Within half a day, the three started walking again. They didn’t know how many more steps it would take to reach the top as they stared at the endless path.
Time slowly passed, and with three days of constant changes, the disciples of the three sects were no longer able to support themselves. They gave up one after the other.
Although most of them couldn’t reach the peak, they weren’t entirely upset. On the contrary, they were excited and joyful, because everyone more or less obtained some advantage in this test, many people even experienced a breakthrough.
This at least gave them something to celebrate about.
On the fourth day, the ones who stayed for the climb either felt heat which burned their hearts or chills which pierced the bones.
These people kept restoring their power, as they also wanted to break through the light barrier.
But this time, regardless of anything else, they solely wanted a martial technique.
The decision of the two beautiful sisters didn’t have anything to do with the obstruction of the light barrier, as they kept climbing the endless steps.
At this point of time, the people started to realise that this was a huge opportunity. If they were to miss this once in a lifetime chance, they would regret it for the rest of their lives. Everyone who stuck around thought that if they can hold on and persist, perhaps they will gain a bigger advantage.
In life, there were much more things to achieved, but at that moment all their attention was on the seemingly infinite steps.
On the fifth day, a total of around half the disciples of the three sects had withdrawn from the test. People gathered by the light barrier, envying those who found the energy to push on while they clenched their fists in disappointment in themselves.
There were many conversations, most of which were discussions about who would be the first to reach the peak.
Without a doubt, Su Yan’s name was heard the most often!
The disciples who gave up knew that the inside was filled with hot and cold turns and without a doubt, Su Yan’s cultivation technique was a huge advantage. Moreover, out of all the young disciples of the three sects, Su Yan’s strength was also the strongest. It wouldn’t be strange if she completed the trial first.
This fact alone left many High Heaven Pavilion disciples proud as their faces glowed with pride. Su Yan was a figure many High Heaven Pavilion disciples looked up to; male or female.
The Hu sisters were of the same opinion.
The great strength and nobleness of Su Yan that surpassed them caused them to envy her from the bottom of their hearts as they looked up to and almost worshipped her.
Yang Kai and the Hu sisters were five thousand steps in now, but with progress also came immense difficulty. It was like climbing and crossing countless mountains and rivers. Yang Kai, however, showed no symptoms of struggle or pain, his face just as bright as when they first started climbing. This was not the case for the Hu sisters, who were both drenched in sweat.
As they got more exhausted, their appearances became arguably more attractive.
The more steps they took, the more heated they became, making their whole bodies fragrant, their complexions flushed, their coquettish looks turning limpid, just like two thoroughly ripe honey peaches. If one were to take a bite, the fragrance and juices would be an explosion of flavour.
“It’s quite warm!” Hu Jiao Er continued stepping up while raising her shirt collar with one hand and fanning the wind with the other. Her voluptuous and shapely chest could be partially seen by Yang Kai.
She had never been this sweaty before. Her clothes pasted directly against her damp skin, outlining her perfect, graceful curves.
This also applied to Hu Mei Er. Sweat was continuously flowing. Her typically ruby lips turned dry from exhaustion, which prompted her to lick them with her tongue, moistening them.
“We shall rest again.” Hu Jiao Er said bitterly as she walked in front of Yang Kai. He was unexpectedly tough, so tough that he hadn’t produced a single drop of sweat. She almost raged with envy and admiration for him.
Yang Kai walked to the front as he turned his head to look at her with one eye saying: “We will continue when the temperature drops.”
As he now stood on a higher step, he happened to see Hu Jiao Er’s chest. It was like two mountains with a straight, flawless valley with sweat in between, causing his blood to stir with excitement.
Yang Kai became somewhat out of sorts.
Hu Jiao Er realised her own misdemeanour and instantly hurried to pull up her collar. She covered her chest with her hand as anger welled up in her eyes and she exclaimed, “What are you looking at?!”
Yang Kai’s smile only stretched wider as he did not look away. Her realisation only made his gaze linger unscrupulously on the sisters’ graceful bodies for longer.
Getting stared at like that was intensely uncomfortable for the Hu sisters.
They were standing behind him because their entire bodies were soaking wet, with every enticing crevice exposed. How could they be comfortable walking side by side with him?
They didn’t expect him to be such a shamelessly bold person.
“Stop looking at us!!” Hu Jiao Er drew her younger sister behind her vigilantly, as she shielded her with her own body. Her cheeks and sweaty forehead flushed red as she stared at Yang Kai angrily.
“Ha ha!” Yang Kai was overjoyed. He turned his head facing forward as he said, “This walk has been quite boring. There was some scenery to break up the monotony. Not stopping to admire it would a waste of criminal proportions!”
“I misread you.” Hu Jiao Er stated bitterly, “I thought that you were an honourable gentleman, I hadn’t thought that you were this dirty! I wish I could dig your eyes out!”
Yang Kai asserted lightly without turning, “A man looking at a woman is a natural thing, what does it have to do with gentlemanly nature? Besides, for you to dig my eyes out, I would have to be looking at you. Jiao Er, do you wish for me to turn around?”
Hu Jiao Er was infuriated, causing her milk-white bosom to shake uncontrollably. She ground her teeth and scolded, “You must want me to be hit before you shut up!”
“That doesn’t sound right, have you forgotten you were supposed to be protecting me?” Yang Kai suddenly turned his head, his eyebrows raised. He looked like he was ridiculing her.
This made Hu Jiao Er red, as her rage disappeared, coyly saying in an instant: “Don’t mention this matter, it’s embarrassing.”
After all, they did promise to protect him beforehand, but now it seems like the tables are turned. He’s the one protecting them since he never needed protection himself. The sisters couldn’t even keep up with him anyway.
Recalling this, Hu Jiao Er smiled awkwardly.
“We should keep the energy for climbing instead of arguing.” Hu Mei Er mediated.
“Humph, don’t even think about looking at us again!” Hu Jiao Er reprimanded Yang Kai.
Yang Kai faintly smiled and said nothing else.
Following behind him, Hu Jiao Er whispered to her younger sister, “I don’t think he’s an appropriate person. Be careful, and do not let him have his way.”
“Elder sister.” Hu Mei Er smiled charmingly.
After two full hours, Yang Kai came to a halt. He did nothing but calmly stood on the spot.
The two sisters followed him as they came to his position. They couldn’t help but shiver a little in fright.
“It’s too cold!” Hu Jiao Er rubbed her hands together, her skin pimpled with goosebumps. Their perspiration was now frost.
After five hundred steps, the atmosphere had abruptly turned from hot to cold.
The Hu sisters quickly and silently huddled themselves closer into Yang Kai’s arms. They shook uncontrollably as if they were in a snow storm.
Before the three thousandth step, the sisters were comfortable climbing behind Yang Kai. The Yang attributes from before allowed them to do just that. Now there was coldness almost unbearable, they could only walk arm in arm with Yang Kai for more warmth. Such behaviour only reflected on their shared feelings of camaraderie, akin to when people face hardships together.
As time passed, the three stopped to rest again. The Hu sisters looked at each other, nodding as if they had decided on something.
“Yang Kai!” Hu Jiao Er suddenly said.
“What’s wrong?”
“We think it’ll be better if we stop following you.”
Yang Kai was shocked, but kept quiet, as he calmly listened.
Hu Jiao Er resumed, “Judging from your legs, you’re faster than us. Think about it, we would only slow you down.”
Hu Mei Er also nodded, as she picked up the conversation, “Elder sister wants to protect you, but this place seems to have no danger whatsoever. We would be contributing very little.”
Yang Kai was still calmly silent.
Hu Jiao Er said with a smile, “Do you think that we are giving up? We will follow through, it’s just that you’re faster than us.”
“You’re certain?” Yang Kai asked.
“Yes.”
Standing up slowly, Yang Kai decided, “Since you have made your mind, I won’t try to change it.”
The two girls were filled with good intentions. If they were to stop him they wouldn’t be themselves.
Yang Kai peered at the peak and found the need to utter his gratitude, “Thank you. Your company was nothing short of pleasant.”
Hu Mei Er turned joyful. Her playful, cheery look was charming. The hostility and vigilance in Hu Jiao Er’s heart were torn to pieces by his words.
“I will reach the peak and look at what’s up there!” Yang Kai turned around as he proceeded onwards, this time much faster than before.
“Don’t forget to tell us all about it!” Hu Jiao Er shouted with a typical smile.
“Alright!”
Yang Kai turned into a black stream of light as he continued to run, the talented sisters now walking side by side to resist the frost as they kept moving.
Before they could take their second step, they were suddenly thrown airborne into a gentle breeze. They were startled by this unannounced gust of wind.
In a few moments, their bodies started to lightly float as they landed softly.
Before gathering their composure, their bodies fell beside the light barrier.
They looked around and shaken to discover that many people were the same as them. They were obviously just delivered, panic clearly wrote on all their faces. Furthermore, the batch that just landed was filled with only women. Men were non-existent in this place.
“Yang Kai?” Hu Mei Er looked around and Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
“He is still inside!” Hu Jiao Er said in a low voice. Despite the confusion, she believed that Yang Kai was still sprinting.
But why were there only females here?
The girls who were transported still had some of the great energy of Yin and Yang stuck on them, attracting the attention of the disciples of the three sects who were outside.
They didn’t hurry to encircle them. Instead, they slowly inquired about their health then asked about the situation inside.
After talking to each other, they realised that everyone had gone through the same bitter experience of being swept by the gentle breeze to land outside the light barrier.
Lan Chudie, who held unyielding will in her eyes, was amongst the crowd. The look in her eyes seemed to resemble Yang Kai’s. Lan Chudie came to a realisation as her complexion turned purple, the frost which was stuck to her body started to fall off one bit at a time.
“It’s over?” Lan Chudie felt bitter and astringent at heart, she as an 8th level Qi Transformation Stage was able to climb up to 3000 steps. This was a result far better than any other disciple at her stage.
This result came solely from the persistence she had in her heart, as she never gave up.
However, she was also taken out by the gentle breeze, so how could she tolerate this? [As long as I had enough time, I would have certainly reached the peak. Why did it deliver me here instead?] Lan Chudie thought as she clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.
All that was left for her was the pain in her heart.
As she was calming down, a soft female voice sounded.
“Are you alright, fellow female apprentice?” Hu Jiao Er discovered the unusualness in Lan Chudie as she inquired kindly.
Lan Chudie shook her lowly hung head as teardrops slowly rolled down her cheek.
Yan Kai kept going forward as he focused on getting to the peak. He hadn’t noticed that the Hu sisters had silently disappeared.
Yang Kai didn’t need to worry about them anymore as he kept rushing forward.
The atmosphere which was already filled with Yin Qi kept increasing step by step. Yang Kai was not worried as his True Yang Secret Art kept his body warm, and the rest of the Yin Qi was absorbed by the Unyielding Golden Body.
After another five hundred steps, the energy changed from Yin to Yang. Yang Kai climbed at an even greater speed.
There was still some Yin energy stuck to his body in the process of melting. However, the Yang energy that synchronized well with his Secret art was much easier to absorb.
Step by step, the distance between him and the peak got smaller and smaller.
As he progressed further, the pressure which was weighing on him started to get heavier.
If it wasn’t for Yang Kai’s True Yang Secret Art allowing him to stockpile Yang Liquid in his dantian, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to be as collected as he is.
As he got closer, Yang Kai faintly thought something was not right.
This Peak’s test was indeed getting more and more difficult, but it was not impossible for a human to pass it. If it was really a test of inheritance, it shouldn’t be this simple.
Sensing Yang Kai’s intention, Old Demon thought of saying something. However, as he thought back to when he presented an evil cultivation method which included the usage of both the Hu sisters’ virgin bodies, he shut his old mouth so as to not anger Yang Kai and receive his merciless torture.
Yang Kai would be enraged if he were to say anything related to his evil arts, so he didn’t dare to speak, even though he did not know why Yang Kai was so against them.
To avoid ruining Yang Kai’s mood, he kept silent.
Even though Yang Kai had some concerns in his mind, he thought it would all be sorted out once he reached the peak. This thought was only a small comfort. Yang Kai loosened his heart a bit, as well as relaxing his body. It was as the test became simpler along with the transformation of his mood.
Day after day passed, and Yang Kai had rested three times in total. He was really close to the peak.
There was a majestic mist that covered the peak. Looking at it felt like looking at a fairyland. Yang Kai had slowly crept into the fog, as seen by some covering the way he came from. The scene felt like the sweetest dream.
Where he was, there were only ten steps remaining… the last ten to finally end his arduous climbing journey.
He slowly walked up the steps, one at a time.
Nine, eight, seven.
As he kept moving forward with determination, old memories rushed into his head one by one.
Six, five, four.
The memories proceeded to trace far back into the past to when Yang Kai obtained the blank Black Book, changing his entire life and destiny.
Three, two.
Memories about three years ago also reappeared, causing Yang Kai’s steady disposition to have some mighty waves.
Yang Kai lifted his foot towards the last step and paused there without moving.
If he missed the last step, he could fall.
But there was no way Yang Kai would make such a mistake.
Although it was hard to tell, he projected that falling would likely only deal severe wounds to him. This was his intuition.
Deeply affected, he revolved the True Yang Secret Art silently. Yang Kai remained motionless for a long time. Once he felt that his state of mind, which had been buffeted by mighty waves, slowly return to normal, the memories which seemed to paralyze him gradually faded.
After a long time, Yang Kai opened with eyes with pure determination. There was no hint of hesitation or fear.
His foot landed.
An otherworldly buzz-like cry rang out, and an invisible pressure suddenly descended on Yang Kai. It was a pressure that only an overlord could possess.
Yang Kai’s body started to bend, including both his legs, which nearly made him kneel down. However, he stopped bending when he was half a foot from the step. He was not going to give up now.
At that moment, his body was dripping wet with sweat and his muscles were fiercely convulsing. His body shivered uncontrollably. This pressure unexpectedly wasn’t a cultivation Tempered Body world pressure. It felt different.
If he were to compare this immense pressure with cultivation pressure, there would only be one that would fit; a pressure coming from a powerhouse. It was like a huge eye looking down at him.
His body slowly straightened up, blue veins becoming visible across his forehead. His complexion had gone completely red. With his resistance, the pressure seemed to be getting stronger. His breath came out in laboured puffs as he tasted a tang of fresh blood on his tongue. The overwhelming pressure was already crushing and injuring him.
“I can withstand the prestige of the world, let alone you! You are not the world!” Yang Kai clenched his teeth so hard a clanking sound was produced. He slowly lifted his other foot little by little as he moved towards the final step.
His movement that ended in a flash gave the sensation that it took a year to complete, upon which Yang Kai finally stood straight. He had overcome the hardships of the overwhelming pressure.
As if he broke an invisible barrier, his body turned featherweight as all the pressure vanished.
A huge wave of energy fiercely swept past him, stirring up the Yuan Qi in his body. After a moment, the corner of his mouth cracked into a smile.
Initial Element Stage eight!
He unexpectedly passed through these endless steps with his low cultivation. This could be considered a great harvest.
Getting his composure back, Yang Kai could see the Palace nearby.
Unfortunately, there was still a layer of stairs between them.
Compared to what he had just endured, these steps were not intimidating to him. He estimated that there were only a hundred steps left to go.
“A two-layer test?” Yang Kai muttered to himself.
Without further delay, he faced forward and took a step upwards.
When he placed his foot on the first step, a burning hot Yang Attribute energy emerged out of thin air towards Yang Kai. This energy looked like a red silk thread, intriguingly visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai looked surprised and reached out to grasp it.
Revolving his True Yang Secret Art, he unexpectedly directly absorbed it.
“Strange!” Yang Kai couldn’t think clearly. If this was a two layered test, then shouldn’t it be harder for the people to move in the second layer?
A few days ago when he was still in the first layer, the energy attacked and only attacked his body, but it seems like the second layer only filled his surroundings. There was an immense difference between them.
Yang Kai did not rush up the steps, as he wanted to gather more information.
With every step, more Yang energy would fill his surroundings. He would absorb them and convert them with his cultivation technique before he advanced.
From the hundred steps, he was able to gather two drops of Yang Liquid.
Having advanced to the ninety-ninth step, Yang Kai felt that something was not right. In front of the one-hundredth step, a Yin Qi barrier was blocking his path.
He put out his hand to test the waters. The Yin Qi instantly permeated through his body, such that even his True Yang Secret Art wouldn’t be able to melt this energy so easily.
What was strange was that the Yang Qi that he had previously absorbed slowly started to well up from his Dantian and dissolved into thin air.
He moved back a few steps from the Yin Qi to retain his composure.
He frowned deeply. [This should be the last step to the peak,] he thought.
How can he break the Yin Qi barrier? Is this supposed to be the last trial?
If so, he must break through this barrier to get through.
He considered his Yang Qi, which was burning hot and was the complete opposite of the Yin Qi barrier.
After a little more thinking, Yang Kai proceeded to the 100th step once again.
Gathering his Yang Qi, he slowly mustered it in front of the Yin Qi barrier.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his fist while revolving his Yuan Qi as the Burning Sun’s Blast was directly shot to the Yin Qi barrier.
Bang! The fierce Yuan Qi poured into the Yin Qi barrier. But just like a pebble splashing into a sea, there was barely any reaction.
Yang Kai delivered the same attack over and over, but it seemed to just dissipate into nothing.
If the Burning Sun’s Blast had no effect, perhaps even using Star Mark would be a waste of time and energy. What is the key to surpassing the barrier, then?
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. His heart seemed to understand something clearly.
Probing for the third time, Yang Kai went down the steps and stood at where the red silk thread was most visible. This time, instead of absorbing it, he garnered its length within his hands.
He didn’t absorb it this time around, but after watching the red silk gather he couldn’t help but grab at it.
The size of the red silk thread increased as he kept pulling in more. On top of that, the red silk thread also became more and more wild and powerful, such that even his hand started to burn a little.
If this energy was used to cultivate True Yang Secret Art, it would have inconceivable results, but in truth, this Yang Qi was so strange that if he did not absorb them, they would rebel restlessly. They might also frequently attack Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not utter a word despite the pain increasing in his palms.
As time passed, the rebellious Yang Qi threads in his hand unexpectedly calmed down and stayed steady as if they had found their home. They no longer struggled or revolted, or even attacked him.
Yang Kai’s mouth curls into a smile as he thought that he had found the right technique.
With the increase in the thickness of the red thread, the Yang Qi that Yang Kai gathered formed the shape of a fireball. Even with its size, Yang Kai remained unharmed.
Standing in front of the ninety-ninth step once again, Yang Kai gently pushed the fireball in his hands towards the Yin Qi barrier.
This time around, he was not disappointed.
After absorbing these Yang Qi threads, the Yin Qi barrier broke like a fragile mirror. With the sounds of crashing and banging, the Yin Qi barrier dispersed, revealing the magnificent Palace which presented itself right in front of Yang Kai.
He had completed the path!!
When the Yin Qi barrier was shattered, Xie Hong Chen roared with anger. He had persisted with all his energy to climb to so high. He was only a few steps away from the peak, victory already in sight when he suddenly felt a gentle breeze swoop under his feet. This gentle breeze was much like what the Hu sisters had experienced; the same that had sent them down.
“No!” Xie Hong Chen shouted in refusal. He tried to extend his hand to grab onto the stairs but it proved to be just out of reach. Very quickly, the flight of stairs grew more distant as he flew away.
“No. No. No!” Xie Hong Chen looked at the flight of stairs, desperate to return to continue climbing but the flight of stairs quickly disappeared from his sight.
For so many days, he climbed relentlessly but only to fall short at the last moment. This was not his own mistake but was due to someone else clearing the trials first. With another person’s success, the other contestants behind would be delivered back by a gentle breeze.
(ICE: Hong Chen does not deserve gentleness)
[Who was it!?] Xie Hong Chen questioned, his eyes red with rage only to finally think of Su Yan, who had the biggest chance of succeeding.
[Can it be her?] The thought was a small comfort to him, but he still palpitated with vexation.
Once he had recovered his composure, Xie Hong Chen discovered that he had landed in a strange place. When he looked up at the sky, he deduced that he was still within the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, but weirdly enough, there was no one around.
Xie Hong Chen stood on the spot for a while, before his mouth rose into a sneer. “If Su Yan was the one that obtained the inheritance, I will certainly make you mine!”
Soon, more people started to appear out of thin air and landed around him. They were all male disciples from all three sects. Similar to the female disciples that were blown away by the breeze, these disciples had endured the trial only to end with much disappointment. At the same time, the males were dispersed throughout the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, unlike the females.
On landing, many male disciples started to explore the area in low spirits. They had failed to obtain the Inheritance, but there was still a possibility for treasure.
Above the clouds in front of a magnificent palace, Yang Kai stood there watching the gigantic doors open as if they expected his arrival. He did not immediately enter; instead, the boy closed his eyes and recounted the events of the trials.
The first part of the test questioned a person’s will. The second verified a person’s capabilities in controlling Yang Energy. Only with sufficient control and capability could one climb the 99 steps and destroy the Yin Qi barrier on the 100th step in one attack.
After a long time, Yang Kai smiled and stepped forward. As he moved, he could feel the True Yang Qi within his body change.
Once he passed through the door, he could feel the Origin of Yang suddenly react. So far, the Origin of Yang would only respond to nearby Yang Energy. Its response would vary depending on the strength of the energy. This time, it was extremely intense, so intense that Yang Kai could feel his chest boil. Nonetheless, the boy continued forth with a dignified look, following the Origin of Yang’s direction.
Yang Kai walked for a while before he saw a huge ball of red and white energy circulate each other in mid-air several meters off the ground. He instantly recognized that this ball of energy was the source his Origin of Yang was reacting to.
Strangely enough, this ball of energy did not contain just Yang energy. It also contained a piercing cold energy. When the two energies had come together, they did not oppose each other. Instead, they harmoniously coexisted alongside each other. When Yang Kai took a closer look, he could see the energy-producing two different forms from time to time.
When the boy realized the forms were actually two creatures, he shivered a little. Those two creatures were none other than the dragon and phoenix that flew outside the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance.
[Is this the inheritance?] Yang Kai’s eyelids narrowed as he carefully analyzed the sphere of energy.
In the next moment, his gaze caught sight of a human figure clad in white, startling him. His whole face seemed to change, averting his attention from the creatures.
“Su Yan?” Yang Kai called out. He had not expected someone else to be here alongside him. What’s more, the other person was Su Yan.
When he called out, the woman sitting crossed-legged under the ball of energy opened her eyes.
“It’s you?” Su Yan’s beautiful pupils shook in surprise as she relaxed.
Yang Kai smiled. He felt joy in finding his Senior Sister here. Moving closer to her, he stood tall and firm. He refocused on the ball of energy that now sat above both of them and asked, “How long have you been here?”
“This is probably the 45th day.” Su Yan spoke with an ice cold voice, highlighting her aloof nature.
[45 days?!] Yang Kai was flabbergasted by that number. He never doubted that she was worthy of the title of the strongest female in High Heaven Pavilion. Exactly 45 days ago, he was separated from the Hu sisters so he could continue quickly on his own.
The rest of his journey from their departure lasted 45 days. To think that she would accomplish it in such a short span of time was simply shocking beyond words.
What Yang Kai was not aware of was that the gentle breeze that Su Yan had caused upon her success, which blew all other females away from the flight of stairs. Likewise, he was also unaware of the gentle breeze that he himself had caused upon his own completion. Thus, in this test, they were the only two remaining.
“Sit down and speak to me,” Su Yan invited.
Yang Kai nodded and sat cross-legged facing her.
When Yang Kai chose to sit close, Su Yan’s face changed slightly but quickly returned back to normal.
They looked at each other in silence. Suddenly, Yang Kai smiled and opened his mouth, “After over ten thousand steps, I also had to complete the final hundred. During my journey, every five hundred steps changed the energy emitting from the stairs. At the end of it, I had absorbed the Yang Qi from the final 99 right before the Yin Qi barrier. I used that energy to break it.”
Su Yan smiled back, “Me too. I also suffered the same exact trials as you for the first ten thousand, but for the final hundred steps I had to absorb the Yin Qi to freeze the sea of fire that engulfed the hundredth.”
When Su Yan smiled, it felt like a refreshing breeze had blown across a wasteland, like a snow white world had finally seen the sight of greenery as though spring had arrived. Such a beautiful woman would effortlessly cause the downfall of nations and capture the hearts of everyone. Even Yang Kai was no exception; he simply stared at the beautiful woman sitting in front of him. He was filled with an abundance of joy.
Su Yan noticed his gaze and quickly avoided looking at him.
“I don’t know why, but I find your smile extremely enchanting.” Yang Kai did not hide his thoughts.
(ICE: Go man)
“We are not that familiar with each other.” Su Yan cheeks turned a little red, but her expression did not change.
“In the future, we will grow more familiar with each other.” Even though he was in front of such a goddess worshipped by the disciples of the three sects, he still managed to find the humour and guts to tease her a little.
Su Yan did not wish for him to continue and quickly changed the subject, “I will tell you what I think about this place. If you find that my conclusion is inaccurate, do tell me.”
“Mm,” Yang Kai nods in agreement. Su Yan had been here for 45 days. Naturally, anything that she had to say should be taken into serious consideration.
Su Yan calmed herself down before opening her red lips, “I believe that we were all mistaken. This Inheritance was not meant for one, but for two people. The 10,000 steps of alternating cold and hot energies which seemed to come together in union is the best proof of this.”
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. The possibility had crossed his mind, but he could not confirm it.
“The test that both of us experienced is the same, except for the last part. It was a test to check our abilities in controlling one of the two energies. If one is unable to control the energy, they would not be able to reach here.” Su Yan lowered her head, displaying her slender neck and whispered in a softer voice. “Before you arrived, I wasn’t too sure of something, but your arrival only makes my thought true. Do you see the thing above us?”
Yang Kai nodded.
“During these 45 days, I have been trying to absorb its energy but have not made any progress. It seems to repel my will. If I’m not wrong, it requires the both of us to work together, to bring it down and obtain the Inheritance of this place!”
Su Yan spoke in a straight and direct tone.
“So, what do you intend to do?” Yang Kai asked.
Since the Inheritance required two people, neither of them had the final say. They would need to verify their actions with one another. No one knew what kind of relationship they would foster once they obtained the Inheritance, but if it requires them to share, there will definitely be some form of change between the both of them.
To Yang Kai, he was glad that his partner was Su Yan. Although she seemed nonchalant and cold on the outside, he knew that she was a gracious and kind person regardless. However, the same feeling could not be said for her. If Su Yan was not willing to participate in this with him, Yang Kai could only reluctantly give up.
Su Yan was obviously hesitating. She could not come to a conclusion on the type of relationship she would have with Yang Kai once they obtained the Inheritance. She recalled the day the boy saved her from death by risking his life to catch her. That moment wiped the hesitation off her face as her disposition towards the boy became warmer.
After a long time of silence, Su Yan closely stared at Yang Kai’s face. She wanted to pick up any slight change in expression he might make. “If I were to decline due to the reason of not wanting some external force binding me to a person I was not familiar with, would you be disappointed?”
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment and then nodded, “I would.”
Su Yan turned gloomy.
“Nevertheless, I will respect your choice. You have your personal freedom to choose and likewise for me. If you do not wish to do this, then we won’t,” Yang Kai seemed confident when he spoke and he turned around to walk. “If you don’t wish to carry on, then let us go.”
“Where are we headed?” Su Yan asked as she slightly tilted her head forward in curiosity.
”To leave, of course,” Yang Kai chuckled. “Since we are no longer going to inherit this thing, what’s the point of staying here?”
“Who said that I didn’t want to inherit it? Since we have climbed all the way up here, how could we possibly return empty-handed?” Su Yan gave a slight, cunning smile.
“Are you trying to trick me?” Yang Kai’s complexion turned a tone darker, “To think that I would trust you so much to have you deceive me like this.”
“I was only probing your thoughts. You don’t have to get so angry. Don’t men always brag about having a broad mind? Why can’t you take a joke from a girl like me?” Su Yan slightly pursed her lips and looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai only sighed. He sat down in front of Su Yan and sighed again, “Su Yan, you are not acting like a Senior Sister right now.”
“You are already addressing me directly by my name, what’s the point of behaving like a Senior Sister?”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded. Who would have thought that a woman who put up such a cold front would have the gift of the gab?
[Are all women like this?] Yang Kai wondered.
Such small talk gave the both of them an opportunity to connect with one another.
Yang Kai bitterly smiled and raised his hands as though he had surrendered and continued, “Alright, alright, consider me mistaken.”
When Su Yan noticed his glibness, she decided to be serious and changed topics and said, “Since we have both decided to do this, let’s start.”
Yang Kai noticed that she was more anxious than before, but he stayed silent.
“What am I supposed to do?” Yang Kai asked.
“Start revolving your Yang Cultivation Technique,” Su Yan instructed before she closed her eyes and began to revolve her Ice Heart Secret Art. Soon, a cold, chilling air was emitting from her.
Watching Su Yan revolve her Cultivation Technique made Yang Kai follow suit quickly with his own. With the True Yang Secret Art revolving, Yang Kai could feel the burning hot Yang Yuan Qi flood through his Meridians.
When both of them started revolving their cultivation technique, the hall they sat in seemed to respond. A loud bang could then be heard, which lingered faintly while they continued. Noticing the response, Su Yan’s face was replaced with delight. She had understood that her conclusion was right, that she needed Yang Kai to obtain this Inheritance.
Over time, the ball of energy that suspended over their heads started to descend as if a hand was lightly and slowly pressing down on it.
Both figures of the Dragon and Phoenix within the ball of energy started to transform non-stop. They would appear for a second before disappearing again. This whole process repeated itself blindingly and rapidly as it slowly made their forms clearer over time.
Within half an hour of their revolution, the ball of energy had fallen between both Yang Kai and Su Yan. As the Dragon and the Phoenix started to vibrate more, their forms also became more apparent. They were flashing more and more intensely as the red and white portions of the ball continued to interact with each other, producing a bright ray of light.
Suddenly, the Dragon roared and the Phoenix then cried, and the ball burst into two separate forms. They quickly turned into a Fire Dragon and an Ice Phoenix respectively, then crashed into Yang Kai and Su Yan’s bodies. Both of them shuddered in pain as the figures entered.
When the Fire Dragon entered Yang Kai’s body, he discovered that his Meridians were now filled with boundless Yang Energy. It also seemed like new information was delivered to his mind, too.
Afraid to neglect the energy in his body, Yang Kai forced his own True Yang Secret Art to revolve faster. He wanted to quickly turn the excess Yang energy into Yang Liquid but was surprised to find that he was unable to do so.
Soon, he could feel his five senses become sharper. Yang Kai could smell the obvious fragrance that surrounded Su Yan. It was like honey to a bee, causing Yang Kai to find Su Yan irresistible, his heartstrings pulled every time he took another breath of her smell. His heartbeat accelerated as he continued to sniff. Within a few seconds, his dragon welled up due to his primitive urges.
(ICE:Time to put Sisqo unleash the dragon on)
[What is this?] Yang Kai could not help but question. His whole mind seemed to be stuck in confusion after he examined the information he received from the Fire Dragon moments ago. With it, Yang Kai opened his eyes to look at Su Yan, baffled.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that the beautiful Su Yan was pale. Her gentle and graceful body seemed to be freezing as she shivered uncontrollably.
Although cultivating the Ice Heart Secret Art required a cold environment to cultivate, the chill she was experiencing right now far exceeded what she could handle. Yang Kai could also obviously feel the heat within his body quickly exceeding the limits that he could handle too.
Shortly after, Su Yan also opened her eyes. Her dazzling pupils seemed to radiate a certain charm to Yang Kai, as her pale cheeks blushed lightly. Her breathing had become somewhat ragged as her gaze seemed to turn into that of a lover.
Right now, Yang Kai understood the feelings they had for each other. It was as though they eternally longed for the power within the other person.
