It was only then that Senior Brother Wei realised that Ah Sun was crying not because she was bullied, but because their homeland was gone. At that instant, his expression dimmed as he patted her head, “From now on, this Wei will be your family.”
Ah Sun buried her head in the man’s arms and started bawling.
Upon seeing that, Yang Kai could understand her sorrow. The Star Boundary was also in a perilous situation after Mo Sheng had raised chaos there. Now, only the World Tree could save the Star Boundary. What if he couldn’t find the World Tree? Would the Star Boundary also fall into oblivion just like what had happened to Ah Sun’s homeland?
How many people would lose their homes by then? With these thoughts in mind, it made Yang Kai even more determined to look for the World Tree to repair the Star Boundary.
After wailing for a bit, Ah Sun finally calmed herself down as she bashfully moved her head away from the man’s chest, her face completely reddened. Just now, she had lost her composure because she recalled the danger she had come across on her way here; therefore, she couldn’t control her emotions when she finally saw someone who also came from the same world. Now that she had calmed down, she felt utterly embarrassed.
Senior Brother Wei guffawed and patted her head, “Not bad. You’re still acting bashful in this kind of situation. It seems that you’ve been well protected.” He gazed at Yang Kai and nodded, “You’ve done a great job.”
When he approached them just now, Yang Kai was the first one to step forward and stand in front of their group. This young man took action to protect the others even before he was sure about the other party’s true strength, which went to show that he was a courageous and reliable man. This made Senior Brother Wei have a good impression of him.
“Many thanks for your compliment, Senior,” Yang Kai replied politely.
“Xiao Sun’er, why don’t you introduce your friends to me?” Senior Brother Wei looked down at her.
It was then that Ah Sun rubbed her eyes and after pulling herself together, she started introducing them to one another. Through her introduction, Yang Kai and the others found out that this burly man was called Wei Que. Upon learning his name, they saluted him again.
Wei Que passionately waved his hand, “There’s no need to be overly polite. Since all of you are Xiao Sun’er’s friends, you’re not outsiders. Follow me to a safe place now.”
“Many thanks, Senior,” Certainly, Yang Kai and the others wouldn’t object; after all, the reason they had come over to this place was to seek the Great Moon Province’s protection.
Then, Wei Que led all of them to the Great Moon Province’s ship. As he flew forward, he asked, “Xiao Sun’er, why did you come here? Didn’t I tell you to bring the Faith Token to Great Moon Province to look for me?” He was deathly curious. If it weren’t because he detected a signal from his Faith Token just now, he wouldn’t have believed that Ah Sun had come all the way here. After all, this place was far away from Great Moon Province.
“It’s a long story…” Ah Sun stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.
Wei Que replied with a smile, “Tell me about it slowly, then. There’s no rush.”
It was then Ah Sun told him what had happened after she escaped from her own Universe World. When Wei Que heard that she had been abducted to Seven Wonders Land and became a general worker there for half a year, his expression darkened. Nevertheless, his expression changed again when he learned that a major crisis had befallen Seven Wonders Land. Not only were many Venerable Protectors killed, but Qi Qiao Heavenly Monarch had also been severely injured, “It’s no wonder I didn’t see anyone from Seven Wonders Land. It’s because something like that has happened to them…”
If it weren’t because of the calamity that had caused the top Masters in Seven Wonders Land to be killed or injured, they would’ve surely come over to witness the Sun’s fire dying out. Even though Seven Wonders Land wasn’t close, it wasn’t far from this place either.
“What happened next?” Wei Que asked.
Ah Sun glanced at Yang Kai briefly before explaining. Without mentioning the fact that Great General had sought out his Mother, she told Wei Que about what happened after they fled from Seven Wonders Land, how she activated the jade white fox and followed it towards Great Moon Province. However, after only passing through two Territory Gates, the fox stopped functioning.
An embarrassed Wei Que explained, “Well, the thing is, I didn’t expect you to bring so many friends with you, ahaha… So, when I created the fox… It’s because of this Wei that you’ve suffered a lot.”
Ah Sun shook her head, “Senior, please don’t say that. Without the fox, we wouldn’t have been able to come this far. Even though there have been some twists and turns along the way, Ah Sun has finally found you and is very happy with that.”
“En, you’re right. Whatever the case, we’ve met again in the Outer Universe. Please stay in Great Moon Province from now on. As long as this Wei is still alive, I’ll ensure your safety.”
“Thank you, Senior!” Ah Sun pressed her lips together and nodded, then she took a look at Yang Kai and the others.
Wei Que understood and quite followed up, “If your friends are interested, they can stay in Great Moon Province as well. This Wei holds an important position in the Province, so I can take in some people as I please.”
Old Fang and Dié You appeared elated upon hearing that, while Yang Kai quickly said, “Many thanks, Senior.”
Following that, a ship came into their sight. Wei Que directly led them to the deck, which was already filled with people. A woman in an imperial dress at the front looked smilingly at them.
Yang Kai and the others traded glances and put on helpless smiles. They had actually surveyed this ship from afar before, but they didn’t see Wei Que at that time so they moved on. Perhaps he was staying inside the ship, which was why they missed him. Fortunately, Wei Que took the initiative to look for them; otherwise, they would have had to ask around for directions.
“Senior Brother Wei, have you found her?” The woman in the imperial dress took a look at Yang Kai and the others, but she couldn’t be sure which one of them was Wei Que’s Junior.
Wei Que pulled Ah Sun towards himself and guffawed, “Come, come. Meet your Martial Aunt Tao.”
Ah Sun obediently saluted her, “Greetings, Martial Aunt Tao.”
The woman surnamed Tao examined Ah Sun and said with a smile, “Such a pretty little girl. What’s your name?”
“Ah Sun…” She hung her head low as she was bashful.
“En, a good name.” The woman nodded, “You must be exhausted. From now on, we’re your family, so if anyone dares to bully you in the future, just tell your Martial Aunt and I’ll stand up for you.”
“Many thanks, Martial Aunt Tao…” Ah Sun’s eyes turned moist again. She had been on her own for years, so now that there were people who actually cared about her, she felt as though she was in a dream, and everything appeared surreal.
“Silly girl…” Wei Que felt his head aching, “Why do you cry all the time?”
The woman surnamed Tao shot him a glare, “Don’t you know that women are made of water? So what if she cries?” She pulled Ah Sun into her embrace and patted her shoulders.
Wei Que scratched his head, “Is that so?” He decided not to keep pondering on what he didn’t understand as he placed his hands on his hips and swept a glance over the other disciples on the deck, “Listen up, brats. From now on, Xiao Sun’er is my Legacy Disciple as well as your Little Junior Sister. No one can bully her, understand? If anyone dares to bully her, I’ll skin him alive!”
A young man replied with a grin, “Martial Uncle Wei, Little Junior Sister is so adorable. Why would we bully her instead of taking care of her?”
All of them nodded repeatedly.
Wei Que snorted, “You’d better.”
The woman surnamed Tao said, “Senior Brother, is your cultivation technique suitable for Xiao Sun’er? I can’t imagine what a beautiful girl like her will turn out to be after getting taught by you for a few years.”
Wei Que batted his eyes and replied firmly, “What do you mean my cultivation technique might not be suitable for her? It’ll work as long as it can make her stronger.” He turned to look at the other disciples, “Don’t you agree?”
The young man from earlier and the other disciples responded, “Martial Uncle Wei is right.”
The woman surnamed Tao put on a smile, “It’s pointless for you to ask them. No one from Great Moon Province has the guts to go against you. Senior Brother, if you trust me, why don’t you let her follow me from now on? I’ll take her on as a Disciple and teach her everything I know.”
“You want to accept her to be your Disciple?” Wei Que gazed at his Junior Sister in shock.
The woman questioned, “What’s wrong? Are you unwilling to let her follow me?”
Wei Que laughed, “How can that be? But it’ll depend on whether Xiao Sun’er wants to follow you.” He shifted his attention to Ah Sun, “Xiao Sun’er, I’ll ask you a question now. Do you want to follow me or your Martial Aunt Tao?”
Ah Sun darted her gaze between Wei Que and the woman, then she hung her head low, “Senior can make the decision for me. I’m fine with anything.” She had just joined the Province, which was why she didn’t have any opinion of her own.
The woman then said, “It’s decided, then. I’ll take her on as my Disciple.” She directly made the decision for her.
Wei Que said, “What are you waiting for? Greet your Master now.” Then, he gently pushed Ah Sun forward.
The quick-witted Ah Sun hurriedly saluted her in an elegant manner, “Disciple Ah Sun greets Honoured Master!”
After receiving her salute, the woman helped hoist her with a smile, “We are currently away from home, so we’ll hold an official ceremony after we return to Great Moon Province. Your Master will give you this as a gift for first meeting.” Following that, she took out a jade hairpin from her bun and stuffed it into Ah Sun’s hands, “This is a defensive artifact. Properly refine it as it will be able to save your life at a critical moment.”
Wei Que’s expression changed slightly, “Why are you giving that to her? It’s too valuable. No, no, no. Take it back and give her something else.”
The woman smiled gently, “I’m giving it to my Disciple, what does your opinion matter?”
At those words, Wei Que was rendered speechless.
The other disciples clearly became envious because both top cultivators in their Great Moon Province group wanted to take Ah Sun on as a direct Disciple. After she was accepted by the woman surnamed Tao, she was given such a treasure as a gift. None of the disciples at the scene had been treated in such a way before.
Nevertheless, they were not in any place to be envious. Ah Sun and Wei Que came from the same homeland, while the woman surnamed Tao had been secretly in love with Wei Que for many years. However, Wei Que was an obtuse man, so he still wasn’t aware of it. They knew that this woman must have taken Ah Sun on as a Disciple because she wanted to take care of Wei Que’s Junior.
Besides the disciples from Great Moon Province, Old Fang and Dié You were also envious of her.
All of them had fled from Seven Wonders Land together as they went through countless difficulties to come all the way here, but in the blink of an eye, Ah Sun had many people to love and treasure her.
Despite their envy, they were also genuinely happy for what had happened to her. Even though they had only known each other for a few months, they knew that Ah Sun was a pure-hearted girl, which was why they took a liking to her.
After accepting a Disciple, the woman was apparently joyful and shifted her attention to Yang Kai and the others, “They are…”
Ah Sun hurriedly said, “Honoured Master, they’re my friends. It’s thanks to their help that Disciple was able to come all the way here.”
“Since they’re your friends, they’re not outsiders.” The woman surnamed Tao nodded at Yang Kai and the others with a smile.
Yang Kai and the others hurriedly saluted her, “Greetings, Senior.”
Wei Que said, “All of them have suffered a lot. Just like Xiao Sun’er, they have nowhere else to go, and there’s no one in this Outer Universe that they can rely on. I’ve promised them that if they’re interested, they can stay in Great Moon Province. Junior Sister, what do you think?”
“Of course they can. Senior Brother, you have the final say.” The woman nodded her head, “I believe our leader will not reject newcomers like them.”
“It’s decided then.” Wei Que chuckled and shifted his attention to Yang Kai and the others, “All of you must be exhausted now. Take some time to rest.”
Then, he turned around and gazed at a young man who had been grinning from the start, “Brat, bring them to their rooms now.”
“Yes!” The young man agreed to it and beckoned to them, “Please come with me.”
Without any objection, they quickly followed him.
Then, they moved across the deck and entered the cabin. As they walked down the stairs, the young man took the initiative to speak to them as he said, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Meng Hong. What are your names?”
After Yang Kai and the others revealed their names, all of them could be considered friends now as they called him ‘Senior Brother Meng’.
Meng Hong said, “The one who brought you here is one of the Elders of our Great Moon Province. I’m sure you know his name by now. The other one is Elder Tao, Tao Rong Fang.” He turned his head and playfully gazed at them, “I’ll share a secret with you. Elder Tao seems to be in love with Elder Wei, but unfortunately, he’s an insensitive man, so he’s not aware of it.”
Women were always interested in other people’s love affairs, so Dié You became energised as she asked in shock, “Does Elder Wei knows nothing at all?”
Meng Hong heaved a sigh, “That’s right. We all are wondering what his brain is made of. Everyone else in Great Moon Province is fully aware of it, but he’s still oblivious. Sometimes, we really have the urge to pry his head open to see what’s inside.”
