As Yang Kai’s thoughts began to drift, he heard Lu Jing say, “The Burning Light and Serene Glimmer were born of opposing attributes and fought incessantly, filling the void with the Elements, Yin and Yang. It was said that Yin and Yang Element materials condense in places where they have passed, and are of a very high quality at that!”
“Is this news reliable?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed. It was not that he did not trust Lu Jing, but how could Lu Jing know something that even the Proprietress could not find out?
Sure enough, Lu Jing laughed embarrassedly, “I have only heard someone else mention it. Maybe it was just a rumour. After all, nobody has seen it for themselves.”
Yang Kai thought to himself, [if you’re not sure, then why say it?]
However, Lu Jing was clearly only trying to give Yang Kai a hint. It was up to Yang Kai to decide what he wanted to do with that information.
Within a few moments, Bian Yu Qing brought someone over, and Yang Kai sent Lu Jing out. There was no need for him to worry about anything happening at the Star City since Mo Mei was there to take care of it.
For now, allowing Lu Jing to build up a new Trade Company in the Star City may not be of much use to Void Land, but in the long run, it could help with leveraging the power of those supporting Lu Jing from behind, Gathering Yuan Union. After the fight here was over, the Star City would begin to develop again, and this would be of great benefit to both sides.
After Lu Jing’s side was settled, Yang Kai headed to Water Spirit Land without delay.
A large number of people that were brought over from the Star Boundary were housed in Water Spirit Land, including members of the Dragon Clan. There was a huge lake in Water Spirit Land, and at the very centre of that lake hovered a palace that was just like an island.
Yang Kai moved to the front of the palace and looked up, where he saw the characters ‘Flowing Time Temple’ shining brightly.
A white shadow rushed out of the main entrance and ran circles around Yang Kai like a puppy, saying excitedly, “Adoptive Father, what are you doing here?”
Another beautiful figure appeared subsequently from the Flowing Time Temple, standing gracefully and smiling at Yang Kai, bowing, “Big Brother.”
Two more rushed out of the Flowing Time Temple, one a beautiful girl, and the other, a fierce elderly man with an unkind frown. It was Liu Yan and Qiong Qi.
“Master!” Liu Yan called out to him softly.
“En!” Yang Kai responded. Then, slapping his palm down, he stopped Yang Xiao who was turning circles around him, instantly freezing him in place.
After rubbing Yang Xiao’s head, his white hair became a mess. Yang Kai beckoned, “Let’s talk inside.” Then, grabbing Yang Xiao by the scruff, he carried him inside.
Yang Xiao’s calves trembled, and he looked to Yang Xue for help, but the latter stuck out her tongue at him. As the brightest star of the Dragon Clan’s younger generation, Yang Xiao was afraid of next to nothing beneath the Heavens. Even Great Elder Zhu Yan and Second Elder Fu Zhun, his true parents, could do nothing about him. The Dragon Clan’s two Great Elders had once thought their son could never be born, and had subsequently spent many, many years mourning their loss, so when he finally was born, they doted on him greatly. How could they even think of restraining him?
The only one the boy feared was Yang Kai.
Since arriving in the Outer Universe, Yang Kai had been busy all year-round and had little time to spare, so the two did not see each other often.
Yang Xiao had no idea what his Adoptive Father had come to do this time, but he could not think about what he had done wrong during this recent period either. At most, he pulled a single hair from Old Man Bi Xi’s beard when he was receiving a lesson from him…
[That old man didn’t tell on me, did he?] Yang Xiao’s heart was beating in fear.
“Adoptive Father, have some tea!” Yang Xiao was very attentive after entering the Flowing Time Temple and offered up tea on his own initiative.
Yang Kai glanced at him and took a seat without standing on ceremony while the other three stood in front of him. After accepting the tea and taking a sip, he put on the dignified air as an Adoptive Father and asked straightforwardly, “How has your cultivation been going?”
Yang Xiao hurriedly answered, “I have been to Senior Bi Xi’s home frequently, listening to his lectures about refining one’s bloodline. It feels like I learned a lot.”
Yang Kai nodded and put down his teacup, “Then tell me more about this lesson!”
Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment, but then his mouth became like a tumbling river, blurting everything that he learned.
Yang Kai listened for a while and nodded, “Good. Senior Bi Xi is an extremely old and wise Divine Spirit who carries a potent Dragon Vein. His experiences are extremely beneficial to the cultivation of the Dragon Clan. If you are free, then you should go to his place more often and pay your respects! Until the Dragon Altar is found, Senior Bi Xi will be the only guiding light for the Dragon Clan’s rise.”
“Yes, Adoptive Father is right. Senior Bi Xi is highly respectable. Father and Mother also tell me to see him often.”
“En. Next time I hear you disrespected Senior Bi Xi, I will send you back to the Star Boundary!”
Yang Xiao’s eye twitched, but he still acted like a good boy, “Your Son won’t dare to do it again!”
“Xue’er, how have you doing recently? What stage are you in right now?” Yang Kai looked up at his biological Younger Sister. If possible, Yang Kai would have preferred to guide Yang Xue in her cultivation personally, but he had constantly been on the move recently. With so many matters requiring his attention, he simply had no time to spare.
Yang Xue smiled, “I was just able to condense my Wood Element.”
Yang Kai raised a brow, “Where did you start from?”
“The Water Element Power!”
“Water gives life to Wood… Since coming over from the Star Boundary, you have condensed your own Dao Seal and two Powers, the Water Element and the Wood Element. That is quick progress. Let me see.” Yang Xue had only been cultivating for a short time, after all. Even though her aptitude was outstanding, the progress of her cultivation was still not comparable to many of the Great Emperors and Pseudo-Great Emperors. She could not even match Yang Kai’s Wives in certain aspects.
After all, when Su Yan was still in the Emperor Realm, Yang Xue had not even been born for long.
Saying so, Yang Kai reached a hand out to Yang Xue, who put her own hand onto his palm in a docile manner.
After circulating his energy and doing a quick check, Yang Kai nodded, “A stable Dao Seal is the greatest safeguard one can have when advancing into the Open Heaven Realm. Your foundation is solid, but still lacking when compared to others, so you must not advance recklessly.”
Strictly speaking, for those who came from the Star Boundary, apart from the Great Emperors who had remained at the peak of the Emperor Realm for a long time and whose Dao Seals were stable enough for them to break through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly, were still a little lacking, even the Pseudo-Great Emperors.
There was no need to mention Su Yan and the others, unless they were willing to spend a lot of time solidifying their own Dao Seals.
However, this was no trouble with the Divine Dao Water and the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill in Yang Kai’s possession! Of these two items, the first could strengthen one’s Dao Seal, allowing cultivators an even broader future. The second could then protect them during their advancement into the Open Heaven Realm, greatly reducing the risks that could come with breaking through.
Without these two items, there was no way that Void Land’s heritage could be as strong as it was today.
“I will do as Big Brother says,” Yang Xue nodded obediently.
“Also, the Wood and Water Elements that you have condensed are the gentlest of the Five Elements. That is why it took little effort and little risk to condense them. However, Wood stokes Fire, and the Fire Element Power that you will have to condense next will not be this simple. When that time comes, your Dao Seal will have to withstand a much greater impact than ever before, and if it can’t hold up, the consequences will be dire.”
Yang Xue nodded and said, “I will definitely prepare myself well before proceeding.”
Yang Kai then turned to Liu Yan and Qiong Qi, “The cultivation of a Divine Spirit is mainly to develop one’s bloodline, which is different from Human cultivators, so you will have only yourselves to depend on.”
Qiong Qi nodded before commenting, “Even though Senior Bi Xi is a Dragonkin, he said that the cultivation of a Divine Spirit’s bloodline is similar in almost all circumstances, so we also often go to his home to listen to his lectures.”
Yang Kai nodded, “That’s for the best.”
Liu Yan asked, “Has Master come for something this time?”
“Yes, just a small matter.” Yang Kai looked at Qiong Qi, “I need to study the Dao of Time, so I may need to use Senior Flowing Time’s Legacy Inheritance. There’s no problem with that, is there?”
Qiong Qi followed Flowing Time Great Emperor as his mount, and with the latter’s passing, he was tasked with passing down Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Inheritance, and was fortunate enough to find Yang Xiao and Yang Xue.
However, the Legacy Inheritance was not something that could be borrowed lightly, so Qiong Qi had to be informed beforehand.
Qiong Qi pondered for a moment before responding, “Naturally, others may not ask for it, but it is no problem for Sir. You can ask the two Young Masters about the inheritance.”
Yang Kai nodded, “In that case, I will not hold back.”
Yang Kai spent the next few months in the Flowing Time Temple, discussing the Dao of Time with Yang Xiao and Yang Xue. The two of them had accepted the full Legacy Inheritance of Flowing Time Great Emperor, so their proficiency in the Dao of Time was not low, almost at the Traversing a Familiar Path level, which was exactly where Yang Kai was as well.
However, they had not been cultivating for as long as Yang Kai had, and Yang Kai had also taken a giant leap forward in his understanding thanks to the evolution of his Small Universe.
The fact that they were now on equal footing with him was a testament to the two young ones’ efforts.
The Dao of Time was as esoteric as the Dao of Space, perhaps even more so, so it took a while for Yang Xiao and Yang Xue to explain all of the mysteries they inherited from Flowing Time Great Emperor. Combined with the insight that he had gained from his own cultivation over the years, Yang Kai was naturally able to gain a lot of benefit.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue also benefited a lot from this discussion. Much of Yang Kai’s insights and ideas were things he had discovered on his own through his personal experiences. He was now a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so his insight was generally more profound compared to Yang Xiao and Yang Xue. Standing at a higher realm allowed him to see a broader picture.
Often, his thought-provoking words would cause Yang Xiao and Yang Xue to fall deep into thought.
Time passed quickly as they cultivated and discussed with each other, and all three of them were able to make significant improvements in the Dao of Time.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. If Yang Kai was said to merely be at the fourth level of Master regarding the Dao of Time when he arrived, then after his discussions with Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, he had now reached the fifth level, Mastery Through Comprehensive Study!
The same went for the two younger ones!
Yang Kai had no idea what level of mastery Flowing Time Great Emperor had reached; after all, he made the Dao of Time the foundation of his cultivation. However, at the very most, he did not surpass the sixth level.
Flowing Time Great Emperor was certainly a great genius, but he was only a Great Emperor back then who did not even reach the Open Heaven Realm; thus, his cultivation could not be compared to Yang Kai’s.
Yang Kai was pleased with this harvest while both Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were also pleasantly surprised by their gains.
Gaining a deeper mastery over the Dao of Time also solidified Yang Xue’s Dao Seal considerably, and naturally, the Divine Abilities that she performed through the use of Time Principles also became more powerful. Just the Time Flies Seal had become twice as strong as it had ever been.
Half a year later, Yang Kai returned to his chambers in order to improve his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel and Space-Time Strength. He had already thoroughly absorbed the Legacy Inheritance left behind by Flowing Time Great Emperor, and the rest was now up to him to study. It would be difficult to gain anything more now through external means.
Even though he did not have the chance to use the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel again to see the results of his labour, Yang Kai felt that there would definitely be a significant improvement compared to the past.
Three years had passed since the Territory Gate between Void Land and Flying Smoke Territory had been blockaded.
Void Land had spent most of those three years in closed-door cultivation and consuming countless materials. Now, the results were clear for all to see.
The most obvious result was that there were more than 500 new Open Heaven Realm Masters!
On average, several, or even up to a dozen people, advanced into the Open Heaven Realm every month.
The cultivators from the Star Boundary were naturally not as fast. Most of them were still building up their foundations to prepare for advancing into the Open Heaven Realm while most had not even managed to break through to the Emperor Realm yet.
The newly advanced Open Heaven Realm Masters all came from Blood Monster Cave Heaven’s Abundance City.
Back then, when Yang Kai brought a few thousand people back from Abundance City, their cultivations had been perpetually limited to the peak of the Emperor Realm due to the special environment and Blood Principle Restriction of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, making it impossible for them to explore the mysteries of the Open Heaven Realm.
Yang Kai brought them out and lifted the Blood Principle Restriction, giving them the freedom to surpass that limit and providing them with a favourable cultivation environment so that they no longer had to worry about anything.
For those cultivators who had long gained the qualifications to advance into the Open Heaven Realm yet were unable to break through due to their circumstances, it was only natural that group after group of them suddenly shot through to the Open Heaven Realm.
Mo Mei and the others were able to advance into the Open Heaven Realm very quickly, which added more than 300 new Open Heaven Realm Masters to Void Land in one go.
However, the potential of Abundance City’s cultivators had not been exhausted yet. Over the years, the cultivators who came from Abundance City advanced into the Open Heaven Realm one after another, constantly strengthening Void Land’s heritage.
The majority of those who broke through later did not reach high Orders. Even those in the Fifth Order were few and far between. Most of them were either in the Third Order or the Fourth Order, but there were many of them, and there was still the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill to guarantee their safety.
For other great forces, even the Cave Heavens and Paradises, it was impossible for them to guarantee that any of their disciples would succeed in breaking through into the Open Heaven Realm.
But Void Land could!
Even those who advanced into the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm were able to obtain a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Advancing into the Third or Fourth Order was not difficult to begin with, so where would there be any chance of failure with the help of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill?
