The reason Yang Kai brought up the matter as soon as they met was that he wanted to use Spirit Beast Island to inform Serene Soul Palace. Since he had bumped into this matter and was unable to save Yao Lin, the least he could do was pass on the news.
What’s more, that old man almost killed Yang Xiao, so Yang Kai wanted to know who he was.
On the way, Yang Kai voiced his doubts. Li Wu Yi pondered for a while before slowly shaking his head, “I don’t have an impression of anyone matching your description, but if I get to see him with my own eyes, I might recognize him. Although there are a fair number of Pseudo-Great Emperors in this world, there aren’t that many.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel a little regretful after hearing this. He thought that Li Wu Yi might know the identity of the old man. He hadn’t expected him to be unable to identify him, but it wasn’t surprising either, as he hadn’t seen the incident with his own eyes and who knows whether the old man had disguised his appearance or not?
Soon, the pair came to a pavilion with small bridges and creeks flowing below them, a beautiful and unique place. A stalwart man happened to be standing on the bridge, throwing fish food into the water below, attracting red carps to fight for the feed, splashing the water noisily.
Judging by his appearance alone, no one would notice anything special about this man. He looked like an average commoner, lacking any bearing of nobility. It was just that he was relatively bigger and taller, but he was no doubt one of ten Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, Martial Beast Emperor, Mo Huang!
“You’re back!” Mo Huang raised his eyes, looking at Yang Kai with a smile before continuing to feed the fish.
Yang Kai earnestly cupped his fists, “Greetings, Senior!”
Mo Huang lightly nodded in response before indifferently asking, “Xiao Qi is also back?”
Yang Kai replied, “She is back and currently chatting with Senior Jiu Feng.”
Mo Huang gave a nod before going silent.
Li Wu Yi stepped up at that moment and spoke with a serious look on his face, “Sir, something has happened.”
Mo Huang looked up as his brow slightly rose. Throwing the rest of the fish food in his hand into the water, he asked while clapping his hand, “What’s the matter?” Since it is coming from you, then it is clearly not a small matter.”
All of a sudden, Mo Huang worried that something happened on Dragon Island’s side, involving his wife, Fu Xuan.
Li Wu Yi, however, replied, “Yao Lin was captured by an unknown assailant and all of her guards were slaughtered.”
Mo Huang furrowed his brow after hearing this, “Yao Lin? Yao Jun’s daughter?”
“That’s right.”
Mo Huang curiously asked, “How do you know?”
Li Wu Yi explained, “Yang Kai came across the scene on his way back. The Young Lady was present as well. Apparently, the attacker was a Pseudo-Great Emperor.”
Mo Huang grew even more curious, “A Pseudo-Great Emperor!”
Although Pseudo-Great Emperors were fairly strong, which Pseudo-Great Emperor had the guts to make a move on a Great Emperor’s daughter? Even if Yao Lin had done something incredibly offensive, she would only be slightly punished at most, but to kill her guards and even capture her was tantamount to completely offending Yao Jun.
“Are you certain?” Mu Huang asked with a frown.
Li Wu Yi looked at Yang Kai, who replied with a serious face, “Junior is certain. I could tell it was Yao Lin, and Xiao Qi also recognized Yao Lin at that time.”
Hearing Yang Kai call his darling daughter so intimately, the corners of Mo Huang’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch as he deeply stared at this boy with a meaningful look on his face.
Li Wu Yi coughed and cut in at that moment to ask, “Should I inform Serene Soul Palace of this?”
Mo Huang gave consent with a nod, “En, we have to inform them. If it’s all some misunderstanding, that couldn’t be any better, but if what you say happened really happened, the sooner Old Yao Jun knows, the better.”
Having said so, Mo Huang took out a jade slip and engraved a message into it with his Divine Sense. Then, he flicked his wrist as the jade slip disappeared into thin air following a surge of Space Principles.
Seeing this, Yang Kai understood what happened right away. Mo Huang and Yao Jun should have used Li Wu Yi’s Space Beacons to establish a line of communication between them. This wasn’t surprising as both of them were Great Emperors as well as residents of the Eastern Territory. It was normal for neighbours to have a way to contact each other.
Mo Huang then switched the topic and asked, looking at Yang Kai, “Did anything unusual happen on Dragon Island?”
Yang Kai immediately replied, having understood what he was ultimately asking about, “Everything went well. Third Elder hasn’t received any harsh treatment and was very happy when Xiao Qi went to see her.”
Mo Huang’s expression turned softer as a smile spread on his lips, “That’s good to hear.”
He then asked, “They didn’t embarrass you this time, right?” If Fu Xuan and Zhu Qing’s fate were connected, Yang Kai and Mo Huang were also considered to be connected by the same fate. They were both married to Dragon Women and weren’t liked by Dragon Island.
Yang Kai touched his nose as he replied, “The situation was a bit awkward at first, but in the end, all our misunderstandings were resolved.”
Mo Huang asked in amazement, “Resolved? What do you mean?” Even though he was a Great Emperor, he couldn’t help but be surprised after hearing this.
Yang Kai replied casually, “It means what it means.”
Mo Huang looked at him with a brilliant look on his face, “Don’t tell this King that Dragon Island is no longer hostile to you?”
Yang Kai forced a cough, “In the beginning, there were indeed a bit, but later… they were quite warm to me.”
[Warm…] Mo Huang’s eyes were almost ready to pop out when he heard this. He was simply astonished by Yang Kai. Li Wu Yi also looked at Yang Kai with a strange look on his face.
Warm could describe many things out there, but it couldn’t be spoken in the same breath with the Dragon Clan.
[How can the Dragon Clan be warm to someone?] Mo Huang was hunted and attacked by Dragon Island just because he had a daughter with Fu Xuan even when he was a Great Emperor. They even almost launched a full-scale attack on Spirit Beast Island. Although Yang Kai could be counted as a rising star, he was still just a Junior. Mo Huang had far greater strength and status than Yang Kai, so how could the latter get preferential treatment from Dragon Island while a Great Emperor was treated with disdain and hostility?
[Fu Zhun isn’t that easy to talk to, right?]
Naturally, Yang Kai could easily dispel the doubts in their hearts, but he found it bothersome so he just scratched his nose and stated, “Xiao Qi knows the whole story. Senior can ask her when you have the free time.” He also didn’t want to give a detailed explanation here, otherwise, he would need to bring up the matter of Yang Xiao, which would take more than one or two sentences.
Right then, Space Principles fluctuated.
The trio promptly sensed it and Mo Huang reached out to catch a jade slip that appeared out of thin air. This jade slip was different from the one he had taken out previously.
This was obviously a reply from Serene Soul Emperor.
After checking it, Mo Huang frowned and informed the others, “Yao Lin may really have been kidnapped.”
“Why do you say that, Sir?” Li Wu Yi asked.
Mo Huang crushed the jade slip and explained, shaking his head, “Yao Jun can’t reach Yao Lin or her guards.” If he couldn’t reach her, it means that things aren’t looking good for her, and coupled with what Yang Kai has reported, Yao Lin’s capture is all but confirmed.
“Do you have urgent business?” Mo Huang asked Yang Kai again.
Yang Kai had no idea why he was asking but he still replied, shaking his head, “I don’t have any urgent matters to attend to for the time being, but since my business in the Eastern Territory is over, I was preparing to return to the Northern Territory.”
Mo Huang added with a nod, “Since you aren’t in a hurry, stay here for a few days. Someone from Serene Soul Palace will be coming to ask you some questions.”
The kidnapping of Yao Lin was a matter of great importance, and as the primary eyewitness to the crime, Serene Soul Palace naturally had some questions to ask Yang Kai. Of course, Yang Kai understood this so he immediately agreed, “Good.”
He was planning to stay on Spirit Beast Island for a few days anyway; first to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and second to arrange a Space Array here. This way, whether he wanted to travel to Spirit Beast Island, or travel between Spirit Beast Island and Dragon Island, it would be far more convenient.
Having bid farewell to Mo Huang, Yang Kai was led to a courtyard by the sea by Li Wu Yi. The courtyard was quite spacious and had beautiful scenery surrounding it; he could relax by the beach here, watching the tides come and go.
The next day, Yang Kai accompanied Mo Xiao Qi to sightsee Spirit Beast Island. The island itself was fairly large and was protected by an enormous Spirit Array. Outsiders couldn’t find Spirit Beast Island from the outside; only those who knew its location would be able to come here.
The World Energy on the island was incredibly rich, and the mountains and rivers here painted an extremely beautiful picture. From time to time, one could catch sight of rare and exotic beasts wandering about, each of them exuding a terrifying aura.
Martial Beast Great Emperor pursued the Grand Dao of Beast Taming, so there was no shortage of Monster Beasts here. Spirit Beast Island also had its Beast Seekers, who searched for rare beasts year-round. Today, there weren’t many people living on Spirit Beast Island, but the number of Monster Beasts living on it was at least eight hundred, and each of them was an extraordinary existence.
These Monster Beasts all had a high level of sentience too and were especially close to Mo Xiao Qi. What was rare was that Mo Xiao Qi had given each of them a name and remembered all of them.
Of the many Monster Beasts living on Spirit Beast Island, Yang Kai was most impressed by a Seven Coloured Elk. It was short compared to the other Monster Beasts, just ten meters tall or so, but it was a descendant of the Ancient Divine Spirit Nine Coloured Elk, and as such, was quite extraordinary.
After a brief tour, Yang Kai was full of emotions. On the surface, Spirit Beast Island was only managed by a few Masters, but in fact, each of these Monster Beasts here had extremely fearsome combat power.
After two days, Yang Kai, led by Li Wu Yi, came to a suitable place and prepared to arrange the Space Array.
Originally, Li Wu Yi wanted to arrange it himself while Yang Kai supervised and guided him, but if it was really arranged by Li Wu Yi, it would fail to connect to the various Space Arrays already arranged by Yang Kai in various places, defeating its original purpose.
Left with no choice, Li Wu Yi could only let Yang Kai do it himself while he observed and emulated.
Last time, he got the chance to witness this process in Heavenly Wolf Valley, so this would be the second time. Both of them were proficient in the Dao of Space, and Space Arrays and Space Beacons had many similarities, so when Yang Kai was finished laying out the Space Array, Li Wu Yi had already mastered it. In the future, he too could arrange a Cross-Territory Space Array like Yang Kai, through which he could travel to and fro anywhere he wanted.
However, whether Space Arrays were more convenient or Space Beacons were, it was hard to say. The Array could send more people at once, but it was cumbersome to arrange. On the other hand, beacons were convenient to refine but had many more limitations on their usage.
On the fifth day after Yang Kai came to Spirit Beast Island, the people from Serene Soul Palace finally arrived.
In the main hall, Yang Kai hurried over with Mo Xiao Qi after having received the news. Before going in, he saw two Emperor Realms Masters standing on either side outside the hall. They were radiating a strange aura that was a little dark and gloomy, and that Yang Kai found somewhat familiar.
After giving it a second thought, it was similar to the aura of Netherworld Sect cultivators. He immediately understood that these two Emperor Realm Masters should be the members of Serene Soul Palace, but since two Emperor Realm Masters were guarding the door, the person who had come from Serene Soul Palace must have a very high status.
[Did Serene Soul Great Emperor come in person?] Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat as he immediately froze in place.
To be honest, if Serene Soul Great Emperor really arrived, Yang Kai still had no idea how he should deal with it; after all, he almost killed Yao Lin a while back and provoked Yao Jun into appearing with his Soul Descent. Only then did the conflict back then stop, but Yang Kai’s actions were still enough to be taken as offending the Great Emperor.
Yang Kai didn’t really want to kill Yao Lin back then, as his objective was simply to draw out someone to negotiate with, but he also didn’t care if he really killed her either. Furthermore, everything was Yao Lin’s fault. As long as Serene Soul Great Emperor remained reasonable, there was no reason to blame him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let him go at the time.
Having adjusted his mindset, Yang Kai strode into the hall under the eyes of the two Emperor Realm Masters.
Inside, Li Wu Yi was speaking to a woman in noble attire. The woman looked cold with long silky hair that cascaded down her light green dress, giving her a mature charm and elegance. Coupled with towering peaks and a tight ribbon around her waist, this woman, who looked roughly thirty or so years old, was no doubt a ravishing beauty that could easily provoke the fantasies of men.
An old woman with grey hair stood behind this woman, her eyes somewhat murky, as if she already had one foot in the coffin.
But whether it was the middle-aged woman or the old woman, both of them were in the Emperor Realm. The cold middle-aged woman was a Third-Order Emperor, while the old woman was Second-Order.
When Yang Kai arrived, an anxious and angry look appeared on the cold-looking woman’s face. Obviously, she was anxious and impatient. When she was talking to Li Wu Yi, she even spoke in a perfunctory manner while not showing the slightest respect.
Seeing Yang Kai come in, the middle-aged woman and the old woman turned their gazes on him and Yang Kai suddenly felt as if two sharp swords were pointed at him.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow as a confused look appeared on his face. He didn’t know these women, yet he could clearly feel their hostility towards him.
[What, do you have some kind of grudge against me?] Yang Kai criticized in his heart.
“Yang Kai, you’re here.” Li Wu Yi turned to face him.
Yang Kai immediately cupped his fists and greeted, “Senior.”
Li Wu Yi nodded before introducing the two women in a serious tone, “This is Madam Rong from Serene Soul Palace, Yao Lin’s biological mother. Madam Rong would like to ask you what you witnessed that day. You must reply to her truthfully.”
Yang Kai was immediately surprised and took a closer look at Madam Rong. [No wonder I felt this woman resembled Yao Lin a little, it turns out she is her mother. But if she is Yao Lin’s mother, doesn’t that make her Serene Soul Great Emperor’s wife or concubine?]
