The Sacred Tree was the foundation of Human Imperial City, and it was the blessing of the Sacred Tree that allowed Human Imperial City to stand tall in this realm for a hundred thousand years. It could be said that for the Imperial Family, nothing was more important than the Sacred Tree.
So when the Fourth Imperial Prince realized that Yang Kai was heading towards the Sacred Tree, how could he not panic? Even though he might not have any idea about what Yang Kai was going to do, it would obviously not be good for the Imperial Family.
The news was immediately passed on to the Human Sovereign, who had been paying attention to the things here from the start. The Human Sovereign’s face turned pale in panic when he heard this and hurried towards the Sacred Tree as well. Naturally, many members of the Imperial Family and Masters from the Imperial Palace accompanied him.
Huffing and puffing, over a hundred figures arrived at the location of the Sacred Tree a moment later.
But they all stopped about three hundred metres away from the Sacred Tree.
Because a stone giant covered in sharp barbs and surrounded by evil fire was blocking the road ahead. The stone giant had sharp spikes and was over a dozen metres tall, making it look extremely ferocious. An overwhelmingly sinister aura was radiating from it, making the crowd of Emperor Realm Masters and the Imperial Family members tremble in fright at the mere sight of it.
Naturally, the Human Sovereign had realized that the stone giant was not to be provoked lightly, but what he couldn’t figure out was where this giant had popped out from? He hadn’t even seen a sign of it before now.
But at this moment, this giant was blocking the road ahead, so obviously it was Yang Kai’s helper, and judging by its expression, it was apparent that it had its own sentience.
The Human Sovereign pondered for a moment, but he didn’t immediately attack the Embodiment. Instead, he raised his head and shouted at the nearby Yang Kai, “Senior Yang, it’s quite late, why have you come to this Restricted Area instead of resting?”
Yang Kai, standing under the Sacred Tree, had his hand on its somewhat feeble-looking trunk and remained completely still, as if he hadn’t heard the Human Sovereign’s shout. Before everyone’s eyes, he seemed to be having some kind of resonance with the Sacred Tree as the Sacred Tree was flickering with a green glow. Even Yang Kai’s halo was brightening and dimming with the flickers.
A mysterious aura was spreading into the surroundings at that moment.
The Human Sovereign’s face sank seeing this and slightly raised his hand before swinging it forward.
Zhou Yu Chuan immediately rushed out of the crowd, his Emperor Qi surging as he sent out a flurry of punches at the Embodiment, blotting out the entire sky, causing the space to quiver and shake.
Deafening rumbles immediately followed, but when Zhou Yu Chuan stopped punching, his pupils shrank as he saw the stone giant before him remain completely unharmed. Rather, it smiled at him as a man-sized palm came swinging at him, smacking at him like it was swatting a fly.
Zhou Yu Chuan’s face turned pale as he crossed his arms in order to defend himself from the oncoming palm.
*Hong…*
A deafening explosion rang out as the sound of bones breaking immediately followed. Zhou Yu Chuan’s figure was sent flying as he spurted blood through his nose and mouth, his aura plummeting from the single terrifying blow.
Everyone immediately turned pale.
In terms of cultivation alone, Zhou Yu Chuan was definitely ranked among the top three in the entire Human Imperial City, with the other two top Masters only being his equal. In essence, Zhou Yu Chuan could be regarded as the top Master of Human Imperial City.
But such a Master couldn’t even take a single palm from this stone giant? How strong was this monstrosity? In fact, what was it?
The Human Sovereign’s countenance changed again as he waved his hand, ordering a dozen or so Emperor Realm Masters to go up at once this time. Apparently, he wanted them to deal with the Embodiment as a group; after all, if even Zhou Yu Chuan wasn’t an opponent of this stone giant, then no one in the entire Human Imperial City would be able to defeat it one on one. If they wanted to take it down, they could only rely on the superior numbers.
But before they could act, Yang Kai, who had been standing with his hand on the Sacred Tree’s trunk, suddenly moved. He heaved a soft sigh before he withdrew his hand and indifferently asserted, “Human Sovereign, I have no intention of going to war with this city, I only want to take you out of this world, that’s all.”
Human Sovereign answered in a heavy voice, “This Sovereign appreciates Senior Yang’s kind intentions, but this Sovereign has no intention of leaving this world. I am afraid I’m unworthy of Senior Yang’s benevolence.”
Yang Kai turned around and declared, looking at him with a smile on his face, “If you didn’t want to leave this world before, this King would not have cared; after all, forcefully picked melons aren’t sweet. It’s your business if you wish to remain here, and it has nothing to do with me, but now… if you want to leave, you may leave, and if you do not want to leave, you still must leave, you have no choice in this matter!”
The Human Sovereign immediately turned angry, “Senior Yang just said that forcefully picked melons aren’t sweet; in that case, why insist!?”
Yang Kai smiled, “Forcefully picked melons may not be sweet, but they can still quench one’s thirst!”
[What nonsense is he spouting?] The Imperial Family members were flabbergasted.
“Senior Yang, what exactly do you mean?” The Human Sovereign furrowed his brow. Yang Kai’s strength was extraordinary, as was the strength of the stone giant, but since these two were so powerful, why did he need the people of Human Imperial City? What was his goal in all this? If it was about Saint Techniques, Yang Kai possessed them already and was in no way inferior to the Imperial Family with them. So, the Human Sovereign couldn’t understand why Yang Kai was doing this.
“You will naturally come to understand when we arrive in the outside world.” Yang Kai indifferently declared.
The Human Sovereign shook his head, “It seems Senior Yang insists on forcing us to leave this world without even telling us the reason. Please forgive this Sovereign for declining your offer. If Senior Yang wants to twist our arms, my Imperial Family isn’t afraid to resist. At worst, both of us will suffer mutual destruction.”
Yang Kai smiled disdainfully, “Mutual destruction? You don’t have the ability. If this King wishes for you to do something, you cannot resist.”
Human Sovereign snapped, “Ants may spend their lives eking out their meagre existence, but that does not mean they will just sit back and wait for death when it comes for them.”
Yang Kai agreed, nodding, “Quite so, which is why this King is willing to give you a chance.”
The Human Sovereign frowned and asked, “I would like to hear the details.”
“This King will make a bet with you. If this King can convince the Sacred Tree to leave with me, then I ask Human Sovereign to order the residents of the city to evacuate from this world.”
As soon as he stated this, the crowd of a hundred or so people gawked.
The Human Sovereign, on the other hand, had a drastic change in his expression, “So your goal is the Sacred Tree!”
He had been thinking about what Yang Kai had been plotting this whole time, and now it became apparent that he was aiming for the Sacred Tree! [Yes, if there is anything in Human Imperial City that can make someone like Yang Kai interested, it would only be the Sacred Tree.]
However, if they allowed him to take away the Sacred Tree, Human Imperial City would completely lose its blessing, at which point would there even be a choice to remain in this world? Anyone who stayed, would soon be corrupted by Demon Qi and degenerate into a Demon!
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the Human Sovereign instantly exploded in rage, “In your dreams! Today, we will fight you to the death! You can forget about taking the Sacred Tree with you!”
Yang Kai indifferently looked at him, “Human Sovereign, I’m afraid you misunderstand me. When I said make the Sacred Tree leave with me, I didn’t mean using force, but to let it make a choice itself. If it refuses, I will never force it.”
“Let it make its own choice!?” The Human Sovereign was stunned. [How can the Sacred Tree make a choice? Although the Sacred Tree’s blessing has allowed Human Imperial City to stand tall all this time and has protected the Imperial Family from harm, it has never communicated with anyone. Although it’s certainly alive, it doesn’t have any sentience, so how is it going to make a choice for itself?]
Yang Kai’s words confounded him.
Whereas Yang Kai turned to look at the Sacred Tree, ignoring him, and solemnly stated, “Senior Qing, the Star Boundary is in danger. The Demon Race is invading once more. Senior, please lend us your assistance once again!”
Just as these words left his mouth, rumblings suddenly came from underground like a grand earthquake.
Sensing this, everyone started to look doubtful and uncertain. They looked around, trying to see where the source of these abnormal movements was.
*Hong long long…*
The ground split apart as roots suddenly shot out from the ground, one after another, quickly gathering toward the location of the Sacred Tree.
“Ah, the Sacred Tree…” Fu Yu let out a frightened cry, covering her red lips with her hand, her pretty eyes filled with shock.
The others were equally dumbfounded.
Much to their surprise, the Sacred Tree was moving! The Sacred Tree, which had stood at the centre of Human Imperial City for over a hundred thousand years, had moved because of the words of an outsider!
One by one, the roots converged towards the Sacred Tree as a green halo shone brilliantly. At that moment, the entire Human Imperial City basked in a rich green glow. The crown of the giant tree swayed left and right for a time, causing its leaves to rustle, and in just half the time it would take to boil a cup of tea, the Sacred Tree actually stood uprooted. Its roots had converged under its trunk, forming something akin to legs. It then walked forward, step by step, quickly arriving before where Yang Kai stood.
“Many thanks for your help, Senior!” Yang Kai bowed.
In this world, he was probably the only one who knew the origin of the Sacred Tree in Human Imperial City. Even the Imperial Family of Human Imperial City were probably not clear about it.
The last time Yang Kai came here, he suspected that the Sacred Tree of Human Imperial City might be related to the Evergreen Divine Tree of the ancient era. Senior Qing was the patron saint of that era, and in the final battle, he sacrificed his own life in order to block the passage between the two worlds. It was a tragic scene that Yang Kai witnessed with his own eyes. The sight of Senior Qing’s righteousness was inspiring and worthy of respect.
Today’s Frozen Earth was very likely the battlefield where the Barbarian Race and Demon Race fought their final battle, but more than a hundred thousand years had passed since then, so Yang Kai couldn’t be certain if it was really the same place.
Perhaps Senior Qing didn’t perish back then, but instead left behind a trace of his existence, that grew up again in the Revolving World, sheltering the residents of Human Imperial City for a hundred thousand years!
The current Sacred Tree was like the continuation of Senior Qing’s will and life.
Senior Qing had been willing to sacrifice himself to seal the passage between the two worlds, so how could the Sacred Tree, who had inherited his will, allow the Demon Race to wreak havoc on the Star Boundary without intervening? Yang Kai had already informed this matter to the Sacred Tree first.
Facts proved that he was right. The Sacred Tree indeed made the choice he had expected.
“The Sacred Tree is sentient!” The Human Sovereign murmured in a daze.
The Imperial Family members and the Emperor Realm Masters were tongue-tied and dumbfounded.
“What do you say now?” Yang Kai looked at the Human Sovereign.
The Human Sovereign seemed to have grown over a hundred years older in a flash. Deep resentment and helplessness could be found in between his eyebrows; he resented Yang Kai for actually trying to take them out of this world. The Imperial Family didn’t want to leave. As Yang Kai had said before, they were the lords and masters here. Even if their cultivations weren’t the best, since they were the Imperial Family, they were the noblest existences in Human Imperial City, but what would the Imperial Family amount to after leaving this world?
What he was helpless about was the fact that the Sacred Tree had made its choice, and with that any choice they might have had, disappeared. Without the shelter of the Sacred Tree, the Imperial Family would no longer be the Imperial Family.
“You will destroy Human Imperial City!” The Human Sovereign glared at Yang Kai, grinding his teeth.
Yang Kai indifferently countered, “Human Sovereign, you’re wrong. I am not destroying Human Imperial City. There is no construction without destruction. This King is simply giving you a chance to be reborn.”
“Does Senior Yang insist on doing this?” The Human Sovereign sadly looked at him.
Yang Kai solemnly stated, “The arrow is already drawn, I have no choice but to fire!” After a pause, he continued, “But Human Sovereign need not be worried, even in the outside world, your Imperial Family will still be treated differently, you don’t need to worry about being pushed aside.” He came to the Revolving World this time mainly for the Imperial Family as all of them were already qualified Shamans, especially the Second Princess and Third Prince who were Shaman Kings. The Human Sovereign naturally was a Shaman King too, and a High-Rank Shaman King at that. With their help, the Star Boundary would have fewer casualties in the upcoming wars against the Demon Race.
So Yang Kai was determined to take the Imperial Family away from here from the start.
The Human Sovereign took a deep breath before sighing and asking, “This Sovereign knows that Senior Yang has the means to freely come and go from this world, but do you know how many people there are in my Human Imperial City?”
Yang Kai replied, “If the Human Sovereign is worried that I can’t take everyone away, then there is no need for concern. Let alone a single Human Imperial City, even if there were ten or a hundred of them, I could bring them all away.”
The Small Sealed World had swallowed several Cultivation Stars from Grand Desolation Star Field, so its territory expanded millions of times over and there were currently tens of billions of Humans living inside it. In comparison, the population of Human Imperial City was trifling.
The Human Sovereign, on the other hand, was greatly taken aback, “Does Senior Yang really have such a profound method?”
There were millions of people residing in Human Imperial City, so he really couldn’t think of what method Yang Kai would use to take so many away all at once and even felt that Yang Kai was simply talking nonsense.
Yang Kai earnestly stated, “Then, I request Human Sovereign to wait and see. Let’s say, if I miss a single person in Human Imperial City when we leave, Human Sovereign can fight it out with me and let the stone and jade burn together.”
(TL note: Stone and jade burn together = mutual destruction.)
After Yang Kai had said this, what could the Human Sovereign even say? He was hesitating only because of his unwillingness to leave this world, that’s all, but now that even the Sacred Tree had made a choice to leave, he had no room left to retreat. Without the Sacred Tree, there would be no Human Imperial City.
As such, he powerlessly asked, “When does Senior Yang plan to depart?”
Seeing him finally compromising, Yang Kai also heaved a sigh of relief. If it wasn’t necessary, he didn’t want to openly offend the Imperial Family; after all, he would have to rely on them outside, so it would be bad if their relationship was too hostile. However, he also knew that if this were the case, the Imperial Family wouldn’t have a good impression of him regardless.
