A violent burst of Qi exploded outward; however, it directly penetrated the black shadow’s body and hit empty space, leaving a black tear behind. Its position had been revealed, so it no longer tried to remain hidden. Putting more force into its dagger, it thrust forward, trying to finish Yang Kai off.
*Chi…*
Yang Kai didn’t flinch, but even so, he was pushed so hard that he was steadily forced backwards. The ground under his feet looked like it had been ploughed as two long gouges appeared in it. He stretched out his arm and grabbed at the dagger that was stuck in his abdomen, ignoring the fresh blood trickling down his hand from his fingers that had been sliced open by the blade, and stared at the figure in front of him, trying to get a clear look at their face.
That moment just now could have been described as a fine line between life and death. It both shocked and enraged him. What shocked him was that the other party’s actions had gone completely undetected until it was almost too late. He didn’t notice anything whatsoever, so clearly this person’s assassination techniques were beyond superb. Who could it be with such skills? What enraged him was that he had been ambushed so unexpectedly.
The only reason he managed to stop the danger was not that he had noticed a murderous intent but that he instinctively sensed something was wrong and shifted his body so that the attack avoided his vital points. If not for that, he would be in a terrible state right now.
*Hong hong hong…*
Waves of violent force were transmitted through the dagger and exploded inside his body. The explosions caused his waist area to become a bloody mess and he had no choice but to use his Emperor Qi to resist while golden blood spurted out of his mouth.
Yang Kai roared, “Who are you!?”
He had been led to this place by Luo Chen, and before he came, he even contacted Gao Xue Ting to confirm; therefore, he had not given it much thought at the time. Who could have expected that he would be ambushed here? This was obviously a premeditated assassination, but Yang Kai could not figure out who he had offended so greatly that they would try to kill him in this manner. More importantly, what roles did Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting played in this entire process.
Yang Kai did not want to think too much into it, but he had no choice but to do so. Nevertheless, his top priority at the moment was to resolve the immediate crisis he was facing and figure out the identity of the assassin. Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting’s involvement could come later.
The black shadow did not answer Yang Kai’s question and simply continued to push forward.
Yang Kai scanned the black shadow with his Divine Sense but couldn’t uncover its true identity. He couldn’t even detect any life aura coming from this black shadow, as if it was nothing but an illusionary phantom without physical form. Furious, Yang Kai punched out again. The black shadow ignored the attack and allowed it to land on his body, but unsurprisingly, it was completely ineffective.
A numb and tingling sensation spread out from Yang Kai’s waist area, shocking him into the realization that the dagger was poisoned! He did not know what kind of poison it was that could take effect so quickly, but in any case, he had no time to investigate. Space Principles fluctuated as he spread out his palm to grab at the black shadow.
The black shadow grunted as its seemingly ethereal body suddenly became much more corporeal. Yang Kai was overjoyed at the sight. His brute force attacks had not been effective against his opponent and even his Emperor Qi had not been able to injure this strange assassin. He would have faced a disastrous ending if even his Space Principles were incapable of working against this enemy, but fortunately, they had not let him down. The black shadow clearly could not withstand the pressure of space being condensed around him and showed signs of revealing his true form.
Yang Kai shouted as he sent a Moon Blade flying, slicing through the black shadow’s body.
Fresh warm blood splattered out as the black shadow was cut into two but fused together again in an impossible manner. Nevertheless, a pained expression appeared on its blurry face. The Moon Blade might not have delivered a killing blow, but injury was unavoidable.
Before Yang Kai could do anything else though, the black shadow suddenly released its dagger and retreated. How could Yang Kai allow the black shadow to come and go as it pleased though? Reaching out, he aimed his hand at the black shadow and clenched his fist tightly. The space surrounding the black shadow instantly solidified.
This move was apparently beyond the black shadow’s expectations as it could be said that it was an indefensible attack. Only then did it realize how dangerous it was to confront the person in front of him openly. It was no wonder its higher-ups told it to kill this person silently; otherwise, this person might really ruin their grand plans.
“Exile!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted and the space that captured the black shadow instantly began to collapse. A black hole suddenly appeared behind the black shadow, and a terrifying suction force came out from it, as though it was trying to swallow the black shadow up.
[This black shadow is too dangerous, even my Moon Blade can’t cut him down!] Yang Kai was in no mood to figure out who the black shadow was anymore. Kill first, talk later.
Exile was one of Yang Kai’s Space Techniques that could literally exile a target into the Void. No matter how resilient or impervious the black shadow was to damage, it would still have no way to escape once it was lost in the Void. There, it would eventually die of old age in the Void Crack.
Feeling the chaotic nothingness coming from the black hole, the black shadow became a little panicked. When a sharp whistle sounded from its mouth, a dozen figures suddenly appeared from all directions, each of them holding their artifact in hand as they indiscriminately blasted Yang Kai with attacks.
Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically as he had not expected this person to have so many helpers. Moreover, all these ambushers were Emperor Realm Masters. Lifting his gaze, Yang Kai suddenly noticed that the figures were extremely familiar. They were faces that he had recently interacted with, and some were even people he had met and chatted with earlier today. These people were the Emperor Realm Masters of the major Sects and clans in the Southern Territory that had led their respective disciples to participate in the Martial Gathering. It was just that the aura radiating from these people at this moment was one that made Yang Kai’s heart pound wildly. He looked up at them and saw that every one of them was wrapped in a faint black Qi.
“Demon Qi!” The scene before him could not be more familiar. How could Yang Kai not realize that these Emperor Realm Masters had been taken over by the Demon Qi? Their hearts and minds had been demonified, but how could there be Demon Qi here?
In that brief moment of hesitation, Yang Kai’s body was shrouded by violent waves of attacks. At the last instant, a small bell appeared out of nowhere and rapidly spun as it grew taller than a person. Covering Yang Kai, vivid scenes of mountains, rivers, birds, fish, and beasts seemed to come alive. It was the Mountains and Rivers Bell!
The dozen Emperor Realm Masters were attacking with everything they had, so even if Yang Kai had thick and touch skin, he didn’t dare to take their attacks head-on. Besides, not only was he poisoned, he also had a dagger still stuck in his waist.
*Hong hong hong…*
A series of explosions rang out as lights flashed out from the Mountains and Rivers Bell while it defended against all the attacks. Afterwards, it suddenly became smaller and smaller until it fit into Yang Kai’s palm. Following that, he turned his head to look in the direction of the black shadow.
The black shadow that was about to be swallowed by his Exile Secret Technique had broken free of its shackles while Yang Kai was distracted. In the darkness, that pair of indifferent eyes stared at Yang Kai deeply for a moment before its body exploded and transformed into countless wisps of black smoke which scattered in all directions and vanished in the blink of an eye. Seeing that its ambush had failed, it decisively retreated.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth as the grief and anger in his heart compounded each other. He had never suffered such a huge loss before since he began his journey on the Martial Dao. He nearly died at that person’s hand, but he didn’t even manage to get a glimpse of their true appearance. He didn’t even know anything about the origin of the other party. It was a great disgrace.
Yang Kai had no time to investigate anything though as there were still a dozen Emperor Realm Masters wielding their Emperor Artifacts once again to attack him. It was clear that they were buying time for the black shadow to escape.
Yang Kai pulled out the dagger from his waist and used his Emperor Qi to staunch his wound before his figure flickered and appeared in front of an elderly man with a white beard. Yang Kai’s fist flew out, punching the elderly man directly in the face.
That elderly man with a white beard immediately flew backwards from the force and lost consciousness even before he hit the ground. He was only a First-Order Emperor, so how could he withstand Yang Kai’s assault?
The rest of the Emperor Realm Masters remained undaunted though, showing no intention to escape. Four people rushed out from both the left and right sides. Meanwhile, the others held out the Emperor Artifacts and bombarded everything in front of them with relentless attacks, regardless of whether it was an enemy or an ally.
Yang Kai glanced about coldly and with a shift of his body, avoided a ball of fire. Two people from the opposing side rushing towards him failed to notice the attack coming at them and were turned into dust by their own allies as a result. Not even bones were left behind, so nobody would ever know which Sects Elders had died there.
The Mountains and Rivers Bell shot out again to cover three people on the right, unleashing an irresistible suppressive force. Those three also noticed that they were in a tight spot and wanted to escape; however, it was already too late. The moment the bell tolled, they lost control of their strength, and their Emperor Qi became chaotic. Wobbling, they fell to the ground, unable to move, and were swiftly covered by the Mountains and Rivers Bell.
In the meantime, Yang Kai lost no time as he flashed to the side of a beautiful woman and grabbed her by the back of her neck before pushing his Emperor Qi wildly. He first sealed her cultivation before striking her on the back of her head to knock her out. After that, he tossed her into the Mountains and Rivers Bell.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the dozen Emperor Realm Masters that had ambushed him had been defeated. When the remaining half saw that the situation was turning sour, they stopped trying to fight him and unanimously scattered in all directions to flee.
Yang Kai wanted to chase after them, but half of his body had become numb from the poison; thus, he could only grit his teeth and watch as they escaped. Sweeping his Divine Sense in all directions, he confirmed that there were no other dangerous elements before reaching out to toss the two people he knocked out into the Mountains and Rivers Bell to suppress them. After that, he hid inside the Sealed World Bead.
He appeared directly in the medicine garden with a pale complexion and went directly to sit down cross-legged in front of the Immortal Tree. When Mu Zhu and Mu Lu heard the commotion, they came to check out the situation and were shocked as soon as they saw Yang Kai’s current state. They hurriedly surrounded him, one in front and one at the back, to treat his injuries.
The emerald light enveloped him, and supplemented by the vitality of the Immortal Tree, Yang Kai instantly felt much better. The truth was that all the injuries he suffered were secondary. Even though the dagger had stabbed into his body and pierced his internal organs, such wounds were nothing to him with his current physical constitution and powerful restorative powers.
The problem lay with the strange poison on the dagger. Yang Kai did not know what kind of poison it was that could affect him even with his current physique and cultivation, which was in the Second-Order Emperor Realm. Not to mention his body as a Half-Dragon.
His Emperor Qi surged, washing over the numbed half of his body, and with the help of the two Wood Spirits, that half gradually regained its feeling. Yang Kai was very fortunate in a sense. If it had been any other Third-Order Emperor Realm Master in his situation, they would have died from this strange poison.
It was just that he now had a Half-Dragon Body, and the Dragon Clan had strong resistance against various negative states, poisons were naturally among them. The poison on the dagger might have been very strong, but it was not strong enough to poison a member of the Dragon Clan to death. An ordinary Great Dragon would not have been affected by this poison at all. Unfortunately, it took some effort for Yang Kai to purge this poison from his system since he was only a Half-Dragon.
The two Wood Spirits were not only good at healing wounds, but they were also experts at detoxification. With the assistance of these two, it only took a quarter of an hour before Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood he threw up was not the usual golden colour and instead had a green, oily look to it. Moreover, it was pungent and foul-smelling. The blood landed on the ground with a soft hissing sound.
Following that, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and stretched his body. There was nothing wrong with his condition now, but as he recalled the ambush, he couldn’t help feeling a lingering sense of fear.
Ever since Yang Kai broke through to the Emperor Realm, he rarely ran into opponents that could put up a fight against him. He even killed several Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters; hence, it couldn’t be helped that his mentality had undergone some subtle changes. He finally understood that the world was vast and there were capable people everywhere. The price of underestimating his opponents was nothing but pain and suffering.
It was only thanks to his Half-Dragon Body that he managed to survive this near-death experience; without it, that sneak attack from behind by the black shadow might have killed him instantly, and it was also his Half-Dragon Body that allowed him to survive the fatal poison from that dagger.
It was only thanks to the toughness of his Half-Dragon Body that his body could lock the dagger in place and prevent it from advancing further or being retrieved. It had allowed him to avoid receiving fatal damage, slow down the spread of the poison, and survive the ordeal.
Yang Kai was still filled with doubts when he thought back on what he went through tonight. The only reason he came to that mountain was that Luo Chen had used Gao Xue Ting’s name to bring him along. If not for that, he would never have gone there for no reason; at the same time, it was clear that the black shadow’s ambush had been premeditated.
[How are Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting related to this matter?] Yang Kai had contacted Gao Xue Ting beforehand and received a response from her; otherwise, he would not have trusted Luo Chen so easily. Moreover, the demonification of those dozen Emperor Realm Masters gave Yang Kai the feeling that something even more nefarious was happening behind the scenes.
The Southern Territory had just resolved the last Demon incident. In the ten or so years that Yang Kai had been in Heng Luo Star Field, the Southern Territory had been hunting down the Demon Spirits that had escaped from Spirit Sword Peak and it was said that the Demon Spirits had all been cleaned up, so where did so many demonified Masters pop out from?
While mulling over it, Yang Kai suddenly came to a shocking realization. The dozen Emperor Realm Masters who attacked him were all people who came to participate in the Martial Gathering, but he didn’t even notice any abnormalities in them until today. If they all quietly underwent the Demon Transformation, then what about the others here? There are hundreds of other Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples from all over the Southern Territory within this mountain valley right now. It would be catastrophic if some or even all of them had fallen too!
Not daring to continue with that line of thought, Yang Kai emerged from the Small Sealed World. The Mountains and Rivers Bell stood there quietly on top of the mountain peak while the surroundings were a complete mess, with traces of the huge battle from earlier still remaining. Faint sounds of movement came from inside the bell as the Emperors who were suppressed within were clearly trying to break free. However, the suppression of the Mountains and Rivers Bell was extremely powerful, so how could it be so easy to escape?
Yang Kai struck the bell with a punch, causing a loud clanging noise to ring out, and the inside quietened down following several groans coming from within. When Yang Kai took back the Mountains and Rivers Bell, he saw the five Emperor Realm Masters that he suppressed lying collapsed on the ground. He reached out to grab the white-haired elderly man. Pushing his Emperor Qi, Yang Kai investigated the body of the elderly man as his expression darkened.
The situation was exactly as he had feared. The elderly man had undergone demonification, but it would seem that the Demon Transformation had only happened recently and the Demon Qi had not corrupted him too much; he could still be saved.
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai’s aura went through an astonishing change, instantly becoming ancient and desolate. It was as though he had stepped out of ancient times and was quite incompatible with the world of today.
