strength and didn’t attach any importance to a mere Origin King, Yang Kai might not have noticed him.

Once he attacked the Flying Saint Palace delegation, this man surnamed Han might have taken advantage of and used him.

Thinking so, Yang Kai couldn’t help breaking out into a cold sweat.

Fortunately, the man surnamed Han didn’t have such plans, otherwise, things would have become really troublesome.

The man surnamed Han wanted to use his Divine Sense to intimidate Yang Kai, apparently, and force him to retreat from these muddy waters, and if it were any other Origin King, this tactic might really have worked, but Yang Kai had a reason he needed to persist.

After a while, Yang Kai continued his pursuit; however, this time, he was no longer as anxious and instead just pressed forward in a steady manner.

In any case, the man surnamed Han was going to confront Flying Saint Palace, so Yang Kai wasn’t in a rush to make the first move. It would be best for him to act once both sides were mutually wounded, or better yet, killed one another.

Presumably, the man surnamed Han was chasing after Flying Saint Palace’s group for Liu Yan. During the auction, his finances were weaker than Ning Yuan Chen’s, so he could only rob them to get what he wanted now.

He just happened to have the same plan as Yang Kai.

With the man surnamed Han as the vanguard, Yang Kai became far more relaxed and while continuing the chase, he began to strategize about his next move. It would be better if he could prevent both sides from discovering him while approaching as close as possible.

But after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn’t come up with a good strategy, causing him to be a bit depressed. All he could do now was act according to the circumstances.

After another half a day, when it was beginning to get dark, Yang Kai, who was still flying, suddenly raised his eyes to look into the distance as his expression changed.

Flickering lights could be seen in that direction, and if one listened carefully, they could vaguely hear intermittent explosions coinciding with those flashes as well as intense bursts of Spiritual Energy.

“He finally made his move!” Yang Kai was ecstatic and hurriedly used his Nihility Secret Technique before continuing his approach.

In addition to having a miraculous effect of avoiding fatal attacks, Yang Kai’s Nihility Secret Technique could also conceal his aura and appearance. This Secret Technique was derived from his comprehension of the Dao of Space and was far superior to ordinary concealment technique from big sects.

Unless there was a cultivator with a cultivation a whole Great Realm higher than Yang Kai, it would be impossible for them to detect his existence unless they performed a thorough search.

After flying forward for half an hour, Yang Kai had finally arrived at the location of the fight.

Under the moonlight, a flying ship was suspended mid-air and vague figures could be seen on the deck all looking towards a certain direction.

One of the figures was, impressively, Flying Saint Palace’s Young Palace Master, Ning Yuan Cheng. As for the others, they were naturally the disciples of Flying Saint Palace.

In the sky about a thousand meters away from the ship, two figures were entangled with each other, apparently fighting in close quarters.

Yang Kai looked closely and found that the two figures were the man surnamed Han and Liu Yi Zhi.

The fight between them was intense but steady as both of them were in the same realm, so the one who persevered longer and wore down his opponent would be the winner.

Judging from how they were confronting one another though, it didn’t seem like either side was holding back. Obviously, both of these men had experienced many battles, and by the looks of it, the fight would continue for some time.

Chapter 2036

After watching for a while, Yang Kai turned his gaze towards Flying Saint Palace’s ship artifact.

At this moment, Ning Yuan Cheng was standing on the deck with a leisurely look on his face, seemingly not worried at all that Liu Yi Zhi would be defeated. He gently fanned himself with his folding fan and would sometimes point towards the battlefield.

Naturally, the Flying Saint Palace disciples repeatedly nodded to his comments and orders.

Additionally, there was a rippling green light shield around the ship, enveloping it in a protective layer.

Obviously, this was the defensive barrier of the ship.

Yang Kai slightly furrowed his brow.

Now that the two Second-Order Dao Source Realm masters were busy fighting each other, it was a good opportunity to make his move, but the ship’s barrier also seemed pretty sturdy, so Yang Kai wasn’t sure he could break through it in one go, much less do so quietly. Yang Kai reckoned he would expose himself as long as he approached the ship.

After considering it for a long time, he decided to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

Reaching this conclusion, he turned his attention back to the battlefield of two Dao Source Realm masters.

Even after so long, Flying Saint Palace’s Liu Yi Zhi and the man surnamed Han were still fighting furiously with one another, neither showing weakness, but Yang Kai could subtly tell that something wasn’t right.

If the man surnamed Han didn’t have any confidence to attack and defeat Flying Saint Palace’s group, he would not have recklessly shown himself here, otherwise not only would he fail to obtain what he wanted, he would also offend Flying Saint Palace. Anyone with a little bit of brains wouldn’t do this.

Since the man surnamed Han chose to make a move, he must have a card up his sleeve.

Yang Kai was taken aback after this thought crossed his mind and immediately rejoiced that he had not acted recklessly just now.

“Who is Your Excellency? Why not state your name? What’re your intentions acting so secretively here?” In the sky, the Dao Source Grade sabre in Liu Yi Zhi’s hand flashed as it slashed towards the man surnamed Han.

The man surnamed Han floated back into the distance, borrowing the momentum of their recent clash while leisurely flicking his own sword before pointing back at Liu Yi Zhi and sneering, “You can’t recognize me because of your inexperience, yet you actually want to find fault with that? How ridiculous.”

Liu Yi Zhi furrowed his brow and shouted in a solemn tone, “I know that Your Excellency is surnamed Han, but Heaven knows how many people are surnamed Han in this world? I don’t care where Your Excellency is from, if you withdraw, this Liu will not pursue today’s matter. Continue to antagonize this Liu, however, and you will become an enemy of my Flying Saint Palace and this Liu will no longer show any mercy.”

“Flying Saint Palace is it?” The man surnamed Han snickered sarcastically, “Oh, I’m so scared! Do you think a trivial Flying Saint Palace can make this Han have reservations? Not to mention Flying Saint Palace, even if it was Star Soul Palace, why would I care? Star Soul Palace has been hunting this master down for more than a few years now, but isn’t this master still alive and kicking?”

“Huh?” Liu Yi Zhi muttered in surprise as he stared at the man surnamed Han in shock, startled greatly by this remark.

Star Soul Palace was the real overlord of the Southern Territory, and none dared to challenge its authority or power, but judging from this man’s remarks, he actually seemed to be a fugitive from Star Soul Palace, yet somehow he was still alive, and living quite comfortably at that.

“You… you couldn’t be…” Suddenly, a name flashed across Liu Yi Zhi’s mind, one he had heard about over a decade ago, shocking him to his core. Pointing at the man before him, he shouted, “I know who you are! You’re Han Leng, the one who was banished by Star Soul Palace!”