[No wonder Li Wu Yi is personally entertaining her! With Serene Soul Great Emperor behind her, Spirit Beast Island obviously can’t be neglectful towards her.]
While thinking such thoughts, Yang Kai cupped his fists politely, “Greetings Madam Rong.”
Li Wu Yi introduced Yang Kai, pointing at him, “Madam Rong, this is Yang Kai whom I was just speaking to you about. When your daughter was kidnapped, he happened to be nearby and can be considered a witness. You may ask him whatever you want to ask.”
Madam Rong’s pair of pretty eyes stared sharply at Yang Kai as a gloomy look appeared on her face. It seemed she hadn’t heard anything Li Wu Yi said as she indifferently asked, “Are you ‘that’ Yang Kai?”
[What do you mean by ‘that’ Yang Kai?] Yang Kai momentarily frowned. [Are there many Yang Kais in this world?] Nevertheless, he nodded, “Yes, I am Yang Kai!”
Madam Rong continued swiftly, “You saw Lin’er captured that day with your own eyes? You’re sure you didn’t mistake her for someone else!?” She was asking a question, but her tone sounded less inquisitorial and more accusatorial.
Li Wu Yi also heard this and couldn’t help but furrow his brow, suspiciously looking at Madam Rong. Somehow, he felt that she was overly hostile to Yang Kai, but as far as he knew, Madam Rong stayed perennially inside Serene Soul Palace, so how could she have any conflicts with him?
Since the other party was being impolite to him, Yang Kai naturally responded in kind, indifferently replying, “I have already reported everything I witnessed to Senior Martial Beast. I believe Senior Martial Beast has also passed that information to Senior Serene Soul. Madam, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Xiao Qi too as she was at the scene as well.”
The nearby Mo Xiao Qi nodded in agreement, “Yes, Sister Yao Lin was indeed taken away by an old man in black.”
After getting confirmation from Mo Xiao Qi, the little hope Madam Rong was holding onto was immediately quashed. If it was just Yang Kai saying so, she would have doubted him, but Mo Xiao Qi’s confirmation didn’t give her any room for doubt.
Mo Xiao Qi and Yao Lin knew each other, so it was impossible for her to not recognize the other. And combined with the current situation, there was no shred of doubt that Yao Lin had been kidnapped.
After falling silent for a while, Madam Rong shouted at Yang Kai through gritted teeth, “Why didn’t you save her?”
Yang Kai looked up in amazement, looking at her, “Save her? How?”
Madam Rong angrily shouted, “Does this Queen need to teach you how to save people!? Since Lin’er was captured, you should have snatched her back! Why did you just watch some strange old man take Lin’er away while doing nothing!?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh, “Madam, I’m afraid you still aren’t clear on the situation, the man who attacked your daughter was a Pseudo-Great Emperor.”
“So what if he was a Pseudo-Great Emperor!?” Madam Rong became a little hysterical, “Pseudo-Great Emperors are also humans! A Pseudo-Great Emperor was enough to frighten you off!?”
Yang Kai’s face turned black, “Madam, are you just trying to find fault with me?”
What was going on? Since it was related to Serene Soul Palace, Yang Kai didn’t have any complaints about someone coming here to ask him some questions; and at Martial Beast Great Emperor’s request, Yang Kai was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
But who would have thought that Madam Rong would turn hostile from the very moment they met and was now screaming at him, accusing him of not saving Yao Lin. Yang Kai wanted to pry open this woman’s head to see whether it was filled with water.
[Serene Soul Great Emperor’s concubine is this crazy?]
“Bold!” The old woman behind Madam Rong shouted at Yang Kai, “You dare to speak to Madam like this, slap your mouth!”
Yang Kai stood gawking at her. [What ignorance! Madam Rong being a little out of her mind is still somewhat acceptable; after all, her daughter was just kidnapped, but what’s the deal with this old woman?]
Seeing his indifferent face, the old woman grew angrier and shouted again, “Are you still not doing it!?” Her pair of muddy eyes suddenly bloomed with a terrifying gleam as she fiercely glared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s brow momentarily twitched as he asked her incredulously, “Are you asking me to slap myself?”
The old woman sneered, “Since you like to play dumb, then don’t blame this old woman for bullying you!” As she said this, her skinny and dried up figure swooped towards him like a hawk, raising her arm and slapping towards Yang Kai’s cheek. Her palm was surging with Emperor Qi as clearly she was really trying to slap Yang Kai.
Yang Kai immediately blew his top and shouted, “It’s in my virtue to respect the old and take care of the young, but that doesn’t mean that I will allow others to disrespect me!”
He didn’t want to quarrel with the old woman, after all, she was clearly getting on in years and fighting her would be nothing less than bullying, but the other party was now trying to slap him, so how could Yang Kai remain indifferent? His Emperor Qi surged as he palmed back in response.
Li Wu Yi rubbed his forehead as he heaved a sigh. He too had not expected for things to take such a turn. He thought that it would just be some routine questioning, so how could he have known that they would resort to blows after just a few questions?
As an outsider, he naturally knew who was right and who was wrong, and was even a little angry in his heart; after all, this was Spirit Beast Island. Yang Kai might not officially belong to Spirit Beast Island, but he was their Little Princess’ friend. Even if these two were from Serene Soul Palace, they should give him some face. If their Eldest Young Lady’s friend was slapped on Spirit Beast Island, would Spirit Beast Island still have any face left?
So, even though he was able to prevent the conflict, Li Wu Yi didn’t do so. He wanted to teach this old woman a lesson and let her know who was the master here.
Although the old woman was a Second-Order Emperor, her strength was clearly in decline as her vitality was severely withered. On the other hand, Yang Kai was no ordinary Second-Order Emperor. Since this old woman wasn’t thinking straight, Li Wu Yi knew that she was definitely going to suffer.
Sure enough, the old woman’s majestic blow was completely quashed under Yang Kai’s counterattack. The moment their palms came in contact, the expression of the old woman immediately changed as she felt an immense power surging towards her like an oncoming ocean. It wasn’t even a clash when their palms met, just a complete overpowering.
With a crisp slap, the old woman somersaulted a few times through the air before she crashed onto the ground, losing quite a few of her teeth. She somehow tried to get herself back up, but before she could get up, she spurted a mouthful of blood and her vitality plummeted all of a sudden. Looking up from the floor, she shouted in disbelief as she glared at Yang Kai, “You dare to attack me!?”
Her speech was a little slurred; after all, she had lost a number of teeth just now.
Yang Kai flicked his sleeve and said with a mocking look on his face, “You can try again if you’d like!”
Madam Rong was left dumbfounded by such an unexpected turn of events and only after some time did she come to her senses and scream in anger, “Little bastard, you court death!”
Although the relationship between her and the old woman was technically that of Master and Servant, it was much closer to mother and daughter. Seeing the old woman slapped, Madam Rong’s eyes turned red with rage and ignoring her status completely, she immediately wanted to teach Yang Kai a harsh lesson on behalf of the old woman.
Just as Madam Rong’s Emperor Qi surged though, a shout resounded in the hall, “Enough!”
Space seemed to freeze and Madam Rong instantly felt as if a few mountains were pressing down on her, making it a little hard to breathe. Her pretty face turned ashen as she tenderly shouted, gritting her teeth and looking to one side, “Li Wu Yi, what do you think you’re doing?”
Even if Li Wu Yi didn’t really make a move, just mobilizing the local Space Principles was enough to render her powerless.
Li Wu Yi indifferently stated, “This King doesn’t want to see Madam Rong embarrass herself, that’s all. I hope Madam Rong will remember to conduct herself in a manner appropriate to her status in this place.”
[This short-sighted woman thinks that she can do whatever she wants just because her cultivation is higher than Yang Kai’s? If I didn’t stop you, you would be lying next to that old woman coughing up blood as well!
It was fine if the old woman got beaten; after all, she had treated others with contempt and had spoken rudely, but Madam Rong was Serene Soul Great Emperor’s wife. If she really got beaten by Yang Kai on Spirit Beast Island, while Spirit Beast Island might not suffer any consequences, things would become a little difficult for Yang Kai.
What was difficult to understand was why Serene Soul Great Emperor would let these two come to conduct the questioning? Was there no one else in Serene Soul Palace?
“Are you looking down on this Queen!?” Madam Rong’s face turned extremely dark. Although Li Wu Yi’s words were vague, how could she not understand what he was implying? Li Wu Yi clearly meant that she wasn’t as strong as Yang Kai.
[I might be a woman, but I am still a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. This Yang Kai is just a Second-Order Emperor, so how am I worse than him? Li Wu Yi must just be intervening to protect him.]
“Now I know why Yao Lin’s character is so terrible, it’s all because she has a mother like you. It would be strange if she was the least bit virtuous.” Yang Kai coldly snorted. [I guess, Yao Lin not only inherited Madam Rong’s beauty, but she also inherited her personality. Sure enough, a loving mother makes a wastrel.]
Madam Rong lashed out at that comment, “Whatever Lin’er’s behaviour is, it’s not your place to judge!” She then turned her gaze at Li Wu Yi and asked, “Are you going to let me go or not?”
Judging by her stance, she was hell-bent on teaching Yang Kai a lesson.
Li Wu Yi’s eyes slightly drooped as he indifferently stated, “Not long ago, Netherworld Sect and Brahma Holy Land were destroyed, I believe Madam Rong should have heard about it.”
Madam Rong furrowed her black and curvy brows, wondering why Li Wu Yi brought up this seemingly unrelated topic now, “So what!?”
Li Wu Yi added, “Madam, how would you compare yourself against Fu Bo and Xu Chang Feng? Are you stronger or weaker than them?”
Madam Rong asked in a grim voice, “What do you want to say?”
Li Yu Wi heaved a sigh, deeply staring at her. [This woman can’t be reasoned with, she’s just too foolish. Only her beauty has grown with age, not her brains. Who knows what Serene Soul Great Emperor saw in her? Even someone with lower intelligence could guess after hearing this, but she still has no idea.]
“Even though Netherworld Sect and Brahma Holy Land were ultimately destroyed by the Ahan Temple, the root cause was that most of these two great forces’ Masters were killed, and the one who killed them is standing before you.”
“You?” Madam Rong still didn’t figure it out as she stared at Li Wu Yi in confusion, wondering why Li Wu Yi would make a move against the leaders of Netherworld Sect and Brahma Holy Land.
[Could it be that those people provoked him somehow?]
In contrast, the old woman’s eyes flickered with shock as she glanced toward Yang Kai before she whispered something in Madam Rong’s ears.
Madam Rong’s face immediately changed as she finally turned her attention to Yang Kai.
“Does Madam still want to seek redress? If you insist, then it will be at your own risk. This Li will not interfere any further,” Li Wu Yi indifferently stared at her.
Madam Rong appeared to be struggling, but finally, she flicked her sleeve and snorted, “This Queen does not want to bully the weak.”
[Are you kidding me? This boy annihilated so many Emperor Realm Masters from two of the top forces in this territory, so there’s no way I am his opponent. If I insist on attacking him, I will be the one to suffer in the end.] Instead, she just bitterly stared at Yang Kai and declared, “This Queen will remember this. Boy, you best watch yourself. We’re leaving!”
After speaking, she turned around and walked out with the old woman.
Before leaving, the old woman gave Yang Kai a glare of hatred, seemingly wanting to burn his image into her memory; after all, she had never suffered such a huge loss before so she was extremely angry. She might have aged, and was only a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, but with Serene Soul Palace’s backing and Madam Rong’s support, anyone in the Eastern Territory who saw her had to treat her with respect. She had never been slapped, much less lost teeth before.
In the main hall, Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi exchanged a glance, both of them feeling speechless.
A few days ago, they heard that someone from Serene Soul Palace would come to ask Yang Kai a few questions, but they had never thought that things would turn out like this.
Li Wu Yi asked with a bitter smile, “Does Madam Rong have some enmity with you?”
Yang Kai denied, shaking his head, “This is the first time I’ve ever met her, so how would I have any grievance with her?”
Li Wu Yi curiously asked, “Then why did she turn so hostile the moment you met?” If she wasn’t holding some preconceived impression of him, why would the conversation have become so heated so quickly?
In truth, there was no need for this questioning at all as Yang Kai had told everything he knew to Mo Huang already, and Mo Huang had in turn passed that information along to Serene Soul Palace.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai thoughtfully mentioned, “Perhaps it’s because of Yao Lin. I had some conflict with Yao Lin in the past, and came close to killing her, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if she told her mother about me, which led to her being so hostile.”
Li Wu Yi agreed with a nod after hearing this, “This makes sense. Haa… such short-sightedness should not be taken seriously.” Although Yang Kai said he and Yao Lin had some conflict, that was all in the past. Now that Yao Lin had been kidnapped, if anyone else had come here to ask questions, he or she would have definitely been eager to learn as much as possible about the situation at that time, rather than trying to show off their dominance and arrogance.
But since Madam Rong had done this, it wasn’t Yang Kai’s fault, and the old woman with her had practically asked for a beating. Nonetheless, even if Serene Soul Great Emperor wanted to, he would not be able to do anything just for the sake of an old woman as his focus right now would be on tracking Yao Lin’s whereabouts.
Yang Kai had remained on Spirit Beast Island mainly because he was waiting for the emissary from Serene Soul Palace, so now that this matter was settled, it was time to return home.
As such, he went to meet Mo Huang and bid him farewell. And after Li Wu Yi, Mo Xiao Qi, and Jiu Feng said their goodbyes, Yang Kai finally stepped onto the Space Array.
After shuttling through the Void, a flash of light blinded his eyes, and in the next moment, Yang Kai appeared in High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory.
