The long sword made of ice pierce through the sky and moved as though nothing could stop it, just like Luo Bing’s cold and resolute heart.
The sword was destined to miss because of the great disparity between Luo Bing and Yang Kai’s strength. She was still mid-thrust when Yang Kai had already disappeared.
But her sword did hit something.
A sturdy figure suddenly appeared in front of Luo Bing, looking at her with a compassionate yet complicated look.
Luo Bing couldn’t pull back in time and along with a puncturing sound, the sword pierced directly through the sturdy body, going in ten centimetres, causing blood to splash out everywhere.
Luo Bing instantly froze in place. She was completely stunned as she looked at that stalwart figure and gasped, “Big Brother Chai!”
The person who suddenly appeared in front of her and took the sword in the chest was Chai Hu.
With Chai Hu’s First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, it would have been easy to evade her blade. Even if he didn’t want to avoid it, he could have easily blocked it by circulating his Source Qi, but he did not do that. He let Luo Bing vent with her blade.
Luo Bing, who was determined to die, finally panicked. She came here in order to ambush and attack someone, she didn’t intend to get out of here alive. If she couldn’t kill Yang Kai, then she wanted to at least die at his hands so she could be reunited with her father in the underworld.
She came here with the determination to die, but hurt Chai Hu instead.
Chai Hu’s chest was soon stained crimson. Luo Bing’s pupils dilated at once, as if the crimson had blotted out the light before her, filling her entire world with this shocking blood.
The huge psychological shock caused Luo Bing’s tender body to weaken, and she almost fell to the ground.
Chai Hu reached out to hold her, and not only that, but he also took her arms and slowly pulled her towards himself.
Luo Bing could not resist him and it didn’t matter if Chai Hu was merely pulling her over, but the sword in her hand was still stuck in Chai Hu’s chest. With this movement, her sword plunged even deeper.
*Chi chi chi…*
The sound of metal cutting through flesh was ear-piercing, and in the blink of an eye, the sword had already passed through his chest. Luo Bing’s pretty face turned icy pale in an instant and she called out in a panic, “Big Brother Chai, what are you doing? Stop!”
But no matter what she said, Chai Hu remained unmoved.
The faces of Chi Yue and the others all changed. They never would have thought that Chai Hu would do such a thing. By the time they came to their senses, Chai Hu had already pressed Luo Bing’s body completely to his chest, and he whispered in her ear, “Young Master Yang killed your father, so I will pay back this debt in his place. Don’t point your sword at him.”
“Stop, stop! I don’t want revenge anymore, I won’t try to take revenge ever again, so let go, Big Brother Chai!” Luo Bing’s face was filled with tears in an instant. Feeling the warmth at her chest, how could she not know that it was Chai Hu’s blood. She was at a loss at that instant, and deep inside, she was filled with self-blame. If she hadn’t acted so rashly, coming here to cause a ruckus, then Chai Hu wouldn’t have done such a thing.
She had not known Chai Hu for long, and the two of them couldn’t be considered too close either; however, at her most difficult and most dangerous moment, it was Chai Hu who swooped down like a soldier from the Heavens in order to save her. Even if it was for his own selfish reasons, Luo Bing still could not forget that mighty figure that suddenly appeared and sheltered her from despair.
The feelings of her maiden heart were suddenly touched, and that figure was branded into the softest part of her soul.
During these few months of wandering around, she felt even more nostalgic towards that sense of security, and the light sentiments floated around like a cellar of old wine, constantly fermenting in her heart, making the figure in her heart grow even more vivid.
But when she saw him again, her sword was pierced straight through this man’s chest, almost killing him. After decades of living a pampered and carefree life, was this heartbreak she had to bear now the price of that?
If so, then even if she had to live a simple life, she wanted him to be safe and sound.
“Get away from him!” Chi Yue bellowed and thrust her hand out, pulling Luo Bing away and tossing her heavily to the ground.
Gui Zu and the others quickly went forward to check on Chai Hu’s injury.
After landing on the ground, Luo Bing didn’t care about her own situation at all. Instead, she stumbled over to where Chai Hu was, her pretty face out of sorts from her tears. Her expression was filled with self-blame and regret.
After a short while, Gui Zu finally let out a sigh, “Fortunately his heart wasn’t hurt. It’s not too serious.”
While speaking, he took out a pill and stuffed it into Chai Hu’s mouth. With a flick of his hand, he sent the sword flying before pushing his Source Qi into Chai Hu’s body to dissolve the medicinal efficacies and heal him.
“I’ll bring him back first so he can recover.” Then, Gui Zu picked Chai Hu up and began flying towards the Thousand Leaves Sect.
Before leaving, Chai Hu coughed lightly, “Don’t give her too much trouble, she has her own difficulties too.”
Chi Yue sighed, “Was there a need to go so far?”
What happened today was inexplicable, but Chi Yue could vaguely see that something was up. Something was definitely going on between her Fourth Brother and this Little Princess from Sky Crane City.
In just a few moments, everyone else had already left, leaving behind Chi Yue with a frown on her face.
Meanwhile, Luo Bing was now kneeling on the ground, looking towards where Chai Hu had left, sobbing as he continued to mutter incoherently, “I don’t want to take revenge anymore, Big Brother Chai, don’t die…”
She kept on repeating those words as tears continued to fall down like a string of pearls, forgetting that Chai Hu was already long gone and completely unable to hear her.
Looking at her appearance, Chi Yue couldn’t help but feel a trace of compassion and sighed as she said, “He won’t die. You didn’t injure him too heavily.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Bing snapped her head up towards Chi Yue and cried with relief, “Thank you, thank you!” While speaking, she folded her hands together and closed her eyes, praying to the Heavens as her tears continued to flow down her cheeks.
“Ai, you’re on your own now.” After that, Chi Yue’s figure flashed, and she quickly left with the others.
Luo Bing was left alone to pray, the sad and beautiful scene overflowing in the wilderness.
…
A month later, Yang Kai arrived at a place called Marsh City.
This city was located at the border of the Southern Territory and Eastern Territory.
The reason he came here was that he needed to visit the Netherworld Sect in order to look for information about Xiao Xiao’s whereabouts. Based on his guesses, there was a high possibility that Xiao Xiao landed with Yin Le Sheng after coming out of the Starlight Corridor.
As for how he was going to find it, Yang Kai could only improvise. He couldn’t ask Yin Le Sheng directly; after all, there was still a grudge between the two of them, and the latter also knew he had a Star Source on him.
Netherworld Sect was a top force in the Eastern Territory, on par with Azure Sun Temple.
This information was given to him by Ye Hen. Ye Hen also told him that cultivation materials were the scarcest in the Southern Territory, and the World Energy there was also relatively thin, so the overall level of cultivators was relatively low.
However, in the other three regions, the overall level of cultivators was much higher than that of the Southern Territory. There were absolutely less than ten Sects as powerful as the Netherworld Sect in the Eastern Territory, while only four such Sects existed in the Southern Territory, showing the great disparity between them.
The Eastern Territory also had one dominant sect, which was the Serene Soul Palace founded by the Supreme Soul Great Emperor of the Ten Great Emperors.
There were rumours that the famous Spirit Beast Island and Dragon Island were both located somewhere on the Eastern Sea, but nobody could confirm whether this was true or not. After all, these two islands were simply like mere mirages in the distance for ordinary cultivators.
Seemingly influenced by the Serene Soul Great Emperor, many of the Eastern Territory’s Sects and cultivators cultivated some Soul-type or malevolent Secret Arts, such as the Netherworld Sect. So, the cultivation world in the Eastern Territory was vastly different from the Southern territory.
While walking around in the Eastern territory, one should be very careful, otherwise, if one found themselves in bad company, one may even lose their life.
During the past month, Yang Kai passed through many cities and used the Space Arrays of those cities. If not for this, it would be impossible for him to reach Marsh City at the border of the Southern Territory in just one month.
Just by flying, with Yang Kai’s current speed and cultivation, it would have taken him several years to fly here. The vastness of the Star Boundary was simply beyond his imagination.
After arriving at Marsh City, Yang Kai did not rush over to the Eastern Territory. Instead, he found himself an inn to settle down in.
Since this was the junction between the Eastern Territory and Southern Territory, not only could the cultivators of the Southern Territory be seen in Marsh City, but also many Eastern Territory cultivators were present as well. Yang Kai stayed here because he wanted to inquire about the general situation in the Eastern Territory, especially about Netherworld Sect. Then, he could spare himself the trouble of searching around in the dark once he entered the Eastern Territory.
Among the cultivators walking in the streets of Marsh City, many of them exuded unruly auras that were evil and violent. Even their looks were fierce and frightening. One could tell at a glance that they were from the Sects of the Eastern Territory.
Moreover, the security situation in Marsh City was absolute chaos. Even though there existed a City Lord’s Mansion with a Master keeping watch, Yang Kai had already seen quite a few fights happening in less than one day of him arriving here. A few people had even died.
Not to mention that such a thing was simply unimaginable in Maplewood City, such a thing would not happen anywhere in the Southern Territory.
While the fights were taking place, Yang Kai could clearly perceive the auras of many Masters around the area, but nobody tried to stop them. It was only after the fights ended that the Masters showed themselves and dragged away all the people involved in the fight. Then, they took off the Space Rings of the cultivators and left their bodies on the streets to rot.
These Masters were obviously from the City Lord’s Mansion. It seemed that it was a good thing for them that the cultivators were fighting. That way, they had an excuse to capture people and make some extra money for themselves.
Yang Kai did not want to cause any trouble, so he thought of hanging around a teahouse or a restaurant for a couple days before departing. Since all sorts of people mingled in these places, he might be able to eavesdrop on some information he needed.
After asking around, Yang Kai began heading towards the largest Delightful Pleasures Teahouse in Marsh City.
In a short while, Yang Kai arrived in front of the teahouse. Looking at it, this teahouse was built to look quite dignified and was five floors high. For such a teahouse to appear in such a chaotic place, it could be seen that the background of this teahouse’s owner definitely couldn’t be small. They may very well be related to the City Lord’s Mansion.
Yang Kai took a step inside and was immediately greeted by a shop hand with enthusiasm.
Yang Kai found a seat on the third floor and asked for a good pot of spirit tea before sitting quietly, listening to the conversations between the guests in the teahouse.
The cultivators patronizing the teahouse were of varying cultivations, but the information that they were inadvertently revealing during their idle conversations was exactly what Yang Kai needed.
After sitting in the teahouse for most of the day, the patrons around him came and went, but Yang Kai did not move at all.
He really did hear a lot of useful information.
Unfortunately, nobody was talking about the Netherworld Sect, to his disappointment. He thought to himself that if he wanted to get information about the Netherworld Sect, then he probably needed to enter the Eastern Territory first.
Just as Yang Kai was about to leave, a sudden and rather strong surge of energy emerged not far away on the opposite side of the street. Someone seemed to be fighting.
Yang Kai was not surprised by this as law and order in Marsh City was in complete chaos, so fights happened from time to time. But this didn’t matter to him as long as he wasn’t targeted by anyone.
The fluctuation happened quickly, but also dissipated quickly. The disparity in strength between both sides seemed quite large. Following that, a delicate figure was kicked out from a medicine store on the opposite side. This figure spat out a mouthful of blood while in mid-air and landed heavily on the ground. Then, they did not get up for a long time. It seemed their injuries were quite severe.
A burly bald-headed man came out from the medicine store soon after, bellowing, “Bitch, you dare to cause trouble at my Endless Treasures Pavilion? This is just a warning, if I see you again, I’ll kill you! Now scram!”
After he finished shouting, the large man glared at the woman sitting on the ground with contempt before walking back into the store.
All the cultivators who walked past seemed to be used to this sight, and nobody went over to show pity for the battered woman. They just thought that she was unlucky to actually have had the guts to start trouble in the Endless Treasures Pavilion, as if the word ‘death’ didn’t exist in her dictionary.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to stick his nose in someone else’s business, but when he took a casual glance at the woman’s face, he couldn’t help but feel surprised, “Xian Yun?”
That woman actually turned out to be Liu Xian Yun!
That same Liu Xian Yun who came with Yin Le Sheng from the Grand Desolation Star Field.
Back then, he and Liu Xian Yun were forced into joining Blue Feather Sect, so they could be considered friends going through the same difficulties. After that, when they escaped the large and ruthless massacre in Blue Feather Sect, Yang Kai was worried that he would drag Liu Xian Yun into his problems, so he parted ways with her after they escaped.
A few years had passed, and Yang Kai had not expected to meet Liu Xian Yun again, let alone at the border of the Southern Territory.
Only, it seemed that Liu Xian Yun wasn’t in the best situation right now. She was only at the First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation and her aura was unstable, clearly having advanced not long ago, the same as Chi Yue and the others. With her injuries from that burly bald-headed man, she was in a pitiful state. Her white clothes were stained red with blood, with a rather striking blotch on her chest.