Over a decade ago, a disciple of an Elder-level Emperor Realm master of Star Soul Palace committed a huge mistake. Originally, he should have been executed according to the rules of Star Soul Palace, but somehow, it seemed he got wind of his impending sentence, killed several of his fellow disciples, stole some kind of precious treasure from Star Soul Palace, and escaped. Star Soul Palace had been searching for him ever since.

Back then, this matter had provoked many lively discussions in the Southern Territory as many Star Soul Palace disciples had been sent out to hunt down this traitor. They wanted to capture him alive and return him to Star Soul Palace to face justice, but unfortunately, no one succeeded and many had lost their lives to Hang Leng instead.

This matter had left a stain on Star Soul Palace, but the other Sects and families dared not discuss it in public, only whispering about it behind closed doors.

Over the past decade, Star Soul Palace had never ended its pursuit of this traitor, but unfortunately they also never managed to capture him.

Later, there were even rumours that this traitor was the illegitimate son of that Emperor Realm Elder, and that Elder had personally released him back then. Of course, no one knew whether this news was true or false.

Liu Yi Zhi, as a part of the upper echelons of Flying Saint Palace, naturally knew of such secrets and also knew that the traitor’s name was Han Leng.

At first, Liu Yi Zhi hadn’t associated this man with Hang Leng, but after hearing the latter’s words just now, he immediately drew this conclusion.

“Are you really that traitor Han Leng of Star Soul Palace?”

“So what if I am?” Han Leng opposite Liu Yi Zhi admitted without shying away, chuckling as he wore a complacent grin on his face, like he had prevailed in his schemes, “Now, it’s too late for you already!”

Liu Yi Zhi’s heart clenched when he heard this and instinctually shouted, “Shit!”

Just as he said this, he turned around and tried to fly towards the ship, looking quite frantic as if something terrible was about to happen.

But right then, Han Leng quickly formed some hand seals with a serious look on his face and in the next moment, a bright shining moon actually appeared in the sky, blinding everyone’s eyes, making it almost impossible for anyone to see anything around them.

Suddenly, a beam of white light shot down from the bright moon and poured directly into Han Leng.

In the next moment, rays of moonlight radiated in all directions with Han Leng as the centre.

In just three breaths, the area within a range of several dozen kilometres was shrouded in an inexplicable force, forming an isolated region. Within several dozen kilometres of Han Leng, one could only see bright moons of all sizes filling the sky; round moons, waning moons, crescent moons, but no stars.

At that moment, it had already become another world.

“Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array!” Liu Yi Zi’s face suddenly turned incomparably grave as he confirmed the reason for this change.

“Heh heh heh!” Han Leng’s figure had already disappeared. At this moment, his voice was radiating from all directions, making it difficult to locate him. “That’s right! Since you recognized this Spirit Array, you can die satisfied.”

“When did you set it up?” Liu Yi Zhi asked with an ashen face.

“Having known that you are from Flying Saint Palace, your route was easy to figure out, so how hard could it be to arrange an Array in advance? You can only blame your Young Palace Master for not placing anyone in his eyes, as if no one would dare provoke your Flying Saint Palace,” Han Leng’s voice continued to drift from everyone.

On the deck of the nearby ship, Ning Yuan Cheng’s face also became extremely ugly.

Although he appeared extremely safe on the deck of the ship, it was already surrounded by the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array at this moment, and judging by Liu Yi Zi’s expression, this Han Leng seemed to be an extremely dangerous enemy and this Spirit Array was somehow extraordinary.

Having considered all this, he suddenly pointed at the Flying Saint Palace disciples on the deck and ordered, “Go and quickly help Deacon Liu, this Young Lord will coordinate the battle from here!”

There were more than a dozen Origin Kings with him on the ship, most of them Second or Third-Order, so their combined force wasn’t weak at all.

These disciples didn’t hesitate for a single moment after hearing his order and used their Movement Skills to fly up from the ship, heading toward Liu Yi Zhi.

“Don’t come out!” Liu Yi Zhi subconsciously shouted, but it was too late.

The moment these disciples flew out of the ship, countless beams of silvery moonlight that seemed gentle and harmless at first glance shot out from the various moons.

However, the Flying Saint Palace disciples had an extremely rich combat experience and would not simply let these beams of moonlight hit them before understanding the nature of this Spirit Array, so they hurriedly dodged these beams, one after another.

One of the Second-Order Origin Kings was too late to react though and half of his body was struck by a moonlight beam.

Immediately, the left half of the Second-Order Origin King’s body melted away without any sound or sign.

The protective Saint Qi around his body didn’t play any role at all.

Seemingly only barely feeling a thing, the Second-Order Origin King turned his head to look at himself, but what he saw next crushed his soul…

He immediately screamed as he plummeted straight to the ground, but before he landed, he had already stopped breathing.

Such a strange scene had naturally caught everyone’s eyes, and almost everyone gasped at the sight of this as a chill running down their spines.

“You… haa…” Liu Yi Zhi sighed heavily. Although he was cursing Ning Yuan Chen in his heart, he didn’t voice out his thoughts. Rather he quickly adjusted himself and shouted, “Since you’ve come out already, follow me to break this Array! The Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array is indeed amazing, but the one who arranged it doesn’t seem too skilled. As long as we work together, we can carve our way out.”

The Origin Kings panicked when they saw their companion die so tragically, but after being pacified by Liu Yi Zhi, they immediately steadied themselves as they steeled themselves and gathered towards Liu Yi Zhi.

Han Leng’s sneers immediately echoed from every direction as the countless silver moons shook under his control. One after another, beams of moonlight shot towards the Flying Saint Place cultivators from all directions, all while Han Leng’s position remained hidden.

“Block!” Liu Yi Zhi shouted fiercely as he took the lead to brandish the sabre in his hand. A blade of light immediately left the sabre, growing to several dozen meters before flying towards the front. The others didn’t dare to tarry and also hastily cast their respective Secret Techniques and brandished their artifacts.

In a flash, colourful flashes of light glimmered as they crashed into the oncoming silver beams, one after another.

However, the stalemate only lasted for a moment before the silver beams broke through the Flying Saint Palace’s group’s defence and struck towards them.

Liu Yi Zhi’s pupils constricted as he hurriedly shouted at the top of his voice, “Scatter!”

Some people with quick reactions immediately dodged to the side, but those who reacted slower weren’t lucky enough to escape.

Just like this, the Flying Saint Palace disciples, who had just gathered around, were immediately sent running.

Before they could gather again, the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array was triggered once more as countless silver beams of moonlight shouted.