The disciples guarding the Space Array immediately sensed his arrival and upon seeing it was Yang Kai, they promptly bowed and greeted him. At the same time, one of the disciples went to report to Hua Qing Si as she had specifically instructed that as and when Yang Kai returned, she was to be immediately notified.
They really had no choice. If anyone was to blame, it would be their irresponsible Palace Master who only ever showed his tail but never his face. The time Yang Kai spent in High Heaven Palace was probably shorter than the time he spent outside of it; furthermore, every time he left, he would be gone for a few years to even over a decade. This time it was better as he only left for a year or so. Last time he went to the Star Field, he had been gone for over a dozen years.
Although Hua Qing Si was the Head Manager of High Heaven Palace, she was only Head Manager in the end and there were many things she needed to report to Yang Kai about.
It was Qiong Qi’s first time coming to High Heaven Palace, but he had learned that this Young Master of his had founded a Sect in the Northern Territory a while ago. Furthermore, it wasn’t a small Sect and had many Masters. Since he had finally arrived here, he naturally wanted to look around.
After informing Yang Kai, Qiong Qi began to tour the peaks of High Heaven Palace, his arms folded behind his back like he was taking a stroll in his own backyard.
Naturally, Yang Kai let him go before he flew over to High Heaven Peak.
After sorting things out, Yang Kai finally let Yang Xiao out. As soon as the little fatty appeared, he started complaining, “Adoptive Father, why did you keep me locked up for so long.”
As expected of a True Dragon, Yang Xiao had taken just three days to recover from his injuries after Yang Kai and the two Wood Spirits treated him. However, Yang Kai didn’t let him out on Spirit Beast Island as he was worried that this boy would get into trouble. Only when they returned to the High Heaven Palace did Yang Kai finally let Yang Xiao see the sun again.
“I am your Adoptive Father, so what I say goes. Why do you have so many complaints?” Yang Kai snorted.
Yang Xiao rolled his eyes at him before speaking with an apologetic smile, “Adoptive Father, please calm down, I was just saying…” He then looked around and asked, “Where are we?”
“The Northern Territory, High Heaven Palace!”
Yang Xiao blinked in confusion.
Yang Kai added, “High Heaven Palace is my Sect. You will live here in the future. Remember to be on your best behaviour and don’t go causing trouble, understand?”
“I understand!” Yang Xiao nodded like a chicken pecking rice before curiously looking at Yang Kai and asking, “Adoptive Father, you said that the High Heaven Palace is your Sect, does that mean you are its Palace Master?”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded his confirmation.
Yang Xiao jumped around in joy after hearing this, “Hahaha, doesn’t that mean that this Young Master is the Young Palace Master?” After speaking, his face beamed with joy as he asked again, “Adoptive Father, how many disciples does our High Heaven Palace have? How strong are they?”
[This little brat sure adapts quickly.] After learning that Yang Kai was High Heaven Palace’s Master, Yang Xiao immediately started calling it ‘our’ High Heaven Palace. Obviously, he regarded this place as his home already.
Having said that, Yang Kai was his adoptive father, and High Heaven Palace was Yang Kai’s home, so it was reasonable to say this was his home too.
“You will come to know in the future,” Yang Kai scolded him with a straight face. After having said this, his expression changed as he looked towards the front.
Hua Qing Si walked in with an aggrieved look on her face, glaring at Yang Kai as she greeted him with a bow, “Palace Master.”
“Sister Hua!” Yang Kai smiled widely.
Hua Qing Si stated with a snort, “Palace Master, you finally remembered to return.”
Yang Kai coughed awkwardly as he replied, “High Heaven Palace is my home, why would I not return home?”
Hua Qing Si stated, “When so many of the disciples migrated to the Southern Territory, you just flicked your sleeve and ran off. Now that I have finally finished all the arrangements, you suddenly return. Palace Master, your life is really carefree, you’re making your Elder Sister Hua truly envious.”
Yang Kai averted his eyes awkwardly as he tried to justify himself, “An able man is always busy. En, right, is there anything for me to deal with? What about the Orthodoxy Temple Branch?”
“With three Monster Kings overseeing it, what could possibly happen?”
“What about the Northern Territory?”
“Business as usual.”
“En, that’s good then.” Yang Kai let out a hearty laugh, “It looks like our High Heaven Palace is thriving under Sister Hua’s management. Whether I am here or not, it makes no difference.”
“Enough with the flattery, I’m here to say goodbye.”
Yang Kai was shocked, “Say goodbye?”
Hua Qing Si heaved a sigh as she replied, “En, if I continue to toil so hard, this Sister Hua will turn old in just a few years. I don’t want to die of stress and overwork so young.” While speaking, she flashed a beautiful smile at Yang Kai.
How could Yang Kai still not understand that she was complaining to him rather than really wanting to leave. But then again, She was indeed quite exhausted. She had to manage the distribution of basic life necessities and cultivation resources for over 100,000 disciples, and then there was the matter of transactions between the Northern Territory and Southern Territory. And now, there were also all kinds of trivial matters on the Orthodoxy Temple Branch side that she had to deal with.
In the end, a person’s energy was limited. Since Hua Qing Si broke through to the First-Order Emperor Realm, her cultivation had barely increased because she had no time to cultivate at all with all the responsibilities she had to take care of.
Currently, High Heaven Palace’s management was still in its development stage. The six Monster Kings might be strong, but in the end, they were still Monster Kings, so it was impossible to ask them to manage administrative tasks in High Heaven Palace. If they really did that, the entire High Heaven Palace would fall into a mess in short order. Now, there was only Second Manager Bian Yu Qing in the entire High Heaven Palace who could help Hua Qing Si, so it was a predicament that she would be stuck in this busy period for a long time.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai began to feel guilty. Hua Qing Si was also a cultivator, so she pursued the peak of the Martial Dao, but now, she was distracted by so many trivial matters she couldn’t even find time to cultivate. It really wasn’t fair to her.
However, before Yang Kai could speak, a crisp voice rang out from the side, “Beautiful Big Sister, what’s your name?”
Hua Qing Si’s attention was immediately attracted to this unexpected voice as only now did she notice that there was another person in the room. A tender little fatty with a tinge of innocence, long eyelashes, and a handsome pinkish face that looked like it was carved from jade caught her eye. She immediately exclaimed as she stretched her hand out and asked, pinching Yang Xiao’s cheek, giggling, “Who’s the cute little one?”
Powerless, Yang Xiao had his cheeks squeezed by her as he smiled even more happily, “Big Sister, you’re so pretty!”
[Sister Hua, don’t be fooled by this smelly brat’s act!] Yang Kai shouted in his heart.
Unfortunately, every woman loved hearing compliments like these. Hua Qing Si was stunned for a moment, then she asked, giggling and pointing her slender finger at Yang Xiao, “Little one, how sweet of you!” She then looked at Yang Kai and asked, “Who is he? Palace Master, where did you abduct him from?”
Yang Xiao smilingly replied, “I am Father’s son.”
Hua Qing Si’s laughter abruptly caught in her throat as her pretty eyes bulged in surprise. She looked at Yang Xiao and then at Yang Kai then back at Yang Xiao, as if she wanted to see if there was something in common; however, it seemed that there was no similarity between the two.
Yang Kai swiftly broke into a cold sweat and shouted, “Adoptive Father and Adoptive Son!”
Hua Qing Si heaved a sigh of relief before nodding in understanding, “I was wondering how you had such a big child after leaving for just over a year. So he is your Adoptive Son!” [If he was really Yang Kai’s kid, it would have been a real mess. The Palace Master has four wives, but none of them have ever given birth. If he suddenly brought a child back from another woman, it would be a great scandal!]
“Adoptive Father is also Father, and once a father is forever a father,” Yang Xiao stated with a serious and righteous look on his face.
Yang Kai was very pleased after hearing this while Hua Qing Si also added, “This little one is quite a sweet talker. What’s his name?”
“Yang Xiao!”
Hua Qing Si’s expression suddenly turned weird, wondering if this boy was really Yang Kai’s kid; otherwise, why would he even have the same surname? If he is an Adoptive Son, why would be he surnamed Yang?
But she didn’t dwell on the issue. The only person who was going to have a fire in his backyard would be Yang Kai. As such, Hua Qing Si gave Yang Xiao’s cheeks another squeeze before praising, “A good name! It’s said a tiger would never beget a dog. Your Adoptive Father is the dragon among men, your achievements should not be too bad either.”
Yang Xiao giggled and stated, “If Adoptive Father is a dragon among men, then I will become a True Dragon!”
Hua Qing Si praised, “Ambitious, I like it!” She had no idea that Yang Xiao was really a member of Dragon Clan. If she did, who knows what she would have thought.
Hua Qing Si switched the conversation at that point and reported, “By the way, Palace Master, an old man with a fierce and sinister look is strolling around the peaks inside the palace. When the disciples asked him who he was, he said he came with you.”
“He’s… Qiong Qi,” Yang Kai casually replied.
“Qiong Qi…” Hua Qing Si furrowed her curvy dark brows, “Such a strange name… wait, Qiong Qi!?” Hua Qing Si’s pretty eyes widened as she suddenly came to a realization. She immediately tried to confirm her assumption, looking at Yang Kai in surprise, “Palace Master, by Qiong Qi, you mean the Qiong Qi or… is it just a similar name?”
Yang Kai smiled, “He’s exactly who you think.”
“Oh no!” Huan Qing Si’s expression changed.
“What happened?” Yang Kai curiously looked at her.
Hua Qing Si’s face twitched as she reported, “The disciples reported that an unfamiliar old man was wandering around and didn’t look like anything good, so I summoned Monster King Xie and asked him to look into the situation. Nothing should go wrong, right?”
Yang Kai assured, smiling, “Monster Kings live in the Ancient Wild Lands year-round and have met several Divine Venerables, so they should be able to differentiate Qiong Qi’s aura from ordinary people’s.”
Even as he said so though, a bit of nervousness crept into his expression as he muttered, “Well, it depends on how the Monster King acts.”
Hua Qing Si nodded and hurriedly took out a communication artifact to contact Xie Wu Wei.
After a moment, Hua Qing Si wiped the cold sweat off her forehead, “Fortunately, nothing serious happened to Monster King Xie.”
“Nothing serious?” Yang Kai asked hesitantly.
Hua Qing Si didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she reported, “Monster King Xie seems to have made some impertinent remarks, and was then taught a lesson by Senior Qiong Qi. Now, Lady Liu Yan and the two other Monster Kings have rushed over after hearing the news.”
“The old fart is a constant source of trouble….” Yang Kai couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
Meanwhile, on a lush and verdant peak, Xie Wu Wei was standing beside Qiong Qi with an awkward look on his face. Qiong Qi, on the other hand, was standing with his hands behind his back, looking straight ahead with interest.
Before coming here, although he knew that High Heaven Palace had a pretty good heritage and that Masters floated about it like clouds, he never expected it to be so good.
There were three Monster Kings here, as well as a lot of other Emperor Realm Masters; however, in his opinion, this still wasn’t much as none of these people could enter his eyes. Now though, the little girl in a fiery red dress standing opposite him had caught his attention.
[The aura of a Divine Spirit!]
This little girl was radiating the aura of a Divine Spirit; furthermore, it was the unique aura of the Phoenix Clan!
In other words, there was a Phoenix in High Heaven Palace!
Although Qiong Qi was confident that, if they really started fighting, this little girl would surely not be his opponent, that was only because age and experience were on his side. He was already an old man from Flowing Time Great Emperor’s era, while the other party was filled with youthful vigour. Obviously, this little girl still hadn’t reached her limits yet.
A Phoenix Clan member would definitely climb higher than him in the future.
“Who are you?” Liu Yan asked after looking at the unfamiliar old man for a long time. She also felt strong pressure from this sinister old guy and immediately identified him as one of the strongest enemies she had ever faced in her life. The last time she felt this kind of pressure was when she was on Dragon Island, facing the Great Dragons.
Qiong Qi smiled, “Who are you, little girl?”
Liu Yang’s face sank, “I asked you first?”
Qiong Qi laughed, “Do we have to answer in order?”
Xie Wu Wei, who was standing nearby, quickly made introductions, “Lady Liu Yan, he is Qiong Qi. This Kin… ahem, I heard that he came back with the Palace Master.”
Qiong Qi, proudly straightened his back as he was looking forward to Liu Yan’s reaction after hearing his name, but contrary to his expectations, Liu Yan’s face just bloomed with a pleasant surprise as she asked, “Master is back?”
Xie Wu Wei nodded and said, “The disciples guarding the Space Array said that they saw Sir Palace Master return not long ago.”
As soon as he said this, Liu Yan disappeared from everyone’s sight, leaving a long fiery trail behind her.
The corner of Qiong Qi’s mouth twitched, gazing at the departing Liu Yan. He then asked, “The Master of that little girl… is the Palace Master of this place, Yang Kai, right?”
Xie Wu Wei agreed, nodding, “That’s right Sir, is there any problem?”
Qiong Qi’s expression turned quite wonderful, thinking, [What’s the problem? He is my Young Master too! Originally, I thought that a dignified Divine Spirit like me lost face after I was forced to serve him as my Master, but now even a Phoenix Clan member is calling him Master. It seems me calling him Young Master is nothing special!]
Furthermore, Yang Kai was in the good graces of the Dragon Clan on Dragon Island and even had a Dragon Girl as his wife. More astonishingly, he had become the Adoptive Father of the son of the Great Elder and Second Elder of Dragon Island. Compared to Dragons and Phoenixes, Qiong Qi really was a bit lacking.
Meanwhile, Liu Yan rushed straight into the main hall and called out to Yang Kai with a smile, “Master.”