So far, the total number of Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land had already broken through to the four-digit mark! It was foreseeable that more cultivators from Abundance City would be joining the ranks of the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the coming days.
Yang Kai had long expected this result, but when Bian Yu Qing reported the figures to him, he was still unable to stop himself from beaming with joy.
He remembered that when he first stepped into the 3,000 Worlds and landed in Seven Wonders Land as a Worker, he had to do so much meticulous planning and careful accounting for just a few to several dozen Open Heaven Pills. How could he have imagined that he would one day have over 1,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters under his command?
To bring a force of this calibre out in the world, which great force in the 3,000, save for the major Cave Heavens and Paradises, would be able to compete with them?
Void Land was filled with great talents, and now had a mighty army equipped with the finest arms!
No matter how much Void Land tried to hide this, with so many people advancing into the Open Heaven Realm, traces would surely leak out.
Heavenly Sword Union, under Zuo Quan Hui’s command, had obviously planted some spies outside of Void Land, and they even had some henchmen planted in the Star City right now.
Yang Kai and Bian Yu Qing knew this, but they had no way to pluck them all out and naturally had no way of getting rid of them.
Perhaps stimulated by the constant appearance of newly advanced Open Heaven Realm Masters, though Heavenly Sword Union had been idle in the first year, they had begun making tentative moves starting from the second year.
Every so often, ships bearing Heavenly Sword Union’s banner would wander within Void Territory. Even though they did not dare come too close to Void Land nor attack the Universe Worlds, they still scared the smaller forces under Void Land so much that they were all constantly trembling in fear.
In addition to Void Land, Void Territory housed 7 other Third Class great forces, all of which could be described as subordinates of Void Land that survived by relying on their protection. Third Class great forces did not even have Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in their ranks, so when they saw Heavenly Sword Union’s ships loitering around their doorstep, they were naturally all distraught and rushed to Void Land for help!
Void Land dispatched troops many times to support their subordinate forces, but by the time they arrived, Heavenly Sword Union’s ships had already disappeared from sight.
After several repetitions of this behaviour, Bian Yu Qing was determined to set up a patrol of Open Heaven Realm Masters to monitor the situation in Void Territory.
With this, small skirmishes would break out eventually as both sides were bound to meet.
Void Land had the home advantage in these fights, and the number of Open Heaven Realm Masters under them was also massive, so they naturally had the advantage that basically allowed them to win every fight.
The tentacles that Heavenly Sword Union plunged into Void Territory to probe the situation inside had all been cut off without bringing back any gains, but they still continued blocking the Territory Gate leading from Flying Smoke Territory to Void Territory, showing no intention of starting an all-out war. It was clear that they were still hoping to snuff Void Land out by dragging things out.
In actuality, Heavenly Sword Union’s decision couldn’t be called a mistake. Three years had passed and the resources accumulated by Void Land had been greatly reduced due to this chokehold. Now, there was also little income flowing in from the Star City, and with so many more Open Heaven Realm Masters to support, the rate at which their supplies depleted also increased.
Void Land’s resources wouldn’t be able to last much longer. Even though a large shipment of supplies was sent over from the Black Prison every six months, it was still hard to make ends meet.
Moreover, after three years had passed, the half of the Ore Star that Yang Kai brought out from the Black Prison’s depths back then would be depleted, and it would be impossible for them to obtain such a large quantity of supplies from the Black Territory again unless Yang Kai made another trip to drag out another Ore Star.
However, how could Yang Kai leave without worry now that the situation was so unpredictable?
Bian Yu Qing had no choice but to try her best to make adjustments to try and make Void Land’s supplies last for as long as possible.
Inside his chambers, Yang Kai looked at Bian Yu Qing with astonishment while holding his teacup, “Is what you say true?”
Bian Yu Qing nodded solemnly, “Sect Master, how could I joke about such a thing? Iron Blood Great Emperor has already sent someone over to contact us and says that he will need a Sixth-Order Yang Element material in two months.”
Yang Kai could not stop his brows from rising in excitement, “That means that Senior Iron Blood is about to advance into the Open Heaven Realm!”
Bian Yu Qing nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice, “I’ve checked the records of the taken supplies. Since coming to Void Land, Senior Iron Blood has taken one piece each of the materials of the Five Elements, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, all in the Sixth Order. Less than half a year ago, another Sixth-Order Yin Element material was taken, so this Sixth-Order Yang Element material is the last one.”
“Good!” Yang Kai put down his tea and stood up, looking even more excited than if he himself were advancing. He then began pacing about the room, “This is the first person from the Star Boundary to advance into the Open Heaven Realm, and to advance straight into the Sixth Order at that! We must help Senior Iron Blood forge a clean path. En, did he say what we needed to prepare?”
Bian Yu Qing shook her head, “Senior Iron Blood has only sent someone to tell us that he needs a Sixth-Order Yang Element material in two months. He did not say anything besides that.”
Yang Kai pondered, “We definitely have to prepare a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Go and look for one, and find one of the best quality. Make sure nothing goes wrong in Senior Iron Blood’s advancement into the Open Heaven Realm. And also…”
After blurting out a bunch of instructions, he looked up to see Bian Yu Qing staring at him with an astonished expression.
Yang Kai blinked his eyes, “Did you get all that? And what are you staring at me for?”
Bian Yu Qing smiled, “I have noted everything down, but if anyone unaware were to see Sect Master’s reaction, then they would think that one of the Madams was about to have a child.”
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that, “Advancing into the Open Heaven Realm is much tougher than giving birth to a baby, and for the first one at that!”
After some thought, he could not help but lament, “How fast!”
It had not been very many years since he brought everyone from the Star Boundary to the Outer Universe, so he never expected Iron Blood Great Emperor to actually be able to advance into the Open Heaven Realm so soon.
That was even quicker than he himself!
However, it did not seem strange after Yang Kai thought about it. He had to seek out every material by himself when he was trying to advance into the Open Heaven Realm, which consumed a lot of time and effort. However, it was different for Iron Blood Great Emperor and the others. They only needed to worry about cultivating since Void Land had everything in store for them already. All they had to do was keep refining, refining, and refining again. As long as their bodies were able to bear it, and as long as they could ensure that their foundation was firmly laid, there were simply no worries to be had for them.
This was what it meant when one said, ‘beneath a big tree, there is cool shade’.
In fact, Yang Kai’s situation was far more commonly seen in the Outer Universe, and that was true even for the disciples of those Cave Heavens and Paradises. They may not have to find materials for themselves, but if they wished to use the Sect’s resources, then they had to exchange for them with the appropriate contributions, which would still inevitably take time.
And, of all the Great Emperors, Iron Blood was the first to advance into the Open Heaven Realm, which was both unexpected and expected.
Back then, Iron Blood Great Emperor was the strongest in terms of abilities, so it was not strange for him to have progressed so quickly.
“Besides Senior Iron Blood, what about the others? How are they doing?” Yang Kai asked.
Bian Yu Qing answered, “Other than Senior Iron Blood, the ones improving the quickest right now is Senior Hong Chen and Senior Martial Beast. Both of them have already begun refining their sixth material. Senior Serene Soul is also almost there. I believe he is about to complete the refinement of his fifth material. Then, there is Senior Flower Shadow and Senior Ice Feather. Lastly, there is Senior Wondrous Pill and Senior Heavens Revelations!”
Yang Kai nodded, “That makes sense. Wondrous Pill and Heavens Revelations are both not proficient in combat, so it is inevitable that they are slower than the rest.”
Though they were all Great Emperors, there were still differences between them. Despite all of them coming from the Star Boundary to Void Land, the speed at which they could advance into the Open Heaven Realm was indicative of the differences between them.
Yang Kai then asked about the Pseudo-Great Emperors, to which Bian Yu Qing responded one by one. These results were satisfactory to Yang Kai.
There was no need to ask about Su Yan and the others as he would personally visit his Wives from time to time to investigate and give them pointers himself, so he naturally knew more about them than Bian Yu Qing did.
“If I had to point out anything, it would be that Fang Yue and Xiang Ying are also about to advance into the Open Heaven Realm. The same goes for a few of those who were recruited from the Grand Ancient Ruins Shop. They are not lacking when compared to the Great Emperors.”
“That is normal.” Yang Kai nodded, “They had already condensed various Elements while they were in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and they also received the personal guidance of Divine Spirits, so it is only natural that their rate of refinement would not be slow. En, other than Fang Yue and Xiang Ying, who else has requested Sixth-Order materials?”
Fang Xue and Xiang Yin were both Divine Medicine owners with excellent potential and were keen on advancing into the Sixth Order. Yang Kai had also allowed them to do as they wished, and they had the full support of Void Land.
The other Bearers that were recruited from the Grand Ancient Ruins Shop had all been forced to refine Sixth-Order or even higher materials by the Divine Spirits supporting them, but most of their aptitudes were not good enough to directly advance into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. For the long term, it was best for them to take one step down and advance into the Fifth Order instead.
The Divine Spirits of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary would not think about the long-term development and future of their Bearers. They were merely helping their bearers to refine higher Order Elements just to strengthen them up and give them an advantage in the Spirit Seizing War. As for whether or not there would be hidden dangers to these actions, why would the Divine Spirits care?
However, in general, Fang Yue and Xiang Ying would both face more risk than the Great Emperors in their ascension to the Sixth Order.
They did not possess the deep heritages of the Great Emperors, nor the Divine Dao Water to reinforce their Dao Seals. Even if they were able to refine Sixth-Order materials now, the dangers they would have to face in the future would only become greater.
Otherwise, why would they join Void Land? There were so many great forces in the 3,000 Worlds, and with their aptitude, it would not be difficult for any of them to enter any of those great forces, but they were attracted here by the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills.
It was foreseeable that the barrier that they must break through in order to ascend into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm would be a barrier of life or death. Success would mean life, and failure would result in death. They had no other choice.
“Apart from these two, the rest understood their limits and did not apply for any Sixth-Order materials, but rather opted for materials of the Fifth-Order!” Bian Yu Qing replied.
“En. We might not have much else in Void Land, but we do have plenty of Fifth-Order materials.” Yang Kai nodded. With the Divine Medicine, Gourd Vine, it would only take them a month to collect a complete set of Fifth-Order materials. As long as they were given enough time, Void Land would definitely see no shortage of Fifth-Order materials.
However, in the short term, Void Land’s resources would be scarce until the crisis forced upon them by Heavenly Sword Union was lifted.
As the two were talking, Yang Kai suddenly saw two tiny figures rushing in from the outside. It was Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei.
Just like in their original forms, Xiao Hong had a fine appearance in human form like molded porcelain or well-cut jade, but Xiao Hei looked as crooked and appalling as ever, drooling from time to time.
Yang Kai smiled, “What brings the two of you here? Has Senior sent you?”
Xiao Hong said urgently, “Young Master, quickly go and take a look, something is not right with the Young Madam. Grandpa sent me to call you over.”
Yang Kai’s face turned serious and he got up, “Which Young Madam?”
Bian Yu Qing’s face also became serious.
“That is… The one with the red hair!” Xiao Hei added from the side while sucking up the drool that was dripping down his face.
[Red hair… it’s Zhu Qing!]
Yang Kai had no idea what happened, but since Bi Xi called for him, then it must be serious. Not daring to delay, he manipulated Space Principles and disappeared from where he stood.
By the time he reappeared, he had already arrived at a platform on Dragon Son’s Peak.
There were a large group of people gathered here, all of whom were from the Dragon Clan, forming a circle. It was not known what they were looking at, but when they heard the noise, Great Elder Zhu Yan, Second Elder Fu Zhun, Third Elder Fu Xuan, and Fourth Elder Zhu Kong all turned their heads to look at him.
“Adoptive Father!” Yang Xiao quickly shouted.
“Yang Kai, you’re here.” Zhu Yan nodded lightly at him.
“What happened?” Heart hanging from his throat, Yang Kai moved through the crowd.
Bi Xi, who was standing inside, did not turn around. He stood there, hunched over, reassuring him, “No need to be nervous. It’s nothing bad. In fact, it’s good news.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai was confused.
“See for yourself,” Bi Xi pointed.
Yang Kai looked over and saw Zhu Qing sitting down cross-legged, surrounded by a blood mist. The blood mist was just like a living being that lingered around her. Inside, Zhu Qing had a peaceful expression on her face as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.
[En?] Yang Kai carefully observed the blood mist surrounding Zhu Qing’s body and could feel the might of her Dragon Vein coming from it.
“You sense it, don’t you?” Bi Xi asked.
Yang Kai answered tentatively, “Qing’er’s Dragon Vein is growing stronger?
“Exactly.” Bi Xi nodded.
“Why is this happening?” Yang Kai did not understand.
Zhu Yan explained, “Just now, we were listening to Senior’s lesson on refining our bloodline. Fifth Elder must have had an epiphany.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Yang Kai asked tentatively.
“Of course it is!” Bi Xi nodded, “The growth of a Divine Spirit is a constant metamorphosis, and each transformation brings about great improvements. The same is true for the Dragon Clan. Qing Girl is now in the process of that metamorphosis.”
Yang Kai finally put his worries aside and grinned, “Many thanks for your tireless guidance, Senior.”
Bi Xi waved his hand, “I merely offered them directions. The reason this little girl was able to see a result so quickly is because of her pure bloodline. En, out of all of you Young Dragons, this girl has the purest bloodline.”
