Yang Kai cleaned up the cave a bit before picking out the best spot to set up his bedroom.
Soon after, Yang Kai left the cave and walked around the perimeter of Dragon Cave Mountain while thinking about the various arrays used to gather World Energy.
He had come into contact with this type of Spirit Array many times before. Tong Xuan Realm’s Soaring Heaven Sect, Nine Heavens Holy Land, the floating continent’s residence, Zong Ao’s palace on Rainfall Star, all these places had such Spirit Arrays.
Since Yang Kai had decided to stay here, naturally he wanted to create the best cultivation environment possible.
Yang Kai’s understanding of Spirit Arrays was fairly simplistic, with most of the knowledge concentrated around Alchemic Spirit Arrays, but all Spirit Arrays had some similarities between them, using different methods to achieve the same result, and with Yang Kai’s vast experience, designing and setting up a basic World Energy gathering Spirit Array was at least possible.
Creating a decent Spirit Array would require a piece of land with appropriate topology, supplemented by some materials that were connected together by various.
Although the area of Dragon Cave Mountain wasn’t too large, Yang Kai discovered that the natural conditions here were actually quite good. There were several peaks nearby the cave Wu Yi had shown him, and if took them as a foundation, he shouldn’t have any trouble arranging a good Spirit Array.
As Yang Kai walked through the mountains, he kept thinking about some of the things that Great Elder Xu Hui had told him when he was Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, especially about the mysteries of the Nine Peaks Spirit Array.
Soon, Yang Kai had some initial plans.
With these plans in mind, Yang Kai set out directly for Heavenly Fate City which was just fifty kilometres away.
Heavenly Fate City was considered to be an independent force under Shadow Moon Hall’s control. Even if Hai Ke Family was closer to Heavenly Fate City, because the city itself was extremely wealthy, it was not something a small family like theirs could manage.
Hai Ke Family only owned a few shops inside the city which provided jobs for their cultivators to earn some small profits.
Upon entering Heavenly Fate City, Yang Kai found that there were streams of people flowing through the streets and into the shops; the prosperity of this place was no worse than cities on Rainfall Star or Water Moon Star.
Most of the shop owners here belonged to Shadow Moon Hall or forces attached to Shadow Moon Hall. With so many people gathered around, money was also abundant, so every shop was a great money tree.
There were no guards at the gate to collect Saint Crystals. Shadow Moon Hall allowed anyone to enter and exit the city freely.
Yang Kai entered the city in high spirits and began walking around leisurely, browsing the various shops.
Soon, to his surprise, Yang Kai discovered that the value of Saint Crystals here on Shadowed Star was far greater than on other Cultivation Stars.
For example, a bottle of cultivation pills that would cost three hundred Low-Rank Saint Crystals on other Cultivation Stars only cost two hundred here.
Five hundred pieces of Low-Rank Saint Crystal were only worth about four hundred pieces here.
The isolation from the outside world allowed Shadowed Star to develop its own valuation for Saint Crystals, their scarcity making them more valuable, allowing one to purchase things for fewer Saint Crystal.
Yang Kai was quite excited.
Because he had more than 47,000 High-Rank Saint Crystals in his Black Book Space. The conversion between different quality Saint Crystals was roughly one to five, meaning one High-Rank Saint Crystal could be exchanged for five Mid-Rank Saint Crystals, and one Mid-Rank Saint Crystal could be exchanged for five Low-Rank Saint Crystals.
Carrying out the full conversation, Yang Kai had more than one million Low-Rank Saint Crystals and could buy many things he wanted.
He immediately set about buying the ore and materials he needed.
Afterwards, Yang Kai happily strode over to a shop called the Artifact Refining Pavilion.
In any city, there was always a place dedicated to Artifact Refining; whether it was on Tong Xuan Realm or the various Cultivation Stars of the Star Field, as long as there was a city filled with cultivators, such a facility would certainly exist.
Not many cultivators understood Artifact Refining, so they would often need to find skilled Artifact Refiners to help them. By setting up shops like this one, Artifact Refiners not only had an opportunity to practice their craft but also to gain a large sum of money.
Artefact Refining Pavilion in Heavenly Fate City could also be regarded as a subsidiary of Shadow Moon Hall, and of the dozens of Artifact Refiners working here, most of them belonged to Shadow Moon Hall or were hired by them. Those who were hired to work here by Shadow Moon Hall would have to give a portion of their profits to Shadow Moon Hall but had the freedom to come and go as they pleased, not having to answer to Shadow Moon Hall.
When Yang Kai arrived, he was surprised by the lively scene inside.
There were at least two hundred cultivators of varying strength waiting in line, waiting for those Artifact Refiners in Artifact Refining Pavilion to help them refine or adjust their artefacts.
As soon as Yang Kai appeared, many pairs of eyes landed on him, some of them containing a deep sense of vigilance, seemingly worried he would try to cut in line.
This scene couldn’t help reminding him of the crowds that gathered outside the Nine Peaks when Nine Heavens Holy Land had started offering Alchemy services. At that time, many people were willing to wait outside the Nine Peaks for several months to request Alchemy from the Holy Land.
At this moment, remember those scenes, Yang Kai couldn’t help understanding the anxiousness of those people.
Did he have to wait that long? Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning.
A man who was dressed up as a shop-hand walked over to Yang Kai at that moment. This man wasn’t too young and his strength wasn’t too great. Apparently, he had given up on advancing his cultivation and decided to work here in order to earn a livelihood.
Taking out a kind of pamphlet of sorts, he enthusiastically handed it to Yang Kai and smiled, “Take a look and choose for yourself, if there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.”
Yang Kai accepted this pamphlet and after skimming it, he found that it listed the names of several dozen Artifact Refiners in Artifact Refining Pavilion along with their capabilities, fees, as well as a number.
Yang Kai asked and was informed that the number indicated how many cultivators were waiting in line for that Artifact Refiners’ services.
Yang Kai glanced at this pamphlet and discovered that the most skilled person already had more than thirty cultivators waiting for his services and that he was able to refine Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts!
It was no wonder so many people were waiting for him. Artefact Refiners, like Alchemists, had their own hierarchies. The higher one’s grade, the higher end artefacts or pills they could refine.
It wasn’t easy for cultivators to find and collect the necessary materials for an artefact than for pills, so when choosing an Artifact Refiner, they would be extremely cautious, preferring to pay more for someone with higher skills than saving money by asking someone less proficient.
The fee of the Artifact Refiner who was capable of refining Saint King Grade High-Rank artefacts wasn’t low, but with such level of skill, there were naturally many cultivators who would be willing to pay.
Yang Kai’s gaze swept the names of the various Artifact Refiners and soon fixed on a certain one named Yang Yan, his brow furrowing as he carefully read their details.
“Which Artifact Refiner does honoured customer want to request refining services from?” The shop-hand asked with a smile.
“Is this information all accurate?” Yang Kai asked.
The shop-hand smiled, “Honoured customer need not be concerned. Our Artifact Refining Pavilion is an industry of Shadow Moon Hall and most of the Artifact Refiners here are Shadow Moon Hall’s disciples. Their means and capabilities have passed through Shadow Moon Hall’s strict evaluation and fair prices have been set. This is an upright business that will never engage in fraud.”
Yang Kai stared at this man deeply before lifting the pamphlet up and pointing to a certain name, “This person named Yang Yan charges so much and claims to be capable of refining Origin Grade artefacts, so why is nobody patronizing him?”
The number behind Yang Yan was clearly zero, which meant that no one was waiting in line for his Artifact Refining services. In contrast to him, the other Artifact Refiners were all crowded and busy.
The shop hand’s smile cramped slightly as he said, “Honoured customer, it’s like this, the quality guarantee of Artifact Refining Pavilion only applies to Artifact Refiners from Shadow Moon Hall, those Artifact Refiners on contract from the outside are not. Their skills and fees are all decided by themselves and we simply don’t have enough time to properly verify their claims. When Grandmaster Yang Yan came to the Artifact Refining Pavilion, we tried to stop her, but Grandmaster insisted that she was capable of refining Origin Grade artefacts. I don’t suggest you choose her, if there are any losses, we won’t pay compensation, and we have many other Artifact Refiners to choose from.”
Listening to this shop-hand, besides his surprise that Yang Yan was a woman, Yang Kai immediately understood that this was a method Shadow Moon Hall used to suppress foreign Artifact Refiners.
The guarantees of Artifact Refining Pavilion did not cover those Artifact Refiners hired on contract, so many cultivators who needed services would have an extra layer of concerns and avoid choose them if possible.
“Other Artifact Refiners…” Yang Kai frowned and slowly shook his head. The schedules of the other Artifact Refiners were quite full and it would take at least ten days for one to be free.
“Is honoured customer in a hurry? If that’s the case, you can leave the materials here and then pick up the finished product later,” The man made a suggestion.
Instead of answering, Yang Kai asked, “Did anyone ask Yang Yan for her services?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
The shop hand’s smile twitched as an awkward look spread across his face, seemingly unwilling to discuss the issue but eventually saying, “Honoured customer, I highly suggest you ask another Grandmaster to refine your artefact. The fee is smaller and also fairer.”
Even the shop-hand himself didn’t seem to have a favourable opinion about this Artifact Refiner called Yang Yan, which made Yang Kai very puzzled, wondering what was so bad about her skills.
As he was just thinking about it, a burly man stormed out of an inner room while cursing viciously, a thick murderous intent pulsing from his body as he held a big war-hammer in his hands. The hammer itself looked quite good but as he stared at it, the burly man couldn’t hide his annoyance.
[Someone actually dares to curse out an Artifact Refiner?] Yang Kai observed this and asked himself.
Artefact Refiners and Alchemists all possessed extremely distinguished status as there were simply not many of them. In general, no cultivator would dare to offend one, because no matter who they were, at some point they would need them to help refining artefacts or pills. Offending an Artifact Refiner or Alchemist was equivalent to cutting off a possible source of help.
However, it seemed that the cultivators waiting in the lobby were already used to such scenes though, as if this was not the first or second time it had happened, none of them speaking up to persuade this burly man to lower his voice and instead just watching with interest.
The burly man cursed virulently as he stormed out, disappearing soon after.
“Ah, Grandmaster Yang Yan was cursed out again,” Someone in the hall, clearly taking pleasure in other’s misfortune, laughed.
“She deserves it, she can’t even properly refine a Saint King Grade artefact yet she claims to be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner. If all Artifact Refiners were like her, how could we feel comfortable leaving our artefacts to them?”
“En, that’s right, I heard that someone came to Grandmaster Yang Yan with an artefact he had been using for several dozen years and asked her to perform some maintenance on it. It was originally an excellent Saint King Grade High-Rank artefact, but after that routine maintenance, it actually dropped in quality to become a Saint King Grade Mid-Rank artefact. That guy literally left here shedding tears of distress!”
“What does that count for? I heard that someone asked Grandmaster Yang Yan to refine him a sword, but when he came back what he got was a thick machete… Haa, how can one be a qualified Artifact Refiner if they can’t even meet the requests of their clients? She’s probably just boasting shamelessly about her skills. How could Artefact Refining Pavilion hire such a terrible Artefact Refiner?”
“It’s got nothing to do with Artefact Refining Pavilion. Grandmaster Yang Yan only has a temporary contract with them, everyone who seeks her out for Artifact Refining is warned explicitly by Artifact Refining Pavilion’s staff, but those people still choose to use her services, so they can only blame their own stupidity, thinking they can pick up a bargain with that fake Origin Grade Artifact Refiner.”
“I’d rather wait a few extra months rather than look for Artifact Refining from her.”
…..
All kinds of rumours and stories entered Yang Kai’s ears, causing his expression to become stranger and stranger.
The shop-hand also let out a big sigh, “Haa, Grandmaster Yang Yan is really too much, Artifact Refining Pavilion has warned her several times yet she still insists on acting this way, refusing to even apologize for her actions. From the looks of it, she’ll only be here for a few more days before being kicked out.”
“Why is that?” Yang Kai turned to look at him.
“Her acting like this is damaging the reputation of Artifact Refining Pavilion, something the higher-ups naturally cannot tolerate!”
“But from the looks of it, that war-hammer artefact that big guy took out was extremely high quality, and it also seemed to fit perfectly with his Saint Qi attribute, why was he not satisfied?”
The shop-hand laughed awkwardly and explained, “He didn’t order a war-hammer, he wanted a battle-axe…”
Yang Kai’s face went black, immediately understanding why that burly man was so angry. It was just as the others in the lobby had said, an Artefact Refiner that couldn’t meet the requirements of their customers was not qualified to call themselves an Artifact Refiner.
“Honoured customer, have you made your decision?” The shop-hand turned to Yang Kai again asked again.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded and handed the pamphlet back, “I’ll ask Grandmaster Yang Yan.”
The shop-hand was stunned and stared at Yang Kai strangely for a moment before asking, “Are you sure?”
Yang Kai smiled and nodded, “I’m not here for an artefact, just some simple tools, even if she’s not really an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, she should be able to handle my request.”
“If that’s what honoured customer has decided, I won’t say anything more, please come with me!” The man stopped discouraging Yang Kai and led him to one of the rooms in the back of the pavilion, stopping before the door and motioning to Yang Kai to go in by himself, adding in a meaningful tone, “Good luck!”
Yang Kai laughed dumbly and walked in.
The room was quite large, covering at least a thousand square meters. There was a huge Refining Furnace in the centre of the room and Yang Kai could spot the outline of a figure sitting cross-legged behind it, probably the so-called Grandmaster Yang Yan.
The curses of the burly man from just now apparently had no effect on her as her aura showed no signs of disturbance, tranquil as an ancient well, only the sound of her breathing echoing in the room.
Yang Kai walked up to the mat in front of the Refining Furnace and sat down. Immediately after, the voice of Grandmaster Yang Yan called out, “What do you want to refine?”
Hearing this voice, Yang Kai couldn’t help peaking around the Refining Furnace at Yang Yan.
Because despite having been informed about it before, it was still surprising to meet a female Artifact Refiner!
More surprising though was that the sound of Yang Yan’s voice was incredibly melodious and enchanting, arousing Yang Kai’s curiosity about what this woman looked like.
After taking a glance though, Yang Kai felt somewhat disappointed as the only thing he could see was a pair of shimmering eyes staring back at him. Yang Yan had wrapped her figure in a big black robe and even her facial was covered with black wrappings, obscuring her features.
“Why is everyone like this? Did you come here for Artifact Refining or to stare at me?” Yang Yan muttered with dissatisfaction.
Yang Kai wore a dumbstruck look but quickly realized that everyone who had come before him must have reacted with the same curiosity as he did and swiftly apologized, “Sorry, I was just a bit curious about Grandmaster Yang Yan.”
“En,” Yang Yan didn’t seem to mind, asking once more, “What do you want refined?”
Yang Kai got down to business, “A few simple things, not artefacts. Let me show you.”
Saying so, Yang Kai took some pieces of paper that were set out next to the mat he was sitting on and made a few quick sketches.
The cultivators who came here for Artifact Refining services would always have their own ideas and requests, so this pen and paper were prepared ahead of time for them.
After finishing his drawings, Yang Kai passed them over.
Yang Yan accepted them and after flipping through them, seemed to be a bit surprised as she asked, “Do you want to arrange a Spirit Array?”
This time it was Yang Kai’s turn to be surprised, “You can tell that from just these rough sketches?”
Yang Yan laughed, “That’s nothing difficult, other than arranging a Spirit Array, these objects have no other use; if I couldn’t tell what they were needed for I’d be blind. Do you know understand Spirit Arrays?”
“I’m not very proficient,” Yang Kai shook his head and replied honestly. Although he was confident he could arrange a working Spirit Array, he couldn’t guarantee how effective it would be.
“Without a deep understand, fiddling around with these things will just be a waste, the ores and other materials required to refine these things are worth a lot of money after all,” Yang Yan said lightly.
Yang Kai was immediately displeased, “Arranging the Spirit Array is my business, your only job is to refine these things, I’ll pay you regardless of the outcome.”
He finally understood why Yang Yan didn’t have any customers, it seemed she liked to meddle in others’ affairs, such people were destined to be unpopular.
But to Yang Kai ‘s surprise, this woman didn’t make any effort to refute him and instead remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “I can help you refine these things, and I can even help you to arrange a good Spirit Array, but what are you prepared to offer as compensation?”
“You’re versed in arranging Spirit Arrays?”
“Can’t I be?”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“What reason do I have to lie to you?” Yang Yan snorted disdainfully, “You can pay me after you’re satisfied with my arrangement. En, I don’t want much, looking at your strength, you’re probably not very well off, so how about a hundred High-Rank Saint Crystal? If you can take out that much, I’ll leave with you right now.”
“Are you short on Saint Crystals?” Yang Kai became somewhat vigilant, feeling that this woman was a bit too kind and enthusiastic. He had only requested her to refine a few simple tools yet now she was actually offering to come with him to arrange a grand Spirit Array for him, it was hard not to be suspicious.
“I’m an Artifact Refiner, of course I lack Saint Crystals, buying materials requires a lot of Saint Crystals.”
“Aren’t most Artifact Refiners very rich? Why are you lacking Saint Crystals?” Yang Kai was confused. If one were to ask who the richest people in the world were, it would either be Artifact Refiners or Alchemists, these two professions almost never needed to worry about wealth. At the very least, wherever they went, they would never be unable to feed themselves.
“Look at my situation. Do you think I could possibly have spare Saint Crystals?” In the darkness, Yang Yan gave Yang Kai an annoyed look.
Yang Kai immediately understood, since no one was coming to request Artifact Refining services from her, naturally she wasn’t able to acquire Saint Crystals.
The vigilance in Yang Kai’s heart lessened slightly but he still asked cautiously, “If you leave just like that, won’t there be any problems?”
“There won’t be. Artefact Refining Pavilion and I only have a temporary contract, I can leave at any time. En, in fact, they all want me to leave as quickly as possible so I don’t ruin their reputation, a group of ignorant fools!”
After thinking about it for a while, Yang Kai nodded and said, “Good, if you can really arrange a satisfactory Spirit Array for me, I’ll pay you a hundred High-Rank Saint Crystals.”
“Sounds good, let’s go,” Yang Yan said, taking the big Refining Furnace into her space ring and slowly standing up.
Yang Kai swept his eyes up and down her, and although he still couldn’t see her face, he found that this woman was quite petite, the top of her head only reaching his shoulders, but even her thick black robe couldn’t hide her pair of towering peaks.
Not only were these mountains grand in size, they were also exquisitely shaped… Yang Kai couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at them.
Leaving the room, Yang Yan asked Yang Kai to wait outside for a moment while she went somewhere else in Artifact Refining Pavilion. After a short while, Yang Yan walked out calmly and signalled to Yang Kai to lead the way.
Yang Kai didn’t waste any time and summoned out his Star Shuttle, flying off in a certain direction with Yang Yan following close behind.
After the pair left, there seemed to be a burst of cheers from the Artifact Refining Pavilion. Many cultivators were celebrating that Grandmaster Yang Yan had finally left and would no longer ruin their client’s artefacts. As for the misled Yang Kai, no one said anything to dissuade him, even the shop-hand who previously spoken to him stood at the door to Artifact Refining Pavilion and waved furiously at Yang Yan, as if hoping she would fly as far away as possible.
On the way to Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai and Yang Yan moved forward side by side, but strangely, he always felt that this woman’s eyes were deliberately staring at him, an eager look creeping onto her face.
After first Yang Kai didn’t pay this any mind, but after being stared at for quite some time, he couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable and asked, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Yang Yan lifted her eyes to meet his and pouted, “Who is staring at you!”
“Then what are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at the Star Shuttle you’re riding,” Yang Yan snorted, “A Saint King Grade High-Rank Star Shuttle, not bad. Would you like me to enhance it? I guarantee I can increase its performance by ten perfect. Of course, you’ll need to acquire the right materials, En, and you’ll need to pay me some compensation.”
Yang Kai almost fell off his Star Shuttle upon hearing this, only managing to calm himself down a moment later and direct a suspicious look towards Yang Yan and ask, “You couldn’t really be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, could you?”
Enhancing an artefact was very different from refining one from scratch, with the former being more difficult. Someone capable of enhancing a Saint Grade High-Rank artefact needed to at least be an Origin Grade Low-Rank Artifact Refiner.
Yang Yan daring to say such words meant she was confident in her ability to accomplish it.
“Of course I am,” As soon as Yang Kai mentioned her Artifact Refiner Grade, Yang Yan puffed up her well-rounded chest and her pretty face filled with an air of pride.
Outside in the bright light of day, Yang Kai discovered that this woman’s looks were just as sweet as her voice. She possessed an innocent and harmless look that could easily make others feel comfortable around her.
Yang Yan’s expression didn’t contain any traces of deception, but as he knew nothing about her, Yang Kai was naturally not going to take her at her word.
“Since you’re an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, why are you so poor and miserable?”
“Because no one believes me,” Yang Yan muttered in distress, “No one has dared ask me to refine high-grade artefacts. Those who came to me for refining all just wanted junk, so the payment I could receive was also quite poor.”
“Back in the lobby of Artifact Refining Pavilion, I heard someone say that you made a Saint King Grade High-Rank artefact drop in quality to a Saint King Grade Mid-Rank one, is that true?” Yang Kai gave her a weird yet inquisitive look.
“That’s right,” To Yang Kai’s surprise though, Yang Yan actually nodded and admitted it was true, continuing on in an unabashed manner, “The cultivation of that guy was only Third Order Saint Realm. With that kind of strength, he can’t fully control a Saint King Grade High-Rank artefact, Saint King Grade Mid-Rank is his bottom line. By lowering the grade of that artefact, I increased the amount of power he can display in battle. When his cultivation improves, he can just come to ask me to enhance the artefact again.”
“I also heard that you have refined a large machete for someone who asked for a sword…”
“What does he know? His cultivation technique, Martial Skills, and even Saint Qi attribute are all designed for broad weapons. A long sword is too elegant of a weapon, he wouldn’t be able to exert his full strength using one, a big machete is his best option. After he uses it for a while, he’ll understand my good intentions and thank me for being so considerate.”
Yang Kai sighed, not knowing whether he should believe what this woman was saying. If everything she said was true, she might really be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, something incredibly rare considering her age.
From her appearance, it seemed like this Yang Yan was even younger than Yang Kai himself, so it was only natural no one believed she was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner.
Whether she was lying or not, and Yang Kai couldn’t discern.
“Yang Yan, you can’t act that way. As an Artifact Refiner, your highest priority should be to meet the requirements of your customers, not refine artefacts according to your personal ideas. You aren’t them, how do you know what is best for someone else? You making an arbitrary decision like that will just end up causing problems.”
Yang Yan seemed even more aggrieved when she heard this though and muttered, “But I can’t stand seeing those people waste so many good materials like that.”
Yang Kai shook his head and said no more.
After a short while, the pair arrived at Dragon Cave Mountain and landed in front of the mountain cave. Yang Kai was surprised to find that Yu Feng and a group of familiar faces were actually moving around, seemingly carrying some things into the cave.
Noticing Yang Kai’s arrival, Yu Feng ran over with a big grin on his face and patted Yang Kai’s shoulder affectionately, “I heard Young Lady say you decided to stay, is that true?”
“En.”
“En, very good, in any case, you don’t have any family or acquaintances on Shadowed Star, remaining here and helping out the Young Lady is simply the good luck your ancestors passed down to you. En, Young Lady asked us brothers to help you arrange this cave,” Yu Feng pointed at the cultivators who were walking in and out of the cave, all of whom Yang Kai had seen aboard the Starship.
Taking out a Space Ring, Yu Feng handed it to Yang Kai, “This is the ring you were originally wearing, my brothers and I have put a little welcome gift inside it for you, everyone made some contributions. In the future, we’ll all be one family, so don’t refuse.”
Yang Kai took it and swept the contest with his Divine Sense, discovering a few hundred Low-Rank Saint Crystals and several bottles of commonly used healing pills. There wasn’t much inside this Space Ring, nothing compared to how much it originally contained, but Yang Kai still accepted it seriously and nodded in thanks.
It was only then that Yu Feng seemed to realize the existence of Yang Yan, exclaiming in surprise as he stared straight at her for a moment before grinning ambiguously, “Brother, you’re quite fierce, after such a short time here you’ve actually managed to bring back a woman from the outside? Where did you find her? She’s superb, quickly tell brother so I can look for one myself.”
Yang Yan’s face went cold as she stared gloomily towards Yu Feng.
Yu Feng immediately let out a dissolute laugh.
Yang Kai then explained, “This is Grandmaster Yang Yan.”
“Grandmaster?” Yu Feng’s face froze stiff, “What kind of Grandmaster?”
“I invited her here from Artifact Refining Pavilion, she is proficient in Artifact Refining and is going to help me arrange a Spirit Array.”
“An Artifact Refiner?” Yu Feng immediately put away his frivolous smile and respectfully cupped his fists while bowing deeply to Yang Yan, “This Yu had acted disrespectfully to Grandmaster and humbly asks for forgiveness!”
Although Yu Feng looked like a delinquent and oftentimes seemed unreliable, even he understood how distinguished an Artifact Refiner was, so despite Yang Yan appearing quite young, he didn’t dare treat her casually, because no one could guarantee that this woman wouldn’t one day become an outstanding Artefact Refiners he would need to request help from in the future.
Yang Yan’s complexion was still somewhat bad but she still gently nodded.
Yu Feng quickly added, “Since this Young Lady is an Artefact Refiner, can you help me refine an artefact?”
“Sure.” Yang Yan’s eyes immediately brightened and she quickly agreed, “What type and grade of artefact?”
“You two talk… I’m going to inspect things!” Yang Kai couldn’t bear to look at Yu Feng’s sloppy expression and quickly found an excuse to leave.
Many cultivators moved in and out of the cave, appearing quite busy. After spending a few months aboard that Starship, Yang Kai became acquainted with and made friends with this group. Some people he was familiar with while others he wasn’t, but under Wu Yi’s command, these people had come here to help Yang Kai set up his cave residence. There was no trace of dissatisfaction on anyone’s face; on the contrary, they all seemed quite enthusiastic.
Many people called out to and said hello to Yang Kai, with Yang Kai thanking them in response.
After a brief walk around the cave, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit warm.
The cave had been completely transformed. In the stone room, Yang Kai had chosen as his bedroom, a large bed, chairs, benches, and lighting had been put up, giving it a cosy feel. The other places nearby had also been cleaned up and expanded, making the cave more spacious and habitable.
It was clear that these men had worked quite diligently, many of them coming up to Yang Kai, patting him on his shoulder with a smile, and telling him that if he ever felt aggrieved or was bullied in the future, he could come to the Hai Ke Family’s manor to find them and they would help get justice for him.
Yang Kai smiled and accepted their good intentions.
Very satisfied with the renovations inside the cave, Yang Kai came back out.
Yu Feng stood nearby with a somewhat pensive look on his face, but Yang Yan had disappeared.
“Where is that woman?” Yang Kai came up and asked.
“Oh, she said she was going to survey the nearby terrain and that she’d be back in a little while,” Yu Feng responded casually, his expression suddenly becoming bitter as he asked, “Yang Kai, I asked her to help refine me a Spirit Grade artefact, and I even provided all the necessary materials, so why did she still charge me fifty Low-Rank Saint Crystals? Isn’t that price a bit too high?”
“A penny invested is a penny well spent!” Yang Kai patted him on the shoulder and said gravely, “Just accept it, you took the initiative to ask her yourself so it’s too late for regret.”
Yu Feng still felt annoyed, “If I knew earlier I would have gone to Artefact Refining Pavilion in Heavenly Fate City to find someone to refine it, then the cost would have only been half as much. It’s a big loss. That girl seemed poverty-stricken so I felt some pity for her and tried to give her some business but this is how things turned out… I just hope she doesn’t ruin my materials.”
“Ruining the materials isn’t likely, but getting an artefact you want might be a bit tricky…Right, why do you want a Spirit Grade artefact?” Yang Kai asked in confusion. Yu Feng was a First Order Saint King, a Spirit Grade artefact wouldn’t be able to increase his strength in the slightest. Something of that grade would only be used by True Element or Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators.
“It’s a gift for a Junior,” Yu Feng grinned.
After some time, Yang Yan returned.
Without a word, she took out the pen and paper from her Space Ring and then began sketching something, from time to time her brow furrowing as she became lost in thought. Yang Kai and Yu Feng stood to the side and didn’t disturb her.
After the time it would take to boil a cup of tea, Yang Yan looked at the sketches in her hand and nodded with satisfaction before handing them over to Yang Kai and saying, “Modify the nearby terrain according to these diagrams. You seem to have a lot of people here so it should only take you a day or so.”
Yang Kai took the diagram and examined it together with Yu Feng.
Yu Feng wasn’t able to glean anything from this sketch but Yang Kai was actually thoroughly shocked, immediately realizing that Yang Yan possessed impressive skills. Regardless of her true ability in Artifact Refining, she was definitely a Grandmaster in terms of arranging Spirit Arrays.
If the terrain was modified according to this diagram, it would be far simpler to arrange the Spirit Array Yang Kai wanted and the benefits it would provide after being completed would be significantly stronger.
“Understood,” Yang Kai put the diagram away and turned to Yu Feng, “I’ll have to trouble all of you for a bit.”
Yu Feng said with a grin, “No need to act polite, Young Lady has already ordered us to help you in any way necessary, naturally, we’ll put our best into it. Just wait a moment, I’ll gather up some people.”
After Yu Feng left, Yang Yan said, “Did you understand the markings I made?”
Seeing Yang Kai nod, she nodded back and said, “Then you supervise their work, I’ll go refine the other components of the array. Right, give me the necessary materials.”
Yang Kai took out all the materials he had previously purchased and gave them to Yang Yan.
Yu Feng soon led a group of people out of the cave, and after Yang Kai gave them a brief explanation, all of them readily agreed to help.
Dragon Cave Mountain immediately became lively, with several dozen cultivators moving about in groups of three to five, digging up valleys, levelling off hills, or felling extra trees, transforming the surrounding terrain in exact accordance with the drawings of Yang Yan.
No one here was an ordinary mortal so the task of remodelling the terrain was naturally quite easy for them and was completed in less than a day.
When the crowd returned to the cave, Yang Yan had just finished her work as well and ran out carrying several oddly shaped objects, causing some confusion amongst the onlookers.
Ignoring everyone else, she simply nodded to Yang Kai before flying off. Everybody only saw her petite figure shuttle through the mountains, landing here and there from time to time, appearing quite busy.
Yu Feng scratched his head and asked with a puzzled look, “Yang Kai, what kind of Spirit Array are you arranging that requires so much effort?”
“You’ll understand soon enough,” Yang Kai didn’t say anything and simply waited with a smile.
He was now completely confident in the Spirit Array that Yang Yan was arranging.
Yang Yan soon arrived at the last hill and after a brief bit of work, flew up into the sky and stood mid-air, waving towards the crowd with her small hand.
“Finished!” Yang Kai muttered lightly before waving back to Yang Yan, the latter quickly flying back over.
Suddenly, a subtle change in the World Energy aura occurred, with the World Energy within a few dozen kilometres of the six peaks which comprised Dragon Cave Mountain being drawn in by some kind of invisible suction force.
This attraction wasn’t violent but instead quite smooth.
Yu Feng’s complexion changed greatly and couldn’t help shouting out, “You were arranging an Aura Gathering Spirit Array?”
Yang Kai smiled and nodded.
“Amazing, you can actually arrange an Aura Gathering Spirit Array without the use of Saint Crystals?” Yu Feng asked as he and the other cultivators present directed looks of admiration towards Yang Yan.
There were also some places in the Hai Ke Family manor that were especially rich in World Energy aura which were specifically used by the disciples to cultivate, but those places were all specially arranged after consuming a massive amount of effort and financial resources. On top of that, all of them required a considerable amount of Saint Crystals and other rare treasures to maintain their effect.