This time, the Flying Saint Palace cultivators weren’t so lucky. Many had just stabilized their footing and hadn’t had the time to catch their breath, so three of them were unable to avoid the moonlight beams and were struck head-on.

Chapter 2037

These moonlight beams shot out by the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array were incredibly lethal, with extreme corrosive and penetrating ability. Just like how the Flying Saint Palace disciple tragically died before, all those who were struck by these moonlight beams screamed miserably one after another as they watched parts of their body melt, their auras ceasing to exist shortly after.

And all the Saint Qi protection around their bodies didn’t work at all. Even the defensive artifacts of these cultivators were melted in half.

“Deacon Liu, save me!” One person didn’t immediately die, but the moonlight beam had left a large hole in his abdomen that one could clearly see his five viscera, six organs through. This man struggled to fly toward Liu Yi Zhi, shouting for help.

The corrosive force around the wound on his abdomen was like maggots on rotting bone, unable to be dispelled and quickly corroding the other intact body parts. As this disciple flew towards Liu Yi Zhi, the wound on his abdomen continued to expand and soon even his bones were exposed.

Suddenly, a slap landed on this person’s head, causing it to burst.

The Flying Saint Palace disciples in the vicinity, who were still alive, went silent for a moment as they turned looks of horror towards Liu Yi Zhi.

“He couldn’t be saved!” Liu Yi Zhi shouted in fury, “Rather than let him suffer, it’s better to give him a quick and painless death!”

“Hahaha!” Han Leng’s laughter suddenly echoed from everywhere, “Is everyone from Flying Saint Palace so cruel? You’ve opened this Han’s eyes today.”

Having been ridiculed by him, Liu Yi Zhi immediately grew angry out of shame and lashed out in anger, “If your surname is Han, I dare you to show your figure and fight fairly against this Liu! Cowering behind a Spirit Array, how can that be considered your own skill!?”

“Ridiculous! How ridiculous! If this Han taking advantage of this Spirit Array can’t be called my skill, can your act of using many to bully the few be called skill?” Han Leng rebuked in contempt.

Liu Yi Zhi’s provocations had no effect, leaving him with no other choice. Liu Yi Zhi turned to the surviving Flying Saint Palace disciples and shouted, “Why are you just standing there doing nothing! If you want to survive, attack this Spirit Array with your full strength!”

Nobody dared to be negligent after hearing this and quickly displayed their most powerful attacks, aimlessly bombarding the surrounding space.

Although Liu Yi Zhi’s brutality had scared them just now, they knew that he was right. Surrounded by this Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array, they could only continue attacking if they wanted to survive.

“A bunch of clowns!” After ridiculing everyone, Han Leng’s figure suddenly appeared somewhere mid-air. Forming a series of hand seals, he had the silver moons shoot untold beams of moonlight towards a certain spot, condense together, causing a massive sense of oppression to those down below.

“Go!” The huge beam of moonlight immediately shot in the direction of a certain Flying Saint Palace disciple with the wave of Han Leng’s hand. The speed of this beam was much faster than before and was impossible to guard against.

That disciple didn’t even have the chance to make an evasive action before he was directly enveloped by that beam of moonlight and vanished from the face of this world.

Liu Yi Zhi seemed to have been waiting for this very moment though, and as soon as Han Leng’s figure was exposed, Liu Yi Zhi spat out a mouthful of Blood Essence onto his sabre, causing it to vibrate slightly. In the next instant, his figure disappeared from its place and reappeared again before Han Leng, slashing down at him with his sabre.

Under Liu Yi Zhi’s anticipating gaze, Han Leng’s figure was cut into two.

A look of joy immediately appeared on Liu Yi Zhi’s face, but soon after, he realized there was something wrong.

Although Han Leng’s body was split into two, no blood flowed out. Soon after, Han Leng’s severed figure distorted before it disappeared altogether.

What he hit was Han Leng’s phantom, while Han Leng had clearly hidden again long ago.

Liu Yi Zhi furrowed his brow, finding the situation very difficult to deal with. In terms of cultivation, Han Leng and he were on par with each other and their combat power was almost equal, so it was reasonable to say that it was impossible for Han Leng to have such an obvious advantage. However, with the assistance of the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array, Liu Yi Zhi couldn’t grasp Han Leng’s location at all and was forced to defend passively, causing him to grow increasingly anxious.

The huge beam of moonlight didn’t disappear after its first kill and instead kept flying back and forth within the range of the array, melting away one Flying Saint Palace disciple after another.

In just a short span of a dozen or so breaths, only two Origin Kings remained.

The two Origin Kings both looked at each other and noticed the intention to escape in each other’s eyes. They knew that if they didn’t make a run for it, they would definitely die.

And so, their figures bolted straight towards the ship.

With a flash of moonlight, one of them was struck by the large beam and disintegrated before he could even scream. The last man managed to escape to the front of the ship where he cried out, “Young Palace Master, please let your subordinate in.”

On the deck of the ship, Ning Yuan Chen stood there with a panicked look on his face, turning a deaf ear to the cries of that disciple and instead angrily lashing out at him “Get away from here, don’t lead that thing here!”

“Young Palace Master, you…” The disciple looked at Ning Yuan Cheng as desperation filled his face, but before he could finish his words, the beam of moonlight struck him from behind, piercing a hole straight through his chest.

*Honglong…*

A thunderous clap resounded through the sky.

The thick moonlight beam’s remaining power hit the protective screen of the ship, causing a sizzling noise to ring out as if something was being melted. The light shield around the ship was also flickering.

Ning Yuan Cheng couldn’t help but stumble a few steps back before falling down on his butt.

Luckily, the grade of this ship wasn’t low, seemingly reaching the Dao Source Grade, so its defence was quite good.

“So that’s how it is, I’ve finally caught you!” The moment the moonlight beam disappeared, Liu Yi Zhi suddenly appeared before the ship and slashed the sabre.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him. It was none other than Han Leng, his face somewhat pale and there was a fresh cut on his robes. Apparently, he had been hit by Liu Yi Zhi’s attack just now.

Facing each other before the ship, Han Leng’s face was gloomy while Liu Yi Zhi looked solemn.

“It seems you noticed some clues,” Han Leng’s face was a little pale, seemingly having become exhausted from maintaining the operation of the Spirit Array.

“Indeed,” Liu Yi Zhi lifted his sabre, “This Liu had heard of the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array long ago, but after seeing it today, I realize that it is just an auxiliary Spirit Array. You have been hiding in the moonlight this whole time; this Liu had almost failed to notice this!”