What he had just said was pretty amusing, so Yang Kai said, “Senior Brother Meng, aren’t you worried that Elder Wei will find fault with you if he hears what you’re saying?”
“He won’t.” Meng Hong waved his hand casually, “Even though Elder Wei looks like a great bear, he’s a kind-hearted man and he treats us very well. He has never scolded or beaten us. Of the five Elders of Great Moon Province, he’s the most popular one among the disciples. A lot of Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters even want to marry him.”
“Elder Wei is indeed a kind-hearted man.” Yang Kai nodded. Although it hadn’t been long since they came into contact with one another, it was enough for Yang Kai to see through Wei Que’s temperament and nature. He had a good impression of this old man.
Meng Hong said with a smile, “In fact, the other Elders and our leader are good-natured people as well. Anyway, all of us in Great Moon Province are friendly. You might join us one day, so you’ll find out about it on your own.”
Soon, they arrived at their destination. After Meng Hong assigned some rooms for them, he turned around and left.
Even though the rooms were not spacious, each of them had their own room. After looking around, Yang Kai sat down on the bed with his legs crossed and started adjusting his breathing.
He had successfully brought Ah Sun to this place and met up with those from Great Moon Province; however, he wasn’t certain what he should do next. These people he had just met had left a good impression on him, which suggested that the other people from this great force should be just as friendly. If he joined them, he would have a terrific environment for cultivation.
However, he didn’t come to the Outer Universe to cultivate as he had something else to do. If he really joined Great Moon Province, he would also have to assume some responsibilities related to this great force, and that would make it difficult for him to move freely in the future.
Furthermore, Great Moon Province wasn’t considered powerful in the Outer Universe, so the resources they could provide would surely be limited as well. Yang Kai’s starting point was excellent, and he had a lofty goal, so he wouldn’t want to be restrained in any way.
As he felt his head aching, he decided to get to his feet and shuffled towards the deck.
For this event, many people from Great Moon Province had come out. Besides the two Elders, a couple dozen top disciples had tagged along as well. However, presently, there was no one on the deck.
Standing on the edge of the deck, Yang Kai held the railing and looked at the Sun Star in the distance. Perhaps it was because the Sun’s fire was dying down, so the entire Star appeared to be crimson, like a piece of molten steel. The scorching power continuously radiated from the Star, and even though there was a Protective Array around the ship, Yang Kai could still feel the heat.
“Junior Brother Yang!” Someone called out from behind at that moment.
Yang Kai turned around and cupped his fists, “Senior Brother Meng.”
Meng Hong approached him and gazed at the Sun Star in the distance, then he grinned, “It’s magnificent, right? Just like you, I’ve never seen anything like it before. When I go back and tell my Junior Brothers about it, I’m sure they’ll be envious of me.”
Yang Kai burst into laughter as though he could already imagine that scene, then he said, “Senior Brother Meng, I’ve heard that the Sun Star might contain Sun’s True Gold. Is that true?”
With a solemn expression, Meng Hong replied, “I don’t think it’s an unfounded rumour. Since everyone says so, it might be true.”
“I’ve also heard that even the lowest rank Sun’s True Gold is a Sixth-Order Fire Element material.”
“I’m not sure about that as I’ve never seen Sun’s True Gold before, but if such a thing really exists, there’s no way it’s of a low Order.” He turned to look at Yang Kai in shock, “Junior Brother, are you interested in the Sun’s True Gold as well?”
“Are you not interested?” Yang Kai questioned.
“Of course I am! If I can get a piece of Sun’s True Gold, I’ll be filthy rich. However, many people have arrived at this place, so even if such a thing exists, we might not be able to get our hands on it. We’ll have to be extremely lucky to get ahead of so many people.”
“En. By the way, Senior Brother Meng, I’ve just entered the Outer Universe, so I know nothing about the affairs or the great forces in this place. Do you mind enlightening me?”
Meng Hong burst into laughter, “There are eighty to a hundred great forces gathered here, and many of them share the name ‘Province’. I don’t even know all of them, so how am I going to tell you about it?”
“Well…” Yang Kai was lost for words as he hadn’t expected this kind of answer. After giving it a thought though, he realised that it wasn’t so surprising. Unlike the Star Boundary where there were only a small number of truly great forces, the Outer Universe was extremely expansive. Without substantial experience and excellent memory, one wouldn’t even know about all these forces, much less remember their details.
Of course, the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises were the exception. All one hundred and eight of these top forces were extremely famous, so it was difficult not to know about them.
“Wait a moment…” Meng Hong suddenly recalled something and searched his Space Ring, soon fishing out a jade slip, “A lot of information about the Outer Universe is recorded in this jade slip, including the classification of the great forces as well as some other things. Read it when you’re free. You’ll gain something out of it.”
An elated Yang Kai hurriedly said, “Many thanks, Senior Brother Meng.”
Even though the jade slip wasn’t too valuable, the information it contained was what Yang Kai needed most right now.
“There’s no need to thank me. Take a rest now. When the Sun’s fire finally dies out, we’ll be busy. By then, we won’t have any time to rest.” Meng Hong clapped his shoulder and shuffled into the cabin.
Not long after Meng Hong left, Yang Kai also left the deck and returned to his room. Then, he took out the jade slip and went through the information in it. There was all sorts of information contained in the jade slip, but they were still classified in an orderly manner. The author must be an experienced person who had been to many Great Territories before recording everything he knew.
There were a few major chapters in the jade slip. The first one was about the great forces in the 3,000 Worlds. Naturally, the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises were the first to be introduced.
Yang Kai came across the name Myriad Demons Heaven. It wasn’t certain whether Mo Sheng was from Myriad Demons Heaven, but Yang Kai reckoned that he should be careful if he bumped into people from that place in the future.
What surprised him was that the Dragon Altar of the Dragon Clan was listed as one of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens.
That revelation made him stunned for a long time; however, after giving it a thought, he understood that given the Dragon Clan’s power, it wasn’t surprising that their base was one of the Cave-Heavens.
After reading the slip for a bit, Yang Kai realised that just like what Old Fang had said, the great forces in the Outer Universe could be classified into three classes. The Cave-Heavens and Paradises were considered First Class as all of them were powerful great forces that had many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters assuming command. The Second Class ones were great forces like Seven Wonders Land that were led by Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Third Class forces were like Great Moon Province and led by Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Certainly, they could be classified further, but that was the overall hierarchy.
Besides the introduction to the great forces, identifying symbols and standards of each great force was recorded as well. After searching for a bit, Yang Kai finally found the symbol he was looking for, and the great force associated with it was called Perpetual Province.
Recalling the symbol on the ship he had come across on his way to the Sun Star, he immediately realised that the young man was from Perpetual Province. Just like Great Moon Province, Perpetual Province was also a Third Class force with no Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Yang Kai felt glad that the young man came from a Third-Class force; otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten off so easily.
He reckoned that he should stop pretending to be someone he was not in the future; otherwise, he might find himself to be in a perilous situation.
After the chapter regarding the great forces, it was followed by an introduction to beasts. Most beasts in the Outer Universe were similar to those in the Star Boundary, but some of them were starkly different. In any case, those that could roam through the void were all extremely powerful.
The strongest ones were the Giant Spirit Gods, of course.
Yang Kai didn’t understand why Giant Spirit Gods were classified as beasts as Ah Da looked just like a giant Human and had no beast-like features.
However, he could understand why they were considered the strongest. Yang Kai had seen Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters making a move before, and even though he hadn’t witnessed how powerful a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters possessed, he reckoned that Ah Da could still defeat them.
According to the jade slip, Giant Spirit Gods ate dead Universe Worlds as they roamed around the Starry Sky. They were normally mild-tempered and would avoid conflict with other people. As long as they were not offended, they were essentially harmless.
That wasn’t different from the experience Yang Kai had. Ah Da was indeed a mild-tempered guy, and just like a hungry ghost, knowing only how to eat.
Recalling Ah Da, Yang Kai couldn’t help thinking about the Star Boundary as well, wondering what it was like back home now. It had only been a year or so since he left, so the Star Boundary shouldn’t have gone through any drastic changes. Furthermore, Ah Da was keeping guard outside of the Star Boundary, so even if any powerful Master happened to pass by, they wouldn’t dare to go near. Therefore, the Star Boundary should be safe for now. The only thing he had to worry about was the Star Boundary suddenly collapsing, then Ah Da would surely eat it. Hence, Yang Kai had to find the World Tree as quickly as possible.
Yang Kai next read that the Dragon Clan was ranked second only to the Giant Spirit Gods.
He was amused as it seemed that wherever the Dragon Clan appeared, they would be famous. It was the same case in both the Star Boundary and the Outer Universe.
Information about Mie Meng was also recorded in the jade slip. The picture was similar to the beast he had met, and needless to say, she was highly ranked as well.
There was indeed a lot of information in the jade slip and Yang Kai was soon totally engrossed. Like a studious scholar, he didn’t seem tired of gaining knowledge.
A long time later, Yang Kai was shocked by a sudden jolt. Following that, a horrifying scorching power penetrated the Protective Array and swept across the entire ship. Then, terrifying creaking sounds were heard coming from the overburdened ship.
Yang Kai was startled for a moment before he dashed out of his room.
When he reached the deck, he realised that everyone from Great Moon Province was already present. Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang were forming hand seals as though they were trying to reinforce the ship’s shields. Presently, the barrier around the ship seemed to be breaking, and even the ship was starting to smoulder as though a scorching power had swept across it.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai turned to look at Meng Hong, who was just beside him.
A fervent-looking Meng Hong replied in a hushed voice, “The Sun’s fire is on the verge of dying out.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and followed Meng Hong’s gaze, only to see that the crimson Sun Star was still burning like a gigantic fireball hanging in the void. However, its flame was extremely unstable as it expanded and contracted from time to time. Sometimes, pillars of flame could be seen spitting from it. Every time such a pillar erupted, a horrifying scorching power would sweep across the surrounding space.
It was the final radiance of the Sun Star.
Without the need for any explanation, Yang Kai immediately realised the crux of the matter. This series of eruptions would exhaust the last bit of energy the Sun Star was left with. After the flames went out, the Sun’s fire on the Star would completely die. Once that happened, it would become a free-for-all match between the great forces.
Just then, Tao Rong Fang exclaimed, “The shield won’t last any longer, Senior Brother Wei!”
Wei Que’s expression changed as he yelled, “Retreat!”
After he finished speaking, he formed a different set of hand seals, upon which the ship rapidly withdrew, moving some ten thousand kilometres in an instant. When they reached a location that was far away from the Sun Star, they finally felt the scorching power waning, and the ship stopped creaking.
Yang Kai looked around and realised that, besides Great Moon Province, the other great forces, which had gathered around the periphery of the Sun Star earlier, had reacted the same way by retreating. There were only a small number of people who managed to remain in their original positions.
The explosion of the Sun’s fire was unexpected, but fortunately, it diminished quickly. In just a quarter hour, the gigantic fireball lost its vigour as its flames contracted, and the scorching aura visibly weakened.
Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang traded glances, and without the need for any discussion, they drove the ship towards the Sun Star. At the same time, the other great forces, which had retreated just now, scrambled to get ahead of the others.
All of them knew that it was time to explore the Sun Star and seek out the Sun’s True Gold.
On the deck, Wei Que looked around and shouted, “Brats, don’t go anywhere on your own when you reach the Sun Star, and don’t stray too far from me and your Martial Aunt Tao. No one knows what danger awaits us on the Star. If you still want to live, you have to be careful. Got it?”
“Yes,” all of them replied at the same time.
Wei Que nodded and looked solemnly towards the front. Even though he and Tao Rong Fang, who were Open Heaven Realm Masters, were around when exploring the Sun Star, they couldn’t protect so many people if they fell into danger; however, it was worth it to take the risk to look for a treasure like Sun’s True Gold.
As they got closer, the pressure coming from the humongous Star intensified. Although the Sun’s fire had died out already, the scorching heat wouldn’t dissipate so quickly. The closer they approached, the hotter they felt. Moreover, lights could still be seen flashing all across the Star. They were the last radiance of the Sun’s fire.
Everyone on the ship looked attentively at the front as many of them had never seen such a splendid sight.
