The last stage was several times harder to comprehend than the previous two stages. It was just that those who could reach the third island were all talented and intelligent people, so the casualty rate was much lower. All the people who departed earlier were safe and sound; about to arrive at the palace in the middle of the lake soon.
After another quarter hour or so, those people more or less arrived at the island where the palace was located. They exchanged a glance with each other for a moment, then they rushed towards the palace in unison and vanished out of sight in the blink of an eye.
Pei Wen Xuan was the only one who remained there. He turned around and looked towards Yang Kai, who was making his way across the blood lake.
Their gazes met and Yang Kai felt his heart sinking and thought to himself, [This is bad. This guy is going to pull some dirty trick.]
Pei Wen Xuan had tried to make trouble for Yang Kai when he first arrived at the blood lake, only to be stopped by Qu Hua Shang at the time. Now that Pei Wen Xuan was safely standing on the island in the middle of the lake while Yang Kai was standing on the surface of the lake, he finally found the perfect opportunity to do something,
The thought had only just occurred to Yang Kai when he saw Pei Wen Xuan grinning at him.
Following that, Pei Wen Xuan clenched his fist and punched out in Yang Kai’s direction. Both Demon Qi and Blood Qi churned violently all over his body before flowing out along his arm to become a pitch-black Demon Dragon that bared its fangs menacingly. The Demon Dragon skimmed across the surface of the lake and came charging in this direction with a shocking momentum.
Under normal circumstances, Yang Kai might not have taken this blow seriously; however, he was currently standing in the middle of the blood lake. Most of his concentration was being used to maintain the Blood Light Scripture in order to resist the pulling force coming from the blood lake. He could not even bring out 30% of his actual strength. If he was hit by an attack of this calibre, his concentration might lapse for a moment and he might make a mistake in circulating the Blood Light Scripture. The situation would surely end in tragedy then.
Pei Wen Xuan had truly chosen the best timing to attack.
“Senior Sister Qu, get away from me!” Yang Kai shouted. At the same time, he glared fixedly at the Demon Dragon charging towards him while silently urging his strength in preparation to defend against the attack.
However, the Demon Dragon only flew a couple dozen metres before it suddenly sank into the blood lake and vanished out of sight, like it was pulled downward by some unknown guiding force. It didn’t even make a single ripple on the surface of the lake.
Yang Kai was taken aback.
Similarly, Pei Wen Xuan was dumbfounded. He frowned slightly and fired another violent attack in disbelief. Just like before, the attack was absorbed into the blood lake before it could even approach Yang Kai. This situation made his expression turn ugly. He coldly snorted and glared at Yang Kai fiercely, “You got lucky this time.”
After that, he turned around and rushed towards the palace. The fact that the blood lake could even absorb attacks was beyond his expectations; otherwise, he would have made Yang Kai suffer greatly. In this situation, there was no point in wasting more of his time here. The others had already entered the palace ahead of him. Besides, he was also eager to try his luck inside the palace.
Yang Kai stared at Pei Wen Xuan’s disappearing back, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes. Secretly gritting his teeth, he called out to Qu Hua Shang, “Let’s go.”
The two of them continued onward, taking almost an hour before they arrived at the small island where the palace in the middle of the lake was located. The moment they stepped foot on the island, Qu Hua Shang heaved a sigh of relief. The anxiety that had been weighing down on her finally lifted from her shoulders. Turning around, she studied her surroundings and said, “Junior Brother Yang, there doesn’t seem to be a reward for this stage.”
Yang Kai made a non-committal response. He had already noticed this when Pei Wen Xuan, Zhou Yi, and the others arrived on the island earlier. Unlike the previous three islands, this place did not offer any Monster Cores as rewards. This discovery disappointed him very much.
Based on his calculations, the rewards for the first, second, and third islands had been, on average, Fourth-Order, Fifth-Order, and Sixth-Order Monster Cores, respectively. In that case, there was a high possibility that Seventh-Order Monster Cores might appear on the central island! Unfortunately, it turned out that there was nothing here at all.
It would seem that Seventh-Order Monster Cores were extremely rare, even in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. It was not something that could randomly be given out as a reward. Not to mention, Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance might be hidden inside this palace. What reward could be more valuable than the inheritance itself?
It was just that… Yang Kai mainly came here in hopes of obtaining High-Rank Open Heaven materials. Having gained nothing after coming here, it was only natural for him to feel extremely disappointed. Nevertheless, he was already here. He might as well go inside and have a look. Who could say whether he might find other treasures inside?
Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang glanced at the palace with a measuring look before walking towards the gates of the palace. A short while later, they entered the Grand Hall and immediately felt a chill running up their spines. This place was so eerie that it made all the hairs on their body stand on end.
Yang Kai initially assumed that there would be more tests and greater dangers set up in this place, but now it seemed things were completely different from what he had imagined. The Grand Hall was small enough that the entire situation within could be seen at a glance. Moreover, it was completely empty except for the platform located right in the centre.
A white skeleton sat cross-legged on that platform. There was no saying how many years it had been since the owner of the skeleton died. All the flesh had long since fallen off the bones, but the skeleton remained as white as jade, even exuding a faint trace of spirituality.
Yang Kai was extremely impressed. Although he did not know which era Blood Monster Divine Monarch lived as one of the apex Masters of his time, he was certain that at least several tens of thousands of years had passed since then. It might even be longer than that. The fact that the skeleton of a person from that era could remain preserved in such pristine condition after his death only served to show just how powerful his cultivation was when he was alive.
The people who arrived earlier were gathered around the skeleton. They were sitting separately and staring at the skeleton with scorching gazes as though they were staring at a supreme precious treasure! Upon sensing Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang’s arrival, they glanced in the direction of the entrance in unison.
“Seems everybody’s here!” Pei Wen Xuan chuckled.
Yang Kai glared at Pei Wen Xuan coldly, his murderous intent flaring. Pei Wen Xuan had come looking for trouble when he first arrived at the blood lake and even tried to kill him when he was crossing the blood lake just now. Now that they met again, it was only natural that he had no plans to be soft-hearted.
“Wait, Brother Yang!” Just as Yang Kai was about to attack, Zhou Yi of Great Thousand Blood Land suddenly raised his hand and shouted.
Yang Kai glanced at Zhou Yi and asked lightly, “Do you have an objection, Brother Zhou?”
Zhou Yi politely replied, “No. It’s just that this place is where Blood Monster Divine Monarch left his Dao of Blood inheritance. If you were to fight here, there’s a high chance that you might destroy the inheritance. This Zhou hopes that you will calm yourself for now and not cause a disturbance.”
“This place is where Blood Monster Divine Monarch left his Dao of Blood inheritance?” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
Zhou Yi nodded seriously, “Indeed!”
Several others nodded in agreement.
“How do you know?”
Zhou Yi pointed at the skeleton, “You will know just by immersing your mind in the jade skeleton, Brother Yang.”
Yang Kai glanced at Zhou Yi suspiciously. Spreading out his Divine Sense, he immersed himself into the jade skeleton. His expression soon changed drastically and his eyes filled with astonishment. He could sense the rest of the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture inside the jade skeleton.
They passed through the three islands earlier, and including the stele on the shore, there were a total of four steles. The steles each contained one of the first four chapters of the Blood Light Scripture. However, the four chapters did not make up a whole. They could only be said to make up less than half of the Secret Art.
Yang Kai had guessed that the rest of the Secret Art would be located within the palace in the middle of the lake. It was only by joining both parts into one would the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture be considered complete! At this moment, he could sense the rest of the Blood Light Scripture coming from this skeleton that had died countless years ago!
[This skeleton…]
Zhou Yi looked at Yang Kai and explained, “If my guess is correct, this skeleton is the remains of Blood Monster Divine Monarch. He set up a test in this place and engraved the second half of the Blood Light Scripture on his skeleton, all in the hopes of encountering a fateful person.”
[This is the skeleton of Blood Monster Divine Monarch?] Yang Kai had the vague feeling that something was off. [Didn’t they say that Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s inheritance was hidden deep within the Blood Monster Divine Palace? And, the Blood Monster Divine Palace is located in the depths of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. We have only been here for a few days. This area is only in the periphery of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. Why would the inheritance appear here? The location doesn’t match up…]
It was true that the tests in the blood lake were extremely dangerous, but he could not shake the feeling that something was not right. [But, the Blood Light Scripture in this jade skeleton does not seem to be fake…]
The most important basis of Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance was the Blood Light Scripture. If they comprehended the mysteries of the Blood Light Scripture, then it would be no different from obtaining Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance.
[Just what is going on?] Yang Kai frowned, feeling doubtful
Zhou Yi continued, “Blood Monster Divine Monarch died many years ago, so the Blood Light Scripture is now unique in the world. His skeleton might look like it is perfectly preserved, but nobody can guarantee that it can withstand violent impacts. If anybody were to fight here, they will most likely destroy the skeleton containing the inheritance. That was why we came to a consensus before you arrived, Brother Yang. We agreed to get rid of anybody who tries to use force in this place.”
Yang Kai had wondered why they were still standing around peacefully even though they arrived more than an hour earlier. It would seem that they had taken some time to reach a consensus. In addition, they were only being so restrained towards one another out of fear that the impacts of their fight would destroy the jade skeleton.
He glared at Pei Wen Xuan coldly. The other party returned the look with fierce fighting intent and a reckless expression, which made the others frown in response.
Zhou Yi secretly sent a Divine Sense transmission to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, please endure for a moment. I will join forces with you later and we can kill him together when this matter is over!”
He had been harassed by Pei Wen Xuan earlier; unfortunately, he knew that he was not Pei Wen Xuan’s opponent and had no choice but to endure the humiliation as a result. With the chance of working together with Yang Kai in front of him, it was only natural that he did not wish to miss the opportunity.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai nodded, “Good! I’ll let him live for a little while longer.”
Pei Wen Xuan immediately sneered, “It’s uncertain who is the one with the opportunity to live a little longer.”
Zhou Yi was overjoyed and cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Brother Yang! Since everybody has no objections, let us start.”
After saying that, he eagerly closed his eyes and immersed himself in the jade skeleton to comprehend the Secret Art.
He deeply believed that he had a great advantage and it was inevitable that he would obtain Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance. It was for that reason that he was also the most afraid of conflict breaking out among each other. Otherwise, he would not have persuaded Yang Kai as soon as he saw him arrive.
The others naturally followed suit.
Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang took a few steps forward. They found a seat below the skeleton and looked up at the jade skeleton.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai sent a transmission to Qu Hua Shang, “Be careful, Senior Sister Qu. If you notice something wrong, protect yourself immediately!”
Qu Hua Shang turned to look at him and asked quietly, “Junior Brother, did you notice something wrong?”
He shook his head, “It just doesn’t feel right.”
He could not say what was off about this place. He simply felt that Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s inheritance would not be located in this place. But, he could not guarantee that his conjecture was correct either. What if this really was Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance?
Focusing his mind, he closed his eyes and immersed himself into the jade skeleton once more. A string of characters immediately jumped out at him inside his mind, “Whoever obtains this King’s inheritance may inherit the Blood Monster Cave Heaven!”
Yang Kai had only taken a quick glance earlier, so he failed to notice this sentence just now. However, the feeling of unease in his heart became even stronger after seeing this sentence.
Blood Monster Divine Monarch was proficient in the Dao of Blood and the Dao of Beast Taming when he was still alive. This fact was portrayed extremely evidently throughout the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. The blood lake was the manifestation of the Dao of Blood while the various Monster Beasts were the embodiment of the Dao of Beast Taming. So, why would a person be able to inherit the entire Blood Monster Cave Heaven just by obtaining the Dao of Blood inheritance?
Another point that puzzled Yang Kai greatly was the location of the blood lake. The location of the blood lake could not be considered hidden. The area in which the blood lake was located was also indicated in the map given to him by the Proprietress; in other words, their predecessors had definitely explored this area before. However, the blood lake was not marked clearly upon the map!
If the blood lake had existed in the past, then why was it never mentioned before over the years? After all, the Dao of Blood inheritance was no trivial matter. The slightest information leak regarding this matter would cause such a huge commotion that everybody would know about it. Be that as it may, nobody had ever heard about the existence of the blood lake or the Dao of Blood inheritance until the Blood Monster Cave Heaven opened this time.
As such, there was only one explanation that would make sense. The blood lake and the Dao of Blood inheritance only appeared recently. It had not appeared in the past. That was why their predecessors who entered the Blood Monster Cave Heaven in the past had no knowledge about this matter. That was also why the blood lake was not marked on the map.
The cultivators who entered the Blood Monster Cave Heaven were the first batch of people to come into contact with the Dao of Blood inheritance. But, if that was the case, then it did not make sense either.
If Blood Monster Divine Monarch had set up various tests in this place in hopes of handing down his Dao of Blood inheritance to his destined successor, then there was no reason for him to hide this place for so many years. It was not until the most recent opening of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven that this place was revealed to the public. If he really wanted to find an Inheritance Disciple, then this blood lake should have appeared before the eyes of the world a long time ago; after all, the most likely result of hiding this place too deeply was the loss of his legacy with time.
[It doesn’t make sense. I just can’t figure it out…] Yang Kai shook his head while comprehending the rest of the Blood Light Scripture. In any case, the Blood Light Scripture was definitely genuine. Such an exquisite Secret Art was very rare. At this point, the only thing he could do was take it one step at a time.
As time passed, blood mist lingered around the people sitting around the skeleton. They were immersed in the mystery of the Blood Light Scripture, unable to extricate themselves. A glimmering light suddenly lit up in the eye socket of the skeleton without anybody noticing. The glimmering light was very dim and weak, almost like a candle that was about to go out. It silently drifted out of the sunken eye socket, circled around the skeleton leisurely before floating over to Qu Hua Shang.
The glimmering light floated up and down, seeming to be searching for something. It did not stay in front of Qu Hua Shang for long before moving on to the next cultivator. The short man who hid his abilities earlier was sitting to her right, not far away from her. The glimmering light seemed to have a sentience of its own and after observing the short man for a while, it moved away.
After investigating the cultivators one by one, the glimmering light came to Zhou Yi. It stopped in front of Zhou Yi for the longest time, almost as though it had found something of interest; however, it eventually floated towards the next person sitting beside Zhou Yi.