Yang Kai nodded at her, “Liu Yan, you’re here.”
“En, I heard that you just got back, so I came over.” Liu Yan sweetly smiled before she walked to Yang Kai’s side, looking up at him.
Yang Kai reached out and patted her head, asking, “Have you met Qiong Qi?”
Liu Yan replied, nodding, “We met.”
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Nope, just a small scuffle. Since he came with Master, there’s nothing to worry about.” While speaking, she suddenly sensed something as she looked to one side, staring straight at Yang Xiao with widened eyes, who was curiously sizing her up in return. When their gazes met, she couldn’t help but frown, watching Yang Xiao smiling at her, “Who are you?”
“Me? My name is Yang Xiao, Xiao as in soaring through the nine Heavens (Xiao).” Yang Xiao explained proudly.
Yang Kai slightly smiled and introduced Yang Xiao, “This is my Adoptive Son. He will live in High Heaven Palace from now on. Xiao’er, this is Liu Yan, you can call her…”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Yang Xiao cup his fist and bow to Liu Yan, “Xiao’er greets Big Sister Liu Yan.”
[This damn sweet talker!] He called Liu Yan Big Sister just after meeting her. He appeared quite humble and polite, as if he had received quite a good family education.
Liu Yan’s brow rose slightly before her lips curled upwards in an unreadable manner as she slightly nodded to him, before snuggling next to Yang Kai, ignoring Yang Xiao.
Although Yang Kai left not too long ago, with High Heaven Palace now spanning both the Northern and Southern Territories, there were many things he needed to attend to. After he returned, Hua Qing Si naturally had many things to report to him, so inside the main hall, Hua Qing Si began listing off various things. Yang Kai asked a few questions from time to time, and gradually understood the current situation of the entire High Heaven Palace.
After a while, Yang Kai suddenly said, “Liu Yan, show Xiao’er around. Since he will be living here in the future, he should familiarize himself with the environment.”
The main reason was that Yang Xiao seemed to be very interested in Liu Yan. Yang Xiao was moving around Liu Yan, but couldn’t quite understand what he found interesting, so he kept quiet. Yang Kai knew that this boy had never seen a child around his age before, which would naturally make him interested in Liu Yan.
“En.” Liu Yan nodded and waved to Yang Xiao, “Follow me.”
Yang Xiao immediately followed after her, grinning from ear to ear.
After coming out of the main hall, Yang Xiao followed Liu Yan like a tail as he sweetly asked, “Big Sister Liu Yan, where should we go now?”
Liu Yan tilted her head and looked at him, faintly smiling as she said, “I will show you around.”
“En en,” Yang Xiao kept nodding his head. Obviously, he had no opinion either way. Just as Yang Kai had assumed, since he had never met a child about his age before, his first thought was to make friends upon meeting one.
Touring around the mountains and rivers with Liu Yan, Yang Xiao only felt that this place was much more fun than Dragon Island. Not to mention that it was quite lively, he had found a playmate to accompany him. He thought that it really was a wise choice to come out with his Adoptive Father.
The only thing that dissatisfied Yang Xiao a little was that Big Sister Liu Yan was a little reticent. He asked her ten things, but she would only answer one or two occasionally; she would basically ignore him other times.
Suddenly, Liu Yan came to a halt in a mountain valley full of flowers.
Yang Xiao hurriedly stopped as well and looked around. Slowly, his eyes began to glow in surprise. The mountain valley was extremely beautiful, like a paradise on earth, where hundreds of flowers were competing for beauty, and Liu Yan was beautifully standing here, like the most stunning flower that made the entire world lose its brilliance.
As the wind blew by, thousands of butterflies fluttered in the air, painting the sky in a colourful glow, emphasizing Liu Yan’s beauty even more so; she looked just like a fairy.
Yang Xiao stood dumbstruck. For the first time in his life since he was born, he truly realized the meaning of the word beautiful.
But suddenly, Liu Yan tilted her head and indifferently stated, looking at him, “You should run now.”
Yang Xiao, who was looking at her in a daze, was taken aback when he heard this and asked, somewhat confused, “Why should I run?”
Liu Yan slowly raised her hand and stretched her index finger as a flash of fiery glow suddenly appeared at its tip. She then gently stated, “Because… I’m going to burn you with this.”
Yang Xiao was a little dumbfounded hearing this; he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he asked, “Big Sister Liu Yan, why would you want to burn me? Did I do something wrong?”
Liu Yan didn’t answer as she just smiled at him. Then, under Yang Xiao’s incredulous gaze, her index finger bloomed with a fiery glow forward as she gently pushed her fingertip. The next moment, a fire snake shot straight toward Yang Xiao.
Everything happened so suddenly that even though Liu Yan had warned him, Yang Xiao couldn’t react in time. When the fire snake was almost upon him, he finally came to his senses and promptly retreated several tens of meters back as he shouted, “What are you doing!?”
[I didn’t provoke you, so why are you trying to burn me without any rhyme or reason!?] Yang Xiao even wondered if there was something wrong with Big Sister Liu Yan’s head.
Liu Yan remained silent, still beautifully standing on her spot, but with a single flash of her thoughts, the fire snake chased after Yang Xiao under her command like it was an extension of her body.
As the wave of intense heat blew on his face, Yang Xiao’s expression drastically changed. Although he could tell that the fire snake didn’t have enough power to kill him, if it really struck, it would definitely be extremely painful. He immediately jumped here and there, dodging desperately. Although he had been born not too long ago and hadn’t received any formal training, he was still a member of the Dragon Clan, so he instinctively knew some methods and his movements appeared extremely nimble. For a while, the fire snake couldn’t do anything to him. Although the fire snake was extremely hot and fearsome, it didn’t cause any harm to flowers and plants here under Liu Yan’s precise control, proof of the mastery of her own strength.
Yang Xiao shouted while dodging, “Big Sister Liu Yan… why are you doing this? Quickly stop!”
Liu Yan paid no heed to him as a devilish smile hung on her pretty lips, controlling the fire snake to chase after Yang Xiao, making him continuously complain.
After dodging several times, Yang Xiao finally flew into a rage and cursed out loud, “Crazy woman, are you sick in the head!? We have no grudges or grievances between us, so why!?”
He had inherited Yang Kai’s character to a large extent, so having been teased by Liu Yan so much, he would start to grow angry, and when he really reached his limits, he reacted strongly, causing him to be a little unscrupulous with his words.
“What did you just call me?” Liu Yan narrowed her eyes. Her pair of big eyes flickered with a cold gleam as even her voice seemed to have turned into the chilly winds of winter, making Yang Xiao involuntarily shudder after hearing her.
“Crazy… woman…?” Liu Yan asked and answered, laughing menacingly.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help having an ominous premonition, so how could he dare to remain here anymore? Finding a chance, he immediately flew off.
But even though he was a True Dragon, he was born just recently, so how could he be Liu Yan’s opponent? The fire snake suddenly split apart, transforming into a fiery net before covering him. Caught unprepared, Yang Xiao was caught by the fiery net and screamed miserably again and again as blue smoke rose from him.
The net of fire was extremely hot, and although it wasn’t lethal, that didn’t mean being scaled by it didn’t hurt.
Suddenly, a high-pitched dragon roar rang out as Yang Xiao’s body glowed white and Dragon Aura spread into the surroundings. The next moment, Yang Xiao shattered through the fire net and flew off into the distance without even looking back.
He felt very wronged, [Big Sister Liu Yan is definitely crazy. I really didn’t provoke her! I even addressed her politely, but she actually used such a sinister move against me.]
[What kind of people are following Adoptive Father!? I will definitely run back and expose her true face to Adoptive Father and warn him to be careful of her in the future!]
“Run, run, I told you to run before but you just didn’t listen,” a faint voice suddenly called out from his side. Yang Xiao’s small face suddenly went blue as he stiffly turned his head to look and saw the devilish Liu Yan running side by side with him. Clearly, she was doing something malicious, but there was only a beautiful, pleasant smile on her face, as if she was the happiest she could be and was having great fun.
[She’s really crazy!]
“Ah!” Yang Xiao screamed in horror as any good impression he had of Liu Yan in his heart was completely wiped out. All that was left was a deep fear. He just wanted to stay as far from her as possible. It would be better if he never saw her again in his life!
As one ran and the other chased, they disturbed many disciples of various peaks who all cried out in surprise before staring at this unusual pair in wonder.
Yang Xiao asked for help numerous times, but the disciples of various peaks didn’t recognize him, and seeing that it was Liu Yan who was chasing him, why would they care? They only thought that this little fatty had snuck into High Heaven Palace with impure intentions and gotten caught.
From time to time, Liu Yan fired off a fire snake. The fire snakes weren’t enough to kill or injure Yang Xiao, but their high temperature was unbearable, causing the boy to cry out from the torture. [Damn it, this crazy woman is attacking me just enough to not injure me. If I was hurt even a little, I could go and complain about her to Adoptive Father but like this…!]
He also wanted to escape back to Yang Kai, but Liu Yan was hot on his tail. Not to mention, he didn’t know the way back and High Heaven Palace was pretty vast, so he didn’t know where he had escaped to after running around randomly.
In line with the saying that a wise man doesn’t fight when the odds are against him, Yang Xiao begged for mercy several times, but Liu Yan turned a deaf ear to his grief and indignation.
Yang Xiao fled all the way to a lush and verdant peak, alarming countless people living there and finally drawing the attention of a certain charming woman. Next to the woman was a little girl who looked like she was carved from jade itself. She was about four or five years old and was almost as tall as Yang Xiao.
“Oh, what’s going on here?” The woman took the little girl’s hand and walked out of the wooden building overlooking a lake and was surprised when she saw Yang Xiao being chased by Liu Yan.
Yang Xiao rushed straight to the woman and begged her with snot dripping from his nose and tears leaking from his eyes, “Help! Someone wants to kill me!”
The woman’s heart ached the moment she turned her gaze to him. The little fatty was in an extremely embarrassing state as his clothes were singed and his hair was a bit burnt, like a little beggar on the street. And what’s more, Liu Yan was behind him with a couple of fire snakes circling around her, giving off a fearsome and chilling aura.
Maybe it was because the little fatty seemed about the same age as her daughter, the woman’s maternal instincts were tickled and she immediately pulled him behind her and comforted him, “Don’t be afraid, no one will kill you!”
She could also tell that Liu Yan had no intention of killing this boy and reckoned that Liu Yan just wanted him to suffer a little; otherwise, with Liu Yan’s strength, how could this little brat have survived until now?
She looked at Liu Yan in a little confusion and asked, “What’s going on here?”
Before this woman, who outwardly was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm, Liu Yan actually assumed a humble and polite attitude. She first withdrew the fire snakes before elegantly greeting, “Greetings, Madam.”
In the entire High Heaven Palace, only one woman could be treated so courteously by her, and that was Yang Kai’s mother, Dong Su Zhu!
Back in Heng Luo Star Field, Dong Su Zhu was just an Origin King, but owing to slow accumulation after coming to the Star Boundary and the support of the enormous resources of High Heaven Palace, she easily broke through to the Dao Source Realm. After advancing to a higher realm, her appearance had become a lot younger and she now appeared no older than twenty-five years old. It would be easy to mistake her as Yang Kai’s sister if the two stood side by side.
With the woman being Dong Su Zhu, the cute and pretty little girl whose hand she was holding was naturally Yang Xue, who she had given birth to a few years ago. The little girl was too young to start cultivating, but it was alright to instil some knowledge into her. When she was at the right age, she could choose a Secret Art and begin her journey on the Martial Dao. Presumably, with High Heaven Palace’s unlimited support, Yang Xue’s future prospects would be pretty good.
“What did this little one do to provoke you?” Dong Su Zhu asked, looking at Liu Yan.
Liu Yan calmly replied, “He didn’t do anything wrong, he just spoke incorrectly.”
Yang Xiao refused to back down though and stuck his head out from behind Dong Su Zhu to shout, “What did I say wrong?”
Liu Yan cast him a glance, which caused Yang Xiao to immediately shudder. He hurriedly retracted his head. He was really afraid of her. Who would burn someone on their first meeting just because he or she said something wrong? But even after giving it another thought, he couldn’t think of anything he had said that would be considered disrespectful.
Dong Su Zhu rebuked, “When children make mistakes, just reprimand them a little. What you did is just too pitiful. His parents would feel tormented seeing him like this.” If Yang Kai or Yang Xue was tortured like this, she would not have been able to accept it.
Liu Yan lowered her brows as she complied, “Yes.”
Dong Su Zhu squatted down and wiped Yang Xiao’s face with her sleeve, ignoring the dirt and snot on his face. Immediately, a chubby white face appeared before her, making her happy, “Little one, you’re pretty cute, where are your parents?”
She thought that the little fatty resided on some Spirit Peak around here. Although most of the people in High Heaven Palace were from the lower Star Field, there were just too many of them to keep track of. It was next to impossible for Dong Su Zhu to know all of them so it was reasonable to say that a kid like Yang Xiao would be from a different peak nearby.
“Father… is far away,” Yang Xiao knew that he couldn’t easily reveal his identity, so he gave a vague reply. When he said this, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad; he missed his parents a little now, but mainly because he was afraid of being tormented by Liu Yan. If he had stayed on Dragon Island, he would have definitely been loved and adored by all; how would he have been chased around like a stray dog like this?
Dong Su Zhu, sensing it was wrong to ask about this, quickly changed the topic and asked another question, “What’s your name?”
Yang Xiao sniffed before abjectly replying, “My name is Yang Xiao, Xiao as in rising straight to the ninth heavens.”
Dong Su Zhu was overjoyed after hearing this, “Yang Xiao… en, what a good name, you have the same surname as my son.”