After flying for an hour or so, the ship finally landed on the Sun Star. When the ship stopped, everyone leapt off the artifact and took a deep breath. However, they immediately felt a burning sensation in their chests and stomachs while the pungent burning smell was all but intolerable. They were so shocked that they hurriedly held their breaths.
Wei Que used a different hand seal, causing the ship to shrink down and become a palm-sized item before it was stored away by him.
Yang Kai and Old Fang were standing among the crowd as they looked around, only to see that they were the only people in this area, causing them to wonder where the other great forces were.
It wasn’t surprising after thinking about it though. Many great forces had come to this place, but the Sun Star was enormous. The great forces had decided to land on different locations, which was why they wouldn’t immediately come into contact with one another. This also prevented them from getting into conflicts right away.
From time to time, magma would spurt out from the crimson ground, making the entire environment seem very dangerous.
Even though Tao Rong Fang was an Open Heaven Realm Master, she had apparently never participated in such an important mission before, so she didn’t know where to start and turned to Wei Que to ask, “Senior Brother, what should we do now?”
Wei Que stroked his beard and gave it a thought before replying, “Let’s walk around first. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to pick up a piece of Sun’s True Gold. If so, we can immediately go back.”
His plan wasn’t outrageous as he just needed a piece of Sun’s True Gold to complete his mission; after all, each piece of Sun’s True Gold was at least a Sixth-Order material. If they really obtained one, the best thing to do would be to return to their headquarters quickly. If they stayed any longer, they might invite trouble to themselves.
Since he had said so, Tao Rong Fang wouldn’t object. And so, they led the disciples to roam around aimlessly. Everyone on the Sun Star was trying their luck anyway, and no one was at an advantage. As they released their Divine Senses, they began scanning the surroundings.
Looking for something in this kind of environment was undoubtedly exhausting because they had to continuously use their strength to resist the heat.
After half a day, they still hadn’t discovered anything and the weakest person in the team started showing signs of lethargy. Seeing this, Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang told that disciple to leave and wait for them in the periphery of the Sun Star.
Even though the disciple was reluctant, he had no choice but to comply. Right after he left, Wei Que suddenly turned to look in a direction as though he had discovered something. Seeing that, Tao Rong Fang asked, “Senior Brother, what happened?”
“Something is coming!” Wei Que shouted. Upon hearing that, the others hurriedly circulated their strength and got ready for any potential trouble.
A moment later, they could really see something coming towards them. It was a beam of light that was rapidly flying over, but before the disciples could make out what it was, Wei Que exclaimed in surprise, “It’s a Fourth-Order Fire Element material!”
Then, he traded glances with Tao Rong Fang, and without uttering a word, they moved to approach the beam of light.
Yang Kai realised that the beam of light seemed to have some spirituality, and before Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang could close in, it suddenly moved in a different direction and disappeared into a pool of magma.
Wei Que guffawed, “How dare you try to flee!”
A ferocious Wei Que raced after the beam of light and dove into the magma. Before he disappeared though, he shouted to Tao Rong Fang, “Junior Sister, stay there!”
The disciples were still on the surface, so if both Open Heaven Realm Masters left to pursue the beam of light, no one could ensure their safety. Tao Rong Fang furrowed her brow, apparently worried about Wei Que’s safety, but she still obediently stayed behind.
Yang Kai and the others caught up just in time to see Wei Que plunging into the magma and Meng Huang asked, “Will Martial Uncle Wei be fine?”
Tao Rong Fang replied, “The magma won’t harm him, but all of you should be on guard.”
“Yes.”
After they waited in the same spot for a bit, a figure suddenly shot out from another magma pool. Everyone turned to look at him and realised that it was none other than Wei Que.
There were countless magma pools on the surface of the Sun Star, most of them roiling and bubbling from time to time. Some of them even looked just like volcanos, erupting with flame. Now, it seemed that these magma pools were interconnected underground. Otherwise, it was impossible that Wei Que could enter one pool and come out from another.
However, at this moment, Wei Que appeared elated as he was holding a transparent container. A yellowish flame inside it was trying to shatter the container, but it could not break free from the restriction.
A joyful Tao Rong Fang walked over and said, “Senior Brother, did you manage to capture it?”
Wei Que nodded and replied, “It’s a Sun’s True Fire!”
Upon that realisation, Tao Rong Fang commented, “No wonder it’s a Fourth-Order material, it turned out to be a Sun’s True Fire!”
Wei Que grinned, “It’s not surprising that there’s Sun’s True Fire on this Sun Star. It seems that we all became short-sighted as all our attention was on the Sun’s True Gold.”
Everybody wanted to find the Sixth-Order Sun’s True Gold, completely forgetting that there were other precious materials to be found here, like Sun’s True Fire. Moreover, judging from the current situation, it seemed that there was a lot of Sun’s True Fire around the area; otherwise, Wei Que couldn’t have obtained one so easily.
Wei Que easily obtained a Sun’s True Fire, which could be traded for over 100,000 Open Heaven Pills. That was the reason he was grinning from ear to ear.
More importantly, for a great force like Great Moon Province, having a Fourth-Order material didn’t only mean a lot of pills, but also a chance for a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to be born, which would increase their overall power.
Therefore, the value of materials that were Fourth-Order and above couldn’t be calculated simply according to Dié You’s previous method.
While Wei Que was still laughing, the sounds of something breaking through the air could be heard coming from a distance. In the blink of an eye, two figures abruptly appeared in front of them. Both of these men exuded Open Heaven Realm auras and were clad in matching light blue robes, indicating they were from the same force.
Following that, a large group of cultivators appeared behind them. Apparently, they came from the same great force as the two men. However, these people were obviously not Open Heaven Realm Masters. Just like Yang Kai and the others, they had only condensed their Dao Seals.
Right after the two men appeared, they stared fixedly at the Sun’s True Fire in Wei Que’s hand. Wei Que immediately stored the container and shot them a stern look, “So it is Still Winds Province’s Ge Brothers? What’s wrong?”
“Great Moon Province’s Wei Que.” One of the brothers with a pair of grim-looking eyes apparently recognised Wei Que.
The other brother grinned and continued, “Brother Wei, that’s not very honourable of you.”
Wei Que frowned, “What do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The person said, “You should know. We were the ones who discovered that Sun’s True Fire in your hand first; however, something went wrong when we were capturing it, which is why it escaped. We didn’t expect that you would catch it without our permission.”
Tao Rong Fang scoffed, “Ridiculous. Ge Yan, you said that you were the first to discover the Sun’s True Fire. How do you prove that?”
The person called Ge Yan said, “The fact that we were chasing after it is the best evidence. What else do you need? Otherwise, why would we have come all the way here?”
Tao Rong Fang snorted, “Could that even be considered evidence?”
Wei Que raised his hand to stop her, then he grinned at the Ge Brothers, “Fellow brothers, even if you really discovered the Sun’s True Fire first, it’s now in my hands, so it belongs to me. Things without owners belong to those who are capable of claiming them, so do you want to snatch it from me? In that case, this Wei doesn’t mind, we’ll fight for it here and the Sun’s True Fire will go to the winner. What do you think?”
Upon hearing this blatant provocation, the Ge Brothers furrowed their brows and traded glances before one of them spoke, “Brother Wei, many great forces have come to this place and we’ve only started exploring this Star where many more rewards undoubtedly await us. I don’t believe we should get into a conflict at this point.”
“What nonsense are you spouting here, then?” Wei Que arrogantly patted his Space Ring, “The Sun’s True Fire is right here. Why don’t you call out to it and see whether it responds to you? If it chooses you, this Wei will give it to you freely. If it refuses, then it belongs to me.”
“Brother Wei, stop being so haughty. We’re not afraid of you, we just don’t want to fight pointlessly and let others take advantage of us. That thing is indeed in your hands now, but we expended great effort and energy chasing after it. How about this, you give us some benefits and we’ll allow you to keep the Sun’s True Fire.”
“You want to obtain some benefits from us?” Wei Que snickered in amusement, “This Wei will say it one more time, what’s in my hands belongs to me, if you want it, try taking it!” Then, he raised his arm and shouted, “Brats, these people are trying to snatch our things, what should we do?”
In an instant, the disciples from Great Moon Province became incensed and roared, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
At the same time, they all assumed some kind of Formation as their auras surged, staring ferociously at the enemy.
Yang Kai and his group were all dumbfounded as they thought that these disciples had been affected by their Elder. Wei Que was a fierce and straightforward man, so even his disciples had turned out to be just like him.
The expressions of the Ge Brothers darkened, but after pondering for a moment, Ge Yan snorted, “Wei Que, just you wait. I’ll make you pay for what you’ve taken from me today!” Then, he waved his hand and shouted, “Let’s go.”
It really wasn’t that he was afraid of those from Great Moon Province, but rather just as he had said, the powers of both parties were equally matched as there were two Open Heaven Realm Masters on either side. Therefore, no one could tell which party would turn out to be the winner, only that injuries and possibly deaths would result from a conflict, forcing them to withdraw from this exploration prematurely. If that happened, they wouldn’t even be able to dream of getting any benefits from this place. Wei Que seemed brainless and overbearing, so the Ge Brothers didn’t want to get dragged down with him.
As the people from Still Winds Province left, Wei Que remained silent, and only after they were out of sight did he quietly signal to Tao Rong Fang in a meaningful way.
A puzzled Tao Rong Fang asked in a hushed voice, “What happened?”
Wei Que pointed at the ground, “There’s one more down below.”
“Really?” Tao Rong Fang was shocked at first, but then she became surprised, “Another Sun’s True Fire?”
Wei Que nodded, “I saw it when I was in the magma pool, but I hadn’t managed to capture it. I’ll dive down once more. Junior Sister, get ready with these brats to prevent it from fleeing.”
“Good. Senior Brother, please be careful,” Tao Rong Fang uttered.
“Don’t worry.” Wei Que laughed and disappeared into the magma.
On the surface, Tao Rong Fang led the disciples to seal off a radius of several dozen metres around the area as they arranged an array while performing a set of complex hand seals.
Yang Kai and the others were newcomers and weren’t familiar with this Spirit Array, which was why they couldn’t participate, so instead, Tao Rong Fang told them to stand guard in the four corners.
The magma roiled as bubbles burst from time to time, exuding a pungent smell. The disciples fell silent as they waited patiently, but even after a long silence, Wei Que hadn’t returned.
Tao Rong Fang frowned as she had a feeling that Wei Que must have come across some trouble. She wanted to look for him, but she was also worried about her disciples’ safety. Without an Open Heaven Realm Master around, they might fall prey to unexpected dangers.
While she was feeling anxious though, she saw the magma pool in front of her boiling as a strong energy fluctuation could be felt rising from it.
Tao Rong Fang turned solemn as she exclaimed, “Prepare yourselves!”
Right after she spoke, a beam of light suddenly shot out of the magma, surrounded by a scorching aura as it soared away. Wei Que’s figure emerged from the magma right behind it and yelled, “Don’t let it flee!”
In fact, as soon as the Sun’s True Fire appeared, the disciples already started making a move as they performed their hand seals, after which the area was engulfed in a Heaven sealing, Earth locking power.
Tao Rong Fang raised her slender hand and lightly pushed out her palm at the Sun’s True Fire.
The fire seemed to possess spirituality as it dodged the attack and whizzed past Tao Rong Fang. Following that, it attempted to crash into a disciple behind her.
The disciple’s expression changed drastically as he hurriedly summoned out a mirror artifact. A profound light shot out from the mirror and struck the fire, engulfing it in an instant and freezing it mid-air. It seemed that the mirror was a powerful binding artifact.
Seeing this, the other disciples heaved a sigh of relief; however, before they could even relax, the light that had engulfed the fire wisp melted and the flame which seemed able to burn down everything in existence reached the disciple who had summoned the mirror in a flash, causing his face to contort with fear and panic.
“Solidify!” At the critical moment, Yang Kai shouted and surged his Space Principles, binding the Sun’s True Fire in place for a second time.
However, Yang Kai didn’t relax in the slightest as he could feel the fire wisp quickly breaking free of his restriction, causing him to yell, “Senior Tao!”
Tao Rong Fang had already appeared in front of the disciple with a transparent container in her hand. The container looked just like the one Wei Que had used earlier and she swiftly captured the fire wisp with it.
