Chen Shi Tao was already worried that her Space Ring might not be big enough and was wondering whether she should contact the others from her Sect to come here and help them mine this lode. This was an incredible opportunity. Forget about collecting spirit grasses and spirit medicines outside, as long as they had enough Saint Crystals, what fear was there they couldn’t just buy what they wanted?
Considering this, Chen Shi Tao suddenly looked at Yang Kai with a scorching gaze, as if she wanted to see just how much good fortune was hidden in his body. Just by following him, they were able to obtain such immense benefits.
Just in case, everyone went to explore a few other passages to see if there were more Saint Crystal deposits down them, and unsurprisingly, down each tunnel, they found massive chunks of High-Rank Saint Crystal just lying out in plain sight.
“We’ve got plenty of time, everyone can split up and mine on their own. Before the Flowing Flame Sand Field closes, we’ll mine as much as we can, and if we can’t mind this place clean….” After a moment of hesitation and a glance over towards Yang Kai, who didn’t say anything, Chen Shi Tao said, “Then we’ll bring news of this place back to the Sect and wait until next time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opens to let others mine it!”
Her original idea was naturally to contact others from her Sect; after all, the more people that came, the more they could mine, and the more benefits they would obtain. However, besides the Chen Shi Tao’s group of five from Clear Sky Sect, there were also two outsiders, Yang Kai and Chang Qi, so it would not be a good idea for her to call in others lest she creates dissatisfaction between the two groups.
If it was Chang Qi it wouldn’t have mattered, but this young man named Yang Kai was a man of great destiny and Chen Shi Tao wanted to remain on good terms with him so in the future she might possibly gain more benefits from him.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was very satisfied with her decision and immediately nodded in agreement.
The seven people dispersed immediately, each picking a mine shaft to enter then using their own methods to collect Saint Crystals.
Yang Kai naturally chose the tunnel he had been eyeing from the start, walking only a hundred meters in before arriving at a massive block of Saint Crystal. Yang Kai condensed a dagger of Demonic Flame in his hand and using this incredibly sharp tool began cutting parts of this giant Saint Crystal into washbasin size chunks before tossing them into his Space Ring.
Although Yang Kai wasn’t as excited as the others to mine the Saint Crystals here, having more of them was never a bad thing.
Yang Kai worked hard at mining these Saint Crystals while keeping a lookout for the snake-shaped World Spirit Treasure. While he was certain it had entered this passage, and there was no other way out, Yang Kai wasn’t able to locate it immediately, confusing him greatly.
After that World Spirit Treasure entered this place, it had seemingly disappeared!
Aside from it drilling into these Saint Crystals, Yang Kai wasn’t able to find another reasonable answer, but could that World Spirit Treasure really drill into solid Saint Crystal? He didn’t know of any World Spirit Treasure which had such ability.
On top of that, this entire place was somewhat strange. It stands to reason that which such a massive Saint Crystal lode underground, the plain up above should be filled with spirit grasses and spirit medicines, but there was actually nothing on the surface but ordinary weeds.
Unable to think up any explanations for these mysteries, Yang Kai focused on digging and exploring this lode’s depths, tossing one large chunk of Saint Crystal into his Space Ring after another. The Saint Crystals in Yang Kai tunnel were decreasing at a rapid rate.
The dagger condensed of Demonic Flame was extremely sharp, able to easily slice through the raw Saint Crystal, but the Demonic Flame had the inherent property of burning everything it touched, so whenever Yang Kai made a cut, he would also burn away a significant amount of Saint Crystal.
One or two such losses were irrelevant, but as they compounded over time, this loss would be difficult to estimate.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai summoned a drop of Golden Blood from his veins and transformed it into a short sword.
Even a casual swing of this Golden Blood short sword was able to cut through the raw Saint Crystal here like tofu, making mining not only incredibly easy but also far more efficient than before with the added bonus of not suffering any losses. Yang Kai was very satisfied.
A day later, Yang Kai had harvested a large amount of Saint Crystal but was still unable to locate the little snake World Spirit Treasure even though he had dug another ten meters into the channel.
While Yang Kai was mining Saint Crystals, he suddenly heard some light footsteps at the entrance to his tunnel and soon saw Chang Qi’s figure emerge.
Foreign Elder Chang was wearing an excited look while constraining his aura and footsteps. Seeing Yang Kai’s sceptical look, Chang Qi only beckoned to him mysteriously.
As soon as he saw Chang Qi’s expression, Yang Kai knew the former must have found something good and couldn’t help also becoming excited, following after him quietly in the next moment.
As he followed Chang Qi, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to ask, “Did you find a trace of that World Spirit Treasure?”
“It’s hiding here?” Chang Qi frowned, a bewildered expression filling his face.
“It’s hiding here, I sensed its aura in the tunnel yesterday, but I haven’t found it yet.”
Chang Qi shook his head and replied, “I didn’t come to you because of it, but because I found something incredible. This old man’s vision is too poor though so I don’t recognize what it is, nor do I dare to move it, but you come from the outside world and are well-informed, so perhaps you will know something about it.”
After listening to Chang Qi’s comment, Yang Kai was a little disappointed, but he was still looked forward to whatever it was the former had found, immediately falling silent as he followed Chang Qi to another passage.
The raw Saint Crystal in this channel had been mined by Chang Qi, but not as much had been collected as Yang Kai had. Although Chang Qi had only collected about half of what Yang Kai had thought, it was still an enormous amount of wealth.
“Take a look, do you recognize this?” Chang Qi pointed forward.
Yang Kai looked in the direction he was guiding and his eyes narrowed.
Amongst the raw Saint Crystal in front of him was a small tree-like object inlaid in the wall. It was roughly a meter tall and had nine branches leading out from its trunk as well as a number of leaves. It seemed to be formed from the purest of crystal and was beautiful.
It seemed like it had grown out from the surrounding Saint Crystal but also like a frozen fossil, almost lifelike in nature.
There was no vitality coming from it, but it seemed to exude a wondrous aura from its leaves and branches. Whether it was Chang Qi or Yang Kai, when they were exposed to this aura, they couldn’t help feeling a sense of enlightenment.
Chang Qi had even noticed the bottleneck which had prevented him from break through for many years showing some signs of loosening.
This situation startled him and he quickly suppressed his surging Saint Qi, not daring to have any distracting thoughts.
This was the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, any Origin Returning Realm master would definitely die. Chang Qi was currently at the peak of the Third Order Saint King Realm, and once he broke through, he would reach the Origin Returning Realm. If that were to happen here, he would immediately be killed by the strange World Principles in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It was after Chang Qi experienced this strange sensation that he hurriedly found Yang Kai.
Firstly, Chang Qi didn’t recognize what this thing was and didn’t know how to deal with it; secondly, he didn’t dare approach it at will, much less touch it. If this thing were to force him to break through, it would be a disaster.
Yang Kai, however, recklessly immersed himself in this wonderful aura, his face revealing a soothed expression.
Soon though, he regained his calm look and stared towards this small tree embedded in Saint Crystal seriously. After a long time, he exhaled softly and said, “This should be a Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree.”
“Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree?” Chang Qi apparently was hearing this name for the first time and couldn’t help but ask, “What is that?”
“A type of unparalleled treasure!” Yang Kai said in a low voice. “It is a higher grade existence than even World Spirit Treasures. I have seen records about it in an ancient book before. It has a slim chance of being formed in extremely rich High-Rank Saint Crystal lodes. After concentrating the essence of all the surrounding Saint Crystal, a tiny seedling can be produced. This Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree has already grown to a meter in height, so it is at least 20,000 to 30,000 years old, possibly even older.”
Chang Qi couldn’t help feeling astonished.
No matter what it was, anything that could reach 20,000 to 30,000 years of age was an extraordinary existence. Even a weed may obtain sentience and evolve into a World Spirit Treasure over such a long period of time.
This Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was born from the essence of this Saint Crystal lode and was then nourished by the aura of the all the surrounding High-Rank Saint Crystal. Its starting point was already extremely high, so after so long it could be imagined how extraordinary it was.
Yang Kai knowing about this treasure was naturally thanks to Zong Ao. The ancient books stored in Zong Ao’s palace back on Rainfall Star had no discernible filing system, but thanks to browsing them, Yang Kai was able to learn about a great many wondrous things. Those ancient books not only had records about the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, but it also had information about the Soul Warming Lotus and various other treasures.
It could be said that the value of the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was on par with the Soul Warming Lotus; incomparable to ordinary treasures.
Most cultivators throughout the Star Field had never even heard of the Soul Warming Lotus or the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, much less seen them. Only in records from the distant past was there any information about them, almost as if such things had all disappeared without a trace.
“What wondrous uses does it have? Can it be used in Alchemy?” Chang Qi saw Yang Kai knew something about it and immediately asked.
“Alchemy?” Yang Kai chuckled, “Naturally it can be used for Alchemy, but if you were to do so, it would be the epitome of wasting Heaven’s precious gifts. If any master who knew about the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree were to hear someone used it for Alchemy, they would immediately chop them to pieces then burn their body to ash.”
“Ahem…” Chang Qi face went bright red, knowing he was a bit ignorant here and probably asked a ridiculous question.
“You should have realized its greatest usefulness already. If one cultivates near it, it can help cultivators break through their bottlenecks. That’s why it is a priceless treasure.” Yang Kai said with satisfaction.
Most things that could help a cultivator overcome a bottleneck were special pills, but if one took such a pill and still failed to break through, taking a second pill would have no effect; however, the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was different. It could help a cultivator to slowly increase their own comprehension of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dow, allowing them to overcome their bottleneck completely naturally.
Taking a pill was considered using external forces to help one break through, but the magical aura of the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree fundamentally improved a cultivator’s own comprehension, the effects of the two weren’t even on the same level.
Sure enough, when Chang Qi heard this, his eyes brightened and his body trembled with excitement.
The reason Chang Qi and Hao An were both unable to break through to the Origin Returning Realm was that they couldn’t overcome the bottlenecks they had, and the Hai Ke Family didn’t have the ability to purchase Origin Condensing Pills for them. As such, if they didn’t obtain some kind of special opportunity, they would remain Third Order Saint Kings for the rest of their life, unable to ever grasp the mysteries of the Origin Returning Realm.
The two of them had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field for two reasons, one was to complete the agreement they had with Yi En, the other was to seek a breakthrough opportunity.
But now, this little tree in front of him could easily help them break through their bottlenecks, so how could Chang Qi not be excited?
Just thinking about being able to take that one last step which had eluded him and Old Hao for so long, Chang Qi couldn’t help shedding some tears.
Yang Kai didn’t tell Chang Qi that the profound aura of the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree wasn’t just useful for cultivators trying to break through their cultivation bottlenecks but also bottlenecks in comprehending Martial Skills, Soul Skills, and so on and so forth. Essentially, as long as a cultivator was having trouble comprehending anything related to their cultivation, the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree could help them, and the higher one’s strength became, the greater the benefits they could obtain.
The higher a cultivator climbed, the harder it became to advance as it not only required the accumulation of strength over time, but also increased comprehension of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao. Breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm was already incredibly difficult, so one could only imagine how challenging breaking through to the Origin King Realm was.
However, the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree could help cultivators overcome this problem on a fundamental level.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was an unparalleled treasure. Depending on how it was used, it could be considered even more valuable than the Soul Warming Lotus. A Soul Warming Lotus could only be used by one person, but the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree could be used by countless people.
“It finally makes sense why the plains up above only have weeds growing on them with no trace of spirit grasses or spirit medicines,” Yang Kai smiled.
Chang Qi asked reflexively, “Why?”
“Because it is impossible for spirit grasses or spirit medicines to grow in a place where this thing exists, it has exhausted all of the Heavenly Dao within a few hundred kilometers…” Yang Kai suddenly frowned.
Chang Qi obviously remembered something as well quickly asked, “But didn’t that World Spirit Treasure come from this place?”
Yang Kai glanced over at him and conjectured, “That might not have been a World Spirit Treasure.”
In any case, with a Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree appearing here, Yang Kai and Chang Qi had completely disregarded the issue of the World Spirit Treasure for now. Chang Qi was afraid to even move this peerless treasure, fearing he might damage it, but Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to use his golden sword to excavate the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree from the surrounding Saint Crystal and toss it into his Black Book space.
Yang Kai only kept some unimportant things inside his Space Ring while all of his real treasures were stored inside the Black Book space.
“Foreign Elder Chang, I’ll hold onto this thing for now. After we return, I’ll return it to you. It will definitely help you to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.” After all, Chang Qi was the one who found it, so although Yang Kai was a bit envious, he didn’t plan on taking it for himself.
Chang Qi however quickly waved his hands and with a very satisfied expression on his face declared, “You saying so is treating this old man as too much of an outsider. This old man isn’t ignorant of this thing’s true value, it’s just… this old man is well aware that he doesn’t have the qualifications to hold onto such a treasure. If I were to try to keep it to myself, it would only be a curse rather than a blessing. This old man has already lived so many years and his only remaining wish now is to break through to the Origin Returning Realm, but even that seemed all but impossible. It was when this old man and Old Hao were at their lowest and most helpless point that you appeared to help us. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even had a chance to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and this old man would never have been able to arrive here. This Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree is yours now, allowing this old man and Old Hao to cultivate beside it for a while is plenty.”
Hearing him say so, Yang Kai no longer acted polite and immediately said, “Thank you. In the future, when you and Foreign Elder Hao come to live on Dragon Cave Mountain, you will definitely obtain far more benefits than you could in the Hai Ke Family. Breaking through to the Origin King Realm won’t be impossible.”
Chang Qi laughed, “That will be a goal for the future.”
Obviously he didn’t have much hope for such a future. He had yet to break through to the Origin Returning Realm so how could he dream of reaching the Origin King Realm? What’s more, an Origin King Realm master hadn’t appeared on Shadowed Star for countless years, Chang Qi didn’t believe he would be the one to break this pattern.
Yang Kai didn’t say anymore, his target had already been set on the Origin King Realm, so if it was impossible on Shadowed Star, he would simply have to go to a different Cultivation Star. After all, he would not be trapped here for his entire lifetime! At that time, taking others along would be a simple matter.
After collecting the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, Yang Kai returned to his own tunnel and immersed himself in mining again.
The entire underground cave was quite quiet, with only the faint sounds of mining coming from the various passages. Whether it was the five disciples from Clear Sky Sect, Yang Kai, or Chang Qi, all achieved great results.
Time marched on and soon four days had passed.
Yang Kai had dug more than thirty meters into his own passage and he had already obtained the equivalent of three million Saint Crystals; however, there was still no trace of the World Spirit Treasure that looked like a little snake.
A Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree had appeared here, so Yang Kai was even more curious about that little snake-like World Spirit Treasure because he wanted to know if it had grown and evolved here, or it had simply unintentionally hidden here after being chased down.
And so, Yang Kai kept digging deeper.
Two days later, Yang Kai frowned, secretly wondering if he should give up.
His biggest objective in entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field was finding a place to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water. The first layer Flame Area failed to meet his requirements, so he hadn’t stopped there and was instead intending to take his chances on the next Flame Area beyond the Treasure Area. Considering this, it wasn’t worth it for him to continue wasting time here.
Saint Crystals were good, but Yang Kai felt that if he wanted to obtain Saint Crystals it wasn’t difficult, so there was no need for him to keep mining them here.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai decided to spend two more days digging here. After two days, no matter what the result was, he had to leave this place.
Yang Kai didn’t know if it was his determination paying off or just good luck, but half a day later, after digging out a large piece of Saint Crystal, he suddenly felt a distinctive aura overflowing from the Saint Crystal in front of him.
This aura was very strange. Although it seemed quite thin and weak, it was also incredibly noble and majestic!
Under this aura, Yang Kai even felt a bit fearful and apprehensive, as if a great pair of eyes were staring at him, the owner of which could immediately kill him if it wished.
This sensation startled Yang Kai and he quickly focused himself to resist it.
Suddenly, Yang Kai felt light again, and after carefully inspecting his surroundings again, his expression became weird.
This majestic aura was somewhat familiar to him. It wasn’t the same majesty of the Demon Eye of Annihilation, but instead felt similar to the one the Golden Dragon Tattoo produced when it materialized. Although there were some slight differences, the general feeling was the same.
Sensing the peculiarity of this matter, Yang Kai immediately became excited and accelerated his movements, chucking raw pieces of Saint Crystal into his Space Ring faster and faster.
As he went deeper, the majestic aura became thicker and more and more obvious.
Yang Kai even felt his body grow somewhat hot and the Golden Dragon Tattoo on his back began moving about all on its own, as if it had come alive, even letting out a faint dragon roar once in a while.
Not only that, but the Ice Phoenix Tattoo which had never responded to any kind of stimulus before suddenly grew restless and began letting out piercing phoenix cries.
Whatever it was deeper inside, it had caused a reaction from the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress’ Inheritance.
After proceeding another ten meters or so, after Yang Kai cut apart a big piece of Saint Crystal, a burst of azure light suddenly appeared in front of him before a dark green glow filled the passageway.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and swiftly pushed his Saint Qi to resist the fierce pressure coming from the front. For a moment, breathing became somewhat difficult and it seemed as if he had been caught in a mire, unable to move forward.
Yang Kai’s face changed greatly, but in the next moment, this feeling disappeared without a trace, as if everything was just an illusion. Only the azure ball of light remained, the glow coming from it now even more dazzling than before.
Looking forward curiously, Yang Kai was surprised by what he saw.
In the passage he had excavated, there was an open space. This space wasn’t large, only about three meters in diameter. At this moment, a round bead the size of a pigeon egg was lying quietly on the ground. This bead was colourless, but inside it, there seemed to be a tiny green snake swimming about. This snake seemed to possess its own intelligence, and seeing Yang Kai looking at it, it actually became livelier and swam about faster.
Yang Kai felt the aura of a Soul from this little snake!
It must have been the little snake that Chang Qi had chased before and had mistakenly thought was a World Spirit Treasure; but now, Yang Kai discovered it was actually a soul!
Now it made sense why Chang Qi had found it resting atop a Soul Nourishing Flower. Disembodied souls like this couldn’t exist for a long period of time, so every once in a while, it probably had to visit that Soul Nourishing Flower to absorb some of its medicinal effects in order to maintain its own stability.
Unfortunately for it, it had been accidentally discovered by Chang Qi and then forced to escape, apparently leading its pursuers to its home.
The azure light was being emitted from this little snake, but at this moment it was obviously very weak, so weak that after releasing that burst of majestic aura, it had become dispirited.
This soul was obviously just a remnant and had definitely received grievous wounds, probably damaging its sentience and consciousness greatly. Yang Kai was curious as to what kind of soul it was.
Next to the round bead the little snake inhabited, there was a section of bone a bit more than a meter in length and about as thick as a baby’s arm, resembling a jade crystal pillar. Although it had clearly been here for innumerable years, it actually showed no signs of damage and instead seemed to contain an overwhelming power. It was almost as if it was a great ancient beast that could wake at any moment. Feeling this wild and fierce aura, Yang Kai was quite startled.
This bone did not belong to a human skeleton but instead came from some type of Monster Beast.
[It couldn’t be dragon bone, could it?] Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
Judging from the commotion the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress Inheritances were raising, Yang Kai could only draw such an incredible conclusion.
It was the only way to explain why the Golden Dragon Tattoo and Ice Phoenix Tattoo had become so excited. On top of that, the little snake inside the round bead didn’t appear simple. It had two horns stop its head as well as a set of sharp claws. There was also a beard beneath its chin. It was clearly an extremely tiny version of a legendary ancient dragon.
Yang Kai’s heart pounded with excitement.
Even when he obtained the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree a few days ago, he had not been so thrilled.
Because Yang Kai didn’t experience any bottlenecks while cultivating, the existence of the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was just an extra flower in a bouquet to him, unnecessary for the most part. The biggest role the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree could provide was to help his friends and relatives in their own breakthroughs.
Although the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree was exceptionally precious, priceless even, it didn’t have much use to Yang Kai personally, so when he discovered it, he had only been slightly excited and soon regained his calm.
However, the thought of the long bone in front of him possibly being a dragon bone belonging to a legendary ancient dragon made it impossible for Yang Kai to suppress the excitement he felt deep inside.
Dragons and phoenixes were two of the strongest beings in existence, born alongside the universe, the natural rulers of the Monster Race; however, whether it was in Tong Xuan Realm or the Star Field, they only existed in legend.
No one had met or even seen a living dragon or phoenix; however, there were many bloodline descendants of these two supreme creatures in this world that proved they once existed.
For example, in the Tong Xuan Realm, the Monster Race’s Thunder Dragon Great Senior had a trace of ancient dragon blood flowing through his veins, and the Tenth-Order Thunder Luan Monster Beast whose corpse, Monster Core, and Spiritual Essence had produced the Thunder Attribute Bird Wood Yang Kai had found in that strange isolated world was a descendant of an ancient phoenix.
The Thunder Attribute Bird Wood was still lying in Yang Kai’s Black Book Space. It had not been used by him yet because it was very precious. Yang Kai wasn’t willing to give it to Yang Yan for Artifact Refining just yet.
The Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress Inheritance obtained by Yang Kai and Su Yan were also related to these two ancient beasts, which was why Thunder Dragon Great Senior had previously said that Yang Kai gave off traces of a Monster Emperor’s aura.
These two supreme existences were immortal and indestructible!
However, the long bone in front of Yang Kai was very similar to the dragon bones of legend, making Yang Kai quite confused, not knowing if his conjecture was correct. Since True Dragons and Phoenixes were immortal, where had this dragon bone come from?
If he was correct, was this pigeon egg-sized crystal a Dragon Bead? And was the little snake which was swimming in this Dragon Bead a remnant of a dragon’s soul?
Whatever the case, collecting them came first; there would be plenty of time for him to study them after he went back. Making up his mind, Yang Kai took a deep breath and reached out to pick up the round bead in front of him.
But before he could grasp the bead, the little snake inside it actually opened its mouth and sent out a blue mist, one that directly penetrated the bead and covered Yang Kai’s hand.
Yang Kai didn’t feel any kind of pain, but his face still changed dramatically.
Because after the blue mist enveloped his hand, Yang Kai found that he had lost all sensation in it and a somewhat grainy texture appeared on his skin, as if his hand was being transformed into a piece of wood.
This phenomenon continued to spread along his hand, seemingly wanting to turn his entire body into a wooden statue.
Yang Kai was shocked and quickly retracted his hand as he pushed his Demonic Flame.
Yang Kai wanted to dispel this weird energy using his Demonic Flame, but what made him panic even more, was that even with the strange and terrifying power of his black flames, he was unable to scatter the blue mist and was only able to stop it from spreading.
The loss of sensation in his hand became even more pronounced, causing Yang Kai’s expression to grow dim. Now, even his Saint Qi was being blocked.
Fortunately, the Demonic Flame was also an unusual existence, incomparable to ordinary cultivator’s Saint Qi. For a time, the black Demonic Flame and the cyan mist fought one another at Yang Kai’s wrist. The cyan mist couldn’t advance but the Demonic Flame was unable to dispel it, leading to a kind of stalemate.
After observing for a while, Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his Demonic Flame could block this blue mist he could find a solution.
However, after this incident, not only was he not angry or frightened but instead became even more certain his guess was correct.
This little snake’s soul was broken and incomparably weak, otherwise it wouldn’t have been trapped here. The previous chase had also turned it into an arrow at the end of its flight, yet it was still able to wield such great power. If it was in its heyday, Yang Kai estimated it would only need a single breath to reduce him to ash.
This was definitely a remnant soul of an ancient dragon, otherwise, it could not possibly possess such immense power.
After spurting that spray of blue mist, the already weak little snake became even more dispirited, its head drooping as its body became translucent, as if it might dissipate at any time.
Yang Kai saw this and no longer hesitated, quickly picking up the round bead and that bone next to it and threw them into his Black Book Space.
Yang Kai lost all remaining interest he had in mining Saint Crystals. This underground adventure had not only yielded an unparalleled treasure like the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, but also what he suspected were a True Dragon’s Dragon Bead and bone. The harvest of this trip was unimaginable.
Sitting down cross-legged, Yang Kai began to deal with the cyan energy that had invaded his body in earnest.
Pushing his Saint Qi, Yang Kai condensed even more Demonic Flame onto his hand, the raging black fire immediately becoming more intense, burning fiercely enough to warp the surrounding space.
The cyan mist had formerly been able to resist the Demonic Flame but now it was clearly losing ground. Although progress was still slow, there was no doubt it was being forced out of Yang Kai’s body.
Drop after drop of cyan liquid dripped from Yang Kai’s fingertips onto the ground below, creating a slight plopping sound each time.
Two days later, Yang Kai stood up, waved his hand, and found that there were no problems, gently nodding in relief.
Turning his head to look at the Saint Crystal lode that he had been mining, Yang Kai began excavating the ten meters in front of him to avoid leaving any traces of what had transpired here.
After digging up these ten meters worth of raw Saint Crystal, Yang Kai turned around and left decisively.
When he came to another channel, Chang Qi was still earnestly mining. Seemingly feeling that a breakthrough was now no longer impossible, and with such massive wealth in front of him, Chang Qi’s face was practically glowing with glee.
Seeing Yang Kai come in, Chang Qi couldn’t help asking, “Why aren’t you mining Saint Crystals?”
“I’m not interested in mining anymore. Foreign Elder Chang, do you want to stay here?” Yang Kai asked.
“Of course I want to remain here!” Chang Qi nodded without hesitation. “There are so many Saint Crystals here, I’m afraid they can’t all be mined before the Flowing Flame Sand Field closes. Yang Kai, are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I still have some things I need to do so I can’t stay any longer,” Yang Kai replied, but did not try to persuade Chang Qi to lease as well; after all, these Saint Crystals were indeed a huge wealth to him. Yang Kai had only been mining for a few days but had already collected the equivalent of about four million Saint Crystals. Even if Chang Qi was working much slower than him, he should have been able to collect at least half that amount.
Such an amount of wealth was something Chang Qi never even imagined he would one day posses.
After he broke through to the Origin Returning Realm, Chang Qi would need to purchase more powerful artefacts for himself, so naturally, he wanted to store up some capital while he had the opportunity.
Although the Treasure Area was no doubt filled with other opportunities, there was an equal amount of danger present. Not only was there a threat of Monster Beasts, but there was also the threat of other cultivators. If someone was unlucky and encountered people like Qu Chang Feng or Meng Hong Liang, being killed and robbed was possible. By comparison, staying here while slowly collecting wealth was both easier and safer.
Both Chang Qi and Yang Kai knew this so neither of them spoke to persuade the other.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai said, “Take this sword. Using it to collect these Saint Crystals will be much faster.”
Saying so, Yang Kai handed over the short sword formed from his drop of Golden Blood. This extremely sharp weapon was the main reason why Yang Kai was able to mine ore here so much faster than others.
Chang Qi accepted the golden sword and gently wiped its blade with a thoughtful expression on his face, chuckling a moment later, “Last time, in the Starry Sky, when our Starship was surrounded by Black Rock Beasts, it was you who broke their siege, right?”
The first time Yang Kai came over a few days ago, Chang Qi had taken note of the golden sword in his hand because it was exuding an incredibly strong vitality. It looked like a sword, but also resembled a living creature; however, at the time, with his focus on the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, Chang Qi didn’t ask much.
Now that Yang Kai handed him this golden sword and he was able to examine its aura more closely, Chang Qi naturally was able to make some connections.
Chang Qi had felt this strange aura back in the Starry Sky. He still remembered vividly when the Hai Ke Family Starship was in danger of being destroyed, a great golden spear had suddenly appeared and swept away the entire Black Rock Beast pack, saving dozens of cultivators from a brutal death.
The aura emitted by that golden spear was exactly the same as the one given off by this golden sword.
At that time, he and Wu Yi had thought it was some powerful master who happened to be passing by that had helped them, but now Chang Qi understood that there was no such master and it had all been Yang Kai’s doing.
At that time, he was only a Third-Order Saint… Chang Qi thought of this point and couldn’t help feeling shocked, even more feeling that Yang Kai wasn’t ordinary.
After hearing this question, Yang Kai just smiled, silently acknowledging the truth before changing the subject, “Although this golden sword will lose energy every time it’s used, it shouldn’t have any trouble lasting three or four months. With its help, you should be able to collect far more of these Saint Crystals. As for that Chen Shi Tao and the others here… you don’t have to worry about her, she’s not a bad person and shouldn’t have any malicious ideas about you. Even if you decide to leave ahead of time, she won’t try to do anything to you unless she’s willing to face my revenge.”
“I know, you can feel relieved and leave. After the Flowing Flame Sand Field closes, I’ll go to Dragon Cave Mountain with Old Hao to find you,” Chang Qi nodded.
“Good.”
After saying goodbye to Chang Qi, Yang Kai returned to the exit tunnel.
Although the passage was as smooth as jade, it wasn’t a problem for Yang Kai to climb and with a little effort, he was soon back on the surface.
Standing on the weed-filled plain, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and confirmed that there was no one nearby before concealing the entrance to the underground tunnel so that no one would find it again.
He then took out his Yuan Magnetic Compass, confirmed the direction of the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, then began walking.
This plain was very large, and it took Yang Kai two whole days before he was able to leave.
Along the way, he didn’t meet anyone, nor did he find a single spirit grass or spirit medicine to collect.
Yang Kai’s had put all his hopes on the third-layer Flame Area, so his pace was quick.
Wei Gu Chang had said before that nobody could enter the third layer Flame Area and that everyone who had tried since ancient times had died, causing Qian Tong to warn them sternly to not even try to enter it before they entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of danger there was, but in order to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, he needed an extremely hot environment. The first layer could not meet his requirements, so he could only go to the third layer to try his luck.
If the third layer was really too dangerous, Yang Kai could only try to find another solution.
The journey forward was calm and uneventful. After exiting the plain, Yang Kai walked for more than ten days, but strangely he did not meet anyone along the way.
This situation was quite abnormal and aroused his curiosity.
Whether it was in the Flame Area or the Treasure Area, although he had not encountered many people, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t met anyone. It was as if the cultivators looking for spirit grasses and spirit medicines in the Treasure Area had all disappeared, making Yang Kai feel a sense of alarm in his heart, wondering whether something terrible had occurred here.
He wondered what exactly could have transpired while he had been underground mining Saint Crystals that led to everyone simply vanishing.
Continue to go forward for a few days, Yang Kai could now see the third-layer Flame Area but had still not seen any signs of other people.
Half a day later, Yang Kai reached the edge of the third-layer Flame Area, and staring at the fiery world in front of him, his expression became dignified.