Yang Kai wished to soothe the heat and dryness within himself with the coldness that Su Yan had. Similarly, Su Yan wished to soothe her ice-cold body with the heat from Yang Kai. Their desires were not only from their own body but also from the Dragon and the Phoenix. However, it seemed that the desire allowed both of them to maintain their own consciousness, enabling them to resist their urges.
“This is the Inheritance that we wished for, Su Yan.” Yang Kai opened his mouth to speak and to lick his lips. His throat was dry as he looked at Su Yan with eyes red with desire. He wanted so very much to quench his thirst.
“I know…” Su Yan clenched her teeth as her face seemed unwilling to accept the fact of the Inheritance. She was still well aware that this Inheritance can be obtained only with two people. It would force the two of them to have some special connection with each other, but never would she have thought that the Inheritance would turn out to be something like this. Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, it was a Cultivation Technique that entered their minds.
Although Su Yan could not verify the rank of this Cultivation Technique, she could tell that it was obviously greater than her Ice Heart Secret Art. The Ice Heart Secret Art was considered a Mystery Rank Cultivation Technique, but it could not handle the cold that the Ice Phoenix instilled in her body. However, the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art could.
“Isn’t this a Dual Cultivation Technique?” Yang Kai could not help but ask as his heart seemed to stop for a moment.
“Erm…” Su Yan replied but her answer felt dreamy. The noise that she made, down to the tone she produced all seemed to be perfect, which only made Yang Kai desire her even more.
“Isn’t this considered an Evil Cultivation Technique?” Yang Kai seemed depressed as he spoke. Although his desires to cultivate with Su Yan was not merely caused by the Yang energy, if this was an Evil Cultivation Technique, there might be some detrimental effects.
(ICE: Sex is not evil…it is the cause of such an act that could be)
Su Yan could not help but smile in comfort when the boy looked depressed. Unconsciously, she swayed her body from side to side amorously, showing off her curves while trembling. “A Dual Cultivation Technique does not necessarily mean it is an Evil Cultivation Technique. Gathering Yin to supplement Yang and gathering Yang to supplement Yin is an Evil Cultivation Technique!”
Usually, Su Yan would be embarrassed to discuss this topic with a man. However, her abilities to judge right now was at best impaired, and she had no qualms with sharing her thoughts. Nonetheless, she was still embarrassed as her face still blushed past the paleness.
Currently, she was not the arrogant, strong and beautiful woman that the three sects worshipped as a goddess. She was now merely a woman who desired hot Yuan Qi to flow inside her body.
“Su Yan…” Yang Kai could not help but call out in desperation.
“…” Su Yan whole face seemed to be in pain as she silently shook her head.
(ICE: Sorry SIL…it’s too soon)
Yang Kai could not help but sigh, “We can try to transfer some energy within our bodies to each other.”
When Su Yan heard his words, she bowed down in gratitude. If Yang Kai had wished to pursue the matter any further, she doubted that she would be able to resist the temptation. Even with his suffering, he was still patient and kind enough to respect her will. In return, Su Yan could only show her gratitude.
The two simultaneously closed their eyes and started to revolve their respective Cultivation Techniques again in an attempt to build up the cold and hot energy within their bodies.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai discovered that the more he tried to build up the hot energy within his body, the more dreadful and powerful it became. The emotions and desires within him were only getting harder to resist. The fragrance from Su Yan became so strong that thoughts of filth invaded his mind as he savoured them helplessly.
Soon, Yang Kai’s skin turned entirely red. It was as if his whole body was a heated piece of iron. His body was even producing steam as he squinted his eyes in pain. However, the youth had decided not to make any moves as long as Su Yan did not wish for it.
(ICE: A gentleman)
The Fire Dragon within his body seemed to be getting angry with Yang Kai’s adamant resistance. It gave out a roar, causing Yang Kai to almost lose consciousness as his eyes turned even redder and his heartbeat raced like he had just run a marathon. Each beat seemed like a powerful drum, strong and clear, sending out heat waves each time. He could feel the blood throbbing beneath his skin.
The only thing that was on his mind right now was being in Su Yan’s embrace, cooling the heat within his body. Su Yan also felt the same. Although it was not her wish, she wanted to soothe the freezing coldness with the heat from Yang Kai. This was the strongest aphrodisiac that could possibly exist; torturing them and fabricating a strong desire to be together. No matter how strong and iron-willed they were, their adamance will lose to their desires.
When Yang Kai’s consciousness vanished entirely, his desire quickly suppressed itself.
It was his Golden Skeleton. Yang Kai’s own resolve and pride had activated it. Soon, a comfortable feeling flowed through his body and his own consciousness slowly restored, but as he awoke, he heard an amorous moan that caused his heart flutter.
When he snapped his eyes open, Yang Kai was greeted with the sight of Su Yan. Her complexion was ghost pale from the coldness but her face was still flushed with bright red. Her pearl white teeth were nipping on her salacious lips. Her long eyelashes quivered as her whole body shook involuntarily.
“Su Yan! Su Yan!” Yang Kai could not help but shout her name in anxiousness.
Even when her whole body was trembling, Su Yan clenched her teeth, “I can continue to resist. So, don’t give up.”
“Em!” Yang Kai nodded and continued to furiously build up the burning hot Yang Energy within his body.
It was only thanks to the Golden Skeleton that Yang Kai could manage to maintain his sobriety. Else, he would have acted on instinct!
(ICE: looks like Su Yan will succumb to her desires first)
FAIR WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS NSFW, BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU READ IT!
Dear readers, make sure you have a few tissues with you and your parents are not at home. BTW, just a reminder, I will be making the story more erotic with another chapter, separate from this one (fan made) but can be linked.
Even with help from the Golden Skeleton, Yang Kai’s struggle did not wane. He could not tell how much longer he could withstand the pain. Even with the Golden Skeleton, the boiling hot Energy was still getting worse. If things were to carry on like this, his whole body was going to burn.
Yang Kai found the situation ironic. Who would think that a Yang Energy cultivator would die from Yang Energy? If one were to explain this situation to him, Yang Kai was sure they would find it hard to believe. Compared to Yang Kai, Su Yan was in a more exacerbating situation. If Yang Kai had not called out to her early on, she would have lost herself to the desires.
(ICE: It has been a long time coming *cough*)
Even with utmost resistance, Su Yan’s willpower was faltering.
Though no words were spoken, Su Yan had got on her knees and started crawling towards Yang Kai. Her chest heaved as she panted heavily. Her vision blurred as she lifted her left hand to caress Yang Kai’s cheeks.
All her movements were not done consciously. She was still struggling to resist the temptations as the urge grew stronger. Even her ice cold fingers were covered with frost.
For short periods of time, Su Yan would let out groans of pain as she winced.
“Su Yan!” Yang Kai called out to her again. This time, his voice was much softer than before. He did not wish to seem perverted, afraid of being repulsed by Su Yan.
Yang Kai’s words seemed to reverberate in her ears as Su Yan’s eyes seemed to restore lightly with consciousness. She noticed her own body posture and the tenderness in Yang Kai’s eyes.
“I don’t think I can resist it any further…” Su Yan finally conceded.
Yang Kai smiled and grabbed her hand. When their bodies made contact, the Dragon roared and the Phoenix cried again. They had also regained their control and consciousness.
This time, the two did not separate from one another. They knew that losing physical contact would only return them to the torturous pain. Their 5 interlocking fingers soon turned to 10 as they shuffled closer to each other. Their eyes were locked together as they felt their hearts palpitate in unison. Another strange sensation welled up, compelling them to advance past holding hands.
“You won’t regret this?” Yang Kai chuckled as he caressed Su Yan’s hands. They were icy cold but smooth and pleasant to the touch. Holding her hands sent a feeling of comfort throughout his body.
Su Yan face flushed as she hung her head down and said softly, “We’ve tried our best…”
Yang Kai used his strength to gently lift Su Yan up, sitting her on his lap while embracing her waist. Soon, the two energies with their bodies seem to come together. It was as though they were perfect for each other, giving both a delightful sensation. Even with their self-control fully restored, their bodies still sought for comfort in each other. They could no longer resist their impulses any longer.
“Su Yan,” Yang Kai once again called out in a soft, shivering voice. This was the first time he was doing something like this, and he did not know what to do.
Su Yan did not speak but only hid her face, placing her head on Yang Kai’s shoulders.
Yang Kai slowly stretched out his hand to caress her neck, pulling her away from his shoulder.
Su Yan’s eyelashes shivered as she kept her eyes tightly shut. She leant back, placing her hands on her stomach, tightly hugging herself to calm her anxiousness.
Yang Kai noticed and lightly teased, “There’s no need to be so anxious.” He had never thought that such a cold, beautiful Senior Sister would be more anxious than him.
He took a deep breath, trying to stabilise his intense and heavy breathing. He brought his lips forward and connected with Su Yan’s succulent lips.
At first, Su Yan’s whole body froze solid due to the sudden kiss. She slowly relaxed after Yang Kai stroked her arms. Once she was ready to accept him, Yang Kai moved in his tongue, splitting apart her cold lips and opening her pearl white teeth, provoking her.
As sounds of periodic sucking resounded throughout the main hall, both of Su Yan’s hands finally wrapped around Yang Kai’s neck, wishing for more. She had lost all resistance. The urge for the heat within Yang Kai had peaked; preventing her from maintaining her own disposition.
Soon, pieces of clothing start to loosen. One by one, they were conveniently removed by Yang Kai, tossed aside with haste. When he put aside her undergarments, that she started to blush even heavier. Out of pure embarrassment, she quickly moved her hands to cover her chest.
Yang Kai took the opportunity to look at the beauty in front of him. Her figure was perfect. Every inch of her skin was smooth, glimmering with health. Her breasts were perfect, not too big and not too small, the perfect size to fill his two eager hands. Her belly seemed to be made of the finest silk, smooth without excrescence and perfectly defined. Without a doubt, even the saints of the world would have their lust invoked in the presence of such a sight. Naturally, Yang Kai could no longer keep his dark desires sealed up.
Su Yan’s body returned to her usual colour. Love surged out from the innermost sanctum of her heart.
Yang Kai stretched out his hands to pull Su Yan’s arms away. At first, she resisted but she soon let go as well.
Yang Kai was secretly delighted that he was able to be together with Su Yan. Such an icy and noble beauty, it would be hard for anyone to approach her, let alone be intimate with her. It was only with the inheritance of the Dual Cultivation Technique, that he was able to claim her purity.
Such an honour only reinforced Yang Kai’s lustful desires. No longer able to hold himself back, he gave out a low groan, clutching Su Yan’s body like a beast with its prey. Even when the girl yipped in surprise, he did not stop. He lifted her up and spread her shimmering thighs apart.
(Silvain: Beast!)
“I’ve heard that it is a little painful at first, so you’ll need to bear with it,” Yang Kai lustfully informed her.
Su Yan still had her eyes shut. As her whole body froze with nervousness, she could only give a slight nod.
Yang Kai slowly lowered her body. Inch by inch, Su Yan could feel a spear enter her. The piercing sensation numbed her whole body, from her abdomen to her head. She felt like her whole body was unresponsive. She had a great urge to squeal in pain, but she gritted her teeth and braved Yang Kai’s entry. Her two arms quickly wrapped around Yang Kai’s neck in hope of support as her body convulsed as droplets of tears emerged from the corners of her eyes. It was at this moment that she wished to beat Yang Kai into a pulp. She screamed in her head, [You call this a little pain? A little?!]
It was only after a good amount of time did the pain subside. In its place was a strange sensation, as though something in a void was being filled up. The unprecedented sensation gave Su Yan the embarrassing urge to sway her body from side to side, trying to feel Yang Kai even more.
“Start revolving the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art!” Yang Kai sounded off in a low voice. Su Yan cracked opened her eyes to see a beast-like man with red, lusty eyes. However, those eyes still emitted ripples of calmness and tender love towards the person within its gaze. Looking at them made Su Yan’s heart skip a beat as she made a slight bow and quickly followed Yang Kai’s lead; she began revolving Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art together with Yang Kai.
When the Cultivation Technique began its revolution, Yang Kai and Su Yan moaned together. The Ice Phoenix and Fire Dragon within their bodies both followed. Suddenly, the two mystical beasts calmed down as a gush of pleasant sensations flooded both their minds and bodies. Vigorous Yuan Qi shuttled between the two of them, passing through their conjoined sacred parts and spreading throughout their bodies, merging and blending within.
Even in such an intimate position, the two of them were solemn and silent. They were too occupied with circulating their Yuan Qi into each other. Yang Kai could feel a great amount of power rushing into his body from Su Yan. The Yin Yuan Qi within her body was over a hundred times more potent than the Yang Yuan Qi he had in his Meridians. It was like comparing a toddler to an adult.
The difference in strength was so obvious that Su Yan slowed down her revolution of the Cultivation Technique. She had to do so. Yang Kai could no longer keep up.
Being connected and simultaneously revolving the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art Cultivation Technique allowed them to have a unique connection with each other. They were both able to feel their bodies touching while their spirits mixed. All of a sudden, they felt as though they had known each other for years. In their life, no one could be more important than the person in front of them right now.
With each revolution, the Fire Dragon within Yang Kai and the Ice Phoenix within Su Yan seemed to gradually dissipate. They had completed their function; to force the two lovers to copulate and cultivate the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art. Since their duty was completed, there was no longer any need to stay. The beasts did not enter their Meridians nor their Dantian. One would typically think that they had completely disappeared, although Yang Kai felt that they were still hiding somewhere within their bodies.
(ICE: A bit disappointed that they are not enjoying the moment, just cultivating)
As the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art continued to revolve, the energy in their meridians from the Ice Phoenix and the Fire Dragon were slowly substituted with their respective Yin and Yang Yuan Qi. Unfortunately, their difference in strength was too vast for Su Yan to feel much difference; to her, it felt like a pebble splashing into the ocean.
Discovering their difference in Yuan Qi vigour only left Yang Kai feeling awkward.
“There is no need to worry. Just take your time.” Su Yan gently comforted Yang Kai through her mind. She was well aware of Yang Kai’s current complex feelings and wished to console him. Yang Kai kept silent only to suddenly explode ten drops of Yang Liquid within his Dantian. In that instant, True Yang Yuan Qi flooded through Yang Kai’s veins and burst into Su Yan’s body.
Su Yan was taken by surprise. She had no idea how Yang Kai was able to suddenly produce so much Yuan Qi. An Initial Element 8 Stage cultivator would never be able to have so much Yuan Qi within their body. Her surprise was quickly suppressed as she felt the need to concentrate on revolving the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art. With a flood of energy that was equal to hers, she needed to quickly build it up to continue the steady flow between the both of them.
Another eruption of Yang Liquid occurred. This time, it was 30 drops. With all of that, Yang Kai could feel his Meridians on the edge of rupturing. Without Su Yan as his partner for the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, Yang Kai knew that he would have died from blowing all 30 drops. A single drop was sufficient to flood his whole Meridians with True Yang Yuan Qi, and even three drops would likely end in the destruction of his Meridians. With Su Yan’s cultivation level, they were able to achieve something he would have never been able to alone.
FAIR WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS NSFW, BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU READ IT!
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Yang Kai’s pleased smiled. Su Yan’s eyes glimmered with mischief as she lowered her head to his shoulder and nipped it.
“Ouch…” Yang Kai shook his shoulder.
Su Yan released her lips and gracefully smiled back at Yang Kai, “I have learned that your body harbours some kind of secret!”
Yang Kai did not seem capable of replying properly as he was still completely infatuated with Su Yan, and instead proceeded to flirt, “Has anyone ever told you that your smile makes the world brighter?”
Su Yan’s face turned completely red as her hand moved to her hair, twirling it around her fingers. She whispered, “Then… I won’t smile at anyone except for you.”
Yang Kai felt bliss and euphoria flood through his body. He quickly restrained his thoughts and with a hint of loneliness in his voice, he reminded, “Let’s cultivate first.”
Su Yan agreed with a slight nod.
Yang Kai used 30 drops of Yang Liquid, which was quickly devoured by Su Yan, and he received an equivalent amount of Yin Yuan Qi, all of which was absorbed by his Golden Skeleton. This discovery left Yang Kai thrilled. Although the Yang Liquid within him was important, the Golden Skeleton was more important. To be able to convert the Yin Yuan Qi into an energy that he can store within his Golden Skeleton was a celebratory discovery.
Currently, Yang Kai did not feel any discomfort. There was almost definitely supposed to be some form of backlash in expending 30 drops of Yang Liquid in one go, but his body was perfectly fine. Knitting his brows, Yang Kai wondered. He exploded 5 drops of Yang Liquid before feeling a familiar ache within his meridians. How was it possible for him to now explode 5 Yang Liquid drops and then feel the ache? Previously, he could have hardly have tolerated 2 explosions of Yang Liquid. He deduced that from the cultivation, his meridians expanded.
[Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art is simply too amazing!] Yang Kai thought to himself.
When all the Yang Yuan Qi energy from another 30 drops of Yang Liquid was devoured by Su Yan; and in return, the equivalent amount of Yin Yuan Qi from Su Yan was absorbed into Yang Kai’s Golden Skeleton, Yang Kai’s body ferociously trembled. The air around him formed a whirlwind as their scattered clothing was swept further away from the two nude lovers. An invisible field of air that seemed to surround Yang Kai finally erupted. A burst of energy spread out, gradually subsiding. He had suddenly broken through to Initial Element Stage 9!
When Su Yan realised what had just happened, she was also brimming with joy. Similar to Yang Kai, she rejoiced in his achievement, although Yang Kai was more calm than excited. He now had a faint sense of anticipation for the benefits of the Dual Cultivation Technique. Who would have thought that he would break through so quickly?
When Yang Kai analysed his state, he learned that after he had spent 65 drops of Yang Liquid to pierce a small boundary using the Dual Cultivation Technique with Su Yan, the Yang Liquid within his Dantian had become purer. Although the amount seemed to be insufficient for another breakthrough, his achievement in a purer Yang Liquid was much more valuable.
Clenching his teeth, Yang Kai once again exploded another 50 drops of Yang Liquid and started to revolve the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art. His Yang Yuan Qi flooded into Su Yan’s body, robbing the girl of speech. The first explosion had already taken her by surprise. The second flood only terrified her a little. With the third eruption of Yang Yuan Qi even greater than before, she could no longer contain herself.
[Just where is all his Yuan Qi coming from?] Su Yan wondered. She didn’t say a word, being simply grateful of the situation.
Yang Kai was a man with whom she had become intimate. If he could survive such reckless cultivation and live without accidents, it was probable that she will spend her whole life together with him. Discovering that her lover was more formidable made her jubilant.
After three days, Yang Kai and Su Yan ended their first Dual Cultivation Session. They both decided that three days was long enough. Strangely, when their mind, body and spirit was connected and blended together, it felt like their experience had only lasted a short instant.
(ICE: Damn!! Three days)
When they both woke up, Su Yan could also feel the Yin Yuan Qi within herself become purer as well. This made her lose any sense of regret in giving up her chastity.
When she looked towards Yang Kai’s tender gaze and his smiling face, her heart raced. It did not feel abnormal when they were immersed in cultivation, but when she thought about how she behaved, she felt embarrassed. She was riding him, sitting on his lap; hands hugging his neck, lips continuously moist, connected as one. Within her abdomen was a burning hot rod that filled up her body and mind, transmitting Yang Kai’s fierce heat pulse. Each pulse caused her whole body to turn soft, her mind muddled as she could not find the least bit of strength to extract herself from his pole. She would never have thought that she would maintain such a posture with a man, let alone intimacy. Cultivating the Ice Heart Secret Art froze not only her mind but her heart as well. How would it be possible to even dream of a man stealing her heart?
Su Yan anticipated living a long, lonely life. The Inheritance of the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art changed that. Now, she had an unbreakable bond with a man she hardly knew. She was not filled with repulse or regret, however, and instead was over the moon.
(Ice: Calm down it’s not only about their union here)
After a short amount of time, Su Yan found the courage to look at Yang Kai. Her gaze was extremely gentle and tender. Noticing her gaze, Yang Kai called out, “Su Yan…” He was still full of lust as his fiery gaze concentrated on Su Yan’s perfect face. Even after the disappearance of the Fire Dragon and Ice Phoenix, Yang Kai still had the desire to continue and extend beyond what they had already done. It seemed to have completely destroyed his consciousness as he felt the wetness.
Su Yan bit her own luscious red lips and used both her hands to caress Yang Kai’s cheeks, placing her forehead against his. She struggled for a moment but then spoke with a little reluctance, “Let’s not do it first. It’s more important for me to help you break through.” She found it hard to refuse her lover as her heart still desired for him. However, for his own benefit, she found the determination to refuse his request.
When Su Yan stopped talking, a burst of Yin Yuan Qi rushed into Yang Kai’s body, forcing him to quickly concentrate on revolving the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art. He held his breath and stabilised his breathing as he slowly closed his fiery, crazed eyes while accepting all of Su Yan’s energy.
Yang Kai was well aware that Su Yan’s actions were detrimental to herself, but even at the cost of her diminishing strength, he could not refuse her selfless sacrifice. His Meridians were full of Yuan Qi from Su Yan’s flood of energy. They bulged thickly to the extent of almost bursting with pain, but he did not ask her to stop. When Su Yan noticed Yang Kai was reaching his limit, the Yuan Qi fluctuation around them simmered down. She stopped in case of injuring Yang Kai.
“Continue!” Yang Kai spoke with his eyes closed and remained silent.
“But…”
“Just continue!”
Su Yan obeyed Yang Kai’s wish and resumed pouring her Yuan Qi into him.
When the two were cultivating the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, the Yuan Qi within their bodies did not drain. In fact, the total amount remained constant as it travelled between the two lovers’ bodies. This advantage is something that other Cultivation Techniques could never hope to compare to.
After a long time, the Yuan Qi flooding within Yang Kai became more unbearable. The excruciation within his Meridians made his body quiver as beads of cold sweat rolled off his forehead, but he did not complain or cry out as he kept silent.
“Don’t stop!” Yang Kai gave a pained roar.
Su Yan’s beautiful eyes shook as she hesitated. She did not dare to invest more of her Yuan Qi into his body out of fear of injuring him, but she could feel Yang Kai’s unyielding will. It was a will to get stronger. It was a will to be strong enough to protect his own woman.
Yang Kai would not be in such a rush if he had never gotten together with her. However, their relationship has blossomed after experiencing such connection. With their strength disparity right now, Yang Kai could not remain as calm as he used to be. He needed to be able to protect her as her man; he wished to be able to protect her because he loved her. It goes without saying that that means he would have to be stronger.
Su Yan understood what was in Yang Kai’s mind; it was a touching sentiment. After hesitating for a long time, she continued to pour Yuan Qi into Yang Kai.
The Yuan Qi gradually got fiercer. It was like a wild animal trapped in a cage, ramming against the door hoping to escape. When Su Yan noticed what was happening to Yang Kai, she paused the transferral yet again. She knew that Yang Kai was about to break through. When the Yuan Qi within a Cultivator acts like this, it indicates that the Cultivator was about to progress to the Qi Transformation Stage. At that moment, Yang Kai no longer had a pained expression. The pain had vanished. The Yuan Qi swishing within his body did not cause any damage to his Meridians. Instead, his Meridians were now more tenacious, improving his ability to bear all the Yuan Qi.
One layer of invisible shackles seemed to attach to Yang Kai, preventing him from breaking through. This was the same feeling he had when he broke through the Initial Element Stage. Breaking these invisible shackles was his key to advancing to the Qi Transformation Stage.
When Yang Kai noticed this resistance, he immersed himself into his own body and noticed that the Yuan Qi inside was getting more aggressive by the minute.
The bones within his body began to seep out energy. This caused Yang Kai’s body to be wrapped in an evil aura, startling Su Yan, but she refused to disturb Yang Kai at such a critical juncture. After a moment, the evil aura vanished leaving behind no trace; the Yuan Qi fluctuations within Yang Kai’s body became acutely wild. He slowly opened his eyes, smiling. He had reached the Qi Transformation Stage! Thanks to Su Yan’s help, he had achieved this breakthrough smoothly.
*Bang Bang..* Sounds similar to thunderclaps resonated throughout the entire Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, swaying the place slightly. Meanwhile, the energy that filled the space within the main hall of the palace turned to whirlwinds, rushing into Yang Kai. This was an entirely natural phenomenon after a Big Boundary breakthrough. The World’s Prestige would enter the body, tampering with the body’s blood and physique, strengthening the Cultivator in question. When Yang Kai broke through the Initial Element Stage, he had also experienced the World’s Prestige, but it was nothing compared to the size he is absorbing now.
Opening his eyes, he saw Su Yan’s worried face. Yang Kai gave a smile, “I’ll give you something.”
While he spoke, he fished into his Golden Skeleton and sent half of the Nine Yin Dew Crystal to Su Yan.
Feeling something icy cold enter her, Su Yan seemed happy and asked, “What is this?”
“It’s called the Nine Yin Dew Crystal. It’s said that this is extremely useful for Cultivators in the True Element Stage.” Yang Kai spoke while he stroked Su Yan’s clean, lustrous back intentionally, “Build it up while I temper my body.”
“Good!” Su Yan docilely nodded.
Even if Su Yan built up the Nine Yin Dew Crystal, the effects would be inferior to that displayed by Xia Ning Cheng by 10 percent. However, only 20 percent of its effects would be sufficient in making up for Su Yan’s cost in aiding Yang Kai. Nonetheless, the effects of the Nine Yin Dew Crystal would improve Su Yan’s strength.
FAIR WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS NSFW, BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU READ IT!
In two days, Yang Kai was done tempering his body. With the assistance of the World’s Prestige, his flesh, blood and physique had been forged to become more formidable. Meanwhile, half of the Yuan Qi that remained from the breakthrough had been absorbed by the Golden Skeleton, similar to the time when he broke through the Initial Element Boundary. However, to avoid disturbing Su Yan while she was still building up the Nine Yin Dew Crystals, Yang Kai dared not move after he was done. He could only remain motionless and suppress his desires.
After a day, Su Yan’s eyelids fluttered and she slowly opened them up. Her eyes glimmered with joy and excitement. When Yang Kai first saw her gaze, his spirit shook and his breathing became heavier. He had suppressed himself for a long time, waiting for her to awaken.
Staring at each other, Su Yan spoke, “Thank you!”
When Su Yan opened her eyes, she could feel that her body had changed tremendously. Building up the Nine Yin Dew Crystals did not only make up for her loss of Yuan Qi when she aided Yang Kai’s breakthrough; her True Yuan Qi had become much purer than before. Cultivating with Yang Kai and building up the Nine Yin Dew Crystal had made her at least 30% stronger. True Yuan Qi revolved within her body around her limbs and bones, restlessly distributing to every living cell in her a Life Force. She was understandably joyous at this discovery, as it made her seem like an immortal that descended from the heavens.
After cultivating the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art and building up the Nine Yin Dew Crystals, it was as though her skin had returned to what it was in the past. Every inch of it had returned to that of a newborn; snow white, clear and incomparably beautiful.
“As long as it’s between us, why is it necessary to thank me?” Yang Kai replied somewhat absent-mindedly. In the past, Su Yan gave him an ice-cold, noble feeling of desolateness. Even now with their intimacy, he could not help but feel inferior when compared to her.
Su Yan gave a warm and comforting, tender smile. She could understand Yang Kai clearly, even if he did not speak. “That’s right! You’ve just broken through to the Qi Transformation Stage! Such a boundary is very special!” Su Yan added joyfully.
Yang Kai quickly interrupted her, “Does it not seem wrong to be talking about the Qi Transformation Stage in our current position?”
Su Yan stared at Yang Kai as she immediately turned red. Yang Kai displayed a faint but coy smile. His waist had been feeling quite stiff. Instinct told him to move, but out of consideration for Su Yan, he refused to. This resistance left his mind to groan in despair constantly.
At this moment, Su Yan felt as though she was thrown up into the clouds, only to fall down into an abyss. The up and down movement gave her so much pleasure and joy that she lost all control. As a young man and woman, their bodies were much more sensitive; causing each gentle movement to be highly stimulating and pleasurable.
As Su Yan moaned in pleasure, Yang Kai became more unrestrained. He shuffled his hands around the pair of breasts in front of him, fondling, rubbing and pinching every inch of them, burying his head in between, enjoying every moment of the sensation. He would kiss them with loud, heavy and uncontrollable breathing.
Su Yan’s luscious hair moved in waves as she wrapped her hands around Yang Kai’s head, wishing to bury it further into her chest. Her slender and beautiful legs could not help but coil around Yang Kai’s waist. While her body was moving up and down, she swayed her body from side to side and moaned with lustful happiness.
Suddenly while in the midst of everything, Su Yan tugged Yang Kai’s hair and asked, “Wait!”
“What?” Yang Kai looked at her with confusion as their movements gradually come to a stop.
Su Yan was like a mute as she gasped for breath. It took some time for her breathing to calm. While her skin was still red and her eyes filled with surging love, she lightly bit her lips and asked, “Did you call for me a moment ago?”
“No…” Yang Kai sternly shook his head.
“Really?” Yang Kai’s confirmation only made her more anxious. She became confused as she thought she had clearly heard someone call out to her.
“I did not say your name!” Yang Kai spoke as he looked in her eyes.
“You’re lying!” Su Yan cried out but she saw Yang Kai’s truthful gaze and knew that she was wrong. Without wasting another second, Yang Kai began to move on Su Yan again as they continued to indulge in pleasure.
Yang Kai used both his hands to grapple onto Su Yan and turned her body around. With her back facing him, Yang Kai took in the sight and felt his body stir in ardour as his eyes only went madder with love.
In the past, Yang Kai caught an unclear glimpse of this very sight at night in a small garret, though she was still wearing her underwear and the darkness made it hard for him to capture her magnificent figure wholly. This time, she was unable to escape. Every inch of her was out in the open and laid down for Yang Kai to appreciate. Her soft graceful curves, slender shoulder, thin, smooth waist and plentifully filled peach-colored buttocks were all features capable of igniting any man’s libido. Yang Kai could only thank the heavens for this great opportunity.
All of a sudden, a life-like Ice Phoenix moved about on Su Yan’s clean, white and smooth back. From time to time, it would perch on Su Yan’s shoulder and at other times, fall to her buttocks. Its movements were unpredictable as it slid throughout Su Yan’s body.
[So this is where the Ice Phoenix went!] Yang Kai thought to himself as he could feel something hot moving on his back. [They are still inside our bodies! It’s just that they have turned into tattoos!]
Yang Kai began moving again in their new position.
The whole place turned into the two lovers’ utopia as they continued to embrace each other. The moist atmosphere filled the entire hall as intermittent sounds of heavy breathing and moaning reflected off the walls. They were like fishes in a pond, perfect for each other as they continued to give and take, presenting everything to one another and displaying their love.
Within the main hall, the chaotic aura still lingered, although Yang Kai and Su Yan were already neatly dressed. Su Yan sat in front of an ice mirror that she had made out of her True Yuan Qi. Although she could see her ruddy cheeks in the reflection, she still remained calm. Meanwhile, Yang Kai stood behind her, reorganizing her beautiful but disorderly hair for her. A warm aura of quietness shrouded the two as they continued.
Being re-transformed into a woman, Su Yan seemed even more beautiful than before. Her gaze was still cold, maybe colder than before, but the sight of Yang Kai turns it tender and gentle. She watched him arrange and fix her hair and passed an ornamental hairpin to him and the boy inserted it into her hair. The hairstyle Su Yan usually kept had changed, now it revealed her bright, clean and well-proportioned neck. Yang Kai commented, “Gorgeous.”
“Do you like it?”
“Mhm,” Yang Kai nodded and brought his two hands to Su Yan’s shoulders. Although they had just done the deed, the tension did not die off. In such a short amount of time, these tensions would not be resolved.
Even when their skin connected and Yang Kai slowly slid his hand down, Su Yan did not move. She only smiled softly, showing disapproval. When Yang Kai’s hands arrived at her chest, she grabbed them.