The crimson glow dampened at that moment as Tao Rong Fang managed to seal the container with the fire wisp inside. After she completely secured it, she turned to look at the disciple and asked, “Are you alright?”
The disciple had turned pale as he was still reeling from the shock, but even though his vision was still blurred, he shook his head and declared, “I’m fine. Many thanks for your concern, Martial Aunt.”
Tao Rong Fang nodded gently.
Right then, Wei Que dashed towards them and bellowed, “Damn it! This thing almost fled. It obtained a very high level of spirituality, almost being a living creature of some sort.” If it wasn’t because the disciples had set up an array beforehand, the Sun’s True Fire would have escaped.
Then, he turned to look at Yang Kai and commended, “Kid, you did a great job.”
Even though that disciple wouldn’t have been killed even if he was struck by the fire wisp, he would’ve gotten seriously injured. Fortunately, Yang Kai managed to make a move at the last moment and prevented such a tragedy.
Yang Kai replied politely, “Senior is too polite.”
Wei Que pondered on an issue for a moment before asking, “Did you just use Space Principles?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded as he couldn’t hide it anyway, and since he had decided to make a move, he wasn’t worried that his skills would be exposed.
“Incredible.” Wei Que’s gaze brightened, “The Dao of Space is abstruse and esoteric. This Wei has only ever heard of it but has never witnessed anyone wielding it. You’ve broadened my horizons today.”
Tao Rong Fang appeared joyful as well, “It seems that we’ve taken in a treasure.” She seemed to have already regarded Yang Kai as a Great Moon Province’s disciple and Yang Kai certainly couldn’t refute her at this point.
Wei Que patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “Work hard and you’ll definitely become an Open Heaven Realm Master. When that time comes, you’ll be free to explore anywhere in this wide universe.”
“Yes,” Yang Kai replied respectfully.
Then, Wei Que gazed at the other disciple, “Little brat, why haven’t you thanked your Junior Brother Yang? Where are your manners? Is this what I’ve taught you?”
It was only then that the disciple came to his senses and walked up to Yang Kai before seriously saluting him, “Junior Brother Yang, many thanks for saving me just now.”
“Senior Brother need not mention it. We’re all supposed to help each other. It was the least I could do.” Yang Kai returned the gesture.
After the incident, Yang Kai realised that the other disciples had become more amiable towards him, and it seemed that they had acknowledged him to be one of them.
They couldn’t be blamed, however. Previously, these people were not familiar with Yang Kai and the others yet. They hadn’t grown up together or gone through life-or-death moments with one another, so they found it hard to acknowledge them; however, things were different now as they had become closer.
“Let’s find out what Order this thing is,” Wei Que stared at Tao Rong Fang and asked.
Tao Rong Fang fished out the Sun’s True Fire from her Space Ring and examined it for a while before she replied, “It’s the same as the previous one. A Fourth-Order material.”
Wei Que chuckled, “Not bad.”
It had only been half a day since they arrived at this place, but they had managed to obtain two Fourth-Order Fire Element materials. More importantly, they were both Sun’s True Fires, so it could be said that it was a fruitful day for them. If they could collect a few more such materials, they could go to Star City and trade them for materials of other Elements. Then, they could pick out a disciple with outstanding aptitude and attempt have them break through to the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
By then, Great Moon Province would also grow in importance.
As though he could already envision a bright future for all of them, a glow could be seen radiating from Wei Que’s eyes. Then, he said seriously, “I understand now. There’s nothing worth scavenging on the Sun Star’s surface because all the good things are hidden underground. Junior Sister Tao, I think we have to separate the disciples into two groups, and we’ll lead each group respectively. One group will stay on the surface, and the other group will go underground. What do you think?”
Tao Rong Fang was more than willing to give everything to Wei Que, so she wouldn’t object to his suggestion. After a nod, she replied, “We’ll do it as Senior Brother says.”
After the discussion, Wei Que directly separated the disciples into two groups. One group would follow him, and the other group would follow Tao Rong Fang.
Since there were benefits to be gained, the disciples had become energised as they meticulously searched around.
There might be danger lurking in the magma which was why the two groups took turns diving below. As Open Heaven Realm Masters, Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang were certainly not afraid of the heat; however, the disciples they brought with them were not strong enough, and the durations they could withstand the heat varied. As long as they knew where their limits were though, their lives wouldn’t be at risk.
Then, Wei Que told everyone to prioritise their own safety and if they discovered anything, they had to inform Tao Rong Fang or him immediately. All of them nodded in agreement.
Nevertheless, for the next few days, they didn’t get anything more. Despite the fact that they had searched around carefully, they couldn’t find any more Sun’s True Fire. It had to be said that they were truly lucky on the first day.
During this period of time, they had come across people from other great forces, all of whom seemed to share the same thought as them as they were all looking for the hidden treasures beneath the magma.
They didn’t get into conflicts during the encounters, so everything was peaceful so far. Right now, everyone’s focus was on the Sun’s True Fire and the possibly existent Sun’s True Gold, so no one was willing to fight at this point.
A few days later, those from Great Moon Province finally found something.
They found one more Sun’s True Fire that was hidden in the magma. Tao Rong Fang and the disciples, who were staying above ground, spent a lot of effort but eventually captured it.
As time passed, only a small number of places were left unsearched. Even though the Sun Star was enormous, many great forces had arrived this time as all of them searched around on the Sun Star. In just a few days, they had visited most of the places on the Star, and the areas that were still unsearched were shrinking.
Wei Que was slightly anxious because he thought that his mission would only be completed by collecting seven Sun’s True Fires. That was because only by having seven fires could they go to a Star City and trade them for enough materials so that they could nurture a Fourth-Order Heaven Realm Master.
With only three fires now, it was far from enough. After all, it wasn’t every day that they could collect Fourth-Order Open Heaven materials. Wei Que had cultivated for a long time, but this was the first time he had encountered such an opportunity.
On this day, half of the disciples led by Wei Que dove into the magma to look for more treasures. Yang Kai was a part of them.
It was a unique experience to move through magma. Not only was the magma extremely viscous, but it was also extraordinarily hot, forcing everyone to continuously use their strength to protect themselves. Moreover, in this kind of special environment, Divine Sense wasn’t able to extend very far, so the area they were able to scan was limited.
Therefore, before one reached the Open Heaven Realm, they couldn’t stay for a long time inside the magma. They could only last an hour at most. After that, they had to leave the magma and have someone else replace them. That was how they had been working with one another these past few days.
Inside the magma, Yang Kai moved around slowly as he scanned the surroundings with his Divine Sense, but he didn’t discover anything. Honestly, he wasn’t interested in the Sun’s True Fire; however, since he was a part of Wei Que’s group, he had to play along with them. It would be wonderful if he could find anything, but if not, he wouldn’t mind.
Soon, Yang Kai realised that his time was up. Just when he was ready to ascend to the surface though, he suddenly detected something and turned his head to look in a particular direction. He could see nothing else but red magma, but he had clearly detected something with his Divine Sense.
[Did I really find something?] At that instant, Yang Kai couldn’t contain his laughter. Since he had discovered it, he naturally wouldn’t let it go. Without any hesitation, he shot forward, and before he even reached that place, he activated his Space Principles to seal off the surrounding region. At the same time, he summoned his Six Fated Paths Bag and covered the fire wisp in it.
To the average Emperor Realm Masters like Meng Hong and the other disciples, it would be all but impossible to capture a Sun’s True Fire on their own, unless they had a useful artifact. For example, the Sky Seizing Net that belonged to Du Ru Feng. However, those from Great Moon Province obviously didn’t have such powerful artifacts, so every time they found a Sun’s True Fire, they would force it to the surface and let the other group capture it.
However, Yang Kai possessed the Six Fated Paths Bag, so it wasn’t necessary for him to do that. The bag was even able to suck in and trap an Open Heaven Realm Master, let alone a Sun’s True Fire. Even though Yang Kai wasn’t powerful enough to fully activate its power, the artifact was not to be underestimated.
Initially, he thought that he could capture the fire with ease, but as soon as he summoned the Six Fated Paths Bag, he felt an immense force coming from in front of him and his Space Principles couldn’t confine it at all. The Sun’s True Fire, which was hidden in the magma, suddenly radiated a glow and shot downwards.
“Fifth-Order material!” Yang Kai arched his brow. He couldn’t detect it when the fire was hidden in the magma; however, as soon as it moved, he realised that it was special. The fire was different from the three they had collected previously as its Fire Attribute Energy was purer and thicker, making it apparent it was above the Fourth Order.
A Fifth-Order material was worth over a million Open Heaven Pills!
Although Yang Kai wasn’t interested in Fourth-Order materials, he was keen on getting a Fifth-Order one. Seeing that the fire was moving downwards, he didn’t hesitate as he raced after it. As he extended his hand, Space Principles surged even more violently.
The fire became frozen for a moment, then it struggled out of the Space Principles’ restriction and kept moving downwards.
Yang Kai was incensed at the fact that he had failed in his attempt twice, so he relentlessly raced after it.
Anyone else would have attempted to chase the fire out of the magma first as if they went any deeper and expended too much energy, they wouldn’t be able to go up again. They might even lose their lives in the magma. However, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about this because he had Six Fated Paths Bag and his Sealed World Bead. If he really exhausted himself, he could hide inside the bag or the bead to restore his strength before making a move again.
Soon, Yang Kai wasn’t even certain how deep he had dived into the magma.
At that moment, some figures shot out of the magma and landed on the surface. All of them had turned pale, so it was apparent that they didn’t have much energy left. Wei Que was the last one to emerge from the magma, prompting Tao Rong Fang to ask, “Have you not obtained anything?”
Wei Que shook his head as he felt dejected, “It seems that the truth is different from what I’ve expected.”
After the first fruitful day, he thought that the underground was filled with Sun’s True Fires; however, after a few days of searching, they had only managed to find one more material. It was then he realised that he was too optimistic. Even on a Sun Star, Sun’s True Fire was not abundant.
Tao Rong Fang nodded, “Senior Brother, please have a rest. We’ll look for a new place before searching around again.”
Wei Que nodded his head, “That’s the only thing we can do.”
All of a sudden, Ah Sun looked around and asked, “Where’s Senior Brother Yang?” She realised that Yang Kai wasn’t among the people who had just come out of the magma.
Upon hearing her question, the others finally realised that Yang Kai was missing. Wei Que frowned and gazed at the disciples who had followed him just now and questioned, “Have any of you seen Yang Kai?”
A female disciple said, “Martial Uncle, I did rub shoulders with Junior Brother Yang just now.”
Wei Que asked, “How long ago was it?”
After giving it a thought, the female disciple replied, “About a quarter-hour ago.”
Wei Que nodded and said, “It hasn’t been that long then, we can…” He wanted to say that they could wait a little longer, as Yang Kai might come out from the magma soon.
Nevertheless, when he saw how worried Ah Sun and Dié You were, he said, “All of you, wait here. I’ll go look for him now.”
After he finished speaking, he plunged into the magma.
Old Fang and Dié You traded glances and saw the worry behind each other’s gazes. Old Fag even said, “I’ll try to contact him.”
Then, he fished out an artifact that he normally used to contact Yang Kai and infused his Divine Sense into it. After waiting for some time though, he didn’t get any reply. Dié You also gave it a try, but the result was the same.
A moment later, Wei Que returned from the magma with a dark expression.
Dié You hurriedly asked, “Senior, have you found him?” In fact, it was a pointless question. If Wei Que had really found Yang Kai, he would have brought him up. Now that he was alone, it suggested that Yang Kai had fallen into danger.
Seeing that Wei Que shook his head, Dié You turned pale.
A flustered Old Fang said, “Why is he missing? He was with all of you.”
Ah Sun was on the brink of tearing up and she shook Tao Rong Fang’s arms, “Master, Senior Brother Yang is a kind-hearted person. Please save him.”
Tao Rong Fang clapped the back of her hand and consoled her by saying, “Don’t worry. Your Martial Uncle and I are around, so we won’t let anything happen to Yang Kai.” Then, she gazed at Wei Que and communicated with him using her Divine Sense.
Wei Que nodded his head and said, “Brats, Yang Kai has gone missing, so he might have come across some kind of danger. I need you to go down with me again and search for him.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle!” They all agreed.