The third-layer Flame Area and the outermost Flame Area looked no different, but Yang Kai could tell that it was far more dangerous. At a minimum, the heat and fire poison here was incomparable to the outermost layer.
However… it also didn’t seem as inaccessible as Qian Tong had said. Yang Kai examined this region for a while and probed its aura carefully, but forget about him, Yang Kai even estimated that some of the other elites from the various great forces should be able to enter this layer as long as they were well prepared.
Was the danger here greater than what he could see on the surface?
While Yang Kai was mulling over this, two figures suddenly appeared a thousand meters away. These two people were wearing the same uniform and should be from the same Sect, both of them Third-Order Saint Kings.
Yang Kai also noticed that the Saint Qi aura they gave off was far richer and purer than ordinary Third Order Saint Kings, so obviously they were elites from their Sect.
The two of them ran forward swiftly, not even sparing Yang Kai a single glance.
When they arrived at the edge of the third-layer Flame Area, they whispered a few words between themselves before a light blue halo rose from one of them, covering him in a cold aura. Obviously this was created by some kind of Ice Attribute artefact. As soon as this blue halo enveloped him, he plunged into the third-layer Flame Area.
Yang Kai was stunned!
Wasn’t it said that no one could enter the third-layer? Was this guy that reckless or simply insane? Why did he just rush in?
Wei Gu Chang wouldn’t have deceived him; Yang Kai was certain of that. At that time, he had warned Yang Kai seriously, but the scene in front of him now was very different from what Wei Gu Chang had told him.
Seeing a cold aura appearing on the second person, just before he could enter the Flame Area, Yang Kai quickly shouted, “This friend, please wait!”
Hearing this shout, the man frowned and looked towards Yang Kai unhappily.
When he arrived here with his fellow Sect Brother, they had noticed Yang Kai’s existence, but seeing how he was just a First Order Saint King, neither of them had considered Yang Kai worthy of any attention.
But now, this First Order Saint King had actually called out to him, so he responded in a cold tone, “What?”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, and knowing the other party was in a bad mood, smiled politely and asked, “Please do not be angry, I was simply curious. Wasn’t the third-layer Flame Area said to be extremely dangerous, a place no one who entered could return from? How come Your Excellency and your fellow disciples are able to enter it?”
“No one who enters can return from?” The man sneered as he squinted towards Yang Kai, “That may have been true for previous openings of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but this time it seems things are a little different. I don’t know why, but now the third-layer Flame Area can be entered. Of course, someone with your weak cultivation would only be courting death by trying to enter!”
Saying so, he then rushed into the Flame Area impatiently, not bothering to speak any more nonsense with Yang Kai.
After he left, Yang Kai stood in place with a frown.
Was the third-layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field really accessible now? Listening to that person, he didn’t seem to know the reason behind it, but that didn’t change the fact that he had really gone in.
No wonder the Treasure Area seemed devoid of people, most of them must have gone into the third layer.
How exactly this news came out and how it was confirmed, Yang Kai didn’t know, but two or three thousand cultivators had entered the second layer, all of them elites from their respective Sects, so someone noticing something wasn’t that surprising.
Since the Flowing Flame Sand Field first appeared, the third-layer had never been visited; no one could even enter it, so it was hard to imagine how many benefits were waiting inside to be harvested.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field was at least tens of thousands of years old. In a place where no one had set foot for tens of thousands of years, how could there not be treasures?
No wonder everyone seemed desperate to enter. Even if they had to face great risks, as long as they could obtain enough benefits, what did it matter?
Benefits always coexisted with risks. Cultivators had never been afraid of taking risks. The more dangerous the place, the more it would stimulate their desire to explore.
Now that everyone else has gone in, Yang Kai no longer delayed, immediately pushing his Saint Qi to protect himself and diving into the third-layer Flame Area.
The omnipresent heat instantly wrapped Yang Kai from all directions, causing a tingling pain on his skin as if it were being roasted. The fire poison in the air was also far more potent than the outermost layer.
In this kind of environment, besides those well-prepared and powerful Third Order Saint King cultivators, no one else should be able to enter.
Even if there were Second-Order Saint Kings that could enter this place, they wouldn’t be able to remain for more than a few days at a time before exiting. In this damned place, the consumption was just too large to sustain. Without being able to circulate their Secret Arts to supplement their Saint Qi, it would be impossible to maintain their reserves just using Saint Crystals.
There were two or three thousand people who entered the second layer Treasure Area, but Yang Kai estimated that the number of people who could enter the third-layer should be less than five hundred, and as time passed, that number would only continue to decrease. Some of these people would die inside, some would be forced to leave, and eventually only the most elite would remain.
The ambient heat here made Yang Kai very excited. Although such heat still couldn’t meet his requirements for refining the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, as long as he went deeper, he could naturally find a suitable place.
The situation in the third-layer Flame Area was indeed much more dangerous than that in the first layer. The Fire Spirit Beasts that leapt from the cracks in the ground to launch sneak attacks were no longer Fifth or Sixth-Order but instead were all Seventh or Eighth-Order. On top of that, these Fire Spirit Beasts now appeared in groups rather than individually.
If one wasn’t careful, they would find themselves besieged by a large number of Fire Spirit Beasts.
Less than a day after Yang Kai entered the third layer, he had already encountered three attacks from Fire Spirit Beast groups. He had killed off the first two groups and harvested a lot of Fire Crystal Stones, but the third group had proven too much for him to handle and he could only escape.
Back in first layer Flame Area’s strange mountain valley, Yang Kai had been able to engage in a mass slaughter of Fire Spirit Beast only because they were mostly Fifth or Sixth-Order and easy to kill in large groups.
But it was different in the third layer. Confronting these Fire Spirit Beasts would only force him to consume energy in vain, so Yang Kai made the decision to withdraw.
At one point, Yang Kai stopped somewhere in the third-layer and stared forward.
Not far away, there were two incomplete corpses lying on the ground. These corpses were completely scorched and a faint rotten aura was being emitted from them.
It was a man and a woman, and judging from their clothing, they should be elite disciples from Shadow Moon Hall. Those who could reach this place must have been together with Wei Gu Chang, so Yang Kai figured he had at least met this two before somewhere.
While waiting for the Flowing Flame Sand Field to open, there were several people who had been together with Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er, these two were probably among them.
Now they were dead here, and from the looks of things, Wei Gu Chang didn’t even have the spare capacity to gather their corpses. The situation here must have been very dangerous.
[He and Dong Xuan’er should be fine though, right?] Yang Kai frowned, taking out the communication artefact Wei Gu Chang had given him from his Space Ring and pouring his Divine Sense into it, hoping to get in touch with either Wei Gu Chang or Dong Xuan’er.
Unfortunately, after pouring his Divine Sense into the communication artefact, quite some time passed but Yang Kai still didn’t receive any reply. Yang Kai couldn’t tell if they were simply too far away from him, or they didn’t have time to check their communication artefacts. It was even possible that their communication artefacts were inside their Space Rings.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai sent out two balls of Demonic Flames and burned the bodies of the two Shadow Moon Hall disciples before continuing deeper into the third-layer.
He and these two Shadow Moon Hall disciples hadn’t even exchanged greetings but out of consideration for Qian Tong and Wei Gu Chang’s face, Yang Kai didn’t let their dead bodies simply rot out in the open. He didn’t think it necessary to go so far as collecting them and finding a place to bury them.
The third-layer was filled with crisis, but there were also numerous treasures.
Yang Kai quickly harvested more than a dozen rare and precious Fire Attribute spirit grasses and spirit medicines, each one reaching a high medicinal age incomparable to the ones he had collected in the second layer.
Judging from the potency of their medicinal efficacies, the youngest of these herbs was still three thousand years old, with the oldest ones being so ancient Yang Kai wasn’t even able to estimate their age.
The grades of these herbs were also not low, all of them at least Origin Grade High-Rank with two of them even reaching Origin King Grade.
A ten-thousand-year-old Origin Grade herb was actually no less valuable than an Origin King Grade herb. These herbs had great use to Yang Kai. They were good things that couldn’t be bought in the outside world and if they could be used in Alchemy, they would only produce the best quality of pills and even possibly improve the grade of the pill.
[How many layers does the Flowing Flame Sand Field have?] Yang Kai didn’t know, since the farthest anyone has gotten to was three.
The deeper one went, the smaller the area and the more likely cultivators would run into each other. Yang Kai was a worldly individual and understood that a First Order Saint King like him being able to enter the second layer was astonishing enough, but him being able to move about freely in the third-layer would truly shock others.
So after entering the third-layer, he had been trying to avoid other people. Once he noticed another life aura with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai would immediately make a detour.
Behaving as such, he was able to coexist with others in peace.
Killing Fire Spirit Beast, collecting herbs, looking for a place to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.
In short, Yang Kai was having a good time in this treasure hunt.
One day, Yang Kai came to a canyon and stopped, stared at the scene in front of him, and frowned.
This canyon was only about eight or nine metres across but both of its sides were as high as mountains. It was as if someone had used an incredible Divine Ability to split a mountain in half.
Yang Kai hesitated for a long time while standing in place before deciding to make his way through this canyon.
Although the canyon felt a bit ominous, if he wanted to make a detour, Yang Kai would have to waste at least a few days of time. Since he didn’t want to spend the time to go around it, he could only proceed through it. Of course, he was confident in his ability to deal with any dangers that appeared. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have entered such a place to begin with.
In the Flowing Flame Sand Field, where flying was impossible, this kind of terrain was ideal for setting up an ambush. As long as one could block one of the two entrances to the canyon, even if the other party had great skill, they would still find themselves at a huge disadvantage.
However, the cultivators who entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field had all come here to seek out benefits, so although murder and plunder happened often, who would do something as passive as set up a trap in such a location?
Yang Kai estimated that no one other than himself had come this way, so he boldly entered the valley.
This canyon was very long. Looking towards the opposite side, Yang Kai could tell it was at least a dozen kilometres in length. It was truly a strange landscape in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
For the first few kilometres, nothing seemed amiss, but after walking for a while, a number of bright flares flew out from an underground crack. These flares gave off astonishing energy fluctuations and all leapt towards Yang Kai the moment they appeared, transforming into Fire Spirit Beasts of various shapes as they bared their vicious fangs.
Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent as he condensed a Demonic Flame sword in his hand. His purple shield also gave off a purple halo of light and floated behind his back, blocking the Fire Spirit Beasts who were leaping at him from that direction. Not paying any attention to his rear, Yang Kai confidently rushed towards the Fire Spirit Beasts in front of him and chopped down with his sword.
Yang Kai had anticipated this situation, which was why he had been hesitating about whether to enter this canyon before.
He did not expect anyone to be lying in ambush here, but the existence of Fire Spirit Beasts was basically guaranteed. Yang Kai couldn’t get out of this canyon without killing all of these Fire Spirit Beasts.
Numerous thuds and clangs echoed from the purple shield behind Yang Kai as it blocked the movement and attacks of the Fire Shield Beasts. At the same time, the Demonic Flame sword in Yang Kai’s hand pierced through the eye of a lion-like Fire Spirit Beast. Erupting violently, Demonic Flame poured into this Fire Spirit Beast’s body, immediately dying its red hue pitch black. This black colour rapidly spread throughout the entire beast’s body, seemingly consuming the red colour, a strange sight to behold.
Yang Kai could instantly kill a Seventh-Order Fire Spirit Beast with a single all-out attack, but seeing how there were many Fire Spirit Beasts here, he didn’t want to go all out with every strike. Instead, he used the properties of his Demonic Flame to burn these phantom creatures little by little.
Yang Kai drew his Demonic Flame sword from the lion’s head and then completely disregarded whether it lived or died, chopping towards another Fire Spirit Beast nearby without so much as a pause.
The Demonic Flame immediately contaminated this new Fire Spirit Beast, spreading out not only to the rest of its body, but to other nearby Fire Spirit Beasts as well.
The terrain here limited which abilities Yang Kai could use, but it also was not advantageous for the Fire Spirit Beasts. Because it was only eight or nine metres across, this canyon limited the number of Fire Spirit Beast which could attack Yang Kai at once to at most five or six while all the others were blocked by their own companions.
The strange strength which was simultaneously hot and cold was not something that these Seventh-Order or even Eighth-Order Fire Spirit Beasts could resist. Fire Spirit Beasts that were blocking Yang Kai’s path forward vanished while wailing mournfully, leaving behind Fire Crystal Stones of various sizes.
While Yang Kai killed these Fire Spirit Beasts, he still had the spare capacity to retrieve these valuable Fire Crystal Stones, making a lot of profit in one fell swoop.
There were many Fire Spirit Beasts in this canyon, hundreds at least, but that did not prevent them from falling one by one.
These Fire Spirit Beasts were also not like the ones back in the strange mountain valley. Each one of them had a Fire Crystal Stone in its body, so the effort Yang Kai invested wasn’t without returns.
As time passed, the Fire Spirit Beasts, which were so numerous they could not be seen through, gradually decreased, allowing Yang Kai to push forward almost an entire kilometre.
Another Fire Spirit Beast fell under his sword, and Yang Kai took another step forward, waving his arm to block the attack of another Fire Spirit Beast while reaching out to pick up the freshly produced Fire Crystal Stone.
Yang Kai had repeated this action countless times and was naturally quite familiar with it by now.
But how could he have expected that the instant he stepped forward, he actually encountered something astonishing? An inexplicable pressure suddenly struck him from all directions, causing Yang Kai to feel like the space around his body had solidified.
This caused the hand he was reaching towards the Fire Crystal Stone to become stuck mid-air, unable to advance another millimetre more. Even the Demonic Flame sword that he had swung became frozen in space.
Yang Kai paled and as he stared in shock, the Fire Spirit Beast that was approaching bit towards his neck. A great bestial roar rang out as a flaming aura and thick fire poison burst from its mouth.
Pain radiated from Yang Kai’s neck as fangs sank into his flesh and the fire poison penetrated into his body caused him to feel as if his neck was on fire, blurring his consciousness in an instant.
Just as he was struggling to compose himself, another Fire Spirit Beast in front of him attacked, opening its mouth wide and shooting out a fireball-like energy attack that smashed towards Yang Kai at great speed.
Yang Kai’s face went pale. Although he didn’t know what it was he had encountered, it was too late to retreat at this time, so he hurriedly pushed his Saint Qi to force his body out of this solidified space, causing Demonic Flame to erupt from his body, turning him into a flame man.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A series of rumblings rang and after a burst of black flame, the Fire Spirit Beasts who were close to Yang Kai’s body let out pitiful howls and were blown away, burning to ashes as they flew out.
After the flames disappeared, Yang Kai’s incomparably distressed figure appeared. At this moment, his face was extremely ugly, his clothes were torn and ragged, his neck, face, arms, and torso were covered in scars and bite marks made by Fire Spirit Beasts. Among those scars, little wisps of black flame remained along with drops of fire poison.
Having been forced out by Yang Kai Saint Qi, all of this fire poison was quickly ejected from his injuries and the powerful restorative power of his Golden Blood soon began closing his wounds.
Yang Kai stared into the space in front of his eyes, his expression becoming more and more solemn by the moment.
Just taking a step into this space had nearly cost him his life. If he hadn’t broken free so quickly, Yang Kai estimated that he would definitely have been seriously injured at least.
However, after retreating one step, everything was restored to normal.
He didn’t have time to think about why the space in front of him was so strange though as he had to focus on coping with the Fire Spirit Beasts that were still surrounding and attacking him.
With this matter now occupying his mind, Yang Kai’s offensive became far more ruthless. A day later, the Fire Spirit Beasts which had once filled the canyon had been swept away cleanly by him, allowing Yang Kai to harvest four or five hundred Fire Crystal Stones in total.
Such a number was astonishing and was likely a greater number than the vast majority of major forces who had stayed in the first layer to hunt Fire Spirit Beasts had collected.
After all, there weren’t that many Fire Spirit Beasts in the first layer Flame Area, and they weren’t very high order to begin with, so the value of their Fire Crystal Stones was not great.
Standing in place to rest for a while, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to examine his surroundings, and after confirming there were no potential dangers, he took a step forward again.
The same experience as the previous day appeared again. After taking this step forward, Yang Kai couldn’t help snorting as his posture sank. It was as if a great mountain was pressing down on him, one which he was unable to shoulder.
Not only that though, the space around him was incredibly viscous, to the point where it was essentially solid, completely different to the space he was just standing in. Yang Kai cultivated the Dao of Space, but while he was confronting the Fire Spirit Beast swarm, he hadn’t had time to investigate this phenomenon carefully, but now that he did, he immediately understood that there was something odd about space itself here.
Yang Kai didn’t know what had happened here but he could now tell that in this canyon, the space in front of him, for several dozen metres, had undergone some kind of strange transformation.
Before this point, it was as if he had been swimming through water, but after entering this strange region, it was like Yang Kai was now trying to swim through ice.
The space here was solidified to the point where it could fetter anyone in place, making them unable to move. If Yang Kai had not been proficient in the Dao of Space, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to figure this out.
This was not some kind of barrier or Spirit Array, but rather a direct manifestation of Space Force.
Yang Kai found it difficult to even breathe here as the air itself had been solidified. It took a lot of effort just to draw air into his lungs.
However, why had the Fire Spirit Beasts not been suppressed by this strange solidified space and instead could move about it freely?
Yang Kai didn’t understand.
The crushing pressure was extremely hard to withstand and Yang Kai’s forehead was already dripping with sweat, his strong physique actually convulsing under the strain. Even though Yang Kai was using all of his strength, he was still unable to take another step forward.
The sweat that left Yang Kai’s forehead didn’t drop to the ground but instead was crushed into oblivion by this strange solidified space.
Yang Kai pushed his Saint Qi harder and harder but was shocked to discover that no matter how he tried, the Demonic Flames which should have erupted from his body was completely suppressed in his meridians, unable to leave his skin in the slightest.
Just relying on his Saint Qi, it would be impossible to walk here.
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed suddenly and withdrew his Saint Qi, replacing it with his Space Force.
The huge pressure squeezing his body instantly lightened, and although Yang Kai wasn’t able to restore his complete mobility, slowly moving his body wasn’t a problem now.
Sure enough, specific problems needed specific solutions. Since this phenomenon was related to Space Force, only Space Force could deal with it.
Moreover, after pushing his Space Force, Yang Kai suddenly discovered that this strange space produced a kind of profound resonance with him. A marvellous feeling of enlightenment flooded him, causing Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space to rapidly advance.
This made him overjoyed.
As the saying went, opportunity and danger coexisted with one another, and Yang Kai was deeply aware of this truth at this moment.
He hadn’t expected that in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, there would be such a strange spatial phenomenon that would allow him to comprehend the mysteries of the Dao of Space.
Having discovered this place now, Yang Kai didn’t plan on leaving immediately and instead stood still while continually pushing his Space force to resonate with his surroundings, allowing his understanding of it to thoroughly care itself into his soul.
The Dao of Space was extremely difficult to cultivate and because few people ever did, there was no clearly defined method to cultivate it and no one to pass on their attainments in it.
When Yang Kai first started cultivating Space Force, he had relied on tearing space to enter The Void in order to immerse himself in the turbulent space and deepen his comprehension of the Dao of Space, but cultivating like that had only been useful in the beginning. With Yang Kai’s current understanding of the Dao of Space, he could walk freely through The Void as if he were treading on solid ground, so naturally, he couldn’t comprehend anything more by doing so.
Afterwards, he had learned he could absorb Space Force from Space Spirit Crystals to enhance his comprehension, and Yang Kai had actually engaged in such family ruining practice before.
Fortunately, the Space Spirit Crystal lode discovered by the Stone Puppet was incredibly rich and had produced enough Space Spirit Crystals for Yang Kai to consume for a long time, but once those Space Spirit Crystals ran out, finding another source would be all but impossible.
Those who didn’t plan for the future would soon come to suffer. Space Spirit Crystals were a scarce resource anywhere. Because, they were used to create Space Rings, a necessary storage artefact for every cultivator.
Now that he had discovered a place very suitable to comprehend the Dao of Space, Yang Kai naturally wanted to take advantage of it.
On top of that, cultivating here seemed to be more efficient and rewarding than simply absorbing Space Force from Space Spirit Crystals!
After realizing this, Yang Kai immediately made up his mind to remain here for a while. The Flowing Flame Sand Field wouldn’t close for about four months. Such a long time was enough for him to find a suitable place to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water so there was no need to worry about it immediately.
It took a long time for Yang Kai to slowly sit down in this strange space. Even though Yang Kai was well versed in the Dao of Space, he still moved as slow as a turtle here. If someone were to see this scene, they would certainly feel it was very odd, wondering what kind of game Yang Kai was playing. Additionally, because of the strange warping of space here, it was undetectable to Divine Sense, only after one entered this solidified space would they be able to notice anything unusual.
After sitting down, Yang Kai calmed the beating of his heart and as a light flashed across his eyes, he extended his hand forward and waved it gently.
This simple motion consumed a tremendous amount of Yang Kai’s strength as well as a lot of time, but by waving his hand, a dark, hair-like crack suddenly appeared for an instant before disappearing without a trace.
Seeing this, Yang Kai wasn’t surprised and instead grinned with happiness.
Since he decided to use this rare environment to cultivate the Dao of Space, he naturally planed on practising his Space Blade.
Inside his stone room in Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai had developed this Space Force method of attack, Space Blade, but no matter how he cultivated at that time, the power of his Space Blade wasn’t able to reach the point where it could be used to really confront an enemy. Yang Kai did need to use Space Force against weak enemies, but using it against powerful foes also wasn’t practical.
As such, he wanted to create his own Divine Ability, a technique which only belonged to him, but he was suffering from the lack of suitable conditions and environments.
This place, however, was the best place to cultivate such an ability. Yang Kai could foresee that once he was able to completely condense his Space Blade in this kind of place, after leaving, his Space Blade’s might would increase manifold.
After the attempt just now, Yang Kai quickly confirmed his hypothesis. This solidified space was extremely difficult to tear, so by cultivating his Space Blade here, not only could he strengthen his understanding of the Dao of Space and his mastery over Space Force, but he could also rapidly perfect this new attack method.
Dispelling any anxiety or impatience, Yang Kai began tearing space over and over again, displaying his Space Blade repeatedly.
Every time, a void crack as thin as a hair appeared at the tip of Yang Kai’s hand before disappearing without a trace under the huge pressure here.
Yang Kai worked hard for an entire day, consuming a massive amount of his Spiritual Energy, but made almost no progress.
However, he didn’t panic at all, because he could feel that his use of Space Force was becoming smoother and more fluid than before, even the act of tearing space itself had become more natural. Yang Kai believed that as long as he continued to cultivate here, he would definitely make a breakthrough.
With his Spiritual Energy exhausted though, Yang Kai could no longer continue to practice, so he quickly took some pills to supplement his losses and began to meditate to restore himself.
Although Soul Warming Lotus was still in the process of evolving, its restorative and nourishing abilities had not been weakened at all; in fact, they were even stronger than before.
It only took Yang Kai two hours to restore his dried up Knowledge Sea to its peak state again.
After slowly opening his eyes, Yang Kai was about to slash his Space Blade again when suddenly a brilliant red stream of light flew towards him from the horizon. This red stream of light followed the narrow canyon and was approaching Yang Kai like a bolt of lightning.
“Flowing Flame Flying Fire!” Yang Kai exclaimed.
He had previously seen a Flowing Flame Flying Fire in the first layer Flame Area and now he had encountered one again, so naturally, he was able to recognize it at a glance. Last time, when Yang Kai saw the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, it had quickly left the range of his Divine Sense and even after chasing after it at full speed, he was unable to catch up to it.
This Flowing Flame Flying Fire looked seemed to look exactly the same as the last one he saw, and its speed was also just as ridiculous. Faster than he was able to spread his Divine Sense. Immediately after Yang Kai discovered this Flowing Flame Flying Fire, it had crossed the length of the canyon and appeared right in front of him.
Yang Kai instinctively wanted to avoid it as he had no hope of harvesting this Flowing Flame Flying Fire because he simply couldn’t catch up to it with his speed.
However, when he tried to dodge, Yang Kai suddenly remembered he was submerged in the strange solidified space right now and was unable to move about freely.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he focused all of his attention on the Flowing Flame Flying Fire which was rapidly approaching while secretly anticipating.
*Chi…*
With a scraping sound, the red stream of light entered the several dozen metres long solidified space, and as Yang Kai expected, its speed suddenly became countless times slower!
Yang Kai was overjoyed. Just now he had been guessing whether this region of solidified space would be capable of blocking the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, and now, he was able to verify its effect with his own eyes and confirm his previous conjecture correct. Although this solidified space was unable to stop Fire Spirit Beasts from moving about, it was actually able to impede the Flowing Flame Flying Fire’s ridiculous speed.
At the very least, Yang Kai was now able to clearly see what this Flowing Flame Flying Fire looked like.
It had the appearance of a tiny pure red burning charcoal, one that gave of an astonishing red glow, and despite being very small, it clearly contained an amazing amount of energy inside its body.
After plunging into this strange space, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire had not come to halt but was now slowly proceeding forward at a pace equal to that of a normal human’s walking speed.
Yang Kai made a quick estimate and soon determined that if he remained where he was, he would definitely miss this rare opportunity to seize a Flowing Flame Flying Fire because, from what he could infer from its flight trajectory, Yang Kai was certain it would pass by half a metre outside his reach.
How could Yang Kai tolerate this? Hurriedly pushing his Space Force, Yang Kai slowly and arduously began moving towards the path the Flowing Flame Flying Fire would fly through.
Creeping forward, Yang Kai felt like he was moving like an old dying man. Every centimetre he moved consumed a massive amount of Yang Kai’s physical strength and Spiritual Energy and his body was trembling violently from painfully overexerting himself.
On the other hand, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire continued forward at an unhurried pace.
Soon after, it flew past Yang Kai’s side.
Yang Kai let out a shout and stretched his hand tremblingly towards the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, hoping to grab it, but in the end, his fingertips were still a few centimetres away as the red stream flew by.
Yang Kai’s snorted angrily.
He felt that if this Flowing Flame Flying Fire had a consciousness, it must have been mocking his overconfidence just now.
Turning his head arduously, Yang Kai watched as this rare treasure passed him by, filling his face with annoyance.
He had still failed! Now that it had flown past, Yang Kai knew it would be impossible for him to grab it, and sure enough, a moment later, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire broke past the strange space and resumed its previous absurd speed, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Just a bit more and Yang Kai would have been able to obtain this strange treasure capable of producing a Mutated Knowledge Sea!
It would be a lie to say he didn’t regret it, but Yang Kai quickly adjusted his mentality and stopped thinking about the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, instead focusing on practicing his Space Blade.
Even if he wasn’t able to catch this Flowing Flame Flying Fire, the most important thing right now for Yang Kai was to comprehend the Dao of Space.
Sending out Space Blades again, Yang Kai was surprised to find that its power had seemingly increased. Although the crack he formed was still as thin as a hair and although it disappeared almost immediately after it was formed, it still lasted significantly longer than yesterday.
Yang Kai was so excited that he quickly forgot about the Flowing Flame Flying Fire and began immersing himself in the mysteries of the Dao of Space.
Three days later, Yang Kai watched as a thumbnail width Space Blade flew out half a metre before disappearing, filling his face with excitement and satisfaction.
This strange space was indeed the best environment to comprehend the Dao of Space. After only three days of cultivating here, Yang Kai felt that his understanding of the Dao of Space had sublimated significantly, and as a result, the Space Blade he created had power far great than the one he could produce three days ago.
Whether it was the size of his current Space Blade, the time it could exist inside this solidified space, or the distance it could travel, everything had been greatly improved.
If he could continued advancing at this pace, as long as he had another month, Yang Kai was confident he could use his Space Blade in actual combat, and even if he was facing the Shi of an Origin Returning Realm master, he wouldn’t be helpless anymore.
Although Shi was a power unique to Origin Returning Realm masters, Yang Kai’s Space Blade was virtually impossible to defend against, a killing blow that no one else could use besides him.
The reason why Yang Kai was willing to delay himself here was because the environment was incredibly rare and he didn’t want to miss this opportunity, but also because he was feeling a sense of crisis deep in his heart.
With his current strength, it was no problem to deal with Saint Kings, but it was not the same when he went against an Origin Returning Realm master. Yang Kai wasn’t even certain he could defeat the stern-faced young man he encountered back in the stalactite cave.
On Shadowed Star, in the Star Field, Yang Kai was all alone, with no one to depend on but himself.
Qian Tong treated him well, but that was only because he wanted to forge a connection with the imagined Artefact Refining Grandmaster behind Yang Kai. It was for this reason that Qian Tong was so accommodating towards him. If Qian Tong knew that this so-called master didn’t exist, Yang Kai couldn’t say for sure Qian Tong’s attitude towards him wouldn’t immediately and dramatically change.
Therefore, Yang Kai had to make himself as strong as possible as quickly as possible, so that when dealing with others, he wouldn’t constantly be forced into a passive position.
Even if he was alone in this world, he still had many concerns.
On this day, at the end of the canyon, a red light flashed, and Yang Kai, who was tempering his Space Blade, instantly felt something, looked up, and was stunned by what he saw.
It was another Flowing Flame Flying Fire!
Just like the one he saw three days ago, this Flowing Flame Flying Fire was soaring over from the entrance to the canyon, and by the time Yang Kai spotted it, it had fallen into the strange space.
The speed of this red flash dramatically slowed, and the Flowing Flame Flying Fire slowly began advancing through the several dozen metre long solidified space.
Learning from his experience a few days ago, Yang Kai immediately acted, judging the position where the Flowing Flame Flying Fire would pass through while moving his body with all his might.
This time though, his luck wasn’t very good. The Flowing Flame Flying Fire that appeared just now was on course to fly more than three metres away from him, and Yang Kai would have to rush to that position before it if he were to have any hope of catching the flame.
Although Yang Kai was already familiar with viscous solidification of this weird space, and he had become far more proficient in his application of Space Force, it was still extremely difficult for him to act swiftly here.
By the time he managed to get close to that position, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire had flown past him again.
Yang Kai frowned as he stared thoughtfully towards the direction the treasure he had missed for the third time had flown.
According to Wei Gu Chang, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire was incredibly precious, but also an extremely rare existence in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Many people who entered wouldn’t even encounter one.
And in fact, this appeared to be true. When Yang Kai was walking through the first layer Flame Area, he had only chanced upon a Flowing Flame Flying Fire once, and if it weren’t for his Divine Sense being abnormally strong, he might have missed it altogether as it passed by him.
However, it seemed Wei Gu Chang’s words only applied to the first layer!
