“You obtained the Mountains and Rivers Bell!?” Tan Jun Hao’s voice cracked as he exclaimed.
Since he recognized the Mountains and Rivers Bell, he definitely knew its origins too. It was said that this bell was an Ancient Exotic Artifact passed down from the Ancient Times. It had always been in the Ancient Wild Lands before, but even the few powerful Divine Spirits of that place could not subdue it.
Tens of thousands of years ago, an Emperor Realm Master entered the Ancient Wild Lands and was recognized by the Mountains and Rivers Bell by chance, allowing him to bring it out of the Ancient Lands.
Within a hundred years, that Third-Order Emperor Realm Master peered into the Grand Dao and became a Great Emperor.
That man was the legendary Yuan Ding Great Emperor.
At that time, the Yuan Ding Great Emperor, who possessed the Mountains and Rivers Bell, was one of the top Masters of the Star Boundary. His strength among the Great Emperors could definitely be ranked among the top three. Unfortunately, he was killed by the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor during the Great Emperor War. Since then, the Ancient Exotic Artifact was lost.
It was rumoured that this artifact was left in the Shattered Star Sea, but no one had ever seen it over the past twenty thousand years.
Tan Jun Hao never thought that after so long, this artifact would actually fall into Yang Kai’s hands and re-appear here.
The opening of the Shattered Star Sea only happened a few years ago, and it seemed that this little brat surnamed Yang had entered and obtained the Mountains and Rivers Bell there.
He had the Sealed World Bead, a treasure that was a small independent world itself, and also the Immortal Tree, a supreme treasure of immeasurable value. Now, even the Mountains and Rivers Bell was in his hands…
Among these treasures, obtaining any single one would already be a Heaven-defying opportunity for an ordinary genius, but now they all belonged to a single young man!
Was he still Human?
How many Heaven-defying opportunities did he have to obtain all these treasures?
Tan Jun Hao’s face twitched as a faint trace of fear bloomed in his heart. No matter how he looked at it, Yang Kai was just an ordinary First-Order Emperor Realm Master, but not to mention his unreasonable combat strength, the various treasures he possessed were not things ordinary people could ever encounter. Such a person was usually one who carried a great destiny and could often break open a path through bramble and thistle that hundreds of millions of other cultivators failed to, reaching the peak of the Martial Dao.
Such an existence would not be someone who could be merely erased by some small disasters.
Tan Jun Hao could not help thinking, [Was it really a wise decision to pick a fight with him?]
He only hesitated for a short moment though before his face turned resolute and ferocious. It was now impossible for them to live under the same sky, so only one of them would leave here alive today.
As long as he could kill this boy surnamed Yang here, all these treasures would belong to him, and his dream of breaking through his shackles to reach the Great Emperor Realm would become a reality.
Perhaps, he could steal Yang Kai’s luck too.
“Fool!” Tan Jun Hao looked at Yang Kai contemptuously, “This Old Master might be afraid of you if you used the Mountains and Rivers Bell on this Old Master, but you actually used it to rescue the enemies who were just pointing their knives at you. Your womanly compassion shall be your demise.”
The reputation of the Mountains and Rivers Bell could not be more famous; after all, it was an Ancient Exotic Artifact as well as the Natal Emperor Artifact of the Yuan Ding Great Emperor. If Yang Kai really used the Mountains and Rivers Bell against Tan Jun Hao, the latter would be far more anxious and hesitant for he had no clue how powerful this ancient treasure truly was. But now that the Mountains and Rivers Bell was used to isolate those Emperor Realm bystanders, Yang Kai couldn’t use it against him.
This made Tan Jun Hao relieved.
“Of course I’m willing to. One must first give before receiving.” Yang Kai beamed from ear to ear and looked at him contemptuously, “Old thing, you know nothing.”
To Yang Kai, he would rather face a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master than the siege of so many First and Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters. The former was dangerous, but he did not worry about it, while facing the latter would only result in him having to kill them all then still have to face Tan Jun Hao after. Therefore, using the Mountains and Rivers Bell to directly cut off Tan Jun Hao’s support was the biggest advantage it could give him.
“How could you fight this Old Master without the Mountains and Rivers Bell!” Tan Jun Hao roared, his aura soaring as his mighty Emperor Pressure churned like a rampaging sea.
Yang Kai smiled mockingly, “Why would I need Mountains and Rivers Bell to deal with the likes of you?”
Tan Jun Hao was maddened, “Rampant Junior!”
It was totally unforgivable for a trivial First-Order Emperor Realm Master to not even put him in his eyes.
Yang Kai lifted his hand, and pointed his Myriads Sword at Tan Jun Hao with his teeth gritted, “Old Dog Tan, there was no enmity between us in the past, but you killed thousands of people in Thousand Leaves Sect and abducted this Young Master’s friends. This Young Master must kill you today!”
Tan Jun Hao sneered, and replied disdainfully, “Let’s see if you have the ability to kill me!”
When the words fell, he thrust his hands forward fiercely, and numerous huge five-coloured light blades materialized as if they tore through the void and slashed at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai slashed with his Myriads Sword, sending a gigantic sword light forward powered by his surging Emperor Qi.
There was a loud blast, and the surrounding space trembled. The massive sword light and five-coloured light blades smashed together, turning into an explosion of light that filled this sealed space.
At the same time, Tan Jun Hao pounced at Yang Kai, sending out two gigantic shadow hands that covered the sky to engulf Yang Kai.
The Sword Intent of the Myriads Sword burst out as Yang Kai welcomed this assault with a wide sweep.
The two instantly engaged in a terrifying clash as Emperor Qi collided and their figures flickered about, smashing into one another.
Loud clangs from the clash rang out as Yang Kai did not gain the upper hand with the power of his Myriads Sword against Tan Jun Hao’s bare fists, but instead, was suppressed by Tan Jun Hao’s vigorous and pure Emperor Qi.
Yang Kai immediately felt annoyed as he secretly cursed this old thing for indeed not being easy to deal with. Since he could reach the Third-Order Emperor Realm, Tan Jun Hao was clearly not to be taken lightly, and it was only normal for him to have some life-saving cards and unique skills at his disposal.
Back then, Yang Kai had killed a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master named Yao Chang Jun in the Solitary Void Sealed World. The Five-Coloured Long Spear Emperor Artifact owned by Hua Qing Si now was a trophy from that battle.
However, Yao Chang Jun’s Soul had been severely injured for many years, as such, he could not unleash the full strength of his Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation and Yang Kai took the opportunity to kill him in the Solitary Void Sealed World.
But Tan Jun Hao was a true Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. How could Yao Chang Jun of that day be compared to him?
Yang Kai was awe-inspired, but he did not know that Tan Jun Hao was even more flabbergasted.
He knew Yang Kai was not someone who could be judged by common sense after witnessing his performances, for he had the ability to fight and even kill people above his realm, but it was only after they really exchanged blows that Tan Jun Hao realized just how strong this young man really was.
He was a Star Soul Palace Elder and could kill a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master within ten moves at most, let alone a First-Order Emperor Realm Master.
Nevertheless, when he fought with Yang Kai, Tan Jun Hao could only suppress him a little after going all out, while killing Yang Kai seemed like an all but impossible task.
How could the Emperor Qi of a First-Order Emperor Realm Master be almost as dense and pure as his own? Just how did this little monster even cultivate?
Tan Jun Hao’s heart trembled with fear as he grew more and more aggressive, attempting to push Yang Kai to his limits and see how long he could hold on for.
But he was greatly disappointed by reality.
He found that no matter how hard he tried, the young man in front of him could still cope with his attacks, albeit barely, as if he would only become stronger when facing the strong, and his strength would increase without limit. Even though Yang Kai occasionally struggled to handle his attacks, Tan Jun Hao also knew he was not dealing any significant damage to Yang Kai.
Although Yang Kai had a broad sword in his hand and possessed some sharp Sword Intent, his swordsmanship was pitiful. Tan Jun Hao could see that Yang Kai was not a cultivator who majored in the Sword Dao, but despite that, he could still find a way to resolve his own attacks by using the sword Emperor Artifact flexibly.
In his eyes, Yang Kai was like a boat thrown into the stormy sea, swaying left and right, at risk of being overturned at any time but still charging on bravely.
“Damn you!” Tan Jun Hao cursed, knowing that it would be useless to go on like this. If he really wanted to kill Yang Kai, he had to bring out his true abilities.
With a single thought, he clenched his fists and rushed forward.
His two fists punched towards Yang Kai with power as immense as two huge mountains, like an overwhelming tidal wave.
“Old dog, you’re quite fierce!” Yang Kai also shouted, gripping the Myriads Sword with both hands as he cleaved forward violently, as if it was not a sword that he was holding but a club.
The power of his sword could cleave a huge mountain into pieces.
The impact of the fist shadows sent the vitality in Yang Kai’s chest tumbling, forcing him back two steps.
Five-coloured light blades condensed in front of him at that moment and slashed towards Yang Kai.
“This again?” Yang Kai curled his lip while swinging the Myriads Sword, breaking apart the five-coloured light blades.
At the same time, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he instinctively sensed danger approaching and hurriedly jumped aside.
Followed by a few swooshes, several golden beams shot out from the dispersed fluorescence, opening two small holes in the place where Yang Kai was originally standing.
Although the holes were small, they seemed to pierce thousands of meters deep into the ground. The penetrating power of the golden beams was quite astonishing.
Behind the fluorescence, Yang Kai saw Tan Jun Hao hovering in the air with an ancient-looking book floating on top of him, and the pages of the book flipping noisily.
The book was radiating a blinding gold colour and every page seemed to be made from casted gold, looking extremely heavy and thick at a glance.
The aura of an Emperor Artifact gradually permeated the surroundings.
This golden book was actually an Emperor Artifact!
Yang Kai heightened his vigilance as he stared at the golden book and examined it carefully with his Divine Sense.
Although the battle earlier seemed intense, both he and Tan Jun Hao were really just probing each other. Now that they had finished their initial analysis of one another, it was time for both Yang Kai and Tan Jun Hao to get serious.
It was obvious that Tan Jun Hao was using his trump card by summoning such an artifact at this time, causing Yang Kai to become extra cautious because even a bit of carelessness could lead to his death.
It was the first time he had seen such an Emperor Artifact, and he had no clue what kind of power it had. However, throughout the whole world, there was a consensus among all cultivators that the stranger the artifact, the stronger the power it could unleash.
This golden book undoubtedly belonged to this type of Emperor Artifact.
The several golden beams earlier must have been the work of this golden book. Unfortunately, Tan Jun Hao used a deceptive trick to cover up his initial strike, making it impossible for Yang Kai to see and study it clearly.
“You actually forced this Old Master to use the Golden Armour Heavenly Book on you, you may die proud.” Tan Jun Hao sneered, his words were filled with great confidence, as if this Golden Armour Heavenly Book was an incredible entity.
“This is what you’re relying on?” Although Yang Kai was wary in his heart, he appeared indifferent on the surface. He wanted to figure out what the power of this so-called Golden Armour Heavenly Book was, and he already directed his sword towards Tan Jun Hao while he asked. He rushed over and slashed the Myriads Sword in mid-air, forming countless sword lights that surrounded Tan Jun Hao like a swarm of locusts as he shouted, “Old dog, your era is over! Do you think a piece of trash book is some great treasure? It’s now the world of my generation, so just hurry up and die!”
“Trash book…” Tan Jun Hao frowned, his face filled with fury as if he was severely humiliated by Yang Kai. Gritting his teeth, he roared, “This Old Master will let you see the power of this trash book then!”
As he spoke, he waved his hand fiercely.
The Golden Armour Heavenly Book that was suspended above his head suddenly started flipping and froze on a certain page.
Yang Kai stared closely and saw on this page an oval drawing with many squiggly lines, just like a child’s graffiti.
But when the Golden Armour Heavenly Book landed on this page, a golden light burst out from it forming a light curtain around Tan Jun Hao.
*Hong…*
The Myriads Sword landed on the golden light curtain, but the latter remained unscathed.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as shock clearly appeared on his face.
Although his strike was mostly for probing, it was not something that any ordinary Master could survive. Tan Jun Hao did not push his Emperor Qi to guard his body at all and simply relied on the Golden Armour Heavenly Book to defend himself. It could be seen that the power of this Golden Armour Heavenly Book was indeed impressive.
[A defensive Emperor Artifact?] Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, but soon he felt that something was wrong. Earlier, a few golden beams had shot out from this book and penetrated the floor, something a defensive Emperor Artifact should not be capable of.
Tan Jun Hao remained on the spot, smiling. He was not abashed by the incoming sword light, his expression showing absolute confidence in his Golden Armour Heavenly Book, clearly believing that Yang Kai could not hurt him.
And this was indeed the case.
“Not even a scratch!” Tan Jun Hao sneered, “Are you only capable of this? If that’s the case, then die!”
After that, he reached out and pointed towards Yang Kai, causing the pages of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book floating above his head to start flipping again and stop on another page.