But Yang Kai didn’t need to care too much about this as once they reached the outside world, the Great Emperors could be there to deter them. How would they be disobedient then?
“Naturally, the sooner the better. It would be best if Human Sovereign ordered the residents of the city to begin packing now.”
The Human Sovereign agreed, nodding, “Good, this Sovereign will pass on the order. After three days… we will leave this world with Senior Yang.”
“Many thanks, Human Sovereign!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
The Human Sovereign then left with the members of the Imperial Family and the Imperial Guards, whereas Yang Kai stayed and communicated with the Sacred Tree for a while before leaving.
He didn’t take the Sacred Tree right away; after all, the residents of Human Imperial City had still not evacuated and required its shelter until they had departed.
Since the previous guest room had been destroyed, Zhou Yu Chuan personally arranged another room for Yang Kai and then left. Although he was injured by the Embodiment before, it wasn’t a big problem and he only needed to recuperate for a few days before he would be completely healed. Furthermore, because the Human Sovereign had agreed to Yang Kai’s proposal, Zhou Yu Chuan was feeling more energetic than before as he looked forward to seeing the outside world.
There were millions of people living in Human Imperial City, so it was impossible for them to immediately pack up and leave. The Human Sovereign needed to coordinate things, and the residents also needed time to gather their belongings. Three days was the bare minimum required.
Free and at leisure, Yang Kai entered the Small Sealed World first and set up a site to accommodate the new guests he would be hosting. After these people had entered the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai didn’t plan on letting them out for the time being; after all, it wasn’t a simple matter to help millions of people find new homes and settle, but the Small Sealed World was different. Yang Kai was in complete control of it and could do as he wished inside. It would be very easy to help them settle down in such a world.
With a flash of Yang Kai’s thoughts, the ground trembled and rose as a city suddenly appeared in the empty wilderness. At first glance, it resembled Human Imperial City greatly, but it also had some of Yang Kai’s own designs.
From time to time, Yang Kai would retreat out of the Small Sealed World and scan Human Imperial City with his Divine Sense, observing the structure and layout of Human Imperial City. Then, he would enter the Small Sealed World again to modify the new city.
In just two days, the new Human Imperial City was basically complete. The city was located on fertile ground and there were other cities nearby as well, which would ensure that the residents of Human Imperial City would not feel lonely after settling here.
One night, while he was constructing the new Human Imperial City, Yang Kai heard a knock at his door.
After checking things with his Divine Sense, a weird look appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he stopped doing what he was doing and called out, “Enter.”
The door was pushed open and a beautiful figure walked in, carrying a tray in her hand with some fragrant delicacies on it. The visitor turned around and closed the door before bowing to Yang Kai and greeting in a gentle voice, “Senior Yang.”
“Princess Yu!” Yang Kai looked at her with a profound gaze, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company in the middle of night?”
The visitor was none other than the second daughter of the Human Sovereign. In the Imperial Family, her aptitude was outstanding. She was a Shaman King too, albeit a Low-Rank one, as well as a Second-Order Emperor, making her even stronger than the Third Imperial Prince.
Fu Yu seemed to be especially dressed up today. She looked brighter and more appealing than usual. Her light green one-piece completely highlighted her graceful figure, giving her an elegant charm. Her snow-white bosom was also peeking out of her dress a little, and her arms were completely exposed. From the scent wafting from her body, it was apparent she had just taken a shower, her hair still slightly damp, tantalizing the imagination.
Hearing his question, Fu Yu smiled as she approached, carrying the tray, squatted down, and placed it on the table before Yang Kai. While she uncovered the dishes on the tray and served them out one by one, she stated, “Senior, Yu’er noticed that you have not left your room for the past few days and decided to personally cook a meal and deliver it to you. I hope it suits Senior’s taste.”
When she was placing the dishes on the table, her body leaned forward slightly, allowing Yang Kai a peak into the depths of a great mountain valley.
Yang Kai suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry…
[Are you planning to use soft tactics after the hard ones failed?]
He also knew that the Human Sovereign could no longer haggle with him on the matter of leaving this world, but perhaps, the Human Sovereign was still worried about whether he would be harshly treated outside, so he planned on using this method to win Yang Kai over. Otherwise, how could Princess Fu Yu do such a thing, especially considering the relationship between her and Yang Kai prior to this was akin to mortal enemies.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai praised with a smile, “Princess Yu is truly thoughtful, but it is a surprise to learn Princess Yu has such skills.”
Fu Yu looked at him and added as a smile bloomed on her lips, “I’m afraid it won’t suit Senior’s appetite.” While speaking, she raised a jug and filled Yang Kai’s glass before using an inviting gesture as she suggested, “Senior, please have a taste.”
Yang Kai picked up the chopsticks and took a bite of the food before he had a sip of the wine. Naturally, he wasn’t parsimonious in his praises, causing a big smile to appear on Fu Yu’s lips after hearing them. After the initial round, she continued pouring wine and serving the dishes diligently.
After three rounds of wine and five rounds of tasting, the atmosphere in the room became more relaxed and harmonious. When Fu Yu noticed that Yang Kai wasn’t putting on any airs and was actually quite easy to get along with, she boldly asked, “Senior, what is the outside world like? Yu’er has never been outside, so she is a little anxious.”
Yang Kai put down the chopsticks and replied, smiling, “What are you afraid of?”
Fu Yu pursed her lips as an innocent and naïve expression filled her face, “Everyone says that there are many fearsome people outside who will immediately resort to force if one does not agree with them. Yu’er’s cultivation is low and she does not know if she will be able to protect herself after going outside.”
Yang Kai broke into laughter as he explained, “There are indeed many fearsome people outside, and many times, people really do attack if someone doesn’t agree with them.”
Fu Yu’s beautiful face immediately turned pale, “The rumours are true!?”
Yang Kai continued, “But Princess Yu does not need to worry about such things. Your cultivation can still be considered among the upper-middle-class, so you will have enough strength to protect yourself.”
“Upper-middle-class… that’s not very high.” Fu Yu looked worried.
Yang Kai, glancing over and assured her, “Don’t worry, when your Imperial Family reaches the outside world, powerful Masters will accompany you and deal with any kind of threat; they won’t let anything happen to you.”
Fu Yu blinked her big and bright eyes as she asked, “Why?”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, putting on an air of mystery. Fu Yu felt quite annoyed in her heart seeing this, but she couldn’t force him either, so she resorted to pouring more wine, as if she was just waiting for Yang Kai to get drunk so she could pry some useful information out of him.
But how could it be that easy to get Yang Kai drunk? In the end, he ate up all the side dishes and drank several jugs of potent wine without even a change in expression.
In desperation, Fu Yu could only propose, “It’s getting late, doesn’t Senior Yang want to take a… rest?” When she said this, she lowered her head as if she didn’t dare to directly look into Yang Kai’s eyes.
Yang Kai deeply gazed at her and seeing her becoming fidgety and ill at ease, he finally opened his mouth, “En, it is getting late, Princess Yu should return to her own room and have a rest.”
Fu Yu immediately got up, packed up the dishes, bowed and bid her farewell as if she had received a pardon, “Then Yu’er will take her leave.” She turned around and bolted out of the door.
“Princess Yu!” Yang Kai suddenly called her out.
Fu Yu’s tender figure trembled before she looked back, forcing a shadow of a smile onto her face, “What else can I do for, Senior?”
Yang Kai looked at her with a smile, “I dare not guarantee anything else, but there are countless young geniuses in the outside world. I believe Princess Yu can find one who will treat her well.”
Fu Yu was momentarily taken aback, but Yang Kai’s words had truly kindled her expectations. She responded back with a smile, “Many thanks for your kind words, Senior.” She then exited the room, closed the door, and left right away.
Not long after, outside the bedroom of the Human Sovereign, Fu Yu went to report the development of this trip. Hearing that Yang Kai had no intention of letting Fu Yu sleep with him, the Human Sovereign couldn’t help but sigh.
Naturally, he had asked Fu Yu to go over so late at night with such intentions. He knew nothing about the outside world, so now he could only rely on Yang Kai and naturally thought to tie him to their Imperial Family in some way.
If Fu Yu and Yang Kai had done the deed tonight, then he wouldn’t have to worry about Yang Kai not taking care of his Imperial Family later. Unfortunately, Yang Kai wasn’t tempted, making the Human Sovereign feel rather helpless.
“Imperial Father, I don’t think that Senior Yang is actually such a bad man. He might not have ill intentions for taking us outside.”
The Human Sovereign stated, “He did everything possible to take our Imperial Family out of this world, so he must need something from us, but this Sovereign currently can’t guess his thoughts. I expected you to inquire about one or two things from him, but in the end, we learned nothing.”
“Daughter is incompetent…” Fu Yu bit her cherry red lips.
“Forget it. If it is a blessing, it is not a curse, and if it is a curse, it can’t be avoided. When we have reached the outside, we will know exactly what he wants.” The Human Sovereign heaved a long sigh before he sent her away, waving his hand, “You can leave.”
Three days went by in a flash. In the main square of Human Imperial City, hundreds of thousands of people were gathering from every direction, bringing their families together with them.
At the head of the square, a pitch-black corridor was quietly hovering mid-air, like an invisible beast with its jaws wide open. No matter how many people walked in, it could devour them clean.
The entrance was naturally the entrance to the Sealed World Bead. It was simpler and more convenient for Yang Kai to make a visible entrance for others to walk into rather than him trying to move millions of people by himself into the Small Sealed World.
The Imperial Family members’ scrutinizing gazes kept lingering at the entrance. Obviously, they were trying to know what the Hell it was that could swallow so many people, but Yang Kai hadn’t given them an explanation, and they couldn’t ask him for one either.
Time ticked by, bit by bit.
It took an entire day and night for Yang Kai to move all the residents of Human Imperial City, sending them directly to the new Human Imperial City he had crafted inside the Sealed World Bead.
These few million people would thrive in the Small Sealed World and no longer have to be affected by the strange Principles of the Revolving World.
The Imperial Family and Emperor Realm Masters were also taken in, but Yang Kai had placed them in a separate place as they would still be needed in the Two Worlds Great War. The end of their journey was naturally not limited to the Small Sealed World.
In addition, Yang Kai had transplanted the Sacred Tree to the medicine garden, forming a triangle with the Immortal and Firmament Tree.
Everything was now set and the former city was devoid of a single figure. The Revolving World, which had remained unchanged for over a hundred thousand years, had now completely transformed because of the arrival of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai then rose into the air before flying towards the horizon. Naturally, he was heading towards Demon Fury City and the exit of this world.
After another day, Yang Kai arrived above Demon Fury City and looking down, he summoned the Abyssal Returner with the wave of his hand and let her loose.
Ah Wang’s eyes suddenly lit up as her little figure shot towards the city, leaving a long black streak of light behind her.
After a moment, Demon Fury City fell into chaos. Countless Demon Race members fled in all directions as they screamed in panic. On the other hand, the Abyssal Returner’s mouth opened wide and wherever she went, Demons disappeared; all of them were sucked into her stomach.
Worthy of being the nemesis of the Demon Race, even the strongest Demon Kings were no match for Ah Wang.
When Yang Kai came here last time, he was eager to find an exit and leave this world, so he didn’t bother to pay attention to the Demon Race in Demon Fury City, but this time, he wouldn’t show any mercy. The Demon Race had already invaded the Star Boundary, and if the Demons in this place somehow managed to escape from here and reach the Star Boundary, it was clear who would suffer.
The Abyssal Returner wreaked havoc in the city for a day, reducing the Demon population by a staggering eighty percent. Some fishes had slipped through the net, but Yang Kai couldn’t be bothered to hunt them all down, so he simply grabbed Ah Wang and flew towards the exit.
Just like last time, biting-cold winds that could freeze even the Soul flew from the entrance. Even Yang Kai couldn’t last long in this environment.
However, Ah Wang easily opened the way for Yang Kai, so he did not suffer even slightly.
The oncoming cold wind was completely swallowed up by Ah Wang and disappeared into her belly. Last time, Yang Kai, Zhu Qing, and the others were only able to leave this world with the help of Ah Wang.
After travelling upwind for some unknown period of time, Yang Kai felt Space Principles fluctuations coming from ahead.
After knowing that he had arrived at the exit, he picked up Ah Wang and leapt into the Void Crack without wasting another moment.
Swimming through the Void, Yang Kai retraced his old steps and once again felt the aura of the two Great Worlds, the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm. In other words, the Revolving World was connected to both Great Worlds.
It was just like the Small World where he found Lan Xun and the others.
Suddenly, he remembered that the last time he left the Revolving World, he travelled directly to the Western Territory, and the now-shattered Small World was also located in the Western Territory. Could there be some mysterious relationship between the two?
If that was the case, perhaps the Star Boundary would have to keep watch on the Frozen Earth too; lest the Demon Race invade the Northern Territory though there.
Following the Star Boundary’s aura all the way, Yang Kai tore open the weakened World Barrier and saw a familiar light ahead.
But what he saw next made Yang Kai tightly furrow his brow.
The surroundings were completely bleak and desolate. If it was just that, it would have been all fine and good. The Western Territory was a bit more barren and desolate than the other territories, but what Yang Kai found odd was the fact that the surroundings were actually filled with Demon Qi. This place had already been reduced to a Demon land.
Not far away, there was a team of Demons patrolling the region, the leader of which was a Demon Great General.
The sudden appearance of Yang Kai had undoubtedly alarmed this group and the Demons immediately turned their attention to Yang Kai’s location. The Demon Great General, the team leader, grinned at Yang Kai as his figure surged with a bloody glow as he flew over in a flash.
A nauseating blood aura blew against Yang Kai’s face, one that seemed to be able to affect one’s mental state.
Blood Demon Clan!