Yang Xiao was taken aback, “Your son’s surname is also Yang!?”
“That’s right! My son’s name is Yang Kai, he is the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace. Since you are a High Heaven Palace disciple, you should know him, yes?” Dong Su Zhu introduced her son with pride. Although she would complain a little every time she met Yang Kai, she was very proud of her son. He forged his way to the Star Boundary alone, toiled hard to lay a solid foundation for High Heaven Palace, and then returned to Heng Luo Star Field to bring so many friends and family here, allowing more than 100,000 people to enjoy far better cultivation conditions. Even if someone might be able to accomplish a similar feat in the future, right now, it was definitely unprecedented.
Yang Xiao’s jaw dropped so wide that an egg could be stuffed into it upon hearing this.
[What!? What!? Did I just hear it wrong? This woman is actually Adoptive Father’s mother!? If it was just the name, it might be nothing, but how many Palace Masters can High Heaven Palace have?!]
[No wonder this devilish crazy woman is so respectful, so that’s how it is!]
“Hm, what’s wrong?” Dong Su Zhu was paying great attention to Yang Xiao’s words and expressions, so she was now curiously looking at him after noticing there was something wrong with this little fatty’s state.
Yang Xiao hurriedly straightened his clothes and cleaned his face before he took a few steps back and courteously bowed to Dong Su Zhu, solemnly greeting, “Grandson Yang Xiao greets Grandmother!”
Now it was Dong Su Zhu’s turn to be dumbfounded. Even Yang Xue, who was standing by Dong Su Zhu’s side, stood gawking at him in surprise.
After a long time, Dong Su Zhu broke into giggles before she rubbed Yang Xiao’s head and said, “Little one, you can’t randomly call just anyone by such a title.”
Yang Xiao, however, sternly shook his head, “Grandson did not randomly call you grandmother. You are my grandmother. High Heaven Palace Master is my Father.”
Dong Su Zhu couldn’t laugh anymore hearing this. Her facial features twitched a little, whereas Yang Xue looked shocked. The little girl might be young, but she was extremely smart, so how could she not understand the meaning of Yang Xiao’s words?
“What’s going on?” Dong Su Zhu turned to Liu Yan and asked using her Divine Sense, “Is he telling the truth?”
[My son actually has a son, and I didn’t even know about it!] At this moment, Dong Su Zhu was completely furious; however, she couldn’t show it in front of Yang Xiao, so she could only ask Liu Yan privately.
“Master said that he is his Adoptive Son.” Liu Yan replied, “And he brought him back from the outside.”
“Adoptive Son!?” Dong Su Zhu couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief after hearing this, “That scared me, thinking that he had…”
Although Dong Su Zhu was eager for Yang Kai to find more daughters-in-law and give her grandchildren, his four wives at home still hadn’t given birth yet. If some random woman from outside gave him a child first, it would be quite a mess for his four wives back at home.
Since it was an Adoptive Son though, there was no problem.
Suddenly, something came to mind and Dong Su Zhu turned around and rushed straight into the wooden house.
Yang Xiao was confused now. The three little figures remaining stood exchanging uncertain glances.
After his recent experience, Yang Xiao was truly scared of Liu Yan, so he chose to focus on Yang Xue with a flattering smile on his face.
Yang Xue decided to take the initiative here, placed her arms akimbo and asked in a cute voice, “Are you Big Brother’s son?”
“Big… Big Brother?” Yang Xiao was taken aback but immediately understood, “Oh, you’re Adoptive Father’s sister!?”
“Hehe,” Yang Xue cutely laughed through her nose. “You are Big Brother’s son, while I am his younger sister, what should you call me?”
“What should I call you?” Yang Xiao looked confused.
“En, en, what should you call me! Hurry up and call me something nice and I’ll give you a nice gift!” Yang Xue’s pretty eyes lit up.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help his face from twitching. He now felt that no one inside High Heaven Palace was normal. Liu Yan could torture him with a smile on her face, and now his Adoptive Father’s younger sister was making such incomprehensible demands. While he was thinking so, he suddenly felt a heatwave blowing across his face. When he focused his gaze on the source, he saw a fire snake hovering beside him, calmly staring at him.
“You want to burn me again?!” Yang Xiao was shocked.
Liu Yang strode towards him as she stated in an incomparably gentle voice with a sweet smile hanging on her lips, “Think carefully before you answer.”
Yang Xiao wracked his brain for a while before casting a begging look toward the wooden building. But unfortunately, his grandmother had just gone in to do who knows what and still hadn’t come out. He wanted to escape, but he knew that was impossible, so he forced his brain to work even harder to come up with the right answer.
Suddenly, in a flash of enlightenment, he excitedly turned to Yang Xue and stated, “Auntie!”
Yang Xue blinked her big, pretty eyes before looking at Liu Yan.
Liu Yan gently nodded, indicating he was right.
Yang Xue immediately clapped her hands and stated, “Hehehe, that’s right. Tell me, what do you want as a reward?”
Yang Xiao powerlessly replied, “I don’t want any reward.” [I only want to return to Adoptive Father’s side. The outside world is too dangerous. Where are you, Adoptive Father?]
“That won’t do!” Yang Xue shook her little head, flicking her two braids left and right. She tilted her head for a moment before making her way to Yang Xiao’s side, where she stood on tiptoe and rubbed Yang Xiao’s head, muttering in a cute and tender voice, “Good Yang Xiao, great Yang Xiao, Yang Xiao is the best.”
Yang Xiao’s face twitched as he stared at her. The little girl before him was even shorter than him, but she actually dared to pat his head and call him a good boy. He was a member of the Dragon Clan, and no one would dare touch a dragon’s head! But after giving it another thought, she was his Adoptive Father’s younger sister, so seniority wise, he was indeed lower than her. He had no choice but to resign himself to his fate and smiled bitterly as he asked, “Is this a reward?”
Yang Xue earnestly nodded, “En, mother always rewards Xue’er like this.”
“Aha… ha…” Yang Xiao couldn’t only sigh and say, “Auntie, you are quite easily satisfied.”
Yang Xue snorted and angrily rebuffed, “You’re happy too, right?”
“Yes, yes, I am very happy,” Yang Xiao couldn’t help but nod.
The nearby Liu Yan giggled as she asked, “Now do you know what you said wrong?”
Just as he heard her voice, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but shudder and nervously gulp before asking, “Ahem, what exactly did I say wrong?”
Liu Yan didn’t answer and just quietly stared at him.
Yang Xiao had a bad premonition, like he had reached a critical juncture in his life. He realized that if he couldn’t give an answer that satisfied Liu Yan, his future would be quite miserable.
Once again, he racked his brains hard, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand what his mistake was. Left with no other choice, he pitifully looked at Liu Yan and asked, “Can you give me a hint?”
Liu Yan’s lips curled before she turned to Yang Xue and stated, “Xue’er, who am I?”
Yang Xue immediately called out in a loud and clear, “Big Sister Liu Yan!”
“Now do you understand?” Liu Yan turned back to Yang Xiao.
“En, en, I understand!” Yang Xiao fiercely nodded, but inside he was angrily howling in his heart, [I understand nothing! Why does her calling you Big Sister Liu Yan lead to you burning me!?]
[Wait…]
Yang Xiao suddenly seemed to have realized something and timidly glanced at Liu Yang before hesitantly calling out, “Aunt… Liu Yan?”
A smile immediately bloomed on Liu Yan’s face as she then declared to Yang Xiao, “From now on, I am your Great Aunt, and Xue’er is your Little Aunt. Don’t you forget it, okay?”
Yang Xiao stood dumbfounded on his spot. [That’s it?! So she chased me around and burned me with her fire just because I addressed her the wrong way!?]
[If that was the case, couldn’t she have said something earlier? Why did she force me to realize it myself? How was I supposed to know that!?] Yang Xiao was sad and frustrated, wishing he could smash his head on the ground to death.
But right then, the nearby Yang Xue clapped and stated, “Right, right, I am your Little Aunt, and Big Sister Liu Yan is your Great Aunt. We’re all one family now.”
[Only ghosts would want to be your family!]
Suddenly, hurried footsteps could be heard coming from inside the wooden house. Yang Xiao turned to look and saw Dong Su Zhu hurrying over with a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man bore some resemblance to his Adoptive Father, and coupled with Dong Su Zhu’s intimacy with him, Yang Xiao immediately understood his identity. This man must be his Adoptive Father’s father.
Yang Ying Feng had been cultivating when he heard Dong Su Zhu excitedly running over, saying she has some good news for him. With a look of glee, she told him that their son had adopted a son, a cute and chubby little boy, so Yang Ying Feng came out to check on the situation.
When Yang Ying Feng looked at the little boy before him, he realized that it was indeed as Dong Su Zhu had said; this little guy was pretty cute, but he also seemed to be in a bit of a miserable state. After gazing at him for a while, he nodded and asked, “Is he Yang Xiao?”
“En, that’s him. He said he came back with our son,” Dong Su Zhu nodded.
Yang Ying Feng smiled, but before he could speak, he saw Yang Xiao bowing flat to the ground, “Greetings, Grandfather!”
Being addressed as Grandfather gave Yang Ying Feng immeasurable joy. Although it wasn’t his grandson by blood, judging by the fact that this little one was so sensible at his young age, it was evident that he had received a good education, so he hurriedly raised his arm and said, “Get up, get up, let Grandpa take a good look at you.”
Yang Xiao immediately straightened his back and stood at attention, allowing Yang Ying Feng to take a closer look.
Yang Ying Feng nodded with a smile, “Good, good, but… since you’re my son’s Adoptive Son, why is your surname Yang? Could it be that your family’s surname is also Yang?”
Yang Xiao respectfully replied, “Grandson was born with the help of the Adoptive Father just a few days ago, so when I was born, I asked the Adoptive Father to grant me a name and received Adoptive Father’s surname.”
Yang Ying Feng suddenly came to realize before he asked, “Your parents had no objections?”
Yang Xiao smiled, “They did not.”
“Then everything is alright…” Yang Ying Feng smiled and nodded before suddenly his eyes widened and he asked, “Born not long ago? How old are you?”
Yang Xiao bashfully replied, “Xiao’er was born about one or two months ago.”
[One or two months ago!?] Dong Su Zhu and Yang Ying Feng stood in a daze.
Liu Yan explained, “He does not belong to the Human Race, he seems to be from the Dragon Clan.”
As a fellow Divine Spirit, Liu Yan could feel the Dragon Aura from Yang Xiao.
“Dragon Clan!” Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu were greatly taken aback. As far as they knew, Yang Kai had an ambiguous relationship with a Dragon Girl. The last time he went out, he seemed to be going to Dragon Island, and now, he had returned with an Adoptive Son who was a Dragon. Furthermore, his surname was also Yang. Could it be…
“Where is that smelly brat!?” Dong Su Zhu asked with a stern look on her face.
Liu Yan replied, “He is talking with Head Manager.”
Dong Su Zhu coldly snorted, “Tell him to immediately come over to see me.”
Yang Kai, who was summoned, hurriedly rushed over to the Spirit Peak where his parents were residing, greeted and then explained everything to them. Finally, he cleared the misunderstanding and let them know that Yang Xiao was really not his biological son, just his Adoptive Son.
Dong Su Zhu’s expression finally changed for the better. She then maternally and earnestly persuaded Yang Kai, “Son, you are not young anymore, and you’ve already gained a firm foothold in the Star Boundary. If you really want a child, your mother won’t object, rather, I would be really delighted at the prospect, but you can’t keep fooling around outside. You have four wives already, so you need to conceive a child with each of them first, do you understand?”
“I understand, I understand! I’m not fooling around outside at all,” Yang Kai repeatedly nodded while at the same time the image of Ji Yao suddenly appeared in his head, inexplicably making him feel guilty.
Dong Su Zhu, seeing that he was being perfunctory, couldn’t help but sigh, “Forget it, you’re not a child anymore so you can take responsibility no matter the outcome. Since you are always out all year round, it’s not suitable for Xiao’er to follow you all the time. So, let him live with me. He can play with Xue’er too. What do you think?”
Yang Kai gave it a thought before agreeing with a nod, “Good.”
With his mother taking care of Yang Xiao, he naturally had nothing to worry about, but before that, he had to first ask Yang Xiao what he thought. If the brat didn’t agree, he could do nothing about it.
And so, he called Yang Xiao over and asked his opinion. Yang Xiao had no objections and immediately agreed.
He could easily tell that he could enjoy his grandmother’s protection if he stayed with her; however, if he followed Yang Kai, he might be tortured by his devilish Great Aunt, Liu Yan, who would burn him without speaking a word whenever she pleased.
Yang Kai was quite surprised by Yang Xiao’s response and suddenly felt that this boy’s disposition was quite unpredictable.
Since Yang Xiao had agreed, he would now be staying by Dong Su Zhu’s side.
…..
Whether it was the Northern Territory’s High Heaven Palace or the Southern Territory’s Orthodoxy Temple Branch, everything was proceeding smoothly. After returning from Dragon Island, Yang Kai had no plans of leaving anytime soon and was ready to enter a long retreat to digest his recent experiences and consolidate his current cultivation. Ever since he returned to the Star Boundary from the Star Field, he had been running here and there and didn’t have any time to sit and cultivate in peace. The road of cultivation was fraught with obstacles, which he had to overcome to keep moving forward, so he would rarely have free time and naturally couldn’t waste it when he did.
But before that, Yang Kai had some other matters he needed to take care of first. At the very least, he had to attend to his wives.
Yang Kai first went to Spirit Pill Peak for Xia Ning Chang where he spent a day and night with her, much to the ire of Ji Ying. Xia Ning Chang was the unofficial close-door disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, and although they weren’t Master and Disciple on the surface, in reality, that was exactly what they were. Wondrous Pill Great Emperor was filled with praise for Xia Ning Chang’s Alchemy talent and even went so far as to say that if she found the right opportunity, her future achievements would absolutely not be lower than his own.
