After a cup of tea worth of time, Li Wu Yi returned.
Naturally, Serene Soul Great Emperor returned with him.
This was the first time Yang Kai had seen Serene Soul Great Emperor in person. At first glance, one might think of him as an ordinary old man, but when one tried to observe him with their Divine Sense, they would not be able to sense the slightest aura or presence, as if he didn’t even exist.
Each of the ten Great Emperors had their own unique abilities and specialities. For example, Mo Huang was proficient in Beast Taming, while Serene Soul Great Emperor was the most proficient person regarding the Soul in the Star Boundary.
Of course, Tian Yan also existed in this world, but after he had moulded his physical body, while he retained his Soul foundation, his physique was that of a mere mortal that had never cultivated before. As such, Tian Yan had to re-cultivate from the beginning, a process that would take who knows how long.
It was precisely because Serene Soul Great Emperor was proficient in Soul cultivation that Bustling World Great Emperor came to him the very moment he came out of the Shattered Star Sea. He wanted Serene Soul Great Emperor to help him solve the problem of Wu Kuang Soul sharing his body. Unfortunately, Serene Soul Great Emperor was unable to do anything about their odd condition.
Yang Kai remembered Mo Huang mentioning that Serene Soul Great Emperor’s real name was Yao Jun, though he of course didn’t dare address him by name.
As soon as the two met, Yao Jun asked Yang Kai, “Little brat, is everything you said really true?” Apparently, he had heard about the Western Territory’s situation from Li Wu Yi before coming here, so he too understood the gravity of the situation and had a serious look hanging on his face.
“Senior, this Junior investigated the situation personally and can attest that every word he has spoken is true,” Yang Kai replied in a deep voice.
Yao Jun lightly nodded before raising his eyes and looking up at Mo Huang.
Mo Huang added, “We can’t delay. Let’s set off right away. This King wants to see what the hell Night Shadow is up to.”
Yang Kai immediately pushed his Space Principles, warping space around them before connecting with the Space Beacon he had handed to Lin Yun’er before. Ripples spread and the group of four disappeared from the spot.
“Greetings, Seniors!” The Star Soul Palace members were overjoyed after seeing Yang Kai bring two Great Emperors back so quickly and hurriedly bowed and greeted in unison. Their taught nerves finally relaxed somewhat.
Before, they were simply at their wits ends, but now that two Great Emperors had arrived to support them, their backs straightened all of a sudden.
Mo Huang and Yao Jun gently nodded before turning their gazes and frowning slightly. They realized that the things were far worse than what Yang Kai had described; the area shrouded in the Demon Qi had doubled in size compared to what he told them already.
It was precisely because the Demon Qi was spreading so fast that everyone had continued to back away, failing to remain close to observe the changing situation.
When Yao Lin saw her father show up, she broke into a rain of tears as she threw herself into his arms, complaining as if she wanted to vent all the fright and grievances she had suffered.
Yao Jun repeatedly comforted her, making it quite apparent that he also spoiled his daughter greatly.
“Seniors, the centre of the Demon Qi is where the sand funnel that this Junior mentioned previously is located. There is a Void Corridor there and the Demon Qi is erupting out from it. If the corridor is destroyed, I believe we will be able to contain the immediate crisis,” Yang Kai reported, pointing ahead.
“That funnel was connected to an independent Small World before, yet you managed to escape from it?” Mo Huang asked.
“Yes,” Yang Kai replied with a nod.
Mo Huang, after getting a clear picture of everything, sunk into silence for a while before proposing, looking at Yao Jun, “Shall we go investigate?”
Yao Jun nodded before speaking to Yao Lin, “Obediently wait here, Uncle Mo and your Father have some business to attend to.”
“I don’t want that.” Yao Lin objected, “Father, I want to go back to the Eastern Territory. I want to return to Serene Soul Palace. Quickly take me back. I will never run away alone again, I promise!” In the past, she ran off quite frequently, and every time, Yao Jun would lecture her when she returned, but she never changed. She would always run off again whenever she found an opportunity, but after suffering so much this time, all she finally wanted was to return to the family as she decided that she would never leave Serene Soul Palace ever again. The outside world was simply too dangerous!
“Don’t make trouble. Father has business to attend to now.” Yao Jun adopted a stern face.
Yao Lin persisted, however, raising quite the fuss, that is until Yao Jun suddenly pointed at Yang Kai and stated, “If you don’t obey, I will leave you in his care!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but roll his eyes internally. Why did he have to get involved in this father-daughter spat? Nonetheless, he cooperatively grinned at Yao Lin.
Yao Lin immediately turned pale and she hurriedly waved her hands and stated, “Don’t, Lin’er will obediently listen to you! Father, swiftly go and quickly return!”
Yao Jun nodded before exchanging a glance with Mo Huang. The next moment, the two shot into the air and charged straight towards the boundless Demon Qi, disappearing shortly after.
Although the Demon Qi was corrosive and virulent, it could still be blocked for a time if a cultivator used their Qi to defend themselves, and for Great Emperors, they could outright ignore the effects of the Demon Qi.
With the two making a move, the others didn’t need to do anything more. They just needed to calmly wait.
Yang Kai looked left and right before slowly making his way to Yu Ru Meng. She had been healing all the while with Lan Xun taking care of her; however, Yang Kai’s palm had left her with no small injury and even now, her face was still pale and the red stain on her veil was extremely blaring.
“Is she alright?” Yang Kai asked.
Lan Xun slowly shook her head, “It’s not too serious. She will recover in a few days. Was Senior Sister Li injured by Night Shadow Great Emperor?”
Yu Ru Meng left with Yang Kai, and when they returned, she was like this. Furthermore, when Yang Kai returned, he brought news that Night Shadow Great Emperor was guarding the Void Corridor, so it was only natural for Lan Xun to make such a guess.
Yang Kai was embarrassed after hearing this and didn’t know how to explain himself, so he could only give a vague answer. He couldn’t say that he was the one who injured Yu Ru Meng as it would be impossible for him to justify himself here.
Fortunately, Lan Xun didn’t ask much.
“Junior Sister must also be tired. Take a break and leave her to me.” Yang Kai looked at Lan Xun with concern. Perhaps because of Bright Moon Great Emperor’s unknown status, Lan Xun was a little spaced out at the moment. Coupled with the whole ordeal she had been through recently, she indeed looked somewhat exhausted.
Lan Xun agreed after hearing this, nodding, “Then I shall trouble you Senior Brother Yang.” After speaking, she walked to one side and sat down cross-legged to meditate.
Yang Kai looked around and found that everyone was either adjusting their breathing, or paying attention to the spreading Demon Qi, so he stealthily sent a Divine Sense transmission to Yu Ru Meng, asking, “How are you feeling?”
Yu Ru Meng opened her eyes, looked at him briefly, before closing them back again, saying nothing.
“Ahem…” Yang Kai looked embarrassed, his tone becoming incomparably gentle, “Are you angry?”
It was an obvious thing. Yu Ru Meng must be angry. If Yang Kai was in her place, he would be angry as well. Only, he had no choice at that time. His priority was to destroy the Void Corridor as soon as possible, and at the critical moment, Yu Ru Meng had used her Heart Seal Secret Technique to interfere with him. In a moment of anger, he had no choice but to resort to forceful means.
“You should have made yourself clear to me.” Yang Kai scratched his cheeks, “If you had just explained in advance, I wouldn’t have done that.”
“If you are angry, you can hit me back once, no, you can smack me ten times. Don’t be angry, it would be bad if others notice something.”
“By the way, how are you going to explain yourself to Flower Shadow Great Emperor? Li Shi Qing is Flower Shadow Great Emperor’s Disciple. It’s impossible for her to not ask about her Disciple. She is a Great Emperor, and Li Shi Qing’s Master. You may be able to deceive others, but how will you fool her? What will you do when your identity is revealed?”
Yang Kai kept talking on and on for a while, but Yu Ru Meng didn’t have any intention of paying attention to him, remaining completely silent.
Yang Kai also became a little angry as he had been talking to himself like a crazy person for some time now, but at the end of the day, he was in the wrong here, so he had no choice but to gnash his teeth and choke down his anger before unhappily speaking, “Then take care of your injuries. Call me if you need something.”
After saying so, he started walking away.
“Come back here!” Yu Ru Meng’s voice suddenly rang in his ear.
Yang Kai stopped and asked, “Weren’t you ignoring me? What do you want me to do by calling me back?”
“I called you so you should just come!” Yu Ru Meng ground her teeth.
Yang Kai sternly stated, “What do you want me to do, tell me first.”
“Are you coming back or not?”
Yang Kai was now quite incensed. [It was you who ignored me, and now you are telling me to come back, what do you want, you crazy woman? Why is this girl acting like a child throwing a tantrum?] He really hadn’t met a woman with this kind of personality before. It was a bit new to him and he found it a little hard to bear.
“Whether you love me, are angry with me, or ignore me, it’s your business. After this is over, you and I will go our separate ways. We will have nothing to do with each other and will never meet again for the rest of our lives,” Yang Kai steeled his heart and said what he had wanted to say. He immediately felt good, as if he had expelled some foul air from his chest.
Yu Ru Meng immediately blew her top as she trembled all over in anger, “You actually said that to me, you smelly heartless man!”
Yang Kai sneered and stated, “You’re right, I’m just a smelly man. You and I met by chance, but it’s you who forced us to be together using some strange Secret Technique, but no matter what method you use, you can’t force others to like one another! You don’t understand me at all, this is my true character, if you can’t stand it, remove your Secret Technique and be done with it!”
“In your dreams,” Yu Ru Meng sneered.
“Do as you wish. After this is over, we will go our separate ways anyway!”
“Good. I will tell them all that I am a fake Li Shi Qing and the real Li Shi Qing was killed by me long ago! Let’s see what happens then!”
The corner of Yang Kai’s eyes twitched as he stiffly replied, “That’s your business, what does that have to do with me?”
The moment he said this, Yu Ru Meng didn’t say anything anymore.
Yang Kai furtively looked back and saw her quietly staring at him with a mournful and heartbroken look on her face.
Seeing this, he sneered in his head. [Do you think I would turn soft-hearted after seeing such an expression? Taking advantage of this opportunity, I will make a clean break with you…]
Though he was thinking such things, his body involuntarily retreated a few steps and stood beside Yu Ru Meng as he looked up at the sky, rubbing his chin.
Yu Ru Meng smiled, “Sit by my side.”
“Enough! Don’t reach out for a yard after taking an inch!” Yang Kai rolled his eyes at her.
“Sit down.”
Yang Kai signalled her towards the front with his eyes, “It wouldn’t be good for others to see such a scene.”
Yu Ru Meng snorted disdainfully but didn’t insist.
After having conversed with her a few times, Yang Kai realized that Yu Ru Meng was very difficult to get along with. Her mood flipped faster than the pages of a book, and if he didn’t agree with her, she would immediately turn into a different person. But she was also very easy to coax. Just a few sweet words were enough to melt her.
Having nothing to do at the moment, Yang Kai asked, “Did you really kill Li Shi Qing?”
Yu Ru Meng replied, “I just said that on a whim, I didn’t kill her.”
Yang Kai nodded as he put his heart to rest. If Li Shi Qing was really killed by her, it would be very hard to explain it to Flower Shadow Great Emperor. Although it wasn’t easy to deal with the current situation, since Li Shi Qing was still alive, even if Flower Shadow Great Emperor really saw through Yu Ru Meng’s disguise, she wouldn’t harm her immediately. At most, she would use some means to force her to give up Li Shi Qing’s location.
Suddenly, Yu Ru Meng asked again, “Do you want to see what I really look like?”
Since she pretended to be Li Shi Qing, naturally, she had used Li Shi Qing’s face, disguising her original appearance.
Yang Kai replied, smiling, “Whether you are beautiful or ugly, it makes no difference to me.”
This wasn’t just him paying lip service as, with the Heart Seal Secret Technique, no matter what Yu Ru Meng looked like, Yang Kai wouldn’t be affected by it unless the Secret Technique was lifted.
Yu Ru Meng sweetly smiled, “Don’t worry, my real appearance is no worse than how I look now.”
“Don’t distract your attention, focus on healing your injuries first. We can talk later,” Yang Kai, throwing out another sentence, fell into silence.
Yang Kai was thinking of asking Serene Soul Great Emperor to check his own condition while he was here to see if there was a chance to remove the Heart Seal; otherwise, with it cast on him, he would always be restrained by Yu Ru Meng! He had no feelings of rejection towards her at the moment, but that was precisely the function of her Secret Technique.
But just as this thought crossed his mind, Yang Kai quashed it.
It wasn’t because Yu Ru Meng said that even a Great Emperor would not be able to remove her Secret Technique as Yang Kai felt that she was just shamelessly boasting. The Heart Seal Secret Technique was indeed strange, but at the end of the day, it was still in the domain of Soul Secret Techniques, Serene Soul Great Emperor’s speciality. If Serene Soul took action, it might not be impossible to solve this problem.
The reason Yang Kai rejected this idea was that the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus rested inside his Knowledge Sea. If he really asked Serene Soul Great Emperor for his help, he would be unable to hide the existence of this Supreme Treasure, and Yang Kai couldn’t be sure that Serene Soul Great Emperor wouldn’t be tempted by it.
If he really let a wolf into his house, it wouldn’t end well.
Perhaps he could go to Senior Tian Yan for help…
Unfortunately, he had no idea where Tian Yan was now.