“Su Yan,” Yang Kai bends down as he moved his lips towards Su Yan’s earlobes. While they were exploring each other earlier on, Yang Kai had found out that Su Yan was extremely sensitive in areas that she did not wish for Yang Kai to touch. The back of her earlobes was one of those.
“Stop!” Su Yan shouted out as she knew that once Yang Kai kisses that spot, she would be incapable of resisting his desires.“We need to discuss some important matters clearly first,” she quickly changed the subject.
“What important matters?” Yang Kai restrained himself and moved to her front and sat down.
Su Yan stroke his face. With blurry eyes, she stared at Yang Kai for a short while before asking, “Just how old are you?”
Yang Kai took a light sniff and confidently answered, “20!” Yang Kai’s facial features looked a little unnatural as his gaze drifted from place to place. “I’m not lying!”
Su Yan gave him a light smirk and did not respond.
(ICE: The eye that reveals all truths)
Yang Kai felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Discomfort and uncertainty filled his mind as he reluctantly whispered, “I’m 15, but I’m going to reach 16 soon!”
“I’m 20 right now. I’m older than you, so you have to listen to me from now on.”
Yang Kai grinned, “I will listen to you when the matter is trivial, but for important matters, you’ll listen to me.”
Su Yan sighed but her gaze still remained filled with love and gentleness. With her delicate hand still resting on Yang Kai’s face, she spoke, “You are still young. Indulging in such lustful matters isn’t good for you.”
“Age isn’t an issue,” Yang Kai looked at Su Yan. As they looked at each other, Yang Kai’s brows slightly knitted together as he looked at her with profound meaning, “Besides, you’re doing the same thing.”
Su Yan’s face flushed again as she stared at him and quickly rebuked, “You’re not allowed to tease me!”
“I’m not… I’m telling the truth…”
“From now on, you are not permitted to think of such things!” Su Yan demanded.
(ICE: It’s for his sake….he needs to learn moderation)
Yang Kai felt like his soul left his body. His change in expression only made Su Yan’s ice cold heart turn softer and she quickly tried to comfort him. “If you promise to concentrate on cultivating and not this, I will look for you in a month’s time.”
Yang Kai was quick to jump to bargain, “How about five times a month?”
Su Yan intentionally remained cold and silent.
“Four times? How about three? Isn’t two times too little?”
“Fine… once a month…” Yang Kai finally complied, but he knew that as long as he kisses the back of Su Yan’s earlobes, she would become a helpless lamb, free for him to devour.
“It’s not my wish to limit you. I know that Dual Cultivation is very beneficial for us, but your body is too weak. When you grow more in a few more years, I will certainly increase the frequency.” Su Yan spoke with an extremely soft, coercing voice, “So, please endure and get stronger for the next few years.”
Her earnest words struck a chord within Yang Kai as he nodded.
“So, you’ve just broken through to the Qi Transformation Stage…”
“Yeah, I know…” Yang Kai thought aloud.
Su Yan gave a nod and removed a jade-like necklace from her neck and moved on to explain, “You should know by now that this boundary is special for every cultivator. So, you must be careful and take care of yourself.” She wrapped the necklace around Yang Kai’s neck.
Yang Kai looked down, only to discover a square jade pendant hanging on his neck, calming his agitated nerves.
“This is the Ice Jade Marrow. I have worn it since I was a child. Since it has always been on my body it also absorbed a lot of my True Yuan. You must always wear it on your body; at a critical moment, it can help you calm your nerves.
“Is this a gift to your lover or something like that?” Yang Kai looked at Su Yan with a smile.
Su Yan was embarrassed, but she nodded gently.
Yang Kai patted down his own body to look for something to give her in return, but he had nothing appropriate for her.
The most precious things on his body were the Soul Breaking Awl and the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng.
There was no chance for him to give The Soul Breaking Awl to her since it’s an immensely evil item and the Old Demon’s immortal soul was in it as well. It would only harm Su Yan. The Yin Yang Monster Ginseng could be given, but it was only a Heavenly Spiritual Herb and did not have the same value as a token.
Scratching his nose awkwardly, he decided to promise, “I will give you a token in the near future.”
“You have already given me a lot of Nine Yin Dew Crystals,” Su Yan said with a smile.
“You really are a good person,” Yang Kai said from the bottom of his heart.
“Don’t praise me, it’s making my heart race,” Su Yan panted for breath and covering her chest with her hand. After cultivating Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, her original Ice Heart Secret Art was basically useless facing Yang Kai. He became the most difficult adversary for her as his every word, every deed, every action and every movement pulled her mind towards him.
“Hehehe!” Yang Kai gave an incomparable happy smile and giggled like a baby. In the whole world, who could make such a proud women melt? Only he could do it.
Generally, if a husband could make his wife feel this way, what more could he want from life?
It could be said that if not for this good fortune in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, Yang Kai knew that he and Su Yan would never be together. There is no one who could be appropriate for her in this entire world. Even Yang Kai thought that he wasn’t suited to be joined to her. He wasn’t belittling himself, but Su Yan had such a noble aura it was hard to imagine tainting her.
“After returning, what do you plan to do?” Su Yan asked.
“What will I do?”
”
“I meant to say what path will you choose to tread on?” Su Yan looked like a guardian fulfilling her duty and considered for Yang Kai’s future. “There is also our relationship to think about.”
“I don’t know,” Yang Kai said knitting his brows, “Explain clearly.”
Su Yan gave a faint sweet smile, “Well at present I have I think you have two paths before you that you can take.”
“The first choice is to publicise our relationship. By my current status in the school, as long as our relationship is public, you will be vigorously trained. You won’t need to worry about contribution points ever again, in the future martial skills, medicinal pills, secret treasures will be available for you anytime.”
“Are you testing me?” Yang Kai asked Su Yan with a smile.
She shook her head and replied seriously, “No I am asking you earnestly.”
Yang Kai turned his head. He could clearly imagine what turbulence his relationship with Su Yan, if publicised, would bring.
He and Su Yan were like the earth and sky, impossible to be conjoined. At present, in the common people’s eyes, Yang Kai would be envied and it would also affect Su Yan’s image heavily. Without even considering all the Elders, his apprentice brothers would nose around Su Yan to choose them as they are many times better than him.
Yang Kai did not think that Su Yan could face the rumours and slandering of common people with such confidence.
“You do not need to bear such a psychological burden. I am a man who can look after himself.”
Then Yang Kai said with a serious look, “This proposition is very tempting, but it is not meant for me.”
Su Yan, as if she expected that answer, didn’t feel any surprise. She only smiled.
Yang Kai clenched his fists, looked down and said, “For my cultivation, I will depend on myself. I don’t want to depend on you.”
Su Yan said replied, “Although I am a little sad hearing you say this, I am also really happy. In that case, we can only take the second road.”
Yang Kai says with a smile, “Yes, I will mature as soon as possible.”
The second road was for Yang Kai to only depend on himself for cultivation.
“I will wait for you to become strong enough to protect me,” Su Yan said in a soft voice.
“It won’t take long,” Yang Kai took Su Yan’s hand, raised it to his lips to kiss, then suddenly remembering the incident, he said, “Su Yan, when we leave, you might experience some trouble.”
“Hmm?” Su Yan looked at him full of doubts.
Yang Kai reorganized his thoughts then said seriously, “Disciples of our three sects came for the inheritance of this place. We struck and killed the nine monster beasts and activated the formation, making the place of inheritance show itself. The disciples who had climbed the endless steps numbered around 700-800, and they all experienced the alternate cold and hot steps. Your strength in the three schools is the strongest and you also cultivate a cold attribute cultivation technique. Now can you understand what everyone is thinking?”
Su Yan gawked, she was only considering Yang Kai and had not thought about herself. But now, listening to Yang Kai, she was suddenly enlightened, “They will think that inheritance of this place was obtained by me.”
“Absolutely, I think many people are thinking the same thing now.” Yang Kai gave his analysis.
Su Yan gave a confident smile, “I will just say that I had not obtained the inheritance; even if have obtained it I wouldn’t need to give them any explanation.”
“It would be better if you don’t acknowledge it! Do not acknowledge it to anyone. I have a feeling that the appearance of this Heaven’s Cave Inheritance will not only involve our three schools.”
Hearing his words, Su Yan concurred. She didn’t care about the experts of the three schools but she couldn’t disregard the experts from the others. Once she confirmed that she acquired the inheritance, she would be in for a lot of unnecessary attention, potentially trouble.
Su Yan nodded her head again and again and said, “I know.”
She was also gratified at heart. Making the three sects’ disciples focus on her would leave a clear road for Yang Kai. Everyone would think that the inheritance could only be obtained by one person and no one would know that it had to be shared between two people.
She looked at Yang Kai and complimented, “You can think really far ahead.”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly and stated, “The big powers cannot let go of a rare item. They have the belief that every rare thing can only belong to them, and they would do everything to get it.”
Su Yan stared at him. She felt that his words held a lot of truth and was said from experience. She thought that her junior apprentice brother had a lot of secrets.
“I will tell you everything when the time comes.” Yang Kai said while patting her hand.
“Alright. Even if you do not, it’ll be ok,” Su Yan said with a nod.
“We should leave, there is nothing left for us here, Yang Kai stood up. The main hall was very spacious and aside from the huge energy ball that still hovered, there wasn’t anything else.
After they obtained the inheritance, a light barrier appeared; it was probably a portal.
Holding Su Yan’s hand, Yang Kai walked into the light barrier.
Their forms disappeared from the main hall simultaneously. Right then, a loud sound similar to glass breaking echoed around the entire Heaven’s Cave Inheritance.
Then, at the same time, cracks spread across the Inheritance site. The disciples who were still present felt their immortal souls experience some stimulation and were unable to identify the cause of it.
An unknown energy wrapped around them and took them slowly up towards the sky. They were helpless.
At the mining area of the Bloody Battle Gang, after the opening of Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, the powerhouses of three sects guarded that place, waiting for their disciples to come out.
It had already been a month since it opened. During that period, many disciples had already left the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance. They were people who were either injured or were unable to persevere any further.
From them, the experts of three sects also roughly guessed the situation inside.
The experts of the three sects were irritated because they found that the inheritance had finally appeared, but didn’t know in whose hand it fell.
Each sect had a lot of expectations for their promising youths.
High Heaven Pavilion’s Su Yan and Xie Hongchen, Bloody Battle Gang’s Hu Jiao Er and Long Jun, Storm House’s Fang Ziji, they were the youths with a lot of potential in the younger generation.
That insane old man’s female apprentice, High Heaven Pavilion’s Xia Ning Chang might have obtained the inheritance.
But that old man was very relaxed as he sat at the site when the Inheritance opened, then noticing that his apprentice had not appeared. Soon after, he departed alone and hadn’t come back since.
[What an irresponsible master!] The experts of three sects saw him as such and threw distasteful criticisms at Meng Wu Ya.
The existence of the inheritance made the three sects hostile towards each other, and an intensely competitive atmosphere spread among them, particularly among Bloody Battle Gang troops.
They viewed the acts of High Heaven Pavilion and Storm House as nothing less than robbery while they cursed at Meng Wu Ya with no sign of stopping. If not for him fighting with the expert of Bloody Battle Gang at the mining site, it would be impossible to expose the existence of the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance to others.
This was the wealth of the Bloody Battle Gang that was now being snatched by the other two schools. Although they were compensated for it, nothing could be compared to such a glorious inheritance
“*****!” Hu Man cursed his subordinates for several days, but he didn’t dare to scold Meng Wu Ya. He was angry at Long Zai Tian and Long Hui.
That ***** little animal provoked Meng Wu Ya and made such a mess. If he hadn’t done that, things would not have turned out the way they did. It’s good that he died. Even if you hadn’t ***** died earlier, I, your Father would have torn you to shreds by now. Long Family…. The Long Family wouldn’t be able to save you.
It wasn’t only Hu Man who disliked the Long Family now. There was a great dissatisfaction among other experts of the Bloody Battle Gang. Long Zai Tian knew that he had done wrong this time, and he was beaten badly by Meng Wu Ya one month ago. It made him scared to appear in the area. Right now, he focused only on recuperating at the Bloody Battle Gang headquarters.
But considering the news of the death of his grandson, could this hatred be so easily absolved?
[Sooner or later, I will make you pay in blood,] Long Zai Tian swore secretly within his heart.
While the experts of three sects waited anxiously, a light barrier suddenly appeared on the site. It was akin to ripples appearing on the surface when a pebble drops into a tranquil lake.
In the next instance, the light barrier suddenly collapsed, leaving behind a big hole in the mineral lode.
“Is someone there?” Hu Man asked nervously. The Heaven’s Cave Inheritance vanished but the disciples of the three sects hadn’t appeared. Both his daughters were inside. What happened to them?
Hu Man was not alone in being worried; other experts felt the same. Elite Disciples of their sects entered the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, and they still have not shown up.
As they watched the scene unfold, they heard someone call miserably not from far away.
A Storm House’s elder’s complexion changed, and he hurried to move forward.
When the Elder returned from the site, he was followed by the wounded disciples of Storm House. Under the inquiry of the Storm House experts, the disciples narrated the occurrences in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance.
After a few moments, the Bloody Battle Gang and High Heaven Pavilion experts also found their respective disciples in the surroundings. The experts breathed a sigh of relief.
They discovered that the disciples that came out were dispersed to each corner of Black Wind Forest.
Although the experts were puzzled by this strange scene, they knew it must have been done to protect the inheritor of the cave master’s inheritance.
The experts of the three sects were bustling about in the Black Wind Forest, searching for their respective disciples. They were extremely cautious towards them. They were more sincere and cautious when compared to their past behaviour because they didn’t know who could grow to what height in the future.
Their attitudes changed because they didn’t know which person among these disciples now possessed a limitless future, and therefore could grow to stand high and look down on the masses.
Even the irascible leader of the Bloody Battle Gang, Hu Man, was welcoming the disciples with a respectful and conciliatory attitude, which bewildered many of them. They were, in essence, building bridges for the future.
The attitude of the leader of the Bloody Battle Gang made many disciples very emotional. They were so moved, they tearfully pledged their loyalty as well as their willingness to fight the death for the Sect Master.
Hu Man gave a frank smile.
For him, those disciples should have obtained great fortune in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, even if they didn’t obtain the ultimate inheritance. They were worth grooming with all of the Sect’s efforts.
The Storm House and High Heaven Pavilion experts were also clear on this point. They secretly despised Hu Man who got a leg up on them, so they also enquired about their disciples’ experiences and well-being.
It took about half a day’s time to gather everyone. After that, many of them returned to their sects and had reported to their founders or Elders. This also made Yang Kai and Su Yan’s situation more optimistic.
Su Yan was bound to be suspected and no one could change that.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Su Yan were standing on Black Wind Mountain. After they stepped into the light gate, they were transferred there. Su Yan was not quite familiar with the place, but Yang Kai had run around the Black Wind Mountain many times, so he knew a lot about the place.
After a long time, they were finally able to find the correct path.
“About 25 km in that direction, we will find Black Plum Village,” Yang Kai informed Su Yan whilst he stood upon a hilltop pointing in a particular direction.
“We can’t go back together, or there will be suspicions,” Su Yan said hesitantly. Since she was bound to be suspected, she couldn’t expose Yang Kai by returning with him.
“Mhm,” Yang Kai nodded, “You need to go first since many people would be looking for you. If you delay any further, it will only raise unnecessary suspicion. Remember, no matter who asks you, you cannot acknowledge that you obtained the inheritance.”
“I know. You will also need to be careful, and come back as soon as possible,” Su Yan urged as she turned to leave but was pulled back by Yang Kai.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yan asked, but she was interrupted by a burning hot aura closely hugging her, locking onto her mouth.
Su Yan softly moaned.
Eventually, Yang Kai released her with a smile.
“Remember your promise. Once a month.” Yang Kai reminded gently.
Su Yan gave a gentle nod.
They reluctantly said goodbye, though they knew that they would still meet in the sect.
They stared at each other for a long time, but Su Yan strengthened her resolve and said, “I am going.”
She walked rapidly, leaving behind a pure white shadow.
Yang Kai looked at her back until she was out of sight, then shook his head with a smile and started to walk in the direction of High Heaven Pavilion.
Heaven’s Cave Inheritance…… Yang Kai thought that his biggest gain was not the inheritance, but Su Yan.
After several hours of a leisurely walk, Yang Kai returned to High Heaven Pavilion. All the disciples and experts had already arrived, but there were still some scattered around more remote locations and were only returning now. Thus, Yang Kai’s return did not attract any undue attention.
As Yang Kai walked, he noticed something strange. He was receiving greetings and politeness he had never received before from his fellow apprentices. Many may not have approached him, but they were smiling and greeting by gesturing with cupped fists anyway.
Even the High Heaven Pavilion’s Deacon greeted him.
Yang Kai felt relieved. He was able to leave alive from the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, so perhaps in the future, he may have boundless prospects. Naturally, nobody was going to disregard him like before. They were greeting him now, and maybe later they would become friends, at least, that’s their train of thoughts.
Yang Kai arrived at his small log cabin. Without the chance to even reorganize his shack, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his door.
He wondered who would be visiting at this time. He opened the door to be greeted by an eager Su Mu.
Seeing Yang Kai, Su Mu put down the worry in his heart and said warmly, “Brother Yang, I’m glad you also returned safely.”
Yang Kai was happy to see him, and directly invited him in, “Brother Su, come in and have a seat!”
“You don’t need to be polite, I just came to check if you are alright!” Su Mu said while revealing a smug smile, “I need to go back and cultivate.”
After giving a long smile, Su Mu vanished from his doorstep.
Yang Kai was shocked for a moment remembering that he has not seen Su Mu on the endless steps. Where was he at the time? The Beast Soul made such a huge ruckus it was impossible for him to miss that.
The only reason could be that he had more important things to do at that time.
Seeing Su Mu care for him made Yang Kai smile as well.
There was only a single inheritance in the cave, so there was no chance that Su Mu would have obtained it. It looked like his fate was pretty good.
Su Mu just departed, and Yang Kai wasn’t even able to sit back down when he suddenly heard the sound of more footsteps, though this time they were much lighter like a female’s footsteps.
Yang Kai’s heart jumped. A green shadow hesitantly entered his shack.
“Little senior sister?” On seeing the appearance clearly, Yang Kai maintained his smile.
Today, his small cabin is quite lively. Su Mu visit, Xia Ning Cheng as well and what’s more, he had not seen her in the Inheritance Cave.
Since returning from the Nine Yin Mountain Valley, they had not seen each other.
“Brother!” Xia Ning Cheng was relieved on seeing Yang Kai, just like Su Mu. She walked inside and asked, “Did you just return?”
“Mhm, I just got back,” Yang Kai nodded and replied.
“I heard that you also entered the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, but I was not able to find you inside,” Yang Kai continued. Xia Ning Cheng was as charming as always; those two sentences made her ears go bright red.
“I noticed on that day you had not come, but Treasurer Meng is really powerful,” Yang Kai recalled as he remembered Meng Wu Ya’s actions from back then, domineering and rampant, but the feeling it gave was somewhat strange.
Xia Ning Cheng answered, “Yes, the master did make me ago. Oh right, I also found some Yang Flame Stone inside, and made some Medicine Pills for you,” Then Xia Ning Cheng reached out with a bottle in her hand, “You need this for your cultivation, don’t you?”
Yang Kai took it from her hand with a smile and said, “Thanks!”
Xia Ning Cheng shook her head lightly and said, “You don’t need to be so polite!”
“Don’t you want to sit and chat with me?”
“No, I just wanted to check on you,” Xia Ning Cheng hurriedly waved. She was quite a shy girl and didn’t dare to stay at his cabin alone, “I am going, you should have a good rest.”
“Alright,” Yang Kai did not detain her, “You too. I am quite tired at the moment.”
Xia Ning Cheng smiled. She was satisfied with his response.
After arriving at the door, she turned around as if she wanted to ask something, but after hesitating, she couldn’t summon the courage and finally left.
Then, she suddenly remembered the matter of Nine Yin Mountain Valley.
The sentiments they shared had reached quite a deep level. Xia Ning Cheng frequently dreamt about the confused kiss they shared in the dead of night. That scene would make her heart jump with joy. She would feel restless for a long time, tossing and turning on her bed, and it would be hard for her to settle down afterwards.
The kiss they shared had left a mark in her heart, and the form of Yang Kai bathed in blood made an irreplaceable picture. Her heart was flooded with an indescribable soft feeling, making it even harder for her face Yang Kai, but she couldn’t share her feelings.
When Xia Ning Chen disappeared, his gaze moved to the bottle in his hand. He felt gratitude for the concern his friends showed.
A night passed silently afterward. He didn’t do anything else but sleep quietly and calmly.
The next day, he traveled to the Black Wind Trade City to purchase some Three Leaves Chaos Spirit Flowers and Dead Jedi Tree Grass. The last time he came, he wanted to buy them but the appearance of Heaven’s Cave Inheritance disrupted his plans.
In the wake of the incident with Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, the Black Wind Trade City became quite lively. The various disciples of the three sects were discussing their fortuitous encounters in the cave, the nine formidable Monster Beasts and of course, the endless steps.
The people who were unable to enter the cave listened with great interest.
Su Yan was not guarding the Black Wind Trade City. At present, it was not safe for her to leave the High Heaven Pavilion. Everyone from the three sects was staring at her. They wanted to know if she had obtained the genuine inheritance.
Yang Kai purchased the herbs and tools he needed and left the Black Wind Trade City.
Returning to High Heaven Pavilion, Yang Kai arrived by the Coiling Dragon Stream.
On his ordinary days, he used to meditate in that place. His three Sun Fruit trees were still fluttering in the breeze. Perhaps after a few years, they would bear flowers again, but it was too far away to consider.
Yang Kai rubbed his hands together. He wanted to attempt something before, but he was too weak then. Now that he is at the Qi Transformation Stage he can finally do it.
He found a small boulder and tied a rope around it, then with the help of the rope, Yang Kai moved down the cliff face above the Coiling Dragon Stream.
He didn’t know what rare treasure was hidden inside it causing an abundance of Yang Qi near the cliff, giving Yang Kai the chance to practice his cultivation. Regardless of where the treasure was located, there would undoubtedly be more Yang Qi inside.
Yang Kai’s appetite was not big. He didn’t want to penetrate the Coiling Dragon Stream to find the treasure. After all, the eleventh elder had urged him many times that he should not rashly destroy the stream because it also hid quite a big danger within.
The mystical Eleventh Elder was at least an Immortal Ascension Boundary Expert. If he can feel that it’s dangerous, then it would be beyond dangerous for Yang Kai. It would simply be suicide.
WTF! was a erotic chapter really that bad for us to receive some tribulation?
… I tried to make it good… *Sad face*
As Yang Kai moved down the stream, the density of Yang Qi continued to increase and he was able to absorb a large amount of it.
The wind howled and showed no sign of stopping. This howling made it hard for cultivators to practice because cultivation required peace. Any disturbance would interrupt the cultivators.
[If I could open a hole on the leeward side, I should be able to avoid the noise from the wind. I would also be protected from too much sunlight.]
He pieced together the cords he had brought with him to make one long rope and with its support, he was able to rappel down a thousand feet towards the stream.
When he used up all of the rope’s length, Yang Kai looked down and realised the Coiling Dragon Stream was too deep. He was unable to see the bottom. There was no way for him to judge its depth.
He felt fear strikes his heart at the thought of the potential consequences should the rope’s integrity fail at this point.
However, the Yang Qi of the atmosphere was truly denser than above.
At this moment, Yang Kai was very satisfied with his decision. He carefully looked around the area and settled on a good position for his cave.
There were numerous ancient pine trees living on the slope of the cliff. They were grouped together and formed what was basically a giant umbrella. If he opened a space under the giant pines, the trees could form a natural barrier, helping him keep out wind and rain. It would become his shelter.
After choosing a spot, Yang Kai condensed a drop of Yang liquid from his dantian onto his fingertip, then used it to cut into the slope.
It sliced easily into the rock. The sharpness of the Yang liquid was not affected. Yang Kai then directly cut into the next rock.
When Yang Kai was in the Initial Element Stage third layer, his Yang liquid could easily ruin an ordinary mid-grade defensive treasure. Now that his strength has increased, cutting a rock was as easy as eating pie.
The Yang liquid in his dantian was limited. The majority of it which he obtained in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance was already used during the double cultivation with Su Yan. Now he had less than four or five drops present in his dantian.
After consuming three drops of Yang liquid, Yang Kai was able to cut open an entrance in the cliff face in which he could fit. Yang Kai continued to enlarge the cave, and the rocks were discarded into the jaws of the Coiling Dragon Stream.
Yang Kai sat and waited. After some time, the sound of the impact of the rock on the bottom of the stream reached his ears. By calculating the time it took for the rock to reach the bottom, he was able to gather a rough estimate of the actual deepness of the Coiling Dragon Stream.
The result was flabbergasting. His initial calculations told him that the depth of the stream was more than ten thousand feet.
Half a day passes and the cave has significantly expanded, but he had consumed all Yang liquid.
With nothing else but his physical strength, Yang Kai couldn’t excavate the cave any further.
He whipped out the bottle Xia Ning Cheng gifted him yesterday. He remembered the incident he had with his senior sister and felt guilt pricking him.
Fortunately, they did not go far past that, otherwise he could never face her again.
After ingesting several medicine pills and condensing some Yang liquid, he continued his little excavation
Yang Kai was very excited about his cave. It couldn’t exhaust him, and looking at the steady expansion of the cave, Yang Kai felt like a powerhouse who was building his secret mansion.
Yang Kai struggled for several days. For condensing Yang Liquid, he had the medicine pills provided by Xia Ning Cheng. For thirst, he had dew accumulated on the pine tree leaves in the morning. He barely felt hungry. Hunger rarely affects anyone in the Qi transformation stage detrimentally and strongly. Eventually, though, in a month’s time, they would need to supplement their strength with some form of nutrition.
Seven days later, the cave was, for the most part, completed.
Yang Kai stood at the entrance and admired his masterpiece. A feeling of satisfaction took over him as he giggled foolishly.
The cave was twice as big as Yang Kai’s log cabin. One would prove to be hard to spot if they sat at the entrance. The noise was also filtered out, although a soft whistling sound would resume nonetheless. His new humble abode was comparable to any good place of cultivation. The environment here was much better than many places.
On the left side of the cave entrance, there was a small stone chamber in which Yang Kai stored and preserved his dried food. He placed his Three Leaves Chaos Spirit Flower and Dead Jedi Tree Grass in that room.
On the right was a slightly bigger room. This was his break room. In there, Yang Kai had a stone bed cut carefully and intricately, its surface smooth and even. Yang Kai also took the time to polish it carefully and spent a lot of time doing so. One wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of discomfort resting on it, aside from maybe its toughness.
It was unknown what was going through Yang Kai’s mind when making this bed, but it was huge and could easily accommodate two to three people.
[Hehehe…. Nicely done!] Yang Kai thought in his mind.
The middle of the stone chamber had a large open space. It was unclear why it was open.
This was Yang Kai’s personal Cave Mansion. Although it was carved roughly, it was quite warm and cosy. It was much better than that small log cabin.
Common people generally don’t steer near the Coiling Dragon Stream. If in the future he is able to obtain something he cannot carry around normally, he could easily keep it here without worrying about its discovery or theft.
As Yang Kai’s train of thoughts continued, he climbed upwards with the help of the rope. He cut out some footholds in the rock wall so that he wouldn’t need the aid of a rope to descend next time, lessening the chance of its exposure.
Finally untying the rope tied to the big rock, Yang Kai returned to his Cave Mansion.
After so many days of hard work, he finally had a proper place for his own peaceful, quiet cultivation. Perhaps this cultivation environment is better than the areas the rest of the disciples in the High Heaven Pavillion use.
Yang Kai didn’t start cultivating immediately, but sat cross-legged near the entrance of his hideout and enjoyed the warmth of this place.
He suddenly remembered something and put his hand on his chest and took it out.
It was the Ying Yang Monster Ginseng. It was a Heavenly Spiritual Herb, a sentient artefact. After being captured by Yang Kai, it was placed on his chest, where it didn’t try to escape or struggle.
The Herb seemed to smile at Yang Kai.
The Old Demon said that this type of thing will only grow in places where both Yin and Yang energy coexist. Yang Kai didn’t know why there was a Yin Yang Monster Ginseng in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, but on obtaining the inheritance he understood the mystery.
That was the inheritance of the Yin Yang Joyous Unification Art so it was normal that it could give birth to the Heavenly Spiritual Herb.
He forced out a drop of Yang liquid to feed the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng and unexpectedly, it absorbed the Yang liquid in a flash and put on an even more joyful expression, much like a living child.
Afterwards, an aura encircled the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng and it hopped out of his hand. It pranced all around the cave curiously and after a little while, it found an appropriate place to root and so it did on the spot it stood, still seemingly smiling.
As the aura of light that surrounded the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng became denser, Yang Kai could clearly feel the Yang Qi being absorbed by it. The density of the Yang Qi increased in the cave.
Yang Kai was speechless at such a useful function; something he would have never foreseen.
He became curious, untied the restriction on the Soul Breaking Awl and the Old Demon’s respectful voice transmitted from it immediately, “Old Servant sees the young master.”
“Have a look at this Yin Yang Monster Ginseng, and tell me what’s going on with it,” Yang Kai requested.
The Old Demon eagerly replied, “This thing can absorb both Yin and Yang Qi to live, and in this place there is an abundance of Yang Qi which suits it for growth. However….”
“Do not swallow words you planned to spit in an effort to mystify matters unnecessarily,” Yang Kai warned coldly.
The Old Demon had forgotten how intimidating Yang Kai could be. This was their first time talking in quite some time and he is already shivering from fear. His Immortal Soul was imprisoned in the Soul Breaker Awl, and from his punishments, he was very clear about Yang Kai’s decisiveness and ruthlessness, so he then continued hastily, “It must absorb both Yin and Yang Qi for it to grow steadily. This place has an abundance of Yang Qi, so for a short while it won’t be a problem, but in the long run, it will not only stop growing, but there also is a possibility of it withering. It will be like a flower without petals, or like a lone cloud drifting endlessly in the atmosphere. After all, it needs both Yin and Yang Qi as it is a Yin Yang Monster Ginseng.”
“So it lacks Yin Qi, right?” Yang Kai probed.
“Indeed, it’s as the young master says.”
[Well, that should be easy to solve, someday when Su Yan visits she can give some of her Yin Qi to it.]
Hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai asked awkwardly, “You have said before, if a man and a woman have a mutual affinity, and when they like each other, it will change into two independent energies and will integrate within their bodies, right?”
“Yes!” Old Demon said with an amazed expression, “Em? Young master, did you…?”
Well, it was not prohibited, Yang Kai, after all, is a young boy. Since the last time they spoke, the Old Demon discovered that Yang Kai has lost his innate Pure Yang Qi. This was the result of Yang Kai having had intimate contact with a female.
“Who are you to ask such a question?” Yang Kai snapped.
“Young master, forgive me, this old servant was just curious. I will refrain from asking in the future.”
“There had better be no next time!” Yang Kai sternly scoffed.
Wrinkling his brows, Yang Kai thought.
Although the Old Demon’s origin was a mystery, his experience is very profound and he knew a lot about the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng, so he should be speaking the truth.
When they were in the main hall, where he and Su Yan were exchanging sentiments, it was right beside them.
But it did not change into energy and integrate with him and Su Yan. It didn’t become a part of them. So, the only explanation is that his and Su Yan’s sentiments were not to the degree of having mutual affinity with each other.
Although they may become husband and wife, it would be under the influence of the inheritance and was not originally their wish. If there was no Yin Yang Joyous Unification Art, he could only feel that Su Yan would bear a grudge against him for seizing her virginity. Even if she didn’t bear a grudge, she wouldn’t have a favourable impression of him, so how could there be mutual affinity between them?