During their days in Blue Feather Sect, Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun supported each other and formed a friendship. Now that he saw her being bullied by someone, Yang Kai naturally could not sit idly by and do nothing.
As that thought flashed through his mind, Yang Kai had already leapt down from the third floor, landing lightly next to Liu Xian Yun and reaching out towards her.
Seemingly able to feel that someone was reaching for her, Liu Xian Yun’s face changed and instantly swung her hand towards Yang Kai.
“Xian Yun, it’s me!” Yang Kai shouted.
Palm stopping in mid-air, Liu Xian Yun’s tender body trembled. She turned in surprise towards Yang Kai, and when she saw his face, surprise and joy filled her beautiful eyes in an instant, “Senior Brother Yang?”
Both of them entered the Blue Feather Sect at the same time, even if they were forced to do so, so they were indeed considered Senior Brother and Junior Sister.
Yang Kai smiled at her, “The world really is filled with coincidences.”
“Senior Brother Yang, why are you here?” Liu Xian Yun seemed to have forgotten the bullying she received after seeing Yang Kai. She was beaming, and it could be seen that her joy was genuine and came from deep within.
During their time in Blue Feather Sect, Yang Kai had been very kind to her and also gave her many of the Source Crystals he earned from refining Spirit Pills for people. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to meet someone else as nice as him after parting ways with Yang Kai.
For Liu Xian Yun, her best days in the Star Boundary were during their time in the Blue Feather Sect.
“I just happened to pass by, but we can reminisce about old times later. What happened to you?” Yang Kai asked.
Liu Xian Yun’s eyes flashed as she tried her best to smile, “It’s nothing, Senior Brother. Let’s find a place to sit down before we talk.”
Yang Kai responded, “How could it be nothing after you were hit this hard?”
“It’s really nothing, just a little misunderstanding. No need to worry about it, Senior Brother.” Liu Xian Yun was insistent. She was clearly worried that she would involve Yang Kai in her problems, that’s why she wanted to just leave things be and not make a big deal out of it.
She had been in Marsh City for quite a while now and naturally knew how chaotic things were here. She also knew who the one behind this Endless Treasures Pavilion was. Back then, when they parted, both she and Yang Kai were Third-Order Origin Kings, so no matter how good Yang Kai’s aptitude was, it would be impossible for him to grow too strong. Right now, he would at most be at the same level of cultivation as her, so causing trouble here would be the same as courting death.
As she spoke, she took Yang Kai’s arm, intending to take him away from here.
But Yang Kai was unmoved and was persistent to stay, “If you still consider me your Senior Brother, then tell me what happened. A little Endless Treasures Pavilion is nothing in your Senior Brother’s eyes.”
That wasn’t just an unfounded opinion. Earlier, while he was drinking tea at the teahouse, Yang Kai overheard that there was only a single Emperor Realm Master in Marsh City, and that was Marsh City’s City Lord, who was only a First-Order Emperor. With just one Master like that, Yang Kai really didn’t have anything to be afraid of.
No matter who it was behind this Endless Treasures Pavilion, they couldn’t be more powerful than the City Lord.
With his current strength, Yang Kai could definitely take on a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, and that was without even counting Liu Yan and Xiao Bai. If Xiao Bai were to fully display his strength, he would also be at the level of a First-Order Emperor.
Yang Kai was prepared to ignore Marsh City’s City Lord, but if the latter did end up provoking him, Yang Kai didn’t mind turning the entire city upside down.
Liu Xian Yun was stunned in place as she stared at Yang Kai in astonishment, wondering where he had gotten his confidence from. At that moment, she thought of checking Yang Kai’s cultivation, but when her Divine Sense swept over him, she was shocked to find that the aura inside Yang Kai’s body turned out to be a blur. In other words, she couldn’t see how strong Yang Kai was.
Liu Xian Yun was completely dumbfounded.
When she parted ways with Yang Kai, both of them had similar cultivations. They had only parted for a few years, but now she couldn’t even detect Yang Kai’s cultivation, which showed how great the disparity between them was.
“Rest assured, I won’t do anything rash, but I have to stand up for you regardless.” Yang Kai smiled.
Liu Xian Yun pursed her red lips. She knew she should refuse Yang Kai’s offer, but she still felt touched so she explained, “I came here to sell something, but the price the Endless Treasures Pavilion offered me was too low. I didn’t want to sell, but they forced me to sell no matter what.”
“They’re snatching things by force? How dare they!” Yang Kai’s face sank as he asked, “What were you trying to sell?”
“I’m not sure either. It was a spirit flower that I came across by chance.” Liu Xian Yun looked ashamed. She didn’t even know what she was selling, she just thought that the price the Endless Treasures Pavilion gave her was too low, so she wasn’t willing to sell it. But she didn’t expect that they wouldn’t return the item at all, and when she argued with them, they ended up attacking her directly and throwing her out.
“What price did they offer you?”
“Ten thousand Low-Rank Source Crystals,” Liu Xian Yun said softly.
Yang Kai nodded, “Come with me!”
Then, he brought Liu Xian Yun into the Endless Treasures Pavilion.
After the two of them stepped into Endless Treasures Pavilion, the young shop-hand at the counter immediately came over to greet them with enthusiasm, but once he saw Liu Xian Yun next to Yang Kai, the smile on his face disappeared. He looked coldly at Liu Xian Yun and snapped, “Why are you here again, you tramp?”
The boy seemed to only be a First-Order Origin King, but he wasn’t pressured at all in front of a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator like Liu Xian Yun. Instead, he cursed her directly, obviously not putting her in his eyes thanks to his background.
After scolding her, he sneered contemptuously at Yang Kai, “And you even brought your toy over? You clearly have a death wish.”
*Pa…*
A crisp sound rang out as soon as the boy finished speaking as Yang Kai sent a slap across his face. For someone whose cultivation was so far below Yang Kai’s, how could he avoid that slap? The shop hand didn’t even realize what had happened when he felt the huge sting on his cheek, sending his entire person flying.
While his body was still in mid-air, several more consecutive hits rang out. Yang Kai was chasing him over with one slap after another.
He could tell at a glance that this boy was a bully who looked down on others by using his background, cursing others without even a blink. How could Yang Kai give him any face?
After sending out a dozen slaps, even though Yang Kai did not use much strength, the shop handbald was still left dizzy. After he landed on the ground, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Even his teeth had all been beaten off his mouth.
When Yang Kai struck the boy, the cultivators walking past Endless Treasures Pavilion had all seen it, and they were all dumbfounded, looking inside in astonishment, thinking, [What sort of idiot dares to hit anyone in the Endless Treasures Pavilion? They probably won’t get to see the sun tomorrow anymore.]
It was human nature for people to gather and watch when something interesting happened, so many cultivators appeared in front of Endless Treasure Pavilion’s door in an instant, all of them were looking in to see how Yang Kai and his company would end up dead.
Liu Xian Yun was also stunned. Even though Yang Kai just told her that the Endless Treasures Pavilion was nothing to him, and she also knew that Yang Kai’s strength was definitely not bad, she didn’t expect him to start hitting someone as soon as he walked in.
If she had known this would happen, then Liu Xian Yun would never have let Yang Kai come here no matter what.
Even if the one Yang Kai had beaten was just a young servant manning the counter, he belonged to Endless Treasures Pavilion in the end. For him to be slapped more than a dozen times across the face in front of the public was no different than Yang Kai slapping the face of Endless Treasures Pavilion.
And how could Endless Treasures Pavilion just take this sitting down?
Instantly, Liu Xian Yun became as anxious as an ant on a hot wok. She felt that she had dragged Yang Kai into trouble and felt guilty. All she wanted to do now was drag Yang Kai out of here, the further the better.
Seemingly able to sense her unease, Yang Kai reached his hand out to squeeze her palm, smiling, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother can handle it.”
Liu Xian Yun looked at his bright and confident smile in a daze. For some reason, her heart settled down in an instant…
“Who dares cause a stir in the Endless Treasures Pavilion?!” A voice howled across the room from the back hall, followed by the appearance of the burly bald-headed man who injured Liu Xian Yun previously. His iron pagoda-like body gave off a strong oppressive feeling, and the aura emanating from his body was extremely fierce.
As soon as the boy who was beaten silly saw the man come out, it was as if he found his backbone and stumbled towards the man. Hand on his cheek, he shouted, “Sir Deacon, you must seek justice for this lowly one! That man began hitting me indiscriminately as soon as he stepped in. This lowly one was weak and unable to resist. All this one’s teeth had been knocked out by him. Look! Look at how pitiful this lowly one is!”
He sobbed unceasingly. With blood still pouring down from the corner of his mouth, he was indeed a pitiful sight. Anyone who did not know the full story would feel sorry for him if they saw this too.
Only, Yang Kai barely used any force, so while the shop-hand’s injuries looked terrible, they weren’t serious at all. If Yang Kai hadn’t held back, there was no way this shop-hand would be as lively as this.
“You dare act unruly in my Endless Treasures Pavilion, Little Brat? You court death!” The burly bald-headed man’s sharp eyes instantly went to Yang Kai as he barked viciously at him. Then, looking over, he saw Liu Xian Yun standing next to him and seemed to understand something. Sneering, he taunted, “I was wondering what happened, so you’ve brought a little helper over, have you?”
While speaking, he glanced derisively at Yang Kai, “Little Brat, this King does not know what benefits this woman is offering you to get you to step up for her, but you’ve made a big mistake coming here.”
With a wave of his hand, the door of Endless Treasures Pavilion banged shut. Following that, four Dao Source Realm cultivators came out from different directions, surrounding Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun.
This all happened so abruptly that Liu Xian Yun’s beautiful face couldn’t help paling as she subconsciously leaned over to Yang Kai’s side as if to seek a sense of security. Lifting her head to look at Yang Kai though, she could see that he was completely indifferent, as if what was happening right now did not concern him in the slightest.
Infected by his confidence, Liu Xian Yun also calmed down all of a sudden.
“Trying to bully people with numbers?” An amused smile appeared at the corners of Yang Kai’s mouth as he looked around, sweeping his Divine Sense over the four Dao Source Realm cultivators and quickly discovering they were all just First-Orders. As for the burly bald-headed man, he was merely at the Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
Who knew where the man got the courage to shut the door, but from the looks of it, he was just trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes and keep Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun here forever.
Hearing Yang Kai’s taunting, the burly bald-headed man only coldly snorted before his cold eyes turned to Liu Xian Yun, “I never planned to do anything to you, but since you can’t appreciate kindness and took the initiative to come back, then don’t blame this King for being ruthless. This King just happened to be lacking someone to warm his bed and your looks are not bad. Obediently kneel in front of this King and you’ll suffer less pain!”
Liu Xian Yun was instantly shaking with anger as she grit her teeth and snapped, “In your dreams!”
This shameless person not only scammed her of her spirit flower and injured her, but now he was even coveting her beauty. How could Liu Xian Yun endure being asked to beg for a man’s pleasure? She was still a rather commanding character in the Grand Desolation Star Field, but even though her status was lowered after coming to the Star Boundary, she still had self-respect.
“Since you refuse a toast, you must drink a loss!” The burly bald-headed man clearly wasn’t the example of patience. When Liu Xian Yun refused him, he waved his hand and said, “Kill the man and capture the woman! Why don’t you open your eyes and see where you are? You actually dare to stir trouble here? You don’t know what you’re in for!”
The four Dao Source Realm cultivators gathered around Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun acted at the same time, all releasing their Secret Techniques. They were all aiming for Yang Kai, murderous intent pouring out, and clearly didn’t plan to hold back, ready to kill Yang Kai as the man instructed.
Endless Treasures Pavilion had a strong backer, so what would they have to worry about killing a few people? It was just a pity that this little brat had eyes but failed to see and came here to cause trouble.
But the four of them soon realized that something was wrong.
The instant they began to move, the air turned heavy in the entire Endless Treasures Pavilion. An indescribably force enveloped the crowd, making it feel as if they had fallen into a mire.
These four Dao Source Realm men weren’t the strongest, but they still more or less had some insight into Principle Strength after advancing to this realm.
They immediately knew that the power restricting their movements and making it feel as if they were being weighed down by a mountain, making it hard to breathe, and even interrupting the flow of their Source Qi, was extremely profound Principle Strength.
The faces of the four men changed dramatically as they desperately tried to break free of this pressure, unfortunately achieving nothing for their efforts.
Yang Kai sneered and released a Golden Blood Thread. In a flash of gold, it garrotted the four men.
*Chi chi chi…*
After a strange noise, the golden light disappeared. The Principle Strength that filled Endless Treasures Pavilion also disappeared at the same time.
But the four Dao Source realm cultivators that attacked Yang Kai were standing still as if they had been immobilized. Their eyes were filled with fear and disbelief.