On the other hand, when Yang Kai and Yang Yan arranged the Aura Gathering Spirit Array around Dragon Cave Mountain, Yu Feng and his brothers only saw them consume a few materials. As for Saint Crystals, not a single one was used.
“The terrain here is quite good, if not for that point, such a Spirit Array couldn’t have been arranged,” Yang Kai explained casually. “The full effects of it will also only become apparent over time.”
Yang Kai truly didn’t know what kind of effect his newly-arranged Spirit Array would have. It may ultimately be unsatisfactory, but this place was just his initial base on Shadowed Star so he didn’t plan on investing too much effort into it. Even if the effects turned out somewhat disappointing, it wouldn’t bother Yang Kai too much.
“All that’s missing is time… as long as there is enough time, this place will have the densest World Energy aura within a thousand-kilometre radius,” Yang Yan who flew back said with great confidence as she swept her eyes across her masterpiece, “The cultivators who owned this territory before must have been blind, this place is a true Land of Hidden Dragons yet they left it here to fallow.”
“A Land of Hidden Dragons?” Yang Kai looked at her suspiciously.
“It’s the name for a piece of land that has this particular type of topography,” Yang Yan replied casually, “Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand, you just need to know that it is very suitable for arranging Aura Gathering Spirit Arrays. It’s called Dragon Cave Mountain, right?”
Yu Feng nodded.
“En, it didn’t acquire such a name for no reason, it’s just that no one who could judge its value had come along,” Yang Yan puffed out her chest slightly, as if she was proud she knew about its worth.
Yang Kai and Yu Feng exchanged somewhat bitter glances for a moment before Yang Kai said, “Do you want to tell Wu Yi about this? She said she would give me this mountain, but if she wants to take it back now, I won’t mind.”
“Although I can’t make decisions on behalf of the Young Lady, I doubt very much she would try to take back the gifts she sent out,” Yu Feng grinned, “You can live here with peace of mind, if you need anything, come to the manor. If the World Energy aura here really becomes that rich in the future, we might also come here to live. What that time comes, brother can’t kick us out, alright?”
Yang Kai smiled and agreed, saying they were always welcome.
Yu Feng and his group then returned to the Hai Ke Family manor.
With the Spirit Array completely arranged, Yang Yan’s work had come to an end. In accordance with their previous agreement, Yang Kai took out one hundred pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal and handed it to her, her payment for having helped set up this Aura Gathering Spirit Array.
Yang Yan unceremoniously accepted it and began counting the Saint Crystals block by block with a joyful look on her face.
Yang Kai shook his head and stopped paying attention to her, turning around and flying into the cave, entering the only stone room, taking out the Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags, and setting them up.
These Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags comprised a single artefact that he had received from the middle-aged female executive of Rainfall Star’s Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce branch and were specially designed to assist one in their cultivation. Their effect was also surprisingly good.
The main reason Yang Kai wasn’t too concerned about the effects of Yang Yan’s Spirit Array was because of the Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags. As long as the Aura Gathering Spirit Array had some effect, he would be able to multiply it with this artefact. Naturally, the better the Aura Gathering Spirit Array was, the happier Yang Kai would be, as this two-pronged approach would be able to concentrate the surrounding World Energy even faster.
Just after Yang Kai finished setting up the Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags, Yang Yan silently appeared, her black robe still covering her from head to toe as she squatted down and stared at one of the flags, her eyes flashing a somewhat scary light.
“Why haven’t you left yet?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“I still have to refine a Spirit Grade artefact for that Yu Feng, I made a deal with him after all,” Yang Yan answered quickly before turning a fiery gaze towards Yang Kai and hurriedly shouting, “An Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact?! Where did you get it? You’re only a Third Order Saint, how could you have possibly acquired such a high-grade artefact?”
Yang Kai frowned slightly and replied, “Someone gifted it to me.”
“Do you want me to further refine it? Aiya, there are really a lot of impurities inside these seven flags! As long as you let me work with it, I can improve their effectiveness by at least fifteen percent!” Yang Yan proclaimed, her eyes now containing an undisguised burning madness.
Yang Kai’s face turned black, and he finally discovered that this woman was simply obsessed. As long as she discovered a high-grade artefact, she would immediately want to refine and enhance it. Whether she was telling the truth or not though, Yang Kai couldn’t tell.
Yang Kai didn’t know what she was capable of, so he wouldn’t take risks. The Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags was the greatest help he cultivated in the future, which would let her refine it casually.
Yang Kai quickly shook his head to refuse.
Yang Yan couldn’t help showing a look of disappointment, her lips pursing as she shouted with dissatisfaction, “Neither you nor anyone else believes what I’m capable of! If you’re not willing to try, how could you possibly know how fierce I am?”
Her tone was quite forlorn and the look she was giving Yang Kai was both pitiful and expectant, seemingly hoping this display would change his mind.
“Do you have nowhere to go?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“En,” Yang Yan gawked, seemingly confused by the sudden shift in topic.
“If you don’t have any place to go, just stay here. In any case, it’s just me here right now.”
“I can also live here?” Yang Yan was pleasantly surprised.
“Sure, but let me say this first, as long as it’s not something important, don’t bother me,” Yang Kai waved his hand.
Yang Yan immediately ran out and a short moment later, Yang Kai felt a familiar strength aura coming from a different section of the cave.
It was actually Yang Attribute strength!
Did this woman cultivate a Yang Attribute Secret Art? Yang Kai was shocked, but remembering that she was an Artifact Refiner, he soon realized that her cultivation a Yang Attribute Secret Art wasn’t too surprising. This only made him more confused though. Whether it was Artifact Refiners or Alchemists, as long as they had some skill, they wouldn’t have any trouble hiring themselves to a decent force where they would receive great care and status, allowing them to concentrate on the development of their skills and career, but this woman was clearly impoverished to an absurd degree.
She had even readily agreed to refine a Spirit Grade artefact for Yu Feng for a pitiful fifty Low-Rank Saint Crystal reward.
Yang Kai reminded himself to one day ask her if she had committed some kind of taboo that caused her expulsion from her previous force. If that was really the case, having her around would become a liability and his best choice would be to quickly kick her out.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai soon discovered that Yang Yan was in a different section of the cave, using her strength to melt the walls and open up a stone room of her own.
Taking back his Divine Sense, Yang Kai ignored Yang Yan and began inspect his current supplies.
After entering the Body Tempering Divine Pond, and being encased in that blood-red crystal, Yang Kai had not had any time to carefully investigate his gains from that strange world. Now that he was idle, he decided to check them out.
Yang Kai took out three Space Rings from his sleeve pocket, the ones belonging to the dead Gui Che, Luo Yao, and Gan Ji.
Inside Gui Che’s Space Ring was the Thunder Wood Bird Wood which was formed after the fall of the Tenth-Order Monster Beast Thunder Luan. Its flesh and blood had crystallized into this tree and streaks of lightly now flashed across its surface. If it was used to refine an artefact, it would definitely result in a powerful Thunder Attribute weapon.
As for the dozens of crystal clear leaves, they were also filled with Thunder Attribute power and could be considered treasures all on their own.
Yang Kai was delighted to see this Bird Wood and quickly stored it inside the Demon Mystic Tome.
Next, he took out the purple carapace from Gui Che’s Space Ring. This hardshell was from the Ninth-Order Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion Monster Beast and was the perfect material to refine a defensive type artefact. Tossing this also into the Demon Mystic Tome, Yang Kai moved on to the next item.
Taking out and packing away various treasures, Yang Kai was filled with joy.
The harvest from that adventure had basically all been obtained by him.
With the exception of one of the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s giant pincers, which had been assigned to Ji Peng, its tail, core, and all kinds of other Monster Beast materials had landed in Yang Kai’s pocket.
On top of that, Yang Kai obtained the countless herbs collected by those three people along the way.
The three cultivators had not been very wealthy though, and the artefacts which had originally been placed in their Space Rings weren’t very high-grade. Yang Kai didn’t even spare these things a second glance and simply tossed them into a corner of the Demon Mystic Tome.
His gains were indeed great, but most of them were temporarily useless.
Suddenly, Yang Kai realized that if Yang Yan was truly an Origin Grade Artifact Refiners, he could ask her to handle these materials.
At the very least, the carapace of the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion could be turned into a defensive artefact that Yang Kai currently wanted.
But what the extent of her abilities was remained to be determined.
A day later, Yu Feng came again and received the Spirit Grade artefact he had requested from Yang Yan, leaving quite happy.
Over the following days, Wu Yi’s subordinates would come in groups of three or five, bringing with them various raw materials they had collected or their own artefacts to ask Yang Yan for Artifact Refining services.
All of them came here with high expectations and all of them left with their requirements fully met. Yang Kai didn’t know when Yang Yan had straightened out her attitude, but since moving to Dragon Cave Mountain, she had not once acted arbitrarily to alter any of the artefacts she was handed or request to refine.
Her reputation immediately soared!
Almost everyone in the Hai Ke Family now knew that there was an Artifact Refiners living in Dragon Cave Mountain, and although her fee was quite expensive, her technique was good. Every artefact she refined was of excellent quality while the ones she was given to enhance saw a twenty to thirty percent increase in power.
Yang Kai didn’t pay this any mind, and because he lived deeper inside the cave, those who came to ask Yang Yan for Artifact Refining services never bothered him.
The only thing that annoyed Yang Kai was that this woman would find a chance every day to come and stare at his Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags, constantly nagging him to let her work with them. Although she was always refused, she did not become discouraged or upset, seemingly thinking that her sincerity would one day convince Yang Kai.
I increased the server and all that but it is still hitting a tons in terms of CPU usage during the peak periods so I’ll be segregating the double posting of Martial Peak. 1 in the usual time and the other in the opposite time and see how it goes from there. (Yes. 12 hours difference)
Yang Yan was a strange woman. In addition to being interested in High-Grade’s artefacts, her other passion in life seemed to be Saint Crystals. Every time Yang Kai passed by her stone room, he would see her meticulously counting and polishing her Saint Crystals, piece by piece.
The stains and dust on her Low-Rank Saint Crystals were wiped clean and were now glittering brightly, making Yang Yan seem very satisfied with herself. Every time Yang Kai saw Yang Yan taking care of her Saint Crystals, he would see a sloppy grin on her face, but when she noticed Yang Kai staring at her strangely, she would immediately sweep away and hide her Saint Crystals, lest they be taken away by him.
[This woman is just a money-grubber!] Yang Kai concluded.
As time passed, fewer and fewer people came to seek Artifact Refining from Yang Yan. Having satisfied all prospective customers already, Yang Yan’s business gradually came to a halt.
One day, while Yang Kai was sitting in meditation, he suddenly heard Wu Yi calling out to him from outside.
Yang Kai didn’t know what Wu Yi was up to recently, but presumable she had been busy as she had not shown up for quite some time. After hearing her voice, Yang Kai immediately opened his eyes and walked out to find her slim and graceful figure standing outside his cave.
“How are things here?” Wu Yi asked with a light smile.
“Very good,” Yang Kai nodded, and thoughtfully looked at her face, discovering that she seemed a bit unhappy.
“I heard Yu Feng say that you and that female Artifact Refiner set up an Aura Gathering Spirit Array here, is that true?” Wu Yi turned swept her eyes over the surrounding terrain, sensing the World Energy aura and taking a deep breath, “The effect seems to be pretty good. If I knew this place was so compatible, I would have found someone to arrange such a Spirit Array a long time ago. Yu Feng and the others all need to pay a certain amount of contribution points or Saint Crystal to use the family’s cultivation rooms but they’re only slightly better than this place right now.”
“Having regrets?” Yang Kai asked her with a calm and composed look.
Wu Yi rolled her eyes and snorted, “Do I look like such a narrow-minded person? Since I said I would deliver you this mountain, it is yours now. No matter how much better the environment here becomes, it has nothing to do with me, so you can live here without worries, no one will dare try to seize it from you.”
Yang Kai was about to say something when he suddenly frowned, turning his eyes towards a certain direction where he saw a streak of blue light. It was clearly someone using a Star Shuttle to examine Dragon Cave Mountain.
“Someone from your family?” Yang Kai asked as he continued staring at this figure.
“En, one of my family’s stewards, you don’t need to mind him,” Wu Yi was also a little displeased, “He came this time to find that Artifact Refiner named Yang Yan.”
“What does he want to see her for?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“She is an Artifact Refiners, what do you think he wants to see her for?” Wu Yi smiled, “It’s not easy to cultivate an Artifact Refiner in a small family like ours, yet right now, there is a wandering Artifact Refiner so close by. Although she isn’t old, she is still worth recruiting. Right, according to members of the family, she can at least refine Saint Grade artefacts.”
During this time, the cultivators who had come to seek Artifact Refining services from Yang Yan weren’t very strong, with Yu Feng having the highest cultivation. As a result, the level of artefacts they had asked to be refined were naturally not very high grade, so the people of Hai Ke Family assumed Yang Yan was a Saint Grade Artifact Refiner.
With an unattached Artifact Refiner so nearby, regardless of her true level of skill, the Hai Ke Family felt they should show their sincerity in the hopes they could recruit her and ultimately bring huge benefits to the family. Thinking so, they had sent someone over to negotiate with Yang Yan.
“What’s your relationship with that woman? I remember you saying you didn’t know anyone here, so how were you able to bring back a beauty to your place after such a short time?” Wu Yi stared at Yang Kai, thinking there was some kind of prior or hidden, unspeakable relationship between him and Yang Yan.
“I have no idea about her actually, I just asked her to come back here to help me set up that Spirit Array, then she asked if she could stay here, and I agreed. En, if your family can recruit her, that would be the best, she’s a bit annoying to have around,” Yang Kai said bitterly.
“It’s up to her if she wants to come with us. In any case, I don’t have an opinion, either way, I just came here today to see how you were doing,” Wu Yi pursed her lips and laughed, not dwelling on the subject.
After a while, the steward from Hai Ke Family flew over and nodded to Wu Yi, “The aura around this mountain is not bad. After a year or so, it will probably be quite astonishing. I heard that the Young Lady gave this mountain away. Was it to him?”
Saying so, he intentionally or unintentionally glanced over at Yang Kai, his eyes full of contempt.
Wu Yi frowned and said, “Uncle Zhou isn’t here for this mountain, don’t you have another task to take care of?”
The cultivator surnamed Zhou snickered, “I was just inquiring casually, Young Lady need not pay it any mind.”
Saying so, he shot another look at Yang Kai before disregarding him completely, crossing his arms behind his back in an aloof manner and taking big strides towards the nearby cave.
“How annoying, them coming over sticking their noses into everything. I’ve never seen them take any interest in this place before. Out of all the surrounding ten thousand kilometres of territory my family owns, because I am just a woman, they assigned me this barren hill, but now that they see some possible benefits, they want to snatch it up,” Wu Yi said indignantly.
Yang Kai remained silent. It was truly inconvenient for him to express his views on the internal affairs of another’s family.
Wu Yi also no longer complained, wearing a smile on her pretty face again and talking to Yang Kai about her recent life while asking him if he needed anything.
The two chatted happily with each other and Wu Yi was quite looking forward to having him help her with her future ambitions, her eyes constantly filled with hope and expectation.
After a half cup of tea’s time, the steward surnamed Zhou suddenly stormed out of the cave and muttered in annoyance, “That little girl can’t appreciate kindness, hmph, really thinking she is something great. How could my Hai Ke Family not be capable of cultivating a trivial Saint Grade Artifact Refiner? Such shameless boasting, actually daring to claim she’s an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner!”
The steward was so angry he didn’t even bother saying hello to Wu Yi before summoning out his Star Shuttle and flying off.
Wu Yi’s jaw dropped slightly, seemingly not having through that the Artifact Refiner named Yang Yan would so bluntly refuse her family’s invitation. Before coming here, Wu Yi had also read the contract of employment and felt that the conditions from her family weren’t bad. Although it couldn’t compare to a large force like Shadow Moon Hall, they still had some status among the smaller attached forces.”
“That woman you brought back seems to be very demanding,” Wu Yi looked at Yang Kai, “Steward Zhou said she claimed to be an Origin Grade Artifact Refiners? Wasn’t she only in her twenties?”
“She claims to be Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, but whether that’s true or not I have no idea,” Yang Kai shook his head.
“Interesting,” Wu Yi pursed her lips and laughed, “Forget it, Artifact Refiners have the right to choose their own employers, boasting irresponsibly like that is a bit annoying but it’s her decision. Good, I have some other things to do now, so I’ll see you later.”
After saying goodbye to Wu Yi, Yang Kai sank into contemplation for a moment before walking back into the cave and proceeding to Yang Yan’s stone room.
Yang Yan wore a pitiful look on her face as she turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Why does no one believe I am an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner?”
“What method do you have to make people believe you?” Yang Kai rubbed his forehead.
“They just need to give me a chance to prove myself, as long as they give me some Origin Grade materials, I guarantee I’ll refine an Origin Grade artefact,” Yang Yan shouted, her plump peaks bouncing vigorously, a wronged look appearing on her face.
“Do you think Origin Grade materials are cheap? Those kinds of materials can only be obtained by big forces. Hai Ke Family is just a small force with scarce finances, how do you expect them to suddenly bring out such expensive materials just to verify your skills? What if you destroy those materials? If I told you that I’m a Saint King Grade High-Rank Alchemist, would you believe it?” Yang Kai stared at her earnestly.
Yang Yan batted her eyelashes as she looked him up and down, saying with a sneer, “You? Really?”
Immediately, Yang Yan doubled over and began laughing, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Yang Kai’s face went pitch black.
He suddenly understood why no one believed Yang Yan’s words. Just like Yang Yan refused to believe his, both of them seemed far too young to be matched with such distinguished status. Which Saint King Grade Alchemist or Origin Grade Artifact Refiner wasn’t hundreds, if not thousands of years old?
After thinking about this, Yang Kai came to realize that Yang Yan may not be lying or intentionally using false titles to inflate her identity. She may really have such ability!
“I’ll ask you seriously one more time, are you really an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner?” Yang Kai stared at her with a solemn look.
“What point is there asking such a question again? Can’t you just discern the truth after giving me some appropriate materials? You could also let me work on your Star Shuttle or those small seven coloured flags. If I fail, you can do whatever you want with me!”
“You think too highly of your short figure,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively, “There’s no way you could make up for the loss of my materials or artefacts even if I were to sell you.”
Yang Yan immediately began grinding her teeth audibly.
“What can you make from these things?” Yang Kai waved his hand again and dumped out a pile of materials in front of Yang Yan.
He felt it was time he tested this woman’s true ability.
Yang Yan, who was just grinding her teeth and staring at Yang Kai with pure hatred, suddenly saw these materials and leapt over to them, tossing away her anger and image as she sifted through them with surprise, calling out in rapid succession, “Eighth-Order Monster Beast Thunder Cloud Leopard’s teeth, Blazing Blue Flame Rhinoceros’s horn, Illusionary Cloud Butterfly’s wings, Heavens! A Diamond Dragon Beetle’s antenna…”
Every time she picked up an item, Yang Yan was able to accurately name it and its origins. Instantly entering into a deluded state, Yang Yan became ignorant of everything around her except this pile of materials, hugging them tightly as if they were her babies, pressing them up against her proud peaks, her arms soon overflowing as she continued picking items up from the ground in a seemingly endless cycle.
As Yang Yan picked up and named these treasures, Yang Kai suddenly noticed that her eyes were red and that tears were actually dripping down her cheeks to her chin.
“What are you crying for?” Yang Kai was speechless for a while, only now realizing just now abnormal this woman’s brain really was.
“I haven’t seen so many precious materials for so long…” Yang Yan’s tiny shoulders trembled as she spoke through her sobs, “They all treated me as a fraud, refusing to bring out any materials or artefact above Saint Grade, I’m not a liar!”
“Don’t cry, I’ll give you a chance now to prove yourself. These things are now yours, I don’t care what you make with them just show me your skills.”
“Really?” Yang Yan lifted her head and stared at Yang Kai with puffy eyes.
Yang Kai nodded and said lightly, “I also want to know if you’re just spouting nonsense or not.”
Hearing that Yang Kai was going to give her so many high-grade materials and that she was free to refine them into anything she wanted, Yang Yan’s spirits immediately soared to the Heavens as a terrifying light flashed across her eyes. Wiping away her tears with great difficulty, she took a deep breath and shouted, “I won’t let you down, and no material that enters my hands will ever be wasted!”
“I’ll wait and see.”
“Where did you get all these materials from? Your strength isn’t very high, so it’s impossible for you to have killed many Eighth-Order Monster Beasts,” Yang Yan asked curiously.
“I picked them up,” Yang Kai said casually.
It really could be said that he simply picked these things up. All these materials came from the Monster Beasts Gui Che and his team hunted and originally belonged to them, but after they died, Yang Kai had simply picked up their Space Rings to acquire them.
“Where did you pick these up from? I also want to pick up such things…” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai with an eager expression.
Holding a list Yang Yan had written up, Yang Kai took another trip to Heavenly Fate City and purchased a number of ores and materials.
After all, Artifact Refining required not just Monster Beast parts but also a variety of metals and crystals.
After receiving these ores, Yang Yan immediately dove into her Artifact Refining, sealing up her stone room to ensure she was not disturbed while she worked.
Yang Kai could clearly feel a strong Yang Attribute energy fluctuation coming from her stone room every day, but he didn’t go to inquire about her specific progress.
As long as she produced some results, he would be able to judge Yang Yan’s ability.
The materials Yang Kai had taken out and given Yang Yan were only some lower grade things he thought he couldn’t use and would just end up selling. If Yang Yan could really refine them into artefacts, their value would definitely increase and he would have some big gains when he took them to be sold. If they ended up being destroyed though, Yang Kai wouldn’t mind too much.
A month passed by peacefully. Without the daily interruption of Yang Yan, Yang Kai’s everyday life was filled with free time, and with the Aura Gathering Spirit Array on Dragon Cave Mountain playing its role, a thin layer of fog had now gathered, symbolizing the buildup of World Energy. Although this fog was by no means dense, it made Dragon Cave Mountain look a bit more like a spirit mountain.
Over time, the aura here would become richer and more abundant.
Wu Yi came to visit him twice, but each time she seemed to wear an unhappy look, as if things in her family weren’t going well. Both times she simply chatted with Yang Kai and relaxed for a while before leaving.
One month later, and as Yang Kai was meditating in his stone room, he suddenly heard the door to Yang Yan’s stone room, where she had been engaging in Artifact Refining, creak open and immediately afterwards, a rapid sound of footsteps entered his ears.
Looking up, Yang Kai saw Yang Yan standing at his door with a flushed look on her face, holding up her long black robes while breathing somewhat raggedly and staring at him with excited eyes. There was a pleased and confident look upon her face.
“Can I come in?” Yang Yan looking around curiously, asking somewhat nervously. One day, Yang Yan had barged in uninvited and Yang Kai had pinched her neck and thrown her out. Ever since that day, Yang Yan had become somewhat afraid to step into this stone room at will.
Yang Kai nodded, asking with some anticipation, “Finished the refinement?”
Yang Yan laughed without saying a word, trying to be mysterious, “Close your eyes first; I’ll give you a surprise!”
[What kind of surprise could there be?] Yang Kai thought with a weird expression on his face, but he still closed her eyes.
The next moment, the look on his face changed, because inside his stone room, a number of energy fluctuations that belonged to Saint King Grade artefacts appeared. Opening his eyes, Yang Kai saw Yang Yan pointing to a row of neatly arranged artefacts in front of him.
“I didn’t waste a single piece of material you provided or ore you bought. These are the results, four Saint King Grade artefacts,” Yang Yan sat down cross-legged and picked up a mace-like artifact and began explaining, “This one was made from the teeth of that Eighth-Order Thunder Cloud Leopard along with some matching ore. I smelted the ore and the Thunder Cloud Leopard’s skull together then used its sturdy teeth for the spikes. A rough artifact like this is suitable for men with brawny builds. En, it’s a powerful weapon, a Saint King Grade Low-Rank artifact!”
After describing her work, Yang Yan handed the mace to Yang Kai.
Accepting it, Yang Kai began carefully examine this mace and soon nodded in approval. He could tell that Yang Yan had efficiently and effectively used these materials to the limit of their ability and that this artefact was well refined, as long as it could find the right owner, it would definitely display great power.
“This dagger was forged with the Blazing Blue Flame Rhinoceros’ horn as its primary material. Although it’s not very sharp, the horn of a Blazing Blue Flame Rhinoceros itself has some special attributes which make it excellent for destroying barriers, so this artifact’s role isn’t designed for fighting but rather for adventuring. I think there should be many people who are willing to buy such an item. En, it’s also a Saint King Grade Low-Rank artefact,” Yang Yan said, handing the light blue dagger over to Yang Kai.
Picking up the next one, Yang Yan continued, “This soft whip was made from the Diamond Dragon Beetle’s antenna, it was the hardest one to refine as the primary materials are quite fragile in an unprocessed form. Fortunately, I was the one who worked on it, if it was handled by another Artifact Refiner, you’d only be able to cry about the loss of materials now. This weapon is suitable for young women. Since you were the one who obtained this antenna, you should understand the true horror of the Diamond Dragon Beetle. Once you get struck with this soft whip, it’s not your flesh that will hurt, but your bones. If you get hit by this whip a few times, your bones might even break. This is a Saint King Grade Mid-Rank artefact!”
Yang Kai took the soft whip from her again and poured his Saint Qi into it before slashing it around the stone room suddenly, causing Yang Yan’s face to go pale for fear she would be struck by accident.
After waiting for Yang Kai to put away the soft whip, Yang Yan excitedly picked up the last artifact, her movements quite slow and cautious, as if she was holding a delicate piece of artwork, her eyes flashing an infatuated light.
“This is the work I’m most proud of this time!”
Yang Kai looked down at her hands and discovered that what Yang Yan was holding was simply a pair of palm-sized wings. These wings sparkled brilliantly and were constantly shifting colours, giving them a truly beautiful appearance.
Needless to say, this artefact was refined from the wings of the Illusionary Cloud Butterfly. It was also the highest grade artifact, Saint King Grade High-Rank!
“Saint King Grade Mid-Rank should have been the limit of the materials you gave me, but with this item I poured in all of my skill and managed to raise its grade by a level. For a long time now, I have wanted to refine an artefact in the shape of a pair of wings; unfortunately, I had never found suitable materials” Yang Yan held the pair of wings carefully as she stared at them, growing more satisfied with every moment, glancing up at Yang Kai every now and then with a look of longing even a blind man would be able to see.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand to her, and Yang Yan unwillingly handed over the pair of wings, emphasizing nervously, “Be careful, don’t break it.”
“Isn’t this thing mine?” Yang Kai looked at her with a smile.
“It’s indeed yours, but it was made by me, so naturally I have a responsibility to keep it safe and make sure you don’t spoil it…”
“Can a Saint King Grade High-Rank artifact be so easily broken?” Yang Kai chuckled.
Yang Yan opened her mouth to object but didn’t know what to say, quickly shaking her head and beginning her description, “Although Star Shuttles are convenient for travelling, in a fight, these wings can increase a cultivators speed and mobility and in a critical moment even provide a boost with some protection. This artefact is worth at least thirty thousand pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal, but if it were to be put up for auction, it would definitely be sold for much more, perhaps as much as forty thousand. There are too many rich people in the world after all, simply hateful!”
As she said so, Yang Yan waved her fists angrily, as if annoyed that she was so poor.
“Thirty thousand?” Yang Kai frowned, remembering that when he bought his Star Shuttle, which was the same grade, it had only cost him twelve thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals back on Water Moon Star.
Although they were the same grade of artifact, the value of this pair of wings was undoubtedly much greater than a Star Shuttle, so it wasn’t surprising for it to be worth such a price. On top of that, its appearance was incredibly beautiful, so presumably, there would be many men willing to pay a huge fortune for it so they could gift it to their favourite woman.
“Are you willing to buy this for thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals? ” Yang Kai looked at Yang Yan and asked.
Yang Yan nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice.
“Then I’ll sell it to you,” Yang Kai threw the pair of wings to her.
Yang Yan caught it in something of a stupor, only a while later saying awkwardly, “I don’t have that many Saint Crystals …”
Saying so, she blushed furiously.
“I know, I didn’t want you to pay up immediately, just consider it a loan. En, I’ll be asking you for Artifact Refining services for a while and will deduct your reward from these thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystal, when you finish repaying me, you’ll be debt-free, until then, you’ll be my exclusive Artifact Refiner.”
“Thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals worth of commission?” Yang Yan was immediately frightened, “Do you know how much remuneration I should collect from you for the artefacts I refined for you this time?”
“How many?”
“I was going to charge you a thousand pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal… That’s my reward for a whole month of hard work. Thirty thousand pieces, that would take me at least thirty months, or two and a half years without any rest to pay off, wouldn’t it?” Yang Yan’s face drained of all coloured, suddenly feeling like she had suddenly been abducted to join a gang of evildoers.
“Two and a half years isn’t very long, there’ll always be a time when you finish paying off your debt.”
“If I can’t pay it off?” Yang Yan said while nearly crying, she had never had so many Saint Crystals and couldn’t even imagine what thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals looked like.
“You can pay off the balance with your body,” Yang Kai grinned, sweeping his eyes over her luscious curves and nodding, “En, I’m actually quite interested in your type.”
Yang Yan’s face only went paler, staring down at the wing artefact on her palm, wishing she could smash Yang Kai’s evil face with it, but unable to bring herself to do so.
After thinking about it for a while, she said solemnly, “I have to ask you first, do you have enough materials for me to continue refining? Since it’s to pay off your debts to me, you need to continue providing me with a steady stream of materials. If I can’t even refine artefacts, how am I supposed to obtain my freedom?”
[This little girl isn’t stupid!] Yang Kai originally wanted to simply set up his identity as a creditor who could never be paid back, but this foolish Yang Yan had suddenly become sharp.
“You don’t have to worry about the materials. En, take these things for now,” Yang Kai said, dumping out another big pile of materials in front of Yang Yan.
While travelling with Gui Che, they had killed a lot of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, so naturally they had obtained a lot of materials. Last time, Yang Kai had only brought out the materials he had no use for, this time he literally dumped out everything that wasn’t extremely valuable.
If Yang Yan’s performance satisfied him again, Yang Kai decided he would allow her to refine an Origin Grade artefact for him.
Looking at this pile of Monster Beast materials, Yang Yan hesitated for a long time before finally compromising.
Wasn’t it just thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals? She felt that she would one day make enough money to pay off such a debt!
Sweeping all these materials into her Space Ring, Yang Yan once again wrote up a list and handed it to Yang Kai, “Buy me these ores. I have to rest for a few days before I can start refining again.”
Yang Kai took the list and didn’t even check it before nodding and walking out.
Yang Yan called out nervously to him as he left, “Can I cultivate in your stone room? It has a denser aura than mine.”
“Yeah!”
Leaving Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai flew off towards Heavenly Fate City.
It took half a day for Yang Kai to finish purchasing everything on the list Yang Yan had given him. Yang Yan seemed to know what kind of ores and materials were available in Heavenly Fate City, so Yang Kai didn’t have much trouble finding the things she wanted.
While a clerk at a shop called Trade Company was checking over the quantity and quality of ores before selling them to Yang Kai, a somewhat rotund old man with a short stature walked over with a look of interest on his face and asked, “Young man, are you purchasing all these ores for Artefact Refining?”
Yang Kai raised his head and frowned at this fat man, but the clerk quickly cut in an introduced him, “Honoured customer, this is our Trade Company’s shopkeeper, Qian Tong!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, not saying anything. This fat old man looked harmless to humans and animals, but his strength was definitely not low, probably an Origin Returning Realm master, but due to him concealing his aura, Yang Kai was unable to determine his exact Order.