Su Yan had not opened her heart, and the same went for Yang Kai.
Even if they felt attraction towards each other and would go through thick and thin to remain in their position even in life and death, this all was the effect of the Yin Yang Joyous Unification Art.
Love was not something that could be achieved in one day and night, and it couldn’t be forcefully developed with the aid of a cultivation technique.
Only when they reach the stage where they regard each other as the most important person in their lives without the influence of anything, then can they claim that their sentiments are truly mutual.
The Old Demon decided to console Yang Kai, “Young master doesn’t need to feel discouraged. This old servant knows women well. You have already captured her body, sooner or later, you will also capture her heart. This claim, the old servant can guarantee on his life.”
“But aren’t you already dead?” Yang Kai chuckled.
Old Demon cautiously watched for anger but could detect none. He then continued with a smile, “That is true, young master, but this old servant can guarantee with his Immortal Soul that women forever hold special sentiments to their first man. Young master, you just need to put in a little bit of effort, then she will be dead set on you. Right now, mutual affinity is just around the corner for you, and when that day comes, this Yin Yang Monster Ginseng will display its effect proudly and brightly.”
After speaking, the Old Demon hesitated for a moment and resumed, “Young master, the thing is, the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng is only useful for a single pair, and there are two female babes young master is in contact with, so when the time comes it might be a little difficult, having to make a choice between them.”
“Two?” Yang Kai asked out of confusion. He thought that the Old Demon had slipped up, but he thought about it and understood.
Perhaps the Old Demon was thinking about the Hu sisters. After all, they were chatting quite a lot of the endless steps.
After prohibiting the Old Demon’s freedom, he could no longer observe Yang Kai’s surroundings. Naturally, this meant that he was unaware of the incident in the main hall at the top of the steps.
Yang Kai didn’t want to explain too much, so he just ordered, “In the future when I am alone with any female, you are not to use your divine sense.”
He feared the awkwardness that would emerge if the Old Demon witnesses him and Su Yan being together.
The Old Demon felt like Yang Kai was being unjust. He decided to protest, “The young master can rest easy. Though this old servant is evil, I would never do the likes of peeping on someone.”
“Regardless, it will be good if you do well to remember it.”
“This old servant will bear it in mind.”
After a short moment of silence, the Old Demon suggested, “Young master, if you don’t mind, this old servant wants to go inside this deep ravine to explore.”
“Is there something that interests you hiding below?” Yang Kai asked with curiosity. After all, the mystery that hid in the Coiling Dragon Stream made him burn with the desire to know, but once again, his strength was too low so he didn’t have any viable means to explore it.
“The old servant is not clear on what is hiding below, but I can feel a type of positive Qi. This type of Qi is a difficult adversary for this old servant’s Immortal Soul. In addition, there is also a very dense Demon Qi. These two Qis generally oppose each other, so I am a little confused as to why they would seem to coexist here. To be honest, young master, I want to strengthen my Immortal Soul by taking advantage of the Demon Qi below. It can also increase the possibility of giving the young master a helping hand in the future.”
Yang Kai was lost in thought.
Yang Kai verified the Old Demon’s claim in the dense Demon Qi. In the history of the Stream, it is said that an immensely evil devil was killed in the depths below. This made the area a natural spawn for Demon Qi.
The Old Demon wanted to restore his Immortal Soul with the aid of that Qi. Yang Kai was hesitant. After all, he was not sure if he would lose control of the Old Demon should he restore his strength. He might shoot himself in the foot.
As he pondered further, he decided that there was little need for him to be so worried. The Old Demon’s divine sense had already fused with his, so deciding his life and death was nothing but an immediate consequential action he could take should the Old Demon betray him.
The Old Demon waited anxiously, watching Yang Kai. Yang Kai then gave a nod and approved, “Alright, you can go.”
He poured some of his Yuan Qi into the Soul Breaker Awl, as this secret treasure acted as a storage for Yuan Qi. Yang Kai then passed it to Old Demon.
“Many thanks, young master!” The Old Demon said gratefully. Binding the Soul Breaking Awl, he transformed into a black fog and flew deep into the Coiling Dragon Stream.
After the Old Demon left, Yang Kai took out a small purse from his chest pocket.
This purse was given to him by Lan Chudie, which contained two seeds of Pure Heart Fruit.
Yang Kai thought about the conversation at that time.
If this senior sister wasn’t so good at deceiving others, she would surely be more likable.
The first time he met her in the Black Wind Trade City, he got hold of these seeds but was deceived about the cost though it didn’t matter at the time. When he met her again in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, it could have been fate.
They explored together, fought together. They were not only on the same side, but they also braved hardships together. It was hard to forget about her.
If not for her disappointing chain of choices, Yang Kai would never have disliked her the way he does. Though she sneaked up on Nie Yong at the end to show goodwill, she also showed that she can be ruthless.
She always sided with those she could profit from. When Nie Yong was looking for trouble with Yang Kai, she never stopped him because Nie Yong had more use than Yang Kai.
If Lan Chudie had reproved Nie Yong severely in the status of a senior sister, he would never have dared to be so dissolute. But she did not, and only Du Yishuang had stood with Yang Kai; an ally that was useless against against Nie Yong. Being abandoned like a worn out slipper, and even being attacked from the shadows would never leave a good feeling.
Yang Kai would never accuse her of anything. Everyone had the right to make their own decisions for their own lives, and others had no right to interfere. Perhaps, in reality, she was indifferent to people she thought were poor and weak, and had a liking for the rich and powerful. If she liked playing up for the powerful, then that’d be entirely her choice.
Yang Kai thought it was best if he didn’t become too close with her, otherwise, he might pay for it sooner or later.
He took out the seeds and tossed the purse into Coiling Dragon Stream.
[Where should I plant these two seeds?] Yang Kai carefully looked around his rocky abode. He couldn’t plant the seeds in here, there was no suitable soil.
Then, Yang Kai suddenly had an idea.
On the side of his cave, there was a large number of Ancient Pine trees, which means there must be soft soil at their roots. If a pine tree could take root here, the Pure Heartseed should as well. Since it is a spirit grass, it had a much stronger vitality.
Moreover, what Spirit Grasses absorbed was World Qi for growth, so they wouldn’t need to contest with the Ancient Pine trees for nutrition.
Yang Kai dropped one drop of Yang liquid on the Pure Heart seeds, but to his surprise, there was no reaction. Only after the second drop did the seed reach its absorption limit.
This was definitely the seed of an Earth Grade high grade spirit grass. He wondered where Lan Chudie obtained these seeds from. Seems like buying it at the price of 1200 silver coins was not a waste after all.
After planting both seeds, Yang Kai sat cross-legged at the entrance of his Cave once again. He closed both eyes and started to revolve the True Yang Secret Art. He cultivated slowly for the first time ever since entering the Qi Transformation Stage.
Without any indication, Yang Kai’s Yuan Qi suddenly began to rebel. Due to the sudden increase in the pressure, his clothes and hair started to dance. He turned pale as a ghost.
With the rebellion of Yuan Qi, Yang Kai’s heart was also filled with rebellious energy. This is a type of energy which he wanted to expend crazily, he wanted to fight someone until he bleeds or draws blood.
In the past, he felt like this only when the indomitable will appeared during fights, but this time, it appeared while practicing his True Yang Secret Art.
This is not because of Yang Kai, or because of the True Yang Secret Art.
It was because of his position in the Qi Transformation Stage!
Just like when Su Yan had mentioned to Yang Kai that the Qi Transformation Stage is a very special boundary for any martial artist.
Martial artists start from Tempered Body, and when they able to use Yuan Qi, they enter the Initial Element Stage. Next, when they break through the Initial Element Stage, they enter the Qi Transformation Stage. By this time, the Yuan Qi accumulated inside the martial artist’s body should already be significantly vast to a degree that many martial artists cannot control completely.
Since they are unable to control it, they are typically met with Yuan Qi rebellion. Usually, martial artists wouldn’t be affected when they are in an ideal condition, or when they aren’t using a large amount of Yuan Qi. However, revolving their respective cultivation techniques would cause the Yuan Qi to behave similarly to what Yang Kai is experiencing now.
It is actually a normal and expected phenomenon.
Because of this phenomenon, the Qi Transformation Stage martial artists tend to have two goals.
First was to continue to accumulate their Yuan Qi, promoting their boundaries and strength; this goal never changed from the norm.
The second goal required the martial artists to control the strength obtained from their promotion, while still accumulating Yuan Qi.
Generally, a martial artist who has just entered the Qi Transformation Stage is unable to control his Yuan Qi completely. When he reaches level seven or eight in the Qi Transformation Stage, he will then be able to exert more control. It was same for Lan Chudie; when she revolved her Yuan Qi, no rebellion in the Qi was produced.
Du Yishuang and Nie Yong were unable to control their Yuan Qi. Although Du Yishuang was level six in the Qi Transformation Stage, her Qi would rebel during battles and produce an unquenchable thirst for blood.
Martial artists in the Qi Transformation Stage are usually hot-tempered and touchy, meaning a higher chance of conflicts arising with others. If two of them are in the Qi Transformation Stage, both of them would likely fight until one or the other is incapacitated or dead.
This boundary had the highest mortality rate.
In this situation, most of the martial artists of the Qi Transformation Stage would try to calm and steady their dispositions as much as possible. They may also take medicinal pills, or even wear secret treasures to calm their nerves and suppress their impulsiveness.
In this stage, the martial artists who cultivate ice type techniques or martial skills generally have superiority over the others. This type of cultivation technique requires the martial artist to have a calm and steady, sometimes even cold personality at its very base, therefore making it easier for them to overcome this hurdle.
Yang Kai figured that when Su Yan was at this stage, she wasn’t as bothered with such issues.
Her heart and mind were already frozen, so how could her Yuan Qi go wild?
The martial artists who are in Qi Transformation Stage promote their Yuan Qi through battle. When they succeed, they are able to control their strength. This stage can affect the natural disposition of a person. Should the said person wins in battle, he will feel satisfaction and a commensurate rise in strength. The loser will likely be doomed to feel depressed and adopt a negative mentality.
The majority of martial artists lose their path in this stage. They become lost in power and enjoy battle and murder, straying from their preset paths.
After the Qi Transformation Stage, martial artists become calm once again. The next stage is called the Separation and Reunion Boundary.
That boundary is quite far for Yang Kai at the moment.
At this moment, after revolving his True Yang Secret Art, Yang Kai felt the strength he obtained in the Qi Transforming Stage, but the Yuan Qi rebellion seemed to not affect him at all.
An ice-cold sensation transmitted from his chest. This effect was due to the pendant gifted to him by Su Yan. This pendant contained Ice Jade Marrow, but he was largely unaffected not because of the Marrow, but because of the golden skeleton inside of him and the Indomitable Will martial arts he had practiced.
After taking his time to become accustomed to this new boundary, he was able to smoothly control his Yuan Qi without any discomfort or difficulty.
The thing that happened in Qi Transformation Stage had exactly the same effects as his martial skill, Indomitable Will, but the feeling was different.
Most people have a difficult time overcoming the hurdle of controlling their Yuan Qi and the new strength they had obtained, but Yang Kai was different; his Yuan Qi settled very quickly after the initial signs of rebellion and was already under control.
Yang Kai thought about it and concluded that it was the Golden Skeleton pulling strings from inside his body. When he uses the Indomitable Will, he may look bloodthirsty but his inner emotions are mostly calm. He never lost his reasoning and was always perfectly aware of what was happening.
This was a major bonus. Of the two things that Qi Transformation Stage martial artists needed time to experience, experiment and control, Yang Kai had already conquered the most important one. The other only required him to accumulate strength over time.
Either ways, sorry for posting this chapter late. I know there are some refresh emperors around waiting for the next chapter. This week is suppose to have 2 more chapters, so I will release them. However, from chapter 162 on wards (yes, it’s also uploaded today), they will be directly hosted on the new site. I won’t share the link yet but don’t worry; you will be able to find the site when the time is right.
Yang Kai fished out the Incense Burner, lighting it so that it would emit an exotic fragrance to help him begin. Sitting cross-legged at the cave entrance, he began to cultivate the True Yang Secret Art. Even if he could easily obtain Yang Liquid from Yang filled objects like a Spirit Fruit or a Yang Stone, he would still cultivate the True Yang Secret Art. By using the exotic fragrance to suppress the speed of his Yuan Qi revolution, he forces his body to adapt to the resistance. Over time, his Yuan Qi will be more capable of revolving faster, which will come in handy during battles, increasing his overall battle strength. It was his plan to suppress his Yuan Qi revolution to train it, only to display its true might in critical situations.
Yang Kai continued to cultivate for two days without moving, aside from when he needed to refill the Incense Burner with the relevant herbs. Although he knew that there would be little improvement to his Yuan Qi flow for this torture, Yang Kai gladly endured anyway and continued to revolve the True Yang Secret Art.
While he revolved without the intention of thinking of her, he would recall Su Yan. The bond they had inside the main hall of the palace within the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance played out in his mind. He could clearly remember her soft, silky tender skin as they slid around on top of each other.
[Why do I continue to recall those moments? Why can’t I stop these memories from resurfacing?] Yang Kai was puzzled as he could not control his own thoughts. He was highly confident with his own willpower to control himself but right now, he could only stop himself from indulging in debauchery.
After two days and nights, Yang Kai, still sitting in meditation suddenly opened his eyes as he carefully listened to his surroundings; a strange look gleamed across his face. He heard a sound coming from nearby, one that is similar to that of a fight, ending off with a scream from shock. Although the scream sounded familiar, it was not clear enough for Yang Kai to recognize. Thus, he hesitated to move. He could hear the sound of pebbles falling, causing his complexion to turn cold as he became vigilant. The pebbles were an obvious indication that someone was moving about above the Cave Mansion.
[I’ve only completed this Cave Mansion two days ago! How can someone already discover it? Who discovered me? The Mansion?!]
As the sound continued to grow louder, Yang Kai’s vigilance slowly turned into that of joy. Without the need of speech, Yang Kai could tell who that person was. It was none other than Su Yan. As she came closer, the Yuan Qi and blood within his body began to stir up, revolving vigorously.
Maybe it was the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art that made him feel this way. After their Yuan Qi fused together, they could detect one another when nearby.
[Didn’t she say that we would meet only once a month? It’s only been ten days and she is already looking for me.] Yang Kai beamed with joy. He passed a message to the Old Demon in his mind, telling him not to return so soon as he gazed at the entrance of the cave with much anticipation.
In a short moment, a graceful pure white form flew in. Before she could land, Yang Kai quickly ran to hug her. Su Yan’s body was warm. Her breasts pasted to Yang Kai’s chest, her fierce palpitating heartbeat beating through to his heart. Under the dim moonlight, Yang Kai could see her beautiful blushing face. With the bun on her head, she looked even more mature, as Yang Kai’s eyes rippled with love as he stared at her in all her glory.
Yang Kai tried to lower his head for a kiss but was quickly interrupted by Su Yan. “Wait!” Su Yan gently pushed Yang Kai away as she strongly suppressed her desire to seek warmth in her lover in front of her.
“Why?” Yang Kai asked with patience.
“I’m not the only person here…” Su Yan awkwardly stared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s gaze traveled down Su Yan’s arm. She was carrying someone. He did not even notice before. He could tell that the person was unconscious due to the lack of movement and without Su Yan’s prompting, Yang Kai probably would have never noticed.
“What happened?” Yang Kai could not help but ask as he was so shocked that his brain seemed to stop functioning for a moment. [Why would this come here? Su Yan only visited this place for me.]
“Do you know her?” Su Yan nipped on her red lips. Her face displayed a strange look, mixed with awkwardness and guilt.
“Let me take a look.” Yang Kai stretched his hand out to grab the person, hugging her in his arms.
“Be careful. That person is a girl!” Su Yan reminded Yang Kai, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Yang Kai’s face immediately turned red as Su Yan spoke. When he hugged the body, he brushed the girl’s chest. He didn’t realize initially that he was holding onto a female.
(theunfettedsalmon: to explain if this is confusing, the words ‘Him’ and ‘Her’ have the same exact pronunciation in mandarin/chinese)
“Don’t touch the places you shouldn’t touch!” Su Yan stared at the boy with anger in her eyes.
Yang Kai awkwardly and nervously held out the unknown girl in his embrace. When he took a look at her face, Yang Kai felt as though he was struck by lightning. Yang Kai gawked at her for a long time before being able to speak. “Young Female Apprentice?” He had never expected that the one Su Yan took down was Xia Ning Chang. He also noticed how her back seemed to be familiar.
At this moment, Xia Ning Chang’s eyes were shut. With her face still covered in a thin veil layer, she gently respired. Watching her relaxed expression, Yang Kai knew that she was not injured; simply knocked out.
“What actually happened?” Yang Kai could not piece together anything; the whole thing was a mess. He could accept the fact that Su Yan came over to look for him, but never would he have thought that she’d arrive carrying an unconscious Xia Ning Chang. Suddenly, his mind jolted as he recalled the sounds of combat earlier on. Terrified, Yang Kai stared at Su Yan questioning, “Did you knock her unconscious?”
Su Yan looked away and lowered her head slightly to nod, “I did not injure her. She has been around here for the past few days, waiting. I actually wanted to come here to talk to you, so… I only knocked her out…”
Yang Kai slapped his forehead with his palm, completely robbed of speech. Although Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang are both at the True Element Boundary, Su Yan was a level higher than Xia Ning Chang. If they were to fight, Xia Ning Chang would not be her match. What’s more, Su Yan could knock her out more easily if she did a sneak attack.
Although this was a slightly terrifying matter, it was fortunate that Xia Ning Chang did not have an ill temperament. She would forgive them as long as they explained the whole situation, preventing Meng Wuya from knowing and coming for vengeance. Just the thought of Meng Wuya seeking his blood made Yang Kai drip with sweat.
Su Yan looks at Yang Kai and asked, “She seems to care a lot about you. Did you know?”
“Mhm.” Yang Kai did not try to deny. Holding Xia Ning Chang in his arms, he walked deeper into the cave and placed her on his stone bed. Her sleeping so soundly was a relaxing sight. It was really a blessing that she was not injured, or else they might have to face Meng Wuya’s wrath.
Su Yan silently and calmly looked at her lover.
“It’s already quite late. Do you have any matter that needs my attention?” Yang Kai hugged her in his arms and sat at the side of the stone bed. Su Yan turned her body towards Yang Kai and pursed her lips for a while before answering, “Yes.”
“Were you thinking of me?” Yang Kai could not help but grin.
Su Yan gently nods, causing Yang Kai to make a move. However, she suddenly stuck her hand out to block his mouth and in a stern tone, she recounted, “It’s strange! Normally, whenever I cultivate the Ice Heart Secret Art, my heart turns cold to everything. Nothing in this world is supposed to entangle my heart. But now, whenever I start cultivating, I cannot help but start thinking about you. If I try to suppress it, it would only worsen it!”
“I can’t help thinking about you too!” As the tension grew, Su Yan’s body turned limp as she was no longer capable for revolting against Yang Kai’s advances.
“Let’s just talk about this later…” Yang Kai could not help himself and fell back onto the bed with Su Yan. His hands started to move about dissolutely and gradually, their gasps of breath became heavier. As Yang Kai’s hands continued to explore, the clothes on their body wrinkled, folded and shifted to finally be removed. Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he saw her skin under the moonlight. Her spotless, smooth silky skin, two round and shapely twin peaks emitting a seductive lustre made his eyes glue onto her. As her gentle and fragrant breath followed into his nostril, her beautiful face and trembling eyelids made her even more captivating, as though she was a dream that Yang Kai would never wish to wake up from. Even Su Yan, who seemed to be extremely nervous, was filled with anticipation. This was the goddess that all the disciples of the three sects dreamt of. She was currently underneath Yang Kai, being sampled and tasted by him. Even her face had a kind of attractive glimmer, displaying a completely different demeanour than what she would usually have.
As Yang Kai kissed every inch of Su Yan’s tender skin, her whole body slightly trembled as her hips started to subconsciously move. Her enticing breath got heavier as Yang Kai’s Dantian welled up with heat. After a long time of caressing her skin, Yang Kai could no longer control himself.
Su Yan could finally feel her body being filled. At first, Su Yan felt a little uncomfortable but very quickly; she was engulfed with the pleasant sensation. Trying to control her voice, she placed her hand over her mouth but even then, some of her moans escaped. The cave was soon filled with their soft voices and fragrance.
After the storm, they both snuggled together, too embarrassed to speak.
It was not that they were embarrassed to talk to each other. They were embarrassed by their long indulgence, forgetting that Xia Ning Chang was just lying beside them until they were about to end. All that time, she was only an arm length’s away! It was only fortunate that she was unconscious, allowing both lovers to rejoice but with lingering fear.
Su Yan and Yang Kai did not know why but while they were cultivating, all their attention was focused each other. Their minds did not even concern themselves with Xia Ning Chang. Hugging his beautiful beloved to his chest, Yang Kai spoke, “Su Yan, I think that this problem is only between the both of us…”
“Mhm…” Su Yan nodded slightly, her hair tickling Yang Kai’s chest.
“I believe this is due to the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art. Whenever we try to cultivate, we cannot help but think of each other. Since you have been cultivating, your mind must be filled with thoughts of me!”
Su Yan gently hit Yang Kai’s chest as though blaming him for speaking out so casually.
“I have not been cultivating so much… so my urges are not as strong as yours.” Yang Kai spoke truth. So far, he has been cultivating using the exotic fragrance from the incense. Since the fragrance suppressed his cultivation, the urge from the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art is not as overwhelming on him as it is on Su Yan.
“Evidently, we are doomed to be bound together,” Yang Kai gave a happy smile.
“We cannot leave it like this!” Su Yan spoke out firmly. “As long as we are in close proximity of each other, we can’t help thinking of each other.”
“Well, what do you suggest?”
“We need to suppress it. Entirely. We cannot let the Yin Yang Joyous Unification Art take control of us. We need to be the ones in control of it, not the other way around!” Su Yan spoke with utter determination in her voice. She turned to gently look at Yang Kai, “I know that my decision is cruel to you. My cultivation allows me to suppress my emotions but yours is different. Yang Yuan Qi is simply too vigorous, once you start cultivating it, the urges you will face will be much more intolerable than mine.”
“I know…” Yang Kai nods with a serious look plastered on his face.
“If you truly cannot suppress the urges, you can look to release it with other women,” Su Yan’s long eyelashes slightly shivered but her face remained serious.
“No, I’m not a pervert!” Yang Kai forced a smile.
Su Yan slowly shook her head, “You don’t understand… when the urges emerge, the unbearable pain that occurs without you beside me… I looked for you two days ago, but I noticed Junior Sister Xia hiding nearby. Unable to bear it any further, I knocked her out… I just hope she won’t be angry at me when she wakes up.”
“Is it that bad?” Yang Kai’s brows wrinkled. He was aware of Su Yan’s temperament and willpower. For a pure and cold woman like her to seek him out, she must have truly reached the limit of her endurance.
“It’s overwhelming, both physically and mentally. I couldn’t stop trembling,” Su Yan’s voice turned even sterner, “I understand this, so I’m not against you looking for another woman to deal with your urges.”
Since Yang Kai had not experienced the full effects of this uncontrollable urge, he could not have full assurance to counter its effects. Thus, he did not rebuke.
Su Yan shrunk closer to Yang Kai’s chest as her eyes landed on the female on the other side. “Junior Sister Xia is a good candidate. I believe that she truly cares for you and although her face is covered with a veil, there is no doubt that she is astonishingly beautiful. Furthermore, she’s not weak, not to mention that she’s kind and gentle. You should get closer to her, let her stay in your embrace to comfort you when I’m not here…”
“Please say no more… I fear that the consequences can be direr than you think,” Meng Wuya came into Yang Kai’s mind.
“How would you know?”
Yang Kai explained the whole situation where he had obtained the Nine Yin Dew Crystals at the valley, but he conveniently left out the details about the kiss he had with Xia Ning Chang. It was not that he wished to keep secrets from Su Yan, but he did not want to tarnish the Junior Sister’s reputation.
“I see… So I should also thank her…” Su Yan listened to the story and developed a favourable impression of Xia Ning Chang. Although Yang Kai gave her the Nine Yin Dew Crystals, she still gave Yang Kai a portion.
“When she wakes up, so long as we explain ourselves, she will not place any blame on you,” Yang Kai consoled Su Yan, once again forcing a smile.
“Mhm, I know.”
They hugged each other into the night, chatting about each other’s experiences and personal matters. They did so for four days, then Su Yan got up to get dressed.
“I should leave now,” Su Yan genuinely felt that her departure was always a form of tempering of her mental state as well as a test.
“Wait a moment!” Yang Kai pointed to a corner within the cave, to the roots of the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng, “Before you leave, deposit some of your True Yuan there.”
“What is this thing?” Su Yan squatted down to look closer at the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng. “It can smile at me! Is this a plant that obtained Heaven Spirituality?”
“It is a Heavenly Spiritual Herb that absorbs Yin and Yang Qi to survive. Since this place contains only Yang Qi, it needs to absorb your Yin Qi to balance it out.”
Su Yan did not hesitate. She stretched out her hand to gently touch the Yin Yang Monster Ginseng and inserted her True Yuan Qi into it. When the Heavenly Spiritual Herb felt the Yin Qi flood into its system, its expression turned even more jovial. Afterwards, Su Yan withdrew her hands, stood up and hugged Yang Kai. She enjoyed his embrace for a short while, then turned around to leave.
As Su Yan was vanishing, Yang Kai suddenly recalled an important matter. He quickly asked, “When will Junior Sister Xia wake up?”
“Dawn.” Su Yan was already distant and fleeting.
Su Yan did not take Xia Ning Chang with her because she wished for Yang Kai to make advances on her while she was unconscious. She would be clueless, free of worries that Yang Kai may have done anything untoward. He could more than easily conceive a lie to convince her to forgive him anyway. Besides, they would be able to communicate better and become closer to one another.
As Su Yan left the Cave Mansion, she stood atop the Coiling Dragon Steam and turned to look back at its entrance. When she realised her actions, Su Yan turned red with shame. She felt guilty and restless at the same time. She thought of herself as a terrible person. She felt like she only looked for Yang Kai when she wishes to vent her lust. After she has had her fill, she contentedly left him. She tried to convince herself that this wasn’t the case, torn apart by its grey area of morality. Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s forehead dripped with sweat as he stood rooted to the ground. He just remembered an important matter which he had completely forgotten: Xia Ning Chang’s unique physique!
Su Yan had told him of the anaesthetics she used on Xia Ning Chang. However, Su Yan does not even have the faintest clue of Xia Ning Chang’s unique physique!
Xia Ning Chang had a Spiritual Medicine Holy Body. She was capable of using her own body and cultivation technique to build up any form of energy into a type of pill. How was it possible that a master of pill-making like her would be drugged by some trivial anaesthetic? Even if she had fallen unconscious from it, she would definitely wake up much earlier than the dawn of today!
Yang Kai sweat like a running tap. His body became stiff as he froze at the entrance of the cave for nearly 2 hours, unable to walk back into the room in which Xia Ning Chang rested to face a certain awkward conversation. In fact, Yang Kai wished to drill himself into the core of the earth to remain hidden from any potential repercussions that involved his humiliation. It took a long time for this feeling to lessen, allowing Yang Kai to make small mechanical movements again. Step by step, Yang Kai slowly inched his way back into the stone chamber.
The stone chamber still kept a moist and fragrant sensation. As Yang Kai moved even closer to Xia Ning Chang, he could very clearly feel her breath being a little heavier than before. This was a subtle change people would normally oversee, but it could no longer be hidden from Yang Kai’s focus.
[This is really awkward…]
Yang Kai wipes the sweat off his forehead and braced himself. He slowly walked to Xia Ning Chang’s side and sat down. She had been lying down without moving a muscle, except for a chest that heaved faintly as she took breaths. Her perfectly petite body was taking up one side of the stone bed. With her slender legs fully extended down accompanied by her green dress, she looked like an exquisite spring plant decoration.
Yang Kai stared at her and did not blink. He noticed that Xia Ning Chang’s breathing had gotten heavier. Her heart was beating faster, washing her cheeks with a light tint of red. Her eyelids subtly quivered.
“Hello…?” Yang Kai sighed as he bent down and approached Xia Ning Chang’s ears. In a soft voice, he calls for her, “Junior Sister Xia… Junior Sister Xia…” but the girl remained motionless; eyes still shut like she was still unconscious.
Yang Kai decided to provoke her and warned her, “I’m going to lift your veil…”
Yang Kai had never seen her full face due to the veil. Even during the kiss at Nine Yin Mountain Valley, she only lifted the veil to an angle to kiss him, maintaining her mysterious appearance. If Yang Kai were to claim that he was not interested in how she looks like, it would be a lie. It was impossible not to be curious, but he was not curious enough to ask her to display it.
Yang Kai slowly reached for the veil. He knew that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
This entire time, Yang Kai had been observing every detail of Xia Ning Chang’s body language and whatever little facial expressions she had; looking out for any minute changes. However, even when the veil was about to be removed, Xia Ning Chang did not resist.
[You can still endure this?!] Yang Kai praised her steely fortitude in maintaining the lie.
After trying more methods to only end up with her still pretending to sleep, Yang Kai let go of her veil and gave a strange grin. “Junior Sister, since you aren’t going to wake up, I would like to, ahem…” Yang Kai purposefully made his last word feel heavier in impact; spoken in a special tone, it was obvious what he meant.
Yang Kai opened up his fingers like claws. He slowly traced them over her lower abdomen as the girl suffered a torturous itch. It was extremely difficult for Xia Ning Chang to control herself. Her body started to wiggle in hair-splitting measures, though they were noticeable. The corners of her mouth tightly sealed to form an obvious arc. Even then, she still refused to open her eyes; she continued acting unconscious.
Yang Kai continued his horrendous torture for a long time before pretending to grope her, only to be ignored once again.
“Alright… it seems that you really are unconscious…” Yang Kai admitted defeat after Xia Ning Chang displayed her unyielding will. The boy sighed faintly, “Junior Sister, sleep well. When dawn arrives we both will hopefully remember nothing…”
Yang Kai walked to the entrance of the cave to sit down in meditation.
Further into the night until dawn, there was no word from her. Yang Kai stood up and walked back to the side of the bed again. Since she had been maintaining this specific straight posture of hers for such a long time, Yang Kai was a little worried her body had become sore, so he altered her position by hand. He then left the cave and climbed out of the Coiling Dragon Stream.
For Yang Kai, he felt at ease now, whether Xia Ning Chan was awake or not. With her pure and kind temperament, he was confident that she would not use the information on him and Su Yan against him.
Within High Heaven Pavilion, when walking towards the Contribution Hall, Yang Kai was welcomingly greeted by Meng Wuya, “Little Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai’s quickly turned pallid as he quickly feigned ignorance. He quickened his movement and hastily disappeared from sight as though he had not heard anything.
“Why was he running?” Meng Wuya thought to himself as his brows wrinkled. He could not recall a time when he had offended the boy for him to behave this way. Yang Kai’s mind was still muddled from last night.
“Greetings, Treasurer Meng!” a big crowd of Heaven Pavilion Disciples saluted Meng Wuya with respect. When he had displayed his strength against the whole Blood Battle Gang sect, everyone understood that they had misjudged this lecherous storekeeper. Before the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance appeared, they would never have shown such respect towards this perverted old man. Everyone had the impression that he was a simple, perverted small storekeeper; but now that his power was well known and out in the open, how could these disciples possibly dare act dissolutely in front of him? They could only hold their breaths as they became as obedient as pets in front of Meng Wuya.
Noticing that Meng Wuya did not pursue him, Yang Kai relaxed. He walked into the Martial Skills Pavilion and saw many people gathering. He stood there and listened for a moment, trying to understand the whole situation.