Yang Kai looked at it again and saw that there were many drawings of birds of prey engraved on it. Once again, the pictures were little better than doodles, but this only added a sense of savagery to it.
A sense of dread swelled in Yang Kai’s heart suddenly.
There was a thumping sound, and golden light shot from the Golden Armour Heavenly Book again before condensing into a number of raptors mid-air that charged towards Yang Kai.
There were as many as a hundred raptors of various sizes, ranging from fifty metres in wingspan to just a hand’s width long.
Each of these raptors actually emitted a powerful aura at least comparable to a First-Order Emperor though, while the giant ones actually had strength on par with Second-Order Emperors.
“It has both offensive and defensive abilities!” Yang Kai exclaimed in amazement.
This type of Emperor Artifact was extremely rare and very difficult to refine. Emperor Artifacts were already very valuable, but Tan Jun Hao’s Golden Armour Heavenly Book was in a whole different category.
“Junior, how do you plan to fight this Old Master now?” Tan Jun Hao stood with his hands clasped behind his back and laughed loudly, “Do you think this Old Master would be so easy to kill? With this Golden Armour Heavenly Book, you will die without a burial without this Old Master even needing to act personally.”
As he spoke, the raptor birds flew towards Yang Kai from all directions, all of them looking extremely hostile, spewing profound light from their mouths as their wings gleamed sharply. Fireballs were constantly thrown at him while some others directly charged at him with opened claws.
Yang Kai was suddenly thrown into danger of being ripped apart by these vicious birds.
Tan Jun Hao continued laughing wildly as Yang Kai grew increasingly agitated, wishing he could fly over and rip his old mouth off.
It took a long time before Yang Kai could stabilize himself, but that did not improve his situation. From all directions, the raptors summoned from the Heavenly Book glared at him fixedly.
“Break!” Yang Kai slammed a punch in a certain direction, sending a storm of Moon Blades out that cut down several raptors that could not dodge in time.
Yang Kai rushed towards the gap with the sword in hand.
There were too many enemies, and if he were really to be surrounded, Yang Kai would not be able to display his full strength, so he could only escape for now. Fortunately, although these things could display the strength of an Emperor Realm Master, they did not seem to have Emperor Grade defence, allowing him to kill several of them with just a punch. If this was the case in general, it wouldn’t take him too much effort to dispose of them all.
“Naive!” Tan Jun Hao saw that Yang Kai wanted to break through the siege, but he did not stop him, instead just standing there stoically.
“This is bad!” Yang Kai suddenly felt something was wrong.
The beasts that seemed to have been killed by him did not disappear but were immediately restored to their original state after a moment of distortion.
[These things can’t be killed!]
Yang Kai cursed in his heart as he felt their fierce auras rushing towards him from all directions. It was too late to dodge. A raptor in front of him plummeted from the air, its claws shone with golden light so sharp it seemed capable of tearing apart the toughest steel.
At the critical moment, Yang Kai could only push his Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi again. The five-colour glow enveloped him, and at the same time, he urged his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique to its utmost, waving his hands as countless Moon Blades shot towards all directions.
*Chi chi chi chi…*
Moon Blades pierced through the air one after another, and the raptors were sliced into two, twisting and distorting in mid-air.
*Ci la…*
There was a sound, and the Five Elements Sword Qi collapsed. Yang Kai was hit by several attacks on the back and chest, one of which gouged out his flesh and drew a lot of Golden Blood.
This was all after Yang Kai used his Dragon Transformation. If it were not for the protection of the Dragon Scales, he probably would have been torn into two.
“It’s useless, no matter how many times you kill them, they won’t die!” Tan Jun Hao taunted him, standing to the side.
Compared to the Emperor Realm Masters he tricked into coming to this auction, this Golden Armour Heavenly Book was truly his greatest support. As long as he still had the Heavenly Book, the summoned beings would never perish and could re-condense each time after they were killed.
Of course, Yang Kai knew this now.
Although he did not understand all the mysteries of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, he had seen some of its capabilities.
Taking advantage of the time before the slain raptors restored themselves, Yang Kai flickered away from the spot with a fluctuation of Space Principles.
“Haha, little brat, are you running out of ideas?” Tan Jun Hao laughed. The reason he had made so many preparations was mainly to counter Yang Kai’s Spatial Techniques.
And it had proven to be effective. If it were not for all Tan Jun Hao’s arrangements, he probably would not have had a chance against Yang Kai as he could flee at any time.
It was foolish of Yang Kai to try the same old trick of teleporting away again.
As Tan Jun Hao spoke, an array flag appeared in his hand.
This was the control flag for the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array, and it allowed him to perfectly counter Yang Kai’s use of Space Principles. Since Yang Kai was at his wits’ end, it was the perfect time to do it again.
It was definitely unpleasant to be thrown out of the Void, and given the right timing, Tan Jun Hao could order the raptors to pounce on Yang Kai again, ensuring he died.
Emperor Qi surged and poured into the array flag while Tan Jun Hao waved his hand towards where Yang Kai stood before.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s figure indeed reappeared from the Void.
Tan Jun Hao shouted cunningly, “Die!”
Just as he shouted though, Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from where he stood.
Tan Jun Hao’s laughter stopped abruptly as a figure appeared before him. Yang Kai had reappeared almost face to face with Tan Jun Hao, his eyes filled with mockery, “Old dog, your timing was off.”
“You…” Tan Jun Hao was shocked, but it only took a moment before he understood what was going on.
Yang Kai’s teleportation earlier was obviously just a guise, while in fact, he did not move at all. The image of him being thrown from the Void was simply because he took the initiative to reappear, not because he was really shaken out.
Just when Tan Jun Hao mistakenly thought that he had succeeded and let down his guard for a split second, Yang Kai truly teleported to approach him.
[Damn it, I fell for this brat’s trick!] Tan Jun Hao almost broke his teeth from clenching them too hard. The setup that he relied on so much had unexpectedly turned into a flaw that was used against him by the enemy. It was a great shame.
Tan Jun Hao was not slow to respond though and immediately kicked his feet to retreat.
The real battle had just begun, and the Golden Armour Heavenly Book had not even displayed a tenth of its power. Even if Yang Kai tricked him once, it was absolutely impossible for him to beat Tan Jun Hao so easily.
Tan Jun Hao had full confidence in killing Yang Kai here.
“Look into my eyes!”
At that moment though, Yang Kai suddenly let out a shout.
Tan Jun Hao looked over at him instinctively.
“Good!” Yang Kai grinned, his left eye suddenly filling with a rich golden light, his pupil transforming into a golden slit that exuded endless majesty.
Demon Eye of Annihilation!
[Oh no, I was tricked again. This cunning little brat!] Tan Jun Hao was shocked and cursed Yang Kai madly to himself.
He instinctively wanted to look away, but found that he was hindered by a strange power exuded from the golden slit.
A Pupil Technique!
Tan Jun Hao bit the tip of his tongue while desperately pushing his Spiritual Energy to resist this unnatural attraction.
But a split second was sufficient to decide the victor in a competition between Masters.
Before Tan Jun Hao could regain control of himself, Yang Kai had already made a move.
“Soul Splitting Saber, Heaven Severing Slash!”
A golden ray shot out from his left eye, slashed straight towards Tan Jun Hao before it disappeared in a flash.
With a muffled grunt, the colour drained from Yang Kai’s face as sweat poured down his forehead like he had just been drenched under the rain.
On the other hand, Tan Jun Hao screamed miserably as he bled profusely from his eyes and his face contorted in pain.
The Soul Splitting Sabre was an extremely powerful Soul Type Emperor Artifact.
On top of that, the Heaven Severing Slash was a Secret Technique learnt by Yang Kai from Tian Yan in Divine Ascension Mirror World. The Divine Ascension Mirror was the Supreme Artifact of Azure Sun Temple and contained an isolated independent world where all the living beings had no physical bodies and existed solely as Soul Avatars.
Tian Yan was the strongest inhabitant of the Divine Ascension Mirror and the power of his Soul Avatar had reached the level of a Great Emperor.
He had studied the Soul for all his life, and created the Heaven Severing Slash as his own ultimate technique, so how could its power be weak?
With the complement of an Emperor Artifact like the Soul Splitting Sabre, the power of the Heaven Severing Slash was not as simple as just one plus one.
Furthermore, Yang Kai had poured all of Spiritual Energy into this one strike just in case, almost to the point where he could not bear the strain. His face turned pale and his blood ran cold as a splitting headache plagued his Soul.
Tan Jun Hao, who was hit directly, was even more miserable though.
The violent soul-splitting force tore through his Soul defences instantly and crashed into his Knowledge Sea, turning it upside down. Waves rolled wildly, causing his Soul to fall into a chaotic state.
Tan Jun Hao screamed as his whole person was drenched in sweat, like a fish out of the sea.
His Knowledge Sea was now severely injured, and with the exception of a few extinct Spirit Pills, there was no way to heal such a wound. Even a Great Emperor could do nothing about it.
“Blossoming Lotus!” Yang Kai shouted again, wanting to take advantage of the situation to kill Tan Jun Hao for good. He forced himself to remain conscious as he prepared to execute his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique.
Unexpectedly, the Golden Armour Heavenly Book on top of Tan Jun Hao suddenly flipped on its own and stopped at a certain page.
All of a sudden, two golden beams shot out of the pages of the book.
At such a close distance, Yang Kai was unprepared and was directly pierced by the two golden beams.
*Pu…*
Yang Kai spewed a mouthful of Golden Blood into the air, his whole body repelled by a massive force and immediately falling to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
Severe pain came up from his lower abdomen as Yang Kai looked up with his face darkened and roared, “Old Dog Tan, we cannot coexist beneath the same sky!”
Two holes with the width of a finger appeared on his lower abdomen, directly piercing through his body. Yang Kai had no idea what kind of offensive skill the two golden beams were that even his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique could not guard against.
Circulating his Emperor Qi to his wounds, Yang Kai temporarily staunched the bleeding.
But at the same time, hundreds of raptors that had spread out across this isolated space struck towards Yang Kai, shocking him and forcing him to quickly teleport away to escape.
Without Tan Jun Hao immobilizing Yang Kai, it was difficult for these raptors to hurt the latter as he could instantaneously move away.
“Ah!” Tan Jun Hao screamed up to the sky, his clothes flapping even when there was no wind and his hair flying wildly, painting a hideous picture.
“Hahaha…” Yang Kai covered his abdomen with his hand and took some distance. Staring at Tan Jun Hao’s appearance, Yang Kai suddenly felt much better in his heart.
Although he had just acted carelessly and was wounded severely as a result, Tan Jun Hao’s injuries were even more dire. Even if he could not kill him today, he was afraid that Tan Jun Hao would not live long anyway.
Yang Kai took a handful of healing and restorative Spirit Pills from his Space Ring and stuffed them like beans into his mouth.
A cornered mouse would put up a stubborn fight against a cat, not to mention a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master like Tan Jun Hao. Yang Kai was afraid that what followed would be the real battle of life and death, so he did not hesitate to take this moment to try to recover some of his strength.
*Hualala… *
The pages of the book on top of Tan Jun Hao flipped again.
Yang Kai was stunned, wondering what this old thing was going to do now, silently gathering his strength and preparing to dodge at any time.
The book stopped at a certain page and shot out a golden light. This golden transformed into a golden longsword before descending from the sky, causing cracks in the space directly, annihilating several raptors in the process.
“Huh?” Yang Kai watched in bewilderment.
*Hualala…*
The pages of the book flipped again, but this time, a big seal flew out of the page and bombarded the ground directly, leaving a huge pit behind.
*Hualala…*
The pages of the book were flipping constantly, and each time they stopped, a different attack would come out from the page, from artifacts of various shapes and sizes to powerful Secret Techniques, to lively Monsters Beasts.
Yang Kai even saw a Monster Beast that was comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, one that resembled a meatball with countless eyes all over its body. Yang Kai had absolutely no clue what this creature was supposed to be.
However, black lights shot out of its eyes, each beam seemingly able to petrify anything it struck.
As soon as the meatball Monster Beast emerged, it kept blinking its eyes, and every time its eyes blinked, they would shoot at least dozens of black lights.
The hundreds of raptors first summoned by Tan Jun Hao were all affected by it and were quickly frozen in place by this petrifying technique.
These raptors seemed to be dreadfully afraid of the meatball Monster Beast and dared not to fight back, simply allowing it to rampage wildly as they fled about. Soon, the whole army of raptors were completely annihilated.
The situation was extremely chaotic as all kinds of attacks were unleashed aimlessly, while Yang Kai just jumped here and there, dodging anything that came his way.
He paid special attention to the attacks of the meatball Monster Beast, as he had accidentally been hit by one of them once and found his reaction speed and flexibility decreased drastically. It took him a great deal of effort and Emperor Qi to resolve this negative effect.
Yang Kai was feeling quite startled now. If Tan Jun Hao had taken the opportunity to attack him just now, perhaps he would not have been able to dodge even with his teleportation ability.