Qian Tong didn’t mind this display and continued smiling while saying, “You can rest assured that our Trade Company only conducts honest business and offers fair prices, we will never engage in unscrupulous matters. En, we also purchase artefacts, if you have any artefacts to sell, we can sit down and discuss an appropriate price.”
“Why do you think I have artefacts for sale?” Yang Kai glanced over at him with a slightly puzzled look.
Qian Tong laughed, “You are a guest, and this old man says this to every guest.”
“I do happen to have artefacts for sale,” Yang Kai laughed.
This time Yang Kai had come to Heavenly Fate City for two purposes; one, to purchase the ores on Yang Yan’s list, and two, to sell the artefacts she had refined. In any case, he had no use for them. Whether it was the mace, dagger, or whip, none were suitable for him to use, so keeping them in his Space Ring would just be wasting Heaven’s precious gifts.
On top of that, these ores cost him a lot of Saint Crystals to buy.
Originally Yang Kai had wanted to ask Wu Yi for her help regarding this matter; after all, he wasn’t familiar with the market here or what fair prices would be. But Wu Yi’s position was somewhat delicate and she herself wasn’t that strong, so asking her for help would probably lead to some unnecessary trouble.
Now that this smiling fat old man had come up to ask on his own initiative, Yang Kai had no reason to refuse.
Although his opponent wasn’t weak, Yang Kai didn’t have any fear. At worst, he could just tear space and flee. Since he had confidence in preserving his life, he naturally had confidence in negotiating as well.
“Oh? It seems this old man’s vision hasn’t gone bad yet, hahaha, young man, this way, please!” Qian Tong motioned to Yang Kai.
After a short while, the pair came to a private room that was clearly set up for the exclusive purpose of conducting transactions. Many people didn’t like having unnecessary people seeing what items they were buying or selling, which resulted in many people often wearing masks or disguises when they came to do business.
The existence of this private room avoided all those problems though as once the door was closed, leaving only Yang Kai and Qian Tong behind, all outside Divine Senses would be blocked.
Yang Kai glanced around the room for a moment, his expression remaining calm and composed.
Qian Tong maintained his smile while a light flashed across the depths of his eyes, secretly wondering whether this young man either had solid nerves or simply wasn’t afraid at all.
As a businessman though, even if he felt surprised, Qian Tong didn’t ask any unnecessary questions and got straight to the point, “Young man, what kind of artefact do you want to sell? What grade is it?”
Yang Kai quickly took out three artefacts refined by Yang Yan.
Qian Tong swept his eyes over these artefacts then picked them up one by one, examining them carefully, nodding silently after a while, “This old man isn’t proficient in Artifact Refining, but I can see that these items are top quality amongst their grade and were refined by the same Artifact Refiner, what price are you looking for?”
Qian Tong only spoke about business matters and didn’t inquire into any other information, an act that made Yang Kai very satisfied.
“I don’t understand the local prices, how do you normally purchase such items?” Yang Kai asked back.
Qian Tong was stunned, not having expected Yang Kai to completely surrender the initiative in this negotiation. Which person who came to sell treasures didn’t want to hold the initiative? Fearing they would lose money, most people would try to heap praises onto their goods while raising the price as high as possible.
Even after a transaction was completed, people would secretly worry about whether they had been ripped off or not.
On the other hand, this young man seemed completely free and easy, as if he didn’t care about suffering a loss.
With the same friendly smile, Qian Tong said, “The price of Saint King Grade artefacts generally starts at five thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, but that is just our bottom line. Two of these items are Saint King Grade Low-Rank while one is Saint King Grade Mid-Rank, each of which is of superb quality. For the two Low-Ranks, this old man is willing to pay six thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals a piece. As for the Saint King Grade Mid-Rank artefact, how about eight thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals?”
“A total of twenty thousand?” Yang Kai frowned, feeling like the price was a bit lower than he had imagined.
But remembering that Saint Crystals on Shadowed Star were more valuable than other places, he felt relieved. In Yang Kai’s opinion, Qian Tong’s price was fair; after all, he was a businessman, so naturally, he had to purchase these artefacts at a price that would allow him to sell them at a profit.
“If you feel the price is too low, we can discuss it again. Business is not just a matter of just naming a price and paying money,” Qian Tong smiled slightly.
“Throw in the ores I just purchased and this deal is done,” Yang Kai said calmly.
Qian Tong let out a hearty laugh and commented, “Young man, you’re quite astute. The total price of those ores you just bought isn’t low, at least three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals… But in order to make friends, it’s not a bad deal. Good, if you have other artefacts to sell in the future, please choose our Trade Company first.”
“Deal!” Yang Kai nodded.
Trade Company’s efficiency was very high and it wasn’t long before Yang Kai stuffed twenty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals and all the ores he requested into his Space Ring and left Heavenly Fate City.
After he left, Qian Tong sat and stared in the direction Yang Kai disappeared for a while before muttering, “Interesting.”
“Elder Qian… we suffer a loss in this transaction. Giving him more than three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals worth of ore means we won’t be able to make much money on these artefacts,” The clerk who received Yang Kai just now came over and complained.
Qian Tong just grinned and said, “Really? I think we actually gained a great deal.”
The clerk wore a bewildered expression as he ran the calculations again, still feeling they hadn’t come out on top after he finished.
“What do you know? There should be a terrifying Artifact Refiner behind that kid. He also bought some ore the last time he visited Heavenly Fate City, just not from this shop. It was only a coincidence that I was at that shop at the time so I have some impression of him. He is actually quite savvy, understanding he has to change shops each time he buys such large amounts of ore, but he probably doesn’t realize that most of the shops in Heavenly Fate City are owned by our Shadow Moon Hall. It was only one month ago… Yet now he’s come here to buy ore again while bringing along three Saint King Grade artefacts. What do you think this means?” Qian Tong was in a good mood so he decided to speak a few words to enlighten this confused clerk while laughing happily.
“He’ll be back. The next time he shows up, inform me right away. If you can’t reach me, process whatever business he has with the highest level of care. It doesn’t matter if we lose some money in the transaction as long as we can satisfy him,” Qian Tong admonished.
“Disciple understands,” The clerk responded quickly, though he still didn’t understand what Elder Qian Tong meant, he had no right to object to these words.
Qian Tong immediately left Trade Company afterwards and rushed to a large palace situated in Heavenly Fate City. Finding another old man in the palace, Qian Ton handed over the three artefacts.
The old man touched the artefacts gently with his eyes tightly closed, as if he perceived something. After a while, this old man’s expression changed, revealing a surprised expression.
After half an hour, the old man put down the last of the three artefacts and opened his eyes.
“Grandmaster Ge Lin, what were you able to see?” Qian Tong asked immediately.
“These three artefacts were refined by an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner!” The old man named Ge Lin took a deep breath and declared.
“Origin Grade…” Qian Tong’s eyes bulged. Although he had inferred through various signs that a powerful Artifact Refiner was behind Yang Kai, he hadn’t expected it to actually be one at the Origin Grade.
“En, and their skill is not worse than this old master. The materials used for these artefacts were all from Eighth-Order Monster Beasts. Who refined them? Is there anyone with such skill near our Heavenly Fate City?” Ge Lin asked curiously.
“I don’t know who refined them, they were simply brought in to sell by a young man today,” Qian Tong shook his head.
“Did you trace his whereabouts?” Ge Lin asked again.
“I didn’t dare act rashly, so as not to cause any misunderstandings with the master behind him.”
Ge Lin nodded, “Good, prudence here is key! Such a master can only be won over, not offended! The ability to kill Eighth-Order Monster Beasts shows that this person’s strength is also not low. Not only in a fight, but with skills in Artifact Refining on par or better than this old master. You should pay more attention to that young man. As long as our sincerity is sufficient, I don’t believe it will be difficult to understand the identity of the master behind him.”
“I also thought so, what’s more, he should return again soon. Today, he bought a lot of Saint King Grade ores, most likely to refine more artefacts.”
“Good job. I am getting old, and probably won’t live for many more years, if you can recruit that master to take over my position, then you won’t have to worry about having someone to repairs your artefacts when they break,” Ge Lin smiled wryly. Artefact Refiners dedicate themselves to their craft and avoid fighting, so their vitalities are often not exuberant and their life expectancy are generally much shorter than other cultivators of the same level.
Looking at Yang Yan, who was sprawled out on the bed in his stone room in a completely sloppy and defenseless manner, Yang Kai shook his head helplessly.
One month of continuous Artifact Refining seemed to thoroughly exhaust her. Lying there, breathing deeply, her incredible figure on full display, regardless of whether Yang Kai wanted to be seduced or not, he couldn’t stop his eyes from fixing on her towering twin peaks.
Yang Kai’s return didn’t wake Yang Yan in the slightest.
Turning around, Yang Kai walked straight out of the cave again and proceeded to hunt down a few animals in the mountain forest before building up a fire near the cave entrance and grilling their meat. Yang Yan’s physical and mental exhaustion was clearly quite serious, so eating something would be good for her restoration.
Yang Kai had only half-finished his cooking when Yang Yan ran out of the cave sniffing the air, folding her arms in front of her as she squatted down next to him with a smile and stared at the golden roasted rabbit, eagerly waiting to eat.
“How was your rest?” Yang Kai glanced over at her.
“Somewhat, It’ll take a few more days for me to completely recover,” Yang Yan replied casually before crying out innocently, “Flip it over quickly, it’s already well roasted. Ah, no, not like that! Here, let me do it!”
Fussing like this, Yang Yan couldn’t stop herself from snatching the meat away from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t try to stop her and simply sat back and relaxed, directing a somewhat suspicious look towards her. “If you’re really an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, why are you so miserable?”
This was the point that had confused Yang Kai the most about Yang Yan. He had witnessed her ability already, so Yang Kai knew that as long as she was willing to reveal it, she would be able to live a lavish life. Any force on Shadowed Star would be willing to accept her and provide her with the most generous treatment. Many of them would even be willing to fight over her.
Yang Yan pursed her lips, “What do you know. You’re probably thinking I should just hire myself to one of those big forces, right?”
Yang Kai nodded.
“I don’t trust them,” Yang Yan snorted, “None of them are anything good, I won’t refine artefacts for them.”
When she said this, Yang Kai understood.
Without the support of a big force, a woman like Yang Yan couldn’t show her true ability. Because she couldn’t acquire enough high-grade materials to display her abilities, when she entered a place like Artifact Refining Pavilion, everyone would question her skills and only dare allow her to refine some low-grade artefacts.
Even if she continued to declare that she was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, no one would risk giving her Origin Grade materials to verify her ability.
Under this vicious circle, her not being miserable would be strange.
Even Yang Kai had not believed her and had only given her some materials he was planning to discard as a test.
“Do you have some kind of grudge against them?” Yang Kai asked.
“No, I don’t resent them, I just don’t like them. I heard that no matter which force it is, they’ll have many internal power struggles and external conflicts. I have no interest in being caught up in such troublesome things, I just want to quietly focus on Artifact Refining.”
This was also true. The higher level an Artifact Refiner was, the more forces would try to recruit them, but the inner workings of these forces would not all share the same opinion. Small families like Hai Ke Family were constantly squabbling amongst themselves, and it was only worse for behemoths like Shadow Moon Hall.
Once Yang Yan entered one of these forces, she would likely be caught up in these annoying matters.
As the scent of roasted meat wafted through the air, Yang Yan looked at the barbecue pit with satisfaction, tore off a rabbit leg, and handed it to Yang Kai. Yang Kai slowly shook his head to refuse, leading to Yang Yan unceremoniously stuffing her face with great satisfaction.
“I sold the artefacts you refined,” Yang Kai said casually.
“En, they’re yours in any case, do what you want with them.”
“They sold for twenty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals in total!”
“The price is fair, you didn’t suffer a loss,” Yang Yan nodded casually.
“How many Saint Crystals do you have on you right now?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Why?” Yang Yan immediately became alert and covered her Space Ring, seemingly afraid that Yang Kai was having ideas about her precious Saint Crystals, but after thinking about it for a moment, she felt it was unlikely and haltingly said, “Around two thousand… Low-Rank Saint Crystals.”
“So poor!” Yang Kai was speechless, shaking his head and sighing before taking out some High-Rank Saint Crystals from his Space Ring as well as a few bottles of pills used for restoring Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy and passing them over to her, “Artifact Refining consumed a lot of strength, you can have these.”
Yang Yan wiped the grease from her hands and then snatched the Saint Crystals Yang Kai offered without the slightest hesitation, stuffing them into her Space Ring before opening one of the bottles of pills and sniffing it, a look of surprise soon appearing on her face, “Saint King Grade pills?”
She hadn’t anticipated that Yang Kai would be so generous. A single bottle of Saint King Grade pills was quite a lot. The bottles he had just handed over to her were worth almost half as much as the artefacts she had refined.
“Looks like you’re quite rich,” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai strangely. Massive amounts of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Monster Beast materials, several bottles of Saint King Grade pills, a Saint King Grade High-Rank Star Shuttle, an Origin Grade artefact…
Yang Yan found it hard to imagine how a mere Third Order Saint came to possess so many good things.
Comparing him with herself, it was almost like Heaven and Earth. Where had he found all these things? It didn’t look like he had some kind of strong background.
“Don’t bother trying to conserve those pills, if you run out just ask me for more, I have lots,” Yang Kai said casually. He understood Yang Yan’s personality and knew she was the frugal type who would keep track of every last piece of Saint Crystal, so he was worried she would try to not use these pills in order to save up more money.
“You’re a really good person.” Yang Yan declared, feeling quite touched.
After saying so, she picked up another piece of barbecue and continued chomping on it, fragrant oil dripping down from her lips.
A few days later, after Yang Yan completely recovered, she began Artifact Refining again. This time, Yang Kai allowed her to work in his stone room directly. The Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags were set up in his stone room so it would be much easier for her to restore herself here, improving the efficiency of her Artifact Refining.
Blazing hot Yang Attribute strength burst out constantly, but this kind of heat actually made Yang Kai feel quite comfortable.
While Yang Yan was engaged in Artifact Refining, Yang Kai wasn’t idling, moving to the Yang Yan’s stone room and entering secluded retreat to accumulate more Saint Qi.
At least four or five years had passed since he broke through to the Third Order Saint Realm, and although Yang Kai had been sealed in the blood-red crystal for most of those years, unable to feel the passing of time, but with the hundred drops of pure Demon God Golden Blood flowing through his veins, Yang Kai could clearly feel that his strength had improved again.
While he was unconscious, his realm seemed to have solidified and risen substantially.
Yang Kai even faintly felt that the Saint King Realm was within his reach and he had no shortage of insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao. The only thing he was missing now was some accumulation, which conversely meant that as long as he accumulated enough Saint Qi, he would soon reach a critical point and break through.
While accumulating Saint Qi, Yang Kai was also studying the uses of his Golden Blood.
Some time ago, Yang Kai had used a drop of Golden Blood to form a golden spear which he then used to resolve Wu Yi and her crew’s crisis. This incident allowed Yang Kai to realize the power of his Golden Blood.
Now he wanted to know what his Golden Blood could do other than fight.
Thinking carefully about the scene from that time, Yang Kai’s expression changed as a novel idea popped into his head. After thinking of this, he quickly condensed a drop of Golden Blood at his fingertip.
The Golden Blood plunged into The Void and reappeared over a thousand kilometres away in an instant.
At that moment, Yang Kai felt a marvellous sensation. He was clearly still sitting in Yang Yan’s stone room in Dragon Cave Mountain, but he could clearly see the scene around his drop of Golden Blood a thousand kilometres away. It seemed that the Golden Blood had an inseparable connection to him and his consciousness could freely switch between it and his physical body. With this drop of Golden Blood, Yang Kai could easily see a scene a thousand kilometres away.
Yang Kai immediately entered an ethereal state, his mind observing the surroundings of his drop of Golden Blood as he flew forward.
He saw cities, mountains, forests, and rivers as his drop of Golden Blood shot forward at lightning-fast speed, at least a few times faster than his Star Shuttle was capable of. This speed was also a result of Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space. This drop of Golden Blood could break through the shackles of space, allowing it to move at speeds even greater than Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was capable of.
The shocking vitality which emanated from this drop of Golden Blood as it flew forward alarmed many masters on Shadowed Star.
Countless masters’ eyes followed the Golden Blood as it passed by them, causing horrified looks to appear on their faces.
They didn’t know who was giving off such a shocking life aura, or how strong one would have to be to move even faster than their Divine Senses could. Often, by the time these masters became aware of the drop of Golden Blood, it had already disappeared from their sight, making it impossible for them to probe it.
The Elders and higher-ups of many forces gathered together in the following days to discuss whether this golden flash was an enemy that threatened their Sect.
Some masters tried to chase after the flash of golden light but all were unsuccessfully and soon forced to give up.
Yang Kai had no idea he had disturbed all of Shadowed Star with his unintentional movements, he was simply immersing himself in the Golden Blood’s miraculous uses.
After just three days, the drop of Golden Blood had made a complete survey of Shadowed Star.
The vitality contained within the drop of Golden Blood had not actually weakened much though; apparently, this journey had not caused it any strain.
Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked. His consciousness had been following this drop of Golden Blood while it toured the entirety of Shadowed Star, so he knew just how massive this Cultivation Star was. If he were to use his Star Shuttle, it would take him at least four months to cover its surface.
But the Golden Blood was able to do this in just three days; it was clear from this alone how terrifying its speed was.
What were its limits? How far apart could it be from his main body while still maintaining contact?
Yang Kai felt the need to figure these two questions out and with a single thought, sent the drop of Golden Blood which had just come back to him straight up into the sky, soon breaking through the cloud layer and heading out into the Star Field!
Yang Kai’s consciousness remained attached to the drop of Golden Blood as he saw one Dead Star after another as well as vast Asteroid Seas and packs of roaming Black Rock Beasts.
This was a rather strange experience, roaming the Starry Sky with just ones consciousness was something even a master at the Origin King Realm couldn’t do after all.
The Golden Blood was truly amazing.
After entering this kind of ethereal state, the speed at which Yang Kai’s physical body was able to absorb the surrounding aura increased sharply, allowing him to accumulate Saint Qi far quicker than before, dramatically improving his cultivation rate.
Yang Kai didn’t relax his vigilance however, as right now it was only him and Yang Yan on Dragon Cave Mountain. Yang Yan was concentrating completely on Artefact Refining, so naturally, Yang Kai could not lower his guard or he would be unable to defend them against unexpected aggressors.
Fortunately, he was able to switch his consciousness between his physical body and the drop of Golden Blood at will, as if his soul was simultaneously inhabiting two different bodies. Yang Kai paid attention to the movements of the drop of Golden Blood from time to time but didn’t monitor it constantly.
Over time, he even lost interest in keeping track of it. Although the drop of Golden Blood had been flying through the Starry Sky for quite some time, the vitality it contained only seemed to have weakened slightly. Yang Kai estimated that it would be able to continue on like this for at least several years before finally disappearing.
This time, Yang Yan took two months to finish her Artifact Refining.
But on the day she exited the stone room, she brought out seven Saint King Grade artefacts, some from each Grade!
Perhaps it was because of the pills and Saint Crystals Yang Kai had given her, but this time, she didn’t seem too tired. After handing over the artefacts to Yang Kai, she even had the mood to calculate how many Saint Crystals she still owed Yang Kai and began counting seriously.
Skilled in Artifact Refining, neither prideful nor arrogant, easy to talk to, beautiful with an outstanding good figure, and most importantly, charged only a modest fee!
Yang Kai felt like he had picked up a treasure and became more and more determined to permanently retain Yang Yan as his dedicated Artifact Refiner.
After giving her a few more bottles of pills and a number of High-Rank Saint Crystals, Yang Yan smiled with joy and stuffed everything into the Space Ring before asking, “What are you going to make me refine next? Let me examine the materials first so I can see what kinds of ores are needed.”
Yang Kai took out the carapace, tail, and pincer of the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion and tossed them over to Yang Yan.
The little girl’s eyes immediately bulged as a fascinated light flashed across their depths. Squatting down, she picked up these items one by one, stroking them with her delicate hands while muttering something under her breath, seemingly lost in her own world.
After a long time, she looked up into Yang Kai’s eyes and asked, “You’re willing to give me these materials to refine?”
Yang Kai nodded seriously, “You’ve proven your ability; I believe that you are indeed an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, so naturally I’m willing to let you work with these things.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away with these things?” Yang Yan still couldn’t believe what was happening, “These are the materials of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast, and they can be used to refine Origin Grade artefacts!”
“You can try to run, I’ll just capture you and bring you back though,” Yang Kai grinned.
Yang Yan spat disdainfully, seemingly quite annoyed with Yang Kai’s self-confident attitude, treating it like he had everything in his grasp.
“Rest assured, I’m not someone who breaks their word, I’ll make the best use of these things for you, but the ores you need to purchase this time won’t be the same as before, you’d best be prepared for some massive haemorrhaging,” Yang Yan said solemnly.
“It doesn’t matter, write up the list,” Yang Kai nodded and added, “That’s right, I have a request this time.”
“Ask whatever you’d like.”
“Use this carapace to refine me a defensive artefact, I’ll be using it myself, feel free to do what you want with the rest.”
“Got it, do you have this Monster Beast’s Core? If you have it, give it to me as well, it will be useful for this time’s Artifact Refining.”
As soon as Yang Yan spoke these words, a fist-sized Monster Core that gave of two distinct Energy Attributes was tossed over to her. Catching this core, Yang Yan nodded with satisfaction and began writing up a list of auxiliary materials. A moment later, she handed the list to Yang Kai and anxiously urged, “Hurry up and come back, after a couple of days of rest, I’ll start refining again. Following you was really a good choice, you unexpectedly have so many good materials on you for me to use.”
She seemed a little impatient.
Heavenly Fate City. Inside Trade Company, Qian Tong was sitting in a room on the third floor, sipping a cup of tea lightly as he gazed in the direction Yang Kai had left two months ago, a faintly anxious and helpless look upon his face.
Although he had previously determined that Yang Kai would come here again, he hadn’t expected that two whole months would pass by with no words from him.
Until today, the young man had not shown up again, making Qian Tong somewhat depressed. At the time, he was worried about leaving a bad impression on the powerful master behind the young man, so he had not sent anyone to follow him and did not dare inquire about his identity at will, planning to slowly win his trust by steadily purchasing the final products this master and the young man delivered.
Now however it seemed he had acted too cautiously, and Qian Tong thought he should have at least told the young man he was interested in soliciting his master. So long as that young man was intelligent enough, he would definitely bring those words to his master.
At that time, if the powerful master was willing, he would naturally pay a visit to Shadow Moon Hall, if he wasn’t, it wouldn’t be too late for Qian Tong to make a direct appeal.
The earlier such a Grandmaster Artifact Refiner could be recruited, the earlier Shadow Moon Hall would be able to reap the benefits. If they waited too long and another force discovered this master, they would definitely try to rob him from them. Once the situation developed to that extent, it wouldn’t be a matter of just one or two people dying.
Thinking about it, Qian Tong’s mood became irritable and he unconsciously crushed the teacup in his hand. It wasn’t until the hot tea dripped down his hand that he noticed what he had done.
Looking down the messy tabletop, Qian Tong couldn’t help letting out a dumb laugh.
He wasn’t young anymore, and his cultivation level wasn’t low, it had been many years since he had become so agitated. Even when he was a boy, his emotions had not been as uncontrollable as right now.
Picking up the broken teacup fragments and drying the spilt tea, Qian Tong took a breath and calmed his irritable mood.
Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door, causing Qian Tong to call out in a disgruntled tone, “What is it?”
“Elder Qian, the young man who came to sell artefacts two months ago is here again,” The clerk who had received Yang Kai last time replied respectfully. After waiting for a while, the clerk became somewhat suspicious about not receiving a response when Elder Qian Tong excitedly shouted, “Quickly invite him inside!”
As soon as those words came out though, Qian Tong corrected himself, “No no no, this old master will go welcome him personally!”
A burst of sound rang out, as if the tables, chairs, and tea sets in the room were all blow away and crushed.
The clerk’s face turned black, not understanding what was so special about this young man that Elder Qian Tong would treat him so seriously, even going so far as to smash the furnishings in his room in an effort to rush out and greet him.
The door was flung open and Qian Tong quickly walked downstairs, his face filled with smiles.
The clerk took a peek into the room curiously and sure enough, he discovered that all the furniture inside had been completely tossed about and destroyed.
On the first floor, Yang Kai was becoming impatient.
The last time he had come here, the clerk had received him diligently, showing the utmost consideration and attentiveness. This time, as a repeat customer, he had come here to sell some more artefacts in accordance with his previous agreement, but before he could even say anything, the clerk had asked him to wait and then run off somewhere.
A short time later though, the fat old man named Qian Tong walked over hurriedly, his face aglow and his belly trembling with laughter as he warmly shouted, “Young man, this old man has been waiting two months for you to return, come come, this way, please!”
Saying so, he held Yang Kai’s shoulder warmly and directed him towards the private room they had used last time.
Inside Trade Company’s lobby, the cultivators who were going about their business all froze up in shock as they stared towards Yang Kai’s back, unable to speak for a long time.
Many of them knew Qian Tong and were aware that he was a high-level Elder in Shadow Moon Hall, but this great master was now actually treating a young man like Yang Kai so kindly, causing all of them a great deal of shock. After the pair disappeared, the lobby exploded with chatter, everyone speculating about Yang Kai’s identity.
“What kind of background does that young man have that would compel Elder Qian Tong to come out and greet him personally? Heavens, even if one of the Patriarchs from the nearby families that came here, could they have received such an enthusiastic welcome from Elder Qian Tong?
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him before, but from how he was dressed he doesn’t seem to be from some kind of big force.”
“His cultivation wasn’t high either, Third Order Saint Realm.”
“I remember that when the Patriarch of the Ke Rui Family came last time to discuss some important business, Elder Qian Tong didn’t even meet with him.”
“Who knows what is happening?”
…..
In the backroom, Qian Tong enthusiastically had Yang Kai sit down before having one of the maids serve tea along with a platter of golden spirit fruits. These spirit fruits were small but contained an astonishing amount of energy. Smiling broadly, Qian Tong explained, “These fruits are my Shadow Moon Hall’s special product that throughout all of Shadowed Star we are in sole possession of. Each fruit tree only produces one batch of matured fruit every ten years, with at most five hundred fruits per harvests. Although they have only provided minimal help increasing one’s cultivation, their taste is exquisite, and can help calm one’s mood, and also rapidly supplement one’s Saint Qi. They are best suited for someone who is about to break through, please feel free to try them.”
Qian Tong could see at a glance that Yang Kai was on the verge of breaking through from the Third Order Saint Realm to the Saint King Realm, so he had immediately offered these fruits.
Yang Kai glanced at him for a moment before reaching out and picking up one of the fruits, eating it without the slightest hesitation or worry, savouring the fragrant flavour and nodding, “The taste is indeed quite good, Elder Qian, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take these back with me.”
These fruits ability to quickly restore Saint Qi would be very useful for Yang Yan’s Artifact Refining.
Qian Tong’s eyes flashed, letting out a hearty laugh as he nodded, “Of course I don’t mind, if you like them, I’ll have someone prepare a few more, unfortunately, there aren’t many of them.”
Qian Tong truly didn’t mind that Yang Kai impolitely asked to bring these fruits back with him, because he was able to discern the meaning of this action.
Why would Yang Kai want to bring these fruits back with him?
Clearly he was going to offer them to his master as filial piety!
This only served to further confirm Qian Tong’s suspicions that there was a profound Artifact Refiner behind this young man.
“Elder Qian mentioned a moment ago that you had been eagerly waiting for my return, yes?” Yang Kai asked while taking out the seven newly refined artefacts from his Space Ring.
Qian Tong stared with wide eyes, his breathing becoming a bit heavier each time Yang Kai took out another artefact.
By the time all seven pieces had been laid on the table, Qian Tong’s look had already become a bit agitated.
He was able to tell that the ores Yang Kai purchased during his previous visit were used to refine these artefacts, yet it had only been a trivial two months and the result was seven Saint King Grade artefacts! This fully demonstrated just how powerful the Grandmaster behind this youth was!
Even if Grandmaster Ge Lin had acted personally, it would have been impossible to refine so many superior artefacts in such a short period of time.
Taking a deep breath, Qian Tong restored the smile to his face and said, “Waiting for these artefacts was just one matter, in fact, this old man was waiting for you personally, en, how should I address you?”
“Yang Kai.”
“This old man is Qian Tong, presumably you already knew that though, if you don’t mind, may this old man address you as Nephew?”
Yang Kai nodded casually, given Qian Tong’s age and status, him addressing Yang Kai as Nephew wasn’t unreasonable.
Qian Tong smiled wider and continued, “Nephew Yang is a young man of great talent, at such an age, nearly reaching the Saint King Realm, such aptitude is worthy of praise…”
Saying so, Qian Tong carefully observed Yang Kai’s reaction.
Young people always enjoy being flattered, so Qian Tong felt that receiving such praise from someone of his position and status would win him some favour with Yang Kai.
But to his surprise, Yang Kai remained indifferent, seemingly thinking such an evaluation was only natural. Not showing the slightest reaction, he just sitting in a relaxed posture in his chair.
Qian Tong coughed lightly, fixing his expression before continuing to ask, “I wonder if Nephew Yang is interested in seeking better opportunities?”
Yang Kai simply grinned. Since coming here just now, Qian Tong had treated him so enthusiastically that Yang Kai was able to faintly guess what he was thinking. Now hearing him ask such a question, Yang Kai was even more certain of his guess, directing a flat look at Qian Tong and asking, “Elder Qian, if you have something to say, you might as well just say it.”
Hearing this, Qian Tong’s collected the smile on his face and replaced it a solemn expression, “Nephew Yang, please do not take offence, this old man has no malicious intentions, it’s simply that when a young man like yourself appears, this old man can’t help wanting to recruit him. En, if you’re interested, this old man would like to invite you to join my Shadow Moon Hall. I can assure you that we will provide you with the most abundant cultivation resources and environment. With Nephew Yang’s aptitude, the Sect will surely spare no effort to cultivate you in the future!”
Qian Tong had quickly discerned that Yang Kai did not like talking in circles so he decided to take a direct approach instead, dropping all subtlety and replacing it with a straightforward appeal.
Qian Tong was a worldly man and naturally understand that if he tried to right away solicit the Grandmaster Artifact Refiner behind Yang Kai, he would fail. An Artifact Refiner of such skill would have their own pride and would not be so easily swayed, so Qian Tong had decided to first rope in Yang Kai.
In Qian Tong’s opinion, as long as Yang Kai was willing to enter Shadow Moon Hall, whether the master behind him could be recruited or not, a connection would still be forged. When everyone became familiar with one another in the future, making an attempt to recruit him would be much easier.
Qian Tong’s scheme was quite well thought out.
After making his proposal, Qian Tong silently observed Yang Kai’s reaction again, but to his disappointment, Yang Kai remained indifferent.
Sighing secretly to himself, Qian Tong felt that this young man indeed worthy of being a retainer of an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner. Although he couldn’t be sure Yang Kai was this Grandmaster’s disciple, year after year of being influenced by the sights and scenes around him had clearly caused his vision to be quite high. Simple empty promises were not enough to move him.
“That’s right, my Shadow Moon Hall is also in possession of a rare treasure known as the Divine Stone. Anyone who touches the Divine stone will have their consciousness led into a strange world where their Soul can receive purification and sublimation, it is quite useful for those seeking to strengthen their foundation in the Martial Dao. When the disciples of my Shadow Moon Hall encounter bottlenecks in their cultivation, they will often request to enter retreat alongside the Divine Stone to assist them in their practice. Such an opportunity though is normally not possible to obtain without first making great contributions to the Sect, but if Nephew Yang is willing join my Shadow Moon Hall, this old man can make an exception and allow you to cultivate with the Divine Stone for a period of time. Nephew Yang will soon break through to the Saint King Realm so I believe such an opportunity would be of great interest, yes?”
