A Phoenix Blood Fruit had no other uses besides being an exceptional healing tonic. As long as the injured person was still breathing, this fruit could certainly save their life. In this sense, its use was quite similar to the Immortal Source Liquid.
Fan Wu and the others widened their eyes in disbelief. Although they were aloof Divine Spirits, they had never seen anything as precious as the Phoenix Blood Fruit before, leaving them flabbergasted.
But soon, the faces of these three Divine Venerables fell. Luan Feng’s pretty face was especially filled with regret and anxiety.
Judging from the situation they were in, although the bloodline of this Heavens Order’s descendant had awakened completely, she still regarded Yang Kai as someone precious to her. If this wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have drawn out a Phoenix Blood Fruit from the Blood Gate to help him heal his injuries as this act was quite an extravagant waste.
Earlier, when Yang Kai was tortured and humiliated by Shi Huo, all three of them just watched from the side and did nothing, which led to Yang Kai becoming so battered. They wondered if this Heavens Order’s descendant would next settle the score with them.
Luan Feng was especially worried because Zhang Ruo Xi had slapped herself and begged her to help Yang Kai, but she remained unfazed, and she didn’t have any intention of stopping Zhang Ruo Xi, which led to the young girl slapping herself continuously until her cheeks were completely swollen. The blood at the corner of Zhang Ruo Xi’s mouth hadn’t even dried up yet.
If Luan Feng had known this would be the outcome, she would’ve done her a favour and saved Yang Kai, thereby making the young girl owe her one. However, she wasn’t willing to do that earlier because she didn’t want to offend Shi Huo. Looking back now, it was obvious whose favour was more important.
Now that Shi Huo was dead and his Source Strength had been taken away, Luan Feng’s previous worries looked laughable and had put her into a tight spot. It was the first time she felt so regretful in her life, and her mouth was filled with bitterness. Given a second chance, she would definitely choose to go against Shi Huo.
“Sir, heal your wounds first,” Seeing that Yang Kai remained unmoving with the Phoenix Blood Fruit in his hand, Zhang Ruo Xi couldn’t help but urge him to eat it. She had travelled together with Yang Kai for many years, but this was the first time she saw him looking so battered. While she was feeling sorry for him, her heart was also filled with resentment. Although she had killed the main culprit, Shi Huo, the other three present who did nothing but stood by were equally to blame in her mind.
After a nod, Yang Kai put the Phoenix Blood Fruit into his mouth and gulped it down. Although the fruit was rare and precious, he wouldn’t turn down Zhang Ruo Xi’s good intention. In an instant, the fresh and sweet juice permeated in his mouth. Following that, a warm stream in his stomach began flowing towards all his organs, filling his entire body and bones as it rapidly healed his wounds.
Yang Kai was shocked. Although he had known that Phoenix Blood Fruit was the best fruit for healing, he only realized how incredible the spirit fruit was after tasting it. It was said that as long as the injured person was still breathing, one piece of Phoenix Blood Fruit was enough to fully restore that person. Now, it seemed that these rumours weren’t exaggerated.
“Sir, how should we deal with them?” Zhang Ruo Xi spoke to Yang Kai via Divine Sense while turning her eyes to look at Fan Wu and the others, who dared not move a muscle.
The chests of Fan Wu and the others tightened when they saw her turning to gaze at them and they subconsciously gulped. Her cold gaze sent chills down their spines as they wondered what this Heavens Order’s descendant was thinking.
“How do you want to deal with them?” Yang Kai asked her the same question instead of answering it.
“I want to kill them all!” Zhang Ruo Xi’s gaze turned cold.
Yang Kai put on a bitter smile as he knew that she must be resentful of them. There was no way she would let them off.
“But, I’ll listen to you,” Zhang Ruo Xi added. “I’ll kill them if you want them dead.”
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai replied, “You don’t own the power that you used to kill Shi Huo, right?”
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded slightly and uttered, “I borrowed the power my ancestors left behind inside the Blood Gate. My own power isn’t enough to go up against them yet.”
“What are the downsides of using that power?” Yang Kai asked. He knew that borrowing such strength was no easy task; after all, Zhang Ruo Xi was still just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, so it was impossible that there were no consequences for her using a power great enough to kill a Divine Spirit.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Ruo Xi replied honestly, “There’ll be some slight burden on my body.”
“Forget it then,” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
“But, Sir…” Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t seem happy to let them off.
Yang Kai uttered, “Although they didn’t offer to help us, it doesn’t mean they should be killed. What they did was what most people would do in that situation. At the end of the day, they didn’t harm me one bit. It’s good enough that Shi Huo is dead. Moreover, Luan Feng stopped you from killing yourself, so I owe her a favour.”
Zhang Ruo Xi bit her lip and nodded almost imperceptibly, which suggested that she agreed with Yang Kai, “Since you’ve said so, I won’t kill them, then. But, we still have to teach them a lesson, otherwise, they’ll think that we’re pushovers!” After a snort, she stood up in front of Yang Kai and shot a cold glare at Fan Wu and the others.
Yang Kai shook his head with a helpless smile. Zhang Ruo Xi’s temperament had changed drastically after her Bloodline Power awakened. She was now so domineering that Yang Kai couldn’t get used to it. With that said, he still felt her transformation was a good thing overall because timid and obedient people would only be bullied in this world.
It was the first time Fan Wu, Luan Feng, and Cang Gou felt so apprehensive in their lives. As they watched Zhang Ruo Xi and Yang Kai communicating with each other secretly, they felt like they were sitting on pins and needles. Seeing that Zhang Ruo Xi stood up and turned to face them, they felt a crawling sensation on their scalps, and they instinctively wanted to flee. However, Shi Huo’s death served as a lesson for them, so they didn’t dare to make any rash move lest they be killed on the spot.
“Madam, is there anything we can do for you?” Fan Wu grit his teeth and cupped his fists before asking. Luan Feng and Cang Gou looked apprehensively at them with their faces stiffened.
Zhang Ruo Xi snorted and uttered coldly, “Listen well. All of you helped Shi Huo oppress the weak and made things difficult for Sir. Even if I slaughtered you all, it wouldn’t begin to calm the fury in my heart!”
The expressions of Fan Wu and the others changed drastically when they heard this, and they almost wanted to run for their lives. However, they forced themselves to remain on the spot because they were too frightened of Zhang Ruo Xi.
“But…” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly changed her tone, “Sir is a kind-hearted man, so he doesn’t want to kill others unless it’s necessary. Since the culprit is dead, he won’t pursue the matter.”
In an instant, Fan Wu, Luan Feng, and Cang Gou felt ecstatic as they shifted their attention to Yang Kai at the same time, directing grateful expressions at him as if he was their saviour.
“Although I won’t kill you, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any punishments. Take this lesson and learn from your foolish mistakes. If you dare to use your strength as Divine Spirit to oppress the weak again, your end will be the same as Shi Huo’s!” As soon as Zhang Ruo Xi finished speaking, she pushed out her palm at them.
The Blood Gate buzzed again, upon which two beams of red light shot out of it and struck Fan Wu and Cang Gou. Unable to resist these strikes, the two Divine Verenables were sent flying as they coughed up blood mid-air.
Luan Feng was rooted to the spot as her eyelashes fluttered. A moment later, she finally realized that she wasn’t attacked. She was an intelligent woman, so she knew why Fan Wu and Cang Gou were harmed, but not her. It was all because she had saved this Heavens Order’s descendant earlier. At that instant, she was glad she had at least done that much.
On the other hand, Fan Wu and Cang Gou fell to the ground. Although they appeared quite miserable, they dared not utter any complaint. Instead, they heaved a sigh of relief and got to their feet before cupping their fists and bowing, “Many thanks for sparing our lives.”
They understood that since Zhang Ruo Xi had made such a move, it meant that this matter was settled and they were safe, for now.
Zhang Ruo Xi snorted as her pretty face turned slightly red. It seemed that her body was now feeling the burden of borrowing the power from the Blood Gate. Remaining on the spot, she looked into the distance and beckoned, “Uncle Stone, Xiao Xiao, come here!”
The Uncle Stone she was referring to was undoubtedly the Embodiment. They had lived together in the Sealed World Bead for many years, so they were on good terms.
Upon hearing this call, the Embodiment and Xiao Xiao, who were just ten kilometres away, hurriedly ran over and reached Zhang Ruo Xi a moment later.
Zhang Ruo Xi turned to look at Fan Wu without uttering a word. Understanding her hint, Fan Wu immediately removed the seals on the Embodiment and Xiao Xiao, restoring their freedom.
“Uncle Stone, this is for you.” As Zhang Ruo Xi spoke, she flicked Shi Huo’s Source, which she had been holding in her hand all this while, towards the Embodiment. The heart-like thing spun and hovered around the Embodiment’s chest.
“For me?” Embodiment’s gaze brightened. He had seen how Zhang Ruo Xi killed Shi Huo, so he knew what this thing was. This was Shi Huo’s Source. If any suitable person could obtain it, refine it, and inherit its Source Strength, they would become the next Shi Huo.
After a nod, Zhang Ruo Xi drew out her Heavens Order Sword again and pointed it gently at Embodiment as she uttered, “The Stone Spirit Clan and Shi Huo are somewhat related, so your body structure and nature are quite similar to his. Therefore, I believe that a Stone Spirit Clan member like you can inherit Shi Huo’s power.”
The tip of Heavens Order Sword, which was pointed at Embodiment, suddenly shone brightly and carved a strange pattern on his chest. The pattern seemed to have a power of attraction, and with a blow, it pulled Shi Huo’s Source into it, causing it to disappear from everyone’s sight.
The Embodiment grunted as his body started burning with dark flames, and his face instantly contorted in pain.
Zhang Ruo Xi lowered the sword and quickly performed a hand seal with both her hands, upon which, a series of abstruse seals shot into the Embodiment. With every seal penetrating his body, the dark flames would be suppressed significantly. After a quarter of an hour, all the flames finally disappeared.
At the same time, the Embodiment fell silent and sat down cross-legged on the spot, as though he had fallen into the state of enlightenment.
“This Stone Spirit has now become one of the most powerful individuals in the world,” Fan Wu suddenly uttered as he looked at them from nearby.
With a bitter smile, Luan Feng said, “I heard that not only could Heavens Order take away a Divine Spirit’s Source, she could also bequeath them to others to create new Divine Spirits. Now we know this is true.”
Cang Gou appeared envious as he said, “If this Stone Spirit were to try to inherit Shi Huo’s Source on his own, the success rate would only be about ten percent; however, with the help of Heavens Order’s descendant, there are basically no drawbacks. After he refines Shi Huo’s Source, this world will have a new Divine Spirit.”
3 chapters a week for now and will increase depending on the Patreon goal. This is how Martial Peak was done in the past as well.
After Zhang Ruo Xi sealed the Source inside the Embodiment, her face suddenly turned pale.
Although she appeared nonchalant, it obviously took her a lot of strength to do all this. After looking around, she raised her hand again, upon which the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, which was taken away by Shi Huo, whooshed towards her and fell into her hand.
“Sir, I’ll keep this gift that you’ve given me,” she clenched the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal as her eyes were filled with sorrow.
“Where are you going?” Yang Kai was shocked as he could hear the hidden meaning in her words.
Zhang Ruo Xi pressed her lips together and replied, “My Bloodline Power has awakened, so I have to inherit my ancestor’s power.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai turned to look at the Blood Gate.
Zhang Ruo Xi put on a smile as the coldness on her face melted in an instant. In a soft voice, she said, “Sir, once I can come out of the Blood Gate, I’ll be able to help you, and I won’t hold you back anymore. We’ll never go through incidents like what happened today again.”
Yang Kai parted his lips to say something, but in the end sighed, “It’s not your fault. It was me who couldn’t protect you.”
Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head, “It’s not Sir’s fault. It’s me who was too wilful.”
Without dwelling on the subject, Yang Kai stared at her and asked, “Must you go?”
With a determined expression, Zhang Ruo Xi nodded.
After that nod, Yang Kai went on to say, “Go then. It’s your ancestor’s power, so you can’t ignore it; however, you must be careful.”
“I will,” Zhang Ruo Xi said with slightly teary eyes. Then, she took a look at Xiao Xiao, “Sir, I’ll take Xiao Xiao with me. I’ll make sure that he inherits the power of Tai Yue. Please tell the Stone Spirit Clan members about it later.”
“Good,” Yang Kai nodded.
All the Stone Spirit Clan members came out this time because they wanted to send Xiao Xiao into the Blood Gate to inherit the power of Divine Spirit Tai Yue; however, things turned out to be the opposite of their expectations. Since Zhang Ruo Xi would bring Xiao Xiao with her now, there wouldn’t be any problem.
“Xiao Xiao, after you enter the Blood Gate, you must listen to Ruo Xi and must not cause her any trouble,” Yang Kai reminded Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao kept nodding and grunting, as though he was telling Yang Kai that he would be obedient.
“Don’t worry, Sir. Since Uncle Stone can inherit Shi Huo’s Source, I’m sure Xiao Xiao will be able to inherit Tai Yue’s Source as well,” Zhang Ruo Xi reassured him.
Then, she turned to look at Fan Wu and the others. In an instant, her expression turned cold as she said sternly, “If anything happens to Sir in the Ancient Lands, I’ll kill you all after I return from the Blood Gate!”
She made no attempt to be polite with her speech. If anyone spoke to Fan Wu and the other Divine Venerables in such a manner, they would’ve pounced on that person; however, since it was Zhang Ruo Xi who was speaking, they all appeared meek now.
In an anxious manner, Fan Wu cupped his fists and uttered, “Don’t worry, Madam. As long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure nothing will happen to your Sir.”
Luan Feng and Cang Gou nodded sternly. Judging from the current situation, they thought that if they wanted to live their lives peacefully, they had to strike up a good relationship with Yang Kai. If they were on favourable terms with Yang Kai, then this Heavens Order’s descendant would probably stop finding fault with them.
