With a faint smile, Yang Kai said, “Everyone can speak about reason. However, there aren’t many who can actually put it into action.”
Shi Cang Ying looked at him and replied, “Looks like you’re not bad to actually be able to say such words. From the looks of it, you’re sensible and reasonable, so this Old Master will get straight to the point…” Talking up to here, his expression sank as he waved his hand, “Thousand Leaves Sect does not welcome you all. Scram back to wherever you came from.”
“Vice Sect Master Shi!” Ye Hen could not help himself from letting out a cold shout, his face blanketed in fury.
It wasn’t easy for Ye Jing Han to invite Yang Kai to come over to repair that World-Crossing Space Array. If this attempt was successful, Thousand Leaves Sect would definitely be able to turn their current situation around and would no longer have to struggle just to eke out a living for themselves. This was the most important matter for the future of their Sect! If not, why would he personally come out to welcome Yang Kai and his group? However, never in his wildest dreams did he expect Shi Cang Ying to cause havoc regarding this matter. Therefore, there was no way for him to not be infuriated by this development.
Ye Jing Han’s pretty face also sunk as she looked over towards Shi Cang Ying, “Martial Uncle, Young Master Yang is a friend I’ve invited over, so would you please treat them with more courtesy.”
Shi Cang Ying sneered, “This Old Master would naturally be courteous if they were your genuine friends; however, this Old Master doesn’t wish to see people that will cause disaster to befall our Sect. Make them leave.”
Ye Jing Han shouted back, “That is impossible. Martial Uncle, please hurry up and apologize to Young Master Yang.”
“Impudence!” Shi Cang Ying burst into anger, before glaring at Ye Hen, “Is this the good daughter that you’ve brought up, Sect Master? She’s so rude and disrespectful to actually shout at her Martial Uncle like that! Highly improper!”
A gloomy look descended on Ye Hen’s face as he replied, “Jing Han has always been kind and gentle. Therefore, she definitely has her reasons to be this angry.”
“You… You…” Shi Cang Ying’s beard shook as an utterly infuriated appearance radiated from his entire being.
“From the looks of it… this Young Master’s appearance has caused some disharmonious notes to appear in your noble Sect.” Yang Kai said with a faint smile while rubbing his nose.
“Stop with your cynical remarks, you brat,” Shi Cang Ying growled and shot an exceedingly foul look towards Yang Kai.
This caused Yang Kai to laugh, “Old thing, you’re already advanced in age, it would be better for you to not get too worked up and injure your body as a result.”
“Stop with your false pity. If you really are Ye Girl’s friend, you should be considerate to her and quickly leave our Thousand Leaves Sect!” Shi Cang Ying seemed to be hell-bent on wanting to chase Yang Kai away as he made no attempt to hide that thought, with the word ‘leave’ being in almost every sentence coming out from his mouth.
Yang Kai grinned in response, “I already told you to not get worked up, right? Just a few days ago, an old fellow by the name of Ke Tian got worked up like you, just before… He died!”
Shi Cang Yang’s expression changed drastically immediately upon hearing those words, before he retreated vigilantly a few steps and shouted anxious, “What is your meaning here?”
Although Yang Kai’s words carried no malicious intent with them, the hairs on Shi Cang Yang’s body stood on their ends when they echoed in his ears while cold sweat drenched through his robes. Even Ye Hen’s expression had drastically changed, appearing as though he was afraid that Yang Kai would really take action right here.
All of them had received news of Yang Kai killing quite a few people in the City Lord’s Mansion. Among those killed was Sky Peak Temple’s Ke Tian. Originally, they did not dare to believe the information they had received; however, after hearing those words from Yang Kai’s mouth, they had no other choice but to believe them.
Yang Kai sneered, “According to what you said earlier, Seniority demands respect, but strength is always king. This Young Master is stronger than you, so you should know your place before this Young Master. If not… this Young Master doesn’t mind showing to you the disparity between us.”
As soon as she heard his words, Chi Yue immediately proceeded to stir up even more trouble, “Yang Boy is a big tree. Do you want to lean on him, old fart? Don’t miss out on this opportunity, if not, you’ll regret it when it’s too late.”
Gui Zu sniggered and chimed in, “If you have any daughters or granddaughters you can try to push them to get married to Young Master Yang. You’d best understand how lucky you are to have this opportunity before it’s gone.”
These words immediately caused Ai Ou and Chi Yue eyes to shoot daggers at him and snap simultaneously, “Big Brother! Are you still wishing for people to look after you during your last days!?”
Cold sweat appeared on Gui Zu’s forehead as he replied in embarrassment, “Just treat it as my nonsensical rambling.”
Their words unleashed a series of stabs and beatings as they took turns to ridicule Shi Cang Ying, causing the latter’s face to alternate between green and red with rage and embarrassment. Source Qi proceeded to gush out from his entire body, and he appeared to be on the brink of taking action; however, the thought of Ke Tian dying at Yang Kai’s hand and how the youth’s true strength could not be judged by his cultivation realm caused fear to fill his heart, preventing him from really making a move. This vexed Shi Cang Ying so much that he nearly coughed out blood as a result. Unable to do anything, he had no other choice but to clench his teeth and growled angrily at Ye Hen, “Sect Master! Are you going to stand by and watch these outsiders humiliate your Vice Sect Master like this?”
Ye Hen quickly replied, “Brother Shi, if you really are thinking about the Sect, you should withdraw. Young Master Yang is a friend that Jing Han specially invited over, which means he is our Sect’s guest. Our Sect does not treat our guests like this!”
“You…” Shi Cang Ying glared furiously at Ye Hen. Suppressing the rampant Qi within his body, he roared out, “Since Sect Master treats this Old Master’s good intentions as farts, you can deal with this on your own!”
Finishing his sentence, he turned around, flung his sleeves, and walked off, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Seeing Shi Cang Ying leave just like that, Ye Jing Han could not help but exhale deeply, before looking sheepishly towards Yang Kai and said, “Young Master Yang…”
Right as she was about to speak, the words she was trying to say became stuck in her throat as she noticed Yang Kai staring coldly right back at her with an exceedingly unhappy look on his face.
“Sister Ye, you’d best give me a proper explanation for this. If you are unable to give this Young Master a satisfactory answer, he will immediately turn around and leave!” Yang Kai said in a cold voice.
At this moment, he had a stomach full of grievances.
Originally, he had accepted to come to Thousand Leaves Sect to repair their World-Crossing Space Array only due to Ye Jing Han’s persistent efforts; however, no one could have expected that he would be threatened by their Vice Sect Master before he had even set foot into their Sect. Although he did not suffer any losses from this incident, nor lose any face, it had made Yang Kai feeling exceedingly irritated.
If not for the miraculous coincidence of being able to find Chi Yue and his other Seniors, which could be counted as a contribution by Ye Jing Han, Yang Kai would not have been that long-winded with them at all. With the attitude and tone Shi Cang Ying had used earlier, he would have already taken action to kill him.
The faces of Ye Jing Han and Ye Hen changed drastically upon hearing Yang Kai’s words. Brimming with dread, Ye Jing Han hastily replied, “Please calm yourself, Young Master Yang. Martial Uncle Shi has always been at odds with father, which resulted in…”
Ye Hen patted on Ye Jing Han’s shoulder to interrupt her explanation. Looking at Yang Kai, he gave a sigh, “This Ye can understand the anger Young Master Yang is feeling right now. All of this is this Ye’s fault for the unsatisfactory reception that caused grievances for Young Master Yang. This Ye apologizes to Young Master Yang and his companions and hopes Young Master Yang will give one more chance to our Sect.”
After finishing his apology, he made a deep bow in a show of extreme sincerity.
A slight frown appeared on Yang Kai’s face. Sensing the sincerity from Ye Hen had extinguished the majority of the flames of anger burning in his heart, “There’s no need for Sect Master Ye to do this. Truthfully speaking, I’m just very curious why a trivial Vice Sect Master is able to be that arrogant before the Sect Master, that’s all.”
Ye Hen gave a bitter laugh in response, “Will anyone be afraid… of an old tiger that has lost its fangs?”
“Father…” Ye Jing Han let out a sob-filled cry as tears filled her eyes.
Ye Hen smiled at her and said, “To be born, grow old, get sick and die is part of life, there is no need for you to feel sad.” After saying those words, he turned back to look at Yang Kai, “During our prime, our Thousand Leaves Sect excelled in the Dao of Puppetry and our reputation was well known throughout the Southern Territory. However, due to our failure, we lost our core inheritance and gradually declined. Despite assuming command of Thousand Leaves Sect, it is all due to this Ye’s inability that the Sect has yet to be returned to its former glory. Therefore, it is unavoidable for some dissenting voices to appear within the Sect. Vice Master Shi’s faction feels that we should discard the Dao of Puppetry and seek out other paths, learning other Secret Arts or Techniques in order to rebuild our Thousand Leaves Sect. However, the Dao of Puppetry is something that our ancestors passed down to us, so how could this Ye dare to abandon it? If I did so, not only would I be unfilial, unrighteous, and unbelieving, I would also have no face to meet our ancestors when I enter the next life.”
A pensive look appeared on Chi Yue’s face, “When the Sect Master and Vice Sect Master have different plans, how could the Sect develop successfully?”
Ye Hen followed up with yet another bitter laugh, “That is precisely the point. The current Thousand Leaves Sect has already been split into two factions, one of which wishes to preserve our heritage, the other which hopes for change. Although these two factions aren’t completely incompatible like fire and water, there is some disharmony between them.”
“Combined with your old age, that allows your Vice Sect Master to show not a single bit of face to you? To the point of wanting to suppress your authority?” Ai Ou was gradually understanding the current situation within Thousand Leaves Sect.
“I apologize for airing such unpleasant matters of our Sect before you all,” Ye Hen replied with a depressed look on his face.
Standing to the side, Du Xian and the other Thousand Leaves Sect disciples had ashen looks on their faces, with their fists all tightly clenched. Clearly, they were not feeling very well after the whole spectacle.
Ye Hen continued to speak, “Although this isn’t this Ye’s intention, being the Sect Master of the Thousand Leaves Sect, this Ye cannot escape from this responsibility. If Young Master Yang really does not want to work with our Thousand Leaves Sect ever again, this Ye will not continue to impose. Though, I truly hope for Young Master Yang to be magnanimous and give our Sect one more chance.”
Looking right back at him, Yang Kai replied with an indifferent tone, “Although Vice Master Shi has irritated me, his words were not completely incorrect. I have just offended quite a few people. Is Sect Master Ye not afraid of drawing danger to befall your noble Sect?”
Ye Hen lightly replied, “Even without Young Master Yang coming here, our Sect has already become a thorn in those people’s eyes. It is just a matter of time before they take us to the chopping board. Furthermore, many have already witnessed Young Master Yang and my daughter working together during the matter that happened in the City Lord’s Mansion, so even if Young Master Yang leaves right now, our Thousand Leaves Sect will not be able to extricate ourselves from this matter.”
Yang Kai grinned in response, “It seems Sect Master Ye has better foresight than Vice Sect Master Shi.”
Ye Hen continued, “Vice Sect Master Shi believes that everything will be fine if he takes the initiative to rebuff you. The only thing this Ye can say is that he is too naive in his thinking.”
Yang Kai asked, “And what if I am incapable of successfully completing the matter you wish to cooperate on?”
Ye Hen turned silent for a while before replying, “Time and fate are interlinked, let nature take its course and do not force what is impossible. At the very least, when I meet my Sect’s ancestors in the next life, I can say to them with conviction that this Ye did his best!”
“Alright. This Young Master will make an effort then,” Yang Kai said and nodded his head.
Ye Jing Han cried out in excitement upon hearing his reply, “You’re staying, Young Master Yang?”
Ye Hen chuckled heartily, “Why are you still asking? Silly girl.” As he said those words, he stood aside, “Please, Young Master Yang.”
No longer putting up the imposing and intimidating front like he did earlier, Yang Kai gave a courteous reply, “Alright then, Sect Master Ye.”
Ye Hen hesitated for a bit before proceeding to walk alongside Yang Kai into Thousand Leaves Sect.
As they travelled along, Gui Zu and the others glanced around in curiosity, while shocked looks gleamed constantly within their eyes.
Although they had already been in the Star Boundary for two to three years, they had only been moving about in the vicinity of Sky Crane City and had never seen a big Sect in the Star Boundary.
Although Thousand Leaves Sect was currently in decline, it had once been a first-class force in the Southern Territory. As such, the heritage present within could not be matched by other small Sects. The lofty and ancient constructions as well as the continuous and twisting paths seemed to transcend space and time, linking the past and the present, allowing people to have a taste of the various splendours of the time hundreds and thousands of years ago.
Although the current Thousand Leaves Sect couldn’t compare to a real peak Sect at the moment, they were still able to carve out an impressive image due to the various inheritances passed down from ten thousand years ago. This left Yang Kai relishing in satisfaction as he travelled along.
Nevertheless, he was able to sense that the World Energy within Thousand Leaves Sect was indeed quite sparse, giving the impression of a treasured spiritual mountain without the corresponding World Energy that should encircle it. This meant that the Earth Vein present here was not outstanding. Such a piece of land ideally wouldn’t be used as a place to establish a Sect; however, the Ancestral Founders of Thousand Leaves Sect had still chosen to take root here. Clearly, this was due to the existence of the Sealed World.
This was just like Wen Zi Shan choosing to establish the Azure Sun Temple within the Azure Sun Mountain Range. The existence of the Divine Ascension Mirror was the deciding factor.
The group flew along the undulating mountain paths, which, alongside the swirling sea of clouds beneath, provided for a beautiful sight to behold.
“Eh… Look at that small mountain. It looks like a Monster Beast.” All of a sudden, Chi Yue appeared to have discovered something as she pointed towards a small mountain peak that was approximately fifty metres tall.
“The one by its side is also a little interesting, it looks like a person standing with a sword in his hand!” Gu Cang Yun’s eyes lit up like torches as he looked towards another small mountain peak with an exceedingly excited look on his face.
The group turned their heads to look and quickly discovered that those two peaks were not the only interesting peaks present. There were at least several dozen peculiar-looking mountain peaks present within the inner sanctum of Thousand Leaves Sect. These peaks were all quite short in height, with only a few of them towering over a thousand metres tall. What’s more, all of them appeared to be shaped like living creatures, albeit ones that were magnified countless times over.