In other words, she could become the second Wonderous Pill Great Emperor.
As Yang Kai ran over to waste Xia Ning Chang’s time, it would be strange if Ji Ying was happy. They might be on friendly terms, but when it came to his Little Junior Sister’s future, Ji Ying would absolutely not compromise; he would not let Xia Ning Chang’s talents go to waste.
After Xia Ning Chang was Xue Yue, who Yang Kai spent day and night with as well.
He then set off to Ice Heart Valley where he dual cultivated with Su Yan.
Before leaving, he naturally secretly accompanied Ji Yao in a rather exciting affair.
Then, after returning to High Heaven Palace, he stood before the Space Array, hesitating for a long time. Finally, he heaved a sigh and decided to not go to the Ancient Wild Lands. If he met with his enchantress, his body would be sucked dry and break down.
For the first time, he found that having so many women was not necessarily a good thing.
He then announced that he was going into retreat and gave orders to not disturb him unless something serious happened.
In the best cultivation room in High Heaven Palace, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and dumped out a large number of High-Rank Source Crystals around him. The next moment, his Emperor Qi surged and the Source Crystals burst apart, filling the room with incredibly rich World Energy.
Yang Kai continued to throw out Source Crystals, flooding the room with the World Energy to the point it became a fog so dense it was almost tangible.
Yang Kai then silently circulated his Secret Art as he cultivated and comprehended the various gains he had on Dragon Island.
In the Dragon Temple, the Dragon Souls of the Dragon Clan’s past Great Elders had passed down to him many Dragon Clan Secret Techniques. Each Secret Technique was extremely powerful and had its own mystical effects, but since all of it was delivered to him all at once, Yang Kai still needed to take some time to process and comprehend them before he could use them.
This wasn’t a task that could be completed overnight. It would require a long period of study, followed by many trials and experiments.
Spring went and autumn came, flowers bloomed then wilted.
When one’s cultivation reached the Emperor Realm, it was quite common for a single retreat to last several years to over a decade. It wasn’t even rare for a Master to spend an entire century in seclusion. Yang Kai had reached the Second-Order Emperor Realm already, so if he wanted to break through again, he would need a long period of accumulation.
During this period, he occasionally left his retreat to check up on High Heaven Palace’s situation, to see if anything serious had happened. Fortunately, with Hua Qing Si as Head Manager, everything ran smoothly, which gave Yang Kai the time and peace of mind he needed to improve his cultivation and strength.
Two years later, Yang Kai, who was steadily absorbing World Energy, furrowed his brow and took a deep breath before slowly ending his cultivation and opening the barrier.
Hua Qing Si quickly rushed in, cupped her fists, and greeted, “Palace Master.”
“What is it?” Before entering retreat, Yang Kai had issued instructions to not disturb him over trivial matters, but now, Hua Qing Si had intentionally disturbed the barrier, so it was clear that something major must have happened.
“Someone from the Southern Territory had come, saying that he must speak with the Palace Master about something important.”
“Who?”
“Elder Gao Xue Ting, and… Star Soul Palace’s Elder Xiao Yu Yang.”
Yang Kai was surprised, “They came together?”
Yang Kai might not have been too surprised if Gao Xue Ting had come to talk to him; after all, he was also regarded as a High-Rank Guest Elder of Azure Sun Temple, but why would Xiao Yu Yang come too?
“Yes!” Hua Qing Si slightly nodded with a complex look on her face. She used to be a Star Soul Palace disciple, and her Master was even one of its Elders, but Tan Jun Hao was too unreliable. He even sacrificed his own Disciple for his own benefit and was eventually killed by Yang Kai. Since then, Hua Qing Si had left Star Soul Palace and officially joined High Heaven Palace. Still, when she met Xiao Yu Yang as the Head Manager of High Heaven Palace, she couldn’t help but feel a little awkward.
“Did they say anything about their purpose?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si shook her head, “They didn’t say anything, but by the looks of it, it’s something bad.”
“Invite them to the main hall, I will join you soon,” ordered Yang Kai.
Having received Yang Kai’s order, Hua Qing Si withdrew.
Yang Kai sat on the ground, rubbing his chin. He couldn’t understand why these two had come all of a sudden, but he still got up and went straight to meet them.
In the main hall, Gao Xue Ting and Xiao Yu Yang were sitting at a long table. Gao Xue Ting had a familiar cold look on her face, making it difficult to read anything just from her expression, but Xiao Yu Yang on the other hand appeared to be quite anxious, even looking up from time to time to see whether Yang Kai had arrived yet.
It was a rare sight to see someone of his cultivation acting like this; after all, Xiao Yu Yang was a Third-Order Emperor. More importantly, he was one of the Elders of the hegemon Sect of the Southern Territory. He would not bat an eye even if a mountain collapsed right before him. Judging by how anxious he was, it was evident that whatever the situation was, it was far from good.
Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t make them wait any longer and arrived in the main hall after freshening himself up slightly.
Seeing him appear, Gao Xue Ting lightly nodded whereas Xiao Yu Yang hurriedly greeted, “Yang Kai.”
“Elder Xiao!” Yang Kai cupped his fists before nodding to Gao Xue Ting as a greeting. Then, he cut straight to the point and asked, “For what reason has Elder Xiao decided to suddenly visit my High Heaven Palace?”
Xiao Wu Yang was equally straightforward and asked, “This Xiao needs your help to save someone.”
“Who?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow, wondering if that little brat, Xiao Chen had some kind of accident. [If it’s really that arrogant boy, I might not be in the mood to save him. That little brat is an eyesore, but since Xiao Yu Yang has personally come, I guess I should give him face, shouldn’t I?]
Just as he was thinking this through, Xiao Yu Yang made a shocking declaration, “Her Royal Highness, Princess Lan Xun.”
Yang Kai was taken aback, “What happened to Junior Sister Lan?”
Xiao Yu Yang replied as a thick gloom appeared on his face, “Her Royal Highness was kidnapped.”
Yang Kai was startled when he heard this and couldn’t help staring at Xiao Yu Yang with an incredulous expression. He then turned to look at Gao Xue Ting, but seeing her nod, he realized that he had not heard wrong just now.
[Lan Xun was kidnapped? Who would dare to kidnap Lan Xun, the apple of the Bright Moon Great Emperor’s eye? Furthermore, Lan Xun reached the Emperor Realm some time ago. Although she is just a First-Order Emperor, she inherited Bright Moon Great Emperor’s Special Constitution, so her true combat power is far from what an ordinary First-Order Emperor can display. What’s more, as the daughter of a Great Emperor, she must have a number of life-saving treasures granted to her by Senior Bright Moon. If someone wanted to capture her, he or she must at least be a Third-Order Emperor.]
But what madman had eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall to get the courage to pull off such an act?
While thinking about it though, Yang Kai’s brow suddenly furrowed as he recalled a certain event from two years ago…
[This sounds somewhat familiar… it can’t just be a coincidence, right?]
Faintly, Yang Kai felt a bad premonition and hesitantly asked, “Do you know who did it?”
Xiao Yu Yang solemnly replied, “We have some idea, but it’s not definitive.”
Yang Kai stated, “Since you have some speculations, why not take decisive action. What about the Great Emperor? Since Lan Xun was the one kidnapped, the Great Emperor can’t possibly be staying out of this, right? Why even bother coming to me in that case?”
Although Yang Kai’s strength was pretty good, in the end, he was just a Second-Order Emperor. Star Soul Palace was a ruling Sect with a Great Emperor overseeing it, with numerous Third-Order Emperors and quite likely a hidden Pseudo-Great Emperor or two. Yang Kai couldn’t figure out why Xiao Yu Yang was trying to go around the sun to reach the moon.
Xiao Yu Yang hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you remember the matter of the Orthodoxy Temple?”
Yang Kai replied, “Of course.”
The disaster only happened three years ago, so how could Yang Kai have forgotten? But why would Xiao Yu Yang suddenly bring that incident up?
Xiao Yu Yang continued, “The Orthodoxy Temple incident was related to the safety of the entire Southern Territory, so it stands to reason that the Great Emperor should have stepped forward to handle it personally, but in the end, the Great Emperor never appeared. Did you ever wonder why that was?”
When Xiao Yu Yang mentioned this, Yang Kai recalled the aftermath of that event and indeed found it strange. The Orthodoxy Temple incident was quite serious, but Bright Moon Great Emperor hadn’t even shown up; instead, only a few Elders of Star Soul Palace had come to deal with it. Obviously, this didn’t make much sense…
At that time, Xiao Yu Yang said that the Great Emperor had already set off for Orthodoxy Temple, but when he heard that the matter had been resolved halfway through, he went back.
No one questioned this statement, but now it seemed there was more to the story.
“At that time, Princess Lan Xun had already disappeared and the Great Emperor had been tracking her whereabouts, so the Great Emperor was completely unaware of Orthodoxy Temple’s incident,” Xiao Yu Yang explained with a solemn look on his face.
“Princess Lan Xun had disappeared at that time?” Yang Kai was greatly shocked. [No wonder I didn’t see Lan Xun at the Southern Territory’s Martial Gathering.]
Although it was a bit strange, Yang Kai didn’t think much about it at the time and it was only now that he finally learned the reason. Frowning, he asked, “So, the Great Emperor has not been in Star Soul Palace these past few years?”
It had been so long since the Orthodoxy Temple incident, so it was impossible for the Great Emperor to not have heard about it unless he was somewhere out of contact.
“That’s right,” Xiao Yu Yang confirmed with a nod, “The Great Emperor only has one blood relative, and since the Princess disappeared, the Great Emperor would naturally be anxious. So, he had been searching for clues ever since. Furthermore, it could only be done in secret as such news cannot be announced to the public.”
Yang Kai nodded in understanding. If the kidnapping of a Great Emperor’s daughter was made public, it would create panic as well as a massive public search effort which would only make the situation more chaotic. In that chaos, some may try to take advantage of the situation, or worse, the one responsible might become enraged and silence Lan Xun, a disastrous outcome.
“A year ago, the palace received a message from the Great Emperor, but it was garbled and incomplete. The Great Emperor might have sent it in a hurry or perhaps he was disturbed when he did, we don’t know. In any case, we followed the lead from the message and found a suspicious place, but we were unable to enter it.”
“Why?” Yang Kai asked, surprised. With Star Soul Palace mobilizing all its Masters, what place could possibly be inaccessible to them?
“It’s a Sealed World, so without the corresponding method to open it, no one could enter.”
Yang Kai suddenly came to realize, “Which is why you came to find me.”
Xiao Yu Yang nodded, “Since you are proficient in Dao of Space, perhaps you can find a way inside.”
Yang Kai nodded. If it really was a Sealed World, then coming to him was definitely the best option for Star Soul Palace.
“Where is the Great Emperor now?” Yang Kai asked again.
Xiao Yu Yang shook his head, “After sending back that message, we didn’t hear from the Great Emperor again.”
Yang Kai was shocked. [Even the Great Emperor couldn’t send another message? Could it be that something had happened to him? Impossible! Who in the world can threaten a Great Emperor? But if Lan Xun was used to threaten him…]
Yang Kai secretly shook his head. He wasn’t sure if Lan Xun was taken hostage to threaten Bright Moon Great Emperor, or whether the Great Emperor would really surrender without a fight for his daughter. But more importantly, even if someone did force the Great Emperor to stand down, then why? Even if he did not resist, how could a Great Emperor be detained or killed so easily?
This was really a big deal.
As if he could tell what was going through Yang Kai’s mind, Xiao Yu Yang stated, “The Great Emperor has incredible power and strength, so we need not worry about his safety. Since he didn’t reply, it must have been because has already entered that Sealed World. Yang Kai, I heard that you are good friends with Her Royal Highness, so we came to ask for your help. At the very least, we hope you can open up a passage to that independent world to allow Star Soul Palace’s Masters to enter and search it.”
Yang Kai agreed, nodding, “Junior Sister Lan has also shown kindness to me a number of times. Since she is in trouble, I can’t stand idly by.”
Xiao Yu Yang was overjoyed after hearing this. Originally, he was worried that Yang Kai would decline, but by the looks of it, he was a man who valued friendship highly.
“But I am curious about one thing,” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“What is it?” Perhaps because Yang Kai readily agreed to help, Xiao Yu Yang’s attitude became more cordial.
“As Elder Xiao said, Junior Sister Lan disappeared three years ago, and the Great Emperor also started to investigate this case at the time. Since the Great Emperor sent a message a year ago, why did you only come to me now?”
In the Southern Territory, it wasn’t a secret that he could arrange Cross-Territory Space Arrays. Azure Sun Temple and High Heaven Palace had an Array connecting them, so it would only take a breath to come and go from the two places, so there was no reason to wait a whole year.
Xiao Yu Yang heaved a sigh, “The location of the Sealed World is far from the Southern Territory, so it took just over a year to make a round trip from there to here.”
“A whole year’s journey?” Yang Kai’s expression changed, “Is it in another territory?”
“En, the Western Territory!” Xiao Yu Yang’s voice turned solemn.
Yang Kai was struck with realization. [So it’s in the Western Territory. Going back and forth would really take a long time. No wonder it was a whole year before they came to find me.]
Speaking of the Western Territory, Yang Kai had some sour memories of it. Back then, when he returned from the Revolving World, he had run into Lin Yun’er and raised a huge ruckus in one of its Top Sects. Later, he arranged a Space Array to bring her back to High Heaven Palace to visit, but who could have anticipated that his Space Array would be destroyed by someone at the critical moment, causing him and Li Jiao to be the only ones teleported back, leaving Lin Yun’er back in the Western Territory.
