Hua Qing Si did not move, and Yang Kai did not counterattack, just standing there and waiting.
It was only after a while that Hua Qing Si sighed and looked up, towards Yang Kai.
She still had cards to play and she had only used half of her strength in that attack just now.
It was just a test, and she knew in her heart that Yang Kai hadn’t used his full strength.
Even if she could try her best to defeat this man as he is right now, how could she beat him in his demonized form?
Last time, she was subdued by this demon in a single move. This scene was still fresh in her mind and made Hua Qing Si shudder whenever she thought of it. Naturally, it was the type of absolute strength that crushes her, without a single way to resist.
Therefore, Hua Qing Si had no desire to carry on. The other party was a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, yet he was calm and relaxed in the face of her attacks. This was enough to illustrate how powerful and how Heaven-defying his aptitude was.
Furthermore, he was proficient in the Dao of Space and had an Emperor Artifact like the Sealed World Bead in his hand!
“Have you resigned to your fate?” Yang Kai smiled faintly after reading the haziness in her eyes.
Hua Qing Si pursed her red lips and did not say a word.
“There is no need to show such a condescending expression, it makes me feel like I’m evil!” Yang Kai laughed and continued, “You can be assured that in a few years, you will look back on today, knowing the wise decision you’ve made! If you miss this opportunity, I will never take you in even if you cry out to join me in the future.”
“Shameless boasting! That’s the only thing you are first-class at!” Hua Qing Si replied.
“Let’s just wait and see.” Yang Kai smiled, “Come, don’t waste time. I still have work to do; just be obedient and offer your Soul Imprint!”
Hua Qing Si sighed, sat down cross-legged, closed her beautiful eyes, and silently started manipulating her Divine Senses.
Seeing her in position, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he floated down. When he landed, he was just a few steps in front of her.
A short while later, Hua Qing Si’s body suddenly trembled and her features turned grim, as if she was suffering from a great deal of pain.
Her Soul Imprint suddenly burst out from within her Knowledge Sea and shot straight towards Yang Kai.
Sensing this, Yang Kai hastily opened her Knowledge Sea defences to receive it.
He closed his eyes and a Soul Avatar manifested in his Knowledge Sea. What he found there was an unfamiliar soul fluctuation inside his Knowledge Sea, which lingered in the shape of a brand, hovering quietly in mid-air.
Contained within this brand was Hua Qing Si’s Soul!
Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar formed different shapes. Following each of his moves, his Knowledge Sea tumbled. It gathered into a huge wave, which opened its mouth and devoured the Brand like a ferocious beast.
—
Deeper underground, Hua Qing Si suddenly shivered.
She opened her beautiful eyes and found Yang Kai looking at her with a smile on his face, so she asked, “What are you looking at?”
Yang Kai said, “You have quite the temper.”
“Hmph!” Hua Qing Si coldly snorted with discontent and spoke with an uncomfortable face, “It feels weird.”
It was the first time she offered her Soul Imprint to someone, and although doing this had little to no effect on her, there was still a subconscious feeling of discomfort.
It was as if something precious to her had been taken away.
“You just need to get used to it. Now that we are considered a group, then we are no longer outsiders. I do hope we can get along well in the future!”
“Don’t think for a second that saying that makes me have a better impression of you. I’m just being oppressed and enslaved by you,” Hua Qing Si coldly snapped.
“Think what you like,” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders.
“I was just going to ask…” Hua Qing Si digressed and looked around, “What is this place? Why is it covered in a Spirit Qi Sea?”
“Seems like you are aware of Spirit Qi Seas.” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
“Although it is rare to encounter a Spirit Qi Sea, there are still some in Star Boundary. There is one located in my Star Soul Palace.” Hua Qing Si gave Yang Kai a contemptuous look.
“We are in the Four Seasons Realm!”
Hua Qing Si was stunned, then called out in alarm. “Huh? Did you just say Four Seasons Realm?”
“Of course!”
Hua Qing Si frowned, but soon, as if she thought of something, she concluded, “Yes, by this date, the Four Seasons Realm should indeed be open! But… how is it that you managed to gain the qualification to enter this place? If I remember correctly, Maplewood City didn’t have a spot.”
“I was lucky with the opportunity. I came in with the Azure Sun Temple.” Yang Kai replied.
“Why would someone from Azure Sun Temple bring you in?” Hua Qing Si was puzzled, “Every single slot is extremely valuable.”
“I don’t really want to go into too much detail. Anyways, just know that I took one of their spots.” Yang Kai waved his hand.
“Stole…” Hua Qing Si’s expression seemed to have turned strange.
While they were talking, a fork appeared, Yang Kai signalled them to stop, “Let’s split up. The chances of precious treasures being born here are pretty good, it would be a pity to miss them.”
“Then let me say this first. If I find…” Hua Qing Si was quick to adapt. After the initial state of depression, she was now able to bargain with Yang Kai.
“It’s yours, I won’t steal it from you.” Yang Kai readily replied.
“Those were the words I was waiting for.” Hua Qing Si smiled and took the left fork.
“Two days. In two days, we come back and meet here!” Yang Kai shouted as she moved even deeper, unsure if she heard him.
But that did not matter. After all, now that he had control of Hua Qing Si’s Soul Imprint, Yang Kai could sense her location as long as they were not too far apart.
Soon, she was completely out of sight and Yang Kai took a step into the right fork.
This was far from where Zhang Ruo Xi was located, but the World Energy here was still condensed to the point it became foggy. However, it was clearing up at a considerable rate thanks to the Sealed World Bead.
[A place that produces a Spirit Qi Sea has a high probability of producing precious treasures.]
Yang Kai had only recently entered the right fork when he found a Vampire Orchid growing on the stone wall. Although this Spirit Grass was only at Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank grade, it was still an extremely rare Spirit Grass. It could be used as the main ingredient to refining many different types of Spirit Pills, so it was worth quite a lot.
Yang Kai carefully harvested them and placed them into a jade box. This was to preserve them, ready to transplant them to the medicine garden of Small Sealed World when he returned.
This was the only way the medicinal properties of the Vampire Orchid could be preserved. Once he planted them into his medicine garden, there was a good chance the efficacies of the Orchid would improve.
Over the next few hours, he made a lot of more discoveries. With how abundant the World Energy was, there were many rare Spirit Grass ready to be harvested. This was essentially a treasure trove for an Alchemist like Yang Kai.
In such a short time, he managed to obtain seven or eight different types of herbs. Each of different grades, which could be considered a bountiful harvest.
However, he felt a tinge of disappointment as he had not found any precious Spirit Grasses of the Emperor Grade, only Dao Source Grade.
Dao Source Grade and Emperor Grade Spirit Grasses were only one grade apart, but their potency was worlds apart. Each Emperor Grade Spirit Grass contained World Principles. Even if consumed directly, it allowed cultivators to understand the power of Principles, which made it extremely useful for cultivators.
The canyon seemed to be endless. Yang Kai was not in a rush because he was prioritising his search for treasures, but after a few hours of travel, which was a few hundred kilometres, there was still no end in sight.
Just when he was ready to continue to go deeper, he felt a sudden wave of uneasiness. His heart raced, without knowing why.
He frowned, looked back in the direction from whence he came and the next moment, his face changed. He let out a low bellow, “You are courting death!”
After his words fell, he summoned out his ship artifact. He went inside and quickly sped back.
At the same time, somewhere inside the canyon, Zhang Ruo Xi sat cross-legged as the World Energy around her constantly rushed into her body, her Qi increasing at a rapid pace. She was previously only a Second-Order Saint King but during this very short period, she had managed to become Third-Order Saint King and there was no sign of stopping! Her strength would continue to climb, and would soon approach the threshold of Origin Returning Realm.
Not far from her, Liu Yan was holding the Sealed World Bead as she looked ahead with a cold expression.
Several tens of metres away, three men were standing. They were all dressed similarly. Those that knew of the different Southern Territory Sects could tell by the pattern on their vest, that these three were from a Sect called Evil Moon Valley.
Evil Moon Valley and Blue Feather Sect were similar. Both could be considered to be great forces within the Southern Territory. So, when the Four Seasons Realm opened, these sects had also got three slots.
These three were selected to enter Four Seasons Realm, and they happened to land near the canyon.
Among the three, there was an elderly man and two middle-aged men. The elderly man was in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, while the other two were in the Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
They had no intention to explore the canyon, after all, from above, the canyon seemed completely devoid of anything, too dark to see what was inside. They were also unaware of any potential danger that lurked here. Though the three cultivators were far from weak, their strength was still slightly lacking when compared to disciples from the bigger Sects.
Since they were aware of their own strength, they did not want to actively take risks.
However, as they were flying by, the canyon gave off some unusual energy fluctuations.
Since the Sealed World Bead was absorbing the Spirit Qi Sea’s World Energy at a terrifying pace, it naturally caused obvious energy fluctuations.
Curious, the three put their fears aside and flew down, deeper into the canyon. They wanted to find the source of this disturbance. After all, opportunities were hard to come by and who knew? This might lead them to a treasure that would change their lives.
But after finding out that there were two women at the bottom of the canyon, the three of them were terrified.
Liu Yan was alright. Although she seemed like a flesh and blood being, she still had a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation level. That would align with those that could enter the Four Seasons Realm.
But the other girl was simply outrageous.
She was just a trivial Third-Order Saint King! No one would have thought that someone of her level would actually appear in the Four Seasons Realm! Even if they had seen her with their own eyes, the three were afraid that they were caught in a dream.
Furthermore, on closer inspection, this little girl seemed to be using the rich World Energy here to cultivate!
[What is going on?] The three men blinked multiple times, obviously confused.
“Senior Brother Hua Gu…” One of the middle-aged men looked for a while and asked the elderly man in a low voice with a suspicious expression. “How is it possible that a Saint King Realm cultivator has entered the Four Seasons Realm?”
“Damn it! She must be a disciple of those Great Sects!” Another middle-aged man suddenly voiced out, indignant with gritted teeth, “To think Evil Moon Valley was only allowed to take up three spots! For just three spots, even the Orthodoxy Temple had to pay a considerable amount to obtain them! But these bigger Sects… To think they could so recklessly squander such an opportunity. To think they would even allow a disciple in the Saint King Realm to occupy one of them. This is simply too much!”
After hearing him say his piece, the elder one, called Hua Gu, also nodded. “Junior Brother Zhou An has a point, these two women should hail from one of the Great Sects. It only makes sense that their origins are as such. Otherwise, it is impossible for a Saint King Realm cultivator to enter this place. Just look at her. She seems to have just broken through and is already at the threshold of Origin Returning Realm!”
As he spoke, Hua Gu displayed hints of envy and jealousy.
When he cultivated, he had to risk his life for the few cultivation resources available, but for these disciples from Great Sects, it was different.
They could easily enter the Sealed World, where others could only enter with great effort. Furthermore, with such an opportunity, they could easily advance.
When he compared the difference in both situations, his mind started to fume.
The middle-aged man who spoke earlier showed some fear and said hesitantly, “Since they are from one of the Great Sects, we’d better go first, in case we cause a misunderstanding. That would be horrendous.”
“Xiong Ning, what are you afraid of?” The middle-aged man named Zhou An gave the Xiong Ning a sidelong glance and coldly snorted, “Even if they are disciples of a Great Sect, they are only at First-Order Dao Source Realm and Third-Order Saint King Realm. Even if they are the disciples from a Great Sect, with their strength, even if there was a misunderstanding, what could they possibly do to us?”
“Who says I’m afraid?” Xiong Ning became angry out of shame and roared, “I just don’t want to invite trouble for nothing!”
“Humph, gutless rat!” Zhou An coldly snorted with a look of contempt. He disdained his fellow disciple a fair bit.
“The bead in that woman’s hand… that should be an amazing artifact!” Hua Gu suddenly whispered, his eyes staring straight at the Sealed World Bead held in Liu Yan’s hand.
Zhou An’s eyes twinkled and he asked in a low voice, ” Senior Brother Hua Gu, what are you trying to say?”
Xiong Ning obviously also realized something was up and his expression slightly changed.
Hua Gu faintly smiled. “We are currently deep underground. There is no one here and hardly anyone would pass by. What’s more, the other party’s strength is low and they are holding suich great treasures.”
Zhou An, after hearing this, understood and smiled, “I have long seen how these Great Sect disciples act and have been displeased with them for a long time now. Always flaunting their might and believing themselves to be unbeatable just because they have a good backer. So, what? Senior Brother Hua Gu, tell me what you plan to do. This Junior Brother will follow you to the end!”