Feeling interested, Yang Kai could not help but to take a few more looks at these mountain peaks; however, his expression quickly changed as he released his Divine Sense to investigate these strangely shaped mountain peaks.
After a moment, his expression changed again as he suddenly asked, “Sect Master Ye, those small mountain peaks… aren’t as simple as they look, right?”
Ye Hen gave a faint smile and replied, “Young Master Yang’s vision is indeed sharp to be able to notice this. This Ye is impressed.”
“Is it really as I’ve imagined?” Yang Kai’s expression instantly turned solemn.
Ye Hen nodded and replied, “Indeed, it is what Young Master Yang is thinking.”
“Father, what are you two talking about?” A blank look appeared on Ye Jing Han’s face as she looked towards her father, not knowing what mysterious thing he was talking about with Yang Kai.
Chi Yue and the rest were also confused by the conversation, though it felt awkward for them to interject so they held their curiosity.
Yang Kai could not help but let a respectful look appear on his face before giving praise, “Your noble Sect’s Ancestors are indeed extraordinary. Originally, I had assumed that Sister Ye’s praise for the past grandeur of your Thousand Leaves Sect was somewhat exaggerated; however, from the looks of it, she was actually being quite reserved.”
Ye Hen sighed, “Although our heritage still exists, the core inheritance has already disappeared. This Ye feels extremely guilty about this.”
Ye Jing Han interjected, “This isn’t your fault, father! If not for that generation’s Ancestor losing our Sect’s inheritance, how would we end up in this state?”
“Impudence!” Ye Hen shot a fierce glare at Ye Jing Han, “How can you recklessly judge the matters of our Ancestors like that?”
Ye Jing Han pouted in response, while a look of unhappiness appeared on her face.
Seeing the darkening of Ye Hen’s mood, Yang Kai did not say anything else, though his impression of Thousand Leaves Sect had grown by quite a bit. He felt that if the Thousand Leaves Sect was able to regain some of its core inheritance, they might be able to reach the same level as the other first-class Sects after just a hundred years. Those unassuming, weirdly shaped mountain peaks were more than sufficient to show the potential present within those lost inheritances.
After a short while, the group arrived at the main peak of Thousand Leaves Mountain Range, Thousand Leaves Peak. Just like other Sects, luxurious buildings and pavilions were constructed here, brimming with an awe-inspiring grandeur. Clearly, this was an extremely important location for Thousand Leaves Sect.
Present on the apex of the mountain peak was an ancient-looking great hall that had an ancient and imposing aura gushing out from it.
The group landed right before the great hall.
The other members of Thousand Leaves Sect were already present here, appearing to have received news of their impending arrival. Upon the arrival of Ye Hen and the others, they proceeded to bow in respect, though Shi Cang Ying was absent.
Ye Hen proceeded to introduce every high-ranking member of Thousand Leaves Sect to Yang Kai.
After breaking the ice, Ye Hen led the group into the great hall for a reception.
Along the sides of the great hall stood two rows of spear-wielding guards. Not only that, they were accompanied by a few strange looking Monster Beasts that sat still on the ground, not moving even an inch.
As Yang Kai and the group walked past these guards, they noticed that they were not moving even an inch, to the point where they were not even blinking, nor did they show any intent of greeting the group at all.
This strange phenomenon piqued Yang Kai’s interest, and after taking a few more looks at the guards, his entire body shook as he immediately came to a halt before sending out his Divine Sense to sweep across the bodies of those guards in shock.
Seeing this, Ye Hen also proceeded to stop and grinned as he looked at Yang Kai.
“What happened, Sect Master Yang?” Gu Cang Yun asked in doubt, confused over what Yang Kai had discovered.
Yang Kai shot a look to his left and right. Only then did he take a deep breath, before looking towards Ye Hen to ask, “Sect Master Ye… are all of these guards puppets?”
“What?” The eyes of Chi Yue and the others snapped wide open as they looked incredulously towards the row of guards by their sides, proceeding to send their Divine Sense out to investigate.
After a short while, all of them had their eyes wide open with looks of disbelief blanketing their faces.
Earlier, other than feeling that they appeared somewhat weird, no one had too much of an impression after seeing those guards. It was only after Yang Kai’s question did everyone realise that all of those black armoured, weapon-wielding guards were not living beings, but exceedingly lifelike puppets.
They appeared to be completely identical to living humans. Even the skin exposed between the gaps of their armour was of the same shade as a human being’s.
Chi Yue and the others turned their heads to look around and discovered that the weirdly-shaped Monster Beasts lying on the ground also seemed to be puppets.
This left them in utter shock from their discovery.
With a faint smile, Ye Hen said, “These are a small number of the Earth Grade puppets present in our Sect. I apologize to Young Master Yang for our lacking display.”
Although his words were humble, an unmistakable hint of pride was present within his eyes. Clearly, he was extremely proud of his Sect’s heritage.
The other higher-ups from Thousand Leaves Sect also wore proud looks on their faces.
Yang Kai’s eyebrows rose up as he asked, “Puppets are also categorized into different grades?”
Ye Hen replied, “Of course. Within our Thousand Leaves Sect, all of the puppets here are classified into the four grades, Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow. Every category is further split into three ranks. The higher the grade, the stronger the puppet.”
“Then those Earth Grade puppets…” Chi Yue asked in curiosity as she pointed to the approximately thirty puppets present here, “What is the level of combat strength they can display?”
With a solemn voice, Ye Hen replied, “The strongest ones are able to rival Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators, with the weakest being able to rival First-Order Dao Source Realms!”
A series of gasps rang out as the group looked at Ye Hen in disbelief.
If everything was as what he had said, the over thirty puppets present here would equate to the same number of Dao Source Realm Masters, with some Third-Order-rivalling existences among their ranks.
How powerful would such a force be?
Furthermore, that was just the combat strength of the puppets! The cultivators controlling them had not been accounted for yet.
If a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator was able to control a Third-Order Dao Source Realm puppet, they should be able to put up a fight even if they were up against an enemy at the peak of the Dao Source Realm.
Gu Zu said with a face covered in shock, “Despite how extraordinary the Dao of Puppetry is for your noble Sect, there are still people who want to find other Secret Arts and Techniques to replace it? They’re basically blind and don’t know how blessed they are!”
Ye Hen’s face dimmed, “Our Sect no longer has the methods to control these puppets. As of now, the only thing we can do is to display them here.”
The group of Thousand Leaves Sect leaders all turned silent and depressed, their expressions crestfallen, with no trace of the earlier pride they had shown.
“That’s enough gossip. Young Master Yang and our guests have just arrived from afar. Our Sect has prepared water and wine to help our honoured guests wash away their weariness. Please, do not reject our hospitality! This way!” Ye Hen quickly changed the subject, clearly not wanting to continue talking about this painful spot any longer.
Yang Kai and the others did not reject the hospitality, as it would not look good on them if they were to refuse other people’s good intentions. Therefore, they followed Ye Hen and entered the great hall.
The higher-realm Thousand Leaves Sect cultivators did not know why their Sect Master was treating Yang Kai with such importance, to the point of going all the way out to greet the latter at the entrance of the Sect. Nevertheless, they did not dare to ask too many questions. This let a good atmosphere develop in the reception hall, and coupled with the repeated cheers and drinking, left the guests brimming with happiness.
Seated beside each other, both Yang Kai and Ye Hen did not keep a reserved stance as they maintained an exceedingly outspoken attitude. They drank and laughed with anyone who came forward to drink with them, giving people an impression of them being very open-minded and friendly.
Only after three rounds of drinks did people begin to leave.
Yang Kai and the others were arranged to rest in a large courtyard on the main peak.
Other than a few maidservants and service-related personnel, there was no one else present, as all of the Thousand Leaves Sect disciples had already taken their leave.
Chi Yue and the others retreated to their assigned rooms, with Yang Kai also arriving at his assigned room through the guidance of a maidservant. After instructing her to not disturb him unless he called for her, Yang Kai proceeded to open the room’s barriers.
After doing so, he waved his hand before an elegant looking beauty appeared in front of him.
After taking a look at her surroundings, Hua Qing Si said in a discontented tone, “I’m at the critical period of my cultivation. Why did you summon me?”
As of now, the Small Seal World had been saturated with World Energy. Other than the incomplete World Principles, the environment within it was better for cultivation than even Star Soul Palace’s Heaven Grade Cultivation Paradises’ rooms. This was a matter of great joy for Hua Qing Si and Zhang Ruo Xi, who had been cultivating within it.
This was especially significant for Zhang Ruo Xi, whose cultivation had soared upwards. At this moment, she had impressively broken through to the Origin King Realm, something which Yang Kai had taken keen notice of. After the awakening of the bloodline present within her, Zhang Ruo Xi simply appeared to be a completely new person.
Although Hua Qing Si had yet to break through, the Source Qi circulating within her body had grown substantially purer than before, forming a rather strong foundation that was absolutely beneficial to her impending breakthrough to the Emperor Realm.
Therefore, she was naturally unhappy with Yang Kai’s sudden summoning.
“How is Sister Hua’s cultivation going?” Yang Kai asked in interest. The greater her strength, the greater the help she would be able to provide to him; therefore, he naturally hoped for Hua Qing Si to break through to the Emperor Realm as soon as possible.
If she managed to break through, it would mean that he would have an Emperor Realm goon by his side at all times that could fight anyone he wanted to fight against.
Hua Qing Si frowned in response, “I’m still lacking a little bit. I feel as if I am still missing something. Perhaps my opportunity has yet to arrive.”
Shades of vexation were present in her tone; after all, with Yang Kai handing an exceedingly precious treasure like the Extraordinary Treasure Pill to her to consume, it would be inexcusable for her to not break through into the Emperor Realm.
“Being too hasty during cultivation might have the opposite effect,” Yang Kai smiled faintly, having also realised the pressing issue that plagued Hua Qing Si.
“As if I don’t know that. You’ll know how I feel only when you reach the same realm as me,” Hua Qing Si gave a sigh before waving her hand. “Forget about it, let’s not talk about it. What is this place and what did you summon me for?”
“This is Thousand Leaves Sect.”
“Thousand Leaves Sect?” Hua Qing Si raised her brow, sinking into silent thought for a while before saying, “Are you talking about the Thousand Leaves Sect that gained their name through their Puppet Arts?”
“Does Sister Hua know about this Sect?” Yang Kai asked in shock.
Hua Qing Si replied, “Although Thousand Leaves Sect isn’t a first-class Sect, they are still quite famous within the Southern Territory, so how could I have not heard of them? In the past, I was even quite interested in their Puppet Arts and did a little research about them for a while. Nevertheless, it’s a pity as I heard they’ve already lost their inheritance and have been in decline for quite a few years. Currently, they can’t even control the puppets left within their Sect.”
“En, that’s about right, from what I’ve heard.” Upon hearing her reply, Yang Kai immediately knew that Hua Qing Si had quite a good understanding of Thousand Leaves Sect.
“Why did you come to the Thousand Leave Sect? Are you coveting their Puppet Arts?” Asked Hua Qing Si in curiosity.
“I’m here to help on someone’s behest.” Yang Kai smiled faintly and gave a brief explanation of the matter.
Surprised by the development of events, Hua Qing Si asked, “There’s actually a Sealed World within Thousand Leaves Sect? That’s the first time I’ve heard of this matter; so that’s why Thousand Leaves Sect entered a decline. It’s also very plausible that their Sealed World’s entrance has been sealed. Reasonably speaking, it would not be a hard task for you to use your knowledge of the Dao of Space to repair that connection.”
“I’ll have to give my all,” Yang Kai shrugged.
All of a sudden, a crafty smile appeared on Hua Qing Si’s face, “Young Master Yang, if you are able to find the Thousand Leaves Sect’s inheritance within the Sealed World, would it be possible for you to make a copy for me to take a look?”
“That doesn’t seem like a great idea…” Yang Kai cast a sidelong gaze at her, “After all, it’s their inheritance. What are you trying to do by trying to comprehend it?”
Hua Qing Si curled her lips, “You make it sound like you aren’t interested in it at all. All right then. In any case, it won’t take me long before I break through to the Emperor Realm, so I don’t have any time now to comprehend it anyway.”
Yang Kai gave a meaningful grin, “I can give it a try.”
Hua Qing Si replied, “That’s more like it. I’ve heard that the puppets of Thousand Leaves Sect are classified into four grades, Heaven, Earth, Profound and Yellow. As of now, the members of this Sect are only able to control puppets of the Profound Grade and below, as the controlling method for puppets of Earth Grade and above had been lost over time.”
“That’s right. There are over thirty Earth Grade puppets present on their main peak, but Ye Hen and the others were incapable of controlling them. From the looks of it, they also have quite a few Heaven Grade Puppets.” A look of pity appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he recalled the deep shock that he had felt in his heart upon seeing those strange little mountain peaks that greeted him when he had first entered Thousand Leaves Sect.
Hua Qing Si smiled, “Do you know that there’s also a Spirit Grade Puppet, which is a grade above Heaven Grade Puppets?”
Yang Kai’s eyes snapped wide open as he gasped in shock, “Spirit Grade Puppets?”
Hua Qing Si nodded her head and replied, “I don’t know if those puppets actually existed or not, as I obtained the information on them from a few ancient books kept in Star Soul Palace’s library. The information there wasn’t complete either. You should know that being overlord of the Southern Territory, Star Soul Palace has conducted some research on the Secret Techniques of the various major Sects across the entire Star Boundary.”
“En…” Yang Kai’s interest was immediately piqued.
Hua Qing Si replied with a solemn tone, “Every single one of the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Heaven Grade Puppets was said to be able to display a combat strength rivalling an Emperor Realm Master. The strongest of the Heaven Grade Puppets weren’t even inferior to Third-Order Emperors. This was the reason why they were able to become a top Sect within the Southern Territory. But regarding Spirit Grade Puppets… they seemed to have already gained spirituality, were capable of independent thought, and possessed their own consciousness. They were said to be capable of cultivating Secret Arts and Techniques, allowing them to continuously increase their combat strength, just like… your Big Stone!”
The Big Stone she was talking about was naturally his Embodiment.