The glimmering light soon circled around and came to Yang Kai, who was sitting close beside Qu Hua Shang. Then, the glimmering light suddenly shone brightly like a wild beast that had found the most delicious food and immediately slammed straight into his mind without hesitation. Even though it looked like a flickering flame that was on the verge of extinguishing, it slipped into Yang Kai’s head without the slightest hindrance and quickly vanished out of sight.
Yang Kai was focused on comprehending the latter portion of the Blood Light Scripture when all of a sudden, his body shuddered slightly and a feeling of coolness spread throughout him. Before he could figure out what was going on, he felt his Knowledge Sea defences being penetrated. It seemed to be caused by something entering without his permission. Immediately after that, a cold voice sounded in his mind, “Junior, hand over your body!”
Shocked, Yang Kai quickly immersed his mind into his Knowledge Sea and transformed into his Soul Avatar. The first thing he saw was an illusory phantom charging towards him. The illusory phantom clearly looked very weak, but it gave him the feeling that it was very powerful. All of a sudden, it exploded without warning and turned into a cloud of grey mist that tried to wrap around him.
Hurriedly backing away to avoid the grey mist, Yang Kai was shocked as he shouted, “Soul Possession!?”
The illusory phantom that invaded his Knowledge Sea was clearly a Soul!
The horror he felt in his heart was indescribable. Although he had been concentrating on comprehending the Blood Light Scripture, a part of his consciousness had remained aware of the outside world. It was a countermeasure he took in case Pei Wen Xuan secretly attacked him. Even so, he failed to notice anything until this Soul invaded his Knowledge Sea. There was only one explanation for this outcome. This person’s Soul was so much stronger than his that it could completely evade his perception.
[Who!?] He immediately thought about the jade skeleton sitting cross-legged in front of him. For a moment, he was so shocked that it felt as though his Soul had been blown away. [It can’t be Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Soul, right!? If that’s the case, then this might be the end for me!]
Blood Monster Divine Monarch was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Even if he had been dead for countless years, his Soul was not something Yang Kai could resist.
Yang Kai watched as the fog relentlessly approached him. Gritting his teeth, he stretched out his hand in that direction and roared, “Cut!”
A sword light silently slashed downward as the Soul Splitting Saber that had been nurtured in his Knowledge Sea all this time manifested in his grip. Combined with the Heaven Severing Slash that Tian Yan taught him in the past, the power of this move was absolutely staggering. However, what made Yang Kai sink into utter despair was that the mist only scattered for a moment under the sword light of the Soul Splitting Saber before it converged together once more and doggedly chased after him. He nearly spat blood at the sight!
The Soul Splitting Saber was an Emperor Artifact. Its strength was no longer able to keep up with his cultivation progress, so it had fallen into disuse. Nevertheless, it was specially meant to target Souls. Not to mention that it had been nurtured with the Heaven Severing Slash Secret Technique for so long. It could be said that even a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master who was caught off guard by this move would become dazed. Be that as it may, the mist was completely unobstructed in any way. It could be seen just how pure and powerful the Soul was.
“Junior, are you trying to resist?” An aged voice came from within the mist, “This Old Master has been waiting for tens of thousands of years and finally obtained a good opportunity! How can you possibly resist? Obediently hand your body over to this Old Master and you will suffer less pain!”
Yang Kai of course ignored the voice and repeatedly activated the Soul Splitting Saber. The Soul Splitting Saber transformed into countless sword lights that slashed down. Accordingly, his Spiritual Energy also flowed out like the ebbing tide.
Every blow from the sword light would scatter the mist, but the mist would gather together again quickly. Although the attacks seemed to have no effect on the other party, they bought Yang Kai precious time to escape. After all, everything would be over if he was enveloped by the mist.
After launching several dozen consecutive attacks, Yang Kai calmed down considerably. Judging from the situation, this invading Soul was indeed extremely powerful; however, too much time had passed. It was no longer in its peak condition. How could he have resisted otherwise? Furthermore, it turned out that the attacks of the Soul Splitting Saber were not completely ineffective. The grey mist had faded ever so slightly after being subjected to this barrage of attacks. It was not very obvious. Nonetheless, this place was within his Knowledge Sea, so how could he not notice the changes?
“Insolent Junior! Once this Old Master has seized your body, I will capture your Soul and make you beg for death!” An exasperated voice came from within the grey mist.
Yang Kai became more and more at ease upon hearing those words. Thus, he relaxed and continued to attack the other party with the Soul Splitting Saber. Concurrently, he asked, “Are you Blood Monster Divine Monarch?”
The grey mist charging at him froze for a moment, but immediately a furious howl followed, “Don’t you dare mention that Old Dog in front of this Old Master! Beneath the Heavens this Old Master cannot coexist with him!”
Yang Kai was absolutely shocked. [This guy is not Blood Monster Divine Monarch!?]
Based on his speculation, the Soul had probably been hiding inside the skeleton. If that was the case, then how could it not be Blood Monster Divine Monarch? Moreover, it sounded like this person had a huge grudge against Blood Monster Divine Monarch. A possibility suddenly flashed through his mind. [Unless… that skeleton is not the remains of Blood Monster Divine Monarch. It belongs to somebody else!]
“Who are you? Announce your name!” Yang Kai slashed down with the Soul Splitting Saber once more, blocking the other party’s offensive to a certain extent. This place was within his Knowledge Sea; therefore, he held a unique advantage in this battle. Unless the gap between their Spiritual Energy was extremely wide, the act of possession would never succeed under general circumstances.
The grey mist coldly snorted, “This Old Master is the Black Crow Divine Monarch!”
Yang Kai was secretly speechless, [Another Divine Monarch!]
Only those in the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm had the right to crown themselves with the title of ‘Divine Monarch’. [Doesn’t that mean that the Black Crow Divine Monarch was a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master when he was alive!? No wonder his Spiritual Energy is still so powerful that he can even try to possess somebody else to resurrect himself even though so many years have passed since his death!]
What made him curious was the reason why this Black Crow Divine Monarch turned up in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
“How dare Xue Yao, that old fart, imprison this Old Master!? Hahaha! So many years have passed, yet that old fart is dead while this Old Master still lives! How ironic!” The grey mist continuously pounced on while laughing maniacally.
Only then did Yang Kai realize that this person had been imprisoned within the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
Blood Monster Divine Monarch was certainly very impressive. He even managed to imprison another High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master in his Small Universe. That being said, it was highly likely that this Black Crow Divine Monarch was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm when he died. If not, he would not be so helpless against Blood Monster Divine Monarch.
“This Old Master spent countless years and only a hundred years ago broke free of that accursed seal. Unfortunately, this Old Master’s physical body was destroyed eons ago. Only my Remnant Soul remained. Fortunately, Xue Yao left behind his Dao of Blood inheritance. What kind of aptitude do you think this Old Master has!? I easily comprehended his Dao of Blood inheritance. Junior, do you know why that old fart’s Dao of Blood Secret Art is called the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture?”
It was hard to say whether it was because Black Crow Divine Monarch had been feeling lonely for countless years, but he was very talkative, and Yang Kai was perfectly willing to be his conversation partner. Upon hearing those words, Yang Kai said, “Please explain, Senior.”
Black Crow Divine Monarch chuckled softly, “The emphasis is placed on the word ‘Immortal’ in the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture. It allows a person to become immortal, undying, and indestructible! When you cultivate the Blood Light Scripture to its limit, you can be reborn from just a single drop of blood! This Secret Art is the ultimate Secret Art throughout the entire universe. It incited a reign of terror when it first appeared in the world and in the end, it ultimately fell into old dog Xue Yao’s hands.”
Yang Kai was curious, “If you can be reborn from just a single drop of blood, then why did Blood Monster Divine Monarch die in the end?”
Black Crow Divine Monarch coldly snorted, “One’s lifespan is limited. He simply died of old age. The power of time is extremely cruel. There have been countless heroes throughout the ages, but who among them has managed to escape the clutches of time?”
Yang Kai backed away while attacking ruthlessly and nodded, “So Senior obtained Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance? What about the tests earlier? Were they also your doing, Senior?”
Black Crow Divine Monarch said it himself, he had thoroughly comprehended the Blood Light Scripture. In that case, why would the various tests for the Dao of Blood inheritance still remain?
“That’s right. How would this Old Master find a suitable candidate to possess if I had not done that?” Black Crow Divine Monarch readily admitted, “All the tests in this place were indeed set up by that old dog, Xue Yao, before his death. It’s just that this Old Master used certain means to move them here. This Old Master initially had his eye on another one of you brats. He seems to have a foundation in the Dao of Blood, so it would save me a lot of effort if I possessed him. But… your vitality is so abundant that it is simply outrageous. If I can possess you, I will get double the result with half the effort when cultivating the Blood Light Scripture in the future. Boy, you can only blame your poor luck for appearing in front of this Old Master at this time!”
The person with a foundation in the Dao of Blood that he mentioned was undoubtedly referring to Zhou Yi of Great Thousand Blood Land. Among the few people who arrived at the palace in the middle of the lake, he was the only one with a foundation in the Dao of Blood.
From what Black Crow Divine Monarch mentioned, Yang Kai also learned that all the tests in this place were indeed set up by Blood Monster Divine Monarch in order to pass down his Dao of Blood Legacy. They were simply relocated to this area by Black Crow Divine Monarch through unknown means.
[For a man to retain such great abilities even after his death… Divine Monarchs truly cannot be understood with common sense.] Just as Yang Kai was feeling amazed, the aura exuding from the grey mist suddenly soared. Immediately following that, an invisible and intangible Soul Attack shot out from within the grey mist.
Yang Kai was caught off-guard and took the attack straight on as a result. In that instant, his Soul became unstable, his mind was greatly shaken, and his entire Knowledge Sea became turbulent. Even his Soul Avatar nearly collapsed.
[This old dog… he’s been concealing his real ability!] Yang Kai was deeply shocked. After seeing Black Crow Divine Monarch getting slashed by the Soul Splitting Saber and failing to approach him, he had mistakenly assumed that the other party was not that strong. It was not until Black Crow Divine Monarch suddenly unleashed such a terrifyingly powerful attack that he realised his mistake. The other party had been hiding his skills all this while; it was just so that he could catch Yang Kai off guard.
Thinking about it again, it made perfect sense. The enemy was a Divine Monarch after all. How could he not have a trick or two up his sleeves? If not, how could he have penetrated Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea defences or even plan on possessing him?
“Hahaha!” Black Crow Divine Monarch laughed madly. The scattered mist gathered together again and lunged at Yang Kai like a tiger pouncing on its prey, “Junior, why did you think this Old Master kindly explained all of this to you!? It’s simply to distract you! Youngsters nowadays truly do not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth! But worry not. This Old Master will definitely take good care of your body after possessing it. You can also tell me if you have any dying wishes. This Old Master will fulfill them to the best of his abilities!”
While he was speaking, he had already arrived in front of Yang Kai and looked like he was about to envelop him entirely.
At that moment, Yang Kai’s dull eyes suddenly regained clarity. He backed away and shouted, “Many thanks for your kindness, Senior, but this Junior will fulfill his wishes himself! I don’t need to trouble you for your help, Senior!”
The Soul Splitting Saber unleashed another burst of sword light and slashed down diagonally to scatter the grey mist once more.
“You…” Black Crow Divine Monarch’s voice was filled with disbelief. He was nothing more than a Remnant Soul at the moment, so the power he could exert was limited as a result; even so, he was still the Remnant Soul of a Divine Monarch! How could a trivial Emperor Realm Junior resist him? And yet, that was exactly what happened just now. The boy in front of him had recovered in a matter of moments, causing the plans he believed were fool-proof to go horribly wrong.
Yang Kai did not give Black Crow Divine Monarch the slightest chance to approach him again. Having suffered once just now, he did not dare to underestimate his opponent. He reached out a hand when the sword light came slashing down and his Spiritual Energy surged violently as he shouted, “Blossoming Lotus!”
A lotus suddenly blossomed in the middle of the grey mist. The flower was as white as jade and looked extremely delicate, as if it might be blown apart by a gentle breeze. However, this very flower was swiftly absorbing the Spiritual Energy of the grey mist. With this power, the flower bloomed quickly and several layers of lotus petals unfurled magnificently.
“Ahhh…” Black Crow Divine Monarch’s screams of rage and agony came from within the grey mist.
The Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique consumed a lot of energy to unleash, but it would use the enemy’s own Spiritual Energy as nutrients to bloom after it was activated. It was a move with unlimited potential. If this attack struck an opponent of similar strength, their Soul would immediately suffer heavy damage. Unfortunately, the power of Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul was simply on a different scale.
Yang Kai immediately clenched his fist after unleashing the Blossoming Lotus and shouted, “Sealed Lotus!”
Another huge lotus appeared, directly wrapping the grey mist within its petals. It practically presented the exact opposite situation compared to when the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique first appeared. This huge lotus swiftly closed and turned into a bud, sealing the grey mist within its petals so that it was plunged into an endless darkness.
*Hong…*
A huge force exploded from inside the flower and the entire lotus was torn apart immediately. The grey mist came rushing out aggressively from within the lotus and charged at Yang Kai viciously. Black Crow Divine Monarch roared in fury, “Your resistance is futile, Junior! This Old Master will not allow you to act so impudent in front of me!”
It was not until this moment that he finally revealed his true power. At the beginning, he had only wanted to numb Yang Kai’s will so that it was easier for him to take over his body. He was a Remnant Soul after all, so what little remained of his strength was running out and he had to use that power sparingly. Otherwise, he might be wiped out before he could even possess Yang Kai. That would make him the greatest laughing stock of all time!
Black Crow Divine Monarch’s aura, which was concealed until now, soared. It was more than twice as strong as before and the attacks of the Soul Splitting Saber did not have much effect on him. It simply slashed through the grey mist but did not delay or force him back in any way.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai’s expression remained as calm as before. His large hand slammed down in the direction of the grey mist once more as he shouted, “Blossoming Lotus!”
“Little bastard!” Black Crow Divine Monarch was furious. He had been struck by that Soul Secret Technique just now. Even judging the attack from the heights he achieved in the past, it was an ingenious idea even though the power behind it was not worth mentioning. The strength of the attack was weak, but that was related to the strength of the user. He believed that the power behind this attack would only increase steadily as Yang Kai’s cultivation improved over time.
The grey mist dissipated on its own, turning into a trail of grey vapour as though to avoid the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique. Unfortunately, this place was within Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and he was very sensitive to all the changes that occurred. How could he allow the grey mist to avoid his attack?