“Ahhh…” Tan Jun Hao was screaming the whole time, holding his head in his hands, leaping about from time to time, while rolling around on the floor at others. He had completely lost the demeanour of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master and Star Soul Palace Elder.
“He’s gone insane…” Yang Kai wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, exasperated.
He was taken by surprise as he did not expect things to progress so dramatically.
On second thought, Yang Kai had used the Soul Splitting Sabre to unleash his Heaven Severing Slash on Tan Jun Hao, a strike most others would have instantly died from.
After all, when one’s Knowledge Sea was split apart, his Soul would definitely be destroyed. There was no chance to survive such a wound.
Tan Jun Hao was truly amazing for being able to survive under such an attack, but he could not avoid the fate of insanity as his Knowledge Sea was too severely injured.
At this moment, he was not in his right mind and had obviously gone crazy.
Yang Kai felt incredibly lucky.
Previously, Yang Kai was already a little overwhelmed when Tan Jun Hao only used three of his Golden Armour Heavenly Book’s abilities. It seemed that this Emperor Artifact had infinite uses, with the meatball Monster Beast alone giving Yang Kai a hard time, not to mention how disastrous it could be if Tan Jun Hao unleashed all of these abilities at him one after another.
Currently, Tan Jun Hao’s Soul was in a chaotic state, so he had lost control and was just summoning the many abilities of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book randomly, which further emphasized how terrifying this Emperor Artifact really was.
But where did he get such an Emperor Artifact? It was definitely not something that could be refined by any living Artifact Refiner.
While Yang Kai was still thinking about it, the Golden Armour Heavenly Book that was floating on top of Tan Jun Hao’s head suddenly released a dazzling golden light. Then, all the strange beings that were summoned from it turned into golden beams and rushed back to the book and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After all the beings returned, the Golden Armour Heavenly Book suddenly closed and fell from above Tan Jun Hao’s head.
Yang Kai ogled at the Golden Armour Heavenly Book like a thief. With a flicker, he arrived in front of the Heavenly Book and stretched his hand out to pick it up.
After witnessing the power of this Golden Armour Heavenly Book, how could Yang Kai not feel moved? With such an Emperor Artifact in hand, he would have the upper hand in fighting with the others in the future.
*Ci la la…*
A strange noise came out as the Golden Armour Heavenly Book glowed brightly the moment Yang Kai grasped it. A violent vibration showed it was rejecting Yang Kai’s hand. Not only that, Yang Kai felt an unbearable pain in his Soul from the piercing golden radiance.
Another hand suddenly grasped the Golden Armour Heavenly Book firmly from the other side at that moment.
Yang Kai looked up and saw Tan Jun Hao staring at him with bloodshot eyes, making him look extremely ferocious.
“Let go, this is mine!” Tan Jun Hao yelled at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai replied, “You’re crazy, I will keep this thing for you first.”
“I’m not crazy!” Tan Jun Hao shook his head solemnly.
“Yes, you are crazy!” Yang Kai stared into his eyes deeply, “You are completely crazy.” He spoke the words with a strange hypnotizing power.
“Am I crazy?” Tan Jun Hao stared at Yang Kai, stupefied.
Yang Kai nodded firmly.
If he was not crazy, why would he want to snatch the Golden Armour Heavenly Book from him like this? This was his Emperor Artifact in the first place, so he could retrieve it with just a single thought.
“I am crazy!” Tan Jun Hao abruptly stood up, lost in thought, involuntarily releasing his hand that was grabbing the Golden Armour Heavenly Book.
He did not seem to realize that being crazy had nothing to do with competing for the Heavenly Book.
Yang Kai quickly took the opportunity to seize the Heavenly Book and forcibly stuff it into his Sealed World Bead.
Tan Jun Hao’s Soul Imprint was still left on the Heavenly Book, but he could erase that later.
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai’s action immediately attracted Tan Jun Hao’s attention. He woke up from his contemplation and glared at Yang Kai viciously with his teeth gritted, “Give it back to me!”
Yang Kai replied with his hands spread, “It’s gone.”
Tan Jun Hao was so infuriated that he pushed his Emperor Qi wildly and pounced at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was caught off guard and was blasted out, wincing from the intense pain from his already injured abdomen.
“Give it back to me!” Tan Jun Hao roared, his fists raining down wildly on Yang Kai’s chest.
*Pu!*
Yang Kai spurted a mouthful of blood on Tan Jun Hao’s face while at the same time he stomped on Tan Jun Hao’s face to separate himself from him.
Yang Kai rapidly made a hand seal with both hands and muttered with a solemn face, “Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!”
The seal was formed, and he pushed it forward gently.
Tan Jun Hao did not think of dodging it at all as he fixed his bloody eyes on Yang Kai and pursued him madly while repeating the same sentence over and over again.
The Time Flies Seal hit Tan Jun Hao head-on and exploded.
Time Principles rapidly covered Tan Jun Hao’s figure and turned him from an already old man into a crippled old man, his hair turning grey and falling out while his skin and body shrivelled up and wrinkled.
When Tan Jun Hao landed on the ground, he was just a dying old man.
Tan Jun Hao’s obsession for the artifact still had not faded, and he immediately charged at Yang Kai again, yelling, “Give it back to me!”
Yang Kai looked at him coldly, took a deep breath to calm the roiling vitality in his chest, and waited for him to get close before sending out a heavy punch.
Half of Tan Jun Hao’s body was smashed to pieces as he was thrown out once again.
But this time, he did not get up.
The Heaven Severing Slash delivered with Yang Kai’s Soul Splitting Saber did tremendous damage to Tan Jun Hao, and with his chaotic Soul, he unconsciously and madly triggered the Golden Armour Heavenly Book to release its power.
Although an artifact like the Golden Armour Heavenly Book possessed formidable power, the consumption required to use each of its abilities was definitely not small. There was a proportional relationship between the two.
Tan Jun Hao activated many of the abilities of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and undoubtedly used much of his strength to do so. Even if he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, the Emperor Qi in his body was nearly exhausted.
With his Soul damaged beyond repair and his Emperor Qi exhausted, Tan Jun Hao had less than ten percent of his strength remaining. Moreover, he was struck by Yang Kai’s Time Flies Seal, so just before he died, Tan Jun Hao was nothing but a dying beast making its last struggle. Even an ordinary First-Order Emperor Realm Master could have easily taken him down, let alone Yang Kai.
“Give it… back… to me!” Tan Jun Hao, whose body was already half gone and whose organs had all spilt out, shouted determinedly while lying on the ground, but his voice was dreadfully weak.
“Just die already,” Yang Kai muttered, his body also on the verge of collapse.
The battle today was extremely dangerous and his injuries were quite serious, especially the huge open wound on his chest. This wound was so deep that his flesh was torn apart and his bones were exposed, a horrifying sight to behold. Furthermore, he had two bloody holes on his lower abdomen.
The wound on his chest was the result of a clash with a gigantic beast that possessed strength on par with a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master. Numerous strange creatures had been summoned from the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and while they did not have strong defensive power, their offensive strength was ridiculous to the point that even Yang Kai’s body could not guard against it after using his Dragon Transformation.
The bloody holes on his lower abdomen were from when the two golden beams from the Heavenly Book had penetrated him at point-blank range, tearing holes in his organs…
Other than that, he also suffered countless smaller injuries, such as cuts, bruises, and broken bones. ‘Miserable’ would be an understatement to describe his condition.
However, Yang Kai looked exceptionally exhilarated, because this was his first time defeating a peak condition Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. With the experience gained from this battle, he would not be panicked when facing Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in the future.
The growth of any cultivator was inseparable from life and death battles. The more experience one had in combat, the farther one could progress on the path of the Martial Dao.
“Give…” A soft cry came from up ahead again, but it was not followed up by the rest of the sentence. The final wisp of vitality left in Tan Jun Hao and dissipated at that moment.
“Finally!” Yang Kai felt that his whole body was about to fall apart. His injuries and consumption of energy had thoroughly exhausted him. Seeing that his enemy was finally dead, his nerves at last relaxed. Unprecedented fatigue overwhelmed him at once, and he wanted to pass out now.
At that moment, an intimidating light suddenly appeared and rich murderous intent struck from behind.
“Die!”
Wu Ming appeared while slashing his blade down excitedly with his Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation released without reservation.
He had been knocked out by Yang Kai previously, but because of that, he also avoided the most dangerous parts of the battle. Then, he was awakened from his coma by an attack when Tan Jun Hao inadvertently triggered the power of the Golden Armour Heavenly Book and wounded him by mistake.
Wu Ming was a cunning one though, so even though he woke up some time ago, he did not get up immediately and instead secretly observed the fight.
Before his eyes, he witnessed the shocking scene of his Honoured Master going crazy while Yang Kai remained alive and well. Wu Ming could not stop fear from growing in his heart, for he had no idea whether his Honoured Master who had gone crazy could still be Yang Kai’s opponent. If his Honoured Master could not win against Yang Kai, it would be disastrous for Wu Ming too.
Facts proved that his Honoured Master was really not a match for Yang Kai. After rampaging about, Tan Jun Hao exhausted his strength and ultimately got half of his body smashed to pieces by Yang Kai, winding up dead after clinging to life a while longer…
His Honoured Master, who was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, actually failed to defeat Yang Kai, and was killed by him instead!
Wu Ming’s heart sank to the bottom of a valley at once, feeling that there was no light in the world anymore.
However, at that moment, he keenly realized that Yang Kai’s body was unsteady and quickly realized that even though Yang Kai won the fight, it must have been a difficult victory for him and the price that he paid was definitely not small.
Without a doubt, this was the best time for him to ambush Yang Kai!
If he could kill Yang Kai, not only he could avenge his Honoured Master, he could also obtain all of the treasures. He had long been fascinated by his Honoured Master’s Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and if he could obtain it, he would have no reservations fighting against Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters in the future, which would allow him to climb the ranks in Star Soul Palace rapidly, possibly becoming an Elder himself.
If he waited and allowed Yang Kai to catch his breath though, the next to die would certainly be him.
Therefore, Wu Ming made a quick decision to kill Yang Kai when he was at his weakest. He wanted to finish off Yang Kai with one single strike.
Yang Kai did not seem to be able to react and Wu Ming’s blade left a slash on his shoulder almost a hand length deep.
Wu Ming was overjoyed, but when he attempted to pull out the sword from Yang Kai’s shoulder, the latter suddenly turned his head around and grinned, “You finally couldn’t hold yourself back.”
Wu Ming was startled and stammered in terror, “You knew… ”
Yang Kai spat a mouthful of blood, and snickered, “What do you think?”
Wu Ming was infuriated, “Impudence! Watch how this King chops you up!”
When the words fell, he surged his Emperor Qi fiercely and his sword hummed with a power that seemed capable of shattering the sun and moon, attempting to split Yang Kai in two.
“If you had stayed there quietly, this Young Master might just have left you alone, but since you decided to jump out, you can die!” Yang Kai shouted, grabbing the blade with his bare hand and stopping it from advancing any further through pure physical strength.
Wu Ming was horrified as he never thought that this young man who seemed to be on the verge of fainting could still exert so much strength.
A fist swung directly at him at that moment, and after witnessing half of his Honoured Master’s body being smashed by a similar punch, how could Wu Ming not understand the power of this blow?
As Wu Ming was still hesitating, wondering whether he should abandon the blade or apply more force to it, Yang Kai’s fist had already hit him in the face.
A strong force impacted Wu Ming’s face, and instantly went dizzy, feeling as if his nose was flattened as he screamed in his heart, [It’s over, I’m dead.]
But when he regained his senses, he found that his head did not explode like he imagined, and he was still alive. He immediately understood that Yang Kai really had reached his limits, otherwise the power of his punch would not have been so weak.
Wu Ming was delighted and angered at the same time. Just when he prepared to pounce at Yang Kai again, he heard a soft slicing sound.
The next moment, Wu Ming felt that his body became lighter, as if he lost something vital.
He looked down instinctively and saw a crescent-shaped hole covering more than half of his chest had unknowingly appeared. Through the hole, he could see his squirming organs, and half of his heart still beating…
Wu Ming slowly widened his eyes as he tried to circulate his Emperor Qi to seal this wound, but unexpectedly, Yang Kai raised his hand again, flicked his fingers, and sent several more Moon Blades at him.
*Pu pu pu…*
The few Moon Blades penetrated through Wu Ming as expected, and one of them even slashed across his neck, directly severing his head. As his vision tumbled, Wu Ming’s eyes bulged as an expression of everlasting regret etched on his lifeless face while his headless body remained standing in the same place.
“I initially planned to torture you, so consider yourself lucky to have a swift death.” Yang Kai looked at Wu Ming’s broken corpse and snorted coldly, his face dreadfully pale.
After that, he reached his hand to hold the long blade that was embedded in his shoulder and pulled it out.
*Puchi… *
Golden Blood splashed all over Yang Kai’s face.
“Tsk tsk…” Yang Kai turned his head to look at his shoulder with some amazement and muttered, “Just like a fountain…”
Before he could finish his sentence, his legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
He was truly exhausted.