Yang Kai was so shocked by Hua Qing Si’s words that he shot an utterly dumbfounded look at her.
Puppets were called puppets because they lacked sentience and required cultivators to control their movements. If they were able to possess their own consciousness and were even able to increase their combat strength through cultivation, how could they still be classified as puppets? Those were clearly the benefits only living creatures possessed.
Hua Qing Si smiled faintly, “I don’t know whether they actually exist or not. In any case, that is how they were described in the ancient books I’ve read. During those years, although Thousand Leaves Sect had achieved universal acclaim for their mastery of the Dao of Puppetry, they didn’t seem to have too many Spirit Grade Puppets in hand. Furthermore, no one knew where those Spirit Grade Puppets had disappeared to over these years.”
Yang Kai remained silent for a long time.
A puppet with sentience; just the idea of it seemed so outrageous; however, upon deeper thought, it did not seem to be utterly impossible. With how vast this world was, and the endless myriad of strange and peculiar things present within, even an Artifact Spirit, Liu Yan, was able to assume human form; so why would it be impossible for a puppet to gain sentience?
The only problem was the incredible amount of conditions and coincidences that had to align for this to happen.
“Oh, by the way, why did you summon me? If there isn’t anything else, I want to go back and cultivate.” Hua Qing Si could not help but ask after seeing Yang Kai staying in a daze for a long time.
Coming back to his senses, Yang Kai replied, “Sister Hua, I need you to stay here temporarily, as I have something I need your help with.”
“What is it?”
“During this trip to Thousand Leaves Sect, I managed to find some of my old friends; however, Thousand Leaves Sect’s Vice Sect Master doesn’t seem to have a good impression of us. I’m afraid that he might try to do something nefarious to them when I’m not around.”
Yang Kai needed to repair Thousand Leaves Sect’s Space Array, and if the opportunity presented itself, he even wished to take a look at the interior of the Sealed World. When that happened, it would naturally be impossible for him to be next to Chi Yue and the others.
At this moment, Chi Yue and the others were only First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators, while Shi Cang Ying was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master. There was a rather big gap in their cultivations, so if Yang Kai was not by their side, Chi Yue and the others would be utterly incapable of putting up any resistance should Shi Cang Ying choose to move against them.
As such, Yang Kai had summoned Hua Qing Si with the intention of having her secretly protect Chi Yue and the others.
After explaining his intentions to Hua QIng Si, she immediately accepted, “That’s not a problem. You should just worry about your own matters, Young Master Yang. It’s just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm. If he really wants to seek death, I don’t mind assisting him in doing so.”
As she said those words, a chilling glint flashed across her eyes. Clearly, she was feeling extremely unhappy and frustrated at that fellow for causing interference with her cultivation.
Although Hua Qing Si and Shi Cang Ying had the same cultivation, their backgrounds were completely different. Shi Cang Ying was just the Vice Sect Master of Thousand Leaves Sect; how could his Secret Arts and Secret Techniques rival those of Hua Qing Si, who originated from Star Soul Palace?
If the two of them were to engage in a life or death fight, there was absolutely no possibility for Shi Cang Ying to obtain victory.
“Then I shall trouble you, Sister Hua,” Yang Kai replied with a grin.
Shooting an annoyed glare at Yang Kai, Hua Qing Si said in a gloomy tone, “After handing my Soul Imprint to you, your ‘Sister Hua’ has already resigned herself to her fate. The only thing I hope is for you to treat your Sister Hua well in the future. As long as you don’t resort to beating or scolding me, that will be enough.”
Following her words, she rubbed the corners of her eyes, all while looking as if she was suffering from a cruel fate.
Cold sweat erupted from Yang Kai’s body as he hurriedly wiped his forehead and warned, “Sister Hua, you better not say those words in front of Chi Yue. If you do, I’ll be dead for sure.”
A bitter look blanketed Hua Qing Si’s face as she pursed her lips, “Young Master Yang, are you not satisfied even after having this Sister Hua, Ruo Xi and Liu Yan? You even went out to harass other women!? How are we sisters inferior to others?”
Torrents of cold sweat dripped down from Yang Kai’s forehead as he replied in embarrassment, “Stop fooling around. If not, I’ll kill you.”
Hua Qing Si let out a peal of enchanting laughter and moved towards the door with a twist of her body, turning around as she smiled, “Seeing how afraid Young Master Yang is of that woman, it looks like she has some kind of upper hand against you, huh?”
“What are you going to do!?” Yang Kai cried out in shock, “Are you going to look for her?”
Hua Qing Si replied, “Rest assured, I’ll protect them in secret. There’re so many rooms here, I’ll just find one to sit down in.”
After saying that, she opened the door and disappeared from view with a deft move.
Apprehension filling his face, Yang Kai sent his Divine Sense out. Only after sensing that Hua Qing Si had really found a room to cultivate in, did he finally relax.
…
The next day, Ye Jing Han came over to find Yang Kai; however, to his surprise, she did not ask him about the matter of repairing the Space Array. On the contrary, she had come over to pass him some herbs.
He had requested these herbs from her as they were the ingredients needed to detoxify Chai Hu.
Although obtaining these few herbs weren’t too difficult, they were not that simple to find either. Therefore, Yang Kai did not expect Thousand Leaves Sect to have collected all of them in just a day’s time. Nevertheless, since he already had all of the herbs in hand, Yang Kai naturally started to refine the Coagulation Pill for Chai Hu.
After saying a word of thanks to Ye Jing Han, Yang Kai immediately took out his furnace to start the refining.
Within half a day, the Coagulation Pill was successfully refined.
Upon hearing the news, Chi Yue and the others gathered in Chai Hu’s room, everyone shooting anxious gazes at him.
Present in Chai Hu’s hand was a jade bottle with six spherical Spirit Pills inside. Seated on the ground, Chai Hu appeared to be somewhat absentminded as he clutched the bottle.
“Yang Kai, are these the Coagulation Pills that you spoke of?” Chi Yue turned her head towards Yang Kai and asked.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded his head and replied in a serious tone. “Senior Chai needs to consume one pill now, and I need you all to assist him in refining the medicinal efficacies. Every three days after today, he will need to consume one more pill. In this way, the Monster Beast’s poison will be dispelled in half a month.”
A tremor shook through Chai Hu’s body upon hearing these words. Raising his head to look at Yang Kai, he gulped hard, “After the poison is dispelled, my cultivation…”
“Will still be in the Third-Order Origin King Realm,” Yang Kai replied with a faint smile.
Chai Hu couldn’t help but feel depressed upon hearing his words. The rest of the group also turned gloomy as they assumed that Chai Hu would forever remain at this cultivation realm, with no possibility of regaining his former strength at all.
Yang Kai continued, “However, if he continues to cultivate, he’ll quickly be able to regain his former cultivation.”
Chai Hu’s eyes instantly burst forth with radiance as he shot a burning gaze at Yang Kai, “What Young Master Yang is saying… is that I’m able to restore my former cultivation?”
Yang Kai replied, “Naturally. Senior Chai’s cultivation has only been suppressed due to the poison. Since it has not been too long, it did not harm your foundation. As long as you work hard, you’ll regain your cultivation.”
Gui Zu spoke out anxiously, “Are you sure, Sect Master?”
Yang Kai smiled and replied, “Do you think I’d joke about something like this?”
“That’s great!” Chi Yue immediately felt relieved, as though a large stone had been lifted from her heart. If it had been truly impossible for Chai Hu to improve his cultivation any further, everyone, including her, would definitely be tormented by it for the rest of their lives; after all, Chai Hu had suffered such a consequence because he stayed behind to buy time for them to escape.
Therefore, they were elated to hear from Yang Kai that there was no obstruction in Chai Hu’s cultivation path.
After gaining Yang Kai’s confirmation, Chai Hu did not hesitate any longer and immediately consumed a Coagulation Pill. Extremely anxious looks were present on Chi Yue and the others’ faces as they sat by his side, aiding him in absorbing the pill’s medicinal efficacies.
Within the Thousand Leaves Sect was a majestic great palace located on a mountain peak approximately three hundred kilometres from the main peak.
Within a room in the great hall stood Shi Cang Ying, with his hands behind his back, a gloomy expression covering his face as he listened to the report from a disciple standing behind him.
After a moment, he opened his mouth, “You’re saying that those outsiders are staying in the main palace?”
The disciple replied respectfully, “Yes, Vice Sect Master. That is indeed the case.”
“Did they make any trips outside during the last two days?”
“They did not leave at all. On the contrary, it has only been Sect Master who has gone over there.”
“Were you able to find out exactly what they came here for?” Asked Shi Cang Ying.
“This disciple is useless and cannot find out any clues as to why they are here. However…”
“However?”
“However, I’ve heard that the one named Yang Kai is proficient in the Alchemic Dao, and is the person who had refined the Extraordinary Treasure Pill within the Four Seasons Realm. He is a Dao Source Grade Alchemy Grandmaster. This disciple guesses that they are here most probably due to something related to Alchemy.”
“Alchemy!” Shi Cang Ying’s eyes lit up before nodding slightly, “That seems plausible. Ye Hen is advanced in his years, yet his cultivation has not increased. Perhaps he’s trying to find a way to break through with the assistance of pills. However, if it’s just about Alchemy, why would Ye Hen treat that little brat with such importance, to the point of letting this Old Master lose face?”
That disciple replied, “Is there a possibility… that Yang Kai still has an Extraordinary Treasure Pill on him?”
Right as those words left his mouth, it caused Shi Cang Ying’s entire body to shake, while intense radiance burst forth from his eyes.
Thinking about it, Ye Hen was now in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm and required something precisely like the Extraordinary Treasure Pill. If Yang Kai had such a Heaven-defying pill on him, everything would make sense.
There was no Third-Order Dao Source Realm who wouldn’t covet such a Spirit Pill, as it was an exceptional treasure that would give them the possibility to break through to the Emperor Realm! Ye Hen definitely knew this, therefore, he had treated that little brat with such courtesy, to the point of not caring about Shi Cang Ying at all.
Considering all of this, flames immediately erupted within Shi Cang Ying’s heart.
He was also a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master, but the Emperor Realm was still distant and remote for the current him. If he could obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, it would present him with a chance to peer into the Heavenly Way and within an extremely short amount of time allow him to rise up!
“Vice Sect Master, there is also another matter…” Seeing Shi Cang Ying remaining silent for quite a long while, the disciple spoke out once more.
“What matter?” Shi Cang Ying asked.
“It is said that there is some movement from Sky Illumination Palace and Sky Peak Temple, and they seem to be unfavourable towards our Thousand Leaves Sect!”
Shi Cang Ying’s body shook once again as he turned around to look at the disciple, “Is this news genuine?”
The disciple replied, “It is just some rumours. Exactly how much of it is true, this disciple isn’t clear.”
“Go and investigate! Do everything possible to find out what the truth is. As long as you get the slightest whiff of the facts, immediately report back to me!” Shi Cang Ying spoke out in a slightly flustered voice.
If Sky Peak Temple and Sky Illumination Palace really wanted to take action against Thousand Leaves Sect, they couldn’t resist with their current strength. Each of the other two Sects was no weaker than the Thousand Leaves Sect alone. This was especially true for Sky Illumination Palace as it was rumoured that their Palace Master, Qiu Ze, had been attempting to break through to the Emperor Realm over the past few years, though he was still unable to do so. If Qiu Ze really entered the Emperor Realm, the ranking of the great forces within a hundred thousand kilometre radius would instantly change, with every Sect living or dying by the will of Sky Illumination Palace.
Shi Cang Ying was instantly flustered upon hearing about those two Sects possibly wanting to take action against Thousand Leaves Sect. After the disciple had left, he continued to pace up and down with unease.
After a long while, he suddenly came to a halt, before a chilling glint flashed within his eyes. Clenching his teeth, he growled, “Ye Hen, Ye Hen! You’ve really gone senile to actually be willing to let the wolves into the Sect, disregarding this Old Master’s advice! Since that’s the case, don’t blame this Old Master for not considering our long friendship! This Old Master also has to make plans for the future of our Thousand Leaves Sect! The work of our Ancestors cannot be destroyed by your hands! Otherwise, how would this Old Master face our various Ancestors when I head to the underworld!”
After saying those words, he seemed to have made some kind of decision, as his gaze grew resolute.
After a short while, he sent his Divine Sense out to summon a few of his trusted disciples. After receiving the secret commands, they proceeded to quickly leave.
…
On the third day since Yang Kai and the others arrived in Thousand Leaves Sect, Chai Hu’s condition had already gotten much better.
Although the poison within his body had not been completely removed, it was no longer continuously corroding his dantian and meridians like before. As long as he continued to consume the pills as per Yang Kai’s instructions, the poison within his body would be completely dispelled after half a month.
Naturally, Chai Hu was incomparably grateful to Yang Kai.
On the contrary, Chi Yue and the others did not say anything much to Yang Kai. Originating from the same Star Field, the relationship between them had already become incomparably tight. Chai Hu was their sworn brother, which meant that he was Yang Kai’s Senior. Therefore, it was all the more natural for Yang Kai to help him.
Yang Kai was also very glad that Chi Yue and the others had made friends with Chai Hu upon arriving at the Star Boundary. According to the scenario they had described, their lives in the Star Boundary would not have been as smooth as it was if not for the two years Chai Hu had spent helping them.
Furthermore, for the sake of saving Chi Yue, Chai Hu had totally disregarded his personal safety, putting himself in harm’s way as a result. Despite knowing the low chance of success, he still went ahead boldly without any hesitation, rushing straight to the City Lord’s Mansion.
This matter also proved that Chai Hu would have died for nothing if Yang Kai hadn’t been there.
Clearly, he was a person who had the utmost regard for loyalty and relationships.
One would truly need a friend or Brother like that in their lifetime; no need for many, just one would suffice! Yang Kai was truly happy for Chi Yue and the others.
On the third day, Yang Kai was seated in meditation when he heard the faint sounds of footsteps from outside of his door before they came to a stop right before his room.
Without waiting for the person to knock on the door, Yang Kai extended his hand and opened the door, only to see Ye Jing Han standing right outside his room.
As their eyes met, Ye Jing Han said in a soft voice, “Young Master Yang.”
“Come in and talk.” Yang Kai replied.
Ye Jing Han nodded her head, before stepping forward.