The flower appeared again and the flower petals of the lotus bloomed magnificently. Black Crow Divine Monarch screamed in agony but did not stop in place. Enduring the pain in his Soul, he charged towards Yang Kai as though desperate to take over his body right then and there.
“Sealed Lotus!”
Black Crow Divine Monarch was livid as he roared, “Junior, do you only know these two tricks!?”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was wrapped in a huge lotus once more. Although he soon broke out of the shackles, the delay gave Yang Kai some breathing space and allowed him to put some distance between them.
“It’s not about how new your tricks are, but whether they work or not!” Whilst fleeing, Yang Kai observed the changes of Black Crow Divine Monarch and what he saw made his heart sink.
It truly was the Remnant Soul of a Divine Monarch. Black Crow Divine Monarch had received at least several hundred hits from the Soul Splitting Saber, in addition to two rounds of the Blossoming Lotus and Sealed Lotus Secret Techniques, since he first revealed himself. However, the grey mist had not changed much at all. In other words, the damage he suffered was extremely limited.
Meanwhile, Black Crow Divine Monarch was about to explode with anger! He originally thought that he could succeed at taking over this boy’s body in an instant, but he had yet to succeed even after all the unexpected twists and turns. For some inexplicable reason, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong. It was just that he had no time to think about it at the moment. As soon as he broke free of the restraints, he charged towards Yang Kai again.
“Blossoming Lotus! Sealed Lotus!”
…..
The two self-created Soul Secret Techniques were unleashed repeatedly. The former was a method to attack one’s enemy while the latter was a means to restrain one’s enemy. Two Souls were engaged in a chase inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, caught in a life-and-death contest.
At the beginning, Black Crow Divine Monarch had cursed and yelled in exasperation. Later, he no longer called out so loudly. He simply said coldly, “Junior, let’s see how long you can keep this up. The burden on your body from casting these Soul Secret Techniques is not small. Sooner or later, the power in your Knowledge Sea will be depleted. Let’s see how you resist this Old Master then!? Once I take over your body, I will definitely kill all your friends and family. I will sell your women to the cheapest whorehouse and force them to take customers every single day!”
Yang Kai was furious, “Old dog, you court death!”
Black Crow Divine Monarch snickered, “This Old Master gave you a chance, but you didn’t know how to appreciate the opportunity I gave you. Who else can you blame but yourself? How dare a trivial Emperor Realm boy…”
His sentence trailed off all of a sudden. The grey mist that had been chasing Yang Kai relentlessly also came to a halt. Seeming to sense something, he silently perceived his surroundings and immediately cried out in alarm, “No! That’s impossible! You are just an Emperor Realm Junior! How can you have such powerful Spiritual Energy!?”
He finally realized what that nagging feeling in his heart was. Having been focused on trying to take over Yang Kai’s body, he did not think too much about other things. It was only at this moment that he realised something. How could an Emperor Realm cultivator be this powerful? This person’s Spiritual Energy was almost on par with a common Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master’s.
That was not the most important thing though. The most important point was that Yang Kai had unleashed so many Soul Attacks earlier, so logically speaking, his Spiritual Energy should have been exhausted long ago. Even if it was not depleted, it should have gone down considerably. On the contrary, Black Crow Divine Monarch’s perception told him that Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea remained as plentiful as ever. There were no signs of depletion at all. In other words, Yang Kai was still in peak condition.
“Are you not an Emperor Realm cultivator!?” Black Crow Divine Monarch felt as though he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. Even his voice became one pitch higher.
The anger on Yang Kai’s face disappeared in an instant and he floated just above his Knowledge Sea as he looked at Black Crow Divine Monarch lightly, “You must be joking, Divine Monarch. What else can I be if not an Emperor Realm Junior? I am indeed an Emperor Realm cultivator! Guaranteed exchange if not genuine!”
“How dare you still try to deceive me, Junior!? How can an Emperor Realm brat have such powerful Spiritual Energy!? You unleashed so many Soul Attacks earlier. How is it possible that your Spiritual Energy shows no signs of depletion!?” After saying that, Black Crow Divine Monarch seemed to discover something, “Wait! Your Knowledge Sea itself is strange !”
Grey and wispy attacks suddenly shot out of the grey mist and slammed into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea. The sea became turbulent, revealing the seven coloured island hiding below. An inexplicable aura immediately leaked out from that seven coloured island. It was extremely mysterious, almost as though it contained some sort of Grand Dao.
“This is…” Black Crow Divine Monarch stared fixedly at the seven coloured island. Immediately after that, he reacted as though he made an amazing discovery and exclaimed in shock, “Soul Warming Lotus! Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus!”
“You sure are well-informed, Divine Monarch. Your vision is indeed sharp. This Junior is impressed!” Yang Kai said lightly. Stretching out his hand, the seven coloured island flew out of his Knowledge Sea and transformed into a seven colour lotus. It bloomed with a dazzling light, floating just beneath his feet. Since it had been discovered, then there was no need to hide it any longer. Yang Kai figured he would just display it proudly. It would also serve as a form of deterrent.
Above his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar stood silently on the Soul Warming Lotus and stared at the grey mist calmly.
If Black Crow Divine Monarch had a physical body right now, he would be dripping with cold sweat. He spoke in a voice full of disbelief, “Junior, were you plotting against me all this time!?”
If he remembered correctly, Yang Kai had appeared panicked and flustered several times before. Only now did he realise that there was no reason for Yang Kai to panic when the latter had the support of a Supreme Treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus. It was clearly all just a ruse.
The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure that constantly nourished the Soul. Moreover, the lotus in front of him shone with seven colours. With such a foundation, Yang Kai’s Soul was a virtually indestructible existence and his Spiritual Energy would be replenished at many times the average rate. He was hoping to possess Yang Kai when he exhausted himself, but now such hopes were clearly nothing more than an illusion.
“I simply replied in kind!” Yang Kai glanced at the grey mist faintly. How could he possibly hold back after learning that the other party was the Remnant Soul of a Divine Monarch? Who knew what kind of means these Divine Monarchs might have?
Black Crow Divine Monarch gnashed his teeth in hatred. The grey mist shifted erratically for some time, indicating the fluctuations in his mood. He was currently stuck in this situation with no way out, so he was secretly feeling regretful. If he had known about this earlier, he would have chosen the Junior with the foundation in the Dao of Blood instead. At the beginning, he simply felt that Yang Kai’s aura was much more vibrant which would be more advantageous when cultivating the Blood Light Scripture in the future. From the looks of the situation though, he walked himself right into a deep pit-fall. There was no way to extricate himself now that he was so deeply trapped in this situation.
“Divine Monarch, you asked if this Junior only knows those two tricks!” Yang Kai leisurely lifted his hand while speaking.
A sense of crisis suddenly filled Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Soul and he instinctively realised that Yang Kai was going to unleash a far more dangerous move.
“Now I can finally answer your question, Divine Monarch. This Junior indeed has another trick, but… I wonder if you’ll appreciate it!” After saying that, Yang Kai gestured forward with his hand and commanded, “Consume him!”
A loud buzzing sound suddenly filled the air. Immediately after that, small black dots suddenly flew out from a bracelet on Yang Kai’s wrist. Those black dots were innumerable and soon turned into a large black cloud that swiftly enveloped the grey mist.
Black Crow Divine Monarch was extremely horrified as he shrieked in terror, “Soul Devouring Insects!”
Those small black dots were not black dots at all. There were distinct and oddly-shaped insects.
It was not as if Black Crow Divine Monarch had never seen Soul Devouring Insects before. These kinds of Exotic Insects specialised in devouring Spiritual Energy and could be said to be the natural nemesis of all Souls. That was also precisely the reason why they had a hard time surviving or reaching maturity because most cultivators who came across them would exterminate them while they were still young and weak.
Generally speaking, it was difficult for even mature Soul Devouring Insects to threaten cultivators who were in the Dao Source Realm and above; however, these Soul Devouring Insects far surpassed his cognition. Each insect exuded a ferocious aura that caused Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Soul to feel terrified. He was almost certain that things would not end well for him if he were to be enveloped by this cloud of insects. No matter how powerful his Soul was, he could not withstand the devouring of these insects.
His guess was right. Yang Kai had the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, so his Spiritual Energy was virtually inexhaustible; as such, there was no need to worry about his Soul being damaged. He could safely use his own Spiritual Energy to rear these insects. After so many years, how could they not become powerful?
If Black Crow Divine Monarch had been at his peak, he might not have been threatened by this cloud of insects. Unfortunately, he was currently just a weakened Remnant Soul. He was nothing but delicious food in front of these Soul Devouring Insects.
The Soul Devouring Insects had been dormant when Yang Kai hid them inside the Insect Enslavement Bracelet earlier, but now that they were released, they eagerly swarmed towards the grey mist like a cat that had caught the scent of a delicious fish.
Black Crow Divine Monarch gave a strange cry before turning and fleeing. The cloud of insects followed closely behind, relentlessly giving chase
Standing on top of the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai coldly watched from the side-lines. Black Crow Divine Monarch was not the first person to invade his Knowledge Sea, or even the first person to try and possess him. However, anybody who dared to invade his Knowledge Sea had suffered a tragic ending.
All of this was thanks to the Soul Warming Lotus. It was certainly worthy of being known as a Supreme Treasure. Not only did it nourish his Soul over the years, but it also made his Spiritual Energy become unimaginably powerful. It was what allowed him to turn certain defeat into victory numerous times in the past. It could be said that Yang Kai would have died countless times by now if not for the Soul Warming Lotus. This Supreme Treasure that he obtained a long, long time ago had helped him a lot throughout his journey on the Martial Dao; thus, he was very grateful for it.
It had to be said that Black Crow Divine Monarch was both cunning and resourceful. This place was within Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, so his Soul would naturally be subjected to some amount of suppression; even so, he was extremely fleet-footed in his escape. The cloud of Soul Devouring Insects could not do anything to him.
Upon seeing this situation, Yang Kai sent out a few thoughts. The cloud of Soul Devouring Insects immediately split into four and transformed into four columns of black smoke. These four columns of black smoke moved in four separate directions to chase and encircle Black Crow Divine Monarch!
This time around, Black Crow Divine Monarch fell into a dangerous situation. Although he was struggling hard, he could not escape from the jaws of the Soul Devouring Insects. The grey mist was soon covered in a layer of black insects. The Soul Devouring Insects silently and constantly fed on his Soul and devoured his Spiritual Energy. It made him scream in agony. Even the speed of his escape became significantly slower. The moment he slowed down, even more Soul Devouring Insects latched onto him. It only took several tens of breaths for the grey mist to be completely shrouded in the cloud of black insects.
“Junior, let me off! This Old Master can teach you the true Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture and bring you to the Blood Monster Divine Palace to receive Xue Yao’s inheritance in exchange!”
“The true Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture?” Yang Kai frowned at those words, “Are you saying that what we saw before is fake?”
“Those are real. Otherwise, how would people be able to circulate it smoothly? If not, you would not have passed those tests earlier nor would you have reached the palace in the middle of the lake. But, the Blood Light Scripture that this Old Master carved on his skeleton is fake. This Old Master modified several parts.”
“You sure are evil, old dog!” Yang Kai cursed.
“Let me go and I will hand over the real Blood Light Scripture. Your vitality is so abundant, so if you can cultivate the Blood Light Scripture, you will have twice the result with half the effort! It won’t take even a thousand years for you to become the next Blood Monster Divine Monarch!”
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “Stop trying to tempt me. This King cultivates the Grand Dao of Space. The Dao of Blood is useless to me!”
If not because he wanted to obtain the Seventh-Order Monster Core reward, Yang Kai might not have interfered in this chaos in the first place. The Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture might be amazing, but it was not very attractive to him.
Black Crow Divine Monarch kept trying though, “Of course, it’s good to have your own Dao, but the Blood Light Scripture is a miraculous creation! If you cultivate it to the limits, you can even resurrect from a single drop of blood. You will be immortal and indestructible! Doesn’t that tempt you at all!?”
“Blood Monster Divine Monarch died. What do you mean by immortal and indestructible?” Yang Kai snorted with disdain.
The Black Crow Divine Monarch was furious, “Even if you don’t need the Dao of Blood, don’t tell me you don’t want Xue Yao’s inheritance? It’s the inheritance of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master! If you obtain that, you will instantly become wealthy beyond your imagination!”
Yang Kai faintly said, “Of course, I want it. How can I not want it? But… I don’t trust you!”
The other party was a Divine Monarch after all. It was better for him to just ignore such tempting words. If he really became interested, then he would surely be devoured to the point where even his bones would be gone. The words of this old fox who had lived for countless millennia were incomparably shrewd. How could they be so easy to deal with?
“Junior, do you really plan to kill this Old Master!?” Black Crow Divine Monarch roared furiously.
“You wanted to possess me, Divine Monarch. Why should I show you mercy? Time is running out. Divine Monarch, please stop resisting and just hurry up and die!”
“How you vex this Old Master!” Black Crow Divine Monarch was furious. If he was given another chance to choose, he would never have tried to possess Yang Kai. Unfortunately, things had already progressed to this point where regret would not make a difference. Thus, he ruthlessly made up his mind and snarled, “Junior, if you want this Old Master to die, then don’t think you will get off easily either! This Old Master will fight you to the death!”
While saying so, the grey mist that was covered in a layer of Soul Devouring Insects abruptly turned around and charged towards Yang Kai. A terrifying Spiritual Energy fluctuation came from within the grey mist and it was obvious that Black Crow Divine Monarch was about to unleash a powerful Secret Technique.
How could Yang Kai dare to take the desperate Soul Attack of a Remnant High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master’s Soul lightly? He immediately drew upon the power of the Soul Warming Lotus. Seven-coloured light shone brightly, wrapping around his Soul Avatar. With the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, he would not be defeated regardless of how mighty the attack unleashed by his opponent.
Yang Kai had only finished preparing when the grey mist arrived in front of him. The grey mist slammed into the seven-colour light barrier without any hesitation whatsoever. Violent Spiritual Energy burst out, killing countless Soul Devouring Insects that were latched onto the grey mist in an instant while the rest were sent flying by the impact.
The seven-colour light barrier shuddered fiercely and even Yang Kai, who was standing atop the Soul Warming Lotus, felt the impact shaking his Soul. He couldn’t help feeling shocked. The desperate struggle of a Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul was certainly impressive. He had to admit that he had underestimated his opponent’s strength.
A buzzing sound rang out as the Soul Devouring Insects that were sent flying earlier swarmed towards the grey mist once more. It didn’t take long for them to devour the grey mist cleanly.