At that instant, Yang Kai looked like a golden treasure in their eyes.
“Sir…” Zhang Ruo Xi turned to look at Yang Kai with a gaze that was filled with grief. Pressing her lips together, she said, “I’ll take my leave now.”
Yang Kai remained seated on the ground with a dejected expression, but he still forced a smile and replied, “It’s not like one of us is heading to the next life. We’ll meet again one day. I’ll wait for you to come out of the Blood Gate.”
Zhang Ruo Xi hung her head low as her face started blushing. In a nervous manner, she uttered, “Sir, before I go, can you grant a wish of mine?”
She appeared diffident when she said that as she stole a glance at Yang Kai. Apparently, she was feeling guilty.
With a smile, Yang Kai replied, “Good, even if you have a hundred wishes, I’ll grant all of them. As long as I can do it, I’ll do it for you.”
“Then… close your eyes…” Zhang Ruo Xi clenched her teeth and mustered all her courage. Upon finishing her words, she felt her face burning.
Fan Wu and the others looked dazedly at them with meaningful expressions on their faces. It was then they came to the realization that they had underestimated the relationship between Yang Kai and this Heavens Order’s descendant. They thought that they were just good friends, possibly even Master and Disciple, but it turned out that Zhang Ruo Xi harboured stronger feelings than that.
If that was the case, they had to do more than just maintain a good rapport with Yang Kai. In fact, they had to obey all his orders. Just like what Yang Kai had said, life was full of uncertainties, and they might need to ask for his help one day.
Although Yang Kai was referring to the Stone Spirit Clan when he said that, and Fan Wu had refused to accept it at that time, Yang Kai was now proven right.
Yang Kai was shocked upon hearing this request. He was no longer an inexperienced young man, so he could figure out her intentions through her demeanour and tone. Then, he sighed secretly and thought about how he had never dared to flirt with any woman since he came to Star Boundary; after all, he was far away from his homeland. More importantly, Su Yan, Xia Ning Chang, Shan Qing Luo, and Xue Yue were waiting for him.
Although he had ventured into Star Boundary for many years, he had always remained disciplined in his everyday life, as he had never been intimate with any woman; however, he was still a man with physical needs. After giving it a brief thought, he still closed his eyes.
Zhang Ruo Xi bit her lip as her heart pounded against her chest. Her heartbeat was as intense as that of someone thumping against a war drum, and her face became scorching hot.
She approached Yang Kai slowly and crouched down before cupping his face with trembling hands. Then, as her eyelashes fluttered, she closed her eyes anxiously and pressed her lips forward.
Soon, Yang Kai felt a warm sensation on his forehead, and he got a whiff of an intoxicating scent that was wafting from her. At the same time, he felt ticklish as her hair whisked across his face.
That moment seemed very short, but it also seemed to have lasted for a thousand years. Like a terrified rabbit, Zhang Ruo Xi jumped away as her vision became blurred. With her ears turning completely red, she said anxiously, “S-Sir, I really have to go now. Please take good care of yourself.”
Upon finishing her words, she charged towards the Blood Gate, as though she didn’t dare to stay there any longer. All of a sudden, her legs turned to jelly, and she almost tripped over a stone on the ground.
*Ha…*
Cang Gou almost couldn’t suppress his urge to laugh out loud.
Feeling ashamed, Zhang Ruo Xi immediately glowered at Cang Gou, whose smile froze and his forehead beaded with cold sweat.
“Take care of my Sir. Otherwise, all of you will pay the price!” After Zhang Ruo Xi finished speaking, she dashed into the Blood Gate and disappeared from everyone’s sight. Standing in front of Yang Kai, Xiao Xiao kept whimpering as though he was bidding him farewell. Then, he waved his hand at the Stone Spirit Clan members, who were still waiting in the distance, before he sprinted towards the Blood Gate as well.
Soon after, a crashing sound could be heard, upon which the Blood Gate Restricted Area, which had resided in the Ancient Wild Lands for countless years, disappeared all of a sudden, as though it had never existed before.
After the Blood Gate disappeared, the suppressive power that had been filling the air vanished as well.
Fan Wu and the others heaved a sigh of relief as they were glad that they had managed to survive in the end. At the same time, they felt fortunate that Zhang Ruo Xi was finally gone. If she stayed there any longer, they would have had a hard time breathing.
After trading glances, they sprinted forward and reached Yang Kai before cupping their fists, “Sir Yang, congratulations!”
At that moment, they didn’t dare to be haughty in front of Yang Kai anymore and all appeared humble. It was as though they were worried that Yang Kai might be displeased at their behaviour, which would lead him to making a complaint to the Heavens Order’s descendant in the future.
Yang Kai was still reminiscing about the kiss as he touched his own forehead. Upon hearing what they had said, he looked up at them and asked in an exasperated manner, “What’s there to congratulate me for?”
Certainly, he knew why they congratulated him. Anyone who managed to gain the favour of the Heavens Order’s descendant could literally walk sideways in Star Boundary, and even the Great Emperors had to show that person some respect.
“Did you congratulate me because I can now eat soft rice for the rest of my life?” Yang Kai grunted in an unhappy tone and shot a glance at them, “Do I look like a little white face to you?”
At that instant, Fan Wu and the others were lost for words as they didn’t know what was on Yang Kai’s mind. Rooted to the spot, they all remained silent and appeared embarrassed.
“You can leave. I still have something to do.” Yang Kai waved his hands, then he thought of something, “Let the Stone Spirit Clan members stay.”
“Yes!” Fan Wu and the others hurriedly cupped their fists and respectfully left the place.
After they were gone, Yang Kai looked up at the sky and saw Bing Yun’s Third Disciple was frowning, standing on the clouds, appearing displeased, pouting as she stared fixedly in the direction where the Blood Gate used to exist.
She had come to this place with Zhang Ruo Xi, but now that her friend was gone, she was left alone here. Having lost her mind, she couldn’t understand what was going on at the moment.
“Third Disciple!” Yang Kai called out to her.
Hearing his voice, Third Disciple immediately looked in his direction. Upon making out his face, she became cheerful and uttered, “Come catch me! Come catch me!”
Upon finishing her words, she seemed ready to flee from this place to continue the game of hide-and-seek with Yang Kai.
“Third Disciple, stop playing around! Don’t you want to meet Senior Bing Yun, An Ruo Yun, Sun Yun Xiu and Zhang Sun Ying?” After what happened to Zhang Ruo Xi, Yang Kai wasn’t in the mood to play with the Third Disciple anymore, so he directly dropped the names of those she cared about.
As expected, the Third Disciple seemed to have been impacted as she stopped running away. Then, she slowly turned around, and her eyes could be seen trembling, which suggested that her thoughts were in chaos.
Yang Kai was worried that something would happen to her, but to his surprise, in just a short moment, her eyes seemed to have cleared up, and she asked through clenched teeth, “You know my Honoured Master?”
She looked just like a healthy person when she spoke, almost like she had regained her sanity.
“Yes,” Yang Kai nodded.
“She…” The Third Disciple became agitated all of a sudden as she stared nervously at Yang Kai, “Is she still alive?”
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai replied, “Senior Bing Yun has returned to Ice Heart Valley. Your Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters are worried about you, and they have not stopped looking for you all this time.”
“Honoured Master is still alive…” The Third Disciple stumbled as she showed a relieved smile and then began to laugh out loud, “Honoured Master… Honoured Master, Honoured Master, where are you?”
As she spoke, the Third Disciple actually began to cry in a pitiful manner as if she was lost and couldn’t find her way back home.
Yang Kai’s expression instantly darkened, realizing that the Third Disciple’s condition was rather unstable and her emotions were prone to wild swings.
*Shua…*
The Third Disciple suddenly flashed and arrived behind Yang Kai. Tears were still on her face, but she suddenly laughed, “Honoured Master! So, this is where you were! Disciple shall brush your hair!”
As she spoke, she grabbed Yang Kai’s messy hair with her hand and began to carefully comb it.
[What’s going on!?] Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to inspect the Third Disciple, quickly discovering that even though her consciousness was in utter chaos, her expression had calmed down as she helped him comb his hair. She was serious and meticulous about combing each and every strand.
Has she mistaken him for Senior Bing Yun?
However, his figure wasn’t anywhere similar to Bing Yun’s. He wasn’t even the same gender! Wouldn’t it be impossible for any slightly normal person to mistake him for Bing Yun? It seemed the chaos in the Third Disciple’s consciousness was quite severe.
Yang Kai suddenly had a flash of inspiration as he frowned and quickly said, “Unfilial Disciple, do you know your wrongs!?”
After he said this, the Third Disciple standing behind him actually trembled with fear covering her face. She hurriedly came out from behind his back and faced Yang Kai while kneeling on the ground with her head lowered, saying in a shaking voice, “Honoured Master, please enlighten me!”
She really was treating him as Senior Bing Yun.
Yang Kai was secretly happy about this, but he acted with a severe expression as he scolded, “Your Master has safely returned to Ice Heart Valley, so why have you continued wandering about? Could it be that the colourful outside world has disturbed your Martial Heart and caused you to forget about returning?”
The Third Disciple answered in a shaky voice, “Disciple wouldn’t dare. This disciple was outside… This disciple was outside because…”
She was unable to explain what she was doing even after quite a while. It seemed as if she had forgotten what the whole purpose of leaving Ice Heart Valley was and a look of confusion gradually arose on her dirty face.
Yang Kai secretly felt that things had taken a turn for the worse. If he allowed her to continue thinking about it, perhaps things would become troublesome, so he immediately shouted, “Since you don’t dare, then come back with your Master to Ice Heart Valley, and serve by my side. You’re forbidden from going outside again unless you receive my command!”
The confusion on the Third Disciple’s face instantly disappeared as she respectfully answered, “Yes, Disciple understands!”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “Very good. Get up!”
“Many thanks, Honoured Master!”
“Stand over there to the side. Your Master needs to cultivate to heal… her injuries. During this time, do not permit anyone to approach!” Yang Kai tried to give another command.
The Third Disciple obediently listened and immediately stood to the side with a vigilant expression in her beautiful eyes. She scanned the surroundings, as if she really was standing guard for Yang Kai.
Seeing her like this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn’t trying to intentionally take advantage of the Third Disciple, but if left to her own devices, she would always appear and disappear like a ghost. If he really let her escape again, it wasn’t certain if he could find her once more. It was a good thing that he could stabilize her with this method for now.
Yang Kai secretly observed the Third Disciple for a while and saw that she didn’t show any signs of going insane. Only then did Yang Kai silently begin cultivating to help his body absorb the medicinal efficacies of the Phoenix Blood Fruit.
He was quite seriously injured this time. Without even mentioning his torn flesh, more than ten of his bones were broken. It was even worse in his legs, as both of them had been shattered by Shi Huo’s attacks. His five viscera and six organs were also filled with blood and his insides were in terrible shape.
Luckily, Yang Kai had a strong constitution, and his Golden Blood had extremely powerful restorative properties. An otherwise-normal person with such injuries would either have died already or been on the verge of death.
Emperor Qi flowed through his body as he gradually absorbed the medicinal efficacies of the Phoenix Blood Fruit. His shattered bones gradually mended, and his injured and swollen face restored itself.
The Phoenix Blood Fruit truly was a wondrous healing medicine. Yang Kai already felt that there were no major problems anymore before he even fully absorbed the spirit fruit’s medicinal efficacies.
However, his newly mended bones would require several days to set before they would be fully restored like new.
One hour later, Yang Kai opened his eyes and glanced over towards the Third Disciple. He saw that she was still standing there in order to stand guard for his sake.
Ten kilometres away, with the three Divine Venerables as their leaders, many Monster Kings and Great Kings, and even the Stone Spirit Clan were all silently looking in this direction. Everyone had different expressions and complex feelings in their hearts.
It was even more so for Xie Wu Wei. He had previously been filled with unhappiness when Yang Kai forced him to become his Soul Slave. He felt that Yang Kai was far too shameless and underhanded. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai adding insult to injury, threatening to refine his Soul after he died, he never would have been willing to hand over his Soul Brand.
However, Xie Wu Wei no longer dared to think like this.
The three Divine Venerables were so respectful in front of Yang Kai. As Yang Kai healed himself, the three Divine Venerables didn’t even dare to disturb him, and even issued the command for all Monster Kings and Great Kings to memorise Yang Kai’s appearance and to treat him like a Divine Venerable if they saw him in the future.
Even the Divine Venerables didn’t dare to act arrogantly in front of Yang Kai. A Monster King like Xie Wu Wei was nothing in comparison!
Xie Wu Wei was impressed, truly impressed. He was also filled with incredible regret. If only he had known earlier that the little girl next to Yang Kai was the Heaven’s Order descendant, he would have tried to build a good relationship with Yang Kai.
If he had done a good job, perhaps when that Heaven’s Order descendant from earlier entered the Blood Gate, she would even be generous enough to bring him inside as well. But now, the Heaven’s Order descendant had entered the Blood Gate already and only brought a single Stone Spirit in to inherit Tai Yue’s power, while all he could do was be jealous.
Xie Wu Wei felt so much regret that his heart hurt when he thought of this.
“Third Disciple, call over the three Divine Venerables and Stone Spirit Elder.” Yang Kai suddenly issued a command.
The Third Disciple bowed and then headed towards the location ten kilometres away. Yang Kai went by himself to the Mountains and Rivers Bell on the ground and inspected it, as if he wanted to see a flower on this bell.
He was forced to dispel the Soul Imprint on the Mountains and Rivers Bell, so this Ancient Exotic Artifact had once again become a Masterless object. Nobody had touched it ever since it landed here.
Ten kilometres away, the Third Disciple had just arrived by flying over. Upon a glance, it was clear how tattered her clothing was and how dirty her pretty face was. It was almost impossible to tell what her original appearance was.
Everyone looked at her with curiosity, not knowing who she was.