Where Yang Kai was today, was the third layer Flame Area. Were there simply more Flowing Flame Flying Fires here, or were the two Flowing Flame Flying Fires he saw actually the same and were just flying a fixed path?
If it was the same one, its flight path was likely to be fixed. How else would Yang Kai be able to see it again after a mere three days if that weren’t the case?
If it wasn’t the same one though, then was there something about this canyon that was able to attract Flowing Flame Flying Fires to pass through it?
All kinds of questions flooded Yang Kai’s mind, and his expression was constantly changing, distracting him from comprehending the Dao of Space.
Soon though, Yang Kai shook his head. Regardless of whether the two Flowing Flame Flying Fires he saw were the same or there was something in this canyon that drew in Flowing Flame Flying Fires, if he waited a few more days, he would be able to see for himself.
Yang Kai began cultivating his Space Force again, but this time he also paid attention to the movement at the end of the canyon, wondering which of his various guesses was correct.
Time passed by, and three days later, because he was anticipating the appearance of a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, Yang Kai focused his eyes on the end of the canyon ahead of time while still condensing his Space Blade.
But to his surprise, after watching for half a day, nothing appeared at the end of the canyon, much less a Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
This made him quite disappointed.
However, since this was the case, Yang Kai was now certain the two Flowing Flame Flying Fires he saw pass through this place weren’t the same. If they were the same, there wouldn’t have been such an irregularity to its appearances.
Since it appeared randomly, it shouldn’t be the same.
On the fourth day, Yang Kai suddenly felt something and immediately looked towards the end of the canyon, a sight which lifted his spirits appearing before his eyes.
Yang Kai was thrilled that one of his conjectures was correct, that is, this canyon indeed had something which drew in Flowing Flame Flying Fires, because a red flash of light had appeared at the end of the canyon at this moment.
Amazingly, it wasn’t just one red light this time, but two, one right after the other, both of which arrived at that strange space almost at the same time, their speeds dropping sharply, and then beginning to advance towards the other side.
Yang Kai acted immediately, and with his two previous failures giving him some much-needed experience, he was certain he wouldn’t miss this opportunity this time.
However, what made him frown slightly was that the two Flowing Flame Flying Fires that appeared this time were separated by more than three metres, so it would be impossible to catch both of them at the same time.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai moved his body towards the closer Flowing Flame Flying Fire and summoned a good jade bottle into his hand.
Wei Gu Chang had told him all about the wonders and dangers of the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, but nothing about how to collect it, probably because he too didn’t know anything about that.
Yang Kai could only try using a jade bottle first, and if that didn’t work, he would think up another method.
After so many days of familiarization and tempering himself with this strange space, Yang Kai was now able to move much faster than before, and before the Flowing Flame Flying Fire arrived, Yang Kai appeared in front of it.
Staring at this Flowing Flame Flying Fire, Yang Kai condensed his Saint Qi and, just as it approached, he pushed his palm forward.
The already slowed Flowing Flame Flying Fire became even slower after taking this blow
Yang Kai was overjoyed and quickly lifted the jade bottle that he had prepared, pointing its mouth towards the approaching Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
The whole process was extremely smooth, and the Flowing Flame Flying Fire easily entered the jade bottle, but in the next instant, the bottle was burned to ash.
Yang Kai frowned but wasn’t surprised. No longer hesitating, he reached out his hand and grabbed the Flowing Flame Flying Fire. Before it could put out any of its intense heat, Yang Kai pushed his Demonic Flame to wrap this Flowing Flame Flying Fire in multiple layers of black flame.
Yang Kai could clearly felt the scorching energy of the Flowing Flame Flying Fire fighting against his Demonic Flame, both forces apparently equal in might with the Flowing Flame Flying Fire stubbornly trying to break through the barrier of Demonic Flame.
But how could Yang Kai give it such an opportunity? Seeing that this method was feasible, Yang Kai immediately pushed his Saint Qi harder and intensified his Demonic Flame, binding the Flowing Flame Flying Fire tightly within it.
After a short while, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire was successfully wrapped in Demonic Flame and settled down, no longer resisting.
Looking at the fist-sized burning ball of black flame, Yang Kai grinned happily.
After much effort, and allowing several of its companions to get away, Yang Kai had finally managed to harvest a Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
Yang Kai wasn’t upset about allowing those previous Flowing Flame Flying Fires to escape though. Since he had determined that this canyon was a location Flowing Flame Flying Fires had to pass through, all he had to do was wait here for gains without pains.
The black fireball formed by Demonic Flame couldn’t be placed in a Space Ring, so Yang Kai could only throw it into the Black Book space. After going back, he could dispel the Demonic Flame and then take advantage of the magical uses of this Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
With his first harvest safely stored away, Yang Kai’s mood was wonderful, making it easier for him to perfect his Space Blade and comprehend the Dao of Space. He also became more adept at using Space Force, decreasing the pressure this strange solidified space could exert upon him.
…..
More than a month later, Yang Kai harvested another Flowing Flame Flying Fire using the same method, but by now he showed no trace of joy.
He had cultivated here for about a month and a half, and received a total of nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires.
This was a considerable number of Flowing Flame Flying Fires, most likely more than anyone else in history, but there was still a touch of regret between Yang Kai’s brows.
Because of his progress in the use of Space Force, the usefulness of this strange space to his cultivation became smaller and smaller, and as he continued to display his Space Blade here, repeatedly tearing space, it seemed that the solidification here would also be destroyed.
Without the strong restraint of this space, after a Flowing Flame Flying Fire entered here, its speed wouldn’t drop as significantly as before. If Yang Kai hadn’t piled up a lot of experience already, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire just now would likely have flown right past him.
Yang Kai estimated that he could only cultivate here for another ten days at most before he would no longer gain any benefits from it.
With that being the case though, he planned on taking advantage of this place until the very last moment.
Making up his mind, Yang Kai no longer wasted any time, tossed the harvested Flowing Flame Flying Fire into the Black Book Space, then immersed himself in his cultivation again.
After waiting for several days, no more Flowing Flame Flying Fires appeared. It was as if Yang Kai’s unscrupulous harvesting had caused all the Flowing Flame Flying Fires that passed through here to disappear.
On this day though, Yang Kai finally sensed the aura of another Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
After rushing into the canyon, the Flowing Flame Flying Fire crashed into the solidified space and Yang Kai stretched out his palm in a practised manner, held the Flowing Flame Flying fire tightly, pushed his Saint Qi, and wrapped it up in layer upon layer of Demonic Flame.
A short moment later, a small black fireball appeared in his hand.
But before Yang Kai could throw it into his Black Book Space, he heard a number of surprised shouts coming from behind him along with the sound of clothes swishing; several cultivators were quickly approaching.
Yang Kai frowned and immediately threw the black fireball into his Black Book Space before turning around to look at these people.
After a single glance, Yang Kai’s expression flashed a look of displeasure, because this group of people were actually cultivators from the Heaven Battling Union.
The cultivators from Heaven Battling Union were very recognizable from the uniforms they wore. Each one of them had golden robes which gave them a noble and arrogant appearance.
On top of that, these cultivators gave people the feeling that their eyes were higher than the top of their heads. Aside from those from Thunder Typhoon Sect, they looked upon all other cultivators with scorn and disdain, regardless of their cultivation.
They seemed to think that Heaven Battling Union was the most extraordinary of Sects and were afraid others wouldn’t know they were its disciples. The golden character for ‘War’ emblazoned on their chests could be clearly seen from far away.
Because of Qu Chang Feng, Yang Kai had a very poor opinion of disciples from Heaven Battling Union, so when he saw that the group approaching him belonged to Heaven Battling Union, he knew that today wouldn’t be peaceful. The scene of him having just collected a Flowing Flame Flying Fire could not have been missed by these people.
He just wasn’t sure how much they had seen.
Soon, the group of four from Heaven Battling Union arrived in front of Yang Kai, all of them looking at him with surprise or joy.
Yang Kai had to admit that Heaven Battling Union possessed a strong heritage. All four of these people were Third-Order Saint Kings, and the Saint Qi each of them possessed was far purer and more vigorous than ordinary cultivators. Their bodies were all shielded by pale blue light halos that were clearly generated by high-quality Ice Attribute artefacts in order to resist the surrounding heat and fire poison.
A middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of this group swept Yang Kai with his Divine Sense, but after realizing what his cultivation was, he couldn’t help raising a brow and staring in astonishment.
He didn’t understand how Yang Kai, a First-Order Saint King, could survive here in such a harsh environment, and from the look of it, he didn’t even seem to be using a protective artefact, a fact which greatly surprised him. Looking towards Yang Kai, his expression became slightly dignified.
Anyone who didn’t need an artefact here and was only relying on their Saint Qi to resist the heat and fire poison couldn’t simply be written off.
“Was it him who just collect that Flowing Flame Flying Fire?” Another thin man next to this middle-aged man stared at Yang Kai in surprise and asked.
It seemed that they were too far apart just now so they hadn’t seen what happened clearly and were currently just sceptical, so they immediately rushed over to confirm it.
“It can’t be, can a Flowing Flame Flying Fire be caught so casually? Although the third layer seems to have many Flowing Flame Flying Fires, even Fang Tian Zhong failed to catch one, so how could he have accomplished it?” A third cultivator with a monkey-like face slowly shook his head in disbelief.
“Won’t we know if we ask?” The thin man grinned meaningfully, turning to Yang Kai and saying casually, “Little brat, what was it you put away just now, take it out and show me.”
“What does it have to do with you?” Yang Kai looked at the four of them lightly, without any sense of panic or intent to flee.
“Haha…” The thin man laughed and nodding, “En, it really doesn’t have anything to do with us, but little brat, do you know who we are? You must know yet you still dare speak to us like that, interesting.”
Saying so, his expression became cold as he declared, “Little brat, if you want to live, hand over whatever it was you just collected. If you can make this Sir happy, I may spare your life, but if you can’t… heh heh…”
The meaning of threat behind his words was blatantly obvious.
The middle-aged man who had been sizing up Yang Kai all this time frowned even deeper but soon his brow relaxed. Although he saw that Yang Kai was a bit unusual, and far too calm given his situation, in the end, he was still just one person. The middle-aged man didn’t believe that with the strength of his group of four they couldn’t handle this one boy.
There were always some cultivators who were extremely conceited in this world, they possessed a little ability and thought of themselves as great cultivators. This middle-aged man had met many such people because he too was one of them, but after being thoroughly humiliated by Qu Chang Feng many times, he had learned the fact that there were always mountains higher than others.
He subconsciously surmised that Yang Kai was one such person.
Such people were destined to suffer a great deal.
He was lucky because he was from the same Sect as Qu Chang Feng, so he had not lost his life to the latter, but after realizing the reality of this world, this middle-aged man had begun acting much lower-key than before.
“Whatever you want you expect me to give? What do you count for?” Yang Kai stared back at the thin man with equally cold eyes, his expression still indifferent.
“Little brat, since you refuse a toast, you must suffer a loss!” The thin man didn’t expect Yang Kai to be so defiant and immediately lost patience.
He had used these lines to intimidate many others, but when had any cultivator dared to disobey? Even when he set his eyes on another cultivator’s women, the other side would obediently hand her over with a smile. Even knowing he would simply play around with those women for a few days before tossing them away, no one dare refuse his demands.
All because he was born into Heaven Battling Union!
Also, this was the Flowing Flame Sand Field, a deserted and remote place that was excellent for burying dead bodies! At this point, a cold light flickered across the eyes of this cultivator and a thick murderous intent pulsed from his body.
“Wait!” Before the thin man could act though, the middle-aged man who was standing behind him suddenly called out.
The other two men also turned to look at this middle-aged man as he took a few steps forward. Staring at Yang Kai, this middle-aged said in a slightly calmer tone, “Friend, this one’s Junior Brother is a bit irritable, please don’t take offence.”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed but his expression remained indifferent.
“Senior Brother…” When the thin man saw his Senior Brother apologize to Yang Kai, he was shocked and exclaimed, “Aren’t you being too cautious? Why bother speaking any nonsense with him?”
The middle-aged man smiled lightly and replied, “There is no such thing as acting too cautiously, didn’t Master teach us that only by acting prudently can you endure the test of time? This friend is no ordinary person. Although Senior Brother can’t see his origin or identity, since he can stand here safe and sound, he must have some skill. On top of that, it’s naturally better if we can resolve this matter peacefully.”
The implied meaning here was that it wouldn’t be too late to solve things by force if a peaceful solution could not be reached.
Hearing this, the thin man thought about it for a moment with a gloomy look upon his face before unexpectedly no longer making a fuss.
The middle-aged man turned back to Yang Kai with a smile and continued, “Friend, we don’t want to stir up trouble; after all, this is the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, everyone here has to act with caution. That being the case, can friend give this one some face and allow my Junior Brother to check your Space Ring?”
The smile on his face was perfectly natural and carefree, as if he hadn’t just asked to inspect Yang Kai’s Space Ring but instead asked an old friend to borrow something insignificant.
“You want to see my Space Ring?” Yang Kai grinned suddenly.
“En!” The middle-aged man gently nodded, his smile as refreshing as a spring breeze. “This one’s fellow brothers don’t have any malicious intent; we just want to confirm what it was friend just collected. If it wasn’t a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, we won’t covet friend’s belongings and will definitely return your Space Ring, what does friend say?”
“Good!” To his surprise, Yang Kai instantly agreed, causing the middle-aged man’s brow to furrow slightly. He was secretly wondering if he really was being overly careful and the other party really didn’t have any noteworthy ability. If that wasn’t the case, how could he have complied so easily?
While he was in doubt, he saw Yang Kai slip off his Space Ring from his finger and tossed it up and down gently, drawing four pairs of eyes towards it.
“Toss it over!” Seeing Yang Kai act so submissively, the thin man immediately shouted aloud, seemingly eager to check this Space Ring.
“There’s really nothing good in my Space Ring,” Yang Kai smiled at him, his tone a bit sour and distressed, “Only this piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence…”
Suddenly, a melon-sized piece of blood-red stone appeared in Yang Kai’s hand. This stone radiated an incredibly pure and powerful flame aura that pulsed as if it was alive.
“Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence?” The four exclaimed in unison, and even the middle-aged man who had been smiling lightly finally showed a change of expression, his eyes filling with greed.
Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence was an Origin King Grade material, and although the piece in Yang Kai’s hand was only Origin King Grade Low-Rank, it was still an incredibly valuable treasure. This melon-sized piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence was something these four had never even heard of existing before.
If such a piece of material was taken outside, it would fetch an incredible price, at least twenty to thirty million Saint Crystals.
These four had heard that at the most recent Treasure Trove Pavilion auction in Heavenly Fate City, there were a few treasures that sold for tens of millions, even up to a hundred million Saint Crystals. Unfortunately, they weren’t eligible to participate at that time and were unable to witness such a shocking scene in person. They had all been regretting missing the opportunity to attend, but now, a top-level Artefact Refining material had appeared in front of their eyes.
On top of that, it was owned by a mere First-Order Saint King!
If the four of them could snatch this treasure, even if everyone split the profits equally, each of them would obtain millions of Saint Crystals. They wouldn’t need to worry about cultivation resources for the rest of their lives!
The four of them began breathing heavily as their eyes lit up. It seemed that they would leap forward to rob Yang Kai at any time. As for the middle-aged man who said that he would not covet Yang Kai’s belongings, he had already tossed that idea away.
But before the four of them could take action, Yang Kai actually put the melon-sized piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence back into his Space Ring, drawing out angry and desolate glares from the Heaven Battling Union group.
“En, this Fire Crystal Stone is also nothing good,” Yang Kai sighed faintly, as if he didn’t know what it meant to conceal one’s valuables from covetous eyes and took out a plate-sized dark red crystal.
Although this crystal gave off a blazing hot aura like the Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence just now, the two were obviously not the same material.
The former was a type of ore, but the latter emitted an energy fluctuation far more similar to the one given off by the Fire Crystal Stones this group of four had obtained before.
“Impossible!” The thin man shouted as he pointed at the huge piece of Fire Crystal Stone held by Yang Kai, shaking his head rapidly, “It’s not possible for such a big piece of Fire Crystal Stone to exist! No Fire Spirit Beast can produce this kind of thing!”
No one blamed him for being unable to judge what his eyes were seeing because the four members of his group had killed many Fire Spirit Beasts along the way here but the largest piece of Fire Crystal Stone they obtained was only the size of a pigeon egg. Compared to the Fire Crystal Stone in Yang Kai’s hands, it was as different as a towering tree and a small sapling.
Besides, if this was really a Fire Crystal Stone, what Order was the Fire Spirit Beast that condensed it? Also, how massive must it have been?
The thin man didn’t think Yang Kai could kill such Fire Spirit Beast and instead thought Yang Kai was trying to deceive them!
After the group of four from Heaven Battling Union watched Yang Kai successively take out the melon-sized pieces of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, then the plate-sized Fire Crystal Stone, they were unable to maintain their calm. Regardless of whether this giant piece of Fire Crystal Stone was real or fake, that piece of Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence was undoubtedly the genuine article. Immediately, greed swelled up in these four and they all regarded Yang Kai as a dead man in their hearts.
This boy had randomly taken out two incredibly valuable treasures, who knew what other good things were in his Space Ring?
Perhaps there really was a Flowing Flame Flying Fire!
Kill him. They had to kill him then snatch his ring and check it carefully. As long as they could grab this kid’s Space ring, they would be able to live the rest of their lives with ease.
“What else do you have?” The middle-aged man’s face twitched slightly as he asked. Although he also desperately wanted to seize Yang Kai’s possessions, he was still able to maintain a trace of rationality, unlike his three Sect Brothers, though his trembling voice betrayed his obvious excitement.
“Oh, just a dozen stalks of Emerald Silk Grass, a piece of ancient black iron, three Scarlet Blood Fruits…” Yang Kai took precious treasures out of his Space Ring one after another, and each time he did, the eyes of the four Heaven Battling Union disciples grew hotter.
Although these spirit grasses and spirit medicines weren’t as precious as the two previous items Yang Kai took out, they were also very valuable, especially the dozen stalks of Emerald Silk Grass, those were spirit medicines that every Sect badly desired, and Heaven Battling Union was no exception. If they could bring back a dozen Emerald Silk Grasses, it would count as an enormous contribution, enough to make several requests to their Sect Elders.
“En, right, there are also nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires, but it’s not convenient for me to take them all out, so I can’t show them to you right now,” Yang Kai chuckled as he fully exposed all his gains after entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
He didn’t hide anything except the colourless crystal cube which had been absorbed by the Soul Warming Lotus.
“You really managed to catch that Flowing Flame Flying Fire?” The monkey-faced man called out in surprise.
“Em, why would I lie to you? Didn’t you see it just now?” Yang Kai grinned.
The expressions of the four people gradually became strange.
All of their faces showed an embarrassed look because the four of them, acting together, had spent three months in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, searching for treasures everywhere and originally thought they had reaped a good harvest, making them quite happy, but compared to the treasures Yang Kai showed them today, the gap was like Heaven and Earth. They hadn’t obtained even one percent of this kid’s harvest.
This obviously made them feel like they had lost face and the eyes they directed at Yang Kai only became hotter.
“You liar!” The thin man’s eyes flashed as he shouted coldly, “Little brat, your courage isn’t small, daring to deceive me and my fellow brothers! Obediently hand over your ring for me to check or we won’t let you leave!”
Saying so, he glanced at the monkey-faced cultivator, the two of them understanding each other’s silent signal and rushing out towards Yang Kai.
In the face of so many good things, he didn’t intend on speaking any nonsense with Yang Kai and simply spurted an excuse before leaping out to rob him. But although these two were arrogant and enjoyed bullying others, they were still elite cultivators from Heaven Battling Union, so despite Yang Kai being a First Order Saint King, they didn’t show any carelessness.
Their group of four had done a lot of killing and robbing in the Flowing Flame Sand Field these past three months, so naturally they were clear that some people’s depths couldn’t be seen from their outward appearance. A lion would kill a rabbit with all its strength, and what’s more, Yang Kai was obviously a bit abnormal seeing how he could maintain a look of indifference from beginning to end.
They vaguely felt that Yang Kai had something to rely on; therefore, the instant they began their attack, the two of them pushed their Saint Qi to guard themselves while also holding back their true trump cards, maintaining a high degree of vigilance so as to prevent Yang Kai from causing them any harm in a desperate final struggle.
The middle-aged man and another obese cultivator stood back without moving. Although they too felt the situation was a little weird, and that Yang Kai seemed to be intentionally baiting them, with so many priceless treasures in front of them, they didn’t try to stop their companions despite the doubts in their hearts.
Anyone who saw so many good things would be willing to take a few risks to obtain them, because these treasures were worth risking their lives.
Besides, no matter how skilled a First-Order Saint King was, could he be stronger than Qu Chang Feng?
Even if Qu Chang Feng was here, it would impossible to deal with all of them by himself, so while they paid attention to Yang Kai’s movements, they prepared themselves to support their comrades who had rushed forward in case Yang Kai had some kind of earth-shaking hidden means.
The thin cultivator and the monkey-faced cultivator were both extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they had approached to within ten meters of Yang Kai. Yang Kai, on the other hand, put on an expression of shock, as if he had only just noticed them rushing over, quickly packing all the treasures he had taken out back into his Space Ring, putting on a show of panic and confusion that further dispersed his two attacker’s wariness and caused them to raise their speed to the limit.
But just as they closed in, the two cultivators saw Yang Kai reveal a thin smile.
The moment they saw this smile, the two realized that there was something wrong, because the smile Yang Kai was wearing was one filled with mockery, as if he had set up some kind of trap here and was just waiting for them to throw themselves into it.
With their supposed prey’s eyes filled with disdain and ridicule, how could the two cultivators not see that everything up until now had been a ploy?
The next moment, the two rushing towards Yang Kai felt as if they had run into an invisible wall, both of them coming to a halt as they let out grunts at the same time. The two Third Order Saint Kings instantly felt as if they were being pressed down upon by a mountain, their breathing becoming difficult as their bodies struggled to resist, and cracking sounds echoed from their bones.
This strange space had been incredibly difficult for Yang Kai to break free from when he first entered it, and his physique was far stronger than an ordinary cultivator’s. If even Yang Kai was wary of this place, how could these two easily escape?
Although Yang Kai had cultivated his Space Blade here for more than a month, and almost completely destroyed the solidification effect, it was still strong enough to interfere with these two cultivators, and with that momentary opening, Yang Kai could easily kill them.
Therefore, the instant these two entered the strange space, their fates had been sealed.
The two went pale and their eyes were immediately filled with terror, both of them pushing their Saint Qi as hard as they could, finally alleviating the intense pressure weighing them down, but just as they were about to retreat from this strange space, a cry of alarm rang out from the middle-aged man standing behind them.
The two lifted their heads with difficulty just in time to see two palms ruthlessly descending upon them.
This solidified space could hinder the movements of these two, but Yang Kai was like a fish in water here, not affected in the slightest. He had fully adapted to the pressure of this place.
Yang Kai wasn’t afraid to fight any of these four Third-Order Saint Kings one on one. Even one on two, Yang Kai was confident he could emerge victoriously, but facing four at once was different. If he was unable to wipe them all out, and even one escape, it would create endless troubles for him.
That was why he had constantly exposed his gains. He wanted to use the valuable treasures he had on him to goad these four into attacking him.
His plan went smoothly. As the saying goes, men die for wealth just like birds die for food; it was a perfect explanation for the performance of these four.
There wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t be tempted after seeing so many good things.
*Peng Peng…*
Two bursting sounds came out, and the skinny man and the monkey-faced man from Heaven Battling Union who had gotten stuck in the strange solidified space had their heads exploded by Yang Kai’s palm, leaving not even bones behind.
These two Third Order Saint King died filled with unwillingness. They had been killed by Yang Kai without even a chance to fight back. Standing amidst the blood mist, Yang Kai glared coldly at the remaining two, his murderous intent soaring to the Heavens.
It was as if Yang Kai had only now revealed his fangs and was staring towards the remaining two Heaven Battling Union cultivators with clear malicious intentions.
The fat man had approached closer a moment ago, but after seeing his two companions drop dead, he immediately came to a halt and stared at Yang Kai in shock, his face revealing a look of incomprehension and disbelief.
The moment Yang Kai attacked just now, the surge of Saint Qi from his body clearly belonged to a First-Order Saint King, and although it was indeed incredibly potent compared to normal, it wasn’t something Heaven defying. The two palms he had sent out also weren’t very fast, as if he only attacked casually, and it was because of this that the fat man couldn’t understand why his two companions were killed without the slightest resistance.
This obviously didn’t make any sense.
“There’s something strange about the space around him, possibly some kind of barrier or trap!” The middle-aged man’s complexion was gloomy. It had always been them who had been slaughtering others like chickens, but now one such chick had pecked back and actually killed two of his comrades. He was so upset he nearly coughed up blood.
“Who else wants to check my Space Ring?” Yang Kai raised his lips and looked at the two indifferently, asking as he walked straight towards them.
The fat man stepped back instinctually; his expression filled with panic.
The middle-aged man also frowned deeply. He had just determined that Yang Kai was surrounded by some kind of barrier which was why he could so easily kill those two, but now this boy was actually taking the initiative to attack them. What did this mean?
Was he that confident?
The middle-aged man was a cautious person, and after realizing that this situation had gone beyond his ability to understand or control, he didn’t hesitate to immediately retreat, shouting to the fat man hastily, “Run!”
The middle-aged man made a dash for the canyon’s exit without looking back.
Without being able to understand what his enemy was relying on or even his true strength, the middle-aged man was unwilling to stay here and take risks. He just wanted to escape here and pass on the word about this kid’s stash of treasures to his other allies so they could gather and take revenge.
This middle-aged man’s approach couldn’t have been more correct, and his approach was foolproof.
But the fat man wasn’t so savvy. Although the middle-aged man had shouted to him before fleeing, the fat man was very confident in his own strength and was also bewitched by the treasures in Yang Kai’s Space Ring, so when he saw Yang Kai walk towards him, instead of feeling fear, he felt happy. Green light burst from the fat man’s body and surrounding him tightly. Immediately, this man’s obese body deflated like a balloon, drying up at a visible rate, turning him thin in an instant.
Along with the huge change in body shape, the aura of this previously fat man had increased exponentially, and the surging Saint Qi has almost condensed into a physical substance. With a wave of his hands, the green light surrounding him flew out and transformed into a series of vine-like objects that pierced through the air towards Yang Kai. These vines were filled with sharp barbs and once someone was caught by them, these barbs would sink into their body and rapidly absorb their vitality and Saint Qi. Even cultivators in the same realm would have difficulty breaking free and at that time, they would be easily slaughtered.
This fat man couldn’t recall how many enemies he had killed with his unique Saint Qi and unique killing blow. In Heaven Battling Union, although he wasn’t as famous as Qu Chang Feng and the middle-aged men, he was still a prominent figure.
In addition, the vines, which had a Wood Attribute to them, moved extremely fast. As long as he was given three breaths of time, he could turn this entire canyon into a prison cage. At that time, this place would become his world, and no matter what kind of shocking methods this First-Order Saint King possessed, he wouldn’t even be able to dream of escaping.
The fat man’s eyes were filled with confidence.
But in the next instant, a jet black flame that appeared almost like a fire dragon poured cold water on his head.
“A Fire Attribute cultivator?” The fat man looked startled.
He cultivated Wood Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills, but those were most restrained by Fire Attribute cultivators, so when he saw Yang Kai’s black flames, his heart naturally sank, and his expression became dignified.
However, an arrow released from its bow could not turn back, and his opponent being a mere First-Order Saint King wasn’t enough to cause him to retreat, so he instead increased the output of his Saint Qi further, causing the green vines to grow even more madly as they tried to fill up the entire canyon.
*Hu…*
The intensity of the black flames increased to match his vines and a scene which truly startled the fat man happened next. On contact, the black flames were burning his green vines into ash, and no matter how hard he pushed his Saint Qi, he wasn’t able to keep up with the rate of loss. In the blink of an eye, the black flames had shattered his attack and were now closing in on him.
“Impossible!” The fat man screamed. Although his Martial Skills were indeed restrained by Fire Attribute attacks, no flame could possibly have such a burning ability strong enough to completely suppress his vine’s growth.
All the green vines were instantly suppressed by the black flames, and the inside of the canyon began taking on an alternating hot and cold atmosphere, causing the fat man to suffer greatly.
Yang Kai then rushed over like a burst of raging flames, throwing a black Heaven Punishing Spear out towards the Heaven Battling Union cultivator, immediately following up with a Heaven Covering Hand.
Yang Kai had to finish this battle quickly because the middle-aged man from the group of four was far more cautious than he had anticipated. After Yang Kai had killed two of this middle-aged man’s companions, his first reaction was not to get angry or seek revenge, but to swiftly withdraw. It was unbelievably decisive.
This middle-aged man was able to suppress his greed towards the treasures in Yang Kai’s Space Ring and instead choose the safest approach.
By now, this man had run out over a hundred meters, and if Yang Kai were to become entangled with this fat cultivator, and the middle-aged man escaped from the canyon, it would become far more difficult to catch up to him.
As such, Yang Kai also acted decisively, using nearly one hundred percent of his power.
The fat cultivator’s reactions weren’t slow, however, and seeing the black Heaven Punishing Spear approaching, he immediately summoned a small round shield. This round shield began rotating slowly and was full of mysterious runes and energy lines with a strange turtle-shaped pattern also appearing, swimming nibbling around the shield. With this small round shield protecting his body, the fat man’s figure flickered as he tried to swiftly retreat.
However, the giant hand above him, which seemed to block out the sky, continued closing in, making the fat man feel as if there was no hope to avoid it.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the Heaven Punishing Spear stuck the small round shield, causing a massive burst of energy. The small round shield cracked but surprisingly was not completely crushed. Although it had been contaminated with bits of Demonic Flame, the swimming turtle pattern on the shield quickly opened its mouth and sprayed out a cloud of white energy, extinguishing the Demonic Flame.
After doing this, the turtle pattern returned to the small round shield, but it no longer moved, seemingly greatly weakened.
This artefact had obviously lost its spirituality and could no longer be used unless an excellent Artefact Refiner were to fix it.
The small round shield had blocked Yang Kai’s killing blow and protected the fat cultivator’s life, but the Heaven Covering Hand overtook him at that moment.
The fat cultivator roared and quickly weaved a complicated set of hand signs before pushing both his palms towards the sky.
A green light curtain rose around him like a protective cover, covering him completely.