[Young Dragons…]
The Dragon Clan Elders all had awkward looks on their faces, but since it was Bi Xi who said it, none of them dared to refute him and accepted it in silence.
“So, what makes one a Mature Dragon?” Yang Kai asked.
Bi Xi shook his head and laughed, “There is no such thing as a Mature Dragon, only a Grand Dragon!” After a pause, he added, “To be able to evoke their original forms and take on a body over 10,000 metres long, that is the limit one must exceed to be called a Grand Dragon, and only a Grand Dragon can be as powerful as a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master!”
“10,000 metres long!” Zhu Yan was astonished. He was the Great Elder of the Dragon Clan, so it was reasonable to say that he was the strongest one. Not even Zhu Qing could compare; however, his body was currently only 1,000 metres or so in length. He was still far away from reaching 10,000 metres.
Yang Kai was also secretly speechless. When he executed his Dragon Transformation Secret Art, he could reach a few thousand metres in length, which he thought was amazing enough. However, he never thought that he would still be thousands of metres away from becoming a Grand Dragon. But of course, his situation was not the same as a True Dragon, so his size alone was not enough to tell how strong he was.
“Reaching 10,000 metres is just a basic requirement for one to become a Grand Dragon. As one’s bloodline continues to evolve, even 100,000 metres is not impossible,” Bi Xi’s words were astounding.
The Young Dragons were all stunned by what they heard… In terms of age, which Dragon Clan member here had not lived for thousands or even tens of thousands of years? But for the growth of a Dragon, the depth of their bloodline had always been the greatest standard. This was true for not only the Dragon Clan, but for all Divine Spirits.
While they were talking, the blood mist around the surface of Zhu Qing’s body became denser and denser. Previously, they could still see Zhu Qing through the blood mist, but now, the red mist was so thick that they could no longer see the inside.
“…This is quicker than expected!” Bi Xi exclaimed.
“Is there something wrong with that?” Yang Kai became nervous again.
“Not for now.” Bi Xi shook his head, “However, this Old Master has noticed a problem even before this. Among you Young Dragons, this girl has the densest bloodline. Reasonably speaking, since you all came from the same place, there should not be such a great difference. Has she taken some sort of precious treasure that can purify one’s bloodline?”
The Dragon Clan Elders all turned their heads to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was puzzled by their stares, “What’s wrong?”
Bi Xi was also confused.
Zhu Yan lightly coughed. When he raised his hand, his Dragon Aura surged, isolating the inside from the outside and keeping the rest of the Dragon Clan members out, leaving only a few Elders behind.
There were not many members of the Dragon Clan to begin with, only around 20 or so in total. Apart from the Elders, all the rest of the Dragon Clan members were looking over curiously, but they could not hear any sound, so they had no idea what the Elders were talking about.
“Do you really have no idea, or are you just feigning ignorance?” Zhu Yan glanced at Yang Kai.
“What am I supposed to know?” Yang Kai was baffled.
Fu Xuan stood aside with a slight blush on her cheek, staring down at her toes. Zhu Kong, on the other hand, had raised his eyes to the sky as if there were a pretty little female Dragon flirting with him.
Fu Zhun, on the other hand, was as blunt as usual. Amused, she looked at Yang Kai and asked, “Think about it, how did Zhu Qing become the Fifth Elder of the Dragon Clan?”
Yang Kai stroked his chin, “Is it because of me?”
Fu Zhun sighed, “Of course, it’s because of you!”
Zhu Yan interrupted them, “Of course, it’s not all because of you. To become an Elder of our Dragon Clan, an exceptional bloodline is necessary. Strictly speaking, Zhu Qing was not the most outstanding Dragon on my Dragon Island at the time, and the purity of her bloodline was nothing exceptional. However, since meeting you, the purity of her bloodline has been increasing at a rapid rate. That is the biggest reason why she had become the Fifth Elder of our Dragon Clan, even surpassing the old ones like us. I’m more than certain she told you why we sent so many of our female clan members to you at that time.”
“After meeting me…” Yang Kai pursed his lips, reminiscing about their past encounters and those female clan member attempts at him, he said a little embarrassedly, “Great Elder means to say…”
Zhu Yan coughed lightly, “You have the ability to purify the bloodline of the Dragon Clan. Otherwise, how would the Fifth Elder able to achieve so much so quickly?”
Yang Kai glanced at the other Dragon Clan Elders and blushed a little.
Zhu Yan said, “We have discussed this issue before.”
Bi Xi was looking left and right. After listening for a while, he finally reacted and made a sound of realization.
Yang Kai hurriedly said, “Don’t listen to them, Senior Brother. It’s just baseless nonsense. Qing’er was surely able to reach an epiphany because of your great guidance.”
Bi Xi waved his hand and laughed, “That would only be possible if she had exceptional potential to begin with. Regardless, this is not something that is taboo for us to talk about. As far as I know, such practices are common in the Dragon Clan. The union between a Dragon of a stronger bloodline and a Dragon of a weaker bloodline will indeed be able to help the one with the weaker bloodline to purify theirs.”
Zhu Yan’s eyes lit up, “Senior, that also occurs in the Outer Universe?”
Bi Xi nodded, “Of course! Not only is this true for the Dragon Clan, but also for the rest of the Divine Spirits. So, the purer one’s bloodline, the higher their status. Only, no matter what Divine Spirit Clan it may be, their numbers are extremely low, and there were even fewer of them to be found in one same group. The Dragon Clan’s numbers are still quite numerous in comparison, and that is why it is more obvious.”
Zhu Yan’s eyes were already glowing as he was staring at Yang Kai with a burning gaze.
Yang Kai could not help but feel goosebumps rising all over his skin as he asked nervously, “What advice does Great Elder have for me?”
Just wanted to state this in case some wonder why this is a little different from the raws.
“Void Land’s current situation isn’t good,” Zhu Yan suddenly sighed.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “It still has not reached the point when life and death are at stake.”
Zhu Yan nodded, “Although that is true, being targeted by a High-Rank Open Heaven Master is still a terrible predicament.”
Yang Kai thought he was worried about Void Land’s future, so he quickly consoled, “Great Elder doesn’t need to worry, I have a way to deal with this.”
“I believe you.” Zhu Yan nodded, “The Star Boundary’s situation was horrendous back then, but you led us out of it, we fought our way out. No matter how bad the current situation is, it’s still less dangerous than the Star Boundary’s situation back then.”
Though, Zhu Yan suddenly changed the subject, “However, having more Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land is not a bad thing, right?”
“Great Elder is right, we’ve already begun to move to increase our numbers, and things are progressing quite smoothly.” In another two months, Iron Blood Great Emperor should be attempting to advance to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. This was exciting news.
“The more Masters there are, the better! Especially my Dragon Clan, if we can grow, each of us will be comparable to a High-Rank Open Heaven Master. At that time, what can a mere Zuo Quan Hui amount to?” Zhu Yan said proudly before turning to look at Yang Kai sincerely, “However, you also know that the growth of a Divine Spirit is extremely slow, the same goes for those from the Dragon Clan. After following you from the Star Boundary to Void Land for so many years, only the Fifth Elder has made some significant progress, while the others have basically been stagnant, so you’ll have to spend more effort to assist them!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable as he asked hesitantly, “What does Great Elder want me to do?”
Zhu Yan made a fist and coughed lightly, “You’re also a member of the Dragon Clan after all, so you can’t favour one over the other. You have to treat everyone equally, am I right? Us men and married women won’t count on you, but look over there, there are still a few young women who haven’t married yet.”
The corners of Yang Kai’s eyes couldn’t help twitching slightly, while Fu Xuan, who was standing to the side, blushed to the tips of her ears. Turning her head, she quickly stated, “Xiao Qi is waiting for me, I’ll go take a look at her.”
Saying so, she stomped her foot and soared into the sky.
Zhu Yan’s words were extremely clear, so how could those present not understand what he was saying? Fu Xuan was simply too embarrassed to stay.
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Great Elder, you’re pushing me into a fire pit! The number of pure-blooded female Dragon Clan members is far fewer than the number of men, each of them is akin to a treasure. If the men hear what you said, they will chop me into eighteen pieces!”
Zhu Yan added in a serious and righteous manner, “When compared to the future of my Dragon Clan, what do personal sacrifices count for? If any of them dares to say anything, I’ll rip their heads off. We have talked about this before. Furthermore, I’m sure these little girls will be happy to do this. Have they not already made their stances clear?”
“No no, this is not appropriate!” Yang Kai quickly waved him off. Zhu Yan wanted him to become a Dragon stud, how could he do such a thing? There were only a few unmarried women left in the Dragon Clan, four or five, that’s it.
“There’s nothing inappropriate at all!” Zhu Yan assumed the posture that he was the law and his word would be final, “Everything else can be discussed, but this matter concerns the future of our Dragon Clan, so you’ll have to listen to me. In any case, your Wives are all cultivating in retreat right now, and you rarely get to meet them. You’re also a young man with a strong physique, so don’t you feel lonely?”
Yang Kai broke out in a cold sweat, “You’re the Dragon Clan’s Great Elder, is it alright for you to speak like this? If your clansmen were to hear this, where would your prestige go?”
Fu Zhun, who was standing to the side, interjected with a smile, “If we can really allow the Dragon Clan to have a few Grand Dragons, even if its prestige goes down the drain, so what?”
Yang Kai stared at her in shock, “Second Elder, why are you saying such things?”
He turned to Zhu Kong, and asked, “Fourth Elder, don’t you have anything to say?”
Zhu Kong muttered to himself for a moment before reaching out to pat Yang Kai’s shoulder and sighing, “Many thanks in advance for your hard work!”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded!
He looked towards Bi Xi for help; however, the old man, who had been observing everything for a long time, just stroked his beard and encouraged, “If you plant the crops and till the fields well, you’ll definitely gain something.”
Yang Kai’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, feeling like someone had just stabbed him in the back.
Seeing Zhu Yan about to speak again, Yang Kai quickly raised his hand and stopped him, “Great Elder, the Dragon Clan’s future cannot depend on me alone, but I can promise you that I will find the Dragon Altar as soon as possible. If I can find it, the Dragon Clan will no longer be trapped here, and its future will be bright.”
Zhu Yan was stunned for a moment before stating, “The Dragon Altar is the Dragon Altar while you are you. We are not certain when we’ll find it, or if we ever will. So let’s talk about you first.”
How could Yang Kai be willing to continue this discussion? Putting on an act, he took out his Communication Bead and looked at it before raising his brow and saying, “Something happened in Star City, I’ll go take a look.”
He turned to Bi Xi and requested, “Senior, please look after Qing’er.”
Nodding, Bi Xi assured, “Rest assured, if there is any change, I will inform you right away.”
Yang Kai thanked him before escaping towards the Star City.
Seeing him flee, Zhu Yan was also helpless, while Fu Zhun heaved a sigh, “We were too impatient. We’ve frightened him off.”
Zhu Yan grinned meaningfully, “A man’s heart always longs for spring sceneries, how could such a good thing scare him? This isn’t the first time this has happened. Perhaps he’s still just too happy to say it out loud.”
Fu Zhun glanced at him casually, “Oh, is that so?”
Zhu Yan quickly coughed and replied, “I’m an old man, so naturally I won’t act like those young ones!”
Fu Zhun coldly snorted, “So, what do we do now?”
Zhu Yan thought about it for a moment, then waved his hand to remove the barrier and swept his eyes over the clan members in front of him, “Boys, leave, girls, stay. We have some things to tell you.”
The male members of the Dragon Clan looked at each other in dismay. Although they were all somewhat curious, since the Great Elder had spoken, they didn’t dare to remain any longer and quickly left, leaving five female Dragon Clan members behind.
Zhu Yan gave Fu Zhun a look, and the latter immediately stepped forward and whispered to the five female Dragons, occasionally pointing towards Zhu Qing. Some of the female Dragons had their eyes shine brightly, seemingly eager to give it a try, while some had their faces flushed shyly…
Meanwhile, the nearby Zhu Kong let out a long sigh!
The Star City’s popularity was low as nearly 80% of the merchants had left long ago, causing the situation to deteriorate. Even the Void Dock, which used to be extremely lively, was now deserted.
Yang Kai drank a few pots of tea in the Governor’s Mansion until his stomach was full.
Mo Mei had no idea why Yang Kai had suddenly come to her place, but she just quietly accompanied him and didn’t ask any questions, diligently reporting to him about the Star City’s recent situation, whereas Yang Kai perfunctorily listened.
Half a day later, Yang Kai thought that it was about time, so he finally stood up and stated, “Please take care of the Star City, I’ll go back first.”
“Sect Master, rest assured, I will definitely take good care of the Star City, goodbye!”
After returning from the Star City, Yang Kai went to find Bian Yu Qing to discuss the matter of Iron Blood Great Emperor breaking through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm in two months. Although they couldn’t help much, this was not a small event, so they had to make some preparations.
At the very least, he had to isolate the energy fluctuations during the breakthrough so that others would not be able to spy on him; otherwise, if Zuo Quan Hui found out about this, he might not be able to hold himself back and attack.
Void Land’s top priority now was time, and second was supplies.
After settling some details with Bian Yu Qing, Yang Kai returned to his palace.
Just as he pushed open the door to his room though, Yang Kai frowned and looked towards the bed, only to see that there was something hidden inside it. He could clearly feel someone’s aura and breathing.