A short while later, one man’s body suddenly collapsed, falling to pieces on the ground as if he had been cut into countless slivers. Blood and flesh splashed all over the floor.
*Hualala…*
The other three also broke into pieces. In an instant, a disgusting stench of blood filled the air.
“Ah!” The burly bald-headed man clearly did not expect Yang Kai to be so merciless. He thought that since Liu Xian Yun was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, the helper she found wouldn’t be anything to look at either, so he did not plan to take action himself. But now, he knew he was very wrong.
Those four were First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators, and it took much effort for Endless Treasures Pavilion to nurture them, yet they were completely wiped out by their opponent in one move.
How could strength like this be something he could contend with?
The shop hand was even worse off. He was originally standing next to the burly bald-headed man like a fox exploiting the tiger’s might. He had his eyes wide open, wanting to see them kill Yang Kai off in order to vent his anger; however, what he saw was very different from what he expected. His eyes actually rolled back and he fainted directly.
“You… You actually dare to kill in my Endless Treasures Pavilion?” The burly bald-headed man’s face was miserably pale. After realizing that he was definitely not Yang Kai’s opponent, the blood in his body ran cold, and he was no longer throwing his weight around like before.
“What a joke. They wanted to kill me, so of course I’m going to kill them!” Yang Kai laughed coldly and stared sharply at the burly bald-headed man, “Now, it’s your turn.”
When he heard that, the man knew that things were bad. He suddenly formed seals with his hand and a layer of crimson light enveloped his body. At the same time, he spat out a mouthful of Blood Essence. He seemed to have performed some sort of profound Secret Technique. His body shot back like an arrow, wanting to escape this place while he shouted, “Head Shopkeeper, save me!”
“Not even the King of Heaven can save you now!” Yang Kai coldly snorted. He was clearly standing in place without moving, but he had already arrived in front of the burly bald-headed man in the blink of an eye. Sticking to him, he had a cold and harsh look in his eyes.
The burly bald-headed man felt as if he’d lost his soul. With his Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, he was actually unable to see how Yang Kai had appeared in front of him, and he understood the disparity in strength between the two of them even more now. His face couldn’t help but turn ashen and he hated himself for not checking Yang Kai’s cultivation before acting. Now that he had completely provoked the other party, he probably wouldn’t live past the day.
“Stop!” A stern voice suddenly emerged from the rear, followed by a peak Dao Source Realm aura that pressed towards Yang Kai.
In the next moment, an old man with an all-white beard came into Yang Kai’s sight. He seemed to have rushed over from the back hall after hearing the burly bald-headed man’s cry for help.
Before he arrived, the old man had already stuck his hand out towards Yang Kai’s head, trying to force him to withdraw.
The burly bald-headed man was overjoyed and shouted even louder, “Head Shopkeeper, help!”
He thought that he must be safe now with the Head Shopkeeper himself coming out; after all, the Head Shopkeeper was a peak Dao Source Realm cultivator. This young man coming in here to cause trouble may be powerful, but he was definitely not an Emperor, that much he could still detect. With the might of the Head Shopkeeper, he would definitely be able to save him.
Yang Kai glanced at the old man with contempt and casually struck his palm out, forming a solid palm print that flew straight out to meet the old man’s attack.
At the same time, Yang Kai struck his other hand towards the chest of the burly bald-headed man.
The man’s face suddenly changed and his original joyful mood turned cold in an instant. Shocked, he asked, “What are you trying to do?”
But before he could finish speaking, he could feel violent Source Qi running through his body, cutting up his meridians like a sharp blade and wreaking havoc on his dantian. That gut-churning pain was simply unbearable and he cried out in terror.
*Hong…*
A sound erupted as Yang Kai’s palm print collided with the old man’s palm. Yang Kai borrowed the force of the impact to back up slightly, landing next to Liu Xian Yun with a calm look on his face.
On the contrary, not only did the face of the old man change after he felt Yang Kai’s power, his hand posture changed several times before he could dissolve that force. After landing on the ground, he still stumbled back several steps.
With a bang, the burly bald-headed man landed right at his feet.
“Cough…” The burly bald-headed man coughed hard, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Then, his face turned grey and he looked at Yang Kai with incomparable hatred, “How dare you waste my cultivation!?”
At this moment, his meridians had been destroyed and his dantian was shattered. All his cultivation had dispersed. Even though such an injury was not incurable, he would need extremely precious elixirs to recover. Even without mentioning how extremely rare such elixirs were, he would not be able to afford to buy them even if he could find them.
“You dared to hurt my Junior Sister, so what’s so strange about me wasting your cultivation?” Yang Kai looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot.
“Why don’t you just kill me?!” The burly bald-headed man howled.
Yang Kai laughed coldly, “Wouldn’t that have been too nice of me if I just killed you?”
The burly bald-headed man’s face became even paler. He knew Yang Kai was right. Death would have been a relief for him. The abolishment of one’s cultivation was the cruellest punishment one could inflict upon any cultivator.
“For this sir to act so ruthlessly, may I know what my Endless Treasures Pavilion has done to offend you?” The Head Shopkeeper’s eyes were dark, and he shouted through gritted teeth in fear of Yang Kai’s mercilessness.
This young man killed four Dao Source Realm cultivators and wasted the cultivation of the burly bald-headed man as soon as he arrived. With how cruel and decisive his actions were, the Head Shopkeeper knew they couldn’t settle things nicely, but even though Yang Kai was strong, he wasn’t very afraid of him. As the saying goes, even the mighty dragon can not suppress the native serpent. Every single person in Marsh City had to give face to their Endless Treasures Pavilion.
“You have not offended me, but you have offended my Junior Sister.” Yang Kai looked coldly at the Head Shopkeeper and the corners of his lips rose up, continuing, “Don’t tell me you know nothing about this. Hand over what you stole or you’ll end up the same as him!” While speaking, Yang Kai pointed a finger at the burly bald-headed man.
The Head Shopkeeper’s face changed. He originally thought that he could delay Yang Kai until reinforcements arrived. Once they did, Yang Kai would be forced to pay for what he had done to the Endless Treasures Pavilion a hundred times over. Only, he didn’t expect that Yang Kai wouldn’t even give him that opportunity. From his words, Yang Kai clearly wasn’t going to give him any breathing time at all.
“Does sir know what place our Endless Treasures Pavilion is, and who stands behind it? You dare shout like that here?” The Head Shopkeeper had lived for so many years and had a peak Dao Source Realm cultivation himself, so he couldn’t be intimidated by a few words from Yang Kai.
“I see you’ve made your choice. In that case, please don’t blame this Young Master for being ruthless!” Yang Kai coldly snorted. It was clear what this old man was trying to do, but Yang Kai wasn’t afraid in the slightest. That was why he didn’t bother talking nonsense with him. After he spoke, Yang Kai’s body teleported right in front of the old man using Space Principles. Suddenly, in a circle spanning several tens of metres, the space turned solid.
The Head Shopkeeper was mortified, and dense sweat droplets formed on his forehead. Even with his strength and his vision, he was unable to see how Yang Kai suddenly appeared in front of him. He realized now that he had truly kicked an iron plate. Feeling the condensed space around him, he pushed his Source Qi wildly and with a horrified look shouted, “Endless Treasures Pavilion is the private property of Sir City Lord. Since you dare to be unruly here, then don’t even think about leaving Marsh City alive!”
When it came to this, he didn’t have the leisure to posture anymore. He tossed out his backer’s name directly, hoping that Yang Kai could exercise caution lest innocents be hurt. After all, the City Lord in Marsh City was a powerful man, and also the only Emperor Realm Master here.
But unexpectedly, Yang Kai wasn’t moved at all. He couldn’t see a single fluctuation of emotions in his eyes as if he had already expected it.
[This little brat is mad!] The old man was horrified. He still dared to act so wantonly even after knowing that the City Lord was behind him. Didn’t that mean that he wasn’t afraid of Sir City Lord? What a joke that he tried to use the City Lord’s name to pressure the boy but it backfired on him instead.
The space around him was so condensed now that the old man could not move an inch. It felt like his meridians were blocked and the flow of his Source Qi was interrupted. In haste, he had no choice but to bite the tip of his tongue and spit out a mouthful of Blood Essence, summoning a huge pair of golden blades to cut in Yang Kai’s direction.
The golden blades were of a considerable grade and emitted the aura of a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact. There was also a mysterious force behind this strike that cut a rift through the frozen space.
The old man was finally relieved of the pressure and his Source Qi began flowing smoothly in his meridians again.
But before he could do anything, a faint golden light had already spread out before his eyes.
He subconsciously looked up at Yang Kai, only to see that the latter’s left eye was shining gold. What’s more, the pupil of that left eye had also become an awe-inspiring vertical slit. An intimidating power was fluctuating inside it, and just looking at this eye caused the old man to feel panicked.
In the next moment, a lotus flower bud that was about to bloom suddenly shot out from the golden slit, the light growing brighter.
The old man froze in place as if he had been struck by lightning. His vision was filled with nothing but the lotus bud, as if it was the only thing left in this world. Under his gaze, the pure white lotus quickly bloomed.
As the lotus flower blossomed, the old man felt his Spiritual Energy rapidly being drained, and pain filled his head, like ten thousand ants were gnawing at his Soul.
[Not good, this is a Soul Secret Technique!] The old man came back to his senses with a start, but there was nothing he could do. The young man’s Spiritual Energy seemed to be much stronger than his own, and this inexplicable lotus Secret Technique had already devoured a massive amount of his Spiritual Energy in just a short amount of time, causing his whole body to weaken as a horrified look appeared on the old man’s face.
A sharp pain washed over him, the stimulation quickly jerking the old man awake. Looking over, he saw that his arm had been chopped straight off. Blood was spurting out from the wound and pouring out onto the ground.
The face of the young man turned serious. Lightly reaching out his palm, he pressed it against the old man’s chest.
Thinking back to what he saw happen to the burly bald-headed man when he was observing them in the shadows previously, combined with Yang Kai’s words, how could the old man not know what Yang Kai intended to do?
He was really going to waste his cultivation!
The old man shivered fiercely as he shouted with all his might, “No! We can talk things through. This Old Master can grant you anything you want!”
*Peng…*
Yang Kai’s palm still pressed down, seemingly pushing the old man’s chest down a finger’s length, causing him to spit out blood and fly backwards towards the counter miserably. The old man landed heavily on the ground, and like the burly bald-headed man, Yang Kai’s strike had crushed his dantian, broken his meridians, and wasted his cultivation.
“You didn’t cherish the opportunity when I was willing to talk, so there’s no need for you to talk anymore.” Yang Kai didn’t even look at the old man and just reached out to grab the Space Ring from his severed arm, tossing it to Liu Xian Yun, “See if what you’re looking for is in the ring.”
Liu Xian Yun caught it subconsciously, but she clearly hadn’t recovered from the shock yet. She looked bewildered at Yang Kai and could not understand how he could actually become so powerful after they parted for just a few years.
The four First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators being instantly killed by him was one thing, but the burly bald-headed man and the Head Shopkeeper were not your usual Dao Source Realm Masters. But these two were just like mere children in front of Yang Kai, having no power to fight back while they were being pummeled. Their cultivations were practically wasted in just one move from Yang Kai.
Thinking back to when the two of them were forced into joining the Blue Feather Sect and only surviving under Bian Yu Qing’s wing, Liu Xian Yun simply couldn’t believe the man before her was the same person.
“Senior Brother… Have you broken through to the Emperor Realm?” Liu Xian Yun asked in a dumbfounded voice.
“Not yet.” Yang Kai smiled.
Liu Xian Yun was even more shocked now. That he could be so vicious before even reaching the Emperor Realm, then what would he be like once he broke through?
She could still be considered a powerhouse in the Grand Desolation Star Field and a genius rarely seen once every thousand years, but compared to Yang Kai now, she felt that her own cultivation aptitude was simply poor.
“So, is it there?” Yang Kai asked again.
Only then did Liu Xian Yun scramble to look through the Space Ring. After a short while, she took out a jade box from the Space Ring and smiled, “It’s still here!”
The jade box was where she put the spirit flower before this, and the seal she had personally put over the box had not been removed yet. From the looks of it, the Head Shopkeeper hadn’t had the opportunity to open it yet after stealing it.
“You should keep the ring, too. Take it as the Head Shopkeeper’s compensation to you.” Yang Kai sneered, “I’m sure the Head Shopkeeper isn’t a stingy man, after all.”
When the Head Shopkeeper, whose aura had withered at the counter, heard this, he almost choked on his breath and fell dead on the spot.
There were plenty of good things in his ring. The Endless Treasures Pavilion was able to acquire some precious treasure, even some that they were planning to sell soon, as well as items not suitable to lay out in the open. It was not too much to say that his Space Ring was worth quite a lot of money.