There was another loud noise, and the earth trembled. The Heaven Covering Hand impacted the green light curtain, shattering it in an instant and disappearing without a trace. Although the fat cultivator was hit by this attack, he didn’t receive much damage, but it was obviously his face had gone pale.
In a short time, he recognized the gap between himself and Yang Kai.
How was this the strength of a First-Order Saint King? It was clear that not even a Third-Order Saint King could be so fierce. If it weren’t for the Saint Qi fluctuations coming from Yang Kai, the fat man would be wondering if he was fighting an Origin Returning Realm master.
No wonder the other party had the confidence to take the initiative to attack. With such a combat power, he had enough capital to compete with Qu Chang Feng, so coping with the fat cultivator was not a problem.
The fat man had already used his best artefacts, but his opponent hadn’t, seemingly still holding back. From beginning to end, he had only used Martial Skills to fight him.
The fat man didn’t know that Yang Kai only had two artefacts on him, one was the purple shield and the other was the Hundred Mountains Picture.
The purple shield was for defence only, and although the power of the Hundred Mountains Picture wasn’t small, the terrain in the canyon was narrow so it wasn’t suitable to use it here. If this weren’t the case, Yang Kai would have already summoned it to kill this fat cultivator.
The fat cultivator didn’t know any of this, so his heart was only more chaotic. After blocking the Heaven Covering Hand, he once again summoned a flying sword-shaped artefact, poured his Saint Qi into it, and hurled it at Yang Kai.
The flying sword transformed into a streak of white light that pierced towards Yang Kai and gave off a thick malevolent aura. At the same time, the fat cultivator turned around and ran out of the canyon without hesitation.
He thought that his flying sword artefact could buy him some time, and as long as he had a little time, perhaps he could escape this calamity, but how could he have known that the moment he turned his back to Yang Kai, the aura of death would descend upon him.
Glancing back in horror, the fat cultivator saw Yang Kai smoothly avoided the attack of the flying sword, and chop towards him with a black sword of his own, one that seemed to fill the canyon with a black light.
The fat cultivator’s heart clenched, but before he could even compose himself, he was struck by over a dozen sword waves at once. Screaming, the fat cultivator fell to the ground, the Demonic Flame burning his body, and no matter how he pushed his Saint Qi, he couldn’t resist. It wasn’t long before he was burnt to a charred corpse.
The canyon itself was only ten meters wide, which made it extremely difficult for the fact cultivator to dodge. If not for this, he could have resisted for a bit longer and wouldn’t have died so quickly.
Even as he died though, this fat man couldn’t understand how a trivial First-Order Saint King could be so terrifying!
After killing this fat cultivator, Yang Kai immediately looked up towards the entrance to the canyon.
The last middle-aged man had managed to escape fast, and in this short time had already managed to escape two thousand meters away.
He seemed to have heard the scream of the fat cultivator, shivered slightly, and increased his speed even more.
At this moment, he understood that his previous caution and concern were not unfounded. The scream of the fat cultivator he heard clearly announced his companion’s death. No matter what kind of method or means this young man had used, or whether there were tricks or plots involved, just the fact that Yang Kai had killed the fat cultivator in just five short breaths told the middle-aged man he was not an opponent he could face.
So, he didn’t dare look back and simply focused on escaping from the canyon as soon as possible. At the same time, his trembling hand reached for his Space Ring and took out his communication artefact. He wanted to inform his other companions about what had happened here, especially Qu Chang Feng.
In his eyes, only someone like Qu Chang Feng could compete with that young man.
Just as he took out his communication artefact though, the middle-aged man suddenly heard thunder and lightning come from behind him and a terrifying Divine Sense lock onto him. The strength of this Divine Sense was no worse than an Origin Returning Realm Master’s.
He didn’t dare hesitate and immediately poured his own Divine Sense into the communication artefact, but before he could send any kind of message, he felt a faint ache on his arm.
This ache only felt like he had been bitten by an ant.
However, when he looked down to investigate, he was horrified to discover that his arm had silently been chopped off, and not far in front of him was a dark crack that seemed capable of devouring everything it touched.
“A Void Crack?” The middle-aged man was also quite knowledgeable and couldn’t help muttering to himself when he saw this, but in his moment of absent-mindedness, the possible Void Crack vanished.
A sharp pain suddenly radiated from the place his arm had been cut off from, causing sweat to ooze from his forehead and soak his clothes.
*Chi…*
A slight, almost imperceptible sound entered his ear in an instant, his intact arm began aching as well.
Thinking of what had happened just now, this middle-aged cultivator’s face went ashen as he glanced down and found that his second arm was also gone, the cut so clean and neat it was as if it had been sliced off by some incredibly sharp weapon.
A figure quickly passed by like a bolt of lightning and blocked his path forward.
The middle-aged man stopped in place and stared at Yang Kai with a look of despair.
He couldn’t spare any attention to the pain coming from his missing arms or prevent his blood from spewing out, all he could do is stare at Yang Kai and the wings seemingly composed of wind and thunder behind him, in a flash understanding why even at his top speed, he was easily overtaken by his opponent.
His opponent actually had such a strange artefact, no wonder his speed was so fast. The middle-aged man just didn’t know what kind of attack Yang Kai had used to cut off his arms. He hadn’t felt any Saint Qi fluctuations just now but his arms had still inexplicably been severed.
In the canyon, Yang Kai and the middle-aged man stared at each other, the former with cold eyes and the latter with despair.
“Haha…” The middle-aged man stopped by Yang Kai smiled softly, but the smile was full of bitterness and unwillingness. He knew that this time he likely wouldn’t be able to escape and regretted it quite deeply.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field was so big, why did he and his three fellow Sect Brothers just have to walk through this canyon? Moreover, they just had to go and provoke this walking calamity. If they had just avoided doing either of these things, the four of them would still be alive. If they could leave this place safely, with the harvest they had gained, they would definitely receive huge benefits from the Sect.
But now, it was too late to say anything. Of their group of four, three had died, the middle-aged man had lost both his arms, and it seemed he would soon follow the path his fellow brothers had walked. His heart was full of annoyance. Now thinking back on what had happened when they first encountered this young man, the middle-aged man realized just how ridiculous his and his Sect Brother’s performance was.
If the other party didn’t have something to rely on, how could he have just stood there indifferently in front of them? If he wasn’t trying to draw them in, how could he have been stupid enough to publicize his treasures one by one?
Looking back now, the expressions and actions of this young man at that time should have created all kinds of doubts, but in the face of great benefits, even a shrewd man like him had let down his vigilance.
“Friend…” The middle-aged man gulped and suddenly said, “Can you tell me, what kind of strength you used just now? If you can tell, I can die without regrets.”
Yang Kai looked at him indifferently and shook his head, “Dead men don’t need to know anything.”
“Fair enough!” The middle-aged man smiled mirthlessly before straightening his back and lifted his head, “Go ahead, I know I’m definitely not your opponent, and I don’t plan on putting up a futile struggle, I only ask Friend to make it quick and painless.”
With these words, Yang Kai’s flicked his wrist and an imposing black sword wave shot out.
The moment the black sword wave appeared though, the eyes of the middle-aged man, who appeared to be waiting for death, flashed brilliantly and he spat out a puff of blood mist. The blood mist was extremely thick and the smell of iron coming from it was quite potent. Clearly, it was his Blood Essence. Amidst this blood mist was a small awl-shaped artefact. This awl shone with a deep yellow glow and rotated rapidly, gathering the surrounding energy from the atmosphere as it pierced towards Yang Kai.
The awl-shaped artefact seemed to be drilling a hole in space, visibly distorting the air as it flew forward and even smashing Yang Kai’s black sword wave.
At the same time, the middle-aged man’s face went pale and he staggered back several steps, staring at Yang Kai through the blood mist with his sharp eyes.
How could he simply wait to die? His face clearly wore the expression of someone extreme desperate to live, but at this moment, he was even more uncertain, wondering if his carefully prepared sneak attack would work.
This sneak attack was what the middle-aged man was placing all his hopes on. In order to promote this attack’s chances of working, he had attempted lower Yang Kai’s guard by putting on an act of non-resistance just now, hoping the former would appreciate such a lofty display and reveal an opening. If his opponent showed some kind of flaw, the middle-aged man would be able to seize the initiative, but he hadn’t expected that this youth would be so decisive and ruthless, remaining completely indifferent and immediately attacking.
With his opponent not exposing any flaws, the middle-aged man could only hope his artefact wouldn’t let him down.
Under his nervous gaze, across the blood mist, the awl-shaped artefact broke apart the black sword wave and immediately flew towards Yang Kai. On top of that, Yang Kai didn’t seem to be able to react and was still standing in place.
The middle-aged man was overjoyed, but the smile that appeared on his face went stiff in the next instant.
Because he saw Yang Kai casually wave his hand and send out a jet black crack like the ones he had seen twice before. This jet black crack cut towards his awl-shaped artefact and soon swallowed the World Energy that was swirling around it, causing it to disappear as if it was being swallowed by a fierce beast. Not only that, after the crack passed through awl-shaped artefact, part of the artefact itself strangely disappeared as well, the remaining part losing all spirituality and falling directly to the ground.
The middle-aged man’s eyes bulged as he stared at Yang Kai with a horrified expression, his voice trembling as he called out in alarm, “It really was a Void Crack?”
When he saw it before, he had only been sceptical, but seeing it again, this middle-aged man immediately affirmed that the method of attack this youth was using really was to send out a thin Void Crack. How else could his awl artefact have silently disappeared?
Obviously, it had been sent to The Void by that crack!
“Was that seriously your last resort?” Yang Kai looked at him with ridicule.
This middle-aged man was a cautious person, Yang Kai had already learned this, so anything he had said just now was treated as hot air by Yang Kai. Since he had decided to kill him, naturally Yang Kai wouldn’t be deceived by such petty tricks. On top of that, Yang Kai didn’t have a habit of underestimating his enemies.
“No, your strength is so low, how could you be so proficient in the Dao of Space? Even Elder Mo can’t use a Void Crack like that!” The middle-aged man growled hysterically, as if he had just witnessed something completely impossible.
“Elder Mo? Does he understand the Dao of Space?” Yang Kai frowned.
So far, besides himself, Yang Kai had never encountered any other cultivators who had comprehended the Dao of Space. Even a shocking master like Gui Zu who had an Origin King cultivation wasn’t proficient in using Space Force, but from the words this middle-aged man just spoke, it seemed this Elder Mo knew something about the Dao of Space.
This surprised Yang Kai.
“Elder Mo is Chief Elder of the Elder Hall and a master who reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm a thousand years ago! His strength is among the highest on Shadowed Star. I am his…” The middle-aged person mistakenly thought that Yang Kai was intimidated and quickly began reporting his relationship with Elder Mo, hoping to make Yang Kai hesitate to kill him.
“When I find an opportunity, I’ll go to Heaven Battling Union to compare notes with him about the Dao of Space then, but you won’t be around for that,” Yang Kai didn’t wait for him to finish his words before sending out another Space Blade.
This Space Blade sliced through the air and under the horrified gaze of a middle-aged man sliced him apart like he was a piece of tofu. The defensive Artefact Armour and Saint Qi he used to protect himself didn’t play any role at all and his cut through cleanly.
The middle-aged man only felt that his body became slightly shorter as his upper body dropped a finger width or so. When he lowered his head to look, all he could see was blood gushing out from a straight line across his chest. Just as he let out a pitiful scream, a shroud of Demonic Flame engulfed him and drowned out his voice. Three breaths later, all that remained was a pile of black ash.
Staring at the spot where this middle-aged man disappeared, Yang Kai frowned slightly, his expression a mix of happiness and concern.
On the upside, after more than a month of tempering, his Space Blade had finally reached a point where it could be used against enemies in combat and its effect was quite good, its lethality extremely high and its use very difficult to detect as there were no Saint Qi’s fluctuations associated with it.
On the downside, it was too easy to avoid and was difficult to aim. Even with Yang Kai focusing all his attention, he couldn’t precisely control the path his Space Blade traced.
The moment the middle-aged man took out his communication artefact, Yang Kai knew he wanted to send out a call for help, so he planned to kill him with a single blow, but instead, he had only managed to chop off one of his arms. Fortunately, the arm Yang Kai hit was the one holding the communication artefact, otherwise, this middle-aged man might have successfully sent out a message.
It was the same for his second attempt, it was only an accident that Yang Kai had cut off the middle-aged man’s other arm.
None of this was intentionally done by Yang Kai, it was all just a coincidence. Killing was the objective, so a single attack was best, Yang Kai didn’t want to waste time and energy.
The third time was better, but the Space Blade still didn’t land exactly where Yang Kai wanted it to.
However, despite all this, the incredibly lethality of his Space Blade more than made up for its flaws. It was capable of sending everything it encountered along its path into The Void, and as long as it was stable enough, theoretically, even an Origin King Realm master’s body wouldn’t be able to withstand an attack from it.
Verifying the power of his Space Blade through a real battle made Yang Kai quite satisfied. As for its accuracy and stability, Yang Kai believed that with the growth of his strength, he could slowly improve these factors. This move would become one of his greatest trump cards.
Bending over, Yang Kai picked up the middle-aged man’s Space Ring before returning to his original position and cleaning the battlefield. He burned the corpses of the others before staring at the strange solidified space for a moment. After letting out a sigh, Yang Kai walked through this strange space and headed straight towards the other side of the canyon.
There was no need to remain here any longer. In Yang Kai’s original plan, he would leave here in two or three days, but after being disturbed by these four from Heaven Battling Union he decided to depart early.
….
Half a day later, Yang Kai stopped under a huge rock.
This rock had been baked in the heat of the Flowing Flame Sand Field for countless years and was now a fiery red colour with all of its internal impurities completely removed. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was a good Artefact Refining material. If one could take it to an Artefact Refiner, at the very least, they could use it to refine some Saint Grade artefacts.
Yang Kai wasn’t interested in this thing though and simply wanted to borrow it to shelter himself from the surrounding heat for a while.
There was a recessed pit under the rock that only one person could fit inside. Yang Kai sat down in this pit and began checking through the Space Rings of the four Heaven Battling Union cultivators. After all, this was his spoils of victory.
After inspecting these rings, Yang Kai was secretly shocked.
It wasn’t that these four had some kind of amazing treasure on them, but rather that they had so many spirit grasses, spirit medicines, Fire Crystal Stones, and various ores from the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It was a huge amount! Almost every one of these rings had the equivalent of seven or eight people’s worth of harvest.
These four couldn’t possibly have had such good luck, they must have killed a great many people to obtain all of this, but now all of it had landed in Yang Kai’s hands.
Each of these things was just a common treasure from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, nothing near as valuable as the huge Fire Crystal Stone or Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence that Yang Kai obtained, but with such a large quantity, it still made Yang Kai quite pleased.
After transferring everything to his Space Ring, Yang Kai sat cross-legged under the boulder to adjust his breathing.
Yang Kai had been cultivating in the canyon for more than a month and had just experienced a battle, so although he had not consumed much of his strength, he still wanted to maintain his peak condition in case he encountered any unexpected problems.
After half an hour, Yang Kai opened his eyes.
Just as he was about to leave the pit under the boulder though, Yang Kai saw a gray figure in front of him. This figure was small, flexible, and extremely fast. Although not as ridiculous as the Flowing Flame Flying Fire, its speed was still substantial.
The moment Yang Kai found this figure, he swept it with his Divine Sense and after confirming what it was, he couldn’t help showing a look of surprise.
It was actually a kind of Monster Beast and looked a bit like a fox. Its eyes were sharp and gave it a sly appearance. Its whole body was surrounded by a Wind Attribute aura, allowing it to move at great speed.
What Yang Kai cared about most though was the fruit which this Monster Beast was carrying in its mouth. This fruit was bright red and gave off a potent hot aura.
Golden Sun Fruit? Yang Kai raised a brow and immediately stood up to quickly chase after this fox-like beast.
The Golden Sun Fruit was an Origin Grade High-Rank Spirit Fruit and the primary ingredient in a number of Origin Grade pills. Since Yang Kai was planning on refining some pills to assist Wu Yi and the others with their cultivation, now that he had suddenly encounter such a spirit fruit, he wasn’t about to let it go.
On top of that, this Monster Beast’s strength didn’t seem very high, only reaching the Sixth-Order, so regardless of how quick it was, Yang Kai was confident he could easily catch up with it.
Robbing a single spirit fruit from a Monster Beast’s mouth was a bit ridiculous, but what Yang Kai cared more about was that since one Golden Sun Fruit had appeared here, there must be a Golden Sun Fruit Tree growing nearby. After catching this Monster Beast, perhaps Yang Kai could get it to lead him back to the fruit tree.
If Yang Kai could transplant this tree back to Dragon Cave Mountain, it would be best. Yang Kai believed that with the vitality contained in his Golden Blood, it wouldn’t be a problem to transplant this Golden Sun Fruit Tree.
This was the third layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so all of the spirit grasses and spirit medicines were extremely old, their value far higher than anything present in the outside market.
Yang Kai wasn’t slow and had begun his pursuit the moment he noticed the little beast passing by, but he had apparently underestimated this little beast’s ability. By the time he chased after it, it was nearly three kilometers away.
Frowning slightly, Yang Kai summoned his Wind and Thunder Wings and slowly but surely closed in on the little beast.
After half an hour, just as Yang Kai was about to catch up to the little beast, from up ahead, he suddenly heard the sounds of battle, and from the powerful energy fluctuations he felt it appeared to be quite an intense one at that.
Yang Kai wasn’t looking for trouble and wanted to avoid this fight, but the little beast he was chasing was heading straight towards the source of the sound.
Having pursued it for so long, Yang Kai naturally didn’t want to give up halfway, so he simply continued onwards.
However, a moment latter, Yang Kai showed a stunned look, because he saw with his own eyes the beast he had chased all this way dart over to the place where two figures were fighting and leap into a young women’s chest.
Was this little beast someone else’s pet? Yang Kai’s expression became ugly.
If he had known this before, how could he have engaged in such a fruitless pursuit? Since this was a Monster Beast raised by someone else, its owner must have released it to search for spirit grasses and spirit medicines. Yang Kai had only spotted it by coincidence on its way back and chased it all the way here.
This could easily lead to a misunderstanding with others.
However, the little beast really had some impressive skills, able to find a Golden Sun Fruit for its owner. Judging from how smooth its movements were, it also didn’t seem this was the first time it had done this.
The one fighting the owner of this little beast was a man dressed in shining golden robes, and when Yang Kai saw this, he couldn’t help showing a look of disgust.
Heaven Battling Union truly had many cultivators enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field; Yang Kai had encountered them no matter where he went. Back when he collected the Emerald Silk Grasses, two had died, then Yang Kai had killed four back in the long canyon, yet now, only a short time later, he had met another, it was truly some bad luck.
The scene where the little animal burrowing into the woman’s robes with a spirit fruit in its mouth was naturally seen by the Heaven Battling Union disciple and he exclaimed, “Golden Sun Fruit?”
As he spoke, greed flashed across his eyes and his attacks became even more ruthless.
After the arrival of Yang Kai, the woman seemed to become far more vigilant, diverting a part of her focus to monitor this newcomer’s movements. Doing this caused her to fall into a disadvantage immediately as her opponent’s battle-axe began raining down blows upon her, putting her in a perilous position.
As for the Heaven Battling Union disciple, he didn’t put Yang Kai in his eyes at all, shouting out loudly in order to rile up his opponent, “You ugly woman, what did you come out here for? To show other’s your ugly face? Hahaha, since you’re so ugly, why not just stay in your room obediently and never expose yourself? It’s your own fault for running out and disgusting people! What? Don’t like what I’m saying? Bite me then! Or, I’ll say whatever I want!”
Sure enough, facing this man’s poisonous tongue, the woman’s tender body trembled and a cold murderous glint flashed across her eyes. Although she was constantly pushing her Saint Qi to resist and she desperately wanted to rip the foul mouth off of this man, with anger clouding her judgement the strength she was able to display was less than eighty percent of her peak, causing her already bad situation to become even more precarious.
Yang Kai then noticed this woman’s face, and at a glance, felt deeply sorrowful.
Although the words of the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union were truly vile, it was also undeniable that this woman was truly unattractive.
Describing her at simply unattractive was actually a kind evaluation of her. She possessed an exquisite and rich figure, one that would tickle any man’s fantasies, but her face was filled with pock-marks and scars along with a number of yellow pustules that gave off an unpleasant smell. Not only that, her face’s skin tone was extremely sallow and appeared malnourished.
This formed an extraordinarily stark contrast with her fair arms and pink neck.
People with poor mental strength would be frightened if they saw her face.
Without these shortcomings though, her appearance would have been excellent; after all, her underlying facial features were delicate and neat.
Yang Kai frowned slightly, wondering whether this woman was born like this or if there was some other reason, but regardless of the reason, her appearance was obviously her Achilles’ Heel. The cultivator from Heaven Battling Union kept attacking her looks and was successful in stimulating her anger.
If not for this, she could probably have killed this Heaven Battling Union cultivator with her ability.
She used a white silk-like artefact that was incredibly sharp and stealthy. As she danced upon the battlefield, white flashes of light silently appeared in a several dozen meter radiuses around her and sharp cutting noises constantly rang out, but even so, she was barely able to remain undefeated.
Whatever reason these two were fighting for, Yang Kai didn’t plan on getting involved. Although he didn’t like the cultivators from Heaven Battling Union, as long as the other party didn’t provoke him, he wouldn’t take the initiative to provoke them. All those who provoked him though, would die.
On top of that, since this little beast that could find spirit fruits was this woman’s pet, Yang Kai didn’t plan on capturing it anymore.
But contrary to his wishes, the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union for some reason or another, in the middle of his battle with this woman, called out to Yang Kai, “Boy, what do you think of this woman’s appearance? Isn’t she beyond ugly? Say a few good words and your Uncle here will reward you.”
He apparently wanted to use Yang Kai to stimulate his opponent even further.
After hearing what he said though, Yang Kai just frowned, abandoning his plan to simply walk away as he stared towards the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union with a funny look.
The woman also intentionally or unintentionally glanced over towards Yang Kai, and it was apparent that there was some worry in their depths, her red lips becoming a bit pale and colourless as she bit them tightly.
Did she really care so much about her appearance? Obviously. So, she was worried that Yang Kai would echo the words said by this Heaven Battling Union disciple.
Yang Kai didn’t know what this woman was thinking, but to himself, he thought that even if she was ugly… extremely ugly, there was no reason to care so much about it, right?
However, seeing Yang Kai not say anything allowed the woman to breathe a sigh of relief. The white artefact in her hand danced more and more fiercely and she actually wrapped up the other party’s battle-axe. The cultivator from Heaven Battling Union was shocked and hastily tried to take back his artefact but was unable to free it from the bindings of the white silk immediately. Seeing his artefact on the verge of being taken away, he pushed his Saint Qi violently and finally managed to stabilize his situation.
The two sides instantly reached a tenuous stalemate, with the man and woman stopping in place, both desperately pouring their Saint Qi into their respective artefacts as they continued to struggle against one another.
“Boy, are you mute or something? Uncle here asked you a question, why don’t you answer?” Then cultivator from Heaven Battling Union seemed to become angry out of shame as he was being matched evenly by this woman, so he shouted once more to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai maintained his strange smile, paused for a moment, then began walking towards the deadlocked pair.
The woman and the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union both showed stunned expressions as they stared blankly at the approaching Yang Kai, wondering what this small First-Order Saint King wanted to do.
But soon, the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union came up with an idea and shouted to Yang Kai once more, “Kid, I don’t care whether you’re mute or not, hurry up and kill this woman for me, kill her and I will give you some benefits.”
As soon as these words came out, the woman’s look changed drastically. She was currently in a stalemate with her opponent, but once an outsider intervened, this deadlock would instantly be broken.
Although she wasn’t afraid of an attack from Yang Kai as he was just a First-Order Saint King, if he were really to attack her, the man from Heaven Battling Union would take that opportunity to free his battle-axe from her white silk artefact, destroying her hard-won advantage.
As such, she was quite nervous.
Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t seem to have any intention to attack and simply shook his head, allowing her to calm down. She even flashed a look of gratitude towards him briefly.
13 chapters this week!!!
Seeing Yang Kai actually refuse him, the cultivator from Heaven Battling Union wore a cold look and cursed, “Good good good, a mute and an ugly woman, you two are a perfect match. Do you want this Sir to act as a matchmaker so you can ‘comfort’ one another?”
The woman’s sallow face blushed red then went pale, her finally calm mood becoming angry again. It was as if her entire mood would change greatly when she heard the words ‘ugly woman’.
“There’s no need for that, I have a wife already, there’s no need for you to worry about my business,” Yang Kai suddenly sneered.
The cultivator from Heaven Battling Union was stunned momentarily but soon let out a laugh, “Turns out you’re not a mute. Well whatever, just pretend I hadn’t said anything. Boy, scram, there’s nothing here for you.”
He also saw that Yang Kai looked like he was harbouring ill intent and although he wasn’t afraid of Yang Kai, he still decided to warn him off.
How could he have known that the always indifferent looking Yang Kai would suddenly push his Saint Qi and condense a long sword out of jet black flames? Seeing this, the Heaven Battling Union cultivator couldn’t help wearing a grim look and barking, “What? You want to start something with me? You best think twice, if you dare to act, you’re dead!”
“I certainly don’t want to die, but I’m afraid you are going to. Friend’s mouth is so foul I can smell its stink from ten kilometres away, I really can’t stand it, so I’ll have to take your life to put an end to the stench!” Yang Kai said while slashing his Demonic Flame sword forward.
The Profound Heavenly Sword condensed from Demonic Flame gave off an earth-shaking power as Yang Kai unleashed a dozen slashes, sealing off all avenues of retreats for the Heaven Battling Union cultivator.
The instant Yang Kai attacked, the Heaven Battling Union cultivator’s face changed greatly. How could he not feel that the power behind Yang Kai’s attack was incomparable to what an ordinary First-Order Saint King could produce? No longer having the leisure to entangle with the ugly woman anymore, he took the initiative to withdraw his Saint Qi from his battle-axe and instead condense a shield in front of his body.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
After just two hits, the wave of sword slashes Yang Kai sent out smashed this Saint Qi shield, allowing the remaining attacks to chop down directly towards the Heaven Battling Union cultivator.
The man from Heaven Battling Union called out in alarm and tried to dodge, but the woman nearby used her white silk artefact to bind him in place at that exact moment. The white silk had an outrageous sharpness and after binding this man up, the woman pushed her Saint Qi and the white silk suddenly tightened.
A flash of light erupted from the man as he pushed his Artefact Armour’s protection to its maximum, but that still wasn’t enough to stop the white silk from cutting into him. After a light snapping sound, the Heaven Battling Union cultivator’s body suddenly had dozens of bloody lines appear all over his body.
“No…” The man let out half a scream before his body was cut into a dozen pieces by the white silk.
Before his corpse fell, Yang Kai’s jet black sword swept forward and burned his body to ashes.
A Third-Order Saint King Heaven Battling Union elite disciple had been slaughter by Yang Kai and the woman in less than a breath. Yang Kai wasn’t surprised by this result though, because even if he was alone, he was confident he could have killed this man, much less working together with this woman.
However, the power of the woman’s white silk artefact had surpassed his expectations; if he had known it was so strong, he wouldn’t have sent out so many slashes.
The woman was also quite surprised by the means Yang Kai displayed, and after easily killing the Heaven Battling Union disciples, she shouldn’t help glancing over at him in shock.
Yang Kai noticed now that not only did this woman have an enchanting figure, her eyes also had a brilliant light to them. If she covered her face and only exposed her eyes, she would certainly be able to make many men crazy for her.
But with her face’s appearance… It was truly unfortunate. Yang Kai thought so, but didn’t show anything on his face.
“Many thanks!” After killing her opponent, the woman exhaled heavily, causing her plump chest to bounce exaggeratedly, tracing a thrilling and beautiful arc, bowing her head gently to Yang Kai as she managed to squeeze out a smile. Although this smile was full of sincerity, matched with her visage, it was a difficult sight to behold.
Her voice on the other hand was extremely gentle and sweet, incredibly pleasant to the ear.
“It’s nothing, I just found him unpleasant to the eye,” Yang Kai said lightly.
“You may rest assured, I won’t tell anyone about this, and the one who killed him was me, so it has nothing to do with you. If the people from Heaven Battling Union really want to track down the culprit, you won’t be found responsible,” The woman said, taking all responsibility onto herself. This gave Yang Kai a favourable impression of her and made him feel like that taking action just now had not been in vain.
As they spoke, the woman took the ring that had fallen to the ground after the Heaven Battling Union died and without even glancing at its content tossed it over to Yang Kai, “I’ll give you this.”
Yang Kai didn’t try to act polite and accepted it, tucking it into his sleeve.
The woman thought for a moment, blushed somewhat red again before reaching into her chest and taking out a red fruit and also tossing it over, “You pursued it for this, right?”
Yang Kai caught it and smiled embarrassedly, “I didn’t know it was raised by you.”
The fruit in his hand was warm to the touch, but whether that was because of the fruit’s nature or where the woman had been keeping it, Yang Kai didn’t know. There was however a faint fragrance lingering about it which made one feel refreshed.
“I know,” The woman nodded lightly, “Although my Spirit Fox cannot be used to fight, it has a natural ability to find spirit grasses and spirit medicines, you pursing it after you encountered it is only normal.”
Saying so though, the woman frowned as she suddenly remembered that her Spirit Fox was extremely fast. Outside, cultivators might be able to catch up to it, but in this place, where no one could fly, it should be able to easily shake off anyone who tried to pursue it. How did Yang Kai catch it then?
Despite her suspicions, she chose not to ask anything. Since this young man was able to chase down her Spirit Fox, he certain must have his own methods, and asking about it would only make things awkward. Although her appearance was bad, she was born a beautiful and intelligent woman and knew some things were best left unsaid.
“Spirit Fox?” Yang Kai frowned. It was the first time he had heard of this kind of Monster Beast; however, he did know about some Monster Beasts that specialized in seeking out spirit grasses and spirit medicines. This Spirit Fox was probably one of them. These kinds of Monster Beasts were incredibly precious and were usually raised by Sects specifically to find treasures.
“En, it grew up with me from a young age.” When the woman talked about the Spirit Fox, she wore a smile on her face. It was a much more natural one than the forced one she had shown before. Reaching out, she lightly touched a small head which had popped out from her robes and was now vigilantly looking towards Yang Kai. Suddenly being reminded of something, she asked, “Would you like to go and find the Golden Sun Fruit Tree with me? Since my Spirit Fox found this Golden Sun Fruit, it means that there was a fruit tree and many more fruits. We can split them half and half if you’d like.”