Wei Que said solemnly, “There might be danger inside the magma that we’re not aware of, so you mustn’t stray too far away. I want you to stay close to your fellow Brothers and Sisters so that you can contact one another at any moment. If you realise that something is off, call out to me immediately.”
Besides the fact that Yang Kai had escorted Ah Sun all the way to meet up with those from Great Moon Province, his mastery of the Dao of Space made Wei Que realise that he was a rare talent. Wei Que wanted to take him on as a Disciple, which was why he had been treating the young man like he was already a part of Great Moon Province. Now that Yang Kai had fallen into danger, Wei Que wouldn’t turn a blind eye to it even if Ah Sun didn’t plead with him. As long as he was able to do so, he would try to look for Yang Kai.
After Wei Que was done with the arrangements, he led the other disciples down into the magma again, only this time, they were looking for Yang Kai instead of Sun’s True Fire.
The fact that Yang Kai had gone missing suggested that there might be danger inside the magma that they were not aware of; therefore, all of them were careful and didn’t stay too far away from one another.
One hour later, they returned to the surface without having found Yang Kai.
Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang traded glances before she led her group down into the magma without saying a word.
After several attempts, four hours had passed. Presently, all the disciples were exhausted and pale-faced. Only the two Open Heaven Realm Masters were still alright. However, they still hadn’t found Yang Kai after such a long time, so it was pointless to keep searching.
Tao Rong Fang and Wei Que traded glances and shook their heads.
Seeing this, Dié You said in a shaking voice, “Seniors, are you not going to keep looking? Yang Kai is still down there.”
With a dejected expression, Wei Que turned to look at her and sighed, “Too long has passed. Given his strength, it’s impossible that he could’ve survived until now. I’m afraid that he’s already passed away.”
Dié You’s face, which was already drained of any colour, turned as pale as snow. She started trembling and almost couldn’t support herself. Even though she knew that Wei Que was right, it was still difficult for her to accept such an outcome.
Yang Kai was able to create countless miracles in Seven Wonders Land, flipping the situation over in the face of formidable enemies time and again. He had also given her a Third-Order Stainless Golden Dew and led her to escape her enslavement in Seven Wonders Land. Could he have really lost his life just like this?
Unable to accept the truth, she covered her mouth and started sobbing as her shoulders trembled.
On the other side, Ah Sun’s eyes turned bloodshot as she crashed into Tao Rong Fang’s embrace and started bawling.
Old Fang thumped his chest and said, “The Heavens must have been jealous of him! Little Brother, how could you lose your life at such a young age? The Heavens must be blind! Why couldn’t it have been me instead? Little Brother, come back! I’ll replace you!”
A sense of sorrow permeated the air, causing the other disciples to be crestfallen as well. The female disciples were especially affected by their emotions as tears streamed down their faces.
Wei Que raised his hand and patted Dié You’s shoulder, “Try to restrain your grief. We’ve done our best. Now, all we can do is hope that he somehow managed to survive.”
Of course, Wei Que didn’t believe what he was saying, but that was the only way he could console her. He didn’t understand what kind of danger there was inside the magma that caused a person to go missing as even after a meticulous search, they couldn’t find any signs of danger.
Dié You brushed away her tears and said, “Senior, I’d like to keep looking for him. I don’t think he’d be killed so easily.”
“Nonsense!” Wei Que shot her a glare, “Don’t you understand your own condition? Take a rest for now.”
“But…”
Wei Que cut her off by saying, “I don’t want to use force; however, if you insist on making a scene, I’ll have no choice but to knock you out.”
Tao Rong Fang took Dié You’s hand and said gently, “Rest now. We’ll talk about it later.”
Dié You pressed her lips together and nodded as her tears slid down her face.
Just then, an unexpected change occurred. A rumbling sound was heard coming from underground, and the entire Sun Star seemed to shake. Everyone was stunned as they turned around, only to see the magma boiling vigorously, a dangerous aura permeating all around.
Wei Que’s expression changed as he shouted, “Retreat!”
As he spoke, he wrapped everyone in his World Force and hoisted them up into the sky.
At the same time, columns of magma shot out of the pools as though countless Fire Dragons had been born.
After rising thirty kilometres above the surface, everyone looked down and turned pale. That was because countless cracks had appeared on the Sun Star as though it was going to explode at any moment. Gullies had been formed as the magma weltered in them, sweeping everything away.
The rumbling sounds were so loud that their eardrums hurt.
Then, a dazzling light could be seen coming from a certain direction, causing one of the disciples to unconsciously exclaim, “What is that?”
When the others turned their heads to look at the source of the light, their pupils contracted. In the distance, the gigantic illusory phantom of a palace could be seen hovering high up above, appearing both real and yet ethereal.
Even though it was just an illusory phantom, it was still awe-inspiring to the beholder. The ancient palace seemed to have passed through millions of years to arrive in the modern era.
There was a palace on this Sun Star!
Wei Que exclaimed, “Golden Crow Divine Palace!”
It was rumoured that besides the Sun’s True Gold, there might even be a Golden Crow Divine Palace on this Sun Star, and the reason that the Sun’s fire was dying out was that the Golden Crow was dying.
However, in the end, this was just a rumour. Most people would believe that there was Sun’s True Gold to be found, but nine out of ten people wouldn’t believe that there was a Golden Crow Divine Palace here, while the remaining one person would be seriously doubtful.
Nonetheless, at this moment, a palace had really appeared on the Sun Star. What else could it be if it wasn’t a Golden Crow Divine Palace?
Tao Rong Fang widened her eyes, “The rumour was true?”
A myriad of expressions came over Wei Que as he had a feeling that things were rapidly growing beyond his expectations. If it was just the possibility of Sun’s True Gold, the great forces in the neighbouring Great Territories would be able to monopolize the benefits of this place. However, now that a legendary Golden Crow Divine Palace had appeared, word was sure to spread and real powerhouses were bound to come.
It was inevitable that the Thirty-Six Cave Heaven and Seventy-Two Paradises would hear of this and come to investigate. Once that happened, the Third Class great forces like Great Moon Province wouldn’t be able to reap any benefits while even the Second Class great forces with Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would be forced to the sidelines.
Therefore, in order to get any benefits, they had to obtain them now before word spread.
After pondering the issue for a short time, Wei Que made a decision and called out, “Meng Hong!”
“Yes!” Meng Hong stepped forward.
“Leave with your Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters.”
Meng Hong was startled for a moment before he realised Wei Que’s intention, then he cupped his fists and bowed, “Yes. We’ll await Martial Uncle and Aunt at the periphery.”
Wei Que shook his head, “No. All of you must directly go to First Inn, then ask them to send a message to Sect Master. Have him and the other Elders come as quickly as possible.”
A serious-looking Meng Hong nodded, “Understood.”
After he was done with the arrangement, Wei Que turned to look at Tao Rong Fang, “Let’s go.”
Saying so, he turned into a beam of light and shot into the distance.
Tao Rong Fang said to Ah Sun, “Xiao Sun’er, leave with your Senior Brother Meng. Be careful.”
Ah Sun nodded, “You must be careful as well, Master.”
Without speaking any further, Tao Rong Fang raced after Wei Que.
After the Open Heaven Realm Masters departed, all the disciples lost a sense of security as they turned to Meng Hong, who said, “You all heard what Martial Uncle and Martial Aunt have said. Now that the Golden Crow Divine Palace has appeared, this place will descend into chaos soon. Follow me to First Inn now!”
Dié You said, “Senior Brother Meng, I want to stay here.”
Old Fang stepped forward, “Me too.”
Ah Sun said, “And me.”
“You…” Meng Hong shot a glare at the three of them as he tried to act as a proper Senior Brother, “Didn’t you hear what Martial Aunt and Martial Uncle said? Without their protection, we’ll be doomed if we come across any enemies!”
Dié You hung her head low and fell silent.
Old Fang said, “Senior Brother Meng, please don’t try to convince us. We’re not considered disciples of Great Moon Province yet, so I believe no one will find fault with us. We… I just want to keep looking for Little Brother Yang a bit longer. If he’s alive I must see him in person, if he has fallen, I must see his corpse.”
Ah Sun nodded in agreement.
Meng Hong’s face fell, “Must you insist?”
Old Fang cupped his fists, “Senior Brother Meng, please forgive us. If it weren’t for Little Brother Yang, we three would still be suffering in Seven Wonders Land as slaves. He saved our lives and gave us our freedom. Now that he has fallen into danger, we can’t just stand idly by.”
Meng Hong let out a sigh, his expression appearing conflicted as he said through clenched teeth, “Good.” Then, he pointed at one disciple, “Junior Brother Liu, go to First Inn now and ask them to send a message to our headquarters. Be extremely careful.”
The disciple surnamed Liu cupped his fists, “Yes.” Then, he shot into the sky.
Then, Meng Hong gazed at the other disciples, “Rest for an hour. We’ll continue searching for half a day more, but if we still haven’t found Junior Brother Yang by then, we will leave no matter what.”
An elated Old Fang said, “Many thanks, Senior Brother Meng.”
Dié You hurriedly thanked him as well. Even though she didn’t want to trouble them, she reckoned that it was better to have more people helping at this moment.
Meng Hong shook his head and heaved a sigh, “All of you, listen up. If anyone dares to tell Martial Uncle and Martial Aunt what has happened today, don’t call me Senior Brother again.” He had practically gone against Wei Que’s orders, which truly made him feel guilty and afraid.
The disciples quickly replied, “We will never speak of this.”
After that, they landed on the surface and found a place to adjust their breathing. Fortunately, the Sun Star stabilised after the turbulence just now; otherwise, they wouldn’t have even been able to find a place to land.
…..
At the same time, Yang Kai was puzzledly looking around in a long hall that was very deep underground.
He had been racing after the Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire for quite some time, and after several failed attempts, he finally found a chance to use the Six Fated Paths Bag to capture it. Before he could celebrate, however, he felt an immense force pulling him down into a vortex. When he came to his senses, he realised that he was already in this place.
He couldn’t believe that there was such a place beneath the surface of the Sun Star.
The hall was wide and brightly lit, and obviously wasn’t naturally formed. The walls and the ground were smooth and covered with fiery red stones, while an extremely pure Fire Element Energy permeated the air.
Yang Kai was stunned as the Fire Element in this place was much purer than that of Fire Spirit Land in Seven Wonders Land. If one could condense a First-Order Fire Element by cultivating in Fire Spirit Land, he could condense a Third-Order Element easily in this place.
Without the need for any Fire Element materials, one could achieve the Third Order by just absorbing the ambient Fire Element in this place, which was simply inconceivable. If the other great forces found out about it, they would scramble to occupy this place. Everyone would be tempted to own such a cultivation paradise.
[But… where is this place? Why does it exist beneath the surface of the Sun Star?] Yang Kai decided to push these questions to the back of his mind for now. Looking to both sides, he realised that he couldn’t see the end of the hallway with a glance.
Then, he tried to use his Space Principles and realised that he could do so smoothly, which meant that the space around here hadn’t been sealed off. Upon that realization, Yang Kai set his mind at ease. As long as the local space wasn’t sealed, he wouldn’t be trapped in this place as he could leave at any moment.
Following that, he randomly picked a direction and moved forward. After walking for a few thousand metres, Yang Kai reached the end of the hallway and was faced with a bronze door that looked extremely heavy.
He attempted to push the door with all his strength, but was shocked to discover that he was unable to even make it budge. Even though his cultivation was considered weak compared to others in the Outer Universe, Yang Kai possessed immense physical strength because he had a Dragon Vein. The bronze door didn’t look special at all, but it remained unmoving as it was pushed by Yang Kai, which went to show that it was no ordinary door.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to take extreme measures, so after pondering on it for a moment, he returned to the original spot he appeared and walked in the opposite direction.
After a long time, he reached the end again and was rendered speechless as just like what had happened earlier, he was blocked by another bronze door. If it weren’t because he was certain that he had gotten the direction right, he would have thought that he was stuck in a loop.
The tunnel was basically blocked on both ends. It seemed that if he wanted to leave this place, he had to open one of the bronze doors, making him wonder what was behind both of them.
At this moment, he was stuck in a dilemma. After giving it a thought, he decided to fish out the Six Fated Paths Bag and looked at the thing inside.