Frowning, Yang Kai walked over to the bed and looked down. Before he could see who was hiding here, two snow-white arms reached out from under the blanket and wrapped around his neck, pulling him down.
Yang Kai quickly held onto the edge of the bed to steady himself.
A pair of bright eyes stared straight at him, as if wanting to eat him alive.
“Fu Ling? What are you doing here?” Yang Kai asked, staring at her. Yang Kai had a deep impression of this loose Purple Dragon. When he first entered Dragon Island in the Star Boundary, he had seen many things she was involved in that nearly blinded his eyes. Before then, he had only heard that those of the Dragon Race lived in an impure and obscene manner, but he thought that only applied to the males. It could be said that Fu Ling had opened a new window for him.
“Brother-in-law!” Fu Ling called out sweetly with eyes filled with affection, “The Great Elder sent me here to serve you.”
After she had raised her hands, Yang Kai found that the thin blanket couldn’t cover her naked body at all. She wasn’t wearing anything!
“Great Elder asked you to come?” Yang Kai was both amused and annoyed. Zhu Yan really wanted to treat him like a Dragon stud and had sent Fu Ling over without any warning.
“Of course.” Fu Ling blew her orchid breath at Yang Kai’s face as she gently pursed her red lips, assuming a seductive look, “Brother-in-law, I also want to be like Big Sister Qing and grow into a Grand Dragon as soon as possible. Brother-in-law, can you help me?”
Yang Kai quickly nodded, “Let go of me first, I’ll help you.”
Fu Ling’s beautiful eyes lit up as she cheered in joy, “Brother-in-law is the best!”
A moment later, with an exasperated shout, Fu Ling, who was wrapped up in sheets like a dumpling, was tossed out of the palace.
Before she could land on the ground, the enraged Fu Ling transformed into her true form, a giant Purple Dragon. Shaking her head and flicking her tail, she breathed out a Purple Dragon Breath which caused the defensive Array around the palace to flicker.
After venting her anger, Fu Ling left in a huff.
From that day on, whenever Yang Kai showed up in Void Land, there would always be a female Dragon who would appear and follow him. Not every one of them was as unrestrained as Fu Ling. Some of them were bold and hot while others were shy and tender. Nonetheless, being entangled by so many female Dragons made Yang Kai feel helpless.
However, Yang Kai could never agree to be a Dragon Stud. Not in the past and not now. Zhu Qing’s achievements today were not done in a day or two, but rather because he had been nourishing her for a long time. If he really went along with Zhu Yan’s plans, Yang Kai would probably have no time for anything else and would be stuck pleasing those female Dragon Clans members with his heart and body indefinitely.
If Yu Ru Meng and the others found out about this later, Yang Kai was certain that he would never have any good days ahead of him. So, although his heart wavered, he refused to give in. Thus, regarding this matter, even Zhu Yan and the others were rendered helpless. After all, one could not force an ox to bend its head to drink.
Likewise, change a bit of the context to not make this the first time this has occurred.
In Void Land’s Wood Spirit Province, where there were endless mountain ranges with jagged rocks covered in lush forests. On a certain Spirit Peak, Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged and staring at another Spirit Peak 100 kilometres away.
He had been sitting here for more than two months now.
With these two Spirit Peaks as the centre, a radius of several hundred kilometres had been marked as a Restricted Area and no unauthorized personnel were allowed to approach.
A streak of light flew over and landed beside Yang Kai as a sweet fragrance spread in the air. It was none other than Yue He.
As their eyes met, Yang Kai nodded slightly. Yue He, standing quietly beside him, asked in a low voice, gazing into the distance, “Young Master, how is the situation?”
“For the time being, there shouldn’t be any big issues. We just need to see when Senior Iron Blood will be able to completely refine the Yang Element material. As long as he completely refines it, he will be able to split Heaven and Earth apart and form his Small Universe.”
After a short pause, he asked again, “Has everything been arranged?”
Yue He replied, “Everything has been arranged. Second Manager is bringing them over right now.”
Yang Kai nodded.
Two months ago, Iron Blood Great Emperor had received his Sixth-Order Yang Element material and was preparing to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Yang Kai had also made many preparations for this and had especially found many Open Heaven Realm Masters to teach him about the things he needed to pay attention to in order to break through smoothly. This kind of experience was exactly what Iron Blood Great Emperor needed. With this guidance, he would be able to avoid many risks.
It had been almost two months since Iron Blood Great Emperor began refining his final Element material, so it should be about time for the results to be revealed.
He was the first cultivator from the Star Boundary to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. This was extremely significant to the current Void Land and the people from the Star Boundary as a whole.
Therefore, Yang Kai arranged for some people to attend the ceremony! These people were all preparing to break through to the Sixth Order, so being able to personally observe and emulate Iron Blood Great Emperor’s breakthrough would be of great benefit to them in the future.
When Old Bai was breaking through to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, the Proprietress had specially brought Yang Kai to watch for precisely this reason.
As the two were speaking, they saw a large group of people flying towards them. When they got close, all of them landed on the ground. There were more than twenty of them.
The ones in front were naturally the Great Emperors from the Star Boundary, Hong Chen, Martial Beast, Serene Soul, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, Heavens Revelations, and Wondrous Pill.
Next were Yang Yan, Li Wu Yi, Bing Yun, Sheng Yu Zhu, and the other Pseudo-Great Emperors.
After them were Yang Kai’s wives, Su Yan, Xia Ning Chang, Shan Qing Luo, Xue Yue, Yu Ru Meng, and Ji Yao.
Yang Xue, Mo Xiao Qi, Lin Yun’er, Xiang Ying, and Fang Yue also came.
Everyone greeted him one by one, but there was no time for small talk as everyone’s eyes turned towards Iron Blood Great Emperor.
After observing for a while, Duan Hong Chen furrowed his brow and asked, “What’s the situation over there?”
Yang Kai replied honestly, “He’s probably still refining the last material, but it should be about time. We’ll know in half a month at most.”
Duan Hong Chen nodded slightly and suddenly smiled, “I didn’t expect that we would also be able to break through to the Open Heaven Realm.”
They were trapped in the Star Boundary and unable to see the vastness of the Outer Universe. Only by leaping out from there did they realize how small the world they lived in truly was. However, everyone understood that the greatest contributor to everyone’s success today was undoubtedly Yang Kai. If he hadn’t provided them with an unlimited amount of cultivation materials, even if they had jumped out to the Outer Universe, they might not have had a good result.
Since their arrival from the Star Boundary, the Great Emperors rarely gathered together as they were usually busy with their own cultivation. If Yang Kai hadn’t asked them to attend this event, they would still be in retreat.
Now that they had gathered together, there was naturally a lot to talk about, so it didn’t take long for them to start chatting.
Yang Kai didn’t pay any attention to them and instead shot a glance at his Wives before walking to the side. Seeing this, the several women quickly followed.
Although Yang Kai would often find time to guide Su Yan and the others in their cultivation, most of the time, they would be in retreat so they rarely saw each other. As such, it was only natural for them to feel a little lovesick.
There were many people gathered here, and since it was inappropriate to show too much affection in public, Yang Kai simply checked the cultivation progress of each of the women one by one, answering all of their questions in detail and allowing them to benefit greatly.
Three days later, Yang Kai, who was talking to his women, suddenly turned his head in the direction of Iron Blood Great Emperor and shouted, “It’s starting!”
The muttering on the Spirit Peak suddenly quieted down as everyone turned their attention to the platform where Iron Blood Great Emperor was sitting cross-legged. Bit by bit, an extremely profound aura suddenly started rising.
“Is the arrangement over at the Star City done?” Yang Kai turned his head and asked.
Yue He quickly replied, “Everything has been arranged. Mo Mei will personally keep an eye on it, so there won’t be any mistakes.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Start the Array!”
Yue He accepted the order and summoned the Array Jade. Immediately, her hands danced around as the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array was activated.
The Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array that enveloped Void Land was extremely powerful, but the more powerful the Spirit Array, the more energy it consumed to operate.
Normally, the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array was not fully activated, especially now that Void Land was lacking in resources.
At this moment, under the control of Yue He, the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array’s Bewildering Array, Illusion Array, and barrier were all activated.
When Iron Blood Great Emperor broke through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there would inevitably be a great disturbance. If there was no Grand Array to isolate him, it was highly likely his breakthrough would be spied upon by outsiders.
Heavenly Sword Union was like a tiger eyeing its prey right now. It was unknown how many spies they had planted in Void Territory and the Star City, but once news of someone breaking through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm spread, they would naturally hear about it.
Yang Kai didn’t know what Zuo Quan Hui’s reaction would be, but just in case, he had to be careful; Void Land still needed more time.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Void Land was covered in a thick layer of mist. Looking from afar, it was impossible to see anything within.
Inside Void Land, the movements of Iron Blood Great Emperor became more obvious, and a series of muffled thuds slowly and rhythmically rang out from the void, as if a giant invisible hand was beating a war drum.
Everyone focused all of their attention on him, not missing a single detail.
Watching others advance to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm was extremely helpful to their future cultivation, so no one dared to relax.
Advancing to the Open Heaven Realm was a process of a cultivator splitting Heaven and Earth apart within their body to form a Small Universe. This process was extremely dangerous because, in order to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, one needed to first shatter their Dao Seal and melt it into their Small Universe. If the Dao Seal was shattered and the Small Universe was unable to form, then their entire life of cultivation would be wasted.
If one succeeded, they would be reborn and soar into the sky. If they failed, they would lose everything and would die without a corpse. There were only two endings when breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm. One was to live, the other to die. There was no middle ground.
As such, there were many Emperor Realm cultivators in these 3,000 Worlds who already had the qualifications to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, but did not dare to take that final step.
The Great Emperors all wore solemn expressions.
Compared to Iron Blood, their foundation was almost the same. Perhaps Iron Blood was slightly better, but not by much. Whether or not Iron Blood could successfully advance to the Sixth Order was the key. If he failed, it would be a great blow to the Great Emperors from the Star Boundary.
If even the Great Emperors were like this, there was no need to mention the others.
As such, everyone present was nervous.
Seeing this, Yang Kai consoled, “Senior Iron Blood has a deep foundation and his Dao Seal is firm. Now that he has the protection of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. There’s no need to be so nervous.”
Mo Huang shook his head and commented, “Who dares to say that nothing unexpected will happen on our path of cultivation? Even if someone had travelled 99% along the path, before he or she had reached his or her destination the slightest carelessness may lead to unpredictable consequences.”
Yang Kai had wanted them to not be so nervous, but after hearing Mo Huang’s words, he could only nod and say, “Senior Martial Beast is right.”
As time passed, the Yin, Yang, and Five Element Powers gradually rose and fell, mutually reinforcing and suppressing one another. On the Spirit Peak, the atmosphere was heavy as everyone knew that Iron Blood had reached a critical juncture, so how could they be in the mood to speak?
Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements continued cycling without end, occasionally showing signs of disorder, causing everyone to be on edge. Fortunately, Iron Blood Great Emperor’s foundation was quite deep, so although there were some twists and turns during his advancement, it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t control it himself.
Yang Kai paid close attention and was prepared to step in at any time. He didn’t know if he could help others when they encountered difficulties during their breakthrough to the Open Heaven Realm, or if he could assist them in any way, but he could only prepare in advance.
At a certain moment, the flaring aura suddenly disappeared, shocking everyone. They thought that something terrible had happened to Iron Blood Great Emperor; however, soon after, a strange feeling slowly spread out. When they probed, they sensed that the place where Iron Blood Great Emperor was standing was a chaotic mess, as if everything in this world had been turned into nothingness.
Yang Kai’s brow rose as he recalled the scene of him breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm. How could he not know that Iron Blood Great Emperor had reached the final step? He couldn’t help feeling excited.
A fierce shout suddenly rang out from Iron Blood Great Emperor’s side, “Open!”
A violent rumbling sound rang out as Chaos erupted and Heaven and Earth split apart.
The aura of the newly born Universe World spread out in all directions like a thunderstorm, spreading fierce gales and causing everyone’s clothes to flutter.
“Success!” Duan Hong Chen exclaimed softly, his eyes glowing with envy.
“Hahahaha!” Iron Blood Great Emperor laughed heartily, “Amazing!”
Martial Beast Great Emperor curled his lips, “Show off!”
Although he said so, there was still pride in his eyes; after all, they were all Great Emperors, and with Iron Blood reaching the Open Heaven Realm, he would soon be able to catch up.
Yang Kai’s tense heart finally relaxed as he let out a long sigh and smiled, “Everyone, please come with me to congratulate him.”
Saying so, he took the lead and flew forward while the others followed closely behind.
A distance of 100 kilometres was covered in the blink of an eye. Iron Blood Great Emperor stood there, gently clenching his fists. His face filled with confidence as if he could grasp the entire world in his palm.
Yang Kai could understand what he was feeling. On the Martial Dao, the gap between the Emperor Realm and the Open Heaven Realm was a big leap, a qualitative change that was difficult to describe, especially with Iron Blood Great Emperor breaking through directly to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. At this moment, the strength he possessed was thousands of times greater than before!
At the Star City’s Void Dock, a small ship, after receiving a routine inspection, slowly sailed out before quickly disappearing into the void.
After the ship left, Mo Mei slowly walked out from her hiding place and glanced in the ship’s direction, asking, “Who does that ship belong to?”