Everyone waited quietly as time slowly passed. The Demon Qi continued to spread around, and its speed didn’t decrease at all. Over the next few days, their group was forced to retreat several times, and if one could look down from high above, they would now see that where a boundless desert used to be, a region several thousand kilometres in diameter was now completely covered in Demon Qi, like a black island in a sea of golden brown.
However, there still hadn’t been any news from Mo Huang and Yao Jun, who had left a few days ago, causing those from Star Soul Palace and the others, who had extreme confidence in the Great Emperors, to become somewhat worried.
[If we lose connection with these two Great Emperors as well, then the Star Boundary is as good as finished.]
[But what the hell is there that can cause the Great Emperor-level figures to fall into the enemy’s hands one after another!?]
In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed. Over these days, the Demon Qi had expanded to almost a hundred thousand kilometres and everyone now looked visibly worried. If this situation wasn’t contained soon, perhaps the entire Western Territory, or even the Star Boundary would eventually be engulfed in Demon Qi. When that happened, trillions of people would degenerate into mindless Demons.
At this moment, the people, who had previously gone to inform the top Sects of the Western Territory finally returned.
Quite a few people had left, but only one had returned. Furthermore, he was wounded and hanging on to life by a breath.
Everyone was shocked and quickly moved to help him recover. Yang Kai even took out an Emperor Grade healing pill he had personally refined and gave it to the injured man.
This man was a Protector of Star Soul Palace surnamed Chu. Yang Kai had no idea what his given name was as everyone just called him Protector Chu.
After finally stabilizing his injuries somehow, Protector Chu opened his eyes and the first thing he said caused everyone’s countenance to change, “Every last member of Pointed Star Sect, from the Sect Master to the lowest janitor, has been Demonized!”
“What!?” Xue Zheng Mao turned pale in shock and fright.
Everyone found it strange that Protector Chu, a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master who could be considered among the top Masters in the entire Star Boundary, was beaten to within an inch of death after simply going out to relay a message. How could anyone in the Western Territory easily make a move on him when he was wearing Star Soul Palace’s uniform?
But after hearing this, realization finally dawned upon everyone.
The thousands of members of Pointed Star Sect had completely transformed into Demons!
Xiao Yu Yang asked with a solemn expression, “Protector Chu, did you clearly see it? You can’t make indiscreet remarks about this kind of thing.”
Protector Chu bitterly smiled, “I was reduced to this state by Pointed Star Sect’s Sect Master, Lian Zheng, and its Elders. How could I be mistaken about this?”
Pointed Star Sect was one of the top Sects of the Western Territory so naturally, its Sect Master, Lian Zheng, was a Third-Order Emperor. The Sect had a dozen or so Emperor Realm Masters too. If any other Second-Order Emperor had fallen into such a dangerous position, he or she would have definitely died. It was only because Protector Chu came from Star Soul Palace, a hegemon Sect with a deep heritage, that he somehow made it out alive from a situation where he could have died nine times out of ten.
Everyone’s face turned incomparably ugly after hearing this.
Thousands of members of Pointed Star Sect had become Demons!
This scenario… actually sounded a little familiar. Everyone couldn’t help but recall the Orthodoxy Temple incident from a few years back. Thousands of members of Orthodoxy Temple had transformed into Demons, and even the Temple Master, Lei Gu, wasn’t an exception.
By the looks of it, those Demon Souls had not only laid out a scheme in the Southern Territory, but in the Western Territory as well. Only no one had any idea about this until Protector Chu returned with this report.
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he stated, “Everyone, I suddenly remembered something.”
“What is it?” Xiao Yu Yang looked at him.
“When I was chasing Lei Gu, he seemed to be heading towards the Southern Swamp, but further in that direction is actually the Western Territory. I can’t be certain as he was killed before he could escape, but the Western Territory seemed to have been his ultimate destination.”
Xue Zheng Mao furrowed his brow, “You mean to say, Lie Gu was trying to rendezvous with the other Demon Spirits?”
Yang Kai replied, “It seems that might have been his plan.”
“Damn it.” Suddenly, Xiao Yu Yang’s face paled as he turned to the other Star Soul Palace Elder and shouted, “Quickly contact the others and see if there is any reply!”
Xue Zheng Mao and the others’ faces sank as they quietly waited after hearing this; obviously, they had all thought of the same possibility.
After a while, a few Emperor Realm Masters of Star Soul Palace shook their heads, expressing that they had been unable to get in contact with the Protectors who had been sent out to rally the Western Territory’s top Sects.
“The Western Territory is finished, and our Protectors… I’m afraid their fate is more unfortunate than fortunate,” Xiao Yu Yang stated with an ugly look on his face. Protector Chu had somehow made it back with this life, but the others clearly weren’t as lucky. If they couldn’t get in touch with them, their demise was almost certain.
Yang Kai’s eyes flickered with a strange gleam as he asked in shock, “Elder Xiao, do you mean to say that the Western Territory is already ruled by the Demons?”
Xiao Yu Yang wryly smiled as he explained, “Carefully think about the Orthodoxy Temple’s arrangement back then. Had you not been there to turn the tides back then, what would the Southern Territory look like today?”
Yang Kai felt a chill run down his spine as he bitterly replied, “Demons would have been running amok everywhere. The people would have been plunged into misery and suffering!”
Xiao Yu Yang continued, “The Orthodoxy Temple’s conspiracy was destroyed because of you, but how many of you are there in this world? Even our Star Soul Palace, which can be considered the pillar of the Southern Territory, might not have had the power to fight back if the Orthodoxy Temple scheme had succeeded. But in the Western Territory… when even Shadow Killer Palace seems to have colluded with the Demon Race, how could other Sects remain unscathed?”
Since even Night Shadow Great Emperor was protecting the Void Corridor, and thousands of members of a top Sect like Pointed Star Sect had completely Demonified, what other fate could the other Sects of the Western Territory possibly have?
It was quite likely that all the great forces had already fallen into the hands of the Demons in the Western Territory. The Southern Territory would have had a similar fate to the Western Territory’s if Yang Kai hadn’t intervened and ultimately resolved the Orthodoxy Temple crisis.
But the Western Territory wasn’t so fortunate.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi’s expressions suddenly changed as they looked at each other.
The next moment, their figures flickered before they disappeared from where they stood.
About a dozen or so kilometres away, a figure was hiding under a sand dune, secretly gazing towards the place where the cultivators from the Southern Territory had gathered.
After seeing Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi’s sudden disappearance though, he knew that things weren’t looking good for him and he immediately shot into the air and tried to escape.
But he suddenly stopped after just a breath because a man was indifferently gazing at him.
“Li Wu Yi!” The man’s face suddenly changed as he shouted because he clearly recognized his opponent’s identity.
As the man known as the strongest Master below the Great Emperors, Li Wu Yi’s name obviously gave a strong deterrence. This man didn’t dare to fight against Li Wu Yi and immediately turned around to flee in another direction.
“Where do you think you are going?” Yang Kai, on the other hand, was blocking his retreat with a seer on his face, not waiting for the other party to act as he sent out a palm.
“Move!” The man shouted as billowing Demon Qi suddenly erupted from his extremely normal-looking figure. The next moment, the man’s aura immediately soared as he punched at Yang Kai, trying to kill him in a single blow.
The man’s cultivation wasn’t weak at the Second-Order Emperor Realm, and supplemented by the Demon Qi boost, even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master would have to be wary of taking a punch from him directly.
But Yang Kai remained completely still as his palm collided with the man’s fist.
A deafening explosion rang out before the Demon Qi was scattered. The man’s jaw dropped in shock as he never expected to be unable to take on the opposite party’s palm who had the same cultivation as his.
With his eyes filled with disbelief, the man used the rebound force of the confrontation to fall back to the ground where he did his best to restrain his rioting blood and energy and sneak into the sand. Apparently, he had cultivated some Earth Escaping Secret Technique and was able to dive more than a thousand meters straight into the sand like a fish in water, quickly fleeing towards the distance.
Seeing this, Li Wu Yi just stood completely still as Space Principles fluctuated around him before he stretched out his hand in the direction the man ran and clenched his fist.
The next moment, a muffled groan came from deep below the sand, thousands of meters away.
“Get out!” Li Wu Yi shouted as he raised his hand.
Sand exploded into the air and immediately a sorry figure flew out.
Before this man could mount any kind of resistance, Yang Kai had already arrived before him, pointing his finger at his chest like a sword. The next moment, Space Principles fluctuated around the man, blocking his attempts to resist.
Finally, Yang Kai could clearly see the man’s face. His face was yellowish and emaciated, as if he was diseased, but it was indeed true that he was in the Second-Order Emperor Realm; however, that billowing Demon Qi surging from him was a proof in itself of his alien identity.
Demon Spirit!
After being locked by Yang Kai’s Space Principles, the man actually didn’t panic at all, he just coldly glared at Yang Kai before a look of determination flashed across his eyes as he shouted in a grim voice, “The Demon Race shall never die!”
As soon as he said this, Yang Kai knew what was about to happen and promptly raised his hand to grab at the man, trying to completely seal his strength, but he was still a step too late. Sounds of something shattering resonated from the man and the next moment, his vitality quickly started dissipating.
Yang Kai stood rooted on the spot as the corner of his eyes twitched a little.
Li Wu Yi walked over and asked, looking at Yang Kai and then at the man, “Did he kill himself?”
Yang Kai replied in a heavy voice, “He severed his heart vein!”
Li Wu Yi was shocked, “So decisive!”
As the popular adage goes, it’s better to live than to die, so neither Yang Kai nor Li Wu Yi had expected the man to commit suicide right after he was captured. Obviously, he didn’t want to fall into the enemy’s hands to avoid giving up any information. Nevertheless, this man was a Second-Order Emperor, not just some cat or dog off the street.
It was the first time Li Wu Yi had faced something like this, but it wasn’t the first time for Yang Kai.
When he had chased Lei Gu all the way to the Southern Swamp, then led him back to the encirclement of Fan Wu and the other Divine Venerables, Lei Gu had also spoken similar words before he self-destructed.
The Demon Race shall never die!
[What a familiar scene!] Yang Kai finally saw the ferocity of the Demon Race in person. Each and every one of them didn’t care for their own life and was willing to sacrifice themselves as if they weren’t about to die but were instead performing some glorious deed.
Since the man was dead, they couldn’t ask anything for obvious reasons, so the two returned with the corpse and threw it to the ground. Protector Chu looked at this man and muttered, “I remember this man. He is an Elder of Pointed Star Sect. He was part of the group that attacked me, who would have thought that he would have chased me all the way here.”
Xiao Yu Yang looked into the distance and stated with a profound meaning, “I’m afraid he isn’t the only one who has chased after you.”
Although they couldn’t sense anyone’s aura, since a Pointed Star Sect Elder was here, other members of Pointed Star Sect may be hiding nearby. Even the Demons of other Sects of the Western Territory would soon come due after being alerted to the situation here.
Although the Western Territory was desolate, their Martial Dao was in no way weak. The Emperor Realm Masters were roughly of the same quantity and quality as the other three territories, so if the entire Western Territory had already silently fallen to the enemy, the situation would truly be dire.
This was tantamount to being an enemy of all the Masters of the Western Territory! Even if someone like Li Wu Yi was here overseeing things, he didn’t add much sense of security; after all, since they had a Pseudo-Great Emperor, Li Wu Yi, on their side, who could guarantee that the other side didn’t have one either? Not to mention, the ones who had kidnapped Yao Lin, Lin Yun’er, and the others before were all Pseudo-Great Emperors as well, and they hadn’t made an appearance till now.
All everyone could do at the moment was pray that the Great Emperors could return from the Void Corridor as soon as possible, so that everyone could have someone to rely upon.
While everyone was on alert, Yang Kai suddenly gasped in surprise as he focused his gaze on a location shrouded in Demon Qi.
“Did you sense it too?” Li Wu Yi asked as he stared in the same direction.
Yang Kai replied, furrowing his brow, “Since Senior has also sensed it, I am confident I am not mistaken.”
Li Wu Yi confirmed it with a nod, “The rate of Demon Qi dissemination is slowing down.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “In that case, the Demon Qi emerging from the tunnel isn’t endless.” If that was the case, the situation wasn’t as critical as they originally believed. Yang Kai had been worried sick about whether the entire Western Territory would be completely covered in the Demon Qi; after all, if that happened, then the Western Territory was as good as finished, but judging by the current situation, it would be difficult for the Demon Qi to cover the entire Western Territory. Although a hundred thousand kilometre circle was already blanketed in Demon Qi, compared to the entire Western Territory, it was a drop in the ocean.
Xiao Yu Yang, Xue Zhang Mao, and the others had discovered this development as well and had looks of joy on their faces. After waiting for many days, a piece of good news that couldn’t be counted as good news had finally appeared.
The situation really was just as everyone had observed, the rate of Demon Qi propagation had indeed slowed down, and this was getting more and more obvious with time. After three more days, the Demon Qi finally stopped expanding at the two-hundred-thousand-kilometre mark.
At that moment though, some unusual movements could be faintly heard coming from the Demon land.
Everyone suddenly turned serious as they listened closely.
After a while, Xue Zheng Mao frowned and voiced his thought, “Why does it feel that someone is approaching from that side?”
Li Wu Yi added with a solemn expression, “It’s not a feeling, but someone is really approaching, and a lot of them at that!”
Hearing this, everyone turned vigilant. At that same time, they were a little curious. They didn’t know what it was that could freely roam in this kind of horrendous environment.
Rumbling sounds rang out, like billowing claps of thunder or the sound of countless beasts stampeding.