This was a common method used by the Blood Demons against their enemies and was usually quite effective. Even if the two sides had equal strength, a Blood Demon’s opponent who was contaminated by this aura would have their vitality disturbed, making it hard for them to exert their full power in combat.
Yang Kai, however, just raised his brow and slowly stretched his hand forward before clasping the air.
The Blood Demon’s fleeting figure suddenly appeared right before Yang Kai, his eyes bulging wide as horror filled his face. The Blood Demon struggled hard, but having been pinched by Yang Kai by his neck, he naturally couldn’t free himself.
A team of Demon soldiers following the Blood Demon Great General abruptly halted their footsteps. Since even the Demon Great General who led them was easily captured by this Human, how could these common soldiers be his opponent? Demons may be brutal and fearless, but they weren’t fools. Every living being instinctively sought fortune and avoided misfortune, so this team of Demons naturally made the wisest choice they could in this situation.
Yang Kai didn’t make any small talk either as he simply exerted a bit of strength, causing the captured Blood Demon to explode into a blood mist. Yang Kai had his entire body protected by Emperor Qi, so not a drop of blood touched him.
When the team of Demons saw this and immediately turned around and fled, not hesitating for even a moment.
Yang Kai coldly snorted as he smacked down a palm, causing a giant palm print to descend from the sky and flatten the fleeing Demons into paste.
Such a group was really nothing in the eyes of the current Yang Kai and he was capable of destroying them at his leisure, but Yang Kai found the current situation a little off.
Instead of using a Space Beacon to immediately rendezvous with his allies, Yang Kai rose into the air and began flying east. He wanted to see what changes had taken place in the Western Territory with his own eyes.
It had only been a short while since he left, a month or two at most, with the majority of his time spent searching for the entrance to the Revolving World, otherwise, he would have returned sooner.
A month or two should have been a very short period of time, but the Star Boundary’s situation had changed far too much. After all, the seven Great Emperors had already stepped in, which should have been enough to stabilize the situation.
The farther he flew, though, the uglier Yang Kai’s expression became. Everywhere he passed by, it was nothing but Demon land, making him feel like he hadn’t returned home to the Star Boundary but had instead dived into the Demon Realm.
How big was the Demon land now? Although the Demon land had covered a vast area before, spanning a couple hundred thousand kilometres, that was all. But now, it seemed far greater in scope.
[Could it be that the Great Emperors weren’t able to prevent the situation from worsening?]
The more he investigated, the more frightened Yang Kai became. The Demon land now spanned over a vast territory, with all the cities and villages he came across having become a paradise for the Demon Race. In some places, the Demon Qi was soaring straight to the sky, making it visible to the naked eye, indicating the presence of many powerful Demons.
After half a day, another city appeared before Yang Kai, but after taking a closer look at it, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. The city wasn’t corrupted by the Demon Qi at all and remained safe and sound. If not for this, Yang Kai would have really thought that he had entered the Demon Realm.
But soon, Yang Kai noticed something else.
Demon Qi was concentrated about a hundred kilometres away from the city. An army of the Demons had clearly set up camp there, one that was densely packed with more Demons than could be quickly counted. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai estimated that there were a few hundred thousand enemy troops now laying siege to the city.
Even if he hadn’t entered the city yet, Yang Kai could feel the panic of the residents already.
Slightly furrowing his brow, he flew straight towards the city.
After a while, Yang Kai arrived at the border of this unfamiliar city and swept a glance across its main gate where he saw two words carved in large characters, ‘Tiger Roar’.
This may be the name of the city. But at this moment, Tiger Roar City was in a state of full alert.
The city walls were patrolled by numerous cultivators and its City Defending Barrier was activated.
Seeing Yang Kai’s figure, the patrollers took a defensive stance, as if they were about to face a terrible foe, but after noticing no trace of Demon Qi radiating from Yang Kai, they couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and shout, “Who goes there, identify yourself!”
“Yang Kai of the Northern Territory’s High Heaven Palace!” Yang Kai answered back aloud.
Yang Kai was somewhat famous in the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Territories, especially in the South and North as it was almost to the point where everyone had heard of him, but in the Western Territory, not many people knew his name. The cultivator who was shouting was obviously from the Western Territory, so he had no idea who the hell Yang Kai was. However, these days, many cultivators from other Territories had come to the Western Territory to fight the invading Demon Race alongside the natives, and High Heaven Palace had also made great contributions and earned a little fame for itself, to the extent that the shouting cultivator had heard of it as well.
So when Yang Kai reported himself like this, the man didn’t dare to take him lightly. He replied, cupping his hands, “Sir, please give me a moment, we need to confirm your identity.”
Yang Kai nodded in acknowledgement, quietly waiting as he began investigating the Demon Race army a hundred kilometres away.
Within thirty breaths, the man who had previously shouted returned to the city wall and exclaimed, “Open the Array!”
Immediately, a streak of light shot out from an Array Jade held by someone as a gap in the defensive Array of the city appeared, through which Yang Kai promptly entered.
Someone then approached Yang Kai and greeted him, cupped his fists, and bowed, “Greetings, Senior Yang.”
Yang Kai nodded in return.
The man continued, “I request Senior Yang quickly visit the City Lord’s Mansion. The other Seniors are respectfully awaiting your presence to discuss some important affairs.”
Yang Kai asked, furrowing his brow, “Who?”
The man slightly smiled, “This lowly one dares not utter the Seniors’ names, lest I somehow offend them. Senior Yang will know when he arrives.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai didn’t press the issue. In any case, he would understand soon enough, and under the lead of another person, he made his way to the City Lord’s Mansion.
The City Lord’s Mansion was located at the very centre of Tiger Roar City. This city was smaller than Human Imperial City with a permanent population of roughly 200,000 to 300,000.
Yang Kai flew along with the cultivator leading the way, but even before he could reach the City Lord’s Mansion, he felt a few familiar auras there and suddenly understood as a smile appeared on his face.
After entering the City Lord’s Mansion, he unsurprisingly saw several familiar faces standing there.
Li Jiao was the first to welcome him, cupping his fists and greeting, “Brother Yang!”
Gao Xue Ting also lightly nodded to him while Chi Gui pursed his lips into a grin, “Since Brother Yang is here, we can then sit back and relax. We will finally get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
Surprisingly, Emperor Realm Masters from each of the three other territories of the Star Boundary were gathered in this small Tiger Roar City. Apart from these three though, there were another three Emperors present, one in the Second Order while the other two were First Order, but Yang Kai didn’t recognize any of them. Judging by their clothes though, these three should be cultivators of the Western Territory, perhaps the original Masters from Tiger Roar City.
Yang Kai nodded with a smile, greeting his three friends one by one before he turned his attention to the three unfamiliar Emperors, asking, “These are…”
Li Jiao hurriedly pointed to the Second-Order Emperor Realm Master and introduced him, “This is the City Lord of Tiger Roar City, Lin Tong.” Then he pointed to the other two and introduced them, “These are the Vice City Lords of Tiger Roar City, Wu Zi Jin and Ma Yin.”
Then he introduced him to the other three, “This is High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, Yang Kai, the one this Li has mentioned from time to time.”
The trio’s faces immediately turned respectful as they cupped their fists, “Greetings, Palace Master Yang.”
In the world of the Martial Dao, strength mattered more than anything else. Among everyone present in Tiger Roar City, these three weren’t even the strongest, as that title belonged to Li Jiao, a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, yet Li Jiao was actually acting extremely polite and respectful towards Yang Kai, so how could they dare be neglectful? Not to mention, they had heard Li Jiao praising Yang Kai not just once over the past month. What’s more, it was a fact that the Demon Race Army was besieging Tiger Roar City, so another Emperor Realm Master increased their chances of protecting themselves.
Of these three, City Lord Lin Tong and Vice City Lord Wu Zi Jin were male, while the other Vice City Lord, Ma Yin was female. She had all the characteristic features of a Western Territory cultivator; a tall nose, big eyes, a tall stature, and long hair tied in a ponytail, which coupled with her martial attire, emphasized her waist and hips. Along with her exotic fashion and the Emperor Realm cultivation, she easily evoked a man’s desire to conquer her.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and greeted the trio before turning to Li Jiao and asking, “Why are you here?”
Li Jiao heaved a sigh after hearing this and muttered, “It’s a long story.”
“What happened?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “As I was making my way here, I saw that the Demon land had expanded greatly. Could it be that the Great Emperors failed to contain the situation? What’s the state of the Western Territory now?”
Gao Xue Ting replied, “About half of the Western Territory has been occupied while the Demon Race continued to encroach the remaining half.”
Yang Kai was greatly taken aback and asked in shock, “How is that possible?”
Li Jiao explained, “The Great Emperors have withdrawn, and the Demon Race has been aggressively attacking. The enemy had planned everything out long in advance and made ample preparations, so we weren’t their opponent. We could only put up a resistance as we withdrew our forces.”
Yang Kai was shocked, “Why did the Great Emperors remove themselves?”
Li Jiao replied, shaking his head, “I have no idea either, but I heard that the Great Emperors came to some kind of agreement with the Demon Saints of the Demon Realm that neither side would take any action. Only the Masters below the Great Emperors and Demon Saints would fight, so in this war of two worlds, I’m afraid the Great Emperors will not be able to help us anymore.”
Yang Kai tightly furrowed his brow.
Gao Xue Ting added, “The Great Emperors were forced to do so. If they were to really fight the Demon Saints, the situation would have only gotten worse. Now that the strongest forces of both sides are in check, it is the best possible situation.” Although her cultivation wasn’t as high as Li Jiao’s, she seemed to know more about the situation than he did.
The Great Emperors and the Demon Saints were Masters on the same level, and if they really fought, the fallout alone would immensely damage the Star Boundary. Perhaps the aftermath of their battle would cause countless casualties on both sides.
Besides, if the Demon Saints really decided to run to the depths of the Star Boundary and commit all kinds of outrage, the Great Emperors might not be able to easily stop them.
Now that both sides had come to an agreement that they wouldn’t make a move, it was indeed the best possible scenario, because this was beneficial to the Star Boundary.
After thinking about this, Yang Kai’s expression eased a little and he voiced his thoughts in a grim voice, “It’s not difficult to understand that the Great Emperors made such an agreement, but why would the Demon Saints agree?”
Gao Xue Ting explained, “The Demon Saints aren’t sure that they will be able to defeat the Great Emperors. What’s more, they have already regarded the Star Boundary as their own territory, so they don’t want to wreck it.”
“Greedy bastards!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, pausing for a moment before asking, “So to say, we can only rely on ourselves now?”
“That’s right.” Gao Xue Ting nodded, “Furthermore, because a large part of the Western Territory has already been occupied, the front line has been infinitely stretched, scattering the reinforcements from the three territories far and wide. We were dispatched here to oversee things.”
Yang Kai slowly understood. Previously, he was still wondering why the three of them were here, but now it became apparent that they were assigned to this position. Since the front line was stretched, reinforcements from the three territories naturally had to be split to deal with them. Although gathering everyone at one place would boost their strength, they would be unable to contain the movements of the Demon Race.
After thinking for a while, Yang Kai asked, “When I arrived here, I saw a Demon Race Army stationed a hundred kilometres away. There were at least 300,000 to 400,000 of them. Can Tiger Roar City defend itself?”
Li Jiao replied with a bitter smile, “Relying on the might of the Defense Array, and if we gather the strength of the entire city and the reinforcements brought by the three of us, we have a fifty-fifty chance.”
It wasn’t that Li Jiao was trying to reduce morale and lower his own prestige, rather it was the size of the Demon Race Army was just too big. Tiger Roar City had a population of a few hundred thousand men and women, that’s all, and not everyone could fight against the Demon Race Army. A large part of the populace had no combat power at all so they weren’t even qualified to be fodder.
“How many people can fight here?” Yang Kai asked.
“At the very most, 50,000 can fight.”
50,000 vs 300,000-400,000, it was indeed a massive gap. Although Yang Kai could set up a Space Array, he might be unable to mobilize reinforcements from other places in this situation. If Tiger Roar City was facing this kind of predicament, other places would surely be facing similar crises.
“How many Emperor Realm Masters do we have?” Yang Kai asked again.
Li Jiao replied, “Apart from us, there are four others in the city.”
Yang Kai nodded in acknowledgement. In other words, there were a total of eleven Emperors in the city, so there shouldn’t be that much difference in terms of Masters between the two sides. It might look that the Demon Race had 300,000-400,000 men on their side, but the number of Demon Kings should not be that many. It might not be impossible to hold the line.
In addition, although Yang Kai seemed alone, he in fact had the Masters of Human Imperial City in the Small Sealed World with him.
Right then, Vice City Lord Wu Zi Jin suddenly suggested, “Everyone, Tiger Roar City might not be able to hold on, should we not make other plans in advance?”
Everyone focused their gazes on him, while Yang Kai asked, “Brother Wu, what wonderful plan do you have in mind?”
Wu Zi Jin calmly smiled and explained, “I’m not worthy of such honour. It’s just that there are many on the Demon Race side, while Tiger Roar has fewer on its side. If the city is really breached, this Wu fears that all its citizens will be left with no way to survive. This Wu suggests we find a way for them to leave before the fight, lest they be slaughtered by the Demon Race.”
Li Jiao rebuked, frowning, “Brother Wu, we haven’t even fought yet, and the Demon Race Army is still a hundred kilometres away, how can you assume that we will certainly lose? Previously, our odds were just 50-50, but now that Brother Yang has arrived, our odds of winning are as high as 80-20. Not to mention a few hundred thousand, even if there were a million on the Demon Race side, it would not change anything.”
Li Jiao was angered slightly now. He and the others had come all the way from the other three territories to support the Western Territory, to ease the situation here and halt the Demon Race’s advance. The reinforcements side still hadn’t said anything, but Wu Zi Jin, the Vice City Lord of Tiger Roar City was acting timid before the battle, which naturally annoyed Li Jiao.