The disciple, who was responsible for inspecting the ship, reported, “It’s the transport of Gathering Smoke Territory’s Blizzard Sect.”
Mo Mei immediately took out her Universe Chart and examined it for a moment before coldly snorting, “Gathering Smoke Territory and Heavenly Sword Territory are adjacent to each other. They didn’t leave sooner or later, but chose to leave at this time. What a loyal bunch!”
As she spoke, she turned her head in the direction of Void Land and saw that it was currently wrapped in a thick mist. She knew that Iron Blood Great Emperor from the Star Boundary was definitely preparing to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, otherwise, the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array would not have been activated.
It was known that there were spies from Heavenly Sword Union in the Star City. She had discussed this matter with Yang Kai before. Just like how he had arranged for Luan Bai Feng to join Heavenly Sword Union, Heavenly Sword Union would have certainly done the same.
However, there were still many merchants and residents who remained in the Star City, so it was impossible to determine which ones were spies.
Iron Blood Great Emperor breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm had clearly alerted Void Land’s enemies.
When the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array was activated, the entire Void Land was covered by it, giving the impression they were trying to hide some kind of big secret. When the spies in the Star City saw this, they would definitely report it to Heavenly Sword Union, giving Void Land an opportunity to track them.
What Mo Mei saw now was completely in line with Yang Kai’s speculations.
Not long after Void Land’s Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array was activated, Blizzard Sect’s ship left the Star City. Why did they leave if it wasn’t to send a message? It should be noted that the Star City’s Void Dock had been completely deserted all this while, no one had come or gone. So Jin Yuan Lang and his group of disciples who were responsible for overseeing the Void Dock had grown quite idle and bored.
“Elder Fan!” Mo Mei called out.
Fan Wu Xin quickly stepped forward and cupped his fist, greeting, “Governor!”
“Keep a close eye on this place, there’s definitely more than one rat. If anyone wants to leave, you can detain them first. If they have any objection, tell them to come to the Governor’s mansion and talk to me.”
“Yes!” Fan Wu Xin replied solemnly.
Mo Mei glanced at the deep void again, wondering how much they could gain from tracking these people down.
At the same time, in Void Land, a group of people gathered around Iron Blood Great Emperor and listened to him describe the feeling of breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm.
Although Yang Kai had previously asked many veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to teach them some things they needed to pay attention to in order to advance to the Open Heaven Realm, having someone who just broke through like Iron Blood Great Emperor teach them was naturally more effective.
Perhaps one of them might encounter a similar situation as Iron Blood Great Emperor when they made their attempt. At that time, if they were well prepared, it would be easier to deal with.
After a full day and night, everyone still hadn’t had enough, so Yang Kai had no choice but to interrupt them, “Senior Iron Blood just broke through and needs to consolidate his foundation. Let him rest for a while.”
Hearing this, everyone finally gave up.
There was a huge leap in strength from the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm. The sudden increase in strength required some time to gradually adapt to; otherwise, it would be impossible for Iron Blood to display his full might when facing an enemy.
Iron Blood Great Emperor’s ascension to the Open Heaven Realm was a good start, meaning that the cultivators from the Star Boundary had now finally stepped onto the stage of the 3,000 Worlds.
In three to six months, Yang Kai believed that Void Land would have at least three or four more Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Bustling World Great Emperor, Martial Beast Great Emperor, and even Fang Yue and Xiang Ying’s advancement to Open Heaven Realm was only a hair’s breadth behind Iron Blood Great Emperor.
Perhaps it was because they had been stimulated by Iron Blood Great Emperor’s breakthrough, but everyone returned to their respective rooms and immediately entered retreat. As expected, the two Great Emperors, Bustling World and Martial Beast, as well as Fang Yue and Xiang Ying, both requested Bian Yu Qing to provide them with the last Sixth-Order Yang Element material they needed soon after.
Bian Yu Qing naturally agreed.
After everything was settled, Bian Yu Qing came to Yang Kai’s side and whispered a few words to him.
Yang Kai slightly narrowed his eyes and nodded, “Let’s go take a look.”
The two of them quickly arrived at a secret room.
Jin Yuan Lang immediately cupped his fist and greeted, “Sect Master, Second Manager!”
Yang Kai nodded slightly and swept his gaze across the crowd, only to see three people standing side by side in front of him, two men and one woman. They looked a little panicked, but they were trying very hard to appear calm.
Jin Yuan Lang took a few steps forward and gave a simple report.
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, “Gathering Smoke Territory, Blizzard Sect?”
Jin Yuan Lang continued, “Governor Mo has already checked. Gathering Smoke Territory is adjacent to Heavenly Sword Territory. I’ve been following their flying ship for a long distance, their destination should have been Flying Smoke Territory.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly. He then pulled up a chair before sitting down and lifting his head to look at the three people in front of him.
The Blizzard Sect members were led by the elderly man in the middle. This man had good insight as when he saw a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Jin Yuan Lang acting so respectfully towards Yang Kai, he immediately guessed Yang Kai’s identity and cupped his fist, “This must be Void Land’s Lord, Sir Yang.”
Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “It is this Yang!”
The elderly man furrowed his brow and asked, “May I ask Sir Yang whether my Blizzard Sect has offended Void Land in any way that would cause you to detain us?”
Yang Kai asked lightly, “You really don’t know?”
The elderly man maintained a calm and composed manner, “Please enlighten me!”
Yang Kai stared at him for a moment before replying, “Since you don’t know, you don’t need to know.”
With a flick of his finger, World Force suddenly converged.
*Pa…*
The elderly man’s head exploded as red and white matter sprayed out in all directions while blood spurted out from the neck like a fountain.
Bian Yu Qing, who was standing behind Yang Kai, suddenly trembled, obviously frightened. It wasn’t that she had never seen a dead person before, but she hadn’t expected Yang Kai to act so decisively and take the old man’s life without any warning.
Jin Yuan Lang was also stunned for a moment, but soon a smile appeared on his lips, giving him a menacing look.
Since Blizzard Sect was willing to act as Heavenly Sword Union’s spy, they were enemies, so there was no need for them to show any mercy. Yang Kai’s actions were to his liking.
As the old man’s Small Universe collapsed, the power of the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm suddenly dissipated as the headless corpse staggered and fell to the ground.
Yang Kai looked up at the remaining two and asked, “What do you know?”
The remaining man and woman were only in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. Seeing their leader being killed so ruthlessly, their faces immediately went pale and their courage shattered. The man’s legs started trembling as he begged for mercy, “Sir, please spare my life! If there’s anything you need, please ask. I will tell you everything I know!”
As if he was afraid he would die if he spoke too late, he quickly replied.
Yang Kai turned to look at the woman again.
The woman’s face turned pale as she quickly expressed her stance, “This Mistress is the same, if Sir has any questions, feel free to ask.”
Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, “That’s better.”
After pondering for a moment, he stated, “The one who tells me the most will live, the other will die. Elder Jin, take one of them away!”
“Yes!” Jin Yuan Lang accepted the order and reached out to grab the man, ignoring his pleas for mercy and resistance as he took him away.
Yang Kai turned to the woman and calmly continued, “You should understand what I want to know!”
The woman nervously gulped as her breathing became erratic. Her chest heaved up and down and she put on the best flattering smile she could as she gently nodded, “This Mistress knows.”
Without waiting for Yang Kai to ask any more questions, she began speaking.
She was frightened out of her wits, which caused her words to be extremely disorganized. Moreover, she was afraid that she would reveal less than her companion, so she said whatever came to her mind.
Yang Kai listened with an indifferent expression, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking. The more he acted like this, the more panicked the woman became.
After a long time, the woman finally stopped and looked at him with a timid expression.
As expected, these people from the Blizzard Sect were spies planted by Heavenly Sword Union in Void Star City. Blizzard Sect originally had a shop in the Star City, so before Heavenly Sword Union sealed the Territory Gate, they contacted them and asked them to monitor the movements of Void Land. They had ordered them to report every piece of news they found.
Previously, when they saw Void Land’s Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array activate, they too were unable to see what was happening inside, so they thought that something big had occurred. As such, they prepared to go to Flying Smoke Territory to report the situation, but they didn’t expect to fall into Yang Kai’s trap.
“Is that all?” Yang Kai looked up at her.
The woman quickly shook her head, “Yes Sir! This Mistress and the others also didn’t want to do this, we were forced to do so. Gathering Smoke Territory and Heavenly Sword Territory are neighbours, if we didn’t comply, Heavenly Sword Union would definitely not spare us. My Blizzard Sect really has no intention of becoming enemies with Void Land.”
Yang Kai ignored her pleas and continued, “The people that Heavenly Sword Union planted in the Star City are definitely not just your Blizzard Sect. Who else is there?”
The woman thought about it carefully before shaking her head, “This Mistress has no idea!”
“Think carefully before you answer; otherwise, if your Fellow Brother says more than you, you won’t have a chance to see tomorrow’s sun.”
The woman’s eyes immediately turned red, “Sir, this Mistress really doesn’t know. Please spare my life, this Mistress is willing to do anything to repay Sir’s kindness. Please take pity on me.”
Saying so, she actually knelt down, crawled up to Yang Kai, and craned her snow-white neck to look at him. This immediately caused her deep ravine to be visible through her collar.
Bian Yu Qing couldn’t stand her pathetic look and coldly snapped, “You may not know, but don’t you have any suspects?”
After hearing her reminder, the woman thought about it seriously for a moment before reporting the names of the two other forces, “This Mistress doesn’t know if they are or not, but I’ve heard that they have many connections with Heavenly Sword Union.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I see.”
Giving Bian Yu Qing a look, she immediately turned around and called out.
A short while later, Jin Yuan Lang walked in with the man in his arms before carrying the woman away, ignoring her pleas.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai walked out of the secret room with Bian Yu Qing following closely behind him. The two Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Blizzard Sect had already told him everything they knew, and after cross-referencing the information they had revealed, Yang Kai did not find anything suspicious. So, questioning them anymore would be pointless.
“Sect Master, what should we deal with those forces?” Bian Yu Qing asked softly.
In order to survive, the two Blizzard Sect members had mentioned several forces, but they couldn’t be certain if these forces really had colluded with Heavenly Sword Union. Perhaps they were just speculating, or perhaps they were just spouting names in order to appear more useful.
As such, dealing with these forces was quite troublesome.
“Send a message to Governor Mo to keep an eye on them, and if there’s any sign of trouble,” Yang Kai paused for a moment before coldly continuing. “We’d rather kill and be wrong than let them off!”
Bian Yu Qing quickly responded, “Yes!”
She also knew that what Void Land lacked the most right now was time. As long as they had a little more time, the number of Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters they had would grow. When the battle broke out with Heavenly Sword Union, every Sixth-Order Master would be an indispensable force. So, concealing information right now was the top priority.
Otherwise, if Zuo Quan Hui found out about the situation here, he would definitely launch an all-out attack.
Last time, Zuo Quan Hui’s lineage alone had forced Void Land to send out all its top experts; so now, with Heavenly Sword Union’s help, if Void Land didn’t have more Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, it would be difficult to resist.
“What should we do with those two?” Bian Yu Qing asked again.
“Detain them for now,” Yang Kai replied casually. He didn’t take the two Blizzard Sect members seriously, but since they wanted to make an enemy out of Void Land, he would not show any mercy. After the war here was settled, he would just throw them into the Black Territory. Luan Bai Feng would be more than happy to acquire more ore slaves.
After the order was passed down, the Star City also began to make arrangements. Sure enough, three days later, they caught another spy who wanted to leave Void Territory. After interrogating them and confirming that there was no mistake, they also detained them.
Yang Kai didn’t know how much longer Zuo Quan Hui could endure. He had led Heavenly Sword Union to seal off the Territory Gate for over three years now, which wasn’t necessarily a long time, but it wasn’t short either. Theoretically, it was enough time for a newly established force to run out of supplies.
Void Land had only risen recently, so unlike the Cave Heavens and Paradises that possessed inheritances that spanned countless centuries, it did not have a rich stockpile of resources. Now, even the Star City income had been cut off, so the only reason it was able to persist until now was because of the benefits brought about by the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
From Zuo Quan Hui’s perspective, he was in an invincible position. As long as he waited patiently, Void Land would one day be unable to hold back and rush out to seek a way out. At that time, he would be able to deal a heavy blow to Void Land!
However, there was always a limit to his patience, and it was impossible to completely seal off news from Void Land. Although Yang Kai didn’t need to worry too much about the Star City, many people were still in Void Territory observing Void Land.
Once the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array was activated frequently, it would definitely arouse Zuo Quan Hui’s vigilance, and at that time, he would definitely try to probe the situation.
As such, Yang Kai felt that Void Land would at most be safe for another year or so.
But a year was enough!
Three months later, Bustling World Great Emperor broke through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and quite smoothly at that.
Another month later, Martial Beast Great Emperor also did so, which came as no surprise!
In another two months, Fang Yue, and Xiang Ying both broke through, not facing too much danger.
Immediately after Fang Yue and Xiang Ying, Flower Shadow and Ice Feather Great Emperors broke through!
At this point, the number of Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land had reached 16, not including Luan Bai Feng in Heavenly Sword Union or Lan You Ruo who was in secluded retreat.
Although 7 of these 16 had just advanced to the Open Heaven Realm and were unable to display their full strength for a short period of time due to the instability of their cultivation, they were still in the Sixth-Order Masters. As the saying went, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
In addition, there were more than 100 cultivators who had advanced below the Sixth-Order in Void Land during this time. It could be said that a wave of advancement to the Open Heaven Realm had been set off.