There was a flame inside that was trying to break free from the bag as though it had a spirituality; nevertheless, the bag was even able to keep an Open Heaven Realm Master, so how could a mere Sun’s True Fire struggle free?
It was indeed a Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire. Compared to the three fires that were captured by the disciples from Great Moon Province, the one in his possession obviously possessed a purer and denser Fire Element. Gazing at the Sun’s True Fire, Yang Kai no longer felt dejected. He had stayed in First Inn for four months and spent more than 100,000 Open Heaven Pills. Now, a Fifth-Order material in his bag was worth 1,500,000 pills at least, which more than made up for his losses.
He couldn’t keep the fire in the Six Fated Paths Bag as he needed to use the bag to deal with his enemies, so Yang Kai decided to transfer it to the Small Sealed World and suppressed it somewhere.
After he completed this, Yang Kai looked up at the bronze door with a determined gaze. He was forced to leap out into the Outer Universe for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to experience a higher Martial Dao, and secondly, he had to look for the World Tree. Both of these endeavours would require a lot of money to accomplish.
Even though he had gained something from his trip to the Sun Star, it was nothing compared to his expected future expenses; therefore, he had to obtain as many benefits as possible this time as he wouldn’t know if he would come across such a chance again.
Invaluable treasures might be hidden just behind this bronze door.
Thinking so, he extended his hand and summoned out the Azure Dragon Spear. Channelling his strength into the spear, Yang Kai thrust it out, causing a thunderous impact that seemed to shake the world itself.
Meanwhile, an ancient palace stood on the Sun Star’s surface. Countless figures came from all directions and landed in front of the palace, appearing quite dazzled by it.
“Golden Crow Divine Palace!”
“It’s really a Golden Crow Divine Palace!”
All of the Open Heaven Realm Masters exclaimed in amazement as their faces flushed. Even though they were Open Heaven Realm Masters, they had never expected that a Golden Crow Divine Palace truly existed on this Sun Star. The rumours were not unfounded after all!
Since the palace really existed, it meant that another rumour wasn’t unfounded as well. The Sun Star was on the brink of destruction because the Golden Crow which lived here was dying!
At the thought of the possibility that the powerful Golden Crow corpse was inside this palace, these Open Heaven Realm Masters became extremely fervent. The Golden Crow was one of the ancient beasts, said to be just as powerful as the Dragons and Phoenixes. Besides the fact that the Golden Crow had undoubtedly amassed countless treasures in its lifetime, even its corpse was invaluable.
Now, the palace was right in front of everyone’s eyes, and the treasures within it seemed to be beckoning to them. No one could resist the temptation.
The Open Heaven Realm Masters who arrived at this place first couldn’t contain their excitement anymore as they attempted to dash inside. Upon seeing that, other people began scrambling to enter the palace.
The main door of the palace was firmly closed, and although there were no signs of any seals on it, it managed to block everyone outside. Just when these Open Heaven Realm Masters attempted to break the door down, two odd-looking three-legged bird sculptures, which stood on either side of the door, suddenly exuded very dangerous auras. Their eyes nimbly darted around, and following a cracking sound, their heads turned around and targeted the people in front of the door. Then, they opened their mouths and shot out two threads of fire.
The threads of fire were so thin that they appeared negligible while not feeling hot at all. However, as soon as the threads of fire appeared, holes could immediately be seen in the chests and stomachs of a number of Open Heaven Realm Masters who had gathered outside the palace. No blood could be seen streaming out of the holes, but all their organs could be seen squirming inside.
The incident was so unexpected that no one had yet to come to their senses. The next instant though, shrieks were heard as the stunned Open Heaven Realm Masters quickly withdrew.
After a series of cracking sounds, the two three-legged birds seemed to have come to life as they flapped their wings and took to the air. Their murderous intent seemed to have filled the sky as a glow radiated from their black figures. They looked like two miniature suns.
When Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang arrived at this place, they saw the other Open Heaven Realm Masters battling against the Golden Crow statues, which astounded them.
“Brother Zi Ye?” Wei Que caught a glimpse of a figure who had sat down with his legs crossed in a nearby spot. Then, he flew over and landed on the ground. When he saw the horrible wounds on the man’s chest and stomach, his face turned pale as he asked, “Brother Zi Ye, what happened?”
Upon opening his eyes, Zi Ye looked up and put on a bitter smile, “Brother Wei…”
“Brother Zi Ye, your wounds…”
The smile on Zi Ye’s face became even more bitter, “I was not careful enough…” He coughed as blood foam started streaming out of his mouth. The blood foam was scorching hot, as though it was boiling, and steam was continuously forming from it. At the same time, Zi Ye’s skin became reddened like a crab that had been cooked.
“Beware the… Golden Crow’s True Fire!” Zi Ye exclaimed before collapsing to the ground. Boiling blood could be seen streaming out of his seven orifices.
“Brother Zi Ye! Brother Zi Ye!” A shocked Wei Que called out to him, but he could no longer receive a reply.
“He’s… dead?” Tao Rong Fang, who landed on the ground after Wei Que, turned ashen.
Wei Que extended his hand to check Zi Ye’s pulse, soon causing his expression to change. That was because he realised that all the meridians in Zi Ye’s body had been burned down. There was also a scorching power within his body that was charging around violently. Without the protection of the body’s own power, the scorching power turned Zi Ye’s flesh into blood as it flowed out from his seven orifices and the wounds on his chest and stomach.
Wei Que felt a crawling sensation on his scalp, and his entire figure turned cold.
He was fully aware of Zi Ye’s strength as, just like him, Zi Ye was a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. This kind of power wasn’t among the top in the Outer Universe, but it wasn’t weak either. However, Zi Ye was killed and ended up in such a miserable state, which went to show that it wasn’t easy to barge into the palace.
Looking up, Wei Que realised that the Open Heaven Realm Masters and the two Golden Crow statues were locked in an intense battle outside the main entrance. He was absolutely certain that they were just statues as they didn’t have any life aura; however, he wasn’t sure what the statues were made of as they were practically impenetrable. The statues might also contain a bit of the Golden Crow’s spirituality; otherwise, they couldn’t have been so powerful.
“Senior Brother, what should we do?” Tao Rong Fang asked.
Wei Que replied, “Just watch.”
The statues were not very agile, so Wei Que reckoned that as long as he was careful enough, he wouldn’t be harmed. Nevertheless, he was wary of the Golden Crow’s True Fire. Moreover, with so many people battling against the statues, he didn’t think they were needed anyway.
The people who had arrived at a later time shared the same thought. They were looking from afar as they didn’t have the intention of helping out.
Upon seeing this, the Open Heaven Realm Masters who were fighting with the statues cursed in their hearts. Nevertheless, they were unable to get rid of the statues, so they had no choice but to clench their teeth and keep fighting.
Presently, only Open Heaven Realm Masters had the guts to come to this place while those below the Open Heaven Realm were nowhere in sight. Just like Wei Que, these top cultivators had told their disciples to wait at the periphery of the Sun Star or return to First Inn so that they wouldn’t be restrained when fighting for the treasures.
After a long and intense battle, two more people were wounded by the Golden Crow’s True Fire and fled in embarrassment. However, the Golden Crow’s True Fire was indeed overbearing. Even though they were not badly injured by the initial impact, boiling blood could be seen streaming out of their mouths within a few breaths at most. If they couldn’t resolve the power of the True Fire, they would end up like Zi Ye.
At that instant, these top cultivators lamented in their hearts. They had arrived at this place first, but they were unfortunately confronted by the statues. If they knew this would be the outcome, they would have come at a later time.
With that said, their effort wasn’t unrewarded. After a long battle, the statues had become less agile, and the True Fire that was shot out of their mouths had been weakened as well. Also, their eyes had become sluggish.
Seeing that, they realised that the spirituality within the statues was running out. Regardless of how powerful they were, they were just statues. With so many Open Heaven Realm Masters joining forces, they would eventually destroy the statues.
Since hope was within their grasp, they became even more ferocious. They wanted to get rid of the statues as soon as possible so that they could explore the Golden Crow Divine Palace.
As time passed, the two Golden Crow statues became weaker, and even the Golden Crow’s True Fire they spat out became intermittent. It seemed that they were running out of power.
Everyone was elated upon seeing that. Even though the statues were exquisitely crafted, they were nothing special in and of themselves. They were powerful because of their Golden Crow’s True Fire, but now that they had seemingly exhausted it, they no longer appeared terrifying.
Just when the Open Heaven Realm Masters were preparing to capture the statues, they were both suddenly engulfed in a shadow. It seemed to be a shadow of a greatly magnified sleeve, which flapped in the air and covered the entire sky.
“Universe in a Sleeve!” Wei Que exclaimed as he could recognise the Divine Ability at first glance.
The magnified sleeve curled up as its immense energy fluctuation swept the Open Heaven Realm Masters away. Following that, the statues were kept inside the sleeve.
A figure flashed across everyone’s eyes as an elderly man appeared. His huge sleeves flapped in the air, and his chubby face radiated a pinkish glow. Presently, he was looking smilingly at his right sleeve. Two petite statues could be seen charging around violently in the sleeve, but they couldn’t struggle out of the restriction.
Obviously, it was this elderly man who had used his Divine Ability to capture the statues.
All the Open Heaven Realm Masters were startled for a moment before they became incensed as they glared at the elderly man. They had been battling against the statues for a long time now, and just when they were able to exhaust their enemy, someone else swooped in and reaped the fruits of their labour, which was intolerable; after all, the statues had some impressive value as well.
However, upon making out the elderly man’s face, they furrowed their brows. Although they were infuriated, they wouldn’t dare to rebuke him. Apparently, they were wary of the elderly man’s strength and background.
Tao Rong Fang said in a hushed voice, “Someone from Heaven’s Border has really arrived.”
Wei Que sported a solemn expression as well, “We only see Old Hong now, and we’re not sure whether the other two have arrived. If the other two are here as well, it’ll be troublesome.”
While they were having a chat, a change happened all of a sudden. Just when Old Hong, who was from Heaven’s Border, was over the moon, a golden thread shot out from the void and snuck into Old Hong’s sleeve. When the golden thread was retracted, a statue inside the sleeve was also drawn out.
Old Hong’s expression turned cold as he bellowed, “How dare you snatch this Old Master’s prize! Who are you?”
After he finished speaking, he extended his hand towards the statue.
Just then, a fit of giggles could be heard coming from the void. This voice was as pleasant as a silver bell, which made everyone feel refreshed. Following her laugh, a curvy figure was revealed as a slender hand intercepted Old Hong’s.
With a loud boom, a violent force spread around. Old Hong shuddered and stepped backwards. Upon impact, the beautiful woman hopped backwards lightly and widened her gap with Old Hong. Then, she looked smilingly at him and said, “Old Hong, why are you so mad?”
The change happened too quickly and it wasn’t until this moment that the crowd made out who the woman was. She was a mature beauty with beautiful eyes that seemed so clear it was as if water would drip from them. The charm she exuded seemed able to attract everyone’s attention innately.
Initially, Old Hong was infuriated, but upon seeing the woman, his fury disappeared in an instant and with a forced smile, he said, “So it is First Inn’s Madam Lan, forgive my disrespect.”
In his heart, Old Hong felt frustrated. If anyone else had snatched his things like this, he would never have let them off; however, this woman was from First Inn. Given the fact that he was from Heaven’s Border, which was less powerful than First Inn, he was unable to rebuke the woman. He knew that he would never get the statue back. Nevertheless, she had shown him some respect by leaving one statue to him.
The Proprietress kept a smile on her face, “Old Hong, this in an interesting thing. Would you be willing to give one to me?”
[You’ve already snatched it from me. Can I even get it back?] Old Hong secretly cursed at her, but he still replied with a smile, “Madam Lan, it is this Old Master’s honour that you’re interested in my… in these things. If you wish, I can give you this one as well.” Then, he flapped his sleeve as though he was a generous man.
The Proprietress tucked her hair behind her ear in a charming manner, then she shook her head with a smile, “There’s no need for that. I just need one so that I can examine it when I return. Many thanks for your gift. If you need any information in the future, feel free to visit First Inn. I’ll give you one piece for free.”
Hearing this, Old Hong put on a smile, “Many thanks, Madam Lan. In that case, this Old Master will gladly accept.”