As Qian Tong made this offer, he directed an eager look towards Yang Kai, feeling that such a condition would not be one he could refuse!
Because Yang Kai’s cultivation was on the verge of breaking through to the next Great Realm, if such a good opportunity were to be offered to him, he would surely try to seize it.
But soon, Qian Tong’s look dampened, because he found that Yang Kai still showed no signs of interest. Qian Tong couldn’t help feeling shocked, wondering if this kid simply didn’t understand the preciousness of the Divine Stone. As he prepared to explain further though, Yang Kai waved his hand and somewhat impatiently said, “Elder Qian, this Junior appreciates your kind intentions but must politely decline, I am used to being free and am unwilling to join any force, let us put this matter aside and discuss business.”
Qian Tong’s face twitched for a while but soon let out a hollow laugh, “Good, since Nephew Yang is here to discuss business, we shall discuss business, as for this old man being a bit wordy, please do not pay it any mind.”
Although this time’s solicitation was not successful, Qian Tong was a patient man and naturally would not become so easily frustrated, feeling that as long as he showed enough sincerity, he would one day succeed.
The two then began discussing the transaction before them.
Seven Saint King Grade artefacts for a total price of fifty-nine thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals! Qian Tong made an offer, and Yang Kai accepted it.
The matter was open and closed in short order.
“I also want to buy some ore,” Yang Kai pulled out a list from his Space Ring and handed it over.
Qian Tong’s eyes lit up upon hearing this and the slight disappointment he felt in his heart was swiftly swept away, quickly summoning the shop assistant who was on standby outside the door. The man came in a respectfully asked, “What is Elder Qian’s command?”
“Take Nephew Yang’s list here and collect the ores for him. Also, withdraw fifty-nine thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals from the storehouse.”
“Yes!” The shop assistant accepted the list and nodded.
Yang Kai turned to him and said, “The money required to purchase those ores can be deducted from the Saint Crystals directly, just report to me the final cost.”
“Use the most preferential price, understood?” Qian Tong added solemnly.
Sometimes, when showing favour, one needed to make sure the other party was aware of your intentions.
“Understood,” The man nodded and immediately went out.
After he left, Qian Tong looked at Yang Kai with a smile, “Nephew Yang is now a frequent customer here, are you satisfied with our service?”
“Very satisfied,” Yang Kai smiled and nodded. Regardless of what kind of hidden agenda Qian Tong had, he had truly not taken advantage of him during these transactions, greatly satisfying Yang Kai. “Good, I’m certain Elder Qian is busy, please don’t mind me and attend to your own affairs, I’ll just wait here for my order and payment.”
Qian Tong smiled back and did not pester him any further, kindly stating, “Very well, but I hope Nephew Yang can remember to come to my Trade Company first if you ever have any more artefacts for sale.”
“I’ll remember.”
Receiving this pledge, Qian Tong stood up and left.
Yang Kai waited for about half an hour before a shop-assistant came to led him to another back room. Inside this room was a large collection of rare ores as well as a heap of Saint Crystals.
Having already been instructed by Qian Tong repeated about this matter, the shop assistant didn’t dare treat Yang Kai carelessly, respectfully reporting, “These are the ores honoured customer requested. The total price is seventeen thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, but because honoured customer is a VIP, we will sell them to you at a twenty percent discount for a total of thirteen thousand six hundred. Deducting the cost of these ores, honoured customer will receive forty-five thousand four hundred High-Rank Saint Crystal. Would you like to inspect the wares first?”
“No need,” Yang Kai shook his head, feeling a little surprised at the price of these ores.
Last time he had purchased ores here it had only cost him three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, but this time his order was several times more expensive. No wonder Yang Yan had told him to prepare for some massive haemorrhaging.
Yang Kai trusted that this shop assistant would not try to deceive him as Qian Tong was still clearly intent on forging a connection with the Artifact Refiner behind him.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai swept almost everything into his Space Ring, leaving behind one hundred Saint Crystals.
The shop assistant smiled brightly as he gave Yang Kai a grateful look before escorting him away, neither of them mentioning the hundred Saint Crystals.
On the third floor of Trade Company, Qian Tong watched Yang Kai’s back disappear from his sight, his brow furrowing slightly, wondering what kind of method he should use to pull Yang Kai into Shadow Moon Hall. Both his attempts today had failed because he knew nothing about this young man’s preferences, if he at least had some background information on him, things would be easier to handle, but he couldn’t send someone out to spy on him, causing him to be caught in a difficult situation.
Soon, there was another knock at his door.
“Come in!” Qian Tong sat back in his chair.
The same shop assistant walked in and immediately reported, “Elder Qian, when that young man left just now, he left behind a hundred Saint Crystals for this disciple.”
“Oh?” Qian Tong glanced over at him in surprise, “Did you accept them?”
“En, this disciple did not decline. That young man did not say anything explicitly, but disciple naturally understood that he was deliberately leaving them before for me. If Elder Qian doesn’t believe this to be appropriate, I will immediately send them back to him,” The disciples said while carefully watching Qian Tong’s expression, lest this old man become angry.
Qian Tong however just waved his hand and said, “No need! Since he sent them to you, accept them. This young man prefers straight dealings, if you had tried to hypocritically refuse, he would have been displeased. En, if he comes to buy ores again, make sure you attend to him. Treat him as the highest level of guest, understood?”
“Disciple understands.”
“Right, what type of ore did he buy this time? Is it the same as last time?”
The shop assistant immediately shook his head, “He bought ore worth seventeen thousand pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal this time, I gave him a twenty percent discount, therefore it cost…”
“Seventeen thousand?” Qian Tong’s expression changed dramatically, seemingly realizing something and asking urgently, “He bought Origin Grade ores?”
“Yes.”
A smile blossomed on Qian Tong’s face as he let out a great laugh, “Good good good, it’s really so…”
Qian Tong seemed to be very excited and began pacing back and forth across the room, causing the shop assistant who was still at the door to be quite confused, unable to understand what was happening. If this shop assistant recalled correctly, Elder Qian hadn’t even been this happy when he broke through to the Second Order Origin Returning Realm.
After a while, Qian Tong suddenly took out a piece of jade and filled it with his Spiritual Energy before tossing it over to the shop assistant, “Contact every steward and shopkeeper in our Shadow Moon Hall’s shops in Heavenly Fate City, tell them to remember the appearance of this person. If he visits their stores, they are to receive him with utmost courtesy; however, they are not to act too obviously, just give him preferential treatment and some discounts. If anyone fails to recognize him and ends up offending him, I’ll make them regret being born into this world!”
Qian Tong’s last words were spoken with a frigid seriousness that caused the shop assistant to tremble as he held the jade block. Quietly inspecting its contents, the shop assistant found a portrait of Yang Kai’s appearance which had been created by Elder Qian Tong’s Divine Sense.
Holding onto the jade block extremely carefully, the shop assistant immediately set out to notify all the necessary personnel in Heavenly Fate City, not daring to delay.
After this man left, Qian Tong swept the seven artefacts placed on the table into his Space Ring and hurried over to Grandmaster Ge Lin’s residence.
He had to inform Grandmaster Ge Lin that there truly was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner behind Yang Kai.
Although the two of them had some speculations before and knew that the artefacts Yang Kai had brought to sell the first time had been refined by an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, they weren’t completely certain this Grandmaster really existed. Perhaps these artefacts were accidentally obtained by Yang Kai somewhere. But now, it was apparent that their speculations were true.
However, it was different now. Since Yang Kai bought Origin Grade ores, it meant that Qian Tong’s previous conjectures were true. He had to discuss this matter with Grandmaster Ge Lin immediately to see if he could make a personal trip to speak with Yang Kai’s master. After all, Artifact Refiners shared a common language amongst themselves. Perhaps Ge Lin would have more success in forming a relationship with that person.
Qian Tong rushed to the palace to speak with Ge Lin, and it wasn’t long before Ge Lin too, became a little excited. The two of them discussed whether Ge Lin should speak to Yang Kai about the Artifact Refiner behind him the next time he came, not just to recruit him but also because Ge Lin himself was interested in having a discussion with a peer.
When Yang Kai arrived back at Dragon Cave Mountain, he found that Yang Yan was not in the cave, which made him feel a bit surprised. Rushing into the cave to investigate, the scene caused Yang Kai’s face to sink and a thick murderous intent to flash across his eyes.
Yang Yan was an innocent woman, so it was impossible for her to have disappeared for no reason, and even more impossible for her to rob his precious materials and escape.
However, there were some clear traces of fighting in the cave, so it was quite obvious that Yang Yan had encountered some kind of danger.
Yang Kai immediately became furious!
Without even mentioning the fact that he had handed over the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion materials to Yang Yan and he had just purchased a lot of rare ores so Yang Yan could refine him an Origin Grade defensive type artefact, Yang Yan was a genuine Original Grade Artifact, she was his dedicated Artifact Refiner, Yang Kai refused to allow her to have any accidents.
Who did it? Was it the Hai Ke Family?
There weren’t many traces of battle left in the cave, so Yang Yan should not have gotten caught up in a struggle with the enemy here. Although she was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, through his observations over these past few months, Yang Kai discovered that she did not seem to possess much combat power.
If the Hai Ke Family really did this, Yang Kai would not even consider Wu Yi’s face and would definitely charge straight in and create a mess.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai swept his surroundings and a moment later, his raging anger subsided greatly. He found that the situation was not as bad as he had thought. Yang Yan was currently safe, but she was seemingly being chased by someone. Right now, she was fleeing through the mountains and rivers a couple dozen kilometres away from the cave.
After discovering Yang Yan’s location, Yang Kai immediately left the cave and quickly rushed towards her, quietly condensing his Saint Qi as a cold look spread across his face.
A moment later, Yang Yan’s cries reached his ears, and Yang Kai’s heart sank.
“Yang Yan!” Yang Kai called out to her and flew over.
Hearing Yang Kai’s voice, Yang Yan, who was fleeing in panic, froze for a moment before a look of pleasant surprise flashed across her eyes and she tightly gripped her black robe and hurried over to his side.
Around her body was a fiery red flowing halo of light that gave off an astonishing heat.
This was clearly a very high-grade defensive artefact, and from the energy fluctuations it gave off, Yang Kai estimated that even if he used his full strength to strike it, he may not necessarily be able to hurt Yang Yan.
Yang Yan’s condition was not bad. In fact, besides being a bit flustered and looking a little pitiful, there wasn’t even a scratch on her, allowing Yang Kai to put down the last of his worries.
“Wu wu wu… Yang Kai save me! Someone is bullying me!” Yang Yan cried as she quickly ran behind Yang Kai and hid.
“Don’t be afraid!” Yang Kai comforted her before turning a cold glare forward.
Several figures quickly flew over towards them, with one of them shouting angrily, “Cheap slut, you dare hurt me? I want you dead!”
Before the words even finished leaving the man’s lips, a huge sword wave flew out, splitting the air and cracking the earth around it, exploding the trees it pass through as if they had been thoroughly rotted.
The sword wave was filled with cold and gloomy murderous intent and obviously wasn’t just meant as a threat but as a true killing blow.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, pulling Yang Yan along with him as he dodged this sword wave.
Five figures landed in the next instant, surrounding Yang Kai and Yang Yan tightly. Yang Yan’s tender body trembled as she clung to Yang Kai’s clothes tightly, an expression of pure fear on her face.
Even if her Artifact Refining skills were astonishing, Yang Yan was still just a little girl less than thirty years old with minimal combat experience; she had never once encountered a life or death fight so it was only natural that this experience frightened her. Although Yang Kai was now beside her, when she saw the fierce look on the faces of the five men surrounding them, Yang Yan couldn’t help feeling scared. She didn’t know if Yang Kai could cope with this situation; after all, he was just a Third Order Saint.
On the other hand, as Yang Kai glanced around at these people, he couldn’t help feeling a bit stunned.
Because he found that while the one being chased, Yang Yan, was completely unharmed, these five men who were doing the chasing all looked quite miserable, especially the young man who seemed to be about the same age as him. This young man had at least a dozen cuts on his face which gave him a particularly terrifying and bloody look.
The other four also had blood stains on them from multiple injuries, the worse off of them having a severe burn on his abdomen and seemed to be in great pain, his forehead dripping with cold sweat. It was obvious he had been hit with some kind of scorching hot flame.
“What’s this all about?” Yang Kai was confused and turned to Yang Yan for an explanation.
Yang Yan’s face was still pale and her teeth were chattering as she cried, “I don’t know… I was just resting inside the cave when they broke in. That guy said he wanted me to accompany him and when I said I didn’t want to, he tried to drag me out so I summoned my Burning Sun Halo then sent out my Frost Bone Nail. After he was injured, those four all shouted angrily and attacked me, so I tossed my Dragon Whisker Whip, Ten Thousand Flame Cover, Coloured Glass Ring, and Profound Golden Cloud Wire at them then ran away. They chased after me so I kept running and running… then… then you came.”
Listening to Yang Yan’s words, the five cultivations standing around the pair wore extremely embarrassed and angry looks.
Yang Kai knit his brow and pondered over the situation for a while, imagining how Yang Yan had been thrown into a panic and kept summoning one high-grade artefact after another inside the cave, smashing these five men with them until they cried for their mothers and begged for their fathers…
Yang Kai almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
Worthy of an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner! Yang Kai had never known that Yang Yan actually had so many good things on her. Although her combat effectiveness and courage were quite small, she was not someone who could easily be bullied. With her luxurious collection of artefacts, if she had intended to kill these five people, they would likely have already been pounded to death.
Although it turned out there was nothing to worry about, Yang Kai was still quite annoyed.
It was clear that Yang Yan had a near-endless supply of these artefacts, yet these five had still persisted in pursuing her. If it had just been some kind of minor dispute, they would have long ago withdrawn. Since they continuing to chase her, it either meant they fancied Yang Yan’s beauty or her treasure trove of artefacts.
The latter possibility was much larger.
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s look became even colder.
After realizing that Yang Kai was just a Third Order Saint, the bloody faced young man who had originally worn a frightened look immediately relaxed and became arrogant again, shouting rampantly, “Brat, I don’t care who you are, or what kind of relationship you have with this woman, none of that matters any more, hurry up and scram if you don’t want to die. Otherwise, don’t blame Father here for killing you!”
Yang Kai grinned, “You break into my site, act unruly, attack my friend, yet claim it’s none of my business?”
“Your site?” The young man suddenly showed a look of enlightenment, “Are you from the Hai Ke Family? Good, that makes things easier.”
Suddenly his expression became extremely relaxed as he put on a high and might act and pointed to his face while declaring, “My name is Xu Tian Ze.”
After introducing himself, he proudly waited for Yang Kai’s response, seemingly thinking that his name would be enough of a deterrent on its own.
How could he have imagined that Yang Kai would just stare at him indifferently, without any response?
Xu Tian Ze froze up for a moment before exclaiming in an exaggerated manner, “Hey, don’t you know who I am?”
“Should I know you?” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “What the hell do you count for?”
Xu Tian Ze turned to his four subordinates with a stunned look before bursting into laughter, “The quality of Hai Ke Family’s people continues to decline it seems, there’s actually someone among them who doesn’t know the name Xu Tian Ze.”
“Young Master, this kid isn’t very strong and doesn’t seem like someone important from the Hai Ke Family. It’s likely he has never had a chance to hear your name!” One man said.
This explanation allowed Xu Tian Ze’s complexion to improve noticeably. An insignificant nobody from a small force like Hai Ke Family really wasn’t someone he could take seriously, the only one to be feared here was this small-statured, big black robe wearing woman.
This lowly whore’s piles of artefacts had just made him and his guards suffer quite a bit. At first he had no idea she possessed such treasures, but now that he did, Xu Tian Ze wasn’t about to just give up. Those artefacts were really too attractive.
On top of that, this woman didn’t seem to know how to fight. She only knew how to run away. In this case, as soon as he grasped this woman, he would obtain both her body and wealth. This woman was of the highest quality; even her black robe is unable to hide her abundant peaks or full moon.
Xu Tian Ze could already imagine what she would look like after stripping her clothes away, causing him to become even more eager to seize her.
He had never thought that after simply passing through this area, noticing that the aura was quite good, then coming down to investigate, he would be able to obtain such big benefits.
Seeing Xu Tian Ze staring at her with such an obscene look, Yang Yan subconsciously grabbed Yang Kai’s clothes tighter and hiding behind him while whispering softly, “Yang Kai, they have four Saint Kings, we need to run.”
“Are Saint Kings something special? More than one or two Saint Kings have died in my hands,” Yang Kai patted Yang Yan on the shoulder.
“You, kill a Saint King?” Xu Tian Ze seemed to have heard a joke and laughed aloud, “You really doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth. Do all people from the Hai Ke Family speak without thinking? Xu Wei, go teach him a lesson, let him understand the difference between him and a real Saint King is.”
“Yes, Young Master,” The cultivator who was named snickered and walked forward step by step, smirking as he cracked his neck and said, “Boy, daring to provoke my Young Master, your end will be very miserable.”
“It’s him who annoyed me, but you won’t get a better end than him. After you die, you can regret it in Hell!” Yang Kai stared at him lightly, and as soon as he spoke, a pitch-black flame suddenly appeared and rushed out towards the cultivator called Xu Wei.
The billowing Demonic Flame that suddenly appeared surged towards the Saint King Realm cultivator called Xu Wei with an imposing momentum that made it seem as if it could burn all things in existence.
Xu Wei stared at this flame for a moment before letting out a laugh, “A Fire Attribute cultivator? What I fear the least is the Fire Attribute!”
Saying so, a faint layer of mist appeared from the surface of his body and began spreading out in a seemingly endless series of ripples, as if a lake had instantly been formed around Xu Wei. These ripples overlapped and merged together to form a flexible mass that contained a gentle yet potent force which Xu Wei fearlessly pushed forward to meet the Demonic Flame. Xu Wei wanted to completely extinguish the Demonic Flame then strangle Yang Kai to death as punishment for running his mouth a moment ago, letting this brat know just how great the gap between the two of them was.
As soon as he saw Xu Wei use his strength, Yang Kai realized that he was facing a Water Attribute cultivator. Yang Kai also understood where Xu Wei extremely self-confidence was coming from. Since ancient times, water and fire had always been incompatible. His strength obviously restrained Yang Kai’s, and with the difference in cultivation, in Xu Wei’s opinion, if he could not win this confrontation, he would have spent his entire life cultivating in vain.
Xu Tian Ze and the remaining Saint Kings clearly understood Xu Wei’s background and bottom line, so they all just stood back with their arms crossed, preparing to watch the good show as they directed looks of disdain towards Yang Kai.
In their opinion, Yang Kai would surely die as it was absolutely impossible for him to escape from Xu Wei’s water field. When this exchange of blows was over, perhaps this kid wouldn’t even be left with a complete corpse.
Xu Wei was sneering, but Yang Kai was doing the same. Both of their eyes were filled with complete confidence, staring at the other as if they were a dead man.
As the water ripples surged forward though, the extremely hot Demonic Flames suddenly underwent a great mutation and became extremely cold. The spreading water ripples were instantly frozen and became completely fixed mid-air.
The sneer on Xu Wei’s face went stiff as he stared blankly at the weird scene in front of him, unable to understand why this strength was actually being restrained by the flames. Although this flame was pitch-black and extremely eerie, in the end, it was being displayed by a mere Third Order Saint.
How could it possibly stop his power from moving forward?
In that moment of absentmindedness, a shattering sound suddenly rang out, nearly frightening Xu Wei out of his wits. The frozen waves of water suddenly burst into flames and were being consumed at an extremely rapid pace as the black flames spread towards him.
The pitch-black fireball that was constantly alternating between hot and cold; Yin and Yang, two auras that absolutely weren’t supposed to coexist, slammed towards Xu Wei.
The Saint Qi barrier Xu Wei surrounding his body with failed to play any protective role, in fact, as he pushed his strength to resist this attack, it was as if he was pouring oil onto the flames, making them burn even more fiercely. Xu Wei was only able to cry out pitifully as his body was engulfed by these black flames.
Xu Wei fluttered about randomly as he displayed his Martial Skills and summoned his artefacts one after another in a panic as he tried to put out these flames. But all of this was to no avail as the black flames clung tenaciously to him, burning more brilliantly with every passing moment.
Xu Wei opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out, as if even his voice was being consumed by the flames.
A mere ten breaths later, Xu Wei fell from the sky like a burning fireball and hit the ground with a thud.
A disturbing stench of burnt flesh filled the air.
The eyes of everyone present bulged. Xu Tian Ze and the remaining three Saint King Realm cultivators had never even dreamed that Yang Kai could be so terrifying, with just a Third Order Saint Realm cultivation, all it had taken was a single move for him to kill a First Order Saint King!
Just what were those black flames? How could they have rendered Xu Wei unable to even fight back?
Only now did everyone realize that Yang Kai had not been idly boasting before when he said that more than one or two Saint Kings had died at his hand. With such astonishing methods at his disposal, killing a few Saint Kings would be absolutely no problem.
Realizing this, the hearts of the two remaining First Order Saint Kings both pounded fiercely as they stared towards Yang Kai in utter horror. Their cultivations were similar to Xu Wei, possibly even worse than his, so if Yang Kai could kill Xu Wei in one move, killing them would be just as easy.
Suddenly facing a life or death crisis, both these men’s legs trembled as their stomachs twisted, neither of them able to move forward or backward for a while, soon turning their eyes to the strongest member of their group for help.
This bald, middle-aged man had the highest cultivation amongst this group, but he was still just a Second-Order Saint King, only a bit stronger than Xu Wei and the others. After witnessing the terrifying might of the Demonic Flames though, this man knew that right now they should be escaping.
Because he had no confidence he could resist these strange black flames; these flames seemed like they were capable of burning all creation, bringing an unimaginable despair to him.
“What are you all standing around gawking for? He killed Xu Wei! Fight! I want his corpse torn into ten thousand pieces! I want him to die like a dog!” Xu Tian Ze, who had the lowest cultivation of his group, suddenly jumped out and scolded. Although Xu Tian Ze was the Xu Family’s Young Master, his aptitude was truly pitiful. The Xu Family had used countless precious treasures over the years purify his body and wash his marrow, but even so, he was still just a Third Order Saint.
Without any aptitude in the Martial Dao, Xu Tian Ze’s personality became twisted and he indulged in all kinds of debauchery. Wantonly abusing his status and the prestige of the Xu Family, no one in the surrounding region dared to provoke him, not to mention he was always escorted by four Saint King Realm guards. Besides colossal forces like Shadow Moon Hall, no one dared to move against him.
Yet suddenly, one of his guards had inexplicably died. Xu Tian Ze had failed to realize how tyrannical Yang Kai’s strength was and only understood that he had lost face, prompting to immediately retaliate.
Listening to Xu Tian Ze’s shouting, all three Saint Kings present shot a difficult look, at this moment praying that their waste of a Young Master would shut his smelly mouth! Could this idiot still not see that the three of them were no more than clay Buddhas crossing the river, unable to even protect themselves?
The bald middle-aged man suddenly yelled at the other two, “You should know what fate awaits you if the Young Master has any kind of accident!”
When they heard these words, the two men both wore looks of pure dread and immediately turned to Yang Kai, summoning all their defensive artefacts without saying a word and flying towards him.
One of them raised his hand and condensed a silver light the filled the surrounding region. This silver light hid a pointed murderous intent and quickly flooded towards Yang Kai.
The other man stealthily appeared behind Yang Kai. A huge phantom tiger appeared above this man’s head and swiftly bit towards Yang Kai’s neck while simultaneously, the man stretched out his hand towards Yang Yan.
As long as they caught this woman, they would be able to use her as a bargaining chip to force Yang Kai to compromise.
Although this woman had a myriad of powerful artefacts, she didn’t understand how to fight at all and shouldn’t be too difficult to catch.
These two men cooperated flawlessly and it was obvious this was not their first time fighting together. Both of them were quite familiar with each other’s strengths and movements.
Yang Kai stood in place, not moving, but just before the silver light engulfed his position, a halo of black flame appeared around him, as if he had been lit on fire. This halo of flame, however, didn’t just surround Yang Kai, but also Yang Yan who was still clinging onto his clothes at this moment.
When the silver light struck the Demonic Flame barrier, it was instantly incinerated. The cultivator who was rushing towards Yang Kai from the front saw this and was stunned, realizing he had greatly underestimated this young man’s ability and hurriedly tried to withdraw.
“You want to run?” Yang Kai sent out a punch that pounded directly onto the man’s chest.
Yang Kai’s punch directly blasted a hole into this Saint King Grade Low-Rank Artifact Armour, as if it was as fragile as paper, then proceeded to crush the man’s torso in.
The man flew out like an arrow from a bow, the black Demonic Flames wrapping around him and his Artifact Armour, burning them all to crisp before his body could even hit the ground.
At the same time Yang Kai’s fist hit his first attacker, a pitiful scream rang out behind him.
The cultivator who wanted to capture Yang Yan to use her as a hostage had only just put his hand on her shoulder when Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame began burning his body.
The man rapidly took back his hand, but the Demonic Flame continued to spread up his arm at a frightening speed. Seeing this, the man decisively took out a sword and cut off his own arm.
He would rather lose an arm than allow the Demonic Flame to reach his body. Both of his companions had been burned to death before his eyes, so he was well aware of how horrifying the Demonic Flame was.
After cutting off his arm, he wanted to immediately run away, but to his despair, another ball of black flame suddenly appeared in front of him and smashed into his face.
Both hot and cold force struck him, making him realize he had been hit. Clawing at his face with his one remaining hand, the man tried to wipe away the black flames but all his attempts proved futile and it wasn’t long until his entire body was on fire and he was sent into convulsions. It was impossible for him to survive.
Yang Kai turned his head towards a spot in the distance where the bald middle-aged man had run away with Xu Tian Ze while his two subordinates had sacrificed themselves. Xu Tian Ze, who was on his shoulder, was still yelling rabidly about making Yang Kai suffer and die.
Just as Yang Kai stepped out and was about to pursue this pair, something behind him held him back. It was only then that he remembered that Yang Yan was still clinging to his clothes, and from the resistance he just felt, it seemed like she was all her force to hold onto him.
Looking back at her, Yang Kai suddenly found that Yang Yan’s face was extremely pale and mind was in chaos. Her tender body was shivering like a quail with nowhere to hide in winter.
“Yang Yan!” Yang Kai was frightened, thinking that Yang Yan had suffered some kind of secretive blow during the fight. Without any time to bother killing the last two, Yang Kai sent out a pulse of Spiritual Energy towards the bald middle-aged man and Xu Tian Ze’s direction before focusing on Yang Yan.
A faint blue light emanated from the waist of Xu Tian Ze, offsetting some of the damage from the Yang Kai Divine Sense attack, but even so, Xu Tian Ze instantly passed out. The bald middle-aged man spit out a mouthful of blood as he felt like his head was being pierced by thousands of needles, the pain so great that he was afraid his Knowledge Sea would collapse and his Soul would be destroyed.
“How is that possible!” The bald middle-aged man cried out in terror.
He hadn’t imagined that not only was Yang Kai’s Saint Qi so frightening, but his Spiritual Energy was just as overbearing. He was two realms higher than Yang Kai, yet he had almost been instantly killed by him. If it wasn’t for Xu Tian Ze’s Soul type artefact which had resisted some of the force of this attack, the two of them might have really died then and there.
Not daring to delay any further, the bald man hurriedly placed Xu Tian Ze on his shoulder and fled as quickly as possible.
“Yang Yan…” Yang Kai nervously held Yang Yan and examined her with his Divine Sense. After a moment though, he calmed down and discovered that things were not what he had imagined. Yang Yan had not suffered some secretive treachery and not even injured, she simply seemed to have been greatly frightened, resulting in a somewhat unstable mental state.
As Yang Kai gently patting her back, Yang Yan looked up at him with difficulty, her face suddenly going white as she struggled free and ran over to the side to repeatedly vomit.
Yang Kai stared at her with a weird expression.
After a long time, Yang Yan whispered softly, “Yang Kai, I feel a bit dizzy…”
As soon as she finished these words, she collapsed to the ground.
[Seriously?] Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly stepped forward to support her, discovering that she had fainted, her face still pale and bloodless, and her body unusually cold.
With a sigh, Yang Kai shook his head, carefully picked Yang Yan up, and carried her towards the cave.
The cave itself hadn’t suffered much damage; after all, the fight here had been too short. Even the Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags set up by Yang Kai had not been taken away. Back inside his stone room, Yang Kai put Yang Yan down on the bed and covered her with the sheets, observing her unconscious face with some pity and amusement.
Yang Kai had planned to finish off Xu Tian Ze, but with Yang Yan in this kind of state, it would not be appropriate for him to leave, so he could only remain by her side.
Yang Kai had only arrived on Shadowed Star a short time ago, and had been doing his best to avoid stirring up trouble, but now, trouble had inexplicably found him. Yang Kai was naturally reluctant to allow any witnesses to remain, but even if Xu Tian Ze returned after finding some helpers, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid.
According to Wu Yi, there were no Origin King Realm masters on Shadowed Star while the strongest master in her Hai Ke Family was only a Third Order Saint King. It was obvious that Xu Tian Ze didn’t belong to a big force, so the chances of him being able to bring forward a strong master were also quite slim.
Yang Yan slept for a few days, every now and then calling out in a panic-stricken voice, clearly having nightmares. Every time this happened, it took Yang Kai quite some time to calm her down.
Three days later, Yang Yan woke up quietly.
Yang Kai sat on the bed and looked at her. Staring at Yang Kai for a while, Yang Yan soon averted her gaze shamefully as her cheeks blushed.
“Eat something first,” Yang Kai tossed her a small package.
Smelling the fruit and seemingly in desperate need to replenish her physical strength, Yang Yan immediately got up, unwrapped the package, and after seeing the golden fruits inside, ate up with a smile, her pale face gradually regaining its colour.
Seeing her looking better, Yang Kai asked curiously, “Have you never seen a dead person before?”
The reason why Yang Yan had fallen into a coma was not that she had been injured, but rather because she had been frightened! Several people dying in such a horrific manner in front of her had clearly overwhelmed Yang Yan. Yang Kai always knew that she was timid, but he hadn’t expected it to be so bad that just seeing three strangers die in front of her had caused her to pass out for three days. If she saw a true bloody battlefield, would she have died directly?
However, Yang Kai also understood that anyone who witnessed death for the first time would react in a similar fashion. The first time he had killed someone, although his performance wasn’t as unbearable as Yang Yan’s, his mood had fluctuated greatly. Fortunately, his mental toughness seemed to be quite good, at least much more so than Yang Yan’s.
Hearing Yang Kai’s few words, Yang Yan, who was eating with great relish, immediately put down the fruit and covered her mouth.
“You haven’t?” Yang Kai was shocked, thinking about how she had fainted for three whole days due to such a minor event and wondering how she had survived so far in this chaotic world? With her level of courage and skill, Yang Kai felt it was nothing less than a miracle she had managed to live for so long.
Yang Yan’s face clearly indicated she was in no condition to speak so she simply waved her hand at Yang Kai while taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen people die, but I’ve never seen such gruesome deaths…” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai, a hint of fear lingering on her face. The scene of those few people screaming as they burned to death was still vivid in her mind, but what was most unbearable to her was the burnt smell that had filled her nostrils.
She never knew that charred flesh would smell so pungent.
“En, next time I kill someone, just close your eyes,” Yang Kai sighed.
“There’ll be a next time?” Yang Yan looked bitter.
“Possibly!” Yang Kai nodded, “Let’s not discuss this anymore, for now just eat up.”
“En,” Yang Yan nodded, picking up the half-eaten fruit and nibbling on it again, a short time later asking curiously, “Where did you get this? It seems to be able to refresh the spirit while restoring strength.”