Shaman Strength!
Yang Kai wasn’t just an Emperor Realm Master, but also a Shaman King proficient in various Shamanic Spells. From his previous experiences, Yang Kai knew that Shaman Strength was definitely the most effective method to restrain Demon Qi.
Reaching out to press his hand against the elderly man’s head, he began chanting in a strange and broken language. A layer of hazy light instantly enveloped the elderly man and soon after, he began glowing with a faint blood-red light. Bloodlust Spell!
Inside that ancient world, Yang Kai had fought fiercely against the Demon Race for many years and had many experiences in treating people who had undergone the Demon Transformation. The Bloodlust Spell was very effective in resisting Demon Qi’s erosion, and supplemented by his Shamanic Spell, it shouldn’t be difficult to reverse the elderly man’s demonification.
However, the Bloodlust Spell was created to stimulate a cultivator’s Blood Essence, and this elderly man was not young anymore, so doing this would slightly reduce his lifespan. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was in no position to consider that right now. He had to quickly figure out what happened today so that he could plan for the future.
After blessing the elderly man with the Bloodlust Spell, Yang Kai began chanting a new spell, the Demon Exorcism Spell.
The elderly man began trembling as his expression distorted, like he was suffering from great pain before wisps of black smoke flowed out of his seven orifices. That black smoke dissolved without a trace the moment it separated from the elderly man’s body. That was the Demon Qi that had been corrupting him, and it was being purified now by Yang Kai’s spell.
All of a sudden, the elderly man’s eyes jerked open without warning. Those eyes were pitch black. He grimaced in pain, howling and snarling at Yang Kai like a wild beast despite being restrained completely. The way he acted was as though he would only be satisfied if he could tear Yang Kai’s body to pieces with his bare hands.
This scene reminded Yang Kai of numerous previous encounters. Inside the ancient world, the Demon Race and the Barbarian Race had fought fiercely, trying to wipe each other out. The sight of flesh and blood flying in all directions… If he had not seen it for himself, it would have been hard for him to imagine just how cruel the conflict between the two races was.
Fortunately, the elderly man’s struggling and roaring soon subsided. At the same time, the Demon Qi flowing out of his seven orifices lessened, and the darkness in his eyes gradually faded.
More than ten minutes later, the elderly man lay limply on the ground, covered in so much sweat it was like he had just been fished out of the sea. Blinking in confusion, he muttered, “What… What happened?”
Yang Kai stared down at the elderly man from above and asked, “Do you recognize me?”
The elderly man’s vision gradually focused, and he exclaimed in surprise, “Aren’t you Elder Yang of Azure Sun Temple?”
“Do you remember what happened to you?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice.
The elderly man frowned and pondered for a moment, but a short while later, his expression changed drastically as he shouted, “W-What happened? The last thing this Old Master remembers is…”
He seemed to have some recollection of what happened just now and was not completely oblivious to the situation.
Yang Kai explained, “You were taken over by Demon Qi and underwent demonification. When and how did it happen?”
“Demonification!?” The elderly man’s expression changed and became as pale as could be. Shaking his head wildly, he muttered over and over, “That’s impossible! Impossible!”
He seemed to refuse to believe those words. The Southern Territory had been chasing and killing those Demons for more than a decade now, so it was clear that he understood what demonification entailed. He had also met people that had undergone the Demon Transformation before and those people would experience a huge change in temperament. Unable to recognize their family and friends, even willing to kill their wives and children without batting an eye. However, he never imagined that something like this would happen to him and couldn’t help feeling scared.
Yang Kai grabbed the elderly man by the collar and shouted, “What do you mean by impossible!? Just look at those four!”
The elderly man turned in the direction Yang Kai pointed and saw four people collapsed on the ground next to him, each of them surrounded by a pitch-black Demon Qi. The pupils of his eyes contracted abruptly as he had no choice but to face reality. There was no way to explain away the strange events that had happened to him.
“Think about it carefully. Was there anything suspicious that happened to you recently?”
The elderly man hesitated for a moment before he recalled, “This afternoon, Lady Han and I were invited by Elder Feng to meet with Temple Master Lei, and then… I don’t remember much after that.”
“Feng Ming and Lei Gu?” Yang Kai’s expression darkened. There were only two people this elderly man would address as ‘Elder Feng’ and ‘Temple Master Lei’ in the entire Southern Territory, but if those two were the culprits…
Yang Kai abruptly turned his head to look in the direction of Orthodoxy Temple with a worried look on his face.
“That’s right.” The elderly man slowly shook his head and continued, “No, it can’t be the doing of Temple Master Lei… Elder Yang, where are you going?” Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Yang Kai suddenly soar into the sky at an astonishing speed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Staggering to his feet, the elderly man felt incredibly weak. He turned to look at the four people lying unconscious on the ground, then looked at the traces of battle in the surrounding area. Slapping his thigh in frustration, he sorrowfully muttered, “A great catastrophe is approaching…”
He faintly felt that a storm was brewing, one that would shake the foundations of the world. There were four demonified people here though, so he could not just leave them be. He worried that they might bring harm to their surroundings once they regained consciousness; however, he also had some friendship with these four people and could not bring himself to kill them. He could only think of a way for him to restrain them and bring them back to let Yang Kai heal them. [If Elder Yang can rescue me from the Demon Transformation, he might be able to save these four too.]
At this moment, Orthodoxy Temple was a chaotic mess. The sounds of killing came from all directions as countless figures were trying to flee while corpses lay collapsed in pools of blood everywhere. One of the three top Sects in the Southern Territory had turned into Hellscape in less than an hour.
One after another, Emperor Realm Masters wrapped entirely in Black Qi wandered back and forth, killing people as though they were chopping melons and cutting vegetables. Their pitch-black eyes were filled with cruelty and madness. On the other hand, more than a hundred Emperor Realm Masters had formed a defensive perimeter, shielding all those who fled back to the mountain valley as best they could. That was originally the place where the banquet for the last night of the Southern Territory Martial Gathering had been held tonight.
Feng Ming held a communication artifact in his hand, checking the information inside. He frowned and turned to Lei Gu, who was standing next to him, “I just received news from that side. They failed.”
Lei Gu’s clothes fluttered in the wind and although his entire body was wrapped in black Demon Qi, it was clear that he had not lost his sentience. His situation was not as simple as being corroded by the Demon Qi. Rather, his body had been possessed by a Demon Spirit. At this moment, Lei Gu was no longer the Lei Gu of Orthodoxy Temple. The same went for Feng Ming.
Upon hearing those words, Lei Gu roared furiously, “How could they possibly fail!?” [It was a foolproof arrangement! Just how did they screw it up!?]
“I don’t know the exact details, but that person got away,” Feng Ming shook his head.
“Wastes! All of them!” Lei Gu’s expression turned sullen. It was precisely because they feared that person’s Space Divine Ability that they tried to get rid of him first, lest he disrupt their plans. Contrary to expectations though, the ambush group failed to kill him. These results greatly dissatisfied Lei Gu. Nevertheless, he knew that if even ‘that’ person could not finish the job, it would not have gone any better even if he had gone personally. [I can only say that the Heavens have other plans in mind. It looks like I still underestimated that boy’s abilities.]
“Speed things up. We have to try and wrap things up before word gets out about this incident,” Lei Gu ordered.
Feng Ming nodded and shot into the air with a flicker.
Yang Kai’s figure flashed under the night sky as he wore a tensed expression. His heart and mind were both feeling a sense of calm and worry at the same time. He initially suspected that this matter was related to Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting, and reality had proven that it was indeed related to them; however, what made him feel relieved was that it was not as though they actually conspired against him. Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting were most likely under the influence of Demon Qi and were being controlled by somebody else.
Yang Kai suddenly recalled something at that moment. Luo Chen and Gao Xue Ting seemed to have gone out together during the day, and if he remembered correctly, it was because they had been summoned by Lei Gu. Their situations were probably no different from that elderly man from earlier.
It was just that there was something Yang Kai could not figure out. Wasn’t the Demon Spirit situation in the Southern Territory settled? How did the Demon Spirits pull off such a huge operation like this? They deliberately chose this period during the Southern Territory Martial Gathering, so it was clearly a large-scale and thoroughly planned out trap. It could not have occurred over just a day or two, it had to have been in the works for a long time now.
A short while later, Yang Kai returned to Orthodoxy Temple, but the sight that entered his vision when he gazed around made his face twitch in response. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple had been activated, and the translucent curtain of light was like an inverted bowl shielding it without any gap.
Before he arrived, he had heard screams coming from inside and it was clear that many had been killed or were being attacked. Then, he looked at a certain spot inside Orthodoxy Temple where black Demon Qi soared to the sky.
His expression changed drastically. [If I remember correctly, that is where the banquet was being held tonight. Before I left, there were hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples from the Southern Territory gathered in that place. Don’t tell me; have they all been killed or corrupted already!?]
Thinking about it, he realized that it was unlikely. If that was the case, then there would be no need for Orthodoxy Temple to draw him away from this place.
Among the hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters, a number of them were in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, and if all of them had been demonified, he would not have been able to stop them or escape either.
The reason Orthodoxy Temple diverted him away from this place was that they were afraid word of this situation would leak. Hence, they wanted to get rid of him first. His proficiency in the Dao of Space was not a secret, and if they failed in their initial attempts to capture or restrain him, they would not get another.
From the looks of it, the situation was dire but not to the point where it was irreversible. Yang Kai had the feeling that Wen Zi Shan and the others would not be affected by the Demon Qi so easily and might still be fighting back right now.
His figure flickered and, stopping in front of the Sect Defending Array, he glanced up and swept his gaze around. What he saw nearly made his eyes pop out with rage. Many cultivators were fighting for their lives inside Orthodoxy Temple and it was clear that many had realized something was wrong and had tried to flee, further adding to the chaos. However, the Sect Defending Array was blocking their way, so how could anyone escape? All of them had been sealed inside, and as a result, many were killed on the spot by the Demons who were chasing after them. Some had hurriedly run back inside to find another way out when they saw that there was no hope of escape.
Blood-curdling screams, sounds of people begging for mercy, and cries of sorrow rang out from within. People who had still been alive during the day had turned into piles of flesh and pools of blood everywhere. It made Yang Kai’s blood boil with anger, but as his eyes swept across the scene, it suddenly froze on a certain spot only several dozen meters away.
A corpse lying on a small slope stood out to him. It was wearing a familiar set of clothes and had a familiar face. There was a large, gaping hole in its chest, and its internal organs were faintly visible from that wound. The blood flowing out from its wound had stained the slope it was lying on. The blood had yet to dry, and its eyes were slightly open. Lying there with its head tilted to the side, it was completely motionless. That pair of eyes that used to be so dazzling had now gone dull and lost their brilliance.
“Yu Zhuo…” Yang Kai’s lips parted and he called out softly. Unfortunately, he did not receive any response.
[She died? The person who came looking for me time after time for the past month died just like that?] He could barely believe his eyes. Her sweet and clear voice still echoed in his ears and her figure as she turned around to wave goodbye to him was still incredibly clear in his mind. Yang Kai could still remember her nervous attitude as she held the freshly-washed clothes in her hand when she first came to thank him, as well as the slight expectation in her eyes when they repeatedly met to talk.
Long ago, he had once made the mistake of sleeping with a woman when he was intoxicated and it had led to a series of hurt feelings and unfulfilled dreams. Due to his fear of being ambiguous and mistakenly leading a beautiful woman on again, he did not dare nor want to continue his interactions with Yu Zhuo. For that reason, he had turned her away at the door just hours ago. It could be considered as him breaking things off cleanly with her, but now, that energetic figure was lying on the cold, hard ground. Moreover, she was staring in his direction as though she had received a vague premonition in her last moments. Her eyes remained open in death, looking straight at him, who had returned too late…
The blood in his body suddenly turned cold and bitter as he forced himself to look away from those lifeless eyes that seemed to be boring a hole into his soul. He did not dare to look into her eyes again. Lowering his head, a shadow was cast across his face as he clenched his fists tightly before lifting his gaze once more and roaring into the sky in a fit of rage, “Lei Gu!”
About a hundred kilometres away, Lei Gu was standing in the sky when he heard this shout and turned to look in the direction it came from, coldly snorting as he muttered, “He came.”
His eyes flashed, and he rushed over there.
Yang Kai’s shout was clearly heard by many cultivators who were fleeing for their lives, and in the next moment, many rushed over from all directions and stopped in front of him. Separated by the Sect Defending Array, they all seemed to scream, “Senior, save us!”
Yang Kai lifted his eyes and his gaze swept over those panicking faces before it shifted and landed on a figure standing behind them.
Lei Gu’s burly figure came into view and stood in the sky with his hands behind his back. He had a cold expression on his face, his eyes were completely pitch-black, and his entire body was shrouded in Demon Qi. As soon as he appeared, he casually waved his hand.
Yang Kai’s pupils contracted at the sight and he shouted at the cultivators in front of him, “Run!”
But how could they escape? Lei Gu was a Third-Order Emperor, and now that he was possessed by a Demon Spirit, killing was second nature to him. An invisible slash swept out horizontally, cutting dozens of people in two from the waist up. The Sect Defending Array was splattered with a river of blood in an instant, and those people wailed in agony. As they were all cultivators, being cut in two would not kill them instantly. Rather, they experienced an unbridled fear and horror before their death, their screams and wails added an endless gloom to the surrounding world.
“I can’t believe you came back!” Lei Gu looked at Yang Kai coldly and sneered.
“As I thought… It was you!” Yang Kai gritted his teeth.
Lei Gu laughed mockingly, “So what? What can you do to me?”
Yang Kai stared at the Sect Defending Array blocking his way, and forcefully suppressing the boundless anger and guilt he was feeling, he calmly asked, “Do you think a mere Sect Defending Array is enough to stop me?”
Lei Gu replied, “You can go ahead and try it.”
Yang Kai pointed at Lei Gu, “If I don’t trample flat Orthodoxy Temple, I will no longer be surnamed Yang!”
At that moment, a voice shouted from the inside, “Yang Kai! Orthodoxy Temple has become a Demon nest! Hurry up and get reinforcements!”