Yang Kai was slightly taken aback!
[Has Black Crow Divine Monarch died?] Even though the last attack was very powerful, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling that it was more show than substance. It didn’t feel right. Just as Yang Kai was mulling over this matter, he suddenly grunted as he could feel that his Soul defences had been torn open and something was fleeing from his Knowledge Sea.
It was all a diversion to escape!
Resentment filled Yang Kai’s heart. He had taken all sorts of countermeasures and guarded against countless possibilities, but in the end, he still allowed Black Crow Divine Monarch to escape. He had assumed that Black Crow Divine Monarch’s attack was a last-ditch attempt born out of desperation, but who could have known that the other party was simply making a feint?
It was uncertain what kind of Secret Technique it was, but Black Crow Divine Monarch managed to separate out a thread of his consciousness. By doing so, he attracted the attention of Yang Kai and the Soul Devouring Insects while the rest of his Remnant Soul immediately found a chance to escape.
[He truly is an old fox. Cunning indeed.]
Nevertheless, what Black Crow Divine Monarch did would severely damage his foundation even though he survived. In the beginning, he had been slashed countless times by Yang Kai with the Soul Splitting Saber. Next, he suffered several rounds of the Blossoming Lotus and Sealed Lotus Secret Techniques. Afterward, his Soul was gnawed on by the Soul Devouring Insects. In the end, he was forced to split a thread of his consciousness to fake his death and escape. It could be said that Black Crow Divine Monarch had suffered great losses. It would be a miracle if he even managed to retain half of his Spiritual Energy from before.
[Now that he has escaped from my Knowledge Sea, he will surely try to possess somebody else!]
Yang Kai did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly dragged his mind out of his Knowledge Sea, opened his eyes, and glanced around his surroundings. What he saw shocked him greatly. That was because he was the only one who was safe and sound among all the people present. On the other hand, the vitality of the others was churning violently. The blood mist around their bodies was dense; moreover, they had pained expressions on their faces like they were enduring great suffering. They were all experiencing cultivation dissonance!
Black Crow Divine Monarch himself mentioned that he had modified the second segment of the Blood Light Scripture that he left in his skeleton; therefore, it would be weirder not to experience cultivation dissonance after cultivating the modified Blood Light Scripture. Only Yang Kai escaped this crisis because he was too busy to cultivate this Secret Art when Black Crow Divine Monarch penetrated his Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai turned his head to look at the people around him and swept his Divine Sense across the Grand Hall, but he failed to locate any traces of Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul. Nevertheless, he was certain that the other party was not only still here but had also entered somebody else’s body. Black Crow Divine Monarch was most likely in the process of taking over somebody’s body right now. It was a pity that Yang Kai had no way to determine who Black Crow Divine Monarch was trying to possess.
A groan came from beside him. It was Qu Hua Shang sitting next to him who made the sound. At this moment, her complexion was flushed red and the blood mist around her body was literally steaming. She looked like she was in great pain.
Yang Kai had no time to search for Black Crow Divine Monarch. If he could not find a way to resolve Qu Hua Shang’s current situation, then it was likely that her meridians would be destroyed and she would become a cripple.
Coming to stand behind her with a flash, Yang Kai slapped his palm against her back and circulate his strength. He poured his own power into her body, attempting to restore her chaotic vitality and Emperor Qi to order.
Although she was experiencing dissonance in her cultivation, it had not been long since it began. She instinctively realised that something was wrong, so she did not reject his help and willingly cooperated with him instead. Soon after, her churning vitality gradually calmed down. The entire process only took about half a cup of tea’s time. Her complexion softened and her Blood Qi that had been churning like boiling water became calm once more.
She slowly opened her eyes, a trace of lingering fear flashing through her eyes as she said softly, “Many thanks, Junior Brother!”
She did not know what had gone wrong. After comprehending the second part of the Blood Light Scripture recorded in the skeleton, her Blood Qi went out of control and began to boil. Even her consciousness became hazy. If Yang Kai had not stepped in to rescue her at that moment, she would have suffered a disastrous fate.
“Senior Sister, it’s more important to treat your wounds immediately!” Yang Kai said. At the same time, he secretly sent a Divine Sense transmission to her, “Senior Sister, listen to me. The Dao of Blood inheritance here is a complete conspiracy. It’s a trap set up by a guy who has the title ‘Black Crow Divine Monarch’…”
He gave her a simplified explanation of Black Crow Divine Monarch’s plot and she was extremely shocked after listening to it. Qu Hua Shang could never have imagined that there was another Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. Simultaneously, she also came to understand the reason for her cultivation dissonance just now. It turned out that the Blood Light Scripture she comprehended had been maliciously tampered with.
“Junior Brother, are you saying that Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul is in one of these people’s bodies right now?”
He replied, “Yes. I suspect that he had already succeeded in possessing one of them.”
Yang Kai’s situation was an exception among exceptions. Not only did his Spiritual Energy exceed other cultivators of the same Realm by a wide margin, he also had the Soul Warming Lotus and extremely powerful Soul Devouring Insects. Those were the only reasons he could turn the situation around on Black Crow Divine Monarch. Unfortunately, others would not have such deep heritage or equally profound methods. Even if they were the elite disciples of their respective great forces and could grow to become extremely powerful figures in the future, they would still be helpless in front of somebody like Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul could not escape from this palace; otherwise, he would not survive for long. If he wanted to live, then he could only continue with his attempt to possess somebody. And, they were the only ones in the Grand Hall at the moment. Who else could he possess aside from them?
Among these people, there was no doubt that Qu Hua Shang was safe. That was because she was a woman. If Yang Kai were in Black Crow Divine Monarch’s shoes, he would never choose to possess a woman’s body as it was extremely likely his Soul and her body would be incompatible, leading to all sorts of negative consequences in the future. Another important reason was that Black Crow Divine Monarch placed great importance on the Blood Light Scripture.
As a woman, Qu Hua Shang’s body was inherently Yin-aligned and unsuited to cultivating the Blood Light Scripture. This could be seen from her previous performances. Although she and Pei Wen Xuan had started comprehending the Blood Light Scripture at the same time, Pei Wen Xuan would finish faster than her every time.
It was out of this consideration that Yang Kai immediately rescued Qu Hua Shang from her predicament. As for the others… He warily swept his gaze over the rest, feeling troubled. There was no way to determine who had been possessed from their outward appearances.
Among them, Zhou Yi of Great Thousand Blood Land was undoubtedly the biggest suspect. Black Crow Divine Monarch himself mentioned before that he originally had his eye on the person with a foundation in the Dao of Blood. It was only because Yang Kai’s vitality was so abundant that he gave up on his original idea of possessing Zhou Yi.
[Is it Zhou Yi?] Yang Kai fixed his gaze intently upon Zhou Yi’s face. Just as he was about to attack Zhou Yi as a test, a roar came from nearby. Immediately after that, Pei Wen Xuan abruptly jerked his eyes open. His eyes trembled violently and the Demon Qi in his body churned vigorously. While roaring loudly, he punched himself hard in the chest.
Fresh blood spurted out of his mouth and his aura weakened significantly as a result.
He then immediately got to his feet and glared at the skeleton in front of him furiously while swearing and cursing, “What the Hell!? This shitty Blood Light Scripture nearly destroyed me!”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight. [I can’t believe Pei Wen Xuan actually freed himself from that state of cultivation dissonance with his own strength. Is it because he is just that talented? Or, is it because he was possessed by Black Crow Divine Monarch? If he was possessed, then this performance is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.]
Pei Wen Xuan’s expression was resentful, mixed with a hint of lingering fear. There were no flaws in his performance.
Seeming to sense Yang Kai’s gaze, he turned to look in this direction and exclaimed in amazement, “Ho… that’s impressive! Did you break free too? Looks like I underestimated you.”
“It’s you! Old Dog, die!” Yang Kai shouted as he lunged forward at the same time and viciously slammed his fist out at Pei Wen Xuan, leaving his back wide open.
Pei Wen Xuan’s eyes widened. He had not expected Yang Kai to attack him at such a time. Although he had provoked Yang Kai earlier, the situation then and now was completely different. Yang Kai appeared completely unharmed right now while he had only just broken free from cultivation dissonance. He had damaged his foundation as a result, so his strength had been greatly reduced.
Even so, Pei Wen Xuan was still a disciple of Myriad Demons Heaven and had his own pride to uphold. Thus, he laughed fearlessly instead of becoming furious, “Since you’re begging for death, this Pei will grant your wish! I’ll bring your head back as proof that I completed my mission!”
Forcefully enduring the pain coming from his body, he pushed his palms forward with great vigour. The Demon Qi in his body surged like the waves in the sea, suppressing Yang Kai with overwhelming force.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s fist turned into a barrage of fist shadows, slamming into the Demon Qi with little effect. He only managed to resist for a few moments before the Demon Qi slammed into him, sending his body flying through the air like a paper kite before falling backward.
At that moment, Qu Hua Shang suddenly screamed, “Junior Brother, watch out!”
Pei Wen Xuan couldn’t help feeling stunned. That was because he saw Zhou Yi, who had been sitting cross-legged all this time while suffering from signs of cultivation dissonance, opening his eyes abruptly. Then, Zhou Yi’s figure drifted towards Yang Kai’s back like a ghost, his hand stretched out like a claw, aiming straight for Yang Kai’s heart.
Not far away, Qu Hua Shang tried her best to rush forward to provide support. Unfortunately, Yang Kai was falling in the direction of Zhou Yi, so there was no way she could reach him in time. By the time she arrived, he would already be a corpse.
[Why did Zhou Yi launch a sneak attack on Yang Kai?] The sudden turn of events left Pei Wen Xuan feeling confused. Be that as it may, he could not be happier. He was severely injured at the moment, so it was inconvenient for him to engage in protracted battle. If Yang Kai was killed by Zhou Yi, then it would save him a lot of trouble.
While watching coldly from the side-lines, he suddenly felt that something did not add up. That was because Yang Kai’s expression was so calm that it was terrifying. [Besides… this guy isn’t that weak, right?]
It was rumoured that Yang Kai had defeated Yu Luo Sha in one move in the Asura Arena. Even if the rumours had exaggerated the truth, it made no sense for him to be sent flying with a single blow, much less from a hasty attack made by him right after having suffered from cultivation dissonance and receiving heavy damage as a result.
[This bastard is up to something!] A thought crossed Pei Wen Xuan’s mind as he knit his brow.
At this moment, a harsh and ear-splitting sound of metal rubbing against each out rang out. Sparks flew all over the place. Yang Kai spat out fresh blood as though he were struck by lightning and was sent flying back towards Pei Wen Xuan again. Spinning his body around, he turned and landed not far from him.
Pei Wen Xuan did not make another move. How could he attack again when he could tell that something was wrong? Raising his eyes, he saw that the clothes covering Yang Kai’s back were in tatters but a layer of golden scales that looked like Dragon Scales had appeared in their place. It was just that most of the Dragon Scales had been blown away at this moment, leaving a bloody wound that stretched across Yang Kai’s entire back. It was a horrifying sight and under his gaze, he saw the Dragon Scales slowly fade and vanish out of sight. Only the bloody wound remained.
Not far away, Zhou Yi looked down at his hand with a slightly puzzled look. He seemed surprised that Yang Kai had survived his sneak attack. When they came into contact earlier, he distinctly sensed a powerful layer of defence covering Yang Kai’s body. It was that layer of defence that caused all his previous efforts to come to naught. In the end, he failed to crush Yang Kai’s heart with his claw hand as a result.
*Pui* Yang Kai turned to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood. Lifting his chin, he looked down on Zhou Yi with a condescending expression, “Fooled you, old dog!”
Attacking Pei Wen Xuan was a feint; luring Black Crow Divine Monarch into action was his real aim.
In the situation just now, Yang Kai had no way of knowing who Black Crow Divine Monarch had possessed. There was no way for him to rescue the others under those circumstances. He might not be able to defend himself if Black Crow Divine Monarch attacked him while he was busy trying to rescue the others.
If Pei Wen Xuan had really been possessed, then it would be perfect. He could take the opportunity to kill him. Fortunately, Black Crow Divine Monarch failed to hold back and leaped out first.
Even though Yang Kai had already prepared himself in advance, he still nearly died at the hands of Black Crow Divine Monarch. If he had not used his Dragon Transformation Secret Art to form Dragon Scales on his back at the critical moment, he would not have gotten off with such light injuries.
“What are you talking about?” Zhou Yi looked at Yang Kai calmly.
“Are you still going to pretend?” Yang Kai looked at Zhou Yi contemptuously, “Does a noble Divine Monarch really need to act so cautiously in front of a mere Junior like me?”
“Divine Monarch?” Pei Wen Xuan was dumbfounded by those words. He was also very tempted to ask Yang Kai, “What in the world are you talking about?” How could a disciple of Thousand Great Blood Land be a Divine Monarch? That was a title only High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could possess.
“Brother Pei, open your eyes wide and look carefully.” Yang Kai pointed at Zhou Yi, “The person in front of you is not Brother Zhou from Great Thousand Blood Land. He has been possessed by an old ghost by the name of ‘Black Crow Divine Monarch’. Black Crow Divine Monarch was imprisoned in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven by Blood Monster Divine Monarch. After Blood Monster Divine Monarch died, he stole Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance and moved it to this place. It was all to lure us here so that he could find a suitable candidate to possess.”
Pei Wen Xuan frowned, “How do you know all that?”
Yang Kai replied, “Because he tried to possess me just now, but he failed! That’s why he changed targets and possessed Zhou Wu instead.”
Pei Wen Xuan turned to glance at Yang Kai. He instinctively felt reluctant to believe his words, choosing instead to believe that Yang Kai was up to something nefarious; after all, who in this place could escape if a Divine Monarch tried to possess them? But, Yang Kai claimed that the other party had failed to possess him.
Zhou Yi said, “Senior Brother, you must be joking. This Zhou Wu is true and genuine. How could I have been possessed? On the other hand, you are so wantonly slandering me, Senior Brother. What tricks are you up to? Are you trying to sow discord among us in order to enjoy all the benefits in this place yourself?”
Pei Wen Xuan, who had been staring at Yang Kai suspiciously, immediately turned to look in that direction after hearing those words as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
“Hahahaha!” Yang Kai burst into uncontrollable laughter, “How dare you say that you have not been possessed? Let’s see how you plan to talk your way out of this now!?”