“It was a gift,” Yang Kai didn’t explain. Although these fruits were relatively rare, they weren’t actually that valuable, otherwise, Qian Tong wouldn’t have given them to him so generously.
“By the way, did you buy the ores?” Yang Yan asked again.
“I bought them, but you need to rest for a few more days, wait until you’ve completely recovered before you start refining again,” Yang Kai did not feel relieved allowing Yang Yan to refine an Original Grade artefact in her current condition. Artefact Refining and Alchemy required an extremely stable state of mind, once there was any external interference, it may cause irreparable losses.
“En.”
Yang Yan rested for several more days before taking the large number of ores Yang Kai had purchased and entering a state of retreat to continue Artifact Refining, seemingly forgetting all about what happened before.
This woman’s mind was relatively simple. Although she was as timid as a mouse, she wasn’t tiresome to deal with, because she would quickly move past things and was easy to satisfy.
With his stone room and Seven Coloured Spirit Gathering Flags being requisitioned away by Yang Yan, Yang Kai decided to leave the cave and find a clean place to sit down cross-legged nearby and look out at the surrounding mist-covered mountain, nodding with satisfaction.
It had been several months since the Aura Gathering Spirit Array was laid down on this mountain and was beginning to bear fruit. The layer of fog which lingered around the mountain was becoming thicker and thicker, indicating that the World Energy aura was steadily becoming denser.
Although Yang Kai had left the cave, he kept his Divine Sense locked onto it at all times, worried that Yang Yan would have an accident or that Xu Tian Ze would come to find trouble with him again and disturb Yang Yan’s Artefact Refining.
Yang Yan was currently refining the Origin Grade defensive artefact Yang Kai had requested, so he was not about to let any accidents occur.
Time passed day by day, and everything remained calm and steady.
One day, as Yang Kai was meditating, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind, “I’ve recovered.”
Hearing this voice, Yang Kai was overjoyed and immediately realized that the Divine Tree had awoken.
Back on Rainfall Star, in order to dispel the effects of the Profound Yin Sunflower Water from Xue Yue, Yang Kai had exhausted both his and the Divine Tree’s strength, causing the later to fall into a deep sleep. Now, several years later, the Divine Tree had finally woken up.
“How do you feel?” Yang Kai immediately asked.
“I’m alright, but you don’t seem to have changed much. Was I only asleep for a short time?” The Divine Tree was puzzled. Yang Kai was a Second-Order Saint when he borrowed its power, but today he was just a Third Order Saint, such a small improvement was not in line with Yang Kai’s aptitude.
“It’s been a few years, I don’t know exactly how long.”
“Then why are you …”
“There was an accident,” Yang Kai chuckled and briefly explained about the Body Tempering Divine Pond. Yang Kai didn’t hide anything from the Yang Attribute Divine Tree which had obtained sentience as it was extremely closely tied to him and despite being just a tree, was somewhat like a partner to him who was always with him.
Yang Kai also remembered his initial commitment to find a suitable place to let it out and take root.
But all these years Yang Kai had been constantly running around without any stable place to call home. Although he had visited many places, Yang Kai had yet to find a suitable position and the Divine Tree had never urged him, causing Yang Kai to feel a bit ashamed.
“Oh? You mean that although your realm hasn’t changed, you’ve obtained some kind of profound Golden Blood?” The Divine Tree seemed to be interested in his Golden Blood.
“Do you want to try?”
“Yes!”
Yang Kai immediately squeezed out a drop of Golden Blood and sent it into the Demon Mystic Tome to be absorbed by the Divine Tree.
A moment later, Yang Kai wore a startled expression.
Although he didn’t know exactly what happened to the Divine Tree after absorbing a drop of his Golden Blood, he could feel that the close relationship between them had become even firmer and more stable.
Yang Kai could even feel the joy and excitement of the Divine Tree in his heart. The large leaves were constantly shaking as if they had received great nourishment and a feel of extremely satisfaction was transmitted directly to his Soul.
It took a long time but the Divine Tree eventually let out a refreshing sigh and commented, “The vitality contained in that drop of Golden Blood was incredibly and it doesn’t seem to have the same restrictions as your previous Yang Liquid. This kind of Golden Blood can be used to enhance any living creature with any attribute strength. Any World Spirit Treasure that absorbs a drop will have its vitality and maturity greatly enhanced.”
In the past, Yang Kai’s Yang Liquid could only be used on spirit grasses and spirit medicines of the Yang Attribute, but the Golden Blood was different. There were no attribute restrictions because what the Golden Blood contained was pure vitality.
Dozens of small fruits suddenly appeared on the Divine Tree. Similar fruits had been eaten by Yang Kai a long time ago, each one of them containing a lot of Yang Attribute energy.
These small fruits had budded a long time ago, but their growth cycle was very long, only reaching the size of grapes after all these years, but after absorbing a drop of Golden Blood, these fruits began growing at a rate visible to the naked eye, reaching the size of walnuts before stopping.
“Interesting,” Yang Kai laughed, “It looks like I’ll be able to rapidly mature some spirit grasses and spirit medicines in the future.”
Yang Kai had been constantly exploring the uses of his Golden Blood. Last time, he had sent a drop of Golden Blood out into the Starry Sky and even now it was still flying through the Star Field. Yang Kai could always send his consciousness to this drop of Golden Blood to check out its surrounding situation. Now though, he had discovered that the Golden Blood could provide great assistance to the growth of spirit grasses and spirit medicines, a pleasant surprise.
“Since it’s helpful to you, have a few more drops!” Yang Kai said and without hesitation, sent a few more drops of Golden Blood into the Demon Mystic Tome.
The Divine Tree didn’t even have time to stop him. Although it was a World Spirit Treasure, it already had its own consciousness and knew that this Golden Blood was definitely not easy to come by, but since Yang Kai had delivered so many drops to it, naturally it would not waste them and cleanly absorbed them.
If Yang Kai relied solely on meditative cultivation, it would take him twelve months, or a full year to condense four drops of Golden Blood. This meant that four drops of Golden Blood contained a full year’s worth of Saint Qi accumulation.
However, the Divine Tree was able to absorb that much in a single instant.
Just as Yang Kai was about to ask about its situation, the Divine Tree spoke, “I think… I need to sleep again.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai was startled, wondering if the vitality contained in his Golden Blood was too strong for even the Divine Tree to bear.
“This is a good thing. I think I’ll experience some kind of breakthrough after I wake up. Rather than worrying about me, you should spend some time examining those two black stones. Something seems to have changed with them,” The Divine Tree said aloud before falling into a deep sleep and no longer responding no matter how Yang Kai called.
[Could the Divine Tree still grow further?] Yang Kai asked himself with a bewildered look, but since it had told him itself, it shouldn’t be a mistake. Yang Kai was quite looking forward to this development and wondered just what kind of change the Divine Tree would undergo this time.
Now though, he had to concern himself with what the Divine Tree’s said just before falling asleep, shifting his attention to the two black stones.
Yang Kai only now remembered he had not paid any attention to those two strange pitch-black round stones for a long time. Since spending a lot of Saint Crystals on Water Moon Star to buy them countless rare ores, he had forgotten about these two pitch-black round stones.
Immediately, Yang Kai sent his consciousness into the Demon Mystic Tome.
What Yang Kai saw there stunned him.
The mountain of rare ores had all disappeared, with their essences obviously having been completely absorbed by the two pitch-black round stones. Only some impurities were left behind, but amongst all those impurities, there was a fairly obvious life aura that was emitting a strong pulsing sound, like a heartbeat.
What was going on?
Yang Kai swept away the pile of impurities and immediately saw the two pitch-black round stones. However, unlike before, they now have some slight differences. Both stones exuded a vigorous vitality, but one of them was even emitting a heartbeat.
Was this thing alive? Yang Kai found it difficult to believe as he quickly withdrew the two pitch-black round stones and placed them in front of himself.
Looking closely, he was quickly shocked.
The pitch-black round stone that was sending out a heartbeat was wiggling somewhat, as if there was a living creature inside of it that was moving about. The clearly visible lines on the surface of the round stone were as intricate as human meridians.
It was almost like he was looking at a pregnant woman’s belly and the baby inside was kicking just before it was born!
This wasn’t the case for the other stone, however; it gave off an equally strong vitality but had no heartbeat.
Yang Kai stared blankly, not knowing what to do for a while.
Although he had owned these two pitch-black round stones for many years, he still knew next to nothing about their secrets.
Immediately, he remembered what Gui Zu had said to him back on the floating continent.
[‘Take care of them, and one day they will give you a pleasant surprise,’ was it?]
Gui Zu was a master at the Origin King Realm and had lived for over two thousand years. He was very knowledgeable and seemed to know exactly what these two pitch-black round stones were, but at that time, their relationship had not been very harmonious, so Yang Kai had not asked and Gui Zu had not taken the initiative to tell, so until now, Yang Kai was still utterly lost about these two stones.
The two pitch-black round stones were brought by Yang Kai from Tong Xuan Realm, but since Gui Zu recognized them, they should have been products of the Starry Sky that had somehow found their way to Tong Xuan Realm. Was now that time for the pleasant surprise Gui Zu mentioned?
Yang Kai sat cross-legged and circulated his Secret Art while paying attention to the movements of Yang Yan and the two pitch-black round stones.
Ten days passed by in a flash.
The two pitch-black round stones didn’t show any changes, so Yang Kai was beginning to grow impatient. He was very eager to know what mysteries were hidden inside the two stones in front of him, especially if there it was some kind of living creature.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai carefully squeezed out a drop of Golden Blood onto the stone that was giving off a heartbeat.
Since his Golden Blood contained a massive amount of vitality that could put even the Divine Tree into a state of deep sleep to evolve, there was no reason it couldn’t provide some assistance to this pitch-black round stone.
When the drop of Golden Blood landed on it, the heartbeat sound coming from the pitch-black round stone became even louder, and as the drop of blood was absorbed, the entire stone began emitting a brilliant golden radiance.
Some obvious changes quickly appeared on the stone, with the external lines like human meridians becoming agitated and something seemingly trying to break through the shell.
Yang Kai stared without blinking, not willing to miss anything.
*Kacha…*
A crisp cracking sound rang out, causing Yang Kai to unconsciously feel a little nervous.
On the pitch-black round stone, small cracks began to form, and soon those small cracks expanded, covering its entire surface in the blink of an eye and in the next instant, its contents burst out.
Yang Kai stared at this sight and was completely stunned!
Although he had some speculations up until now, when he finally saw what had appeared in front of him, he was still taken by surprise.
Inside the pitch-black round stone, there really was a living creature! It was an egg, one that madly devoured mineral essence! Yang Kai had cultivated it for so many years and the number of rare minerals it had consumed during that time was considerable, but now, finally, it had finally hatched from its shell.
At this moment, a grey thing sat in front of Yang Kai. It looked like a stone sculpture and had a dull grey colour to its body. It had limbs, a head, and clear features on its face.
It was clearly a Stone Man, a Stone Man the size of a palm!
As Yang Kai was observing it, it slowly stood up, seemingly having quite a bit of difficulty, swaying back and forth and nearly falling over.
Yang Kai saw this and quickly reached out to help.
The Stone Man’s arms were strangely long, dragging along the ground even as it stood up, its waist and back were slightly curved, its leg slightly bent, and its body was seemingly composed of a number of pieces of stones. Its looks were angular and highly layered. Although it had clear facial features, its expression was naturally gruff and, in conjunction with its clumsy movement, it appeared a bit silly.
Yang Kai watched it without missing a beat.
It turned its head around blankly for a while but when its grey eyes saw Yang Kai, it stopped for a while.
Because it had absorbed a drop of Golden Blood from Yang Kai, it seemed to be quite curious about him. Similar to the Divine Tree, Yang Kai felt like there was an inseparable connection between him and this Stone Man.
After only looking at him for a while, the Stone Man stopped paying attention to Yang Kai and instead stretched out its two long arms and picked up the black stone shell pieces on the ground, bringing it to its mouth and chewing them.
Seeing it crunch the stone shell with such enthusiasm, Yang Kai was once again astonished.
What the hell was this thing?
Although he had not tested it, Yang Kai was certain the black stone shell was incredibly hard; after all, it had absorbed the essence of so many rare ores over many, many years. With that kind of precipitation, it was likely this shell wasn’t inferior in hardness to an Origin Grade defensive artefact, possibly even stronger.
However, that black stone shell seemed as fragile as tofu in the mouth of this small Stone Man.
After a while, the black stone shell had been eaten clean. After eating the stone shell, the little Stone Man seemed a bit tired and staggered over towards Yang Kai before trying to climb up onto his lap.
Yang Kai figured it was time he tried out its strength and reached out and flicked its forehead.
The small Stone Man immediately tumbled like a bottle gourd and rolled away.
Yang Kai’s face turned black and secretly wondered if this was really the creature he had cultivated for so many years and spent so many precious minerals on. Although it was hard enough, it didn’t seem very strong.
The little Stone Man soon stood up, shook its head, and toddled over to Yang Kai again to continue its climb.
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but this time he didn’t flick it again and simply let it crawl up onto his thigh.
It didn’t seem to have any other intentions, seemingly only wanting to climb up onto Yang Kai. Lying down on its back, it closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Yang Kai looked at it, shook his head, and sighed. He wasn’t repulsed by this little guy just because he appeared useless, it was just that the whole situation was too different from his original expectations. Yang Kai thought he would perhaps obtain two incredibly precious ores which, if he continued to cultivate, would one day be used to refine an Origin King Grade artefact. How could he have anticipated that a tiny Stone Man would pop up?
Frankly, it was a bit disappointing.
Observing it for a while though, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly froze and his eyes fixed on the chest of the little Stone Man where a dark red light pulsed.
Immediately after, Yang Kai sent his consciousness into the Demon Mystic Tome and began searching for something carefully.
A short time later, Yang Kai withdrew his consciousness and frowned.
He finally understood why the two pitch-black round stones weren’t the same. Originally, it was because of the Blood Essence Stone!
The Blood Essence Stone that he had stored inside the Demon Mystic Tome was now implanted in the little Stone Man’s chest, seemingly acting as its heart.
Yang Kai only possessed one Blood Essence Stone, and it was now part of this small Stone Man so obviously the other pitch-black round stone wasn’t able to emit a heartbeat.
Yang Kai firmly believed there was another small Stone Man inside the other pitch-black round stone, but without another Blood Essence Stone to act as its heart, it couldn’t break out of its shell.
Was there some kind of relationship between Blood Essence Stones and these things? Yang Kai became more and more confused, unable to figure out anything even after thinking about it for a while.
Meanwhile, Yang Yan had seemingly reached a critical point in the refining of the Origin Grade defensive artefact Yang Kai requested; he could tell because the energy fluctuations coming from the cave were now much stronger than before. As such, Yang Kai remained outside, not daring to disturb her, feeling a bit bored.
Ever since the small Stone Man appeared, Yang Kai began studying its secrets.
A few days passed but this little guy didn’t seem to experience any kind of growth. He was however quite interested in the place Yang Yan was working. Every time Yang Kai took his eyes off of it, the little Stone Man would run over to the cave, as if it was being drawn in by something. Yang Kai eventually had no choice but to order it to not approach the cave.
After some observation, Yang Kai discovered a problem. Although this little Stone Man had traces of life and was definitely a kind of creature, it didn’t seem to have much of a consciousness. It wasn’t like the Divine Tree that had its own thoughts and wisdom. Instead, it seemed that, aside from Yang Kai’s orders, it was relying solely on its instincts to act.
He didn’t know if it was because it had absorbed a drop of his Golden Blood, but the little Stone Man was absolutely obedient to Yang Kai and would meticulously execute any order he gave it.
However, Yang Kai’s attempts to communicate with it were somewhat fruitless. He had expected it to obtain its own consciousness just like the Divine Tree, but after examining the situation for a while, it appeared that would be impossible. This little Stone Man was closer to a puppet than a sentient creature.
A few days later, Yang Kai discovered that it possessed a very strange ability: Digging holes!
The speed at which it could burrow through the mountain rock was incredible. Yang Kai only learned about this ability by accident. Because of Yang Kai’s order, this little guy didn’t dare to approach the cave where Yang Yan was. Instead, it would constantly drill down into the ground, a breath after disappearing, already travelling hundreds of meters down, moving through the hard mountain rock as easily as if it were air.
Yang Kai also experimented with a particularly firm piece of ore and found that no matter how hard the ore was, the Stone Man could easily drill a large hole through it.
This skill was actually pretty good, but looking at its flat, blockish head, Yang Kai was truly confused as to how it accomplished this.
Originally, Yang Kai thought that there might be some kind of rare ore deposit down below that had attracted it, but after careful investigation, he rejected this conjecture.
Dragon Cave Mountain didn’t possess any rare spirit grasses, spirit medicines, or ores. Before Yang Kai set up the Aura Gathering Spirit Array, this place had simply been a barren mountain with good scenery. Even now, the only noteworthy feature was its slightly richer World Energy aura.
As long as Dragon Cave Mountain didn’t collapse from all this tunnelling though, Yang Kai was too lazy to care about what this little guy did. It was only because Yang Kai had coincidentally owned a Blood Essence Stone that the Stone Man was able to hatch from its shell while the other remained in its original pitch-black round stone state. If Yang Kai wanted to hatch the other Stone Man, he would probably first need to find another Blood Essence Stone.
But this kind of treasure was too rare; Yang Kai had entered the Star Field for some time now but had never come across or even heard of another Blood Essence Stone. It seemed that the Blood Essence Stones were scarce even in the Star Field.
One day, while Yang Kai was meditating, he suddenly felt a shocking energy fluctuation coming from the cave. This fluctuation erupted but quickly settled down, and in the next moment, Yang Yan’s proud laughter rang out.
[She succeeded?] Yang Kai also wore a look of happiness as he got up and rushed over to the cave.
Inside Yang Kai’s stone room, the Refining Furnace that was as tall as a grown man was still emitting an amazing heat and Yang Yan, who was standing nearby, was dripping in sweat. It could be seen at a glance that she had expended a great deal of effort to refine this artefact, her hair wet and dishevelled, making her look somewhat like a lunatic. She had even taken off her trademark black robe at some point and was now only wearing a thin gauze skirt.
Her sweat-drenched clothes tightly clung to her body, and when Yang Kai rushed in, what first caught his eye was not the artefact he had requested, but Yang Yan’s incredibly attractive figure.
Her rounded bottom seemed to float upwards, as if a great pair of hands was holding it up, exaggerating the curve of her waist. Her smooth and flat abdomen was vaguely visible through her wet clothes and Yang Kai could even clearly see the shape and colour of her undergarments.
En, pink panties that were no bigger than the size of a large palm, just enough to cover her most sensitive area while at the same time stimulating one’s basest imagination. There was also an equally small red cloth wrapped around her upper body that was barely able to contain her two massive peaks.
Yang Kai froze for a moment, wondering if he should wait outside for a while.
Before he could make a decision though, Yang Yan ran over in excitement, not even noticing the spring scenery she was putting on display, her delicate hands gripping an oval shield-shaped artefact and shouting, “See, see! An Origin Grade Low-Rank artefact. I didn’t lie to you, I really am an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner!”
Yang Kai took the shield-like artifact, which was much lighter than he imagined it would be, as if it had no weight at all. The surface of the shield was giving off a faint purple glow so Yang Kai was able to tell that it was refined from the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s carapace as the two shared the same luster. The shield’s surface wasn’t flat and instead had several sharp barbs on it. As for what the effect was, Yang Kai didn’t know.
However, Yang Kai was acutely aware that two different attribute energies, both of which were extremely potent, were coursing through the interior of this shield.
Seeing Yang Kai observing her work carefully, Yang Yan immediately began explaining its merits, “I integrated the Monster Core of the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion. The primary material for this shield was that Monster Beast’s carapace, so after the core was integrated, it gained the ability to display part of the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s abilities from when it was alive. Of course, you’ll have to experiment with it to determine how to bring out this power, because I don’t know what abilities this Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion had during its lifetime.”
“The sandstorm perhaps?” Yang Kai muttered to himself, immediately remembering the time he had been following Gui Che and discover the place where the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion was hiding. Back then, an intense sandstorm several dozen kilometres in radius had been concealing the Scarlet Tailed Purple Armoured Scorpion’s figure, making it almost impossible to discover.
“It was able to create a sandstorm?” Yang Yan nodded, “Good good. This shield is the result of my utmost effort, you must make good use of it. Not only can it be used for defence, but the spikes on its surface can also be used as close-range weapons. With this shield, fighting opponents above your realm level shouldn’t be, impossible. No no, definitely won’t be a problem. En, as long as you have this artefact in hand, I guarantee that no Saint King Realm cultivator will be able to hurt you! Unless you stand there dumbly and let them hit you of course!”
Yang Yan struck her chest firmly as she made this vigorous guarantee, completely forgetting the fact that Yang Kai had killed several Saint Kings with his own power just a few days ago.
When her little hand patted her chest, her towering peaks bounced with astonishing force.
Their elasticity was clearly amazing…
Yang Kai couldn’t help staring at this scene, his eyes being drawn into her seemingly bottomless valley.
“If not for you urging me to finish this up quickly, I could have refined something even better, but for now it’s alright. Origin Grade Low-Rank is just its current grade, en, if you can find some better ores in the future, I can continue enhancing it, raising its grade… Hey, I’m talking to you, why do you look like you’re not listening? What are you looking at?” Yang Yan didn’t know why Yang Kai was revealing an absent-minded look on his face but when she directed her eyes towards where he was staring, she immediately understood.
In an instant, Yang Yan’s cheeks, which were already a bit flushed from the heat, became bright crimson red, as if they were being boiled. After three breaths, a high pitched scream echoed throughout the cave as Yang Yan crouched down and covered her chest with her arms, glaring towards Yang Kai with a deeply aggrieved look while cursing loudly, “Shameless bastard! Pervert! I worked so hard to refine a precious artefact for you, yet you actually… you actually…”
She felt incredibly wronged.
Yang Kai just grinned and didn’t make any comments.
After letting her scold him a few more times, Yang Kai cut in and said, “There’s a pool fed from the mountain stream over there, go wash.”
“I already know that!” Yang Yan bit her red lips, hugging her rich capital even tighter as she snarled, “Get out!”
“Good good good, I’m leaving!” Yang Kai nodded quickly but before he could leave, a slight rumbling noise resounded below Yang Yan’s feet and immediately after, a small hole appeared, and a tiny grey head popped up from it. When this little head appeared, its square eyes turned to stare blankly at Yang Yan.
“Yaa!” Yang Yan shouted even louder, sending out a great slap, whacking the little grey head back into the hole before leaping like a frightened rabbit directly into Yang Kai’s arms.
Two warm, soft, elastic mounds pressed up against Yang Kai’s chest strongly as a mind-numbing fragrance filled his nostrils, granting him an incredibly satisfying sensation.
What made him feel the most speechless though was that Yang Yan’s had even wrapped her legs around his waist.
He knew that she was timid, but it appears he had still been overestimating her courage!
She seemed extremely scared, her tender body shivering uncontrollably as she clung tightly to Yang Kai, constantly glancing around, her eyes filled with fear.
Even after discovering that there was nothing in the cave, she still didn’t seem relieved and nervously asked, “What was that, what was that, why did I feel like it was looking at me just now?”
Yang Kai didn’t know how to explain. The little Stone Man, who was normally very obedient, had suddenly ran over to her cave and popped up from the ground. No wonder Yang Yan had been scared to death.
“Did it leave?” Yang Yan asked again.
“It’s gone.”
“Really?” Releasing her Divine Sense, she scanned the cave and found that there really wasn’t anything else there, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Looking back, Yang Yan suddenly discovered that she wrapping her arms around Yang Kai’s neck and literally hanging off of him, their two bodies pressed up against each so tightly that she could feel an astonishing heat pressing up against her lower abdomen.
Yang Yan felt like steam was about to leak from her head.
She had never been so close to a man before, and she didn’t know why, but just being in this position made her blood boil and her heart pound so loud it was like a drum was being beaten. In an instant, she felt as if she was suffocating.
She was anxious to find that small thing, which had appeared and drill down into it, never to emerge again.
The weird smile on Yang Kai’s made her feel particularly ashamed.
“You… you put me down!” Yang Yan almost lowered her head into her chest as she shouted weakly.
“I’m not holding you!” Yang Kai spread his hands lightly.
Yang Yan only became more embarrassed when it was pointed out that she was the one wrapping her arms around Yang Kai’s neck while her legs pressed their hips together.
Quickly unwrapping her arms and legs, Yang Yan directly fell onto her bottom, letting out a small yelp when she hit the ground.
“Are you okay?” Yang Kai looked at her speechlessly, consciously not offering his hand. This woman wasn’t just timid, she was conscious of how she was perceived by those close to her, even if he tried to help her up, she would likely refuse.
“I’m fine,” Yang Yan shrank up into a ball, really not getting up, burying her face in her arms as she whispered, “Can you leave first? I want to dust myself off.”
En,” Yang Kai nodded, smiled, and turned away.
Outside the cave, the little Stone Man wobbly stood, almost as if he was drunk, accidentally tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground.
When he did get up, he raised his head and looked at Yang Kai innocently.
“Good job!” Yang Kai suddenly found that this little guy was quite astute and clever. [To think he made such a plan. Haha. How could I have thought he was simple-minded before?]
Yang Kai waited outside for a while, thinking about how to resolve the embarrassment between him and Yang Yan.
He was a man, being thick-skinned wasn’t a problem, and honestly, he didn’t mind about what just happened, he could simply laugh it off and move on, but Yang Yan was different. She looked like a woman with very little worldly experience and may never have been so close to a man before.
She was the complete opposite of Xue Yue, who could be completely naked in front of him and remain calm and composed, even having the frame of mind to negotiate and plot against him.
What if because of this matter, Yang Yan was too embarrassed to speak with him again, or worse, became angry out of shame and fled?
Losing some materials or treasures wouldn’t faze Yang Kai, but losing Yang Yan was absolutely unacceptable, she was an invaluable talent. It had not been long since Yang Kai came to Shadowed Star, and he didn’t know many people, if he really wanted to use this place as a springboard to spread his name throughout the Star Field, it wouldn’t be enough to use strength alone. He needed to assemble a great force around himself and superb talents would be required for that.
Should he make an apology with some honeyed words? Yang Kai hesitated; Yang Yan was quite innocent, and he felt that a few sweet words would relax her mood significantly, but Yang Kai was worried she would subsequently misunderstand his intentions, which would only end up hurting her in the end.
[Ah! This is so frustrating!] Yang Kai scratched his head and grumbled.
As he struggled with himself, Yang Yan, wearing her usual black robe after having washed her body, suddenly ran out of the cave and flew straight over towards him.
“Yang Kai, Yang Kai… come with me!” Yang Yan’s face showed a seemingly eager and excited expression as she rushed over to Yang Kai, grabbed his hand, and tried to drag him back to the cave.
“What happened?” Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t keep up with the situation. He hadn’t expected Yang Yan wouldn’t even bother with the awkward situation just now and instead seek him out on her own. He had been prepared for Yang Yan to hide in the cave for a few days without seeing him.
“I think I’ve found something, important, come see quickly,” She didn’t explain clearly and simply kept pulling Yang Kai towards the cave, soon arriving at the position where the two had been just now and pointed to the small hole in the ground, asking, “What did you see appear here a moment ago? Did you see clearly what it was that popped up and startled me?”
Seeing her shining eyes as she stared towards the small hole, even releasing her Divine Sense constantly to examine it, a thought occurred to Yang Kai, “Do you know what it was?”
If Yang Yan didn’t know, she wouldn’t have shown such a big reaction.
“I may know what it is!” Yang Yan nodded, “But it may not be what I think it is. Can you trace the position of that creature through this small hole? If we catch it, I can study it properly.”
“What do you think it is?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
Yang Yan shook her head, her pretty brow furrowing slightly, “Before I’m certain, I wouldn’t dare make any claims. I only caught a glimpse of it, but after thinking about it carefully, it really did seem quite similar to what I have in mind. Can you trace it?”
“There’s no need for that.”
“There is!” Yang Yan misunderstood Yang Kai and instantly grabbed his arm, shaking it while begging “Help me track it, I’m really curious about it! If you can help me track it down, I… I…” Yang Yan stuttered as her face became red again, seemingly remembering something, gritting her teeth and declaring, “I won’t hold you responsible for the matter just now!”
“I’m not responsible for what happened just now,” Yang Kai said flatly, thinking that women really were unreasonable creatures.
Yang Yan pouted miserably. Although she knew that Yang Kai really wasn’t responsible for what happened just now, and that it was clearly she who leapt into his arms and pressed herself against him, in the end, he was the one who had gained all the benefits, so she couldn’t help feeling she was the one who had been wronged.
“Just help me this once, I’ve done so much Artifact Refining for you already…” Yang Yan could only continue to plead.
“There’s really no need to trace it,” Yang Kai shook his head, “I’ll just call it over.”
“Call… Call it over?” Yang Yan froze up and looked at Yang Kai in a stunned manner, not quite understanding what he meant.
However, a moment later, a burrowing sound came from beneath the ground again. Either Yang Yan’s bravery had grown several times, or she was simply looking forward to it that much, but this time she no longer panicked and instead stared towards the spot where the sound was coming from.
A small hole suddenly appeared on the ground, and the square grey head carefully popped out of it.
Seeing it clearly this time, Yang Yan’s expression was even more excited, her breathing becoming rapid.
The little Stone Man seemed to be a bit scared of Yang Yan who had slapped him just now. Although its intelligence was quite low and it basically just followed its instincts, he could still remember who had hit him.
As soon as he saw this face in front of him, the little Stone Man immediately climbed out of the hole, its actions a bit uncoordinated, and quickly ran over to Yang Kai’s feet before climbing up his clothes.
Yang Yan stared dumbfounded at this, her gaze fixed on the little Stone Man as it climbed all the way up to Yang Kai’s shoulder and hid behind him. In the next instant, she let out a shout, “Stone Race!”
Yang Kai noticed that her pretty face was now quite out of shape, seemingly too excited to maintain any semblance of composure.
After screaming once, Yang Yan seemed to realize that she wasn’t behaving appropriately and immediately covered her mouth, releasing her Divine Sense again to carefully examine the little Stone Man.
“Stone Race?” Yang Kai frowned, taking the little guy off his shoulder and placing it on his palm while asking, “Do you recognize it?”
Yang Yan looked up at Yang Kai and nodded rapidly, suddenly realizing something and asking, “Is this Stone Race yours?”
If it wasn’t Yang Kai’s, how could he have caught it so easily? Why would it take orders to come over to him? Suddenly, Yang Yan felt a little dizzy, thinking she had once again underestimated Yang Kai’s heritage. He had so many precious materials and so many high-grade artefacts. He could easily kill Saint Kings while only being a Saint, and now he even possessed a Stone Race, a Heaven defying existence. Just what kind of a freak was he?
Also, why hadn’t she seen this Stone Race before?
“It’s mine. Now, tell me, what is this Stone Race?” Yang Kai asked with interested. He had been studying the secrets of the little Stone Man these days, but it seemed that rather than doing that, he should have just asked Yang Yan.
“Can you let me take a closer look? I’m still not quite sure!” Yang Yan stared at the little Stone Man expectantly.
Yang Kai nodded and tossed it over; he trusted Yang Yan’s character, and he also was depending on her to explain everything to him.
Yang Yan caught the little Stone Man with both hands and shot Yang Kai a vicious glare, seemingly blaming him for being so rough.
Quickly replacing her scowl with a gentle expression, Yang Yan held the small Stone Man in front of herself and examined him closely.
Facing this woman who had inexplicably slapped him earlier, the small Stone Man seemed a bit afraid and stood up several times wanting to return to Yang Kai’s side. Yang Kai eventually ordered him to stay put.