If they really followed Wu Zi Yin’s plans, then their defence would definitely be thrown into turmoil. At that time, it would be really troublesome to decide who would remain and who would evacuate. Before the Demon Race even attacked, their side would be bogged down with infighting.
Wu Zi Jin hurriedly corrected, “Senior Li, please calm your anger. This Wu was just speaking thoughtlessly. If Senior Li believes it is inappropriate, please treat this Wu’s words as a joke.”
Li Jiao stated with a cold snort, “It’s better to avoid making this kind of joke.”
Wu Zi Jin looked embarrassed but didn’t say anything anymore.
On the other hand, Ma Yin glanced at Yang Kai with her beautiful sparkling eyes a few times, not having expected Li Jiao to hold Yang Kai in such high esteem! The odds that were 50-50 at best in the beginning had turned into 80-20, and just because of the arrival of a single man. Was that really possible?
Seeing that the atmosphere wasn’t right, City Lord Lin Tong hurriedly stood up and intervened, “While the Demon Race has still not attacked, this Old Master thinks that it’s better to monitor their movements for the time being. If they really move, the sooner we know the more time we will have to mobilize our forces.”
Li Jiao agreed, nodding, “City Lord Lin is right.”
Gao Xue Ting proposed, looking at Yang Kai, “It would be even better if we could bring in some reinforcements. With our current strength, it will still be a little difficult to fight off the Demon Race.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Leave that to me.”
Even if Gao Xue Ting hadn’t proposed this, Yang Kai had also intended to give it a try. It would be best if they could get some reinforcements, but if that wasn’t possible, there was nothing he could do. Furthermore, the Shamans he had brought back had to be assigned as well. Since he had brought them back after so much effort, it was only natural to put them to use right away. There were twenty to thirty members of the Imperial Family, and five of them were Shaman Kings. There was no need to assign all of them in Tiger Roar City as just Yang Kai alone would be enough for now.
After forging another Space Beacon and handing it to Gao Xue Ting, Yang Kai exhorted, “If there is any movement on the Demon Race’s side, let me know as soon as possible.”
“Good.” Gao Xue Ting earnestly nodded as she tied the Space Beacon to her wrist.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared out of everyone’s sight.
Lin Tong and the others were flabbergasted at the sight of his astonishing methods…
About over a hundred thousand kilometres away, Yang Kai suddenly appeared outside another city, but before he could regain his senses, a wave of fearsome power was already sweeping towards him, immediately causing him to have the feeling of being a duckweed caught in a storm, like he had lost control over his own body.
Yang Kai was stunned. Although this blast of energy wasn’t as strong as a Great Emperor’s blow, it was on par with a Pseudo-Great Emperor’s attack.
Yang Kai hurriedly pushed his Emperor Qi as he thrust his palm backwards.
A deafening bang immediately followed as a fearsome shockwave spread in every direction. Meanwhile, Yang Kai was sent flying a thousand metres before he finally stabilized himself with great difficulty, his palm aching.
As he looked up, he saw a burly figure already swooping down at him, and as expected, it was a tower-like member of the Demon Race. The aura emanating from him was several times stronger than that of a Demon King and he was furiously glaring at Yang Kai with a menacing look on his face.
[A Pseudo-Great Emperor level Demon!?] Yang Kai was left dumbfounded.
Space Principle fluctuations suddenly rose as a figure appeared before Yang Kai, protecting him. The figure punched forward forcing the Pseudo-Great Emperor level Demon back before he turned around and looked at Yang Kai asking, “Are you alright?”
Li Wu Yi!
Yang Kai wasn’t surprised by this man’s presence; after all, he had used the Space Beacon to teleport to Li Wu Yi’s side, but how could he have known that Li Wu Yi would be locked in a heated battle with a Demon Race Master at that exact moment.
“No harm!” Yang Kai slowly shook his head.
Li Wu Yi suggested, “Step aside first, we can talk in a bit.”
After saying that, Li Wu Yi charged at the Demon Race Master again and, in a flash, the two were locked in a raging battle. Li Wu Yi was known as the strongest Master beneath the Great Emperor in the Star Boundary. He was a Master of the Dao of Space and had a Pseudo-Great Emperor Realm cultivation, making his position dignified and aloof. The Demon Race Master was also pretty good, but clearly, he wasn’t Li Wu Yi’s opponent.
However, this Demon should be part of the Strength Demon Clan, so his tall and stalwart body with a thick skin and robust muscles provided him an outstanding defence. Although Li Wu Yi occupied an advantage in the fight, he didn’t have any method to end it in short order.
Not only were these two Masters fighting each other to the death, but nearly a million Star Boundary cultivators and Demon Race members were also locked in battle across a huge battlefield. Someone was losing his or her life every moment while some thirty kilometres away stood a city with a glittering Array shielding it.
Yang Kai knew in his heart that the situation here was almost the same as Tiger Roar City, with a contingent of Star Boundary cultivators facing off against a Demon Race Army, but the war here had already broken out whereas the Demon Race was still just eyeing and waiting for an opportunity on Tiger Roar City’s side.
Understanding the situation, Yang Kai naturally couldn’t stand still. He hurriedly summoned the Myriads Sword and rushed into the enemy lines, cleaving through multiple enemies wherever he passed.
The Demon Race Army here was much bigger than the one outside Tiger Roar City, and it possessed far more Masters as well. There was even a Pseudo-Great Emperor-level existence leading the charge; fortunately, there was only one such Master while the rest were just Demon Kings.
With his current strength, Yang Kai was naturally not afraid of any Demon in the Demon King Realm, so he charged headlong into the enemy lines and went on a killing spree, like an unstoppable rampaging bull no one could block.
After half a day, both sides finally signalled for a withdrawal, leaving countless dead bodies littering the ground. Although the Star Boundary had suffered a huge amount of casualties, the Demon Race’s side didn’t fare any better. Li Wu Yi had no intention of pursuing the enemy; after all, he didn’t have an absolute advantage here, so he simply ordered his forces to return to the city and recuperate.
In the City Lord’s Mansion, Li Wu Yi cleaned himself and wore a new set of clothes before he spoke with Yang Kai.
“Senior Li, what’s the situation with the Great Emperors?” Yang Kai eagerly wanted to know what agreement the Great Emperors and the Demon Saints had come to that removed both sides from the war.
Li Wu Yu replied, “Have you heard about it?”
Yang Kai explained with a nod, “I just came from Tiger Roar City, where I met Li Jiao, Senior Sister Gao, and a few others.”
Li Wu Yi nodded, “Then they must have explained the reason to you. En, it’s probably similar to what they said.”
“Is there another reason?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
Li Wu Yi nodded, “The other reason is Senior Bright Moon.”
“I hope Senior Li can dispel my doubts,” Yang Kai earnestly requested.
Li Wu Yi heaved a sigh, “Senior Bright Moon seems to be trapped somewhere in the Demon Realm, and those Demon Saints said that if the Great Emperors dared to take action, they would turn back to the Demon Realm and eliminate Senior Bright Moon first. Conversely, if the Great Emperors stood back and watched, they too wouldn’t make any rash moves.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow after hearing this, “So to say, this proposal was made by the Demon Realm first?”
Li Wu Yi replied, “Exactly. The Great Emperors had no choice either. The only reason Senior Bright Moon remained in the Demon Realm was to let the other three Seniors escape. His sense of duty and willingness to sacrifice himself is to be admired and respected. Now that Senior Bright Moon is in a precarious situation, the other Seniors naturally couldn’t just ignore his plight. If they really compelled those Demon Saints to deal with Senior Bright Moon, it would definitely end in tragedy no matter how strong he is; after all, he is trapped in the Demon Realm.”
Yang Kai looked puzzled and asked, “But what would the Demon Saints gain by proposing this? They came here to conquer the Star Boundary, so why would they tie their own hands and feet?” They could gather their entire strength and easily deal with or capture Bright Moon Great Emperor, so what was the advantage of them stalling for time?
Li Wu Yi slowly shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know the entire story either. Although he could get more information than most, his knowledge was still limited.
Yang Kai pondered for a while before asking, “What are the Great Emperors thinking? Did they agree willingly or begrudgingly?”
“They have decided to see how the situation develops for now,” Li Wu Yi replied.
“What if Senior Bright Moon could escape?”
Li Wu Yi slowly shook his head, “It’s far too difficult!”
“What if…” Yang Kai looked at him with a scorching gaze.
Li Wu Yi added, “There is no smoke without fire. Although the proposal made by the Demon Saints seems beneficial to the Star Boundary, it is definitely more beneficial to the Demon Realm somehow. If Senior Bright Moon could really escape, I believe that the Great Emperors would take action again. But now, no one knows just what is going on in the Demon Realm, not even the Great Emperors.”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he fell into contemplation.
Li Wu Yi then suggested, “Let’s stop talking about this. We can let the Great Emperors worry about Senior Bright Moon. They should have their own plans on how to deal with it. Let’s talk about you. Didn’t you say that you were going to the Frozen Earth? Why did you come back so soon? How did it go?”
Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile, “Fortunately I didn’t fail in my mission!”
Li Wu Yi’s eyes lit up after hearing this, “Where are they?”
Yang Kai waved his hand as figures appeared in the hall, one after another. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred more people were standing there.
After the Human Sovereign and others appeared, they looked completely confused. They were at a loss and had no idea what their situation was. On the other hand, Li Wu Yi’s eyes brightened as he swept them over this crowd. He then excitedly asked, “Are all of them…?”
He knew why Yang Kai was going to the Frozen Earth, so when he saw over a hundred men and women standing before him, he thought that they were all Shamans.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter though as he corrected him, “Only the Imperial Family is. There are probably only about twenty of them. The others aren’t.”
The Human Sovereign and the others appeared confused and all turned their heads after hearing the conversation between Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi.
Yang Kai introduced things to them, gazing at them, “Everyone, this is the outside world, but the situation is a little different from what you may have expected. This world is now being invaded by the Demon Race, so we need your strength to repel them, especially those of you from the Imperial Family.”
The corners of the Human Sovereign’s lips twitched after hearing this. He had already known that Yang Kai didn’t have any good intentions for coming to Human Imperial City, but he had never been able to guess what Yang Kai’s intentions were. Now though, realization had dawned upon him.
[So it turns out that the outside world is no different than the Revolving World, being corrupted by the Demon Race! That damned Yang Kai came to Human Imperial City and forcibly took away my Imperial Family for our Sacred Techniques!]
But since his fists were smaller, even if the Human Sovereign was dissatisfied, he didn’t dare to voice his anger; after all, this was no longer Human Imperial City. He thus affirmed with a sullen expression on his face, “Senior Yang, please don’t worry, my Imperial Family will definitely dedicate ourselves to the mission.”
A satisfied smile immediately appeared on Yang Kai’s face. If the Human Sovereign was disobedient, Yang Kai had planned to make him see reason and threaten him a little, but much to his surprise, this old man was quite flexible in his thinking, which saved him a lot of trouble.
“Senior Li, I’ll leave these people to you. You can dispatch them as you wish. I want to check on my High Heaven Palace’s disciples,” Yang Kai spoke and left right away.
In any case, Li Wu Yi was a Pseudo-Great Emperor so he would have a way to subdue the people of Human Imperial City. Yang Kai didn’t worry about this, his only responsibility was to bring them out.
After explaining things, Yang Kai immediately activated the Space Beacon on his wrist and disappeared in a flash.
The Western Territory’s frontline was quite long, and he had no idea about the situation High Heaven Palace’s reinforcements were in, so naturally, he wanted to check on them.
After a while, Yang Kai appeared in another city next to Xue Yue. Xue Yue was pleasantly surprised by the sudden appearance of Yang Kai and immediately summoned Shan Qing Luo and Su Yan.
After inquiring a little, Yang Kai finally understood what was going on here.
As he had expected, the reinforcements sent by High Heaven Palace were dispatched to another city in the Western Territory, joining hands with the local cultivators to fight against the Demon Race Army besieging the city.
However, the situation here was much better than Tiger Roar City or Li Wu Yi’s side, because not only were there six Monster Kings here, but there were also the Masters from Ice Heart Valley.
The six Monster Kings were none other than the six serving at High Heaven Palace. Three were men and three were women, but each of them was a Twelfth-Order High-Rank Monster Race, so with the addition of the Emperor Realm Masters of Ice Heart Valley, the entire lineup here could be described as luxurious.
Moreover, the number of cultivators in the city was quite large, with as many as 100,000 men and women joining the defence force.
The two sides had just fought a battle about half a day ago, and the Star Boundary side had scored a crushing victory, killing hundreds of thousands of Demons while forcing the rest to flee back a few hundred kilometres. However, the Demon Race didn’t fully withdraw, presumably waiting for more reinforcements to make a comeback.
But in this situation, if the Demon Race didn’t send a Pseudo-Great Emperor-level Master, it would definitely be impossible for them to take this city. Six Monster Kings alone were more than enough to deal with a 100,000 man army.
Yang Kai’s heart was finally set at ease after asking about the situation. The High Heaven Palace reinforcements didn’t have to worry about anything for the time being; however, Tiger Roar City’s situation was not so lax. Perhaps there were many other cities like Tiger Roar City, but Yang Kai couldn’t manage so much.
Tiger Roar City was important to him because Li Jiao and Gao Xue Ting were there; otherwise, he would not bother to pay attention to it. The Great Emperors would definitely be managing the deployment of the Star Boundary’s forces as although they couldn’t participate directly in the war effort because of their agreement with the Demon Saints, they could still oversee the general situation and issue commands while devising strategies.
Su Yan and the others seemed to have grown a lot after fighting on the battlefield, their auras much calmer and stabler than before.
While Yang Kai was talking to his three women though, the door of the room was suddenly kicked open as a beautiful figure emanating a chilling aura barged in and coldly glared at Yang Kai with her pretty eyes.
Su Yan and the others looked at her before looking at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai lightly coughed in embarrassment.