Han Leng broke into laughter, “Deacon Liu really has a sharp eye, this Han had been trying to hide his whereabouts, but I hadn’t thought I would still be discovered by you.”

“Since I have found this flaw, today this place will be your burial ground!” Liu Yi Zhi pointed the sabre at Han Leng as his voice grew colder.

However, Han Leng just grinned wider as he said, “That will depend on whether you have the ability or not.”

Saying so, he formed a few hand seals as the countless silver moons started vibrating again.

“Are you still trying the same old trick?” Liu Yi Zhi fiercely shouted as he slashed the sabre in his hand all around him, sending out arcs of sabre Qi one after another. Principle Strength began to vibrate in the surrounding, causing the silver moons to distort and shatter, “The Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array is just so-so!”

“Is that so?” A strange look appeared on Han Leng’s face before his entire figure blossomed with a dazzling radiance, like he had turned into a brilliant full moon.

“What!?” Liu Yi Zhi turned pale with fear as he instinctively felt a lethal threat. Hurriedly, he summoned a shield-like artifact before him, one that rotated rapidly as it expanded to the size of a tabletop, shielding Liu Yi Zhi’s entire figure behind it.

Right then, Han Leng seemed to have finished his preparation and a piercing blade of moonlight flew straight out towards Liu Yi Zhi like an arrow flying off the bowstring.

Not only that, the silver moons in the surrounding, which had been de-stabilized, also shot beams of moonlight under Han Leng’s control, pouring into the sword of light.

The light sword grew larger and in just a few short breaths, it became several dozen metres long.

A terrifying pressure immediately came bearing down from the sky, not only causing Ning Yuan Cheng, who had just fallen on his backside, to turn pale, but also causing Liu Yi Zhi, who was desperately urging his shield artifact, to feel a deathly threat.

Only now did he realize that he had vastly underestimated Han Leng and the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array.

The Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array was a Spirit Array that originated from Star Soul Palace, and as the overlord of the Southern Territory, it was an outstanding masterpiece. Liu Yi Zhi might have seen through some of its intricacies, but he couldn’t see through them all. By underestimating this Spirit Array, he had brought about his own defeat.

“Young Palace Master, quickly escape!” Liu Yi Zhi gritted his teeth and shouted before biting the tip of his tongue and spewing his Blood Essence forward.

The shield artifact guarding him suddenly started glowing brightly, its defensive strength seemingly increasing another level. At the same time, the sabre in his hand buzzed violently while even Liu Yi Zhi’s aura began to inflate and grow chaotic.

“Self-destruct?” Han Leng’s cry of shock sounded from the Heaven-shaking light sword, a hint of fear apparent in his voice.

Not all artifacts in this world could self-destruct, but those that could would release massive amounts of destruction when they did. However, if someone really did this, not to mention that he would lose the artifact, the owner of the artifact would definitely suffer severe backlash.

The long-sword artifact in Liu Yi Zhi’s hand was a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank artifact, and the force of its self-destruction would definitely not be low, so Han Lend didn’t dare to take it head-on.

“Don’t even think about it!” Han Leng’s face distorted as he hid inside the moonlight sword, pressing his attack even harder, seemingly wanting to take Liu Yi Zhi’s life before the artifact could self-destruct.

A dazzling brilliance suddenly covered the entire world as a deafening thunderclap shook Heaven and Earth.

The surrounding World Energy fluctuated while even the local World Principles became disordered.

A black hole had suddenly appeared in Liu Yi Zhi’s location.

The power of that artifact’s self-destruct had actually shattered space, proof of how terrifying the explosion was.

An endless suction force appeared from this tear in space, swallowing everything around it before it fiercely constricted and disappeared under the restorative power of the local World Principles.

Many of the silver moons in the sky had gone dim as Han Leng’s final blow had seemingly drained most of the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array’s remaining power.

Han Leng’s figure was also revealed.

At this moment, his face was extremely hideous, his body covered in blood and his left arm twisted in an unnatural angle, a ghastly sight to behold.

Chapter 2038

The clash between the final blows of two Second-Order Dao Source Realms had left Han Leng with serious injuries, and after stabilizing his stance, Han Leng coughed a mouthful of purple-black blood, his fierce aura suddenly dropping noticeably.

As for Liu Yi Zhi, his figure was nowhere to be found and not even a bit of his aura could be felt within a range of a thousand metres. Only the shield artifact he had summoned was left, tattered and falling from the sky, its surface dull and dim, seemingly having lost its spirituality.

This shield-like defensive artifact had been completely destroyed.

If even his defensive artifact was destroyed like this, Liu Yi Zhi’s end could be imagined.

“Damn it!” Han Leng’s face turned ashen as he ground his teeth and cursed, coughing up another mouthful of blood while breathing heavily.

Only now did Ning Yuan Cheng, who had been hiding in the ship and watching the battle, finally react. He got up in a hurry and started forming hand seals while trembling in panic, turning the ship around and trying to escape.

Even Liu Yi Zhi had lost to Han Leng, so how could Ning Yuan Cheng have the guts to stay here any longer? At this moment, all he could think of was getting farther away from here as quickly as possible.

But how could Han Leng let him do this? Just as the ship started moving, Han Leng let out a cold snort and braced himself, then his figure distorted and once again disappeared.

Immediately afterward, the remaining dim silver moons glowed brighter for a moment before condensing a large beam of moonlight one last time and firing it straight at the ship.

Obviously, Han Leng was planning on killing Ning Yuan Chen, otherwise, once word of this matter got out, Flying Saint Palace would not let him go.

The moonlight beam was extremely fast and struck the defensive shield of the ship in the next instant. The force of this beam striking the ship wasn’t small either, causing Ning Yuan Cheng on the deck to be thrown off his feat.

*Cilala…*

Suddenly, a harsh sizzling noise rang out as the powerful corrosive force of the moonlight beam rapidly drained the power of the ship’s shield. Han Leng’s figure was revealed at this moment, as well, as he emerged from the moonlight beam, his sword shining brightly due to the power he borrowed from the array to try to shatter the ship’s shield in one blow.

“Han… Senior Han, do you really need to kill me? You can just let me go, if you do, I swear I won’t speak a word about what happened today.” Although Ning Yuan Chen was a Third-Order Origin King, before the attacking Han Leng, who was like a tiger descending from the mountain, he began begging for mercy before even thinking about counterattacking.

Hang Leng said nothing, his eyes becoming colder and colder, scaring the life out of Ning Yuan Cheng who only begged more pitifully.

*Kacha…*

Suddenly, a cracking sound reached Ning Yuan Cheng’s ears, sounding like the toll of a death knell to him. His face turned pale and his eyes immediately focused on a frightening scene before him. There was now a crack in the defensive shield of the ship, indicating it was on the brink of collapse.