A Golden Crow statue for a piece of information. No one could tell whether it was a good or bad deal.
Old Hong turned to look at the ancient palace and asked, “Madam Lan, are you here to explore the palace as well?”
The Proprietress replied, “Since such an important incident has happened, I certainly have to come over to have a look. Isn’t it the same case for you, Old Hong?”
Old Hong’s brow twitched, “In that case, why don’t we join forces? We can help each other this way.” He wasn’t powerful enough to go against her, but fortunately for him, Madam Lan had always been fair when doing business. If he could join forces with her, he would definitely get a share of the benefits after they entered the palace. At the very least, he wouldn’t go home empty-handed.
The Proprietress fiddled with the hair in front of her chest and replied with a smile, “Join forces? Let’s not. I’m used to acting independently. If you need allies, why don’t you ask whether they’re interested?” As she spoke, she deliberately took a look in a particular direction.
“They?” Old Hong frowned, then he immediately understood what she meant and swung his sleeve widely, “Come out!”
A violent force swept across the void, forcing three figures to reveal themselves. One of them was a gentle-looking scholar with a fan in his hand. There was also a burly man with a deep gaze in tight-fitting black robes. The last person was a cheeky young girl in a green dress.
It wasn’t certain what technique they had used that they were able to conceal themselves for such a long time to the point that Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, and even a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master like Old Hong weren’t aware of their existence. If it weren’t because the Proprietress from First Inn pointed it out, Old Hong wouldn’t have known they were even here.
At that instant, Old Hong realised that Madam Lan was indeed more powerful than he was. At the same time, he was mad at these people for their viciousness. Apparently, they had been hiding in the dark because they wanted to take advantage of him.
“So it is you who had been hiding there. What’s wrong? Are you trying to reap the benefits without putting in any effort?” Old Hong snorted as he could recognise these three.
The arrogant-looking man in black robes scoffed, then he turned around and cupped his fists at the Proprietress. The scholar also cupped his fists at her with a bitter smile, “Madam Lan, you indeed have an acute vision.”
The young girl stomped her foot and pouted, “Big Sister Lan, why did you expose us?”
Despite the fact that they had been exposed by the Proprietress, they wouldn’t dare to rebuke her, which went to show how influential First Inn truly was.
Madam Lan covered her mouth and laughed, “It has nothing to do with me. It was Old Hong who found out about your existence.”
She was completely insincere, but no one dared to refute her.
On the ground, Wei Que, whose expression was bitter, gazed at the three people who had just appeared, and he said in a hushed voice, “They’re Zhang Qi from Righteous Land, Ji Tian Xing from Blood Dragon Altar, and Yuan Xiao Man from Mirror Flowers Water Moon… Things are getting interesting now.”
Even though many Open Heaven Realm Masters had arrived at this place earlier, they were all in the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm with only minor differences between their strengths and backgrounds. However, the people who had just appeared were all Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Heaven’s Border, Righteous Land, Blood Dragon Altar, and Mirror Flowers Water Moon were all Second Class great forces; furthermore, the Proprietress of First Inn, Madam Lan, had also come to this place.
“I’ve met Ji Tian Xing and Yuan Xiao Man before. So, the scholarly-looking one is Zhang Qi from Righteous Land, right?” Tao Rong Fang asked.
Wei Que nodded, “Although he appears harmless, he’s actually extremely ruthless. If you come across him in the future, you must take care.”
“En,” Tao Rong Fang nodded discretely.
While they were speaking, Zhang Qi suddenly turned to look at them. Tao Rong Fang’s expression changed as she knew that he must have realised what they were talking about, thus she quickly hung her head low.
Although she was a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, she was much weaker than Zhang Qi in the end. The difference between Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters was enormous. If Zhang Qi targeted her, she would surely end up miserable.
Fortunately, Zhang Qi soon retracted his gaze. Since the Golden Crow Divine Palace was right in front of him, he didn’t have the time to care about minor matters.
Although the Golden Crow statues were gone, these Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters still wouldn’t dare to make any rash moves. The Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had appeared, so they might offend them if they were not careful; moreover, they had come across danger before they even entered the palace, so they wondered what else awaited them inside. Naturally, they wanted the stronger cultivators to lead the way.
Old Hong and the others seemed to have realised their intentions as they shot a look at the weaker cultivators with Zhang Qi saying, “It’s pointless to keep waiting here. Why don’t we get in to have a look?”
The man in black robes, Ji Tian Xing, nodded, “Of course, we have to get in.”
Old Hong looked around, “Who will enter first?”
Yuan Xiao Man ignored him and walked up to Madam Lan. Then, she wrapped her arm around the latter’s spoke to her with a smile. Madam Lan pinched her nose, which caused the young girl to pout.
After a moment of deadlock, Old Hong said, “Why don’t we take turns to make a move? It seems that this door will be difficult to open. Whoever manages to open the door will go in first.”
The first one to enter the palace was taking great risks, but would also stand a chance to get the best treasures. While the weak wanted to pick up the crumbs, the top cultivators were naturally willing to take some chances to reap bigger gains.
Zhang Qi and Ji Tian Xing were fine with this arrangement, so Old Hong turned to look at the Proprietress to ask, “Madam Lan, why don’t you make a move first?”
Madam Lan replied with a smile, “There’s no need for that. I want to talk to Xiao Man now. Go ahead.”
Seeing that, Old Hong nodded, “Then this Old Master will go first.”
Upon finishing his words, he leaped towards the door and examined it carefully before pressing his hands against it. Everyone immediately stared fixedly at his moves.
Then, with a loud creak, the door slowly opened.
At that instant, Old Hong, Zhang Qi, Ji Tian Xing, and the rest were all stunned. No one had expected that the door could be opened so easily.
While the others were in a dazed state, Old Hong dashed into the palace. Upon seeing that, all of them became agitated and without the need for any words, all the Open Heaven Realm Masters charged forward.
“Make way!” A yell was heard coming from the man in black robes, Ji Tian Xing. Like an ancient beast that had gone mad, he rushed out and rammed into whoever came into his way, causing those people to be sent flying away. In the blink of an eye, he reached the door and became the second person to enter the palace.
Following that, the scholar, Zhang Qi, sprinted into the palace as he gently waved his fan.
“Big Sister Lan, let’s get going as well.” Yuan Xiao Man turned to look at Madam Lan, who nodded in response. After that, they dashed into the palace as well.
After all the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters entered the palace, the rest scrambled towards the building. Inevitably, they had to trade some moves as their pressures permeated the place.
“Senior Brother, what should we do?” Tao Rong Fang gazed at Wei Que and asked.
“We follow them,” Wei Que replied solemnly. Since they had arrived at this place, and the palace door had opened, there was no way they would leave just like this. Even though they had no idea what danger awaited them in the building, they reckoned that they just had to be careful and not snatch stuff from others they couldn’t afford to offend. If they could do that much, they wouldn’t fall into danger.
However, when they entered the palace, they instantly felt a scorching power coming at them.
After that, they realised that many figures were flying around inside the spacious hall, which made the place look quite bustling. A number of Sun’s True Fires could be seen flitting about amongst the crowd, trying to escape from the Open Heaven Realm Masters. The glow of the Sun’s True Fires illuminated the hall and mingled with the lights caused by the Open Heaven Realm Masters’ methods.
“What…” Tao Rong Fang was stunned as she didn’t expect to see such a lively scene upon entering the hall. After a quick count, she realised that there were more than ten Sun’s True Fires that were flying around in the hall.
It was rare to see such a magnificent sight, which caused Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang to become fervent as well.
There were many huge columns in the hall, and torches could be seen burning on each of them. Tao Rong Fang didn’t pay attention to this at first, but upon closer look, she was shocked to discover that these weren’t torches at all. They were all Sun’s True Fires that were burning brightly. In other words, the hall was well lit thanks to these Sun’s True Fires.
Obviously, these flying Sun’s True Fires were supposed to be just like the other torches, but after they were disturbed by the intruders, they began flitting about.
Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang traded glances; then, without the need for any discussion, they dashed forward and pounced on the torches. Before they even arrived, they used their Divine Abilities in an attempt to capture the Sun’s True Fires.
The hall was quite spacious, so there were about twenty Sun’s True Fires that were used as torches. However, many people had entered the place, and all of them were Open Heaven Realm Masters with a small number of them having reached the Mid-Rank.
After a quarter-hour of fighting and snatching, the dust finally settled. The Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had managed to grab two Sun’s True Fires per person, some of them even being Fifth-Order. As for the rest, they were snatched by other people. Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang were pretty lucky. Even though they had come into the palace later than most, they managed to make a move at the right time and had obtained a Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire. They could barely conceal the excitement and joy behind their gazes.
A Fifth-Order material could be traded for ten Fourth-Order materials, which was enough for them to nurture a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master while still having some materials to spare. It could be said that they had achieved their goal for this trip at this moment.
However, they were reluctant to leave just like this. They had obtained such a treasure not long after they entered the palace, so wouldn’t there be more rewards if they kept on exploring?
In fact, many people shared the same thought. Those who had obtained the Sun’s True Fires were unwilling to leave, not to mention those who hadn’t gotten anything yet. Although there were no more Sun’s True Fires left in the hall, no one could be certain that there wasn’t more treasure deeper inside. Therefore, they were all began searching around.
Soon, someone discovered that the floor in the hall was paved with Peak-Rank Fire Jade. The revelation was shocking. Even though Fire Jade was not a rare material in the Outer Universe, its value varied depending on its rank. This kind of Peak-Rank Fire Jade was quite valuable.
Furthermore, while the hall was quite spacious, the entire floor was paved with the purest and most exquisite Fire Jade. Even the Second Class great forces would be financially burdened if they wanted to build such a floor. Only the First Class forces had the means to do something like this.
At that instant, everyone almost went mad. Without the need to say anything, all the Open Heaven Realm Masters became moles as clanging sounds were continuously heard in the hall. The Fire Jade was all lifted and then put inside Space Rings.
Even First Inn’s Proprietress, Madam Lan, joined in. Nobody would refuse free stuff.
However, the good time didn’t last long as someone accidentally triggered a restriction soon after they began. While the crowd was busy harvesting the Fire Jade, a rumbling sound was suddenly heard, and following that, the main door abruptly shut.
Everyone was shocked as they straightened up and raised their guard, but before they could figure out what was going on, they all felt dizzy at the same time as the world started spinning around them. When they came to their senses, they realised that they were inside a huge cave.
The hall and the floor that was paved with Fire Jade was gone, so they didn’t have to continue their stripping work. After such a sudden change, the people who were familiar with one another hurriedly gathered together as they looked around in a vigilant manner to prevent falling into danger. Some of them had even used their Secret Techniques to conceal themselves.
The Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were astounded as well, with Yuan Xiao Man walking up to Madam Lan and sticking close to her, as though she could only find a sense of security by doing so.
All of a sudden, Old Hong turned to look at Zhang Qi and said, “Brother Zhang, you’re an expert in Spirit Arrays. What do you think has happened?”
Zhang Qi waved his fan and gave it a thought before replying, “It should be a type of Space Array. Judging from what this Zhang felt, I reckon that we haven’t been shifted to a faraway place though. We should still be somewhere on the Sun Star.”
Old Hong nodded, “This Old Master agrees. In other words, we’re still inside the Golden Crow Divine Palace?”
“We’ll find out.”
“En,” Old Hong nodded.
All of them felt insecure at abruptly appearing in such a place, so before things become clearer, all of them silently agreed to work together. The Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were not fools, so without the need for any discussion, they started carefully probing their surroundings.
Soon, they discovered something. The cave wasn’t closed as there were eight exits. They were arrayed in the form of the Eight Paths of Divination, so it was apparent that they were not simple exits.
Upon that realisation, the Open Heaven Realm Masters furrowed their brows. Certainly, top cultivators like them knew a thing or two about the Eight Paths of Divination; however, no one could tell which path they should take in this particular case. Fortunately, the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were around, so the Low-Rank ones would just have to watch what decision Madam Lan and the others made. They would rather follow them than try out the paths on their own.
“Madam Lan, which path should we choose?” Old Hong turned to look at Madam Lan and asked. Her cultivation was the strongest at the scene, so her opinion also carried the most weight.