She seemed very reluctant to accept favours from others. Yang Kai had just helped her a moment ago and she had already given him both the Heaven Battling Union cultivator’s Space ring and the Golden Sun Fruit, but it seemed she didn’t feel it was enough so she made this suggestion.
This was exactly Yang Kai’s original intention. He had wanted to find the Golden Sun Fruit Tree but had no clue where to look, so now that this woman had made him such an offer, he quickly nodded, “Yes.”
Yang Kai could also tell that this woman wasn’t bad or he wouldn’t have agreed so easily. If this wasn’t the case, how could she, a Third-Order Saint King, have proposed to split the fruits evenly with him?
Having reached an agreement, the woman released her Spirit Fox, whispered something into its ear, and then she and Yang Kai followed after it as it ran forward.
Yang Kai had been chasing the Spirit Fox for about half an hour before, but it took the Spirit Fox over an hour to lead them to the place where the Golden Sun Fruit Tree grew because the woman’s speed wasn’t that fast.
There was indeed a Golden Sun Fruit tree growing nearby the place Yang Kai had stopped to take a rest, and it was in a very well hidden location. In a small mountain valley surrounded by steep cliffs, behind a large rocky outcropping stood the ten-metre tall Golden Sun Fruit Tree which seemed to bask in the intense heat surrounding it.
Only this Spirit Fox, a Monster Beast that was extremely good at seeking out spirit grasses and spirit medicines, could have found this Golden Sun Fruit Tree. Even if a cultivator has passed by this place, if they hadn’t stopped and done a thorough investigation, they would have missed it.
Yang Kai and the woman walked into the mountain valley peacefully. Neither asked the other’s name or origin because they both knew that they would part ways after this brief cooperation, so naturally there no need to get to know one another.
A moment later, the two stood beneath the Golden Sun Fruit Tree staring up at the large fruits hanging from its bows with shocked faces.
There seemed to be at least thirty fruits on this tree, each one of them a brilliant and eye-catching red while on the ground there were also a dozen or so fully mature fruits which had fallen from the branches.
It was hard to tell how many years this Golden Sun Fruit Tree had been here or how many fruits had gone to waste during that time.
After staring at it for a while, the woman turned to Yang Kai and said, “I’ll have my Spirit Fox pick all the fruits first before we distribute them.”
“Sure!” Yang Kai naturally had no objections.
On the woman’s order, the little fox-like beast quickly climbed up the Golden Sun Fruit tree and as if leapt from branch to branch, the Golden Sun Fruits fell down one by one.
The woman’s face turned bright as she caught the falling fruits.
When there were no more fruits on the tree, she proceeded to pick up the mature fruits which had fallen to the ground before dividing the whole batch up into two and handing one half to Yang Kai, “There are forty-four in total, so we each get twenty-two.”
Yang Kai gently nodded before tossing his half into his Space Ring.
After the fruits were divided, the woman said, “For this time, I offer you my thanks once more. If there’s a chance in the future, I will definitely repay you.”
“No need, these Golden Sun Fruits are enough,” Yang Kai smiled and shook his head. He had only taken action at will, but the other party had actually treated him so generously that Yang Kai was becoming somewhat embarrassed.
The woman thought for a while but did not insist, instead just nodding, “Since that’s the case, I will take my leave first.”
“Okay, I’ll collect this fruit tree first then also leave!” Yang Kai didn’t conceal his plans. This fruit tree was incredibly old so as long as he could transplant it back to Dragon Cave Mountain, perhaps it could once again bloom and bear fruit. There were no spirit grasses or spirit medicines of note on Dragon Cave Mountain, so this fruit tree would be just right to decorate it.
Moreover, the Divine Tree was sleeping in his Black Book Space, so there was a chance its aura would be able to nourish and support this Golden Sun Fruit Tree.
Of course, even if this transplant effort wasn’t successful, there would be no loss.
“What do you want this fruit tree for?” The woman who was just about to leave stopped in place and stared at Yang Kai strangely. “This kind of spirit tree has very strict requirements for its growth environment. If you take it away from here, perhaps it will die. What’s more, a Space Ring isn’t suitable to store it.”
After speaking these few words though, she suddenly realized that she was inadvertently poking into Yang Kai’s business and smiled awkwardly, asking “Would you like me to help?”
“No thanks, your intentions are more than enough, I can handle this myself.” Yang Kai smiled slightly before stretching out a finger and condensing a long, sharp blade of Saint Qi. Stabbing this blade into the ground, Yang Kai traces a wide circle around the Golden Sun Fruit Tree.
The land around the fruit tree wasn’t anything special so Yang Kai was naturally able to cut through it with ease. In order to not damage any of this Golden Sun Fruit Tree’s roots, Yang Kai carefully used his Divine Sense and Saint Qi.
After completing a circle around the Golden Sun Fruit Tree, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and turned it into a big net that completely covered it.
The next moment, a light flashed, and the ten-metre-tall Golden Sun Fruit Tree disappeared from sight. It had been taken into the Black Book Space by Yang Kai and placed beside the Divine Tree, leaving only a huge pit in its place.
The woman’s eyes flashed an unusual light. Although with her cultivation she could also easily bring such a big spirit tree into her Space Ring, a First-Order Saint like Yang Kai accomplishing such a feat without even breaking a sweat was a bit surprising.
After all, collecting such a huge living thing would put a heavy load onto one’s Divine Sense.
Finished collecting the Golden Sun Fruit Tree, Yang Kai smiled slightly to the woman and was about to bid farewell to her when his brow suddenly furrowed. Wiping the Space ring on his finger, Yang Kai took out his communication artefact.
Just now, when his Divine Sense accidentally swept his Space Ring, he suddenly noticed that a message had been sent to him, something that caught his attention.
This communication artefact was given to him by Wei Gu Chang. Not long after entering the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had found the bodies of two Shadow Moon Hall disciples. At that time, he had tried to contact Wei Gu Chang but had never heard back from him. Yang Kai didn’t know how he or Dong Xuan’er was doing. Now though, after more than a month had passed, Yang Kai had suddenly received a message, which made him very surprised.
Before Yang Kai could even check the content of this message though, the woman standing nearby called out in surprise before asking Yang Kai in a stunned voice, “Are you a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall?”
Yang Kai turned a confused look of his own towards her and asked back, “Why would you think that?”
Although he had some small friendship a few people from Shadow Moon Hall, Yang Kai himself was not from Shadow Moon Hall. Why would this woman suddenly ask him such a question after he took out this communication artefact?
The woman simply smiled lightly and pointed to the communication artefact in Yang Kai’s hand, “The artefact in your hand was made by Shadow Moon Hall’s Grandmaster Ge Lin. It has his unique mark on it. I also have an artefact refined by Grandmaster Ge Lin so I’m quite clear about this. Since you have such a communication artefact, how could you not be related to Shadow Moon Hall? On top of that, only core disciples from Shadow Moon Hall should have this kind of communication artefact.”
For some unknown reason, after suspecting that Yang Kai was a Shadow Moon Hall disciple, the woman’s attitude towards him seemed to improve. Before, she had spoken in a more reserved tone but now her words seemed more natural and relaxed.
Yang Kai gawked for a moment before looking at the spot she was point and noticing a small triangular sign atop the communication artefact.
Grandmaster Ge Lin was a name Yang Kai was familiar with. It was said that he was the only Origin Grade Low-Rank Artefact Refiner in Shadow Moon Hall, one of the few such Grandmasters on all of Shadowed Star. It seemed this small triangle mark was Grandmaster Ge Lin’s personal signature.
This kind of practice was quite normal. Generally, famous Artefact Refiners would possess their own unique mark. After refining an artefact, this mark would be added and not only would it increase the value of an artefact, it would grant the owner of the artefact a lot of face.
This was something Alchemists couldn’t do, because no Alchemist was so idle and bored that he would add a distinctive mark to the pills he refined. Once someone swallowed a pill, it would be gone forever, would anyone show it off before eating it?
This woman was extremely observant; Yang Kai hadn’t even realized this mark existed until she had pointed it out.
Understanding this, Yang Kai nodded and said, “This should have been refined by Grandmaster Ge Lin, but I’m not a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall, this thing was given to me by Wei Gu Chang.”
“Senior Brother Wei gave it to you?” The woman covered her mouth with a look of surprise. She was well aware of Wei Gu Chang’s demeanor; even most of the Core Disciples from Shadow Moon Hall weren’t put in his eyes. Besides Dong Xuan’er, no one else was even able to enter his discernment, yet Wei Gu Chang had actually given Yang Kai this communication artefact. What did that imply?
“Do you know Brother Wei?” Yang Kai was surprised this time. He hadn’t expected a random woman he met to have some kind of friendship with Wei Gu Chang.
“En, I’m know him because I’m familiar with Xuan’er…” The woman smiled sweetly and said, but suddenly realizing something, her expression sank as she hurriedly said, “Did Senior Brother Wei send you a message? Take a look quickly!”
The ones capable of reaching this place were the Core Disciples of Shadow Moon Hall, so it was very likely that Wei Gu Chang was the one who had sent a message. The most likely reason he had sent out a message though would be because he encountered some kind of danger.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had always been inseparable, so if Wei Gu Chang was in danger, Dong Xuan’er must be as well. Realizing this point, the woman became anxious and quickly urged Yang Kai.
This woman’s sudden anxiety surprised Yang Kai. He didn’t know what kind of background this woman had but it was clear from her sudden reaction just now that she was very close with Dong Xuan’er.
Not wasting any more time, Yang Kai poured his Divine Sense into the communication artefact to investigate as the woman stared towards him nervously.
A moment later, Yang Kai frowned, looked up, and said, “Brother Wei indeed sent out a message, and it seems he’s ran into some trouble.”
“What happened?” The woman asked hurriedly.
“They seem to have fallen into some kind of ancient Spirit Array and can’t escape. They were only able to send out a message calling for help. I sent a message back, but they haven’t replied,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head.
“An ancient Spirit Array?” The woman turned pale, “Is Little Sister Xuan’er alright?”
“I don’t know,” Yang Kai shook his head, “Only Brother Wei sent out a message, I haven’t heard anything from or about anyone else.”
Upon hearing this, the woman’s complexion improved slightly, and she began muttering to herself under her breath, “Little Sister Xuan’er should be together with Senior Brother Wei, so only Senior Brother Wei sent out a message. Do you know where they are?”
Yang Kai shook his head again, “I didn’t hear anything from Brother Wei, but I should soon. If he really is calling for help, he’ll definitely report his position, and since I can receive a message from him, he shouldn’t be too far from here.”
If they were too far away, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been able to receive a message from him.
“Alright!” The woman gently nodded. Although she understood what Yang Kai said, her two small hands still clenched into fists as she stared at the communication artefact in Yang Kai’s hand with some anxiety.
Yang Kai was now absolutely sure that this woman’s relationship with Dong Xuan’er wasn’t light, otherwise she wouldn’t be acting so tense. Just when Yang Kai looked over at her, the woman’s pair of beautiful eyes also happened to meet his, and seemingly realizing she was acting a bit improper, she couldn’t help smiling awkwardly.
“It’s here!” Yang Kai suddenly exclaimed, and as he expected, Wei Gu Chang had reported his position. After carefully noting the details of this message, Yang Kai looked up towards the woman and asked, “Brother Wei said they were about a hundred kilometres west of a giant piece of Silver Star Ore… Have you seen such a landmark?”
“Silver Star Ore?” The woman smiled, “I know where that is, I came across it once before.”
“Lead the way!” Yang Kai was a decisive person and immediately put away his communication artefact as he motioned to the woman.
The woman nodded and quickly used her movement skill to rush off, following closely by Yang Kai.
Nothing was said along the way, and they also didn’t encounter any danger or other cultivators. About half a day later, a massive piece of ore at least three hundred metres tall appeared in front of the two. Standing erect amidst the fiery red landscape, this piece of ore seemed as if it had been untouched since ancient times, giving it a desolate aura.
When he saw this huge ore, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown.
He had heard about Silver Star Ore before and could help wanting to take it away. Silver Star Ore was an excellent Artefact Refining material. When refining an artefact, if some Silver Star Ore could be added, it would improve the resilience of an artefact, meaning that it was less likely to be destroyed in combat, as such, it was quite valuable. A fist-sized piece of Silver Star Ore could easily sell for tens of thousands of Saint Crystals; it was a treasure which was difficult to acquire even if one had money.
Now, seeing such a huge piece of Silver Star Ore in front of him, Yang Kai couldn’t help freezing in place.
Something like this couldn’t be put into his Black Book Space as is.
If it were another type of ore, Yang Kai would have broken it down into pieces, but Silver Star Ore was incredibly firm so he would have to first melt it down with his Saint Qi to collect it. Such a task would take more than a day or two.
It would have been perfect if the Stone Puppet was here, but unfortunately, the Stone Puppet had been confiscated by Yang Yan before he departed, so such thoughts were useless. Yang Kai glanced at this huge piece of Silver Star Ore with a look of reluctance before turning his eyes away indifferently.
“This is it,” The woman, who was leading the way, called out.
Yang Kai nodded, “A hundred kilometres to the west!”
Saying so, he took out his Yuan Magnetic Compass, determined his bearings, then rushed off again.
Silavin: Yang Yan!! TT^TT
I wonder if she heard of this, would she be crying? I mean, Yang Kai had seen so many precious ores that if he brought the stone puppet, it would have definitely given her, years of materials to work with.
Fearing for Dong Xuan’er’s safety in her heart, the woman almost used all her strength to raise her speed. At first, she was worried that Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to keep up with her and deliberately slowed down, but when she saw him running beside her with ease, she gradually increased her pace.
Now, Yang Kai was actually leading the way.
This startled her greatly but remembering that he was able to chase down her Spirit Fox in this Flowing Flame Sand Field, she realized Yang Kai had probably not yet reached his limit. He was now the one holding back for her.
Hesitating for a moment, the woman suddenly said, “Junior Brother…”
“Hm?” Yang Kai turned his head and looked at her curiously, not knowing why she was calling out to him. As for being called Junior Brother, seeing how this woman’s cultivation was two Minor Realms higher than his own, Yang Kai didn’t see anything wrong with it.
“If you can move faster, you don’t need to concern yourself with me, just go all out, I can keep up.”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a strange light as he realized that this woman had also not used her full strength yet. It seemed that any cultivator who could reach the Third-Order Saint King Realm would have some hidden means.
Not saying anything, Yang Kai simply nodded before directly increasing his speed to its maximum, his figure turning blurry as he darted forward.
Yang Kai didn’t use his Wind and Thunder Wings though because he was certain that once he did, even if this woman had some secret technique, he would instantly throw her off.
A burst of Saint Qi fluctuations suddenly appeared behind Yang Kai as the woman used some unknown method. In any case, Yang Kai could feel that this woman’s strength had also increased greatly, and she was following close behind him.
However, after increasing her speed like this, her breathing ceased, as if she had inhaled deeply then held all the air inside her chest.
A hundred kilometres from the massive Silver Star Ore, there was a huge lake of lava. This lava was extremely hot and seemed capable of melting down anything it touched. The lava was dark and thick, and there were constantly huge bubbles rising to its surface, bursting apart with gurgling sounds, releasing a black mist which contained an incredibly corrosive fire poison.
The lava lake gave off an apocalyptic aura that made anyone who laid eyes upon it shudder.
At the center of the lava lake was a tortoise shell floating on its surface. This tortoise shell was ten metres in diameter and seemed to originally be a yellowish-brown colour. However, after baking in this lava lake, it had become dark red and was exuding a hot aura., it even had spider web of cracks running across its surface.
Through these cracks, the scorching aura of the lava lake seeped upwards, tormenting a group of young men and women who were struggling atop the tortoise shell.
This group of people were the Core Disciples of Shadow Moon Hall let by Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er. In addition to the two of them, there are two other men and one woman for a total of five people.
The area of the tortoiseshell wasn’t very big, just wide enough for five people to stand comfortably together on.
At this moment, all five of them had pale faces and their Saint Qi’s fluctuations were quite faint.
Wei Gu Chang was in the best condition of the five, but he had long lost his heroic bearing, his face filled with bitterness and annoyance. Only when he glanced over at Dong Xuan’er would a flash of tenderness and calm fill in expression. Seeing his beloved woman standing beside him in this harrowing situation, Wei Gu Chang would feel strength return to his body. If not for this emotional support, he would not have been able to endure this torment for so long, and once he fell, the other Shadow Moon Hall disciples would surely be wiped out.
Dong Xuan’er still wore the same gentle and quiet look. Since falling into this formation, she had not uttered a word of complaint, only occasionally cheering up her fellow Sect Brothers and Sisters, encouraging them to hold on, but how could this white-robed, always sweetly smiling woman who seemed as if she would be happy even if the sky were to collapse as long as Wei Gu Chang was beside her, not be a dry oil lamp?
Her calm exterior was just an act she was keeping up through force of will. She had the same mindset as Wei Gu Chang; that was, she couldn’t let her Junior Brothers and Junior Sister see her weakness and discouragement.
Once either of the two of them lost hope, the situation would only get worse.
The situation of the three others Shadow Moon Hall Core Disciples on the other hand was extremely bad. The faces of the two male disciples were filled with gloom, as if covered by dark clouds that blocked out all light of hope. They were constantly muttering to themselves under their breath, the threat of death seemingly having thrown their minds into chaos.
Another tall woman in a red dress was also completely overwhelmed, streaks of tears clearly visible running down her cheeks. She was almost mechanically pouring her Saint Qi into the tortoise shell now to help activate its defensive properties.
But whether it was Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, or the other three Shadow Moon Hall disciples, all of them knew that if no one came to rescue them within a day or two, they would definitely die.
They had been trapped here for too long now and had all but completely consumed their Saint Qi reserves. On top of that, in this damned place, they could not use their Secret Arts and could only rely on Saint Crystals and pills to restore themselves.
Their situation had been tolerable when they still had pills, but they have run out a few days ago, no matter how they tried to draw energy from the Saint Crystals they had on hand, they couldn’t keep up with their consumption.
The Artefact Armour each of them wore was now completely dim as they couldn’t spare any Saint Qi to activate them.
If they were merely stranded in the middle of this lava lake atop this tortoiseshell, it wouldn’t be difficult for these five Shadow Moon Hall Core Disciples to escape.
What made them helpless though, was that no matter how they urged the tortoiseshell under their feet, it remained motionless, as if there was some mysterious power coming from the lava lake which firmly held them in place.
To make matters worse, there was some kind of Spirit Array inside this lava lake that would from time to time cause pillars of lava to shoot up towards them from all directions, causing them incredible danger. Fortunately, Wei Gu Chang had so far been able to use his superior strength to avert these crises, allowing the five of them to survive until now.
However, in exchange, his body was now covered with dark red burns and scars that had turned black from the invading fire poison. Wei Gu Chang had no extra strength to expel this fire poison and could only do his best to ignore it as it gradually ate away at his strength and vitality.
Gradually, traces of this black aura began appearing on Wei Gu Chang’s pale face, making him look terribly morbid.
“Senior Brother…” Dong Xuan’er saw this and couldn’t help trembling, almost bursting out into tears as she cried out, “I’m sorry!”
Wei Gu Chang grinned and declared in the most spirited voice he could manage, “Among the two of us, there’s nothing you need to apologize for, so don’t speak such distant words in the future.”
“But if it weren’t for me wanting to explore this place, we wouldn’t have fallen into this trap!” Dong Xuan’er’s beautiful eyes dimmed.
It was precisely because she had noticed that there was something odd about this place that she had begun investigating it. But as soon as the five of them had stepped into this area, the ground had cracked open and sank into the burning hot lava lake, trapping them in place.
Unable to fly here, the five of them could depend upon this tortoise shell to barely maintain their lives, but it was impossible for them to leave this place.
This tortoise shell was left behind after some unknown Tenth-Order Monster Beast that was abnormally strong, so even after it had been baked in this lava lake for more than a month, it still hadn’t broken, but it did have many thin cracks.
After all this time, the tortoise shell wasn’t looking very good and seemed as if it was on the verge of breaking.
“Don’t say that, any place that has benefits also has dangers, and the five of us all agreed to explore here, it has nothing to do with you,” Wei Gu Chang said calmly, “If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t have found that treasure. After leaving here, we’ll divide that thing up evenly and everyone’s strength will surely increase a lot.”
“Will we be able to leave here?” The tall woman in the red dress looked over at Wei Gu Chang, tears suddenly leaking from her big eyes again, “Senior Brother Gu and Junior Sister Liu died just after we entered the third layer… Are their resentful souls now retaliating against us for failing to save them?”
Hearing this woman’s words, the other two male disciples’ faces changed greatly. Seemingly recalling the situation from more than a month ago, their already pale complexions went even whiter.
Wei Gu Chang shot her a sharp glare and coldly declared, “Junior Brother Gu and Junior Sister Liu were killed by Fire Spirit Beasts, it wasn’t that we didn’t try to save them, it’s that we were too weak to do so. The will of the Heaven’s is inescapable, but our current predicament has nothing to do with them, don’t think about such pointless things.”
The death of their Junior Brother and Junior Sister had left a great psychological shadow on the others, because before entering the Flowing Flame Sand Field, each of them had been extremely self-confident. They were all Core Disciples with superior aptitude and strength, each of them not thinking much of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, only imagining that with their skills, they would obtain enough benefits here and amaze their peers and Elders after leaving.
The first and second layers had indeed not posed a challenge to them and could even be described as free of danger, but just after they entered the third layer, two of their group had died!
Two companions who they had lived and cultivated together with for many years, who they were laughing and joking together with just moments ago, died tragically right before their eyes; weighing heavily in their hearts.
Although Wei Gu Chang was quite put off by such negative thoughts, he could understand what his Juniors were feeling so he did not reprimand them too harshly.
If Wei Gu Chang had not constantly been running around outside and had instead taken the same path as the others here, remaining inside the Sect all the time to cultivate, his mental endurance would not be so strong. Sure enough, flowers raised in a greenhouse that had not experienced great wind and rain were unable to grow up to be truly strong.
These so-called elite Core Disciples all performed magnificently inside the Sect, each of them earning praises as favoured Sons and Daughters of Heaven and the worship of countless Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters. When they compared notes and sparred with one another, each of them acted swift and fierce, but the moment they came out into the real world, all kinds of problems immediately became apparent. If they managed to survive and return home, Wei Gu Chang secretly made up his mind to talk to his Master and Elder Qian about this issue. If all of Shadow Moon Hall’s disciples continued to act like this in the future, the Sect would surely be destroyed in short order.
“Senior Brother, you sent a message to Junior Brother Yang didn’t you? Has he responded?” Dong Xuan’er suddenly looked at Wei Gu Chang and asked.
“No…” Wei Gu Chang smiled bitterly.
“Could Junior Brother Yang have…” Dong Xuan’er said restlessly, a look of worry appearing on her face.
“Do you think he would fall here?” Wei Gu Chang chuckled then shook his head, “He shouldn’t have, with his strength and ability, as long as his luck isn’t as bad as ours and fell into a formation, he would certainly not have fallen.”
“Then why haven’t we heard back from him?” Dong Xuan’er’s beautiful eyes flashed a hint of sadness as she subconsciously thought that Yang Kai had also encountered some kind of misfortune which was why he wasn’t replying to them.
Wei Gu Chang didn’t know how to answer immediately but after hesitating for a moment he sighed and said, “Perhaps Brother Yang hasn’t checked his communication artefact for messages. Before we came in, I felt like he wanted to act alone, so although I sent him a message, if he isn’t checking for messages, how could he know that we’re stuck here and can’t escape? Unfortunately… besides him, there’s no one else we can ask for help from. With his skill, he is certainly in the third layer, so all we can do now is hope our luck hasn’t completely run out.”
“Senior Brother Wei, the lava is about to erupted again!” One of the two male disciples suddenly exclaimed nervously.
Hearing this, the other four all paled and looked out to discover that the lava lake, which had been fairly calm just now, suddenly seemed to be boiling up, with many more bubbles rising to the surface, releasing black plumes of fire poison, the burning, corrosive heat quickly spreading towards their group of five.
Wei Gu Chang coldly snorted and waved his arm in a wide arc, releasing a burst of scarlet light that blocked the fire poison and corrosive heat from reaching them.
However, by just slightly moving, Wei Gu Chang’s body began to shudder slightly. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t fear this fire poison and corrosive heat, but now he was an arrow at the end of its flight so any means he used would put a huge load on him.
“It’s here!” The same male disciple trembled and shouted as he saw the dark red lava surge up from the lake in great pillars before crashing towards them from all directions.
Such a scene had occurred countless times this past month and each time it did, their group of five would work together to keep off these eruptions, but this time things seemed a little different.
“Why are there so many?” The tall woman saw the number of pillars erupting and her beautiful face changed color, almost freezing up completely.
The number of attacks the lava lake was putting out this time seemed far greater than before. Up until now, they had been able to reluctantly cope with these periodic eruptions, but with Wei Gu Chang having suffered multiple injuries and everyone else far from their peak condition, how were they supposed to resist this wave of attacks?
[It is the end!] The tall female disciple and the other two male disciple faces went ashen as they stared blankly at the lava columns shooting towards them, all of them giving up resisting as they stared out helplessly.“Don’t panic!” Wei Gu Chang roared as he and Dong Xuan’er poured all their remaining strength into the tortoiseshell to activate its protective effects.
From the crimson baked tortoiseshell, the layer of blue light suddenly appeared. This light curtain contained a potent Water Attribute aura which enveloped the group of five.
*Chi chi chi…*
The lava columns flew over and all impacted on the light curtain. The blue halo of light trembled greatly and after the first wave of attacks was already teetering on the edge of destruction.
When the second wave of attacks struck the barrier, it shattered completely.
Wei Gu Chang’s blood ran cold, knowing that this time, they were truly doomed. If his three Junior Brothers and Junior Sister hadn’t resigned themselves to death and were supporting them, they would have been able to hold out for a few more breaths, but with just him and Xuan’er, they were unable to maintain the protective halo of this tortoise shell.
So be it! Dying inside this strange ancient Spirit Array was not something to be ashamed of, it was just…
Wei Gu Chang turned his head to look at Dong Xuan’er, their four eyes meeting suddenly, both of them smiling lightly, with no need for any words.
*Shua shua shua…*
A series of strange sounds sudden echoed, as if from a great distance away, bursts of energy were being shot out. Immediately after, around the tortoise shell, many shields condensed from black flames appeared side by side, covering the group of five completely.
The lava pillars continued crashing towards them but all of them were blocked by these shields. Many shields ruptured by this assault but would be replaced as quickly as they were destroyed, forming a firm protective layer around the tortoise shell.
Immediately after, from the direction the original sound came from, a giant black sword cleaved through the air, sweeping across the many lava columns and cutting them in half.
Having survived certain death, all five people on the tortoise shell couldn’t help calling out in surprise and turning their heads towards the location where the black sword had appeared.
“Brother Yang!” Wei Gu Chang saw the person who had rescued them at the critical moment was actually Yang Kai and burst into laughter. At this moment, Yang Kai was standing on the shore of the lava lake, holding a jet black sword as if he was some ancient demon god, constantly slashing and chopping the lava columns in front of him.
“Catch!” While reducing the pressure for Wei Gu Chang and the others, Yang Kai took out his purple shield and tossed it over to them with all his strength.
This shield was his artefact, and only he could display its full power, but even by itself, it was extremely solid as it was refined from the carapace of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast renounced for its defense ability. Wei Gu Chang could use it temporarily to protect himself and the others around him.
The purple shield turned into a purple stream of light and flew towards Wei Gu Chang.
Catching the shield, Wei Gu Chang immediately held it towards the densest grouping of lava columns while yelling out to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, simple thanks are not enough for this kindness, I will find a way to express my gratitude after passing this tribulation.”
“Good, take this as well!” Yang Kai nodded before tossing over a jade bottle.
This time, Dong Xuan’er was the one to catch it. Opening the bottle and looking inside, she called out happily, “Snow and Ice Pills!”
Her Junior Brothers and Junior Sister from Shadow Moon Hall were also overjoyed and quickly said, “Senior Sister Dong, quickly give us one too!”
Their group’s pills had already been consumed clean a while ago, so the arrival of these Snow and Ice Pills could only be described as sending charcoal in the snowy weather. Taking one of these pills would greatly reduce the pressure they felt.
Dong Xuan’er nodded strongly while pouring out the Snow and Ice Pills giving them one by one to her three Juniors, stuffing one into Wei Gu Chang’s mouth, then finally taking one for herself.
As the Snow and Ice Pills entered their stomachs, a cold chill suddenly burst out inside their bodies, dissipating the unbearable heat and fire poison while simultaneously lifting their weary spirits. Having seen hope once more, the three forlorn Shadow Moon Hall disciples were no longer willing to give up on life, each of them displaying their own means to block the lava pillars which were still battering the Grand Heavenly Shields.
On the shore of lava lake, Yang Kai used his Profound Heavenly Sword to help reduce the pressure Wei Gu Chang’s group had to face while also using his Saint Qi to condense new Grand Heavenly Shields to protect them.
The ugly woman who had been following him also arrived at the shore of the lava lake and began gasping for breath.
Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of profound technique she had used, but the entire way here, she had not been breathing and didn’t begin again until they arrived at their destination.
Seeing that the situation was critical, she silently threw out a cloth-like artefact that instantly transformed into a pink coloured cloud and began flying around Wei Gu Chang and the others. Any lava pillar that was covered by this pink cloud was quickly scattered.
“En, isn’t this?” Dong Xuan’er recognized this artefact at a glance and thoughtfully glanced over to the shore. After seeing the figure of the ugly woman, she was pleasantly surprised, “How did Elder Sister Dai Yuan end up together with Senior Brother Yang.”
As far as Dong Xuan’er knew, Dai Yuan always wandered about alone because of her appearance, even unwilling to travel together with those from her Sect. Yang Kai also seemed to be a person who preferred acting independently, so it was weird the two of them had come here together.
“Perhaps they met each other on the road,” Wei Gu Chang laughed and said in high spirits, “No matter the reason, we shouldn’t have a problem overcoming this disaster now; Brother Yang will be able to find a way to get us out of here.”
“En, Elder Sister Dai Yuan’s Snow Silk should be able to resist the lava here,” Dong Xuan’er’s mood was also quite good, and when the three other Shadow Moon Hall disciples heard their Senior Sister and Senior Brother speak so, they too smiled happily, sweeping away their previous gloom and despair.