Zhou Yi frowned slightly. Glancing at Yang Kai, he then turned to look at Pei Wen Xuan and quickly came to a realization, “Where did this Monarch slip up?”
From the look on Pei Wen Xuan’s face, he could tell that his lies had been exposed; therefore, he did not bother to pretend any longer.
Pei Wen Xuan clicked his tongue and replied, “The owner of your body is called Zhou Yi, not Zhou Wu!”
‘Zhou Yi’ immediately understood and nodded lightly in response. Turning to look at Yang Kai approvingly, he said, “Junior, you are cunning and quick-witted indeed. There truly are talented people all over the world!”
[This Brat’s speech just now revealed nothing suspicious. He even revealed the name ‘Zhou Wu’ at the end, misleading me into believing that the person I possessed was named ‘Zhou Wu’. I simply followed his lead and answered accordingly. Who could have known that this Brat’s words were meant to mislead and test me? It looks like he was not too sure of his judgement even after I attacked him. That’s why he came up with a test like that.] Although it is just a simple sentence, it requires extremely quick thinking.
[This Brat has very strong Spiritual Energy, as well as a Supreme Treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus. At this rate, he will surely become extremely powerful once he matures. If I want to kill him, I have to do so now. Or else, I might not be able to in the future.]
“Your affairs have nothing to do with this Pei. This Pei has more important things to do, so I will take my leave first.” While saying that, Pei Wen Xuan turned and rushed out of the Grand Hall in a flash.
Black Crow Divine Monarch, who popped out of nowhere, gave him an extremely bad feeling. Even though the other party was nothing more than a Remnant Soul that had just taken over another person’s body, it was unknown how much power the enemy could exert. Nevertheless, the other party was a Divine Monarch. Nothing good would come from remaining in this place, so he decisively made the decision to withdraw.
Yang Kai was dumbstruck. [This bastard from Myriad Demons Heaven is far too unreliable! How can he avoid taking personal responsibility at a time like this!?]
Hence, he hurriedly said, “Brother Pei, do you really think you can remain uninvolved now that things have reached this point? If I were Black Crow Divine Monarch, I would make sure that nobody walks out of this place alive. How else would I keep my secret hidden?”
“You understand me well, Junior!” The man who used to be Zhou Yi but was now Black Crow Divine Monarch nodded in approval. His expression seemed to say that their thoughts were in sync. With a gentle wave of his hand, the entire Grand Hall suddenly rumbled and all the entrances shut tight.
Pei Wen Xuan paused mid-step. His expression was slightly ugly as he tilted his head to look at Black Crow Divine Monarch, “Old thing, you should have rejoiced when I left you alone. I’m afraid things will now end tragically for you because of your mistake!”
Black Crow Divine Monarch chuckled, “Are all the Juniors of the current generation this arrogant? Very good! Very good! The world is more interesting this way! This Old Master will not be bored!”
While speaking, his body suddenly shuddered slightly. An inexplicable pulling force surged out of his figure. Immediately after that, several groans rang out. The blood mist surrounding those people sitting cross-legged around the skeleton churned violently and transformed into numerous Blood Qi Dragons that rushed towards him and poured into his body. It was as though his body had turned into a bottomless pit that devoured the Blood Qi completely.
Black Crow Divine Monarch could not help revealing an ecstatic expression, as though he was enjoying the most pleasant experience in the world. Following his actions, the vitality of those people dropped swiftly and their bodies withered away. They were experiencing cultivation dissonance already, so they were completely unable to fight back. Moreover, Black Crow Divine Monarch was using one of the Blood Light Scripture’s Secret Techniques which was compatible with their cultivation dissonance. How could they resist?
Both Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang felt their scalps tingling in horror at the sight. Although they had comprehended the first part of the Blood Light Scripture previously, that was just the Blood Light Scripture Secret Art. It did not contain any Secret Techniques. It was not until they saw what Black Crow Divine Monarch did that they realised how cruel the Blood Light Scripture really was.
This was definitely an Evil Art! However, it was not difficult to understand. Blood Monster Divine Monarch was not a kind and benevolent man. It stood to reason that the Blood Light Scripture he cultivated was not a peaceful Secret Art either.
What made Yang Kai even more uneasy was that the aura around Black Crow Divine Monarch’s body was climbing steadily with his actions. Although Zhou Yi was originally an elite disciple of Great Thousand Blood Land, he was not that strong. On the other hand, Yang Kai could feel a sense of oppression coming from him after he was possessed by Black Crow Divine Monarch.
A person who could cultivate to the realm of a Divine Monarch could not be a soft-hearted weakling. In addition, Black Crow obtained an inheritance like the Blood Light Scripture. The various unimaginable methods made him even more powerful than before.
[We can’t let him continue any longer. This is definitely the best time to attack. He has only just taken over Zhou Yi, so his Soul and his body may not have fully integrated yet. Combined with the fact that Zhou Yi’s heritage is limited, it can be said that he is currently at his weakest. He will definitely become much stronger once he completely devours the vitality of those people.]
“Attack!” A shout entered Yang Kai’s ears as Pei Wen Xuan was the first to take action. He evidently came to the same conclusion as Yang Kai. While shouting, he pushed his hands forward. A large pitch-black cone sliced through the air and swiftly shot towards Black Crow Divine Monarch. The pitch-black cone was formed from pure Demon Qi and rotated rapidly, almost like it could even rip through space.
Pei Wen Xuan was not finished yet. Immediately following behind the cone, he lunged forward like a panther. His hands were clawed, stretching towards Black Crow Divine Monarch through the air. All five of his fingers contained Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth Element Powers, forming a cycle of the Five Elements which mutually reinforced each other. His power increased significantly as a result.
Likewise, Yang Kai’s reaction was very fast. In other words, he would have attacked even if Pei Wen Xuan had not. Black Crow Divine Monarch had invaded his Knowledge Sea and learned about many of his secrets, not to mention the Soul Warming Lotus had also been exposed.
Black Crow Divine Monarch would never let Yang Kai go. He would definitely target the Soul Warming Lotus. As a wounded Remnant Soul, this Supreme Treasure was exactly what he needed to recover.
Yang Kai made a wide sweep with his arm, condensing a large Moon Blade that slashed towards Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Meanwhile, Qu Hua Shang flicked her head back, unravelling the long red ribbon tying her hair up and shooting it towards Black Crow Divine Monarch’s chest.
Be it Yang Kai, Pei Wen Xuan, or Qu Hua Shang, all three of them were not ordinary Emperor Realm cultivators. The latter two were Core Disciples of the 36 Cave-Heavens, so it could be said that they stood at the very peak of the Emperor Realm. There were few beneath the Open Heaven Realm who could be their opponents, and even less need be said about Yang Kai. He had already killed several Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters so his strength could not be measured by common sense.
The power unleashed by the combined attacks of these three was something even Black Crow Divine Monarch could not help but acknowledge. He nodded repeatedly in approval, “Good! Good! You three little ones are very impressive! You will definitely have grand accomplishments in the future!”
Words of praise came out of his mouth, but his eyes were filled with contempt. Despite facing their combined attacks, he did not step aside nor dodge. On the contrary, he stepped forward all of a sudden. He looked at Yang Kai and shouted, “But, you are too arrogant, Junior! Did you think this is still within your Knowledge Sea!?”
He had suffered a terrible defeat within Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea. He was originally no more than a Remnant Soul after all. In the end, he was forced to use a sacrificial diversion in order to escape. In contrast, he currently possessed a physical body. With his previous heritage of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, how could he fear three measly Emperor Realm Juniors even if his strength was not at his peak anymore?
When he took that step forward, a dense Blood Qi permeated the entire Grand Hall as though mountains of corpses and seas of blood were going to come crashing down on the three of them. Be it Yang Kai, Pei Wen Xuan, or Qu Hua Shang, all three of them couldn’t help stiffening slightly as an overwhelming sense of helplessness involuntarily flooded their minds.
*Hong…*
The Demon Qi cone slammed into Black Crow Divine Monarch but was rendered useless. The attack was stopped by the dense layer of Blood Qi more than metre away from its target.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s Moon Blade tore apart Black Crow Divine Monarch’s defences. Unfortunately, its speed dropped sharply after it sank into the Blood Qi, allowing the latter to easily sidestepped the attack.
Qu Hua Shang’s hair ribbon had even less to show for her efforts. After sinking into the Blood Qi, its halo immediately began flickering violently. It lost so much spirituality in an instant that she hurriedly withdrew the ribbon in shock.
Even Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would not dare to take the combined attacks of these three lightly; nevertheless, Black Crow Divine Monarch blocked them all with little effort.
At the same time, he finished devouring all the Blood Qi of the other cultivators within the room. Their bodies shrivelled up like mummified corpses. Up until their deaths, those people had been clueless about what was going on. It could be said to be extremely tragic.
Those who could reach this palace were the best among their respective great forces. They were the strongest among their peers, so their vitality was incredibly robust. Having received nourishment from them, Black Crow Divine Monarch’s aura soared madly and reached a level that terrified the three of them.
Although he did not have the aura of the Open Heaven Realm, his momentum at this moment was almost as imposing as that of a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master. In other words, he was a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master who could not exert the signature power of the Open Heaven Realm!
The three of them felt their hearts sinking!
If that really were the case, then there was no way for them to win. Even if Black Crow Divine Monarch was unable to utilize World Force due to Zhou Yi’s lacking heritage, he still had the foundation of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master. There was no saying just how much strength he could display.
The Blood Qi around him churned violently, making him look like he was covered in a mist of blood. He stared fixedly at Yang Kai and sneered, “Junior, how dare you act so presumptuous before this Monarch!? I will start with you!”
While saying that, he suddenly waved his large hand. A rain of blood suddenly fell on Yang Kai from above. The blood rain did not look special in any way, but it obviously contained great power.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered repeatedly to avoid the blood rain, but contrary to expectations, his perception told him that Black Crow Divine Monarch was ignoring him after the initial move.
A hand suddenly reached out from within the blood mist and clawed at Pei Wen Xuan across the barriers of space.
This old dog was truly cunning and insidious. Even when facing these three youngsters, he did not hesitate to use feints and diversions!
Thinking about it again, it made sense. Black Crow Divine Monarch coveted Yang Kai’s Soul Warming Lotus, so how could he kill him so easily? He most likely planned to capture Yang Kai alive in order to claim the Soul Warming Lotus as his own. If he could not kill Yang Kai, then he could only attack Pei Wen Xuan and Qu Hua Shang. Pei Wen Xuan had taken the lead to attack him earlier, so he probably held some grudges for that.
Yang Kai had not expected Black Crow Divine Monarch to take such actions and neither did Pei Wen Xuan; therefore, the large hand immediately wrapped around Pei Wen Xuan’s neck tightly as a layer of red Blood Qi swiftly seeped and enveloped the latter.
Pei Wen Xuan had lunged at Black Crow Divine Monarch after unleashing his previous attack, but at this moment, it seemed like he walked straight into his death instead. He was caught off guard and captured almost instantly.
Wrapped by the Blood Qi, Pei Wen Xuan felt as though something was suppressing the power in his body and blocking his meridians so that his strength could not flow out. He was absolutely horrified. [Is this really the power that an Emperor Realm cultivator can exert!?]
Zhou Yi was no more than a disciple of Great Thousand Blood Land. His aptitude and comprehension abilities were incomparable to those of Pei Wen Xuan. If it were before he was possessed, then Pei Wen Xuan alone would have been able to defeat three to five of him without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, he became capable of subduing Pei Wen Xuan in a single move after being possessed by Black Crow Divine Monarch!
It was not until this moment that Pei Wen Xuan finally understood one thing, this might be Zhou Yi’s body, but the ‘Zhou Yi’ that stood in front of him could no longer be viewed as the same person at all.
“Die, Junior!” Black Crow Divine Monarch grinned, exerting a sudden burst of force in his hand in order to kill Pei Wen Xuan on the spot. However, his brow twitched at that moment and a huge sense of crisis enveloped him as the aura of death loomed over him.
Pei Wen Xuan’s Identity Token that had been hanging at his waist suddenly burst out with dazzling white light. It was extremely blinding, so blinding that it breached the blood-coloured sea even through the thick blood mist. The white light leaped out from the Identity Token like a bolt of candlelight. It was not very conspicuous at first, but the light exploded in an instant to transform into a blade of overwhelming Demon Qi. Then, the blade came slashing down on Black Crow Divine Monarch!
Black Crow Divine Monarch was shocked. How could he dare to remain standing in place after sensing the terrifying power contained in this strike? Releasing his grip on Pei Wen Xuan, he turned into a ray of blood light and quickly retreated; however, he could not escape the power of this blade no matter how he tried to dodge.
The blade slashed down and a scream rang out. The blood light was split into two, revealing two bloody halves of a body.
Pei Wen Xuan landed heavily, coughing hard with his hands clutching at his neck. He glared fiercely at Zhou Yi’s corpse that had been sliced in half and ground his teeth, “How dare you mess with me, old dog!? How dare you attack me!? Serves you right for ending up dead!”
He let out a gloomy laughter that sounded quite ghastly. While he was speaking, the Identity Token hanging around his waist cracked and shattered before turning into dust.
Yang Kai was amazed by the sight. He had long known about the Identity Tokens carried by the Core Disciples of the Cave-Heavens and Paradises. These Identity Tokens not only symbolised their personal status but also contained a Divine Ability granted by their Elders to protect them. It would automatically be activated in the event that their lives were in danger. Although it could only be used once, it could save their lives at a critical moment. Just like what happened here!
Yang Kai suspected that even a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master might not have been able to withstand that attack if taken head on. Pei Wen Xuan’s Honoured Master was definitely a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master!
Black Crow Divine Monarch had possessed Zhou Yi, and while he had the heritage of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, he was limited by Zhou Yi’s body. Combined with the fact that he was a wounded Remnant Soul, the strength that he could exert at this moment was far from his peak. How could he come out unscathed after being hit by a Divine Ability like that?
[This old guy has been plotting for countless years only to suffer such a tragic ending when he finally succeeded in possessing somebody. I’m sure that he himself never anticipated such an outcome.] Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh in amazement.
Zhou Yi’s body had been sliced into two, but Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Remnant Soul remained nowhere to be seen; hence, Yang Kai did not let down his guard and instead released his Divine Sense to guard against anything that might happen.