Yang Kai was stunned as he could tell that the voice belonged to Wen Zi Shan, so he couldn’t be bothered about Lei Gu anymore and shouted loudly, “Temple Master, what’s the situation on the inside!?”
“We can hold on for a little while more, so quickly alert Star Soul Palace!”
Upon hearing those words, Yang Kai’s heart sank. He knew that the situation inside must be pretty bad; otherwise, Wen Zi Shan would not ask him to head for Star Soul Palace, but even if he left for Star Soul Palace now, the trip would take him several days at the very least due to the distance; thus, he replied, “Temple Master, rest assured. I’ll take care of this!”
Lei Gu grinned, “Yang Kai, I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to achieve your current cultivation. I don’t want to make things difficult for you either. Why not join me instead? With your strength, only great things will await you in the future!”
“Join you? In your dreams!” Yang Kai yelled as his body trembled and he roared, “Dragon Transformation!”
A majestic Dragon’s Roar rang out. At the same time, a dazzlingly Golden Dragon phantom appeared above his head briefly before it flashed into his body. Amidst a chorus of crackling sounds, Yang Kai’s figure expanded explosively.
50 meters, 100 meters, 150 meters, 200 metres…
Lei Gu’s gaze slowly moved upward as the confident expression on his face changed to one of disbelief. Staring at the behemoth before him in a daze, he blurted out, “A Dragonkin?!”
He finally understood why ‘that’ person failed in the assassination. Yang Kai was a Dragonkin, and although his Dragon Vein seemed a bit unusual, it was obviously not weak if he could utilize it to this degree. The Dragon Clan had incredibly powerful bodies and a natural immunity to most poisons, so it was not strange that that person had failed in the assassination. Nevertheless, Lei Gu never imagined that Yang Kai could perform this kind of transformation. If he had known earlier, he could have made more preparations so that person might have been able to kill Yang Kai in a single strike.
[Mastery over the Dao of Space and a powerful Dragon Vein…] Lei Gu’s expression sank. [If we don’t get rid of this child, he will surely become a huge disaster in the future.]
Before Lei Gu could recover from his shock, Yang Kai suddenly lifted his hand and summoned his Embodiment. Communicating through their thoughts, the Embodiment immediately understood Yang Kai’s intentions. Following that, he let out a loud roar and his body began growing as well.
200 meters, 300 metres, 500 metres…
Lei Gu’s face twitched at this sight. Everything he was witnessing here was utterly incredulous. Yang Kai becoming so massive was unexpected but still somewhat acceptable, but where did this giant Stone Man come from!? How was it even bigger than Yang Kai!? It looked like a Shi Huo, but did such a large Shi Huo exist?
“Smash it!” Yang Kai had such a grand figure now that even his voice sounded like a Dragon’s roar. The moment his voice rang out, both he and Embodiment raised their arms above their heads, clenched their fists, and brought them down with great force. It was as though two huge mountains were falling from the sky and upon impact, two massive depressions appeared on the curtain of light that made up the Sect Defending Array.
Just recently, the Embodiment had destroyed the Sect Defending Array of Full Sky Sect via brute force, and Full Sky Sect’s heritage was not that different from Orthodoxy Temple’s. No matter how strong the Sect Defending Array, there was still a limit to what it could withstand; therefore, Yang Kai had no doubt that he and his Embodiment could break through this Spirit Array if they joined forces.
When the depressions appeared, Yang Kai grinned happily, but unfortunately, the craters in the light curtain bounced back before he could react and at the same time, a strong force was transmitted through both their fists.
Yang Kai was caught off guard and was blown away as a result. His 200-metre-tall body flew through the air before it came crashing down like a large mountain, rolling away and flattening a large part of the forest behind him.
A rumbling sound rang out at the same time from nearby, and as he turned his head to look in its direction, Yang Kai saw his Embodiment in a similar situation. Furthermore, his Embodiment’s body was larger than his own and consequently created a larger commotion than he did.
*Chi…*
Yang Kai tried his best to adjust his posture and finally managed to stabilize his body while, on the other side, his Embodiment had done the same. Their gazes suddenly met, and they both saw the astonishment in each other’s eyes. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was clearly very different from the one at Full Sky Sect.
Meanwhile, Lei Gu also let out a breath of relief as he secretly rejoiced at his luck. [Thank goodness for the Spirit Array’s special characteristics that allow it to reflect brute force. With the power of those two monsters, I’m afraid there isn’t another Sect Defending Array in this world that can stop their frenzied attacks.]
“Again!” Yang Kai shouted as he strode forward, looking clumsy and awkward in his Half-Dragon Form. Nevertheless, he arrived in front of the Spirit Array in a flash and threw a punch straight at it.
*Hong…*
The curtain of light sunk in again before bouncing back with a correspondingly violent force. This rebound shook Yang Kai’s arm so badly that it went numb and he was forced backwards unsteadily. The same was true for his Embodiment.
Seeing this, Yang Kai’s heart sank with the realization that the situation was not looking good for him. The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was capable of reflecting any kind of brute force attack, so no matter how much strength he put into his attack, it would simply be rebounded back at him. It was truly the nemesis of both himself and his Embodiment.
If Full Sky Sect’s Sect Defending Array had similar properties, his Embodiment would not have been able to destroy it so easily that day.
“Laughable!” Lei Gu sneered at the sight, “I gave you an opportunity, but you didn’t appreciate it. There’s nobody but yourself to blame now! Don’t regret your decision when my Demon Race’s Grand Army arrives and destroys this world!!”
Demon Race Grand Army…
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly at those words; however, he couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to the other party’s nonsense now. Dragon Language sounded from his giant maw while at the same time, a dazzlingly Golden Dragon phantom manifested above his head and struck out. This attack landed on the Sect Defending Array and created a visible layer of ripples on its surface; however, there was no sign of the force being reflected.
When Yang Kai saw this, he understood the situation immediately. The Sect Defending Array had the ability to reflect physical attacks, but could only disperse Qi-based ones. In other words, it was impossible to break the Spirit Array through brute force, rendering the greatest advantage he and his Embodiment possessed useless.
Looking at the situation, Yang Kai and the Embodiment no longer hesitated. They brought out their strongest Divine Abilities and blasted them at Orthodoxy Temple. Amidst the archaic Dragon Language, wave after wave of Dragon Clan Secret Techniques transformed into Golden Dragons and shot out unendingly. Similarly, the fires covering the Embodiment’s body burned fiercely, turning the world around him into a sea of flames, burning down the Sect Defending Array.
For a time, layer after layer of ripples spread out across the surface of the light curtain as it flashed wildly.
Lei Gu coldly snorted at the sight, and an Array Jade appeared in his hand. He placed his other hand on the jade and stabilized the Spirit Array. He had been possessed by a Demon Spirit and his nature had changed greatly, so much so that he was practically a different person altogether, but even so, he could easily control everything that Lei Gu himself possessed. That Array Jade was, naturally, the controller for Orthodoxy Temple’s Sect Defending Array, and driven by Lei Gu’s strength, the Spirit Array immediately became impregnable again.
Yang Kai’s eyes nearly popped out from rage. [How do I enter Orthodoxy Temple if I can’t destroy this Sect Defending Array? How do I save Wen Zi Shan and the others? How do I avenge those who died here today?]
For a moment, he was consumed by anxiety. [Do I really have no choice but to head towards Star Soul Palace to seek help? But, that will take too long … Who knows what will happen to Wen Zi Shan and the others during that period? In the worst case, they will all undergo demonification. For Lei Gu to choose to act at this point in time indicates that he is very confident of his plans.]
Turning his head to look around, Yang Kai saw that the flames blazing brightly on his Embodiment’s body were definitely affecting the Spirit Array, but unfortunately, judging by the situation, it would not be able to break through in short order, and him working together with his Embodiment would not make a significant difference.
Lei Gu snorted coldly, “Junior, I will make you wish you were dead if you dare to ruin my plans.”
A flaw had truly appeared in his plans as Yang Kai was not dead. News of this incident would surely spread now. In other words, his plan had failed. The only saving grace was that it was not a complete failure. Many Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples had fallen into their trap, which was better than nothing. With so many people demonified here, they would definitely become a force that was not to be underestimated and they would open up the path for the next plan.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai stopped and backed away. Glaring at Lei Gu coldly, he executed a Secret Technique before shouting, “Temple Master, can you hold on for a day?”
Lei Gu frowned when he heard this as he did not understand what Yang Kai meant by ‘a day’.
Looking at the current situation, the best Yang Kai could do was to go to Star Soul Palace for help. Unfortunately, Star Soul Palace was very far away and it would definitely take him more than a day to make a return trip even with his Space Techniques.
Wen Zi Shan’s voice came from inside Orthodoxy Temple, “We’ll do our best!”
Another person’s voice rang out, “Little brat, why are you still wasting time here!? Hurry up and go to Star Soul Palace!” It was the voice of Ma Qing, the Holy Master of Heavenly Martial Holy Land. He sounded a little frustrated as it was clear that he had not expected Yang Kai to still be procrastinating here without leaving.
Yang Kai stared at Lei Gu deeply before he shouted, “Good. Everyone, stay strong! Give me one day and I will save you all from this disaster!”
After saying that, he turned to leave. Catching a glimpse of a certain cold corpse lying on the slope out of the corner of his eye, Yang Kai felt an inexplicable pain in his heart, as though it was being gripped tightly by a giant hand.
With a flicker, Yang Kai disappeared from Lei Gu’s field of vision. Following Yang Kai’s departure, Lei Gu stopped injecting his Qi into the Array Jade and the flashing light of the Sect Defending Array gradually subsided in response. Then, he turned to look at the Embodiment and called out, “Divine Spirit Shi Huo?”
The Embodiment stood tall, looking down at Lei Gu across the Spirit Array. His eyes were burning flames that danced continuously. He was connected to Yang Kai’s mind, so there was no need for much communication between them for him to understand what Yang Kai was planning. At the same time, he was also filled with fury and guilt over Yu Zhuo’s death. He stayed behind to divert Lei Gu’s energy so that the latter was unable to focus on attacking Wen Zi Shan and the others. The other reason he stayed behind was to wait for an opportunity to destroy the Sect Defending Array. It would be great if he could destroy it before Yang Kai returned, but even if he couldn’t, he could reduce some of its power as preparations for the next part of the plan.
Seeing that the Embodiment was not speaking, Lei Gu shouted solemnly, “Aren’t Divine Spirits supposed to be noble beings who stand above all others? Since when have they become mere servants to the whims of a Human? You are the greatest embarrassment to Divine Spirits possible!”
If the Embodiment was truly Shi Huo, he might have been angered by those words; however, his base was Yang Kai’s Soul Clone, so why would he be affected by such empty provocations?
When the Embodiment did not react, Lei Gu frowned and gave up on this useless effort before turning around to head back inside.
Before Lei Gu could leave though, the Embodiment ignited his flames again, sending them crashing against the Sect Defending Array.
The corner of Lei Gu’s face twitched as he hurriedly controlled the Array Jade in his hands to reinforce the Spirit Array and resist the power of the flames.
…
A short distance away, Yang Kai’s figure navigated through the sky. It only took a moment for him to return to the mountain peak where he had been attacked before where he saw the white-haired elderly man meditating and adjusting his breathing. The four others still wrapped in Demon Qi remained unconscious on the ground around him.
Upon noticing motion, the elderly man opened his eyes to see that Yang Kai had returned and was overjoyed, “Elder Yang!”
“Quickly go to Star Soul Palace to seek help. Report to them about what happened in Orthodoxy Temple and ask the Great Emperor to take action; otherwise, the entire Southern Territory will be in danger,” Yang Kai said anxiously.
“Ah…” The white-haired elderly man was taken aback for a moment but quickly nodded, “Good.”
Pointing to the four people, he added, “What about them…”
“Go!” Yang Kai turned around and glared at the elderly man with a gaze that was akin to the eyes of an enraged beast that was about to swallow its prey.
The elderly man did not dare to say anything else in the face of that vicious glare. He realized that time was precious and hurriedly summoned his flight type artifact, ascertained the direction, and headed directly towards Star Soul Palace.
After the old man left, Yang Kai waved his hand and transported the four unconscious people affected by Demon Qi into the Small Sealed World. He suppressed them at a certain spot there before subsequently bringing out a large pile of materials and getting to work.
Going to Star Soul Palace to inform them about the news and asking the Great Emperor for help was certainly one of the ways to resolve this incident; however, Yang Kai was not optimistic about the prospects for that solution. It wasn’t that he did not trust in the Great Emperor’s strength, it was just that it would take too much time. The dust would have settled by the time the Great Emperor arrived. If he wanted to resolve this catastrophe and avenge the dead with certainty, he had to rely on other things. Fortunately, Yang Kai had other options.
The image of that corpse lying on the cold, hard ground kept flashing through his mind. Those dim and lifeless eyes felt like they were carved into the depths of his soul, staring at him, making him suffer with every breath he took.
Strictly speaking, they had only known each other for less than a month and didn’t even have a deep friendship between them. Killing was very normal in the pursuit of the Martial Dao, and the death of one person should not have caused such a large emotional fluctuation in him. Unfortunately, Yang Kai was filled with endless remorse at this moment. Her action of turning around to wave at him goodbye turned out to be a final farewell.
Quickly, a giant Space Array was constructed as many materials were smelted and fused atop the mountain peak, and in less than half a day, it was completed.
Yang Kai did not have time to do any extra inspections of the Space Array as he hurriedly stepped onto it, glanced in the direction of Orthodoxy Temple, and activated it. A light flashed brightly, and his figure disappeared.
A moment later, he appeared on top of the Space Array at High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory, frightening the person on guard duty.
Bian Yu Qing was guarding the Space Array as usual, and when she saw Yang Kai, she immediately got up and cupped her fists, “Palace Master!”
Then, her eyes focused on a spot around his waist and exclaimed in horror, “Palace Master, are you hurt!?”
Although the wound caused by the black shadow’s sneak attack was no longer an issue, the bloodstains remained and could not be concealed from her eyes.
“Where is the Head Manager?” Yang Kai turned and asked.
Bian Yu Qing was slightly taken aback by his sharp tone and she could tell that something was a little off about him today. He was giving off an aggressive aura and there was an air of danger about him. It was as though he was a volcano that was about to erupt, and it frightened her greatly. She did not know who had injured him or provoked him, but it was her first time seeing him in this state. Thus, she hurriedly replied, “Head Manager just returned yesterday and should be resting right now.”