“So, it comes to this…” Xiong Ning could feel his limbs tremble, as his stomach churn. He incoherently warned, “If their Sect ever finds out what happened to them, not only will we be finished, Evil Moon Valley will not be spared.”
Zhou An shot Xiong Ning a cold glare. “If you are afraid then get lost. We do not need to have someone who will just blow wind in our face and dare not do anything. But let me be clear. If you back out now, you will not obtain any portion of the artifacts and Source Crystals obtained. Since these two women are from a Great Sect, I expect a lot of prized possession to be on them!”
When Xiong Ning heard that, he gulped, and a greedy expression appeared on his fearful face.
He was silent for a few breaths before he finally gritted his teeth and agreed. “Fine. I will accompany the two Senior Brothers to advance and retreat together!”
“That’s more like it!” Zhou An couldn’t help but smile when he saw Xiong Ning agree.
“You three pieces of trash!” Not far from the other side. Liu Yan suddenly spoke up coldly, and her first sentence made the three Evil Moon Valley members’ eyebrows jump. “What the hell are you muttering about?”
Hua Gu forced himself to hold back the displeasure in his heart. “The three of us fellow brothers noticed a strange energy fluctuation deep within this canyon. So, we came to check it out. But to think what we found were two girls here, who caused it. “
“That’s all?” Liu Yan replied, still as cold as ice.
“That’s all!” Hua Gu replied.
“Since you’re done with your investigation, why don’t you get lost?” Liu Yan’s words were sharp, without the slightest intention to give face to the other party. This made the men from Evil Moon Valley further convinced that Liu Yan must be from one of the Great Sects. After all, only the disciples of these Great Sects would be so arrogant and domineering, even in the face of someone more powerful.
A deep-seated explosion was occurring within Hua Gu, but he still placed a smile on his face as he asked, “May I ask which Sect do you hail from?”
“What does it have to do with you!?” Liu Yan coldly snorted.
“Let’s be nice.” Hua Gu smiled faintly, “From my point of view, you can only hail from a select number of Sects. I am from Evil Moon Valley, and we have had many exchanges with other Great Sects. We have quite the harmonious relationship with them. Although I must admit that we have interrupted you two, since we have met, let’s consider it to be a sign from fate.”
He paused for a moment, his gaze turned to Zhang Ruo Xi as he spoke. “I see that this girl seems to be on the verge of breaking through a Great Realm. But I guess that is to be expected. After all, this place is extremely rich in World Energy. However, we do not know if there are any fierce Monster Beasts around. With the energy fluctuation, it would not be strange for you two to attract a Monster Beast. I am afraid with your current level of strength, it would be difficult to cope with any Monster Beast from this place.” He spoke, acting righteous. To hit the hammer while it was still hot, he suggested, “We might not be the best but we would like to stand guard for the two of you.”
Zhou An nodded vigorously at the side and continued, “Exactly. We would like to stand guard for you, even if a Monster Beast were to come, you do not have to be afraid.”
Meanwhile, Xiong Ning stayed silent.
Liu Yan laughed coldly, “Just the three of you trash? If a Monster Beast appears, I’m afraid the three of you won’t be able to fight it!”
“Your words are too hurtful!” Hua Gu’s heart was about to explode and leave his chest. He bared it and spoke with a sullen face, “We only have good intentions. Even if you don’t want to accept them, there is no need to belittle us to that extent!”
“That’s right, although Evil Moon Valley is not a Great Sect like yours, it is not something that can simply be insulted by anyone!” Zhou An shouted righteously. Though, those who were listening carefully, would not know how he connected Liu Yan’s words with ‘insulting’ Evil Moon Valley.
“What’s the point of all this farce? Just spit it out. Are you targeting me or this artifact?“ Liu Yan said, lightly tossing up the Sealed World Bead in her hand. “If you want it, try and grab it. Why beat around the bush?”
As this statement was made, Hua Gu’s and others’ faces changed.
“Senior Brother….” Zhou An turned his head and looked at Hua Gu.
Hua Gu pondered for a moment and replied in a low voice, “It doesn’t look like she has other fellow disciples around. We have been circling around them for so long and yet, we do not sense anyone else.”
“Then, is this really a heaven-sent opportunity!?” Zhou An had an excited expression as he licked his lips. He was completely eager and did not bother to hide anything. He turned to look back at Liu Yan with a ferocious expression, and said in a cold voice. “Little girl, when I beat you to the ground and strip you of your clothes, you better not cry for mercy! “
He originally never had such evil intent against Liu Yan, however, her words had created a lingering trace of hatred that could only be quelled with such an act.
Once his emotions erupted, he immediately wanted to rob the artifact, and her dignity!
The thought of having the opportunity to ravish and defile a beautiful woman from a Great Sect, who he would never dare to even glance at in the past, made Zhou An’s blood boil.
“Do it!” Hua Gu bellowed.
In an instant, the three from Evil Moon Valley’s Source Qi started to surge. Although they were facing a woman who had a lower cultivation than them, the three were not the slightest bit sloppy or careless. They were giving their all.
The old man opened his mouth and spat out a huge bell. The body of the bell was densely engraved with countless small and complicated characters, Source Qi poured into it and the bell swelled up even bigger, a growth rate visible to the naked eye. Once it was done, it looked like a golden fortress.
This bell was clearly a defensive artifact.
Though Hua Gu summoned this artifact, not to defend himself, but to capture Zhang Ruo Xi.
He had a clear objective. After all, no matter how strong Liu Yan was, Zhang Ruo Xi was only a Third-Order Saint King. With such a cultivation, she was too weak to struggle against him. As long as he could capture Zhang Ruo Xi first, he knew Liu Yan had to concede.
So when he struck, his target was Zhang Ruo Xi.
But when the bell was about to envelop Zhang Ruo Xi, Liu Yan suddenly let out a cold snort. “In your dreams!”
She raised her hand and a black feather, about three metres long, shot out and flew to Zhang Ruo Xi’s side, turning into a burning barrier that wrapped Zhang Ruo Xi’s entire body.
The moment the feather became a barrier, a pressure that did not seem to belong to this world suddenly descended. This scared the three from Evil Moon Valley as their bodies trembled with fear.
It was as if, in the feather, there was an extremely strong will that was hidden within, leering at the three of them. This caused the three of them to instantly break out in a cold sweat, soaking their clothes.
“What is this!?” Hua Gu’s eyes widened as he stared at the pitch-black flame barrier wrapping around Zhang Ruo Xi. The terrifying scorching power spread out, as if it desired to burn all of existence.
Zhang Ruo Xi, who was sitting within the barrier, remained motionless. As if she was not affected at all.
The bell-like artifact, however, which was glowing due to the terrifying heat from the flames, had its small complicated word engravings melted away one by one. Worse, as soon as the bell came into contact with the black flame barrier, it was tainted with a trace of this black flame. This flame did not go out and continued to burn the spirituality of the artifact.
“Divine Spirit’s aura!” Hua Gu shouted in horror.
He was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Cultivator. Even if he had never seen a Divine Spirit before, he could still deduce with his experience. This frightening pressure, which seemed to be able to burn all of existence. This all indicated to him that they were up against one of the most terrifying beings that ever existed. A Divine Spirit!
Naturally, his guess was not far from the truth. This dark feather was none other than a feather from a Divine Spirit, Luan Feng.
Yang Kai gave the Luan Feng feather he found to Liu Yan, and after spending so much time, Liu Yan finally completed her refining of it. She even managed to obtain a trace amount of Divine Spirit power from it.
Even if this Divine Spirit power was weak, it was not something that a Dao Source Realm cultivator could compete against.
That was why Liu Yan did not fear these three.
The moment the Evil Moon Valley trio made their move, Liu Yan had already decided her course of action: Summon the Divine Spirit’s feather to guard Zhang Ruo Xi first, so that she could go all out.
Twiii…
A loud bird-like cry rang out and the three of them looked up and saw a strange-looking Firebird tens of metres in length, clad in red flames flying about.
The outer layer of this strange bird’s body was a flickering of lightning, indicating that two primary attributes were contained within it.
“She’s not human!” Zhou An shouted after noticing this fact.
When he saw Liu Yan in her original body, he finally understood why he felt there was something off about her. When he first saw Liu Yan, he felt that this woman was different from ordinary people, it seemed like she a little ethereal. Now that he saw her true form, he concluded that Liu Yan was a living spirit.
“She is an Artifact Spirit!” Hua Gu shouted. Fear from his eyes was quickly replaced with greed. He could not help but laugh loudly, “Hahahahaha! The Heavens have presented me with such a gift! This Old Master was worried about my Flame Club being unupgradable. Never would I have imagined that I would have the luck to encounter an Artifact Spirit here! “
As he spoke, he bellowed to the other two, “Junior Brother, Senior Brother, I only want this Artifact Spirit. After I get her, you can have the rest. Is that fine with you?”
After Zhou An and Xiong Ning heard this, they looked at each other and nodded, “We will abide by Senior’s decision!”
“Good!” Hua Gu nodded and eerily stared at Liu Yan. “Looking at your form and how you act, it seems that you already attained some level of consciousness. It’s not easy to cultivate to this point. Don’t worry. This old master is kind enough to let you live. So long as you enter my Flame Club obediently, I promise not to destroy your Divine Sense. How’s that?”
After he spoke, he summoned out a club artifact. This artifact had a rich aura to it. Filled with power. Obviously, it was a Dao Source High-Rank Grade artifact!
Such an artifact could be considered to be an extremely rare treasure. If an Artifact Spirit such as Liu Yan were to combine with it, and was refined by Hua Gu, the Flame Club might be promoted to an Emperor Artifact!
Furthermore, with an Emperor Artifact, Hua Gu, being in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, had the opportunity to peek into the mysteries of the Emperor Realm!
Therefore, even knowing that the Sealed World Bead was worth a lot, he would be willing to give it up just to subdue Liu Yan. After all, one’s cultivation was the most fundamental when it came to one’s power.
After Hua Gu spoke, he was faced with Liu Yan’s pillar of fire!
The flames came down from the sky, as if they were going to melt the earth. They produced an enormous level of power.
The Evil Moon Valley trio hurriedly avoided it!
Hua Gu continued to persist and shouted, “You should not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If you had just accepted the deal, this Old Master would no longer act and it would be that thing against the two of them! But now that you have refused, do you think it can hold up against all three of us?”
He was naturally referring to the Luan Feng’s dark feather.
To him, Liu Yan using the most powerful artifact in her possession to protect Zhang Ruo Xi was the dumbest move she could make! After all, though she managed to protect Zhang Ruo Xi, she was no match against the three of them, especially with her artifact gone. Furthermore, once they are done with her, they would move on to Zhang Ruo Xi. For someone in the Saint King Realm, how could she possibly even resist them?
In his mind, the best option was to ignore Zhang Ruo Xi and leave her to die. Meanwhile, she would use that feather to attack the three of them.
Fuuu…
Another pillar of fire fell down from the sky.
“Playing with fire in front of this Old Master!” Hua Gu coldly snorted and threw the Flame Club, which spun around. The pillar of fire created by Liu Yan made contact with the club. Once they made contact, Hua Gu spoke, assured of his victory. “It seems that your consciousness is still lacking.”
Pfff!
Liu Yan opened her mouth and a ball of fire the size of a table came crashing down.
“I told you it’s futile!” Hua Gu shouted impatiently, and Flame Club made contact with the attack once again.
Hong Hong Hong…
A loud explosion rang out, and World Energy around them became chaotic.
“What!?” Hua Gu’s face suddenly changed. He hurriedly withdrew his Flame Club and tightly clenched it in his hand. When he looked down to check on it, he found that his Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact was now wrapped with pulsating lightning arcs, causing his hand to feel numb.
“Yes, the power of Lightning is no doubt powerful!” The greed and desire in Hua Gu’s eyes became more and more obvious. Such an Artifact Spirit could rarely be found even in a million years! It seemed that once he merged his weapon with Liu Yan, not only would he be able to upgrade it to be an Emperor Artifact, it would also obtain the power to use Lightning.
“Senior Brother, don’t bother talking to her. Since she doesn’t want to submit, we just have to force her to!” Zhou An dodged the attack again and spoke with impatience.