Xie Wu Wei did know that Yang Kai had been searching for the Third Disciple all this time, and he had also seen the Third Disciple’s appearance before, but now wasn’t a convenient time for him to say anything.
“My Honoured Master commanded me to invite the three Divine Venerables and Stone Spirit Elder over for a discussion!” The Third Disciple glanced at Fan Wu and the others and spoke in a light tone.
“Honoured Master…” Fan Wu and the others had astonished expressions when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened.
They knew quite clearly that Yang Kai’s cultivation was only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, while this dirty woman before them was in the Second-Order Emperor Realm.
Why would she address him as Honoured Master?
However, judging from this woman’s tone and attitude, it didn’t seem like she was joking.
Fan Wu was filled with questions, but he couldn’t exactly ask them out loud, so he just smiled and nodded, “Please lead the way.”
After he said that, he was about to head over, but then it seemed like he quickly thought of something as he turned towards Stone Spirit Elder and extended his hand, “Elder, please go ahead first!”
Elder chuckled and knew what Fan Wu was worried about, so he also made an inviting gesture and went forward with the three Divine Venerables all in unison.
Not long after, the four arrived at the earlier battlefield under the Third Disciple’s lead.
“Honoured Master!” Third Disciple shouted to indicate to Yang Kai that she had already brought who he wanted over. She then respectfully stood to the side.
Yang Kai nodded and walked forward to greet them.
“Sir Yang!” Fan Wu, Luan Feng, and Cang Gou all immediately cupped their fists in greeting and forced slight smiles.
However, Yang Kai didn’t even glance at them as he directly walked over to the Stone Spirit Elder and smiled in greeting, “Elder!”
Fan Wu and the others all felt rather awkward, but they couldn’t really say anything, so they could only step back embarrassedly.
“Sir Yang!” Elder didn’t dare to be rude. Even if it was just taking Yang Kai’s intimate relationship with the Heaven’s Order descendant into consideration, not a single living being in the entire Ancient Lands would dare to behave arrogantly in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai pushed down Elder’s cupped fists and sighed, “Elder also saw that while things today may have had their ups and downs, in the end, fortunately I did not fail my mission. Xiao Xiao has now entered the Blood Gate, and Ruo Xi is taking care of him, so he’ll definitely be able to inherit the power of Tai Yue soon.”
Even though Elder had already learned of what happened from Fan Wu and the others, he was still really excited to hear Yang Kai personally saying this. His body slightly trembled as he said, “Sir Yang’s great favour is something that my Stone Spirit Clan shall remember for eternity.”
“Elder is being too polite!” Yang Kai smiled, “Although Xiao Xiao is a member of the Stone Spirit Clan, I also raised him myself, so of course I hope to see him doing well. Elder, we’re all one family, so don’t act as if we’re strangers.”
Elder’s eyes lit up, “It is Shi Jiu’s greatest fortune in life that he was able to follow Sir Yang, as well as the greatest fortune of my Stone Spirit Clan.”
Yang Kai told him, “Elder, please rest assured, the Stone Spirit Clan shall never be bothered again in this Ancient Lands, nor will anyone force you to do anything that you don’t want to do…” After saying this, Yang Kai glanced sideways at Fan Wu and the other Divine Venerables and chuckled, “Sirs and Madam, what do you think?”
Fan Wu hurriedly stated, “Sir Yang is correct. The Stone Spirit Clan absolutely won’t be bothered ever again. We will warn our subordinates today that with the Stone Spirit Clan’s current territory as the centre, all the land within a radius of a hundred thousand kilometres shall eternally belong to the Stone Spirit Clan. Anyone who dares to enter without permission will be executed without mercy!”
Luan Feng and Cang Gou also nodded, making it evident that they had no objections to this decision.
Yang Kai didn’t say anything more to them. He simply glanced at Elder instead, “Elder, are you satisfied with this? If this isn’t enough, we can discuss it again. The Three Divine Venerables are all easy to talk to, so please ask them if you have any requests at all.”
Fan Wu hurriedly exclaimed, “Yes, yes. If Elder still has any requests, feel free to say them directly. We three will definitely satisfy you as long as it is within our ability to.”
Elder chuckled, “That’s enough, that’s enough. My Stone Spirit Clan has few clansmen to begin with. A radius of one hundred thousand kilometres is more than enough for us to use.”
He had a very happy expression and was evidently highly satisfied with this result. Of course, he also knew that Fan Wu was only being so generous in order to give face to Yang Kai. Otherwise, forget about a hundred thousand kilometres, even a radius of ten thousand kilometres would be difficult to ask for.
Elder really couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart. Before he came here today, he had resolved to sacrifice himself if things didn’t succeed. He never expected that there would be such a wonderful ending.
Not only did the Stone Spirit Clan have someone so powerful to rely on now, even Shi Jiu would soon become a Divine Spirit, Tai Yue.
The Stone Spirit Clan and the intimately connected Wood Spirit Clan were able to reap incredible benefits today. Being able to live without any worries was a life that Elder had wanted for so many years but never obtained before.
But now, Yang Kai had resolved everything with just a few words.
Fan Wu smiled, “This King’s palace isn’t far away from Elder’s land. In the future, Elder must come visit me more often.”
Elder politely responded, “Since Sir Divine Venerable has offered such an intention, this Elder might come bother you in the future. I hope you don’t mind, Sir Divine Venerable.”
Yang Kai didn’t need to be polite with Fan Wu, but Elder still needed to worry about such things. The Stone Spirit Clan’s level of strength as a whole was still lower than Fan Wu’s before Xiao Xiao became Tai Yue, and it was also impossible for Yang Kai to remain in the Ancient Lands forever to protect them.
It wasn’t necessary to have an extremely close relationship with Fan Wu, but they couldn’t afford to have a bad relationship with him. Having a friendly relationship would be a good thing for the Stone Spirit Clan.
Fan Wu chuckled loudly, “Elder, you’re being too serious. If Elder has free time in the future, you must spend some time at this King’s palace.”
Luan Feng also covered her mouth and smiled, “This Queen welcomes Elder as well.”
Cang Gou gave them a sidelong glance and snorted, “You act as if this King is trying to reject all visitors.” He then turned and smiled at Elder, “Elder, although my palace is a bit far from the Stone Spirit Clan’s territory, I’ve always heard that the Wood Spirit Clan’s wine is incomparably delicious. If I come visit you someday, I hope that Elder will offer his hospitality.”
“Of course, of course. If Sir Divine Venerable wants to visit, my clan would naturally welcome you with all our hearts!” Elder couldn’t help but smile wryly. Since when has he become so attractive? The three great Divine Venerables of the Ancient Lands were all trying to establish a relationship with him. Naturally, this was all because of Yang Kai. Elder wasn’t the type to be hypocritical, since he felt that continuing to chat with the three Divine Venerables would result in him being strong in will but weak in strength, he hurriedly said to Yang Kai, “Sir Yang, since things are resolved here, then this Elder shall return with his clansmen. As for Sir Yang…”
Yang Kai smiled and replied, “I won’t be going with Elder. I came to the Ancient Lands this time to find Xiao Xiao. Since Xiao Xiao has gone into the Blood Gate already, then I’m done with what I came for and will be leaving the Ancient Lands soon.”
When Elder heard this, he had a regretful expression, but he still nodded, “I hope you will have a pleasant journey then, Sir Yang. If you ever visit the Ancient Lands again, please come to my Stone Spirit Clan’s territory. This Elder will definitely welcome you!”
“Elder, have a safe trip, forgive me for not seeing you off,” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
Elder cupped his fists in response and said goodbye to Fan Wu and the others before he finally turned around and left.
Soon, the Stone Spirit Clan followed Elder and vanished from everyone’s vision.
Fan Wu and the others stood behind Yang Kai and looked at each other for a while, feeling somewhat anxious inside. In the end, Fan Wu lightly coughed and tried to ask, “Sir Yang, what do you intend to do next?”
Yang Kai tilted his head and chuckled while looking at him, “What is it, Sir Fan Wu? Are you in a hurry to see me leave the Ancient Lands?”
Fan Wu’s expression changed as he exclaimed in fear, “I would never dare! It’s the Ancient Lands’ good fortune that Sir Yang has arrived. This Fan Wu would never dare to think in such a way.”
“You really wouldn’t dare? Just say whatever it is that you’re thinking. A trivial First-Order Emperor Realm like me can’t do anything to you anyways,” Yang Kai chuckled coldly in a strange manner.
[You can’t do anything to me, but that Heaven’s Order descendant can!] Fan Wu kept thinking that as he forced himself to smile, “Sir Yang is overthinking things. From today onwards, Sir Yang is our Ancient Lands’ Honoured Guest. We truly welcome you if you wish to stay here.”
Yang Kai reached out and patted Fan Wu on the shoulder while laughing out loud, “I never thought that Sir Fan Wu would be such a generous host. Since that’s the case, then this Young Master must give you some face. This Young Master shall stay in the Ancient Lands for a while.”
Fan Wu’s expression darkened as he really wanted to slap himself in the face.
Luan Feng and Cang Gou also glanced at him with complaining expressions as they thought, [Why did you have to talk this much!? Being mute would have been better!]
Yang Kai pointed and asked, “Do you three still want this or not?”
Fan Wu and the others regained their senses and saw that Yang Kai was pointing at the Mountains and Rivers Bell that was on the ground. Their hearts instantly jumped as they answered in a panic, “This belongs to Sir Yang, so it should go with its rightful owner. We would never dare to have any designs for it.”
Yang Kai snorted, “Who told me before that this originally belonged to the Ancient Lands?”
Cang Gou instantly smiled, “Treasures belong to those who obtain them. This bell has existed in the Ancient Lands for countless years, but nobody has ever been able to tame it before. Since Sir Yang is capable of making it acknowledge you as its Master, it should belong with you.”
Cang Gou, who was the one who previously said that sentence, was afraid that Yang Kai would hold a grudge against him for it, so he hurriedly denied any knowledge of his previous words.
“I couldn’t tell that even though Sir Cang Gou is the aloof type, he actually has such a way with words,” Yang Kai glanced at him teasingly.
Cang Gou’s face reddened and he couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into. He had lost a lot of face today, but luckily, nobody else was here apart from Fan Wu and Luan Feng. The Monster Kings and Great Kings were all ten kilometres away; otherwise, if word of what happened today spread, he would no longer have any authority to command his subordinates with.
“You really don’t want it?” Yang Kai had a serious expression, “Don’t say that this Young Master didn’t give you a chance. This is an Ancient Exotic Artifact, a bell that can suppress the mountains and rivers. You’ll be filled with courage when holding it, and you can even go and slap the Dragon Clan several times in the face if you meet them. You won’t have this opportunity again if you miss it, so you better not regret letting this go.”
Fan Wu could only keep smiling bitterly, “Sir Yang, please stop joking around with us.”
He had an expression of being unable to take much more, almost to the extent of pleading with Yang Kai to immediately take the Mountains and River Bell away with him.
Luan Feng also pleaded, “Sir Yang, we were in the wrong before, but Shi Huo has died already, so we hope that Sir Yang will calm his anger.”
Yang Kai glanced at her and stated in a light tone, “Since Lady Feng has said so much, this Young Master shall give you face.”
Although Luan Feng had also been watching from the sidelines before, at least she helped stop Ruo Xi from committing suicide. Yang Kai was somewhat grateful to her even if just for that alone.
Luan Feng was somewhat surprised when she heard this, while Fan Wu and Cang Gou both hurriedly glanced at her and seemingly realized something.
Yang Kai walked forward and patted the Mountains and River Bell, pouring his Emperor Qi and Spiritual Energy into it somewhat anxiously.
Back in the Shattered Star Sea, he had spent one year in order to tame the Mountains and Rivers Bell. The difficult process would be unimaginable to outsiders. Today, he had been forced to remove his Soul Imprint, so he didn’t know if he could make it recognize him as its Master again. Even if he could make it recognize him as its Master, he didn’t know how long it would take.
Yang Kai would be really depressed if it took another year.
Fortunately, his Spiritual Energy and Emperor Qi easily entered the Mountains and River Bell, bringing a smile to his face as he knew this Ancient Exotic Artifact wasn’t rejecting him. Immediately, Yang Kai focused on leaving his Soul Imprint on the bell again.
*Zhe…*
The ancient Mountains and River Bell flashed and shrunk as Yang Kai slightly arched his eyebrows. He reached out and picked it up as he tossed it around, playing with it in his hands.
“This…” Fan Wu had an astonished expression.
Fan Wu had also tried to take the Mountains and River Bell earlier, but even with his cultivation, it wasn’t possible for him to even pick it up, so he could only allow it to remain on the ground. Since Yang Kai was able to pick it up now, this was obvious evidence that he had already received its acknowledgement.
“So quick!” Cang Gou couldn’t help but exclaim out loud.
A strange light flashed in Luan Feng’s beautiful eyes as she reassessed Yang Kai, as if she wanted to see what was hidden in his body. Comparisons really would make a person frustrated. The three of them had tried many times before, but they were completely unable to get their strength to enter the Mountains and Rivers Bell, yet when it came to Yang Kai, he made it look as easy as breathing.
“A bout of good luck indeed!” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “This treasure seems like it’s still willing to recognize me as its Master.”
As he spoke, Yang Kai immediately absorbed the Mountains and Rivers Bell into himself before he turned around, sat down cross-legged, and glanced at the Embodiment on the ground.
Ever since Ruo Xi sealed Shi Hou’s Source into the Embodiment, the Embodiment appeared to have gone into a strange deep sleep. According to Yang Kai’s senses, his Soul Clone within the Embodiment had also fallen silent.
However, there was no danger even though the Embodiment was in a deep slumber. As long as the Embodiment could successfully refine Shi Huo’s Source, then a new Divine Spirit Shi Huo would awaken afterwards.
“Sir Yang, this Stone Spirit… How should we deal with him? Do you need me to have several Monster Kings remain here to stand guard for him?” Luan Feng hurriedly asked as she saw the concern in Yang Kai’s eyes.