The lethality of the lava lake’s eruptions wasn’t actually that great, but the force keeping them trapped in its centre was rendering Wei Gu Chang and the others helpless. However, with the help of Yang Kai and the woman named Dai Yuan, Wei Gu Chang and his group of five didn’t need to worry about this anymore and could simply focus on protecting themselves.
After the lava lake calmed down once more, everyone secretly exhaled. The feeling of escaping from death was not something one could experience often.
Wei Gu Chang and the others sat down on the tortoiseshell for a moment to stabilize their breathing. A short time later, Wei Gu Chang stood up and yelled over to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, don’t rush into this lava lake, even my Origin Grade artefact wasn’t able to resist it and was quickly melted down.”
“How do we get you out then?” Yang Kai had already examined this lava lake while Wei Gu Chang’s group was restoring themselves and realized how extraordinary it was. Even with his strength, he didn’t dare to easily enter it. It was as he was wondering what to do that Wei Gu Chang called out to him.
“Just ask Junior Sister Dai Yuan to help,” Wei Gu Chang smiled at the woman beside Yang Kai.
[So her name is Dai Yuan!] Yang Kai actually didn’t know this woman’s name until now.Hearing this, Dai Yuan bit her red lip lightly before saying to Wei Gu Chang, “I don’t know if my Snow Silk can resist this lava. If it gets destroyed, I’ll have to think up another solution.”
“I know, if your Snow Silk is ruined, I promise I will compensate Junior Sister Dai Yuan,” Wei Gu Chang nodded.
“Who cares about your compensation? I just want to rescue Sister Xuan’er,” Dai Yuan snorted, making no effort to hide her dislike of Wei Gu Chang, causing the other side to smile awkwardly.
That being said, she still quickly took out the white silk thread that Yang Kai had previously seen.
Before, when Yang Kai had seen Dai Yuan fighting that Heaven Battling Union disciple, she was using this thing. At that time, Yang Kai hadn’t been able to figure out what it was but now he understood that it was actually the Snow Silk!
Snow silkworms were extremely rare and could only survive in extremely cold environments. Snow silkworm larvae did not spin silk, only after they matured for two to three hundred years would they begin producing silk, and even then, they would only produce a tiny amount once every ten years. To refine an artefact from such a material would take at least several hundred years of accumulation.
This woman named Dai Yuan having an artefact made from Snow Silk was quite surprising for Yang Kai.
Her being acquainted with Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er, and possessing such a treasure meant that her status wasn’t low.
While Yang Kai was pondering her origins, Dai Yuan arrived at the lava lake’s shore, her brow furrowing somewhat as she probed it with her Divine Sense. Only after quite some time did she summon her Snow Silk artefact, a solemn look upon her face as she did.
With a flick of her wrist, a tiny, almost invisible snow-white silk line shot out from her fingertips and flew out a couple of dozen metres.
However, such a length wasn’t nearly long enough as the tortoiseshell that Wei Gu Chang and the others were standing on was at least a hundred metres from the shore. The Snow Silk only shot out halfway before it fell down. Once it entered the lava lake, the icy cold power contained within it and the scorching heat of the lava clashed fiercely, white water vapour bursting out, shrouding almost the entire area in a thick mist.
Dai Yuan’s face expression became more and more dignified as she poured more and more of her Saint Qi into the Snow Silk in order to resist the burning heat of the lava. At the same time, she was doing her best to extend her Snow Silk to Wei Gu Chang and the others.
Everyone was nervously watching her movements, with the five atop the tortoiseshell particularly worried.
Although Dai Yuan’s Snow Silk was a potent Ice Attribute artefact, whether it could resist the scorching heat of the lava lake was unknown. After all, the artefacts of Wei Gu Chang and the others had been damaged severely here, with one or two of them nearly destroyed. Among these artefacts, there were many at Origin Grade.
If even a specialized artefact like the Snow Silk couldn’t overcome the lava lake, then their group could only wait to die.
As water vapour surged, Dai Yuan bit her red lip hard, gripping her hand tightly as she changed the method she was using somehow, causing the cold from the Snow Silk to suddenly surge and instantly suppress the scorching of lava.
A crisp cracking sound soon spread.
A frozen trail suddenly began spreading over the lava lake at a speed visible to the naked eye. This trail was only one finger wide, but it was spreading towards Wei Gu Chang and his group at a very fast speed.
Everyone was overjoyed as they could clearly see that this frozen trail across the lava was being created by the cold energy from the Snow Silk.
In the blink of an eye, the frozen trail stretched about thirty metres forward, but once it reached that point, its speed of extension began to reduce.
Yang Kai, who had been observing Dai Yuan’s movements, also noticed that her face had taken on an abnormal flush, obviously indicating that was reaching her limits.
Sure enough, the frozen trail’s speed of advance continued to slow and eventually came to a halt two-thirds of the way to the tortoiseshell. Not only was it unable to advance any further, but there were also signs of the frozen trail beginning to melt.
When they saw this scene, the faces of the five people who were standing on the tortoiseshell waiting for rescue darkened. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were more resilient and their looks soon return to normal, but the other three Shadow Moon Hall disciples’ expressions had once again become distraught.
They thought they could be rescued easily and had full confidence in Dai Yuan, but now it seems that Dai Yuan’s abilities weren’t quite enough, so their moods immediately plummeted.
Across the hundred-metre distance, Dai Yuan and Dong Xuan’er stared at each other. Dong Xuan’er’s eyes were full of worry, not about herself though. She was worried that Dai Yuan would do something reckless and greatly harm herself in order to try to save them.
Sure enough, Dai Yuan grit her teeth and a look of determination flashed across her face. Biting the tip of her tongue, she spat out a mouthful of blood mist onto her Snow Silk, turning it from pure white to bright red. The cold aura coming from the Snow Silk soared and the frozen path that had originally shown signs of melting froze over again with the Snow Silk also advancing forward once more, lengthening the frozen track further.
Yang Kai frowned. He had been paying close attention to Dai Yuan’s actions, and after she spat out her own Blood Essence, he too began to move.
He could see that even if Dai Yuan sacrificed her Blood Essence to drive her Snow Silk, she might not be able to extend it all the way to Wei Gu Chang and the others. Even if she did manage to reach them, in their current state, Wei Gu Chang and the others had no way to use this Snow Silk to save themselves.
This silk thread was extremely cold and sharp, not something Wei Gu Chang and the others could resist.
Therefore, he had to go himself. Fortunately, with the frozen track already spanning most of the distance, Yang Kai was confident he could make it to them.
As the frozen trail continued to spread towards the tortoiseshell, Yang Kai shot out like a thunderbolt, racing across the frozen track towards the centre of the lava lake.
Seeing this scene, Wei Gu Chang’s eyes couldn’t help being moved. How could he not see what Yang Kai wanted to do? Not saying any nonsense, he quickly warned, “Brother Yang, don’t underestimate this Snow Silk artefact, even if Junior Sister Dai Yuan isn’t aiming it at you, its coldness and sharpness cannot be easily resisted.”
“I know!” Yang Kai responded lightly as he reached the end of the frozen trail. At this moment, Yang Kai was only fifteen metres or so from the tortoiseshell. Although it was still spreading forward, its speed had once again begun to drop.
Yang Kai didn’t wait for Dai Yuan to drive her artefact forward and instead condensed a thick layer of Demonic Flame on his hand and grabbed towards the end of the frozen track.
With a crack, a small chunk of the frozen trail was broken off by Yang Kai, and when he lifted his hand back up, it was clearly gripping the red Snow Silk.
Everyone was stunned, and even Dai Yuan was surprised by Yang Kai’s boldness, her eyes filling with shock and astonishment.
For an ordinary cultivator, let alone holding her Snow Silk, even approaching it was enough to cause them to go stiff from the cold aura, but Yang Kai was actually able to hold it in his hand. On top of that, forget about being frozen, his palm was barely even cut, with only a drop of golden blood dripping from the gaps between his five fingers.
However, Dai Yuan was also not an ordinary woman. After a moment of shock, she immediately composed herself and began fully cooperating with Yang Kai to keep extending her Snow Silk.
Just now, when it was in the lava, it had been very difficult for her to extend her Snow Silk. This was only natural because of the scorching heat it gave off, but now that the Snow Silk was being held by Yang Kai, she could much more easily manipulate it.
The Snow Silk immediately began stretching and as Yang Kai held one end it in his hand, he condensed a Grand Heavenly Shield in front of himself atop the lava, leapt off the frozen track, and continued forward.
The moment Yang Kai stepped out, he condensed a second Grand Heavenly Shield further ahead and leapt to it. As Yang Kai jumped, the first Grand Heavenly Shield behind him burst apart as it struck the lava. The situation was extremely nerve-wracking to watch, and all five Shadow Moon Hall disciples were staring in trepidation, praying Yang Kai would not misstep and land in the lava lake.
With just fifteen metres to the tortoiseshell, Yang Kai only needed a dozen steps to arrive. Wei Gu Chang and the others had already opened up a place for him to land.
After arriving on the tortoiseshell, Yang Kai simply nodded to Wei Gu Chang before tying the Snow Silk in his hand to it. After confirming that they were firmly attached, Yang Kai looked to Wei Gu Chang and said, “I should be able to take two back with me at a time, who’s first?”
Wei Gu Chang didn’t even hesitate to point to tall woman and the younger-looking male disciple, “Take them.”
Dong Xuan’er also nodded, agreeing with Wei Gu Chang.
Yang Kai nodded, grabbed the two in question before shooting a glance over towards Dai Yuan on the shore. Seeing this, Dai Yuan’s face became solemn as she poured her Saint Qi into the Snow Silk, causing it to go taut. Yang Kai then leapt off the tortoiseshell onto the Snow Silk and began running back.
Condensing Grand Heavenly Shields and using them as footholds was only a stopgap measure. The temperature of the lava was too high, so even Yang Kai’s Grand Heavenly Shields could only appear for a moment. Any kind of accident would result in him falling into the lava lake. Yang Kai rushing over just how was extremely risky, so now that he was returning, he would rather suffer injuries from stepping on the Snow Silk than using such an unstable method.
The male disciple was sandwiched by Yang Kai under his armpit and had turned pale as his eyes went wide staring straight down at the lava lake below without moving.
The tall female disciple, on the other hand, was doing the exact opposite, grabbing onto Yang Kai tightly, pressing two extremely elastic peaks up against his chest as she closed her beautiful eyes tightly. It was as if she would rather die than face the terrible lava.
Men and women seemed to have very different reactions when facing danger.
Soon though, Yang Kai returned to the shore and put down the two Shadow Moon Hall disciples, allowing them to finally gasp for breath. The female disciple even held her hands over her well-rounded chest as a look of happiness spread across her face having survived this disaster.
After Yang Kai returned, Dai Yuan tried to drag the tortoiseshell back but found that it was completely stuck in the lava lake and would not move. No matter how she pushed her Saint Qi, she couldn’t budge it.
In desperation, she could only turn to Yang Kai, glancing at his blood-stained feet for a moment before wearing a look of entreaty her face.
Among the people present, she needed to control her Snow Silk to form the simple frozen passage while Wei Gu Chang and the other Shadow Moon Hall disciples were all arrows at the end of their flight. It was impossible to make them come ashore themselves, so the only one who could save them now was Yang Kai.
However, Yang Kai had suffered some injuries just now, and Dai Yuan didn’t know if he would be able to make another trip without cutting off his own feet.
Dai Yuan had clearly underestimated Yang Kai’s ability though. Although the Snow Silk’s sharpness had surprised Yang Kai and had even caused some injuries to him, it was quite impossible for it to seriously wound him.
Whether it was the cuts on his palm or his feet, they had all been completely restored at this moment. The Golden Blood’s restorative powers had displayed their power once more, even expelling the Snow Silk’s cold energy which had seeped into his body.
What made Dai Yuan feel relieved was that before she could even ask, Yang Kai took the initiative to return, allowing her to secretly breathe a sigh of relief. She thought that this person’s friendship with Wei Gu Chang must be quite close, otherwise, how could he be willing to take such a great risk to save their lives?
Not long after, the remaining three people were brought ashore.
Strangely enough, after everyone had left the lava lake, the originally roiling lava that had been bubbling and erupting just a moment ago actually began sinking into the ground. Ten breathes later, the lava lake which had trapped Wei Gu Chang and the others for over a month completely disappeared.
All that remained was cracked earth and the roasted red tortoiseshell. The lava had been replaced by the same generic red ground that could be found everywhere, as if everything they had experienced and all the suffering they had gone through had all been an illusion.
This ancient Spirit Array stunned even Yang Kai and he understood now why Wei Gu Chang and the others would have fallen into this inescapable trap. If it had been him, he would certainly have fallen into it as well.
However, Yang Kai was also certain he wouldn’t have been trapped here for long. In terms of Saint Qi density and purity, Wei Gu Chang and the other Shadow Moon Hall disciples here couldn’t match him, and he could have used his Grand Heavenly Shields as supports to escape from the lava lake.
The Saint Qi of Wei Gu Chang and the others weren’t capable of replicating this.
After the lava lake disappeared, the force which had been holding the tortoiseshell in place disappeared and Dai Yuan easily dragged it over to them.
This tortoiseshell was of great interest to Yang Kai. He was profoundly aware of how lethal the lava had been yet this tortoiseshell, which seemed plain and ordinary, was actually able to float atop that same lava for so long. It definitely wasn’t ordinary.
While Wei Gu Chang and the others were adjusting their breathing, Yang Kai studied the tortoiseshell.
The tortoiseshell was full of crisscrossing marks and at first glance, it was obviously something very old. This turtle was definitely a long-lived Monster Beast and should have had a life at least thousands of years old. This tortoiseshell was filled with marks of age.
“This is the tortoiseshell of the Tenth-Order Monster Beast, the Black Water Turtle,” While Yang Kai was studying it, a pleasant voice suddenly called out from beside him. Without needing to turn back, he knew it was Dai Yuan.
“You know about it?” Yang Kai glanced over at her curiously.
“En, I saw records of it in some ancient books,” Dai Yuan squatted down and reached out her jade hand to stroke the patterns on the tortoise shell’s surface, a hint of sadness flashing across her face, “I don’t know why it was killed, but its tortoiseshell had some simple refining done to it. If not for that, Little Sister Xuan’er and them wouldn’t have been able to use their own strength to activate its protective water barrier. I really can’t believe that even a Tenth-Order Monster Beast would appear in this place. It seems we’ll need to be extra cautious in the future.”
A Tenth-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to an Origin King Realm master! Forget about Tenth-Order, even Ninth-Order Monster Beasts were rare existences on Shadowed Star. If a Tenth-Order Monster Beast existed outside, it would definitely be an invincible existence in this world and would bring great calamity to the entire Shadowed Star.
“There probably aren’t any Tenth-Order Monster Beasts here, or rather they were here long ago but are now long gone,” Yang Kai spoke thoughtfully.
“How can you be so sure?” Dai Yuan looked at him strangely.
“Just a hunch,” Yang Kai chuckled without explaining.
He had obtained some Soul Cleansing Divine Water in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so he knew that an Origin King had died here at some point. Since an Origin King Realm master had died here, it wasn’t that unusual for a Tenth-Order Monster Beast to have died here as well.
After experiencing so many things here, Yang Kai faintly felt that there was more to this Flowing Flame Sand Field that me the eye. At the very least, it was no ordinary Forbidden Zone. It must be hiding some great secrets. This time, the danger of the third layer had been greatly weakened, allowing many elites to enter, but it was a mystery as to what had precipitated this change.
Seeing Yang Kai’s unwillingness to say any more, Dai Yuan didn’t continue to ask, instead just smiling and saying to Yang Kai, “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Dai Yuan, a disciple of Coloured Glass Sect!”
“Coloured Glass Sect?” Yang Kai was taken aback, “Who is Yin Su Die to you?”
Listening to Yang Kai mention Yin Su Die, Dai Yuan’s eyes flashed a faint light of dislike but soon returned to normal as she replied lightly, “She’s my Junior Sister.”
Why her tone had suddenly become desolate was probably because Yang Kai’s first reaction to hearing the name Coloured Glass Sect was to ask about Yin Su Die.
This couldn’t be blamed on Yang Kai though, as the only thing he knew about Coloured Glass Sect was that Yin Su Die came from it. He hadn’t been on Shadowed Star for a long time and wasn’t a native of this place, so how was he supposed to know anything else about Coloured Glass Sect?
“That woman is actually your Junior Sister?” Yang Kai seemed to want to re-examine Dai Yuan, sweeping his eyes up and down her quickly, a strange look upon his face.
Towards Yin Su Die, Yang Kai didn’t have any favourable impression, but he also didn’t have any particularly negative opinion either. All Yang Kai felt was that she was a woman who was innately charming and seemed to be on par with Fang Tian Zhong, Qu Chang Feng, and Wei Gu Chang.
Yang Kai didn’t know what her true strength was like, but her beauty definitely added a lot to her fame.
Now, when he heard Dai Yuan say Yin Su Die was actually her Junior Sister, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling surprised.
Dai Yuan seemed like a genuinely good person and behaved very low-key, quite different from Yin Su Die who seemed to want to be the centre of attention wherever she went. Their appearances were also worlds apart. Two such women being Senior and Junior Sisters naturally felt strange.
After a moment of surprise, Yang Kai quickly realized his gaff and smiled lightly, “No wonder you are so fierce, you’re actually from Coloured Glass Sect.”
“You are also quite good,” Dai Yuan’s beautiful eyes stared at Yang Kai, as if she was trying to look into the depths of his soul. This young First-Order Saint King’s performance during their brief time together had constantly surprised her.
“What’s wrong, did Brother Yang not know Junior Sister Dai Yuan was from Coloured Glass Sect?” Wei Gu Chang came over hand in hand with Dong Xuan’er, the two of them seemingly having recovered quite a bit. This was also thanks to the pills Yang Kai had given them. Those restorative pills were refined by Yang Kai himself and had far better effects than what could be bought in this world.
“I naturally didn’t know, the two of us just met by chance and happened to receive your message then rushed over together,” Yang Kai stood up and smiled at Wei Gu Chang.
“This Wei cannot thank Junior Brother and Junior Sister enough for coming to our rescue!” Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er both approached and bowed deeply and sincerely.
Yang Kai quickly lifted them up but before he could say anything, Wei Gu Chang said straightly, “Brother Yang, if not for you and Junior Sister Dai Yuan arriving so promptly, even if you were a quarter of an hour late, Xuan’er and I would have already set off to the next life together. Regardless of what happens from now on, if you ever have a need for this Wei’s assistance in the future, just say the word and no matter what great danger or difficulties it may involve, this Wei will not hesitate to help.”
It seemed like now, Wei Gu Chang truly wanted to befriend Yang Kai. In the past, the main reasons he had been associating with Yang Kai was because of Qian Tong’s instructions and because he appreciated Yang Kai’s demeanour.
However, after experiencing this life-saving grace, Wei Gu Chang willingly lowered his head in gratitude. If it was only related to his life, it wouldn’t have been enough for him to humble himself, but Yang Kai had also rescued Dong Xuan’er, and she was someone Wei Gu Chang considered more important than his life!
This favour was extremely heavy.
Staring at him for a moment, Yang Kai nodded slightly.
Wei Gu Chang then turned to Dai Yuan again and said, “As for Junior Sister Dai Yuan… Haha, I’ll come together with Xuan’er to visit Coloured Glass Sect in the near future to thank you, I hope at that time Junior Sister Dai Yuan won’t shut me out.”
Dai Yuan scoffed lightly but didn’t make a reply either way, simply taking Dong Xuan’er’s hand and pulling her over to the side to chat.
Wei Gu Chang shook his head with a bitter smile before glancing back at his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister. Seeing them still restoring themselves, he didn’t go to disturb them and instead started a conversation with Yang Kai.
Through his narration, Yang Kai learned about the ordeal the Shadow Moon Hall disciples had endured.
To sum everything up, they were just unlucky!
A total of more than seventy disciples had come from Shadow Moon Hall this time, of which nearly fifty had remained in the first layer Flame Area while the remaining twenty entered the second layer Treasure Area. All of them had split up into smaller squads and begun searching for spirit grasses and spirit medicines, contacting each other via their communication artefacts at regular intervals to ensure they remained safe.
When news of the third layer’s heat and danger weakened came out, Wei Gu Chang immediately gathered together the seven most elite disciples and rushed into the third layer Flame Area. However, not long after they entered the third layer, the group of seven were surrounded by a horde of Fire Spirit Beasts, and after a protracted battle, two of them had fallen. After that, with Wei Gu Chang bringing up the rear, the rest of them managed to escape.
Before they could even recover from the blow of losing their companions though, the remaining five had stepped into the ancient lava lake Spirit Array.
They had been trapped there for more than a month and it wasn’t until just now that they had escaped.
As Wei Gu Chang explained about all this, his face filled with annoyance. Although there was an element of bad luck to it, the unfavourable situation was also a result of insufficient strength. Even if it was an Origin Returning Realm master who had been here, it was likely they would have been unable to detect this ancient Spirit Array and would have fallen into its trap.
However, losing to that horde of Fire Spirit Beasts was due to their lack of strength, resulting in two of their companions dying.
Compared to their encounters, Yang Kai could only describe his luck as astonishing.
The massive Fire Crystal Stone, Brilliant Fire Crystal Essence, ancient map fragment, Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, possible dragon bone and dragon bead, Saint Crystal lode, various spirit grasses, spirit fruits, and spirit medicines, the strange solidified space…
Along the path Yang Kai walked, the gains he made were unimaginable.
If he were to explain his story to Wei Gu Chang, Yang Kai expected the former would be so upset he would cough up blood.
In short, since entering the third layer, Wei Gu Chang and his group had gained nothing but a few Fire Crystal Stones after wasting an entire month.
Fortunately, they hadn’t suffered any further losses either. If the five of them had been buried here, it would have been a disaster. If Shadow Moon Hall lost so many elite disciples at once, it would create a huge crack in their younger generation. In the short term, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but as time passed and Shadowed Star’s current Saint Kings began to mature, Shadow Moon Hall’s comprehensive strength would undoubtedly weaken, threatening its status as a great Sect.
This was a result no Sect was willing to bear.
“Brother Yang, are you interested in this tortoiseshell?” Wei Gu Chang spoke for a while before suddenly asking this question, “If you are interested in it, feel free to take it. Although I can see that it isn’t ordinary, with so many cracks in it already, I don’t know if it can still play any significant role.”
Wei Gu Chang knew there was a powerful Artefact Refiner behind Yang Kai, and the material of a Tenth-Order Monster Beast like this would be greatly appreciated by such a master.
Even if he took this tortoiseshell back to Shadow Moon Hall, Wei Gu Chang couldn’t think of a suitable person to refine an artefact from it. Grandmaster Ge Lin was nearing the end of his life and hadn’t refined any artefacts for quite a while. Elder Qian had been thinking of ways these past few years to extend the life of Grandmaster Ge Lin but unfortunately hadn’t been very successful.
Moreover, Grandmaster Ge Lin’s skill at Artefact Refining may not be enough to use this tortoiseshell. As such, Wei Gu Chang figured he might as well give this shell to Yang Kai as it could probably play the greatest role in his hands.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment but didn’t refuse, nodding slightly before storing away the Tenth-Order Monster Beast tortoiseshell.
While the two of them were talking, Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan were also whispering amongst themselves a short distance away.
At this moment, Dai Yuan was holding a jade bottle in her hand and a pill was resting on her palm. This pill was perfectly round, with a pale green hue and was exuding bursts of delicate medicinal fragrance that relaxed one’s body and mind when they sniffed it.
As Dai Yuan’s beautiful eyes stared at this pill, a nearly imperceptible hint of excitement and expectation flashed across their depths as her expression filled with admiration.
Dong Xuan’er didn’t say a word, as she knew that when her close friend showed this kind of look it was best to simply remain silent.
This pill wasn’t something rare, it was just an ordinary Saint Qi supplementing pill, but its grade wasn’t low. It was one of the Saint King Grade High-Rank pills Yang Kai had given Dong Xuan’er.
Dong Xuan’er had intentionally saved it in order to ask Dai Yuan to take a closer look at it.
After a long time, Dai Yuan put the pill back into the jade bottle and handed it back to Dong Xuan’er before breathing out gently.
“How is it?” Dong Xuan’er asked.
“Superb. The Alchemy technique used to refine it is better than anything I can do; it has been brought to the extreme in terms of quality and I suspect it is only a step away from forming Pill Veins. The surface of the pill already has some faint traces of Pill Veins. It’s a pity that it fell short in the end,” Dai Yuan said regretfully before noting with shock, “Not only that one, but every pill in that bottle. This Alchemist who refined them has already taken their skills to an astonishing level.”
“Is it really so amazing?” Dong Xuan’er was startled, her delicate mouth opening slightly, “Being able to refine so many Saint King Grade pills which nearly formed Pill Veins; could this master be an Origin Grade Alchemist?”
“En, there’s no doubt they are an Origin Grade Alchemist.” When Dai Yuan said this, she glanced over at Yang Kai, the look of expectation in her eyes growing stronger.
Seeing this look, how could Dong Xuan’er not know what she was thinking and quickly said, “Big Sister Dai Yuan, don’t be anxious, you’ll find a solution in time.”
Dai Yuan lifted her hand and brushed her hair back behind her ear as she said lightly, “I know, I’m not in a hurry, it’s been so many years already anyway. By the way, Sister Xuan’er, that Yang Kai, what were his origins again?”
Suddenly, Dai Yuan seemed to become quite interested in Yang Kai and began asking Dong Xuan’er about him.
Dong Xuan’er didn’t conceal anything, explaining everything she knew about Yang Kai. When she heard that Yang Kai came to Shadowed Star from the outside world, Dai Yuan’s eyes brightened greatly and her tender body couldn’t help trembling, the light of expectation in her eyes became even more obvious.
Since others could come to Shadowed Star from the outside world, what was the say that they couldn’t leave Shadowed Star and go to the outside world?
Like Wu Yi, Dai Yuan dreamed of leaving Shadowed Star, but the starting point of the two was quite different. Wu Yi was simply enchanted by the idea of the outside world’s wonders while Dai Yuan had other reasons.
Although Dai Yuan wanted to ask Yang Kai immediately about which Alchemy Grandmaster had refined this bottle of recovery pills, she forced herself to be patient.
She wasn’t familiar with Yang Kai; in fact, they had essentially just met, so if she now started asking such intrusive questions, it would only cause annoyance in the other party. How could Dai Yuan make such a rash move?
However, she was already considering how she could better her relationship with Yang Kai, and when the time was right, she would naturally ask.
Time flowed by. Dai Yuan and Dong Xuan’er hadn’t seen each other for a long time so naturally, they were not short of words they wanted to exchange. Yang Kai and Wei Gu Chang were also engaged in a lively discussion, and from Wei Gu Chang’s mouth, Yang Kai learned many interesting stories and secrets about Shadowed Star.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to stay and act together with them, but now that they had just escaped from a life or death crisis, simply leaving would seem too cold, so he planned to wait until all of them had at least restored themselves.
Once they were back on their feet, Yang Kai would bid them farewell and continue deeper into the third layer in hopes of finding a suitable place to refine the Profound Yin Sunflower Water.
A day later, the remaining three Shadow Moon Hall disciples finally finished restoring themselves and thanked Yang Kai and Dai Yuan profusely.
This time, the three of them no longer dared to belittle Yang Kai.
When the Flowing Flame Sand Field had just opened, these three had lined up behind Wei Gu Chang, and at that time, when Wei Gu Chang asked Yang Kai to act together with them, the three of them were quite reluctant as they thought bringing Yang Kai with them would only be a burden. On top of that, if they found any benefits, they would be forced to apportion him something regardless of whether he helped them or not.
None of them had imagined that this young man, whom they considered to be a burden, would be the one to save their lives in the third layer Flame Area.
Recalling their thoughts from that time, all three of them felt extremely ashamed and wanted to find holes to crawl into and hide.
“The three of you should follow the path we walked back to the second layer. Fortunately, we’re not too deep into the third layer. If you backtrack carefully, with your strength and means, you shouldn’t have any trouble protecting yourselves. Don’t think of remaining and taking risks in this third layer, this isn’t a place you should linger,” Wei Gu Chang waited for the three of them to finish expressing their gratitude to Yang Kai before ordering them directly.
The three Shadow Moon Hall disciples were stunned for a moment but soon understood why Wei Gu Chang had come to this decision.
Just before, on the lava lake, how the three of them had conducted themselves was not befitting their status as elite disciples. Now that Wei Gu Chang was making them return to the second layer, they dared not disobey, all of them nodding in shame before urging their Senior Brother Wei and Senior Sister Dong to be careful.
Wei Gu Chang gently nodded. Although he was a little disappointed with the performance of his two Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, they were still from the same Sect and he was not about to condemn them for their actions, even giving them all the pills he and Dong Xuan’er felt they didn’t need before seeing them off.
The trio said goodbye with tears in their eyes, but before they could depart, the sky of the entire Flowing Flame Sand Field suddenly became much brighter.
Everyone was aware of this anomaly and all of them looked around suspiciously but couldn’t find anything wrong. Just as they were in the depths of confusion, the tall female disciple suddenly pointed in a certain direction and called out in shock, “The sun!”
Looking in the direction she was pointing and witnessing the phenomenon that was occurring, all of them couldn’t help feeling stunned.
In the distance, a round red sun seemed to be rising above the horizon, its crimson rays dying the entire sky a beautiful blood red. It was precisely because of this red sun that everyone felt their surroundings suddenly become brighter.
Of course, no one thought this was really the sun!
It had been a few months since they entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and in this strange space, there was no sun, no moon, no stars, or sky. When they raised their heads up, all there was to see was the dark red space while down below was dark red earth, making for an extremely gloomy landscape.
So how could the sun suddenly appear in this Forbidden Zone?
Yang Kai’s first thought was that someone was fighting and had used some kind of astonishing artefact!
However, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that this was impossible. The round red sun was clearly at a very distant location, at least a few hundred kilometres from where they currently were. Across such a vast distance only an Origin King Grade artefact would be able to produce a visible effect.
But which great force would allow their disciples to bring an Origin King Grade artefact into the Flowing Flame Sand Field?
There were many crises here, and no one could guarantee their own survival. Even Wei Gu Chang had almost fallen here, so unless all the Elders of some Sect had lost their minds, they wouldn’t allow their disciples to bring an Origin King Grade artefact into this place.
Each Origin King Grade artefact in existence on Shadowed Star would be carefully locked up in the headquarters of the Sect that owned them as a strategic weapon and would not be easily be used.
What’s more, even if for some reason such an outrageous situation was allowed to happen, no Saint King Realm cultivator here would be able to even use an Origin King Grade artefact, and forcibly trying to would only result in severe backlash.