Under his close watch, Yang Kai was surprised to discover something strange about the crimson blood flowing out of the corpse that had been sliced in two. The blood seemed to be guided by some sort of pulling force, gathering together from all directions and quickly merging back into one. In the next moment, the two halves of the corpse suddenly joined down the middle and were patched together once more.
The tightly closed eyes of Black Crow Divine Monarch reopened at this moment and he slowly climbed up from the floor.
Inside the Grand Hall, Yang Kai and the two others were dumbfounded by the sight!
“The Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture really does live up to its reputation! Hahahaha!” Black Crow Divine Monarch cackled uncontrollably. When he first stood up, there remained a wound that resembled an obvious blood line extending from the middle of his forehead down to his neck and further down his body where his skin was exposed. However, this wound quickly disappeared while he was laughing. His outward appearance at this moment seemed completely intact! Only his aura was significantly lower than before.
Pei Wen Xuan was shocked and terrified. [I can’t believe that this old dog is still alive! I saw him being sliced in half with my own eyes just now! How is he still perfectly fine!?]
Even Yang Kai found the sight in front of him difficult to believe, but he then remembered what Black Crow Divine Monarch told him before. Supposedly, if one were to cultivate the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture to its limits, they could even be reborn from a single drop of blood. One would be practically immortal and indestructible as a result.
Those words were certainly an exaggeration. Nevertheless, the current situation indicated that the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture was indeed an extraordinary Secret Art. The Blood Light Scripture was definitely the reason why Black Crow Divine Monarch could come back to life.
Black Crow Divine Monarch, who had just gotten back to his feet, cracked his neck and coldly said, “Junior, stop resisting. You will not be able to defeat this Monarch with your abilities. Why bother wasting your energy and suffering in vain?”
“You must be joking, Divine Monarch! Even ants fight to survive, much less cultivators like us!” Yang Kai shouted.
Black Crow Divine Monarch sneered and turned around to look at Yang Kai, “Do you think this Monarch is reluctant to kill you? If you think so, you are very wrong. I will definitely get what I want even after killing you.”
He gently nodded while speaking, “I’ve decided! I’ll start with you!”
The words had just left Black Crow Divine Monarch’s mouth when Yang Kai immediately took out a Wooden Token from his Space Ring and hung it around his waist. He then grinned at Black Crow Divine Monarch with a smug look, “Go ahead, try if you dare!”
Black Crow Divine Monarch glanced at the Wooden Token fearfully, his face twitching at the sight. The incident earlier had traumatised him as he had been ignorant of the situation. Just as he was prepared to kill Pei Wen Xuan, he was cut down by the Divine Ability sealed within the Identity Token that hung from Pei Wen Xuan’s waist. If not for the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture, he would have died from that attack.
As the saying went, ‘Once bitten, twice shy’. He now felt very troubled whenever he saw such a thing.
Unbeknownst to him, Yang Kai’s Wooden Token and Pei Wen Xuan’s Identity Token were completely different items. This Wooden Token was given to him by the Proprietress previously. It was engraved with an inexplicable pattern of a totem. She had claimed that it was a ‘favour’. Therefore, there was no Divine Ability sealed within. On the other hand, he also held a Divine Ability Bead that was given to him by the Proprietress. That was his greatest trump card.
Black Crow Divine Monarch gave Yang Kai a hateful look. Then, he turned to look at Qu Hua Shang.
Qu Hua Shang was no fool either so she gently reached out and tapped the Identity Token hanging at her waist.
[These Juniors… are too much!] Black Crow Divine Monarch felt a great sense of hatred.
“Divine Monarch, if you wish to kill somebody, then there’s a good candidate right there!” Yang Kai pointed in Pie Wen Xuan’s direction, “You ‘died’ at his hands just now. It’s a good opportunity for you to take revenge for what happened!”
Pei Wen Xuan was already coughing, but he nearly spat blood at those words. He gritted his teeth and snarled, “Yang Kai, this Pei will never forgive you if I die in this place, not even if I turn into a ghost!”
Yang Kai replied scornfully, “What has that got to do with me?”
Pei Wen Xuan was so filled with hatred that his teeth hurt, but there was nothing he could say or do. His Identity Token had been destroyed, so he no longer had a deterrent. If Black Crow Divine Monarch really attacked him, then he could only fight to the death.
“I’ll do as you wish then!” Black Crow Divine Monarch nodded.
His body suddenly transformed into a blood ray that charged towards Pei Wen Xuan. He had been ‘killed’ by the Sword Light Divine Ability earlier and severely damaged his foundation as a result. At this moment, he desperately needed to replenish his strength. Since he did not dare to touch Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang, he could only target easy prey like Pei Wen Xuan. After he slaughtered Pei Wen Xuan, it would not be too late for him to slowly torture the other two to death. In any case, the Grand Hall had been completely sealed shut so there was no fear that they might escape.
When Pei Wen Xuan saw that Black Crow Divine Monarch was charging towards him again, he felt a mixture of fear and rage. He let out a fierce roar and his Demon Qi churned violently. Raising his hand, he summoned his Coiling Dragon Shears and sliced through the blood light with them.
The Coiling Dragon Shears was a powerful artifact and the energy fluctuations that it emitted were by no means weak. Even so, the light flickered erratically when it sank into the blood light and its spirituality dropped sharply!
Qu Hua Shang had encountered the exact same situation just now. The blood light seemed to be extremely damaging and resistant towards artifacts.
Pei Wen Xuan turned pale in shock and involuntarily backed away while hastily forming a set of hand seals with both hands. One after another, a barrage of fierce attacks rained down on the blood light without any restraint. The explosions rang out endlessly as each of these attacks were defeated. The blood light flashed towards him like lightning, continuously shooting out blood-coloured blasts from within the blood light. The attacks were so oppressive that he was forced to retreat in a miserable fashion.
Even if Black Crow Divine Monarch had been cut down once and suffered heavy damage to his foundation as a result, Pei Wen Xuan was still not capable of being his opponent. Rather, it could even be said that how long Pei Wen Xuan could last under those attacks was a problem in and of itself.
In just a few breaths of time, Pei Wen Xuan could feel that he had reached his limits. At this moment, he felt the pressure lightening all of a sudden as Black Crow Divine Monarch’s evil laugh entered his ears, “Junior, you truly are insidious and cunning. Did you think this Monarch would not be wary of you!?”
The blood light that was approaching him halted without warning and Pei Wen Xuan looked up to see that Black Crow Divine Monarch had revealed his figure. Black Crow Divine Monarch had one hand blocking an attack to his side. Amidst the dense Blood Qi, Yang Kai had arrived with a spear in his hands at some point in time. It was just that he was trapped in the Blood Qi. It was like being stuck in a quagmire, making his movements extremely sluggish. That was not all. Sizzling sounds were coming from his body and it was obvious that the Blood Qi was corroding away at him.
Pei Wen Xuan immediately understood the situation. Yang Kai’s sneak attack caused Black Crow Divine Monarch to have no choice but to focus on dealing with him. That was definitely the reason why the pressure had suddenly eased off him just now. It could even be said that it was Yang Kai who rescued Pei Wen Xuan at the critical moment.
Even so, Pei Wen Xuan was not grateful. [This bastard sent Black Crow Divine Monarch after me. How abominable!]
Taking advantage of Black Crow Divine Monarch’s distraction, Pei Wen Xuan’s figure flashed consecutively, finally putting some distance between him and the other party, which gave him some breathing space.
As one of Myriad Demons Heaven’s Core Disciples, he was practically an invincible existence among those beneath the Open Heaven Realm. The fact that he could be defeated in such a short span of time only served to show just how powerful Black Crow Divine Monarch was. Moreover, this was after Black Crow Divine Monarch had been ‘killed’ already. If this were before he had suffered death once, how much strength could he have exerted?
For a moment, Pei Wen Xuan was both thankful and frustrated. He was thankful that Black Crow Divine Monarch was heavily injured at the moment but frustrated that his Identity Token was gone as a result.
Inside the Blood Qi that resembled a quagmire, Yang Kai’s movements were sluggish but his expression was calm as he roared, “Break!”
A small pitch-black light appeared at the top of the Azure Dragon Spear. When this pitch-black dot appeared, it was only the size of a pea; however, it immediately expanded wildly and turned into a massive black hole. Everything instantly collapsed!
Rupture!
Blood Qi poured into the black hole that appeared and vanished into nothingness, allowing Yang Kai to break free of its restraints and thrust his spear straight at Black Crow Divine Monarch. This attack was made in a direct, seemingly straightforward, simple, and ordinary manner. However, it contained intense murderous intent, perfectly demonstrating the strength of Yang Kai’s personal spear technique.
“The Dao of Space!” Black Crow Divine Monarch narrowed his eyes. He distinctly felt the fluctuation of the Space Principles at that moment; moreover, he could infer from those fluctuations that Yang Kai’s attainments in the Dao of Space were superb.
As those words left his mouth, the spear sliced through the air towards him. Black Crow Divine Monarch wanted to avoid the attack but was surprised to find that it had sealed off all his paths of retreat. There was no way to dodge.
The spear pierced through his head and came out through the back!
If it were a normal cultivator, they would not have survived after receiving such heavy injuries, but the person who received this wound was none other than Black Crow Divine Monarch who even revived after being sliced clean in half.
Yang Kai did not reveal the slightest hint of joy at succeeding. The truth was that this attack had not affected Black Crow Divine Monarch in any significant way. Although the Azure Dragon Spear had pierced Black Crow Divine Monarch’s head, Yang Kai had not felt the sense of having stabbed anything. It was as though Black Crow Divine Monarch’s head did not contain any resistance whatsoever at that moment.
“Boy, where did you get this spear?” Black Crow Divine Monarch asked in surprise.
He had a good eye, so he instantly noticed just how extraordinary the Azure Dragon Spear was. [This brat is not only proficient in the Dao of Space but also in possession of such an astounding treasure. He probably comes from quite a prominent background.]
“Why are you spouting such nonsense? Just die, old dog!” Yang Kai coldly snorted. The spear trembled slightly and a jet-black flame suddenly spread out across its length, igniting Black Crow Divine Monarch’s head.
“Ahh!” Black Crow Divine Monarch screamed loudly and his body abruptly retreated backward. The hole in the middle of his forehead swiftly sealed up, leaving him uninjured. Be that as it may, the pitch-black flames continued to burn him, causing him to suffer excruciating pain as he screamed in horror, “Golden Crow’s True Fire! You condensed the Golden Crow’s True Fire!?”
While screaming, his heart flooded with a deep sense of regret.
He had tried to possess Yang Kai earlier, but in the end, he suffered miserably inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and severely damaged his foundation in the process. He had been forced to separate out a thread of his consciousness in order to create a diversion to escape. When he finally possessed Zhou Yi and obtained a physical body, he thought that it would be easy for him to get rid of the Juniors around him, but how could he have known that Yang Kai would wield a High-Rank Element Power? Not to mention, this was the Golden Crow’s True Fire that was said to be able to burn everything in existence!
Didn’t that mean this boy condensed High-Rank Open Heaven Elements? If Yang Kai could even condense the Golden Crow’s True Fire, then condensing the other High-Rank Elements clearly would not be a problem. In other words, this boy had the qualifications to advance directly into the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm!
What terrifying aptitude! How many people throughout the ages have been capable of breaking through directly to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm? It was impossible to imagine what kind of achievements Yang Kai would have in the future with such a high starting point.
Therefore, Black Crow Divine Monarch was wallowing in regret. If he had known earlier, he would not have given up on trying to possess Yang Kai no matter what. He would have fought to the death in order to possess Yang Kai. Who could say for sure? He might have stood a chance to succeed. It was unfortunate if he lost, but what if he won? Then, he would have obtained an extremely high starting point and his future achievements would be many times higher than that of the past.
Unfortunately, he had already possessed Zhou Yi and nothing would change even if he felt regret. He was originally just a Remnant Soul. In addition, he had been heavily injured. He no longer had the strength to possess anybody else at the moment.
While screaming, his Blood Qi surged violently to force out the Golden Crow’s True Fire inside his body. The flames of the Golden Crow’s True Fire continued to rage without fuel even after falling to the ground.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai attacked again with his spear. His expression was as calm as jade, but his attacks were as fierce as a Dragon’s. His spear formed shadows that filled the sky, and every blow landed on Black Crow Divine Monarch’s vital points.
At the same time, Pei Wen Xuan attacked from the side with his Coiling Dragon Shears. The Coiling Dragon Shears made a clicking noise every time it opened and closed, constantly cutting away at the Blood Qi surrounding Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Likewise, Qu Hua Shang was not idle. She held a lute in her hands, strumming the strings lightly. Plucking sounds that resembled the sound of beads clattering onto a jade plate rang out. These sounds transformed into invisible attacks that disturbed Black Crow Divine Monarch’s concentration. She also set up countless crimson silk threads that criss-crossed all over the Grand Hall to form a network that hampered Black Crow Divine Monarch’s movements.
At this moment, Black Crow Divine Monarch was facing three enemies at once; thus, his situation was disadvantageous for a while. Among the three of them, what caused him the greatest headache was not Pei Wen Xuan’s Coiling Dragon Shears nor Qu Hua Shang’s lute, but Yang Kai’s Azure Dragon Spear.
Each attack from the spear displayed a refinement that was beyond anything he had ever encountered in his life. He simply could not imagine how a cultivator could execute such exquisite spear techniques. It was like watching a famous Grandmaster crafting a masterpiece. Each attack from the spear was a work of art.
He could understand if it were a cultivator with low strength who wholeheartedly cultivated the Spear Dao. Since they lacked strength, they could only make up for their shortcomings with technique; however, skill did not determine victory or defeat in the Emperor Realm. What really decided everything was strength. No matter how skilled a person was, it was useless if their strength was inferior to their opponent.
It would be one thing if Yang Kai’s spear technique was simply amazing, but the critical point was that the spear itself was extraordinarily powerful. Moreover, the spear was also covered in the pitch-black Golden Crow’s True Fire. It truly made Black Crow Divine Monarch suffer greatly as a result.
Due to a momentary lapse of concentration, Black Crow Divine Monarch was consecutively stabbed several times by Yang Kai. He screamed in pain and had no choice but to force out more Blood Qi to purge the Golden Crow’s True Fire that was burning his body.
Pei Wen Xuan’s Coiling Dragon Shears played a huge role in this situation. With every cut he made, he shaved off some of Black Crow Divine Monarch’s vitality and caused the latter to weaken steadily.