He took a few full breaths to force himself to remain conscious as he pushed his Emperor Qi to seal his wounds before taking out some more healing Spirit Pills and stuffing them into his mouth. Only after he swallowed did he feel his condition stabilize somewhat.
Yang Kai lay on the ground and did not feel like moving at all. He turned his head to look at the side, then he stretched out and opened his hand, drawing an array flag that had fallen on the ground over there into his palm.
Tan Jun Hao used this flag to deal with him earlier, so if Yang Kai was not mistaken, it should be the Control Flag of the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array.
With this array flag, he should be able to deactivate the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array and allow Ying Fei to find him.
Tan Jun Hao was already dead, so his Soul Imprint on the array flag could easily be erased by Yang Kai. After studying it slowly for a while, Yang Kai had a basic understanding of how it functioned.
Gripping the flag, he waved it in a specific pattern, and the darkness covering the world suddenly dissipated, revealing the true world again.
The place where Yang Kai was was a square covering a vast area that was located behind the branch of Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce.
Yang Kai laid motionless and waited quietly.
A moment later, a swoosh came from the sky and landed beside him.
Yang Kai curled his lips upwards slightly as he called out, “Monster King…”
However, he quickly realized something was wrong because there was a familiar aroma that suddenly wafted to the tip of his nose.
He furrowed his brow and turned his head to look up, and about ten meters away from him, a pair of delicate feet appeared in his field of vision. Moving his gaze up slightly, he saw a young woman dressed in a long pale green dress with a delicate sash tied around her slim, graceful waist. She had voluptuous peaks and her slightly exposed neck was slender while her white face was beautiful enough to feast his eyes on. Her long black hair flowed down her back like a waterfall, finishing her alluring appearance.
“How come it’s you!?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened.
He did not expect that the first person to come to him after deactivating the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array was not Ying Fei, but the Dragon Girl named Zhu Qing.
[Didn’t she leave?] Yang Kai had not seen her for nearly a month since their last meeting in the inn.
He thought she could not stand his unreasonable attitude anymore and decided to forget about him altogether.
[Is this devilish woman here taking advantage of me!?] Yang Kai’s heart jumped in shock. He had molested her in the wilderness before, and although he was bewildered when he did so and was not acting completely of his own free will, that did not change what he had done.
This devilish woman did not seem to be a magnanimous person, so perhaps she had been looking for a chance to take revenge on him all this time.
Now that she had found him in such a weakened state, Yang Kai was afraid that his future was not looking promising.
“Monster King…” Yang Kai called out feebly, hammering his fist on the ground, desperate to create some noise.
The situation was not good. He usually would not have any problems facing this devilish woman, Zhu Qing, but he just experienced a near-fatal battle, and he was extremely weak. It was not safe to be alone with her.
He had to alert Ying Fei to come over and guard him.
“What are you shouting for? He won’t be able to find you for a while.” Zhu Qing looked at the half-dead Yang Kai gleefully, a smirk on her lips as she walked over and squatted next to the top of his head, her feet stepping on the corners of her skirt to avoid exposing her intimates, her face resting on her hand as she peered at him with interest.
Yang Kai glared at her like she was a formidable new enemy and asked vigilantly, “Then how did you find me so soon?”
“Dragon Qi. I’m a Dragon, so if I search for your Dragon Qi, I can naturally find you!” Zhu Qing reached out and poked the Dragon Scales on Yang Kai’s chest.
Yang Kai let out a hiss, his face scrunching up in pain when Zhu Qing poked at his already bone-bearing wound with a force considered neither light nor heavy.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” Zhu Qing stretched her hand to cover her crimson lips, looking at Yang Kai with feigned embarrassment, like a child who did something wrong; but she did not bother concealing the sly glow in her eyes.
“It’s just a scratch, not even worth mentioning!” Yang Kai snorted defiantly, refusing to admit he was in pain. One must not lose composure before their enemies.
“Really!” Zhu Qing sneered menacingly and thrust her slender finger onto the wound on Yang Kai’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?!” Yang Kai was furious as he roared internally, [If this Young Master wasn’t in such a weak state, he would have smacked your behind until it was blood red!]
Zhu Qing smiled without saying a word and continued to poke, poke, poke, poke…
She pretended to ask with concern, “Does it hurt? I bet such a big wound would hurt!”
The changes in Yang Kai’s face were incredibly entertaining to her. He gritted his teeth and said nothing, but anger grew inside of him, vowing that if she didn’t kill him today, he would return her ‘concern’ a hundred times over in the future.
“Does it hurt?” Zhu Qing asked again with the same feigned concern, but the force she used intensified, actually drilling her nail into an open wound, probing it back and forth.
Tears rolled down from the corner of Yang Kai’s eye as the feeling of being trampled on because of his current weakness could not help filling his heart.
He twisted his head and stared between Zhu Qing’s legs, commenting solemnly, “Little girl, your underwear is exposed.”
Zhu Qing was stunned and quickly looked down to check.
At that moment, Yang Kai activated his Golden Divine Dragon Source Strength violently, releasing a golden radiance that covered him and Zhu Qing together.
Zhu Qing snorted involuntarily, as if she had received a terrible shock, and her small face turned slightly pale.
Yang Kai stretched out his arms in that opening and grabbed her neck with all the force he could muster, pulling Zhu Qing down fiercely, directly making her fall to her knees in front of him, unable to resist at all.
With a loud thump, the two heads banged into each other.
Yang Kai felt the world spin for a moment and almost fainted, but still accurately captured her crimson lips with his own, his tongue swimming out like a dragon leaping from the sea, prying her teeth apart and savouring her sweet taste wantonly.
“Ugh…” Zhu Qing grunted, her eyes widening in an instant.
Although it was not the first time, it was still unbearable to have such intimate contact with this hooligan. It was as though an all-conquering spear was sweeping left and right in her mouth, exuding a magical force, overwhelming her mind. A numb and tingly feeling immediately filled her head, and she could not muster any of her strength at all. At the same time, the temperature of her whole body gradually increased to an extreme high.
The two seemed to have frozen on the square full of corpses, blood, and guts, like time itself had stopped flowing around them.
The golden light gradually dissipated, and the Golden Divine Dragon Source Strength gradually faded.
Without the suppression of the Golden Divine Dragon Source, Zhu Qing pulled her head away immediately and got rid of Yang Kai’s reckless entanglement. Her beautiful eyes were boiling with anger, like a volcano about to erupt, and her rich peaks heaved up and down violently as she gritted his teeth, “You… Impudence!”
Her lungs almost exploded in fury from the fact that a trivial Human had indecently assaulted her once again.
“Hahaha…” Yang Kai lay splayed on the ground shamelessly, with his limbs spread out. It was a very embarrassing sight, but he kept laughing wickedly and continued to taunt her, “Go on, do it, I will have a glorious death nonetheless, but after you kill me, I’m afraid you’ll remain a widow for the rest of your life!”
He spoke as if Zhu Qing was already his woman.
Zhu Qing’s face turned so cold that a layer of frost could be scraped off of it. She clenched her teeth, raised a pink fist, and aimed at Yang Kai’s face fiercely.
“You… Da…!” Yang Kai yelled, but before he could finish, his eyes rolled back and he passed out completely.
…..
His head felt heavy, and a throbbing headache haunted him. His body was weak and feeble, as if he had returned to his early years when he was a cripple. It had been a long time since Yang Kai felt this way.
He flitted in and out of consciousness, but vaguely heard some familiar voices and saw some familiar faces appearing in his dim vision during his brief moments of awareness. He wanted to see clearly but was too weak to do so. He tried to extend his hand, but it was like trying to grasp the moon in the well.
At a certain moment, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and his murky consciousness became clear.
“Young Master Yang!”
“Yang Kai!”
“Sect Master!”
Shouts rang loudly in his ears. Yang Kai looked around and saw Ying Fei, Ye Hen, Ye Jing Han and the others gathered around him, their eyes full of concern, only displaying relief when they saw him really awake.
“I’m not dead…” Yang Kai muttered softly.
Ying Fei explained, “Young Master Yang, your consumption was too great from the battle, and you suffered serious injuries. You fell into a coma. Fortunately… Young Lady Zhu Qing was the first to find you and stayed by your side. Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous if you were taken advantage of by others.”
Just the thought of it was terrifying. Yang Kai was in a deep coma at that time, and if he had been discovered by someone with nefarious intentions, he would probably already be dead.
Even though the Five Elements Grand Sealing Array was deactivated by Yang Kai, the Eight Sides Yuan Shielding Array was still functioning, so Ying Fei and the others had to wait for Gong Tai to crack that Spirit Array before they could rejoin the separated spaces and get out of their room.
“Zhu Qing…” Yang Kai was stunned.
Ying Fei smiled in affirmation, “It was Young Lady Zhu Qing who protected you while you were unconscious.”
As he spoke, he stole a glance to the side with a meaningful smile, probably thinking there was something going on between Yang Kai and Zhu Qing. After all, the two of them were caught embracing one another out in the wild mountains…
Yang Kai looked over and saw Zhu Qing standing there, her expression rather complex.
Yang Kai grinned grimly, thinking that if it wasn’t for this devilish woman, he would not have fainted.
But Yang Kai was surprised that she did not use the opportunity to take advantage of him, or even kill him. It seemed… she really did not hold any malice towards him. Could he have misunderstood her all along?
“Em… even my body was washed and my clothes changed!” Yang Kai realized that the blood on his body was gone and he was wearing a clean set of robes.
Was it Zhu Qing? The simple thought made him a little excited…
“It was me!” Ai Ou seemed to have seen through Yang Kai’s fanciful thoughts and snorted coldly, “Do you have an opinion?”
Yang Kai’s face darkened and he replied hurriedly, “Thank you Sir father-in-law, how can this son-in-law have any opinions?”
“Hmph, you’ve been roaming around outside all on your own and doing such a bad job on protecting yourself. What’s going to happen if Yue’er and the others had to become widows?” Ai Ou reprimanded.
“Yes, yes!” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly as he truly was guilty in this case.
Gu Cang Yun quickly assisted from the side, “We can only blame ourselves for being too weak, forcing Sect Master Yang to help us like this.”
Ai Ou sighed, “Don’t be so reckless next time.” His words were full of concern. He paused and said hesitantly, “Fifth Sister…”
Yang Kai took a moment before he could react, and hurriedly assured, “She is fine, I will let her out now.”
With a wave, Chi Yue was brought out from the Sealed World Bead.
Zhu Qing stared at this unexpected scene in astonishment.
After everyone was reunited, and another round of questioning was had, Chi Yue couldn’t help feeling responsible for Yang Kai’s injuries.
“Everyone, let’s leave Young Master Yang to rest for a while,” Ying Fei quickly suggested when he noticed that the rowdy group was going to continue to pester Yang Kai.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Gui Zu nodded, “Everything else can be discussed when Sect Master recovers.”
With that said, everyone left one after another.
Zhu Qing did not say a word and silently blended into the group to exit the room.
“Wait… Qing’er, could you stay back? I have something to ask you.” Yang Kai stopped her.
Zhu Qing paused when she heard Yang Kai address her so intimately, her brow furrowing in irritation before she nodded reluctantly.
She, too, needed an opportunity to chat with Yang Kai alone.
On the contrary, Chi Yue and Ai Ou turned their heads abruptly to give Yang Kai a meaningful look before turning back and walking out.
After a while, everyone else had left the room.
Yang Kai got up from the bed, sat cross-legged, and began using his Divine Sense to examine himself.
At a glance, Yang Kai was quite surprised.
He found that his strength… seemed to have improved. He examined himself again in disbelief and found that it had indeed improved. Although he had not reached the Second-Order Emperor Realm, he had definitely reached the peak of the First-Order Emperor Realm. He was now much stronger than before this incident.
A few days ago, he had to deal with the attacks of nearly thirty Emperor Realm Masters, followed by the one hundred Emperor Realm Monster Beasts summoned from the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and then fought against Tan Jun Hao, finally obtaining a hard-earned victory.
He was completely drained of both Spiritual Energy and Emperor Qi, pushed to his limits in a life or death battle, and apparently gained many benefits after emerging the winner.
Although he was not in peak shape yet, as long as he fully recovered, he could definitely exert much greater strength than before, and he would not suffer so much if he ever encountered another battle like that again.
It was something worth celebrating.
He checked his injuries again and found that there were no major wounds left. The powerful Golden Blood had been working well in restoring his physique during the past few days of coma. The wounds on his chest and shoulders were almost completely healed while his over-exerted Spiritual Energy was completely replenished thanks to the nourishment of the Soul Warming Lotus.
He probably would be back to his usual self after another one or two days of rest and meditation.
Zhu Qing watched curiously without interrupting him while Yang Kai was examining himself.
Although she was the first person who found Yang Kai a few days ago, she had no clue what had happened. She only knew that Yang Kai had encountered a fierce battle. Only later did she learn that his opponents were a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, several Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters, and a couple dozen First-Order Emperors…
Many of his enemies had higher cultivations than him, and one of them was even a Star Soul Palace Elder.