“Call her over.”
“Yes.” She quickly took out her communication artifact and poured her Divine Sense into it. Lifting her head a moment later, she said, “Please wait for a moment, Palace Master, Head Manager will be here soon.
No more than a dozen breaths later, Hua Qing Si appeared from the outside and glanced at Bian Yu Qing suspiciously. Just moments ago, Bian Yu Qing had called her and asked her to come to the Space Array Area immediately. Since Bian Yu Qing had sounded terribly anxious, Hua Qing Si didn’t dare to delay and rushed over as quickly as she could. Nevertheless, she couldn’t hide her astonishment when she saw Yang Kai standing there with such a dark expression.
Before Hua Qing Si could say anything, she heard Yang Kai’s voice asking her a question, “How many Emperor Realm Masters can we mobilize right now?”
Blinking once, Hua Qing Si organized her thoughts and asked in return, “Palace Master, are you referring to High Heaven Palace alone or the entire Northern Territory?”
“The entire Northern Territory!”
“May I know why you want to mobilize them, Palace Master?”
“Murder, revenge, and annihilation!” He coldly spat out a few words through gritted teeth.
Shocked, Hua Qing Si realized that something serious was happening; otherwise, Yang Kai wouldn’t be giving off such tremendous murderous intent, so she solemnly replied, “With enough time, we can easily gather three or four hundred.”
High Heaven Palace had been leading the other three top Sects during this period as they continued their efforts to subordinate all other great forces in the Northern Territory. Although it had not been long since they started, many Sects had already chosen to submit. There was no other choice; the top four Sects in the Northern Territory had joined hands in this endeavour, so who else in the Northern Territory could stop them? Since they had chosen to surrender, they had to obey whatever orders High Heaven Palace had for them, whether they were willing to or not.
“Good. You have half a day. Mobilize all the Emperor Realm Masters you can muster and have them gather here. I will return to mobilize them at that time.” Yang Kai turned around and stepped onto the Space array again, but after a moment of silence, he said in a solemn tone, “Tell them that if they dare make excuses or refuse to cooperate in any way, I will wipe their forces from the face of the Northern Territory!”
“Yes!” Hua Qing Si’s complexion paled. She wanted to ask for further details, but before she could, his figure had already disappeared from the Space Array.
Afterward, both Hua Qing Si and Bian Yu Qing glanced at each other in confusion with the former asking, “What happened to Palace Master?”
Bian Yu Qing shook her head, “I don’t know either. He didn’t say anything.”
Hua Qing Si frowned slightly. She had the vague feeling that Yang Kai had encountered a very troublesome matter; however, what could cause such a huge issue that he needed to mobilize so many Emperor Realm Masters to deal with it? She had noticed the bloodstain on his body of course, and although she was not clear on the state of his injuries, it could be seen from that alone that their enemy this time was very powerful.
Therefore, she did not dare to treat this matter lightly. After a brief discussion with Bian Yu Qing, they both took out their respective communication artifacts and began spreading the word. After that, the both of them stepped onto the Space Array, one after the other, to begin rallying the Masters from all over the Northern Territory.
Some time ago, Yang Kai set up many Space Arrays across the whole of the Northern Territory so that it would be easier to travel around; otherwise, how could they gather help in just half a day? An hour later, more than half of the Northern Territory was in pandemonium over an order from High Heaven Palace. Countless Emperor Realm Masters were anxious and uneasy, wondering why High Heaven Palace had suddenly called upon them.
[Are they trying to burn all bridges? But, how will that benefit High Heaven Palace?] Needless to say, many wanted to fake being sick or make up excuses so that they could skip this. Unfortunately, the message from High Heaven Palace made them too afraid to not go. Yang Kai had already threatened them with annihilation, so who would dare to blow him off after that? He was the one who wiped out Seeking Passion Sect. The place where High Heaven Palace was currently occupying was where Seeking Passion Sect used to be. Nobody wanted to be the second Seeking Passion Sect; after all, if Yang Kai truly wasn’t joking about this matter, he was perfectly capable of destroying anyone he wanted to.
There was a constant stream of people teleporting to High Heaven Palace through the Space Array. It started out with three people, followed by five, ten, then twenty… The hall gradually began to fill with people and became overcrowded. A few latecomers instantly felt relief upon seeing so many other Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory gathered here. It would seem that High Heaven Palace was not planning to get rid of them after achieving its goals; otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many Emperor Realm Masters gathered in one place.
Some people gathered around Bian Yu Qing to ask about the situation, but unfortunately, she was as clueless as they were. Yang Kai had rushed back here, issued some orders, and then left again in a hurry; therefore, she had no idea what was going on either. Being completely bewildered herself, she could only ignore their questions. Lucky for her, nobody dared to act aggressively here, so when they saw that she was ignoring them with a cold expression, they had no choice but to retreat and even smile at her ingratiatingly.
Bian Yu Qing couldn’t help feeling a little amazed at this. The Emperor Realm Masters she had to look up to in the past were now the ones that had to act in accordance with her will. This kind of respect was something Blue Feather Sect could never have given her. She knew better than anybody that these Emperor Realm Masters were not afraid of her as she was just a First-Order Emperor and many of these Emperor Realm Masters in this room were more powerful than her. If not for the name ‘High Heaven Palace’ behind her, such a situation would never occur. Thus, she felt a little proud and honoured.
Whilst High Heaven Palace was in a tumultuous condition, Yang Kai had already teleported to the Ancient Wild Lands. He stepped out from inside the small Tree Cave just in time to see a Stone Spirit probingly looking in this direction. Since he had no idea which Stone Spirit this was, he could only ask, “Is Elder around?”
The Stone Spirit raised his hand and pointed at the Tree Cave where Elder lived, and Yang Kai rushed over in that direction. It didn’t take long before he saw Elder inside the Tree Cave.
Elder glanced at Yang Kai in astonishment and asked, “Little Friend, why are you here again?”
It had not been long since Yang Kai left this place, less than two months in fact, but Yang Kai did not have any time to waste so he simply bowed solemnly and declared, “I came to ask the Stone Spirit Clan for help.”
Elder nodded, “Good.”
Yang Kai was stunned, “Elder, are you not going to ask what this is about?”
He did not expect Elder to agree so readily.
Elder chuckled, “From the way you look, it seems as if you have run into something troublesome. The Stone Spirit Clan doesn’t have many friends, so how can we stand by and do nothing when one of those few are in trouble?”
Yang Kai bowed deeply, “Many thanks for fulfilling my request, Elder. But, I must let you know that this matter is occurring in the Southern Territory!”
“The Southern Territory?” Elder raised his stone brow. The Ancient Wild Lands was located in the Eastern Territory, so a matter in the Southern Territory seemed a little out of their reach, but thinking back on the Space Array arranged by Yang Kai, he instantly understood.
“This matter also involves the Demon Race!”
“The Demon Race!?” Elder exclaimed in shock.
Yang Kai glanced at Elder and asked thoughtfully, “Elder, do you know about the Demon Race?”
Elder replied with a stern expression, “Aside from the Divine Spirits, there is no one else in this world that has a deeper understanding of the Demon Race than the Stone Spirit Clan.”
The Divine Spirit had their Source Inheritance, which not only granted them incredible power, but also a certain amount of memories and experience from all previous Divine Spirits who carried this source in the past. As such, all Divine Spirits, regardless of what kind, had inherited memories of their ancestors. For that reason, they had some knowledge of the Demon Race even though the matters involving the Demon Race had occurred a very long time ago.
The Stone Spirit did not have the convenience of receiving such an inheritance, but they had extraordinarily long lifespans. Elder himself had experienced the changes of several eras and even personally fought against the Demon Race in the past, so how could he not know the horrors of the Demon Race and what formidable enemies they were?
“The Demon Race appeared in the Southern Territory?” Elder asked gravely.
Yang Kai said, “A Demon Cave appeared in the Southern Territory more than ten years ago and somebody broke the seal on it, releasing thousands of Demon Spirits. Those Demon Spirits were capable of possessing the bodies of cultivators, making them very difficult to defend against. For more than ten years, the Southern Territory has been hunting down these Demon Spirits and it was thought that they had been wiped out, but last night it became clear that was not the case. Apparently, many more Demon Spirits had been hiding in the dark and they set up a huge trap, targeting the cultivators of the Southern Territory. All the major Sects in the Southern Territory, including hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples have been caught in this trap. I was fortunate enough to escape their clutches, but I need to rush back to rescue them as soon as possible; otherwise, it will be too late!”
“Such a thing happened…” Elder was shocked. Although he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, he couldn’t help being shocked when Yang Kai mentioned the involvement of hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciplines in the Southern Territory in the matter.
“Any matter involving the Demon Race isn’t just an issue for the Southern Territory, it affects the entire Star Boundary. The Stone Spirit Clan might live in seclusion, but we cannot stand idly by in this situation. This matter is extremely urgent. Let us depart now.”
“Many thanks, Elder!” Pleasantly surprised, Yang Kai nodded and quickly led the way.
Upon leaving the Tree Cave, Elder pounded the cane in his hands against the ground a few times and the Stone Spirits immediately walked out of their respective Tree Caves while many Wood Spirits flew over.
Elder conveyed Yang Kai’s message with a few simple sentences, horrifying both the Stone Spirits and the Wood Spirits. It was clear that they knew the terrors of the Demon Race. Without wasting any time, they filed into the small Tree Cave under Yang Kai’s lead and stepped onto the Space Array.
Yang Kai had made special preparations when he arranged this Space Array two months ago. He intentionally made it very large in preparation for the day when the Stone Spirits would need to make use of it. Nevertheless, he never expected this day to come so quickly.
The Stone Spirits were so large that Yang Kai could only teleport them one at a time, but he worked quickly to organize this deployment. Then, he turned to Elder and said, “For the time being, please don’t act rashly when you arrive at that place. I don’t know how many Demon Race there are or whether they have reinforcements. For now, please stand guard around the Space Array while I arrange more reinforcements; after everyone is assembled, we will defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.”
“Good. Rest assured, Little Friend, we will not disappoint your trust,” Elder nodded as he stood by the Space Array.
After sending off all the Stone Spirits besides Elder, Yang Kai soared up into the sky and rushed straight towards a certain direction. His Emperor Qi flowed freely as he completely ignored his consumption, teleporting over and over again, causing his figure to repeatedly flicker across the sky.
In less than an hour, the towering palace appeared in his field of vision. It was none other than the palace belonging to Luan Feng, the South Divine Venerable of the Ancient Wild Lands.
Before Yang Kai could land on the ground, he heard an angry shout, “Who goes there!?”
A charming woman flew towards him from the front. She was dressed very revealingly, and the Monster Qi around her was extremely powerful. She clearly had the strength of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, not weaker than Ying Fei and the others.
Yang Kai glanced at this woman and felt that she was a little familiar. Although he was certain she was one of the thirty-two Monster Kings, he could not remember which Monster King she was, and right now he didn’t care as he was in no mood to deal with her, so he flicked his sleeve angrily and shouted, “Move aside!”
This Monster King was furious. She might be a subordinate of the Divine Venerables in the Ancient Wild Lands, but no one had ever dared to talk to her in such a manner. Even the other Monster Kings did not dare to do so as they knew how terrifying it was when this woman became enraged. She was just about to teach Yang Kai a lesson when she noticed that this person seemed a bit familiar. Upon a closer look, she became both surprised and happy all at once. [Isn’t that him!?]
Her furious expression instantly transformed into a smiling one as she called out, “So it is…”
Halfway through her sentence though, Yang Kai brushed past her and rushed forward. He landed directly in the middle of Luan Feng’s palace and turned to look around his surroundings. Then, under the shocked gaze of the many maids, he shouted loudly, “Luan Feng!”
That Monster King was completely ignored but did not dare to lose her temper at him. Everybody knew that this Human was related to the Blood Gate and the Divine Spirit Sources inside. She couldn’t wait to get into his good books, so how could she dare to offend him so easily? [I wonder what kind of luck Ying Fei and the other two have for them to be able to follow him around all the time. It makes me so envious of them! My cultivation is no worse than Ying Fei and the others; moreover, both my looks and figure are outstanding. I might be able to get into a favourable and advantageous position if I can take the opportunity to get closer to him…]
Those thoughts were swirling around in her head when she heard Yang Kai’s furious roar and her expression twitched violently, quietly thinking to herself. [What is wrong with this guy today? He looks like he is here on a punitive expedition. I wonder what his purpose is.]
Uncertain, she didn’t dare to approach him rashly, choosing to hover nearby and observe anxiously, feeling extremely conflicted. [If he starts fighting with the Divine Venerable, should I help… I will suffer if I offend the Divine Venerable, but if I offend him… I can forget about obtaining my Ancestral Source and awakening the power of a Divine Spirit.]
“Why are you being so loud?” A cold voice rang out. Luan Feng appeared not far away from Yang Kai with a frosty expression. Her eyes were so cold that ice was practically forming on her face; furthermore, her expression was filled with disgust and repulsion when she looked at him.
She secretly felt extremely troubled. [Why is this brat here again? Is he still unsatisfied after taking advantage of us and robbing us blind? Isn’t his greed a little too much!?]
She was annoyed, and her tone reflected her annoyance; however, she couldn’t help feeling worried when she saw his expression. [I didn’t provoke him, right?]
“I have a favour to ask of you!” Yang Kai didn’t bother beating around the bush and went straight to the point.
[So, he’s here to ask for a favour.] Upon hearing those words, she immediately felt more confident again. [It’s all fine as long as he is not here to cause trouble for me.]
Luan Feng lifted her hand and adjusted her sleeves while calmly asking, “Is this the attitude of somebody asking for help?”
[Coming to my palace and making such a ruckus… It’s clear that he is looking down on me. Besides, how dare he ask me for a favour in such an arrogant manner!?] Although she was afraid of the power behind him, that did not mean she could give up on her dignity as a Divine Spirit. She secretly decided to take him down a peg or two, lest he remained so defiant in the future.
“Just tell me if you’ll help me or not!” Yang Kai completely ignored her complaint and continued in an extremely aggressive and harsh tone.