[Then what was this?] Yang Kai brow wrinkled as he stared at the rising sun with suspicion. He had seen all kinds of incredible things inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field but he couldn’t immediately determine what it was he was currently looking at.Faintly though, he felt that the scene in front of him was somewhat… familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but he was also certain he had never witnessed such a strange phenomenon before, making him frown secretly.
“How can there be a sun here? Did the barrier around the Flowing Flame Sand Field collapse?” A male disciple from Shadow Moon Hall cried in surprise.
His guess was reasonable; after all, if the barrier around the Flowing Flame Sand Field collapsed, they would naturally be able to see the outside scenery, and if it happened to be sunrise at this time, it would explain this scene.
However, Wei Gu Chang shook his head, “It’s not the sun.”
His thoughts were the same as Yang Kai.
“What is it then? Senior Brother, have you seen something similar before?” Dong Xuan’er leaned her tender body slightly loser to Wei Gu Chang, a touch of uneasiness and tension apparent in her voice.
“No, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Wei Gu Chang stated before turning his head to Yang Kai, wanting to hear his opinions. But at this moment, Yang Kai was actually wearing a thoughtful expression that said not to disturb him.
As a last resort, Wei Gu Chang turned his sights to Dai Yuan. Although he didn’t think that Dai Yuan’s knowledge was wider than his own, she might know something he didn’t.
To Wei Gu Chang’s surprise, Dai Yuan showed the same expression as Yang Kai.
[What did these two know?] Wei Gu Chang wondered secretly to himself.The rise of a red sun shocked all the cultivators who were present in the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
On a certain hill, six Saint Kings wearing golden robes stood behind Qu Chang Feng, staring in shock towards the place where the sun had risen from. All of these shocked Saint Kings were muttering to each other, discussing what they thought it might be, but Qu Chang Feng’s face remained extremely bad. During this expedition into the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had seen many good things, but he was actually unable to acquire any substantial benefits. This was especially true when it came to the Soul Cleansing Divine Water, an incident that was still causing him grief. Naturally, this strange phenomenon appearing all of a sudden had immediately caught his attention.
After hesitating for a moment, he waved his hand and shouted, “Let’s go take a look!”
Saying so, he brought his group and rushed towards the rising position of the red sun.
On a certain plain, four cultivators with incredibly pure Saint Qi were using Martial Skills and artefacts to send out bolts of brilliant lightning, blasting their surroundings away with extraordinary ferocity.
When the red sun rose, this group just happened to be surrounded by a group of Fire Spirit Beasts. After dispatching this group of beasts, one of them collected the scattered Fire Crystal Stones on the ground before returning to the side of his companions who were all assembled around a plain-looking, crudely dressed youth.
“Senior Brother Fang, what is that?” Someone asked.
The crudely dressed young man slowly shook his head and said lightly, “We’ll know once we go check it out. It’s very likely that some kind of extremely precious treasure has appeared for such a scene to appear in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.”
Saying so, he began walking straight towards the direction of the rising sun, his pace seemingly slow but with thunder suddenly appearing around his feet, his body seemed to glide forward and in the blink of an eye, he had already crossed a hundred metres.
Atop a towering rock, a cold-looking man was meditating and adjusting his breathing. At this moment, he also saw the red sun rise, and after a slight hesitation, he got up and set out.
At the deepest part of the third layer Flame Area, a man who appeared to be in his thirties seemed to be struggling to resist ambient heat and fire poison. Seeing his appearance, it seemed he wanted to venture further inside, but when the red sun rose, he couldn’t help glancing back and immediately showed a look of shock and ecstasy, muttering to himself, “Even something like this has matured… Hahaha!”
After saying so, he immediately turned around and ran back in the direction of the rising red sun, as if he was afraid that the benefits would be taken away if he was too late.
Many similar situations were occurring in various places around the third layer and soon, the elite disciples who had entered this layer were all rushing towards the red sun. All of them were guessing what kind of phenomenal treasure was born to cause such a Heavenly Vision to manifest.
However, before they could rush to the site from which the red sun appeared, a fiery red wind suddenly swept out, carrying with it a terrifying heat that caused all the approaching cultivators’ faces to pale and forced them to push their Saint Qi to protect themselves.
To everyone’s surprise though, after this seemingly fierce gale struck, not only did it not cause them any damage, instead, a strange fragrance wafted throughout the entire third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
This strange fragrance which filled was like the fresh scent of fruit, but many, many times more potent. On top of that, it seemed to contain a mysterious power that made one wish to close their eyes and immerse themselves in it, as if it carried with it some kind of enlightenment.
Of course, no one really stopped to meditate. Just this scent had such an effect, so if they could snatch this unknown treasure, how shocking would its effects be?
When this fruity aroma spread, everyone’s expression became even more determined and they pushed themselves to run faster.
By the disappeared lava lake, Yang Kai and the others were also hit by this fiery red wind, and after this magical fruit scent reached the tip of his nose, Yang Kai’s whole body shook as he shouted, “A spirit fruit has matured!”
It was only at that moment that he realized what was happening. The scene of the rising sun was not caused by an artefact, nor the birth of some rare treasure, but rather because a certain spirit fruit had matured.
The omnipresent fruit aroma in the air was the best proof.
In their minds, the name of a certain supposedly extinct spirit fruit came to mind and almost simultaneously, Yang Kai and Dai Yuan exclaimed, “Red Candle Fruit?”
Yang Kai glanced over at Dai Yuan in surprise, not having anticipated that this disciple from Coloured Glass Sect would actually recognize this extraordinary Red Candle Fruit. According to his knowledge, this spirit fruit had vanished thousands of years ago and even in the outside world had not appeared for aeons. It was the same as the Soul Warming Lotus and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, something that existed only in ancient records and rumours, with no one living having actually seen it before.
However, Dai Yuan was actually able to call out its name, something that truly surprised Yang Kai.
“Red Candle Fruit?” Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan had an extremely close relationship, so she didn’t hesitate to ask, “What is that?”
“An Origin King Grade High-Rank spirit fruit!” Dai Yuan clenched her fists and slowly annunciated.
Besides Yang Kai, who was aware of this already, everyone wore a shocked expression.
Shadowed Star had some spirit grasses and spirit medicines that reached the Origin King Grade, but they were extremely rare, only one or two appearing every few decades. Ninety-nine percent of these Origin King Grade herbs which appeared though were Low-Rank, with Mid-Rank being almost unheard of.
But now, in the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, an authentic Origin King Grade High-Rank spirit fruit had appeared.
“What use does it have?” Although Dong Xuan’er’s had strong self-control, she couldn’t stop her voice from slightly trembling.
The words Origin King Grade High-Rank had struck her heart like a heavy sledgehammer.
“It has many uses. While it is in the final stages of maturing, all cultivators who inhale its scent are able to integrate the mysterious laws it contains to promote their own cultivation. Of course, this is not the main thing… It’s said that any cultivator who consumes it will have a chance to break through to the Origin King Realm!”
“What!?” Wei Gu Chang couldn’t remain calm upon hearing this.
An Origin King Realm master had never appeared on Shadowed Star. If at this time, one of the great forces was able to obtain this Red Candle Fruit and allow an Origin King to rise from their Sect, wouldn’t they be able to rule the entire star?
As the first Core Disciple of his sect, how could Wei Gu Chang not understand what this implied?
If it was something else, after all the losses Shadow Moon Hall had suffered this time, Wei Gu Chang would try to avoid wading into the muddy waters. He originally planned to have his two Junior Brothers and Junior Sister return to the second layer while he and Dong Xuan’er walked around the third layer to see if they could find any opportunities, but if the Red Candle Fruit really had such profound effects, even if he might die, he had to take action!
Moreover, he had to win!
Once such a treasure fell into the hands of others, especially an enemy, it would be a disaster for Shadow Moon Hall. Wei Gu Chang couldn’t just sit back and watch this happen.
“Senior Brother…” Dong Xuan’er bit her red lips, her beautiful eyes staring at Wei Gu Chang with anxiety.
The latter’s expression was cloudy and uncertain, but soon became firm. Turning to his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister he declared, “You three return to the second layer, don’t involve yourselves in this Red Candle Fruit affair. This will definitely be incredibly chaotic!”
“What about you, Senior Brother Wei?” The tall woman asked.
“I’ll take a look together with Xuan’er.” Wei Gu Chang then glanced over at Dai Yuan, the latter chuckling in response, “This is a rare event, naturally I want to take a look. Besides, there are still a few days before it reaches full maturity, it will be an opportunity to fuse some of the profound insights present in its fragrance with our cultivation.”
Wei Gu Chang seemed to have known that she would say so and simply nodded his head before finally turning to Yang Kai and asking, “What are Brother Yang’s plans?”
“I’ll check it out too.” Yang Kai said lightly.
“Good, let’s go!” Wei Gu Chang no longer hesitated. After spending a day restoring himself, he had almost completely recovered. If he continued to restore himself along the way, by the time they reached their destination, he should be able to return to his peak state, then he wouldn’t have to fear fighting others.
Together, the group of four hurried towards the sight of the Red Candle Fruit.
On the way, Yang Kai gave Dai Yuan a thoughtful look, and said with a smile, “Is Ms. Dai Yuan familiar with spirit herbs?”
If she wasn’t perennially immersed in the study of herbs and Alchemy, it would be impossible for her to recognize the Red Candle Fruit so quickly. Moreover, from what Yang Kai could observe about Dai Yuan, it was clear she had studied all kinds of rare and precious herbs.
After hearing Yang Kai’s question, Wei Gu Chang laughed happily, “I’m afraid Brother Yang doesn’t know, along with outstanding strength, Junior Sister Dai Yuan is also a Saint King Grade Alchemist.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai was genuinely surprised this time. He hadn’t realized that Dai Yuan, who he had just randomly met and travelled together with, was actually an Alchemist as well. Of course, he was an Origin Grade Alchemist with the other party was just a Saint King Grade Alchemist, so the difference between them was still quite big.
Dai Yuan said humbly, “I’m just a Saint King Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, nothing too impressive. My aptitude in Alchemy is also not very high. Junior Brother Yang, are there many Origin Grade Alchemists and even Origin King Grade Alchemist in the outside world?”
Yang Kai chuckled, knowing that she should have asked Dong Xuan’er about his details. Not caring about such minor matters, he slowly shook his head, “There are indeed a lot of Origin Grade Alchemists, but Origin King Grade Alchemists… they’re quite rare. I haven’t seen one at least.”
“So Origin King Grade Alchemists are a rare existence outside as well,” Dai Yuan said with surprise.
“Naturally, there aren’t many Origin King Grade masters outside either.”
Hearing this, Dai Yuan opened her mouth, as if she wanted to ask something, but she suddenly hesitated, causing Yang Kai to frown. However, since the other party didn’t ask, he wasn’t going to meddle. It wouldn’t be worth it to get tangled up in some tedious matter by being nosy.
A few hundred kilometres was a distance these four could normally cross in short order, but inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, such a distance actually took some time to traverse.
But the further forward they went, the richer the fruit fragrance became. On top of that, the red sun had also risen quite a lot, and now seemed to have climbed to a several hundred-metre height.
“We should pick up our pace. When the Red Candle Fruit matures, there will be a Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon. After the appearance of Three Suns Grand Risings, it will reach full maturity. The time before this happens is extremely precious, the sooner we arrive, the more benefits we can obtain,” Dai Yuan urged softly.
Hearing what Dai Yuan said, the other three couldn’t help speeding up.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er asked about the Three Suns’ Grand Rising Phenomenon while Yang Kai also pretended to be interested and listen carefully.
After Dai Yuan spoke about it for a while, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had a fair understanding of what the Three Suns Grand Risings was, but Yang Kai wore a strange expression.
He found that although Dai Yuan recognized the Red Candle Fruit and knew about the Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon, she didn’t seem to know everything…
Yang Kai couldn’t be sure that this gap in knowledge was the same for everyone, but what he was certain of was that it wasn’t just Dai Yuan and him who recognized the Red Candle Fruit. All the most elite disciples on Shadowed Star were currently gathered in the third layer, so there must be others who recognized it.
After two full hours, the group of four arrived at their destination, a small mountain valley probably less than a thousand meters in width. Down inside the mountain valley, there was the familiar dark red cracked landscape filled with gullies and ravines, but surprisingly, if one looked carefully, they would find some dried up trees as well. These trees were blood red in colour and didn’t have any trace of vitality, but they were clearly not dead. There was some kind of strange power lingering about that allowed them to survive in this extremely harsh environment.
This mountain valley was surrounded by more than twenty large and larger mountain peaks.
When Yang Kai and his group of four arrived, about half of these mountain peaks were already occupied. Groups from different Sects had taken control of these spots and seemingly settled in.
Most of the cultivators’ eyes were scanning the dead trees in the mountain valley, revealing a look of greed, but what was strange was that there was no one actually inside the mountain valley, as if they had all come to some kind of agreement to restrain themselves.
When Yang Kai and his group arrived, countless eyes swept towards their side, many people openly displaying vigilance and disgust. After all, a Heaven defying spirit fruit was about to mature, the fewer people here the better.
However, everyone knew that such an idea was unrealistic. Before the Red Candle Fruit matured, that rising red sun spectacle had already spread across the entire third layer, so it was likely that everyone was either already here or on their way. Even though they were unwilling to accept more competitors, they had no choice but to shoot Yang Kai and his group a glare before turning their eyes away.
Yang Kai also swept his eyes over the crowd and couldn’t help becoming vigilant as well.
The scene this time was indeed magnificent. Although not many people had come, each one was an elite from a great Sect.
Yang Kai saw people from Heaven Battling Union, Thunder Typhoon Sect, Coloured Glass Sect, and many others he couldn’t identify. In total, there were at least seventy or eighty present.
The four of them had come relatively late it seemed, but there were certainly more on their way, so presumably things would only become more chaotic.
Yang Kai also saw the stern-faced cultivator that had previously occupied the centre of the Soul Cleansing Divine Water pool. This guy had occupied an entire small hill by himself and was standing there as straight as a sword, his arms folded, his expression as indifferent as ever. No one dared to go up and find trouble with him.
Anyone who could arrive here could more or less guess the identity of this man so none of them would even think about trying to annoy him even if they were upset with his attitude and behaviour.
On Coloured Glass Sect’s side, Yin Su Die’s expression became strange after she caught sight of Dai Yuan, as if she didn’t expect that this Senior Sister of hers would appear here with others, but after recognizing Dong Xuan’er, her face relaxed and she immediately turned her attention away, showing no intention to go greet Dai Yuan.
After a quick glance, Wei Gu Chang pointed to one of the unoccupied hills and said, “Let’s take that one.”
A moment later, the four stood atop the mountain, and, like everyone else, set their sights on the mountain valley down below.
“Where’s the Red Candle Fruit?” Wei Gu Chang swept his eyes around but found no trace of any kind of spirit fruit. As far as he could see, all there was in the mountain valley were half-dead trees so he couldn’t help asking.
“The Red Candle Fruit won’t appear before it fully matures,” Dai Yuan slowly shook her head, “But there’s no doubt it is somewhere inside this mountain valley. When it matures, it will naturally surface.”
“I see!” Wei Gu Chang gently nodded.
“Oh, Senior Brother Li You Nan from Medicine Pill Sect is coming, I wonder what he wants to say,” Dong Xuan’er exclaimed lightly as her eyes landed on a middle-aged scholarly dressed man who seemed to have a gentle atmosphere about him. This man was currently approaching their group and was even smiling and waving to them before he arrived.
Yang Kai had also heard of Medicine Pill Sect.
No matter the place, there were always Sects or forces that specialized in Alchemy. Medicine King’s Valley in the Great Han Dynasty and the Alchemist Guild in Tong Xuan Realm were examples of such Sects. As for Shadowed Star, Medicine Pill Sect was the representative Alchemy Sect.
This kind of existence was one that most people wouldn’t dare to offend because they would inevitably have to seek their services at some point.
Inside Medicine Pill Sect, there were five Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists, the largest number by far of any force on Shadowed Star. Each of these five was a Grandmaster whose name was widely known on Shadowed Star and anywhere they went they would be treated as honoured guests.
And since this guy named Li You Nan could penetrate into the third layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he must also be an elite from Medicine Pill Sect. It seems that he, Wei Gu Chang, and Dong Xuan’er knew each other, but whether they shared any real friendship was something Yang Kai couldn’t tell yet.
Soon, this middle-aged scholarly man named Li You Nan arrived at the mountain where the group of four were gathered and cupped his fists to Wei Gu Chang before saying, “Brother Wei, you’ve also come.”
Wei Gu Chang returned the courtesy and laughed, “For this kind of matter, naturally I must come join the fun.”
Nearby, Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan both greeted Li You Nan, with Li You Nan responding in kind, seemingly behaving very politely. He then asked about Yang Kai’s name and origin but Wei Gu Chang simply interjected and said he had invited him.
Although Li You Nan felt it was somewhat strange that Yang Kai, a First-Order Saint King, could arrive here, since he was brought here by Wei Gu Chang, he didn’t ask much.
“Brother Li, did you perhaps come to find this Wei for something?” Wei Gu Chang narrowed his eyes and got straight to the point.
Li You Nan smiled slightly before answering this question with one of his own, “Brother Wei, since you came here after seeing that vision, do you perhaps know what is here?”
“I heard it was the Red Candle Fruit,” Wei Gu Chang replied.
Li You Nan frowned with surprise, but after glancing over at Dai Yuan, he understood and patted his forehead lightly, “It seems this Li has asked a foolish question. Since Ms. Dai Yuan is here, Brother Wei surely would know. In this world, I’m afraid that there is no rare herb that Ms. Dai Yuan does not know of.”
“Senior Brother Li is too polite, Dai Yuan is only slightly versed in this subject,” Dai Yuan said lightly.
“Haha, Ms. Dai Yuan does not need to act so humble, there are truly few people who can recognize the Red Candle Fruit. Brother Qu from Heaven Battling Union, Brother Fang from Thunder Typhoon Sect, and Sister Yin from Coloured Glass Sect only learned of it after this one explained it to them. If not for this, how could everyone have restrained themselves so? I’m afraid that everyone would already be digging up the mountain valley if not for this Li providing some small insight.”
Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang suddenly understood why everyone was simply standing around the mountain valley waiting, it seems Li You Nan had gone around informing them what was happening.
Obviously he had not done this out of goodwill. With such a precious treasure in front of him, there was no way Li You Nan didn’t want to keep it for himself.
Him informing others was simply because he didn’t want to allow these people to act rashly and interfere with the maturing of the Red Candle Fruit. If someone ignorant of the truth interfered with the Red Candle Fruit and caused it to fail to mature, it would be a great loss to the entire world.
So even though he was reluctant to do so, Li You Nan had worked hard to inform each group of cultivators that arrived about the situation.
“Brother Li’s spirit of generosity is truly deep, working so hard for the benefit of the world. This Wei is truly impressed!” Wei Gu Chang wore a sincere look and cupped his fists once more.
Receiving such great praise, Li You Nan continually tried to downplay his actions before quickly shifting the subject to his true objective, “I wonder if Brother Wei is interested in joining forces with my Medicine Pill Sect?”
“Joining forces?” Wei Gu Chang’s eyes narrowed slightly as a meaningful grin appeared on his face, “Brother Li, although this Wei is not proficient in the study of spirit herbs, I am aware that there should only be a single Red Candle Fruit here, so how do you propose we work together? If we manage to obtain the Red Candle Fruit, how should it be distributed?”
“Please allow this one to finish explaining before making a decision, Brother Wei,” Li You Nan seemed to know that he would react this way so he didn’t show any signs of anxiety, remaining calm and relaxed.
“Please do tell, Brother Li, I am listening intently,” Although Wei Gu Chang knew what the Li You Nan was up to, he couldn’t simply reject him; after all, offending Medicine Pill Sect was never a good idea.
“My meaning is simple. I wish to take the Red Candle Fruit first. Although there is only one spirit fruit, if it is used in Alchemy, it should be able to produce more than one pill,” Li You Nan glanced over at Wei Gu Chang, but not seeing any great response, he continued to explain, “As far as I know, your Shadow Moon Hall only has a single Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemist and that Alchemist only broke through recently and their success rate of refining Origin Grade pills isn’t very high. If Brother Wei obtained the Red Candle Fruit, the only option would be to have one of your Sect’s Elders take it directly, wasting a lot of its medicinal efficacies.”
Pausing for a moment, a proud look appeared on Li You Nan’s face as he declared, “This situation is not only the case for your Shadow Moon Hall, but for all the other great Sects, but my Medicine Pill Sect is different. My Medicine Pill Sect has five Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists, and although the grade of this Red Candle Fruit is very high, if my Medicine Pill Sect’s Elders all collaborate, refining more than a dozen pills is quite possible.”
Wei Gu Chang finally had a full picture of what the other party wanted to say, narrowing his eyes further as he asked Li You Nan, “What Brother Li means is that if we help your Medicine Pill Sect obtain the Red Candle Fruit, after it is refined into pills, my Shadow Moon Hall will be able to obtain a portion?”
“Good, that is precisely this Li’s meaning!” Li You Nan nodded repeatedly, “I have made this offer not only to Brother Wei, but also to Brother Qu from Heaven Battling Union, Brother Fang of Thunder Typhoon Sect, Sister Yin from Coloured Glass Sect, Brother Qu from Twin Heart Valley, and Brother Tang from Floating Mist Palace.”
“And their response?” Wei Gu Chang raised his eyebrows.
“Haha, although they’ve yet to express an opinion yet, this Li believes he can convince them,” Li You Nan spoke with confidence.
Everyone knew that Li You Nan was talking nonsense. If he really was confident in persuading all these great forces to give up on the Red Candle Fruit and allow Medicine Pill Sect to take sole possession of this Heaven defying treasure, that would truly be strange.
Only the things that were held in one’s own hands really belong to them. Li You Nan’s remarks held no sincerity or weight at all so obviously they couldn’t be believed.
What’s more, how could such an important matter be decided upon by mere Juniors? When Li You Nan brought the Red Candle Fruit back, his Elders would clearly choose death first before recognizing this agreement. Even if all the other Sects at that point jointly destroy Medicine Pill Sect, the Red Candle Fruit would surely already be gone.
Wei Gu Chang understood all this perfectly well and knew that once he agreed he would become the sole target of everyone’s anger, this was precisely why Qu Chang Feng, Fang Tian Zhong, Yin Su Die and Qu Ming Hai, and Tang Yong had not rashly agreed to such an unreasonable proposal.
However, Wei Gu Chang was also not stupid enough to openly offend Medicine Pill Sect, so after pretending to think seriously on the matter for a moment, he nodded slightly and asked, “If Brother Qu, Brother Fang, and everyone else all agrees, then my Shadow Moon Hall will naturally collaborate, but Brother Li… heh, have you spoken to that guy yet?”
Saying so, he quietly motioned towards a nearby mountain.
Li You Nan’s face twitched slightly. Of course, he knew who it was Wei Gu Chang was referring to and smiled shamelessly, “This Li wanted to communicate with everyone else before discussing things carefully with him.”
Wei Gu Chang smiled lightly and shook his head, “This matter cannot be treated so simply. If it were just the few of us here, it would be fine to join forces, but with such a huge variable present, this Wei thinks it best for Brother Li to obtain his agreement first. After achieving that, it won’t be too late to discuss things with everyone else.”
Li You Nan adjusted his expression before cupping his fists and nodding, “What Brother Wei says also makes sense, this Li will take your advice into consideration.”
Saying so, he turned around and returned back to Medicine Pill Sect’s occupied mountain.
After he left, Wei Gu Chang snorted coldly and muttered, “Does he really think I’m an idiot?”
Dai Yuan chuckled to the side and said, “The people from Medicine Pill Sect aren’t ignorant, Senior Brother doesn’t need to pay it any mind. This time, not complying with Li You Nan was the right choice, if you had complied with his request, that would have brought you great trouble.”
“I know that,” Wei Gu Chang nodded seriously, “Enough about that though, this kind of spirit fruit maturing at this time, I don’t know if it is an opportunity or calamity.”
Saying so, he swept his eyes around the surrounding mountains, secretly wondering how many of these people would die in the subsequent fight for the mature Red Candle Fruit.
“Let’s think about that for now. For now, we should cultivate, just breathing the air here feels like it is benefiting me. In any case, there is still some time before the Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon Big Sister Dai Yuan told us about finishes, we might as well take advantage of this calm while we can,” Dong Xuan’er proposed.
The other three nodded in agreement before finding spots on the small mountain to sit down cross-legged and immerse themselves in the wondrous fragrance filling the air.
Yang Kai quickly realized that this Red Candle Fruit really was a Heaven defying treasure. It was just as the ancient records described, a few days before it matured, it would exude a rich fruity aroma that could relax one’s mind and body while also promoting a cultivator’s mastery over their power and the comprehension of their realm.
Currently, one a single red sun had risen, yet there was already such a wondrous effect. Once all three red suns finished rising, the effects would surely become several times more potent.
Because he was together with Wei Gu Chang and the others, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about being attacked here, so he only left a small portion of his awareness to monitor surroundings while immersing the rest of his consciousness in this wonderful feeling.
Yang Kai was an Alchemist himself, and Alchemy required a very high degree of control over one’s Saint Qi, so he already had a better starting point than most cultivators present. Now, under the stimulation of the Red Candle Fruit’s fragrance, all kinds of subtle yet novel ideas came to him about how to further enhance his Saint Qi control, something Yang Kai greatly enjoyed. It was as if he had entered a new world, one in which he could perform the most perfect communication with the power in his body and manipulate it with a never before.
While Yang Kai sank into a meditative state to explore this new method of Saint Qi’s control, the other three, Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, and Dai Yuan, also fell into different states of enlightenment.
After experiencing the initial wait-and-see period, the cultivators atop the various big and small hills also began sitting down and inhaling the aroma of the Red Candle Fruit, no longer wasting time.
Half a day after Yang Kai’s group arrived, a tense but peaceful situation had developed, with everyone focusing on absorbing the benefits of the Red Candle Fruit’s fragrance.
More people arrived over time, but although most of them were confused when they saw everyone else sitting in meditation, none of them acted rashly and instead quickly found a spot to sit down as well. After inhaling the rich fragrance, the surprise on their faces quickly gave way to a kind of tranquility.
At some point, a young-looking cultivator wearing azure robes arrived here alone. This man was the man who tried to go deeper into the third layer, but having arrived a little late, he found that all the peaks near the mountain valley had been occupied. Glancing around coldly, he secretly considered whether he should try to snatch a spot but he soon dismissed this idea.
He had only taken over this body a short while ago and had yet to even see the blue sky again, he didn’t want to draw too much attention for the time being.
However, when his eyes landed on Yang Kai, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, his eyes suddenly flashed with a look of pleasant surprise. He hadn’t expected to see Yang Kai in this place.
But soon, his expression became cold and gloomy.
He was certain that it was this First-Order Saint King that had taken away his most precious treasure, but even after getting this close, he wasn’t able to feel any of its aura from this boy.
Did he actually manage to absorb it? But that should be impossible. The kind of power hidden inside that thing was something he knew better than anyone. Let alone a cultivator of First-Order Saint King strength, even an Origin King would not be able to refine it within a day or two; moreover, there was a good chance of suffering a massive backlash for even trying.
Such a strange reality was staring him right in the face. This young First-Order Saint King had obtained his treasure, left the stalactite cave, and in less than an hour later, its aura had disappeared without a trace, and no matter how he urged his tracking method, he was unable to find any clues about its location.
But, if he really were to have fused with it, it would be impossible for this boy to still be alive.
This incomprehensible situation frustrated this young-looking man greatly. He simply couldn’t have imagined that it wasn’t Yang Kai himself who had merged with that thing but the Soul Warming Lotus that had swallowed it to evolve from six colours to seven colours.
As he was immersed in his confusion, the young First-Order Saint King suddenly opened his eyes and locked his gaze precisely on him across the distance. After the briefest of glances, this man set aside his eyes casually before searching for a not too far away spot and sitting down in meditation like everyone else.
Atop a nearby mountain, Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled as a disgruntled look appeared on his face.
He had been deeply immersed in that strange sensibility when suddenly he felt someone’s gaze upon him as well as a hint of hostility and murderous intent. He thought that it was Qu Chang Feng, but after seeing the man’s face, he couldn’t help feeling stunned.
The source of this hostility wasn’t Qu Chang Feng, but it was someone Yang Kai had seen before, a man who had entered the Soul Cleansing Divine Water pool back in the stalactite cave.
Having his meditation interrupted, Yang Kai was naturally a little unhappy.
This man’s strength wasn’t bad, a peak Third-Order Saint King, and Yang Kai vaguely remembered that he came from a Sect called Flowing Cloud Valley.
However, there was an old man and another younger man with him at that time. But now, he appeared to be all alone. It was impossible to tell what had happened to the other two from Flowing Cloud Valley.
Why would this person have hostile and murderous intent towards him though? Yang Kai didn’t remember doing anything to provoke the other party nor had he exposed any of his secrets in front of him. Being stared at for no apparent reason made Yang Kai somewhat annoyed.
“Did Junior Brother Yang discover something?” Dai Yuan seemed to perceive that Yang Kai’s aura had changed and opened her eyes. Seeing his thoughtful expression, she couldn’t help herself from asking.
“No,” Yang Kai shook his head before looking over in a certain direction and asking, “Do you recognize that man?”
Dai Yuan followed his gaze and immediately explained his identity, “He’s a Core Disciple from Flowing Cloud Valley named Lu Ye. Why? Does Brother Yang have some kind of grievance with him?”
[Lu Ye!] Yang Kai silently remembered the name before shaking his head, “No, I only encountered him briefly some time ago, but for some reason, he seems to be hostile towards me. It’s really quite strange.”Dai Yuan’s eyes flashed, also feeling the situation was strange, “This Lu Ye isn’t the type to go around provoking others. Although I have no deep friendship with him, I have spoken a few words with him. His reputation in Flowing Cloud Valley is also quite good, why would he be hostile to you?”
“That’s what I want to know too,” Yang Kai grinned.
Perhaps Dai Yuan misunderstood something, thinking that there really was some kind of grudge between Yang Kai and Lu Ye, frowned, and reminded softly, “Lu Ye is the son of Lu Xiang Dong, the Sect Master of Flow Cloud Valley. Although Flowing Cloud Valley isn’t a top force, it’s strength isn’t bad. If it’s just some minor matter, I can help you to say a few words to Lu Ye, with his temperament, it shouldn’t be difficult to resolve the situation.”