*Kachacha…*

The cracks rapidly expanded and soon, they formed a spider-web like pattern across its entire surface.

Finally, with a thunderous shout from Han Leng, the ship’s defensive shield shattered and at the same time, the world of silver moons covering the surrounding area also disappeared.

The Heavenly Lunar Cycle Array had finally exhausted all of its energy and was automatically dispelled.

The moonlight beam too had disappeared, leaving just Han Leng’s sword light which shot straight toward Ning Yuan Cheng in a fearsome manner. By the time he pulled the long sword in his hand back, Han Leng was already standing not too far away behind Ning Yuan Cheng.

Ning Yuan Cheng instinctively took a defensive stance, feeling the threat to his life, but that was all he did.

A moment later, a little red dot appeared on Ning Yuan Cheng’s forehead before he collapsed onto the deck of the skip with a dull thud.

And with no one controlling Flying Saint Palace’s flying ship, it also fell down from the sky, crashing in a cloud of dust.

Not far away, the hidden Yang Kai, who had been watching the battle from the beginning with indifference, narrowed his eyes as he stared towards Han Leng’s back.

[He eliminated so many cultivators from Flying Saint Palace alone. He might have relied on the power of the Spirit Array, but his personal strength should not be underestimated. Even so, after such an intense battle, he must be thoroughly exhausted. He probably can’t even display half of his usual strength right now.]

Yang Kai felt that if he made a move now, he would have a ninety percent chance of succeeding. This was a typical example of a fisherman reaping the benefits of a fight between snipe and clam.

However, Yang Kai was still wary that Han Leng had some final card left in his hand, like how Liu Yi Zhi self-destructed his own artifact just now. If that was the case, he would have to pay a big price if wanted to win.

While Yang Kai was preoccupied with his thoughts, Han Leng’s figure had already flown up from the ship. He seemed to have searched Ning Yuan Cheng’s corpse and was now holding a Space Ring in his hand. Not long after, a round bowl appeared in his palm with a flash of light.

Examining it for a moment, Hang Leng wore a satisfied smile before storing the bowl back into the Space Ring.

Seeing this, Yang Kai immediately understood that the purpose of Han Leng’s trip was the same as his own: it was all for Liu Yan, who was sealed in that bowl.

But even after having dealt with everything, Han Leng still didn’t immediately leave. Rather he raised his eyes, looked squarely in Yang Kai’s direction, and said in a cold voice, “Kid, you’ve been watching for quite some time now, haven’t you seen enough?”

Yang Kai furrowed his brow and didn’t immediately show himself.

Seeing this, Han Leng coldly smiled and continued, “What’s wrong? Does this Han have to invite you to come out personally?”

As he spoke, the long sword in his hand gleamed slightly.

Yang Kai looked a little astonished, knowing the other party wasn’t deliberately acting mysterious and really knew he was here.

With there being no point in continuing to hide, Yang Kai dispersed his Nihility Secret Technique and revealed himself.

Han Leng raised his brow and praised liberally, “What a marvellous Concealment Technique, fascinating!”

Yang Kai, looking at him, pursed his lips into a smile and said, “Senior Han, you flatter me. No matter how marvellous my Concealment Technique is, didn’t you still see through it? What I don’t understand is how Senior Han managed this?”

“It seems that you are very confident in your technique,” Han Leng swept his eyes over Yang Kai, relaxing completely after noticing he was just a Third-Order Origin King and nonchalantly saying, “Truthfully, I am likely unable to see through your technique with just my ability, but… since you were inside the Heavenly Lunar Cycle Grand Array…”

Yang Kai was struck with realization and nodded, “So, that’s how it is!”

Han Leng, looking at Yang Kai, indifferently asked, “Kid, why are you hiding here? You wouldn’t be thinking of being the oriole stalking the mantis hunting the cicada, would you?”

Yang Kai chuckled and said without hesitation, “I did have this idea, but if Senior Han can give me that bowl, I will leave immediately.”

“So, you want that Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit?” Han Leng’s face sank as if he had thought of something before nodding, “So you were the other one bidding at the auction.”

“Indeed! Unfortunately, my finances are lacking and I could only choose this method instead.”

“Do you think you can snatch something from this Han’s grasp? Do you not know how to write ‘death’?” Han Leng smiled in disdain.

“Since I dare to come here, I naturally have confidence in my ability. What’s more, Senior Han has just fought an intense battle and is completely exhausted, it would not be a wise decision to become my enemy at this moment.”

Listening to Yang Kai talk in such a leisurely manner, Han Leng’s eyes twitched slightly.

[What right does a Third-Order Origin King have to dare act so presumptuous in front of me? But what he said also makes sense; since he dares to come, he must be depending on something, and whatever he is depending on is definitely making him unafraid of me.] Considering all this, Han Leng’s mood couldn’t help but sink.

He didn’t want to fight another battle at this point, as although the injuries he had suffered weren’t fatal, they weren’t light either. More importantly though, he did not have much Source Qi left.

“Good good, it’s been a long time since someone dared to be so presumptuous in front of this Han. Kid, I’ll remember this, and I hope you don’t die young,” Han Leng looked at Yang Kai for a moment before he suddenly started speaking with a sneer.

Yang Kai smiled lightly and replied, “Senior Han, it would also not be a wise decision to try to flee as, unfortunately for you, I’m quite good at tracking others. You won’t be able to escape from me.”

Saying so, Space Force pulsed from Yang Kai’s figure as it disappeared from its place.

In the next moment, he appeared on the opposite side of Han Leng as if he had been standing there all along.

Even someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Han Leng couldn’t help but be taken aback at this moment, calling out in shock, “What kind of Movement Skill was that?”

[The speed of his mysterious Movement Skill is indeed better than mine. It seems he’s not idly boasting about his speed and tracking skills. If this kid used this Movement Skill to continuously attack and harass me, I’ll never be able to rest and recover.]

Han Leng’s face blackened at once.

Yang Kai’s grin grew wider, but just as he was about to apply more pressure, his eyes widened in shock as he stared behind Han Leng’s back with a look of pure disbelief and shouted, “Behind you!”

Han Leng couldn’t help but sneer, “You dare to play such paltry tricks before this Han…”

He thought that Yang Kai was deliberately trying to divert his attention and then sneak attack him.

This kind of trick was so naive that even a child wouldn’t be fooled by it, so how could a battle-hardened veteran cultivator? If he really believed Yang Kai and looked behind himself, Han Leng was sure he would be attacked by Yang Kai the next moment.