After waiting for some time, everyone saw short figures suddenly emerge from the Demon Qi one after another. Each creature was about a meter tall at most and their entire figure was round, like big watermelons rolling on the ground.
These strange creatures were obviously a kind of species, but each of them was ugly to a fault. The reason their bodies were round was because each of them had a fat belly and their bare skin was pitch black, like a rolling mass of evil flesh and blood.
“What are those?” Lan Xun’s pretty eyes widened as she stared at this strange group of creatures in amazement. It was the first time she had seen such a scene. She found these creatures very ugly but also somewhat fascinating, especially when their comical figures had reached such a massive number.
“Demon Race!” Yang Kai’s pupils shrank.
The sight of round and short figures desperately charging forward awakened some unpleasant memories in Yang Kai.
However, the Demons that appeared in his memories were either red or green, not black like the ones before him.
But whether they were green or red, all Demons with such figures belonged to a subsect of Demons known as Burst Demons in the Demon Realm, because their mode of attack was the self-destruction of their bodies. These Demons had weak cultivations, but when they exploded, they could produce unimaginable destruction. The Red Demon exploded with fiery might, while Green Demons exploded to release highly toxic poison. Even the other members of the Demon Race were unwilling to be affected by Green Demon Poison.
The Red Demons and Green Demons could all explode, so what about the Black Demons who appeared similar to them?
There was no reason to think about it though as Yang Kai could easily guess how they attacked.
“Are these creatures part of the Demon Race too?” Xiao Yu Yang had a weird look on his face. If the Demon Race was full of such strange but awkward creatures, he believed that he alone could wipe out the entire Demon Realm.
Yang Kai explained in a heavy voice, “The Demon Realm has a hundred clans, each one with their own Innate Divine Ability. These should be a kind of Burst Demons, and their natural talent is… exploding!”
“You mean they self-destruct?” Xue Zheng Mao furrowed his brow.
No one else noticed, but Yu Ru Meng glanced at Yang Kai in amazement the moment he spoke, but she quickly withdrew her gaze and sat down quietly on her spot, focusing on healing her injuries.
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Elder Xue, don’t underestimate these Burst Demons. Since they could appear here, it means that the Demon Realm is really connected with the Star Boundary now. The sand funnel was just an entrance that now serves as the opening of a channel between the two worlds. These Demons are just a vanguard. If the channel isn’t destroyed, more Demons will invade the Star Boundary in the future.”
Xue Zheng Mao turned serious, “In that case, we can only pray that the Seniors can succeed and safely withdraw.”
While he was speaking, rumbling sounds suddenly rang out from up ahead. The rumbles were deafening and seemed to be without end.
As everyone looked upon it, they found that it was just as Yang Kai had said.
These round Black Demons really started exploding one after another, but the might of their explosions weren’t that great. Rather, a large amount of Demon Qi spread out whenever one of them blew up, their dying bodies painting the earth around them pitch-black, deteriorating the already recently stabilized situation.
Li Wu Yi’s face turned solemn as he voiced his thoughts, “Is the Demon Realm really trying to use this method to swallow the entire Star Boundary?” The place where the Black Demons had exploded had become part of the Demon Land. If the Demon Realm had enough Black Demons, then they wouldn’t even need to send any Masters, all they needed to do was keep sending Black Demons.
In any case, this kind of clan in the Demon Race had an extremely low status in the Demon Realm. No one cared about their life or death and they themselves existed only for their one final explosion.
But this was obviously impossible. No matter how many Black Demons there were, their explosion couldn’t cover the entire Star Boundary. Yang Kai secretly guessed that the Demon Realm was simply trying to expand their foothold in the Star Boundary from which they would slowly swallow the rest up using other means.
The explosions rang out to no end, making it impossible to count just how many Black Demons had sacrificed themselves. When everyone looked around, all they saw was endless Black Demons continuing to pour over one after another, constantly using their self-destruction to expand the scope of the Demon land to the surroundings.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and slowly stated, “Everyone, although it should not have much effect, I believe we should eliminate those we can. We might not be able to stop them, but we can slow them down.”
Everyone nodded their agreement.
Yang Kai added, “Everyone, guard yourselves carefully. Don’t get contaminated by the Demon Qi. If you feel that something isn’t right, retreat as soon as possible.”
Having said this, Yang Kai charged out first.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was already standing at the border of the Demon land, whereupon he grasped in the air and summoned his Myriads Sword. The next moment, his Emperor Qi surged as he slashed out.
An enormous sword wave cut into the herd of Black Demons, silently felling hundreds of them. However, these Black Demons simply exploded with a deafening bang even after their death, releasing more and more Demon Qi. It was just as Yang Kai had said, even if they culled these Black Demons, it wouldn’t have much effect, because killing them would not prevent the spreading of Demon Qi. At most, it would slow down the expansion of the Demon land.
But at this moment, Yang Kai had no choice but to do this.
The Demon Realm had a hundred clans, and these clans were also divided into many levels.
The Burst Demons were undoubtedly the lowest of the low. Even their intelligence was low. As such, they were often vassals of the other Demon Clans; however, it was precisely because of their low intelligence that they could be so fearless and unafraid of death as they regarded their self-destruction as their mission.
Even though Yang Kai was swinging the Myriads Sword, cutting countless Burst Demons down like he was cutting vegetables, he still couldn’t make them hesitate or falter even a little bit. They continued to emerge from the center of the Demon Land, charging forward and exploding as they reached the edge, without so much as taking a glance at Yang Kai.
This situation was similarly faced by everyone else.
All those present were Emperor Realm Masters, except for Yao Lin, so dealing with these Burst Demons was literally as easy as waving their hands. Just a random move could reap lives like wheat.
1,000, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000…
Yang Kai had no idea how many Burst Demons he had killed as he had already rushed deep into the Demon Land, making a beeline towards the centre. Everywhere he passed by, the ground was littered with the bits and pieces of the Black Burst Demons, but what flowed out from their corpses wasn’t fresh blood, but pitch-black dirty water which seeped into the ground and corrupted it further.
The gap between cultivation quickly manifested. Although the First-Order Emperor Realm Masters could kill these Black Demons as swiftly as the Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters, it was more taxing for them to move about in the Demon Land for an extended period of time as they had to always guard themselves against invasion by Demon Qi.
Two hours after the battle began, the First-Order Emperors all basically withdrew.
After half a day passed, the Second-Order Emperors also retreated.
Another half a day later, the Third-Order Emperors were forced to draw back.
At this point, only Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi were left wreaking havoc in the Demon Land. It wasn’t surprising for Li Wu Yi to persist for so long as he was a Pseudo-Great Emperor; someone just below the Great Emperors, but the fact that Yang Kai persisted as well amazed everyone.
They didn’t know that Yang Kai was basically unafraid of being contaminated by Demon Qi so he didn’t even bother mounting a defence against it, greatly conserving his energy.
Yu Ru Meng closely followed Yang Kai the whole time, sticking so close she was all but holding onto him; however, the entire time she followed him, she took no action and didn’t kill a single Black Demon. On the other hand, Yang Kai said a few words to her that clearly incensed her and nearly caused her to attack him with her sword.
The Black Demons seemed to be inexhaustible, but after a full day and night, Yang Kai suddenly stopped swinging his sword.
He looked around as his vicinity was filled with nothing but mutilated corpses. The air was filled with a horrible smell and aura as the entire world seemed to have gone completely quiet at this moment.
Without the continuous explosions and the rumbles of the stampede, the quietness left everyone a little uncomfortable.
After the self-destruction of the Black Demons finally stopped, it could also be said that there were no Black Demons anymore.
But Yang Kai’s expression only turned more solemn as he tightly gripped the Myriads Sword and stared towards the centre of the Demon Land.
*Ta ta ta…*
Strange sounds echoed from ahead, like the sound of horseshoes. This sound wasn’t hurried, rather slow actually, but there were also the grating sounds of something sharp rubbing across the sand accompanying it.
“Be careful,” Yu Ru Meng suddenly warned.
Yang Kai didn’t speak a word as he prepared himself; he could feel a powerful aura slowly approaching him.
A short time later, two points of red light appeared in his sight. The next moment, a humongous figure came into his view. The figure was blurry still, but clearly at least ten meters tall, and the red glare from its eyes gave off a cruel aura.
Only when the opposite figure got close enough did Yang Kai get a clear picture of the approaching enemy. It was a tall, muscular man with a naked upper body that seemed bronze in colour. This man was riding a fearsome-looking Monster Beast that was exuding a thick Demon Qi. Its entire body was covered in sharp spines and at first glance, looked similar to a horse, but whether it was its appearance or aura, it was clearly a fearsome Demon Beast.
And the tall and stalwart figure riding the Demon Beast was emanating a fearsome pressure that belonged to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master.
“Demon King!” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
Since countless Burst Demons had appeared before, it meant that the channel between the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm had been fully opened, and now, a Demon King had appeared, one on par with a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. The situation was deteriorating quickly.
The presence of a Demon King meant that more Demon Kings would soon appear. Even Demon Saint Masters may appear soon! Those were existences on par with the Great Emperors.
The Demon King held a demon artifact halberd and was dragging it diagonally on the ground, which was the source of the harsh grating noise.
The Demon King continued to approach slowly before suddenly stopping just ten metres away from Yang Kai. The Demon Beast under it let out a snort as the light in its eyes became crueller and crueller.
As their gazes met, Yang Kai’s face turned serious. The Demon King, on the other hand, pursed his lips into a smile and raised his weapon as he broke into laughter, pointing at Yang Kai and shouting, “Haha, a Human!” It appeared as if he had discovered something new and strange. The Demon King seized up Yang Kai with interest.
Yang Kai, coldly glaring at him, asked, “What’s your name?”
“This King is Meng Si. Trivial ant, why are you still not kneeling after seeing this King!?”
Just as he said this, Yu Ru Meng, who had been standing by Yang Kai’s side, suddenly had a cold gleam flash across her eyes as she glared at Meng Si.
Meng Si frowned as he thoughtfully gauged Yu Ru Meng. A doubtful look flashed across his face as he pondered for a while before shrugging, “Forget it, this King was just kidding.”
Yang Kai indifferently retorted, “Your joke isn’t funny.”
Meng Si pursed his lips into a smile as he continued, “Little brat, judging by the look of you, your strength should be pretty good and you shouldn’t have a low status in the Human Race. This King is in a good mood today, so he will let you go for the time being. Go back and inform those in charge of your Human Race that they should quickly come to me and bow their heads, otherwise, my Demon Realm’s army will surely trample this world flat. By then, it would be too late to regret!”
“I can do as you ask,” Yang Kai nodded, “But you’ll have to defeat me first!”
Meng Si slightly leaned forward, giving a feeling of oppression, before asking with a strange look on his face, “Are you challenging this King?”
“You’re just overestimating yourself!” Yang Kai grinned before suddenly swinging his sword.
Meng Si was a little startled as he hadn’t expected for Yang Kai to actually have the guts to make a move on him; after all, according to his perception, Yang Kai’s cultivation was weaker than his. Was the Human Race really so fearless?
Before he could have another thought though, he suddenly felt the space around him tighten as an invisible force locked him in place. A pitch-black crescent-shaped attack was already shooting towards him by the time he came to his senses.
Meng Si’s face immediately changed. He thought that Yang Kai was being stubborn and unyielding, but the moment Yang Kai made his move, he realized that this Human was quite strong. The crescent-shaped attack was literally tearing Space, and if he was caught off guard and allowed that attack to land, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
With no time to break the strange imprisonment he felt, Meng Si let out a furious cry as he thrust his halberd ahead.
The next moment, a pitch-black ball of light suddenly appeared on the tip of the halberd, welcoming the Moon Blade.
With a deafening bang, the Moon Blade dispersed while Meng Si was also shaken and the Demon Beast underneath him groaned as it retreated a few steps back.
Taking advantage of his enemy’s momentary lapse in concentration, Yang Kai raised the sword to attack again, his Emperor Qi surging as he swung for the neck.
Meng Si’s pupils shrank as a look of amazement appeared on his face. He felt that Yang Kai was being overconfident when he attacked first, but now he realized he had simply been underestimating his foe.
The strange space imprisonment hindered Meng Si from making an effective dodge, so all he could do was let out a wild cry as his bronze-coloured skin glowed with a metallic hue.
*Dang…*
Sparks flew everywhere as Yang Kai’s sword struck Meng Si’s neck, but the result wasn’t what he had hoped for. Meng Si’s neck was comparable to the hardest artifact at the moment, so his sword only left a palm length scar.
“Stone Demon!” Yang Kai raised his brow as he finally recognized which clan Meng Si belonged to.
[No wonder his defence is so strong, he’s from the Stone Demon Clan.]
After this attack, Meng Si obviously wouldn’t sit still and swept out his halberd.
But Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from where he was.
Meng Si’s attack might have failed to meet its target, but taking advantage of this opportunity, he broke free from the space imprisonment and opened some distance. Shaking his head, he declared, “You’re pretty good!”
“You aren’t bad yourself!” Yang Kai maintained a cold look on his face, his murderous intent rising by the moment. A Demon King was comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm, so Meng Si was surely a rare existence in the Demon Realm. If Yang Kai could kill him here, it would be a little helpful to the future situation.
If he hadn’t encountered such an enemy, Yang Kai wouldn’t have cared, but since they had met, how could he retreat so easily?