Yu Ru Meng suddenly retracted the coldness from her face as she asked with a gentle smile, “Sisters, can you please go out first, Elder Sister wants to talk to him alone.”
Shan Qing Luo took a sidelong glance at her as she indifferently declared, “If you have anything to say, just say it right here, why do you need to speak in private?”
Xue Yue nodded in agreement, “That’s right. We are all one family. Husband won’t hide anything from us, “
The two had a deep hostility towards Yu Ru Meng as they had no idea how or when she had hooked up with Yang Kai. What’s more, she never left Yang Kai’s side, and now that he returned, she actually showed up right away!
If they could, Xue Yue and Shan Qing Luo would definitely have taught her a good lesson, but Yu Ru Meng was in the Emperor Realm, so the two of them were not her opponents. Not to mention, she was the Disciple of Flower Shadow Great Emperor…
[But so what if she is a Great Emperor’s Disciple? It’s not that easy to enter the Yang Family!]
However, Su Yang just calmly stated, “Since Elder Sister Li has something to discuss with Husband, let’s give them a little room.”
Shan Qing Luo and Xue Yue both looked at her in amazement after hearing this, as if they hadn’t expected Su Yan to compromise so easily, but since Su Yan had already spoken, they had no choice but to withdraw along with her, even if they were unwilling.
Of course, Shan Qing Luo glared at Yang Kai with an aggrieved look on her face when she was leaving.
Yang Kai turned his gaze to the ceiling, acting as if he didn’t see anything.
After the three women withdrew, Yu Ru Meng closed the door with a wave of her hand and let out a hollow laugh as he stared at Yang Kai and snapped, “You abandoned me!”
Obviously, she was talking about the fact that Yang Kai had left her behind when he went to the Frozen Earth. At that time, she almost exploded with rage after being thrown aside by Yang Kai, but she was smart enough to know that her best option was to follow Su Yan and the others around, as the moment Yang Kai returned, he might not look for other people, but he would definitely come looking for Su Yan and the others.
As soon as Yu Ru Meng noticed Yang Kai’s aura, she immediately rushed over.
At this moment, although there was a smile on her face, she was burning with fury.
Yang Kai didn’t even try to explain himself; rather, he reached out and poured himself a cup of tea.
Yu Ru Meng took a few steps forward, snatched the teacup, splashed out the tea, then slammed the cup back on the table with a thud.
Yang Kai raised his eyes and stared at her, “What are you doing? Have you gone mad?”
Yu Ru Meng stated, grounding her teeth, “You actually left me!”
Yang Kai rebuffed, “So what? I didn’t agree to take you out with me, you were following me around of your own accord. So I left you, what do you want to do now?”
Yu Ru Meng stated, furrowing her brow, “Do you insist on being cruel to me?”
Yang Kai whiningly stated, “What’s so strange about that, it’s not the first time I was cruel to you.” While speaking, he poured himself another cup of tea.
Yu Ru Meng snatched the teacup again and threw it on the ground.
Yang Kai was completely furious this time as he loudly cursed, “Bitch, would you calm down! I’m warning you, I won’t be so polite if you keep this up!”
Yu Ru Meng sneered, “Then I want to see how you are going to not be polite to me! Are you going to hit me? Come, hit me then!”
She pressed toward him with her arms akimbo, head high, and chest jutted out, even moving her cheek closer to Yang Kai, like she was just tempting him to slap her.
Driven mad, Yang Kai grabbed her arm, turned her over and threw her directly onto his knee with her back towards him. Then, he raised his hand and smacked her perfectly round bottom hard.
*Pa…*
Yu Ru Meng suddenly stiffened. Her slender neck went completely straight and stiff, sending her hair flying. She didn’t come to her senses for a good long while as her mind seemed to be all jumbled up. When she finally regained her senses, she creakily turned her head to stare at Yang Kai with widened eyes, a look of utter disbelief on her face as she muttered, “You dare spank me…”
*Pa…*
Yang Kai slapped down again with a savage look on his face.
Both times, he had spanked her quite hard. Only, the first time Yu Ru Meng was spanked, she was completely caught by surprise; she had never even dreamed that she would get spanked by someone, and by a man too. This time, she finally felt the pain and her eyes became a little watery as she opened her mouth and a painful groan escaped from her lips.
Outside the house, Su Yan raised her head, looking at the bright moon. Shan Qing Luo and Xue Yue, on the other hand, were attentively listening, and after the two smacking sounds rang out, Shan Qing Luo immediately sneered, “Beat her to death, beat this vixen to death!”
Xue Yue also looked excited, “That shameless bitch, she deserves to be beaten to death!”
“Are you still going to make a scene?” Yang Kai, raising his hand and waving it around, asked Yu Ru Meng, staring down at her.
Yu Ru Meng bit her ruby red lips as she struggled hard, but Yang Kai was using both his great physical strength and his comprehension of the Dao of Space to lock her in place, so how could she break free? She was completely tied to Yang Kai’s thigh in an extremely shameful posture.
Suddenly, she fiercely shrieked, “You’d best beat me to death today, or this isn’t over!”
“How dare you talk back!” Yang Kai spanked her again. Yu Ru Meng, who was taking the beating, had her face turned red, then white. It was evident that he was using a great deal of force as he spanked and scolded her, “You Bitch, you made a scene, broke my cup…”
He spoke a word and spanked her, spoke a word, and spanked her…
At first, Yu Ru Meng was clamouring back, wanting to fight with Yang Kai to death, but after being hit again and again, she eventually stopped moving. She lowered her raised head, lying completely still on Yang Kai’s thigh.
*Dida dida …*
The sound of some kind of drops falling on the ground suddenly could be heard.
Yang Kai finally stopped smacking and looked down at her, the next moment not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He had actually beat Yu Ru Meng to the point of tears…
Suddenly feeling like he had gone too far, his raised hand slumped down again. If she had kept fighting back, he wouldn’t have stopped, but when she started crying, it started to give him a headache.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but scratch his head as all his anger completely vanished. He then lightly poked Yu Ru Meng’s cheek and said, “If you have something to say, just say it, why cry?”
Yu Ru Meng turned her head to the other side, ignoring him, simply sobbing like a child as tears kept dripping on the ground to no end.
“Don’t cry,” Yang Kai comforted her. “I had a good reason for leaving you behind. The place I went to was too dangerous. What if you had an accident if I brought you with me?”
While speaking, he gently caressed her round buttocks with his big hands, using his Emperor Qi to alleviate the pain.
He had just spanked her ass a dozen times or so, and he didn’t hold back either. Perhaps her butt was swollen, so he was now healing her wounds. Yang Kai continued, “And you too, you keep talking back to me at every turn, you keep saying that you want to fight and perish together. How can there be a woman like you in this world? If everyone was like you, how would any man survive?”
“If you have something to say to me, use your words. I’ll go first. I was impulsive and in the wrong about what just happened. I apologize, so don’t take it to heart.”
“If you can talk, just nod. If you are angry, how about I let you hit me all you want in return. I’ll let you do anything you want.”
He kept comforting her, but Yu Ru Meng just kept crying and didn’t respond at all.
Yang Kai eventually lost patience and stopped rubbing her buttocks as he calmly stated, “If you have something to say, speak up. Don’t stay silent.”
Yu Ru Meng remained silent for a while before she suddenly muttered something.
“What?” Yang Kai turned his ear to her side as she really had whispered too quietly.
“Don’t stop!” This time, he heard her loud and clear.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, then he finally realized what she meant. At the same time, he really failed to stifle his laughter, so he once again put his hand on her round bottom and started gently caressing it; after all, this request wasn’t that hard to meet either.
[Damn, this vixen’s personality might be terrible, but her body is really first-class. It’s like rubbing a soft, silky pillow.]
As her sobbing slowly stopped, Yu Ru Meng’s body twitched a little, who knows whether because of pain or pleasure. Her breathing also grew short and rapid as her previous pale face slowly turned red.
Suddenly, she asked, “You just said that you left me behind because you were afraid of something happening to me, is that the truth or a lie?”
Yang Kai solemnly replied, “What would I gain by lying to you? The place I went to was one of the Forbidden Zones of the Star Boundary, one that even the Great Emperors are unable to freely traverse. Even a Dragon Clan member perished in that place, proving just how dangerous it is.”
Yu Ru Meng softly asked, “Then why didn’t you just say so instead of just leaving me behind without saying anything?”
Yang Kai sighed, “Would it have been useful if I had told you? You would have definitely ignored my entreaty and insisted on going. So, instead of arguing with you, I thought it would be better to act first, then tell you afterwards.”
Yu Ru Meng remained silent; apparently, accepting his explanation.
Yang Kai’s hand, however, started to become more and more dishonest. While rubbing her lower cheeks with one hand, his other unscrupulously began sneaking into Yu Ru Meng’s collar. Of course, he encountered some symbolic resistance, but it was hardly a forceful defence.
“Does it still hurt?” Yang Kai asked, kneading with his hand as a satisfied look filled his face.
Yu Ru Meng slowly shook his head.
“Is anything else in pain?” Yang Kai asked again.
“No, nowhere else.”
“I can give you a check…” Yang Kai chuckled.
“No need…” Yu Ru Meng moaned as her breathing became extremely heavy.
Outside the house, Shan Qing Luo’s face turned ashen and Xue Yue’s expression wasn’t good either. The good show they were looking forward to didn’t appear; the vixen wasn’t beaten to death. On the contrary, their Husband and the hussy started acting all lovey-dovey, making the two women go a little crazy.
Shan Qing Luo turned to Su Yan and entreated, “Elder Sister, our husband is being seduced by that vixen, don’t you care?”
Su Yan just smiled before suggesting, “We should go.”
Shan Qing Luo and Xue Yue were dumbfounded, but before the duo could react, Su Yan had already walked away. Shan Qing Luo and Xue Yue looked at each other and gnashed their teeth before they raised their arms together and palmed forward hard.
Although the two women hadn’t reached the Emperor Realm yet, they were still in the Dao Source Realm, so their attacks made a big hole in the house’s walls, causing dust to fly everywhere.
Accompanied by Shan Qing Luo’s giggles, the two fled away and disappeared in a flash.
Inside the room, Yang Kai, holding Yu Ru Meng, was jumping around, avoiding the falling wooden boards, his face twitching visibly.
At this moment, a wave of spatial fluctuations suddenly spread as a jade slip suddenly appeared before him. Yang Kai reached out, grabbing it. He then read it with his Divine Sense and a frown started to appear on his face before he stated aloud, “I’m going to Tiger Roar City. Something has happened there and they requested my presence.”
“Safe journey!” Su Yan responded back.
Yang Kai nodded before turning to Yu Ru Meng in his arms and asking, “Are you coming with me?”
Yu Ru Meng meekly nodded.
Yang Kai smiled lightly before pushing his Space Principles. The next moment, the pair disappeared from where they stood.
Tiger Roar City was now in complete turmoil as everyone was feeling extremely restless and anxious.
Yang Kai and Yu Ru Meng appeared beside Gao Xue Ting, but at this moment, Gao Xue Ting was no longer inside the City Lord’s Mansion, but beside a city gate. It was quite noisy here and Gao Xue Ting had a very serious look on her face, one that was quite unsightly.
Sensing Yang Kai’s arrival, Gao Xue Ting glanced at him before looking at Yu Ru Meng in his arms and lightly nodding.
“What’s the situation?” Yang Kai glanced around as he asked, somewhat confused. Much to his surprise, he was greeted by two large crowds confronting each other at the city gate. One group was luxuriously dressed, indicating they had some kind of significant status or background, while the other group was comprised of disciples of Azure Sun Temple.
“The Demon Race is on the march,” Gao Xue Ting replied.
Yang Kai frowned and asked, “If the Demon Race is about to attack, prepare for battle. What are you doing here?”
Gao Xue Ting pointed ahead, “They are trying to escape from the city!”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “At this time?”
Yang Kai knew a little about the situation of Tiger Roar City. Although there were quite a few Emperor Realm Masters present, the number of cultivators who could fight was definitely not large. Furthermore, there was only one Third-Order Emperor present, Li Jiao, and barely 50,000 men and women in the city who could be mobilized for its defence. On the other hand, as many as 400,000 Demon Race soldiers were besieging them.
With the odds against them, Tiger Roar City would have to depend on its protective Array to have any hope of victory.
In other words, they couldn’t afford to lose or compromise the City Defending Array.
Yet at this critical juncture, when the Demon Race was about to attack, there were still people who wanted to flee the city! Wasn’t that tantamount to tearing a giant hole in the most important part of Tiger Roar City’s defence? Although the Array could be partially opened and then closed again, in the middle of a fight, who knows what could happen in the brief time the array was lowered?
More importantly, this was the time when the cultivators of Tiger Roar City needed to stand united to defend against the enemy. If a large group of people fled the city now, wouldn’t it throw the entire defence into chaos?
[No wonder Gao Xue Ting mobilized a team of Azure Sun Temple disciples to block these people’s way. Gao Xue Ting clearly knows that the defensive Array cannot be opened at this critical moment.]
“Who the hell are they?” Yang Kai swept over a glance at the group of people with a look of disgust on his face. The number of people wasn’t too large, just a few hundred, but many of them were Dao Source Realm cultivators. Fortunately, there were Emperors among them.
“The Five Great Families of Tiger Roar City. All of them are the members of the Five Great Families!”
“Five Great Families?” Yang Kai coldly snorted. Families like these were innumerable throughout the Star Boundary and generally speaking, they occupied good positions in their respective cities. They were used to doing whatever they wanted and probably had the intention of fleeing the city from the start, it was just that they didn’t make up their mind until the Demon Race started moving aggressively. Obviously, these cowards felt that Tiger Roar City was doomed, so they wanted to escape and save themselves before the battle even began.
“Open the Array!”
“Quickly open the Array and let us leave, otherwise don’t blame us for being impolite!”
“Why are you still trying to reason with them, if they don’t open the Array, just snatch the Array Jade from them!”