“It’s a Blood Essence Stone. It’s real! It’s really a Stone Race. Heavens! Didn’t this race go extinct already? Who could have imagined there were actually survivors left in this world?!” Yang Yan observed for a while before excitedly talking to herself, holding on tight to the little Stone Man, seemingly unwilling to let go.
Yang Kai’s face turned black and he quickly snatched it back from her.
“I haven’t observed it enough, let me see it again!” Yang Yan no longer cared about the embarrassing situation which had happened just moments ago between her and Yang Kai, all her thoughts now focused on this little fellow, as if he held some kind of extremely strong appeal to her.
“Since you recognize it, explain its origins to me clearly. After you’ve explained, you can do whatever research on it you want,” Yang Kai stated, still waiting for her to give him an answer.
“It’s yours, but you don’t even know what it is?” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai in surprise.
“Why should I know about it?” Yang Kai looked at her lightly.
Yang Yan’s lips twitched, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry, gritting her teeth for a long time before muttering, “The Heavens are unfair, why did they give this little thing to him instead of me?”
After a period of indignation, she finally began explaining, “It is a Stone Race!”
“I’ve heard you say that already, but what is the Stone Race?”
“En,” Yang Yan nodded angrily, “It’s also called a Stone Puppet. Since you own it, you should already know that its thoughts are very simple, right? It can be said that it has almost no sentience and its actions depend entirely on its own instincts and the orders of the one who has subdued it. So even if it is a kind of living creature belonging to its own race, it can still be thought of like a puppet!”
Yang Kai gently nodded, already knowing what Yang Yan was saying was correct as they corresponded perfectly with the observations he had made over the past few days.
“They are born only under very special conditions. Their initial form is a small black sphere that emits not trace of vitality, but as long as it is allowed to absorb enough mineral essence, it can slowly mature. En, you can think of it as a slightly different kind of egg.”
“In order to hatch this egg though, you need a special treasure, a Blood Essence Stone! Blood Essence Stones are the hearts of the Stone Race. Without a Blood Essence Stone, no matter how much mineral essence a Stone Race absorbs, it cannot truly come to life. This red stone on this little fellow’s chest is a Blood Essence Stone, so there’s no doubt it is a genuine Stone Race!”
Sure enough, just like Yang Kai had guessed, the Blood Essence Stone was acting at this little guy’s heart!
“The Stone Race is very few in number, but the role they can play is unimaginable. Long ago, as long as a Stone Race appeared, it would cause countless people to chase after it, wanting to obtain it and make it their exclusive Stone Puppet!”
“What kind of use does it have?” Yang Kai asked quickly.
Yang Yan laughed, “They grow by absorbing mineral essences, so they are extremely sensitive to rare minerals. As long as there is any kind of good mine nearby, they will discover it immediately. Is this use good enough? With a Stone Puppet, you can uncover an unlimited number of mineral lodes, even ones Origin Kings are unable to find.”
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened as he took a second look at this little fellow. Originally, he had thought it had no use and was rather dim-witted, but now he realized it actually possessed such an astonishing ability.
Yang Yan added, “Finding mineral lodes is just one of the Stone Puppet’s abilities, there is another one, which all Artifact Refiners can only dream of. It is able to purify and refine mineral essences. As long an Artifact Refiner has its assistance, they no longer need to expend any effort smelting and removing impurities from ore, Stone Puppets can easily and far more effectively accomplish that task.”
Alchemists were required to condense medicinal liquids while Artifact Refiners needed to quench ores, both these processes were for the purpose of removing impurities from raw materials and were absolutely essential to both professions.
The more impurities were removed, the better the refined pill or artefact would be. In many cases, the true calibre of an Alchemist or Artifact Refiner could be judged by how well they could purify their materials.
In this regard, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were leaders in their respective fields.
However, the Stone Puppet was born with the ability to remove impurities and quench ore, and its quenching was far more effective than any Artifact Refiner could hope to be, which was why Yang Yan was so interested in this little fellow.
What Yang Kai didn’t know was that Stone Puppets had another title they were known by, the strongest assistants of Artifact Refiners!
Whether it was their ability to find mineral lodes or their ability to quench ores, both were essential to Artifact Refiners.
Yang Kai, who was not an Artifact Refiner, actually owned a Stone Puppet, causing Yang Yan’s eyes to turn red with envy. This was no different from casting pearls before swine, a complete waste of Heaven’s precious gifts. If this Stone Puppet was hers, how wonderful would that have been?
“Keep going, what else is there,” Yang Kai smiled, the more he looked at this little guy, the more pleasing to the eye he became. Never had Yang Kai expected that the two pitch-black round stones he had brought with him from Tong Xuan Realm would actually contain such Heaven defying existences.
“Since it is a kind of puppet, it can naturally be used for fighting!” Yang Yan sighed, “You know that Artifact Refiners are the same as Alchemists, their combat ability not being very strong. Stone Puppets can make up for this, they perfectly suited for Artifact Refiners.”
Yang Yan wasn’t too interested in fighting, so she didn’t elaborate much on this point.
Yang Kai frowned and looked at the little fellow, wondering how it could possibly be used to fight. This tiny puppet couldn’t even withstand a simple slap, so even if it possessed some combat effectiveness, wouldn’t it be quite limited? Could it be that it fought by digging? Its burrowing skills were actually quite good.
“Big Brother Yang Kai…” Yang Yan blushed and called out in a coaxing voice.
Yang Kai, who was lost in thought, shivered when he heard this voice and shot a cold glare towards here, “Speak properly!”
Yang Yan was not the kind of woman who could act coquettish at all and trying to do so only destroyed her natural charms.
“Your Stone Puppet …”
“No!” Without waiting for her to finish. Yang Kai cut her off.
Yang Yan immediately became distressed, “I haven’t finished talking yet.”
“I know what you want to say. You want it, don’t you?” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “Impossible, I’ve already formed a bond with it. Even if I gave it to you, it would still only obey my orders.”
“You actually subdued it already?” Yang Yan’s eyes widened, somewhat unable to believe it, “How did you subdue it? Stone Puppets are extremely difficult to subdue, unless… unless before it was fully grown, you were the one who raised it.”
“The young lady is both smart and beautiful!” Yang Kai grinned, he had cultivated this little fellow for many years and just before it hatched he had even given it a drop of his Golden Blood, establishing a firm connection between the Stone Puppet and himself.
“Ahhh! This is so unfair!” Yang Yan stomped her foot fiercely. Obviously, she had some ideas about this Stone Puppet, but if Yang Kai had already subdued it, those thoughts were completely useless.
Because Stone Puppets don’t have very high wisdom, once it identifies someone as its master, it cannot be snatched by others, only destroyed.
Seeing Yang Yan’s disappointed expression, Yang Kai lightly coughed before commenting, “But although it only listens to my orders, if you want to use it for Artifact Refining, I can lend it to you. I can’t perform Artifact Refining in any case.”
“Really?” Yang Yan immediately let out a laugh and patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “Great, with it, I can now temper your shield to raise it to the Original Grade Mid-Rank! The artefacts I refine next will also have even better quality. Big Brother Yang Kai, you’re so kind, being able to follow you makes me really happy!”
It was as if she would die of contentment.
“Yes yes, let me see how it quenches ore,” Yang Kai brushed off her praise and asked, he was curious about this point Yang Yan had just made and naturally wanted to verify it with his own eyes.
“That’s simple, here, watch,” Yang Yan took a piece of raw light blue Origin Grade ore the size of a melon from her Space Ring. It was one of the ores Yang Kai had bought back in Heavenly Fate City last time and was meant to be used to refine an Origin Grade artefact.
“Little guy, come here, Elder Sister has some delicious food for you,” Yang Yan held up the blue stone to the Stone Puppet.
The Stone Puppet immediately jumped out of Yang Kai’s hands and rushed over to the blue stone.
Yang Kai only heard a crunching sound and within a few breaths, the stone the size of a melon had been eaten clean by the Stone Puppet; however, its belly didn’t swell at all, it looked exactly the same as before.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded and exclaimed, “So fast?”
Yang Yan was also very excited. Although she knew about the abilities of Stone Puppets, this was still the first time she had seen a living one. After the Stone Puppet finished eating the blue ore, she set it down on the ground.
“Now what?” Yang Kai asked.
“Just wait a moment.”
The two of them both observed the Stone Puppet closely.
Soon, Yang Kai discovered that the lustre on the surface of the Stone Puppet became dim and it seemed like something was leaking from its body, covering its originally smooth surface.
After a while, the Stone Puppet’s body became dull and grey.
It shuddered lightly and the grey stone covering the surface of its body immediately fell to the ground in countless pieces.
Yang Yan explained, “These are the impurity contained in that blue ore, all the essence has been extracted out of it.”
Afterwards, she turned to the Stone Puppet and said with a cheerful smile, “Spit it out.”
This time the Stone Puppet just stood stupidly though.
Yang Yan knew that it wouldn’t obey her words so she could only turn to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai understood and immediately gave Stone Puppet an order.
The next moment, the Stone Puppet opened its mouth far wider than should be possible and spat out a fist-sized, impurity-free ore. Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and Yang Yan reached out her hand to pick it up.
But before she could, the Stone Puppet spat out another piece of ore, and then another, and another, soon spilling out dozens of pieces at a time, all of the clinking together as they rolled out onto the floor of the cave.
Yang Kai gawked while Yang Yan also froze up.
The scene in front of them was far different from what they had imagined would happen.
After ten breaths, a huge pile of ore appeared before them. The pieces of ore were translucent, like fine crystal, and exuded a halo of light. Only one of them had a different, cyan, colour.
The Stone Puppet staggered, as if it was quite tired, and soon fell onto its butt.
However, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were no longer paying any attention to it and instead were completely focused on the great pile of ore.
“Yang Yan, can a Stone Puppet swallow a single piece of ore then produce many others from nothing?” Yang Kai asked dumbly, thinking his question was quite absurd the moment it left his lips.
“Impossible,” Yang Yan didn’t know how to explain it. She stretched out her hand and picked up the only blue piece of ore, feeling it carefully before stating, “This is the purified essence of the ore I just fed it. There’s now no trace of impurities at all.”
Yang Kai also hurriedly picked up a different piece and observed it silently, a moment later a look of shock filling his face as he exclaimed, “This isn’t that blue ore, it’s Space Spirit Crystal!”
“Space Spirit Crystal?” Yang Yan beautiful face filled paled as she too quickly picked up a piece, trembling as she too called out, “It really is Space Spirit Crystal!”
With the stunning performance of the Stone Puppet just now, she had not gone to inspect what kind of ore it had spat out and was only now able to confirm it.
The pair stared at each other silently while a great storm brewed inside their hearts.
No one could give an answer as to what ore was the most precious in this world, but Space Spirit Crystals were undoubtedly one of them!
The collection of Space Spirit Crystal was very difficult because it did not generally collect in large scale mineral lodes like other ores. Usually, it could only be found as a secondary material in Dark Space Stone mines. The value of Dark Space Stone wasn’t very high. Although it was sometimes used in Artifact Refining, overall it wasn’t a high-grade ore. But the accompanying Space Spirit Crystals were different, their value was extremely high. Space Spirit Crystals were essential in the manufacturing of Space Rings worn by cultivators as well as Space Arrays used for instantaneous travel.
Often, if an entire Dark Space Stone mineral lode could produce a washbasin sized amount of Space Spirit Crystal, it would be considered high density. The most likely outcome was that no appreciable amount of Space Spirit Crystal would exist at all. To find Space Spirit Crystal, one needed luck, sometimes one would obtain some, but often they would not.
Because the demand was immense, and the supply was small, Space Spirit Crystal was always increasing in price.
But at this moment, a great pile of Space Spirit Crystal sat in front of Yang Kai and Yang Yan, each crystal about the size of a fist, with at least three or four hundred pieces in total.
Forget about Yang Yan, such an astonishing amount of wealth was enough to move even Yang Kai. This fist-sized chunk of Space Spirit Crystals could be exchanged for at least fifty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, the value of an Origin Grade artefact.
It doesn’t make sense that the Stone Puppet had magically acquired these Space Spirit Crystals after eating just a single piece of blue Origin Grade ore, so the only explanation was that it had been storing them in its stomach before.
“Yang Kai…” Yang Yan spoke with a trembling voice, “What mineral lode did this little fellow visit before?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “It was only born a few days ago, before then it was just a pitch-black round stone; however, over the past few days it kept burrowing into the ground nearby!”
Yang Yan couldn’t help gulping as she hesitantly asked, “You mean…”
Yang Kai took a deep breath and answered her with a solemn nod.
Yang Yan covered her mouth, afraid she might accidentally scream. These hundreds of pieces of fist-sized Space Spirit Crystal were enough to thoroughly astound her, but now she was hearing something far more incredible.
Suddenly, tears began dripping from her eyes as she stared at Yang Kai, “Yang Kai, you’re won’t try to silence the witness to the crime, right?”
In this world, in order to keep some secrets, silencing witnesses or exterminating whole families wasn’t an uncommon practice. Yang Yan had experienced Yang Kai’s strength and murderous intent, even First Order Saint Kings weren’t worthy to be his opponents. She was clear that if Yang Kai really wanted to act against her, with his strange Demonic Flame, even with all her precious artefacts she may not be able to survive.
At this moment, Yang Yan deeply regretted learning about this big secret.
Yang Kai however just glanced over at her and asked, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Yang Yan immediately smiled, “I knew you weren’t like this. Quickly put these Space Spirit Crystals away, it would be bad if anyone else saw them.”
Yang Kai agreed with her and swiftly swept the hundreds of Space Spirit Crystals into his Demon Mystic Tome.
Even now, Yang Kai was feeling somewhat absent-minded. If these Space Spirit Crystals were really found by the Stone Puppet recently, then they could only have come from below Dragon Cave Mountain, because the Stone Puppet was always burrowing beneath this place.
However, what Yang Kai couldn’t understand was that he had clearly and carefully scanned the underground situation with his Divine Sense yet never once discovered anything resembling a mineral lode. If there really was a Dark Space Stone mineral lode here, Wu Yi and her Hai Ke Family should have known about it; after all, they had been rooted here for countless years.
It seemed it was necessary to investigate this matter.
Yang Kai reached out and picked up the Stone Puppet before beckoning to Yang Yan, “Come with me.”
Yang Yan didn’t ask anything, seemingly knowing what Yang Kai wanted to do and simply following after him, her face filled with a look of expectation.
Outside the cave, the pair quickly flew some ten kilometres away and sought a well-hidden spot before Yang Kai lowered the Stone Puppet and told it to start digging.
The Stone Puppet soon disappeared, leaving a small hole behind just big enough for one person to descend through.
Before, the Stone Puppet would only dig holes big enough for itself, but this time Yang Kai had instructed it to make the hole big enough for him and Yang Yan to pass through.
Yang Yan became even more excited, her face flushing as she stood silently, waiting for Yang Kai to head down first.
After half an hour, Yang Kai nodded to Yang Yan and jumped into the hole in front of him.
It had to be said that the Stone Puppet was a natural at digging holes as the passage Yang Kai fell through was perfectly cylindrical and straight, its surfaces completely smooth, as if they had been polished. The whole way down, Yang Kai never felt a single obstruction.
The hole was quite deep, making it hard to imagine it only took half an hour to dig, only further highlighting the Stone Puppet’s ability to Yang Kai.
After about as long as it would take to burn a stick of incense, Yang Kai suddenly noticed that the channel come to an end and he couldn’t help feeling like he was falling from a high altitude. Swiftly stabilizing his body, the next moment Yang Kai’s feet touched ground.
There was a rapid crunching sound ringing in his ears and without even looking, Yang Kai understood it was the Stone Puppet gnawing at some kind of ore. Pulling out a glowing stone for lighting, Yang Kai didn’t have time to examine his surroundings before above his head he heard Yang Yan cry out, “Yang Kai help me! I… I’m stuck!”
Yang Kai looked up and his face quickly turned black.
Yang Yan was indeed stuck, the two towering weapons on her chest lodged tight into the tunnel’s exit as her lower body dangled above his head, constantly pedalling back and forth as she wiggled her upper body.
Yang Kai reached out, grabbed Yang Yan’s ankles, and yanked her down, causing her to let out a great yelp.
“That hurt!” As soon as Yang Yan fell down, she covered her chest with both hands and gently began rubbing them, turning a tear-stained look towards Yang Kai, seemingly blaming him for not showing any delicacy.
Before she could find trouble with Yang Kai though, the glow from the luminous stone in his hand lit up their surroundings, and Yang Yan was stunned silent, her small mouth opening wide as her tender body shuddered, immediately forgetting about the pain she was trying to rub away from her chest.
Yang Kai also seemed to have received a huge shock. He kept turning his head in different directions, so excited he felt his heart just might burst.
The two of them were now standing in an underground cave, one that had probably been mined out by the Stone Puppet over the past few days. The length and width of this mine was only several tens of meters, but all the walls were reflecting a dizzying array of light.
Large and small Space Spirit Crystals were scattered everywhere, as if they were worthless pieces of rock, and among these Space Spirit Crystals were thin veins of Dark Space Stone.
Inside the underground cave, Yang Kai and Yang Yan breathed heavily as the crunching sound of the Stone Puppet echoed in the background.
After a long silence, Yang Yan suddenly let out a yell and rushed over to a plate-sized Space Spirit Crystal and swiftly excavated it from the wall, clutching it with her hands as a look of extreme satisfaction filled her face and silly laughter leaked from her lips.
However, Yang Yan’s reaction wasn’t that strange and Yang Kai’s current mood wasn’t much calmer than hers.
He had never dreamt that a few thousand meters beneath Dragon Cave Mountain, a place seemingly devoid of any valuable spirit grasses or spirit medicines, there would be such a rich Space Spirit Crystal lode!
From a conventional standpoint, this couldn’t be called a Dark Space Stone lode anymore because nearly half of the ore here was actually Space Spirit Crystal. It was now fully qualified to be called a Space Spirit Crystal mine.
Soon, Yang Kai understood why he hadn’t been able to detect this place.
First of all, the location was very deep, and Yang Kai had not checked it too carefully. Secondly, there was just too much Space Spirit Crystal.
This rare ore was the primary material used to create Space Rings, and one of its functions was blocking Divine Sense. If this wasn’t the case, anyone would be able to see what was inside someone else’s Space Ring with their Divine Sense.
The huge amount of Space Spirit Crystals here actually isolating this mine from Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, a near-perfect camouflage.
Something Yang Kai’s extremely powerful Divine Sense couldn’t detect was obviously indetectable to the Hai Ke Family. It was actually quite ridiculous that the owners of this land were completely unaware that they were sitting on such a massive treasure trove and just because Wu Yi was a woman, they had assigned this ‘barren mountain’ to her.
However, if it weren’t for the Stone Puppet’s innate sensitivity to rare ores, this treasure might have gone undetected forever.
Yang Kai hadn’t had any significant dealings with the Hai Ke Family, but because of his relationship with Wu Yi, he didn’t have a very good impression of them.
This mountain had been given to Yang Kai by Wu Yi for him to live on. Now that he had unearthed such an enormous amount of wealth here, Yang Kai naturally wanted to do something to thank her.
Unfortunately, Wu Yi’s strength was too low and she didn’t have the qualifications to occupy such a mineral lode, if he were to hand it over to her, it would only bring disaster to her and her Hai Ke Family.
As such, Yang Kai made up his mind to look for opportunities in the future to compensate her instead.
“Yang Kai, we’re rich!” Yang Yan shouted, having returned to his side at some unknown point, standing cleverly in front of him as her eyes twinkled somewhat madly.
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’m rich.”
Yang Yan puckered her lips and tugged Yang Kai’s arm, saying coquettishly, “Don’t treat me like such an outsider, with so many Space Spirit Crystals here, can’t you assign me a little?”
“What use do you have for them? All these things are good for is making Space Rings, and if too many Space Rings suddenly flow from your hands into the market, any fool will realize you’ve found a rich deposit of Space Spirit Crystals. That will only cause trouble for us.”
“I don’t want to make Space Rings, what I want these Space Spirit Crystals for is to research Spirit Arrays. I never had sufficient materials before, but with all this here, it will be more than enough. Give me a part of them and I assure you that the Spirit Array I create will be extremely fierce.”
“What kind of Spirit Array are you trying to research?” Yang Kai was startled as he thought of a possibility.
“Have you heard of Space Arrays?” Yang Yan didn’t hide her intentions, stating proudly, “They’re profound Spirit Arrays that can be used to instantly move great distances across a Cultivation Star. En, from the looks of it, you’ve probably never heard of these things before, but you’ll understand in time how important they are as my research progresses.”
“You understand how to arrange Space Arrays?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, staring at Yang Yan with some disbelief, “How could you know that? Weren’t such methods lost to history?”
Last time, on Water Moon Star, Yang Kai had used the Space Array under Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce’s jurisdiction together with a Monster Race master named Xue Tong. At the time, Xue Tong had said that all the current Space Arrays were just leftover from ancient times and that currently, no one understood how to build one from scratch.
Gui Zu, with his astonishing strength and decent understanding of the Dao of Space, spent nearly a thousand years researching Space Arrays on the floating continent, but in the end he was only able to create a defective product that aside from killing people, really had no other use.
So Yang Yan saying she understood how to arrange Space Arrays greatly surprised Yang Kai.
He had never asked Yang Yan one very important question, why she was already an Original Grade Artifact Refiner despite being so young. Yang Kai himself was a Saint King Grade Alchemist, but Yang Yan was even younger than himself. At such an age, even if her aptitude was shocking, it should be impossible to reach such a level with just her own efforts.
Now that he knew she understood Space Arrays as well, Yang Kai became even more shocked.
Yang Yan muttered a few words but seemingly wasn’t willing to answer clearly.
“Forget it, there’s no need to explain,” Yang Kai didn’t force her. Who doesn’t have their own secrets? Secrets cannot be shared with others and Yang Kai didn’t have a habit of prying into other’s lives.
“Then… won’t give me some?” Yang Yan expression became pained, as if she was afraid Yang Kai was refusing her request, quickly adding, “I can tell you this, if my research into Space Arrays goes well, we’ll not only be able to teleport around Shadowed Star, there’s a chance we can reach other Cultivation Stars as well.”
“What?” This time Yang Kai was really shocked.
“You don’t want to be trapped on the Shadowed Star all your life, right?” Yang Yan was observing carefully and quickly struck while the iron was hot, “There are many wonderful things in the outside world we haven’t seen before, I’ve heard that there are Origin Kings and Origin King Grade materials out among the Star Field. With those materials, I can refine Origin King Grade artefacts! Once I help you refine such an artefact, even if you just stand there and let your enemies hit you, you won’t be injured!”
This little girl might be a bit simple-minded, but she knew how to negotiate!
However, this proposal was undeniably attractive to Yang Kai.
His heart wasn’t moved because of Yang Yan’s claims about artefacts, but rather because of his friends and family back on Tong Xuan Realm!
If Yang Yan could really create a Space Array capable of connecting different Cultivation Stars, after he established himself in the Star Field, he could bring all his family and friends out into this wider world and allow them to enjoy all its splendours.
Despite the great excitement filling his heart at the prospect of being able to return home, Yang Kai didn’t show anything on his face and just asked lightly, “If you successfully complete your Space Array, how far will it be able to transport someone?”
Yang Yan laughed confidently, “Space Arrays themselves are designed to surmount the concept of distance, so as long as the origin and destination can be accurately localized, how far apart they are is irrelevant.”
“So there’d be no distance limit?” Yang Kai’s eyes brightened.
Yang Yan hesitated a moment before saying solemnly, “This is the case in theory, but implementing it will require careful study… Will you give me some?”
“Take what you like!” Yang Kai laughed, waving his hand boldly. In any case, there were so many Space Spirit Crystals here that he couldn’t possibly use them up. When the time came, his only request would be for Yang Yan to refine a Space Ring for all of his friends and family members.
“Thank you! You’re such a good person!” Yang Yan shouted gleefully, wishing she could rush up and kiss Yang Kai but setting that aside to immediately begin mining. Although she couldn’t collect Space Spirit Crystal at nearly as fast as the Stone Puppet, only things that were in her Space Ring could truly be considered hers.
Yang Yan understood this truth better than anyone.
Yang Kai didn’t mind Yang Yan’s behaviour, but after his initial surprise and excitement, his mood slowly calmed down, focusing his attention on the Stone Puppet gnawing at the Space Spirit Crystal lode, seeing the impurities ooze from its body and flake off in a seemingly never-ending cycle.
After so many years cultivating it, feeding it so many precious ores, Yang Kai was finally seeing a return on his investment, and this return was nothing short of astonishing as the first mineral lode the Stone Puppet discovered was actually a Space Spirit Crystal lode!
According to Yang Yan, the Stone Race was inherently sensitive to rare ore, as long as he had it by his side, Yang Kai would be able to find rare ores that others couldn’t.
Unfortunately, he only had one Blood Essence Stone, if there was one more, the other Stone Puppet should have been able to hatch as well.
With a cracking sound, the fragrant sweat covered Yang Yan quickly mined out the immense wealth in front of her while the Stone Puppet also continued chewing its way through the lode. In contrast, Yang Kai appeared somewhat idle.
Half a day later, Yang Yan ran back over to Yang Kai while panting heavily, taking out a piece of Saint Crystal to restore herself. Looking at her anxious appearance, it seemed she wasn’t done mining yet.
“It’s a pity,” Yang Yan suddenly said.
“What’s a pity?” Yang Kai asked in confusion.
“People only know that Space Spirit Crystals are used to manufacture Space Rings and arrange Space Arrays when in fact it has another use.”
“Oh? What is this other use that people don’t know about?” Yang Kai laughed. Although he hadn’t been together with Yang Yan for long, this little girl was always able to amaze him. This had nothing to do with her beautiful appearance or stunning figure, but rather her profound skill and knowledge. By now, Yang Kai had learned to not underestimate her.
“It can also be used to cultivate,” Yang Yan shook his head. “You didn’t know? That’s not surprising though, many people don’t know, en, in fact, only a select few should know.”
“Space Spirit Crystals can be used to cultivate?” Yang Kai was startled, “You’re saying that one can refine them just like Saint Crystals?”
“En, but we can’t, only some special people can, namely cultivators who have comprehended the Dao of Space. For such people, refining Space Spirit Crystals can deepen their understanding,” Yang Yan said casually, not taking notice of the weird expression creeping onto Yang Kai’s face. “The Dao of Space is a very esoteric field that is not only difficult to enter but even more difficult to master. All Space Arrays in existence right now are relics from ancient times that were arranged by cultivators who were proficient in the Dao of Space. En, the method to manufacture Space Rings also stemmed from their hands and was simply picked up by others along the way. I can confidently say that throughout the entire Star Field, cultivators proficient in the Dao of Space won’t exceed twenty, and of those twenty, only a few can actually use it to fight against their enemies… hey, what are you doing?”
Just as Yang Yan turned her head to the side, she discovered that Yang Kai was holding a piece of Space Spirit Crystal the Stone Puppet had refined in his hand and couldn’t stop herself from laughing, “You’re not thinking of trying to absorb the power inside that Space Spirit Crystal, right? Listen, if you don’t understand the Dao of Space, there’s no way for you to absorb. Only by understanding Space Manifestation is that possible. Do you know why so many people who have managed to gain some understanding of the Dao of Space have such poor achievements in it? It’s because they don’t know Space Spirit Crystals can be used for cultivation. On top of that, because the amount of Space Spirit Crystal is too small, even if they did realize this truth, they’d never be able to find enough to properly cultivate. This kind of cultivation is more wasteful than directly burning money, most people couldn’t afford to do it even if they learned about it.”
After giving this lecture though, Yang Yan’s jaw went slack and her eyes widened as she stared at the Space Spirit Crystal in Yang Kai’s hand.
She noticed that an obscure type of energy was flowing out from the Space Spirit Crystal and was being absorbed into Yang Kai’s hand.
At first, she thought she was imagining things and immediately rubbed her eyes before paying even closer attention.
To her shock though, there was indeed energy flowing out of the Space Spirit Crystal, like a trickling stream that was seeping into Yang Kai. It wasn’t an illusion!
“You…” Yang Yan was thoroughly shocked.
“It’s true?” Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised.
In order to study the Dao of Space, Yang Kai had always had to resort to submerging himself into The Void, but cultivating in that chaotic environment was not only extremely dangerous, it was also quite slow. Since escaping from the floating continent, Yang Kai hadn’t even done this once because he found that his comprehension of the Dao of Space had arrived at a kind of bottleneck, so there was no point in doing so.
After listening to Yang Yan’s words just now though, Yang Kai couldn’t help putting them to the test and was overjoyed that the effect was surprisingly good.
Space Spirit Crystals could really be used for cultivation and doing so would enhance his understanding of the Dao of Space.
“Do you understand the Dao of Space?” Yang Yan called out in shock.
“Yes, I’m one of those twenty people you mentioned,” Yang Kai laughed.
“Heavens, just what kind of monster are you?” Yang Yan’s beautiful face paled, never having expected she could meet such a freak. Yang Kai being proficient in the Dao of Space was even more shocking than her being an Origin Grade Artifact Refiners.
“We’ve just met, so it’s natural we have our secrets,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Good, I’m going to cultivate for a while, you can mine the Space Spirit Crystals here at will, whatever you mine is yours, en if you need help refining them, just ask the Stone Puppet.”
Saying so, Yang Kai no longer paid any attention to Yang Yan and focused all of his attention on refining the Space Spirit Crystal in his hand.
Yang Yan was dumbfounded for a while before eventually shaking her head.
The more she interacted with this man, the less she understood him.
However, Yang Kai not shutting her out and even exposing some of his secrets to her let Yang Yan feel relieved and soon, she too didn’t bother with him and instead joined the Stone Puppet to mine the mineral lode.
The energy contained within Space Spirit Crystals was similar to that in Saint Crystals, but just as Yang Yan had said, not everyone could absorb it. Even Yang Kai couldn’t refine this energy without using his own Space Force. As soon as he did apply his own Space Force though, Yang Kai was able to feel a wonderful energy flow out from the Space Spirit Crystal and into his body.
This kind of power wasn’t the same as Saint Qi, and it did not provide any kind of physical enhancement, but as he absorbed more of it, Yang Kai could clearly feel his comprehension of the Dao of Space becoming more profound.
In the past, when Yang Kai was feeling the chaotic flow of space in The Void, it was as if he was sailing in a great storm, making it very difficult for him to comprehend anything. It often took him a lot of time and energy just to grasp a few indistinct clues.
But now it is different. Yang Kai had never experienced such a feeling before, it was as if a door to all the mysteries of the Dao of Space was opened before him, allowing him to step through and spy on all these secrets.
Yang Kai had never known that cultivating the Dao of Space could be so simple and easy. As such, he soon became completely immersed in this world, cultivating without need for rest or sustenance, forgetting everything around him.
But soon, Yang Kai discovered a problem.
It was just as Yang Yan had said before, such cultivation was nothing short of family ruining.
This kind of cultivation consumed Space Spirit Crystal even faster than Saint Crystal. It would take about two hours for Yang Kai to completely refine the energy contained in a piece of High-Rank Saint Crystal.
On the other hand, a fist-sized piece of Space Spirit Crystal that had been perfectly quenched by the Stone Puppet would disappear from his hand in less than an hour.
In one day, he could consume more than a dozen fist-sized pieces of refined Space Spirit Crystal, which would equate to several hundred thousand pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal!
Who could possibly bear such an outrageous price? Even a behemoth such as Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce may not be able to withstand such consumption. If one cultivated like this, no matter how wealthy they were, it wouldn’t be long before they went bankrupt.
Fortunately, the Stone Puppet had found such a large Space Spirit Crystal lode, and fortunately, Wu Yi had given this mountain to him, causing Yang Kai to be even more grateful than before.