While speaking, Yang Kai was already secretly communicating with the Sealed World Bead and preparing to bring out his Embodiment at the critical moment. Fighting Meng Si in a two vs one, giving him a pleasant surprise, and beheading him at the fastest speed, was the best plan for now.
Meng Si just chuckled as he replied, “Little brat, quickly go back and inform your leaders. You can’t kill me!”
“We’ll see about that,” Yang Kai deviously smiled before he suddenly put away the Myriads Sword and quickly formed a set of seals with his hands.
Meng Si frowned deeply as he instinctively felt that Yang Kai’s next move would be extraordinary. He naturally didn’t want to entangle with this strange Human anymore as he just came here to pass on a message, nothing more. He had no need to fight a Human Master to death so he simply snorted and declared, “This King will remember you. I hope we meet again.”
Just as he was finished, a whirlpool suddenly appeared under Meng Si and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into the ground, Demon Beast and all, and Yang Kai could perceive that he was fleeing at an incredible speed.
“Sand Demon!” Yang Kai frowned.
Obviously, only Sand Demons could achieve such an effect. The Sand Demon must have been secretly lurking nearby the whole time. Since he couldn’t keep Meng Si here, all Yang Kai could do was bitterly dispel the energy he had gathered as he stared into the depths of the Demon Land with a worried look on his face.
“Do you know the Demon Race well?” Yu Ru Meng suddenly asked.
When Yang Kai talked about the Burst Demons before, Yu Ru Meng found it a little strange, but now, after seeing Yang Kai recognize Stone Demons and Sand Demons with just one glance, Yu Ru Meng found it even stranger.
If he wasn’t extremely familiar with the Demon Race, it should have been impossible for him to do this.
How could Yang Kai not understand the Demon Race? In the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he had personally participated in the Great War of Two Races, experiencing years of brutal combat. It could be said that in the entire Star Boundary, no one knew more about the disposition and the characteristics of the Demon Race than him.
The Sects such as Star Soul Palace may have some records about the Demon Race, but how could records compare to personal experience?
“I know a thing or two,” Yang Kai indifferently responded.
Yu Ru Meng’s eyes flickered with a strange look, but she didn’t ask any more questions.
“Let’s go back!” Since a Demon King had appeared, the Demon Race army would not be far behind, so he had to inform Li Wu Yi about this news as quickly as possible. This matter was related to the survival of the entire Star Boundary and now far beyond the scope a single person could handle.
Yang Kai and Yu Ru Meng soon returned to everyone’s side. Li Wu Yi was already there as well and lightly nodded to Yang Kai after seeing him.
Yang Kai immediately reported, “I ran into a Demon King!”
“A Demon King?” Li Wu Yi was greatly shocked after hearing this while Xue Zheng Mao and the others suddenly turned pale as well.
Lan Xun furrowed her brow as she commented, “I have read some ancient records about the Demon Race in the palace’s archives. A Demon King from the Demon Realm is said to be comparable to an Emperor on our side.”
Yang Kai confirmed it with a nod, “Good, the Demon King I encountered had strength equivalent to a Third-Order Emperor, and he belonged to the Stone Demon Clan so his defence was extremely strong. Although I wanted to kill him, I didn’t succeed and he managed to escape.”
Li Wu Yi solemnly wondered aloud, “First, countless Black Demons poured out, and now, even a Demon King has appeared. Is it possible that the passage between the Demon Realm and the Star Boundary had really been opened?”
Yang Kai replied, “There is no doubt about this anymore. The Demon King himself said that the Demon Race army will soon march on the Star Boundary. If the passage wasn’t opened, he wouldn’t have spoken with such strong confidence. In any case, it’s just as Brother Gao had foretold before…” He turned to look at Gao Zhang, “A catastrophe is about to begin.”
Li Wu Yi stated in a serious tone, “If that’s the case, then the situation has evolved beyond our ability to control. We need to quickly notify the entire Star Boundary, mobilize cultivators from the other three territories, and prepare to face off against the Demon Race.”
“I agree. A war between two races is no small matter and concerns the entire Star Boundary. No one can avoid responsibility here.”
Xue Zheng Mao added, “But the Great Emperors have yet to return, and we also have no idea what’s going on in the depths of the passage. What if they manage to destroy the corridor between the two worlds…”
Yang Kai replied, “Of course that would be the best possible outcome, but we haven’t heard anything from them after so many days, so we can only begin planning for the worst.”
Xue Zheng Mao gently nodded. He too felt that what he said was unreasonable.
“It shouldn’t be too late…” Before Li Wu Yi could finish speaking, he suddenly felt something as he focused his attention on the centre of the Demon Land.
The next moment, a few extremely terrifying auras suddenly appeared in the boundless darkness, shooting straight toward everyone.
In the blink of an eye, three auras had already arrived before everyone. Everyone only saw a blinding flash of light before they saw three figures hovering before them.
Li Wu Yi and the others’ faces lit up with joy as they all cupped their fists and saluted, “Seniors.”
The three, who had appeared, were none other than three Great Emperors, Serene Soul, Iron Blood, and Martial Beast! Everyone was pleasantly surprised as just now, they felt as if they were facing a storm without anyone to support them. Now, however, three Great Emperors had appeared before them.
But Bright Moon Great Emperor was nowhere to be seen. Lan Xun swept a glance at the three before she immediately turned pale.
Yang Kai also had a sombre expression on his face because the state of the three Great Emperors wasn’t that great. Demon Qi was lingering all around them and had obviously invaded their bodies. Furthermore, by the looks of it, the three seemed to have already experienced a great battle as their auras were a little unstable.
But for Masters like them, a bit of Demon Qi was nothing to worry about. They only needed to meditate for a while to expel it.
What shocked Yang Kai was that he found traces of dried blood around the corner of Martial Beast Great Emperor’s mouth; obviously, he had been injured.
Yang Kai was greatly shaken up by this. Mo Huang was a Great Emperor, so who could possibly injure him? The only ones who could wound a Great Emperor were other Great Emperors, or those on par with Great Emperors. Could it be the work of Night Shadow Great Emperor? But that didn’t make sense. Night Shadow Great Emperor was just one person while counting Bright Moon Great Emperor, there were a total of four on their side. In a four vs one, how would it be possible for these three to end up like this?
After the three showed up, they didn’t say much. Iron Blood just glanced at Lin Yun’er and stated in a heavy voice, gently nodding at her, “Let’s leave this place first.”
Having said so, his Emperor Qi surged as he wrapped everyone in it before flying towards the distance.
After a cup of tea worth of time, their team landed ten thousand kilometres away on a tall slope filled with broken rocks. This place provided a wide field of vision and an unobstructed view of the surroundings.
Everyone was eagerly looking at the three, wondering what happened to them, but none dared to ask.
As if he had noticed Lan Xun’s inquiring gaze though, Iron Blood turned to her before a look of guilt flashed across his face. He pondered for a long time before finally speaking, “You father remained behind in order to cover our retreat from the Demon Realm.”
Lan Xun’s tender figure shook and she nearly collapsed. Fortunately, Lin Yun’er was standing beside her and managed to catch her before she fell.
A look of disbelief immediately appeared on Yang Kai’s face. Although Iron Blood spoke briefly, it revealed two important pieces of news.
The passage between the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm had really been opened!
And the four Great Emperors had actually gone to the Demon Realm. Perhaps, the four had a great fight with the Masters of the Demon Realm on the other side of the passage which had delayed them for so many days. Moreover, Mo Huang had also suffered some injuries. No wonder the three were showing signs of being invaded by the Demon Qi. Naturally, the Demon Qi couldn’t break through their defences, but if a Demon Saint had attacked them, even a Great Emperor couldn’t simply brush them off.
Serene Soul assured, “Don’t worry, your father is also a Great Emperor. He might have remained there, but there is no need to worry about his life. However, it will be difficult for him to return. We will also think of a way to rescue him. For now, stay calm and focus on the task at hand.”
Lan Xun tightly bit her lip and she didn’t utter a single word. She just gently nodded. Bright Moon Great Emperor had chosen to remain in the Demon Realm to cover their retreat, so naturally, she was worried and anxious about his life. Even though she knew that Serene Soul was trying to comfort and encourage her, it was difficult for her to adjust so quickly.
Li Wu Yi then asked, looking at Mo Huang, “Sir, has the passage between the two worlds really been opened?”
Mo Huang heavily nodded his confirmation, “We misjudged everything. The Demon Realm has been preparing for this for ages while we were completely oblivious. I’m afraid that things aren’t looking good for the Star Boundary this time.”
“What about Night Shadow Great Emperor?” Li Wu Yi asked again.
Mo Huang slowly shook his head. Obviously, he didn’t want to talk about this; after all, as a Great Emperor, Night Shadow’s deeds had made it difficult for him to lift his head. Li Wu Yi couldn’t ask any more questions after seeing him like this, but it was now an undeniable truth that Night Shadow Great Emperor was in collusion with the Demon Realm. If this was not the case, this series of events would not have happened in the Western Territory.
At this moment, the Star Boundary could be said to be plagued by internal troubles and external aggression.
Iron Blood quickly declared, “The Demon Realm army is prepared for battle and sharpening their blades as we speak. The Star Boundary needs to organize its forces as soon as possible if we want to have some chance to stop them; otherwise, the Western Territory will soon fall.”
Yang Kai’s expression turned solemn as he reported, “Senior, you are probably unaware, but the Western Territory might have already fallen.”
Iron Blood looked at him, furrowing his brow, “What did you say?”
Yang Kai heaved a sigh before he briefly recounted everything that had happened before and then finally concluded, “Every member of Pointed Star Sect had been demonized, and the Emperor Realm Masters Star Soul Palace sent out to contact the other great forces in the Western Territory have all stopped responding. All signs point to the fact that the entire Western Territory has already become the Demons’ backyard. Only, we have been in the dark all the while.”
Iron Blood’s expression turned a shade gloomier as he muttered “The situation is already so bad.”
Mo Huang commented, “Since Night Shadow is colluding with the Demons, it’s not surprising for the entire Western Territory to be like this. But it’s impossible for everyone in the Western Territory to have become a Demon, and if the Demon Race wants to swallow our Star Boundary, their priority should be to expand this Demon Land behind us. We need to focus our attention here for now and do our best to constrain their movements.”
Iron Blood and Serene Soul lightly nodded their agreement.
Mo Huang continued, “It’s not too late, we need to start moving too. I will stay here and watch over the situation for the time being to prevent it from deteriorating further.”
Serene Soul nodded, “Then I will return to the Eastern Territory and gather the Eastern Territory’s Masters.” He looked at Xue Zheng Mao and suggested, “Bright Moon might not be here, but the Southern Territory still reveres Star Soul Palace as its leader. You all should also return to the Southern Territory and begin making preparations.”
“Yes!” Xue Zheng Mao solemnly nodded.
Iron Blood stated, “Then I will go and meet the other old fogies, none of them will be able to stay out of this matter.”
The old fogies he mentioned were naturally the other Great Emperors.
Mo Huang then turned to look at Yang Kai before he looked at Li Wu Yi and said, “We will be relying on you two this time. I’m afraid you will be quite busy over the next few days. If you have private affairs to deal with, settle them now so they don’t interfere in what you need to do.”
Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi glanced at each other before cupping their fists and nodded, “Yes!”
Naturally, mastery of the Dao of Space would be indispensable in rapidly gathering the Masters of the three territories, especially the Space Arrays arranged by Yang Kai which were tantamount to strategic weapons of war.
After the discussion was over, Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi immediately got to work. The two teamed up to arrange an enormous Space Array nearby before each of them refined several Space Spirit Beads and distributed them to everyone to wear so that it would be convenient for them to move around.
After half a day, the Space Array had taken shape and everyone began moving separately as they had discussed. Li Wu Yi took Serene Soul Great Emperor back to the Easter Territory, the members of Star Soul Palace returned to the Southern Territory, and Yang Kai planned to return to the Northern Territory. This way, the three territories could quickly start mobilizing.
To Yang Kai’s surprise, Iron Blood Great Emperor, Zhan Wu Hen and Lin Yun’er actually joined him.
It wasn’t unreasonable for Lin Yun’er to follow Yang Kai as she wanted to meet her old friends of the Star Field from the start, but she couldn’t get her wish last time. This time, since the opportunity had presented itself before her, she naturally didn’t want to miss it.
But the fact that Iron Blood Great Emperor wanted to follow him left Yang Kai in confusion.
[Weren’t you going to look for the other Great Emperors? Why come to the Northern Territory? Is it possible that he is worried about Lin Yun’er? But this is really not the time to be doting on your Disciple.]
Naturally, Yu Ru Meng insisted on following him as well, so Yang Kai could only give in to her. She was obviously impersonating someone, yet she was being so reckless, not even blinking when she stood before three Great Emperors. But what Yang Kai found strange was that Mo Huang and the others didn’t notice anything wrong with Yu Ru Meng either and acted as if she was really Li Shi Qing!
Yang Kai felt that he had really underestimated the tricks Yu Ru Meng had up her sleeve.
Yang Kai led the three onto the Space Array, and with a flash of blinding light, all of them vanished. By the time they regained their vision, they had appeared in the Northern Territory’s High Heaven Palace.
When the disciples guarding the Space Array saw this, they immediately stepped forward and respectfully bowed. Yang Kai waved his hand to stop them though before he turned to Zhan Wu Hen and introduced, “Senior, this is my High Heaven Palace. I wonder what Senior’s next plan is?”
Zhan Wu Hen replied, “I’ll be taking a trip to Medicine Pill Valley and Heavens’ Borderline.”