“Enough!” Black Crow Divine Monarch roared furiously. With a wave of his hand, two spots of blood light suddenly flew out from the skeleton on the round platform. They transformed into a pair of butterfly daggers, one for each hand. This artifact was clearly one he used in the past; furthermore, it was an artifact used by a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master. It would surely be of high quality.
With the twin butterfly daggers in hand, Black Crow Divine Monarch’s weakening momentum suddenly soared again. He crossed the twin daggers and brought them down on the Azure Dragon Spear.
A mighty force spread out and sent Yang Kai flying backwards.
The twin daggers in his hands trembled slightly as he turned the two blades into a stream of light that shot towards Pei Wen Xuan and Qu Hua Shang.
Pei Wen Xuan was shocked and immediately used the Coiling Dragon Shears to defend himself. Contrary to his expectations, the Coiling Dragon Shears had only just come into contact with the blade light when they shattered into pieces with a loud explosion. His artifact was unable to stop the blade light and the strength of the light blade did not weaken as it slashed down on him. How could he afford to care about his pride at such a dangerous moment? He threw himself on the ground like a dog lunging for food and a large piece of flesh was sliced off his back.
Also, most of the silk thread network that Qu Hua Shang spent so much effort to arrange was sliced apart and destroyed by the blade light which did not stop and slashed down at her lute. The sound of strings snapping rang out as they were all cut apart. Qu Hua Shang spurted out blood and was thrown backwards. Even so, the blade light continued to chase after her, threatening her life.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai appeared with a flash. His spear swept across the blade light and sent it flying as he turned to look at her and asked, “Senior Sister Qu, are you alright!?”
“I’m fine!” She slowly shook her head.
Yang Kai immediately spun around and leapt forward. Arriving in front of Black Crow Divine Monarch in the blink of an eye, he stabbed out.
Black Crow Divine Monarch looked at Yang Kai coldly, neither blocking nor dodging. More importantly, a slightly mocking smile crept onto the corner of his lips.
Yang Kai immediately sensed that something was wrong as a huge sense of crisis befell him. At the same time, he saw a blade light coming towards him from the left. It was the blade light that slashed down on Pei Wen Xuan earlier.
How could Yang Kai dare to be negligent? He immediately drew upon the Powers within his Dao Seal and formed a Dragon Shield around his body to protect himself!
The khakis-yellow Dragon Shield had only just formed when the blade light came slashing down. The sound of something shattering rang out and fresh blood splattered everywhere. Yang Kai retreated by several tens of metres with a new wound at his waist, one so deep that bone was showing!
Black Crow Divine Monarch’s gaze was scorching, “A High-Rank Earth Element Power!”
The Dragon Shield Secret Technique was obviously formed from a High-Rank Earth Element Power. Combined with the Golden Crow’s True Fire that Yang Kai displayed earlier, Black Crow Divine Monarch became more and more convinced that Yang Kai was aiming to become a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master directly.
[This Brat is definitely a rare genius!]
Yang Kai lowered his head to gaze at the wound on his waist. The spear in his hand trembled slightly as he lifted it with one hand and stared at Black Crow Divine Monarch mockingly, “Seems a Divine Monarch is nothing much!”
Black Crow Divine Monarch snorted, “What an arrogant mouth you have, boy. I will make you beg for mercy on your knees soon enough.”
While saying so, his body jerked slightly and took the initiative to fall apart of his own volition. He transformed into hundreds of thousands of Blood Crows that cawed loudly. They covered the sky as they threw themselves at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai kicked off against the ground and backed away but kept his eyes forward. He realised that his enemy feared his Golden Crow’s True Fire. That was why he created hundreds of thousands of Blood Crows to confuse him. He did not know what kind of Secret Technique it was that could produce such shocking effects and it did not look like part of the orthodox Blood Light Scripture. It was most likely Black Crow Divine Monarch’s own Divine Ability.
Black Crow Divine Monarch’s voice rang out from all around, “Boy, this Monarch believes that you have a bright future ahead of you. If you kneel down and beg for mercy, I can spare your life.”
Possessing Yang Kai was no longer an option, but subduing and taking Yang Kai under him could also be considered a kind of compensation. The brat was a genius who could probably advance into the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm in the future, so accepting Yang Kai as his subordinate was not a bad idea.
His voice floated around, giving no hint of his true location. There was no way for anybody to figure out which Blood Crow his Soul was hiding in. If it were anybody else, they would have no means of attacking in this situation.
However, Yang Kai put the Azure Dragon Spear away and summoned a bottle gourd instead. He pointed the mouth of the gourd forward and grinned wickedly, “This Junior is honoured by your offer and would like to offer a gift to show his thanks, Divine Monarch. Please accept it!”
While saying so, he activated the power of the Yuan Magnetic Divine Bottle Gourd, sending a blinding light pouring out of it to sweep across the flock of Blood Crows.
The Yuan Magnetic Divine Light was a Sixth-Order Metal Element Power, and even a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master would need to use their World Force to block it. How could Black Crow Divine Monarch withstand this attack? Countless Blood Crows were struck by the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light and instantly riddled with holes, dropping to the ground while cawing loudly before turning into puddles of blood.
In just a few breaths of time, 20% of the Blood Crows were destroyed while the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light poured out strongly and continuously. Although those Blood Crows were numerous, they could not penetrate the defences of the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, much less approach Yang Kai.
Qu Hua Shang hurriedly came to stand behind Yang Kai, lest Black Crow Divine Monarch attack her. On the other hand, Pei Wen Xuan also scrambled on all fours and ran over. Yang Kai turned to faintly glance at him, causing the former’s face to twitch slightly, but he did not know what to say.
Pei Wen Xuan was feeling very complicated. It was not as if he had never heard about how Yang Kai defeated Yu Luo Sha in one move in the Asura Arena. The truth was that this information had quickly spread far and wide after the incident, so many people knew about it.
However, he had not believed those rumours. That was because he knew how capable Yu Luo Sha was. She might not be as strong as him, but she was not much weaker either. Core Disciples of the various Cave-Heavens and Paradises like themselves were capable of fighting to a certain extent even if they encountered a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master.
Therefore, the reason Yang Kai defeated Yu Luo Sha in one move when they were in the same Realm was either a sneak attack or Yu Luo Sha had greatly underestimated her opponent.
When Pei Wen Xuan met Yang Kai at the blood lake, he wanted to test his ability. It was just that Qu Hua Shang had stepped in to stop him at the time, so he could only give up. He had been feeling extremely unconvinced as a result. But, by the looks of things, it was fortunate that Qu Hua Shang had intervened back then; otherwise, he would have embarrassed himself instead.
He was practically helpless against Black Crow Divine Monarch’s attacks and it had taken all his strength just to fight back just a few times. Even his Coiling Dragon Shears were destroyed in the process. On the other hand, Yang Kai was able to hold his ground against the enemy with confidence. The difference between them was obvious at a glance. Such talent was completely unheard of, and his ability to defeat Yu Luo Sha in one move no longer seemed like an exaggeration now.
Pei Wen Xuan had always thought highly of himself, so he couldn’t help feeling rather deflated at the moment.
Blood Crows flew about within the spacious Grand Hall, cawing loudly. It was very distracting. The Yuan Magnetic Divine Light flashed brightly. Thanks to the Sixth-Order Metal Element Power, the countless Blood Crows could not approach them. Once in a while, the occasional Blood Crow would manage to penetrate the defences but they were killed by Qu Hua Shang and Pei Wen Xuan in short order. Every single Blood Crow they killed would transform into a strand of crimson Blood Qi that dissipated in the Grand Hall.
All of a sudden, the hundreds of thousands of Blood Crows gathered and merged together once more to return to their original appearance. It was just that Black Crow Divine Monarch’s complexion was slightly paler compared to before. His aura was also no longer at its peak and it was obvious that he was heavily injured. His eyes were filled with deep hatred.
“Kill!” Yang Kai turned the mouth of the gourd around and the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light immediately gushed towards Black Crow Divine Monarch. At the same time, he reached out his free hand and summoned his Azure Dragon Spear. With a flash of his body, Yang Kai charged towards Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Qu Hua Shang and Pei Wen Xuan immediately followed suit. They were both well-versed in grasping the flow of the battle. Black Crow Divine Monarch’s aura was obviously at an all-time low, so with the opportunity to defeat him right in front of their eyes, how could they not act?
Three figures attacked Black Crow Divine Monarch, surrounding him from three different directions. Yang Kai took the lead while Pei Wen Xuan and Qu Hua Shang supported him from the side. They did not engage Black Crow Divine Monarch too much and only attacked whenever the opportunity arose. With the combined forces of these three, the battle with Black Crow Divine Monarch instantly became extremely heated.
However, the three of them became increasingly frightened the longer they fought.
At this moment, it was clear that Black Crow Divine Monarch’s strength had dropped sharply; even so, he continued to fight them on equal footing. It just went to show how powerful he used to be. Luckily, the three of them had whittled down a considerable amount of his Blood Qi earlier; otherwise, it would have been an extremely dangerous battle for them.
Inside the tightly shut Grand Hall, the lights of various Secret Techniques and artifacts flared blindingly. At the same time, these lights were accompanied by several groans and grunts. It didn’t matter whether it was Black Crow Divine Monarch or Yang Kai’s party; both sides were covered in wounds in just a short period.
Black Crow Divine Monarch’s Blood Light Scripture was extremely troublesome. All the injuries to his body would only cause his vitality to drop by a small margin while even the most lethal and fatal injuries could not kill him.
That was in stark contrast to the situation when Yang Kai and the two others were injured. The blood from their wounds seemed to be guided by some kind of invisible force, transforming it into blood mist that gathered around Black Crow Divine Monarch and poured into his body, vanishing from sight to become part of his strength.
Yang Kai had the Wood Element Power stemming from the essence of the Immortal Tree, as well as a very pure Dragon Clan bloodline flowing in his body. Therefore, his regenerative abilities were incredible and his wounds healed very quickly. For this reason, the Blood Light Scripture affected him the least. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Pei Wen Xuan and Qu Hua Shang. It was hard to say exactly how much vitality they lost in such a short period, but their complexions were now extremely pale.
Nevertheless, nobody retreated after things had come this far. That was because all three of them knew that only one side would survive the battle today. The slightest negligence or sign of weakness could bring about an irreversible and catastrophic outcome.
“Kill!” Yang Kai’s roar reverberated throughout the Grand Hall as his spear stabbed forward and Space Principles fluctuated wildly. The spear disregarded the barriers of space and stabbed towards Black Crow Divine Monarch’s head even though he was standing a thousand metres away.
Black Crow Divine Monarch narrowed his eyes and lifted his hands to push out a wall of Blood Qi.
There was a loud explosion and Yang Kai was sent flying by the impact. Similarly, Black Crow Divine Monarch was also thrown backwards. He spun lightly in mid-air and landed on the ground, glaring at Yang Kai with deep hatred as he viciously snarled, “Just you wait, Junior! Once this Monarch replenishes his strength, he will return to fight you again!”
After saying that, he turned around and shot a blast of light behind him.
Yang Kai felt his heart jump in horror as he witnessed this. He hurriedly stopped his body from flying backward any further and shouted, “Stop him! He’s trying to escape!”
How could Pei Wen Xuan and Qu Hua Shang dare to hold back upon hearing those words? They quickly unleashed their Secret Techniques at Black Crow Divine Monarch, but the latter simply ignored them. He forcefully took on the brunt of their Divine Abilities, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood while his back was turned into a bloody mess.
In the meantime, there was a loud rumbling sound and the gates that had been closed all this while opened all of a sudden. Before the gates even finished opening, Black Crow Divine Monarch transformed into a blood light and rushed out.
Yang Kai and the two others felt their hearts freezing in fear at the sight!
It had to be said that hundreds or even thousands of cultivators were gathered on the three islands, the blood lake, and the lakeshore outside the Grand Hall. With a Heaven-defying Evil Art like the Blood Light Scripture, Black Crow Divine Monarch would only need to kill a few people and devour their vitality to recover completely. How were the three of them supposed to fight him if that happened?
“The gates have opened!” An exclamation suddenly sounded from outside the Grand Hall. It was obvious that more people had arrived at the palace in the middle of the lake while the three of them had been battling Black Crow Divine Monarch inside. It was just that the gates had been firmly shut, so they could not enter. Now that the gates had opened so suddenly, it was only natural for them to be pleasantly surprised.
On the other hand, Yang Kai quickly gave chase with his spear in hand. He had only taken a few steps when he heard several short screams coming from outside the palace. By the time he rushed out of the Grand Hall, three corpses were lying at the entrance of the Grand Hall. They had died a miserable death and all the vitality from their bodies had been sucked out, leaving them as little more than withered husks.
The cultivators who could arrive at the palace in the middle of the lake were the elite amongst the elite; however, who among them could withstand the assault of Black Crow Divine Monarch, especially when he was essentially launching a sneak attack? They were immediately killed on the spot.
Yang Kai suddenly felt as though his eyes were about to pop. An intense feeling of danger enveloped him. He looked up and saw Black Crow Divine Monarch running across the blood lake. There were several cultivators cautiously making their way across the blood lake. They seemed to be heading towards the palace in the middle of the lake.
Upon sensing the commotion in front, they looked up and saw Black Crow Divine Monarch travelling towards them in the opposite direction. All of them were shocked; after all, the blood lake only allowed a person to move forward but not retreat. Somebody had tried to retreat earlier only to end up dying on the spot. So, why was this person completely unscathed?
Just as they were puzzling over this question, Black Crow Divine Monarch lifted his hand and shot out several rays of blood light. These cultivators were already walking on thin ice in the first place and most of their concentration was used to maintain the circulation of the Blood Light Scripture. Thus, they were completely powerless to resist these attacks.
The blood light reached them in an instant and enveloped them completely. A dense blood mist leaked out of the bodies of those cultivators who were enveloped by the blood light at a rate that was visible to the naked eye. All the Blood Essence in their bodies flowed out quickly, and when the blood light returned to Black Crow Divine Monarch, those cultivators who had been turned into mummified corpses fell into the blood lake.
“Zhou Yi, how dare you steal the Blood Essence of others!? You will definitely suffer the Heavens’ wrath for committing such evil and despicable acts!” Somebody who probably knew Zhou Yi roared furiously.
Black Crow Divine Monarch was naturally unmoved. He simply waved a hand in that direction, shooting a ray of blood light at that person who in turn roared furiously and summoned his artifact to fight back.