Entering the room, Ye Jing Han found a chair to sit in, before asking, “How has your stay here been, Young Master Yang?”
Yang Kai smiled faintly, “Sister Ye has not come over just to ask this question, am I right?”
Seeing that Yang Kai appeared to have guessed the reason behind her visit, Ye Jing Han couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment and turn speechless as a result.
Yang Kai opened his mouth, “Please lead the way, Sister Ye.”
Happiness gushed out from Ye Jing Han’s face upon hearing those words, before asking, “Isn’t there anything else Young Master Yang has to do?”
Yang Kai replied, “What else do I have to do? I’ve come here for the sake of that Sealed World. Could it be that the Thousand Leaves Sect has not completed their preparations?”
“No, no, no!” Ye Jing Han hastily waved her hands in denial, “Thousand Leaves Sect can take action at any time. Father has also been waiting patiently for this. Please follow me, Young Master Yang.”
As she said that, she immediately stood up to lead the way.
Yang Kai followed behind Ye Jing Han as the duo flew within the Thousand Leaves Mountain Range. After a short while, they arrived before a mountain valley surrounded by extraordinarily beautiful sceneries and landscapes, as beautiful and refreshing as a spring day, all of them vying for the most beautiful spot.
Upon arriving, Yang Kai could not help but raise his brow as he stared deeply at the scenery of the mountain valley before him, a peculiar glint sparkling within the depths of his eyes.
He could instinctually sense that there was something not quite right about this mountain valley. However, he was unable to pinpoint exactly what it was.
Ye Jing Han took the initiative to explain, “This is an Illusion Array, and it was arranged by an Ancestor of our Thousand Leaves Sect. Please wait for a bit, Young Master Yang. I’ve already contacted Father to lift the barrier.”
[So it is an Illusion Array!] Yang Kai finally understood why he felt as though there was something off with this mountain valley.
Currently, he had reached a reasonably strong cultivation, while his Divine Sense had become even more powerful than before. Nevertheless, he was still unable to see through the mysteries of this Illusion Array. This was proof of how mysterious this Spirit Array was. The person who had arranged it was definitely an Emperor Realm Master, as only an Emperor could achieve such a feat.
Yang Kai was instantly curious after coming to a realization. He proceeded to send his Divine Sense out to scan the mountain valley in an attempt to gain a comprehension of the mysteries within.
Nevertheless, despite his efforts, he was unable to gain even the slightest bit of insight.
The Illusion Array that covered this entire mountain valley appeared to resemble nature itself, leaving utterly no weakness to exploit.
This truly shocked Yang Kai to the core.
Since Thousand Leaves Sect had been on the decline for so many years, this meant that this Illusion Array should also have been created countless years ago. After weathering the vicissitudes of time, this Illusion Array continued to stand mightily. This not only showed how powerful a cultivation its creator had, but how incomparable their achievements in the Dao of Spirit Arrays was.
To the side, Ye Jing Han carefully sent her Divine Sense out to scan the surroundings. Only after confirming that there was no one in the vicinity did she retrieve a communication artifact and send her Divine Sense in. Clearly, she was sending a message to Ye Hen.
After a short while, ripples suddenly started to appear in the space before her, appearing just like the waves formed on the surface of a tranquil lake after someone had thrown a pebble into it.
Seeing this, Ye Jing Han hastily spoke out in a solemn tone, “Young Master Yang, please follow exactly in my steps, if you step off the path, you will trigger the Killing Array within this mountain valley.
“I understand.” Yang Kai replied with a nod.
Yang Kai followed behind her and took a step forward. In the next instant, the scenery before him suddenly changed.
He was still in front of the mountain valley. However, the beautiful scenery around him had changed into an exceedingly bleak and desolate one, with not a single plant in sight. The entire area was composed of barren land.
Standing quietly in the front, Ye Jing Han nodded slightly towards Yang Kai upon his entry, before quickly moving forward to lead the way.
Clearly, she had entered here quite a few times before, resulting in her confidence towards knowing the safe route within this Illusion Array. Moving step by step forwards, she made exceedingly precise and nimble movements.
Originally, she was worried that Yang Kai might not be able to keep up with her, causing her to slow down; however, after travelling for a while, she noticed Yang Kai appeared to be exceedingly relaxed. Immediately, she knew that her worries were unnecessary, resulting in her increasing her travelling speed substantially.
Yang Kai continued to follow closely behind her, travelling like a shadow and not straying an inch off the path she took.
The duo travelled for a stick of incense’s worth of time within the Illusion Array before appearing in a wide clearing. Right before them was a gigantic platform, one that was clearly man-made, with traces of carvings present. This platform radiated an ancient aura, a clear sign of the countless years it had endured.
Present here was Thousand Leaves Sect’s Sect Master Ye Hen, who stood on the platform with a depressed and guilt-ridden look on his face.
Hearing their arrival, Ye Hen turned his head around. Seeing his daughter arriving with Yang Kai, he hastily cupped his hands, “Young Master Yang.”
“Sect Master Ye!” Returning the greeting, Yang Kai’s attention was immediately captured by the gigantic platform before him. Scanning the platform with a focused gaze, he proceeded to keenly observe it, his eyes gleaming as he did so.
“Young Master Yang…” Right as Ye Jing Han was about to say something, Ye Hen suddenly extended his hand to stop her, before making a sign for her to keep quiet.
Knowing that she had overstepped her boundaries, Ye Jing Han stuck her tongue out playfully. Moving to stand beside her father, she proceeded to wait in apprehension.
The three on the platform remained silent for a long while, with Ye Hen and his daughter focusing on every change that happened to Yang Kai’s gaze and expression, while the latter focused all of his senses towards the platform before him.
Clearly, the platform before him was a gigantic array foundation.
Yang Kai did not have much of an understanding towards the Dao of Spirit Arrays. The only kinds of Spirit Array he excelled in were Space Arrays, and this was due to the help of Yang Yan. He had spent quite a bit of effort to arrange the Space Arrays on Shadowed Star in his native Star Field, and the method of their arrangement was taught to him by Yang Yan.
Therefore, Yang Kai’s understanding of Space Arrays was both profound yet shallow.
Scanning his surroundings with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately realized that there were countless patterns engraved into this array base platform. Each and every one of them was connected together, forming the network that would maintain the passageway between the Star Boundary and the Sealed World.
Those interlinked arrays were extraordinarily abstruse, and although they were very different from the diagrams that were familiar to Yang Kai, he was able to gain a clear understanding after a period of analysis. Not only that, but he was also able to comprehend some additional details from the various diagrams that triggered some deep thoughts in his mind.
Without a doubt, the knowledge of arrays that Yang Yan had taught him was top-notch and had some absolute superiorities to the array base platform before him.
Nevertheless, there was always something to learn from other sources of knowledge, and Yang Kai was still able to gain a lot from the array carved on this base.
After a long while, Yang Kai finally exhaled deeply and pulled his Divine Sense back, his eyes now gleaming with brilliance.
“Young Master Yang…” Seeing him come back to his senses, Ye Jing Han called out to him in a voice brimming with nervousness.
Ye Hen also asked out in anxiety, “Has Young Master Yang discovered something?”
Yang Kai nodded his head and replied, “Your noble Sect’s Ancestor was indeed an extraordinary person. The one who arranged this Spirit Array definitely was an Array Grandmaster. How do I put it, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this Space Array, the only problem is that its energy is completely depleted. As long as you supplement it with some Source Crystals, it will start operating immediately.”
Ye Hen’s eyes lit up as an emotional voice rang out from his mouth, “Are you able to confirm that, Young Master Yang?” After an instant, he awkwardly added, “It isn’t that this Ye doesn’t trust Young Master Yang, but this matter concerns our entire Thousand Leaves Sect…”
Yang Kai replied with a faint smile, “I understand, so there’s no need for Sect Master Ye to continue explaining yourself. Nevertheless, I can tell you definitively that there’s absolutely no damage present on this array. Furthermore… even if it was damaged, I can repair it as long as I obtain the appropriate materials.”
A tremor shook through Ye Hen’s entire being as he shot an incredulous look at Yang Kai. Only now did he realize that he had still underestimated Yang Kai’s achievements in the Dao of Space. He had originally assumed that despite the latter’s achievements, Yang Kai would not be too accomplished due to his age and cultivation; however, it was only after hearing Yang Kai’s words that he realized how wrong he was. Yang Kai’s achievements in the Dao of Space could only be rivalled by a handful of people within the Star Boundary.
Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible for Yang Kai to be this confident about repairing the array base platform.
Ye Jing Han then asked, “If there is no problem with the array base platform here, why would the Sealed World’s entrance become sealed?”
Yang Kai replied, “A Space Array connects two different points, so if there is no problem with this end, it means something must be wrong on the other side, rendering this one inactive.”
“On the other side…” Ye Hen frowned, before gasping in shock, “Is Young Master Yang trying to say that the array in the Seal World is damaged?”
“That’s most likely the case.”
“Then what should we do?” Ye Jing Han’s pretty face turned pale, “If the array on the other side is damaged, and we’re utterly incapable of transmitting over to that side, there’s no way for us to repair it.”
Ye Hen looked at Yang Kai in anticipation, “Does Young Master Yang have any solutions?”
With a grin, Yang Kai replied, “To an average person, they would naturally be unable to go to the other side if the other array is damaged; however, if one can utilize Space Principles, it isn’t entirely impossible to follow the connection between the two arrays and directly open up a path. Therefore… I could give it a try.”
Although he wasn’t fully confident in the matter, he had at least eighty percent confidence in achieving this. Nevertheless, Yang Kai didn’t want to give the other party too much hope before the matter was completed, as it would make them more likely to get disappointed.
He had always been a careful and vigilant person.
Ye Hen could not help but become emotional after hearing Yang Kai’s words. Cupping his fists, he said, “If Young Master Yang is able to repair this Space Array, you will be our Thousand Leaves Sect’s most honoured benefactor. In the future, if Young Master Yang needs anything, our Thousand Leaves Sect will definitely answer your call!”
Yang Kai replied in a casual tone, “You’re being too serious, Sect Master Ye. However… Although I can make an attempt, I would need to spend some time on it. Therefore, I’ll have to ask Sect Master Ye to take care of my friends that will be staying in your Thousand Leaves Sect for the time being.”
“Absolutely,” Ye Hen nodded his head. Appearing to understand what Yang Kai was having apprehensions about, he immediately added, “This Ye will definitely make sure to take good care of them. Young Master Yang can hold me accountable if they suffer even the slightest bit of injury.”
“Alright then,” Yang Kai nodded his head, before continuing. “Does Sect Master Ye have a map of the Sealed World on hand? If I manage to successfully transmit over, I might need to repair the array there. To do so, I may need to search the Sealed World for some materials.”
Yang Kai had some of the materials required to arrange a Space Array in his Space Ring, materials left over from the Space Arrays he arranged in his native Star Field. Although these materials weren’t of high grade or quality, it would definitely not be a problem to use them for repairs. During his earlier observation of the array base platform, he had managed to memorize all of the array diagrams.
As such, the reason he had said those words to Ye Hen was due to his deep interest in the Sealed World.
This Sealed World was the absolute secret of Thousand Leaves Sect, and only a handful of people per generation would know about it, while the rest were not privy to this secret. There should definitely be some good stuff present within such a Sealed World. Therefore, Yang Kai naturally wanted to explore around and see if he could obtain any good opportunities.
Furthermore, according to what Ye Jing Han had mentioned before, there was a place called Emperor Heaven Valley located within this Sealed World, an exceptional place where comprehending the Heavenly Ways and Emperor Intent were much easier. If Dao Source Realm cultivators were able to successfully comprehend these, it would be extremely useful for them when they tried to break through to the Emperor Realm.
How could Yang Kai miss out on such an opportunity?
Finding materials was just an excuse.
Clearly, Ye Hen also knew this, nevertheless, he did not have even the slightest hesitation. On the contrary, he quickly pulled out a yellowed beast skin map. Handing it to Yang Kai, he said, “You don’t have to mention it, Young Master Yang. This Ye was already prepared to hand this map to you.”
Taking it, Yang Kai only shot a cursory glance at it to know that it was the genuine article before putting it in his Space Ring.
“I’ll have to thank Young Master Yang for your trouble,” Ye Hen said in a solemn tone as he cupped his hands.
Yang Kai replied, “I’ll try my best.”
After saying those words, his body flickered, before he shot straight towards the top of the array base platform and proceeded to take a seat.
In the next instant, Space Principles suddenly rippled out, surrounding his body from all directions. In a split second, the space within a thirty-metre wide sphere around Yang Kai collapsed abruptly, causing minuscule jet-black Void Cracks to appear like a school of fish swimming randomly.
The expressions of Ye Hen and Ye Jing Han changed drastically, as both of them could sense how dangerous these Void Cracks were. Retreating backwards, shock filled their faces as they stared in front of themselves.
“These are Space Principles?” Ye Jing Han’s beautiful eyes went wide as she cried out in amazement. She attempted to sense exactly what was happening through the Void Cracks but was still unable to sense anything at all, despite how hard she tried. The only thing she could sense was the mysterious principles that were continuously surrounding Yang Kai’s body, preventing her from gaining even the slightest bit of comprehension.
Ye Hen sighed in admiration, “Cultivators who have mastered the Dao of Space are universally recognized to be the hardest cultivators to catch within the Star Boundary. I never imagined that Young Master Yang would actually have such a level of mastery over Space Principles. One day, he might even be able to reach the peak of the Martial Dao through the Dao of Space.”
Ye Jing Han’s petite body shook as she looked incredulously at her father, seemingly unable to comprehend why her father would give Yang Kai such high praise. Nevertheless, she gave it a thought. Before meeting Yang Kai, had she ever seen such an extraordinary Dao Source Realm cultivator?
Being in the same cultivation realm, she naturally knew what a Dao Source Realm’s level of strength was supposed to be; however, Yang Kai’s strength was so completely off the charts compared to the norm. Most Dao Source Realm cultivators were so weak before him that it was laughable, just like infants trying to compare to an adult. Even those Third-Order Dao Source Realm Masters could not match up to him; on the contrary, she had seen Yang Kai easily kill a number of such Masters.
Every single one of the legendary Masters that ruled between the Heavens and Earth was astonishing during their youths and were leaders of the masses. Wasn’t Yang Kai also the same?