“Fine, but be careful. Don’t hurt her spirituality!” Hua Gu nodded and did not forget to give a warning.
Zhou An coldly snorted, “Junior Brother is not the best at controlling his strength. If my attacks really hurt her, it’s her own fault.”
Once he said his piece, Zhou An shook his wrist. In his hand, a long spear emerged and flashed forward, charging at Liu Yan.
The silent Xiong Ning also acted. He placed his hands together and stimulated his Source Qi which ferociously shot forth.
“Primordial Divine Spear!”
“Burning Sun’s Phantom Hand!”
The two Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators attacked with the power of World Principles. By utilizing the power of Heaven and Earth, the majestic and ferocious attack headed towards Liu Yan.
Liu Yan’s body swayed as she wrapped her body in a layer of fire, which acted as a barrier to resist the attacks from both sides.
Boom!
Liu Yan let out a pained cry. The flame barrier which surrounded her was instantly shattered. Although it managed to absorb most of the damage there was still the residual attack that slammed onto her body. It was powerful enough to cause her to shift and made her lose control of her current form.
After the barrier disappeared, Hua Gu’s figure mysteriously appeared close, in front of Liu Yan. His face solemn as he shouted, “Look into this Old Master’s eyes!”
With those words, a magical power blossomed from his eyes, turning into two vortexes that kept spinning, as if to pull Liu Yan’s Soul out from her body.
This was a Soul Secret Technique, which Hua Gu only made use of at the most opportune time. He timed it such that Liu Yan simply could not avoid it and was instantly struck.
Although Liu Yan had only recently advanced to the level of Dao Source Realm, her combat ability could be considered to be decent. However, she was outnumbered and each of them had a much higher cultivation than her. So, she was unable to deliver a decent fight when the three of them joined forces.
After being hit by the Soul Secret Technique, Liu Yan’s body was suddenly frozen in mid-air. Each flap of her wings slowed down. Her mind was in chaos, seemingly unable to resist.
Seeing this scene, Hua Gu was overjoyed, secretly feeling that things were going surprisingly well. He could already imagine the wondrous scene of subduing this Firebird Artifact Spirit, merging it into his Flame Club, and allowing his artifact to be promoted to an Emperor Artifact.
A beautiful picture of the future seemed to be unfolding in front of him.
“Senior Brother! Look out!” Zhou An suddenly shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Hua Gu was shocked, but soon, his eyes widened. He saw, within the Firebird’s pupils, that there was another type of flame that was burning. This flame was different, it seemed to be able to burn one’s Soul. As soon as someone made contact with it, it would cause his Knowledge Sea to tumble, and result in an unimaginable headache.
Sun’s True Fire!
Liu Yan had followed Yang Kai for so long, and even she was not clear on how much Sun’s True Fire she had devoured. Furthermore, her body had integrated with two kinds of precious and powerful flames. If not for consuming all of these, Liu Yan would never have been able to take on a solid form as an Artifact Spirit, much less obtain her level of sentience as an Artifact Spirit. So, it could be said that Liu Yan’s body was extremely complicated, housing many rare and valuable flames.
Hua Gu tried to use the Soul Secret Technique against Liu Yan again, but obviously, it did not work.
In a flash, Hua Gu cried out and retreated. He covered his head, and roared at Liu Yan. “Are you this unwilling to submit to this Old Master?”
He roared hysterically, “Since you won’t submit, this Old Master will destroy your consciousness!”
Once he completed his sentence, he clasped both his hands together and formed a seal. The Flame Club suddenly became bigger and burned even brighter. Up in the air, it started to tremble and shot towards Liu Yan like an arrow that left its string.
At the same time, Zhou An and Xiong Ning both attacked again.
Liu Yan’s eyes finally showed a hint of panic. Her body swerved around as countless lightning strikes and fireballs flew out, with some mixed in blue ice flames, trying to resist this onslaught.
She managed to block off Zhou An and Xiong Ning’s attack, but the Flame Club still shot straight at Liu Yan with hardly any decrease in strength.
At this rate, the Flame Club was bound to go through Liu Yan’s body and inflict heavy damage to her.
“You asked for it!” After all, only an Artifact Spirit with its own consciousness that was obedient had its uses. Meanwhile, a chaotic and ignorant Artifact Spirit that resisted at every turn, would only hurt him. Since the other party was unwilling to give in, he was left with no choice but to kill her.
But at that moment, an unusual fluctuation could be felt. A brave and heroic figure mysteriously appeared in front of Liu Yan. He stretched out a hand, lightly slapped forward and whispered, “Exile!”
A Void Crack opened up, and something like a black hole took shape.
And… the Flame Club headed into the black hole…
“No!” Hua Gu’s face changed dramatically as he gathered up his Source Qi in a panic. He only had one thing on his mind, which is to recall his artifact before the black hole closed up.
Seeing the black hole quickly closing up, Hua Gu’s forehead was drenched with cold sweat.
Although he had never seen such a Secret Technique before, he knew that if he did not recall in time, his artifact would be lost forever.
“Who!?” Zhou An could not help but shout with a ruthless expression.
Xiong Ning also narrowed his eyes and looked ahead.
In the sky, a young man stood quietly in front of the Firebird, his gaze coldly sweeping them. He was fuming with rage.
Yang Kai is naturally in a horrendous mood. Originally, he checked around the canyon in advance and found no signs of Monster Beasts around, so he felt that the bottom of this canyon was safe. Therefore, he decided to leave Zhang Ruo Xi and Liu Yan here, even placing the Sealed World Bead and other important treasures here as well.
But, never would he have thought that after just a short time, trouble would arise, causing him to have to rush back.
“Master!” Liu Yan saw that Yang Kai had finally arrived and couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Her huge body flashed as she transformed back into her human form and respectfully stood behind Yang Kai.
Yang Kai glanced over at Zhang Ruo Xi and saw that she was wrapped in a black flame barrier, one that emitted a familiar aura that made even him tremble slightly. He immediately understood that Liu Yan had used her strongest powers to protect Zhang Ruo Xi. If that weren’t the case, even if Liu Yan wasn’t strong enough to defeat these three, she wouldn’t have had so much difficulty.
“Good job, you’ve worked hard.” Yang Kai nodded at her.
“I only did what I should,” Liu Yan faintly replied.
Yang Kai turned his head and coldly swept his eyes across the three below.
“Who is Your Excellency?” Hua Gu almost suffered a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands just now, so he did nothing to conceal his anger, “Why are you interfering in my business?”
Yang Kai raised the corners of his mouth and asked, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what she called me just now?”
Hua Gu frowned and asked, “So, you are the master of this Artifact Spirit?”
“At least you’re not a total fool!” Yang Kai sneered.
“Impudence!” Hua Gu yelled as he spat fiercely, “A trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash dares possess such an Artifact Spirit? Little brat, this old master advises you to obediently offer this Artifact Spirit to me and this old master may still spare your life, if not…”
“If not?”
“Today, this will be your burial place!” Hua Gu yelled sharply.
“Hahaha!” Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a laugh filled with arrogance, as if he didn’t put Hua Gu in his eyes at all. A moment later, he smiled and declared, “Since you dare to say so then I’ll have to bury you instead!”
When his words fell, Yang Kai suddenly waved his hand.
Along with his movements, a strange pressure suddenly descended from the sky, and the canyon, which was already gloomy, suddenly became darker, as if something was blocking all light from above.
Hua Gu and the others looked up in amazement, and the next moment, they all exclaimed.
“What the hell is that!”
“This is…”
“Not good, run!”
The three all yelled as they scattered.
*Hong…*
The canyon shook as a behemoth suddenly fell from the air and hit the ground, shattering the surface around it. This behemoth looked like a fifty meter tall beast with jagged edges and rocky features.
Hua Gu and others were dumbfounded.
Even with all of their experiences, none of these three could tell what this thing was. At first glance, it looked a bit similar to the legendary Stone Beast, but after careful observation, they determined it couldn’t be.
Because a Stone Beast couldn’t grow this big!
“Oh? Finally willing to let me out?” As soon as the Embodiment appeared, he cracked his arms and neck, looking around with great interest, as if he had not seen the outside world in many years.
In fact, this was the truth.
After the Embodiment absorbed the floating continent, besides when Yang Kai brought it out to deal with Purple Star, it had remained inside the Sealed World Bead. Since then, for so many years, the Embodiment had not seen the outside world.
The reason was simple, after fusing with the floating continent, it was simply too big to freely take out.
If Yang Kai wanted to summon his Embodiment from the Small Sealed World, he would have to expend a huge amount of Spiritual Energy. How could Yang Kai spare so much energy to summon his Embodiment in the middle of a battle? As a result, the Embodiment remained inside the Sealed World Bead until now.
As time passed, the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet Clan slowly manifested, allowing the Embodiment to slowly temper its body and eliminate unnecessary impurities, causing its massive body to slowly become smaller.
But that had not been enough to reduce its size to a manageable level.
It was only when Yang Kai obtained the Heaven Devouring Battle Law that a turning point came. This Secret Art could be described as tailor-made for the Embodiment. Since cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, coupled with the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet clan, the Embodiment had managed to rapidly increase the rate at which it tempered itself.
Even so, the Embodiment was still a huge monster compared to ordinary humans, and Yang Kai felt a third of his Spiritual Energy had been drained just to bring it out a moment ago.
The visual impact of such a huge body was undoubtedly shocking, especially since it seemed to appear out of nowhere. This caught the trio from Evil Moon Valley off guard and left them stunned for a while, as if they were lost in some kind of illusion, unable to believe their eyes.
Bits of gravel continued to fall from the Embodiment as it stretched itself out.
There was no need for Yang Kai to explain anything. As soon as the Embodiment appeared, it immediately understood the situation and recognized Hua Gu and his companions as enemies.
Grinning towards Hua Gu, the Embodiment grinned and spoke in a grating voice, “A Third-Order Dao Source Realm. En, as the first to die by my hand after so many years, it’s not a bad choice!”
“Good, I’ll leave it to you, I’m interested in seeing just how much ability you have now!” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Then you’re in for a pleasant surprise!” The Embodiment smiled and lowered its stance before punching at Hua Gu.
The fist didn’t seem to carry any trace of energy, like it was only done using pure physical force, but even so, strong pressure and wind blew from this fist as it pounded towards Hua Gu like a falling meteor.
Hua Gu was shocked and exclaimed, “This can’t be real!”
He didn’t dare to test that notion though and hurriedly leapt up into the air.
Although his cultivation at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm was not weak, how could he dare to take such a blow head-on?
The Embodiment’s massive body made turning and moving somewhat awkward; however, seemingly having expected Hua Gu’s reaction long ago, the Embodiment shot out a fist towards the spot where Hua Gu tried to flee.
Hua Gu screamed again and hurriedly dodged.
Soon, Hua Gu managed to adjust, though.
After avoiding the Embodiment’s initial attacks, Hua Gu determined that, although the huge stone man seemed quite powerful and intimidating, its attacks were monotonous and simple, so they were easy to avoid.
Just as this thought passed through his head, the Embodiment suddenly let out a cold snort and snapped, “Jumping around like a flea, if you’re a real man, fight me head-on!”
Hua Gu exclaimed, “You think this old master is some kind of idiot? Do you think such childish provocation will work on me?”
“Hey…” the Embodiment grinned, “Whether it works or not, there’s no harm trying. Since that’s the case, let’s try this instead…”
As it spoke, it stretched out its hand and slapped its palms down, causing a strange force to surge out and draw in the earth and ground below. Rock and earth quickly flew up into the Embodiment’s palms and in the blink of an eye, a spear-like object had condensed.
This spear was purely composed of gravel and dirt from the canyon floor, but it still looked extremely strong and powerful. Obviously, it was being solidified somehow by the Embodiment.
With this spear in hand, and its massive body, the Embodiment was the very picture of might.
Gripping the spear tightly, it mercilessly hurled it towards Hua Gu.
*Xiu…*
A sharp whistle rang out as the air in the canyon split apart. A huge vortex appeared as space tore from the residual force of this spear which seemed to ignore distance and appeared directly in front of Hua Gu.
Hua Gu’s eyes widened in horror as the spear rapidly enlarged in his eyes. With a shout, he summoned a shield-like artifact that turned into a light curtain, protecting his front.
*Hong…*
The rock spear hit the light curtain and instantly shattered it into tiny points of light before continuing on and impacting the canyon floor.
With a loud bang, rubble flew out and a huge circular pit opened up where the spear had landed.