The Proprietress looked around and replied with a smile, “Since there’s a Path of Life, I’ll certainly choose that; otherwise, should we choose the Path of Death?”
“The Path of Life?” Old Hong frowned, “But we can’t be certain that it isn’t meant to mislead us.”
“You choose the Path of Death, then. Maybe you’ll reach the other end of the passage alive.”
At that, Old Hong was rendered speechless.
“I’ll be leaving first, then,” After Madam Lan finished speaking, she really shuffled towards the Path of Life and disappeared.
Everyone was dumbfounded as they hadn’t expected that she would make a decision so quickly. Was she confident in her luck? Or had she discovered something but didn’t tell them?
Yuan Xiao Man hesitated for a moment before shouting, “Big Sister Lan, wait for me…”
Then, she also followed Madam Lan and entered the Path of Life. After they were gone, half of the Open Heaven Realm Masters dashed towards the Path of Life as well; after all, they knew that she was from First Inn, which had a powerful background. Therefore, her decision should be the right one.
Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang also left with them.
Those who hadn’t left were either doubtful or thought that Old Hong was right. If they could get out alive simply by choosing the Path of Life, what was the point of arranging the Eight Paths of Divination?
“What should we do?” Old Hong turned to look at Zhang Qi and Ji Tian Xing.
Ji Tian Xing snorted, “I don’t care what you all do. I’ll leave right this instant.” After he finished speaking, he directly shuffled towards the Path of Death, causing Old Hong’s face to twitch. It seemed that Ji Tian Xing was determined to choose the worst possible path, and it wasn’t certain whether he would be able to reach the other end of the passage alive.
Zhang Qi shook his head, “Brother Tian Xing is such a resolute man. I’m no match for him in this regard.”
Upon finishing his words, he ambled towards the Path of Healing. After those two left, some Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters followed them. At that instant, only a dozen or so people were left in the cave. Apart from Old Hong, the rest were all in the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm as they stared fixedly at him.
A frustrated Old Hong fished out an ancient copper coin and cupped his hands before shaking it. Then, he spread his palms to have a look and muttered something, upon which he looked in a particular direction.
After keeping the copper coin, he turned into a beam of light and shot towards the path it pointed to and was soon followed by the remaining people.
Meanwhile, inside the long hallway, Yang Kai heaved a sigh as he lifted the Peak-Rank Fire Jade tiles from the floor and put them inside his Space Ring.
He didn’t notice it at first, but after realizing that he was unable to get out of this place currently, Yang Kai decided to probe around. It was then he discovered that the floor was paved with such treasures. Apart from the fact that the floor was made of Fire Jade, he had also realised that the torches on the walls were actually all Sun’s True Fires.
In total, there were eight torches in the hallway, which meant that there were eight Sun’s True Fires. Including the one he had collected previously, he had nine Sun’s True Fires in possession now, three of which were Fifth-Order.
Yang Kai had obtained a lot of good stuff on this day. Although he had no idea how he ended up in such a place, he managed to get a lot of Sun’s True Fires and Fire Jades. However, both ends of the hallway had been sealed, which made him unable to leave this place. That was why he felt helpless.
With nothing else to do, he decided that he would take all these Fire Jade tiles before probing around the place again. If he still couldn’t find an exit at that point, he would have no choice but to use Instantaneous Movement to leave.
After two hours, he had finally stored all the Fire Jades in the hallway. Just when he was ready to start looking around again, his expression changed and he turned to look in a particular direction. That was because he could faintly hear some noises coming from there.
Upon listening carefully, Yang Kai confirmed that there were indeed noises from the other side. Furthermore, if he wasn’t mistaken, it seemed that someone was trying to attack the bronze door that had blocked the hallway.
[There’s someone on the other side of the door?] A shocked Yang Kai hurriedly rushed towards that place.
If there was someone on the other side, it meant that the hallway wasn’t a dead end. However, he wasn’t certain where the entrance or the exit was.
Upon reaching the door, he tried to examine the situation and soon his expression changed. That was because the person on the other side appeared powerful. At the very least, they must be a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master.
Just then, a faint sound was heard, and upon closer inspection, Yang Kai realised that there was a small crack on the door now.
The bronze door, which he was unable to move one bit no matter how he tried, was now breaking apart. Right after the thought flashed across his mind, a loud boom was heard as the gigantic bronze door exploded and fell apart. The broken pieces were scattered everywhere, and Yang Kai was almost hurt by one of the flying fragments.
Instinctively, he manipulated Space Principles in an attempt to flee from this place; however, after giving it a thought, he suppressed his urge to leave. Swiftly, he summoned the Shadowless Veil he had obtained from Du Ru Feng and shrouded himself in it. In the next instant, his figure disappeared from the spot. At the same time, he held his breath and concealed his aura.
If he left this place at this point, it would be difficult for him to come back again. He was reluctant to leave before he at least saw the Sun’s True Gold. Nevertheless, he was too weak now, so he didn’t have the right to go against the Open Heaven Realm Masters. The only thing he could rely on was the Shadowless Veil.
Du Ru Feng had said that this thing was given to him by Duan Hai and that all cultivators below the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm would never be able to discover it. As for Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, they might neglect it if they didn’t look carefully.
Yang Kai prayed in his heart that Du Ru Feng had not inflated the worth of this artifact. If he was exposed in this place, he would have a hard time explaining himself. By then, he could only flee.
After concealing himself, Yang Kai hid behind a broken piece of the door, partially obscuring himself.
Right after he was done with all that, he heard someone speaking cheerfully, “Big Sister Lan is too awesome!”
Following that, he heard a very familiar voice, “You won’t get anything from flattering me!”
The voice of the first person was pleasant to the ears, while the voice of the second person was sweet and entrancing, two very different feelings. Yang Kai frowned as his expression turned awkward because the second voice sounded like that of the First Inn Proprietress.
Yang Kai had stayed in First Inn for four months, and he would meet up with Dié You and the others in the dining hall every three days, so he had seen the Proprietress a few times. Even though they were not close to one another, they did chat once or twice.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai realised that it wasn’t so surprising for her to come to this place because First Inn was close to the Sun Star. The great forces from neighbouring Great Territories had come over to have a look, so with First Inn being in this Great Territory, there was no way the Proprietress would take no action.
“It’s not flattery, Big Sister Lan. You’re really awesome. I truly admire you,” the woman with a pleasant voice said before calling out to the others, “Do you guys agree with me?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” The others replied and flattered the Proprietress.
[So many people!] A stunned Yang Kai decided to be extra careful.
“Enough talk. Let’s keep moving,” the person Yang Kai suspected to be the Proprietress said before her curvy figure shuffled into the hallway.
Yang Kai took a peek and realised that just like what he had speculated, one of the women was the Proprietress from First Inn.
The Proprietress stopped in her tracks and looked around for a bit before she suddenly stared fixedly in a particular direction as her eyes widened. It was as though she had just seen something inconceivable, and even her luscious lips parted slightly.
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he secretly cursed Du Ru Feng for lying to him. Du Ru Feng had said that cultivators below the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm had no hope of noticing this Shadowless Veil, while Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would neglect it if they didn’t look carefully.
Now, it seemed that he was just spouting nonsense. Presently, the Proprietress was staring right at Yang Kai, so it was apparent that she had noticed him.
An embarrassed Yang Kai felt guilty as if he had done something wrong. It was too late for him to flee now, so he forced a smile at the Proprietress and secretly cupped his fists in an attempt to plead with her to let him off.
Just then, a pretty young girl dashed into the hallway and asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong, Big Sister Lan? Did you discover something?”
The Proprietress looked away and shook her head, “No. There’s nothing here. Let’s keep moving forward.”
“En,” The young girl didn’t suspect anything as she followed the Proprietress.
Following the two ladies, a group of people streamed into the hallway. Yang Kai didn’t dare to move a muscle because these people were all Open Heaven Realm Masters. Some of them even passed within arm’s length of where he stood.
Fortunately, he was hiding behind a broken piece of the bronze door, so as long as no one took that cover away, they would not bump into him. Naturally, these people scanned their surroundings upon entering the place and soon Yang Kai realised that many people had even swept a glance over him, but failed to notice his presence. After they were all gone, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Now, it seemed that he had wrongly blamed Du Ru Feng as the Shadowless Veil was truly useful. So many Open Heaven Realm Masters had passed by, but no one had noticed him.
Now, he was wondering what the Proprietress’ expression earlier suggested. Had she discovered him? He couldn’t really tell anymore.
Whatever the case, since she didn’t expose him on the spot, he now owed her a favour. If he was exposed in that kind of situation, he would definitely suffer miserably.
Just now, there were about forty or fifty people who had entered the hallway. Yang Kai had even seen Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang, but the disciples of Great Moon Province were missing.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai realised that this wasn’t so surprising. With so many Open Heaven Realm Masters around, the disciples of Great Moon Province would only become a burden if they had accompanied Wei Que and Tao Rong Fang, so the two Elders must have told them to retreat.
Yang Kai had chased after the Sun’s True Fire, and then he was sucked into this place by a vortex, so how did these people get here? Where exactly was this?
Yang Kai gazed at the broken door and then shifted his attention in the direction those people had left. After pondering on it for a moment, he secretly followed them.
A while later, he saw the same group of people from afar. Obviously, they were blocked by the bronze door at the other end of the tunnel.
Booming sounds were heard as a violent force swept across the hallway. Apparently, the Proprietress was trying to break down the door.
Yang Kai was shocked by the fallout of her attacks. He had always known that the Proprietress was powerful, but it seemed that she was actually stronger than he had expected. There was no way she was only in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm. She must be a Fifth-Order.
So far, the only Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master Yang Kai had come across was Old Xu; however, Old Xu was killed after a failed attempt to get his revenge in Seven Wonders Land, so Yang Kai had never seen a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master take action before.
Now, he could experience it in person, and within one hour, cracking sounds could be heard again. Yuan Xiao Man shouted, “Keep going, Big Sister Lan! The door will fall apart soon!”
An irked Proprietress bellowed, “If you have the time to shout, why don’t you lend me a hand?”
Yuan Xiao Man giggled, “I’m too weak, so I’d better not embarrass myself in front of Big Sister Lan.” Then, she turned to look at the dozens of Open Heaven Realm Masters in the hallway and snorted, “Why are all of you only looking on from the side? Even if you’re not lending a hand, can’t you cheer for Big Sister Lan? Come on, shout with me! Big Sister Lan is the most powerful in the universe!”
All of them were dumbfounded upon hearing such shamelessness. These Open Heaven Realm Masters were all leaders in their respective great forces, making them famous at least in the surrounding Great Territories. If they really shouted in such a way as they were told, they would be too embarrassed to face anyone in the future.
“Are you cheering for her or not? Scram if you don’t want to!” Yuan Xiao Man shot them a glare.
They wouldn’t dare to rebuke her, so whether they were willing or not, they had to play along. At that instant, everyone in the hallway began cheering for the Proprietress.
An exasperated Madam Lan stomped her foot and snapped, “Shut up! What is this nonsense about!?”
She was so incensed that she had the urge to slap the young girl’s face red.
After they were spared from further embarrassment, the crowd quickly kept their mouths shut.
Worried that Yuan Xiao Man would make a scene again, Madam Lan decided to fully use her power as she landed several palms on the door. Following the booming sounds, the bronze door broke apart.
Ignoring Yuan Xiao Man, she dashed on ahead, but she became rooted to the spot when she saw what was in front of her. Yuan Xiao Man, who was following her closely, crashed into her back. Covering her forehead, she complained, “Big Sister Lan, why did you stop all of a sudden?” Noticing Madam Lan’s expression though, she followed her gaze and froze on the spot as well. Her lips parted, and she couldn’t say anything for a long time.
After all the other Open Heaven Realm Masters rushed into this place, they became fixed on the spot as though someone had used a binding technique on them. No words could describe how flabbergasted they were.
Noticing the anomaly, Yang Kai also darted over, and when he saw what was in front of him, his pupils contracted.
In front of everyone’s eyes, a ten-metre-tall all-black three-legged exotic bird was standing on a platform inside a scarlet light barrier. Despite the fact that it had spread its wings, it remained unmoving; however, an imposing pressure continuously radiated from its body. All of them at the scene, regardless of their cultivation, couldn’t help but realise how weak they were when they stood before this beast.