But he ended up winning and defeating all of them in the end.
Zhu Qing could not help feeling impressed.
The Dragon Clan had always boasted that they were the strongest among all Divine Spirits, so their standards were exceedingly high and they never put other clans in their eyes, even other Divine Spirits were rarely worthy of the Dragon Clan’s attention.
But even Zhu Qing felt that it would have been impossible for her to achieve such a victory when she had a similar cultivation to Yang Kai.
[Is he really just a Human?] Zhu Qing truly admired him, despite his terrible no-good character. He could explain for himself that he did not mean to molest her for the first time because of the bloodline attraction he felt, but he definitely acted intentionally the second time.
If her Elder had not told her to make friends with him, Zhu Qing would have torn him apart and rid the world of this scourge.
“Don’t you think that I’ll be shy if you keep staring at me like this?”
Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Zhu Qing with a smile.
Zhu Qing quickly averted her eyes and turned her head away.
“I’m curious. Why didn’t you kill me?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Why should I kill you?” Zhu Qing looked out the window and replied without looking back.
Yang Kai asked quizzically, “If you’re not going to kill me, why did you come back?”
He had not seen her for nearly a month, and it was only reasonable for Yang Kai to misunderstand when she only suddenly appeared when he was in his weakest condition. He thought that she had come for revenge, but things turned out different from his expectations.
Zhu Qing turned her head and glared at Yang Kai, “Why else? I want to be friends with you of course!”
“Be friends…” Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, feeling this sentence somewhat sounded familiar.
Zhu Qing tossed something towards Yang Kai with a swing of her hand and remarked, “This is what you wanted. It took a lot of effort to get it.”
Yang Kai caught what was thrown at him and stared at Zhu Qing in confusion, only realizing after a while that what he caught was a wine bottle.
[Could it be…]
With a single thought, Yang Kai opened the bottle and sniffed it, smelling a rich wine fragrance.
“Western Territory Sword Wine Villa only brews ninety-nine bottles of Sword Wine each year, and one of them is in your hand now.”
Cold sweat trickled down Yang Kai’s forehead as he looked at her suspiciously and asked, “You went to the Western Territory?”
He mentioned this request casually a month ago just to make things difficult for her, but he did not expect that she really would get him a bottle of Sword Wine. Now it seemed that her disappearance was not because she had retreated in the face of difficulties, but instead went to obtain him this bottle of Sword Wine?
A thoughtless remark actually made her run around for an entire month. Yang Kai wondered whether this girl was stupid or not…
But he also felt a little guilty about it.
On second thought, even if she was a Dragon, how could one month be enough for her to go back and forth from the Western Territory?
“Why do you need to know where I went? Anyway, I got you what you asked for,” Zhu Qing clenched her teeth secretly because she actually paid a high price for this bottle of Sword Wine.
“Are we friends now?” She stared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai looked up at her speechlessly.
Zhu Qing fumed, “Do you want to break your promise?”
She secretly cursed in her heart that if this hateful man dared to go back on his word, she would beat him senseless even if she would be punished by the Elder, then knock him out and drag him to Dragon Island. Looking at his current condition, she believed she would be able to win, so she clenched her pink fists and began scanning his body, thinking about where she should punch at to take him down fastest, otherwise she would be suppressed again when he used the Ancestral Dragon Source.
Yang Kai stared at her for a long time, then nodded lightly, “Good, we are friends now.”
It felt strange to make friends with a member of the Dragon Clan, moreover only under threat of violence.
While speaking, he put the bottle of Sword Wine into his Space Ring.
“Really?” Zhu Qing beamed from ear to ear when she heard this.
“Really!” Yang Kai nodded solemnly.
Zhu Qing’s face changed again as she retorted angrily, “Why don’t you drink the wine then? Are you only agreeing with your mouth but don’t actually intend on treating me like a friend?”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “No one has ever worked so hard to get a gift for me, so I want to keep it as a memento. When I see this wine bottle again, I will always think of you.”
Who knew if there was anything else in the wine bottle! Although he promised to be friends with Zhu Qing, it was truly strange of her to even want to be friends with him. Zhu Qing definitely had other intentions, and Yang Kai naturally could not trust her completely.
But one thing was for sure, this girl bore no malice towards him at the moment; otherwise, he wouldn’t have woken up in the first place.
As he told Zhu Qing before, the word ‘friends’ was not as simple as just saying it.
Zhu Qing did not expect Yang Kai to say such words, so her face slightly flushed and her heart beat a little faster as she muttered, “Nonsense.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up at her shy demeanour. He recalled the girl’s sweet tongue and warm red lips, and started to feel restless.
Zhu Qing was confused too. Even though she had successfully made the first step by having Yang Kai promise to be her friend, she thought that it was not a good time to invite him to Dragon Island now because her intentions would be too obvious that way. For a moment, she hesitated about what to do.
The atmosphere was a little awkward as Yang Kai could feel his blood beginning to pump faster and faster, to the point that it seemed something bad would happen if he didn’t actively suppress himself.
It was inexplicable that he could not control himself every time he was with Zhu Qing. Although this girl was gorgeous and had an enchanting body, there were many beautiful and fine women out there, so why was it that only she could provoke such a visceral reaction from him?
He wanted to chase her away, but it would seem too ungrateful to ask her to leave right after saying they were friends.
Instead, Yang Kai grabbed a few Space Rings from his bedside and began checking them one by one.
These Space Rings were formerly owned by the Emperor Realm Masters he killed, eight in total.
He was in a coma earlier, so these Space Rings were collected by Ying Fei who arrived later.
“Let’s see what’s inside,” Yang Kai sat cross-legged on the bed and rolled up his sleeves excitedly.
Zhu Qing also took a look but did not pay much attention to them. Although there were many things in these Space Rings, none of them caught her eyes.
“Tsk, tsk, so many Source Crystals,” Yang Kai opened the first Space Ring, and saw a huge amount of Source Crystals piled inside.
There were nearly ten million High-Rank Source Crystals alone, then thirty to forty million Mid-Rank Source Crystals and hundreds of millions Low-Rank Source Crystals.
Other than that, the Space Ring was also full of a variety of pills, Secret Arts, Secret Books, rare ores, and artifacts.
Usually, someone had to cultivate for hundreds of years to reach the Emperor Realm, so they accumulated a great deal of wealth over the centuries.
Although Yang Kai was extremely wealthy too, now that he had created High Heaven Palace, he naturally needed to start preparing for the future. There would be at least tens of thousands of people who needed to migrate from Shadowed Star to the Star Boundary, and when that happened, the demand for resources would increase dramatically. Therefore, it was always better to have more assets.
Source Crystals would be the primary resource needed by the disciples of High Heaven Palace for cultivation in the future, while Secret Arts and Secret Techniques could provide a broader path on the Martial Dao for the disciples. As for artifacts, pills, and other auxiliaries, they could serve as rewards for contributing merits…
Delightedly, Yang Kai straightaway transferred everything in the first Space Ring into his own.
When he opened another Space Ring, he found that the loot was even more abundant.
Yang Kai laughed stupidly as Zhu Qing watched him with a frown.
Each of the eight Space Rings had at least ten million High-Rank Source Crystals and countless Middle-Rank and Low-Rank Source Crystals.
But thinking about it, these Emperor Realm Masters had come to Flowing Shadow City for an auction, specifically to purchase Heaven Grade puppets, so how could they not bring sufficient Source Crystals with them?
These High-Rank Source Crystals probably represented a large proportion of the assets of these Emperors’ respective Sects.
But they all ended up lining Yang Kai’s pocket.
“Wah…” Yang Kai exclaimed with an exaggerated expression as he found that the number of Source Crystals in a certain Space Ring was far greater than the others. There were fifty to sixty million High-Rank Source Crystals alone, which was five times more than the others.
This Space Ring probably belonged to Tan Jun Hao, because Yang Kai found the Dragon Island Token that he handed over before inside as well.
He took out the Dragon Island Token first and threw it into his Sealed World Bead as Yang Kai generally stored his most valuable treasures there while less important things would be kept in his Space Ring.
“Wait!” Zhu Qing, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly shouted.
“What happened?” Yang Kai looked up at her.
“That thing just now…” Zhu Qing took a few steps forward, her tone was a little excited, “Can you show me that token?”
“Are you talking about this?” Yang Kai took out the Dragon Island Token with a flip on his palm in front of Zhu Qing.
“Yes, that’s it!” Zhu Qing nodded her head vigorously, her beautiful eyes shining a profound light.
“What do you want to do?” Yang Kai quickly clenched his fist around the Dragon Island Token and leaned away while remarking solemnly, “This is mine!”
Zhu Qing stomped her foot, “I know it’s yours. I just want to have a look!”
[Why the hell is this guy acting like he’s guarding against a thief? Would a noble Dragon really want to rob his things?]
“There’s no need for you to check, it’s a real Dragon Island Token!” Yang Kai waved the token in front of her eyes. The Dragon Island Token was something that obviously came from Dragon Island, so Zhu Qing, as a Dragon, definitely recognized it. As such, Yang Kai did not try to hide it.
“It’s really a Dragon Island Token!” Zhu Qing was utterly flabbergasted.
The purpose of her leaving Dragon Island this time was to search for the whereabouts of the last remaining Dragon Island Token. Her search had only been delayed because she noticed the Dragon Qi coming from Yang Kai when she passed by Flowing Shadow City.
But she could not believe that she actually found the Dragon Island Token by mistake.
With this Dragon Island Token, she could return to Dragon Island to complete her mission, and she could also enter the Restricted Area to enhance her bloodline!
This Dragon Island Token meant a lot to her, so how could Zhu Qing not be thrilled?
“Of course it’s real!” Yang Kai grinned then put away the Dragon Island Token. After a pause, he asked, “Oh right, I heard that with a Dragon Island Token, I can go to Dragon Island and make a request from your Dragon Clan as long as they can meet it. Is that true?”
Zhu Qing answered, “Of course it’s true.”
“Can I make any kind of request?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he finally realized the value of this Dragon Island Token.
“Indeed, as long as we can meet it without violating the principles of the Dragon Clan.” Zhu Qing nodded.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, wondering if he could go to Dragon Island and ask for permission from the Dragon Clan to exchange Zhu Qing with this Dragon Island Token. Of course, if he did that, it would likely be seen as a huge insult to the Dragon Clan.
Yang Kai shook his head and stopped thinking about it, then continued to check for other possessions Tan Jun Hao might have.
“Do you… want to go to Dragon Island?” Zhu Qing got excited and asked softly.
If she could persuade Yang Kai to take the Dragon Island Token to Dragon Island, her mission would be completed. The last Dragon Island Token was found, and if the person who possessed the Ancestral Dragon Source could be invited to Dragon Island too, she would earn enough merits to enter the Restricted Area to improve her Bloodline Power.
“Go there for what?” Yang Kai shook his head as he sorted through the treasures.
Zhu Qing blurted anxiously, “Don’t you have any wishes? Use this Dragon Island Token, our Dragon Clan will grant any request you might have that we are able to.”
“Actually, there is one thing I want!” Yang Kai suddenly lifted his head, as if he remembered something.
“What is it? Let’s hear it,” Zhu Qing asked.
“I came from a Lower Star Field named Heng Luo Star Field. I wanted to take a trip back there. Can your Dragon Island send me there?” Yang Kai asked as he looked at Zhu Qing. Now that he had settled in the Star Boundary and had his own territory, he could bring his friends and family over here to enjoy a better and safer cultivation environment.
However, he had no idea how to return to Heng Luo Star Field. Initially, he wanted to find Yang Yan to ask her, but since he had a Dragon Island Token, perhaps he could ask the Dragon Clan for help.
The Dragon Clan had existed for so many years and were familiar with almost every matter in this world, so they surely knew of a way for him to return to Heng Luo Star Field.
“Send you to a Lower Star Field?” Zhu Qing frowned at his words.
“Is it difficult?” Yang Kai saw her face and understood that this would not be as simple as he imagined.
Zhu Qing answered, “It’s indeed difficult. You should know that since the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor destroyed many Lower Star Fields, all the channels between the Star Boundary and those Star Fields were sealed, making it all but impossible to travel between Star Fields and the Star Boundary.”
Yang Kai had heard of this before. Tens of thousands of years ago, it was not a difficult task for a person from the Star Boundary to visit a Lower Star Field, though it was not cheap either. However, ever since the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s reign of terror, all the channels connected to the Lower Star Fields were sealed because there was a fear that powerful Masters would break into these Star Fields and wreak havoc again. The strength of the cultivators in those Star Fields was not high, with the strongest just being Origin Kings, some not even having Origin Kings at all.
Any Dao Source Realm cultivator from the Star Boundary could wipe out billions of people if they wanted to. The Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was the best example. Countless Star Fields had been destroyed at his hands back then. Wherever he went, he would devour all the Star Sources he found, smashing Cultivation Stars and killing trillions.