“No need,” Yang Kai shook his head. Without mentioning he really didn’t have any grudge with this Lu Ye, even if he did, he had no need for others to resolve it. If the other party didn’t find trouble with him, Yang Kai wouldn’t find trouble with them, but if he did, Yang Kai didn’t mind solving the issue by cutting weeds and pulling out roots.
Seeing Yang Kai refuse her proposal, Dai Yuan naturally didn’t say anything more and was about to continue her meditation when Yang Kai suddenly gestured with his eyes again and asked, “What about that person?”
Dai Yuan followed his gaze again and saw the lone stern-faced man occupying a nearby small mountain. When she saw this man, Dai Yuan couldn’t help shuddering slightly and immediately retracted her gaze, whispering in a tone filled with the meaning of warning, “Junior Brother Yang shouldn’t inquire about this person too much, I only know that he’s probably from Star Emperor Sect; however, as for his name or details, I have no idea.”
Sure enough, he came from Star Emperor Sect! Since seeing Qu Chang Feng treating this person so carefully back in the stalactite cave, Yang Kai had some suspicions. Only a disciple from Star Emperor Sect could let the arrogant Qu Chang Feng act so humbly. Even after suffering such a great loss, Qu Chang Feng had choked down his anger and dropped the matter, not daring to retaliate.
Dai Yuan seemed to be afraid that Yang Kai didn’t comprehend how powerful Star Emperor Sect was so she continued with a serious tone, “On Shadowed Star, it is publicly known that the three most powerful forces are Star Emperor Sect, Heaven Battling Union, and Thunder Typhoon Sect, but in fact, every great force knows that the difference between Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect and Star Emperor Sect is enormous. It is said that Star Emperor Mountain has over a hundred Peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters. This is a terrifying number incomparable to Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect. It’s also said that the Star Emperor Sect has several powerful Origin King Grade artefacts.”
“Are they really so powerful?” Yang Kai was genuinely startled. A Sect that had over a hundred Peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters was something truly astonishing.
“En. Their total number of cultivators though is relatively low as they never openly recruit disciples, which is why despite their shocking reputation they aren’t all that famous.”
“Then how do they ensure their legacy continued to be passed down?” Yang Kai frowned.
“I’m not completely clear about that, but throughout Shadowed Star’s history, there are rumours about some people who possess great fortune and destiny who are met by masters from Star Emperor Mountain and were taken back to be cultivated; however, the number of such cases is quite small,” Dai Yuan explained, smiling slightly as she continued, “Star Emperor Sect’s people rarely leave Star Emperor Mountain, so although they have many masters, as long as one doesn’t try to provoke them, they won’t use their strength to bully others, but if someone does provoke them…”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he noticed that Dai Yuan’s tender body was shivering slightly.
In his heart, he was stunned, thinking that if someone who really didn’t fear the Heavens provoked such a terrifying existence, their fate must have been extremely miserable.
Dai Yuan lowered her voice even further as she whispered, “In general, every few decades, Star Emperor Sect will have one or two of its young generation’s disciples go out for life experience. These disciples tend to remain very low key and never reveal their status, so there are times when no one even knows their identity until they return to Star Emperor Mountain. However, I have seen in one of Coloured Glass Sect’s ancient records that about two thousand years ago, there was another Sect on Shadowed Star that rivalled Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect in fame and strength called the Ancient Yang Sect. At that time, a young disciple that had come out from Star Emperor Mountain to wander the world accidentally obtained a rare and precious treasure. Some people from the Ancient Yang Sect learned about this and laid an ambush for him, killed him, and stole that treasure. One month later… the Ancient Yang Sect was exterminated and razed to the ground in a single night!”
Yang Kai paled.
There was no need to even think about it to know that the Ancient Yang Sect was destroyed by Star Emperor Sect. Being able to wipe out an existence equal in strength to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect overnight fully explained how much power the Star Emperor Sect commanded.
Dai Yuan smiled lightly as she brushed her hair back and said, “But this is something that happened more than two thousand years ago, no one knows whether it is true or false. The Elders from the Sect also consider this matter a taboo and never mention it and forbid anyone from asking about it. However, there is a place on Shadowed Star called Grand Hidden Valley where not even grass grows for a thousand-kilometre radius. It is a barren wasteland filled with thick Yin Qi. Supposedly though, it was the original location of the Ancient Yang Sect. Many cultivators enter Grand Hidden Valley in search of opportunities as there are rumours about the Ancient Yang Sect having hidden stores containing all their rare and precious treasures along with astonishing wealth, but so far no one has been able to find such riches. Instead, many people have died trying.”
“Have you been?” Yang Kai asked Dai Yuan with a smile. Although she used words like ‘rumour’ and ‘hearsay’, Yang Kai could hear from her tone that she was certain these rumours were true, so it was quite likely she had been to see this Grand Hidden Valley for herself.
“Naturally I have been there,” Dai Yuan nodded gently. “But I didn’t have any gains. Instead, I was invaded by a strange chill and only after returning to Coloured Glass Sect and taking up some time could I purge the Yin Qi from my body. If Junior Brother Yang is interested, you should see it for yourself, just be careful if you do.”
“Good, if there is a chance,” Yang Kai nodded carelessly, but he wasn’t truly planning on going. Even if there were any hidden stores in the Ancient Yang Sect, after two thousand years, he didn’t believe they hadn’t been found. Running over now to search for treasure would be like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket, Yang Kai wasn’t willing to waste time and energy on such a pointless pursuit.
“Hehe,” Dai Yuan also saw that Yang Kai was just being perfunctory and didn’t bother continuing to talk about this topic, instead saying, “Those who come out from Star Emperor Sect are generally not noticed, but this time things are different thanks to the Flowing Flame Sand Field having opened. Before coming here, my Master told me to be careful about cultivators who are all alone and have unfamiliar faces, because they might just be disciples from Star Emperor Sect. To be honest, when I first met Junior Brother Yang, I thought you were from Star Emperor Sect…”
Yang Kai was stunned, not having expected that she would have such a misunderstanding. However, it was quite reasonable. Yang Kai wasn’t from Shadowed Star so naturally not many knew his face, and since he was able to reach the third layer with just a First-Order Saint King cultivation, he definitely possessed some powerful methods, so Dai Yuan having such a misunderstanding was all but inevitable.
Considering this, Yang Kai suddenly realized that at that time, Meng Hong Liang from Imperial City Sect and Huang Xi from Extreme Path Sect seemed had probably misunderstood his identity after he showed off some of his means. They obviously suspected that he was from Star Emperor Mountain, which caused Meng Hong Liang to become cautious about acting lest innocents be hurt.
Dai Yuan also had a similar misunderstanding, but after learning that Yang Kai and Wei Gu Chang had ties, she immediately denied this conjecture, because Star Emperor Sect’s people would never try to associate with others.
After arriving here, when she saw this stern-faced man, she instantly knew that he was the real disciple from Star Emperor Sect.
After talking for a while, with nothing else to discuss, both closed their eyes and continued to meditate.
The glowing red sun continued rising higher and higher until it seemingly reached the top of the sky.
The fruit scent in the air became more and more intense over time and the perceptions and insights which could be obtained from inhaling it also became more and more profound, causing each of the cultivators here to be delighted.
Suddenly, the earth seemed to shake, and a shocking energy fluctuation appeared.
Such a change naturally caused all the cultivators present to pale, wake from their deep meditation, and stare towards the mountain valley in shock.
A layer of red mist suddenly began filling the mountain valley, one that seemed to contain a terrifying power.
The appearance of this red mist was completely unexpected as there were no signs of it a moment ago, but when the cultivators looked, it had already welled up and within the blink of an eye had filled the entire mountain valley.
Immediately, an astonishing wave of heat burst forth, creating a hot wind which swept across every corner of the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s third layer.
This kind of scene had been experienced by everyone already, so witnessing it again at this moment, their anxiety quickly faded as they knew that although this wave of heat looked terrifying, it didn’t bring any harm with it.
Sure enough, when the hot wind swept across everyone’s bodies and spread farther away, no one was injured.
In the very centre of the mountain valley, another red sun was born, and it slowly began rising up into the sky!
This red sun didn’t appear very big, only about as large as a plate, but despite being able to see it with their eyes, none of the cultivators present could probe it with their Divine Sense. On top of that, if they stared at it for too long, they would begin to feel dizzy.
A more intense fruity fragrance burst forth, causing the hearts in each cultivator’s chest to pound.
The second red sun had appeared.
This also meant that the Red Candle Fruit was one step closer to true maturity. The disciples from the great forces present who had learned the truth from Medicine Pill Sect’s Li You Nan suddenly grew restless and the atmosphere became filled with tension and hostility. Around the mountain valley, everyone was looking at everyone else as if they were irreconcilable enemies they couldn’t wait to rush over and kill.
The cultivators from Sects who still didn’t know the truth about the mature Red Candle Fruit’s miraculous effects were still affected by this atmosphere. Unwilling to let go of any clues, while carefully watching other people’s movements, they sent some people to forces they were friendly with to inquire about the situation.
Soon, all kinds of secrets about the Red Candle Fruit spread out, causing every cultivator present to understand what was happening and allowing the tense atmosphere to once again calm down.
Since there would be a Three Suns Grand Risings Phenomenon, and only two red suns had appeared so far, there was no need to act hastily; let alone, before it truly matured, the Red Candle Fruit wouldn’t appear before their eyes, so even if someone wanted to try to steal it, they wouldn’t be able to.
After the appearance of the second red sun, there was only a brief moment of commotion around the mountain valley before everyone fell silent again and continued to absorb the fruity aroma, realize its mysteries, and enhance their own cultivation.
Yang Kai also immersed himself in this scent, feeling like his comprehension of Saint Qi control had risen to another level and some vague concepts and ideas began filling his head. But although he had caught a glimpse of something, he was still unable to understand it completely.
This situation was like he was itchy all over but unable to scratch himself, causing Yang Kai to become somewhat restless as he focused even more of his attention on this vague concept, wanting to take advantage of this opportunity before the Red Candle Fruit fully matured. If he could comprehend these new insights, Yang Kai didn’t doubt his combat power would increase significantly.
Time passed by slowly, but just as everyone was immersed in their own meditation, an angry roar suddenly rang out, “Bastard, you dare try to secretly arrange a Spirit Array?!”
This roar awakened a lot of cultivators who were meditating and comprehending, all of them looking over towards the origin of this shout, their eyes landing on a man from Heaven Battling Union waving a huge fan angrily. This fan gave off a potent energy fluctuation and at first glance, which was obviously a high-grade artefact.
The Heaven Battling Union cultivator waved the fan in his hand as he snarled angrily, summoning a dragon phantom condensed of wind from it that rushed out with a loud dragon roar and crashed towards a mountaintop a few hundred meters away where a flustered cultivator stood.
Who this cultivator was or what force he came from wasn’t important at the moment, what was important was that he was doing something sneakily just now. He had thought that with everyone immersed in their own meditation, it would be a good opportunity to secretly arrange a Spirit Array, allowing his group to gain an advantage in the struggle which would surely erupt when the Red Candle Fruit fully matured.
How could he have known that although everyone truly was immersed in their own comprehension, there was still someone close by who were vigilantly observing the surrounding area? This man had just started to arrange his Spirit Array but was immediately noticed by a cultivator from Heaven Battling Union.
The load roar awakened all of the nearby cultivators and in the front of everyone’s eyes, before the cultivator who tried to secretly set up a Spirit Array could justify himself, the huge wind dragon, composed of sharp wind blades, opened its great maw and descended upon him.
This cultivator wasn’t a pushover though, no one who reached the third layer was, so he swiftly raised his hand and condensed a red light which he pushed towards the approaching dragon’s mouth; however his face was still filled with horror and panic.
With a bang, the strange red light exploded directly inside the belly of the wind dragon, erupting with unimaginable power. A red glow splashed around, causing the wind dragon to collapse.
“You dare fight back!?” Heaven Battling Union’s Qu Chang Feng shouted as he rose to his feet, grinned, and grasped towards the man in the distance.
An invisible force suddenly bound this cultivator, making him unable to move a muscle.
The Heaven Battling Union cultivator that originally sent out the wind dragon saw this and grinned meaningfully, waving the big fan in his hand again, sending out another wind dragon, this time successfully swallowing the man who tried to set up the Spirit Array .
A scream came out, and although this man was also a Third Order Saint King, facing both Qu Chang Feng and another elite Heaven Battling Union disciple, he was unable to resist. After struggling for a moment, the countless wind blades in the dragon’s body cut this man to pieces.
A bloody smell rose as chunks of flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
Immediately after Qu Chang Feng and his fellow Sect Brother killed this man, they set their sights on a nearby mountain with cold and gloomy eyes.
Atop this mountain were three Saint Kings with extremely ugly faces. The one who seemed to be the leader of this group stepped forward and shouted, “Qu Chang Feng, what are you doing? Even if my Flame Shield Union disciple acted a bit out of turn, it wasn’t your place to kill him. Could it be you want to stir up a dispute between Heaven Battling Union and Flame Shield Union?”
“Haha, stir up a dispute?” Qu Chang Feng sneered dismissively, “Don’t try to intimidate this Young Master with such bold words, you’re not worthy. Instead, why don’t you ask everyone else here if your Junior Brother sneakily trying to arrange a Spirit Array here is acceptable or not!”
Hearing this, the leader of Flame Shield Union’s group swept his eyes around and quickly discovered that every cultivator present was glaring at him angrily, causing his heart to sink as he knew he had stirred up public anger.
The Red Candle Fruit was about to mature, yet someone had dared tried to set up a Spirit Array to try to gain an advantage, how could this be tolerated?
So even if Qu Chang Feng had a bad reputation and many here did not think well of him, everyone was siding with him at this moment. To put it more simply though, everyone was simply defending their own interests.
After Qu Chang Feng shouted, many cultivators on the nearby mountain tops began to condense their Saint Qi, a sign they were preparing to attack.
The faces of the three remaining Flame Shield Union disciples changed greatly and they didn’t dare to say anything. They knew that they could no longer remain here and secretly hated that Qu Chang Feng had acted so ruthlessly.
Their companion had only gone to arrange that Spirit Array after discussing it with them and obtaining all of their approval. They all felt that it was a good opportunity to arrange such an array, but after being seen through, they had immediately found themselves in a compromised position.
If they didn’t leave now, they would likely be targeted and killed by everyone present.
Having realized this, the leader of Flame Shield Union’s group nodded, “Good, Qu Chang Feng, I’ll remember you. I will surely collect on the debt of killing my Junior Brother in the future. And all of you people helping this tyrant do evil, just know that such treatment will befall you too sooner or later. Haha, at that time, I hope you put your best into it… Let’s go!”
Saying so, he motioned to his two other companions and they quickly left without even looking back.
Seeing the other party act so decisively, Qu Chang Feng was slightly surprised, but he wasn’t stupid enough to chase after them as right now wasn’t a good time to leave. Him and his Junior Brother being able to instantly kill that man was only because they had caught him off guard, but trying to kill three more without any difficulties wasn’t very realistic.
Even if there was a gap in their strengths, three Third Order Saint Kings weren’t soft persimmon that could be casually pinched.
With a sullen expression, Qu Chang Feng swept his eyes around and proudly declared, “Anyone else who dares try to act in secret, do not expect this Qu to act politely. The treasure we all seek is about to born, so I hope everyone here can abide by the rules and compete fairly for it when the time comes, otherwise they best be prepared to face this Qu’s wrath.”
As soon as these words came out, someone shouted, “Young Master Qu, I just saw that guy secretly try to put something out! See, he’s obviously anxious now!”
“Who!” Qu Chang Feng glared coldly as he demanded an answer from the one who spoke.
“It was the people from Myriad Beast Mountain!” The speaker didn’t show any fear and immediately pointed towards a mountain top with five high strength cultivators.
The expressions of these five people changed dramatically as they all shot a hate filled glare towards the person who had just spoke, but this man was clearly intent on currying favour with Qu Chang Feng and didn’t pay any mind to their silent threat, shouting loudly, “Although I was not able to see what it was he put out, it should be some kind of Monster Beast that is good at concealing itself. Heh, everyone knows Myriad Beast Mountain is good at commanding Monster Beasts.”
“So that’s how it is!” Qu Chang Feng nodded naturally before turning to the five Myriad Beast Mountain disciples and coldly asking, “Do you have anything you’d like to say?”
The brawny man who appeared to be this group’s leader frowned and grumbled for a moment before suddenly bursting out into laughter, “Young Master Qu, verbal statements aren’t guarantees, surely you aren’t going to simply take one man’s word as the truth?”
Obviously, he was completely confident that whatever means he had used couldn’t be seen through by others, otherwise he wouldn’t be acting so boldly. As long as there was no evidence, Qu Chang Feng couldn’t just force drive him off.
With things having reached this point, everyone could see that Heaven Battling Union was only trying to expel people in advance.
They couldn’t just rush out and kill others for no reason in this situation and had to provide at least some kind of excuse. The Flame Shield Union disciple who had been killed just now simply got what he deserved. Who made him run out and try to arrange a Spirit Array under watchful eyes? Even after losing his life, he still implicated the remaining Flame Shield Union disciples, causing them to be driven away.
Now, no one knew if these Myriad Beast Mountain disciples were really up to something or not, but no one was going to speak up to support them either.
In this situation, the fewer people around, the better. Most people here were taking an attitude of uninvolved bystanders, allowing Qu Chang Feng to show off his might however he wished, all while secretly hoping he would find a way to expel more people.
The fewer people who remained here, the easier it would be to obtain the Red Candle Fruit.
Hearing what the brawny man said though, Qu Chang Feng’s brow wrinkled; although he really wanted to drive away this group from Myriad Beast Mountain, without solid evidence, it wouldn’t be good to act rashly.
“Does Young Master Qu think that Heaven Battling Union is so powerful it can not place any other force in its eyes? If so, then this Hai must disagree, my Myriad Beast Mountain won’t be so casually bullied.” As the brawny man said so, his expression suddenly became gloomy as he summoned a number of fist-sized jet black bees from inside his body. As these bees spread their wings, a dull buzzing filled the air. There were more than thirty of these bees, each one displaying a pointed stinger that seemed to shimmer with cold light. These stingers dripped a jet black liquid which was clearly extremely poisonous, causing many who saw it to shiver.
In addition to Hai Xing, the other cultivators from Myriad Beast Mountain also released their own Monster Beasts.
These Monster Beasts were all rare breeds, each one an Eight-Order Monster Beast that had deadly inborn killing strikes. Hovering and crawling about, these Monster Beasts gathered around the five Myriad Beast Mountain disciples, their red eyes staring around menacingly, waiting for their masters to issue an order to attack.
“Bitter Monarch Bee!” After seeing these thirty-plus bees, Qu Chang Feng’s expression changed dramatically, a look of dread spreading across his face as he grit his teeth, “Good good good, no wonder you dare act so boldly, it turns out you’ve brought so many of Myriad Beast Mountain’s famed defenders. It seems Myriad Beast Mountain has invested a lot of capital for this time’s Flowing Flame Sand Field expedition.”
The brawny man named Hai Xing grinned and said, “I’ve shown Young Master Qu something embarrassing. We Myriad Beast Mountain disciples only know how to tame and command Monster Beasts, so how could we enter this Flowing Flame Sand Field without some small life-saving measures? This Hai does not want things to become awkward here. If Young Master Qu does not have conclusive evidence, could you stop embarrassing this Hai? This Hai would appreciate it greatly!”
Although these Bitter Monarch Bees gave Hai Xing some confidence, he did not want to have a complete fall out with Qu Chang Feng here. At this time, he wanted to de-escalate the situation, giving both parties a way to back down. Making big things small, and small things nothing would be for the best.
Qu Chang Feng frowned deeply, wondering whether it was time to back down. With the other side possessing more than thirty Bitter Monarch Bees, if they really came to blows, his side would definitely suffer loses.
But before he could speak, pleasant laughter suddenly filled the air, “If you want evidence, it’s a simple matter, just let me take a look.”
Following the sound of this voice, everyone’s eyes turned to the mountain occupied by Coloured Glass Sect where they saw Yin Su Die stand up, her soul-stirring face flashing an enchanting smile as he delicate white hand summoned out a small grey bead the size of a pigeon egg.
This bead looked dull and ordinary and was obviously not something precious.
But when Qu Chang Feng saw this bead, his eyes lit up and he couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Hai Xing, from Myriad Beast Mountain, called out in alarm, “Form Revealing Bead! Yin Su Die, you insane woman, you actually brought that thing here? Were you specifically targeting my Myriad Beast Mountain?!”
Yin Su Die giggled again, her tender body gently trembling, “Why would Brother Hai say such a thing? Your Myriad Beast Mountain and my Coloured Glass Sect are close neighbors and live in harmony with one another like true brothers and sisters, how could I possibly be targeting you? There are many hidden Spirit Arrays and barriers in this Flowing Flame Sand Field, I simply brought this bead in case I encountered one. Why is Brother Hai acting so nervous? Could it be you really did something untoward you wish to conceal from everyone?”
Her voice was sweet and crisp, but when it reached Hai Xing’s ears, it only caused him cold chills.
Yin Su Die didn’t wait for Hai Xing to say anything before pouring her Saint Qi into the bead, causing a light halo to blossom from it. This light seemed to have an incredible ability that made everyone exposed to it feel as if they were unable to conceal anything from it, a truly disturbing feeling.
Down below in the mountain valley filled with dead trees, a meter long centipede suddenly appeared in everyone’s view. It seemed to be lurking a couple dozen meters below the ground and was wriggling unceasingly, causing anyone who saw it to feel their skin crawl.
When the bean’s light shone down into the mountain valley, even this creepy-looking Monster Beast centipede which was perfectly hidden a moment ago became illuminated.
Seeing this, Qu Chang Feng shouted, “Red Lines Iron Centipede! What else do you have to say now?”
Hai Xing knew that the situation had become unfavourable the moment that grey bead appeared in Yin Su Die’s hands. Just now he had tried to retrieve his Red Lines Iron Centipede which he sent underground, but was ultimately too late. His face turned red as he couldn’t answer Qu Chang Feng’s question, instead turning a hate filled glare towards Yin Su Die.
Suddenly, the scenes became tense, as if a fight would erupt at any moment.
*Kacha…*
A brilliant flash of lightning suddenly appeared, one that cut through the tense atmosphere. Looking in the direction of the sound’s source, Hai Xing blood cooled greatly and he dismissed his original idea of relying on the powerful Monster Beasts he and his fellow disciples had brought with them to forcibly remain here.
All because the one who sent out this bolt of lightning was none other than Fang Tian Zhong of Thunder Typhoon Sect. The latter had slowly stood up and was now staring indifferently towards Myriad Beast Mountain. Although he didn’t say anything out loud, everyone understood what he meant.
Obviously Fang Tian Zhong was also very dissatisfied with other’s trying to sneakily gain an advantage here and had decided to ally himself with Qu Chang Feng.
On top of that, Yin Su Die had expressed her attitude, so Hai Xing understood that if he insisted on remaining here, he would have to face all three of these Sect’s elites. Even with the Monster Beasts he brought, it wouldn’t be enough to resist such a force.
His face became gloomy, Hai Xing didn’t say another word and simply heaved a deep sigh, taking back the more than thirty Bitter Monarch Bees flying around him before leading his companions away.
After the people from Flame Shield Union were expelled, the group of five from Myriad Beast Mountain had suffered the same fate. It really was just as the leader from Flame Shield Union had said before leaving!
Neither of these two forces was weak, but they didn’t dare to remain here after provoking public anger. The Red Candle Fruit was indeed rare and precious, but in the end, they valued their lives more.
Having been forced out Myriad Beast Mountain, Yin Su Die was in the best of moods, her enchanting smile blossoming even more brilliantly that normal, tugging on the souls of the surrounding cultivators. Many male cultivators who saw this smile felt a nearly irresistible urge to rush out, embrace her, and taster her wondrous flavour.
Myriad Beast Mountain and Coloured Glass Sect were neighbouring Sects, so naturally there was some friction and even battles between them. Yin Su Die bringing the Form Revealing Bead with her this time was naturally out of concern for Myriad Beast Mountain’s man Monster Beasts which concealment abilities; however, she hadn’t expected it to play such an important role in this situation.
This time, after returning and reporting to the Sect, Yin Su Die was certain she would be able to obtain praise from her Master. Thinking so, she shot a glance over at Dai Yuan, but seeing the other party apparently never having opened her eyes and still immersed in her own meditation, Yin Su Die immediately felt a bit disgruntled.
Just then, Yang Kai coughed and his face went pale, as if he had suffered some kind of trauma.
The mountain valley was essentially silent, with everyone starting around at their neighbours with extreme vigilance. No one even dared to speak and were even trying to breathe quietly, so when Yang Kai’s muffled cough echoed, it immediately caught everyone’s attention.
Wei Gu Chang quickly asked with concern, “Brother Yang, what happened?”
Yang Kai’s pale complexion gradually returned to normal and he sent out a faint smile, “It’s nothing, just a small mistake in my perception and I almost injured myself.”
“Oh,” Wei Gu Chang didn’t ask any more, although he felt this explanation was strange.
Even when one was immersed in a deep state of comprehension, a small mistake wouldn’t normally result in injuries. Not only was Wei Gu Chang suspicious, even Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan were puzzled, with both of them opening their eyes to take a look at him.
“Brother Wei, is there something wrong on your side?” Qu Chang Feng asked coldly. He had just been riding high after showing off his strength and prestige, so suddenly being interrupted by Yang Kai’s cough had made him upset. Regardless of whether this First-Order Saint King had done it intentionally or unintentionally, it still displeased Qu Chang Feng so naturally his tone wouldn’t be too good.
What’s more, he didn’t like Yang Kai to begin with. He didn’t know why, but every time he saw this kid, he felt angry. This kid had often run into him, and now Qu Chang Feng was wondering just what kind of skill he possessed that allowed him to reach the third layer with such a weak cultivation.
“It’s nothing, Brother Qu can continue what it was he was doing,” Wei Gu Chang grinned and said meaningfully.
Qu Chang Feng’s face sank further as he stared deeply at Wei Gu Chang but he ultimately didn’t try to find trouble with him. Instead, he stood tall atop his mountain and loudly proclaimed, “Flame Shield Union and Myriad Beast Mountain’s people only have themselves to blame. Just as this Qu said moments ago, I hope everyone will abide by the rules. Before the Red Candle Fruit fully matures, don’t try to engage in any mischief. After the Red Candle Fruit matures, everyone will use their own means to compete for it. Of course, this Qu believes that there are others besides those two who are trying to use underhanded means here. Heh, I’d like to give these friends a chance to leave now, if you don’t and this Qu finds out later, even if you want to leave, I’m afraid you won’t be able to.”
Hearing this, many people’s complexions changed, all of them realizing they had greatly underestimated Qu Chang Feng’s appetite.
Just now, he had expelled both the Flame Shield Union and Myriad Beast Mountain, and although he had some reasons for doing so, and everyone had stood behind him as it could loosely be interpreted as an action taken out of considered for everyone’s benefit, what Qu Chang Feng had just declared was clearly overdoing it a bit. This guy obviously wanted to make a clean sweep of everyone here.
As a result, many of the slightly weaker forces glanced over at the peak where Thunder Typhoon Sect was stationed, wanting to see how Fang Tian Zhong reacted.
Everyone knew that Fang Tian Zhong and Qu Chang Feng were constantly at odds with one another and that each time they met there would inevitably be conflict. A moment ago, Fang Tian Zhong and Qu Chang Feng had joined forces, but that didn’t mean they would do so again now.
Perhaps Fang Tian Zhong would oppose Qu Chang Feng like normal this time, allowing them to fish in troubled waters.
However, with just a glance, these people’s hearts sank.
Fang Tian Zhong was actually sitting there with his eyes closed, completely disregarding Qu Chang Feng show of arrogance!
What did this mean? It clearly meant that Fang Tian Zhong had secretly reached an agreement with Qu Chang Feng and was going to ignore the current situation.
After realizing this, many people shook their heads and laughed bitterly, there were no eternal enemies in the world, only eternal benefits.
For the Red Candle Fruit, even Fang Tian Zhong and Qu Chang Feng could temporarily ally with each other. Since that was the case, how could there be room for any of them?
With the situation set in stone, many smaller forces who only had two or three cultivators present retreated from their respective mountains and left. They believed that even if they persisted, Qu Chang Feng would find an excuse to drive them away, so they figured they might as well depart now before they suffered any further losses.
Naturally, some forces didn’t pick up on Qu Chang Feng’s not so subtle message, thinking they hadn’t done anything untoward, and insisted on staying. However, Qu Chang Feng quickly declared that they were guilty and without even letting them defend themselves projected his murderous intent towards them and attack, successfully expelling several more forces.
He had to look for evidence when dealing with Myriad Beast Mountain because he was concerned about dealing with those Bitter Monarch Bees, but for others, he had nothing to fear. His fist was bigger, so what he said was right.
While Qu Chang Feng was putting on a show, only about a dozen forces remained unconcerned, all of them simply observing the scene in front of them indifferently, showing no intention to interfere either way.
All of them knew that Qu Chang Feng doing this would more or less benefit them, but as long as they didn’t get involved, Heaven Battling Union would bear all the notoriety. In any case, Heaven Battling Union already had so many accumulated grudges, why would they fear having a few more?
Qu Chang Feng was swift and ruthless, successfully driving away at least seventy percent of the gather forces, turning the originally bustling mountain valley into a rather sparse scene.
As for the remaining dozen forces atop their own mountain tops, it wasn’t that Qu Chang Feng didn’t want to drive them away, but that he couldn’t. These dozen or so forces weren’t weak so he didn’t dare to go planting stolen goods to shift blame at will.
After this uproar, the mountain valley quieted down again as the second red sun gradually approached the top of the sky.
As things settled down though, Yang Kai was actually staring back towards the distance, his eyes filled with cold light.
At the end of his gaze was the increasingly estranged cultivator that Dai Yuan just told him was Lu Ye of Flowing Cloud Valley!
Yang Kai had long felt the murderous intent and hostility of this man, but he had never imagined that the other party would dare to attack him in the front of everyone’s eyes. On top of that, the method he used was so ingenious that even Yang Kai had barely been able to detect it.
Just now, when Yin Su Die was displaying the power of the Form Revealing Bead, Yang Kai had opened his eyes because he was curious and wanted to see what kind of special ability it possessed that could cause the brawny man from Myriad Beast Mountain to react so greatly.
Unexpectedly though, when the light from the Form Revealing Bead radiated, Yang Kai actually saw a faint trace of abnormal energy not far away that was slowly spreading towards him.
The source of this strange energy was actually from Lu Ye.