After the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance incident, many disciples managed to obtain a variety of Martial Skills or Cultivation Techniques. High Heaven Pavilion was interested in collecting these Martial Skills and Cultivation Techniques, meaning that Disciples could pass their findings over to the school for Contribution Points in return. Moreover, High Heaven Pavilion was not cheap with their rewards. However, this was not only done by High Heaven Pavilion. Bloody Battle Gang and Storm House both also made similar measure to reel in their Disciples to trade their Martial Skills or Cultivation Techniques.
Although Yang Kai had obtained two different sets of Martial Skills (Burning Sun’s Blast and Star Mark), he did not have the least bit of intention in turning either of them in. This was particularly so for Star Mark, which was his special killing strike!
Yang Kai didn’t mind the idea of exchanging the Burning Sun’s Blast for another Martial Skill from someone else. Unfortunately, the sect did not allow disciples to exchange their Martial Skills with each other in private. When Yang Kai was about to walk off, a cold voice shouted out, “Yang Kai!”
When Yang Kai turned his head to find the source of the voice, his brows slightly furrowed. The man that stopped him was a probably 26 or 27 in age. Yang Kai could recognise him; he was Cao Zhengwen. Several months ago, he ordered that Yang Kai, Li Yuntian and others be thrown into the Forest Prison.
Cao Zhengwen took his hand out from his pocket and started walking at Yang Kai with indifference.
“Senior Brother, what do you have for me?”
Cao Zhengwen snorted. He did not bother to speak and tossed the object in his palms at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai easily caught the thing, which left Cao Zhengwen shocked for words; his lips slightly twitched. He did not expect Yang Kai to eliminate the Dark Energy attached to the object with such ease.
“What is this?” Yang Kai asked as he looked at the thing in his hand. It was a letter.
“A command for your promotion!” Cao Zhengwen said with a serious face, “The Elders have decided to promote you after your breakthrough to the Initial Elemental Stage. By the rules of High Heaven Pavilion, you have the right to be promoted from a Trial Disciple to an Ordinary Disciple.”
Yang Kai’s brows wrinkled, “Promotion?”
“Yes,” Cao Zhengwen nodded. “you have been here for three years stuck in the Tempered Body Stage so your own rank had been reduced to that of a Trial Disciple. However, you have diligently cultivated and broken through to the Initial Element Stage. As such, the Elders have decided that you should have an opportunity to be promoted!”
“An opportunity?” Yang Kai noticed that there was an underlying meaning in Cao Zhengwen’s words.
Cao Zhengwen explained, “As long as you complete the task the Elders Council issues to you, you will be promoted to an Ordinary Disciple. For the High Heaven Pavilion, such a promotion is a great honour for Trial Disciples such as yourself. This opportunity is very rare, so Junior Brother Yang, grasp this opportunity well. As for your promotion, it will depend on your skills and luck.”
“I’m not interested,” Yang Kai waved his hand and tossed the letter of promotion aside.
Cao Zhengwen’s entire complexion changed as he picked the letter back up and fiercely roared, “Yang Kai! This is a command from the Elders’ Council and you dare to reject?!”
“So what about the Elders Council?!” Yang Kai got impatient and rebuked, “I have never asked for a promotion and wish to remain as a Trial Disciple. Do they wish to force the promotion on me in that case?” Yang Kai did not know the content of the task he needed to accomplish but it would certainly not be easy. It was highly possible that he would have to take on exceptional danger to complete it.
“So, you are content with belonging in mediocrity?” Cao Zhengwen grinned with a face filled with ridicule. This promotion should have occurred after Yang Kai was rescued by Su Yan from the Forest Prison. However, even after Su Yan had saved him, he went out to the Nine Yin Valley with Xia Ning Chang, so the promotion delivery was delayed until now, after the matter at the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance.
“My mediocrity is not defined by the likes of you,” Yang Kai’s lips curled up as he walked away from Cao Zhengwen.
“Yang Kai!” Cao Zhengwen roared, attracting unnecessary attention from the High Heaven Pavilion Disciples around, “Do not think that you are the only one who obtained the opportunity in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance and can behave like you own the place! Since you dare to disregard the Elders Council’s command, you will know the consequences personally!”
“Scram!” Yang Kai turned his head and screamed. Immediately, Evil Qi seemed to come out of his face and rushed into Cao Zhengwen, which left him stumped. When he managed to regain his composure, Yang Kai had already disappeared from his sight.
The Disciples in the Martial Skill Pavilion all remained quiet as they watched the scene play out. Everyone was secretly startled at Yang Kai’s declaration of refusal. No one would expect Yang Kai to disregard the Elders Council. This was simply unfathomable to them. They always considered the Elders Council’s words as golden rules that they have to follow regardless of the dangers and difficulties they entail. None of them would have even the slightest inclination of revolting nor resisting in their minds. But just then, they witnessed a Trial Disciple doing something that was unthinkable to them.
[Isn’t this simply disrespecting one’s own virtue? Not having an ounce of respect for one’s elders?] Many of the disciples around looked at Yang Kai with a hint of admiration but were simultaneously denouncing him. They also thought that Yang Kai was content with his own position as a Trial Disciple, hence his refusal of the promotion.
Meanwhile, Cao Zhengwen’s complexion turned pale as he stood in the same place with the letter of promotion in his hand. Although he was annoyed, he also felt empty inside. The Great Elder had personally commanded him to send Yang Kai this letter. His curiosity also got the better of him, so he peeked at the letter. [Task: to travel alone to the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Lands to kill a cultivator not lower than your own.]
This task can be classified as both easy and difficult at the same time. In Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Lands, there were innumerable Evil Cultivators. If Yang Kai was lucky to meet a Cultivator that at the same level as himself, the task would be easy. However, he had just as much chance to meet a Cultivator as strong as an Elder, in which case he would probably never leave alive.
Cao Zhengwen thought that Yang Kai would accept the task. He would have never thought that Yang Kai would be brave enough to refuse an Elders Council command in front of so many Disciples. How was he going to tell them that he failed such a simple mission? He did not move for a long time, instead, he pondered in the crowd only to finally leave the scene while clenching his teeth bitterly.
Yang Kai’s mood was not much better as well. Meeting Cao Zhengwen this early in the morning After the meeting with Cao Zhengwen early in the morning, his complexion also turned cloudy.
[If he didn’t send me here, I would not have bothered to travel so far. Why did he have to send me here? What relationship does he have with the High Heaven Pavilion that makes him want to send me here?]
After spending three years in High Heaven Pavilion and seeing the fickleness and cruelty of the people here, Yang Kai felt out of place. At the moment, the only thing that made him feel warm was only Su Yan. As his thoughts continued to wander, he also thought of Xia Ning Chang. [That’s right, there’s also Junior Sister who gives me that sense of warmth too…]
While walking in deep thought, someone rushed towards him, leaving behind a trail of fragrance in her wake as she shouted out, “Junior Brother Yang!” Yang Kai’s thoughts were interrupted as he turned his head around to see Lan Chudie.
Although her dealings within the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance were not pleasant nor favourable to him, she never provoked him. They also spent time together as a team. Yang Kai replied, “Senior Sister Lan!”
Lan Chudie smiled as her voluminous chest heaved up and down as she gasped for breath. As though she had placed all that have occurred in Heaven’s Cave Inheritance behind her, she looked at Yang Kai and spoke, “I thought that you wouldn’t care about me anymore.”
“There’s no such thing, senior Sister. I will always take you into consideration,” Yang Kai smiled back.
Lan Chudie’s eyes lit up as she continued to stare at Yang Kai, “I was wrong when we were inside the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, but could you do me a favour as your Senior Sister and not mention my mistakes in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance?” Lan Chudie was an intelligent woman who spoke without any reservation. She was talking about the matters in the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance. She wished to come clean with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was not such a mean spirited person to hold such matters over her head even if she did not remind him. However, when she apologised, he could not help but feel the bad impression she left him diminish a little. He maintained his friendly smile as he shook his head, “Senior Sister, I thought you were going to talk to me about something more serious.”
“Junior Brother, when you put it that way, I feel at ease.” Lan Chudie patted her chest, displaying a relaxed expression as though she had let go of a heavy load in her heart. However, her brows suddenly wrinkled as a cord struck within her. “Junior Brother, were you a little too rash to decline the Elders Council’s command? You might bring yourself a lot of trouble.”
“Cao Zhengwen has already said that I am content with being a mediocre person. Since I am content, why bother changing anything?”
Before Lan Chudie could continue their short-lived conversation, Yang Kai abruptly interrupted her as she opened her mouth to speak, “I’m not feeling so good to speak with anyone today. I’m sorry, excuse me and goodbye.”
Lan Chudie was startled but nodded with a smile. She could tell from Yang Kai’s wrinkled brows, he was serious. Although he spoke in a gentle tone, it was likely that if she continued to pester him, he would be weary of their conversation.
After he said farewell to Lan Chudie, Yang Kai returned to his Cave Mansion. He found that Xia Ning Chang had vanished and knew that she had departed. When he continued to look around, he found two new bonsai trees placed here. The bonsai tree seemed familiar and Yang Kai remembered where he saw them; it was by the Contribution Hall’s counter. These bonsai were being taken care of by Meng Wuya, but they were moved here by Xia Ning Chang.
Meanwhile, a huge wave of gossip was spreading in the High Heaven Pavilion. Back at the place where the Great Elders gathered, Cao Zhengwen explained the frustrating situation in the morning to Wei Xitong, causing him to choke on his tea.
“Did he really reject it?” The Great Elder had thought of countless possibilities for Yang Kai to respond but he had never expected the boy to decline.
“Yes…” Cao Zhengwen resentfully and awkwardly replied. “He did not only reject. He dared to slander the Elders Council’s dignity in front of so many Disciples. Great Elder, perhaps after being fortunate enough to obtain a strong Martial Skill and displaying it within Heaven’s Cave Inheritance, he became arrogant. Otherwise, would he have the guts display such disrespect? This person must be punished for his insolence, else others would follow his example.”
“Shut up!” Wei Xi Tong pounded the table and glared at Cao Zhengwen, “How dare you report back to us without completing your own task? Did you even try to force him?”
Cao Zhengwen’s mind became vacant as he could not understand the thoughts of the Great Elder. [Why would I wish to bully someone like that? Wouldn’t I make myself look bad? Likewise, when he rejects, isn’t it better? You could always take this opportunity to teach him a lesson. Great Elder, I simply don’t understand why you are going through so much trouble for him.] Cao Zhengwen was confused, but he stayed silent for fear of worsening the Great Elder’s mood any further.
“Go! Do anything to make him accept the command! He must accept it, even if you have to kneel!” Wei Xitong growled in a low voice.
Cao Zhengwen was left startled. [I’m supposed to kneel down to beg him to accept the command?!]
“What are you waiting for?!” the Great Elder slammed his palm against the table, kicking up a dust cloud.
“Yes!” Cao Zhengwen hastily replied as he immediately retreated away.
Meanwhile, the Second Elder of High Heaven Pavilion, Su Xuan Wu, sat crossed-legged on the ground in front of a checkerboard filled with black and white pieces. The black was on the offensive; viciously attacking the white, but the white pieces had defences that held up, seemingly impenetrable. It was a tense match that seemed to eventually result in a draw unless one side made a mistake.
After he listened to a disciple report the incident, Su Xuan Wu could not help but reveal a strange look as he asked, “He refused?”
The disciple explained, “Yes. He flagrantly and superciliously rejected it!”
Su Xuan Wu did not know how to react, but he finally laughed, “Rejection is good! Rejection is very good! Elder Brother, it would be stupid of him to lift a boulder to drop on his own foot.”
It was on the same day Treasurer Meng took the Sect Master’s Jade Pendant, acquiring the same authority of the Sect Master to transmit an order to the Elders Council when Yang Kai was supposed to be promoted to an Ordinary Disciple. This was set up by Wei Xitong as a method to probe Yang Kai’s ability. However, he would have never expected himself to be humiliated; being rejected by Yang Kai so overtly. Such reaction from Yang Kai made Su Xuan Wu rather joyous.
“Second Elder, shouldn’t we do something? Yang Kai’s refusal is sure to bring him trouble,” The Disciple asked.
“No!” Su Xuan Wu shook his head, “We do not need to do anything. All we need to do is watch how things play out.”
“Yes,” the Disciple was perplexed but did not refute the Elder.
“Wei Xitong, oh Wei Xitong. I wonder how you will break this to the Sect Master.” Filled with confidence, Su Xuan Wu released a white piece on his hand and placed it on the board. When the piece made contact, it seemed as though a small white dragon had ripped through the attacking black in an overwhelming counterattack!
Yang Kai, who cooped up inside the Cave Mansion did not know about the clamour he had caused. Currently, he was calmly sitting crossed-legged at the Cave’s entrance. After one full day, he summoned the Old Demon. In a mere second, Black Qi flew from the Coiling Dragon Stream, vanishing into Yang Kai’s body, away from sight. “Did you discover anything?” Yang Kai asked.
“This Old Servant dares not to go too deep. I merely travelled down 333 meters and absorbed some Demon Qi. Young Master, I did not discover anything but as long as I restore some of my strength, I will search the place thoroughly.” The Old Demon’s voice sounded off.
Yang Kai nodded and squatted down in front of the Yin-Yang Monster Ginseng. He placed his hand on the herb and caressed it, injecting one drop of Yang Liquid into it. “You continue to absorb the Yang Qi from here, but remember that if you see anyone except for those two girls who have been here before, run. You understand me right?”
The Yin-Yang Monster Ginseng’s seemed to express understanding.
“Young Master, are you going somewhere?” the Old Demon could not help but ask.
“Yes. You and me both, we are going to go for a walk…”
“That is only natural,” The Old Demon was not surprised, “Young Master, if you ever meet anyone that you wish to kill, do not hesitate. The Soul Breaker Awl that your Old Servant made has already lost its intelligence. It needs the Immortal Soul of a person to for it to be restored to what it once was. Once the Soul Breaker Awl is fixed, you can use it to dominate this world!”
Yang Kai showed a faint smile, obviously hinting that he was not misled by the delusions spoken by the Old Demon. He was considering whether to leave. Firstly, after having rejected the Elders Council Command, Yang Kai knew that there was going to be trouble. There was also the problem with Su Yan. The Joyous Unification Double Cultivation was keeping her from controlling her own mind. If he continued staying in the High Heaven Pavilion, her desires and emotions will continue to well up, eventually making her lose all self-control again. He thought that if he leaves, he would force her to suppress those urges, allowing her cultivation of Ice Heart Secret Art to regain its effectiveness.
Yang Kai also remembered how pathetic his strength level is compared to Su Yan. Such disparity gave him discomfort remaining in the High Heaven Pavilion; he wished to quickly surpass her and to overcome the Qi Transformation Stage. He couldn’t sit here and meditate; he needed to pass through the trials and tribulations of life and death.
Yang Kai left behind a letter and took the opportunity of the night to escape. Above, on a treetop, a person stood balanced and observed. Due to the darkness, her presence went unnoticed. She did not move nor make any sound, all she did was silently stare at Yang Kai. As the cold night’s wind stroked her face, the thin veil fluttered about, revealing beauty capable of bringing empires and countries down to their knees.
For a long time, she continued to stare until an old voice filled with frustration and love called for her. “It’s getting late. Don’t stay up too late.”
Xia Ning Chang hugged both of her arms, feeling somewhat cold.
Yang Kai did not have plans when leaving the High Heaven Pavilion. He simply chose the path he wished to take and ran at full speed. With a trail of flames under his feet, Yang Kai moved at lightning speed away from the Sect. In a night, he managed to travel 100-150 kilometers. Throughout his run, Yang Kai was immersed in the surroundings. He could sense the change in Yuan Qi within his legs. Whenever he tried to increase his speed, he could sense Yuan Qi in his legs bottling up, the reason of which he wished to thoroughly understand.
When he was in the Nine Yin Mountain Valley, Yang Kai had vague awareness in his ability to use his Yuan Qi to increase speed. After using this Step Technique in Heaven’s Cave inheritance, Yang Kai knew of its importance and strengths. Unfortunately, he only had a rough and unclear understanding of the Technique. His Yuan Qi would fluctuate whenever he used it, causing his speed to stutter.
Yang Kai had realised when he fought Long Hui, who used Step Techniques to avoid Yang Kai’s attacks and mocked him whilst in battle that the power of his Martial Skill is important. Similarly, skills that increase his speed to approach the opponent are equally vital. It would improve his combat ability by a significant amount, allowing him to more easily deal with opponents.
With all his Martial Skills right now, Yang Kai was lacking heavily in a Step Technique. Unfortunately at the Qi Transformation Stage, creating his own Step Technique was an impossible task and Yang Kai was well aware of that, but right now he was practicing his Yuan Qi manipulation by running. He was trying to find a way to improve his speed. He wished to minimise the consumption of Yuan Qi and increase his speed altogether through a deeper understanding. Although such practice will not result in creating something extremely powerful and was ineffective for others to practice, it was still useful to him.
Powerful Martial Skills are created from strong cultivators’ concentration of understanding and awareness. As he continued to dip himself into his senses, he displayed confusion. His soul seemed to be missing from his body, although his feet continued to work away. He would dash ahead for dozens of kilometers to the east before changing directions to face the south. Time passed quickly and he continued heading west and then north. Overcoming the mountains, every slope caused his speed to fluctuate. Occasionally, he would collide with a tree or run into a puddle, resulting in muck, dirt, and mud all over him, his clothes tattered from the damage. Being the unrelenting young hero, Yang Kai paid no heed to his external appearance or injuries. The only thing that would stop him was physical exhaustion, something that never lasted for a long time. While he rested, he would eat heartily. After regaining his energy, he would resume his aimless journey again.
The Old Demon watched him repeat this cycle, shock overtaking his body. With his own experience and knowledge, he was surprised that Yang Kai could concentrate that deeply. A mere Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator to engross himself in such heavy activity as though he was one with the world was nothing short of enigmatic to the Old Demon.
Although the Old Demon admired Yang Kai’s abilities, he still had some doubts. Yang Kai’s strength was still too low, so even if he was able to immerse and sense something, it was impossible for him to obtain or understand anything too profound.
Even the Old Demon himself would prefer Yang Kai to do something else. Instead of running around like a madman, Yang Kai should simply find a place to build up a Flight Secret Treasure. With a Flight Secret Treasure, there was no need to run. He took into account Yang Kai’s personality, so the Old Demon could not find the courage to voice his opinion. After all, with Yang Kai’s disdain towards Evil Techniques, the Old Demon could not possibly propose his refinement method of smelting human bones and sealing deceased souls to build a Flight Secret Treasure.
After more than 10 days, Yang Kai had run a great distance in total. Although he did not make any progress in understanding the profound Step Technique, Yang Kai managed to unintentionally improve his control in Yuan Qi. In the past, whenever his speed increased, Yang Kai’s feet would produce flames but now, the usual trail of fire no longer appeared, allowing the environment to remain unperturbed. Additionally, the minimal Yuan Qi fluctuation could be felt now whenever he used the Step Technique.
Whenever there were traces of Yuan Qi rebellion, it will gradually calm, seemingly returning back to the stage before Yang Kai got promoted.
More days continued to pass without much incident. Yang Kai’s dashing speed began to slow down, comparable to a stroll. When his mind entered a trance again, he suddenly appeared 3 meters away. The odd state continued as Yang Kai’s appearance remained muddled, appearing back at his original position, 3 meters behind. It was as if he had never taken a step forward, continuing to stroll. This bizarre situation occurred once more later on. It was similar to him blinking back and forth.
Over the course of the next few mundane days, Yang Kai continued to immerse himself experimenting. He continued to blink back and forth and finally, he managed to blink 100 meters away. This accomplishment made was good, but it made Yang Kai look ruddy as he panted for breath. Nevertheless, his lips quickly twisted into a smile.
Taking the best opportunity to speak, the Old Demon decided to catch Yang Kai in a good mood and spoke, “Congratulations Yang Master! To be able to create one’s own Step Technique, you have truly displayed your formidable might and knowledge. I cannot help but admire!”
“There’s no need to flatter,” Yang Kai lightly grinned, “I would like to hear your opinion of my Step Technique.”
The Old Demon hesitated as he opened his mouth to speak, “Young Master, would you rather listen to the truth or a lie?”
“Let’s listen to your lie first.”
The Old Demon coughed out and spoke, “This Step Technique is unparalleled in this world. The world has never seen such a wonderful Step Technique. It is so graceful that it makes me ashamed of myself. Such an exquisite step Technique has truly left me speechless.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “What you said truly sounds like a terrible lie. Alright, now speak the truth.”
The Old Demon sternly exposed, “Young Master, with your current boundary in the Qi Transformation Stage, being able to create a Step Technique has left me in awe. However, this Step Technique is not complete. What you are feeling now is simply the rough sketch of the whole thing. If you fight with a cultivator with the same rank as you, you would certainly not have much of a problem. However, it is hard to use this Step Technique on a cultivator who surpasses you in terms of strength. Furthermore, this Step Technique is only suitable for short distance travel, not long ones. From my observation, you can only use this Step Technique seven times before reaching your limit.”
Yang Kai nodded in acknowledgment. Because of his present cultivation level, he was unable to sense and uncover the more profound abilities of this Step Technique. Having created his own step technique has already left him satisfied. Yang Kai decided to wait for his strength to grow again before practicing any further. He also managed to learn how to hide his Yuan Qi fluctuation. Now, Yang Kai could appear no different from an average person.
Yang Kai was glad that he escaped the High Heaven Pavilion. It was worth it considering he’s earned some benefits already.
“How many days has it been since I left?” Yang Kai asked.
“35 days,” The Old Demon answered.
Although it has been over a month, Yang Kai felt like time barely passed. He would never expect his immersion to last so long. It was fortunate that his Dantian contained many drops of Yang Liquid, thanks to Xia Ning Chang’s bottle of Medicine Pills. Otherwise, what he has achieved so far may not be possible.
[35 days have passed… I wonder how’s Su Yan doing right now…]
Although Yang Kai was worried about Su Yan, he had faith in her. Su Yan was more resilient than regular women. The only reason for her inability to control herself previously was because of his presence in High Heaven Pavilion, causing the desires to well up in her heart. Now that Yang Kai was no longer there, she should have an opportunity to focus fully on resisting the Double Cultivation influence.
[I believe in her. She will definitely succeed, and the next time we meet, she will certainly be improved by leaps and bounds. After all, the Ice Heart Cultivation Technique requires her mental state, body and environment to cultivate efficiently. In the state she is in now, there is no doubt that her cultivation will be much faster…]
“Where am I?” Yang Kai looked around, unsure of his own location after 30 consecutive days of running. He could only guess that he was very far away, at least far enough from High Heaven Pavilion.
In his confused state, Yang Kai noticed creaking and rolling in the distance. His ear twitched in the source’s direction as he turned to have a look.
Yang Kai calmly stood silently in place as he watched a group of carriages from afar appears in his sight. Altogether, there were 3 carriages being pulled by horses and accompanying the convoy was a group of men, riding tall and strong horses. These men were strongly built and each of them rested a hand on the hilts of the sheathed swords attached to their hips. It was obvious that they were Martial Artists that practiced the art of the sword.
Standing on the roadside, Yang Kai caught the attention of the Martial Artist guards. They were all cautious of him, but Yang Kai showed little care for their wariness. He remained calm and stood there, still watching.
After a month of training, Yang Kai would not manage if he tried to restrain all the Yuan Qi within his body. Since these Martial Artists were not cultivators of the same or higher level than Yang Kai, it was impossible for them to understand the depth of his strength. A few minutes pass and the Martial Artists’ worries faded.
Abruptly, a middle-aged man leading the group yelled out, “Little beggar, get out of the way now!”
The man’s hostility immediately furrowed Yang Kai’s brows. He reluctantly stepped back to clear their path. Yang Kai had actually wished to ask for directions, but such hostility repelled him from doing so. He decided that causing any further friction was unnecessary.
The horses neighed as the carriages passed. Intriguingly, Yang Kai noticed that the middle carriage left deeper tracks than the others; it seemed like the prime suspect as storage for the more expensive goods. Meanwhile, a pair of bright, feminine eyes, peeped at Yang Kai from the rear carriage. He realized that the last carriage probably contained women.
After the carriages passed, Yang Kai stepped back onto the main road and followed the convoy. It was certain that it would lead him to somewhere populated. Since he was currently unaware of his exact location, he figured that he might as well just follow the carriages to a place of inhabitance. Before he could even take several steps behind, his complexion sank. A familiar man split off from the group and galloped towards him. This man was the same middle-aged person who roared at Yang Kai just moments ago. [What is he planning to do? Make me go away by force?] Yang Kai sneered in his mind. He was confident in his strength and skill, thus he stopped on the spot, awaiting a clash.
The middle-aged man pulled the reins, restraining the horse from crashing into Yang Kai. The large hooves soared towards the sky as it uttered a loud neigh.
The middle-aged man expressed impatience in his voice, “Little beggar, you should thank your good luck and fortune. Our family’s young lady is well-mannered and has a good heart. She said she was worried about the dangers of the wilderness, fearing robbers, bandits, and other wild animals killing you off. Her worries have forced us to give you our protection as well.”
The middle-aged man stepped off his horse and started searching Yang Kai’s body. He then grabbed Yang Kai by the collar and lifted the youth up. Although Yang Kai wished to resist, he understood that the man’s intent was not hostile, though he could definitely stand to be more well-mannered.
The veteran guard secured Yang Kai behind him on the horse. He then kicked the horse and they raced back to the group, where he threw Yang Kai into the air and smiled and yelled, “Old Man Wu, catch!”
At the front of the first carriage sat an old man; he was the cart driver, horsewhip curled in hand. He caught Yang Kai without looking and gently brought him down to the seat. It was amazing that the man’s fluid movements all took place while the carriage was still in motion.
[This old man is at least a True Element Boundary Cultivator!] Yang Kai was shocked at Old Man Wu’s sight. Although the True Element Boundary was nothing particularly special – especially in the High Heaven Pavilion with people like Su Yan and Xie Hongchen cultivating to that stage at a young age. It was possible due to their family background and influence. Outside of sects and clans, people in the Separation and Reunion Boundary had the power to rule over small towns. Naturally, cultivators in the True Element Boundary were highly regarded.
Old Man Wu was motionless. His eyes stared downwards and his face was filled with wrinkles as though he was almost meeting death. He took up a bottle from his side and conveniently passed it to Yang Kai.
“Many thanks, venerable,” Yang Kai took a swig, but he immediately spurted it out.
The several Martial Artists riding on horses burst out laughing, “Old Man Wu, do you wish to kill him that drink of yours? Even we would never touch it!”
In reality, Yang Kai spat it out because this was his first experience with alcohol. He was taken aback by the burning sensation that the drink left in his throat. Knowing that he would never enjoy such a drink, Yang Kai returns the bottle of liquor to the Old Man, “I’ll have to pass it back to you…”
Old Man Wu took a sip and his face seemed to fill with vigour. Glowing with health again, he drove even more skillfully.
Given a free ride and shelter out of kindness, Yang Kai just tranquilly sat beside Old Man Wu. There was barely any conversation throughout the journey. Yang Kai only looked forward to getting off in a nearby town before separating from the group.
The carriage travelled slowly so as to ensure that the women do not get too weary from the trip. By dusk, they had covered about 35 to 40 kilometres.
Before the faint lingering light of the Sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the carriages stopped to find a suitable place for a fire. Once the campfire was set up, the crowd of more than 30 Martial Artists began to perform their respective roles. Some of them would scavenge for food and others would help with the fire. Very soon, the area was filled with a mouth-watering aroma from the meals they had prepared. Meanwhile, Yang Kai got down and performed a little exercise, appreciating and consolidating what he had learned from the 35-day trance.
Not long after, the third carriage door opened up and three people alighted. When Yang Kai turned to look, he saw a 30-year-old beauty with a bountiful chest; her thin stature and white jade skin further enhanced her infinitely graceful bearing. By this woman’s side were two other young women, both of whom seemed to be 10 years younger than the older beauty. One of them was dressed up as a servant but had a pair of charming eyes. She was supporting the other young lady by the arm.
From the appearance of this young lady, she is definitely related to the middle-aged woman. Yang Kai imagined that she must be considered the family’s treasure, with her graceful pose and beautiful appearance. Although she could not compare to the Su Yan or the Hu Sisters, she would still be considered gorgeous widely, especially in her exquisite flower-embroidered dress.
Yang Kai could sense the intense gazes of the Martial Artists from the fire directed at the three women.
The beautiful woman, the delicate and gorgeous young lady, accompanied by the charming maid… Those three was an extraordinary sight that easily captured the attention of men.
Noticing Yang Kai’s insisting glare, the maid tenderly scolds, “What are you looking at? Avert your gaze or I will dig your eyes out!”
Although her tone was fierce as she reprimanded so openly, it was not only targeted at Yang Kai. The Martial Artists retracted their invasive ogling. Meanwhile, Yang Kai coughed awkwardly and looked away as well.
“Cui’er,” the young lady spoke with a soft voice.
Cui’er gave a discontented mumble as she held onto the young lady’s arm, arriving with the middle-aged woman to their resting spot.
When the meal was served, the Martial Artists all crowded around while the three women continued sitting together. Only Yang Kai the bystander was left alone. The young boy sat on one side, seemingly pitiful. When the middle-aged woman and young lady noticed him, they whispered to Cui’er. The maid nodded and approach Yang Kai with food in her hands. “Little beggar, here’s your food.”
Yang Kai accepted the kind gesture and reached out his hand to receive the meal.
Cui’er’s charming face broke out into a smile, a powerful contrast from the fierce devil she was before. She squatted down and mentioned softly, “Don’t be angry. I wasn’t scolding you just now.”
Yang Kai’s brows wrinkled, “Wait, what did you call me?”
He had felt strange that the middle-aged men called out a Little Beggar during the daytime. He thought it was merely a mistake but to hear it from Cui’er as well only poked his curiosity.
Cui’er pursed her lips as it curved upwards; her eyes wandered as she spoke, “Aren’t you a young beggar?”
“Me, a beggar?” Yang Kai realized that their impression of him was more than a joke.
When Yang Kai looked down, he saw that his apparel was messy and tattered, smeared with dirt, scratches, and tears. He would look like a little beggar to other people too.
Cui’er seemed happy as she fished out a small bronze mirror and passed it to Yang Kai, “Have a look at yourself. Don’t you look like a beggar right now?”
Yang Kai took a glimpse and held his breath. [This is what I look like right now?] His hair looked like a chicken coop. Several strands were stuck together in a disorderly fashion. With the dirt all over his body including his clothes, he definitely looked like a beggar.
During his deep comprehension of the Step Technique, he could recall vaguely that he collided with many trees and fell into several ponds.
Cui’er took the mirror back with a delighted expression and asked a question out of the blue, “Little beggar, where did you come from? How did you manage to wander so far into the wilderness?”
Yang Kai ill-humouredly replied, “I actually travel around to beg. I don’t really know where I came from.”
“That’s so sad…” Cui’er sighed woefully. Although she wished to help clean Yang Kai, she did not wish to smear her hand with dirt. Instead, she only frowned.
“It’s a pity that I don’t have any extra clothes for you to wear… It will be much colder after nightfall in the autumn. If only we had a few sets extra just to keep you warm enough…” Cui Er looked at Yang Kai with sympathy after realizing that he only had frail and tattered clothing on. Worst of all, he was skinny to the bones, his ribs visible and his belly almost concave.
Even with the dirt smeared all over his face, Cui Er could tell that Yang Kai was young from his delicate features and bright, youthful eyes. [To think that such a young man has to endure hunger and coldness… how pitiful…] Cui Er thought.
Her words brought warmth into Yang Kai’s heart. With a pale smile, he spoke, “It’s okay.”
“Alright… If you are still hungry, there is plenty of food over there. Don’t have to be afraid to take more. No one will complain.” Cui Er stood up and walked back to the two ladies to continue to serve them.