Yang Kai’s response left Luan Feng feeling both furious and amused, “You don’t even say what it is that you want my help with. How can I respond to your request? You can’t expect me to agree if you ask me to die, right?”
“Of course what I’m asking for is within your abilities.”
Luan Feng spat disdainfully, “This Queen doesn’t owe you anything, does she?”
“That’s why I said I’m asking you for a favour!”
[This rotten brat is becoming more and more hateful!] Luan Feng ground her teeth, “What will happen if I help? What will happen if I don’t help?”
“If you help me this time, I will owe you a favour. If you won’t help, then I’ll leave immediately.”
She sneered, “Why would I want a favour from you?”
Yang Kai looked at her coldly, nodded in acknowledgment, and took off into the sky.
She was taken aback. [Is he really going to leave? Just like that? Why is he acting simply on what I say? Is he crazy!? He didn’t even give me any time to consider!]
Although she hated his arrogant attitude, it would be bad if he held a grudge against her in the future; thus, she could only lift a hand and shout, “This Queen’s palace is not a place you can come and go as you please!”
“What do you want then?” Yang Kai paused mid-stride and turned back to look at her, his gaze so cold that the chill was almost tangible.
When their gazes met, Luan Feng’s heart jumped to her throat and she suddenly realized that something seemed to be wrong with him today. He might have been somewhat annoying before, but he had always been reasonable. This time, he almost seemed like a different person altogether. [It looks like he is really in great trouble. Moreover, it’s something that has greatly infuriated him.]
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“It’s none of your damn business!”
[That is not the attitude one should be taking when asking for a favour!] Luan Feng was so livid that she was tempted to slap him hard. Unfortunately, she knew that he was not weak and she might not be strong enough to kill him if she really forced his hand. More importantly, the consequences of confronting him was not something she could afford to bear. Gritting her teeth bitterly, she shouted, “There won’t be a next time!”
That meant that she agreed to help.
Yang Kai didn’t waste any more time and got straight to the point, “Call Fan Wu and Cang Gou over, and summon the other twenty-nine Monster Kings from the Ancient Wild Lands.” He turned around and landed back in the palace, standing not too far away from her.
Luan Feng was shocked, “What are you planning to do!?”
She initially thought that he was only asking her for help, but how could she have known that he would make such an outrageous demand? [He not only wants Fan Wu and Cang Gou, but the twenty-nine Monster Kings too!? That’s the most powerful force the entire Ancient Wild Lands can gather! Could this bastard be trying to start a war against a Great Emperor!?]
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Luan Feng felt a chill running down her back. She might be a Divine Spirit, but she was aware of her own limits. There were only so few Great Emperors in total, and each of them was an existence acknowledged by the World itself. If they really fought against a Great Emperor, not many from the Ancient Wild Lands would survive the battle. Not to mention, Great Emperor Sects had deep and profound heritages.
She felt a jolt of fear as she looked into his eyes. [I have always known that this boy is incredibly reckless and fearless, but isn’t this being a little too bold?]
Of course, she was overthinking things.
“What are you standing around gawking for!? I want to see them all here within an hour! Hurry up and contact them!” Yang Kai suddenly felt annoyed when he saw Luan Feng standing there stupidly. He had given High Heaven Palace half a day so he also needed to finish things up here in less than half a day. He didn’t have the time to care about anything else anymore.
Suppressing the panic in her heart, Luan Feng was no longer in the mood to care about how rude he was being and her beautiful brow knit together, “Just what do you want us to do? You can at least tell me that, right?”
“Kill some, rescue others!”
“Who is the enemy?” After asking this question, Luan Feng felt her heart pounding violently again. She was very afraid that the name of one of the Great Emperors would come out of his mouth.
Unexpectedly though, he lowered his gaze as three words came out of his mouth, “The Demon Race!”
“The Demon Race!?” Luan Feng’s expression changed greatly as she asked, “Has the Demon Race invaded!? When did that happen?!”
Although she had never seen a Demon herself, she had some understanding of the Demon Race from the Source Inheritance she received. [More than a hundred thousand years have passed since this land last saw a member of the Demon Race. Where did they pop out from again?]
Yang Kai, however, just lifted his gaze and glared at her, “Are you going to keep wasting time here with me? I want to see those two and the twenty-nine Monster Kings here within an hour! If they can help me, I promise to allow all of them to inherit Divine Spirit Sources in the future!”
Luan Feng was stunned for a moment before she gritted her teeth with a pained and bitter expression. It would be fine if nobody ever learned about what he just said; however, the twenty-nine Monster Kings would throw themselves at his feet if they so much as got wind of this news. Even the Three Great Divine Venerables stepping forward together would not be able to control them. On the other hand, those twenty-nine Monster Kings would bear a grudge against her forever if she refused his request today. It would be a huge embarrassment for them when that happened.
“You’re too ruthless!” She coldly snorted before commenting, “An hour is not enough. Some of the Monster King’s territories are too far from here so they won’t be able to reach this place in an hour’s time.”
“How long?”
“Four hours!”
“Fine. Then, I will wait here for the next four hours!” After saying that, Yang Kai closed his eyes and remained where he stood, refusing to budge.
Luan Feng glared at him before heading into the depths of her palace. He did not know what she was busy doing, and he had no intention of monitoring her either. In any case, there was nothing else to say. If Luan Feng knew what was best for her, she would definitely help him to the best of her abilities. If not, it wouldn’t be too late to make her pay for this at a later date. Besides, the Northern Territory was still assembling and would need some time to finish their preparations as well, so this was not going to slow down his plans.
Luan Feng was clearly mad at him, and when she departed, she dismissed all the servants in the surrounding areas and left him standing there like a lone javelin. Not a single person came to serve him tea or even offer him a chair. The meaning behind their lack of hospitality was obvious.
A moment later though, a fragrant scent wafted over. Somebody landed next to Yang Kai, and noticing the movement, he opened his eyes to look only to see a seductive and charming woman looking at him with a smile on her face. It was none other than the Monster King he met earlier.
When their eyes met, that seductive woman smiled and politely said, “Du Mi’er greets you, Sir.”
She was already dressed in rather revealing clothes, and now she was intentionally or unintentionally showing off her assets. She was using everything she had to fawn over him, and her smile was brighter than a flower.
“What do you want?” Yang Kai glared at her coldly.
Du Mi’er waved her hand nonchalantly, “It’s nothing. This Mistress is a Monster King serving under the South Divine Venerable and has long admired Sir Yang’s power. Now that I meet you, I can see that Sir really deserves his reputation.” While speaking, she gave a wave of her hand and took out a chair from her Space Ring.
She diligently said, “Sir, please have a seat.”
He gently nodded and the frosty expression on his face reduced slightly as he adjusted his robes before taking a seat.
Leaning in suddenly, Du Mi’er softly said, “Lady Divine Venerable has a bit of a short temper, so please don’t blame her for neglecting you, Sir.”
She exhaled an orchid scent while she spoke, and a delicate fragrance lingered around the tip of Yang Kai’s nose, making the murderous aura and rage he was exuding soften considerably. His tumultuous emotions also gradually calmed down too.
Turning his head around, he looked at her calmly, “What if she heard you speaking badly about her behind her back?”
Du Mi’er’s expression stiffened for a moment. Then, she shyly said, “I was only saying it to you, Sir. I’m sure you won’t spread it around.”
Yang Kai swept his eyes over her and asked curiously, “What is your original form?”
She pursed her lips and smiled, “I am a Flower Monster, Sir.”
Lifting her hand mid-sentence, she snapped her fingers and a golden-yellow flower instantly appeared between her fingers. It gave off a strong fragrance that was very intoxicating.
Yang Kai nodded in response, “It’s very rare for plants to gain sentience.” It was much more difficult for plants to become Monsters compared to creatures with flesh and blood bodies. He never imagined that the Monster King in front of him would be a Flower Spirit. In addition, she managed to cultivate to become a Monster King. It was truly an extremely rare case.
Du Mi’er murmured bashfully, “Sir praises me too much. I also experienced a lot of hardship and it took many years for me to achieve the success I have today.”
At the same time, she secretly observed his reactions, and seeing that he had no intention of continuing the conversation, she bit her lips and tried another approach, “Sir, I heard that Ying Fei, Xi Lei, and Xie Wu Wei are working as your subordinates. Is that true?”
“Why ask something you already know?”
She pouted, “What can three smelly men do? I’m sure they can’t even do their job of serving you well. I don’t know what the Divine Venerables were thinking. They should have sent a woman to take good care of you instead. At the very least, a woman can take care of your daily life, Sir.”
“Are you very good at taking care of people?” He gave her a sideways look.
To which Du Mi’er eagerly said, “Sir, would you like to try? You look pretty frustrated and bogged down with troubling matters. This isn’t good. With a battle approaching, it’s best if you can empty your mind so you can focus your strength. If Sir is willing, this Mistress can display a few of her skills.”
After saying that, she looked at him eagerly while waiting for his reply.
However, she didn’t get any reaction from him even after a long time, so gritting her teeth, she made up her mind, walked behind him, placed both hands on his shoulders before leaning close to his ear, “Sir, just relax. You can leave the rest to me. I’ll definitely satisfy you.”
A soft fragrance in the wind tickled his ears like an invisible hand, causing his emotions to ripple. It also calmed the anger and various negative emotions that he had been suppressing.
Two delicate, seemingly boneless hands pressed against his shoulders and head, kneading with a gentle pressure. An almost imperceptible Monster Qi and Spiritual Energy also fluctuated, quickly making Yang Kai feel as if he was floating in a sea of flowers. The world was vast, the sea of flowers was boundless, allowing his mind to obtain peace.
Seeing Yang Kai’s tense expression gradually softening and the aura around him slowly stabilizing, Du Mi’er smiled and became even more attentive than before.
After Luan Feng relayed her message, various figures came out from all directions of the Ancient Wild Lands. Each one of them had impressive Monster Qi that surged strongly. Many Monster Commanders looked up into the sky, not understanding the reason why their Kings were being summoned.
An hour later, more than a dozen Monster Kings had gathered in Luan Feng’s palace while the rest were on their way. It would not take long for all of them to gather here. A group of Monster Kings had come to the courtyard where Yang Kai was in and were either sitting or standing, staring directly at Yang Kai and Du Mi’er.
Despite being surrounded by so many people, Du Mi’er didn’t feel the slightest shame. Instead, she became even more attentive towards Yang Kai as she massaged him. Her long and slender neck held high like a proud rooster.
“Bitch! Slut! Shameless woman!” Looking at the way Du Mi’er was acting, a glamorous female Monster King couldn’t help scolding Du Mi’er with a disdainful expression.
A furry male Monster King standing next to her smiled and added, “You can join her.”
She snorted coldly, “I am not that immoral.”
Looking her up and down, that male Monster King sneered, “Why are you pretending to be so innocent? Which Monster King from the Ancient Wild Lands has not gotten a taste of you before?”
She raged, “I’ll rip your mouth off if you speak again!”
He reached out to hug her, “What will you use?”
“Scram!”
“Alright, stop making a fuss. Does anybody know why the Divine Venerable called us here?” Another Monster King stepped forward and asked with a puzzled expression.
The entire group of Monster Kings shook their heads. Nobody knew why they were gathered here. They simply came after receiving a summons from their respective Divine Venerables. They might not understand the situation, but one thing was certain. This matter was related to Yang Kai; otherwise, he would not appear here.
However, Yang Kai was calmly sitting there and enjoying Du Mi’er’s service. They could hardly go up and disturb him while he was sitting there without moving. All the Monster Kings recognized him. They also knew what kind of power was backing him; hence, they naturally refused to make things unnecessarily difficult for themselves.
Time passed slowly, and Monster King after Monster King arrived at this place. In less than four hours, all twenty-nine Monster Kings had been gathered. Similarly, Luan Feng, Cang Gou, and Fan Wu also showed up. Upon seeing these three, the Monster Kings bowed in greeting.
On the other hand, Yang Kai finally opened his eyes. The light in his eyes was full of energy and he had to admit that while Du Mi’er might behave a little frivolously, she was truly good at serving others. She was a Flower Spirit, so it would seem that she had an Innate Divine Ability that could soothe a person’s emotions.
“Is everybody here?” He turned to look around him.
Fan Wu’s expression was rather unpleasant as although he had heard the general story from Luan Feng, Yang Kai’s actions made him a little uncomfortable. When it came down to it, the Ancient Wild Lands was the territory of the Monster Race. Since when was a Human allowed to make decisions here? As such, he fell silent for a moment before nodding, “They are all here.”
“Good, then let’s go,” Yang Kai got up and headed towards the place where the Stone Spirit Clan lived.
The twenty-nine Monster Kings stared at the Three Great Divine Venerables curiously, but at this point, what could the three of them say? They had no choice but to raise their hands and all the gathered figures rose into the sky in an instant to follow closely behind Yang Kai.
Fan Wu and the other two caught up and flew side-by-side with Yang Kai, but none of them spoke up.
Seeing this, Yang Kai took the initiative to speak, “Many thanks for being so understanding. I will forever remember the help you offer today and will surely pay you back handsomely in the future.”
Luan Feng coldly snorted, “That’s not the attitude you had before.”
She was still holding a grudge over his arrogant and imperious manner previously. [Things would have gone so much smoother if he had adopted this attitude earlier.]
He turned to glare at her, “Aren’t you ashamed to say that?”
“What’s the matter? I can’t even argue back now?” Her temper flared up as she glared at him, refusing to back down.
Yang Kai snapped back, “If you hadn’t destroyed my Space Array back then, would we need to rush around like this today? We could have arrived at our destination directly from your Phoenix Nest Palace! But now what? We have to travel for at least an hour! If this causes any delay in my plans, you will see how I deal with you!”
Luan Feng blinked at him when he brought up the events of the past, feeling a little guilty. It was true that she had destroyed his Space Array at that time, but who could have imagined that he would be in such a rush today? She turned her head away and muttered, “What are you shouting at me for? How could I have known that this would happen?”
“Enough. Now that things have come to this, there’s no point arguing about it further.” Fan Wu jumped out to mediate between them. Regardless of the circumstances, the Ancient Wild Lands did not wish to fight against Yang Kai, so he quickly changed the subject, “Little Brother Yang, why don’t you tell us what is going on now?”