Hua Gu was drenched in cold sweat as he stood to the side, pale, fear gripping his heart tightly.
If he hadn’t dodged fast enough just now, this terrifying attack would have been enough to turn him into a blood mist.
The shield he just summoned was a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact, one that had protected him for countless years already. It was powerful enough to even resist Dao Source Grade High-Rank offensive artifacts without much difficulty.
But today, it was crushed by a strange stone giant in one blow.
A Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact was no different from paper in front of this tyrannical force.
Even scarier though was the fact that the spear was composed entirely of condensed soil and rock, a fact Hua Gu had witnessed personally.
The opponent’s attack strength was so ridiculous, how was he even supposed to fight such a monstrosity?
At this moment, Hua Gu couldn’t help but think about retreating, and at the same time, he was extremely annoyed.
He should have realized even before Yang Kai appeared that fighting with disciples from the big Sects would not be beneficial at all. Even if these disciples had lower cultivations, they would definitely be bestowed with incredible artifacts and treasures from their Elders. None of these elites could be taken lightly.
Unfortunately, he had been blinded by his own greed and looked down on Yang Kai’s First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation. But even if he regretted his actions now, it was too late.
“Why is your face so pale? Where did all the courage you showed just now disappear to?” A voice ladened with ridicule reached Hua Gu’s ear, and when he glanced back, his entire body clenched in fear.
Hua Gu saw the Embodiment pressing its hands down again, causing the rock and soil beneath it to swirl upwards and quickly condensing into two spears exactly like the one from before…
At the same time, Liu Yan and Xiong Ning had already concluded their fight.
Liu Yan, who had been besieged earlier by three enemies, had been at a distinct disadvantage and had built up quite a bit of resentment, so when the Embodiment attacked Hua Gu, she quickly found Xiong Ning to seek some redress.
Even if Xiong Ning’s cultivation was a little higher than hers, Liu Yan still fought equally with him, and soon even gained the upper hand.
This time, Liu Yan did not reveal her true body and chose to fight solely in her human form!
In this form, Liu Yan could only exert eighty percent of her strength, so it was obvious that if she transformed into her Firebird form, she would easily be able to suppress Xiong Ning.
Liu Yan had swallowed so many strange flames, and as an Artifact Spirit, increasing her strength was extremely difficult, far more so than a human cultivator’s breakthroughs. As a result, Liu Yan’s strength was far more tempered, allowing her to fight enemies above her own cultivation with ease.
It was only natural that Xiong Ning would not be her opponent.
In the depths of the canyon, two battlefields raged.
As for Yang Kai, he didn’t move, and neither did Zhou An.
Yang Kai didn’t move because he wanted to see what kind of pleasant surprise his Embodiment would give him while at the same time he had to guard Zhang Ruo Xi. He had to make sure that Embodiment did not cause too much commotion here and interfere with this little girl’s cultivation.
Zhou An didn’t move because Yang Kai didn’t move.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was locked onto him, hanging over his head like a sharp blade. It was causing him to have the horrible illusion that even the slightest movement would result in him turning into a fresh corpse.
This made him pale, and panic deep in his heart.
He could perceive that Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was as powerful as a Third-Order Dao Source Realm’s, far surpassing his own. Fighting such a person would definitely not benefit him.
Observing the other battlefields, both Hua Gu and Xiong Ning seemed to be at a disadvantage.
Zhou An felt bitter in his heart, knowing that this time, they had really kicked an iron plate.
He quietly took a look at Yang Kai and found that the other party was not paying attention to him, so Zhou An gathered his courage, squeezed out a smile, cupped his fists, and said, “This friend…”
Yang Kai heard him, turned his head, and lightly asked, “Do you have any last words?”
Zhou An’s brow twitched as he replied, “This friend misunderstands, I just wanted to say that I don’t know these two people, we only met by chance and came here together!”
Yang Kai looked at him indifferently, still unmoved.
On the contrary, when the other two heard his remarks, they were shocked.
Xiong Ning glared at Zhou An incredulously as he avoided Liu Yan’s attack and shouted, “Senior Brother Zhou, what are you talking about!?”
Hua Gu was also furious and angrily shouted, “Zhou An, you dare claim you have nothing to do with this when you were the first one to act?!”
“That man called you Senior Brother…” Yang Kai pointed at Xiong Ning.
Zhou An sternly said, “He must have problems with his head, this friend should not listen to any of his nonsense.”
As he spoke, he put on a flattering smile, “Friend, this one really had no ill intentions towards you and was simply dragged along by them to investigate this place where we encountered your Artifact Spirit by accident. Fortunately, this friend’s Artifact Spirit suffered no damage, so I hope this friend can let this small matter go.”
After spouting this shameless remark, before Yang Kai even had a chance to reply, Hua Gu on the other side turned red with anger and coughed up a mouthful of blood, all his veins puffing out as he roared furiously, “Shameless! Do you not have any face?!”
“Shut up!” Zhou An shouted angrily, “This Zhou, from now on, has nothing to do with you villains!”
“Wayaya…”
Hua Gu was infuriated and let loose an odd roar from his lips, almost as if he had gone insane. At that moment, he was caught by the Embodiment when it stomped the ground hard and shouted, “Earth Prison!”
A peculiar power gushed out from the Embodiment’s huge body and poured into the ground, causing it to liquefy and form a number of long hands which flew up into the air like giant whips.
Hua Gu was caught off guard and directly entangled by these long whip-like hands.
“Not good!” Hua Gu exclaimed as he tried desperately to break free, but soon he was dragged down to the ground by an irresistible force. Soon, his body was pulled underground until only his head remained exposed.
Strangely, the moment Hua Gu sank into the ground, the liquified ground was restored to its original state. The ground then solidified to the point where no matter how hard Hua Gu struggled, he couldn’t break free.
He was like a man who had fallen into quicksand and was unable to escape.
The Embodiment’s massive body stood in front of him like a mountain, casting a huge shadow over him.
“Oh? Is that a new ability?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he looked on in interest.
He could not recall the Embodiment using such a technique before and did not know if it was an innate ability of the Stone Puppet Clan, or if it was something it comprehended after cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
On the other side, Zhou An trembled.
Seeing Hua Gu, a Third-Order Dao Source Realm master, lose so quickly, how could he dare to remain?
Quickly cupping his fists, he shouted, “This friend, I wish you good fortune, this one will take his leave!”
As he spoke, he tried to fly up and escape.
“Did I let you leave?” Yang Kai waved his hand, sending out a Moon Blade to cut off Zhou An’s path.
Zhou An paused, looked back, and asked haltingly, “What other advice does Friend have to give?”
Although Zhou An put on a humble attitude, there was still a vigilant light in the depths of his eyes. Yang Kai had no doubt that if he attacked first, Zhou An would surely counterattack.
This man was willing to betray his fellow Sect brothers, so he probably wouldn’t believe anyone.
“I have no advice for you…” Yang Kai said lightly, “But… since you say that you are not with them, don’t you think you should prove yourself?”
“Prove myself…” Zhou An’s eyes flickered, but soon, he nodded and said, “This one understands, please observe well, friend!”
Saying so, he summoned his spear artifact and poured his Source Qi into it. Then he jumped out and rushed towards the battle between Liu Yan and Xiong Ning. With his spear trembling, Principle Strength began to swirl around it and condense at the tip in a brilliant display of light.
“Primordial Divine Spear!”
As he shouted, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as he directed his attack at Xiong Ning!
Xiong Ning was shocked.
Liu Yan alone was enough to suppress him, and after losing his composure as a result of Zhou An’s shameless behaviour just now, he was already at a serious disadvantage in this battle. Now, Zhou An had actually attacked him, causing Xiong Ning to feel the aura of death grip him.
After hurriedly blocking Liu Yan’s blow, Xiong Ning shouted, “Senior Brother Zhou, are you crazy!?”
Zhou An coldly snorted without replying, instead pouring more power into his spear before throwing it out with full force.
The terrifying attack flew within a hair’s breadth of Xiong Ning before it shot towards Liu Yan.
“I knew you would do this from the beginning!” Liu Yan was neither panicked nor flustered as she coldly snorted and blew out a pillar of flame and lightning towards the approaching spear.
*Hong…*
The huge explosion occurred, drowning the figures of the three on the battlefield.
At the same time, Yang Kai raised the corner of his mouth into a sneer.
He had clearly seen Zhou An use this attack as a feint to create a scenario where he could burn his Blood Essence in order to display a Secret Technique that caused a blood-red glow to cover his body, dramatically increasing his speed as he fled into the canyon.
“Shrewd and crafty, an exemplary scum!” Yang Kai ‘praised’.
If he had been in Zhou An’s position, he would not have been able to come up with a better method of escape in order to survive.
However, his feint not only distracted Liu Yan, but also Xiong Ning. Xiong Ning, who was deceived, was stunned stupid after this attack as he believed he was about to die just now. But before he could recover from his shock, Liu Yan pounced on him again.
Forcefully composing himself, Xiong Ning continued his battle.
Deep in the canyon, Zhou An was fleeing madly.
After seeing Hua Gu being imprisoned, he knew that he would definitely die if he didn’t flee. Without even mentioning the strange stone giant, just that strange First-Order Dao Source Realm youth was not an opponent he could deal with by himself.
Zhou An had never seen such a monster before, with a Divine Sense on par with a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator while only having First-Order cultivation!
Believing in the expression, ‘A wise man will submit to the circumstances’, Zhou An had always been a flexible individual who understood the circumstances and adapted accordingly. In the Sect, he had a wide range of contacts and was well known for managing complex interpersonal relationships.
This Secret Technique that burned his Essence Blood consumed a lot of his strength, but it could dramatically increase his speed for a short period of time, so Zhou An was confident that even if Yang Kai was unusually strong, he would not be caught.
Unfortunately…
Just as he was thinking he had escaped, Zhou An saw the space in front of him ripple oddly.
Zhou An was taken aback and hurriedly came to a stop as he stared forward suspiciously.
The next moment though, he saw a figure slowly walk out from these ripples and smile at him playfully.
“You…” Zhou An’s eyes bulged as he stared at Yang Kai in disbelief, calling out in alarm, “How?”
However, Zhou An had a wide range of experiences, so it only took him a moment to think of something and exclaim, “Space Principles!”
This scene in front of him was exactly the same as the legendary teleportation Secret Technique those who cultivated the Dao of Space could use. Zhou An could not think of another explanation!
Although some special artifacts could allow one to teleport short distances, and they truly had similar effects to what he just witnessed, Zhou An was certain he did not see Yang Kai use any such artifact.
He immediately understood that the youth in front of him was someone who had cultivated the Dao of Space to an extremely high level!
After realizing this, Zhou An’s face turned ashen.
Everyone with half a brain knew that trying to flee from an enemy that was proficient in the Dao of Space was a futile endeavour!
At this moment, Zhou An’s mouth was filled with bitterness, as if he had eaten a sour bug. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but…
Yang Kai interrupted him directly, “Whatever you have to say, I will treat it as a fart!”
As he finished speaking, Yang Kai waved his hand and sent out a dozen Moon Blades.
Zhou An’s heart sank as he summoned his spear and assumed a defensive stance.
A ringing noise sounded out as the Moon Blades were cut down by Zhou An’s spear as he was pushed back again and again.
Before he could stabilize his figure, Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from his view.
Zhou An was shocked and quickly released his Divine Sense, but couldn’t find any trace of Yang Kai.
He instinctively flipped his spear and stabbed behind himself, but hit only empty space.
A voice that horrified Zhou An, like that of the reaper of death, called out from beside him at that moment, “Myriad Sword Arts, Radiant Moon Swallows the Wolf!”
An astonishing Sword Qi swept out at that moment and washed towards Zhou An, filling the gloomy canyon with a light a thousand times brighter than the moon in an instant!
In that moment, Zhou An felt an odd sense of clarity.
With an intense roar, he poured all of his Source Qi into his spear and unleashed his complete strength and skill, sending out thousands of spear shadows to form a dazzling, multi-coloured wave of force!
The spears smashed out and caused a violent explosion, after which hot blood splashed about.
After the dazzling white light dissipated, Yang Kai held the Myriads Sword quietly. Not far in front of him, Zhou An stood covered in blood with innumerable big and small wounds covering his body. His physique had been thrashed and his bones were exposed in many places. His clothes were shattered and the red glow that had radiated from his form had completely vanished. At this moment, his aura was so weak it was almost imperceptible.