But as soon as he said this, a sense of crisis struck him.

There really seemed to be some strange movements behind him.

Han Leng was struck with panic and quickly mobilized his defensive Source Qi while at the same time kicking the air to dodge.

But he had reacted too late.

Behind him, an extremely sharp, cyan-coloured spike appeared and shot out towards his back.

The speed of this spike was extremely fast, so fast that it seemed to split space apart as it advanced.

Chapter 2039

Han Leng’s defensive Source Qi couldn’t stop the spike at all and it swiftly pierced right through him, leaving a small puncture wound on his forehead. The fact that the spike pierced through his entire head proved how powerful this blow was.

Han Leng was quite strong though, so he didn’t die immediately even after suffering this fatal injury. Turning around to see who had attacked him though, he couldn’t help calling out in alarm, “How is this possible? That’s impossible!”

He believed that it was Liu Yi Zhi, who had sneak attacked him from the back; after all, Liu Yi Zhi had disappeared after the final blow and judging from that, Liu Yi Zhi was vaporized, or had seized the opportunity to hide.

After Han Leng was sneak attacked, he thought that Liu Yi Zhi had simply been hiding because of this.

But when he saw one who performed the sneak attack, only then did he realize that he couldn’t have been more wrong.

The sneak attacker standing behind him and looking at him with a sly smile wasn’t Liu Yi Zi, but Ning Yuan Cheng, the one he had killed with his own hands!

He found this scene completely unbelievable. Ning Yuan Cheng was only a Third-Order Origin King, and after stabbing him with his sword, Han Leng had searched Ning Yuan Cheng’s corpse, so Han Leng was certain the other party was dead.

How could the dead rise? 

But when Han Leng noticed certain changes in Ning Yuan Cheng’s appearance, he was struck with realization and muttered to himself, “So it’s like that…”

After having spoken these words, his head slumped to one side as he stopped breathing.

At the same time, the nearby Yang Kai’s felt his skin crawl and his fists clenched as he called out in alarm, “Wood Spirit!”

From where he stood, he could almost clearly see what just happened.

While he was talking to Han Leng, Ning Yuan Cheng, who was supposedly dead, strangely and silently stood up, opened his mouth, and shot a green wooden thorn from it which then pierced through Han Leng’s head.

The reason why Han Leng was so easily killed was partly due to his exhausted state and partly because of Yang Kai’s warning.

Han Leng mistakenly thought that Yang Kai was setting a trap for him, so he never thought that there was really fatal danger lurking behind him, and by the time he did notice, it was already too late.

How could a dead cultivator spit out a green wooden thorn? Yang Kai had seen something similar inside the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, as well as in Maplewood City, so he recognized it at a glance.

Surprisingly, it was the ancient Wood Spirit that had caused chaos in Maplewood City before!

On the day, when the Wood Spirit disaster struck Maplewood City, six Emperor Realm masters had personally taken action and because of this, thousands of cultivators had lost their lives in Maplewood City. After the turmoil, the City Lord’s Mansion had issued a statement saying the Wood Spirit disaster had been dealt with, making everyone feel at ease.

But now it seemed that this was just a method the City Lord’s Mansion had used to calm the public, while the Wood Spirit was not completely wiped out and had instead found a way to infect some cultivators.

It was just that this Wood Spirit had concealed itself extremely well, not only escaping the notice of those six Emperors, but even Ning Yuan Cheng and Liu Yi Zhi, who had been guarding him closely.

If it weren’t for Ning Yuan Cheng’s sudden death this time, the Wood Spirit Seed definitely would not have been exposed. If the host died, the Wood Spirit Seed would naturally not have any place to hide.

Everything was just a coincidence!

Yang Kai had already figured everything out in a blink of the eye, but his heart couldn’t help sinking as he did.

During those few days in Maplewood City, he had also participated in the hunt for Wood Spirit Clones and deeply understood how difficult it was to deal with these things. Moreover, at that time, he had teamed up with a dozen or even several dozen cultivators, but many had still been wounded during those fights. Now, he had to deal with one all alone.

While various thoughts were running through Yang Kai’s mind, a weird gurgling noise could be heard coming from Ning Yuan Cheng, and along with this noise, Han Leng’s body quickly started shrivelling up.

This was one of the Wood Spirit’s innate abilities, draining the vitality of cultivators to strengthen itself.

Originally, Ning Yuan Cheng was emitting the aura of a Third-Order Origin King, but as he continued to swallow Han Leng’s essence, his aura rapidly climbed and soon reached the peak of the Third-Order Origin King Realm, touching upon the Dao Source Realm!

Yang Kai’s pupils couldn’t help but shrink as he knew it would be too late if he didn’t take action now, shouting furiously, “Don’t even think about it!”

As he spoke, a flame sword suddenly appeared in his hand as he channelled his Fire Sword Qi from his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi.

His figure distorted as he used the Space Force and appeared before Ning Yuan Cheng, immediately swinging down his sword hard!

With a deafening explosion, the air grew extremely hot!

The Wood Spirit was a Wood Attribute creature so Fire Attribute energy was its nemesis. This was what Mo Xiao Qi had told Yang Kai once and Yang Kai had confirmed this multiple times while hunting down Wood Spirit Clones in Maplewood City.

Against Wood Spirit Clones, Fire Attribute energy was more effective than Space Force.

This attack went straight at Ning Yuan Chen’s head, and if it hit its target, it would definitely split Ning Yuan Cheng in two.

But how could the Wood Spirit Clone let Yang Kai succeed so easily? Ning Yuan Cheng’s mouth was still wide open as he constantly devoured the vitality via the green spike pierced through Han Leng’s head, but as the flame sword descended upon him, his eyes flashed a bright gleam and he swung his arms out. The two arms distorted and crackled as they transformed into two thick and long vines, one sweeping towards Yang Kai’s waist while the other defended against the flame sword.

*Huchichi…*

The Fire Sword Qi could only leave a deep cut on one of the vines, unable to slice through it completely, but this still drew a cry of pain from Ning Yuan Cheng.

Simultaneously, the other vine was already upon Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s pupils shrank as he didn’t dare to remain in place, immediately retreating.

The vine only struck air!

The cut left by Yang Kai’s flame sword on the other vine burned brightly for a moment, but soon a burst of green light erupted and the flames were extinguished, restoring the vine to its original state instantly!

“How is that possible?” Yang Kai called out in shock as he stabilized his footing.

He had killed quite a few Wood Spirit Clones in Maplewood City, and although the vitality of these Wood Spirit Clones was extremely tenacious and they were quite difficult to kill, Yang Kai had never encountered one with such astonishing restorative ability.