If there really was a biggest winner from today, then it would doubtlessly be the Stone Spirit Clan.
A Stone Spirit clansman was brought into the Blood Gate by the Heaven’s Order descendant in order to inherit the Divine Spirit Tai Yue’s Source, while another clansman had obtained Shi Huo’s Source.
This one clan was about to give rise to two Divine Spirits!
The entire Stone Spirit Clan didn’t even have many clansmen.
Just this fact alone meant the Stone Spirit Clan couldn’t be underestimated in the future.
Yang Kai shook his head when he heard Luan Feng’s question, “No need.”
[No need?] Luan Feng paused in surprise and couldn’t help but worry a little. Although her subordinate Monster Kings and Great Kings all knew about what happened today and would definitely wouldn’t try to bother this Stone Spirit, who was about to rise to become a Divine Spirit, Shi Huo, underlings were sometimes harder to deal with than powerful leaders. Maybe some weak Monster Race member with no eyes would come here and accidentally disturb this Stone Spirit. Who could possibly take responsibility then?
Luan Feng had her worries and was about to try and convince Yang Kai again when she suddenly saw him weave a few hand seals. He moved his body around in a crazy manner as if he couldn’t control himself, making others feel afraid that he would break his own bones as he kept muttering something.
His actions were incomprehensible.
The three Divine Venerables were all stunned at the sight and had no clue what Yang Kai was trying to do.
As they watched, Yang Kai suddenly reached over to pat his Embodiment.
*Shua…*
The Embodiment mysteriously vanished in the next instant.
The Three Great Divine Venerables were astonished as their expressions greatly changed.
Fan Wu called out in a low voice, “What happened? Where did he go?”
Luan Feng and Cang Gou also had confused expressions as they slowly shook their heads.
The Three Great Divine Venerables were the strongest here and had the most experience and vision, but what happened just a moment ago made them feel that something inconceivable had occurred right before their eyes, so of course they would be astonished.
“There’s nothing to be surprised about,” Yang Kai clapped his hands and flicked away some imaginary dust from his sleeve while giving the three a sidelong glance, “This Young Master just used his World Shifting Technique to transport him to a safe location.”
“World Shifting Technique!” Fan Wu had a shocked expression.
Still, he soon had an expression of understanding, since Yang Kai had shown how proficient he was with the Dao of Space before. In Fan Wu’s mind, this World Shifting Technique he had never heard of before was obviously just another way of using Space Principles.
Since Yang Kai was capable of instantly teleporting himself, then it made sense he could teleport others as well…
However, Fan Wu didn’t know that Yang Kai was just bluffing about teleporting the Embodiment while, in fact, he had secretly stashed him away in the Sealed World Bead. Otherwise, with their cultivation, they would definitely be able to detect signs of the teleportation, while this method would leave no traces at all.
“Sir Yang’s Divine Ability is truly wondrous and inscrutable. I’ve truly learned much today,” Fan Wu praised, and not just as a means of flattery, as he truly did feel this way.
It was impossible to not be impressed with how Yang Kai had made such a large Stone Spirit vanish with apparently such little effort.
Fan Wu felt that he personally had no such ability.
The three Divine Venerables were astonished by Yang Kai just from this alone.
They thought about it some more and figured that with Yang Kai already having such astonishing cultivation at his young age, and being highly skilled in the Dao of Space Force, it was possible he might even become a Great Emperor in the future. Even if he couldn’t become a Great Emperor, becoming a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master would definitely not be a problem for him at all. What was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master who was a Master in the Dao of Space? Even if such a person wasn’t a Great Emperor, he would still be one of the top Masters within the Emperor Realm. Yang Kai also had the Mountains and Rivers Bell, and the Heaven’s Order descendant was deeply attached to him…
The three Divine Venerables reassessed Yang Kai at this moment and discovered that this youth secretly contained enormous and unimaginable potential, which helped to open up their way of thinking.
Fan Wu cupped his fists, “Sir Yang, now that things are finished here, how about you come to my place to rest for a while?”
After Fan Wu realized the potential within Yang Kai, he no longer disliked the idea of Yang Kai staying in the Ancient Lands. Instead, he even started acting as a warm and welcoming host.
Cang Gou and Luan Feng had evidently noticed this as well, so right after Fan Wu finished speaking, Cang Gou added, “This one’s palace also welcomes Sir Yang. If Sir Yang doesn’t mind…”
Luan Feng immediately interrupted him, “This Queen would also like to invite Sir Yang to her palace. I’m just afraid that Sir Yang won’t agree.”
Cang Gou felt really aggrieved because he didn’t get to finish his sentence. He couldn’t help but glare at Luan Feng as an obviously depressed expression appeared on his face.
Yang Kai was all smiles as he looked at the three, he clearly knew what they were thinking. He secretly chuckled coldly in his mind while wondering if they would still be so passionate if they learned about his true intentions in a bit. He pondered for a bit before saying, “Since all three of you are inviting me so warmly, this Young Master would appear impolite if he refused. I wonder which of your three palaces is the closest to this location?”
He didn’t have much of a relationship with any of these three Divine Venerables. The only one that was easier on his eyes was Luan Feng, since she was a woman who had some natural advantages in this area. Yang Kai also had a slightly better opinion of her compared to the other two because of Ruo Xi’s matter.
Still, it didn’t matter where he went right now, as the important part was after he went.
Luan Feng’s pretty eyes lit up, “The closest location is this Queen’s palace.”
Cang Gou instantly became unhappy, “It’s just around a hundred thousand kilometres closer than this King’s palace. You call that close!?”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “Since we’re closest to Lady Feng’s palace, then this Young Master shall go rest at her palace. Cough cough… my injuries haven’t healed yet, so it’s not convenient for me to travel long distances.” As he spoke, he actually began to cough violently as he spat Golden Blood everywhere like it was rain.
The three Divine Venerables were astonished as Luan Feng exclaimed, “Sir Yang, what’s wrong!?”
The Third Disciple’s beautiful face changed expressions as she was also standing nearby. She hurriedly went over to support Yang Kai as she concernedly muttered, “Honoured Master…”
Yang Kai held his chest as he made an expression that it was difficult for him to speak, “Shi Huo attacked me too viciously, so this Young Master was seriously injured and likely won’t recover within a short period of time.”
Fan Wu and the others were really surprised as they thought in unison, [Didn’t that Heaven’s Order descendant give you a ten-thousand-year-old Phoenix Blood Fruit? With such a supreme healing medicine, what type of injury would possibly be unrestorable? Additionally, you were clearly fine earlier, so why would you suddenly be spitting blood?] They all had strange expressions because they didn’t know what Yang Kai was trying to do.
*Cough cough…*
Yang Kai had a pale expression as he panted, “I hear that the Ancient Lands contain a lot of spirit medicines with long medicinal ages. If I can obtain some to consume, they’ll definitely help this Young Master’s injuries. Sigh, it’s such a pity that this Young Master is currently injured and doesn’t have the strength to go search.”
Fan Wu’s expression darkened as he instantly understood what Yang Kai wanted. His mouth slightly twitched as he said, “Sir Yang, rest assured, this King will have his subordinate Monster Kings search for those spirit medicines so that I can personally present them to you. I hope that Sir Yang can hold on for a while longer.”
After Fan Wu said this, he surreptitiously glared at Cang Gou and transmitted a secret message.
Cang Gou instantly realized what was going on, so he hurriedly added, “This King will naturally work his hardest for Sir Yang’s sake.”
“That’s good, that’s good,” Yang Kai wiped away the fresh blood at the corner of his mouth. He leaned half his body on the Third Disciple as he said, “Apart from these spirit medicine and spirit fruits, if there are also some High-Rank Source Crystals or rare treasures… This Young Master’s injuries will probably be restored even quicker.”
[What do Source Crystals and rare treasures have to do with your injuries?] Fan Wu and the others really wanted to ask this out loud to Yang Kai. How was this not blatant extortion?
“You three can rest assured, once this Young Master’s injuries are fully healed, he shall leave the Ancient Lands. I won’t trouble you for too long,” Yang Kai forced himself to smile harmlessly as he spoke with an expression filled with weakness.
Fan Wu’s eyes twitched violently as he said insincerely, “Sir Yang is being too polite. With Sir Yang’s status, it’s alright no matter how long you stay in the Ancient Lands.”
“Ah, right,” Yang Kai acted as if he suddenly thought about something as he said, “Since Shi Huo is dead, all the treasures he plundered over the years are obviously useless to him now. I need to trouble you three to go to his palace, carefully make an inventory of everything, and then bring it over to me. By rights, all of that should belong to Ruo Xi. I will temporarily hold onto it and pass it to her after she comes out of the Blood Gate.”
After he said this, Fan Wu and the others felt as if blood was dripping from their hearts; however, they didn’t dare to say anything against this since Yang Kai brought the Heaven’s Order descendant into the matter.
Fan Wu answered, “Sir Yang is correct. Shi Huo indeed plundered many good things over the years. This King shall soon bring people over to make an inventory of those items before delivering everything to Sir.” After he said this, he glanced at Luan Feng and said, “Lady Feng, please take good care of Sir Yang.”
Luan Feng nodded, “I understand.” She then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Sir Yang, this Queen shall take you back to her palace now.”
Yang Kai nodded in agreement.
Luan Feng immediately circulated her Qi to envelop Yang Kai and the Third Disciple before flying off.
Before they left, Yang Kai even waved towards Fan Wu and Cang Gou, “This Young Master shall be waiting for good news from you two. Please do your best regarding this matter.”
Fan Wu and Cang Gou currently had smiles that looked even worse than if they were crying as they cupped their fists in unison as a respectful goodbye.
Once Yang Kai and the others completely vanished from their vision, Fan Wu’s expression suddenly collapsed as he shook his head and smiled bitterly, “It’s easy to invite a Deity, but difficult to make one leave.”
Cang Gou glanced at him and commented, “Shi Huo’s belongings… Are we really going to give everything to him? Shi Huo collected a significant amount of wealth over the years.”
Fan Wu glanced at him dispassionately while asking, “Is treasure more important, or is your life more important?”
Cang Gou answered, “It’s not like he knows how much wealth Shi Huo has collected. He’s a First-Order Emperor Realm, so he’ll probably laugh his teeth off if we give him just a little. Can he really handle that many good things?”
Fan Wu coldly snorted, “He might not know, but you think Lady Feng wouldn’t know? All he has to do is ask her. What if Lady Feng leaks the information to him? How are you and I going to explain?”
Cang Gou frowned, “Lady Feng isn’t the type to say that much, is she?”
Fan Wu sighed, “He keeps pressuring us with that Heaven’s Order descendant. He’s asking for Shi Huo’s legacy by using the Heaven’s Order descendant’s name. It’s likely that Lady Feng won’t dare to deceive him.”
Cang Gou also heavily sighed when he heard this as pain filled his expression.
…..
Tall mountains loomed as clouds spread across a realm that seemed straight out of a fairy tale. At the peak of a certain mountain was a grand and magnificent palace around which mythical beasts and birds frolicked, making it appear like a paradise.
This was Luan Feng’s palace.
As the palace of one of the Four Great Divine Venerables, this place naturally possessed a Peak-Rank Earth Vein, making the ambient World Energy astonishingly rich.
Luan Feng softly landed together with Yang Kai and the Third Disciple, after which Yang Kai’s eyes flashed with surprise as he looked all around and secretly exclaimed to himself.
When they landed, a few beautiful women in maidservant attire immediately came up to greet them. There were two rows and eight maidservants in total, and they all possessed dense Monster Qi, making it evident that they were powerful members of the Monster Race.
Yang Kai scanned them with his Divine Sense and found that the eight maidservants were surprisingly all Low-Rank Twelfth-Order, equivalent to First-Order Emperors.
The maidservants came forward and bowed in unison, “Greetings, Mistress!”
Luan Feng waved her hand and had them rise. She then pointed to Yang Kai, “This Sir Yang is this Queen’s Honoured Guest who will be staying at my Phoenix Nest Palace for some time. Tell the others that if you see Sir Yang, it is as if you’re seeing this Queen. No one is to show him the slightest disrespect.”
When the eight maidservants heard this, they all had looks of astonishment on their faces, but they still responded quickly and in unison, after which they secretly began to observe Yang Kai.
Their beautiful eyes glanced over and found that Yang Kai was actually a Human, which gave them quite the shock. They wondered just who he could be that their Divine Venerable would value him so greatly.
Seeing him was like seeing the Divine Venerable. This was an incredible honour.
As they spoke, a precocious little girl of about seven or eight suddenly appeared behind them. This little girl had a pink and perfect appearance and somewhat resembled Luan Feng. She had two cute braids, and she immediately rushed over to pounce into Luan Feng’s arms. She kept pushing her little head around, which caused Luan Feng’s voluptuous peaks to distort and change shape.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but gulp when he saw this.
Luan Feng’s face became bright red due to her chest being pushed around like this. She noticed Yang Kai’s strange gaze as well, so she hurriedly held the little girl in her arms and angrily scolded, “Ling’er, stop playing around. I have a guest today, so I’ll play with you later.”
She smiled apologetically to Yang Kai after she said this, “My daughter is a little spoiled. I hope Sir Yang doesn’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.” Yang Kai swept his eyes over this girl named Ling’er and exclaimed in realization, “Lady Feng, is she your daughter that I previously met on Clear Jade Mountain?”
“Indeed!” Lady Feng put Ling’er down and patted her head with obvious love.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but exclaim how wondrous things were.
Yang Kai had met this girl named Ling’er before back at Clear Jade Mountain when the little Luan Feng revealed itself. He never expected that she would actually be able to take Human form after only a few years and that her cultivation would be this high, reaching the Mid-Rank Eleventh-Order.
However, this Ling’er was the descendant of a Divine Spirit, so it wasn’t strange that she would have such an astonishing growth rate.