“Now all those sealed channels are guarded by the Star Court. There is also a Great Emperor assuming command there year-round. No one can break through such a heavy guard.”
“Star Court?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
Zhu Qing explained, “The Star Court is an exceptionally powerful organization in the Star Boundary. It’s not a Sect per say; rather, it was jointly created by the current Ten Great Emperors. They each take turns guarding its headquarters where the entrances to the sealed channels are. As far as I know, Iron Blood Great Emperor is the current guardian of the Star Court! Among the Ten Great Emperors, he is also the strongest in battle.”
“I’ve never even heard of such an organization,” Yang Kai revealed a surprised face, feeling greatly enlightened.
Zhu Qing smiled lightly, “The Star Court is a very mysterious entity, and it is impossible for the common people to hear about it. Perhaps the Seniors in your family or Sect would know. You should ask them if you want more details.”
A realization dawned on Yang Kai at that moment.
The other Emperor Realm Masters with profound origins might hear about the Star Court from their Elders; however, Yang Kai had always been a loner and it had not been long since he came to the Star Boundary, so who could have told him about this?
“The majesty of the Star Court cannot be challenged. It is not only created by the Ten Great Emperors, but it is also said that other hidden Great Emperor level Masters belong to it, so even our Dragon Clan can’t afford to provoke them easily.”
“Other Great Emperors!” Yang Kai was startled, “Aren’t there only ten Great Emperors?”
Zhu Qing laughed, “Who told you there were only ten?”
Yang Kai was speechless.
It was true. No one told him there were only ten Great Emperors, it was just that he kept hearing others mention ‘The Ten Great Emperors’ and subconsciously thought that there were only ten of them.
“Great Emperors have very long lifespans, and although they are not immortal, with lives as long as the Heavens themselves, they wouldn’t die easily. Over the years, although it is very hard to reach the level of a Great Emperor, there are always some amazing and talented people who reach that height successfully. However, no one knows about them. Take our Dragon Clan’s Great Elder, he is comparable to a Great Emperor, but not counted among the Ten Great Emperors.”
“How about you?” Yang Kai questioned.
Zhu Qing smiled with a pursed lip, “I’m still far away from that level. A Great Emperor… is a special existence that no ordinary person can become.”
“Then I’ll have to work hard,” Yang Kai put on a serious face.
Zhu Qing glanced at him doubtfully, but found that he was not joking, instead seemingly highly motivated to challenge the mountain known as ‘Great Emperor’. Seeing this, she scoffed silently. If ‘Great Emperor’ was a title that could be achieved by merely working hard, there would be many more Great Emperors in the world now.
But on second thought, it may not be impossible… for the person in front of her.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, a First-Order Emperor actually killed so many enemies with higher cultivations.
This was an unbelievable feat. How many of those Great Emperors could achieve a similar victory when they were as young and weak as Yang Kai was?
Having a vision could make one strive with goal and motivation. For a moment, Zhu Qing was moved.
“So, if one wants to go to the Lower Star Field, they have to pass through the Star Court first?” Yang Kai asked humbly.
“Indeed, but that is no simple task. Don’t be reckless.”
Yang Kai acknowledged it casually, feeling somewhat troubled. Initially, he wanted to find a chance to see if he could return to the Heng Luo Star Field on his own; after all, he was skilled in the Dao of Space, so once he confirmed the location of Heng Luo Star Field, he might be able to break through the world barriers and reach it.
But now, knowing that a mysterious Star Court was guarding the boundaries of the world, Yang Kai would definitely need to overcome them if he wanted to return.
“Then do you want to go to Dragon Island?” Zhu Qing stared at Yang Kai eagerly.
Yang Kai looked up at her, “Does Dragon Island have any way to make the Star Court open the channel and send me back?”
Zhu Qing shook her head. There was no need to ponder at all. Although Dragon Island was outstanding, the Star Court was an existence that involved the entire Star Boundary, so it was unlikely they would do Dragon Island a favour like this. Otherwise, the sealed channels would be opened every other day and there would be no point in having the Star Court.
“Then why should I go?” Yang Kai waved his hand.
“You can ask for something else,” Zhu Qing looked worried and quickly came up with an idea, “Right, you are just a First-Order Emperor Realm Master now. If you go to Dragon Island and cultivate there, it could increase your cultivation speed greatly and you could reach the Third-Order Emperor Realm in less than a hundred years.”
“A whole hundred years!” Yang Kai could not help rolling his eyes, thinking, [I haven’t even been cultivating for a hundred years yet, and I’m already a First-Order Emperor. Moreover, I’m already at the peak of my current realm and could easily break through to the Second-Order as long as the opportunity presented itself. If I needed a hundred years to reach the Third-Order Emperor Realm, I would rather just die.]
“A hundred years is considered short. Just look around the Star Boundary, there are not many places for cultivating as good as Dragon Island. As long as you present the Dragon Island Token, I can assure you that our Elder will arrange the best cultivation paradise for you to use,” Zhu Qing tried her best to persuade him.
“Maybe next time. I’ll go to your Dragon Island to have a look when I’ve figured out what request I’d like to make,” Yang Kai responded casually.
“Then… how long will you take to figure that out?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Not sure. Maybe I’ll never go if I don’t ever need your help.”
Zhu Qing’s face darkened. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Then… Can you give me the Dragon Island Token?”
“Give it to you?” Yang Kai could not hold his laughter, secretly thinking, [Our relationship cannot even be considered close, right? This girl really doesn’t have any manners and dares to say whatever she wants.]
Zhu Qing pressed on, “Of course I won’t ask for it for nothing. I’ll trade you something for it. To be honest, the reason I left the island this time was to trace the whereabouts of this Dragon Island Token. Now that I finally found it, I can complete my mission as long as I can collect it. Can you… help me please?”
It was really hard for a Dragon like her to beg someone, so her cheeks burned with dreadful shame.
Yang Kai frowned, and replied after pondering for a while, “For the sake of you saving me last time, I can give you a chance.”
Zhu Qing’s face turned happy, but before she could speak, Yang Kai raised his hand, “Remember, just one chance. If you don’t have something I want, then forget it.”
Zhu Qing nodded repeatedly, took down the Space Ring on her hand, and threw it directly to Yang Kai, “I have a lot of good things. See what you want and take anything you like. I just want the Dragon Island Token!”
“So generous!” Yang Kai was stunned. A Space Ring usually contained all the most valuable treasures and private possessions of a cultivator, but Zhu Qing actually tossed her Space Ring to him without a second thought. Obviously, the Dragon Island Token was very important to her, and she was ready to pay any price to obtain it.
[This girl definitely doesn’t know the truth that everyone wants to gain the most in every deal. Since she just exposed her capital like this… she can’t blame this Young Master for being merciless.]
Besides, Yang Kai also wondered what good things a Dragon Girl like her could have.
He scanned the Space Ring with his Divine Sense and was immediately dazzled by the piles of sparkling objects as he probed.
[Wow, it seems like there are many good things here,] Yang Kai was ecstatic and began checking things more carefully.
Yang Kai checked the Space Ring carefully with a heart of excitement and expectation.
But soon, he furrowed his brows and his expression became strange. As time passed, his face turned uglier, and pulsing veins surfaced on his forehead. Finally, he could not stand it anymore and looked up at Zhu Qing, “What are these!?”
“What? Is there nothing you like?” Zhu Qing looked back at him in shock as she thought to herself, [Impossible, all of the treasures I’ve collected over the years through hardship and struggle are in that ring! Each of them is incredibly precious to me, it simply can’t be that he isn’t interested in a single one of them!]
“Like your uncle!” Yang Kai lost his temper and took out a jade hairpin from the Space Ring. It was a beautiful, radiant jade hairpin, but it was only a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank artifact, and the energy fluctuations it gave off were on the weaker side, just like a low-quality protective artifact. “Is this what you call a good thing?”
Yang Kai felt cheated, and his heart hurt greatly.
Zhu Qing looked at him nervously, and reminded him, “Be gentle with it. Don’t break it.”
It was as if she really thought of this jade hairpin as some wonderful treasure.
Yang Kai was boiling mad.
Zhu Qing hurriedly comforted, “If you don’t like it, look at the others. There are many more good things.”
Yang Kai casually took out another dozen items from the Space Ring. Some of these were artifacts, while some were objects he could not even identify, while others were nothing more than strange stones.
All of them were sparkled brilliantly, having attractive outward appearances, glittering so brightly they could dazzle one’s eyes.
Nevertheless, these things were totally worthless to an Emperor Realm Master like Yang Kai. They had no value as cultivation resources or as artifacts, but Zhu Qing actually put them into her Space Ring like true treasures.
Yang Kai could not believe that this was actually a Dragon’s Space Ring. He really wanted to pluck out his eyes, polish them, and check if he wasn’t seeing things.
“Is there anything you like or you want? I can trade any one of them with you.” Zhu Qing did not seem to be aware that her things were all trash and looked at Yang Kai with bright eyes, putting on a face that told Yang Kai she really thought ‘it’s a steal.’
“Are you really this foolish or are you just pretending to be?” Yang Kai sneered.
“What do you mean!?” Zhu Qing became a little irritated, sensing the mocking tone in Yang Kai’s voice.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, then suddenly mentioned, “I heard that the Dragon Clan has three proclivities. Is that really true?”
“Three proclivities, what are they?” Zhu Qing asked curiously. She had lived on Dragon Island since she was born and this was her first time leaving to travel the Star Boundary. Therefore, she had never heard of this ‘three proclivities’ saying.
Yang Kai sighed, “Sleep, shiny objects, and… well, you know!”
“What?” Zhu Qing stared at him zealously, “Say it.”
Yang Kai glared at her angrily, “Don’t ask so much, child.”
“You’re the child! Your whole family are children!” Zhu Qing fumed.
Yang Kai was too lazy to argue with her and simply laughed, “Anyway, all your things are trash to me. I don’t think there’s a point in trading with you.” Then he threw the Space Ring back.
The problem was that this Dragon Girl did not even have a single Source Crystal in her Space Ring, making him wonder just what she usually used for cultivation. Perhaps the Dragon Clan did not require Source Crystals to cultivate; after all, Dragons were Divine Spirits, or more bluntly, Monster Beasts, and Yang Kai had never seen any Monster Race need Source Crystals to cultivate. The Monster Race always cultivated by absorbing World Energy directly, or through consuming different kinds of precious treasures or Monster Cores of other Monster Beasts.
“How is that possible!?” Zhu Qing was infuriated, showing a face that screamed ‘you can insult me but not my treasures.’
But when she remembered that she was currently asking a favour from Yang Kai, her anger instantly halved as she continued, “If you don’t like these, what about these things?” She stammered.
Saying so, she suddenly stretched out her hand and turned it over. A basin-sized scale immediately appeared on one of her little snow-white hands, while a small jade bottle appeared on the other.
“A Dragon Scale!” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he felt the rich Dragon Qi exuding out of the scale.
He reached out and picked up the Dragon Scale and jade bottle, gently caressing the former as he examined it.
He once obtained a Dragon Scale back in Heng Luo Star Field. Later on, he refined it, and now it enhanced the power of his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique.
If he could refine another Dragon Scale, the power of his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique would surely increase again.
As he caressed this Dragon Scale, Yang Kai sensed a familiar lingering about it. He quickly understood that this should be Zhu Qing’s own Dragon Scale and it had probably been shed by her not long ago. Thinking so, he glanced at her thoughtfully.
He found that Zhu Qing’s face was flushed red, looking quite uncomfortable. Yang Kai was confused by this and wondered why she was acting shy all of sudden.
In fact, just as Yang Kai expected, the Dragon Scale was indeed a shed Dragon Scale from Zhu Qing. It was once a part of her body, so seeing Yang Kai gently caressing it gave her a feeling as if he was touching her body.
The scenes where she was molested by Yang Kai involuntarily resurfaced in her mind, so it was unavoidable for her to feel embarrassed.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not continue for long. After a short moment, he put down the Dragon Scale and opened the jade bottle.
A faint dragon roar came out of the jade bottle and a dense, hot red light suddenly burst out from it.
Yang Kai looked inside the jade bottle and saw a drop of crimson blood that morphed into the shape of a dragon, trying to rush out like a burning flame.
“True Dragon Blood!” Yang Kai shouted and quickly closed the jade bottle.
“How about these two things for your Dragons Island Token?” Zhu Qing looked at Yang Kai uncomfortably.
Yang Kai pondered for a while, and nodded, “They are indeed good things, but… in your opinion, is a Dragon Island Token only worth this much?”
Zhu Qing pursed her red lips and replied in a low voice, “Impossible.”
She was honest to a fault, giving Yang Kai a better impression of her, but he did not know that this was just part of the Dragon Clan’s innate nature, so proud that they absolutely disdained to lie or cheat others.
“But didn’t you refine a number of Dragon Artifacts? If you refine these two, the power of your Dragon Transformation Secret Technique will definitely increase,” Zhu Qing tried to convince him.