Perhaps… in the future, he might really achieve what her Lord Father had said, reaching the apex of the Martial Dao, with his name shocking the entire Star Boundary.
Thinking about that, Ye Jing Han could not help but let her body shake with the emotions surging out from her heart.
That was because she was able to get to know Yang Kai during his youth, and had a chance to properly recognise the growth and rise of this legendary figure. Despite how her relationship with him wasn’t close at all, she still felt proud to witness it.
*Weng…*
Just as Ye Jing Han was lost in her nonsensical thoughts, a peculiar sound suddenly rang out from the Void. As it did so, her face instantly turned pale, as she noticed that the surrounding space had completely solidified in an instant, making it appear as though she had been frozen up within a block of ice. Not only did it become hard to breathe, she discovered that the circulation of Source Qi within her body had also turned sluggish.
Turning her head around, she noticed that her father seemed to be in a similar condition to her, his expression turning laboured as he resisted against the pressure coming from the surrounding Space Principles.
Just as anxiety flooded her heart and mind, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes. With a solemn look on his face, he extended his hands out towards the space before him.
Under Ye Jing Han’s gaze, Yang Kai’s hands disappeared in the most peculiar way, as though they had pierced through space and entered another dimension.
A look of strain appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he seemed to be trying to pry his hands apart as he gave a loud roar.
*Chi Chi Chi Chi…*
As Yang Kai acted, a larger jet-black Void Crack suddenly appeared before him, before an exceedingly fear-inducing aura gushed out from within, brimming with so much chaotic power that it appeared to devour everything around it.
“A Void Corridor!” Ye Hen cried out in shock, his eyes locked on to that jet black crack while incomparable shock filled his heart. This was the first time he had seen such a gigantic Void Crack. Clearly sensing the magnitude of danger posed by such a crack, he was instantly stunned by what he was witnessing.
Under Yang Kai’s hard work, the Void Crack continued to grow in size, before quickly becoming a passageway one could squeeze through. The passageway connected into the chaotic Void, appearing to extend all the way to the ends of the Earth.
“Is this a Void Corridor?” Ye Jing Han cried out softly, her hand covering her mouth.
Although she had used Space Arrays quite a few times to traverse between places, and knew that Void Corridors were the connecting structures between Space Arrays, she had never witnessed one with her own eyes before.
This was a genuine first for her.
Although Ye Hen was also exceedingly shocked by what he was seeing, he continued to lock his gaze on the Void Corridor, seemingly wanting to comprehend something from it.
It was not an easy opportunity to personally see a Void Corridor, especially one that was forced open by a person, as the formation lesions were conspicuous. It would benefit him immeasurably if he was able to comprehend anything from it.
However, regardless of how he tried, he was still unable to understand anything from those fluctuating Space Principles, causing him to feel exceedingly frustrated.
At this point in time, Yang Kai had already stood up, and with a flicker, moved right into the middle of the Void Corridor. Right as he disappeared, the Void Corridor seemed to have lost the power that was supporting it and immediately started to close.
Worried looks were present on the father and daughter, as they did not know whether Yang Kai would be able to traverse smoothly to the other side, or whether he would become lost in the Void, never to find his way out again.
Within the Void Corridor, Yang Kai continued to walk forward.
The chaotic space rushed towards him from all directions but it was repelled by a mysterious power radiating from his body, rendering it incapable of hurting him.
Yang Kai’s mastery of the Dao of Space had long surpassed his accomplishments during his earlier years. It had already seeped into the depths of his bones. Therefore, this trivial chaotic turbulence was utterly incapable of doing anything to him.
At this moment, the only thing that he had some trouble with was finding the exit to the Sealed World.
Although the two arrays were faintly connected, the array in the Sealed World had been damaged for an unknown amount of time. Therefore, Yang Kai could only somewhat make out the direction of this Void Corridor but was unable to confirm it with absolute certainty.
Within the Void Corridor, he could only follow along the faint connection to lead the way as he hurried along.
Fortunately, as time went by, the connection grew increasingly clear, allowing Yang Kai to confirm that he was heading the right way.
After travelling for who knows how long, Yang Kai suddenly stopped at a certain spot. Sending his Divine Sense out, he mumbled, “This should be it.”
Saying those words, he moved the Space Principles around him once again. Slowly extending his hands out, he reached into the chaotic Void before him. Ripples formed as his hands travelled forward, before the chaotic Void seemed to turn tranquil, like a crumpled sheet of paper being pulled straight from all directions.
As Yang Kai pulled his hands apart, a sliver of light suddenly appeared before him.
Yang Kai’s brow rose up. Knowing that his senses were right, he proceeded to greatly increase the strength he was exerting.
After a short while, a crack was pulled apart by Yang Kai once again. Yang Kai was able to faintly make out a myriad of landscapes from the Void Crack, leaving him feeling ecstatic. Not hesitating any longer, he proceeded to jump straight into the Void Crack.
After a faint feeling of weightlessness, Yang Kai quickly stabilised himself. When his field of view was restored, he discovered that he had already entered another world.
The World Energy here was exceedingly dense, to the point that it was not any inferior to his Sealed World Bead. In fact, the World Energy here was actually showing signs of forming into mist. Anyone who saw it would sigh in admiration. Due to the density of World Energy, the vegetation here grew extremely well, with dense and luscious plants covering the entire landscape.
The place where Yang Kai appeared just so happened to be above an array base platform.
This array base platform was identical to the one Yang Kai had seen in the mountain valley situated within Thousand Leaves Sect’s Illusion Array. Clearly, it had been constructed by the same person and was the connecting piece to the other array base platform.
However, due to countless years of neglect, the whole array base platform was now covered with vegetation, which had caused some obvious damage to it.
Looking at this array base platform, Yang Kai knew that he had arrived at the right place. This should be the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Sealed World, and was the foundation behind the flourishing grandeur the Thousand Leaves Sect had managed to reach thousands of years ago. At the same time, it was also the reason behind the decline of the current Thousand Leaves Sect.
Yang Kai extended his hand to touch the array base platform. A scorching power started to perfuse out, quickly burning all of the vegetation into a crisp, revealing the platform in its entirety.
Extending his Divine Sense, Yang Kai examined the platform to determine the underlying problem that had resulted in the broken connection between the two arrays.
Not long after, he seemed to have made some discoveries that left him sighing as a result.
Although the reason wasn’t far off from his expectations, it still somewhat exceeded it.
Yang Kai discovered that there was a sword scar that had cleaved through the entire array base platform, including the array diagrams carved into it. It was precisely due to the damage suffered by those few array diagrams that the entire array base platform stopped working.
[What happened?] Yang Kai could not help but become suspicious.
According to what Ye Jing Han had said before, the reason behind the Thousand Leaves Sect’s gradual decline was due to the sudden closure of this Sealed World. However, merely the closure of a Sealed World would not have caused the Thousand Leaves Sect to fall to their current state. The critical point to note was that when the Sealed World’s entrance was lost, the Thousand Leaves Sect Master was in the Sealed World, and had brought along the majority of the Sect’s Secret Arts and Techniques. This resulted in the severance of the Thousand Leaves Sect’s inheritance, hence leading to their gradual decline.
Currently, the Thousand Leaves Sect was unable to even control the Earth Grade puppets in their possession, leaving them no choice but to let the puppets weather the elements in the open space before the main palace.
Originally Yang Kai had assumed that it was just an unlucky coincidence that the Thousand Leaves Sect Master of that generation happened to be in the Sealed World when its entrance was lost.
He had never expected the actual events to differ so much from his conjectures.
The array base platform in the Sealed World had been destroyed by someone, and from the precision of the scar left on it, it was definitely a conscious decision by the attacker. They did not cause wanton destruction, only leaving a scar on the array base platform that severed its connection with the other array.
Paired with the information he had obtained from Ye Jing Han, Yang Kai was certain this sword mark was the result of that generation’s Thousand Leaves Sect Master. Furthermore, he did not become trapped here due to the sudden closure of the Space Array. Instead, with the intent of staying here and not getting disturbed by anyone, he had gone so far as to destroy the World-Crossing Space Array.
[Why did he bring the majority of the Thousand Leaves Sects’ Secret Arts and Techniques here with him? Could it be that he was comprehending some kind of Secret Technique and did not want to be disturbed by others?] A look of confusion covered Yang Kai’s face.
If that was the case, everything would make sense! The sword scar on this array base platform was not deep; however, it just so happened to be able to sever the connection between the two worlds. With the adequate materials, anyone with sufficient ability should be able to repair it.
If it was the Sect Master of the Thousand Leaves Sect at the time, he would be at least in the Emperor Realm. In fact, it might even be possible that he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Even if he had damaged this array base platform, he definitely wouldn’t be worried about being unable to repair it back to working condition.
[But… What kind of Secret Technique was he cultivating, to go to the extent of cutting off all methods to access a place like this?] Even after pondering about it for a great deal of time, Yang Kai was unable to come up with a plausible explanation, leaving him no choice but to shake his head and sigh.
Not rushing to repair the sword scar on the array base platform, Yang Kai retrieved the map Ye Hen had given him earlier and took a look at it.
As this Sealed World wasn’t large, approximately the same size as his Small Sealed World, the map didn’t appear complicated. Nevertheless, the World Energy present here was exceedingly outstanding, a clear indication of the existence of an outstanding Earth Vein.
If he were able to repair the array and reconnect the Thousand Leaves Sect with this Sealed World, the World Energy here would be free for the Thousand Leaves Sect to use. When that happened, there would be a gargantuan change in the cultivation environment for the Thousand Leaves Sect disciples!
With clear indications present on the map, Yang Kai quickly found where the Emperor Heaven Valley was located.
After a short while, Yang Kai kept the map, summoned his flying boat, and started heading in that direction.
As he travelled, Yang Kai could not contain his excitement, stopping time after time to fly down to the ground.
That was because there were plenty of precious herbs present in this Sealed World.
The fact that this place had been undisturbed for ten thousand years, coupled with the exceedingly dense World Energy, it meant that the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Sealed World had naturally become an absolutely outstanding place for Spirit Grasses and Medicines to grow and flourish. Many precious Spirit Grasses had grown into large patches, perfusing the air with their medicinal fragrance. Yang Kai didn’t even need to spend any time searching and only needed to fly down and harvest them.
Furthermore, the Spirit Grasses and Medicines here had already reached sufficient maturity!
All of the herbs that Yang Kai had harvested were at least a few thousand years old in medicinal age, with some even reaching ten thousand years. Every single Spirit Grass or Medicine was filled with rich medicinal properties, making them the best materials to use for Alchemy.
Yang Kai was all too happy to harvest them!
Ye Hen might not have expected his Sect’s Sealed World to contain so many precious herbs. If he had, he might have gone along with Yang Kai and not allowed Yang Kai to simply collect so many.
Just these herbs alone were enough to double the wealth of the Thousand Leaves Sect.
All of the herbs along Yang Kai’s path of travel ended up in his pockets.
Moreover, this was just the tip of the iceberg that was this Sealed World. If he did a detailed search, Yang Kai reckoned that he would no longer need to worry about lacking materials for Alchemy in the future.
Within the span of two days, Yang Kai had already filled the medicine garden in his Sealed World Bead to the brim. He even had no choice but to harvest some of the lesser-valued herbs from his Small Sealed World and store them in his Space Ring.
The Thousand Leaves Sect was sitting on a treasure trove but were incapable of unlocking it. If not, they wouldn’t have fallen to their current state. Although they might not be able to rival the top few Sects in the Southern Territory right away, as long as they had just one Emperor Realm Master assuming command, they would be able to deter all the other second-class forces from bullying them.
Currently, the greatest weakness of Thousand Leaves Sect was the lack of any Emperor Realm Masters among their ranks. This was also the greatest hurdle faced by the majority of the second-class forces in the Star Boundary.
After all, there were too few Emperors!
After another day of travel, a gigantic mountain valley suddenly appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision. The mountain valley was beautiful and scenic, with strange and peculiar fragrances saturating the air. Before arriving, Yang Kai could already smell the fragrances of many different Spirit Grasses and Medicines. After comparing the shape of this mountain valley to that of the Emperor Heaven Valley indicated on the map, Yang Kai gave a happy smile. Knowing that he had found the right location, he proceeded to increase his speed.
A short while later, Yang Kai descended. Standing within the Emperor Heaven Valley, he started to focus his senses. Unfortunately, he could not help but feel awkward a moment later, “Were they lying? Where is the Emperor Aura?”
The reason he had accepted Ye Jing Han’s request to take the trip to the Thousand Leaves Sect and repair their World-Crossing Space Array was due to his interest in this Emperor Heaven Valley.
He wished to cast a solid foundation for his future breakthrough to the Emperor Realm.
After all, based on Ye Jing Han’s description, this Emperor Heaven Valley was perfused with Emperor Pressure and Emperor Intent, making it the best location to comprehend the Heavenly Ways and Martial Dao, as well as being the most important place in the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Sealed World.
Yang Kai had originally planned to remain here for a while to properly comprehend and reap the benefits that this place offered. However, upon arriving here, other than the dense medicinal fragrance in the air, there was not a single trace of Emperor Intent!
The Emperor Heaven Valley did not live up to its name at all, and it was utterly useless to Yang Kai.
It was impossible for Ye Jing Han to have lied to him though, Yang Kai was confident about that. Ever since they had become acquainted, he knew that she was always careful and respectful towards him. Therefore, how would it be possible for her to deceive him about something so important?
The only plausible explanation would be that the Emperor Heaven Valley truly had Emperor Intent present in it, but for some unknown reason, it had vanished.
With ten thousand years of time, seas can change into lands and vice versa, so anything could happen.
Yang Kai stood still and pondered over it for a while. Nevertheless, thinking about the many spirit grasses and medicines he had harvested, he did not suffer any losses from this trip. In fact, it was still a net benefit. As he thought about this, he no longer felt as annoyed as before.
This mountain valley was perfused with strange fragrances, a clear indication of the many spirit grasses and medicines present.
Since he had already arrived at this place, Yang Kai did not plan to suffer a loss, and started to scour the mountain valley.
It did not take long for Yang Kai to obtain a great harvest.