Just as Yang Kai had expected, the frequent activation of the Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array had alerted Zuo Quan Hui. After the enemy scouts hiding in Void Territory sent word back, the peace that had been maintained for several years was finally broken.
“Sect Master, a large number of ships suddenly appeared from Flying Smoke Territory’s Territory Gate leading to Void Territory. They were confirmed to be from Heavenly Sword Union, and Mountain Lord Mao, who was watching over things there, engaged in a brief clash with the enemy.”
On Dragon Son’s Peak, Yang Kai was examining Zhu Qing’s condition when Bian Yu Qing suddenly rushed over and anxiously reported.
Yang Kai turned his head and asked, “How is the situation?”
After returning from the Black Territory to Void Territory that day, Yang Kai had Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya lead a group of Open Heaven Realm Masters to guard the Territory Gate. On one hand, it was to block spies from leaving towards Flying Smoke Territory, while on the other hand, it was to monitor the situation of Heavenly Sword Union.
Over the past few years, Heavenly Sword Union had made quite a few attempts to check the situation in Void Territory, but all of them had been easily resolved by Mao Zhe and the others. Since Zuo Quan Hui had decided to starve Void Land to death, he naturally wouldn’t start a war so easily before the time was right.
This time, the situation was clearly different from the previous small-scale investigations.
Bian Yu Qing shook her head and replied, “The situation is serious but not critical. Heavenly Sword Union sent several Sixth-Order Masters, forcing Mountain Lord Mao and the others to retreat. The Territory Gate fell into Heavenly Sword Union’s hands.”
“Is everyone alright?” Yang Kai asked with concern. Although Void Land was now filled with powerful forces, every Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was a rare and needed talent.
“A few low-order Open Heaven Realm Masters lost their lives in the clash, but not many. The other party seemed to only be probing the region, so Mountain Lord Mao and the others were able to retreat safely.”
Yang Kai fell silent for a moment before commenting in a mournful tone, “In a battle between two armies, injuries and deaths are inevitable.”
When the Star Boundary united to fight against the Demon Realm, millions of cultivators and billions of innocents lost their lives. The entire Star Boundary had been plunged into misery and suffering during that time. Now that they were fighting against Heavenly Sword Union, Yang Kai was naturally prepared for such losses.
“Did Zuo Quan Hui show up?” Yang Kai asked again.
Bian Yu Qing slowly shook her head and rejoiced, “If he showed up personally, Mountain Lord Mao and the others would definitely not have remained unharmed.”
Although Mao Zhe and the other two were veteran Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they were definitely not Zuo Quan Hui’s match even if they were to fight together. Last time, they had been able to defend against Zuo Quan Hui because Yang Kai had been the one to bear most of the pressure.
“Coward!” Yang Kai sneered.
Zuo Quan Hui was obviously afraid of the Divine Spirits of Void Land, so he didn’t dare show his face easily; however, this was also in line with Yang Kai’s intentions. From this point alone, even if Zhu Jiu Yin didn’t actively participate in the war, she would still be a great deterrent.
“Sect Master,” Bian Yu Qing’s voice was somewhat hoarse, “Is the war about to begin?”
Although she was mentally prepared, when this day really came, Bian Yu Qing couldn’t help but be nervous.
As someone from the Star Boundary, she had never forgotten how tragic the Two Worlds Great War had been.
“It is!” Yang Kai took a deep breath and turned his head, “Senior, I’ll have to trouble you to look after Void Land and the Star City.”
Nodding, Bi Xi replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of these two places for you. If you can’t defeat the enemy, just come back. With this Old Master here, they won’t dare act rashly.”
“Many thanks, Senior!” Yang Kai expressed his gratitude before turning to Zhu Qing.
But before he could say anything, Zhu Qing stepped forward and stated, “I’ll go with you.”
Yang Kai flatly refused, “No!”
Zhu Qing’s bloodline had improved dramatically as a result of her Dragon Vein being greatly purified and condensed, allowing her to transform into a 3,000 to 4,000 metres long Dragon. However, when Yang Kai checked her strength, she was only able to display the might of someone around the Third or Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
A true Grand Dragon was said to be at least 10,000 meters long, so although Zhu Qing’s transformation this time had greatly increased her strength, there was still a big gap between her and a true powerhouse. It was likely that she would need to undergo another great transformation before she could truly become a Grand Dragon!
On the other hand, in a battle between two armies, the situation was chaotic, and a Third or Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could die at any moment. How could Yang Kai allow her to enter the battlefield?
Zhu Qing looked at him quietly, “I am the Wife of Void Land’s Lord. If I didn’t have the ability to participate, it would have been fine, but now that I have the necessary strength, if I still have to hide in the rear, what will others think? If those disciples who are desperately bleeding and dying for Void Land came to know about it, what would they think? They will definitely think that I’m a turtle!”
To the side, Bi Xi couldn’t help but shrink his neck… he wanted to say something but decided to hold back.
Zhu Qing continued, “All these years, we Sisters have been cultivating hard, but have never been able to help you much when you were out roaming the world. Now that I have this opportunity, I want to do something! We can’t live under your wings forever, always allowing you to shield us from the wind and storms. Big Sister and the others must be thinking the same and working hard for this goal.”
Yang Kai had a belly full of words but couldn’t say them. Even though he was still reluctant, his heart was filled with warmth.
“In any case, if I want to go, even if you don’t allow me to, I’ll go myself unless you lock me up,” Zhu Qing proclaimed angrily.
Yang Kai stared at her for a moment before suddenly smiling and nodding, “If you want to go, you can go!”
Zhu Qing stared at Yang Kai in shock, “You’re not lying?” She hadn’t expected Yang Kai to agree to her request so easily.
“I’m not lying!” Yang Kai replied seriously before turning to look at the old man, “Senior, please take care!”
Saying so, he wrapped his arm around Zhu Qing’s waist and flew off.
A moment later, numerous large and small ships flew out from Void Land, transforming into streaks of light as they headed towards the Territory Gate.
Void Territory was vast, so it would take at least ten days to half a month to reach the Territory Gate. If Yang Kai was alone, it wouldn’t have taken him so long, but now that there were a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters from Void Land accompanying him, their speed was naturally slower.
Inside a room aboard the Falling Lotus, Zhu Qing was lying on the bed, her clothes in disarray and her hair dishevelled as she was sweating profusely. Lifting her head, she rebuked with great difficulty, “Aren’t we going to war? If others find out… what will we do?”
Yang Kai grinned and replied, “It will take some time to get there, so we can’t waste time. Senior said that I can help you purify your bloodline, and with each transformation, your strength will grow, so I must work hard!”
Zhu Qing was already in a daze, unable to speak, her entire body glowing with a faint red light.
Yang Kai suddenly felt a little annoyed, “If I had known this would happen, I would have worked much harder and not wasted so much time before.”
The enormous Territory Gate was stretched across the void, slowly rotating in an endless cycle!
Outside the Territory Gate stood a grand palace. This palace was a combination of defensive, offensive, and flight-type artifacts.
Both inside and outside the palace, one could see cultivators walking back and forth.
Yang Kai led the many Void Land Open Heaven Realm Masters to a nearby place and immediately spotted the palace.
“Heavenly Sword Palace!” Old Bai whistled and exclaimed, “They even brought this thing out. They really want to settle down in our Void Territory!”
“Have you seen it before?” Yang Kai tilted his head and asked.
Although there were many Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land, and there were even 16 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, in terms of experience and knowledge, none of them could compare to those from the First Inn.
For many years, they had followed the Proprietress around, collecting all kinds of information about the 3,000 Worlds. There were very few things they didn’t know about in the Outer Universe.
Old Bai replied with a shake of his head, “I haven’t seen it before, but I’ve heard of the famous Heavenly Sword Palace. Back then, in order to forge this artifact, Heavenly Sword Union nearly went bankrupt, yet it still took them nearly 100 years to complete it.”
Yang Kai was slightly surprised.
Heavenly Sword Union could be considered a top Second-Class force, yet they had almost gone bankrupt and spent so long to refine a single artifact. From this, it could be seen just how much Heavenly Sword Palace had cost them. The more they spent on it, the more it could not be underestimated.
Although he had not personally witnessed the power of Heavenly Sword Palace, Yang Kai could still feel that it had an impregnable defence and unstoppable offensive power!
This kind of artifact had already exceeded the scope of an ordinary artifact. It was a weapon of war!
With such a powerful weapon, Heavenly Sword Union’s morale would definitely soar!
In comparison, Void Land seemed somewhat shabby.
Yang Kai turned his head and looked around, noting that Void Land’s forces had taken up position about 1 million kilometres away from the Territory Gate. This distance wasn’t far, but it was definitely not close either. For Open Heaven Realm Masters, it would not take them long to cross such a distance. Moreover, there were no obstructions in the void, so if their eyesight was good enough, they could even see individual cultivators across this kind of gap.
Ships of all sizes were scattered across the void.
[If we get the opportunity, we should forge a palace artifact for ourselves. Otherwise, if we encountered such a situation again, our morale would be greatly reduced before the fighting even begins.]
Unfortunately, Void Land was currently short of resources, so now was not the time to consider such things.
“You didn’t see Zuo Quan Hui?” Yang Kai turned to look at Mao Zhe.
Mao Zhe slowly shook his head, “No.”
Yang Kai focused his attention on the Heavenly Sword Palace. Since Zuo Quan Hui hadn’t shown up, either he hadn’t come here and was still hiding in Flying Smoke Territory, or he was inside the Heavenly Sword Palace!
Yang Kai estimated that the former was more likely to be the case. If he really came, he would not let Mao Zhe and the others leave so easily.
Of course, he could have been hiding in Flying Smoke Territory and had now come along with the Heavenly Sword Palace.
Even though a great killing weapon like the Heavenly Sword Palace had been taken out, it was still standing guard near the Territory Gate. Obviously, they were only trying to probe the situation and weren’t preparing to launch a large-scale attack; otherwise, they would have mobilised the entire Heavenly Sword Palace and directly attacked Void Land!
Of course, directly attacking Void Land was something Zuo Quan Hui definitely didn’t have the courage to do. With Bi Xi and Zhu Jiu Yin standing guard, how could he dare to act presumptuously?
Setting up the Heavenly Sword Palace near the Territory Gate, he could attack or retreat at will. This was exactly what Yang Kai wanted, Zuo Quan Hui acting vigilant and cautious.
After thinking about it for a long time, Yang Kai stated in a low voice, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to contribute much to the battle against Heavenly Sword Union. You can only rely on yourselves. Be careful!”
The group of Open Heaven Realm Masters around him were stunned, most of them not understanding what Yang Kai meant, but a few of them quickly reacted.
Yang Kai’s strength had far exceeded an ordinary Sixth-Order Master’s, so if he were to take action, no one from Heavenly Sword Union would be his opponent. At that time, he would definitely provoke Zuo Quan Hui to take action, and once Zuo Quan Hui appeared, the situation would become difficult to control.
After all, no one on their side could restrain a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
Currently, Zuo Quan Hui was hiding, mainly because he was afraid of Zhu Jiu Yin, who hadn’t made an appearance yet. If Yang Kai didn’t show himself, Zuo Quan Hui also wouldn’t show up easily, which would benefit Void Land greatly.
Yue He was the first to understand this point, so when she heard this, she nodded and declared, “Young Master may rest assured. If Zuo Quan Hui doesn’t take action, Heavenly Sword Union is nothing but trash!”
For the current Void Land, they indeed had the qualifications to evaluate Heavenly Sword Union as trash.
“Let’s set up camp first. I don’t know how long Zuo Quan Hui’s probing will last,” Yang Kai ordered, and everyone readily agreed.
Several figures flew out and disappeared into the void.
Half a day later, a shattered Spirit Province from who knows where was brought over and set down before everyone landed on it.
This shattered Spirit Province was a barren rock one could find floating about in Great Territory. Although it couldn’t compare to the grandeur of the Heavenly Sword Palace, it was still a good place to temporarily establish a camp.
After settling the necessary details, Yang Kai immediately summoned all the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters for a war council. Everyone expressed their own opinions, and soon determined the most important task at hand, which was to determine the strength of Heavenly Sword Union!
‘Know thyself, know thine enemy, and you will emerge victorious in 100 battles’. It was a saying true in any circumstance.
On the other side, Heavenly Sword Union’s disciples were all holed up in and around the Heavenly Sword Palace, so it wasn’t easy to identify or count them. Yang Kai had arranged for Luan Bai Feng to enter the enemy’s ranks in advance, but in this situation, unless Luan Bai Feng left the Heavenly Sword Palace, it was impossible for her to send out a message.
The Heavenly Sword Palace’s defensive array was active, isolating the outside world and making it impossible to send out any messages.
In other words, to contact her, the battle had to reach a point where Luan Bai Feng would be deployed!
This matter wasn’t actually difficult. As long as Yang Kai put enough pressure on Heavenly Sword Union, Luan Bai Feng would definitely have a chance to move out and make contact. Yang Kai gazed at everyone and asked, “Who wants to lead the attack?”
Iron Blood Great Emperor was the first to step forward and volunteer, “Let me!”