With great difficulty, he lifted his gaze towards the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand and the corners of his lips curved into a bitter grin, “Emperor… Artifact, this Zhou’s death was not undeserved!”
With these words, he fell from the air into the canyon, his eyes quickly losing their lustre before he even hit the ground.
When Yang Kai rushed back, the battle between Liu Yan and Xiong Ning had also concluded with Liu Yan winning as expected.
However, she had not killed Xiong Ning and instead just maimed him and thrown him to the ground. Xiong Ning’s aura was very feeble and he was groaning continuously, looking very miserable.
On the other side, Hua Gu was still imprisoned by the Earth Prison, his head still exposed, with the Embodiment sitting cross-legged in front of him with its huge hands spread out like two giant claws and grabbing the void at the place where Hua Gu was.
A type of mysterious energy was flowing from those two giant hands.
Under this power, the Source Qi and even Hua Gu’s physique were quickly transforming into a stream of pure energy that was pouring into the Embodiment’s body and being completely absorbed.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai’s eyes shrank slightly.
“Master…” Liu Yan walked over, her beautiful eyes filled with shock as she asked in a low voice, “What is this Secret Art?”
She was also stunned by the actions of the Embodiment. Although Hua Gu and his companions’ methods were despicable, and their deaths weren’t worth pitying, what the Embodiment was doing at this moment seemed to be extracting Hua Gu’s vitality and essence. It was literally refining him into its own strength.
Hua Gu’s body rapidly shrivelled up under the Embodiment’s actions, his skin cracking and his complexion turning sallow, like all the water was being drained from his body. His Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation was also rapidly regressing.
This kind of death, where one experienced the despair and torture of losing everything they had ever cultivated to achieve, was far more frightening than simply having one’s corpse shredded into ten thousand pieces.
“The Heaven Devouring Battle Law!” Yang Kai replied in a low voice.
He was also surprised because he hadn’t expected his Embodiment to have cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to such an extent already.
As for the scene before him, it was actually quite familiar.
When Yang Kai released Wu Meng Chuan from Blue Feather Sect’s Bone Prison, the latter had used the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to kill and devour all the other cultivators in the prison, restoring himself to his peak state in a very short period of time.
The Embodiment obviously hadn’t reached the same level as Wu Meng Chuan, but the essence of the technique it was using was the same, drawing out the energy of others to strengthen oneself!
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law could swallow everything which contained any form of energy in this world, allowing one to cultivate at an extraordinary pace. This Secret Art was extremely overbearing and evil, which was precisely why the creator of this Heaven defying Secret Arts, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, had provoked public anger and ultimately doomed himself.
“This Secret Art is too wicked and domineering!” Liu Yan frowned, seemingly unhappy.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, agreeing with her sentiment, especially after seeing the scene in front of him. He had to admit that this was an extremely evil Secret Art.
As the two conversed, Hua Gu’s vitality finally dried up and he died, his whole body now nothing but skin and bones with most of his physique having been sucked away. As for the Embodiment, it showed an unsatisfied appearance as it stretched out its hand to draw over the half-dead Xiong Ning, intending for him to suffer the same fate as Hua Gu.
A tragic cry reverberated in the canyon for some time.
A while later, Xiong Ning also became a mummified corpse.
The Embodiment finally exhaled contentedly.
Yang Kai also clearly felt that after using the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and swallowing the essences of these two Dao Source cultivators, the Embodiment had grown noticeably stronger. What’s more, there was a kind of strange glow apparent in its eyes now.
Through their Soul connection, Yang Kai faintly felt that his Soul Clone, which inhabited his Embodiment, was a bit different now and had a strange aura about it.
“This Secret Art… it’s a good thing you didn’t cultivate it. It was really a wise decision!” The Embodiment spoke in his rough voice.
“Why do you say that?” Yang Kai raised his brows.
The Embodiment answered, “Before now, I had only absorbed energy from ores and inanimate objects, so I didn’t notice anything in particular, only that this Secret Art was extremely powerful and allowed me to improve my strength at an astonishing rate, but now… there is something which is affecting my Soul, like a lingering bloodthirst, making me want to slaughter and devour more!”
As he spoke, his eyes flashed with a faint red light.
“Could it be some kind of addiction…” Yang Kai touched his chin and muttered to himself.
The Embodiment shook his head and said, “Perhaps, but that’s not the point, the point is that while using this Secret Art to devour other living creatures, it also absorbs some of their intentions, affecting my Soul!”
“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded and asked, “Then you are now…”
“I’m fine!” The Embodiment waved his giant hand, “I speculate that the other things that were absorbed were the remnant thoughts and resentments of these cultivators. If those kinds of things were absorbed by you, they would be extremely difficult to purge, but I’m different…” At this point, the Embodiment grinned and patted his body, proudly saying, “This Stone Puppet body is innately able to purge impurities, so I think… as long as I spend some time resting, the situation will resolve itself.”
“Then we shouldn’t delay, go back and rest first!” Yang Kai said, taking the Sealed World Bead from Liu Yan and using his Divine Sense to move his Embodiment back inside.
“Will that big guy… be alright?” Liu Yan asked worriedly.
“Of course, the physique of the Stone Puppet Clan is specialized in this kind of thing, but he probably won’t be able to use the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to devour anything until he has completely purified those remnants,” Yang Kai replied.
After this incident, Yang Kai gained a faint understanding of why Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was killed in the past. It seemed that it was not just his act of wantonly devouring everything that caused others to resent him, but also due to changes in his mental state.
For instance, if such a powerful cultivator only thought about devouring this and devouring that all day, no one would have a sense of security. Furthermore, at Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s cultivation, he wouldn’t be interested in devouring ordinary treasures or cultivators, only other Great Emperors would be able to satisfy him…
Even if just to protect themselves, the other Great Emperors would have to join forces to get rid of him!
“Hm?” As Yang Kai was lost in thought, he suddenly turned his head to the side and muttered in surprise, “Is she going to break through?”
He suddenly discovered that there was an unusual energy fluctuation coming from Zhang Ruo Xi, one that was consistent with signs of a breakthrough!
Without waiting for his command, Liu Yan took the Luan Feng feather back.
“This little girl’s physique is a bit strange!” Liu Yan looked at her and whispered, “She seems to be able to swallow World Energy directly, not even needing to refine it before she can add it to her own strength!”
“A Special Constitution?” Yang Kai frowned and shook his head, “There shouldn’t be anything special about her physique, I checked that very carefully long ago, but… her Bloodline Power is somewhat unusual.”
The Space Spirit Jade only reacted to Zhang Ruo Xi because of some kind of inherited Bloodline Power; however, Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of Bloodline this was, let alone what kind of connection there was between the Space Spirit Jade and her.
Regardless of the reason, Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation speed was simply astonishing.
She didn’t have a good cultivation environment before, but she had still managed to perform fairly well. Although her cultivation pace wasn’t slow before, it had improved after Yang Kai gifted her the Marrow Washing Pill. With this pill, any cultivator below the Origin King Realm would be able to cultivate significantly faster than their original aptitude would allow.
However, once said cultivator reached the Origin King Realm, the effects of the pill would disappear.
But just looking at this Spirit Qi Sea, it was as if some kind of certain restriction inside her body was released, allowing her to madly swallow the surrounding World Energy, leading to a breakthrough to the level of the Third-Order Saint King Realm in a very short period of time. Things didn’t end there, and after just a short time she was on the verge of another breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm!
After one broke through from the Saint King Realm to the Origin Returning Realm, one needed to condense their Shi!
Yang Kai had also experienced this process, so he naturally knew about its difficulty.
As such, he quickly prepared to send a message to Zhang Ruo Xi to give her some advice.
With his current cultivation, he was qualified to give pointers.
But before he could even speak, a shocking scene appeared before him.
An invisible aura suddenly burst from Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, one that was condensed of her Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy and extended about ten meters from her figure. Inside of this ten-metre radius, she could clearly see and feel every pebble and blade of grass.
[Shi!]
Yang Kai’s expression turned extremely weird.
Zhang Ruo Xi had unexpectedly condensed her Shi instantly, without the slightest difficulty or need for advice. Furthermore, she had not even broken through to the Origin Returning Realm yet…
Yang Kai had never heard of such an astonishing feat.
Liu Yan’s beautiful eyes also flickered with surprise.
Up in the sky, dark clouds began to gather and winds began to swirl inside the depths of the canyon.
After Zhang Ruo Xi had condensed her own Shi, her World Energy Baptism soon followed!
World Energy gathered before forming a column that descended towards Zhang Ruo Xi’s delicate body like a bolt of lightning.
With a muffled snort, Zhang Ruo Xi’s face showed a faint pained expression.
Yang Kai and Liu Yan retreated immediately to observe from afar!
Their current cultivations were too high; if they rushed to assist Zhang Ruo Xi’s, they would only stimulate the World Energy Baptism, leading to unpredictable consequences.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s breakthrough could only be passed by her.
This little girl always looked so weak and delicate that Yang Kai couldn’t help secretly worrying about whether she would succeed.
Before he could worry for long though, his eyes suddenly bulged as he stared behind Zhang Ruo Xi.
Behind this little girl, a blurry phantom suddenly appeared. This phantom was ethereal and looked almost illusionary, but it soon condensed into a giant that was several dozen meters tall.
“That’s…” Yang Kai couldn’t help but whisper in shock.
Liu Yan’s face also paled. She didn’t know why, but she felt a fatal threat from this phantom and panic from the bottom of her heart, making her want to flee.
At this moment, the true appearance of the phantom was revealed. It looked like a giant woman wearing armour with a long cloak and holding a giant sword, her hair flying wildly in the air.
The woman’s figure was rough and heroic.
This figure was still somewhat blurry, and even its outline was a bit unstable; however, it did bear a certain resemblance to Zhang Ruo Xi. It was like looking at an older version of this little girl in shining white armour.
As this huge phantom manifested, it slowly raised its head and glanced up at the surging World Energy that had gathered in the sky.
Suddenly, this female figure opened her mouth and inhaled sharply.
A staggering scene unfolded before Yang Kai’s eyes in the next instant. As this phantom inhaled, all the World Energy which was supposed to fall upon Zhang Ruo Xi as her baptism was sucked into the phantom figure’s mouth and disappeared!
After finishing this, the phantom woman lowered her head, transformed into a stream of light, and sank back into Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, like she had never even existed.
But before this phantom left, Yang Kai faintly felt that she had glanced over at him.
Even if their eyes hadn’t met though, and it only lasted for a moment, Yang Kai was terribly frightened by the humble feeling which overcame him.
“What…” Liu Yan’s voice trembled a little. Although the frightening phantom woman had disappeared, the fear left in her heart did not abate, making her tremble all over.
Yang Kai shook his head dumbly.
*Hong…*
A halo of energy suddenly exploded from Zhang Ruo Xi’s body and rushed out into the surroundings.
After the phantom was retracted into her body, Zhang Ruo Xi actually broke through directly to the Origin Returning Realm without any obstruction, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yang Kai was completely dumbfounded.
Whether it was Zhang Ruo Xi who directly condensed her own Shi before her breakthrough, or the appearance of the strange phantom woman, or her sudden breakthrough, everything he just witnessed was far beyond his ability to comprehend.
It was as if he just witnessed a fantastical dream!
At this moment, only one thought lingered in his mind though, [Just what kind of Bloodline Power did Zhang Ruo Xi inherit? Was that massive female phantom a projection of the Zhang Family’s Ancestor?]
“Master, I want to return first,” Liu Yan suddenly said.
Yang Kai glanced at her and found that her condition was a bit unsteady and nodded, bringing her back into the Sealed World Bead.
As for Zhang Ruo Xi, who was now an Origin Returning Realm cultivator, she showed no signs of stopping her cultivation as she continued to madly devour the surrounding World Energy, her delicate body acting like a bottomless pit that was able to absorb an infinite amount of energy.
The Sealed World Bead also continued its absorption of the surrounding World Energy, and soon the Spirit Qi Sea at the bottom of the canyon became thin.
One day later, the canyon which had originally been filled with a fog of World Energy was completely clear. The Spirit Qi Sea had disappeared and the canyon had become the same as the rest of the Four Seasons Realm.
Only now did Zhang Ruo Xi let out a light breath and slowly open her eyes.
She seemed to be ignorant of the changes that had taken place to her and slightly frowned after opening her eyes, spreading her hands out in front of herself as she lightly stretched.