Luan Feng had only told them that Yang Kai wanted to recruit the strongest combat power the Ancient Wild Lands could assemble, and that it seemed to be related to the Demon Race. However, she could not explain the situation to them clearly. Now that they had decided to take action, it was only natural to learn more about the situation.
Upon hearing those words, Yang Kai couldn’t be bothered to argue with Luan Feng anymore and pondered in silence for a moment before explaining, “Ten years ago, I was invited by somebody to explore an Ancient Cave Mansion in the Southern Swamp of the Southern Territory…”
They had time on the road anyway, so he briefly told them about what happened in the Ancient Cave Mansion more than ten years ago, as well as what happened afterwards. Then, he explained the situation at the Southern Territory Martial Gathering again.
When the Three Great Divine Venerables heard that the Demon Spirits had been resurrected and the Southern Territory had suffered a Demon invasion, all three of them were shocked. Then, their expressions changed greatly once more when they heard that the Temple Master of Southern Territory’s Orthodoxy Temple had been possessed by a Demon Spirit and set up a massive trap to ensnare hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples. They glanced at each other with the sudden realization of how serious the situation was.
“Are you saying that hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters from the Southern Territory are still trapped within Orthodoxy Temple right now?”
“That was the case when I left. There’s no way for them to escape as long as the Sect Defending Array isn’t destroyed. I don’t know what the situation inside is like now.”
Cang Gou stroked his chin as he muttered, “Hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters… I wonder how many have already been corrupted by Demon Qi.”
Since Yang Kai had been ambushed by more than ten demonified Emperor Realm Masters, they could be certain that those were not the only ones. There were probably a lot more than that; after all, the Martial Gathering had lasted for a whole month. If Orthodoxy Temple had planned this all in advance, they could have infected many more people with Demon Qi. Those people might look no different under normal circumstances, but they would create extensive damage once an outbreak occurred and lead to even more people being affected by Demon Qi. If the cycle continued, everybody inside would have become a Demon by now.
“I hope the situation isn’t too disastrous.” He sighed.
Luan Feng frowned, “If Orthodoxy Temple has been plotting this for a long time, why did they lead you away and try to assassinate you? Isn’t that akin to lifting a rock only to drop it on their foot?”
Yang Kai coldly replied, “Maybe they just didn’t expect to fail at killing me.”
That was the reality of the situation and he still felt a sense of lingering fear whenever he thought back on the assassination. If his assassin had not been unfamiliar with his body constitution and was unaware that he had a Half-Dragon Form, he could very well have died already.
Luan Feng, however, shook her head in response, “What I meant was why didn’t they leave you inside the Temple? They could have left you stuck knee-deep in trouble, and you would have been incapable of escaping. There was no need to assassinate you.”
Cang Gou said, “It’s no secret that Little Brother Yang is proficient in the Dao of Space. I have a feeling that they were afraid he might escape after noticing that the situation wasn’t right. It would be safer to kill him off first.”
Luan Feng felt that those words made great sense when she thought about it and gave a nod.
Fan Wu suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Those Demons really arranged a grand and complicated game of chess!”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai looked at Fan Wu suspiciously, wondering what it was that shocked Fan Wu so greatly.
Fan Wu proceeded to explain, “Just think about it. If you didn’t happen to escape the assassination, what would have happened to Orthodoxy Temple?”
Frowning, Yang Kai considered it for a moment, “In the worst case, all the surviving cultivators would experience demonization.”
“That’s right!” Fan Wu clapped his hands, “And if those demonified cultivators were to return to their respective Sects and act quietly…”
Yang Kai followed Fan Wu’s logic and was shocked, “The entire Southern Territory would have been in danger!”
Fan Wu added, “With so many top Masters corrupted, the entire Southern Territory would quickly have fallen to the Demons. At that point, even the Great Emperors would have a hard time rectifying the situation.”
Yang Kai felt a chill when he heard those words as he realized that Fan Wu’s conjecture might be exactly what Orthodoxy Temple had been planning. If he had not escaped the assassination by chance and gotten the chance to reveal this plot, who would have known about the calamity within Orthodoxy Temple?
Cang Gou spoke up, “If Orthodoxy Temple dared to target all the people within the Southern Territory, they must have gathered a lot of Demons under their cause. With just our numbers…”
Yang Kai quickly said, “Rest assured, you’re not the only ones. I also recruited many others for this mission. I’m not going to let a single Demon escape from Orthodoxy Temple this time.”
“Others?” Cang Gou looked at Yang Kai curiously, but when he saw that Yang Kai was not willing to go into further details, he stopped asking questions. He had been worried that Yang Kai was acting out of anger without any real plans. Since there was a plan in place though, then there was nothing to worry about anymore.
Yang Kai continued, “In any case, be careful not to be infected by Demon Qi when you are fighting against those Demons and be especially on guard against being possessed by those Demon Spirits. I have personally witnessed people who were possessed by the Demon Spirits and they exhibit no outward signs whatsoever. They don’t look any different even after being possessed. It’s all very subtle.”
“We know.” Fan Wu nodded.
They had not deliberately suppressed their voices during their conversation, so they were naturally overheard by the Monster Kings behind them. That was also part of Yang Kai’s intention. The Monster Kings were incredibly shocked to learn that they were going to fight against people under the control of Demon Qi. That was not something they had ever experienced before; furthermore, they did not know which was stronger between Demon Qi and Monster Qi. Regardless, this was a good chance to do well and stand out. If they could catch Yang Kai’s attention, becoming a Divine Spirit in the future was no longer unattainable.
Luan Feng had not told them about Yang Kai’s earlier promise. It wasn’t because she was worried that Yang Kai might go back on his word, but rather that it would stir up the Monster Kings too much, causing them to be eternally grateful towards Yang Kai if they learned of it. That would fundamentally shake the rule of the Three Great Divine Venerables in the Ancient Wild Lands.
Rushing all the way, the group arrived at the residence of the Stone Spirit Clan within an hour. Elder had not left yet and was standing by, waiting with the Mu Na, Matriarch of the Wood Spirit Clan.
They couldn’t help glancing at each other when they saw the Three Great Divine Venerables and twenty-nine Monster Kings descending from the sky. They were secretly amazed as, although they knew Yang Kai had quite a lot of influence among the Monster Race in the Ancient Wild Lands, they had not expected it to be this exaggerated. Yang Kai had brought along all the top Masters in the Ancient Wild Lands with him.
When the two parties met, Elder exchanged a few words with the Three Great Divine Venerables before they stepped onto the Space Array under Yang Kai’s leadership. By the time the flash of light had subsided, they had arrived on a mountain top.
Eight Stone Spirits had arrived at this place a long time ago and were now guarding all approaches to the Space Array. Seeing movement on the Space Array, they all turned to look in its direction.
The Three Great Divine Venerables and twenty-nine Monster Kings appeared one after another. Glaring at each other, they were quickly separated and formed into two groups. The relationship between the Stone Spirits and the Monster Race of the Ancient Wild Lands had never been harmonious and it was only over the past ten years that they started getting along a little more peacefully thanks to Yang Kai.
After Yang Kai finished transporting the people from the Ancient Wild Lands to their destination, he told them to wait for him before turning around and stepping onto the Space Array again.
It was crowded inside the main hall where the Space Array was located in High Heaven Palace. Nearly two hundred Emperor Realm Masters had been gathered in this place, with at least half of them whispering among themselves while the rest were standing to the side alone. As time passed, impatient emotions gradually began to spread.
If not for the Masters of the top four Sects watching them like hawks, the Emperor Realm Masters of these Sects would have broken out into a riot by now. They had answered the summons of High Heaven Palace to come here without knowing the reason why; moreover, their questions remained unanswered even after asking Head Manager Hua Qing Si. It was to be expected that they were feeling extremely uneasy. They kept wondering whether High Heaven Palace was quietly raising the butcher’s knife to slaughter them. But, how would that benefit High Heaven Palace?
Ying Fei, Xie Wu Wei, and Xi Lei were each standing at one corner of the hall, their Monster Qi overflowing as they swept their eyes around coldly. Anybody who made eye contact with them would quickly lower their heads and dare not make any mistakes afterward.
Meanwhile, Hua Qing Si, Bian Yu Qing, Ye Hen, and Nanmen Da Jun had gathered together with the contingent from Ice Heart Valley. Ice Heart Valley had sent five Emperor Realm Masters in total, with Ji Yao leading the team with a frosty expression, preventing anyone from approaching too close. The people from Dragon Palace and Full Sky Sect had also gathered here, so aside from the few Emperor Realm Masters left behind to guard their Sects, the rest had all assembled here. Li Jiao and Mi Qi were also talking amongst themselves, both at a loss, not knowing what Yang Kai was up to this time.
Amidst the quiet whispering, a brilliant light flashed from the Space Array to reveal Yang Kai’s figure. Everybody turned to look at him, some of them having solemn expressions while others were filled with doubt. Not everybody had seen Yang Kai before after all, they only knew that he was the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace. Those that knew what he looked like naturally had solemn expressions. On the other hand, those who did not know could sense that this young man was very imposing, not one to be trifled with.
“Greetings, Palace Master Yang,” A sparse smattering of voices rang out. Only then did the Emperor Realm Masters meeting him for the first time confirm who he was and hurriedly cupped their fists in greeting.
“Palace Master.” Hua Qing Si stepped forward.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai glanced around with a harsh and penetrating gaze. Seeing that there were quite a lot of people, he seemed satisfied and his expression softened significantly before he asked, “Is everyone here?”
Hua Qing Si replied, “Those that could arrive within half a day have more or less arrived. Only the people from Dragon Tiger Sect and Profound Cloud Pavilion have not arrived yet.”
There were only slightly more than 200 Emperor Realm Masters gathered inside this hall, and there were definitely far more Emperor Realm Masters across the entire Northern Territory than those present. However, Yang Kai had given them a deadline of half a day. For that reason, Hua Qing Si had only sent out selected notifications. Those who obviously could not make it to High Heaven Palace within half a day had been left out.
Even gathering this much manpower was only possible thanks to the numerous Space Arrays that Yang Kai had arranged across the entire Northern Territory, all of which connected directly to High Heaven Palace. If not for those Space Arrays, not even a quarter of this number would have made it here by now. It was only by relying on teleportation via those Space Arrays that they could gather more than two hundred Emperor Realm Masters within half a day.
“Dragon Tiger Sect and Profound Cloud Pavilion…” Yang Kai nodded indifferently before he waved his hand dismissively, “Those that haven’t appeared don’t need to appear ever again.”
His tone was calm and indifferent, without even the slightest hint of malice in it; nevertheless, all the Emperor Realm Masters present could sense a feeling of animosity behind them and secretly sighed to themselves. [These two Sects will no longer be able to gain a foothold in the Northern Territory. They might even be eradicated by this madman…]
They couldn’t help grieving for those two Sects and seething with a trace of hatred towards Yang Kai for his oppressive actions at the same time.
A Sect that emerged less than thirty years ago currently held control over the futures of all the cultivators in the Northern Territory, as well as the rise and fall of the various Sects. Nobody would believe it even if word got out about this. Unfortunately, there was nothing that they could do; the other party was extremely powerful. The annihilation of Seeking Passion Sect was evidence of what the other party was capable of. Therefore, they didn’t dare to express discontent despite the resentment and anger in their hearts.
“Everyone, I’m sure you must be wondering why I summoned you to High Heaven Palace today. I will now tell you why. Firstly, it is to rescue people, and secondly, it is to kill!”
A middle-aged man cupped his fists and asked, “Palace Master Yang, who do you want us to rescue and who do you want us to kill?” With so many Masters gathered together, it could not be a small matter. Practically a fifth of the combat power in the Northern Territory had been gathered in this place, so he could not imagine what kind of situation would require gathering this much strength. Even the top four Sects had practically emptied their headquarters for this undertaking.
Yang Kai glanced over at this man. He did not know which Sect’s Sect Master he was, but despite only being a First-Order Emperor, he had a righteous air about him and met Yang Kai’s gaze without flinching.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and explained, “The people we are rescuing are the cultivators of the Southern Territory. Like everyone here, they are the Masters of the major Sects and clans.”
“Cultivators of the Southern Territory!?” The inside of the hall exploded in a clamour of voices. They could never have expected that what was happening today would involve the Southern Territory. This was the Northern Territory after all and there was an enormous distance separating the two territories. As the saying went, ‘Distant water could not quench an immediate thirst’. They were too far away to provide timely aid during a crisis, so why did Palace Master Yang muster the forces of the Northern Territory if he wanted to rescue the people from the Southern Territory?
Something else concerned them even more though, and that was what happened to the Masters in the Southern Territory that would require so many people to rescue them? Although they didn’t live in the same Territory, they were all Masters and couldn’t possibly be weak. There were undoubtedly many Emperors in the Southern Territory, and if even those Masters could not solve this problem, then what could we do even if they could travel there?
“The ones we are going to kill are Demons!” Yang Kai shouted, suppressing the clamour of discussion.
The entire great hall fell silent in an instant as everyone stared at him with wide eyes. Even Ji Yao’s expression, which was generally cold and indifferent slightly changed.
Yang Kai couldn’t care less about what they were thinking at that moment as he continued on, “Hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters in the Southern Territory have been caught in a trap set up by people who underwent demonification. They are currently trapped inside Orthodoxy Temple with no way to escape. They may be infected by Demon Qi at any time and are in danger of falling prey to demonification themselves. Right now, their only hope of salvation is us. That is why I need all of your help to breach the Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple, kill the Demons, and rescue everyone from the Southern Territory.”
The words he spoke sounded unbelievably far-fetched, so much so that everybody was left reeling in shock and instinctively thought that he was joking. For one, who could know about what was happening in a place as far away as the Southern Territory?
Yet, Yang Kai’s words were filled with certainty. The existence of something like Demons was too difficult to even conceptualize, and while it was rumoured that someone infected by Demon Qi would succumb to becoming a Demon themselves, where would so much Demon Qi even come from in the first place?