Yang Kai hadn’t held back any of his strength in his last attack, so from his previous experiences, he was certain the wound he inflicted would have been serious and difficult to repair.

But to his shock and dismay, the Wood Spirit Clone was practically uninjured.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but become vigilant seeing this and vaguely felt that the Wood Spirit Clone in front of him was somehow different.

Right when Yang Kai’s attack ended in vain, Han Leng’s corpse was sucked dry and Ning Yuan Cheng finally withdrew the wooden spike back into his mouth, a look of contentment appearing on his twisted face.

“First-Order Dao Source Realm!” Yang Kai’s expression turned cold as he sensed the aura emanating from Ning Yuan Cheng.

On the opposite side, Ning Yuan Cheng glared at Yang Kai with hatred, as if blaming Yang Kai for ruining his good deed. Ning Yuan Cheng’s figure shook as the clothes on his body were ripped into pieces and green vines suddenly exploded from his figure, the tips of these vines seemingly as sharp as swords.

In an instant, Ning Yuan Cheng’s entire figure had changed greatly.

He couldn’t even be described as humanoid anymore! Now, he was just a Wood Spirit Clone, nothing more. Only on the upper part of the trunk did some traces of Ning Yuan Cheng’s facial features remain while the rest of his figure was simply countless dancing vines.

Some of the vines stabbed toward Yang Kai like whips falling from the Heavens while other vines swept towards the dead bodies of the Flying Saint Palace disciples, piercing them and devouring their physical essence, a terrifying and imposing sight to behold.

Immediately, slurping noises could be heard coming from all around as the corpses of the many fallen cultivators started withering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“In your dreams!” Yang Kai’s face turned fierce at the sight of this as he hurriedly gathered Fire Sword Qi into his hands and slashed outwards.

*Chi chi chi chi…*

Scorching hot Fire Sword Qi blades flew through the air and pierced the corpses of the Flying Saint Palace disciples, the flame burning their corpses into ashes in a flash.

A Dao Source Realm Wood Spirit Clone was already difficult enough to deal with, so how could Yang Kai possibly give it an opportunity to strengthen itself further?

When the Wood Spirit Clone saw this, it turned around and faced Yang Kai. On its trunk, Ning Yuan Cheng’s face twisted letting out a piercing scream as if it was extremely angry. Immediately, its body shook as countless roots shot into the ground and dug in.

Immediately after, the Wood Spirit Clone shook as countless vines madly started attacking Yang Kai, like arrows raining down from the sky.

Yang Kai grit his teeth as he used his Space Force to dodge this attack and released his Monster Insect Queen and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf with a wave of his hand.

“Kill!” Yang Kai fiercely ordered as he appeared before the Wood Spirit in a flash and swung his flame sword again, bringing a billowing wave of heat down upon the Wood Spirit.

At the same time, the Monster Insect Queen swung its blue and purple twin swords in a cross shape while spreading out an icy cold domain filled with gently falling snowflakes.

Clear Sky Snowfall!

The snowflakes danced through the air as they slowly fell, but each one of them was incomparably sharp. As these tiny flakes fell on the vines of the Wood Spirit, small wounds started to appear on its vines, drawing green blood from it while their frigid Ice Attribute energy seeped into the wounds, greatly hindering the vines’ healing ability.

The Monster Insect Queen took this opportunity approach while brandishing its swords to unleash a storm of slashes towards the Wood Spirit, coordinating its assault with Yang Kai’s movements.

The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf on the other hand gained some distance and opened its jaws to fire a barrage of blue flame balls at the Wood Spirit, setting off a series of loud explosions everywhere.

In a flash, Yang Kai and the two Blood Beast had suppressed the Wood Spirit Clone to the point that it couldn’t mount any counterattack and was only able to passively defend itself.

Chapter 2040

This scene wasn’t surprising. Even though this Wood Spirit Clone had advanced to the First-Order Dao Source Realm after devouring Han Leng’s physical essence, the Monster Insect Queen could display strength equal to a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, while the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf wasn’t weak either and used Fire Attribute energy attacks, which was the bane of the Wood Spirit.

Coupled with Yang Kai, it would be strange if the Wood Spirit Clone wasn’t suppressed.

Under the cooperation of one man and two Blood Beasts, the countless vines of the Wood Spirit were cut to pieces rapidly, scattering vines and green blood across the ground that continued to wriggle, as if they were still alive.

However, after these cut-off vines bled out all their green blood, they swiftly shrivelled up and withered into dust that was swept away by the wind.

The Wood Spirit screamed again and again, pushing its own energy in anger and re-growing its vines constantly, making it seem like a futile effort to even try to kill it.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but be in awe a little at the sight of this.

He always felt that this Wood Spirit Clone was a little different from the ones he had dealt with before, and because it was seemingly more difficult to handle, he became more vigilant. Wrapping his Fire Sword Qi around his entire body, Yang Kai made sure the Wood Spirit didn’t have a chance to infect him as well.

A quarter of an hour later, the fight raged on as Yang Kai and the two Blood Beasts seemed to have the upper hand, but still failed to give any fatal injuries to the Wood Spirit, locking the two sides in a kind of stalemate.

Suddenly, the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf that had been using its Fire Attribute attacks to suppressed the Wood Spirit, seemed suddenly lose strength and paused its barrage.

*Chi Chi Chi Chi…*

With piercing noises, roots suddenly sprang out from below ground and bound the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf.

These roots were naturally the ones the Wood Spirit had stuck into the soil before.

The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf whimpered as it struggled hard but was unable to free itself.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a vine stabbed straight into the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf and in the next instant, a familiar sucking sound rang out as the vine began to devour the physical essence of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf.

The Blue Flame Thunder Wolf was originally an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, possessing strength on part with a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, and even after being killed and refined into a Blood Beast, its physical essence had not been lost. Rather, its vitality had become stronger because it was being supported by Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread.

Swallowing the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality rapidly made up for the damage the Wood Spirit had suffered until now, and a clear look of joy and surprise filled the distorted facial features on its trunk.

Yang Kai’s heart sank when he saw this and immediately shouted, “Return!”

With his shout, the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf that had been tied down by the roots shook and turned back into a Golden Blood Thread that rapidly flew over to Yang Kai. As Yang Kai secretly checked its condition, his face immediately turned ugly when he realized that about one-third of the vitality in this Golden Blood Thread had disappeared in that short moment.

In other words, one-third of the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality had been devoured. If he wanted to supplement it, Yang Kai would have to use his own Golden Blood.

On the other side, the Wood Spirit became enraged after failing to swallow the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf.