Medicine Pill Valley was the place where Wondrous Pill Great Emperor cultivated, so naturally Zhan Wu Hen had to go there to inform Wondrous Pill about the Western Territory’s catastrophe. As for Heavens’ Borderline, Yang Kai was a little confused after hearing this name and asked, “What is Heavens’ Borderline?”
Zhen Wu Hen glanced at him and lightly replied, “The place where Ice Feather cultivates.”
Ice Feather Great Emperor!
Yang Kai immediately understood. Now, he knew all ten Great Emperors of the Star Boundary: Serene Soul, Bright Moon, Heavens Revelation, Wondrous Pill, Iron Blood, Bustling World, Martial Beast, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, Night Shadow. These ten represented the most powerful figures of the entire Star Boundary. But only some of them founded a traditional Sect while the others mainly secluded themselves from the world. Ordinary people didn’t even know where these reclusive Great Emperors lived.
Yang Kai was also learning for the first time that Ice Feather Great Emperor was actually in the Northern Territory, but if one gave it a second thought, it wasn’t that surprising either. Since his honourable title as Ice Feather, one would assume he cultivated Ice Principles, and in the entire Star Boundary, the coldest place was undoubtedly the Northern Territory.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Kai continued, “Senior, you might not know, but the Fifth Disciple of Wondrous Pill is the Chief Alchemist of my High Heaven Palace, so I can ask him to inform Senior Wondrous Pill to save time.”
Zhan Wu Hen slightly furrowed his brow as he looked at Yang Kai in surprise, “Wondrous Pill’s Fifth Disciple actually works for you?” He was a little taken aback. Wondrous Pill didn’t have many Disciples, but each one of them was an Emperor Alchemist. How could someone like that work under Yang Kai?
However, this did make things a lot more convenient for him. At least, he didn’t need to go to Medicine Pill Valley. Now, he just needed to visit Heavens’ Borderline and meet Ice Feather.
Zhan Wu Hen gently nodded, “In that case, you will be responsible for notifying Medicine Pill Valley. You must also rally the cultivators of the Northern Territory and deploy them to the Western Territory as soon as possible.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded.
Zhan Wu Heng glanced at Lin Yun’er before lightly patting her head and smiling, “Yun’er, wait here for a few days, Master will be back soon.”
Lin Yun’er obediently nodded, “I understand. Master, swiftly go and quickly return.”
Zhan Wu Hen slightly smiled and started walking forward, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and abruptly stated, “Kid, this King once had a good friend, his honourable name was Cyan Lotus. Do you know of him?”
Yang Kai had naturally heard of Cyan Lotus Great Emperor, but the latter had died at the hands of Wu Kuang in the Great Emperor War tens of thousands of years ago. His Natal Emperor Artifact, the Indestructible Cyan Lotus, had been lost in the Shattered Star Sea and was later acquired by an inheritor.
Today, the Eastern Territory had a Cyan Lotus Palace, which seemed to be founded by the one who had obtained the Indestructible Cyan Lotus; however, Cyan Lotus Palace wasn’t able to carry the mantle of the Cyan Lotus Great Emperor as the Strength of Cyan Lotus Palace in the Eastern Territory was only about on par with that of Heavenly Wolf Valley’s.
Zhan Wu Hen had suddenly said this without any prior prompting, so Yang Kai had no idea what he was trying to convey either. As such, all he could do was nod and reply, “Junior has heard about him.”
Zhan Wu Hen added, “Cyan Lotus was killed by Wu Kuang when they fought in what is now the Shattered Stat Sea. This King thought he had taken revenge, but unfortunately, I only learned in recent years that Wu Kuang somehow came back to life.” He suddenly turned his head and continued, emphasizing each and every word, staring at Yang Kai, “Wu Kuang is the eternal enemy of this King. One day, either he will die or I will perish.”
Yang Kai was now utterly confused, so all he could do was state, cupping his fists, “Then I wish Senior great success in this endeavour!”
Zhan Wu Hen lightly nodded before his figure rose into the air and shot off towards the horizon.
After he left, Yang Kai frowned, looking in the direction he left.
[What was that all about?] Zhan Wu Hen’s confusing words before he left had left Yang Kai perplexed, but after giving it some thought, his heart suddenly clenched. Zhan Wu Hen’s words seemed to carry a strong sense of warning, as if he was confident that Yang Kai had something to do with Wu Kuang.
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. [What connection do I have with Wu Kuang? Although we have indeed met a few times and I have asked him some questions in the Ancestral Domain, if there was any connection, it was only that I can’t wait to kill him as he has occupied Duan Hong Chen’s body.]
[Wait…]
Suddenly, Yang Kai seemed to think of something and his expression turned serious, [I’m afraid that I do have a connection with Wu Kuang. At the very least, my Embodiment cultivates the Heaven Devouring Battle Law! This is an evil technique that the entire Star Boundary cannot tolerate.]
Yang Kai also reminded himself in the past that he should never allow this secret to be revealed; otherwise, Iron Blood Great Emperor would not spare him.
Since he regards Wu Kuang as his mortal enemy, how could he tolerate the existence of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law?
Could it be that Zhan Wu Hen knew about his Embodiment? And also that he cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law? But how?
At this thought, a figure suddenly flashed across Yang Kai’s mind.
Cang Mo!
When he was in the lower Star Field, Cang Mo had seen Yang Kai’s Embodiment, and in the Eastern Territory, the two had fought again. At that time, the Embodiment had indeed used the Heaven Devouring Domain.
Cang Mo was a Pseudo-Great Emperor, at any rate, so even if he had never seen the Heaven Devouring Battle Law before, he might have been able to infer something about it after some contemplation and reflection. What’s more, Cang Mo belonged to the Star Court and was a subordinate of Iron Blood Great Emperor, so if he informed Iron Blood Great Emperor about this…
[That bastard!] Yang Kai cursed in his heart. No wonder Zhan Wu Hen had said those confusing words, it turned out to be because of this. He must have known that the Embodiment cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, which was why he especially warned Yang Kai.
[Had I known this would happen, I would have finished off Cang Mo back then.] But after giving it another thought, Yang Kai realized that he was completely powerless to do anything even if he wanted to. How could it be that easy to kill a Pseudo-Great Emperor?
But since Zhan Wu Hen had revealed this to him, it was obvious that he wouldn’t act further, especially at this critical moment; otherwise, Iron Blood would have attacked right away and demanded Yang Kai hand over his Embodiment.
“What are you thinking about?” Yu Ru Meng, seeing his expression change again and again, curiously asked him.
Yang Kai glanced at her before replying, disinterested, “Nothing.” He then looked at Lin Yun’er and stated, “I will send you to meet Sister Huang and the others first.”
“En!” Lin Yun’er hurriedly nodded, “How is Aunty Huang doing?”
Yang Kai replied, smiling “She is doing well, but misses you very much.” Back then, when Lin Yun’er’s parents died, Huang Juan had taken care of her, all but adopting her. They were like a real mother and daughter. Later, Lin Yun’er was taken to the Star Boundary by Yang Yan, so they hadn’t seen each other for many years.
“I miss her too, and Aunty Ye and the others too.”
Most of the people, who were from the Star Field’s High Heaven Sect, lived together on one Spirit Peak, so Yang Kai sent Lin Yun’er there. When the reunion happened, everyone was naturally quite excited, especially Huang Juan who started crying for joy, constantly sizing Lin Yun’er up, almost unable to recognize her anymore.
Lin Yun’er was barely a teenager when she left, but now she had become a young woman so she looked completely different. However, after learning that Lin Yun’er was an Emperor and had taken a Great Emperor as her Master, Huang Juan and the others were nothing but happy for her.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to linger for too long, so after he brought Lin Yun’er over, he immediately left for Medicine Pill Peak.
The matter of the Western Territory warranted urgent action, so he had to spread the news as soon as possible in order to gather the cultivators of the Northern Territory. This time, not only the cultivators of the Northern Territory though, but even the members of the High Heaven Palace needed to be mobilized.
When he arrived on Medicine Pill Peak, he rushed straight into the Pill Room, not caring whether Ji Ying would be angry or not.
Ji Ying was a little dumbfounded by this rude intrusion, but after listening to Yang Kai for a moment, he also realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately set off to return to the Medicine Pill Valley to report to Wondrous Pill Great Emperor.
After sending Ji Ying off, Yang Kai took out a communication artifact and sent a message to Hua Qing Si, ordering her to report to him on High Heaven Peak.
On another note, Little Senior Sister Xia Ning Chang and Yu Ru Meng were looking at each other in confusion, both of them were absolute beauties who wore veils to cover their faces.
Xia Ning Chang had obviously sensed something as she gently nodded to Yu Ru Meng.
Yu Ru Meng, on the other hand, scoffed; obviously holding the other party in extreme disdain.
“What are you doing?” Yang Kai glared at her.
“Nothing,” Yu Ru Meng pretended to be ignorant like she always did.
Yang Kai didn’t have the time to get bogged down in such trivial matters so he just pulled Xia Ning Chang’s slender hand and lightly patted, “I have something to do, you can carry on with your work, I will accompany you next time.”
Xia Ning Chang gently stated, “Go, be careful.”
Yang Kai nodded, patted her head, then turned around and flew away.
Yu Ru Meng followed closely behind him before she caught up to him and flew alongside him, she even pulled his arm brazenly into her plump peaks.
“What are you doing?” Yang Kai gave her a side-long glance.
“Was she your woman?” Yu Ru Meng unhappily asked.
“Yes!” Yang Kai readily admitted.
Immediately after, he could hear Yu Ru Meng grinding her teeth.
Yang Kai rolled his eyes at her and added, gazing at her with a grin, “Does it make you uncomfortable?”
Yu Ru Meng’s teeth grinding became louder.
Yang Kai broke into laughter at this display and stated, “I’m not afraid to tell you, I don’t have just one woman.”
“How many?” Yu Ru Meng’s pretty eyes turned colder.
Yang Kai rubbed his chin as he replied, “I have about seventy or so.”
“Are you trying to anger me?” Yu Ru Meng coldly glared at him.
“I am speaking the truth, that’s all; furthermore, you were the one who asked me.” Yang Kai meaningfully grinned, “If you feel uncomfortable, just free me from your Secret Technique. Why put yourself through so much grief?”
“Dream on,” Yu Ru Meng sneered. “You should take good care of your women in the future.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “What do you mean?”
“Nothing…” Yu Ru Meng replied in neither a cold nor gentle manner, “I just want to tell you that maybe I will kill them all if someday I am upset.”
As soon as she stated this, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and turned an icy glare at her.
Yu Ru Meng stared back at him without showing any weakness. Rather, her gaze seemed to carry a faint sense of provocation.
After a long time, Yang Kai indifferently declared, “I will pretend you said nothing this time, but there will not be a next time!” Freeing his arm from her hold, he flew off, leaving Yu Ru Meng behind, stomping in anger.
In the hall of High Heaven Peak, Hua Qing Si, who came to know that the two worlds were connected, heralding the coming of the Demon Race, was shocked and turned a bit pale. After composing herself, she immediately took out her communication artifact and started informing various Sects and families. The gears of the entire High Heaven Palace and Orthodoxy Temple Branch quickly began turning.
Among the hundred thousand members who were from the lower Star Field, many had advanced to the Dao Source Realm in the past few years; at least a few hundred of them. Although almost all were still just First-Order Dao Source Realms, this was only because of a shortage of time. If they were given enough time and space to grow, the number of Dao Source Realm Masters would definitely increase.
As for Origin Kings, there was a truly enormous number of them.
By rough estimation, High Heaven Palace alone could dispatch ten thousand people to the battle, all of whom were at or above the Origin King Realm.
It needed to be said that even a top Sect like Azure Sun Temple could only send out a few thousand people in total. Except for a behemoth like High Heaven Palace, perhaps no other Sect could deploy so many cultivators at once since most Sects did not even have ten thousand members.
This force would surely become a sharp knife in the war between the two worlds.
While Hua Qing Si was busy, Yang Kai didn’t rest. He summoned Ying Fei and ordered him to take a trip to the Ancient Wild Lands to give a message to the Three Divine Venerables. Although Yang Kai had repeatedly gone to the Ancient Lands and troubled Luan Feng and the others, even drawing them into the matter of Orthodoxy Temple last time, the incident this time was in no way trivial and Yang Kai was confident that Luan Feng and the others would not stand by once they learned about the situation.
Even the Great Emperors had gotten involved, so how could they avoid responsibility? They might remain safe for a while, hiding in the Ancient Wild Lands, but if the Star Boundary was really conquered by the Demon Race, would the Demon Race spare them?
Yang Kai believed that Luan Feng and the others would see the reality of the situation and would definitely make the right choice, so he didn’t bother to personally make the trip.
The Monster Race of the Ancient Wild Lands would be of great help. Whether it was the three Divine Spirits or the Monster Kings, all of them were the top Masters in this world. Furthermore, they lived in the Ancient Lands all year round the year, so their natural resistance towards Demon Qi was extraordinary. Yang Kai even doubted whether Demon Qi would have any effect on them.
With their help, things would be much easier.
As for the Dragon Clan…
Yang Kai thought for quite a while before he decided not to disturb them for the time being. If the Great Emperors felt that it was necessary to invite the Dragon Clan, they would definitely have a way to send a message to them, he didn’t need to take up this task himself. Since the Great Emperors hadn’t mentioned it, then he didn’t need to unnecessarily intervene.
Perhaps the Dragon Clan could act as a trump card.