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “When you first saw me, you mentioned that I refined something that I shouldn’t have. Did you mean those Dragon Artifacts?”
He only figured this out after learning of Zhu Qing’s identity.
Any Dragon Artifact was originally a part of a Dragon’s body, so as a Dragon Girl, Zhu Qing naturally had to punish a mere Human who dared to refine a Dragon Artifact to protect the dignity of her Dragon Clan.
But she did not expect that she would be subdued instead.
If this wasn’t the case, why would she have caused him trouble as soon as she met him when she had neither grudge nor grievances against him?
“Since you know that I have refined several Dragon Artifacts, how much strength will I gain by adding these two things?” Yang Kai grinned before tossing the Dragon Scale and jade bottle back to Zhu Qing. He then played with the Dragon Island Token in his hand and saying, “This thing is really a rare treasure, definitely worth holding onto.”
“But…” Zhu Qing frowned, “Aren’t we friends?”
“Friends are friends, business is business; the two are separate matters!” Yang Kai replied solemnly, “Good, good, I need to rest. You can leave.”
Zhu Qing did not want to agree and stared at him with her pair of big eyes.
Yang Kai’s face darkened, “If you don’t go, I’ll activate my Dragon Clan Source. A man and a woman alone in a single room… you can’t blame me for what will happen next. After the fact, don’t say I didn’t treat you as a friend!”
Zhu Qing was taken aback for a moment, then quickly stomped her foot and disappeared.
The Ancestral Dragon Source had an absolute suppressive power on her and she would still be unable to resist it even if her Bloodline improved a few levels. If Yang Kai really activated the Ancestral Dragon Source, she was the one who would surely suffer a loss.
After sending away Zhu Qing, Yang Kai grinned.
After checking the loot earlier, he realized he gained a lot. There were hundreds of millions of High-Rank Source Crystals, not to mention other treasures.
These were not the most important though, as they could not help him in becoming stronger. However, the Golden Armour Heavenly Book that he obtained from Tan Jun Hao was quite interesting. If he could refine it, it would definitely boost his combat capabilities greatly.
Yang Kai took out the Golden Armour Heavenly Book and wanted to have a good look at it, wondering just how many abilities it had. Unfortunately, without refining it, he realized that he could not even open it no matter how hard he tried, so he decided to start with that. Erasing Tan Jun Hao’s Soul Imprint, Yang Kai began slowly pouring his Emperor Qi and Spiritual Energy into it to refine this Emperor Artifact.
In the meantime, Zhu Qing returned to her room and immediately took out her Dragon Talisman. After activating it, an old voice sounded, “Is it done?”
Zhu Qing replied respectfully, “Not yet.”
“Since you’ve yet to succeed, why contact me?”
Zhu Qing answered, “Qing’er has found the last Dragon Island Token.”
The old voice responded, “You’re quite lucky. Four others have gone out to search for it, but you are the first to have any luck locating it. Did you obtain the Dragon Island Token?”
Zhu Qing replied shamefully, “Also no…”
The old voice sounded again, “Quickly acquire it. It is a treasure that cannot fall into the hands of an outsider. Get it back by any means necessary, even if you have to take it by force. With your strength, there are not many people in the world who can be your opponent.”
Zhu Qing answered, “This is the difficult part for Qing’er. The owner of the Dragon Island Token is none other than the person Qing’er mentioned to you before. Therefore… taking it back is not going to be easy.”
“The Dragon Island Token is in his hands too?” The Dragon Clan Elder was flabbergasted, wondering if this was luck or destiny.
If it was anyone else, Zhu Qing could simply snatch it with her strength. Unfortunately, this person possessed the Ancestral Dragon Source, so even if Zhu Qing was technically stronger than him, she would be rendered powerless by the suppression of the Ancestral Source.
“Qing’er invited him to Dragon Island, but he declined. Qing’er doesn’t know what to do now. Elder, please give me your guidance.”
The Dragon Talisman went silent for a long time, as if there was no simple solution to this problem, but eventually the old voice asked, “Has he done anything of note recently?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me the details!”
Zhu Qing then reported about the battle between Yang Kai and the Emperor Realm Masters to the Elder.
After she finished, the Dragon Talisman asked with some surprise, “Is he really so incredible? Able to kill Second-Order and Third-Order Emperors with just a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation? A Star Soul Palace Elder no less?”
Zhu Qing replied, “It should be true, though Qing’er didn’t witness it with her own eyes.”
“Then it’s simple,” the voice from the Dragon Talisman said, full of confidence, “Just tell him this…”
Zhu Qing listened carefully while nodding from time to time.
Three days later, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the Golden Armour Heavenly Book helplessly.
It had been three days since he started his refinement, but there was no reaction from the Golden Armour Heavenly Book at all. It did not show any signs of accepting his Emperor Qi and Spiritual Energy at all.
From this, he learned that it was absolutely impossible to refine this Golden Armour Heavenly Book within a short period of time.
Given that Tan Jun Hao could freely use the power of this Heavenly Book, he must have refined it for numerous years.
But Yang Kai was not discouraged. On the contrary, he was even more pleased as the harder it was to refine, the more it showed the greatness of this Emperor Artifact. Just like the Mountains and Rivers Bell, which took him more than a year to refine in the Shattered Star Sea.
Although there was no progress in refining the Heavenly Book, he had completely recovered from his injuries after three days of rest. Not only had his Emperor Qi become purer and more vigorous, but his Spiritual Energy had also greatly increased in quality too, which would make breaking through to the Second-Order Emperor Realm easier for him in the future.
After putting the Heavenly Book away, Yang Kai scanned outside of his room with his Divine Sense then communicated with a few people before he waited quietly.
After a while, Hua Qing Si, Chi Yue, Ai Ou, Gui Zu, and Gu Cang Yun gathered in the room, followed by Ying Fei and Zhu Qing, who also came over after hearing the commotion.
“Seniors, although Tan Jun Hao is dead, his Heart-Strangling Insects are still in your bodies. I need to remove the insects, so please cooperate with me,” Yang Kai looked at the crowd solemnly.
Chi Yue was delighted, “Yang Boy, are you able to extract these insects out?”
“I can try!” Yang Kai nodded.
In theory, only the person who implanted the Heart-Strangling Insect could drive it out, but although Yang Kai was not proficient in manipulating Exotic Ancient Insects, and did not even know how these Heart-Strangling Insects were nurtured, he had the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
This Emperor Artifact was a relic of Insect Emperor, along with the Soul Splitting Saber. Although the Insect Enslavement Bracelet could not be used in battle, it was the bane of all Exotic Ancient Insects in this world. All the Exotic Insects that were listed in the Exotic Insect Record could be controlled by the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
Fortunately, Heart-Strangling Insects were listed in the record around the top of the Earth List.
If Heaven List Exotic Ancient Insects such as the Soul Devouring Insects could be restrained by the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, a trivial Earth List Heart-Strangling Insect should be a breeze to manipulate.
“In that case, what are we waiting for? I’m first!” Gu Cang Yun answered immediately and moved to sit in front of Yang Kai with a flicker.
Ai Ou quickly stretched out his hand and grabbed him back to the side, snorting coldly, “Second Brother, how dare you go before me? Don’t you understand the rules?”
Gui Zu beamed from ear to ear at the side, “If we go according to seniority, I should go first. Everyone else, stand aside!”
He surged his Ghost Qi as he spoke, showing no mercy by pushing Ai Ou and Gu Cang Yun back before he sat in front of Yang Kai.
Despite it ending after just a short moment, Yang Kai’s jaw dropped watching the dispute between these three. After a single thought though, he quickly understood why they were competing to be first.
Yang Kai only mentioned that he could try, and he did not give them complete assurance. If he failed to drive out this insect, the first test subject would definitely face danger.
As such, these three were actually competing with each other for each other’s sake.
Chi Yue looked at Yang Kai anxiously, “Yang Boy, you have to be careful. First Brother is old and can’t bear a lot of suffering.”
Gui Zu rebuked unpleasantly, “Nonsense! This King is still young! Sect Master, don’t worry and just do it!”
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter and responded, “Everyone, don’t be so nervous, it’s just a trivial Heart-Strangling Insect, well within my abilities to handle. If I really wasn’t certain, I still have more than twenty confined test subjects I could experiment on.”
The Mountains and Rivers Bell still remained on the battlefield, confining the twenty or so Emperor Realm Masters. It was not that Yang Kai had no way to retrieve the Mountains and Rivers Bell before now, but he had other plans for these twenty, so he did not want to release them immediately.
Everyone felt relieved after listening to Yang Kai.
“Elder, relax!” Yang Kai looked at Gui Zu who was in front of him and ordered.
Gui Zu nodded and closed his eyes.
Yang Kai turned over his hand, and the Insect Enslavement Bracelet emerged on his palm. He poured a little Emperor Qi to activate the bracelet next, and in an instant, a subtle force emerged from it.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and wrapped his index finger with this force and then tapped his finger on Gui Zu’s body. With the simultaneous activation of his Divine Sense and Emperor Qi, Yang Kai carefully guided this force inside of Gui Zu’s body.
Gui Zu grunted lightly, but still looked fine.
Because of a huge gap between Yang Kai and his own strength, Yang Kai could control the Insect Enslavement Bracelet’s energy deftly. It would not be this easy if Gui Zu and Yang Kai had similar cultivations.
After a short while, under Yang Kai’s control, the subtle force from the bracelet reached Gui Zu’s chest and accurately found the hiding place of the Heart-Strangling Insect.
The insect suddenly became restless, aware that it was discovered and attempted to flee, but Yang Kai simply tapped his fingers hard on Gui Zu’s chest a few times, spreading out a net of force and completely enveloping the insect.
The Insect Enslavement Bracelet’s aura had a potent suppressive effect on all Exotic Insects, and once they were caught by it, they were unable to escape.
Yang Kai slowly moved his finger upwards next, guiding the aura to Gui Zu’s throat, then tapping once again gently.
Gui Zu’s eyes opened at that moment and he coughed up an arrow of blood.
Yang Kai had already been prepared for this and with a wave of his hand, he redirected the arrow of blood to the side towards Zhu Qing as he shouted, “Young Lady Qing, if you’d please!”
Although Zhu Qing did not receive prior notice, her reaction was extremely fast. She opened her mouth and blew out a small jet of flame which incinerated the blood arrow and insect in an instant.
She could not help rolling her eyes after this little incident. Yang Kai must have learnt that she was a Fire Dragon after seeing her Dragon Blood a few days ago, and decided to push the cleanup of these insects onto her.
Gui Zu made a deep sigh of relief after the insect was driven away, feeling like his body was much more relaxed, leaping up joyously.
“Fifth Sister, your turn!” Ai Ou looked at Chi Yue as he gestured.
Since it was certain that Yang Kai could drive out the insect, there was no risk anymore; therefore, they did not need to fight to be the first anymore and started to give precedence to the others.
Nevertheless, Chi Yue’s face turned slightly red, “You all go first, Senior Hua and I will be the last.”
Ai Ou was stunned, but soon he understood and did not say anything more, pushing Gu Cang Yun over to Yang Kai.
After the first trial, Yang Kai became more familiar with the procedure.
In just a short time, Gu Cang Yun and Ai Ou were freed from the insects in their bodies.
“We will wait for you outside.” After Ai Ou said so, he walked out with the others. Everyone understood very well, and left quickly, even Zhu Qing also left obediently at Ying Fei’s signal.
Hua Qing Si and Chi Yue were left alone in the room with Yang Kai.
“I’ll go first.” Hua Qing Si smiled with pursed lips before she sat down cross-legged in front of Yang Kai.
“Close your eyes!” Yang Kai ordered.
Hua Qing Si glared at him with a look that said ‘how advantageous for you’, but still slowly closed her eyes.
Everyone saw the process of Yang Kai expelling the insects just now. He had to point and tap on one’s body with his finger, moreover, he had to touch such a sensitive part like the chest. It did not matter to men, but the two women, Hua Qing Si and Chi Yue, would be quite a bit more uncomfortable with it, and naturally did not want to be seen by the others.
But there was no other way. The Heart-Strangling Insect was, as its name implied, specialized in damaging the heart, so it hid in one’s chest. Yang Kai was helpless to do otherwise.
Yang Kai proceeded with the same method, and soon Hua Qing Si spat out a blood arrow.
Yang Kai stretched his hand out and grabbed the blood arrow before pushing his Emperor Qi fiercely for a moment, using quite a bit more effort than Zhu Qing required to finally kill the insect.
Hua Qing Si straightened up and glanced at Yang Kai with a smile, then pushed the door to leave with a meaningful look.
Knowing that this process was inevitable, Chi Yue could not help sighing before she sat in front of Yang Kai and warned uncomfortably, “Yang Boy, don’t get any stray thoughts.”
Yang Kai felt awkward and quickly explained, “How can I? Senior, don’t be ridiculous. Although I can proceed without touching, it would not be safe. This is the only way.”
Chi Yue remarked, “I know! Let’s get this over with.”