Yang Kai suddenly became rather curious as he looked at the little girl.
[Giving birth obviously required a man and a woman, so how had Luan Feng given birth to her daughter? There probably wasn’t a male Luan Feng in this world, right?]
[Could it be… That she got together with one of her subordinate Monster Kings?] Yang Kai’s expression instantly became strange when he thought about this.
The little girl named Ling’er tilted her head as her eyes flashed while she curiously looked at Yang Kai.
However, it was evident that she no longer remembered Yang Kai. Even though she had met him more than ten years ago on Clear Jade Mountain, Ling’er had just awakened her sentience then, so there were many things that she couldn’t remember clearly. She could only sense that this person in front of her seemed faintly familiar.
Yang Kai smiled harmlessly at her.
Luan Feng’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, afraid that Yang Kai would become enamoured with her daughter and try to steal Ling’er away, so she hurriedly gestured at a nearby maidservant, “Take her away. Let’s not bother Sir Yang.”
The maidservant hurriedly answered, “Yes!”
She then immediately took Ling’er by the hand, excused herself, and slowly left.
Luan Feng heaved a slight sigh of relief as she watched Ling’er vanish from her sight. She secretly resolved to absolutely not let Ling’er meet Yang Kai again while he was staying in her palace for this period of time.
A Divine Spirit’s descendant would be tremendously attractive to any Human. No matter if the descendant was any help or not when brought outside, just the status of being a Divine Spirit’s descendant would awe many people. If Yang Kai really stole Ling’er away, Luan Feng wouldn’t even know who to cry to. Not only that, Ling’er really loved to play and was difficult to keep an eye on.
“Sir Yang, please come this way!” Luan Feng gestured with her hand.
Yang Kai nodded as he and the Third Disciple followed Luan Feng into the Phoenix Nest Palace.
The palace had been constructed on a grand scale, and its interior was decorated with amazing beauty. It could be seen that Luan Feng really knew how to enjoy herself in this manner.
There was an inner pavilion with a flying dragon and phoenix sculpture that only emphasized the grandeur of this abode.
Luan Feng finally spoke up after she led Yang Kai all the way to a courtyard deep inside, “Sir Yang, does this place suit your tastes? If you’re not satisfied, we can change it to a different location.”
Yang Kai glanced around and found nothing to be dissatisfied with, so he nodded in affirmation, “This is fine!”
Luan Feng heaved a sigh of relief. She glanced back at the other seven maidservants following her and ordered them, “All of you shall stay here to serve Sir Yang during this time. If Sir Yang has any requests, any at all, you must satisfy them, otherwise, this Queen absolutely won’t forgive you.”
The seven Low-Rank Twelfth-Order maidservants hurriedly answered, “Yes!”
They couldn’t help but secretly worry. Their Divine Venerable said to satisfy all of Sir Yang’s requests, but what if he was lustful and wanted them to do this or that… What should they do then? Men were all the same, no matter if they were Human or Monster.
But since the Divine Venerable had already made this declaration, they didn’t dare to disobey.
“Sir Yang, if there’s nothing else, this Queen shall take her leave. Feel free to give them orders if there’s anything that you need,” Luan Feng smiled as she looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai nodded, “Lady Feng, go ahead and do what you need to. En, as for those spirit flowers and so on, please pay attention to those as well, Lady Feng.”
Luan Feng could only bitterly smile to herself as she realized she couldn’t escape from this tribulation; however, outwardly she could only respond, “Sir may rest assured, this Queen shall deal with it right away.”
After that, she then politely took her leave.
Yang Kai stepped forward after she left and began looking around. He pointed at a building to the left and said, “Third Disciple, will it be fine if you live there for the time being?”
The Third Disciple glanced at the building and then answered, “Will Honoured Master also be living here?”
Yang Kai smiled, “I’ll be living there.”
He pointed at a nearby building.
Third Disciple instantly had an expression of ‘this was difficult for her to accept,’ “But this Disciple wants to serve next to Honoured Master…”
“It’s not far away, so it’s fine,” Yang Kai waved his hand. He didn’t wait for the Third Disciple to say anything else as he looked at one of the maids and asked, “What’s your name?”
The maidservant bowed, “Reporting to Sir, this servant is Tian Long!”
Yang Kai nodded, “Please take her over there and bathe her, then find some clean clothes for her to change into.”
The Third Disciple’s current appearance wasn’t really convenient for meeting others right now. Her Ice Heart Valley attire hadn’t been changed for an unknown number of years, her hair was messy, her face was filthy, and there was a strange smell on her body that somewhat resembled a pungent fruit.
But now that things had calmed down for the time being, Yang Kai naturally wanted to have her clean herself first, as otherwise it really would be difficult to keep looking at her.
“Yes!” Tian Long took the Third Disciple’s arm as she spoke and pulled her away.
The Third Disciple seemed to panic, so Yang Kai hurriedly consoled her by saying, “Come see me again after you’re clean!”
Yang Kai’s words were quite effective on Third Disciple now, so his command immediately calmed Third Disciple down.
After the maidservant named Tian Long took Third Disciple away, Yang Kai waved at the other six maidservants, “You can go do whatever you need to do. I don’t need you to serve me.”
The six maidservants all showed their delight when they heard this. Without saying anything, they all bowed and took their leave.
They had been really afraid that Yang Kai would make some obscene request that they wouldn’t be able to resist due to the Divine Venerable’s command from earlier. However, this Human seemed quite easy to get along with, so they now felt a lot more reassured.
After Yang Kai made everyone leave, he walked into the building by himself and went straight up to the second floor.
The second floor was spacious and had everything needed to live in. Yang Kai walked over to a table, sat down, and slightly sighed.
This trip to the Ancient Lands was truly filled with so many twists and turns.
When facing the Four Great Divine Venerables, Yang Kai truly experienced what it was to feel strong in will but weak in strength, a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time. His Space Divine Abilities which he relied on so much were basically worthless in front of the Four Great Divine Venerables. Things likely would have been bad if it wasn’t for Ruo Xi’s bloodline suddenly awakening at the last moment.
Yang Kai was also truly astonished that Ruo Xi was actually Heavens Order’s descendant.
Still, since her bloodline had awakened already and she was now in the Blood Gate, she would definitely be able to inherit her ancestor’s strength as long as she could emerge from the gate. As for Xiao Xiao, who had gone in together with her, he would also transform into the Divine Spirit Tai Yue.
Even his Embodiment had obtained Shi Huo’s Source and was likely to become the next Divine Spirit Shi Huo.
Overall, although this trip was a bit dangerous, Yang Kai had gained an incomparably large harvest. This wasn’t even counting the treasure that he was extorting or the million Monster Cores he obtained in the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb. He also didn’t know how much treasure Shi Huo had left behind, nor did he know how many good things the other three Divine Venerables would give to him.
Without mentioning the current and future benefits though, what Yang Kai truly felt the strongest about right now was his own desire for greater strength!
This time, the danger had only been resolved because Ruo Xi had awakened her bloodline, but what about the next time? How should he deal with things if he met another Divine Spirit or Master on the level of a Great Emperor? It wasn’t like he could always have such good luck, right?
In terms of methods, he had countless techniques and Divine Abilities that wouldn’t be fewer than anyone’s. He had his Dao of Space techniques, the Time Flies Seal, his Golden Divine Dragon Source, and the power of that Ancient Demon. Any of these techniques and means would be astonishing all on their own.
As for artifacts, he possessed the Mountains and Rivers Bell. Just this one artifact alone would be more than enough for anyone to be in awe.
The only thing he lacked was cultivation!
With his First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, he was neither weak nor strong. It was an awkward realm to be in.
Yang Kai still needed to cultivate; he needed to work even harder at cultivating!
When he thought of this, Yang Kai was no longer in the mood to keep thinking random things, so he waved his hand and brought his Black Jade Furnace before him. He sent his Divine Sense searching through his Space Ring and Small Sealed World to look for suitable resources.
He was now an Emperor Grade Alchemist, so he had plenty of herbs on hand to refine Emperor Grade Spirit Pills.
With the assistance of Emperor Grade Spirit Pills, he would be able to achieve twice the result and half the effort in his cultivation.
That was why he intended to first refine some Spirit Pills, which would also be useful for improving his Alchemy proficiency, in preparation for refining the Flesh Incarnation Fruit in the future.
Yang Kai took out numerous Emperor Grade spirit medicines and Monster Cores and placed them in front of himself. Various pill recipes flashed through his mind before he finally decided upon making several Spirit Pills that would assist in his cultivation based on the current resources he had on hand.
Yang Kai poured his Emperor Qi into the Black Jade Furnace, which caused flames to immediately start burning. This raised the temperature of the room by several degrees.
However, before Yang Kai could put the spirit medicine before him into the Alchemy Furnace, his expression suddenly changed as he raised his head and glanced outside.
The maidservant named Tian Long was running over in a panic with an anxious expression on her face, as if something major had happened.
“Sir Yang!” Tian Long immediately raised her head and shouted when she approached the building.
“What is it?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow as he replied.
“Sir Yang, you should hurry and go take a look! I don’t know what happened to your Disciple, but she suddenly went crazy and won’t cooperate with us bathing her!” Tian Long answered anxiously.
Yang Kai’s expression darkened as he secretly thought to himself, [This is bad!]
The Third Disciple’s mental state was extremely unstable, and judging from Tian Long’s words, it seemed her consciousness had become chaotic again.
Yang Kai flashed and immediately appeared next to Tian Long as he quickly said, “Lead the way!”
Tian Long was slightly surprised as she didn’t know how Yang Kai had come out, but she didn’t dare to ask as she hurriedly led the way.
Not long after, the two of them arrived at a secluded hall that seemed to be for bathing. There was a large pool in the centre of the hall which was covered with flowers of different colours that emanated a gentle fragrance that spread everywhere in a wondrous manner.
At this moment, the other six maidservants were also in this hall, trying to anxiously search for the Third Disciple.
When they saw Yang Kai arriving, the six maidservants hurried over and kneeled on the floor while trembling.
Yang Kai glanced at them and asked in surprise, “Where is she?”
Tian Long hurriedly answered, “We don’t know…”
Yang Kai frowned, “What happened exactly?”
Tian Long answered, “Everything was fine at first, but when we prepared to wash your Disciple, it seemed as if she suddenly became someone else. We tried to catch her, but she disappeared before any of us could even blink.”
There was something else that Tian Long didn’t dare to directly say, which was that the Third Disciple had previously acted like a completely unreasonable maniac.
Yang Kai slapped himself on the forehead and thought to himself that he had been overconfident.
He waved his hand, “It’s not your fault. All of you can rise.”
“Many thanks, Sir!” The six maidservants who were kneeling all heaved sighs of relief.
Yang Kai looked around and saw that there was only one exit in this hall, while everywhere else was completely sealed off, so he immediately asked, “Did any of you see her leaving this place?”
The six maidservants exchanged glances and all shook their heads, indicating that they hadn’t seen her leave; however, that made things even stranger. They had searched the entire hall already without finding her, so if she hadn’t left, just where could she be?
When Yang Kai heard this, he secretly had an idea as he looked all around and coldly snorted, “Third Disciple, if you still don’t come out, your Master is going to get angry! I’ll give you three breaths of time to obediently come out by yourself. Otherwise, you’ll be punished according to the Sect’s Laws!”
As Yang Kai’s shout echoed in the hall, Tian Long and the other six maidservants all looked at each other and thought that this was useless because his Disciple had likely gone insane…
But to their surprise, a small sound suddenly came from behind a pillar right after Yang Kai finished speaking. This was followed by a dirty head peeking out from behind. The eyes were the only part that shone on this woman’s face.
“Honoured Master, what are you doing here?” It seemed as if the Third Disciple had been spooked as she hurriedly ran out from behind the pillar.
Yang Kai glared at her coldly and acted authoritatively, but soon he couldn’t help but avert his eyes as he didn’t even know where to look.
From what he saw, the Third Disciple had actually been stripped completely naked. The white parts and black patch on her body were really attention-grabbing. It had been hard to tell when she was wearing her tattered clothes, but now that she was naked, the Third Disciple’s curvaceous figure was fully exposed for him to see. Some parts of her white skin almost blinded Yang Kai’s eyes!
However, the Third Disciple didn’t feel anything was wrong at all and directly came over and stood right in front of Yang Kai with an anxious expression on her face.
“Um…” Yang Kai scratched his chin and glanced up at the ceiling as he spoke with an awkward tone, “I heard that you were playing pranks again, so your Master came to take a look.”
The Third Disciple nervously replied, “Honoured Master, don’t be angry. I was just playing with them.”
“Ha…” Yang Kai hurriedly waved his hand, “Since you’ve had your fun now, hurry and go wash up.”
“Yes!” The Third Disciple answered as her tender body flashed and landed in the giant pool, sending water splashing everywhere.
Yang Kai secretly heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Third Disciple’s consciousness still recognized him as her Honoured Master, which saved him a lot of trouble.
Tian Long and the other maidservants all stood to the side with strange expressions. They didn’t know what was going on between this strange Master and Disciple pairing. Since they were Master and Disciple, why was this disciple completely naked in front of her Master? Was there some type of unspeakable relationship between the two of them?
That would be against all common morality! The maidservants all felt their hearts jump as they thought about this.
“Hurry and go wash her, I’ll wait outside!” Yang Kai felt so awkward that he couldn’t even maintain his expression and immediately tried to run outside this place of controversy after he spoke.
However, Tian Long hurriedly interceded, “Sir Yang, what should we do if your Disciple becomes like that again after you leave?”
This was the same situation as before. Everything was fine when the maidservants took the Third Disciple from Yang Kai, but then the Third Disciple instantly went insane, followed by her being restored to normal when Yang Kai arrived.
Tian Long was really afraid of this happening again. The Third Disciple was a woman, after all. It wasn’t a big deal if her Master saw her body, but what if she ran outside and someone else saw her naked? That would make it hard for her to live.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly as he asked helplessly, “What should we do then?”