After a night of silence, a new day arose. At the break of dawn, the carriages began to move once more. During the past two days, Yang Kai would sit next to Old Man Wu’s side in the morning, watching the old man whipping the horses, skilfully augmenting their speed at will. When it was break time, Cui Er, the maidservant, would come over to have a chat with him.
Yang Kai would manage to figure out their approximate location from his conversation with Cui Er. They were about three days’ distance away from a place called Sea City, which was their destination. These groups of people were also originally from the Tong Province and had some authority over there. However, less than half a year ago, the Master of the house died and the Madame of the house was currently leading the Young Lady to the Sea City to meet her late husband’s best friend. As for the exact reason to why they were travelling, Cui Er refused to share anymore; it was obvious that she did not dare to reveal too much. Nonetheless, the information he had gathered was useful enough.
[No one would be so willing to leave their home, their native land, particularly a widowed mother and her daughter. To travel so far, taking the unnecessary risk and worry, it had to be their last resort. Otherwise, why would they ever make this decision? The House Master must have offended many people in the Tong Province. After his death, the Madame and Young Lady must have had no choice but to escape to another region, now that they did not have anyone to rely on.]
The number of martial artists travelling together with them further solidified Yang Kai’s guess. According to Cui Er, half of these martial artists were trained by the House Master. After his passing, they took the effort to escort their late Master’s wife and child. Once they have completed their mission, they plan on returning to the Tong Province to look for new jobs.
During their travel, they encountered numerous bandits along the road. However, even in such strong company, they were lucky to lose nothing.
Yang Kai tried to inquire about Sea City, but since Cui Er had not visited the place, she did not know much. The only things she knew came from the Madame’s mouth, that the place was a coastal city, with scenery unavailable to those who lived further inland.
[So, it’s a coastal city!] Yang Kai was curious to know the great distance he had travelled using his Step Technique. Without it, he would have never come so far. When he heard that they were close to the Sea, he knew that he had travelled all the way to the southern edge of the Great Han Dynasty – on the border of the Endless Sea. This was further affirmed by Cui Er’s remark that Sea City was at the southernmost border of the Great Han Dynasty.
Yang Kai welled up with anticipation as magical images were conjured in his mind. He continued to travel alongside the carriages.
Although he remained in the messy state, he did nothing to fix it. [The first impression is always the strongest. Since they already have a preconceived notion of me being a Little Beggar, I should try to avoid suspicion by suddenly becoming presentable.]
After spending the second day next to Old Man Wu observing the movements of the carriage, he came to the realisation that this old man’s horse whipping skill produced an indescribable charm.
The whipping wasn’t too loud yet wasn’t too strong, but it was sufficient enough to spur the horses on. Taking into account Old Man Wu’s cultivation level of the True Element Boundary and his age, it was obvious that this whipping action had as much to do with his achievements as it did his understanding of martial arts.
Taking notice of such details, Yang Kai also coincidentally realised that his whipping action, embedded with martial arts knowledge, had some unexpected similarities with his knowledge gained from the Movement Technique he was practising a few days ago.
Throughout the journey, Old Man Wu continued doing the same thing. He would frequently fling the whip, and occasionally take a gulp of his strong liquor. Meanwhile, he would simply sit on the cowl in silence.
The carriages always stopped in the evening.
As usual, Yang Kai would separate himself from the crowd, finding his own secluded corner to sit in. While idling about, he pulled the weeds from the ground. After all, no one in their right mind would prefer a beggar’s company. With the entire group of martial artists despising him, it was obvious that Yang Kai could only ride with them on account of the Young Lady’s benevolence.
Moments later, the sound of soft footsteps approached him from behind. Yang Kai did not need to turn his head to know who it was.
“Hey there, Little Beggar,” The servant Cui Er called out to him.
Yang Kai responded with a feigned smile while rubbing his forehead, “I’ve already told you my name… can’t you call me by that?” [Calling someone a little beggar isn’t really pleasant to hear…]
“You little brat!” Cui Er’s eyes displayed irritation as she presented two chestnuts to the boy, indicating he had to peel the shells himself. [This girl would often come out to share some snacks with me. I don’t understand… doesn’t she find my appearance and poor beggar status to be appalling?]
With that boggling question in mind, Yang Kai asked Cui Er and understood that she once had a younger brother. When she was younger, she along with her brother were beggars as well. Her brother was unfortunate enough to starve to death while she managed to live and was eventually provided shelter by the Madame. Yang Kai was the same age as her brother before he died, so Cui Er had a soft spot for him.
“So, you stole this food from the Young Lady’s family?” Yang Kai rolled his eyes.
Cui Er stared at him in the eye and rebuked, “Steal?! I’ll have you know that the Young Mistress treats me exceptionally well! This was given to me by the Young Mistress herself! Naturally, since she gave it to me, I can share it with anyone I want.”
“So, why aren’t you there beside her taking care of her?” Yang Kai opened up the chestnut and chucked it into his mouth.
“Both the Young Mistress and the Madame are exhausted from the journey. They said they needed to rest, so I excused myself.” Cui Er replied and she closed one of her eyes while questioning Yang Kai, “Little Beggar, where will you go once we reach Sea City?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I don’t know. I will probably just walk in any one direction from there.”
The corner of Cui Er’s lips perked up. “While it may sound pleasant to hear at first, aren’t you simply going to go around begging with a broken bowl in the end? I understand how it is since I’ve done it in the past…”
Yang Kai gave a smile in response without any further explanation.
“How about this: once we reach Sea City, why don’t you join us? We do actually have a need for some servants. I can tell that you are quite smart and having a young male servant around isn’t too bad. What do you say? With me to support you, the Young Mistress and Madame will definitely not have an issue with taking you in. After working for a while, perhaps you can find a good wife someday with the wealth you may accumulate with us!” Cui Er misleadingly tried to convince Yang Kai.
[Her fresh and open perspective on things is very charming… not to mention, she’s quite a beauty as well. Accompanied with the ambiguous expressions she gives while we talk, she becomes even more attractive…] Yang Kai cut into Cui Er’s speech with a compliment, “If I can get a wife like you, it would be my fortune.”
Cui Er covered her mouth and chuckled, “You really have something wrong in your head, don’t you? You truly get what you deserve, being a beggar for life. Now that I think about it, it’s best I reconsider letting a wolf into the house…”
“You must seriously consider,” Yang Kai gave a serious look, though he had already decided that he would not join her. Coming all the way out here, he wished to further explore and learn. He simply could not settle down with the girl’s family as their young servant right now. However, it was best if he could avoid explaining himself and Cui Er rejects him.
“Alright then. I’ll stop spouting nonsense at you. I have never seen a beggar like you with such a glib tongue,” Cui Er gave Yang Kai an angry glance and stood up. “We will arrive at Sea City tomorrow, so rest well tonight. I’m tired right now, so I won’t be helping you to fill your bowl with rice.”
Yang Kai nodded. For the past few days, whenever it was meal time, Cui Er would help him take the food out of fear that he would get bullied by the martial artist guards around.
Yang Kai gazed at Cui Er as she entered the third carriage. Once she was gone, he took the weed in his hands to find the feeling he noticed from Old Man Wu’s technique (Whipping Technique).
After a long time, the food was finally done. A yell signalled that the meal is ready. The warriors around began to gather to receive their portion. Yang Kai also stood up and walked towards the pick-up point but within a few steps, he was blocked by a familiar person. Taking a glimpse at his face, he recognised him as the middle-aged veteran guard who carried him a few days back. The man was staring at him coldly.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai brows furrowed while he asked.
“Get lost. Tonight, there will be no food for you!” the middle-aged man snarled in a low and infuriated tone while his glare continued. Now, his gaze seemed to hold disdain for Yang Kai and carried a hint of threat within.
The corners of Yang Kai’s lips rose into a sneer as he continued to calmly look at the middle-aged man.
“Those eyes of yours aren’t bad,” The middle-aged man slightly nods, “But if you would like to seek death, I will be glad to help.”
Yang Kai did not continue the conversation, instead of turning around and sitting back down. He did not wish to incite any conflict with these people. He was already given shelter and a free ride. Cui Er herself has treated him really well thus far too. There was no need to cause more trouble over a simple meal. It was only one night void of dinner, it was not like he would starve to death.
“It seems that you are at least smart enough,” The middle-aged man snorted.
Yang Kai thought that he may have been overthinking things, but he sensed that the guard’s facial expression relaxed after he had turned around. This sudden change was worrying for Yang Kai. He quickly became vigilant of his surroundings as he notified the Old Demon.
Yang Kai looked around as anxiety and doubt filled his body. Normally, the places that they stopped were areas that were somewhat forested and had traces of people who have been there to rest. However, this place was completely desolate, as though no human would ever come across these parts. To elaborate, this was definitely a place that was best suited for body disposal.
[Something really seems off…] Yang Kai’s feelings grew warier.
Yang Kai looked up to the sky, noticing that it was moonless, devoid of any light source. Accompanied by the howling winds, the whole place seemed highly ominous.
On the other side, there were many martial artists queuing for food, chatting while they gobbled it down whole-heartedly. Although Old Man Wu was a cart driver, he definitely did not hold a low status. It was evident when some people fetched the old man his food. After receiving his meal, the old man continued to sit near the cowl with his trusty bottle of liquor.
Yang Kai decided that there was nothing going on, that maybe he was being ridiculous, being too worried.
The chatter did not pause after the meals were finished. Only with the veteran guard’s orders did they stop and organize themselves. Some were posted tonight duty while the rest went ahead to sleep around the campfire.
Gradually regaining his calm composure, Yang Kai laid down and relaxed, closing his eyes as his mental state returned to that of peace.
An hour later, the Old Demon’s voice suddenly called him out, “Young Master, there is something wrong!”
Yang Kai’s eyes immediately sprung open. The martial artists sleeping around the campfire were all breathing heavily. On occasions where martial artists travelled through the wilderness, they would never fall into a deep sleep even in the security of fellow guards and friends. Their vigilance would always stay. They only ever closed their eyes to rest and restore some of their physical strength and mental state. However, this time all those asleep were in a deep slumber. This had never happened in the days before today. Yang Kai estimated that he would need to put in a copious amount of effort to wake them up.
The Martial Artists were responsible for the Ladies’ protection, so it was impossible for them to treat their job this lightly.
That means that they must have been drugged by someone.
The behaviour of the middle-aged man popped into Yang Kai’s mind. It was then he understood everything.
In his eyes, Yang Kai was only a mere beggar, and he didn’t want his plans to be spoiled by a beggar since the resistance of an average person couldn’t be compared to that of a martial artist.
Once he passed out it would invite the suspicion of everyone.
Although this wouldn’t truly affect Yang Kai, it was a definite cause for worry for the middle-aged man. So, he threatened him and refused to give him his usual portion of dinner. It would also explain the man’s sigh of relief when Yang Kai turned.
It is always hard to guard against a thief within one’s home. What is the sly veteran guard trying to do? Was he doing this for wealth, for the beauties in the carriage, or for something else?
Yang Kai hoped that his own speculation was wrong, for the young lady and her loyal servant Cui Er had good hearts and intentions. He thought that people with good hearts ought to have good endings.
When he quietly moved over to the martial artist nearest to him and checked pulse, he was cold.
Near the roaring bonfire, several forms started crawling stealthily. Then, they slowly pulled out swords from their waists and kissed their companions’ necks with them.
The sound of slicing began and fresh blood started splashing everywhere. Soon, everyone who wasn’t involved had their souls sent to hell.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to move. Although he has advanced to the Qi Transformation stage, he was terribly outnumbered. The veteran guard was also in the True Element Boundary. Any rash acts would only cost him his life.
He couldn’t even tell if the ones he could see were all of them.
[Is Old Man Wu with them? If so, then escape would be no problem…]
Yang Kai quietly moved towards the carriage on which Old Man Wu sat. He saw the middle-aged man look coldly at Old Man Wu. He then heard the noise of metal sliding from a sheath in the dark night.
Yang Kai then raced his thoughts as he picked a pebble from a ground, sat it between his fingers and flicked it with all his strength.
He launched it at Old Man Wu to try and awaken him, but Yang Kai chose not to use too much Yuan Qi in case he exposes himself. Unfortunately, the pebble hit the long sword in the middle-aged man’s hands.
*Clang*. In the silent night, it appeared to be incomparably loud.
This alerted the middle-aged man. As soon as he heard the pebble impact on his sword, his eyes opened wide and he lunged the sword at Old Man Wu hesitantly.
In that critical moment, Old Man Wu opened his eyes and seemingly because of instinct, he dodged the blow.
Old Man Wu only just barely evaded the strike as the sword drew blood from his now pierced shoulder. The ache sobered him up instantaneously as he cracked his horsewhip. He then created distance from the now disappointed guard as he shouted angrily, “Zhang Ding, so it was your doing!”
Zhang Ding did not reply as he withdrew his long sword and positioned himself to prepare for a battle with Old Man Wu.
Yang Kai quietly looked around and discovered that most martial artists who were fast asleep were now also waking up. He sighed with relief; it seems that Zhang Ding drugged them very carefully, but not with poison in case it traced back to him. However, he did not use strong anesthetics for the same reason.
After all, the stronger the drug the more distinctive its flavour.
But his carefully planned scheme was ruined by a pebble.
If not for the metallic clang, everyone would have been killed by Zhang Ding and his accomplices.
The Martial Artists were still drowsy as they looked around in confusion.
Screams then emitted as someone shouted, “Sun Jian Ming is dead! Who killed him?!”
He did not even finish his words when he felt a cold sensation touch his chest. He looked down to find a long sword piercing him.
“Diao Hong, what are you doing?” He howled weakly in pain, in an effort to interrogate.
This was a case of a trusted companion stabbing him in the back. The crowd of martial artists hadn’t even found the time to get their bearings before more of them were murdered. Soon afterward, they were finally able to respond to the sudden attack, hitting back in anger.
The battlefield was divided into two groups, one of which was the group which stayed loyal and protected the carriage and the other consisted of Zhang Ding and his accomplices. Zhang Ding and Old Man Wu were in a heated battle between themselves and angry voices could be discerned from the noise.
Yang Kai decided to quietly make his way towards the carriage under the dim moonlight.
He wanted to run to safety, but he could not ignore Cui Er and her diligent care in the past few days. He would never feel at ease abandoning her.
The three women in the carriage also awakened from all the noise. As Yang Kai approached the carriage, he could hear Cui Er’s discontented voice complaining, “It’s the dead of the night, what could they possibly be quarreling about?”
As they whined, they also rustled trying to put on their clothes.
Yang Kai quickly raised the curtains of the carriage and barged inside.
“Who…?!” Cui Er was shocked, sparking her to send two pinkish white fists directly at Yang Kai’s face.
“It’s me, don’t hit me!” Yang Kai said bashfully and made an effort to grip the Cui Er’s hands.
“Little Beggar?” Cui Er heard Yang Kai’s voice and exclaimed from between her clenched teeth, “You big pervert, get out of here!”
She then tried to kick Yang Kai. In the compartment, the Madam and the Young Lady were also frightened by Yang Kai imposing.
“Keep quiet!” Yang Kai covered her mouth with his hand to silence her.
She wanted to retort, but instead, she swallowed her saliva in anger.
When everything was calmer, Yang Kai noticed that Cui Er was only in her underwear, her clothes rattled and crumpled from the tussle. This was like a spring scenery for Yang Kai with infinite potential.
“Zhang Ding has betrayed you. Listen to the conversation outside.” Yang Kai hurriedly explained. He then made himself at home in the carriage. It was rude since it was in the middle of the night, and somewhat erotic since the three beautiful women were not properly clothed. He took a glance at the Madam and the Young Lady’s bodies, but immediately shifted his vision to avoid trouble.
Now that Yang Kai has come to think of it, he realized how bold the three women were to sleep only in their underwear in the somewhat barebones carriage whilst being surrounded by male protective detail. The Young Lady still had pretty much all of her chastity and dignity intact, but the Madam was unfortunately far worse off for clothing. The lighting in the carriage may be very dim, but the darkness would not hinder Yang Kai if he wanted to look.
The three women in the carriage listened carefully and heard Old Man Wu cursing Zhang Ding angrily, followed by a few bouts of cold laughter in between.
“How could he betray us like this?” Cui Er said in shock.
The Madam and the Young Lady only had bedding to cover themselves. Their complexions were unusually pale.
“Please put on your clothes, then I will try to lead you three away from here,” Yang Kai proposed anxiously. He didn’t know how long Old Man Wu and the remaining loyal martial artists could resist the attack. He didn’t know who would have the last laugh, but one thing was clear: they couldn’t stay any longer.
Yang Kai’s calm words were nerve-wracking for the three women. They then realized what kind of situation they were in.
The Madam flushed red, and in a trembling voice she said, “Little Beggar, is there any chance you could leave us first so we can put on our clothes?”
Yang Kai turned around to look her in the eyes and reminded her of the dire situation, “Madam, if you want to keep your life, then I would suggest that you ignore such small details. Me leaving the carriage would only expose the escape plan.”
The Madam accepted his suggestion with a slight nod.
The three women hurriedly dressed in Yang Kai’s presence much to their dismay. They were still embarrassed, though Yang Kai had his back facing them. Mother and daughter, both dressing in front of a stranger, a beggar no less… They would never have imagined such a possibility in their lives. Right now, they could only keep their displeasure in their hearts.
Cui Er was able to accept the situation more easily than the other two since she was more familiar with Yang Kai. She dressed quickly and then helped the Madam and Young Lady change their clothes.
Once the three women were done, Cui Er then initiated in a shivering voice, “We need to hurry and escape.”
Yang Kai was peeking out the carriage curtains. His face then drooped as he said coldly, “Looks like our time is up…”
Just as he said that Old Man Wu’s pitiful voice could be heard. In a few moments afterward, the sound of fighting outside came to a standstill.
Old Man Wu and the loyal martial artists had obviously been defeated. The anesthetic did not wear off, so they could not fight with full strength. Zhang Ding and his subordinates had the element of surprise. Even if they had lesser numbers, they would still have the battle under control.
“Old codger!” a weak voice coughed. This voice belonged to Zhang Ding, who sounded hurt from the battle against Old Man Wu.
This sign gave Yang Kai a ray of hope in preserving their lives.
“What are we going to do?” Cui Er grabbed Yang Kai’s hand and wept in fear. The Madam and her daughter also looked at him for direction.
The little beggar was the only hope for the three women at that moment.
“No need to panic. Madam, you need to distract him by talking to him. In the meantime, I will find an opportunity to get rid of him,” Yang Kai said softly, then he took a deep breath and calmed his nerves and suppressed his heart beat.
The Madam, after all, is a Madam, and although the situation is bad and her complexion is pale, she nodded at Yang Kai’s instructions. She wasn’t thrown into confusion like Cui Er and Young Lady.
Footsteps seemed to get closer to the carriage. Yang Kai listened to the steps and deduced that there were five of them.
Cui Er scooted nearer to Yang Kai. He could feel the tremble of her gentle and charming body. In this jet black night, the sound of the footsteps felt like those of evil spirits coming to take their lives, striking fear in everyone’s hearts.
The footsteps ceased right in front of the carriage.
Zhang Ding coughed and groaned in a low voice, “Madam, Young Lady, please come out.”
The Madam then asked in a trembling voice from inside the carriage, “Zhang Ding, my husband treated you like a blood brother, why would you do such a thing?”
Everyone could hear hate and bitterness in her words. Her expectations and trust were betrayed by Zhang Ding.
Zhang Ding pondered for a bit silently, then he replied, “Madam, excuse me for saying this, but birds die for food and humans die for wealth. The Master died, leaving behind a large amount of property, and since the Madam and the Young Lady lack the strength to even kill a chicken, there is no way you would be able to defend the property.”
“So it was for wealth?” Madam gave a spiritless smile and asked further, “Does everyone also think the same?”
“Yes,” Zhang Ding responded confidently.
Madam gave a bitter smile and shook her head constantly, “If this was so, you must have decided to do this from the very start. Zhang Ding, in the name of our former friendship, please spare us, both mother and daughter. Both of us only hope to leave with our lives. We do not have any other intention.”
The Madam asked this because she could not pin all of their hopes on Yang Kai. Although he showed a calm attitude, he was still but a little beggar. How could such a character resist the strength of Zhang Ding?
I apologise for all these problems that cropped-up so far… If there are any questions, you can leave it in the comments, forums, my e-mail and discord. But for now, see ya 😀
Zhang Ding listened to the Madam from outside but he remained unmoved. He then said patronizingly, “Madam, Young Lady, please come out of the carriage, then we can talk details.”
“Do you really need to be so cruel?” The Madam cried in a frustrated voice when Zhang Ding didn’t comply. He surely had made plans to stomp out the root of the trouble.
“Madam,” Zhang Ding said sternly. “If you cooperate like a good child, we will be sure to minimise your suffering when we kill you. Otherwise, well, to put it simply, I’m embarrassed to say that I have admired you for a long time, but it’s such a pity that in those days I could never even dream of smelling your perfume. However, I think I can fulfill that little desire of mine right before I kill you.”
In the carriage, the Madam trembled, clenching her hands so tightly her fists turned pale.
She was imagining the evil deeds Zhang Ding could do to her, and what kind of fate would await her if so.
“This heartless and cruel bastard!” Cui Er said angrily.
Zhang Ding sneered, “Cui Er, I wonder if you can say the same thing when someone is digging up your clothes.”
The several surviving traitors laughed wildly, then someone added on, “Cui Er, wait for this elder brother to give you love.”
She turned white and shrank behind Yang Kai.
In the carriage, all three women were shivering, almost rocking the carriage.
“Madam, I will give you ten breaths of time to consider our proposal to exit the carriage. I promise I will give you a woman’s happiness and then bury you well,” Zhang Ding decided.
The Madam closed her eyes and tears started falling from her eyes. She grabbed the hands of her daughter in despair.
After a moment, she hardened her resolve and opened her eyes. She gave a miserable smile to her daughter to tell her that she made a decision.
It’s better than being abused by someone and living out a miserable fate.
Before she could act, she was stopped by Yang Kai. He comforted her, slowly shaking his head decisively.
The ten breaths of time quickly passed.
Zhang Ding’s impatient voice resounded from outside, “Seems like the Madam is willing to give this subordinate an opportunity of a lifetime. In that case, I can only be disrespectful.”
Zhang Ding lifted the curtain of the carriage and stepped inside.
As he set his foot on the first step of the carriage, a dirt-covered face appeared in his view, grinning and revealing two rows of pure white teeth.
Little Beggar! This was the face of the beggar he brought in a few days ago.
Zhang Ding was taken aback. He was so occupied with the thought of the Madam that he did not notice a fourth person in the carriage. He suddenly became frustrated at the thought of himself, an expert of the True Element Boundary, all shocked and startled by a little beggar.
When Zhang Ding moved to grab Yang Kai to throw him aside, he was met with five successive punches, lightning fast. Yang Kai did not even make the effort to try and dodge his grapple, instead retaliating with fists of fury.
What speed! Zhang Ding was astonished at Yang Kai’s speed, but when he looked at the group in the carriage again, he smirked contemptuously and exclaimed, “Courting death!”
He didn’t feel any destructive power from the Little Beggar’s punches. He thought that the opposite party had simply thrown his punches carelessly. Zhang Ding then aimed his punch at Yang Kai’s mouth and said wrathfully, “I am going to kill you.”
Zhang Ding’s several subordinates readied themselves for another fight as they heard their boss’ cry. They moved towards Yang Kai in an orderly fashion.
“Little Beggar!” Cui Er called out in alarm. She hadn’t even dreamed that Yang Kai would be a Master and was faking his appearance, with which he fooled Zhang Ding.
The echo of her voice hadn’t even settled down when Zhang Ding’s expression suddenly changed and pangs of pain covered his chest. He became pale, his eyes almost popping out from the overwhelming effect, causing him to look quite scary.
In the next instant, Zhang Ding seemingly exploded from his torso, blood splattering everywhere as Yang Kai’s burning hot Yang Qi entered his body.
Instantly, Zhang Ding’s impression of the fists changed. His courage was broken now, his body frozen with fright.
He hurriedly revolved the True Qi within his body to suppress the gushing wound on his chest.
The blood spurting from Zhang Ding’s chest made little thumping sounds as the area turned redder with it. He cried out pitifully while withdrawing from the carriage.
He was, after all, a True Element Boundary expert, and his True Qi defence couldn’t be easily broken by an average person. While he wasn’t sent flying by Yang Kai’s punches of the Burning Sun Blast, there was still residual effects of the skill that were untraceable and caused him to suffer heavy damage. Fortunately for him, it was not enough to take his life.
The viscera that separated from Zhang Ding’s chest also doused the three women. When Zhang Ding withdrew from shock, screams emerged from the carriage.
When Zhang Ding’s subordinates attacked Yang Kai, they could only see a mirage of him which quickly disappeared from vision. Their attacks failed.
He was able to use the step technique he trained with for almost a month in such a crucial moment.
The Old Demon came out of the Soul Breaking Awl while laughing maniacally, then he suddenly changed into a black fog, surprising the five martial artists. They were shortly engulfed in the fog, entangling them in a state of confusion.
“What ghostly thing is this?” One could be heard screaming from within the fog. Within a split second, after the words had left his mouth, Yang Kai suddenly appeared behind him, punching his upper body from the back.
The victim’s strength wasn’t particularly high, so when the energy of the Burning Sun’s Blast entered his body, he was not able to dissolve the influx of Yang Qi as his True Qi was not as abundant as Zhang Ding’s. He immediately turned red from the heat.
The Old Demon seized this chance to enter his body. Soon after, the Demon exited, the person passing out, falling to the ground and exploding into a bloody fog, all within a matter of a few seconds.
The Old Demon laughed strangely. He was after all a ten-thousand-year-old soul. Though his strength has dropped off largely, such a fearful laughter would still cause a person to shiver. With Yang Kai’s help and coordination, he could sweep away any obstacle.
His movement technique had caused Zhang Ding to lose all of his subordinates cruelly; they had all fallen and exploded into meat paste and fog.
When Zhang Ding had finally melted all of Yang Kai’s Yang Qi, he became crazy. He looked at Yang Kai and roared, still unable to process all that has happened so far, “Little Beggar you have been playing the role of a pig to eat the tiger!”
He thought that the beggar was only an average person, and at such a crucial moment, that Little Beggar became the biggest obstacle to his plan. After nearly succeeding only to fail at the very last moment, how could Zhang Ding remain calm? He was even badly hurt by Yang Kai, whose eyes and now turned scarlet. He looked at him, wishing all manner of harm and pain upon him, even thinking of drinking his blood and eating his flesh once he was dead.
Yang Kai, who was drenched in blood standing calmly replied in a light voice, “How much of your strength remains?”
If Zhang Ding was at his peak, Yang Kai would only be his match if he used the Star Mark. Otherwise, there would be no hope of victory. Unfortunately, the Star Mark takes too long to activate, so it wasn’t suitable in a fight where life or death is decided in an instant.
At this moment, Zhang Ding was not at his peak. He had already fought with Old Man Wu, meaning he was spent and already injured. A sneak attack by Yang Kai only worsened it. His chest was covered in blood, so it was obvious he didn’t have much strength remaining.
Yang Kai was fearless.
“I only have 20% of my strength left, but it’s more than enough to kill you,” Zhang Ding growled. The sword in his hand streaked towards Yang Kai like a single beam of light. Zhang Ding swore an oath to kill Yang Kai.
Before the sword could get near Yang Kai, the Old Demon’s creepy laughter leaked from the Soul Breaking Awl, followed by a blockade appearing out of nowhere to protect Yang Kai. It could not be destroyed by Zhang Ding at his present strength. He then called in surprise, “This is a divine weapon!”
He was also a person who had plenty of fighting experience, but he had never seen a Divine Treasure as strange as the Soul Breaking Awl before today. The treasure didn’t even need activation for it to create a shield. It also laughed sinisterly and continuously, making anyone tremble in fear.
This treasure was weird!
“This is a treasure which will take your life,” Yang Kai commented suddenly. His words were conveyed from behind Zhang Ding. Such an abrupt change in direction made his hairs stand as he realized how close Yang Kai was standing to him. [How did he warp behind me so suddenly?]
He looked carefully, but he could only see a fuzzy image of the Little Beggar flashing around him. It was only illusions, he thought.
He brandished his sword once again and stabs towards him, but it was in vain as he pierced nothing but air.
Yang Kai has again displayed his movement technique to dodge to the left side, then retaliating with his fist. Zhang Ding was unable to guard against such a surprise attack, and with his pitiful yell his arm ruptured audibly and he fell to the ground.
The fist from Yang Kai had struck his shoulder blade.
The Yuan Qi which invaded him was quite pure. This type of Yuan Qi couldn’t be possessed by a martial artist at the Qi Transforming Stage, and this staggered Zhang Ding further.
Although it had been only a few sessions of double cultivation with Su Yan, the remarkable effect of the Joyous Unification Art was already showing. His Yuan Qi has been tempered to an extraordinary degree. The purity of the Yuan Qi present in Yang Kai’s body had far surpassed his current boundary. All of this was due to the Joyous Unification Art.
The Old Demon seized the chance to take control of the Soul Breaking Awl and struck the sword in Zhang Ding’s hand.
Master and servant both attacked in coordination flawlessly and relentlessly. No chances were given to Zhang Ding to recover, and within five minutes Zhang Ding was covered in blood from head to toe.
With the turn of events, Zhang Ding was stupefied and ran out of strength to fight back. He knew that if he didn’t run, he would die here. But Yang Kai and the Old Demon did not give him any chance to run. They had already blocked all his escape routes thoroughly.
The Burning Sun’s Blast made Zhang Ding vomit fresh blood and he lost his concentration. Once again, the Old Demon saw the opportunity and took it, entering Zhang Ding’s body through the Soul Breaking Awl.
Similarly to his previously confused comrades, Zhang Ding showed a perplexed expression. Gradually, his eyes began to lose focus and he fell.
After that, the Old Demon suddenly reappeared whilst laughing wildly, changing into a black fog and vanishing into Yang Kai’s fingertips.
In the war, the Old Demon swallowed a lot of souls, which helped him recover greatly.
Yang Kai stood on the same spot gasping for breath. The fight drained him of Yuan Qi.
This time, he hadn’t used the Indomitable Will of the golden skeleton because the fight with Zhang Ding didn’t bring too much pressure nor a sense of crisis.
But Yang Kai realized that his strength at the moment was too low.
If Zhang Ding was not already injured, if his sneak attack didn’t go well and if not for his Dantian having stores of Yang liquid, he couldn’t have fought with an expert of that level in the manner that he did.
Only three moves of the Burning Sun’s Blast was needed to use up all the Yuan Qi present in an expert of the Qi Transformation Stage. If it was someone else in place of Yang Kai, that person would be a dry corpse now.
When he fought with Zhang Ding, he had used almost ten moves of the Burning Sun’s Blast on top of the collaboration of attacks between him and the Old Demon, both of which was needed to kill him. Such difficulty would be almost impossible to be overcome by someone else of the same Stage.
Yang Kai regained composure after a hefty amount of time, then slowly, he walked towards the carriage.
As the sound of footsteps drew nearer, the three women in the carriage became nervous and Cui Er asked in a shivering voice, “Is that you, Little Beggar?”
“Mhm,” Yang Kai sounded worn.
The curtains of the carriage drew and Cui Er’s pale cheeks came into view from behind. The Madam and the Young Lady also looked anxiously at him.
“What happened to them?” Cui Er asked, looking around.
“They’re dead.”
Cui Er covered her mouth immediately as she looked at Yang Kai in disbelief. The Madam and the Young Lady exhaled the breaths they held in surprise.
They thought that they were surely doomed and had never imagined that they would live through such a hopeless situation. The feeling of death just brushing past them weakened their bodies.