It had only been half a year since he had broken through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and he had spent most of his time in retreat, consolidating his cultivation. It was an extremely boring process, so he longed for a good fight. Furthermore, fighting with others was far more efficient than cultivating in retreat to consolidate one’s foundation. The dangers of wandering between life and death also often stimulated one’s potential.
Yang Kai denied with a smile, “Senior Iron Blood, please don’t make a move for now. After your breakthroughs, you are all hidden forces of Void Land. I’m preparing to give Heavenly Sword Union a pleasant surprise when the time is right, so unless it’s absolutely necessary, I want you to remain hidden.”
Iron Blood Great Emperor snorted unhappily but still sat back down.
Mao Zhe stood up and proposed, “Let us take the lead; after all, we should retrieve the face we lost ourselves.”
Previously, the Three Mountain Lords had been forced to retreat by Heavenly Sword Union, not because their strength was necessarily inferior, but because they were heavily outnumbered.
Now that all of Void Land’s forces were ready to be deployed, Mao Zhe naturally wanted to avenge his previous humiliation.
Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “Then I’ll leave the first team to the Three Mountain Lords. Take 10 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and 100 below the Fifth-Order!”
Mao Zhe and the other two stood up and cupped their fists, “Yes!”
Turning around, they walked out.
After they left, Yang Kai continued, “Hui Gu, Hua Yong, Shu Mu Dan!”
Hui Gu and the couple stood up and responded, “Sir!”
“The three of you will lead another 100 people and prepare to assist at any time!”
The three of them nodded and went out to prepare.
“Yue He, Mo Mei!” Yang Kai called out again.
The two women stepped forward.
“Ready 200 people as reserves, just in case!”
“Yes!”
After issuing these orders, Yang Kai raised his head and looked outside. All 8 known Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of Void Land had been mobilized, so Heavenly Sword Union would have to arrange for Luan Bai Feng to fight. As long as Luan Bai Feng had the opportunity to leave the Heavenly Sword Palace, she could find a chance to send a message.
A moment later, streaks of light flew out from the shattered Spirit Province and headed straight for the Heavenly Sword Palace. Although there weren’t many in this group, all of them were Open Heaven Realm Masters. This was a battlefield for the Open Heaven Realm, and those below it weren’t qualified to participate.
At the same time, in the Main Hall of the Heavenly Sword Palace, Zuo Quan Hui was sitting on his throne with a group of Sixth-Order cultivators standing in front of him. There were old, young, men, and women, but all of them served Zuo Quan Hui.
A disciple dressed in Heavenly Sword Union’s uniform rushed in and cupped his fist, “Reporting to Union Master, a 100-man team from Void Land is heading straight for Heavenly Sword Palace, led by Mao Zhe, Geng Qing, and Zhou Ya!”
Hearing this, Zuo Quan Hui coldly snorted, “They sure are courageous, daring to take the initiative to attack.”
On his left, an old man stroked his beard and smiled, “A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, a young man’s temper is too hot, but this is just what the Union Master wants.”
This old man was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from Heavenly Sword Union, but because of his advanced age, he stopped caring about worldly affairs and dedicated most of his time to secluded cultivation. After Zuo Quan Hui had entered Heavenly Sword Union, Zuo Quan Hui didn’t care if he was willing or not and dragged the old man along to serve him.
Zuo Quan Hui swept his gaze over the crowd majestically, “Who will meet the enemy?”
The group of people below all looked at each other in dismay. Unlike Void Land’s forces, who all volunteered to be the first to attack, no one here answered. Zuo Quan Hui had not hesitated to drag Heavenly Sword Union into this war in order to avenge his fallen Disciples, so the higher-ups of the Heavenly Sword Union were naturally not very motivated.
Eventually, someone suggested, “Union Master, how about we let these weaklings come over and show them the power of the Heavenly Sword Palace.”
The Heavenly Sword Palace was a treasure that excelled at defence, offence, and mobility. If the people of Void Land dared to approach within 10,000 kilometres of it, those inside wouldn’t even need to take action personally. The Heavenly Sword Palace’s various Arrays were enough to deal with them. If the enemy was careless enough, they might even be killed.
However, how could Zuo Quan Hui do such a thing? If he wanted to destroy Void Land and kill Yang Kai, he would first have to cut off their wings. If he really used the power of the Heavenly Sword Palace, it would only cause Void Land to retreat helplessly, which was not in line with his goals.
Moreover, the people of Void Land weren’t fools, so why would they purposely put themselves in danger?
This was to be the first real confrontation between Heavenly Sword Union and Void Land, yet no one had taken the initiative to help him resolve his problems, causing Zuo Quan Hui to be quite annoyed.
Inside the Heavenly Sword Palace’s Main Hall, Zuo Quan Hui had a cold and gloomy look on his face. The oppressive pressure of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was filling the air, making it difficult for everyone to breathe. The one who spoke realized that he had said something wrong and couldn’t help but feel a bit terrified.
“Union Master, this Mistress requests permission to lead our counterattack, I hope Union Master can grant my request!” Just as Zuo Quan Hui was about to lose all face, Luan Bai Feng stepped up and elegantly bowed.
Zuo Quan Hui glanced at her warmly and nodded, “Warden Luan is quite considerate, but with three Sixth-Order Masters attacking together, you alone will be outnumbered.” Although his cultivation was an Order higher than Luan Bai Feng’s, she had chosen to join him on her own, and now that she had taken the initiative to offer herself to save him some face, Zuo Quan Hui was naturally quite polite to her.
Turning his head to the other side, he shouted, “Huang Quan, Jin Gang, Cang Yan!”
Being called out, no matter how unwilling Yellow Spring Heavenly Monarch’s trio was, they could only brace themselves and step forward. They cupped their fists and responded, “This subordinate is here!”
“I’ll leave those three to you!” Zuo Quan Hui looked at them indifferently.
How could Yellow Spring Heavenly Monarch and the others dare to refute? Since they had submitted to someone else, they had to act like lackeys. The trio respectfully agreed, “Rest assured, Sir, we will make sure they never return!”
Turning around, they gathered their forces and left the Heavenly Sword Palace.
A moment later, a great battle broke out in the void.
This was not the first time the three Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from the Prison Star had fought with the Three Mountain Lords of Profound Yang Mountain. When Heavenly Sword Union had emerged from Flying Smoke Territory, these six had been the first to fight. The Three Mountain Lords, who were standing guard in Void Territory, were outnumbered and had no choice but to retreat until Yang Kai arrived with reinforcements, only then did they show their faces again.
It could be said that both sides knew each other and were evenly matched.
For a while, all kinds of large and small fights broke out in the void as the cultivators released various Divine Abilities and artifact attacks. It was an extremely spectacular sight.
However, whether it was Heavenly Sword Union or Void Land, everyone knew that this was not the time for a decisive battle, so both sides acted with a certain degree of restraint. The scene might look exceptionally spectacular, but its participants were all acting cautiously. After fighting for half an hour, with the exception of a few who were injured, not a single fatality had occurred. It had to be said that this was not a small miracle, but a tacit understanding between both parties.
Yang Kai, sitting in the shattered Spirit Province, gazed at the distant battlefield.
Inside the Heavenly Sword Palace, Zuo Quan Hui’s face turned livid. If he couldn’t gain an advantage in this battle, how could he force Yang Kai to take action? If Yang Kai didn’t take action, how could he have the chance to kill him?
Just as Yang Kai had planned to give Luan Bai Feng a chance to participate in the battle so she could send him a message, Zuo Quan Hui’s planned something similar. As long as he could force Yang Kai to show his face, his plan would be halfway there. Even if the Divine Spirit Heavenly Moon Demon Spider was protecting Yang Kai, it was not impossible for Zuo Quan Hui to kill him!
The last time he had been injured by Yang Kai was because he had been careless. This time, he would not lower his guard.
As long as he could kill Yang Kai, his revenge would be complete! As for the other residents of Void Land, he didn’t care whether they lived or died.
Seeing the state of the battle, Zuo Quan Hui was unhappy and called out once more, “Huang Mao, Liang Ce, Qi Xuan, Dan Yang!”
The four people below all stood up and accepted their orders.
These four were all Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Heavenly Sword Union. Yang Kai had once asked Luan Bai Feng about the strength of Heavenly Sword Union, and she responded that there were four Sixth-Order Masters that she and the public were aware of. Two of them had been killed by Yang Kai, leaving only two behind. However, she had no idea about those who were hiding in the dark.
Huang Mao and Liang Ce were the two who were known to the public while Qi Xuan and Dan Yang were the hidden Masters of Heavenly Sword Union. Both of them were older-generation Masters, and basically spent all their time in secluded retreat. If Zuo Quan Hui hadn’t taken over Heavenly Sword Union, how could they have appeared here?
Then again, Heavenly Sword Union and Yang Kai did have a kind of irreconcilable enmity between them. They wanted to use Zuo Quan Hui’s power to avenge the death of two of their Union Masters, so they didn’t have any objections to his orders.
“The four of you will lead more people to support Huang Quan and the other two. You must gain the upper hand.”
“Yes!” The four quickly responded.
Zuo Quan Hui then turned to the remaining Sixth-Order Disciple from his lineage and ordered, “Zi Yan, you go too and act according to the situation!”
“Master, don’t worry, this Disciple understands what she must do!” Zi Yan clenched her teeth and turned around; the hatred in her eyes threatened to burn the world!
Zuo Quan Hui currently had many Sixth-Order subordinates, but he only had one true confidant, and that was Zi Yan; after all, she was his Direct Disciple, so her loyalty was unquestionable. Furthermore, only Zi Yan knew what Zuo Quan Hui was planning.
“Does Martial Uncle Zuo want to end this battle quickly?” A voice suddenly rang out in the hall. As soon as the battle began, Zuo Quan Hui had sent out almost all of his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm subordinates, so his intentions were obvious. A smart person would naturally be able to guess what he wanted.
Zuo Quan Hui replied in a low voice, “Martial Nephew is right, this Monarch does have such intentions.” Zuo Quan Hui didn’t show any trace of politeness towards others. He ordered them around as he liked, but towards this person, Zuo Quan Hui was extremely amiable. He had no choice in the matter, as this person’s background could not be underestimated, and just like Luan Bai Feng, he had taken the initiative to join him. So, naturally, Zuo Quan Hui had to treat him with respect.
The person took a short pause before continuing, “According to the information we’ve gathered, there are a total of eight Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land besides Yang Kai. On our side, there are three from the Prison Star, which are Huang Quan and his men, four from Heavenly Sword Union, making it a total of eight if we include your Disciple. This time, we’ve met a worthy opponent. It’s going to be a good show.”
The man smiled slightly as he spoke, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Zuo Quan Hui added in an earnest manner, “That’s why we may need Martial Nephew and Warden Luan to put pressure on them later. Only then will Yang Kai show himself.”
The man assured with a nod, “Of course, that’s not a problem.” Turning his head to look at Luan Bai Feng, his eyes brazenly lingered on her towering chest for a moment before he smiled and added, “Warden Luan, I hope we can cooperate well!”
Luan Bai Feng covered her mouth and giggled, “This Mistress is a woman with a weak physique. I’ve never seen such a big scene before, so I’m quite anxious. I’ll have to trouble Junior Brother to take care of me later.”
The man chuckled and stated, “Of course, of course!”
Luan Bai Feng also smiled, but a trace of anxiety flashed across her beautiful eyes. She hadn’t expected that she would be used by Zuo Quan Hui as a last resort. In this situation, she wouldn’t be able to inform Yang Kai in advance about the situation, and once Zuo Quan Hui’s plan succeeded, Yang Kai would really fall into great danger.
Now that she and Yang Kai were riding the same boat, if anything happened to him, she would not be able to survive either.
She turned her head to look outside, and when Luan Bai Feng saw that the battlefield was becoming more and more chaotic, the anxiety in her eyes became even more intense!
Heavenly Sword Union had sent out eight Sixth-Order Open Heaven Masters, so Void Land could only respond accordingly. Fortunately, Yang Kai had made arrangements long ago. After the three Mountain Lords of the Profound Yang Mountain, Hui Gu, Hua Yong, Yue He and Mo Mei also took action in an orderly manner.
The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm battlefield was evenly matched; after all, everyone had the same number of people, so neither side could gain any advantage. Although they fought fiercely, whether it was the enemy or their allies, none of them were in any danger of dying.
On the other hand, the battlefields below the Sixth Order soon had distinct differences in strength.
Although Heavenly Sword Union was also a peak Second Class Force with many Open Heaven Realm Masters, it was still slightly inferior to the current Void Land.
The countless years of accumulation of the Abundance City cultivators from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven had finally borne fruit in Void Land. Furthermore, Yang Kai had brought a large number of Open Heaven Realm Masters from the Shadowless Cave Heaven as well. Now, the total number of Open Heaven Realm Masters below the Sixth-Order in Void Land had reached about a shocking 1,500!
This was an extremely large number, and under the Cave Heavens and Paradises, there were very few forces who possessed so many Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Naturally, Heavenly Sword Union was inferior.
Void Land didn’t even need to mobilize all its forces, sending just half was enough to crush the enemy. In a situation where the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t interfere, the cultivators below that Order became the key to victory. What’s more, Void Land had many Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Yang Kai’s eyes swept over the battlefield and clearly saw Heavenly Sword Union’s Open Heaven Realm Masters being suppressed to the point where they couldn’t even breathe. From time to time, a Small Universe would collapse and the World Force would erupt, the phenomenon following the death of an Open Heaven Realm Master.