Right now, Yang Kai robbed him of his ring with just one sentence. The Head Shopkeeper could almost feel his heart bleeding, but with his current condition, he didn’t have the strength to resist even if he wanted to.
“Is this… really okay?” Liu Xian Yun had never done this sort of thing before and could not accept it for some time. It felt like her own morals and bottom line were being challenged.
“There’s nothing wrong about it,” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “There’s no telling how much of the stuff in that ring was taken by force. If they can rob others, why can’t they be robbed as well?”
“Then… Alright.” Liu Xian Yun happily put away the Space Ring without any more psychological pressure.
It did make sense to her. If she had not bumped into Yang Kai today, she would have been robbed. That alone was enough, but she was even beaten by them. This group of people from Endless Treasures Pavilion bullied the weak in Marsh City and had definitely done a lot of nefarious deeds over the years. There was really no reason to feel pressured robbing this kind of scum. She could just take it as righting a wrong under Heaven’s decree.
“Little brat, you have guts, but you’re definitely not destined to live through tomorrow. The City Lord will not let you go.” Currently, the Head Shopkeeper’s cultivation was completely ruined so there was nothing for him to be afraid of anymore. Looking at Yang Kai in hatred, he spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, “When that time comes, this Old Master will eat your flesh bite by bite!”
Hearing this, Liu Xian Yun’s face changed, her voice trembling as she said, “Senior Brother, let’s get out of here quickly or it’ll be too late. Marsh City’s City Lord is an Emperor Realm Master. He’s not someone we can mess with.”
But Yang Kai just glanced contemptuously at the old man, “That Pang Guang won’t come and provoke me. If he dares to come, this Young Master doesn’t mind seeing him off into the next world as well!”
The old man was stunned.
Pang Guang was the City Lord of Marsh City that he spoke of, and also the only Emperor Realm cultivator in the city. He thought that Yang Kai would definitely be afraid of him, but from his tone, it seemed he didn’t put the City Lord in his eyes at all.
[Where on earth does this little brat come from? How dare he boast so shamelessly!]
In his mind, the old man felt that no one would be able to avenge him. In other words, he was humiliated and had his cultivation wasted for nothing. In the future, the only thing he could do was drag out a feeble existence. He might as well be dead!
Under the stimulation, the old man spat out another mouthful of blood and his aura dropped even further.
“Let’s go,” Yang Kai turned around and smiled at Liu Xian Yun, taking the lead in walking out. After opening the door, he found that cultivators were standing on both sides of the street and even on the rooftops, all of them looking towards the Endless Treasures Pavilion.
Many people saw Yang Kai bringing Liu Xian Yun into Endless Treasures Pavilion, and these cultivators had nothing to do so they naturally wanted to watch the fun. Then, when the door was shut by the burly bald-headed man, they couldn’t see the situation inside anymore.
Even though they couldn’t see inside, the violent energy fluctuations and the banging noises going back and forth inside were not fake.
During this short period of time, the number of cultivators gathering to watch the action had already gone up to several thousand.
When Yang Kai opened the door at this moment and came out, he was immediately greeted by several thousand pairs of eyes.
None of them could believe what they were seeing though. They all thought that Yang Kai did not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and actually dared to stir trouble in Marsh City’s Endless Treasures Pavilion. Wasn’t that courting death? Without even mentioning the Endless Treasures Pavilion’s backer, the City Lord, the cultivators in Endless Treasures Pavilion themselves were extremely strong. The Head Shopkeeper was even at peak Dao Source Realm. If he were not too old, affecting his meridians and his body, then this old man would definitely have the qualifications to break through to the Emperor Realm.
They thought that Yang Kai was definitely going to eat a big loss this time.
But they were taken aback at the scene before them.
Yang Kai walked out of the Endless Treasures Pavilion unharmed and without even a wrinkle on his clothes. On the other hand, there were several corpses lying inside Endless Treasures Pavilion with blood splattered everywhere. As for the burly bald-headed man and the Endless Treasures Pavilion’s Head Shopkeeper, they were pale-faced with shrivelled auras. One could tell at a glance that their cultivations had been crippled.
A chorus of gasps could be heard and the looks in many cultivators’ eyes finally changed as they looked at Yang Kai. They realized that this young man was definitely not someone to be messed with, and there was even a high possibility that he was an Emperor.
After all, how long had he been in there? To be able to turn Endless Treasures Pavilion into such a mess in just several dozen breaths of time, how could he have such power if he were not an Emperor?
When Yang Kai walked out, the cultivators gathered close by could not help but step backwards, eyes filled with fear.
Yang Kai swept a cold glance around and coldly snorted, not paying them any mind. He just brought Liu Xian Yun over to the teahouse opposite the street, going back to that table on the third floor, then ordering another pot of spirit tea.
He caused a huge ruckus in Endless Treasures Pavilion and both injured and killed their men, but he did not escape. Instead, he just went into the teahouse opposite the building to drink tea. The people who were gathered there to watch the show were all looking at him in disbelief.
They all secretly admired Yang Kai’s fearlessness and felt that he was either strong enough to have no fear of Pang Guang, or had a strong enough background that would put Pang Guang on guard.
But as they were unrelated to Yang Kai, they couldn’t be bothered to care about all that. Instead, the open doors of the Endless Treasure Pavilion were of greater interest to these cultivators right now.
The cultivators in Marsh City were basically the gruff type that value human life as little as grass. Naturally, they wouldn’t care who was right or wrong in this situation. However, since the spirit grasses, medicines, and other precious treasures in Endless Treasures Pavilion were unguarded right now, it was a good opportunity for them.
Even though Endless Treasures Pavilion was the property of Pang Guang, men die for wealth and birds die for food. When it comes to this, some people will eventually feel their hearts itch.
After a moment of silence, a figure suddenly leapt out from the crowd, rushing straight into Endless Treasures Pavilion and sweeping all the spirit grasses and medicines on the shelves into his Space Ring.
Seeing this, how could the others stay still? The cultivators flooding into the Endless Treasures Pavilion to rob them while they were down were as many as carps crossing the river. In just a short while, Endless Treasures Pavilion had been swept clean. Anything that was worth something had disappeared, and with the things gone, the cultivators also quickly scattered and disappeared.
Upstairs in the teahouse, Yang Kai watched the sight indifferently; however, he did have some insight into how the cultivators were here in Marsh City now.
“Senior Brother…” Liu Xian Yun felt uneasy as if she were sitting on pins and needles, “I think we better go…”
It wasn’t that she wasn’t confident in Yang Kai’s abilities, but a huge situation had erupted and she was the cause of it all. She didn’t want to provoke any stronger enemies for Yang Kai.
“No need.” Yang Kai smiled and poured her a cup of spiritual tea, “This place is a mess, how did you end up here?”
He was still quite curious about Liu Xian Yun’s situation after not seeing her for several years. After they fled from Blue Feather Sect, he gave the bigger half of his belongings to Liu Xian Yun at the time and the two went off into different directions. After that, Yang Kai went to Maplewood City, working hard till now. He didn’t expect to be able to bump into Liu Xian Yun while passing by Marsh City this time.
“I’ve been here many years now.” Liu Xian Yun smiled bitterly and briefly told him about her situation during these past few years.
In fact, there was nothing much to tell.
After parting with Yang Kai, she had been roaming around the Southern Territory like a fly without a head. It wasn’t until she arrived at Marsh City that she settled down. Even though Marsh City was chaotic, there were many places nearby that were suitable for her to train.
She was able to look for some cultivational resources in those places, and after a few years, though she lived a hard life, she still managed to break through to the Dao Source Realm.
Some days ago, she found a spirit flower in a place nearby called the Solitary Void Mountain Range, so she thought of bringing it back to sell for some Source Crystals. She thought that the Endless Treasures Pavilion would be a good place to pawn the spirit flower since it was backed by the City Lord, but she didn’t expect them to offer her only ten thousand Low-Rank Source Crystals after they saw what she was offering.
Even though Liu Xian Yun had no idea what the spirit flower she found was, or what it was used for, she had a feeling that it was definitely worth more than just a few Source Crystals, so how could she be willing to sell? After trying to bargain with them, they even put their hands on her, and Yang Kai knew what happened next.
“Senior Brother, you should take this spirit flower. I don’t know what it is anyway.” While speaking, Liu Xian Yun handed the jade box to Yang Kai.
“Let me see.” Yang Kai took it and unsealed the box, opening it up a slit.
In a flash, a fresh fragrance spilled out from the box. When the smell entered his nose, Yang Kai felt invigorated and his Knowledge Sea also cleared up considerably.
With a clang, Yang Kai quickly shut the jade box, face filled with disbelief.
Soul Warming Lotus?
Even though he had only opened the jade box a crack, his Divine Sense could see the spirit flower laying inside that looked like his Soul Warming Lotus. Only, it wasn’t as colourful. Instead, it was pure white. The aura that came out of it was somewhat similar to the Soul Warming Lotus, as if it were a Soul Warming Lotus that had been shrunken a dozen times.
No! This isn’t a Soul Warming Lotus! It was said that the Soul Warming Lotus was a supreme treasure in this world. Just like the Immortal Tree, only one existed in the world. There was definitely no other.
“Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus?” Yang Kai suddenly remembered the information recorded on the jade slip left behind by Wondrous Pill Great Emperor’s third disciple, Gong Sun Mu, and immediately realized what this spirit medicine was.
This was clearly the legendary Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus!
The Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus was not as precious as the Soul Warming Lotus, but it was still a legendary item. Just like the Flesh Incarnation Fruit, it was an extinct treasure.
The Pristine Soul Restoring Heavenly Pill was refined with the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus as its primary ingredient. Even though it did not have the effect of raising the dead, it was still able to repair the broken meridians and dantian of a cultivator. It was definitely a divine treasure.
Take the burly bald-headed man and the Head Shopkeeper of Endless Treasures Pavilion for example. Even though their cultivations were crippled by Yang Kai, if they took a Heavenly Restoration Pill, it would take less than three months before their broken meridians and dantian would become as good as new.
But this thing only existed in the legends, and it had not appeared in public in thousands of years.
Who knew what sort of problems those people from the Endless Treasures Pavilion had in their heads when they tried to buy this Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus by force for just ten thousand Low-Rank Source Crystals! Ten thousand trivial Low-Rank Source Crystals weren’t even enough to sniff this Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus’s aura.
The people at Endless Treasures Pavilion may not have recognized the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus, but they definitely knew this was worth a lot of money. If they really tried to pay for it fairly, they may not have been able to afford it, so they simply stole it instead.
The Pristine Soul Restoring Heavenly Pill’s medicinal effects did not just stop at repairing the meridians and dantian. It had other special uses too.
In any case, the Pristine Soul Restoring Heavenly Pill’s worth was definitely invaluable.
Yang Kai also did not expect Liu Xian Yun to have such fortune to obtain such a divine treasure.
“Junior Sister, do you remember where you got this spirit flower from?” Yang Kai lowered his voice.
“Deep inside the Solitary Void Mountain Range…” A hint of fear rose up in Liu Xian Yun as she recalled her time there, “I was chased by a Monster Beast and was only able to escape it by running through random paths. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone there myself. I heard that the deepest part of the Solitary Void Mountain Range is a place where even an Emperor Realm Master would not be able to return safely from once they went in. So, it was all thanks to luck that I was able to make it out this time.”
“If I asked you to go there again, would you be able to find the right path?”
“Go there again?” Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face paled a little and she asked, “To do what?”
It was absolutely thanks to luck that she was able to escape safely last time. If she were to go again, Liu Xian Yun didn’t have the slightest confidence that she could escape alive, so she had no idea why Yang Kai wanted to take such a risk.
“Because…” Yang Kai was just about to explain to her the reason, but before he could finish, he suddenly frowned and looked downstairs.
He could see, standing in front of the door of Endless Treasures Pavilion, a middle-aged man dressed in a luxurious robe with a dark look on his face. The man had an extraordinary air about him and was, impressively, an Emperor Realm Master. He seemed to have sensed Yang Kai’s gaze and looked over in an instant, eyes as sharp as that of a hawk’s.
“It’s Pang Guang!” Liu Xian Yun also saw the middle-aged man and immediately cried out in panic.
Having been in Marsh City for so many years, she naturally knew very well what Pang Guang looked like. When she saw him come here in person, she knew they were in big trouble.
She had no idea how Yang Kai could be so confident as to stay, but an Emperor Realm Master clearly wasn’t someone who was easy to deal with.
On the other side, Pang Guang suddenly moved, disappearing in an instant.
By the time he reappeared, he had already arrived on the third floor of the teahouse, standing in front of Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun.
Liu Xian Yun was so shocked that she screamed, blood draining from her face in an instant.
“Were you two the ones who were stirring up trouble in Endless Treasures Pavilion earlier?” Pang Guang went straight to the point and coldly questioned Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun. He had clearly learned of the appearances of the troublemakers through some unknown means.
Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face paled and she did not dare to answer.