After a while, she recovered and realized that someone was staring at her, so she looked up only to meet Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi stood up and exclaimed softly.
“Congratulations, you have successfully made a breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Zhang Ruo Xi pursed her lips and muttered, “I don’t know what happened, it was like I just fell asleep and suddenly became like this.”
“Fell asleep?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “So, you don’t recall anything about what happened just now?”
Zhang Ruo Xi looked around and asked in amazement, “What happened?”
She turned her head to the side and looked around and quickly discovered two shrivelled corpses, causing her to pale and let out a cry of fright, “Did someone attack us?”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly and shook his head, not knowing how to explain the unusual scenes he had witnessed and instead choosing to say, “It was just a few blind fools who came here courting death.”
But Zhang Ruo Xi reacting like this made him have some guesses.
There were rumours that some powerful Monster Beasts, especially Divine Spirits and their descendants, had incredible strength from birth, and that their strength would grow even if they did not put in much work as long as they had enough accumulation over a long period of time. This was primarily because their Bloodlines would slowly awaken, allowing them to ultimately stand at the top of the world.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s situation must be somewhat similar to those Monster Beasts and Divine Spirits, otherwise, there was no way to explain why her strength improved so dramatically in just two short days without her even noticing how.
Considering all this, Yang Kai asked, “Ruo Xi, did someone explain to you how to break through to the Origin Returning Realm and how to condense your Shi?”
“No,” Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head, “When Ruo Xi was still living at home, Ruo Xi’s strength was still very low and Old Ancestor said that he would explain everything once Ruo Xi became a Third-Order Saint King…”
Yang Kai nodded when he heard these words, remembering that he too had never told Zhang Ruo Xi about these things.
The breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm wasn’t too critical a junction, so even if no one explained anything, a cultivator would slowly be able to figure things out for themselves.
However, condensing one’s Shi was not something that could be understood or completed in short order, but Zhang Ruo Xi had actually done so in an instant!
In other words, the method to condense her Shi had long ago been rooted in her sub-conscience, probably an inheritance of her Bloodline.
“Sir, is there something wrong with Ruo Xi’s cultivation?” Zhang Ruo Xi asked anxiously.
“There is not,” Yang Kai shook his head quickly to prevent her from misunderstanding. After thinking for a moment, he added, “You’ve just experienced a breakthrough, so what is most important now is to consolidate your cultivation, go back to the Sealed World Bead for now.”
“Yes!” Zhang Ruo Xi nodded meekly and relaxed, allowing Yang Kai to send her back into the Sealed World Bead.
Standing there, Yang Kai was immersed in his thoughts and confusion for a while. He hadn’t asked Zhang Ruo Xi about the situation with the giant female phantom because she probably didn’t know anything about it either.
A few moments later, he turned his head to look to the side where a stream of light was quickly approaching.
Shortly, Hua Qing Si appeared in front of him with a happy disposition, obviously having had a good harvest.
“What happened?” Hua Qing Si asked in shock when she saw the two mummified corpses on the ground.
“Someone came courting death,” Yang Kai curtly replied without explaining much. He did not ask what she had gained; after all, he had already promised that anything she picked up would belong to her. Instead, he simply said, “You can go back first, I still have to rush to the Realm of Winter.”
“Wait a moment!”
“What?”
Hua Qing Si smiled and said, “I suddenly remembered something on the way back.”
Yang Kai didn’t reply but motioned with his eyes for her to continue.
“There is a hidden spot in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, are you interested in exploring it?” Hua Qing Si asked with a smile.
“How do you know?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
Hua Qing Si answered, “I am a disciple of Star Soul Palace! If nothing had happened, I would have had one of the forty slots the palace obtained for myself! I made preparations for the Four Seasons Realm a long time ago, so what’s so strange about my knowing a secret or two?”
“The Two Seasons Mountain Range?” Yang Kai showed a contemplative expression.
“Rest assured, although I don’t know what you have to do in the Realm of Winter, you’ll have to cross the mountain range first, so it won’t take much time.”
“Do you have an exact location?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si couldn’t help rolling her eyes and retort, “I found out about this hidden location from clues leftover in my Sect’s ancient books. Although I have a map of sorts, the exact directions aren’t very clear. At best I have a rough understanding of where this place might be. If you really want to explore it, you’ll have to find it yourself.”
“So, you don’t even know what’s inside?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si showed a stunned expression before she pursed her lips into a grin and said, “It looks like you don’t know much about this Four Seasons Realm!”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned.
Hua Qing Si chuckled and asked, “You know this is the Four Seasons Realm, but do you know who made it?”
“Do you know?” Yang Kai frowned.
Hua Qing Si proudly said, “If I said I don’t know, what could you do?”
Yang Kai suddenly grinned and said, “Tell me!”
Seeing him jump straight to threatening her, Hua Qing Si couldn’t help pouting as she snorted, “Flowing Time Great Emperor, have you heard of him?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Hua Qing Si’s expression became haughty as she continued, “Since ancient times, those who have been eligible to be called Great Emperor were all top masters in this world, but even among the top, there are still some who stand out! From all the historical records I have read, there have been several dozen Great Emperors who have fallen in the past, and the Flowing Time Great Emperor is one of them. The Flowing Time Great Emperor cultivated a Divine Ability called the Time Flies Seal. Once this Divine Ability is used, it can cause a thousand years to pass by in a moment, causing anything and anyone caught in it to wither and die!
“How did such a powerful Great Emperor die? No one knows, but there are rumours… This Four Seasons Realm was his secluded realm, and it was constructed by the Flowing Time Great Emperor using his miraculous abilities. There are also rumours that somewhere in the Four Seasons Realm, there is a majestic temple called the Flowing Time Temple, which was left behind by the Flowing Time Great Emperor and was originally his secluded home. There are infinite benefits to be found inside such a secluded home and if one can obtain even just one or two things from it, their future progress will be smooth and unimpeded. Such rumours are widely known among the great forces, but unfortunately, no one has been able to confirm them so far. There are only some vague records that indicate that the secret location I told you about is related to the Flowing Time Temple!”
As she narrated triumphantly, it really aroused Yang Kai’s interest.
“But if you find it too bothersome to search, then just pretend you didn’t hear anything,” Hua Qing Si intentionally teased Yang Kai’s desires.
Yang Kai decisively held out a hand to her.
“What do you want?” Hua Qing Si asked vigilantly.
“Bring out the map!”
Hua Qing Si immediately covered her Space Ring and jumped back a few steps before gritting her teeth and vigilantly glaring, “I warn you, if you dare try to force me, I’ll…”
“What will you do?” Yang Kai approached her with a wicked grin and said, “There’s no one here, so even if you shout your lungs out, no one will come to save you. Besides… all I need is a thought and you would obediently offer that map to me!”
“Shameless! Beast! Don’t come near… come here and I’ll scream… good, good, I’ll just give it to you,” Hua Qing Si took out a piece of animal skin from her Space Ring and threw it to Yang Kai before angrily cursing, “Are you having fun? A big man bullying me, a weak woman, have you no shame?”
Yang Kai ignored her and just looked at the crudely drawn map on the animal skin, finding it just as Hua Qing Si had said, lacking in clues or exact directions.
The entire Four Seasons Realm was divided into four domains, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. With such drastically divergent environments, when two met, their border would naturally become extremely strange.
The Two Seasons Mountain Range was that very border and it extended throughout the entire Four Seasons Realm. This mountain range was like a giant cross that divided the four domains equally.
This information was contained in the jade slip from before, so when Hua Qing Si mentioned the Two Seasons Mountain Range, Yang Kai was not too surprised.
However, judging from the information revealed by Hua Qing Si, the Azure Sun Temple was still concealing some things from him. At least the information about the Flowing Time Temple was not shared with him.
This was also obvious though; after all, he was an outsider.
Murong Xiao Xiao had given him the jade slip that recorded most of the Four Seasons Realm’s information, but Yang Kai knew he had acquired it only because Gao Xue Ting had allowed him to. Anything that was not recorded was obviously treated as secret information within the Sect.
However, Yang Kai was also certain that those from Azure Sun Temple knew whether the Flowing Time Temple really existed or not!
On the map that Hua Qing Si had given to Yang Kai, the location of the temple was recorded as somewhere between the Realm of Summer and the Realm of Winter, so for Yang Kai, this trip was really just a quick stop along the way.
Storing away the map and returning Hua Qing Si to the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai summoned his ship and began flying in the direction of the Realm of Winter as quick as lightning.
After hurrying along for a day, an unimaginably long mountain range appeared before Yang Kai. Even from a distance, Yang Kai could tell that this mountain range was lush, with deep valleys and extensive forests. The side which Yang Kai stood on was scorching hot, but the tops of the mountains he was staring at were covered with silvery-white snow.
On the other side of the mountain range that Yang Kai couldn’t see yet, it should be extremely cold.
This was obviously the Two Seasons Mountain Range.
While releasing his Divine Sense to monitor his surroundings, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate as he flew straight into the mountain range.
In the forest, the climate was hot and humid, but for cultivators like Yang Kai, this did not affect him much.
Recalling the information recorded on the map in his mind, and as far as possible trying not to deviate from his destination of the Realm of Winter, Yang Kai began searching for the existence of the Flowing Time Temple.
His thoughts were quite simple; since the existence of the Flowing Time Temple was elusive, and no one had found it since the Four Seasons Realm had first appeared, Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t hold too much hope of finding it either and was not planning to expend much energy in his search.
For him, it would be good to find it, but it didn’t matter if he couldn’t. After spending a brief time here, he would cross the Two Seasons Mountain Range and enter the Realm of Winter.
The Tribulation Fruit was his biggest goal on this trip.
With such a mentality, Yang Kai relaxed while using the wooden ship to fly at a low altitude.
In this mountain forest, there seemed to be some traces of Monster Beast activity, but their strength shouldn’t be too great. Yang Kai didn’t even bother to find trouble with these Monster Beasts and was content to just ignore them. Occasionally, one or two rare herbs could be found, which were carefully collected by Yang Kai and transplanted to the medicine garden in his Sealed World Bead.
In the blink of an eye, half a day passed and although no traces of the Flowing Time Temple were found, it was not without gains.
At a certain moment, just as Yang Kai was flying forward leisurely and surveying his surroundings, his expression changed as he suddenly looked up in a certain direction.
From that direction, two entities were swiftly approaching, one closer, one further. It seemed that something was fleeing, while something was pursuing, but because of the obstruction of the jungle, Yang Kai was unable to see anything clearly.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately noticed an aura on par with a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator approaching him.
At this moment, the owner of this aura seemed to have been severely injured and their energy fluctuations were extremely unstable.
Just as Yang Kai was investigating, a Monster Beast suddenly jumped out of the jungle before him.
This Monster Beast was like a giant lizard, with a forked tongue and a long body. It had two fiery red wings on its back as well as a diamond-shaped mark on its head, like a brand, which seemed quite strange and out of place.
Yang Kai did not know who it fought against, a cultivator or another Monster Beast, but at this moment, one of its wings was cut and its tail was missing. Blood leaked from all of its wounds.
As it leapt into the air, it panicked as it obviously didn’t expect Yang Kai to appear in its way; however, in the blink of an eye, the giant lizard pounced towards Yang Kai with its red eyes and mouth wide open.
Yang Kai only saw a scarlet light shoot out towards him in the next instant.
Clearly, the giant lizard had used its long scarlet tongue like a spear to pierce towards him.
Swiftly, Yang Kai’s figure flashed and he moved aside, causing the long tongue attack to hit empty space. At the same time, Yang Kai flicked his wrist and sent out dozens of Moon Blades towards the giant lizard.
The giant lizard was mid-air and could not avoid the attack of these Moon Blades and was directly hit.
The giant lizard’s body seemed quite robust, so the Moon Blades that Yang Kai hurriedly shot out did not kill it immediately, instead just causing some of its skin to flay, resulting in minor injuries.
However, the force from the Moon Blades made it fall straight down.
Yang Kai’s expression looked grim as he shot downwards like a meteor, following after the giant lizard as he aimed for the top of its head.
As he fell, Yang Kai used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, transforming his right fist into a thick dragon claw which he slammed down on the giant lizard’s head.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, accompanied by the sound of bones breaking, the giant lizard’s body folded awkwardly at its neck and its scarlet tongue spat out. Its eyes went bloodshot as it convulsed and struggled momentarily before going stiff.