When he was plucking a dark red fruit from a tree half the height of a human, and was planning to shove it into his Space Ring, Yang Kai suddenly discovered something. Sending his Divine Sense out, he proceeded to investigate the fruit in detail.
After an instant, he could not help but feel slightly surprised.
This was a fruit that he recognized, a Dao Source Grade High-Rank Spirit Fruit, the Vermillion Bird Fruit. It was the main ingredient in the refining of the Meridian Cleansing Pill. After consuming this pill, a cultivator would be able to cleanse their meridians, allowing their Qi to become purer than before.
Yang Kai would not have been surprised just from this discovery, rather, it was precisely due to him sensing a clear sliver of the Principle Strength in this fruit that caught him by surprise.
Despite how high ranking a Dao Source Grade Spirit Fruit was, it couldn’t contain any trace of Principle Strength. This left him in deep shock.
After another round of detailed investigations, Yang Kai discovered the Principle Strength present within this Vermillion Bird Fruit had already coalesced and was giving off a faint Emperor Intent.
Yang Kai’s eyebrows suddenly shot up as his eyes sparkled, mumbling, “Could it be…”
Appearing to have thought of something, he hastily retrieved all of the spirit grasses and medicines he had harvested from his Space Ring and proceeded to inspect them in detail.
After an incense’s worth of time, Yang Kai revealed a look of understanding, as he finally realized exactly what had happened to this place.
A long time ago, there was indeed a dense Emperor Intent present within this Emperor Heaven Valley, where cultivators could come here to cultivate and gain comprehension, thereby forging a foundation for their future breakthrough to the Emperor Realm.
However, after ten thousand years, the Emperor Intent present here had been completely absorbed by the spirit grasses and medicines that were growing here. All of the Emperor Intent had fused together with them, no longer being able to be separated!
All of the spirit grasses and medicines he had harvested in this mountain valley were just like the Vermillion Bird Fruit earlier, containing Emperor Intent within them!
Contrary to this, the few herbs he had harvested before coming here did not possess this unique trait. One glance gave Yang Kai the confirmation he needed.
After understanding this, Yang Kai could not help but feel excited.
Spirit grasses and medicines that contained Emperor Intent. He hadn’t even heard of such a thing, not to mention the possibility of such a phenomenon occurring. If these herbs were refined into Spirit Pills, those pills would definitely contain the Emperor Intent within them. When consumed, they would allow a cultivator an opportunity to comprehend the power of Principle Strength.
This method was much more effective than trying to comprehend Emperor Intent while cultivating in the Emperor Heaven Valley because that method of comprehension was classified as external comprehension, while internal comprehension was a method where one would comprehend Emperor Intent through the ingestion of Spirit Pills. With every single cell and meridian absorbing Emperor Intent from the inside, a cultivator’s sensitivity and comprehension efficiency would increase dramatically.
Only a unique place like this Emperor Heaven Valley could give birth to such unique spirit grasses and medicines.
Yang Kai could imagine that, if the pills refined from these herbs were to circulate around the Star Boundary, they would incite a blood-frenzied competition among Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators. With the pill’s medicinal efficacies relegated to being a secondary concern, just the Emperor Intent and the Principle Strength would be considered. Naturally, it would be sought after by Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators incapable of breaking through their realm, as the Principle Strength was the most important thing they would need to comprehend to enhance their strength.
Great excitement filled Yang Kai’s heart as he quietly felt that the greatest reward he had gained in this trip was the herbs harvested within the Emperor Heaven Valley. Without any further hesitation, he immediately started his intense harvesting.
He decided to not let a single Spirit Grass go. Anything that had reached maturity would be harvested whole.
Although the mountain valley was not large, the lack of human contact for ten thousand years, coupled with the nourishment from the dense World Energy, led to the growth of numerous spirit grasses and medicines. Searching thoroughly, Yang Kai toiled for a day’s worth of time before finally managing to clean out the entire mountain valley.
All of the spirit grasses and medicines had been harvested by him.
For the sake of distinguishing these herbs from those that he had harvested earlier, Yang Kai made special note of the locations he had kept them, all in preparation to refine them into pills as quickly as possible once this matter was over.
With all those Emperor Intent-infused spirit grasses and medicines already harvested, Yang Kai was now worried that the Emperor Intent within them would gradually dissipate away if he did not refine them as quickly as possible.
Sister Hua would be very interested in those Spirit Pills. With their aid, her breakthrough to the Emperor Realm would definitely speed up substantially.
A day later, Yang Kai stood before a mountain cave, a serious expression present on his face.
While harvesting the spirit grasses and medicines growing within the Emperor Heaven Valley, he had discovered this mountain cave. Nevertheless, he did not do a detailed inspection of it, waiting till he had harvested all of the herbs before once again focusing on it.
This mountain cave seemed to be naturally formed; however, with his acute senses, Yang Kai discovered that it showed traces of having been artificially remodelled, though the person who did so was exceedingly proficient. Coupled with the passing of time, it was not easy for anyone to spot these traces.
This mountain cave could have been remodelled by the Thousand Leaves Sect disciples who had come here to cultivate ten thousand years ago. In any case, Yang Kai could sense a dangerous aura radiating from within a mountain cave.
He could instinctually sense that something incredible was hidden within this mountain cave.
However, he did not even discover the existence of a single Monster Beast while travelling around this place. Therefore, he wasn’t too worried. This Sealed World wasn’t too large; furthermore, being the place for the Thousand Leaves Sect disciples to cultivate, there definitely wouldn’t be any life-threatening dangers present.
Therefore, after just a slight moment of hesitation, he headed into the mountain cave.
The interior of the mountain cave was perfused with a dusky glow. Luminous stones were inlaid along the two walls, though they had lost their effectiveness throughout the years. The surrounding air did not appear turbid, and in fact, was extremely dry and hot.
Not long after entering the mountain cave, Yang Kai’s nose suddenly wrinkled as he smelt something strange coming from up ahead. This was not a pleasant fragrance, but rather something putrid and rotting, like dead fish.
This caused a wrinkle to form on his forehead.
According to normal reasoning, with the density of World Energy in this place, any living creature present here would be able to grow exceedingly well, making it impossible for such a smell to develop.
As this thought appeared in his mind, Yang Kai suddenly felt that something wasn’t right. In the next instant, his vision turned blurry while he seemed to be floating as he walked forwards, which led to him stumbling about.
“Poison?” Gasping in shock, Yang Kai hastily pushed his Source Qi to protect his body while simultaneously removing a fruit from his Space Ring and shoving it down his throat.
This fruit was an Emperor Grade spirit fruit that had exorbitant value, and it was harvested by him in this place; however, at this instant, Yang Kai could not care that much. This mountain cave had greatly piqued his interest, so if he wanted to continue investigating it, he had no choice but to devour this spirit fruit to resist the poison.
With the spirit fruit entering his body, reinforced by the protection of his Source Qi, Yang Kai felt much better, allowing him to continue walking forward.
As he headed deeper, the awful smell grew increasingly conspicuous. Not only that, the poison present in the air grew increasingly potent. Yang Kai knew that he would not be able to endure much longer. He couldn’t tell just what this poison was, as even he was somewhat helpless against it. Furthermore, this was just its gaseous form. Wouldn’t he be killed if he came into contact with its concentrated liquid form?
Therefore, he silently decided that he would immediately retreat if he did not discover anything within a short while.
However, just as he made that decision, he noticed a sliver of light glimmering not far away. This caused a shock to ripple through his face as he instinctively increased his speed.
After a short while, Yang Kai abruptly arrived at an even bigger mountain cave.
A sparkling luminous stone was inlaid on the interior of this mountain cave and despite the years, it still gave off light, illuminating the interior of the cave.
Looking around, Yang Kai quickly focused on a certain location, before subconsciously drawing a sharp breath.
Up ahead, he discovered an emancipated corpse in a seated position. Clearly, this person had been dead for an extremely long time as there was not a single trace of life present on the corpse. Even the flesh had withered to an incredible state, causing the corpse to appear to be merely skin and bone. The eye sockets had sunken in, the hair was messy and dulled, appearing just like dried grass.
Nevertheless, the clothing on the corpse was somewhat familiar to Yang Kai’s eyes.
After a while, Yang Kai realized that it seemed to be similar to the robes that Ye Hen was wearing.
This caused him to raise his brow as he came to a sudden realisation about the identity of the dead person before him.
This fellow was obviously the previous Sect Master of Thousand Leaves Sect that had entered the Sealed World that year. It was precisely this person that had taken the majority of Thousand Leaves Sect’s Secret Arts and Techniques and entered this place, resulting in the severing of Thousand Leaves Sect’s inheritance. It was definitely also this man who destroyed the array base platform within the Sealed World, causing the entrance to close.
This person was the main perpetrator behind the decline of the Thousand Leaves Sect!
Yang Kai didn’t know exactly why this person had done such things; however, since he had already died, there was no point in pursuing his reasons. Furthermore, Yang Kai was not a member of the Thousand Leaves Sect, so he simply had no need to do such a thing.
He had made this trip into this Sealed World for the sole purpose of repairing the array base platform. Being able to discover the Sect Master of Thousand Leaves Sect from ten thousand years ago was just a coincidence.
Considering all of this, Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Forgive this Junior for accidentally intruding on Senior’s resting place.”
After saying that, he took a step forward.
No one knew what this Thousand Leaves Sect Senior was doing before his death; however, Yang Kai discovered a gigantic and exceedingly mysterious Spirit Array outline beneath his corpse. On top of that, there was a substantial pile of ores and other strange and peculiar Artifact Refining materials laying by his side.
These materials were extremely rare and valuable, of Dao Source Grade at the very least, with quite a few actually being of Emperor Grade.
Any Artifact Refiner would go crazy in delight if they were to witness this.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai didn’t react much to this discovery. Regardless of how valuable those materials were, they would be devoured and refined by his Embodiment, so quantity was the only thing he was concerned about.
Without any courtesy, he walked up and quickly gathered all of the materials on the ground before tossing them into his Small Sealed World for his Embodiment to consume at leisure.
After doing so, Yang Kai turned his gaze to the Space Ring present on the corpse’s finger.
This person was definitely an Emperor Realm Master before his death, and was extremely likely to be a Third-Order Emperor. Furthermore, he was also the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Sect Master. Therefore, how could there not be anything valuable in that Space Ring? If Yang Kai’s guess was right, the Thousand Leaves Sect’s Secret Arts and Techniques would definitely be stored within this ring.
Yang Kai was still rather interested in the various Secret Arts and Techniques of the Thousand Leaves Sect; after all, the Dao of Puppetry was a domain that he had little knowledge of.
Furthermore, these things were right in front of his eyes, so Yang Kai was naturally drawn to them.
However, he had also made the decision to only observe and comprehend these things for a short while before bringing them out to hand to Ye Hen. He did not have the intention of hoarding them for himself.
With these considerations, Yang Kai proceeded to focus and extended his hand to grab at the Space Ring on the corpse’s finger.
However, right at that instant, his heart suddenly clenched as an exceedingly strong sense of unease surged through his entire body. This caused all of the hairs on Yang Kai’s body to stand on end and he subconsciously leapt back, increasing the distance between him and the corpse.
In the next instant, his eyes narrowed as he witnessed a harrowing scene.
Right at that moment, the Spirit Array beneath the corpse suddenly hummed while bursting with dazzling radiance, as though it had been activated for some unknown reason. In the next instant, various runes started to surface on the body of the corpse, followed by array lines, creating a mysterious Spirit Array pattern. As this happened, the withered surface of the corpse started to be suffused with a metallic lustre.
*Hong…*
The array on the ground began to rotate while sounds akin to bones cracking rang out, before the corpse’s eyes, which had been closed for countless years, snapped open.
The eyes gleamed with a dark green lustre, appearing just like two clumps of ghostly fire, causing fear in anyone who saw them.
The powerful aura of an Emperor Realm Master suddenly erupted from the corpse, bearing down on Yang Kai and smashing into him like a solid wall.
Yang Kai felt as though a giant mountain was squashing down on his chest, inciting a feeling of suffocation in him.
He knew that something wasn’t right. It was very likely that this corpse, which had been dead for countless years, possessed sentience, and had become an existence akin to a Corpse Spirit.
In the past, he had come across a similar type of monster on Shadowed Star. At that time, when the Corpse Spirit Race had revealed themselves and created chaos throughout Shadowed Star, countless cultivators had been infected by their Corpse Poison, turning them into one of their own. In the end, it was Yang Kai who had gone all out to counter the desperate situation and managed to kill the main perpetrator of the entire incident.
However, the strongest existence within the Corpse Spirit race at that time was just a Thousand-Year Corpse General whose cultivation was merely peak Origin Returning Realm. There was utterly no way to compare it to the existence that was present before his eyes.
The existence before Yang Kai was a genuine Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse King!
Furthermore, it was an Emperor Realm Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse King. The Emperor Intent radiating from it was something that definitely could not be faked.
Just thinking about it caused cold sweat to drench Yang Kai’s entire body. Knowing that his current situation wasn’t optimistic, he no longer dared to hesitate. Moving the Space Principles around him, he hastily retreated out of the cave.
In the next instant, his body turned blurry.
However, before he could flee from the mountain cave, the seated Corpse King opened its mouth and let off a piercing shriek. The shriek was perfused with some kind of unique power and as it travelled in all directions, it transformed the entire surrounding area into a sealed space.
Yang Kai’s body turned stiff, causing his blurry figure to reappear!
His expression changed drastically. Knowing that his teleportation had been unexpectedly defeated, how could he dare to show any neglect? The only thing he could do was to rush out as quickly as he could.
A chilling gleam burst forth from the ghostly eyes of the Corpse King as it locked onto Yang Kai. Opening its mouth, a verdant coloured aura suddenly shot out from within.
“Corpse Poison!” Yang Kai gasped in shock. Finally, he understood exactly what the awful smell that had perfused the entire mountain cave was.
This smell clearly originated from the Corpse King’s Corpse Poison. However, that smell was a result of just a sliver of it leaking out from its body. Just a slight leak was already enough to cause Yang Kai to show signs of being poisoned and causing his vision to turn blurry, so the mouthful launched by the Corpse King would definitely result in his death if he were to carelessly breathe it in.
As his heart was filled up with fear, Yang Kai did not dare to take any breaths as he unleashed the full might of his Source Qi to form a barrier around his body, all while retreating like an arrow.