She was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator and she had just broken through recently. Her realm wasn’t even consolidated yet. Naturally, facing an Emperor Realm Master felt as stressful as if a mountain was piled on top of her.
But Yang Kai was calm and unperturbed, only giving Pang Guang a simple glance.
Compared to Qiu Ze, Pang Guang’s aura was undoubtedly stronger and more powerful. He was very clearly stronger than Qiu Ze, but his power was limited. With Yang Kai’s strengths and means, there was no need for him to fear him.
When neither of them answered, Pang Guang bellowed at once, “You dare stay silent when this King questions you?”
His Emperor Pressure suddenly poured out, filling the entire teahouse. The faces of the other cultivators who were still drinking tea changed, going completely stiff. The murderous intent that was as dense as if it was material instantly sent shivers down their spines when it seeped into their skin and bones. They cursed Yang Kai for not knowing the immensity of Heaven and Earth, acting so wantonly in front of the City Lord and even dragging them into it.
With a gentle wave of Yang Kai’s hand though, it was as if a sharp sword had cut through the dim sky and the Emperor Pressure enveloping him and Liu Xian Yun dissipated instantly, feeling as if the clouds had cleared to reveal clear skies.
Pang Guang was shocked. Only then did he begin re-examining Yang Kai.
He could clearly sense that Yang Kai was only at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, but then how could he disperse his Emperor Pressure with just a wave of his hand? Even though it was just one move, Pang Guang didn’t dare to underestimate Yang Kai anymore. He knew that if this young man could make a big mess of his Endless Treasures Pavilion and had the guts to sit here, it meant he probably had something to rely on.
[Does this guy come from some top Sect? If not, how could he have such heritage?]
He had heard that the elite disciples of those top Sects had the strength to fight above their realm. If this young man really did come from one of those top Sects, then things were going to be tricky today.
At that moment, Pang Guang suddenly felt some uncertainty well up in his heart. For a City Lord to have an establishment under his name be turned upside down with his subordinates killed or injured, where was he going to put his face if the other party wouldn’t give him a satisfactory answer?
But if this man had a strong background, he may not necessarily be able to provoke him. Don’t look at how Pang Guang lorded over Marsh City, he really wasn’t anything in the eyes of those top Sects. If anything happened, those people could just send one of their Elders over and they would be able to destroy him several dozen to a hundred times over.
As he was still thinking about how he was going to solve today’s problem without offending too many people while still maintaining his reputation, he suddenly sensed something different around him.
Shocked, he turned his head around, only to see that an elderly man had somehow appeared beside him at some point. This old man had a head of white hair but he looked quite hale and hearty. Dressed in grey linen robes, the man looked completely inconspicuous.
[When did this old thing appear?]
Pang Guang was astonished. He was only thinking about Yang Kai earlier and completely did not notice when this elderly man appeared. And, this man’s face was also extremely unfamiliar to him. He had clearly never met this person before.
Yang Kai was also taken aback by the old man’s sudden appearance.
Pang Guang was distracted earlier and didn’t pay much attention to the old man’s sudden appearance, but Yang Kai saw the whole thing.
This elderly man appeared completely without warning, as if he simply materialized out of thin air in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai steadied his thoughts and quietly released his Divine Sense to check the old man’s cultivation. Much to his surprise, it was like his Divine Sense was trying to probe an endless ocean, sinking in and disappearing without a trace.
This old man… turned out to be an even more powerful Emperor Realm Master than Pang Guang. At the very least, he had to be a Second-Order Emperor, but most likely he was a Third-Order Emperor.
Such a Master existed in Marsh City? Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked. He quietly glanced at Pang Guang. If these two were on the same side, then things would be tricky. He originally thought that Pang Guang was the only one to be wary of in Marsh City, that’s why Yang Kai wasn’t afraid at all. But now that an even more powerful old man had appeared, Yang Kai was already beginning to consider how he was going to get out of here safely.
But after taking a glance at him, Yang Kai felt reassured. That was because Pang Guang also had a suspicious look on his face at the moment. He clearly did not know this elderly man.
As a City Lord, he actually did not realize what sorts of hidden dragons and crouching tigers were hiding under his own territory. It had to be said that Pang Guang was truly a failure as a City Lord.
The elderly man had a burning gaze at the moment, as if he had discovered something of great interest, and smiled at Yang Kai, “This Old Master is Yao Chang Jun, the owner of this teahouse. How should I address you, Little Brother?”
He had an amiable look on his face as if he were an easily approachable Senior, but Yang Kai could instinctively feel a dangerous aura coming from him.
Before Yang Kai could say anything, Pang Guang coldly snorted and said, “This City Lord has something to discuss with this young man. Unrelated people should excuse themselves now.”
He had a commanding look on his face, as if he didn’t put Yao Chang Jun in his eyes at all.
As soon as his words came out, Yang Kai’s expression turned odd instantly.
But very soon, he understood. He guessed that Pang Guang probably did not know Yao Chang Jun’s depths. Otherwise, he would not dare talk to him like this. And, after his previous attempts to shake Yang Kai with his prestige failed miserably, Yao Chang Jun also did not even look at him after he showed up, so Pang Guang was probably acting out of anger without thinking right now.
Yang Kai not putting him in his eyes was one thing, but how dare a trivial owner of a teahouse under his jurisdiction not show him respect?
As a City Lord, how could Pang Guang bear this?
“You want this Old Master to excuse himself?” Yao Chang Jun grinned meaningfully and looked at Pang Guang with interest, “Are you sure of that?”
Only now did Pang Guang realize that something was wrong and quickly released his Divine Sense to check Yao Chang Jun’s cultivation, but it was already too late. The latter had already struck a palm towards Pang Guang and coldly snorted, “A trivial First-Order Emperor dares act so presumptuous in front of this Old Master? Scram!”
The Qi rumbled in his palm like a vortex of stars, harbouring tremendous power.
When he released his Qi, it seemed to shake both Heaven and Earth.
Pang Guang’s face changed dramatically. There was no way he still didn’t know his foolish self had just provoked someone he shouldn’t have. Terrified, he quickly retreated backwards, shock apparent in his voice, “Senior, mercy!”
But no matter how he tried to dodge it, the old man’s palm still hit him square in the chest. Following a loud bang, Pang Guang’s entire body flew backwards like a sack, destroying several dozen buildings along the way before he landed miserably on the ground, coughing out a mouthful of blood.
The rowdy cultivators on the third floor of the Delightful Pleasures Teahouse were all dead silent.
All their eyes were so wide they threatened to pop out of their sockets at this sight.
Marsh City’s City Lord, a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, Sir Pang Guang, was actually sent flying by an unknown old man!
And what’s more, this old man was the owner of the Delightful Pleasures Teahouse!
If they had not seen it with their own eyes, then they never would have believed it.
It turned out the real master behind Marsh City was not the City Lord at the front, but the hidden owner of this teahouse!
How high was this teahouse owner’s cultivation to be able to send Pang Guang flying with one hit? Second-Order Emperor Realm? Third-Order?
Everyone was shocked beyond words. When some of them thought back to how they used to go crazy in this teahouse and deliberately made things difficult for the shop-hands, they suddenly became morbidly ill all over. A cold chill went down from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet as if they had fallen into a freezing blizzard.
Only now did they realize that Delightful Pleasures Teahouse was definitely not a place where they could act wild and unrestrained. With the cultivation of the owner, if he really did want to take their lives, even Pang Guang wouldn’t dare to make any noise. The reason why they were fine was clearly that the owner didn’t care.
[We will never dare cause trouble here again!] Each of the cultivators vowed in their hearts.
“Now we can talk.” After slapping Pang Guang away, Yao Chang Jun sat in front of Yang Kai with a smile, face looking calm and relaxed as if he was just slapping away a fly.
Liu Xian Yun was completely dumbfounded. Her face was drained of colour and her teeth chattering. She originally thought that they had just offended Pang Guang, but now she didn’t expect an even more powerful Master to jump out.
“What does Senior wish to talk to me about?” Yang Kai frowned and asked. From the moves he showed just now, this Yao Chang Jun was clearly not as amiable as he may seem on the surface; rather, he seemed to be an old monster subject to shifting moods.
How could Yang Kai dare to treat such a person lightly?
While speaking, Yang Kai silently slipped the jade box into his robe.
But obviously, his actions could not be hidden from Yao Chang Jun’s eyes. With just a reach of his hands, the owner of Delightful Pleasures Teahouse was able to make the box in Yang Kai’s hand fly into his own.
Yang Kai’s face sank immediately. He knew that Yao Chang Jun had likely sensed the aura of the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus, and that’s why he appeared. A peerless treasure like this was definitely of great use to any cultivator.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to snatch away his things in such a way.
If he had known this would happen, then Yang Kai would not have opened the seal of the jade box here. Only, who would have thought that an old monster would be hidden inside this teahouse? Yang Kai sighed in his heart and could only hope that Yao Chang Jun had no idea about the secrets behind the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus.
“Let’s talk about this,” Yao Chang Jun grinned meaningfully, with a ‘don’t play slick in front of me, boy’ look on his face. While speaking, he gently opened a crack on the jade box and his face suddenly turned solemn, as if the jade box contained something extremely precious and important to him.
A faint fragrance wafted out from the jade box, and a look of astonishment emerged in Yao Chang Jun’s eyes, causing him to rejoice, “As expected, it’s this! This Old Master has waited two hundred years for this day, it was not in vain! Hahahaha.”
Yao Chang Jun’s face beamed instantly.
From how Yao Chang Jun was talking, there was no way Yang Kai wouldn’t know that he recognized the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus. What’s more, this old man kept his identity hidden and opened a teahouse here, surprisingly just for the sake of this treasure, and he even waited more than two hundred years!
“Boy, tell this Old Master, where did you find this?” After confirming that the jade box did indeed contain the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus, Yao Chang Jun suddenly became eager. The warmth from just now was long gone, on the contrary, his voice was now dark, very likely hinting to Yang Kai that he would show no mercy if he dared hide the truth from him.
“Senior, this is something I came across inadvertently. It has nothing to do with my Senior Brother,” Liu Xian Yun suddenly interjected.
Her intention was clear. She didn’t want to involve Yang Kai into her own matters.
“You were the one who obtained it?” Upon hearing this, Yao Chang Jun ignored Yang Kai and turned his burning gaze towards Liu Xian Yun instead.
Liu Xian Yun was a little frightened by his intimidating gaze, but still nodded with unease, “Yes.”
“Where?” Yao Chang Jun urged.
Liu Xian Yun froze. She looked at Yang Kai nervously. She talked to Yang Kai about this earlier, but she was interrupted by Pang Guang before she could answer. Was it possible that other treasures existed where this had been picked up from? Otherwise, why would these two both ask this question?
Even though she was puzzled, she didn’t dare to dally and quickly responded, “I found it deep inside the Solitary Void Mountain Range.”
“The Solitary Void Mountain Range! As expected!” Yao Chang Jun hissed, seemingly having guessed the answer already. His expression fluctuated for a while before he asked solemnly, “If you were to go there again, could you retrace your steps?”
Liu Xian Yun answered, “I don’t remember the way too well…”
“Waste!” Upon hearing this answer, Yao Chang Jun’s anger flared up. He pressed his surging Emperor Pressure that was as dense as a solid material over Liu Xian Yun, and the latter’s face turned red, spitting out a mouthful of blood from the shock.
At that moment, Yang Kai suddenly acted.
This old monster, Yao Chang Jun, was definitely not easy to deal with. Moreover, he was subject to shifting moods, and Yang Kai could see at a glance he was a merciless one, not putting the lives of others in his eyes just because of his high cultivation. There was no issue with him asking Liu Xian Yun about where she found the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus, she could just take him there, but there was a need to worry about this old man wanting to silence the witness to the crime after he was done using her.
Yang Kai guessed that he was likely going to do so.
So, when the old man’s anger flared up, Yang Kai knew his opportunity had come.
Space Principles surged as the air around them froze in an instant. Yang Kai snapped his fingers and sent several huge Moon Blades towards Yao Chang Jun.
Yao Chang Jun was still in a fit of rage, so he would never have expected that Yang Kai would take the initiative to raise his hand against him. Obviously, it was admirable that a Third-Order Dao Source Realm brat could hold his calm in front of him, but did he really dare to raise his hand against him?
Yao Chang Jun was taken completely by surprise.
The black Moon Blades very quickly arrived before Yao Chang Jun’s eyes with the intention of chopping him into pieces.
But Yao Chang Jun was unfazed and snorted coldly, “Little brat, you’re courting death!”
As soon as he said that, he reached out and grabbed the Moon Blades.
Being grabbed by him, after a fierce squeeze, the sharp Moon Blades shattered directly, along with the Space Principles Yang Kai manipulated, causing the solidified space around them to instantly smooth under immense Emperor Pressure.