With a thud, the corpse of the giant lizard fell to the ground, and Yang Kai lightly landed by its side.
This giant lizard was an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, comparable to a cultivator at the Second-Order Dao Source Realm. If it hadn’t already been seriously injured, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been able to kill it in such a short time.
It didn’t look like a valuable Monster Beast, but because of its high level, its Monster Core should be worth a lot.
Thinking so, Yang Kai bent down and prepared to extract its Core.
But at that moment, a sudden change occurred as the diamond-shaped brand on the giant lizard’s forehead suddenly lit up, like it had a life of its own. Transforming into a stream of light, it shot out and rushed towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was shocked as he backed away in a hurry.
He thought the giant lizard was already dead, so he wasn’t expecting it to use such a strange method. An Eleventh-Order Monster Beast would have a high degree of sentience, so it could have had a few tricks to use.
Yang Kai’s movements were fast, but the stream of light was faster, so he couldn’t avoid it. Instantly, the stream of light broke through his defensive Source Qi and landed on the back of his hand.
“What is this!” Yang Kai looked horrified as he exclaimed.
The moment that the stream of light landed, he felt a scorching pain from the back of his hand, as if a soldering iron was branding him, causing him to further back off.
But soon, he found that he was thinking too much.
The pain lasted for only a moment before it was replaced with a cold, pleasant sensation.
When he looked down, Yang Kai found that there was now a diamond-shaped mark on the back of his right hand, exactly the same as the one he saw on the giant lizard’s forehead.
*Xiu…*
In the next moment, several figures suddenly appeared not far from Yang Kai. When these people appeared, they all cast their eyes on the giant lizard’s corpse that was lying on the ground before turning to Yang Kai with grim faces.
Yang Kai was surprised by this whole situation. When he noticed that the giant lizard was severely injured, he vaguely guessed that someone was chasing after it, but having been disturbed by this diamond-shaped mark, he had forgotten that others were approaching him.
Now he found that it was too late to react.
“It’s you!”
“It’s you?”
Looking at Yang Kai, there were two exclamations at once, but their tones were very different.
Yang Kai looked up and felt a headache coming on.
Because he discovered that the situation in front of him was slightly complicated.
The cultivators chasing the giant lizard were not all from a great force, but rather belonged to four different groups.
Among the four groups of people, he knew half of them.
On the left side, there were two people, Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao from Azure Sun Temple. Yang Kai didn’t know if they had been travelling together from the start or if they had met up sometime later. When they were being chased by the Flame Beast in the Realm of Summer, the two should have separated, but now they had appeared together in the Two Seasons Mountain Range.
At this moment, Xiao Bai Yi was looking at Yang Kai without much enthusiasm, and even some coldness, while Murong Xiao Xiao smiled sweetly at him.
Next to these two people was Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Wu Chang with his Yin-Yang Dual Body!
Regarding this guy, Yang Kai had a vivid memory. After seeing the fight between him and Xia Sheng, Yang Kai secretly decided not to have any disputes with this person unless absolutely necessary; not because he was afraid of him, but because he would definitely be difficult to deal with and Yang Kai figured he would need to pay a high price to beat him. Yang Kai believed that even if he used all of his trump cards, he may not be able to kill Wu Chang.
From Heavenly Martial Holy Land, only Wu Chang was present.
This was not surprising though; Wu Chang had a violent and off-putting personality even towards his fellow brothers, so getting along with him was definitely not an easy task. The disciples of Heavenly Martial Holy Land probably didn’t want to be with him any more than Wu Chang wanted to be with them. To him, everyone was a burden!
The third group consisted of two people, a man and a woman. The man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful, the former possessing a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation while the latter was only First-Order.
Yang Kai didn’t know who these two were, but what made him feel strange was that when the man looked at him, his eyes were a little gloomy, meanwhile, the woman just smiled lightly at him.
Judging from the emblems on their robes, this man and the woman were likely disciples of Star Soul Palace, so neither of them was to be underestimated.
Lastly, like Wu Chang, there was another lone man.
Yang Kai took a look at him and found that this man did not seem to be from a big Sect. The emblem on his clothes was unfamiliar, so he probably came from some medium or small-sized force.
But this guy, even when he was facing the elites of three major Sects, was undaunted, his expression extremely calm, a surprising display.
“Does this Sister know me?” Yang Kai wondered as he glanced towards the young woman from Star Soul Palace.
Of the two voices that had called out just now, one of them was Xiao Bai Yi, while the other was actually this woman.
[Why would she shout something like that if she did not know me?]
But what Yang Kai didn’t expect was that the female disciple just smiled slightly, shook her head, and said, “I mistook you for someone else.”
Lan Xun said this because although she remembered Yang Kai’s appearance, he naturally would not recognize her.
That time in the third layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, Lan Xun was using her False Face Bead to change her appearance, so what Yang Kai had seen was not her true appearance.
“Uh…” Yang Kai was speechless, but quickly composed himself and turned to Xiao Bai Yi, “Xiao Bai, you’re here as well, huh? The world is really too small!”
Blue veins bulged on Xiao Bai Yi’s forehead as he snapped, “Do you want to die?”
Murong Xiao Xiao pursed her lips, smiled, and slightly nodded at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai said, “Why are you acting so indifferently? It’s rare for everyone to meet here. Ah, it must be destiny!”
Xiao Bai Yi coldly snorted, “Who wants to share destiny with you? But it is unexpected and somewhat impressive that you could escape the pursuit of the Flame Beast.”
Although he had given a compliment, it was filled with ridicule and sarcasm.
At that time, the Flame Beast from the Realm of Summer had been hopping mad, and despite there being so many people fleeing from it, it had chosen to focus on Yang Kai, so many had thought Yang Kai was doomed to die; even Xiao Bai Yi thought so.
After all, even Wu Chang had been forced to flee from this Monster Beast, so how could Yang Kai, a First-Order Dao Source Realm, survive?
But now, Yang Kai appeared unscathed in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a true surprise.
Hearing the words ‘Flame Beast’, the expressions of the man and a woman from Star Soul Palace also changed slightly. Obviously, from their Sect’s records, they knew about the existence of this Monster Beast which was comparable to an Emperor Realm cultivator.
Wu Chang also raised his brows, revealing a look of surprise.
He couldn’t understand how such a weak cultivator could escape from the pursuit of the Flame Beast! During the previous incident, if the group from Azure Sun Temple had not attracted the Flame Beast’s attention, he would have been in big trouble.
“It’s nothing much!” Yang Kai put on a humble look, “Fleeing just happens to be my strong point!”
When he spoke these words, rather than looking ashamed, he instead appeared rather proud of himself, causing Xiao Bai Yi to stare at him for some time.
“Enough nonsense,” At that moment, the unknown young man wearing dark robes from an unknown Sect interrupted with a shout before coldly shouted at Yang Kai, “Hand over that Star Seal or die!”
From his tone, he ‘kindly’ wanted to let Yang Kai leave as long as Yang Kai cooperated. Facing such an arrogant and domineering request, which was made so naturally, Yang Kai couldn’t help turning and staring.
The other party just stared back at him coldly, without the slightest intention of avoiding his gaze.
The pair from Star Soul Palace didn’t interfere, and although the handsome man frowned somewhat unhappily, the young woman’s beautiful eyes lit up with interest, as if waiting to watch a good show.
“Although it’s a bit late now, I still want to ask… how should I address Your Excellency?” Yang Kai looked at the youth with a smile, not showing any anger on the surface.
While speaking, he had already sent a message into the Small Sealed World to ask Hua Qing Si to help him identify the man and woman from Star Soul Palace. After all, Star Soul Palace was her Sect, so she should recognize these two people.
The dark-clothed youth coldly snorted and replied, “Eight Paths Sect, Luo Yuan!”
“So, it was Brother Luo, I’ve long heard of and admired you. It seems I’ve been quite disrespectful!” Yang Kai put on a look of surprise, as if he had really heard of him before when in fact, he hadn’t even heard of Eight Paths Sect.
The contempt and disdain on Xiao Bai Yi’s face grew markedly as he snorted, “Fortunately you’re not one of my Azure Sun Temple’s disciples, otherwise I would have already taken action to clean up the Sect!”
“Hehe…” Yang Kai laughed before his expression suddenly twitched slightly.
At that moment, he obtained an answer from Hua Qing Si from his Embodiment. Unexpectedly, this pair from Star Soul Palace had incredible backgrounds.
That man was the son of Xiao Yu Yang, Xiao Chen!
Xiao Yu Yang had a powerful Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation and held the post of a Star Soul Palace Silver Star Envoy, making him famous across the entire Southern Territory. It could be said that a tiger father begets no dogs. Xiao Yu Yang was powerful and respected, so his son naturally was not mediocre. He, Wu Chang, Xia Sheng, Zhuang Bu Fan, and a few others were considered the top rising stars of the Southern Territory.
Xiao Chen’s background was powerful and impressive, but the young woman’s background was far scarier.
She was actually the one and only gem of the Bright Moon Great Emperor, Princess Lan Xun!
She was the most sought after woman for young bachelors in the entire Southern Territory, possibly even the entire Star Boundary. If such a woman were to marry into one’s house, that house would undoubtedly prosper for a thousand years!
With the Bright Moon Great Emperor as a father-in-law, a man could walk sideways across the entire Star Boundary. Who would dare to despise or provoke such an existence?
But… Although Princess Lan Xun’s status was unrivalled, she rarely appeared outside, hence ordinary cultivators would never get a chance to see her. Yang Kai hadn’t expected that with her identity and status, Lan Xun would come to the Four Seasons Realm for life experience, much less with a cultivation only equal to his own.
[Is the Bright Moon Great Emperor not afraid of what might happen to his precious daughter in the Four Seasons Realm?]
Thinking up to here, Yang Kai glanced at Xiao Chen again. With this flower protector present, any danger would have to get past him first before it touched Lan Xun.
These thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind and while everyone caught his expression change slightly, none of them knew what he was thinking about. They only thought that he was frightened by Xiao Bai Yi’s words, causing them to further despise him.
Yang Kai lowered his gaze to the diamond-shaped brand on the back of his hand and muttered to himself, “So this thing really is a Star Seal…”
Just now, he had some faint speculations that this thing was an entry pass to the Shattered Star Sea, but Wu Chang and the others had appeared before he could sort out his thoughts or verify it in any way.
Fortunately, Luo Yuan’s words confirmed his guess for him.
The Star Seal had actually appeared on the forehead of a Monster Beast, so after it was killed by Yang Kai, it had been transferred to his hand and in such an obvious position… It was unlikely that Yang Kai could avoid trouble in this situation.
Adjusting himself, he suddenly called out to Wu Chang, “Brother Wu Chang, you and the others are future leaders of the Southern Territory, are you really going to let some unknown little man from a small Sect act so arrogant and presumptuous in front of you? If word of this were to spread out, what face would Brother Wu Chang have left?”
Wu Chang looked at Yang Kai indifferently and remained unmoved. Although he had a short temper and a violent personality, he had cultivated to the Third-Order Dao Source Realm so he was no fool. How could he not see that Yang Kai was trying to sow discord to alleviate his own situation?
Wu Chang just coldly snorted and replied, “Although I don’t like this guy’s arrogance, I agree with his sentiment! Hand over the Star Seal, otherwise… I’ll take it myself.”
Yang Kai heard this, scratched his head involuntarily and said, “So, what the two of you are saying is that… you are going to rob me?”
At this point, he looked over at Lan Xun and Xiao Chen, and asked, “Is your Star Soul Palace also going to participate in this affair?”
Lan Xun smiled slightly and said, “I’m afraid I can’t do anything to help you, but I can at least guarantee that I won’t rob you!”
Xiao Chen didn’t speak and just coldly snorted. The contempt in his eyes grew even stronger as he couldn’t understand why Princess Lan Xun seemed to care about this unknown man. Moreover, the words that Yang Kai spoke just now made him aware of some problems as well.
With Lan Xun making her position clear, Yang Kai could only sigh helplessly and say, “If it were possible, I would be happy to hand over this Star Seal, but… I don’t know how to get it off the back of my hand. Do you two have any suggestions?”
“It’s simple!” Wu Chang answered immediately in a calm tone, “Cut off your hand.”
“Good!” Luo Yuan nodded, “Your hand or your life? Choose!”