Despite his swift actions though, the Corpse Poison was also not one bit slower, chasing after him like a shadow. In the blink of an eye, it had caught up to him, smashing against the Source Qi that was protecting his body.
A piercing crack rang out as a large hole was formed in Yang Kai’s protective Source Qi, causing it to melt like a snowflake under the scorching sun. Unexpectedly, it was unable to offer an ounce of resistance against the Corpse Poison, which proceeded to drill through the gaping hole that had formed.
[It possesses such potent corrosive strength?] Yang Kai was utterly incapable of believing what he was seeing.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, his eyes opened wider as he extended his hand. Pushing the surrounding Space Principles to their limits, he shouted out, “Exile!”
As he did so, something similar to a black hole appeared before him, devouring all of the Corpse Poison that was hurtling towards him. Continuing to move, Yang Kai rushed out of the mountain cave, returning to the mountain valley.
However, before he could catch his breath, a bestial roar resounded from the mountain cave before the vilest and most ruthless aura unleashed by the Corpse King rushed out from within. The entire mountain shook as the sounds of falling and crumbling stones proceeded to ring out from within.
“What kind of grudge do you have with me!?” Yang Kai complained out loud with a bitter look on his face as he knew that he was in serious trouble. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have entered the mountain cave to investigate, leading to him provoking such a monster.
There was no need to fight; Yang Kai knew that he would absolutely be unable to match up against this foe. The only plan he had right now was to flee back to the Sealed World’s Space Array as fast as he could, repair it, and flee from here. Only then would he be able to survive this ordeal.
However, it would take time to repair the platform, despite his deep achievements in the Dao of Space. The time it would take him just to refine the materials to patch the gouge left by the sword on the array base would be enough for this Corpse King to kill him a hundred times over!
That was a Corpse King formed from the corpse of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master! Yang Kai was totally clueless as to how much strength it could unleash.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the Corpse King rushed out of the mountain cave. Spirit Array patterns continued to swirl on the surface of its body as a strange radiance blossomed from it. With a flicker, it appeared right in front of Yang Kai. Revealing its fangs that gleamed with a chilling radiance, it sent a fierce punch towards him.
Yang Kai’s face was instantly drained of colour as he sensed the terrifying might contained within the incoming fist. Being too late to evade it, he had no other choice but to summon his Myriads Sword. Sending his Source Qi into it, he shouted, “Myriad Sword Arts, One Man As A Mountain!”
This was the Myriads Sword’s strongest defensive sword technique. Having displayed it a few times, Yang Kai naturally knew how formidable it was.
A series of sword silhouettes blossomed as it left afterimages in the air, transforming into a strong and resilient defence in front of Yang Kai. The countless Sword Qi blades composed a fortified wall, blocking the dangerous punch hurtling towards Yang Kai.
*Hong…*
As the Corpse King’s fist struck, Yang Kai’s all-out sword barrier was shattered like a thin piece of paper, completely incapable of withstanding the incoming strike. An unimaginable force continued smashing over, causing Yang Kai to feel as though a large mountain was descending on him. Against this level of power, his Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation was as puny as an ant.
[I’m going to die!] Such a thought popped up within Yang Kai’s heart.
Regardless of how tough or resilient his physical body was, regardless of how vigorous his Source Qi was, he would die without a doubt if he received this punch, and his life would be over in an instant.
This was just an instinctive reaction, but Yang Kai believed it with absolute certainty.
With his life hanging precariously in the balance, Yang Kai forcefully warped the surrounding Space Principles, shifting his position just a slight bit backwards, thereby evading the centre of the punch’s impact zone.
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to shift himself further to completely evade the incoming punch, but rather that he was powerless against the suppression of his enemy’s Emperor Pressure, with this action being the limit of what he could achieve at this very instant.
An explosive boom rang out, as the surrounding space collapsed. Cracking sounds rang out from Yang Kai’s body as his ribs snapped, while his entire body was sent flying through the air, blood spewing out of his mouth as his aura declined drastically.
With a bang, Yang Kai smashed onto the ground. Despite that, he hastily got back up, his hands clutching his chest as a pained look covered his face.
Just a single exchange was enough for him to know how freakishly strong this Corpse King was. If his enemy decided to chase after him and launch another attack, it would absolutely multiply the despair he faced in his current situation.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai felt slightly relieved that the Corpse King had remained at its original position after launching that punch, no longer moving. The ghostly fire orb-like eyes continued to flicker while the expression on its face started to fluctuate, giving it an exceedingly malevolent and terrifying appearance.
[What is going on?]
Although Yang Kai didn’t understand what it was doing, this was something that he desperately hoped to see. He immediately proceeded to take out recovery Spirit Pills from his Space Ring and tossed them into his mouth, taking this critical opportunity to stabilize his condition.
He did not dare to make any reckless moves for fear of provoking the Corpse King and thereby ruining this essential break for his recovery.
While adjusting his breathing, he also took the time to observe the actions of the Corpse King.
He discovered that the Corpse Poison spewing out from the Corpse King started to disperse out in all directions after its exit from the mountain cave. Upon contact with the Corpse Poison, the vegetation within this mountain valley, which had existed here for countless of years all started to wither and die. This was clear evidence of how toxic the Corpse Poison was.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai managed to notice something strange, which was that the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse King… didn’t seem to possess any consciousness.
This was something that he could not fathom. Even the trivial Hundred Year Corpse Soldiers that he had encountered in the past on Shadowed Star had already possessed sentience and were capable of independent thought. However, this Corpse King didn’t despite having existed for thousands of years.
Furthermore… The Spirit Arrays on the surface of its body were exceedingly conspicuous and, coupled with the golden lustre radiating from its withered body, it was an exceedingly strange sight to behold.
As he continued to observe, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open as a hair-raising thought suddenly flashed through his mind that caused him to cry out in shock, “A Corpse Puppet?”
Although Yang Kai had not done much research into the Dao of Puppetry, having cultivated for so many years, he had more or less heard about Corpse Puppets before.
Generally speaking, various kinds of precious treasures and special methods were needed for the refining of puppets. The puppets that guarded the main palace of Thousand Leaves Sect, as well as those that Yang Kai had encountered in the Flowing Time Temple, were all produced in this fashion.
However, there was another type of puppet that did not require the use of such precious treasures, instead using the bodies of cultivators as their base material.
The bodies of powerful cultivators were the best materials for the refining of powerful puppets. The intricacy of the human body, their powerful cultivations and wills before death, were all traits that were difficult for normal precious treasures to replicate.
Some evil cultivators were exceedingly fond of using the bodies of powerful Masters to refine puppets that would heed their every call. Furthermore, after being refined into puppets, they could retain the majority of their cultivations and abilities from before their deaths, granting them exceedingly powerful combat strength.
Such evil cultivators were extremely fond of plundering the graves of Masters, as every corpse they obtained would boost their strength. It was precisely because of this reason that those cultivators were detested and abhorred no matter where they went. The art of refining Corpse Puppets was also regarded as the most forbidden of forbidden techniques; knowledge that one should absolutely not dip their fingers into.
However, despite that, it was impossible to eradicate it entirely; regardless of time and place, there would always be some who were willing to commit the most heinous of deeds under Heaven and defy the natural order of things to gain strength.
Yang Kai had never imagined that there would actually be such people in a Sect like Thousand Leaves Sect that would have attempted Corpse Puppet refining.
It was one thing for this Corpse King to not have any consciousness at all; however, the critical factor was the Spirit Arrays present across its body. These arrays, coupled with the golden lustre radiating from its body would make it instantly identifiable as a Corpse Puppet that someone had refined!
Furthermore, it was an Emperor Realm Corpse Puppet!
What kind of person would refine the body of such a powerful cultivator into a Corpse Puppet without a single shred of sentience? Yang Kai was utterly incapable of recovering from the shock that was rocking his heart.
However, he quickly realized that something wasn’t right. According to what Ye Hen had said, the Thousand Leaves Sect Master of that generation had entered the Sealed World by himself, before the entrance was closed. From those words, that meant that there was no one except for the Sect Master present within this Sealed World during that point in time countless years ago.
Yang Kai had also not discovered any traces of the existence of a second person.
Furthermore, with that past generation’s Thousand Leaves Sect Master being a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, who possessed such terrifyingly powerful capabilities to refine him into a Corpse Puppet?
[Could it be… that he refined himself into a puppet?]
Yang Kai was instantly frightened when this thought flashed through his mind. If that was truly the case, that would mean that the previous generation’s Thousand Leaves Sect Master had already reached an incredible height in the Dao of Puppetry, while also possessing a level of determination and far surpassed normal Masters.
After all, just the thought of refining oneself into a puppet would cause horror and fear to gush out of people’s hearts. Furthermore, exactly how much pain and suffering would one need to bear throughout the entire refining process?
Although this was just his guess, Yang Kai felt that he was not far from the truth.
Just as he was overwhelmed by his thoughts, the Corpse Puppet, which had remained still with a fluctuating expression on its face, suddenly turned its head towards the direction of Yang Kai, a chilling glow beaming out of its ghostly fire orb-like eyes.
Yang Kai immediately knew that his situation had worsened, as his enemy seemed to have broken out of whatever was restraining it and was about to hunt and kill him.
Before he could digest that thought, the Corpse Puppet had already appeared right before him with a flicker. In the next instant, a terrifying fist came towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai felt as though his life was flashing before him. Despite not possessing any sentience, resulting in its exceedingly simple and unchanging way of combat using its fists to strike its targets, just a single punch from the Corpse Puppet, with its overwhelming strength was more than what Yang Kai could contend against.
The ferocity of that fist perfectly displayed the might of an Emperor Realm Master. Swirls of energy visible to the naked eye accompanied this fist, seemingly wanting to tear the surrounding space apart and collapse the entire world.
Yang Kai’s scalp turned numb as he roared, “Dragon Transformation!”
In the next instant, a high-pitched dragon roar rang out as a dazzling golden phantom of a dragon surfaced behind him. With a shake of its head and swish of its tail, the Golden Dragon rushed into his body. Cracking sounds rang out while Yang Kai’s arms turned to dragon-like claws, while the outer surface of his body was covered to the brim with Dragon Scales. Not only that, with a sharp tearing sound, a pure dragon aura gushed out from his backbone as it lengthened abruptly, as though he had turned into a large dragon and was attempting to take to the skies.
Yang Kai had unleashed his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique to its utmost limits!
Having refined the three dragon artifacts, A Dragon Scale, Dragon Bone, and Dragon Bead, supplemented with his already incredibly powerful flesh body, Yang Kai’s current strength immediately skyrocketed.
Not yet done, while he was unleashing his Dragon Transformation, Yang Kai had also summoned his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi. In a breath, a five-coloured radiance blossomed, as the power of the Five Elements gushed out. Crossing his arms before his body, he entered into a defensive stance.
Yang Kai absolutely did not dare to launch any attacks, as he felt that he was just like a small wooden boat shaking before the roaring storm that was the powerful might of his enemy. Any howling wind or large wave could send him capsizing and drowning as a result.
*Hong…”
As the Corpse Puppet’s punch made contact, Yang Kai felt as though he was struck by lightning as his entire body shook. Cracking sounds rang out from his arms as they were snapped and bent into unnatural shapes. At the same time, his body was sent flying by the massive force, adding to his pre-existing injuries.
All of these happened even after he had unleashed his Dragon Transformation and Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi to its utmost limit.
If he had not prepared defensively against the punch, Yang Kai reckoned that he would have already been turned into dust.
He was experiencing first-hand just how powerful the Corpse Puppet before him was.
As he flew through the air, Yang Kai forcefully suppressed the pain ripping through his body and roared out between his clenched teeth, “Come out!”
With his roar, a massive mountain-like figure descended from the sky, sending an explosive boom as it landed on the ground, shaking the earth in a flurry as it did so.
The Embodiment had entered the stage.
His appearance was so sudden that he did not even know exactly where he was, or what kind of danger Yang Kai had gotten into; however, in the next instant, his giant body turned stiff as he could sense the vile aura radiating from the body of the Corpse Puppet. The might of this aura was so powerful it almost made him lose the will to fight.
Nevertheless, every single time he had been summoned was due to Yang Kai encountering a strong foe, so he quickly managed to regain his senses and composure. Extending his hand into the void, he clenched it, catching the flying Yang Kai.
“Cough cough…” Half kneeling on the Embodiment’s hand, Yang Kai continued to cough out blood as his face grew paler by the second.
“Master!” Appearing alongside the Embodiment, Liu Yan’s beautiful face instantly drained of all colour upon seeing the miserable shape Yang Kai was in. She immediately headed towards Yang Kai and helped him up.
“What in the world is that thing!?” The Embodiment’s eyes were wide open as it stared at the problem, which was as small as an ant in his eyes, yet making him not dare to look down on it at all, to the point that his voice turned slightly shaky.
“A Corpse Puppet!” Yang Kai stood up and explained, “A Third-Order Emperor Realm Corpse Puppet!”
“What?” Both the Embodiment and Liu Yan cried out in shock, intense tremors rocking their souls. After being stunned for a while, the Embodiment finally responded with a bitter tone, “How did you provoke such a monster?”
“It’s a long story…” Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he gave a reply. Shaking his arms, cracking sounds rang out as his broken arms were reconnected together. Lowering his head, he noticed that his hands had snapped apart at the wrists, clearly revealing the golden bones within. Just a single look was enough to tell him how formidable that Corpse Puppet’s punch was.
Fortunately, due to his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique and Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art coming together to reinforce his flesh body, coupled with his originally powerful physique and Golden Blood, this level of injury wasn’t able to hamper him.
“It’s coming!” All of a sudden, the Embodiment shouted out. As those words left his mouth, the Corpse Puppet had already leapt up from its original position, rushed towards the Embodiment, and sent a punch towards him.
In terms of size, the Corpse Puppet was utterly dwarfed by the Embodiment, just like a little stalk of grass before a large tree, so insignificant it was not even worth comparing.
Nevertheless, the Embodiment’s expression remained solemn as he did not dare to underestimate the punch heading his way.
Faced with such danger, he proceeded to launch a punch in response.
The gigantic fist smashed against the puny figure, causing a Heaven shaking boom to ring out. Shockwaves caused by the powerful collision rippled out, kicking up chaotic winds in the process.