“That is the situation. I don’t care whether you believe me or not. It doesn’t matter anyway. You will understand the truth once you arrive. During this mission to the Southern Territory, however, you must keep one thing in mind. Protect yourselves well; do not allow yourself to be contaminated with Demon Qi. More importantly, you need to be on guard against Demon Spirit possession. If the former situation appears, this King may still have a chance to save you. But, if it’s the latter… that will be your fate. Depart!”
Hua Qing Si was stunned for a moment but quickly came to her senses and immediately began leading the gathered Emperor Realm Masters onto the Space Array. The Space Array in High Heaven Palace was quite large and could transport twenty to thirty people at once, and with Yang Kai here, there was no need to power the Space Array with Source Crystals. He only needed to manipulate his Space Principles to activate the Space Array.
Following the flashes of light, group after group of people disappeared. Regardless of what they were thinking inside, they were sensible enough not to raise any objections here and simply followed the instructions given to them docilely.
A plain-looking woman and an elderly man stood together somewhere in the crowd. Both of them were Second-Order Emperors, and there were both Sect Masters of first-class Sects in the Northern Territory, which were only marginally weaker than the top four Sects including High Heaven Palace and Ice Heart Valley. The only difference between them was the lack of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master and having a smaller number of Emperors in their Sects. Aside from that, their heritage was nothing to laugh at. The two of them stood together, secretly communicating with each other via Divine Sense transmission.
The woman commented first, “High Heaven Palace is too much. First, we were told to rush here within half a day, then this boy didn’t even ask whether we agreed to this undertaking or not before demanding we risk our lives fighting against Demons just like that. How can such a thing be permitted!?”
The elderly man nodded, “En, it is indeed going too far.”
Just recently, all of them had been forced to submit before the strength and prestige of High Heaven Palace, so they already held grievances in their hearts. And now, they were suddenly dragged into battle against Demons to rescue a group of Emperor Realm Masters from the Southern Territory that they didn’t even know. It was inevitable that the resentment in their hearts considerably deepened.
The woman continued, “Does he really think that the Northern Territory belongs to High Heaven Palace now? If things are like this now, what will our futures be like?”
The elderly man smiled bitterly, “Life will become difficult. What else?”
The woman glanced sideways at him, “Do you plan to keep being suppressed with no power to resist like this?”
The elderly man was shocked, “Resist!? How do you plan to resist!? I advise you not to have any unnecessary thoughts. The heritage of High Heaven Palace is standing right in front of your eyes. Do you see those three Monster Race Masters? They’re all Monster Kings, each one as strong as a Third-Order Emperor. How can we match up to them?”
The woman coldly snorted, “A just cause will gain public support, but an unjust cause cannot. High Heaven Palace terrorized the entire Northern Territory this time around, so which Sect doesn’t hold some resentment towards them? Besides, who would willingly allow others to control them? If all the major Sects in the Northern Territory join forces and work together, what will happen to High Heaven Palace then?”
The elderly man thoughtfully said, “You want to recruit others…”
The woman explained, “That’s the only thing we can do for the sake of our futures. If High Heaven Palace knows what’s good for them, they will back down. Even if they refuse to accept reality, can they really fight back against the entire Northern Territory? It’s impossible even with the help of the other three top Sects. The key point is whether the hearts of the people can be united.”
The elderly man nodded lightly, “After this incident, I have the feeling that everybody will feel a sense of crisis and gain an awareness of how dire our situation is. They probably won’t let a chance to fight back slip through their fingers; after all, the knowledge that their lives and their freedom are lying in the hands of somebody else will make them very uneasy.”
“We should go around after this incident to gauge the willingness of the others. If the opportunity exists, it won’t be too late for an in-depth discussion into the matter.”
“Good. Let’s not talk about this anymore for now. It’s our turn, and we don’t even know where we are being sent.”
The woman and the elderly man mounted the Space Array with a few other Emperor Realm Masters and soon they were enveloped by a flash of light and a wave of dizziness washed over them. It felt like their entire being was passing through the endless Void. Despite how strong the two of them were, they were left with stars floating in front of their eyes and their Knowledge Seas had become somewhat choppy.
When they finally recovered from the dizziness, an uncomfortable feeling spread out throughout their bodies. There was a feeling of solid ground beneath their feet. The woman’s complexion was a little pale, and her footsteps were a little unsteady, but she still clearly heard a shout entering her ears, “Don’t just stand there blocking the way! Hurry up and get down! There are more people coming from behind.”
Before checking who was talking to her, she hurriedly stepped aside while circulating her Secret Art to relieve the uncomfortable feeling in her head. However, the expression on her face was filled with doubt.
It wasn’t as if she had never used a Space Array before; after all, she had arrived at High Heaven Palace today via teleportation through their Space Array. She also used this network to travel around in the Northern Territory before on multiple occasions; however, not once had she felt this kind of dizziness. It was her first time experiencing this kind of sensation. Logically speaking, that shouldn’t be possible. She was a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, so how could she fail to withstand the backlash of a single teleportation?
When her vision finally cleared up and she looked around, she was greeted by the sight of many familiar and unfamiliar faces that were all somewhat pale at the moment. They had apprehensive expressions and were clearly feeling rather uncomfortable. The elderly man was also standing beside her, and when their eyes met, they both looked at each other in confusion.
At that moment, a soft whisper came from the side. The voice was not loud, but everybody here was in the Emperor Realm, so who among them didn’t have excellent hearing? Both the woman and the elderly man were shocked when they heard this voice and together with many others exclaimed in astonishment, “The Southern Territory!?”
[That’s impossible, right!? Is this really the Southern Territory!? We were just in High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory a moment ago! How did we arrive in the Southern Territory in the blink of an eye!?] Their first reaction was disbelief; however, an investigation of their surroundings with their Divine Sense revealed that the topography and climate in this place were hugely different from the Northern Territory. It seemed that they were truly in the Southern Territory.
Thinking back on the feeling they experienced during the teleportation just now and the records they had seen in ancient books, a sudden realization flashed across their minds. A thought that they could barely believe came to them as they all turned to look at the Space Array in unison, a scorching gaze burning in their eyes.
[A Cross-Territory Space Array!]
It was not impossible for them to travel from the Northern Territory to the Southern Territory in an instant. It could be done with a Cross-Territory Space Array, but such a thing was extremely rare in the entire Star Boundary. Only a few Great Emperor Sects possessed such Space Arrays and all of them were inheritances that came from ancient times. Nobody knew if they could even still be used.
It was something the woman and the elderly man had never thought of before, but listening to the whisperings around them finally woke them up to the fact.
[Did we just use a Cross-Territory Space Array?] The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Only by using a Cross-Territory Space Array could they suffer from such strong teleportation backlash; after all, they had crossed a distance of tens or even hundreds of millions of kilometres in an instant. It was incomparable to the teleportations that they had experienced previously.
Where did High Heaven Palace get their hands on a Cross-Territory Space Array? High Heaven Palace was currently occupying the former site of the Seeking Passion Sect, and most of the Emperor Realm Masters in the Northern Territory had been to the Seeking Passion Sect at least once in their lifetime. They had a thorough understanding of Seeking Passion Sect’s heritage and were keenly aware that Seeking Passion Sect could not have owned a Cross-Territory Space Array.
It had long been rumoured that Yang Kai, the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace was proficient in the Dao of Space, so could it be that he is even capable of arranging a Cross-Territory Space Array!? If that is the case, then it is a huge deal!
The woman and the elderly man looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes. The whispers surrounding them became louder and louder, and the frequency of the words ‘Southern Territory’ seem to increase as well. Some people sounded like they couldn’t believe it while others reacted like these two and stared at the Space Array on the ground with burning gazes.
If this was truly a Cross-Territory Space Array, then it was a huge treasure. Just like how Yang Kai saw the benefits in the circulation of materials between the two Territories, these old foxes could see them too. Any Sect could make a fortune just by having a Space Array that connected the Northern Territory and the Southern Territory
Just to be on the cautious side, the woman wanted to find somebody from High Heaven Palace to inquire about the matter; however, she froze mid-motion when her gaze swept over her surroundings.
The elderly man had yet to recover from the shock of being transported via this Space Array and arriving in the Southern Territory in an instant, but when he saw her expression, he couldn’t help being taken aback as he sent her a Divine Sense transmission, “What’s wrong?”
The woman did not respond, she simply continued to stare in a certain direction. Puzzled, the elderly man followed her gaze and was instantly stunned. There were nine Stone Men who were tens of metres tall standing there. They had angular bodies and all of them were so imposing that just looking at them gave people a strong visual impact. The bodies that seemed to be formed from piling a bunch of stones together were full of indescribable power. Nobody dared to doubt their combat prowess.
[I-I-Isn’t that the legendary Stone Spirit Clan!? Weren’t they said to be extinct!? Why are there so many of them here!?] It would have been one thing if that were all, but standing opposite the Stone Spirits were a number of equally imposing figures. There were not many of them, only about thirty or so, but be that as it may, the Monster Qi coming from each individual figure was overwhelmingly powerful and extremely terrifying.
The woman and the elderly man had been so fixated on the shocking existence of the Cross-Territory Space Array that they had failed to notice this shocking Monster Qi until now, but when they studied these figures carefully, their expressions changed drastically. These members of the Monster Race were all Monster Kings. None of the people here was a match for them.
The woman and the elderly man watched as the three Monster Kings from High Heaven Palace mingled with these other members of the Monster Race, laughing and chatting with each other. A careful count indicated that there were a total of thirty-two of them…
In other words, there were thirty-two Monster Kings in this place! What kind of force was this!? It should be said that most of the so-called top Sects only had one Third-Order Emperor Realm Master each. For example, Fire Dragon Palace only had Li Jiao; Full Sky Sect only had Mi Qi; Ice Heart Valley only had Bing Yun; and even Seeking Passion Sect only had two just before its destruction.
Faced with such a comparison, the strength represented by these thirty-two Monster Kings was extremely terrifying. To put it bluntly, the two hundred Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory gathered here probably couldn’t defeat this group of Monster Kings even if they all fought together. The only way they might stand a chance against the Monster Kings was if they actually coordinated and cooperated with each other perfectly.
[Are they also part of the reinforcement that the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace recruited? Where did a group of Monster Kings like them pop out from? Why were we completely unaware of the existence of these Monster Kings before?]
*Gudong…*
There were various gulping sounds as people swallowed nervously. Everybody’s attention had finally shifted from the Cross-Territory Space Array to these Monster Kings.
The Monster Kings obviously felt the sudden attention on them too and many of them teasingly grinned back. The Monster Qi radiating from them became even more terrifying than before, completely terrifying many of the Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory. They were afraid that the Monster Kings might suddenly go on a rampage and massacre them.
The woman suddenly remembered a rumour she heard in the past and her pupils contracted as she adjusted her focus to two men and a single woman standing in front of the thirty-two Monster Kings, secretly sending a Divine Sense transmission to the elderly man, “Thirty-two Monster Kings. Doesn’t that number remind you of anything?”
“Remind me of what?” The elderly man responded subconsciously.
“I heard that in the Eastern Territory, there is a place known as the Ancient Wild Lands which retains its ancient wild aura unchanged from hundreds of thousands of years ago. Ruling that land are Four Great Divine Venerables, each with eight powerful Monster Kings under their command…”
The elderly man felt his mind going blank, “The Four Great Divine Venerables, each with eight powerful Monster Kings under their command?” [Aren’t there exactly thirty-two of them here right now?] He had heard of this rumour before too, nevertheless, a rumour was just a rumour and nobody would dare to believe that rumour unless they personally saw proof. There were supposedly thirty-two Monster Kings in the Ancient Wild Lands, and there just happened to be thirty-two Monster Kings here too.
The elderly man paled visibly as he muttered, “Are you saying that they are from the Ancient Wild Lands? But, that’s in the Eastern Territory…”
She rebuked, “So what if it’s located in the Eastern Territory? We just came from the Northern Territory ourselves! So that’s how it is. It turns out that the three Monster Kings from High Heaven Palace are from the Ancient Wild Lands!”
The existence of Ying Fei, Xie Wu Wei, and Xi Lei was not a secret, it was just that nobody in the Northern Territory could not figure out where Yang Kai managed to find and recruit three Monster Kings, who he then placed in High Heaven Palace as guards. It wasn’t until this moment that they finally found the answer to this question that had puzzled them all for such a long time.
“That makes sense. Those Stone Spirits, which are rumoured to have gone extinct, probably came from the Ancient Wild Lands too.” The elderly man gently nodded before he suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat and he tremblingly asked, “If those Stone Spirits and the Monster Kings are from the Ancient Wild Lands, then… who are those three standing in front of them?”
The woman turned her head stiffly to look at him. She had already considered that question a long time ago, and at this moment, she slowly uttered two words, stressing each word carefully, “Divine… Spirits!”
The elderly man immediately lowered his head, considered it for a while, and replied, “I think that what we talked about earlier was extremely ill-considered. We need to put more thought into it before making a decision.”
They originally wanted to contact all the other Emperor Realm Masters in the Northern Territory to rebel against High Heaven Palace after this incident; however, they were now witnessing first-hand the powerful forces that Yang Kai could casually bring out at any moment. There were Stone Spirits, Monster Kings, and even Divine Spirits willing to answer his call, so who would dare to oppose him?
These Masters might all live in the Eastern Territory, but with the existence of the Cross-Territory Space Array, travelling from the Eastern Territory to the Northern Territory was as easy as taking a stroll. For them to appear here at this moment could only mean that there was another Cross-Territory Space Array in the Eastern Territory. If they provoked High Heaven Palace and caused this group of Monsters to march into the Northern Territory, they would still be no match even if they rallied every Sect in the Northern Territory together, and that was not even taking into consideration a lack of unity among them at that point.
The woman nodded with deep approval, “Actually, it’s not that bad to have a leader in the Northern Territory. It’s better than having us scattered about, unable to coordinate with one another.”
Those words were probably only to comfort herself.
More than two hundred Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory were gathered here; moreover, they were all worldly people, so if this woman and the elderly man could guess the origins of the Stone Spirits and the Monster King, it was reasonable to assume that the others could too.
Seeing so many Monster Kings and even Divine Spirits waiting around obediently, how could they dare to have any complaints? They quietly looked down at their feet and dutifully waited by the side. There was no need for other people to see how shocked they were.