Yang Kai paled in fright as he shouted, “I… I want both! Is there any other way that’s… safer?”
Luo Yuan coldly snorted, “How could there be such a cheap bargain in this world? It seems that you don’t want either. Good, then I’ll make the decision for you!”
Saying so, he pushed his Source Qi, took a step forward, and rapidly closed in on Yang Kay. A golden light condensed on his palm as he slammed it towards Yang Kai’s chest.
As soon as Luo Yan made a move, Wu Chang also moved. Now that the Star Seal was on the back of Yang Kai’s hand, whoever killed him first would obtain it.
With Wu Chang’s arrogant and proud temperament, how could he tolerate Luo Yuan seizing the advantage?
So, he suddenly appeared behind Yang Kai, his hand turning pure white and exuding an extreme chill as he punched towards Yang Kai’s back.
The two Third-Order Dao Source Realm masters were merciless in their attacks, both wanting to swiftly kill their prey, not even caring about how they appeared in front of the others present.
After all, the Star Seal would transfer to whoever killed the current carrier, so they needed to act fast.
“Junior Brother Yang!” Murong Xiao Xiao’s pretty face paled as she exclaimed, “Quickly run!”
Xiao Bai Yi also frowned. He hadn’t expected Wu Chang and Luo Yuan to act so decisively and ruthlessly, attacking with full intent to kill.
Although he didn’t like Yang Kai, and he even said that he would teach him a lesson in the Four Seasons Realm, it was still true that Yang Kai had entered the Four Seasons Realm together with Azure Sun Temple. Since he had occupied one of Azure Sun Temple’s entry quotas, any extra Star Seals Yang Kai obtained would be handed over to the temple.
If for no other reason than this, Xiao Bai Yi couldn’t sit back and watch Yang Kai be killed in front of him! Otherwise, once an investigation occurred, he wouldn’t be able to feign ignorance or remain uninvolved. Although Yang Kai’s death was of no importance to him, whether he lived or died would affect the Sect’s interests.
Unfortunately… by the time Xiao Bai Yi reacted, it was too late to intervene!
On the other hand, Lan Xun’s pretty face also changed slightly, showing a slightly disappointed look. In her opinion, Yang Kai would definitely die, and she couldn’t save him, otherwise, she would be deeply offending Wu Chang.
“Overconfidence!” Xiao Chen just let out a cold snort as he watched from the side.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan, who had sandwiched Yang Kai with their attacks from the front and back, both showed stunned expressions. The two felt a huge impact force at the same time and were both involuntarily forced back a couple dozen metres before they managed to stabilize themselves.
Somewhere in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a strange tension hung in the air.
Both Luo Yuan and Wu Chang wore shocked expressions at this moment.
Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao were also staring dumbfounded at the scene before them.
Nearby, Lan Xun was also surprised as her eyes flashed brightly, while even Xiao Chen muttered in confusion, “What’s going on?”
Two rising stars, Luo Yuan and Wu Chang, had attacked Yang Kai at the same time, causing everyone to believe that Yang Kai would die. Wu Chang alone was not an ordinary Dao Source Realm cultivator, and regardless of whether Luo Yan was all bark and no bite, or he really had the strength to back up his arrogance, he was still a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. Wu Chang also had a fierce reputation as a violent individual, so there was no one who met a good end when they were targeted by him.
And now, these two had attacked Yang Kai simultaneously without warning, leaving no way for him to avoid them at all.
Everyone was certain they would be witnessing the miserable scene of Yang Kai’s death…
But instead, it was Luo Yuan and Wu Chang, the sneak attackers, who were sent flying while Yang Kai showed no signs of injury.
[How did he do it?]
Recalling that moment, Yang Kai seemed to have just stood still without moving. Now though, his face had gone pale, and his expression was flustered as if he was quite frightened, his body trembling slightly and his forehead covered in sweat.
Although he looked a little embarrassed, he was completely unscathed.
“Little brat… what did you just do?” Xiao Chen couldn’t understand.
It was impossible for Luo Yuan and Wu Chang to be repelled for no reason. The only explanation was that Yang Kai had secretly used some amazing method to save himself, but no one had seen clearly what that method was.
Xiao Chen’s brow was furrowed tightly as he secretly felt that something was off about Yang Kai.
“Interesting…” Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes shined brightly as she stared at Yang Kai somewhat cheerfully.
Although she was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator herself, she was the Bright Moon Great Emperor’s precious gem and she had inherited his Special Constitution. Since she was a child, she had been fascinated with the strength of her father, so in terms of experience, insight, and vision, she stood above everyone else present.
Although she didn’t see too clearly what happened, she still had some understanding of what transpired.
Just now, when Luo Yuan and Wu Chang attacked and were about to hit Yang Kai, Lan Xun clearly saw his body turn illusory for a moment, like he had disappeared from this world.
At the same time, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan’s attacks lost their target.
Losing their target, the two attacks naturally collided with each other.
In other words, it was Wu Chang’s attack that pushed back Luo Yuan, and it was Luo Yuan’s attack that pushed back Wu Chang…
It was as if the two had fought each other!
[What a strange Secret Technique!] Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes lit up as she glanced over at Luo Yuan, silently thinking to herself, [He’s also a bit unusual, able to match Wu Chang in a single exchange. Since when did such a monster appear in the Eight Paths Sect? It seems that what Lord Father told me was right; never underestimate anyone. Even people from humble backgrounds could have a bright and lofty future. This Luo Yuan is the most obvious example… and now there’s also this strange guy. He is definitely not as cowardly as he makes himself look to be. Even his previous cowardly display must have been a pretence. Only these smelly men with muscles for brains could have really believed that this was his true personality… Ah right, what was his name again?]
All sorts of distracting thoughts flashed through Lan Xun’s mind. Believing that Yang Kai was pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, she couldn’t help but cast an interested look at Yang Kai, who was still shivering midair, a playful expression soon appearing on her face as if she had already seen through him.
Finally, Wu Chang recovered from his shock and took a glance at Yang Kai before turning to Luo Yan and threatening, “Are you courting death?”
Even though he hadn’t clearly understood how Yang Kai had avoided his attack, after just a bit of thought, he was able to roughly figure out what had happened.
With his arrogant personality, which looked down on everyone else, he naturally blamed Luo Yuan for what just transpired! It was as though Luo Yuan had interfered with his good deed and allowed Yang Kai to use his Secret Technique to resolve his crisis.
“Me?” Yang Kai looked panicked and pointed at himself as he hurriedly asked, “Are you talking about me? I don’t want to die, please don’t kill me…”
While he was talking, he turned towards Xiao Bai Yi and called out, “Xiao Bai, please reason with Brother Wu Chang! Have him spare me, okay?”
Xiao Bai Yi glared at him and grit his teeth as he snapped, “I really want to rush over and kill you myself.”
Fortunately, Yang Kai was not a disciple of Azure Sun Temple, otherwise, Xiao Bai Yi really would find himself in an embarrassing position. It was nothing less than shameful for a Sect to have such a snivelling disciple. Xiao Bai Yi secretly hated that he hadn’t seen through Yang Kai’s true nature before, otherwise, he would never have agreed to give Xue Yi’s entry quota to Yang Kai.
Even Murong Xiao Xiao, who was standing next to him, cast a disapproving look at Yang Kai.
“Do you want to fight? I will give you a fight!” Luo Yuan’s gaze also crossed through Yang Kai and landed on Wu Chang, his voice filled with a faint eagerness, clearly indicating he was not afraid of Wu Chang. Actually, deep in his heart, he couldn’t wait to fight Wu Chang and prove his strength.
And so, oddly enough they both began to ignore Yang Kai entirely.
“Bold!” Wu Chang grinned, a look that could almost be described as happy appearing on his face, “It’s been a long time since I met an interesting guy like you!”
As he spoke, he actually licked his lips, like a hungry predator or a pervert that had suddenly encountered a naked beauty…
The eyes of the two met mid-air and sparks seemed to fly, causing the atmosphere to become tense.
Yang Kai was standing between the two of them, and although he was being ignored, he still had to bear the pressure from both of them, turning his face paler by the moment.
*Huhuhu…*
Even the swirling wind seemed to be contaminated with murderous intent, sending chills up the spines of the onlookers.
“Enough!”
Seeing that Luo Yuan and Wu Chang were about to fight, Lan Xun really couldn’t stand it anymore and after calling out lightly, she stepped forward and said, “Both of you are geniuses from my Southern Territory. In the future, you should not become so agitated over such minor matters. Before entering this Sealed World, Uncle Xiao had said he hoped everyone would put the overall situation first. Our opponents are not each other, but rather those from the other territories. Please give me some face and exchange weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk.”
Hearing this, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan frowned at the same time. They didn’t expect that Princess Lan Xun would come forward to mediate at this moment.
Although they were a little unhappy in their hearts, the two of them didn’t dare refuse Princess Lan Xun. It might be fine in the short term to offend Lan Xun here, but once the Four Seasons Realm closed and rumours began to spread, even their own Sects wouldn’t dare to shelter them from reprisals.
“Since the Princess has said so… the two of you should stop, otherwise this Xiao will become your enemy!” Xiao Chen also stood forward, fulfilling his role as the Princess’ protector.
“Lucky you!”
Wu Chang and Luo Yuan uttered these words at the same time before they withdrew their fighting intent.
Wu Chang glanced at Luo Yuan briefly before he spoke to Lan Xun, “Your Highness, this time, this Wu will give you face and not care about him, but if there is a next time… even if the Great Emperor himself was here, I will still kill this waste that does not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!”
In his eyes, besides a few exceptions, everyone was a waste!
He didn’t even put the elite disciples of Azure Sun Temple or Orthodoxy Temple in his eyes, so how could he care about Luo Yuan from Eight Paths Sect? If it weren’t for Lan Xun’s interference, he wouldn’t have endured being provoked by such a nobody.
“I’ve heard about Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Wu Chang for a long time now, but it seems all that’s strong about him is his tongue,” Luo Yuan was not someone who would take such provocation quietly, so he immediately levelled an insult of his own.
“Good, good,” Lan Xun also secretly felt a headache coming on. “If you really were fighting over some rare and precious treasure, I would not bother to stop you, but for a mere Star Seal… it’s not worth it. There are many more such Star Seals in the Four Seasons Realm, and there is plenty of time before this Sealed World closes, so everyone will have many opportunities to acquire them.”
While speaking, she also glanced at the back of Yang Kai’s hand and commented, “What’s more… this is just a trivial diamond Star Seal, it’s not worth fighting over.”
“What? Do Star Seals have different ranks?” Yang Kai immediately latched onto some information Lan Xun’s words revealed and asked in surprise.
“Why are you still running your mouth?” Xiao Chen glanced at him indifferently and sarcastically said, “You’ve just managed to survive a brush with death, so you should hurry up and run away with your tail tucked between your legs. What are you still doing here? Waiting for death?”
“Hehe…” The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched in response as he wore an embarrassed expression.
He turned his gaze to Xiao Bai Yi as he wanted to ask about the specific situation of the Star Seals, but he couldn’t as Xiao Bai Yi directly turned his gaze away, refusing to communicate with him.
Yang Kai suddenly felt depressed.
But looking at Xiao Bai Yi acting like this, it was obvious he knew something; however, this information was probably of the same level of importance as the existence of the Flowing Time Temple, a secret of the Sect, so it wouldn’t be convenient for Xiao Bai Yi to reveal it.
To the side, Murong Xiao Xiao showed an apologetic expression to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai understood and did not ask anything more.
“Good, now that this Star Seal has a master, please put its existence aside and no longer think about it,” Lan Xun’s words concluded this minor event, which could also be regarded as her covertly helping Yang Kai.
With these words said, as long as anyone cared about Lan Xun’s face and identity, they would no longer try to snatch Yang Kai’s Star Seal.
Although Wu Chang and Luo Yuan were warlike and rebellious, they still needed to give her face.
After her words were finished, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan glanced at each other across the air, their eyes meeting and conveying the same, silent message, [Don’t let me run into you again, or you will regret it!]
Immediately, the two snorted coldly before turning their backs to one another and preparing to leave.
But at that moment, a sudden change occurred.
From the depths of the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a strange shockwave erupted, bringing with it the sound of muffled thunder while shaking the earth below everyone’s feet.
Everyone’s complexion changed as they turned and looked around suspiciously, completely befuddled.
Things did not end there though and soon, an exclamation sounded out, “Look over there, up in the sky!”