The Embodiment’s mountain-sized body was sent flying backwards. He waved his hands and legs futilely in response, creating an exceedingly comical sight to behold.
Nevertheless, the Corpse Puppet clearly did not end up unscathed after receiving the Embodiment’s punch head-on. Flying backwards at a faster speed than the Embodiment, it smashed into the cliff wall behind and disappeared without a trace.
After a split second, a loud bang rang out as a human-shaped hole was created on the cliff wall, with the Corpse Puppet present in the middle. Spiderwebs of cracks formed with it in the centre, rocks crumbling and falling down as they spread outwards.
Yang Kai sucked in a mouth of cold air as he was utterly incapable of believing what he had just witnessed.
He was all too clear of the Embodiment’s strength. The latter was born after fusing with an entire continent and despite the continent not being very large in mass, it was still born from World Energy and possessed its own source.
In other words, every strike from the Embodiment possessed the might of a world behind it.
With his current realm of strength, the Embodiment should be able to even kill Emperor Realm Masters with ease if they were to eat his strikes head-on; however, after taking his punch, the Corpse Puppet had actually not sustained too much damage, with the only result being sent smashing into the cliffside.
Exactly how resilient was this Corpse Puppet body?
Not only that, it had actually managed to send the Embodiment flying with its punch. The strength it possessed was enough to destroy Heaven and shatter the Earth.
“Liu Yan!” Yang Kai shouted.
Without needing any instructions from him, Liu Yan already knew what she needed to do. With a slight shake of her body, she immediately transformed into her Firebird form. Flapping her wings, she hurtled towards the Corpse Puppet. Letting off a clear cry, she opened her mouth and exhaled a torrent of roaring flames towards the Corpse Puppet.
The flames unleashed by Liu Yan were exceedingly powerful, being composed of her natal fire that had fused with the Heavenly Thunder Fire, Azure Ice Fire, Sun’s True Fire, and even the Divine Spirit Luan Feng’s World Extinguishing Black Flames.
Her flames were exceedingly dangerous.
With that breath, the cliff face swiftly melted away, transforming into red hot lava that emitted boiling hot gases as it flowed down.
Although the Embodiment’s punch wasn’t able to do anything to the Corpse Puppet, Liu Yan’s flames had caused a considerable amount of damage to it, as a series of deep roars and cries quickly rang out from beneath the roaring flames.
Quickly, angry howls started to ring out, before a dark green radiance blossomed within the intense flames and started to advance forwards.
Yang Kai was shocked by what he saw, as he realized that the Corpse Puppet had actually started to spew out Corpse Poison to defend against Liu Yan’s intense flames. Not only that, it seemed to show signs of gaining an advantage.
For a moment, the dark green Corpse Poison fought neck and neck against the fiery red flames as they collided in the air.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai knew that this was just a false hope; once the Corpse Puppet managed to extricate itself, Liu Yan would not be able to contend against it. Although she had experienced many extraordinary encounters, there was still a disparity in strength between her and a Third-Order Emperor Realm Corpse Puppet, despite its lack of sentience.
Yang Kai was secretly breathing a sigh of relief that the Corpse Puppet did not possess any sentience. Otherwise, with its cultivation and the Divine Abilities mastered in its previous life, the three of them would definitely be incapable of contending with it at all.
[No, something is wrong!] Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly after coming to a sudden realization.
A genuine Corpse Puppet should possess some of the Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques from its previous life; however, ever since it had started to move, Yang Kai had not seen this Corpse Puppet display any powerful moves at all. All of its attacks were either simple and straightforward punches or releasing Corpse Poison out when forced into a corner.
He had yet to see it displaying the unique strengths of a Corpse Puppet.
The Corpse Puppet before him… Seemed like a flawed product! Yang Kai came to this sudden realization.
In other words, this Corpse Puppet was unfinished, a failure that had not been refined to completion. Thinking more about it, Yang Kai felt he was right on the dot. Regardless of a cultivator’s strength, even if they were at the Third-Order Emperor Realm, they couldn’t endure all the pain and suffering from refining their body into a puppet. Even a slight change in refining conditions would cause the refining process to fail.
Yang Kai guessed that the previous Thousand Leaves Sect Master was unable to finish the refining process, resulting in him becoming a failed product.
Having considered all of these, a tremor shook through Yang Kai’s mind.
If this was a genuine Third-Order Emperor Realm Corpse Puppet, he would have utterly no chance of obtaining victory. However, if it was a failure, a flawed product, it wasn’t impossible to triumph. The only thing he needed to do now was to find and attack its weak spot.
Considering all of this, Yang Kai hastily shouted out, “You two hold it down and buy some time for me.”
After saying that, Yang Kai immediately activated his Demon Eye of Annihilation before taking a detailed look at the Corpse Puppet. Golden light blossomed from his left eye as everything came into view for him, enabling him to see the Corpse Puppet’s inner workings and construction.
Although Liu Yan and the Embodiment did not know what Yang Kai was planning, they managed to glean some information from the tone Yang Kai had used. In the next instant, Liu Yan proceeded to unleash her flames at the Corpse Puppet without restraint to contend against its Corpse Poison.
Jumping up, the Embodiment stomped the ground. This time, he did not dare to rush directly at the Corpse Puppet. Instead, he proceeded to extend a fist towards the ground beneath and clench it tightly. In the next instant, Earth Principles started to fluctuate before the ground beneath him turned into quicksand and gathered around him.
In the blink of an eye, a spear made of Earth that appeared to be capable of propping up Heaven formed in his hand. Although this spear was composed fully of the surrounding Earth, due to the Principle Strength circulating around it, it was not one bit inferior to a Dao Source Grade Artifact.
Wielding the spear, the Embodiment proceeded to hurl it forwards.
*Hong…*
A vacuum visible to the naked eye formed as the spear smashed straight into the Corpse Puppet. A flurry of sparks accompanied loud metallic clangs as they erupted from its body.
Nevertheless, that strike only managed to leave a tiny dent on its body, and was not able to pierce through it.
“It’s this tough?” The Embodiment cried out in shock.
He was clear how destructive his attack was, and was absolutely sure it would be able to severely injure Emperor Realms Masters. However, it was utterly useless against this Corpse Puppet! This showed exactly how tough the Corpse Puppet’s body was; it was even more outstanding than an Emperor Grade Defensive Artifact.
[If an attack like that was incapable of harming it, how will we be able to contend against it?] The Embodiment started to get a headache just thinking about this.
Nevertheless, it seemed that the earlier strike had infuriated the Corpse Puppet. After the spear that had struck its body had shattered apart, the Corpse Puppet let off a furious roar before spewing Corpse Poison at an even more furious rate. Originally, it was in a deadlock with Liu Yan’s flames; however, at this moment, the dark green Corpse Poison was advancing towards Liu Yan at a rapid pace visible to the naked eye, with her flames seemingly incapable of contending against it.
The Embodiment’s face changed drastically upon seeing this. Extending his hand into the void, he grasped. In the next instant, a gigantic War Hammer appeared abruptly in his hand. A dense, jet black and malevolent aura gushed out and circled around it, bringing forth the darkest and most negative emotions present at the depth of everyone’s hearts, causing them to tremble in fear!
The Demonic Armament War Hammer!
This was a Demonic weapon wielded by the giant demon from ancient antiquity. Wrapped in Demon Qi, it had already gained sentience and had been tossed into the Sealed World Bead by Yang Kai for the Embodiment to look after. Who knew that the Embodiment had actually managed to refine it!
However, from the looks of it, the Embodiment didn’t seem to have completely refined it yet. That was because the Embodiment’s eyes started to tremble intensely upon summoning the War Hammer. In the next instant, they turned into a blood-red shade that was brimming with violent tendencies. Clearly, he was being affected by the Ancient Demon Qi present within the war hammer.
The jet-black aura proceeded to twine around the Embodiment’s large arm like a living creature, continuing to extend out across his body, gradually turning his body a jet-black shade.
With the War Hammer in his hand, the Embodiment’s aura immediately soared. In the blink of an eye, he seemed to have transformed into that ancient Giant Demon, standing arrogantly as he looked down on everyone under the Heavens with contempt.
All of the World Energy within this Sealed World started to hum and vibrate as the World Principles descended into chaos.
These changes left Yang Kai utterly dumbstruck.
He was completely in the dark about the Embodiment having started to refine this War Hammer; however, looking at the Embodiment’s condition, Yang Kai knew that he had to finish this fight as soon as possible. If not, when the Demon Qi dyed the Embodiment completely black, he would become the puppet of the War Hammer.
As this thought appeared, he no longer dared to hesitate and proceeded to focus fully on finding the Corpse Puppet’s weaknesses.
On the other side, the Embodiment had already raised his War Hammer, shaking slightly as he took aim at the Corpse Puppet.
Seemingly sensing that something was amiss, the Corpse Puppet, which was being pressed into the cliffside, started to howl in exertion as it attempted to move away from its current position.
However, before it could make any movements, the Embodiment had already cleaved his War Hammer downwards.
The War Hammer sliced through the air as though it did not exist. It appeared as though it had pierced through ancient antiquity, smashing through space and time, causing the world to turn chaotic.
The War Hammer slammed down right onto the Corpse Puppet’s body.
*Hong long long…*
The cliffside was split apart, leaving a fissure so wide it appeared as though the world had been broken apart. Violent energies wreaked havoc where the War Hammer had passed by, destroying the Earth as though it was tofu, leaving deep intersecting gulches as the surrounding space turned chaotic.
Liu Yan had long fled before the strike landed. Nevertheless, the powerful chaotic energy storm rampaging behind her still managed to affect her to the point of threatening to devour her into its midst. In a moment of panic, she had no choice but to transform into her human form, and with a flicker, barely managed to extricate herself.
After launching that strike, the towering aura radiating from the Embodiment disappeared abruptly as he swayed about from where he stood. Just a single glance was enough to see how much that strike had exhausted him.
Not only that, the black Qi that had wrapped around his arm started to extend across his body at an exceedingly fast pace.
“What a blunder!” The Embodiment did not expect that this Demonic Armament War Hammer would exhaust so much of his strength. If he had been aware, he would not have used it at this moment.
Having underestimated the price he had to pay to use this Demonic Armament War Hammer, he was now being encroached on by the Ancient Demon Qi.
Right at this critical moment, Yang Kai appeared before the Embodiment with a flicker. Exchanging glances, there was no need for them to communicate through words to know what was going through each other’s minds.
In the next instant, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense, sending the Embodiment and his War Hammer into the Sealed World Bead, by the side of the medicine garden.
With a shift of her body, Liu Yan arrived by Yang Kai’s side. Shifting her beautiful eyes to look into the distance, she spoke out in a worried tone, “Master…”
Having lost the support from the Embodiment, she was incapable of dealing with the powerful Corpse Puppet alone, making it unavoidable for feelings of worry to rise within her heart.
With a grin, Yang Kai replied, “Don’t worry. I’ve already found its weak spot.”
Liu Yan finally felt relieved after hearing his words.
In the deep gorge before them, the Corpse Puppet had fallen on its face. Although the earlier Heaven shaking strike by the Embodiment had drained him of all his strength, having paid such a high price to launch it, the Corpse Puppet naturally didn’t escape unscathed.
As it struggled to stand up, Liu Yan immediately discovered that there was a massive wound present on the body of the Corpse Puppet. The wound started from the shoulder and extended down all the way to its leg. The edges of the wound were moving about as Corpse Poison seeped out from within. There was not a single trace of blood present, though she was able to see its bones within the wound.
At a certain location, she seemed to be able to make out an extremely complex pattern that was sparkling with a luminous glow.
Liu Yan immediately understood that it was the centre of all of the arrays present within the body of the Corpse Puppet. If they were able to break this core, the Corpse Puppet would no longer be able to move. Previously, due to its incredibly tough and powerful body, they were unable to see what was within it; however, the Embodiment’s strike had revealed this weak point in a single blow.
It could be said that the Embodiment had achieved a great feat with that strike.
“Back off a bit.” As he said those words, Yang Kai had already shot straight towards the Corpse Puppet.
Despite its severe injury, Yang Kai did not dare to act recklessly against the Corpse Puppet; after all, no matter how severe an injury it had sustained, being a lifeless puppet, the injury would not affect its combat power as long as its weakness was not targeted.
Any carelessness would result in unrecoverable circumstances for Yang Kai.
Along the way, Yang Kai’s hand shifted slightly, before a faint bluish circular bead the size of a pigeon egg appeared within his fingers. The bead appeared unassuming and inconspicuous, yet a silver arc of hair-raising lightning danced faintly within it.
Annihilation Thunder Bead!
One of the two Emperor Artifacts Yang Yan had left behind.
Ever since he arrived at the Star Boundary, Yang Kai had not used the Annihilation Thunder Bead. The first reason was him not daring to reveal its existence, with the second being that there were no strong enemies that required him to use it.
However, the Corpse Puppet was absolutely qualified for its usage.
Therefore, he was prepared to use this trump card to neutralize the Corpse Puppet.
During the earlier long-range bombardment, Yang Kai had remained behind until the Corpse Puppet had seemingly been knocked down by the Embodiment’s strike. From the looks of it, it would take a while for it to recover. As it staggered about while standing back up, Yang Kai had already travelled to a suitable location and poured all of his Source Qi into the Annihilation Thunder Bead without restraint.
Unlike other Emperor Artifacts, Yang Kai was able to use the Annihilation Thunder Bead even when he was just an Origin Returning Realm cultivator. However, the might that this Emperor Artifact could unleash depended on the cultivation realm of its user. Therefore, the stronger the user’s cultivation was, the greater might they could unleash from it.
When he was an Origin Realm cultivator, Yang Kai’s complete effort allowed him to destroy an Origin King with it. Currently, being in the Second-Order Dao Source Realm, the might he could unleash was night and day when compared to his past self.
As he unleashed his Source Qi, Yang Kai’s face suddenly turned pale.
It felt like the Annihilation Thunder Bead had turned into a black hole, with an extremely powerful suction force coming from within, as though it was finally able to eat after starving for countless years, greedily devouring the Source Qi Yang Kai was channelling into it.
Shock filled his heart, though he did not dare to stop, leaving him no choice but to clench his teeth and continue sending his Source Qi into it.