As he was looking around, Yang Kai was suddenly shocked and his eyes fixed on a fiery red figure as his brow twitched violently.
The fiery red figure was none other than Zhu Qing, who had just undergone a bloodline transformation!
Although the power of her Dragon Vein had greatly increased, overall, she only possessed the strength of a Third or Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm. In such a battlefield, she was at great risk of being hurt or even dying.
[Who brought her out?] The veins on Yang Kai’s forehead bulged.
However, on second thought, he realized that no one would do such a thing and the most likely scenario was that she had run off on her own.
Lu Xue, who had been standing next to Yang Kai, also saw this scene and leaned over to ask in a low voice, “Sir, do we need to bring the Madam back? On the battlefield, swords have no eyes.”
Lu Xue had consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit in the past, allowing her to advance from the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly. Moreover, she was one of the earliest Open Heaven Realm Masters to follow Yang Kai, so she could be considered a trusted aide. Now, she was staying by Yang Kai’s side as a messenger.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before slowly shaking his head, “No need!”
Since Zhu Qing was willing to fight, Yang Kai let her do as she pleased. Of course, what really reassured Yang Kai was that he could clearly see Old Bai, Chef, and Accountant sticking close to Zhu Qing’s position, neither interfering with her battle with her enemies nor allowing powerful opponents to approach.
With the three of them taking care of her, Zhu Qing’s life shouldn’t be in danger, and such a battle would be good for her growth.
Moving his eyes away, Yang Kai continued to observe the battlefield with a frown.
He didn’t see Luan Bai Feng on the battlefield, which meant that there were still more Sixth-Order Masters on the Heavenly Sword Union’s side!
It was just that he didn’t know how much strength Zuo Quan Hui was concealing. No matter what, he had to take extra precautions.
Turning his head, Yang Kai stated, “Everyone, prepare yourselves, we may need your help later!”
Originally, he had wanted to hide Iron Blood and the others so that he could give Zuo Quan Hui a big surprise, but now it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to hide them for long. Once Luan Bai Feng was sent out, he would need someone to deal with her.
After Iron Blood Great Emperor had advanced, six more Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had appeared in Void Land. Although all of them had just broken through and were unable to display the full strength of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, two of them would easily be able to suppress one opponent.
As long as Zuo Quan Hui’s side didn’t send out more than four Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Yang Kai could deal with them without making an appearance, but it was impossible for him to keep hiding Void Land’s strength.
It was not easy to reach the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so Yang Kai estimated that Zuo Quan Hui wouldn’t have too many more at his disposal. In other words, with Void Land’s current strength, they should be able to handle the situation.
A moment later, another batch of streaks of light rushed out from the Heavenly Sword Palace and rushed towards the battlefield. The two leading people were obviously Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Yang Kai looked over, and when he saw the face of one of them, he was stunned as this person’s entire body was surrounded by Demon Qi. It was none other than Myriad Demons Heaven’s Pei Wen Xuan!
[Why is he here? Is it on Myriad Demons Heaven’s orders or of his own volition? If it’s the former, then Void Land will really be in big trouble. Myriad Demons Heaven is one of the 36 Cave Heavens, how can Void Land resist such a massive force?]
If Myriad Demons Heaven really decided to interfere, Yang Kai decided that he would immediately gather everyone and return to Void Land to hide under Bi Xi’s tortoise shell.
However, Yang Kai didn’t find too many Myriad Demons Heaven disciples in the new batch of Open Heaven Realm Masters, only three or four at most. This discovery made Yang Kai feel relieved. Apparently, Pei Wen Xuan’s interference in Void Land’s battle with Heavenly Sword Union wasn’t ordered by Myriad Demons Heaven; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent so few people here. He should be acting alone.
Naturally, Luan Bai Feng was leading the group together with Pei Wen Xuan.
At the same time Yang Kai saw her, his Communication Bead vibrated. Yang Kai took it out and immediately understood the message Luan Bai Feng had sent him.
All the elites had been deployed to lure the snake out of its hole, so they had to be careful!
Yang Kai quietly put away the Communication Bead and turned his head to look at Iron Blood Great Emperor. Just as he was about to speak though, he suddenly felt two powerful auras appear seemingly out of thin air. Looking up, Yang Kai saw two streaks of light approaching from the distance at an astonishing speed.
Feeling the aura of these two newcomers, Yang Kai’s expression became strange and he swallowed his words.
The two people who had suddenly appeared flew across the vast void like two sharp blades, directly charging towards the team led by Pei Wen Xuan and Luan Bai Feng with astonishing momentum!
Pei Wen Xuan and Luan Bai Feng had received Zuo Quan Hui’s orders. They were preparing to bring their people into the battlefield to pressure Void Land further and force Yang Kai to take action, thus creating an opportunity for Zuo Quan Hui to act. But who would have thought that two more Sixth-Order Masters would suddenly appear and attack them.
Feeling the strength of the approaching enemies, Pei Wen Xuan didn’t even have time to think about where these two people had come from or what their identities were. He immediately used a Divine Ability together with Luan Bai Feng to counter-attack.
The two attackers didn’t try to dodge and instead seemed to perform a joint attack technique. The two figures quickly intertwined and their World Forces fused together to form a Taiyi Yin-Yang Chart which suddenly expanded and enveloped Pei Wen Xuan and Luan Bai Feng.
The next moment, the Taiyi Yin-Yang Chart began rotating rapidly, like a giant millstone crushing the void.
World Force fluctuated wildly as miserable screams rang out.
The people on the shattered Spirit Province were dumbfounded at this sight. Iron Blood Great Emperor and the others, who had been itching to fight, broke into a cold sweat as they stared at the sudden change in the battlefield, secretly wondering what would happen if they were enveloped by this kind of Divine Ability.
They might not end up dead, but serious injuries would be inevitable.
“Who is that?” Iron Blood Great Emperor turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai hesitated before replying, “It should be Yin-Yang Cave Heaven.”
“You invited them?” Bustling World Great Emperor asked. These two had suddenly appeared without any warning, and Yang Kai had never told them about this either.
Yang Kai denied, shaking his head, “I don’t know about this either.”
He really had no idea what was happening. If it weren’t for those two taking the initiative to attack, he wouldn’t have even known they were here. By the looks of it, Xu Ling Gong didn’t ignore him. His status as a Yin-Yang Cave Heaven Son-in-law still seemed a little useful.
“Then do we still attack?” Iron Blood Great Emperor stared at Yang Kai.
“No need for now.” Yang Kai waved his hand, “Just continue hiding.”
Some of the Great Emperors wore looks of disappointment on their faces. It had only been a short time since they had broken through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so they hadn’t had a chance to carefully test their strength yet. They had thought that this was an opportunity, but who would have thought that people from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven would suddenly appear and intercept the enemy?
For a moment, they didn’t know if they should thank or curse them.
With a massive burst of energy, the Taiyi Yin-Yang Chart that had been suppressing the entire region suddenly shattered as several figures flew out.
Originally, Pei Wen Xuan and Luan Bai Feng had brought some 40 or 50 Open Heaven Realm Masters below the Sixth Order from Heavenly Sword Palace, but now only half of them remained. The rest were all dead. Furthermore, almost everyone who was still alive was injured, with the exception of those at or above the Fifth Order.
Although Pei Wen Xuan wasn’t hurt, he was still in a sorry state. After breaking free, he roared, “Qing Kui, Su Ying Xue, you court death!”
In the void, Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue stood side by side. The former sneered when he heard this and snapped back, “Such impudence! It seems you need a good beating!”
Luan Bai Feng stood to the side, not saying a word as she adjusted her messy clothes slightly, feeling a heavy weight lifting from her chest.
She had been worried that Yang Kai would be forced to act and give Zuo Quan Hui a chance to kill him, but by the looks of it, the sudden appearance of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven had resolved this crisis.
From her standpoint, she should be thanking Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue, so she naturally wouldn’t say anything, but neither would she let her expressions betray her thoughts.
“You dare attack me?” Pei Wen Xuan stared coldly at Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue, “I’m afraid you’ve forgotten what happened to Qu Hua Shang. I will definitely report this matter to Yin-Yang Cave Heaven and have you condemned as accomplices!”
Back then, Qu Hua Shang had only interfered with Yang Kai’s affairs, nothing too serious, yet she was forced to become a prize for the Dao Theory Assembly and was sentenced to 100 years of confinement. Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue’s actions just now were much more serious than Qu Hua Shang’s as they had directly killed others. If they really followed the rules set by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, they would definitely be charged with the crime of creating internal strife.
Qing Kui, however, wasn’t intimidated and sneered, “If you can’t beat others, you whine and complain to your Elders? Is this Myriad Demons Heaven’s way of doing things? How eye-opening!”
Qing Kui also didn’t have a good impression of Myriad Demons Heaven. The reason why his Little Junior Sister had encountered such a terrible situation was because of Myriad Demons Heaven’s Ti Zheng, so how could he have any goodwill towards Pei Wen Xuan?
Pei Wen Xuan coldly snorted, “Whatever you say, this matter will be decided by your Yin-Yang Cave Heaven!”
Qing Kui wore an aloof expression while Su Ying Xue stated indifferently, “There’s no need to worry about that. Senior Brother and I are no longer Yin-Yang Cave Heaven disciples.”
“Huh?” Pei Wen Xuan gawked, wondering if he had misheard her.
“Because the two of us defied our Honoured Master’s commands a few days ago, we were expelled from the Sect, so we are no longer Yin-Yang Cave Heaven disciples!” Su Ying Xue’s expression remained flat, as if she was discussing the weather rather than their expulsion from their Master Sect.
Pei Wen Xuan’s face was filled with shock, “The two of you were expelled from Yin-Yang Cave Heaven?” His first thought was that it was impossible.
Xu Ling Gong had taken in a total of three Disciples in his life, and each of them was extremely precious to him. Even if they had committed a grave mistake, he would not be willing to expel them from the Sect. Moreover, all Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were considered part of the elite forces of any Cave Heavens and Paradises and were more than capable of holding the position of an Outer Sect Elder. How could they be casually expelled from the Sect? Even if Xu Ling Gong was willing, Yin-Yang Cave Heaven would not let them go so easily. At the very least, their cultivations would be crippled.
However, on second thought, this explanation sounded somewhat familiar…
Zuo Quan Hui’s lineage could rebel against Thousand Crane Paradise, so why couldn’t Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue be expelled from Yin-Yang Heaven?
Xu Ling Gong was obviously trying to cheat! But thinking about the other party’s character, it wasn’t strange for him to act so shamelessly.
“Good, enough idle chatter. Boy, are you ready?” Qing Kui palmed his fist tightly as he looked towards Pei Wen Xuan with a grin.
“Ready for what?” Pei Wen Xuan’s brow twitched.
“Ready for a beating of course! I hope your skin is thick enough so you don’t get beaten to death by Father here!” As he finished speaking, Qing Kui raised his fists and pushed his World Force towards Pei Wen Xuan.
Pei Wen Xuan cried out in alarm as the Demon Qi around his body surged, transforming into a black cloud that engulfed his body.
Although it had been a few years since he had broken through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and his foundation had somewhat stabilized, how could Pei Wen Xuan be a match for a veteran Sixth-Order Master like Qing Kui? Although he knew that Qing Kui couldn’t really kill him, being beaten half to death was still quite embarrassing, not to mention painful. So, when he saw Qing Kui charging straight at him, Pei Wen Xuan immediately used his Divine Ability to conceal himself while falling back and waiting for an opportunity to act.
However, the Cave Heavens and Paradises had interacted with each other for countless millennia, so even if they didn’t know each other’s techniques and Divine Abilities like the back of their hands, they had a certain understanding of them at the very least. Qing Kui didn’t even bat an eye as he rushed into the Demonic Cloud, and a moment later, Pei Wen Xuan’s muffled grunts clearly rang out.
On the other side, Su Ying Xue went straight to Luan Bai Feng before the two women engaged in a fierce battle.
Unlike how Qing Kui had proclaimed that he would beat Pei Wen Xuan, he had to hold back a bit in order to avoid killing him. In the end, Pei Wen Xuan was still a Core Disciple of Myriad Demons Heaven, so if he were to die, it would definitely cause a huge stir.
The current battle between Void Land and Heavenly Sword Union was all because of the death of a Core Disciple, and this was only possible because of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven applying political pressure from the background. If it weren’t for Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, Void Land wouldn’t be facing Heavenly Sword Union, but Thousand Crane Paradise.
Su Ying Xue, on the other hand, didn’t need to worry too much about this. When she attacked, her killing intent surged and every move she made was deadly.
However, Luan Bai Feng didn’t dare to say anything to her and could only try to resolve the situation on her own. Fortunately, Luan Bai Feng was no pushover. Although her background wasn’t as high as Su Ying Xue’s, her Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivator was extremely profound. For a time, the fight between the two as they exchanged moves one after another was quite a spectacular sight.
Zuo Quan Hui had sent Pei Wen Xuan and Luan Bai Feng as a last resort, but they were unable to finish their mission. Furthermore, the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters he had sent out were also preoccupied with different opponents and were unable to extricate themselves.
As for those below the Sixth Order, they were suffering heavy casualties because they were outnumbered.
Inside the Heavenly Sword Palace, Zuo Quan Hui’s face was so dark and gloomy that it looked as if it could blot out light from the entire world.