Although Yang Kai didn’t see who destroyed it, he was fairly certain it was Iron Blood Great Emperor.
If not for Iron Blood Great Emperor’s actions that day, it would have been quite convenient to travel to the Western Territory for Yang Kai, but now he would have to waste months flying there.
“This matter can’t be delayed. Yang Kai, if you have nothing to do, let’s set off immediately,” Xiao Yu Yang anxiously suggested. Things had already been dragged out for so long, so who knows what sort of mishap might have happened? As such, he was pressing Yang Kai to depart even a moment sooner.
Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “En.”
Saying so, he took out a communication artifact and sent Hua Qing Si a message, telling her that he would be going on a trip, and that it was uncertain when he would be returning.
Hua Qing Si had also grown accustomed to his sudden outings, so she didn’t raise any objections or ask any questions.
And so, Yang Kai, Xiao Yu Yang, and Gao Xue Ting set off for Azure Sun Temple via Space Array.
Upon arrival, Xiao Yu Yang summoned his flying ship and invited Yang Kai onboard before the two flew off. It seemed that he didn’t want to delay even a moment longer.
Gao Xue Ting didn’t accompany them any further. She had only come along so far to lead Xiao Yu Yang to High Heaven Palace. Without her, it would have been impossible for Xiao Yu Yang to use Azure Sun Temple’s Space Array, but she had no reason to follow them all the way to the Western Territory.
The flying ship was quite fast and Xiao Yu Yang paid no heed to exhausting himself and he used all his energy to rush forward; after all, this was related to the Great Emperor and Princess Lan Xun, so he was also eager to learn the truth about their situation.
On the deck, Yang Kai stood at the bow, his hands folded behind his back, asking Xiao Yu Yang all the ins and outs of the matter, but he didn’t get much from him as there wasn’t much to tell. He only came to know that they found a location by tracing the message sent by the Great Emperor, and that they were sure that it was a Sealed World. As they had no way to open it, Xiao Yu Yang was sent to contact Yang Kai.
Hearing this, Yang Kai nodded before he took out a jade slip from his Space Ring, engraved a message into it, then flicked his wrist. The next moment, the jade slip slightly shook before it disappeared into thin air.
Xiao Yu Yang raised his brow, “Space Beacon?”
Yang Kai looked at him in surprise, “Elder Xiao is familiar with it?”
Xiao Yu Yang replied, “The Great Emperor also uses this method for long-distance communication. I heard that it was invented by Li Wu Yi of Spirit Beast Island. Back then, the Great Emperor visited Spirit Beast Island and learned of it. I didn’t expect you to use it too.”
Yang Kai added with a smile, “I also learned this technique from Senior Li.”
Xiao Yu Yang was surprised, “You’ve met Li Wu Yi?”
Yang Kai nodded, “When I went to the Eastern Territory two years back, I was fortunate enough to have a discussion with him about the Dao of Space.”
Xiao Yu Yang was struck with realization, “Right, you can arrange Cross-Territory Space Arrays, so it’s far more convenient for you to travel between different territories. In that case, you can freely travel between the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Territory. What about the Western Territory?”
Yang Kai’s brow twitched slightly as he muttered, “It should have been possible, but the Array I arranged was destroyed by someone not long after.”
Xiao Yu Yang was saddened to hear this, “Who would be so bored they would go around destroying your Array?”
Yang Kai smiled but didn’t reply.
Now that he was headed to the Western Territory, he could arrange a new Space Array, finally connecting all four territories together.
“Who did you just send that message to?” Xiao Yu Yang curiously asked.
“Senior Li.” Yang Kai didn’t bother concealing anything and explained, “Elder Xiao might not be aware of this, but two years back, Serene Soul Great Emperor’s daughter, Yao Lin, was also kidnapped on the East Sea of the Eastern Territory.”
“What!?” Xiao Yu Yang was greatly taken aback, “Serene Soul Great Emperor’s daughter was also kidnapped?”
Lan Xun was kidnapped about three years ago, and Yao Lin, two years ago. Although there was a gap of a year between their kidnapping, it wasn’t that long a gap considering one happened in the Eastern Territory and the other in the Southern Territory.
“Could the same person have done it?” Xiao Yu Yang suddenly thought of a possibility.
“It’s not clear. But the person who captured Yao Lin at that time was a Pseudo-Great Emperor.”
“A Pseudo-Great Emperor!” Xiao Yu Yang drew a sharp breath. Although he was a Third-Order Emperor, he had only risen to his current realm recently, so if he was up against a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he knew that he would not be his or her opponent. He slowly asked, “How do you know about this incident so clearly? Hmm, you just said that you went to the Eastern Territory two years ago, and Yao Lin was also captured two years ago, could it be…”
“That’s right, when Yao Lin was kidnapped, I happened to come across the scene.” Yang Kai nodded, confirming Xiao Yu Yang’s guess, “Now, two years have already passed, so I wanted to ask if Senior Li had any new news.”
Xiao Yu Yang continued, nodding, “I want to ask if it was the same person who did it. If so, then that person really doesn’t fear the Heavens. But what could he possibly be hoping to achieve?
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “You’ll just have to ask that old man in person when we find him.”
As they were speaking, a subtle Space Principle fluctuation pulsed from the bead on Yang Kai’s wrist and soon a jade slip appeared.
Yang Kai grabbed it and poured his Divine Sense into it to read the message.
The next moment, his face turned serious.
“What is it?” Xiao Yu Yang anxiously asked.
“Elder Xiao should see for himself,” Yang Kai tossed the jade slip to him.
Xiao Yu Yang grabbed and read it before his face drastically changed as well, “How is that possible? Disciples and descendants of many Great Emperors have gone missing!? Who… who could possibly be responsible for this?”
The Great Emperors naturally all knew one another, and with a convenient way to exchange messages like the Space Beacon created by Li Wu Yi, it wasn’t difficult for them to keep in contact. Furthermore, since Li Wu Yi was the creator of the Space Beacons, it only made sense for Spirit Beast Island to be a hub of information. At the very least, they were better informed than Star Soul Palace.
According to Li Wu Yi’s reply, after Yao Lin’s disappearance, almost all of Serene Soul Palace’s cultivators fanned out, performing an extensive search of the entire Eastern Territory, but unfortunately, they found nothing in the end. Yao Lin seemed to have disappeared from the face of the world. Naturally, Serene Soul Great Emperor was very concerned about his daughter after her disappearance, so he sent messages to all the other Great Emperors, asking them to keep an eye out in their respective territories…
Who would have thought that they would receive such a disturbing response saying that descendants and Disciples of many Great Emperors had disappeared, and in a span of just two or three years, too.
[As many as five Great Emperors have been drawn into this. In addition to Serene Soul and Bright Moon, Heavens Revelations Great Emperor, Flower Shadow Great Emperor, and Iron Blood Great Emperor also had their descendants or Disciples kidnapped.]
That meant that Lin Yun’er was also missing!
Whether other descendants or Disciples of other Great Emperors have gone missing, Spirit Beast Island wasn’t clear about it for the time being; after all, not every Great Emperor used Space Beacons. But, judging by the current situation, while Disciples and descendants of just these five Great Emperors were confirmed missing, perhaps there were still more.
Whether others were missing or not, Yang Kai didn’t really care, but Lin Yun’er’s situation was different. After they parted ways in the Western Territory back then, he hadn’t seen her again to this day and he never expected to receive news like this.
Xiao Yu Yang and Yang Kai glanced at each other and could clearly see the shock in each other’s eyes. Although they had no idea who was responsible for this, they faintly felt that an invisible dark hand had covered the entire Star Boundary.
The descendants and Disciples of Great Emperors had gone missing from various territories of the Star Boundary, and anyone who had the courage and means to do this could not be ordinary. More likely than not, the one responsible for this incident was some huge and powerful organization.
However, what confused Yang Kai was what the goal of the mastermind behind this was. The Great Emperors were the strongest figures in this world, so it wasn’t a good idea to provoke any one of them, much less five all at once.
After a long silence, Yang Kai finally opened his mouth, “Elder Xiao, you said that you had a guess about the perpetrator behind Junior Sister Lan Xun’s kidnapping, but you aren’t sure. Dare I ask who you think is responsible for this?”
Xiao Yu Yang pondered for a while before finally replying, “Originally, we thought that Shadow Killer Palace was behind it.”
“Shadow Killer Palace!” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
He was definitely familiar with Shadow Killer Palace as it was the dominant Sect of the Western Territory, a great force helmed by Night Shadow Great Emperor. But this great force was extremely mysterious, just like the Night Shadow Great Emperor himself. No one knew where Shadow Killer Palace was located exactly. All the public knew was that there was a hegemon existence in the Western Territory, but it was almost impossible to meet anyone from it under normal circumstances.
“Because the message sent by the Great Emperor pointed to a location in the Western Territory?” Yang Kai asked. This was a reasonable guess as no one would dare to attack the daughter of a Great Emperor, unless it was another Great Emperor. The message sent by Bright Moon Great Emperor eventually led to someplace in the Western Territory, which made Xiao Yu Yang and the others ultimately make such a conclusion.
Xiao Yu Yang denied it, shaking his head after hearing this, “That is only one of the reasons, there are others as well.”
“Oh! I would like to hear the details.”
Xiao Yu Yang explained, “You may not know that the Western Territory’s Great Emperor and our Sir are at odds. The two Great Emperors have a number of grievances with each other.”
Yang Kai asked in surprise, “Why so?”
“It’s primarily a struggle that originated from their opposing Great Daos,” Since Xiao Yu Yang had already decided to speak, he didn’t have any intention to conceal anything, “Just think about the titles of the two Sirs.”
Yang Kai frowned as he murmured, “Bright Moon, Night Shadow…” After murmuring a few times, a stunned look suddenly appeared on his face.
“Under the bright moon, everything is visible, nothing is hidden, there is no night shadow. These two Sirs were at odds from the start. One represents the light, and the other represents the darkness.”
Yang Kai frowned and stated, “But how can there be darkness without light?”
Xiao Yu Yang was stunned for a moment before he failed to stifle his laughter, “You should talk about this with the two Sirs and see what they think.”
Yang Kai’s facial muscles twitched before he waved his hands in denial, “It was just a casual thought, but since Elder Xiao originally speculated that Shadow Killer Palace was behind Junior Sister Lan’s disappearance, why didn’t you send a representative to Shadow Killer Palace to speak with someone important?”
Xiao Yu Yang heaved a sigh before replying, “Perhaps only a few Great Emperors know the actual location of Shadow Killer Palace, so how could we know where its headquarters are? What’s more, if Shadow Killer Palace was really behind it, then it means that they were prepared to go to war with my Star Soul Palace. Not only that, if they were responsible, would they even bother discussing it with us? Although it was our guess at first because of the relationship with the two Sirs, now it seems… someone was trying to make Shadow Killer Palace their scapegoat.”
Yang Kai nodded. If only Lan Xun was missing, this speculation might have merit, but now, far too many Great Emperors were involved. Even if Night Shadow Great Emperor wanted to deal with Bright Moon Great Emperor, he wouldn’t have involved others into this dispute.
“While speculation is just speculation, the possibility also can’t be ruled out; after all, the final point is indeed in the Western Territory. We will know the truth after we have found Her Royal Highness and the others.”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement before both sunk into silence.
Xiao Yu Yang’s heart was weighed down by Lan Xun’s safety and Bright Moon Great Emperor’s unknown whereabouts. Whereas Yang Kai was concerned about Lin Yun’er. He had no idea whether he would find her at the destination of this trip or not. If so, it would be best; he could then rescue her together with the others. If not… where would he even begin to look for her in this vast Star Boundary?
[Iron Blood Great Emperor should know about this, so Yang Yan must have also learned about it. Will they take action too?]
The flying ship was as swift as lightning, and with Xiao Yu Yang not holding back in the slightest despite exhausting himself, their pace was extremely quick.
However, even if he was a Third-Order Emperor, Xiao Yu Yang couldn’t sustain such intense output forever. Fortunately, there was Yang Kai to help out. After releasing the controls of the flying ship, the two took turns piloting. When one was resting, the other person would fly ahead at full speed. As such, there wasn’t any delay whatsoever.
As the journey was long, Yang Kai took the opportunity to intermittently cultivate for a few days. In his spare time, he also discussed various cultivation experiences with Xiao Yu Yang. In any case, he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. As the saying goes, wise men correct their mistakes from others’ faults. In the end, each had their own harvest from the other’s knowledge and understanding.
After two months, the duo finally reached the borders of the Western Territory. Here, it wasn’t suitable to use the flying ship openly anymore. According to Xiao Yu Yang, because the relationship between Bright Moon Great Emperor and Night Shadow Great Emperor wasn’t amiable, Star Soul Palace and Shadow Killer Palace were also like water and fire. As such, the members of Star Soul Palace had to remain discreet after entering the Western Territory, lest they be discovered and it led to unintended accidents.
After disembarking the flying ship, the duo disguised themselves quickly before flying off under their own power.
This time, they remained completely silent, alternating between flying and resting. Apart from occasionally looking for hidden mountains and rivers to rest along the way, they spent all their time moving forward.
Nearly five months later, Xiao Yu Yang finally pointed to a vast desert before them and spoke, “Here, it’s inside that desert.”
Yang Kai’s expression finally changed after hearing this. He had been constantly rushing forward for the past few months, which was already extremely tiring both physically and mentally. At this time, he couldn’t help but grumble about the Space Array he had arranged back then and how much easier it would have been if it hadn’t been destroyed. For various reasons, he had been feeling somewhat anxious and upset during this trip, so now that their destination was in sight, he naturally felt his spirits lift.