In processing what had happened thus far, the three women felt as if they had turned into jelly.
“You don’t need to come out of the carriage, I will look around for survivors,” Yang Kai urged. He then turned around towards the bonfire to seek for a living soul.
Eventually, Yang Kai walked back from the site with a solemn look.
“How is it?” The Madam inquired with an intense look.
“Everyone is dead,” Yang Kai muttered while shaking his head. Zhang Ding and his group were definitely through. The people who died in their sleep were struck at their vital points, and the people who died fighting laid maimed and similarly lifeless.
Of the entire convoy, only Yang Kai and three women were alive.
The young lady sobbed from inside the carriage. Cui Er’s eyes were red and swollen, and her tears showed no sign of stopping. She kept rubbing her eyes. The Madam had seen many great storms, so though she grieved heavily in her heart, she suppressed her tears.
“Birds die in pursuit of food…” The Madam whispered. She seemed to be taunting, ridiculing and reprimanding someone softly.
Yang Kai watched the three women wallow in their misery, but he interrupted by asking, “So, what are you going to do now? Do you still want to go to Sea City?”
The Madam regained her focus and gave a slight nod. She looked at Yang Kai hopefully and requested, ”Young Hero, can you please escort us through the wild to the city?”
All around them was wilderness and outside of the reach of the law of any country; after experiencing such trauma, how would they dare to continue travelling without the escorts?
Cui Er wrapped her hands around Yang Kai’s arm and pitifully asked, “Little Beggar, you have no other choice, you have to be responsible for us.”
“Cui Er,” The Madam reproached. “You should not be so impolite.”
Before they knew Yang Kai was no little beggar but an expert in fighting, they paid little heed to him. Now that Yang Kai became their benefactor, their impoliteness has faded.
Yang Kai glanced at Cui Er and agreed, “Since it’s only about a day away from where we are, I will escort you.”
“Many thanks, Young Hero,” The Madam huffed in relief.
“I knew you wouldn’t abandon us!” Cui Er thanked enthusiastically, compared to the madam who picked her words carefully.
The Young Lady whom at this point had not yet spoken a word suddenly opened her mouth to express her gratitude in a high, sharp voice, “The smell of blood is filling the air. This will attract many monsters. It would be best if we were to depart as soon as possible. We should arrive at Sea City by tomorrow evening.
The Madam hesitated, but she asked anyway, “Young Hero, could I trouble you with something?”
“What is it?” Yang Kai probed, looking at her.
“Many people who died here tonight lost their lives protecting us, and I don’t want their corpses to be violated by animals, monsters or the weather…”
She hadn’t finished speaking when Yang Kai’s face showed clear disagreement. He could kill anyone at a moment’s notice, but it’s a pain to bury corpses, especially since there were many of them here. It would take quite a while to finish burying them.
The Madam is a knowledgeable person. She can distinguish a person’s answer by his expression. She forced a smile and continued, ”If you don’t want to, I understand. There is no need for the Young Hero to exhaust his strength. Cui Er and Young Lady, come with me. We need to bury Old Man Wu. As for the others… let’s just leave them as they are.”
“Okay,” Cui Er nods and looks at Yang Kai fearlessly and waves a fist at him.
Yang Kai looked at the three and made way for them.
Cui Er, the Madam and the Young lady came out of the carriage and uneasily looked at the corpses. With white faces, they gathered swords from the corpses. Then, each holding the sword with both hands, they sought for a suitable place to dig.
Old Man Wu must have been cherished by them, otherwise, the Madam wouldn’t have insisted on burying him.
The three females began to dig. Yang Kai moved towards the bodies and started collecting the deceased’s valuables.
Once he finished, he approached the three toiling women. They had only dug less than an inch of dirt. The Madam and Young Lady were high-society women, and right now they were reduced to digging. They did not have the proper tools to dig and they were falling over and stumbling from the hard work.
Yang Kai watched them and became cautious.
“The smell of blood in this place is stacking. It might attract wolves to this place. If they turn up, we won’t be able to get away from them.” Yang Kai commented.
The Madam and the Young Lady listened and their faces turned pale.
Cui Er shivered from anger. She dropped the broadsword and stomped in front of Yang Kai, then with her two small fists she began to pound Yang Kai’s chest and shouted, “You are discouraging us. I have given you so many snacks, such a waste!”
As she scolded Yang Kai, a long, eerie howl came from between the trees. The howl petrified not only the Madam and the Young Lady, but Cui Er as well. She settled down and stepped closer to Yang Kai and asked timidly, “Are there really wolves here?”
“Alright, you three tidy up the precious belongings,” Yang Kai ordered. “I will dig.”
Truthfully, if the Madam had mentioned before that they only needed to bury Old Man Wu, Yang Kai wouldn’t have declined. After all, in the few days they spent together he was always his side. It’s embarrassing to take back words that have been said, however, but he was able to find the appropriate opportunity to give a hand.
“Many thanks, Young Hero,” the Madam politely thanked. She then took the Young Lady and Cui Er to the second carriage to reorganise it.
Shortly afterwards, Yang Kai managed to dig a proper hole and buried Old Man Wu’s body in it.
On the other side, the three females have also tidied up, and the precious things that they didn’t have space for can only be thrown away, to be found by a lucky passerby.
“Let’s go.” Yang Kai herded them into the carriage, and proceeded to take Old Man Wu’s seat on the driver’s, taking his horsewhip in hand and memorised the track and direction in which they had been moving. He then cracked the whip and ushered the horses to pull.
In the dark night, they distanced themselves from the bloodbath.
Although it was the first time Yang Kai was driving a carriage, it was manageable, thanks to the horsewhip. The horsewhip had traces of Old Man Wu’s martial arts skills that Yang Kai could detect. Slowly, he began to sense the martial art. His understanding started to become more and more profound. As the time passed by, his sensibility to the whip began to fuse.
The next day early in the morning, Cui Er called for a break from inside the carriage. Yang Kai listened and stopped the carriage at an appropriate spot.
Cui Er lit a fire and started to prepare food hurriedly. Their brush with death last night removed any sense of security they had. They were restless the entire night, unable to even get a wink of sleep. They didn’t have appetite too, but they needed to eat to maintain their strength.
When they moved out again, Cui Er didn’t return inside the carriage, but instead, she sat beside Yang Kai and looked at him from the corner of her eyes curiously.
As time passed, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, “Aren’t you just a Little Beggar?”
“Of course I’m not,” Yang Kai replied superciliously.
“Then I think I can safely assume that you are a young master of some aristocratic family running away from a marriage. You ran away without any money and therefore you look like a beggar.” Cui Er said using her bold imagination.
Yang Kai laughed, “Did you listen to these types of fairy tales as a child?”
“No, I have never listened to such stories during my childhood, but I listened to the Young Lady mentioning these incidents frequently and they are frankly quite amusing. A Young Master running away from home because of marriage and roams the world, meeting difficulties in life…”
Before she finished speaking, the Madam coughed from inside the carriage.
Cui Er stuck out her tongue at Yang Kai.
Yang Ka smiled faintly and cracked the horsewhip again.
Hours later, Yang Kai noticed a strange thing on the horizon. He turned vigilant and asked suddenly, “Some people are blocking the way ahead. Do any of you know why they are doing so?”
The Madam suggested in a surprised voice, “Perhaps they are from the Miao family.”
The Miao Family home was the Madam’s ultimate destination. He received this information from Cui Er. Yang Kai also knew from their conversations that the Young Lady and the Miao Family Young Master were betrothed to each other when they were babies. After the Master died, The Madam led the Young Lady to Sea City; firstly to seek asylum, and secondly to marry off the Young Lady so that they could settle down in Sea City.
“Did you notify the Miao Family of your pending arrival?” Yang Kai asked.
“Mhm.”
“Since we have arrived at your destination, I no longer need to travel with you.” Yang Kai relaxed.
Cui Er asked anxiously, “Little Beggar, are you leaving?”
“You don’t want to give me up?” Yang Kai teased, turning to Cui Er.
“You want to die?!” Cui Er blushed. [The Madam and the Young Lady are sitting in the back and this scoundrel boy is harassing me…]
Yang Kai continued, “Madam, I hope you will not reveal last night’s incident to anyone.”
The Madam was stunned at Yang Kai’s request, but she remembered Cui Er’s bold speculation. Was he really a young master of some family running away from a marriage arrangement so he did not want his status exposed?
The Madam nodded, “Young hero, you don’t need to worry. We were rescued by an expert who was passing by last night.”
“That’s good to hear,” Yang Kai smiled.
Soon after, the carriage arrived at the blockade.
A person emerged from the crowd with his fists cupped. He asked resoundingly, “May I ask, does this carriage belong to the Jiang Family?”
The Madam echoed from the carriage, “Yes it is.”
The mysterious person grinned excitedly, but he controlled his emotions and welcomed the ladies, “Miao Huacheng, your little brother, welcomes you!”
The man started sobbing suddenly, “In the past, Elder Brother and I parted. In a flash, ten years passed by but didn’t I expect that we would part forever. The time we spent together is a period I remember it clearly like it was just yesterday.”
Sniffling could be heard from the Madam and the Young Lady from inside the carriage. Cui Er’s eyes also turned red.
The Madam consoled, “Brother, please restrain your grief.”
Miao Huacheng said, “Sister, you don’t need to mind me. You have suffered more than me.”
There was no reply.
Miao Huacheng broke the silence and found the need to show manners, “Sister, you must be very tired but please, you need to persevere for a half day more and we will finally arrive at Sea City.”
While speaking, his eyes fell on Yang Kai and furrowed his brows, “Why is there a beggar here?”
The Madam narrated her recollection of the event last night in a few words and concluded, “Afterwards, we were lucky enough to bump into a competent little beggar who agreed to help us drive the carriage.”
“If Zhang Ding didn’t die, I would have killed him today. No, not only would I have killed him, I would have torn him to shreds too!” Miao Huacheng growled in anger. He then looked at Yang Kai and urged, “Little Beggar, you can get down from there. You have worked hard.”
Yang Kai complied with a single nod and jumped down from the carriage.
Miao Huacheng then signalled to someone, and a person came forward and gifted Yang Kai a silver ingot as a reward. Yang Kai would have to put up an act of sorts, obviously. After all, he was playing the role of a beggar. With the payment in hand, he expressed his gratitude profusely.
“Let’s move!” Miao Huacheng shouted, sitting beside the carriage’s new driver. Everyone gathered to form a group and then moved together towards Sea City.
They shot forward and kicked up a dust cloud. Yang Kai stood on the same spot and watched the carriage depart. He saw three people staring at him from the window of the carriage.
Although he was sad for the unfortunate bitter experience of this widow from the Jiang Family, he couldn’t do anything else for her. Since they met only by chance, they are likely to never meet again.
Once the carriage disappeared from sight, Yang Kai followed the convoy, Old Man Wu’s horsewhip still in his hand. He walked, practising his movement technique along the way.
In half a day, he finally reached the city.
This city was bigger compared to Black Plum Village, but there was a distinct fishy smell in the air. It was not foul; it was a smell that inspired spirit, especially in a coastal city.
It was the first time Yang Kai had visited a coastal city. He was excited, to say the least, but knew that the first thing he needed to do was buy some clothes and to look for an inn to stay, for the time being.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai explored and experienced the scenery and culture within Sea City. With the beautiful seashore in sight hand-in-hand with the natural clean air, this place was a haven for retirement.
Inside teahouses and wine shops, Yang Kai heard many fantastic stories about Sea City. Intrigued by those, he now wished to also find the rumoured mirage.
With such divine atmosphere, Yang Kai nearly forgot about the High Heaven Pavilion. Furthermore, there were also Sects here; not just one or two, too. If someone were to categorise all the Sects within the Great Han Dynasty and include the Eight Great Families, High Heaven Pavilion could only be considered at best a second tier Sect. Meanwhile, the Sects in Sea City varied between the first tier to third tier Sects. Even the first tier Sects here could faintly compare with the Eight Great Families.
However, these Sects were different when compared to those from inland. They occupied big islands off the coast and mostly received cultivation resources from the islands they inhabited. It was mentioned that the outstandingly talented disciples from the sects, the beautiful soil, and wonderful scenery were what attracted disciples.
Even in Sea City, with the exception of the few influential families here, some cultivation disciples would visit. They were probably influenced by the distribution of the Island Sects. Within the islands they inhabit, the Worldly Energy was more concentrated compared to that of the one inland. Thus, the cultivation speed was also faster. Generally, the more talented disciples from the Island Sects would remain on their respective islands except for certain rare occasions. They would send out the weaker or non-talented disciples to Sea City. There weren’t many of them.
Yang Kai saw the prosperity of Sea City when he strolled along its shores, watching the ebbing tides endearingly. He could feel a trace of sensibility that was similar to the whipping technique from the late Old Man Wu. With each mighty wave fluctuation and powerful strike, ebbing and flowing, Yang Kai lit up with a very subtle and gradual awareness. This was a natural force that could not be rushed, just like the waves. Whip strikes come in rapid waves, and when facing something hard, they ebb and flow, retreating only to come forth and strike once again.
After observing the crashing waves, he felt like a door in front of him was slowly opening up. Failing to even consider neglecting such an opportunity, he calmly stood still as a miraculous jolt ran through his mind. Yang Kai’s own personal awareness of martial arts was now slowly fusing with the newfound knowledge that was similar to Old Man Wu’s whipping technique.
Unaware of how much time has passed, Yang Kai seemed to have fallen asleep standing, with the whistling sound of the sea breeze and loud crashes of the water ringing in his ears. When Yang Kai finally opened his eyes again, he had the making of someone who just underwent an indescribable epiphany.
Activating his movement technique, Yang Kai’s whole being started glimmering like a speck of light in smoke. He effortlessly stepped atop the waves approaching the shore, launching himself from one wave to the other without allowing a single drop of water to stay on him. After doing this another fifteen times, he released his Yuan Qi and dropped into the waters. Even though he was now soaked, he was still radiantly smiling. Turning around to face the approaching wave, he clenched his fist.
[Burning Sun’s Three Layer Blast]!
The air around Yang Kai’s fist exploded with three rapid thunder-like peals as his fist coated with three layers of Yuan Qi collided with the wave, creating a huge vacuum beneath the water.
Up to this point, the martial arts awareness that he had gained from observing Old Man Wu and the sea waves had completely assimilated into him. This change was further applied into Burning Sun’s Blast, which produced three layers of strong Yuan Qi on his fist. This caused his strike to become like the wave, increasing the difficulty of guarding against his attacks.
“Genius!” The Old Demon was too shocked for words. A few days ago, he was already stunned from Yang Kai’s capabilities to sense and create his own original martial skill. Within such a short period of time, he had also obtained a deeper understanding of it, improving on his foundations.
[Although it has been a long time since I was alive, just how much has this world changed?] The Old Demon thought as his heart became restless.
Crawling out onto the beach, Yang Kai saw a small little girl with wheat coloured skin and an impressively messy hair looking at him with a silly look. Judging from her appearance, this girl was probably 7 to 8 years old. She had a pair of big, bright eyes and wore homespun clothing with obvious patches sewn onto it. She stood on the sand with her bare feet as her small mouth opened and closed. Since the people who lived by the seaside tend to be exposed to the sun, their skin tone would not generally be white. As such, it was obvious that her skin was healthy.
Yang Kai smiled at the little girl, trying to play the role of a well-mannered and cultivated human being – portraying that he was a harmless being. As he walked towards her cautiously, he cursed himself for being too indulgent with sensing and failing to notice the presence of a little girl. Perhaps he had scared her.
Detecting that she was frightened, Yang Kai did not revolve his Yuan Qi to dry himself as he continued to walk.
He stopped in front of the little girl and squatted down. With a gentle voice accompanying his soft smile, he asked, “Little girl, what are you doing here?”
The small girl blinked a few times at him. Within those adorable eyelids was innocence without a shred of impurity. Yang Kai felt weighed down by his conscience. For a man who does evil deeds be it for good or bad, it was almost certain that such a pair of eyes would make a man be consumed by their own guilt.
Looking at Yang Kai for a moment, she slowly stretched her hand out to pass him something. When Yang Kai’s vision shifted towards her hand, he saw a grilled fish.
“Is that for me?” Yang Kai asked, his heart filled with warmth.
The little girl gently nodded and forced the grilled fish into Yang Kai’s hand and quickly scampered away, leaving only tracks of her lovely small footprints in the sand. When she was about to disappear in the distance, she turned around to get a final check on Yang Kai, but this time, she unexpectedly returned to his side and tugged on his clothes; pointing to the distance as though asking him, ‘follow me’.
Yang Kai did not resist the little girl. She pulled him forward and he followed along. Though he was unsure of her intentions, her pure and adorable eyes already ascertained her innocence to him.
After walking a short distance, they arrived in front of a crude room. The little girl lifted her arm to point at the room, indicating Yang Kai to get inside.
“Are we going in?” Yang Kai asked. The girl gave a nod. Chuckling, Yang Kai felt like he was walking through the doors of his very own home, though he was nothing more than a guest here.
Before he managed to take his first step into the room, an old man appeared out of the blue. This old man presented himself as ruthless, but his body was fragile as he waddled with an obvious limp.
The old man was taken aback by Yang Kai’s appearance. To prevent any misunderstanding, Yang Kai quickly opened his mouth to ask, “Elder, are you a family member of this little girl?”
The old man gave a smile and beckoned the little girl with his hand, “Xiao Yu, come here-“
The little girl shook her head and made an effort to pull on Yang Kai’s clothes, implying to him to move closer towards the old man.
The old man smiled sweetly while looking at the boy in front of him. “Little Brother, come in. Xiao Yu is afraid that if you stay outside any longer, you will freeze to death. Come in and dry yourself.”
Yang Kai shoulders dropped. [It’s weird that she only wanted me to come here for this reason alone. Since they’ve already invited me, it would be impolite to reject.]
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Entering the house with Xiao Yu, Yang Kai scanned the room, only to have his heart filled with pain. This family was a stellar example of poverty. Aside from a bed and the broken cotton-wadded quilt, there was nothing else noteworthy.
Coming close to something like this dissipated the idea of the prosperity of Sea City in Yang Kai’s mind. While he was staying in the city, he knew of rich men who could indulge in life’s greatest pleasures freely. At the same time, the abyss of suffering for the two caused alarm bells to go off in his head.
In order to dry his clothes, Xiao Yu quickly went to prepare to light a fire and drew Yang Kai to stand close to the pit of charcoal. Xiao Yu managed to ignite the fire pit but even when indoors, the sea breeze outside seeped through. The wind was strong enough to blow up dust within the room and sparks from the fire. The old man would cough several times whenever the breeze struck.
Yang Kai and the old man sat on the ground, silent about their lack of chairs.
“Little Brother, are you a cultivator?” the old man placed Xiao Yu on his lap.
“What makes you think so?” Yang Kai was caught off guard with the question. After all, he was presently restraining his aura. No cultivator of the True Element Boundary and below should be able to notice it. This was of course with the exception of those who practiced Spiritual Awareness, cultivators in the Immortal Ascension Boundary. He would have never guessed that this old fisherman was capable of telling he was a cultivator.
The old man seemed to giggle under his breath as he smiled. “Little Brother, you’ve been standing still on the beach for several days now. How is it possible that an average person could endure something like that?”
“For several days now?” Yang Kai felt his heart constrict for a second. The last time, he was not able to feel time pass. Once again, it happened; he was unable to sense his surroundings. He realized that if he were to ever again engage in such deep comprehension, he would need to find a suitable hiding spot in case someone were to take the opportunity to attack him.
“Xiao Yu went over to check on you every day. If that wasn’t the case, do you think that this old man would dare to allow you to enter this room?”
“I’m not a bad guy…” Yang Kai awkwardly reassured with a smile on his face.
Whilst they spoke, Xiao Yu looked at the grilled fish in Yang Kai’s hand and points at it.
“Mhm! I eat! Xiao Yu is really clever!” Yang Kai took a bite out of the fish. Although it was already cold, it was still quite fresh and tender. Yang Kai nodded repeatedly while saying, “delicious.”
Xiao Yu grinned.
By the time he had finished sucking every last meat out of the fish bones, his clothes had dried. Yang Kai thought for a little and hesitantly asked, “Mister, why is Xiao Yu not speaking?”
The fisherman’s face immediately turned depressed as he gently stroked Xiao Yu’s head, “It is not that she is mute, but due to a certain incident that happened to the family, she is no longer willing to speak…”
Yang Kai sighed. He had guessed that Xiao Yu was mute due to an inborn illness. If that was the case, he could possibly find a way to treat her. However, he had not expected that she would be unwilling to speak. [If it is a knot within her heart, we would need to untie the knot to cure her. Elsewise, she would never open her mouth again…]
Seeing that the old man was not willing to further talk about the matter, Yang Kai refrained from probing to avoid bringing up unpleasant memories.
“It seems like it is getting late. Little Brother, if you don’t have a place to sleep, you can stay over for the night.” The old man stood up while trembling as Xiao Yu hastily supported him.
“Thank you for your hospitality.” Yang Kai stood up and bowed.
Since the room was small and there was only one bed that the old man and Xiao Yu shared, which Yang Kai slept on the floor. The howling gales of the sea breeze kept him awake.
[In my three years of living at High Heaven Pavilion, I had it hard enough. But compared to these people, could my experiences even considered to be suffering? Even if the old man is a fisherman, could he actually bring in fish every day to eat and support the two of them? ]
Midnight clocked in and Yang Kai heard footsteps approaching from the outside, abruptly waking him up. Before his visit, Yang Kai looked for traces of other people living close by, but there was only the pair sleeping right now. It was already a surprise to hear others walking about so late at night, but what’s more astonishing was the fact that the footsteps indicated that the people approaching were cultivators!
In the dimly lighted room, the sleeping old man suddenly sat up. When Yang Kai took a glance, he noticed a look of panic and despair on the old man’s face.
As for those worried about Qiandian, we will wait to see how things go first.
“Old man,” Yang Kai raised his hand to signal ‘stop’. “Keep quiet.”
Yang Kai’s brows creased. He did not know what the old man feared, but he knew that it must have had something to do with the Cultivators that are arriving soon.
After a wait that seemed to last an eternity, the footsteps came to a halt and what remained was the creaks and knocks from the worn-out door. The loud, sudden bang caused Xiao Yu to wake up. Trembling in fear, she immediately jumped to hug her grandfather. Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s face turned icy cold.
“Old Geezer! Open up the door!” A voice from behind the doors angrily shouted.
“Don’t you know that opening the door for guests is basic courtesy?” A second voice added on.
The Old Man supported his granddaughter in his embrace as an angry and indignant look flashed across his face. However, he knew very well that he was powerless. Opening his mouth to comfort the little girl in his arms, he muttered in a soft and low voice, “Xiao Yu, don’t be scared. Xiao Yu. Don’t fear. Your grandfather is here… your grandfather is here. Don’t be scared.”
The leading person on the other side of the door was obviously not a patient man. Realising that the Old Man had no desire to open the door, he directly kicked it down and allowed the sea breeze outside to engulf the room, replacing the heat inside.
“You Old Thing!” One of the crazed men came rushing in, “You’re courageous. To think that you actually dare lock us out! Let’s just see if I can resist stabbing you to death!”
“What are you here for?! LEAVE!” The Old Man protecting his granddaughter yelled in protest. “Her father and mother have both been taken by you! Isn’t it enough that you have left the two of us forsaken out here? Why can’t you just leave us alone?”
“Hey now, old man. Just what kind of crude rubbish are you spouting? We simply invited them to go to Red Cloud Island as guests to enjoy a lavish life. Now that they miss you, they specifically asked us to fetch you to them. Don’t you wish for your whole family to reunite once again?” The speaker came in through the door with a huge grin plastered onto his face. However, when he saw Yang Kai, he began to stare at the youngster with vigilance. When he could not manage to find any trace of Yang Kai being a Cultivator, he assumed that he was an average human being and left the boy alone while asking himself, [did this family have so many people in it?]
The Old Man began to cry out, “This type of fortune is something we ordinary families cannot enjoy. Could you two be so kind as to bring this child’s parents back? She misses them very, very much.”
“You Old Thing! You are being too unappreciative!” one of the men barked. “As long as you follow us back to Red Cloud Island, you will reunite with them! What are you shrieking and crying about?!”
Ever since these two Cultivators entered the room, Yang Kai had been listening and gathering information. Red Cloud Island was owned by the Red Cloud Sect. This Sect was not worth mentioning to High Heaven Pavilion since it was a Third Rate Sect.
Yang Kai was unaware of the reasoning behind their need to capture them. However, from the conversation, he could at least understand that this was not the first time here.
[The old man had said before that Xiao Yu stopped speaking after something happened to her family. He should be referring to this matter.]
Normally, Yang Kai would never pry into someone’s personal business. Even when he helped Cui Er, he just wanted to repay her for her caretaking. Yang Kai could not sit idly by as the kind girl and her grandfather get threatened, especially after the kindness they showed him. Their actions filled Yang Kai with gratitude, and Xiao Yu, the pure and honest kind girl touched his heart.
Although the two men were in the Qi Transformation Stage, they were lacking in skills to fight. Yang Kai was confident that he could beat them with relative ease. However, the area they were currently in was not suitable for a battle. Furthermore, with a Sect behind them, he did not wish to further implicate the old man and Xiao Yu. He decided that he needed to form out a well-thought out plan.
“I beg you two to free her parents. Please, let them reunite.” The old man choked up with emotions and began to sob, kneeling down and repeatedly kowtowing on top of the bed.
“Old Geezer, you have a gift for maddening people!” The Red Cloud Sect’s Cultivators opened their foul mouths to taunt, preparing to take their first step to start an assault. However, before anything could happen, Yang Kai interrupted them.
“Boy, who are you?!” The Red Cloud Sect’s Cultivator roared but this was a question he held back on asking since they were busy with the Old Man.
Yang Kai spoke with a smile on his face, “I am their distant relative.”
“Distant relative?” The speaker looked at Yang Kai with eyes filled with doubt and interrogated him. “So, what is the purpose of your visit?”
Yang Kai answered, “My business outside had just gone bankrupt so I sought shelter here. I could not have possibly imagined that my mother’s sister’s husband’s mother’s married sister and her husband had been taken by the Red Cloud Sect. I had admired the Red Cloud Sect for such a long time. I’ve always felt that the Sect was my calling but I did not have the means to join. Now, as though heaven had given me my wish, you two were delivered to me. Please, would you two be so kind as to accommodate and lead me to Red Cloud Island?”
Yang Kai’s tone was extremely and unusually humble. He also appeared to be a little nervous, leaving the two Red Cloud Sect Cultivators dumbstruck. [To think that there are people actually willing to go to the island! Is this boy an idiot or is he just insane?] The two men squinted their eyes as they stared at Yang Kai doubtfully and silently.
Yang Kai quickly made himself seem embarrassed, “Sirs, I have just arrived at Sea City today and I’m somewhat short on money. But rest assured, if I manage to get into Red Cloud Sect, I will definitely return the both of you the favour as my Fellow Brothers of the sect.”
[Is he actually trying to bribe us?] The two Red Cloud Sect Cultivators looked at each other in confusion. They have been going around trying to abduct innocent people. From their experience, they were certain that Yang Kai was simply an idiot, judging by how his response has been so different from their other abductees.
[But, if he is willing to come, why doesn’t he just use the normal means to join?]
[Why would you announce that you were from somewhere else so willingly? Strangers from foreign areas are people that those in Sea City love to push around.]
Yang Kai looked at them anxiously while his heart pounded vigorously. Although he had no idea what they do to normal people, this was the only way to save the old man and his granddaughter.
[If we are going to take away the old man and the little girl, why don’t we also take in this capable young man?]
After the two men stared at Yang Kai, they suddenly laughed and patted his shoulders, “Good, good. Your heart already has Red Cloud Sect in it. How could we possibly be cruel enough to deny you from joining? Besides, you seem rather young and sturdy, not to mention smart enough. If you decide to practise martial arts, you will certainly be a rare talent. In the future when you rapidly climb up the path within the Sect, make sure you never forget the favour the both of us have provided.
“I can’t forget. I definitely will not forget.”
The three of them looked at each other and laughed, while the two Red Cloud Sect Cultivators criticised Yang Kai as a fool. On the other hand, Yang Kai thought those two as idiots. Staring at them was the old man and the little girl, trembling on top of the bed.
Only after a long time did Yang Kai restrain his laughter and spoke, “Sirs, is it good enough to bring me over to the Red Cloud Sect? Bringing an old man and little girl to travel along will just hinder us.”
Naturally, this issue was the most pressing for Yang Kai. If they were not willing to let them off, Yang Kai would have no choice but to slaughter them here and now. After all that nonsense he spat at them, he had to ask this question. Of course, Yang Kai had thought of the situation before acting. He was well aware that the Red Cloud Sect was capable of sustaining itself due to human labour. Regardless of gender or age, so long as they were human, they could contribute. Now that they have Yang Kai as their new recruit, there was no need to take the old man and the little girl. If they were to lose their lives during the journey, it would just be unlucky.
Listening to Yang Kai’s logic, one of them nods, “Mhm. You make a point. That old thing keeps rejecting our kind intentions to reunite them with their family anyway.”
“He is old. I would ask that you two Fellow Brothers forgive him.” Yang Kai smiles.
“Since you have decided to join Red Cloud Sect, we cannot return too late. We shall depart now.” Since the two Red Cloud Sect Cultivators had completed their task, they impatiently wished to leave the small and depressing room.
“Can you two please leave first, I need to say goodbye to them.”
“Just hurry up.” The two Cultivators had bought into his story completely and proceeded waited outside. Once they left, Yang Kai slowly stepped to the side of the bed and looked at the shivering old man and little girl.
The old man was an astute person. Moments ago when Yang Kai was speaking to the Red Cloud Sect Cultivators, he dared not make a sound, fearing that he would give away some information. Even now, he was still quaking with fear as he spoke, “Little Brother, why?! Red Cloud Island is not a place for human beings.”
Yang Kai smiled faintly, “Old Sir, you don’t have to worry. I’ve already thought it through. Did you actually forget that I’m a Cultivator as well?”
The dull eyes of the old man had sparkled after he felt a slight sense of relief.
Yang Kai placed his hand into his chest pocket and took out a bag of money he had collected from the deceased martial artist the other day. He placed it in the old man’s palms and urged, “Early tomorrow morning, leave Sea City with Xiao Yu. Make sure to go as far away as possible.”
After speaking his piece, Yang Kai caressed the top of Xiao Yu’s head before turning around to leave.
When the sound of footsteps gradually disappeared, the old man in the room opened the bag in his hand and quivered. [One.. one hundred and twenty..!]
Uncontrollable tears began to flow out from the Old Man’s eyes. He pulled Xiao Yu to make a bow and deeply urged her, “Xiao Yu, being a human being means one must be grateful! Make sure you carve the appearance of that Elder Brother into your mind. If you ever meet him in the future, even if you have to work as his servant or die for him, you must repay this debt. Do you understand?”
Xiao Yu nodded enthusiastically. Her face was not flustered with fear or excitement. Instead, it was visibly tranquil.
Outside of the room, Yang Kai went off with the two Red Cloud Sect Cultivators. He was looking for an opportunity to kill off these two men, but the situation was more than what he could have anticipated. Apparently, the Red Cloud Sect Cultivators were supposed to set out tonight. Furthermore, the whole group totaled up to be twenty people with a True Element Boundary Cultivator acting as their leader.
Under such circumstances, Yang Kai could not possibly stand a chance. This True Element Boundary Cultivator was unlike Zhang Ding, who was injured and weak at the time Yang Kai fought him.
For matters to escalate like this, Yang Kai was not startled; since they only thought of him as a normal human being. So long as he is patient enough, he will find an opportunity to escape.
Once they gathered at the seashore in front of the three steamships, the two Cultivators gave Yang Kai no further attention. Like the flip of a coin, their attitude had completely changed. Now, they were condescending and cocky, frequently sneering as though they were taunting him. It seemed as though they were saying, ‘You fool! You have joined an evil Sect!’