The group of people standing under the city wall kept shouting at a Dao Source Realm cultivator atop the city wall. That Dao Source Realm cultivator should be one of the people presiding over the City Defending Array as he was holding an Array Jade which acted as a controller. At this moment, he was looking down from the city wall with a confused look on his face. He kept bowing with his fists cupped in front, “Patriarchs, please don’t make things difficult for this Old Master. If you wish to leave the city, I ask you to go see Sir City Lord. As long as you bring this Old Master Sir City Lord’s decree, this Old Master will immediately open the Array; otherwise, this Old Master’s hands are tied.”
“The Demon Race is attacking, so Sir City Lord is busy dealing with other matters, how would he have the time to take care of us? Stop talking nonsense. This King will give you ten breaths of time to open the Array, otherwise don’t blame us for forgetting our old friendship!”
Just as this man stated this, the hundreds of people showed a covetous gaze, giving the impression that if the old man didn’t open the Array, they would really attack.
The face of the old man presiding over the Array defending the city greatly changed. Although he too was a Dao Source Realm cultivator, how could he fight against so many members of the Five Great Families? If they really attacked, he would perhaps be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
A hint of hesitation flashed on his face, though he had already made up his mind. [If I open the Spirit Array and let them leave, although Sir City Lord will punish me after knowing about it, it’s still better than being killed by them.]
He thus clenched the Array Jade and began to push his Divine Sense, but just as he was about to open the Array, a figure suddenly appeared beside him like a ghost, raising his hand, and patting his shoulder.
The old man was shocked and turned his head to look at this newcomer, seeing a brave and heroic young man standing by his side. Before he could react though, the Array Jade was already in the young man’s hand.
The old man was terrified when he saw this as he realized this young man’s cultivation was vastly superior to his own; otherwise, he would have at least noticed when the Array Jade was snatched by the other party. Nervous now, the old man hurriedly asked, “You are…”
“High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, Yang Kai.” Yang Kai glanced at him and calmly stated, “Old Sir, you may step back now and allow this King to handle this matter.”
The old man’s eyes lit up after hearing this, feeling like a stone had just been lifted from his heart, allowing him to finally relax.
Yang Kai’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough for the hundreds of people below the city wall to hear clearly. Seeing the Array Jade fall into Yang Kai’s hands, the hundreds of people down below furrowed their brows. The few leading the group glanced at each other before a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion stepped forward and greeted with cupped fists, “Greetings, Senior Yang.”
Yang Kai lightly nodded but didn’t reply, figuring that this man was one of the Patriarchs of the so-called Five Great Families.
Yang Kai’s unceremonious stance made the hundreds of people down below unhappy, but they all knew he was qualified to act dismissive of them; after all, he was a Palace Master and an Emperor Realm cultivator. As such, they didn’t dare to show the slightest dissatisfaction. Instead, the sallow looking man advocated in an extremely polite manner, “Senior, we, the members of the Five Great Families, wish to leave Tiger Roar City to seek a chance of survival in this chaotic world. I ask Senior Yang to open the way for us.”
Yang Kai, playing with the Array Jade in his hand, indifferently asked back, “You want to leave Tiger Roar City to seek a chance for survival? Do you even know the current situation outside?”
The middle-aged man shook his head and replied, “I don’t know, but I know that Tiger Roar City is in danger. If we don’t leave now, I’m afraid we won’t be able to leave later.”
Yang Kai added, “Since you don’t know, let me tell you. The Demon Race Army has invaded the Star Boundary, occupying more than half of the Western Territory. The frontline now stretches for tens, if not hundreds of millions of kilometres. Countless cities are surrounded by the Demons, and even in the short while we have been talking, fierce battles have been raging in many places. Even if you all leave Tiger Roar City, you might not be able to get very far before falling into the hands of the Demons. At that time, your life will be worse than death. It would be better to stay here and fight against the Demon Race than venture out into the wilderness.”
Everyone’s expression changed after hearing this as they really were ignorant of what was going on outside. The Demon Race had started their invasion less than two months ago, and news travelled even slower than usual in such chaotic times. On the other hand, Yang Kai could freely traverse the world and had visited the cities where Li Wu Yi and the High Heaven Palace’s disciples were stationed, so he was far more knowledgeable about the current state of affairs than the others.
Naturally, everyone would be shocked after hearing that more than half of the Western Territory had been occupied from Yang Kai.
After momentarily losing his wits for a while, the sallow-faced middle-aged man forced a smile and stated, “Senior Yang, there is no need to exaggerate things just to scare others.”
Yang Kai scoffed, “You think this King is speaking nonsense just to scare you? Is that necessary? Every word this Palace Master has spoken is true. Believe it or don’t, it is your choice.”
The middle-aged man remained silent for a while before he stated, “Even so, we still wish to leave Tiger Roar City.”
“Do you still insist on leaving?” Yang Kai grimly gazed at him.
Seeing this look, the middle-aged man’s palms became sweaty but he summoned up his courage and nodded.
“I’m afraid things won’t go according to your wishes,” Yang Kai coldly snorted. “The Demon Race is attacking, and the City Defending Array is of vital importance to the upcoming battle. Before the battle has ended, no one may leave the city. If you want to leave, we can discuss it after the fighting has stopped!”
As soon as he said this, a furious shout immediately came from the group below, “When the battle is over, Tiger Roar City would have already fallen! We won’t even be alive to discuss anything!”
Yang Kai immediately looked up and found that the person shouting was a luxuriously dressed young man sitting on a tall mount that resembled a horse. Who knows which family’s Young Master he was, and Yang Kai didn’t really care, only responding in an icy tone, “The Demon Race is invading the Western Territory, plunging the common people into an abyss of chaos and suffering. We, the cultivators of the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Territory all gathered under the summons of the Great Emperors to aid you in holding back the Demon Race Army. We do not request anything in return, nor do we expect you to repay us, but we are still putting our lives on the line today, yet you, the native cultivators of the Western Territory, don’t even want to make an effort to protect your homes? Good, if that is the extent of your courage and honour, so be it; however, you are now actually trying to flee when the enemy is already upon us? If it was just that, this Palace Master may still have tolerated your actions; after all, everyone is free to choose their own course in life, and it is human nature to cherish life and fear death, but if your cowardice affects the morale of the army and lowers our chances of successfully defending the city, that is truly intolerable! If you dare spout nonsense again, this King will take your dog life!”
The young man shrank his neck but still stubbornly rebuked in the next moment, “When did this Young Master seek to disrupt the morale of the army. And even if he has, do you really believe Tiger Roar City can resist the Demon Race’s army either way?”
“How dare you run your mouth! Do you really think this King won’t kill you?” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he raised his hand and grabbed the young man.
“You dare!” The middle-aged man, who had spoken earlier, immediately flew out, trying to stop Yang Kai. By the looks of it, he and the young man might be related by blood; perhaps they were even father and son.
But the middle-aged man was just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, no different from an ant before Yang Kai. An inexplicable force immediately sent him flying, throwing him to ground as loud panicked shouts rang out.
As the middle-aged man turned to look, his eyes immediately turned red in grief and anger. The young man riding on the tall horse had been reduced to a headless corpse with blood gushing out of his severed neck like a fountain, reaching as high as ten meters into the air. The young man’s headless corpse then swayed left and right before falling from the horse’s back.
A group of pampered Young Masters and Ladies screamed in horror, plunging the area into further chaos.
“How dare you kill my child!” The middle-aged man looked at Yang Kai with a hideous look on his face.
In Yang Kai’s hand was a severed head with bulging eyes. No one knew how this head appeared in his hand when he had clearly not moved an inch from where he stood.
Yang Kai rebuffed in a cold and grim voice after hearing this, “So what?”
The middle-aged man’s expression kept shifting like clouds before he suddenly shouted, “Kill him, attack!”
After having said this, he was the first one to charge at Yang Kai, his anger and hatred seemingly making him lose his sense temporarily. At that moment, he failed to realize just how great the gap between him and Yang Kai was while his impassioned shout and Yang Kai’s tyrannical display inspired the rest of the Five Great Families to action, their eyes turning red as they attacked in a fit of madness.
“Ants courting death,” Yang Kai, standing on the city wall, snorted with a grim expression. When hundreds of people had charged sufficiently close, he simply waved his hand.
One by one, heads flew into the air as headless corpses twitched and fell to the ground, dying the area around the city’s main gate red and filling the air with a nauseating bloody smell.
The onlooking crowd immediately sunk into silence, like cicadas in the middle of winter. They had never seen hundreds of people dying all at once. This hellish scene was enough to make them have nightmares for many days to come.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred people had lost their lives, with the middle-aged man, who had charged first, being the first to die.
It was only at this moment that the remaining members of the Five Great Families realized the gap in strength between the two sides. The Young Masters and Young Ladies started screaming and shouting in panic while the remaining Dao Source Realm cultivators started begging for mercy.
Yang Kai’s face remained as cold as ice, though, as he turned a deaf ear to everything. He was radiating an intense murderous intent now as he made up his mind to establish his prestige here before the battle truly began.
A bloody aura filled the air as the ground around the city gates became like Hell on earth. Hundreds of corpses were lying everywhere, with their heads all stacked into a hill. The sight of this terrifying scene made the onlookers’ blood run cold as they went completely silent, like the cicadas in winter.
Among them, some may have had the same thoughts as the Five Great Families; they wanted to escape from Tiger Roar City. Otherwise, they would not have gathered here, but the example made of the members of the Five Great Families was enough to make them understand and none dared to have any other ideas now.
[This Palace Master, who hails from the Northern Territory, kills people without even batting an eye! He has no humanity at all!] Everyone looked at Yang Kai with a fearful gaze.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, was completely at ease, still playing with the Array Jade in his hand. Suddenly, he looked up at Gao Xue Ting and stated, “Senior Sister Gao, ask the Temple disciples to remove everyone who is presiding over the Defensive Array and take their place.” While speaking, he threw the Array Jade in his hand to her.
Gao Xue Ting nodded her agreement after hearing this and immediately started arranging things.
With the city being this big, it was natural that the defensive Array wasn’t managed by just a single individual. There were at least several dozen people managing the array, and each of them had a Sub-Array Jade while the City Lord, Lin Tong, should have the Main Jade which controlled the overall Array.
Since even the Five Great Families members were acting like this, precautions had to be taken. If the Temple disciples were managing the Array, this kind of situation could be prevented. For Yang Kai, the cultivators of Tiger Roar City were still outsiders, so he would not feel secure if the supervisors of the defensive Array were not his own people.
The Demon Race Army was at the gates, and to resist the foreign invasion, order must be kept at home first.
Yang Kai took out a communication artifact and contacted Li Jiao, asking about the Demon Race Army’s situation.
Right at this moment, a ripple suddenly spread through the defensive Array of the city as strange fluctuations undulated.
Yang Kai turned his head and asked, frowning, “What happened?”
Gao Xue Ting shook her head, indicating that she had no idea either.
Rather the Dao Source Realm old man, who was managing the Array before, replied, “Someone opened the Array somewhere.”
Yang Kai’s face turned colder when he heard this, “Courting death!”
The reason why he asked Gao Xue Ting to replace Tiger Roar City residents was to prevent a similar situation to the Five Great Families from happening again, but he didn’t expect such a situation to happen even before that plan could be implemented. Someone fleeing just as the battle was about to begin would negatively affect morale, especially when the enemy already seriously outnumbered them. This battle was not going to be easy no matter what, and if morale was low, Tiger Roar City definitely would not be able to hold on. At that time, whether it was the Azure Sun Temple, Fire Dragon Palace disciples, or Ahan Temple disciples, all would suffer.
“Where?” Yang Kai turned his head and asked the old man.
The old man immediately pointed in one direction, “If this Old Master sensed it correctly, it should have been over there.”
The moment the old man pointed, Yang Kai’s figure disappeared from his spot.
At a certain section of the city wall on the east side of Tiger Roar City, Yang Kai suddenly appeared, and as expected, he saw a gap in the defensive Array here; a wide gap through which he could see a figure was swiftly escaping over a dozen kilometres away.
Yang Kai found the figure a little familiar, thinking he had seen it somewhere before.
Meanwhile, on the city wall, Tiger Roar City’s City Lord, Lin Tong’s face was livid, staring in the direction where the figure was fleeing. Sitting next to him in a cross-legged position was Vice City Lord, Ma Yin, who was bleeding from the corner of her mouth. She appeared to be injured, though not too seriously.
“Who was it?” Yang Kai coldly asked.
Lin Tong’s facial muscles twitched as he replied in a heavy voice, “Wu Zi Jin!”
Yang Kai suddenly came to a realization. No wonder the escaping figure looked familiar, it turned out it was one of the Vice City Lords, Wu Zi Jin.
Even a Vice City Lord had fled from the battle! If word got out, how would the native cultivators of Tiger Roar City find any courage to resist the Demon Race?
As a Vice City Lord, Wu Zi Jin should be leading by example, but now he was openly displaying cowardice. If Yang Kai’s guess was right, Wu Zi Jin even attacked Ma Yin in order to facilitate his own escape. Although Yang Kai didn’t ask, he guessed that Ma Yin was taken by surprise.
Yang Kai looked around and found that the cultivators of Tiger Roar City were really flustered. Wu Zi Jin’s escape had obviously left a huge negative impact on them.
Suddenly he recalled that Wu Zi Jin had proposed that everyone make plans to leave Tiger Roar City as quickly as possible. Now, it became apparent that he had been planning this for quite some time.
Yang Kai suddenly felt a little disheartened. Among the native cultivators of Tiger Roar City, the Five Great Families and a Vice City Lord didn’t even have the courage to stay and fight the Demon Race, so what was the point of the reinforcements from the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Territories even coming here?
He turned his head and asked Lin Tong, “What is Sir City Lord’s plan? If you want to leave, it’s not too late to escape now.”