“Space Principles?” Yao Chang Jun revealed a look of surprise at Yang Kai, “Interesting. Who is Li Wu Yi to you, boy?”
“Your Father!” As Yang Kai bellowed, the Demon Eye of Annihilation was opened, and the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique revealed itself from the golden vertical slit, pouring out and blasting into Yao Chang Jun’s mind.
Yao Chang Jun did not expect Yang Kai to use a Soul Secret Technique to deal with him; after all, the difference between their cultivations was too great. Under normal circumstances, the one with weaker cultivation couldn’t attack someone stronger using a Soul Secret Technique because it would undoubtedly result in severe backlash, possibly even death.
But Yang Kai did so.
What unsettled Yao Chang Jun even more was the fact that this was currently his biggest weakness.
Yang Kai seemed to have known that, so he did not feel the slightest hint of fear and directly used an extremely strong Soul Secret Technique.
Yao Chang Jun was hit instantly, and his Knowledge Sea defences were swiftly torn through. Severe throbbing pain erupted in his mind and he began howling while holding his head. The Qi in Yao Chang Jun’s body flared uncontrollably and rampaged out in all directions.
“Run!” Yang Kai shouted as he reached out towards the jade box in Yao Chang Jun’s hands, directly snatching the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus back from him. Then, without the slightest delay, he grabbed the frozen Liu Xian Yun and wrapped Space Principles around their bodies, teleporting away.
*Hong…*
Just as the two of them left, the Delightful Pleasures Teahouse collapsed.
Yao Chang Jun’s rampaging Qi had transformed into the shapes of dragons and tigers, mindlessly crashing into everything around them, instantly killing off many of the cultivators drinking tea in the teahouse, as well as collapsing several stores on the street.
A dozen blocks away, Pang Guang who had crawled up in a pitiful state looked over, pale-faced, and exclaimed, “Third-Order Emperor Realm!”
He had not been able to sense Yao Chang Jun’s cultivation clearly before, but from the outburst of Qi just now, the depths of this old man’s cultivation had become clear.
[The owner of that Delightful Pleasures Teahouse actually turned out to be a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master!] Pang Guang was taken aback.
He was Marsh City’s City Lord and yet he had no idea such a top-level Master was hiding in the territory he managed. This frightened him, and he was glad he had not provoked him before.
But what Pang Guang found even more unbelievable was the fact that Yao Chang Jun had just been hurt. Who did it? From the sound of his roar and the state of things, it was clear he had been hurt badly. [Could it have been that young man?] But that was also impossible. That young man was only at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm. Even if Yao Chang Jun stood there and allowed him to beat him, it was impossible for Yang Kai to have hurt him.
[Could it be that Yao Chang Jun wasn’t the only Third-Order Emperor Realm master in Marsh City?] Considering this possibility, Pang Guang’s face suddenly paled and he began feeling suspicious.
“Little brat, you dare sneak attack this Old Master! You’re dead! This Old Master will never let you go!” A roar came from the ruins of the teahouse. Murderous intent gushed out from Yao Chang Jun like a tide. It took a lot of effort for him to calm the pain inside his mind. Quickly searching for the direction Yang Kai fled, Yao Chang Jun immediately gave chase, his body moving as fast as lightning.
He was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, yet he was injured in a sneak attack by Yang Kai. Where would he put his face if rumours of this were to spread out? Yao Chang Jun swore to himself that he had to catch Yang Kai, and then he would have him taste all the torturing techniques this world had to offer in order to vent his rage.
In the blink of an eye, Yao Chang Jun disappeared.
Pang Guang stood in place with a gloomy face and pondered for a while. Then, his body also disappeared, flying out of the city.
It seemed like he was chasing after Yao Chang Jun and Yang Kai, but it was not known what he was thinking in his mind.
Outside the city, Yang Kai was constantly pushing the local Space Principles, teleporting more than a dozen kilometres at a time. Liu Xian Yun, who had been swept up into his arms, still hadn’t come to her senses until now. She was completely dumbfounded.
Yang Kai had actually injured Yao Chang Jun. Looking at the situation, he seemed to have done it using Spiritual Energy. But how was that possible? What she saw today had completely turned her worldview upside down and made her wonder if she were dreaming.
“Where is the Solitary Void Mountain Range?” Yang Kai asked quickly when he felt the murderous intent rapidly approaching.
Although he was proficient in the Dao of Space, it took a lot of effort from him to teleport each time if he had to bring Liu Xian Yun along. If this continued, Yao Chang Jun would catch up to them sooner or later. With Yao Chang Jun’s great strength, they definitely wouldn’t be able to resist him.
Now, Yang Kai could only enter the Solitary Void Mountain Range first, hoping to shake Yao Chang Jun off with the help of the terrain there. He heard Liu Xian Yun say that the depths of the Solitary Void Mountain Range were extremely dangerous, and that even Emperor Realm Masters may not be able to come out alive once they went in.
“That way!” Upon hearing this, Liu Xian Yun subconsciously pointed in a certain direction. She had been staying in Marsh City for several years, so she was still quite familiar with the surrounding environment.
Yang Kai immediately changed directions and sped towards the Solitary Void Mountain Range.
“Senior Brother…” Even though Liu Xian Yun was in Yang Kai’s arms, she still felt chills over her body. That was because the clear murderous intent behind them was growing closer and closer. She could feel it clearly, “You should escape by yourself. I was the one who dragged you into this mess.”
“I hurt him once, you think he’ll let me go?” Yang Kai responded frankly, “Since you still call me your Senior Brother, then I can’t just abandon you. Rest assured, escaping is my strong suit.”
When she saw him being insistent, Liu Xian Yun could only purse her lips, feeling touched inside. Thinking back to when she met Yang Kai, the two of them would have been complete strangers if they had not exchanged blows. Later, they didn’t spend that much time together in Blue Feather Sect, but Yang Kai had still given her the bulk of what they owned at the time when they escaped. This time, Yang Kai even stood up for her when he saw her again, making her feel warm and comfortable in this unfamiliar Star Boundary.
Even in the Grand Desolation Star Field, nobody had ever treated her this well. After living so many years, it was the first time she had met someone who would take such good care of her. With their bodies so close together, Liu Xian Yun gradually felt that that chilling murderous intent was no longer as cold. Instead, as time went by, she even felt a touch of warmth inside her.
She was shocked and quickly distracted herself, asking curiously, “Senior Brother, is that Yao Chang Jun really a Third-Order Emperor?”
“Guaranteed real or your money back!”
“Then how did you hurt him?” Liu Xian Yun was confused. Logically speaking, with the great difference in their cultivation, it should be impossible for Yang Kai to hurt Yao Chang Jun no matter what sort of tricks he used, but Yang Kai managed to achieve this. That cry of pain from Yao Chang Jun she heard was definitely not fake.
“Because there’s a crack in his Knowledge Sea!” Yang Kai told her, “He’s definitely suffered a severe injury to his Soul before. If that wasn’t the case, I would have suffered extreme backlash when I attacked him using a Soul Secret Technique with my current cultivation. If I didn’t die then, I’d at least be crippled.”
“How did you know?” Liu Xian Yun was amazed by Yang Kai. After all, Yang Kai and Yao Chang Jun had never met each other before, so how did Yang Kai know such a secret? Having a crack in his Knowledge Sea definitely had to be Yao Chang Jun’s greatest secret. Otherwise, he would not have hidden his identity in Marsh City. The reason he was hiding there was obviously that he was worried his enemies would come and find him.
Yang Kai smiled, “He cares so much about that Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus, obviously because he wants to repair his Knowledge Sea!”
Liu Xian Yun was surprised, “So, that spirit flower is called the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus? Senior Brother means to say that this spirit flower has the ability to repair one’s Knowledge Sea?”
“No, the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus itself does not have that ability.” Yang Kai pondered for a moment before explaining to her, “If this herb you found were to be refined, then it can be turned into the Pristine Soul Restoring Heavenly Pill which is used to repair broken meridians and dantians; it is extremely useful for cultivators who have been severely injured and had their cultivation crippled. However, the Pristine Soul Heavenly Restoration Lotus has another name, the Twin Heavenly Restoration Lotus. When it appears, each stalk always comes in a pair, one white and one black. If both of them can be obtained, then the Twin Heavenly Restoration Pill can be refined. This is an even higher-level pill than the Pristine Soul Restoring Heavenly Pill. It can not only repair broken meridians and dantians, but also repair one’s Soul and expand their Knowledge Sea. It can even allow a cultivator to more clearly sense Principle Strength.”
“Twin lotuses!” Liu Xian Yun exclaimed, “No wonder you were all asking me where I found it. So, it’s to find the other Heavenly Restoration Lotus. In that case, it seems Yao Chang Jun also knows quite a lot about this Twin Heavenly Restoration Lotus.”
“He was able to identify it through its aura alone, so he has clearly done some research.” Yang Kai raised a brow and continued, “From what he said, the Heavenly Restoration Lotus seems to have appeared here in the Solitary Void Mountain Range before, so that’s why he waited here for two hundred years.”
“But Senior Brother… There was only this one when I found it.” Liu Xian Yun was confused. Even though she had come upon the white Heavenly Restoration Lotus by chance, she had also carefully looked around its surroundings when she picked it and did not find any other valuable spirit medicines. If the Twin Heavenly Restoration Lotus was really one white and one black, then there was no way she could have missed it.
“Maybe someone else took it, or maybe you overlooked it, but let’s not worry about that for now. We have to find a way to get rid of that old monster first.”
After saying that, Yang Kai stopped talking and focused on studying the terrain.
The Solitary Void Mountain Range was a rough wilderness area near Marsh City, and also a place where many cultivators liked to train at. Due to the special environment, many valuable Monster Beasts and spirit herbs could be found here. The cultivators living in Marsh City came here often in groups in order to find cultivation materials.
Liu Xian Yun had been here many times, so she knew the terrain well.
Under her guidance, the two of them rushed over to the Solitary Void Mountain Range in just under an hour.
As soon as he stepped down, Yang Kai could feel a frightening aura lingering around him, as if something that could threaten his safety existed deep inside this Solitary Void Mountain Range. And, based on what Liu Xian Yun said, she had always trained at the outer periphery of the Solitary Void Mountain Range, never going deep inside. The reason was that the deeper one ventured, the more dangerous it was. Once, an Emperor Realm Master was daring enough to enter the deepest depths of the Solitary Void Mountain Range, but he never came out.
Last time, if not out of desperation from being chased by a Monster Beast, Liu Xian Yun would never have run inside. In the end, she was able to escape safely completely thanks to her own luck.
But the deeper one went, the more rewards a cultivator could obtain. The high rewards often led cultivators into taking risks.
Countless cultivators went missing in the Solitary Void Mountain Range every year.
But there were no absolutes in anything. Often, good things could be found in the outer area of the Solitary Void Mountain Range too. Once, a cultivator was able to find a patch of Emperor Grade spirit grass just a thousand kilometres from the edge of Solitary Void Mountain Range, allowing him to acquire a massive amount of wealth.
Yang Kai wondered, “Since so many cultivators are training and searching around this outer periphery, how can there still be good things left behind?”
Liu Xian Yun responded, “I’m not too sure either, but it feels different every time I come here. It seems that the scenery here goes through a dramatic change every once in a while, and all the things I saw before on the same path tend to disappear, replaced by something else.”
“Is that true?” Yang Kai was astonished.
After asking that question, Yang Kai’s face changed. Immediately, he spurred on his Source Qi and once again teleported a hundred kilometres in one go, putting some distance between Yao Chang Jun and them.
As expected of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Even though the Delightful Pleasures Teahouse’s owner suffered heavy damage to his Soul, the strength he had remaining was still far beyond Yang Kai’s reach. Even though he was proficient in the Dao of Space, Yang Kai wasn’t able to shake off this old man’s pursuit while bringing Liu Xian Yun along.
Teleporting took a lot of energy from Yang Kai. The pressure of the Star Boundary’s World Principles was very strong, so a lot of Source Qi and Spiritual Energy was required each time he wanted to teleport. On top of that, Yang Kai had to protect Liu Xian Yun from the turbulent Space Principles when he teleported, increasing his consumption greatly.
But he had managed to refine a lot of pills during his time in Thousand Leaves Sect, which just happened to come into use now. So, for now, there was no need for Yang Kai to worry about exhausting his strength, but this was not a sustainable solution.
The Solitary Void Mountain Range was filled with dangers. Not only were there a variety of ferocious Monster Beasts inside, but also many Natural Spirit Arrays. Yang Kai had to release his Divine Sense while maintaining his Demon Eye of Annihilation at all times in order to avoid these dangers in advance.
On the contrary, Yao Chang Jun who was chasing after them would often fall into traps, likely due to him not daring to use his Divine Sense flexibly. However, with Yao Chang Jun’s strength, even if he were to be surrounded by Monster Beasts or get himself caught up in a Spirit Array, it only took him a moment to extricate himself.