It no longer cared about Yang Kai and instead turned its attention to the Monster Insect Queen.

Having gained huge benefits after swallowing the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s vitality just now, it naturally wanted to repeat its trick.

The ground under the Monster Insect Queen suddenly split as untold roots flew out like snakes, trying to trap the Monster Insect Queen.

But how could it be that easy to tie down the Monster Insect Queen? The blue and purple dual swords glowed faintly as bitter cold Sword Qi waves flew out in all directions. Ice Principles swirled through the air around the Monster Insect Queen’s body, greatly reducing the speed of these roots, resulting in them not only failing to trap the Monster Insect Queen but also suffering serious damage in the process.

Yang Kai regained his confidence at the sight of this.

If the two Blood Beasts couldn’t be used in this battle, it would definitely become much harder for him, but now it seemed that the Monster Insect Queen’s performance was much better than Yang Kai had expected.

The Monster Insect Queen was born from the fusion of a Sentient Sword Intent and a Blood Beast, so the strength it could unleash in combat was far superior to the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf’s.

Yang Kai was about to charge in again, teaming up with the Monster Insect Queen to besiege the Wood Spirit, when his brow suddenly rose as he sensed a kind of anxious call.

This summon came from the sealed Liu Yan!

Even though Liu Yan was sealed inside that strange bowl, she seemed to have sensed the battle outside and was now stimulating the Soul Mark Yang Kai had left in her Divine Sense many decades ago.

Startled for a moment, Yang Kai quickly slapped his forehead as he scolded himself for being an idiot.

He had only been thinking of teaming up with his two Blood Beasts to fight just now and had forgotten about Liu Yan’s existence. Liu Yan was a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit, a pure amalgamation of Fire Attribute Energy, so even if her cultivation wasn’t as high as the two Blood Beasts, her role in this particular battle might be even stronger than them.

As long as Liu Yan came out, what would there be to fear about a trivial Wood Spirit?

Thinking so, Yang Kai immediately focused his gaze on Han Leng’s corpse, which lay near the Wood Spirit.

He gave an order to the Monster Insect Queen and had it suppress the Wood Spirit on its own while Yang Kai directly soared over to Han Leng’s corpse, reached down, and picked up the two Space Rings.

Of the two Space Rings, one belonged to Han Leng and the other to Ning Yuan Cheng. The round bowl in which Liu Yan was sealed was stored in the latter’s Space Ring.

After having acquired them, Yang Kai immediately withdrew.

Right at that moment, the Wood Spirit seemed to notice Yang Kai’s movements and sent out countless vine whips at him, as well as a faint streak of green light which struck his body and disappearing in a flash.

Yang Kai was shocked as he quickly blocked the attacking vines while withdrawing, a confused look appearing on his face once he reached a safe distance.

He had clearly seen that faint beam shooting out from the Wood Spirit but he couldn’t see where it went.

He quickly scanned his own body with his Divine Sense but he couldn’t find anything strange, causing his expression to turn unsightly.

He carefully scanned himself again but was still unable to find anything. Short on time though, Yang Kai grit his teeth and ignored this anomaly temporarily and took out the bowl sealing Liu Yan from Ning Yuan Cheng’s Space Ring.

As he poured his Divine Sense into the bowl, he immediately sensed Liu Yan.

“Master!” Liu Yan’s voice reached him, “It’s good to see you again, I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.”

Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Of course I wouldn’t abandon you, but now isn’t the time to reminisce about. I’ll find a way to unlock this seal quickly, as there’s an enemy here I need your help dealing with.”

“En!” After replying, there were no other movements from Liu Yan’s side.

Yang Kai flew to the distance and meticulously checked the seals on the round bowl.

This bowl was clearly a special kind of sealing artifact, one that wasn’t of much other use or of great value. It was mainly used to seal energy bodies like Liu Yan’s and after being trapped inside, Liu Yan clearly couldn’t unlock the barrier. Fortunately, it seemed that unlocking these seals from the outside was relatively straightforward.

As Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was far stronger than an ordinary Origin King’s, it only took the time it takes to finish a cup of tea for him to find some clues.

Pouring his Divine Sense into the bowl, Yang Kai swiftly unlocked one seal after another.

When the last seal broke, Liu Yan’s joyous shout came from the bowl, “I’m free!”

Liu Yan swiftly turned into a fiery beam of light and flew out of the bowl with a loud, joyous cry.

With her advent, the temperature in the surrounding air rose dramatically.

Liu Yan spread her wings and her enormous body seemed to cover half of the sky, her eyes burning with intense flames as she stared down towards the Wood Spirit which was engaged in battle with the Monster Insect Queen.

Immediately, a sharp, crisp cry escaped from her mouth as she swooped down like a meteor falling from the sky.

At this moment, the Wood Spirit was locked in combat with the Monster Insect Queen. Despite being a Minor Realm higher in cultivation, and having mastered Ice Principles, the Monster Insect Queen was barely holding her ground against the Wood Spirit. Without Yang Kai’s help, she was now locked into a stalemate.

This made it quite clear just how strong the Wood Spirit was.

When Liu Yan, wrapped in her intense flames, swooped down from the sky, however, the hideous face on the Wood Spirit’s trunk finally showed a look of fear and panic. It had not even shown this kind of look when it was up against Yang Kai and two Blood Beasts.

Countless vines shot straight out at the oncoming Liu Yan from the ground, each one like a powerful spear throw with extraordinary strength.

But Liu Yan didn’t care to pay these vines any mind, simply opening her beak and spewing out a jet of crimson flames wrapped in arcs of purple lightning.

Almost all of the vines were reduced to ashes by its scorching flames while the few that made it through simply passed through Liu Yan’s body without causing any damage to her.

It could be said that she was the ultimate nemesis for this Wood Spirit! All the Wood Spirit’s abilities had no effect on her while her abilities greatly restrained it.

Not only that, the power of thunder and lightning mastered by Liu Yan travelled back along the Wood Spirit’s vines, causing it to freeze up in shock.

Most of Liu Yan’s flames were refined by devouring the Sun’s True Essence, while her lightning came from the sentient Heavenly Thunder Fire she had devoured in the past. In terms of ferocity of flames, while Liu Yan’s might not be comparable to the Luan Feng’s World Extinguishing Black Flame, it was definitely quite extraordinary.

How could Wood Spirit resist?

After Liu Yan’s body of flame passed through the Wood Spirit, more than half of its vines were burned to coke and its originally hideous and distorted face filled with panic.

It didn’t dare to remain and immediately uprooted itself, using its roots like tentacles as it scampered across the ground towards the distance.

It had actually decided to flee.