Lin Tong glanced at him before calmly replying, “So long as a single person remains alive here, the city will survive, only when all have fallen will the city truly be destroyed!”
Ma Yin also opened her eyes and looked up at Yang Kai, “This Ma entreats Palace Master Yang to lend his assistance to my Tiger Roar City!”
Yang Kai finally smiled after hearing this, “It seems that not all the people of Tiger Roar City covet life and fear death!”
Ma Yin angrily proclaimed, “We are ashamed of that old dog surnamed Wu. If he doesn’t die today, I swear to take his dog life the next time I see him!”
Yang Kai nodded, “You won’t need to wait for the next time.”
Before Ma Yin could even understand what Yang Kai meant, she heard him speak again, “I’ll be right back. While I am gone, I ask Sir City Lord to repair the breach as quickly as possible.”
Yang Kai’s figure flickered before disappearing from everyone’s sight.
A stunned Ma Yin turned her head and saw a blur rapidly shooting off into the distance before completely disappearing from her sight in the blink of an eye. Only when Yang Kai’s figure had vanished over the horizon did she come to her senses and muttered, “He went after Old Dog Wu?”
[Can he even catch up? Old Dog Wu has quite a head start. Although Palace Master Yang’s cultivation is one Minor Realm higher, Old Dog Wu is fleeing for his life so catching him shouldn’t be easy. Wouldn’t it be a waste of energy to chase after him at this moment? In any case the city is surrounded by the Demon Race, wouldn’t Tiger Roar City lose another high-level combatant this way?]
Lin Tong, however, replied with sparkling eyes, “I heard that Palace Master Yang is proficient in the Dao of Space. After seeing it today, he really lives up to his reputation!”
“A Master of the Dao of Space!” Ma Yin’s slender brow momentarily rose. Finally, she understood why Yang Kai’s speed was so astonishing and why his figure seemed to flicker in and out of existence as it moved, making it difficult for her to even track his position.
It was due to his use of Space Principles!
“Someone’s approaching!” Ma Yin suddenly turned pale as she pointed towards the front. When she had started speaking, there was just a small black dot on the horizon, but by the time she finished, that small black dot had grown to the size of a fist.
In the blink of an eye, a figure was already standing before her.
It was none other than Yang Kai, who had just left!
Ma Yin mouth was agape as she dumbfoundedly stared at Yang Kai.
He said he would be right back, and he really came right back. He couldn’t have been gone for more than ten breaths, yet when Yang Kai returned, he did so with a person in his grasp. When she recovered from her initial shock, Ma Yin immediately became filled with rage as the man Yang Kai was carrying was none other than Old Dog Wu!
In just ten breaths, not only had Yang Kai gone and returned, he even caught Wu Zi Jin, who was going all out to escape, and brought him back. If Ma Yin hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed such a feat was even possible.
Lin Tong also looked absent-minded, as if he was lost in a dream.
At this moment, Wu Zi Jin, who was being held by Yang Kai, was continuously coughing up blood, his aura weak and unstable, a clear indication he had been seriously injured.
Yang Kai threw the battered man in front of Ma Yin.
Wu Zi Jin crawled back up with great difficulty as he held his chest, glancing at Lin Tong and then at Ma Yin, his expression turning pale.
He definitely didn’t expect that after trying so hard to escape from the city, he would be caught in the blink of an eye and brought back before Ma Yin, whom he had injured with a sneak attack just moments ago. This was a serious embarrassment.
Forcing a smile, Wu Zi Jin asked, “Vice City Lord Ma, how are your injuries?”
Ma Yin slowly stood up and coldly gazed at him, “That’s none of your concern.” While speaking, she summoned a soft whip with the flick of her wrist. The soft whip was forged from some unidentifiable material and was ten meters long, exuding a cold, dark aura.
Wu Zi Jin’s blood ran cold as he stumbled back and said, “Let’s talk this out, this Wu may have acted a little rashly, but he never intended to hurt you.”
Ma Yin turned a deaf ear as her Emperor Qi surged and her soft whip flashed.
Wu Zi Jin turned his head to look at Lin Tong, “Sir City Lord, spare me! If you spare this Wu, this Wu will give his all to fight alongside you! The Demon Race is attacking, this Wu will do his best, he promises!”
Lin Tong looked at him with disgust and spat, “This City Lord wouldn’t dare to fight alongside you!” [Even Ma Yin suffered a sneak attack at this bastard’s hands, who would feel safe trusting their back to him?]
Wu Zi Jin knew that things weren’t going to end well for him today, so a cruel look flashed across his face as he raised his hand, summoning a giant axe and slashing at Ma Yin with all his strength. He didn’t dare to attack Lin Tong as the latter’s cultivation was higher than his, whereas Ma Yin had been injured by his sneak attack, and both of them were in the same realm. Ma Yin was his only chance to make an escape.
But in the next moment, Space Principles fluctuated and an invisible force bound Wu Zi Jin tightly, freezing him in a position where his axe was raised.
The soft whip in Ma Yin’s hand shook before accurately wrapping around Wu Zi Jin’s neck. Then with a slight tug, Wu Zi Jin’s head flew into the air as a fountain of blood erupted.
Ma Yin was a little absent-minded, as if she didn’t expect to kill Wu Zi Jin so easily, but she quickly understood that it was because Yang Kai had silently assisted her, so she turned her head and nodded at him, expressing her gratitude.
Yang Kai then reported, “Just so you know, the members of the Five Great Families of your Tiger Roar City also wanted to flee not too long ago, but I have already killed them all.”
Lin Tong snorted after hearing this, “Good. The Demon Race is attacking, but instead of resisting the enemy, they actually try to escape. Their deaths aren’t worth pitying. Even if Palace Master Yang didn’t do so, this Lin would have acted personally to clean up his house.”
The Five Great Families were his Tiger Roar City residents, and Wu Zi Jin was even a Vice City Lord; this series of events had really made Lin Tong lose face.
Yang Kai proclaimed with brightened eyes, “Since City Lord Lin intends to defend Tiger Roar City and fight the Demon Race to the last, the reinforcements from the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Territories will do everything in their power to assist.”
Lin Tong bowed, cupping his fists, “Many thanks, Palace Master Yang. If it wasn’t for your aid, my Tiger Roar City would be in danger today.”
Yang Kai stated, shaking his head, “Without the lips, the teeth will go cold. The Demon Race is aggressively attacking now and obviously won’t be satisfied with just the Western Territory. After they are done consuming this land, their next target will be the Southern Territory, Northern Territory, and Eastern Territory. We have come here not only to save you, but to protect ourselves as well.”
Lin Tong earnestly praised, “Palace Master Yang is a righteous and far-sighted leader. This Lin has nothing but admiration for Palace Master Yang.”
Ma Yin stated with a sigh, “Unfortunately, our Tiger Roar City’s morale is now at an all-time low.” She looked around, and the cultivators around her all evaded her gaze. It was indeed as she had said, morale had hit rock bottom. Just the fact that the Demon Race Army was attacking had already frightened everyone; and now, after Wu Zi Jin’s act of cowardice, the already low morale had dropped even further.
Yang Kai naturally understood the situation and proposed, “City Lord Lin, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I suggest forming a team of Military Enforcers.”
Lin Tong raised his brow and asked with some confusion, “Military Enforcers?”
Yang Kai’s face turned serious as he explained in a serious voice, “The Two Races’ Great War is different from ordinary individual battles between cultivators and requires a clear-cut Martial Law. Anyone who disobeys the law or disrupts order will be subject to severe punishment. Those who flee from the battle are subject to death, anyone who disturbs the army morale may be killed, anyone who does not fight with all their strength dies!” He stared at Lin Tong as his voice turned ice-cold, “Carrying out these punishments is the duty and mission of the Military Enforcers!”
Lin Tong and Ma Yin felt chills run down their backs when they heard this. If they really followed Yang Kai’s suggestion, they would probably have to kill a lot of people even before confronting the Demon Race.
But after giving it a second thought, this was indeed a good way to resolve their current crisis. They were seriously outnumbered, and morale was pitifully low. Tiger Roar City was in imminent danger. If they wanted to defend the city, they had to present a united front. If there was a team of Military Enforcers, it might not improve morale, but it would at least unify the cultivators to defend the city.
Having understood this, Lin Tong stated, “Palace Master Yang is right, but my Tiger Roar City’s cultivators can’t undertake this role.”
Yang Kai proposed, smiling, “City Lord Lin, if you can trust this Palace Master, please leave this to me.”
“I will have to trouble Palace Master Yang then!” Lin Tong nodded in agreement.
Outside the city, the Demon Race was invading in large numbers, and inside the city, people were panicking. A large crowd of cultivators was gathered on the city wall even now, gazing into the distance, many trying to figure out what to do or where to turn to, an air of gloom hovering over all of them.
At that moment, a person flew around the city, announcing in an ice-cold voice with a solemn expression on his face, “The Demon Race is invading, a great battle is imminent! This war is related to the survival of Tiger Roar City, to the life or death of hundreds of thousands of residents of the city. Sir City Lord has thus given the order to implement Martial Law. Defeat is not allowed in this fight. Anyone who violates the Martial Law will be judged guilty and executed for disobedience! Anyone who flees from the battle will be killed, anyone who disturbs the army morale will be killed, anyone who does not fight will be killed!”
The voice was loud enough for everyone below to hear it loud and clear, and as soon as these words were announced, all the listeners turned to look at each other in shock. Many of them were thinking of running away if the situation turned bad, but after they heard this announcement, they couldn’t help furrowing their brows. However, they didn’t take this announcement too seriously either; after all, everyone could clearly see the current situation. Tiger Roar City’s demise was all but certain. At that time, the people who wanted to escape wouldn’t be limited to just one or two, rather there would be many. At that time, laws couldn’t be enforced as there would be many people to punish. How would Sir City Lord have the time to care about such things? Perhaps he would be too busy saving himself!
Most people thought that this was just arbitrary propaganda, a declaration before mobilizing everyone in order to stabilize morale.
But before they could finish such thoughts, they saw a large group of cultivators flying out. This group had about a thousand people in it, and by the looks of their robes, they weren’t locals of Tiger Roar City, but rather the reinforcements from the other territories who had come to provide support. The person leading the group was an extremely conspicuous young man with fiery red hair.
Chi Gui of the Eastern Territory’s Ahan Temple!
Many people recognized him at once. It wasn’t that Chi Gui was that famous, rather his image was just too unique, so it was easy for the people to recognize him even if they had only heard rumours about him. Only Chi Gui had fiery red hair in Tiger Roar City, no one else. Understanding this, it was reasonable to assume that the group of people behind Chi Gui were cultivators of Ahan Temple.
If it was just this though, it wouldn’t have been enough to attract everyone’s attention. What really caught everyone’s attention was that as Chi Gui lead this thousand man force, each of them was emanating a fearsome murderous intent and had fierce looks on their faces. Chi Gui especially was gazing at everyone as if all of them were targets. There was also a group of cultivators following behind him that was holding up a bunch of severed human heads.
There were at least a few hundred of these heads, most of which had died with their eyes wide open. Blood was still dripping from their necks, making for quite the creepy scene.
Many people suddenly found some of these heads a little familiar.
Just as they were about to take a closer look to check whose heads they were though, the previous cultivator who was shouting continued, “The Five Great Families disturbed the morale of the army and have been beheaded. Wu Zi Jin fled from the battle and was executed!”
Such shouts echoed throughout the entire city, leaving everyone rooted to the spot, dumbstruck by what they were hearing.
[No wonder their heads looked familiar, it turns out they’re from the Five Great Families! And the head held in the forefront belongs to none other than Vice City Lord Wu Zi Jin!?]
[Vice City Lord was beheaded, and so were the Five Great Families! The fight hasn’t even begun but so many people on our side had already been killed! Furthermore, all these people are important figures in Tiger Roar City!]
Finally, everyone came to realize that the so-called Martial Law wasn’t there just for appearances, it would really be enforced. Since even the Five Great Families and Vice City Lord were beheaded because of breaking the law, who could possibly escape punishment?
In other words, though Tiger Roar City was in imminent danger, there was now also a group with butcher knives standing behind them all! If they accidentally violate the Martial Law, the butcher’s knife might swing for their necks! Everyone was shocked, but none dared harbour any traitorous thoughts now. They all asked themselves how their lives fared in contrast to the Five Great Families, let alone the Vice City Lord, Wu Zi Jin. Compared to these people, their lives naturally weren’t worth any more.
Above the city wall, Lin Tong was busy with his communication artifact, a nervous look hanging on his face, apparently gathering reports from various parts of the city.
After a while, the nervous look on his face gradually relaxed as he looked up at Yang Kai and praised, “Palace Master Yang’s is a born leader!”
Ma Yin looked at him with gleaming eyes and asked, “How is the situation in the city now?”
Lin Tong replied, smiling, “Although many are still worried, at least morale has stabilized.”
Ma Yin let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this and nodded, “Very good.”
She then turned her head, gratefully looking at Yang Kai and declared, “If Tiger Roar City can hold today, Palace Master Yang will be the biggest contributor.”
Yang Kai denied, shaking his head, “You flatter me. But don’t lower your guard yet. The cultivators in the city are only intimidated by those heads now. If you really want to defend the city, it will all depend on how we fare in the next battle. If we collapse at the first blow, no amount of threats will be able to save the situation.”
Lin Tong laughed and proclaimed, “Although my Tiger Roar City does not have many cultivators, if all of us can work with united spirits, it won’t be so easy to defeat us. We will let those Demon bastards know the might of Tiger Roar City today!”
Yang Kai nodded in appreciation, “It’s good to hear that Sir City Lord has this much confidence.”
While he was speaking, Ma Yin suddenly took out her communication artifact and checked it out before reporting with a solemn look on her face, “The Demon Race seems to be underestimating us a little. They have gathered all of their strength to make a breakthrough from the east!”
“Then we must go greet them!” Lin Tong coldly snorted.