Yao Chang Jun’s understanding of Solitary Void Mountain Range was much deeper than Yang Kai’s; after all, he had been living here for two hundred years and naturally wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing. Yao Chang Jun often went to the Solitary Void Mountain Range himself in hopes that he could find the Twin Heavenly Restoration Lotus.
He originally thought that Yang Kai would not be able to escape him for long with how big the gap in their strength was, but after a while, Yao Chang Jun realized how wrong he was.
From beginning to end, he was never able to close the distance between Yang Kai and himself. Every time he used a Secret Technique to close their distance, Yang Kai would always be able to shake him off, which angered him greatly, yet there was nothing he could do about it.
A cultivator who had cultivated the Dao of Space was the most difficult to catch. Yao Chang Jun had fought cultivators like this before, and from what Yang Kai had shown of his skills, this little brat’s attainments in the Dao of Space were extremely high. Even if it was not as high as that one person Yao Chang Jun knew, it was definitely not a level of skill a Junior with such low cultivation should possess.
[Where did this freak of a brat come from?] Yao Chang Jun couldn’t figure it out. Could he be a disciple taught by Li Wu Yi, the Master with the deepest insight into the Dao of Space in the entire Star Boundary?
The chase lasted for five days, but Yao Chang Jun was still unable to capture Yang Kai. This caused him to wonder whether he was going to lose this opportunity!
If not for the damage he received to his Soul, stopping him from releasing his full power, then even if Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, there was no way a trivial Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator could even dream of escaping from Yao Chang Jun!
He could completely lock down the space around Yang Kai, suppressing him with his extremely strong cultivation, not even giving him the opportunity to teleport away.
But unfortunately, there were no such things as ‘ifs’ in this world.
Just as Yao Chang Jun was turning blue from anger and vowing in his heart that he was going to give Yang Kai a miserable death, his heart suddenly jumped and joy filled his face.
That was because he discovered that Yang Kai had suddenly stopped moving. He had no idea whether he had been caught up in some Spirit Array or some other danger, but whatever the reason, it was good news for Yao Chang Jun.
Spurring on his flight type artifact, he rushed towards Yang Kai’s direction.
“Senior Brother, what happened?” Several thousand kilometres away, Liu Xian Yun was looking at Yang Kai in confusion.
Just now, Yang Kai suddenly stopped, his face changing dramatically.
“I’m a fool!” Yang Kai gritted his teeth, a chagrined look on his face.
“Why do you say that?” Liu Xian Yun had no idea why he would suddenly say that about himself.
“Wait for me, I’ll be right back!” Yang Kai said as he put Liu Xian Yun down and swept his Divine Sense around the area, finding a suitable location before hurrying over to it.
A few moments later, Yang Kai slipped into the Sealed World Bead.
Yang Kai was quite surprised that Yao Chang Jun would actually be so persistent in chasing them. Due to the injury he received to his Soul, it made it impossible for him to lock onto their position with his Divine Sense. In fact, Yang Kai had not detected Yao Chang Jun once in the five days of their chase.
The other party was still able to pinpoint their location, however, and was constantly chasing behind them.
It had to be mentioned that Yang Kai had teleported multiple times during these past five days, and with Yao Chang Jun’s current state, Yang Kai was confident he could lose him.
So, then how had he been locating them? The only explanation was that Yao Chang Jun had put down some sort of mark on him and Liu Xian Yun, and pinpointed their location through that.
When he thought of this, Yang Kai knew he had been too careless in the past five days. If he had noticed this earlier, they may have lost this old monster by now.
Inside the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai’s senses were being magnified many times over.
Inside the Sealed World Bead that he refined, he was its ruler, and the world moved as his wished. Even though the World Principles of the Small Sealed World were not perfect yet, it was still easy for Yang Kai to use them to search his body for any abnormalities.
Yang Kai used the World Principles within the Sealed World Bead in order to search every inch of his body.
He prayed that things would not be too complicated, that the Secret Technique or seal would be on his body. If it was placed on Liu Xian Yun, then he would have to bring Liu Xian Yun into the Sealed World Bead to check her.
Five breaths later, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up. He reached into his Space Ring and took out the jade box containing the Heavenly Restoration Lotus, then he tossed it over to Liu Yan who had rushed over, saying, “A Master’s mark is on this box, get rid of it.”
Liu Yan took the box and before she could say anything to Yang Kai, the latter had already disappeared.
Deep inside the Solitary Void Mountain Range, Liu Xian Yun was standing there alone, looking around at the unfamiliar scenery around her with unease.
Yang Kai went into a small mound at the side, and she had no idea what he was doing, but he suddenly disappeared without even leaving any hint of his aura behind.
Even though she knew that Yang Kai was not the type of person to disregard the life or death of his companions, she still couldn’t stop her thoughts from running wild. She wondered if perhaps Yang Kai had left her here, abandoning her because she was dragging him down?
“No, that won’t happen.” Liu Xian Yun shook her head. If Yang Kai really was that sort of person, then he would not have brought her along to escape from Blue Feather Sect in the first place, even giving her all that wealth when they parted ways so she could support herself. Yang Kai would also never have taken the risk to provoke a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master at the Delightful Pleasures Pavilion several days prior to lead her away with him.
[Senior Brother must be doing something important!] Liu Xian Yun consoled herself.
As soon as her thoughts came to an end, Yang Kai’s aura suddenly and mysteriously appeared again. Immediately after, he rushed out from behind the mound.
“Senior Brother…” Liu Xian Yun’s heart felt like a large stone had been lifted off of it and she finally relaxed.
Yang Kai moved over to her and wrapped his arms around her again without a single word, urging the surrounding Space Principles, the pair disappeared in an instant.
A moment later, the two of them arrived a thousand kilometres away. Only then did Yang Kai summon his wooden ship, pulling Liu Xian Yun onto it and urging her, “Take your clothes off.”
“Huh?” Upon hearing this, Liu Xian Yun’s face turned red.
In the middle of the wilderness, Yang Kai suddenly asked her to take her clothes off, and he said it in a commanding voice that accepted no refusals. Naturally, Liu Xian Yun felt both angry and embarrassed, and she inevitably took it the wrong way.
Yang Kai said, “Yao Chang Jun left a mark on the jade box so he can pinpoint our location. I have no idea if there’s anything on your clothes, but it’s necessary to take precautions. You should change into a new set of clothes.”
Only after hearing this explanation did Liu Xian Yun understand what Yang Kai was trying to do and knew that she had misunderstood his intentions. She was instantly embarrassed.
But she wasn’t a prudish little girl either, so she immediately began undressing after finding out the reason.
Very quickly, she changed into a different set of clothes, completely burning the ones she was originally wearing.
Three thousand kilometres away, Yao Chang Jun’s body suddenly stopped, face turning ashen. That was because he suddenly noticed that the mark he had planted suddenly went missing.
Back at the teahouse, he branded a mark onto the jade box after snatching it from Yang Kai, not because he could foretell what was going to happen, but out of an abundance of caution. He had waited two hundred years and finally found the Heavenly Restoration Lotus, so how could he not act carefully?
As facts proved, his cautiousness allowed him to pursue Yang Kai for five days without losing him.
But just now, his mark suddenly disappeared.
Of course, there was no way Yao Chang Jun wouldn’t realize that Yang Kai had discovered his mark and erased it! But what he couldn’t figure out was how Yang Kai, a trivial Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, was able to do that.
The gap between their strength was real.
Yao Chang Jun became both anxious and angry, howling towards the sky, “Little Brat, this King will find and capture you no matter what it takes!”
Even though there was no more mark to show him the way, Yao Chang Jun was still unwilling to give up. The Heavenly Restoration Lotus wasn’t something that could be found easily, and it was only by chance that he was able to find one this time. If he missed this chance, he may never get another.
He vowed to himself that he would find Yang Kai no matter what and rip his corpse into ten thousand pieces so he could get that Heavenly Restoration Lotus back.
Deep inside the Solitary Void Mountain Range, Yang Kai had a terrible expression on his face.
Even though they managed to shake Yao Chang Jun off, they weren’t in any better position right now either. That was because he had gotten lost in this damned place.
After asking Liu Xian Yun, she also said that she didn’t know how to get out of here. She had only been this deep once, and it was all thanks to luck that she was able to get out the last time.
Their surroundings seemed to have been carved out of a generic mould. Yang Kai walked around blindly for half a day and had no idea if he was actually walking in circles. Even his Divine Sense couldn’t be extended too far in this place as it seemed to be suppressed by some sort of mysterious power.
At a certain point, Yang Kai stopped and looked around with a grave expression.
“Senior Brother, what happened?” Liu Xian Yun asked nervously.
“Do you feel the ground moving?” Yang Kai asked.
Liu Xian Yun broke out into a cold sweat instantly. Even though Yang Kai’s tone was calm, the meaning of his words gave her jitters.
“Maybe it’s just an illusion…” Yang Kai muttered to himself.
Liu Xian Yun gulped, “Senior Brother, there’s a saying about the Solitary Void Mountain Range…”
“What saying?”
“Some say that the Solitary Void Mountain Range… is alive.” Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face paled.
“Alive?” Yang Kai raised his brows.
“En.” Liu Xian Yun nodded, “The Solitary Void Mountain Range is constantly changing so there’s never been a map drawn of it. Sometimes, the landscape of one place can change rapidly, but sometimes it changes so slowly that no one notices. Many people think this is a result of the Solitary Void Mountain Range actually being alive.”
Yang Kai frowned and thought for a while, but then his eyes suddenly lit up, “That may not necessarily be correct, but there’s definitely a basis for it.”
“What do you mean?” Liu Xian Yun was confused.
Yang Kai said, “Junior Sister, you’ve been active around the outer periphery of the Solitary Void Mountain Range this whole time. Do you find good things often?”
“Yes,” Liu Xian Yun replied, “I’m not the only one either. Many people from Marsh City experience the same thing.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Since so many people are active around there year-round, it’s reasonable to say that the area should be barren by now. Even if there’s anything good there, someone would long have taken it away. But since you’re able to find valuable things often…”
“That’s something I’ve always been wondering about too,” Liu Xian Yun nodded. She never understood why, but after coming to the Solitary Void Mountain Range so many times, other than the few unfortunate times she wasn’t able to find anything, she was always able to find something useful to her cultivation there.
But this was clearly illogical.
“Senior Brother, you mean to say…”
Yang Kai said, “The Solitary Void Mountain Range is moving. Every once in a while, the terrain in its depths will flow outwards, and the spirit herbs inside will naturally appear outside as well. That’s why good things can be found there all the time.”
“How do you know that?” Liu Xian Yun was extremely surprised. She had been living in the Solitary Void Mountain Range for a few years but she’d never thought about it that way. But Yang Kai managed to figure this out despite only having been here for a few days.
Yang Kai smiled, “It’s just a guess, I’m not sure if I’m right either.”
But there was a high possibility of that being true, because that perfectly explained why good things were often found around the outer region of the Solitary Void Mountain Range. The earth was alive, writhing and tumbling at a speed that was almost imperceptible to average people. Once the land that was deep within flowed outwards, it would naturally bring all the good things inside with it.
And yet the cultivators in the Solitary Void Mountain Range couldn’t seem to figure this place out, and they were unable to notice the changes in the Solitary Void Mountain Range in the slightest.
*Hualala…*
Right at that moment, the sound of wings fluttering could be heard, followed by countless birds rising up into the air from the forest as if they had been frightened by something. Not only that, but the beasts on land had also begun fleeing, tumbling around like headless flies.
In less than three breaths of time, the entire Solitary Void Mountain Range began to tremble.
“What happened?” Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face changed to shock.
Yang Kai was also confused, but in the next moment, his face changed. That was because the birds he saw flying in the air were all stopped mid-flight. They were unable to move even the slightest inch forward no matter how they flapped their wings.
It was as if there was an invisible force holding them in place.
Among the flying birds were many Eleventh-Order Monster Beasts as well. Yang Kai even saw a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast that was equivalent to an Emperor Realm Master.
Just as Yang Kai was beginning to feel suspicious, the ground under his feet began moving rapidly, making it hard for Yang Kai to keep his balance. He almost toppled over, but at the same time, a strong suction force was being spread out from deep within the Solitary Void Mountain Range, drawing on Yang Kai’s body as if it wanted to drag him in.
Yang Kai’s face changed dramatically. Without hesitation, he wrapped his Source Qi around Liu Xian Yun and tried to escape this place by teleporting.
But even after he moved the surrounding Space Principles, he found he was still standing in the same spot.
Sensing this, Yang Kai exclaimed, “The World Principles here have been broken!”
The surrounding World Principles had been shattered by some great and sudden change, making it impossible for them to leave this place by taking advantage of the Space Principles at all. And, in just that short amount of time, the ground beneath the pair began spinning even quicker. Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel dizzy while Liu Xian Yun was in even worse condition. She couldn’t even stand properly and could only hold onto Yang Kai to support herself.