Tian Long smiled, “Your Disciple seems to be very respectful of you. Sir Yang, how about you wait here? I doubt that your Disciple will raise a fuss again with Sir Yang present.”
Yang Kai fell silent for a while. Although he knew this wasn’t exactly for the best, he didn’t have any better ideas. He could only nod and tell Tian Long and the other maidservants to be as quick as possible.
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged with his back facing the pool, taking out two High-Rank Source Crystals as he focused on cultivating.
He soon heard the sounds of water from behind his back, along with the Third Disciple’s giggling. He couldn’t help but imagine and fantasize about various things.
It was one hour later when Yang Kai was finally woken up by the sound of ‘Honoured Master.’ He opened his eyes and saw an attractive woman standing before him. She had a brow that seemed straight out of a painting, cascading black hair, red lips, and pearl white teeth. She had incredible beauty, and perhaps because she had just bathed, her white face even contained a hint of redness that gave off an alluring light.
Her light green dress fit her perfectly and accentuated her curves exquisitely. A faint pleasant fragrance wafted in his direction.
She appeared somewhere in her late twenties, as if she was a young woman; however, this definitely wasn’t her real age. It was simply that Ice Heart Valley’s Secret Arts focused on purity and helped maintain one’s youthful appearance.
“Third Disciple?” Yang Kai arched his brow and felt truly surprised. He never expected that the Third Disciple would be so pleasing to look at after some slight clean up. Her previous dirty appearance couldn’t be seen at all.
“Honoured Master!” The Third Disciple bowed respectfully to him.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded lightly and stood up from the ground as he waved his sleeve, “Follow me.”
The Third Disciple obediently followed after him without saying a word.
Due to the previous incident, Yang Kai no longer dared to allow the Third Disciple to be alone anywhere, as he was afraid that her consciousness would become chaotic again. As long as he was in front of her to help suppress things, she would at least maintain lucidity.
Yang Kai took the Third Disciple with him back to the building he was living in. He then went to the second floor and told her to cultivate by herself before he took out the Black Jade Furnace and the various herbs he gathered previously.
He used his Emperor Qi to warm the Black Jade Furnace as his Spiritual Energy flowed in alongside it. He made use of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea to help adjust the flames’ strength.
Yang Kai then tossed numerous herbs into the flames in an orderly fashion in order to refine medicinal liquid.
The Third Disciple kept watching blankly from the side, her mind filled with questions, but she didn’t dare to ask for fear of bothering Yang Kai.
After about an hour passed, Yang Kai suddenly made a seal with his hands.
Moments later, he slapped the Black Jade Furnace, causing the lid to fly up along with several Spirit Pills. Yang Kai caught the Spirit Pills in a jade bottle that he had previously prepared.
Yang Kai frowned slightly when he saw the quality of the Spirit Pills that he refined.
This furnace of Spirit Pills had only produced five pills. Not only were there no Pill Veins, but even the overall quality wasn’t that good.
For Yang Kai, even though he had successfully refined a furnace of Spirit Pills, this was far from the results that he desired.
Still, Yang Kai quickly understood. These were Emperor Grade Spirit Pills, after all. Although he had risen to become an Emperor Grade Alchemist long ago, he had been running around back and forth for the past several years with no time at all to quietly focus on refining pills. This made his Alchemy techniques somewhat rusty.
As long as he had enough resources to practice with, Yang Kai was confident that he was capable of creating good quality Spirit Pills.
Yang Kai put away the five Spirit Pills, cleaned out the burnt residue from the Black Jade Furnace, and began refining a new batch of pills.
Half a day later, when Yang Kai received another six Emperor Grade Spirit Pills, the Third Disciple could no longer bear just watching from the side as she asked with astonishment in her voice, “Honoured Master, when did you learn Alchemy?”
Her expression was filled with confusion and surprise, since, from what she could recall, her Honoured Master had never come into contact with the Alchemic Dao before. But, judging from the current situation, not only did her Honoured Master know Alchemy, all the pills her Master created were Emperor Grade Spirit Pills!
In other words, her Honoured Master was actually an Emperor Grade Alchemist!
How many Emperor Grade Alchemists would there even be in the entire Star Boundary? Every single Emperor Alchemist would be an incredibly venerated existence. Only the top Sects and forces would be lucky enough to have one under their patronage.
Ice Heart Valley had previously invited an Emperor Alchemist to become their Sect’s Foreign Elder and spent many resources every year to keep them. Ice Heart Valley would satisfy all of that Foreign Elder’s requests.
But ever since her Honoured Master suddenly vanished, Ice Heart Valley weakened, and that Foreign Elder left for a better position elsewhere.
This meant that if Ice Heart Valley wanted Emperor Grade Spirit pills now, they would have to either spend a large amount of Source Crystals to purchase them, or find another Sect’s Emperor Grade Alchemist to refine pills for them. Not only was this extremely inconvenient, but the expenses were tremendous.
However, her Honoured Master was actually now an Emperor Alchemist! The Third Disciple was naturally astounded.
Hearing this, Yang Kai smiled slightly as he explained “Your Master had some opportunities during the years outside.”
“Oh,” the Third Disciple believed him as she nodded silently.
Yang Kai tossed more herbs into the pill furnace as he told her, “Third Disciple, properly focus on your cultivation. Your Master shall give you some pills when they’re done.”
“Many thanks, Honoured Master,” the Third Disciple hurriedly replied, but then furrowed her eyebrows as she inquired, “Honoured Master, why do you keep calling me Third Disciple?”
Yang Kai paused in his movements for a second, but soon he restored himself to normal, “You are my Third Disciple, so what else would I call you apart from Third Disciple?”
Yang Kai thought, [I don’t even know your name, so what else am I supposed to call you?]
The Third Disciple pouted, “Honoured Master, you always called me Yao’er before; after all, Disciple’s full name is Ji Yao.”
Yang Kai chuckled dryly, “Perhaps your Master hasn’t seen you for so long that I forgot how I used to address you. I’ll just call you Yao’er from now on then.”
Third Disciple giggled, “Honoured Master really knows how to joke around.”
“Alright, continue cultivating. Your Master is still busy, so don’t bother me.”
“Yes!”
After saying that, she really did obediently close her eyes, sit down, and begin to cultivate.
Yang Kai secretly glanced at her and inwardly sighed. It was unknown when this Ji Yao would be restored to normal, or if she would want to take revenge on him when she remembered what happened today.
Pretending to be Bing Yun and taking advantage of her was still fine, since there was a reason for it, but it likely wouldn’t be that easy to deal with the matter of seeing her completely naked, since this was about a woman’s honour.
Yang Kai felt a chill despite not being cold as he thought about what the future held, but he hurriedly focused again and continued with his Alchemy.
Time passed.
Yang Kai stayed in the Phoenix Nest Palace for about ten days, during which time he was almost always immersed in Alchemy.
Just as he previously expected, as he invested a large number of resources into practising, the Emperor Grade Spirit Pills he refined continued to improve in quality and quantity. During this time, he even produced about six Spirit Pills with Pill Veins, which was a pleasant surprise for him.
He had excellent amplitude for Alchemy, and had also once caused the advent of the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone back at Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s Water Moon Star. He received the teachings of Alchemy from the Heavenly Way itself and was able to catch a glimpse of the Grand Alchemic Dao.
He had a Heaven-sent advantage in Alchemy talent at this current point. When it came to this profession, only Little Senior Sister Xia Ning Chang’s Sacred Spirit Medicine Body was comparable.
He refined a large number of Spirit Pills of various types over the past ten days, but a large majority of them were auxiliaries for cultivation.
Yang Kai gave some pills to Ji Yao, secretly hoping when her sanity was fully restored in the future she would be willing to make big things small and make small things nothing out of consideration for this gift.
Ji Yao was naturally overjoyed to be ‘rewarded’ and kept thanking Yang Kai so much that he felt quite guilty, but he didn’t dare to show his feelings on his face at all.
Another five days passed. Yang Kai’s pill success rate for Emperor Grade Spirit Pills was almost perfected by this point and almost every time that he refined a batch, he would receive nine pills with their quality near the peak possible. There was also a great increase in the number of Spirit Pills that were refined with Pill Veins.
With such technique and familiarity, creating the Flesh Incarnation Pill would no longer be a problem.
Yang Kai had obtained a Flesh Incarnation Fruit in the ancient medicine garden last time when he saved Gao Xue Ting, so as long as he could gather the necessary adjuvants, Yang Kai would be able to refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill that would allow Tian Yan, who was in the Azure Sun Temple’s Divine Ascension Mirror, to form a physical body.
Although Tian Yan was only a Soul Avatar, he was a Master at the level of a Great Emperor. If he could obtain a physical body through the Flesh Incarnation Pill, then the Star Boundary would gain an additional Great Emperor.
Yang Kai was spending such a great deal of effort on this matter because Tian Yan was a good person who had taught him a Soul Secret Technique, Heaven Severing Slash, back in the Divine Ascension Mirror. There was also his promise to Tian Yan long ago. Besides, it was rare to have the opportunity for a Great Emperor to owe him a favour.
As long as he helped Tian Yan obtain a physical body, Tian Yan would naturally help him out if he had trouble in the future.
However… The Flesh Incarnation Pill was highly difficult to refine, and it also required many rare herbs. Eighty-one adjuvants were required, and all of them were Emperor Grade spirit medicines that were rare and difficult to find.
Although Yang Kai had many rare spirit medicines in his possession, he could barely put together half of the ones he needed and had no idea where to search for the rest.
He could only hope that the three Divine Venerables of the Ancient Lands could help him find the others. As long as all the herbs were gathered, he would be able to refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill and then return to Azure Sun Temple to see Tian Yan.
Yang Kai began looking forward to how things would be as he thought about this.
Another several days passed, and on this day, while Yang Kai was in the middle of performing Alchemy, he suddenly raised his head and glanced outside, as if he sensed something. He immediately called out, “Yao’er.”
Ji Yao hurriedly opened her eyes from her meditation and respectfully answered, “Yes.”
“A guest has arrived. Go tell them your Master is currently in a retreat and can’t be bothered. Mmm… accept what they’ve brought, and tell them that I’ll be leaving the Ancient Lands after my injuries are fully healed.”
“Yes!” Upon hearing this, Ji Yao hurriedly stood up and went down to the first floor.
Soon after, the sound of conversation could be heard from downstairs. Some moments later, Ji Yao returned and respectfully handed four Space Rings to Yang Kai, “Honoured Master, the three Divine Venerables wanted me to give these to you.”
Yang Kai nodded as he took the four Space Rings.
He randomly picked a ring and scanned it. Yang Kai couldn’t help but chuckle as he thought that the three Divine Venerables were paying a great deal of attention to detail.
The four Space Rings probably each contained items from a separate Divine Venerable. They were afraid that Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to tell which ring came from which person, so they even especially left their own auras on the rings so that they wouldn’t be mistaken as having come from another person.
This ring in Yang Kai’s hand was apparently Fan Wu’s contribution. It was unknown what presents were in the ring for him.
Yang Kai secretly looked forward to the results as he sent his Divine Sense into the ring to investigate.
He glanced inside and saw two mountainous piles of Source Crystals. One pile was larger than the other, with the larger pile being Mid-Rank Source Crystals, while the smaller pile consisted of High-Rank Source Crystals.
Yang Kai made some quick calculations and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. There were approximately three billion Mid-Rank Source Crystals, along with approximately fifty million High-Rank Source Crystals. Such a large amount of Source Crystals was an outstanding amount of wealth.
Even a top Sect would probably harm its very foundation if it had to bring out so many Source Crystals at once. It should be said that one High-Rank Source Crystal could be exchanged for one hundred Mid-Rank Source Crystals, and one Mid-Rank Source Crystal could be exchanged for one hundred Low-Rank Source Crystals.
Fifty million High-Rank Source Crystals didn’t sound like much, but when you exchanged them, that would be five billion Mid-Rank Source Crystals or five hundred billion Low-Rank Source Crystals.
That was a rather terrifying number.
Yang Kai had killed and robbed others for many years already, and although his accumulated wealth was significant, it was really nothing in comparison to Fan Wu’s enormous gift.
High-Rank Source Crystals were limited in number throughout the entire Star Boundary, which is why almost all exchanges, no matter the type, would use Low-Rank or Mid-Rank Source Crystals. High-Rank Source Crystals were mostly used for cultivation and breakthroughs by Masters.
Fan Wu had given Yang Kai fifty million High-Rank Source Crystals at once. This was more than enough for a major Sect to use for several years.
Next to the two piles of Source Crystals was a pile of Monster Beast Cores.
This was the Ancient Lands where Monster Beasts were incredibly common, so Monster Cores would be left behind when these Monster Beasts died.
Still, there weren’t that many Monster Cores, a mere hundred Twelfth-Order Monster Cores, while there were two thousand Eleventh-Order Monster Cores and thirty thousand Tenth-Order Monster Cores. However, there wasn’t even a single Monster Core that was less than Tenth-Order, as Fan Wu had figured that Yang Kai wouldn’t be interested in them and thus didn’t even bother giving him any.
This amount of Monster Cores would be an astonishing amount of wealth in anyone else’s hands, but to Yang Kai, who already possessed around a million Monster Cores, it wasn’t much.
Still, it likely hadn’t been easy for Fan Wu to obtain so many Monster Cores. One hundred Twelfth-Order Monster Cores was something that could only be obtained from the death of one hundred Monster Beasts’ equivalent in strength to Emperor Realm Human Masters.
The Four Great Divine Venerables had only been able to gather so many Monster Cores because they had ruled the Ancient Lands for countless millennia. If this was any Human Sect, bringing out one hundred Twelfth-Order Monster Cores would be unimaginable.
Yang Kai soon glanced over at another pile of items.
This pile was a pile of glowing spirit medicine all stacked together. There were even various spirit fruits of different colours that looked quite alluring.