She closed her beautiful eyes and put on a look of resignation, though nervousness was clearly etched on her face.
The person before Yang Kai was his mother-in-law; therefore, Yang Kai felt embarrassed for a while at first and did not know where he should start. But in the end, he decided to just brace himself to focus on expelling the insect.
When his finger brushed across Chi Yue’s body, Yang Kai obviously felt her tremble. Her cheeks were flushed red, as if they were burning, and when his finger crossed her chest, the scarlet flush on her face deepened. Her muscles became tense, and the power inside her body started to resist involuntarily.
If Yang Kai’s strength was not far above her own, the delicate thread of power he was using would have been easily suppressed by her. If that happened, it could lead to serious complications, or worse, a severe backlash.
After going through a lot of hardship though, the insect was finally expelled out of Chi Yue’s body.
Chi Yue got up and turned around to leave quickly, but when she reached the door, she suddenly turned around and warned solemnly, “Never tell Qing Luo about this.”
“En, en, en!” Yang Kai nodded endlessly, “I’ll die before I talk!”
But soon, he regained his senses and thought to himself, [I only removed the insect for her and didn’t do anything that can be considered offensive. Why does it have to be so secretive?]
Yang Kai was frozen in place for a long time before he shook his head and stood up.
Now that the necessary matters had been settled, it was time to take a look at the couple dozen Emperor Realm Masters, because he could not just keep them confined in the Mountains and Rivers Bell forever.
With a flicker, Yang Kai came to the battlefield from a few days ago.
No one was here, but the surrounding structures were all levelled, leaving only an ancient bell.
With a single thought, Yang Kai summoned the Mountains and Rivers Bell back to him. From a giant house size, it rapidly shrunk until it fit in the palm of his hand.
Twenty or so Emperor Realm Masters walked out anxiously from where the Mountains and Rivers Bell had originally sat in the next moment. Some of these people looked unwell, and from their auras, it was apparent that they were somewhat injured, all of them soon sitting down cross-legged to heal their injuries with anxious looks on their faces.
Yang Kai glanced around at the injured Emperor Realm Masters and asked curiously, “What happened?”
He remembered clearly that these people were fine when they were confined in the Mountains and Rivers Bell, so why were they injured now after a few days? Could there have been a fight inside?
“Young Master Yang!”
“Senior Yang!”
All the Emperor Realm Masters were surprised and delighted at the renewed sight of daylight. They saw Yang Kai when they turned around, and saluted him with their fists cupped. Although they had no clue how much younger Yang Kai was than them, and Yang Kai didn’t have an outwardly high cultivation, no one dared to disrespect him based on his performance a few days ago.
The beautiful woman who said she was a friend of Xia Sheng flew to Yang Kai, and greeted elegantly, “Greetings, this Mistress is Hua Yu Lu.”
Yang Kai nodded, and questioned, “How did they get hurt?”
Hua Yu Lu chuckled with a charming expression as she whispered, “The few of them were a bit too anxious and wanted to get out, but their strength was insufficient, so…”
“En…” Yang Kai understood the situation.
Anyone would feel uneasy after being confined in a cramped space for many days. Moreover, they had no idea how Yang Kai would handle them once everything ended. Therefore, they naturally wanted to find a way to escape ahead of time, but the Mountains and Rivers Bell was an Ancient Exotic Artifact after all, so how could people like them break through it? Their injuries were probably the results of their own attacks being reflected back to them by the Mountains and Rivers Bell.
Hua Yu Lu looked left and right and saw that there were no other people around. Instead, traces of battle could be seen everywhere. Then, she looked back at Yang Kai, and saw that his aura was steady and did not bear any of the signs of serious injuries, so she asked in amazement, “Young Master Yang, where is Elder Tan?”
Everyone turned to Yang Kai curiously, because they wanted to know the answer to this question too. Previously when they were confined in the Mountains and Rivers Bell, Yang Kai and Tan Jun Hao had shed all pretence of cordiality and were definitely prepared to fight each other to the death; but they did not know what happened outside as they were isolated in the Mountains and Rivers Bell. Seeing that Yang Kai was safe now, they could not help having an unbelievable thought. Was Elder Tan forced to flee?
How could that be? Tan Jun Hao was a Star Soul Palace Elder, and also possessed an outstanding Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation. Even if Yang Kai was far stronger than his cultivation would suggest, he should still be no match for Tan Jun Hao, not to mention the latter had arranged a nested Spirit Array, giving him a distinct advantage.
“Old Dog Tan was both vicious and cruel. He hid behind the banner of Star Soul Palace while soiling its noble reputation. He was supposed to be an Elder of Star Soul Palace but was actually a festering disease. This shame of the Southern Territory was executed by this Young Master on the spot.” Yang Kai laughed out loud and applauded himself, “Congratulations, congratulations!”
Everyone was dumbstruck and stared at Yang Kai with their eyes widened speechlessly.
Yang Kai’s face darkened, “What’s wrong? You don’t believe this Young Master’s words?”
Everyone was taken aback when they saw the trace of anger etched on his face and quickly explained that they dared not. In fact, it was not that they did not believe him, but that this outcome was just too unimaginable.
If Tan Jun Hao was standing in front of them now and declared that he had killed Yang Kai, it would be believable, but now it was actually Yang Kai who stood here alive, while Tan Jun Hao had disappeared.
Furthermore… There was nothing to be congratulated on. After all, Tan Jun Hao was still an Elder of Star Soul Palace, one of only a handful of such characters. It was Heaven shaking news that he died here. Everyone present would be involved if Star Soul Palace investigated this matter.
Although they were Emperor Realm Masters, they were still afraid of facing the inquiry of a giant like Star Soul Palace.
Hua Yu Lun forced a smile, her previous charming looks turning somewhat strained as she asked carefully, “Young Master Yang, was Elder Tan really… killed by you?”
“Yes, I killed him, why would I have to lie to you all? Not just him, Wu Ming is dead too,” Yang Kai answered without the slightest hesitation.
Only then did the crowd believe him.
After all, it really wasn’t necessary to lie about this because killing a Star Soul Palace Elder was not something worth lying about. Doing this would only bring great trouble to Yang Kai. Yang Kai did not seem like a fool, so why would he make trouble for himself unnecessarily?
At that moment, all of them felt even more awe.
How strong was this young man before them that he could kill a Star Soul Palace Elder? Did this mean that, in this world, only Great Emperors could subdue him?
“Young Master Yang, killing Elder Tan will make things complicated now,” Hua Yu Lu frowned and revealed a worried look. No matter what Tan Jun Hao had done before, his status still remained. Now that he was killed by Yang Kai, Star Soul Palace would definitely not just let the matter drop.
“Senior Yang, this has nothing to do with us. We had no idea what happened after.”
“Yes, yes, Senior Yang, we don’t have any intention of fighting with Star Soul Palace.”
“We just came here for the auction. We know nothing else!”
A bunch of Emperor Realm Masters clamoured as if they had encountered a disaster and were scrambling to escape.
Yang Kai certainly knew what they were distressed about and sneered in his heart. If he did not kill Tan Jun Hao, none of these people would have lived to tell the tale. As a Star Soul Palace Elder, if he was exposed for controlling so many Emperor Realm Masters with Heart-Strangling Insects, Star Soul Palace would never tolerate him. Therefore, Tan Jun Hao would definitely silence all the witnesses to his crimes and then frame Yang Kai for the murder.
By then, he would become a great hero for avenging so many innocent Emperor Realm Masters from the Southern Territory.
But it was funny that these people could not wait to get rid of their relationship with Yang Kai, completely ignoring or even being utterly unaware of the life-saving grace they owed him.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai did not need their gratitude. He had long learnt the fickleness of this world, so how could he still expect them to thank him?
“Young Master Yang, you must quickly leave. The farther you go, the better. At the very least, you cannot remain in the Southern Territory anymore.” Hua Yu Lu quietly sent Yang Kai a Divine Sense transmission, “You should retreat to the Northern Territory. I’ve heard that there is a Restricted Area there called the Frozen Earth in the far north that even Great Emperors don’t dare to enter casually. If there is any place in this world where you can live, that would be it.”
Yang Kai glanced at Hua Yu Lu with some surprise, not having expected her to be somewhat different from others. At least she showed some genuine concern for his wellbeing.
“It’s not a problem!” Yang Kai beamed before turning around and shouting, “Silence!”
The clamouring Emperor Realm Masters immediately shut their mouths.
Yang Kai continued with a deep voice, “Don’t worry, this Young Master will bear all the responsibility for his actions here. I was the one who killed Tan Jun Hao, so if anyone from Star Soul Palace comes to investigate in the future, you need not hide anything. Just tell them the truth, and you won’t be involved.”
Everyone was overjoyed at his words.
“Senior Yang is virtuous! This Old Master respects you greatly!”
“Many thanks, Senior Yang. If that day comes, we will report the whole truth.”
“Of course. That old thing Tan Jun Hao’s death isn’t worth pitying. Senior Yang has done Star Soul Palace a favour by cleaning him up for them.”
Hearing that Yang Kai was willing to bear all the responsibility, everyone felt relieved and started to smile, their worries evaporating.
“Cease your needless flattery,” Yang Kai snorted coldly, “This Young Master has saved you all this time, but he won’t ask for any repayment. Instead, this Young Master has but one small request!”
“Please say it, Senior Yang. We will do our utmost to fulfil any request you have!” An old man cupped his fists.
Everyone knew that it was not an exaggeration for Yang Kai to say that he had saved all their lives, but Yang Kai’s straightforwardness put many of them in an embarrassing situation, making them feel that they were ungrateful towards him.
“Tan Jun Hao is dead, and Star Soul Palace will definitely investigate this matter. If they come to you, I hope that everyone can report everything that happened that day in detail, especially about the Heart-Strangling Insects!”
Everyone nodded, “Of course.”
Hua Yu Lu replied too, “Young Master Yang, don’t worry. Even if you didn’t make this request, we certainly wouldn’t conceal anything. As a Star Soul Palace Elder, Tan Jun Hao actually harboured such wicked intentions, plotting against all of us. If Young Master Yang hadn’t appeared to turn the tide, we would all have died. Life-saving graces should be repaid with our lives. If anyone dares to distort the truth and defames you, we will be the first to condemn him.”
“Indeed.” The crowd shouted, a sense of unity apparent amongst them.
“Very good,” Yang Kai nodded and cupped his fists, “Then I shall be troubling everyone.”
“Think nothing of it.”
At this point, everyone also understood that as long as everyone testified honestly, Star Soul Palace would not do anything to Yang Kai or to them even if they really investigated this incident.
After all, it was Tan Jun Hao who committed heinous crimes against all of them. As a Star Soul Palace Elder, rather than defending the honour and reputation of Star Soul Palace, he enslaved so many Emperor Realm Masters through malicious methods instead. He deserved his death.
Perhaps, Star Soul Palace might even thank Yang Kai for it.
But of course, Star Soul Palace would not act so obviously. How Star Soul Palace was going to handle this matter, in the end, was all up to them, so there was no point in them worrying over something they had no control of.
“Good! You may all leave then,” Yang Kai waved his hand.
Everyone was elated, cupped their fists one after another, then turned around and prepared to leave. Although Yang Kai did not mean to make things difficult for them, this young man was too violent and killed people like killing flies, so none of them felt secure around him. It was better for them to stay away, otherwise, they might get caught up in another disaster.
“Senior Sister Hua, please stay!” Yang Kai suddenly stopped Hua Yu Lu.
Hua Yu Lu smiled at the interesting title he called her and asked, “Young Master Yang, what else can I help you with?”
Yang Kai replied, “Since you are a friend of Senior Brother Xia Sheng, then you are my friend too. I will help you drive out the Heart-Strangling Insect so you don’t have to worry about it in the future.”
Hua Yu Lu’s jaw dropped slightly as she covered her red lips with her slender and fair hand in pleasant surprise.
She had been worrying that although she narrowly escaped this calamity, there would still be a Heart-Strangling Insect lurking in her body. She had been planning to search for a way to expel it after she returned to her Sect; however, she had never heard of it before and had no clue about the way to get rid of it.
Nevertheless, she did not expect that Yang Kai would offer her a hand when she was in need.
[How sweet of him…]
*Shua Shua Shua…*
The other Emperor Realm Masters who were about to leave suddenly froze. Whipping their heads around, their ears perked up, and one of them flew back swiftly, landing in front of Yang Kai with a flattering smile, “Senior Yang, did you just say… you can drive out the Heart-Strangling Insects?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Yang Kai looked at him solemnly, and shook his head like a rattle.
The man turned anxious, and pressed on, “Senior Yang, I, I-I heard it clearly that you wanted to help Palace Master Hua to drive out the Heart-Strangling Insect.”
Yang Kai turned to Hua Yu Lu, and asked curiously, “Did I say that?”
Hua Yu Li had no idea what Yang Kai was planning, so it was hard for her to find the right answer. As such, she just smiled and said nothing, keeping everyone hanging.