The suction from the depths grew even more terrifying, and Yang Kai found it hard to fight against it with his cultivation no matter how hard he tried to stabilize himself. The fleeing beasts and birds had already been dragged in by the suction and disappeared from Yang Kai’s field of vision in an instant. The less powerful beasts had even burst into clouds of blood mist.
For a while, beasts were roaring and birds were crying out, making the Solitary Void Mountain Range extremely lively.
Somewhere about three thousand kilometres away, Yao Chang Jun’s face was also horrified. He pushed his Emperor Qi, trying to escape the fetters of this place, but he failed even with his cultivation. The only thing he could do was forcefully hold himself in place to not be pulled away.
“Solitary Void Great Maelstrom!” Yao Chang Jun’s face turned extremely dark. Even his will, which was firm as a rock, began to tremble with fear and anxiety.
Compared to the newcomers, Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun who had not been living here for long, Yao Chang Jun had studied the Solitary Void Mountain World thoroughly. He knew that this damned place may usually look calm and peaceful, but it could burst out with immense power that even an Emperor Realm Master could not resist from time to time.
Those times were precisely during the appearance of the Solitary Void Great Maelstrom!
The Solitary Void Great Maelstrom was a natural disaster that could destroy and reshape the Solitary Voids Mountain Range.
Yang Kai’s guess about the Solitary Void Mountain Range’s terrain constantly shifting, allowing the cultivators around the outside to be able to find good things often, was actually quite accurate.
But that shift was usually as slow as a crawl and would not bring too much danger to cultivators visiting this place to train. Because the cultivators often came to the Solitary Void Mountain Range, they usually did not notice the slow changes, and by the time they did, the terrain had already changed completely.
However, when this creeping change reached a certain limit, the entire Solitary Void Mountain would begin to spin like a berserk top, reshaping the Solitary Void Mountain Range in the process.
That was the Solitary Void Great Maelstrom!
No one knew why this happened in the Solitary Void Mountain Range, the world works in mysterious ways. Yao Chang Jun had been in and out of the Solitary Void Mountain Range many times and still could not understand this process; however, the cycle of the Solitary Void Great Maelstrom’s appearance was very long, usually appearing once every few hundred or thousand years. Based on what Yao Chang Jun knew, the last Solitary Void Great Maelstrom appeared six hundred years ago. At that time, countless cultivators were sucked into the Solitary Void Mountain Range, and this time would be no exception.
And, as luck would have it, he ended up caught in it as well.
Yao Chang Jun hated Yang Kai even more now. He felt that if this little brat had not interfered, then he would never have ventured into this place and encountered a disaster that he could not resist.
If he were still around the outer region of Solitary Void Mountain Range, then Yao Chang Jun would definitely be able to escape with his powerful cultivation. But in order to pursue Yang Kai, he had entered the depths of this damned place! When the maelstrom appeared, the suction became stronger the deeper one ventured inside Solitary Void Mountain Range, and the harder it was to resist. Currently, Yao Chang Jun was less than two thousand kilometres from the core of Solitary Void Mountain Range, a distance that made escape from the maelstrom all but impossible.
If one were able to look down at the Solitary Void Mountain Range from a high altitude, they would see that it was currently spinning madly like a vortex. And, with a certain point as its centre, the entire Solitary Void Mountain Range looked as a huge funnel with powerful suction force coming from the centre, affecting every living thing within it.
Countless fleeing birds and other beasts were being sucked into the centre of that funnel-shaped vortex, disappearing in just the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, even more creatures and cultivators training and foraging for resources exploded into a bloody mist devoid of even bones.
The cultivators who were lucky enough to be moving about at the outer region were not as unlucky. They were fortunate enough to escape as soon as the changes began to happen, but when they looked back, all of them were pale, their hearts palpitating.
Many of them had no idea what was going on, but some knew about the infamous Solitary Void Great Maelstrom. Word spread and soon, everyone found out about this chaotic event. While they marvelled at the horrors of nature, they were also filled with anticipation.
That was because the Solitary Void Mountain Range would be reshaped every time the Solitary Void Great Maelstrom appeared, and the precious treasures that were originally in the depths of the Solitary Void Mountain Range would flow to the outer region.
In other words, once the Solitary Void Mountain Range’s movements came to a halt, a large number of precious treasures would appear outside, so how could they not look forward to it?
“I seemed to have seen Sir City Lord enter the Solitary Void Mountain Range’s depths, but I have no idea if it was just my eyes.”
“No, you’re right. I saw him too. The City Lord seemed to be in a hurry, as if he’s chasing after someone.”
“He’s in trouble now. We don’t even know if Sir City Lord can return safely.”
“The chances are not great, the depths of the Solitary Void Mountain Range are extremely dangerous. Even if the City Lord is an Emperor Realm Master, he still won’t be safe if he goes in too deep, and to have met with the Solitary Void Great Maelstrom as well, I’m afraid things aren’t looking too good!”
Many cultivators gathered around the far side of the Solitary Void Mountain Range, engaged in fervent discussion. If Pang Guang really was lost to the Solitary Void Mountain Range, then the great forces of Marsh City would have to be reshuffled again. This was not bad news for many people. For a while, joyful emotions were mixed with the sad in a complicated mix.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Solitary Void Mountain Range, Yang Kai was protecting Liu Xian Yun and struggling to resist the terrifying suction force coming from the vortex. His clothes had been ripped into tatters from the force and cuts formed on his skin, drenching him in blood and turning him into a sorry state.
He had no idea where this suction force came from or what was creating it, but the more he tried to resist it, the more terrifying it became. The force on top of Yang Kai was getting harder and harder for him to bear.
If not for his intrepid physique, Yang Kai would have already burst apart and died just like everything else.
“Senior Brother, don’t worry about me and just run.” Liu Xian Yun was also struggling, but she was in a better situation than Yang Kai since he was protecting her. Seeing him like this now, she felt guilty and knew that she was dragging Yang Kai down.
As she said that, she lowered her feet to the ground, about to move away from Yang Kai.
But Yang Kai caught her with his arms and shook his head, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you if I really can’t hold on any longer.”
Even in a life or death situation, he did not give up on her, filling Liu Xian Yun’s heart with warmth and moving her greatly. It was easy to find a friend who would share your wealth, but difficult to find a friend willing to face danger with you. The best time to find out a person’s character was during a crisis.
Liu Xian Yun felt that the luckiest thing to happen to her in this lifetime was meeting Yang Kai in the Star Boundary.
She had completely given up resisting and revealed a sad smile, “Senior Brother, take care of yourself in the future!”
“What are you doing?!” Yang Kai’s face changed. He could sense her intentions and quickly shouted, “Don’t give up, I have another way!”
Liu Xian Yun slowly shook her head, allowing herself to be taken away by the terrifying force.
Yang Kai was incredibly anxious. He knew that Liu Xian Yun was determined not to drag him down anymore and was going to toss aside everything else in order to throw her into the Sealed World Bead when Liu Xian Yun’s face suddenly changed. The expression on her face was one of pure confusion.
But in the next moment, she exclaimed, “Senior Brother, stop resisting! If you don’t, there is no danger at all.”
Hearing her say that, Yang Kai looked carefully and found that sure enough, Liu Xian Yun wasn’t being hurt at all, so he knew she was right. He quickly dispersed the energy around his body and allowed the terrifying suction force to envelop him.
The force originally suppressing him and causing great damage to his body was gone in an instant.
Indeed, it was as Liu Xian Yun said. The more one resisted here, the more uncomfortable it became.
But if any average person were to encounter this situation, who would not try to resist? They would definitely be desperate to escape, and once they started struggling, they would not be too far from death.
After giving up on resisting, the powerful suction force swept up both Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun, quickly drawing them to the centre of the Solitary Void Mountain Range. The turbulent force made Yang Kai feel as if he were a lone boat in the middle of a stormy sea, in danger of capsizing at any moment.
“Senior Brother, look!” Liu Xian Yun, whose body was being held tightly by Yang Kai and did not mind that her tall peaks were being squeezed out of shape by his arms, suddenly let out a cry of surprise.
When Yang Kai turned over to look, his face turned dark as well. He discovered that there was an enormous dark funnel right in front of them where the suction force was coming from. In its vicinity, the earth could be seen spinning and tumbling as countless birds and beasts were sucked in, their fates unknown.
He wanted to release his Divine Sense to investigate the situation inside, but it shattered as soon as it left his body, causing his Knowledge Sea to throb. He didn’t dare to try this a second time.
Liu Xian Yun was also becoming more and more nervous, her tender body quivering like a shaking quail without a nest in winter. She had no idea what their fates would be if they were sucked into that vortex. She had not been in the Star Boundary for long, so she was naturally unwilling to die like this.
Looking up at Yang Kai though, she found that despite his expression looking grave, he wasn’t panicked in the slightest.
That helped to ease her up considerably. Even if she died, she felt that it would not be a bad thing if she were able to die together with Yang Kai. Considering all this, her body suddenly eased up a lot.
“Protect yourself.” Yang Kai lightly patted Liu Xian Yun’s back.
As soon as he said this, both he and Liu Xian Yun were sucked into the vortex. All of a sudden, a dizzy feeling washed over him, disorienting him as the entire world turned dark without the slightest hint of light.
Yang Kai felt his body spinning and falling as if the vortex was a bottomless pit, a fearful and unsettled feeling.
But Yang Kai was slightly reassured by the fact that this fall did not prove to be dangerous.
Liu Xian Yun hugged him even tighter, her body turning as stiff as a block of wood.
None of them knew how long it had been, but Yang Kai suddenly saw a glimmer of light up ahead; however, under the power of the vortex, he was unable to probe ahead and see the situation around them.
*Peng…*
A large noise erupted and Yang Kai felt great pain all over his body. It was as if his entire being was going to break apart; however, he was surprised to find that he had actually landed on solid ground at this moment, and that spinning force that enveloped his body had also disappeared. Now there was just a lot of ear-splitting noises coming from around him.
*Peng peng peng…*
Things were constantly crash-landing around them, some even splashed onto them. From the smell, it seemed to be bits of dirt mixed with bodily remains and smelled extremely bad.
Yang Kai did not dare to move about recklessly lest something bad were to happen. He carefully pushed his Source Qi in order to protect Liu Xian Yun and himself and found that his Source Qi was working freely. The strange backlash earlier from the inexplicable suction force had disappeared, relieving him greatly.
Liu Xian Yun seemed unconscious and wasn’t moving in the slightest. However, from the smooth flow of her breathing and her steady aura, it was clear she did not suffer any great harm.
After a full hour, their surroundings finally settled down. Yang Kai waited a little while longer to ensure there weren’t any dangers before pushing out his Source Qi, blasting away all the mud and debris that were covering him and rising up from the mound.
He landed lightly and checked Liu Xian Yun’s condition first, discovering that she was in fact unconscious. Only then did he begin taking in his surroundings.
At this first glance, Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
He discovered that he was actually atop an island at the moment.
The island was not very big, only a few kilometres in circumference, and looking at the colour of the land and some of the debris, it was clear that this island had just been formed.
That was because the soil here was exactly the same as the soil from the Solitary Void Mountain Range’s depths, and there were also chunks of blood and flesh left by various creatures around the island, causing the ground to appear a bizarre crimson colour.
This island must have formed because of the changes in the Solitary Void Mountain Range. That vortex-like power actually brought the earth from the Solitary Void Mountain Range here and formed an island!
All around the island was an endless sea with rough waves.
But what shocked Yang Kai even more was the appearance of strange waterspouts on the surface of the sea. The pillars of water sprung up from the surface of the sea, reaching into the clouds, merging Heaven and Earth in a magnificent sight!
There were countless waterspouts on the surface of the sea of all different sizes; however, each one emitted a very strong suction power that gave off a dangerous feeling.
They were not stationary but rather moving constantly, their speed varying from fast to slow with a great difference. There were even waterspouts moving as fast as lightning, passing by Yang Kai’s field of vision while lifting up huge waves. Their destructive power was astonishing.
He felt the World Energy around him, which was extremely dense; however, Yang Kai could sense that the World Energy here was different from other places, but he couldn’t tell what about it was different.
What is this damned place?
How did they get here after entering that maelstrom in the Solitary Void Mountain Range’s depths?
It was simply impossible to say that this was under the Solitary Void Mountain Range as well; after all, this place looked so vast and presented itself as an ocean. How could this possibly be underneath the Solitary Void Mountain Range?
Could this be a Sealed World? Yang Kai was shocked.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. When he was swallowed up by that vortex, Yang Kai could clearly feel traces of Space Principles, so that huge vortex was most likely the entrance to this Sealed World!
If this was a Sealed World, then things would be troublesome. How was he going to find the exit in this vast ocean?