After busying himself for some time, Yang Kai suddenly felt a sense of incongruity. After thinking about it, he seemed to have been struck with realization, turned to Hua Qing Si, and asked, “Where is Liu Yan?”
It wasn’t until now that he finally realized that something was off. He didn’t see Liu Yan when he came back this time, and every time he returned, Liu Yan would definitely rush over right away, but even after more than an hour, Liu Yan was nowhere in sight.
After hearing this, Hua Qing Si looked up and replied, “I forgot to tell the Palace Master that Liu Yan is gone.”
“What do you mean by gone?” Yang Kai looked confused.
Hua Qing Si’s face turned unsightly. “Not just Liu Yan, but even Qiong Qi, who had returned last time with Palace Master, and…” After a pause, Hua Qing Si continued with much difficulty, “Yang Xiao and Yang Xue have also disappeared.”
“What!?” Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked this time. He wouldn’t be too worried if just Liu Yan and Qiong Qi couldn’t be found as both of them were Divine Spirits. In this world, there were few who could pose a threat to those two, but now even Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had gone missing.
He immediately linked it with the kidnapping of Lan Xun and the others, but just as quickly dismissed the notion as unreasonable.
Huan Qing Si hurriedly reported, “Sister Liu Yan left you a message before leaving, perhaps there are some clues in it.” While speaking, she took out a jade slip from her Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took it and scanned it with his Divine Sense with a solemn look on his face. The next moment, he saw three words engraved on the jade slip.
Four Seasons Realm!
Yang Kai raised his brow as the tense look on his face slowly eased. The Four Seasons Realm was the supposed resting place of Flowing Time Great Emperor. It was precisely because of the opening of the Four Seasons Realm that Yang Kai obtained the Time Flies Secret Technique, allowing him to comprehend the Dao of Time. Qiong Qi also emerged from the Four Seasons Realm at that time.
However, there were still many years left before the next opening of the Four Seasons Realm, so why would they go there? Is it possible that Qiong Qi could freely open the entrance of the Four Seasons Realm? If not, why would they all make such a trip?
Thinking about it though, this was quite possible; after all, Old Qiong could also be considered a master of the Four Seasons Realm.
[This is probably related to that brat Yang Xiao, that source of trouble and worry.] Yang Kai didn’t have a clear idea about Old Qiong’s way of doing things, but since Liu Yan had gone too, he was able to relax slightly. He could trust Liu Yan to look after things.
[As for Yang Xue…]
[That little girl should have been taken along by that smelly brat. Father and mother must be beside themselves in worry…] Thinking of this, Yang Kai started to have a headache.
Hoping for a stroke of good luck, Yang Kai triggered the Space Beacon on his wrist, but he didn’t get a response, causing him to sigh.
After coming back last time, he left Yang Xiao and Liu Yan each with a Space Beacon, so as long as they were in the Star Boundary, he would have been able to locate and instantly move to them. But since there wasn’t any resonation, it meant that they weren’t in the Star Boundary anymore.
And if they weren’t in the Star Boundary, it meant that they had already entered the Four Seasons Realm!
“Palace Master, where did Sister Liu Yan and the others go? I asked the disciples guarding the Spirit Array and they informed me that the four of them teleported to the Southern Territory’s Orthodoxy Temple Branch, but after that, no one knew where they went.” Hua Qing Si asked with a worried look. She hadn’t read what was written in the jade slip left by Liu Yan, and Dong Su Zhu had been pestering her about it these days, asking about a dozen times a day if she had found the whereabouts of Yang Xue.
Yang Kai quickly replied, “They went to the Four Seasons Realm.”
“Four Seasons Realm?” Hua Qing Si was stunned, “Why would they go there when it’s still closed?”
“Old Qiong can open it. If my guess is right, there is a great opportunity waiting for them there.”
An opportunity that was the true inheritance of Flowing Time Great Emperor.
Back then, Old Qiong had also used this condition in exchange for his asylum, convincing Yang Kai to let Old Qiong stay with him and escape the fate of being captured by Li Wu Yi and Ju Feng and taken back to Spirit Beast Island.
If not for such a great temptation, why would Yang Kai care about Qiong Qi’s affairs? As far as he was concerned, Qiong Qi would not have suffered a loss being taken to Spirit Beast Island, and it wouldn’t even be shameful as Spirit Beast Island was no stranger to Divine Spirits.
Originally, Yang Kai had planned to wait for things to settle down a bit before asking Old Qiong to take him to the Four Seasons Realm.
But now it seems… Yang Xiao, that smelly brat, had taken that opportunity for himself. Of course, that wasn’t really an appropriate way to think about such things as opportunities cannot be snatched, only accepted or rejected. Perhaps Old Qiong felt that Yang Xiao was more suitable for this opportunity; after all, Yang Kai and Qiong Qi had seen Yang Xiao use the Dao of Time to escape from the former’s grasp when Yang Kai was about to spank him for lying.
[There isn’t much difference between whether it belongs to the father or to the son.] Yang Kai slightly smiled, now looking forward to how much Yang Xiao would have changed when he saw him again.
Hua Qing Si suddenly raised her head and reported, looking at Yang Kai with a pitiful look on her face, “Palace Master, your mother just summoned me.”
“Why?” Yang Kai casually asked before he quickly understood, rubbing his forehead as he commented, “Don’t worry about her, I will explain to her myself later.”
After discussing a few more things with Hua Qing Si, Yang Kai ordered her to gather the Northern Territory’s forces in High Heaven Palace as soon as possible before he flew off to the Spirit Peak where his parents lived.
After a cup of tea worth of time, Yang Kai saw his father standing on the balcony of their house.
There was a miserable aura lingering around Yang Ying Feng, and when the father and son met, Yang Kai respectfully cupped his fists and greeted him, “Father!”
Yang Ying Feng powerlessly responded before he waved at Yang Kai like he was catching flies. Presumably, things hadn’t been good for him over these days. He just wanted peace and quiet now, not even having the energy to speak an extra word.
Yang Kai took a long, deep breath, adjusted his clothes, and then bravely walked towards the house.
After a short while, Dong Su Zhu’s crying and cursing sounds came from inside the building, whereupon Yang Ying Feng’s facial muscles all started twitching.
Inside the house, Yang Kai’s face was quite awkward as he stood on the spot, looking at Dong Su Zhu, who was sitting miserably on the ground, feeling that the situation was a bit trickier than he had imagined.
“I don’t care, I don’t care, bring me my Xue’er back! She has never left me over all these years, how can she survive outside alone? You have to quickly find her, send your palace’s disciples to look for her! If she encounters some unexpected misfortune, your mother will not be able to survive!”
Yang Kai tried persuading her, “Mother, Liu Yan and Old Qiong are with her. No one in this world can do anything untoward to her. You don’t have to worry about her safety and they will return in a few days. Also, Xue’er is slowly growing up, so it’s impossible for her to stay by your side forever. It would be better for her to go out and see the world a little earlier.”
Dong Su Zhu fiercely stared up at him before she suddenly jumped to her feet and began poking his chest fiercely, “You have been travelling outside every day and have long forgotten your parents! We barely see you for a few days a year, but now, after your mother finally had Xue’er, you want her to be just like you and never come home too!?”
As she poked Yang Kai’s chest with each word, he was forced back towards the entrance by her momentum and nearly stumbled and fell.
Yang Kai apologetically smiled as he replied, “No, I absolutely don’t want this.”
Dong Su Zhu ground her teeth before stating, “Find Xue’er and bring her back, or you can take me to her.”
Yang Kai bitterly smiled as he explained, “They have entered a Sealed World now, one we can’t enter, only Old Qiong can open it. Mother will just have to wait for a few days for them to return on their own.”
Dong Su Zhu fell into despair after hearing this, slumped back down the ground and started making a scene, “It’s all because you brought that little brat Yang Xiao back with you! Xue’er is learning all kinds of bad things from him! It’s all your fault!”
Yang Kai repeatedly nodded, “Yes, yes, I will spank that brat’s butt red when I see him next!”
Dong Su Zhu stated, blinking at him, before lowering her head and muttering, “Don’t hit him too hard, just teach him a lesson…”
Yang Kai assumed a cruel and determined look on his face. “Mother, you don’t need to worry. That smelly brat’s physique is abnormal, it doesn’t matter how hard I spank his ass, he’ll recover quickly enough.”
After finally managing to comfort his mother, Yang Kai flew off, looking quite tired. Afterwards, he started searching High Heaven Palace.
After a while, a figure flashed over, curiously looking at him, “What are you searching for? Why are you acting all sneaky like that?”
Yang Kai’s face blackened as he said in his heart, [I’m the Palace Master here. This is my turf, why would I act sneaky?] He then turned his head and looked towards the source of the voice and saw an angry yet smiling face looking at him. Yang Kai couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he stated, “Young Lady Qiu, long time no see.”
Qiu Yi Meng humbly said with a smile, “Palace Master, please don’t call me Young Lady, I dare not accept such a title. I am but a humble disciple of High Heaven Palace now.”
Yang Kai smiled, “It’s just a name, that’s all. I’m accustomed to it.” Then he suddenly spoke in surprise, “You broke through to the Dao Source Realm, congratulations.”
Qiu Yi Meng responded, smiling, “It’s all thanks to you. If you hadn’t brought us here and provided us with ample resources, how could I have made such rapid progress? But in front of you, a Dao Source Realm is really nothing.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “It’s different. I came to the Star Boundary earlier than all of you so it’s only normal for me to be in a higher realm.”
Qiu Yu Meng replied, pursing her lips, “No need to comfort us. I have already learned to accept the fact that there is always someone stronger no matter how strong you are. But you, what are you looking for? Maybe I can help you.”
“Did you see my dog?” Yang Kai asked.
“Dog?” Qiu Yi Meng was stunned, but suddenly, she seemed to have recalled something and asked, “A little black puppy?”
“Yes, yes, that’s the one.”
“En, I saw it yesterday.” Qiu Yi Meng nodded.
“Where?” Yang Kai asked.
“Come with me.” Qiu Yi Meng smiled before leading the way.
The two flew out side by side and soon arrived at a place where Qiu Yi Meng saw the Abyssal Returner yesterday, but a day later, the Abyssal Returner was naturally long gone, so Yang Kai had no choice but to continue to search with Qiu Yi Meng.
After half a day, they finally found the Abyssal Returner basking in the sun in a certain mountain valley.
After seeing Yang Kai, the Abyssal Returner rushed over with great enthusiasm, circled around him, and wagged its tail as it panted.
Yang Kai reached out and grabbed it by the neck before stuffing it into the Sealed World Bead. Since the Demon Race had appeared, how could Yang Kai forget about the Abyssal Returner? It could be considered the nemesis of the Demon Race, so he wanted to keep Ah Wang by his side. Maybe she would play a miraculous role at some point.
Qiu Yi Meng quietly watched, just when she wanted to ask about this black puppy she spent half a day searching for, she furrowed her curvy, black brow before shuddering and a look of vigilance appeared on her face as she looked left and right, “Yang Kai, did it just get a bit colder?”
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he slowly shook his head.
Qiu Yi Meng’s face was a little pale, “Strange, why do I suddenly feel a chill then?”
Yang Kai asked, contrary to his will, “Did some problem arise with your cultivation?”
“Of course…” Qiu Yi Meng frowned as a thoughtful look appeared on her face, “There shouldn’t be any problems.”
“It’s better to be careful about this kind of thing, you can’t be neglectful.”
Qiu Yi Meng nodded, “En, you’re right. Then I will go back and adjust my breathing.”
After sending her off with his gaze, Yang Kai finally looked in the direction of High Heaven Peak before snorting and flying over.
After a moment, he returned to the main hall of High Heaven Peak.
At the entrance of the main hall, a smiling Yu Ru Meng was leaning against the door with her arms crossed, staring at Yang Kai. Her arms were propping up her bountiful peaks, making them appear towering like mountains, and after seeing him approach, she asked, “Was that woman one among the seventy?”
Yang Kai asked back, glaring at her, “Why did you scare her?”
Yu Ru Meng assumed an innocent look, “What do you mean by scaring her?”
Yang Kai harrumphed as he replied, “You clearly know what I’m talking about.”
Yu Ru Meng tilted her head slightly and smilingly asked, “Are you angry?”
“Go away!” Yang Kai pushed her aside and walked into the palace.
Yu Ru Meng quickly followed after him, carrying her hands behind her back. She quickly circled around to Yang Kai’s front and asked, walking backwards, “About that black dog…”
Yang Kai responded, maintaining a straight face, “What black dog? Which black dog? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Yu Ru Meng disdainfully snorted, feeling a little puzzled. Although she didn’t see it clearly, she felt that the black puppy was a little unusual. Unfortunately, it disappeared in the blink of an eye and she didn’t have a clue where Yang Kai had put it.
She wanted to ask a few more questions, but Yang Kai didn’t give her the chance and directly headed into a cultivation room and activated the barrier, shutting her out.
His conduct made Yu Ru Meng angry to the point that she ground her teeth audibly.
Inside the cultivation room, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged.
It would take time to gather the Northern Territory’s cultivators, as well as the disciples of High Heaven Palace and its Orthodoxy Temple Branch. Yang Kai figured he had at least five days to himself. Naturally, it was impossible to cultivate a technique or art during these five days, but he could spend time searching for the Heart Seal in his Knowledge Sea.
Somehow, Yu Ru Meng had planted this strange Secret Technique on him, bringing two strangers so close that Yang Kai couldn’t even think of harming her. No matter what Yu Ru Meng’s identity was or what she was plotting, this Heart Seal Secret Technique surely played a crucial role.