In a flash, ten days passed, and Yang Kai had consumed almost two hundred Space Spirit Crystals, halving the amount the Stone Puppet had originally brought back.
Fortunately, over the past ten days, the Stone Puppet had been continuously mining, and now the underground cave had become several times larger than before.
Feeling the summon of Yang Kai, the Stone Puppet trotted over and spat out several hundred refined pieces of Space Spirit Crystal in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Yan couldn’t bear to watch this, feeling like Yang Kai was an evil slave master who was forcing the poor Stone Puppet to toil away in this mine while he sat back and reaped all the profits.
Stuffing the hundreds of pieces of Space Spirit Crystal into his Demon Mystic Tome, Yang Kai started cultivating again. He felt that his comprehension of the Dao of Space was on the verge of taking a great leap forward, and although he hadn’t done any experiments yet, Yang Kai estimated that if he were to tear space now, he would be able to travel far further than his previous thousand-kilometer limit.
One day, after another piece of Space Spirit Crystal, disappeared from Yang Kai’s hand, he slowly opened his eyes and saw Yang Yan staring at him with a pained look on her face. She was sitting quietly in front of him, her body covered in dirt and grime, resting her cheeks on her hands as if somewhat lost in thought.
“Why aren’t you still mining?” Yang Kai asked.
Yang Yan spat disdainfully, “I found that me going through the process of mining was pointless, letting Xiao Xiao collect the Space Spirit Crystal here, then asking him for some is far more efficient.”
“Xiao Xiao?” Yang Kai frowned.
Yang Yan pointed to Stone Puppet, who was still working hard to excavate the surrounding Space Spirit Crystal, allowing Yang Kai to understand she had given this little fellow a name without his permission.
Smiling, Yang Kai quipped, “Finally realized?”
“You just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others labour with such confidence, so why should I be one of those labourers?” Yang Yan stood up and patted her clothes, “Let’s go up, we’ll leave the Space Spirit Crystals here to Xiao Xiao, I still need to do some Artifact Refining.”
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before nodding, “Yeah.”
The pair soon emerged from the hidden tunnel and Yang Yan quickly pulled on Yang Kai’s sleeve, “Wait a moment, I’ll arrange a Spirit Array to conceal this place.”
“Alright.”
Yang Yan was not only proficient in Artifact Refining, but also in arranging Spirit Arrays, far more so than Yang Kai in any case. Taking out several materials from her Space Ring, Yang Yan used her strength to refine them into a few strange looking items before setting them down in a specific configuration around the entrance to the hole.
After Yang Yan finished the arrangement, the hole suddenly disappeared, becoming invisible not just to the naked eye, but also to Divine Sense.
Yang Yan clapped her hands with satisfaction, “Remember this position and just jump into the hole next time.”
Yang Kai was also quite satisfied with her arrangements. Although he may not come here in person again, preventing others from accidentally discovering this place was still of vital importance. Once news got out that there was a mountain of Space Spirit Crystals here, all of Shadowed Star would likely be thrown into a frenzy.
Since ancient times, people were moved by profits, there wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t be interested in a deposit of precious Space Spirit Crystal.
The two flew off towards the location of the cave, but before they even arrived, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed slightly as he discovered that Yu Feng was waiting for them and seemed to have a look of anxiety on his face. At this moment, Yu Feng was pacing back and forth in front of the cave, as if he was looking for him.
Yang Kai couldn’t help picking up his pace and soon arrived in front of Yu Feng, calling out, “Brother Yu!”
“Yang Kai!” Yu Feng, who had been flying about like a headless fly, unable to find a trace of Yang Kai, was immediately overjoyed when he heard the latter’s shout, and quickly answered back, “Where did you go? I’ve been scouring all of Dragon Cave Mountain for some time now. I thought you might have left.”
Yang Kai just laughed lightly, “I went out with Yang Yan to take a walk. If I was going to leave, I would have said something to Wu Yi in advance, I wouldn’t just take off without saying goodbye.”
Yu Feng however shook his head and interrupted him with a solemn tone, “You really should leave now.”
Yang Kai frowned, “What do you mean? Did something happen?”
He knew that Wu Yi wouldn’t drive him away from this place, she had big dreams and because of those dreams she had tried her best to make him remain, even gifting him Dragon Cave Mountain as a place to temporarily stay. These days Wu Yi had also come to visit him several times, she wouldn’t do anything to harm him.
But since Yu Feng was here, he must have been entrusted by Wu Yi to deliver some kind of message. If there wasn’t some big accident, Wu Yi wouldn’t have acted this way.
Yang Kai immediately remembered that he had killed several people before. Whatever was happening was likely related to that Xu Tian Ze. Chopping the grass but failing to remove the roots really had consequences!
Yu Feng quickly urged, “I don’t have time to explain much, if you have anything to pack up, do it quick, I’ll tell you what I can once we’re on the road.
“What’s the matter? I’d like to take a bath right now,” Yang Yan’s pretty face was covered in dirt after spending so long in the underground mine.
“Lady Yang Yan, please bear with it, wait until you arrive at a safe place then you can wash yourself… what are you gawking for? If you don’t have anything to pack, we need to go, now,” Yu Feng saw both of them standing around indifferently and couldn’t help scolding.
Yang Kai suddenly let out a big laugh, “Brother Yu, please calm down. Tell me, what happened?”
Yu Feng stomped angrily, wishing he could knock Yang Kai out to avoid him speaking any more nonsense, “I told you I didn’t have time to explain, I’ve been looking for you here for a long time so I’ve already used up all the time Young Lady could delay the family for. If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”
“Well, it’s probably already too late,” Yang Kai expression changed slightly, glancing over towards the distance where a large group of people could be seen flying towards, the blue hues indicative of Star Shuttles impossible to miss.
Yu Feng’s expression became gloomy as a sigh escaped from his lips, realizing that his Young Lady’s efforts had been in vain. Before this group of newcomers could arrive, he quickly asked, “Brother Yang, did you beat the Xu Family’s young Master recently?”
“En.” Yang Kai hadn’t just beat their Young Master, but also killed a number of their people, so why hadn’t Yu Feng mentioned that part?
Yu Feng smiled bitterly and pointed to the distance, “The Xu Family is here for you.”
“How is the Xu Family compared to your Hai Ke Family?” Yang Kai asked.
“About even, we’re both peripheral forces of Shadow Moon Hall; however, our family does quite a bit of business with their Xu Family, so our relationship is quite good. Yang Kai, you’re not a member of our Hai Ke Family, so the family Elders won’t protect you, and the Young Lady can’t protect you. You shouldn’t have acted so reckless,” Yu Feng sighed again.
Although he was chastising Yang Kai, he didn’t make any attempt to draw a line between them and Yang Kai immediately, even going so far as to step in front of Yang Kai and Yang Yan to block the Xu Family from approaching them.
This move made Yang Kai’s opinion of Yu Feng rise sharply. Stepping forward, Yang Kai patted him on the shoulder and comforted, “Brother Yu, don’t worry. They can’t cause me any trouble, and if they try, I don’t mind making sure they remain here forever!”
Yu Feng turned back to look at Yang Kai with some surprise, immediately not knowing whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head and sighing, “Young men, haa…”
He obviously thought that Yang Kai was just spouting crazy words. Although the Xu Family, like the Hai Ke Family, was just a peripheral force of Shadow Moon Hall, it was still a family. Even without an Origin Returning Realm master, they had several Saint Kings. How could Yang Kai, a mere Third Order Saint, even hope to compete against such a force?
Moreover, the Hai Ke Family had no intention to shelter Yang Kai at all. In fact, not only were they not going to shelter him, to preserve the trade relationship with the Xu Family, the Hai Ke Family Elders had forced the Wu Yi to disclose Yang Kai’s whereabouts so the Xu Family could punish him.
If it weren’t for the Young Lady delaying them, Yu Feng wouldn’t have even been able to come here in advance, but now it seemed he had fallen a bit short. Suddenly feeling like he had failed the Young Lady’s expectations, Yu Feng was wracked with guilt.
“Hmph, a young man who can only boast wildly. This old master would like to see just how you make us remain here forever!” A cold snorted rang out as a thin old man fell from the sky and looked towards Yang Kai gloomily.
The words Yang Kai had just spoken weren’t done so quietly, so naturally this old man had heard them.
As this old man’s voice fell, one figure after another landed behind him, numbering twenty in total. Among these twenty people there were young and old, men and women. Their cultivations varied, but the strongest was a Third Order Saint King!
Next to the old man who spoke, a bald middle-aged man stared at Yang Kai with nervous expression, some sweat leaking from his forehead and his complexion pale.
Yang Kai remembered him as he was the bald middle-aged man who had been guarding Xu Tian Ze last time. If it weren’t for this man’s legs being a bit quick, Yang Kai would have been able to eliminate all the witnesses from the previous incident.
Wu Yi also flew over quickly, and after landing, sent an angrily look towards Yang Kai, seemingly blaming him for not leaving in time. She also shot a glare towards Yu Feng, the meaning behind it was obvious to all. Yu Feng lowered his head awkwardly, not daring to meet her eyes.
“Good good good, not trying to flee, very good!” That old Third Order Saint King nodded repeatedly, a malicious look covering his face as he asked coldly, “Chou Yuan, the one who hurt the Young Master last time was him?”
After listening to the old man’s question, the bald middle-aged man standing next to him nodded quickly, “Yes, Elder Zhi Shen, he was the one who injured the Young Master.”
Yang Kai frowned as he stared at the bald middle-aged man named Chou Yuan with surprise.
Last time, Yang Kai had not just injured Xu Tian Ze, but also killed three First Order Saint Kings, but right now it seemed the Xu Family had no idea about this.
Chou Yuan didn’t report everything that happened at that time! Yang Kai instantly understood. Chou Yuan was a Second Order Saint King, and there were three First Order Saint Kings with him, yet he wasn’t even able to protect his Young Master, a severe offence. He probably didn’t dare to report the truth, lest he encounter even more trouble and suffer greater punishment!
Since this matter hadn’t come to light, it meant that Xu Tian Ze either helped conceal it for Chou Yuan, or he had suffered damage to his Soul and wasn’t able to report it. At that time, Yang Kai had hurriedly sent out a Divine Sense attack with enough power to accomplish this.
It was very likely the latter scenario because Xu Tian Ze was the Xu Family’s Young Master and had no need to help Chou Yuan conceal anything.
“Since it’s him, it’s easy to handle. Chou Yuan, I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself! Go cut off this brat’s limbs, I must take him back and stuff him into a medicinal liquid jar so I can torture him until he begs for death!” Xu Zhi Shen yelled furiously, glaring towards Yang Kai with utter outrage.
Many people in the surrounding couldn’t help shivering.
Cutting off ones limbs and soaking them in a vat of medicine meant Yang Kai wouldn’t die for at least half a year. It was very likely that during the next half a year he would suffer the world’s most brutal torture, a fate worse than death.
However, Yang Kai simply stared towards Chou Yuan without the slightest hint of panic.
To everyone’s surprise, Chou Yuan didn’t rush out immediately, but instead wore a grim expression. Although his mouth responded, his feet seemed to be filled with lead, and he didn’t move for quite some time. The look on his face was one of pure terror and beads of sweat continuously rolled down his face and fell to the ground.
Everyone present could see that something was wrong. Chou Yuan seemed to be shaking, but none of them knew whys.
Pain and suffering were filling Chou Yuan’s heart right now. He knew better than anyone else how horrifying the power of this young man was. If someone had told him before that a Saint Realm cultivator could kill three Saint Kings as easily as waving his hand, he would surely have written them off as an idiot, the gap between cultivation realms was absolute, even if someone was capable of fighting above their realm, achieve something of that level was simply impossible.
But Chou Yuan had seen it with his own eyes, the young man in front of them right now had really killed three Saint Kings as easily as if they were ants. At that time, if he hadn’t decisively run away and this youth wasn’t pinned down by that woman, he definitely would not have survived.
The last burst of Spiritual Energy however was what made Chou Yuan truly realize how outrageous Yang Kai was, that kind of power was simply beyond his ability to cope with. Although both he and the Young Master had managed to survive, the latter had degenerated into a vegetable, all day long his eyes unfocused and drool leaking from his lips. Chou Yuan had also suffered severe damage and even now his Soul had yet to recover. His Second Order Saint King cultivation had even regressed as a result.
Chou Yuan thought that with Xu Zhi Shen coming in person, the latter would immediately kill Yang Kai to take revenge for the injured Young Master. How could Chou Yuan have anticipated that he would be forced to step forward?
Staring at the young man who was directing a meaningful grin towards him, Chou Yuan let out a cry of panic before turning around and fleeing before the stunned gazes of the crowd.
He didn’t dare to fight Yang Kai because he knew he would definitely die, so he chose to run.
The eyes of everyone on the scene bulged. Among the more than twenty people who had come, there weren’t just Xu Family cultivators, but also some from Hai Ke Family. Besides Wu Yi, who was looking at Yang Kai with anxiety, wondering how he would resolve this crisis, everyone else had intended to just watch the show.
But now, before the show had even started, this kind of strange scene had taken place, dumbfounding them.
Even Xu Zhi Shen was stunned for a moment, but soon his expression became cold and gloomy. With a wave of his hand, he condensed a rope with his Saint Qi before swiftly sending it out towards the fleeing Chou Yuan and instantly capturing him.
Xu Zhi Shen let out a snort and the rope let out a brilliant glow. Horrifying energy fluctuations broke out and as Chou Yuan let out terrified screams, the rope dug deeply into his flesh.
With a loud crack, the sound of bones breaking echoed through the air and a bloody smell wafted out. The panicking Chou Yuan suddenly seemed to obtain extrication and the fear in his eyes gradually dissipated, his vitality soon dispersing as his body exploded into a heap of rotten meat.
There was no will to fight in Chou Yuan’s heart; with the regression of his realm, he had only wanted to escape as quickly as possible, never had he expected that his own family’s Elder would suddenly send out a killing blow, leaving him no time to resist.
“Timid as a mouse!” Xu Zhi Shen became somewhat angry out of shame and cursed, unable to understand why Chou Yuan had acted so, actually wanting to flee when facing a young man whose strength only reached the Third Order Saint Realm. This was a huge loss of face for the Xu Family that caused the surrounding Hai Ke Family spectators to snicker.
Naturally, Xu Zhi Shen wouldn’t show any mercy.
“Fine, this old master will take action personally!” Xu Zhi Shen took a step forward and he glared at Yang Kai coldly, “This old master must see what gives you the guts to offend my Xu Family!”
The thinly veiled meaning behind is words was clearly felt by the several Hai Ke Family Elders, causing them to frown slightly. Although they weren’t pleased with his tone, none of them spoke out.
If any of them were to try to argue, it would mean that Hai Ke Family was supporting Yang Kai, and that would only fuel resentment between the two families. For a little brat of unknown origin, the Hai Ke Family would obviously not do so.
“Senior Xu, please wait a moment!” The Elders remained indifferent, but Wu Yi was different.
Everyone from Hai Ke Family suddenly turned a look of dissatisfaction towards her as Xu Zhi Shen let out a sneer, “You want to say something?”
“Wu Yi, know your place,” Before Wu Yi could respond, an old man in yellow robes chastised her.
Wu Yi ignored this warning though and simply sent a worried look towards Yang Kai, gathering her courage and shouting clearly, “Senior Xu, Yang Kai is my friend, and I know that he is not a person who likes stirring up trouble, isn’t it possible there is some kind of misunderstanding here?”
“He doesn’t like causing trouble? So are you saying it was my Xu Family’s people who are in the wrong here?” Xu Zhi Shen looked at her menacingly, “Misunderstanding? Is causing Tian Ze such serious injuries that he was rendered an idiot a misunderstanding? Girl, are you telling this old master this is all some kind of misunderstanding? If you are, then even if you are a member of the Hai Ke Family, this old master won’t spare you!”
“Brother Xu, don’t try to involve my Hai Ke Family, this matter has nothing to do with us!” The old man in the yellow robes snorted, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Wu Yi and Yang Kai.
Wu Yi grit her teeth and continued though, “Senior Xu, as far as I know, Xu Tian Ze came here with several of his people and tried to harass Ms. Yang Yan. Was Yang Kai not supposed to fight back?”
The general process of the matter had already been explained by the Xu Family back at the Hai Ke Family manor, but there were many vague and questionable points. Without even mentioning how Yang Kai, a Third Order Saint, was able to seriously wound Xu Tian Ze who was under the protection of Chou Yuan, why had Chou Yuan not immediately sought revenge for their Young Master and instead fled back to the Xu Family to rally so many powerful helpers?
Wu Yi thought this was some kind of self-directed play by the Xu Family, but for what purpose, she couldn’t tell.
Xu Zhi Shen executing Chou Yuan also confused her.
However, she couldn’t sit idly by and watch Yang Kai be bullied.
“What of it?” Xu Zhi Shen coldly snorted, “Tian Ze is my Xu Family’s Young Master, him having a liking for that little girl is her blessing, yet instead of cherishing this opportunity she actually dared to resist! She insults my Xu Family.”
“What kind of explanation is that? Does any person your Xu Family takes a liking to have to obey you?” Wu Yi immediately became annoyed. Before anything else, Yang Yan was a woman just like her! What Wu Yi hated most was seeing young tyrants relying on their background to bully men and take their women. There were many innocent girls who had been ruined by bastards like Xu Tian Ze.
If Xu Tian Ze had really been made into an idiot by Yang Kai, Wu Yi wouldn’t shed any tears and would instead be happy he was enforcing justice on behalf of Heaven.
Xu Tian Ze’s expression became even colder as he shot a look over towards the old man in yellow, “Brother Ba, does your Hai Ke Family intend on getting involved?”
Ba Qing Yan also looked annoyed and glared at Wu Yan, “Come here, this is not a place where you have the right to speak!”
Wu Yi ground her teeth even harder and said nothing.
Ba Qing Yan then turned to Xu Zhi Shen and said lightly, “Feel free to take action, Brother Xu, this old master will not allow any interference from my side. This matter has nothing to do with my Hai Ke Family, this young man is just some stranger Wu Yi found outside, he is not part of my Hai Ke Family. “
“Good, I don’t want there to be any friction between my Xu Family and your Hai Ke Family. Since Brother Ba has spoken, this old master won’t waste any more time,” Xu Zhi Shen nodded with satisfaction. The two families were about equal in strength, but if Hai Ke Family insisted on protecting this young man, things would become difficult for Xu Zhi Shen. At worst, a battle with the Hai Ke Family might start up, and if that were to happen, the end result would definitely be a mutual loss. Now that Ba Qing Yan had made his stance clear though, Xu Zhi Shen naturally had no more worries.
“Stop!” Wu Yi hurriedly stood in front of Yang Kai and shouted, “He is my friend! I was the one who allowed him to live here, so now that such an incident has taken place, no matter who is right or wrong, my Hai Ke Family has some responsibility. Elder Ba, if you really stand by and ignore this situation and word of its spreads out, the reputation of my Hai Ke Family will definitely suffer, since that’s the case…”
“Impudence!” Ba Qing Yan trembled with anger. He had already declared that this matter had nothing to do with the Hai Ke Family, so he had never expected that Wu Yi, who was a direct descendant of the family, would come forward at such a sensitive moment and say such reckless words. If things went badly, a rift between the two families might be formed, something neither side wanted to see.
“Damn woman, do you think that just because you have half-decent aptitude you can act lawlessly? Have you forgotten what the Family Law was established for? Out of consideration for your inexperience, if you withdraw right now, this old master won’t hold you responsible for your words, refuse and you will be punished to the fullest extent!” Ba Qing Yan shouted furiously.
Hearing the words ‘Family Law’, Wu Yi’s tender body shivered, and a look of fear flashed across her pretty face.
Countries had laws, and so did families, each family or force had their own set of rules that once violated, would result in harsh punishment, some of which were even worse than death.
The Hai Ke Family’s Family Law was like this.
Once one faced its sanction, they would have to surrender half their life.
This look of panic however only lasted a moment before Wu Yi’s expression immediately became firm and she shook her head, “Yang Kai is my friend, I won’t let you treat him like this, at worst… At worst, I will compensate you for your loss!”
Her last words were directed to Xu Zhi Shen.
“Compensate for our loss?” Xu Zhi Shen sneered, “My Xu Family’s Young Master has been crippled, how do you intend to compensate us for that? Brother Ba, is this how your Hai Ke Family educates its family’s disciples? A little girl also dares to meddle in an Elder’s decision, simply outrageous!”
Taking a deep breath, Ba Qing Yan said with cold rage, “How my family handles its affairs is none of your concern! Wait a moment and I will deal with this bitch.”
Saying so, he turned an icy glare to Wu Yi and declared, “I’ll give you two choices, one, shut up and scram back to the family to receive judgement from the Family Law, or two, this old master will drag you back, you choose.”
Wu Yi’s face turned pale, never having expected that things would develop to this extent.
While she was female, among the Hai Ke Family’s younger generation, her aptitude was one of the best; as such, the family had always cultivated her diligently. Having received such great support, Wu Yi had worked diligently to contribute to the family over the years, never once thinking of herself as a woman who would one day marry and leave.
The previous mission away from Shadowed Star to mine ore amongst the Starry Sky, none of the men in the family had dared to go, so in the end, Wu Yi had stepped forward and volunteered for this dangerous task, taking Yu Feng and several others who were loyal to her.
After nearly more than a year, she had returned home with a great harvest.
During this period, there were several times when she nearly died, and of those who set out with her, only half returned! However, the moment they returned to Shadowed Star, the precious ore they had collected was snatched away from them.
At the time, the family didn’t even dare to put out a fart and didn’t even grant the returnees a decent reward. In the end, Wu Yi had to compensate Yu Feng and others out of her own pocket.
Wu Yi thought back on all the contributions she had made to her family, then about the cold attitude Elder Ba was directing at her, as well as the looks on all her peers and cousin’s faces as they took pleasure in her misfortune, Wu Yi suddenly became dejected.
She knew that she really shouldn’t have stepped in and interfered with this matter, but she just couldn’t bring herself to ignore Yang Kai’s plight.
She was the one who brought Yang Kai back with her and arranged for him to live in Dragon Cave Mountain. There was also a precious agreement between them…
At this moment, Wu Yi suddenly understood that her position in the family was not as firm or important as she had originally thought. If she was a man, the family’s Elders would have spoken a few words here, because she was a potential heir to the Hai Ke Family. But because she was a woman and destined to one day marry out of the family, they were willing to stand by and do nothing.
With Elder Ba having spoken these words, regardless of what choice Wu Yi made now, she would definitely face the Family Law’s punishment.
Wu Yi’s future was dark indeed!
Tears involuntarily leaked from her eyes, not because of her grim future, but because she felt she had worked so hard for so many years in vain.
Seeing Wu Yi silently crying, Yu Feng was also enraged and quickly stood beside her, his fists clenched tight and his glare focused directly towards the Elder called Ba Qing Yan.
“Dissolute!” Ba Qing Yan became even angrier. Wu Yi questioning his decision, even openly opposing him, was enough to infuriate him, but since she was a woman and destined to leave the Hai Ke Family sooner or later, he could still bear it, yet now even her subordinates dared defy him, how was this tolerable?
“Little Yi, it seems you haven’t been negligent in your management these past years. Do even your subordinates dare rebel against the family’s Elders?” A man standing to the side, who had not spoken yet, suddenly called out. This man had the appearance of a thirty-year-old and possessed a First Order Saint King cultivation, and from the attire he wore, it was evident his status in the Hai Ke Family wasn’t low. He called out sternly, “Quickly apologize to Elder Ba, you know the Elder has always been true to his word, don’t let a momentary lapse in judgement harm your future. “
This young man wore a righteous look upon his face and seemed to be helping Wu Yi, but as soon as her cousin spoke these words, Wu Yi knew there was no more room for maneuver.
Elder Ba was indeed a man of his word, stubborn and unrelenting, and now her cousin’s words had clearly fanned the flames.
Sure enough, as soon as his words had ended, Ba Qing Yan coldly snorted and declared, “Apologize? This old master only acts in the interest of the family, there’s no need for her to apologize, as soon as she returns to the family, she will receive judgement according to the Family Law!”
Saying so, he then turned to Yu Feng and added, “You will be held accountable too!”
Yu Feng’s face turned pale as he glanced over at Wu Yi with a stunned look, this sudden disaster befalling him had stunned him ignorant.
A hint of concealed joy flashed across the thirty-year-old man, but he still maintained an anxious look upon his face, constantly appealing for Wu Yi’s sake in front of Ba Qing Yan, listing out the various merits she had won over the years.
His words not only didn’t help though, they instead aggravated the situation as many who were listening began to feel that Wu Yi had grown arrogant and was trying to take advantage of her status.
“What wrong did I do?” Wu Yi suddenly wiped the corners of her eyes and stared stubbornly at her cousin and Ba Qing Yan, biting her red lips so hard they bled, “I haven’t done anything wrong, it’s you who are using strength to bully the weak!”
“Good!” Ba Qing Yan smiled instead of becoming angrier, “You dare talk back to this old master like this, it seems you’re impatient to die!”
Wu Yi smiled miserably, “I don’t need this kind of family. From today on, I hereby separate myself from the Hai Ke Family and will have nothing to do with it in the future. As for the Family Law, I need not accept it anymore!”
“You…” Ba Qing Yan never expected this little girl would dare say such outrageous words and for a moment was stunned silent.
All cultivators from the Hai Ke Family were also dumbstruck as the stared at Wu Yi in surprise, none of them having anticipated she would cut off her relationship with the family for a small cultivator of unknown origin. Something like this had never happened before.
It was always the family which cast out disciples, not the disciple who separated from the family. This was a display of pure contempt for the family, an outrageous insult!
Wu Yi’s cousin named Wu Ke was secretly overjoyed in his heart. Although Wu Yi was a woman, she had better aptitude and skill than him. Over these past many years, he had never underestimated Wu Yi, even taking pains to specifically investigate her. He knew that Wu Yi had ambitions of changing the family and also understood that if she really won the favour and affirmation of the Elders, becoming the Matriarch of the Hai Ke Family was possible.
Although the Elders of the family never expected much from Wu Yi because she was a woman, acting cautiously was never a mistake. What if those old fools were misled by Wu Yi and stupidly named her heir of the family?
However, today, Wu Yi had completely fallen out with Elder Ba and even gone so far as to declare she was leaving the family, a matter worth celebrating.
[Excellent!] Wu Ke was ecstatic while he maintained a look of calm on his face, silently sneaking a glance towards Yang Kai, wondering if Wu Yi had fallen in love with this man, making her act so recklessly to protect him. No matter the reason though, Wu Ke gave silent thanks to Yang Kai; if not for this stranger, his cousin might have become his strongest competitor in the future.
“Young Lady…” Yu Feng called out to Wu Yi in shock, also never having expected her to say such words, but quickly he too wore a determined expression and solemnly declared, “Wherever Young Lady goes, this Yu Feng will follow!”
“Thank you, Yu Feng!” Wu Yi glanced at him apologetically and said in low spirits, “I’m sorry.”
She knew that her actions just now had caused Yu Feng to become involved. Now, no matter what she said, Yu Feng would not be able to escape the family’s punishment so his best and only choice was to leave the family with her.
“There’s no need for Young Lady to apologize,” Yu Feng grinned, “If it weren’t for Young Lady rescuing me five years ago, I would have been killed by that Steel Armoured Beast. On that day, I swore I would only follow Young Lady.”
“Good good, such deep loyalty between master and servant!” Xu Zhi Shen suddenly clapped and smiled, turning his head to look at Ba Qing Yan, “Brother Ba, I didn’t expect to see such a good scene from your family today. This grand display has allowed the suffocation in this old master’s heart to ease significantly.”
Since the Hai Ke Family’s internal quarrel broke out, he had not moved and had simply observed with interest.
The Hai Ke Family had roughly the same strength as his Xu Family. The two forces also shared a border so although there was some trade between them, there was also some friction. Xu Zhi Shen naturally enjoyed seeing the Hai Ke Family squabble like this; after returning home, it would provide some good laughs for him and his friends.
Xu Zhi Shen’s blatant sarcasm caused Ba Qing Yan’s face to become very ugly, his eyes filling with murderous intent as they stared towards Wu Yi.
Family members squabbling wasn’t a big deal, there were always internal contradictions, but exposing those contradictions to outsiders and allowing them to laugh at them made Ba Qing Yan very angry, wishing he could waste Wu Yi right now and drag her back to punish her severely.
“Brother Ba, this old master doesn’t care how your family decides to settle your own matters, this time, I only want to kill the little beast that hurt Tian Ze!” After watching this good show, he had also grown somewhat impatient. Stretching out his hand, he pointed at Yang Kai and sneered, “Little beast, do you only know how to hide? Evidently you’re nothing but a piece of trash that can only survive by leeching off women, quickly come out and die!”
From beginning to end, Yang Kai had only watched; even when Wu Yi was being scolded by her own Elder and declared she would leave the Hai Ke Family, he never said anything.
Because this was a matter related to another’s family; although Yang Kai was the cause of this incident, him interjecting at that time would only make the situation worse.
Yang Kai knew that while part of the reason Wu Yi declared she would leave the Hai Ke Family was because of him, the bigger issue was because she had come to realize the coldness of these people towards her.
Regardless, Yang Kai was very grateful to Wu Yi, her taking such a decisive stand was more than he could have asked for.
Yang Kai secretly decided that he would compensate Wu Yi greatly for her actions today and satisfy her wish to see the world outside Shadowed Star.
A woman of her caliber shouldn’t remain chained to such a small family!
Considering all this, Yang Kai stepped forward, patted Wu Yi’s shoulder gently, and pulled her behind him before turning to Xu Zhi Shen with a sneer, “Old dog, you’re quite arrogant.”
Xu Zhi Shen’s eyes flashed a cold light as he nodded, “Good good good! Little brat, you’re certainly wild enough, I just hope your tongue isn’t the only thing that’s sharp!”
Saying so, a gloomy pulse of Spiritual Energy burst from Xu Zhi Shen’s eyes and shot forward like an arrow towards Yang Kai’s head.
Yang Kai had turned Xu Tian Ze into an idiot with a Divine Sense attack. Xu Zhi Shen knew this better than anyone present, so now he planned to return the favour in kind. Seeing that Yang Kai was only a Third Order Saint, an entire Great Realm lower than him, Xu Zhi Shen didn’t even use his full strength, wanting to prolong Yang Kai’s suffering so he could deeply understand the cost of boasting shamelessly.
The cold Spiritual Energy that pierced into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was instantly incinerated by his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, unable to set off even a rippled, causing a backlash on Xu Zhi Shen’s Soul, turning his face pale.
“You…” Xu Zhi Shen stared at Yang Kai in disbelief. At that moment, he clearly felt a Spiritual Energy stronger than his own burn his thread of Divine Sense. If it weren’t for only using part of his strength, the backlash just now would have seriously injured if not killed him directly.
Xu Zhi Shen’s complexion changed as he quickly swept his eyes around Yang Kai, trying to find something.
He didn’t believe that pulse of Spiritual Energy had come from Yang Kai and instead thought he was wearing some kind of powerful Soul type artefact.
However, after searching for a long time, Xu Zhi Shen was unable to find anything and fear began creeping into his heart
Of everyone present, only the old man named Ba Qing Yan had the same strength as Xu Zhi Shen, the cultivations of the others weren’t very high, most of them just Saints with only a handful of them being First or Second Order Saint Kings, so none of them knew what just happened and all of them simply saw Xu Zhi Shen take action and were just waiting to see Yang Kai’s miserable fate.
But now, Yang Kai wore the same indifferent look on his face while Xu Zhi Shen had actually gone pale, seemingly having suffered some kind of wound, confusing all of them greatly.
Only Ba Qing Yan’s eyes flashed as he focused his attention on Yang Kai, as if he had discovered something, but soon he slowly shook his head, denying his own guess, refusing to believe that with such pitiful strength, Yang Kai could hurt Xu Zhi Shen.