Every spirit medicine and spirit fruit was Emperor Grade, not a single one being Dao Source Grade.
“I’ve made quite a profit!” Yang Kai wiped away some drool from his mouth as a green light seemed to flash from his eyes.
These spirit medicines numbered at least ten to twenty thousand, and at a glance, Yang Kai saw many of the adjuvants he needed to refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill.
This was truly a huge profit. Compared to the Source Crystals and Monster Cores, Yang Kai needed these spirit medicines more. All of these were more than enough to make any Alchemist go mad.
“But… That guy… How can he just casually pile up these precious spirit medicines so sloppily like this? It’s such a waste of the Heavens’ precious gifts,” Yang Kai cursed under his breath.
These spirit grasses and herbs hadn’t been preserved appropriately, and after some time passed, their medicinal efficacies would surely reduce.
Luckily, Yang Kai had his Sealed World Bead and the medicine garden within it. Yang Kai had previously organized his ancient medicine garden and expanded its area. The soil in the ancient medicine garden was extremely fertile and the best possible environment to raise spirit medicines in.
Considering all this, Yang Kai hurriedly tossed all the spirit medicines in the ring into the medicine garden of his Sealed World Bead. He wasn’t counting on being able to replant them and only hoped that they wouldn’t lose too much of their medicinal efficacies being stored in an appropriate environment.
There were too many things for Yang Kai to organize for the time being. He intended to properly sort through everything when he had some free time to see if he could find the herbs necessary for refining the Flesh Incarnation Fruit from among these spirit medicines.
That was everything in the Space Ring that Fan Wu gave him, but it really was a huge present.
Yang Kai was extremely satisfied.
He then immediately picked up the second ring and scanned it slightly. He confirmed that Cang Gou’s aura was on it, so this was undoubtedly his offering.
After scanning the ring carefully, Yang Kai discovered that Cang Gou’s present was similar to Fan Wu’s, probably because the two of them had discussed it beforehand. The number of Source Crystals, Monster Cores, and spirit medicines were almost identical.
Yang Kai wasn’t surprised by this.
He then picked up the third Space Ring, which came from Luan Feng’s.
As expected, Luan Feng’s present was about the same as the previous two presents.
Yang Kai started looking forward to seeing the final ring.
There wasn’t anyone’s aura upon this ring, but Yang Kai knew that this ring contained all of Shi Huo’s treasures.
Divine Spirit Shi Huo had lived in the Ancient Lands for tens of thousands of years, so Yang Kai was really interested in how much wealth had accumulated over all that time.
Despite his already high expectations, Yang Kai was stupefied when he really sent his Divine Sense into the ring.
He saw Source Crystals piled up like mountains, once again sorted into two categories; however, these two piles were more than ten times larger than the piles that Fan Wu and the others gave him.
In other words, there were at least thirty billion Mid-Rank Source Crystals, and five hundred million High-Rank Source Crystals.
Even though Yang Kai had mentally prepared himself, this was still a truly awe-inducing sight.
The Monster Cores were also more than ten times the number that Fan Wu and the others gave him, with several thousand Twelfth-Order Monster Cores and several tens of thousands of Eleventh-Order Monster Cores. There were fewer Tenth-Order Monster Cores, as there were only a few tens of thousands of them.
There was also ten times the number of spirit medicines. Just looking at the pile of spirit medicines made Yang Kai want to jump for joy.
When adding all the wealth in the four Space Rings combined, just Mid-Rank Source Crystals alone would be over forty billion, while there were also some six hundred and fifty million High-Rank Source Crystals.
Yang Kai didn’t count the Monster Cores, since he already possessed around a million of those, so the Monster Cores that the Divine Venerables gave him could only be counted as an extra few.
However, there were more than one hundred thousand spirit medicines. It was an unbelievable amount of wealth. It was likely that only the Ancient Wild Lands could possibly produce so many spirit medicines, as no other place in the Star Boundary would have such rich, fertile soil that was completely untapped by human hands.
With Yang Kai’s current wealth, it was likely that only the Sects run by the Great Emperors were capable of being equal to him, but even they might not compare. This was because even though these Sects would have large coffers and many productive industries, they would also have many disciples and would need to spend a great deal on cultivation expenses every year.
In Shi Huo’s treasures, apart from Source Crystals, Monster Cores, and spirit medicines, there were also countless rare ores as well as random items that Yang Kai couldn’t identify. He figured they were things left behind from Shi Hou’s death, and it was likely that Fan Wu and the others had gathered everything and given it all to Yang Kai.
When comparing all of the presents, Fan Wu and the others had given Yang Kai approximately ten percent of their total wealth.
It was still a huge gift. If it wasn’t for Yang Kai being so close to Zhang Ruo Xi, none of them would be willing to part with ten percent of their net worth just to appease him.
Fan Wu and the others were helpless to do anything else.
Ever since Yang Kai started checking the contents of the four rings, he had been laughing like a fool as he checked the rings. He would check for a while then start laughing in a silly manner, and this would keep repeating itself…
Ji Yao felt really scared as she watched from the side. She didn’t know what was going on with her Honoured Master, but she didn’t dare to ask. She could only stand there with an uneasy expression.
Finally, she managed to wait until Yang Kai finished laughing like a drunken idiot and weakly spoke up, “Honoured Master…”
“Hmm?” Yang Kai suddenly came back to his senses as he realized how he had just debased himself. He hurriedly forced a stiff expression onto his face as he said, “Yao’er, go tell Lady Feng that your Master’s injuries are healed now, and that I will be leaving this place tomorrow. Tell her to rest assured.”
“Yes!” Ji Yao answered as she went downstairs again.
Outside the building, Fan Wu, Cang Gou, and Luan Feng, the three Divine Venerables, were all standing there with bitter expressions. Yang Kai had received their gifts, but he hadn’t responded at all, so they were all feeling quite anxious now. In fact, they hadn’t even managed to see Yang Kai in person when they came here, only the crazy woman next to him came out to speak to them.
After some time passed, Cang Gou finally spoke up, “Could it be that he thinks our gifts are too few, so he still wants more?”
Fan Wu glared at him, “We’ve already given him a tenth of our wealth. Is that a ‘small gift’?”
“I’m just afraid he won’t know when to be satisfied,” Cang Gou had a worried expression as he exclaimed with disgust, “You all know how greedy Humans can be.”
Luan Feng sighed, “What can we even do if he’s not satisfied? We’ll probably have to spend more in order to get rid of this calamity. Right, you two didn’t secretly hide any of Shi Huo’s treasures, did you?”
Cang Gou curled his lips, “Lady Feng, you’ve checked Shi Huo’s property already, so can’t you tell if we hid anything or not?”
Luan Feng nodded, “I was just asking.”
Fan Wu smiled bitterly, “He’s using the excuse of recovering from his injuries to stay in the Ancient Lands, and it’s hard for us to ask him to leave. Otherwise, if something really does happen, we won’t be able to handle it once that Heaven’s Order descendant emerges from the Blood Gate!”
When Luan Feng and Cang Gou heard him mention the Heaven’s Order descendant, they couldn’t help but go pale, making it obvious they were really afraid of her.
The three of them exchanged glances as they all kept sighing. They all felt that this was truly a headache.
At that moment, it seemed like the three of them all suddenly noticed something as they turned to look at the path ahead of them. They saw that Ji Yao had just come from the building’s direction and it was not long before she arrived before them and spoke, “Three Divine Venerables, please approach!”
Fan Wu and the others’ hearts all jumped, as they didn’t know what else Yang Kai wanted. They wondered if he was still dissatisfied with the contents of the four Space Rings and was trying to take even more of the lion’s share? If that really was the case, then his greed would be too disgusting.
Luan Feng forced a slight smile as she politely asked, “Little Sister, does Sir Yang have any other requests?”
Ji Yao gave her a light glance and answered, “Honoured Master wishes for me to tell all of you that his injuries have healed already and that he shall leave the Ancient Lands tomorrow.”
“What?” Cang Gou was overjoyed as he lost control of himself as he asked anxiously, “Is what you are saying true?”
Cang Gou was still a Divine Venerable, yet he was unable to help himself and lost control of his emotions when he heard that Yang Kai was about to leave the Ancient Lands, causing Fan Wu to secretly kick him right after he said this.
Cang Gou’s expression instantly changed and he immediately closed his mouth and stopped talking with an awkward expression.
However, Ji Yao didn’t even glance at him, simply turning around and leaving after having delivered her ‘Honoured Master’s message.
After Ji Yao disappeared from their vision, Luan Feng and the others looked at each other for a while and saw the great relief in their eyes. Fan Wu secretly made a gesture, so the three of them held the joy in their hearts as they swiftly walked away before all heaving a sigh in unison.
Cang Gou smiled, “He’s finally going to leave. It seems this Sir Yang isn’t too greedy.”
If Yang Kai really insisted on them giving more gifts to him, then they wouldn’t be able to do anything other than sacrifice even more of their wealth.
“Spend money to avoid calamity…” Fan Wu was also delighted. Yang Kai was likely the only one in the world who could make the Divine Venerables happy after being extorted so wantonly. If any other person tried to do this to them, the three Divine Venerables would likely have fought a huge battle against them.
“Since he’s going to leave tomorrow, this Queen shall personally see him off in order to be polite,” Luan Feng spoke with a big smile.
Fan Wu nodded, “That’s only proper. I shall be troubling you then, Lady Feng.”
Luan Feng waved her hand and smiled bitterly, “Good, he had to stay at this Queen’s place, while the Ancient Lands is still our territory. If anything happens to him here, none of us will likely be able to bear the consequences.”
The three of them then chatted for a while until Fan Wu and Cang Gou said their goodbyes and left.
When the two of them arrived, they had both been filled with anxiety and worries, but now they were completely relaxed and joyful as they went back, a tremendous contrast.
…
Yang Kai used the time he had left to organize the contents of the four Space Rings, rather than continuing to create Spirit Pills.
Source Crystals, Monster Cores, and so on were easy to organize.
He simply had to sort them by type and grade, followed by tossing all of them into the Sealed World Bead and piling them up into mountains of different sizes. He would then simply take these items out whenever he needed them.
However, the hundred thousand or so Emperor Grade spirit medicines took Yang Kai a long time to organize. These spirit medicines were all precious and rare, so Yang Kai naturally needed to check them one at a time and do his best in order to preserve their medicinal efficacies.
After an entire busy night, Yang Kai had organized less than ten percent of the spirit medicines he received.
The next day’s morning, Yang Kai led Ji Yao and followed the maidservant Tian Long out of Phoenix Nest Palace. Once outside the palace, he saw Luan Feng waiting for him.
“Sir Yang!” Luan Feng hurriedly came over to greet Yang Kai when she saw him.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and had a slight smile, “I’ve been troubling Lady Feng for the past several days. En, this Young Master’s injuries are completely healed now, so it’s time for me to leave. As for the Stone Spirit Clan, I’ll have to request Lady Feng and the other two Divine Venerables to take good care of them.”
Luan Feng covered her mouth and smiled, “Sir Yang, please rest assured. As long as the three of us are still in the Ancient Lands, we definitely won’t let the Stone Spirit Clan suffer any grievances.”
Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction.
Luan Feng added, “The Ancient Lands have many Natural Arrays, and the journey to the exit is quite long, so allow me to send Sir off.”
Yang Kai didn’t reject her friendly intentions as he simply nodded and flew up into the air. Ji Yao hurriedly followed after him.
Luan Feng also flashed right next to Yang Kai and Ji Yao in an instant. Her Monster Qi enveloped the two as she took both of them and transformed into a beam of light that shot towards the exit of the Ancient Lands.
Yang Kai was already a First-Order Emperor, so his flying speed wasn’t slow at all, yet he discovered that his speed still couldn’t compare to Luan Feng’s.
Unless he used his Space Force for repeated short distance teleportations, he wouldn’t even be on the same level as her.
It took less than two days for the group of three to leave the Ancient Lands and arrive before the Ancient Lands Passageway.
Inside the passageway was a strange fog, falling thunder and Astral Wind, along with countless Yin Souls who were always looking for prey. Even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master wouldn’t dare to recklessly enter the passageway.
However, Luan Feng didn’t even spare a glance at these obstacles as she directly took Yang Kai through the strange fog that covered the entire sky. It took only an hour for them to fly out of the passageway.
Right when Yang Kai’s vision was restored, he heard an astonished shout of “Brother Yang!” before he could even tell what was before him.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai was rather confused as he turned towards the voice. He saw that there was a large group of cultivators of varying strengths waiting there, numbering at least one hundred.
Judging from their behaviour, it seemed that they wanted to enter the Ancient Lands.
The person who spoke was a young man of about thirty years, his face slightly pale, seemingly injured.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but furrow his brow when he saw this person and asked, “Qi Hai?”
This man was Qi Hai from Qi Family Fort, who had met Yang Kai before in the Shattered Star Sea. He knew that Yang Kai had obtained the Phoenix True Fire, so he previously pleaded with Yang Kai to visit the Qi Family Fort to use the Phoenix True Fire to save his wife. Qi Hai’s wife had been afflicted with the Heavenly Frost Earth Rain, one of the Ten Extreme Poisons, while she was exploring the Ancient Wild Lands before. In this world, only the nirvana flames of the Phoenix True Fire were capable of expelling that poison from her body.
If Yang Kai had still been in possession of the Phoenix True Fire, he wouldn’t have minded helping Qi Hai out as it wasn’t much effort on his part.
However, Liu Yan had absorbed the Phoenix True Fire, and Jiu Feng had taken her to Spirit Beast Island.
Yang Kai wanted to help, but currently couldn’t.
Back when he entered the Ancient Lands, Yang Kai met Qi Family Fort’s disciple Qi He Feng, who was the person that Qi Hai arranged to wait for Yang Kai at the Ancient Lands Passageway.