So long as Yang Kai could dispel this Secret Technique, he could get rid of Yu Ru Meng’s hold on him, and perhaps, he could turn it around on her and make use of it.
But this Secret Technique was quite illusory. He had probed his Knowledge Sea a few days ago, but he didn’t notice anything at all. Now, whether he could dispel it or not, he had no confidence.
But no matter what, he had to give it a try.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai focused his attention. The next moment, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged as his Soul Avatar took form in his Knowledge Sea and began meticulously searching it, not letting off a single corner.
But Yang Kai’s face turned more and more solemn over time, because even after sweeping his entire Knowledge Sea from top to bottom, he didn’t find a single abnormality.
It was as if the Heart Seal Secret Technique didn’t even exist.
But that was impossible! The Heart Seal Secret Technique undoubtedly existed. His current feelings for Yu Ru Meng were the best evidence; otherwise, how could he have such deep affection for a stranger he had just met a couple days ago, like she was a partner he had endured life and death with for decades?
Yang Kai refused to give up and continued to probe diligently. This time, he even used the power of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, but he was still disappointed in the end.
A day later, Yang Kai finally opened his eyes, an unsightly look on his face.
[Is it really as Yu Ru Meng said, that the Heart Seal can’t be dispelled? Since it’s a Secret Technique, how can it be impossible to crack? Perhaps it’s just that no way has been found yet.]
Yang Kai remained in deep thought for a long time, sitting still on the spot. Suddenly, his eyeballs moved as a flash of brilliance bloomed in their depths.
Raising his hand, he lifted all the barriers on the room and shouted, “Ru Meng, Ru Meng!”
Apparently, Yu Ru Meng hadn’t gone too far as she appeared outside the door soon after hearing this, staring at him angrily, “What?”
“Come in,” Yang Kai beckoned at her.
Yu Ru Meng hesitated for a moment before walking inside.
Yang Kai pointed before him and stated, “Sit!”
It immediately made her roll her eyes at him, quite the coquettish act when seen from the outside. Nonetheless, Yu Ru Meng sat down, quickly filling the cultivation room with a faint delicious fragrance.
Yang Kai waved his hand again, closing the door of the room and activating the barriers again. After doing all this, he finally looked at her with a smile on his face.
Yu Ru Meng suddenly became a little nervous as she asked with an expectant look on her face, “What… what do you want to do?”
A lone man and woman in a closed room, and intimate lovers at that; it wasn’t difficult for her imagination to run wild so she nervously stated right away, “I… I’m not ready yet… I have to warn you to not try anything funny, otherwise, I won’t be polite.”
Yang Kai was greatly surprised, “When you asked me to dress you, didn’t you expect this to happen?”
“How can you confuse that with this?” Yu Ru Meng gripped her robes tightly.
“Interesting, interesting!” Yang Kai touched his chin, sizing her up with great relish. Originally, he believed her to be a loose woman as it didn’t take long for her to seduce him just after meeting him, but he hadn’t expected her to have such a modest side.
His intense gaze immediately made Yu Ru Meng fidgety and she promptly got up and stated, “If there’s nothing, I will take my leave first.”
“You want to leave just like that?” Yang Kai coldly snorted as he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back with force. Yu Ru Meng immediately let out a tender cry as she fell into his arms.
Their eyes met, as a playful light filled Yang Kai’s gaze. On the other hand, Yu Ru Meng’s eyes were hazy and dodgy.
As Yang Kai’s masculine scent and hot breath blew across her face, causing Yu Ru Meng’s breathing to become a little rapid.
Yang Kai stretched his fingers out and gently stroked her slender white neck, causing her to shiver. Everywhere he touched, she started to have goosebumps.
Stroking across her neck, her earlobes, her cheek…
Yu Ru Meng’s eyes became misty as a blush spread across her cheeks.
The corner of Yang Kai’s lips rose up as a wicked smile appeared on his face as he then lowered his head and kissed her.
Yu Ru Meng immediately went stiff as if someone had cast a petrification technique on her before she softened so much it was as if all the bones in her body melted. Her eyes went wide before she slowly closed them, enjoying the warmth and tenderness she felt. Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around Yang Kai’s waist as her fingers tightly clutched his clothes, as if she would powerlessly slump down without such support.
After a very long time, their lips finally parted.
Yu Ru Meng was panting for breath and there was a greedy look on her face.
Her well-rounded chest was heaving up and down as her heart pounded like a drum.
Yang Kai lowered his head again, staring into her eyes. Yu Ru Meng also looked up at him. As their eyes met, a shy look flashed across her pretty face, but there was a sweet smile hanging on her lips.
Yang Kai sighed in his heart as he struggled internally, but finally, he bent over and put his mouth next to her ear before speaking in an extremely gentle voice, “Slut…”
The charming atmosphere suddenly froze.
Yu Ru Meng’s figure also became extremely stiff as the sweet smile on her face slowly faded away. Her pretty eyes became as cold as ice as she indifferently asked, gazing at Yang Kai with a sharp glare, “What did you just say? I didn’t hear it clearly.”
Yang Kai put his arms around her and spelled it out, just as he had before, “S… l… u… t… slut!”
“Yang Kai!!” Yu Ru Meng erupted as she broke free from his embrace and menacingly glared down at him from above, appearing as if she was about to explode from rage…
Originally, Yu Ru Meng was a woman whose expression changed faster than flipping the page of a book and she couldn’t bear the slightest grievance. Now, her psychological line of defence was broken through by Yang Kai’s sweet and tender musings, only for him to viciously insult her in the next moment. She simply couldn’t bear the complete and utter contrast as she felt like she had been stabbed in the back by her most trusted person.
This kind of injury was far more serious than the one she suffered when Yang Kai’s palm struck her last time. At least, there was a reason back then, and physical trauma was not difficult to recover from, but this time, she felt as if her heart had been toyed with and shredded, it was no wonder she was so angry.
Yang Kai just looked at her with a smile, as if he hadn’t said anything wrong just now.
Seeing his unrepentant appearance, Yu Ru Meng only became angrier. A cold smile bloomed on her lips as she ordered, “If you apologize, I will forgive you.”
Yang Kai, still maintaining that smile on his face as he slowly shook his head.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Yu Ru Meng’s beautiful eyes turned colder.
Yang Kai sonorously declared, “Words are like arrows, once you let them loose, they do not return. It’s impossible for me to apologize even in death.”
“So be it!” Yu Ru Meng suddenly sat cross-legged in front of him, her eyes flashing a cold gleam as she glared at him. The next moment, her face turned pale as a muffled groan escaped from her lips.
At the same time, Yang Kai felt as if his head was about to explode.
[I knew you would do this!] Yang Kai was under unbearable pain, but he was simultaneously celebrating. If Yu Ru Meng didn’t do this, all his previous efforts would have gone to waste.
There seemed to be thousands of swords stabbing into his mind at the moment, granting him unimaginable pain that was beyond the limit of a human’s endurance. After a while, Yang Kai’s figure wobbled as his face turned pale as paper and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, splashing onto the ground.
Yu Ru Meng didn’t fare any better. Her Heart Seal Secret Technique was profound and mysterious, but its drawbacks were similarly powerful. She belonged to the category of people who were willing to sacrifice themselves just to make the opposite party suffer. She wanted to use this method to torment Yang Kai to vent her anger so there was no doubt she was suffering equally unbearable pain.
After a short while, Yu Ru Meng was drenched in sweat, as if she was fished out of a lake, but she grit her teeth and didn’t even let out so much as a grunt. She just kept staring at Yang Kai as if to declare she wouldn’t stop until he apologized.
The forced smile on Yang Kai’s face had become extremely twisted, but Yu Ru Meng’s face only grew colder and colder.
In the sealed cultivation room, man and woman constantly shuddered, their faces pale and sweaty. Obviously, they were in great pain, but no one wanted to show weakness, making for an extremely odd scene.
Under such painful torture, every moment seemed to be infinitely stretched.
Yang Kai really experienced what it meant to live a day like a year, but when he checked, he still couldn’t find any abnormality in his Knowledge Sea.
[It’s not enough! It’s far from enough!]
Yu Ru Meng suddenly proposed, “If you can’t stand it, just tell me, perhaps I will let you go if my heart softens!”
Yang Kai just kept grinning though as he stared back at her and shouted, “So good!”
Yu Ru Meng also broke into laughter, trembling all the while, “Want to feel better?”
Yang Kai fiercely nodded.
Yu Ru Meng hysterically screeched, “Smelly man, I’ll make you feel better than you ever have in your entire life!”
Just as she said this, the already excruciating pain in Yang Kai’s head intensified many times. His Knowledge Sea seemed to be on the verge of tearing apart and the flaming water in it was now violently churning.
Everything went dark before Yang Kai as his consciousness blurred. He stared over at Yu Ru Meng, whose tender figure wobbled and almost fell to the ground; however, neither of them was ordinary. Their Souls were incomparably powerful, so even if they were in so much pain, they could still hold on. Both of them had a look on their face that said that they wouldn’t concede. It would all depend on who fell first.
As far as Yu Ru Meng was concerned, if she didn’t set Yang Kai straight this time, then she would never be able to stand proud before him again.
As for Yang Kai, if he couldn’t persist this time, he might never be able to dispel the Heart Seal.
Each had their own plans and goals they couldn’t back down from, so naturally, they were determined to fight it out till the end.
After what seemed like an eternity, but might have only been a moment, Yu Ru Meng’s aura grew weaker. Although her Soul was extraordinary and her Spiritual Energy rich, under this kind of consumption, she was struggling to persist.
Yang Kai was certainly not her equal when it came to Soul cultivation, otherwise, he would have been able to find her Heart Seal without going to such lengths, so logically speaking, in this conflict, Yang Kai should be worse off than her; but Yang Kai had the Soul Warming Lotus.
The Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his Knowledge Sea was constantly radiating a seven coloured light, making up for the consumption of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy and nourishing his tormented Soul. With such strong support, how could Yu Ru Meng outlast him?
So, although Yu Ru Meng’s Soul was stronger, Yang Kai’s condition was actually better at the moment.
Obviously, Yu Ru Meng had noticed this strange phenomenon as well and her eyes flickered with scepticism. She knew that if this went on, she might be the first one to fall.
Her eyes flickered with a sliver of determination as she proposed in a heavy voice, “Yang Kai, this is your last chance. I don’t want your apology either, just promise me you’ll never curse me ever again. Swear it, and I will put this matter to rest.” She was really making great concessions; otherwise, with how angry she was just now, unless Yang Kai sincerely prostrated himself before her and begged for forgiveness, how could she let things go so lightly?
Yang Kai was hanging by a thread as well, but still slowly shook his head.
“Do you really want to perish together with me?” A look of confusion flashed in Yu Ru Meng’s eyes.
“Are you willing?” Yang Kai asked.
Yu Ru Meng was taken aback when he asked her the same question she first asked him, but she slowly closed her eyes before indifferently stating, “I’m not, but no one, not even you, may curse me!”
Her beautiful eyes suddenly opened wide and the bleak look in them suddenly became incomparably bright as she pushed her Heart Seal Secret Technique to the extreme.
Yu Ru Meng let out a miserable cry as blood flowed out of her seven orifices. Her aura gradually grew extremely weak as she limply fell to the ground, looking at Yang Kai with a sorrowful laugh.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, remained completely still like a mountain. He happened to have his eyes tightly shut at this moment as this was what he was waiting for. When Yu Ru Meng pushed her Heart Seal Secret Technique to the extreme, he had already sent his Soul Avart into the Knowledge Sea.
His Knowledge Sea was in turmoil and appeared ready to explode at any moment.
Suddenly, a woman’s illusory phantom appeared. The illusory phantom was hazy and indistinct, as if it was there but couldn’t be seen if one looked straight at it. It only slightly manifested itself at this moment.
[Found it!]
Yang Kai’s heart shook as his Soul Avatar fluctuated, almost on the brink of collapse under the influence of the Heart Seal Secret Technique. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus shrouded his avatar with its glow and managed to stabilize it.
Without hesitating, Yang Kai drove the Seven Colored Soul Warming Lotus towards the illusory phantom and a seven coloured brilliance immediately filled his Knowledge Sea, enveloping the ghostly female figure all of a sudden and drawing it into the lotus.
The next moment, the female illusory phantom disappeared and Yang Kai’s boiling Knowledge Sea slowly calmed down. At the same time, the unbearable pain had completely disappeared.
Yang Kai mysteriously felt as if he had just been reborn.
He flew above the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus and carefully inspected it, but he found no clues, nor did he see the illusory phantom of the woman from earlier.
Although it was just a glimpse, Yang Kai could tell that the illusory phantom was of Yu Ru Meng’s real appearance, because while the figure was almost the same, the features were different.
At present, Yu Ru Meng was currently assuming Li Shi Qing’s identity while concealing her own.
She had also proclaimed that her real appearance was no worse than Li Shi Qing’s and, by the looks of it, she was speaking the truth.
Her beauty had left Yang Kai in amazement.
[But…]
[What’s the situation right now?]
He had viciously insulted Yu Ru Meng earlier to provoke her to trigger the Heart Seal, hoping it would expose a flaw in the technique and allow him to free himself from its restraints. And judging by the situation just now, he had succeeded because he had really grasped a trace of the Heart Seal Secret Technique at the last moment and used the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to take it.
But it was only taken away, that’s all. It wasn’t dispelled!