But Xu Zhi Shen’s Soul aura had definitely become weaker, and it didn’t seem he was faking it, causing Ba Qing Yan to also wonder what happened.
“Old dog, are you going to make your move? If not, then I will!” Yang Kai grinned towards Xu Zhi Shen. When he had broken through to the Third Order Saint Realm, Yang Kai was able to kill Second-Order Saint Kings. Now that his body was coursing with pure Golden Blood, and his vitality was far stronger than before. It was rare for someone in the Third-Order Saint King Realm to offer themselves up for a fight, so Yang Kai was eager to take this chance to determine the full extent of his current strength.
Not wasting any more time, Yang Kai swiftly condensed a sword of Demonic Flame in his hand.
As soon as this sword appeared, both the Hai Ke Family and Xu Family members showed panic-stricken looks. Ba Qing Yan and Xu Zhi Shen, who were the strongest masters present, both wore dignified expressions as they stared at the dark Demonic Flames.
Everyone at the scene, regardless of their strength, could feel just how profound and unfathomable the Demonic Flames were. None of them had ever encountered such a strange power. The contradictory nature of the Demonic Flames along made many feel uncomfortable, as they were already being attacked by it. No one could tell what would happen if they were to actually be struck with it.
For a moment, expressions of dread and horror filled the faces of the crowd.
Ba Qing Yan’s sent a signal with his eyes to the other Hai Ke Family cultivators, silently ordering them to withdraw. He had finally noticed that there was something a bit off with Yang Kai; after all, how could a trivial Third-Order Saint stand so arrogantly in front of Xu Zhi Shen if he didn’t have something to rely on?
However, no matter what this youth had to rely on, Ba Qing Yan was disinclined to interfere in this chaos. The dispute between the Xu Family and Yang Kai had nothing to do with him so he was happy to simply stand aside and watch the good show. His only concern now was how he should handle Wu Yi’s treachery!
Daring to leave the family without authorization, no matter who it was, their end would not be good!
Yang Yan had already witnessed Yang Kai’s fight before, but she didn’t know if he could perfectly handle Xu Zhi Shen, so she quickly brought Wu Yi and Yu Feng to her side lest they get caught up in this conflict.
After seeing everyone else withdraw, the other cultivators from the Xu Family also pulled back.
In the blink of an eye, only Yang Kai and Xu Zhi Shen remained facing each other.
“Old dog, my principle has always been if others don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them. Since you’ve come though, don’t even think about leaving!” Yang Kai wasn’t one to negotiate, not to mention this old dog calling him a little beast had angered him. Yang Kai had decided to teach this old dog a harsh lesson today.
Neither the Hai Ke Family nor the Xu Family could be placed in Yang Kai’s eyes. These two families didn’t even have a single Origin Returning Realm master, so Yang Kai was confident they had no way to restrain him. Even if an Origin Returning Realm master really came, Yang Kai could still escape.
As such, he had no scruples.
“Rampant Brat!” Xu Zhi Shen shouted indignantly, his old face somewhat pale as his Soul had suffered some slight damage just now. He had constantly been searching for the powerful Soul type artefact Yang Kai was wearing, but even until now he couldn’t find one. This alone was enough to shock Xu Zhi Shen and he quickly shelved his contempt. After a shout, he raised his hand and a nearly invisible black line shot towards Yang Kai.
He had hidden this weapon with his own Saint Qi a moment ago to easily kill the cultivator called Chou Yuan. Besides Ba Qing Yan, who knew about this strange weapon, no one else on the scene had noticed, all of them simply thinking it was Xu Zhi Shen’s condensed Saint Qi. However, Yang Kai Divine Sense was incredibly powerful, and he had long ago been on guard against this strange artefact, swiftly intercepting it with his sword.
The dark Demonic Flames were capable of burning everything in existence and was the foundation of Yang Kai’s strength, so he believed that even if this thin thread was an Origin Grade artifact, it could still be incinerated by his Demonic Flame.
A sharp sound rang out as sparks flew from Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame sword when it collided with the thin thread. At the same time, a wave of cold energy suddenly burst from the thin line, sweeping towards Yang Kai from all directions.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed, and his powerful Divine Sense locked onto the thin black thread. He found that this thing was a little different from what he had expected, and that his Demonic Flames didn’t have much effect on them. Although he managed to deflect it, it wasn’t burnt in the slightest.
The corners of Xu Zhi Shen’s mouth rose slightly and a confident look filled his face as he shouted, “Surrender your life!”
As soon as his voice fell, the tiny black thread suddenly split into a giant woven net and threatened to engulf Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly evaded while at the same time sending out a huge Heaven Covering Hand, one grand enough to seemingly shroud the entire world. Everyone who was watching the battle couldn’t help feeling like the sky had become dark.
Violent energy fluctuations burst out and the giant net woven from black threads instantly disintegrated. Xu Zhi Shen’s body shook a bit as he turned a look of disbelief towards Yang Kai, never having expected his secret killing blow would be broken so easily.
It was because he feared Yang Kai’s ability to damage his Soul that Xu Zhi Shen had exerted his full strength right from the start. He wanted to kill Yang Kai as fast as possible to save face for the Xu Family, but his efforts have fallen short.
This Third Order Saint Realm youth’s eyesight was incredibly sharp and had apparently long ago seen through Xu Zhi Shen’s hidden artefact. On top of that, this young man’s Saint Qi carried a destructive force comparable to his own; if that weren’t the case, he would never have been able to deflect his Nether Shadow Soul Silk!
The method to repel the Nether Shadow Soul Silk was quite simple actually, but one needed incredible power to accomplish it.
If it was a cultivator in the same realm as him, such as Ba Qing Yan, Xu Zhi Shen could accept such a result, but this kid was clearly just a Saint Realm cultivator.
Did this boy actually have the ability to fight him on even terms? Xu Zhi Shen almost screamed out in surprise. Xu Zhi Shen was suspicious that the injury to his Soul just now was the result of Yang Kai relying on some powerful artifact, but now he didn’t dare think so.
It seemed this young man wasn’t any weaker than himself!
There was something very wrong with this young man! No wonder he had dared to utter such arrogant provocations, it turned out he was playing the pig to eat a tiger. No wonder Chou Yuan had been seriously injured when he returned to the family and no matter how he was asked he refused to explain. No wonder Chou Yuan had turned around and ran the moment Xu Zhi Shen tried to send him forward. It seems that his injuries were caused by this young man, but Chou Yuan hadn’t dared to explain for fear he would be further punished.
Being able to seriously injure a Second-Order Saint King and even inflicting a serious trauma on his heart, such ability was nothing short of terrifying.
At this point, Xu Zhi Shen no longer looked down on Yang Kai and his expression instead became dignified. The thin black thread which had been blocked by the Heaven Covering Hand was taken back by him and a pill was stuffed into his mouth.
After witnessing this exchange, the onlookers couldn’t help gawking.
Whether it was the Hai Ke Family or Xu Family members, all of them had their jaws dropped.
All of them had thought that with Xu Zhi Shen taking action personally, Yang Kai would immediately be captured or killed and that all his shameless boasting would be thoroughly wiped away! This youth daring to utter so many insults had all the cultivators of the Xu Family very much looking forward to how he would be crippled then forced to beg for mercy.
How could they have anticipated that after a single exchange, Yang Kai’s face would remain calm and indifferent with not a scratch on him while their Elder, Xu Zhi Shen was the one wearing a solemn look and being forced to swallow a pill?
As long as one wasn’t blind, they would know that things were quite different from what they had imagined.
“Elder Ba… what… what does this mean?” Wu Yi’s cousin named Wu Ke asked Ba Qing Yan haltingly as he honestly couldn’t understand.
Upon hearing his question, everyone turned their attention to Ba Qing Yan, hoping he could answer it.
“What does this mean?” Ba Qing Yan coldly snorted, “It means the Xu Family has kicked an iron plate this time!”
“Ah!” Even if his brain couldn’t keep up with the rapidly changing situation, Wu Ke could still understand the meaning of Ba Qing Yan’s words, his expression becoming complex as he stared towards Yang Kai and asked, “Elder Ba, he only looks like a Third Order Saint. Even if he can resist for a bit, Senior Xu will soon take him down; after all, the gap in their cultivations is enormous.”
Wu Ke’s words, however, were more to comfort himself than anything else. Wu Yi had left the family because of this young man, so as long as this young man died, Wu Yi’s end would be miserable and, at the time, Wu Ke wouldn’t fail to add insult to injury. Naturally, he didn’t want to see even the possibility of Wu Yi rising up again.
“Who knows,” Ba Qing Yan muttered as a profound light flickered across their depths. He was no longer paying any attention to Xu Zhi Shen and was instead focusing entirely on Yang Kai. When they first arrived, Ba Qing Yan had not cared at all about this youth, but now how could he afford to not care about him?
Just where did Wu Yi find this little brat? He was too extraordinary.
With the cultivators from both families unable to believe their eyes, obviously Wu Yi and Yu Feng couldn’t as well.
They were clearer than anyone else present about Yang Kai’s origins. It was Yu Feng who had brought back Yang Kai who at the time had been trapped inside a blood-red crystal, to their Starship. Although all of them had gotten along well enough, they had only regarded Yang Kai as a young cultivator who had drifted here by accident. Wu Yi giving Dragon Cave Mountain to Yang Kai was because he was familiar with the outside world’s situation and she felt he might be helpful to her later on.
Neither of them had imagined Yang Kai’s strength would be so astonishing.
Yang Yan wore a look of pride as she declared, “Don’t worry, Yang Kai won’t lose. Last time, he killed three First Order Saint King with ease and forced that guy named Chou Yuan to flee. Although that old man seems stronger than Chou Yuan, it shouldn’t be by much.”
“Ah!” Wu Yi couldn’t help covering her mouth, “Did you just say… he killed several Saint Kings? Is that really true?”
Yang Yan smiled helplessly, “He killed them right in front of me. It was so scary that I fell unconscious for three days before waking up.”
Yang Yan proceeded to colourfully describe the events of that time, and she did with a zeal that made it difficult to believe she had been so scared at the time. Wu Yi and Yu Feng listened intently as shock filled their hearts.
“Junior, this old master admits he greatly underestimated you, but what of it? Today, I, Xu Zhi Shen, will kill you. Don’t even dream of living to see the sun tomorrow!” Xu Zhi Shen swallowed a pill and finally the ache in his Soul eased; although he couldn’t repair it right now, with his injury temporarily suppressed, he could finally exert his full strength.
“Is that fine thread not an artefact?” After Yang Kai repelled this killing blow, he did not immediately counter-attack but instead stared towards the old man. Yang Kai faintly felt that the thin black threat wasn’t an artefact, otherwise, his Demonic Flame would have had some effect on it. From the brief confrontation, Yang Kai felt the dark thread was similar to a manifestation of Spiritual Energy, like a physical Divine Sense attack!
Suddenly, he became interested, “A good treasure, en, I want it.”
“Hmph, more shameless boasting. Before you worry about seizing my treasure, you should first worry about keeping your life!” Xu Zhi Shen coldly snorted, a strong aura erupting from his body as the ground beneath his feet suddenly caved in. Xu Zhi Shen’s clothes blew in the wind as his face filled with malicious intent and cold energy began swirling around him, giving everyone nearby the illusion they had been thrown into a winter storm.
Countless Nether Shadow Soul Silks shot out from Xu Zhi Shen’s body like a thick mess of hair. Those Nether Shadow Soul Silk threads were like living creatures and all rushed out towards Yang Kai in the next instant. Halfway to their target, these fine threads merged together to form a great rotating spear before continuing to stab towards Yang Kai’s heart.
The force of the spear’s rotation whipped the surrounding air into a tornado as it barreled towards Yang Kai with stunning momentum.
The Nether Shadow Soul Silk spear pierced forward with extreme speed and in the blink of an eye arrived in front of Yang Kai. What surprised everyone thought, was that in the face of such a horrible attack, Yang Kai didn’t show any intention to dodge and instead reached out his hand to grab the spear.
Demonic Flames tumbled on his palm as a dignified expression filled Yang Kai’s face. Clearly he was also exerting his full strength.
*Ci…*
A harsh screech rang out the moment Yang Kai grabbed the spear as the rotational force kept it spinning in his grip. Struck by this blow, Yang Kai was forced backwards at a frightening speed.
Golden blood splattered from his hand.
But soon, the speed of Yang Kai’s retreat decreased and his blurry figure which had seemingly disappeared became clear once again and eventually came to a halt.
From the tumbling Demonic Flames covering his hand, the smell of charred flesh wafted and it was obvious Yang Kai had suffered some minor injuries.
However, Yang Kai paid this no mind. Xu Zhi Shen’s thin black thread was truly difficult to stop or guard against. Even the Demonic Flame couldn’t burn it, so no matter the cost, Yang Kai was going to snatch it first and worry about the consequences later.
Otherwise, with the threat of this treasure looming over him, Yang Kai would have to divert a significant amount of attention during the fight to protect himself from it.
Yang Kai’s body had just stood still when Xu Zhi Shen flew over. Yang Yan and Wu Yi both let out panicked screams as a violent power condensed on Xu Zhi Shen’s palms then swiftly transformed into all kinds of attacks that rained down on Yang Kai.
Yang Kai tightly held the black spear in one hand as Spiritual Energy burst from his forehead and rushed into it, burning the Soul mark left behind by Xu Zhi Shen, destroying his ability to control it. Simultaneously, Yang Kai used his free hand to send out another Heaven Covering Hand to meet Xu Zhi Shen’s assault.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
As the ground cracked below them, Xu Zhi Shen was sent hurtling back the way he came like a paper kite in a violent storm. As he flew back, Xu Zhi Shen coughed up a mouthful of blood and his face paled again.
Yang Kai also backed up a dozen steps and the arm he had used to meet the enemy temporarily went numb. His vitality tumbling, Yang Kai was also forced to cough up Golden Blood.
However, his condition was obviously much better than Xu Zhi Shen’s and there was also an excited smile on his face as he glanced down at the countless silk threads scattered in his grip and directly stuffed them into his Space Ring.
“You… you were able to erase my Soul mark in an instant?” Xu Zhi Shen’s expression changed drastically as it flickered between anger and disbelief. His body shivered as he stretched out his hand towards Yang Kai while coughing up another mouthful of blood.
“Hahaha!” Yang Kai laughed wildly as he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips and proudly declared, “Old dog, since I said I wanted this thing, I’ll certainly take it!”
Wild! Overbearing! Domineering!
The audience was in an uproar.
Then everyone remembered. Just now, Yang Kai had said something similar, but how could they have known within only ten breaths of time he had actually accomplished such a feat?
A Saint Realm cultivator robbing an artefact from a Saint King, on top of that erasing the Soul mark of that Saint King in an instant, just how powerful did his Spiritual Energy have to be to do this?
“Holy shit!” Yu Feng could not help shouting as his eyes flashed violently.
Not only did Yang Yan and Wu Yi wear relieved looks on their faces, but even the young women from the Hai Ke Family also let out sighs of relief as their eyes lit up and they directed somewhat hot gazes towards Yang Kai.
They had suddenly discovered that all the so-called young talents they had previously encountered weren’t remotely comparable to this man of unknown origin. Those young masters were simply trash.
Even Ba Qing Yan’s pupils shrank as a tinge of fear and panic appeared in the depths of his heart.
What kind of strength Xu Zhi Shen possessed, he knew better than anyone else present. If Ba Qing Yan was to be honest, he wasn’t necessarily a worthy to be Xu Zhi Shen’s opponent, yet this young man in front of him had not only taken two moves from the latter, he had even managed to injure him in the process. Since that was the case, what would happen if this young man was to fight with him?
Suddenly, Ba Qing Yan felt a slight headache as it became difficult to breathe.
Yang Kai laughed happily, not just because he had snatched Xu Zhi Shen’s artefact, but because he found that his current combat power could indeed compete with those in the Third Order Saint King Realm. Although Xu Zhi Shen was clearly not the strongest amongst this realm, he was still a genuine Third Order Saint King.
Moreover, Yang Kai had yet to go all out.
Dao of Space, Golden Blood, Demon Eye of Annihilation… Yang Kai hadn’t used any of his trump cards yet and had only been relying on his baseline strength.
“Elder!” One of the Xu Family’s Saint King Realm cultivators saw Xu Zhi Shen suffer a loss and couldn’t help calling out.
Xu Zhi Shen waved his hand though, stopping anyone else from coming forward, a fierce look of madness quickly filling his face as he shouted hysterically, “Good good good, my respect to the young, this old master never dreamed someone like you existed in this world, but that matters not! Today, if this old master does not kill you, he will no longer be a man!”
Saying so, Xu Zhi Shen suddenly summoned a seemingly plain picture scroll into his hand. From this picture scroll though, a thick and solid momentum burst forth, causing everyone in the surrounding to feel a little breathless, as if they were under some kind of great pressure.
“Hundred Mountains Picture!” Ba Qing Yan clearly recognized this picture scroll and his face changed greatly as he shouted, “Retreat!”
The Hai Ke Family unconditional obeyed these words and immediately withdrew while those from the Xu Family naturally understood what this scroll was and also turned to flee.
When they saw everyone run away, Wu Yi and Yu Feng immediately became uneasy, with Wu Yi hurriedly urging, “We also need to retreat!”
“No need!” Yang Yan waved her hand though and summoned out a few strange looking objects which she tossed out around the trio. In an instant, Yang Yan had finished her arrangements and nodded lightly, “This is a good location, we can see what happens with ease from here.”
Wu Yi looked at her, a little speechless, wondering if she was hare-brained or simply ignorant.
However, it was too late to retreat now. After Xu Zhi Shen summoned the Hundred Mountains Picture, he immediately condensed an illusory mountain image from it. This mountain was over a hundred meters tall and with heaven destroying, earth-shattering momentum, it slammed down towards Yang Kai’s.
An incredible sense of crisis rose from the bottom of Yang Kai’s heart as his expression changed greatly. Not even thinking about it, Yang Kai quickly condensed a number of Grand Heavenly Shields above his head.
“Watch as this old master explodes your corpse into ten thousand pieces!” Xu Zhi Shen roared as the phantom mountain pounded towards the ground.
*Kacha…*
The just condensed Grand Heavenly Shields had no effect at all and were instantly crushed by the illusionary mountain, not slowing its pace in the slightest as it continued to press towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai struggled to move as he silently cursed to himself.
Xu Zhi Shen’s Hundred Mountains Picture artefact was clearly Origin Grade, and although it was clearly just a phantom image, the mountain which was falling towards Yang Kai right now carried with it the weight of the genuine article. If he was really crushed beneath it, Yang Kai estimated that even with his intrepid physique, he would not be able to survive.
With no other choice, Yang Kai could only use his Space Force.
In an instant, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared.
The mountain directly crushed the afterimage Yang Kai left behind, causing the ground to tremble and split in a giant spider web pattern. Even the distant mountain peaks shook noticeably as countless birds flew up into the sky to scatter in all directions.
After Xu Zhi Shen stared stunned for a moment, he couldn’t help bursting into a mad laughter, “Junior! Now you understand this old master’s power! Daring to fight with me? Naive!”
“Ah!” Wu Yi went pale as she thought Yang Kai had been killed.
“Old dog, is barking all you can do?” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly called out as a Heaven Punishing Spear broke through the limits of space and appeared directly in front of Xu Zhi Shen.
Xu Zhi Shen, who had just been cackling arrogantly, was shocked and immediately leaked cold sweat. With no time to think about it, he desperately pushed his Saint Qi into the Hundred Mountains Picture and summoned another phantom mountain, but this time it was even larger than the last.
The Heaven Punishing Spear was blocked by this illusionary mountain and failed to hit its mark.
Xu Zhi Shen became enraged and waved his hand to send the second mountain smashing towards Yang Kai again.
Yang Kai finally understood why this artefact was called the Hundred Mountains Picture. There were clearly a hundred mountain peaks hidden inside of this scroll. Every time Xu Zhi Shen summoned one, there would be one less inside the picture, moreover, it looks like these mountains were summoned in order from smallest to largest. Yang Kai couldn’t help shivering slightly as he stared at this, realizing that if he were repeatedly smashed by such mountains it wouldn’t be long before even his bones were ground to dust.
Although Yang Kai knew that with Xu Zhi Shen’s strength, there was no way he could summon all one hundred mountains, even part of this artefact’s power was still immense.
The second mountain flew towards Yang Kai at high speed while the first smaller peak flew up from the ground to sandwich him.
The two phantom peaks both sent out an oppressive aura that made it difficult for Yang Kai to move or circulate his Saint Qi.
Xu Zhi Shen seemed to have really been driven to his limits and did not hesitate to summon the third and fourth illusory mountains.
With four peaks now closing in on him, Yang Kai simply had no way to avoid them.
A violent impact sounded and the surrounding space seemed to collapse. A strong burst of energy swept out and ravaged Dragon Cave Mountain, blasting away dirt, stones and trees, smashing everything in its wake to dust.
Looking at this apocalyptic scene, many of the cultivators from the Xu Family and the Hai Ke Family went pale.
They knew that if they had not withdrawn just now and had been caught up in this explosion because even now, the residual waves of energy were cutting into their skin like sharp blades. Those with lower strength were even worse of, many of them being blown far away, their life or death uncertain.
“In front of the Hundred Mountains Picture, even this old master would have no choice but to withdraw. That young man is dead for sure,” Ba Qing Yan exhaled softly, a weird expression on his face, wondering whether he should rejoice or regret.
In the chaotic battlefield, there was only one place that was safe and sound, the spot where Yang Yan, Wu Yi, and Yu Feng were standing. When the powerful explosion swept towards them, Wu Yi and Yu Feng both thought they would soon be dead.
But to their surprise, a light curtain suddenly appeared in front of them and completely blocked out the blast, leaving them completely unaffected.
For the distribution, two will be on the usual timing. When there are three, it will be: 12am, 3pm and 12pm (+8GMT).
“Are you an Array Master?” Wu Yi paused for a moment as she stared at Yang Yan in shock. Although she knew Yang Yan had just arranged some kind of Spirit Array, she hadn’t expected it to be so powerful. This was far beyond Wu Yi’s realm of experience.
Yu Feng also stared at Yang Yan with a look of amazement and worship.
On the other side, Xu Zhi Shen, who had summoned out four peaks, seemed to be a bit dispirited at the moment, but looking down at the shattered domain below him, he couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
Even after living for so many years, he had never encountered anyone like Yang Kai. He didn’t even understand how Yang Kai had avoided his first attack as there were simply no signs of him moving, it was as if he ignored the bounds of space and directly moved from one place to another.
But none of that mattered now, this boy was undoubtedly dead. Xu Zhi Shen was both physically and mentally exhausted, but a hearty smile still filled his face, him going all out had not brought shame to the Xu Family’s name.
Suddenly though, a strange sense of crisis rose from his heart. Xu Zhi Shen was a veteran of many battles and didn’t even think about it before sending the four phantom mountains towards the source of this feeling.
Turning his gaze to the side, Xu Zhi Shen almost let out a scream.
The young man who he had assumed had died without a complete corpse was stood there completely unharmed, slashing a giant sword forged from black Demonic Flames and filled with destructive aura down towards him.
Xu Zhi Shen almost swallowed his tongue as he instinctually responded to this attack.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The huge black sword slammed into one of the illusionary mountain peaks and was intercepted, but the contradictory hot and cold auras overflowing from it left cold sweat dripping from Xu Zhi Shen forehead.
Xu Zhi Shen was certain that if he was contaminated by these black flames, he would definitely be unable to repel them and would soon be burnt to a crisp! What kind of freak was this boy?
Not only was Xu Zhi Shen in a state of panic, but even the other cultivators from the Xu and Hai Ke Families were alarmed, Ba Qing Yan’s eyes bulging with confusion.
Even with his level of eyesight, he hadn’t been able to see how Yang Kai had avoided the four peaks just now.
Ba Qing Yan knew that if it was him, if he hadn’t been preparing to flee beforehand, he wouldn’t have been able to escape unharmed from that last attack, but this young man had done just that. Ba Qing Yan was shocked to find that he was still underestimating the strength of this young man. He wasn’t just a freak, he was a complete monster!
Xu Zhi Shen roared and surrounded himself with the four phantom mounts, forming a solid defense barrier.
He was scared, so scared that he refused to expose himself to Yang Kai for fear that if he moved carelessly, he would be struck dead.
A subtle Divine Sense and Saint Qi attack combined with Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space flew towards Xu Zhi Shen, but to the former’s surprise, the four phantom mountains not only physically guarded Xu Zhi Shen, but even blocked the surrounding space, preventing Yang Kai’s strike from reaching its target.
The fifth and sixth peaks emerged from the Hundred Mountains Picture, both more majestic than the previous four. Xu Zhi Shen next bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the Hundred Mountains Picture and his feeble aura rapidly inflated as the light of madness filled with eyes and he drove the two newly summoned peaks towards Yang Kai.
All of Dragon Cave Mountain trembled violently and numerous new craters and pits were added to the ground as wanton destruction was wrought in all directions.
Yang Kai immediately became furious, “Old man, how dare you ruin my home!”
If he continued to pester with Xu Zhi Shen, Dragon Cave Mountain would definitely be destroyed, and once the ground collapsed in, the Space Spirit Crystal lode that was hiding below would likely be exposed.
Yang Kai’s murderous intent soared.
Yang Kai shot out a wave of Demonic Flame towards Xu Zhi Shen, but unlike before, these Demonic Flames did not disappear after reaching their target but instead condensed and rapidly expanded into a burning cloud of fire.
Engulfed by this cloud of Demonic Flame, Xu Zhi Shen and the four peaks guarding him were unceasingly burned down. Yang Kai did not relent and continue to pour in more Demonic Flames to strengthen the power of this cloud.
“No… nooo…” Xu Zhi Shen screamed in horror as the four illusionary mountains protecting him grew dimmer under the burning heat of the cloud of fire, all of them seemingly on the verge of collapsing.
Once these phantom mountains disappeared, Xu Zhi Shen would die.
“What are you still gawking at? Hurry up and help me kill this little beast!” Xu Zhi Shen hurriedly yelled to the other Xu Family Saint Kings who were watching the battle in the distance.
He had been fighting Yang Kai with only his own strength because he wanted to showcase his power and dignity as an Elder, but how could he have known that he was completely not this young man’s opponent? Right now, facing certain death, Xu Zhi Shen couldn’t be concerned about face anymore and ask for help from his family’s other cultivators.
In the distance, the Saint King Realm cultivators who had followed Xu Zhi Shen heard this shout but only two of them rushed over without hesitation. All of the others actually unconsciously retreated a few steps.
Xu Zhi Shen had even brought out the Hundred Mountains Picture but still wasn’t able to match Yang Kai, how could they step forward just to die?
The two Saint Kings who had rushed ahead had yet to understand the situation when two balls of Demonic Flame flew towards them. Both of them foolishly tried to block these flames but in the blink of an eye were engulfed by them. No matter what they tried, these two were unable to extinguish these black flames and soon fell to the ground, completely motionless.
Seeing this, the remaining Saint Kings of the Xu Family were unable to withstand the fear in their hearts anymore and turned around to run away, one of them even shouting, “Elder, hold on, we will return to the family to bring reinforcements!”
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi Shen was so aggrieved he spat another mouthful of blood and his expression became thoroughly dispirited.
Turning to Ba Qing Yan this time, Xu Zhi Shen screamed with all his strength, “Brother Ba, if you help me survive today, I will give you this Hundred Mountains Picture!”
Ba Qing Yan’s eyes narrowed as a covetous light flashed across their depths.
Ba Qing Yan had long ago heard about the might of the Xu Family’s Hundred Mountains Picture and today he had personally witnessed this Origin Grade artefact’s power. He believed that if he could really obtain the Hundred Mountains Picture, he could become the first master of the Hai Ke Family! He might even have the qualifications to trade a few blows against a normal Origin Returning Realm master.
However, the young man in front of him was clearly not an existence he wanted to provoke. Even after observing this fight for so long, Ba Qing Yan had yet to ravel this young man’s bottom line, and so, for a moment, he hesitated.
“Brother Ba!” Xu Zhi Shen anxiously screamed once more; he was already an arrow at the end of its flight and could not hold on any longer.
Ba Qing Yan’s hesitant look suddenly became firm and he was just about to step forward when Yang Kai suddenly shot him a bone-chilling look and shouted, “If you dare to move, whether you’re Wu Yi’s clansmen or not, I’ll slaughter every last one of you!”
Ba Qing Yan’s body immediately went stiff as a cold chill shot up his spine.
At that moment, accompanied by Xu Zhi Shen’s screams, the four phantom mountains finally disintegrated, and the billowing cloud of black flames burned him to ashes.
All that remained was Xu Zhi Shen’s Space Ring and the Hundred Mountains Picture which fluttered down to the ground.
Countless greedy eyes instantly locked onto the Hundred Mountains Picture.
Yang Kai, however, stood in place, a pensive expression filling his face, not reaching out towards this precious artefact and his aura also showing no signs of weakening. On the contrary, the momentum from his body was growing fiercer and more vigorous by the moment.
Yang Yan clenched her wide black robe with both hands and rushed forward with a light steps, picked up the Hundred Mountains Picture and Xu Zhi Shen’s Space Ring, then ran back in a hurry to stand inside the Spirit Array she had laid down.
“Ha…” Ba Qing Yan let out a tired sigh. He hadn’t been able to summon the courage to grab the Hundred Mountains Picture, filling his heart was disappointed.
Dragon Cave Mountain suddenly became deathly silent.
The cultivators from the Hai Ke Family looked around at each other, none of them daring to say a word. They had never expected this battle would have such an end. The Xu Family had even taken out their much vaunted Hundred Mountains Picture but the result was a mere Third Order Saint Realm cultivator had killed Xu Zhi Shen.
None of them would have believed such a story if they hadn’t seen it for themselves.
Wu Yi and Yu Feng were equally shocked and couldn’t find their voices for quite some time.
They had heard of so-called genius cultivators before. There had even seemed to be several of them within Shadow Moon Hall’s younger generation. These people were all capable of fighting opponents above their realm and were quite famous as a result.
However, those so-called geniuses who received countless accolades and praises weren’t worth shit compared to Yang Kai.
This time, Yang Kai had fought an opponent an entire Great Realm above him and managed to win without suffering any injuries.
Could he be a genius among geniuses? Wu Yi and Yu Feng couldn’t help thinking this way, the sadness they felt from leaving their family diluted by their shock.
“Ya…” Yang Yan was playing with the Hundred Mountains Picture when she suddenly turned her attention to Yang Kai and let out a yelp of surprise, a thoughtful look soon spreading across her face as a pleasant light blossomed in her beautiful eyes. After a moment, she grabbed her black robe once more, ran over in front of Yang Kai, and pulled out a number of items from her Space Ring to quickly arrange a Spirit Array around him.
When she ran back, Wu Yi asked curiously, “What happened to Yang Kai?”
“He must break through.”
“Ah?” Wu Yi was startled.
“This…” Yu Feng also wore a speechless expression, one mixed with envy and shame. After a great battle, Yang Kai was about to break through. His current cultivation was Third-Order Saint Realm, so a breakthrough meant he would rise to the First-Order Saint King Realm, the same as both him and Wu Yi. Any trace of superiority Yu Feng felt disappeared at this moment, but when he recalled Yang Kai’s horrific fighting strength, his heart relaxed.
Such a person breaking through at this kind of moment wasn’t strange.
Since Yang Yan could discover this matter, Ba Qing Yan naturally could as well. At this moment, he was staring deeply towards Yang Kai from far away, his expression fluctuating between fear, worry, surprise, shock, and a variety of others.
A middle-aged man next to him whose face was somewhat pale quietly approached and whispered, “Elder Ba, this boy seems like he’s about to break through, should we…”