[We’re finally here.]
The two shot straight into the endless desert one after another, disappearing into a cloud of dust and sand in the blink of an eye.
Compared to the other territories of the Star Boundary, the Western Territory’s geography was generally desolate. Desert and rock fields could be found almost everywhere while lush and verdant mountains and rivers were very rare. However, it was this harsh environment that forged a valiant attitude and hearty disposition in the Western Territory’s cultivators.
There was no end to this vast desert in sight, and when the wind blew, the sky was filled with dust and sand. Visibility was reduced to just three meters at times and furthermore, everything within ten thousand kilometres appeared identical. There was nothing to take as reference for bearing. Even a cultivator with low cultivation might get lost and trapped here forever. Not to mention that there were many unpredictable dangers in the desert. Even an Emperor Realm Master may meet their end here if he or she wasn’t careful.
After Yang Kai followed Xiao Yu Yang into this desert, he immediately realized the ruthlessness of nature. When the wind started blowing hard, the sand particles blew in his face, striking hard against his Emperor Qi protection, releasing some harsh noises.
When he scanned the surroundings with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found almost no living auras in his range of perception. All he sensed were some Monster Beasts that were struggling to survive in this difficult environment.
After two days, when the duo was passing by an oasis, Yang Kai finally called out to Xiao Yu Yang, signalling for them to fly down.
Xiao Yu Yang, whose entire figure was covered in dust, doubtfully asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yang Kai took a glance at him before suggesting, “Elder Xiao, you should take some time to recover, you haven’t rested for a long time.”
Xiao Yu Yang furrowed his brow before denying, “We’re almost there. It won’t be too late to rest when we arrive.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Just rest. This place is perfect to arrange a Space Array. You don’t want to fly all the way back on our return trip, do you?”
Hearing this, Xiao Yu Yang finally nodded in agreement, “Good, then I will leave it to you.”
Yang Kai waved his hand before he started inspecting the oasis.
This place couldn’t really be called an oasis, not anymore at least. The water source here had dried and even the trees were completely dead and dry, leaving only a remnant behind. But compared to the desert filled with sandstorms and dunes, this was the only real option Yang Kai had to arrange a Space Array.
After all, he couldn’t arrange a Space Array in the middle of the desert. If he did that, the Array would be buried in sand in just a few days.
Although the water source here had dried, since the oasis still continued to exist, it meant that it would not disappear in a short time. It was the best landmark to arrange a Space Array at.
This time, Yang Kai didn’t bother trying to conceal the Array. In any case, his Array could only be activated using the Transmission Tokens specially refined by him, so even if it was discovered, it didn’t matter. The only thing he was worried about was it being destroyed by someone.
After picking a place with solid ground, Yang Kai got to work.
After toiling hard for half a day, a brand-new Space Array had been laid out. After a thorough inspection and confirming that the Array was connected to various Arrays he had arranged before, Yang Kai stepped back and nodded in approval.
Xiao Yu Yang, sensing this, opened his eyes and asked, “Finished?”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded.
Xiao Yu Yang came over and after looking at the finished Array for a while, he couldn’t help but praise, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, this Xiao wouldn’t have believed that something like this could be arranged in just half a day.”
“Practice makes perfect,” Yang Kai smiled lightly before he threw a Transmission Token to Xiao Yu Yang.
“This is…” Xiao Yu Yang looked curiously at the Transmission Token in his hand.
When Yang Kai explained the purpose of the token, Xiao Yu Yang immediately put it away like he had received a precious treasure. With this thing, it would be more convenient for him to travel everywhere in the future as he could freely shuttle through any Space Array arranged by Yang Kai.
“When you are free, come to Star Soul Palace and arrange a Space Array, okay?” Xiao Yu Yang looked at him with a smile.
Yang Kai nodded and agreed, “No problem.”
He had originally planned to connect the entire Star Boundary with Space Arrays, so he had no issue arranging one in Star Soul Palace. After Yang Kai’s agreement, the two set off again.
After another three days, they finally arrived at their destination.
As Xiao Yu Yang flew down to the desert, Yang Kai looked in a certain direction in surprise.
About a thousand metres from him, there was a huge pit in the endless desert. The pit spanned over a thousand metres and was several dozen metres deep. The pit was like a huge funnel embedded in this part of the desert, one that was constantly rotating as a large amount of sand kept slipping into it and disappearing.
Yang Kai looked at it in amazement. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never believed that there was such a peculiar landscape in this world.
Who knows how this funnel was formed or how long it had existed, but Yang Kai could sense Space Principles fluctuating from its bottom. Whatever was at the base of this funnel seemed to be connected to an unknown location.
[Is this the entrance to the Sealed World that Xiao Yu Yang mentioned?]
Yang Kai carefully inspected and discovered that it was indeed the case. There should be a Void Corridor at the bottom of the funnel, but who knows where it led to. At this moment, this void Corridor seemed to be in a sealed state; however, judging by the traces Yang Kai noticed, this sealing seemed to have been done artificially. Without the correct method, it would be impossible to open this corridor, let alone enter it.
Hastily using brute force may very well destroy the corridor, and once that happened, entering the Sealed World would become orders of magnitude more difficult.
[No wonder Xiao Yu Yang didn’t hesitate to return to the Southern Territory from the Western Territory and asked Gao Xue Ting to lead him to the High Heaven Palace to find me. In this situation, I am indeed the right person to deal with it.]
Perceiving Yang Kai and Xiao Yu Yang’s arrival, figures hidden in the vicinity slowly appeared and gathered around them, one after another.
Yang Kai glanced around and found all of them to be familiar faces.
Xue Zheng Mao, Lei Hong, two Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters, were among them, and counting Xiao Yu Yang, three Third-Order Emperors from Star Soul Palace had been deployed here. Also, there were more than a dozen other Emperor Realm Masters present. Obviously, a great deal of the high-level figures of Star Soul Palace had come.
Xiao Yu Yang greeted the others before getting a brief rundown of the situation. After making sure that nothing eventful had happened during his absence, he finally put his heart to rest. Yang Kai too went over and greeted everyone.
Xue Zheng Mao’s face turned serious as he stated, “Yang Kai, we can only rely on you regarding this. Although it’s not definite, we are almost certain the Great Emperor’s message originated from this place. We suspect that Princess Lan Xun is inside as well. Please lend us your assistance.”
Yang Kai earnestly replied, “Elder Xue, I can also be regarded as a Southern Territory cultivator and am friends with Her Royal Highness. If she is in trouble, it is only natural that I help her.”
Xue Zheng Mao was very pleased after hearing this and repeatedly nodded, “Good, good, good, if you can really rescue Her Royal Highness, this Old Master and the others here will forever be in your debt. In the future, if you need any help, our Star Soul Palace will never turn you down.”
This was a very heavy promise, but it was also proof of how desperate Xue Zheng Mao and the others had become; otherwise, they would never promise something like this so easily.
“Elder Xue, please calm yourself. Let me take a look at the situation first.” Having said this, Yang Kai flew towards the bottom of the funnel.
The nearby Lei Hong immediately warned, “Be careful, the space down near the bottom is somewhat unstable.”
Yang Kai nodded before he quickly approached the bottom of the funnel. He stood there, observing the situation, and soon discovered it was even more shocking than what he first thought. With the sand flowing into it and the funnel rotating, it gave Yang Kai a feeling as if the entire world was being swallowed up.
Carefully spreading his Divine Sense, Yang Kai probed the area with his Space Principles, silently perceiving the feedback he received for quite some time. After he had made some speculations, he flew up again.
“Well, what do you think?” Xue Zheng Mao anxiously asked.
Yang Kai replied, furrowing his brow, “The entrance has been sealed by someone. All of you have been waiting here for so long, so have you discovered traces of other people?”
Xue Zheng Mao denied, shaking his head, “We found nothing. No one has even passed by here in many years as far as we can tell.”
Yang Kai continued, “The tracepoints to the seal being created by someone, so all of this must have been well planned out, a conspiracy of some kind. If I really open the entrance, I have no idea what would happen.”
“What do you mean?” Xue Zheng Mao’s expression turned serious.
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, “I mean I literally have no idea what would happen. Perhaps it will alarm someone, or it might make things even more difficult for Her Royal Highness. In light of this, do you still want to open this entrance?”
Everyone looked at each other after hearing this, but after a long silence, Xue Zheng Mao stated in a heavy voice, “We haven’t heard from the Great Emperor, we have no idea whether Her Royal Highness is dead or alive. Now, this place is the only clue we have. Since that’s the case, we can only continue forward by opening it. If they are alive, we have to see them in person, if they’re dead, we must see their corpses.”
The others also nodded, expressing their agreement with Elder Xue. Now that they had a clue, exploring was the only option; no one was willing to simply sit back and leave things to fate. What’s more, Yang Kai only warned about the worst possible situation while there was no guarantee that things would turn out that bad.
They might even find both father and daughter, the Great Emperor and Lan Xun, right after opening the entrance.
Yang Kai nodded, “Since you have already made a decision, I will proceed. However, the entrance is too unstable, so if everyone wants to enter, you must make every breath count. In addition, you have to be on guard the moment you enter, lest others take advantage of it.”
Xue Zheng Mao slightly smiled, “Though we’ve all lived many years, none of us is willing to die just yet. Naturally, we won’t be careless.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Since that’s the case, follow me.”
Saying so, he turned around and flew back down. Everyone hurriedly followed after him before scattering about, giving Yang Kai space to work. Everyone’s nerves were taut, waiting for the entrance to open so that they could rush in.
Space Principles fluctuated as Yang Kai cautiously cracked the seal on the entrance, opening the Void Corridor.
Space started rippling, as if pieces of stone were dropped onto the calm surface of the lake, causing ripples to spread.
Not long after, a dark tunnel suddenly appeared at the bottom of the funnel.
Void Corridor!
Everyone’s spirit rose at the sight of this, much more so for Xiao Yu Yang. He felt that it wasn’t a waste of time to invite Yang Kai. They had also tried to open this Void Corridor before, but none of them even had a clue how to begin. If they had used brute force, it might have collapsed the entrance entirely. Now though, the seal which had stumped them all had been solved in the blink of an eye by Yang Kai.
[As expected, it’s all about the right man for the job.]
Pairs of eyes kept wandering between Yang Kai and the Void Corridor as everyone waited for him to give the signal.
The Void Corridor had just taken shape and was highly unstable, warping and distorting in a chaotic fashion. All Yang Kai could do was use his Space Principles to reinforce it so that it would be safer for people to transit through it.
After an incense worth of time, the Void Corridor that had been distorting all the while finally and slowly stabilized.
Yang Kai shouted, “Quickly enter, and be careful!”
Xue Zheng Mao, who had long been waiting for this, immediately rushed in. Right after, figures kept disappearing into the Void Corridor, one after another, with Xiao Yu Yang being the last one remaining.
When Xiao Yu Yang had plunged into the Void Corridor, Yang Kai’s figure also flickered as he prepared to go in.
But right then, his expression suddenly changed as he looked up.
In the sky, a streak of light was swooping down, shooting straight towards the Void Corridor. Yang Kai noticed a hazy figure in that streak of light, but even with his incredible strength and senses, he actually failed to even catch a glimpse of this newcomer’s true appearance.
“Who!?” Yang Kai immediately shouted as he lifted his palm and struck out. In his haste, Yang Kai actually used one of his recently comprehended Dragon Clan Secret Techniques unconsciously.
Majestic Dragon Pressure immediately spread into the surroundings as Yang Kai’s palm print transformed into a great Dragon Claw, giving the impression that it could shatter through the sky!
The oncoming figure, however, didn’t dodge or even try to slow down.
With a deafening bang, Yang Kai was knocked backwards and plummeted into the swirling sand, left in a sorry state from the rebound of his own strength.
When he flew back out from the sandpit, covered in dirt, the figure was nowhere to be seen. Immediately, Yang Kai looked towards the Void Corridor which was about to disappear because it had lost his stabilizing support and was quite unnerved.
The instant he came into contact with the other party, he felt an unfathomable strength push back against him. Till the end, he didn’t even catch sight of the appearance of the person who brushed by him.
[Even a Third-Order Emperor couldn’t have taken that attack head-on, but whoever it was just now smashed through it head-on without even stuttering! In other words, that person definitely had a cultivation much higher than the Third-Order Emperor Realm! Was it a Pseudo-Great Emperor? Or even a Great Emperor?]
Only someone with such strength could outright ignore an attack from Yang Kai.
The only thing Yang Kai was certain of was that the other party had no malice towards him; otherwise, he would not have taken his attack without countering. Judging by the other party’s cultivation, if they really decided to fight back, Yang Kai would definitely have suffered.
[Who was it?]
Yang Kai was confused. Coincidentally or not, this newcomer had gone straight into the Void Corridor. Obviously, he or she had been monitoring this place all along, yet Xue Zheng Mao and the others had not noticed them.
Could it be Bright Moon Great Emperor? But if it was Bright Moon Great Emperor, why did he not appear?
[Who the Hell was it!?] Yang Kai felt extremely frustrated.
Seeing that the Void Corridor was about to close again though, Yang Kai had no time to give it any more thought as his figure rushed straight into the black portal.
Everything went white before Yang Kai’s eyes before he suddenly appeared in another world.
He immediately prompted his Emperor Qi to guard himself against any possible threat, but no sneak attack came. As Yang Kai looked around, he couldn’t help but frown.
Because not a single person was in sight. Xue Zheng Mao and the other Emperor Realm Masters of Star Soul Palace who had entered before him had completely disappeared, and when he spread his Divine Sense, he couldn’t sense anyone either.
[Where is everyone?] Yang Kai was confused.