Qi Hai had originally wanted to have Yang Kai owe him a favour by telling him that the Netherworld Sect was secretly scheming against him. Yet, it turned out that Yang Kai was incredibly fierce, to the point where he boldly and without hesitation or looking back walked straight into the Ancient Lands.
The end result was the annihilation of Netherworld Sect’s entire group.
As they exchanged glances, Qi Hai had a complex expression as some regret and hesitation seemed to flash through his eyes. Still, it wasn’t long before his hesitant expression suddenly became resolute as he cupped his fists and shouted towards a burly old man in front, “Senior Wu, he is the person that you’re looking for.”
Although this old man appeared to be elderly, he had a strong and robust body. He wore a short-sleeved vest that revealed his muscles which seemed as solid as metal. It was as if astonishing strength could burst forth from his brawny figure at any moment.
The strong old man’s expression darkened when he heard Qi Hai’s words, “He’s the little brat surnamed Yang?”
As he spoke, his eagle-like sharp gaze pierced straight at Yang Kai’s face. It was obvious that murderous intentions were brewing on his face.
Qi Hai quickly said, “Yes!”
“Good, very good!” The man surnamed Wu smiled viciously, “I didn’t expect that he would present himself to this King before this King had to go search for him. It seems I am quite lucky.”
Qi Hai gritted his teeth and stated, “Senior Wu, please keep your promise and loan the Phoenix True Fire to this Junior after everything is finished.”
The man surnamed Wu coldly snorted, “Since when did this King give you such a promise?”
“But Senior, didn’t you previously say…” Qi Hai’s expression greatly changed as he had an expression of disbelief as he looked at the man surnamed Wu.
The old man snorted again, “The Phoenix True Fire is far too divine for someone like you to borrow!”
“Senior, you’re actually going back on your word!?” Qi Hai’s expression instantly became extremely ugly. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as strong as the other party, so he couldn’t do anything even though his heart was filled with rage.
“Impudence!” This time, the man surnamed Wu didn’t say anything. Instead, another old man angrily shouted and slapped Qi Hai, causing him to spit blood and fly backwards from the impact as he fell on the ground with evident weakness in his aura.
That old man stepped forward and stated icily, “If you dare spout rubbish again, this Old Master will kill you first!”
“Young Fort Lord!”
Upon seeing Qi Hai fall on the ground, a group of people all rushed over and carefully helped him up. They couldn’t help but heave sighs of relief when they saw that Qi Hai’s life wasn’t in danger. They then glanced with vexed expressions at the old man who attacked Qi Hai, as they only dared to be angry but didn’t dare to say anything.
“Just what is happening…” Yang Kai had a strange expression as he watched all this.
He didn’t expect that right when he emerged from the Ancient Lands, that he would run into such a good show. A show that even involved him.
Qi Hai and the man surnamed Wu didn’t exchange many words, but Yang Kai was no idiot and naturally had some inkling of what was going on.
Yang Kai glanced over at the hundred or so gathered before him and smiled, “Netherworld Sect is it… They seem to follow me no matter where I go.”
Among the hundred people, were about ten who had extremely dark and chilly auras, including the man surnamed Wu and the person who previously attacked Qi Hai. It was obvious that they had cultivated dark and evil Secret Arts.
These people’s auras gave Yang Kai a sensation that was identical to Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Cheng’s auras.
The identities of these ten or so people were thus quite obvious.
In the Eastern Territory, apart from those from the Netherworld Sect, there weren’t any other Sects that possessed such gloomy auras.
Apart from the ten or so people from the Netherworld Sect, the remaining people had varied cultivations. All of those who were looking at Qi Hai had expressions filled with concern, so they were obviously people from Qi Family Fort.
Soon, Yang Kai focused his attention on another old man as he furrowed his brow slightly, “Old Ban? Why are you here as well?”
This old man was Old Ban, the guide who previously took Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi into the Ancient Lands.
Old Ban could only smile bitterly when he heard Yang Kai’s question, “They wanted to enter the Ancient Lands… They are the knives, while I’m just the fish on a chopping block…”
His words clearly expressed the helplessness in his heart.
“Old thing, shut your mouth!” A Netherworld Sect disciple next to Old Ban immediately glared at him. Old Ban’s expression changed as he really didn’t dare to say anything more, but he still secretly sent Yang Kai a message saying, “Little Brother, hurry and leave. It seems these people are from the Netherworld Sect and came here just for you.”
However, right after he said that, the Netherworld Sect disciple who previously glared at him shouted, “This old thing even dares to secretly send him a message? You’re courting death!”
Right after he spoke, he immediately sent his palm slapping towards Old Ban.
Old Ban was only in the First-Order Dao Source Realm, so even though he did his best to act covertly, the movement of his Divine Sense was naturally not missed by the Netherworld Sect disciple who was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm. Seeing that Old Ban was refusing a toast, the Netherworld Sect disciple intended to make him drink a loss.
The person that the Vice Sect Master was looking for had already appeared of his own volition, so there was naturally no more need to enter the Ancient Lands. Since they weren’t going to enter the Ancient Lands anymore, they no longer needed someone to lead the way; therefore, it wouldn’t matter if he beat Old Ban to death.
The Netherworld Sect disciple’s palm showed absolutely no mercy, causing Old Ban’s face to completely pale as the wind from the attack approached.
Right as the palm was about to strike Old Ban though, another palm suddenly came out from the side and met the disciple’s palm at a strange angle.
“Who!?” The attacking Netherworld Sect disciple was astonished, but before he could even tell who had intercepted his attack, the two palms had already struck each other.
A torrential force with the power of a tidal wave crashed into the Netherworld Sect disciple. He felt as if this power smashed through his defences like they were dry weeds or rotting wood before directly invading and rampaging through his body.
*Pu…*
The Netherworld Sect disciple spat some blood as he flew out and rolled several times after falling to the ground.
When he got back up again and checked himself, his face immediately became ashen as he exclaimed in despair, “My meridians… My meridians have all been destroyed!”
He kept roaring hysterically as he raised his head. Only then did he see clearly that the person who attacked him was actually the person named Yang Kai, immediately gritting his teeth while shouting, “How can you be so vicious?!”
After Yang Kai saved Old Ban, he put the latter back down where he originally stood and glanced lightly at the Netherworld Sect disciple with a mocking grin, “It seems neither your family nor your Sect have taught you how to show proper respect to our Elders. Since you don’t even have such basic knowledge, destroying your meridians is a small form of punishment. Remember to respect your Elders in the future.”
The Netherworld Sect disciple was already in a state of despair, but after listening to Yang Kai’s preaching at him, he couldn’t help but spurt a mouthful of blood. He then turned to the man surnamed Wu and pleaded, “Sir Vice Sect Master, your disciple’s meridians have been destroyed! Sir, you have to enforce justice on behalf of this disciple!”
The man surnamed Wu coldly snorted, “You have brought disgrace to the Sect, scram now!”
The disciple was dumbfounded. He never expected Sir Vice Sect Master would actually be so unkind. Not only did he not help him, but even reprimanded him. He suddenly felt that there was no meaning in life. Infuriated and forlorn, his eyes rolled back as he fainted right away.
The man surnamed Wu coldly looked at Yang Kai and lightly snorted, “First-Order Emperor Realm, not bad.”
Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile, unabashed, “Just so so…”
Afterwards, the smile on his face receded as he turned his head, looking coldly at Qi Hai, “Brother Qi Hai, you have let me down, this Young Master is saddened greatly by your conduct.”
Qi Hai became uneasy after hearing this, his face filled with shame and embarrassment, but he still grit his teeth and justified himself, “Brother Yang, had this Qi not been forced to, this Qi would not do something like this. It’s just that my wife’s life is at stake. Unfortunately, Brother Yan has the Phoenix True Fire but is unwilling to extend a helping hand, so this Qi can only depend on others.”
Yang Kai heaved a sigh and indifferently stated, “Brother Qi, this Young Master admires your feelings for your wife, unfortunately… even if you betray me, this Vice Sect Master doesn’t seem to appreciate your favour.”
Qi Hai’s face was immediately filled with bitterness.
Previously, the members of the Netherworld Sect came to the Qi Family Fort just because the Qi Family Fort was a local tyrant that was more familiar with the Ancient Lands than them. At that time, Qi Hai was angry that Yang Kai was being so stingy, not willing to extend a helping hand to him in his time of desperation, so he didn’t hesitate to agree to Vice Sect Master Wu’s request. He even brought several members of Qi Family Fort and prepared to enter the Ancient Lands to search for Yang Kai’s traces.
Only, Yang Kai had come out of the Ancient Lands before they could venture in and had a run-in with them, face to face.
“Where there is a will, there is a way,” Qi Hai grit his teeth and added, “This Qi believes that even rocks and metal would give in to sincerity. As long as Vice Sect Master Wu is willing to use the True Fire for this Qi once, this Qi is willing to pay any price.”
While speaking, he turned his head and looked at the man surnamed Wu, who had an indifferent look on his face, his expression basically showing no change whatsoever.
Yang Kai chuckled before agreeing, “Brother Qi is right, but… Didn’t Qi He Feng tell you that the Phoenix True Fire is no longer with me?”
Qi Hai rebuked with a forced smile, “Brother Yang, who would be willing to give something as precious as the Phoenix True Fire? This Qi had only asked for a small favour, something as simple as lifting your hand, but to me, was more important than my own life. Why are you making all sorts of excuses now?”
Yang Kai’s face turned colder, “Believe what you like, but I have already given away the Phoenix True Fire, and the one who received it is not with me any longer. Originally, I was still thinking of bringing that person to the Qi Family Fort after she returns because of the favour to me last time. In any case, it wouldn’t be much effort, but now… It seems the Young Fort Lady’s fate must be left to the Heavens to decide.”
Qi Hai’s face suddenly distorted as he asked in a trembling voice, “Brother Yang… The Phoenix True Fire is really not with you?”
Yang Kai made a cold snort, not bothering to answer his question. In truth, he didn’t have any friendship with Qi Hai, and it was already quite lucky of Qi Hai to have not been silenced by Yang Kai back in the Shattered Star Sea. This time, he actually let the word out that Yang Kai obtained the Phoenix True Fire, which made Yang Kai quite angry.
Seeing Yang Kai’s expression, Qi Hai suddenly realized that Yang Kai wasn’t lying; after all, Qi He Feng had already mentioned this to him when he had returned to the Qi Family Fort.
Now, when Yang Kai reiterated it again, he began to believe it a bit more.
In a flash, his heart was filled with remorse and fury. He felt as if a bitter gourd had been stuffed into his mouth and he dumbly stood in place, as if he had lost his soul.
“Are you Netherworld Sect’s Vice Sect Master?” Yang Kai turned his attention to the stalwart old man, frowning.
“Bold!” The old man who had attacked Qi Hai before angrily shouted, “Why are you still not on your knees after seeing Sir Vice Sect Master?”
Yang Kai sneered and retorted, “Who do you think you are to make this Young Master kneel before you?”
The old man wanted to say something but was stopped by the man surnamed Wu.
The man surnamed Wu, indifferently looking at Yang Kai and gave a nod of appreciation, “Mentality is good, cultivation is also good. Boy, this King wants to accept you into the Netherworld Sect, what do you think?”
“Ah!” The group of Netherworld Sect members looked shocked after hearing this. They had never expected their Vice Sect Master to think so highly of Yang Kai. The Netherworld Sect was a top Sect of the Eastern Territory, and its reputation was only below that of Serene Soul Palace. It wasn’t a place where just anyone could enter.
But since it was the Vice Sect Master, it was naturally not difficult for him to admit someone.
The Netherworld Sect disciple, who had fainted after Yang Kai had destroyed his meridians, happened to have woken up right then, and was completely shocked after hearing this, causing him to stare at Yang Kai with bulging eyes.
“You want me to join the Netherworld Sect?” Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh.
The man surnamed Wu nodded, “Yes, this King is the Netherworld Sect’s Vice Sect Master, Wu Yuan Zheng. As long as you agree, this King is willing to accept you into the Sect.”
Yang Kai stroked his chin while maintaining a calm and composed look, “This Young Master is… not interested in being a Netherworld Sect disciple.”
Wu Yuan Zheng proposed again, “What if this King offers you an Elder’s position?”
“What!?” The Netherworld Sect disciples reacted as if they were struck by lightning, paralyzing them on the spot.
As for the Netherworld Sect disciple whose meridians had been crippled, he coughed a mouthful of blood before fainting again.
He was expecting his Vice Sect Master to avenge him and kill Yang Kai, but he hadn’t expected for the things to proceed beyond his imagination. Not only did the Vice Sect Master not avenge him, he even wanted Yang Kai to join their Sect, going so far as to offer him an Elder’s position.
Once Yang Kai became a Netherworld Sect Elder, he would have no chance to avenge himself. He would have no choice but to let the matter of him being crippled remain unsettled.
“An Elder…” Yang Kai also stood there as dumb as wooden chicken, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. He looked at Ji Yao and asked, “Yao’er, your Master didn’t hear it wrong, did he?”
Jia Yao blankly replied, “Your Disciple also heard it.”
She couldn’t help but sneer. [Honoured Master is Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder, while Ice Heart Valley’s status is almost on par with the Netherworld Sect’s. What is this Wu Yuan Zheng thinking trying to ask Honoured Master to join the Netherworld Sect? Was his head kicked by a donkey? How laughable!]
Wu Yuan Zheng indifferently stated, “Of course, the premise is that you must hand over the Phoenix True Fire to this King. As long as you hand over the Phoenix True Fire, all the grievances between you and my Netherworld Sect will be written off. This King guarantees that you will be an Elder of the Sect as well. What do you think?”
Yang Kai put on an excited look, “That sounds very good.”
Wu Yuan Zheng slightly smiled and added, “This King’s Sect is among the top of the Eastern Territory’s forces, so even if you are just an Elder, such status isn’t inferior to the Sect Master of a second-class Sect. You are still young and have a bright future, so it’s not impossible to reach this King’s status in time.”