Of course, Yang Kai no longer bothered himself with them.
Through the passage of time, more and more people gathered in front of the steamships. The flow seemed to never end. These were civilians; people were either shedding tears or cursing angrily. In front of such a spectacle, the Red Cloud Sect members ignored them as though this was a common sight.
The people gathered here were of both genders. Most of them were beggars, while the rest were fishermen. However, there was not one person present who seemed to have a wealthy background. Thus, it was painfully obvious that the Red Cloud Sect were only targeting poor people. Since they were powerless, it was easy to bully them without fear of them revolting.
When it reached dawn, the captives that were gathered totaled up to be thirty.
The Cultivators, under the order of the True Element Cultivator, rushed back onto the ship. Before the day ended, the steamships hoisted their sails and left the shore.
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On the ocean, waves lashed and the wind howled but the steamship kept moving steadily towards a distant island.
The more than thirty people who were weeping, wailing and throwing curses with all their strength gradually became silent. It was as if they had broken their throats. The Red Cloud Sect’s martial artists also completely ignored them, and let alone welcoming them, they weren’t even beating the captives, contrary to their expectations.
These martial artists were very discrete. They knew that the people who were crying for their fathers and mothers couldn’t even withstand pain let alone being injured by accident.
Yang Kai sat in a corner of the deck and watched what was happening with an indifferent expression. It was as if he was completely apart from the situation. He was silent unlike the rest of captives and drew no attention to himself.
Since they set sail it had almost been an hour, and they were almost fifty kilometres from Sea City.
Yang Kai was analyzing the situation of the True Element Boundary expert on the ship and was pondering, [If I abandon the ship now can I escape with my life?]
By his Qi Transforming Stage strength, Yang Kai didn’t worry about drowning to death, he had enough strength to prevent that. What Yang Kai feared most was the pursuit of the True Element Boundary expert.
While he was hesitating with an anxious look, a senior fisherman who was caught preempted Yang Kai and jumped overboard before he could make up his mind.
Splash! A light sound came from the sea. Hearing this, the more than thirty individuals who were caught also became excited because of a ray of hope and moved towards the side of the ship, wanting to abandon ship and escape with the senior fisherman.
But the shocking thing was these Red Cloud Sect martial artists didn’t try to stop them but just sneered while looking at them.
Yang Kai felt that something was off. They used a lot of energy to catch these common people. So they would not let them escape this easily.
Suddenly, a sad, shrill and pitiful yell came from the water. This was the voice of the senior fisherman who had just abandoned the ship. Hearing this sound, everyone who was trying to escape rushed towards the side of the ship in a hurry and then stared with big eyes into the sea.
“What? What happened?”
“There are Monster Beasts below us!”
“Below there are Monster Beasts who will eat people.”
These common people were struck by fear and their courage to abandon ship was blown apart.
On the ship, the Red Clouds Sect martial artists looked at everyone and said with a sneer, “Do you want to know what that thing was?”
Not waiting for them to reply, he took out a flare from the side and threw it into the sea.
With the help of the illumination, many people were frightened because of what they saw in the sea. The sea was covered with a layer of blood, the senior fisherman had been divided into many parts by this time. Under the sea, there were many fierce fish beasts hidden which was jumping and following the steamship and were eating the corpse of the senior fisherman with large gulps.
“This will be the fate of anyone who abandons the ship.” that Red Clouds Sect martial artist said with a sneer.
Many people vomited after seeing the scene. After all, they were common people who had never seen such disgusting bloodshed.
Yang Kai in heart suddenly understood that he had to give up the idea of abandoning the ship and escaping. The Monster Beasts who were following the ship in the sea were probably raised by Red Clouds Island.
In the water, these Monster Beasts were the Kings and he was just a Qi Transforming Stage martial artist. There was simply no way of escaping from them.
“Everyone listen to me.” the Red Clouds Sect martial artist said in a loud voice. He then swept the whole crowd with his sharp eyes and continued, “If you don’t want to die then be obedient and stay on the ship. After an hour or two we will arrive at Red Clouds Island. You should not think that we caught you to be free labour. This is my Red Clouds Island giving you an opportunity! On the island there are endless delicious delicacies and they can be yours if you have the skill to obtain it. As long as you passed the test of my Red Clouds Sect you can become a disciple from that time onwards. Then you can become the one to invite the other batch in the coming month to give them the opportunity to become martial artists.”
The people kept their mouths shut, obviously, they didn’t believe the words spoken by him.
They could not rebuke the Red Clouds Sect Martial Artist, so they could only remain silent.
However, once this matter settled down, the normal person who was caught didn’t dare to make noise again and didn’t even dare to have any thoughts of escaping. Under the ship there were Monster Beast who ate humans. So, how would they even have the courage to escape?
The steamship continued to navigate the sea.
After a long time passed, Yang Kai heard a person saying, “Finally returned home.”
“Yeah, I am dead exhausted. We must come out once every month… if things like this continue on, we would be like those people, young and not be breathing?!”
“We have gotten a good number of normal people. They should be able to support us for a while. We probably won’t need to go out and catch them anytime soon.”
Yang Kai opened his eyes to look towards the front and only saw the outline of a foggy island in front of his eyes. This island was not small, Yang Kai estimated that the area of the island was about four to five times that of Sea City. But the feeling that the island gave was very strange, his present eyes were out of the ordinary, and when he looked at the island the left half was not quite the same as right half. The right peninsula was covered with a layer of dim mist making it quite hard to see through; making it look mysterious.
According to the direction of the ship, it was going towards the left peninsula.
After a long time, the steamship speed gradually slowed down and finally it stopped when it approached the shore.
The Red Clouds Sect disciple lowered the rope ladder from the deck, then ordered the shaking common people, “Disembark!”
Although the more than thirty individuals were in a panic, they did as ordered and jumped down from the steamship and finally stood on land. Many people fell down because their legs had turned to jelly because of fear from the man-eating Monster Beasts under the ship.
There were many fishermen on board, fishing was their livelihood, but they had never bumped into this type of Monster Beast.
“You, take that quiet one,” the True Element Boundary expert said to his two disciples.
“Yes, Uncle Master!” The two disciples compiled respectfully, then the two caught Yang Kai on either side.
“Move, we will take you to a life filled with fulfillment.” The two Red Clouds Sect disciples had not embraced these common people. They caught Yang Kai and lead the common people with him.
Yang Kai showed a look of innocence and accompanied them with a smile and asked, “Senior apprentice brothers, when will we enter the Sect?”
One of them rebuked Yang Kai with a sneer, “Who is your apprentice brother?”
The other one also lost his patience but still gave a patient reply, “Do not be so anxious, didn’t you hear on the ship? As long as you are able to pass the test of my Red Clouds Sect, you will be able to enlist yourself as a disciple and then you will be given entry into the Sect and you will be able to cultivate martial arts.”
“So what is this test about?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Test, hey. It’s a very simple test, you only need to pick up something. Now don’t ask anymore, when the time comes you will know.” That person thought that Yang Kai was easy to deceive, so he said while patting his shoulder, “If you are good, then we always have an opportunity to become fellow apprentices little brother. You have just come to Red Clouds Island, so you don’t need to be worried about it just yet. You can have all the delicious delicacies every day, until the test, and when the time for the test comes, naturally someone will inform you.”
Yang Kai gave a nod as he was unable to inquire any further; he could only give up on any further inquiry.
However, Red Clouds Island was truly a good place for cultivation. Here the world energy was richer compared with the High Heaven Pavilion. It was no wonder the sects tried to establish their schools on islands, as islands were good places for cultivation. This point made them superior to the land-based sects.
Moreover, the island was filled with many rare treasures, the type of things that couldn’t be seen on the land.
Perhaps after seeing the beautiful scenery of Red Clouds Island, the mood of the common people who were captured also stabilized. They moved forward while looking at the surrounding scenery.
One of the two Red Clouds Sect disciples gives a reminder, “Do not run all over the place on the island. There are also man-eating Monster Beasts on the island. If you run all over the island, then no one will be able to save you.”
If the common people were told that there were Monster Beasts on the island then it would not have too much effect, but if they were told that there were man-eating Monster Beasts on the island, then even if this was just a bluff it would produce the desired result.
And it really was effective, after hearing him say that, many people became silent and they suddenly remembered the fate of the senior fisherman on the steamship which they just got off.
They followed a specific path which, after walking for about an hour, led them to their final destination.
At the destination, there were other Red Clouds Sect disciples to aid them. After seeing more the than thirty common people in the giant courtyard they said with a slight smile, “Two apprentice brothers worked hard, this time you had quite a good harvest.”
“This time we found more people compared to several months ago. I will hand them over to apprentice brother to manage.”
“Apprentice brother, feel at ease.”
After talking some more, the two Red Clouds Sect disciples then departed.
After they walked off, the Red Clouds Sects disciple who was responsible for aiding them waved his hands and said, “You all, come with me!”
After entering the courtyard, Yang Kai looked around and discovered that fence had surrounded an area of a few kilometers. Many small houses were built and designed for single occupancy.
The more than thirty people were all arranged in these small houses. Yang Kai also lived alone.
The things in the house could not be said to be luxurious, but at they at least met his basic needs. There was a bed which had a bed covering which could be folded easily.
“From now on you are going to live in this place. You don’t need to manage anything and even without doing anything you will be given three meals every day, which will be brought along by someone. Your only duty from now on is to eat your meal until you are full, have a good sleep, and improve your complexion until my Red Clouds Sect grants you the test,” the disciple of Red Clouds sect said to everyone.
Hearing this words Yang Kai suddenly remembered the saying raising pigs for slaughter.
He didn’t believe that the Red Clouds Sect caught this many common people to let them enjoy their life. It really looked like raising pigs; allowing them to eat to the full and having a good night sleep will only make anyone sluggish, and when meeting the enemy one can only be butchered under his blade.
What does Red Clouds Sect want to do? Yang Kai really felt at a loss.
However, Yang Kai didn’t have the means to escape now. Hereafter all was their sect, and it was situated on an isolated island. He could only escape if he can somehow get a steamship, but could that ship resist the Monster Beast attack?
[Let’s just cope with it when the time comes.] Yang Kai lay down the burden in his heart, sat cross-legged on the bed and started to cultivate.
On the next day, someone really came with delicious delicacies. This food could only be eaten by the rich. If examined carefully there was a slight medicinal fragrance coming from the food so some kind of medicine must be have been mixed into it.
Yang Kai didn’t start eating right away but waited for others to finish and after seeing that they were apparently ok he then picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
After eating the food the common people felt refreshed, Yang Kai also felt better. Although the medicine contained in these meals was not significant, but this was good for recharging the body’s vitality. After eating this type of food not only cultivators even average people could also live a long life.
Several days passed by like that. The people who were caught, didn’t have any shred of complaint at the moment. They now believed completely that the Red Clouds Sect disciples said they were brought here to enjoy a happy life.
These were the people who were very poor and had never been treated this way their entire lives. After being made to enjoy so many delicacies they became too happy to think about their home and duty.
However, besides these foods with medicine mixed in, the people must drink a grass fluid every day. This drink was very bitter and was advantageous to the body similarly and did not harm them. Day after day passed by and these poor people’s physiques started to become more robust compared to before.
Their moods became joyful as they could eat without any worry, and they started to feel that they were in heaven.
And there wasn’t much limit on what they could do. Except for not leaving the courtyard, they could move around it however they liked.
Yang Kai eventually settled into a routine. He slipped out at night several times to investigate the situation on the island without being found out.
The martial artists guarding his courtyard were only at the Qi Transformation Stage and they were unable to discover his trail.
After scouting around several times, Yang Kai discovered that in the periphery there were similar courtyards like the one in which he lived, and they were also inhabited by commoners who were caught before his batch.
However the commoners in those courtyards were different. They looked thin and their complexions were pale, almost as if they were withering. Even though they ate similar delicious foods and drank the grass fluid to recuperate, it was not enough to restore their vitality.
Old Demon also felt an unusual aura coming from these people. Their bodies contained a small amount of Demon Qi. This Demon Qi wasn’t a result of cultivation, but it was like it had invaded their bodies because they were either careless or unaware.
This evil Demon Qi was nibbling away at their lives.
After acquiring all this information, Yang Kai faintly guessed what the Red Clouds Sect wanted them for, but wasn’t able to exactly pinpoint their true goal.
Half a month after they were captured by the Red Clouds Sect, one more routine was added to Yang Kai and the common people’s daily routine of eating and sleeping.
That was listening respectfully and studying about various medicinal herbs that was being taught by the Red Clouds Sect disciples.
Everyone was given a booklet, and it contained a complete description of various kinds of rare treasure and ways to harvest them.
The Red Clouds Sect disciples instructed them everyday for about an hour. Yang Kai studied earnestly everyday, after all this type of knowledge could be used anywhere.
These classes continued for half a month.
It had now been a month since Yang Kai arrived at the Red Clouds Sect. During this month he had been cultivating in secret and made a breakthrough, arriving successfully at the second boundary of the Qi Transforming Stage. He didn’t use any medicinal pills and broke through successfully by just absorbing World Qi. This type of achievement proved how rich the world energy was on the island.
If not for the situation not being wonderful, Yang Kai would have been very glad to practice here.
After one month, early one morning, the disciple responsible for guarding their courtyard called everyone.
Slaughtering start! Yang Kai thought in his heart.
Yang Kai could guess from the clues and beforehand inquires that the Red Clouds Sect wanted these commoners to go to a dangerous place to collect spirit medicines. The school disciples were unwilling to step in that dangerous place.
The unnaturally cheerful voice of Red Clouds Sect disciple was heard, “It has been a month since you arrived at the Red Clouds Sect and everyone seems much stronger, this is a gift from my sect to you. However in this world there is no free lunch, if you want to continue such comfortable days, then you need to work for my Red Clouds Sect and show your sincerity. This is also a test, as long as you can pass, you can return here and continue your unrestrained life.”
The group of people became confused and looked at each other.
“Now follow me.” He spoke no further and proceeded to lead this group of people.
They tread the same path which they walked to enter the Red Clouds Sect, and in the same way, they arrived at the seashore after walking for an hour and a steamship was waiting for them.
Yang Kai discovered that there were many people gathered on that ship. The people before him were the same ones he saw when he roamed around at night. These people were squatting on the ship, and many people were trembling with a pale complexion.
When the more than thirty people also boarded, there were almost a hundred commoners gathered on the ship. The commoners who had embarked first looked towards Yang Kai and others. There eyes held inexplicable expressions, these newcomers were reminiscent of themselves when they first embarked.
“Is everyone here?” A middle aged man who has achieved the True Element Boundary asked.
“Everyone has arrived.”
“Set sail!” That person waved his big hands and steamship started to move slowly.
At this moment a panicked voice sounded, “I do not want to go, I do not want to go to that damned place. Please let go of me, I don’t want to go there.”
While saying this with a miserable howl, he stood up and staggered towards the Red Clouds Sect’s martial artist. His complexion was scarlet and both eyes also turned scarlet red with a tinge of insanity. When he arrived in front of Red Clouds Sect martial artist, he opened his mouth wide and bit towards him while shouting, “You want me dead, I will make you die first!”
“This person’s mind has been swallowed by Demon Qi, he has become insane.” Old Demon’s voice was transmitted.
“Bold!” It looked like this wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened to the Red Clouds Sect martial artist. After looking at the scene, without delay he pulled out the saber from his waist and pierced it to through the chest of that person, then with a kick, threw him off the steamship.
From under the ship came the sound of Monster Beasts dismembering that person.
Hearing that sound everyone’s hearts went cold.
After killing that commoner the Red Cloud Sect martial artist gave an indifferent glance to the people present on the ship and he said with an indifferent tone, “Whoever behaves likewise will be thrown off the ship to become fish food.”
His body was overflowing with a murderous aura, as he swept his powerful gaze at everyone, no one dared to move or look at each other.
The ship became extremely peaceful immediately.
The final destination of the steamship was not a distant place, but was the right peninsular side of the island which was hidden in fog. After going around in a great circle, the steamship finally approached the shore.
While Yang Kai was on the ship, he understood what kind of duty they were going to be assigned.
They were needed to pick something called the Black Profound Fruit, and Yang Kai knew about this fruit. After arriving at the Red Clouds Island, in the second half of the month, he had listened to the explanation of Red Cloud Sect disciple.
On the first page of the booklet which they were provided, there was a picture of jet black fruit which generally grew like grapes on a bunch. This was a speciality of Red Clouds Island, and in the nearby sea area it was only provided by Red Clouds Island.
When the disciple was giving them the explanation about this Black Profound Fruit he was being very thorough with it. At that time Yang Kai didn’t understood why he was being so thorough about this fruit, but now he finally understood.
The Red Clouds Sect caught the common people and brought them here, there biggest goal was to collect this Mysterious Black Fruit.
This fruit wasn’t a high grade spirit medicine according to medical theory. It was only ordinary grade at most so he couldn’t understand why the Red Clouds Sect want them.
Everyone was given a medicinal basket and everyone needed to at least pick 1.5 kg of Black Profound Fruit to complete the task. Naturally if you could collect other precious materials then according to the value it could be counterbalanced.
This was the reason for the Red Clouds Sect to teach these commoners about herbal knowledge for fear that they bumped into a rare spirit medicine but failed to notice it.
More than hundred people rushed out of the steamship but the people from the Red Clouds Sect stood on the ship motionless. It appeared that the right peninsula was a forbidden area for them that nobody dared to visit.
Then, the True Element Boundary Expert said, “You have three days of time, after three days we will come to pick you up. If you are unable to complete the task then you don’t need to return and you can let life play its course on the island. Let’s go!”
The steamship departed, and more than hundred commoners looked at the ship leaving with low spirit.
Yang Kai and more than thirty people who were caught with him didn’t even get to clarify the situation as it was their first time in this place.
After a moment of standing in the same place, many people without saying a word started to move towards the interior while carrying their baskets.
Gradually their population started to thin out. Yang Kai stood on the shore and looked towards them then finally gave a sigh.
There were many Monster Beasts moving under the sea making it impossible to escape.
Turning around Yang Kai also entered the right peninsular region.
“Young Master, the Demon Qi of this place is very rich, so no wonder the Red Clouds Sect disciples do not dare to come.” Old Demon’s voice transmitted.
If this Demon Qi was inhaled a little, there was a possibility that it would do irreversible harm to the body. And if inhaled for a long time, there was a big possibility that the Demon Qi would invade the body and mind and the person would fall from the sky and become a devil.
So for this reason, the Red Clouds Sect needed to catch the commoners and make them enter the right peninsular region to collect the spirit medicine. But they spent a month of time to make their bodies recuperate in hope that they could support a few more days, because if they just let them enter right away they would just go crazy after only a short while.
“Isn’t the Demon Qi to your liking?” Yang Kai teased him, but hadn’t started to ponder about his situation.
“Hehe, it’s as Young Master says.” Old Demon said with a strange smile *Jie Jie*, “With old servant here, young master doesn’t need to be worried about being effected by this Demon Qi. But Qi is present here as well. Young master, we have time right now, we might as well explore this island, perhaps we can harvest something good.”
“I was also thinking the same thing.” Yang Kai nodded. After being caught, it had almost been a month since he was isolated, although they served many delicious things to Yang Kai, he had a lot of energy pent up.
He walked with the medicine basket on his back into the depths of the right peninsula.
It was impossible for anything to be present on the outside, even if the Mysterious Black Fruits grow fast after being picked again and again, they must have been used up. The only possibility was to find them in the interior of the island.
Many had the same idea as Yang Kai, but they always travelled in groups. It was rare for anyone to explore alone.
As the time passed, less people were gradually seen until no one was around him.
While Yang Kai was walking alone, he suddenly discovered that in front there was a person’s shadow, which was moving very fast towards the same direction as himself where he saw a vine hanging a common grape fruit.
Mysterious Black Fruit!
Yang Kai’s eyes became wide, he also hastened his footsteps, the other person was also running towards the direction of Black Profound Fruit, so who ever reached first would obtain it.
Thinking more about the string of fruit, it was around 250 grams, in other words, he only needed to find six more then the duty would be finished.
The other person was stunned by the sudden appearance of Yang Kai. He stared at him with raw hatred, and said in a low voice, “Boy give me that fruit!”
Yang Kai’s brows wrinkled slightly.
This person was also a good hearted poor commoner, but after coming and going out of this place, his body was affected by the Demon Qi and he lost his natural disposition gradually. Now he had become cutthroat and crazy. If Yang Kai didn’t give him that string of Mysterious Black Fruit then he would really kill for it.
“I can give you the fruit.” If not for the fact that Yang Kai wanted to inquire about some things, he would never snatch from a commoner.
“Give it to me quickly.” The person lowered his head and looked at Yang Kai with an evil look.
“I just want to ask one thing, what does the Red Clouds Sect do with the fruit?” Yang Kai asked that person, as it was not the first time that he entered, so he should understand something about it.
“Don’t talk rubbish, first give me the fruit then I will tell you.”
Yang Kai smiled and threw the string of Black Profound Fruit towards him.
That person received the fruit, then showed a smile, put it in the medicine basket on his back, looked Yang Kai up and down, and gradually the sharpness in his eyes vanished, after hesitating for a moment he said, “I don’t know all the details, but I only listened to someone say that they need this to feed the fish.”
“To feed the fishes?”
“Em, some special fish, I am not clear about the details.”
After telling him this, the person looked at Yang Kai with an unusual, hidden evil intention then said, “You, boy, are quite skinny, might as well travel with me, what do you think? After all, here is a dangerous place.”
[Why does he want me to join him?] Yang Kai shook his head with a smile, he knew that if he travelled with this person, then he would need to meet their need first; and that is by surrendering all his Mysterious Black Fruit to meet their need first.
“So unappreciative!” He didn’t force Yang Kai to join him. The human emotions which were present on his face gradually disappeared, and with a cold snort, he departed.
Yang Kai walked towards the right peninsula region. The more he walked the deeper he went.
A day had already passed after entering this right peninsula, and on the way, he discovered many Black Profound Fruit, but Yang Kai didn’t want to help the Red Clouds Sect by completing the task so he has just ignored them.
The three-day deadline that the Red Clouds Sect martial artist gave should be the limit the commoners could tolerate before going mad. But Yang Kai was different as he had the assistance of Old Demon and wasn’t worried about the Demon Qi entering his body.
And Old Demon was in need of this Demon Qi to restore himself, so he didn’t let off even a wisp of Demon Qi which entered his body.
Yang Kai decided to explore this right peninsula first. He wanted to discover the hidden mystery of this place and then wanted to find a way to leave Red Clouds Island.
The right peninsula was quite big. It contained many mountains which were not very tall but had very steep inclines and commoners were unable to climb them.
Yang Kai’s destination was these mountains. He believed that he could definitely find some rare treasure in them.
While Yang Kai was walking step by step, a fresh medicinal fragrance suddenly assaulted his senses. Upon inhaling this fragrance he immediately felt refreshed, calm, clear-headed and comfortable.
After carefully searching for the origin of this medicinal fragrance Yang Kai diverged towards the right. After a little while, a flower that was about half his height appeared in front of him.
This flower was pink at the top, and its pistil was blooming, and the fragrance emitted from the flower was pleasant. If one carefully examined this flower, they would see it appeared to have a face of a beautiful woman who was smiling at them.
Moreover, the stem of this flower was also a little strange, it was just like the waist of a woman which was exquisitely carved.
“A Beautiful Woman Pistil!” Yang Kai became excited after seeing it, he hadn’t thought that after only a day, he will be able to find such a good thing. According to the booklet which the Red Cloud Sect disciple had distributed, this Beautiful Woman Pistil was a High Earth Grade spirit medicine. When used with specific spirit medicines and refined into pills they would give certain benefits when consumed by women. Even if it was unable to turn an ugly woman into a beauty, it could at least make the skin look smoother and fresher.
Yang Kai was naturally impolite, he picked the Beautiful Woman Pistil and put into the medicine basket on his back.
He then continued to thoroughly explore.
Perhaps Yang Kai was the first to step in this region because he was repeatedly able to find the Beautiful Woman Pistil.
The right side of Red Cloud Island was a treasure trove.
The Red Clouds Sect martial artists did not dare to penetrate because of Demon Qi, and average people didn’t have means to thoroughly search the inner island so everything here was for Yang Kai’s taking.
While searching in the mountains, the medicine basket on Yang Kai’s back was gradually filling with spirit herbs and spiritual fruit.
What was even more pitiful for the Sect was that the right peninsula was not small, but nothing was able to hide from Yang Kai’s search. Yang Kai searched at least three to five times in each place while running through the region.
His basket was filled with the spirit herbs and the most inferior spirit herb was also a Low Earth Grade spirit herb, there were also Heaven Grade spirit herbs present. If these things were sold they could easily go for millions of silver.
Moreover, this place didn’t have as much danger as Black Wind Mountain, where Monster Beasts constantly roamed about and a weak person would only become food for these Monster Beasts.
Yang Kai wandered about in many places and only encountered two or three wolves.
On the third day, the Red Clouds Sect’s steamship returned. Yang Kai saw a person standing on the mountaintop. The people who were able to earn their living only amounted to around 60-70.
The minds of the others must have been swallowed by the demon Qi, making them fall into madness and finally die on this right peninsula.
On the fourth day, Yang Kai was standing at the foot of a mountain. This mountain was almost 3000 feet tall.
This was the last mountain remaining to be explored. Yang Kai had explored almost all of the right peninsula.
Old Demon, who has remained silent for all this time, suddenly said excitedly, “Young master this peak is probably responsible for the Demon Qi in this place!”
“Are you sure?” Yang Kai was also surprised, he also felt that the Demon Qi here was truly denser compared to other places.
“Naturally! The immortal soul of this old servant has been shivering.”
“Are you afraid?” Yang Kai asked doubtfully.
Hearing this Old Demon gives his creepy laugh, “It’s not fear but excitement! Young master. It’s like if you are hungry for a long time and delicious food is placed in front of you, what will you do?”
“Eat it of course!”
“Young master this old servant earnestly asks you to give him this opportunity!” Yang Kai even indistinctly heard Old Demon swallowing his saliva.
Yang Kai showed a faint smile and climbed upward on that steep mountain.
Yang Kai was also very curious about the reason that made the right half of Red Clouds Island to be so different.
While climbing upward, Yang Kai also looked around in hope of finding some rare treasure. But even after reaching the top he wasn’t able to find anything. He felt a little disappointed.
After reaching the summit, Yang Kai stood straight and looked all around carefully.
This mountaintop was very strange. If examined from a distance this place looked very smooth, like a barren land, but after standing and observing for a while it felt like it was much more than that.
There wasn’t even a bit of grass present and the land was blood-red with a pungent scent hanging in the air.
An evil aura seemed to caress his face!
Yang Kai took a deep breath, and his eyes locked onto a giant rock in the middle of the mountaintop.
That rock was a brilliant red color, and on it, the evaporation of blood could be clearly felt. It was like a mist which could infiltrate into anyone.
With some caution, he walked slowly towards the rock until he was near enough to touch it, but he still didn’t feel any danger from it.
Looking carefully, he could only see a giant stone which was as smooth as a mirror, which had several drops of bright red liquid which was thick and looked like fresh blood.
“Congealing blood bead!” Old Demon expressed his admiration but his expression didn’t have too big of a change. Obviously, he said it very lightly. But Yang Kai knew Old Demon. Although their time together was short he knew that Old Demon had very high standards; so anything that could make him gasp with admiration was definitely a very good thing.
“Young master, this old servant finally understands.” Old Demon continued, “A young devil died here, that’s why this place has so much Demon Qi.”
“A young devil?”
“In comparison to this old servant he truly is a young devil, but by the standards of the martial artists of this place, he should have been very powerful.” Old Demon said with a self-satisfied expression.
“How powerful?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“He must have been at a higher boundary than the Divine Movement boundary!” Old Demon explained in a way that Yang Kai could understand.
Yang Kai rubbed his forehead. He was currently at the Qi Transforming Stage, then there is the Separation and Reunion Boundary, after that there is the True Element Boundary, and then there is the Divine Movement Boundary.
This Young Devil….by grace, this Young Devil had surpassed the Divine Movement Boundary and had reached an even higher boundary so who could have been his rival in this world? He must have been the first Under Heaven powerhouse.
And he unexpectedly died in this place.
“Although the mortal body of this Young Devil perished, but his Demon Qi still remains in this place. And that made this right peninsula so strange, and if this old servant can absorb this Demon Qi, then I should be able to restore some of my immortal soul strength. But it’s a pity that this young devil died for such a long time and has wasted so much Qi. Couldn’t he wait for this Old Man to come and then die?” listening to Old Demon talking about the young devil made Yang Kai jump.
“That Congealing Blood Bead that you recognized, what does it do?” Yang Kai looked at the red liquid in front of him and asked.
“That is the young devil’s flesh and blood essence that congealed, it contains a huge amount of energy. This old servant doesn’t have a mortal body to absorb it. Young master if you absorbed this, it can give a significant promotion to your strength but this old servant doesn’t know if you can withstand it. The energy that it contains cannot be absorbed by an average person.”
After hearing this Yang Kai became a little hesitant and uncertain.
To promote his strength significantly was what Yang Kai desired. But can he withstand this Congealing Blood Bead?
After telling Yang Kai about this issue Old Demon said with a smile, “Young master you should become a devil! It’s not such a bad thing, if you don’t like someone just kill, if you like a beautiful woman, you can snatch her and play with her to your heart’s content, and if you become bored, you can just discard her, you don’t need to worry about too many things. You become free and unrestrained, and what is a human and what is a devil? An average man only knows that there are two divisions of a man, and that is Human and Devil but that is a big mistake. As long as a human is immoral can’t they become devil? Young master, you have seen the Red Clouds Sect’s procedure, it’s a heartless and shameless procedure but this Sect, in the common people’s eyes is filled with demons.”
“They are demons!” Old Demon finally concluded.
Yang Kai’s heart was moved but he was still unable to decide.
While Yang Kai was hesitating in his mind, a swift wind sound was transmitted, and Old Demon gave a warning, “Young master, careful!”
Yang Kai displayed his homemade movement technique by instinct and moved away from that place.
A bang transmitted from the position where he was standing.
Looking up Yang Kai got a big shock. A huge scarlet python had appeared out of nowhere. It was as thick as his body and was several feet long, and was sitting there while circling its body and its head was turned towards Yang Kai.
Its eyes were bloody and its giant mouth swallowed a spirit bead, its appearance became even more fearsome.
Old Demon cried out strangely, “That big snake has swallowed the Congealing Blood Bead unexpectedly.”
Old Demon doesn’t need to tell him, Yang Kai also saw. So no wonder that stone only contained three drops of Congealing Blood Bead, it was absorbed by this cheap snake.
“Come out!” Yang Kai flung his hand and Old Demon came out with the Soul Breaking Awl and appeared in front of Yang Kai.
Immediately Yang Kai threw both Old Demon and the Soul Breaking Awl towards the big snake.
“Young master…..” Old Demon called out pitifully, completely shocked by this action. He didn’t have a mortal body so what could he do to such a big snake? But at that moment he understood Yang Kai’s action, although he felt aggrieved he still admired Yang Kai. That big snake became confused for a split second and Yang Kai appeared in a twinkle in front of it. That he was able to think of such a plan in such a short time was really impressive.
The serpent was smart, the Soul Breaking Awl was inside its stomach (which it was unable to feel) but it was enraged by Yang Kai’s movement. It looked at Yang Kai with a horrifying expression while moving his tongue inside out after swallowing the bead and moved towards him like a thunderclap.
The big jaws opened up, capable of scaring anyone, stank and contained toxin.
Yang Kai held his breath, dodged the snake then moved behind it while directly concentrating his True Yang Yuan Qi on his fist and shouted.
“Burning Sun Three Layer Blast!”