The group then hurried to the east, and soon after, they arrived at the gates. The city wall was already jam-packed, mostly with local cultivators of Tiger Roar City. When Lin Tong and Ma Yin arrived, these people immediately cupped their fists and greeted them, making way for them to come over.
Yang Kai stood on the city wall beside these two, and as he looked up, he saw a black army about ten kilometres away, rushing towards this side in neither a hurried nor slow manner. The Demon Race members leading the army were riding humongous, hideous-looking Demon Beasts, each of them wearing a calm look on their faces, as if they were out for a stroll in their courtyard. It didn’t seem that they were here to invade the city but to play a game. The large army behind them was marching without any specific formation, scattered here and there, but they remained silent and solemn. The sky over the Demon Race Army was shrouded in dark clouds, making it seem like a fearsome storm was rolling towards Tiger Roar City.
The black clouds were bearing down on the city as they wanted to blow it away!
*Gudong…*
Nervous gulps sounded one after another before gazes turned towards Lin Dong one by one, as if they could only find a sense of security from him.
Lin Tong stood at the edge of the city wall, wearing a stoic look on his face. His grey hair was blowing in the wind as a gleam in his eyes flashed sharply like a falcon’s. At this moment, his old figure seemed somewhat taller than normal.
Ten kilometres, eight kilometres, five kilometres…
A tense atmosphere began to spread among the residents of Tiger Roar City. Some people had already summoned their artifacts, clenching them tightly before relaxing their grips, their palms all sweaty. Some people even started saying their final goodbyes to each other, fearing that there was no hope of surviving this battle.
The appearance of the Demon Race had been clearly imprinted in everyone’s eyes. Those fearsome Demon Beasts were also giving people a huge psychological pressure.
About three kilometres away, the leading Demon Race Master suddenly grinned at the crowd standing on the city wall, revealing his white fangs before raising his arm high and then slowly swinging it down.
The next moment, the disorganized army suddenly charged out like they were injected with hot chicken blood. War cries filled with murderous intent resounded throughout the sky as hundreds of thousands of Demons released their Demon Qi and slammed it towards Tiger Roar City as they ran forward.
Many people’s faces turned pale. Some people even involuntarily retreated, shoving others left and right. Before the battle even started, the city wall was already in chaos.
The leading Demon Race members broke into laughter at the sight of this, their laughter loud and resounding like claps of thunder.
*Shua shua shua…*
Cold gleams flickered one after another as several heads flew into the air along with splashes of blood. The next moment, several dozen twitching headless corpses fell to the ground among the bustling crowd. Bright red blood-drenched the faces and heads of the nearby cultivators, the warm and moist sensation causing shudders to run down their spines.
Chi Gui’s cold and cruel voice sounded the next moment, “Anyone who shows cowardice before the enemy will be beheaded!”
He coldly retracted his blade and swept his gaze around. All the cultivators around him evade his eyes. There were several dozen people who had acted just like him, killing the retreating cultivators, each and every one of them radiating a ghastly aura.
In an instant, no one stood within ten metres of these people, avoiding them like they were vipers.
If the announcement of the Martial Law and the display of hundreds of heads seemed distant before, what happened just now had hit far closer to home.
There were really people holding butchers’ knives behind them, ready to cut off their heads at a moment’s notice!
Yang Kai then shouted in a deep voice, “There are 5,000 Military Enforcers in the city supervising the battle, if anyone dares to violate the Martial Law, they will show no mercy. Everyone must fight!”
[5,000 Military Enforcers!] This number shocked everyone…
Although the population of Tiger Roar City was close to 300,000, the number of men and women who could actually fight was closer to 50,000, that’s all. And this was still counting the reinforcements from the three territories. Originally, 50,000 against the Demon Race left Tiger Roar City’s defenders severely outnumbered, but now, 5,000 have been deployed as Military Enforcers.
[Whoever came up with this idea is a madman!]
It must be brought to notice that the duty of a Military Enforcer entailed only internal matters, not external. Furthermore, since they had to monitor and supervise the war, they couldn’t be too weak. Whether it was a Military Enforcer or a scout, they had to be the best among the best. In other words, the 5,000 men deployed as Military Enforcers were all elites.
In other words, Tiger Roar City’s strength against the Demon Race hadn’t just decreased by 10%, but maybe 20% or 30%…
Not to mention, there was also Chi Gui leading them, who was an Emperor!
Everyone who thought about this cursed in their hearts!
But at this moment, there was no time to give it that much thought because the Demon Race Army was already upon them.
Sounds of something whistling through the air rang out as dark beams of light shot out from the Demons, one after another, bombarding the light curtain of the defensive Array of the city, causing ripples to spread in a flash, giving the impression that the shield could collapse at any moment.
The Dao Source Realm cultivators, who were managing the Spirit Array, had already taken out their respective Array Jades and were frantically mobilizing their strength to stabilize its operation.
The battle of Tiger Roar City had begun at that moment.
Lin Tong raised his arm and shouted, “Attack!”
On the city wall, many cultivators activated their artifacts or used their Secret Techniques one after another, shooting long-range attacks off the city wall. The next moment, multi-coloured beams of light shot through the light screen of the Array, bombarding the Demon Race Army. There was no need to aim either, because the Demons had gathered all in one group, so any random attack would hit as long as it was fired in their general direction.
Demons fell one by one, but more stepped forward to fill the gap, the deaths of their clansmen not making them timid and instead arousing their bloodthirsty nature. Every Demon Race member seemed to be unafraid of death.
The corpses below the city wall continued to pile up, gradually forming a hill.
Both sides kept attacking each other, but Tiger Roar City was protected by an Array, so as long as it stood firm, there would be no casualties on the defender’s side. On the contrary, the Demon Race side was suffering heavy casualties.
It was a good start!
The morale of Tiger Roar City’s cultivators was lifted at this sight and they were no longer stingy with their energy, unleashing all their best moves to the fullest of their ability. Owing to this, more and more Demon Race members fell to the ground, dead.
Not even thirty breaths had passed since the battle began, but thousands of Demons had already died.
The countless attacks on the Array, however, made its light dimmer and dimmer and it was now showing signs of cracking in places. Although the Defensive Array of Tiger Roar City wasn’t bad, the Demon Race Army’s strength was simply too great. When this Defensive Array was arranged, no one had expected a Demon Race Army to attack the city someday, so it couldn’t last for too long.
Once the Array was broken, Tiger Roar City’s greatest support would be gone, at which point, the cultivators in the city would not be the opponents of these ravenous Demons in close combat.
Obviously, Lin Tong knew this but he had no choice but to use whatever means he had on hand to quickly reduce the number of enemies as much as possible before the Array was broken.
Right then, a tall figure jumped up high, holding an enormous pitch-black hammer. The hammer was of the size of a door and had Demon Qi lingering about it as it slammed hard onto the Array. At the point where it struck, the light screen of the Array immediately creaked as thin and long cracks spread in all directions.
That Demon was blown away by the rebounding force, but he quickly returned and let out a war cry as he raised his hammer up high and slammed it down again.
Everyone’s eyes widened as they could tell that if the hammer struck again, a gap might really be smashed open in the Array. Although a single gap would not be a big deal in normal times and could be repaired in short order, in the current situation it may be the difference between victory or defeat.
No one needed any orders as everyone nearby fired their attacks on that Demon, one after another, trying to kill him first.
The Demon Race Master, however, just sneered, surprisingly not even trying to dodge, allowing all the attacks to land on his body. A stony glimmer suddenly appeared on the Demon’s body, and he remained safe and sound. He was a Demon King, and a Stone Demon at that, so his innate defence was outstanding.
Lin Tong’s heart sank at the sight of this.
As the hammer came down, countless people immediately wailed in their hearts as if the hammer’s target was not the Defensive Array but their own body.
Right then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the Demon King, stretching its hand out toward the sky and grabbing the hammer.
Ma Yin’s eyes bulged in shock as she finally realized that the person blocking the Demon King was none other than High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, Yang Kai, and she instinctually let out a tender cry, “Careful!”
The Demon King’s attack was both powerful and heavy, not to mention that Yang Kai was just a Second-Order Emperor. Even a Third-Order Emperor might be flattened into nothing by this move.
Lin Tong’s heart jumped into his throat as well. In this situation, every Emperor Realm Master added an extra level of security to Tiger Roar City, not to mention the fact that Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space. If Yang Kai died here, it would not be as simple as Tiger Roar City losing an Emperor Realm protector, the army’s morale and spirit which had just stabilized would probably collapse again.
*Hong…*
But before everyone’s shocked gazes, Yang Kai actually remained completely still. Suddenly, a visible shock wave burst out from his back, sending his clothes flapping. The hammer that should have slammed onto the Defensive Array was now firmly gripped in his hand.
[Blocked!? He actually blocked it!?]
Lin Tong simply couldn’t believe his eyes. Was this a feat one could accomplish with physical strength alone? But very soon, he hurriedly ordered, “Quickly repair the Array!”
He didn’t know how long Yang Kai could last, but since he had charged out of the Array despite the danger and blocked the critical attack with his own strength, it had given Tiger Roar City a chance to breathe and restore the damaged Array.
The nearby cultivators, who were managing the Array, finally reacted and hurriedly got to work after hearing Lin Tong’s shout.
“Huh?” The Stone Demon opposite Yang Kai raised his brow, staring blankly at Yang Kai. He looked completely stunned, as if he hadn’t expected this little bug-like man to actually block his hammer.
Another nearby Demon King broke into laughter and taunted, “Zha Sa, you waste, were you sucked so dry by those Charm Demons last night that you were actually stopped by this puny Human?”
The Demon King Zha Sa grew angry out of shame and lashed back, “What nonsense!? This King almost fucked those trivial sluts to death, how could they dream of sucking me dry?”
That previous Demon King asked, “Then what’s this situation?”
Zha Sa gazed at Yang Kai with a solemn look as he replied in a heavy voice, “This little brat is not simple! He’s quite strong.”
The other Demon King coldly snorted, “Hurry up and kill him, they are repairing the Spirit Array already. Don’t slip up at the last step.”
Zha Sa snapped, “You don’t need to tell me!”
Yang Kai just grimed as he joined in the conversation, “Do you guys really have the time to chit-chat? Should I let you continue your conversation a little longer? Speaking of which, I’m also quite interested in those Charm Demons you mentioned! Perhaps we can all sit down and discuss them with each other when we have the opportunity?”
Zha Sa broke into laughter, “You want to play with those Charm Demons with your scrawny body? You’d best not, otherwise, there’ll be nothing left of you in the morning!”
Yang Kai retorted, shrugging his shoulders, “Many thanks for your concern, but I think I’ll be just fine.”
Zha Sa sneered, “It’s a pity that you won’t have that chance.” After saying so, he tried to pull his hammer back, but in the next moment, his face greatly changed, because his hammer was firmly held by the Human before him and he was completely unable to move it.
Zha Sa immediately looked as if he had seen a ghost.
He was a Stone Demon, and although he might be a little weaker than those innately gifted Strength Demons when it came to raw physical power, the difference wasn’t that great.
[My Demon Artifact is being held tight by this freak and I can’t even get it back, what the hell is going on here!? Is this Human actually that strong?]
“This hammer is pretty good,” Yang Kai grinned at him, inexplicably causing a cold chill to shoot up Zha Sa’s spine, but before he could react, his arms suddenly felt lighter and he noticed that his Demon Artifact had actually been snatched by this Human.
Yang Kai weighed the hammer in his hand a little before nodding in appreciation, “Not bad, not bad at all!”
A whistling sound suddenly rang out as the hammer was sent slamming back at the Demon King.
Zha Sa’s face drastically changed as he hurriedly tried to retreat, but just as he was about to move, the surrounding space suddenly became extremely viscous, as if he had fallen into a swamp. The next moment, he felt his head sink in before everything went black.
The riotous battlefield filled with the sounds of explosions and shouting suddenly went silent for a moment, like the entire world had instantly come to a halt.
One after another, gazes focused on Yang Kai as everyone had an extreme sense of incredulity, especially the members of the Demon Race. Almost all of them were dumbfounded while the Demon King who had been mocking Zha Sa before had his eyes bulge so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets.
At that moment, small pieces of flesh rained down from the sky around Yang Kai as the Stone Demon Zha Sa was blown into a mist of blood by his very own hammer. Nothing of him remained. Although the Demon Race had a very tenacious vitality, after suffering this kind of blow, Zha Sa could not be more dead.
“Next!” Yang Kai, wielding Zha Sa’s hammer, stood calmly in the air, coldly glancing over the surroundings. There was a wide gap in the Defensive Array behind him, but at this moment Yang Kai gave off the aura of a giant who could alone hold back the entire enemy army, one man as a mountain.
Cheers immediately broke out on the city wall as Lin Tong was finally able to put down the worry in his heart. Ma Yin’s beautiful eyes flickered with a strange gleam whereas Yu Ru Meng disdainfully spat at the sight of this and moved to block this woman’s line of sight.
“Kill him!” A furious roar resounded as all the Demon Race members in the vicinity charged at Yang Kai without a care for their lives. Although the death of Zha Sa came as a great shock, this did not cause them to cower, and under the Demon King’s orders, no one dared not charge.
In an instant, Yang Kai was completely surrounded.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
Muffled explosions rang one after another as Demons were blown apart into blood mists. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai’s figure stood tall while all the Demons who had charged at him before were wiped out. Right now, there were no Demons within a dozen metre radius of where he stood.
Yang Kai’s entire figure was dyed in the Demon Race blood and the remnant Demon Qi swirled around his body, making him look more like a Demon than the Demons themselves!
The Demon Race continued charging at Yang Kai though, filling the ranks of the fallen ones without showing even the slightest hesitation, but Yang Kai’s location seemed to have turned into a meat grinder that ground up all Demons who approached, leaving not one alive.
At that moment, Yang Kai was truly the incarnation of a mountain, holding back the tide all on his own.