Mi Qi and Li Jiao were standing together and many expressions flashed across the former’s face. He was secretly thanking his lucky stars he had not completely fallen out with High Heaven Palace back then. If not, there wouldn’t even be ashes left of Full Sky Sect. Even he might have died without knowing how!
On the other hand, Li Jiao was perfectly calm and composed. He had raised a ruckus on Dragon Island with Yang Kai before, after all. Besides, he also knew about the intimate relationship Yang Kai had with a Dragon Girl. Although he was a little surprised by Yang Kai’s methods and prestige, he was considerably calmer than the rest. He even had an inexplicable sense of superiority. [If Yang Kai had called upon the Dragon Clan from Dragon Island, then that would truly be exciting.]
Unfortunately, he had no idea what stance Dragon Island had taken with Yang Kai at the moment. It stood to reason that Yang Kai was probably Dragon Island’s greatest enemy after he caused such a big mess back then. But, the crux of the matter was that Yang Kai was now married to a Dragon Girl.
While everybody was still reeling from shock, Yang Kai led the last batch of people and appeared on the Space Array. All attention instantly focused on him as he swept his gaze over the crowd and loudly announced, “This is the Southern Territory. Orthodoxy Temple is located not far away. Moments from now, I must ask all of you to work together to aid me in the rescue efforts while preventing the Demons from escaping. Firstly, you must protect yourselves well. Don’t let yourselves be corrupted by Demon Qi. Secondly, capture those who have been affected by the Demon Qi. Try not to kill them if you can and keep the killings as minimal as possible.”
“We can’t just kill them?” The crowd was in an uproar.
Even Fan Wu frowned and asked, “Why spare their lives if they have already been demonified?” If they were not allowed to kill, then their only option was to capture the enemy alive. Everyone here might be rather powerful, but capturing an enemy alive was far more troublesome than killing them. What’s more; what was the point of capturing these people? It was easy to be demonified, but it was hard to cure. In his opinion, there was no need to spare their lives anymore if they were already corrupted by the Demon Qi.
“I have my reasons. Of course, if there’s no other choice, I would rather you kill them than to let a single Demon escape from this place,” Yang Kai said with a solemn expression, “Do you understand?”
“Understood!” Over 200 Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory shouted together. Nobody dared show any disrespect anymore; after all, there was a group of Monster Kings and three possible Divine Spirits eying them dangerously at this very moment.
“For now, please surround Orthodoxy Temple and act according to my orders!” With a wave of his hand, he took the lead and headed in the direction of Orthodoxy Temple, “Let’s go!”
The group of people followed closely behind him and a short time later, an almost imperceptible curtain of light appeared in their field of vision. It was the Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple. Everybody was secretly surprised to see the state of the Spirit Array. It was only a glimpse, but this Spirit Array was part of the heritage of a top Sect.
As they approached the Sect Defending Array, Yang Kai gestured to the left and the right with his hands and the two hundred Emperors immediately split into two groups, flying out in an orderly fashion around the light curtain. A person would stop and take up a position at fixed intervals. In this way, they completely surrounded Orthodoxy Temple in less than a quarter of an hour.
Inside Orthodoxy Temple, Lei Gu, who was wrapped in Demon Qi, received the news at the exact moment Yang Kai and the others made their move. Turning his head, he glared at the Demon standing next to him and asked, “Are you certain?”
The Demon bowed, “Sir, there is no mistake. There are over two hundred people, each of them in the Emperor Realm.” This Demon was dressed in the attire of someone belonging to Orthodoxy Temple; moreover, he was a First-Order Emperor. He was most likely one of the Elders of Orthodoxy Temple, but it was clear that he was currently being possessed by a Demon Spirit.
Lei Gu’s eyes flashed as he frowned and muttered, “How is that possible?”
The trap he laid in the Southern Territory had been prepared meticulously and executed precisely. He had taken advantage of the Martial Gathering to secretly plot against hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples. He had been confident that it was foolproof, but contrary to his expectations, a crack appeared in his plan in the form of Yang Kai at the very last moment.
Lei Gu never imagined that Yang Kai, who had been missing for more than ten years, would suddenly appear to participate in the Southern Territory Martial Gathering. That was why he arranged for Yang Kai to be lured away and secretly assassinated, but who could have known that even ‘that’ person would fail at this mission? It frustrated Lei Gu to no end. Only now did he learn how adept a person proficient in the Dao of Space was at escaping and surviving; however, only a day had passed, so where did that bastard find so many powerful reinforcements!?
Unfortunately, the Demon subordinate sounded so confident that Lei Gu had no choice but to believe his words. To be on the safe side though, Lei Gu decided to take a look in person. After giving instructions to the other Demon, Lei Gu flew out to the main gate, and looking out into the distance, his expression turned grim.
Sure enough; Yang Kai, who had left less than a day ago, had returned. Moreover, he brought a lot of reinforcements with him. In addition to Shi Huo, who had remained in this place to monitor the situation, there were nine more Stone Men and hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and Monster Race Masters gathered around Yang Kai.
Lei Gu looked to the left and then to the right. There were people standing in the air at fixed intervals outside the Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple, and when they noticed his arrival, they all looked over in his direction.
[They really are Emperor Realm Masters… And there are so many of them too!] Although Lei Gu was not sure how many people Yang Kai brought in total, it seemed that the report by that Demon earlier was fairly accurate.
[Where did he find so many Emperor Realm Masters? Only one day has passed! Even if he went to all the major Sects in the Southern Territory without rest and reported this news to them, it would still be impossible to muster up so many reinforcements in such a short period of time!] Lei Gu’s expression twisted into a grimace. He had the nagging feeling that the situation was about to turn against him. If the plan this time failed, it would definitely be because of Yang Kai. A great hatred welled up in Lei Gu’s heart. After so many years of planning, everything was about to fail because of one person, so how could Lei Gu not be vexed?
“It’s true. He’s been demonified,” Ji Yao stood beside Yang Kai and commented. When she saw Lei Gu, she couldn’t help feeling a little surprised as she stared at him carefully. It was her first time seeing Demon Qi or a cultivator who had undergone demonification. Even though she was only seeing it for the first time, that black Qi surrounding Lei Gu’s body gave her an extremely uncomfortable feeling. It was a kind of rejection that came directly from the depths of her soul. [Is that the Demon Qi? How abominable.]
“Lei Gu, today you die!” Yang Kai shouted through gritted teeth. Meeting his enemy left him feeling incredibly livid.
Lei Gu looked grim but did not make any kind of reply; instead, he turned around and left. He had no intention of saying a single word to Yang Kai. The only reason he came here was to see if the report he received was accurate, and since he had confirmed it was, there was no need to stay any longer.
Yang Kai was slightly surprised when he realized Lei Gu had decided to perish here as well before he immediately raised his voice and shouted, “Temple Master, are you there?”
Yang Kai’s voice, which was supported by his Emperor Qi, sounded like the rumbling thunder and transmitted into the depths of the Orthodoxy Temple easily.
A hearty laughter immediately came from inside along with a shout, “I’m not dead yet!”
“Temple Master, hold on a bit longer. I’ll rescue you soon,” Yang Kai shouted again.
Wen Zi Shan’s voice rang out, “Good!”
Although he did not know what the situation was like on the outside, Yang Kai must have brought back reinforcements since he had returned after leaving. All their hopes of being rescued lay on Yang Kai’s shoulders, so they could only choose to trust him unconditionally.
“Little Brat, hurry up! Your Temple Master is going to become a Demon if you waste any more time!” Ma Qing’s frustrated voice also rang out.
Wen Zi Shan snapped, “Nonsense! You’re the one who is going to be demonified!”
Yang Kai grinned at those words. [This is good. If they can still quarrel, then it means that the situation inside has not yet become dire.]
Collecting himself, Yang Kai lifted one hand up high and his voice sounded in all directions, “Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
A loud clanging sound rang out as swords were unsheathed and countless Emperor Artifacts were summoned. Monster Qi and Emperor Qi surged up and condensed.
The hand Yang Kai held up in the air was brought down in one swift motion while he shouted, “Attack!”
The moment the word left his mouth, a pitch-black Moon Blade slashed forward and struck the surface of Orthodoxy Temple’s Sect Defending Array. A crackling sound rang out where the blade struck against the light curtain, and a slight dent was formed. Countless ripples spread out from where the curtain of light sunk inward.
In the next moment, hundreds of attacks of various shapes, sizes, and colours blasted at the Sect Defending Array from all directions, causing the light curtain to sway and flicker. For a moment, the sky went dark, and the surrounding World Energy became chaotic as various Principles intertwined like a great storm.
Before the surface of the Sect Defending Array could be stabilized, it flickered unsteadily from the continuous rain of attacks. It looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, but contrary to expectations, the light curtain managed to resist the initial barrage of attacks and did not immediately shatter.
The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was truly extraordinary. If somebody was presiding over the Spirit Array, they might be able to repair it quickly; however, the Spirit Array was relying on its own defensive capabilities at the moment. It didn’t even have a host. For that reason, the self-repair effects were minimal.
It wasn’t that Lei Gu was unwilling to remain here and preside over the Spirit Array, it was just that he knew that the tides had turned against him. With so many Masters working together, the Spirit Array would not last any longer even if he was supporting it. Rather than wasting his time here, it was better to do something useful instead. Who knows? There might still be a chance of turning things around.
The first wave of attacks had just ended when the second wave of attacks began. Moreover, it was even fiercer than the previous round. The entire world dimmed as the Heavens and Earth seemed to invert. An indescribable sense of enthusiasm surged up in the hearts of these Emperor Realm Masters. There had never been an instance where so many Masters worked together before, so the prestige alone was terrifying in and of itself. As part of this historic moment, the reinforcements brought by Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment.
A rumbling sound rang out before the Spirit Array collapsed. The curtain of light that had been protecting Orthodoxy Temple for thousands of years burst apart like a soap bubble that had been popped.
“Charge!” Yang Kai roared as he raced to be the first to rush inside.
Following closely behind him was Ji Yao. Her figure was ethereal; however, she turned her head to look to the side as she rushed into Orthodoxy Temple. The corpse of a woman was sprawled across a small slope there. That woman had a curvaceous body and beautiful looks, but unfortunately, she had died with her eyes wide open.
Ji Yao did not know who this woman was or how she was related to Yang Kai; however, Ji Yao clearly noticed him glance in this fallen woman’s direction for a moment, and a look of pain had flashed across his eyes when he saw her corpse. Ji Yao’s eyes flashed slightly as she pointed a finger out. A snowflake floated from her fingertip and landed lightly on the woman’s corpse. The snowflake did not melt, however, and instead released an extremely cold energy, sealing that woman’s corpse in a block of ice in the blink of an eye.
A group of Demons wrapped in black Qi came rushing towards the charging Masters suddenly, every one of them wearing a wooden expression, seeming as though they had no sentience. They were no different from walking corpses that were dressed in different attires, but they were clearly disciples of various major Sects in the Southern Territory. Waving the weapons in their hands, they fearlessly rushed at the Emperors and Monster Kings.
Yang Kai was the first to reach the line of battle. His figure shifted erratically, passing the Demons one by one, reaching out and lightly striking them in the back of their necks as he flew by. A group of Demons instantly fell out of the sky like dumplings and crashed into the woods below. He did not kill them as he knew that these people were infected by Demon Qi and had undergone demonification which, while incurable for most, was not for him. If a massacre were to take place here, the Southern Territory would surely suffer severe damage to its foundation. Be that as it may, Yang Kai had no time to look after these disciples one by one, so he could only knock them out as quickly as possible. Fortunately, they were not flying too high. Falling from this high would not be deadly. Not to mention, there were trees below to break their fall.
The people following Yang Kai imitated his actions. While using their Emperor Qi to protect themselves and prevent the Demon Qi from invading them easily, they knocked out the enemies in front of them in rapid succession.
The Demons that were rushing at them were all below the Emperor Realm, so there was no way they could pose any real threat. Even if these Demons did not fear death after their demonification, they were still no match against Emperor Realm Masters in a fight. One by one, the Demons fell unconscious and crashed to the ground. It was quite a sight to behold.
Even so, there were too many Demons. A rough estimation showed that there were at least a thousand of them. This was still only in the direction of the gates. If all the Demons from other parts of Orthodoxy Temple were included in the count, Yang Kai estimated that the number of disciples from the Southern Territory that had been demonized in this one day had reached tens of thousands.
More than ten people, with Yang Kai in the lead, plunged into the ranks of the people who had undergone demonization like a sharp knife, leaving a path of bodies behind them wherever they went.
“This is too easy!” One of the Elders of Full Sky Sect in the First-Order Emperor Realm laughed loudly. [Yang Kai gathered so many Masters together and made things seem so grand and dangerous that I couldn’t help feeling nervous at first. I thought that these Demons would be something terrible, but after fighting against them, it’s clear they’re nothing special. It seems that strength is the root of everything, whether they be Demons or not.]
He was not the only one who had this kind of mindset as most of the reinforcements who came into contact with the Demons for the first time were thinking similar thoughts.
The Demon Qi coming from the bodies of those Demons was indeed strange, possessing a strong corrosive aura filled with malice and madness; however, these people were protected by their Emperor Qi. Furthermore, many of them had donned Artifact Armour. They had nothing to fear against that flimsy Demon Qi.
The liberators progressed forward smoothly like they were chopping melons and slicing vegetables. Although these ten or so people were surrounded by thousands of enemies, they were talking and laughing as usual while manoeuvring through the crowd. The Demons might have been numerous, but with the power of these ten or so people, they could probably knock out all these Demons within a quarter-hour. If they regrouped with the others after that, they would be able to head straight to the depths of the Orthodoxy Temple and Lei Gu would have no place to escape to.
Unexpectedly though, many of the Demons suddenly flushed bright red and swelled up like they were balloons. Their stomachs expanded like they were ten months into a pregnancy and torturous and pained voices sounded of their throats. The Demon Qi in their bodies also began to fluctuate wildly.
The sudden change shocked many, and their movements slowed down considerably. Nevertheless, they all felt an imperceptible sense of crisis looming over them.
“Be careful!” Yang Kai’s expression changed, grabbing one of the Demons that was experiencing these changes as he shouted, trying to knock them unconscious. However, the Demon’s eyes bulged as he glared straight at him, its swelling body showing no signs of stopping whatsoever.