[Did I succeed or fail?] What Yang Kai couldn’t understand was why the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus hadn’t responded to the anomaly that had invaded his Knowledge Sea before now.
Logically speaking, if anything detrimental to him attempted to invade his Knowledge Sea, the Soul Warming Lotus should have immediately acted to protect him, but that didn’t happen in the case of the Heart Seal.
[Could it be that the Heart Seal Secret Technique isn’t harmful? Based on this assumption, everything fits. Yu Ru Meng used this Secret Technique to forcefully bring the two of us together, so it’s hard to call it an offensive technique.]
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before he flew to the top of the Soul Warming Lotus and scanned it again, only to find nothing once more.
He slightly urged the power of the Soul Warming Lotus next, and under the seven coloured radiance, a woman’s illusory phantom finally appeared atop the lotus.
Yang Kai could feel that if he was determined, he should be able to destroy this illusory phantom, fundamentally breaking this Heart Seal Secret Technique and severing the connection between Yu Ru Meng and him, but after thinking about it for a while, he decided against doing so right away. Instead, his Soul Avatar dissipated as he opened his eyes again.
Yu Ru Meng was lying on the ground not too far away, her entire body drenched in sweat and her clothes sticking to her body, revealing the outline of her exquisite figure. Her face was pale as paper and her breathing was weak and ragged.
That last attack had also caused huge damage to herself.
Yang Kai looked at her with a complex look on his face before suddenly realizing that he didn’t feel all that distressed.
He might have insulted her and acted ruthlessly against Yu Ru Meng before, but the whole time he was forcing himself hard to do so. If it was before, he would have definitely felt extremely distressed after seeing Yu Ru Meng in this kind of state.
However, now he just felt it was a little difficult to bear.
The effect of the Heart Seal Secret Technique had been greatly reduced.
Yang Kai was ecstatic. All his efforts weren’t in vain!
After moving a little, he arrived by Yu Ru Meng’s side, picked her up and laid her down on his lap as he gazed down at her.
He wanted to investigate her background and learn what her goal was for approaching him.
Yang Kai had some conjectures in his mind, but whether what he thought was true or not, he still had to verify.
Yu Ru Meng happened to be unconscious right now, so this might be his best chance to explore the secrets in her Knowledge Sea.
As soon as he thought about it, Yang Kai lowered his head, touched their foreheads together, and sent his Divine Sense into her Knowledge Sea
After a while, Yang Kai helplessly looked up.
The defences of Yu Ru Meng’s Knowledge Sea were incredibly strong. Even when she was in a coma, Yang Kai couldn’t break through them. If he tried forcefully breaking them, she would most likely be awakened, so after trying for some time, he had no choice but to give up.
Yang Kai was at a loss. Yu Ru Meng was only a Second-Order Emperor, so how come her Spiritual Energy was so strong? Judging by the defences of her Knowledge Sea, the cultivation of her Soul was far stronger than an average Third-Order Emperor.
Since he couldn’t even break through her defences, naturally, he couldn’t pry into her secrets.
Yang Kai had no choice but to set this matter aside for now. He took out some pills, opened Yu Ru Meng’s mouth, and stuffed them inside. Next, he took out a few more pills and took them himself before calmly meditating.
Time slowly went by.
After an entire day and night, Yu Ru Meng finally let out a groan. She tightly furrowed her brow before her long eyelashes fluttered a few times as she slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a smiling Yang Kai gazing at her. Yu Ru Meng blinked her eyes in a daze. Obviously, she still hadn’t returned to her senses as she smiled back at Yang Kai out of habit.
But very soon, she remembered everything that had happened before she fell unconscious and her pretty face couldn’t help but change, turning extremely cold. She immediately pushed Yang Kai away and tried to prop herself up from his lap.
Yang Kai’s previous arrogance and unprovoked insults had really hurt her.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, pursed his lips into a smile and pulled her back down again.
Yu Ru Meng struggled a few times but how could she compete with Yang Kai when it came to brute force. Eventually, all she could do was angrily shout, “Let me go!”
“It’s alright,” Yang Kai gently comforted her. “Don’t move about too much, you haven’t recovered yet.”
“I’m telling you to let me go!” Yu Ru Meng coldly glared at him.
Yang Kai scratched his nose before an earnest look appeared on his face as he apologized, “Ru Meng, I’m sorry, I was wrong before, so don’t be angry.”
Yu Ru Meng was caught off guard by his sincere apology and her anger completely dissipated right away, though she did become a little bewildered. Her brow furrowed and unfurrowed a few times before she asked with confusion, “What do you mean?”
[He was clearly acting stubborn before, like he would rather die than apologize. I even took a step back, but he didn’t compromise at all, and now suddenly, there is such a big change?] Yu Ru Meng couldn’t figure out what Yang Kai was thinking.
In fact, Yu Ru Meng was beginning to think that Yang Kai had something wrong with his head.
Yang Kai tenderly looked at her before he leaned down and kissed her without a word.
This was undoubtedly the most impactful gesture he could make.
Yu Ru Meng’s figure immediately went limp as she showed no resistance at all.
After a long time, Yang Kai finally let her go, a mischievous smile hanging on his lips.
Yu Ru Meng touched her lips and angrily pouted, “You bully!”
Yang Kai found her spoiled, innocent attitude quite interesting and he couldn’t help but break into laughter, “You can only blame yourself for all this. Who told you to plant that nonsense Heart Seal on me. If you had just bided your time, how would I have ever known that you are Yu Ru Meng.”
Yu Ru Meng rebuked with a snort, “You got me at a bargain and without any hassle. You will definitely laugh at the Heavens for your good fortune in the future.”
“Why do you say that?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
Yu Ru Meng pursed her lips into a grin as she triumphantly replied, “You will know when the time comes, but for now… don’t ask too much.” After a while, she added in a serious voice, “Don’t curse me like that in the future. I can’t accept it.”
Yang Kai repeatedly nodded, “I won’t, I absolutely won’t curse you in the future.”
Since he had already succeeded, naturally there was no need to cause trouble for himself.
After receiving his response, Yu Ru Meng finally relaxed into his arms with a contented expression. She was silent for a while before she suddenly looked up at Yang Kai’s side face in confusion. The next moment, the happiness and the smile on her face slowly faded away.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai asked, lowering his head.
Yu Ru Meng reached out and gently stroked his cheek, muttering, “I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel that you are very far away from me.”
Yang Kai tilted his head slightly and stated with a light smile, “I’m right here.”
Yu Ru Meng slowly shook her head. This feeling was unclear. Although Yang Kai was literally within arm’s reach, she still felt that he was extremely far away for some reason.
…
As night fell, the three Divine Spirits, over two dozen Monster Kings, as well as the nine members of the Stone Puppet Clan from the Ancient Wild Lands arrived. The cultivators of the various Sects of the Northern Territory were also slowly gathering at High Heaven Palace.
In the great hall of High Heavens Palace, hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters were gathered together once again in a noisy and chaotic scene. They had already learned about the appearance of Demon Qi in the Western Territory and the opening of the passage between the two worlds from Hua Qing Si. They knew that this time, even the Great Emperors had come forward, so although the Northern Territory was far away, they were unable to detach themselves from this situation. Not to mention, under High Heaven Palace’s call, they didn’t dare to feign ignorance. Everyone gathered the greatest amount of combat power they could at the fastest speed before hurrying over to High Heaven Palace.
But for most cultivators in this world, the existence of the Demon Race was too vague a concept. They were so far removed from this reality that many people had never even heard of the Demon Race before. The Masters of the Northern Territory were still a bit better off; after all, many of them had participated in the Southern Territory’s Orthodoxy Temple catastrophe with Yang Kai and had seen and experienced what those Demons could do first-hand. But they still didn’t know anything about the real Demon Race.
Finally, when Luan Feng, Fan Wu, and Cang Guo, leading the thirty-two Monster Kings of the Ancient Wild Lands into the main hall, the chattering subsided.
This was an extremely terrifying force. There were three Divine Spirits and thirty-two Monster Kings, each one comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Such a force couldn’t be ignored, no matter where they went. Most of the Emperor Realm Masters in the Northern Territory were either in the First or Second-Order while Third-Order Emperors were a rarity. As such, everyone couldn’t help but fall silent under the pressure from the monstrous Monster Qi.
Although the main hall was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, there naturally weren’t many seats. When Luan Feng and the others arrived, they just kept walking straight and the crowd immediately separated to the left and right, giving way to them. As for those people who had already taken a seat, they quickly stood up one after another and moved away.
The Ancient Wild Lands’ Monster Race team respectively found where to sit and sat down.
Luan Feng glanced around before focusing her gaze at Hua Qing Si and asking, “Where is Yang Kai?”
Hua Qing Si bitterly smiled, “Palace Master said that he will be arriving soon.”
Luan Feng nodded and didn’t utter another word.
After a while, a figure appeared at the entrance to the hall, and by the time everyone regained their wits, that person was already standing before them. When they looked up, they found that it was none other than Yang Kai.
Yang Kai swept his glance over everything and saw Li Jiao, Mi Qi, Bing Yun, Ji Yao, and many other familiar faces, including Su Yan, Shan Qing Luo, Chi Yue, Ai Ou, and Gui Zu.
Familiar and unfamiliar faces entered his eyes as Yang Kai slightly nodded and declared in a heavy voice, “I assume everyone knows why I have gathered all of you here today. If you have any questions, you can ask them now. This Palace Master will do his best to answer whatever doubts you may have without reserve. When we reach the Western Territory, I’m afraid you will not have the opportunity to ask anything, so ask now.”
Luan Feng was the first to ask, “Has the passage to the Demon Realm really opened in the Western Territory?”
This should be the issue that everyone was most concerned about, and even though Hua Qing Si had notified everyone about this already, it was still difficult to believe her. Was it really that easy to open the passage between two worlds? If it were, why hadn’t the Demon Realm already invaded? Why would they wait until today?
Yang Kai sternly nodded in affirmation, “It’s true.” He pointed at his own eyes and added, “I saw the passageway with my own eyes. Not only me, but Iron Blood, Serene Soul, and Martial Beast Great Emperor were also all present at the time. Even now, Martial Beast Great Emperor is still there watching over things to prevent any accidents from occurring.”
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the hall grew solemn.
When they came here, everyone was still hoping this was all just some kind of misunderstanding or mistake, but now, since three Great Emperors were also present at that time, all such faint hopes were dashed.
Even if Yang Kai could be mistaken, could three Great Emperors also have been wrong?
“How is the… strength of the Demon Race?” Fan Wu asked in a heavy voice.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “Unfortunately, I do not have a clear idea either. I only know that there are existences on the Demon Race’s side who aren’t inferior to the Great Emperors. These Masters are called Demon Saints, but I have no idea how many of them are there. Under Demon Saints are the Demon Kings, which are comparable to our Emperor Realm Masters. And under Demon Kings are Demon Great Generals, below which are Demon Generals, and so on and so forth. These rankings correspond to our Dao Source and Origin King Realm respectively. As for the Demon Artifacts and methods… I cannot give you a proper estimate.”
Li Jiao then asked, “Palace Master Yang, Demon Qi is extremely virulent and corrosive. Even Emperor Realm Masters wouldn’t dare to get contaminated by it. If we are really going to go to war with the Demon Race, how are we going to protect ourselves?”
When he asked this question, it immediately received everyone’s attention. The last time they had gone to the Southern Territory Orthodoxy Temple, they saw many cultivators who were contaminated by Demon Qi turn into Demon cultivators. Many still shuddered when they thought back on that experience.
Yang Kai replied with confidence though, “Although Demon Qi is extremely fearsome, it is not almighty. In fact, it is very easy to resist as long as you have sufficient vitality. The stronger a cultivator’s vitality is, the stronger their innate resistance to Demon Qi will be. When we confront the Demon Race in the future, all of you should keep this fact in mind.”
Soon after, he added, “In addition, the Demon Realm is said to have a hundred clans, each one with its own unique Innate Divine Abilities. For example, the Sand Demon Clan are all masters of the Earth Escape Technique. Taking advantage of this Innate Ability, one of their favourite tactics is to conceal themselves and move to below your feet before launching a fatal sneak attack when you are unprepared. Then there is the Shadow Demon Clan, who are masters of stealth and assassination. When they show their weapons, it means that your life is already hanging by a thread…”
Yang Kai continued to speak, explaining the traits and characteristics of the various Demon Races he knew. Everyone in the hall attentively listened to him, not daring to miss anything; after all, perhaps something Yang Kai said today would become their life-saving straw tomorrow.
Luan Feng and the other Divine Venerables were amazed as they listened to Yang Kai’s lecture. She, Fan Wu, and Cang Guo had inherited some of the memories of their ancestors from their Sources, so compared to ordinary people, they knew more about the Demon Race, but their knowledge wasn’t nearly as extensive or comprehensive as Yang Kai’s.
Yang Kai’s knowledge of the Demon Race was as if he had been to the Demon Realm before and fought with them for many years. This puzzled Luan Feng and the others as they wondered how Yang Kai came to know so much.
Time passed by as Yang Kai kept speaking alone at the front of the hall. The hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters below the stage kept listening to him as if he was preaching the profound secrets of the Dao. Everyone looked extremely serious and focused.
After two full hours, Yang Kai finally stopped and said with a solemn expression, “There is one more thing I should forewarn you all about. Not only has the passage between two worlds been opened, but the Demon Race has also already invaded and gained a foothold. I am afraid that the Western Territory’s situation is quite precarious right now.”