“Run! That isn’t Zhou Yi! It’s a Divine Monarch who seized his body to revive himself! He’s not an enemy you can fight!” Yang Kai circulated his strength to his throat and shouted so that his voice was transmitted clearly across the entire surroundings.
Everybody was shocked and horrified.
At that moment, several others fell to the attacks of Black Crow Divine Monarch. They lost all the vitality in their bodies and perished. The rest of the cultivators became terrified upon witnessing that sight. The cultivators on the third island hurriedly got up and rushed towards the shore when they saw Black Crow Divine Monarch heading straight towards them.
There had been a restriction placed on the blood lake that only allowed a person to move forward but not retreat; however, Black Crow Divine Monarch was currently safe and sound while running in the opposite direction. It gave them a glimmer of hope and sure enough, they discovered that the restriction had lost effect at some point in time when they tried to retreat to the shore. It was most likely because the palace in the middle of the lake had been opened.
For a time, all the cultivators on the first and second islands all turned around and ran for their lives. Meanwhile, the people who were gathered on the shore scattered far away, keeping a distance that could ensure their absolute safety.
Black Crow Divine Monarch stopped in the middle of the blood lake and turned around to glare at Yang Kai hatefully, “Junior, I’ll rip your corpse into ten thousand pieces for ruining my good deed!”
If possible, he would not have exposed his identity. He would have preferred to silently possess and replace a person so that he could slowly take his time to cultivate and reach the heights he once achieved in his past life. Unfortunately, his attempt at possession had failed. Moreover, he was forced by Yang Kai and the others to reveal himself in order to replenish his strength. His secret could no longer be kept hidden at this point. It was conceivable that countless Masters would hunt him down as soon as he left the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
“Black Crow Divine Monarch, do you dare to fight me!?” Yang Kai lifted his spear and pointed forward, shouting with his arms raised. [If I leave this old dog alone, he will only become stronger and stronger in the future. If I want to kill him, I have to do it now!]
Black Crow Divine Monarch coldly snorted, “Why do I have to fear? Junior, just stay there obediently. This Monarch will deal with you later!”
After saying that, he suddenly raised both his arms. The gigantic blood lake seemed to be lifted by some kind of force and the surface of the lake that had remained calm all this while suddenly began to churn violently, gurgling and bubbling as though it was boiling. When the bubbles burst open, they released dense Blood Qi.
Meanwhile, Black Crow Divine Monarch’s body seemed to have turned into a bottomless abyss that continuously devoured the Blood Qi.
Yang Kai felt his entire body going cold with fear…
The blood lake was definitely something Blood Monster Divine Monarch prepared for his Inheritance Disciple; after all, there was no point in inheriting his Blood Dao inheritance and cultivating the Blood Light Scripture if one did not have enough vitality. That was why he prepared this blood lake in advance.
Yang Kai had not given much thought to this matter before, so it was not until this moment that he understood. All the water in the blood lake was formed from genuine fresh blood. Just how many people were sacrificed to fill such a large blood lake? As expected, Blood Monster Divine Monarch was not a good or kind man either!
Black Crow Divine Monarch was unstoppable now! Having devoured all the vitality contained within the blood lake, his aura increased to new heights. Not only were his injuries from before completely healed, but he also experienced a huge boost in strength. His strength had reached a level where it was simply impossible to resist.
“Let’s meet again in the future!” Pei Wen Xuan immediately shouted at the sight. Turning around, he transformed into a cloud of black smoke and fled in a certain direction. He travelled across several dozen kilometres in an instant.
It had to be said that he was very clever indeed. He knew that nobody here was Black Crow Divine Monarch’s equal in terms of strength. Furthermore, the first thing Black Crow Divine Monarch would do once he finished devouring the blood lake was to come after Yang Kai. The old fart had suffered so badly at Yang Kai’s hands after all. It was only natural for him to take his revenge against him. Knowing all of this, why would Pei Wen Xuan continue to stick around with Yang Kai?
Yang Kai was so vexed that his teeth nearly cracked from grinding together; however, he did not dare to delay either. He grabbed Qu Hua Shang by the arm and shouted, “Let’s go!”
With a flicker of his figure, he chased after Pei Wen Xuan and it didn’t take long before the cloud of black smoke appeared in his field of vision.
Pei Wen Xuan turned around and nearly spat blood at the sight, “You bastard! Why are you chasing after me!? We are unrelated to each other; mind your own business and go your own separate ways!”
Yang Kai did not stop moving. Space Principles fluctuated and he arrived in front of Pei Wen Xuan with Qu Hua Shang in tow, “Brother Pei, you and I have faced life and death together. We wouldn’t have gotten to know each other otherwise. I admire your abilities greatly, Brother Pei. Senior Sister Qu is currently in poor condition so I need to bring her somewhere to treat her injuries first. I’ll have to trouble you to delay Black Crow Divine Monarch for a little while.”
After having said his peace, Space Principles fluctuated in consecutive motions and Yang Kai vanished out of Pei Wen Xuan’s field of vision.
Pei Wen Xuan couldn’t help cursing out loud! He had also attacked Black Crow Divine Monarch back at the Grand Hall, and although his attacks were not as damaging as Yang Kai’s due to his lack of strength, there was no denying that he had participated. If Black Crow Divine Monarch came chasing in this direction and caught sight of him, the former would not go easy on him; hence, he had been counting on Yang Kai to buy him some time to escape. Who could have known that Yang Kai would have the same idea? It truly was a case of karmic consequences; he reaped what he sowed.
The black smoke halted abruptly, revealing Pei Wen Xuan’s figure. He did not dare to flee in the same direction as Yang Kai; therefore, he could only turn and flee in a different direction. At the same time, he fervently prayed in his heart that Black Crow Divine Monarch would not come and cause trouble for him. His Identity Token had been destroyed, and although he did not fear encountering anybody else, Black Crow Divine Monarch was not somebody he could contend against with his strength alone.
He had not escaped far when he detected a bloody stench in the wind coming from behind him. Turning back to look behind him, Pei Wen Xuan was instantly stricken with terror. In the direction of the blood lake, he could see a blood cloud flying close to the ground and heading in this direction at a high speed. Moreover, there was a large face within the blood cloud. It looked so ferocious that it was absolutely horrifying. The mouth that was opened wide roared continuously, as though intending to devour the world itself!
The blood cloud travelled extremely quickly and arrived within several hundred kilometres in the blink of an eye. That face was glaring intently in the direction that Yang Kai and Qu Hua Shang had fled just now; thus, Pei Wen Xuan secretly rejoiced. The thought had only just crossed his mind when the face suddenly turned to glance in this direction. It was just a passing glance, but Pei Wen Xuan immediately felt the sense of crisis looming over him.
The face opened its mouth and a blood arrow shot out, slicing through the Void and arriving in front of Pei Wen Xuan in an instant. The blood light immediately filled his vision, so he did not hesitate to bite his tongue and spray out a mouthful of Blood Essence. The Demon Qi in his body simultaneously surged violently. He had only just finished this when the blood arrow enveloped him.
There was a huge explosion and the entire world seemed to shatter from the impact. An enormous pit in the ground appeared out of nowhere and dust flew everywhere.
It was not until half a day later that a subtle movement stirred the dirt inside the deep pit in the ground. A large hand dug out of the earth and immediately after that, a bloody figure climbed out of the pit. He lay weakly on the ground, facing the sky without moving, his aura extremely weak. Who else could it be but Pei Wen Xuan!?
If an ordinary cultivator were in his shoes, they would not have any chance of surviving the attack. The only ending waiting for them was a death so tragic that not even their bones would be left. It was fortunate that he was a Core Disciple of Myriad Demons Heaven and his heritage was extremely rich, so he managed to survive after exhausting all his methods and strength.
Although he managed to survive, he was heavily injured as a result. It was impossible for him to fight anybody else with these injuries, not unless he recuperated for a month or two first. However, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was filled with dangers, so where would he find a safe place to recuperate from his injuries? There was a high chance that he would be eaten by the Monster Beasts here before he could recover; thus, he cursed in his heart, [Yang Kai, you bastard! If I survive this ordeal, I will definitely get my revenge on you one day!]
On the other side, Yang Kai was busy fleeing for his life. At some point, he had placed Qu Hua Shang into the Small Sealed World so she could treat her injuries. It was not the seductress’ first time entering the Small Sealed World anyway as she had entered it once before when leaving the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
With the help of Space Principles, Yang Kai was second to none when it came to escaping. He even managed to escape from a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like the Proprietress for a time in the past. What was Black Crow Divine Monarch, who had only just possessed Zhou Yi, in comparison? No matter how powerful Black Crow Divine Monarch was, he was limited by Zhou Yi’s physical body; hence, the strength that he could exert was also limited.
Half a day later, Yang Kai fled so far that Black Crow Divine Monarch was nowhere to be seen. He hid inside a cave in one of the mountains, sitting cross-legged to rest. At the same time, he used his Divine Sense to communicate with the Small Sealed World to check on Qu Hua Shang’s condition.
Qu Hua Shang was quite badly injured. First, she was affected by dissonance in her cultivation from cultivating the false Blood Light Scripture; then, she was wounded countless times and had most of her vitality devoured by Black Crow Divine Monarch. For that reason, her aura was currently very weak. It was fortunate that her life was not in danger and she only needed to recuperate for several days to recover fully.
After confirming that Qu Hua Shang was alright, Yang Kai withdrew his mind from the Small Sealed World.
The fact that there was another Divine Monarch inside the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was probably something nobody had ever expected. Nevertheless, Black Crow Divine Monarch had returned to life by possessing another. The various Cave-Heavens and Paradises would not ignore this situation once the information spread to the outside.
Black Crow Divine Monarch was bound to face all sorts of troubles when the Blood Monster Cave Heaven closed. In the worst case, he might even be hunted down by numerous Masters! Whether or not he could keep himself safe at the time was an unknown variable. It stood to reason that he would not have the excess energy to deal with Yang Kai at that time.
In other words, Yang Kai had to make sure that he could safely escape from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven! Fortunately, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was very large, so as long as he remained careful, it would not be difficult to avoid meeting Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Just as that thought came to mind though, Yang Kai felt his heart jump in fright. An inexplicable chill suddenly flooded his body and he did not hesitate to push his Space Principles and vanish from the spot.
At the same moment that his figure vanished out of sight, two blood snakes suddenly lunged out from their hiding places. These two blood snakes were very well-hidden and it was not until they made their move that they revealed a trace of their aura. If Yang Kai had not reacted so swiftly, he would have fallen prey to the attack just now.
Consequently, the blood snakes bit into nothing but air. Following that, they transformed into blood and the cave was instantly filled with an extremely unpleasant stench. Even the ground was corroded into a deep pit.
Yang Kai turned around to look behind him and gave a horrified exclamation, “Black Crow Divine Monarch!”
Somewhere no more than thirty kilometres away, a blood cloud entered his vision. Moreover, there was a lifelike face in the middle of the blood cloud. It was none other than Black Crow Divine Monarch.
Sensing the Space Principles fluctuations, Black Crow Divine Monarch immediately turned to look in this direction with an evil grin, “I found you, boy!”
Whilst saying that, a portion of his Blood Qi turned into a large hand that came crashing down on Yang Kai. The sky instantly darkened and all the light was quickly obscured as a result. After his palm slammed down on Yang Kai, he frowned slightly because Yang Kai had made a swift escape and disappeared with a flash of his figure.
Black Crow Divine Monarch was filled with hatred. [This brat is extremely proficient in the Dao of Space. How troublesome!]
Unbeknownst to him, Yang Kai was also feeling extremely annoyed at the moment. [I believe I ran far enough. How did Black Crow Divine Monarch find me? Could it be that he left some sort of Soul Mark on me? Is that why he can track my whereabouts? If that’s the case, it would explain how he managed to rush here so quickly.]
Spreading out his Divine Sense, Yang Kai investigated his Knowledge Sea and body, but despite checking every corner of himself thoroughly, he did not find anything. Thus, he scowled fiercely.
In an attempt to confirm his conjecture, Yang Kai escaped to a location that was even further away and secretly hid himself. That was not all; he also summoned the Shadowless Veil and covered himself with it. The Shadowless Veil was something that could even fool the perception of a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master who was not actively searching for him. Although it had its limits, it was still an amazing treasure.
In less than six hours though, Yang Kai saw a blood cloud rushing through the sky from the distant horizon at high speed. Black Crow Divine Monarch shouted from afar before he even arrived, “Boy, cease your futile resistance! You will never escape from this Monarch even if you flee to the ends of the world!”
Yang Kai was furious and was now certain that Black Crow Divine Monarch had placed some sort of mark on him; otherwise, how could the latter accurately determine his whereabouts twice? It was just that he had no idea what kind of mark it was, so he had no way of removing it.
Yang Kai initially planned to avoid the old dog until the Blood Monster Cave Heaven closed as everything would be over after that. Unfortunately, it would seem that he was far too naive. In that case, he could only go all out and fight! This time around, he would not have Qu Hua Shang or Pei Wen Xuan with him. It would literally be a one-on-one battle!
Yang Kai remained hidden from view. Judging by the first time his whereabouts were exposed, Black Crow Divine Monarch could not determine his precise location despite the mark on his body and only had a general idea of his location. Otherwise, Black Crow Divine Monarch would not have used those blood snakes to search for him.
Yang Kai’s conjecture turned out to be correct. It didn’t take long for the blood cloud to arrive within ten kilometres of Yang Kai’s vicinity. The large face glanced about the surroundings for a while before its gaze fixed on the spot where Yang Kai was located. The blood cloud trembled slightly as numerous blood snakes emerged and immediately disappeared out of sight after landing on the ground.
Black Crow Divine Monarch then shouted, “Brat, don’t say this Monarch did not give you any chance! Although you embarrassed this Monarch greatly, it does not change the fact that this Monarch appreciates your abilities. I will spare your life if you come forward on your own initiative. Refuse, and it will be difficult for you to survive once this Monarch captures you!”
Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to those words. [This guy relentlessly chased me for over ten thousand kilometres just to kill me. Who would believe him when he utters such nonsense at this time?]
*Chi chi chi…* A series of noises came from Yang Kai’s surroundings. It was the slithering sounds of countless blood snakes moving around. Just listening to those sounds made one’s scalp tingle in fear.
Yang Kai, who was in hiding, could even discern clearly that the countless blood snakes were forming an extremely large net as they swept towards him like a blanket. At this rate, his location would be exposed once they reached his hiding spot.